Achieving Goals

Duke of Edinburgh Awards 

I thoroughly enjoyed the Duke of Edinburgh Awards presentation at Winston on Tuesday evening.  Each of the students had achieved their bronze award, having completed each of the four sections of this challenge; their service, physical, skill and the expedition.  Each group prepared and gave a presentation and the audience of parents and staff understood the range of challenges they faced and enjoyed their stories.  

This award provides a the opportunity to develop a full range of skills, underpinned with determination, commitment, team building, communication and leadership.

Congratulations and I trust that you will now aim for the silver and gold awards. 

Thank you also to Mrs Sigrist and Mrs Sweetman who have been running the award scheme at Winston for over 15 years.  

They are now handing over the responsibility to Mr Doul and Ms Pflanz.

New Displays!

We have installed some new displays in the planetarium; trying out some new display technologies.  The aim being to use them as teaching aids, as well as creating an exciting learning space.  If these new materials prove to be successful, the intention is to decorate the music corridor and then to consider images for the science staircases.

Welcome Kurfürst-Salentin Gymnasium

German Partner School Visits Winston

Back in December thirty eight Year 11 German students visited our German partner school, Kurfürst-Salentin Gymnasium (KSG) in Andernach as part of the Christmas Markets trip. During the visit, they interacted and exchanged thoughts and viewpoints with German students on a number of topical issues.

On Tuesday 26^th March as part of a reciprocal visit, thirty five Year 9 students and three staff from KSG spent the morning at Winston. Many Year 9 Winston students volunteered to help host our German guests and gave them a warm and enthusiastic welcome at the front of the school -complete with banners and flags- when their coach arrived.

The day began with an international Handball tournament where, after a brief introduction to the game delivered by our German guests, students from both sides got involved in some fast-paced matches, scoring some impressive goals along the way!

Our German visitors then thoroughly enjoyed Mr North’s Astronomy sessions in the Planetarium, which they found awe-inspiring before Winston students led small group tours around the school. The groups reflected on some key differences such as how British schools offer a greater array of practical subjects and do PE outside in all seasons!

Year 10 GCSE German students then decorated a lunch buffet with Union Jack plates, serviettes and bunting as well as cakes and scones with edible British icons and flags -which all proved a real hit.

Students ended the day conversing with each other over lunch and having some fun with a British-themed photo booth.

It was a thoroughly memorable and enjoyable day. Staff on both sides are committed to further developing the link between our schools, which bodes well for some exciting opportunities for students in the future.

Here are some student reflections from the day:

‘I really enjoyed the whole experience. I enjoyed taking them on a tour of our school as we could chat with each other about school life and British and German stereotypes! They told us how cool the Planetarium was and how they really wanted one in their school. We exchanged contacts and are still talking and chatting together in an international group chat!’ –Hannah.

 ‘I really enjoyed the German exchange because it gave us the chance to make international friends and show off our school. I played Handball with a group of amazing people. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a part of such an experience- it was so much fun!’ -Freya.

 ‘Meeting students from our German partner school was an amazing experience! It was interesting getting to know them and having conversations in both languages. The German students were so lovely and helped us with our German and German accents. We have kept in touch and hope to stay in touch ahead of our visit to their school when we are in Year 11.’ –Patience.

‘We really enjoyed playing Handball with the German students and discussing the rules and tactics of the game. We were impressed at the standard and enjoyed playing at that kind of pace and level.’ -Ross and Will.

Thank you to the Catering team, Mr North, Miss Butcher, Miss Allen, Miss Pflanz, Mr Higgs and the PE department for their help and support in making this a fun, enjoyable and successful visit.             – Miss Finney.

Beyond the Classroom

County Champions!

On Wednesday 20th March the U16 netball team travelled to Surrey Sports Park for the greatly anticipated Surrey Schools County final. 

The opponents: Three Rivers Academy. After winning a very tight semi-final against SJB, the girls had high expectations of this final game being a tough one. But they were ready.

Miss Singleton and Miss Holden travelled from school, with a bus full of supporters and half the team, meeting the other players, and even more supporters there! A big crowd gathered whilst the they warmed up. The team talk focusing particularly on reducing the small, avoidable errors, to make up every marginal difference they could. 

However, after loosing the coin toss, Three Rivers gained the first centre pass. A tense start saw Winston go 2-0 down in the opening few minutes, but with some steadying, and a settling of the nerves, Winston clawed it back, leading in the first quarter 6-3.

