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05/11/26

As Remembrance Day approaches, we invite our school community to support the Poppy Appeal and honour the courage, service and sacrifice of our Armed Forces. Poppies will be on sale from our Prefects at the Poppy Station in the Heart during break and lunch times until 10 November.

05/11/26

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04/11/26

Kent and Medway Careers Hub is offering a free online podcast packed with information and advice for Year 11 parents/carers on post-16 education. It's at 6pm Wednesday 11 November. More information can be found here:  kentprospectus.co.uk/events/…

04/11/26

Our Term 2 Sports Club programme is now available.  However, please note that Cheerleading, Futsal and Dodgeball will start from Monday 16 November due to the Sports Hall being used for Year 11 mock examinations.  Netball and Fitness Club will continue uninterrupted.

02/11/26

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22/10/26

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22/10/26

9 History pupils enjoyed an interactive workshop at the Victorian Operating Theatre Museum, in London, helping them deepen their understanding of the History of Medicine topic. They then enjoyed lunch beside the iconic Golden Hind.

20/10/26

A fantastic opportunity for our Senior Prefect Team at the Broadstairs Youth Forum, where they joined local leaders and students to discuss issues affecting young people. We are proud of the maturity, confidence and leadership they showed throughout.

19/10/26

CDS STEM club is now competition ready and preparing for its debut in the First Lego League in February! Thanks again to Broadstairs Rotary, Thanet Rotary and CT10 Charities for supporting the project!

19/10/26

Help us secure a breakfast club grant! Kellogg’s have teamed up with Tesco to help support 300 school’s breakfast clubs. Nominate us today to help secure our chance of winning this grant.  kelloggs.co.uk/en_GB/our-sto…

14/10/26

Y9 Business Studies pupils enjoyed a visit to Morelli’s in Broadstairs, where owner Giuseppe Morelli (Joe) shared insights into running a successful family business and brought classroom learning to life. Thanks to Joe and the team for a fantastic experience!

12/10/26

Huge congratulations to 2 of our talented Jewellery Club members, who have created an articulated flamingo necklace and a Coraline-inspired badge! Using CAD software and our laser cutter, their designs showcase impressive creativity, skill and attention to detail.

08/10/26

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08/10/26

We were delighted to welcome Sue Leach from the QEQM League of Friends, our charity partner for 2025-26, and present a cheque for an incredible £2,193.05 raised by our school community last year. A huge thank you to all our pupils and families for their generosity and support.

07/10/26

You can register for this workshop here:   events.teams.microsoft.com/e…

01/10/26

We had a bumper night at KS4 Cooking Skills Club and, continuing with our popular TikTok recipe theme, students took on the challenge of making pan-fried hash browns completely from scratch. A hugely successful session with some seriously impressive results!

29/09/26

We are delighted to introduce you to our Senior Prefects for this academic year.  Recognisable by the red trim on their blazers, these young leaders play an important role in supporting our school community.

29/09/26

Our Y9 pupils have been developing their observational drawing skills by exploring mark making with ink to capture the intricate details and textures of shells. The results were fantastic, with excellent examples demonstrating creativity, precision and attention to detail.

28/09/26

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28/09/26

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28/09/26

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28/09/26

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24/09/26

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24/09/26

Life Skills Cooking Club: This week we tackled TikTok marshmallow ice cream cones! Sticky, messy and trickier than expected, but creativity and perseverance won the day!

23/09/26

The NHS Trust Emotional Wellbeing/Support Team are hosting a series of workshops throughout Terms 1 and 2.  Here is the first.  If you would like to register, you can do so here:  events.teams.microsoft.com/e…

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Gifted & Talented

Vision and Mission

At The Charles Dickens School we wish to nurture and develop all students and to provide an environment rich in opportunities for learning and for the development of individual gifts and talents.

We aim to inspire our students to be global citizens prepared for the exciting opportunities and challenges of today’s world. They will be encouraged to develop thinking skills that can be applied across disciplines, to learn languages which will allow them to communicate with confidence, and to develop the skills of leadership, collaboration and self-knowledge essential for happiness and personal fulfilment.

Each student at The Charles Dickens School is unique and our programmes are designed to support the developing needs of our students. The Gifted and Talented programmes are created to ensure the very best success for those students identified as having a particular gift or talent but are also open to all students who wish to aim high and achieve the very best in their academic and personal development.

Our partnership with Barton Court Grammar School will allow us to share ideas, resources and best practice to ensure all students have access to opportunities to stretch and challenge in all subjects to encourage academic excellence, and with individual talents in Art, Music, Drama, Dance, Sport and Design Technology. 

Curriculum

In Years 7 and 8, almost all students to follow an academic pathway.

Students study an academic curriculum making sure they are stretched and challenged across a wide range of traditional subjects, which includes a Modern Foreign language. This programme provides ideal preparation for the EBacc programme at KS4.

In Years 9 – 11, all students start their GCSE courses and there is an opportunity for students to study the traditional EBacc programme. This is the most prestigious learning pathway offered and will lead to the English Baccalaureate qualification. The EBacc provides students with a broad range of academic subjects upon which to build any future career options. It is expected by this Government that all students, at KS4, follow this pathway and it is recognised as a highly prestigious pathway by school Sixth Forms, Colleges, Universities and employers and is ideal preparation for Post-16 study.

To achieve the EBacc, students must gain a GSCE grade 9-5 in six subjects. These subjects must include:

  • Mathematics
     
  • English Language
     
  • 2 Sciences (2 from Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Combined Science (2 GCSEs))
     
  • 1 Humanity (1 from History or Geography)
     
  • 1 MFL (French)

Talents – Art, Music, Drama, Dance, Sport, Design Technology

Students talented in a specific field, such as Performing Arts, Sport or Technology are provided with opportunities within and beyond the classroom to achieve their own personal excellence.

Extra-curricular opportunities, competitions, exhibitions, events, concerts, productions, are widely available and students are encouraged to take part with as many as possible to extend their skills further and to broaden their learning.