Blog week ending 11th February

Posted on: 11/02/2022

Introduction from our CEO Mr Charlie Guthrie. 

Dear parents and carers,

At Endeavour MAT I am delighted with what is happening in our schools. The challenges of the pandemic have been ably met and I would like to thank you most sincerely for the way you have supported us throughout. We have had to make many difficult decisions over the last couple of years, but this has been made all the easier by the response we have had from you and, of course, your children.

We were not prepared to stand still and I wanted to update you on a number of key successes that have taken place across the Trust over the last few months

  1. A number of our senior leaders now regular provide training and support to colleagues from beyond the Trust. This includes the development of leaders, curriculum and teachers in the very early stages of their careers. This demonstrates the high regard in which our leaders are held in the wider educational community. They include Mr Barnett, Mrs Lawson and Mrs Dhaliwal.
  2. We have now had approval for Wilmington Primary School to join our Trust and we look forward to welcoming them in the coming months. It is a demonstration of the commitment of Endeavour to work within our community to provide an excellent education for local children. The inclusion of a primary school will help us to gain a better holistic understanding of the learning that takes place from reception to Year 13 and the methods that are applied.
  3. We are planning for the opening of Stone Lodge school in its permanent building. This is due to take place at Easter. When complete it will be one of the most exciting new schools in the country, having facilities to match the excellent quality of education that is provided
  4. We are now working hard in all of our schools to embed a full programme of extra curricular and enrichment activities for our students. The pandemic has denied young people so many of the usual opportunities and we are working hard to ensure that they can return to leading normal lives and taking advantage of all of the activities that are available. If your child does not participate in any activities currently, I would urge you to look at what the school has to offer. There really is something for everyone

I am in the privileged position of visiting all of our schools regularly. They are calm, purposeful, happy places. teachers, support staff and leaders are absolutely determined to ensure that the education your child receives is as good as it can be. They work hard at their practice, so that maximum time in lessons is spent improving learning.

Following so much disruption, it is now vital that all students attend school regularly. Given the amount of time missed, all absence has an impact. Please support us in this regard.

Have a good half term holiday and we look forward to seeing all of our students back in school on February 21st.

Charlie Guthrie

CEO

Head Teacher's School Blog - Mrs Lawson

G12International Day of Women and Girls in Science is held on 11th February.  Mrs Munden, our Head of Science understands only too well the importance and value of seeing female role models to provide inspiration to enter into a scientific career. At WGSG students enjoyed a series of special lessons including a presentation to celebrate the critical roles women play in science and technology (including the below slides)

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Our Science Club is an incredibly popular and well supported group, led by Mr Dawson.  Over the last four weeks our members have been working on a Volcano project .. which culminated, quite fittingly, with an eruption!  The group were challenged with a special Volcano quiz including a) Which island nation was recently hit by a tidal wave following a volcanic eruption?  b) Where in the UK is a castle built on a volcanic plug? (answers at the bottom of the blog!)

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WG6 Forensic Science and Psychology students attended a virtual Criminology and Policing Conference this week which gave our students a unique opportunity to see how their forensics and psychological theory is applied in the real-world. The day was hosted by David Wilson, presenter of BBC’s Crime Files, and featured Dr Graham Pike, Professor of Forensic Cognition, Jackie Malton, former senior Met police detective best known for being the inspiration for the character of DCI Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect, Professor James Treadwell, Professor in Criminal Psychology and Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, reformed former violent offender.

Through interactive activities, pupils discovered the fallibility of their own eye witness testimonies and learnt that 75 per cent of wrongful convictions feature mistaken witness reports. Pupils also assessed their accuracy in determining liars, finding that on average, the general public are very bad at detecting if someone is lying and that the biggest clues are often not visual (e.g. touching face, avoiding eye contact, etc.) but verbal (e.g. stuttering, repeating phrases, etc.).  It was certainly an enriching experience for all who attended!   

