Denbigh School

Football Academy launches partnership with MK Dons - Denbigh School, Milton Keynes

https://denbigh.net/football-academy-launches-partnership-with-mk-dons/

Football Academy launches partnership with MK Dons - Denbigh School, Milton Keynes Denbigh School; a successful secondary school on the Western Flank of Milton Keynes. We are recognised by Ofsted as GOOD school and are a Convertor Academy, which offers us the independence and resources to be innovative and react quickly to change

A Level Maths Team take on National Ritangle Challenge - Denbigh School, Milton Keynes

https://denbigh.net/a-level-maths-team-take-on-national-ritangle-challenge/

A Level Maths Team take on National Ritangle Challenge - Denbigh School, Milton Keynes Denbigh School; a successful secondary school on the Western Flank of Milton Keynes. We are recognised by Ofsted as GOOD school and are a Convertor Academy, which offers us the independence and resources to be innovative and react quickly to change

The Denbigh Alliance community shares in the sad news yesterday that our monarch, Queen Elizabeth II has passed away. Our sincere thoughts and condolences are with the Royal family as we join with the nation in remembering the great service that the Queen gave throughout her lifetime.
Our students have received some information and reflections about our Sovereign and we will continue to offer support and guidance during this period of mourning. Ian Joyce, CEO

This is a statement from the Denbigh Alliance regarding the sad passing of Andy Squires, CEO of the Trust and before that Headteacher of Denbigh. We all miss him so much. His tribute page is https://andysquires.muchloved.com

Denbigh School has felt very festive today with students and staff wearing their best Christmas jumpers. There is no denying that we have missed the Denbigh School Christmas Bazaar for a second year in a row, however, if the pandemic has taught us anything, it is we must show resilience, keep calm and carry on! Which is exactly what the Denbigh Association did by running the Raffle as usual, just in a slightly different way. We have been blown away by the number of students who have bought tickets, the donations of prizes we have received and the incredibly kind donations we have received via ParentMail. In total the Denbigh Association has raised a staggering £2,500! This is incredible and we cannot thank you enough for your continued support. The Denbigh Association is a vital part of the School and helps provide opportunities for Students which simply would not be possible through the School funds alone. The donation option on ParentMail will close next Friday morning if you are planning to donate but have not done so yet. The raffle tickets have now been drawn and the winners will be contacted Monday morning. Thank you once again to all those who have got involved and kept the spirit of Christmas going in Denbigh School!

As you will be aware next Friday is National Christmas Jumper Day for Save the Children. We had our Christmas Jumper day a week early in keeping with what would have been the Bazaar. Save the Children are a fantastic charity that helps thousands of children across the world, 122 countries to be precise. By 2030 their ambition is:
• No child dies from preventable causes before their fifth birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated.
This is a fantastic cause and one that Denbigh School believes in passionately. There are lots of ways you can get involved with the Charity which you can see through the link on ParentMail. We have an option to Donate to Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day via ParentMail which will be available till next Friday 10th December. Please head to Payments>Shop to access this.

On Thursday 2nd December, our A Level Drama and Theatre students watched a live stream performance of ‘I Think We Are Alone’ by Sally Abbott and commissioned by theatre company, Frantic Assembly. Watching live theatre is a compulsory part of the A Level course so these streaming opportunities are important for our students to be able to access professional theatre. Students study the work of Frantic Assembly as part of their A Level and, whilst this performance wasn’t typical of their physical theatre style, there will be lots of elements of the performance that they will analyse and evaluate in subsequent lessons. The themes resonated with the pandemic where characters feel isolated and alone but seek and need community and resolution; ultimately, it was a piece about the human need for love and forgiveness. I look forward to hearing the students’ audience responses and their analysis of the performance.

In keeping with the festive spirit, you will be pleased to know that Cucina, our catering providers, will run the annual Christmas Lunch on Tuesday 14th December. Please see the menu attached on ParentMail. This is always a great celebration so I would urge all students to have a School meal this day.

