Feature

Winchester Green Week 2021

to be part of UKs largest ever event for nature and climate

If you’ve noticed the heavier and more intense summer rain along with the devastating floods in northern Europe, or the terrible forest fires across southern Europe and North America, then hopefully you’ll be inspired to take action to help fight the climate crisis that is responsible for these severe weather events.

Winchester Green Week, Winchester’s annual festival of all things ‘green’, covering issues such as the climate crisis, environmental issues and sustainable living is back this year as part of ‘The Great Big Green Week’ the largest event for nature and climate ever seen in the UK.

Running from 25 September to 3 October, this year the Winchester Green Week theme is ‘growing greener together’. Running as a festival style platform for collaboration across the whole of Winchester district, the aim is to celebrate and promote action towards sustainable living.

Winchester Green Week has grown significantly in past years and despite the challenges of 2020, over 30 organisations from community groups, faith groups, local businesses, charities and the local authority put on over 65 socially distanced events or created digital resources.

Over 1,500 visits to the Winchester Green

Week website during Green Week 2020 demonstrated the large number of residents across Winchester district looking to take action towards a more sustainable life. Contributing organisations take responsibility for the organisation, cost and insurance of their own events whilst the Winchester Green Week team advise, coordinate and advertise. Among events planned for Winchester Green Week 2021 are: · Winchester Food Partnership Day · Winchester Climate Action Network climate action planning workshops · Winchester City Council HEP Committee meeting · Winchester Cathedral ‘Rise to the Moment’ service · 7 week course on Green Living · ‘A cry from our hearts for our common home’ an artistic expression · Multiple events hosted by Winchester University

Winchester Action on Climate Change are hoping to coordinate a ‘Sing for the Climate’ event on Saturday 2 October and are looking for groups to participate in this mass singing event, demonstrating the strength of feeling that more action needs to happen now in the fight against climate change.

More information and details of events can be found at www. winchestergreenweek.co.uk . If you wish to find out more about hosting an event please email winchestergreenweek@gmail.com.

With the UK hosting ‘COP26’ the UN Climate Conference in November 2021, now is the time to raise awareness and ambition.

Winchester Action on Climate Change (WinACC)

DELIVERY PEOPLE

URGENTLY REQUIRED

The Forum Magazines require delivery person / persons to deliver magazines to the communities of Longstock & Leckford, Houghton & North Houghton, Wherwell, and Chibolton once a month.

If you are interested then please contact the Forum offices on: 01962 735137 between 9am and 5pm or email: stevewalker@forumpublications.co.uk

Godolphin School announces line-up for its fourth Literary Festival

This year the Godolphin Literary Festival will celebrate reading and writing with a week of author events in Salisbury from 11-15 October 2021.

Pupils from Wiltshire and Hampshire Schools will be invited to a number of author talks including: Children’s author Onjali Q Rauf - known for her bestseller The Boy at the Back of the Class. Popular Young Adult author, M A Bennett who won the Salisbury Schools’ Book Award with her novel S.T.A.G.S. Tracey Corderoy brings reading to the young with her many picture book series, most recently with Shifty McGifty and Sneaky Beak. The fabulous line up of evening talks are open to the general public and will include Mary Ann Sieghart @ 7.00pm on Monday 11 October. Sieghart has had an illustrious career in newspaper, radio and television journalism, she comes to talk about her book The Authority Gap which tackles everyday sexism as seen through the eyes of her high-profile interviewees.

Onjali Q Rauf Mary Ann Sieghart

Another year of outstanding A Level and GCSE results at Embley

Despite significant challenges and upheaval to education over the last 18 months, Embley’s students have achieved outstanding A Level and GCSE results. Every grade is richly deserved because they showcase each student’s best work with the most comprehensive evidence, all of which are underpinned by our rigorous process for teacher assessed grades and the support and expertise of our teachers. All A Level students secured their first-choice university places across a diverse range of courses, which reflect each student’s personal ambitions. Nearly 60% of Embley’s A Level results were graded A*-A, 80% achieved A*-B and 99% achieved A*-C. Children who study at Embley continue to achieve almost a grade above that which they would expect to achieve in their A Levels elsewhere. Sixty percent of Embley GCSE students achieved grades 9-7 (A*-A equivalent) and 99% achieved grades 9-4 (A*-C equivalent).

