ISSUE 3 2013/2014 MARCH 2014
SATRO Success
INSIDE THIS EDITION: From the Head
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Drama trip to see ‘The Pride’
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Rochester Castle and Cathedral The Great Gatsby comes to school
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Design-a-trainer
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Parent Governor Vacancy
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Maths Masterclass
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Careers and Work Experience
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Year 11 Mock Results Day
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Quoridor, Triominoes, Nuble...
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Money Raising Charity RNOH
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Surrey University trip House Reports
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Emil and the Detectives
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Best FilmClub kids ever!
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Beat Bullying! Sixth Formers in the community…
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Primary Cross Country Cup
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New York: the trip of a lifetime!
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Understanding the Cold War
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Debating at Warlingham
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Calling all parents…
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English Schools Cross Country Finals
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Drop Down Days
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Year 11: Aiming High!
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Staff News
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Dates for your diary
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When a group of six Year 9 and another of six Year 13 students set off for the heats of the Surrey SATRO Problem Solving Challenge, no one was sure what to expect. When we arrived at St. Bedes school, the students were shown to their tables, on which there was a pack of materials and copies of the challenge mission: to design a freestanding desktop toy that rotated by wind power. Opening up the packs of materials revealed a motor, batteries, wires and a selection of craft materials that they could use to make the device. The students immediately began discussing their ideas on how to
make the device spin through air power and considered different ways to make it move through the use of a motor and battery. The teams worked together to plan and complete the challenge in an hour and a half. The device needed to rotate freely without being held down to prevent it toppling. The judges included members of sponsor companies involved in Science, Technology and Engineering. They visited all of the tables where the students demonstrated their own version of the device. The judging was split into Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 groups, with winners
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Welcome to the first newsletter of 2014. It has certainly been a hectic term. I hope you survived the storms and the seemingly constant deluge of rain in the first half of term. The site staff team were extremely busy dealing with the effects of the weather. It began with a flood in B Block on Christmas Eve and we returned after the break to find several trees brought down by high winds and damage to the roof of C Block. The storms at the end of January also caused damage to the Sports Hall roof. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Leppard and all his site team for the tremendous job they have done to keep the school open and fully functioning during this period. Their role in ensuring all our students have excellent facilities is vital in providing a learning environment conducive to outstanding achievement.
In an effort to improve our teaching and learning environment the school submitted a bid to the EFA (Education Funding Agency) to replace the mobile classrooms that house the SRW department. These classrooms were originally intended as a temporary solution to the growing school population approximately 25 years ago! We won’t know if our bid has been successful until the end of April and of course it may not be, but we will continue to investigate ways to develop and improve our facilities for the benefit of all our students. This is the time of year when Key Stage 4 and 5 students begin to realise that public examinations are just around the corner. On January 14th the Year 11 students had their mock results day. Revision classes are now in full swing in many subject areas. Years 12 and 13 sat PrePublic exams from 10th–14th March to provide them with a real A Level and AS Level experience and to provide teachers and students with an accurate assessment of their attainment levels at this point. This is a new idea for the school and is our response to the removal of modular exams in January that used to provide this experience and information. In a similar vein, Year 10 students took mini GCSE exams in the
last week of February. This is also a response to the changing examination system in which modular exams have been replaced with a linear structure where all the main exams will be at the end of Year 11. The results from these recent exams will provide an early indication of progress after a term and a half of the GCSE course and will enable us to identify students who are performing below expectations and put in the necessary intervention strategies. It was also an important time for Year 9 students as they began the GCSE Option process. Mr Seward outlined the system to parents on the 5th February and the recent reports and Parents Evening provided students and parents with the information they needed to make well-informed choices. We are about to undertake a review of how we communicate news and will be consulting parents, students and staff about their views on the newsletter, please look out for this consultation and respond if you can. Your feedback is very important to ensure that we meet your expectations. I hope that you all enjoy the Easter break and that all our Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 students return, ready for the final push towards a successful exam period in May and June.
SATRO Success
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C O N T I N U E D
was a very tense judging session. Our gear system got caught and for a moment we thought everything was over - but then just as we were about to admit defeat, it started moving again before stopping just 2cm below table height. The words ‘do you even lift?’, which we had written on the back of the contraption had lived up to their name.
being announced in each of the three categories. All of the students did very well during the event and did themselves and Warlingham proud against some fierce competition from other Surrey schools, including Whitgift, Glynn, De Stafford and Oxted. Our Year 9 students thoroughly enjoyed the event and are looking forward to the event going ahead next year. The Year 13 students won their category of the event and were presented with certificates by the organisers. They were put forward for the final event, which was held at Charterhouse school in Godalming. Three of our students (Hollie French, Dariya Nikitin and Mackenzie Fryer) have given an account of their experiences:
“This challenge was noticeably more difficult and involved building a device to raise a pack of love hearts from floor to table height in the minimum time possible so that it stopped automatically at exactly table height. We faced several major problems with this task, such as the motor provided was very slow, and it was difficult to create an automatic stopping mechanism at the exact height required. Our stress levels were running high! After completing the building of Bilbo Swaggins 2 (the name we gave to our contraption) we handed it over to the judges for what
After coming sixth we had our photo taken with TV presenter John Tickle from Brainiac before making our way home after a thoroughly enjoyable evening.” The success of the sixth form team and the enjoyment of the event by both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 5 teams, means that we intend to continue our involvement with the SATRO problem solving challenge next year, with a view to entering a Key Stage 4 team as well.