The Denbigh Association Calendar competition has now come to a close and I am pleased to announce a student in Year 12 is our Winner of the MK is Beautiful competition. This is a fantastic achievement well done! I would like to say a big congratulations to all those who entered, the runners up will be announced shortly and the calendar will be available ready for the next academic year.

The news this week has focused on the new Omicron variant of Covid-19. At present this does not have a big impact on our measures in School, as we had already reverted back to mask wearing in communal areas and year group bubbles, which had been in place since the start of the academic year. The main change across the whole country is anyone who comes into close contact with someone who has tested positive with the Omicron variant, should isolate for 10 days, regardless of vaccination status or whether you are a School child. If you have been contacted as a close contact of this variant, please inform the School as soon as possible and start the isolation period as required. The Government would also like students to take part in Onsite Testing on their return to School in January. We plan for the onsite testing to run slightly differently this time so please bear with us while we finalise these plans. Covid-19 Numbers have remained steady for the past two weeks. We currently have 20 confirmed cases which is a big reduction on our numbers this time last half term. This shows that the measures we have in place are working and we must continue to be vigilant in our approach. Please sure your child is testing twice a week, wearing their mask in social areas and washing their hands regularly. As always I am incredibly grateful for your support in this matter and hope that one day all these measures will be a distant memory.

This weekend I am putting up my Christmas tree as I am sure many of you will be. Whatever you are up to, I hope you have a restful weekend and I look forward to seeing all students on Monday morning.

Kind regards,

Dr A Frame
Head of School

Dear Parent/Carer,

Another week done and another step closer to Christmas!

This week we have again seen Covid-19 numbers rise. This is expected with the rise across the whole of country, however, we must still continue to be vigilant. The number of students who are arriving to School without a mask is not acceptable. As I stated last week, mask wearing has been proven to reduce infection rates by up to 50%. We are going to start to call home to those students who are continually asking for a mask on arrival to School. It is also worth making sure you are aware of what procedure you should follow should your child start to display Covid-19 symptoms, or tests positive on a lateral flow. Please see the attached flow chart and the link to our Attendance Policy Covid-19 Addendum on ParentMail. Students should not be coming into School if they are unwell or have symptoms. I would also like to reiterate the importance of following the instructions given in the Lateral Flow Testing Kits; please ensure you wait the 30 minutes at home to get the result, before coming into School. You, and we, need to know the test result before your child comes to school.

Although Denbigh Schools production of FAME the Musical has not been able to go ahead this term, which is a real shame for all cast and crew, I am pleased to announce the Show must go on in the Summer Term. Keep Tuesday 12th and Wednesday 13th of July 2022 free in your diaries to make sure you do not miss out on this phenomenal production. Rehearsals will continue after the Easter Break.

Next Friday the 3rd November, Denbigh School will be raising funds for the annual Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day, a week early. Students should come into School in non-uniform and in their best Christmas Jumper. The option to donate is now available on ParentMail and will stay open until Friday 10th November the official Christmas Jumper Day across the country. Next Friday we will also be running our Denbigh Association Christmas Raffle in place of what would have been the Christmas Bazar. All raffle tickets will need to be handed in to the General Office by Thursday 2nd December. We are still in need of prizes for the Raffle so if you have any small gift that you would like to donate, please bring this into the Denbigh School Reception by Thursday 2nd December. In light of the fact the Denbigh Association has not raised any funds for the past two years, there will also be the option to Donate to the association on ParentMail. We would ask you to consider donating what you would have spent if you had come along on the night.

This year there are several Charitable initiatives running in Milton Keynes that I would like to let you know about:

1. Kids Out - The Fun & Happiness Charity are running the 'Giving Tree' campaign. This campaign aims to give Children in local refuge homes a present this Christmas. From the 12th of November Centre MK invites you to go the Guest Services Area where you can collect a decorative tags with a child’s name, age, and suggested gift on, you can then go and buy a present around the centre for £5-£20. The recipients of these presents will be Children in the local area who have escaped domestic violence, being forced to flee their homes quickly and leave all their possessions behind. Without this fantastic initiative, these children may not otherwise receive a gift at Christmas. Please see more information via the link on ParentMail.
2. Midsummer Place and Age UK have joined together for the return of the 'Thinking of you' campaign. The Thinking of You campaign encourages young students to write a letter to elderly people letting them know they are not alone this Christmas. The letter can be any length, handwritten or emailed. It is the thought that counts and you never know what this letter could mean to someone. Please see more information via the link on ParentMail.

