The Barometer Week 11 Autumn

BAROMETER THE

WETHERBY SENIOR SCHOOL WEEKLY NOVEMBER 26th 2018 | WEEK 11

From Supply and Demand graphs to Algorithm Design, WSS boys have been busy in Business, Economics and Computing!

FROM THE HEADMASTER

Dear Parents, The end of term will soon be upon us and there are a number of things happening to celebrate the end of term with some new events in the calendar. Our first Chanukah party takes place on Tuesday of next week and I am very grateful to Miss Mendes for arranging this. We also have our first performance at Coutts Bank as part of their Christmas festivities. We have our own concert the following week on Monday 10th December in Hinde Street Methodist Chapel and the School Play, Frankenstein on Thursday and Friday next week. As ever, the cast has been rehearsing hard, the set is being built and Tobi, who plays ‘the Creature’ has made a considerable sacrifice at this time of year, shaving his head for the make-up he will be wearing.

Christmas is also a time for giving more widely to the community and I was very pleased to welcome Natalie

from the West London Mission to assembly this afternoon to talk about their work and also drum up support for the Shoe Box appeal. More information can be found inside about how you can support. It would be wonderful to back up the work of the PTA earlier this term with this very direct and practical way that your sons can help those who need support at this time of the year; I would like to see every boy in the school donate a shoe box. The Sixth Form boys have taken the lead on this by organising an event for the elderly on Monday afternoon and this is a wonderful way of welcoming members of the local community to the School.

They will be entertained by the Sixth Form Choir that has been newly formed, specifically for this event. Mr Lawrence is their musical director and I understand that they have already reached a standard that means they will also be performing at the Christmas Concert.

Finally, congratulations to Edward Hoare in Year 8 who organised the sale of poppies again this year. The School raised £422 and Edward, in total, raised over £1000, a significant achievement.

Edward also tells me that the total raised by the School was the most in the area and so we will be welcoming a representative from the British Legion after Christmas to thank the boys for their contribution.

Have a good weekend,

WEEK B MONDAY

WEEKLY DIARY 03.12.18

Intergenerational Tea Party, Hannah House 15:00 Artist in Residence Event (Afternoon Club)

TUESDAY

04.12.18

WEDNESDAY

05.12.18

Year 12 Parents’ Evening, Hannah House Football U12/13 A/B/C/D vs Hill House (H) 14:30 U17A vs Monk’s Walk School Y7/8 Inter Trib Football: Serpentine vs Whitestone

THURSDAY

06.12.18

All cast members off timetable for School Play Dress Rehearsal, Drama Studio School Play, Drama Studio 19:00

FRIDAY

07.12.18

SATURDAY

08.12.17

SUNDAY

09.12.17

HM Assembly at Hinde Street Methodist Church 15:15-15:45 School Play, Drama Studio 19:00

WETHERBY SENIOR SCHOOL WATER BOTTLE Help reduce our school's plastic consumption by using this personalised Active Bottle, emblazoned with the Wetherby Senior School logo and your own name. Made from highly durable materials, your Active Bottle is easy to open and close, won't leak and will keep your drinks hot or cold throughout the school day.

Active Bottle supports our planet by donating 10% of all their proceeds to Clean Ocean and what's more, all remaining profits from selling the bottle will go straight to support your school's PTA and their selective charities.

Can't get better! You can order online at: https://activebottle.co.uk/collections/wetherby

Please see below for our InterTrib dates: Tuesday 11th December INTER TRIB RUGBY Yr9/10 Fleet: Yermek A Walbrook: Alex Z Tyburn: Max H Effra: Harry O Ravensbourne: Stefano A

Sixth Form Parents can collect their son’s GCSE Certificates from Miss Mendes at Parents’ Evening on 5 December.

They will be in a plastic wallet, and you may wish to (but don’t have to) bring something firm to keep them flat for transporting home.

