W ilnecote H igh School

Newsletter
July 2012 Issue 103

Dear Parents/Carers As we near the end of another school year I would like to thank all parents/carers, students and staff for their commitment, positive attitude and ongoing support for the school. I wish you all an enjoyable and relaxing summer break. As always this term has been exciting and busy with lots of students involved in a wide range of activities. The main purpose of this newsletter is to celebrate these activities and successes and on the following pages you will read about a range of these. Mr Tonks

Olympic Torch Relay

Saturday 30 June will live long in the memory! At 7.30am 50 students, who had been nominated by their peers for displaying Olympic and Paralympic values, met at school to begin a Wilnecote Family Olympic Torch Relay. Accompanied by students and parents of our family of schools, the chosen 50 began a walk to the Castle Grounds to see the Olympic Torch as it was displayed from the bandstand. On the way to the Castle the students took it in turns to carry the specially commissioned torches; these were designed by Mia Clifford (Y7) and Penny Casey (Y9) and were the winners of a competition which was open to KS3 students. Each of the 50 students carried the torch with immense pride and the group took their very privileged places beneath the bandstand as they awaited the arrival of the torch. In addition to those chosen students, Wilnecote High School was well represented in the Amington Band and local choirs which performed as the torch came into view. It passed the Wilnecote Family Banner, designed by a team made up of Wilnecote High School, Wilnecote Junior, Dosthill and Heathfield students and was greeted by a huge cheer as it was displayed to the waiting thousands. Quite an emotional day a very proud day to be British . and a very proud day to belong to the Wilnecote family.
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The Performing Arts and Arts Festival

Our annual 2 week Arts Festival continues to be one of the main events in our school calendar. As always the range and quality of performance was stunning. Some of the highlights included:Thanks and well done to all the staff and students involved.

Lichfield Mysteries (May Bank Holiday)

Students from Y9 worked with Miss Bache and Miss McGreavy to produce a performance based on the play Creation. Taking a Victorian Circus theme to the piece, they created a hugely successful work which was performed as part of Lichfield Mysteries in Lichfield Cathedral on Sunday 5th May and Monday 7th May. Also as part of the two day Lichfield Mysteries some students from Y10, 11 & 13 performed in a dance piece, choreographed by Laura Evans (artist in residence at Ingestre Hall). This dance was based on the seven deadly sins and was performed as part of Doomsday which closed the Mysteries.

Brother
Some of our Key Stage three boys worked with Mark Anderson from Infuse Dance Company, on a piece called Brother that explores the complex and often difficult relationship between two brothers - there is a very thin line between love and hate. This piece was first performed as part of Boys Dancing Live on Friday 29th June at Warwick Arts Centre. On this evening, boys from Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcester and Warwickshire took to the stage bringing energy, inventiveness and skill to the final live show of the three year project Boys Dancing. This was a People Dancing programme funded by the Legacy Trust UK, Arts Council West Midlands and Advantage West Midlands, and is part of the Cultural Olympiad. Our boys later performed the piece as part of our Arts Festival at Arts Spectacular and the Film Premiere. Well done boys; Brother is a stunning piece, executed beautifully by you all!

Highly Sprung
Selected students have worked with Mark Worth of Highly Sprung Theatre to create a piece of drama based on life in contemporary China The students performed a snippet of the piece at Arts Spectacular and it was very powerful. They will also perform this piece at Belgrade Theatre in Coventry alongside professionals and other amateurs on Tuesday 17th July.

Music Concert
On the evening of Tuesday 3rd July, the music department brought together performances from year 10 GCSE students. The evening was a great success with our new choir Voce making its debut performance

Dark Water
One of six films commissioned as part of The Quiet Man Suite, Dark Water has brought together the skills, ideas and enthusiasm of boys from four Staffordshire schools under the close direction of Mark Anderson from Infuse Dance Company. It looks at fear. What are you most afraid of? For one boy, fear of water leads him to battle his inner demons as they take him into darker, unknown waters. Luke Barnhurst takes the central character in this short film that also stars dancers from Dosthill Primary School, St Michaels Primary School, Lichfield, Sir Graham Balfour High School, Stafford and Wilnecote High School. Another fantastic dance project; well-done boys you did us proud! Film Premiere On Thursday 12th July Governors and the Mayor attended an evening to celebrate the release of Dark Water. The audience arrived on the red carpet for two showings of the film and were entertained by Wilnecote High School resident Dance Companies and the Key Stage Three piece Brother. Alongside our students two professional dancers Luke Sheppard and Luke Kitney performed. The evening was fabulous, and a privilege to host such an event.

