School Blog, week ending 6th February
Energetic, Fun and Full of Heart – A Standout School Production! The school’s production of High School Musical was a fantastic showcase of talent, enthusiasm, and teamwork. From the moment the lights rose, the cast delivered high-energy performances, capturing the spirit of the beloved Disney classic. The dynamic choreography, strong vocal performances and seamless scene transitions brought the Wildcats’ world to life.
Overall, this was a joyous, well-rehearsed and thoroughly entertaining show that had the audience clapping and singing along. A huge congratulations to the cast, crew and directors for an unforgettable night of theatre!
We look forward to seeing everyone at the next event.
Congratulations to Mr Hedger, who has been promoted to Head of Maths. Mr Hedger was part of our inaugural Stone Lodge teaching staff, leaving for a brief spell before returning last academic year. Mr Hedger added “I am as ambitious for our brilliant students as I am for myself! And am looking forward to developing both our curriculum and club opportunities.”
Mrs Castellani has started a new (and already very popular!) Games Club. Board games are a powerful (and often overlooked) tool for maths development and critical thinking which offer a wide range of benefits for players of all ages. Year 7 & 8 students looking to sharpen their problem-solving abilities and general mathematical skills … come along! Every Wednesday at 12.15pm in Mrs Castellani’s classroom. Games include, magnetic darts, chess, Jenga and Connect 4.
Our SLS Library has been brimming with activities over the past two weeks.
In preparation for Chinese Lunar New Year 2025 celebrations, we welcomed Siobhan McDermott (online visit) – the author of “Paper Dragons” – an incredibly original and immersive fantasy adventure.
Siobnan is a truly multicultural writer. Born in Hong Kong to a Chinese mother and an Irish father, she grew up speaking both languages (Cantonese and English) and hearing stories from both cultures. She spoke to students about her childhood in Asia and how it was filled with a steady stream of Chinese legends and Irish folklore from her Chinese mum and her Irish dad. Her Chinese name – Mak Syu Wun – appears on the book cover, reflecting her pride in her twin heritage!
She spoke to our Year 7 and Year 8 students about how her novel was inspired by moments across her life: from childhood ferry trip to Lantau Island, and Hong Kong, to travelling around Taiwan, Singapore and Europe.
Siobhan McDermott also read first chapter of “Paper Dragons” to SLS students.
Our Chinese New Year celebrations in the library continued, with Mrs Nguyen sharing her personal experience of celebrating in many countries in Asia, followed by a short video presentation about How Chinese New Year is celebrated in the UK.
Students also had the opportunity to make an origami paper dragon while instructed by an origami master! As we continued with our “dragon theme” in the library our readers were then directed towards books with a dragon as a protagonist.
Happy Reading!
Mrs Nguyen, Librarian
Please don’t forget that any donations to the library are more than welcome!
Congratulations to Miss Ayling, who in addition to being Head of History and Politics has been appointed on secondment to our Senior Leadership Team with responsibility for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Miss Ayling will be opening discussions with staff and students as she leads the planning to ensure an inclusive, modern and robust curriculum policy reflecting the specific needs of our students and current educational landscape.
This week, Miss Ayling and Mr Bailey led a cross-curricular immersive workshop delivered by Voices of the Holocaust, a history and theatre organisation. The workshop is a rich and dynamic session using kindness to inspire and educate – the theme of this years’ Holocaust Memorial Day is For a Better Future to ensure the lessons of the Holocaust are learned, promoting tolerance of all groups in society.
Thank you to Voices of the Holocaust for such a powerful and engaging session, enriching students’ historical knowledge and their appreciation for the power of theatre.
As part of our national curriculum and our ongoing efforts to address crucial issues affecting the wellbeing of young people, we invited the DSM Foundation to conduct a comprehensive Drug Workshop for our Year 9 students. This workshop aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed decisions regarding substance use and to promote a healthy and responsible lifestyle.
The Drama Department at Stone Lodge School was delighted to welcome Wizard Theatre, in collaboration with the DSM Foundation, to perform I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die to our Year 9 students. This moving and hard-hitting production tells the true story of a young life lost to drugs, aiming to educate and raise awareness about the dangers of substance misuse. Through powerful storytelling and live performance, students will have hopefully gained a deeper understanding of the real-life consequences of risk-taking behaviours. We are proud to provide this valuable opportunity as part of our ongoing commitment to student wellbeing and education.
