This magazine takes a look back over the Spring term here at Waldegrave, covering all aspects of Waldegrave life from around the school to trips and visits and our community fundraisers.
SPRING TERM SECOND EDITION MAGAZINE 2023
In this issue...
25 CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES
03 WELCOME A warm welcome message from our Headteacher Ms Tongue. 04 HIGHLIGHTS Jack Petchey awards and events, annual Easter celebrations and much more. 09 COMMUNITY Our school community is always looking at ways they can show their support to the local community. 13 EXTERNAL ACHIEVEMENTS We reflect on our students’ successes outside of their curriculum this term. 16 AROUND SCHOOL Outside of lessons students have loved getting involved in various workshops.
It has been a very busy term for our MFL department as students visit Berlin. Our Science department has also been busy celebrating British Science Week. 33 PERFORMING ARTS An overview of what our Music and Drama department have been up to this term. 37 SPORTS A look back on our sports teams’ successes, covering Netball, Football and Rugby. 41 TRIPS AND VISITS Students have enriched their curriculum by attending a variety of events including Maths, Art and Geography.
HEADTEACHER’S WELCOME MESSAGE
Welcome to the second Spring Edition of the Waldegrave Magazine. I hope that you enjoy reading about some of the varied activities our students had the opportunity to take part in recently. You can even enjoy listening to our choir performing at the end of last term and learn about stage fighting in the embedded video clips. We know that at this age our students are discovering new passions so it is wonderful to be able to celebrate the achievements of our students both in school and outside of school. Students from Year 7 to 13 have taken part in many competitions, ranging from the A Level Chemistry Olympiad to the Year 7 and 8 Easter Bonnet Parade, one of my personal favourites! On a daily basis I am impressed by the creativity of our students and seeing the wonderful ideas and collaboration demonstrated by the Year 8 students when designing their entries for the City of Tomorrow competition makes me confident that our future is in safe hands. Our students' passions also extend to causes that matter to them. It was wonderful to see our community come together in response to the earthquake in Turkey and Syria last term and then again for Red Nose Day. So far this year we have raised nearly £6000 pounds for charities and our Year 7 are currently fundraising for Lepra. Finally, I am delighted that we had our first overseas trip for a number of years, with our A Level language students enjoying a trip to Berlin. As we head into the summer term, we look forward to more trips both overseas and more locally.
~ Ms Tongue .
WINNERS JACK PETCHEY AWARD
We celebrate a select group of students being awarded the Jack Petchey Achievement award. The Jack Petchey Foundation was set up by Sir Jack Petchey, to inspire and celebrate young people aged 11-25 across London and Essex. Sir Jack Petchey states that “the Achievement Awards are primarily about recognising those who put in the effort and do their best”. These awards are not just for academic achievements - they may be used to recognise a personal triumph for someone who has faced a challenge, a young person who has pushed themselves out of their comfort zone or perhaps an opportunity to recognise the outstanding efforts of a team player. Waldegrave proudly awarded Eleanor S (Year 7), Milly M (Year 10), Lydia L (Year 10), Zaina R (Year 11), Sasha N (Year 12) and Lauren P (Year 13) with the Jack Petchey Achievement Award at the end of Spring term. Each year our school Community is able to nominate students to win the Jack Petchey Achievement Award. Those who are selected receive a certificate, pin badge and a book from Sir Jack himself as well as having the chance to choose how to spend a £300 grant to benefit their school. On top of this, all award winners are invited to attend a ceremony to be presented with a medallion in front of their friends and families.
We were so proud of our two students who represented Waldegrave School at the Regional Final of the Jack Petchey “Speak Out” Challenge: a brilliant opportunity for everyone in the community and across the borough to come together to celebrate and build a platform for young voices.
Hosted at Orleans Park School, Anesu C and Ajax LS in Year 10 spoke with maturity, confidence and energy in front of the crowd of teachers, parents, friends and supporters. Anesu’s speech about guilty pleasures - a witty critique of diet culture - was the perfect opener for the audience, engaging the crowd. Munira Wilson, MP for Twickenham, praised the way Ajax shared their personal experience of ADHD in their speech, saying that even experienced speakers such as herself still find this challenging, yet it is hugely powerful and important.
Congratulations to all of the brilliant speakers of the evening and a special mention to Year 11 student, Emily B, who was on the judging panel, as she was the Regional Final Runner Up at last year’s event.
PARADE EASTER BONNET
A true Waldegrave tradition, the last day of term started with a favourite annual event: the Easter Bonnet Parade. This is a much loved part of Waldegrave and the students never cease to amaze us with their creativity in design of their bonnets and their enthusiasm in their spirited rendition of Irving Berlin’s ‘Easter Parade’ which could be heard around the whole school. We were pleased to see so many entries from our Year 7 and 8 students. It was a tough decision to pick winners for the individual and group prizes as everyone who entered created spectacular bonnets!
Congratulations to Izzy in 7FAD for the best individual bonnet and to Violette, Bea and Miriam in 7POR for making the best group bonnet. Special mentions go to Abigail in 7EMA who hand crocheted her bonnet and Immy and Rose in 7EMA with their light up bridge of eggs.
