Newsletter - December 2013 by Tandridge Learning Trust

ISSUE 2

2013/2014

DECEMBER 2013

TeenTech Trip

INSIDE THIS EDITION: From the Head Camden Careers Fair

2 3

House reports

4-5

‘Matheletes’ under starter orders

6-8

Movember

Number Day 2013

Arkwright Award

The Reading List and Book Review Competition

10-11

Bar National Mock Trials

Robotics Club: Lego League

Philosophy Club

Astronomy Club

Science Club

Fashion workshop at the V&A

你好 from the Mandarin Club

Year 12 Law trip

Primary Swimming Gala

Maths Leaders

Debating Club

FilmClub

Newsflash

Christmas Concert

Safe Drive, Stay Alive

School Council

Golfing opportunities

1984- like never before

Trussell Trust

In the hot seat

Staff News

Dates for your diary

On Wednesday 13th November, selected students from Year 8 got the chance to take part in TeenTech, a science-based event. In the morning, we set off to Surrey Sports Park, running into some traffic on the way. When we got there, we were astounded by the amazing grounds that the building held; it fitted more than 300 people comfortably in one room. Once we settled down we went off on our first adventure.

We went into a massive room which held at least two dozen sciencebased projects for us to ask questions about. It was a really insightful experience for us to have, showing us what opportunities science could give us in life. The projects ranged from Samsung, JVC, bloodhound (the car trying to beat the land record) to gas companies, robots that dance to Gangnam Style and even unpoppable bubble wrap! Another perk of this activity was the free headphones and chocolates.

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levels. This is also true for our 5A*-G performance, as was the attainment of students in English, Maths and Science. The expected progress of students in English and Maths was also significantly above national levels. Whilst it is encouraging to evaluate our performance in relation to national standards., we will of course be relentless in our work to build on and improve the results year-onyear.

One of the key priorities of the School Development Plan this year is to extend our provision to ‘Widen Horizons’. This edition of the newsletter reflects many ways that we have been turning this aim into reality this term. I hope you will enjoy reading about many of the new clubs that have started this term and, as usual, a range of exciting trips and visits are featured. Many of our most successful and enjoyable school trips are directly related to aspects of courses (controlled assessments and coursework for example) that are likely to disappear following the proposed changes to the examination and assessment system. However, we feel that the experiences and opportunities gained on such visits are an essential part of a fully rounded education. As such we will continue to make them a key ingredient of our

commitment to ‘Widening Horizons, Raising Aspirations’ at Warlingham School. The Educational Trust recently met to allocate over £30,000 to a wide range of school activities that all make a significant contribution to our ‘Widening Horizons’ provision. Clubs and activities to benefit included the Year 7 camping trip to the Lake District, Duke of Edinburgh activities, Astronomy Club, Physics, Maths, Modern Languages and Humanities equipment to run after-school clubs and new table tennis tables. Ofsted’s ‘RAISEonline’ document was published in Early December. The document is used by Ofsted to analyse our Key Stage 4 data in relation to national standards. We are delighted that for the third successive year our 5A* - C (incl. English and Maths) is judged as significantly above national

The last day of this term will be the final day at Warlingham School for Mrs Sansom, Head of School Support Services. Mrs Sansom has worked at the school for 16 years and has played a vital role on the Senior Leadership Team during this time. Her responsibilities cover a wide range of essential school activities such as Finance, Facilities, Health & Safety and Human Resources and has involved managing a huge number of support staff. She has overseen many changes and improvements at the school, not least the conversion to Academy status. She will obviously be greatly missed but we wish her well in her retirement. The first adventure of which includes a trip down the Amazon! Over the next few weeks I wish our students, staff and their families an enjoyable Christmas break, returning on Tuesday 7th January to face the challenges of a new year.

TeenTech Trip

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Secondly, we moved into the Challenge Zone. Here we had to design and market an app in our teams (the teachers had their own team). We had to design a logo, slogan, what it is about, who would use it etc. we even had to give a 45second presentation. Thirdly, we participated in two detailed workshops; we had a robotics game and an insight into forensics. Other workshops included a planet show in a blow-up planetarium, digital art and designing (paper) planes. One of the things that was on-going was the ‘ideas wall’. Each table had loads of post-it notes and we would

stick up a note with our name and table number, stating an idea for the future; it was a competition for the best idea. First place won a £50 iTunes voucher and a couple of runners -up received £25 iTunes vouchers. To conclude, this day was very interesting. We found out how science affects everyday life; we investigated small projects that you wouldn’t realise were science. It was a very enjoyable and fun day and I hope that next year’s

Year 8s get to go and have the same opportunity that I had.

Camden Careers Fair On Wednesday November 27th, a group of sixteen Year 13 students went to the Big Careers Fair at Camden Town Hall in King's Cross. The fair was attended by some 45 schools in and around London. We arrived to a large hall, full of opportunities for students of all ages. First, we were first introduced to Yasmina Siadatan, a former winner of BBC's The Apprentice programme, who immediately admitted that Lord Sugar is as straight-talking off camera as he is on camera. Yasmina then gave us a talk on becoming an entrepreneur. She gave us details on how to expand your initial idea for a business, the way you set things up and how you can apply for a government-backed loan to help get things going. She was certainly inspiring and showed that you need only an idea and real determination in order to succeed. She admitted to having setbacks along the way but with real drive she eventually set up her own restaurant business.

Most of the rest of the morning was spent talking to a variety of people about the options available after leaving school. There were representatives from the banks, home builders like Barratts and a number of course providers, varying from the general to the specific, such as the London Hairdressers Apprenticeship Academy. We also had a talk from someone

about how to apply for apprenticeships which showed us all how to access online all the Londonwide apprenticeships available and the requirements for each one. It was a useful session and hopefully it will give us all a few more ideas about where we should be aiming when we leave next summer.

Chichester - 85 points

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The first term of the new academic year has been an exciting one, full of outstanding lessons and events. Year 7 pupils have settled into Warlingham very quickly, thanks to the help and support of their tutors Miss Dewey and Mr Lawrence. Year 7s have been involved in Number Day, organised by the Maths department, and have visited the Natural History Museum as part of Year 7 Project. The inter -house netball teams were very successful, with the girls achieving first place, while in the inter-house football the boys achieved 6th and 7th place.

Johnson - 90 points

Year 8s have been working hard in lessons and this was demonstrated in their excellent tracking results. Well done to 8R for winning the inter-house

This academic year has had a good start and has continued to gather momentum as the term has progressed. Students have been enjoying various lessons as well as participating in many inter-house competitions and activities. I would like to commend the Year 7s for a smooth transition from primary school; they have settled into Warlingham School and the Johnson House ethos very quickly! Nothing was stopping the rest of our students performing really well in the Photography competition and the Christmas Card competition. A big congratulations to Abbee Martin (9A) for the winning Johnson Christmas Card entry. With the Science Competition a success, and the Year 7 to Year 11 inter-

football. Nikel Hector-Jack applied to be a candidate in the Croydon UK Youth Parliament and was selected to get through to the election stage. Well done to Nikel for all the hard work and commitment that she put into the election. In Year 9 we have welcomed Miss Hurst as a tutor. I have been really impressed with the year 9’s this term; I hope their excellent attendance and hard work continues into the Spring Term. Congratulations to the Year 9 boys for achieving 6th and 7th place in the inter-house football. In Year 10 we have welcomed Mrs Alger back, and Mr Staley has taken over 10R. The students have been working hard, starting their new courses

and I am pleased to see the progress they have made. In Year 11, Mrs Christie and Miss Brown have been welcomed to the house. The Year 11s have been working hard, attending revision sessions and preparing for their mock exams and I feel confident that they will achieve the grades they deserve. I would like to congratulate Charlie Knight in Year 11 for winning the Young Sportsman of the Year award for Surrey. This is a fantastic achievement! As we come to the end of term, I encourage students to reflect on what a positive term this has been and start to prepare their New Year’s resolutions. Have a lovely Christmas!

house football and netball competitions coming up, I am quietly confident of beating all the other houses into submission!! There was a slow start to the term with regards to merits achieved but this has improved greatly with 8A and 11A now leading the way in their respective year groups….long may this continue!!

