Blog week ending 9th December

We have enjoyed a number of events recently including an exhibition of work by our Built Environment Society and our WG6 Open Evening as well as our Christmas Fair and special Christmas Carol Concert at St Michael and All Angels Church.  All were equally wonderful, and allowed opportunities for us to see so many of our families and share student work, celebrations and future plans. We are delighted to be able to share news of the new WG6 and Library area under development to further enhance our WG6 and wider school provision.  To view our WG6 Curriculum Booklet for information regarding the breadth of courses and electives opportunities available please click here 

Spotlight on post 16 WG6 option - Forensics and Criminal Investigation - BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (Double Award equivalent to two A Levels worth of UCAS points)

If you are interested in how science can help solve crimes then this may be the course for you! Forensic science is made up of various specialisms and you will get to study units that allow you to experience a multitude of these. In addition to your main programme, you will also engage in activities to develop your English, maths and employability skills.  The course can be combined with another field of study or with a Biology, Chemistry or Physics A Level.  It is an appropriate choice for progress to a wide range of higher education courses, not necessarily Criminology or Forensics.  Our Course is led by Head of Science Mrs Munden, who is incredibly proud of students’ 2022 results – 100% of students on the course achieved a Distinction Star, Distinction or Merit.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Develop your laboratory skills and techniques with real world scenarios
• cover some of the key science concepts in biology, chemistry and physics
• techniques in collecting, analysing and reporting chemical, physical and biological evidence during forensic investigations in a mock crime scene
• Explore the theories that are used to measure, tackle and prevent crime and criminal behaviour in England and Wales
• Study Criminal Law and take part in a mock trial.

What will students be able to do next? – Career pathways

After completing a degree in a relevant discipline, learners may progress on to a career to become a: forensic archaeologist, anthropologist, toxicologist, forensic psychiatrist, criminologist, crime scene or fire investigator.

Higher education courses that learners can progress onto include BSc (Hons) Forensic science, Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation, Forensic psychology, Psychology and Criminology, Policing and Criminal Investigation, BA (Hons) Criminology, Criminology and Law.

The requirements of the qualification will mean learners develop the transferable and higher-order skills that are highly regarded by both higher education and employers. For example, practical and analytical skills, reading scientific text, problem solving and carrying out practical laboratory tasks and planning forensic investigations. 

In the below images Year 12 Forensics students are pictured learning about the techniques for collecting, packaging and storing evidence from a crime scene.  They have used their skills to collect different types of evidence, including fingerprints, hair, blood and footprints from a simulated murder scene as part of their coursework.  All students had to work effectively as a group to collect and preserve the evidence in order to uncover the perpetrator of the crime!

Once the evidence had been collected, students were then tasked with analysing it to try and prove who was the murderer.  They have learnt forensics techniques in blood analysis, casting footprints, hair analysis and fingerprint comparison.  As part of the learning, we chose to use the blood analysis kits to test our own blood to find out our blood type.

Year 13 Forensics students are taking part in a practical physics investigation to measure current and voltage for a fixed resistor ahead of their Science Investigative Skills exams in January! 

Our talented Year 12 A Level photographers have been charged with providing a suite of photography for Wilmington Primary School for use on their website, in-school displays and in their blog.  This project provides the students with first-hand experience of delivering professional images to a client brief – a great opportunity to acquire work-place skills and produce evidence for portfolio use and references!  Wilmington Primary are part of Endeavour MAT and already welcome WG6 students for work placements as part of our Electives Life Programme.  Our thanks to WG6 photography students Adeyinka and Esther (pictured below) and Jake and Lewis for their amazing photos!

The Built Environment Society had their first exhibition on 1^st December, we had presentations from Year 9 and 10 on their recent competition entry of designing a visitor centre for Kent. Several students showcased their redesign of the Grange building which was a brief set by Mrs Lawson which included designs and 3D models. WG6 students presented drawings and designs as part of a community centre project and were able to discuss their work with industry professionals and parents and carers that visited. The event was well attended and included representatives from Laing O’Rourke, ISG, Class of Your Own and Ebbsfleet Development Council who were incredibly impressed with our student’s work within construction, one was quoted as saying that the Year 9 presentation was “better than some 3^rd year degree students’ portfolios”. The food was cooked and presented by our Year 10 food preparation and nutrition students who did a fantastic job as shown in the photos, they demonstrated extraordinary skill and it was truly delicious!

Our new WG6 dining and study area is starting to take shape!  Our old gym is undergoing significant renovation to provide a new fully integrated IT suite and Library and reference area upstairs and a new bespoke WG6 dining and social space downstairs.  Both new areas will benefit from a complete refit with new equipment and fittings including new floor-to-ceiling windows, making the spaces bright and welcoming.  Mr Chandler (pictured below) our Head of Premises and Estates provided a guided tour to our student managers and is looking forward to the new areas being open to all students by Easter.

Our 7 Scientists have been learning about particles; specifically solids, liquids and gases.  In this practical lesson students made icecream .. yes, icecream(!) to investigate changes of state.  This proved to be a rather popular practical lesson as students were able to enjoy the result of their work!  I overheard a student remark .. “I’m going to go straight home and do this again, it’s delicious!”

Our Year 7 Food Technology students have been familiarising themselves with food hygiene and safety, cutting skills and taste combinations.  Each prepared a colourful and delicious pasta salad of their design, I particularly liked the Christmas themed pasta choice!

Our Students Managers work closely with our students and their parents and carers and are responsible for the daily pastoral care of our students working alongside Form Tutors and Heads of Year.  Please see below for some examples of the lovely creative festive activities happening in the Student Mangers Office this week:

• Kindness Christmas Cards
• A wellbeing advent calendar
• Students have been invited to help hang a decoration on the office tree

Our Student Managers are (from left); Year 7 Miss Wheatley, Years 8 & 9 Mrs Fiander and Mrs Pepper-Newlan for Years 10 & 11.  Student Managers for WG6 are Mrs Wheatley and Mrs Regan (and are based in the Sixth form areas).

Forthcoming dates;

End of Term - 16th December 12 noon

First day of Term 3 - 3rd January

Best wishes,

Michelle Lawson

Head Teacher