Learning in Action

 Ovid's Metamorphoses at the Sam Wanamaker Theatre

On Wednesday 13th October, GCSE Latin students ventured to Shakespeare's Globe to view an adaptation of Ovid's Metamorphoses. It was an entertaining collection of some of his best stories. Taking the train to Waterloo, we walked along the Thames Embankment, which was amazing in the late-afternoon, October sunset, with all the lights from buildings creating an unforgettable skyline. The theatre itself had a cosy, intimate glow as a result of the many candelabras and candles scattered about the stage, which brought us one step closer to an authentic Early Modern experience. The play adopted a profoundly Brechtian approach which grabbed our attention and occupied our mind through the combination of shocking and entertaining stories as well as the theatre's simplistic yet intriguing set design. Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening that has supplied us with plenty to recount and reminisce about in the days since. we are very grateful for this culturally enriching opportunity of which we will never forget! 

Written by 10E-Latin

We're so glad that theatres have opened back up as they provide such an enriching experience for our students, Mr Fisher will be keeping his eyes on the box office for more Classically inspired productions.

Understanding DNA 

On Wednesday 7CR had the opportunity to extract DNA from strawberries. Dr Gonzalez guided them how to correctly mix the buffer , adding the ice-cold ethanol and then look at the DNA strand under the microscope.

Fractional Distillation

On Thursday , Mr Spain refreshed the practical skills of chromatography with 9W-E and 9C-G attained from previous years. For the first half of the lesson, they separated ink, while during the second half they watched the demonstration of Fractional distillation. Here, they observed distillation of "wine" , which was made up of water , ethanol, and food colour. They were able to identify that  different liquids have different boiling points . This introduced them to the topic of fractional distillation of crude oil and cracking , too.

Great Engagement in Learning

 Let's Bake Bread

Year 9 took up the challenge to make ,bake and present their Focaccia bread in 55 minutes. The Italian bread needed to be out of the oven and presented to me to be photograph by the end of the lesson. This is the first practical of three into their scientific investigation of a yeast-based product.

The smell of the delicious focaccias . The outcomes were delicious looking and from student feedback I can see that they were a definite success with their families.

Mrs Vadi 

Subject Leader Technology 

Year 7 using sewing machines to make their pencil cases

Empowerment Poem (Love Yourself)

By Mia 

 

Idiot,

You aren’t stupid; you just need more support with learning,

Careless,

You still care; you are just a risk taker,

Ugly,

You aren’t ugly, you’re unique!

Show-off,

You are just proud of what you have achieved,

Too confident,

People are just jealous of your courage to speak up

Worthless...

You aren’t worthless; you just need to find your worth!

 

---(Message)---

Don’t let people’s criticism get you down! Let’s turn it into a compliment. A way to improve, and a way to understand that you are all amazing. You can accept yourself for who you are, and not what people want you to be.

Written as part of the work in Winston Extra Lessons inspired by the theme~  

Be your Best.

Year 9 PE

Mrs Lyddon’s Year 9 PE class have been trying out a variety of different activities that can develop teamwork as part of their sports education unit of work.  This week they used a parachute and it has been a fun and engaging way to promote teamwork, cooperation and practice social skills, whilst offering health benefits too.  Such as, it can be a great way  to reinforce muscular fitness, by bringing awareness to how your arms feel after participating in the activity. Students also understood that physical activities using resistance (from the parachute) can contribute to their muscular fitness.

“This activity was so much fun and it was so good to see everyone laughing and smiling throughout the lesson.” Freya 

Preparing for GCSE Science

 Year 9 Biology GCSE Practical

9CG completed their first required practical for their Biology GCSE which involved looking at Osmosis occurring in plant cells. Students had to apply the science skills they developed in KS3 to their new knowledge on cell transport. Students had to accurately measure volumes of different concentrations of sugar solution and complete scientific calculations. Every student worked extremely hard. 

DNA from Strawberries

8CE practiced how to use the microscopes today, a skill they learnt in year 7. Students collected DNA from strawberries and put the DNA on a slide to view under their microscopes. Setting up microscopes is a difficult skill to develop with the many little parts, including changing the objective lenses, fine and coarse focus dials. 8CE are now experts at getting the slide in view to see their specimen. 