Arts Spectacular
On Wednesday 11th July the performing arts department put on Arts Spectacular. This was an evening which celebrated curriculum and extra-curricular work. An altogether diverse evening in which all students involved did wonderfully.

Play in a Day
Based this year on Toad of Toad Hall, the Performing Arts Faculty (supported by year 10 students from the Creative and Media Diploma) worked with pupils from Dosthill Primary School, Wilnecote Juniors and Manor Primary School to produce Toads Day of Fun. The performance was excellent and the whole process was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Dance

Companies on Tour

This year Wilnecote High School Dance Companies visited schools, Birmingham Bull Ring, Lichfield Cathedral and also performed on home ground as part of the Film Premiere. Mostly year 10 students this year worked entirely in their own time to create four pieces made up of an Alice in Wonderland Hip Hop Dance, a dance based on the British armed forces, a May Pole dance complete with red, white and blue May Pole and finally an all British Lindy Hop to complete our all British theme this year. The dance department, as always, are hugely proud of the students involved.

Yr 10 Geography Fieldtrip to Carding Mill Valley Shropshire

On Monday 25th June 57 students visited Carding Mill Valley in Shropshire to collect data for their GCSE Geography Controlled Assessment. The students walked up the river valley towards the rivers source and on their way back to the coach they collected data from 5 sites. The students had to measure the width of the river channel and depth of the river every five cm's at each site. Students also measured the velocity of the river at each site. In addition to this students drew field sketches at each site to identify natural features and any human influences affecting the river and its valley. On their return to school the students have now started their write up of the data. The weather was fantastic, the students were superbly behaved and enjoyed the day out in the beautiful SUNNY Shropshire. We didnt lose any students but we did lose one shoe!

Lost property
Over the term the school has collected a huge amount of lost property including various keys and a mobile phone, as well as various items of PE kit and school sweatshirts. PLEASE, PLEASE make sure that your childs name is marked on ALL items of school wear so that we can endeavour to return the garments to their rightful owners. Mrs Taylor

Staff Farewells Term Dates 2012-13

Autumn Term 2012 Term Starts Term Starts INSET DAY Term Term Ends 4 Sept 2012 (New Y7 only) th 5 Sept 2012 (rest of school) th 26 October 2012 th nd 29 Oct 2 Nov 2012 st 21 Dec 2012
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We would like to say a fond farewell to members of staff who are leaving us this year Mrs Flynn - English Mr Hellyer - RE/Humanities Mrs Key - D&T/Textiles Miss McGuckian - Dance Mrs Collins - TA Mrs Evans - Community Liaison Officer Mr Bee - Exams Officer Mrs Burgon - Receptionist Miss Key - Cover Supervisor Mr Stoddart - D&T Technician We wish them all the very best for the future in whatever endeavours they wish to pursue.

Spring Term 2013 Term Starts Tern Term Ends 7 Jan 2013 th nd 18 22 Feb 2013 th 28 March 2013
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Summer Term 2013 Term Starts INSET DAY May Day Term Term Ends 15 April 2013 rd 3 May 2013 th 6 May 2013 th st 27 31 May 2013 th 19 July 2013
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Y8 Gifted and Talented Challenge Day

On Wednesday July 4 , 12 Gifted and Talented students from Year 8 participated in the Tamworth Schools challenge day at Belgrave High School. The students participated in a team competition working collaboratively with students from across the Tamworth Schools to develop their Personal Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS). Their task was to Create a Band, this included writing a song, developing a website, creating a CD and printing TShirts amongst many over tasks. In order to succeed they had to develop communication, teamwork and organisational skills as well as working independently and creatively. The students enjoyed the range of activities and the opportunity to make new friends from across Tamworth.
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Field Trip to Llandudno

On July 2nd - 5th, 22 GCSE Geography students went on the annual fieldtrip to Llandudno. Students carried out data collection at Aber Falls River, a tourism survey, a fossil hunt, visited the Electric Mountain in Llanberis and studied Glacial features in Snowdonia National Park. We managed to avoid most of the wet weather and even managed several volleyball matches on the beach/great Orme! Thanks to all our students for making the trip so memorable. Mrs Smyth

Beth Shalom
In the summer term Year 9 students have been studying the holocaust in both History and RE. On 19th June, 90 students visited the national holocaust memorial at Beth Shalom near Nottingham. During the morning the students had the opportunity to learn about the history of the Holocaust in Europe and some students took the opportunity to reflect and pay tribute to those who had died. In the afternoon the students met Steven Mendelsson who told us about his experiences growing up in Nazi Breslau before being evacuated to England on the Kinder Transport. Students then had an opportunity to ask Steven questions they had been preparing throughout the day. The students represented the school well and the school was congratulated by other visiting members of the public for the students response and engagement throughout the day.

