Weather Report

Weatherhead High School

WEATHER REPORT

A high performing academy providing excellence for all

World Class School Awards Ceremony In December, ten of our Year 13 World Class Ambassadors travelled to Oxford to represent Weatherhead at the annual Awards Ceremony held at the prestigious Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford University. Sanjita Akter, Emma Baldwin-Quirk, Libby Evans, Miki He, Izzy King, Polly Knapton, Jess Lawlor, Claire McGeoghegan, Aimee Morrison and Tyler Price worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to enable our school to be re-accredited and the trip was a well deserved treat! As well as achieving our re-accreditation we also celebrated Polly becoming a World Class Assessor. The group enjoyed attending an ‘Oxplore’ seminar in which Libby and Izzy were runners up in the competition with their entry ‘Could modern civilisation cope without money?’ The highlights of the trip included a tour of the University, keynote address from Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Fellow at Magdalen College, author of Becoming Dickens and an audience with Dan Freedman, author of the best-selling Jamie Johnson series.

Spring 2022

WCS Ambassadors

Congratulations to the following students who successfully applied to become World Class School Ambassadors in January.The team will promote World Class within their year group, work towards the Student of the Year Award and prepare for the school’s re-accreditation in 2024.

Sasha Allanson, 7SHO Leyla Bailey, 7SHO Kira Brady, 8CB Aminah Chowdhury, 8PCO Ella Collins, 8PCO Abbie Davies, 7REL Robyn Fenton, 7REL Amy Goodwiil, 8CHY Lily Griffin, 7REL Lilyan Hales, 8CHY

Belle Hamill, 7SA Chloe Howlin, 8CHY Chloe Hutchinson, 7SA Abilashini Jeyakumar, 7SA Avneet Kaur, 8AJH Jess Loyden, 8TG Pola Ludant, 8TG Zoe Price, 9CK Leyla Upton, 7ESP Charlotte Ward, 9JMW

World Class School ‘School of the Year’ We were delighted to be shortlisted for the World Class School of the Year Award, which exemplifies what it means to be World Class. As a shortlisted school, we submitted a film demonstrating that we: • offer the best education to students in the UK • develop World Class skills which students need to flourish in an emerging global economy • give students the confidence to overcome barriers to recognise and achieve their potential.

Although we did not win we were delighted to be nominated. The Sixth Form team were also up for the ‘Student of the Year’ Award for their hard work involved in re-accrediting and we were delighted that Polly Knapton was awarded runner-up.

You can read more about the Awards Ceremony, watch our ‘School of the Year’ film and a short video about the trip at www.weatherheadhigh.co.uk/news-and-events/latest-news/

Resilience

Respect

Reach

Reward

Headteacher’s Welcome I am delighted to introduce this term’s edition of Weather Report as things return to normal. The canteen is fully operational, exams are scheduled to take place this summer, ExtraCurricular clubs are up and running, the launch of the school show is imminent, live performances are scheduled for next term and there are many school trips in the diary!

I am both proud and thrilled to share with you the news that three of our Year 13 students have received Oxbridge offers following successful interviews. Lucianna Cartwright has received an offer to study English Literature at St. Anne’s College, Oxford and Romy Ward has received an offer to study Classics at St. John’s College, Oxford whilst Mai Langley has received an offer from Cambridge to study Natural Science at Murray Edwards College. To have three students with Oxbridge offers in one year is phenomenal and a first for Weatherhead. Given the disruption and challenges these students have faced over the last two years, it really does make their achievement so special.

Thank you to the members of staff who have supported and guided these students over the years to reach this stage. I am sure you will join me in congratulating Lucianna, Romy and Mai in celebrating this wonderful news.

Headteacher’s Award Miss Whelan was delighted to reward students for their commitment to achievement, resilience, determination, contribution to the school community, curriculum progress and for overcoming difficulty. Well done to all the recipients.

Year 7 - Mia McKeever (PE) Year 8 - Chelsea Sutton-Edwards (PE) Year 9 - Charlotte Ward Year 10 - Tweeby Hussain (Across the Curriculum), Freya Murphy (Year Leader) Year 11 - Freya Beresford, Emma Carlile, Izzy Derbyshire (History), Alicia Evans (History), Libby Hughes (Year Leader), Isla Thomas, Amy Williams (BTEC Enterprise) Sixth Form - Nyah Auger-Friel, Yasmine Chihaoui (HSC), Freya Crisp (Chemistry), Izzy Elton (Chemistry), Adele Kenyon (Childcare & Year Leader)

2

SUCCESSES

Senior Awards Evening Although it was a slightly different event this year, we were delighted to hold our Senior Awards Event within school time in recognition of the endeavour and attainment demonstrated by students in Years 11, 12 and 13. Sadly, parents were unable to attend but the students were treated to a celebration in the theatre with chocolates, certificates and medals. Our Sixth Form musicians, Roxy and the Year 12 band both performed, as well as a solo piano performance by award winner Alicia Evans.

Congratulations to all 170 of our senior award winners and to SSLT who were also recognised for their commitment to the school community.

SUCCESSES

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UKMT Maths In November, Year 12 Mathematicians competed in the UKMT Senior Mathematical Challenge with some great results including a Silver and several Bronze awards. Congratulations to Mahin Ali, Eleanor Atherton, Macy Brown, Olivia Carr, Lori Cobon, James Douglas, Elisha Harrison, Nathan Jones, Caitlin Leonard, Jessica Painter and Erin Thomas on their successes.

Gymnastics The PE staff took a group of gymnasts to Blackburn in January to compete in the annual Milano Gymnastics Competition.

The squad each completed an individual floor routine, vault and group routine. Well done to our Year 8s, Eleni Theodorou and Cassie Traynor who competed individually despite being unable to compete at group stages due to one of their team contracting Covid. We were delighted that Lily Atherton, Jess Chandler, Grace Pink and Izzy Spurr-O’Hare made it through to the national finals in Stoke-on-Trent in March. Lily, Jess, Grace and Izzy competed in the u19 category of the national finals against 20 schools from all over the UK in a very competitive field. The girls performed a group routine, as well as two vaults and an individual routine. Whilst we did not place, the students were an absolute credit, performed exceptionally well (especially with their group routine) and should be commended on their efforts and application. It was a very long day and some of them were back competing in their own gymnastics and trampolining events the next day!

4

SUCCESSES

Our First Term at Weatherhead by 7KRN Year 7 have had a successful first term navigating the school, joining clubs, making friends and settling into Weatherhead life. 7KRN summed up their first term at Weatherhead:

KS3 Director’s Award Miss Smith awarded three students with a KS3 Director’s Award last term. Congratulations to Lily Cobcroft (Year 7) for settling in so well at Weatherhead, being unfailingly polite and respectful, Lily Leventhal (Year 8) and Isla Shea(Year 9) for excellent effort, behaviour and for being great KS3 ambassadors.

Introduction to the World of Work Year 7 enjoyed learning more about careers at the Introduction to the World of Work event in December. The carousel event encouraged students to take part in fun and informative activities including dressing a mannequin, interview techniques, team work exercises, workshops with the University of Liverpool, Hope University and our careers adviser and prioritising workload. The event gave students the chance to think about their futures and possible career paths.

