Blog Week Ending 21st November
What a performance! Thirty of our Drama students from across the school took part in the Coram Shakespeare Schools Festival at the Woodville theatre in Gravesend – the world’s largest youth drama festival. Our student actors delivered a superb 30-minute abridged version of Macbeth to a packed house that included a host of ecstatic staff, parents and carers! Miss Holledge, Head of Performing Arts added “our students should be incredibly proud of themselves, they delivered a polished performance, showing themselves to be talented Shakespearian actors – the audience’s reaction was incredible!”
Congratulations … and Merit Points to our Drama Club cast;
Herbie B, Noah Q, Connor M, Kingshuk S, Fikunayomi A, and Amaury N of Year 9
Sean O, Luca B, Rory T, Harry C, Nathan C, Jacob R and Oscar T of Year 8
Safwan Q, Ethan D, Robert A and Kyle S of Year 10
Matthew B, Ashwin J, Splendor A, Joel O, Nathaniel W, Al-Ameen, Tom B, Mojola S, Ronnie S, Milo B, Tom D, Nathaniel B of Year 7
Josh J of Year 13
In addition to their stellar performance at the Woodville Theatre our students performed an excerpt of their Macbeth piece to a mesmerised Year 6 audience from Wilmington Primary School who were thrilled, and incredibly impressed by the show! A wonderful opportunity for our Endeavour Mat primary school to share in the excitement of the competition and experience a live, professional theatrical performance.
At WGSB we offer a vast range of clubs and extra-curricular activities designed to expand horizons, develop interests and passions for specific areas as well as help prepare for future carers and further education decisions. Additionally, and crucially, these clubs are hugely entertaining – expanding social circles and develop students’ emotional and communication skills. In addition to Drama Club our current programme of activities includes film club, young writers’ society, choir, science club and the study of bitcoin! Please do encourage your child to explore the options open to them and choose at least one activity or club per term – to view our current schedule please click here Learning – Wilmington Grammar School for Boys
Nǐ hǎo! Our Mandarin Club have been expanding their linguistic skills learning the pronunciation of new sounds before practising their skills with basic greetings and introductions. In this session students were able to identify and demonstrate each of the four tones (and the neutral!) Miss Ryder is impressed with the students’ appetite to learn a new language and is looking forward to progressing to writing Chinese characters! Mandarin Club KS3 is on Monday at 12.25 in N1 – everyone is welcome, and don’t forget, in addition to learning a new skill .. all students in attendance earn merit points too!
Music lessons. In addition to the teacher-led specialist classes, we are also able to offer private music tuition from visiting music teachers (these are fee based, paid directly to the relevant tutor) For more details, please ask your child to see the Music department notice boards for availability and costs.
Chess Club KS3. Our students pit their wits against online opponents in games and quizzes that foster critical and strategic thinking, as well as problem solving skills. Our Librarian, Miss Netherwood leads the club, supporting new members with tutorials and online competitions. The club welcomes new members, whether you are new to the game or something of a chess master! Support and match play is available to players of all levels!
PE Department Fixture Update. Another successful week for the football teams and PE department last week. Three sides have made it through to the Round 4 (last 16) of the Football Kent Cups – their dedication to training and sheer skill is paying off! Other sporting extra-curricular opportunities for this term include Rugby, Basketball Club and Badminton Club.
The First XI beat Cornwallis 4-0 in the U18 Kent Cup. Special mention to two Year 11 students in this side, Ben M and David B. Goal scorers were: Jude W, Leroy A, Charlie M and David B.
The Year 9 side beat Hurstmere 4-0 in the U14 Kent Cup Round 3 to progress to the next round. A great team performance with goals from Oscar S, Daniel N and Jaden G (2).
The Year 7 side beat Welling School 10-0 in the U12 Kent Cup Round 3. They now progress into the next round. A great team performance with goals from Mason G (3), Elisha N (2), Nathan K (2), David A, Aanni K, James M.
National Novel Writing Month! Our Librarians at both WGSB and WGSG have joined forces to celebrate with a creative writing competition. Students across the two schools have been challenged to release their creative talents and let their imagination loose … and pen a 500 word short story on the topic of Dystopia! Miss Netherwood is urging all students interested in finding out more or for any tips, to pop along and see her in the library.
WG6 Year 12 Design and Technology A Level students visited the Design Museum in London. Students attended a workshop, Materials: Smart and Sustainable, a valuable session outlining the social obligation of designers to seek new and environmentally friendly materials. Students also visited two exhibitions to support planning and provide inspiration for their final project work in Year 13. .. including an exhibition exploring the story of Barbie through a design lens, including fashion, architecture, furniture and vehicle design!
WG6 Year 13 students were invited to attend an ‘Apprenticeship Application Clinic’ on 13 November; this is in recognition of the increasing interest WG6 students have for this post-18 pathway. Three external recruitment specialists were able to support the session and students were able to access 1-1 support and advice on CVs/covering letters, tailored to their current active applications.
