Dear Parents/Carers,
Last Friday we had over 50 students in action at the First Round of the English Schools Athletics match at Woking Sportsbox. We are hopeful that at least two of our teams will have qualified for the South East B final. There were some exceptional individual performances with Year 7, Jiyah Kapotwe, breaking the School record in the 800m in a time of 2.21.40 minutes. We had numerous individual winners, please see team and selected individual results below:
English Schools Athletics First Round
Team Results:
Junior Boys 5th
Junior Girls 4th
Inter Boys 4th
Inter Girls 7th
Individual Winners:
Liam Stone Inter Boys 1500m
Chris Baker Inter Boys 800m
Matthew King Inter Boys 200m
Toby Webb Inter Boys Discus
Teddy Gannon Junior Boys Discus
Lizzie Chapman Junior Girls 300m
Lizzie Chapman Junior Girls Discus
Congratulations go to Rhys Conlon in Year 7, who has been selected as part of the Great Britain climbing squad. Below is a picture of him training with them.
This week Year 7 Mandarin students completed their Speaking Hurdle test. They had to introduce themselves and their family and describe a picture in a GCSE-style assessment. They did extremely well to overcome their nerves and show what they had learnt! Their next test will be Reading and Listening on the 5th June.
A number of the most able Year 9 students, completed their work researching the air quality around the school site, with the London Sustainability Exchange this week. They met to discuss the results and evaluate a range of strategies to reduce air pollution. The results came back positive, as the air quality was above the minimum standards in all areas. One way in which you could help reduce this further, is by turning car engines off whilst you wait for your child at the end of the day, or by encouraging your child to cycle, walk or use public transport to travel to school, if possible.
Last year, the Year 10 students proposed a change from the Head Boy/Head Girl title to Head Student, feeling it was a more inclusive term and reflective of the time we live in. At Woking High School, we pride ourselves on the maturity of our students and the strength of our Student Voice. We therefore listened to what our students had to say and, having explored the idea further, we decided to implement the students’ proposal. As a result, I am pleased to announce that the Senior Student Team will be:
Head Students
Roisin Fellowes
Dora Savory
Deputy Head Students
Esraa Fahgahly
Charlotte Hamilton
Emma Harris
Oscar Khan
Abigail Shameen
Toby Webb
Olly Wooster
Congratulations to those students and I know that Mrs Walter, as Headteacher designate, is looking forward to working with them. Thank you also to all the other students who put themselves forward as candidates.
On Wednesday a group of 20 Year 8 students spent the morning at The University of Surrey visiting their STEAM Festival. This inspiring and energetic event showcased different subject disciplines and their application within Higher Education and Industry, with a particular focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. Students engaged and interacted with various demonstrations, observing subjects in a different light and learning more about their own potential career options and pathways in the process. They discovered how Science, Maths and the Arts, can collaborate through technology and innovation, seeing how everyday objects are created from a different perspective. Students took part in informal workshops hosted by McLaren, they watched performances from the Theatre Society and a UNICEF Awareness performance and had the opportunity to visit a Planetarium show.
Following a successful, but windy practice expedition in April, 26 Year 10 participants will be completing their assessed Silver expedition on the South Downs from Thursday 16th to Saturday 17th May. Walking approximately 45 kilometres in total, they will carry all of their equipment and food between two campsites, enjoying beautiful views of the English Channel and the Downs. They are all well prepared and have worked well within their groups; we wish them well.
There are two workshops taking place that your children may be interested in - A woodwork programme running over the May half-term with the Great British Woodshop - please see attached flyer and Stagecoach Woking has two great Summer fun workshops planned which will run from the 29th July to the 2nd August. They have a workshop designed for children aged between 4-6 years and the theme will be Excerpts from School of Rock and another workshop for older students aged between 6-18 years which the theme will be Grease. To register, please go to www.stagecoach.co.uk/woking or email woking@stagecoach.co.uk or call 07957 825641. No Stagecoach experience necessary." There is also a competition running for a child to win a FREE place in a workshop! Please see attached information on the competition. The closing date is 29th June.
Best wishes,
Jane Abbott
Headteacher