Kung Fu Fighting Year 7 student Lily Wright came second in the MAASIF Kung Fu competition in February.

Competing against almost a hundred competitors in Kent, Lily’s impressive sword form routine impressed the judges.

Lily also took part in a virtual international competition earlier in the year, placing first and third in her categories.

Congratulations Lily!

YEAR 7

5

School Council After an absence of meetings and focus last year, we are delighted to introduce your new School Council, who have been working hard on a number of initiatives this year including the launch of recycling incentives across the school, with a particular focus on the issue of chewing gum with the introduction of ‘Gum Drops’ at the school entrance. The group created a video which they shared with the whole school to explain the importance of recycling gum and are currently discussing ideas for the BBC School News Report initiative.

Year 7:

Year 8:

Year 9:

Year 10:

Year 11:

Sasha Allanson Abilashini Jeyakumar Jessica Mooney Libby Smith

Freya Abbott Lily Ball Jessica Loyden Daisy Neil

Lucy Chaderton Sammie Olsen Zoe Price Kiera Wiggins

Grace Douglass Caitlin Madden Freya Murphy Ellie Paterson

Scarlett Hale-Willers Amelia Jones Hallie Jones Ellen Knowles

UKYP School Council member Zoe Price applied to become the Wirral representative and member of the UK Youth Parliament in conjunction with Wirral Youth Theatre. UK Youth Parliament provides opportunities for 11-18 year olds to use their elected voice to bring about social change through meaningful representation and campaigning and enables young people to use their energy and passion to change the world for the better.

Although Zoe was not voted to be Wirral’s member of the UKYP, she was delighted to finish in the top 5 out of 31 candidates and was one of the youngest students to take part. Well done Zoe!

6

STUDENT LEADERSHIP

Plastic Ambassadors Dr Moore launched the Year 7 STEAM Plastics Project in the Autumn term - a cross-curricular project to raise awareness about the responsible use of plastics to prevent plastic pollution. The first initiative was for Year 7 to nominate students in their form to be their ‘Plastic Ambassadors’ who will advocate recycling and ‘no plastics’.

Introducing your Plastic Ambassadors: 7REL

Mya Davies and Daisy Drew

7SHO

Anaiya Amos-Smith and Leyla Bailey

7KRN

Lily Girven-Proctor, Maggie Gough and Amy Hayden

7SA

Alyssia Herbert, Lily Hughes and Lara Hutchinson

7TSW

Daisy Knight, Grace Malcolmson and Abi Martin

7ZEL

Asyiah Mahgoub and Amy Noonan

7AGI

Leah Rendall

7JMU

Emily Thomas

7ESP

Freya Walsh and Paisley Williams

recycling and challenge 3 single-use plastic-free lunch.

Weatherhead’s Science Ambassadors also enjoyed making some ‘Welcome to Science’ posters this term.

Following on from the launch of the Plastic Ambassadors, Year 7 students were invited to make a ‘Plastic Pledge’, used waste plastic to recreate famous works of Art, discussed the Problems with Plastics in English as a reading topic and took part in 3 challenges about plastics; challenge 1 - plastic pollution in the environment photo competition, challenge 2 - encourage crisp packet

Congratulations to Lily Cobcroft, 7BH who won the photograph competition, with runners-up Amber Burgess, 7BH and Erin Bradshaw, 7SHO and a special mention to Leyla Bailey, 7SHO who submitted a brilliant PowerPoint on plastic pollution.

STEAM

7

Congratulations to Ella Court, 7BH whose Artwork was entered into, and won the Artist of the Month competition and well done to Mary McDonnell, 7TSW who was awarded runner-up.

Ella Court

Mary McDonnell

Demi O’Neill

Megan Pengelly

Ella Brennan

Sasha Allanson

8

STEAM

Cityzen Digital Design Competition Year 13 students Sanjita Akter, Emma Baldwin-Quirk and Sophie Smith worked with Mrs Pearson on a STEM based civil engineering competition run by Cityzen. Our students gained a clear understanding of the challenges of town planning and civil engineering and created a video presentation, the Kinetic Way, to create a new civil engineering concept to enhance the local area. The group proposed building a series of kinetic sculptures to harness wind energy to power local amenities including an electric powered transport system. The sculptures would be a wonderful tourist attraction to the local beachfront and enhance the local community. Unfortunately, the students did not place in the competition but thoroughly enjoyed the experience and learnt so much about civil engineering design.

All About STEM Work Experience Year 12 students, Olivia Mullineux-Barr and Elisha Harrison, have been successful in their applications for work experience at Unilever this Summer. They will spend a week at the Port Sunlight site experiencing a range of functions that take place there including; Formulation, Packaging, Consumer Technical Insight and Processing.

We look forward to hearing about their experiences in the Autumn term edition of WeatherReport.

‘The Irlen Eye’ Year 9 students Eva Irwin, Ellie Jones, Molly Strain and Zoe Price have been working on a project to enter into this year’s Design Ventura project run by the Design Museum.

The brief was “be inspired by your senses, to create a product to enhance everyday life”. The students thought about many issues relating to the five senses before deciding to focus on Irlen Syndrome in more depth. Over several weeks they researched, prototyped and developed their product the ‘Irlen Eye’ which is a bracelet made from Irlen overlay. The Irlen Eye was tried and tested to be an easy, inconspicuous reading aid that can be used confidently in public (e.g. reading a menu or bus timetable). The project has been entered into the competition and the students are waiting to hear if they have been shortlisted, which would involve pitching their design to a panel of judges at the Design Museum in London!

Bebras Computing Challenge KS3 students took part in the Bebras Computing Challenge to enthuse and engage students with a hands-on computing competition. Those achieving top scores in each age group will have an opportunity to participate in an outreach event run

by Oxford University in the summer term, with the aim to stimulate interest in Computer Science and give a taste of university life. Congratulations to our Gold Certificate Winners (amongst the top 10% in the UK): Year 7 Year 8 Year 9

Erin Bradshaw, Hollie Chapman, Daisy Drew and Maya Fu Ruby Denton and Katie Fisher Eva Easdown, Emme Foster-Hyde, Layla Galley, Clara Hills, Maddie Hudson, Darcey Murdoch-Hughes, Hayley Oswald, Poppie Owen, Isobel Prescott and Zoe Price.

STEAM

9

EXTRA-CURRICULAR Our extensive Extra-Curricular programme was successfully relaunched in September with an exciting timetable including cricket, tennis, Harry Potter, choir, gardening, chess, dance, drama, filmmaking and science clubs.

Mrs Jeffs launched Anime Club this term, which is proving very popular!

Students meet weekly to celebrate their love of anime, dance, watch videos, play games and quizzes and create artwork or costumes of their favourite anime characters. Miss Bartle was invited to judge this term’s designs who thought they all deserved prizes, well done to: Maddie Hughes - editing winner Lilly Hanna and Bella Thompson - Cosplay winners Special mention to Emily Williams whose work is proudly displayed in the SEND office.

