Discover 2025
Blackfen are pleased to announce the return of our annual Discover program of enrichment opportunities for your children to take part in.
The Discover Program
Discover is a program unique to Blackfen, in Bexley. Our staff kindly offer to lead on a variety of external and internal activities, and students get to choose which activities they would like to participate in. Previous Discover activities have included; trips to The London Dungeons, Southend Adventure Island, rock climbing, street dance instruction, sign language tutoring, and lots of other exciting experiences. Our aim is to offer our students opportunities to try something new, look to their future, or learn a new skill, all within a safe and supportive environment.
Discover takes place during the school term. Therefore, attendance and participation are expected of all students in Year 7-9. Discover is not optional. Any planned absence on the Discover days should be reported to the school well in advance so that your child’s name can be removed from the Discover lists.
Paying for Activities
Discover 2025 will be taking place on Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th July 2025. It may seem that our contacting you now is slightly premature. However, we have made the decision to bring the choices process forward to allow parents/carers a longer period of time over which to pay for their child’s chosen activities. We hope that this will go some way towards alleviating the pressure on parents during the current cost of living crisis.
Therefore, please note; payment for activities is not required at the time of choosing. We have allowed for three salary cycles to pass between activity allocation and the payment deadline. You may pay in instalments if you wish.
The deadline for payment is 1st May 2025. We are now a cashless school, so payments must be made via Wisepay (our on-line payment portal). You can access our school payment system by:
- Wisepay Website – Please visit Wisepay.co.uk and enter Blackfen School for Girls in the Parent Log in Area.
- Wisepay App for mobile phones - This is available for parents to download. Please note the Blackfen organisation code to download the App is 66447546. All this information can be found on our school website (blackfenschoolforgirls.co.uk).
In cases of financial hardship, please contact the school via email to finance@blackfen.bexley.sch.uk, so that help may be offered. Even if help is provided, a contribution towards the cost of the trip will be expected.
All monies paid for the Discover activities are non-refundable. This is because we have to pay for the venues, providers, equipment etc. Your child’s participation in any of the activities is at the school’s discretion and is based upon their behaviour and any risk we feel they may pose when partaking in an activity.
Choosing your activities
Please take the time to go through the Discover 2025 brochure and planning document with your child before completing the online application form. These documents can be found on the school website under the following tabs: News and Events, Discover 2025. All activity costs are in the brochure. You should consider the total costs before making your choices. Use the planning document to structure your child’s choices according to activity times.
To submit your child’s choices, you must fill in an online form. A link to the online form will go live on the school website (News and events\Discover 2025) and in Years 7-9 Year Group Teams.
The link goes live at 6.00pm on Monday 27th January 2025.
The form will be open until 6.00pm on Monday 3rd February 2025.
These timings have been chosen to allow parents to complete the form on their child’s behalf/with their child.
If you know that you will be unable to access the online form, please contact Mrs Dunsdon before Monday 27th January to make alternative arrangements - discover@blackfen.bexley.sch.uk.
Each activity has a limited number of spaces. If your child wishes to participate in a specific activity, it is advisable to complete and submit the form early, to avoid disappointment. The software that we use will remove each activity from the form when the number of spaces available has been reached. Therefore, the number of available activities will be reduced as time progresses. Please encourage your child to be resilient. If their preferred activity is no longer available, they should choose a back-up activity. I’m sure that they will still have fun.
There is a section on the form where you can type in an activity that your child wanted to choose but was unable. This is so that we can have waiting lists for each activity should any spaces become available at a later date.
Once your child’s choices form has been submitted, changes can only be made by contacting me, Mrs. Dunsdon via email. Only submit one form per student. By submitting the completed form, you are agreeing to pay for the chosen activities and are giving permission for your child to participate.
Students are not required to wear school uniform for the Discover days, but should ensure they are dressed appropriately (i.e., no shorts above mid-thigh/ripped jeans or crop tops, and no false nails or lashes). If students decide to bring electrical items with them, the school will not take any responsibility if anything is lost or damaged.
Confirmation of activities
You will receive a letter in February 2025 that sets out your child’s allocated activities. It is at this point that Wisepay will open for you to begin making payments. While every attempt is made to ensure that your child is allocated the choices they submitted on the form, this is not always possible. This will be explained to your child in an assembly.
Letters containing detailed information for each activity will be available on the school website. You should take the time to read through these letters with your child to familiarise yourselves with the specific requirements and plans for each activity.