  Bat noises and echolocation 

Echolocation is normally difficult to detect with the human ear. Mr Philcox used his personal Magenta bat detector to demonstrate to 9W2 how bats use ultrasonic frequency to navigate and communicate. The signal generator attached to the detector was able to take the inaudible high frequency ultrasound that bat use and converted them into frequencies between 100 hz and 12Khz. This way the students were able to listen to the pitch the bats produce that otherwise would be too damaging for the human ear. During the lesson, the student`s combined their biology and physics knowledge : They looked at the structure and function of the human ear and how it converts soundwaves into an electrical signal that the brain recognises and translates into something we understand. "

UV LIGHT 

" In science today, Dr Gonzalez`s class , 11W1, experimented with ultraviolet light sensitive plastic beads . The white beads turn into different colours, when exposed to the 3 different types of UV light. The students learnt about visible and invisible wavelength of light and its effects on eyes, skin, and cells . The participants used water, sunlight, UV lamps and various colour filters with laser pointers to investigate the colours produced, helping them identify the type of UV wavelength. "

Enjoying our Learning

 Art in Year 8

Ms Pinion sent me these images of a selection of classwork from 8WR and 8CG.

We are very proud of the work that they have all created. The students have been studying the work of the artist L.S Lowry,  focusing on architecture and perspective.    

Year 11 PE

Mrs Smith’s Year 11 girls PE class had an amazing lesson today.  The students were given the opportunity to decide if they wanted to focus on Lacrosse or UniHoc.  There was one group playing UniHoc games, showing amazing team work, motivation and commitment to the competition.

Another group put their Lacross skills to the test in a small match, focusing on team work, tactical play and passing. A 3rd group who wanted to work more on the challenging skill of passing within Lacross and created a lacrosse squash game.  It was great to see this class so engaged in physical activity.  Variety is the spice of life!

Year 7 Winston Extra

7CR took to their Winston Extra leadership challenge really well.  Focusing on risk taking and doing something outside their comfort zone, the students were allocated pairs, by Mrs Smith. Some of these pairings had never worked together.  One student was blind folded while the other played the role of the leader, using only their voice and not physical contact, to guide their partner across obstacles, to an object the other side of the patio.  The pairs then swapped over and this time they had to move around the area, picking up cones and then placing them on the cone stand using only voice instructions again.  

The students then reflected on their skill of risk taking, including what made them feel uncomfortable and why, or why they felt comfortable with the task.  They also demonstrated great ability in key word note taking, when we looked at the different leadership styles...making every minute count.

This Week

 Coastal Erosion 

Miss Harris’ Year 11 geographers worked together to show how the processes of weathering, erosion and transportation would change the coast. To simulate a headland, they used angel cake and had to develop their ideas and present to the class. The class then voted which group had the most effective model.  This will certainly remind students when faced with a GCSE examination question.

Year 10 Girls First Fixture

On Wednesday 29th September the Year 10 Netball team had their first fixture, in almost two years, against Woking High. It was so lovely to see the girls back in action again and fighting hard against a tough side. In true Winston style , the girls showed their resilience fighting tooth and nail at every opportunity they could, trying to slow down a very fast and well-rehearsed opposition. Winston created some fantastic interceptions in defence, with special mention to Megan in GK. This is a positive start, getting back into playing competitive matches again, for the year 10's. 

 The year 10 Player of the Match went to Issy, for her encouragement and determination to fight for the ball in the centre. 

The PE department are excited to see that already so many students are getting involved back into competitive extra-curricular sport.  

Year 7 First Fixture

On Monday the 27th of September, the Year 7 Netball Team had their very first netball fixture! The team played Woking High A&B teams and there were enough Winston players to rotate 2 teams as well!

It was a tough game, against a very experienced Woking high side- most of whom play for clubs outside of school. Whilst the Winston team fought hard, we used this mostly as a learning experience- having not had a school fixture before. There were stand out performances from Aaliyah , Alishba and Lucas but each of the players showed great resilience, determination and worked hard throughout. A special thanks should also go to Amy in Year 10, and Katie in Year 8 for helping out.

The PE Department hope to see more new faces at netball club and hope that with clubs and fixtures starting back up, more students are inspired to get to clubs outside of school too!