Blog week ending 24th March

This year’s British Science Week theme is ‘connectivity’ to celebrate togetherness, particularly apt following a period of isolation due to the pandemic.  Nearly all innovations in science, technology, engineering and maths are built on connections between the different scientific disciplines.  Collaboration between scientists, institutions and research groups maximises resource and benefits everyone bringing about new ideas and perspectives to help solve key issues.  We encourage students to collaborate, not just with each other and their subject teachers but to recognise the connectivity that lies between subjects and how their learning can be relevant to, and applied in, another seemingly unconnected subjects.  Our curriculum builds a deeper and rounded understanding of the world around them and an appreciation of the transferable and relevant skills and experiences they gain.  To view our Curriculum for each subject please click here.

Mr Riches, Head of Geography delivered a fascinating Assembly during British Science Week on International Women’s Day to celebrate the pioneering work of scientist Eunice Foote who went to extraordinary lengths to have her work recognised and acted upon.  Mr Riche’s presentation not only highlighted her contribution to today’s work on greenhouse gas emissions but also demonstrated one of the many ways that geography provides links between the natural and social sciences. An excerpt from his assembly can be read below;

The word Geography is derived from the Greek word geo (the Earth, in its broadest meaning) and graphos (graphy, to write about). Literally, to write about the Earth.

Eunice Foote, American scientist (1819-1888).  The greenhouse effect — One of the foundational discoveries of climate science that is often credited to British male scientist John Tyndall. But it was actually the pioneering scientist and women’s rights activist Eunice Foote who first theorised and demonstrated the greenhouse effect.

In the 1850s, she performed a series of experiments, where she filled glass cylinders with different gases, placed them in the sun, and measured temperature changes. Her findings demonstrated that the sun’s insolation increased warmth when passing through moist air compared to dry air — with the largest increase in warmth when shining through carbon dioxide.

In 1857, she published her ground-breaking findings in the American Journal of Science, but was largely overlooked (she even had to ask a male colleague to present her findings at a scientific conference because she was not allowed). A clear case of Misogyny.  Despite publishing her results three years before Tyndall, he was credited with discovering the greenhouse effect until recently. Today, climate scientists seeking to right past wrongs are pushing to give Foote her due credit and recognition for her early discoveries.

Miss Tame, Head of Science together with the rest of her department run a range of curriculum based and extra-curricular clubs to enhance learning and inspire our student scientists!  Students currently taking part in the Crest Awards have been conducting scientific experiments as well as creating project models as they work towards their Bronze Award.  The Crest Awards scheme is a recognised scheme for student-led project work across the STEM subjects which provides activities and hands-on investigation linked to the national curriculum.  Pictured below, Elephant toothpaste, which is a fun and easy experiment that produces a foamy eruption from a chemical reaction and is a great way to demonstrate the concepts of catalysts, decomposition, and gas pressure.

Science Trip.  Our Year 8 cohort travelled to Wildwood Trust on the south coast for a tour with a ranger and a work shop on the role and ecology of rainforests.  Wildwood Trust is a centre of excellence for the conservation of British wildlife and currently runs two wildlife parks in Kent and Devon.

During the ranger tour students were able to get up close and personal with some of their residents including a friendly pack of wolves, a young, 9 month old bear, bison and a beaver.

Science forms an integral part of the GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition course. In Year 10 and 11, students not only develop their practical skills they learn about the chemical reactions which take place in cooking. During the course, students learn the meaning of a large number of scientific terms and understand how these processes change the taste, texture, flavour and appearance of food. Recently Year 10 students made vanilla panna cottas using gelatine as a setting agent to solidify their delicious creamy dessert. The students then made a raspberry coulis which used the natural pectin in the fruit, added sugar and used the process of reduction through evaporation to thicken the sauce in order to make it a pipeable consistency which held its shape. They then made tuiles, which are very thin and delicate biscuits which are baked and hand shaped. These biscuits go through the process of dextrinisation and caramelisation whilst cooking to give a golden-brown colour. Students then had to present their elements in a professional and appealing way.

