Autumn Term Highlights
Illustration
Sophie C, Year 13
Autumn Term Highlights
Art and Science
STEAM Art Prize
Hot off the press is the news that Sophie C in Year 13 has won the European EMBL Protein Art competition! The aspiring vet is clearly brilliant at art and science combined – a wonderful testament to our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) approach to learning.
You can read about Sophie’s success here
Sophie explains: “I did some work experience at a vet in Wales, doing TB testing. This led me to research the disease which I found fascinating, so I decided to make my piece around one of the proteins in the Mycobacterium bovis bacteria. I was especially interested in the relationship between badgers and cattle, and how the interspecies transmission impacts the spread of the disease.
Through my research into the disease which my chosen protein was a part of, I learned a lot about how the bacteria is adapted to surviving for so long in the body before triggering an immune response, which I could link to my A level Biology syllabus. I learned how I could use the composition to tell a story and explain a worldwide issue, which I found quite empowering.”
Autumn Term Highlights Student Voice
Celebrating our Young Writers
What is always the best advice from published authors to aspiring writers? To write and get published. Well, Wimbledon High writers have had plenty of chances to do just that this term. Year 10 and 11 journalists have seen their articles published online under the national Young Reporter scheme.
Our annual Folio evening celebrated creative and essay writing at its best within a beautiful publication.
Quirky and thought-provoking views on life abound in the Unconquered Peaks blog, which has continued weekly with the annual printed edition coming out in the spring. And not content with writing in English, our students have also shared news articles, reviews and fun activities in different languages as part of Linguistica. Do have a look...
National Young Reporter
Read a selection here:
Bhairavi S
Sophie KC
Maya P
Amiya D
Maria K
Poppy J
Saskia P
Ada O
Read about Folio here
Visit our UP blog here
Read Linguistica here
Autumn Term Highlights Alumnae News
GDST Alumna of the Year
With journalism alive and well at WHS it was fitting that we celebrated the success last month of alumna and BBC journalist Felicity Baker, becoming GDST Alumna of the Year.
“A huge congratulations to Felicity and thank you for all your efforts in raising awareness and understanding of stammering through your career, through your talks with young people, and as a Stambassador.” Action for Stammering Children
Read about Felicity and the award ceremony here.
Read all our Alumnae news
Building connections
Building links with alumnae and sharing their stories is one of our priorities as a school. We followed with interest alumna Baroness Finlay’s leading role in the debate about palliative care - very much in the news of late.
Autumn Term Highlights
Preparing for life beyond school
Futures – so far this year…
We aim to equip this generation to go out into the world and make a difference, providing students insight into the different paths available to them and the skills and attributes that they need to build fulfilled lives. Our Head of Enterprise, Employability and Entrepreneurship, Mrs Fiona Lucas and Director of Higher Education Mrs Nicola Cooper have reported these stats from the term:
75+ different work experience opportunities in the Futures Friday newsletters in the last term
50% increase in Springpod (virtual work experience) take-up
30+ students completed in person work experience led by WHS
FUTURES FAIR
Support with Linkedin Profiles /CV Writing/ Interview Skills for Sixth form > 150 one to one guidance interviews since the start of Autumn term
55 applications submitted to UCAS by the early deadline
Futures Fair
18 March 2025
Featuring over 35 careers, this biennial event for Years 9 - 13 affords the opportunity to explore ideas for possible jobs and professions.
> 120 Futures Conversations with Year 10
financial Futures
Shaping our curriculum to include more on financial literacy lower down the school has enabled early conversations that you might like to continue with your daughters at home!
Read more about how we embed financial literacy lower down the school
Autumn Term Highlights Teaching and Learning
Exciting news on our Greenpower Car Project - a national initiative that inspires young people to design, build, and race electric vehicles, competing to create the most innovative and efficient race cars. Y12
DT students Lila H, Elodie L, and Heather L have taken the reins—or rather, the steering wheel—to build WHS engineering excellence. They are making progress by mastering a wide range of skills, including electrical work, steering mechanics, construction and fastening methods. Their goal is ambitious: to craft the most effective electric race car for next year’s competition at Chichester racetrack, with their sights set on reaching the finals at Goodwood. After the festive holidays, the team will focus on designing and building the car’s body shell, and we will be in touch in the new year with details of corporate and individual sponsorship opportunities as we look to fundraise for the final stage.
Four WHS Chemists performed well in practical tasks and written tests of the regional heats of the Royal Society of Chemistry ‘Top of the Bench’ competition held at St Paul’s School, demonstrating their problem solving and general chemistry knowledge.
In Maths, congratulations to the nine students who achieved a gold certificate in the senior maths challenge and qualified for the follow on rounds the kangaroo Maths challenge.
