INSIDE THIS EDITION: From the Head
2
House reports
4-5
Miss Woodhouse retires
6
First Class ex-students
6
Maths Challenge
7
Work Experience 2013
7
D of E: Gold
8
Computing Workshop
9
Holocaust Survivor
9
Carnegie Awards shadowing
10
Parental Questionnaire 2013
11
Activities Week
18
Tea for ten at the Ritz
19
LRC News
19
Toy Designers
20
Life Drawing Workshop
21
Sports Pages Cambridge University Berlin-bound
2012/2013
J U L Y
2 0 1 3
Fantastic Fun in France!
12-17
Young Entrepreneurs
Creating in Clay
ISSUE 6
21 22-26 27 28-29
Information for parents
30
Staff News
31
Dates for your diary
31
We arrived at school at 06:45 to go on the coach to Dover to catch the ferry at 09:15. The journey overall was long, but definitely worth it. We arrived at the château at about 20:00. We had dinner at 7:30pm every day and breakfast at 08:30am every morning. The dinner varied from day to day but the breakfast was hardly changed every morning, but we always got fresh French bread (which was delicious!) and brioche.
On Tuesday we went to a castle called Château de Tiffauges which is one of the biggest medieval sites in western France. At lunchtime we walked to a nearby picnic area where we ate our lunch and had a game of football. During this game Rebecca Dearden 8M accidently ran near the pond and slipped and fell into it backwards! It seems she was more worried about her iPod getting wet than herself.
This article continues on page 3
Widening Horizons Raising Aspirations
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From the Head ….
supporting with his GCSE geography Croydon tramlink project – then merely an ambitious transport plan!
Black Forest Trip
This is the last of my newsletter articles and I intend to keep it brief.
Having joined Warlingham School in January 1982, I feel very much part of the Warlingham community and it is with considerable sadness that I am leaving at the end of this term. The school, of course, is now very different to the one that I joined – there were only about 500 students and 30 staff at that time – but I have really enjoyed being part of the development of the school over the last 31+ years. I have taught many of the parents, uncles, aunts and cousins of our current students (and, a grandparent of a student joining the school this coming September!) and have colleagues on the staff for whom I was their form tutor or geography teacher many years ago. I even taught the newly appointed Deputy Headteacher, Mr Kinder and remember
I have been very fortunate in working alongside some inspirational and dedicated teachers and committed support staff during my time at Warlingham which has been the key factor in driving improvement in the school over many years. I have valued their support and friendship over the years. Our students are a particular delight (well, most of the time!). Their enthusiasm, ambition, energy and willingness to learn have ensured that I enjoy my job as much today as the day I first started teaching 37 years ago. I always feel very proud when I see students on their Prom night and at the Sixth Form Leavers’ Ball as they have transformed into young men and women ready to take on the challenges of the world.
So my parting words are to say a very big THANK YOU to parents, colleagues and students for making my time at Warlingham School such a happy experience. I have very fond memories from across the years and will always keep an eye on what the future holds for the school. I am excited about the many opportunities that retirement brings and will continue to do my best in living the school motto of “WIDENING HORIZONS, RAISING ASPIRATIONS”.
“Yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision, but today lived well makes yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day.” (Sanskrit scripture)
Fantastic Fun in France
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C O N T I N U E D
Later we went to a hypermarket and had a task to find French products using the description we had to translate. Wednesday: In the morning we started our day by going to the Centre Minier de Faymoreau and saw the conditions the miners worked in and learnt about their history. We also participated in several activities in the local miners’ village. After an accidental detour we went to Aqualud which is a French waterpark. It was extremely exciting. Thursday: We went to Puy du Fou for the entire day and watched several historic shows including a birds of prey show and the roman gladiator show which was really exciting as we saw real lions and tigers and amazing martial arts and stage fighting which was extremely thrilling. Once we came home, after dinner and all ready for bed, we went on the huge lawn outside our Château to join in a quiz. One particular question that everyone found very hard to answer was: what colour were Mr Rumsey’s Speedo (Nature Valley) when we went swimming the previous day? No one got it right – the answer was orange, navy blue and white! Friday: A lot of students had a lie in on Friday morning as we all had very full-on days with lots of walking, playing games in the evening and fairly late nights. Once we were all up and ready for the day we headed back to Puy du Fou, but on that day we could go off in our own groups independently around the park. However we did miss a Viking themed show on the Thursday and went to see it. Once we had seen it we were all amazed at the stunning special effects of fire, water and fighting. We also had a chance to go into the several shops that were at the Puy du Fou, theses shops included: clothes, bakeries, a sweet shop and
some general souvenir shops. After another long day at the Puy du Fou we went back to the Château to have dinner and get ready for the night show. We were all very, very excited about is as all the teachers had described it as a fabulous experience. Once we had got our seats, in a sea of over 14,000 spectators, the show began! This spectacular show of fire breathing, music, fireworks, battles, water features, hundreds of animals including: ducks, cattle, goats, pigs, donkeys and sheep and a twisting and intriguing plot was absolutely breathtaking from every finest detail, to every exploding firework. We got back to the Château at approximately 1:00 am, all feeling very exhausted, but still amazed at the show we had just witnessed. We all went straight to bed! Saturday: A competition going throughout the entire week between the boys and girls to see who could get to sleep the easiest and the quietest, surprisingly the boys woke up first on Saturday morning and won one point back, but the girls won overall! We stuffed the last few items into our suitcases and packed them up into the coach and were on the road by 09:40am. Having two toilet and shopping stops we got
to the port and caught our ferry at 7:30pm (French time). After a relaxing trip back over to Dover; we got back on the coach and drove back to school all feeling very tired, but knowing that we had an excellent trip to an interesting country, learning about their culture, traditions, food and language on the way. On behalf of all the students who went on the trip we would like to thank all of the following teachers, who put up with us for six days: Mrs Smales, Miss Bouilloux, Mr Darby, Mr Oscoz, Mr Rumsey (also known as Nature Valley). Another big thank you to two Year 10 students: Gemma Gainall and Beth Keyzer who came on the trip to help as part of their work experience. Also Year 11 students Aaron Stead and Chloe Caldecourt for keeping us all in control and making sure we were asleep and one final big thank you to our drivers for the whole six days John and Lou who drove us to all of our destinations to and from France. It was an excellent trip, one we will all remember for a very long time.
Johnson - 265 points
Chichester - 125 points
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This term has been another fantastic and fully-packed term with lots of trips and events. Year 7 have worked hard this year, have settled in well and ended the year by visiting Thorpe Park on the Science trip. Some Year 8 were lucky enough to visit Puy du Fou in France, whilst the rest of the year have been involved in Creative Arts Days that were held at school and visited Dickens World. Some Year 9s have recently retuned form the PGL trip to Shropshire. Everyone had an amazing trip, which involved activities such as canoeing, climbing, abseiling and Raft building, whilst the rest of Year 9 were involved with Team Challenge, which involved a range of activities to develop teambuilding and communication skills.
