Making Great Music Together

Great Music Making

On Wednesday 26th February the Music Department welcomed the British Army Band Sandhurst to Winston. They were with us for the whole day, rehearsing a Wind Band in the main Hall with 60 Winston students and 7 students from Worpleston Primary School, and a contemporary band in the Churchill Suite which had 15 Winston students in. During the day students experienced what it is like to rehearse with professional musicians and under a professional conductor, receiving phenomenal support for the Army musicians. The groups rehearsed a number of pieces, spending 30 minutes of intense rehearsal time on each piece. 

At the end of the day the two groups came together in the main hall and performed what they had been working on; including The Magnificent 7, The Contender, Uptown Funk, Castle On A Hill and part of a Beethoven Symphony. The concert ended with a fantastic performance of the Star Trek Symphonic Suite. In the concert a number of Winston students also got the opportunity to perform solo's within pieces with Ollie, George, Joanna and Dan all producing great improvisations and Emilie leading the contemporary group. 

The Music Department would like to thank the British Army Band for an absolutely brilliant day and we are thoroughly looking forward to welcoming the band back next year.

There is a film of the incredible finale at the end of this blog!  

School Developments

Investing in Your Children

I am delighted to inform you that the Governing Body has approved two significant capital projects, which will improve the facilities for your children. This will be an investment, in total, of approximately £1.3 million of planned spending over two financial years.  This money has been accrued through careful management of our on-site school businesses.

Parents were invited to view the plans on Wednesday 19th February, from which we received positive comments about the vision for our school.

Project 1: Performance Space

This additional new facility more than doubles the size of the existing Churchill Suite, raising the roof to provide an exciting new teaching and performance area.  The Rosla Block will also be up-graded to significantly improve this area of the school.  Performance Space will be fitted with the best technology infrastructure that we can afford to ensure that sound, lighting, heating, cooling, special effects and recording can all take place, managed and controlled by our students.  The aim is to ensure that students are able to access the space to learn how to use the technology and then to apply it to performances, recitals, visiting speakers and other school events.

This space will also be used for orchestra and choir rehearsals, as these groups are now so large that they have outgrown our existing facilities.  We also aim to hire out the facilities to community groups, at the weekends, to ensure that we build upon our income for future projects.

Project 2: The Science Toilets

At last we have the resource to replace the toilets in the Science Block.  The work will start towards the end of June once Year 11 have left and be completed by September, as school opens for the autumn term.  There is a significant amount of structural work to complete but all the students, who have seen the plans are very positive about the new layout and believe that it is worth the time and effort to create these new facilities.

Other toilet facilities across the school will retain their current layout, as we do not have the resources to replace them all at this time.

We will also be investing in two new Geography Classrooms and relocating Learning Support.

Public Health England Advice for Schools

Coronavirus: latest information and advice

As with all health issues, our aim is to provide relevant up-to-date information for our parents.  I am ensuring that as a school we are aware of developments and tasking the advice of Public Health England.  I hope that you find the following useful.

Novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan City, China. The Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England are carefully monitoring the coronavirus situation and have published information and advice for the public. As the situation is developing, please check the online advice for the latest and most up-to-date information https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-information-for-the-public

Please share the above government advice to staff and parents/carers, as appropriate.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all travel to Hubei Province due to the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak. The FCO advise against all but essential travel to the rest of mainland China (not including Hong Kong and Macao) https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/china

Half Term

Winston Extra Leadership

Our Year 10 Winston Extra Leadership students embraced an amazing opportunity last week teaching our Year 8 PE classes.  Students planned some active, fun and engaging lessons in football, netball and basketball which the Year 8's thoroughly enjoyed.  Whilst some leaders felt confident in leading the Year 8 students, others started their sessions with slight reservation but by the end of the lessons had discovered they possessed more skills than they initially thought. 

 Next lesson, the Year 10 students will be reflecting on their leadership skills and identifying what went well and what skills they could further develop.  What was lovely to see was the support the Year 8's showed at the end of the lessons; some of the basketball leaders got a round of applause and Hamad received hand shakes from students in his session.  

Well done to all of the leaders.   Mrs Daniels  

Raising Money for Cherry Trees

Our student council have made a decision to support Cherry Trees:

Cherry Trees is a small charity providing home-from-home specialist short breaks/respite for children and young adults aged 0-19 with a range of complex disabilities including learning, physical and sensory impairments. Cherry Trees is a lifeline for the families of more than 100 children and young people who are regularly cared for here, whether it be after school for a few hours, a weekend or even a couple of weeks stay.  

All of our students had the opportunity to develop an understanding of the work of Cherry Trees during assemblies and to consider ways in which we could all support such a worthwhile charity.

Year 9 Football

On Thursday 13th February the year 9 boys football team played against St Josephs School in the 4th round of the Surrey County Cup. Having got through the previous round against Wimbledon College narrowly on penalties they were up against another stern challenge in St Josephs School. 

The boys started off quite tentatively against a bigger, more physical side however soon started to settle into the game and match them for physicality and in their play. After the first 10 minutes of end to end football with both teams looking positive going forward a lovely weighted pass from Cameron Golestanian put Bradley Murphy through on goal and he finished superbly to make it 1-0 going in at half time.

