Extending the Day

 After School Visit the Library!

Miss Dodds thought you might like to see how busy the Library gets after school, particularly on a Monday, when we host 3 different clubs! There is also space for students to complete homework or read quietly. The laptops are especially popular at this time for students doing homework or checking Frog. 

Chess Club is run by 2 Year 9 students who are using this an opportunity to complete the 'Skill' section of their Duke of Edinburgh qualification. They had to organise the resources, create posters to advertise and supervise the club each week. It is a really popular club for students in Year 7, 8 and 9. 

Gaming club is relatively new and this week, the students spent time designing posters all about Minecraft. It is their favourite game so they each designed a poster about a different element to the game. Miss Dodds definitely learnt a lot about the game from their posters!

The last club held in the Library on a Monday is Year 8 and 9 Book club, which is run by some of the Year 11 English prefects. They spend time chatting about the books they have been enjoying reading and also helping each other choose a new book to read. The attendees are all avid readers and it's a great opportunity to meet with friends, chat about books and give each 

other recommendations!

The Library assistants are also very busy on a Monday after school sorting the shelves and putting returned books away. This week, some of the Year 7 Library assistants spent some time pulling out books from the non-fiction section that needed labelling. Miss Dodds has over 15 Library assistants to help in the Library this year which shows commitment from the students and a great display of service before self, one of our skills encouraged here at Winston.

It's great to see the Library so busy after school, filled with students keen to complete their work or participate in an extra-curricular activity. 

Miss M Dodds

Discovery Space Manager

Key Stage 3 Art Club

Ms Pinion has emailed me to share news of the KS3 ART club!  Twenty-five students have joined the sessions and enjoyed the opportunity to share their love of art beyond their lessons.

Students are working on their own project ideas or working on the ART club theme of 'The Mad Hatters Tea Party' for this term.

The Wonder of Science

 Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic cells

Today in Biology, 9C1 had some hands-on fun creating Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic cells. Mr Rose provided the dough that the students were able to shape and design into the relevant cells . Later, they labelled the structure and transferred their knowledge into their exercise books. 

Properties of Waves

 Year 9 students were instructed by Mr McCarthy on how to carry out the GCSE required practical on observing the properties of waves in liquids and solids. They used a ripple tank for this practical, which projected onto a white board on the wall and so the students were able to measure the wavelength and the frequency of the water waves. The measurements were used to calculate the wave speed. Similar measurements were taken involving a stationary wave created with string.

Lavoisier's Law

Last Thursday Dr Lau introduced 9W1 to Lavoisier`s law of conservation of mass in chemical reactions.  The students were set the challenging task of planning their experiment, demonstrating the understanding and importance of accurate measurements. They used balances to measure reactants to 2 decimal places and record their findings to prove that there was no change in mass after the chemical reaction took place. The results varied and the students acknowledged the conditions of the conservation of mass would need to be taking place in an enclosed system. They tackled this task superbly. 

Year 8 Investigation

Luke in a Year 8 science lesson this week was using a microscope to investigate cells and took the following picture. 

Learning New Skills

 Year 7 Food Technology

My year 7 classes ( 7Cs 1 and 7WM 1) completed their first practical lesson at school this week and produced some delicious, healthy, fresh layered salads.

They worked brilliantly as a team to wash and clear away their areas. I was impressed with the skills they showed using a variety of ingredients and equipment.

They understood the contrast needed between texture, taste, and colour to produce a layered salad that was well presented and structured.

I am looking forward to seeing what they produce in their next practical lesson.

Mrs Vadi

Subject Leader Technology 

English and Drama at Winston

 Moulded in Clay

Inspired by Mr Hartop's description, from the short story 'The Mill', as 'moulded in clay', 11CE practised their descriptive and analytical writing skills in today's lesson.

They first moulded faces out of salt dough and wrote out descriptions of their characters. Then they swapped with their peers and analysed their use of language to uncover the personalities of the characters they had unknowingly created. 

