Winston Remembers

 11th November, at 11.00am at Winston

Our community came together today to remember those who have lost their lives fighting for our country.  They made the ultimate sacrifice and to recognise this, the whole school reflected, stood socially distanced on the patio.

Winston stood in silence, to honour those who fought for our freedom.

One of our students, from Year 8, is self-isolating and was going to play the Last Post with Mr Drake this morning.  So to feel part of the Remembrance Day, he played the Last Post at the same time as it was being played at school.  

Winston was Ready, Responsible and Respectful; The Winston Way.

Our new display in Discovery Space, has gone up, which features a range of interesting fiction and non-fiction books linked to both World War 1 and World War 2. 8RTO have also created some fantastic poppies as part of the display. Each of the students went away and researched someone who has been involved in a war and they added this name to their poppies that they made. Some students also included extra information about the person such as a picture or the year they were born. Thanks to 8RTO for a thoughtful addition to our display! We also have a feature in our display that details some people originally from the Woking area, who fought in WW1 so do come along and have a look if you're interested in finding out about some local history!

Year 7 tutor groups are coming into the Library each morning during form time to write some acrostic poems for either the word 'Poppy' or 'Remember', thinking about the significance of Remembrance Day. Attached are some brilliant examples of these poems from students in 7AKO!

These are very challenging times and  

Supporting Year 11

 Preparing for the Future

Our Year 11 students will be taking their first formal examinations in just under a week's time.  On Monday 9th November, Year 11 were given the opportunity to attend small workshops held by visiting speakers from MADE Training, who we have used in previous years to develop important life skills. 

As students progress up the educational ladder, they are exposed to the increasing need of independent learning and self-motivation. MADE Training help to deliver these skill-based workshops to aid students with their revision strategies, organisation and goal setting whilst building confidence and competence to enable students to reach their potential. It was a positive experience to see how certain revision techniques can be implemented to make an immediate impact using the process of read, transform and recall. 

We hope that the Yr11's can use the strategies and techniques learnt in form time and at these workshops to revise effectively for their upcoming mock exams and GCSE's. The students really enjoyed the experience and were very receptive to the ideas and strategies explored.

Students should also look out for the Hall of Fame.  The names are up of the students achieving or exceeding their FFT target grades.

Winston during Lockdown

 We are Back!

We are delighted to be back at Winston after the half term break and its great to see the amount of work that has taken place around the site:

New screens installed to help to keep students informed and currently showing reminders as to how to combat coronavirus.

The current drama rooms in C Block have been decorated.

The plans for our new building, 'Performance Space', are at the point of going to tender.

The main hall tables have been re-labelled to ensure that students only site in their Year Group Bubbles.

Face coverings in corridors and communal areas from Monday!

Japanese Club

Twenty-four students in Year 7 have been attending the weekly Japanese Club this term where they have been learning about Japanese language, lifestyle and culture through a variety of activities, games and quizzes.

Students have made fantastic progress in their spoken Japanese and have had great fun practising the Hiragana and Katakana writing forms.

They have learnt about traditional Japanese dress and popular Japanese sports such as Sumo wrestling.

Students have had fun practising the art of Origami and have learnt about the story of Sadako Sasaki and the cultural significance of paper cranes in Japan.

Students have also enjoyed exploring aspects of popular culture such as Anime and Manga. The Japanese prefects have been presenting new material at the start of each session and students have been given the opportunity to review their favourite stories and characters.

Well done to Fatima who won the recent ‘Chopstick challenge’ by using chopsticks to pick up and transport the greatest number of Skittles from one side of the classroom to the other!

Next week students will be taking part in a Green Tea ceremony and later in the term they will be making their own Sushi as part of the annual Sushi Master Chef competition!

A huge thank you to Miss Finney and the Year 7 MFL Leaders for arranging such an enjoyable educational experience.

Congratulations!

 Outstanding Language Learning 🌍

I was delighted to meet five Year 7 students this morning, to present them with certificates for their exceptional work in their French and German lessons.

Corina:  has worked exceptionally hard in German throughout the term. Above and beyond her excellent class and homework she has created a vocabulary and grammar book and has been looking up a variety of vocabulary under different themes. She is to be congratulated on her enthusiasm and commitment in German! She is a Language Leader for German. 

Larisa: has worked hard and contributed enthusiastically in German. She has been very focussed and engaged in her learning and has completed a lot of additional work on Linguascope. She is a Language Leader for German and a Japanese Club prefect.

Ellie: has worked exceptionally hard and has contributed well in German lessons. Above and beyond her excellent class and homework she has completed lot of extra work on Linguascope and Duolingo. 

Zakarin: has worked exceptionally hard and has shown great enthusiasm for German. She has always tried her best and has consistently produced work of a very high standard. 

Juul: has stood out as a talented, enthusiastic and committed linguist who has worked hard and has produced work of an exceptionally high standard. She is a Language Leader for French and a Japanese Club Prefect. 

Future Stock Market Millionaires?!

Year 10 GCSE Business students have been set a challenge: they each have £10,000 to 'spend' on shares on the stock exchange. This is an opportunity to look at what influences share price and how politics across the world changes confidence levels and therefore, outcomes.