What an amazing, fun packed and eventful year..….we’ve had the mighty Crystal Palace achieve promotion, Project Pinocchio, Andy Murray triumph at Wimbledon, the Geography trip to Edenbridge, the infamous British Lions tour, Goaldigger and of course the Ashes are here too!! Where has the time gone?.......another thoroughly enjoyable term packed full of various activities finishing off a memorable year! Year 7 have worked extremely hard in their project days and recently went on a Science trip to Thorpe Park. Year 8’s collated and submitted a mixture of work from various subjects for the classwork competition and have also taken part in the Creative Arts days which included activities such as Street dancing and playing steel pans. Year 9’s have recently returned
Year 7, 8 and 9 participated in sports day with many superstars shining in Chichester house. Congratulations to Year 8 and 9 tug of war teams who made it to the final and the amazing athletes who achieved points for the house in both the track and field events. Year 10 have worked hard this term towards their exams and have just arrived back from two weeks’ work experience - a great opportunity for pupils to get an insight into the real world and gain valuable experience which can direct them towards the future career of their choice. Year 11 have completed their exams and are now enjoying their long summer. I wish them luck for results day in August; I hope
they all achieve the grades they deserve. The whole house has worked hard this year to achieve merits and excellent attendance, which is a major part of the overall house competition, where Chichester is currently in fourth position. Hopefully, with our outstanding efforts on sports day we will move up the standings. I would like to thank Mr Day and the excellent team of tutors for everything they have done for their groups this year. Special thanks also goes to Mr Seward who is leaving the house this year to take up his position as Assistant Headteacher. I hope everyone has a fantastic summer holiday!
best they possibly could. from the PGL trip where they took park in lots of different activities such as Raft building, the Trapeze and Jacob’s ladder!! The remaining Year 9’s took part in Team Challenge, another B&E event, learning many communication and team building skills. Year 10’s have been off for two weeks getting a taste of the ‘real world’ on various work experiences; I know that many colleagues have been impressed during visits, seeing the students in a ‘professional environment’. Year 11’s are now enjoying their extended Summer holiday after completing their GCSE’s – GOOD LUCK!! Of course the end of year exams have also been completed I am hoping that all the students in Johnson managed to achieve the
At the moment we are currently jointly leading in the House competition with Mallory. It’s still all to play for with a week to go as we still have results to be added, but I’m quietly confident we will again come out on top! I would like to thank all the tutors for another great year of support and hard work as well as the parents and students for making my tenure as Johnson Head of House very enjoyable. With only a week left to go at the time of writing, I am hoping that I will be celebrating with the rest of the house in prizegiving, as winners again! I wish everyone a long, relaxing and refreshing summer holiday, and look forward to carrying on the strong Johnson success in September.
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Our Year 7s have now found their feet and their personalities are coming out and it has been lovely to see how they have grown over the last year. They have enjoyed continued success in the house merit competition and continue to dominate the attendance prize as well. The two Year 8 tutor groups did a fantastic job in the recent classwork competition with
before they embark on their sixth form/college placements or work. I’m looking forward to celebrating this year’s successes and achievements in the Prizegiving ceremony and extended assembly. I would like to particularly mention a couple of students for their outstanding achievements. Congratulations to Lucy Redman winning the Road to Rio competition, 8H and 8M for their excellent contribution to
On behalf of Mallory students and myself I would like to take the opportunity to thank the tutors for their ongoing support and hard work. I look forward to the challenges and experiences which are to come with a new school year. Well done Mallory! Have a fantastic, relaxing summer holiday.
Challenge, another Business and Enterprise event learning communication and team building skills.
professional presentations and displays reflecting the breadth of curriculum they study. Their work on the Year 6 Newsletter and Anti Litter Campaign was also praised by the judges. Year 9s have now chosen their options and completed their end of key stage three assessments, with some very pleasing results. Many just returned from PGL where they attempted raft building, the Trapeze and Jacob’s ladder! The remaining Year 9 took part in Team
Our Year 10s have been getting a taste of the world of work for the last two weeks at their work experience placements. Many have received very positive feedback and praise from their employers. Well done. Finally, year 11s who are now off enjoying their extended summer holidays after completing their GCSE’s , good luck. I would like to thank Mr Bradwell, Mr Lyon Wall, Miss Perry and the team of tutors. Many thanks again for all your hard work and support.
Sharman– 255 points
Sharman House has had a fantastic term with students excelling in a number of special events including Goaldigger, Classwork Competition and Project Pinocchio culminating in Sports Day where pupils got to demonstrate their sporting talents and cheer on their friends.
the classwork competition, and Rhianna Patel who is the top merit achiever in Mallory. I would like to thank, in particular, the Year 8 forms again for their continued and excellent contributions to charity and fundraising. Congratulations to you all!
Mallory - 235 points
In the last house report I commented on self-belief and confidence and the house have certainly displayed that this term. This term as always has been manic with interhouse competitions and events. We have had the Year 9 students involved in Project Pinocchio, organised by the Design & Technology and Business Studies departments and the Year 8’s have been submitting their best work from across the curriculum for the Year 8 Classwork Competition. The Year 10s have been off all over Surrey and London taking part in work experience placements which they have organised themselves, and the Year 11s after five years of hard work are now enjoying their extended summer break
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Miss Woodhouse retires She has led the school through three Ofsted Inspections, including the latest in June 2013, all of which were judged as ‘Good’ – with the Sixth Form deemed ‘Outstanding’ on two occasions.
Alison Woodhouse started her teaching career at Hextable School, Kent when it was a new school. She started at Warlingham School on 1st January 1982 as a Geography teacher and later became Head of Geography, Head of Sixth Form, Deputy Head and has been Headteacher since 1st September 2000.
During her time as Headteacher student achievement has consistently improved, the school has been consistently over-subscribed for new admissions and the size of the Sixth Form has increased. The reputation of the school in the local community has also gone from strength to strength. More recently, Alison has overseen the move to Academy status and also
played an important role in the development of the Tandridge Education Partnership (T.E.P.). Many members of staff stay working at Warlingham for a number of years which is testament to Alison’s leadership qualities. But she hasn’t restricted herself to Warlingham School, she has also supported a number of other schools and leaders. Her leadership is characterised by her constant desire to do the utmost for the children in her care and they always come first. In retirement, Alison plans to travel to a number of exotic locations she has not visited before, as well as spending more time in her house in France. She may also do a small amount of consultancy work for the T.E.P.
First Class Ex-Students We are delighted to report on three former students who have achieved First Class Honours degrees. Christopher Thoroughgood got a first class honours degree from Aberystwyth University in Biochemistry. He is now going on to do a PhD in Mathematical Biology and Biophysical Chemistry. Thomas Marden achieved a First in Mathematics from the University of East Anglia. James Pursehouse graduated from Durham University this year with a Master’s degree in Science, after achieving a First Class Honours degree in Maths and Physics and is now going to Manchester University to pursue a PhD. He will be researching slowing down atoms to develop super cooling with a particular application to speeding up computer’s processing abilities. In addition to those three, Emily Holman, another ex-student has gained a place at Oxford to pursue a DPhil in English Literature. Well done to all of them! Please let us know of any other exam successes.
Maths Challenge During February half term, set 1 students in years 7-10 were given the opportunity to complete the Hampshire Mathematics Challenge, set by the University of Southampton. The challenge gave students a chance to use their mathematical and logical skills to attempt problems based around the topic of chocolate. These problems ranged from calculating the volume of a chocolate orange to looking at the combinations of chocolates that were in a box of chocolates. All students attempted the challenge well and we had some fantastic entries that were really well thought out. Congratulations to Archie Hall who was awarded a certificate of merit for the junior mathematics challenge and Saskia Price and Amin Lmoh who
were awarded a certificate of merit for the senior mathematics challenge. These three students were given the opportunity to attend an award evening at the University of Southampton in May. This was a fantastic achievement as there were over 1,000 entries for the challenges. If any students would like to look at the answers to the mathematics challenge they can be found at http:// www.southampton.ac.uk/maths/ outreach/activities/ hampshire_maths_challenge_2013.pa ge? On 25th April 2013, Set 1 Year 8 students completed the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge. The challenge asks students to solve problems using their mental mathematics skills as well as their logic skills. The problems are
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slightly more abstract than those students are normally used to answering. Well done to Ben Trzcinski who was awarded ‘Best in Year’, ‘Best in School’ and who received a Gold award. Also, congratulations to Keziah Hardy, Ethan West, Jake Beauchamp, Paige Pickering, Nicole Nash, Olivia Adam and Robert Gainlall who were awarded Silver awards and Rowen Tompkins, Callum Ledger, Rebecca Dearden, Regan Valle, Zoe Quinton, Olivia Kavanagh, Ross George, Sonya Gholami, William Locke, Anna Richards, Morgan Brown, Pheobe Francis, Lewis Rhodes and Alice Hughes who were awarded Bronze awards. All of these pupils were in the top 40% of pupils nationally.
Work experience 2013 Christmas it became bit of a battle to get the forms in and some cases the battle was never won.
