Careers: Former Winston Students

 Career Choice: What is the Verdict?

We have had recent visits from two former students of our school, who shared their career journeys with our Year 10 and Year 11 students.  It is lovely for pupils to see real examples like these, to improve their understanding of careers.  If you are a former student yourself or are interested in talking about your career experiences, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Smyth in our careers department on l.smyth@wcsc.org.uk.

Jake took a Year 11 assembly, showing the variety of apprenticeships that are now available across all industries and levels and the kinds of skills and competencies you need.  He is doing a Law degree apprenticeship with NRF and followed the assembly with a negotiation workshop with a group of students interested in Law.

Judge Benjamin practiced as a Barrister initially and then became a District Judge.  He explained to a group of Year 10 and 11 students the pathways to becoming a Barrister and Judge and then shared a case he recently worked on, to see if our students came to the same judgment.  They did!  He also explained how his experience with Drama and debating at The Winston Churchill School helped him with presenting to an audience.

More to Celebrate

 Year 10 Football

We have reformed our Year 10 Football Team under the leadership of Mr Cotton and Mr Martin.  We have been delighted with their positive start to the season.  Their work ethic and behaviours have been excellent.  In their National Cup match, they just lost out on penalties 4-3.

Chelsea Supporting Young People

It was great to celebrate the success of the Chelsea Programme, called premier League Inspires, aimed at supporting young people and building their confidence to become even more successful at school.  It has been run by Isaac Keighley from Chelsea F.C. Education Department, who has built great working relationships with our students and staff team.

Year 9 Art

Students have been completing the first assessment of the term using a variety of different media to create a decorative skull inspired by the Mexican day of the Dead Festival. Tonal drawings studying the work of the artist Jose Posada and creative homework images of Mexican spirit animals, known as  Alebrijes  which are recognised  in Mexican folk art as fantastic creatures that have transcended time and space.

Year 7 Participating

 Year 7 Girls' Football

A few weeks ago, the Year 7 girls played their first competitive game in a County Cup fixture at Salesians School.  The game was the first competitive game at any level for 9 of the 12 girls, which made the result even more pleasing.  Trailing 0-1 at half-time the girls had found their opposition very capable but had managed to keep themselves well in the game.  Then a little against the run of play the opposition scored again.  However, the girls didn’t let this deflect from their efforts and a few minutes later they were awarded a penalty, which was confidently converted.  Then a well worked counterattack provided a further goal, before the game went to penalties.  Winston eventually won 1-0, with our goalkeeper making a number of saves in the shootout.  The team now await their 2^nd Round opposition.

 

The team consisted of Amelie, Kitty, Jess, Kira, Daisy, Amelia, Maisie, Tilly, Alyssa, Bella, Poppy and Abbie.

 

At least a further 10-12 girls are training regularly and games will be run for all girls, so they get an opportunity to represent their school.

A few days later 5 of the team played up for the year 8’s, in a National Cup game which they won.  For two of these girls it was only their second ever game, so a great achievement.

Mr Phillips

Summer School Catch-up

After a successful Year 7 Summer School at Winston, all students who attended were invited to a catch up session with hot chocolate and biscuits during break. They completed one last task for their scrap book, which included providing feedback on the sessions they enjoyed at Summer School. Members of staff were also in attendance to discuss individually with students how they have started at Winston and the positive journey all have begun. 

It was great to hear the lessons and activities the students have been enjoying so far as well as some of the obstacles they have had to work around/overcome. All felt that Summer School was a positive experience which has led to an easier transition into Year 7.

Mr Martin

New Approaches

Technician Week

This week our science technicians focused on improving practicals for our students. Miss Holtom in biology, focused on finding the best water plant to use  for photosynthesis in the laboratory. Rotala rotundifolia outperformed our previously trusted Elodia. Miss Holtom also revised  a new method to capture the oxygen bubbles where the students will be able to study photosynthesis in action.

While in Physics, Miss Buttery had a fantastic idea to recycle the electromagnets from a KS4 class practical and create an additional one for KS3. Here, the students will be able to colour a Newton Wheel themselves and watch the colours merge as the magnets rotate while learning about the visible light spectrum. 

Mrs Blatch spent most her time blowing glass in chemistry, so that KS4 classes can have a go at cracking themselves.

This micro cracking class practical allowed the students to break down long chain hydrocarbons into simple molecules safely.

 Prefect Application Session

On Wednesday and Thursday this week, Senior Prefects held an information session for Year 10 students who are hoping to apply for a prefect position this term. They independently created engaging activities to encourage the students to think about the skills required for the role, the skills they have which would make them a good prefect, how to approach the application form and how to answer interview questions. 

We would like to thank our Senior prefects for their hardwork and also let Year 10 know that they made a great first impression and we are excited for them to apply from next week (19^th October).