Wednesday 12th December INTER TRIB RUGBY Yr11/12 Fleet: Nelson T Walbrook: Jack HG Tyburn: Seam M Ravensbourne/Effra: Oli L

IMPORTANT NOTICES

Christmas Concert – Change of Date to Monday 10th December at 6.30pm

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

Soup: Leek & potato

Soup: Cream of broccoli

Soup: Roasted cauliflour

Main: Bolognese sauce

Main: Hot dogs/Quorn frankfurters

Main: Chicken & leek pie

Meat Free: Tomato and parmesan risotto To Go With: Sugar snap peas, warm chickpea, tomato & onion cassoulet, three coloured pasta

Meat Free: Pesto, rocket & goat’s cheese gnocchi

Meat Free: Stuffed portobello mushrooms with halloumi

To Go With: Vegetable kebabs, roasted vine cherry tomatoes, vegetable Rice

To Go With: Sautéed potatoes with thyme & cumin, roasted carrots & parsnip sticks, steamed peas

Dessert: Apple & forest berry crumble with ice cream

Dessert: Mango & passion fruit yogurt pots

Dessert: Chocolate fudge brownies

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

EVERY DAY

Soup: Roasted butternut squash

Soup: Roasted pepper & tomato

Main: Beef stir fry

Main: Pepperoni & bacon pitta bread pizza

Meat Free: Mixed vegetable stir fry To Go With: Egg fried rice, grilled bok choi, steamed bean sprouts, spiced savoy cabbage, rice noodles Dessert: Jelly pots

Meat Free: Tomato, mozzarella & basil pitta bread pizza Bread Pizza To Go With: Vegetable frittata, chips, grilled courgettes Dessert: Apple pie with custard

Freshly Made Bread Homemade Salads Vegetable Crudités With Hummus Sandwich & Wrap Selection Meat & Cheese Platters Fresh Fruit

MENU

A VIEW FROM THE ECONOMICS CLASSROOM...

Tom Z writes: Read any newspaper and you will find no shortage of economic issues and questions. Why do gas prices behave so strangely? Why do financial crises occur?

Economists are always asking questions such as these and through studying the subject it becomes possible to understand the answers.

But what exactly does A-Level Economics entail?

An important thing to note about economics is that there are many, many graphs: from Demand and Supply graphs to Keynesian Aggregate Supply diagrams and Production Possibility Frontiers, there will be graphs at every point of the Economics course.

Another thing to note is that there are many definitions and calculations especially when considering elasticity of goods/services and as such skills in maths are required for the subject.

Yet, because you will learn more about how the world works, you are able to discover the impact of decisions on the firm, industry and national level and will have the option to work in a variety of fields from finance and banking, to the civil service and insurance.

As John Maynard Keynes once said - “Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.”

A VIEW FROM THE BUSINESS CLASSROOM...

Lachlan W writes: Business is an A-Level only subject at Wetherby taught

by Mr Wingrove in Bulstrode Street. I have found the subject to be excellent so far as the theories in the lessons are applicable to real-world scenarios and so are a lot easier to not only remember but also to understand.

In Business, we have learnt about the four Ps of marketing (price, product, place and promotion), how to calculate break even output for a business and the laws of supply and demand to begin with. Maths is also needed in the subject, however, no extra Maths beyond GCSE

THE ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS CLASSROOM, A TEACHER’S VIEW Mr Wingrove writes: This term we have been focussing in Economics on understanding the core models upon which Economics is based at A Level, namely the Demand and Supply diagram to understand how prices are created in Microeconomics.

The boys have learnt why the first bite of their lunch is always better than the last (diminishing marginal utility is the answer – ask them to explain, it will be good revision for them). And in Macroeconomics we have been looking at the Aggregate Demand and Supply diagram to understand the interaction between Economic Growth, Inflation and Employment.

The boys are beginning to understand the relationship between these three key macroeconomic objectives and

how they interact and why it’s so difficult for them all to be getting better at the same time.

Perhaps one of the most enjoyable lessons was when we turned the classroom into a pen transportation firm and one boy had to move as many pens across the room as possible in 30 seconds, and then try again with an additional person helping.

We added one more helper a number of times and then compared the results to see which number of boys was most successful at moving the largest number of pens across the room. This helped us to understand the fundamental law of diminishing marginal returns, that adding another unit of labour to the firm will not cause a constant increase in the output of the firm and that at some point adding

more labour will cause the total output of the firm to fall.

In Business the boys are now well versed with the Boston Matrix and can explain the difference between a dog, star and cash cow and where each is likely to fit in the product life cycle. In Markets we’ve explored the difference between firms which are Monopolies, have Monopoly power and operate in Monopolistic Competition.