Throughout their studies, our students have demonstrated extraordinary talents as they navigated through unprecedented disruption and uncertainty because of the pandemic. Every student’s hard work, commitment and incredible resilience has paid off and we are all immensely proud of them all. We wish all our students every success in the exciting new opportunities that await them as they complete their education at Embley.

Cliff Canning, Headmaster, Embley W: www.embley.org.uk E: admissions@embley.org.uk

Christy Lefteri Christy Lefteri will be in conversation with Sarah O’Rorke at 7.00pm on Tuesday 12 October - The bestselling author of the The Beekeper of Aleppo, Christy Lefteri comes to talk about her latest blockbuster, Songbirds, set in contemporary Cyprus.

At 7.00pm on Wednesday 13October Nigel Farndale will be in conversation with author and Country Life Executive Editor Giles Kime. The Times journalist, Nigel Farndale, comes to talk about his career interviewing the stars and his novel, The Dictator’s Muse, based on the life of Leni Riefenstahl, the photographer best known for Hitler’s propaganda films.

£5 tickets are available for these evening events. To find out more, please email events@godolphin.org.

Godolphin School Milford Hill Salisbury Wilts SP1 2RA Tel: 01722 430500 www.godolphin.org

Playing for Success

In the fourth of our blog series about what makes Salisbury Cathedral School Special, we join Year One to discover how the school is doing things differently for some of its youngest pupils

It’s just after morning break in the Year One classroom at Salisbury Cathedral School (SCS) and the children are happy. There is no sense of disappointment about being back in the classroom. There are also no formal tables set up for reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, tables host a play castle, a large dragon egg, and other learning tools including coloured paper, scissors and glue, beads and painting. Mrs Ride, SCS Year One Teacher, tells the pupils: ‘You can do your learning through play.’

The children immediately disperse and a sense of purpose paints the room. Not one asks for inspiration. Some continue with a previous activity such as finishing a junk model dragon - the current theme is fairy tales – or mixing a magic potion. Three children opt for role play corner which is currently an ice cream shop. One boy is buying an ice cream, another is taking payment from the large tray of plastic money while the third makes the ice cream from cardboard cones and the selection of different coloured tissue paper representing a range of flavours. This is not a special day, rather it is the special way that SCS has adopted to ensure pupils learn much more than just the academic outcomes detailed for key stage 1. Partly inspired by how much school 2019/20 reception pupils missed, the SCS Pre-Prep department decided to make Year One more of a bridge between the gentle play-based teaching in reception and the formalised learning pupils experience in Year Two, as they prepare to move up to the Prep school. ‘The top-down pressure for increasingly formalised learning in the early years of school is intense. Here at SCS, we have decided to buck the trend. We choose to consciously allow play to occur freely and meaningfully within a quality environment,’ explains Chloe. ‘The benefits of child-initiated learning through play are manifold. It allows all our pupils to be challenged even though they progress at different rates. It means we, the staff, know our pupils very well as we see what each child finds interesting, challenging and fun. And, as for the children, they develop the most incredible resilience, independence and a deep-rooted curiosity and love of learning.’ Turning our attention back to the here and now in the classroom, two pupils have chosen to complete one of their ‘must-do’ activities of the week. Laid out in rainbow trays, are tasks relating to history, phonics, science and all other areas of the key stage 1 curriculum. The children have to complete each activity in every tray, weekly, in their own time and then stick the completed work into their exercise books. In this way they hold responsibility for their own learning and continually improve their independence – one of the life skills pro-actively built at SCS. The staff will, of course, gently remind pupils of the activities they need to do during the week, but exactly when they decide to access this required material is a decision for the child. Chloe explains how she was initially inspired by Anna Ephgrave’s famous book, ‘Planning in the Moment with Young Children’, which promotes child-led learning in which children are given autonomy and respect. Anna’s pedagogy is that ‘children are born with a natural desire to explore and learn and we, the adults, support them by creating an enabling environment . . . and we remain in the moment with the children as they explore and learn. We observe carefully and enhance the learning whenever we spot a teachable moment.’ With the motto of ‘let the children play’ you could be excused for thinking that learning through play is an easy option, but that is very far from the truth. In fact, this method of teaching demands particularly deep understanding of the curriculum as staff need to spot teaching opportunities within each day as they arise, rather than pre-planning activities to meet specific learning objectives. This is demonstrated well by a girl who is making a beaded necklace. Chloe complements her necklace and then asks, ‘can you improve the design with a repeating pattern?’ The suggestion is embraced with enthusiasm and the girl continues gloriously unaware she is meeting a key stage 1 learning objective. Chloe knows though, but she will remain in the moment with her class for now and record her observations later as she checks in with each child’s progress towards their individual learning goals. The SCS method is not a blanket reproduction of Anna Ephgrave’s methodology. Chloe explains how pupils in Year One at SCS benefit from specialist teaching in music, ballet, French, computing and sports. These lessons are timetabled and taught traditionally meaning the whole week cannot be solely dedicated to learning through play. The children also participate in daily short bursts, 10 to 15 minutes, of adult led teaching in maths, literacy and phonics. As the school year progresses, these intervals of more formal teaching increase to prepare the children for Year Two. Careful progression between years is a key element of the SCS Pre-Prep journey. Just as Chloe gradually builds up her formal, adult-led teaching she also liaises with SCS Reception regarding what she is looking for in the next class of Year One pupils. The list may surprise you, as well as having a clear grasp of every child’s unique progress with their early learning goals (ELG), she also asks for children who, ‘know how to play, can find things to do, have ideas and stay busy with their friends’. All lifelong skills for mindful happiness. Head of SCS Pre-Prep, Linda Cunningham Brown, sums it up well, ‘a child’s early learning is the foundation for all their future learning. Like all good foundations, it should be both strong and flexible. We think it should also be fun so if you can learn through play, why choose any other way?’

