Dear Parents/Carers,
There has been, quite rightly, considerable focus on Year 11 students of late. Thank you to the 96% of Year 11 parents who were able to attend consultation evening last Thursday and thank you to those parents who also attended our Year 11 parents’ revision evening on Monday. I do hope that both evenings were useful and gave advice and practical strategies for helping your son/daughter in their preparation for their upcoming GCSE examinations. If you were unable to attend the parents’ evening, Mrs Coulson, Year 11 Pastoral Co-ordinator, will be contacting you to arrange alternative appointments. If you were unable to attend the revision evening, the presentation slides can be found on our website www.wokinghigh.surrey.sch.uk/
Two weeks ago we launched our Year 11 revision study plan programme. All Year 11 students should now have finished their second week of planning. Please do look out for the green planning sheets and give your support and encouragement. We are sending out electronic copies of the sheets to all Year 11 parents today.
Yesterday the last of the 5 groups of GCSE Food and Nutrition students completed their 3 hour practical exams, for their NEA 2 assessment. The timely update and replacement of all the cookers in T6 helped them to be the best equipped they possibly could be for this 35% component of their GCSE.
Today, 90 Year 11s have attended the “Doctor’s Show” organized by the AQA examination board to provide revision tips and exam advice for the School History Scene workshop specifically aimed at GCSE Health and the People unit.
Over the last couple of weeks the school has experienced considerable sporting success at District, County and National level.
Our Under 15 Pistol Shooting team were victorious in the British Schools Championships held at the Stoke Mandeville stadium. The team consisted of George McEwen, Jenna Culshaw and Chloe Westphal. Please see team and individual results below:
British Schools Pistol Championships
Intermediate Team Champions Top 3 only:
1st Woking High
2nd Rochester
3rd Ysgol Bro Gwaun
Individually:
4th Place George McEwen
7th Place Jenna Culshaw
Then on Saturday at Guildford Spectrum in the Surrey Swimming Individual Championships our students were in great form with the majority recording personal best times. Our Year 9/10 Boys team were crowned County Champions with all 5 boys producing excellent swims.
Please see selected results below:
Team: Inter Boys (Year 9/10) Champions
Individual top 6 only:
Gold Mackenzie Russell Inter boys 100m Freestyle
Gold Joshua Thompson Inter boys 100m Breaststroke
Silver Danel Jansen Inter girls 100m Freestyle
Bronze Alexej Baldwin Inter boys 100m Butterfly
Bronze Michael Young Inter boys 200m Individual Medley
Fourth Daniel Baldwin Junior boys 100m Freestyle
Fourth Lauren Baker Inter girls 100m Backstroke
Fifth Mana Tanaka Junior girls 100m Freestyle
Fifth Lizzie Chapman Junior girls 200m Individual Medley
Fifth Steven Wood Inter boys 100m Backstroke
Then in the last two weeks both our Year 7 Boys and Girls Basketball teams have been crowned District Champions after winning five out of the six tournaments and finishing runner up in the other one.
Woking High School is proud of its Holocaust Beacon School status. On Sunday 27th January, Holocaust Memorial Day is a time to remember the millions murdered during the Holocaust of WWII and the later genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
This week the school has recognised and remembered Holocaust Memorial Day (27th January) through a series of assemblies. This year’s theme is ‘Torn from Home’ and we have reflected on a number of issues: how the enforced loss of a safe place to call ‘home’ is part of the trauma faced by anyone experiencing persecution and genocide; what happens when individuals, families and communities are driven out of, or wrenched from their homes, because of persecution or the threat of genocide; the difficulties survivors face as they try to find and build new homes when the genocide is over. Students have investigated three individuals who were torn from home and survived different genocides of the 20th Century. Dr Martin Stern MBE who was just 5 years old when taken to a concentration camp in Theriesenstadt. Sokphal Din was forced out of his home by the Khmer Rouge in 1975 and his family lost all of their property and belongings in the genocide - he has only recently retrieved his birth certificate to discover his real age. Finally we heard about Sabit Jakupovic who as a Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) was forced into a concentration camp by former Serbian friends and colleagues during the civil war. All three men now live in the UK, arriving as refugees, but as Sabit states:
‘I am in limbo status. I won’t be able to go back, I will never go back, but there is a part of my life that I cannot just walk away from. Even if I go now, my village is not the same, all I have is my memories, everything else has been destroyed. Part of me will always be there, no matter how hard I try to settle here’.
Later this half term we hope that Year 9 students will have the opportunity to participate in a Holocaust Survivor testimony webinar.
At school we embrace the opportunity to learn lessons from the past which can inform our lives today. We recognize that discrimination, prejudice, racism and hatred, must be prevented at every opportunity and that we must work together to create a safer, better future.
Best wishes,
Jane Abbott
Headteacher