Walderslade Joint Sixth Form Providing Access to Success at 16+
Hearts of Walderslade - Walderslade Girls'...
Transcript of Hearts of Walderslade - Walderslade Girls'...
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 1 Contents
Hearts of Walderslade The newsletter of Walderslade Girls’ School
Issue 35 Spring 2017
Headteacher’s message
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in our
school community for all their thoughts, good wishes and
acts of kindness during my recent health difficulties. To say I
was overwhelmed by the gesture of the school community to
raise money in aid of kidney research, does not serve it
justice. I have never been so deeply moved. It reminds me
every day what a truly unique and special place WGS is, and
how the students and staff care for one another at such a
profound level is astonishing and something very precious to
hold on to. I owe Dr Campbell a debt of gratitude for looking
after the school in my absence but also I must thank the
leadership team and all the staff who stepped up to keep
things running. It feels spectacular to be back and as always
there is lots to do and to look forward to.
The school has been thriving with activity as usual since the
last edition of the newsletter. As Medway’s leading Arts
College our performing arts students have not been off the
stage! The production of The Urban Jungle Book was another
triumph, showcasing the pure talent we have here amongst
our student body; then the term ended with a fantastic dance
show. Our musicians put on a wonderful evening concert A
Night to Remember and our gifted and talented artists have
once again been working at the University of the Creative
Arts cementing our very special partnership with UCA.
We have just received the great news that our bid to the
government for all the windows in the Wedgwood block to
be replaced has been successful. Gone will be the days of
freezing classrooms in the winter and mopping up puddles
of rainwater that has leaked through! Works will start in the
next few weeks.
The term ahead will focus on the final preparations for the
Year 11 and Sixth Form girls who are due to sit their public
examinations. This has been a very tense year for everyone
connected to education. All the reforms that the government
made to education over the past few years are now all hitting
us at once. This year students in Year 11 will be the first ever
year group to sit English and maths GCSEs and have them
graded by number 1 to 9 rather than A* to G. The style of
questions is very different and the students have to be more
proficient at memorising facts, formulae and literature
quotations.
The way we teach is having to change and the way the
students learn is now more of a focus with high expectations
on all our girls to take more ownership, more responsibility
for their learning and to be able to work alone
independently. Many of our girls struggle with this so the
support and understanding of parents and carers is essential.
Our term has now ended with a most beautiful Easter
service, a long held tradition at WGS to mark the end of the
Lenten season and to look forward to the celebration of
Easter. I wish all our WGS girls and their families and loved
ones a very happy Easter and look forward to welcoming the
girls back on Tuesday 18th April. I am also looking forward
to catching up with lots of parents too – it has felt like a long
time away!
Mrs McGowan, Headteacher
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 2 Contents
1 Headteacher’s message
3 The Urban Jungle Book
5 Wear it Purple!
6 News from the Departments:
6 Number Week
7 Sport and Fitness:
7 Sports Leaders
8 Year 7 Netball Tournament
8 Community Project: Eco-warriors!
9 Co-curricular News:
9 Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award
10 House News:
10 Austen House
11 Curie House
12 Fry House
13 Jebb House
13 Nightingale House
14 Parks House
14 Year Group News:
14 Year 7
16 Year 8
18 Year 9
19 Year 10
21 Year 11
22 Diary Dates
Contents
Page 6
Page 5
Page 3
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 3 Contents
The Urban Jungle Book
The three day period from Wednesday 22nd to Friday 24th
February 2017 saw the performances of this year’s
Walderslade Girls' School annual musical theatre
production, entitled The Urban Jungle Book. This was a
fantastic, dynamic and hugely successful production written,
produced and directed by the Head of the Performing Arts
Faculty Mrs Ferguson, and was based upon the writings of
Rudyard Kipling.
This production involved in total close to two hundred
students ranging across the school from Year 7 all the way up
to Year 13. During show week there were six performances
of The Urban Jungle Book musical, three of them evening
performances to the public.
On Wednesday 22nd February, (starting at 9:00 am) the first
public performance went onstage and was performed to
approximately 300 local primary school students from a
number of local feeder schools. This performance was a great
success and was a valuable chance to share the artistic and
theatrical majesty of our school with our local primary school
community. As the younger students left our main hall after
the show, they were describing the show as 'one of the best
plays I've ever seen', 'really good' and 'brilliant!'
Later that day came the first evening performance of The
Urban Jungle Book; the performance started at 7:00 pm and
was a special event and great success! There is always a
unique and positive atmosphere at our Wednesday evening
performance, as the audience all sit around ornately
decorated tables in the auditorium during the show, rather
than simply sitting in rows; this creates a warm, family and
community ambience in our main hall.
On Thursday 23rd February, there were another two
performances of The Urban Jungle Book, the first in the
morning (starting at 9:00 am) that was performed to all of our
Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9. This performance was another
great success and was a performance that reaffirmed to our
younger students that they are part of a school which values
the arts, along with traditional academia, and which
generates high quality, creative and engaging theatre.
The Urban Jungle Book: Waldeslade Girls’ School’s annual musical theatre production 22nd to 24th February 2017
Script by Mrs C Ferguson
Later that evening there was another public performance of
The Urban Jungle Book (starting at 7:00 pm); the students did
an excellent job and did themselves proud, putting on
another brilliant performance that sent the audience home
with smiles on their faces and describing the show as 'the
best production that the school have done so far!'
