March 4th 2022
NEWSFLASH Fortnightly Newsletter of Woodhouse Grove School
Genetic Transformations
Vigil for Peace
Year 13 were genetically transforming bacteria with a jellyfish gene today. Fingers crossed for glow in the dark colonies! Dr Ingham bringing Gene technology to life in the classroom.
Today Reverend Atkins held a Vigil for Peace in Chapel and invited students and staff to light a candle for the many people affected by the ongoing situation in Ukraine.
World Book Day
Podcast Q and A Year 9 boys Jack McElhone, Oliver Riley-Radcliffe and Sion Lloyd-Parry sent in a question to the 'Something Rhymes with Purple' podcast, hosted by Susie Dent and Giles Brandreth. Their question was about the formal rules of letter writing and the origins of 'yours sincerely' and 'yours faithfully'. The boys recorded their question, which was played on the podcast and discussed. The presenters were very impressed that they knew the difference and said how important it is to be able to write well and formally for their future careers and job applications.
For World Book Day this year, Year 7s decorated their form room doors as different books. Other year groups also made posters and cakes with book themes. Everyone was so creative and the day was a great success.
Pancake Day Pancake Day was a huge success! Everyone got to enjoy some lovely pancakes with a variety of different toppings thanks to the catering team.
Fencing
Netball
Over half term, eleven WGS fencers took part in the Yorkshire County Championships. For ten of our pupils, it was their debut tournament. All fenced extremely well against lots of experienced fencers from across the county. Highlights included Year 8’s Liam Matley, Seth Crosby, Joshua Myers and Dan Burdon fencing well in the ‘Senior Category’ against very experienced adults, and Rosalind Bayliss winning a silver and Miranda Bayliss a bronze in the ‘Under 14’s Girls’ event. This tournament marks the start of competitive fencing at WGS with other tournaments to take place soon.
We are so excited to announce the sponsors of our U19 National Finals netball team, Dentex! Dentex is kindly sponsoring our team on their journey to the National Schools’ Netball Finals which take place on the 12th and 13th of March. The Farsley Dentex Dental Practice offers Award Winning Dentistry on your doorstep, offering you a choice of advanced treatments by familiar faces. To visit their website please use the link below.
Cross Country Old Grovians Rugby Support What we love to see... Old Grovians continuing to support each other after leaving The Grove! Ellie Kildunne and her brother Sam went to watch James Whitcombe as he played for Leicester Tigers recently.
Congratulations to Archie Peaker who won silver in the Yorkshire Fell Championships on Sunday 27th February.
Rugby Congratulations to our 1st VII who came runners up at the Ampleforth 7’s U18s tournament, and to the U15 VII’s team who put in an amazing effort, losing in the cup semi-final in the last play. An excellent performance in their first tournament.
House Music Winners This year's House Music competition was won by Vinter House. Benji Saia (Vinter) won the junior solo category playing and singing Anywhere a piece he composed himself. Winnie Offland (Stephenson) continued the singer songwriting victory in the senior solo category with Untitled. The ensembles were a closely fought contest with Vinter's Lean on Me edging out Towlson's Shut up and Dance and Southerns coming third with Valerie.
World Book Day Poem To celebrate World Book Day, Lily, our student Poet Laureate, has written this wonderful poem about the power of words.
Green Grove Riverbank Project
Mr Bedford Meets The Royals Our very own Mr Bedford was in the presence of royalty last week as part of his RFU Council Representative role. Mr Bedford was invited to meet Prince William and Kate before the England vs Wales Six Nations match.
The Riverbank Pioneers were out and about clearing the Apperley Bridge riverbank again last week. They’re making incredible progress, and doing some great work to conserve our local area. If you want to get involved and join the pioneers, please contact Mr Lambert.
Sustainability at WGS
GCSE Drama Y10 GCSE students are back to it this week, now exploring scenes from DNA on a thrust stage. This means their audience sit on 3 sides, another challenge for our dramatists!
Woodhouse Grove School grows its own working wood willow trees, which are used in the production of cricket bats and presented to our students. The trees take around 15 years to grow, and new ones are planted from the branches of a felled tree. This initiative satisfies both the values of sustainability in being regenerative and sourcing locally!
The Masked Reader Now on Firefly! Take your guess at which teacher’s behind the book for a chance to will an Amazon voucher.