News Warlingham School
ISSUE 1 2015-2016 OCTOBER 2015
In this edition
FROM the headteacher
2
EXCELLENCE IN EXAMS
4
BUILDING WORK UPDATE
8
NEW ECLIPSE LIBRARY SYSTEM
10
ACTIVITIES’ WEEK SPECIAL FEATURE
12
CHICHESTER CHARITY UPDATE
46
YEAR 11 GCSE HISTORY TRIP
48
MATHS CHALLENGES 2014/2015
52
FRENCH EXCHANGE TRIP TO BORDEAUX
58
COMMUNITY SPORTS’ LEADER AWARD
62
In the hot seat
64
STAFF NEWS and Important Information for Parents
FEATURE: Excellence in Exams
FEATURE: Activities’ Week
FEATURE: Year 11 History Trip
FEATURE: Maths Challenges
66
Widening Horizons Raising Aspirations
FEATURE: French Exchange Trip to Bordeaux
From the Headteacher...
is progressing very well. The steel structure was in place for the start Welcome to our first newsletter of the of this term and the staircase and new Academic Year. It has certainly concrete floors have also been been an incredibly hectic first halfcompleted. During half term the term. We have had extremely busy builders will be ‘breaking’ through to and successful Year 6 and Sixth the existing building to start work on Form Open Evenings in September. the connecting corridor. During the These have been followed by lots of next half term, the shell of the new tours of the school by prospective building should be finished and made students and their parents and a watertight. Governor Visit Day on 1st October. I would like to thank all the students A large part of this edition of the and staff for their hard work in making newsletter is dedicated to looking back at the events of Activities’ Week these events so successful. The in July. As you all know, ‘Widening work on the extension to C Block Dear Parents
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Horizons’ is one of the elements of our school ethos and I think you will agree, after reading this newsletter, that we have done a great deal recently to make this a reality. It isn’t just in Activities’ Week that students get such opportunities. Already this term, our Year 11 History students have visited First and Second World War sites in France and Belgium, Year 10 and Year 11 students have been on a French exchange trip to Bordeaux and Year 9 students have visited the Ashdown Forest as part of their Geography course. Members of the Student Council have also been to visit the Houses of Parliament. During the next half term, we will be issuing our first termly reports using our new ‘Life After Levels’ system. The new system was outlined at the Key Stage Information Evenings in September and the large number of parents who attended will hopefully be getting ‘up to speed’ with the changes. Year 10 and Year 11 Tracking Reports will still show grades A*-G on the ‘Most Likely Attainment Grade’ but Years 7 to 9 (and Year 10 English and Maths) will report attainment using the numbers 1 to 9, with 9 being the top grade. I am sure that as we go through the year, parents, students and staff
will become more secure in their understanding of the new grades. I would like to draw your attention to an important Parents’ Forum that will take place on Thursday 19th November at 7pm. You will have probably seen a lot in the media recently about the pressures faced by young people today and the importance of promoting ‘wellbeing’. Like all schools, we are very aware of this issue and have made it one of our School Improvement Plan priorities this year. As part of our strategy, we will be working towards achieving a Healthy Schools Award this year and would like to get the views of parents on a number of issues, including a review of our ‘Sex Education and Relationship’ policy. Please see the website for further details of the Parents’ Forum. As I write this, I have my fingers crossed for a dry day on Friday for the Sponsored Walk. It is always a great event and we are all looking forward to it. I hope you all have a relaxing half term.
Mr N Bradwell Headteacher Page 3
Excellence in Exams: GCSE Warlingham School once again celebrated an excellent set of exam results at GCSE. Over 70% of students achieved A*-C grades in English and Maths. Mr Bradwell was delighted that the hard work of students and teachers has been rewarded with some excellent results. He said “It has been great to see so many excited students
and proud parents this morning. I am particularly pleased that we have again seen a large number of students gaining the top grades of A*/A but also that the vast majority of students have achieved or exceeded their targets. The ‘Progress 8’ measure and ‘Value Added’ measures are once again positive figures showing that the students have achieved higher than
Amin Lmoh & Lauren Pinkney Page 4
Abby Stephens & Shauna Burke expected. Our Maths and Science results continue to excel with 80% of students gaining A*-C grades. There were also great achievements across a huge range of subjects we deliver, which is testament to the high quality teaching and learning at the school. I am extremely proud of this particular group of students as they started at the school five years ago with relatively low Key Stage 2 results and have gone on to produce such fantastic results, making great progress over their time at the School. Congratulations to all of
them�. This year’s top performing students were Shauna Burke who gained ten A* grades and one grade A and Lauren Pinkney who achieved nine A* and three A grades. Shauna in fact scored 100% in all three of her Physics exams and Lauren achieved 100% in both History papers and her coursework. Claire Bailey, Emma Hamer, Amelia Hill, Daniel Hill, Amin Lmoh, Danielle Melling, Francesca Parker, Abby Stephens and Darcy Still all collected twelve or eleven A*and A grades. Page 5
Excellence in Exams: A Level
L-R: Jonathan Hill, Charlie Duncan King, Joel Fernandez & Lewis Nash Warlingham School is delighted to announce another set of excellent A Level and AS results this year and would like to congratulate students on their outstanding performance.
Duncan King - A*AAB, Joel Fernandez - A*AAC, Jonathan Hill - A*AAC, Anton Nikitin - A*AA and Neneh Kumer A*AA.
There were also a number of The A*-E pass rate achieved at A Level outstanding performers at AS Level, was an impressive 99% and the A* – C with Francesca Alston, Lewis Sullivan and Charlie Knight all gaining four grade was 70%. Especially pleasing A grades and Emma Fossett, Kelly was the large number of A*/A grades achieved by our Russell Group cohort Higson and Alexei Foster achieving three A grades and one B grade. of students. Headteacher, Nick Bradwell, said: There are a number of excellent “I am absolutely delighted with individual successes at A Level, including, Lewis Nash - A*AAB, Charlie the excellent results achieved by Page 6
Warlingham Sixth Form students this year. The results reflect a tremendous amount of hard work and determination and all the students should be extremely proud of their efforts. I would also like to thank all the staff for their commitment and support.” Assistant Headteacher and Head of Sixth Form, Rob Scott, was also delighted: “I would like to congratulate the students. I am particularly impressed with the significant progress students have made from AS to A2, and also by their wider commitment both to the school and to the local community as part of their Warlingham Graduation qualification. In addition to working incredibly hard to achieve these fantastic results many of our
Alexei Foster & Kelly Higson students still find the time to help and support many worthwhile causes within the local area; a significant aspect of the Sixth form that has been commended by Ofsted.” Many Warlingham students are taking up places at a number of the top Russell Group Universities.
