WCGS News
Spring Term Issue 2
Easter Message
This has been another busy term for the school in which much has been achieved. While the academic dimension of the school will always be important to us, I am particularly pleased to note the continued progress in other areas of school life which has been made of late. The recent Spring Concert showcased some of the musical talent within our community and provided us with further evidence that music is starting to flourish once again at WCGS. In addition to music, the last term has seen a full sports fixture list, a ski trip to France, a range of educational trips, a Y7 ‘challenge day’, mathematical competitions of various kinds and much else besides.
Friday April 16th may prove to be an important day for the school as it is on this day that we are due to receive the completed sports hall. This will be a fantastic resource for the school and will have an impact on all of our students, now and in the future. I would like to record my thanks to the PTFA for all they have done to ensure that the sports hall will be properly equipped when it opens: from organising fund-raising events to negotiating the best deals with companies, the response of the PTFA has been brilliant and they have made a magnificent contribution that will enhance the school for many years to come. I am also pleased to announce that our bid to offer the Diploma in Engineering from September 2011 has been fully approved and preparations for this will begin in earnest next term.
Developing our young people’s awareness of the plight and suffering of others is an important aspect of their education and this year we have changed the way we collect for charity. This academic year students have organised fundraising events in their houses rather than just handing over money. This approach allows the students to develop skills that they can use later in life and I have been heartened by their overall response. The Sixth Form organised a very successful Raising and Giving Week. In all, the students responded brilliantly to the initiative, raising funds for Haiti and the Make a Wish Foundation.
I should like to thank everyone involved with the school for making the last term such a successful one in so many ways. We have competed well at rugby, cross country running, football, public speaking and debating. We now have the summer to look forward to and the Easter holiday is an ideal time to prepare for the end of year assessments and public examinations.
I wish you all a happy and restful holiday.
Peter Smart, Headmaster
Tesco and Sainsburys Vouchers
We are collecting both Sainsburys and Tesco vouchers to go towards sports equipment for the new sports hall. Please could you put them in the box in the hallway next to Reception. Many thanks indeed!
Year 7 Challenge Day
The Year 7 Challenge Day was once again a highlight of the term with feedback ranging from those suggesting it had been " a life changing experience" to those reflecting on how the day had developed their PLTS skills to those just happy to have avoided a day of 'proper school'!
At 8.30 am on a bright Thursday morning the 6 houses were given a copy of 'Ernie's Incredible Illucinations', a small budget and the information that a number of parents would be arriving to view a performance of the play at 3.30pm. The boys did fantastically well with minimal staff input and were a credit to the school on their ventures into Carshalton to purchase a variety of dresses (for costumes I'm assured!).
Finally a big thank you to all the staff, without whose cooperation the day would not have been possible.
Mr D. Jones
Haiti Appeal
Well done to the whole school for all their efforts in raising an amazing sum of £1800 for the Haiti Appeal!
7-a-side Rugby Review
WCGS has generally performed well in the recent tournaments, particularly in the Surrey 7’s. We have competed effectively and always found our correct level or punched above it!
The U14’s recently won the Surrey Shield thumping Tiffin in the final. We were narrowly defeated by Trinity in an earlier group game where they scored a try and converted from the touchline to win the game by just 2 points! Although we suffered defeat to Whitgift in the group we performed superbly and showed a lot of character to go on to succeed against many strong rugby playing schools to lift the Shield trophy.
The U16’s qualified in the main competition, the only year group to achieve this, after only 1 defeat in the group stages. There were many notable victories for them during this group stage, especially a thumping win over RGS Guildford who were the previous year’s winners! Having qualified we were narrowly beaten in the quarter-finals and suffered from 1 or 2 injuries to important players.
The seniors performed magnificently in the Surrey championship. We lost very narrowly to Epsom College who are always strong, and we regretted not taking our chances to actually beat them. After a defeat to Sevenoaks we needed to beat Downside to have any chance to progress to the Surrey Plate, (the top 8 Surrey schools not winning their groups). Not only did we win but we played our best rugby of the day to smash them!
We qualified as 8th seed for the Plate and this meant we had to play the number 1 seeds; St. Johns Leatherhead in the quarter-final. We showed considerable skill and character in beating them 19-12 to qualify for the semi-final. Richmond College were our opponents in the late afternoon and they proved just too strong for us despite our spirited efforts. (They went on to crush Reigate in the final!)