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Drama trip to see ‘The Pride’
On 29th January, Year 12 Drama students went to see a production of the play “The Pride” at The Richmond Theatre. The piece looked at two homosexual couples in two different eras, and the different views of the times. The initial story is set in 1958, where we met Sylvia and Phillip, a middleclass married couple, before a night out with Sylvia’s employer, Oliver. It quickly becomes apparent that Oliver is homosexual and as the plot develops, the audience discovers that the deeply closeted Phillip is having an affair with Oliver behind Sylvia’s back. Running alternately throughout the play, is another story set 50 years later, also involving three characters called Sylvia, Phillip and Oliver. In this later story, Oliver has recently split up with his boyfriend Phillip. Due to Oliver’s promiscuous nature, Phillip has grown frustrated with
Oliver’s lifestyle and Sylvia is their ever reliable friend, struggling to create an independent life for herself. The play cleverly presents these stories in completely contrasting periods, one in which homosexuality is repressed, secretive and illegal and the other where homosexuality is much more supported (or at the very least tolerated). This play is particularly relevant at the moment due to gay marriage being recently legalised in this country, and also the anti-gay laws which have been brought in in Russia which has been in the spotlight because of the winter Olympics in Sochi. Personally, I found the piece very interesting, particularly due to the unusual but enticing storyline. For me, the success also lies in the fantastic acting we saw from four brilliant actors, three of whom switched seamlessly between playing the
1950’s and 21st Century versions of Sylvia, Phillip and Oliver. The cast also included Matthew Horne (Gavin & Stacey) who played several smaller roles which helped to provide comic relief throughout a mainly serious play, while the other actors concentrate on engaging the audience with their more serious roles. This piece will not only be something we write about for our coursework, but it also provided us with some excellent skills we can use in our own performances. Overall, I thought the trip was extremely interesting and helpful, due to the wonderful acting and captivating storyline, even if the Drama department were like zombies the next day! We’d all like to say a big thank you to Ms Clark and Mr Deacon for organising the event, and an extra big thank you to Mr Deacon for his famous maps!
Rochester Castle and Cathedral
On Wednesday 15th, Johnson and Chichester Year 7s went to Rochester Castle and Cathedral for the day. We arrived there at 10 am and walked to the motte and bailey. Chichester went to the castle and Johnson went to the cathedral and spent an hour in each. When we entered the keep we saw the remains of the first floor. While everyone came in Mrs Lilani talked to us about the castle and where the servants and the more important people had their living quarters. When we went up the spiral staircase we all went straight to the top. Mrs Lilani asked some questions and told us about the battlements, which were where we were standing. When 7R went back down, we stopped off at the chapel. We looked around and talked about the castle. When we got back to the gift shop we all spent our money on the sweets and other things that were there. After we finished we all met up at the bottom of the stairs, and walked to one of the grass areas to listen to Miss Lilani telling us about the wall behind where she was standing. When Miss Lilani told us to walk from
one side of the bailey to the other while counting our steps, we all messed up a few times and only a few people managed to keep the number going in their heads. When we finished counting, we were given booklets to write our information in. We stayed out there for a few minutes and then Mr Fraser took pictures with the keep behind us. After that we walked to the cathedral which was only a five-minute walk from where we were standing. Once we were in the cathedral, one of the cathedral staff members told us about the part of the cathedral in which we were sitting. After the talk we tried to find the features on the walls that were depicted in our booklets. Then we met back up at the main part of the cathedral to find out that we were going to spend the rest of the
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day at Rochester dressed as monks! When it was time for lunch we took off our costumes and walked to the room booked for us to have our lunch. After lunch, we walked back through the village to get to the coaches before 2 pm, which was when we had to leave. We climbed on to the coach and set off for school.
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The Great Gatsby comes to school
Photograph courtesy of Kyle Lyward ( 12N) On the 12th December, Year 12 English, Film and Media students were invited to ‘The Great Gatsby Party’, as we will be studying the book later on in the year. The Main Hall had been transformed into a 1920’s cinema with refreshments (and balloons!) for a screening of the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio (DiCapri-o-WOW). Refreshments included cocktail sausages, crisps, popcorn and cocktails: Prohibition Passion and Gatsby’s Envy. When the guests arrived, we were all in 1920’s attire, including feather boas, top hats and canes; even the teachers! ‘The Great Gatsby’ is about a man who moves to New York into a small house next to a mansion where a mysterious figure lives. (The biggest mystery of our night, however, was trying to figure out how to
get snacks without turning on the sensor lights!) He is later invited to a party at the mansion where he meets Mr Gatsby himself. From then on, a series of events unfold in which the stories of the characters develop into drastic circumstances. The end of the film was met with a standing ovation, mainly from the girls who were extremely impressed by the constant appearance of Leonardo DiCaprio..… This evening gave us an insight into what we would be studying in the next term, and allowed us to look at the novel with an overview of the story as a whole. It also gave us a chance to take a break from the stress of our A Levels, and
have a great time, despite the lack of a certain History teacher: his loss! We’d like to say a big thank you on behalf of everyone who attended, to all the English and Media teachers who helped to make it such a fantastic evening, and especially to Miss Campbell who organised the whole evening. “Ain’t no party like a Gatsby party!”
Design-a-trainer
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The February Tutor Period for Year 8s was devoted to a Business & Enterprise Activity. The students worked in teams of four to produce a new trainer design for this summer. Each group also had to deliver a timed, one-minute sales pitch to advertise their trainer, before everyone gets to “order� the trainer they would personally buy. Teams were not allowed to buy their own trainers.