University Successes Lewis Nash: Chemistry with Molecular Physics at Imperial College, London Charlie Duncan King: Mathematics at King’s College, London Joel Fernandez: Aerospace Engineering at Surrey University Jonathan Hill: Mechanical Engineering with Biomedical Engineering at Southampton University Anton Nikitin: Computer Science at Southampton University Page 7
Building Work Update As many of you will have noticed if you’ve visited the school recently, the building works are now well underway. The site has been cleared, the old front entrance to C block has been demolished and the excavation work for the new foundations has been completed. The piling of the new foundations and ground beams and the new steel frame structure have all been completed. Ash Contracting has also installed the ground, first and second floor slabs. The brickwork below the damp proof course has been finished and face brickwork and blockwork above ground level has commenced.
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The contractors will be removing and blocking up the first floor classroom windows over the half term week. Year 13 Photography students have been documenting the progress week by week. Alicia Privett is co-ordinating the photography project and says: “As of June 2015 the building of a
new classroom block to replace the huts began. Work began slowly but in September, at the start of the new school year, the skeleton of the new building was present. Mr Garwell, the Photography Teacher, suggested to my Year 13 class that we document the development of the building week-byweek and I took up the responsibility to take the photos to show this. By taking the photos I have noticed how quickly the building is developing and taking shape. It’s amazing!” We will give another update on the building works in the next issue of Warlingham News.
Melanie Filmer B&E / Marketing Manager Page 9
New Eclipse Library System marked increase in borrowing. Eclipse.net is a web-based library management system which is accessed from the school’s website, so use is not confined to in school. Our students are now able to browse resources we hold on the system (although there is Over the last few months we have been working hard to prepare our new no substitute for actually handling the library management system for release resources in the LRC), reserve books that are currently out on loan, review to our students and staff. books they have read and create a Now that all the background work has ‘shopping list’ of future reads! All this been completed, I am delighted to is achieved from an extremely usertell you that we have embarked on a friendly front screen. The students rolling programme to introduce Eclipse have commented on how user friendly to all our students. Our Year 7s were Eclipse is and have worked their way the first to test drive the system and around the system with confidence. feedback from the students has been Nevertheless, we have produced a extremely positive. What has been brief user guide for students should remarkable is the huge increase in they require some notes to support interest in the LRC and as a result a them. Page 10
We have included a search option, as shown in the screen shot below, that pulls up all the books on Warlingham’s Reading List. This list has been carefully selected to include suggestions from the ‘must read’ lists developed by the media and some excellent suggestions from our English Department; our rolling Book Review Competition continues to run in which students submit a review of a book on the Reading List. Our investment in Eclipse has not
only made library use easier for our students, but has also generated an excitement amongst them to enjoy the extensive range of books the LRC holds. Research has proved that reading for pleasure aids both educational and personal development, so we are delighted with the outcome so far and hope to inspire a continued love of reading in all our students.
Mrs Ferguson L RC Co-Ordinator
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature Year 7s: Summer Camp
Last summer Mr Cole and I led the second annual Year 7 summer camp to Great Langdale in the Lake District. Summer Camp is based in the beautiful Langdale Valley, Cumbria. The campsite is owned and run by the National Trust and provides students with a truly outdoors experience. The activities are run by Keswick Adventure and include Ghyll Scrambling, Abseiling, Canoeing and a ‘Mountain Walk’. However, the trip is about much more than just the activities; the desired outcome is that all students fully involve themselves in ‘camp life’. This means that they share in responsibilities, including helping erect and dismantle their own tents, preparing food and cleaning up. Page 12
Activities Week: Monday 6
Whilst the weather was less kind to us than the previous year, spirits remained high and a good time was had by all. Once again the site manager at the campsite commented on the students’ excellent behaviour, as did the activity instructors throughout the week. The students will provide accounts of activities, therefore I simply wish to say what a pleasure it is to lead such a trip. Also to thank the staff who gave up their ‘normal’ lives for the week, so that everyone could have a challenging and exciting week.
Mr Seward Assistant Headteacher
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature
Year 7s: Summer Camp (continued) At the end of the Summer Term, Mrs Hubbard’s Year 7 English class wrote some descriptive pieces of 100 words each, inspired by their experiences during activities week. These are a selection of those relating to Summer Camp. Upon the horizon Tents stood like obedient soldiers among the landscape filed with mountains. A howling swarm of laughter floated rapidly throughout the site. Trees waving in the bitter wind, leaves dancing, birds whistling in the breeze. The towering mountains intimidating the earth below; in which they are covered in an emerald green blanket. Smells of cooking food pirouetted through the air meeting children’s taste buds. The occasional “BAA” coming from sheep echoed around the valley. Clouds glided like fluffy pillows of
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white; stalking those below. Children racing around happily, chatting, laughing and panting. As rain comes over the land a sweet pattering sound coming from tents fill the air.
Abigail Beynon (8R)
Ascendants from the Lake District Cascading from the crevices of its body descends great pools of radiant mist. The peak, established in its skyline, was embraced in wisps of vapour like the smoke of flame
Activities Week: Monday 6
spiralling in the embers. The taste of condensation nested upon the crest of the rocks and rain ripples reflect the sun’s rays as they made pulses in the entwining ghyll. A vast serpent slithered in and out of the mountains past the flocks of sheep that lay embedded on the alps like little, white beads. A stagnant howl of wind glided through the air, weaving through the parchment of sheep.
Matilda Roche (8L)
The Mountains Above the grassy green fields the rocky mountains overlook all of the colourful vibrant land for miles. They stand, looming, like a Shepard watching over its flock of sheep. They study the emerald grass; always watching, never moving. The plump white clouds float overhead. It’s so steep that its head reaches beyond the silky, feathery, creamy clouds. Calm like still, silent water the mountains are noiseless. The wind beats down on the solid tops of the tall hill. Steep drops await careless travellers who wander down their slippery, spiral slopes. Whistling, the gusts of wind don’t move the sturdy mountains.
Megan Pine (8W)
The Green Mountain Confidently, the mountain spied over the ghylls running down its rocky spine like a rock god guarding its green heaven. The head of the curious
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature Year 7s: Summer Camp (continued) mountain poking its nose in the clouds; it clumsily dropped its rocks onto its feet. Like it had a mouth of its own, the caves inhaled gushes of wind. The fresh smell of lavender thickened the cool, refreshing, crisp air. The sun beamed down! Despite having no
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hands, the trees did a spectacular job as they raced their apples down the hillside! The mountains were never alone, as long as the world kept turning...
