As we near the Easter break, it feels like only yesterday that we were returning to school for the Spring Term. This term has been exceptionally busy for students and staff as we have returned to so many of the aspects of school life that enrich the experience of school, widen horizons and raise aspirations. While the levels of staff and student absence due to Covid-19 have presented challenges, I am proud that we have been able to continue in-school learning and particularly support students preparing for the coming examinations in the summer. Moreover, this newsletter underlines the range of opportunities that students have had to learn beyond the classroom too.
One of the elements of school life that we have missed so much during the pandemic is the opportunity to engage with our wider community and other local schools. It was fantastic to be able to host local primary schools for the Cross Country Cup
and an excellent leadership opportunity for our Sixth Form students and our Year 9 Young ambassadors that they relished and showed real confidence and character in delivering. Another example is the Year 12 students travelling to Woldingham School to take part in their STEM society quiz, coming an impressive third place and having the opportunity to meet and compete with children from other schools for the first time in a long time. In National Careers Week, all our students looked beyond the immediate horizon of their school experience to participate in activities and quizzes about careers, as well as visit the free virtual careers fair. It is exciting to witness the enthusiasm and enjoyment that students feel at being able to engage with the wider world of work and I wanted to acknowledge the excellent work of Mrs Langley in leading this area on behalf of the students and the school. It has been a term in which our aims to widen horizons and raise aspirations have been at
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the forefront of our work with students and also developing our values of courage, commitment and kindness. The World Book Day activities, Pi day and UKMT Maths Challenge all show our students developing themselves as Warlingham Learners and embodying those core values of the school. I hope you are your families have a relaxing and enjoyable Easter break and we look forward to welcoming students back for a purposeful and equally fulfilling Summer Term.
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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
UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge Success Following on from the success in previous years, some of our Year 9 and Year 10 students recently sat the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge. We had some outstanding achievements with 7 Silver certificate winners: Jayden C, George C, Thomas F, Ben I, Zarif I, Jacob W-K and Ellis W with Jayden being awarded the ‘Best in School’ award. We also had lots of bronze certificates. Congratulations to William Al, Joshua B, Cara B, Theo C-A, Abigail C, Lexie H, Charlie H, Christopher J, Matilda K, Scarlett M, Kai N, Emily P, Lucy R, Oliver S, Cymeon S-Wand Owen W for
Example Question Pete’s pies all cost an integer number of pounds. A cherry pie costs the same as two apple pies. A blueberry pie costs the same as two damson pies. A cherry pie and two damson pies cost the same as an apple pie and two blueberry pies. Paul buys one of each type of pie. Which of the following could be the amount he spends? A £16
B
D
E £24
£22
£18
C £20 See answer on page 5
their well-deserved certificates. These will be presented to them at the end of year prize giving assemblies. Well done to all of those that exhibited excellent resilience in working through the problems set.
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Year 7 Pi Day Celebration On Monday 14th March, we celebrated Pi Day and the Year 7s took part in various problem solving activities throughout the day. Pi - which is also written as π - is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle. Regardless of the circle's size, this ratio will always equal pi.
My favourite part was when we had to unscramble the mathematical words. I also enjoyed when we had 60 seconds to memorise as many digits of pi as we could, I got up to 3.141592653.
At the end of the session, students had the chance to recite pi to as many digits as they could. Students showed real courage standing in front of their peers and we had some incredible attempts. Congratulations to the top 3 students, Sophie W, who managed to remember 44 digits of Pi, Sophie D with 40 digits and Siobhan with 35.
Lois R
π π
View what some of our students enjoyed most about the day in the quotes below.
We celebrated Pi Day on the 14/3/22 because the digits of pi stated as 3.14. I enjoyed Pi Day - the activities were very fun. Jenna D
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π
We got to listen to a song which helped remind us of the digits. My friend and I managed to learn 45-50 digits of pi! Sophie D
Answer from page 4: B £18
World Book Day Competitions It was the 25th anniversary of World Book Day this year and we celebrated with two competitions.