On Friday 24th February, there were the two final
performances of The Urban Jungle Book, one in the morning
(starting at 9:00 am) performed to all of the Year 10 and
Year 11 students. This morning performance was another
great show and was a performance that has inspired many
of our Key Stage 4 students to want to apply to study
Performing Arts in our Sixth Form. Later that evening, the
final performance of the production was held, bringing a
brilliant school production to a close. This final
performance was a great success; it was an emotional
evening as it brought seven months of very hard work, from
inception to conclusion, on The Urban Jungle Book
production to an end. This final performance was watched
by some members of the audience who had also seen every
major annual school production that Walderslade Girls'
School has ever put on, going back five school years, and
they described this year’s production as the most
professional, best written, most impressively performed and
technically advanced show that Walderslade Girls' School
has put on to date.
The Urban Jungle Book production was a great success and
being able to work on it was being part of a rewarding and
emotional journey. This production was an example of how
dedication, passion, hard work and teamwork, can make
anything possible and how you can realise any idea or slice
of imagination onstage if you continue to work at it with
perseverance.
Congratulations to all of the students and staff involved in
the production (on or off stage); you all worked really hard
and you all deserve to enjoy and celebrate the success of
The Urban Jungle Book production. Roll on the next
Walderslade Girls' School musical theatre production in
2018!
Mr Robinson, Head of Drama
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 4 Contents
The Urban Jungle Book was a creative re-telling of part of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book story,
in which all of the characters are portrayed as people rather than animals. The production was set in
the mid 21st Century in a dystopic future world, ten years after a devastating nuclear war. The war
has wiped out huge swathes of humanity and left mankind living without any electricity for years. The
show follows our heroine 'Mo' on an adventure to avoid Shere Khan and King Louie and to help the
people of the Urban Jungle to get the electricity back on. This musical was brilliantly written,
rehearsed, produced and performed, with all of the performing students excelling themselves. This
production was also technically very advanced; using five separate laptop computers, seven different
projectors, three smoke/haze machines, mobile pieces of set and a range of different sound and lighting
equipment, all to create the various impressive theatrical effects and to set the scene for the audience.
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 5 Contents
Wear it Purple!
On Thursday 9th February the school had a ‘Wear it
Purple’ tag day to support our headteacher Mrs McGowan,
who has undergone kidney surgery and to raise funds for
the Kidney Research UK. Just under £700 was raised for
this charity. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
Clothes, nail varnish and accessories went purple for the
day as seen in the pictures. Purple flowers were sent to Mrs
McGowan prior to her operation. The Sixth Form girls
designed heart shaped messages to send to Mrs McGowan
too.
Brooke Jones, a Year 11 student, wrote to the senior
management team requesting the ‘Wear it Purple’ Day and
spoke to the whole school with a couple of friends, Demi
Kempster and Zahra Hyatt to recruit support.
Another member of staff is also raising money by
completing a 10km run for the same charity.
Well done to everyone!
Mrs Mclaughlin
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 6 Contents
News from the Departments
Number Week
Number Week has taken place this term with many teachers
taking the opportunity to discuss with the students where
mathematics would be needed in their subject. In
mathematics lessons, Year 7 students looked into opening a
zoo. They used their knowledge of money to design a zoo
within budget, look at costings for running such an attraction
and designed a suitable layout using scale drawings. During
the week we ran a Badge Competition where all teaching
staff wore a badge with a mathematical fact, and the students
noted which teacher was wearing which fact. The winner of
this competition is Poppy Harvey, 7F, who managed to find
53 correct badges, well done Poppy. We also held the
Interhouse Mathematics Competition where students from
each of our six houses competed for the trophy. The
students took part in five rounds, which tested their
mathematical, logical and investigative skills. All students
thrived at this challenge, working as teams for the afternoon
but Curie house finally took victory. Special recognition to
Emily Hinkley who was our ‘Woman of the Competition’.
Well done to all students who took part.
Here is an account of the week written by Abigail
Clements, 7A
During Number Week (in Year 7) we all made zoos.
Firstly, we split into groups of four, five or six. Once we
were in our group we decided what we wanted in our zoo.
Then we designed our zoo and chose how much we should
charge for a child and an adult. After that we focused on
the income and profiting. On Friday one person from each
house and each year was selected to go into the Interhouse
Maths Competition. Curie came first and Austen came last.
In one of the rounds some emojis were shown to us and we
had to guess the Disney film. There was also a bonus round
with some anagrams and riddles. One of the riddles had ten
of the word ‘is’ on the sheet and when we counted and spelt
it out it read tennis. We all laughed and had fun. There
was also a badge competition where all staff had a badge,
which was maths-related. You had to write down as many
of the badges as you could and hand it in by the deadline.
Mrs Pollard, Maths Teacher
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 7 Contents
Sport and Fitness
Sports Leaders
Fourteen of our Year 10 Sports Leaders were selected after working together during Terms 1, 2 and 3 in core PE
lessons. They attended a training day at Greenacre and then went on to the Infant Agility Competition
itself. They worked in pairs explaining to the infants from many different schools how to do each activity and
then measured or timed each one. The organisers were extremely pleased with our girls who were excellent role
models. Here Rachel Gilham 10F and Hannah Cossey 10N give their account of the day.
On Thursday 16th March, a group of Year 10 Sports
Leaders went to Greenacre to take part in leading the Infant
Agility Competition. We worked with the sports leaders in
Greenacre to help thirteen primary schools take part in each
event as well as possible. We worked in pairs and were each
assigned a station to work at. A couple of examples of the
stations are the thrower and jumper. At the stations, we
had to demonstrate and explain the activity, then encourage
the students when it was their turn and record their scores.