We introduce students to the science of food throughout KS3, recipes are not only chosen to develop life skills and to get the students interested in cooking, but also to understand the different chemical reactions and scientific processes which take place in creating a variety of dishes. The Year 9 students recently produced a batch of mini quiches, most of the students had never tried this dish before but were surprised how tasty they were as they couldn’t wait to eat them after their lesson!  Students have been developing their skills to make shortcrust pastry from scratch, one of the high skills we perfect at GCSE. They could choose whatever filling they liked and watched as the chemical reaction of coagulation took place as the quiches cooked in the oven. As proteins are exposed to heat the bonds denature and change state, as the proteins in the egg are cooked, they coagulate and solidify to set the ingredients inside the pastry case.

Our F1 Team are revving up for their London and south regional finals which will take place on 4th May.  F1 in schools provides a thrilling and hands on way to learn and explore STEM subjects and the links between them and other subjects within the national curriculum.  Teams from all over the country will be attending Regional Finals in Oxford to compete for a chance to be crowned Regional Champions and take a place on the grid at the National Finals later in the academic year.  Students have been fine-tuning their cars and technique ahead of the meet – good luck to all F1 Team members!

Mr Lynch and Mr Sage have been providing coaching for their PE GCSE students ahead of their practical moderation examinations.  Pictured below, students working on examination expectations and practising key techniques.  In addition to the practical element of their qualification, students complete a written examination to demonstrate their scientific subject knowledge in applied anatomy and physiology.

Led by Mr Sage, 147 of our Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh students were joined by specialist training staff from KCC last Saturday for a training day ahead of an expedition weekend on Saturday 29^th April.  In groups, students enjoyed sessions on navigation, first aid, team-building and campcraft in preparation for their forthcoming expedition.  I am delighted that so many of our students are taking part in this truly life-enriching scheme.  Mr Sage looks forward to the students putting their training in practice early in Term 5.

 

WG6 Year 13 were applying their understanding of transition metals ligand substitution to explain their observations in a series of experiments. Students were tasked with identifying the complexes responsible for the colour changes and explaining the mechanisms behind the different colour changes throughout the reaction.

We welcomed representatives from Queens College, Cambridge University on Wednesday 22nd March to talk about life at the university and provide application advice. Year 11 from both WGSB and WGSG joined the first session of the talk which focused on preparing for application and academic profiles. The Year 12 scholars group session was focused on the university’s lifestyle and how academics are taught. 

Beyond the Streets at the Saatchi Gallery is a current exhibition that shows over 150 different urban street artists – art work it visualises moments in popular culture from graffiti, street art, Hip- hop and Punk – Art, Music and installation work.  It’s a celebration of graffiti arts – ethos and ideals, from being underground sub- culture art to being popularised in music, advertising and the visual media world – seen as rebellious but also accessible to anybody in everyday life.  Highlights which were amazing included; WGSG students life drawing- live break dancers to hip hop music (dancers were breakdancing then held their move for everyone to draw!) Tote bag making workshop, Hip Hop DJ’s and sound system throughout the gallery and many memorabilia items from the world of graffiti art, punk and hip-hop music scene.

Here is a blog entry from Sonia F & Freddie C

“The Saatchi Gallery was displaying artworks under the theme of street art. There were many artists that were included within the gallery working with all sorts of media, from the typical spray paint associated with graffiti works to acrylic and pastels on large linen canvases. We most enjoyed the sets that they made to demonstrate street culture. We also enjoyed the live drawing session where two hip-hop dancers freestyled for us to draw from. There was a lot of social and political messages within the artworks which found interesting. We were also very inspired by the broad range of styles and how creative/diverse the art was. Overall it was a fun experience.” 

Head Girl from the WGSG site, Lily Metchear and WGSB Student Leader, Amelia England, provided this poignant report regarding a recent WG6 visit to Auschwitz.  She and fellow WG6 Student Leaders delivered an accompanying assembly to students. 

“We had the opportunity to take part in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project by the Holocaust Educational Trust. As a part of this we have participated in several online seminars as well as travelling to Poland along with 180 other students. When we landed in Poland, we first visited the town of Oświęcim, where we understood the importance of pre-war Jewish life and the history of the town. Next, we went to Auschwitz I, which was the first concentration camp of what is known as “Auschwitz”, this site was originally a military base, the barracks were still there, but today the site is a memorial museum, with artefacts and pictures to immortalise the victims and remember the event. Throughout the project we were being encouraged to remember individuals and bear witness to the horrors of the holocaust. We found this part very shocking as we understood the enormity the atrocity by seeing individual belongings such as shoes and pots.  