It has been many years since the seniors qualified for the Surrey Plate so we should feel rightly proud of our achievement.
Mr R. Walden
Ski Trip - Feb 2010
This year’s school ski trip started with the usual 23 hour coach journey to Austria. So, it was with much relief to arrive in our ski resort – Schladming, and to be greeted with snow-capped mountains, a superb hotel and a bowl of traditional Austrian soup. After a briefing on the week’s forthcoming events, we shopped to stock up on essential supplies and relaxed in the hotel.
The next day was brilliant with the skiers being separated into groups according to ability and hitting the slopes straight away. The evening activity was a ski show which included displays such as ski jumps and synchronised skiing.
We soon got into a typical ski routine: wake up at 7:30 am, hit the slopes at 9:30 am and enjoy 5 hours skiing with expert tuition from the Austrian ski instructors. This was crippling, so it was a relief to relax in a swimming pool. This was our evening activity on Monday and it served to soothe some of the aches and pains. The teachers especially enjoyed the sauna. The evening activities made the holiday extremely enjoyable. There was a quiz, curling (without the sweepers), bowling and on Thursday night, a disco. To see the teachers put on there best dancing moves was truly spectacular.
Being at a high altitude with blue skies, a beautiful view and fresh mountain air made such a change to wet and windy London. Everyone who went on the ski trip came back feeling relaxed yet tired after such a wonderful holiday.
Matt Royle (10T)
RAG Week 8-12 March 2010
March 2010 saw WCGS’ very first Raising and Giving Week in support of the Make a Wish Foundation, the focus of this year’s School appeal. The charity grants magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses in the UK. At any given time, over 20,000 children in the UK are living with life-threatening conditions and in 2010, around 1,000 children will turn to the Make a Wish Foundation to have their special wish granted.
During the course of the week Sixth Form students and staff sought donations from the rest of the School to show their allegiance to either the Pirate or Ninja cause and, with the expected maximal amount of covert activity, the Ninjas silently dealt with the less-than-subtle bludgeoning approach of the Pirates.
Other highlights included the Staff and students Touch Rugby tournament, in which teams from Year 11, the Lower Sixth and the Upper Sixth sought revenge on their rugby coaches, a chance to relive one’s youth with the Pokemon naming competition, Space Hopper races on the field, after which certain members of staff were observed to be bouncing their way around the Sixth Form Common Room and Friday’s mufti day, made memorable for the likes of Dr Schiavo as Superman and Mr Bean effortlessly dressing as a fairy for the day. The week culminated in the Battle of the Bands, featuring bands from Year 10 to the Sixth Form, with very special guests the Theory of Six Degrees and not so special guests the staff band!
In all the week was a great success, raising over £2000 for the Make a Wish Foundation. We would like to express our warmest thanks to all students, staff and parents that took part and extend special mention to all staff and students involved in organising the events. We hope this is the start of an annual RAG week and look forward to seeing future years taking on the challenge to beat the previous year’s efforts and make RAG week bigger and better!
Claire Smith & Mr P. Brewer
100 Ties
Congratulations to the following students who were each recently awarded the 100 Tie:- Simeon Greaves, Nisal Herath, William Dunne and Pavlos Christodoulou.
Duke of Edinburgh Awards
Congratulations to Peter Wotherspoon, Henry Miller, Benjamin Cook and Pavlos Christodoulou, all of whom have now earned their Duke of Edinburgh's Bronze Award.
Mr J. Oldfield
Spring Concert - 18th March 2010
The Spring Concert was a lovely occasion, with around 80 pupils performing in the School’s ensembles, as well as many solo items. The Orchestra opened the concert very confidently with a medley from West Side Story and the James Bond theme tune. The school’s choirs have made huge progress since the Autumn Concert and performed some difficult pieces including Bohemian Rhapsody by Freddy Mercury and Cantique De Jean Racine by Fauré.
The Upper Voice Choir similarly performed very well, especially an unaccompanied version of Stand by Me by Ben E. King with solos by Jamal Ottun, Jason Obiri-Yeboah, Sean McNamara-Guiheen and Arjun Patheja. We also had the pleasure of hearing some very accomplished solo playing, including original compositions from some of the Year 11 pupils. The pupils are continuing to work hard to improve their level of performance and we look forward to hearing the ensembles perform again at the Summer Concert.
