headteacher’s letter spring 2015...

Our main focus during this, rather short, spring term has been on preparing senior students for forthcoming examinations. This is even more crucial than ever this year as, for the first time, all examinations are linear. Students have approached their studies in an exemplary manner and are being well supported in the lead up to the examination period. In addition to subject revision classes in school, after school, during the holiday periods and a second week of exam practice in March, emphasis has also been placed on helping students to manage themselves through the examination period. This can be a time of worry, anxiety for some and in school we are doing all that we can to support our young people through this demanding time.

When students return to school for the summer term, they will continue with their normal cycle of lessons until Tuesday 5 May when they will begin an Immersion timetable which provides for combination of lessons and focussed periods of revision prior to each scheduled GCSE examination.

The academic success of Woking High School students is a great source of pride to all associated with the school. We were delighted to receive an official letter from the Department of Education (David Laws, Minister of State for Schools) congratulating us on the achievement of our disadvantaged students in February. In March we received a further letter from the DfE (Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Reform) congratulating Woking High School on its excellent English Baccalaureate performance (students gaining English/Maths/Science/Language/Humanity qualifications at A*-C) and in mid March received news that we had been awarded two SSAT Educational Outcome

Awards for exceptional achievement and performance. These awards recognize the cohort of 2014 being amongst the top 10% of non-selective schools nationally for attainment and value added progress. I am confident that our current Year 11 students will perform equally as well, if not even better, than their 2014 predecessors. Their diligence, commitment, careful preparation and positive approach to their studies is certainly deserving of the highest rewards.

Whilst one cohort approach their final GCSE exams another cohort are just beginning their GCSE studies. Year 9 students are fully engaged in selecting their options subjects for study in September 2015. They have also taken internal KS3 assessments and are currently embarking on their GCSE syllabuses in Maths, English and Science. A huge amount of time and effort is spent on ensuring that all our students and their parents receive information, advice and guidance on the courses available to them and on possible career paths for the future. The school is most grateful to Mr Sharples for leading curriculum development and the careers support available from Mrs Addison and Innervate.

In addition to their focus on their academic studies, students at Woking High School have excelled in a wide variety of extra-curricular opportunities available through the school. ‘Calamity Jane’ our 2015 school production was received with much acclaim in February, slightly earlier in the academic calendar than in previous years. Packed houses were treated to a show performed superbly by the whole cast who really captured the spirit of the ‘Old West’. The costumes for the cast and the orchestra complimented the setting perfectly and the music provided firm favourites such as The

Headteacher’s Letter

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Woking High School is an exempt charity and company limited by guarantee. Registered in England with Company Number 8586085 and has a registered office as above.

Woking High School, Morton Road, Horsell, Woking, Surrey, GU21 4TJ

Tel: 01483 888447 Fax: 01483 888448

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.wokinghigh.surrey.sch.uk

Headteacher: Jane Abbott



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Black Hills of Dakota and the Deadwood Stage. As one of the audience commented “thank you for a wonderful evening’s entertainment. It was yet another example of Woking High School at its brilliant best”.

Yet again our public speaking teams have gained success in the Rotary Club competition. The Intermediate team of Stella Eyers, Maya Keynes and Lauren Finney and the Senior team of Isobel Aughterson, Vivienne Mathews and Sally Hitchings, were victorious at the local Woking Rotary competition and both teams went onto represent the school in the 2nd round. Here again both teams triumphed and gained passage through to the next stage of the competition. Although they did not win they performed exceptionally well and were runners up in both age groups. They have keep up the tradition of excellent public speaking at Woking High School.

The sporting prowess of Woking High School has been acknowledged nationally. In January we were delighted to learn that the school had been ranked 84th in the country for its sporting achievement. The ranking is based on a range of 120 national competitions, covering 20 different sports. Please see Mr Justice’s sports report later in the newsletter for full details of our students’ achievements.

Woking High School is very proud to have been presented with the International School’s Award on four separate occasions beginning in 2002/2003. With visits to Berlin, Ypres, Madrid, Naples, Aachen, Prato Nevoso, Paris and Leipzig on our academic calendar, guest students and staff from Japan, China, France and Germany

visiting the school and charity support for students in schools in Zambia and Gambia, and with our action plan approved we are on course to achieve the award once again in summer 2015. Exchanges and visits are hugely beneficial as they raise awareness and understanding of other cultures and also provide our students with the opportunity to practice speaking languages learned at school – a very valuable skill in our modern multi-lingual world. In the context of learning about other cultures we are also provided with the opportunity to reflect on and appreciate British values, an aspect of education is receiving much attention at present.

Charity work is a key part of life at Woking High School. This year our main chosen charity is Woking Hospice – a charity very close to our hearts and part of our local community. A number of activities and events have taken place to raise funds for this excellent cause, one of which was the Surrey Half Marathon. More than 50 members of staff signed up and completed the 13.1 mile run on 8th March and in doing so raised over £15,000 for the Hospice (for a detailed report see later in the newsletter). Congratulations to all who were involved with this wonderful team effort.

As we approach the Easter break may I take this opportunity to wish everyone associated with Woking High School a very happy, sunny spring holiday. We resume school for the summer term 8.55 a.m. on Monday 13th April.

With very best wishes.

Jane Abbott, Headteacher

Headteacher’s Letter

Welcome to Year 6On Wednesday 11 March we were delighted to welcome our cohort of 2015, in fact our graduates of 2020, to Woking High School. A packed hall of parents of our new cohort were able to listen to presentations from senior staff covering such areas as the ethos and values of the school, the curriculum and enrichment opportunities, assessment and reporting systems, the pastoral structure and details of the induction process from March to September. Meanwhile, students participated in taster sessions in Technology, Computing, PE and Science and also completed a ‘getting to know you quiz’. With time built into the evening for small group discussions over tea, coffee and cake it was a great opportunity to begin to forge relationships with our newest students. The feedback from the evening was excellent.

‘After receiving the offer it was lovely to return feeling part of the school’

‘A lovely idea to invite the new intake to the school so quickly’

‘Really good to visit again just after the excitement of getting a school place’

‘Really great presentations very inspiring’

‘Very informative and definitely a family feel’

‘Really motivating’

‘Made us feel part of the school’

‘Really loved the taster sessions’

‘Taster session is a great idea and very well received by x’

Jane Abbott, Headteacher

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Youth Speaks

Youth Speaks

Woking High school Youth Speaks teams enjoyed great

success again this year, maintaining their excellent record

of performance to date. In January, we triumphed for the

sixth year running in the Woking heat of the Rotary Club

competition, winning both the Intermediate and the Senior

heats. Stella Eyers, Maya Keynes and Lauren Finney were

placed first in the Intermediate round, beating off stiff

competition from St John the Baptist, Winston Churchill

School, and an impressive first-time entry from Ripley

Court. Stella was awarded best Speaker, and Ellen Stone,

a member of our second team entered at this level, won

best Vote of Thanks.