London Men's Artistic Gymnastics Team winning overall gold at the Men's National Development Programme Finals. The team are now GB champions at this level.

We have also had Number day which went very well and the Year 11s are currently sitting mock exams (fingers crossed for good results in January).

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year, refreshed, raring to go and ready to thrash the other Houses at next term’s Inter-House competitions.

I’d like to congratulate Dominic Montgomery (10A) on his selection to represent the London Gymnastics Team. Dominic, second from right in the photo, contributed to the

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The Year 8s and 9s have also taken part as guides in the Open Evening welcoming guests to Warlingham School.

Miss Campbell has been welcomed into the house by her tutor group 8G who have been leading the way with attendance and merit competitions. 8N and Miss Hilton have been working really well and produced an excellent assembly on natural disasters. The Year 8s have settled in well and are rising to the challenges of no longer being the youngest in the house.

Lucy Gutteridge 8H, won this year Christmas card competition and will have her card design sent out as the school’s Christmas Card for 2013, continuing the tradition of Mallory students winning this competition.

Students from 9G and 9N are working well and starting to think about their choices for the future. They have been encouraged and supported in their decisionmaking by Mr Janalli and Mr Johns. Keep up the hard work, Year 9s; keep asking for help if you need it. Our Year 10s have begun their GCSE/BTECs and settled into the new routines of homework and revision, with many students already achieving well in their tracking. Well done on some excellent results! Thank you to Mr Toop and Mr Gardener for your support and encouragement, only a few more work experience forms left to collect now. Finally Year 11s, we have welcomed Miss Powell to the house to steer 11N through the

At the end of an exhausting term I would like to reflect on all the hard work of Mallory students teachers and parents. On behalf of Mallory House I would again like to thank all the tutors for their hard work and the House Achievement Coordinator, Miss Webb, and Deputy Headteacher, Mr Kinder for their supportive work this term. On behalf of the House I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a very optimistic New Year.

stress of their modules and mock exams with Miss Gallagher leading 11G. Keep up the hard work Year 11s, it will all be worth it in the Summer. I would like to welcome and thank Mr Seward for his support and encouragement throughout this term. Also many thanks to Mrs Fuller, our new House Achievement Co-ordinator, for a brilliant start she has made to the year. Final thanks to Miss Perry, Mrs Curt and Mrs Stock for your continued support of Sharman pupils, your efforts are appreciated. Thank you to all staff and pupils in Sharman House for all your hard work, effort and support. Let’s hope our team will continue to succeed and impress next term.

Sharman - 81 points

Sharman House’s new Year 7 students have made an excellent start to the new school year. We have also welcomed a number of new staff to the house. Mrs Starr and Miss Terry have been working hard with their tutor groups doing excellent assemblies already on Civil Rights and on Christmas. The students have produced some fantastic classwork. They have also taken part in Newsflash, the Year 7 chorus and Number Day.

The Autumn Term has been full again with events including a trip to the Natural History Museum, Newsflash and Number Day.

Mallory - 96 points

With Christmas fast approaching, members of Mallory House have a great 2014 to look forward to. The house currently lies joint first in the house competition, with significant wins in the Christmas Card competition and finishing strongly in the recent Filmclub and interhouse sports competitions. The Year 7s have settled extremely well. They have impressed by leading the way in house and the school in the merits, attendance and punctuality competitions with particular praise for Miss Clewley and 7M.

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‘Matheletes’ under starter orders

In the autumn term 14 Year 8 ‘Mathelete’ students were selected to attend a numeracy day at Windsor racecourse. The students were selected as a reward for their efforts and high achievements in maths so far at Warlingham. The day was highly eventful; learning new maths skills, watching the horse racing; sitting in a sauna and seeing high ranking jockeys/owners/ trainers. We even came home with some celebrity pupils: Daisy Millington and Nicole Miles who undertook an interview with Sky Sports; Caitlin Gallacher, Cameron Montlake-Mees, Sophie Johnson, Harun Ghani and Lucy Gutteridge who all awarded prizes to winners throughout the day in front of newspaper reporters and their cameras. Here Nick, Nickel and Daisy each present their account of the day: We started the day with an hourlong trip on the minibus. When we arrived, we saw another

coach from a different school. We were soon filtered into one of the VIP rooms. The school who owned the minibus, we saw earlier, was already inside and seated. We all sat down at the table on a seat draped with a jockey’s jersey. We soon discovered we had to wait for another school and in the meantime, we were issued with books for the day. After a while we gave up waiting and were divided into groups. The girls would wait for the other school whilst Sam, Harun and I with a few others went with the school that was already here. Before we left we had to put a jersey on to distinguish us from the crowd - mine being pink and purple checked. We were led off by a guide to see the different parts of a race course. The group I was with first went to see the weighing room. The guide talked us through the room at first and we filled in our books. In the weighing room we discovered it was the jockeys that got weighed. They did this because

depending on how good or the gender of a horse was they would only be allowed a certain weight, all of this being measured in stones and pounds. Since the helmets and whips didn’t count to the weight the dial was set to minus two pound. We then were told to estimate our weight. Everyone excluding some pupils from the other school weighed themselves and we then added the missing pounds to then find out the difference between our estimate and the truth. I was well out although Harun was only one pound out. We were then led out from the weighing room and into the changing rooms. Inside the jockey’s assistants were already laying out the equipment. The students from the other school were seated while the rest of us went to see what was in store. We were led through a short corridor and to a … tap and a wooden hut. The guide then filled a bucket full of water and opened the door to the wooden hut. We were all surprised to see a sauna! After we had all clambered in the guide showed us that when the water touched the coals (which were at 400 degrees C) it sent steam billowing up and increased the temperature. We then came out and waited whilst the other had their turns. When we got back to the VIP room the guide explained that the sauna was a way to sweat

‘Matheletes’ under starter orders

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and therefore lose weight. We then saw all of his old equipment, there was a heavy saddle around the size of an adult’s torso and a light one the size of a baby’s torso. There was also light and heavy boots and so on. He also showed us weight bags where you put lead weights in. the other group then arrived and we swapped activities.

There was lots of maths at our day at Windsor racecourse. We went behind the scenes into the parade ring, a small paddock to show the horses in their full glory. We were able to experience different mathematical equipment, such as trundle wheels, which are different to the usual rulers used in class. They were used to measure the perimeter of the ring to show, safely, how many horses could fit inside while they are mounted by their jockeys. Each horse was approximately 2.5 metres long, plus a 2.5 metre safety zone makes a total of five metres for each horse. We learned many small details like this which make horse racing work. It wasn’t all about maths though. We went all over the racecourse, including the pre-parade ring. And there, we were taught that, even though they are beautiful creatures, they are also very strong and the hoof marks on the wall proved that, at times, they can be dangerous. However, when we saw them arrive from their long journeys and settle down, they looked like calm animals with no intent on hurting anyone. Their strength though was proved when we got the privilege of watching them run in their first two races. The speed at which they travel is just amazing and the power behind must be immense. If they run like that, I would love to see a cheetah race! We all had a horse which we were cheering for; the atmosphere was great and it was enlightening to see everyone enjoying their experience

which we were given and I would like to thank Miss Owens for organising it.

