NEWSFLASH

Fortnightly Newsletter of Woodhouse Grove School

Grove Awards

Congratulations to the following students who have recently been presented with their Grove Award certificates and badges.

Y7: Seth Bird, Tilly Frazer, Velvet Harrison, Samuel Peterson and Lucy Wainwright

Y8: Milly Cross and Simeon Tedd

Jamie Peacock (former England Ruby League star) presented the Year 7 students with their awards during assembly whilst the Year 8 pupils received their badges from the Headmaster. Challenges ranged from undertaking lifesaving lessons to running an eco-refill stall at a local church and from fencing to textile club. 29 students have been presented with their Grove Awards so far since September 2023, compared to 7 at this stage last year. Well done!

Sixth Form Podcasts

The focus for the Sixth Form this week was ‘Podcasts’. We explored them in detail and within the form group pathways they have put together a range of posters highlighting specific podcasts they either enjoy or wouldlike to listen to. Some students from form group VIC have also put together their own podcast which reflects on the rugby season to date. It is around 10 minutes and can be heard by following the link HERE.

Reading and Speaking

Snowy Days

A few snow-people appeared around school when most folks were not around last week....

On Wednesday this week, eight students took part in the Senior Reading and Speaking competition. After learning two poems they came together to recite their pieces. The judges were blown away by the performances which not only demonstrated a confident appreciation of the poems chosen but also evoked a host of emotions. Abigail Lewis was crowned the winner with her superb recitals of Oscar Wilde's 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' and Sylvia Plath's 'Morning Song'. Abigail, Isla, Lily, Eilidh and Eimer will now all be entered into the National ‘Poetry by Heart’ competition with the recordings of their poems. We are wishing them the best of luck.

Sporting Successes

Last weekend Kira Grahamslaw (Y11) competed at the Manchester Fencing Open, epee category. A tournament that included a field of both junior, and senior (adult) fencers. Kira did extremely well and won a silver medal, a fantastic result and one that will go onto improve Kira’s British Fencing National ranking.

Good luck to Charley Clark-Taylor (Y9), Archie Peaker (Y10), Harry Bates (11), Maisey Bellwood (Y10)and Gaelle Carrasco (Y11) who have been selected for West Yorkshire to run at the National Schools Cross Country Championships tomorrow in Nottingham.

Good luck to Erin Whitehead (Y10), who along with her team Leeds Gorse Volleyball will be competing in a national competition on the 25th March, they enter ranked 6th and if they win will become National champions!

Congratulations to Betsy Raj (Y9). Following her recent success at the IDTA Theatre Dance Awards, Betsy has been asked to represent the IDTA in both Junior Tap and Junior Modern at the International Scholarships. These will take place at the British Championships in Blackpool in August.

Netball Nationals

Well done to the U16 and 1st team netballers who went down to the Netball Nationals competition last week. To read all about how the girls got on please visit the ‘latest’ section on our website or click HERE.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Before half-term all of the houses recognised Holocaust Memorial Day by taking part in a House assembly about the butterfly being a symbol of the 1.5 million children killed in the Holocaust. After half term, all the students were then asked to colour in a butterfly so they could come become part of a memorial in school, a colour was given to represent each of the persecuted groups. Last week the butterflies took flight in the Martin Hall.

Green Grove

Green Grove diverted from the riverbank this time, in order to plant 9 different willow varieties in a specially designated space close to the Cricket pavilion. It is hoped that in two years time we will be able to harvest sufficient willow of the correct quality from our coppice to make basket-weaving a possibility.

DT This Term

Year 8 design & technology textiles lessons this half term concentrated on pupils creating their own William Morris inspired printed fabric, they then chose what mini item to make: from scrunchies, mini card holders to coffee cosies. The DT staff are super proud of their progress

Preparing for Work Talk

Natalie Walker from Gilbert Meher came into school to speak to some of the Sixth Form students about how to prepare for work. She talked through how to impress with a CV and what you should and shouldn't do at an interview. Natalie also enlightened the pupils about the

British Science Week

It was British Science Week 2023 this week, and pupils have been taking part in all kinds of ways. Year 7 played an ecosystem game looking at interactions between individuals in a web and the impact of environmental factors on numbers. Year 10 modelled how the Ghost Plant uses fungi to steal the nutrients from trees using drainpipes. This was part of the engaging lessons delivered during science week on the theme of ‘Connections’. Yesterday, different year groups got the chance to view the stars and learn about outer space in a pop up planetarium. It’s been an amazing week of science, and all the students had so much fun taking part in all of the activities.

Geography Lessons

8W had fun last week making themselves into a human glacier! They worked hard at creating a script that described all the key parts and movements of a glacier, and then moved down the classroom (valley) eroding the tables (valley sides) and depositing calculators & pencil cases

Drama Performances

Year 9 are working towards their spring performance assessment in Drama. The unit 'Who lives? Who dies? Who tells your story?' was inspired by productions like Hamilton, Six and Wicked which have changed the audience's perspective of famous people or stories from history. Ms Evers' class have chosen to explore the annonymity of Jack the Ripper, the untold stories in Greek mythology, the unfair media representation of Amy Winehouse and the tragic story of George Stinney Jr, the youngest person to be executed for a crime he did not commit. Rehearsals are underway for what promises to be brilliant performances!

Chapel Renovation

Recently, slipped slates on the Chapel roof were fixed as well as the old metal gutters and downpipes being replaced. The cast-steel pipes that were replaced were the original gutters from when the chapel was first built.

School Of Rock

We are so excited for the production of School of Rock next week! From what we’ve seen in rehearsals we’re sure it will be a spectacular show. There’s still a few tickets remaining so if you haven't bought your tickets yet, you can do so at the link HERE.

The Cabin Opening

We are delighted to announce the opening of The Cabin - with refreshments and toilet facilities for spectators attending sporting fixtures. The Cabin will be open tomorrow for the Shuttleworth 7s from 8.30am until 4.00pm, serving a variety of refreshments including hot drinks and bacon baps. Why not come and grab a coffee and take a look inside.

Fairtrade Fortnight

This week marks the end of Fairtrade Fortnight. In the library, they have been highlighting to students and staff that "making the small switch to Fairtrade, supports producers in protecting the future of some of our most-loved food and the planet".

Non-Uniform Day

On the final day of term we will be holding a non-uniform day. This non-uniform day’s donations will be going towards the Turkey-Syria earthquake appeal.