During the activity, the students learned about various aspects of product design, including quality, features and target market. They also had to consider whether they would sell lots of their product at a low price or a few at a high price. And they experienced working in a team to strict deadlines.
Parent Governor Vacancy We are seeking a parent who wishes to become a parent governor of Warlingham School, which is an Academy. We currently have four parent governors on the governing body and we have a vacancy. The governing body would welcome parent nominations particularly if you have skills and experience in one or all of the following areas: Human resources/training, Marketing, Property/Facilities, Finance/ Commercial, Legal or Teaching and learning. Nominations are made by parents of students currently registered at the school. If only one nomination is received, that individual will be appointed without a ballot. Should
there be more nominations than vacancies, we will hold a ballot. Parents are invited to submit nominations to Jane Pocock, Clerk to the Governors by email at J.Pocock@warlinghamschool.co.uk. Each person wishing to be considered must be proposed and seconded by parents of registered pupils presently attending the school and the nominee must also be a parent and signify his or her willingness to stand for appointment or election. Candidates should also enclose a short personal statement about themselves of not more than 100 words outlining why they wish to become a parent governor. The statement will be circulated to parents should a ballot
prove necessary. Please note a person is disqualified from election or appointment as a parent governor if they are an elected member of the LA or if they work at the school for more than 500 hours (i.e. for more than onethird of the hours of a full-time equivalent) in a school year. Parent Governors can serve for a term of up to four years, irrespective of how long their child remains as a registered student of the school. If you are interested in this important role please email me by noon on Friday 25 April 2014. Please note that no nominations will be accepted after this date and time.
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Maths Masterclass
Over the course of six weeks covering January to March 2014, Ben Trzinski, Robert Gainlall and I took part in a series of Maths Masterclasses at Kingston University, organised by the Royal Institution. The classes were held on Saturday mornings from 10am to 12.30pm. The first class was run by Phil Ramsden, who is a Mathematics Lecturer from Imperial College. He spoke to us about vertexes and planar graphs. There was a different lecturer every week speaking to us about different mathematical topics and problems. At times, the topics seemed complex and quite advanced but after taking our own notes and simplifying what we were shown, understanding came much easier. One of my favourite sessions
was run by Jon Constable, an engineer that works for Corac PLC. He showed us how loudspeakers were manufactured and the Science/ Maths behind it all. We had the chance to make our own loudspeakers in groups using only a polystyrene bowl, copper coil, a magnet and paper. Ours didn’t exactly go to plan because someone managed to snap the coil, but in the end it was great fun. Another favourite session was run by the students from the university itself. It consisted of games and challenges that put everyone’s intelligence to the test; it was thoroughly enjoyable. I would like to thank Miss Owens and Mrs Billings for nominating us
for the classes and giving us the opportunity to take part. It has been an experience we will value and can put on our CVs. We have an upcoming ceremony at the Royal Institution on the 28th June and I am very much looking forward to it!
Careers and Work Experience An Innervate Career Advisor is currently coming into school every Friday to provide guidance and information to those students who have requested a Careers interview. Natalie / Catrien are at present working their way down a list of Year 11 and 6th Form students. If you would like an interview with the Innervate staff please come and give your name to me and I will add you to the list.
Well done Year 10, a good many of you have returned your completed Work Experience (WEX) forms. You seem to have found a good variety of placements in many different areas. This means that I can now start the Health & Safety visits. Every placement has to be contacted / visited to make sure that it is suitable and safe for you to attend. Agreements then have to be sent to each Employer and your parents,
For some, this was an opportunity to show that all of their revision, extra sessions they had been to and hard work they had put in had paid off, as the sheet they pulled out of the brown envelope revealed great success and achievement beyond what was expected. However, for others this wasn’t the case, grades far below their target grades were a disappointment although might have been expected. This might have been a good thing, a realisation to most of us that to get the grades we want and to achieve to the best of our ability we need to put the work in. It was a wake-up call, an eye-opener to show that ‘If you don’t try now then there’s no point in trying at all’. Perhaps now, we finally realised the importance of the assemblies that Mr Weston had put together and we probably should have paid more attention. Finally, it was actually sinking in how important our exam results are and how we get there. So hopefully on Thursday 21st August when we open our actual GCSE results we will have made the effort and achieved our targets. Results are up to us and no-one else.
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which have to be signed and returned before your work experience starts. This of course takes lots of time, hence the need to have all the forms in early. If you haven’t returned your forms yet please do so otherwise you will be at risk of not being able to attend the placement. If you need help please come and see me in the LRC at 3.10pm Monday – Thursday.
Year 11 Mock Results Day In the second week of school after coming back from our Christmas holidays, Year 11 students gathered for an award ceremony to collect the results from the mock examinations we had taken in midDecember.
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Quoridor, Triominoes, Nuble... I asked Kieran from 7L what he thought of the games and he said that he “loved them but I liked them even more because I could do it with my friends”.
... and Flip 4. What are they? Function well, Quoridor and Triominoes were just some of the games we played at maths leaders this term. You have probably never heard of these but they are some mathematical games that we used to make learning maths more fun. The aim of this was to encourage Year 7s to get more involved with extra-curricular activities and to boost their interest in maths. The maths leaders learn many different skills such as leadership, teaching, team work, organisation and communication from their work with the Year 7s. I think these skills are very important for us as we will constantly be using them throughout our school journey. Some of the games we played with the Year 7s were quite hard and required more explanation
but they seemed to enjoy the challenge. We asked some of the Year 7’s what they thought. Kimberley from 7H said she “was pleased to be invited as it was fun, interesting and challenging” and “ I had so much fun I would love to do it again”.
