And we have also been...

Inset Day

SUPPORT STAFF USE TEAMBUILDING INSET DAY TO HELP SAVE SOMEONES LIFE

On the recent staff inset day seven of our support staff travelled up to North London and the headquarters of Anthony Nolan.  This is an organisation that helps cure people with blood related cancers or disorders.  Since their first transplant in 1980 they now help over 1,240 individuals a year, many of which make a full recovery.

Our staff helped to get around 650 test kits packed and sent out to people wanting to join the register and find out if they are a DNA match to a patient anywhere in the world.

The organisation relies on volunteers from various businesses and the public to pack and distribute the test kits, so more people can be helped.  Everyone had a good time during the day and left with the satisfaction they had all done something very positive.

Back at Winston

Teaching staff were immersed in the further development of teaching and learning.  Teachers have been observing each others lessons and are focussed on engaging students to enable them to become effective learners.  Some staff were up-dating their first aid qualifications, as well as everyone being trained in terms of our Shutdown Procedures, to be used in emergencies.

G&T Design Technology Students

The group of students in the photograph below, have made this superb table, which now stands in our foyer.  This original piece of work has been produced under the watchful eye of Miss Blackman and reflects our school priority of reading for all.

 



 

Maths Master Class

Year 8 Maths Masterclass



The top maths students in year 8 were invited to take part in the Maths Masterclass.  The theme of this masterclass was “mocktail madness” and involved the students calculating the cost of making different mocktails as well as calculating the selling price of a glass and a jug of each one.  The students were then invited to design their own mocktail that could be sold.  The only catch – they had to try it for themselves.

 

Enterprise Days

The Maths Department ran their annual Enterprise Days for the year 10 students.  Each band had the opportunity to take part in the day which involved them designing a prototype catapult to gain investment, using this investment to mass produce catapults to then end the day investing all their profit on the stock market.  The students worked really well all day and showed some great business skills and understanding.  The overall winners of the 2 days became multi-millionaires with the W band winners earning £75,000,000 and the C band winners earning £16,000,000.  A lot of hard work was put in by the maths department to ensure that these two days ran as successfully as they did.

 

Winners of C Band

Winners of W Band

 

BBC School Report

BBC School Report

This has been an amazing week for Winston.  Our BBC School Report have rightly earned a great deal of praise from their mentor Alex Morrison, Jon Chandler of Surrey University and the BBC.

The students gained special permission to hold their school report day on the Wednesday, a day early, as the Thursday was an Inset session for staff.  The library and the computer rooms were a hive of activity, as the well planned session swung into action and the students gained momentum in the production of their stories.  The range and depth covered was impressive and their work can be found on the BBC School Report website.

Team of 18 reporters and editors from Years 7-10

‘I doubt there are many schools - if any - which have put together such an impressive range of stories and interviewees.’

 

Alex Morrison, BBC Online journalist 9^th March 2016

On Thursday Thomas and Yasmin went up to spend the day at the BBC in central London, while the rest of the team went to Surrey University with the intention of producing their news programme.  Thomas and Yasmin were the centre of attention throughout their day, they were interviewed for three different radio programmes; they can be seen below interviewing Rory Cellan-Jones.  At 5.45pm they were then live on national news being interviewed by Gavin Esler (with no warning about the questions he would ask!).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/35773099

 Thomas and Yasmin, both 14, from The Winston Churchill School in Woking, are shadowing and guest editing the BBC News Channel. First up, an editorial meeting- see above.

 

Thomas and Yasmin were a credit to the school throughout the day. Many journalists said how they were impressed with their confident and natural approach and it is a great accolade to them that the work they achieved throughout the day made a bulletin on the news channel.

The rest of the team had the opportunity to interview Professor of Physics Jim Al-Khalili, from Surrey University and Miss Blackman from Winston.  All of the interviews can be found on the BBC School Report website.

Year 7 reporters Poppie and Mackenzie presenting in the studio

 

Year 10 editor, Evan, controlling one of three cameras

 

As well as the hard work of the students, I must congratulate Miss Finney for the hard work and commitment that she has put into this project.  Her aspiration for the students and for the school, ensured that everyone involved had the opportunity to learn through the experience, develop new skills and enjoy being part of a nationwide initiative.

Identity At Winston

Assemblies this Week

Mrs Sigrist's assembly this week, has focussed on the issue of racism and our behaviour towards each other.  The key message was to celebrate our differences and respect each other regardless of background.  There are several initiatives that are being introduced by the ABC Committee, The Anti-Bullying Committee, including Show Racism the Red Card, in other words send it off!

 



 

Art on Display

Thank you to Miss Sharma and her team for organising the displays of art work around the school.  It has certainly made a difference to have these lovely pieces on display.  Year 9 have been working on the theme of identity and celebrating their own identity.

 



Reading at Winston

Key Stage 3 students had an opportunity to share their thoughts about the books they have been reading and to inspire others to consider selecting the text.  These sessions are led by Mr Fisher, our librarian, who has transformed the use of the library at Winston.

 

Winston Loves Reading

World Book Day

Winton staff love an opportunity to dress up! 

 

Everyone stopped what they were doing towards the end of World Book Day to read, students and staff.  As a school we believe in the importance of the written word and encourage students to invest their time in reading. 

Year 10 Netball

On Tuesday 1st March, the Year 10 netballers made their way over to Salesian school for the Annual District Netball Tournament. The team captained by Zara Daley Campbell faced their first opposition Heathside, starting positively coming away with a 3-1 win. Next up was the host school Salesian.   Jennifer Bowman and Molly Martin displayed some excellent defending in the circle as the girls drew 1-1.  After a short break the girls lost their rhythm losing to an exceptional performance from SJB. In the final game, with 2nd place in sight could the girls pull out a victory against Gordons, who are a formidable team? With great team work, excellent passing, outstanding movement for all the girls Winston beat Gordons 2-1 taking home silver!! Excellent play girls- well done!

Year 10 AS Philosophy of Religion and Religious Ethics

“These are examples of ‘flow charts’ documenting St Thomas Aquinas’ first ‘3 Ways’, which attempt to prove the existence of God and together they constitute what is known as ‘The Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God’.

As you can see, the students of the AS Level class went all out in their attempts to explore and then document their findings, producing work of the highest clarity and quality.”