After all of the schools had done each activity, we set up for
the relay and were each assigned a school to help and
support through the races. Overall, the day was a success
and all of the sports leaders enjoyed working with the
younger children; it gave us a different experience of leader
to that which we get with students here.
Sports Leaders Rachel and Hannah at work!
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 8 Contents
Year 7 Netball Tournament
Walderslade Girls’ School hosted a netball tournament on
16th March as an end of season Year 7 tournament. The
girls had great fun competing against six other schools. It
gave the Year 7 team the first taste of a tournament which is
very different to a full match.
The Walderslade team came fifth out of seven schools,
beating Hundred of Hoo and Strood and drawing with
Brompton, but unfortunately losing to Rochester Grammar,
Thomas Aveling and Robert Napier who were the eventual
winners.
Mrs Chapman, Head of Sport and Fitness
Community Project: Eco-warriors!
Pupils at Walderslade Girls’ School and Greenacre Boys
worked together on a community project to clear the litter
from Hook Meadow in Walderslade. On Friday 10th
March during their lunch break, three students in Year 7
from Walderslade Girls’ School joined up with seven boys
also from Year 7. Samantha Carey, Zoe Upton and Trinity
Ford, who were accompanied by Mrs Nelson, said they
enjoyed being able to make a difference to their local
community. The Greenacre boys, accompanied by heads
of year Ms Lockwood and Mr Roberts, could not stop
talking about their endeavours. They said they had
collected half a ton of litter!
Stevie Hunt the Community Warden of Lordswood, Princes
Park and Walderslade approached the schools for their
assistance. A local councillor also supported the event.
Whilst on Hook Meadow, all students worked together
collecting rubbish and three bin bags were filled with litter
which had blown onto the open space or been left there. By
the end of the lunch break, the meadow was spotless.
The Eco-warriors had carried out their mission.
Mrs McLaughlin
Year 10
Sports
Leaders
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 9 Contents
Co-curricular News
Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award
On the evening of 22nd March twelve students from Years
10 and 11 were presented with their Bronze Duke of
Edinburgh Award in Rochester Cathedral. They had
completed all sections of the award over the previous year.
The sections of the award are:
Skills: Some did cooking, others photography or sewing
Physical: Ranged from athletics to working out at the gym or
swimming
Volunteering: Some students helped younger students read
Mrs Chapman, Head of Sport and Fitness
in a 'buddy' system in school whilst others helped groups in
the community such as Beavers
Expedition: The students were trained every Wednesday
afternoon; they then completed a practice expedition and
then an assessed expedition. This involved planning routes
on two days, carrying everything in a rucksack and then
camping overnight.
These students should be congratulated as this is a great
achievement for them and shows they take part in activities
other than lessons at school, and all showed great initiative.
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 10 Contents
House News
Austen House
One finds limits by pushing them
Miss Eastwood, Head of Austen House
I can’t believe it. We are now half way through this academic
year! The weather is starting to brighten up and plans for our
annual Activities Week are underway. This term has been
about celebrations. We started off the New Year following a
successful last day of Christmas celebrations and activities.
We performed fantastically in the house singing competition
and although we came fourth overall, we showed Mrs
McGowan how Austen party with the huge explosion of
cannons across the stage. The behaviour of the girls was as
expected and there was a lovely air of celebration and
excitement within the house.
We continued this trend of celebrations with the Interhouse
football competition. As expected, Austen once again were
victorious and smashed the competition to become the top
house for sports. Well done to all those girls who took part
and represented Austen amazingly well as usual. Finally this
term we hosted our first ever Austen Celebration Lunch.
Form tutors selected two or three girls from each form to be
nominated to be a part of the lunch. Nominations were given
for a number of reasons including excellent behaviour, work ethic and for supporting the success of the house and taking
part in house competitions.
Girls enjoyed tucking into a selection of different party foods
and celebrating their achievements. Letters are also on the
way to the parents of these girls to celebrate the success they
have helped to achieve for Austen House.
Focusing on the remainder of this term and the start of next
term, the Interhouse Maths Competition took place on 17th
March, when members of Austen in Years 7 to 10 competed
against other house teams. Thank you to those girls who
took part.
Next term will also see another Austen Celebration Lunch
for new students who have been recognised for their hard
work and dedication to the house. Finally I also hope to see
some of our budding gardeners out in the Austen garden,
soaking up some beautiful sunshine and ensuring the upkeep
of our summer ready garden – complete with yellow ‘sun’
paint as well!
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 11 Contents
Curie House
Be courageous, be creative, be champions!
It hardly feels like days since I wrote to tell you how excited
the girls were to be rehearsing for their Christmas song and
yet it also feels like years ago as so much has happened!
I’m thrilled to say that, in line with our motto, the girls are
proving to be real life champions! We came second in the
Interhouse Song Competition (beaten by only 1 point), with a
big red double decker bus prop and beautiful singing from our
choir girls as well as a solo and excellent drama performance
form Vicky Ballard and friends, as well as some interesting, if
not a little questionable, outfits from the Curie staff! A
fabulous achievement for all! Well done!
Our winning streak has continued through this term as we
came first in the Interhouse Maths Competition; a very big
well done to all of our representatives: Vicky Ballard and
Molly Pennell-Brown Year 10, Emily Hinkley Year 9,
Jasmine Zhu Year 8 and Shailu Kumarasuriyam Year 7.
