This magazine takes a look back on the first half of the Spring term here at Waldegrave, covering all aspects of Waldegrave life from around the school to trips and visits and student achievements.
SPRING TERM FIRST EDITION MAGAZINE 2023
In this issue...
28 SPORTS We take an overview of the numerous successes that have been achieved so far this term in team and individual sports including cross country, rugby, volleyball and basketball. 33 TRIPS AND VISITS Students have enriched their curriculum by attending a variety of conferences and field trips.
03 WELCOME A warm welcome from our Headteacher Ms Tongue. 04 HIGHLIGHTS GCHQ Cyberfirst Finals, Maths challenges, Rotary Chef competition and much more.
08 AROUND SCHOOL
It has been a busy half term here at Waldegrave as our students get involved in numerous fun and creative activities. 19 DROP DOWN DAY Students participated in the first ‘Drop Down Day’ of the academic year, spending the day off timetable completing a variety of workshops and activities within their year groups. 25 PERFORMING ARTS From putting on shows to watching live productions, our Performing Arts students have been keeping busy this half term.
38 EXTERNAL ACHIEVEMENTS We reflect on our students’ successes outside of their curriculum this term.
40 PTA EVENTS Our PTA hosts their first quiz night of the year and explains what you could do to help make a difference.
HEADTEACHER’S WELCOME MESSAGE
Welcome to the Spring Term edition of our school magazine. Although it was a short half term you will see that it was very busy. Life at Waldegrave is underpinned by our three values: Enjoy, Achieve, Empower. This edition really celebrates the third, empower. In addition to ensuring our curriculum develops students’ knowledge and understanding so that students achieve well in school, we are also always trying to empower our students for their future lives. This term our students have been involved in a variety of enrichment and extracurricular activities to inspire and prepare them for their future careers. Our students have taken part in a variety of competitions including public speaking, computer coding, creative cookery, mathematical challenges and languages. These not only help to further develop knowledge and subject skills, but also develops students’ confidence and nurtures their individual talents and passions. We have also welcomed many inspirational speakers into school to give all our students, from Y7-13, an insight into different career opportunities and the varied routes into these. It is always a pleasure to hear students talk with such excitement about their own futures after these presentations.
- Ms Tongue
Following their success at the Cyberfirst competition last term, Mrs Green and our two qualifying Year 8 Computing students, Alexa M and Coco B (8SPI), ventured off to the Deloitte offices in London ready to compete in the GCHQ CyberFirst Final. CYBERFIRST GIRLS COMPETITION
They tackled the day with lots of enthusiasm and managed to finish in Sixth place. It was a fantastic achievement for them to qualify as a duo in the first place and we are so proud of them beating a number of other teams of four players. After inspirational talks by leading women from GCHQ and Deloitte, they followed up with four hours of competition gameplay where they had to solve a variety of digital and physical problems and challenges. Coco and Alexa were up against 12 other teams who had all qualified as teams of four so were faced with the challenge of having to do twice the work as they had qualified as a team of two.
The competition was won by Tiffin but Coco and Alexa were an absolute credit to the school and should be very proud of themselves for their accomplishment!
UKMT MATHS CHALLENGE
BRILLIANT CLUB UNIVERSITY TRIP
Earlier in the term, 123 students across Years 9 and 10 came together in the hall to compete in the UK Maths Trust Intermediate Maths Challenge.
Eleven of our Year 9 students visited Brasenose College, Oxford University as part of the Scholars Programme / Brilliant Club initiative. This initiative aims to inspire some of our students into possible routes after leaving Waldegrave School, encouraging them to think big and be aspirational. The group had a tour around campus, getting an insight into the life of a University student, visiting lecture rooms and student accommodation. The students asked plenty of questions and we hope they have been inspired.
Our top set students were put to the test as they tackled brain teaser questions, encouraging mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using basic mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems.
