Woking High School is an exempt charity and company limited by guarantee. Registered in England with Company Number 8586085 and has a registered office as above.

Woking High School, Morton Road, Horsell, Woking, Surrey, GU21 4TJ

Tel: 01483 888447 Fax: 01483 888448

Email: info@wokinghigh.surrey.sch.uk

Web: www.wokinghigh.surrey.sch.uk

Headteacher: Jane AbbottN E W S L E T T E R

The core values of Woking High School – academic excellence, outstanding pastoral care and unparalleled opportunities for students to be involved in a wide range of academic, cultural, artistic and social activities - have been clearly in evidence throughout this Spring term.

The academic success of Woking High School students is of paramount importance to the whole school community and as such there has been a significant focus on preparing senior students (both

those preparing for GCSEs in Summer 2017 and those progressing through their two year study programme) for their forthcoming examinations. Year 11s have had a huge selection of revision events to access, including revision classes in school, master classes, after school seminars, revision during half term and a second week of indicative exams in the core subjects in early March. The students have eagerly embraced these activities and have also benefitted from mentoring, mindfulness sessions and self-

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esteem workshops to develop calm and reduce anxiety in the lead up to the final examinations. Following the success of last year’s ‘Puppy Room’, in liaison with Guide Dogs for the Blind, we have again been able to organize this opportunity for our Year 11 students. Easter revision classes will take place, for key students by invitation, in Maths (3rd/4th April) English (5th/6th April) Art (5th/6th April) Graphics (10th/11thApril) Computing (10th/11th April) Business (13th April). These dates are correct at the time of going to press.

Headteacher’s Letter

When students return to school after Easter their lessons will continue until the 12th May, when an immersion timetable will replace the normal Year 11 timetable and provide final intensive revision prior to each examination.

To extend our outstanding pastoral provision staff and students at Woking High School are currently involved in designing and planning a new Wellbeing Centre. This centre will coordinate our extensive range of activities designed to offer all students the chance to access support for their emotional and mental health. One of the key aspects of our new Wellbeing Centre will be organizing strategies and opportunities to develop resilience in the face of the challenges that life may present. This new centre will also build on our first class pastoral welfare provision and provide pastoral support for any potential issues ranging from stress and anxiety about exams to debilitating long-term conditions.

A further pastoral development this term has been the “I Need Help” campaign, launched with support from the ‘I Need Help’ charity, a branch of the ‘Family Line’ in Surrey it caters specifically for school age children. 20 of our Year 10 students have been trained as INH Ambassadors and run a drop in clinic every lunchtime in school that any student can access. They act as a signposting service and offer a listening ear in time of need.

One of our most valued pastoral colleagues, Mr Scott-Boyle, who has been at the school for 9 years, is leaving us to join his wife in the

USA. He has played a key role in pastoral support for our young people over the years and has designed the Woking High School “Striving For My Best” programme. This has become a model of best practice and has been adopted and adapted by many Surrey schools. We thank him for his dedication and friendship and wish him well Stateside.

Woking High School is renowned for providing its students with a huge selection of extra curricular activities and opportunities. Once again our students have seized these many opportunities to develop their skills and talents. This term the Chess Club has been a welcomed new addition to our enrichment offer, with

sixteen students attending specialist chess tuition under the guidance of International Master Gavin Wall.

During the past month we have seen exceptional performances from our students in music and drama. The annual Vocal and Instrumental Competition, in memory of Lorna Paterson was held in mid March. Holly Tibbotts was awarded the coveted Lorna Paterson Cup for Special Achievement in Music having given an outstanding performance of Sonatina for Flute and Pianom 1st Movement (Burton) For a full report please see Mr Goodwin’s article later in the newsletter. Just days ago, packed audiences enjoyed three performances of our 2017 production of The Wizard of Oz.

Our Youth Speaks teams have continued the excellent tradition of public speaking at Woking High School. Both the Senior and Intermediate teams won the local Rotary Club competition and went on to represent the school in the District Semi-Final where the Intermediate team were victorious. This team then proceeded to the District Final on 18th March which they won and then performed at the Regional final on 25 March, where they won ‘Best Chair’ but lost as a team to Wycombe Abbey School.

Every week we seem to report on the amazing sporting successes achieved by our students. This term teams and individuals have added to our huge collection of silverware by winning cups at District and County level in Swimming, Badminton, Basketball and Football. Woking High School students performed outstandingly at the British Biathlon Championships at Crystal Palace last week. Please read Mr Justice’s sports report for further details.

Woking High School students and staff

are extremely fortunate to work in a school with such a lovely environment. Our site staff take exceptional care of our school estate and many visitors comment on our welcoming, bright and attractive school. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our site team, headed by Mr Turner, for all that they do to care for our school environment. We are constantly striving to extend our site provision and I am pleased to announce that when we return after Easter our new SEND building will be almost ready for use. It is a purpose built, Woking High School designed, facility which will meet the needs of a number of our students who need extra support accessing the curriculum and life at school.

We finish school at 12 noon on Friday 31st March and return for the Summer term on Tuesday 18th April at 8.55 a.m. On behalf of everyone at Woking High School, I wish you a very happy, sunny Easter Holiday.

With best wishes.

Jane Abbott, Headteacher

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THREE OF OUR YEAR 9 STUDENTS were praised for their achievements when they were visited by HRH The Earl of Wessex on Thursday 23 February. Tegen Brown, Allanah Collins and Lucy Francis have been attending a course covering the principles of motor mechanics and engineering through the school’s partnership with the GASP Motor Project. Prince Edward was extremely impressed by the knowledge and understanding of the students and especially appreciated Tegen’s

observation that “I am now the only person in my family who knows how to fix an engine”. Woking High School students follow a very academic curriculum yet we are also committed to providing opportunities and experiences that help to develop students as individuals and support their career aspirations. We are very pleased with the progress made by the girls during their time with GASP and their royal recognition was richly deserved.

S Sharples, Deputy Headteacher

GASP Motor Project

Images supplied by Woking Advertiser

Youth Speaks - STUDENTS SPEAK OUT

AT WOKING HIGH SCHOOL we pride ourselves on helping some of our most able students to develop the skills and confidence to speak in public with confidence and flair. Back in November, we were successful once again in the first round of the Rotary Club Youth Speaks competition, with both of our teams winning at Intermediate and Senior categories.

Both teams went on to the second round in February, and the Intermediate team of Year 9 students Alana Lynch, Madeleine McClements and Isabel Metcalfe won again, defeating competition from All Hallows School and The Wavell. Alana Lynch won the individual award for best Speaker, while Madeleine McClements won best Chair. Our Senior team were pipped to the post by strong competition from the Year 12 girls from Farnborough Hill, and it was no surprise that this same team went on to win the Senior category in the District Final in March.

Our success in the Intermediate category continued, with our team winning once again in the District Final. Madeleine again won best Chair and the whole team competed again in the Regional Final a week later. This time, despite Madeleine winning Best Chair for the third time running, the team as a whole were defeated by Wycombe Abbey School.

It takes a huge amount of effort, commitment and courage to write, learn and deliver a speech in front of a hall full of adults. We are very proud of our teams and know that their public speaking skills will certainly help them to communicate under pressure and be taken seriously when it counts. Our thanks as ever go to the Rotary Club for organising such a terrific and worthwhile competition, and particularly to the local branch of Woking District, who sponsor our teams.

S Savory, Teacher of English

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English - WORLD BOOK WEEK

AS PART OF THE SCHOOL’S FOCUS on literacy and reading in particular, we have run a number of activities to encourage both students and staff to immerse themselves in reading.

During World Book Week we encouraged students to participate in a Kids’ Book quiz, competing within their tutor groups and then against other students in a final round. Students have also been able to participate in the Fantastic Charity Book Quiz for 50p - money raised was donated

to Book Aid. The school embraced the ‘Drop Everything and Read’ initiative with exciting book tasters recorded by staff to whet their appetites.

Book Aid allowed both staff and students to donate pre-loved books for charity; these were sold and the over £300 raised will go to both Book Aid and towards new stock for the Library. Book Aid uses the money they raise to provide new books for libraries in Africa.

To round off the successful week we held a Mega Book Fair with contributions from Waterstones, Usborne, Scholastic, Book Aid and Woking Library. It was encouraging to see so many eager readers attending the fair; stocking up on their Easter reading materials.

