Welcome

Welcome to the final Warbler of the Autumn Term. As we look forward to Christmas, I wanted to send our community a message in keeping with this time of year.

The Wilnecote School is a true community school. We look out for and after each other, and the wider community, all year round but Christmas gives us a chance to reflect on this and provide even greater support for those in need. It is all the more challenging for many at the moment given the difficult economic times in which we live. Our foodbank appeal closed this week and we welcomed the donations of non-perishable food which will make a big difference to individuals and families in Tamworth over the festive season and beyond. Grateful thanks are extended to those amongst you who have given so generously. Let's make our community stronger this Christmas.

Wishing you and your families a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Sian Hartle

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Last Day of Term

Friday 16th December 12:30pm

Term Starts

Tuesday 3rd January 8:30am

Parents' Evening

Year 9 - Thursday 26th January,

Year 11 - Thursday 9th February,

Year 10 - Thursday 2nd March,

Year 8 - Thursday 16th March,

Year 7 - Thursday 30th March

Sportshall Athletics County Finalists 2023

its that time of year again when The Wilnecote School sports hall athletes take on the challenge of the District Championships to fight for the right to wear the district vest at the county finals.

Due to the impact of the pandemic our year 7 students have little or no experience in this activity, so much of the focus for our Year 8 and Year 9 athletes has been in sharing their expertise.

The Year 7 team were clearly nervous, last-minute changes to the team sheet due to illness added to the tension. The competition was tight, really tight, with the lead passing from one school to another almost event by event. Both the girl's and boy's teams mastered their turns on the rebound boards and, despite a dropped baton and a face plant starfish fall, took track victory overall.

The field events proved trickier, and under pressure, the year 7’s had to dig deep and hold their nerve. It was this determination that allowed several of them to produce season-best performances.

The boy's team just missed out on the medal placings but were an absolute credit to the school as illness and absence had decimated their team, so several athletes had to pick up extra events. The girl's team held onto the silver medal position just pipped by three points to the gold medal and the Championship title.

The year 8’s however dominated their Championships from the first event; it’s clear that their focus and support of the year 7 teams had allowed them to shake off the nerves early on, allowing them to relax into the events they have trained so hard to master. Every student produced their best performance and stood out for their talent and skill.

Whilst the boy's competition was extremely tight at the top of the leader board, it was The Wilnecote School boys that came away with the District title. The girl’s competition was much more open; the technique and fitness of The Wilnecote School were far superior and saw them smash the league taking the Championship title by over 30 points.

So, it’s a day out in Stoke for all the year 8’s; with another chance to take a medal at the County Finals in the new year…

Well done to every athlete; it was truly an absolute pleasure to see your hard work pay off!

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Year 10 & 11 Girls PHSE

As part of our PSHE programme here in school (known as The Wilnecote WAY) we welcomed a local singer and songwriter into school. Her name is Belle and she is a young lady who has been the victim of cyber-bullying and poor mental health during her early teenage years. Belle has performed some of her songs to all of the year 10 and 11 girls in school today and then spoken to them about her own personal experiences with unwanted attention, cyber-bullying, issues with social media and the impact on her own mental health. The key messages of her songs and her talk are always to be yourself and the three R's: Reach out, report and record. Belle offered students the chance to ask her questions about her music or her talk and gave them all a flyer with a QR code where she can be contacted.

The feedback from students has been really positive and along with the message she brought to our students, Belle's singing was fantastic. Please ask your daughter to share the QR code with you and have a look at her music.

As is always the case with this kind of topic, you may find your daughter has more questions than usual. We are here to support you with any matters as a school. Please do encourage your daughter to talk with an adult she trusts in school or contact us yourself if you need to.

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German Map Challenge

Last half term year 7 students learned about the "Tag der Deutschen Einheit". This is an important day in the German calendar and marks when Germany became reunited after the fall of communism in East Germany.

Over half term, students were set the challenge to create a map of the united Germany, showing its federal states and key cities using everyday items. We had some fabulous entries. Photos showed maps made from cutlery, leaves, Halloween decorations, pebbles, cooked spaghetti, Lego bricks, socks , pens and makeup items to name but a few.