ROTARY YOUNG CHEF COMPETITION
Following on from the local heats of the Rotary Young Chef competition back in October, the time finally came for our qualifiers Nicole B and Sabaa Q to participate in the District round. All contestants were challenged to prepare and present a three-course meal within a pre-set budget and time limit, which was then judged by an expert panel. Our Waldegrave representatives did an amazing job, producing beautifully displayed meals within the time frame. We are pleased to announce that Sabaa finished in Second place, securing herself a spot in the regionals - best of luck! This experience has enabled Sabaa and Nicole to help develop their cookery and presentation skills as well as understanding food hygiene issues which can then be put to practise in their Food GCSE practical. “Despite not getting through to the Regionals, I found this competition a valuable experience as it was a great opportunity to gain feedback from very well respected judges with years of professional experience. I really enjoyed my time participating in the Rotary Young Chef competition. I am very proud of all the dishes I produced for the judges in both the Local heats and District Level, they all came out as planned and on time.” - Nicole B 11FSW
“The Rotary Cooking competition was an exhilarating, thrilling event, giving me insight into the world of cooking on a personal level. Working under pressure helped me understand my response to such situations. The incredible opportunity to be judged by renowned judges made this competition one of a kind and extremely exciting! I was very lucky to be placed 2nd, and given the opportunity to move to the regional round which I am sure is going to bring a greater, more amazing experience!” - Sabaa Q 11EGH
At the end of January, five Year 10 students competed in the final of the Jack Petchey "Speak Out" competition. Beth R, Anya H, Ajax L-S, Floss G and Anesu C one by one delivered engaging, entertaining and impassioned speeches in front of the whole of Year 9 and judges, including Ms Tongue. Undaunted by the challenge, they spoke with clarity, engaging the audience with rhetorical devices and anecdotes from their personal experiences: highly impressive!
After a difficult decision-making process, as all speakers were brilliant, we're delighted that Anesu and Ajax will go forward to represent Waldegrave at the regional final in March.
“When I was preparing my speech, I felt very nervous and shaky, but once I had done my speech I was proud of the fact that I had spoken about something so important and personal. If the Year 9s are to take anything from my speech I hope it's that there is a lot to learn about epilepsy and that it should be more known to the public.” ~ Anya H “It was definitely a different experience to what I’m used to and I felt nervous on the day. After performing the speech it felt much better. My speech was about guilty pleasures and I hope the Year 9s took away that it’s ok to eat what you want and that no one has the right to judge you for your eating choices.” ~ Anesu C
ART & PHOTOGRPAHY DAY FASHION, YEAR 13 Since returning to school it’s been non-stop for our Year 13 A Level students taking creative subjects who have been working on their coursework, worth 60% of their final mark. It’s a culmination of hours of hard work and the results are always outstanding. Our Fashion students spent two days off timetable focusing on sewing, crafting and decorating their final fashion pieces as part of their coursework. Our Art and Photography students also spent two consecutive days off timetable later in January to work on finalising their coursework pieces.
CHINESE NEW YEAR THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit! To welcome in the Chinese New Year, Miss French organised a special activity for our Art club students to get involved in. They were tasked with creating rabbit designs on coloured paper as they embraced the art of paper cutting.
Our Art club members were keen to get stuck in with this activity, and the results are incredible! Their wonderful designs will be on display in the art department, so keep your eyes peeled if you are passing by the Art corridor!
DID YOU KNOW? According to Chinese tradition, the year you were born determines your characteristics!
TITLE
Home Fire
Kamila Shamsie
AUTHOR
288
PAGES
Fiction
GENRE
Over the last few weeks our Year 11 book club members have spent their Thursday lunchtimes coming together with Mrs Nowicki to dive into their weekly read of our most current book Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie.
It is always a joy seeing the many faces of our students attending each week, eager to unravel more of the enticing story as we continue reading before discussing our thoughts on the Novel.