In May three well known authors will be visiting Woking High School to speak to lower school students about their craft: Ali Sparkes (twice winner of The Blue Peter Author of the year) ‘The Shape Shifter’ series; Alan Gibbons (Winner of The Blue Peter Author of the year) ‘Shadow of the Minotaur’ and the popular Bali Rai (Winner of the Angus Book Award) ‘(Un)arranged Marriage’. These are sure to be entertaining visits and will hopefully inspire students to explore the authors’ novels and encourage all readers to find something new to try.

B Swancutt, Teacher of English

Year 10 English Seminars

OUR SERIES OF AFTERNOON SEMINARS has continued to be popular with Year 10. The seminars take place in English each Friday afternoon, offering students an opportunity to explore areas outside the curriculum and to build contextual detail for their English literature texts. Teachers from departments across the school have given presentations on a wide range of topics, with recent titles including ‘Women in Literature’ (Mr Bunsell) and ‘The strange case of Professor Jekyll and Reverend Hyde: Science vs Religion’ (Dr Ashton).

The seminars will run throughout the year. Our next instalment finds Mr Bacon discussing the fashion, technology and etiquette of Edwardian England, and in the final seminar of the term our Year 11 students will give a taster of their AS Level course in Communication and Culture.

B Harvey, Teacher of English

YEAR 9 WERE TREATED to the delights of London’s third oldest playhouse - The Theatre Royal Haymarket – to see Christopher Luscombe’s production of Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’.

As the lights fell an expectant hush settled on the audience, who literally drank in the lavishness of the opening scene. This production is set at the end of the First World War with the returning soldiers billeted in a manor-house not dissimilar to Warwickshire’s Charlecote Park. The rich vibrancy of the costumes was coupled with replica features: red-brick towers and a grand, terrace-

topped entrance that parted to disclose an opulent, book-lined, wood-panelled drawing-room.

Laughing appropriately and murmuring appreciatively, intelligent, enthused comments about the comic pace and facetious cut and thrust between Benedict and Beatrice as they stalked the boards, could be heard. Enchanted and enchanting, Year 9’s honest enjoyment of Shakespeare was a great pleasure to behold.

B Bunsell, Teacher of English and Head of Year 8

Much Ado About Nothing

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THE UKMT INTERMEDIATE MATHS CHALLENGE is aimed at students in Year 11 and below. The challenge involves answering twenty five multiple choice questions in one hour and is sat in school under normal exam conditions.

The top 40% of students nationally receive a gold, silver or bronze certificate in the ratio 1:2:3. Around 500 of the highest scorers in each school year are invited to take part in the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad and a further 5,500 students from all three year groups (Year 9, 10 and 11) are invited to sit the Pink and Grey European Kangaroo papers. These are multiple choice questions, taken by students from over thirty countries worldwide.

Congratulations to the following Year 10 students who qualified for the Pink Kangaroo: Faiyaz Moolji, Julia Twiston-Davies and Matthew Joll, and Year 9 students who qualified for the Grey Kangaroo: Seth Gale, Ben Koch and Alex McPherson. A special mention goes to Ram Marwaha, Year 9, who qualified

Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad Cayley paper. The Olympiad is a two hour paper consisting of six questions requiring full written solutions. Ram was in the top 500 scorers in the country for Year 9.

GOLD CERTIFICATES were awarded to the following:

Year 10: Faiyaz Moolji (best in year 10), Julia Twiston-Davies and Matthew Joll.

Year 9: Ram Marwaha (best in school and best in year 9) and Seth Gale.

SILVER CERTIFICATES were awarded to the following:

Year 10: Jack Barron, Will Griffiths, Freddy Wooster, Alex Picken, Abubaker Imran, Hasna Sahul Hameed, Jannah Elgendy, Alex Vickerstaff, Tom Ivory-Bray, Mia Lansdell, Fergus Russell, Caitlin Davidson and Samuel Belcher.

Year 9: Ben Koch, Alex McPherson, Asher Goosen, Ella Boyes, Toby Harris, Abiel Natnael, Frances Machattie and Douwe Boesveld.

BRONZE CERTIFICATES were awarded to the following:

Year 10: Michael Hitchings, Leo Meyler, Raman Bansal, Eerik Cockin, Samuel Webb, Rosie Fiveash, Yuta Osawa, Lucy Taylor, Amelia Joos, Nathan Holmes, Joe Allum, Vikum Hettiarachichi, Chris Woods, Adam Gray, Jake Martin,

Rachel Abraham, Max Chitty, Andrew Muir, Chloe Wells, Adnan Abdul Aziz, James Mandy, Stephen Moore, Rithika Muralidharan.

Year 9: Amy Szarvas, Andries Verhaeghe, Dominic Ariyo-Francis, Isobel Danton, Kiera Purchase, Zahir Abid, Jaymie Robinson, Jude Silverton and Hadeed Khan.

Well done to all the students who took part and we wish the seven students, taking the kangaroo papers, well in the next rounds.

The UKMT Junior Maths Challenge, for Year 7 and 8 students, takes place on the 27 April.

Fancy yourself as a mathematician? Have a go at the question below, taken from the 2017 UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge:

The combined age of Alice and Bob is 39. The combined age of Bob and Clare is 40. The combined age of Clare and Dan is 38. The combined age of Dan and Eve is 44. The total of all five ages is 105.

Which of the five is the youngest?

A Alice B Bob C Clare D Dan E Eve

Answer on the back page of this newsletter

P Heller, Director of Maths

Maths - UKMT INTERMEDIATE MATHS CHALLENGE

ON 16 MARCH two teams of Year 10 students (7 students in all) were entered from Woking High School to take part in the Year 10 Maths Feast competition run by the Further Maths Support Network. The students involved were Georgina Atkins, Cory Broadbent, Jannah Elgendy, William Griffiths, Stephen Moore, Hasna Sahul Hameed and Lucy Taylor. The competition took place at George Abbot School and consisted of six rounds over a period of two and a half hours. The six rounds were set out like a feast as there was a starter, main course, dessert and a petit fours

round with an Amuse Bouche between each round. The rounds were a mixture of true / false questions, problem solving and Countdown puzzles. The students really enjoyed the challenge, puzzling over the answers and making friends from other schools in the area. There were certificates for the winners of each round with our Team 1 winning the Countdown Challenge with full marks, but there were no overall winners as the organisers wanted a less competitive feel for the afternoon. The aim was for the students to have fun and enjoy different mathematical experiences. All of

Year 10 Maths Feastour Year 10 students proudly represented the school and thoroughly enjoyed working on all the different types of activities.

K Brandon, Teacher of Maths

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SCIENCE CLUB HAS CONTINUED TO WELCOME enthusiastic young Science students each week. Over the past few months they have made parachutes and investigated the aerodynamics of paper aeroplanes and also enjoyed learning how to make and write messages in invisible ink. They experienced the excitement of static electricity - using the Van der Graaf generator - and investigated the best way to generate electricity from fruit and vegetables. Just before half term, they competed the design and then made models of eco-houses that would use the world’s resources more efficiently – we were impressed with their creativity!

At Science Council, the priority this year is to raise the profile of Science both in

school and in the local community. We have set up a Twitter feed to showcase what is happening currently in Science, both within school and in the news. We’d love to have more followers – we can be found at @WokingHighSci or http://twitter.com/wokinghighsci/.

Finally, we would like to congratulate all the students who have been making good use of the help and support on offer in the Science department this term. We have had record numbers attending the Science clinics on Wednesdays and Thursdays after school. Since September, our students have answered an impressive 138,377 questions using our online Educake platform.

H Gallagher, Head of Science

Science - SCIENCE CLUB

French Exchange IN MARCH we welcomed 18 students and two teachers on an exchange programme from our partner school, Jacques Decour Collège in Paris. The French students and staff spent a morning in school and then enjoyed an entertaining afternoon in Woking’s Big Apple. During the rest of the week our guests visited Windsor and London and over the weekend the home-stay families planned all sorts of typically British entertainments. Exchanges are

a hugely enriching experience for both hosts and visitors providing opportunities to practice languages, develop an understanding of each other’s culture and often lead to lifelong friendships.

“Last week, my French exchange partner came to stay with me and my family. We hope we gave them a great experience of British culture, language, and cuisine. We took them into Woking and Guildford to show them around, and ate a variety of

different meals with them. However, most of the food was in fact from other countries! On Wednesday, they came to school with us, and then we went bowling. Throughout their visit, we discussed how Woking is different from Paris, which was quite interesting. I am excited for when we go to Paris to see what it is like there!”