From this amazing selection, four maps were selected. So many congratulations to our three runners-up. These are Sophie G, Alex C and Riley M. The overall winner was Kieron P. All four students were also awarded 20 VPs!

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Christmas Concert 2022

After a few years absence due to COVID restrictions, the Performing Arts department was delighted to reinstate the annual Christmas Concert to the school calendar.

The concert not only showcased the amazing performance talents of students from across the years but also enhanced technique and confidence for those studying music at GCSE. It also gave parents, visitors and staff a chance to get into the festive spirit by joining in with some traditional songs and carols whilst indulging in Mince Pies and warming drinks!

Over thirty students took part in the concert, which included readings alongside Christmas tunes ranging from Silent Night, to Winter Wonderland and music from The Snowman to the very traditional White Christmas. The school newly formed Dance Club also performed a festive routine.

Traditional congregational carols were also performed reminding all of the real message of Christmas time.

In all, two concert performances took place – one for local primary schools including a mass sing-a-long to the likes of Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph to the more traditional evening concert for parents and visitors.

The wealth of talent once more delighted audiences and left everyone ready for the big day!

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Go4Schools

The vast majority of parents/carers have now downloaded and are using the Go4Schools App to view VPs and behavioural events.

In school we have also encouraged students to download the app, it will be the students and the parents/carers responsibility to ensure that students attend their detentions preventing any further consequences. Students must check the app before leaving at the end of the school day, keeping in line with our Mobile Phone Policy.

If you are having trouble downloading/logging into Go4Schools then please contact the school via office@wilnecotehighschool.org.

School links

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WORLD CHAMPION!

Amber Gibbons, a year 11 at The Wilnecote School, has been doing karate since the age of 5. At her karate school in Lichfield [aka LSKC] in her 10 years of training she has gone from being a white belt with no championships to a junior black belt with many championships. In total, she has won two world championships and many British opens and English opens. Amber's inspiration to start doing karate was her mom and brother as they started doing it at a young age as well. Her mum also helped her through the hard challenges as well as her Sensei, who has been teaching her all her life.

One of Amber’s hardest experiences was being the only English girl who competed against other competitors from other countries who were a lot stronger than herself. Yet, she persevered and did her best and ended up achieving 4th place in the competition. She has also mentioned that one of her biggest mistakes in karate was “under-estimating an opponent.”

Amber trains once or twice a week as well as teaching other students the Cata technique at LSKC, this is also her greatest strength. Amber's greatest ambition is to progress from a junior black belt to a full black belt.

Surprisingly, Amber prefers working in a team rather than on her own because she feels like she has extra support when and if she makes a mistake or feels like giving up. Amber has said that one of her areas for development is “doing too many things at once.” This makes her feel overwhelmed and non-functioning. Clearly confidence can be an issue for Amber but her love for her sport provides her with self-worth that helps to take away her diffidence. One of the many things at karate that helps Amber de-stress is the bag rounds, punching the bag as hard as she can, something that motivates her to keep going is that she remembers that a championship is up and coming.

Article by – Leila Thompson & Olivia Alexis

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Focus on Science

Mr Blake

Head of Science

Miss Tougue

Science Teacher

Miss Tongue is the newest member of the science department. Year 8 students Josh L-H and Gabrielle A asked her about her background and how she is finding life at Wilnecote.

1. Josh - Tell us about your time at school. Where did you go to school? Which subjects did you study? Did you enjoy school? What did you dislike about school?

So, I went to high school, my high school was Kingsbury High School. Obviously, I did my normal GCSEs there and then I went to Polesworth Sixth Form and I did Biology, World Development and Geography and then I went to Newcastle University, so really, really far up North, three and half hours away from where my parents live. I did animal science there so I’m an animal scientist but obviously I teach Biology here.

I really loved school actually. I don’t know, I don’t think there was anything I disliked about school. When I was at school I spent so much time with my friends because lunchtimes were longer and I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the lessons. I loved doing a test and getting a good mark on it. That’s what I lived for at school.

2. Gabrielle A - Did you enjoy Uni?

I really enjoyed the city and the course. Everyone on my course was really nice and I did the course with my friends so that was really good.