In the Senior round, our students went head to head

with each other in a round sadly lacking in entries

from other schools. Matthew Hill, Ross Davidson and

George Loxton, who went all the way to the Intermediate

Final last year, were pipped to the post by a fantastic

performance from our Year 11 team, Isobel Aughterson,

Vivienne Mathews and Sally Hitchings. Isobel was

awarded Best Speaker and Vivienne shared the prize for

best Chairperson with Ross. The Vote of Thanks was won

by George Loxton.

Both the Senior and the Intermediate winning teams then

went forward to the second round of the competition in

Hounslow in early February. Our Intermediate team were

placed first again, above Hawley Place and St Mark’s

School, while the Senior team beat Claremont Fan Court

School, Wavell School and the Royal Russell School.

As ever, things got really tough in the District round at

the end of February. Despite this, Isobel Aughterson still

managed to win best speaker at Senior level, jointly with

Year 13 student from Gunnersbury Catholic School. Our

Senior team were overall runners up to The Halliford

School, the same team who made it all the way to the

National Final last year – they are something of our

nemesis! First place in the Intermediate round went to Old

Palace of John Whitgift School, and once again our own

Intermediate team were runners-up.

Our sincere thanks go to the Woking District Rotary Club

for organising such an inspiring and rewarding event

for our young people; we’re thrilled to have achieved

success in the early stages of this prestigious and hugely

challenging competition, and look forward to yet another

chance to compete in April.

E Williams, Co-ordinator of Potential High Achievers

Welcome to Year 6



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On 5 March four students competed in the UK Maths

Team Challenge which is open to Years 8 and 9 from all

over the country. Woking High School’s team consisted of

Matthew Tweed and Jake Webb (Year 9) and Sohum Sen

and Sam Belcher (Year 8). This is the sixth year we have

taken part. Our heat was held at Lord Wandsworth School

in Hook. The competition was in four parts and took all

day. The first activity was for each team to answer 10

questions, under timed conditions. The second part was

solving a crossword but half the team had the down clues

and the other half had the across clues and they could only

On 24 February a team of

four were entered from

Woking High School to

take part in the Year 10

Maths Feast run by the

Further Maths Network.

The students involved were

Daniel Cheetham, Sana

Fatima, Skye Chappell

and David Atkins. The

competition took place at the University of Surrey and

consisted of 6 rounds over a period of two and a half

hours. The rounds were a mixture of long problem

solving questions, a card sort, constructing Columbus

cubes and an unseen round on Venn diagrams. The

students really enjoyed the challenge. There were

For eight Saturday mornings during January, February

and March, seven Year 8 students had the opportunity to

attend Maths Masterclasses at the University of Surrey

in Guildford. The Masterclasses consisted of four topics,

each covering two Saturdays. The topics were entitled

Keep it in the Family, Codes and Ciphers, Festival of

Fractions; Points, Pictures and Proof and Decisions,

Decisions, Decisions. The sessions were based on Maths

UK Maths Team Challenge (Years 8 and 9)

Year 10 Maths Team Challenge

Royal Institution Masterclasses In Mathematics

communicate through the teacher. This was the team’s

favourite section. The third section was the Shuttle where

one pair answered a question and passed their answer

to the other pair to use to answer their question. The

afternoon finished off with a relay race with competitors

dashing around the sports hall collecting questions and

returning answers. Thirty teams took part from all over

Surrey and Hampshire and Woking High were placed

14th. The students had a very enjoyable day and it gave

them a chance to practice their problem solving skills.

learned outside the normal curriculum and were extremely

thought provoking. The students who attended some or

all of the sessions were Sohum Sen, Raman Bansal, Yana

Skvortsova, Andrew Muir, Adam Gray, Sam Belcher

and Hasna Sahul Hameed. All the students enjoyed the

different experience of sitting in a lecture theatre and

being challenged by maths that most of them had not

encountered before.

certificates for the winners of each round but there

were no overall winners as the organisers wanted a less

competitive feel for the afternoon. The aim was for the

students to have fun and have different mathematical

experiences.

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Maths Competitions

The Intermediate Challenge is aimed at students in

Year 11 or below across the UK. The challenge involves

answering 25 multiple choice questions in one hour and is

sat in school under normal exam conditions.

The top 40% of students nationally receive a gold,

silver or bronze certificate. Around 500 of the highest

scorers in each school year are invited to take part in the

Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad papers and a further

5,500 students from across all three year groups are

invited to sit the Pink (Yr 10) and Grey (Yr 9) European

Kangaroo papers. These are one-hour papers with 25

multiple choice questions, taken by students from over 30

countries worldwide.

Congratulations to the following Year 10 students who qualified for the Pink Kangaroo: Alex Zalaf

George Loxton

Congratulations to the following Year 9 students who qualified for the Grey Kangaroo:

Matthew Tweed

Raul Goddard Cardona

Jake Webb

Daniel Seabrook

This is the most students we have had in getting through

to the next round. Superb effort!

Gold Certificates were awarded to the following: Year 10:

Alex Zalaf

Year 9:

George Loxton

Matthew Tweed

Raul Gordon Cardona

Jake Webb

Intermediate UK Maths ChallengeSilver Certificates were awarded to the following: Year 10:

Eloise Alden Ben Jones

Eithan Hughes Zac Seymour

Robbie Faulkner Jack Rafter

Evrim Isik Miles Spiller

Phoebe Grant Harri Jones

Year 9:

Daniel Seabrook Chris Pearce

Milan Sajiv Zainab Abid

Abdullah Ahmad Dalya Abdali

Bronze Certificates were awarded to the following:

Year 10:

Will Murrells Callum Henderson

Ross Davidson Hannan Hussain

David Pulguinhas Heather Dexter

Anna Radomska Ashley Lambert

Elsa Riley Elliot Cortade

Megan Conquer Daniel Cheetham

Year 9:

Lucy Fortescue David Diaconu

Michael Pope Vishal Ramesh

Nazia Hossain Alishba Mughal

Zoe Neale Imogen Pelham

Ben Shepherd Ben Rolfe

Miles Gilkes Ben Payne

Isaac Birks Daniel Copper

David Sarney Oliver Cockell

Rhys Savage

A special mention must go to Ram Marwaha Year 7 who

received a Silver Certificate.

Well done to everyone who took part.

P Dixon, Maths



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Coding Hub

did not make the cut. The standard from all schools was extremely high and although we did not make it into the regional competition, the students hugely enjoyed the day and learned a great deal about the workings of the British Justice system.

STUDENTS TAKING PART:

Year 9 Max Petters Lauren Finney Imogen Pelham Sam Tuckley Byrne Joe Eke Matt Danton Ellen Stone Lucy Fortescue

Year 8 Sam Wildfire Marcus Truman Luc Frean Max Chitty Adam Gray Shannon Matthews Seb Ellis

J Trinder, Religious Education

The annual Mock Magistrates trial competition, run by the Citizenship Foundation took place at Guildford Magistrates Court on 14 March. Six schools from the South East of England took turns to prosecute and defend the fictional Pat Taylor, on trial for theft, in an authentic setting and under the guidance of a team of legal professionals.

