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