Learning at Winston

Winston Extra

Year 7 students love their Winston extra lessons. On Thursday 7CT conducted a debate with the title “mobile phones are bad; they should be banned for under 16s”.

The students where told which side of the argument that they had to make!  This really tested some of them, as the students had to be open minded, think through what they really felt and then argue the opposite of their own views. They listened well to the other side's points and responded effectively, in trying to dismissing the point previously made. As I am sure you can imagine if this was a completely open forum the structure of the arguments could be lost, therefore, a student was selected to “chair” the debate. This permitted some individuals to demonstrate excellent leadership skills! 

The whole class participated in planning this debate and most voiced an opinion, justifying their side's argument.  These debating skills have taken place for all Year 7 in Winston Extra lessons and all the debates that Mrs Smith has been involved in have been fantastic; well constructed and entertaining!! 

Latin at Winston

On Wednesday of this week, 9WG were constructing sentence on the Language Lines, matching Latin vocabulary with the garment that reflects it's grammatical function and forming their own Latin sentences. Do you know how to use a Dative noun? 

Year 10 PE

Today some of the girls, in Year 10, experienced an Ultimate Frisbee lesson on Thursday. The courts were filled with excited young people and were a hub of activity and smiles. Jaycee claiming “I love this sport” and others asking if we can have ultimate frisbee lessons more often!  Great team work and adaptability shown by all girls. 

Beyond the Classroom

Speakers4Schools

Winston welcomed David Dein a football entrepreneur and businessman to talk to students from across the school about his experiences and values.

David joined the Arsenal Board in 1983 and was made Vice-Chairman in the same year. He also rose to Vice-Chairman of the Football Association, and has served on numerous UEFA and FIFA Committees.

David was President of the Arsenal Ladies Team, which has consistently been the best in the land.

He was the man who had the foresight to bring Arsene Wenger to Arsenal in 1996. During David’s reign, the Club won:

The League x 5
The FA Cup x 5
The UEFA Cup Winners Cup x 1
The League Cup x 2
The Community Shield x 5

A total of 18 trophies!

Additionally the Club now has the finest training facilities and the most magnificent stadium -The Emirates

David was one of the main architects in the creation of the Premier League in 1992 and has been at the forefront of many of the important changes in football including the introduction of Goal Line Technology.

 Our students were able to benefit from the journey that David Dein has made through his life and the lessons he has learnt along the way.  David talked about a teacher that had influenced him.  This teacher taught him French and that at the time he had not realised how useful this would be when he signed Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry & Robert Pires to the Arsenal Invincible team.  David was able to converse with these players, making them feel welcome and part of the team.

Many of David's key messages  replicate the messages given at school; 'be the best that you can be', participate and make the most of the opportunities offered.  David made the following comments about our students:

'Thank you for your very kind email and it really was a pleasure for me to deliver my talk this morning at the school.  The students were very well behaved, engaged and asked searching questions.  They were a bright group and a great credit to the school.   

Please pass on my thanks to Mr Wheale and of course Chris who was a very able assistant.' 

Over 90% of our students attending David Dein's presentation agreed that:

• They felt more confident about their own skills & abilities
• If they work had they will be more successful 
• They understand that overcoming failure is part of the journey of success
• Their future isn't limited
• They are motivated to try different things out
• There are more opportunities out there for them
• They can achieve more than they thought

The majority of the students felt that after listening to the presentation they will:

• Try harder at school
• Go to university
• Get some work experience
• Get some career advice

The overall impression was that their learning from David's talk will definitely help them for their futures. They will remember 

his 'motto of the turtle' which is 

'in life you must always stick your neck out'.

A huge thank you to David Dein for giving up his time for our students and also to 

Mrs Walton and Mr Weale for organising the event.

Climate Change

It was great to see that two of our students were prepared to give up their time to join thousands of other protesting about climate change and demanding that governments around the world take action to protect our world.

Their photo was found on the BBC website feed regarding the protests.  Well done to Emily and Nina for trying to make a difference.

Our Open Evening

Welcome to Winston Year 6 

Winston welcomed 400 hundred families to Open Evening on Thursday, with the aim of showing Year 6 students and their parents the range of opportunities available at our school.

Our Year 7 students, who have only been at Winston for 12 days, volunteered to be tour guides as they are so proud of their school and had the confidence to show guests around.  Our visitors were full of praise for our students, the staff and the school facilities.

There was so much to see and do in each area of the school, including visits to the Planetarium, Sport and the Music Department.

I have encouraged parents, considering Winston for their child, to book a tour,. to see the school on a working day.  Tours can be booked via our school website.  

A huge thank you to everyone involved in organising such an inspiring evening.

A packed hall!

 Our Year 7 Tour Guides