NF 18th November 2022

NEWSFLASH

Fortnightly Newsletter of Woodhouse Grove School

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Poet Laureate

Congratulations to Mischa Dentico, Y11 who became our new Grove Poet Laureate winning with her beautifully crafted poem, 'Cold Sundays'. With more than 20 entries, Mrs Sharpe was astounded by the high standard of all who entered and urges all participants to keep writing! We look forward to hearing from our resident poet, Mischa, throughout the year.

Remembrance Service

Last Sunday, we held our Remembrance Service in Chapel to honour all those who lost their lives in conflict, including many Grovians. Thank you to Reverend Drost, the choir and Mr Tedd for a wonderful service. We also had a full school two minute silence on Friday with the Last Post.

HMC Projects Day

Last week our HMC Scholars attended the inaugural HMC Projects Day hosted by Barnard Castle School. They were great ambassadors for the school and the highlight of their day was a visit to The Bowes Museum, where they saw paintings by Canaletto, Goya and others.

Geography Trip

Our Year 12 geographers went a on 3 day field trip to the Yorkshire coast to complete course work for their A level. On Sunday they went to Mappleton to look at beach gradient and sediment size samples; Monday was spent in Scarborough undertaking urban climate and place meaning studies; and Tuesday they investigated sand dune succession at Bridlington South Sands. A great experience for the students, with sunshine!

Join the WGS Park Run Tour—starting this Sunday at Roundhay Park at 09.00am. Open to all levels of fitness; register on Firefly if you wish to join us.

Open Days

Thank you to all pupils and staff who helped show around prospective families at our Open Morning on Saturday and also at the Sixth Form event last night. We appreciate both days were very busy.

Rhinos Signing

Huge congratulations to Fergus McCormack, Year 12, who has signed a full time contract with Leeds Rhinos ahead of the 2023 season. Fergus, who plays half back, has spent the last two years in the club’s Scholarship Programme. To read what Fergus said about his signing click

Year 7 and 8 Talent Spotlight

Last week a selection of talented students from Year 7 and 8 took to the stage for the annual 'Into the Spotlight' talent show. More photos on flickr! The evening was presented by Year 8 students Xavier Spanton Namany and Henry Fox (who wrote all their own material). The audience were treated to a cellist, two pianists and two singing soloists, as well as two monologues, a duologue and two wonderful group singing performances. Performances were punctuated by two fabulous drummers. With such an array of talent at such a young age, we are confident that the future of performing arts at the Grove is in very safe hands!

Netball Nationals Success

On Saturday 3 teams went to the England Netball National Schools County round. Our U19s played 3 games and came out on top of the group despite a close encounter with Greenhead College. In the U14 category, we dominated in 4 matches and finished with a close 10 9 win against Wakefield Girls in their 5th and final match. The U16 team delivered great performances throughout and topped their group. Congratulations to all the players and coaches along with all the parents who were there in force to show their support.

Year 7 Prefects

Congratulations to our newly appointed Year 7 Prefects: Anya Verma, Isabelle Burns, Eloise Baker, Matilda Frazer, Isabel Payne, Hettie Smith, Oliver Nevill Brady, Jacob Zelikson, Harry Kirby, Eesa Hamid, Charlie Cooper and Josh Neale.

Our U13 have also enjoyed recent netball success, winning the ‘Sisters N Sport’ cup match against Wakefield Girls High and a win in the ISNC cup against Kings School, Worcester.

European Karate Championships

Well done to both Harrison and Lewis Riley, who recently competed in the European Karate Championships in Florence. Lewis did not make the medal table this time, due to recent injury, but Harrison took a gold and a silver in his two team events.

Hat Parade Winners

There were some amazing hats in our Languages hat parade competition and the winners have now been announced. Well done everyone.

1st Eloise Baker Ukraine/English Hat

2nd Ed Burnett Brazil themed hat

3rd Penny Lofthouse Paris themed hat

Cell Models

Year 7 biologists have been creating models of specialised cells recently, fantastic work.

