Blog week ending 15th March

British Science Week.  Our Year 7 and 8 students enjoyed a host of very special practical science lessons to explore this year’s scientific theme as well as celebrate the scientific discovery and ambition of STEM practitioners.   During a dedicated assembly students were introduced to this year’s theme, ‘time’, which is key to so many discoveries in science, technology, engineering and maths.  Additionally, students are invited to enter the British Science Week poster competition.  Students could create a poster showing how a certain type of technology has changed over time, or even the advancement of time-telling technology itself. Budding poster makers could also go futuristic show us how they think the world might look in years to come, or perhaps look at nature – lifecycles, lifespans, evolution and hibernation – nature is full of timely topics.  Deadline is Friday 22^nd March!   A special thank you to our Science Technicians who devised this week’s activities, and supported students in class .. and as you can see from the below photos the students certainly enjoyed the lessons!

Mr Hook’s students took part in a Rollercoaster Challenge.  How does the height of a ride impact the speed of the car?  Students have been exploring the relationship between gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy!

How to accurately measure time challenge!  Students worked in teams to make their own sand timers, considering the rate of flow and amount of sand required to create a two-minute timer!

Chemical rates of reaction.  Student investigation – How does surface area effect the rate of reaction?

Human Reaction Times.  Students staged an investigation to discover who has the fastest reaction times! 

Year 9 Physics students have been learning about electromagnetism and in this practical lesson were challenged to answer the question, does the number of coils of wire on an electromagnet effect its strength?

At WGSB we are active and engaged members of our local community.  We regularly take part in our own initiatives such as our afternoon teas for retired and semi-retired members of our community (next one 22^nd March!) as well as regular visits to our local care home, charitable endeavours and donations for the local foodbank and local church-supported appeals as well as our own local litterpick.  This week, we took part in the Great Dartford Schools Litterpick.  Our Year 7 and their form tutors worked their way round a wide local area, each form taking responsibility for local green spaces or streets.  It is always heartening for the students to see the positive encouragement and response from local people as the students armed with their pickers and bags of litter are spotted helping keep our local area the lovely place it is!

Our intrepid F1 Teams took part in the National Finals in Sheffield having earned their place with sterling performances in the regional competitions.  We will be able to share a full report in our next Blog.

Mr Sage accompanied students to attend the Computing Live event in Disneyland Paris.  The event is designed to Inspire their future career, bringing computer science to life and fire their future career ambitions.   Experts from high profile organisations provided relevant examples and exam case studies to ignite students’ aspirations and showed them the many different paths a career in computing could take them!  Additionally, students were able to put their own questions to the experts during a Q&A session.  The only thing that conspired against us was the weather!  It was a very, (very!) wet day in the Disneyland parks, it didn’t prevent us taking advantage of the rides .. but it did stop us taking lots of photos!!

 

This year we have been developing a new and improved school rewards and House system.  Since the start of term 3 we now have new opportunities for students to be recognised for exceptional academic achievements, and character, and students are working towards bronze, silver and gold awards for these.  As we progress through the year, more developments in this system will be introduced, a significant change being the new house names, which have yet to be revealed.  Thank you to all the students, staff, parents, carers and governors who have voted for the new houses.  The votes have been counted, and the new house names will be revealed in assembly on the last day of this term. 

Our new caterers, CH&Co visited our Student Voice members to introduce them to a range of their dishes and to discuss student preferences, menus and requests.  The food sampled received a universal ‘thumbs up’ from all students whether meat-eaters, vegetarians or vegans!  The new caterers will start from September and have pledged to offer a range of ‘pop-up’ specials as well as a regular salad and pasta bar in addition to main meal meal-deals.  The agreed menus will be available in due course, and all allergy and special diet requirements will be seamlessly shared via your ParentPay account.

Last week, a student from each form in Y7-10 was invited to participate in a World Book Day challenge to identify the novel title and author based on a quotation. There were 10 quotes to work out and all had an animal theme either in the title of the book, the quote itself or the story of the novel. Students who participated - as well as the winners - were awarded character points. Well done to all who attempted the challenge;

Year 7 – 1^st place – 7B, 7D, 7H and 7S, 2^nd place – 7N

Year 8 - 1^st - 8D, 2^nd - 8B, 3^rd - 8S

Year 9 - 1^st - 9N, 2^nd 9S

Year 10 - 1^st - 10S, 2^nd - 10D

*If you would like to try your hand at a couple of questioned from the Quiz … which books are the below quotes from?  (answers at the end of this Blog!)

1. ‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.’
2. ‘Asking for help isn’t giving up, it’s refusing to give up.’
3. ‘What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?’

Sporting Update.  Year 10 GCSE PE student Connor L has had a busy few weeks to say the least!  He was selected to represent Kent in the Southeast of England Schools Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships event.  He has won the East Sussex Cross Country League for his age group.  He has now also been selected to represent Bexley in the London Mini Marathon.

Mr Lynch had this to say about Connor, “As a department and school we are so proud of Connor’s achievements in long distance running. He has always been excellent in Health-Related Fitness lessons and has been a passionate runner for a long period of time. He has really worked hard the over the last couple of years and his success is no surprise to all that teach Connor. Last summer he won the district 1500M race. This race included students in Year 10 from all schools in the district and he still won by some distance despite being a Year 9 student at the time. Connor is a role model, inside and outside of the classroom. Often achieving very high theory tests scores in GCSE PE assessments. We would like to congratulate Connor and wish him well in the Mini Marathon.”

Year 8 Football.  On Monday we welcomed Dartford Grammar School for a football friendly. With both schools putting out two sides it was great to see 30 Year 8 boys representing the school football teams. The A team came out on top with a 9-1 victory and the B team won 5-1. As always, the game was played in an excellent spirit, and we wish the Year 8 A side well in their upcoming North Kent Semi Final.

Duke of Edinburgh Enrolment.   Over 100 Year 9 students have signed up! Congratulations to Mr Hansford, of our SEN team who has accepted the role of Bronze co-ordinator.

Our WG6 team and Year 12 & 13 students welcomed external students and their parents/carers who have applied to join our sixth form in September.  The event aimed to provide visitors with a comprehensive introduction to the range of opportunities and support provided by WG6.  Additionally, our Year 12 & 13 subject ambassadors hosted a fair in the sports hall to allow the new students to experience the vast range of subjects and enrichment groups on offer and to discover first-hand the student experience here at WG6.

PTA Update: We have had such a fantastic year so far with fundraising events and all money raised is given back to the school for various projects.  A new project which we have been asked to support is to look to replace the gym equipment and to completely re vamp the room with a modern and updated look.  The school would not be able to do such projects without your support and we would like to thank everyone who assists with our fundraising activities.  If any parents or carers offer any match funding from their work or employers please do get in touch with us as we need to try and raise as much money as possible to assist with this fantastic cause  You can contact the PTA on pta@wgsb.co.uk. We also welcome any ideas for future fundraising ideas.

Pizza making workshop: 23^rd April at Enzo’s Pizzeria in Sidcup – 6pm – 8pm.  Join us for a pizza making workshop where the children can make the pizzas while you enjoy a drink (or you can help join in the fun) and come to meet some other parents/carers too.  £30 for 2 pizzas and 2 drinks.  Additional people can join in too at an extra cost.  Please book your place on ParentPay now.

Krispy Kreme Doughnut and Samosa Sale: On the last day of term, 28^th March we will be selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts and samosas at breaktimes to the students for £1.50 each.  You can also order a box of doughnuts for £12 and a box of 6 samosas for £6 on ParentPay now.

Summer Fair: 13^th July 11am – 2pm. We will be holding our annual summer fair with barbecue, stalls, entertainment, and games. We also hope to have the assault course that was such a success last year.  More details on this to follow.

Forthcoming Dates;

WG6 Grade Booster Workshop – 18^th March

Spring Arts Festival 21^st March

Year 10 Progress Exams, results home – 28^th March

Last Day of Term 4 – 28^th March

Year 12 Progress Exams – 15^th April – 26^th April

First Day of Term 5 – 15^th April

 

Best wishes,

Stuart Harrington

Head Teacher

 

*Answers to the World Book Day Challenge

1. Animal Farm, George Orwell
2. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy
3. Lord of the Flies, William Golding