Character Competition Our first competition was held on World Book Day, on Thursday 3rd March, and involved students racing to find the matching character pairs around the school. Staff wore one half of a famous character pair and students needed to find the matching characters. There was much excitement around the school with students battling to find all of the characters first. For some of the Year 7 students, this also helped them to meet teachers they may not have been taught by before. We are delighted to say that Matilda K (9R) completed some excellent detective work and came first place for Chichester House, closely followed by Year 7 students for Mallory including Isabelle B-W, Sade A, Lilly D, Sophie C and Aoife M. These students won a book and Easter egg. There was also a prize for the staff, which saw our Hansel and Gretel – Miss Baker in Science and Miss Chandler in Maths – finding each other first to win an Easter Egg.
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Creative Writing Competition Our second competition was held this month allowing students to get creative and write their own pieces. We asked students to write either a letter home as the character Tommo from the novel Private Peaceful or to write the opening of a detective story. Our students are currently reading Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo in Year 7 reading lessons, reading about the character Tommo’s experiences of leaving home to fight in World War One. In Year 8, classes are reading The Hound of the Baskervilles featuring Sherlock Holmes and we wanted students to create their own detectives to feature in their crime story. There
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was a winner for each House. Well done to Daniel D winning the overall prize for his thrilling opening to a detective story called ‘Creatures of the Midnight Moon’. It was an exciting first chapter with wonderful command of vocabulary. All of our winners were given a book and Easter egg. Thank you to all who took part.
1st Daniel D (8L) 2nd Elizabeth M (8N) 3rd Poppy H (7A) 4th Huda Khawaja (8H)
Year 7 Theatre Trip to Private Peaceful We had the pleasure of taking 98 Year 7 students to the theatre this month to watch a performance of Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo. This was an amazing experience as Year 7 are currently studying the novel in their reading lessons and they were able to see the characters brought to life on stage. The play – performed at Churchill Theatre in Bromley – explores the story of Tommo and Charlie, the Peaceful brothers who leave home to fight in World War One. The author of the novel, Michael Morpurgo, has written over 120 books, including War Horse and The Butterfly Lion. Private Peaceful was his 100th book, having been published in 2003, the same year that he became Children’s Laureate.
been able to enjoy this moment with them and to support the arts after such a challenging couple of years.
We were delighted to be able to see the production of the novel and to experience the characters Morpurgo has created in such a powerful way. It was the first trip to the theatre for some students and we are so pleased to have
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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.
Are neurodiversity labels helpful?
Should animals ever be tested on?
Vote 16th March
Vote 23rd March
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National Careers Week ran from 7th – 12th March and is driven to support all students to understand, realise and fulfil their careers goals. It is designed to ensure education is clearly and explicitly linked to the world of work and further learning, resulting in better decision making by students. During this week, across the school, students completed activities and quizzes and heard information about careers linked to their curriculum subjects. Many students took advantage of the free virtual careers fair that showcased over 100 employers and Further Education / Higher Education institutions, completing a treasure hunt as they navigated round the event. During registration, they watched an assembly based on the theme
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of hope for the future and raising their aspirations which also covered questions that they should be reflecting on at their current point in education. On Satchel, there were daily information sheets that had been tailored for their key stage showing videos with careers path information and highlighting sources of research for them. It was great to hear students around the school talking with teachers and other staff about their career aspirations with staff providing an insight into their own personal career paths. Thank you to all staff and students who supported and engaged with all the opportunities and resources available.