Once we were on the coach I had the job of keeping Miss Owens’ wellies safe for the coach ride. We were on the coach for around an hour and in that time, we were all singing along to Capital radio and someone had Maltesers and didn’t wish to share, so it wasn’t a boring coach trip. When we had arrived it was your average British day: foggy, rainy, and windy. I was glad I had my wellies and to get straight inside the building. Immediately, we were greeted by our tour guides, who were ex-professional jockeys. First, we got a little introduction about ‘The British Horseracing Education and Standards Trust’ (BHEST) and what the day would be about. BHEST is a school company who promotes careers in racing and teachers kids our age about how maths and racing are linked. Basically the day was about learning different aspect of racing and using maths to work out these aspects. A booklet containing information and questions about the day was given to us at the beginning of the day and we worked through the booklet.

As soon as the talk was over, we were split up into groups: the boys from Warlingham with one other school and the girls with another, who were running really late and had yet to arrive. Whilst we were waiting for the other school to arrive all of the girls did a couple of word searches and puzzles. At last the other school arrived; we started our activity with one of the tour guides. Our first activity was a visit to the finish line. We learnt what a furlong was and see how the judges worked out who was first, second, third and so on. A furlong is a measurement of distance that is used in racing and is the imperial version of kilometres and is also equivalent to feet. At the finish line, the judges use a large camera stand (which costs £15,000 each) and mirrors to work out who came in which place. The camera takes two shots: one at the mirror and one at the part of the race they can see. Unfortunately we hadn’t seen any horses yet. After that we visited the horse stables and learnt that only the horse trainers were allowed to go inside but the horses hadn’t arrived. Afterwards we went to the Parade Ring which is where the horses get shown off so that people can bet which horses they

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‘Matheletes’ under starter orders C O N T I N U E D

think will win but obviously none of us did any betting. We also worked out how many horses could safely fit inside the Parade ring using trundle wheels. Next we had a little break which consisted of a biscuit and squash and then it was on to our next activity.

learning how Jockeys and horses abide by the rules. Different horses have different weight limits so the Jockeys have to go into the weighing room to make sure that they don’t cheat and reach the limit of weight successfully. Some of us were brave enough to weigh ourselves but the rest of us weren’t so, so it was onto learning about the Jockeys garments they have to wear. After completing some pages in our booklets, we had lunch.

When everyone had finished their lunch we all gathered outside to look at the different horses and guess who we thought would win. On the first race my horse lost but on the second race my horse won. It was fun with everyone cheering for their horse. The second time around, we got to choose who we thought was the prettiest horse and what owner would receive the £10 gift. After the second race, a couple of us gave a prize to the winning horse of that race and then it was off home. The coach trip was as fun as the way there and before we knew it we were back at school. I enjoyed the trip and learnt quite a few new maths skills.

Both groups swapped tour guides. Our activity was now

For the month of November, Mr. Gibbons and I, to the amusement of staff and students alike, donated our faces for the cause of Movember. As you can see, by the end of the month, we were sporting rather fetching moustaches and in the process we had raised £175. The charity raises funds and awareness about a variety of men's health issues, primarily prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health issues. You can find out more about the good work of the Movember Foundation at uk.movember.com. In addition, should you feel inspired by the cause or the picture, please feel free to donate. You can search for our team "warlingham men of science" on the main Movember web page.

Number Day 2013 experience and gained copious skills. The annual event of Number Day involves students from Year 7 completing various maths-linked activities to improve their numeracy, communication skills and understand the importance of teamwork. The different activities they were given ranged from problem-solving to logical thinking and helped our maths abilities as well as theirs.

On Tuesday 3rd December, Sixth Formers, Year 9s and Year 7s joined together to create an unforgettable experience. My fellow maths leaders and I thoroughly enjoyed the

As Maths Leaders, it was our responsibility to help the teachers to run the event smoothly and to assist the Year 7s, when necessary. We were given tasks of our own which included marking the Year 7s work and tallying the results. This lead to finding the winner and helping them

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see their hard work had paid off. Whilst half the leaders did this, the other half were busy building the enthusiasm of the younger years. The whole experience benefited all the years as we gained many skills from the day and I'm sure we all would say we'd happily do it again.

First Place Jessica Dartnell (7G), Shannon Doherty (7N) and Ellie-Mai Jones (7G) Second Place Alex Corvaglia (7H), Tiki Bamiro (7M), Thomas Bauer (7H) & Sophie Anderson (7M) Third Place Jessica Maynard (7G), Josh Sills (7G) & Cam’Ron Cresswell (7N)

Arkwright Award A prestigious National Engineering Scholarship has been awarded to Warlingham Student, John Hamer. The sought-after Arkwright Engineering Scholarship identifies him as one of the country’s future leaders in engineering and related areas of design. The renowned Arkwright Engineering scholarship provides students with a financial award to enhance their A level studies and a range of activities to enhance their understanding and experience of engineering. The scholarships are respected by leading universities and industrial companies and are supported by top engineering employers and organisations. John had to successfully complete a rigorous selection process consisting of a detailed application form, a twohour aptitude exam and an interview hosted at a top engineering university. John was one of 350 students chosen from 15,500 who applied from across the country.

On November 1st, alongside other new Scholars, John received his Scholarship at the London Awards Ceremony, hosted at The Mermaid Conference Centre and supported by the IET and BAE Systems. At the ceremony John received £300 to support his studies this year and also met with his new sponsors (Whitgift School), the Arkwright Trustees and his Arkwright mentor who will support him over the two years of his A levels. John has always had an interest in engineering and has recently completed a four day residential course at the University of Manchester looking at Nuclear Engineering, organised by The Smallpeice Trust and the National Nuclear Laboratory. He is hoping to study Naval Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering at university when he finishes his A level studies. The Arkwright Scholarships Trust is a registered charity that administers the

most prestigious scholarship scheme of its type in the UK. They identify, inspire and nurture future leaders in engineering and related areas of design. They do this by awarding Arkwright Engineering Scholarships, through a rigorous selection process, to high-calibre students in year 11 . The Engineering Scholarships support students through their A Levels and encourage students to pursue engineering or related areas of design at university or through a higher-level apprenticeship and to take up careers in the field. Any students in Year 10 or Year 11 who are thinking of a career in engineering and would like to find out more about The Arkwright Scholarship and how to apply for it should see Mr Fernihough in Design and Technology.