P Bolis, Head of MFL and Amy Szarvas, Year 9 Student

GCSE Geography - DATA COLLECTION

ON TUESDAY 14 MARCH the Year 10 GCSE Geographers successfully completed their urban fieldwork in Stratford in London. They were able to experience first hand the differences in environmental quality between the regenerated Westfield Stratford City and the older parts of Stratford and some students were able to spend time in the Olympic Park.

The students are now using lesson time to follow up on the evidence they gathered in preparation for the Unit 3 Geographical Applications exam and as an example of an urban regeneration project for their Unit 2 Challenges in the Human Environment exam. The students have been encouraged to complete further research into the project at home to extend their learning.

L Dixon, Head of Geography

@WokingHighSci

http://twitter.com/wokinghighsci/

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History - HOLOCAUST BEACON SCHOOL QUALITY MARK AWARD

ON THURSDAY 2 MARCH, Nicola Wetherall MBE and Jon Gibson from UCL Centre for Holocaust Education visited the school to conduct an assessment of our Beacon School work and to ascertain whether we met Quality Mark accreditation. Prior to the visit, Mr Jones and Mrs Abbott conducted a detailed audit and evaluation of the work that has been carried out across the school since we became a Beacon School. The centre scrutinised our latest Ofsted report, the school and department development plans, the departments Holocaust scheme of learning, assessment data and examples of students work. During the visit, learning walks and lesson observations were completed, interviews with teachers and students took place as well as further scrutiny of student work. Both assessors were extremely impressed with the department and the schools’ focus upon pedagogy and its commitment to innovative teaching and learning, which was viewed as an ‘area of outstanding practice, expertise and passion and [as] a driver for generic quality teaching and learning’.

We feel that being a Beacon School has allowed us to explore many different approaches to teaching and learning across the curriculum. It is something that we

value highly and as one student commented to the assessors during the student panel interviews:

‘The Holocaust is such a big part of modern history that it should be talked about and taught and taken seriously...this will influence who we are and what we do...it makes you think about your values and the things that are important to you... I am making connections about what is going on in the news today to the Holocaust so we need to know about it understand what’s happening now or what could happen in the future…’

The report is highly complementary of the school, particularly the collegiate spirit that exists amongst teachers.

‘The passionate belief in and pursuit of outstanding quality teaching and learning – both academic and in terms of personal development – lies at the heart of everything at Woking High School. A sense of mission and clear commitment to ensuring its learners experience and engage in an educational provision that inspires, is relevant and will raise aspiration and broaden horizons was a common feature of review discussions with staff. Likewise, there was sense of pride in their school and recognition by students, during the review

process, for the wide-ranging curriculum, opportunities and experiences that Woking High School offers. Holocaust education is just one facet – an important one – of Woking High Schools holistic educational offer – to ‘increase the life chances’ of its young people’.

It is extremely pleasing to report that we are only the fourth school nationally to receive the coveted Quality Mark and it is thanks to the diligence of both teachers and students that we have been given the award. The report will be published shortly and concludes:

‘Wow! The student voice panel alone testified to your excellent and evolving specialism in Holocaust Education. The provision for and quality teaching and learning about the Holocaust at Woking High School is hugely impressive. This Quality Mark is a richly deserved recognition of your commitment to innovation within Holocaust teaching and learning being supported by SLT. All this being driven by a passionate and gifted middle leader, ensuring the pedagogy is shared to support school improvement and in a spirit of openness to support other schools.’

M Jones, Head of History

ON TUESDAY 14 MARCH 106 Year 7 students turned back time and visited Medieval England. We journeyed to the Weald and Downland Living Museum in Sussex and quickly set

about investigating just how diverse life in the medieval times was. The hardship of peasant life was made very clear by the size of several rather small houses and the labour intensive jobs of many peasants.

Students spent the day learning how linen is harvested from flax and then dyed, discovering how a working water mill turns wheat into flour and even had several close encounters

with a group of friendly chickens! Students were also given the opportunity to visit the small museum shop to take home a souvenir of their great day.

Our students behaved wonderfully and as we were leaving the museum staff were extremely positive about the inquisitive and polite behaviour demonstrated by Woking High School students, so much so that the walky-talky system used was abuzz with positive comments from the staff in the different buildings after our students had visited.

M Craib, Teacher of History

Weald and Downland Museum Visit

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OUR YEAR 9 STUDENT TEAM of Sam Rourke, Oliver Butt, Jaymie Robinson, Ethan Spoors, Myles Gibson and Joshua Chan accompanied by Miss Kundi attended the final presentation event at The Design Ventura Museum during half term. Although our team did not win the first prize they did receive a commendation for ‘Championing Change’ for their design of a t-shirt which will encourage young people to embrace their differences. Speaking to the boys, entering the competition had certainly been an inspirational experience and had encouraged them to develop their love of technology, public speaking, team work and financial skills.

R Bourne, Teacher of Design and Technolgy

Design & Technology DESIGN VENTURA

THE ACCOUNTANTS DID NOT GET IT WRONG. The correct envelopes were handed over and there was much jubilation when the winners were announced!

Yes, another successful Spring Film Festival has come and gone, and the awards ceremony went off without a hitch.

This was our 11th film festival. From humble beginnings with six films and nine students we had 40 films and 150 students participating in one form or another. The total audience of 300 students really encouraged their peers by attending the daily screenings and adding their votes.

And here are the winners:

Best Director: Phoebe Cartmale for “The Psychologist”

Best Editor: Lucy Brown “Queens of Paradise”

Best Camera Shots: Emilia Robson in “Keys”

Best Thriller: “The Burglar” by Ellie Puttock, Abi Shameen and Sarah Haynes

Best Comedy: “It Snowed Much Wow” by Sam Griffiths

Best Trailer: “In the Woods” by Dora Savory, Mana Komatsu, Lois Miller and Madiha Hussain

Best Sound Effects: “Wildcard and Friends” by Joseph Doyle

Best Documentary: “Chronicles of a Composition” by Max Pemberton

Best Male Actor: Harry Cooper in “Jamie”

Best Female Actor: “Phoebe Cartmale in “The Psychologist”

Best Supporting Actor:…Barney the Dog in “It snowed much WOW”! (Yes…this is a first…)

Best Special Effects: Julian Goddard-Cardona in “MH-370”

Best Sound Track: Abby Lambert for “Gemini Genocide”

Best Keystage 3 Film of the Festival: “MH-370” by Julian Goddard- Cardona, Nathan Sleight and Maxwell Kerslake

Best Keystage 4 Film of the Festival: “Chronicles of a Composition” by Max Pemberton

I would like to thank our Festival committee, Anna Emslie, Jodie Moffatt, Joshua Warner and Mia Leggett for their tremendous work. These students organised and ran the daily screenings, arranged for votes to be tallied, listed the nominations and finalised the winners in each category. The committee would also like to thank Robert Prince of The Reel Challenge for being our guest of honour and handing out the awards to the winners.

And, in the words of Ms Mitchell: “Sadly, the red carpet will once again be rolled away, the silver screens shut down and the velvet curtains drawn until next year”…

J Tuson, Teacher of Media

Media - FILM FESTIVAL 2017

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WE HAVE HAD TWO DAY 11 this term, Monday 9 January and Tuesday 14 March.

Highlights of 9 January:

The first Day 11 of 2017 was a very busy one with a record of over 100 visitors in school. Year 8s spent time completing workshops led by some of the country’s leading practitioners in the fields of Advertising (Benji Taylor and Cathyrn Elmes), Game Design (Adam Sullivan) and Photography (Michael Leckie). They taught the students some of the techniques used in making desirable products and even how to innovate new ones. The students also had the opportunity to enter into a competition to have their work crafted professionally and framed to be presented to them with a copy to be displayed in the department.

Year 9s took part in a fantastic careers event which supported their options selection process. They spent time learning about university life and choice and chances after A levels. There was also an opportunity to interview a range of professionals about their career paths and experiences. Visitors included representatives from the armed forces, advertising, finance, manufacturing, medicine and retail.

Year 11 Language students were lucky to work with Woking College A level students

to have a taster of post 16 courses and also to use the time to speak to another person in their target language in order to help support preparation for their upcoming GCSE speaking Controlled Assessment. DT students also made use of a focussed day of practical work in order to help support the making element of their Controlled Assessment task.