On the next page you will find some of our students’ messages they have written about their experience of joining the Book Club, outlining why they decided to join and what they enjoy most. We hope that reading their comments will inspire other students to start reading more actively, whether that be as part of a Book Club or independently.
“What made me join the book club originally was the potential it held. While I used to absolutely adore reading, since lockdown I’d started to really struggle both to enjoy, and even just finish, books. Book club offered reading recommendations, companionship in the reading process, and the opportunity to express my ideas. I’ve always loved analysing and discussing books in English lessons, so book club seemed like the perfect way to extend this. And it was. I have loved being in this club, so much so that it is part of the reason I’m now planning to do English Literature A Level.” ~ Coro B 11 PMU
“I like that in the book club we can have open discussions about how we felt about the book and listen to other people’s perspectives. It made me enjoy reading the book more because I felt I could see the characters differently each time and it really helped me read to a certain level of depth that I couldn’t read on my own. It was nice to also be around and talk to people that were as invested in the book as you were and the discussions were relaxed but also very interesting and definitely a highlight of my week!” ~Sara F L-J 11 EGH
“Reading in the book club allows me to talk about and debate the book with other people who are reading it, so I can grasp different layers and parts I may have missed, allowing me to enjoy it more. From the book club, I have also developed the skill of analysing a book from different perspectives. Our book, ‘Home Fire’ was very good and I enjoyed how at every point the author managed to keep you on your toes, never quite knowing what was going to happen. I also enjoyed how it was never obvious who the main character was. Overall my favourite thing about book club is being able to engage with others who enjoy reading just as much as me.” ~Emma H 11 PTR
DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION
Our first DT exhibition since the pandemic and it didn’t disappoint! This exhibition was an opportunity for parents/carers and friends of all our Year 11 DT students to come together to celebrate the fantastic final products they have all created as part of their non-exam assessment, which is worth 50% of their GCSE. Both the prototypes and design portfolios of our Year 11 students using a wide range of materials and technology were on display. Our students produced outstanding pieces of work, from fashion pieces to pop up books and activity packs to wooden benches. We are so glad so many of you could join us at the exhibition, and we hope you are all just as proud as we are of the students!
GRAPHICS
TEXTILES
PRODUCT DESIGN
YEAR 11 GCSE FOOD PREPARATION NON-EXAM ASSESSMENT
Back in January our Year 11 Food and Nutrition GCSE students completed their Non Examined Assessment practicals, which accounts for 50% of their final grade. The GCSE course is divided into three elements: Food Investigation (15%); Food Preparation (35%) and a written exam (50%). Our aspiring young chefs and bakers spent hours in the Food Tech room as they prepared, baked, cooked and presented their final dishes ready for a taste test and evaluation from their peers and Ms Ahmed. There were a variety of delicious meals cooked up by our students, from pizzas and quiches to cheesecakes and swiss rolls. All of our Year 11s did a fantastic job under pressure and should be very proud of themselves for all the hard work they have put in!
What made you want to take Food and Nutrition as a GCSE? “I have always enjoyed cooking and baking, so the practical element of cooking dishes we choose was very inviting. Food Science, experimenting ratios and learning what gets a cake to bake has always piqued my interest. Since Food and Nutrition GCSE seamlessly combines those elements I knew this was the right subject for me.”
What inspired you during your time completing the course? “Baking and cooking on social media as well as my natural fascination with cooking inspired me to pick a myriad of different dishes to make for this task.”
Did you face any challenges along the way and how did you overcome them? “Timing was one of the challenges I needed to tackle during my NEA. To face this challenge, I had to get to school early and create my initial dough then, allowing it to proof in the fridge during the school day.”
What made you proud of your achievement and would you do anything differently next time? “The flavour of my dish as well as stretching myself with different skills, like rough puff pastry was rewarding especially when you see a golden pastry with small flakes! If I were to do anything differently I may try to use more interesting flavours and fillings for some of my dishes.”
