BLOG WEEK ENDING 7TH JUNE
Spotlight on our Maths Department. Our vision is to develop excellent problem solvers who are fluent in the basics of maths and use mathematics to model real-world problems. We believe that all students can succeed in mathematics, given the right support, guidance, and mindset. To empower our students to overcome barriers and make informed financial choices as engaged citizens in the future, we focus on developing their mathematical tools and critical thinking skills.
We take pride in fostering a growth mindset among our students and encouraging them to persevere in finding efficient solutions. Our motto, “All students can succeed at maths, with the right support, guidance, and mindset,” is at the core of everything we do.
Introducing Mrs Castellani, Second in Charge of the Maths Department. Mrs Castellani joins us with significant experience in the secondary setting having worked in schools across Essex. “I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know our students and being part of their learning journey here at Stone Lodge. Our motto ‘all students can succeed at Maths’ really resonates with me, as it is just this sentiment that inspired me to study for a maths degree and become a teacher – to ensure that every child feels confident and empowered to excel at maths!”
In the below lesson Mrs Castellani is introducing her students to their new topic – ratios. The below interactive exercise allows Mrs Castellani to check for understanding before students begin an independent task. And as you can see from the whiteboards .. students are embracing the new work!
Introducing Teacher of Maths Mr Barfi who has been teaching Maths for over 14 years, most recently in a secondary academy in Essex. “Maths is incredibly important in our lives, and without being aware, we use mathematical concepts and problem solving every day. I am passionate about helping students make the links between classroom learning and how we use numerical and logical thinking skills in everyday life.” There are countless rewarding career opportunities in growing sectors that use maths including; quantity surveyor, a coder, engineer or maths teacher! BBC Bitesize is a great resource to help inform and inspire our students’ future pathways. Jobs that use Maths – Careers – BBC Bitesize
In the below lesson Mr Barfi’s Year 8 students are exploring volume and how to accurately measure the amount of space a 3D shape takes up.
Congratulations to the 70 Bronze, Silver and Gold certificate winners in the recent UK Maths Trust Challenge! (including those pictured below). Year 7 and 8 students took part in the 60 minute, twenty five multiple choice question challenge. The Maths Trust Charity hopes to nurture a love of problem solving through challenges and enrichment activities on a national and international level. To give you a flavour of the challenge, try your hand at one of the questions the students faced (answer at the bottom of this Blog post!)
Question. In Fred’s field there are some humans and some horses. There are 25 heads in total and 60 legs in total. What is the difference between the number of humans and the number of horses?
Answer – A 3, B 7, C 9, D 11 or E 15
Maths and Computer Science cross-curriculum trip 17th June. Year 9 students (and equally excited staff!) are scheduled to travel to Bletchley Park where code-breakers changed the course of the Second World War, saving millions of lives in the process. Alan Turing is one of the most well-known codebreakers who decrypted German Naval Enigma messages and is the subject of the Oscar winning film, The Imitation Game, however, 75% of the staff of Bletchley Park were women! Students will take part in activities designed to encourage practical problem-solving and team-working skills before touring the buildings, providing opportunity for students to delve deeper into the story of Bletchley Park and the process of sending, intercepting and decrypting coded messages.
Year 9 Computer Science. Computers use binary to process data and students have been learning techniques to convert between binary and normal numbers and vice versa. In the below images students are taking part in a Cisco binary game to test their understanding and hone their skills! Well done!
Computer Science Year 8 students are building their own website based on their music festival project using the software package GrapesJS. Students are considering design, use of text and images making sure to generate impact and engagement from its target audience.
Year 9 Dartford District Winners! Well Done to the Year 9 football team who were crowned football District Champions on Thursday 23rd May in front of a big crowd at Kedbull Leisure, beating Leigh Academy 5 – 4 on penalties (2 – 2 FT). Thank you to Mr Finch for the following match report.
“Stone Lodge made a very strong start to the final putting the Leigh goal under significant pressure with the opposition keeper in excellent form, pulling off several superb saves. Against the run of play Leigh Academy took the lead with a well worked goal and at half time we trailed 1 – 0. The second half started in the same manner with Stone Lodge applying the pressure and we deservedly got ourselves level after a superb pass from Lennon to Billy W, who calmed brought the ball down and fired into the far corner finally beating the keeper! This got the Year 9 tails up and we pushed for the lead, again being denied by the in-form goalkeeper! It looked like it was going to be a smash and grab from Leigh Academy after they retook the lead with 7 minutes to play, again against the run of play after quickly countering from a SLS corner. However, the boys dug deep and after a barrage of balls into the Leigh box finally the pressure tolled. Billy W delivered a superb corner to the back post where Lennon headed it goalwards only for it to be handled on the line, leading to a penalty and red card for Leigh Academy. With the final kick of the game SLS had the chance to equalise. Up stepped Aaron and he fired the ball low to the keepers right sparking wild celebrations as the full-time whistle blew immediately after. The heart and desire of SLS was rewarded in the penalty shootout after 8 perfect penalties, Billy K pulled off a fantastic save to deny the final penalty taker for Leigh Academy! Up stepped Man of the Match, Lennon, to see if he could seal the title… Smashing the ball down the middle he sealed the win and a first trophy for the Year 9’s. Well done to all involved and a special shout out to all penalty takers who scored 5/5 (Aaron, Tobi, Judah, Jaydan and Lennon)”
Huge congratulations to Year 11 student Harley G who has secured a place on a USA Scholarship Programme and will be playing at both a national and international level! Harley is a dedicated and highly talented footballer who has worked hard to achieve her dream. We are all immensely proud of your achievement and look forward to following your future footballing career.