WG6 Careers Masterclass session delivered by WG6 alumnus Joseph Robinson, currently editor of Rugby World. Joseph ran a brilliant insight session for all students considering a career in journalism, broadcasting and media generally. Highlighting potential routes and career paths, Joseph shared actionable advice and detailed a wide range of new digital opportunities within the media sector.
Joseph has managed and created content production and branding strategy for global brands including Adidas, Gillette, HSBC and Time Inc. Thank you for sharing your expertise and time with our WG6 Media students – as you no doubt saw from the level of engagement and questions asked, you have certainly inspired and motivated our students!
Our Year 13 WG6 Student Correspondent Ruby Kaufman added (pictured right in first photo)“I really enjoyed the session today; Joe really opened my eyes to journalistic opportunities and roles I hadn’t considered!”
F1 in Schools Club. This ever-popular extra-curricular club is on track working towards the Regional Finals in January. The Club is full for this F1 season, but anyone interested in signing up for next year can come along to one of the Club trial days to find out more!
Our Design & Technology Department also runs CAD Club which is the perfect opportunity for students to develop their skills in the design software they have been learning as part of their DT curriculum. It’s the ideal club if you are considering DT as a GCSE, or a career in product design, architecture, engineering, or many many others! CAD packages students work with include; 2D Design, TinkerCAD, Fusion and Revit.
Year 8 Design and Technology students are working on their Formula 1 in schools project, the final outcomes of which form their House Competition. Students first design and plan their F1 cars before creating prototypes which they test and race. The track speeds for each teams’ car are recorded on a Top Gear style leader board! This is a universally popular topic!
Year 9 students accompanied members of staff to visit Ypres, the site of many major battles of the First World War. They were able to visit a museum with replica trenches built where real ones had been. They each placed a poppy at Tyne Cot Cemetery, one of the largest cemeteries for British soldiers killed at Ypres. Finally, students visited the town of Ypres itself, going to a Belgian chocolate shop and walking through the Menin Gate, a monument to 55,000 British soldiers whose remains were not identified.
At school, we marked Remembrance Day with an assembly to help us to understand the importance of remembrance and the symbolism of the poppy as a representation of hope in the face of conflict as well as a symbol of saying thank you. Students of Army Cadet Forces proudly wore their respective uniforms welcoming staff and students into the assembly.
PTA Update: The PTA are busy organising various events over the coming term and you will see further details below. If you can support the PTA in any way, we would really appreciate it as the school has a lot of ideas for funding that we would really love to support. If you want to join the PTA we always welcome new members so please do drop us an email to [email protected] if you want to join up to our What’s App group to learn more about the ideas of the PTA and of course to offer any advice for fundraising initiatives.
Christmas Fair and Market – 30th November – We have 32 external stalls booked for the day and there will be a great opportunity to buy gifts and have some fun with the family or friends. We will be having a barbecue, refreshments and lots of fun and games for all the family to get involved in.
Christmas Raffle – Tickets can be purchased on ParentsPay and cost £1 each. We have some great prizes including Bluewater vouchers, a Harrods Hamper and paintball tickets.
Christmas Auction – we have some fantastic auction prizes including Mamma Mia The Party tickets, Afternoon Tea at The Ritz and various vouchers, please see the PTA website for details and to place a bid https://www.pta-events.co.uk/wgsb/index.cfm?event=event&eventId=82774
Christmas Wreath Making – 3rd December 6pm-8pm – Details and purchase of tickets on ParentPay.
Matched funding plea: Some companies can offer matched funding from their employer, and we would love for anyone to offer to support this. If you or anyone you know can offer any matched funding please do get in touch with the PTA.
KCC have shared the below Dartford SEND information
Forthcoming Dates;
PTA Online Auction – Monday 28 November
Year 13 Parents’ Evening (at WGSG) – Thursday 28 November
PTA Christmas Tree Collection – 29 November (4-6pm)
PTA Non uniform day (for donations to PTA and Dartford Foodbanks) – Friday 29 November
PTA WGSB Christmas Fair and Market (11am-2pm) – Saturday 30 November
New York Trip information evening – 2 December (5.30-6.15pm)
Christmas Wreath Making – Tuesday 3 December in the school hall (7-8.30pm)
Years 7-11 Flu vaccinations – 6 December
Year 7 Christmas Church Service – 11 December
Christmas Concert at St Michael’s Church – 12 December (6-8pm)
Senior Citizen’s Afternoon Tea – 13 December (2.30-3.45pm)
Year 11 mock results home – 16 December
KS3 Christmas Lunch & Jumper day – 17 December
Year 7 (Forms B, J & K) Panto trip to Orchard Theatre – 17 December
KS 4/5 Christmas Lunch & Jumper Day – 18 December
Year 7 (Forms A, M & T) Panto trip to Orchard Theatre – 18 December
A Level Drinks Reception (for last year’s Year 13 students – 18 December 4-5pm at WGSG
PTA Doughnut & Samosa Sale – KS3 & 4 Break – 19 December
Last Day of Term 2 – 20 December 12noon
Best wishes,
Stuart Harrington
Headteacher