They will track their shares and their decisions, over the next half term and the student who makes the most (imaginary) money will win a prize!

Pumpkin Competition

Well done to all staff and students who entered the pumpkin decorating competition – all the entries were fantastic, and it was a close vote between a lot of them! 

 The winner of the student pumpkin competition (as voted by the staff) is: 

Fantastic Mr Fox with Toothless only one vote behind!! 

Well done to Ellis, Mollie, Grace & Lilly from 8ERE and Phoebe  Yr 9 

Both teams will receive a prize. 

The winner of the staff pumpkin competition (as voted by the students) is: 

Pennywise created by Miss Reynolds 

Winner's prizes will be handed out after half term.  

There will also be a small prize for everyone that entered which can be collected from the Library. 

Thanks to everyone for taking part, enjoy your half term break!  Miss Dodd

Pumpkin Competition

We have had lots of fantastic entries so far - including some from staff! Monday 19th October will be the last day for any entries as Miss Dodd wants to display them next week before half term. There will be a separate competition for student and staff entries, and the students will be able to vote from next week for their favourite staff pumpkin! Entries have included Fantastic Mr Fox, Harry Potter, Coraline and Jack Skellington!

Following on with the spooky theme, Year 8 have been working hard during tutor time to come up with their own scary stories based on some classic scary story tropes. Stories have included an eerie woods, old abandoned houses, and mad scientists; well done Year 8! 

Outstanding Geography Homework!

Mrs Eyre set the following homework for her Year 8 class:

Design a device that might be used to measure an element of the weather:

1)      Temperature

2)      Wind speed

3)      Wind direction

4)      Rainfall

5)      Cloud cover

Useful web sites :

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/met-office-for-schools/other-content/other-resources/weather-station/index

Alex designed and made an anemometer.  He used a 3d printer and some electrical components to produce his device, having first considered how to measure wind speed and the implications of the circumference of the circle of his design.  The mathematical problem solving is impressive, as is the final product, which has a digital display.

Alex, in Year 8 has been awarded a Headteacher's Commendation for 

an excellent piece of Geography homework. 

Latin at Winston

Year 7 & KS3 Latin students were invited to attend a virtual talk by Roman Mysteries author Caroline Lawrence. Lawrence spoke about the hero's journey in myths and movies, and notably how every hero needs a weakness; every journey an obstacle, and every saga a lesson to learn. Her insights into the writing process were fascinating, and those that tuned in from home were inspired and intrigued by the experiences she shared.

Students will find a collection of Caroline's books in the Discovery Space.

Feedback from a parent: 'I just wanted to say thank you for arranging this and let you know how much Phoebe and I enjoyed it yesterday - it was so interesting!'

Hello Yellow

 Hello Yellow Day

Hello Yellow Day is a day dedicated to mental health awareness. It helps educate people about mental health, where to get help if they need it and how to relate to others who may suffer from a mental health problem.

The wellbeing team in each year group have been very busy creating ideas to make this day a special day here at Winston. Here are some of their ideas and activities planned - we'd love you to take part:

• Poster competition - already completed and posters are up around the school. The winner will be announced on Friday 9th;
• Tutor group bunting activity - this should already be in your tutor wallets. Please encourage your tutees to write a kind supportive message on these and display them in your tutor rooms;
  
• Yellow badges will be made available on Friday;
• A wellbeing booklet has been created by the senior wellbeing team. Please use any of the activities during tutor time and then on Friday, students can take them home. The winning poster is featured as the cover.
• The wellbeing leaders and staff may wear an item of yellow clothing on Friday
• Individual wellbeing teams are making a short film to introduce themselves to their year group
  
• Year 7 - are wearing selling yellow wrist bands (wellbeing leader Mrs Kovic)
• Year 8 - 'Humans of Winston' item (Miss Wade)
• Year 9 - challenge cards -5 wellbeing challenges to complete on the day (Mrs Armstrong)
• Year 10 - planting seeds/bulbs of yellow flowers to bloom each season (Mrs Alexander)
• Year 11 - wellbeing booklet / photo booth (Mrs Thomas)

There are so many thins that you could do to improve how you are feeling for example:

Mindfulness exercises, physical exercise, listening to music, meditation or yoga.  Perhaps you could try some colouring!

Why is colouring beneficial to your well-being?

●     Colouring is a creative form of self-expression which promotes relaxation.

●     Colouring is also a form of meditation and releases endorphins.

●     Colouring has been proven to help reduce stress and anxiety levels.

Thank you to everyone involved in raising our awareness today and everyday, that being kind to each other and to ourselves is very important.

Have a great weekend! 

 Life at Winston

Miss Dodd has launched a pumpkin decorating competition!

Can you compete with these?

It would be great to extend our display in Discovery Space.  Take part and show us what you can do!

Extending the spooky theme, here is an excellent piece of Year 7 work; a gothic advert.

Music at Winston

We may not be able to sing or play wood or brass instruments but that leaves a huge range of activities including guitars and keyboards, as well as the Mac Suite to support music learning.

In Design Technology students were making a container and had to design the lid and wrapping, 

using the computer.