Congratulations to Alexa in 8SPI for the best individual bonnet and to Nimisha, Edie, Esme and Sila in 8PGO for making the best group bonnet. Special mentions go to Sehar in 8PFO for her colourful egg bonnet and Libby and Viola with their connecting rabbit hole bonnets.
ROYAL SOCIETY OF CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD 25 Year 12 and 13 students competed in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Olympiad. The Olympiad tests students on their ability to apply their current knowledge and skills of the chemistry course to real world applications. The questions are undergraduate university level.
Wool4School is an annual student design competition encouraging budding fashion designers to show their nation what they're made of. First launched in Australia in 2012, Wool4School now involves over 100,000 students worldwide. By putting wool into the minds of our future fashion designers, Wool4School encourages students' innovative thinking and creative design. Year 10 Design & Technology Textiles students have been working on their submissions for this prestigious competition. The brief was: 'Wool Reimagined: Repair, renew, repurpose, and innovate. Take what’s old and make it new!’ Students had to design a unique outfit that blends both old and new, featuring pre-loved items, using wool design techniques, and incorporating a minimum of 70% Merino wool.
The students did themselves and the school proud. Nine students achieved a silver award and a further eight achieved bronze. The highest overall student in the centre was Elina D (Y13). A massive congratulations to all students for their hard work and dedication.
This year Waldegrave School organised a fundraising non-uniform day to raise money for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day. Students were encouraged to dress up in red clothes and/or wear a red nose as the nation celebrated this event.
It was a thrill to see just how many students and staff got behind the wear red campaign!
We raised £1446.60!
With everyone’s support we were able to raise an incredible amount of money for this great cause.
We would like to highlight the amazing efforts of some of our students for their aid and support towards the Turkey/Syria Earthquake Appeal. Dila K (10ERU) enlisted the help of Amara, Lena, Chloe E, Marina, Elifnaz, Yasemin, Emma and Claudia from her tutor group to volunteer at a local Fundraising Event to raise money for the Earthquake Appeal. They hosted an origami stall where they taught children under the age of 12 how to make origami. They devised a workshop which included storytelling, where they taught participants about the meaning of a thousand cranes and the story behind them. We are so proud of their efforts and for giving up their time for such an important cause. The event was a huge success and raised more than £11,000. A journalist from the local newspaper was in attendance and showed a real interest in our wonderful students and commended them for their kindness and community spirit. Further to this, Dila K and Lina AK accompanied by Ms Rustam were invited to a Royal Engagement at Hayes Muslim Centre where they met TRH Prince and Princess of Wales! The event was held to raise awareness of the DEC’s Turkey-Syria appeal and engage local communities that have been supporting this appeal. Dila and Lina spoke with Prince William and Princess Kate about what they did to help raise money at the recent fundraising event at St Stephen’s school. Dila and Lina also guided the royal couple on making their own origami cranes!
image source: Hello Magazine
image source: @KensingtonRoyal on Twitter
© Photo: Getty Images
image source: The Mirror
CHARITIES WE HAVE HELPED SO FAR...
Everyone at Waldegrave has put an incredible effort into our numerous charity events that have taken place since the start of the school year. From dressing up in their best pink outfits for Breast Cancer to wearing Red on Red Nose Day, from bake sales to Christmas jumpers, we have seen it all. It has been fantastic to see the great success of each fundraising event!
With the help of staff, students and parents/carers, we have managed to raise a significant amount of life changing donations for all these great causes:
Macmillan Coffee Morning Wear It Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Remembrance Day Poppy Appeal Christmas Jumper Day Year 11 Food banks Ukranian Shoebox Appeal Turkey Syria Earthquake Appeal Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day
£1097.95 £606.34 £222.22
Over 50 boxes donated 8 boxes of food donated £664.50
£1446.60 £1903.31
This brings our grand total of funds raised to a magnificent £5,940.92!
It fills us with so much joy knowing that Waldegrave has been able to contribute to helping many people of the wider community in times of need. It couldn’t have been possible without your support so thank you!
Well done to Phoebe K in 7SGR who took part in the Grazer Acro Cup 2023 in Austria and came second out of 7 contestants in the Women’s Pair 12-18 category. Phoebe had only started this new partnership 7 weeks ago so have done incredibly well to achieve a silver in that time!
Libby MM, Isabel H and Bea S all represented Team Richmond in the London Youth Games Indoor Rowing competition at the Copper Box on the Olympic Park. They came second in the team relay - well done!
Congratulations to Jasmine G, Thea W-L and Lily O who all represented Middlesex at the English Schools Athletics Association Cross Country national finals in Nottingham! The Middlesex team came 16th overall out of 30 counties across the country. Jasmine finished 120th out of 330 other Year 8 and 9 students in her race, Thea finished in the top 200 out of 350, and Lily finished 82nd out of 300, an incredible achievement!
Well done to Kierpa P in 9SPT, Darcey P in 12IAL and Isabella E in 12HJA who flew out to Malta after qualifying to compete in the Malta Karate Open 2023, representing the UK with their Karate association!