Students are encouraged to attend at least one club in which they can learn a new skill, make friends or improve an existing skill. Students who attend clubs regularly are encouraged to complete their reward card and enter the termly prize draw to win prizes and vouchers. Well done to the following students who were the prize winners in the February half term draw: Year 7

Poppy Pitts, 7ZEL and Minell Yazid, 7ESP

Year 8

Daisy-May Brislen, 8CB and Sarah Whittingham, 8ARI

Year 9

Amber Carr, 9HWI and Rose Dooley, 9NE

Year 10 Isabella Clarke, 10BD and Ashleigh Evans, 10LF Year 11 Lydia Devine, 11SBU, Amelia Jones, 11AMP and Molly Daly, 11API who attended 26 revision sessions 11SS who collectively attended a total of 187 revision sessions!

Anime poster competition entries

Anime Club Members

10 EXTRA-CURRICULAR

Parents/carers can view the Spring term Extra-Curricular and Support Club timetables for each year group at www.weatherheadhigh.co.uk/enrichment/extra-curricular-clubs/

EXTRA-CURRICULAR 11

Congratulations to the 50+ Bronze students who successfully completed their practice expeditions in North Wales in September and thanks to the staff volunteers without whom, this would not have been possible, Miss Faulkner, Miss Burke, Mr Donaldson, Dr Temple, Mr Stringer, Miss Gibson and Mrs Kirby. After a break of nearly two years it is wonderful to see our DofE programme flourish with our biggest cohorts in years with 77 students currently working towards their Bronze Award, 59 Silver and 19 Gold. Students are already preparing for and looking forward to their final expeditions in April, June and July respectively with Year 9 students attending basic DofE cookery classes after school to learn the essentials of melting marshmallows and making hot chocolate!

LRC

Winter Writing Competition Well done to everyone who entered the Winter Wonderland Christmas writing competition and congratulations to the winners and runners-up: Winners

Olivia Bougourd, 8CB, Phoebe Reay 10AHO and Amber Staples 8MCL

Winner: Amber Staples

Runners Up Bella Boyle, 8CB, Chelsea Edwards-Sutton, 8RMN and Alanah Hilton, 10EOK Winner: Olivia Bougourd

New Beginnings Writing Competition Well done to all the students who submitted an entry into the Spring and New Beginnings writing competition and congratulations to the winners and runners-up: Winners

Erin Bradshaw 7SHO, Kira Brady 8CB and Phoebe Reay 10AHO

Runners up Alanah Hilton 10EOK and Jess Witt 9JMW

Winner: Phoebe Reay

12 DOFE / LRC

Author Week Staff and students celebrated Author Week in November with author visits, author meet and greets and book signings and book sales.

Students were delighted to meet bestselling and award-winning novelist, Elle McNicoll, whose debut, A Kind of Spark, won the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and fantasy novelist Ciannon Smart and author of the Strangeworlds Travel Agency, LD Lapinski. The highlight of the week was a visit from Samantha Baines who has overcome her hearing impairment to become an award-winning comedian, actress, and author of Harriet Versus the Galaxy and star of Netflix’s, the Crown. Sonia Leong, Anime/Manga comic artist and illustrator, also proved popular with students who enjoyed an anime drawing class during lesson time.

World Book Day On Thursday 3rd March staff and students celebrated 25 years of World Book Day. After a lack of face-to-face events last year, staff were excited to dress up as their favourite literary character and invited students to guess the characters which included Maleficent,Tigger, James Bond and Voldemort! Students took part in ‘the Shelfie Challenge’ matching the book shelf to the member of staff using hidden clues and enjoyed literacy activities in the LRC at lunchtime including ‘Guess who’s coming to dinner?’, bookmark making and matching up cover blurbs to the correct book. Well done to Tilly Holmes from 9KDA who won the ‘Guess how many books are in the bucket’ competition! The celebrations continued the following week as the Scholastic Book Fair came to Weatherhead! The LRC was buzzing as students came to buy an assortment of wonderful books. Over £800 of books were sold, which meant that we earned £400 of free books for the library, all chosen by students who visited the fair but were unable to purchase anything themselves

9 CAREERS LRC 13

Year 9 Well-Being Week Year 9 students enjoyed the annual well-being event, instead of having a well-being day, we had a whole week dedicated to different aspects of self-care, well-being, mental health and mindfulness. Form time activities were provided by Kooth, Wirral Mind and the Hive and we were delighted to welcome two motivational and inspirational speakers; former Royal Marine and Paralympian, Pete Dunning and Dave Bolton who spoke about mental resilience, positive mindset and overcoming adversity. During lunchtime, students engaged in mindfulness colouring, played board games and listened to a mood boosting playlist. They also enjoyed free fruit and cakes and received well being packs at the end of the week, which included bath bombs and a face pack to engage in some self-care as recommended by the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families. Students particularly enjoyed the smoothie bike in their Food Technology lessons!

Visitor Dave Bolton with Year 9 students

14 STUDENT WELL-BEING

Action Jackson!

Year 10 enjoyed a workshop from Action Jackson and the Fix Up Team in February who are ambassadors for happiness and motivational speakers who encourage and teach young people to be resilient. Students worked with two motivational leaders, Jay and Immanuel, learnt about their individual strengths and developed their resilience and confidence throughout the day by taking part in a variety of activities.

Safer Internet Day Students engaged in virtual assemblies and form time activities to observe Safer Internet Day. This year’s theme was respect and relationships online and focussing on the importance of digital safety.

Students explored how they engage with the online world and how to use technology responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively. For more information for parents/ carers please visit www.saferinternet.org.uk/ safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2022

Working 9-5 Students enjoyed a host of speakers and activities to celebrate National Careers Week including a virtual assembly on International Women’s Day to raise aspirations and their interest in future careers. Staff spent time talking about relevant careers in curriculum time and were encouraged to complete their own Careers Pathway including Miss Whelan whose career has included bar tender, tennis coach and Headteacher!

Speakers from the field of science, firefighting, the Police, the armed forces, education and media sparked some interesting conversation with students.

STUDENT WELL-BEING

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Scholars Programme Graduation Our fantastic Year 9 Scholars enjoyed an afternoon of food, conversation and celebration after graduating from the Brilliant Club Scholars Programme. Throughout the Autumn Term, eleven students worked with Benjamin Percival, a tutor from the University of Liverpool, to complete a course on particle Physics.

The course, entitled The Standard Model and the Particle Zoo, explored the science behind the Large Hadron Collider, with students completing a final university-style assignment exploring the pros and cons of the project. The group received high praise from Benjamin who was impressed by their ability to grasp such challenging concepts. Two students, Emme and Lucy, also acted as ‘Spokescholars’ during the graduation event, sharing their experiences on the course with other schools across the country. Congratulations to Lucy Chaderton, Eva Davies, Jazz Fleetwood, Emme Foster-Hyde, Layla Galley, Eliza Gaynor, Petra McHarron-Collins, Hollie McNab, Isobel Prescott, Isabella Williams and Sasha Wood.

Maths Counts On Saturday 5th February, a group of talented Year 5 students from local primary schools joined Mrs Griffiths in the classroom to take part in the long-awaited return of the ‘Maths Counts’ event. Students engaged in a variety of activities and games that strengthened their mathematical skills and challenged their knowledge of the subject. The group were also very lucky to be joined by two of our brilliant Year 12 Maths students, Elisha Harrison and James Douglas. Additional Saturday masterclasses in Art and Science are planned for next term with our feeder primary schools.