Many completed Employer and Student forms started to arrive on my desk from the end of September which was very encouraging. Leading up to the deadline in December it was looking quite good and more forms came in. Unfortunately after
However, the placements this year are varied in both type and area and with a lot of new companies agreeing to take students. Placement assessments began in earnest in February and I was pleased to visit and see the staff of some amazing companies. Lots of companies and businesses from the Warlingham, Caterham, Whyteleafe and Croydon areas have taken on students and of course the local Primary schools have also taken students. Over 30 students travelled in to London for their placements. International banks, Investment &
Insurance companies, music companies, newspapers and government departments are just some of the placements. We also had students going further afield to St Albans, Brighton, Guildford and Rochester. So far the reports coming back from Employers have been encouraging, they have enjoyed taking students and the students have been working with enthusiasm and commitment. Well done Year 10! As well as thanking the Employers for their support, many of them longstanding suppliers of WEX placements I should also like to thank the teachers and support staff who have helped to make work experience possible this year.
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D of E: Gold into the Banquet Hall where 96 of us would be receiving our award. I took my seat under the impressive artwork of some of England’s greatest battles, including Trafalgar and Waterloo, with also the largest painting of Queen Victoria being announced as Empress of India. Sitting here I knew that I was in a room of the great.
On Wednesday, 10th July, I found myself heading up to London to St James’ Palace, with a sense of pride and well -being, to collect the prestigious Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award for young people aged 16-25. I was the only person representing Warlingham School on that day. Arriving at the Friary Court entrance, with invitation in hand, I entered the Tudor Palace to be surrounded by elaborate decorations and enormous portraits of Royalty and their famous subjects. As a group we were guided
We were guided by officials in how we were to stand and address our very special guest before we began the ceremony. Names where called by the volunteering marshals with Mr Hellier assisting at this point. Simon Yates, professional mountaineer (of “Touching the Void” fame), handed out the awards, before giving us a talk of how he was inspired by outdoor activities to be where he is today. Then came a 2 minute warning; we all stood in our positions, four neat semicircles in a row. Then HRH The Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, came into the hall, and was introduced to everyone. He then joined in conversation with each group,
asking questions of our D of E experiences and what we are doing now. Relishing the chance to chat with HRH, I engaged in answering his questions and asking how his DoE was for him (he did the award many years ago). After 5 minutes of talking to the group he moved on. We stayed standing and watched as he glided round each group elegantly, and conversed with the on-looking parents and friends. He then left the hall at the opposite end, and we were permitted to sit again. Photographers entered now, and in our groups, pictures were taken with Simon Yates, the only picture memory of the Palace due to camera restrictions. After this the ceremony ended, and we were free to leave, but many stayed to gander at the art and decoration in the permitted areas. St James’ Palace is not open to the public so this was an excellent opportunity to see how the royals live! The whole day was great and worth the endurance of the award. D of E is certainly something that is to be enjoyed by young people. It helps with self-discovery and is highly regarded by employers and higher education.
Computing Workshop At an IT and Computing workshop held in 13th June, parents and students were given an overview of the latest developments in IT & Computing at Warlingham School as well as the opportunity to get some hands on programming experience. Mr Burdett described changes to the programme of study at national level and how the curriculum at Warlingham School was evolving to reflect this. The school will be extending the choices for GCSE from Sept 2013 with the introduction of a new Computing course as well as a revised version of the current course. Parents and pupils were then given the opportunity to take part in some practical exercises in programming using the visual programming interface “Scratch” and the text interface “Python”. Everyone was able to leave the workshop with the ability to write basic programmes
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using both methods. Extracurricular opportunities will continue with the Robotics Club getting involved in the First Lego League robot building and programming tournament in the autumn. A lunchtime coding club will also be introduced from September making use of Raspberry Pi computers to learn coding languages such as Python. A visit to the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park is also planned for GCSE Computing students to give them a chance to experience technology from the earliest days of the electronic computer. This fascinating collection of technology includes Colossus, the world’s first programmable electronic Computer that was used in the
Raspberry Pi Computer second world war to crack the German Lorenz ciphers. Student interest in IT & Computing is very evident at Warlingham School and we are very pleased to be encouraging this with our developments in this field.
Holocaust Survivor
L-R: Charlotte Steward, Brandon Whitney, Katie Fells, Lauren Weekes, Freddie Knoller, Ella Ovenden, Nick Kyriacou and Akhila Sajeeshkumar On the 20th of June, year 12 were lucky enough to have the afternoon off timetable in order to listen to an
amazing speaker. Freddie Knoller, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp set up by Nazis
during World War 2, came in to talk to us about his life and his experiences before, during and after the war. He was an extremely interesting and engaging speaker who managed bring in some humour even though the topic wasn’t too cheerful. After he had finished, Freddie was kind enough to stay behind to sign his book, “Living with the Enemy”, for those of us who bought it and let some of us pose for a photo with him before he left. It was a pleasure to meet such an inspiring person and we’d like to thank him for sharing his experiences with us.
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Carnegie Awards shadowing
Back row L-R: Mia McCarrick, Jake Corr-Rudling, Charis Fernandez, Katie Clay & Amir Pandaya Front row L-R: Katie Day & Alex Midwood What makes a truly great book?
prize-winner’s announcement in June.
The CILIP Carnegie Medal is awarded by children's librarians for an outstanding book for children and young people and is described as the UK's oldest and most prestigious children's book awards. Often described by authors and illustrators as 'the one they want to win,' they are the gold standard in children's literature.
Students became a part of a huge online community where reading is relished and shared. The shadowing scheme has all the excitement of a book club, but with the relevance of following a reallife awards process.
This spring, a number of Year 7 and 8 students, as well as two Year 6 students, participated in the 2013 CILIP Carnegie Medal shadowing scheme, where pupils across the UK read, enjoy and review a selection of shortlisted books in anticipation of the
Katie Day has written about her experience below: “The Carnegie book club was really fun and interesting. We met every Monday after school and did some fantastic things like creating our own website. We could write reviews about the shortlisted books for the Carnegie award and had a blog as well as a magazine.
The books were all very good and most popular between us was a book called ‘Wonder’. However surprisingly the national winner was ‘Maggot Moon’ a book none of us chose! Our website was really cool. Everyone had a different part in it like creating polls, writing blogs and designing the page. I was the web representative, which meant I was in charge of getting other schools to be our friends. A good thing about the Carnegie Book Club was that you got to talk to people with the same hobby as you and make new friends. I really enjoyed it and I think everyone else did too!”
Parental Questionnaire 2013
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Thank you to all parents who have completed questionnaires during the year; this feedback is helpful to us as we use your comments to help us improve our provision and shape priorities for our School Development Plan. The questionnaires are available for parents to complete at Parents’ evenings; laptops are located in the reception area and it takes approximately five minutes to complete the questionnaire so, if you have not contributed this year, please spare a few minutes to participate Results of Parental Questionnaires 2013 next year! The questions are those used by Ofsted in inspections but we have also sought your views on particular strengths of the school and areas you would most like to see us improving next year. Of course, subsequent to our own parent surveys, we had an Ofsted inspection which again collected the views of parents. We were told by the inspection team that the responses were extremely positive about the school (more so than in comparison with the majority of other schools inspected in their experience). The results of the school’s own questionnaires are shown in the table on the right. Strong features of the school The six areas most identified were: Quality of teaching (all year groups) Marking and feedback (especially in Year 7) Pastoral support for students (all year groups) Reports on progress (especially in Years 7 and 10) Behaviour (all year groups) Attendance and punctuality (especially Year 8) Areas you would like to see us focus on improving in the School Development Plan The six areas most identified were: Marking and feedback (especially in Key Stage 3) Academic support for pupils (especially Year 7) Communication with parents (especially Year 7) Homework (especially Year 10) Extra-curricular provision (all year groups) Links with local community including businesses (especially Year 8) Our School Development Plan (SDP) for the new academic year has taken these views into account alongside our own self-evaluation of student performance data, student and staff views. The priorities of the SDP are shown in the diagram on the right.