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The Reading List and... The aim of the Reading List is to encourage the students to read, therefore the list includes different genres and styles - hopefully something for everyone. The book titles come from a range of sources, many having been suggested by the English department, others from the Independent newspaper’s list: ‘50 books every child should read’. Having read one of the books on the reading list, we encourage the students to write a short book review. The best one receives a £5 voucher and house points, as well as being published in the next newsletter. All book reviews are displayed on the reading list notice board. In order to keep the costs down I would recommend purchasing kindle editions wherever possible, our LRC will also endeavour to stock these books. In addition to this we have a swap box in the LRC office. Once a student has read a book from the list he or she can bring it in (assuming the condition is good) and swap it for another book in the box. Some example reviews of

George Orwell’s ‘1984’, written by students follow.   Plot: Like the novel ‘The Hunger Games’, 1984 is a book of dystopia and a struggle for freedom. The main characters are Winston (who is a journalist) and Julia (who is part of the antisex league). Winston and Julia fall in love, but in Oceania, where they live, Big Brother does not let people have rights and people are not allowed to be free, have privacy or show love. Big Brother runs Oceania and is very strict on rules and how much Proles and comrades are allowed to know about the government. Big brother can even rewrite history without their people noticing! Winston’s romance is forbidden in this harsh world. As a result, Winston and Julia’s relationship is found out and leads them into all kinds of trouble. Opinion: I can see why this book is so popular and has had such a huge impact on the modern day but to be honest I found it a bit challenging at times. I was, however, very interested in the influence it has had on the world we live in today. Today we have security cameras and technology which are a bit like big brother watching you. However, in some parts of the book there was a lot of suspense such as when Winston was writing in his secret diary and there was knocking at the door and he thought it was the thought police coming to shoot him in the head.

Ratings: I gave this book 3 stars because I didn’t find it very gripping. Some bits seem to last a really long time and weren’t very interesting, but in some places there was suspense and I was reading on because I was hooked. However, I gave this book 4 stars in terms of success because it was written in 1948 and is still being studied in 2013. It has been made into many films, plays and TV shows, and Orwell’s view of the future has, in many ways, come true today. Recommendations: I would recommend this book to people who like a challenge when reading. I wouldn’t recommend it to younger children because it’s quite complicated and has some confusing words in it.

  1984 is a very old book as it was written in the Second World War, around 1940 by George Orwell. This book is very intriguing as when Orwell wrote the book he set it in the future. What makes this book more special is (without directly saying it) that this book is based on what the world would be like if Hitler and the Nazis had won the war. So the story is set in 1984, where society is so corrupt that everybody is devoid of all emotion, parents are scared of their kids in case their kids report their parents to the thought police – the clue is in the

… Book Review Competition

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name. I most enjoy the character of Julia, the dark haired girl, as she presents a mysterious and intriguing personality. No-one can truly know what her intentions are, which adds a hint of mystery to the book. My favourite scene is when Winston and his fellow comrades get woken up for a work out session over the ‘telescreen’. However, Winston isn’t doing as well as he should be, so he gets shouted at over the telescreen. It’s definitely a great book and a must have in every household book shelf.

  1984 is what George Orwell thought that it would be like in the future. It was written in the 1940’s and if you read it and think about the world around you, it’s scary how much has come true. It is based around the unorthodoxy of Winston Smith, who is in his 40’s and is the most unorthodox person on the inside but he tries his absolute hardest to not let it show on the outside. But his unusual habits get the attention of the dark haired girl who works in the fiction department. Could she be a spy for the thought police? It is a thrilling adventure of Winston’s life and his affairs. It is one of those books where when you start to read it, it is really hard to stop. I give this book a rating of 5/5.

  The Book List Black Hearts in Battersea - Joan Aiken Little Women - Louisa May Alcott My name is Mina and Skellig - David Almond A Hundred Million Francs - Paul Berna Pig Hearted Boy and Noughts and Crosses series - Malorie Blackman

The name of this book is a secret Psuedonymous Bosch The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - John Boyne Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass Lewis Carroll Mortal Instruments - Cassandra Clare Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer The Hunger Games trilogy - Suzanne Collins Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle After the First Death - Robert Cormier Just William books - Richmal Crompton A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens The London Eye Mystery - Siobhan Dowd The Tulip Touch - Anne Fine If I Stay - Gayle Forman The Owl Service - Alan Garner The Man Who Planted Trees - Jean Giono Gone series - Michael Grant The Fault in our Stars - John Green The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway The Castafiore Emerald - Hergé The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson -Burnett Stormbreaker and Alex Rider Series Anthony Horowitz The Star of Kazan - Eva Ibbotson The Tygrine Cat and The Tygrine Cat on the Run - Inbali Iserles The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster Emil and the Detectives—Erich Kastner Red Cherry Red - Jackie Kay When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit - Judith Kerr A year Without Autumn - Liz Kessler Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney The Elephant's Child from the Just So Stories - Rudyard Kipling People Might Hear You - Robin Klein Love Aubrey - Suzanne La Fleur Scullduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy Game of Thrones - George R R Martin Greek Myths - Geraldine McCaughrean Einstein's Underpants and How They Saved the World - Anthony McGowan Girl Missing - Sophie McKenzie

Twilight series Stephenie Meyer Private Peaceful, Shadow, Kaspar Prince of Cats and There’s An Elephant in the Garden Michael Morpurgo The Cherub series - Robert Muchamore A monster calls Patrick Ness Animal Farm George Orwell My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece Annabel Pitcher Moving Pictures - Terry Pratchett Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome Indian in the cupboard Lynne Reid Banks Percy Jackson series and Heroes of Olympus series Rick Riordian White Crow - Marcus Sedgewick The Singing Tree - Kate Seredy The Silver Sword - Ian Serraillier I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith Series of unfortunate events - Lemony Snickett Dear John - Nicholas Sparks Treasure Island - R.L. Stevenson How to Live Forever - Colin Thompson The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings JRR Tolkein Adrian Mole series - Sue Townsend Gangsta Granny - David Walliams Mistress Masham's Repose - TH White The Happy Prince - Oscar Wilde How to be Topp - Geoffrey Willams & Ronald Searle The Story of Tracy Beaker - Jacqueline Wilson Carry On, Jeeves - PG Wodehouse. Refugee Boy and Talkin Turkeys Benjamin Zephaniah

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Bar National Mock Trials virtue of Joint enterprise. The prosecution team were fabulous - Our Barristers in particular catching the judge’s attention for their forceful approach squeezing an admission of guilt from the defence team. Next came a Question and Answer session with top legal professionals from Barristers and Solicitors to Police and Probation officers, which was informative and a great way to learn more about different legal careers.

On Saturday the 16th of November Ms Benjamin took a group of Warlingham school Sixth Form students to Guildford Crown Court to participate in the Bar National Mock Trials run by the Citizenship Foundation. The group of Year 12 and 13 students spent several months preparing their roles for the trial. This year the school had a group of Year 12 students acting as jury, Lucas Johncey acted as court clerk/usher, April Gunn as the defendant, Charlotte White, Damien Powell and Bilal Sharif were Witnesses, and last but not least the Barristers: Ella Ovenden, Alex Smith, Naheeda Miah and Ella Castle. On the day of the competition the students had to participate in two court hearings before the

judges decided which two schools would take part in the finals for the South East region. The winning team would get the chance to go to Cardiff to participate in the National finals with all the other winners from across the UK. The defence team were up first against Thomas Bennett Community College, defending Chris Howells (played by April), who had been accused of assaulting a bouncer- the result ‘Not Guilty’ due to the brilliant performance of our team and cross-examinations by the Barristers. Next it was the prosecution team’s turn against Midhurst Rother College, prosecuting Logan Run who was accused of Fraud by False representation by

After Lunch it was time to find out the results, teams were called out to collect their certificates for competing, and we found out that we had got through to the regional final and had 5 minutes to prepare for the next case against Alton College – previous winners of the competition! After a draw it was decided we would be prosecuting in the case of Logan Run, it was an extremely well fought case with both teams putting forward forceful representations where the students were be judged on their skills and contributions by 3 top judges at the front of the court. Unfortunately the other team gained more points in the final and won overall, but it was a very close call. Although Warlingham came extremely close to winning but ending with second place the team was overjoyed with the outcome and the experience has only pushed them to work harder and improve.