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Year 12 STEM Society Quiz at Woldingham On 23rd February, our Year 12 group took part in Woldingham School’s STEM Society Quiz in which six schools competed. Entering Woldingham’s reception, we were greeted by the host of the event, Mr Rickard, who welcomed us to the school. After signing in, we were guided to the Auditorium. On our way there, we got to have good a look around, where we saw the size of the school and a few of its corresponding facilities. When we opened the doors to the Auditorium, I was astounded by the size and amazing lighting. We were then directed to take a seat. After waiting for the other schools to arrive, we were informed of the resources at our stations and sat down at them. We started with multiple-choice questions with 10 seconds to provide an answer. In this round, we were quizzed on such topics as “When was Microsoft founded” and
“What natural element is rarest in earth's crust”. The next was a buzzer round of questions in which the fastest team would provide an answer. To discourage a team for buzzing with no answer, a point would be removed if the wrong answer was provided. In this round, we got some questions right, but sadly one of us buzzed first for a question - only to forget the answer! Questions included, “What malware is named after a possible Greek event” and, “What did the founder of the Noble prize, Alfred Nobel, most famously invent”. The third round was longer problemsolving questions where 60 seconds were provided to answer the questions. These required a lot more problemsolving and or more relevant knowledge. A couple of organic chemistry questions were
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asked, “Construct propanoic acid (using the 3-D molecules set)” and, “What is formed between ethanoic acid and propan-2-ol (using the 3-D molecules set)?”. One question where we were extremely confident was a diagram of the heart that had to be filled in. Thanks to one of the three biologists, Isabel, we made short work of it. The fourth round was engineering/ mechanics focused as we had to construct a structure which could support a tennis ball for 10 seconds - and it had to be the tallest. We were given 3 minutes to plan and 10 minutes to build using cardboard straws and masking tape. I first thought of using a Tepee design, as it is very stable while providing an excellent place for the tennis ball to rest in, whilst not compromising the structural integrity.
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However, neither I or the others knew how to construct it correctly, and so I suggested that a triangular-based construction would be best. Three of us worked on making triangles and Isabel tried to figure the holding mechanism. While working, we agreed that we would focus on the structure being sturdy and robust, instead of risking a disqualification via collapse. As the dread of time loomed over our heads, it was decided to construct a square-based pyramid with the triangles we had made – even if I protested the use of a heretical square. On completion, we placed the tennis ball on its top and… it stood! It could easily be moved about (and even took some force) with ease. The only problem was that it was miniscule compared to the others! As we looked around,
we saw the other structures, such as the teams’ from Sevenoaks, whose great design also made use of triangles but used a netting of masking tape on top to keep the tennis ball in place. Finally, was the presentation of ‘How would you spend £100,000 on reducing your school's carbon footprint?’. In our case, our PowerPoint was to be delivered by one person, Paul, as we had prearranged. However, it did not cross our mind that it could be done as a group. We saw, as the others gave their presentations together, with an extreme level of detail, mentioning the use of ‘IR insulation paint’, enzymes and boring a deeper hole into a reservoir for more water access. Instead of panicking, we kept to the plan and Paul held his ground while delivering, our short but effective presentation. Ours was simple and short but to the point. We communicated solar panels should be placed on the rooves, as to generate electricity and be a source of revenue; use of unnecessary lighting should be reduced, halogen-based light bulbs to be replaced with LEDs, and motion sensors should be put in place; encouraging and incentivisation of cycling or walking, reduction of paper printing, a re-balance to the school food menu to make less use of food that creates a
large carbon footprint, education of staff and students of energy usage with appliances. After all the presentations were delivered Mr Rickard informed us that the judges were to go and deliberate and, in the meantime, Dr Noelia E. D. Noël from the University of Surrey gave a lecture on ‘whether or not there is life out there’, astrophysics, and women in physics. When the results were to be announced, we and our teacher were anxious to hear the results; being the only state school and unsure of our overall performance - we could only wait to hear the outcome… and we came third! Certainly not as amazing as a second or first but to come third meant that we beat three other schools, which was good enough for us. We harboured no grudge to neither the hosts Woldingham who came second, or Sevenoaks who won. Sevenoaks in particularly were wonderful competitors. Ultimately, we enjoyed the competition, even our happy accidents! Thank you to Woldingham School for having us and hosting this wonderful quiz.