Each maths leader had a partner and together they had to run a game with a group of year sevens participating. My partner Lucy H and I were playing Function Well, an exciting game in which you must complete an equation before your partner does using tiles and cards in order to win a point. When all equations have been completed, the player with the most points is the winner! Unfortunately for Lucy and me, the Year 7s that wanted to play our game happened to be very good at it and beat us every time, but it was still fun to take part and teach the Year 7s how to play. Overall I thought the Year 7s had a great time. But I definitely think the teacher’s involvement was paramount to the successful running of the event.
Money Raising Charity RNOH
I’m Jessica McDonald from Warlingham Sixth Form. I’m 18 years old and in March 2013 I got diagnosed with a rare bone tumour. The tumour is called Giant Cell Tumour. It was a very traumatic time for me to deal with something so tragic so young. The tumour was in my femur; the aggressive tumour can cause limbs to be amputated and can also cause lung cancer too. This was very scary. I had my first operation to take the tumour out in a specialist hospital
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called Stanmore RNOH (Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital) in North London. Then after recovering, four months later, the tumour came back so I had to have a prosthetic femur and knee joint. This has been very hard to adapt to, to learn how to walk and get on with day-to-day life. I decided to do some charity work to raise money for the hospital that changed my life, to raise money to go towards the research of rare diseases like mine and also to help improve the conditions the hospital was in as they are extremely bad. The hospital buildings are made of metal - like air raid shelters! This was very traumatic also staying in somewhere so derelict. My fundraising ideas included a Krispy
Kreme doughnut sale which was on the Wednesday the 12th which was a great success and we will be carrying out some other ideas such as Mufti Day, Car washes etc.
Surrey University trip We arrived at Surrey University, Guildford for the UCAS conference on March 17th with three main aims. Firstly to help make the decision of whether to apply to university or not secondly to understand the process of applying to and thirdly assuming the decision was to apply, which university to apply to and which course. The day started with a seminar on how to apply. The process was made clear and concise by the lecturer and the importance of things like the personal statement was made clear. After this the exhibition was open to Warlingham students and most of our year 12 spent up to an hour discussing with representatives of over 100 universities about the merits or otherwise of their university. There were many prospectuses to browse through, lots
of present and former students to question and a whole series of ideas for our students to analyse. After lunch there were two more seminars. The first one gave the students an idea of how to prepare for student life at university. This gave the students various ideas depending whether you study at home, in a big city like London or in a smaller campus university like Kent. There were plenty of key pointers as to how you can have a fantastic life and study hard at the same time. Finally the important matter of financing a degree was discussed in the last seminar. The importance of budgeting was stressed as
well as the availabilities of bursaries, loans etc. to see you through the 3 or 4 year course. Judging from the number of prospectuses and bags that came back, there were plenty of ideas and issues raised and the year 12 students will now need to start making decisions as to what to apply for and where, as the process needs to be done over the next few months.
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The new term began with some students in years 10 and 11 taking module and mock exams. I would like to congratulate students on their hard work and some excellent results. The Year 11s have also received their mock results at the start of the term and I hope this has motivated them further to work hard and achieve the best grades possible at the end of the year. With a few months left to go I would like to wish our year 11s good luck in their exams and I hope all their hard work pays off. The Spring Term has been an exciting one for everyone in the house with lots of trips, exams and competitions. The house has worked hard this term in
Even though the weather has been poor we have had a great start to the New Year and the positive attitude has continued with Johnson students contributing and participating in many whole school events. We are still currently lying a VERY CLOSE 2nd in the inter-house competition although with many activities yet to take place, I am quietly confident we can chase the down the current leaders who are still Mallory!! There was a slow start to the term with regards to the amount of merits being achieved but the house has gathered momentum now with 8A and 11A leading the way in their respective year groups….helping us reach the top of the leaderboard for the
lessons to collect merits through producing excellent work and behaviour. Congratulations to 7L and 10R who have been the best tutor groups in the house and year group for collecting merits. I would also like to congratulate the following pupils who currently have the top individual merits: Henry Cooper, Abigayle Davis and Harriet Roberts. I hope this hard work continues into next term in order to achieve valuable house points for Chichester. Attendance has been excellent this term with many students in the house still achieving 100% attendance. Congratulations to Jonathan Owusu, Jake Moore and Lee Eydman for winning the
first time this year…….long may this continue!! A special mention must go to Charis Fernandez, Charlotte Wicking and Jake Facey for topping the most merits gained this Spring term – Well done. This term has also seen the launch of the Year 11 Johnson motivation scheme, which we hope will help support the students in preparation for their final exams. We kicked off the programme by showing the students some motivational videos and we will be giving some revision packs as well as rewarding those that show excellent effort by contributing to the prom ticket. A well done must go to Jack Carter (11W) and Bilikis Akanbi (11A) for being
100% attendance prize for the house this term. As well as all the hard work in lessons, students across the house have been involved in lots of different activities such as trips, Business days and competitions. This included the Year 7 Mosque Trip, extracurricular sports teams and Theatre trips. There has also been the Communic8 event which involved Year 9 students. They learnt about how languages can benefit you in business and what opportunities might be available if you can speak a language. Well done Chichester House for all your hard work this term!
recognised by their peers for making a real effort and winning £5 off their prom tickets already.... although good luck to all!! I’d also like to congratulate Year 9 on the very successful Communicate Enterprise Day with many participating and making a good account of themselves as well as the Year 7 visiting the Mosque in Morden. This has been another productive and tiring term for staff and students alike and I would like to thank all the tutors for their ongoing hard work including Miss Wernham as the House Achievement Coordinator.