Mrs C. Usher
Geography AS Fieldtrip
On 23rd March, the AS Geographers set off on a four day excursion to the sunny counties of Dorset and Somerset to partake in a range of field studies, whilst also staying on Magdalen Farm - a sustainable and organic centre... pretty much in the middle of no where! Well, just outside of Axminster anyway.
The weather forecast was, as expected, 'typical March' e.g. heavy rain, with potential storms and fingers were crossed for such. As one geographer said "it wouldn't be Geography without the right weather". Unfortunately for all, the rain held off and waterproofs had, in general, made a wasted journey. Everyone enjoyed taking charge of a number of studies, including: comparing the effects of counter-urbanisation on the rural villages of Somerset; investigating the value of coastal defences along the Jurassic coast; and, examining how natural and human factors had influenced the course of the River Axe from source to mouth.
Once the evenings hard work was complete, activities such as Scola's Quiz, Giant Jenga Tournament and Geography Scrabble were enjoyed by all. Well done to the Lower Sixth on what was an excellent field trip and of great benefit to their studies. I know we're already looking forward to another excellent trip next year.
Mr J. Eynon
Cricket
A notice to all potential cricketers: 1st XI Cricket training will take place from the beginning of next week, in preparation for a number of fixtures next term. We're keen to build a strong squad of players and work from the encouraging performances from last season. If you're interested or keen, please express your interest to Mr. Eynon a.s.a.p. Players of all abilities welcome.
Mr J. Eynon
Geography Society
Geography Society will begin from next term. We will meet on a weekly basis to discuss the latest geographical events from around the world, watch and discuss a range of documentaries and attend a range of enrichment activities relating to the most contemporary and interesting phenomenon from a global perspective. In the first week, we will be reviewing a proposed plan to take part in the "Three Peaks Challenge". We look forward to seeing all aspring Geographers, Geologists and Politicians there!
Muhammad Jaffer (President of GeogSoc)
Adam Lyons (Vice-President of GeogSoc)
Radcliffe Charity Week
Radcliffe Charity Week was an amazing experience. My favourite events were the 8RA cake sale, sponging the VIth formers and teachers which included Mr Jones, Mr Affleck and Mr Boothroyd, and car washing (water fight!). Radcliffe charity week was a mix of cool ideas and raised a lot of money to help lots of people in Haiti. In total we raised over £200 for an excellent cause, thank you for donating your money.
Sam Wadey 7RA
Commendations
Congratulations to all of these students who have excelled themselves and currently have the most commendations within their year groups. Well Done!
Year 7
Tariq Ali 78, Aaron Akpojaro 70, Daniel Sherlock 69
Year 8
Leopold Rudolph 58, Paul Sotiriou 58, Henry Ludlam 55, Ian Redington 51
Year 9
Colm Molloy 70, Ashwin Vellore Suresh 67, Matthew Sutton 64
Year 10
Rawa Burhan 50, Khamiel Fletcher-Lord 47, Jan Memedovic 43
Year 11
Ajay Rose 45, Nimesh Patel 42, Dominic Powell 37
Lower 6th
Edward Stedman 48, Gogulan Karunanithy 44, Joe Williamson 41
Upper 6th
Jonathon Pickett 20, Dominic Newman 17, Joshua Davies 16
Oxbridge Success!
11 students in the Upper Sixth have received conditional offers from
Mr P. Brewer
French Language Week Competition
We had three participants in this nationwide French competition (Nabeel Noobeebux in Year 7, Raeff Jackson in Year 9 and Alice Williams in the Lower 6th).
The competition was run by the Institut Français and the British Council and Alice Williams won a prize and came runner-up in her age category. Alice and I were invited to an award ceremony at the Institut Français where she received a prize and a certificate.
Well done to all three pupils for their enthusiasm and hard work.
Miss S. Johnson
WCGS Staff Achievements
Dr. Whiting successfully completed her first duathlon – the Boxhill ballbuster – on Saturday 6th March.
The event comprised an 8 mile run-24 mile bike-8 mile run, climbing Boxhill a total of five times – twice on foot and three times on the bike. She completed the course in 3.49.11 and was 134th overall out of 192 participants.
The event provided good experience and a confidence boost as she prepares for her first triathlon on Sunday 6th June – the Weymouth middle distance triathlon. This event comprises a 1900m sea swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run and Dr. Whiting is looking forward to trying out her new wet suit in the waters of Weymouth over the Easter holiday.