After this we visited Auschwitz Birkenau which functioned as an extermination and work camp. The size of the camp was difficult to comprehend, the barracks held up to 1000 people, where the conditions were shocking and inhumane. We walked along the train tracks following the journey of so many victims as they entered the camp - it was hard to imagine that the majority would never leave. Towards the end of the day, we listened to a memorial and reflective sermon by Rabbi Marcus, which was extremely inspiring and thought provoking.  His message was simple, to be kind in a world full of hatred, as well as reinforcing the significance of remembering and honouring the victims of the holocaust. On our return, we had a reflective seminar and listened to a witness testimony from holocaust survivor, Steven Frank which we found very moving as it allowed us to understand individual experiences and the relevance of fighting against anti-Semitism in the modern society.  

Overall, this was an extremely eye-opening visit and allowed us to view the holocaust through a lens that identified the human aspect of this tragedy, both of the perpetrators and the victims. We have understood why we shouldn’t de-humanize the perpetrators as “monsters” or “evil” but to remember they too were human and made choices which led to the death and suffering of millions. We would encourage you to all research and understand the significance of the holocaust, we are available if students have any questions and will be delivering presentations as part of our next steps project to become a Holocaust educational trust ambassador.  Below is a link to Steven Frank’s documentary with his granddaughter” 

Finding my Family: Holocaust - A Newsround Special - CBBC Newsround  

Lily and Amelia 

Forthcoming dates;

• Year 8 Parents’ Evening rescheduled - Monday 27^th & Tuesday 28^th March.
• Easter Raffle ticket sale via ParentPay - Deadline to Purchase – Monday 27th Mar
• Year Football District Cup semi-final – Monday 27^th March
• Ski Trip departs – Thursday 30^th March
• Pre-Loved Uniform Sale - Friday, 31st March, 4-6pm (tbc)
• Last Day of Term – Friday 31^st March
• Frist Day of Term – Monday 17^th April
• Bingo Night - Friday 21st April, 6pm. (tbc)
• DofE Bronze Practice Expedition – Sunday 30^th April
• Bank Holiday – Monday 1^st May
• F1 in Regional finals in Oxford – Thursday 4^th May
• Next PTA Meeting – Tuesday 9th May 6-7.00pm (virtual)

Click here to join the meeting Meeting ID: 324 654 391 784; Passcode: 7CuUAm

• Summer Fair - Saturday 15th July 11am - 2pm

WGSB PTA Update.  Easter Eggs Raffle Tickets:  A gentle reminder that the deadline to purchase your Easter Raffle Tickets via ParentPay is 27th March, for the opportunity to win 1 of the 3 fantastic giant Easter Egg hampers. Thank you to all those who have already purchased their tickets. It’s easy to support this fundraising initiative.
Tickets are on sale on ParentPay, and the deadline to purchase tickets is Monday, 27th March, so you have just this weekend to be one of the winners of these hampers. Tickets are £1 EACH and can be bought in multiples. The draw will take place before the end of the school term. Winners will be notified from Wednesday 29th March and prizes can be collected from the school office before school closes on Friday 31^st March. For further information, please contact pta@wgsb.co.uk.

The WGSB PTA Lottery - Congratulations to our lottery winners for the months of February and March!  February: No. 1002 - Gunneet U (7S)   March: No. 1027 - Joe L (8S). We will arrange for your winnings to be dropped off at the school office.

Pre-Loved Uniform / Lost Properties Shop: Watch this space for more information on when and how your sons can access this facility! In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact pta@wgsb.co.uk for further information or if you will be able to support this initiative in any way.

Thanks to everyone who's helped make a BIG difference during this difficult time by raising donations for us via Easyfundraising. If you're not supporting us yet, please sign up now. It takes 2 minutes & 7,000 brands will donate to us for free every time you shop with them! Visit: wgsbpta easyfundraising

And finally, all hands are on deck as we begin to prepare for our PTA Summer Fair and Barbecue which will come up at the end of the STEAM week on Saturday, 15th July.

The Summer Fair is a really fun event for the whole family so please save the date in your diary, if you have not done that already! The PTA are always looking for any help and support before, during and after the event.

Do you have a flair for organising events? Would you like to spare some time to help our school raise some funds? Or maybe you will like to run a stall at the summer fair? Would you be able to sponsor some part of the event or donate prizes for the summer fair raffle draw? No help is too small. Please contact pta@wgsb.co.uk  or the school office for more information. Thank you!

Best wishes,

Stuart Harrington

Head Teacher