Blog Week Ending 6th March
I trust that you and your families had a pleasant half term break and that your child has come back to school refreshed and ready to embark on the busy term ahead. We now enter the final weeks of our Year 11 and Year 13 students’ journey towards the GCSE and A Level exams. Our students have access to lunch time and after school support in addition to in-lesson topic revision and I have been delighted to see so many making excellent use of these extra provisions already.
Mr Colledge’s WG6 New York Trip certainly made the most of their visit! Naturally, for the Head of Economics and Business Studies, a visit to the financial district was a featured highlight as part of a packed (really packed!) and immersive schedule. Activities and treats that captured the essence of this culturally and commercially rich city included ice skating in Central Park, shopping at Columbus Circle, the view from Top of the Rock, theatre and Bubba Gump Shrimp on Broadway, the Empire State building, a river cruise and Grand Central Station! Mr Colledge would like to thank all staff and students for an amazing trip!
The UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge is a 60-minute multiple-choice competition designed for students in encouraging mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in problem-solving. The top 50% of participants nationally receive Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards in the ratio 1:2:3, making these achievements even more impressive.
This year, 48 certificates were awarded to Year 9 WGSB students and 61 certificates to Year 10 students – an exceptional result indeed! Special mention goes to the following four students who have been invited to participate in the prestigious Olympiad round – achieving the highest 2 marks in their year groups!
Luca B, Greyson H, Santhos J and Arjun V.
Miss O’Dwyer, deputy head of the Maths department is incredibly proud,.. as we all are! Well done to all students who took part!
Library Update from Miss Netherwood, our librarian.
Notice. Please be aware that the school library’s opening hours will be changing starting from Monday 10th March. Our new hours will be Monday – Friday: 8.15 – 4.15. Please note that the library is closed on Wednesday afternoons for staff training and development.
World Book Day in the library was filled with excitement! From fun quizzes and competitions to creative activities and book-themed challenges, there was something for everyone to enjoy. Students tested their book knowledge, discovered new stories, and took part in a fantastic celebration of reading.
Big Reading Quiz. The World Book Day Big Reading Quiz has come to an exciting conclusion! Each form selected a champion to represent them in the ultimate literary showdown, where knowledge of stories, characters, and authors was put to the test. A huge well done to all our participants for stepping up to the challenge and making it a fun-filled competition. Congratulations to KS3 winning team, Turing and KS4 winning team, Brunel —your love for books has earned you the crown (and maximum House Points!) Until next time, keep reading and let the literary adventures continue!
Reading Bingo Challenge. Celebrate World Book Day with our Reading Bingo Challenge! Explore new genres, discover exciting books, and check off squares as you read. From classics to graphic novels, there’s a square for every type of reader. Fill in your card, share your progress, and enjoy the journey. Pick up yours from the library today, Happy reading!
Where’s Wally? Wally is hiding somewhere in the library—can you spot him? With his red-and-white stripes, he’s tucked between books, peeking from shelves, or blending into the background. Look closely and see if you can find him!
Reading Club. Love books? Join Reading Club! It’s a great place to discover new stories, share your favourite reads, and chat with others who enjoy books as much as you do. Whether you’re into fantasy, mystery, or graphic novels, there’s something for everyone. Come along and get lost in a good book! Join us every Friday KS3 Lunchtime.
Pictured, Miss Netherwood, students … and World Book Day book vouchers!
Miss Gubbins’ Year 8 Artists have been experimenting with ‘upside down’ drawing technique to help students recognise proportions, shapes and lines in a subject, focusing on the actual drawing process rather than seeing the object as a whole. Students chose upside down images of cars to practice their drawing and shading skills to produce a high-quality drawing.
Progress exams – I’d like to congratulate students for the pro-active and diligent attention to their exam preparation and remind all students that these vital exams support their learning, and revision plans ahead of public exams as well as enable students to familiarise themselves with exam requirements and processes. As always, all Teaching and Pastoral staff are on hand to offer any additional support and guidance. We would urge students to take advantage of the many subject revision and intervention sessions available.
