Worthing High School
Semper Ad Excellentiam Contende Always Pursue Excellence
Newsletter
MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD Dear Parents, Carers, Staff and Governors, As the term draws to a close I write to you with my final congratulations to staff and students for what has been a very busy and successful first term of the year. Students across all the year groups have worked extremely hard this term and achieved many incredible academic, sporting and community based successes, I do hope you enjoy reading articles from both staff and students in this newsletter. This term we say a very fond, and sad, farewell to Anne Baker who leaves us after 16 years. Anne has been the most outstanding maths teacher, transforming not only school results but motivating many students to go on to study mathematics at both ‘A’ and Degree level. As Anne moves on to take up a new post at The Angmering School, we wish her all the very best of luck and know that her new students will be very fortunate to have such a gifted teacher. After three years we say goodbye to Jackie Bendell who leaves us to start a new chapter. Jackie has been a remarkable teacher of DT, achieving incredible progress and attainment results with students of all
Broadwater Dr Amanda Jakes
ajakes@worthinghigh.net
abilities. We wish Jackie every good fortune for the future. We wish Sophie Cole ‘bon voyage’ as she sets off for a new life with her family in Australia. In the time Sophie has been with us she has ignited a love of writing in our Key Stage 3 students, many of whom are now published authors. Sophie has also led our focus on whole school literacy and taught everyone the importance of understanding word origins and derivations. In January we welcome Julie Hamilton to the post of Leader of Maths, Nathaniel Erbes to the Science Department and Fabio Rosiello to the MFL Department. For myself, it is very hard to say goodbye, however I am confident that in the care of Worthing High staff all students will be afforded the best possible education and preparation for life. I am enormously grateful to all parents for your support over recent years, I shall enjoy following the fortunes of Worthing High in the knowledge that staff, parents, students and governors will ensure that the pursuit of excellence will stay at the forefront of all that is undertaken.
December 2016
NEW HEADTEACHER Following the second round of interviews I am very pleased that Governors have appointed Pan Panayiotou as the next Headteacher of Worthing High School. Mr Panayiotou is currently a Deputy Head at Bitterne Park Academy in Southampton and has made arrangements to start his role at Worthing High School from January 2017. I am sure Mr Panayiotou is looking forward to meeting parents and carers in the New Year. Tony Cohen Chair of Governors
CONTENTS
2 STUDENT COUNCIL Students find out Mrs Dickinson’s thoughts in her exit interview
3 BUDDY THE DOG
The new superstar of Worthing High! What’s his role at the school?
10 CAROL CONCERT
I wish you all a very happy Christmas and all the very best for the future.
Annual Candlelight Carol Service from Broadwater Church
12 HAMPERS
Collecting christmas hampers for Worthing’s elderly and homeless
Carolyn Dickinson Headteacher COMMUNITY LEADERS
Heene Stuart Townsend
stownsend@worthinghigh.net
Salvington Lee Hardwick
lhardwick@worthinghigh.net
Tarring Mostefa Beda
mbeda@worthinghigh.net
STUDENT COUNCIL 2016 Worthing High School are delighted to announce their new Student Council Team for 2016/17, they are: Ben Dean, Yasmin Jeffery, Matt Clegg, Amy Alford, Reece Jackson, Tom Mckee, Sola Hodgson, Henry Heller, Charlotte Jordan, Crystal Mack, Jamie Salter, Lily Thomas and Simon Gottchewski Sola Hodgson wrote about signing up; My journey to become part of the school council was an exciting and anxious one. At the start when I found out that becoming part of the school council was an option, I wasn’t particularly interested. But after the encouragement of Mr. Swift, I decided to give it a try and as soon as I found out what the school council did, I was super excited. I realized that getting people’s views across is very important to me. I want to make sure that Worthing High School can continue to be the best it can be. As I entered the interview, I noticed how welcoming the interviewers were, it made me want to be part of the school council and to work with people like this. When I found out that I made it into the school council, I was over the moon. All the things that we’ve done so far have been really fun and I’m very happy to be part of the school council and I’m looking forward to the next project!
Mrs Dickinson’s Exit Interview The Student Council took the opportunity to conduct an exit interview with Mrs Dickinson, looking back at her eight years of which four were as Headteacher. The questions came from the panel: Amy Alford, Matt Clegg, Sola Hodgson, Henry Heller and Reece Jackson. Mrs Dickinson’s answers are in pink. 2
• Matt - What was your greatest success at the school? Making sure and knowing that every student makes progress. Worthing High is now over subscribed. • Amy - What was your biggest regret? Never achieving a grant to modernise the toilets for students and staff. • Sola - What advice would you give the new Headteacher? Get to know the students and staff quickly. Be visible, get out and about. • Henry - There are rumours that you are an expert at martial arts, is this true? Not an expert but I have done a bit of Judo. • Reece - Other than Mr Swift, who is the member of staff you’ll miss the most and why? All 120 staff – they are family. • Matt - What is your favourite colour? Purple sage – it’s on every wall in the school! • Amy - If there was one thing that you could change about the school, what would it be? The toilets! I really would like them to be modernised. • Sola - Dog or cat? Both, but probably more dog. • Henry - Curry or Chinese? I visited China recently and only ate Chinese food (breakfast, lunch and dinner) so now it would be curry, at least until I’ve visited India! • Reece - Favourite film? Truly, Madly, Deeply • Matt - How many languages do you speak? As a student I went to 10 schools around the world as my parents moved for work. Unfortunately I didn’t learn as much as I would like and only speak GCSE level French. • Amy - How would you like to be remembered? Somebody who cared about students more than anything else.