Highlights of 14 March:

A number of visits took place with 320 students off site for the day. 120 Year 7s visited the Weald and Downland museum near Chichester on a History visit, 45 Year 8s went to Canterbury with Mr Sharples, 88 GCSE Geography students completed a coursework component in Stratford and 67 students across year groups visited Microsoft for a Computing visit. The day also gave an opportunity for 74 Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh students to complete sessions on cooking with a trangia, putting up a tent and navigation planning. 110 Year 11 students completed their final Science ISAs, whilst another group of Year 11 students had prepared a 15 minute lesson to teach Year 4 students from Beaufort Primary School. They made sweetie DNA, rainbow fizz and electrical circuits and both Year 4s and Year 11s gained in terms of Science and teaching and learning. Year 8’s in DT tackled the 2017 Golf Ball challenge with the design brief of building the tallest structure to support a golf ball, using limited resources. The Student Senior Leadership Team, working with Gordon’s School, completed their ILM Level 2 qualification with the help of Year 8 students from Hoe Valley School.

M Abbs-Rowe, Associate Leadership Team

Day 11

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IN JANUARY TWENTY-SIX MEMBERS of the School Choir performed live on stage at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. The special occasion was a one off production of Abba Mania, which is currently on a nationwide tour. Billed as one of the finest Abba tribute acts, our choir was lucky enough to be specially invited to sing. Given just a 10 minute rehearsal with the musicians on stage, the choir waited with much anticipation in their dressing rooms, before lining up on stage in front of a packed theatre. Singing two numbers ‘Fernando’ and ‘I have a dream’,

the choir received a standing ovation. After the interval the choir members joined a thier parents in the stalls to enjoy the remainder of the concert, and it didn’t disappoint with some enthusiastic singing and dancing! Rachel Garbett in Year 9 said “Singing with Abba Mania in front of a big crowd was an amazing experience and I absolutely loved it. I’m really glad that I got to take part and watch the second half of the show too. I now feel a lot more confident about performing on stage”.

S Goodwin, Director of Music Performance

Abba Mania

AT WOKING HIGH SCHOOL we are always keen to promote extra curricular learning opportunities for students. In addition to the wide variety of extra-curricular activities available in school there are a number of organisations in the local community that exist to provide

such opportunities for young people where they can explore their individual interests further.

One such organisation is the PopRox Academy. This is run by local musician (and WHS parent), Neal Leggett. PopRox

provides workshops for young people to develop their skills in popular music performance using guitar, bass, drums and vocals. The workshops are particularly notable because their teaching focuses on using popular songs and the young people are put in to groups so that they gain experience in performing as part of a band.

A number of our students have attended PopRox workshops over the years and their musical skills have improved a great deal as a result of this. In order to let other students see and hear the results of their hard work, Neal Leggett was invited into morning assemblies for one week this term to talk to each year group about the work that he does and to demonstrate this with performances from Woking High School students. The music that was performed was of a very high standard and we look forward to hearing much more from these students, both in school concerts and in future “gigs” and performances as their musical careers develop!

Congratulations and thank you to Andries Verhaeghe, Thomas Bates, Connor Leggett, Sam Fox, Ben Clay, Ethan Greenwood, Maddie McClements, Alana Lynch and Edward Steel for their music. For more information about PopRox visit the website: www.poprox.co.uk

N Turner, Head of Music

PopRox

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WE HELD THE NINTH ANNUAL Ensemble, Solo Instrumental and Vocal Competition this term. The aim of the event was to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis as well as promote musical excellence by providing performance opportunities for our most able music students. The Mayor of Woking, Councillor Anne Murray, governors, family and friends gathered to hear 23 students from all year groups perform a specially prepared solo. Three musical experts formed the judging panel, and between them, they had the unenviable task of selecting a winner from each of the seven instrumental and vocal categories, and then choosing an overall winner. Judge Michael Couper said “thank you for the invitation to attend. I thoroughly enjoyed it, because of the huge amount of talent and expertise that all the students showed in their performances. Without exception, they all helped to provide a wonderful evening with different styles of music. You are very blessed to have such a selection of excellent musicians”. We were delighted to welcome back Matthew Hill, currently in 6th Form at Gordon’s school, to perform a fantastic trumpet solo as the finale item.

A massive thank you to the judges and to piano accompanist Fiona Godden who had to learn 13 different pieces of music. Thank you also to our sponsor Lloyd Moss of Seymours independent Estate Agents, and Ron Campbell for taking the official photographs.

Congratulations to all the students who entered the competition. Winner Small Ensemble Category – Mana Komatsu & Dora Savory (Year 8) Winner Percussion Category – Jack Edwards (Year 8) Winner Brass Category – Chris Pearce (Year 11) Winner Woodwind Category – Hollie Tibbotts (Year 10) Winner Vocal Category - Ella Shankla (Year 10) Winner Pianoforte Category - Markus Steinbach (Year 11) Winner String Category – Nona Lawrence (Year 7) Most Promising Performance – Kai Westaway (Year 7)

Winner of the `Lorna Paterson Award for Special Achievement in Music’ - Hollie Tibbotts (Year 10) Presented by Matthew Hill (2016 winner).

S Goodwin, Director of Music Performance

Music Competition

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The Production - THE WIZARD OF OZ

THIS YEAR the Drama and Music Departments presented the original stage version of The Wizard of Oz - which premiered at the Municipal Theatre of St. Louis (MUNY) in 1942. Using L. Frank Baum’s book as its source, this version employs story and songs as elements of a classic stage musical. We were delighted to welcome Ed Simpson of ‘Peer Productions’ as Director, and with a large cast of 80 students; an orchestra and the technical support of our sound and lighting crew (TAG) it was all set up to be a fantastic show!

This year’s school production was very different in use of performance space, being performed ‘in the round’. With the choice of a Matinée and two evening shows, the full-house audiences enjoyed timeless songs including “Over The Rainbow,” sung by Dorothy, an enthusiastic ensemble of Year 7 students performing “Munchkinland (Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead),” and our main characters singing “If I Only Had A Brain/A Heart/The Nerve,” “We’re Off To See The Wizard (Follow The Yellow Brick Road),” “The Jitterbug,” and “The Merry Old Land of Oz.”

The production followed the story of a teenage girl, Dorothy (Ella Shankla), who lives on a farm in Kansas with her Uncle Henry (Jake Martin/Luc Frean) and Aunt Em (Jodie Moffatt) dreaming of faraway places. One day the farmhouse, with Dorothy inside, is swept off by a tornado to the Munchkinland in the Land of Oz. The Sorceress of the North (Elizabeth Graham) appears and tells Dorothy that she must travel to the Emerald City to meet the great Wizard of Oz (Jodie Moffatt) if she is ever to make it home to Kansas again. On the journey down the yellow brick road, Dorothy meets the Scarecrow (Ellen Stone), the Tin Woodman (Josua Jansen), the Cowardly Lion (Maya Keynes), and of course the Wicked Witch of the West (Lauren Finney). It’s a magical story, and we all know how it ends!

The performances were outstanding. The lead students provided a wonderful example of performance skills to all of the cast; the supporting roles were polished and engaging which helped to take this production to an exceptional level of performance. The orchestra performed the challenging musical score beautifully and the balance of sound was perfect with the support of the TAG team.

