Learning never stops at Winston

Half Term Science

 

 

Students and staff enjoyed a busy half term preparing for GCSE Science examinations.  As you can see below, students were working hard on examination questions, which focus on reading, interpreting and then ensuring the answer attracts maximum marks.  Mr Lawson, Mr Hough and Dr Lau ran a number of sessions, creating a very positive atmosphere to support learning.  Thank you to everyone involved.  Students I spoke to appreciated the opportunity to revise in a structured way.

High Level Skills at Winston

Year 8 Philosophy and Ethics

Students have been challenged through inspiring RE lessons with regard to the creation of the earth.  They have been working on a task that illustrates the chances of all the elements required, in the right proportions, under perfect conditions, coming together to create our planet.  Developing higher level thinking skills is essential to achieve outstanding results in the future and success in career pathways.

Preparing the elements ready to be loaded into the balloon.

Further preparations being made.

 





Preparing for the explosion

Assessing the outcome.  In over 700 attempts all ten coloured pices of paper have only once ended up within the area of the cross.

Sporting Success

Winston Churchill School competed in the 1^st Round of the English Schools Athletics competition at Epsom and Ewell Athletics Track on Friday 16^th May.  Our Junior and Inter teams performed extremely well all day with some exceptional performances from a number of individuals.  To name a few, Bomi Aderinola (Y9) ran the 100m’s in 11.2 seconds, Will Hur (Y10) threw the Discus  41.31metres, Naomi Ehigie (Y10) threw the Shot 9.00metres, and Amy Braid (Y8) and Aimee Mattingley (Y7) both ran the 100m’s in 13.7 seconds. Overall, our Junior Boys team finished in 2^nd place on 361 pts, the Junior Girls finished in joint 1^st place on 267pts, the Inter Girls team finished in 2^nd place on 292pts and our inter Boys team finished in 4^th place on 353pts.  We are eagerly awaiting to hear whether we have qualified for the next round!! 

 

 

Eight of our extremely talented athletes have recently been selected to represent the North West Surrey Athletics Team at the County Championships on Saturday 14^th June at Kingsmeadow Stadium.  Many congratulations and well done to Amy Braid, Bomi Aderinola, Aiden Grainger, Barty Bodilly, Harvey Gillard, Naomi Ehigie, Spencer Darrington and Will Hur!  We look forward to seeing how they all get on!



Enriching Winston

10WW Debating

 

10WW enjoyed a session planning a debate on the question...

 

'Is there life after death?'

 

The debate will take place later this half term and we are looking forward to well thought out, coherent arguements being presented in a persuasive way.

 

 

Maths Enrichment Programme

The Winston Maths Enrichment Programme was launched today for fifty year 5 students from across several local primary schools.  The programme will run for four weeks each term, and will consist of a number of mathematical investigations accessed online that will challenge and give students the opportunity to apply their mathematical skills to problem solving.  The first investigation was released on the programme’s website today, and students submit their weekly investigations online to be marked by the Winston maths department. They will have the opportunity to collect their certificates at the school open evening in the autumn term.

We are hoping to extend this programme for students in years 6, 7 and 8 next year.

 

 

Woking Sixth Form College

 

We were delighted to welcome the Principal of Woking College, Martin Ingram, and a number of his staff to Winston on Wednesday.  They spent their time in our school offering students the opportunity to discuss possible career ideas and subject selection for post-16 education.  Woking College are very supportive of the students at our school and have an excellent reputation for both results and the support provided for young people to achieve their goals.  The outcomes achieved have placed them in the top ten colleges in the country.

 

 

Year 8 'Dazzling' Science

Year 8 enjoyed a sparkling science lesson on the topic of burning metals.  Students were made aware of the risks involved and took all the appropriate precautions.  Practical science is essential to stimulate interest and embed learning.  The students were fascinated by the experiment and eager to learn more.

 

Be Smart Be Safe

Be Smart Be Safe

Students and parents had the opportunity to participate in training sessions today on the themes of social media and drugs.

The social media sessions were run by Sharon Girling OBE, an ex-police officer who provided a very informative session. Students and parents were surprised at the levels of risk involved in communicating electronically and the dangers that young people were placing themselves in, with regard to their personal safety and the law.

The drugs session was run by a police officer and parents after the session felt that they had learnt a great deal and that it would benefit other parents, by raising awareness, if we could arrange a repeat of the evening.  Approximately sixty parents attended the evening from across all year groups.  The evening lasted longer than intended as parents had a number of questions and concerns that they were able to discuss with the experts.



Working Together.

Working together

Our PTA, The Winston School Association, is run by a small team of enthusiastic parents who want to support the education of all the children at Winston. They make a difference.Plans are in place to refurbish at least two science labs in the summer holiday and should the PTA receive further donations, it would be possible to ensure that the final lab was replaced at the same time. Currently the PTA have donated £15,000 towards the cost, if you are able to commit even a small sum this would improve the facilities for all students over the coming years. Donations can be made via the PTA website which can be accessed via the main school website. Each science lab costs £30,000 to replace.

The PTA makes a tremendous contribution to our school, aiming to support projects that will benefit all students. Can you provide a small amount of time to help maintain our PTA? Your child benefits through the provision of equipment and facilities and this in turn allows me the opportunity to spend school funds on additional teachers. Without the PTA the school will lose its charitable status, which brings a range of benefits to the school, especially being able to claim gift aid on donations. It is essential that we have twelve members and that at least eight attend the meetings, otherwise funds cannot be accessed by the school. I need your help with this, there are a number of projects that I would like to bring to fruition, including the creation of a new school library and improvements to the school hall, which I can only achieve with a team of enthusiastic parents, who in turn need general parental support.



Before:

 

After:

 

Please contact me directly, via the email system on Frog if you can offer your

support in any way to help me to accomplish any of the projects mentioned or
that you are prepared to give some time to the PTA, to enable the positive work
to continue.

Help us to help your child.

 

Thank you

 

Zoe Johnson-Walker

Headteacher

 

Basketball

Staff V Year 11 Basketball Match

 

The final match for the Year 11 boys was held on Friday evening against a staff team.  I arrived late to see a game in full flow, with both sides absolutely determined to win.  It was played with passion and ambition.  The staff seemed a little hazy about the final score, but were convinced that they had won!  The photographs below can only provide a taste of a game enjoyed by all.  Thank you to eveyone for taking part.

Challenges at Winston

Assemblies at Winston

Another brilliant 'Mr McLeish' assembly.  The theme was that of respect and looking at how we behave towards students and adults in the school and ways in which we can support each other.  The images illustrate the concept of support in a practical demonstration.  The student could not eat his lemon mousse because the handle of the spoon was too long, so another student helped him. 

Geography

 

Year 8 students spent a geography lesson exploring micro-climates across the school site.  The students had to collect accurate data and then analyse their findings back in the classroom.

 

Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme

Students took part in their final Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition last weekend.  All the students completed the challenge and now have to prepare their project which they investigated along the route.  Staff expressed how proud they were of the students and that it was a pleasure to be out with them on the bank holiday weekend.  Activities such as this can only take place if staff are willing to give up their own time and I am very grateful to them, as students gain so much in terms of leadership skills and resilience through this award.  I look forward to the students completing all the other parts of the programme and to the awards ceremony for the presentation of certificates. 

Could you make these?

Year 11 Design Technology Students

The following photographs showcase the superb outcomes produced by the Year 11 Resistant Materials students for their GCSE controlled assessment.  The level of skill and the standard of finish is very impressive.  Well done to the students and thank you to their teacher Ms Blackman for her expertise and guidance.

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