A School in Waiting

As our school community waits to hear that Billie Dickerson has been found safe and well, I want to recognise the way in which both staff and students have handled a difficult and emotionally challenging situation. Mrs Cotter has gone above and beyond in her work to support the police in their investigation and I am very grateful for her dedication to the welfare of our students.

Our students have been excellent and have come forward with pieces of information to help locate Billie; she is a valued member of our school.

Our thoughts are with Billie's family and friends as they wait for her safe return.

Storm Damage

The wind and the driving rain have caused some damage to the fabric of the school.  Cladding has been ripped off, ridge tiles broken and blown off and water damage can be found in the hall and corridors.  Mark Hill and the site team are working to ensure that the buildings are water tight and that the school is safe and ready to use on Monday.  However, one building will have to be condemned!!  This is the 'props' shed, which the wind appears to have picked up, blown it backwards by at least a foot, and then dropped it again.  The drama department are faced with the soggy job of sorting out their resources, see picture below.

A huge thank you to Mark Hill and the site team for making the necessary repairs in good time to prevent further damage and to ensure that the school can safely open on Monday 6th January 2014.

            

                        

                                     

13th December 3013

Christmas continues at Winston with a number of activities aimed at raising money for charity and our sugar levels!
Year 10 arranged a superb Christmas Fair on Tuesday, with a range of games and stalls selling lovely things to eat and gifts and decorations.  It created a lovely atmosphere at the end of the day and demonstrated how willing our students are to support others.

                         

Chocolate logs have been the order of the day in Technology and the following pictures show the students with their delicious hand-crafted outcomes.

                                       

                                                     

Mr Parsons decided to bring GCSE Stats to life with an innovative lesson on the corrolation between your height and how loud you can shout.  Using the sound proof recording studio and some very sensitive equipment students of all ages were asked to shout the word 'LOUD' and were then measured to enable the GCSE group to work on real live data. As you can see in the photographs below, Mr Davis could not resist taking part!

                                         

I was delighted to welcome Martin Ingram, Principal of Woking 6th Form College, to Winston on Wednesday.  He had an opportunity to talk to Year 11 students about their perceptions of the Woking College and was very complementary about the mature way in which our students handled the discussion.

'Twas the week before Christmas' Chapter 3

The final day of the term began with the Year 7 Celebration Assembly and one of the highlights was Mr Lipscombe having his ponytail cut off to raise money for the Movember Appeal. It was impressive to see so many students collect certificates for their achievements this term.

                Some students took the opportunity to   

                                                                                           wear Christmas jumpers today.

Some students enjoyed a Christmas breakfast this morning with Mrs Bracher and Mr Davis.  The breakfast wraps were delicious and were followed by some fruit and drinks.

Year 7 and 8 students enjoyed a Christmas Disco, organised by the Team who will be taking part in an expedition to Borneo.  Students dressed up and devoured fruit sticks dipped in chocolate, drinks and danced the evening away.  Thank you to Miss Howe and Mr Reed for making the evening such a success.

Finally, I received the e mail below from Nicholas Cross, praising our students:

'I work for a small Guildford charity the Halow project. We support young people with a learning disability. My colleagues were recently on a bus with a large group of our young people. They were having trouble finding seats and students from your school were truly wonderful. 

They all gave up their seats and were extremely polite and thoughtful. I do not know who they are but I think their behaviour  deserves a level of recognition. 

It is sadly rare to meet people this considerate let alone school children. Presumably your school is enhancing these values and for this we thank you.

If you are able to find out who they were then please thank them on behalf of the halow project. '

   

Merry Christmas

As the term comes to an end, I wanted to thank everyone who has made me feel so welcome at Winston.  Staff, students, parents and governors have worked together to ensure that Winston is an excellent school for all.  These last two weeks have been a demonstration of all that is good in our school, with activities in the community, for charity and support for each other.  This blog represents a picture of the commitment of all those staff and students who make such a positive contribution and I am so proud of each one and I am sure that parents are equally as delighted. 
Thank you for your support.

I wish you and your family  a peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

           Zoe Johnson-Walker
               Headteacher

                                                

'Twas the week before Christmas...' Chapter 2

Students from the Music Department enjoyed performing at Stokefields Care Home on Tuesday, at the end of the school day. This activity was organised by Mrs Hazzlewood. Students also visited the Princess Christian Care Home on Wednesday 18th December.  The comments received include: 

'We all loved it today! a Big thank you to you all!!'

Lou   (Princess Christian)

'We just want to say thank you so much for visiting and preforming out our home yesterday it was great and we always love to support schools in the local area. It was a great pleasure.'

'Thank you'              Sophie  (Stokefields)

The Senior Leadership Team enjoyed a superb afternoon tea on Wednesday, prepared by a team of gifted and talented Food Technology students.  The high level of skill demonstrated by these students was impressive, as was the standard of finish and presentation.

                                            

I was delighted to be asked to judge the Year 10 Christmas Cake competition, along with Mr Phillips and Ben Piette, of the London House Restaurant.  The standard was extremely high and reflected the high level of care and creativity demonstrated by the students.  I am sure their families will enjoy this traditional festive cake.

                                             

'Twas the football match before Christmas'...

Winston is buzzing with activity this week, starting with the Celebration Assemblies for every year group.  Students receive recognition for their performance in each subject and special commendation at Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze for the number of achievement points they have been awarded this term.  League Tables of the tutor groups are revealed and photographs and stories of the activities this term are shared.

The Year 11 Boys' Football team played a National Cup match on Tuesday, against Coombe Boys, in the last 32 schools of the competition.  This is the best Winston have ever achieved in the competition, which had a starting line-up of 820 schools.
The match was played in the rain, under flood lights.  Winston were winning 1-0 until the final minute of the game, when Coombe scored to level the match.  The whistle sounded the end of normal time and the team then had to re-group to face extra-time of 10 minutes each way.

Winston rose to the challenge and scored three goals, finally winning the match 4-1 and therefore, going into the next round, in the last 16 schools in the country.  Well done Winston, fantastic performance!