The scheme is a fantastic opportunity for students to challenge themselves and develop a variety of important skills including team work, research and public speaking. Standing in a court room and trying a case in a competitive setting against some bright and confident opponents, the Woking High School team were at all times a credit to the school.

In addition, the students were given the opportunity to visit the court cells and ask questions of the staff, have a look at a prisoner transport vehicle and meet a police dog handler with her Belgian Malinois. Finally, there was a question-and-answer session with some high profile legal professionals including a high court judge, a barrister and the governor of a prison.

Out of the six schools present, only one went through to the next round and unfortunately Woking High School

Mock Magistrates

Mock MagistratesEnglish Intervention Programme

Woking High

School Computing

Department became

the Coding Hub for

The University of

Surrey as part of

our long term plan

to move towards

further developing

programming

and computing at the school. This Hub offers a higher

level coding and programming training to our students

by members of the Computing Department from the

university. In addition, schools from North-West Surrey

will be trained in how to use various programming

languages, such as Python, and an introduction to

Robotics using Raspberry Pi’s, Arduino boards, and a new

addition - the Galileo boards by Intel.

A Afana, Computing

The Key Stage 3 English intervention programmes have been building momentum during recent weeks.

Every week a small group of dedicated Year 10 students works with a number of Year 8s who require specific intervention for reading and writing skills. The Year 10s have led sessions based upon the skills they need to become successful learners at Key Stage 4. The atmosphere in the room has been one of focused, academic collaboration with all involved taking value from the sessions. The Year 8 students have displayed terrific progress and have embraced the support provided by their mentors, whilst the older students have flourished in their role as leaders and are using this programme to secure their own knowledge, gain credit for their Duke of Edinburgh awards and add value to the school. The programme is shortly to be rolled out, in a similar format, to Year 7 students.

Meanwhile, the Year 9 intervention programme has taken a different path. A small group of students meet once a cycle with both the Head of English and Head of Year 9 to discuss their current reading habits. These sessions have proved to be engaging and interesting.

S Govey, Head of English

Coding Hub English Intervention Programme

7

Space Week

Solar Eclipse SATRO Problem Solving Challenge

Congratulations to Matthew Tweed, Jannah Elgendy, Asad

Farooqi, Thomas Ivory-Bray, Sohum Sen, Dominic Tweed,

Michael Harding, Keshav Rao and James Underwood who

represented Woking High School at the Surrey SATRO

problem solving challenge heats in February. They

competed against teams from a number of other schools

to design and build a gravity-powered roundabout for polo

mints. The solutions from both teams were ingenious. The

Key Stage 3 team did particularly well, coming second

in their age group and so winning a place in the finals at

Charterhouse School later this term.

H Gallagher, Head of Science

To mark World Space Week on 4 -10 October 2014,

assemblies included an exciting demonstration of rocket

power. Students learned about the many challenges

surrounding the launch of satellites and the issues

caused by space junk. Students were invited to lunchtime

enhancement sessions in the Science department, to find

out more about the Physics of Space.

National Science and Engineering Week ran from 9 -13

March, and was also marked by assemblies. Students found

out about the partial Solar Eclipse on Friday 20 March

and how to view it safely, and were invited to come up to

the Science department on that day for help constructing

a solar eclipse viewer. They also learnt about Pi Day on

Saturday 14 March 2015. On this day, if you write the date

in the American format, at exactly 9.26 and 53 seconds, the

date and time will be the first 10 digits of Pi!

H Bujok, Science

SATRO Problem Solving Challenge

Space Week Solar Eclipse



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French Exchange 2015

On 3 March, thirteen students and two staff set off for a

week’s exchange trip to our partner school in the heart of

Paris, ‘Le Collège Jacques Decour’.

Having travelled to Paris on the Eurostar, we arrived at the

Gare du Nord and walked for fifteen minutes to get to the

school, where we were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd

of French students and a delightful array of drinks and

biscuits to welcome us to France.

During our stay, we spent a morning in the French

school, where students noticed the importance attached

to learning foreign languages in general and English

in particular. They observed the high standards of

presentation that students have in their work and the

diligent attitude that many of their exchange partners have

towards their studies.

On the Thursday and Friday, we took the opportunity

to visit some of the cultural sites of Paris, including the

Eiffel Tower, the Musée d’Orsay and the Château de

Versailles. We also went on a boat cruise on the Bateaux

Parisiens which allowed us to take in many historic

monuments and learn more about the history of this great

city. We took a stroll past the impressive Louvre museum,

with its giant pyramid of glass sitting amidst the imposing

18th century buildings on the right-bank of the River

Seine. Later, we saw some of the street artists perform

outside the Pompidou Centre and a few enjoyed having a

caricature drawing done.

French Exchange 2015Students spent the weekend ‘en famille’ with their French

hosts, where they were able to experience many aspects

of French life, including the priority of family meal

times and the wide variety of cultural interests, including

theatre, cinema and literature.

Our students returned to London on Monday with a fresh

appreciation of the benefits of learning French and many

had fallen in love with Paris, an entrancing city to which

they hope to return as soon as they can.

We very much look forward to welcoming our exchange

partners when they return to Woking High School in May,

when we hope to give them a proper British welcome and

allow them to appreciate the cultural delights of London

and Woking!

R Webster, Head of Modern Foreign Languages

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As part of our WWI centenary commemorations, two Year

10 students and one member of staff have participated

in a four day visit to the Flanders battlefields. The tour,

organized through Equity and the Institute of Education,

enabled students to carry out research into World War I

with the support of experts, access to historical archives,

and visits to six cemeteries. The lives and experiences

of local soldiers were tracked by the students as they

explored what war was like for them.

The impact of the First World War was felt acutely

by the students when they saw the rows of graves

and particularly when they found the graves of local

servicemen. Walking in the footsteps of the soldiers, who

fought in the Battle of the Somme, was also a poignant

moment. The two students are keen to honour and respect

the men, who fought for the country, and are going to

lead a range of projects, including organising a memorial,

during the Summer Term. Year 9 students are looking

This term students from Years 7, 8 and 10 have been

spending the end of their school week creating some tasty

dishes.

Year 7 and 8 have been creating winter warmer style

meals including chicken pie, minestrone soup and

chocolate brownies. Year 10 have been making traditional

meals from around Europe such as Spanish paella,

Hungarian goulash and Swedish meatballs.

All students have found the after school club to be fun and

valuable. They have all been able to learn and practice key

skills in the kitchen which will support them later in life.

Many of the students have made new friends through the

club and have gained lots of confidence!

During the summer term I will be launching a four

week course for Years 7-10 to make a selection of fruity

desserts. The recipes will include cheesecakes and pastry

tarts.

I hope to see you there!

J Fear, Technology

Special Centenary Battlefields Tour

Cookery Club

forward to the annual Woking High School visit to the

battlefields which will take place in both May and July.