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Year 12 CSLA Students Run Cross Country Cup for Primary Schools On 15th March, after two years of not being able to host a primary event, it was wonderful to have so many children from seven of the local primary schools competing again. Whyteleafe alone brought 68 runners! Weather plays a crucial role when hosting such an event and we were lucky to have perfect weather for both the spectators and runners. Organising any community event involves the contribution and efforts of so many different people. This event is chiefly run by our Year 12 CSLA Sixth Form students, who have to run an event as part of their leadership coaching award. We would like to thank: Beth Bailey, Kenzie Beck, Rene CombleyCanham, Chris Cooper, Kaycie Judge, Mollie Lidbetter, Hannah Lloyd, Namish Mahadawoo, Javier McBean, Rosie Merritt, Evelyn Raymond, Dilenne Richards, Izzy Rider and Holly Sparks. In addition to our Sixth Formers, we had some amazing help from the following Year 9 Young
Ambassadors: Dara Aderinaola, Amy Clark, Lucy Clark, Lucy Hook, Erin Knight, Teagan McWalter, Gabby Shepherd, Chloe Judge, Poppy Holding, Abi Marrow, Heather Rea Jones, Oliver Scott and the Year 10 Young Ambassadors who supported the event after their exam: Amy Deighton, Kiera Hickman, Annice Kemp, Josh Furness, Emma Defalco, Bailey Coburn, Holly Rotchell, Phoebe Kemp, Juneinah Kabiswa. Running continues to be a very popular sport and we had some fantastic individual results across the seven schools. To help make the event a bit more of an occasion, de Stafford School lent us some wonderful stakes to help peg out the final part of the run. Our wonderful site staff helped set up the event with roping off areas for the spectators and providing a pop-up tent for the results. Further support was given by one of First Aiders, Judith Standen,
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supported by Louise Runge. All participants were presented with participation certificates and the top six runners in each race enjoyed being presented with a medal by Paul Kinder, our Senior Deputy Head. Thanks too must go to Lawrence McConnell in Reprographics who was responsible for producing all the paper-work. The wonderful photographs are taken by Namish Mahadawoo, our Yr 12 CSLA and A level Photography student. It really was a team effort! Here are this year’s results:
Year 3 & 4 Girls
Year 3 & 4 Boys 1st
Charlie
Warlingham Village
2nd
Tom K
Woodlea
3rd
Daniel
St Francis
4th
Oliver G
Woodlea
5th
Oliver
Whyteleafe
6th
James H
St John’s
Year 5 & 6 Girls
1st
Lillyanna
St. John’s
1st
Betsy
St John’s
2nd
Noelle
Whyteleafe
2nd
Lillyanna
St John’s
3rd
Emily
Woodlea
3rd
Isabella
St Francis
4th
Daisy
St John’s
4th
Daisy
Whyteleafe
5th
Ellie
St Francis
5th
Constance
Whyteleafe
6th
Anabelle
St Francis
6th
Emily G
Woodlea
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Year 5 & 6 Boys
Year 3 & 4 Cross Country Cup
1st
Aiden
St Francis
1st
St Francis
2nd
Archy
Hamsey Green
2nd
Woodlea
3rd
Ollie
Hamsey Green
3rd
St John’s & Whyteleafe
4th
Flynn
Whyteleafe
5th
Warlingham Village
5th
Tate
Warlingham Village
6th
Audley
6th
Charlie
Woodlea
Many spectators and their runners stayed for the presentation of medals at the end. This was really pleasing to see. As in previous years, if you had four runners for each race, your school qualified for the Cup.
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Year 5 & 6 Ian Simpson Cross Country Cup 1st
Whyteleafe
2nd
St Francis
3rd
St John’s
4th
Woodlea
Congratulations to St. Francis and Whyteleafe as our Cup winners very well done. Hold onto the Cups until next year!
One final thank you is to all the Primary teachers, parents and carers who organise their teams, provide transport and massive encouragement as well as providing a huge number of spectators to cheer the runners on. Thanks to Audley, Hamsey Green, St Francis, St John's, Warlingham Village , Woodlea and Whyteleafe. It was wonderful to see too that the medals spread across all the schools. We are very much looking forward to hosting the next primary event.
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The Warlingham Learner
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