Both of these campaigns are a fantastic example of what a generous city we have and how important it is to help and be kind to everybody in the community. The Denbigh School values are based on this ethos and I am proud to be a part of the Milton Keynes Community. I would encourage you all to get involved in both campaigns, if you can.

There has been some talk of it being a snowy weekend so have fun, stay safe and keep warm!

Kind regards,

Dr A Frame

Head of School

I hope this email finds you well and you had a good week, the weather has been very mild which is certainly a shock for November.

As you will have read in previous communications, due to covid, we are unable to hold our Christmas Bazaar again this year. However in order to continue to do our best to raise as much money for the Denbigh Association as possible we are going to continue to run our raffle. As usual 1st prize is £100 cash, plus we have some other fantastic prizes including a FitBit, signed Take That print and much more which we will tell you about in the next two weeks. This week please watch out for your envelope of raffle tickets which will be distributed to your son /daughter in tutor periods and mentor sessions. Please do your best to sell as many of these tickets as possible, returning the cash and the ticket stubs to the general office or reception by Thursday 2nd December at the latest. We really would appreciate your help with this.

From the 31st October to the 13th November the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference took place in Glasgow, more commonly known as COP26. This is the first time the Conference has been held in the UK, so as a country it seems like everybody took more notice. The climate crisis is reaching breaking point and we all must take action now, before the effects are irreversible. This is something we at Denbigh School, have been working hard on this year. We have asked all teachers to be mindful of the amount they are printing and use alternative ways to provide students with work sheets etc. I am pleased to say that so far, this has been successful and our reprographics department has reduced its printing by 23% compared to last year. We have also been working on our usage of electricity by making sure class room lights etc are turned off when not in use. Our First Aid Department has also reduced its carbon footprint by providing more sustainable period products such as moon cups, period pants and plastic free packaging. As powerful as the Denbigh Family is, we cannot change the world, however, we can all make small steps like this to play our part in saving the planet. There is still more we can do and this is something we are constantly reviewing. If any students or parents have any other ideas of how Denbigh School can help the climate crisis, then I would love to hear your suggestions, please email [email protected].

This week the Denbigh School Cross Country Team took part in a local competition. The Years 7-9 Team won their race and we had one student from Year 7 and 9 come second in their races. This is a fantastic achievement and something that you should all be very proud of. Don't forget about the wide range of clubs we have here at Denbigh School; there is something for everyone to get involved in so make sure you give it a try before the end of term. You can see the clubs timetable on the School website.

I would like to remind parents that students should be arriving to School with a mask. After the brilliant start last week, we have noticed a dip in the number of students who are coming to School prepared. We do not have enough masks to be able to constantly gives these out every morning. Please ensure your child is leaving for School with a plain mask and a spare, unless exempt in which case they should wear some kind of indicator for this. A recent global study shows that mask wearing can cut transmission rates by 50%. Covid-19 numbers are slowing increasing again in school and we must ensure we are all doing everything possible to control this. This is also important for Year badges, the number of students who have not been wearing their badges has also increased. Students must remain in their year group bubbles and these badges make this much more manageable. If your child has lost their badge you can purchase a new one via the ParentMail App.

This evening Children in Need will be taking place on BBC 1. This is a fantastic charity that helps so many children across the UK. Here in Milton Keynes, Children in Need support a number of Charities including; MK Gallery, YMCA Milton Keynes, Inter-Action Mk and Ride High Ltd, an organisation with which we work closely. Children in Need will be airing at 7pm tonight on BBC 1.

Have a relaxing weekend whatever you get up to.