If you are from the area and have relatives who fought in

WWI, please get in touch as the students would love to

hear your story.

R Porcheret, English

Special Centenary Battlefields TourCookery Club



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The cast, directed by Mrs Selmes, was headed up by

Eleanor Gravette as Calamity Jane, Michael Fox as Wild

Bill Hickock, Hannah Pucci as Katie Brown and Hans

Hilder as Lieutenant Danny Gilmore. This classic love

story was presented beautifully by the four leads and

ably supported by the featured players: Sophie Russell

in her cameo as the inimitable Adelaide Adams, Phoebe

Dunham as the all-singing, all-dancing Francis Fryer,

David Sugden as the ‘fizzy as a sarsaparilla’ saloon

keeper, Henry Miller, Izzy Bostock as Susan, Jamie Jones

as Doc Pierce, Jodie Moffatt as Joe, Maya Keynes as

Hank, Lauren Finney as Pete, Gemma as the Colonel of

Fort Scully and Jack Gale as Rattlesnake. The supporting

chorus were wonderful and have been some of the very

best young actors we have worked with.

As always we were ably supported by Mr Smee, Mr

Griffiths and the Technical Advice Group who provided

excellent sound, light and staging for the show.

The show demanded a huge commitment from students

and staff. The time and energy required to stage a show is

considerable. Thanks to all those who participated; every

contribution was essential and much appreciated.

10

Calamity JaneOur annual production - Calamity Jane - played to

packed houses just before half term. The story of the

rambunctious, sharpshooting cowgirl is one made famous

by Doris Day and it is from this inspiration that we began

our own special Calamity Jane.

It was a show performed with great energy and

enthusiasm by all the cast and it captured beautifully both

the romance and the humour of the original tale and added

something of the flavour of the Old West.

With a nod to frontier life, the cast were dressed by Rev.

Chrissie Lacey and the costume team as saloon girls,

cowhands and gamblers. Nerf guns were adapted by Mr

Smee and added to the theme of the wild west.

The music by Sammy Fain gave us several firm favourites

such as ‘The Deadwood Stage’ and ‘The Black Hills of

Dakota’ as well as the unforgettable ‘My Secret Love’.

The orchestra, all in matching cowboy outfits, played

wonderfully, conducted as always by Mr Goodwin. The

score is a full one with very little time between musical

numbers keeping them very busy from start to finish.

The choreography was led by Phoebe Dunham who

devised and developed all the routines. She also showed

us her own particular skills in her tap dance for ‘Everyone

complains about the weather’.

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Calamity Jane

CAST

Calamity Jane Eleanor Gravette

Wild’ Bill Hickock Michael Fox

Katie Brown Hannah Pucci

Danny Gilmartin Hans Hilder

Francis Fryer Phoebe Dunham

Henry Miller David Sugden

Susan Miller Izzy Bostock

Adelaide Adams Sophie Russell

Doc Pierce Jamie Jones

Rattlesnake Jack Gale

Pete Lauren Finney

Hank Maya Keynes

Joe Jodie Moffatt

CHORUS

Year 10 Joshua Boothroyd

Year 8 Gemma Lees,

Ella Shankla,

Nuria Gomez,

Lucinda Joos,

Harriet Pringle

Year 7 Tamsin Andrews,

Jazzlyn Saunders,

Rachel Garbett,

Amy Morton,

Gurpreet Dhoot,

Hannah Sheldon,

Keira Purchase,

Saffron Chambers-Randell

ORCHESTRA

Reed 1 Paul Best

Reed 2 Ben Puttock

Reed 3 Ellen Steinbach

Reed 4 Grace Stubbington

Clarinet 1 Rachel Lovelace

Clarinet 2 Aidan Gale

1st Trumpet Adam Best

2nd Trumpet Matthew Hill

1st Trombone Alex McLean

2nd Trombone Andrew Lumb

Trombone (Bass) James Hardacre

Drum Kit Sam Fox

Piano Fiona Godden (Surrey Arts)

1st Violin Miss Dixon

2nd Violin Miss Marris

Bassoon Anna Kozlowska

Bass Guitar Mr Turner

T.A.G.

Mark Savage

Linus Fuge

Atifah Abdullahi

Vivienne Mathews

Nicola Gilbert

Stella Eyers

James Barber

Thomas Mills

Daniel Copper

N Selmes, Head of Drama and S Goodwin,

Director of Musical Performance

COSTUMES

Lucy Fortescue

Annabel Griffiths



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12

Joint Concert

On 17 March, we welcomed military musicians from

The Band of the Royal Logistic Corps. Located at The

Princess Royal Barracks near Camberley, this local band

had visited us on numerous occasions before, the last

time being in 2011. The Director of Music, Captain Craig

Bywater agreed to bring his musicians to work alongside

our own Windband and choir, in a collaboration which

turned out to be an amazing concert, attended by parents,

Governors and members of the local community.

The visit commenced with a short careers presentation

to a select number of Year 10 and 11 musicians by the

Corps of Army Music Recruiting Team. This informative

presentation highlighted the potential career progression

for an army musician and the varied roles they could play

within the organisation. In the afternoon all musical forces

gathered in the hall to rehearse the challenging selection

of music in preparation for the concert.

At 7pm, with the hall packed to capacity, the musicians

of the massed bands struck up with the rhythmic Spanish

dance, Malaguena. An America flavour developed

throughout much of the concert with arrangements by

artists such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Frank

Sinatra and Leonard Bernstein. The School Choir,

`Vocalise’ joined the band to perform two numbers from

Stage Musicals. The haunting classic `Somewhere’ from

West Side Story contrasted nicely with the mixture of

songs from Schönberg’s Les Miserables, which provided

a brief musical journey to Europe and the French

Revolution. Both choral interludes spotlighted some of

our most outstanding vocalists, including Sophie Russell,

Gabriella Ferlita, Hannah Pucci and Elizabeth Kozlowska

from Year 11, with many others from all year groups. Other

features, most noticeably, included a trombone section of

eight; all amazing in their rendition of Cole Porter’s jazz

standard, `You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To’. Well

done to the Woking High School trombones of James

Hardacre, Andrew Lumb and Alex McLean. American

Composer Stephen Bulla’s composition `Declaration

for Trumpet’ provided an opportunity for Woking High

School to demonstrate another talented young man, Year

10 student, Matthew Hill who played the trumpet solo with

great dexterity and received much applause.

Spectacular Concert at Woking High School with The Band of The Royal Logistic Corps

In the second half, The RLC Big band was a particular

treat for all. Duke Ellington hit `Caravan’ and Glen

Miller’s `Tuxedo Junction’ was authentic in style with

some well-crafted improvisation, leading the audience

to their feet to dance and clap along to the infectious

rhythms. The finale, ‘Into the Light’ was a truly

compelling performance to end the concert. American

composer, Jay Bocook, structured this one-movement

work in two main sections, one reflective and one soaring

and optimistic. This provided the biggest challenge of the

day to all performers, but one which paid off following

the rehearsals.