BUDDY THE WORTHING HIGH SCHOOL DOG The school has been overwhelmed by the huge welcome and support Buddy, the school dog, has been given from staff and students.
students with a range of difficulties to find school an easier place to be. Buddy comes into school four days a week and sits in on the staff morning briefing and also attends Inclusion lessons taught by Mrs Gatford. Mrs Gatford said Buddy has been a calming influence on both students and staff. “He is supporting the emotional wellbeing and health of students, but also staff. He does a lot of one-to-one relaxation work with students, where they will just stroke him and give him love and cuddles which has been scientifically proven to release chemicals that improve your mood. Mrs Gatford said “For students experiencing social difficulties, a dog is a really good social buffer. It isn’t so intense when you have an animal around; the nonjudgemental side of animals is a real positive”.
Mrs Gatford, Leader of Inclusion has studied the benefits of animals interacting with students who may face a range of difficulties in school. Animals, in our case Buddy the dog, can help students to learn to relax, build self esteem, support at times of bereavement and develop responsibility, knowledge and understanding of animals.
So, Worthing High has a new super star, loved by all students and staff, he has his own twitter account, @buddy, has over 100 followers on Instagram @ buddytheworthinghighschooldog and after being interviewed for the Worthing Hearld, his video has over 18k views!
Finding the right dog hasn’t been easy; Mrs Gatford has been keen to introduce a school dog for a while, her inspiration comes from seeing the benefits at a previous school, which had a farm. Buddy was a very lucky find, Mrs Gatford adopted the 3 year old from Clymping Dog Sanctuary in Ford, where he had been left by a family due to health reasons. Buddy now lives with Mrs Gatford and her family when he is not in school. Max Older, year 11, was keen to get a dog in school and often spoke to headteacher Carolyn Dickinson about it. He has also come in early before school to help look after the dog. “It has been really useful getting to know Buddy. He is helping me to relax and it’s easy to make friends with a dog.” Anastasia Clark, year 11, has also benefitted from having Buddy around. She said: “It’s really cool, I really like having him here. He is really calm, which helps you relax if you’re feeling upset.
Watch this space.....the BBC have an online tool called ’PITCH.’ Anybody can submit a ‘pitch’ to the BBC proposing an idea for a TV programme or news story. A short video was recorded, organised by Mrs Hoad, Leader of Media, of two students pitching for Buddy to be a news story. The BBC have already replied to say they are interested !!
Being a school dog is very demanding , the border collie is already a firm favourite with pupils, and has been helping 3
GCSE PRESENTATION EVENING Following an outstanding and enjoyable Presentation Evening, with guest speaker Lewis Crathern, many students have now collected their award certificates and subject prizes. For those who were unable to attend, their award certificates are now awaiting collection. Please arrange by contacting Mrs Ruthven, Exams Officer, on 01903 229298. Please also see this year’s Awards Booklet showing details of all the prize winners and special awards available from our website.
SCHOOL UNIFORM NEWS We have been advised by SWI, our school uniform providers, that there will be a price increase on all items of uniform with effect from 1 January 2017. The new price list is now on our website as a download at the foot of the Uniform page under About Us/Uniform.
Due to the Christmas break the last delivery to school will be Thursday 15 December. The first delivery for 2017 will be Thursday 9 January 2017. Delivery to home: the last despatch date to home or an alternative address will be Thursday 22 December. The first despatch date for 2017 will be Wednesday 4 January 2017.
START A HEART DAY YEAR 7 CPR On Tuesday 18 October all Year 7 students received a 1 hour CPR/First Aid training session from South Coast Ambulance Staff as part of Restart a Heart Day. This national initiative is an annual event which aims to train as many people as possible in CPR in one day, so that more people know these lifesaving skills. Restart a Heart Day involved the Resuscitation Council (UK) along with the British Heart Foundation, British Red Cross, St John Ambulance and Yorkshire Ambulance Service who worked together to help train as many school children as possible in the UK and ensure every child knows how to save a life. In summer term 2016 we provided training for all students now in Year 8, 9 and 10. This means nearly all our students are fully trained in CPR and basic first aid including how to use the school defibrillator. Karen Hayler, Business Manager said; “Students received valuable training in a life skill which, we hope they will never need to use. We are very grateful to the 8 ambulance staff who gave up a day off and volunteered to come in and train our students.” 4
PAELLA LESSON
Equipped with their recipes they headed to the food room, much to Mrs Parkinson’s delight, to create a feast.
Students in year 9 studying Spanish recently took their learning to a new level, in the food tech room! Having studied food and drink as their topic, they created their own recipe to make a paella with chicken and chorizo (with apologies to Jamie Oliver), or a vegetarian version.
This was a fantastic cross-curricular event for students, who learnt how to use a wide variety of culinary verbs and linguistic phrases, as well as using infinitives to form the imperative tense in Spanish. They were then able to apply these in their recipes and test their understanding in the pressured environment of the kitchen! Students worked extremely well together and had a great time.
Most of them even said their food tasted good! Mrs Blain - Spanish
ANNUAL CAREERS EVENT We welcomed over 40 different organisations and colleges to our annual careers event at the end of September. Year 11 and Year 10 students and their parents/careers came along to the evening to find out more about post 16 options and careers in various industry sectors. A leaflet listing all those organisations and colleges who attended is available on our website on the careers pages.