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Activities Week
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Year 7 Design & Technology For activities day in DT we were split into groups and given the challenge of building a space ship transporter based on the theme of Dr Who. The problem was that the spaceship had to carry an egg Design & Technology safely as far as it could and we could only make it out of recycled materials. As a team we had to first decide on our planet and the names of our aliens. We had to design a flag and invent the laws that applied on our planet. Each team then designed their space ship and started to build it out of some of the recycling materials we had brought in. When Humanities we had finished our spaceships it was time for the competition. We had to present our designs and explain our planet, then we had to test our spaceships seeing how far they could go without breaking the eggs. We also spent one period in the food room making rocky road. We had to melt the chocolate then stir in biscuits and marshmallows to make a
gooey mess. We had to leave it to set in the fridge before taking it away and eating it. Delicious!
Humanities During the roasting temperatures of Activities Week, our Year 7’s had the opportunity to travel up to London to visit the London Docklands Museum and The Crystal Sustainability Centre. With an early start from school, we navigated our way across London’s sweltering transport to finally arrive at our destinations. The London Docklands Museum, hidden away in the heart of the financial district of London, proved to be fascinating for many of the students. Some students couldn’t believe how tall some of the skyscrapers were! In the museum we explored London’s Sugar, Spice and Slave Trade and also how London coped with the Blitz during World War Two. A few highlights for many of the student included the sights, sounds and certainly foul smells of the Sailortown, and also being able to get inside some bomb shelters. From the dark and eerie floors of the Docklands Museum, the students had the exciting chance to explore the brand new Crystal Sustainability Centre on the north side of the River Thames (in view of the O2 centre). This place proved hugely popular with the students, who were raving about it all week. Inside they were able to explore the different sections, such as
“Safe & Sound” and “Healthy Living” amongst many others. There were activities that gave control of cities to students to make a city more sustainable, activities where students had to create their own energy for a national grid and even an opportunity for students to respond to city emergencies (i.e. bomb alerts in shopping centres). Some student quotes about what they enjoyed the most included: “The best part of Friday was when we played the Trading Game.” “I liked the interactive activities in the Crystal. It helped me to further understand what a sustainable city is.” “The best part was when we had to generate energy by moving our body.” “I like the Docklands Museum because it had lots of things to see but it smelt weird.” “I liked the Crystal because it was very interactive and interesting (the key cards made it fun).” “Having a waterfall in the Crystal Sustainability Centre was the best idea ever!” On the final Activities Week day, all the classes had the opportunity to build on what they had learnt at both centres. Some of the activities included, The Trading Game, building Anderson Bomb Shelters and also being able to talk to a person who was evacuated from London as a child due to the bombings during the war.
Activities Week A huge thanks must go to Mr Fraser for organising the trips and to all the other members of staff involved in the running of a successful and enjoyable few days during Activities Week. Maths When our form tutor announces that we are doing Maths a loud groaning spreads across the room like a plague. They truly weren’t groaning at the end of the day! 1: Origami As the class gradually arrives at the new classroom in dribs and drabs, we are introduced to Mrs Billings, just one of many Maths teachers we would meet today. Confusion spreads across the room about what origami has to do with Maths. We soon find out from Mrs Billings’ explanation and demonstration how to turn 20 pieces of A4 paper into an icosahedron using truncated tetrahedrons. Every group gives it a go, some succeeding more than others but everyone is having lots of fun. 2: Computers Even though technical failures meant that we couldn’t use laptops individually, we still enjoyed playing broken calculator as a class. With Mr Hellier’s deal that if we completed all 6 levels of the game we could spend the rest of the lesson outside sunbathing, we tried our very hardest but didn’t succeed. I don’t think that anyone was bothered but it’s a shame when it was so sunny for
once!
Year 8
3: Tangrams
English Tuesday 9th July is when activities week really started… It kicked off with Maths a fabulous rap from Mark Grist, a poet who tours around England going from school to school, teaching kids that poetry can be up to date, with his unique style of writing. He blew us away when he named a few of the artists he’d worked with and performed for, two of the more popular ones included: Ed Sheeran and Professor Green. Mark set us a challenge; whilst he rapped about board games we had to count how many games he included in his lyrics. We made our own poems using only 1 vowel throughout the English whole thing. Some didn’t quite make sense and others were totally awesome!!
After break we climbed the stairs to Miss Owens classroom where we were told a completely new word ‘Tangrams’. Using various shapes we were surprised at how many pictures you could make (we were especially impressed by Miss Au creating her name from some random polygons). Rabbits with right angles, ostriches made of oblongs and cats created with cut out shapes. 4: Quiz and puzzles Next to Mr Robins’ classroom where we worked in pairs to answer 60 questions that weren’t completely Maths related but were fun to do anyway. Everyone was motivated by the promise of a Starburst for everyone with over 50%, though we knew it was going to be hard when Mr Robins promised his car keys to anyone who go 100% correct! Unfortunately the highest was 37/60. 5: Polyominoes The game polyominoes sounds a lot like dominoes but really it’s more like Tetris. If you can find all 12 pentominoes then you have to try and fit them all on to a 6 x 10 grid. Seeing that there are 2339 solutions it was incredibly hard! No one completed it until we were shown the solution on the board! It was still a good end to a great day. Thank you to all of the Maths department
Later in the day we learnt the n+7 (noun plus 7) rule from Tamzin, one of Mark’s colleagues. We picked out all the nouns in famous phrases/pieces of writing, e.g. to be or not to be that is the question, looked up all the nouns in the dictionary and replaced each noun with
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the 7th word down. It turned out to read: “To beagle or not to beagle that is the quiche.” We all loved this and started using the rule to change song lyrics. It was very funny. After break we made Christmas Carol book covers by using photo shop. They all turned out great. Later on we listened to Mark rap and some of his embarrassing memories. Ha! Ha! Then we listened to some poems written by our peers, even Mark was impressed!!
English
Next day, DICKENS WORLD!! The coach journeys were extremely fun and everyone was buzzing, (the heat didn’t help). When we arrived there was a collective gasp, as students entered the building having been super excited to go. It looked just as amazing as it did in our heads. We felt like we’d travelled back in time to the Victorian era. Even the stench was realistic!! Although slightly disappointed to see that the water ride had closed down, we were soon happy when we discovered the 4D cinema. After experiencing a Victorian classroom, which I think is fair to say is a lot more scary than the “Haunted House” we were later led to. At lunch some people ate in the restaurant, we were then free to roam around as we pleased for the next half hour
before having to board the coach back home. We all enjoyed these activities and would like to say a big thank you to The English department for arranging this amazing experience. Thank you!!!!
Science To kick off our activities week, Year 8 got to do a forensics day based in the Science department. The storyline for the day was that a dog had been kidnapped. There were five suspects plus the dog’s owner. We did six experiments throughout the day all helping us to conclude who kidnapped Fi-Fi Snuggles the dog. The first experiment we did was the soil samples. In the evidence we were told that the culprit had stepped in the flower bed when they kidnapped the dog. We tested the soil from the flower bed and it came back acidic so we then tested the soil from all the suspects’ shoes to try and find a match. Two out of five suspects’ shoes came back as a match but, as these suspects were the couple that lived at the house, we counted this test as invalid. The next experiment we did was the chromatography test. We were shown a chromatogram of the ransom note which contained the colours purple, light blue and pink. Each suspect had two
different coloured pens and we did a chromatogram for each, trying to match them to that of the ransom note. Only one result came out as a match so a suspect named Mrs Winalot-Brown went to the top of the suspicious list. Also during the same period we did the urine tests. Insulin was found at the scene of the crime meaning that the culprit had diabetes. We did a glucose test on all of the urine (thankfully it wasn’t real…or so they told us!) to find out which ones had diabetes. Two out of four suspects we tested came back positive. During period 3 we used the microscopes. We had some fur from five animals, a rabbit, a deer, sheep, squirrel and the fur from Fi-Fi Snuggles. We examined them under the microscope, drew a picture then compared then with the fur samples taken from the suspects to find out who had touched Fi-Fi. Three of the suspects had Fi-Fi’s fur on their clothes. Next were the food tests. The culprit had thrown up at the scene of the crime so we tested the vomit using three solutions then tried to match it to each suspect’s breakfast. Benedict’s solution was used to test for sugar, Iodine for starch and Buiret for protein. Our results came back saying that the vomit contained sugar and starch. We did these three tests on all of the suspects’ breakfasts but none of our tests came back exactly as we had expected. We did have a few close matches though.