We are extremely grateful to the Royal Logistic Corps

band for gifting our young students with the opportunity

of working with such professional military musicians. The

concert was free of charge, but we did raise a generous

sum through our collection at the end, with donations

that will be shared between The Corps of Army Music

Trust Fund (which provides financial support to ex-

army musicians) and our own Windband and Music

Performance Fund. The concert was a truly remarkable

evening of music which our students and audience will

remember for years to come.

S Goodwin, Director of Music Performance.

Stephen Moore Year 8 with the RLC Director of Music Cptn C Bywater

13

Media Visits to Woking CollegeFilm Festival

The 9th annual Film Festival took place in February to

showcase a range of entries across all year groups with

an incredible turnout from Year 9. The Media Department

were highly impressed with the calibre of the students’

work. Daily screenings took place over three days and

students could vote for their favourite films across several

categories. In the Golden Bunny Awards ceremony the

following winners were announced:

Best Director MATTHEW TWEED

Best Male Actor SAM LEEMING

Best Female Actor ANNA EMSLIE

Best Producer MAX PEMBERTON

Best Comedy “THE BEAST AND THE HERO”

Film FestivalBest Thriller “EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED”

Most Enjoyable “KARATE BOY:

NOT KARATE KID”

Overall Best Film “DRONE ATTACK:

MAX PEMBERTON”

The red carpet has, sadly, been rolled away and the

curtains drawn until next year. Hopefully we will have

another amazing turnout, both in film production and

audience participation at the screenings. Well done to all

the entrants and nominees and a huge congratulations to

the winners!

L Mitchell, Media

In a bid to forge links with Woking College, our Year 10

Media students were fortunate enough to spend a day in

the new film studio at the college. Here, each group was

given the opportunity to plan, film and edit two short films

with the wonderful support and encouragement of Lorna

Herdman (Head of Media Studies at the college) and

some students from the college.

In addition, Year 11 Media Students gave up a couple

of evenings to attend a workshop on how to use the

editing software on the suite of Apple Mac computers at

Woking College. The students were really excited to be

able to work on the apple mac computers and were very

appreciative of the efforts made by Woking College during

the course of our visits. Woking College even took it upon

themselves to professionally edit some footage for the

students and they were able to enjoy the films in advance

of the Film Festival!

Many thanks, again, to Woking College and in particular

to Lorna Herdman!

J Tuson, Head of Media

Media Visits to Woking College



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14

Ski Visit 2015

Every year Woking High School offers a ski visit and

during the last few years the venue has been in Italy.

This year we went to Prato Novoso, a small mountain

town that’s popular with locals and has a perfect view

of the mountainous region. We had three skill groups

made up of 29 students and 4 teachers; the organiser and

most experienced skier Mrs Paterson and Mrs Heller,

accompanied by the two beginners Mr Goosen and Miss

Rouse. We couldn’t have asked for a better group of

teachers.

The first few days were full of falls but there was no

shortage of fun and enjoyment, we couldn’t wait to get

back out on the snow. Off the snow we spent our time

either in the town or in the hotel, which had more than we

could ask for when it came to entertainment and service.

The Woking High School Ski Visit 2015Three great meals a day with a buffet style salad bar at

lunch and dinner, plus a homemade ice cream machine!

‘Prato Novoso’ means snowy meadows, and it certainly

lived up to its name. We had beautiful scenery combined

with great weather which created perfect ski conditions.

You won’t get much better than what we had.

The instructors who taught us in Prato really put the icing

on the cake, I think I can speak for everyone and say that

without the great instructors the visit would have been

very different; funny, playful and helpful yet professional,

the Prato ski school offered us an amazing time.

It is a fantastic visit that everyone should experience!!!

Harry Mitchell, 11I

15

Harry Potter StudiosBletchley Park

The first Day 11 of 2015 involved 14 different activities

and 20 guest speakers. A select group of Year 11s

completed their English Controlled Assessment by

working with Miss Powderly for the day. The other 225

Year 11s worked through a carousel of workshops run by

Farnborough 6th Form lecturers and students giving our

students tasters in their future courses which included

Psychology, Sociology, Graphics, Law and Economics.

Year 10 Duke of Edinburgh students battled with the

rain and completed some basic map and compass work

around the school grounds to help them for their first

expedition. A group of Year 8 students had the opportunity

to work with comic book illustrator Kev Sutherland. He

even drew a character of each of them to take home as a

memento of the day.

On the 18 March, the Computing Department organised

a whole day visit to Bletchley Park for 40 students. This

visit is organised once a year to introduce students to the

history of computing, and how devices and programming

languages have evolved over the years. Students had the

In February our Year 9

Media students had the

excitement and privilege

of attending a Warner Bros

Studio Tour of Harry Potter

World. In addition to the

tour, the students were able to attend a film workshop run

by the studio. Here, they had the opportunity to examine

film sequences with the intention of developing their

understanding of why a director chooses to use different

mise-en-scene to communicate atmosphere, meaning

and narrative. The tour was memorable; awe-inspiring

artefacts, magnificent sets, and brilliant displays of

special-effects technology.

Day 11

Bletchley Park

Year 9 Media Studies Visit to Harry Potter Studios

On 10 February we had a Year 9 and 10 GCSE Media

visit to Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio, where students

got an insight into the world of film production. A group

from Year 7 tackled the dry ski slope at Bracknell with the

remaining students taking part in interhouse sports events.

Year 8s worked with Peer Productions to consider ‘body

image’ and followed up by working in tutor groups.

We look forward to the warmer weather over the next

few Day 11s with many off site visits already booked to

Bletchley Park, the Globe Theatre and Canterbury

M Abbs-Rowe,

Director of Technology - Leadership Team

opportunity to experiment with the very first computer,

built during WWII, and learn more about Enigma

machine, using various old and new programming

languages.

A Afana, Computing

We are already looking forward to next year’s “spell-

binding” visit!

J Tuson, Media



Tel: 01483 888447 Fax: 01483 888448




16

What an exciting year so far for the House Team

at Woking High School – with a wide variety of

competitions, the stand-out one so far has to be ‘Woking

High’s Got Talent’. With over 360 students attending

and over 30 students taking part, the talents on display

were truly superb and the judges had a very difficult

job in deciding the winning act. There were 16 acts in

total including singing, dancing, music, baton twirling

and comedy. The scores were extremely tight but the

winning act was Zaynab Rehman 9G for her amazing

rendition of well-known pop song ‘Salute’ by Little Mix

gaining 500 housepoints for her house – Stephenson. The

runners up were Mia Lansdell and sisters Amy and Ruby

Hamilton who performed an awe-inspiring baton twirling

routine. They gained 100 house points for Faraday and

Stephenson.

