Blog week ending 24th March

The theme for this year’s British Science Week is ‘connectivity’ to celebrate togetherness, something particularly apt following periods of isolation as a consequence of the pandemic.  Nearly all innovations in science, technology, engineering and maths are built on connections between the different scientific disciplines.  Collaboration between scientists, institutions and research groups maximises resource from different fields bringing about new ideas and perspectives to help solve key issues.  At Wilmington Grammar School for Girls we recognise the power and benefits of a collaborative mindset and scholarly work ethic.  At the heart of this thinking is our Epistemic Insight work which encourages our students to think about the links between subjects across our curriculum, recognising the connectivity that lies between subjects and how our students’ learning can be relevant to, and applied in, another seemingly unconnected subjects.  This week we celebrated our Epistemic Insight work with a Year 7 and 8 Celebration Event.  Parents and carers as well as representatives from Canterbury Christ Church university joined us to showcase the Big Questions our students have been considering and responding to. 

As you can see from the photos, the event was very well supported and gave our students the opportunity to share and talk through their findings and work.

British Science Week.  Our Science Technician Miss Jarvis, together with students created a giant display stretching the length of a corridor to graphically make and display connections between subject areas.  Every post-it features a contribution from students!  Sadly, its power and detail is virtually impossible to photograph due to its size, hopefully, the below will give you an indication of the scale and impact of the piece.

Year 7 and 8 students took part in the British Science Week poster competition based on this year’s ‘connectivity’ theme, all entrants researched STEM connections before designing their posters which included the brilliantly evocative Olfactory Memories poster by Leila A in Year 7.  National Winners will be announced in April.

Well done to Leila, Jessica, Sital, Lily, Sasha, Krisha, Alice, Saanvi, Elia, Bella, Esme, Elsie, Amelia, Coral, Zainab and Scarlett in Y7 for winning the WGSG competition – their posters are displayed on the “connections” display board in the science department.

Year 11 Triple Scientists were exploring the properties of polymers in Chemistry this week. They modified the properties of PVA glue by adding borax to make slime. Students were able to link their observations during the practical to the structure of polymers they have been studying in lessons.

WG6 Year 13 were applying their understanding of transition metals ligand substitution to explain their observations in a series of experiments. Students were tasked with identifying the complexes responsible for the colour changes and explaining the mechanisms behind the different colour changes throughout the reaction.

Our Librarian, Mrs Smith together with her intrepid team of quizzers took part in the Bexley Schools Book Quiz.  Student representatives from across the region gathered at Townley Grammar School for 6 rounds of questions on authors, TV and film adaptations and literary trivia.  Mrs Smith was quiz creator, co-ordinator and quiz master and was delighted with how well our students acquitted themselves.  Winners were Chis and Sid following a nail-biting tiebreaker.  All competitors received a participators certificate and chocolate treat.

WGSG team member were; Coral H, Shafana T, Lara P, Tomi O, Louisa D.

Year 8 Drama students have been working on a group monologue piece inspired by the character Shy Boy.  Their pieces are based on a split-role (where more than one actor plays the same character) and highlight different aspects and characteristics of the same person.  Students have written astute and considered monologues showing a range of responses to the same stimuli.

WG6 Student Leader elections.  Our aspiring student leaders in Year 12 have begun the rigorous selection process to gain the title of Head Student.  Prospective candidates have to present part of their self-created assembly based around the theme of identity. Later this week, candidates will present their ideas and be questioned by School Council representatives for each form, who will then make the choice of who their favoured students are. Candidates are then interviewed by Mrs Lawson, Mr Atkins and our two current Head Students, Jordan and Sydney to present their ‘manifesto’ and outline the areas they are interested in working with and the improvements they would like to bring about as a consequence of their role as Student Leaders.  The process will culminate in the appointment of two new Head Students, as well as a student leadership team who will play an active role across the school and lead other Student Leaders. Pictured below, a hopeful student delivering their message during a school assembly.

We welcomed representatives from Queens College, Cambridge University on Wednesday 22nd March to talk about life at the university and provide application advice. Year 11 from both WGSB and WGSG joined the first session of the talk which focused on preparing for application and academic profiles. The Year 12 scholars group session was focused on the university’s lifestyle and how academics are taught. 

Head Girl from the WGSG site, Lily Metchear and WGSB Student Leader, Amelia England, provided this poignant report regarding a recent WG6 visit to Auschwitz.  She and fellow WG6 Student Leaders delivered an accompanying assembly to students. 

