Headteacher's Weekly Review

Dear Parents/Carers,

This short Christmas week has seen Year 11s complete their exams – much to their relief. Now they can look forward to their results assembly on 9th January!

All A1 students in Years 7-10 have been participating in reward events to recognize their success, commitment and achievements over the term.

During the day on Monday, 20 Year 7 students had the opportunity to visit Surrey University to take part in a Surrey University Christmas event. The day enabled students to explore different career pathways all within a Christmas theme, these activities included a Christmas maths countdown challenge, a Christmas vet clinic and a Christmas dash involving a treasure hunt around the University grounds.  All these activities gave our students the opportunity to learn about life at university and the courses and career paths available.

On Monday evening over 150 students gathered to perform at our annual Horsell, Combined Schools Carol Concert. The Reverend Sarah Hayes welcomed everybody to St Mary’s Church, which was packed, with standing room only. The Deputy Mayor of Woking, Headteachers, governors, and members of the local community, witnessed a wonderful array of carols, readings and musical performances by students from Woking High, Horsell Junior and Horsell Village Schools. This event was a fantastic collaborative venture with the schools’ three music leads being supported very ably by members of the church; creating a warm and inviting atmosphere for the children to perform. The concert featured three school choirs, with Woking High School Windband leading the carols. Following individual and combined school items, all performers gathered for a rousing version of We Wish you a Merry Christmas, which provided an uplifting and festive finale.  Mrs Steele, Headteacher of Horsell Junior School, gave thanks to all staff and students for their hard work, and a retiring collection was taken, with proceeds in aid of The Woking Hospice.  Congratulations to Ashlin James, Izzy Metcalfe, Maddie McClements, Emil Kautovaara and Lilia Wada, who read beautifully at the service.

Congratulations to the following students for success in Music exams:

Matthew Rayner, Year 9 - Grade 5 clarinet - Pass

Simon Rayner, Year 7 - Grade 4 alto saxophone with Merit.

Daniel Freeland, Year 7 - Grade 1 piano exam with Merit

Following the wildly successful Christmas market last week, our Ridgeway restaurant staff produced a wonderful Christmas lunch yesterday which was enjoyed by students and staff alike. A record number of students participated in the delightful menu of turkey with trimmings, Quorn fillet or vegetarian wellington, followed by Christmas pudding or festive biscuit.

Woking High School Student Voice has been very generous in showing their support of the local community. Earlier in the term, the School Council confirmed that they would like to put together some Christmas hampers for those less fortunate. Consequently, the Core Council went onto to promote a Tutor Group Competition requesting donations of items for the hampers. The Tutor Group who donated the most items was 10G, with 10D and 8E following closely behind. The hampers will be delivered this week. Also, gifts will be given to the women’s refuge, children’s homes, homeless people and dogs who have a second chance of life in the local area. Thank you to students, staff and parents who donated so generously; we could not be doing this without the tremendous efforts of all of you!

Friends of Woking High School have been completing some last minute fundraising – guess the number of sweets in a jar and mufti day today, to try and reach their target of £10,000 by the end of December for a new minibus. Congratulations to Mana Tanaka in Year 7 who won the competition. Every little helps, so any final donations would be gratefully received.

Finally, congratulations to the PE department and all our sporting students.  Woking High School has been placed 54th (last year 85th) in the top 100 sporting state schools.  This is a fantastic achievement.

We begin the Spring term on Thursday 3rd January at 8.55 a.m.

On behalf of everyone at Woking High School, may I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Please do enjoy reading our winter newsletter.

Best wishes,

Jane Abbott

Headteacher

Headteacher's Weekly Review

Dear Parents/Carers,

The last full week of the Autumn term continues apace. Year 11s are making headway with their practice examinations. The importance of these exams cannot be underestimated, as they not only provide students, staff and parents with information regarding the progress being made, they also provide colleges and sixth forms with indicative data regarding the most suitable post 16 pathways for each student – so Year 11s, keep working hard!

Last Thursday (6^th December 2018) two very fortunate students – Jude Rainsborough and Lucy Francis attended the McLaren Work Inspiration Day. This day has been designed by McLaren to build the self-confidence, self-esteem and experience of students as well as helping them fulfil their potential and support their decisions around next steps after leaving school. Practical tasks included students pitching their own marketing campaign to put their communication skills to the test as well as learning about the importance of social confidence in a formal business dining environment. Each participant was also given the chance to demonstrate and hone their team working skills when they underwent their own grand prix pit stop challenge, a real highlight of the day! During the event students took on the role of recruiting managers to better understand what potential employers look for from applicants and how to maximise the effectiveness of CVs and covering letters. They also explored the importance of body language in interview and business scenarios. To end this amazing day, students had the opportunity to talk with human resources experts who were on-hand to enable students to better understand what potential employers look for from applicants and how to maximise the effectiveness of their CVs.

