Superb Solo Performances

 Young Musician of the Year

On Wednesday 24^th June the Music Department held their annual Young Musician of the Year competition in the Performance Space. This was an opportunity for students to battle it out to be crowned 'Young Musician 2025', winning the Young Musician trophy and the opportunity to perform a solo accompanied by the school Orchestra in the Christmas Concert in December. 

The 19 finalists from Years 9, 10 and 11 were selected following outstanding performances in one of our Spring recitals and they did not let the standard slip in the final. The level of performance was superb, from Year 9 student Milo who opened the evening right through to Dimitri who gave the final performance. 

Every student who performed did so at the highest level, with a range of styles presented. It was also fantastic to see a variety of instrument performed on from violin, cello and harp through to bass, electric guitar and drums. In the end the judges, ex-student and last years winner Archie Saunders and Mr Parsons, had to make a decision. 

After much deliberation they awarded joint second to guitarist Jacob and saxophonist Izzie and then announced our 'Young Musician' for 2025. 

Huge congratulations goes to Karis, who gave an incredible performance on her flute. We are looking forward to seeing her perform with the Orchestra at Christmas.

Mr Drake

Director of Music

Primary Choir

 Primary Choir Day at Winston

On Tuesday 24^th June Winston hosted another Primary music event, this time our annual Primary Choirs Day. Students from Barnsbury, Worplesdon, Horsell and the Hermitage joined us for a day of vocal workshops and, as before, Winston student music mentors were there to support the younger students. 

During the day the combined choir of over 100 students learnt 6 different songs which they were able to perform to a large audience of parents and friends at 3.30pm. The sound produced by the choir was outstanding and all of the students involved should be commended for their performance.

In addition to the 6 songs, the audience were treated to a performance from the Winston vocal groups 'Bella Voce' and 'Boys Voices', who combined for an outstanding performance of 'Defying the Distance'. This is one of the songs that they will be singing at our 100 Years of Musicals event in two weeks time. 

Mr Chris Drake

Director of Music and Lead for Primary Liaison

Primary Orchestra in a Day

 Creating an Orchestra in a Day

Thursday 19^th June saw The Music Department play host to our annual Primary Music Day. This event has grown substantially in recent years and 2025 saw us have a record 138 primary students with us for a day of music making. They were joined by Winston students from Years 7-9 who gave up an inset day to come and support us in putting together a huge orchestra in a day.

The day started with some warm up games before we quickly got set up and started learning our first song. This was learnt within a short space of time and by lunch time three pieces were almost ready to be performed. After lunch, piece number four was added to the programme and final rehearsals took place. At 3.30pm, just over 5 hours from starting to learn the first piece, the orchestra performed to a packed audience in the Performance Space. All four pieces were performed well and  received a huge round of applause. 

Learning one piece of music in a day isn't easy so to learn four was exceptional. 

All of the primary students involved were a credit to their respective schools and the Winston students involved showed just what our school is about. They worked tirelessly to support the younger students and ensure that everyone could achieve their very best. Thank you to all of our students who gave up their own time to support the Music Department staff.

Mr Chris Drake

Director of Music and Lead for Primary Liaison

Developing Confidence

 Junior Maths Challenge

Following on from success in the Junior Maths Challenge, six students were identified to take part in the Junior Kangaroo Challenge on Tuesday 3^rd June. 

This is a far more difficult challenge, but every student stepped up and managed to achieve a bronze, silver or gold, which is amazing. 

Results are below:

Year 7

Andrew Gekht - Bronze

Year 8

James Kett - Gold

Jake Turner - Silver

Ruby Molyneux - Silver

Nathan Birrell - Bronze

Takara Hasegawa-York - Bronze 

Mr Eaton

Lead teacher for Excellence in Mathematics

Building Confidence

A group of Year 7 students have recently finished a 'Confidence and Resilience' intervention. 

They were asked to complete 'All about Me' worksheets to summarise all they had learnt (Red). This was then adapted for older year groups, including advice they would give to the Year 7s starting in September (Blue). 

Their excellent work is now displayed in Room 24, just in time for the Year 6 taster days.

Ms Bristow and Ms Crighton

Assistant EPs

Engaging with the Past

 Winston at Reading University

On Tuesday, June 17th, 2025, fifteen Year 8 students visited Reading University for their 'Unlocking History' event. This trip offered a dual benefit: experiencing university life, and to develop historical understanding through university-style sessions on various engaging topics.

Sessions included 1920s London (focusing on Underground posters), strike action (identifying tampered sources), and the history of World Earth Day (to emphasise Reading University's efforts at becoming a more sustainable university).

The highlight of the day was a session on primary sources. In this session, students were able to flick through diaries and Boys' Own and Girls' Own annuals from the early 20th century. They were encouraged to consider the problems with using sources written by children and to think about sources within their own personal archives left behind from earlier childhood.

Our students gained valuable insights into both history and higher education, they thoroughly enjoyed this experience."

Kind Regards

Mr Lovell-Smith

Teacher of History 

Today at Winston

 Aquathlon

Winston took part in their first Aquathlon, an event comprising of a swim followed by a run. The 7 students who attended either completed the Sprint Race (100m swim & 100m run) or the Olympic Race (200m swim & 200m run). 

The event, hosted by St Teresa's Independent School, welcomed mostly other Independent schools with their own swim/triathlon sport programmes. However, this did not phase our students who performed incredibly well. This type of event was a 1^st for everyone, however they were professional in their approach and determined during their races. Despite the heat, and the occasional student wearing their vest the wrong way, or losing a shoe during the race, the group put in performances they can all be proud of and in some cases against students a year older than themselves.

Everyone received a medal as recognition of finishing their race but there were also shields awarded to Ryan T (who is also the current National Schools Aquathlon Champion) and Takara H-Y who finished 1^st and 3^rd respectively.

A great day for all involved and one we will be keen to enter again next year with more students. Next academic year the PE Department will be looking for further opportunities that our talented swimmers and runners can get involved with to showcase their abilities.

Mr Martin

Deputy Head PE

Bug Hotels!

Students from Winston's Eco-Club had fun after school creating new "Bug Hotels" for the outdoor learning area.  The group were able to use any materials to create the right type of environment for the bugs to inhabit.  This year one of our key targets is to improve biodiversity in the school grounds.

Mrs Sigrist

Assistant Head