Maths Counts Year 5 Masterc lass Saturday 5th Febr ua ry 2022 Start 9:30AM I Fin ish 12:30PM

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G&T Latin Over 40 students in Years 7-10 are currently studying Latin after school as part of the University of Liverpool’s outreach programme. Once students get to the end of Year 10, they will be ready to take GCSE Latin.

16 MOST ABLE PROVISION

Sporting Personalities We are proud to celebrate the successes of two fabulous students who take gold in the field of sports! Year 12 student, Finley Gaynor, is a well adept referee, who started the role in 2019.

Since then, Finley has refereed for Macclesfield and Tranmere Rovers FC girls teams as well as supporting Cheshire Girls and Wallasey Junior football. We are lucky to have Finley with such experience to manage the Sixth Form boys’ football team and to support our girls’ football team.

Deputy Sports Ambassador, Jena Williams in Year 13 has achieved a Level 1 coaching qualification, which comes as no surprise considering how hard she has worked to support school teams throughout her time at Weatherhead. As well as this, Jena competes, coaches and umpires for a local netball team based in Tranmere, the Supremes and would like to pursue her sports coaching journey at University.

Breast Cancer Awareness Week: Pink Week After a year’s hiatus, Weatherhead Sixth Form came back with a bang!

Year 12 and 13 students and staff immersed themselves into a world of pink to spread awareness of breast cancer.

Throughout the week, students worked tirelessly to raise money by organising cake sales, tuck shops, ‘Guess the Name of the Teddy’ competitions and a raffle to win a pink themed hamper! It is because of the hard work put in by our students, that we were able to present Clatterbridge Hospital with a cheque for £1,700.

Race for Life Congratulations to Team Weatherhead made up of Sixth Form students, staff and family members who took part in the Race for Life event in Birkenhead Park in October.

Participants were invited to run, jog or walk a 5km route to fundraise and raise awareness of Cancer Research UK’s work. Well done to everyone who took part and thank you to those who sponsored Team Weatherhead, A special mention goes to Mrs Woods, Head of Health Studies for making it all happen and coordinating the Team who raised over £4,000!

SIXTH FORM 17

Sixth Form Scholars Our Year 12 Scholars have had a busy term immersing themselves in lots of wonderful curricular programmes.

Tomorrow’s Engineers Week As part of Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (TEW) Year 13 students, Freya Crisp and Izzy Elton were delighted to represent Weatherhead at the TEW COP schools’ debate. Freya and Izzy presented their ideas via video to all other participating schools which focussed on limiting climate change impacts.

Freya and Izzy are both passionate about science and their ideas were not only creative, but scientifically credible in order to be selected. They have raised their own profile but also enhanced Weatherhead’s reputation as a World Class school.

Liverpool Scholars Erin Thomas has secured a place on the University of Liverpool Scholars Programme from March to September. The programme offers students the chance to take part in a range of activities aimed at supporting their entry into higher education and preparing them for university, such as application guidance masterclasses, lectures and academic key skills workshops.

Our Year 13 Scholars have been channelling their efforts into refining their UCAS applications by making the final tweaks to their choices and personal statements. The deadline to apply was the end of January, and a whopping 27 of our scholars have already received conditional offers from a Russell Group University - an amazing achievement.

Magic Monday ‘Magic Monday’ attendance rewards were introduced back in November.

Every Monday, students who had 100% attendance in lessons the previous week are given a ticket to receive a treat. So far nearly 1,400 tickets have been given out and students have enjoyed pizza, donuts, cupcakes, hot chocolate, vouchers and sweets. This is an ongoing incentive with more exciting prizes planned for this term.

HE Plus 16 Year 12 students were successful in securing a place on Cambridge University’s prestigious HE Plus programme.

The programme launched in January with a series of virtual lectures and academic webinars all about preparing for university and will continue throughout the year. Students will have the opportunity to collaborate with participants from other schools on a competitive project. If shortlisted, successful groups will be invited to a ceremony to celebrate their work at Cambridge later in the year.

18 SIXTH FORM

Sixth Form Netball Students took on Calday Grange Grammar School in a netball friendly in what was an exciting game.

Despite a very close third with Weatherhead down 12 to 16 Calday stormed ahead in the last quarter and won 23-15.

Park Palace Law and Ponies Business Year 13 student, Megan Turley has received recognition from Park Palace Ponies, an inner city riding school, ​​for her outstanding hard work and commitment. After working there for nearly five years, 2022 was the year in which Megan was chosen to take part in the Aintree Racecourse Weights Lunch. This annual event involves volunteers riding ponies from their base in Mill Street, Dingle all the way to the Rum Warehouse, Stanley Dock in North Liverpool. This is an exciting opportunity for those taking part who get to meet famous faces from the equestrian world - something that will really benefit Megan as this is the career path she wants to pursue.

Mental Health First Aid Peer Educators 12 students from Years 12 and 13 have completed their training to become Mental Health First Aid Peer Educators. They will soon begin their work with younger students and their peers in helping to share strategies, give support and raise the profile of the importance of good mental health.

Sixth Form Football The girls were narrowly beaten on penalties by a strong side from Rossall School, having drawn 1-1 after extra time in the English Schools’ Cup. The boys have contested several friendly matches against St Mary’s, Calday and Mosslands and are hoping for a win in their next match!

Research Skills Seminar at LJMU In March, a group of Sixth Form students visited the Liverpool John Moores University’s Student Life Building for an EPQ research skills seminar delivered by the LJMU’s Library Outreach Team. The purpose of the trip was for students to learn about vital skills needed for their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). The seminar covered research validity, evaluation of sources and the Harvard Referencing system.

Students also had a chance to look around the new Student Life building and the facilities offered for students at LJMU. Mrs Benazzouz commented that the students engaged well with the seminar and asked some excellent questions and we hope to return with another cohort of students soon.

Thanks goes to Miss Folan for making the visit possible and for our fantastic minibus drivers who delivered us to the university and back in the midst of a storm!

SIXTH FORM 19

Best Classroom Competition Staff were encouraged to decorate their classrooms in the Best Classroom Competition 2021 which was coordinated and judged by the Student Senior Leadership Team. The team commented how hard they found it to pick their winners as the school looked so wonderful. Congratulations to the winners: 1st 2nd 3rd

B003 B102 F205

History, Miss Bartle Maths, Mrs England MFL, Miss Rigby

Best Area Dance and the Learning Zone Special mentions C204 (English), E205 (Art), A101 (Drama), PE and B005 (Psychology).