Sixth Form Lectures
Over this half term we have held a variety of Lecture-style talks after school for our Sixth Formers. From Engineering and History to Consultancy, we’ve been lucky enough to welcome multiple professors and experts into Waldegrave for these talks.
Dr Stella Moss from Royal Holloway spoke to KS5 students about ‘You Are What You Eat (and Drink): Food Cultures and Identity in Modern British History’. In Stella’s lecture, she explored the history of food and drink and how it can tell us a great deal about a society, including in the past. The talk delved into the history of food cultures in modern Britain exploring themes of social class, race, gender and national identity, taking in world wars as well as waves of immigration to Britain.
Our A Level STEM students were delighted to welcome Barrie Weaver into school for an insightful talk on the importance of engineering in everyday life. This not only showed the diversity of engineering as a career but highlighted the creativity and ingenuity of the profession.
We were also happy to welcome Dr Claire Hamlin from Q5 to our Sixth Form in the last week of half term. Claire is the Director of Purpose and Social Impact with a particular emphasis on sustainability transformation, future workforce, diversity and inclusion and social value. She gave our Sixth Formers an introduction to Consultancy, explaining the role of a consultant: someone who provides professional advice in a particular field of science or business to either an organisation or an individual. This was a great opportunity to learn about a very sought-after profession!
The morning of Y7 Drop Down Day had a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) focus in order to empower our students to foster an interest in engineering, inventing and entrepreneurship in the future. We were very lucky to hear from guest speakers from a variety of backgrounds and several organisations with careers including corrosive material engineers, those working on safety features of oil rigs, those working for the National Grid, for Amazon and the inventor of the mouldable glue ‘Sugru’ amongst others. Challenging stereotypes, the vast majority of those speaking on the day were female and provided excellent role models to our students to show the array of potential careers available to them in the future. The students also completed related activities: in the morning they told the story of an invention using their chromebooks and a web-based animation tool, and then worked in teams to build structures out of spaghetti in the marshmallow challenge. In the afternoon the students took part in an excellent and inspiring presentation from the organisation 'Find Your Brave'.
On Drop Down Day, Year 8 created campaigns and presentations as they focused on Democracy for the day. Their day started with a question time activity. The panel included Munira Wilson, our local MP, Lorain Monk, a local political leader, Matt Houlihan who has worked with the government as a strategist, Barry Neville, a lobbyist and Jim Pickard, chief political analyst at the Financial Times. The students really enjoyed listening to all the speakers and had the opportunity to ask them questions directly. In the second session students were then split into small groups where they were tasked with creating their own campaign for implementing a new policy for schools. Everyone came up with fantastic ideas, from tackling racism within school to ‘should mufti days become more frequent?’. After lunch, students pitched their ideas to their tutor group and nominated one team to present to the whole year group in the sports hall. This allowed the students to develop their team working and public speaking skills, preparing them well for their own future careers. The day was very informative and fun for all, and we are so proud of how well everyone worked together!
Year 9 spent their Drop Down Day gaining insight into the many choices of GCSE options they can pick from. The year group were split up into small groups and worked their way around the classrooms, attending different subject talks presented by each department to broaden their understanding of what it will be like to take the subject as a GCSE. We hope this was benefi- cial to all and that it has helped students get a better idea of which subjects they wish to study next year. Year 9 also took part in a careers speed networking event. Speakers included Architects, Paramedics, Barristers, Apprenticeship Providers and more. Students had the opportunity to listen to our speakers explain their career paths and what their work involves. Our students were keen to learn more about their careers and how they can get to that position in the future themselves.
On Drop Down Day, Year 10 were given the chance to hear from multiple external speakers as well as participating in a workshop on resilience and managing studies. Throughout the day the year group worked in rotation through the three different activities organised.
Students got involved in a discussion about standing up to racism in a workshop led by the Show Racism The Red Card organisation. They also listened to a presentation on a sensitive topic about drug use, with an external speaker from the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation to raise awareness of the dangers and risks involved with taking illegal substances.
