What a fantastic term it has been for Denefield sport. So much so, we have dedicated a section of our Termly Newsletter to focus on our students sporting achievements. 

Year 7 girls football:

Denefield Year 7 girls football team finished top of the league out of sixteen schools. The team have won eleven games, drawn one and have scored 45 goals. 

With this success came the responsibility of hosting the final on Tuesday 12 December 2023 - in which they were victorious! 

The team beat Reading Girls 6-0, progressing them to the final where they beat Highdown 2-0.

Evie scored seven of the goals and Holly scored one. What a fantastic end to our sporting term, well done all. The team were treated to a celebratory Dominos pizza.

Year 10 Handball:

Our Year 10 handball team went to Theale to participate in a tournament against other schools and came third overall after winning two games and losing three. They played so well and, considering they were playing against Year 11's, they performed admirably and were a credit to themselves and to the school.

Under 14 Basketball:

This is new team for the school, in their first game our U14 boys played a fixture against Kennett and won 4312. The team also beat Blessed Hugh Faringdon 27-18. Mr Clare says 'The boys have been absolutely outstanding and are a credit to themselves and the school.'

Under 14 Girls Football:

Denefield under 14 girls team won the Reading football league- Congratulations team, what a fantastic result!

The team were treated to a well deserved Domino's pizza delivery.

Under 16 boys football:

The under 16 boys football team came third out of 14 schools in a five-a-side tournament.

Stay up to date with Denefield sporting fixtures and results by clicking the button below. 

Bring a buddy:

In January,  PE are launching a ‘Bring a Buddy’ scheme. They would like students to bring a buddy to one of the amazing extra-curricular clubs either at lunch or after-school. Their buddy needs to be someone who has never attended the club before.

Students will both be given House points for either attending a club for the first time, or if they are a regular attendee, they will be rewarded for bringing someone new!

If anyone has any questions, please speak to Mr Clare in the PE Office.

Pumpkin Carving Competition winner:

Congratulations to our Year 7 student, Lola, who won the Denefield 2023 pumpkin carving competition.

Lola has won 300 House points for Kentwood House by carving this masterpiece over half term.

The pumpkin carving competition was very popular. Thank you to everyone that took part and brought in photos of their carved pumpkins.

Christmas Card Competition: 

Mrs Shaw had hundreds of student Christmas card designs to look through this year. Thank you to everyone who entered.

The winners and runners up of this competition had their entries printed, and on Thursday 14 December, the winners, runners-up and a friend  took printed copies of their entries to neighbours of Denefield.

Scroll down to see the 2023 winning entries, runners-up and pictures of the group delivering Christmas cards to the Denefield community.  

Above entries from Naomi, Chloe, Lily-Marie, Isla

Above entries from Rusne, Charlotte and India

Above entries from Phoebe and Macy, Lucas and Samaria 

Above, Alicia Year 8 KS3 runner up

Above, Marcel Year 10 KS4 runner up

Above, Lewis Year 12 KS5 runner up

Above, congratulations to Lilly-Mai, Year 9 who is the KS3 2023 Christmas Card Competition winner.

Above, congratulations to Patrick, Year 11 who is the KS4 2023 Christmas Card Competition winner.

Above, congratulations Evelyn, Year 12 who is the KS5 2023 Christmas Card Competition winner. 

Denefield's poetry competition: 

 

UK Open Taekwondo 2023, Bronze Medallist Samar:

Year 7 student Samar competed in the UK Open Taekwondo 2023 which saw more than 400 competitors over a two days.

Samar won a bronze medal in both the sparring and the patterns' category. 

Year 10 Martial arts achievements:

Year 10 student Lilly took part in the 2023 Tiska Championships (Karate) and won silver for individual Kata, silver for Kumite (fighting) and bronze for team Kata.

In 2022 Lilly won gold in her Kumite (fighting) division.  

Sleeping Beauty 2023 Christmas Panto, The Hexagon:

Three Denefield students, Skyla, Year 7, Lucy, Year 8 and Katie, Year 11 are in the 2023 Sleeping Beauty Christmas Panto at the Hexagon. 