Activities Week During period 5 we used the paint samples in the flame test. The evidence had stated that some paint flakes had come off the door so we tested the door paint and samples from beneath all the suspects’ fingernails. This was done by placing the sample in the flame of the Bunsen burner to let the chemicals react. Only 1 of our suspects matched with the door paint making her our prime suspect. We then had to put all of our results in a table to see who had the most matches. Two of our suspects seemed to show up as having more matches than the others. One of them was a resident at the scene of the crime so he was ruled out. It was then clear that the other suspect, Mrs Winalot-Brown, must be the culprit. Most people in the class accused her and noone was surprised when it was revealed. Through the other forensic examinations all the other suspects were eliminated therefore having the finger pointed at her. Most people had fun enjoying the new experiences and the independence. We think that this activity should be continued in years to come as is something new for all to try.
Art, Music and Drama This year for Creative Arts Days, the Art, Music and Drama departments put on an exciting and action-packed event for Year 8 students on STREET ART. For two days
the Year 8 timetable was transformed to Street Dance, Drumming, Art, Music and Drama workshops. We invited two experts to help us make this an extra special event: Sinead Hincheon, a professional Street dance instructor taught them some cool moves and Ray Watters worked with the students to beat out some street rhythms on a variety of different drums. In the Art Department Mrs Griffiths, Mrs Wilkins, Miss Levy and Mr Garwell worked with the students to create colourful skate board designs in neon colours and explore graffiti lettering and imagery. They made an impressive and vibrant display. In the Music department Mr Duffy and Miss Frayne ran two hip hop-themed workshops. In one workshop they learnt how to play the song “Empire State of Mind”, with many of the students producing some truly exceptional work in the time available. In the other they rapped to “It’s Like That” by Run DMC, before writing their own versions of it. Each class took their raps down a totally different route and the end results were all extremely entertaining! In Drama, Ms Clark and Mr Deacon explored forum theatre with the Year 8’s and got them doing spontaneous and polished improvisation. In the assembly at the end, some very brave students got up to perform their dance routines, raps and drumming. It was a brilliant way to end
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Activities week. Well done to all the Year 8 students for their enthusiastic and creative contributions!
Year 9 Team Challenge While 120 of the Year 9’s were away on PGL, the remaining half were involved for the first few days of Activities Week in ‘Team Challenge’. Team Challenge is a three-day event designed to develop teamwork and leadership skills.
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On the first day the students experience ‘Calendar Wars’, which is based on a task from BBC’s ‘The Apprentice’ or ‘Takeover’, which is loosely based on the board games of Risk and Diplomacy. On the second day they swop so that they get to experience both activities. During ‘Calendar Wars’, the students work in teams of five to produce, Calendar Wars market and work out the breakeven point for a calendar to be sold to raise money for one of three charities: the NSPCC, Oxfam and the WWF. For ‘Takeover’, they are in
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Activities Week teams of 8-10 and have to create a strategy for the success of their nation state, negotiate treaties with Takeover other teams, be subject to action by the United Nations and design a national flag, national costume etc. for their nation. On the third day, the teams got even bigger for ‘Enigma’! They were in teams of 18-20 on the field. Each team had to undergo Enigma a series of mental and physical challenges that relied for their success on good teamworking skills. These events take a phenomenal amount of coordination and organisation to ensure they run smoothly and that the students enjoy the different style of learning. I would like to thank all the staff who were involved in running the three days.
Humanities During activities week some of the Year 9s went on the London Bridge Experience, which was a Journey through the 2000 years of the history of London Bridge. As we all stood outside the entrance waiting for our group to be called in we were all in small discussions about what we
were just about to experience and all stood in anticipation. Finally my group was called in and so the Journey began. We started off with a film clip which lasted around 10 minutes. Then the gates opened and we got lead by someone with a hood over their face into a room showing of where London Bridge began. The London Bridge Experience is broken up into two sections; first being the London Bridge Experience and the second the London Tombs. You are taken around different points or periods in history of the London Bridge Experience and they don't use the word experience lightly - you can smell, feel and see exactly what it was like at each point, like re-living history. The first section went through from Celtic times right through to Jack the Ripper. With gore and jump scares around you the lighting was very limited and the bends making you slightly paranoid of what was coming next around the corner. There was one bit especially that my two friends and I disliked. I won’t reveal too much other than it involved a train and quite a bit of screaming. The second part was the tombs, which is a journey through the former plague pits. If you are asthmatic, claustrophobic, epileptic you are advised not to go inside as the experience is to say the least hair raising at most points of the London Tombs. We went in with our groups holding on to one another’s shoulders, one person at the front and one at the back. All of a sudden the
lights go out and you find yourself walking through a selection of rooms like before but this time with more of the scare factor. With headless bodies and decapitated limbs from ceilings, people hiding in the corners of the dark jump out at various times and some others get followed. We all enjoyed the experience we had even though it left some of us not wanting to go in again So when asked if we wanted to we replied with a quick NO! Personally I thought it was great and wouldn't mind doing it again if I got the opportunity, plus it is a chance to see even the most unlikely people jump or get scared. It definitely beats a normal day of school and you would be missing out if you didn't go.
National Portrait Gallery A group of 18 Year 9 students, accompanied by Miss Woodhouse and Mrs Dearden, travelled to London to visit the National Portrait Gallery. The theme of the visit was 20th century portraits although several that we studied in detail were actually completed very recently. A guide took us to six portraits in all and asked us questions about them to elicit interesting insights into the minds and intentions of the artists. Firstly, we looked at a series of sketches and studies used to create a full portrait of a famous poet; we learnt that this is why sketch books are
Activities Week so important in GCSE and A level art work. We also studied a portrait of The Queen painted by Annigoni which showed her looking very regal but, somehow alone. It was almost like a photograph. A later portrait we looked at was of the Duchess of Cambridge in a very soft focus; most of us had seen it in the newspaper or on the news as it is a recent addition to the gallery’s collection. We generally preferred a huge portrait of Dame Kelly Holmes which was less flattering but very life -like with a lot of energy in her face and an excellent charcoal portrait of Stephen Fry. Perhaps the most unusual exhibit we saw was a cryogenic sculpture by Mark Quinn – he had made a 3D portrait of his head from his own blood! It was kept in a specially refrigerated display case. We enjoyed some free time in Covent Garden before walking back to Victoria through St James Park.
Year 10 For my 2nd work experience placement I visited Hoare Lea, a firm of international consulting engineers who design the lighting, acoustics, air conditioning and fire safety of buildings. They’ve worked building university libraries and laboratories and as well as on the Shard. One of the first things I did there was produce a report on how I would design the lighting in an apartment. I used computer programs to
examine a range of lighting options and how they would affect light levels in the room. The programs allowed me to track the direction light travelled as well as which areas of the apartment would be most well lit. Finally I created computer-generated images of how the apartment would eventually look. I’ve always been interested in a career in fashion design but this experience has made me consider other careers in design, and I enjoyed being both creative and using technical design software.
For two weeks starting on the 1st July, Frankie Lakin and I took part in an engineering work experience placement with BBMV at the Whitechapel Main Station Works. BBMV is made up of three separate organisations: Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall and VINCI Construction who are all working together to complete the works for the Crossrail Project. The Whitechapel C512 Crossrail contract is worth £110 million and is due to be finished by 2018. Once completed, the existing station will have been refurbished, a new station bridge will be in place and a ticket hall built behind the station entrance on Whitechapel Road. The works also include constructing new shafts and platforms for the Crossrail tunnels. As we were not allowed on site due to our age, our work experience involved a lot of
work in the onsite offices and we were able to get an idea of all the work that goes on to enable the actual construction to take place.
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National Portrait Gallery
Over the two weeks, we spent time with engineers, designers, quality control, community relations, document management, environment and other aspects of the engineering works taking place at Whitechapel. We were taught how to use various programmes including bc, google sketch up and the Crossrail photo upload site. As well as doing work in the offices we were also able to see the construction process such as concrete pours, drilling and digging without actually being on site. We found the designing side of the work most interesting as we were able to understand and use the google sketch up programme which gave us a clearer view of the C512 Whitechapel Project. It was also interesting to see how the construction and building affects the local area and what precautions are taken to reduce the negative impact on the people living in around Whitechapel.
