Winston Will Never Forget

 Paying Our Respects

On Thursday 9th November, the whole Winston community gathered together on the patio to pay our respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives in war.

I started by reading a quote from Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the USA, 

'War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.'

Raegan and Charlie, our Head Students, then recited:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

From For the Fallen BY LAURENCE BINYON

The Last Post was played by Mr Drake, Taran, Chima and Samuel

Raegan, Charlie and Harry placed a wreath of poppies on our memorial garden.

Thank you Winston, for making this ceremony 

meaningful and respectful.

Thank you to the Art Department for the work displayed at the main entrance to the school.

Protecting our Environment

 Eco Award

Due to the hard work of the students who make up our Eco-Committee, we are very pleased to tell you that our school has been successful in meeting the requirements for the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award.

Our large Eco-Committee showed that young people at Winston are aware of environmental issues and committed to being active and creating positive change. This knowledge and attitude has provided our school with excellent foundations for the many successes that we achieved this year. Our Eco-Committe were recognised as being a clearly passionate and impressive young people and the Eco-Schools Award were delighted that our students were given the opportunity to make a difference through the Eco-Schools programme. Our Eco-Committee constantly considered what actions they could take to improve their local community and benefit our planet. Our Action Plan showed that our Eco-Committee carefully considered how they could involve their entire school in their planned Eco-Schools’ activities to achieve maximum impacts and raise awareness amongst their school community.

Our plans focused on the areas on biodiversity, global citizenship and litter. Through intertwining the curriculum at our school with the projects we worked on in our action plan, we provided young people at your school the opportunity to learn about important environmental issues and then the chance to work on these issues – a great dual approach. We used environmental issues to enrich learning and increase engagement with learning at your school and we worked with a variety of different organisations including the World Environment Day campaign, relying on their expertise and passion to enrich and inform our Eco-Schools journey.

We wouldn't have been able to achieve our Eco-Award if were not for all the staff members involved with our activities, such as the community litter picks and eco-garden. Their hard work and dedication inspired young people and empowered them with the belief that they can positively impact our planet – this is something incredibly special. 

However, our greatest successes are the experience of our pupils. The ingenuity and resilience that the members of the Eco-Club showed has been a great success, well done to them! This is what the best forms of climate action are about – impactful but achievable things that create a positive experience and prompt more action. Our Eco-Code is very punchy, clear and easy to digest for those that see it. A direct call to action. 

The Eco-Schools Award loved reading about our journey and were incredibly impressed by all that we achieved. They had no hesitation in awarding our school an Eco-Schools Green Flag!

Thank you to all of the students, staff and parents who have all helped in this significant achievement! Stay tuned to see what new activities and projects we have planned for this next academic year!

Magic in our Library

  Harry Potter Book Day

Thursday 12^th October was Harry Potter Book Day and so a perfect chance to celebrate the wonder of the Harry Potter books in the Library with an after school event!

Students enjoyed taking photos as a 'Wanted Wizard', completing word puzzles, creating their own Honeydukes sweet bags to fill with treats and testing their Harry Potter knowledge in a Superfan quiz! It was lovely to see enthusiastic Harry Potter fans engaging with the books and the activities and we now have a new collection of Harry Potter books in the Library including the new out Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac. 

Here are a few of the snapshots from the event!

Mrs M Jones

Discovery Space Manager

Winning the Winston Way

 Year 8 Rugby Boys Triumph at Tomlinscote Festival  

 

The Year 8 rugby boys from Winston displayed their incredible skills at the Tomlinscote Festival in Camberley. Competing in three thrilling matches, they left an impression with their exceptional performance.  

 

What set them apart was their solid defence. The team displayed an impenetrable line, thwarting every opponent's attempt to advance. The dedication and teamwork were evident throughout. 

 

 

Their attacking agility was equally impressive. Swift and coordinated, the boys weaved through the opposition with precision, leaving spectators in awe.  

In the end, Winston School's Year 8 rugby boys emerged victorious, winning all their matches. We extend a huge "thank you" to the parents and supporters who cheered them on. Your encouragement fuelled their remarkable performance.  

 

Congratulations to the Year 8 rugby team for their outstanding success at the Rugby Festival. 

Mr Kok

Deputy Year Leader

Governors in School

 Governor Visit Day

It was great so see so many governors in school on Friday looking at different aspects of our work.

Time was spent with Mrs Berry our SENCO and Mrs Markham our  Assistant Head.  Governors were then able to go on a learning walk across the school.

Feedback from Governors to Senior Leaders included:

• Several lessons which included SEN pupils, some with LSA support, were briefly observed. SEN pupils were engaged and classes focussed on the task
  
• Observation of break time confirmed good general behaviour, a vibrant but calm environment, despite the mixing of large numbers of pupils across the year groups.
• Senior Leaders were observed encouraging high standards of uniform/dress and behaviour.
• Good evidence of 3 Rs.
• Good insight of the inner workings of Frog as a key component of parental engagement and communication, together with recent introduction of Edulink One. Together, both apps are offering a good level of provision and successfully engaging parents.
• Behaviour was exemplary in all classes, students were engaged with their leaning and could talk confidently about what they were doing.

MacMillan Coffee Morning

We are pleased to announce that Winston staff baked in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support and raised £150, while enjoying some delicious cake.

Well done to everyone who participated.

Year 9 Food Technology

Year 9 have been cooking food from around the world, where they have completed research on their chosen country and selected two dishes to cook. Some promising young chefs emerging from this year group. 

Winston has the Talent

 Winston, The School of Rock

This year, students at The Winston Churchill School turned up in force to audition for the main school production of School of Rock. With a cast of 246, School of Rock is set to be our biggest and most ambitious show to date. Winston is returning to the stage at The Rhoda McGaw theatre, a truly unforgettable experience for all involved.

On Monday, the entire cast and crew met to look at the rehearsals ahead and quickly learnt that they were the largest production team in Winston History! Student leadership got the opportunity to introduce themselves and their roles before answering any questions new students had about the process. Each year, the responsibilities of students within the productions expands with opportunities including directing, choreography, event management, vocal health and supervision, technical direction, art and set design. 

The students left will a real buzz and determination to strive toward a fantastic show and are quickly forming a sense of community around the production. 

  

Todd Harrington-Tucker

Head of Drama

Learning at Winston

 The Science of a Marshmallow

Today the Year 10 GCSE Food and Nutrition group made marshmallow. They learnt about the importance of getting the sugar to the correct temperature so that the coagulation of the egg white can take place and the gelatinisation can occurred, in order for the marshmallow to set. Some students also  experimented with adding fresh fruits, different essences and even food colouring. 

Year 8 Leadership

The Year 8 Form reps have been meeting early in the year to get their plans set for the year. Students want to listen to other students, plan activities for their peers to enjoy and do more in the community.  There were 7 students who were keen to be the Year Group Reps and prepared speeches to share with the other form reps. It was lovely to hear their plans and they all spoke to well about themselves and what they intended to do. We voted on the Year Reps and have a strong team of students determined to make a difference. Well done and thank you to all those who are making our school community better.  

Mr Curtis

Head of Year 8

Physics in Gear

"Physics for Year 11 this week started with Mr Philcox enthusiastically demonstrating how gears rotate on an axle, using his own bike. Students had to explain how gears rotate in the opposite direction while the forces acting on the gear teeth are identical for both gears, as their moments differ. "