Stephenson have been extremely busy collecting house

points and with the whopping 600 housepoints gained at

the Talent Show, they have managed to go top for the first

time this year. Scores are extremely tight between Brunel

and Faraday in second and third place with only 35 points

separating them! Faraday had been trailing at the bottom

all year but have now overtaken last Year’s House Cup

winners, Curie, who currently sit in last place!!

We are a group of over 100 students who actively try to

help support our fellow students. Every form in the school

has a representative and some have over 5! We actively

look reach out to students to help them, or direct them

to where they can find help. Each half term we meet to

discuss our concerns, but we are always looking for ways

to support our community. This term we have started to

wear good citizen badges and bright yellow lanyards,

these people are on the Good Citizen patrol. They have

given up their lunch time to help people So if you have

any questions or concerns and you want to share them and

you see a patrol near you, you can just come up and tell

them and they will try to help as best as they can.

Srikar Rao 8E and Luka Dehnbostel 8A

House News

Who are Good Citizens?

CURRENT SCORES:

1st Stephenson 7581

2nd Brunel 7052

3rd Faraday 7017

4th Curie 6506

The next house event is the Woking High School Charity

Fun Run on 26 March. The winning house will gain 500

housepoints, and this year all money raised will go to our

chosen charity - Woking Hospice. Other events to look

forward to are the Bake Off, the Dance Off and of course

the biggest day in the House Calendar - Sports Day! Good

luck to all who take part - may the best house win!

C Rouse, Head of House System

House NewsGood Citizens

17

We were delighted to welcome Cllr Tony Branagan,

Mayor of Woking, to meet our Young Carers one

lunchtime in February. The students thoroughly enjoyed

the opportunity to talk to Cllr Branagan and eat home-

made scones and jam. Cllr Branagan said that it was

important to be mindful that some young people have

more responsibilities at home beyond their years. He has

been enthusiastic in his support of Woking High School

and especially our Young Carers who are the focus of one

of his chosen Mayoral charities this year.

It has been an exciting year to be involved in supporting

the Mayor’s charities where we have helped in a bucket

collection at Woking Football Club and selling raffle

tickets at the Beer Festival. We recently heard the exciting

news that Barnbrook Sinclair, the Chartered Accountants

in St John’s have raised over £1000 in online donations

for the Young Carers at Woking High School. We are very

grateful to their staff for all their hard work and support.

C Wilkinson, Student Support Officer

Young Carers at Woking High School supported by the Mayor’s Charities.

In the first week of March, Year 7 Citizenship lessons

explored what it means to be British. Students discussed

and debated a range of issues including the definition of

multiculturalism, their own diverse origins and whether

it’s even possible to define “Britishness.”

Students shared their thoughts and ideas about what our

culture means to them and what they value most about

living in modern Britain. Some of them agreed to go

home and research their own surnames and share this with

their classmates later in the week.

In Citizenship across the rest of the school, students were

discussing how everyone interprets things in a different

light, including “that dress”! Year 9 students looked at

planning for the future and Year 10 students explored

diverse families.

E Williams, Citizenship Co-ordinator

Year 7 Citizenship – What does it mean to be British?

Students named human rights as central to British values – along with drinking tea and putting up with bad weather.

Year 7 CitizenshipYoung Carers



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18

I am writing to ask on behalf

of Young Enterprise (YE)

if any parents might be

interested in getting involved

as advisers or business

mentors and help ignite the

spirit of enterprise in our

young people.

Not only is it a valuable, challenging experience in itself,

but YE experience is also a bankable experience for your

children. Being relevant, it can give alumni an advantage

when applying for jobs; however, YE needs more

volunteer business mentors/advisers urgently.

Each YE company at the school is assigned one adviser

who guides the fledgling company through the academic

year and who attends company meetings, usually held

after school during term time. If you have experience in

business and could possibly spare an hour per week during

term time, the Young Enterprise West Surrey Board would

Young Enterprise Companies at Woking High School - igniting the spirit of enterprise in our young people

be delighted to hear from you.

Business advisers are there in a supporting role only – the

students are responsible for running the companies. They

learn by any mistakes made – and they should have fun

and enjoy running their own company! Business advisers

are definitely not acting as teachers or as the CEO /

Managing Director of the company.

For further information, please contact either Ms Julie

Fear, the centre lead teacher for the Young Enterprise at

Woking High School or me, Robin Smith from the YE

Surrey West Board, by email at smith.robinsmith@gmail.

com or by telephone on 01483 724553 (I have been an

adviser for four years, three of these at Woking High

School).

We hope to hear from you.

Yours sincerely,

Robin Smith,

YE Business Adviser & West Surrey Board Member

On the evening of 4 February, students from the Woking

High School Young Enterprise programme attended the

Y Factor competition at the Royal Grammar School

in Guildford. The event was attended by other Young

Enterprise teams with their advisers from around West

Surrey, as well as local business people and guests.

The competition was a great opportunity for teams to

showcase their products and services, as well as see

what other Young Enterprise companies have achieved.

Furthermore, all teams had the chance of winning cash

prizes based on their product and service stands, website

and an advertisement that was screened in front of all

parties present.

Although Team “Illuminate” did not win any cash prizes

on the evening, they impressed judges and the Mayor of

Woking Cllr Tony Branagan, with their range of T-shirts

and hoodies. One of the judges even purchased a T-shirt

on the evening! Many of the guests commented on how

Team “Illuminate” impress the judges at the Y Factormature and professional the students were. Even more

surprising to the guests was that our students were the

youngest competitors at the Y Factor as most entrants

were at sixth form level.

The evening was a very enjoyable and valuable learning

experience for our students. I am very proud of all of

them for how they represented the school and for all of

their hard work leading up to the competition. Well done!

J Fear, Young Enterprise Centre Lead

Y Factor CompetitionYoung Enterprise Companies

19

Students have commented on how it has been a great opportunity for them to meet and work with new people, as well as learn about investing money and budgeting. The students particularly enjoy competing against other schools where winners can receive recognition and cash prizes for their products and services, marketing and advertising as well as report writing.

Students meet once a week and are given the opportunity to participate in competitions off site.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the Young Enterprise then please see Miss Fear’s assembly for more details about how to apply and be part of this valuable experience.

J Fear, Young Enterprise Centre Lead

An amazing opportunity is available exclusively to all Year 9 students who are interested in working within business or perhaps even owning their own business one day!

The Young Enterprise programme is available at Woking High School and enables students to work in teams to run their own small business whilst overcoming real life challenges faced by those in the industry. Students learn valuable skills such as money management, presentation skills, innovation, team working and communication.

We currently have two teams at Woking High School who have taken part in many competitions across Surrey such as a Dragons Den competition. Team NuZulu provided a school disco to the Year 7s which was extremely profitable and Team Illuminate have been venturing into the world of T-shirt design, with many potential buyers.

Attention all Year 9 Entrepreneurs!

On 24 March, 44 of our students received their Bronze Award at the presentation evening at the HG Wells Suite in Woking.

