The Spring Term is now well underway and, with more daylight hours and changes to COVID-19 restrictions, there is a greater sense of optimism at school. As I write this Newsletter, we find ourselves continuing to grapple with COVID-19. Last Thursday saw the relaxation of national restrictions and the removal of the recommendation to wear face coverings in communal areas of the school, allowing a return to more normal ways of working this week. However, the number of COVID-19 cases that we still have highlights the fact that we cannot afford to be complacent. Self-testing twice a week, and daily when a close contact has COVID-19, is now the most significant means by which we can protect our school community from the reintroduction of facecoverings and other outbreak management measures. Please ensure you continue to test and register results (both positive and negative) with NHS Test and Trace.
This week, assemblies have been focused on the importance of community and especially the expectations we have of each other and the importance of respect. I sent a link to the assembly to parents yesterday requesting your support in reiterating the key messages to help us combat the impact of the few in our community as a whole. However, importantly, this newsletter recognises the fantastic contributions of the vast majority of students who not only meet but exceed our expectations every day and the substantial opportunities available to students to develop them in and beyond the classroom. Thank you to parents / carers of Year 11, 12 and 13 who attended our online Parents Evenings over the last two Thursdays, at such an important stage in their child’s education. We do not underestimate the significant impact of parental engagement upon the students’ achievement and enjoyment of school. A priority of the school is to support students in
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organising their revision and learning by using research informed approaches and our Test, Organise, Practise and Reflect (TOPR) approach. As parents, you can find out more and support your child by looking on our teaching and learning website http://warlinghamtl.co.uk/ in the ‘Target the TOPR’ and ‘Practice for Progress’ sections. We await the publication of advance information from exam boards on the content of some GCSE, AS and A Level exams to be published on 7th February 2022. This will provide guidance to teachers and students to help focus revision. In some cases, for example, the information will provide a list of topics that will be the focus of the exam or parts of it. In other cases, the information will identify how papers have been adapted to support more choice of content or the sharing of information in advance. We will review this and communicate key changes to students, parents and carers before the Half Term break.
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Thank you for your ongoing support of your child / children and the school community through the varied and many impacts of the pandemic.
Reminders The Summer Term begins with 2 INSET days on Tuesday 19th April and Wednesday 20th April. All students will return for an 8.35am start on Thursday 21st April.
We are delighted to focus on the Geography Department in this issue of the newsletter.
Key Stage 3 Year 7 After a year of home learning, a new cohort of Year 7 students brought a fresh start to our department. We introduced them to secondary school Geography by keeping it local. Their topic was ‘What is my area really like?’, which is a question we are asking under our yearly destination question ‘Where do I really live?’. Unfortunately, we could not take a trip to our local area at the time due to COVID-19 restrictions so we undertook a more adventurous trip around the school grounds! We have now moved onto looking at the population of the UK in the topic ‘Who are the British?’
climate change, the impact it has on our planet, wildlife, people and environments and how we could solve this issue. After this fantastic effort, we have moved onto a more local study of ‘Why is flooding such an issue in Whyteleafe?’. We will be learning about the processes involved in how rivers shape the landscape and how they cause flooding risks. We will be bringing in our knowledge from the climate change topic to help further understand how that can also increase risk in Whyteleafe’s valleys.
Year 8 Year 8 Geographers have just completed the Autumn Term completely focussed on climate change. We spent weeks learning about the natural and man-made causes of
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...Geography Year 9 Our Year 9 students are embarking on their journey toward their GCSEs so, as a department, we decided to make our learning journey mimic the chaos that the planet can bring! We have just finished our largest destination question of the year ‘Will the Earth destroy us all?’ which took us to the depths of the planet’s core, spewed us out of volcanoes and shook our spines during an earthquake. The students worked extremely hard to learn about how we have very little control over the Earth’s tectonics and how they influence people’s lives around the world.
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After the Christmas break, itching for another adrenaline rush, we headed over to the dangers of the Tropical Rainforest!
Key Stage 4 Year 10 After a disruptive year, our Year 10s have had a fantastic start to GCSE Geography. Our students' determination to succeed, despite the challenges caused by the disruption, really inspires us as teachers to go the extra mile as well. They have already almost completed the entirety of learning for Component 2 ‘UK’s Geographical Issues’ which includes our coastal challenges, river
processes and a case study on London. The amount of learning and testing they have done so far is admirable and we are excited to see the progress of this cohort of Warlingham Learners.