Coventry Cathedral
On 22nd June the RE department organised a visit to Coventry Cathedral for 39 GCSE students to support their studies. On the night of 14 November 1940, the city of Coventry was devastated by bombs dropped by the Nazis. The Cathedral burned with the city, having been hit by several bombs. The decision to rebuild the cathedral was taken the morning after its destruction. The students had a guided tour of both the new and old cathedral buildings learning how people in Coventry had decided to build bridges following the conflict in WWII. During the day the students had the opportunity to view the new building from the cathedral tower and participate in workshops based around the themes of conflict, peace and reconciliation. The visit provided the students with the opportunity to ask many intelligent questions which will prove invaluable to their GCSE studies.

Year 11 Leavers Prom

On Friday 29th June the Annual Y11 Prom was held in the Tower Suite at Drayton Manor. 170 Y11 students attended. Upon arrival they were greeted by a large crowd of parents and friends. The procession of students arriving at the Prom was stunning with a range of classic cars, limos and sports cars. The most interesting way of arriving at the prom was a group of lads all on their push scooters, The students were beautifully dressed. The Ladies wore a range of stunning dresses' , whilst the Gentlemen were immaculately dressed in a range of suits. Following a 3 course meal the students danced the evening away in the Tower Suite. The students were a credit to themselves, their parents and their teachers, I am sure they will remember the Prom night for the rest of their lives. Note - Next Years Y11 Prom is booked for Friday 5th July 2013
Official Prom photos can be viewed and ordered at www.colexphotography.co.uk Album Name: Wilnecote 2012 Prom Password: 5553 Or to view photos the school took go to www.photoboxgallery.com/whsphotos password: prom1995

Football Season 2012/2013

Sports News
Multi Sports
Wilnecote fielded 3 competitive year groups in the annual district multi sports competitions this summer term. First to compete in their respective multi sports competitions were the Year 7 team which was hosted at Rawlett High School. There was mixed success with the indoor tennis team of Brad Eddington and Jacob Astiss coming 3rd in their respective competition, the Ultimate Frizbee team had to endure a cancelled competition due to rain and the dodgeball team made a gallant effort to achieve 2nd in their event. However it was the duo of Rhys Williams and Lewis Krause who took centre stage as they cruised through their singles and doubles table tennis competition winning both events without dropping a game. The Year 9 event was held at LFAA and this proved to be another success with the Year 9 team winning the overall competition. The Benchball team playing a varied version of the game made the runners up spot with the Ultimate Frisbee team achieving a gallant 3rd spot. It was again the table tennis team together with the tug-o-war teams that took the plaudits as they coasted to first place victories against their opposition schools. The final multi sports event was the Year 8 competition held at Wilnecote High School and again was an overall victory for the Wilnecote team. Victories in the water polo, tug-o-war and orienteering event were complimented with a fine team display in the Ultimate competition which finally secured yet another district multi sports title for the school.

With Euro 2012 finished, football thoughts now turn to the Great Britain Olympic football team endeavours as well as the new season at Wilnecote High School. As per every year Wilnecote is always ambitious at securing silverware and winning league and tournament titles. This year will be no exception with boys football teams entered in the English Schools County Cup and district 6-a-side tournaments next season. Expectations are high with the Year 11 team also bidding to win the Fazeley Shield something last achieved by the Year 11 team back in 2007! Regular after school training slots will be in place for the start of the new season and accomplished and new players are all welcome to the training sessions. The provisional management teams for the 2012/2013 season are as follows; Year 7 - Mr Simpson Year 8 - Mr Sewell Year 9 - Mr Evans Year 10 - Mr Herbert Year 11 - Mr Mason

Athletics
On the back of the winter success of the indoor athletics performances in reaching the county finals, Wilnecote produced some further competitive and excellent displays in the KS3 & KS4 annual summer Distinct Athletics competition. All athletes selected competed well and many achieved selection for Tamworth Schools in the county athletics champs held at Stoke earlier in the summer.

Cricket
Due to the poor weather this summer cricket fixtures were reduced to indoor matches with the KS3 team galvanising well to produce some competitive indoor performances. Captained by Kieran Downes and Haydn Briggs the pick of the ties saw the cricket team beat their closest rivals Rawlett in a rearranged indoor fixture which saw Wilnecote bat, bowl and field with maturity and produce a winning performance against arguably the next best school team in Tamworth. With many of the players training with their respective cricket clubs over the winter and with a more pleasant summer in 2013, the cricket team will hopefully secure further impressive wins in some of the outdoor cup fixtures next season.