Morgan Gillam (8W)
Activities Week: Monday 8
Lake District- home to the mountains and rivers! White water rushes down the slippery slopes of the river. Rocks scramble down the little water falls as water pressure flings them about. Smells of fresh air cuddles your lungs. Mountains, which climb to the sky, cascade around rivers. Rivers puncture holes where the mountains sleep creating valleys; some rivers
are stationed halfway up mountains; they’re the ones who are left to swarm down the huge drops. As careful as ants, the water twists and turns down the spiralling paths. Fluffy white balls of cotton slurp from the refreshing, swirl-pools of water while listening to a peaceful humming noise.
Hollie Wicking (8A)
8th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature
Glorious Ghylls Like a snake moving through the grass, the crystal clear water slithered through the rocks, creating an exquisite sight. The smell of fresh air ran through the hills. The water runs down the hill, in a race against other ghylls, like rain falling from the sky. Crashing is the sound it makes; the water crashes into the rocks- which were shining silver colours. Gliding through the water, children slid, jumped and dived into the rushing water. Along the sides of the ghyll, stood sheep who were dipping their heads into it to take a drink. It is a breathtaking view.
Katie Merritt (8R)
The Ghyll The ghyll’s rocks were in a dark
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disguise. Concealed under the water, they were slimy and seemed to be shivering in the icy water along with the children. Trees sprouted from the earth, children clung to their branches; outstretched arms reaching to clumsy infants. The children marched on as a troop of laughter and chattering. They lined up to jump and when they did, spikes of water jabbed their skin, cold metallic needles. However their laughter provided a soft cushionlike landing and no harm was done. They ;left the splashing behind and continued on. The ghyll is now peaceful again.
Fiona Bentley (8R)
Ghyll Scrambling! The sound of whistling wind, which was as loud as crashing symbols, rung in all the children’s ears. Every
Activities Week: Monday 8
The blue flow The calm Ghyll flowed gracefully like a person wore an eye catching, brightly wave of blue ribbons. Unexpectedly, coloured hat; Small teeth chattered a red helmet plunges into the water. as they plunged into the glacial water. Finally reaching the surface, the smell Shocking blue skin submerged and of pine trees is lingering in the air. The all the pupils rushed to get out of the water is now gushing; blustering as unbearably cold river. more bodies follow, jumping one after The sky was grey and cloudy; the sun the other. The slightly murky water is was nowhere to be seen. The huge a blanket of ice freezing every part of waterfall was white horses dancing as what ever enters it‌ they fell into the water. A salty throatThe boisterous splashes slam into the tickling smell filled the air whilst icy cold rocks then trickle of their faces, back water splashed and sploshed against into the river. A gloomy cave swallows slippery boulder-like rocks. the running water as it travels into the Evie Paget (8W) darkness – Where does this ongoing trail end?
Grace Day (8A)
8th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature Year 7s: Summer Camp Lake Tarn At the peak of the mountain there is a sapphire blue lake that fishes swarm over. The fishes seem to love bread as shown when the curious children throw it in from the safety of the overlooking bridge. The whole scene was tranquil and peaceful until Warlingham School arrived with their brightly coloured clothes and Jelani’s handsome face. A little way away from the lake lays a treacherous bog that only people with true hearts can cross. The blackened
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mud glimmered in the milky yellow sunlight. Blustering violently, the wind sends unnerving shivers through all the hiker’s spines.
Jelani Allman (8A) Aquamarine Waterfall!
The crystal clear water drops down the waterfall like rain out of the sky; perfectly falling into place. Clambering over rocks and sliding down the rough surface, with the slight waft of dirt drifting past. The soft sound
Activities Week: Monday 6
of trickling water while the relaxing atmosphere spreads. The water, it’s ice-cold and runny, gently slipping down its fall. A stunning far view and a peaceful close-up. The sun gleams down on the water, slowly burning it up. The turquoise water, with the base colour of a deep sapphire with streaks of dazzling emerald and magnificent canary yellow. An exquisite view.
Rebecca Lemasson-Pringle (8R)
Sheep on the Hills Sheep, like ivory clouds, trudge up, around and over the majestic mountains, fascinating tourists as they
come and go. Coated in knotty fur, they look as though they haven’t ever been cleaned. The smell is rather pungent and leaves a displeasing stench in the air… Measured up against the monstrous mountains; the sheep look as minute as specs of dust. Their interesting sounds echo through the hills being heard from everywhere. Their thick layer of fur is covered from top to bottom in mud, as they cross streams of gushing water. On this marvellous mountain there are sheep to be found everywhere.
Amy Kennison (8R)
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature Year 7s: Trip to the Science Museum
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Activities Week: Monday 6
In July 2015, all of the Year 7s who didn’t go on the camping trip went to the Science Museum. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and found out a lot more about gravity and rockets. To start off, we were all counted as we went into the coach, and then we all were on our way. I sat next to my friends and saw lots of buildings and
cars that looked really small from the coach. It was a long journey; most of us played games on our phones, some listened to music, and others just played games with their friends. But finally, we arrived. Now, all we had to do was walk... before arriving at the Science Museum! First stop was the Launchpad. The
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature bag containing our lunches was put in a caged box that was a cool royal blue colour. There were loads of experiments to do in the Launchpad and I had a go on most of them. There was an experiment relating to velocity, in three glass tubes that could be turned around. There was a golden syrup-like tube (that had the lowest velocity) and one that was a deep orange that was really fast! Another experiment I completed was in a completely dark room. I walked in with some of my companions and saw a small dot of light. I looked into it and it flashed! It was a camera that went off. I exited the room, my vision still all blurry, and read the description, which said that a picture was taken of our shadows. Some of my friends went to see another experiment, so I darted into the room once again and saw my shadow, next to a very tall person; I didn’t know who was in there with me, but they were certainly not my age! To me, the rocket show was the best part of the visit. We were all told to enter a room that was eerily dark. There were some parents with small children in there. We all sat down and there was a lady standing at the front, a bit like in assembly. She told us
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about forces and demonstrated it with two chairs - on one sat a man, on the other sat a child. Two volunteers (a woman and child) were asked to push the chair, the child pushing the man and the woman pushing the child. As expected, the child pushing the man only got a little far, but the lady pushed the child and achieved a greater force. After lunch, we all were let off to explore in the rocket area. We learnt about some of the planets and about the structure of rockets. On the way back to Warlingham, I fell asleep and woke up near the Purley Way. It had been a very fun day!