S Goodwin, Director of Music Performance

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THE CAST

SUPPORTING CAST

ORCHESTRA

Dorothy Ella ShanklaScarecrow Ellen StoneTin Woodman Josua JansenCowardly Lion Maya KeynesWicked Witch of the West Lauren FinneyAunt Em and The Wizard of Oz Jodie MoffattUncle Henry and Lord Growlie Jake MartinUncle Henry Luc FreanJoe (a Farmhand) Stephanie MatiesSorceress of the North Elizabeth GrahamGloria Growlie Phoebe StirkFarmer & Munchkin Jack MoseleyMayor of Munchkinland Ethan RouseWitch Dora SavoryWitch Lilia WadaWitch Mana KomatsuMunchkin Coroner Lucy DurbinMunchkin Barrister Matilda MasonPrivate Alex RoweFirst General Bethany WilliamsonDave Molly AnscombeThe Lady of Oz Chloe AttewellServant and Munchkin Hiba ShahinThe Scary Wizard of Oz Mr Goodwin

Simon Finney; William Pearce; Matthew Rayner; Oliver Strong; Edward Thomas; Sam Wavish; Emily Armfield; Mia Carkett; Francesca Cockell; Tia Crook; Erin Sparling; Amelia Cheetham; Amelia Stafford; Freya Wight; Calvin Benard; Joe Connolly; Harvey Cox; Oscar Khan; Michael Seabrook; Isabelle Jakubait; Emma Joll; Sophie Walker; Tamara Sinclair; Genifa Brownsea; Freya Cannell; Rachel Garbett; Amy Morton and Hannah Sheldon

Musical Director Mr GoodwinFlute Shannon MatthewsOboe Hollie TibbottsClarinet 1 Sophie KozlowskaClarinet 2 Madeleine McClementsClarinet 2 Isabel MetcalfeHorn Lisa Ridgeway (private)1st Trumpet Adam Best (Woking College)2nd Trumpet Jude RainsboroughTrombone Andrew Lumb (Farnborough College)Piano Fiona Godden (Surrey Arts)1st Violin Joanna Lawrence (Private)2nd Violin Nona LawrenceCello Matthew Constantine (Private)Bass Guitar Mr TurnerTuba Christopher PearcePercussion Samuel Fox

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WHAT AN EXCITING TERM so far for the House Teams! We have had three fantastic ‘Woking High School Bake-Offs’ on three separate afternoons in February/March. The standard was extremely high and a real show case for all our talented young bakers. The winners were as follows; Year 7 – Stephenson, Year 8 - Stephenson and Year 9 - Curie. All students who took part did a fantastic job and gained lots of housepoints for their wonderful bakes. A big thank you to Ms Hussain and Mrs Kelly for their help in running three superb events.

This takes us to current house scores…

Stephenson have been extremely busy collecting house points and with a whopping 1200 housepoints gained through the Bake-Offs, they have managed to remain top up the leader board. However, it is extremely close with Curie JUST trailing behind by 200 house points!

Stephenson 7316

Curie 7101

Faraday 6432

Brunel 6165

With the scores being very tight it could ‘all be for the taking’ in the next house event which is the Woking High School Charity Fun Run which will take place early next term. This competition promises to be a fantastic event and a wonderful way to raise money for charity. Last year the students who took part raised over £1400 for Woking Hospice. Other events we look forward to are interhouse dodgeball and tug of war competitions in the summer term and of course the biggest day in the House Calendar -Sports Day. Exciting times ahead for the House Teams, good luck to all who take part - may the best house win!

C Gregory, Head of House System

House News

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IN SEPTEMBER 2015 Woking High School launched a new rewards system School Colours and Half Colours. Students in Years 7-11 are nominated by their class teachers using a strict set of criteria based on their academic performance, attitude to learning and going above and beyond in their particular subject area. All students are presented with their badges and certificates during assemblies.

Congratulations to the following students for achieving Half Colours following the latest nominations. (Please note Year 7 can only be nominated at the end of the academic year)

YEAR 8 Half Colours:

Michael Seabrook

Abigail Shameen

Stanley Homewood-Muris

George Butler

Christopher Baker

Joshua Kersley

YEAR 9 Half Colours:

Amy Szarvas

Madeleine McClements

Alana Lynch

Isabel Metcalfe

Emil Kautovaara

Jaymie Robinson

Jude Silverton

Sophie Holcroft

Jade Jouet

Ethan Maher

Ella Boyes

Thomas Mills

Lewis Wight

Mia Chereau

Jude Rainsborough

Samuel Orpin

YEAR 10 Half Colours:

Paul Nath

Ryan Drinkwater

YEAR 11 Half Colours:

Peter Arnold

Alex Braybrooke

Lola-Angelina Rees

Congratulations to the following students for achieving Full Colours following the latest nominations.

YEAR 10 Full Colours:

Fern Dalziel

Julia Twiston-Davies

Jannah Elgendy

Anna Rhodes

Jack Barron

Anna Hills

Emmie Savory

Summer-Louise Harmsworth

Christopher Woods

Joshua Warner

Ethan Greenwood

YEAR 11 Full Colours:

Sophie Chereau

Amy Rashbrook

Isabelle Claxton

Lauren Finney

Anna Emslie

Samuel Tuckley Byrne

Joseph Jakubait

Kirsten Scott

Lucy Lovelace

Jessica Hill

Naomi Jaenicke

Ruby Brown

Aliyah Khan

Jodie Moffatt

Max Pemberton

Yasmin Tapper

S Paterson, Teacher of PE

School Colours and Half Colours

IN SEPTEMBER we launched a new Character Award Prize for our Year 7 students. Each half term we focus on one of our six aspects of character: Respect; Resilience; Responsibility; Integrity; Courtesy and Enthusiasm. Students are given examples of each of the traits in assembly and posters are displayed in Year 7 tutor bases. Staff and students are

able to nominate a student that they feel has really demonstrated each characteristic.

In the first half term of the academic year we focused on ‘Resilience’ and were pleased to present the award to Will Lane. In the second half term our focus was ‘Integrity’ and the award went to Bailey James. The award for ‘Respect’ was given to

Lucy Durbin last half term. This half term the focus has been on courtesy,

Each of the winners receive a cup to take home for half a term and also receive a character award badge for their blazer.

A Strong, Teacher of PE

Year 7 Character Award

Respect

Integrity

Resilience

Courtesy

Responsibility

Enthusiasm

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FIVE STUDENTS FROM THE VI DEPARTMENT went to London’s Apollo Theatre for a full day’s experience of the show “Wicked”.

The day started with a drama workshop where our students worked with other schools to re-create scenes and scenery used in the performance. This helped them to familiarise themselves with the story and the main characters. One of our students acted the role of confident Glinda dancing at the Shiz Ball, whilst the co-star Elphaba The Wicked Witch was taken by another of our VI students. They explored the key themes of friendship, loyalty and social inclusion during the session.

Having acted and danced, the group moved to the stage where they had the opportunity to explore, feel and touch several costumes and items from the performance. Touching

the broomstick used by Elphaba during the well-known Gravity song was a highlight, however the millions of sequins sewn on to Glinda’s dress was even more popular.

Just before a well-earned picnic lunch at the back of the auditorium, we were able to meet some of the actors in costume. All the actors were very approachable, encouraging all young people to ask questions, touch their costumes and even their masks or tails! It really helped to bring all aspects of the show to life.

The performance began amid much anticipation, and it did not disappoint. Our students enjoyed all aspects of the show as can be seen from their comments below:

“The visit was an enchanting experience because the costumes were out of this world. The workshop was really good and

it helped me to understand the brilliant performance afterwards.” Hannagh Mohan (Yr8)

“The whole thing was really good. The workshop was really helpful so that the show made more sense. The music and performance were excellent. I loved the trip” Madiha Hussain (Yr8)

“The drama workshop was my favourite, the best thing was doing some dancing. Touching the costumes was fun” Rahel Fletcher (Yr7)

“The show was awesome and the ice-cream was perfect and delicious. I enjoyed meeting the characters. The dresses were the best though!” Zahara Hussain (Yr9)

S Lock, Teacher of VI Students

VI visit to the theatre

THE SPRING TERM has seen the arrival of chess at Woking High School. Students are now able to join chess club at lunchtimes which has proved to be very popular. Students also have the opportunity to study chess in greater depth after school through attending specialist tuition. The sessions are delivered by International Master, Gavin Wall, one of the strongest chess

players in the British Isles who regularly represents Ireland in competitions around the world. Gavin has worked on improving the basic understanding and technique of all participating students with a view to entering them into local, regional and even national competitions in the future.

Chess has many educational benefits, giving students intellectual capital and

transferable skills such as focus, discipline, concentration, spatial awareness and strategic thinking. It also encourages self-assessment, healthy competition and teamwork. If any parents or students would like to know more about chess at Woking High School please contact Mr Sharples.

S Sharples, Deputy Headteacher

Chess Club

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE SPRING TERM we had the pleasure of a visit from local MP Jonathan Lord, who came to speak and answer questions

at the invitation of our Debating Society. He faced a grilling from our students on a range of topics from the proposed third runway at Heathrow to his voting record on student tuition fees and his position on Brexit.

The students conducted themselves admirably, with a stream of questions that were both challenging and mature.

Mr Lord also spoke a little about how he began his career in politics and offered advice to those students who are considering this direction in the future. We are hugely grateful to him for his time and for the frank and engaging manner in which he related to our young people.

E Williams, Coordinator of Citizenship

Debating Society - VISIT BY JONATHAN LORD

I AM DELIGHTED TO REPORT that the Woking High Mock Trial team won the Surrey Heat of this Citizenship Foundation competition, held at Guildford Crown Court on Saturday 18 March.