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It has been an eventful term with many Mallory students involved in a whole range of activities. Year 9 were involved in Communic8, a business and enterprise initiative. Year 7 took an SRW trip to widen their horizons, to a mosque in Morden. Year 10 have now successfully completed their mock exams and I wish them every success with their results. Finally, Year 11 will be feeling the pressure with the start of the exam season just over the horizon and I again wish them every success with these exams.
Sharman House have had another excellent term with some brilliant merit totals, tutor group attendance totals and individual achievements. Students from years 7 to 10 have been working on their contributions for the interhouse debating competition. The response has been very impressive; there have been some very mature responses to complex questions. The excellent attendance record of Sharman House has continued with a number of tutor groups achieving the target of 95%. These achievements give our ambition to win the House Competition a real boost and will be a positive addition to Year 11 college/6th form references. Our Year 7s have settled in and made a positive contribution to the house; they have attended
I am pleased to announce that Mallory students have led the way with their fundraising exploits by raising a substantial amount of money for two charities. Form 8H raised over £150 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and this was also supported with Mallory students and staff participating in the “Marsden March”. Mallory have taken The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity to their hearts particularly this year with a popular member of the house personally having experience of this charity. Form 8M also pitched in and raised over £150 for the Anthony Nolan Blood Cancer Foundation. Both are worthwhile charities which again
extracurricular groups and have formed firm friendships. They have earned a number of merits providing a really positive boost to the house points total. Year 8s have continued an excellent record of attendance and merits, continuing to contribute to extracurricular groups and sporting teams. They have really begun to grow in confidence, many taking on extra roles such as library assistants and cyber mentors. Year 9s have been choosing their options. Difficult decisions have been made but they have acted with maturity and the majority attended the Information Evening, with family as well. They have also completed some excellent work, managing to achieve the two highest merit total across Key Stage 3 last half term.
the students of the house are very keen to support this year. I am pleased to announce with continued success this term that Mallory are still top of the house competition. The results to date include the inter house sports, attendance and merit totals. I look forward with great anticipation, to the results of the debating competition, I know we will do well in this. I hope that Mallory can reach their potential this year and continue their hard work and lift the house competition title. I’d like to wish you all a good Easter break.
Years 10 and 11 have been sitting a number of exams; it has been a stressful time for them but they have handled the pressure well and attended extra sessions after school. Year 10s have been confirming their work experience placements for next term and aimed to improve their English coursework by attending a workshop on Shakespeare plays. Year 11s are nearing the end of their time at Warlingham with exams looming closer every day. We wish them every success and look forward to many smiling faces in August. I would like to thank Mr Seward, Mrs Fuller and the team of tutors, supported by Miss Perry - many thanks for all your hard work and support.
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Emil and the Detectives
On the 18th of March 2014 Year 10 and 11 drama students went to the National Theatre in London to see a professional performance called ‘Emil and the Detectives’ by Erich Kästner. We watched the performance for our GCSE writing exam. The play, set in the 1920’s, is about a boy called Emil (played by Toby Murray) who is going to Berlin to see his grandma and cousin. Along the way he meets a mysterious stranger named Mr Snow, who steals his money, which he is meant to give to his grandma. He starts to track down the thief and meets a group of friends; they name themselves ‘the detectives’ and go on an adventure to help Emil get his money back. The main actors were brilliant as they all had their own funny moments throughout the play.
There was a romance blooming between Emil’s cousin Pony and the Hat and his new friend Toots, which was a sweet addition to the play. The live music that was played was exceptional as it added a sense of tension in some scenes. One of the detectives was very talented and even played her violin on stage. The lighting and movements that were used were brilliant as they had moving lampposts to signify the different streets the characters were entering. The choreography was great, as in one scene Emil knew exactly where he was going as he had to move around in the dark on stage. My favourite moment was a chase scene where the detectives were chasing Mr Snow around the auditorium and they were going along some of the aisles. This made it even
more fun to watch as they were interacting with the audience. I also liked the scene where the audience had to shout out ‘Password Emil’ because the audience participation made it so that the audience became the detectives too. ‘Emil and the Detectives’ is a brilliant play which is a must see. I would definitely recommend it, however, unfortunately, you can’t go because we were the last audience to see it on its closing night. We would like to thank Ms Clark, Mr Deacon and Miss Wernham for organising this trip for us and also thank Mr Rumsey, Mrs Webb and Mr Hellier for coming with us.
Best FilmClub kids ever!
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Pegg and Nick Frost. Tamzin worked with them while they were filming the comedy ‘Paul’. Tamzin enjoyed speaking to our members and even tweeted how impressed she was with the maturity and energy of our Filmclub members!
Our Filmclub members were lucky to receive a visit from screenwriter Tamzin Rafn on Thursday the 27th of February. Tamzin is incredibly busy at the moment and she will be flying to Los Angeles in early March to present one of her latest screenplays. She has written films and TV shows and is best known for the film ‘Albatross’, which
starred up and coming young actress Felicity Jones who is soon to appear in ‘The Amazing Spiderman 2’. Our Filmclub students were tasked with coming up with a variety of interesting questions for Tamzin and they did not disappoint. Tamzin reflected on the film making process as well as sharing her experiences with famous actors such as Simon
Beat Bullying! We’ve been Beat Bullying Cyber Mentors since Year 8. We did two days’ training to get all the skills needed to be qualified as a Cyber Mentor. Since then we’ve been doing work at lunchtimes and registration to start talking to people and get them comfortable with us. We really enjoy it and it has helped us develop our people skills.