Andover Schools celebrate the Class of 2021

Year 11 students across Andover and Stockbridge are celebrating this morning as the 2021 GCSE results are confirmed. The four main secondary schools have again joined forces to recognise the achievements of the class of 2021 and to shine the light on the qualities and attributes of students in successfully navigating another challenging year. Alongside celebrating their successes, the spotlight this year is also firmly on personal responsibility, resilience and strength of character.

This year, following the cancellation of exams, grades were awarded through a process of teacher assessed grades, against a national standard and approved and awarded by the exam boards. Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs) are where teachers determine the final result based on a combination of evidence including predicted grades, mock exams, in-class tests, coursework and essays.The government is not publishing performance data for any schools or colleges this year due to the varying impact of the pandemic. Determined to ensure today was a celebration across the town and in Stockbridge and that their students were recognised for their achievements and more, the Headteachers had the following to say: Harrow Way Community School Commenting on how this year has tested students in immeasurable ways Harrow Way Community School Headteacher Michael Serridge said: “None of us could say that the past academic year has been ideal. The class of 2021 are a year group unlike any other in terms of their struggles and challenges but they have taken this year in their stride, showing commitment, determination and working exceptionally hard.

“Today is one of celebration and I am incredibly proud of each and every Year 11 Harrow Way student. They too should be proud with their achievements and recognise that this year, ironically, will equipped them well for the next stage of their lives, from further and higher education to their future careers.” John Hanson Community School Headteacher Russell Stevens said: “I could not be prouder of the class of 2021 as a year group, and as individuals, for the way they have approached their education over the last 5 years; from slightly nervous 11-year olds in September 2016 to confident young adults in 2021.

“They have shown the resilience and strength of character, especially in the last year and a half, to approach their education in all its forms with determination and positivity. Whatever they decide to do in the future, within education and beyond, I hope they can look back at their time at John Hanson with fond memories and a sense of pride.”

Test Valley School Headteacher at Test Valley, Toni Wilden commented: “I could not be more proud of this Test Valley class of 2021. Despite the incredible challenges that COVID brought, they took every day in their stride - working with purpose and resilience to ensure the best possible outcomes for themselves. “Today we celebrate those well deserved stunning outcomes - the result of so much hard work. Never let anyone undermine these results. They truly reflect the sheer determination and tenacity that our young people showed throughout 2020-21. Well done.” Winton Community Academy Helen Jones, Headteacher for Winton Community Academy said: "Year 11 has been, without a doubt, an impressive year group and I am sure this is mirrored across all three of the Andover schools.

“This year has been full of enormous uncertainty for our students. The way they were going to be assessed changed several times at very short notice requiring huge patience from them all. But they took each change in their stride and showed an incredible work ethic which I feel will hold them in good stead for their futures. I wish them all the best as they take their next step towards achieving their dreams and aspirations."