Conor Bakhuizen Alice Gilbert Molly Neale Avani Bansal Eleanor Gravette Daniel Parkinson Jonathan Bell Thomas Griffiths Hannah Pucci Adam Best Elizabeth Hanger Amelia Riley

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Newsletter 2015Paul Best James Hardacre Megan Rogers Daisy Bradbury Daniel Harwood Ilaria Rosa Elizabeth Campbell Rebecca Higham Emily Stammers Freya Chitty Sarah Hills Claudia Stanley-Stote Samuel Chamberlin Sally Hitchings Lauren Summers Ellen Clark Sally Holcombe Grace Stubbington Lucy Danton Elizabeth Kozlowska Jessica Truman Zara Dieck Rachel Lovelace Ryan Waller George Eke Jessica Mallett Thomas Wallington Agnivesh Foolchand Hannah Marich Daniel Walton Linus Fuge Vivienne Mathews Olivia Woodham

We have 64 students enrolled this year and they have almost completed their expedition training, including a navigation and camp craft day when they learnt how to navigate using a map and compass and cook their lunch on a camping Trangia.

Thank you to all the staff at school who support the Award.

E King, Duke of Edinburgh Co-ordinator

Year 9 EntrepreneursDuke of Edinburgh’s Award



Tel: 01483 888447 Fax: 01483 888448




20

In the last two months the School received news that

we have been ranked 84th in the top 100 sporting State

schools in the country. We are the only school in the

district to rank in the top 100 and one of only four in

Surrey. The list is based on achievement in a range

of national competitions that cover results from 20

different sports and 120 national competitions. This is

a tremendous honour. To see the list please follow the

following link: http://www.schoolsportmag.co.uk/top-100-

sports-schools/4587348675

The highlight of the term to date was winning 3 Team

County Titles at the Surrey Individual Swimming

Championships. Last year, we managed to win one so to

go two better and win both Junior Boys and Intermediate

Boys Titles and then the overall Best Boys School Award

was phenomenal, finishing a head of the likes of Whitgift

and Reeds.

As for current sporting events in school we have been

involved in an incredible number of tournaments and

fixtures and to date have been placed in many of these

competitions.

Boys BasketballThe boys Basketball team has put on a strong show, and

have won 2 out of the 5 District titles on offer. We won

the Year 7 and Year 9 competitions but agonisingly missed

out in the Year 11 final by 2 points to BDB and 1 point in

the Year 10 final to SJB. At County Level the Year 9 and

Year 10 teams have performed well both qualifying for the

Surrey League Play off semi-finals and the Year 10 final of

the County Cup against Carshalton Boys School. The Year

9 team came third in the Surrey Sports Partnership finals

recording 2 wins, 2 draws and a narrow loss.

Girls BasketballThe Year 10 and 11 girls Basketball teams have continued

to do well at both District and County Level. Both teams

have become District Champions and both performed

well in the County Finals with the Year 11 girls losing a

pulsating final to Archbishop Lanfranc by a score line of

28 – 22. Captain Ellen Steinbach has been outstanding all

season and led the team with distinction to a great win in

the English Schools competition against St Peters from

SPORTGuildford who made the last 8 of the Nationals last year.

The Year 10 team led by the supreme shooting of Phoebe

Grant were unlucky to lose their County semi final but

responded in great fashion by beating SJB 20 – 3 to

secure third place. At Key Stage 3 our girls have not been

so dominant but a series of improved performances saw us

finish as Runner Up in the District in Year 7, 8 and 9.

Swimming

At the Surrey Schools Individuals Championships we

achieved amazing success in both team and individual:

Overall Team Placings:

Overall Top Boys School

1st Woking High School

2nd Reeds

3rd Whitgift

Junior Boys (Year 7/8) :

1st Woking High School and Reigate Grammar

Inter Boys (Year 9/10) :

1st Woking High School

Senior Girls (Year 11-13) :

3rd Woking High School

Medal Performances :

Richard Sugden Intermediate Boys 100m

Breaststroke Gold

Oliver Zalaf Junior Boys 200m

Individual Medley Gold

Ewan Smith Intermediate Boys 100m

Freestyle Silver

Danielle Wood Senior Girls 100m

Breaststroke Silver

Olivia Wood Junior Girls 100m

Breaststroke Bronze

Alex Zalaf Intermediate Boys 200m

Individual Medley Bronze

Kirsten Young Intermediate Girls 200m

Individual Medley Bronze

Max Chitty Junior Boy 100m

Butterfly Bronze

21

Following the County Championships 3 of our students

Ewan Smith, Richard Sugden and Oliver Zalaf have

been selected to represent Surrey in the South East Inter

Counties Gala.

At the recent North West Surrey Gala which had

11 Schools competing, we came second behind the

Winners SJB. Out of the 40 individual events we won an

impressive 14 Gold, 7 Silver and 4 Bronze medals.

Overall Results:

1st 374 SJB

2nd 355 Woking High School

3rd 278 Gordon’s

British Schools Biathlon FinalsFollowing the qualifying events that have taken over

the whole of Britain we are pleased to announce that 13

students from Woking High School have qualified for the

British Schools Finals to be held at the Olympic Park on

the 28 / 29 March.

The 13 students include: Fraser Tattersdill, Alex Zalaf,

Ewan Smith, Richard Sugden, Robert Faulkner, Joseph

Jakubait, Matthew Danton, Rory Smith, Oliver Zalaf,

Max Chitty, Eerik Cockin, Olivia Wood and Kirsten

Young. Many of our students ranked extremely highly and

we wish them well and hope for more national successes.

Girls FootballThe Under 14 girls have led the way and became joint

District 6-a-side Champions. They are also through to

the District and County Cup Semi-Finals where they will

play Winston Churchill and Fullbrook respectively. The

outstanding players for this age group have been Naomi

Jaenicke, Jasmine Paterson, Melissa Anders, Haleemah

Rashid and Georgina Wicks.

Boys FootballThe boys football teams have been extremely busy with

fixtures for both A and B teams and various 7-a-side

tournaments. Without doubt the stand-out team have

been the Year 9s who are through to the County Cup

semi final following an excellent 4 – 2 win against Oxted

in the quarter final. The team has been built on a solid

foundation with Luke Elliott in goal and the defensive trio

of Max Petters, Callum West and Adam Flynn. The boys

have a home semi-final against either Whitgift or Richard

Challoner.

Sport



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22

Cross CountryIn Cross Country two of our Year 11 students have been

selected for Surrey and Sally Hitchings ran for Surrey

in a South East Inter Counties match. Adam Tolefree

who was unable to compete in this match due to injury

will represent Surrey in the televised English Schools

Championship in Witton Country Park, Blackburn,

Lancashire on Saturday 14 March. This followed

excellent performances by the pair of them at the County

Championships in Reigate in January, where Adam was

unlucky to finish out of the medals gaining 4th place.

NetballThe Year 10 team performed particularly well at the

District Tournament finishing second after winning six

games, drawing one and losing just once against the

eventual winners Gordon’s. The Year 8 team won the

District League after winning all their matches (including

beating Salesians 31 – 2) but lost a nail biting District

Tournament semi-final on golden goal to Gordon’s.