Anti-Bullying Week

There have been lots of activities organised this week for Anti Bullying Week. Themed assemblies which focused on this year’s message Reach Out were complemented by Odd Socks Day, Whisper Wednesday (Wispa bars given out for kindness), bunting with kind messages written on and lunchtime buns.

Enterprises Club Bake Sale

'The Canine Confectionary Company', this year’s Enterprise Group, ran a successful bake sale to raise money for their start up capital. They raised enough money to pay the registration fee to enter into the LEAP Enterprise Competition as well as buy the raw materials to produce their first batch of healthy dog treats. Look out for them at the FOWG Christmas Fair on the 26th of November!

Backseat Economist's Competition

The business and economics department have been strategising on how to write essays for the Backseat Economist's Annual Essay Competition. It has been an excellent opportunity for our economics students to undertake research and develop in depth knowledge and understanding about a current economic topic. We wish them all the best the top 10 submissions will be published in the journal, The Backseat Economist.

English Schools’ Cross Country

On Saturday, six cross country squads competed in the Regional final of the English Schools' Cup. Some great running; the Junior Girls and the Inters Boys squads both qualified for the national finals in December and the Inters Girls, who were only one point away from qualifying, also put in an excellent performance. We are very proud of all the who took part in the event.

Stations of the Cross

We are thrilled to display Yorkshire sculptor Frank Roper's Stations of the Cross sculptures which are on loan in the school Chapel. On Wednesday 23rd of November, Professor Ann Sumner, Chair of the Methodist Modern Art Collection, will give an illustrated talk about the sculptor, his life, career and the Stations of the Cross sculptures. To get free tickets, please click HERE.

Fencing

A successful day of fencing last Sunday with 12 WGS fencers competing in the northern Youth Series, Wetherby a debut for 3 of our Year 7’s. Well done to Miranda and Rosalind Bayliss, Dexter Small and Charles McLarnon, all Year 9, who won bronze medals in their U14 events. The Mayor of Wetherby handed out the well deserved medals. also to Kira Grahamslaw who has passed her Level 2 Fencing Refereeing qualification in both Epee and Foil weapons.

Individual Successes

Well done to sixth former Gabriel Constantinou who has been studying to qualify as an IMDT dog trainer. This organisation specialises in positive dog training. Gabriel has completed assessments in dog behaviour, skills theory and how to run a dog training business and will hopefully be fully

Blue Stockings

Rehearsals for our senior production, Blue Stockings are progressing brilliantly as the cast tell the inspiring story of the women at Cambridge, in the late 1800s, who fought for the right to graduate. The cast will be wearing authentic 19th century costumes sourced from Leeds Playhouse. Don't miss your chance to see this inspiring production, tickets available HERE

Congratulations also to Alfie Longstaff, Year 12, who was selected to train with England U18 Rugby (North/Midlands Group) at St George's Park. Both the school and Yorkshire Academy are delighted with his progress this season.

Congratulations to Elliot Tattersall and Harry Bates Year 11, who were awarded trophies for their part in the Aireborough & Wharfedale Junior Cricket League over the Summer. Harry was U15 bowler of the season and Elliot, U15 batsman of the season.

Questions With A Lord

Year 12 Politics students had a productive zoom session with Lord Lisvane. Lord Lisvane talked about his previous experience as a clerk in the House of Commons, his thoughts on Brexit, immigration and the economy. This was a superb opportunity to have a 45 minute session 1:1 with a Lord and wet our appetites for our Westminster visit.

Parents - Cyber Security Warning

Roblox is a massively popular game with children and younger teens, and it has recently come under criticism in relation to financial exploitation, inappropriate content and grooming. A guide for parents regarding safety/security settings for Roblox is available here.

Some children play games within Roblox and many advertise their Discord server where unfortunately children can talk with unknown persons creating a high contact based risk. More information here.

Your Riverbank Needs You!

We are planting our final saplings from 2 to 4pm this Sunday afternoon. Please come and help if you can. We will meet at bottom carpark near to start of riverside path. Bring a spade if possible.

Friends of Woodhouse Grove Events

Festive Fundraising for the FOWG is well underway as we plan for our Raffle & Christmas Shoppers’ Fair on 26th November 2022.