Blog week ending 19th June

As the exam season draws to a close, we want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible efforts of our students and extend our heartfelt thanks to the staff, parents and carers who have supported them every step of the way.

Over the past few weeks, we have seen our students demonstrate impressive resilience, determination, and maturity as they tackled the challenges of their exams. We are immensely proud of the commitment they have shown to their learning and personal growth.

Of course, behind every successful student is a network of support. We know the exam period can be a stressful time for families, and we are deeply grateful for the care, encouragement, and patience you’ve provided at home. Whether it was helping with revision timetables, offering reassurance, or simply being there with a listening ear, your role has been vital.

Together, we have helped create a positive and supportive environment that has allowed our young people to approach their exams with confidence and focus. As we await results and look ahead to the next steps —whether that’s moving into a new academic year, exploring further education, or preparing for new challenges, we want to recognise and celebrate the collective effort that has brought us to this point.

Thank you once again for being such valued partners in your child’s education. We are incredibly proud of what our students have achieved and look forward to continuing this journey together.

Careers Update. Our Careers Programme is dedicated to supporting every student to achieve their career goals. This week we, together with alumni and guest contributors, have provided a programme of dedicated activities, talks and presentations packed with real stories, practical advice, and first-hand experiences.

This week, for Year 12 Futures Week we were thrilled to welcome back some of our amazing alumni who shared their pathways since leaving WG6. From apprenticeships in engineering to studying medicine at university, their stories proved one thing: there’s no single path to success. Our collective aim is to inspire students by exposing them to a range of opportunities, including new and emerging roles and careers that they may not have heard of or considered.

Alumni and guests represented a huge range of local, national and global operations, including the Cabinet Office, Clifford Chance, BAE Systems, PWC, QBE Insurance, FIFA, Laing O’Rourke, EY and the London Ambulance Service.

Representatives from local and national universities joined us to talk about post-16 choices, courses, and student life. They also answered questions about applications, funding, and how to pick the right course.

Our sincere thanks to all those who support to our Futures Week Programme, your contribution could never be understated – your sessions provide inspiration and insight, allowing every student a unique window into the endless opportunities that lie ahead of them.

Year 12 students travelled to the UCAS Discovery Exhibition at the University of East London. The exhibition brings together over 100 universities, colleges and employers to help students shortlist their options and explore new ones! As you can see, students made full use of the opportunity, gathering lots of information, inspiration … and ‘swag’!

Medics Dream Doctor for a day! This was a very hands-on afternoon session which saw Years 12 and 11 being coached in a series of medical procedures demonstrating different roles within the medical field and providing an understanding of the corresponding pathways into medicine. This taster day included real-life examples of working in medicine with guidance from Doctors and Medical students.

Alumni Lily Jackson is currently studying BioMedical Science at Queen Mary’s University London and delivered sessions across the year groups, sharing her route into medicine with practical advice and details of life as a Uni medical student. Lily also works with the Maypole Project which supports children with complex medical needs and their families. Lily has trained as a lead volunteer with the charity and her contribution has been recognised with a prestigious Jack Petchey Award.

Additionally, for students interesting in a career in medicine, we welcomed Tom Tribe from the London Ambulance Service, David Russell Principal Pharmacist and Tom Hansford who delivered a talk ‘working in Psychotherapy’, and Nigel Hogg, trust-wide lead on apprenticeships at Oxleas Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (pictured below)

Alumni Berri Cooper-Croft, Trainee Solicitor with Norton Rose Fulbright delivered a myth-busting session into embarking on a career in law, highlighting the many routes into the profession including apprenticeships, and vacation schemes as well as university courses. Berri’s engaging session included a debate into the legal dispute between McVitie’s and her Majesty’s Customs and Excise. Are they biscuits or cake? The court ruled they are cake (avoiding additional VAT rates payable by biscuits!) An enlightening and instructive session .. with added cake!

(Alumni contributors are in bold)

Law Sessions proved exceptionally popular with high attendance in all groups. Thank you to all those who hosted sessions included an ‘aspiring Lawyers’ session with Will Buckley, Partner Beale, Samsoon Noor a Barrister in Training and to Clifford Chance for their Careers Pathways into Law interactive online session.

Media and Sport sessions included a fascinating talk from, Lewis Avery, data and collection lead at FIFA regarding sports data and how fixtures, odds, world rankings, statistics and more are used and calculated and a workshop with Joe Robinson, Editor Rugby World.

