Winston Dancers perform at St Peter’s Hospital’s Charity Gala

The Winston Churchill Dance Cohort was invited to perform at a charity gala in aid of the Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal for Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

The gala was organised by Ashwin Unnithan, an orthopaedic consultant at St Peter’s Hospital, and was a great success, raising over £1070; the girls felt privileged at being invited to dance.  They gave a graceful and beautifully moving performance of ‘Reflection’ which enthralled the audience, once again dancing with maturity and feeling.  Krisanne’s improvised ending to the dance was inspiring!

 

 

Christmas Cake Competition

Year 10 Catering Students have again been competing in the annual Christmas cake competition. They have baked their cakes using Mrs O'Brien, Subject Teacher for Catering’s special recipe, covered them with marzipan and fondant icing and then the challenge was to decorate them.  Students were asked to design and make their own decorations and then the cakes were judges by Mrs Johnson-Walker, Headteacher, Mr Phillips, Business Manager and Ben Piette of the London House Restaurant.

 Prize Winners were:

First - Gabby Jones

Second - Alex Bird

Third - Daniel Byrne

Woking Hospice Photography Competition for Students

Year 11 Lead Primary Schools’ Mega Festival

On Friday 29^th November 25 Year 11 Sports Leaders lead a Mega Festival for over 100 Year 1 & 2s from our new sports partnership.

The students had to organise activities which focussed on the following areas:

Speed

Agility

Teamwork

Basic Ball Skills such as football, basketball, or hockey

Target Skills

As well as run the Festival.  It ran like clockwork.

It was impressive to watch them at work and the way the Year 1s and 2s interacted with them.  The visiting staff was visibly impressed with their leadership skills, and could not quite believe that our Sports Leaders were only 15 or 16 years of age!

Oliver May, from Goldsworth Primary said;

“Your students did you proud once more.”

The pupils from our partner primary schools thoroughly enjoyed themselves giving the leaders a huge cheer at the end of the afternoon.  Each primary school pupil was given a certificate of attendance to remind them of the day.

It was a pleasure to once again, work with such a talented group of students; they certainly ‘did do Winston proud’!

Healthy Bake Competition

Arts Awards Evening 2013

The Annual Arts Awards Evening was held at school on Wednesday, November 27^th.

This event aims to recognise, acknowledge and appreciate the wonderful, inspiring and often exhilarating work that our students in the fields of Art, Music and Drama have created over the last twelve months.

Presenting the Awards and Certificates of Excellence was Mrs Emma Callender, a former teacher at our school and now Head of Drama at Herschel School in Slough.

Speaking about the event, Simon Donaldson, Subject Leader for the Performing Arts said, “The Arts in our school reflect life in all its diversity. They help our students to see a whole array of problems in a proper perspective. They strengthen human relationships and can help to make our students tolerant and understanding of the attitudes and opinions encountered amongst a variety of people. The Arts at The Winston Churchill School encourage the very best in shared experiences of many kinds”

Exam Certificates

If you have left the school but have not collected your exam certificates yet please can you collect them as soon as possible.  They are available from the school office between 8.00am and 4.00pm.

Oxbridge Talk for Year 10 Students

On Thursday 28^th November, a small group of Year 10 students were invited to attend a talk about Oxford University at Fullbrook School. An Oxford University Admissions Officer was in attendance and made a short presentation on the application process and demands of studying at one of the world’s best universities, before giving students the opportunity to ask questions.

“I found the talk both interesting and informative. I now have a greater understanding about life at Oxford, the admissions process, subjects I should take at A-level, and the fees. Before the talk I had very little idea about any of these points, but now I am more confident and know more about them. The graduate inspired me to aim high, especially as at Oxford and Cambridge the facilities are amazing, making me really want to go to University there.”

Robert Penman

“I thought that the session was very good because it enlightened me on many things that I would need to know when applying and thinking about studying at University. It taught me that there are many different means of funding and financial support available for students - this was important for me because I believed that I wouldn’t be able to attend university because of the cost. In all this was a good day because I now have a lot more knowledge on universities in general, and Oxford in particular.”

Abigail White

Winston Dancers Perform at Woking’s Winter Shorts

Dancers from The Winston Churchill School were invited to perform at Dance Woking’s Winter Shorts programme at the Rhoda McGaw Theatre last week.