Some agile movement in the centre third from Hannah Scrivener and Lily Zimmerman and Kayla Vine, gave Winston further advantage, turning over the Three Rivers' centre pass on a couple of occasions. The score line breaking away, Winston pulling out in front- 13-5. Some excellent foot work in our attacking third, and using an additional step up, Tara Saunders and Ellie Gunner-Hooper, allowed Winston to be consistent under the net. Parents, students and Mrs Daniels, who has coached the team from year 7, were cheering each shot, and it seemed like the opposition were running out of ideas of how to deal with our consistently high level of netball. 

As the third quarter started, and Alissa Mailes and Lois Henely came on to: "Make an impact!" and they did just that. The score line continued to grow, giving Winston a greater lead and the final third finished 22-10. Year 10's Abigail Rigby and Georgia Chaffey made huge contributions across the central spine of the court, and the crowd watched on as the u16s cruised to a score of 31-11: 20 points clear of their competitors!!

Just as the ball was being passed out of Three Rivers' end, and was making its way towards the Winston net, the final whistle blew. The Winston girls had done it! The spectators rushed on to the court to congratulate the girls, who were exhausted, but beaming with pride! Shaking hands, congratulating their opponents and doing 'three cheers', there was a real sense of accomplishment amongst the Winston team. A victory.

Winning this game is a huge achievement for the girls- winners of a County Competition- made all the more poignant to have been achieved in their final season at Winston.

The PE department would like to thank all involved in the girls' success over the years- parents coaches and teachers, and wish the girls every success as they finish the netball season on such a high. We hope they continue to play to such a fantastic standard!

We are all very proud!

Costa Rica Training

The team was amazing throughout the weekend.  Eight young people arriving at Tile Barn in the New Forest, on Friday evening and they quickly set about picking the pitch for the weekend, while Mrs Alexander and Mrs Jones had a guided tour of the site. On their return the tents were up! The next task, dinner! The team divided up into smaller groups, one group on cooking and the other on route planning for Saturday. 
After a hearty dinner of chicken fajitas, doughnuts and warm drinks, it was off to bed. 
Saturday morning after a very chilly night, everyone was up bright and early, cooking sausages and beans and making packed lunches. Breakfast and washing up was completed by 8.45 and we were ready to walk. 
Lead by Katie off we went, and 6 hours later we returned, maybe we got a little lost on the final leg but the 10.3 miles task was done and for some in the team this was the longest they had ever walked. After another amazing evening meal pasta and mince we sat and chatted about what our expectations were for Costa Rica 
Now our training weekend is under our belt and  fund raising is almost complete.   Only 3months to go before Winston Churchill school embarks on an adventure of a lifetime, 3 weeks in Costa Rica ...... more to follow during our trip...

After School at Winston

Japanese Club  🔰

Every Friday since January, students at Japanese Club have been looking at different aspects of the New Year traditions and cultures in Japan and China. We have just finished this extended project by learning about the traditions and culture surrounding the recent Chinese Lunar New Year.

Here are some pictures of some of the highlights of the project.  We had a lot of fun and took part in a game which replicated the New Year tradition of Fukubukuro or ‘happy bags’ where stores bag up and sell items at high discounts but the shopper does not get to see the contents of the bags before buying them – so in effect it is a game of lucky dip.

We also replicated the New Year game of Fukuwarai, which is similar to pin the tail on the donkey but with faces. We learnt about the tradition and culture surrounding the making and eating of Mochi, the tradition of children receiving red envelopes filled with money from their grandparents, the culture surrounding ‘Maneki-Neko’ or ‘beckoning cats’ -which are a symbol of luck and prosperity- as well as the significance of the colour red and the traditions and stories behind the animals of the Chinese zodiac, and why the animals are in the order they are. We focused on the pig as it is what this year’s animal is. We even tried writing Happy New Year in Kanji!

Ella Wood- Year 10 Japanese Prefect

2019 Maths Master Classes  

The WCS Maths Department hosted their 2019 Maths Master Classes for years 7 - 10, exploring the deep and exciting Mathematics that surrounds us. Year 7 delved into the mathematics of the lottery and learned how to decipher written code. Year 8 went 'mocktail mad!' inventing their own delicious or disgusting drinks with their knowledge of ratio. Year 9 defeated game theory, exploring the maths and psychology behind winning, whilst year 10 surged into A level topics, discovering differentiation by first principles. We look forward to hosting next years Maths Master Classes, when students will get more opportunities to take their Maths even further.

Making Bouncy Balls in Science! 

British  Science Week 2019

Students enjoyed the challenge of making these bouncy balls.  Their learning objectives were to: 

To be able to answer the question 'what is a polymer?

Investigate and report on properties of a cross-linked polymer.

Investigate the efficiency of energy transformations of a bouncing ball.

While enjoying making the bouncy balls students were also considering careers involving the STEM subjects, science, technology, engineering and maths.

Key Message:

There will be more STEM jobs in the future. The more qualified you are in STEM subjects, the more employable you will be.