Both Year 8 and Year 10 teams have qualified for the

Surrey Partnership Finals where they were runner up and

champions last year.

J Justice, Director of Sport

During this spring term we have continued to build our

relationship with Surrey University. Twenty Year 10

students spent an informative day at the University on 28

January where we had a tour of some of the university’s

accommodation, met current students and learned about

the importance of developing transferable skills. On 5

February forty Year 9 students attended the Surrey Skills

Festival. We spent an exciting afternoon visiting lots of

different stands where colleges, employers and training

This term some of our most academically able students

in Years 10 and 11 have benefited from opportunities

provided by our local schools and colleges. On 9 March

a group of Year 10 students visited Gordon’s School to

hear a talk by Dr. Jonathan Padley, Widening Participation

Officer for Churchill College Cambridge. He introduced

the students to Cambridge University and explained what

they look for in competitive applicants.

On 25 March a group of Year 11 students visited Woking

College to hear a talk by the Widening Participation and

Recruitment Officer from Brighton and Sussex Medical

University of Surrey

Local Opportunities Encourage our Students to Aim High

providers were promoting the opportunities they have

available to young people. Fourteen Year 7 students

attended the University on 11 March where we took part

in a full campus tour and learnt about what it would be

like to study at university. Finally on 25 March Year 10

students were able to take part in an exciting Law taster

day at the University. We look forward to more visits to

come.

H Addison, Assistant Student Support Officer

School. Dr Sam Wickham spoke about why students

might choose medicine as a career and explained what

they need to consider to make a successful application to

medical school. He also discussed the particular course

structure and learning methods used at Brighton and

Sussex Medical School.

We are delighted to be building up increasingly strong

links with local schools and colleges and to have the

chance take advantage of these excellent opportunities.

E Williams, Potential High Achievers Co-ordinator

University of SurreySport

23

cost to you. It only takes a few minutes to sign up and if you download the toolbar or app, Give as You Live will do the rest. Every little we can raise brings us a step closer to funding the AstroTurf. The link to our page can be found here https://www.giveasyoulive.com/join/fowhs

Once again we’d like to remind you about the Prize Club giving parents and carers the opportunity to enter a termly lottery. Subscriptions to the Prize Club are £5 per month collected termly and all information can be found on the FOWHS page of the school website or by contacting us directly.

Our next meeting is on 19 May at 7pm. The FOWHS are always delighted to welcome new members – if you’re unable to attend meetings but would like to help support our fundraising activities, or you’d like to find out more information about the Prize Club or Give as You Live, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you!

Sarah Flaherty, Secretary Friends of Woking High School

Last month, the Friends of Woking High School met for early morning coffee and croissants and we were delighted to have new members join us. The minutes of our meeting and a lot more information about our activities can be found on our webpage on the school website http://www.wokinghigh.surrey.sch.uk/Friends-of-Woking-High.

Each term the FOWHS donates money to individual departments to fund extras: musical instruments; games; dictionaries; young carer activities and attendance awards. This term we are hoping to do something different and contribute towards a covered outside space that students can use during break and lunch times. This is the area where we are hoping to position the shelter and an impression of what it could look like. It is something the students have requested so we are delighted to be able to help fund the initiative.

We are also proud to be able to support fundraising activities for the provision of the school’s new AstroTurf. The FOWHS have made the first donation of £10,000 and we are now looking for innovative ways to raise additional money and will send out more information in the near future to let you know how you will be able to join in. In the meantime if you have ideas please let us know at the FOWHS email address below.

Last year, the FOWHS set up a Give as You Live page. For all online purchases through the high street’s favourite retailers, a percentage is donated to the school at no extra

The Friends of Woking High School

Before

After

Aiming HighThe Friends of Woking High School

The Woking Bikeathon will take place on Sunday 10 May. Individuals and groups are encouraged to take part in what is a fun day

out for everyone with the knowledge that the money raised will help those in need throughout the borough.

The Bikeathon will start in Woking Park at 10:00, with two routes available to riders, a short route of approx 13 miles and a long route of approx 28 miles.

For the second year running The Woking Kids’ Bikeathon will also take place in Woking Park. Starting at 11:00, this will give younger children the chance to be involved by following a short course around the Park.

The Woking BikeathonThe Young Carers at Woking High School will benefit from this event as one of the Mayor’s charities.

The Entry Fee is: Children £10 but on the day it will be £15 Adults £15 but on the day it will be £25.

The entry fees include a rider’s pack including route maps. Entry forms and Sponsorship forms are available at www.wokingbikeathon.co.uk. Alternatively for more information call Terry Smith on 01483 762832.

C Wilkinson, Student Support Officer

The Woking Bikeathon



Tel: 01483 888447 Fax: 01483 888448




24

Noticeboard

Please could we remind you all to park safely in and around

the school, by respecting the parking signs and restrictions,

and not parking on the yellow zig-zag lines on Morton Road.

Please can we also request that you are courteous to local

residents and avoid parking over driveway entrances.

We have recently launched two new Twitter accounts where you can ‘follow’ us for the latest news @

WokingHigh and sporting achievements @WokingHighSport. Our Latin department has an already

well-established Twitter following @LatinWHS, and we will be looking to explore the use of Twitter

more widely via other departments in the future.

A Phipps, Communications Manager

Parking

Follow us on Twitter

Summer Term 13 April – 21 July 2015

Half Term 25 May – 29 May 2015

INSET Day 19 June 2015

Term Dates

Woking High School are supporting Woking & Sam Beare

Hospices as our major charity for this academic year.

There have been a number of charity events throughout

the term in aid of the Woking Hospice including

Valentine’s day card making, student collections and

cake sales, however the focal point undoubtedly was the

Surrey Half Marathon run on Sunday 8 March. The run

saw 58 entries from Team Woking High which included

members of staff and a few family members who donned

the purple vest of Woking Hospice and ran the streets of

Woking at a variety of speeds! Almost

every department was represented, both

teaching and support staff, with many

participants ranging from trainee teachers,

class teachers, Heads of Departments,

Heads of Year and members of the Senior

Leadership Team and the Headteacher.

The staff room on the Monday morning

after the race was the scene for many

aching and weary bodies, but the sense of

achievement and pride was undeniable.

The race not only united staff across all

parts of the school but, more importantly,

raised almost £20,000 for Woking

Hospice. All of the runners would like to

Charity of the Year

Charity of the Year

thank everybody who not only supported them on the day,

but donated so generously to this fantastic cause. It is still

not too late to donate and show your support for Woking

Hospice and the 58 members of team Woking High who

ran a combined total of 760 miles at www.justgiving.com/

account/teams/teamwokinghigh/.

With thanks to the Woking News and Mail photographer,

Tony Charter for the photograph below.

M Scott, Assistant Headteacher

headteacher’s letter spring 2015...

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