Congratulations to our team of swimmers - Olivia, ALice, Bella, Greta, Molly, Evie, Sienna, Thea and Isabel who competed at the Richmond Borough Swimming Champs. The team came home with a total of 8 Gold medals!
Congratulations to Elodie M in 11FSW who made her debut for the London North Under-16 Hockey! In the first set of matches they beat Sussex 2-0 and lost to London South 2-1.
We had a number of students compete in rowing competitions The Junior Sculling Head and The Schools Head Of River back in March. Isabel, Bea, Gemma and Lottie all competed in the Junior Sculling Head. Isabel’s Y10 crew came 40th out of 72, Bea’s Y10 crew came 46th out of 72, Gemma and Lottie’s Y11 crew came 10th out of 51! Sixthformers Ben S, Hannah D, Eve S, Ollie N, Kate, Grace and Josh B took part in the Schools Head of River Rowing competition. Ben S, Ollie and Ben H were in the same boat and came 41st/51 boats and Eve, Hannah, Kate and Grace came a brilliant 22nd/34.
Congratulations to Jessica S (7SSA) who entered her first ever ‘Strings’ competition at the Springboard Arts Festival in Brighton and won joint first place, for her jazz and improvisation entry of “Autumn Leaves”. She also won third place in the grade 4 and 5 class violin for her performance of ‘Presto. Well done also to Siquan and her sister who won “String Duet, Trio & Quartets” class in the Bristol Festival of Music, Speech and Drama. Siqian also gained third place in the concerto class!
Congratulations to Eleanor O for achieving a Distinction in her Grade 3 Musical Theatre Singing and to Maja S and Annie CW for both achieving distinctions in their Grade 5 Musical Theatre Singing!
Congratulations to Eleanor in 9EFG for achieving Grade 4 Cello merit. Well done to Emily C in 9EAH who performed with the National Children’s Orchestra. Congratulations to Annabelle P who achieved merit in her grade 5 piano exam.
Well done to Isla P in 9SHO who has been awarded the Chief Scout Gold Award which is the highest award a scout (11 -14 years) can obtain. It has taken her four years to achieve the badge at her Sea Scout group!
Congratulations to Scarlett M in 9EAH who starred as Snow White in London Children’s Ballet Productions of the fairy tale at Sadlers Well.
YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE WEEK
Nothing prepares you better for the world of work than some unpaid work experience. Up and down the country, organisations offer valuable opportunities to students, providing an insight into the skills needed when you finish school. Every year here at Waldegrave we give our Year 10 students the opportunity to take a week off schedule to complete work experience at a placement of their choice. Completing a week’s worth of placements can be the make or break for some students, as it can really help them to decide whether a certain career path is right for them, making post-GCSE choices easier at the end of Year 11. We were thrilled to see how keen our students were to get started at their placements and the diverse range of industries being explored! Students spent time at accountants, pharmacists, veterinary surgeries, architects, bookshops, pet groomers, music shops, schools, restaurants, hotels, management consultants, technology companies, animal farms banks, solicitors, media companies, universities, and textile manufacturers.
We interviewed a couple of students about their time at their different work experience placements:
Where did you do your placement and what made you want to do your work experience there?
“For my work experience placement I went to Hounslow Urban Farm. I wanted to do my work experience there because I want to be a vet when I am older. Being able to care for the animals, enrich their lives and help around the farm, was a huge opportunity that I am ever so grateful for, and provides experience with working with a variety of animals.” - Olivia C
“My placement was at BP, a global energy company. I spent half the week at their Canary Wharf office working primarily in their treasury department, while discovering their trading and legal department too. For the rest of my week, I was at their main office located in Sunbury discovering engineering. Despite only being able to see a fraction of their workforce, my placement at BP allowed me to be exposed to a vast range of employment opportunities that smaller
companies would not be able to offer. BP also has further education schemes such as gaining a degree through the company rather than going to university that I was intrigued to learn more about.” - Mabel H What did your day consist of doing? Olivia: “My average day would start with changing into my farm clothes (overalls and wellies), then I would complete some morning tasks with other volunteers from Waldegrave, do farm and exotic talks with the schools on that day, feed the animals and would normally end the day with enrichment for the animals or mucking out fields.”
Mabel: “During my time at both offices, I spoke to a variety of people about their jobs and how they accomplished getting there. I spoke to interns and senior employees to find out about different areas of the company and many different specialists such as chemical engineers, technical analysts and treasury lawyers. One engineer I spoke to had recently won a global award for women in STEM. I found that speaking to her motivated me to aspire to more. When I was not speaking to people, I would be researching ESG which is essential for all workplaces and carbon capture projects, which can be used to limit climate change. Other than that, I would sit in on team meetings.”
Do you have a favourite moment or perhaps a funny encounter you would like to share?
Olivia: “I remember when I was doing a farm talk, I was holding a ferret and the kids had no idea what he was,some ideas were: 'squirrel', 'rat' and there was one kid that thought everything was a capybara.” Mabel: “Overall, I did not have a favourite moment, I enjoyed my entire time there. However, being in the atmosphere of a workplace has definitely motivated me to push further and achieve more to one day be able to be somewhere like that permanently. Being surrounded by people who are successful really drives my ambitions to do well.”