The second half started with St Josephs fully on the front foot and putting us under a lot of pressure in the first 10 mins and they deservedly equalised through a good long range effort. Winston regathered themselves and dug deep, challenging for everything and not letting them have a second on the ball. The back three of Jamie Fletcher, George Evans and Archie Drinkwater were outstanding dealing with everything that came their way, and with Noah Blake just in front they defended really well. After a good spell of possession another super pass from Louie Sossick put Bradley Murphy in for his second of the game to give us the advantage going into last 10 mins. 

Under some late pressure Ben Storey made 2 great saves to keep it at 2-1 and then with 5 mins left Louie Sossick made sure of the victory with a superb solo goal blasting it past the keeper having run past 3 defenders.

This win now sets up another challenge for the boys in the QF at home against Carshalton Boys School on Monday 16th March.

The Power of...

The Power of Sport!

Last Friday The Winston Churchill School was proudly represented both by our inspiring Y10 Sports Leaders and by a very determined set of our Year 7 and Year 8 students. Surrey Sports Park hosted the North West Surrey Boccia tournament where our sports leaders divided the arena into 4 courts and instructed all the participants in the District on the rules of the game and how to score points. 

They led and officiated in such a mature and professional manner, whilst being considerate to the diverse set of younger students and their associated needs. They urged each team to do their very best, providing motivational support throughout the competition. They did such a fantastic job that they have been asked to officiate the all important County Final next month - Well done Y10 Sports Leaders - Emma P, Olivia, Gavril, Shinal, Ben B, Reece, Sam E, Kiera, Sam B, Genna, Jack N, Dylan, Phoebe & Will!

The Y7/8 WCSC competing team comprised of Jack, Tyler, Freyja, Scarlett, Mostafa & Eva and they participated with great spirit. Led by their designated team captain Jack, they communicated well, shared their turns and congratulated one another after every shot. Even if one game didn't go their way they remained strong and learnt from any mistakes made. They improved game after game, growing in confidence and tactical decision-making.

Mrs Waddilove noted that "It was very rewarding to see the students competing in such a relaxed atmosphere and growing in their confidence. It always makes me feel very humble working with these students to see that they are willing to challenge themselves in such a positive manner. I felt very proud that they represented the school in a really positive way.

Although we didn't make it into the County Final, our Y7 & Y8 students left, also feeling very proud, with a newfound set of skills to develop. They wish to pursue their interest further and set up a Boccia club in school with high hopes of one day representing Woking in the Surrey Youth Games!

Our school's involvement in this tournament just demonstrates the power of sport and how much of a positive change it can make for our students, no matter their age or ability. 

The Power of Literature!

This picture was taken during Mr Collins' interview with Penguin Classic Books,  regarding the use of classic literature within schools. The team then continued to film a montage of clips during Mr Collins' last lesson of the day with Year 8 students. 

We are all looking forward to seeing the final version of the film.

Opportunities including Sister Act

Girls Woking Schools District Tournament

This week the teams of the Girls Woking Schools District met again to face the second round of the 6 aside tournaments. The first round was played in October, and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday saw teams returning to add to their original points and progress to the county competitions. 

The Year 7 team was first up. As a new team, this is only one of a handful of times these players had played together! They battled hard, in both the first and second round, the girls came 5th- with 8 teams competing across both competitions, this left them in 4th overall! A good result. Outstanding performances from all, including Izzie Downs, Sadie Trotter, Amelia and Katie Black!

Wednesday saw the 8&9 girls team compete. This was a fierce competition, a lot of the players knowing each other from outside school teams! The girls came third in the first round, and second place in the second round- putting them second overall out of 9 teams! Great play from Emma Bailey, Gracie Price and Brooke Wayte!

Finally, the 10s&11s! This was a much smaller competition, but for some- the last time playing together before leaving secondary school! In the first round, the Winston girls came a respectable 3rd out of  six teams. After winning two and drawing one game, they won the second round! This put the team second overall! They should be very proud of their contribution to girls football at Winston. Special mention must go to Lucy Armstrong, Laura Mitchell, Amy Ballinger and Cara Henderson- as this was their last tournament at Winston.

A final special mention must also be given to Mr Buckingham and the Year 10 students, who assisted, refereed and who ran the score table for each night of the tournaments too. These sporting events cannot take place without the dedication of the students who help the PE department! 

Thank you and well done to all involved!

Year 7 OAA 

The purpose of the challenge was discovering ways to manipulate the body, to move through gaps and tunnels. We discussed the ideas of a chamber within tunnels to give people a “rest” and a bigger space before continuing to “cave”. As a class the girls created their own caving system and enjoyed manipulating their bodies through this system, Mrs Smith even went through too!!

Final performance of Sister Act

I was fortunate enough to have a ticket for the final performance of Sister Act, on Saturday 8th February.  I was able to experience what our staff had been talking about all week.  The students were amazing; those on the stage and the unsung heroes of back stage including the Tech Team and stage management.  It is always an emotional finale, as the Year 11 students come to terms with the fact that it is their final show at Winston!  Here are a few images from the final performance for you to enjoy.