Amira Hartley (8H)
Inside the ‘Launch Pad’ Inside the ‘Launch Pad’ there was a shadow reflector like a dark chamber. There were also tubes with colourful water inside; it was bubbly and eyecatching. Every few minutes there was a sharp bang from hydrogen reacting with fire, which sent the tension of shock everywhere. The smell of burning roamed the air. It was a dark room, but it was lit up by all the glowing liquids and sudden flashes. Dazzled people wandered
Activities Week: Monday 6
were amazing things to do and see. Slowly observing the science around the Next to the dim room was a vast museum. As the day bright open space containing went on more and more a metal rod which played facts were learnt some about planets, music when someone bites it. sound, light and gravity. Watching Ellie Hassam (8W) the DNA database show and learning A day at The Science Museum what it is and why it is used. The The experiments were as cool as going trip came to a close and the journey inside a rocket. The exhibits were like home began. The trip was great and a vision into the future. The rocket everyone enjoyed it. show was brilliant; great things were learnt. Being in the launch pad, there Maddie Lawrence (8R) clueless, feeling the weird machines.
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature Year 8s: Creative Arts’ Days The two Creative Arts’ Days were organised by the Art, Drama, and Music departments. Music Our theme for the Creative Arts’ Days was ‘Into the City’
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We were very lucky to have Charlie and Max from Rhythmix to come into Warlingham to host workshops on DJing, mixing and sampling. Both Charlie and Max are experienced and professional DJ’s in real life and also run many education projects.
Activities Week: Monday 6
The whole rationale behind this technology-led project was to engage young learners in Music technology, and have a hands on experience of the software used in real-life jobs of a DJ whilst creating music based around life experiences of ‘Into the City’.
Art: It’s all about teamwork
Over three action-packed days, the Year 8s worked incredibly well in teams. They constructed a kinetic installation, assembled from everyday objects, inspired by Peter Fischli and David Weiss ‘The Way Things Go’1987 Students brought their own inspiration art film. They built a tower using about living in Surrey, Croydon and lollipop sticks and plasticine, influenced surrounding areas, and used their day- by Anish Kapoor. Lastly, they made to-day lives as the backdrop to their large sculptures using classroom music. chairs, inspired by Ali Mansoor’s free-standing installation ‘Dance of The students used Mac computers, Democracy’. with Logic and Ableton software to record their own tracks using a range It was wonderful to see how well the of stimuli from Garage, Hip-hop, students could think outside the box, House, Triphop and ‘pop’. embracing the use of less traditional materials to construct their Art. Students also created their own ‘free’ compositions – using PC’s and Mrs Sula Soundation to create a sound collage Head of Art of a journey from here at Warlingham, through the leafy Surrey countryside, through suburbia and the many sounds and styles of music and into the heart of the city. Their group work for this was amazing! They used samples of sounds and original music to create their soundscapes with very little input from the teachers – they were very independent and determined learners.
Mr Duff Head of Music
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature
Year 8s: Forensic Science Day in order to come to a conclusion. On Forensic Science Day, Year 8s became forensic scientists for the day. There was one matching sample soil samples from Martin Marmoset’s Mr Gibbons, a former Warlingham Secondary School teacher had gone shoes matched soil found at the crime missing from the school. Those who scene. had last seen the victim, were treated Then we carried out another investigation - this time we were as suspects. First, we looked at soil from the three analysing fingerprints. We had the prints of the three suspects and we suspects’ shoes and compared it had recent prints from chairs at the with soil found at the crime scene,
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Activities Week: Monday 6
crime scene. Martin Marmoset’s prints were found to be a match and therefore he was again a possible suspect. The investigation progressed throughout the day. We compared samples of hair on the suspects’ clothing, with hair found at the crime scene, but the hair found at the scene was strange. It didn’t look like human hair, it looked like cat hair! We found that each of the suspects had strands of a different type of hair on their clothing, possibly from their pets. Next, we investigated paint samples.
We put the paint powder on a stick and held it over a bunsen burner. We observed the colour of the flame. And that gave us a new prime suspect: Gilroy Gibbons. Our final investigation consisted of blood tests, which resulted in us finding Martin Marmoset’s blood on Mr Gibbons’ lab coat. In conclusion, analysis of results from all the investigations show that Martin Marmoset was the person who had kidnapped Mr Gibbons!
Kimberley Horvath (9H)
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature Year 9s: PGL
example, we did kayaking, which was more work than it seemed. Steering consisted of carefully tipping to the side and then using the paddles to swing ourselves around. We then did the 5-star challenge in which you needed a certain level of bravery that I Here three students, who attended last did not have. The 5-star challenge was a series of year, report their experiences: challenges that you would have to do, The Water Activities by Charis whilst avoiding falling in. The 1st star Fernandez (10A) was to stand up in your kayak, bearing The water activities were some of in mind that the kayaks were really the best things we did all week. For In July, 120 Year 9 students went away to PGL Boreatton Park, which is located in Shropshire. Over the course of the week, they participated in a variety of different activities, including water sports, climbing, quad-biking and zip-wire.
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,
Activities Week: Monday 6
,
wobbly. But you have to find the other stars out for yourself by attending the next PGL trip, if you are brave enough… Next was canoeing. This was the most relaxing activity we did on water. There would be four people in your boat; two in the middle; one in front; and one in back. Although there is no immediate risk of falling in, we played a game called ‘fruit salad’, which was moving from boat to boat. I was lucky and avoided falling in.
But, by far the best activity of all was raft-building. You were bound to fall in the lake with this one, or if not, you’d be pushed in by a certain Mr Garwell. First, you had to plan the raft design
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature Year 9s: PGL and learn the knots you were going to use. Then came the difficult part, building the raft itself. This helped with team building skills and you really felt you’d achieved something afterwards. Eventually, your raft would be in pieces. Getting on the raft was a challenge and avoiding getting your feet wet was impossible. There were lots of little competitions to win but it ends up being a huge water fight. I won’t spoil the rest for you, but remember to wear old clothes. These were the only water sports, if you don’t count the activities where it rained! The High Activities by Connie Hill (10A) The days soon came for everyone to face their fears and jump, swing, or leap off something high, wobbly and dangerous! First we had high ropes, the deadliest of them all! This consisted of getting shoved off a pea sized platform; swinging in mid-air for what felt like a life time; grabbing on to some ropes to pull you along and finally balancing on a paper-thin tightrope. While all this was happening your team mates were losing their voices by shouting at you to carry on.
