From Student to Teacher

 Myth & Voice Classics Workshop - with 

Royal Holloway University Classics Department

Earlier this month Year 10 Latin students participated in a university style seminar, hosted by Dr Efi Spentzou from Royal Holloway University, exploring Ovid's tale of Orpheus & Eurydice. Students were challenged to consider how we listen to the voiceless, using empathy and questioning to explore characters' varied perspectives in a deep manner, expected at University level. Students were encouraged to have ideas for the sake of having ideas, to challenge and develop each others thinking without the constraints of a success criteria or piece of work for completion, which enabled really thoughtful and perceptive observations about the myth.

This week, Year 10 students hosted the same workshop, with the support of Dr. Efi, with all Year 8 Latin students. They planned, prepared and delivered a university style seminar with 70 younger students, again encouraging them to consider and develop ideas for the sake of it, and both Mr Fisher and Dr. Efi were really impressed with the leadership and resilience of the Year 10 students and the engagement and critical thinking of the Year 8 students.

Here is what some of the students had to say about the event:

'I have better ideas when the only thing I'm trying to do is have ideas'

Zach, 8CG

'You will never know what the story actually is, so you have to let your imagination take over.'

Jessica, 8WG

'I learnt that everyone has a different perspective on something, because our group though of something completely different to the other group.'

I was surprisingly impressed with how many students were willing to participate, I had thought that some may be uninterested but within the two groups I worked with all of the students engaged well. It made me appreciate how hard teachers have to try when planning lessons!

Sofia, 10E

Honestly I’m going to agree with Sofia on this one it was hard! I could never fathom planning 5 lessons a day it was exhausting. And the reason it was is because we put our all into it! Every single one of us. It took our every last drop of our energy but it was definitely worth it. Genuinely it was so refreshing. Just having these children look up to you is so empowering. It was an amazing experience leading them and developing their creativity. And it was great fun! Genuinely it was one of the best classes I have ever had in this school. Like ever. Pat on the back to Mr Fisher and Dr Efi for giving us this opportunity and  I have to say, I wouldn’t have thought Latin would make me so close to this class.

Seven, 10E 

We're really grateful to Dr Efi for her time and expertise, and sharing this opportunity with our students. We're looking forward to taking Year 10 students to Royal Holloway later in the summer.

Concerts are Back!

 Excellent Evening of Music

It was great to enjoy an inspiring evening of music, led by our Director of Music, Mr Drake. It has been over two years since we held our last concert and everyone one was excited to have the opportunity to perform in front of an audience.  Our staff team of Mr Drake, Mrs Laurent, Miss Shlackman, Miss Ashworth,, Mr Bimson and Mr Humphries have been rehearsing with the students over a number of weeks and have been extremely pleased with the commitment shown by our young people.

The Flute Ensemble

Year 9 Band

Brass Ensemble

Orchestra

Thank you to everyone involved, including the Tech Team, for providing a very enjoyable evening.

After School Clubs

 ART Club

For the past few weeks students in art club have been engraving into a sheet of plastic to create an etching.

 The printing press has been cleaned, paper stretched, and all students are ready to start printing! We all look forward to printing with the coloured etching inks in the next Art club session after Easter!

Recreational Basketball

On Friday Mrs Smith hosted the last recreational basketball session of the season. It's been so good to see Winston students, from all year groups, come along and just play! Although it's been hard at times to not turn it into a coaching session, there has been a marked improvement in their play, knowledge of the rules and confidence. There has been a core group of students from Year 7 and Year 10 most weeks with other year groups joining on occasions. 

Thank you to all the girls and boys who have stayed after school on a Friday to enjoy the beautiful game of Basketball!...I have no doubt that they will all take their confidence and skills to some of the amazing summer sports Winston has to offer, which will be starting after Easter.

Laboratory Skills

 Making Dirty Water Drinkable 💧

As part of the water topic , students in Key Stage 3 have been looking at how to make dirty water drinkable. They have filtered off soil and other impurities , used silver nitrate solution to identify whether salt , or any chlorine residue was present and finally used a distillation apparatus to purify the water. This lesson is a very simple and early introduction to the GCSE chemistry required practical .

