The events taking place in the Ukraine cannot help but put our challenges into perspective and remind us to cherish the safety and freedoms we sometimes take for granted. All that being said, it is interesting to note that our COVID-19 figures remain significant enough to continue to place high demands on covering teachers and setting work for absent students. I say that only because it has felt somewhat like the confirmation of examinations, coupled with the removal of COVID-19 restrictions and testing expectations, has given the impression that school is very much back to business as usual. While sadly this is not the case, this newsletter yet again highlights the incredible hard work of both staff and students keeping our community spirit strong, as well as showing support for those affected by the conflict in the Ukraine. I am excited that this newsletter is timed to coincide with the launch of our new website and sincerely hope that, as the main users, you will find it meets your needs. Please do use the email address on page 6 of the newsletter to provide us with any helpful feedback to make it even better.
It impossible not to be hugely inspired by Zac’s Marathon Run to give back to those who have supported his family through his little brother’s leukaemia diagnosis and treatment. He truly embodies the personal attributes and character that our school values of courage, commitment and kindness promote, and I hope that our school community really helps him raise a lot of money for a very worthy cause. As I said in my opening, the news we are seeing from the Ukraine makes for harrowing viewing. I hope the advice shared with parents and carers to help support our children in processing what is happening and managing their exposure to the news in support of their own mental health and wellbeing, has been helpful. As a school community, we continue to support those affected by the war in Ukraine through fundraising events like that included on page 5 and parents may wish to make donations through WisePay in support of this.
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Despite all that remains to challenge our students and our school, it is fantastic to see the innovation, engagement and commitment of students to their learning that are evident in the pages of this newsletter. Thank you for all that you do and are doing to support your child in contributing to and benefiting from the school community.
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Dates for your Diary Friday 1st April
Last day of Term
Tuesday 19th April
Inset Day
Wednesday 20th April
Inset Day
Thursday 21 April
Summer Term Starts
The Warlingham Learner
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Heidi’s Cakes & Warlingham fundraising for Ukraine Local bakery ‘Heidi’s Cakes’ teamed up with Warlingham School & Sixth Form College to help raise money and awareness for Save the Children Ukraine. Heidi’s Cakes kindly donated 100 cupcakes with the Ukrainian Flag piped on the top for us to sell to students on 10th March. Boxes of 6 cupcakes were available to purchase and together we raised £220 for the charity. We must give a massive thank you to Heidi’s Cakes and the students who ran the event exuding or Warlingham Learner values of courage, commitment and kindness: Taefion M, Dara A, Emily P, Harry R, Erin K, Matilda K and Billy H.
www.heidiscakes.com
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Launching our brand new website We are delighted to launch our brand new website www.WarlinghamTLT.co.uk. For the past few months, we have been working hard behind the scenes to develop and build our new website. We have listened to parent feedback about our old website and developed our new website design, functionality and content with this in mind.
Warlingham is part of the Tandridge Learning Trust (TLT) and all the schools in the Trust have brand new websites with the same look and feel, whilst retaining their own individual identities. Our new website address www.WarlinghamTLT.co.uk reflects the Tandridge Learning Trust (TLT), as well as our email addresses.
Our old website was thirteen years old. The technology limited our ability to design content in a modern and attractive way and it took a long time to make amendments to pages. Our new website brings with it the latest technology and the benefits include:
We hope we have made it easier for you to navigate around our new website. You will find content on the top toolbar (figure 1) is organised under the headings:
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A brand new design, look and feel
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Improved navigation and usability
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Updated content and information
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New photos and imagery
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A news section where up to date news articles will be published
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Updated College section with extra functionality including College social media feeds
About us Information Curriculum Health & Wellbeing College News & Events Join Us When clicking into one of these sections, the menu on the left hand side of the screen (figure 2) will navigate you to more detail. Our website will evolve over time, and we have further enhancements and developments planned in the near future. If you have any feedback or suggestions you’d like to share with us, we’d love to hear from you. Email Marketing@WarlinghamTLT.co.uk.
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Figure 1
Figure 2
When you first go to our website, you may find the old website showing because you’re seeing a cached version. You will need to do a hard refresh: if using Chrome or Edge, close it, reopen it and press CNTRL+F5 and then go to the website and the new site should appear. For other internet browsers, click here for information.
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Creative Writing Club revival Poems such as ‘Feminism’, written by my Year 9 class, have inspired me to revive the Creative Writing club at Warlingham. Students voiced their interest in having a space to express themselves creatively through their words, without the constraints of classroom tasks – and I have heard them loud and clear! The Creative Writing Club will have loosely based sessions that encourage students to find themselves in their writing, to instil a passion for writing again and to give them an opportunity to explore literature in a way that they may not get to in the classroom. Work completed in the Club will count towards House Points and House competitions, and some will be celebrated in the newsletter and school assemblies as well.