DEMOCRACY TAKE OVER DAY In November, members of the Student Council travelled to the West Sussex County Council (WSCC) Headquarters to take part in a special day organised by WSCC to ‘take over’ for the day. Having followed a Politics and Democracy
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programme throughout the term, students were equipped with a good knowledge and understanding of how democracy works here in Britain, and were able to see it first hand during this special day. Worthing High School had also taken part in a national youth vote to decide issues that should be debated in Parliament, and the results of this national vote were announced at Democracy Take Over Day.
The day began with students being challenged to debate the issues at the forefront of the youth agenda: Introducing an ‘education for life’ programme into schools, raising awareness of Mental Health issues among young people and teaching tolerance and respect for minority groups. Students from different schools across the county worked brilliantly together, brought some really fresh ideas to the table, and our students from Worthing High spoke eloquently and succinctly about issued they were passionate about. 5
WORTHING SINGS LIVE!
A music celebration featuring students from Worthing’s secondary schools. Worthing High VOX is a new singing group and performed their first live gig in October at the Worthing Assembly Hall. The event organiser, Emily Barden of West Sussex Music brought together students from Durrington High, Bohunt, Chatsmore, Davison’s and Worthing High, as well as the
Spaces are still available to join the group who sing on Mondays after school in D7
Northbrook College Band. A fantastic evening was enjoyed by family and friends who attended, they especially enjoyed the last musical piece, when Emily some how managed to teach and orchestrate the whole audience as well as the singing groups to an amazing and very impressive fanale.
ITALIAN STUDENTS At the end of the summer term, we welcomed two Year 6 students from Italy who were staying in Worthing with a local family. Ginevra and Chiara joined lessons and also Activ8 day. The students have written a thank you letter to the school in perfect English: “On Thursday we took part in lessons in Maths, PE, drama, French and woodwork. They were very interesting. Friday was sports day. We played volleyball, nerf, baseball and other games.
Our impression was overwhelmingly positive. The school was very big, beautiful and clean and well organised. The uniforms were very smart. The teachers were very kind and the students were friendly and helpful. We would particularly like to thank Mabel, Charlotte and Hugo for their help. We would like to thank everyone at Worthing High School for giving us this special experience which we will always remember.”
Ginevra Lugzi
Chiara Annovi
TERM DATES AND ARRANGEMENTS: The last day of this term is Non-Uniform Day on Friday 16 December 2016 Please note that there will be an early 1.30pm finish. CHRISTMAS BREAK - Monday 19 December 2016 - Monday 2 January 2017 Tuesday 3 January - Inset Day Wednesday 4 January - All Year Groups Return Half Term Break Monday 20 February - Friday 24 February 2017 6
ROBOT WARS! The Design & Technology department at WHS organised for the University of Brighton to work alongside some of their STEM Ambassadors on the 1 December 2016. The event which was supported by the University of Brighton - STEM Sussex, encouraged participants to explore different aspects of STEM through a design and make activity; essentially building and competing with ant weight robots. The DT department are very keen to engage parents/carers and students to work alongside one another, exploring fun and practical ways to disseminate the importance of STEM. It also provided an opportunity for parents to work alongside the students within a school context.
Student Liliana Down, Year 8 kindly wrote her view on the evening... “On Thursday 1st December, STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths), proudly introduced robot wars to Worthing High School. Two talented STEM ambassadors, from Brighton University, came to help year sevens bring robot wars alive and learn the science, technology, engineering and maths involved with making their very own robots. In just an hour and a half, seven eager teams managed to build remote controlled beasts made out of cardboard, motors, elastic bands, plastic cups and even secret weapons! The teams came up with great names such as: Cheesy Corn Bot, Tri-Terror-Tops, and Scorpion. When we entered the Millennium Hall, the air was filled with the tongue tingling smell of fish and chips. For the first half an hour, one of the STEM ambassadors gave an inspirational talk about being an architecture student. Before we knew it, we were off. Most people chose to design first but some grabbed all the best materials instead.
By the time we had a thorough idea of our design, there was no cardboard left so we had to use a cutlery box and took the opportunity to borrow a few knives while we were at it. Once the Tri-Terror-Tops was assembled and tested, the battle began. First up, an extraordinary game of football with all the robots struggling to push a ball over the goal line. Finally, the highlight of the evening, a tabletop sumo style battle of three rounds. There was no overall winner but the first round saw Tri-Terror-Tops triumphant. Unfortunately this resulted in everyone ganging up on us, over the next two rounds. This STEM event was very fun and educational and we all hope there will be many more in the future.” Liliana Down Year 7
Parent and Deputy Head at Whytemead Middle School said “It was a fantastic evening and Ollie and I really enjoyed it; what a fabulous idea to engage children and parents! Credit to Mr Shear for his enthusiasm; Ollie is certainly lucky to have such an inspirational teacher. We are so pleased with Ollie’s start at Worthing High and look forward to more fun and adventures! Please pass on my thanks to your team and wish all a Merry Christmas. Kind Regards, Clare Van Steenbergen”. 7
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HAIR TODAY GONE TOMORROW GOVERNOR NEWS
Two of our students have recently lost their lovely locks to raise money for charity. Megan Chapman had a whopping 22” cut off; her emotional Mum said whilst wiping away the tears “It is for such a good cause, I’m very proud of Megan”. Hairdresser Chrissie Campbell took Megan Chapman less than a minute to create a trendy shoulderlength bob.
Fenella is turning 13 next week!! She’s decided to go for a new look, her long golden mane will be a thing of the past as she makes way for a more trendy style. So she saw this as an opportunity to raise some money for a fabulous charity and donate her hair so that someone else can have beautiful hair when they are loosing theirs. It’s a win win for both sides. This was all her idea so please help Fenella raise as much as possible for a great cause, if you would like to donate to this worthy cause please do so via the following link: Fenella Downes Just Giving Page.
