WCSC Headteacher's Blog: November 2015

Dance at Winston

On the 25th November the Gifted and Talented Dance cohort participated in the Dance Woking, Young Dance Makers performance, at the Rhoda McGaw Theatre in Woking. They performed a dance called "Sing, Sing, Sing". Miss Heel, our dance teacher and choreographer, said "our dancers were phenomenal. Their energy and performance was perfect and I was delighted with the outcome and rather emotional!" Well done everyone:- Jake, Ellie, Laura, Caitlin, Jada, Lauren, Charlotte, Grace, Annie, Naomi.

History at Winston

Mrs Markham is very pleased with the work of her Year 10 class work this week, ahead of their assessment.

They were given the challenge of working together in groups to prepare a revision activity for the rest of the class. Their brief was kept deliberately vague – produce a revision activity that is engaging and interactive, covering the causes, key features and effects of their event. They really stepped up to the challenge and we’ve had a wonderful series of activities; revision games, a ‘pass the bomb’ quiz (which was very intense!), interactive demonstrations, role plays..…and even a text conversation between President Truman and Stalin to show what they each thought of Marshall Aid! I must admit the quality was so good, I’ve nabbed a couple of the quizzes to use next academic year!

Science Club

The sessions in science club are planned so that the students can relate to everyday life, or to help them understand something in everyday life better, as well as being enjoyable.Today they made bath bombs making the lab smell amazing; using bicarb of soda, citric acid, a bit of water and their own choice of colourings and flavourings/scents. Many of them decided they would use them as additional Christmas presents for their mums, which was lovely! They have, over the course of the term so far, built up skills enabling them to take on practicals they have never done before with only a simple list of instructions and some equipment- so today they were given the instructions, equipment and (after a quick safety check) let loose to get on with it! They did fantastically well- all managed to make at least one or two bath bombs to take home. Last week we did heart dissections and next week we’re doing ‘kitchen chemistry’ (involving making honeycomb, instant ice cream and pumpkin DNA over in food tech). The students are a credit to themselves and the school.

Governing Body Workshop

Governors spent an interesting evening, in the Churchill Suite, attending a number of sessions aimed at developing a deeper understanding of the work of the school. The sessions included:

Session 1: The work of the NW Short Stay School

Mr Burrows and Mrs J Taylor

Session 2: The Prevent Strategy

Mr Parsons and Mr Mohamed

Session 3: The Stream

Mr Fricker and Mrs French

Session 4: Building Resilience

Mr Drake

Governors find that these opportunities enable them to meet the staff and for staff to meet the governors and to share an understanding of each other's role.

They all agreed that it was valuable to hear about each development, as well as the personal opinions of staff, regarding individual iniatives and the work of the school.

Year 11 Breaking Point

Year 11 students experience an opportunity to reflect on the choices they will face in the future with regard to their personal safety and that of their friends. The play and follow up discussions were around the issues of alcohol and driving and making positive choices.

BBC School Report

I am delighted to announce that Winston will be taking part in the BBC initative School Report on the 9th March 2016. This has been organised by two Year 10 students, Thomas Walgrove and Yasmin Howbrook. The BBC have given the students permission to produce their news items a day early, as the published date of 10th March is our school Inset Day! I am looking forward to the seeing the students rise to the challenge, as this has to be a student led project which replicates the day in the life of a journalist. Every department has agreed to take part. More details of our event will be published after the Christmas break.

Maths In Camden!

"On Monday 14 students went to London to join a number of other schools from around the country for a GCSE maths conference featuring 3 well-known mathematicians. The first session was led by James Grime, who introduced us to the history of codes and how to break them. He had a real Enigma machine that he took apart and showed us how to use which was fascinating and proved mathematicians can save lives! Then the 'stand-up mathematician' Matt Parker came out to discuss why maths is so important to technology, zooming in on mobile phone displays and how binary is used (with a lot of jokes along the way). After lunch was the main 'act' - Marcus Du Sautoy, a professor of maths at Oxford University and television personality. Marcus spoke about how to 'cheat death' by ensuring we could always win games (including Monopoly). The students were all excellent, asking good questions to the speakers and getting involved by going up on stage. They even took part in musical chairs to help Marcus explain the lemming population! A really enjoyable and informative day."