It is Lucy and Skyla's second time in the Hexagon's Christmas Panto, and it is Katie's first time.

Auditions were in the summer and rehearsals for the production began at the end of November. With rehearsals starting quite close to their first show, they have many weekend and after-school rehearsals from the end of November until it's showtime!

Lucy, Skyla and Katie are part of the junior chorus and have 16 shows each and are a team of eight dancers.

'We love it when the audience joins in and makes lots of noise! It feels like Christmas now it's panto season.'

Book your Sleeping Beauty tickets here

We Will Rock You, 2024 School Show:

Rehearsals have been going extremely well for our 2024 School Show. Since announcing the cast, drama rehearsals have been ongoing. Music has now joined, meaning full cast rehearsals are taking place. 

Keep an eye out for communication on booking tickets for the School Show in the New Year.

We Will Rock You will be performed in March 2024. 

Duke of Edinburgh Award:

This November, Year 9 were introduced to the Duke of Edinburgh’s award. In 2024, we have 50 Year 9 students signed up to take part in their Bronze and we have 22 Year 10 and Year 11 students starting their Silver award.

From September 2022 to October 2023 Denefield students completed three expeditions and we facilitated students in Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 to complete their Bronze award.

In total we have awarded 84 Bronze Awards.

The final presentation evening for this season was at the Key Stage 4 Awards ceremony on Thursday 7 December where the Year 10 students were able to receive their certificate and Badge, having worked towards the award during Year 9.

Congratulations everyone, a lot to look forward to in the next season!

 

Windsor Castle, Thursday 2 October and Friday 3 October 2023:

Year 7 students visited Windsor Castle and toured the grounds, state apartments and St George's chapel. In the chapel they saw the resting place of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Students also got to see the soldiers on guard in the castle. They asked the staff some great questions and in the words of one student "I don't think I've ever been so impressed in my life". 

Some students got to see the changing of the Guard whilst in Windsor town where they conducted their fieldwork. The students completed land use surveys, pedestrian counts and field sketches of the site to investigate the reasons Windsor was built on this site and the evidence that its function has changed to tourism. Those on Thursday braved the rain and winds of storm Ciaran to get their data.

Warner Bros. Studios Trip: 

Year 10 and Year 12 GCSE and A Level Film Studies students went to Warner Bros. Studios on Tuesday 21 November 2023. 

They joined a cinematography masterclass with the crew that worked on the Harry Potter films before enjoying a tour and many photo opportunities!

Denefield Sixth Formers take part in climate negotiations in mock COP28 conference: 

The tenth Reading Schools’ Model Climate Conference, hosted at the Civic Offices Council Chamber, took place on Friday 8 December, which also coincided with Youth Day at COP28 itself. Denefield students, together with seven other local secondary schools, came to show their passion for the environment and tackling climate change. The Mayor of Reading Cllr Tony Page opened the conference and welcomed students to the centre of local decision-making. 

The conference emulated COP28, which was taking place in Dubai from 30 November 2023 to 12 December 2023. Denefield students took part in debates and negotiations before quizzing guests in a Climate Question Time. Students formed teams representing a mix of sixteen developed and developing countries attending COP28 with Denefield students representing the hosts of the COP28, the United Arab Emirates, and Bangladesh. 

'We left the conference informed, inspired and empowered to make positive changes, acting locally, within our school and our community, but thinking globally; being acutely aware that the Climate Emergency is everybody’s responsibility.'

 

Ofsted:

Following an Ofsted visit to Denefield at the beginning of November 2023. I am pleased that Ofsted confirmed that Denefield is a ‘good’ school in all areas. As the report notes, ours is an inclusive, caring and ambitious school. We have high expectations of all pupils and as a result, they achieve well.

Thank your Cleaner Winners 2023:

Well known to the Denefield community, Tommy and Louise, two of the Brayborne cleaning team, have won an award for going the extra mile and for their loyalty.  

Congratulations Louise and Tommy and thank you to the whole team for your hard work and dedication in keeping our working and learning environment clean and safe. 

The Big Ambition - Have your say!

Further to the details issued earlier in the year, sharing information from the Children's Commissioner for England, the deadline for "The Big Ambition" survey has been extended to the 19 January 2024 - Children and parents can complete the survey by clicking the button below. 