3. Gabrielle A - Why did you choose teaching as a career?

So when I was 16 I worked in an after school club just helping run the after-school club. I Loved running it. I looked after the kids, played games, did their homework when their parents couldn’t pick them up. I really, really enjoyed that and when I went into animal science I thought where do I take it afterwards and I thought back to which jobs I’d had, which jobs I’d enjoyed and that was one of them. So that job made me choose teaching.

4. Josh L-H - How have you used your animal science in teaching?

I wish I was a bit more animal based because there is a lot of human stuff but yeah, I definitely can apply it.

5. Gabrielle A - How has it been so far? What do you like about Wilnecote?

I really love that Wilnecote has such a community feel. I feel like everyone knows everyone. Everyone will say hello in the hallways. I walk past students all the time and they say hello to me and I feel that doesn’t happen with every school. I’ve trained in other schools, and it wasn’t always a happy place. I feel like here everyone here tries to say good morning to you. I feel like the students have a lot of personality. Like, I never have a boring class. I don’t sit there, people will talk to you at Wilnecote and that’s really nice, just the fact they are willing to talk to you or just tell you about their weekend.

It's been really good so far; all my classes I’m really enjoying it. My tutor time I really enjoy.

6. Gabrielle A - What are your ambitions for the future?

In the future I’d really like to go more into behaviour management or pastoral within the school because I really like having a really good working relationship with students. I feel like I‘ve built relationships really quickly here at Wilnecote and I would like to continue those and make sure that people are getting the help they need. Obviously, that won’t come for a few year and I need to get my teaching under my belt first and kind of settle in at the school, but hopefully going into more pastoral

7. Josh L-H - What do you do outside school to relax?

So, my favourite thing is travelling, going visiting. I would say the outdoors. I love the outdoors. Recently me and my boyfriend just climbed Mount Snowden because we just fancied it one weekend. In the summer I love paddle boarding, love going to the beach and swimming. I’m going to New York at Christmas so that’s another massive adventure. I just love exploring new places, whether it's here in England locally just down the road is Cannock Chase. I love going there. Or Wales or New York. I just love adventure!

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BIKEABILITY

On Wednesday the 30th November 18 year 7s took part in bikability level 3 and bikeability fix.

The students cycled around the local area learning more about how to cycle safely on the roads. The instructors were very impressed with the cycling ability and how well all students listened and performed.

Mac received special praise from his instructor who said “Top class riding today, understanding the four core functions and how they were applied to each new situation very well”. Year 7 student Katelyn impressed her instructor with her ability to navigate roundabouts.

Whilst half the group were cycling the other half were inside learning how to fix the common problems that occur. Atanas was very pleased with the fact he managed to fix 3 tyres all by himself. The instructors left happy knowing that the students could both safely ride and fix their bikes

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Wilnecote Library Warm Welcome

The Wilnecote Library is a community library located within The Wilnecote School. The library is run by an amazing and friendly team of volunteers and is currently open Monday and Wednesday 3pm-5.30pm and Saturday 10am-1pm. The library offers free car parking, accessible facilities and a baby changing area. Joining your community library is free and by being a member you can access fiction and non-fiction books for all ages. We also have jigsaws, audio and large print books to choose from and even a book sale shelf. A small 50p charge for a sale book is all we ask, with the money being used to fund other activities.

As the weather turns colder, loneliness and worries about the spiralling cost of living affects many people. The Wilnecote Library would like to extend A Warm Welcome to the community during opening hours. A warm place, a warm drink, others to chat with or somewhere to immerse yourself in a good book all make for a warm and friendly welcome. Please pop in to say hello. Morrisons Marlborough Way Community Champions have very kindly donated some refreshments for us to use – a huge thank you to them for their generosity.

Interested in volunteering? During the course of 2023, we would like to increase our community opening hours, but we can only do this with additional volunteers. Please get in touch with The Wilnecote School if you are interested. A friendly face and a willingness to learn is all that is needed!

I look forward to welcoming you into your community library.

Mrs Julie Glover

Library Manager

The Wilnecote School

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