The schools KS3 Dance Club were given the opportunity to take part in the Young DanceMakers Platform, on Wednesday 20^th November, sponsored by Sportivate, a 6 week dance project, allowing schools to work with Dance Woking and to provide platforms for schools to enable them to share their work as well as to gain experience of presenting it in a live theatre environment.  The Young DanceMakers were encouraged to choreograph their own dance through peer to peer support and by working with Dance Woking professional dance artists. This is the second year that we have been given this opportunity.

The evening was a great success!

 

On Saturday it was the turn of the G&T Dance Cohort.  They were invited to take part at Dance Woking’s Community Platform Innovate.  Sixteen dance groups took part and the audience were wowed with some amazing, exciting and electrifying performances.  Our girls ‘did us proud’!!  Their sensitive interpretation of Matt Walker’s choreography ‘Reflection’ was sublime and their musicality and focus was touching; showing a maturity of movement beyond their years.  Their journey so far has been amazing and the dancers continue to grow and benefit from the G&T Dance programme taught by Matt.

 

The Winston Churchill Sports College Primary Schools’ Sports Partnership Hockey Coaching Festival

On a cold Friday afternoon 13 of our Sports Leaders from Y9 & 10 travelled to Goldsworth Park to help lead and referee the first primary schools’ Hockey Coaching Festival for our new partnership.

The students helped the Woking Hockey Club coaches lead Y5 & 6 pupils from The Hermitage, Goldsworth, Knaphill and St Johns primary schools in an afternoon of hockey drills and skills.

These skills were then developed in a mini tournament where each school played each other in small teams of 6.  Our students either took charge of a team or refereed the games.

Although the temperature dropped alarmingly during the afternoon, it was a very successful event and a great time was had by all.  A quote from one of the primary school children was;

“It was so good, it was amazing!”

 

New! Active Families Membership

Parents of children at Winston Churchill School only £25 per month gym membership. Plus bring your child along Saturday/Sunday 2.00-6.00pm and School Holidays 9.00-4.00pm for FREE*

*Children must be in year 9 or above

'Movember'

Many of the male members of staff around the school are growing rather handsome moustaches in aid of prostate cancer and cancer research during the month of ‘Movember’.

They have created a page on the Movember website for their team ‘The Winston Churchill Whisker Growers’ and you can donate to the charity on here. Just look for the team by following this link : http://uk.movember.com/donate

Mr Reed did a fantastic job on Thursday at the past students' awards evening by collecting on the door and raised £30 for us already.

 Thank you all for your support, we know there are a lot of charity events going on at the moment but your donations will be much appreciated!

 

 

Past Students Celebrate Best Ever Exam Results!

On Thursday 14th November students returned to the school to receive their exam certificates from the record breaking results this year.  Mr Barter, Chair of Governors, welcomed the students, their parents, school staff and our special guests the Mayor of Woking, Cllr Anne Roberts, and Mr David Smith, former Headteacher at the school to mark their fantastic achievements.  Year 11 student, Leon Tolkovsky, entertained all those present with an excellent rendition of Nocturne op.9 no. 2 by Chopin.

 The vote of thanks was provided by our current Head Girl and Head Boy, Lily Bohling and Harry Moore, who thanked all those who had organised this very successful evening and wished all the students well for the future.

Chris Reed – Year Leader, presented individual awards for his year group:

Academic Excellence, for the student who gained the highest overall GCSE score – Scott Sussex

Academic Achievement, for consistently working hard throughout their school life – Ali Fazeli-Nia

The Sports College Award, for significant contribution to the Specialist School Status outside of curriculum time – Eloise Milbourn

Technical Support Award, for the student who went above and beyond the call of duty for the benefit of the School – Alex Woods

Year Leader Award, for serving the school outstandingly throughout their time – Matthew Taylor

Service to the School by the Head Girl and Head Boy – Gabby Home and Phil Razey

Special Award winners were George Pennistone, The Owen Davis Award, and Eloise Garbutt, The Edward Vines Trophy. 