Megan raised more than £1,500
Megan and Mum for the Little Princess Trust, which
make wigs from real hair for child cancer victims.
Raising both funds and awareness for the Little Princess Trust, Fenella Downes also had her hair cut very short, approximately 10 inches, and donating the hair to make a wig for children who have lost their hair due to cancer or other illnesses.
CHRISTMAS CHEER
Please be aware that the last day of term is a nonuniform day, to raise money for the charity Worldwide Tribe. This charity was bought to the attention of Mabel Beverton Trewin in year 8 and raises funds to help highlight and alleviate the plight of global refugees.
ART TRIP TO LONDON A packed coach left Worthing High School at 8.25 on Friday 11th November as a large proportion of our GCSE Art students set off for a tour of London Art galleries. After a pleasant and uneventful journey we arrived at Tate Britain overlooking the Thames
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and spent our morning surveying and puzzling the enigmas of modern British Art. Lots of work there provoked discussion and even where work wasn’t liked it was often remembered and commented on. After gathering for lunch in the schools area we caught the coach onwards to the National Portrait Gallery. Here the Art work was of a more traditional nature, much less controversial and for some of our students, less engaging and thought provoking. We left the gallery on time thanks to a well disciplined and attentive party. The journey back was a little arduous but that gave us more time to mull over the work we had seen. I hope to see some evidence of it in the year 11 GCSE Art exam which we will start working towards soon after Christmas. Overall it was a fun and productive day out that we as teachers could enjoy too thanks to the group’s timekeeping skills and happy disposition. Thanks to Ms Hunt and Mrs Chamberlain who also accompanied and supported the trip. Mr Whitaker - Art
NUMBER NINJAS
MINI iPAD WINNER
The Autumn term has seen a hugely enthusiastic response to our Number Ninjas Friday tutor time challenge. Alternating with our Literacy Fridays, Number Ninjas involves the whole school in a wide range of Numeracy activities linked to themes including: current affairs; curriculum subjects; careers; and school/community events. Students are encouraged to work together on a series of tasks designed to develop their mathematical argument, reasoning and justification of working alongside key arithmetic and mathematical skills and concepts.
All students and parents/carers who attended our Open Evening in September were encouraged to enter a quiz. The winner received a mini ipad and the runner up a free place on our Summer School 2017. We are pleased to announce that the winning entry was from Annabelle Holland a Year 6 student at West Park Primary. Paul Slaughter, who leads our transition work with feeder schools, surprised Annabelle during the Primary school’s assembly, he presented Annabelle with her prize. Annabelle couldn’t believe she had won, but was very excited and grateful. Annabelle’s mum was informed a couple of day prior to the prize giving, she kept the win a secret and also attended the assembly to see Annabelle’s surprise. Isaac Cooper, who attends Broadwater C of E School won the free place at our 2017 Summer School.
The Number Ninjas are also encouraged to participate in the Prize Challenge; winners this term include: Milana L BMPO Y7 Roman C BDJM Y7 Megan C BMPO Y7 Jasmin B SNHO Y9 Oliver M SSBT Y10 Lottie F TBCA Y7 The latest challenge involved a range of tasks linked to the Festive Hampers we’ve been creating under the guidance of Mr Carter and his band of elves. With a record 62 entries, will the winner be someone from Tarring (who won the Number Ninja Challenge overall last year)? Will Aznii M’s Ninja record be broken? Will Heene actually get a winner? Watch this space: the winner(s) will be revealed on the last day of term! Seasons greetings and thanks to all our Number Ninjas. Mrs Leeds Mathematics Department
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West Park Primary Schools Headteacher Mrs C Bull, Annabelle Holland and Paul Slaughter.
SUSSEX SCHOOLS UNDER 14 CHESS On the 17th of November Worthing High chess teams A and D played their first round of matches for the Butler Cup at Windlesham House. The teams consisting of Max Bennett; George Neal; Toby Norris; Josh Farley; Jacob Favier; George Tester; Bradley Hatch and Dan Thomas played against Windlesham House and Lancing College. The matches were challenging and although half an hour was allowed for each game some members battled on to reach a final outcome. In the end our teams came out about even.
These matches were followed by Worthing High team C consisting of Alexander Jones; Thomas Leake; Harry Lewis-Hammond and Braydon Unsworth against Westbourne House. The final round of games will be played early next term against
Ashdown House and Downlands schools involving Worthing High teams B and E consisting of Henry Wong; Liliana Down; Adam Sayers; Cameron Winfield; Eleanor Horsecroft; Greg Miles; Lulu Rousell and Shannon Merrill. 9
CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT On Tuesday 13th December, the historic and ancient church of St Mary’s, Broadwater, was filled with the glorious sounds and sights of our wonderful students in celebration for the Christmas season. Items by the 45 strong choir, a Winter’s Tale and Away in a Manger, were complemented by the magnificent playing of the orchestra. The beautiful candlelit procession featured Fleur Aston, who sang with great clarity the Solo verse of Once in Royal David’s City. Violinist Alex Baker and Saxophonist Sam Medwell delighted us with stylish and polished solos. There was a world premier of the unique guitar composition ‘Snow’ by Samuel Hurst and seasonal readings gave pause for thought and contemplation. Performances by Vox – our year 7/8 singing group and the four part harmony of our mixed voice chamber choir singing Ding Dong Merrily on High were well received. The evening was supported by the Rev Wing Man Tsang who helpfully opened and closed the service. The retiring collection in aid of Worthing Churches Homeless Project and St Mary’s raised £158.