As Beat Bullying Cyber Mentors, our job is to talk to people that are having a hard time. We are there to listen and give them any help, if needed. This has helped us grow as people because now we have the confidence to approach others. It’s a really fun thing to do and everyone should get involved in some way.
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Sixth Formers in the community…. students to coach football skills to their Year 4 classes. Whyteleafe were interested to develop and have some support with Year 4 Table-Tennis. All of these opportunities have provided super leadership experiences in which both the very youngest children and our own older students have benefitted. It has been great to watch our sixth form students blossom and develop.
As part of the Sixth Form enrichment programme our CSLA (Community Sport Leadership Award) students have been visiting local primary schools on a Wednesday afternoon, coaching and leading
the younger primary children in a range of different activities. Woodlea invited us into the school to work with Year 1 and Year 2 students on fundamental motor skills. St. John’s Primary School was keen for our
Last week three of our CSLA students and an A level PE student provided the assistance to referee the Primary Sports Association Year 4 and year 5 Football rally hosted at St. John’s primary School. Alister Moses, Deputy Head at St. John’s School was pleased and delighted by the support that our sixth formers gave in each of the matches.
Primary Cross Country Cup
On Tuesday 18th March we hosted our seventh Primary School Cross Country Cup. The weather was cold but fortunately dry and the fields were in reasonable condition despite all the heavy rain. Many thanks to Audley, Hamsey Green, St. John’s, Whyteleafe and Woodlea Schools for bringing teams to this event. There are four races at this event: a Year 3 & Year 4 girls combined race, Year 3 & Year 4 boys combined, Year 5 & Year 6 girls combined and a Year 5 & Year 6 boys combined. In each race the top five runners receive medals and certificates, the boys and girls scores in Year 3 & 4 and then in Year 5 & Year 6 are added together to earn an overall cup. There were some very talented runners from the competing primary schools who were assisted by some Young Ambassadors and CSLA students from Warlingham School. Many thanks to Lauren Hall, Lauren Pinkney, Stevie Lawrence-Wrist, Harry Ward and Liam Harrower for leading the students round during the run. These events rely on the goodwill and transportation of Primary staff and parents together with Warlingham School students and staff. June Wise was our qualified First Aider and the Site team did a fabulous job setting up. The following students did a fabulous job on the day organising and running the event:
Liam Harrower, Sophie Haymes, James Jenden, Stevie LawrenceWrist, Rebecca Moore, Becky Moore, Dan Pogson, Harry Spall, Sandra Tetteh, Harry Ward, Amin Lmoh, Adam York, Shayan Patel, Charlie Toogood, Eloise Kitchener, Nicole Milton, Rebecca McDonald, Millie Preston, Daisy Roadnight, Sophie Higson, Immy Ardley, Lauren Pinkney, Lauren Hall, Laura Coventry, Adam Martin, Lois Mullane and Liam Poole. A special thank you to Harry Clayton for taking photographs. This year’s results were as follows: Year 3 & Year 4 Girls: 1st: Ellie Pace – Woodlea 2nd: Maddie Vickers - Audley 3rd: Neave Blake – Whyteleafe 4th: Fleur Charman – Whyteleafe 5th Connie Jarrett - Woodlea Year 3 & Year 4 Boys: 1st: Tommy Newell – Woodlea 2nd: Christopher Hodgetts – Whyteleafe 3rd: Calum Duffy – Hamsey Green 4th: Fabien Gregory – Woodlea 5th : Liam Dawson – Whyteleafe
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Year 5 & Year 6 Girls: 1st: Megan Lawrence – Woodlea 2nd: Leila Treacher – St. John’s 3rd: Amy Hodgetts - Whyteleafe 4th: Jessica Taylor – St. John’s 5th: Abigail Jones – St. John’s Year 5 & Year 6 Boys: 1st: Michael Bossick – Woodlea 2nd: Oliver Creed – Audley 3rd: Zachary Jennings – St. John’s 4th: Joseph Lawrence – Woodlea 5th: Luke Calthorpe – Hamsey Green This year’s Year 3 & Year 4 boys and girls combined cup winners were Woodlea, with Whyteleafe as runnersup. Congratulations to both teams! This year’s Year 5 & Year 6 boys and girls combined Ian Simpson cup winners were Woodlea with St. John’s in 2nd place and Whyteleafe in 3rd place. Congratulations to all three teams. And a double for Woodlea – well done! This is a community event and we were pleased to have support from Lynn Banwell from de Stafford School for supplying stakes for the course and for running the results table along with Jemma Howe from Whyteleafe. The primary children enjoyed receiving their medals and certificates and Cups from Mr Kinder, Deputy Head.
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New York: the trip of a lifetime!