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...Geography Year 11 Commitment is the key message here. Year 11 Geographers had to surmount incredible obstacles during their GCSEs. Despite this, we have observed over the past year, a commitment and dedication that does them credit. The amount of learning content in a normal GCSE year is tricky in itself, but to do half of it in their own homes is a task not be underestimated. They have undertaken several KAP weeks over the past year and have more coming as a warm up for their GCSE exams in the summer. As a department, we are confident that our Year 11s will see this challenge as a chance to show us and themselves how hard they have worked and how much they deserve.
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Upcoming Trip Trip: Overstrand Hall, Norfolk
Dates: 2nd—4th March 2022 On this trip, students will be soaking in the glory of the North Norfolk Coast by studying its varied beaches, taking part in outdoor pursuits activities and investigating the ways in which the city centre of Norwich is being
Key Stage 5 Year 12
Our new A Level cohort began with a deep dive into the fascinating world of Tectonic Hazards. Starting with the ever-developing theories that attempt to explain the mysterious underworld beneath our feet, we’ve investigated why some parts of our world are much more dangerous than others. At the same time, our students were also learning about the importance of Globalisation on our everyday lives: whether it be the varying ways in which we’re linked to other, far-reaching regions, or the technology which has made our world “shrink”. Currently, our Year 12 students are beginning their journeys into Coasts and Regenerating Places, with trips planned to Seaford and Croydon, respectively.
(Coursework). Their work on both the Carbon Cycle and Water Security was completed with relish. Both of these topics give an in-depth view of two of our most important global systems and how, through both natural and anthropogenic changes, human lives are increasingly being affected by them. The final topics of the year have just begun: Health, Human Rights and Intervention and Superpowers. Again, both of these topics are crucial in understanding where we are going as human beings on our shared earth.
Iceland Geography Trip We are planning to travel to the “Land of Fire and Ice” 21st - 24th March 2022 to climb a glacier, see the Northern Lights (hopefully), walk around a volcanic crater and bathe in geothermally-heated waters.
Year 13 Our eldest Geographers returned to the classroom having spent their summer completing their Non-Examined Assessment
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...Geography I chose Geography because I am very enthusiastic and interested in the subject matter that we cover. I’ve always wondered about how the world works around us, not just physically, such as earthquakes and volcanoes, but also the human interactions that take place, such as economics, the expansion of tourism, etc. I also think that it will help me in the future, with presentation and communication skills very attractive to potential employers in addition to the general knowledge and skills that I will pick up. The course also contains a lot of problem-solving and analysis and this will help me both at university and when I get my first job. Year 13 Student
I initially chose Geography at A Level because I received the School Prize after my performance at GCSE. I have a passion for the subject and love to learn about the world; Geography at Warlingham has allowed me to do this. There are a broad range of teaching and learning techniques used by the teachers here, and this has always allowed me to retain subject knowledge very well and should give me a stronger chance of getting into the University of my choice to study Geography or Geology. Geography is the most relevant subject in the world today, with the growing need to tackle climate change, water shortages, natural disasters and population change being some of the big ideas we cover. Year 13 Student
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Let’s look at Climate Change Who said we don’t get good weather in the UK? Grey clouds, averages of 6-14˚C and rain, rain, rain…You must think that we are mad Geographers to think this but we have a valid point! Our weather and climate in the UK is a gift that we should not complain about. Take a look at the live images below from the Living Earth app of snow and cloud cover sideby-side the current temperature. At our current latitude, we should be under snow and ice at this time of year just as Russia and Canada are,
but luckily we are pretty warm and relatively dry. This gift is provided from an equatorial region in Central America: the marvellous ocean current, the Gulf Stream. At the start of the year, our Year 11 Geographers learnt all about its formation and purpose in the global oceanic system and how it drives climatic stability for us in the UK. This ocean current is vital for our survival and development as a country. Without it our environment, economy and entire life structure would turn upside down. It is hard to say if and when the Gulf Stream will change its course or strength but, from Year 7 to Year 11, we can see what is happening and what could happen if Climate Change continues to worsen.