Evolution of the Eye 👀

Year 8 classes have been exploring the "evolution of the eye" as part of their curriculum. 8WG, 8WT, 8CG and 8WR were all able to experience first-hand, that sight involves both the eye and the brain working simultaneously, to create images they perceive. They experimented with different materials and equipment - like bubble wrap over goggles or tiny little holes punched into black sugar paper- to experience blurred or obscured vision , respectively. Featured is class 8WG.

Laboratory Skills

As part of the advanced laboratory skills topic in science, during the next two weeks, Year 7 and Year 8 classes will learn how to read a burette, understand the concept of neutralisation, look at different pH monitoring equipment as well as testing household products for their properties. Our budding scientists will be able to set up a boss, clamp and clampstand, use indicator fluids and name a wide range of glassware we use in chemistry . Dr Gonzalez compiled a programme  that will enhance our student`s data collection skills.They will devise questions to estimate risks and follow standard laboratory practices. Below , pictured is 8WR and 8WT during their " How to read a burette" lesson and 7CF after  a dilution practical while  they are recording their data creating a graph.

Learning for All

 Year 7 Numeracy Leaders

The group met on Monday morning to trial the new activity that they will be leading on Thursday, during tutorial time. 

The students had to think and then plan how they would support their form group to complete the task successfully.

Parents as Learners

On Thursday evening parents in Key Stage 4 were invited in to learn about how to help their children with revision. MADE, specialists in teaching children and parents about learning effectively, led a session which taught parents effective ways to revise. This session supported the work MADE did in school with Winston students on Thursday and Friday helping them build the skills to revise effectively. 

It was a well attended event which challenged the parents and engaged them in the process. 

It is great to get back to face-to-face events at Winston.

Books and Goals!

 Ending the Football Season on a High

With the football season coming to an end, the girls teams are working hard to get their league fixtures played before the cut off for the finals. 

In order to be in with a chance of playing at the Woking Kingsfield stadium for the league final, teams need to have played at least 3 games each so on Monday 14^th March. The girls in the year 8 and 9 football team played 3 league games in one night! Salesian, Woking High and Hoe Valley all travelled to Winston to get multiple games played. 

It was an intense afternoon of football- 20 minute games a 5 minute break in between 3 times! Refs from year 11 oversaw the proceedings; which ended in the Winston girls drawing two games 1-1 (against Woking High and Salesian) and winning 1-0 against Hoe Valley! 

Keep an eye out for more league fixtures and hopefully multiple Winston teams making it to the final! 

Winston Book Exchange 

As part of March a Month of Reading in the library, students have been encouraged to recycle their books. To do this, they have been asked to bring in books that they have read and no longer want or need. In return students have been given tokens, whereby they can exchange these and take another book home. 

The students so far have been great - the turn out in the number of books donated has surpassed my expectations and, at the request of students we have decided to keep it running until the end of the month!

So, if you have any books sat at home that you've read one too many times and want to try something different, why not bring them into the library?! In return you get to take home a new book of your own and start a new challenge - what a good way to get involved with March a month of reading. 

Miss Turner🙂

  

Accuracy Matters!

 Latin Reading Competition

Congratulations to the Latin students who participated in the Latin Reading Competition at St Catherine's School this week, with many winners among them. Students competed against independent schools in and around Guildford in Latin recitals, marked on their pronunciation and expression.

Mr Fisher was very proud to receive so much positive feedback from the organisers and teachers from other schools about how well all the students performed and presented themselves. 

We look forward to entering more students next year!

Calibrating Balances

Today, Year 8 were introduced to the importance of calibrating balances. Our trainee teacher, Ms Azam - with the supervision of Mr Gunnoo - created a lesson where the students were able to practice the use of balances by weighing extremely small quantities of chemicals and compared the items` volume to their mass. They understood the importance of placing balances on a firm surface in a draught free environment on a vibration free stand. They compared grams with fluid ounces as well as newtons. The pupils had the opportunity to use balances that are fitted with a spirit level and adjustable feet for the most accurate measurements.