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Next there was the Jacob’s ladder, which was all about trust. You were put in a group of three and told to climb this 30 metre high ladder with gaps that got bigger as you went up. When you finally reached the top of the ladder, you would abseil back down with your team bellowing their support.
Activities Week: Monday 6
Also there was the leap of faith! A truly terrifying experience for those brave people who did try it. The idea was to climb up a pole and stand up on this tiny platform. The problem is, the whole pole wobbled the more you moved. So the art of this was to be still. When the time came, you jumped of the pole and reached out to grab the trapeze that was hanging, just out of everyone’s reach. If you missed,0000 you were suspended in mid-air until they got you down. However, if you managed to grab the trapeze it was quite an enjoyable moment.
These were a few of the high rope activities the current Year 9s will experience later this year, should they go on PGL. The Evening Activities and Accommodation by Kitty Rimell (10A) During year 9’s stay at PGL, every evening after dinner (which was usually hot and very delicious) we did activities, for example, dodge ball and trampoline netball. One evening we had to do a series of tasks, where we had to find the smallest space and try to fit every team member in that space.
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature Year 9s: PGL
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Activities Week: Monday 6
Another example was picture passport, where we had to search for the tallest member of staff at PGL and take a picture with them, then hurry back to our teachers for our next task. However my team preferred making a short horror movie. We had to find a creepy place on site and film a typical horror movie scene, using our phones, then report back to the teachers. After these activities we had some free time which we could either spend outside or in our rooms. Our rooms had practical bunk beds and a clean bathroom with a small shower in. Some of the rooms were bigger than others depending on how many people you wanted to share with in your room. Some people had six beds in their room whereas others had four. This resulted in a slightly smaller room but still as comfortable.
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature Year 9s: London Bridge Experience
On Friday, 10th July, we got to school at normal time and registered. After that, we went to the meeting point and were put into our groups. Then we got the train to London. When we arrived at the London Dungeons, my first thought was that it was small, but it still seemed scary. As we queued outside, we could hear scary music and as we went in, it was already dark. We queued for a little while and then went in a room. Page 36
We were told a story about what our journey was going to be like. The first room was all about the Romans and the war. We sat down in a camp and chanted a song and we chose a leader. After that, we went into a pub from back in the day. We spoke about diseases, and other gross things. Suddenly, we heard a gunshot. The man on duty went outside with his pistol, but luckily it was a false alarm.
Activities Week: Monday 6
The next room showed people who had been cut up and had their heads put on spikes! We went through to a photo booth and got some scary photos. Then we went into a small room and watched a clip. And then, we all had to stand in a line, holding the shoulders of the person in front, so that we could be led out. I was third from the back, with two boys behind me. It was dark and very spooky. We had to crawl through tight spaces and there were things dangling off the ceiling. There were people dressed as clowns, screaming our names.
The final room was like a chainsaw massacre room; a man chased us up the stairs. The two boys behind me started screaming and pushed in front of me so I was left at the back. I was laughing the whole way through as the boys wouldn’t stop screaming! It was so funny. Finally, we went to the gift shop where they had some very cool souvenirs. The whole day was such a good experience and I would highly recommend it.
Eve Toogood (10A)
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature Year 9s: Team Challenge While half of the Year 9s were away on PGL, the remaining students participated in ‘Team Challenge’ - a three-day event designed to develop teamwork and leadership skills - for the first three days of Activities Week. On the first day, the students are
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allocated to either ‘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 swap so that they get to experience both activities.
Activities Week: Monday 6
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature
During ‘Calendar Wars’, the students work in teams of five to produce, market and work out the break-even 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 teams of 8-10 and have to create a strategy for the success of their nation state, negotiate treaties with other teams, be subject to action by the United Nations and design a national flag, national costume etc. for their nation.
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Activities Week: Monday 6
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 a series of
mental and physical challenges that developed good teamworking skills.
Melanie Filmer B & E / Marketing Manager
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature Year 12s: Work-shadowing and UCAS
Like many students at Warlingham, I wish to go on to university after completing my A-Levels. More specifically, I personally wanted to go on and study Economics. That, however, was the extent of my brief knowledge regarding university. I had absolutely no idea how I would go about applying, or what I would need to apply, or what it would cost, nor any comprehension of alternative options available to me. Needless to say it was a starkly overwhelming proposition!
the school made available by the name of UniFrog. With this tool I was quickly able to compare universities in a widespread number of categories, starting salary after university, entry requirements, distance from home, average living costs – the programme does all of the hard work for you! This was great to procure an initial understanding of what universities I was considering, but I remained none the wiser on many other university aspects.
Having been through the lower school, I was already aware of general Thankfully, the school was able to proceedings during activities week. help myself and the plethora of other Year 12 students, though, are treated students in a perceivably similar to “UCAS week”. This week is taken situation. The first port of call, was a programme up in its entirety by preparation for university or apprenticeships.
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Activities Week: Monday 6
The Monday and Tuesday are allocated as days in which students can complete work shadowing placements, although students are allowed to complete their work shadowing at another time should they wish to do so. On the Wednesday, there was a trip to the University of Portsmouth. For someone like myself, who had not visited any universities prior to the trip, it was infinitely useful to obtain an understanding of how universities worked and to get a feel for the courses by going to chosen lectures. We spent the Thursday and Friday starting our UCAS application forms, with the help of our tutors. Additionally, on these days, there were a number of guest speakers who
kindly gave up their time to inform us of various other options - one of which was the idea of studying abroad, which was certainly informative from my point of view as I already retained pre-conceived ideas that it would be too expensive, or too complicated to organise. As previously mentioned, I was surprised to hear that my original thoughts could not be further from the truth. We were also introduced to school leaver’s programmes courtesy of a representative from the audit and finance company KPMG. In fact, personally this was the most useful as it was something I had not contemplated but is now a path I consider my first choice after completing my A-Levels.
Chris Russell, Head Boy (13H)
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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Activities’ Week 2015 Special Feature Year 12s: DofE Gold Expedition Back in July, Chloe Myers, Abbie Robinson, Tom Fernandez, John Hamer and I went on Gold Duke of Edinburgh for our practice and final expedition. This was during a period
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of a two weeks, with two very long journeys to the Lake District and back. Fortunately, for the practice it was sunny and we had a lake which we were allowed to swim in. We spent
Activities Week: Monday 6
every evening swimming and on one occasion we were lucky enough to go rowing! Apart from all the fun, on the first day we met our mountain leader Luke who he took us on a practice expedition. After making sure we knew it all, on the second day, he gave us an easy day chilling so we spent it playing cards and once again
swimming!! After getting to know each better, we had two days back home then back to the Lake District we went.... It was final expedition time. This time we had no support from the teachers and very little help from Luke :( We met our assessor, Mike, that evening and from there we were left alone at the campsite. Sadly, it rained the majority of the time so our gear including our tents were very wet to carry. So day after day things started to get tough from all the wind and rain, late nights and early morning and injuries we had collected amongst us. However after four very tough days of walking, we all held hands through the gate of the final campsite where we found Mike, Luke and the teachers waiting to tell us we had passed our expedition!