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WORLD AIDS DAY To mark the day, students took donations for the red ribbons during Tutor Time when Form classes were learning and debating the subject. AIDS awareness ribbons sold for £1 each, and 100% of the money went to NAT (national AIDS trust) charity.
MOUNTAIN BIKE TRIP During the final week of school before the festive break, GCSE PE students in Year 11 will be taking part in a 1 day Mountain Bike practical assessment at Stanmer Park, Brighton with Mr Townsend. 10 students will be mountain biking on Tuesday 13th December, 10 students will be mountain biking on Wednesday 14th December and 10 students will be biking on Thursday 15th December. Over the course of the day, students will be taught and assessed in a wide range of different aspects of mountain biking which will include bike safety, bike mechanics, cycling on different terrains, cycling uphill, cycling downhill, braking at different speeds and how to effectively use gears on different hill gradients. Students will then have to show the skills they have learnt by cycling on a mountain bike trail at the end of the day. The aim is for each student to show skills which will allow them to have mountain biking as 1 of their top 4 practical performance grades for GCSE PE. Let’s hope that the rain holds off so the cyclists don’t get too wet or cold! Mr S Townsend - PE
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CHARITY CHRISTMAS HAMPERS Over the past few weeks the students and staff from Worthing High School have been on a project to try and help out with making Christmas a happy time for everyone. We carried this through by creating 2-3 hampers per tutor group, this was an effective technic overall as we managed to create around 120 hampers! We delivered them on the 8th and 9th of december to the chosen charities, Worthing Churches Homeless Project, St Barnabas House and The Salvation Army. They were all very happy to receive the gifts. They also said how lovely it was that a local school is thinking of them around the festive season. It was important for us to do this as there are people in the community that won’t have anyone to spend christmas with and won’t receive any other presents, so us as a community think it’s important to make sure everyone is happy during this christmas time. Wishing you all a happy Christmas from Worthing High School. by Maria Troullos On Thursday 8th and Friday 9th December, members of the Worthing High School Charity and Community Council delivered 120 Christmas hampers to various charities and worthwhile causes across the local area. The hampers had been lovingly made by students across all 40 tutor groups. 50 hampers were delivered to Worthing Churches Homeless shelters, the biggest single recipient of the hampers. Caitlin Mulholland, Community fundraiser for the charity said: “I cannot express how much of a difference your hampers have made. The school has brought Christmas spirt and care into the lives of our clients!” A further 46 hampers were delivered to local elderly residential homes, where a number of the residents may spend Christmas alone as loved ones have moved out of the area or passed away. Maria T, a student who helped with delivery on friday said: “It was important for us to do this as there are people in the community that won’t have anyone to spend Christmas with and may not receive any other presents”. Further hampers were delivered to St Barnabas hospice on the outskirts of Worthing and the Salvation Army, who make 100’s of similar hampers every year. Ben Carter, the teacher who leads charity and community work within the school, added: “I was overwhelmed with how enthusiastic our students were
for making hampers. It shows they have an acute awareness of other, less fortunate, people in our local community, and I am proud that we managed to produce so many high quality hampers. Next year we are hoping that the project can be even bigger, so we can have an even greater impact”. The success of this projects comes on top of other successful community and charity projects this term, raising £100’s for McMillan Coffee morning and World AIDS day.
Special thanks to TESCO on Dominion Road, who supplied 2 large boxes of items for our hamper appeal. This was organised by Maria Troullos and her mum, who works at the store. Some quotes from Xmas cards I have received: “It was a wonderful surprise to receive my hamper. So many grateful thanks for such a lovely thought Thank you for your kind thoughts this Christmas 2016”. Mr B Carter Charity and Community Coordinator
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WELCOME TO WONDERLAND
As the lustrous gold handle turned and the colossal wooden door opened, a creaking sound bounced off the walls of the shadowy room. Hesitantly I went forward into the darkness. Tap... tap...tap my footsteps echoed on the hard floor. I didn’t feel distressed, quite the opposite. Warmth and happiness encircled me, making my heart flutter. A spotlight gave life to a large red and gold throne. Candy canes poked from the back and seated on it was a round man with applelike cheeks. He laughed joyfully, snapped his fingers and bright lights suddenly blinded me. I was in Santa’s Christmas Factory... Emily Krokou, Year 9 One of the pieces of literary fiction recently submitted for publication in the Winter Wonderland Collection.
VISIT TO CHRIST’S HOSPITAL On the 21st of September a group of ten year 11 students travelled in the school mini bus to attend an open day at Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham. Christ’s Hospital is one of the oldest boarding schools in England founded in 1552 by the young King Edward VI. In 1902 all the boys from both the London and Hertford schools transferred to a new site in Horsham, and the school at Hertford became a girls-only school. In 1985 the Hertford site was closed and the girls transferred to Horsham, once again to form a co-educational school. Today the school has over 820 boarding pupils, with an equal number of boys and girls, and takes day pupils.