The boys have also discovered some businesses which they previously didn’t know existed as we’ve been looking at case studies on Long Tall Sally, Ella’s Kitchen, Divine Chocolate, Burton’s Biscuits as well as more familiar examples such as Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s so that they can understand the theory in context of real Business examples.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES This term all 6th formers and staff have been able to avail of free access to the Financial Times through their ‘Free FT for schools’ initiative.

Boys can access the website online or through the FT app on their mobile device and read the latest Economic, Political and Business news and opinion. In Economics lessons we have used FT content to investigate the UK’s productivity puzzle, reasons for the volatile oil prices and used their national economic dashboards to understand the current Economic performance of the UK and other major economies. In Business we have looked at the reasons behind and possible future effects of the Coca Cola takeover of Costa and explored the reasons behind Denise Coates’ recent £220m pay day and the success of her business Bet365.

In both subjects understanding the classroom theory is vital, but equally important for the boys is to be able to apply their knowledge to real world contexts. Having access to such high quality material is a fantastic teaching aid and a great opportunity for boys to discover and follow their own interests within the subjects and also push their understanding more broadly than just what is required for their A Level examinations.

YEAR 7 COMPUTING Mr Avroutine writes...

Year 7 have been exercising their design skills this term, initially by designing cars and urban environments and then by becoming marketers, creating animations to sell their urban visions.

Marketing surveys, posters, and even skilltesting quizzes were created collaboratively, using Office365. We have seen some stunning designs and a lot of talent on hand!

Artwork clockwise from top: Faiz A, Vangelis F, Aiden B, Alexander F.

YEAR 8 & 9 COMPUTING Mr Avroutine writes...

Year 8 have been busy becoming familiar with Office 365, including Sway, a program a little like PowerPoint for the Web. Generating webpages and whole marketing packages, boys had a lot of fun trying out various styles. We then did lots of Excel, which the boys used for anything from designing a Monopoly-style board, to calendars and timetables. We progressed to financial analysis, creating invoices and marketing research of local businesses, analysing their footfall and possible revenue figures. This was combined with financial and digital literacy concepts and the boys also had a chance to “buy” a real small business from those on sale on a national business website and compare their financials using Excel.

Year 9 have been reviewing some of the topics they have done in previous years, giving boys who joined this year a chance to get a taste of what WSS does in Years 7 and 8. The returning boys also found it fun to revisit the material with a new level of maturity and confidence. The boys have been successfully familiarising themselves with Office 365 which is new to WSS this year. So far we have concentrated on marketing materials for the age of Web 2.0 as well as digital literacy skills.

They have also completed an engaging module on digital animation and are now progressing on to video editing. We took a break from marketing to test our PowerPoint skills in creating abstract art, following a day Art trip to Tate Britain and Tate Modern.

Clockwise from top: ‘Abstract Art’ by Karim K, Year 9, ‘Abstract Art’ by Ishaan B, Year 9, ‘Abstract Art’ by Jack K, Year 9 and ‘My Ideal School Day’ by Andrew H, Year 8.

YEAR 10 & 11 COMPUTING Year 10 have learned the parts of the computer and are now moving through algorithm design, working with some serious flowcharts that would scare an average adult and take multiple A3 pages to print out. We have also covered the legal and ethical issues surrounding the use of computers and have started a bit of coding in Python.

Year 11 are fully in their coursework now, doing a database for a game. They have written a fair number of programs in Python and, as we have covered most of the GCSE syllabus by now, we are spending a fair bit of lesson time practicing practical coding, problem solving and debugging various functions and features of Python.

WETHERBY ON MARS Jaw-dropping. Astonishing.

These are the essential keywords to describe NASA’s Insight Mission Lander project.

On 26th November at precisely 11:52 am, NASA received the message on their monitor that their rover had landed on the desert biomed-planet! Even as we speak it’s sending data on the atmosphere, gravitational strength etc of Mars back to Earth. What an achievement!

The NASA crew definitely had the right to celebrate…

This colossal breakthrough for all aspects of Science has been recorded as the 8th intact robot to land on Mars. And now here are the best questions NASA received from the whole world.

QUESTIONS WHICH THE WORLD ASKED: 1. What does InSight stand for?