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...Geography Year 10 Geographers have learnt how shifting temperatures and sea levels are increasing pressure on coastal populations (40% of the world’s total population) and countless river settlements, especially those in the UK who are experiencing worsening floods each year. From September to December, our Year 8 students investigated Climate Change. Is it really our fault? How does it happen? Who does it affect? How can we stop it? With all these questions in mind, how does a Geographer answer them? Well, our budding Year 7 Geographers can help us with this one. After all our theorisation and book studies, a Geographer needs data, and there is only one way to get reliable data: gather it yourself! Our Year 7s have learnt the basic skills necessary to prove or disprove larger studies. Fieldwork and data gathering is essential on a small scale to explain larger scale geographic phenomena, and by wandering around our school grounds in a mini fieldwork project, they understood the greater importance of meticulous data gathering that could help them in Year 11 to understand why we shouldn’t complain about our weather. But how can we keep our wonderful grey skies grey? Nowadays, there are countless resources
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and materials to find the best solutions to our climate change issues. BBC Click is a fantastic weekly technology show that showcases the world’s newest technologies. In the link provided here they discuss how individuals like us and organisations are trying to keep our grey skies grey. Or, as our Year 9 Geographers will tell you, are we simply at the mercy of Mother Nature, and will the Earth destroy us all?
Further resources BBC Click on BBC iPlayer
Nasa Earth Observatory
Carbon Brief
Meet the Team We are delighted to introduce the Geography Department and tell you more about ourselves. Rob Gardner Head of Geography A warm welcome to the Geography department! After studying Physical Geography at Reading University – specialising in Ice Sheets & Climate Change and Fluvial Geomorphology – and teaching in North-West London for six years, I’ve loved resettling in this area since 2010, soaking up the local Geography and teaching you (and, probably, your elder siblings!). When I’m not in B5 discussing things such as the
inequalities of development around the world and climate change, you’ll probably find me on my bike or in Europe somewhere - walking in mountains, following Munster Rugby or checking out WW2 archaeology. Paul Kinder Senior Deputy Head and Geography Teacher As a former student of Warlingham School & Sixth Form College and having lived for many years in and around the Warlingham area, it has given me an excellent working knowledge and understanding of both the School and the wider community. My subject specialism is Geography and I have a BA in Geography from the University of Southampton and a PGCE from the University of Sussex. On a personal level, I am an avid sports person; playing football and cycling whenever the opportunities present themselves
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...Geography Gio Battistel Key Stage 3 Coordinator and Geography / Science Teacher For those who do not know me, I am in my second year at Warlingham teaching both Geography and Science. I have always had an undying love for the natural world, from the smallest of creatures to the largest of planets. I specialise in Geology and started studying it at A Level. I went on to the University of Brighton and Royal Holloway, University of London to complete my Geology and Petroleum Geoscience degrees. I am now ready to share my passion with our Warlingham Learners...get ready for me to talk about rocks! Dan Crennol Deputy Head of Johnson House and Geography Teacher I have been at Warlingham for five years, teaching Geography. I have always
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enjoyed Geography and read Geography at the University of Cambridge, specialising in glaciation, volcanology and biogeography. At school, you can find me in B15 waxing lyrical about sloths and their adaptations (they should be everyone’s favourite animal!), or the Head of House office as I am also Deputy Head of Johnson House. Outside school, I spend a lot of time watching Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and around the country! Ross Pizzey Geography Teacher After studying A level Geography at Warlingham, I moved onto a different adventure by studying Sport at Brighton University. I have returned to Warlingham to teach the next generation of Geography students alongside some of my former teachers. You can find me in B3, where I may bore you with facts about Crystal Palace's performance at the weekend!
The adventures of the Geography Department...
Mr Battistel pauses during the descent from the mountains of Aragüés del Puerto while investigating the geology of the Spanish Pyrenees
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...Geography
Mr Crenol exploring the Lake District and climbing up a waterfall
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Mr Gardner stops for a rest around the halfway point of the West Highland Way to admire Stob Dearg and the stunning Glencoe
Year 10 Inspire Session with Lyndsey Gallagher During the Inspire session on Thursday 20th January, Year 10 students were lucky to be able to hear the inspiring story of Lyndsey Gallagher’s journey to becoming Chief Operating Officer at Gallagher Construction Group. As a school, we are part of the Coast to Capital Careers Hub, which gives us access to an Enterprise Coordinator to support our careers provision, and also, an Enterprise Advisor. This is someone from the world of work who gives up their time and resources for free to support our students in their careers journey and offer opportunities that might not be provided otherwise. Lyndsey is our school Enterprise Advisor, and she is so looking forward to working with a wide variety of students.
student feedback we received after the event, which you can see on the opposite page, was testament to how inspiring she was and how well she connected with the students.
