Blog week ending 9th December

Thank you all for your generous hamper donations and support of our charitable initiatives and for your continued support of our PTA and student events - I have no doubt that your contributions will be valued and appreciated by our local community.  Our Christmas Fair was a highly enjoyable and successful one (more from our PTA below!) and I'd like to thank Mr Palmer and the members of our orchestra for their wonderful contribution to the Christmas carol concert at St Michael and All Angels.  Our recent WG6 Open Event formed part of our post 16 support and guidance for our Year 11s and allowed each subject to showcase the exciting courses and opportunities our sixth form offers, including our forensics and criminal investigation course which is included later in this blog.

Year 8 Scientists have been studying planets and the solar system.  In this lesson students plotted and created a scale model of the solar system.  In the below photos students are holding a picture of the planet they represent.  The Sun was positioned at the building and Neptune on this scale finished halfway up the grass bank.  On this scale the size of the planet earth would be 0.1mm.  Just to put things into perspective Voyager 2 took 12 years to get from Earth to Neptune travelling at a speed of 19 kilometres a second (about 42,000 miles an hour).

MFL Department.  Students in Year 7 have been undertaking a beginner’s Italian course. One lunch last week they enjoyed sampling Italian Christmas cake, pandoro, as well as the Italian dessert, affogato. ‘Affogato’ literally means ‘drowned’ in Italian and is ice cream with coffee poured on top! Bellissimo!

Year 9 Spanish students practising their vocabulary.

Congratulations to all our Year 7 who received recognition certificates during our Celebration Assembly!  Mrs Cross was particularly delighted to see so many of you being awarded .. each of you demonstrating a so many of our shared school values of resilience, endeavour and achievement. 

Students received 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd place for highest house points in Term 1 per form, as well as further awards where students received certificates and an amazon voucher for demonstrating the PRIDE values:

Form tutor award

Student manager award

Head of Year Award

All students in Years 7 and 8 have timetabled library lessons where they have the opportunity to read a book of their choice, explore new launches as well as earn extra points on our Accelerated Reader scheme.  Ms Fisk took the opportunity to congratulate those students who have most exceeded their Accelerated Reader target (first photo!).  Each student was treated to a celebratory lolly and received 5 House Points!  Well done everyone.  Parents and Carers can contact Ms Fisk our Librarian via tfisk@wgsb.co.uk to get Home Connect details, allowing you to log in to Accelerated Reader to view your sons' progress.

Year 8 Drama students are currently working on their script writing skills and have been tasked with writing a detective story script!  In groups students are writing scenes and dialogue for each member of the group to perform in their own ‘whodunit’ mystery.

Sports Update – Match report by Mr Hook.  The Year 10 football team braved the cold to face Bexley Grammar School in the North Kent Cup Quarter Final. In bobbly conditions the team went 1-0 down midway through the first half from a deflected shot leaving Ethan in goal no chance. The team showed great character and resilience to score four second half goals to blow the opposition away. A thunderbolt of a strike from 25 yards drew the teams level. Along with three other well-crafted goals the skill and quality of the team proved too much for Bexley in the end. The Year 10 side now progress on to the semi-finals and are only one game away from the final of the North Kent Cup.  The goals were scored by: Beau x1 Charlie x2 and Leroy x1. There were also debuts for Callum E and a first start for the school team for Thomas L. An all-round fantastic team performance.”

