Inspiration

CNN Inspirations

On Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th December two groups of Year 10 and 11 students visited the McLaren Thought Leadership Centre just outside Woking to watch CNN film their CNN Inspirations programmes about innovation and technology. It has become somewhat of an annual event for Winston Churchill School to send its students to this incredible centre of innovation and experience an evening of mind-blowing television production. 

Students were chosen from the Geography, Media and Computing departments with only ten places available for each evening. On Wednesday we watched Unseen Earth in production. Not only did we hear from a retired NASA astronaut who took amazing photographs of earth, a microbiologist whose photographs and videos under the microscope made profound discoveries but also met Robbie Shone a caver and visual storyteller who through his immense photographs is lighting up the world's biggest cave systems.

Then on Thursday evening we saw something really incredible in the Back to the Future programme. It was Sophia a Hanson Robotics AI robots, who is now a Saudi Arabian citizen and became quite an internet sensation a few months ago. She answered questions, expressed her desire to be able to dance one day and freaked out most people in the audience with her facial expressions. 

To cap the evening off we heard from the Linda Jackson, CEO of Citroen, about driverless cars and all the ethical debates surrounding their development, as well as Mark Post the scientist behind the first stem cell synthetic burger. The right at the end we watched haute-tech designer Anouk Wipprecht demonstrate her robotics spider dress that was designed to stop people encroaching on your personal space and also show off her bio-sensing unicorn hat that keeps an eye on what peaks the interest of children with ADHD.

As you can imagine all students, as well as Ms Strachan and Mr Falleiro the accompanying teachers, were left pondering what our future will be like. An enormous thank you has to go to both CNN and McLaren for their brilliant hospitality both evenings. You will hopefully spot the Winston students in the audience if you watch the programmes when they are broadcast on CNN.

CNN Inspirations: Unseen Earth

Friday 15th December at 0900 GMT

Saturday 16th December at 2100 GMT

Sunday 17th December at 0200 GMT and 1100 GMT

Tuesday 26th December at 1600 GMT

CNN Inspirations: Back to the Future

Friday 29th December at 0900 GMT and 1600 GMT

Saturday 30th December at 2100 GMT

Sunday 31st December at 0200 GMT and 1100 GMT

Celebrating the Arts

Arts Awards Evening

Our evening to celebrate the amazing ability of our students within the Arts Faculty took place on Thursday 7th December.  Successes in Art, Music and Drama were led to a significant number of awards being made in a range of categories. We were entertained by some exceptional music form both the junior and senior session bands and we enjoyed remembering the great performances of our students in each area of our work.  A huge thank you to the staff team who ensure that these opportunities are available for our students.  You are the reason that the numbers engaging in the arts at Winston are increasing year on year, ensuring that our students thrive.

Making a Difference

Time to Reflect and Celebrate

Music is an essential feature of our lives and our Music Department continues to grow and thrives on the opportunity to share their music with you. Regardless of your beliefs, please consider coming to share some beautiful music made by our lovely students.  It would be great to see you at any or all of the events below.

Making a Difference

I was delighted to hear that Chloe, who has appeared on my blog before for her amazing fund raising for the Woking Hospice, was at the opening ceremony for the Hospice and was chosen to present the bouquet to the Countess of Wessex.  Chloe has worked tirelessly to raise money for this charity which touches the lives of so many people, including a number of families at our school.  She achieves this in a quiet and unassuming way and she has our respect and thanks for the great work she is doing for others.

Learning at Winston

Innovative Work

The Religious Studies Department have had another productive Autumn term.

Our Year 7 classes have completed their Primary School Catch-Up unit they have been focusing on a half-term of Old Testament study. A memorable homework was summarising our knowledge of Abraham into a song and then performing it in class. We had lyrics to the tune of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know; Abba's Knowing Me and Knowing You as well as the Spiderman theme tune. This technique of putting revision notes to music is called Acoustic Coding and is explained on the GCSE Revision Tools site on your Frog page. Students were so keen to perform we had to use some of our PSHCE lesson to squeeze all the performances in! The Religious Studies department are planning a Key Stage 4 competition in a similar vein in the Spring term so watch this space.

Year 8 classes have been using a Flipped Classroom approach this half-term, which means they learn a specified topic for homework using a specially designed Frog page and then use their knowledge in practical activities in the classroom. One lesson for example, provided students with the challenge of designing merchandise for the Muslim Council of Britain which would educate people on the differences and similarities of Sunni and Shia Muslims. 