The UK Bebras Challenge:

The Bebras Computing Challenge introduces computational thinking to students.

​The Bebras challenges are made of a set of short problems called Bebras tasks and are delivered online. The tasks are fun, engaging and based on problems that computer scientists often meet and enjoy solving.  The aim is to solve as many as you can in the allotted time. Every year Denefield takes part in this competition.

Check out the top 10 achievers in each age group here:

The results of the 2023 Bebras Computing Challenge are in!

We are delighted to say that 37 Denefield students have achieved Gold certificates in this year’s challenge. (25 in 2022) This places them in the top 10% of UK entrants and qualifies them for the next round – the University of Oxford Computing Challenge, being held in January 2024. 

Students in more than 50 countries take part in the Bebras Challenge each year. 

Congratulations everyone!

Denefield staff Goofy Games 2023:

The Sixth Form Coaching and Leadership Team ran a teacher wellbeing session on Friday 1 December after school. 

The Goofy Games was a friendly competition involving different "sporting events", with varying levels of seriousness. Sport clothes were advised, deodorant was mandatory.

Thank you to the Sixth Form coaching and Leadership Team- our staff had a fantastic time!

Denefield Library Christmas Party 2023:

All student librarians and regular members of the library club were invited to a Library Christmas Party.

The group listened to Christmas music and shared party food, as well as recommending books to each other, and students were allowed to choose a book from spare stock to celebrate "jolabokaflod".

This end of term party is a chance for Mrs Fogarty to thank the students who work so hard helping in the library.

The student librarian timetable will reset next term, so students can sign up in January and those from the reserves list will get a turn.

All students are welcome to drop in and join Book Club on Mondays and Warhammer/ Board Games Club on Wednesdays, both in the library after school 3-4pm. The next party will be Easter.

Denefield School Council: 

On Wednesday 20 December the Denefield School Council met in the library. They were joined by Mr Peacock, Head of Sixth Form and Mr Towill, Headteacher. Amongst the group was Denefield Head Boy and Head Girl.

This is the first of many meetings planned for our School Council. We will keep you informed of the actions and outcomes of the forthcoming meetings. 

 

We have been lucky enough to secure Mr Jackson, an experienced Humanities teacher and a Geography specialist who is joining Denefield in January 2024. As a result, some students’ humanities timetables may change, and they will receive a new timetable at the start of term 3, on Monday 8 January 2024.  

Mr Jackson will replace Mr Olsen and I would like to thank Mr Olsen for all his hard work teaching Geography and RS this term.  

From January 2024, Humanities staff will be:  

Mrs O’Donovan - Head of Faculty  

Miss Ahearn – Deputy Head of Faculty  

Mrs O’Connell 

Miss Plumpton 

Mrs Holley 

Mr Wheeler  

Mr Peacock 

Ms McKay 

Mr Taylor 

Mr Jackson 

Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs O’Donovan - aon@denefield.org.uk - if you have any queries.

Blandy & Blandy visit:

Three trainee solicitors visited our Sixth Form during enrichment. They presented to the group, explaining what a solicitor is and the traditional route to becoming a solicitor vs alternative routes such as becoming an Apprentice. 

Le Cours d'Art,  by the Onatti theatre company:

All of our Year 8 students who study French were invited to watch a comedy play in the main hall. Two actors from the Onatti theatre played the part of five students. The scene ie set up as the art room of a French college - when one of them goes to leave they realise the door has been locked from the outside and they are trapped in the room on the fourth floor.
Unable to contact anyone, they are trapped in the room.  Then, one by one, they started to disappear. All the dialogue was in French, giving Denefield students an exciting learning experience. 

ReadiFood:

Reading's Food Bank came into school earlier this week to collect an impressive donation organised by our Sixth Form students'. 

ReadiFood operate as part of and on behalf of the Churches of Reading to provide services which individual churches alone would not be able to provide.

ReadiFood is an independent Food Bank providing food parcels to those in severe need in the greater Reading area. 

A massive thank you and well done to the students' arranging and those who have kindly donated to such a worthy, local cause.