Pictured top, from left:  Ayo E, Leroy A, Bosco L, Harry J, Ethan S, Thomas L, Charlie H, Sovan N

Bottom from left: David A, Callum E, Beau W, Franco M, Luca C, Abdul K  

Rugby match report by Mr Powell.  WGSB 1^st XV rugby team played Darrick Wood School yesterday and churned out a hard-fought victory.  The game started later than expected so the game was fighting the light even before we started, however WGSB soon imposed themselves on Darrick Wood with territory advantage throughout the first 15 minutes until we finally broke through to score the first try by Oliver E-S and converted beautifully by Alex B to go 7-0 up.  The team proceeded to pressure Darrick Woods try line numerous times, however fierce defence by Darrick Wood stopped several scoring opportunities.  The game continued with both sides gaining territory advantage before making a handling error and losing pitch position, until WGSB proceeded to work through several phases of play with some strong carries from the likes of Ethan, Norbert and Adam before Adam G was able to force his way over the line for the second try out wide which again was converted by Alex B taking the score to 14-0

Darrick Wood started to impose themselves with some strong rucking and good counter attacking after a few wayward kicks open field to finish off a phase of play to score in the corner which they failed to convert leaving the score at 14-5.  WGSB made several changes to bring on fresh legs which had the desired impact winning a penalty in front of the post which Alex B calmly concerted to take the score to 17-5.  Both sides were starting to make more errors in the dying seconds when WGSB were able to string a series of good rucking and linking between the forwards and backs that saw Samuel F run down the right wing and eventually score in the corner and again concerted by Alex B just before the final whistle resulting in a 24-5 victory!

Year 9 Art students have been studying the Korean artist Sunga Park who travels round the world drawing the places she visits.  The students were learning to use pen and wash techniques.  A selection of their wonderful artworks are below.

Spotlight on post 16 WG6 option - Forensics and Criminal Investigation - BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (Double Award equivalent to two A Levels worth of UCAS points)

If you are interested in how science can help solve crimes then this may be the course for you! Forensic science is made up of various specialisms and you will get to study units that allow you to experience a multitude of these. In addition to your main programme, you will also engage in activities to develop your English, maths and employability skills.  The course can be combined with another field of study or with a Biology, Chemistry or Physics A Level.  It is an appropriate choice for progress to a wide range of higher education courses, not necessarily Criminology or Forensics.  Our Course is led by Head of Science Mrs Munden, who is incredibly proud of students’ 2022 results – 100% of students on the course achieved a Distinction Star, Distinction or Merit.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Develop your laboratory skills and techniques with real world scenarios
• cover some of the key science concepts in biology, chemistry and physics
• techniques in collecting, analysing and reporting chemical, physical and biological evidence during forensic investigations in a mock crime scene
• Explore the theories that are used to measure, tackle and prevent crime and criminal behaviour in England and Wales
• Study Criminal Law and take part in a mock trial.

What will students be able to do next? – Career pathways

After completing a degree in a relevant discipline, learners may progress on to a career to become a: forensic archaeologist, anthropologist, toxicologist, forensic psychiatrist, criminologist, crime scene or fire investigator.

Higher education courses that learners can progress onto include BSc (Hons) Forensic science, Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation, Forensic psychology, Psychology and Criminology, Policing and Criminal Investigation, BA (Hons) Criminology, Criminology and Law.

The requirements of the qualification will mean learners develop the transferable and higher-order skills that are highly regarded by both higher education and employers. For example, practical and analytical skills, reading scientific text, problem solving and carrying out practical laboratory tasks and planning forensic investigations. 

In the below images Year 12 Forensics students are pictured learning about the techniques for collecting, packaging and storing evidence from a crime scene.  They have used their skills to collect different types of evidence, including fingerprints, hair, blood and footprints from a simulated murder scene as part of their coursework.  All students had to work effectively as a group to collect and preserve the evidence in order to uncover the perpetrator of the crime!

Once the evidence had been collected, students were then tasked with analysing it to try and prove who was the murderer.  They have learnt forensics techniques in blood analysis, casting footprints, hair analysis and fingerprint comparison.  As part of the learning, we chose to use the blood analysis kits to test our own blood to find out our blood type.

Year 13 Forensics students are currently taking part in a practical physics investigation to measure current and voltage for a fixed resistor ahead of their Science Investigative Skills exams in January! 