concentrating on subjects which they had previously specified such as maths, chemistry and classics. After lunch with current sixth form students where they were encouraged to ask questions about life in a boarding school they were given talks on the range of subjects offered at A level and the International Baccalaureate. They were also told about the application procedure and that applicants should be predicted to achieve at least 6 A*s or As in their GCSEs. After completing the application forms applicants will initially be invited to spend half a day at Christ’s Hospital in November/
December and will undertake computer-based assessment tests. Selected candidates will then be invited back for an interview. Christ’s Hospital provides more financially supported places than any other school in the independent boarding sector and students were also informed about the financial backing that is available. All of this information was provided in a pack distributed at the end of the session for parents to consider. Dr P Klemenic Leader of Gifted & Talented
The purpose of the visit was to experience the working life of a large and historic independent school. The open day was designed for prospective sixth form students and after a tour of the school and its excellent facilities our students were able to take part in some lessons
McMILLAN COFFEE MORNING On 30th September, the school hosted the annual McMillan Coffee morning, aimed at raising money and awareness of all cancers. In previous years, this has been a staff only event, held in the staff room at break time. This year we added an extra competitive element to break time, with Miss Scane coming out top with some delicious home baking. Added to this, at the
end of the day, the school hosted its first ever Worthing High School community cake sale, opened to parents, students and all members of the local community. Cakes were baked and donated by parents and students, with the best parent and student cakes being recognised with Worthing High School star baker awards. The event was well attended and there was barely a crumb left by the end. Overall the staff and community event raised just under £280 for a very worthwhile cause that touches so many lives.
Mr B Carter Charity and Community Coordinator
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DRAMA CLUB
the run up to the Christmas holidays.
Every Thursday lunch time pupils of all year groups gather in the drama department to create and devise original pieces of drama. Pupils performed earlier in the school year at our open evening and will be performing Christmas skits at lunchtime in
OLIVER THE MUSICAL Rehearsals are in full swing for our grand musical production of ‘Oliver’. On the very last week of the school year, 18-20 July. The millineum hall will be transformed into the Victorian streets where our play is set! Our very own art and dt department will be designing our set as the whole school comes together to bring you an evening of entertainment you will not want to miss!
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We will be starting some brand new projects in the new year which will be a great time to join us. Mrs J Batchelor Leader of Drama
SCIENCE BLOCK UPDATE The foundations including all drainage is now complete. The steel frame work has been installed. The pot and beam floor has been laid across the whole building. At present the internal and external walls are being built up to 6ft, then scaffolding is being erected to allow for work to carry on taking the walls above 6ft up to the plate, which is what the roof trusses sit on.
Over 50 pupils have begun to learn the large musical numbers bringing ‘consider yourself’ and ‘food glorious food’ to life. Auditions were very tough and the wonderful talent here at worthing made the decisions extremely hard. Robbie Votta will taking on the role of our innocent Oliver with George Tester as Fagin. Fleur Aston will turn our Dodger into an excellent tomboy and Edie Kelly is sure to blow you away as Nancy. Keep the dates free and don’t miss out on those tickets when they are released after the February half term.
All brick work should be complete by the Christmas holiday. This will allow the roof trusses to be installed first thing in the New Year.
Mrs J Batchelor Leader of Drama
Mr R Beasley Community and Facilities Manager
YOUNG WRITERS We recently entered Young Writers’ latest poetry competition, Busta Rhyme and we’re delighted to announce that pupils are being published in Busta Rhyme - Sussex. This is a great way to showcase our school’s creative ability as well as boost pupils’ confidence and enjoyment in writing poetry. Young Writers has been publishing children’s poetry and creative writing since 1991. We will receive a complimentary copy of the book once it’s published, which will be available to view in the school library. If your child is being published a letter will have been sent to you. Please remember to give permission for the work to be included – you don’t have to order a copy for your child to be included, but you do have to give your consent for the work to be published. Please refer to the letter you’ve received to see how to give permission, make any changes to the typeset proof and/or name and the deadline this is required by.
GREEN POWER GO-KART
If you have any questions you can contact Young Writers directly on 01733 890066 from 8am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday.
The team was founded in October 2016, by Mr Shear (Leader for Art Design & Technology). We were lucky enough source a £3,500 Greenpower kit car, to start our project. This included a ‘build it yourself’ chassis, a motor and all of the steering and electrical components. The next task was to Published pupils are then in find a team of students – We decided to focus on with a chance of winning a prize, plus the top schools win year 8 and 9 students to help build and race the prizes too! We’ve thoroughly car. enjoyed taking part in this competition; pupils have The team so far consisted of: been inspired and motivated. Year 8 students Charlie Baker, Thomas Leete, If you’d like to continue to Oliver Boulton and Year 9 boys Jay Johnson and encourage your child to enjoy Jack Baker. creative writing more at home, do have a look at array of free resources at Young Writers’ website – www.youngwriters. co.uk – this includes writing workshops, creative activity packs, book reviews and guest author interviews. We look forward to seeing our pupils in print! Mrs S Cole - English
We are now in the process of designing the logo and planning how we can raise funds to complete the car and provide the team with racing gear. Mr D Shear Leader of DT
ECO CLUB
For our eco-friendly Christmas tree we chose to focus on the issue of waste. Growing and cutting down living Christmas trees can be very environmentally unfriendly as they take up valuable habitat space so we have created a Christmas tree from a pallet that would have otherwise been waste in landfill. Our decorations are made from waste materials found around school and in our own homes. We have used wool left over from a knitting project, sweet wrappers, milk bottle lids, left over wrapping paper from our Christmas hampers, string from an old sack that had a hole in it and card from the
recycling bin. Our lights are LED and use re-chargeable batteries.