Excellent work!
Girls from 9C and 7C have also been collecting for the
Marie Curie Cancer Care Daffodil Appeal and although we
haven’t counted up yet, the pots are feeling heavy and it
looks like we have raised a lot of money for our charity.
Well done to our charity reps - Ayomide Adisa, Erin Heath
and Corinna Spicer from 9C and Emily Whitten, Lylah
Quinn-Mercer and Isabelle Haughton-Hunt from 7C for
their huge effort with this cause.
Our Year 7 and 8 Easter Bonnet Competition has been a
great success, with Curie making an ‘eggcellent’ selection of
creative pieces; the winner for 7C was Taylor Davison and
for 8C was Lily Ashby. The winner for Curie House was
Annamaria Ezeugwu.
I hope that everyone in Curie House, both students and staff
have a wonderful and very well-earnt rest over the holidays.
Wishing you a very happy Spring break.
Ms Yssennagger, Head of Curie House
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 12 Contents
Fry House
Don’t let your fear of failing triumph over the joy of participating
Fry House has had an amazing couple of terms so far in
regards to sporting successes! For the first time since I can
remember Fry have come first in at least one year group in
every single sporting interhouse. Year 7 need a special
mention for smashing the competition in both football and
netball and I hope their wins have motivated the other years
to participate and try their hardest. I would also like to
congratulate the Year 10/11 netball team, who at the start of
the competition were worried they did not have enough
players but went on to win and come first in a very close
final.
I would also like to congratulate the girls who took part in the
Interhouse Maths Competition. It is amazing to think what
talent we have in Fry across all areas of the curriculum and I
really believe this is OUR year to win the House Cup!
On behalf of Fry I would very much like to thank the HOW
Miss Allcorn-Austen, Head of Fry House
Fundraisng Committee for setting up the ‘Hot Chocolate’
mornings to help us raise money for the house and for our
charity, the Wisdom Hospice. Alongside this we also ran a
cake sale, with the help of some Year 10 students, raising
over sixty pounds!
Let’s not forget to … keep ‘frying the opposition!’
Jebb House
Be just, enjoy, be better, belong
As a Jebbling and a Walderslade Girl, I get involved in my
community outside of school and as many do I love
performing arts. Every Saturday afternoon, I go to a
performing arts school called Razzamataz for a class: an
hour of singing, an hour of drama and acting and an hour of
dancing. We also have to attend additional rehearsals when
we are building up to a performance. We have had a lot of
opportunities to take part in different performing arts
activities such a Jack Petchy's Glee Club Challenge 2016; this is
a competition of many different performing arts schools.
There were twelve thousand different performing arts
groups, all competing against each other and then all of
those groups were all cut down to just twelve and we were
one of the last twelve groups. As one of the twelve finalist
groups, we were asked to perform at the Indigo O2 and even
more amazing than that we were declared the winners!
We were all so happy that we won and we all started crying
when it was announced, this was probably one of the best
moments of my life! Just recently we did another large scale
public performance, performing in the west-end at Her
Majesty's Theatre. We performed a musical theatre
showcase and I performed in the classic 90s musical Rent. It
was amazing and so much fun! Along with all of this we
continue to work on our summer shows, attending regular
rehearsals. In January a small group of us performed at the
Central Theatre with The Soul Legends; we sang Night to
Remember and Natural Woman. I even had a solo and it went
really well - I was really pleased. This year, we are again
working towards the finals of the Glee Club Challenge and I
hope we will make the finals and if we do maybe we can win
it again!
Zara Bloor 9J
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 13 Contents
Nightingale House
Never, never, never give in!
Way back in November you may recall reading about
several girls from WGS who took part in the Youth Speaks
annual speaking competition.
We had amazing success with two of our girls winning
second prize in the junior category (Sarah Edmonds-Magee
8P) and first prize in the senior category (Emma-Leigh
Williams 12N). As well as achieving an amazing first place,
Emma Williams, went on to represent the school and, of
course, Nightingale House last month, and compete in in
the next stage in the competition, at the District Level,
which was held the Invicta Grammar School in Maidstone.
Emma was supported by Casey Canty 12C and Megan
Thompson 12J, and they performed exceptionally well
against some very polished contenders. Unfortunately, on
this occasion they did not go any further in the competition
but we are all immensely proud of their achievements! Well
done girls!
Mr Naughton, Head of Nightingale House
This term there have been lots of exciting things going on in
Jebb House!
Sixteen talented Jebblings were involved in the amazing
school musical theatre production The Urban Jungle Book.
These Jebblings ranged across all of the year groups at
WGS. Led by Head Jebbling Leah Baker (House Captain)
11J, these Jebb student performers were Lainey-Jaye
Cheeseman 7J, Maddy Smith 7J, Jessica Michacz 7J, Tilli
Pickering-Fraser 7J, Skye Balcombe 7J, Ellie Wood 7J,
Isabel Horsley 7J, Deborah Olawuyi 8J, Georgina Gore 9J,
Chloe Harris 9J, Katie Hocking 10J, Chelsea Ward 11J,
Connie Quarrington 11J, Rebecca Henderson 11J and
senior Jebbling Megan Thompson 12J (lighting assistant).
The Jebblings with support from the HoW Fundraising
Committee held a very successful Charity Hot Chocolate &
Cake Sale. This charity sale was held in the school dining
area during break time and raised a significant amount of
mone - more than £60 for Jebb's charity Save the Children.