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Young entrepreneurs participate: Audley, Greenvale, Hamsey Green, and Whyteleafe. Around 180 Year 5 students from those three schools came in to the school over two days to work with our Year 12 Business Studies students.
Our Year 12 ‘Health & Safety Inspectors’ Warlingham School endeavours to support the local community. One of the ways in which we deliver this support is by running a business simulation called Card Shark for Year 5 Primary School students. This year we increased the scope of the scheme and invited four schools to
Card Shark is a business simulation, during which Year 5 students work in teams of four or five, supported by a Year 12 ‘Business Advisor’ our Year 12 Business Studies students. Our Year 12’s are always willing to get involved and to pass on some of the skills and knowledge that they’ve developed during their time at the school.
their greetings card business. They designed a sample greetings card and then formed a “production line” to produce five identical cards within a tight timescale. They were given ‘£30’ (of Warlingham money) as startup funds with which they had to finance the materials they need to produce their cards – purchasing these materials from ‘Suppliers’.
The Year 5 teams had to come up with a company name, logo and slogan for
WHAT THE YEAR 5’S LEARNED—IN THEIR OWN WORDS “I learned how to work in a business.” - Harrison, Audley “We all made sure that everyone had a job.” - Ellie, Whyteleafe “I learned a lot from working as part of a team.” - Tyrese, Hamsey Green “I had to negotiate with the buyer to make more money.” - Simon, Greenvale “Managing the money is very important in a business.” - Paige, Whyteleafe “You have to work as a team or the tasks won’t get done!” - Christina, Greenvale “I learned that business is a lot of effort and hard work.” - Louise, Whyteleafe “I enjoyed being responsible for the money.” - Riley, Audley “Learning how to manage money will be useful to me.” - Leo, Hamsey Green
Tea for ten at the Ritz
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jam and cream), a small trifle and a slice of either Black Forest gateau or lemon drizzle cake. There were at least 20 different varieties of tea to choose from (a daunting task in itself!) and some of us were introduced to a tea-strainer for the first time! It was a lovely experience, even if we will not have the opportunity of visiting the Ritz again.
A small group of students was treated to afternoon tea at the Ritz following their GCSE examinations last month. It was a novel experience in grand surroundings, with excellent service
and the tinkle of a piano in the background (we did not put in any requests, though). The food was delivered on a silver-plated and china three-tiered stand and included finger sandwiches, small cakes, scones (with
LRC News The LRC is always a hubbub of activity and this summer term has been no different. We have paired reading where the 6th formers buddy with a student from the lower school helping them to grow in confidence and encouraging greater independent reading.
lessons with year 7, whereby students are given the opportunity to choose a book of their choice. It is hoped that with quiet reading and a booklet to complete that it will be beneficial and fun as well as improving their understanding and, hopefully, leading to a love of reading.
We run several reading groups for years 7 and 8 and the students involved have found this extra one-toone help has greatly improved their reading and comprehension.
This is a pilot scheme coordinated by myself and the English department. If the scheme is successful it is our intention to roll out the same scheme permanently for Year 9 in the Autumn term, Year 8 in the Spring term and Year 7 in the Summer term.
On 10th June we started Library
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone from students and staff who have helped to make all of the above a successful experience. I would also like to thank Danni Thorpe, Taylor Leech, Rachel Wigley, Jasmine Ubi and Chaynie Sheehan for all their help and support during break and lunchtimes. Wishing you all a fantastic summer break.
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Toy Designers Project Pinocchio feeling really good. I put on my business clothes and made my way to school feeling like a professional adult actually on their way to their office.
Above: Toy Barn - finalists Below: Toy Barn’s toy
Project Pinocchio was a fun, interesting day for the Year 9’s on the 24th June 2013 that improved the students’ Design & Technology and Business skills. Warlingham School organised this day so that the students could experience what working environments are like and how some jobs might be in the future. All students had to come into school wearing business clothing; looking professional and determined to work. They looked so smart and business -like. “I woke up on the morning of
When I got to school all my friends were in smart dress too and it made me feel even older and mature. We started off the day in the business suites making advertisements for our companies. Each member of every group had a different role. Someone was: the company manager, accountant, model engineer, mechanical engineer and the designer. My team worked really well together. We all worked as individuals when being set a task but when we combined all our work together it was great! Although some of us got distracted every now and again, we got back on track and carried on working hard. When it came to time, we didn’t have very much of it. I think if we had more time our final design would have been made in much higher quality and just over all, better. Once we had finished in the Business suites we made our way to the Design and
Technology rooms to finish off our products. At the end of the day, our team made £1,649.90 profit. If we had made more advertisements we would have gained a higher profit but we can’t complain because our profit was high anyway. It was a great day and I’m proud to say I was a part of it!”
The lucky winners of the first and second days of Project Pinocchio won a trip to Thorpe Park as their prize! The winners were: Lauren Pinkney – 9W Khishika Naidoo – 9W Sam Shread – 9A Calum Stringer – 9A Katy Wickers – 9N Emma Tiwarri – 9N Darcy Still – 9G Alex Page—9G Rachel Tiwarri – 9G
Life Drawing Workshop
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Once again we were very fortunate to have tutor and model from the Royal Academy of Art in London come to Warlingham School on Tuesday 18th June, to run a one day Life Drawing Workshop. For most of our 6th form art students it was a totally new and rather daunting prospect. There were certainly a few anxious comments and nervous giggles at the beginning.
Steph Bailhache & Kayleigh Lensen (12G)
Jeanette, the tutor, soon got the students working hard and they quickly forgot their initial nerves. Each student produced between 10 to 15 drawings of varying sizes and styles, working on the floor using charcoal and chalks. We all end up a bit stiff and very messy, but having had a really inspiring and enjoyable day. Increasingly Art colleges are looking for A Level students with life drawing and many of our students who have already been to interviews have said how impressed they were with the life drawing they had in their portfolio, so it was a really valuable day for all. If you would like to see more of their work please go to the Art Room on the school website.
Stephen Chivers (12H)
Creating in Clay On Thursday 13th June, a group of about 30 Year 5 pupils from Ridgeway Primary School spent the morning in the Art department. They took part in a workshop where they learnt about the process of creating something out of clay. I gave them the theme of fish and sea creatures and using a range of resources provided and their own imagination they created all sorts of
interesting creatures! The students really enjoyed the morning and some really exciting work was produced, it was great to see a lot of extremely talented and enthusiastic students with fantastic potential!
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International success...
... for former Warlingham School student. Warlingham school would like to congratulate Freddie Woodman a former pupil on representing his country for the first time this year. History Mr Bruce saw Freddie at the Year 7 football trials and immediately spotted his potential. Freddie was scouted to Crystal Palace by Mr Bruce where he then spent 2 years. Mr Bruce explains “Freddie was
extremely professional when it came to his football, completely focussed.” He continues, “You could see from the outset that Freddie had that star quality and all credit should go to him for his continued hard work in pursuit of excellence”. In 2009 Freddie was transferred to Newcastle United and his family moved North leaving his friends and school. Freddie attended Warlingham school through the period 2008-2011. His tutor (Mr Polyviou) recalls, “He was an enthusiastic student always willing to take part in sporting activities, was very popular with his peers and was sorely missed when he left.” Freddie was dedicated to his sport and was an asset to the school as he became a
regular fixture for his year group in goal. The Newcastle United goalkeeper was first capped by England at U16 level in the Victory Shield and was also named in the U17 squad whilst still a year young. Freddie has already represented the Under 16s and Under 18s. Freddie made his debut in 2012 against the Faroe Islands and has made 6 appearances since. He is rated so highly that he is currently playing alongside players two years his senior for his country, which is very unusual for a goalkeeper. Freddie sent Mr Bruce a shirt thanking him for his efforts in starting and pushing Freddie in his career. It reads “To Mr Bruce, without you the start of my dream was not possible. Thank you. Freddie Woodman”.
