Blog week ending 12th February
At WGSB, academic rigour is a cornerstone of our culture, but it is never pursued in isolation. Our commitment to an “every child is known” pastoral ethos ensures that each student is supported, understood and encouraged to thrive as a whole person. This balance of high expectations and deep care shapes everything we do, and this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week has been a powerful reminder of that philosophy in action.
Marking the national theme, “This is My Place,” we dedicated the week to celebrating the strong sense of belonging that defines our school community. From the moment students arrived each morning to a free hot chocolate, a simple gesture that set a positive tone for the day, the focus has been on connection, reflection and wellbeing.
Across the school, students have taken part in a rich programme of nurturing activities designed to help them pause, breathe and check in with themselves. Yoga (pictured), Meditation and HIIT sessions ran throughout breaktimes, while the library offered wellbeing books and mindfulness colouring. Assemblies explored the importance of noticing the world around us, and our hall proudly displayed the impressive student-led “Take Notice” photography exhibition.
Staff, too, embraced the spirit of the week, enjoying their own ‘cake and cuppa’ break and joining mindfulness sessions, reinforcing that wellbeing is a shared responsibility across our community.
It has been an uplifting week, giving space for reflection and strengthening the bonds that make WGSB such a supportive environment. Most importantly, it has reaffirmed our belief that every student should feel seen, valued and connected – not just this week, but every week of the year.
A selection of photographs from our Student Exhibition “Take Notice” – (in order) Huson of 8M, Aden Li 7J, Louis H 7M, Zion 7M, Elliott J 10M, Esion K 8A, Alfred V 7J, Aaryan M 9J
As part of our programme of events for Children’s Mental Health Week, students across the school took part in a ‘thank you’ cards initiative led by Miss Spencer, Teacher of Business Studies & Head of The Life Programme. The cards encouraged students to reflect on the staff who support them every day. What followed was an avalanche of appreciation. The display in the staff room shows only a fraction of the cards students created, but even this small snapshot reveals something special. Many messages were heartfelt, thoughtful, and genuinely moving for the staff who received them. Teachers described the notes as “making it all worthwhile” and offering “a positive insight into how students see their learning.” One colleague summed it up perfectly, “These just make me so happy.”
Importantly, students didn’t just recognise the staff they see most often. They also wrote uplifting messages to some of the school’s unsung heroes from our cleaning and premises teams, who keep the site running smoothly every day, as well as our support and office staff who work tirelessly behind the scenes. Their contributions are essential to school life, and it was wonderful to see students acknowledge that so openly. Additionally, students also wrote a thank you card do someone in their form group as well. These cards were given at random so they had to acknowledge someone who may have been outside their friendship group – all very gratefully received!
A huge thank you to Miss Spencer for organising such a meaningful activity. At a time when wellbeing is firmly in the spotlight, this wave of gratitude has brought a real boost to staff and students across the school and reminded us all of the power of kindness.
Library Update. In addition to the Learning Skills sessions Miss Netherwood delivers, our Librarian has produced a series of wellbeing resources and sessions (including exam wellbeing) for students. Our library is a calm and enriching space, where students come to work, read, revise and re-set – with Miss Netherwood on hand to offer support and book recommendations! This week, a presentation detailing resources and activities to support good mental health is displayed on the screen during break and lunch to support the additional activities on offer for Children’s Mental Health Week.
Mrs Barry’s Year 7 scientists have been learning about the speed of sound and echoes in their Physics lessons. In the featured lesson students conducted a practical investigation to measure the time it took sound to travel from one end of our school to the other. Excellent work – students successfully measured the speed of sound through air using the equation speed=distance / time.
Sports Department Update. Mr Corrigan and the Year 7 Rugby team travelled to Dartford Grammar for a hotly contested fixture! Mr Corrigan commented “The students held themselves in such high regard and demonstrated the core values of our school and Rugby. My Man of the Match was a very tough call given the skill and effort across the team, but I had to give it to Jake R in 7J for his workout rate and endless energy to get and make tackles.”
Thank you to players Leon S of 7K, Divine E of 7M (Captain) & Samuel R of 7A who wrote the below match report..
“On Friday 6th February 2026, our Year 7 Rugby Team opposed Dartford Grammar School for Boys. Our team defeated Dartford thoroughly, scoring 14 points to 3. The whole team played exceptionally well during the game with 4 early tries and we defended wholeheartedly, always ready for the next attack, saving ourselves from 3 potential Dartford tries.
During the match, there were astonishing plays on the wing, passing the ball in a united motion, with our teamwork winning the game, making the players and our school proud.
Although all boys committed their best, due to his resilience and strength our player of the match is awarded to David E in 7K for his outstanding commitment to tackling and his leadership presented throughout the match. We hope that in the future we can have more accomplishments and successful matches for our players for years to come.”
