Dear Parents/Carers,
Throughout the week, Year 10 students have been on work experience. Their placements have included working for RNLI, a London Children’s Hospital, in banks, in the aviation and construction industries, a placement at McLaren and as an animal keeper. Our students have already commented how valuable the work experience has been and employer feedback has been that students have worked very hard and have been a credit to the school.
On Monday, we had the pleasure of hosting a Most Able Science Activity for some of the Year 5s from Horsell Junior School. They investigated Fruit Batteries with Mrs Pollard and used their investigative skills to collect and analyse data to help them find out which fruit/vegetable and which electrodes make the best fruit battery. They used Maths and IT to help analyse their data and we were all very impressed with their high level of knowledge and their fantastic investigative skills.
On Tuesday, we welcomed back Year 9 EWAY students from their battlefield visit. Early on Saturday morning, 43 Year 9 students and 5 teachers had headed out to the Ypres Salient for the second Battlefields tour of the academic year. For the first time that we can remember, most of the sites that they visited were relatively quiet and as such, they were able to investigate and discover in great detail, what life was like for those who served on the Western Front and how we should continue to remember after 100 years. Students really impressed the staff with their thought provoking questions related to subjects as diverse as, how the hospitals coped with the big offensives during the war, the development of Casualty Clearing Stations to care for the wounded, why Langemark is different from the other cemeteries that were visited and why some veterans’ opinions of the Menin Gate and Last Post ceremony varied from pride to hatred?
One group of students managed to find the three reasons why so many people visit Essex Farm Cemetery in such vast numbers, after spending time perusing the site; the grave of 15-year-old Rifleman Valentine Joe Strudwick; the origin of Major John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields and the incredible heroism of Thomas Barratt, awarded the Victoria Cross in 1917 while on scout patrol, showing conspicuous bravery, stalking and killing enemy snipers under fire.
We were also struck by the solemnity of our students at every site that was visited; especially whilst reflecting on two days of challenging thinking and activities as the sun set over the Ramparts Cemetery at Lille Gate, Ypres.
Also on Tuesday, Year 7-9 students participated in the last Day 11 of 2018/19. The programme included 95 Year 7’s went to Alice Holt forest in Farnham where they completed two tasks. Firstly, students designed and carry out an investigation into the factors influencing the properties and components of an ecosystem. After first determining their hypothesis, students were guided in using a range of testing equipment and identifying keys to take data from three different ecosystems. They also completed an orienteering activity in order to further enhance their skills in independence, teamwork, and problem-solving. Year 7’s in school completed an English task using the War of the Worlds as inspiration to create their own martians and in Maths the students looked at the ancient Chinese puzzles of Tan grams. The Mandarin students had a day immersed in Chinese culture where they completed Calligraphy workshops and visited the Beijing restaurant for lunch to practice their speaking and eating with chop sticks. DT and History joined forces to look at defence systems, with a focus on the trebuchet, in groups they made models and were given an opportunity to test them out. Year 9 students who are studying GCSE Drama from September spent the day with Mrs Wilson and Mrs Sleap working on key skills for their exam. Similarly, the students studying GCSE Art visited the Lightbox so they could start working on their first pieces over the summer holidays. The Asdan group enjoyed a day making bird boxes, fat balls and spending yet more time weeding and watering in their garden as they have been entered into the Woking in Bloom competition.
That evening, we also welcomed parents of our new Year 7 cohort. They had chance to meet their son and daughter’s tutor, buy uniform and they also had the first opportunity to buy one of the new Woking High School water bottles and sample some of the cakes from the restaurant.
Wednesday 10th July will go down in Woking High history as the day 5 year 8 students went to Gordon’s, took on their best and brightest at business and won. Carla Manning, Noah Testa, Alice Claxton, Emma Twiston-Davis and Jack Elliot were given the task of promoting a chosen city as the next host of the Olympic Games.
With a choice of 10 cities, they decided on Buenos Aires. Set with the task of developing and promoting every aspect of the games from the logo to the mascots, the venues to the merchandise, the events to the opening ceremony. The students approached the task with one thing in mind. Equality. Everyone was included and all were equal. After a day’s prep the students from both schools had 6 minutes to present to 3 local business leaders invited to judge the competition. Woking High went first and delivered a very professional, well thought out, well-structured and eloquent pitch that wowed the judges. Gordons had a hard task following that and despite a great presentation, it wasn’t enough. The judges spoke highly of how our students performed and especially highlighted the equality and eco-friendly games they had put together in such a short time. Congratulations to the team a well-deserved victory.
In the evening, eighty-one music students, supported by staff and TAG, gave a fantastic Summer concert to a packed hall attended by the Mayor of Woking, governors, staff, ex-students (alumni), family and friends. The Wind Orchestra, School Choir, Chamber Choir, String and Guitar ensembles, played a packed programme of music, which featured many excellent soloists including Rachel Allen and Isabel Picken on flute, and the voices of Phoebe Osborne, Jessica Clay, Madeleine Grainger, Daniela Moya, Karl Sonoy, Lois Miller, Lilia Wada, Alana Lynch and Madeleine McClements. The evening concluded with an uplifting arrangement of music from The Blues Brothers, with a supporting cast of enthusiastic junior school percussionists, who added an extra dynamic level of rhythm on their shakers, tambourines and cowbells! The Mayor of Woking, Cllr Beryl Hunwicks was delighted with the concert and described the evening as being ‘wonderful’. The Summer concert was very much a pre-tour performance to parents who would otherwise not get to hear the fruits of all the rehearsals undertaken throughout the year. But some parents will indeed get to hear the musical programme again, when they join the 68 students and seven staff members on their Music Tour to Paris at one of their three concert venues. They depart for France on Thursday 18th July, and we wish them all well on their travels.
Yesterday, 84 students left for their final Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition to the Wiltshire/Dorset border. On that note, I am happy to let you know that our Duke of Edinburgh licence has been renewed for another 3 years, the inspector was very happy with our organization and complimented the school on being such a wonderful place to work.
The House teams have been competing in a dodgeball competition this week – please see results below:
Year 7
1st Curie 500 HPs
2nd Faraday 150 HPs
2nd Brunel 150 HPs
3rd Stephenson 50 HPs
Year 8
1st Brunel 500 HPs
2nd Curie 200 HPs
3rd Stephenson 100HPs
4th Faraday 50 HPs
Year 9
1st Stephenson 500 HPs
2nd Curie 150 HPs
2nd Brunel 150 HPs
3rd Faraday 50 HPs
Many thanks to all tutors and to those who came along to support. Thank you to Mr Goosen also, for running the event. We are now looking forward to Sports Day on Monday which will see the culmination of the best sporting performances following sports heats this week.
On Thursday, we welcomed c250 Year 5 students and their parents for a coffee morning. It gave both students and parents an opportunity to tour the school and start thinking about applications for September 2020 entry. Praise was fulsome for our brilliant Year 7 guides.
Please see link from the Woking Talking Newspaper association for the visually impaired.
Congratulations go two students in Year 7. Dihan Truter, who received a distinction in his Grade 3, Acoustic guitar exam and Alex Dyson, who passed his guitar exam with a high Merit.
Finally, we wish farewell to our Taiwanese visitors who have been wonderful guests over the past two weeks.
Best wishes,
Jane Abbott
Headteacher