InSight stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport. (I know, right?)

2. What was the principal goal of the InSight Mission?

The aim of NASA’s InSight Mission is to gather information about Mars kind of like a “thorough medical check-up”. This will be the first time in the Red Planet’s formation where Mars’ interior will be studied to this level of detail. The planet’s core, mantle and crust will be explored allowing scientists to find out more about the formation of the rocky planets in our Solar System and measure its tectonic activity.

3. How big is the InSight Lander?

The InSight Lander is 5 ft 1 inch (1.56 m) wide and 19 feet 8 inches (6 m) long and weighs 794 pounds (360 kg) which is roughly the weight of about 5 people.

4. What type of apparatus does the InSight Lander have?

SEIS- A seismometer that can provide information on internal vibrations or “Marsquakes” occurring within the Red Planet. Depending on the material the vibrations propagate through will change the way the seismic waves travel which when detected can tell scientists what the materials are.

HP3- A heat probe that will burrow almost 16 feet (5 m) into Mars’ surface – the deepest to date. The probe will help scientists measure

Mars’ temperature and work out whether Mars was formed from the same materials as Earth or not.

RISE- A radio wave instrument that can help scientists work out the size of Mars’ core as well as its composition by sending out a signal and seeing how it changes in frequency via the Doppler shift.

Instrument Deployment and Instrument Context CameraThe former being a camera that offers a 360-degree panoramic view of the Martian land in colour. The latter being a camera that will take ‘fisheye’ field of view of the Lander’s workspace.

on November 26, 2018 at 11:52 am (PT). It took the Lander about six and a half minutes to land and entered the Martian atmosphere at about 12,300 mph.

Finally, here it is, the first ever photo that captures the surrounding of the red planet shortly after the probe touched down on the crust:

5. When did the InSight Lander take off?

The InSight Lander left Earth on May 5, 2018 and took almost 7-months to get to the Red Planet and finally landed

Want to find out more about this recent discovery? Then search up these links to find fascinating videos on the Martian planet: https://video. nationalgeographic.com/ video/00000144-0a2b-d3cba96c-7b2f6a460000 https://mars.nasa.gov/ resources/22174/nasa-insightmission-control-mars-landingcelebration-360-video/

CHRISTMAS SHOE BOX APPEAL What is the shoebox appeal?

Last year, Wetherby Senior School helped the West London Mission to provide supplies for many people who spend Christmas on the streets. Now,

we need your help once more to provide a shoebox (or other type of box) with some essentials for the homeless.

Please remember to decorate it and make it festive!

The box should include: • Travel cards • Pay-as-you-go phones with SIM cards, chargers and credit • Gift vouchers for Sports Direct (for working boots, hard hats etc.)

• Toothbrushes and toothpaste

CHRISTMAS SH

WITH THE WEST

Wetherby Senior School has partnered with the West London Mission to help the homeless have a warm and safe winter.

W

REM

• Toiletries (shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant) • Razors • Feminine hygiene products • Non-perishable food items What does the WLM do?

The West London Mission assists people without homes to find accommodation and occupation. Last year, they helped 241 people into housing and over 2,000 clients received individual advice & support.

In October, 35 people were helped into accommodation and 6 people into work.

Bring your boxes to Miss Nash’s room (H35) or Mr. Pimlott’s form room (M33) by Friday 7th December 2018.

HOE BOX APPEAL

T LONDON MISSION

WHAT TO INCLUDE: ● ● ● ● ● ●

Travel cards Gift vouchers (sports direct) Toothbrush, toothpaste Toiletries - shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant and razors Women’s sanitary products Non-perishable food (pasta, rice, oil, long life milk, tea, coffee, sugar, tinned food)

MEMBER TO MAKE THE BOXES FESTIVE! Bring your shoeboxes to Ms Nash or Mr Pimlott’s classroom before the 7th of December

SPORTS NEWS

Rugby U17A WSS vs Emanuel School Boys-U17B 12-12 Man of the Match: Monty C and Pip E U15A WSS vs Emanuel School 34-17

Football U13A vs North Bridge House Senior Hampstead 0-3 U13B vs North Bridge House Senior Hampstead 0-4 U13C vs North Bridge House Senior Hampstead 0-1

http://www.wetherbysenior.co.uk