Blog week ending 16th September

A very warm welcome to all of our new and returning students, families and staff.  I hope you have all enjoyed a restful, happy and healthy summer break.  We have already planned an exciting programme of trips and school events for this term which will be added to our school calendar as they are confirmed.  We are finalising our new season of extra-curricular clubs and activities and would encourage students to get involved in exploring a new interest or activity, I will share the full timetable in our next blog.  We have a number of new staff who I will introduce to you (via this blog!) over the course of the next few few weeks.

Our Year 7 students have made an excellent start to their rugby training as you can see from the below photos.  Students took part in a variety of warm-ups and drills before practising their newly learned skills.  This term on Saturday mornings all Year 7 students will participate in our Saturday morning sport programme which provides an excellent way for the students to bond outside of the classroom environment. We encourage parents and carers to come and watch and there will be parking available on-site. The sessions start promptly at 9am, finish at 10:30am and students should arrive in full WGSB kit. The dates are: Sat 17th and 24th September Sat 1st, 8th, and 15th October (full inter house competition).  Our PTA will be attending all dates selling refreshments and ‘nearly new’ uniform – please note we will be cash only!  To find out more about the work of our wonderful PTA and to join please click here. 

Mrs Bartholomew-Biggs joins us from Harris Invictus Academy Croydon. She has taught both English and Drama for three years. Something she is eager to develop with students here at WGSB is their ability to feel confident sharing in front of the class (something which they'll do regularly in Drama!) This, in turn, improves their presentation skills in English. Confidence is something which is built through time, and this is something that is encouraged and fostered here at WGSB. A range of acting skills are explored in every Drama lesson, from the more vocal skills - tone and volume - to physical - gestures and facial expressions. This is an especially exciting time given that the teaching of Drama is relatively new here.  Our Year 7 Drama curriculum aims to improve students' ability to understand how other people think, feel and act, as well as improving their skills, such as improvising, acting, presentation skills, speaking and evaluating their own performances. Through their studies, students will be introduced to a breadth of literary genres designed to inspire and empower with a view to prompting a lifelong appreciation of the performing arts. 

In this lesson students were learning and practising the four elements of characterisation; Posture, Gesture, Facial Expression and Gait.  Using this framework students (in groups of three) created a brief scene for their characters to depict.

Characterisation of joy!

Freezeframe!

Our Year 7 Scientists have already completed an introduction to working safety in our lab classrooms including information about the chemicals and materials and their hazard symbols and safety precautions.  In the lesson pictured below Miss Morrison’s students are familiarising themselves with lab equipment and apparatus including learning the safety precautions of, and how to use, a Bunsen burner.

The outgoing Year 13 Finance students and last year's Year 12 students have reason to be cheerful, as not only did they receive fantastic results in their summer exams, but 23 students of our students received scholarships towards one of the London Institute of Banking and Finance degree course.   Two of those students in question was placed in the top 1% in the country.  This is a credible achievement as demonstrates the dedication that the students gave to their studies.  Well Done!

Our new Year 12 Business Studies students have made an equally strong start to their A Level studies!

Our new Year 12 Art students have been considering how we observe and ‘place’ a subject or model that we will be creating a drawing or artwork from.  In this case students worked with a skeleton - to consider their observations from different angles and analysing the subject before planning their interpretation.  As you can see from the below, students have made a confident start to their A Level!

Our Year 12 Physics students hare currently focusing on the maths skills that will be used throughout their A Level studies.  In this practical lesson students investigated the resistance of a light bulb, processing and plotting the errors given in the experiment.

Year 11 Food Technology GCSE students took part in the Tunnock's Tea Cakes challenge!  This lesson gave students the opportunity to show off their food presentation and styling skills.  Using a range of accompaniments and ingredients students designed and made a range of garnishes to create the biggest impact.  The students tell me the results tasted as good as they looked!