Artist of the Month

ART

The September/October Artist of the Month was open to entries in any media with any theme which included digital design, painting, drawing, photography and modelling. Well done to everyone who entered and especially to the winners and runners-up KS3 winner KS3 runners-up KS4 winner KS4 runner-up KS5 winner KS5 runners-up

Amber Carr, Year 9 Cassie Traynor, Year 8 and Jess Loyden, Year 8 Millie Lawrenson, Year 11 Ella Williams , Year 10 Ella Barlow, Year 13 Jena Williams, Year 13 and Holly Lea, Year 13

KS5 Runner-up: Jena Williams, Year 13

KS4 Winner: Millie Lawrenson, Year 11

20 ART

KS3 Winner: Amber Carr, Year 9

KS5 Winner: Ella Barlow, Year 13

KS3 Runner-up: Cassie Traynor, Year 8

KS3 Runner-up: Jess Loyden, Year 8

KS5 Runner-up: Holly Lea, Year 13

KS4 runner-up: Ella Williams, Year 10

ART 21

The November/December Artist of the Month competition was themed around all things Chrismassy! Students were asked to get in the Christmas spirit by taking photographs to show what Christmas means to them. Here are some of the top entries who were all rewarded with a Christmas treat.

Students were invited to photograph and submit a piece of work that they had completed during an Art lesson that they were especially proud of into the January/ February Artist of the Month competition. Entries included sketchbook work, recycled plastic works of art and final exam pieces of outstanding quality. Thank you to all the students who took part and congratulations to the winners and runners-up: Year 7 winner Year 7 runners-up

Ella Court Jess Mooney and Mary Jane McDonnell Year 8 winner Hope Abramson Year 8 runners-up Daisy Neal and Molly Dutton Year 9 winner Hannah Woosey Year 9 runners-up Chloe O’Neill and Maja Ottlewska KS4 winner Natasha House KS4 runner-up Alyssa Thomson Year 12 winner Romilly Norton Year 12 runner-up Alex Baldwin-Quirk Year 13 winner Holly Lea Year 13 runners-up Danielle Carney and Libby Hughes

Runner-up: Danielle Carney, Year 13

22 ART

Winner: Holly Lea, Year 13

Runners-up: Chloe O’Neill and Maja Ottlewska, Year 9

Runner-up: Alex Baldwin-Quirk, Year 12

Winner: Romilly Norton, Year 12

Runner-up: Libby Hughes, Year 13

KS4 Runner-up: Alyssa Thomson KS4 winner: Natasha House

Runners-up: Daisy Neal and Molly DuttonYear 8

Runners-up: Jess Mooney and Mary Jane McDonnell, Year 7

ART 23

CHILDCARE

Guess Who’s Back?

We are delighted that our Year 12 Childcare students have been able to return to their placements in nurseries working with children aged 6 months to 3 years, planning and leading a range of play activities. Year 13 students have embraced their placements in local primary schools, planning and supporting literacy and numeracy activities for 4-5 year olds.

The schools have been delighted to have them and the students have enjoyed supporting the children with their learning and development. The students are wonderful role models and represent Weatherhead well in the local community.

Happy Birthday Weathertots!

We cannot believe it has been 30 years since our weekly playgroup, Weathertots, started back in 1992! Although we have not been able to run the group this year, we are hoping we will be able to soon, as Covid restrictions are lifted. The group offers our students a fantastic opportunity to work with toddlers, parents and carers in the local community.

Our students have benefited from setting up the room, planning a range of activities and preparing nutritious snacks. It really helps to build children’s confidence and we love to hear stories from current students recalling how they came to Weathertots when they were young.

HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE

Postcards for Kindness Year 12 HSC students recently took part in the Postcards for Kindness initiative organised by AgeUK. The project is about linking young people with elderly residents in care homes who have become isolated as a consequence of Covid. Many residents have spent the last two years with few visitors and are suffering from loneliness. Our students enjoyed writing postcards to the residents of a local care home and also to those in a home in the South of England.

We’ll Meet Again…

Due to current circumstances, we have not been in a position to invite our Weatherfriends from Victoria House Residential Care Home to Weatherhead for afternoons of fun, afternoon tea, chats and games. Staff and students have kept in touch with residents and have sent across video messages to cheer them up as they have to endure ongoing periods of isolation. We look forward to the time when we can meet again.

Exams… finally 24 CHILDCARE/HSC

Well done to all of our HSC students who were pleased to be able to sit their Unit 2 exam in January. For many students, this was their first formal exam since their GCSEs were cancelled in 2020, which deserves a big well done.

HISTORY

HORRIBLE HISTORY - NOT AT WEATHERHEAD!

Remembrance Day As the Last Post sounded in school to mark a two minute silence to remember and honour service men and women who lost their lives in WWI, staff shared a PowerPoint presentation produced by Year 10 Subject Ambassador, Freya Murphy. Freya’s presentation included the story behind the Last Post, why we wear poppies and how to wear them correctly as well as a poignant family story of her Great Uncles part in WWI.

Black History Month As part of Black History Month Miss Bartle launched a project inviting students to research an important black historical figure of their choice and re-telling their story in a creative way. Students showed their creativity by writing poems, stories and posters.

Students met with Miss Whelan to receive a History Achiever Award pen and certificate. Tia Davis’ winning poem about Rosa Parks is displayed in a glass cabinet alongside the postbox made as part of the 2020 celebrations. Well done to the following students: 1st 2nd 3rd

Historian of the Month

Tia Davis (Year 9) with her inspirational poem recognising Rosa Parks’ achievements Pola Ludant (Year 8) with her poem about Rosa Parks Ella Court (Year 7) with a piece of creative writing about Henry ‘Box’ Brown

Highly Commended: Evelyn Hignett (Year 8) and Issy Witt (Year 7) with their accounts and stories about Bob Marley

Staff continue to award ‘Historian of the Month’ to students from each year group who have gone above and beyond in their studies, for ongoing hard work and endeavour. Students are rewarded with a special History achiever’s pen, gold certificate as well as featuring on the department’s Twitter feed. Well done to all the winners from the Autumn and Spring terms: September

Erin L, Sophia B, Keira W, Amelia C, Beth B, Molly N and Romy W.

October

Aasiyah M, Lucy M, Eva E, Natasha W, Isla T, Alyssa S and Holly L.

November

Suzie S, Lucy S, Millie S, Tweeby H, Katie M, Emma P and Emily B.

December

Jess C, Lexi M, Eden B, Alice E, Chloe B, Faith B, Daisy N and Faith B.

January

Leyla B, Will M, Emily E, Rebecca H, Scarlett H-W, Finley G and Amrita S.

February

Lola B, Ava J, Amelia R, Eleanor L, Libby H, Erin B and Libbie B-J.

Tia Davis’ winning poem

HISTORY 25

MATHS

Let the Battle Commence!

On Monday 13th December, 45 students from all year groups gathered in B102 to take on their Maths teachers in a time table battle in aid of the NSPCC. Students loved challenging the teachers who were so impressed by the times table fluency displayed by all the competitors. A particular well done to Isabelle Edwards (Year 7), who answered a massive 1,613 questions correctly! As for the teachers, Miss Routledge was the most valuable player, with a very respectable 978 questions answered. A big thank you to students for their donations.

On Friday 4th February, students from all year groups participated in the annual ‘Number Hunt’ in aid of the NSPCC. Competition was fierce, as nearly a hundred students hunted down their Maths teachers in hopes of finding the number they were wearing and completing their competition slip. In addition to the ‘Number Hunt’, Year 7 participated in the TT Rock Stars NSPCC Rocks challenge. This was a national competition to find the highest scoring class in the country with 7W placing a respectable 954th out of 60,242 classes competing. Well done to our resident Times Table Rock Star, Isabelle Edwards who answered 3,173 questions correctly during the lesson - an incredible achievement!