This charity sale was supported by students Leah Baker
(House Captain) and Rebecca Henderson (Deputy House
Captain), and was supported by all of the Jebb tutors
specifically Mrs Virdi and Miss Murrin (whose aggressive
sales technique was very successful).
On Friday 17th March, Jebb's Mathematics Team put in a
great performance in the Interhouse Maths Competition,
finishing in the top three houses! Coming third was a
brilliant showing! Well done!
New Senior Jebblings will be soon taking over from the
current Year 11 Jebb Captains Leah Baker House Captain,
Rebecca Henderson Deputy House Captain, Gillian
Washington Sports Captain and Megan Terry House Spirit
Captain. The new senior Jebblings (who will take over their
roles and responsibilities once our current Year 11 students
have left) are Katie Hocking (House Captain), Kirsty Jarvis
and Eleanor Germany (Deputy House Captains).
Mr Robinson, Head of Jebb House
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 14 Contents
Year 7
A fairly quiet Term for Parks. Last term's Cake Sale was
really successful and we raised over £120. The Hot Chocolate
Sale had to be postponed due to electrical problems but we
did manage it in the end. We entered a full team for the
Interhouse Maths Competition and although we didn't win
we came a close second thanks to Jessica, Sophie, Bethany,
Joanna and Ioana - well done ladies!
We also decided that the House Notice Board needs an
update so the Year 7 and Year 8 students are going to
produce some new material so we can refresh the board next
term. It is also getting to that time of the year when we need
to pick new House Captains; a number of applications have
been received and our new House Captains will be
announced soon.
Year Group News
Parks House
Live your life as a model for others
Mr Knight, Head of ParksHouse
Term 4 is quickly drawing to a close and we shall soon be
enjoying our Easter break. We have had some busy weeks
since we returned in 2017.
Presentations of certificates were made to 25 students who
have maintained 100% attendance through Terms 1 to 3.
In February, we were proud to have so many Year 7 students
contributing to the fabulous production of The Urban Jungle
Book. Sell-out audiences were treated to a feast of acting,
song and dance.
March brought us the celebration of Pi Day, and to celebrate
this the Maths Department hosted the Interhouse Maths
Competition. A team of six from each house comprising at
least one Year 7 student battled it out with questions on
algebra, music and film titles - all with numbers in mind.
Year 7 were represented by Abigail Clements (Austen),
Shailu Kumarasuriyam (Curie), Harriet Bannister (Fry),
Amy Coultrip (Jebb), Trinity Ford (Nightingale) and Ioana
Necula (Parks). Curie won with a tremendous score only
dropping eight points!
Congratulations also go to the following girls who
represented WGS in a netball tournament held at WGS in
March: Emily Walker, Ioana Necula, Angel Alaoye, Lily
Connor, Maddy Smith, Annamaria Ezeugwu, Georgina Foreman, Ellie Wood, Keira-Lea Gray and Oyin Olajide
We are very proud of the nomination by the PE staff for the
Sport Superstar award which was awarded to Lylah Quinn-
Mercer - great netball skills. Well done!
7C presented a very uplifting assembly in February based on
Random Acts of Kindness, following on from Blue Monday,
the day that everyone feels ‘blue’ after the Christmas
festivities and the start of a new year.
7A introduced to us the fabulous work done by Comic Relief
and how we can contribute to this worthwhile charity. 7N
reminded us of the meaning of Easter and its celebration for
their assembly.
Wishing you all a very happy Easter break.
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 15 Contents
Mrs Simm, Head of Year 7
Press Report 7A – Chloe Harding, Abigail Clements
and Shania Stevens
The Urban Jungle Book
In our form we watched The Urban Jungle Book. Chloe Impey,
a member of our form, played the part of Kip. Chloe said
her experience in the production was excellent. She said, ‘I
felt so nervous, but mostly excited.’ The show turned out to
be a great success. We are all proud of Chloe for the time and
dedication she put into the production to make sure she knew
what she was doing, and when. Chloe said her favourite
scene in the production was the kids’ play scene and her
favourite character was Tabaqui.
Press Report 7C – Annamaria Ezeugwu and Kayla
Baker
7C Assembly – Random Acts of Kindness
On 27th February we had our assembly in front of the whole
of Year 7. We started to introduce our purpose by explaining
our theme - Random Acts of Kindness - and how small
things could brighten someone’s day, like giving someone a
simple smile, treating people how you would like to be
treated, helping your mum with the shopping bags, giving a
homeless person a blanket to keep warm during winter etc.
We had prepared a short sketch written and performed by
Jessica Simmons, Libby Franklin, Maria Farooq, Shailu
Kumarasuriyam, Emily Whitton, Rebecca Tommy-Mbogba
and Chloe Bowles, and a dance, which was performed by
Georgia Cass and Lilian Goold-Davies, who also rewrote the
words to a popular song and sang this whilst they danced.
The rest of the class had to read out their parts.
We were very happy with our achievement and the
spectacular performance by 7C. We are proud to be in this
form and we thank our teacher Ms Yssennagger because we
couldn’t have done it without her.
Press Report 7F – Emily Walker
On 26th February all houses took part in an interhouse
football tournament. Each house played five matches.
Although Fry put in an extremely good effort and there were
a few cuts and bruises, we did not win the match. In first
place was Parks and everyone was very happy for them. We
look forward to more interhouse competitions in the future
that Fry can win!
Press Report 7J – Chloe Morley and Skye Balcombe
The Urban Jungle Book
In 7J, a few members participated in The Urban Jungle Book!
