Blog Week Ending 24th October
As we draw to the end of a very long 8 week term, can I congratulate all of the students for their focus, hard work and community spirit this term. They have been a real credit to the school and a consistent example of what hard work and team spirit can achieve. I am always very proud of our students and what they achieve, but this term has really demonstrated what a special community we have. This has been recognised by all the visitors to the school, both through the open events as well as the range of external visitors that often come to work with the students or staff.
DofE Report from Mrs Shooman-Taylor. 90 eager students arrived on a seasonal Saturday morning to begin their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze; they were split between Keston Ponds and Pratts Bottom Village Green, much to the bemusement of early morning dog walkers! Once they had packed, repacked (and repacked again in some cases) their 70 litre backpacks with all the essentials, they were ready to set off on the 6 (ish) hour trek to Wayland’s campsite in Biggin Hill. The first team reached the campsite by 3:30 and immediately got their tent up and some food on the go! The final team arrived into camp a tiny bit later (around 6pm) and manged to get their tents up and food on the go before it got too dark. The students were all in excellent spirits and were a credit to the school. It was early to bed (there wasn’t much complaining as they were all shattered) before a 6:30am wake up for breakfast. Everyone was eager to get going and, with the promise of warm baths and fresh clothes, they were all off the campsite by 8am! All teams were completed, debriefed and happily on their way home by 4:30pm. Although there were some sore backs and feet around school on Monday, the students couldn’t stop talking about their weekend and the experiences they had together. Some were even at my office on Monday lunchtime asking about how to sign up for the Silver DofE. I was really proud of them all for their resilience, teamwork and patience and received lots of compliments from the team at Ben Bullen adventures regarding their conduct, politeness and determination. Special thanks also to Miss Cullingham for helping out with the overnight camping shift!
The September Numeracy Challenge was completed by a record number of students; congratulations to all who took part. 15 students completed enough of the Numeracy Challenge to earn a postcard home – please be patient if yours hasn’t arrived yet. Particular congratulations go to Isla 7A, Phoebe 7A, Shanaya 7E, and Satvika 7R for achieveing 100% on the Year 7 – 8 challenge and to Jorinah in Year 9 for being the only student to participate in the Challenge for Years 9 – 11, and she gave some great justification as to why her answers were correct even if she could not represent them visually. The October Challenges are up and running and students have started submitting entries. Please see attached for the questions this month.
Congratulations to all those students who took part in the Senior Mathematical Challenge .. and special congratulations to all those who earned certificates. Special mention to Keira C who earned a place in a follow-on round, we look forward to following your progress.
To try your hand at a sample question from the students’ paper ..
A twip is a very short unit of length, derived from imperial units, and is equal to approximately 0.000018 metres. A league is a long unit of length which is equal to approximately 4800 metres. Roughly how many twips are there in a league?
A 270 000 000 B 27 000 000 C 2 700 000 D 270 000 E 27 000 (answer at the bottom of my Blog)
Our Year 7 PE students took part in an end of term Inter-House Queen Ball Tournament. The tournament was clearly a highlight of their PE lessons with a great deal of spirit and skill on show, each house keen to secure maximum points! Queen ball is a fast-paced game that focuses on agility, speed and quick decision-making and a perfect platform to showcase key techniques students are perfecting in their netball topic and after school clubs.
Our Year 7 PE Epistemic Insight Big Question this term is “What are the components of fitness and what are the tests?” Students have been considering their warm-up routines, fitness tests as well as match stamina to provide a detailed and informed response.
The Year 7 netball team have had an excellent start to their season. In their first league game against St John’s, they won 10-0 and in their second match against Northfleet school for girls they won 7-1. The Year 9 started off their season with an amazing 24-0 win against Northfleet school for girls. Excellent effort and some fantastic play by all. Netball club is after school on a Thursday and is open to all years of all abilities.
The role of our Head Students is a vital one that adds value to the student body, and to school life in general. Head Students embody our school values and are key in representing our student cohort in key senior leadership meetings and decision making. They contribute to school life in so many ways, conceiving of schemes and activities that enhance our collective school experience, acting as inspirational, approachable role models and generally being our student cheerleaders and champions! This year’s Student Leaders have ambitious plans for our school in areas that they have identified as being valuable and enjoyable for us all. Introducing;
Hello, my name is Jael-Carys, and I am honoured to introduce myself as Head Girl at WGSG. Becoming Head Girl has been a long-held aspiration of mine, and I am thrilled to have this opportunity to make a positive impact on our school community.
In this role, my primary goal is to be a voice for all students and someone they can approach with any concerns. I understand that speaking directly to a teacher can sometimes feel daunting, so I aim to bridge that gap, ensuring that every student feels heard, supported, and valued. Together with the rest of the SSLT, I also plan to strengthen the support system for younger students, helping them integrate more smoothly into school life. We’ll be doing this through various peer mentoring, coaching, and buddy programs that we are set to introduce.
WGSG is a vibrant and inclusive community, and I am committed to maintaining this spirit with my positive, approachable personality and fresh ideas. I am truly grateful for this opportunity and look forward to working with all of you throughout the academic year!
Hello, my name is Samuel Thompson and It is my pleasure to introduce myself as Head Boy here at WGSG.
Before joining WG6 I was an internal student at WGSB; and since Year 7 it has been a long-held aspiration of mine to one day be Head Boy.