Stone Lodge Instagram is now LIVE! We plan to share celebrations, news, dates for your diary and to generally showcase our fabulous school community! Mrs George will be managing our feed and overseeing posts, if there is anything you would like us to include or would like to share any news please do let us know on [email protected]
As you would expect, the safeguarding of our students is at the heart of everything we do, all posts will be approved and monitored to ensure the safety and preferences of our students, staff and families.
To follow us, click here https://www.instagram.com/stone_lodge_school/#
Mrs George, Head of Engineering, has additional responsibility for communication with students and family as part of her Senior Leadership Team secondment.
Our new school Instagram account will provide an accessible and user-friendly platform to share, in addition to school news, key curriculum topics to ensure parents and carers are well-informed about what is happening at school to better support your children’s learning. This includes helping with homework, participating in school activities, and attending community events.
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Harvey H, our SL6 correspondent. 
Recently, our sixth form cohort have been taking steps to strive for improvements within the school by providing support for the lower school students. Students in SL6 have begun peer mentoring sessions with younger students, giving them the opportunity to speak to an older student who has been through their own secondary school experience. Our student mentor roles are to give advice and share their own experiences and knowledge to reassure and to make a difference to those students who would benefit from academic, time management or social skills support.
Our Head Students, Kieran and Flourish, have recently put together and shared an assembly to the lower school talking about themselves and what it means to them to be Head Students, and that they are willing to listen to proposals to improve areas of the school. As well as this, they have taken on other roles to help in the school community and meeting with form representatives from the lower year groups.
Sporting Fixtures Update. Our Stone Lodge football teams are on fire at the moment! Congratulations to all our players .. and supporters! We would love for more of you to come along and cheer us on .. we’ll keep you updated with our forthcoming fixtures via this Blog and our new Instagram account.
Recent match results;
Year 11 vs Harris Garrard Academy – 3-1 Win
Year 10 vs St George’s 4-1 Win
Year 7 vs St George’s 14-0 Win – Stone Lodge record
Year 9 vs St George’s 1-1 Draw
Year 8 vs Northfleet Technology College 5-0 Win
Year 8 vs Wilmington Academy 3-1 Win
We would like to also celebrate the appointment of Mr Barron, Teacher of History as the Year 9 Football Team Manager. Mr Barron commented “It is great to be managing the Year 9 team. We currently sit in 4th place in the district with two wins, one draw and only one loss. The team has shown great resilience and are starting to work well with each other. I think we stand a good chance of pushing on from these results to continue to challenge!”
Following the success of the initial meeting, Mrs Tiddy has scheduled our next Local Champions Project breakfast for Tuesday 18th March. If you or your company are able to offer meaningful work experience opportunities to our students, please do get in touch! Mrs Tiddy [email protected]
PTFA Update – All our parents/carers are automatically member of our PTFA .. and we would love for as many of you as possible to get involved with our school events and initiatives. Our next PTFA meeting will be held on Wednesday 26th February at 6.30pm – everyone is welcome. For more information or to express your interest in attending please email [email protected]
Free family event! – The Light Festival 2025 at Battersea Power Station running until 23rd February. One of our staff attended the event and would wholeheartedly recommend it to other families including those with SEND children.
This free interactive art trail features light installations by British and international artists. Shining both inside and outside the Power Station from 8am to 11pm daily, many installations go beyond the visual, incorporating soundscapes and interactive elements that respond to movement and more. From a tornado of light to the Northern Lights and a giant ball of yarn, there’s plenty to discover! The festival includes family-friendly workshops and special SEND sessions and workshops over half term – free to book Battersea Power Station Events – 12 Upcoming Activities and Tickets | Eventbrite
Forthcoming Dates;
- Last Day of Term 3 – Friday 14 February
- First Day of Term 4 – Tuesday 25 February
- Year 12 Politics Trip to Parliament – 12 March
- Year 7 Parents’ Evening – 13th March
- Year 10 Grades home – 19th March
- Year 8 Parents’ Evening – 27th March
- Year 11 Grades home – 4th April
- Last Day of Term 4 – 4th April
- First Day of Term 5 – Tuesday 25th April
Best wishes,
Gavin Barnett
Headteacher