Students not only demonstrated the English skills they have been developing over their time at Winston, but also their open-mindedness to approach these skills in a different manner. 

Mr D. Fisher
Teacher of English & Latin

Alice

Since their return in September, a small group of students from all year groups have been pulling together to produce their own school production. The show, titled 'Alice', showcases the incredible talent and resourcefulness present in each student at The Winston Churchill School. 

The play, an original piece of work written by pupils, enlists young people with a wide range of specialisms. Allowing students to express and share skills in acting, directing, set design, concept art, writing, technical support, dance, project management and leadership.

The performance follows the story of Alice, a war photographer and investigative journalist living through the 20th century, as she experiences the evolution of women's rights through the lens of a camera. After losing her father following the events of the Wall Street crash, Alice leaves her small-town American life in the hopes of taking photographs for a living. Upon achieving her dream, she quickly discovers that witnessing the events of history unfold isn't as glamorous as it sounds, as she comes face to face with the true human condition. 

From the aftermath of Hiroshima to the final speech of JFK, the sinister side of our collective history takes its toll on Alice, as she finds out just how deep the rabbit hole goes. 

Hiroshima Scene

Pearl Harbour

The Cast

Todd Harrington-Tucker

English and Drama Teacher

Deputy Year Leader (Year 8)

Skills Based Lessons

 Onion Cells and Microscope Skills

First 9W-G had to get to grips with the skill of  peeling onions!  They then began staining the thin membranes between the layers with iodine, and looked at the cell structure under the microscope. As part of the required practical for their GCSE , students were able to practice invaluable microscope skills. Mr Russ`s class also had the opportunity to observe and investigate the structure of plant cell and understand why onion cells lack chloroplast. 

While on the top floor, 9W-E with Mr Rose brushed up on the differences between animal and plant cell structures. The class focused on size and magnification. 

Microscope image is courtesy of students in 9W-E, taken with 40 x magnification.

Year 11 Biology Practical 

As part of the nervous system topic for their GCSE biology course, 11C3 dissected some pig`s eyes during today's lesson . Mr Hough led the class after a step-by-step introductory video, on how to slice the eye and separate the lens. The students were able to learn about the function of the retina and the iris as well as the shape of the lens and how the muscles interaction to stimuli. 

Year 7 PE Lessons

Year 7 have thrown themselves into PE lessons! The first six lessons in PE is planned as a rotation of activities, enabling students to demonstrate their strengths and areas for development. Mrs Smith's class involved the students having to collaborate effectively in groups, analyse their performance and be creative in their approach to enable them to be able to move together. The whole class demonstrated an outstanding level of resilience during the lesson, starting with a 3 legged race, progressing to a 4 legged race and finished in groups of 5-6 with a leader to help direct. The girls couldn’t believe it when it was the end of the lesson, and thanked the teacher as they left expressing their excitement for next lesson! 

Fresher's Fair

The Key to Success,
Participation

The Year 7 and 8 Fresher's Fair took place this morning for the first time in two years, as a result of the pandemic.  These students have yet to have a full academic year in school and we want to encourage them not only to engage in lessons but to participate in the amazing range of activities that we offer that take place at the end of the school day.  All of our clubs are free and there is something for everyone.

Mrs Smith said:

"On Wednesday morning, we hosted our annual freshers fair for the first time in two years, this fair not only show cased the range of extra-curricular opportunities which our young people have at Winston but is also one of the first official roles of the newly elected year 11 subject prefects and senior prefect team.  This was felt even more special as the freshers' fair was not only for Year 7 during form time this year but opened to year 8 during period 1.  Every student in the sports hall made us proud, I really hope they take the opportunities they are offered and enjoy being part of the wider school community now they are able to.  The fairs is set up as a series of stalls all ran and created by the Year 11s, showing their leadership skill in trying to encourage and inform the younger years to attend their club." 

We have great facilities and enthusiastic staff offering opportunities to our students, to help them to become 'the best that they can be', supporting their social development and their mental health.