Did you face any challenges along the way? Olivia: “There weren't any enormous challenges but one moment was when a few of us had to refill the reptile's waters. The water bowls were so full we had to make a system where two people would take it down, pour it into the bucket, the other person would scrub and refill the bowl, and then it would go into the vivarium again.”
Mabel: “I think building confidence there was the most challenging thing I had to do. For example, having the confidence to ask questions, before going to BP I had not heard of the majority of the occupations there so when I spoke to people, I really had to explore every aspect of their jobs to gain
understanding as to what they did. To begin with I worried that what I asked was obvious or I should have prior knowledge but as the week developed, I became more assured and felt comfortable exploring the work people did.” Has this experience helped shape your decisions on your potential future career, do you see yourself pursuing a job in that industry? Olivia: “This experience has definitely further reassured me that I want to pursue a career as a vet as I thoroughly enjoyed my whole time at the farm. It was a great chance for me to work closely with the animals and I loved all the daily tasks.” Mabel: “Yes, definitely. In only a single week BP allowed me to learn such a huge amount of information that I can utilise for my future. Not only did I manage to work out what I might like to do in the future but also areas I would prefer not to pursue. I think that is important as now I can really focus on areas I want to take further. I learnt so much about education options in the future and the steps to get to leading positions. In conclusion, my time there was very beneficial and I think that this experience will forever be important to my future.” image source: Surrey Live
As part of careers week, all Year 7s were invited to participate in a Careers Day workshop, hosted by Mr Parker and Mr Bannister. Students arrived at school in aspirational careers outfits, dressing up as their future dream job. From nurses and paramedics to artists and a variety of professional sports players, we were delighted to see such a diverse range of professions. The sessions included a range of group activities, working in smaller groups and as a whole class. One of the favourites was the ‘Pictionary’ inspired workshop whereby students in groups of six were tasked to illustrate themselves in their future dream job whilst their peers had to guess correctly which career has been drawn. Another fun activity was the alphabet challenge, testing the students’ knowledge of career options as they went down the alphabet listing different job titles; a few favourites were A for Astronaut, F for Footballer and O for Optician. Both Mr Bannister and Mr Parker were very impressed by the enthusiasm and career knowledge of our students as well as the range of professions showcased by the students’ choice of attire. CAREER DAY WORKSHOP YEAR CAREERS WEEK 7
VISITING QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
Earlier in the term our Year 12 Geographers had the opportunity to experience what a typical day in the life might be like at a top London University.
They visited the QMUL campus to attend a lecture on Cultural Globalisation - Is globalisation producing sameness or difference? Our Year 12s had recently studied similar concepts in their lessons here and were well prepared to listen and learn from a well renowned expert. After enjoying East London’s impressive skyline during our lunch break they headed on a tour of the campus as their last activity for the day.
EXPLORING THE GOTHIC GENRE Throughout the Spring term, Year 9 have spent their English lessons exploring elements of the Gothic genre. Gothic literature is a genre of fiction which first became popular during the 18th century. The term ‘Gothic’ originates from the name of an ancient Germanic tribe (The Goths) who are thought to have contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. They had a reputation for being barbaric and later a form of architecture was named after them as a sort of insult. As part of their work they were tasked with creating collages to illustrate their understanding of the conventions of the genre.
To celebrate International Mathematics Day, also known as Pi Day, our Year 7 and 8 students were tasked with two challenges: Who could recite the most amount of digits of Pi and who could produce the most creative representations of Pi.
From cakes and cupcakes to weaving and beading, our students were very keen to get stuck in with creating illustrations of Pi!
Our contestants who recalled the most digits of Pi did fantastic jobs! In Year 7 our solo winner Ella R-J managed to recite 83 digits whilst our best group entry came from Oliva, Karlotte, Orla, Daphne, Scarlett, Hila, Eliza and Zahra who all worked together to list 141 digits of Pi! Our Year 8 entrants performed excellently too, with Alexa M smashing it by herself as she recalled 125 digits! Our winning group entrant from Year 8 managed to recite an amazing 144 digits of Pi - well done Coco, Alexa, Olivia, Amelia, Charlotte, Grace, Megan and Poppy.
T E E N T E C H
Year 8 IT enrichment students participated in a virtual ‘TeenTech City of Tomorrow’ event. In this kickoff session the students worked in teams becoming designers, developers and marketing experts as they constructed a building for the future. It was then down to the students to work in their groups for the next few weeks as they finished their models and finalised their pitches before presenting their ideas to their classmates as well as Mrs Green, Mr El-Suleiman and Mrs Treharne. Three teams were selected to represent Waldegrave at the TeenTech festival at Roehampton University in April where they had a full day experiencing different aspects of technology, science and engineering.