 

“We had the opportunity to take part in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project by the Holocaust Educational Trust. As a part of this we have participated in several online seminars as well as travelling to Poland along with 180 other students. When we landed in Poland, we first visited the town of Oświęcim, where we understood the importance of pre-war Jewish life and the history of the town. Next, we went to Auschwitz I, which was the first concentration camp of what is known as “Auschwitz”, this site was originally a military base, the barracks were still there, but today the site is a memorial museum, with artefacts and pictures to immortalise the victims and remember the event. Throughout the project we were being encouraged to remember individuals and bear witness to the horrors of the holocaust. We found this part very shocking as we understood the enormity the atrocity by seeing individual belongings such as shoes and pots.  

After this we visited Auschwitz Birkenau which functioned as an extermination and work camp. The size of the camp was difficult to comprehend, the barracks held up to 1000 people, where the conditions were shocking and inhumane. We walked along the train tracks following the journey of so many victims as they entered the camp - it was hard to imagine that the majority would never leave. Towards the end of the day, we listened to a memorial and reflective sermon by Rabbi Marcus, which was extremely inspiring and thought provoking.  His message was simple, to be kind in a world full of hatred, as well as reinforcing the significance of remembering and honouring the victims of the holocaust. On our return, we had a reflective seminar and listened to a witness testimony from holocaust survivor, Steven Frank which we found very moving as it allowed us to understand individual experiences and the relevance of fighting against anti-Semitism in the modern society.  

Overall, this was an extremely eye-opening visit and allowed us to view the holocaust through a lens that identified the human aspect of this tragedy, both of the perpetrators and the victims. We have understood why we shouldn’t de-humanize the perpetrators as “monsters” or “evil” but to remember they too were human and made choices which led to the death and suffering of millions. We would encourage you to all research and understand the significance of the holocaust, we are available if students have any questions and will be delivering presentations as part of our next steps project to become a Holocaust educational trust ambassador.  Below is a link to Steven Frank’s documentary with his granddaughter” 

Finding my Family: Holocaust - A Newsround Special - CBBC Newsround  

Lily and Amelia 

Beyond the Streets at the Saatchi Gallery is a current exhibition that shows over 150 different urban street artists – art work it visualises moments in popular culture from graffiti, street art, Hip- hop and Punk – Art, Music and installation work.  It’s a celebration of graffiti arts – ethos and ideals, from being underground sub- culture art to being popularised in music, advertising and the visual media world – seen as rebellious but also accessible to anybody in everyday life.  Highlights which were amazing included; WGSG students life drawing- live break dancers to hip hop music (dancers were breakdancing then held their move for everyone to draw!) Tote bag making workshop, Hip Hop DJ’s and sound system throughout the gallery and many memorabilia items from the world of graffiti art, punk and hip-hop music scene.

Here is a blog entry from Sonia F & Freddie C

“The Saatchi Gallery was displaying artworks under the theme of street art. There were many artists that were included within the gallery working with all sorts of media, from the typical spray paint associated with graffiti works to acrylic and pastels on large linen canvases. We most enjoyed the sets that they made to demonstrate street culture. We also enjoyed the live drawing session where two hip-hop dancers freestyled for us to draw from. There was a lot of social and political messages within the artworks which found interesting. We were also very inspired by the broad range of styles and how creative/diverse the art was. Overall it was a fun experience.” 

I am delighted to share news of Rebecca T of 8A’s sporting achievements.  Rebecca is a member of Dartford Harriers Athletics Club and has just finished her 1st season of indoor competitions.  Her favourite events are long jump, triple jump, sprints and 4x100 relay.  Although still only 12 she moved up to the U15 category and recently competed in the Kent Indoor Championships at Lee Valley Indoor Athletics Centre.  Of particular note is Rebecca’s performance in the triple jump; placed 3rd in Kent (jumping 8.56m) which is especially impressive as it is a new event to her!  Rebecca continues to work hard at her sport both in school and with her club and continues to better her PBs!

If you are interested in athletics and would like to find out more regarding joining Dartford Harriers, please click here Join the Club - Dartford Harriers Athletic Club (dartfordharriersac.co.uk)

Congratulations to our own ‘MasterChef’ Binu T, who won Best in Class for her incredible special occasion celebration cake in the International Salon Culinaire Junior Sugarcraft competition.  Binu faced tough competition in this prestigious competition to scoop the top award – and doesn’t her cake look amazing!

PFA Event!  I look forward to seeing as many of you as are able to attend.  For more details and to book your table, please click here.

Forthcoming dates;        

• Cultural Dress day – Friday 31^st March (click here to read more)
• Year 10 Written Reports home – Friday 31^st March
• Last day of Term – Friday 31^st March
• Ski Trip – Saturday 1^st April – Friday 7^th April
• First day of Term – Monday 17^th April
• Quiz Night – Friday 21^st April

 

Best wishes,

Michelle Lawson

Head Teacher