News Flash!

 Year 11 Examination Outcomes!

We were delighted to welcome nearly all of Year 11 into Winston to collect their GCSE and Vocational results today.  This important right of passage from Winston on into the world of post-16 is the final time that the Year Group is together with Mr Weale, their Year leader, and many of their teaching staff.

The results are outstanding and we witnessed the excitement and joy of the students who received their excellent results.  We are incredibly proud of what these young people have achieved and I am sure that they will celebrate with family and friends.

There was a short wait as Winston had agreed to be part of the Department for Education results App.  This was the first time we had engaged with the process and we also permitted two members of the DfE to come and observe and gather our feedback.  Thank you to everyone who participated in this initiative, I hope you find it useful to have all the information in one place on your phone.

We now look forward to hearing about your successful post-16 placement, as you have developed the skills to manage confidently the next stage of your lives, along with the grades to get you there.  You now have choices, use them wisely!

Good luck and best wishes for your future.

Journey to the Stars

 Spot Woking Planetarium Around Victoria Place This Summer!

If you’re visiting Victoria Place Shopping Centre in Woking this summer, keep an eye on the rolling digital displays—you might just spot the latest Woking Planetarium advert!

While you’re there, why not take part in our exciting Summer Family Competition? Running for five weeks from 10th August, each week one lucky family will win free tickets to a Woking Planetarium show of their choice. It’s quick and easy to enter, so don’t miss your chance to enjoy an unforgettable journey through space.

Our Autumn Programme is now available online, featuring an exciting range of shows for anyone with a curiosity about the universe (from 4+). Whether your family would like to explore the Solar System, discover distant galaxies or experience the wonders of the night sky, there’s something for everyone.

We’re also delighted to be welcoming an increasing number of groups to the planetarium. From corporate to art, music to school groups - there is something for everyone. Many scout and guides are taking the opportunity to complete their Space Activity Badges.

Whether you’re planning activities for your group or looking for a memorable family day out, we’d love to welcome you to Woking Planetarium.

Take a look at our upcoming programme and book your tickets by visiting www.wokingplanetarium.co.uk.

We look forward to seeing you under the stars!

Dr Chrissy Welding

Woking Planetarium

Catching Up

Staff Charity Football Match

 The annual Staff Charity Football Match took place on Monday 20^th July

It was a tightly fought contest, with Churchill City coming out on top with a 3-2 win over the Winston Wanderers. Mr Lovell-Smith bagging the winning goal with only 2 minutes left!

Mr Reid put in star performance with his 2 goals for Churchill City, earning himself the player of the match. Mr Belcher and Luke Fernandez chipped in with goals for the Wanderers.

It was all action as well, with 3 yellow cards, and a sending off. Our year 9 referee very much enjoyed giving the red card.

We managed to raise £82 for charity, which is less than previous years, but we were competing with the KS3 production, which I'm sure was a better spectacle than this match!

Thank you to everyone who took part, and all the students who helped out. 

Mr Eaton 

Nature Watch!

Some pictures for the blog from the pond last week with Frankie looking for newts.

Mrs J Peters

Student band raises £575 for charity!

 

6 months ago, our band MotivE came up with the idea to organise the first student-led concert with the aim of gaining live performance experience whilst using our passion for music to make a difference and raise money for our school's chosen charity, Woking Hospice.

 

For our band's first ever full concert, it was such a great experience! Performing on the main hall stage with fantastic sound, excellent lighting and an enthusiastic audience was such an amazing feeling. Developing our skills individually is challenging and takes a lot of work, but coming together and playing as a band is a different level. It takes precision and timing and being able to read each other on stage, to make the songs sound as good as they can.

 

We spent a huge amount of time practicing and deciding on our set list, to cover songs that we were all excited about playing live. We played 17 songs, including two original songs written over the past year we have been playing together. We played a range of songs like War Pigs (Black Sabbath), Everlong (Foo Fighters) and Can't Stop (Red Hot Chili Peppers).

Our opening song, Where Eagles Dare (Iron Maiden), was a challenge for all members of the band due to the technical difficulty of each part.

We also played some crowd favourites like Iris (New Found Glory version) and an acoustic song Hole Hearted (Extreme) with Spike on his 12 string guitar. We enjoyed playing our own songs to a new audience as well. Our final song, Peace Sells (Megadeth), was also a difficult song to learn and put together.

Overall, as amateur musicians, with exams and other commitments at the same time, the concert was a huge success, and was a lot of fun to put on. We also learnt a bit about all the elements it takes to put on a concert and what it feels like to perform on stage for over 1.5 hours! We received some great feedback from audience members who enjoyed our performance and thought we sounded very professional! 3 members of our band are Year 11 but we are committed to continuing to play together and write new music.

 

We hope we have made the music teachers and the school proud and we have raised £575 profit for Woking and Sam Beare Hospice.

 

Thank you so much to Miss Wells, the Tech Team, and the Finance department, for helping us to make this concert possible!

 

Thank you to all the music teachers for all the opportunities you've given us throughout our time as a band at Winston.

Milo

Alice, Alice, Alice

 KS3 Students Perform 'Alice'

Students from across Years 7, 8 and 9 performed Alice in Wonderland, an adaption by Andrew Biliter, which re-creates the story with new twists and surprises.

The final performance had to be cancelled following a broken water main, so our staff and students demonstrated both resilience and determination in finding an afternoon session that permitted parents to attend.  The energy and enthusiasm demonstrated by our young people is amazing.  They were involved in every part of the show, the music, the technical support, stage management as well as providing all of their own costumes.

It was a great way to end the school year.  Thank you to Ms Watson, Mr Elliott, Ms Fletcher and Ms Antony for creating the opportunity and for nurturing our younger students to have the confidence and passion to perform for us.

Well done!