Well done to the following students who won awards: Most Environmentally Friendly - Sila K, Siyana C, Thea H and Romy F Best Recreational Space - Pia H, Maya C, Elise B, Emily AJ, and Eva F Best Mixed Use Building - Vanessa C, Ellie M, Victoria M, Alexa M and Coco B.
“My favourite part of the day was when we went to talk about space and we got to see a bottle fired with rocket fuel by Dallas Campbell. We even talked about a two million pound bacon sandwich!” ~ Victoria M
“I really enjoyed the building tasks, everyone was really engaged and involved in becoming the team with the tallest building! Overall it was
“My favourite part was certainly the last section; learning about hacking and how the human brain interprets different objects and ideas. I especially loved the goody bag of leaflets, pen and book I received. I shall certainly make use of it by writing all about STEM!” ~ Coco B
really fun!” ~ Vanessa C
Sixth Form Lectures
An engineering talk on the world of electronic engineering from Dr Matthew Bryan, an Electronic Engineering lecturer in micro- and nano-electronics at Royal Holloway really inspired our students. Year 12 student Hisha said; “We learnt a lot about the history of data storage and also took a look at real life floppy disks! We were very curious about how the disks worked and how far the electronic sector has come in the last 40 years. Matthew was also able to showcase an actual hard drive that was open for the students to explore and learn about how the original hardware worked, paving the path for today’s software to excel. It was very insightful about the range of careers available in engineering.”
BGC Partners gave students a fascinating insight into the world of financial services. Not only did this help the students understand the breadth of the industry but it also provided them with insight into the importance of culture, the competitiveness of business and how they can start to build their career foundation today by developing their soft skills and gaining work experience.
Dr James Lesslie who teaches the Gothic Cultures module at St Mary’s University and Romanticism at City, University of London, gave a thought - provoking talk to our sixth form students. Year 13 students Francesca L and Olive T said: “Lesslie linked 19th century political events, the Gothic genre, feminism and other contextual topics to Frankenstein. It was interesting to hear Lesslie’s interpretations of Frankenstein which were fuelled by detailed contemporary context, and links to The Handmaid’s Tale (which we compare at A-Level). Moreover, it was useful to be given the opportunity to experience a university style lecture ahead of post A-Level plans!”
A POLYGLOT A VISIT FROM
Polyglot Alex Rawlings, who speaks an incredible 15 languages including Afrikaans, Greek, German and Russian, recently visited Waldegrave School to speak to Year 7 and 8 students about the importance of learning languages. Alex spoke to the students about how speaking multiple languages can enhance their lives in a number of ways, from improving job prospects to broadening their cultural horizons. He emphasised that learning a new language is not just about being able to communicate with people from different countries, but also about gaining a deeper understanding of different cultures and ways of life. Alex’s talk was a valuable experience for the young students, who are at a critical age for language acquisition. Research has shown that children who learn multiple languages from a young age often perform better academically, have improved cognitive abilities, and are more likely to develop empathy and understanding for other cultures.
After the talk, Alex held a drop-in Q&A session for Year 9 to 13 students, who were able to ask him about his experiences learning multiple languages and get tips and advice for their own language learning journeys. For the older students, Alex’s visit was an opportunity to learn from someone who has achieved an impressive level of proficiency in multiple languages. They were able to gain insights into the strategies and techniques he used to learn so many languages, as well as the challenges he faced along the way. In addition to the practical benefits of learning a new language, Alex’s talk and Q&A also highlighted the personal growth and enrichment that can come from speaking multiple languages. By learning to communicate with people from different backgrounds, cultures, and languages, students can broaden their perspectives, gain new insights, and develop a greater appreciation for diversity. Alex’s visit to Waldegrave School was a valuable experience for the students and a reminder of the importance of language learning. Whether it’s for personal enrichment or professional development, learning a new language can open doors and help individuals connect with the world in new and meaningful ways.
In March, a group of students from Year 12 and 13 German students embarked on a trip to Berlin, Germany with Frau Robinson and Mr Bannister. The trip gave students the opportunity to explore the rich history and culture of this vibrant city, which is widely regarded as the cultural and political capital of Germany. Over the course of three days, the students visited many famous landmarks and monuments, including Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Holocaust Memorial, Stasi Museum, East Side Gallery, Kadewe, Gedächtniskirche, Tiergarten, Siegessäule, Alexanderplatz, Humboldt University, Käthe Kollwitz Statue, Weltuhr, and Fernsehturm.
The group visited Checkpoint Charlie, the former crossing point between East and West Berlin. Here, the students learned about the history of the Berlin Wall and the Cold War, and how Checkpoint Charlie served as a symbol of the divide between East and West. They also saw the famous "You are leaving the American Sector" sign, which marked the boundary between the American and Soviet zones. The next landmark on the list was the Brandenburg Gate, one of the most famous landmarks in Germany. This iconic gate is a symbol of the country's unity and has played a significant role in the country's history. The students were able to learn about the gate's history, take photos, and walk around the area. The Reichstag, the German parliament building, was another significant landmark that the group visited. The students were fascinated by the architecture of the building and were very impressed walking around the glass dome, designed by Norman Foster, taking a self guided audio tour in German to recognize all the sights from the height of the dome. The Holocaust Memorial was a sobering and thought-provoking experience for the students. The memorial consists of a vast field of concrete slabs of varying heights, which visitors can walk through. The students learned about the Holocaust and the millions of Jews who lost their lives during this tragic period of history. The Stasi Museum was another landmark that provided a glimpse into the oppressive regime of East Germany, where people lived under constant surveillance. We particularly liked the fact that the building had been preserved exactly as it was when it was hurriedly vacated in 1989.