As an introduction to her role, we asked her to speak to our Year 10s about the challenges she has faced in life, from coping with Dyslexia to the gender discrimination she faced entering the construction industry. Her talk was incredibly well received, with many students wanting to wait afterwards to talk to her directly. Some of the
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You can do a lot of stuff if you don’t give up.
I learned that it is important to try many different jobs to see what you are interested in.
You can go into as career with no knowledge of the profession and learn as you go. Also, you can experiment and try out different things to see what you like.
You should never give up. She taught me to never give up, even after failure and if you have a good work ethic you will succeed.
To keep trying even if something is difficult.
To be resilient when going to interviews.
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Over the last couple of weeks in Johnson House assemblies, we have had a focus on respect how and why we show respect to ourselves, each other and our environment. We have discussed the impact it has on us and the school, and when we choose and tolerate disrespect. As part of these discussions, I asked Johnson Tutors to identify one student from their house (many of them struggled to choose only one!) who consistently demonstrated respect and the students in the Role of Honour received a recommendation from their tutor. In addition, I asked all members of staff to share with me the names of Johnson House students who had demonstrated respect to them and was inundated with positive stories. It was a real pleasure to be able to share these with the students and their parents as well.
RESPECT Role of Honour Jay Saunders (7A) Izzy Birch (7W) Joel Gladwin (8A) Alice Davis (8W) Dan Smith (9A)
Supun Karunanayake (9W) Josh Furness (10A) Shaun Moore (10W) Adam Tucker (11A) Austin Gillam (11W)
It was a great opportunity to be reminded of how many excellent students we have at Warlingham and to celebrate them. It is definitely something we will be repeating!
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A ‘Star Student’ is someone who shows a positive attitude to learning, commitment to their classwork and courage to ask questions. We have seen many be awarded to students in Sharman House and we would love to celebrate their achievements. Well done to all students who have been awarded merits and ‘star students’ this half term already! We hope to see many more in the lead up to Half Term.
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Jasmine Peters
15
Amelia Horwood
4
Lily Jarrett
4
Meredith Williams
7
Dylan MorganPhilps
4
Maisie Messias
4
Alfie Theodosiou
6
Floria N'GbengMokoue
4
Oluwatoyin Bamiro
4
Harrison Derbyshire
6
George Grant
4
Shaun Abreu
4
Cian Edwards
5
Hayden Quarmby
4
Yan Fantini
4
Harrison Jarrett
5
Isabel Malone
4
Oliver Cohen
5
Jayden Annan
4
Oliver Thoroughgood Emery
5
Jessie Sills
4
Owen Williams
5
Kernius Kazlauskas
4
Roy Messias
5
Leon Koscielniak
4
Votes for Schools As part of our registration activities, students have the opportunity to learn about and debate topics each week, using resources from VotesforSchools. This helps provide students with a wider understanding of current affairs, develops their empathy and kindness skills when considering sensitive issues, and also enables them to practise forming arguments and debating. Furthermore, they have their voices heard as VotesforSchools shares the voting outcomes with a variety of organisations, including governments and charities.
Recently, students have discussed the topics below. Their votes as a school can be seen below alongside the votes for Surrey and the UK.
Should learning about coping with loss & bereavement be included on the
Should voting in the UK be made easier?
Vote 19th January
Vote 26th January
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Home Learning Club In order to support our students with their home learning, we are operating a Home Learning Club, which runs from Monday to Thursday between 3.10pm and 4.10pm. The Home Learning Club is overseen by a mixture of staff who are available to support the students, who will have access to computers and a dedicated study space. Please encourage students to attend should you feel that they would benefit from completing independent home learning work with in-school support, or if they would benefit from access to computers or a dedicated study space.
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Lego Donations We are looking for donations of Lego to set up a Lego Lunch Club after Half Term. If you are having a post-Christmas clear out and have any spare Lego, we would love to give it a new home. Please could any donations of Lego be brought into The Link. Thank you in advance!