We are very proud of the 7J members that took part: Skye
Balcombe, Ellie Wood, Lainey-Jayne Cheeseman, Isabel
Horsley, Jessica Michacz, Tilli Pickering-Fraser, Olivia
Thompson and Maddy Smith.
They did many performances that involved singing, dancing
and acting and spent months rehearsing after school. In
total, they did six performances in three days and were at
school late each night performing to parents and children.
Well done!
Press Report 7P - Keira-Lea Gray and Elleece
Hayward
7P have successfully participated in a range of activities
including football, netball, The Urban Jungle Book, the
Interhouse Maths Competition and benchball. During each
activity we were 100% committed to win no matter who our
opponents were.
We were victorious as we scored our way to 1st place in
football, 2nd in netball, benchball and maths. We are deeply
proud of everyone who stepped up to participate.
Each form in Year 7 has students who take on various roles of responsibility, one of which is Press Officer.
Students are expected to write a brief article once a term for inclusion in Hearts of Walderslade and on the Year
7 webpage, highlighting what their form has been doing during the term. The end of Term 4 is upon us and our
Year 7 Press Officers wish to share their news with you.
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 16 Contents
Keeley Oliver and Charlotte Dunn 8A
Last term we had an options evening which displayed each
of the options that could be chosen and gave us information
on them. In my opinion, it was very successful.
We had to pick either History, Geography or a language
along with three options of our choice.
You shouldn’t pick the options that your friends picked just
to be with them, because you may not enjoy these subjects,
or you might not be good at them.
I would like to be a police officer because I would like to be
like my grandad. Before he sadly passed away he worked
for the police for about 25 years. He was a very good police
officer.
To achieve this, I chose History, Child Development, Health
and Social Care and PE.
Holly Sammon 8F
When I first started thinking and deciding about my options,
I found it very difficult to make the right choices. My option
subjects are French, food, dance and drama. French has
been one of my favourite subject as it's very intriguing to
learn about another country's culture and their daily
activities. My next chosen subject is food. I'm hoping that
this lesson will provide some helpful information about
healthy eating, nutrition and cooking. The third option is
dance. This is something that I've been interested in for a
number of years. It is energetic and also a great form of
exercise, as well as giving me a huge confidence boost. My
fourth and final option is drama, this gives me the ideal
opportunity to express myself and show my emotions.
Personally, I feel I excel in all my option choices. During the
Year 8 options evening, I found the teachers I spoke to
extremely informative and supportive when discussing the
lessons I have selected. I am looking forward to starting my
options in September when I start Year 9.
Chloe Gooch 8J
For the last month, Year 8 have been thinking about, and
choosing, their GCSE options. It has been a lot of stress for
us, but we have finally reached our decisions. We have a real
mixed bag in 8J; here are some of 8J's options:
Crystal Hitch would love to pursue a career working with, and
looking after, animals. So, she has chosen to study triple
science. In these classes, she is hoping to learn as much as
possible about how their bodies work, as well as how to
maintain their health. She has also chosen child development
as she has a firm interest in how children develop.
In contrast, Phoebe Duffy has chosen art as she is considering
interior design in the future. Of course, she has also picked PE
- it is her favourite after all. She will also study the theory side
of the subject, perhaps she will consider a career as a
physiotherapist, too?
Deborah Olawuyi has chosen French as she finds it really
interesting to learn another language, she knows French is
spoken in many countries and hopes that she will be able to
use it in the future.
Of course, we also have some members of the form eager to
spend more time in creative subjects. Kirsty Harding (who
would like to be an actress ) has chosen drama and is looking
forward to more of the fun the subject has to offer.
Finally, Jade Hunt has decided to study music as she wants to
become a DJ in the future and loves listening to pop music.
Watch this space!
As for me, I'm hoping to improve my drawing skills after
choosing art. I have also chosen ICT as I find learning about
computers really interesting - you learn about so many
different things you've never even heard of before.
As a form, we are ready and eager to dive into our chosen
subjects and make a positive start to our GCSE years!
Year 8
Year 8 students have had a really busy term choosing their GCSE options. Read their articles below to find out
what they have chosen and the interesting reasons for their choices.
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 17 Contents
Mrs Cox, Head of Year 8
Leah Mount 8N
It has been a very busy couple of months for girls in Year 8
because we’ve had the tricky task of picking our GCSE
options. The girls in 8N have been helping each other
choose what to pick and a few want to share their decisions.
Firstly, I spoke to our very own Form Captain, Leonie
Rumbol about her reasons for choosing history, health and
social care, business studies and dance. ‘I really enjoy
history and I want to take health and social care to learn
more about people.’ Leonie says ‘I want to have my own
business when I’m older and I would love to learn how to
dance.’
I also interviewed our Charity Representative, Lily-Louise
Burbridge whose choices are French, dance, cooking and
business. Lily said, ‘A language is good for my CV and I
would love to be a dancer. I love to bake in my spare time
and taking business would aid me to become self-employed
in the future.’
8N seem to have created a pattern in wanting to take
history. Some of the girls opting for history are Roxy
Dimblebee, Hollie Johnson, Hannah Da’Val and Jessica
Allen. Finally I would like to say good luck to all the girls
with their options.
Sarah Edmonds-Magee 8P
My name is Sarah and I am a current Year 8 student. Only
a couple of months ago I had the hard decision of choosing
my GCSE options. I really enjoy both creative and
academic subjects. Thanks to the support and advice from
all the staff and my parents I was eventually able to come to
a decision. In the end I settled on a combination of the two.
