Blog week ending 12th January

Happy New Year to all of our families and staff.  As you will read below, we have started the new year and new term as we intend to continue, with a schedule of special activities and celebrations!  We have much to look forward to this term, including a range of exciting trips to enhance classroom lessons such as a trip to Harry Potter World and a cultural trip to New York.

A special mention to our WG6 Year 13 students who are currently sitting their mock examinations, you have demonstrated a conscientious and positive attitude toward your studies and with the support of your teachers and WG6 staff we are confident you will reach your potential.  Please do not hesitate to contact me or a member of the WG6 team if you have any questions or for additional support.

F1 in Schools Regional Competition.  The school was represented by two excellent teams at the Regional F1 in Schools Competition in Canterbury this week. The 11 students made up the following two teams:

Cheetah Motorsports (Y10)  Adithiya, Niteesh, Sam, Billy, Ahsan and Aryan

Hyperdrift (Y9 and Y10)  Amogh, Joel, Luca, James and Trejan

The students have spent a whole year preparing for this competition during the F1 in Schools Club each Wednesday where they are supported by Mr Webb, Mr Winter and Mrs Finch. Students have to design and manufacture a car which they fire down a 20m F1 track to compete with the other teams, this is where the students’ reaction times are put to the test as well as the speed of their car. They also prepared a printed pit display explaining their brand identity, design and manufacture of the car and the process they have gone through as a team. Additionally, they prepared and delivered a presentation to a panel of judges and answered questions about the process they have gone through. Students also raise sponsorship money to pay for any materials and costs they need to cover to enter the competition. The day itself is very busy with different panels judging different aspects of the competition. At the end of the day, students are awarded for these different aspects as well as the final overall winners.

I am very pleased to announce that Cheetah Motorsports won both the fastest car and best pit display award! Once all the points had been totalled for each section, the final podium winners were announced with Cheetah Motorsports coming second! Congratulations to these students. This now means the team progresses to the National Finals in March this year! The team have already started working on the improvements and are very excited to travel to Rotherham for the two-day competition.

Please join me in welcoming Mr James, Teacher of Computer Science who started with us this term.  Mr James holds an MA in Mathematics and Philosophy, and has taught computer science, maths and further maths to A Level. He comes to us from a role as acting Head of Computer Science at a Croydon secondary school and was previously at Wetherby Senior School in Marylebone. His commercial experience includes IT consultancy in business and government sectors.  “I’ve been taken by how engaged our students are in both their academic studies and their involvement in extra activities and I look forward to working with them to create more opportunities to deepen both their knowledge and curiosity in computer science and the myriad of career options it provides”

In the below lesson, Mr James’ Year 8 Computer Science students are learning to code in python, a language used, for example, in commercial business applications and information management systems. As they build up their knowledge of the fundamentals of coding, they will gain the skills to code, test and maintain their own applications.

Careers Programme – North Kent Schools Apprenticeship Event.  Thursday 8th February 4pm – 6pm we have an amazing opportunity for our students to engage with local and national employers and universities as we are hosting the North Kent Apprentice Event in conjunction with The Education People, Careers and Enterprise Company, supported by Ebbsfleet Development Corporation. 

The event has local and national employers from construction, healthcare, accounting, business consultancy and finance, media and events, banking, retail, transport and armed forces. There will also be representation from local training providers, local colleges, and universities such as Ravensbourne University, TEDI London Engineering and Design Institute and London South Bank university.  

Our Year 9, 11 and 13 students will have access to this event and the employers in school time between 2pm and 3.30pm.  We welcome all other students, parents/carers and other interested parties to attend after 4pm and please sign up using this booking form link: Pre-Registration Form: North Kent Apprenticeship Event (office.com) 

This is an excellent opportunity for students to investigate a future career pathway or to start securing an apprenticeship place for September 2024. 

We are delighted to announce that Leo in Year 11 has been signed for Colchester United. Once he finishes his GCSEs, he will become a permanent member of their academy as full-time football scholar. Mr Lynch has been Leo’s form tutor for the last five years and had this to say about the news,

“As a school and department, we are so pleased to hear that Leo has been selected to be a full-time scholar at Colchester. As his form tutor, I could not be prouder of him as he has faced many disappointments and setbacks to get to this stage. He has been on trial at five different professional clubs in the past which resulted in him being released and given feedback on how to improve. He has always responded to the feedback given and this has now paid off. The determination, strength of character and self-belief in his own ability has been inspiring to witness. He is a role model to students on the football pitch but just as importantly, in the classroom. Leo has an excellent relationship with his teachers and as a school we wish him every success next season when he starts his journey into professional football.”

