Being Creative at Winston

Year 8 Technology

 

Students have designed and are making a photograph holder.  Having planned their design on a computer, a laser cutter has been used to help recreate the design on acrylic.  The acrylic has been drilled and bent into shape so that it becomes free standing and then a clip is added to hold the photograph in place.  Students were very focussed on producing a professional finish when I visited the lesson.

Theo Fennell's Visit

Theo Fennell spent a day in school working with our students to develop design ideas and to help them to understand the principles of creative ideas and how they can be realised as jewellery. This involved  both the year 9 Gifted &Talented Group who are all resistant materials students and the year 10 students who were fortunate enough to go to Theo Fennell's design studios in London, earlier this year.

Year 9

Daniel Bowman & Rhiannon Dallow have been fortunate to gain work experience  with Theo Fennell.  Joanna Rotherham was also awarded a certificate for her excellent work.  Thank you to the work of Miss Blackman for making this partnership such a valuable and inspiring experience for our students.

 Art Exhibition

Woking Tour Series

Woking Tour Series

 

On Tuesday the 10th of June, the P.E department took 2 teams to take part in the Woking tour series schools cycle race.  With this being the last tour series for a few years, and having sadly missed out on first place last year due to a crash, it was vital that we did as well as possible this year.  The race was a 4x1 lap relay format and the pressure was on as we found ourselves up against some really tough competition from the Woking High, Fullbrook, SJB and Gordons teams.

The 2 teams were made up of; Ieuan Woods (year 8), Ben Bishop (year 8), Ben Moore (year 8), Eleanor Shorey (year 8), Sam Rawson (year 8) Dan Swords (year 9), Dan Harrington (year 9) and Sam Bishop (year 7).

Upon leaving school, we rode to Woking town centre and watched the year R-2 and the year 3-6 races.  When it came to our race, the first riders in each of our teams lined up to complete 1 lap of the 1.4km race circuit, when they finished, Ben Bishop of team 1 was in second, and Ben Moore of team 2 was in 4th, both doing well to keep up with the leaders. The next 2 riders went off. At the end of this lap, Sam Bishop had finished 1st for Team 1, and Eleanor was further down the field.  Dan Harrington from team 1 blew himself out to secure 1st place by around 10 metres, and Sam Rawson gained a good few places for his team.

At the end of lap 3 it was neck and neck with Winston and Woking High’s first team riders, so it was all to play for on the final lap.   The last rider, Ieuan had a rapid start gaining a great lead on the Woking High racer and he continued to gain more ground throughout the lap.  He finished in first place comfortably, with a considerable margin between him and second place.  Team two showed great determination throughout the race fighting for a very respectable 7th after a particularly good performance by Dan Swords, and a great effort by one of the only girls in the whole competition, Eleanor Shorey.  A fantastic all round effort by all 8 members of the team, and well done to Team one rolling in as  the Year 7-9 winners.

By Ieuan Woods

 

Lunch at Winston

Catering Academy Packed Lunches

 

I have been very impressed with the quality of the food served at Winston and hope that parents will find this latest offer supportive.  Students have been made aware of this promotion through the provision of a flyer but just incase it didn't reach home... 

 

Inset Day at Winston

Year 11 GCSE Maths Exam

 

 

Year 11 students were invited to breakfast this morning before taking their GCSE Mathematics Examination.  Staff wanted to ensure that the students were able to produce the best possible outcomes on the day and combined the breakfast with some useful revision tips!

 

 

And Staff Were...

 

Working on a range of sessions all with a focus on teaching and learning.  The afternoon also included training related to safeguarding and personalised learning strategies aimed at supporting individuals who find learning more challenging.

 

Training to use new software: WriteonLine

The MFL Department

The History department

The English Department

 



Friday Afternoon at Winston

Year 9 Start Their Examination Courses

I had the great pleasure of walking around the school this afternoon to see a number of students in their GCSE/BTEC lessons.  I was very impressed with the commitment and the quality of work being produced.  Everyone was very focussed on producing their best work. Their teachers were very complimentary about the Year Group as a whole and of individuals who had really engaged with their new programmes.

Year 9 GCSE German Lesson

Year 9 GCSE German Lesson

Year 9 BTEC Business Studies

Year 9 BTEC Business Studies

Year 9 BTEC Business Studies

Year 9 GCSE History

Year 9 GCSE History

Year 9 GCSE History

Examples of Year 7 and 8 Work

Year 7 Geography Map Work

Year 8 Maths Class

What do Governors do?

Governors

 

Governors have spent a number of days and evenings challenging and supporting the school as it works to drive up standards for every child.  This time is spent both within the school and attending conferences and courses aimed at extending knowledge and understanding of the legislation and responsibilities of governors.
From the few examples listed below you can see that governors commit a great deal of time to support our school.

Tuesday 18th March: David Barter and Maryanne Beare worked with a consultant on a Climate walk observing behaviour for learning across the school.

Thursday 27th March: Maryanne Beare attended the School Council meeting and has, throughout the term participated in the interview process for senior staff.  Mrs Beare is the Link Governor on the Student Council, following a request from the students.

Tuesday 29th April: Amanda Newton attended a Hot Topics for Governors session.

Wednesday 14th May: Amanda Newton attended Teacher Appraisal and Performance Related Pay for Governors.
 
Thursday 15th May: During the first two hour session, governors worked through the school's self evaluation of performance against the Ofsted Criteria, challenging senior staff to support judgements with evidence.  This opportunity enhanced the understanding of the day to day work of the school and governors were able to strengthen judgements with their observations and knowledge gained through the visits they make to departments and their committee meetings.
 

Tuesday 20th May: Mike Richardson, Chair of Finance and Zoe Johnson-Walker, attended a Financial Efficiency training session, from 6.30pm until 9.30pm. 
 

Tuesday 3rd June: The second evening was a two hour training session provided by Angela Bradshaw, of Babcock4S, regarding the work of the school and preparation for an Ofsted visit. 

Thursday 5th June: Maryanne Beare attended a Performance Related Pay training session.

A number of governors have been involved in the recent recruitment of staff, contributing to the shortlisting and interview stages. 

The Teaching & Learning Committee

 



GCSE Statistics at Winston

The Importance of Planning

 

Year 9 students began their GCSE course in Statistics by planning their first experiment and then analysing the methodology and the quality of the outcomes.  The students impressed Mr Parsons with their use of vocabulary and analytical skills, although the quality of their throwing was in question!!
Mr Parsons emphasised to the students the importance of planning if the outcomes and conclusions drawn were to be valid.