Mrs A Gannaway Geography and Mrs C Sutton Eye Project Manager
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LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE We have had a great start to the year with so many students enjoying their time in the LRC. The quiet reading area is extremely popular and it is lovely to see students completely engrossed in their books and recommending them to each other. Book Clubs Year 7 book club has commenced and I am pleased to say we have had to add extra dates to accommodate them all. Year 10 book club are currently taking part in the Southern School Book Awards and will be going to Roedean in January to meet the shortlisted authors. Year 8/9 have been shadowing this. In February we will all start The Amazing Book Awards and are currently narrowing down the long list for students to vote for the books they would like to read. Accelerated Reader We have had some fantastic results in Accelerated Reader and students achieving top results are below. Parents can monitor how their child is doing through Home Connect, do let us know if you would like more details on how to access this.
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LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE
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LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE C J Daugherty returned to Worthing High this week and was as thrilling as usual. We heard all about her writing career which started as a crime journalist and moved on to working for the home office. Her stories were so exciting and students were enthralled with her career, many thinking of taking up a career themselves in journalism. All her experiences led her to wanting to become an author and she was truly inspirational. She told students that if you work hard in school and read as much as you can it will help you achieve whatever you want in life, your options are open to you. It was an intimate event in the library
which gave everyone a chance to ask questions and we followed with a book signing and further individual discussions.
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Mrs A Phelan LRC Manager
challenging thing I have ever done and it is teaching me to be resourceful, resilient and fitter. I also think that when you work with Young people you need to set examples and although this a quite a big undertaking it shows anyone can do what they want if they really try”.
BRIGHTON TO BRIGHTON CYCLE Philp Dean joined the team at Worthing High School this term as Careers, Marketing and Enrichment Manager and is currently working his way round the coast of Great Britain in stages in any free time he has. The journey started out in 2010 with a simple bike ride to Chichester with an overnight camp and became a mammoth cycling task involving 3300 miles of some of the Worlds most beautiful coast line. Often heading off for a week
CJ’s book ‘Secret Fire’ is on the long list for The Amazing Book Awards.
Mr P Dean - Careers, Marketing and Enrichment Manager
at a time whole sections would be covered through Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and onwards. Phil is planning to finish the ride back in Brighton in 2020 with a total distance of 7700 mile covered, The next section is from Mailiag round Skye in Scotland then on to the most remote part of the UK. His aim is to continue keeping left and writing a book about his travels, seeking adventure and life experience in order to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust UK. “It is without a doubt the most
MY LIFE AS A SEA CADET Sea cadets is a youth organisation that I attend every Wednesday and Friday evening. As a Sea cadet I have experienced sailing, power boating, rowing, kayaking, marine engineering, C.I.S and much much more. Recently I have become a mayors cadet, as mayors cadet I escort the Mayor to chosen military events. On the week of Remembrance, I attended the laying of the crosses, at this event I laid a cross with the mayor to honour the fallen soldiers in the war outside Worthing Town Hall. Later in the week I went to the Remembrance Sunday Parade with my unit which is a continual
event that is mandatory to attend every year. Later that night I got the privilege to listen to the Worthing Symphony Orchestra, it was truly amazing. During my time at Sea Cadets I have experienced a variety of things and to further my cadet experience, I have chosen to transfer over to the Royal Marine Cadets as I feel that this will benefit me more with the chosen future. Lily Thomas Yr10
SPENDING 10 MONTHS ABROAD How is it to spend such a long time abroad without the family?
Living with a host family is probably the most extraordinary part of my stay in England. It is very interesting to learn about the life of a totally new family and amazing how close we have already become.
Well, it is an adventure, a bit like a roller coaster, maybe.
Being here on my own is not always easy of course, I often miss my family and friends in Germany, but actually I am never alone here and have made amazing new friends who support me.
I came here from a little town in the western part of Germany to learn the English language, experience the British culture and everyday life. Now I am here at Worthing High School, which is so different compared to my school in Erkelen. It is really interesting to have new subjects like drama, graphics or food tech which are not taught in Germany. The teachers and students are so nice here, I felt very welcome when I came here.
All in all, I really enjoy my time here and am looking forward to the following six months and even though it can be difficult sometimes, I would make the same decision again.
Worthing itself is a lovely town and the location, next to the sea with Brighton, London and Portsmouth nearby is just incredible! I have even been to Leicester with my host family which was a great experience.
SOUND TRAINING Last year, Worthing High invested in a unique literacy programme that has provided our students with the strategies they need to achieve higher results and maximise potential: ‘Sound Training’. The ‘Sound Training’ programme is tailored to the appropriate Key Stage and is used to try and enhance exam results by enhancing vocabulary and independent learning skills. With trained teachers in the school
Thank you for welcoming me so nicely, Worthing High. Julia Wagner
delivering this specialised programme, students who have participated over the last year have shown improvement in their comprehension across the board. It has been assessed that some students have improved their reading age by over four years through this six week programme; we have found that ‘Sound Training’ has ignited the thought process of our students’ leading to more active learning.
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DISTRICT FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS 2016 The Year 8 boys football team got their league off to a great start winning their first game 6-3 vs Chatsmore back in September. It was a sign of good things to come as they went through the rest of the season without dropping a single point, to make it to the semi finals against Sion.