Maisie Stock (13N)
6th - Friday 10th July 2015
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On Thursday 23rd April, 8L and 8R joined forces and ran a summer fayre style event in order to raise money for the house charity of 63 Toothbrushes. Amongst the stalls there was a cake stall, a football penalty shootout, a netball shootout, a kick-ups competition, star search and guess the sweets in the jar. We were very lucky to have perfect weather, hot and sunny, so we were able to run the event outside and this made for an even better atmosphere.
Miss Dewey did a great job as official photographer.
There were many highlights including seeing Mr Bradwell taking part in the kick-ups competition and gaining a respectable score. Mr Kinder also put in a terrific performance in the football and netball shootouts, scoring a perfect three out of three. Miss Hurst put in a great effort supporting the netball stall, encouraging lots of people to join in and put their hands in their pockets and donate. She ended up paying £14 herself and making some of the students pay debts of up to £5. The cake sale was a runaway success with vast numbers of cakes being donated. Mrs Langley’s classroom was full of exciting things and her desk was covered in cakes so many that she found it tricky to teach her morning lessons. Miss Wallis came over and offered us lots of support and also
Jessie Burden, Katie Stanford, & Sascha Webber (9L) and Daisy Calthorpe & Anna Wainwright (9R)
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There were several prize winners including Lewis Barr who won the Kick-ups competition, Josh Corvaglia who won the star search and Mrs Randall who guessed the number of sweets in a jar. This event has raised over £215 so far with more to come in from additional cake sales and netball debts to be paid. Thank you to all the staff and students who supported us.
During the House Prize Giving at the end of the summer term we were very fortunate to be able to welcome Joe and Sophie Dias to the school. Joe and Sophie are the founding directors of the Chichester House charity, 63 Toothbrushes, and they came to school in order to collect a cheque for the money that was raised by the then tutor groups 8R and 8L. Joe gave a lively speech explaining a little more about the charity and where the money would be going to that had been raised. He also mentioned that the boys in the house were particularly partial to the rare treat of a KFC dinner!
Arklow House is the orphanage that is the focus of the charity 63 Toothbrushes. Chichester House have been fundraising for this charity over the last year and it has inspired one parent to take her children there on holiday to see what life is like for the boys in the home. The trip to the orphanage inspired me and made me think how lucky Ethan Walker and Daisy Calthorpe I am to have everything I have. We were then able to present a cheque for went in the summer holidays and the £217.32 to Joe and Sophie. These orphans were so happy and joyful and two students were instrumental in the loved their games; they played football organisation and running of the event. and a lot of ping pong and although This year we are looking at organising I couldn’t understand them we still played games and laughed and had a large event involving all Chichester fun around each other. Overall, it was tutor groups to hopefully raise even a great experience and made me really more money which will go towards think about my life and how lucky I fixing the ceilings in the home and actually am and how lucky they are for perhaps treating the boys to a KFC! getting much-needed support from We are also going to continue to write to boys as pen pals and anyone Chichester’s donations. We went to have an experience and donate to the interested in doing so can see me in orphans. My mum also wanted to the English office. Furthermore, we show us how lucky we actually are. are again going to organise to send Christmas presents out to the boys as Me (Tady) my brother(Harvey), my mum we were overwhelmed by the kind and (Mandi) and my sister(Megan) went, so we could all experience it and we generous donations we received last year and the boys were so grateful and all enjoyed it. We made friends with a load of new boys and had a great new happy with the four huge parcels that experience and I hope one day some arrived! of you can go visit them too.
Mrs Langley, English Teacher Page 47
Tady Keane (7L) Page Page 47
Year 11 GCSE History Trip
Year 11 History students participated in an educational visit to the Somme and the D-Day beaches - a two-day whistle stop tour to learn as much as possible about these two battles for their controlled assessment. After an achingly early start (5am!), we set off for the Channel Tunnel. Crossing smoothly to France, we headed for the Canadian Cemetery at Beaumont-Hamel. After lectures Page 48
about the structure of the front-line, we paid our respects and admired the commemorative statue of the Canadian caribou. Our next stop was the Lochnagar Crater, a huge scar left by a mine whose explosion was so forceful that it rattled windows in Southern England.
This was followed by an explanation of tank warfare. The first day ended with a stop for food at a local hostelry. On Friday, our first stop was Pegasus Bridge, where we heard about the courageous efforts of British Paratroopers to keep vital lines of communication open. We then went off to the D-Day trenches, hearing of the technological advances made during the Allies’ assault on the Atlantic Wall and we saw how British ingenuity enabled us to supply our troops with a floating Mulberry Harbour, the remnants of which the world still sees. Page 49
Year 11 GCSE History Trip
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Our final visit was very emotional and our students participated in the laying of the wreath on the Bayeux Memorial. Mr Weston and Paige Pickering read the Ode of Remembrance, which brought a lump to many a throat. Every student chose an individual grave to lay their own poppies on, thus each student had a personal and relevant act of remembrance. The students and teachers learned a great deal and honoured the supreme sacrifice made by those who defended our freedoms and ensured the survival of the individual nations of Europe.
Mr Dicks Head of History
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Maths Challenges 2014/2015 UKMT Maths Challenge Each year selected students at Warlingham School are entered in to the UKMT Maths Challenge. The UKMT Individual Maths Challenges are lively, intriguing multiple choice question papers, which are designed to stimulate interest in maths in large numbers of students. The three levels cover the secondary school range 11-18 and together they attract over 600,000 entries from over 4,000 schools and colleges. There are two categories for the challenges; ‘Junior’ for students in Year 8 and ‘Intermediate’ for students in Year 9. Last term, the Maths Department was proud to receive the following results and would therefore like to congratulate each student with their effort and achievement.