In Spanish, we’re ending the term with our Spelling Bee class competitions in Y7 and Translation Bee class competitions in Y9. And our Y12s have done an Oscar-worthy job acting out our A-level text La Casa de Bernarda Alba over the course of the term…
In Classics, the whole of Year 8 visited the British Museum in November and wrote poetry in response to seeing the Parthenon Marbles, inspired by John Keats’ poem. And we had a visit from Professor Caroline Vout from Cambridge University on the ugliness of ancient art, with over 40 students from Years 10-13 attending.
In Computer Science, Year 8 took part in the national CyberFirst competition. Working in teams to solve a range of cyber security challenges across a period of 10 days, the girls did brilliantly. Our top scoring team in the year group were Team SME7 –Henrietta M, Isabella VB, Lizzie M – and we were placed 7th in the overall rankings for Independent Schools.
A World of Sport
Sporting Success
On the sports field:
- U12s are following in the footsteps of last years’ Year 7 and are through to the final stages of the Sisters n’ Sport Netball Cup
- The U13 Cricketers beat our local purple rivals in the Surrey Indoor Cup
- Two Cross Country Teams qualified for Regional Finals where the Juniors came 9th and the inter came 12th
- And U14 Hockey Team were quarterfinalists in the National Cup, beating St Georges on the way!
In addition to team successes we have seen many individuals shine, including Imi C-S, Y10, making the U16 England hockey squad.
Autumn Term Highlights A World of Sport
Rowing
Our senior rowers Iris F, Imi L and Mia P, headed to Boston to compete in the GB junior trials. Though WHSBC rowers have faced disruption to their training and race programme due to high water levels this term, spirits and enthusiasm are undaunted. The J14 Rowers have set their mid-season marker by beating Surbiton and LEH. A successful ergathon kicked off the boat club’s fundraising for a new boat, raising over £5000 and raising the roof with some spirited cheering in a packed auditorium. Congratulations to all rowers, parents and staff involved.
Success in GDST Rallies
We celebrated wins by the Senior XI Hockey team, the U13 Hockey Team, and with football an ever more popular sport, a brilliant victory for our U16s in the GDST football rally.
Read
Read more about our football success
Autumn Performances
Student participation has been a stand-out feature of Music so far at WHS this term with our ensembles including over 100 students for Canto, a 60-strong A Cappella and our Concert Orchestra including 55 of our top instrumentalists. Concert audiences have also been at a record high and tickets very much in demand. We started with the WHS Young Musician of the Year 24/25 Vocal Competition in October, followed by Wind & Brass then Strings later in the term. The Autumn Ensembles Concert and Big Band Night followed. Our annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at Sacred Heart Church, followed by the Christmas Community Concert featuring the WHS Choral Society, multiple WHS choirs, along with the whole of our Year 7 cohort, rounded off the term.
Read about WHS Young Musician winners and more here
Autumn Term Highlights Music
Scholars’ Recitals 1.30pm
In a new initiative this year, scholars’ recitals have moved to lunchtimes once a half term.
We’ve been delighted to see grandparents come along to Trinity Church, which offers a lovely performance space adjacent to school. Even if a family member is not performing, do encourage family and friends living nearby to drop in to these free half-hour concerts. A real tonic, they offer insight into the musical talent of our students.
A busy term complete...
A term in now, we are proud to say that our Year 7 are thriving in all areas of school life, settling into their forms and enjoying House activities. Their Faery Tree Fables production allowed everyone to take part and to reflect how far they have come since September, when they stepped in to senior school for the first time.
The Charter Student Leadership Conference
At the top of the school, our students have tackled UCAS, started to secure interviews and been receiving offers for university courses. Student leaders helped to receive delegates from 28 schools for the Charter Leadership Conference on the theme of Leadership in a polarised age.
Wimbledon Bookfest Partnerships
WHS hosted this leading literary and cultural festival for the second year running, welcoming in famous authors and thinkers, and, to the delight of hundreds of visiting children, astronaut and all-round inspiring human Tim Peake. Bookfest are looking for a major corporate sponsor for next year – do please spread the word so that the future of this wonderful festival is assured.
Being grounded in the local community is a key part of our ethos. We celebrated the end of a term of THRIVE (Y6 pupils visiting and building confidence on the stage) with a final showcase and in January look forward to welcoming Y4 for the start of our SHINE partnership.
Away from SW19, WHS students trekked, made new friends, played sport, sampled local delicacies and visited the sights as part of a range of half term trips...
Y11-13 Geography students explored Iceland
Autumn Term Highlights WHS on Tour
Sixth Form History and Politics students toured the USA
Y10 enjoyed their German exchange to Munich
Y11-13 Hockey and Netball tour to South Africa
Y8 students learnt about Japanese culture as part of their exchange with Keio School.
Y9 World Challenge expedition to Morocco
Follow Trips and Co-curricular on Instagram here