Since December, thirteen students from Year 8 and 9 have been working on building the case around an alleged incident of domestic burglary, carried out by defendant ‘Bek Lejohn’. The roles in the team range from lawyers and witnesses, to magistrates and court staff. Anna Rhodes, Year 10, enjoyed her Mock Trial experience last year so much that she has been supporting the team’s preparation. We have also benefitted from the support and guidance of Nick Collett, our liaison magistrate, who attended three of our rehearsals.

The competition day itself was an incredible experience. Our prosecution team went up against Eggars’ defence team in Round 1 and after lunch we defended ‘Bek Lejohn’ (aka Jude Silverton, who had to sit in a high security glass dock!) against Guildford County’s prosecution team. The size of the court rooms and the task at hand was daunting enough, however added to that were four magistrates who were scoring each person on how well they performed, according to their specific role and there were at least twenty spectators. In between rounds, the team was given a tour of the cells below the court rooms and an eye-opening insight into the routines and procedures used for defendants being held there. We met one of the Surrey Police dog handlers and his two dogs and

experienced the inside of the tiny cells on board a prison van, hopefully for the first and last time! Finally, a question and answer session gave the students access to a senior legal panel (two police officers, two judges, a solicitor and the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner), so providing guidance and inspiration for future career paths.

This year’s team could not have worked harder, coming to lunchtime rehearsals 2 - 3 times each week and working on their individual roles at home. The team won the High Sherriff of Surrey’s Shield and £225 prize money, donated by Castle Associates of Guildford and we

recognise and appreciate that a wide range of people support this competition, not least with their time. There will now be an opportunity for us to compete in the regional heat of the Magistrates’ Mock Trial Competition and I am in no doubt that the following students will be an enormous credit to the school: Jazzlyn Saunders, Oscar Khan, Ethan Maher, Jessica Robertson, Alishba Hussain, Maddie McClements, Jude Silverton, Toby Webb, Chloe Westphal, Dora Savory, Amelie Brogden, Jessica Hallam and Safah Mahmood.

V Thomas, Teacher of History

Mock Magistrates

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WE SEND OUR CONGRATULATIONS to the following Year 11 students who received their Bronze Award at The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award presentation evening at the HG Wells Suite in Woking, on the 28 March 2017:

Paarth Agarwal Zoe Legge

Melissa Anders Sophie Marich

Clarice Baughan Cameron McAdam

Jack Bell Inaara Oliver

Daniell Bow Jasmine Paterson

Daisy Bowman Chris Pearce

Ruby Brown Bhavana Pulipaka

Charlie Carver Amy Rashbrook

Sophie Chereau Haleemah Rashid

Isabelle Claxton Emily Robinson

Matthew Danton Ben Rolfe

Sam Davies David Sarney

Cameron Depeare Rhys Savage

Adam Flynn Kirsten Scott

Phoebe Flynn Charles Shameen

Lucy Fortescue Rhiannon Sinden

Nicola Gilbert Toby Smith

Abbey Ginever Markus Steinbach

Raul Goddard-Cardona Jess Talbot

Amba Hill Yasmin Tapper

Yasmin Hollis Jake Webb

Aneeqa Hussain Georgina Wicks

Henry Jarrett Sam Windsor

Amelia Jordan Daniel Woodcock

Dhwani Kothari

Currently we have 143 Year 9 and Year 10 students enrolled on their Bronze Award and they have almost completed their expedition training, including a navigation morning and a camp craft Day 11 when they learnt how to navigate using a map and compass; put up tents and cook their lunch on a camping Trangia.

Thank you to all the staff at school who support the Award.

E King, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Coordinator

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

I HAD THE PRIVILEGE TO PARTICIPATE in Woking High School’s ski trip during the February half term to Prato Nevoso Ski Resort in Italy.

Each day was jam packed with activities that would start early morning and run to late evening making the most of every minute and ensuring not a second of boredom. The food was amazing, especially the pasta, the urge to ask for seconds and thirds was hard to quash. Skiing was enthralling, a total adrenalin rush, even for novices like myself. The feeling of the wind blowing through my ears as I shreded the snow beneath me whilst staring at the breath taking views of the gorgeous mountains is something I will never forget. The instructors are very understanding, humorous and helpful no matter your skill level. Falling over was unavoidable (at least for me) but with friendly instructors on-hand to lend support and offer encouragement no challenge was overly daunting or insurmountable.

The night activities were a big highlight, from the laughter filled dough-nutting to the interestingly inviting disco, these activities acted as the cherry-on-top for the perfect days at the resort. We shared the spotlight and enjoyed ourselves with confidence and pride, it gave me and the entire group the opportunity to meet fantastic fellow students and make new friends that we ordinarily may not have

met during the normal day-to-day life at Woking High School.

Coming from Australia I’ve never seen snow, this was a big first for me and being able to touch and admire this incredible weather phenomenon that makes the world look so pure and innocent will stay with me for life. Seeing it in fog, sun or darkness was irrelevant, snow always looked incredible and to see it for the first time in the backdrop of the Italian Alps just made it that more special.

The ski trip cannot be described as simply “incredible” it’s difficult to find a superlative that matches the experience but needless to say it’s an experience that will be forever remembered as one of the best weeks of our lives. A big thank you to our teachers who worked tirelessly to make each and every detail of the trip perfect and they certainly achieved their goal. A big thank you to the resort staff that made a bunch of students feel so welcome. A big thank you to the chefs, the food was seriously delicious. The skiing was exuberant. The night activities were full of fun and pure delight and the snow was simply alluring and breath-taking, especially for a boy from down under. And finally, a big thank you to my fellow students for sharing such an awesome week with me.

Cory Broadbent, Year 10 Student

2017 Ski Visit TO THE ALPS

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THIS TERM has seen our school teams and individuals compete in a wide range of sports and they have continued to experience considerable success.

SWIMMING:

Junior Boys Win Surrey Title for Fourth Consecutive Year

At the Surrey Schools Individuals Gala in January our swimmers were in sensational form with many shattering their personal bests. The Junior Boys team won the Surrey title for a staggering fourth year in a row with some amazing swims that saw them secure one gold, two silvers, one bronze and a fourth place out their five swims. The Intermediate Boys team finished third overall which helped the boys team finish runners up in Surrey narrowly behind George Abbot. The girls also produced some fine performances with three out of the four girls achieving personal bests. Please see selected results below:

Team Results:Overall Surrey Boys Individual Team Swimming Runners Up

Year 7/8 Boys Individual Team Swimming Champions

Year 9/10 Boys Individual Team Swimming Third Place

Individual Results (Top 6 only):Joshua Thompson Junior Boys 100m Breaststroke Gold

Michael Young Junior Boys 200m Individual Medley Silver

Mackenzie Russell Junior Boys 100m Freestyle Silver

Max Chitty Inter Boys 100m Butterfly Silver

Oliver Zalaf Inter Boys 200m Individual Medley Silver

Alexej Baldwin Junior Boys 100m Butterfly Bronze

Matthew Danton Senior Boys 100m Butterfly Bronze

Danel Jansen Junior Girls 100m Freestyle Fourth

Lucas Salman Junior Boys 100m Butterfly Fourth

Rory Smith Inter Boys 100m Backstroke Fifth

Ellie Akohene Inter Girls 100m Backstroke Sixth

For the second year in a row we were victorious in the Arete Swimming gala. The final score was Woking High School 220 v Gordon’s 168. Woking High School won a staggering 29 out of 38 races. Arete medals were awarded to the following students for winning both their individual events: Lauren Baker, Mackenzie Russell, Danel Jansen, Alexej Baldwin, Ellie Akohene, Lucy Morgan, Max Chitty and Oliver Zalaf.

At the North West Surrey gala, we came extremely close to defending our title finishing in second place behind SJB. With ten schools competing we had incredible success winning 16 golds, 5 silvers and 9 bronzes out of the 46 races. Individual golds were won by: Mackenzie Russell x2, Danel Jansen x2, Alexej Baldwin, Josh Thompson x2, Isabelle Jakubait, Max Chitty x2, Oliver Zalaf and Matthew Danton x2. The top three school scores were as follows :

1st Place SJB 199

2nd Place WHS 183

3rd Place Gordon’s 105

BASKETBALL

District and County Successes

Boys:Our boys’ basketball teams have had another tremendous season and have been very successful at District and County level. Out of the five District titles, we won

three and finished second and third in the other two. The Year 7 and 8 teams won all three tournaments they played and the Year 9 team narrowly defeated BDB 40 – 37 in their final.

