The Darrick Wood Way

Our approach is encapsulated in what we call The Darrick Wood Way, which incorporates our core values of respect, responsibility and honesty, a vision for learning where everyone supports each other to achieve the best possible education. In short, and in accordance with the School’s motto, Revereor Vitam, we have a reverence for life.

Our Vision for Learning

Progress

Our teaching enables learners to become well qualified for their chosen careers and are committed to lifelong learning.

Ownership

Teachers create the conditions so that learners take responsibility for and shape the pathway of their own learning with the teacher acting as a facilitator.

Challenge

Learners are encouraged to deepen their thinking, take risks and develop strategies to increase resilience.

Relationships

The behaviour of learners is exemplary due to the high expectations instilled in them and respond positively to the School’s ethos of praise and reward.

Engagement

Teaching inspires learners to develop a thirst for knowledge beyond the classroom.

Revereor Vitam

Our motto and logo originate from the earliest days of the School opening in the 1970s.
To have a reverence or respect for life works as a basis for all we do at Darrick Wood on several levels.

Walk around the School site in the early hours and you will hear the birds, including woodpeckers and almost certainly come across other woodland creatures such as squirrels and foxes. The School’s setting, on the edge of the London Borough of Bromley means it is surrounded not only by residential areas but also by woodlands and fields where the local wildlife, including the lesser spotted woodpecker thrive, but only if London’s Greenbelt land continues to be protected and we have a respect for life and the environment.

It is said that the School’s first Head Teacher, Mr Turner, was keen to select the woodpecker as our logo since it was not only a reminder of the School’s setting but liked the idea that the woodpecker is an industrious bird that works hard to build its home. Working hard is something he felt was essential for educational success and we continue to emphasise this to this day.

When Ofsted visited the School in 2019, the inspectors noted that our pupils are impeccably dressed and proud of their uniform.  Its distinctive colours certainly mean our pupils are noticed wherever they go and its origins have a 1970s feel (dark brown with ‘honey gold’).

The important thing is not the colour, but the logo, the motto and the fact our students dress smartly and are proud of their school.

DWS Audio is a short-form content service for young people in the Darrick Wood community…and beyond. We aim to offer the best in new music, drama and storytelling as well as a range of different podcasts and items relevant to the lives of teenagers and young people.

On a regular basis DWS Audio will premiere a variety of audio dramas and sketches featuring either a full cast or a just a single voice; transporting you to places that visual media cannot go. And because the action takes place inside your head the pictures are so much better!

DWS Audio has won multiple awards for the audio dramas our students have created. It really is Darrick Wood at its best.

Visit the DWS Audio website

Darrick Wood - Venue Hiring

The School’s facilities are available for hire outside of school hours.

The Sport Centre, 3G pitch and lettings are managed by SchoolsPlus. Click below to find out more.

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