Robotics Club: Lego League We also get involved with competitions, the most recent being a trip to Lego League 2013!

Robotics Club is a weekly chance for members of Year 7-9 to get involved with Robotics and new technologies. We meet on Thursdays after school in D3 and are able to use a wide range of robotics systems. The robots themselves are made up of Lego Mindstorm kits, which allow you to build your own fully programmable and automatous (self-operating) robots. We learn how to program them using Lego’s own software, which is really fun and easy to use. It’s a great way to build and create completely custom robots which can do any job, from moving objects around to completing complicated tasks and manoeuvres.

Lego League is a worldwide competition held by Lego. This year it was held at the Ford Motor Company Engineering Centre in Essex. Each year has a theme, with this year’s being ‘Nature’s Fury’. The brief was to design and make a robot which could somehow help with any natural disaster across the world, which we could identify ourselves. Our 10 member team chose to address the huge devastation caused by Tsunamis in recent years. We developed a complete pre-warning and post event system which could combat the aftermath of Tsunamis, which we presented to the Lego representatives at the competition. We also spent weeks designing and making a completely custom robot which was able to complete missions set down in the ‘Robot Games’ section of the

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competition. This involved a game mat and lots of lego scenery which we set up, allowing us to try and program our robot to complete as many missions as possible. These included rescuing people, pets, guiding in a cargo plane onto a runway, negotiating around tough terrain and moving crucial support vehicles around the game mat. At the competition we had a great time competing against other schools from all over the country, even including some from America! The event was run by engineers who work for Ford, allowing us to get some valuable advice on vehicle dynamics and chassis design. We learnt a lot and can’t wait to do it all over again next year! If you enjoy robotics and programming, vehicle design or just building lego the Robotics club is definitely for you. There are lots of new members all year round and it’s a fantastic opportunity to meet new people. See Mr Johns, Mr Holder or Mr Burdett and come have some fun!

Philosophy Club Over the last term, twelve lucky students had the opportunity to participate in philosophy lectures with Dr. Tom Joyce from the Royal Institution of Philosophy. Now, when I mention ‘Philosophy’ most people would immediately think it is simply ‘questioning everything’. These people aren’t exactly wrong, but that is just the basics. For example: can you touch the number 5? Could God make a rock that was so heavy that he couldn’t pick it up? How is moral knowledge possible? The engaging course is offered to only 30 schools each year, so Warlingham was very privileged to have the

opportunity. Throughout the series of lectures, we learnt about: what knowledge, reasoning and language are; the nature of arguments, informal logic, Meta ethics, Normative ethics, and my personal favourite... the Philosophy of the mind. The lectures, that took place after school each Thursday, started off with Dr. Joyce talking to us about theories and beliefs, and would then give us the task of applying them to situations in order to see how they would work. For example, does the mind actually exist? Is it physical or ideological? These questions would spark our curiosity, resulting in bombarding

questions and challenging one another to a debate. Overall, the course has been a marvellous opportunity that has opened our eyes to a subject that applies to everything. It has given us ideas about the world around us that we would not have been able to comprehend before. We have had a fantastic time and have learnt so much. We would like to thank Dr. Tom Joyce for the phenomenal lectures, and Mrs Wells and Miss Gallagher for organising it all - we have had a great time.

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Astronomy Club The Astronomy club has had a successful term this far, with lots of clear nights and a few not-soclear nights. On the first night, the sky was nice and clear so students were set the task of using star maps to try and find some constellations. With a bit of help the students located the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, Pegasus, Perseus. We also looked at how to find the north star (Polaris). The following week was another clear night so we looked at the Moon and its craters and some examples of open clusters (dense groups of stars). We also had a go at finding some fainter objects such as the Andromeda Galaxy and the ring nebula (which looks like a very faint donut).

The following two weeks were too cloudy to venture outside and so the students were in the classroom learning about how to read star maps and investigating how astronomers use star light to study what gases a star is made of.

students from many different years: Mia Sloane (7A), Bradley Cummings (7G), Henry Firman (7A), Neve Horn (7M), Oliver McCourty (8M), Riu Kawashima (11N), Antonio Gregori (2G), Marc Flueren (13G) and Amir Sharifnia (13L).

The Astronomy club includes

Calling all Parents of young carers Do you have a child who deserves to be recognised for going above and beyond with the help and support they offer you at home? We are aware that we have pupils who are proving to be real assets to their families by helping out with a variety of domestic chores and responsibilities. This may be because someone in the family (parent, sibling or other relation living at home) needs additional help such as; physical, emotional, mental health or communication needs. Whilst we are sure you recognise and applaud their efforts, we too would like to do our bit in acknowledging their achievements. This doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean we will draw attention to your child, far from it. We are able to offer them support on a one to one basis, arrange homework support and even facilitate respite activities via external agencies. Please contact Bernice Dickenson, on 01883 624067 ext. 2228 or via email b.dickenson@warlinghamschool.co.uk for more information on ways we can work together to ensure the best for your child.

Science Club

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managed to find specific parts of the rat like the heart, lungs, liver and kidney which I thought was quite interesting. We were later joined in that session by Mr Cole, who was very impressed by our knowledge and helped us with this great challenge.

Burning various materials resulting in vibrant colours, dissecting a rat with insides like our very own, measuring our heart beat to see how fit we are, and making a spectrometer out of card and half a CD, allowing us to know what an object is made of - now that is a way to kick off a club! Run by Mr Moore, it is a great club where you meet new people and do fun projects that you don’t normally do in lessons. It is amazing how quickly the members of Science Club have warmed to it and can’t wait for the next session. Back to the challenges we completed! We started the club measuring our fitness. We jump-started the club by blowing into a giant bag; it wasn’t any ordinary bag however. It had markings up the side, you blew into it and then you pushed all the air to the bottom end, and where the bulge of air stopped indicated the capacity of air in your lungs. I concluded that the capacity of air in my lungs wasn’t that impressive but it was great to compare my fitness to my friends. We then had a beneficial jog around the school grounds where Mr Kinder was fascinated by what we were doing. We explained that we were

measuring how our heartbeat increases by doing exercise. It was a great first session of the club and was a great workout! We did two other lessons burning materials such as lithium, potassium and copper sulphate and they gave a lovely colour. In the other we made a spectrometer; it gives you a pattern of coloured lines and if you look up the pattern, you can know exactly what that object is made up of. However, my favourite thing that we have done in Science Club is the dissection of the rat. It was an absolutely great experience as rats have similar organs to humans. They almost have exactly the same layout of insides as us. We went into small groups for this activity; we all had a great time looking at what we were made up of. My group

So, Science Club is great already and we have only done a few sessions but our next adventure is into ‘The Crest Award’ which involves investigations or practical work for us to do. We have to plan our investigations in small groups which I like. I am working in a group of three for this award and we have taken a liking to making a fizzy drink and comparing it to other carbonated drinks and we also like the sound of making our own game controller; we teenage boys spend most of our lives in front of these consoles so this is a thing we specialize in! There are many more different challenges we can do like making our own toothpaste , making a 3D cabinet and looking at dirt in our kitchen which all sound really interesting and our group can’t wait to get started. Science Club has been great and is such an amazing experience to do things you might not have the chance to do ever again; it is a brilliant extracurriculum club!