Sports Department. More good news to share – the Year 7 Football team have successfully progressed through to the Kent Schools Football Association Final!
Mr Sage reports “Despite horrendous playing conditions, the Year 7 Football team won their Kent Cup Semi Final against Queen Elizabeth Grammar School 2-1 to secure a place in the Kent Cup final. The boys’ commitment over the last two weeks has seen two 100 mile round trips to Canterbury over two Friday evenings, with 7pm returns back to school, their commitment has been absolutely superb – a real credit to them and to the school as a whole.
This is a major achievement in their first season together and is also an important and impressive milestone for WGSB as it will see us compete in back-to-back finals over the last two years at this age group following the Year 8s success last year. Congratulations to them all!”
Rares-Andrei P (7M), Eli J (7J), Travis W (7J), Joshua S (7K), Edward (Teddy) P (7J), Henry A (7B), Jonathan A (7B) Benjamin L (7J), Yussuf A (7A), Jedaiah O (7M), Saheed O (7A), Josiah S (7J), Hayden G (7B)
The final of the U12 KSFA Denis O’Donovan Trophy is scheduled for Friday 27th February. The game will be against Hurstmere School and is at the Gallagher Stadium, home of Maidstone United FC. Kick-off is at 8.30pm, tickets will need to be purchased for this event, and these can be purchased via the link below, please feel free to share this link with other members of your families and friends or anyone of interest.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1982685035313?aff=oddtdtcreator
Address: Maidstone United FC, James Whatman Way, Maidstone, ME14 1LQ. There is no parking at the ground, my recommendation would be the station car park by the Town Hall and a 5 minute walk to the ground.
It is a fantastic achievement to make the Kent Cup final in the boys’ first season together. I know that both the boys and I would massively appreciate your support, with a year group that has a lot of potential for many years to come. The boys and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the 27th February and thank you for your support. Kind Regards, Mr Sage
WG6 Geographers visited the London Bridge area carrying out field work around Borough High Street and regenerated areas around Borough Market. We then strolled down to Bankside to catch the Thames Clipper to Battersea to see the amazing rebranding project of Battersea Power Station and continue our field work around the location. Students were excellent representatives for WG6 and were a delight to see developing their field work skills ready for the residential trip in the summer to Sussex and completing their NEA worth 20% of the Geography A level.
WG6 Biology A Level students conducted an investigation into the respiratory system of fish – specifically, a dissection of gas exchange surfaces! As you can see students did not shy away from the task, examining the structures of organs to support their theories of how they function.
WG6 Year 12 A Level PE class have been learning about the Neuromuscular System, focusing on how Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation can be used as a form of flexibility training. The students really enjoyed learning this concept in practise.
Remembrance Day poppies appeal raised over £300 – thank you to all our families for your support.
PTA Update. There isn’t a long update this time, but we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to say a sincere thank you to all of our amazing parents, carers and families.
Your continued support, whether through volunteering, attending events, donating, sharing ideas, or simply cheering on our efforts makes a real difference in our school community. Because of you, we’re able to support enriching activities, helpful resources, and memorable experiences for our students.
We truly appreciate the time, energy, and generosity you give. We’re looking forward to sharing more updates soon and continuing to work together to make our school the best it can be.
Thank you for being such an important part of our PTA community!
We have the following event coming up:
Doughnut and Samosa sale Friday 13th February – breaktimes. Doughnuts and samosas will be sold at breaktimes and you can also pre order these on iPay now.
Preloved School Uniform. We’re always happy to receive donations of preloved school uniforms. If you have any items to donate, please drop them off at Reception clearly marked for the PTA. If you’d like to request any preloved uniform items, feel free to get in touch via pta@wgsb.co.uk
Forthcoming Dates;
North Kent Apprenticeship Fair – 12 February 4-6pm book here
Year 13 Grade report home – 13 February
PTA Doughnut & Samosa sale at break – 13 February
Last Day of Term 3 – Friday 13 February
Year 13 New York Trip Saturday 14 February – 19 February
First Day of Term 4 – Tuesday 24 February
Year 10 Progress Exams – commence 24 February
Year 12 Scholars Trip to Cambridge – 24 February
Year 9 Kent 7s Rugby Tournament (at Dartford Grammar)– 24 February
Year 11 Geography Field Trip – 25 February
PTA Pizza Making Evening – 26 February 6-8pm
Year 11 Geography Field Trip – 4 March
WGSB 1st XI v Beths – 4 March
WGSB 1st XV v St George’s – 4 March
Year 7 Tower of London History Trip – 9 March (three forms)
Year 8 Football v Dartford Grammar School – 9 March
Year 7 Tower of London History Trip – 10 March (three forms)
Year 9 Football v Dartford Grammar School – 10 March
Year 13 Spanish Trip to BFI – 10 March
Best wishes,
Stuart Harrington
Headteacher