Well done to all of our Rockstars and thank you for your generous donations and congratulations to the raffle winners, Saaliha Begum, Abi Martin and Poppy Pitts.

MEDIA & FILM STUDIES

Valentine’s Monster Munch With Steve Oram On Valentine’s Day, the Film and Media department were suitably enamoured by an exclusive Zoom QandA session with the lovely Steve Oram.

Steve boasts an illustrious career in the industry and has starred in classics It’s All Gone Pete Tong, the Mighty Boosh and A Level piece, Sightseers, to name just a few as well as playing vicar ‘Phil’ in the fourth and final series of Killing Eve. With a diverse acting, writing and directing career spanning decades and playing the starring role in Ben Wheatly’s exquisitely dark British comedy Sightseers, he had plenty of industry anecdotes to share with Miss Folan, Miss Joynson and Year 12 and 13 Film and Media students. Through the wonders of technology, Steve was transported into A104 to share exclusive insights into his writing process, his love of British caravan sites and the nuanced representations of Britishness at work in the film’s narrative. He thoughtfully and humorously responded to questions compiled by Year 13 students, which were delivered by Gray McGlinn and Frasier Nicholls with the panache of seasoned film critics. Libby Evans, performed the role of scribe and took mounds of relevant notes which will really help the group to tackle the question on British Film in their A Level exam. From the sublime to the ridiculous, we discovered the inside story driving the darker motives of serial killers, Chris and Tina as well as Steve’s passion for pickled onion Monster Munch! Thanks to Media Demonstrator, Miss Joynson for setting it up. It will definitely be a Valentine’s treat we will be talking about for many years to come.

26 MATHS/MEDIA

MFL

European Day of Languages The MFL team celebrated European Day of Languages with activities in lessons, a virtual bake off and a quiz in form time with questions about European language, countries, currency and culture. Well done to everyone who took part but especially the winning form 7JMU.

Virtual Bake Off The virtual bake-off entries were of an exceptional standard as always with so much thought and creativity and were judged by Miss Whelan. The winners were: 1st 2nd 3rd

Pola Ludant, 8TG Aoife Morris, 7ZEL Eva-Lily Bell, 8CB

Special mentions: Molly Simm, 7JMU and Hannah Rochford, 8CTR

1st place 2nd place

Special Mention - Molly

Special Mention - Hannah 3rd place

Students Enjoy a Flying Visit MFL treated French students in Years 9 and 10 to a visit to Bistro Franc in Liverpool to sample typical French bistro inspired cuisine including creme brulee, whilst Year 10 and Year 13 Spanish students have both enjoyed an evening at hidden gem, Esto Es España, sampling traditional tapas and paella.

MFL 27

Weatherhead Unplugged

PERFORMING ARTS

We were delighted to welcome back an audience to Weatherhead for our first live performance since 2019. Despite only being back in school for four weeks and the restrictions of Lockdown, we were very proud of how hard the students worked to showcase their work at Weatherhead Unplugged. There were strong debut performances from Junior Choir and the newly formed Year 12 Band, Romanzic, as well as solo performances by Olivia Carroll, Freya Beresford and Alicia Evans of their own compositions.

The programme included a poignant finale of ABBA’s Slipping Through my Fingers by our Year 13 group Roxy - their first time performing in 18 months and probably their last performance at Weatherhead.

Virtual Christmas Concert Well done to our Performing Arts staff and students who pulled out all the stops to ensure that our traditional Christmas concert went ahead despite Covid restrictions.

Choirs, Dancers and 6th Form Drama students rehearsed and filmed their performances in school which was edited together into a 45 minute virtual concert. Introduced

by Miss Whelan, there were stand out performances from Year 7, 8 and 9 Dancers, Dance Company, Junior, Senior and Chamber Choir, the Sixth Form Band, Roxy, as well as festive readings and duologues by A Level Drama students.

Performing Arts Council

Students who are passionate about Performing Arts and keen to get involved with Dance, Drama or Music activities were invited to apply to become members of the new Performing Arts Council. Over 150 students applied and we are delighted to announce the new Council members who will be supported by Head Performing Arts Ambassador, Emily Jones and deputies Evie Scroggie, Jess Nghiem and Jess Lawlor.

Dance Ambassadors

DANCE AMBASSADORS: Year 12 - Jess O’Neill, Indie Cory-Kennedy Year 10 - Maddie Brennan, Chloe Cooper, Isabelle Pulford, Jess Chandler, Amy Humphreys Year 9 - Faith Brooks, Eva Easdown, Chloe O’Neill Year 8 - Courtney Williams, Chelsea Edwards Sutton, Bethany Webb-Dann, Chloe Howlin Year 7 - Belle Hamill, Anaiya Amos-Smith, Daisy-May Knight, Lily May Matthews Drama Ambassadors

Music Ambassadors

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PERFORMING ARTS

DRAMA AMBASSADORS: Year 12 - Luke Armitage, Sam Sarson, Letoya Sanders Year 10 - Jess Thomas, Rebecca Lee, Lacey Ryan, Elisabeth Webster Year 9 - Nikola Mokrzycka, Paige Ison, Olivia Crawford, Amber Stokes Year 8 - Aminah Chowdhury, Isla Davis, Megan Ruddy, William Mitchell Year 7 - Erin Leech, Asiyah Mahgoub, Erin Bradshaw, Connie Taylor MUSIC AMBASSADORS: Year 12 - Nicole Lin, Jodie Bowker Year 10 - Sophie Tan, Maddie Holmes, Lexi Johnson Year 9 - Kaitlyn Lomas, Isabella Williams Year 8 - Olivia Carroll, Ruby Maines, Amelia Laurie, Darcy Howard Year 7 - Abi Jeyakumar, Poppy Pitts, Amy Hayden, Erin Leech

Couch to 5k A small cohort of dedicated students from Years 7-10 joined Miss Faulkner every Friday on the Couch to 5k Challenge which they completed before Christmas - well done! It has been fabulous to see students attending every week to improve their performance which will culminate in some cross country races scheduled for February and March.

Howzat!

Following a very successful launch of ExtraCurricular cricket last year, students have started to enjoy playing in matches. Well done to our First XI who represented Weatherhead in their first cricket match against Prenton High School. Weatherhead took the win with 132 runs for 7 and Prenton were 92 all out.

In a mini tournament at Prenton High School, the team worked really hard and showed amazing teamwork in both of their games, with both being very close wins against Prenton (82 for 4) and Upton Hall (73 for 4). Player of the match was awarded to Freya Murphy for her excellent bowling technique.

Cross Country Congratulations to our runners who took part in the Cross Country Cup at Calday Fields last term. Weatherhead had a strong Junior and Senior squad who ran their socks off - for some it was their first ever race. Congratulations to all the students who took part but special mentions to Jen Ryan who came first out of all the senior runners and Neina Haadi for coming 9th in the Junior runners, securing a 1st place for Weatherhead overall. Our Cross Country runners were back in action competing at Sefton Park.