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Fashion workshop at the V&A

On Tuesday 3rd December, nineteen Art Textiles students visited the V&A for a fashion workshop led by professional artists and designers. The Design workshop was set up to explore the Museum's vast collections of historical artefacts, then using them as inspiration to turn their ideas into cutting edge contemporary fashion designs. Students began looking at the human form and developing shapes for the body in a creative experimental way. Students were then were taken around the museum to look at armour in the medieval costume gallery to observe and sketch interesting shapes and construction methods. From their observational

drawings the students, in pairs, began to develop their ideas onto the body of a mannequin, working in paper and card. They used the ideas of the sculpted amour to construct and build high fashion conceptual ideas in paper. They were encouraged to model in 3D and to see how their design developed as they worked on the stand. Their outcomes were fantastic! Together they produced a collection of original couture fashion, all out of paper and card. Every student worked

Earlier this term I took the Year 10 Latin students to the British Museum to have a look at the exhibits relating to Roman life and culture as well as Roman Britain. We also listened to a short tour about Roman gods that were worshipped in Roman Britain. It was a really enjoyable day even though we were unable to get tickets for the very popular temporary exhibition about Pompeii and Herculaneum. The pupils particularly enjoyed the time spent in the extensive gift shop and, of course, Starbucks on the way home.

incredibly hard and showed natural creative talent. Well done girls!

你好 from the Mandarin Club Mandarin has come to Warlingham School! A handful of Year 8 students have been chosen to take part in an after -school club where we learn Mandarin. So far, we have learnt greetings, such as ‘zàijiàn’, which means ‘goodbye’ and classroom rules such as ‘qǐng zuò’, which means ‘please sit down’. We have also learnt numbers from one to ten and Halloween. Nĭ hăo! Wo jiao Sophie and wo jiao Lauren.

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Chinese characters. For example, 你好 is ‘hello’. So far, we have only had four lessons, yet we have learnt so much already. Mandarin is fun and enjoyable and it is an important language of the future so these skills will be useful for us. The Year 8s in the club have thoroughly enjoyed it and we hope it continues throughout the rest of our school years.

We have also learnt how to write using

Year 12 Law trip process.

On the 19th November the Year 12 Law class went on a trip to the Houses of Parliament, the Supreme Court and Lincoln’s Inn - with Ms Benjamin accompanying us. We met at Victoria Station where McDonalds’ breakfasts seemed to be a popular topic of conversation, then began our walk to the Palace of Westminster. Along the way, we had the opportunity to see many landmarks such as Big Ben, the London Eye and Westminster Abbey which was a great experience for all of us. When arriving at Westminster, we were taken into a large building where we went through security checks; received our ID badges and met with our tour guide. The passage from this

building into Parliament itself was a long, underground corridor, patrolled by armed police officers. When we emerged from this corridor, we immediately knew that we were in a place of great importance and grandeur, due to the beautiful paintings and statues of past Prime Ministers, such as Thatcher, Asquith and Churchill. Our guide then took us into the Commons and the “no” voting lobby. She explained how the lower house makes its decisions on bills. When we went into the Lords, we were taught how it differed from the Commons. The Queen’s seat in the Lords was especially noticeable. We took part in a workshop after the tour where we learnt more about the law-making

We then moved onto the Supreme Court, the highest court in the UK, and we got to sit in the court room where we were spoken to by an official. He told us what the Court did and told us cases about what we were studying at school. As Lucas is a major fan of Star Wars, he was delighted to learn about patents of the Storm trooper helmet and the Jedi religion! Next, after a short tube journey, we got to Lincoln’s Inn where we met another tour guide who educated us about the place. This was of particular use to those of us who wished to become lawyers in the future. History also played a major part in the tour as we saw that many Prime Ministers had been members of the Inn, along with many famous judges and noblemen stretching back 900 years. Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day out that served us a valuable and educational way of showing us all, first hand, how law works and what lawyers do in their day to day lives.

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Primary Swimming Gala This year Hamsey Green, St. Francis, Whytleafe Hamsey Green in second place and Woodlea schools took part in our annual primary gala. A very keen group of students took part and were keen to battle it out. For some of the students it was their very first experience of a gala. For others it was evident that some were very accomplished club swimmers demonstrating responsibility of leadership within excellent technique and throwing officiating and co-ordinating in the odd tumble turn! It was roles required for a gala. In great to see a variety of abilities addition to the de Stafford from each of the schools pupils, special thanks go to our competing for medals. Community Sports Leadership group from Year 12 who did a This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s results are shown at super job assisting with the bottom. officiating and managing the Warlingham School and Lynn event. These were: Liam Banwell from de Stafford and Harrower, Sophie Haymes, some of their Year 10 students James Jenden, Stevie Lawrence were very pleased to host these -Wrist, Rebecca Moore, Becky schools and were grateful for the Moore, Dan Pogson, Harry support of the primary staff and Spall, Sandra Tetteh, and Harry parents involved. Ward. Our qualified Life Guard, Olly Gibbs was from Year 13. The aim of our gala is to provide a fun and yet competitive environment but also to provide a platform for some of our secondary students to experience first-hand the

We were also very fortunate to have the support of 3 qualified swimming coaches: Tina Cornelius and Steve Hinton from Redhill and Reigate Swimming

Club and our own qualified coach Laura Mitchell. As always, many staff at Warlingham volunteered to help make this gala a success. The PE department vacated the facilities, Nicki Clark and her technical team looked after sound and Jess James was responsible for the facilities. A big thank you to Penny Stock for all her work for the gala before, during and after the event; she has provided this support every year. Jeanette Atkins took some super photographs of the swimmers and the primary children enjoyed receiving their medals form our Headteacher, Mr Bradwell.

FINAL SCORES

ST FRANCIS

HAMSEY GREEN

WHYTELEAFE

WOODLEA

YEAR 5 GIRLS

13.5

7.5

YEAR 5 BOYS

YEAR 6 GIRLS

YEAR 6 BOYS

TOTAL

46.5

52.5

FINAL PRESENTATION

4th

2nd

1st

3rd

Maths Leaders

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different ways to speak to a particular age group.

This term some students from Year 9 and some Sixth Formers started the maths leader’s scheme. After school on a Tuesday we play maths-related games and learn how to teach to a range of different audiences such as

A recent activity was when we did our starter activity to our chosen age group. Felicity and I decided to teach the basics about fractions to a 11 year-old age group. We prepared a PowerPoint about fractions and taught the other students and teachers. Afterwards, we had to fill out a self-evaluation form and the others filled out another form giving us feedback. We also gave

our feedback to the other teams. One of our most recent activities was Number Day which was very enjoyable. I really enjoy Maths Leaders and I hope we continue having a fun time!