The students also visited the East Side Gallery, which is the longest remaining section of the Berlin Wall. The gallery features more than 100 murals painted by artists from around the world. The students were able to see the artwork up close and learn about the messages behind the murals. They also visited the beautiful Gedächtniskirche, which was partially destroyed during World War II but still stands as a testament to the resilience of the German people. The Tiergarten and Siegessäule provided an opportunity for the students to enjoy the natural beauty of Berlin, as well as to learn about the city's history. In the Alexanderplatz, a bustling square and a hub of activity in the heart of the city, the students were able to see the iconic TV Tower (Fernsehturm). The students also visited the prestigious Humboldt University to experience the academic culture of Berlin. They saw the Käthe Kollwitz statue, which is dedicated to the famous German artist, and the Weltuhr, a world clock that displays the time in every time zone around the globe.
The group took numerous U and S Bahns crisscrossing the city and walked over 60,000 steps during their three-day visit. The experience was amazing and unforgettable, and the students learned a lot about the culture, spoke a lot of German, and saw a great deal linked with their A Level studies of Germany, Berlin and the studied film, Goodbye, Lenin .
MEMORIES OF A CHILDHOOD IN EAST GERMANY
Earlier this term, Year 12 German students were lucky enough to have a visit from Grit King, a Waldegrave parent who grew up in East Germany where she lived as a child. She shared all her childhood memories of what it was like to grow up in East Germany under the Socialist Government and at a time when East and West Germany was divided by the Wall. She took time to bring in personal memorabilia which the students looked at with great interest. Thank you so much to Mrs King for sparing the time to come in and share first hand experience of a significant time in German history.
‘THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA’
ARABIC SPEAKING COMPETITION Fourteen students from Year 7 to Year 11 wowed the judges at the British Council and Qatar Foundation International when they took part in the 2023 Arabic Speaking Competition. The event takes place yearly and is a celebration of the Arabic language spoken across secondary schools in the UK, in classrooms and at home. This year’s competition was especially intense with over 300 students participating across the country. Our Waldegrave students put in a lot of preparation and hard work!
Srta Cortés and our Spanish A Level Students ventured into London for an evening of theatrical entertainment after two weeks of completing mock exams. They had a relaxed and joyful Mexican dinner and then headed to the Cervantes Theatre for an intimate showing of the classic 1936 play La casa de Bernarda Alba.
image source: Cervantes Theatre website
Written by the wildly talented, Federico García Lorca only two months before his execution, the story explores the themes of repression, passion and conformity through the depiction of a matriarch’s domination of her five daughters. A perfect finale to an intense fortnight of Mocks!
Congratulations to all fourteen entrants, an incredible effort from everyone!
The theme for this year’s British Science Week was ‘Connections’ to celebrate togetherness after a period where isolation was a sad but necessary reality. To embrace this theme our Science Department collaborated with Hampton Hill Primary School playing host to all three of their Year 5 classes as well as delivering assemblies to our own students. The day gave the students an insight into what it is like to be in a secondary school science classroom whilst allowing them to make use of some of the specialist scientific equipment that may not be available in a typical primary school science lesson.
Mr Godfrey kickstarted each session with an interesting demonstration of static electricity. He introduced the students to the Van de Graff generator as he explained how static electricity can be used to apply a force between objects before calling upon some volunteers to see it in action as their hands moved confetti around the table as if by magic. There is no doubt that this demonstration sparked their curiosity!
As well as doing some amazing Physics, we also showed that Chemistry can be just as fascinating. We showed the students the reaction between solutions of lead nitrate and potassium iodide; two colourless liquids that when mixed produce a vibrant yellow mixture. There was a gasp in the room from the students when the two liquids were mixed and the dramatic transformation occurred.
We finished the session by giving the students some hands-on experience of safely using fire. The Year 5s were shown how to safely light a tealight candle using the flame from a bunsen burner and extinguishing it by placing a small beaker upside down over it. They then went into teams of three and took turns to have a go themselves.
It was so rewarding to see the level of enjoyment our visiting students got from doing some fun science experiments. Hopefully we have inspired a future Nobel Prize winner!
Waldegrave students attended assemblies delivered by Mr Allen on the theme of 'connections'. The theme explored the connections between all three sciences, between nature and the pharmaceutical industry as well as between science and career aspirations. The topic of the assembly was 'paracetamol'. After a brief history of where it came from and how it was made, students explored how all three sciences come together to bring paracetamol to us. This involves spectral analysis of the compounds to ensure high purity (chemistry), scaling up and manufacturing of the formulation (physics) and the drug interactions with the body as well as possible side effects (biology).