WGSB alumni and professional footballers, Ben Sheaf and James Beadle were both due to take part in the FA Cup Third round fixture last week.  Ben, Coventry’s Captain, and James Oxford goalkeeper (who has just been signed by Sheffield Wednesday so at the last minute was pulled from the team) it was a thrilling tie ultimately resulting in a win for Coventry – with Ben on the score sheet!

Other former WGSB footballers in action at the weekend were Ben Thompson (left) for Stevenage and Isaac Olaofe (right) for Stockport.

The Kent Teacher of the Year Awards 2024 are now open for nominations.  Social Enterprise Kent, who manage the awards are inviting us to get involved… who do you think deserves a Kent Teacher of the Year Award?

“Everyone working in our education system plays a vital role in shaping the future of our children. From the dedicated teachers who ignite passion, to the behind-the-scenes heroes making everything tick along smoothly, we appreciate the hard work and dedication of each and every person shaping the future of our children.

That's why we're excited to invite you to nominate a member of your school community for a prestigious Kent Teacher of the Year Award!

Whether it's a teacher going the extra mile for students, a member of support staff with a perpetual smile, or a volunteer leaving a lasting impact, SEK wants to hear their incredible stories! Hurry, the deadline for nominations is fast approaching, so seize the moment and make your nominations now! Let's give credit where it's due and celebrate those who make our educational journey truly exceptional!”  To make a nomination CLICK HERE

Year 10 GCSE Artists have been exploring the work of British artist Maggi Hambling CBE, who is known for her striking paintings and sculptures.  Her style is generally colourful and energetic with quick brushstrokes building and layering the image.  Using one of her self-portraits as stimulus, students created their own portrait of Maggi working quickly and decisively to capture a likeness and essence of the sitter.

Staff surprised the students with a rather special WGSB Christmas Panto, led by Miss Holledge, Head of Drama and featuring a cast of teaching and support staff .. I think we’re certainly ‘West End ready!’  It was the perfect end to the term, hilarious and fun in equal measure.  Students were thrilled and surprised to see a large number of teachers and staff dressed up in various costumes and make-up … students appeared to love every moment!

Miss Holledge accompanied her Year 7 Drama students to see Wicked, the musical at the Apollo Victoria Theatre at the end of last term.  It’s a brilliant production, showcasing the best in set design, performance, and score which they all thoroughly enjoyed!

KS3 Young Reporters’ Society, (pictured below with Miss Sweeney).  Two groups of intrepid Year 7s were set a brief for their first article to write about anything that both interested them, but it had to be relevant for the WGSB community. The two groups followed diverging but interesting ideas: one chose to focus on the history of WGSB and those that came before them, whilst the other group wanted to report on shrinkflation, having heard about it in one of their lessons.

The Background of WGSB by Zion, Jonathan, Alastair, Bividh, Oscar, Chikamso, and Covenant.  There have been lots of changes since the school was founded in 1954. The last Head Teacher was Mr Guthrie, who became CEO of Endeavour Mat in September of 2021 after being Head Teacher of WGSB for four years. We decided to find out what the teachers, who had been here for several years and experienced some of the changes, had to say. Here is an interview with Ms Gubbins who teaches Art and DT:

What have been the major changes? There have been new buildings, including the Evans building which is quite new. The school is now more diverse and inclusive than ever.

How has the school uniform changed? The uniform has stayed the same, but the PE kit has dramatically improved. It shows more confidence and unity.

What has been your experience in the school? It has always been friendly at WGSB, older students often come back to help the younger students. Everyone is more supportive of one another.

Additionally, we interviewed Mr Smith who is one of the Assistant Head Teachers.

What have been the major changes? I have been at the school for 20 years and I changed the behaviour system six years ago. The system started with just consequence points and changed to the current detailed system we have now.

How has the school uniform changed? The WGSB badge changed in 2011; it is now more modern looking. The PE kit also changed to become more modern and sharper.

Has the appearance of the school changed much? The appearance affected its culture, it has become smarter in every way. 

What has been your experience in the school? It was a very traditional school to begin with: the Head Teacher always wore a black gown to assemblies, and it was not very modern. Yes. The Head Teacher wore a black gown for assemblies!

Finally, we interviewed Mrs Chambers, Head of MFL, who finished our interview by saying ‘The school is friendly, the kids are amazing, and I love it!’