Debating Club Since the beginning of the year, a group of Sixth Form students have been participating in an after-school debating club. The group originally consisted of the Russell Group university students, but it has now been opened up to include the whole school, so we have been joined by some students from the lower school. Every Tuesday, we meet in the Main Hall, and watch four members debate on a topic selected by Mr Toop. Mr Toop decides who is arguing for or against, and then they are left to create two speeches to persuade the rest of the group. The two teams are given a chance to argue their case, with the opposition being given the opportunity to question their point of view. The audience then get the opportunity to ask any questions they have, before the teams deliver their summaries. Over the weeks, there have been some lively and heated discussions, on topics such as, animal rights, and terrorism. The week after

each debate, the participants get the chance to act as Chairman. This means they lead the debate, introducing all speakers, and announcing the results. On the 25th of September, Mr Toop decided to let Lewis Nash and I know that he had picked us to enter a debate competition on Wednesday 9th October. Not only was this the first debate in the year, but this was a debate against Croydon High… Nothing like being thrown in at the deep end! The next step was picking the motion. The condition was that we could pick the topic, but Croydon High would pick who was for and who was against. After considering all the motions, Mr Toop chose ‘This house believes that independence for Scotland will be good for both Scotland and the UK’, thanks for that Sir…! Croydon High decided to debate against the motion, so we immediately began to research the

different benefits of Scottish independence. After numerous meetings with Mr Toop, we had finished our speeches, which had to be eight minutes long!! We then spent hours perfecting our presentation skills, and by the end of it, we had eradicated all sense of embarrassment, and learnt how to say the word ‘flourish’. We were ready. Debate day came, and nerves were high. The Croydon High team and three judges arrived and before I knew what was happening, my name was being called to give my speech. It was all over in a flash and at the end of our debates, the judges left, for what felt like an age, to decide on a winner. With 66-65, we lost by just ONE point. It was a heart-breaking defeat, and at the time, I felt like it had been a complete waste of time, but the whole experience taught Lewis and me some great skills.

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Filmclub has been doing a marvellous job of showing movies, keeping various students from years 7-11 very entertained with a wide selections of films. The two teachers behind the club have done a fantastic job in keeping our enthusiasm going and I want to say a massive thank you to Mr Powell and Mr Lawrence who show us fantastic movies that are fun and enjoyable. They have held multiple competitions for all years to enter to do various tasks and win prizes. A massive thank you to them for hosting this club and updating the website to show what films they will be showing us next.’

Henry was second in our ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ competition and finished third in our ‘Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ competition. Adam Dunn ( 7N) was the winner in the Hunger Games competition, with Georgie Roberts (11L) in 2nd place. Congratulations to both of them. ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ review Filmclub members were lucky enough to go on a trip to Oxted Cinema to watch ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2’ in early October. It all began at 8.50am outside Upper Warlingham Station. We got on the 9.30 train to Oxted after a delay caused by leaves on the track. When we

finally arrived, the cinema looked small from the outside but on the inside it was huge. There was one giant screen where we watched ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. The film started at 10 and we just made it in time. The film was in 3D so we all had to wear the glasses. The film was hilarious. It was set just after the disastrous food storm in the first film, where Flint and his friends were forced to leave their town. Flint accepts an invitation from his idol

Chester V to join The Live Corp Company, which has been asked to clean the island up but near the end Flint finds out that Chester V is evil and he is just using Flint. So Flint goes back to help his friends. My favourite scene was the scene where the strawberry translated the plan of action for the other creatures to go and get their revenge on Chester V.

Newsflash On the 28th and 29th of November, all the Year 7s got the chance to participate in an event called ‘Newsflash’, which was run by the English and Business & Enterprise departments. Initially we were put into groups and they explained what tasks were set out for the day. We had to design a newspaper within our groups, we each had badges to show who were in charge of individual jobs. We spent the whole day researching, typing, writing, drawing, using our creative thinking and most important of all communication and teamwork!

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Period 5 was when a special guest came in to talk to us about his experience in reporting and writing articles. After this talk there was also a chance for the winners of the best newspapers to come to the front and have a picture taken with Mr Bradwell! It was a great day and I hope to have another like it in the future, we would like to say a huge thanks to all the staff that organised the day and to both the departments for setting it up!

Christmas Concert On Thursday 5th December, the Music Department held their annual Christmas Concert. The sell out concert showcased the Music Department’s talent. The Orchestra, Choir, Chamber Choir, Steel Pans, Year 11 Band all performed, along with a choir of over 80 Year 7s who closed the show. The music ranged from traditional Christmas carols to traditional Jamaican tunes on the steel pans. Each performance had the audience tapping their feet and

humming along in festive spirit! Each year Warlingham School chooses a charity to support for the year, and this year The Trussel Trust has been selected. The Trussel Trust is an organisation that supports families who struggle to afford food. Warlingham School feels honoured to help support the local food bank in Caterham. At the concert the audience generously donated, and as a result raised over £300 for the charity.

Overall, the night was a huge success. It was the beginning of Warlingham School’s festive season and a celebration of the Music department’s achievements over the first term of the year. We’d like to thank Mr Duffy, Miss Frayne and Mr Lancaster for all the support they offer the students in their enthusiasm for music and for organising such a good evening.

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Safe Drive, Stay Alive

On the 12th November Year 12 went on a trip to Dorking Halls to see the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service presentation of “Safe Drive, Stay Alive”. The presentation tries to help young drivers understand the consequences of reckless driving and how it affects people, not just the family and friends but also the first aiders on the scene of the incident and any bystanders. The presentation was ninety minutes long and involved talks and videos. The talks were given be people who have been affected by reckless driving. We were spoken to by a police officer, fire-fighter, paramedic, nurse, mother and a driver. The police officer spoke about how hard it is to give families news that their son/daughter has been killed in a traffic collision and would they come down and identify them. The fire-fighter and the paramedic explained how

hard it is when you get to the scene to find out that you can’t do anything to save a life as there isn’t any life to be saved. The nurse told us how one girl was saved from a car accident but, because her face was scarred from the accident she didn’t leave the house anymore. The mother expressed how hard it is to receive news of your child being killed in a road accident, as she had lost her daughter to this. The driver showed us his life after his road accident. Due to his injuries sustained from the accident he was in a coma for four months and considered brain dead, however, he showed some sign of brain activity. Now he is in a wheelchair and partially blind, defying the doctor’s odds. His best friend died in the crash, because he had lost control of his vehicle. The videos involved in the presentation were reenactments of a road traffic

accident. These videos showed us the impact on the families, the first aiders and the survivors of the accident. They also showed how quickly you can lose your life for simply looking at your phone when behind the wheel, as one girl texted four words while driving and managed to kill four people. This gave her a life sentence in prison. Overall, the trip was an experience that everyone will remember, and I’m sure it will make us all think twice when we are driving.

School Council

You may have noticed a new seating area on the front lawn of the school grounds. This is a result of the student council’s ‘Design A Space Competition’. As part of Warlingham’s academy conversion, we wanted to create a more comfortable outdoor space for pupils. This involved holding

a survey among all KS3 Warlingham students to find out their views on what would most improve the look of the school and would meet pupil needs for a pleasant outdoor space to socialise. Each form group designed their own idea for an outdoor space, and then year 9 student council

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representatives consolidated all of the best ideas into one great design. The new space includes paved walking paths and comfortable seating areas. We are especially proud of the benches, as they are made entirely from100% recycled plastic (HDPE). This is good for the environment as it reduces landfill and makes waste a resource rather than a problem In the spring, a tree will be planted in the centre of the space which will further enhance the beauty and comfort of the area.

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Golfing opportunities young people to the sport.