Anyaeji, Holly Lawless, Aidan Kavanagh, Aram Rounagh, Siobhan Chou, Daniel Harwood, Lucie Scott and Jessica Maynard UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge Best in School Certificate: Alex Perfect Best in Year Certificate: Alex Perfect Silver Certificate: Alex Perfect and Daisy Millington Bronze Certificate: Nicholas Jones, Rhianna Patel, Harriet Emery, Jonathan Owusu, Jack Bishop, Neal Ridgway, Ethan Kaye, Beth Sharp, Samuel Runge, Dylan Tahirovic and Molly Beaven Alex Perfect writes about his experiences in the UKMT Maths Challenge competition in the next article.
Congratulations goes to: UKMT Junior Maths Challenge University of Southampton Maths Best in School Certificate: Sam Coole Challenge Best in Year Certificate: Sam Coole For the third consecutive year, Gold Certificate: Sam Coole and students from Warlingham School Jessica Dartnell were selected to enter the University of Silver Certificate: Alex Corvaglia, Katie Southampton’s Maths Challenge and Senior Maths Challenge. The Maths Bentley and Blake Plows Challenge is aimed at students in Year Bronze Certificate: Charles Trzcinski, 8 or below, and the Senior Challenge is Adam Dunn, Shleena Coulson, Tyrell aimed at students in Year 10 or below. Read, Ga-young Park, Elizabeth Page 52
The competitions consist of interesting and challenging mathematical questions which the students attempt in their own time. The most successful students in the Challenge and Senior Challenge were invited, with their parents and teachers, to attend an evening of mathematical celebration in June at the University of Southampton, at which the prizes and certificates were awarded. In the 2015 competition, we submitted a total of 188 student entries from Years 7 through to Year 10. Last term, the Maths Department was proud to receive the following results and would like to congratulate each
student who entered for their effort and achievement. Congratulations goes to: Certificate of Distinction (Maths Challenge): Alexander Hadouka-Taylor (was 7H) Certificate of Merit (Senior Maths Challenge): Daisy Millington (was 9W) and George Ross (was 10N) Alexander Hadouka-Taylor reports on his experience at the celebration evening at the University of Southampton after Alex’s article.
Miss Owens Maths Teacher Page 53
UKMT Maths Challenge Enrichment Day Making the most of opportunities that come your way is something that I decided to do. Every year, all of the students in Set 1 for maths at Warlingham School get a chance to participate in the Maths Challenge during which they compete and are recognised for their Maths skills. This is a hard competition as there are around 5,000 students from many schools around Surrey that take part. The top 70 students from all round the country that receive the highest grading, go up to The Royal Institute for Mathematics in London and represent their school for the day at a Maths Masterclass. When I first competed in the Maths Challenge, I was in Year 8. I looked at the exam questions but I just gave up and didn’t complete it. I didn’t believe in myself and I thought that I wasn’t smart or good enough to be able to succeed. However in Year 9 I decided to have more faith in myself, work hard to stay focused and always tried every opportunity that came my way. So I decided this time I would take part in the 2015 Maths Challenge; I told myself that I would try my best and not give in. I not only ended up getting the top grade in school but I also got chosen as one of the 70 students to go up to London! Page 54
I was so surprised and proud of what I had been able to achieve; it felt great being able to go to the Royal Institute although I was a little nervous. I am so proud of myself for not giving in because it was a fantastic day. I was there for the whole day and got to take part in three lectures all about maths and how we use it in all aspects of life. One of the lectures was about efficiency and how to solve certain problems like how an airline could get the most profit from a flight. The second was about chemistry and the third was about physics, all of which were very interesting. I also met some new people that I have stayed in contact with. It was a great opportunity and one that I not only enjoyed but I felt that it has helped me and will continue to help me in the future. So I want everyone to know if you are given the chance to participate in the Maths Challenge or any challenge, take it. Who knows? You may end up getting one of the top places like me and even if you don’t, at least you have tried and will feel good about yourself for trying.
Alex Perfect (10A)
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Southampton Maths Challenge found where the prizegiving was, we were signed in and given a schedule of what would be happening. First, we would have a buffet and welcoming, then the actual prizegiving and finally, the lecture.
During the Spring Term, all Maths Set 1 students throughout the school attempted a maths challenge set by Southampton University – the 15th one - with a theme of ‘Alice in Wonderland’. It was quite hard! After a few months, we got the results back and three students from Warlingham School - including me had won something!
When we came in, we sat at a table with three puzzles, a metallic rings puzzle where you had to separate the rings, and a sliding tiled puzzle and a complex puzzle in the shape of a cylinder where you had to twist inner rings to get coloured circles to match up. The metal rings and the sliding tiles were the easiest to do, but the cylinder was very difficult and I couldn’t complete it! And then we had the buffet which was extremely nice!
After this, the winners went down to the hall without the adults and we On the 3rd of June, I went to the were seated in the order of winning prizegiving. It took two hours to get so it would be easier to give out the there. When we arrived, I realised how prizes. Then the adults came in and big Southampton really was. When we Page 56
sat wherever they wanted. We then received the prizes starting with merits, then distinction, 3rd prize, 2nd prize and then 1st prize. They did the maths challenge first and then senior challenge winners next. After all of this we had a talk about Alan Turing and the Turing machine. After this, we took any more photos
we wanted to and then went home. It was a very good experience!
Alexander Hadouka-Taylor (8H) Page 57
French exchange trip to Bordeaux On the 27th September, seven Year 10 would be spending the week. After and two Year 11 students travelled to a nervous first meeting, we spent the Bordeaux, France. rest of Sunday with our host families, during which time most of us sampled After a short flight, we arrived in typical French food. Bordeaux in the late afternoon. We collected our baggage and then met the exchange students with whom we
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On Monday morning, we all went to school with our French students and
attended their morning lessons. Later, in the afternoon, we went to Bordeaux where we saw many of the sights and had a ride on a carousel. On Tuesday morning we had more lessons at school and then went for a bicycle ride in the vineyards. With hardly any crashes, it was an activity
we all enjoyed. Wednesday came and we had more lessons at school. In France, school ends halfway through the day on Wednesday, so some of us went shopping with our host students. Thursday was one of the best days; we visited Dune du Pilat with the
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French exchange trip to Bordeaux French students. Dune du Pilat is a sand dune - a large pile of sand - near the ocean. After climbing to the top we saw how amazing the view was. To get back down, some of us ran whilst some of us rolled. Afterwards, we spent the rest of the day at the beach. On Friday, we went surfing. We met at school in the morning and were
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soon on our way. After getting our wet suits and boards, we were soon in the water. It was the perfect day for surfing, although not many of us managed to stand up! On Saturday, each of us spent the day with our host students and their families. Some of us went shopping whilst others went to see a basketball match. Sunday was our final day, and after
spending the morning with our host families, we met up at the airport and said goodbye to the friends we’d made. After lots of hugs and tears, we finally said goodbye. We are looking forward to welcoming them to England in March. We would like to thank Mrs Smales for organising the trip and coming with us, along with Estee.