On the 13th of February 2014, fifteen Business Studies students flew to New York for a tour of the Big Apple. The focus of the trip was to study its many businesses and how they are run. From small businesses such as JoMart chocolates to larger ones, such as Madame Tussauds. Due to an early (7:00am) meet at London Heathrow Airport, by the time we landed in New York we still had plenty of time to explore
the areas around our hotel. Our hotel was the Hotel Edison, situated in the heart of Times Square, so as you can imagine by the time we reached dinner, everyone was astonished with the excitement New York holds. But we felt ready for bed at about 4:00pm from jetlag! Tired or not, nothing stopped us from heading out for dinner at the world famous Hard Rock Café and when everyone saw their burgers, no one felt tired anymore! The following day we went to Madame Tussauds for a business presentation when the Head of Sales spoke to us about Madame Tussauds herself, the vision of the company and the Merlin Group in general. After this, we toured the exhibition ourselves and all took ridiculous ‘selfies’ with the stars, and then got to experience their 4D cinema. It was amazing. After this, we went down to the worlds largest department store, Macys. Here we also had a business presentation where we started to learn about how they plan the different departments in order to increase maximum sales. That evening we had dinner in the Empire State Building and experienced the most breath-
taking views across the whole of the city. This was absolutely phenomenal. The most enjoyable business was JoMart Chocolates, a small independent chocolate factory and shop in Brooklyn. We met the current owner, Michael, who told us the secrets of his success. His chocolate was simply divine. He gave us bowlfulls of the melted chocolate, and everyone certainly got stuck in! After the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park was our next stop. It was beautiful, there was snow everywhere and it was so pretty to see something different in New York. The following day we went to the 9/11 Memorial, allowing us time to reflect on what happened. The memorial was stunning. After that, we got the ferry to Staten Island. This was great as we got to see the Statue Of Liberty and take some amazing pictures. Despite the many cultural trips there was plenty of time to shop. Everyone made sure they spent every last dollar and crammed it all in our suitcases. If you’re going to shop, it’s got to be in New York! On behalf of all of the students we’d like to say a big thank you to Mr Grimes and Miss Morrison for giving us the amazing opportunity to go on this trip. We would, without a doubt, recommend it to any future Business Studies students. It truly was the trip of a lifetime!
Understanding the Cold War
On the 19th March, Year 13 A Level students went to a history conference at the Cecil Sharp House in Camden. The purpose of the conference was to give us a more in-depth insight into
the Cold War and the relations of the superpowers at the time. The lecturers were very knowledgeable and experienced. The day was broken down into four sessions, all covering different aspects and different periods during the Cold War period. The talks incorporated contrasting opinions and perspectives of the competing superpowers and how relations worsened before entering a period
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known as dĂŠtente. The talks also illustrated how China and Third World countries had such a significant impact on the Cold War, which led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The conference has deepened our understanding of the Cold War and how there is no one country to blame. It was mainly down to misunderstandings between the different countries. Being able to gain knowledge from those regarded highly in their profession as well as knowing a bit more about international relations of the modern day and how the events of today have similarities with past events, will be very beneficial during our exams.
Debating at Warlingham Debating at Warlingham School is well and truly off the ground. Every week 6th Form debaters have met up to argue over issues such as the merits of capitalism, assisted suicide, science, Scottish independence and single sex schools. Over the course of the year the Sixth Formers have been joined by members of the lower school who have heard about what they have been doing and wanted to participate. Credit to them! We have entered teams into different debating competitions. We were unfortunately knocked out of the first round of the UNA debating competition. However the team that beat us went on to become finalists for the entire region so it may have been an unlucky draw for Chloe Caldecourt and Lewis Nash. Chloe and Lewis have carried on to debate in front of the whole school to launch the interhouse debating competition on the 26th March. This involved every member of years 7 to 10. The initial
round was a debate within each form group; the best debaters went on to represent their tutor group in the house competition. We also entered a team for the European Youth Parliament this year. Nine of our brightest and most argumentative Year 12 students journeyed to Europe house, home of the European Commission in London, to debate against top teams from all over the South East of England. The standard was incredibly high and, despite being initially overwhelmed by the complexity of much of the subject matter, they held their heads high in the debates, receiving high praise from the judges.
Finally, I must mention Jack Champion, Megan Johnson and Hannah Bryan who came runner up in the Rotary Debating Competition arguing for the proposition on the motion: “This house believes that reality TV does more harm than good�. Congratulations to them and all those who have stood up to argue this year!
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Calling all parents‌. Students at Warlingham School have eight days of work experience in the summer of Year 10 and two days of work shadowing in the summer of Year 12. These students can gain work experience or shadowing in any placement that offers them the chance to observe and participate in life in the workplace. It is their opportunity to spend a period of time outside the classroom, learning about a particular job or area of work. They also get the chance to develop their selfconfidence and communication skills. This will help them to work better with other people in further or higher education, as well as in their future careers. Work experience can help them decide on a career and can show employers how they've
applied their studies to the world of work. Competition for work experience can be really tough, though, so our students have to work hard to secure the work experience placement that is best suited to them. This is where parents of students at the school could help. Perhaps you hosted your own child for their work experience and would now consider providing a similar opportunity for another student, your workplace could host a Year 10 or Year 12 placement, or you know someone who could offer work experience. You might be willing to participate in a careers assembly or similar activity at the school. If you are able to help in one of those ways, we would be very grateful if you could contact
us, by emailing wex@warlinghamschool.co.uk email, with your name, place of work and contact number. Also please let us know whether you are willing to host a Year 10 or Year 12 placement or whether you'll like to participate in an onsite activity such as a careers assembly or talk. We will then put your details on a database that we can call on as necessary. Please be reassured though that your details will never be passed on outside the school .