Wimbledon trip
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On Tuesday 2nd July, 8 students had the lucky experience of going to Wimbledon on the second week of play. We caught the tram from East Croydon to Wimbledon and arrived at about 10:30. Despite many of the big names being knocked out in the first week. We were fortunate enough to get tickets to Court 1 to see Sabine Lisiki beat Kanepi. We also watched Luke Baribridge, a British junior, who unfortunately lost against a tough Chilean. To fulfil Wimbledon tradition, we ate strawberries and cream and visited the shop to buy some merchandise. We girls made our way to the practice courts and caught a glimpse of the new Wimbledon Men’s Singles Champion – Andy Murray. Unfortunately our day was cut short by the rain but all the same it was a great day.
Javelin star! Emma Fossett form 10L won a gold medal in the Surrey Schools Intermediate Javelin throwing competition on 8th June at Kingsmeadow, Kingston, with a throw of 33.67m, representing both Warlingham School and South Surrey . We asked her to tell us about her achievement: “On the 7th June I went to Kingston to represent Warlingham and South Surrey in an athletics competition. My athletics event is javelin and I compete on a regular basis for this championships. I was up against
strong competition and harsh conditions. Against the strong wind, I managed to win with a throw of 33.67m. My sister and other members of my athletics club also had great success and brought home many gold medals.”
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Infant multiskills St. Francis 2 – 5th St. Peter and St. Paul – 6th St. Johns – 7th The event itself particularly focused on the gifted and talented children at this age and it was evident by their performances how many of these skills had been acquired successfully by the children resulting in a closely contested competition.
At long last, sunny weather greeted our infant children for their inter-school sports competition on Tuesday 18th June 2013. Encouraging children to participate in fundamental motor skills at a young age is very important to help promote their physical development and to further develop their confidence. It was wonderful to see how many children at five and six years of age were able to perform these different challenges with competence and skill. The schools were able to bring teams of 12 (6 boys and 6 girls) and some schools brought two teams. Here are this years results: Hamsey Green 2 – 1st St. Francis 1 – 2nd Hillcroft - 3rd Hamsey Green 1 – 4th
The development of leadership is also highlighted in these types of activities with Warlingham Young Ambassadors organizing the children and leading the different challenges. Congratulations must go to Yr 9: Jack Perry, Amin Lmoh, Calum Stringer, Shayan Patel, Chris D’Souza, Oliver Baker, Eloise Kitchener, Rebecca McDonald, Daisy Roadnight, Dan Whittingham, Domonic Montgomery, Lauren Pinkney, Lauren Hall, Issy Cohen, Yr 10: Nathan Ashburn, Emma
Fossett, Alice Hobson, Adam Ledger, Sophie Lewis, Oliver Meadows, Jodie Payne, Sam Rhodes, Maisie Stock, Tom Williamson and Regan Beck. These Young Ambassadors did a fabulous job and were a credit o the school. Special thanks must go to Steph Moore Yr 12 our Senior Young Ambassador who took responsibility for making sure all the jobs were done prior to and during the event. As always the PE department, site team, Jess James, Mel Filmer and Jeanette Atkins provided vital help behind the scenes to ensure that this event could go ahead. Lynn Banwell (SSCo de Stafford) also provided super support throughout. Parents of the primary children and the primary children themselves enjoyed watching or receiving their medals and certificates from Miss Woodhouse.
Road to Rio project
This term we have been running three projects for the primary and secondary children as part of the Olympic and Paralympic legacy to keep sport alive in the hearts and minds of the children which we teach. The projects have been funded by Surrey County Council enabling the children to either receive medals for their efforts or to experience first hand sports that perhaps have not been previously available to them or in recognition for their efforts and achievements already accomplished in sport. The first project was a voluntary competition which involved children designing a future stadium or Olympic/ Paralympic venue or logo for the Olympics / Paralympics to be held in 2020. The competition was open to Years 3 – 7. Adam Ledger and Alice Hobson were two of our Young Ambassadors who helped judge the competition. We had 70 entries in total. The results from each school appear below. Hamsey Green: 1st: Rhys Benjamin 2nd: Daniel Hughes 3rd: Ryan Shelly
Warlingham Village: Joint 1st: Maisie Toogood and Laura Trendall Marden Lodge : 1st – Mia Frith 2nd Connor Skillum-Keedy 3rd Neylan Saun-Thompson Woodlea: 1st – Gracie Yr 5 2nd – Milla Booth 3rd – Lucy Keane St. John’s: 1st – Samuel Coleman 2nd – Kash Burns 3rd - Alexander Clark Whyteleafe: 1st – Kirstyn Watts Warlingham Year 7: 1st Lucy Redman 2nd Nicole Miles 3rd Lauren Denny Our second project involved taking two groups of six students to Beechwood Riding School. There were two secondary pupils and four primary children in each group, resulting in a party of twelve children receiving a free
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one and a half-hour riding lesson. The secondary children were chosen for their ability and involvement in school sport and the primary children were chosen for a number of extremely worthwhile reasons for example because of being full-time carers. All the children who took part were extremely appreciative of this opportunity and all of them coped with the demands that horse riding entails. Here are just a few pictures to give you a flavour of the two occasions. The schools involved in the project were Warlingham School, Warlingham Village Primary, Marden Lodge, Whyteleafe and Hamsey Green. Our thanks not only goes to Surrey County Council but to Jakki Garnham and Val Maag and their staff for providing us with a super and safe riding experience. The third project for this term will be a Watersports Trip to Aqua Sports at Mercers Country Park, Merstham, Surrey. This trip is a partly funded trip for all our Young Ambassadors and children from Years 8 – 12 who have shown commitment to the promotion of school sport. This event takes place on Wednesday 17th July and we look forward to a report of the occasion in our next newsletter.
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School of Hard Knocks piece about his experiences. “The School of Hard Knocks is a rugby programme designed to improve behaviour in school and try to put you on the right path before it is too late. SOHK is good because you can have fun but at the same time be disciplined and well behaved. Michael Henderson was the most influential speaker because he told us that he was like us boys when he was young but when he got older that it started getting worse as he was getting into a lot of trouble with the police. He then got involved with SOHK and they helped him get on the right path. The School of Hard Knocks is a charity that uses sport and other challenging activities to teach life-changing values and lessons. These enable participants to take positive and definite steps in their lives in school and the wider world. This specific school course is designed to take potentially disengaged children out of school and into a rugby club environment, addressing behavioural issues, providing a physical outlet and encouraging open discussions about life, futures and choices. Warlingham School, along with Oxted and de Stafford Schools, have had boys from years 8-9 participating in a ten -week programme with the SOHK at Warlingham Rugby
Club. The boys would take part in a rugby sevens tournament at the end of the course, playing a team from Warlingham RFC and established teams from other schools. Warlingham’s students have really enjoyed themselves and with Rugby Football Union coaches teaching them how to play the game and listening to inspirational speakers such as England & Wasps player James Haskell and ex- player Jason Turner, a member of the Special Boat Service who regularly is serves in Afghanistan & Michael Henderson who has spent most of his adult life in prison, before getting involved in the adult programme SOHK. Kyan Buckman wrote a short
Our rugby team has improved a lot from when we started nine weeks ago. We are getting better by the week and everyone has been working as a team and getting on. I have learnt to try and behave and get on at school so that when I am older I can get a good job and then have some fun once I have earned some money. I would encourage people to do it because it is a good experience and you learn about discipline.”
He was not the only student who found the experience to be useful. This is what the other students thought about the programme: “It was good because I was
School of Hard Knocks
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C O N T I N U E D
able to release anger and frustration on the rugby field, while having fun and enjoying myself. I learnt a lot about different ways to solve problems.”
“I have learnt how to get on with new people, working as a team when playing rugby. I also have massive respect for the man from the Special Forces. I realise that my future is important and my attitude and behaviour could improve.”
“It’s good because it keeps me fit and I made some new friends. It is great because I have learnt how to play rugby.”
“It is a good activity to do because it helps you out for the future and to improve your behaviour.”
I am very proud of how the five students who participated acquitted themselves during this programme.