College Spanish Film Study Day at the British Film Institute On Tuesday 18th January, some of our Year 12 & Year 13 A Level Spanish students attended a seminar on "Almodovar on the Edge" at the British Film Institute (BFI) providing an in-depth introduction to Pedro Almodovar's themes and styles. They were accompanied by our Language Assistant, Miss Fernandez.
organise such a trip and very grateful to our Department Assistant, Mrs Eustace, for facilitating it. See what some of the students had to say about the experience opposite.
Our students are studying the film Volver from Almodovar and the day spent at the BFI was a great opportunity. I was delighted we could
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Before lunch, we had a lecture on Almodovar and watched various clips of his films. Seeing these clips helped to see recurring themes between them, that I also recognised from Volver. I found this very useful. Then, after lunch, we watched one of Almodovar's films called, 'All About My Mother'. It was a very good film, and I would definitely recommend it. Again, it was useful because although we are not studying that film, I could think about the links to Volver, as there were some very prominent ones.” Jessica – Year 12
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The trip was a great experience. The seminar was very informative and helped us to learn in more depth about Almodovar's works. The film we watched in the afternoon "Todo sobre mi madre" was very interesting. Overall, the day was very fun and enjoyable. Tiya, Year 13
Lessons from Auschwitz At Each year, we give our Sixth Form College students the opportunity to apply to participate in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project run by the Holocaust Educational Trust. Students are asked to submit an essay to the Sixth Form team on why they would like to participate in the project and what they would learn from it. The Sixth Form team then judge the entries anonymously and two students are selected. Year 12 Student Ceri, who is studying A levels in History, Law and Politics, gives us an overview of the project… Many of us have learnt about the Second World War at some point throughout our lives, whether it be through our time at school or through our own personal journey to educate ourselves. We all know about the Battle of Britain, the Blitz and Dunkirk but often the horrors of the Holocaust are left out of the story of the Second World War.
was lucky enough to be picked by the Sixth Form team to participate. The course aims to teach its participant about the history of the Holocaust and the role of the camps - more specifically Auschwitz-Birnkenau; it teaches about the individuals whose lives were affected by the Holocaust; reflect on the relevance of the Holocaust today and share their leaning with others. During one of the live sessions, we heard from
The Holocaust Educational Trust, run a course titled Lessons from Auschwitz which is aimed to educate and commemorate post-16 students about the Holocaust and its relevance today. I
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Holocaust survivor, Manfred Goldberg MBE. Manfred spent time both in a ghetto and a camp. One part of Manfred’s testimony will always stick with me. Manfred recalls how he and his little brother would run to the gates of the ghetto to wait for their mother to return in the evenings. On one particular evening, Manfred recalls witnessing a woman being shot as she attempted to smuggle food into the ghetto. During the same live sessions, we experienced a tour of AuschwitzBirkenau through the means of a virtual reality headset. We witnessed the train tracks where 11 million Jews were moved from all over Europe. We also witnessed the infamous ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ gates and the barracks in which hundreds of people were forced to live in cramped, inhuman
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conditions. The Lessons from Auschwitz course taught me a lot about the Holocaust where the curriculum tends to leave off. It is easy to think of the Holocaust as an industrialised process. It’s easy to look at the statistic of 6 million and not think of that 6 million being an individual who lost their lives through an act of murder. The course emphasised the importance of the individuals of the Holocaust - the victims and the perpetrators. We looked at the town of Oświȩcim in Poland - which was renamed to Auschwitz in German following the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939. Before the Nazi occupation, Oświȩcim had a large Jewish population and life in the town revolved around the central market square. The Hertz Hotel stood in the centre of
Oświȩcim. It was the centre of both cultural and political life within the town. This rich history of the Polish town of Oświȩcim tends to be covered by the dark history of Auschwitz. The course emphasised this, as learning about a town such as Oświȩcim shows how each individual that was persecuted during the Holocaust was a pillar of the community much like the buildings that stood at the heart of the community. The Lessons from Auschwitz project has changed my outlook on not only the Holocaust but history entirely as I will never again look at statistics such as 6 million, and not think of the individuals that make up that number. They were mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, grandmothers and grandfathers. Many lessons can be learnt from the Holocaust, such as speaking up in times of injustice. The Holocaust is a reminder to every single one of us as to where discrimination can lead if we turn a blind eye to it. If you are ever a witness or even a victim of discrimination, then please speak out. The adjacent poem demonstrates this sentiment perfectly.
First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me.
Learn more about Lessons from Auschwitz Project here. https://www.het.org.uk/
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The Warlingham Learner
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