Year 10 student Charlotte Joos performed a violin solo ‘Walking in the Air’ at a charity Carol Service at St Peter's Church, Old Woking on Saturday 8^th December.  Gillian Light, Secretary of the Mid Surrey Branch of Guide Dogs for the Blind said ‘Charlotte played beautifully and was a credit to the school. The event was attended by around 170 members of the public who were very appreciative of her performance’.

Congratulations to the following students for success in Music examinations:

Madeleine McClements, Year 11, Grade 7 Piano with Distinction

Charlotte Hamilton, Year 10, Grade 5 Theory of Music with Merit.

On 10^th December two teams of Geographers from Years 8,9 and 10 took part in the Geographical Association Worldwise Quiz at Gordon’s school. Roisin Fellowes, Emily Armfield and Hugo Komatsu came 3^rd out of 17 teams, with Chris Baker, Holly Tougher and Daniella Moya coming in at 10th with highly commended. Much preparation over the preceding weeks, and a sharpening up of key skills, meant that the students were well placed to take on the challenge before them. The students represented the school fantastically well and our top placed team managed to beat teams from Gordon’s, All Hallows and SJB amongst many more! The Geography department were exceptionally proud of all our students. A special mention must go to the Geography department for winning the staff version of the quiz!

Throughout the week our school restaurant team have provided a lunchtime “Christmas Market” for students. On sale have been jacket potatoes, hot dogs, hot fruit punch and festive cakes.  The market has proved very popular with the school community and helped get everyone into the Christmas spirit.

Last night, the school hall was packed with friends and family, in support of over 90 musical students, performing at the annual Christmas Concert. The Mayor of Woking plus staff and governors, were also in attendance for a wonderfully festive programme of music. The five piece pop band ‘No December’ opened proceedings with a lively set, which concluded with their rousing version of Queen’s  ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, and drummer Sam Fox, now studying at Woking College, had to rush straight off to perform in the college’s production of Sister Act.  Wrapping up the 1^st half, it was lovely to welcome back alumna, Emma Atkins who studied at Woking High between 2009–2013. A recent graduate in Music at Southampton University, Emma has discovered a talent for song writing, and accompanied by Fiona Godden on the piano, she sang two songs from her EP, ‘Whole’.

Continuing the concert, a variety of ensembles, which included the 40 piece Windband, 35 strong School Choir, Guitars and Strings entertained the audience with highlights from ‘Frozen, the Ukrainian Bell Carol, The 12 Days of Christmas and Prokofiev’s Troika, which refers to the traditional Russian three-horse sled and was brought to life with the accompaniment of sleigh bells. Members of the Music Performance Committee had organised an amazing grand raffle with 20 Christmas hampers on display and they also provided refreshments during the interval. Given the busy period of examinations for both Year 10 and 11 students, collectively, all students performed to an exceptionally high standard and rehearsals have clearly paid off.  A big thank you to all staff who participated and supported the students in this concert, and we look forward to the Combined Schools Carol Service at St Mary’s Church, Horsell on Monday.

As is tradition, the final year assemblies of 2018 focus on Christmas giving. This year our Woking High School Christmas gift will be a donation to “The Mango Tree” charity. This is a charity which works with disadvantaged young people from rural communities in East Africa. Some of their current projects include building a girl’s secondary school in Kenya, providing good quality education to 360 girls per year; a new HIV awareness project; and an aim to expand the residential training centre with an IT hub, a community bank and an agricultural co-operative society. It has a close link to school, with a large part of its work revolving around education and helping vulnerable children and teenagers to gain qualifications. It has been championed by our senior student team so our school gift will really be an example of the Woking High School “Student Voice” supporting students across the world.

Finally, starting in January  2019, Alive ‘N’ Kicking–Surrey are running a FREE Alive ‘N’ Kicking healthy lifestyle programme at The Maybury Centre on Saturdays – families can self-refer and just need to follow the details on the leaflet attached to book a free place.  This programme is suitable for any student from aged 11-19 years old who struggles with their weight and being active.

Best wishes,

Jane Abbott

Headteacher

Mrs A Phipps Communications Manager T: 01483 888447 W: wokinghigh.surrey.sch.uk

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Headteacher's Weekly Review

Dear Parents/Carers,

Both Year 10 and Year 11 students have the opportunity to shine over the coming weeks.  Year 11 have begun a two and a half week period of indicative exams (3rd-19th December), where they will sit GCSE past papers and hone their exam skills.  Meanwhile, Year 10s will have the chance to step into positions of leadership across the school - most notably, fulfilling prefecting duties. This will give them a taste of responsibility and encourage them to apply for senior student roles at the end of the Spring term.

As Christmas time approaches, I wish to highlight a number of events taking place:

By 7th December – purchase tickets (reserve ticket if free school meal) for Christmas lunch on 18th December.

10-14th December – Christmas food market – every lunchtime.

13th December – School Christmas Concert – 7 p.m. – School Hall, tickets on sale now from the school office.

17th December – Combined Christmas Carol Concert – 6.30 p.m. – St Mary’s Church.

18th December – School Christmas lunch – from 12.45 p.m.