I chose history, fine art, triple science, ethics and philosophy
as well as doing the compulsory core subjects (maths,
English and Science - however as I am taking Triple Science
I won’t be taking regular science). For me I feel this was a
good mix. History and science are two very academic
subjects but fine art is one of my favourite subjects and will
be a good stress reliever. I also chose ethics and philosophy
which I think I will really enjoy; it will open up my eyes to
the world around me and will also make me question my
own morals!
It was a hard and confusing experience, but I am glad I
chose what I thought was best for me. Someone wise once
told me, ‘No matter what subjects you choose now there
will subjects you love in three years and some you hate.’
This makes sense as I will grow and change as will my views
and opinions, but I know that I have made the best choice I
could.
Once again Year 8 have been giving valuable service to the school as Office Amdassadors. This term it is the
turn of 8F to share a few of their thoughts
Christina Alaoye 8F
If you are representing the school you need to look smart; if
you look messy it will give visitors a bad impression of the
school.
You always need to look happy and smile, you don’t want
to look sad. Doing jobs is fun anyway, I don’t know who
would not enjoy it.
Holly Sammon 8F
Since I’ve been at Walderslade Girls’ School my confidence
has gone down a lot, due to a lot more students being
around me. I haven’t participated in any role plays during
form time.
Since I’ve been Office Ambassador my confidence has
increased, as it’s a big role to play. I think from now on I’ll
take part in more activities.
Katheryne Whyman 8F
I feel excited about being Office Ambassador because it
gives me the responsibility to go around giving people their
work or taking notes to teachers.
I am looking forward to meeting visitors. I am keen to
represent the school in this important role, because I would
love to seen and known as a representative of Walderslade
Girls’ School. I think it’s important to look as if you have
been looking forward to this role for a long time.
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 18 Contents
Year 9
Year 9 are now over half way through the academic year.
This means that for a lot of the students they are five months
into their GCSE courses.
Students have received the Key Stage 4 progress data for
Terms 1 and 2, and Mrs McGowan made comments for all
of the students. This has formed the basis for progress
discussions since and the Year 9 tutor team have written
comments about their tutees which reflect on the whole
picture. These are now ready to be shared with the students
and parents.
The whole year group have sat a Financial Capability exam
and a maths mock exam.
The emphasis for Year 9 is on the student as an individual
and the impression that they make. Respect for self and
others is encouraged. This starts right from the beginning
with a reminder of the rules and standards of behaviour.
With this in mind assemblies have focussed on key issues
like being safe when using the internet and taking care with
the spoken and written word. This will move on to making
the most of your time and talents and personal qualities. The
current MSC topics will be dealing with health and
wellbeing and the issues that face teenagers today.
There is a lot for the Year 9 students to cope with but there
is guidance and a strong tutor team and pastoral team to
guide them through all of this.
In addition to the curriculum, students are encouraged to
take part in a range of activities. The Duke of Edinburgh
Award Scheme is running again this year. Some students are
involved in the charity events like selling daffodils for the
Marie Curie charity. There has also been a range of music
and dance shows as well as interhouse sports events.
Miss Hatton, Head of Year 9
With all of this in mind some of the students have made their observations about life in Year 9.
Sophie Hopkins 9P
One of the good things about Year 9 is that you start to do
your option subjects. Different teachers teach you for the
lessons and they start to become more supportive and
helpful.
The bad thing about Year 9 is that the work becomes
harder and it is all important because there are only a few
years left until you leave school.
Fadhila Kambona Masika 9C has written about
taking part in the production of The Urban Jungle
Book
I auditioned for The Urban Jungle Book last September. I had
to sing, dance and act and it was a lot of fun because I was
with my friends.
I wanted to have an acting role that allowed me to dance too.
Later on I found out that I was to play the part of Grey, a little
wolf. I shared this role with a student in Year 8, my friend
Hannah Canty.
I met all of the sixth formers who were performing too and I
really enjoyed their company. Nicole as the main character
was really lovely.
Another student in Year 9 wrote about the experience of
watching this production
I enjoyed watching the The Urban Jungle Book, which was
performed by other students. I think that the sixth formers did
really well and every one was good at remembering their lines.
The dancing and singing parts were enjoyable.
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 19 Contents
Year 10
Year 10 are half way through their GCSE courses.
Some girls have their actual GCSE and BTEC exams
in May and June this year and have now been given
their exam timetables. Many Year 10 girls will already
be completing coursework, practical assessments and
controlled assessments (course work completed in
school under exam conditions) in class, all of which
count towards their final GCSE grades.
A large part of GCSE success will be down to how
effectively the student manages her time. Implementing
an effective revision programme is essential in the run
up to the examinations whether they are mock exams
or the real thing.
Learning how to revise effectively is a key part of this.
Year 10 will be practicing different strategies for
revising next term during MSC lessons.
It’s vital that students take ownership of their learning
now and don’t leave it until Year 11. They need to:
Take responsibility for their own learning
Be organised
Remember all equipment and books for every lesson or
exam
Make effective use of their planners to record homework
Self-monitor their attendance and punctuality
This term 10C delivered an assembly to the year
group. Mollie Pennell-Brown and Vicky Ballard and
the rest of the class delivered three presentations on
healthy living, media pressure and woman’s body
image.
All of this emphasised the importance of self-
confidence in young girls. By delivering this assembly
10C wanted to strengthen individual confidence in the
year group.