Kind regards,

Dr A Frame
Head of School

Dear Parent/Carer,



This week we saw the re-introduction of Covid-19 measures within the School following recommendations from the Director of Public Health, Milton Keynes. Thank you all for your support in this step, I have been impressed with the number of students who have been remembering to wear their masks in social areas around the School, I know this can take some to get used to again. The number of cases within School at the moment has fallen, which is most likely as a result of the Half Term break. I am hopeful that with the new measures in place, and the vaccinations of many of our 12-15 year olds, we can keep these numbers low. If your child did not take part in the vaccination program, you can go to any walk in centre in the local area. This is an important step for the country to combat the pandemic so I urge you to do so if you can. Please see the following the letter on ParentMail from the Education Secretary regarding vaccinations for 12-15 Year olds.



I would like to remind parents of the importance of being mindful where you are dropping/picking up your child(ren) to and from School. Denbigh School is in a residential area and so we must be respectful that traffic still needs to pass easily and be aware of residents property, driveways, and access to their homes. There are plenty of areas where you can park your car safely which only involve a short walk for students. Stopping on the road outside School is not safe and causes more problems and potentially dangerous situations.



Last term we ran a non-uniform Charity Day in order to raise money for Ride High, a charity we have worked with for many years to support students with additional needs, and TASC, The Ambulance Staff Charity. This charity was brought to our attention by an ex student, Megan, who now works for the South Central Ambulance Service in Milton Keynes. Megan is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro along with her colleagues as part of her contribution to supporting this charity. The Ambulance Staff Charity supports the mental, physical and financial wellbeing of ambulance service employees. You will be pleased to know that in total we raised £1038.30, which has been split equally between the two charities. I am so proud of the kind charitable community we have here at Denbigh School and thank everybody who donated.



As you will be aware, we have unfortunately cancelled the Annual Christmas Bazaar for 2021. This is a real shame for all involved and something that will have an impact on the Denbigh Association and our School Charities. However, the spirit of Christmas is not lost and we will still hold the successful Raffle! I would like to send out a final plea for any prizes you are able to offer. Big or small! Anything from wines, chocolates to wonderful vouchers to events or experiences. We are always grateful for your generosity. Please email Mr Myers on [email protected] as soon as possible with anything you can offer, thank you in advance. Tickets will be released to families within the next week so keep your eyes peeled.



Kindness cards have been going extremely well within the School, please see ParentMail for the end results of last half term. Being Kind and Respectful, Doing no Harm and being Engaged is the principle behind everything we do here at Denbigh. I would like to encourage all students to keep this up; acts of kindness really do make a difference to a person's day!



The 1st -5th November was Stress awareness week, in honour of this and to recognise the huge amounts of pressure and stress young people were under during the pandemic, Investin, a UK Based organisation working to help students pick their career path, is running The 'My Peaceful Place; Photography competition. For every entry they will make a donation to Stem4, a charity that works to promote positive mental health in teenagers. Please find more information on the link on ParentMail. Entries close on the 23rd November.



I hope you have a great weekend, whatever you are up to.



Kind regards,



Dr A Frame

Head of School

Dear Parent/Carer,



This week we saw the re-introduction of Covid-19 measures within the School following recommendations from the Director of Public Health, Milton Keynes. Thank you all for your support in this step, I have been impressed with the number of students who have been remembering to wear their masks in social areas around the School, I know this can take some to get used to again. The number of cases within School at the moment has fallen, which is most likely as a result of the Half Term break. I am hopeful that with the new measures in place, and the vaccinations of many of our 12-15 year olds, we can keep these numbers low. If your child did not take part in the vaccination program, you can go to any walk in centre in the local area. This is an important step for the country to combat the pandemic so I urge you to do so if you can. Please see the following the letter on ParentMail from the Education Secretary regarding vaccinations for 12-15 Year olds.



I would like to remind parents of the importance of being mindful where you are dropping/picking up your child(ren) to and from School. Denbigh School is in a residential area and so we must be respectful that traffic still needs to pass easily and be aware of residents property, driveways, and access to their homes. There are plenty of areas where you can park your car safely which only involve a short walk for students. Stopping on the road outside School is not safe and causes more problems and potentially dangerous situations.