Despite the cold and muddy conditions the students performed really well with Jess Mooney coming in first place for her age group. Jess recently achieved another first place at an event in Wavertree with great results for Neina Haadi and Bella Boyle.

Junior Runners Lola Baggaley, Bella Boyle, Emma Brennan, Lilly Ann Griffin, Neina Haadi, Jess Mooney, Connie Olsen and Emily Rooney.

Senior Runners Ruby Bettridge, Hannah Carr, Libby Cotton, Alicia Evans, Olivia Farrell and Jen Ryan.

Year 7 Football The Year 7 footballers triumphed in their first game of the season in a friendly against Oldershaw, winning 4-0. Goal scorers - Ava Keegan (3) and Sophie Wiggins (1)

SPORT@WEATHERHEAD 29

Futsal Well done to the Year 7 and 8 squad who competed in a Futsal Tournament at Ridgeway High School scoring 7 goals in 3 games with a clean sheet, they were winners of their group with zero goals conceded. v Ridgeway 1-0 Goal scorer - Connor Diggory (1) v Woodchurch 2-0 Goal scorer - Emma Brennan (2) v Ridgeway B 4-0 Goal scorers - Emma Brennan (3) and Ava Keegan (1)

Year 7 & 8 Football The Year 7 and 8 squads enjoyed Round Robin tournaments at Tranmere Rovers with some top goal scoring from Emma Brennan (5), Liv Parry (3), Holly Makin (1) and Harriet Mead (2) and at Birkenhead Academy where they won 1 and lost 2 with goals from Lexi Vaughan-Jones. v Ridgeway 9-0 Goal scorers - Emma Brennan (2), Rosheen Farrall (2), Ava Keegan (3) and Sophie Wiggins (2).

ESFA ENGLAND SCHOOLS’ CUP RESULTS: U12 England Schools’ Cup First round v. Kirby High School, 11-0 The U12 squad more than held their own and showed off their skills in their debut match in the ESFA Schools’ Cup with an impressive win against Kirby High School! Goal scorers Rose Tavakoli (2), Sophie Wiggins (1) Libby Smith (3) and Ava Keegan (5).

Second round v. Sacred Heart, 2-2 (won 3-2 on penalties) thanks to Sophie Wiggins who stepped up to take the last penalty to seal the win! An absolutely fantastic performance all round and brilliant saves from Goalkeeper, Najoud Altamimi.

Third round v. Archbishop Temple, 1-2 A late goal from the opposition, snatched victory from the U12s following an early penalty by Sophie Wiggins. The students played superfly with some representing Weatherhead for the first time.

U13 England Schools’ Cup Second round v. Kirby High, 3-1 The team played some brilliant football and a well deserved result!

Outstanding saves from Amy Goodwill to secure a Weatherhead win!

Goal scorers - Emma Brennan (2) and Olivia Roughton (1) Third round v. Bishop Heber, 6-6 After a fantastic performance and resilience from Weatherhead a full time result of 6-6 sent the game to extra time. Unfortunately Bishop Heber scored the winner in the final minute of the game.

30 SPORT@WEATHERHEAD

U14 England Schools’ Football First round v. St Hilda’s, 6-0 The team played some excellent football and showed fantastic teamwork. A huge well done to the Year 8s who represented Weatherhead for the first time. Goal scorers - Izzy Johnson (4) and Lily Upton (2).

Second round v. Hope Academy, 7-3 A fantastic performance all round and a well deserved win. Goal scorers - Eliza Gaynor (1), Izzy Johnson (2), Jess Jordan (1) and Izzy Prescott (3) Third round v Rainford High, 1-4 Goal scorer - Izzy Johnson

U15 England Schools’ Cup First round v. Woodchurch, 3-1 With a tight game up to 45 minutes with the score still 0-0, Izzy Johnson netted one for Weatherhead! The hard work continued and Izzy bagged another 2 goals! The team worked incredibly hard to maintain the win and fought to the final whistle.

Second round v. Ormskirk High, 8-1 A phenomenal performance from all the players with a special mention to Jessie Williams who was outstanding. Goal scorers - Izzy Johnson (2), Izzy Prescott (1), Adam Stevens (3) and Lily Upton (2) Third round v. St Hilda’s, 2-1 A penalty miss from St Hilda’s went in our favour. Izzy Prescott with the equaliser and then a last minute winner to seal the win for us!

An absolutely fantastic effort from all and a great fight till the end.

Fourth round v Wirral Grammar School, 1-1 After a well fought draw at full time and extra-time, unfortunately the U15s lost to local rivals Wirral Grammar on penalties knocking them out of the Cup.

U18 England Schools’ Cup Rossall High School, 1-1 The U18s travelled up to Fleetwood to play Rossall High School. It was a great game and Sophie Kilbane played superbly’ in the middle of the pitch. At the end of full time it was 1-1 and unfortunately we lost on penalties. The team put up a great fight and should be really proud of themselves.

SPORT@WEATHERHEAD 31

GCSE Football Well done to the GCSE football squad who competed in a standardisation match against West Kirby Grammar School in January. The final score was 1-1 with a penalty goal from Libby Cotton to take the win.

KS3 Netball Well done to our KS3 students for representing Weatherhead in their first Netball match against Oldershaw. The students worked incredibly hard and really enjoyed the experience. Player’s of the match - Bella Boyle and Abi Nadesalingham. We have been delighted at the students attending KS3 Netball Monday evenings - we hope this continues until Easter.

on

Our Year 7 and 8 students played a friendly against West Kirby Grammar School and unfortunately lost, despite students showing determination and hard work throughout. The students enjoyed the experience and learnt so much that they very much look forward to taking them on again! Goal scorer - Neina Haadi

GCSE Netball Well done to all our GCSE Netballers Ruby Bettridge, Daisy Burdett, Freya Crowder, Izzy Derbyshire, Alicia Evans, Lydia Galloway, India Gartside, Natasha House, Emily Taylor, Seren Thomas and Ella William who have been playing friendly matches against their counterparts at West Kirby, Upon and Prenton. The students worked hard to improve their skills, work together as a team and complete their PE practical logs. A big thank you to Deputy Sports Ambassadors, Jena Williams for umpiring many of the games so efficiently and a special mention to Year 10 students, Isabella Clarke and Lydia Galloway, who made up the numbers on several occasions.

32 SPORT@WEATHERHEAD

Interform Football Students enjoyed a return to some normality before Christmas with the annual Interform football. Students showed plenty of skill, team work, competitive spirit and determination. For the first time ever, the event was live streamed from the Sports Hall to the Gym for those teams waiting to play.

1st 7JMU 2nd 7SA 3rd 7SHO

1st 2nd 3rd

8CHY 8CTR 8LCL

1st 2nd 3rd

9CK 1st 10RHN 9EOL, 9JBA 2nd 10BD 9RO 3rd 10CHA

1st 11AMP/SBU Sixth Form ‘Dutton’s Destroyers’ (Lucy Bowker, Sam Gillett, 2nd 11KEV/11JWN, 11CFE Georgia Haskayne, Cody Naylor, Becky Reilly, 3rd 11HRL Evie Scroggie and Jena Williams).