Meanwhile on Monday 4th December twenty Year 10 students were invited to an A'Level Philosophy Masterclass with Joshua Block, a Philosophy teacher from Woking College. The one hour session after school saw students make ethical decisions about whether their mind/ soul or physical body made them who they are, as well as nominate a famous person or character for the Goodies Award. An eclectic mix of Captain America, Emma Watson, Robin Hood, the Queen, Mahatma Gandhi, former President Obama and Mother Teresa competed for the top spot. Students debated what the idea of good was, and whether this crazy mix of individuals had anything in common. We are really thankful to Woking College for allowing Joshua to visit us and are really looking forward to making this a termly event. If you missed out this time and are interested in Philosophy the Religious Studies Frog site has numerous resources for you to read and watch under Year 9 Autumn 2.

Science Lecture Style

Year 11 have been experiencing science lectures this week.  We have planned that they will have a lead lecture in the main hall, followed by workshop sessions, including experiments, in the classroom.  The feedback on post-it notes has been very positive.  Thank you to the Science Team for planning and delivering the lectures and to the Site and IT Teams for organising the hall.

This week at Winston

Assembly

Mr Drake led an assembly on the theme of innovation.  Wearing a blanket that has been redesigned to enable you to keep warm and read a book, Mr Drake engaged students in the idea that you need to think outside of the box to move forward.  Students were taken on a journey of innovation by considering life without key products.  This was then developed further by taking each product and thinking about how it had been enhanced over the years to improve its impact on our lives.


Mr Drake used Lord Kelvin, the President of the Royal Society of England as an example, as he had made a declaration that,  "Heavier than air flying machines are impossible''.  If others had followed hi lead then transport today might look very different.  Students were encouraged to be innovative in all aspects of life and were able to enjoy an innovative piece of music written and performed by one of our Year 11 students.

Be Smart, Be Safe

This week students and their parents have had the opportunity to attend sessions around the areas of internet safety, drugs and wellbeing.   I was really pleased that so many parents were able to attend the session on 'On Line Safety' delivered by Sharon Girling.  One parent said that she would attend as many sessions as possible as it was so up-to-date and informative.  Students in Year 7 and 9 have then had sessions to help them to use the internet safely.

Our Library

I was able to visit the library on Friday morning to view the progress being made.  The floors have been finished and the windows are being put in. All the cradles for the cabling are in place.  The glass for the curtain walling is being fitted over the next two weeks and then the dome will be built on the first floor.  

 

Join Us!

Be Part of the Winston Team

A number of opportunities are being advertised over the coming months, which could enable you to become part of the Winston Team.  Our students need your expertise and professionalism and they want to work with you. 

Head of Science

Lead a team of 15 staff

11 specialist rooms and a computer suite

Brand new planetarium

Head of English

Lead a team of 12 staff

A suite of 10 classrooms and a computer suite

Brand new library adjoining the English block

Come and visit the school and talk to us, so that you can make an informed decision.


Perhaps you think you are not ready; come and find out, we have a great development programme.


Drop in and meet the Leadership Team on Thursday 7th December from 4.00pm.

Graduates looking for a gap year job? 

Come in and talk about the opportunities to work at Winston for a year.

In and Out of the Classroom

RHS Wisley Youth Takeover 

A selection of Year 9 students took over RHS Wisley Gardens for the day. They were tasked with leading tours, running their social media platforms and contributing to a collaborative art project with the aim of making the Gardens more accessible to young people as they try to diversify their demographic. 

Students were challenged to use their communication skills, creativity and ingenuity to develop ways in which the gardens can engage young people.  

It was lovely to see students learning a whole range of subjects outside of a classroom. 

Visiting The Houses of Parliament

On Monday 27th November, we took fifteen Young Carers to The Houses of Parliament for a fascinating visit of this world famous building in London. This included an insight into seeing the Robing Room and passes through the Royal Gallery to take her seat on the gilded throne in the stunning Lords Chambers.

We also visited the Central Lobby, the heart of Parliament, entering the intriguing rooms of the Commons before standing in the famous Chamber itself, home to the Speaker's Chair , the green benches and some lively political debates. The tour guild gave the students the chance to embrace the experience and let them follow him,  performing the Michael Jackson 'Thriller ' dance, which was the only time they would every get to dance in the Chambers.

Following the visit to the Commons , the students enjoyed lunch at Pizza Express, before the journey back to Woking. This opportunity was kindly sponsored by our local MP Jonathan Lord, who kindly funded the trip for our Young Carers to experience.

The tour guild asked the students who this iron lady was in the main hall way to The House of Commons, their reply was it was " Mrs Johnson-Walker, our Head Teacher!!!''