Last term we ran a non-uniform Charity Day in order to raise money for Ride High, a charity we have worked with for many years to support students with additional needs, and TASC, The Ambulance Staff Charity. This charity was brought to our attention by an ex student, Megan, who now works for the South Central Ambulance Service in Milton Keynes. Megan is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro along with her colleagues as part of her contribution to supporting this charity. The Ambulance Staff Charity supports the mental, physical and financial wellbeing of ambulance service employees. You will be pleased to know that in total we raised £1038.30, which has been split equally between the two charities. I am so proud of the kind charitable community we have here at Denbigh School and thank everybody who donated.



As you will be aware, we have unfortunately cancelled the Annual Christmas Bazaar for 2021. This is a real shame for all involved and something that will have an impact on the Denbigh Association and our School Charities. However, the spirit of Christmas is not lost and we will still hold the successful Raffle! I would like to send out a final plea for any prizes you are able to offer. Big or small! Anything from wines, chocolates to wonderful vouchers to events or experiences. We are always grateful for your generosity. Please email Mr Myers on [email protected] as soon as possible with anything you can offer, thank you in advance. Tickets will be released to families within the next week so keep your eyes peeled.



Kindness cards have been going extremely well within the School, please see ParentMail for the end results of last half term. Being Kind and Respectful, Doing no Harm and being Engaged is the principle behind everything we do here at Denbigh. I would like to encourage all students to keep this up; acts of kindness really do make a difference to a person's day!



The 1st -5th November was Stress awareness week, in honour of this and to recognise the huge amounts of pressure and stress young people were under during the pandemic, Investin, a UK Based organisation working to help students pick their career path, is running The 'My Peaceful Place; Photography competition. For every entry they will make a donation to Stem4, a charity that works to promote positive mental health in teenagers. Please find more information on the link on ParentMail. Entries close on the 23rd November.



I hope you have a great weekend, whatever you are up to.



Kind regards,



Dr A Frame

Head of School

Home | Denbigh School Milton Keynes

Dear Parents/Carers,

The Director of Public Health at Milton Keynes council has written to all schools advising them to follow additional measures to help protect children's education and the health of staff and students. This is against a background of a rise in infections among older people in the community and a rise in admissions for COVID-19 in local hospitals. As you know, we carried out 300 vaccinations against COVID amongst our 12-15 year olds yesterday in school, but these will take 3 weeks to take full effect and it does leave many students still unvaccinated. I would urge you, if you feel comfortable, to go to one of the walk-in centres to get your child vaccinated as soon as possible.

From Monday 8th of November 2021 the following additional measures will be put into place within School.

1. It will be compulsory for all students and staff to wear face coverings in communal areas outside of the classroom, unless exempt for medical reasons. Please could those who are exempt wear a lanyard or badge to indicate this. Students and staff may wish to wear masks in lessons as well, but this will not be compulsory at the moment.

2. Queues for the canteen at break and lunch will be by year group. Students will be informed of their times during tutorial and these will be alternated across the weeks to allow all year groups to go first at some point.

3. Before and after school clubs which include more than one year group will be cancelled until the end of term when this will be reviewed. Any clubs which only take from one year may continue to go ahead.

4. Any visitors to the school must wear masks at all times.

5. Any meetings with members of staff will be done virtually where this is possible.


We have a number of events which were planned for the rest of this term. The following outlines the plans for each of these:

Sixth Form Open Evening - this will not now take place on Wednesday 10th of November. There will be a microsite accessible from our main Denbigh website (www.denbigh.net) available to students and their parents to visit from next week. We will plan to hold the face-to-face event on January 19th 2021. Please make sure you put this in your diary if your child is in year 11.

Year 11 PPEs - these will go ahead as planned but students will need to wear masks to enter the exam room and if they wish to communicate with an invigilator (this is what we did at the end of last year for all exams held in the Sports Hall and other venues around school).

Fame - this will not take place this term and all rehearsals will now stop. Miss Ings is talking to all members of the cast of Fame today after school. We will plan to hold performances of Fame at the end of the school year. Dates will be worked out and announced later.