Year 12 WG6 students choose from a range of academic and personal development sessions as part of our Electives Programme. This group, which is tailored to university cooking and life skills for independent living have perfected empanadas .. and very delicious they were too!
Mrs Munden’s Year 13 Chemists have been working on a four-part practical – synthesis of Aspirin. Following a series of scientific processes; distillation, heating, esterification and finally purification, students made Aspirin. Elements of the process can be seen in the below photos, the final step is to test their samples to ensure it is Aspirin!
PTA Update: The PTA have a few events coming up over the spring term and as detailed below, we would really appreciate any support that you can give to us.
We are always open to donations of preloved school uniform, please feel free to drop with the reception for our attention. If you would like to order a preloved uniform, please email the [email protected].
Pizza Making Workshop – We held our successful pizza making workshop at Enzo ‘s on 27th February, a lot of fun was had by the students and even some parents and carers joined in.
We ran a very successful Krispy Kreme and Samosa sale on 14th February raising an amazing amount of £660 profit towards the PTA funds. Thank you for everyone’s support in purchasing these in advance and of course for the students on the day. We will be holding another before the Easter break, more details to come.
Easter Raffle – Tickets can be purchased on ParentPay and cost £1 each. We have some great prizes including a chocolate hamper and other prizes. Draw to take place on 28thMarch.
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.
House System Update. Congratulations to Turing House who are topping the leader board for Merit and Character points and Brunel House for leading the Department House Challenge Points. These, together with Cup points and inter house activities (which included speed-Rubik’s cube, football and VR games!) are added and then given ‘rank’ points for the overall position, currently Attenborough are in pole position.
Obituary for one of our ‘old WGSB boys’. I was saddened to hear of the passing of Robin Pitman, three days after his 80th Birthday. Robin was a remarkable person whose legacy to both the UK and America’s security associations is significant. Robin was a Distinguished Research Fellow at Imperial College London, Institute for Security Science and Technology who held senior defence government roles in Britain and in Washington in the US.
His appointment as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire was announced in the New Year’s Honours List in January 2009. Additionally, he was awarded Security Administration’s Gold Medal for Distinguished Service in recognition of his significant contributions to the national security of both the United Kingdom and the United States – the first time that this prestigious award has been made to a non-US national.
Robin was a WGSB pupil from 1956 – 1963. I am extremely disappointed not to have had the opportunity to meet him, his distinguished career and all that he has achieved stands as an inspiration to us all.
Forthcoming Dates;
Year 11 GCSE Full Practice Papers Week – 10 March
Science Week – w/c 10 March
Year 11 MFL Mock Speaking Exams – w/c 17 March
Year 7 Parents’ Evening – 13 March 4-7.30pm in person
Year 12 Politics Trip to City Hall – 20 March
Year 10 North Kent Football Festival @ Goals Bexleyheath – 20 March
Year 9 & 10 Drama GCSE Trip to see Hadestown – 20 March
Year 7 Harry Potter Trip 7K & 7M – 20 March
Year 13 Psychology Tutor2u Grade Booster Workshop – 24 March
Year 11 Geography Trip – 24 March
Year 7 Harry Potter Trip 7A & 7B – 25 March
Year 13 Parental Exam Briefing – 25 March
Year 7 Harry Potter Trip 7J & 7T – 27 March
Spring Arts Festival – 27 March 6-8pm
Year 10 – Morrisby work experience update deadline – 28 March
Afternoon Tea Party – 28 March 2.30-3.35pm
Year 9 DofE Training Day at WGSB – Saturday 29 March
Year 12 Parental Progress Exam Briefing – 1 April
Ski Trip to Canada – 3-10 April
PTA Doughnut & Samosa Sale at break – 4 April
Culture Day – 4 April
Last Day of Term 4 – 4 April ends 3.30pm
First Day of Term 5 – 22 April
Year 12 Progress Exams begin – 22 April
Year 11 MFL Speaking Exams begin – 22 April
Year 10 Written Report home – 23 April
Year 11 Master Classes begin – 28 April
Year 8 HPV Vaccinations – 29 April
Best wishes,
Stuart Harrington
Headteacher