Our Science Department is encouraging students to ‘think big’ with aG3 competition open to all KS3.  Students much develop a piece of writing with clear reasoning and justification of their viewpoint, based on their knowledge of seeds – Are Seeds Living?  The best entries from each year group will receive a prize and their work will be displayed along the Science Department corridor.

MFL students took part in a regional Spelling Bee competition this week at Dartford Grammar, competing against students from Townley Grammar, Newstead Woods, Mayfield Grammar, BETHs and Dartford Grammar.  It was an extremely tricky competition and all competitors were accomplished linguists.  The competition had German, Spanish, Mandarin, French and Japanese rounds, with representatives from WGSG taking part in French, Spanish and Mandarin.  Mrs Cantos Moreno is justifiably proud of how well our students acquitted themselves, but particular congratulations go to Pricilla D.  Pricilla gave a confident and flawless performance, winning first place in the KS3 French competition.  Below, Pricilla receiving her winners’ certificate from Mr Metcalf, Head Teacher at Dartford Grammar.

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The MFL Department ran a dumpling workshop after school last week to celebrate the Chinese New Year.  Students and staff made (and ate!) a range of delicious dumplings to Ms Cai’s family recipe! 

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G7Our Year 11 Aspiring Scholars and Year 12 Scholars met this week to consider and debate the answer to a potential Oxford interview question “If you could save either the rainforests or the coral reefs, which would you choose?”.  Students worked together in multi-disciplinary groups to discuss and agree their position before articulating and debating their views with other groups.  These sessions support improved critical thinking skills, helping students structure their thoughts and make balanced arguments. 

James Pilling is both a member of the Student Voice and Scholars Group and was involved in delivering and taking part in today’s session.  “It really did make us think about our arguments and the points we used to explain our views as it is vital to protect both natural habitats and both ecosystems have an important role in our lives”

Pictured, students sharing their evidence and findings to support their views

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Over 50 students from WG6 are currently engaged in completing the Extended Project Qualification A level. This is worth UCAS points and helps students develop research, investigation, analysis and writing skills that can be of benefit to both university and job applications. Students choose their own field of interest and this year’s cohort include projects in areas such as sustainable fashion, American politics, classical literature and equality in the UK.

Currently students are developing and writing their arguments, ready for their draft hand in next month. One option is for students to conduct primary research, such as a survey. One student based at WGSB who is investigating issues around Cyber Security has created a survey with the desire to find out how safe our students and parents are in using the internet. It will only take 2 minutes, please could you take the time to fill it in? click here https://bit.ly/34D3Kml

Our Student Council have met to agree roles of responsibility for the coming term, students will represent five working groups for; Charity, Behaviour, Teaching for Learning, Environment and Relationships & Communication.  Forty students across the school have signed up and will work with WG6 Student Leaders Riya T and Amazine-Grace to discuss plans and issues on behalf of the student body.  After half term the Student Council will meet to prioritise potential schemes for each of their groups which they will present to the senior leadership team.  The Environment Group has already received investment via our PFA for the creation of a school ‘Nurture Garden’.

Pictured Student Council Leaders Riya and Amazine-Grace with Student Voice Coordinators Miss Schweitzer and Mr Lennon

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Thank you to all students, parents and carers who have already nominated members of our staff in the Kent Teacher of the Year Awards 2022.  I am incredibly proud of the contribution each of us makes on behalf of our school but to have that contribution recognised and noted by our families is invaluable, every one of your nominations means so much to our staff!

If you would like to make a nomination for any member of our school staff - teaching staff, support staff, members of the PTA and senior leaders. Please click here to complete the form

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PFA Update.  Easyfundraising & Amazonsmile - By signing up and using the following link when you shop online with more than 3,300 well-known online stores such as Amazon, eBay, John Lewis will earn free donations for WGSG at no additional cost to you.  Please click here for further information and to sign up.  We would like to thank all our existing supporters who have helped us raise more than £2k in retailer donations via Easyfundraising and £500+ from AmazonSmile.

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We wish you and your family an enjoyable and restful half term break!

Best wishes,

Michelle Lawson

Quiz answers - a) Tonga b) Edinburgh

 

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