1st Week of 2016

 Year 9 Options

Mr Mohamed began the options process for Year 9 students this week.  Students were provided with an overview of the decisions that need to be made and a timeline for completion.  At Winston we are able to offer a huge variety of option subjects, as we have staff expertise and the economies of scale needed to meet the needs of our students.

Assembly

The theme for this asembly was 'Just Because You Can, Should you?'

It looked at the issues and challenged students to think about the ethical dilemmas faced by countries today.  These included modifying DNA, growing new body parts and the development of weapons.  Other challenges were considered regarding the use of the internet and monitoring our citizens.  The assembly finished by raising the ethical question of supporting the Syrian refugees, fleeing war and in need of our support. 
The students were asked to consider whether there is a difference between the law (can we do it?) and ethics (should we do it?).

Basketball Success

Since the start of term the year 7 Boys Basketball Team have played in 3 tournaments against 9 of the school in the district. The boys were superb and reached the final in 2 of the 3 tournaments, unfortunately, overall the boys didn’t win but came runners up. We would like to congratulate the boys, Jos, Antony, Lewis, Ben W, Ben F, Ben B, Josh and Darart on this fantastic achievement.

Excellent Feedback

Amazing Feedback

Teacher Training

This certificate was received this week and celebrates the work that we do to support the training of new teachers.  If you are interested in joining the teaching profession or you are thinking of returning to the classroom, please do not hesitate to contact the school for support and advice.

Prizes for Winston Students

The Big Draw

Miss Sharma encouraged all of our students to enter The Big Draw.  Two of our students were shortlised and out of a hundred shortlisted designs, Eva Berriman (Year 8) was selected as one of the three runners up and her design can be viewed on the Big Draw competition website.  the names and videos of the work produced can be seen below.

Well done to everyone who participated.

The Big Draw logo designs- All entries

Year 7

Amelie Dart

Elena Otero

Year 8

Eva Berriman

Cameron Stuart

Olivia Bayliss

Luisa Sherwin

Big Draw Logo designs- Short-listed video

Year 7: Elena Otero

Year8: Eva Berriman

Microsoft Prize

Microsoft Office Specialist Certifications

As a Microsoft IT Academy we are able to offer access to study materials and certification exams, and so on Thursday 17^th December five year 9 Computing classes were given the opportunity to sit Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certifications to try and gain industry recognised qualifications in Office programs that they already use.  These certifications are not easy to pass, but we are pleased to be able to congratulate 23 students who are now Microsoft Office Specialists in either PowerPoint or Word 2013. 

George gained the highest mark of the day with 92% in MOS PowerPoint 2013 and so was presented with a £50 Xbox voucher. We hope that George and the other students will be able to add to their MOS certifications in the future.