Our talented Year 12 A Level photographers have been charged with providing a suite of photography for Wilmington Primary School for use on their website, in-school displays and in their blog.  This project provides the students with first-hand experience of delivering professional images to a client brief – a great opportunity to acquire work-place skills and produce evidence for portfolio use and references!  Wilmington Primary are part of Endeavour MAT and already welcome WG6 students for work placements as part of our Electives Life Programme.  Our thanks to WG6 photography students Adeyinka and Esther (pictured below) and Jake and Lewis for their amazing photos!

Our new WG6 dining and study area is starting to take shape!  The old WGSG gym is undergoing significant renovation to provide a new fully integrated IT suite and Library and reference area upstairs and a new bespoke WG6 dining and social space downstairs.  Both new areas will benefit from a complete refit with new equipment and fittings including new floor-to-ceiling window, making the spaces bright and welcoming.  Mr Chandler (pictured below) our Head of Premises and Estates provided a guided tour to our student managers and is looking forward to the new areas being open to all students by Easter.

My name is Alec and I am in Year 9, Stevenson.  I have been a Scout for over nine years now and really enjoy being outdoors, learning new skills and taking part in various adventurous activities. Through Scouting I have learnt how to survive outdoors by making campfires, building shelters and by using map reading skills.  But Scouting is much more than this – it is about building confidence, leadership skills, teamwork, and independence.  

This year I was selected to be one of the 36 Scouts and Explorers that will represent Greater London Southeast, UK contingent for the World Scout Jamboree (WSJ). If you did not already know, the WSJ is a massive international gathering of Scouts from over 170 different countries and territories around the World. The WSJ is held in a different country every four years; for example, the last Jamboree was in West Virginia, America. This time around it is being held in SaeManGeum, South Korea. The 3-week adventure has over 40 thousand Scouts attending and hundreds of amazing activities and opportunities.  At this huge gathering there will be opportunities to meet Scouts from other countries and cultures.

I haven’t been out of the UK much so I can't wait to experience the different languages, foods and traditions of the countries attending. This is a large part of what WSJ is about: encouraging young people to explore and experience the world around them. I want to inspire other young people to do the same. In order to do this, I need your support! If you would like to assist me in this endeavour, or just read more about my journey, you can check out my Blog and GoFundMe pages. (See below) If you have any questions about this, message me via my blog.  

GoFundMe - https://www.gofundme.com/f/fbymvb-25th-world-scout-jamboree

Blog link - https://wsj2023-alec.blogspot.com/

Forthcoming dates;

Monday, 12 December 6.00-7.00pm; {Virtual}

End of Term - 16th December 12 noon

First day of Term 3 - 3rd January

Monday, 09 January 2023 6.00-7.00pm; {venue - tbc}

WGSB PTA Update.  The PTA will like to say a MASSIVE thank you to all parents, guardians, students, staff and friends of WGSB who supported our Christmas Fair event! In just about four hours during the Christmas Fair, you have helped us raise over £1500 for our school which will be put into good use for the students.

The PTA are indeed grateful for all your generous donations and numerous ways you have supported us since the beginning of the year 2022. Even though it’s been a difficult year, your responses to our various appeals and fundraising schemes have been fantastic and really encouraging and we say thank you for this.

For more information on how you can support the PTA, please contact pta@wgsb.co.uk .

Pre-Loved Uniform: Please do remember that you can donate your unwanted / outgrown good quality clean school uniform (blazers, jumpers, PE kit) to the PTA nearly new uniform shop. Just put them in a bag and drop off at the school office. We particularly need lab coats as we have increase in demand for these. A BIG thank you to all those who have kindly donated to our uniform shop.

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.

Upcoming Events - Please save the dates!

And finally,

Amazon Smile / Easyfundraising

Thank you to Everyone who has been supporting our AmazonSmile and Easyfundraising schemes.

Don’t forget to Support Wilmington Grammar School for Boys - Dartford by signing up to support us for FREE on  Smile Amazon and Easyfundraising as you do your Christmas and daily shopping please! This is at no extra cost to you.

Best wishes,

Stuart Harrington

Hed Teacher