Blog week ending 12th February
The theme for this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week, “This Is My Place,” invites schools across the country to celebrate the support networks that help young people feel seen, valued, and connected. At WGSG, this isn’t something we spotlight for just one week a year – it’s woven into the fabric of our school community. Belonging, wellbeing, and personal growth sit at the heart of our pastoral ethos and our PSHE curriculum. Put simply, it’s what we do every single day.
Our Pastoral Support Team, led by Mrs Munden, work with the Emotional Wellbeing Team (part of NELFT) to provide a bespoke programme of specialist support. Students can access a range of externally delivered sessions, including Exam Coping & Wellbeing workshops, Universal Worries sessions, and tailored one‑to‑one emotional support. Alongside this, our Pastoral Team runs the hugely popular Social Club, a welcoming space where students can play board games, enjoy ‘Just Dance’, chat with friends, and build confidence. It’s a simple idea with powerful impact of connection, laughter, and a genuine sense of belonging.
As part of our Transition Programme, the Pastoral Team also offer a suite of bespoke sessions designed to help students settle, grow, and thrive. These include workshops on resilience, social confidence, and effective organisation, practical skills that help students feel grounded and capable as they navigate school life.
Every student at WGSG has access to targeted workshops and personalised support throughout their time with us. This integrated approach of bringing together teaching staff, senior leaders, and pastoral specialists ensures that academic ambition goes hand in hand with emotional development. Our goal is clear – to nurture the whole child. We are committed to providing an aspirational education that empowers every student to flourish, both in the classroom and beyond.
Years 10 & 11 Mandarin GCSE students travelled to London for a University Language Fair. Students attended a lecture delivered by four graduates about their learning of Chinese in the University and their subsequent careers related to Chinese study. Students then attended the university fair where they had a chance to talk to the personnel from different universities about courses and their career paths. Our students also talked to the graduates and enquired about application and career paths. This event was very informative, and the students found it hugely helpful in planning their future career pathways!
Maths Department Update from Mr Harrison. Year 10 and a selection of Year 11 volunteers sat the UK Maths Trust Intermediate Mathematical Challenge paper. As a 60-minute, 25 multiple choice question paper, it encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency to make students think. The problems on the Intermediate Maths Challenge are accessible yet still challenge those with more experience. The challenge is a multiple-choice paper however they are penalised for attempting one of the trickier questions and getting a wrong answer! A couple of examples are below for anyone who would like to have a go.
Overall the students achieved 6 Gold Certificates, 28 Silver and 51 Bronze across the Year 10 and select Year 11 students. Congratulations go to Uliana D, Amber C and Shentyt N in Year 10 and Pabisha K, Anushka R and Rukaiyah R for achieving a Gold Certificate. Pabisha and Anushka have also qualified for a follow-on round, the Pink Kangaroo, and will be sitting a second paper in March.
Example Questions:
2. What time will it be 2026 minutes after 20:26 on Monday?
A 06:12 on Tuesday B 16:12 on Tuesday C 20:12 on Tuesday D 06:12 on Wednesday E 20:12 on Wednesday
10. A triangle has sides in the ratio 5 : 5 : 6 and area 108 cm2 . What is the length, in cm, of the longest side of the triangle?
A 15 B 18 C 21 D 24 E 27
23. Oliver asked a group of people whether they liked Maths. Exactly 99% answered yes. Teresa asked a different group of people whether they liked Maths and combined her results with Oliver’s. Now exactly 98% of the people had answered yes. What is the smallest number of people who could have answered no to Teresa?
A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 E 5
Pictured, three of the Gold Certificate winners, Pabisha K, Anushka R and Rukaiyah R
MFL Department. Our fantastic Year 10 Italian students are taking part in an exciting pen-pal exchange with Liceo Forteguerri in Pistoia, Italia! They’ve been wonderfully creative, and Mrs Rubbera (ex-WGSG, now working at our partner school!) is enthusiastically coordinating the letters from her side. We already have around 27 students who jumped at the chance to get involved, and even more are eager to join now. This project gives students a brilliant opportunity to use the language they’re learning in real, meaningful communication. Along the way, they’re making new friends, strengthening their Italian, and deepening their understanding of the culture. It’s been a joy to see their enthusiasm grow! Grazie mille to Professoressa Serra for organising such a fantastic experience for our students. Miss Tavares
WG6. In Music Electives this week Nate M became a musical surgeon and dissected a bass guitar. He was assisted by nurse Freddie W and the surgery was a success! The guitar is now working once again. It was great to see the technical side to the guitar and the other students all enjoyed watching the process.
Music Department update form Mrs Dent. We had a lovely moment yesterday in Music whereby Alison in 7A stepped up onto the drums and performed for her peers. It was fantastic to see her come to life and her peers showing great support for her. She then continued her positivity by teaching a few others how to play a basic beat on the drum kit. When students from different cultural backgrounds come together to create musically, it is a wonderful thing to oversee, and these golden moments are celebrated in the department.
Year 8 Food Preparation and Nutrition students are continuing work on their gluten formation topic. In this (rather delicious) practical lesson students developed their technical skills and learned about the role of yeast when making and proving bread. Students made a selection of white and wholemeal rolls together with a fresh vegetable soup. The topic feeds into the wider ‘food sustainability’ cycle.
WG6 Geographers visited the London Bridge area carrying out field work around Borough High Street and regenerated areas around Borough Market. We then strolled down to Bankside to catch the Thames Clipper to Battersea to see the amazing rebranding project of Battersea Power Station and continue our field work around the location. Students were excellent representatives for WG6 and were a delight to see developing their field work skills ready for the residential trip in the summer to Sussex and completing their NEA worth 20% of the Geography A level.