Emily Wakeman (10L)
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Community Sports’ Leader Award
Yet again, we have been lucky to have a keen and motivated group of students who were on our enrichment course, helping to develop and encourage sport in the primary sector of the community. Jack Collins, Emma Fossett, Adam Ledger, Oliver Meadows, Francesca Onslow, Jodie Payne, Ross Pizzey, Daniel Roberts, Marcelle Rowe, Maisie Stock, Page 62
Lydia Turner and Abigail Warner all successfully completed the course and have shown themselves to be excellent role models and leaders in sport. Their volunteering did much to improve the amount of feedback and help the primary children could receive on a Wednesday afternoon in their schools. It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm of the primary children responding
positively to our sixth form leaders. Our sixth formers grew in confidence throughout the course and in addition to providing curriculum support on a Wednesday, volunteering in a range of other sports out in the community, they also helped to organise and deliver our annual primary swimming gala and cross country competition. Volunteering is key to the success of
this course and each year we select one student who has volunteered and contributed the most to this subject. This year it gave us pleasure to award the Cup to Masie Stock. Giving something back to the community, in which they live, is what they all did. Well done!
Mrs .Salem PE Teacher
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Judith Standen, HR Manager & Karen Lottin, PA to the Headteacher many young people, and although my role is not directly working with our students on a day to day basis, I will do my best to ensure that the HR function supports the school in achieving its aims.
It’s funny how life sometimes goes in circles; here I am working back in my chosen profession at the school where I was once a pupil. A true ‘Warlingham’ girl, I am really excited to be working in my local community and am totally committed to providing an excellent HR service to the school. In my opinion it is a privilege to work in an environment which will make a difference to the future of so Page 64
I grew up in Warlingham, attended Hamsey Green Primary School and was a pupil at Warlingham School in the 1980’s. I have really fond memories of the school and it’s so nice to come back! I have had many years experience of working in Personnel/HR and since having my children have set up and run my own business and also worked in school administration. In my spare time my family keeps me busy. I have two sons, one of whom is a Year 9 pupil at Warlingham School and my youngest will be coming here next year. We are all very sport orientated and as such I am either
playing badminton with them (I run my own club) or standing at the side of a tennis court or football pitch cheering the boys on! At the time of writing I have only been working here three weeks, but am really enjoying it. Everyone has been so welcoming and I am looking forward to the next few years of my career.
Judith Standen H R Manager
I was absolutely thrilled to get the job as Headteacher’s PA. Since joining at the start of term, I have been made to feel part of the team and have found all the staff so welcoming and ready to help me settle in at Warlingham. There is a really positive vibe in this school, and it is clearly well run, successful and full of friendly and dedicated people. I do hope my previous experience, commitment and energy will add value to the smooth running of the Headteacher’s office. Before joining Warlingham, I spent five years working in the Principal’s admin team at East Surrey College. I worked closely with the Governing Body and all the members of the Senior Leadership Team. Prior to working in Education, I spent over 20 years working full time in London for AstraZeneca PLC, one of
the world’s largest Pharmaceuticals companies. My early years were spent as a PA in Human Resources, followed by 15 years in the Public Relations team, managing a wide range of communication projects such as corporate branding, print and online media, video production, database design and management, photography, events and exhibitions and corporate sponsorship and hospitality. My husband Frederic is French, and we have two lovely teenage daughters, aged 14 and 17. Family life is a blur, but any spare time I do get is usually spent gardening, playing badminton or catching up with family and friends, oh and providing a taxi service for the girls. I was actually very sporty in my youth, even captain of the school netball and rounders teams. These days, however, I only occasionally watch sport on TV, although it does make for some lively exchanges whenever England and France compete! I really enjoy my job and the challenge of spinning lots of plates at the same time. I have so much to learn but I will work hard to get up to speed so that I can fully support the school across all of its activities.
Karen Lottin Headteacher’s PA Page 65
Staff News and Important Information for Parents Staff News
Parent Portal
We would like to say farewell to our School Business Manager, Alex OakParsons, who left over the summer to focus on her family. We thank her for her service to the school and wish her well in her future endeavours.
We would like to remind you about Parent Portal – the system which allows you to update your contact details, emergency contact details and information about your child’s medical and dietary needs.
Parents’ Forum
It is very important that whenever your contact information and/or your child’s medical information changes, you update the information that the school holds. The simplest way for you to do this is by logging in to our online parent portal system - by selecting Parents and then Parent Portal from the tabs at the top of the school’s website homepage - and updating the information yourself. The system is designed to be user-friendly, so you should find it relatively easy to use.
Health, Wellbeing and Relationships Thursday 19th November 2015 We would like to consult with parents on our bid to achieve the “Healthy Schools” award. In particular, we would like your advice, feelings and reflection on the areas of mental health, risk management, relationships education, food and physical activity.
If you are interested in finding out more, getting involved or giving us It is your responsibility to check that your opinions on these important areas, please join us on Thursday 19th the information is correct and that all fields are completed correctly. The November, 2015. school cannot take responsibility This is an exciting opportunity for for failure to submit the correct and parents and carers to have a direct complete information. However, impact on school policy and curriculum we would like to reassure you that delivery. as a security measure, before any If you can join us on 19th November information you update overwrites please contact Reception by phone the information already held on our 01883 624067 or by email: info@ system, administrative staff will crosswarlinghamschool.co.uk. check it against any information we Page 66
already hold and if necessary will contact you with any queries.
that the information we hold is up-todate; this reminder will be included as part of the letter-giving information concerning each particular trip.
Please note that the school cannot accept requests to remove a parental contact using this system. Should this Please also note that the school is moving towards email communication become necessary, please contact as the most common means of your child’s Head of House. communication, so we would be If your child is intending to go on a grateful if you could please add your school trip, it is crucial that you make preferred contact email address(es) sure that all the emergency contact details along with your child’s medical when you log in to Parent Portal. and dietary requirements is up-to-date. The lead staff member for each trip will be responsible for asking you to check
Mr Seward Assistant Head
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Widening Horizons Raising Aspirations
Warlingham School Address: Tithepit Shaw Lane, Warlingham, Surrey, CR6 9YB Tel: 01883 624067 Fax: 01883 624026 Email: info@warlinghamschool.co.uk Website: www.warlinghamschool.co.uk