SIXTH FORM 33

Rowing Our Year 8 Rowers meet every Tuesday afternoon and have been learning to row in the docks in association with the Victoria Rowing Club with the help of Miss Williams. The group recently took part in a capsize drill to help them understand what to do if the boat tipped.

The students are thoroughly enjoying the experience and hope to compete later this term. The crew consists of Olivia Bougard, Kiera Brady, Emma Brennan, Rosheen Farrall, Amy Goodwill, Lucy Green, Lillyan Hales, Charlotte Ramsey, Amelia Stringfellow and Bethany Webb-Dann.

The group successfully competed in their first indoor rowing competition in February. Each student completed a 3 minute individual sprint race as well as a relay. Weatherhead entered three relay teams, one of which came first! Well done to Emma, Rosheen, Lucy and Bethany who were the top scoring rowers out of 79 students.

34 SPORT@WEATHERHEAD

Trampolining GCSE PE students have joined up with Upton Hall School to standardise their Trampolining skills for their PE practical.

The students enjoyed some friendly competition at Upton Hall alongside Prenton High, West Kirby Grammar and Wirral Grammar in January, with particularly strong routines from Izzy Spurr O’Hare and Lucy Bunting.

Sports Ambassadors Well done to Head Sports Ambassador Lucy Bowker and deputies, Sam Gillett and Jena Williams who have thrown themselves into their roles this year running an after school tennis club, refereeing GCSE Netball matches, supporting Extra-Curricular clubs and interform Football competitions.

Tennis In conjunction with Thorndale Tennis Club and the taster sessions which were provided by their Club Coach, Dave McIndoe, tennis enthusiasts were treated to a visit to a professional tennis club.

The students had a wonderful experience playing under the floodlights and despite a bit of rain it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. A special mention to three very high ability tennis players Bella Boyle, Izzy McIndoe and Sienna Moore in addition to Olivia Bougourd, Grace Conlan, Amy Goodwill, Lilyan Hales, Chloe Howlin, Ruby Maines, Cassie Traynor and Bethany Webb Dann.

Don’t forget to follow our Twitter account @WeatherheadPE for the latest news and results

SPORT@WEATHERHEAD 35

CHARITY

Children in Need Mrs O’Hea coordinated GCSE Food Technology students baking cakes for a Children in Need cake sale. Hundreds of cakes were sold in the first whole school fundraiser in almost 18 months. Together with students donating money to wear spotty accessories, almost £600 was raised for Pudsey!

Santa Dash A big thank you to all those students and staff who embraced the winter weather and took part in the annual Santa Dash.

Whether they were running (in trainers) walking (in shoes) or exhibiting very high levels of competition against each other (predominantly the Sixth Form boys) it was a lovely event to embrace the last week of 2021 in our Santa hats and raise some money for charity.

Grab & Donate Mrs O’Hea coordinated a staff cake sale for Comic Relief raising almost £160. Thank you to the Food Technology, DT and HSC departments and staff in the main office for baking and donating cakes! Well done to the Sixth Form for raising over £250 by wearing red, selling cakes and holding a red themed raffle.

Staff donated toys, gifts and food items which were dropped off at the Charles Thompson Mission in Birkenhead to create hampers for those in need over the festive period.

Wirral Foodbank A further two crates of essential items were collected by Sixth Form students and donated to the Wirral Foodbank in the New Year.

36 CHARITY

Care Home Goodies Students in Years 7 to 9 were invited to design and create personalised Christmas cards and decoration for residents of local care homes. Over 500 cards were hand crafted by our students which were delivered to the care homes the week before Christmas along with hampers of festive treats for the staff. It is hoped that the school choir can visit the care homes this term for a Spring/Summer performance.

Cardless Christmas Staff donated generously to Claire House instead of sending Christmas cards and raised almost £150.

World Challenge A team of 19 students will be travelling to Sri Lanka in July 2023.

Under the guidance of Maths teacher, Miss Williams (who used to be a World Challenge leader herself) and Miss Richardson, the group have already begun fundraising. Their 13 day adventure will include a visit to an elephant conservation to take part in wildlife conservation, rafting, a rainforest trek and a final relax in the beach resort of Negrombo.

CHARITY 37

CHRISTMAS In addition to creating cards for care home residents, making donations to Claire House and the Charles Thompson Mission, performing in the Virtual Christmas concert and Santa Dash, students and staff got into the festive spirit with fun form time activities and a bake off.

Elf on the Shelf Forms in Years 7 - 9 were invited to take part in the Elf on the shelf competition. Prizes were awarded for the best name which went to 7ARI with their Elf ‘Elfred’ and the most creative ‘Elf on the Shelf ’ scene was won by 9KDA, 8RMN and 7KRN.

7JMU

9NE

8ARI

9KDA

7BH

7ESP

7KRN

38 CHRISTMAS

7ZEL

8RMN

Weatherhead Christmas Bake Off Twenty students submitted entries for the popular termly Bake Off competition. Students were invited to bake at home and submit a photograph of their festive treats which included some beautifully decorated cupcakes, a wreath shaped and a present shaped sponge cake, mince pies, reindeer biscuits and even some winter wonderland showstoppers! Congratulations to all our bakers who are featured in the gallery below and especially to the winners: 1st 2nd 3rd

Pola Ludant, 8TG Hope Abramson, 8CTR Poppy Freedman, 7KRN

2nd place

1st place 3rd place

Poppy Pitts Madeleine Beale Charlotte Salim-White

CHRISTMAS 39

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PARENTS/GUARDIANS

GCSE, BTEC and A Level Exams Summer 2022 Staff were impressed by how well students coped with their mock GCSE, BTEC and A Level examinations, showing maturity and their hard work has paid off with some pleasing results. As we prepare for a full timetable of formal examinations this summer please familiarise yourself with the timetable on the school website and encourage your child to attend additional support sessions.

For a full timetable of summer exams please visit www.weatherheadhigh.co.uk/school-information/examinations-and-results/

Dates for Your Diary SUMMER TERM 2022 Monday 25th April School open * Monday 2nd May - Bank Holiday Wednesday 25th & Thursday 26th May SLT New Intake Evening Friday 27th May School closes Monday 30th May to Friday 3rd June Half term Monday 6th June School open Thursday 16th June Open Evening Friday 17th June Open Morning Tuesday 21st June KS3 Awards Evening Thursday 30th June Sixth Form Prom Monday 4th July - Friday 8th July Year 10 Work Experience Week Tuesday 5th July Creative Showcase Wednesday 6th July Year 7 Induction Day Wednesday 6th - Friday 8th July Year 7 Conway Trip Wednesday 13th July Summer Sizzler community showcase Thursday 14th July Summer Sizzler community showcase Friday 15th July Year 7 Mad Science Day Monday 18th July Sports Day Tuesday 19th July School closes Thursday 18th August A Level Results Thursday 25th August GCSE Results

AUTUMN TERM 2022 Monday 5th September Tuesday 6th September Wednesday 7th September

INSET Day INSET Day School open to students

Weatherhead High School Breck Road, Wallasey, Wirral CH44 3HS Tel: 0151 631 4400 Fax: 0151 637 1805 Email: admin@weatherheadhigh.co.uk Website: www.weatherheadhigh.co.uk