On the back of such a glorious summer of sport last year in 2012, Warlingham has continued to look at ways to engage its students in sport. The Road to Rio Project has helped to facilitate a number of sporting opportunities. This summer we had the opportunity to access the help and enthusiasm of Richard Shaw, PGA Golf Professional, Surrey County Development Officer, Community Golf CIC and Mandy Jarvis Junior Golf Development Officer, Community Golf CIC. They have focussed on two projects this term. One was to deliver some taster sessions to Warlingham Secondary School, initially to our Young Ambassadors and then to open this up at lunch-time to any other members of the school community who would like to have a go. This involved students just having a go at putting or chipping golf balls at targets which included trying to chip a ball into the school bins. The purpose of the exercise is engagement to try and remove some of the old perceptions of golf and try and expose more

At the end of the Summer Term, some of our Young Ambassadors were encouraged to utilise some of their experience and golf skills in leading some of the primary school children from Hamsey Green and Keston Primary School in a Tri-Golf Festival. We were pleased that five teams entered on yet another glorious, hot summer’s day. The event took place on our astroturf and was organised by Richard Shaw and Mandy Jarvis. It was wonderful to see both secondary and primary school students focussed on specific golf skills that required the combination of hand-eye coordination, accuracy and concentration. The results were as follows: 1st Keston Dolphins – 816 points 2nd Keston Leppards – 807 points

3rd Hamsey Wales – 671 points 4th Hamsey Octopus – 655 points 5th Hamsey Year 4 – 575 points This event was part of the Road to Rio project and the younger children were able to benefit from medals and certificates which were funded by Surrey County Council. These were presented by Richard Shaw and Mandy Jarvis. Thanks to the Young Ambassadors. Year 9: Jack Perry, Amin Lmoh, Shayan Patel, Chris D’Souza, Oliver Baker and Domonic Montgomery Year 10: Nathan Ashburn, George Beamont, Harrison Bryant, Alice Hobson, Adam Ledger, Sophie Lewis, Jodie Payne, Sam Rhodes, Maisie Stock and Tom Williamson They all worked tirelessly to keep the Primary School students on task in very hot conditions. Golf coaching has been available every Friday lunchtime this Autumn term. Contact Richard Shaw for details.

1984 - like never before On Friday 22nd November, the members of the year 8 A* focus group – run by Mrs Hubbard – took part in a themed day about the George Orwell novel 1984 around the school.

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We were assigned different jobs within our groups to create a brilliant piece of work.

Firstly, we met Mrs Hubbard in C28 (a computer room in the English department) and we had Period 1 to have a run through our drafted 1984 performance.

Subsequently, during Period 3, we performed to Mrs Hubbard and Mr Seward in the Main Hall. Mr Seward said afterwards that he thought the show was “awesome” and “it shows you have a detailed understanding of the novel.”

Thereafter, in Period 2, we started on our programme for our performance.

From there on, we went back to C28 to finish our programmes and start our book reports and day reviews. Overall, the 1984 day was an amazing and fun day for us as we enjoyed working in groups and having a bit of competition with the other group which made us go further and pushed us to do better with our performances and the programmes. I would never have thought that we could read and enjoy an A-level text but on 1984 day we did!

Trussell Trust Every year Warlingham School chooses a charity to support for the oncoming year. This year we are pleased to announce that we have chosen the Trussell Trust. The Trussell Trust works to improve local communities and to combat poverty and exclusion in the UK and Bulgaria. They work with people who society forgets, providing practical help through sustainable projects and enabling each person to realise that they are valued. Every day people in the UK go hungry for reasons ranging from redundancy to receiving an unexpected bill on a low income. Trussell Trust food banks provide a minimum of three days

emergency food and support to people experiencing crisis in the UK. There are over 400 food banks in the UK alone, all of which provide help and support for those in need. In 2012 -13 food banks fed 346,992 people nationwide. Of those helped, 126,889 were children. Rising costs of food and fuel combined with low income, high unemployment and changes to benefits are causing more and more people to come to food banks for help. Over 13 million people in the UK alone live below the poverty line, the Trussell Trust can and will help them. This Christmas many families will not be able to afford a decent Christmas

dinner, but the Trussell Trust vow to help them through the tough times ahead. Warlingham School students have chosen the Trussell Trust as the school’s main charity for this academic year. The school’s recent Christmas concert raised £317 for the charity, and Mufti money collected on 20th December will also be donated to the charity. Later this year, the Student Council plans to collect tins for the Trussell Trust, and there are even plans for Warlingham students to go to local supermarkets to encourage shoppers to buy an extra item to contribute to the charity.

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Mr Seward Assistant Headteacher

This is my second appearance in ‘In the Hot Seat’. The first was in 1998 having just started my career at Warlingham School as a Science teacher. Fifteen years later, I look back on my time here with great fondness, and a particular sense of pride in the three tutor groups that I have seen through from Years 7 to 11. I am now equally excited about the journey ahead of me as I take up the role of Assistant Headteacher.

One of my areas of focus is to ensure that as a school we continue to live up to our strapline ‘widening horizons, raising aspirations’. With this in mind, I have assumed responsibility for the progress of our more able students. Working closely with Mr Cole (our achievement coordinator for the more able), we will be monitoring progress, supporting and challenging groups of students within each year group.

Outside of school, it often feels that my personal life has moved in ways that mirror my professional development. Now as the proud father of two children, family life is central to everything that I do and strive for, I hope that these are qualities that will help me adapt to my new role at the school.

Further to this I have responsibility for co-ordinating and developing our extracurricular activities. I am happy to say that we currently offer an extensive array of exciting

opportunities and that many students take full advantage of these on a regular basis. Despite that, I have set myself the personal target of significantly increasing the students’ participation within this area. The link between academic success and students that continue their learning after school has long been established, but I am just as keen to develop a simple love of school and learning. I hope that throughout this newsletter you will read about students who have engaged with some of the activities on offer, and that this results in more students being encouraged to take part. One particular event that I am especially looking forward to is our first annual summer camp to the Lake District, with the Year 7s. I have always been proud to refer to myself as a teacher, quite simply it is a job that I love. It is a real privilege to be Assistant Headteacher at such a great school; I look forward to the challenges ahead with great excitement.

Staff News

We welcome back Sarah Hickox who returns in January, following Maternity Leave. Helen Davies, who was covering for Sarah takes up her new post at Oxted School in January. We wish her well. Congratulations to Dawn Saffery, who was recently appointed to Sixth Form Centre Co-ordinator. Dawn took over

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the position from Kerry Seshan, who has moved back to Cornwall. Congratulations also to Sue Gates, one of our Teaching Assistants, who was appointed to Dawn’s former role as a Senior Teaching Assistant. Congratulations also to Hazel Johns, one of our receptionists, who achieved an A in A Level Art/Textiles in the

summer. She missed out on getting an A* by only a couple of marks, which is a fantastic achievement! Lorraine Sansom, who has been Head of School Support Services for 16 years, is retiring and leaves us at Christmas to be replaced by Alexandra Jaffe joins us in January as School Business Manager.

Newsletter review Following requests for an electronic version of the newsletter, in the Spring term, we will be undergoing a review of the way we communicate the information contained in the newsletter.

We are very keen to gather feedback from students, parents, governors and staff.

the content, the format, or anything else newsletter-related - to: news@warlinghamschool.co.uk.

Please send any comments or feedback on the newsletter - including

Dates for your diary Monday 6th January 2014

(INSET) Staff In-Service Training Day

Tuesday 7th January 2014

First day of Spring Term for students

Wednesday 15th January 2014

Year 10 Parents’ Evening

Friday 24th January 2014

Year 11 Reports home

Thursday 30th January 2014

Parents’ Workshop

Wednesday 5th February 2014

Year 9 Options’ Evening

Friday 7th February 2014

Year 9 Reports home

Wednesday 12th February 2014

Year 9 Parents’ Evening

Monday 17th - Friday 21st February 2014

Half Term

Warlingham School Tithepit Shaw Lane Warlingham Surrey CR6 9YB Tel: 01883 624067 Fax: 01883 624026 E-mail: info@warlinghamschool.co.uk

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