At County level, the Year 9 team reached the final and put in an outstanding performance narrowly losing to St Andrews by a score line of 35 – 31. Asher Goosen and Gideon Jansen led the team in scoring but it was an excellent disciplined performance against a team who had an England player amongst their ranks.

The Year 11 team also made the County Final this was following an outstanding win in the semi-finals away against Harris Academy Crystal Palace by a score line of 46 – 44. In the final, we were against reigning champions Teddington who are made up largely of National League players. Teddington proved too strong with the score line of 69 – 51. However, the boys played exceptionally well and there were double digit scoring efforts by Peter Arnold, Tom Davis, Jake Webb and George Flaherty.

Girls:Our girls basketball team have had their fair share of success with the Year 8s winning the District and the Year 7, 9 and 10 teams all finishing second in the District. The stand out players for the Year 8s have been Ella James, Rosie Neale and Lucy Kavanagh. At the recent County

Sports Review

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Finals all four of our girls teams finished in the top three in the county, with our Year 9s led by Lauren Griffin and Eve Purvis finishing as runners up.

Please see below:

Year 7 3rd

Year 8 3rd

Year 9 2nd

Year 10 3rd =

FOOTBALL:

District Win for Year 7 Boys

BoysIn the Year 7 – 10 District Football Leagues all our teams are unbeaten. They have played a combined total of 22 games and have won an amazing 19 and drawn 3. The Year 7 Boys in the league have won all 8 games scoring 51 goals and only conceding 5.

At the District 6-a-side competitions four out our five sides made it at least as far as the semi-finals. The most successful were the Year 7s who were outstanding in becoming District Champions playing some very attractive football in the process. Please see Year 7 tournament results below:

Won 2 - 0 v SJB

Drew 0 - 0 v Gordons

Won 2 - 0 v BDB

Won 2 - 0 v Fullbrook

Won 2 - 1 v Winston Churchill (Semi-final)

Won 2 - 0 v Gordons (Final)

In the District Cups, we currently still have the Year 7 and Year 11 boys teams left in the competition and the Year 11s will be hoping to repeat last year’s cup success.

In the Arete Football competiton, the Year 7s were dominant against Gordon’s winning 7 - 0 with Amaan Khan being crowned Man of the Match. In the Year 8 game, which doubled as the District Cup quarter final we very unlucky to lose 1 - 0 to Gordon’s. The Girls Under 16 victory meant that we had won the Arete Football by virtue of two matches to one.

We also entered two teams in all three of the District Boys B Team Tournaments and produced some excellent results winning two out of the three tournaments. This highlights the level of interest and strength in depth amongst the boy’s football teams. Please see overall finishing positions below:

Year 7: Team 1 Winners, Team 2 Runners Up

Year 8: Team 1 Runners Up, Team 2 Third

Year 9: Team 1 Winners, Team 2 Third

Girls: Our teams got off to a slow start at the first District 6-a-side tournament back in October but really picked it up by the second and final tournament. At the second tournament our Year 8/9 and 10/11 teams won and the Year 7s finished second. This meant that the overall final positions were:

Year 7 2nd

Year 8/9 2nd =

Year 10/11 3rd

In the Arete football, our Girls Under 16 team won 2- 0 against Gordon’s with both goals coming from Player of the Match Jasmine Paterson. All of the girl’s teams are now currently involved in the District Cup so hopefully they can continue their fine form of 2017.

NETBALL

Year 7 A team have had an excellent season winning their league. They have recorded wins against Salesian, Fullbrook, Heathside and BDB. As a result of this they have progressed through to the League final where they lost to Gordon’s. The B team have won against Salesian, Fullbrook and BDB and lost just once against Heathside.

The Year 8s have also performed extremely well with the A team winning three league matches against Salesian, SJB and Fullbrook. They drew against Tomlinscote and lost one match to Gordon’s. This placed them second in the District League. Outstanding performances were also demonstrated at the District tournament where the girls won their pool by winning four games and went on to win the semi-final against SJB 8 - 7, but lost in the final to an excellent Gordon’s team. Particular mention must go to captain and goal

attack Ella James whose shooting has been fantastic all season.

BADMINTON:

Three Team Bronzes in Surrey Finals

At the Surrey Schools Badminton Finals in early February, the Under 14 Boys, Under 14 Girls and Under 16 Boys all finished in third place. This was after each of these teams had qualified following the District Tournaments where both Under 14 Boys and Girls had been crowned District Champions and the Under 16 Boys had finished runners up. Please see below the Under 14 Boys and Girls results from the District Tournament :

Boys Team :

Toby Harris, Wesley Ingham, Owain Swain, Tom Wells, Aaron Lynch

Won 5 – 0 v ISL

Won 4 – 1 v Tomlinscote

Won 4 – 1 v Collingwood

Won 4 – 1 v Fullbrook

Girls

Team :

Hana Boujemaoui, Sophie Price,

Elizaveta Izmailova, Ellen Yates.

Won 4 – 1 v ISL

Won 5 – 0 v Tomlinscote

Won 5 – 0 v SJB

Won 3 – 2 v Sir William Perkins

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CROSS COUNTRY SUCCESSES:

Three of our students (Joseph Jakubait, Chris Baker and Emmie Savory) represented North West Surrey in the County Cross Country Championships in Reigate. All three ran extremely well and have been selected to represent Surrey in upcoming competitions. Both Joseph and Chris were part of their respective age groups winning team, as North West Surrey dominated the event winning five of the eight team competitions. Please see individual placing bellows:

Joseph Jakubait Intermediate Boys 8th

Emmie Savory Intermediate Girls 17th

Chris Baker Junior Boys 35th

Joseph Jakubait and Emmie Savory represented Surrey in the South East Cross Country Championships at Brands Hatch. For Emmie it was her Surrey debut. Both ran really well with Joseph finishing 22nd overall and Emmie 44th, there were close to 100 people in each race.

INDOOR CRICKET:

All three of our indoor cricket teams have been unlucky not to progress onto the County Finals finishing second in the District in the Under 13 Boys, Under 15 Boys and Under 13 Girls competitions. For the Under 13 girls it was their first experience of playing cricket and it was really encouraging how the girls took to the sport. Outstanding players included captain Mia Smith, Georgia Grant and Dora Savory. See the Under 13 Girls results below:

Won v Collingwood by 20 runs

Won v BDB by 7 wickets

Lost v Salesians by 8 wickets

Won v Fullbrook by 21 runs

INDIVIDUAL SPORTING NEWS :

SwimmingYear 7 Mackenzie Russell representing Guildford City won a staggering nine

individual golds and one silver at the recent County Club Championships. His performance in the 200m Backstroke ranks him first in the whole of Britain by over one and a half seconds. He is ranked in the top five in Britain in no fewer than six events.

Girls RugbyCongratulations to Millie Nunnerly who after impressing for Surrey against Middlesex, Berkshire and Hampshire has been selected for the South East Regional team.

HockeyCongratulations to Dora Savory for making her Surrey Under 13 debut in goal against Middlesex winning 1 - 0 and Kent losing 2 – 1. Dora shared the goalkeeping duties and managed to not concede during her game time.

JJustice, Director of Sport

ON SUNDAY 26 MARCH our students were in incredible form at the British Schools Biathlon Championships at Crystal Palace Sports Centre.

The Under 13 Boys team of Josh Thompson, Alexej Baldwin and Michael Young performed really well with all three boys recording personal bests in both the run and swim to finish second in Britain as a team. The winners were Millfield School and third place were Whitgift.

The Under 12 Boys team finished sixth. This team was made up of Toby Bolton, Liam Bolton and Mackenzie Russell. Individually Mackenzie Russell produced a fantastic swim and run that saw him win both disciplines to be crowned individual British Champion. He produced a 10 second personal best in the run, recording a time of 2.21.70 minutes which saw him knock a staggering 6 seconds of the Year 7 Boys School Athletics 800m record.

In the Under 17 Boys competition Joseph Jakubait came second in Britain. After a good swim where he finished 8th overall he recorded a wonderful run time of 4.39.07 minutes for 1600m. This led to Joseph once again finishing in the top 3 in Britain for the third consecutive year.