The students showed great engagement throughout the assembly and learnt more about a drug that they are familiar with but don't know much about. They left with interesting facts for example the scientific name for paracetamol is acetaminophen or that to control snake populations on the Island of Guam they have been stuffing dead mice with paracetamol as the drug is toxic to snakes.
Here's hoping we inspire the next Harmon Norse or Dorothy Hodgkin!
INTRODUCTION TO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
A Level students with a particular interest in Sports Science and Psychology were invited to St. Mary’s University to attend Research Bites mini lectures as part of British Science Week. They spent the afternoon hearing from over 20 professionals and lecturers. They were welcomed by Dr Leanne Griffiths, Head of Department for Sport and Exercise Science at the University and heard from Dr Holly Chinnery, Emily Storr and Locke Bell about understanding the role of gender norms in parenting, before learning about performance of the brain and attitudes towards refugee groups in the UK, as well as lectures on motor planning, physical activity and autism, and even a compelling discussion about how to make someone fall in love with you.
ACOUSTIC CONCERT
The Waldegrave Music Department hosted the 2023 Acoustic Concert. The evening is a favourite event in the Music Department calendar as the programme allows the talents of individual students and smaller ensembles to be showcased. All the music performed is rehearsed by the students with limited teacher input and we are always blown away by what our students are capable of and this year was no exception.
The evening was a veritable feast of both musical styles and talents ranging from Eleanor OB and Mimi W performing For Good from Wicked to Year 10s performing their own arrangement of The Chain by Fleetwood Mac. It was also an opportunity for our Year 11 and Year 13 students to share their performance coursework in preparation for the the recitals which took place later on in the term and for Martha A in Year 13 to perform her fantastic Habanera from Carmen which a few weeks later gained her a High Distinction for Grade 8 singing. Congratulations to all who took part and a thank you for making this a proud and memorable evening for those who watched.
I S S P M U S I
Musicians from Waldegrave School joined forces with other students from across the borough for a day of music making hosted by Hampton and LEH schools. They participated in workshops for jazz bands, brass ensembles, string orchestra and a choir, and put on a concert for parents in the evening at The Hammond Theatre. Congratulations to all the musicians for representing the school so well at this event.
C D A Y
image source: Hampton School website
UPCOMING EVENTS 18 May: European Youth Orchestra trip to Fontainebleau 13 June: Richmond Performing Arts Choral Festival - Chamber Choir 2 July: Richmond Symphony Orchestra Concert featuring The Waldegrave Choirs 17 July: Waldegrave Rocks Summer Festival
We were delighted to get the opportunity to share the pieces our ensembles have been working on since Christmas with the Year 7 and 8 students and staff during an end of term concert on the final Friday of the Spring Term. The transition into the Summer term is always tinged with sadness as our Year 11 and 13 musicians step back from rehearsals to start their exam preparations. The concert was therefore very much an opportunity to invite the Year 7 and 8 students to hear the different groups perform and also to encourage them to come and join them if they would like to in the Summer term. The Chamber Choir performed The Ballad of Sweeney Todd and Fix You by Coldplay which they will take to the Richmond Performing Arts Festival in June. String Orchestra treated us to a Pirates of the Caribbean medley, Orchestra to two different dance pieces and Swing Band gave us a sneak preview of what they will be performing in the upcoming Waldegrave Rocks Summer Festival. Finally the Year 7 Choir gave a brilliant performance of Whitney Houston's One Moment in Time.
DRIVE YOUR PLOW AT THE BARBICAN
Year 12 spent an evening at the Barbican to watch the play ‘Drive Your Plow’ by the renowned theatre company Complicite.
They are using Complicite as their practitioner for devising so are now excited to get back into the rehearsal room having been inspired by Complicte’s ensemble, physical theatre work and multi medea set.
LEARNING STAGE FIGHTING TECHNIQUES
This half term Year 8 students have been learning how to perform stage fighting safely and with realism. They have created manuals to accompany their practical work, some students have created powerpoints, others leaflets and some even films.
INTER-HOUSE FOOTBALL COMPETITION
We recently held an inter-house Football Tournament for our Year 7s which had a fantastic turnout. We watched some great football skills and top class goals have been scored with even better celebrations! In total 64 Year 7 participated in this highly competitive 5-a-side tournament, with all teams playing the other houses in their pool. Our students have shown teamwork, communication skills and sportsmanship throughout the tournament, all committed to achieving the best for their house. We want to say well done to everyone who took part and congratulations to our winners and runners up:
EFR FAD FCO POR AND
We had two Year 7 teams take part in the Richmond Borough Tournament this year! The first team competed on 3 March, finishing in 3rd place. Our second team competed later in March and also finished in 3rd place. Both teams played exceptionally well and should be extremely proud of their performances. But it didn’t stop there for our Year 7 Netballers as they participated in other matches with RTS, Teddington, Hampton High and Twickenham. All four matches we were unbeaten, winning 24-1, 7-2, 12-5 and 25-0 respectively. A huge congratulations to all our players for their incredible efforts! 7 March was our first Year 8 match of the season, taking on RTS! Waldegrave showed great dominance throughout, with the match ending on a win of 9-4. A week later and it was time for the Year 8 team to play against Hampton High. The team really got into a groove with excellent flowing play down court. We finished the match with a 23-1 win! They then took on Turing House in what was an unbelievable game! The defence was impeccable, not once letting the opposition score a goal. The game came to an end on a very impressive 26-0. Well done team! The Year 8 team played brilliantly at the tournament, however with some tough competition to take on we saw the team finish in 4th place. On 17 March our Sixth Form Netballers were back out on the court for a game against Christ’s. It was a tough match with both sides playing exceptionally well. However, Christ’s managed to take the lead by 2 points before the whistle blew, finishing on an unfortunate loss of 18-16.