The match played at home, was another excellent game where Worthing came through convincing winners to set up a final against Sir Robert Woodard Academy. The final, held at Steyning Town FC, was their toughest game of the season, despite taking an early lead with goals from Alfie Hall and Harry Margeson to go into half time 5-1 up. In the second half, Woodard showed great determination and fight to really put pressure on us and got
two early goals to make the game a nervy 5-3, only for the boys to regroup and go onto win the game 9-3 and win the championship. A massive congratulations to all the boys! Winning team: Jack Burton, Harry Margeson, Archie Cairns, Carrick Howard, Kiko Tanev, Hugo Okada, Luca Di Lorenzo, Josh Hill, Joe Cameron, Alfie Hall, Aidan Lacey, Daniel Vassilou, Rob Debono
CRACKIT FOOTBALL The project is co-ordinated by Future Proof CIC, who designed an innovative programme for secondary students aiming to link Design and Technology and Sport in an interesting way. Worthing High School was chosen as the pilot school for West Sussex and the first cohort started in November 2015. So far we have successfully run two tennis and two cricket projects. This term we have started Crackit Football. A group of 20 students from Year 7 commit to attend a 1 ½ hours a week after school club for 6 weeks. Each week, the first hour is spent playing football with Sussex Football Association. A half hour session is spent with a design agency Pleece and Co, who support the students to design characters related to football which will be used to brand team footballs and T shirts at the of the project. 20
In the New Year we will be offering Crackit Cricket to Years 7 and 8. If your child would like to know more they should speak to Mrs Allibone.
SPORT BURSARY AWARD Two students at Worthing High School, Scott Strotten and George Neale both in Year 9 have been awarded a Sports Bursary by the school due to their excellence in their respective sports. Scott is a small bore rifle shooter and is the current Sussex U21 Junior Champion at 25 yards, 50 metres and 100 yards. He has held that title for 3 years. Scott is also part of the national shooting team for the Scouts. George plays chess for England Juniors and has been selected for a national training academy for which only 30 players are invited. George will travel to the Czech Republic in 2017 to play and is currently ranked in the top 50 players in his age group in the UK. As well as their sporting achievements, a number of other factors are taken into account before a bursary is awarded; attitude, behaviour and attendance are all key indicators before any award is presented. Upon eligibility, the Sports Bursary is designed to help a student financially with their sporting endeavours. Mr. P Gill, said “We are very proud of both Scott and George and all that they have achieved so far, they are certainly ones to look out for in the future. They both lead by example and have bright futures ahead of them.�
ANOTHER DISTRICT FOOTBALL CHAMPION TEAM! The Year 9 boys continued on their unbeaten run by beating Steyning Grammar 1-0 in the final of the District League Championship division on Tuesday 22nd November. Held on the newly laid 4G astro at Steyning Town FC, the boys faced a strong opposition and were feeling the pressure in the first half. Man of the match Connor Chambers in goal kept a relentless SGS at bay with a string of terrific saves. With Harry Cuthbert and Marley Marshall Miranda working hard in central midfield and the defence at full stretch, the tide eventually turned in the second half. With the floodlights turned on, the WHS boys started to dominate and control the game led by captain Jaden Sparkes. After a fine move down the wing, Nathan Berry headed down a cross for Zac Gould to latch onto who then calmly slotted away into the bottom corner. The partisan crowd were silenced and Worthing High held on for a famous victory in the rolling hills of Steyning. Well done to all the boys who played.
Winning team: Connor Chambers, Alex Noone, Joe Langmaid, Aaron Rees-Luker, Harry Cuthbert, Will Simpson, Jaden Sparkes, Will Bruce, Zac Gould, James Ford, Jack Older, Xander Pearson, Nathan Berry, Reece Gasson and Marley Marshall Miranda. 21
LIVING FOR SPORT PROJECT Craig Figes returned back to WHS for a second visit on Tuesday 22nd November.
Craig Figes was visiting the school as part of the “Sky Sports - Living for Sport Project” - ‘Student leadership’ which Worthing High School is participating in. Twenty-six sport and dance leaders in Year 7 and 8 got the chance to meet with Craig Figes, hear his life story and work through the six keys to success including: mental toughness, hunger to achieve, people skills, sports and life knowledge, breaking barriers and planning for success throughout the day. Students thoroughly enjoyed their time with Craig. M Field Leader of PE
YEAR 8 & 9 GIRLS FOOTBALL
Girls’ football continues to thrive at Worthing High School, practices are popular and well attended. Football is so popular that WHS entered two full teams into the district league this season. The girls had some promising results however they just missed out on a spot in the semi-finals by finishing 3rd in the WHS league this year. Well done to all the girls’ for their commitment, enthusiasm and determination, both at training and during matches. 22
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I went to Worthing High School and now I run my own company, helping people talk to the media.� Clare, Director - Bow Media
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WORTHING HIGH SCHOOL ACHIEVES GOLD SCHOOLS GAME MARK STATUS FOR SECOND YEAR RUNNING The School Games Mark is a Government led awards scheme launched in 2012 to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community. Schools in England are able to assess themselves across bronze, silver and gold levels of the Mark. At Worthing High School we are very proud to have achieved the Gold Mark this year. Head of PE Miss Field said: “We are always striving to improve our PE provision across the school and increase
WINTER DANCE SHOW
both participation and competition. This mark has given us a positive framework to work towards and we are delighted to have achieved the gold standard.” Carolyn Dickinson Headteacher said: “To achieve Gold status we had to evidence that the school provides all students with two hours of physical education within the curriculum per week and that we have a broad programme of extra curriculum provision. We also had to show we engage at least 50% of our students in extracurricular sporting activity every week and that we offer talented young sports people specific support to help them to balance their sporting commitments with school and home life. We are very proud of the award as it recognises our commitment to physical education at Worthing High.” Worthing High Sport Prefects Pictured below
is a dance based on orphan children.
The Year 11 BTEC Performing Arts dance students were invited on Tuesday 13th December to perform at the Worthing College annual winter dance show. The year 11 students performed there current dance piece.
The students showed professionalism throughout the whole evening supporting the other performers from Worthing
College and Davison. It was a fantastic evening and all students should be very proud of their performance. Miss A Strudwick Leader of Dance
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