Blog week ending 26th January

Year 10 Options Evening.  Our Year 9 students and their parents and carers attended an information evening to support their decision making as they make their GCSE subject choices.

The evening provided me with an opportunity to share the school’s curriculum vision and for Mr Baker to take parents/carers and students through the options journey. The event was exceptionally well attended with only a small handful of students who could not make it.  To view our Year 10 Options Booklet please click here

Our Year 7 Drama students have been exploring performance and audience engagement as part of this topic’s study of pantomime.  In this lesson each student delivered a self-written monologue to the rest of the class, both the script, facial expressions and actions are intended to prompt interaction and involvement from the audience.  As you can see from the photos … they certainly delivered! 

Year 8 Music students have been working on their own composition piece.  Students have complete freedom to record a piece of any genre using any instruments, so long as it’s original!  As you can, see students are experimenting with a range of instruments and specialist notation software to create their songs.

Our Year 9 students enjoyed a trip to the Victoria Palace Theatre to see a performance of the smash show Hamilton.  The score blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B and Broadway and tells the story of America then, as told by America now.  … and we all loved it!

Well done to Year 8 student Jaydon (second from left in the below photo) who won his Spelling Bee fixture, securing the top score for his House, Brunel!  Also in action this week were Year 11 in a House Basketball tournament – congratulations to emphatic winners, Newton.  Students can scoop House Points across a wide range of inter-house competitions that Mr Pope hosts at break and lunchtimes. 

 

Our WG6 Chemists have been studying ‘thin layer chromatography’ which is used to separate mixtures of substances into their components.  In this practical, students used leaves from a mint plant – we were looking at the molecules present that absorb light during photosynthesis giving us a better understanding as to how plants work and possibly to increase the rate of photosynthesis in greenhouses.

WG6 Chemists completed a practical lesson to investigate how much iron is in an iron tablet using redox titration, which is a laboratory method of determining the concentration of a given substance.

The Kent Teacher of the Year Awards 2024 are now open for nominations.  Social Enterprise Kent, who manage the awards are inviting us to get involved… who do you think deserves a Kent Teacher of the Year Award?

“Everyone working in our education system plays a vital role in shaping the future of our children. From the dedicated teachers who ignite passion, to the behind-the-scenes heroes making everything tick along smoothly, we appreciate the hard work and dedication of each and every person shaping the future of our children.

That's why we're excited to invite you to nominate a member of your school community for a prestigious Kent Teacher of the Year Award!

Whether it's a teacher going the extra mile for students, a member of support staff with a perpetual smile, or a volunteer leaving a lasting impact, SEK wants to hear their incredible stories! Hurry, the deadline for nominations is fast approaching, so seize the moment and make your nominations now! Let's give credit where it's due and celebrate those who make our educational journey truly exceptional!”  To make a nomination CLICK HERE

Careers Programme – North Kent Schools Apprenticeship Event.  Thursday 8th February 4pm – 6pm we have an amazing opportunity for our students to engage with local and national employers and universities as we are hosting the North Kent Apprentice Event in conjunction with The Education People, Careers and Enterprise Company, supported by Ebbsfleet Development Corporation. 

The event has local and national employers from construction, healthcare, accounting, business consultancy and finance, media and events, banking, retail, transport and armed forces. There will also be representation from local training providers, local colleges, and universities such as Ravensbourne University, TEDI London Engineering and Design Institute and London South Bank university.  

Our Year 9, 11 and 13 students will have access to this event and the employers in school time between 2pm and 3.30pm.  We welcome all other students, parents/carers and other interested parties to attend after 4pm and please sign up using this booking form link: Pre-Registration Form: North Kent Apprenticeship Event (office.com) 

This is an excellent opportunity for students to investigate a future career pathway or to start securing an apprenticeship place for September 2024. 

Miss Price, three WGSB students and two WG6 students had the absolute privilege of joining Wilmington Manor care home to celebrate a resident named Vera’s 101^st birthday. Anton, Ravjir, Kweku, Chikaima and Sarah serenaded her, fellow residents and special invitees of Vera’s with instrumental pieces and singing and presented her with 101 birthday cards designed and made by WGSB students. A great time was had by all – It was a very special morning!

We are delighted to announce the date of our next school Community Afternoon Tea.  For details, and to reserve a space .. please see the below poster!  

Lost Property  As mentioned in the Term 3 Head of Year letters, WGSB is managing lost property slightly differently moving forward. Students will be able to come to the lost property office based near SC0 during their lunchtime on a Thursday. For items that are named, parents and carers will be notified that an item of lost property is in the office for students to collect. Please note that items will be removed termly and donated to the PTA if they are in a saleable condition.

As you will see from the picture below and attached list, we have already acquired a significant amount of coats this term - all unnamed. Please do ensure that all items of uniform are clearly named and encourage your child to come along to the lost property office at the designated times listed should they misplace anything.

PTA Update.  The PTA not only help to raise funds for the school but also we find it a great opportunity to meet with the community and other parents and carers at the school. We are holding our next PTA meeting on Monday 29^th January, if you have not been to a meeting before please do come along to join us.  If you can make this please send a message to pta@wgsb.co.uk.  We will be discussing future fundraising ideas and would love to have some input from other parents and carers, please come and join us. We will be at Birchwood Park Golf course in the bar area.

Uniform Shop. At the start of next term we will be holding a uniform shop after school, once a date has been confirmed we will let you know so please come along if you need to stock up on some items from our pre loved shop.  We would also welcome any donations of uniform which we would then be able to sell at the shop to help raise funds for the school.  If you have any pre-loved uniform or shoes please drop them into the office for the PTA attention. 

Krispy Kreme Doughnut and Samosa sale. We will be holding this in the last week of this half term so please look out for the flyer going out soon.

Forthcoming Dates;

PTA Meeting – Monday 29^th January – Birchwood Park Golf course in the bar area - all are welcome!

WG6 A Level Art Trip, National & National Portrait Galleries – Monday 29^th January

UCAS Deadline – Wednesday 31^st January

Intermediate Maths Challenge - Wednesday 31^st January

Year 9 Parents’ Evening (part 1) – Tuesday 6^th February 4pm-7.30pm

Kent Careers Event Year 9 & 11 – Thursday 8^th February 2pm-3.30pm

Year 9 Parents’ Evening (part 2) – Thursday 8th February 4pm-7.30pm

Year 13 Grades home – Friday 9^th February

Last Day of Term 3 – Friday 9^th February

New York Cultural Trip – Saturday 10^th February – Tuesday 15^th February

First Day of Term 4 – Monday 19^th February

 

Best wishes,

 

Stuart Harrington

Head Teacher