Please join me in congratulating Year 8 student John D on his brilliant performance in sell-out show Oliver! at The Churchill Theatre in Bromley. John has been attending All The Arts theatre school for just over a year now after taking a keen interest in drama since joining Stone Lodge and being taught by Mr Bailey (who was in the audience on closing night!) John has also featured in both of our school productions and is busy rehearsing for the next. We are incredibly proud of your achievement John .. it was a terrific show made better by your performance!
The Drama and Theatre club at Stone Lodge school is still in full swing, with students in Years 7-9 attending Monday and Tuesday rehearsals. Monday’s club is dedicated to students rehearsing for our upcoming small-scale performance of Peter Pan. Students have been cast in their roles and have been working hard on memorising their lines, supported by the tech team who are organising lights and visuals. The remaining weeks of rehearsal will include us blocking scenes and refining characterisation.
Peter Pan tells the classic tale of a young boy who refuses to grow up. On a quest to find stories with which to entertain his young cohorts in Neverland, an island refuge for “Lost Boys”. Peter returns to the real world and meets Wendy, Michael, and John Darling. The Darling children accompany Peter back to the magical Neverland, where they learn to fly, get involved in all sorts of adventures, defeating the evil Captain Hook. Please Note: Tickets will be available on the door.
Tuesday’s club gives students free rein, where they devise their own performances based on stimuli, performing each week to their peers.
The Drama extra-curricular activities support the amazing work students are doing in their weekly lessons. For example, students in Year 8 are currently working on creating their own interpretations of the dramatised true story The Stones in Cycle D. Students are exploring key theatrical techniques such as status, mime and physicality to explore the text.
Community Event. Students represented Stone Lodge at a local Remembrance Event to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Students learnt about the history of D-Day and visited the old war memorial built in 1921 which isn’t open to the public. Students upheld all RIDE values, the Dep Mayor was grateful that our students attended and remarked upon how respectful and attentive they were. Other local dignitaries in attendance included, SPC Councillor Jessica McQueen, Stone Parish Council Vice Chair and local Councillor Stephanie Thredgle. Mr Muzio concluded the event by playing the last post on the trumpet.
Thank you to student representatives; Emily & Freya of Year 8 and Joe G, Jason, Noah, Teddy, Kye, Becky & Daisy of Year 8 and Auston, Aaron, Michelle and Shauna of Year 10.
Library Update. Our Carnegie Yoto Awards Shadowing Group met on Tuesday lunchtime to discuss their favourite titles from this year’s shortlist. We have a large number of the Shortlisted books in the library (books pictured below) and are keen to get feed-back and reviews from students. The Shadowing Group also listened to interviews from the authors to hear their inspiration for the books. ‘Away with Words’ was the Shadowing Groups favourite title … closely followed by ‘The Song Walker’. We look forward to hearing the winner’s announcement on 20th June!
To introduce the Carnegie Yoto Awards to a wider school audience, Mrs Nguyen spoke with Year 7 & 8 in their library lessons.
Forthcoming Dates;
Year 12 Futures Event (ongoing event) talks and workshops;
- Construction Youth Trust – 12 June
- Dartford FC – 13 June
- Ebbsfleet FC – 14 June
- Millwall FC – 19 June
Learning Beyond the Classroom, Disney Trip parent/carers meeting – 5pm 13 June
Year 11 Last day of GCSE exams – 19 June (Leavers Assembly 14 June)
Year 9 Computing and Maths Bletchley Park Trip – 17 June
Year 9 PGL Parent Evening meeting 5pm – 18 June
Years 9 & 10 NT Project Talk to – 18 June
Year 9 ‘Make it make sense’ career workshop – 19 June
SL6 New starters Induction Day – 20 June
DofE Silver Practice Expedition – 21 – 23 June
Year 10 Geography Field Trip – 24 June and 25 June
Year 9 Formal Internal exams – 24 – 28 June
Year 6 new starter information evening – 27 June