We do need your help, as parents, to help make this club as successful as it can be. We ask you to please share any contacts you may have in the creative writing industry, be it authors, poets, speakers, editors, journalists, workshops, etc. Any contacts you provide would be greatly appreciated by myself, the English Team and all students at Warlingham. Please email me any details at K.Harris@WarlinghamTLT.co.uk Further details about when and where the club will take place will follow shortly. Finally, a massive thank you to all of those in 9Y1A for constantly inspiring me!
We’re looking to expose students to a range of exciting opportunities including journal writing, writing in quills and ink and careers in the creative writing industry, to name a few.
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Feminism
“Why are you a Feminist?” he asked me. Because it’s the random catcalling and the looks on the street
It’s the gender oppression and “only tight clothes” in P.E It’s the sexism being normalized and the misogyny And the slut shaming when showing skin for me.
It’s the walking at night without being carefree. And the gender-based sports, but the teachers would hate to agree. It’s the going out and getting back safe with no guarantee. And the “girls are so weak and sensitive” for me.
It’s the “I won’t do it again please forgive me honey” And the expectation of being the smarter ones for me. It’s the lack of power and the patriarchy. So now ask me that again next time you question my feminist beliefs.
By Lucy J, 9M
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Votes for Schools As part of our registration activities, students have the opportunity to learn about and debate topics each week, using resources from VotesforSchools. This helps provide students with a wider understanding of current affairs, develops their empathy and kindness skills when considering sensitive issues, and also enables them to practise forming arguments and debating. Furthermore, they have their voices heard as VotesforSchools shares the voting outcomes with a variety of organisations, including governments and charities.
Recently, students have discussed the topics below. Their votes as a school can be seen below alongside the votes for Surrey and the UK.
Do punishments work?
Is the internet driving us apart?
Vote 2nd February
Vote 26th January
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Home Learning Club Is current news affecting how you feel?
In order to support our students with their home learning, we are operating a Home Learning Club, which runs from Monday to Thursday between 3.10pm and 4.10pm. The Home Learning Club is overseen by a mixture of staff who are available to support the students, who will have access to computers and a dedicated study space.
Vote 2nd March
Have recent films challenged stereotypes of women and girls?
Vote 9 March
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Please encourage students to attend should you feel that they would benefit from completing independent home learning work with in-school support, or if they would benefit from access to computers or a dedicated study space.
We have held a number of inter-house competitions this Spring Term, the results of which you can see below.
1st
Chichester
2nd
Mallory
3rd
Sharman
4th
Johnson
1st
Chichester
2nd
Johnson
3rd
Sharman
4th
Mallory
1st
Chichester
2nd
Johnson
3rd
Mallory
4th
Sharman
1st
Mallory
2nd
Johnson
3rd
Chichester
4th
Sharman
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See the round up of House Point totals below for the first Year to date. A huge congratulations to Chichester for their winning total.
Competition / Event Year 7 Open Evening Guides Merits Autumn 1st Half Term Attendance 1st Autumn Language Competition KS3 Christmas Card Competition KS4 Christmas Card Competition Merits Autumn 2nd Half Term Attendance Autumn 2nd Half Term Year 7 House Rugby Year 8 House Rugby Year 9 House Rugby Y7 House Futsal Y8 House Futsal Y9 House Volleyball Merits Spring 1st Half Term Attendance Spring 1st Half Term World Book Day Character Competition Report It Poster Competition Total
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Johnson 20 10 15 5 8 6 10 20 8 4 10 4 10 5 15 15 5 15
Chichester 15 20 20 15 6 8 20 15 5 10 4 6 6 10 10 20 20 20
Sharman 10 5 10 15 4 10 5 10 5 6 6 8 4 8 5 5 10 10
Mallory 5 15 5 15 10 0 15 5 10 8 8 10 8 5 20 10 15 0
185
230
136
164
Zac’s marathon run We are proud of our Year 13 student, Zac Priest, who is running the Brighton Marathon on 10th April to raise money for Momentum Children’s Cancer Charity, a charity which supports families whose child has cancer in London, Surrey and Sussex. In July 2021, Zac’s little brother, Theo, was diagnosed with Leukaemia when he was three years old. Theo has bravely undergone seven months of gruelling chemotherapy and will continue chemotherapy treatment until September 2024.
It’s been an incredibly challenging time for Theo and his entire family and they are grateful for the amazing support they have received from Momentum and everyone around them. In a bid to try and give something back to those who have helped the family, Zac and his father, Tim Priest, will be running the Brighton marathon to raise money for Momentum Children’s Cancer charity, who have supported them from the outset. Running a marathon will be hard and a massive challenge but that’s nothing compared to what Theo has had to go through and he will be our inspiration every step of the way.