Our blog provides a window into school life connecting parents and carers with the day-to-day adventures and learning at WGSB.  We support and celebrate the achievements and successes of our school community whether here in school or via clubs and interests pursued outside of school.  Please do send in any announcements or news so that we might all share in student successes and endeavours to Grace Wellcoat at gwellcoat@endeavour-mat.co.uk

Joel G from Year 11 was lucky enough to perform at the famous Minack Theatre in Cornwall during the summer holidays. The Minack Theatre is an open-air theatre carved into the cliff side in Porthcurno, with the sea making a dramatic background. Joel was part of the Geoffrey Whitworth Theatre's production of The Scarlet Pimpernel, performed during The Minack's 90th anniversary season. Joel played a revolutionary, and also operated one of the bird puppets and the remote-controlled rats! The six performances were all sold out, meaning that 4500 people came to see the production in one of the hottest weeks of the year.  What an amazing opportunity Joel, congratulations on your brilliant performance.  Hopefully your next role will be a bit closer to home so we can attend!

Forthcoming;

Calendar Dates – Key school dates can be viewed on our website calendar by clicking here – Please note, the school will be closed on Monday 19^th September to mark the passing of the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Letters sent home – copies of all key letters sent home can be viewed on our website by clicking here

Please do join us at the next Parish Council Community Litter Pick on Saturday September 24th at 10am.  Meeting point is Wilmington Memorial Hall.  Families and dogs welcome.  Achievement certificates will be awarded to all students in attendance.

PTA Update.  A warm welcome from the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to Everyone! Special welcome to our Year 7 and 12 students and their families. We hope that your child(ren) have settled in to the new academic year and routine.

The goal of the PTA is to provide the extra funding to help enhance and further the students’ learning experiences and opportunities. Our funds benefit all students and come from the fundraising initiatives and events held across the school year.

Our PTA meetings are held once every 4 - 6 weeks, on Mondays evenings, term times and these can be face-to-face or virtual meetings.

We all have something to give. Even if you have younger children at home or only a small amount of time, could you come to a meeting, help set up an event, serve food or design a poster? Perhaps you have a professional skill you could help us out with? You don't have to come into the school; many of our volunteering tasks can be done from home. The most important skills you can bring are enthusiasm and a willingness to get involved.

Look out for invites to our PTA meetings on the school blog or on the school calendar.  We hope you will be able to attend our Annual General Meeting (AGM) event which will be held on Monday 26^th September.

If you would like to know more about the kind of things we do and the events we hold, please contact us via email pta@wgsb.co.uk   or by calling the school office on 01322 223090.  Thank you for considering to join the WGSB PTA and I look forward to getting to meet you at some of our events or during our meetings.

The WGSB PTA Lottery

You can join our PTA lottery which is now live on ParentPay . Tickets are £12 a year for one number and you can buy as many tickets as you want! Please select the number of tickets you want to purchase and add your contact details on ParentPay. Each number goes into 12 monthly draws between September and August. Prize money is £30.00 per month and £50.00 at the PTA Christmas Draw. Please note, cut-off date to join the lottery is 1st November 2022 to be included for the year.

Saturday morning sports events: The PTA will be supporting the PE department during the sports morning events for year 7s from Saturday 17 Sep - Saturday 15 Oct, 9 -10.30am. The PTA will serve tea, coffee and other refreshments during these events, to raise funds for the school. Why not come around to watch and cheer on our boys or simply to have a chat with the PTA?

Don’t forget your cash!

Pre-Loved Uniform: The PTA second hand uniform shop offers a range of ‘'pre-loved' uniform at hugely reduced prices. If you would like to know what we have in stock, replace a lost piece of uniform or even pick up a spare, please contact pta@wgsb.co.uk and a member of the PTA will be in touch.

Christmas Trees fundraising scheme - It’s only September, but please look out for school comms for this great initiative where our PTA partners with a tree company to sell beautiful Nordmann Fir Christmas Trees. Watch this space for more information!

Support Wilmington Grammar School for Boys - Dartford by signing up to support us for FREE on  Smile Amazon and Easyfundraising . You can raise donations whenever you shop online with over 6,000 retailers including John Lewis & Partners, eBay, Argos, ASOS, M&S and more. Plus, we will get a bonus £5 donation when you do! Sign up today - this will make a BIG difference to us this year: Easyfundraising

Best wishes,

Stuart Harrington

Head Teacher