In the Under 15 Boys competition Max Chitty produced both a personal best in

both the swim and the run. The run time of 4.57.66 minutes was a whole 9 seconds quicker than his previous best. This saw Max come third in this discipline and meant that he finished in fifth place overall. This is the first time that Max had finished in the medals (In biathlon honours are awarded to the top 6 overall athletes in each age group).

STOP PRESS: British Schools Biathlon Championship

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BEING A PARENT of a secondary school child can be very different experience from primary years. Many of you may have been highly relieved (like me) not to have to make costumes or bake cupcakes. However, I urge you to continue supporting our children at school but perhaps in different ways. So, how can parents and carers continue to support the School in fundraising for additional resources to enrich the education and wellbeing of its students – our children? The simple answer is through donations:

n Sign up for the Prize Club

n Help us raise funds through Scopay.

Some donations do not even have to cost you a penny. Download the ‘Give as You Live’ toolbar – when you shop online, the school benefits without costing you anything.

Your donations make a huge difference. During this term alone we have been able to contribute to the funding of:

n Photography equipment for the Art Department

n Study guides for the Modern Foreign Languages Department

n New equipment for the Fitness Room

n Support for the School production of “The Wizard of Oz”

n Author visits for World Book Week – no costume making required thankfully!

In addition we have helped to fund a new water fountain suggested by the School Council and we will shortly be collecting funds to put towards the School’s Wellbeing Centre. This will be a safe space for all students to visit should they need a little extra support or guidance from either their peers or specialist staff.

We are delighted to welcome Joanne Sutherland as the new Treasurer for FOWHS. She will be ensuring that all our financial processes are efficient and effective. There may be changes to some of the ways we collect donations in the future and we will ensure you are made aware of these in due course.

Thank you so much to all the parents and carers who have given already. We appreciate every donation, great and small, and your money really does make a difference to the students at Woking High School. If you need further information about FOWHS, the Prize Club or how to Give as You Live, please contact us at fowhs@wokinghigh.surrey.sch.uk or see our webpage on the School website.

S Flaherty, Secretary Friends of Woking High School

Friends of Woking High School

ON 1 MARCH we official opened “The Kiosk”, our new outdoor food outlet which was developed by the school and our catering partner, Surrey Commercial Services. The Kiosk provides a ‘grab and go’ service, offering a selection of freshly made items: sandwiches, wraps, baguettes and paninis as well as pasta and other meals served in a pot. A variety of homemade cakes, pastries and biscuits are also available along with a range of hot and cold drinks, including tea, decaffeinated coffee and hot chocolate. “The Kiosk” was aptly named by the students who have also played a role in deciding what foods and drinks they would like to see available.

Situated near the Humanities and English blocks, The Kiosk is open every day at break and lunch and has immediately become very popular with all students, and it has helped alleviate pressure on the main restaurant.

S Kennedy, Head of Finance and Resources

Kiosk

Year 11 THE CLOCK IS TICKING and the time has come where the race for the finish line is in sight for Year 11 as there is only a month to go before GCSE exams start. To prepare we’ve completed indicative exams for core subjects in March, this was the final chance for all students to perform under exam conditions before the real exams begin.

On the recent Day 11 the Head Boy/Girl Team completed their ILM leadership qualification with Gordon’s School. All members of the team have this extra qualification which adds another dimension to the excellent qualities they possess. Furthermore, other Year 11s either did general revision, ISA resists or BCS (an ICT course allowing all students to leave the school with an extra GCSE proving they can use basic applications like Word and Excel).

The Head Boy/Girl team have also started the annual process of preparing Year 10s for applying for the soon to be vacant roles, which started with a Q&A session to help them face the rigorous selection process.

Paarth Agarwal, Year 11 Student

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YEAR 9 CAREERS DAY

IN JANUARY we welcomed over 40 employers to Woking High School as part of our Year 9 “Preparing for Options” Day 11. During the day students took part in a speed networking activity where they spent 8 minutes with different employers finding out about their work, career paths and top tips. Also as part of the day students took an online careers matching quiz called “Plotr”, participated in a taster session from Surrey University and had an informative session with our Careers Advisor, Anna, about post 16 transitions and decisions. All students were actively involved during the whole day and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, confirming that students felt prepared for making their options decisions

SURREY SKILLS FAIR

On Friday 6 January 60 Year 9 students spent the afternoon at the Surrey Skills Fair, speaking to colleges, universities and employers and learning about the wide range of options open to them in the future. Students also listened to a very informative talk from careers advisors who explained about how people’s career paths can develop and change over time and also about labour market information and where the jobs of the future might be.

UNIVERSITY LINKS

This term both Year 7 and Year 10 students have enjoyed valuable visits to Surrey University. All students were able to meet with current university students and hear about university life and also the paths they took to get there as well as enjoying a tour of the beautiful Guildford Campus. Year 10 took part in a useful session looking at post 16 options, academic and vocational pathways and what careers might suit them personally.

VISIT TO MICROSOFT

We were delighted to visit the Microsoft headquarters in Reading on 14 March with 70 Year 9 and 10 students. We are committed to working with a range of employers in order to give students real life experiences of work. During this exciting work place visit we were able to tour the large campus, visit the X Box Room and Customer Show Rooms, take

part in the Hour of Code, listen to guest speakers and look at how to future-proof ourselves so that students can be well prepared to take on careers that might not yet exist. Thank you to Microsoft for hosting such a wonderful day.

H Addison, Careers and Post 16 Liaison Coordinator

Careers Support

Woking High School, Morton Road, Horsell, Woking, Surrey, GU21 4TJ

Tel: 01483 888447 Fax: 01483 888448

Email: info@wokinghigh.surrey.sch.uk

Web: www.wokinghigh.surrey.sch.uk

Headteacher: Jane Abbott

Woking High School is an exempt charity and company limited by guarantee. Registered in England with Company Number 8586085 and has a registered office as above.

SUMMER Tuesday 18 April 2017 to Friday 21 July 2017

HALF TERM

29 May 2017 to 2 June 2017

INSET DAY

23 June 2017

TERM DATES

Please could we remind you all to park safely around the school by respecting the parking signs and restrictions, and not parking on the double yellow or zig-zag lines on Morton Road. Please can we also request that you are courteous to local residents and avoid parking over driveway entrances.

PARKING

ANSWER TO MATHS QUESTION: Dan was the youngest, being 16. (A=21, B=18, C=22, D=16 and E=28)

Mindfulness at Woking High School

ON TUESDAY 28 FEBRUARY we arranged an after school Mindfulness session for students in Years 10 and 11 in the calm environment of the Library. We were fortunate that Ann-Mari Thomas was able to teach us about this concept through various exercises and short meditations. Ann-Mari promised us we would all sleep better that evening and we did!

According to the NHS, Mindfulness means knowing directly what is going on inside and outside ourselves, moment by moment. It’s easy to stop noticing the world around us. It’s also easy to lose touch with the way our bodies are feeling and to end up living ‘in our heads’ – caught up in our thoughts without stopping to notice how those thoughts are driving our emotions and behaviour. An important part of mindfulness is reconnecting with our bodies and the sensations they experience. This means waking up to the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the present moment. That might be something as simple as the feel of a banister as we walk upstairs. Another important part of mindfulness is an awareness of our thoughts and feelings as they happen moment to moment. It’s about allowing ourselves to see the present moment

clearly. When we do that, it can positively change the way we see ourselves and our lives.

Here is some feedback from our students:

‘I found the mindfulness course so helpful! I never knew how unobservant I am to the world around me. We were told that we go through life too quickly and don’t appreciate the wonderful things in our day to day life. Because we rush, we stress about the littlest things. We were taught to let those worries go and who knew it was as easy as letting it float away like rubbish. I’m positive that I will use the techniques in the future to help me through difficult times.’

‘I have to say, I found this session really helpful for reducing by stress levels. Taking the methods that we learned, and trying them out at home has also helped me calm down and make sure to appreciate the little things. I think these sessions could be really beneficial to most of the Year 10s and 11s as we all feel the stress now and then. Big thanks to the lovely lady who ran the class!’

C Wilkinson, Student Support Officer

THANKS TO EVERYONE’S GENEROSITY we now have enough money for Luna our Guide Dog puppy to come and visit us at the school.

NAME A PUPPY

WE HAVE ALSO RAISED FUNDS to sponsor another Guide Dog puppy and we have launched our second ‘Name the Puppy Campaign’.

C Wilkinson, Student Support Officer

Guide Dogs for the Blind update