Sports Leaders
This year 57 year 10 students chose to do the Sports Leaders Award, a nationally recognised qualification in leadership. Once the initial training was completed, the sports leaders started to lead PE sessions at Heathfields Infants School. The leaders took the Year 2 PE lessons, focusing on getting the children moving, playing games, developing their skills and helping them to understand what happens to their bodies when they exercise. The sports leaders also led a number of mini Olympic events. Years 4 & 5 from Wilnecote Juniors and the Yr 2's from Heathfields all came to the High School for their competition and had a fantastic time! The sports leaders helped out at Wilnecote Junior Sports day and at Dosthill's KS1 sports day. All students worked hard and demonstrated excellent leadership skills. They will receive their awards in the new school year.

Recycled Diamond Jubilee Garden

To commemorate the Queens Diamond Jubilee a group of Year 7 girls designed and planted a royal garden. Recycled Pasta King Pots were used to create a central feature of a cascade of red, white and blue flowers. Year 7 Team: Diane Russell R12, Emma Tatlow G1, Laura Williamson H2, Emma Joines R4, Sophie Thomas G6 & Becky Earle G11. Year 8 girls Sophie Lee, Claire Bell and Kelly Millward provided additional planting and are now busy fund raising and creating a garden for Rose House

Leon Russell P3, Andy Li H8, Lewis Krause P8, Daniel Brown P3 & Ashley Fontanella R2

Olympic Healthy Eating Garden

Year 7 boys have dug, planted and nurtured a range of fruit and vegetables in the garden. We are looking forward to a crop of peas, sweet corn, onions, radish, tomatoes and strawberries. One job we haven't had to do is water! James Parker, Project Manager, said this garden is important as the message to all of us (not just Olympians) is everyone should try to eat more good foods especially vegetables and fruits. James also wants to thank Mr Stoddart who helped with technical aspects of the garden design.

Library News
This year some of the Year 8 students took part in a 'Speed Dating' event in the library to encourage students to read books they wouldn't normally choose. It was a success and we hope to repeat the event in the new school year. Once again the Summer Reading Challenge is being held in the library for any student that wishes to take part. Parents are also invited to take part in the sixBOOK Challenge which is also running through the summer, and can join when their child starts the Reading Challenge. I would like to remind any staff and students to return any outstanding books before we break up for the summer. On a final note we said goodbye to our School Librarian Chris Cammerer when she retired at the end of last term. She will be missed! Mrs South has now taken up this role full time.

Uniform
We are reaching the time of year when parents begin to think about replacing their childs uniform for the new school year. It is, therefore, appropriate to share with you a list of our uniform requirements. School polo shirt School sweatshirt or school cardigan Plain black full length straight leg trousers or plain black knee length skirt Plain black leather/leather style shoes Any outdoor coats should be in keeping with the school uniform, ie navy blue or black.

These are very simple requirements and all students are expected to wear school uniform at all times. Students who fail to adhere to these simple requirements will, wherever possible, be given an item of school uniform to wear for the day. Alternatively, parents may be contacted and asked to bring in correct uniform for such students. If no suitable solution is possible, then the student will be placed in isolation for the day. Persistent failure to comply with these requirements will result in sanctions being applied in line with school policy. Additional items of clothing, such as hoodies and tracksuit tops, have no place in our school. Such items will be confiscated and returned at the end of the school day and sanctions for failure to comply with our uniform requirements will be applied. Most uniform is available through normal clothing suppliers with sweatshirt, cardigans and polo shirts only via Buxton and Bonnett. Please be aware that some shops (including Buxton & Bonnett) may label clothing as school uniform but unless it complies with our uniform requirements, particularly plain black full length straight leg trousers or black knee length skirt, then it will NOT be acceptable for school. We would like to remind students and parents that if a student has PE or dance in the first lesson of the day, they should wear their school uniform and change into their kit at school. Equally, if a student has PE or dance in the last lesson of the day, they are required to change into school uniform to travel/walk home from school. All of our consultations with parents have confirmed that they want a school uniform and expect students to wear it. I would like to commend students who always come to school in full uniform and thank their parents for supporting us.

WHS Leisure Centre Information See the link below on the School Website for Leisure Centre Information http://www.wilnecote-high.staffs.sch.uk/leisure-centre