Drop Down Day for our Year 11s focused on enhancing their understanding of the Personal Development and Citizenship curriculum.
Teachers held sessions with small groups on a range of topics including well being, sexual health, pornography and cancel culture. These were tough topics which the students tackled with great maturity and sensitivity. The students also heard from Neil Clark from Mental Health UK who delivered a Bloom workshop to our students to help them manage their studies and exam stress. The workshop equips young people with the tools and knowledge to maintain their mental health through life’s transitions, both now and in the future. Students found the tips and advice invaluable as they approach their exams and transition into Post 16 education.
Year 12 spent their Drop Down Day participating in a workshop on consent. Facilitated by the School Consent Project, these workshops aim to empower our students to understand what consent looks like, how to give, seek, withdraw and withhold it, how the law works, and how to have honest conversations with sexual partners and other people in their lives. This workshop covered sensitive subjects and students are reminded that, should they need to, members of staff are always available to speak to them. Students also heard from Caitlin Limmer, a motivational speaker, who spoke to students about her personal story that led her to setting up Bearcat Runners, becoming an ambassador for Lululemon and the Running Mayor of West London amongst other achievements. Her talk centred around resilience, confidence, finding your passion, hard work, honesty and being non-judgmental.
MATILDA AT THE CAMBRIDGE THEATRE Year 11 Drama GCSE students were taken on a trip to central London for an evening performance of Matilda in the West End.
“The musical was fantastic and everybody thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We will be using this production to analyse and evaluate in Drama lessons, getting ready for our written exam in the summer. We were also interested to learn that a former student of Waldegrave was working backstage on ‘Automations’. We are looking forward to a talk with Hannah in the coming months about her career.”
~Freya, Performing Arts Prefect
NOUGHTS AND CROSSES AT THE ROSE THEATRE Year 8 students were taken on a trip to visit The Rose Theatre in Kingston to watch the production of Noughts and Crosses. Ava S, Isla R, Meg C, Flo S and Darcey O, all from 8EJO, collectively commented on their thoughts of the experience:
“We liked the way the play was so true to the book. They used a range of drama strategies such as direct address, thoughts aloud and crosscutting. It was inspirational as they were serious about standing up for their rights.”
image source: grunincenter.org
It certainly was technicolour for our students who took to the stage in collaboration with Hampton Boys to perform Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat!
The production, arranged by The Really Useful Group Ltd, was a fantastic opportunity for our young actors to apper at the Hammond Theatre in full costume, with lighting, scenery and sound effects to put on not one, not two but three nights of incredible shows.
We are grateful to Hampton School for this amazing opportunity given to our talented young actors bringing this magical musical to life!
image source: @_Hampton_Drama on Twitter
A huge well done to our Year 9 Netball team for competing in the long awaited final vs Christ’s! Everyone played brilliantly against some tough opposition. There were some excellent long passes from Anya S, who went on to be nominated player of the match. We also saw some great defending from Natasha and Orla, keeping the opposition’s chances to a minimum. In attack Yasmin, Greta, Alice and Aggie worked hard to overcome a very strong defence. Everyone should be really proud of how they played in the final and despite the loss they still finished 2nd overall in the borough, beating over 10 other teams in the competition along the way. An amazing achievement! Congratulations to our Sixth Form Netballers for winning their match against Orleans, with a final score of 14-9! The squad really pulled together and kept their level of netball high, as they worked impressively well together as a team. Their hard work and great shooting paid off well, as they managed to secure the lead and maintain it through until the end.