Shrinkflation by Demi, Thomas and Aaryan  “In economics, shrinkflation is the practice of reducing the size or quantity of a product while the price of the product remains the same or slightly increases. In some cases, the term may indicate lowering the quality of a product or its ingredients while the price remains the same.” - Wikipedia  

For example, a chocolate bar that used to weigh one hundred grams (about the weight of a deck of playing cards) might be reduced to ninety grams, but the price remains the same. While it is a subtle way to pass on increased costs to consumers, it can be seen as a form of price inflation, as the cost per unit or per gram effectively increases. Consumers may not immediately notice the change in quantity, but over time, it can impact the overall value they receive for their money.

The top items, according to Barclays, that customers think have been subject to shrinkflation are:

1. Chocolate
2. Crisps
3. Packets of biscuits
4. Snack bars
5. Fruit punnets
6. Sweets
7. Cheese
8. And toilet paper!

As you can see the Pringles chip shrunk by approximately 20%. 

Demi – ‘With prices going up and sizes going down using interest rates is the best way to tackle shrinkflation. In our school, WGSB, we believe in Forward Thinking – Traditional Values. The best way we can tackle shrinkflation in our community is to address the situation and deal with it inventively.’

Thomas – ‘This shows how much trouble we all are in the future. But we all can fix this together and make the world like it once was.’

Aaryan – ‘With record breaking prices I worry that things will get smaller and smaller until companies go bankrupt. The sizes are becoming ridiculous as they do not turn down the prices for such small products.’

WE AS A COMMUNITY HAVE TO TACKLE THIS SITUATION!!! We can do small but important things to change this situation majorly: aside from doing the maths on your shopping basket – which is a fantastic way to instruct us kids about budgeting – you can also avoid shrinkflation by not being loyal to a particular brand or supermarket. Every little bit helps with family budgets, so consider buying generic or own brands.

PTA Update.  We had a fantastic December with various fundraising activities which started with our Christmas Fair, we then had wreath making, Christmas tree delivery, and finally our very popular Krispy Kreme doughnut and samosa sale.  We were incredibly pleased with the support we received from these events and would like to thank all of those people who came to support, offered donations and overall had fun with the school.  The PTA not only help to raise funds for the school but also we find it a great opportunity to meet with the community and other parents and carers at the school. We are holding our next PTA meeting on Monday 29^th January, if you have not been to a meeting before please do come along to join us.  If you can make this please send a message to pta@wgsb.co.uk.

Uniform Donations. We are always open to receiving donations of uniform which we can then sell at our next shop, if you have any pre-loved uniform or shoes please drop them into the office for the PTA's attention.  We will be holding a shop soon for anyone wanting to buy any items and will announce the date for this in the next blog.

Unwanted Christmas Gifts. If you received any unwanted gifts for Christmas which you feel would be good for the PTA to sell at future events please feel free to drop these into the office as we will be incredibly grateful.  Such things as gift sets, chocolates and biscuits.

Forthcoming Dates;

WG6 Year 12 Economics trip - London School of Economics – Tuesday 16^th January

WG6 Year 12 Geography Field Trip, London – Wednesday 17^th January

Year 11 Parents’ Evening – Thursday 18^th January

WG6 Politics Y12 Trip, City Hall – Thursday 18^th January

Year 7 English Trip, Harry Potter Studios – 7B, H, & N – Monday 22^nd January

Year 9 GCSE Options Evening, main hall – Tuesday 23^rd January 5pm-6.15pm

Year 9 Drama Trip, Hamilton at Victoria Palace Theatre – Thursday 25^th January

Year 7 English Trip, Harry Potter Studios – 7D, S & T – Friday 26^th January

WG6 A Level Art Trip, National & National Portrait Galleries – Monday 29^th January

PTA Meeting - all are welcome! - Monday 29th January 

WG6 UCAS Deadline – Wednesday 31^st January

Intermediate Maths Challenge - Wednesday 31^st January

Year 9 Parents’ Evening (part 1) – Tuesday 6^th February 4pm-7.30pm

Kent Careers Event Year 9 & 11 – Thursday 8^th February 2pm-3.30pm

Year 9 Parents’ Evening (part 2) – Thursday 8th February 4pm-7.30pm

Year 13 Grades home – Friday 9^th February

Last Day of Term 3 – Friday 9^th February

New York Cultural Trip – Saturday 10^th February – Tuesday 15^th February

First Day of Term 4 – Monday 19^th February

 

Best wishes,

 

Stuart Harrington

Head Teacher