 
Subject Awards were present to the following students: 

Art	Josephine James
Asdan	Jade Blanchard
BTEC Business Studies	Ryan Mumford
BTEC Dance	Ema Thomas
BTEC PE	Daniel Willacy
BTEC Performing Arts	Jake Howard
BTEC Science Extended Certificate	Sansida Rhaman
Business Studies	Nicola Scott
Catering	Rebecca Horley
Child Development	Lucy Swords
D & T Graphic Products	Amritha Vadi
D & T Resistant Materials	Daniel Razey
D & T Textiles Technology	Tara Hickin
Drama	Philip Razey
English language and literature combined	Anna Santos
English Language	Emily Mee
English Literature Science Separate Award – Biology	Holly Edwards
Food & Nutrition Health & Social Care	Eloise Garbutt
French	Rohma Mirza
Geography	Hannah Gunn
German and History	Louise Mills
Heating & Plumbing	Adam Taylor
ICT DIDA	Mark Pullen
ICT OCR National	Rupesh Sachdev
iGCSE	Edward Parker
Latin	Varshan Karunakaran
Learning Support	Jordan Appleyard
Mathematics  Statistics	Kishaan Sutharsan
Media studies	Holly Temple
Music	Sarah-Jayne Riedel
PE Boys	James Gibbs
PE Girls and Core Science	Megan Edey
Religious Studies	Isla Strathdee
Science Additional Award	Jacob Edgerton
Science Separate Award – Chemistry	Rachel Walton
Science Separate Award – Physics	George Booth

 

Winston Cyberbulling Mentors Work with Impero to Help Children Nationwide

Winston students have worked in partnership with Impero to develop a keyword detection library as part of its network management software solution, Impero Education Pro. Students trained as cyberbullying mentors, by the charity Beat Bullying, gave up their time to work with Impero to create a list of keywords and phrases most likely to be used to facilitate bullying online.

The list of keywords and phrases formulated by the group of cyberbullying mentors has been used to assist Impero’s research into e-safety development, enabling the software company to develop an extensive keyword detection library. The students, who ranged from 11-16 in age, were able to provide a vivid insight into commonly used text speak, jargon and slang terms, of which Impero was previously unaware. Keywords and phrases which the mentors believed victims may use in retaliation to cyberbulling were also considered.

The new addition, which falls under Impero’s e-safety feature, consists of various keywords, phrases and acronyms most likely to suggest bullying behaviour. A glossary providing a definition of each term ensures educational staff understand the nature of a potential violation when these keywords are typed by a student, then captured and highlighted by the software. A new ‘confide’ button has also been developed, which will enable students to confidentially raise a bullying concern, anonymously, with a member of a staff.

Although it is important to embrace the opportunities technology in education can afford, it is equally vital to ensure students behave appropriately and remain safe in the digital classroom. Impero believed it was important to gain an insight from young people who possess experience of the effects of online bullying, both first-hand and from an advisory perspective. This information has provided invaluable research into the development of the detection library, which will now highlight hundreds of keywords and phrases related to online bullying.

The collaboration between Impero and the cyberbullying mentors from The Winston Churchill School has supplied a wealth of knowledge to proactively combat the issue of cyberbullying. The student cyberbullying mentors are proactively helping young people to remain safe in the digital world throughout schools nationwide.

Year 11 Girls Take Part in International Rugby Event

Our Year 11 girls were provided with an amazing opportunity last night at Harlequins Rugby Club.  Issy Fisher, Evie Laidlaw, Jess Emerson, Libby Warn, Molly Jarrett, Anna Major, Laura Coxon and Tara McCarthy played touch rugby during the half time interval in the international game between England Women and Canada.  The Students did Winston proud as they beat their opponents 2 tries to nil with Issy Fisher storming through the opposition defence to score after a 20m dash.  The other try was scored by Laura Coxon after displaying some nifty footwork! 

Well done to all the girls who took part, it was an extremely enjoyable experience for all!

Mr Goosen

Winston Churchill School Technology Students Race to McLaren!

On Friday 8th November I was delighted to take five gifted and talented year 10 Resistant Materials students to the McLaren Technology Centre.  The visit was months in the planning with Daniel Bowman, Tim Clarke, Jamie Edey, Joanna Rotherham and Ethan White designing and making a car with no engine that would travel 10 metres across part of the McLaren Centre.

Even though the elastic band propelled car did not receive the title as fastest it would certainly come first place for style and such is the passion of the team they are already hatching their plan to win next year's competition. 

Before the big race the students gained rare insight as to what goes on inside the technology centre, meeting the designers and engineers that create the cars we see Jenson Button and Sergio Perez race.  They were lucky enough to get up close to the brand new McLaren P1’s hot off the production line and past formula one cars, as well as the extremely impressive trophy collection. 

Bring on next year for the win! As well as inspiring more mechanical engineers and designers of the future.

Miss J Blackman

Deputy Subject Leader for Technology