Year 9 Netball Squad
Sixth Form Netball Squad
It has been an impeccable half term of matches for our Year 7 Basketballers! They have had three fixtures since returning to school for the Spring term and they have performed fantastically, winning all their matches. They won their first league match of the year convincingly against Teddington school with a score of 27-0. The team started the first quarter getting used to playing together taking a 5-0 lead. In the second quarter they extended the lead to 13-0 at half time. The points continued in the second half with Olivia D, Keira E and Lily F all scoring a number of baskets. By the 4th quarter the team were determined to not concede any points and showed some excellent defensive play leading to the final score of 27-0. The hard work didn’t stop there as they took on Twickenham next and yet again played very well, dominating the game. Our team worked well together, only conceding 2 points and finishing the game on a win of 34-2. Our Year 7 Basketball team went on to win their final league game against Hampton High 28-6. This result means that they finished in 1st place in the league, a massive well done to all!
Year 7 Basketball team (Hampton High match)
It has been another busy half term for our Sixth Form Basketball team as the season continues. They played in three games across January and February, taking on The Kingston Academy in a friendly as well as playing in league matches against Teddington school and Orleans Park school. Our Basketballers have played exceptionally well in some tough games. They were off to a great start in their friendly against TKA, despite pulling away they made up for it with some great comebacks but unfortunately just missed out on taking the win as the game ended on 48-42 to The Kingston Academy. There wasn’t much rest for the team as they were back on the court ready to take on Teddington in their first league match of the Spring term. It was a tough and close game and everyone played brilliantly. Unfortunately, we were unable to take the lead as Teddington won the match with 53 points to 30. With one more game to tackle before half term, it was time for the boys to get back out on the court and play against Orleans Park. The team played with commitment, passion and fought to the very end, and what a game it was! Their hard work and determination paid off as they took the win, finishing on 51-38. There has been such great effort from our team thus far, well done!
Sixth Form Basketball vs Orleans Park
Our Year 8 Volleyball team took part in the Richmond School’s tournament at Orleans Park. Sadly only one other school was able to field a team for this event but that meant good news for Waldegrave as this sent us straight through to the final! Our team faced Turing House in a 3 set match. This was the first match the team had played and they performed really well losing by 2 games to 1: 21-16, 21-19 and 17-21 respectively. Well done to all in- volved Freya B, Yuna C, Sara C, Siyana C, Serab G, Talia H and Matilda T. Everyone played so well, finishing in 2nd place! Our Year 10 Volleyball team also took part in the Richmond School’s tournament at Orleans Park. They faced two strong teams, Turing House and Orleans Park. The teams first match was against Turing House which was a best of 3 sets. It was a very close first set which Waldegrave won by a score of 15-13. In the second set the team took the lead early on and won convincingly by 15 points to 13. That left us facing Orleans in the final! In both games the lead switched between the two teams but unfortunately we weren’t able to come out as winners with the final score 15 -12 and 15 - 13. Well done to all involved Farrah H, Aggie H, Kirsten H, Defne I, Evie K, Florence N, Rosie P, Erica P and Lois S. Another great success, finishing in 2nd place!
Year 8 Volleyball Team
Year 10 Volleyball Team
We would like to congratulate a number of students across Year 7 to Year 13 who represented Waldegrave at the Borough Cross Country Championships hosted at Harrow school. Richmond borough had an extremely successful day, winning every single age group once again! Well done to our Junior representatives: Jasmine G and Mabel M, who finished in 8th and 12th; our Intermediate representatives Thea W-L and Molly A, who finished in 11th and 15th; and our Senior girl representative Lilly O who finished in 2nd place!
Our Year 7/8 Football team participated in a well fought match against Grey Court. It was a tough match but nevertheless our girls played to their usual amazing standard and when conceding goals did not give up the battle. Unfortunately, Grey Court showed great dominance as they managed to score four goals whilst only conceding one of ours, finishing on a loss to us at 4-1.
Our U16 Rugby team showed great determination and teamwork throughout their match against RTS. Although the scoreline did not go in our favour, the team were consistently working hard together. Player of the match was awarded to Poppy V-W, for her relentless tackling and carries throughout the game. Our U14 Rugby squad took part in an Invitational Rugby 7s tournament at Orleans Park School. It was the first time that the team had played 7s rugby and they acquitted themselves really well, especially as they were playing against students a year older than them. They played against Latymer, winning by 5 tries to 4; Orleans, losing 5 tries to 1; RTS drawing 5 all and finally against StRichard Reynolds, losing 8-5. This meant the team finished Fourth place overall.