At the end of February our Year 9/10 Football team took on Grey Court, this
being their first match of which they played superbly! The Game ended 1-1 with Isla H scoring for Waldegrave. The team captain Zoe was the player of the match due to her excellent defensive performance. In March our Year 9/10 team took on Christ’s and SRRCC. These were tough matches with excellent performance from all. Our game against Christ’s finished on a solid win of 3-0 whilst drawing 0-0 with SRRCC. At the beginning of March Waldegrave Sixth Form hosted an indoor 5-a-side football match against Tiffin Girls. It was an exciting end to end match which finished 5-5. The girls played excellently and the two stand out performers for us was Darcey P scoring 3 goals and Martha D who played in goal in the first half and made some incredible saves to keep us in the game and then in the second went out and scored a goal. Our Sixth Form boys team have also had their share of matches this term, taking on KGS and KCLMS. Both were very exciting games with excellent play but facing tough competition led to finishing on a draw of 2-2 for both matches.
Well done to our Year 7 and Under 14 teams for coming 2nd in their tournaments! Our U14 team competed in the borough tournament back in February where they played some hard fought matches. Everyone on the team did exceptionally well, there was great teamplay and defence throughout the games. The squad made it through to the final round, however were up against tough competition. Unfortunately the team missed out on a draw by one try, finishing on a loss of 3 tries to 4. At the end of March our Year 7 rugby team participated in the RSSP rugby tournament. They were off to a great start as they won their first game against Christ's. Their second game against Orleans was end to end running play, we saw some excellent defensive skills and at full time the score was a draw 4 tries all. The final game was against SRR and once again our attacking play was really strong. We won this game 8 tries to 0. This meant it was a tie for 1st place so we faced an extra time game against Orleans Park. Unfortunately we just missed out on 1st place as the final score was 3 tries to 2 to Orleans.
A level Art and Design students visited an exhibition of current work produced by Surrey Sculpture Society at the Landmark Centre in Teddington. They listened to talks by a practising artist and had a chance to draw from a fantastic range of dynamic sculptures and another about bronze sculpture casting process. Students gained inspiration for future coursework and exam preparation.
MATHS FEST
On a cold Tuesday morning, 15 year 12 students travelled to central London to spend an exciting day at the Maths Fest! We were treated to talks by eminent mathematicians who are experts in their field and applied maths to real life situations such as Dr Tom Crawford from Oxford University who spoke about how maths was being used to clean up the oceans, Dr Yolanda Aherne who spoke about how her research and maths is helping her develop more advanced MRI scanners and Zoe Griffiths who spoke about numbers in the news and how statistics can be used to manipulate headlines. A few of our students also had the opportunity to get involved in helping out with demonstrations including Juliet and Hisha who helped Dr Aherne demonstrate how MRI scanning works. There were opportunities to ask questions to the experts and also some photo opportunities! It was a great opportunity for students to explore maths outside of the A Level curriculum and also to think about various opportunities that might be available to them if they chose to study maths beyond school. It was a great day out and lots of fun was had by all!
A-LEVEL GEOGRAPHY REVISION TRIP
At the end of March, 37 enthusiastic Year 13 Geographers made their way to a rather unusual venue for a typical Wednesday morning. Students were spending the day at Vue cinema in White City’s Westfield in West London, where they would enjoy a revision day led by Tutor2U, aptly titled the ‘Grade Booster Workshop.’ The day began with our engaging course leads, Gem and Mr Perez, who began with a discussion on how to best tackle the 4 marker questions. Students learnt new acronyms and played quizlets throughout, where the pace and activity was so upbeat, they almost forgot they were learning! The day moved on to analyse techniques for 20 mark and 9 mark questions before a lunch break. Students relished the opportunity to get lost in the huge food court for an hour, overwhelmed by over 40 outlets to get lunch from. After an energy charge up, the final hour of the day focused on 6 markers and how they may present themselves in exams. At this stage the competition between schools really ramped up and we were so proud to see so many Waldegrave students win the branded ‘beanies’ for their participation. A huge well done to all who were involved in the day, and for doing yourselves proud in speaking out in a busy auditorium. We hope the day was of great use to you ahead of exams in May!
ENJOY, ACHIEVE, EMPOWER.
Waldegrave School, Fifth Cross Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW2 5LS
020 8894 3244
www.waldegrave.richmond.sch.uk
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