My primary goal in this role is to make WGSG the best school it can be , an inclusive , happy environment for all students where they can excel, foster positive relationships with both staff and fellow pupils and most importantly, be happy.
I plan to work closely with both students and staff to establish open communication and ensure that every voice is heard. I am beyond grateful to have been given this opportunity and I’m excited to work with you all this.
Hello everyone, my name is Rachael and I am excited to introduce myself as Deputy Head girl at WGSG. I have been a part of this school since 2018, and from Year 7 I have seen the growth of our wonderful and diverse community. In this role I aim to promote a positive school culture by raising more awareness for disabilities as it is something that personally affects me and I care a lot about. I’m committed to making sure every student feels heard and valued, and to do this I want to develop the relationship between older and younger students through peer mentoring and support sessions. Being careers leader, I hope to educate all year groups on the future pathways available after GCSEs and A Levels and support them in choosing their next steps. I look forward to collaborating with the other head students to make these ideas.
Hello, I’m Fabian, and I am pleased to say that I’m the Deputy Head Boy at WGSG. Having attended since 2018, I’ve seen the school change – one big thing that flipped everything upside down was having to live through Covid, which reversed much of the community spirit between year groups and put a stop to the events that I enjoyed so much. As the Events Leader, I want to bring back this cohesion that I enjoyed so much in Year 7, especially events that promote the arts and humanities and their study at A Level and beyond. Additionally, another goal within this role is to promote accessibility and raise awareness, furthering the cohesion of our community through the increased understanding students have of their peers. I also hope that the increased community spirit and better-established relations in the student body lead to an improvement in attitudes to mental health and to reaching out. I aspire that within my position, younger students see proof that you shouldn’t let anyone stop you being yourself. I am endlessly grateful for the opportunities given, and I look forward to working with the community moving forward.
“Hi, my name is Ruby Kaufman the student correspondent for WG6. I am an aspiring journalist working with the school blog to advocate for the student voices within the sixth form and to share my own personal experiences. I encourage all students to put forward their own ideas that they would like to see in the School Blog and I commit to making them possible! “
The question I posed to my fellow students this past week was “if you had to go back to Year 12 and do it all over again, what would you do differently?”
I received a variety of responses, some laughs and genuine answers and have worked to collectivize Year 13 students’ opinions and my own to curate the best advice for any Year 12’s.
When starting Year 12, there are lots of changes, from new friends, a new school and a completely different set of teachers, however, whilst this can be overwhelming the best way to approach it is to be willing to adapt. Have a positive attitude and be ready to embrace change rather than hold on to the past and how school used to be.
It is easy to sugar-coat and argue that everything is perfect! There will be issues and challenges with friendships and exams but there is always someone to help. One student I spoke to, who studies 4 A-Levels mainly STEM subjects, stressed the importance of asking for help. She said to reach out to teachers when you are struggling, the jump from GCSE to A Level is difficult but they understand that and are willing to help you and work through select topics. Building these relationships with teachers will only benefit you in the future as they can provide great subject references for university applications.
Other students I spoke to study essay-based subjects, and they mentioned the significance of building notes throughout the year. After finishing a topic, take 30 minutes to create a revision resource which reduces cramming content just before exams and high levels of stress. As someone who did not do this, I cannot stress how much this would have helped me and now I struggle to balance practicing exam techniques and subsequently creating revision resources.
One of the most repeated answers I got from fellow peers was to use the studies they provide you with at school, it’s easy to get distracted and view them as “free” periods but taking them seriously will reduce all the work you have to do at home and can create a clear divide between school life and home.
Lastly from me, “I do not know” is an acceptable answer. You do not have to have your whole career path figured out and many students struggle with what they want to do. This is okay! If you do have clear direction, run with it, do as much as you can in Year 12 to gain experience in that field to benefit your own applications and personal statements however if you do not know, visit online events, lectures and network! This may help you find your interests and help secure a work experience placement in Year 12. It can be fun and exciting, but my best advice is to do this in Year 12 when you have the opportunity and are free from the stress of UCAS.
We have launched our annual Christmas Hamper Competition with 50% of all made hampers being distributed to families and the elderly in our community who might not otherwise receive a Christmas gift, and the remaining hampers available as prizes at our WGSG PFA Christmas Market.
PFA Update. I am delighted to introduce our new PFA co-chairs – Denise Fry and Shalene Lemmie. Please do get in touch with them if you would like to support our PFA in any way via email on [email protected]
We are currently working on a number of forthcoming events including our Year & & 8 Disco, Christmas Fair and of course our Monthly Draw (entry form on our PTA page on the website) – you have until 8th November to sign up! WGSG Monthly Draw Letter
Forthcoming Dates;
Last Day of Term 1 – Friday 25 Oct
First Day of Term 2 – Thursday 7 Nov
Year 11 mock examinations commence – Monday 11 Nov
PTA Meeting – everyone is welcome! – Tues 12 Nov
Year 8 Parents’ Evening – Thurs 14 Nov (virtual)
Year 11 Mock MFL speaking exams – w/c 25 Nov
Year 13 Parents’ Evening (WGSG) – Thurs 28 Nov (in person)
WG6 Open Evening – Weds 4 Dec
Best wishes,
Michelle Lawson
Headteacher
The Maths Challenge Solution is A