On Wednesday this week, 2 teams of students from Years 8 and 9 took part in the celebration and presentation event of the ‘RHS Green Plan It Challenge’ at Wisley Gardens. The teams have been working hard for the past 10 weeks after school, with assistance from a mentor from the horticulture industry, to design a garden for their school or community. Teams from 12 local secondary schools produced a model of their garden, along with a report and research survey and presented their design to a team of judges.

The day was a celebration of the hard work and dedication that all the teams had put in; guest speakers included Adam White, President and Fellow of the Royal Chartered Landscape Institute, who gave a very inspiring talk to the students about landscape design. Special awards were given for the most innovative design, students’ choice and overall winner. The judges were very impressed with the high standard of work throughout and said that the judging process this year was the toughest yet. Well done to both our teams!

Congratulations to Amaan Omar in Year 9 who took part in the UK National speed cubing championships and came second in 2x2x2. This was a great achievement for Amaan, as it was a massive event and he achieved a podium position.

Congratulations also go to Rachel Allen Year 10, Grade 7 Flute with Merit.

Below are the results from the House Photography Competition which was judged at the end of last week. Yet again, we had some fantastic entries both from students and staff. There were 489 photos submitted in total and the standard was extremely high. Many thanks to staff who entered some wonderful photos for their house. The winning photos will be displayed on the house notice board.

Total House Points awarded for Photography competition:

Brunel 83                4th

Faraday 446            3rd

Curie 689                2nd

Stephenson 1006      1st

Over all winning photo:

I Metcalfe 11Y 500

Student categories:

Animal antics

1.       E Fitzgibbon 9I 100

2.       A Wilson-Rivers 9I 50

3.       J Wells 8W 25

Black and White

1.       Z Griffin 7A 100

2.       J Wells 8W 50

3.       Z Kerslake 9I 25

Caught in Action

1.       A Rolfe 8Y 100

2.       I Metcalfe 11Y 50

3.       E Armfield 9I 25

My Own Oasis

1.       J Robinson 11I 100

2.       L Fantappie 8I 50

3.       M Newsam 9I 25

Portrait

1.       M Greaves 8D 100

2.       D Moss 9A 50

3.       I Metcalfe 11Y 25

Staff categories:

Animal antics

1.       S Bannister F 50

2.       D Frewin S 20

3.       E Williams C 10

Black and White

1.       C Nicholls S 50

Caught in Action

1.       N Mills C 50

2.       C Nicholls S 20

3.       S Street B 10

My Own Oasis

1.       A Mercer F 50

2.       D Frewin S 20

3.       C Nicholls S 10

Portrait

1.       V Thomas B 50

2.       D Bostock F 20

Year 7 Sadie Wilson made her first start for Surrey under 13 girls Netball last weekend, playing against Sussex under 14s. Surrey won the match 42–27 with Sadie playing the whole match, half the game at goal attack and the other half as goal defence. As a goal attack, Sadie shot incredibly well with a success rate of over 90%. This was a really promising County debut against girls who were two years older than herself.

On Tuesday the Year 7 Boys played their second of three District Basketball tournaments. Having won the first tournament expectations were high. The boys played really well winning all their games to win the tournament. In the final 3s, Woking High School beat Winston Churchill A team 14–8 and SJB A team 8–2. Both Woking High School’s B and C teams performed well showing the strength in depth, finishing fifth and seventh respectively.

The Hayley Otway Theatre (HOT) Academy, a local theatre school, is moving from Ascot to Windlesham in January. They are holding auditions for “This Is Me!” (Based on The Greatest Showman).  Please see attached flyer for information and contact details for the auditions.

The HOT academy has kindly provided a gift of one term’s scholarship, for one lucky person and a friend, to start in January. If you are interested in the chance of receiving the gift, then please contact Mrs Andrews at Woking High School landrews@wokinghigh.surrey.sch.uk.

This week, the Student Voice has been very active. In addition to the Core Council meeting taking place in which students discussed school-based issues, the Core Councillors have also been promoting a charity event in House Assemblies. The School Council has previously agreed that they would like to put together some hampers for those less fortunate. Consequently, they have decided to run a Tutor Group Competition for items to populate the hampers with. The Tutor Group who donate the most items will win a box of sweets, and all items donated will be worth one House Point each. In House Assemblies, the Core Councillors explained that all items need to be new, in date and of good quality. Items could include:

üNon-perishable food items

üChristmas food items

üSweets

üBottles of water

üChristmas Crackers

üChristmas Themed items

üDog food and dog treats

üToiletries for women, men and children

üStationery

It is requested that students bring their items to their form tutor; these will then be sent to Mrs Coulson and her team of Christmas helpers to prepare the hampers, which will then be delivered to local organisations, including the Homeless Shelter, the Women’s Refuge, the Rotary Club, and the Chimney Farm Dog Rescue. All of these organisations will be incredibly grateful for the donations. It will be delightful to see the hampers as they go off to be delivered.

Best wishes,

Jane Abbott

Headteacher