September 2018 - Term 1 Blog

Well done to Year 12 and 13 for a great first term of the year.

It has been a very busy term with Year 12 settling in well to their courses and completing initial assessments.

Enrichment choices have now been made and start after half term with a wide range of choices ranging from Supporting in a local Primary school, care home , football and rugby teams, badminton, squash, yoga, Driving theory skills, Medical Society, Apprenticeship planning, subject ambassador, peer mentoring , or choosing to complete a bespoke Futurelearn course.  We have also had an excellent talk from Surrey University and from Societe Generale Bank, who are looking forward to working with the school more closely.

Year 13 have made a great start to the UCAS application process with many students applying to Oxbridge and Medicine. Many other Year 13 students are still working hard on their personal statements.  We are enjoying receiving their personal input and hearing about their plans for the future.  Unifrog is a great tool for advice and further information regarding personal statements.  Please visit their site here

Laing O’Rourke have invited our students to their open evening once again, this is on Wednesday 24 October at Crossways.  It will be an interesting and information evening.  We recently caught up with three students who went there in 2017 and another who joined them in 2018, taking degree apprenticeships in quantity surveying, Human resources and law, all who are enjoying their new challenge and are coming to our careers fair on 22^nd March 2019 to tell us all about it.

Nicky Coales has started his degree apprenticeship with BAE systems and will also be at the careers fair.

The improved uniform policy has seen the majority of students wearing very smart uniforms, this emphasises the business environment and also clarifies the need to be a role model to younger students.  Thank you to parents for supporting this.

Year 12 work experience programme 15-19 July was rolled out to the year 12 students.  Previous opportunities have included civil service, Parliament, Greenwich Maritime Museum, law courts and hospitals. 

Good luck to Zoe Sullivan who left in June but has let us know she will be studying dentistry in Bulgaria.

Year 13 DEC students were visited by Alex Hill from WhiteCode Design Associates this week where he taught the students about wall structures and thermal properties. He even showed the students a mobile phone accessory which enables you to see the thermal activity of a room. The students are currently putting the final materials to their building they have designed on Revit and will now be working with WhiteCode to add in pipework for water and drainage they understand the spatial requirements for these services.

Our Year 12 students have made a very positive and enthusiastic start to their A Level studies.  To aid the transition into WG6 and to familiarise students with expectations a series of induction tasks and activities were scheduled.  The Expectations Evening presentation and discussion outlined opportunities available as well as academic and behavioural expectations.  The presentation was led by the WG6 senior leadership team and included a further education talk from a representative of Surrey University.  The full presentations can be viewed on our website here

Pictured, Students taking part in team-building tasks

  

 

This term Y12 A Level Media Studies students have been developing their practical media production skills whilst applying their newly gained understanding of narrative theory.  Their task is to produce a coherent narrative that follows Todorov’s Equilibrium structure.  Here we can see them turning their storyboarded ideas into carefully constructed shots which they will later edit using high-end video production software.  They will also add in visual and sound effects, and title sequences, to achieve an engaging media product.

    

Year 12 & 13 A level art students visited the V & A museum as stimuli for their coursework projects.  Students made drawing and studies to capture styles and ideas to be developed in class.

We were delighted to be once again celebrating the excellent A Level results secured across the schools’ fully collaborative sixth form, WG6. The joint sixth form is now in its third year of operation  and results continue to improve year on year, with the majority of grades being at A*/ B grades and most  students successfully departing to study degrees at  prestigious Universities.

Our results were reported in a number of local papers and their online platforms, a selection of coverage is below;

 

Have a lovely half term and we look forward to seeing all students refreshed and back to school on Monday 29 October.

Best wishes,

 

Mrs Geraldine Tiddy