Mr. Moran (aka ‘Iron Man Moran’ or ‘coach’) is a veteran of this event having completed it twice in 2005 and 2006 and is himself preparing for his third triathlon of iron man proportions – the Forest Man, taking place in the New Forest on Sunday 27th June. He will be pushing his body to the limits of physical endurance as he endeavours to complete a 3.8 km swim-112 mile bike-26.1 mile run back to back.
Training 6 days a week, 5 am starts and large scale carbohydrate consumption has commenced and if you would like to know more about their training and preparation, please ask. Furthermore, if you would to like show your support of their efforts in making a donation to the purchase of new equipment for the sports hall, all contributions would be gratefully accepted.
Mr Williams recently completed a very successful stint performing as Mark Anthony in a production of Anthony and Cleopatra, laid on by the Richmond Shakespeare Society. The calibre of acting was extremely high and Mr. Williams gave a stand out performance, with real chemistry evident between himself and Cleopatra. He is applauded for taking on such a demanding lead part on top of his work here at Wallington as Head of Drama.
Congratulations to Miss Coe who successfully auditioned to win a role in a musical spoof of Moby Dick. She will be playing the role of Ishmael in a production by the Mitre players and performances will be held in both Croydon and Cornwall in July. We wish her good luck with all her preparations.
Calling all students – we would like to hear of your achievements outside of school so that they can be collectively recognised in the ‘new look’ online WCGS news letter. We know for many of you, your talents and achievements extend beyond the class room and extra curricular activities, so keep us informed. Please pass on information to your form tutor, Head of Year, KS Coordinator or Dr. Whiting.
Science Week 15 - 19 March
For science week we decided to blast off into space by setting our theme as the Apollo Programme; the answer to President Kennedy’s challenge to land a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. The 8 years from the start of this programme until Apollo 11 first touched down on the lunar surface saw the largest commitment of resources ever made by any nation in peacetime with over 400,000 people employed on the project at its peak. In the build up to science week there was similarly a high level of industry on the part of the Sixth Form Science Committee who put a lot of effort into making the week a success.
Science week started off with an assembly with a Star Wars feel to it as the science committee staged a tongue in cheek performance parodying a normal assembly before moving on to a presentation of facts on the Apollo Missions. This kick started a week during which most of the departments in the school ran Apollo related lessons including Drama’s re-enactment of the near disastrous Apollo 13 mission, Geography’s investigating into satellites and Biology’s investigation into life on mars to name but a few.
Over and above this Dr. Chris Riley (who directed and produced Tomorrow’s World) visited the school to speak to our Y10’s about the Apollo Missions, a team visited the Phoenix Centre for a STEM challenge and a 12 member 6th Form team put forward a project to win a place at NASA.
Lastly teams worked all week on producing rockets for a competition to mark the end of science week. It looked like our intrepid Y7 Team Apollo was going to beat all comers until sixth form regained their reputation when Team Rocket’s red liquid powered missile blasted all the way across the rugby park taking out both the course record and Team Apollo’s hopes of a youthful victory.
All in all a great week and many thanks to those involved in helping out to ensure that it was a great success.
Mr J. Hutchinson
Times Spelling Bee
On Thursday 18th March, Azhar Haris, Marcus Hickman, Ciaran De Silva and I, accompanied by Miss Coe, went to compete in this year’s Times Spelling Bee. After weeks of rigorous training and revision, it all came down to this one event. We were competing against Stanley Park School, Wilson’s, Sutton Grammar, Overton Grange and Wimbledon College. We journeyed to Cineworld in Feltham, and soon after, the competition was under way.
It was split into two sections; Spelling Play-Off and a Speed Challenge. The first round was elimination, and it was a closely fought battle for a long while. There were some difficult words, such as ‘leviathan’. Eventually, only one Wallington player remained along with a Sutton Grammar speller for the ‘last man standing’ title. Narrowly, Sutton Grammar managed to snatch the win.
Next, the speed challenge. We had two minutes to spell as many words as we could. Each word we spelled correctly was two points. We were selected to go first at random, and we set the bar high with thirty-two points. However, Sutton Grammar and Wilson’s displayed their spelling talent and managed to tie at the end with a final score of sixty. There was electricity in the air when a tie break was called. Sutton Grammar misspelled their word, ‘megalomaniac’ while Wilson’s School finished with a spectacular display of spelling ability and managed to win the heat.
Wallington County Grammar School finished in third place, and although we didn’t win, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Aaron Akpojaro 7MA
Don't forget to look at the Spring Term's English Department Showcase on the MLE!