Key Dates for Year 10
Thursday 4th May 2017
Year 10 Parents’ Evening
4:00 – 7:00pm
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 20 Contents
Mrs Richards, Head of Year 10
Congratulations to Casey-May Butler 10F who entered the Young Writers’ Teen Posts Competition and has
had her poem Ghost Girl chosen for publication in a book showcasing young adults work called Inner Voices -A
collection of teen poetry. The book is scheduled for publication on 31st March 2017 and a preview of Casey-
May’s poem that will be in the book is below.
Ghost Girl
Her long black hair glittered in the moonlight
Her vibrant sapphire eyes sparkled with delight
Her pale skin was bold from the cold
Her features were that of a doll
Her nose was small and narrow
Her eyesight was as sharp as a sparrow
Her fingers were long and thin
Her body shape was lithe and slim
Her smile was as bright as the stars
Her birthday was the 5th of March
An hour glass figure with large innocent eyes
She never planned for her demise
For on that fateful date in May
Death took her soul away.
Casey-May Butler
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 21 Contents
Year 11
Mrs Johnson, Head of Year 11
Year 11: Mocks and Beyond
Year 11 have only a matter of single figure weeks till
their exams. Revision sessions are in full flow and
Easter revision sessions are now on the website and
handed out to the students. I feel that many of the
Year 11 students are now focussing on what they need
to do to make progress from their mock results and
gain their places in the Sixth Form or at college.
Parents’ Evening on Wednesday 1st March was a great
success and it was great to see so many parents and
carers.
During the Year 11 MSC sessions the girls will now be
creating revision timetables, having workshops on
employability and careers from NCS, and being given
time to revise and reflect on their year so far. During
form times the girls are receiving extra English and
Maths as well as study skills to help them with their
revision.
11A
So what have we learnt since the mocks? Well I think
that would be that we need to plan our revision, not
try and revise everything the night before. We have
also made 100% progress because we can now see
what we need to do and where we made our
mistakes. The mocks felt very stressful and it was hard
to manage everything but since we have had the results
back it has been very useful because we can see exactly
what the exam board wants for each question.
We have spent time this term thinking about the
mistakes we made in revision and particularly that
there is not only one way to try and revise. The
biggest thing I think is realising that just reading it
won’t make it magically stay in my head! As a form
we have worked on putting a six week revision plan in
place which has helped us to work out how much time
we have for each subject and then how to divide that
time up over the topics that we need to study. The
surprise was just how much time we could use if we
planned it properly.
It feels like we don’t have much time left before the exams
now and every lesson counts and so more of us are going to
extra revision and also spending time with staff checking
that we have understood things. So what we have learnt
from the mocks – To plan and not to panic and most of all
It feels like we don’t have much time left before the
exams now and every lesson counts and so more of us
are going to extra revision and also spending time with
staff checking that we have understood things. So what
we have learnt from the mocks – To plan and not to
panic and most of all to believe that we can do it and
listen to what our teachers are saying.
Hayley Mckenna 11F
When it comes around to sitting your mock exams, it is
like there is a weight full of pressure on your shoulders,
well that is if you worry about your exams. It is a time
when you should try to be most relaxed and make
sure you get enough sleep to be able to do your very
best. The mocks get you prepared for your real GCSEs
so you know what to expect. As long as you do a lot of
revision and do not procrastinate when it comes around
to having limited time left you will be ok!
The teachers and other members of staff are fully aware
of how much stress and pressure we are under when it
comes to exams, they are there to help us, especially
our form tutors! The best advice would be: don't waste
time when it comes to learning and revising and also
don't take your teachers for granted. They are here to
help you and they will help you as long as you are
willing to learn and pay attention to them.
Hannah Clark 11P
The Year 11 mocks took place throughout January and
the start of February. The Year 11 mocks are very
important as it shows us what we are achieving and
what we are working towards in the summer.
After gaining our results, everyone has mixed emotions.
The majority of the year were not impressed, but now
we realise that we need to put our heads down, focus
and attend more revision sessions. This means that we
are more determined to get our 5 A-Cs and above to
help us continue our future education and for a small
fraction of girls that achieved good results keep going
and work hard.
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk 22 Contents
Diary Dates
Term 5
18 April Term 5 begins
18 April Keep Calm & Cook
3:00 – 5:00pm
20 April Year 12 Assessmant Performance
4:00 – 6:00pm
26 April Walderslade Wednesday
3:45 – 4:45pm
1 May Bank Holiday
2 May Keep Calm & Cook
3:00 – 5:00pm
4 May Year 10 Parents’ Evening
4:00 – 7:00pm
18 May Year 9 Trip to Sadler’s Wells Theatre
11:15am – 4:30pm approx
18 May Year 8 HPV Immunisation
26 May Sixth Form Tag Day
26 May Term 5 ends
Term 6
5 June Term 6 begins
21 June Walderslade Wednesday
3:45 – 4:45pm
23 June Year 13 Leavers’ Celebration
26 – 29 June New Year 12 Induction
30 June Year 5 Picnic
Horsted Primary School
6 July Walderslade Girls’ Junior Theatre
Company Performing Arts Showcase
7 July Year 13 Prom
10 – 14 July Residential Trips
12 – 14 July Activities Days
18 July Sports Day
19 July Term 6 ends
(School closes to students 12:30pm)
20 July Inset Day
17 August A Level Resuts Day
24 August GCSE Results Day
Dates and times may occasionally change. For
up to date information please visit our website:
www.waldersladegirls.org.uk