Surrey Scorchers
vs London Lions
Mrs Gonzalez, Mr Bannister and Mr James took a group of keen Sixth Form Basketball fans on an incredible trip to a live game of Basketball. The students and teachers watched the Surrey Scorchers take on the London Lions in this Brit- ish Basketball Championship match.
The aim was to inspire our Basketball players with their own games as well as to enjoy the electric atmosphere of the Surrey Sports Park. It was a brilliant game to watch with the London Lions coming out victorious winning 88 - 67!
Media Studies A Level students were invited to a conference hosted by Media Magazine at the BFI, with talks about media ownership, directing and film, and the cultural industries. Special guests included ‘The Inbetweeners’ star Simon Bird who spoke about the film industry and his fascinating journey to becoming a star; Maitrayee Basu who spoke about Afrofuturism, activism and the music video ‘Turntables’, and key theorist and lecturer David Hesmondhalgh who spoke about culture, digitalisation in the media and conglomerates use of media. “The conference presented students with new opportunities, deeper understanding of the industry and humorous messages from each speaker, making the event a great success.” ~ Emily M
Year 12 French students also enjoyed a day at the BFI learning about the New Wave movement in French Cinema. Students immersed themselves in French during the interactive seminar. It was followed by a screening of La Haine, which they are studying as part of the French A Level course.
O T H E L L O
A Level Drama and English students were lucky enough to visit the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith to see Frantic Assembly’s unique interpretation of Shakespeare’s Othello. We all thoroughly enjoyed this energetic production directed by Scott Graham of Frantic Assembly. This experience will really help when we come to analyse and evaluate the production for our written exam. “The company had chosen to set the play in a modern pub setting and throwback nineties outfits and depicted the play's original themes whilst exploring classist issues in urbanised areas. I think it’s fair to say we all had mixed reactions to the altered ending due to its morbidly modern twist and the feminist messages shown through the unexpected support Bianca shows towards Emilia. The use of music, lighting and props were well chosen and all added to depicting the themes of Shakespeare’s tragedy and with the combination of comedic undertones and addressing serious and topical issues, the company managed to revive the classic play and successfully engage a modern audience. The trip was incredibly helpful for aiding the students’ revision and it was really interesting to see the play performed as we had all just finished reading the play, so overall, was a great time!” ~Leah A , A Level English student
JUNIPER HALL 13 GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP
YEAR
Our Geography department took 37 Year 13 Geographers to Juniper Hall in Dorking on a four day residential as part of their assessment component of their A Level. This was the first residential trip since lockdown and students are to be commended for their super attitudes across the week, where resilience was tested on many days where we were working outside in some challenging conditions.
On arrival pupils were thrust straight into the data collection and began measuring infiltration rates in different locations of the field centre. This involved some manual labour in hammering in pipes into well frozen ground at times! In addition, they were then able to use the mini floodplain units outside to test what conditions led to the highest rates of surface runoff. Returning to the classroom after dinner, pupils drew conclusions from their findings that evening, and were able to critically evaluate the methods used outdoors that day. On Wednesday, we used similar techniques to further investigate the impact of prolonged rainfall in the Surrey Hills. We were lucky to catch a lovely sunny part of the day atop Lodge Hill to do some field sketches of our sample sites. Further analysis followed after dinner, and pupils closed their books on the Physical Geography aspect to the trip.
After another hearty breakfast on Thursday we headed into Dorking to begin the Human Geography data collection. Pupils were briefed on what to investigate in their groups along the High Street 1km long transect. This included an analysis of climatic variables, land use and building height distribution. A return to the classroom after dinner allowed us to evaluate the methods used off site, and begin to plot our findings on GIS software.
