More Great News

 Celebrating our School

Dear Parents/Carers, 

Our school has evolved over the last 10 years, with the aim of providing an education that will enable children to develop into positive members of our community with the skills necessary for their future lives. No school is perfect, but we strive to be the best that we can be, in every aspect of our work. We will continue to review and revise our approach. 

Therefore, with this in mind, I am delighted to announce that we have been named as a finalist in:

  The Secondary School of the Year Awards 

and 

Stuart Phillips our Business Manager is also a finalist in the Business Manager of the Year Award. 

This has come hot on the heels of Mr Drake’s Music Teacher of the Year Award, which is celebrated in the previous blog. 

I am sure that you will acknowledge that this recognition for those great members of staff across the school, provides evidence of their relentless optimism, their ingenuity and the care that they demonstrate every day for your children. Our staff make a remarkable contribution to our school. 

Being a finalist is also recognition for parents, you underpin the success of our school. 

Thank you for being part of our journey and for your continued support.

Zoe Johnson-Walker

Headteacher

Awards Ceremony

 Winston at the Royal Albert Hall

The Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year Awards were presented during a wonderful concert at The Royal Albert Hall on Monday evening.

Students and staff were able to join Mr Drake to see him collect his award from presenter Dan Walker.

Image courtesy of Matt Crossick and Classic FM

The classical concert also showcased amazing young musicians from around the world, accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra and conductor Ben Palmer.

The soloists included Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason performed the first movement of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2, Sterling Elliott played the first movement of Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Nathan Amaral played The Lark Ascending. Brad Kella, winner of Channel 4’s The Piano, made his Royal Albert Hall debut.

The members of the Music Team and our Year 11 Music prefects were all able to attend, along with Mr Harrington-Tucker, Mr Parsons and Mrs Mellor.  Most importantly Mr Drake's wife and his two sons were there to see him accepting his well-deserved award.

We had a great view as we were seated behind the orchestra, however, Miss Hazelwood was on the opposite side to us and was able to capture a different view, along with the interview of Isabel and Theo, our Music Captains.  See below:

And some images taken by Mrs Drake:

Sewing a Seed (bulb)!

 Taking Sport Seriously

We have recently arranged two specific talks to boys and girls from our school football teams, but also those elite athletes from wider sports.  We initially held a presentation on Sports Psychology, provided by J D Psychology, where students were taken through a range of material relating to sports psychology.  They were given elite athlete examples and were encouraged to understand their strengths, look at how they might stretch themselves and how to manage their safe zone.  As well as being very relevant to sporting achievement, what they investigated can also be transferred into all walks of life.

 

A few weeks later we provided a presentation to the same groups, covering the subject of Nutrition, provided by our in-house catering provider OCS.  Again, we provided specific presentations for male and female athletes, providing information relating to pre, during and post event intake of food and hydration.

 

Both sessions were tailored to the specific needs and demands of male and female athletes as they grow, develop and compete through the school.

 

This was a provision we are looking to establish to help students focus on the specific things that will improve their own individual development and success.  It is also part of the ongoing development of PE and competitive sport within the school.  

 

In addition, Year 11 GCSE students are utilising on the information that they were taught by cooking an appropriate meal for an athlete of their choice, considering and developing ideas regarding the macro and micronutrients. 

 

The two pictures show a group of male students participating in the Nutrition talk and a group of female students in the psychology presentation. 

 

Mr Phillips

Business Manager

Football Coach

Preparing for Spring

Thank you to all students and parents who donated bulbs to our eco club. We had a lovely sunny activity session where we planted them throughout our outdoor learning space. It was great to get together and the students acknowledged how proud they will feel when they see the beautiful colours bloom in Spring. We are looking to do more activities with our learning space in the near future.

 

Year 5 at Winston

We hosted Year 5 pupils in the Discovery Space this morning.  First they did some book tasting with Mrs Jones, our Discovery Space Manager.  It was a great way to encourage young readers.  This was followed by activities leading to writing a short story, led by Miss Harper and Miss Morrison, members of our English Department. It was a brilliant morning, the pupils were amazing and everyone really enjoyed the session!

Watch this space for a blog about Mr Drake and the Music Teacher of the Year Awards!!

Learning and Celebrating

Ingenuity 

Year 8 impressed to the maximum in an English lesson we had recently, where the task involved getting students to design a pop up card inspired by a poem they studied from other cultures. The task was designed to test their ingenuity, a competency skill Winston Churchill school constantly aims to get its students to practice as it is not an easy one and essential for not only the academic environment, but also for their future careers. 

Students worked admirably well in a collaborative environment. They thought outside the box regarding which resources they could use at their disposal and illustrated some thoughtful, creative ways of linking the ideas from the poem 'Island Man' by Grace Nichols to their designs. The room was buzzing with creativity and ingenuity and the designs formed so far have been truly impressive and clever. We look forward to future opportunities for this group and the wider Winston community to display some inspirational inventiveness.

Miss A Elfaituri

Deputy Subject Leader- English

 Sports Leaders at St Marys University

On Wednesday 16th October Winston's Sports Mentors and PE Prefects were given the opportunity to go to St Marys University Twickenham to learn about Sports Marketing and communication. 

Students took part in several workshops: sports marketing, sports business, and sports journalism. In the latter, students had to envision themselves as journalists, asking questions to professional athletes. A task to encourage them to think critically which will lead into their work on a PE newsletter. 

Students were then given a taste of university life with a campus tour and given access to St Marys unique E-Sports gaming centre. 

The students were a privilege and they look forward to implementing what they learnt into their roles as sports leaders. 

Mr Fuller

Celebration Cinema

The year 7s competed over two weeks to obtain as many achievement points as they could. Competition was fierce, and the top 60 students were invited to take part in the first Celebration Cinema! Thanks to Mr Major, these students came to an atmospheric Performance Space on Friday afternoon to watch the chosen film of Onward. Of course, it couldn't be the cinema without some popcorn and sweets, which Miss Hazzlewood and Mr Jones dished out as the students entered. 

It was so lovely to celebrate some outstanding students, who have all had an excellent first half term and should be really proud of their achievement. 

We look forward to the next rewards event!

Miss Hazzlewood

Head of Year 7

Skills for Life

 Restart a Heart Day

Today the whole school took part in the international Restart a Heart Day.  Students and staff joined an online stream presentation by the crew from the Kent Surrey & Sussex air ambulance team, to learn invaluable life-saving skills.

They saw the day to day work of the crew and were supported to understand the benefit of of using CPR and a defibrillator. There was also the opportunity to practice on a rolled up blazer.

Every child, in every class across the school participated, 1500 students.  One parent emailed in fully supporting the initiative, following a personal experience.

Thank you to Mrs Sigrist for arranging the event and to all the staff and students who look part.