English Schools Cross Country Finals We were selected by the School to represent Warlingham at the District Cross Country, held at Royal Alexandra and Albert School, on 14th November 2013. We raced in the Senior category, finishing 1st (Amy) and 3rd (Stevie). As we both finished in the top 10, we were both selected to represent South Surrey at the County Championships. These were held on 18th January 2014, at Reigate Priory. It was a very cold day, but despite this we finished 5th (Amy) and 7th (Stevie). This meant we both qualified to go to the English Schools Cross Country Finals on 15th March. On the 14th March we travelled with the Surrey team up to Leicestershire and stayed overnight in a hotel, for an early start the following morning. The English Schools Cross Country finals were held at Donnington Park Leicestershire. The Senior race had 321 competitors in, from across the country. We finished 55th (Stevie) and 66th (Amy). The Surrey team came 2nd out of 44 counties. It was a great experience, that we both enjoyed. We learnt a lot through the team talks we were given and the experience we gained. We felt proud to be representing Surrey and we would like to thank Warlingham School for selecting us in the first place.
Drop Down Days
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The days were all a great success, with staff and students all agreeing that they enjoyed the opportunity to take part. A big thank you to all the staff who were involved and who gave up their free time in order to participate and make the days run smoothly.
As part of our attempts to help primary school students become better acquainted with the realities of secondary school prior to the move at the end of Year 6, Warlingham School has, over the last six weeks, opened its doors to local primary schools. Inviting a mixture of Year 5 and Year 6 children in for the day. Atwood, Warlingham Village and Hamsey Green all had a chance to send a class for the day to experience a range of lessons – secondary school
-style! The young students enjoyed the chance to undertake a range of activities including using Bunsen burners in the Science Department and making wind chimes in the Design & Technology Department. The primary school staff had the opportunity to work with secondary school colleagues on the day whilst their classes undertook lessons, with a view to sharing good practice and gaining a better appreciation and understanding of approaches to teaching at the different key stages.
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Year 11: Aiming High! Revision starts now! The serious business of starting revision has been high on the agenda for our Year 11 students in the last few weeks. The next six weeks can make all the difference and it pays to be very organised and to have a good plan in place. It can be very daunting to know where or how to start, so we have a threepoint plan to assist our students and help them to get started. It began with a tutor period to look at how to effectively plan a revision timetable. This involved looking at the exam dates and using the subject topics lists to plan hour-by-hour, the order of priority for each student’s revision. The following week each student attended a 60 minute “revision study skills workshop” run by Mr Kinder and Mr Johnston. The focus of the session was to give some practical advice and tips on how to revise and to try out some of the different methods. Finally, we had the Academic Information Evening run by Mr Weston and Mr Johnston to go over some of the key information and to reinforce how parents and guardians can support their child with revision. I am grateful for the positive feedback from students and parents and would like to thank you all for the excellent numbers who attended. Easter is a crucial period as it is the start of the revision run-
in. Year 11 students have been given clear instructions to start revision in earnest from this point in time. To assist we will, as always, be running some Easter revision sessions and details of this will be distributed via a separate letter. I am impressed by the commitment of our Year 11 students; I feel they are putting in a good deal of effort and achieving some excellent improvements through their dedication and hard work. We will encourage them to keep this up and to build on this as we move towards the exams. In the words of Mo Farah “Don’t just dream about it …….train for it”. We all dream of fantastic results, but we also know we must prepare and train for the real thing if we want our dreams to come true! Finally, there are some key dates for parents to be aware of:
Monday 12th May Year 11 Special Timetable begins – we re-arrange the timetable to help with revision and exam preparation. Wednesday 21st May Year 11 Leavers Ceremony – time to say goodbye after five years together! Friday 20th June Year 11 Leavers Ball – a super occasion to see everyone again and celebrate the end of exams and the end of main school education! I wish each of our Year 11 students well and encourage every single one of them to continue to work hard, aim high and to make the most of the help available to them. Best wishes.
Staff News We welcome back Mrs Seward and Miss April who returned to school in March. Congratulations to Mrs Hilton and Mrs Wilkins who are about to go on maternity leave, we wish them well When Brian Hargreaves first started working at Warlingham School in
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January 1999, he had completed only twelve hours of his retirement, having finished his last shift with the London Fire Brigade at 8pm the day before! That was after 34 years service and he says that local news must have been short that day, as the local paper
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came in for a picture and put it on the front page. Now 16 years later he plans to stay retired and get on with all those projects and jobs that he has been saving for retirement. He says that he has really enjoyed his time back at school. He’d only planned to stay while his youngest was in school, but then thought he’d stay until he turned 60. That age passed and now, just before turning 66, he is finally leaving. He said that he’s enjoyed meeting so many children, being able to help and seeing their progress on through the school, as well as the school itself growing. Along with his wife Kay, and their three daughters, he has been associated with the school since his eldest daughter started here in 1986. All three of his daughters still meet up with friends from this school, which he says reflects the friendly environment of this education facility. The school is very grateful to him for his many years of dedicated service and wishes him a wonderful retirement.
Dates for your diary Tuesday 22nd April 2014
First day of Summer Term
Thursday 24th April 2014
Summer Polo Shirt Sale
Wednesday 30th April 2014
Year 8 Parents’ Evening
Monday 5th May 2014
May Day Bank Holiday
Monday 12th May 2014
AS and GCSE Exams start
Monday 12th-Friday 16th May 2014
Year 11 and year 12 Special Timetable Week
Thursday 15th May 2014
Parents SEN Support Group
Monday 19th May-Friday 6th June 2014
Year 12 Study Leave
Wednesday 21st May 2014
Year 11 Celebration Ceremony
Friday 23rd May 2014
Year 13 Leavers Day and Ceremony Year 13 Ball
Monday 26th-Friday 30th May 2014
Half Term
Warlingham School Tithepit Shaw Lane Warlingham Surrey CR6 9YB Phone: 01883 624067 Fax: 01883 624026 E-mail: info@warlinghamschool.co.uk
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