Cambridge University On Friday 5th July 2013, three other students and I were lucky enough to be taken up to the University of Cambridge to visit one of Warlingham School's Link Colleges, Churchill College. It was an early start, meeting in the Sixth Form at 7.00am for the 2 hour drive in the school minibus up to Cambridge. We finally arrived at Churchill at 9.00am, and after checking in, having a quick toilet break and taking advantage of the free coffee, we were taken on a tour of the college by one of the current Undergraduate students. He showed us the grounds, the accommodation including his own room and kitchen area, the superb facilities, including what we are told is the largest gym of all the colleges, and the music centre, home to a £90,000 grand piano! In the afternoon we attended a talk about entry into Cambridge where we given a bit of a shock by the statistics their average successful students. It
was a bit of a reality check which initially put us down, but which we now see as motivation to work as hard as we can through Year 13 to achieve the grades required. The second talk was a subject specific talk and discussion on the course we are all interested in, Natural Sciences. It was L-R: Hollie French, Josh du Plooy, Dariya Nikitin & really good to meet Mackenzie Fryer and have lunch with some of the admissions tutors/ goodbye to what we hope will be our lecturers for the course and it is fair to future university and began the drive say that by the end of the day, we had home, now more motivated than ever all fallen in love with both the University to achieve the grades we need, and to and the course. get through the stressful months of At the end of the day, after visiting an UCAS applications and personal archive containing artefacts and statements we have to come! articles relating to Winston Churchill (a founder of the college) and other historical figures, we sadly waved
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Berlin-bound
Earlier this half term the Music Department took 30 students to Berlin, to see the sights and to perform a concert at the Berlin International School. These students were a mixture of GCSE and ALevel students, as well as a number of students who have participated in the musical extra-curricular activities throughout the year. The week before we left was spent doing intensive rehearsals for the concert which was the first time that all of the performers had given a concert abroad. With everything rehearsed, packed and ready to go, we met at school on the Monday evening and started the 18 hour coach trip to Berlin. Every few hours we would stop at a service station, and
we would at first have no idea what country we were in! We passed through France, Belgium and the Netherlands before entering Germany early on Tuesday morning. We arrived at out hotel in the centre of Berlin mid afternoon, and after some time to unpack, freshen up and have dinner, we took an early evening walk into the middle of Berlin and went to see the German Parliament building. Whilst we were there we were fortunate enough to experience a great number of the sights that Berlin has to offer. On our first whole day we went to a museum called the “Topography of Terror� which had fascinating exhibits, photos and account of the rise of Hitler and what life was like before and after
he came to power. Seeing these first hand accounts and photographs really brought the subject to life for all us. After that we went to visit the famous landmark Checkpoint Charlie and then we went an hour or so outside of the city centre to visit the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. Being able to visit such a place was a truly humbling, thought provoking and moving experience, and one that I am sure will stay with all of us forever. Being able to see and walk around something that we had all learnt about was incredible. All of us were walking around in complete silence, unable to say a word to those around us, such was the overwhelming power of the experience.
Berlin-bound
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C O N T I N U E D
The next day was Concert Day. We started off though by going to see the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery. It was fascinating to see the sheer scale of the wall, as well as all the amazing artwork that had been done on it over the years. We found a space on the wall where we all signed our names – leaving a little bit of Warlingham in Berlin! Then we drove to the Berlin International School where we gave an hour long concert to their Grade 5 and 6 students. Despite a few nerves beforehand, the students all performed magnificently, and it each group performed the best I had ever heard them do so. The students and staff of the school also really enjoyed the concert, with many of the students singing along with the songs they knew, and clapping along to the rest. The students were a complete credit to themselves and the school at this concert and I was so hugely proud of each and every one of them. The next day was our final day in Berlin. We checked out of the hotel in
the morning, but had most of the day still in the city. We walked to the Brandenburg Gate, and went to visit the Holocaust Memorial beside it. It turned out that Barack Obama had been there giving a speech just a few hours earlier! Our final excursion of the trip was to The Alexa Centre (a Westfield style shopping centre) where the students went about boosting the German economy by buying bag fulls of gifts (some for themselves, but hopefully lots for those back home too!). Then it was time to wave
goodbye to Berlin to start the 18 hour drive back to Warlingham. It was a brilliant trip and I am already looking forward to sorting out the 2014 Music Trip! A huge thank you to Miss Frayne and Mrs Gates for all of their help on the trip. And a massive thank you to each and every student who came – you made it absolutely brilliant!
Learn a musical instrument... If you would like to learn how to play an instrument, outside of your classroom lessons, then you have the opportunity to do so! Any instrument at all can be learnt. If you are interested, please see Mr Duffy in the Music Office, or alternatively contact Surrey Arts directly on telephone number 01372 832912 or via email: sa.southeast@surreycc.gov.uk
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Information for parents Surrey County Council has written asking us to share the contents of a letter from Public Health England with all parents of students at the school. The letter says: “As you may have heard or seen in the news, a national catch-up programme was announced earlier in the year to ensure children and teenagers who may have missed out on the MMR vaccination are fully protected against measles, mumps and rubella (German measles). This programme was announced after large outbreaks of measles in England and Wales. It aims to prevent further outbreaks by catching up with 10-16 year olds, who may have missed out on the two doses of vaccine needed to ensure maximum protection, before the start of the next school year. Numbers of measles cases in Surrey are low – only six confirmed so far this year – but the longer term trend is for this to increase. Experts believe this is because of the proportion of 10-16 year olds who missed out on vaccination in the late 1990s and early 2000s due to widespread concern about possible links between autism and the vaccine. This has been strongly discredited and there is no evidence to link the vaccine with autism. However, low vaccination uptake over many years allowed measles to become common again. Measles is not a mild illness – it is extremely unpleasant and can lead to serious complications. Many children have needed hospital treatment this year. The only way to prevent outbreaks is to ensure good uptake of the MMR vaccine across all age groups. It is never too late to get vaccinated. Parents unsure if their child has had the full two doses should talk to their GP who will have a record and can arrange vaccination if needed. With this letter is a flyer which answers common questions about measles, the vaccine and benefits of vaccination. Please take a few moments to read it and we hope it encourages you and helps you decide on getting your child vaccinated. The vaccination is free on the NHS and will be available from your GP.
Staff News At the end of this academic year we say “goodbye” to the following teachers: Mr Lawrence (ICT, part-time) who has been with us for two terms on a fixed term contract Mrs Sharpe (Humanities, part-time) who has been at the school for 15 years and is now moving to Essex with her family Miss Meredith (English) who has spent her first year as a teacher with us and who will be working at a school in Central London, closer to her home, in September Miss Woodhouse (Headteacher) who is retiring.
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Best wishes to all of these members of staff – we thank them for their service to the school. We have recently welcomed back the following teachers who took time off to have children: Mrs Alger Mrs Masters Mrs Sayers
Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Randall who have had a baby boy called Joseph and to Mrs Gordon who also gave birth to a baby boy last week and is still deciding on a name.
Dates for your diary Tuesday 3rd September 2013
Staff Training Day 1
Wednesday 4th September 2013
Year 7 start (8.35am) Years 8-11 start (11.00am) Year 12/13 enrolment
Wednesday 25th September 2013
Staff Training Day 2
Monday 28th October—Friday 1st November 2013
Half Term
Friday 20th December 2013
Last day of Autumn Term
Monday 6th January 2014
Staff Training Day 3
Tuesday 7th January 2014
Students start Spring Term
Monday 17th - Friday 21st February 2014
Half Term
Thursday 3rd April 2014
Last day of Autumn Term for students
Friday 4th April 2014
Staff Training Day 4
Tuesday 22nd April 2014
Start of Summer Term
Monday 5th May 2014
Bank Holiday
Monday 26th - Friday 30th May 2014
Half Term
Friday 20th June 2014
Staff Training Day 5
Wednesday 23rd July 2014
Last day of Summer Term
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Warlingham School Tithepit Shaw Lane Warlingham Surrey CR6 9YB Phone: 01883 624067 Fax: 01883 624026 E-mail: info@warlingham.surrey.sch.uk
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