In between studying for his A Level in History and BTECs in Business and Sport, going to work at the weekend, and spending time with Theo, Zac has been training hard to get ready for the Brighton marathon taking place on 10th April. Zac is truly embodying Warlingham’s values of courage, commitment and kindness and this is even more meaningful for our community as Zac’s
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grandmother is also the Catering Manager at Warlingham. If you would like to support Zac’s fundraising, please visit the JustGiving link here. Every donation helps this charity continue to support families like Zac’s.
You can also follow Theo’s journey on social media via Facebook and Instagram: theosjourneywith.all.
Zac’s JustGiving If you would like to support Zac’s fundraising, please visit the JustGiving link here. Every donation helps this charity continue to support families like Zac’s.
About Momentum Momentum Children’s Charity supports families whose child has cancer or other lifechallenging conditions in London, Surrey & Sussex. Through their unique support programme, offered at home and in local hospitals, they support over 240 families whose children are in treatment and a further 110 bereaved families. Click here for more information.
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Year 12 Physics students attend Harry Cliff Lecture Our Year 12 Physics class had the privilege to listen to Harry Cliff's inspiring talk about particle physics. He is a particle physicist, author and lecturer from The University of Cambridge and conducts research at CERN – the home of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), the forefront of particle physics experiments. It was interesting and he had an insurmountable amount of knowledge in his field. It was an enlightening experience and if you have any sort of interest in, and want to increase your understanding of,
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particle physics you should definitely look into something called the Higgs field and Higgs boson. He has also written a book called “How to make an apple pie from scratch”. Thank you to Woldingham School and their staff for hosting us with a very warm welcome and allowing us to enjoy that once in a lifetime experience.
Enterprising Year 12s We are delighted to announce that, as part of our College enrichment programme for the Advance Award, we have two Young Enterprise teams competing this year. Young Enterprise is an organisation funded by the Peter Jones Foundation to give young people a chance of running a successful business and learning fundamental skills including teamwork, responsibility and dedication. Our two Year 12 teams have devised their business proposals to launch a product for sale, with profits going to their chosen charity. Students, staff and parents can purchase their products via WisePay until Thursday 24th March. View their business proposals and products on the following pages.
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Fone Chic - Selling personalised phone cases Fone Chic is selling unique, stylish and affordable personalised phone cases aiming to add a personalised touch to your phone case, whilst giving back to a local charity, The Lily Foundation. Available for everyone and tailored to your taste, Fone Chic are providing clear phone cases with a name on, in a variety of colours and fonts. These cases are available for the majority of phones, including Samsung and iPhone.
Fone Chic has decided to donate all profits made to The Lily Foundation. The Lily Foundation is a local charity that is closely connected with Warlingham. Their mission is to improve the lives of people affected by mitochondrial diseases, while working towards a future where mitochondrial diseases can be effectively treated or cured. These phone cases are available on WisePay from Monday 28th February until Thursday 24th March. The phone cases cost £8.99 with no additional charges and there will be roughly a two week turn around for orders. They will be delivered to your child’s form room for
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them to take home. Fone Chic is grateful for any purchases made and is looking forward to seeing their vision come to life. If you have any questions or need more information on this product, please email Fone Chic at Fonechic.youngenterprise@gmail.com.
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Synth - Selling eco-friendly notebooks Synth are selling ecofriendly notebooks, each with an aesthetic finish and offered with lined, plain or square paper. As well as being eco-friendly, Synth takes the opportunity to give back to our community and the environment by giving all profits to the WWF foundation. Synth offers 10 different notebooks in two different ranges: The Marble Range and the Camo Range. The Marble Range consists of marble like patterning to give a unique and stylish look to your notebooks and is available in five colours including, Iridescent Red, Oceanic Blue, Midnight black, Monochromatic white, and Galaxy purple. The Camo Range consists of five camo patterned notebooks offered in colours Pink camo, Black camo, Purple camo, Navy blue camo and Jungle green camo.
product that then make an even bigger difference. Both the Marble and Camo ranges are available on WisePay from Monday 28th February until Thursday 24th March. The Notebooks cost just £4.49 with no added fees and there will be a maximum 10 day return for orders. They will be delivered to your child’s form room for them to take home and enhance their studies. Synth is grateful for any purchases are and is excited to see what the future holds for their business and vision. If there are any further enquiries on this product, please email Synth at SynthNotebooks@outlook.com.
All profits that Synth generate will be donated to the WWF foundation, which is a global foundation that helps battle against pollution and works hard to protect animals’ habitats. Synth hope to make a difference by selling eco-friendly notebooks and appreciate any purchases of our
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