Medication
Specific medical conditions will be advised to the staff member overseeing the activity prior to your child attending. However, if you wish to discuss this further, please contact me on the school number 0208 303 1887.
Having read and understood all the information about the activities, and by paying the sum required in full via Wisepay, you have agreed for your child to take part in all relevant activities outlined. The school will continue to use all medical and contact information that you provided upon admission for this activity/trip if and where required.
If you have any queries in connection with Discover, please contact me via email.
discover@blackfen.bexley.sch.uk.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs. D. Dunsdon
Student Coordinator
Discover forms
ACTIVITY LETTERS
Discover 2025 – FAQs
1. The form isn’t working. It says that it’s not accepting submissions at this time.
The form goes live at 6pm on Monday 27th January and closes at 6pm on Monday 3rd February. You can only access the form to make a submission during these times. If a form is not submitted for your child during these times then they will be allocated Discover activities by the school based upon what spaces are remaining after the form has closed.
2. Do I put my email address or my child’s email address on the form?
You must put in the parent/carer email address. This is so you, the parent/carer can receive a copy of the completed form for your records.
3. The activity my child wanted to choose had a line through it in the drop-down menu and we couldn’t select it. What’s going on?
Unfortunately, this means that the activity is fully booked and there are no available spaces left. Your child will need to choose an alternative activity, complete their form and submit it. There is a section of the form where they can write down the preferred activity they missed out on and be added to a waiting list for that activity.
4. My child didn’t get their preferred activity. What can I do?
It is important that you encourage your child to be resilient if they were unable to secure a space on their preferred activity. Sometimes in life things don’t go exactly as we hope, and we have to adjust our expectations. Your child will need to choose a different activity. There is a section on the form where you can type in the activity they missed out on and they will be added to a waiting list for that activity. Hopefully, they will get a chance to gain a space on that activity during the resale in June.
5. My child wants to change their activity choices to be with their friend. Is this possible?
It may be possible for your child to change their activity, but this is dependent upon spaces available after the form has closed. They should go to see Mrs Dunsdon in room 10 after school to discuss this. Please encourage your child to be resilient if this is not possible. All the activity spaces have been allocated equally between the year groups to ensure that every child will have year group peers in their activity, so there should be somebody they can spend their day with.
6. When do I have to pay for the activities that my child has chosen?
Wisepay will not open for Discover payments until some time in February. You will receive a letter stating exactly what activities your child will be taking part in and informing you that Wisepay is now open to take payment.
7. I didn’t receive a confirmation email with a copy of the completed form for my child. Has my form been submitted?
The most likely explanation is a typo in the email address that was added to the form. Please contact Mrs Dunsdon via email discover@blackfen.bexley.sch.uk stating your child’s name, form group, and your query. We will then check our records and send you confirmation of your child’s submitted choices.
8. What if my child doesn’t want to take part in Discover?
Discover is part of the school term-time enrichment program. Therefore, attendance is not optional. If your child is in Year 7-9, they will need to complete a Discover form (unless otherwise directed by Mrs. Dunsdon) and their attendance in school on those days is expected. Unauthorised absence will be recorded as truancy.
9. My child has a planned absence on 16th and/or 17th of July 2025. What should I do?
If your child has a legitimate reason for not being in school during the Discover days, e.g. a medical procedure or family event, please contact the school giving the details of this absence as soon as possible. This will reduce the chances of you being contacted with requests for Discover documentation or payment.
10. Where can I get the information about where my child needs to go on the day?
When you receive your activity confirmation letter in February the letters for each individual activity will become available on the school website.
Go to www.blackfenschoolforgirls.co.uk/News&events/Discover2025 to find the letters for the individual activities. The letters will tell you where your child should meet the staff leading their activity, what time they need to meet by, what they need to bring with them, and when and where they will be dismissed after the activity. All internal (in school) activities are on one letter titled “Internal Activities letter”, the rooming document for in school activities will be made available to students nearer to the time.
11. Are Discover days non-uniform days?
Yes, uniform is not required on Discover days. However, clothing must be appropriate for a school activity or outing. This is especially important if your child is doing an activity that carries a risk of injury, e.g. Go Ape, Southend Adventure Island, Total Wipeout
Therefore, the following are NOT ALLOWED:
• bare midriffs
• shorts/skirts above mid-thigh
• strapless or spaghetti strap tops
• low cut tops
• Sliders/flip flops
• False nails
• Hoop earrings
• Necklaces