Christmas Bazaar - this is cancelled but we will still hold the raffle to raise much needed funds for the Denbigh Association. Watch out for tickets!

School Council Meetings - these will go ahead but students will be socially distanced and wearing masks.

Trips and Visits - any trips which are already booked will be assessed on an individual basis but we are hoping that these will be able to go ahead. We will write to parents and students individually if there are any changes to trips currently in the pipeline. Any future trips will be considered in the light of the current situation.

I know this is not what we wanted, but it is vital if we are to be able to continue to offer face-to-face education to as many students as possible. Your children have been informed of the new measures in place in their tutor group this morning. Please do discuss this with them to ensure they understand fully the importance of following these additional measures.

Kind regards,

Dr Frame
Head of School

Home | Denbigh School Milton Keynes Denbigh School; a successful secondary school on the Western Flank of Milton Keynes. We are recognised by Ofsted as GOOD school and are a Convertor Academy, which offers us the independence and resources to be innovative and react quickly to change.

Dear Parents/Carer,

I hope this email finds you well. The shift in seasons is well and truly upon us with the dark and chilly nights we experienced this week! Halloween will soon be here.

This week we were informed by the Essex Partnership University - our normal provider of vaccinations in school, that the Covid-19 Vaccination program will be taking place at on Thursday 4th November. This is for students aged 12-15 on the 4th November. I sent a ParentMail yesterday with more information so please read this carefully and fill in the consent form if you wish for your child to receive a vaccination. Essex Partnership have a limited number of vaccinations available on the day and will endeavour to vaccinate all those students with consent.

An alumni student of Denbigh School, who now works for the South Central Ambulance Service in Milton Keynes, is taking on the challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro along with 19 other colleagues. The team are raising money for The Ambulance Staff Charity who support the mental, physical and financial wellbeing of ambulance service employees. We will be raising money for this fantastic charity next Friday during our non-uniform Charity Day but if you would like to find out more about this worthy cause then please see the link on ParentMail.

It is very important that students continue to test twice a week through the Lateral Flow Tests either given out in School, or provided by the council. This will not only help us keep track of the number of cases within School, and then enforce more safety measures if needed, but will also allow the Milton Keynes Council to keep track of the number of cases within the City and stop a community outbreak. Please see the attached guide on ParentMail on the importance of regular testing.

This weekend the Milton Keynes Islamic Arts and Culture Charity will continue the Festival of Light program. The festival of light will bring together diverse communities in celebration of art, science and technology. There is a selection of light projections, community performances and workshops at Bletchley Park, MK College, MK Innovates and Station Square.

As you may be aware, The Denbigh Alliance Trust is working on an exciting project to open a new Primary School. This school is due to open in September 2023. If there are any parents/carers with Marketing skills or experience in brand design who would enjoy being involved in this project, we would like to hear from you. Please email our CEO, Andy Squires at [email protected] if you feel you could offer some expertise in either or both of these areas.

Yesterday was National Poetry Day, and the theme this year was Choice. We all make choices every day, good choices that we are proud of and sometimes the wrong choice which we look back and learn from. You can choose how your day goes, you can choose to be kind and respectful , be engaged and to do no harm. I urge all students and staff to always think about how their choices will affect them and those around them, both in the moment and in the future. This morning on the Zoe ball breakfast show, members of the public shared their poems based on this year's theme, you can relisten to this on BBC sounds. Fast forward to 42:24 to hear a wonderful piece from a first time poet!

I am concerned to have been contacted by members of the public this week regarding littering in the community by Denbigh students. The community we live in should be respected as much as we respect our homes. Please ensure if you have any rubbish, you dispose of this in a bin, or keep hold of it until you get home and dispose of it there. I was saddened to receive this complaint from a member of the public as respect for the community is as important as respect within Denbigh School

This weekend, a number of Denbigh School colleagues and I, will be running, walking skipping or maybe crawling the Race for Life in aid of Cancer Research UK. We want to support our colleagues and friends/family who are currently living with this cruel disease. If you would like to support our fantastic team then please find the link on ParentMail. Wish us luck!

Have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards,

Dr A Frame
Head of School