Careers and apprenticeships in Finance and IT were delivered by a range of high-profile global organisations including Nicola Stokes, EY graduate and apprentice lead for their UK Financials Services Tax Team, Alex Booth, Senior Associate at PWC, Sukhraj Hundal Tax Associate Degree Apprentice BDO, Alex Godwin-Turner, Apprentice Insurance Administrator at Lockton LLP, Michael Edison-Odiase Operations Strategy and Transformation Senior Manager, KPMG, and Jane Gough, QBE Insurance.

Talks form Universities included, Sarvin Hassini, Senior Lecturer International Business, Anglian Ruskin University, a ‘thinking of applying to Oxbridge’ talk from WG6 teacher, Rory Salt and David Rushton, currently studying at Cambridge plus sessions from University of Kent and University of Southampton.

Construction, engineering and environmental sectors were represented by Nicky Coales from BAE Systems, Shingi Hudson Apprentice Quantity Surveyor MAC Construction, Amy Webb, senior sustainability consultant Whitecode Consulting and Mikolaj Ogorek Mechanical Business Services Engineer.

Year 8 Food Preparation and Nutrition students enjoyed a special ‘Master Class’ lesson with visiting chefs who led a practical lesson on Chinese cuisine. Students first explored key seasonings and marinades and their purpose in balancing flavours and creating key chinese dishes. Students then went on to make their own dish, first marinating their chicken and then preparing a stir fry sauce .. delicious! Thank you to Fun Chinese Cooking (supported by the Ming Ai Institute, London) for such a brilliant session. As you can see from the photos, Mrs Cai couldn’t resist popping in to lend a hand and practice mandarin with the students!

Year 10 MEP Students Shine in Mandarin Tourism Project. We are thrilled to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our Year 10 MEP students during the final stage of their tourism project at the University of Kent. Following a three-day intensive course filled with engaging online activities, our students created impressive posters, detailed itineraries and creative video advertisements – all in Mandarin.

At the final event, our students submitted three top videos for a showcase and competed in four categories alongside other schools: Best Use of Chinese, Best Teamwork, Most Creative Video and Best Overall Video. We are proud to announce that two of our videos won top prizes for Most Creative Video and Best Overall Video, with the third entry also demonstrating exceptional quality. The students represented our school with enthusiasm, confidence and a real passion for learning Mandarin. Their achievements in this project and their language progress are truly commendable.

The Nurture Garden. Our green-fingered gardening club students have been tending our nurture garden, planting out seedlings and tying off climbing frames for the young plants. We are supported in our work by WG6 Electives students including Morgan W, pictured who has been working hard in the garden and dug deep to find these parsnips that were planted last year in our vegetable garden! Our first cucumber has also made its debut appearance! This valuable space provides a peaceful spot for students and plenty of jobs for the gardening club (pictured)! Our next project is to plant out our vegetables – can you help? If you have any soil or potting compost or gardening gloves you can spare, we’d be very grateful! Please contact esmith1@wgsg.co.uk if you think you might be able to help us.

Miss Gaines, Years 10 and 11 Support Manager is now a qualified ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant). ELSA’s are trained to work with students to build on their emotional development in order to equip them to cope with life’s challenges. Miss Gaines works regularly with Educational Psychologists and can help with a range of issues such as self esteem, relationships, anxiety , emotional regulation and managing feelings. If you want to find out more about the service or think your child would benefit from sessions, please contact Miss Gaines or the Head of Year.

Practical Endorsement A Level Biology: Class 12B. As part of their practical endorsement activity Dr Musami’s Year 12 Biologists undertook field studies on an environmental biology topic (Measurement of the distribution and abundance of plants in a habitat). They used interrupted belt transects method for sampling plant species in a habitat. They then drew kite diagrams to represent species abundance sampled along the transect.

Year 12 WG6 CSI! Our  Forensics and Criminal Investigation students investigated a crime scene. Students were assessed documenting, preserving and collecting evidence from a mock crime scene where a ‘suspicious death’ had taken place!

Forthcoming Dates;

Careers & Futures Week – till 19 June

WG6 Induction Day – 23 June

Year 10 Geography field trip to Tankerton – 24 and 26 June

Year 6 Transition Evening – 1 July (5.30-6.30pm)

Sports Day – 2 July

Year 12 Parents’ Evening – 3 July (@WGSG)

Year 6 Transition Day 4 July

Years 7, 8 & 9 Written Reports home – w/c 14 July

Year 12 Work Experience – 14-22 July

Enrichment Week – 14-18 July

Last Day of Term 6 – 22 Jul at 12 noon

First Day of Term 1 – Wednesday 3 September (new Year 7 & 12 students Tuesday 2 September)

Best wishes,

Michelle Lawson

Headteacher