WG6 Year 12 A Level PE class have been learning about the Neuromuscular System, focusing on how Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation can be used as a form of flexibility training. The students really enjoyed learning this concept in practise.
WG6 Biology A Level students conducted an investigation into the respiratory system of fish – specifically, a dissection of gas exchange surfaces! As you can see students did not shy away from the task, examining the structures of organs to support their theories of how they function.
Please join me in congratulating Year 7 students Darcey T and Dara O on their incredible win as part of the triumphant Dartford Valley U12s squad! Their success at winning the Kent Under 12s Waterfall Trophy cements their position as the best Under 12 Girls’ team in Kent! And that’s not the only recent trophy they have won – also pictured is the Ashford Under 12 Girls’ tournament. If Darcey and Dara have inspired you to try rugby – you can come along to a training session – to find out more click here Dartford Valley Rugby Club | Dartford | Facebook. I read the match report – which included the following comments from their coach;
Of Darcey “A true Captain’s performance by Darcey who as well as her trys was an absolute menace in defence with an immense work rate”
Of Dara “Dara has been a monster in defence today, and is a strong ball carrier … often making me wince!”
…an amazing achievement and sentiment to your work ethic!
Library Update from Miss Booth, Librarian. Mental health can be directly affected by reading. Crazy right?
Numerous studies have shown a direct correlation between happier adolescents, and those who engage in reading for pleasure for a minimum of 30 minutes per day. To cement the expectation that students at WGSG read daily, year 7’s Library lessons are currently focusing on Mindful Reading and how to use reading skills to support their mental health. From a study of self-help books, to reflective writing, students in Year 7 are exploring how they can support their own happiness through reading.
As we approached Mental Health Week, The National Literacy Trust held a webinar to explore what their research into teenage reading was revealing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9hrmEmXV3M Sadly, the statistics do show that for adolescents between the ages of 11-14 reading for pleasure declines rapidly, which is what we at WGSG Library wish to change!
Empowering young people in their reading choices is one way to counter the decline. From graphic novels, audiobooks, comics and blogs to novels and poetry reading takes many forms. As long as you are engaging with words then you are opening your mind up to something exciting and engaging! Linking what you are reading with the things that you like will mean that you are more likely to find a ‘book’ that resonates with you. And when we enjoy ourselves, our brains create happy hormones!
On Thursday 5th February students in Year 7 and 8 were invited to a virtual storytelling event with the National literacy Trust and Jeffrey Boakye, writer of Musical Truth: A Musical History of Black Britian in 28 Songs and I heard What You Said. In celebration of National Storytelling Week, the students were encouraged to explore creative ways of telling a story, through songs and lyrics rather than traditional prose. There were over 30 students in attendance and more workshops such as this are definitely being planned for the future! The virtual session has since been uploaded to Teams on all of year 7 and 8 Library Lesson pages so everyone has the opportunity to get involved in storytelling.
Coming Soon: As we enter the Holy Month of Ramadan and in the run up to Eid, we will be showcasing a range of stories created by Muslim writers from across the globe. We hope to see you perusing these wonderful texts throughout the month.
World Book Day! On the 5th of March WGSG will be holding various WBD events. From themed Library Lessons, to games, competitions and votes, there will be a wide range of activities for you all to get involved in. (Alas, fancy dress is not on the agenda this year!)
Become a school governor. Our school governing bodies represent different groups of people who have an interest in the school: staff, parents, carers and the community. Serving as a school governor is a highly rewarding experience, offering numerous personal and professional benefits. We currently have a vacancy for a Parent Governor at WGSG. If you a looking for an opportunity to use your experience and skills to help make a difference within our local community and to help shape people’s futures, please email here for more information governance@endeavour-mat.co.uk
Forthcoming Dates;
North Kent Apprenticeship Fair – 12 February 4-6pm book here
Last Day of Term 3 -13 February
First Day of Term 4 – Tuesday 24 February
Year & Year 8 Grades home – 25 February
Year 10 Progress Exams commence – 2 March
Year 7 Parents’/Carers’ Meeting (virtual) – 5 March
WG6 Event – 11 March 4-5.30pm
Year 8 HPV Vaccinations – 17 March
EI Celebration Evening – 25 March
Year 12 Progress Exams, Parents/Carers’ briefing – 26 March
Culture Day – 2 April
Last Day of Term 4 – Thursday 4 April
First Day of Term 6 – Monday 20 April
Year 12 Progress Exams commence – 20 April
Best wishes,
Dave Fuller
Headteacher
UK Maths Challenge solutions
2. D As 2026 ÷ 60 = 33 remainder 46, 2026 minutes is equal to 33 hours 46 minutes, that is 1 day, 9 hours and 46 minutes. Therefore at 2026 minutes after 20:26 on Monday it will be 9 hours 46 minutes after 20:26 on Tuesday, that is 46 minutes after 05:26 on Wednesday. So the required time is 06:12 on Wednesday.
10. B Let the lengths of the sides of the triangle, in cm, be 5𝑥, 5𝑥 and 6𝑥. The diagram shows that this triangle may be divided into two congruent right-angled triangles which have base 3𝑥 and hypotenuse 5𝑥. Therefore, these are both ‘3, 4, 5’ triangles and the perpendicular height of the original triangle is 4𝑥.
23. B Note that Oliver only had 1% saying no. So he asked some multiple of 100 people. Let this number be 100𝑛, of whom 𝑛 said no. Let 𝑥 be the number of people Teresa asked. Since, overall, 2% said no, then the overall number who said no was (100𝑛 + 𝑥) × 2/100, that is 2𝑛 + (𝑥/50). So 𝑥 must be a multiple of 50 and the number saying no to Teresa is then 𝑛 + 𝑥/50. This is minimal when 𝑛 = 1 and 𝑥 = 50, with 2 people saying no to Teresa.