Our final morning in the classroom allowed pupils to start to think about our own coursework titles, and what data collection techniques used during the stay might be of use to them. Pupils are to be commended for their super attitudes across the week, where resilience was tested on many days where we were working outside in some challenging conditions.
Well done to Pia H in 8STH for an amazing performance at the Luton Swimming Gala, winning four medals in the four races in her age category. She took home two gold medals in the 50m and 100m breaststroke as well as two silver medals in the 200m breaststroke and 50m butterfly!
Congratulations to Lois in 8PFO who travelled to Scotland for her gymnastic competition. Her team came 7th out of their group, a real achievement.
Well done to Elise B in 8STH. Elise was awarded the Junior Girls’ Cup for winning the junior sailing series at Hampton Sailing club this year and the Junior Trophy for her involvement in the club and progress sailing this year.
Well done to Amy M in 9FHE for passing her Grade 3 Piano exam with merit over Christmas. Many congratulations to Elodie S who achieved a Distinction in her Grade 6 Piano exam, and during one of her pieces she gained full marks, well done indeed.
Congratulations to Mari in 9SHO who was promoted to 1st violin at Richmond Youth Training Orchestra from last Autumn term. Well done to Lucy R in 10PGC for achieving a Distinction in her Grade 6 Flute exam! Congratulations to Ella F in 11FSW for achieving a Merit in her Grade 6 Cornet exam!
Congratulations to Scarlett M in 9EAH who has been offered the lead role in the London Children’s Ballet production of Snow White. Good Luck with this performance which will be taking place during the Easter break, we look forward to hearing how well it goes!
Congratulations to Megan C in 13NSI who was selected from hundreds of applicants across the UK to take a place on the British Film Institute week-long residential Film Academy for Animation and Special Effects during February half term. This is a high-level national talent development project for 16-19 year olds partnering with leading industry specialists to develop their skills and industry experience. You can watch the animation she created with her peers via this link.
HOSTED BY WALDEGRAVE PTA
MAKING A DIFFERENCE Waldegrave PTA has two main ambitions: to bring us together as parents so we can help each other navigate school, exams, teenage years & emotions, and to raise funds for the school. We do this by arranging what we hope are fun and cheap events for adults and families, such as our recent Bingo & Quiz nights. Nataliya Zadora has been our Treasurer for the past five years but has since stood down from this role. We are still seeking for someone to fulfil this vital role, so if you are interested in playing a part in supporting the school and are good with Excel and can spare a few hours each month then please do not hesitate to contact us for more information! Rachel Williamson has been our Secretary for the past 5 years and she will stand down at the AGM in March. Again, we still have an open spot for this role. If this sounds of interest and you are good at Word, and listening in meetings then this could be the job for you! On behalf of the whole school community, I’d like to thank Nataliya and Rachel for their support, commitment and engagement over the past years. They have given such time and energy and made a difference to the school and its students, and we will greatly miss them. If you could support the PTA in either of these roles, or in any other way such as running an fundraiser of some sort with your friends, donating a service or gift from your business or company, volunteering at one of the events or uniform sales, writing these newsletters, designing posters, whatever it might be, then please get in touch at pta@waldegravesch.org. Thank you again to all our volunteers over the past year. We have raised money and had some smashing nights at the same time. You are a fabulous bunch of people, and I’ve really enjoyed the craic we have at our events and really appreciate your great ideas, energy & encouragement. The PTA Annual General Meeting will take place on 8 March at 7.30pm in the school. Everyone is welcome. Friday 24 March THE JAM FACTORY returns to rock the school and raise the roof! They are a great live band, guaranteed to fill the dancefloor - you can find them on Instagram (@thejamfactoryband) & Facebook. Keep the date free and we’ll tell you more nearer the time.
ENJOY, ACHIEVE, EMPOWER.
Waldegrave School, Fifth Cross Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW2 5LS
020 8894 3244
www.waldegrave.richmond.sch.uk
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