Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to the Wilnecote Warbler 2023 Autumn term first edition.

The purpose of the Warbler is to share with our community the great work that takes place behind the school gates that may go unnoticed by a wider audience.

Already in the first half term, I have been amazed by the hive of activity at Wilnecote and the Warbler will do its best to convey our pride in our students as they involve themselves in the wider opportunities offered here. I hope this publication captures the spirit of Wilnecote and the “extra mile” our staff go to provide the very best education for our young people.

The half term has been extremely busy with our Duke of Edinburgh Silver award students completing their expedition in September. I was especially proud of the students that supported our Open evening who confidently shared what they were demonstrating with visiting parents. Our new Junior Senior Leadership team played a crucial part in the success of this evening by acting as tour guides and have supported visits to local Primary schools. There have been live performances in assemblies with music concerts, please take the time to listen to Freya Cheshire and her performance of Stay and some brilliant artwork from our key stage 3 students displayed in our library, based on the theme of Halloween. I continue to be in awe of the talents of our students, their creativity and confidence.

Mr Foskett

Headteacher

As heavy rucksack after heavy rucksack arrived at school on Friday morning, there could only be one meaning: DofE. This time, it was the real thing: the Silver qualifying expedition.

Although this experienced group were well-versed in DofE expeditions, the unfamiliar terrain of the Wye Valley awaited. The students were both excited and nervous about the three days ahead.

A motorway service stop en route ensured students were full of energy (or should that say McDonald's) when they arrived at the start point in Ross-on-Wye. Navigating their way out of the town and into some very challenging terrain, their map reading skills were tested immediately, as well as their teamwork and leadership.

Kearne Bridge was the ideal place to recharge the batteries as groups stopped for lunch next to the beautiful River Wye. Navigation became easier at this point, but there was still a distance to cover before reaching camp.

As the sun started to lower in the sky, the groups entered camp and ended up eating in the dark. The mood wasn't dampened by the later-than-planned arrival, which is more than can be said for the firewood!!

Saturday morning arrived before they knew it, and the groups were packing up, making breakfast, and enjoying the glorious location of the Biblins Youth Campsite. Groups departed, crossing the famous Biblins Bridge and making their way to the Kymin. An extremely physically demanding walk, but once again students were rewarded with beautiful views.

After lunch, students entered the Forest of Dean and navigated their way to camp. This time, arriving in daylight, students enjoyed a slightly more relaxing and warmer evening. Marshmallows were shared and games were played, all while enjoying the campfire.

Sunday morning saw Mother Nature throwing a spanner in the works: rain! Packing away soggy tents is never much fun, but the resilience of this group of students meant that morale remained high and they were soon ready to set off on their final day of walking. Precise navigation and yet another challenging route was once again rewarded with one of the nicest views of the Forest of Dean, from Symonds Yat Rock. Rucksacks were downed momentarily, and snacks were enjoyed. The end was within touching distance now.

Staff made their way to the final checkpoint (I cannot confirm or deny that there was coffee cake, millionaire shortbread, or Bakewell slices involved at this point...). Two very tired groups of students arrived in good time. The Silver qualifying expedition was completed, successfully.

From my point of view, we could not ask for a better group of students to see progress from Bronze to Silver. Each and every one of them is a credit to themselves. The Duke of Edinburgh Award develops skills required for life. What is often missed off is the fact that the memories made while completing the award also last a lifetime.

Well done, Silver Team, we are extremely proud of you all.

Mr. Croydon, Mrs. Ager & Mr. Savage

Dear Parent/Carer,

I have really enjoyed my first half term at Wilnecote and I am starting to appreciate what a great school this is and its importance within the local community. From the outset I shared with students and staff my core values that will provide the foundations for our school. I will constantly strive to ensure all are proud of our school, ambitious for every one of our students, whilst sharing respectful and kind relationships. I have been thoroughly impressed with our students’ start to the new academic year. In just the first eight weeks of school, students have earned nearly two hundred thousand VP rewards. There have been one hundred and sixty positive phone calls home made and the first eight headteacher commendations have been awarded. If you have not already, please log in to Go4Schools to keep up to date with how your child is doing. This can provide a stimulus to start conversations about how their day has gone.

This half term I have focused on establishing the high expectations of behaviour which provide the strongest foundations for success at secondary school. I am grateful for the level of parental support I have received in ensuring our students take pride in their school uniform. I have been forthright in sharing my expectations of school uniform from the outset. Visitors to the school have noticed the difference this term and this has impacted on raised expectations across behaviour and attendance.

Compliance with school rules and good behaviour are underpinned with compliance of adopting the school uniform policy. I would much rather spend my time commending students on their hard work than give constant reminders of what is expected of all students to a limited few that are reluctant to comply. Throughout the last eight weeks we have reinforced our requirements and given many reminders to a small minority that continue wear trainers instead of shoes or wear very short skirts, roll their skirt up so it is worn short, or wear leggings instead of trousers with a pocket. We have been generous, allowing time for adaptations to be made and now expect all students to comply from the start of next half term. Those not meeting our uniform expectations will be offered suitable, clean replacements until they can provide their own. If you are in any doubt as to our uniform policy, please consult our website via the link below.

As the weather starts to become colder and wetter, I would be grateful if you could ensure your child has an outdoor coat and a bag large enough for it to be stored in during the day. Coats have to be taken off inside, but we want our students to make the most of the opportunities to get fresh air at break and lunch and arrive to school dry and ready to learn. You would be surprised by how many students on rainy days wear a coat and carry their blazer to school. School branded jumpers have risen in popularity, especially as the winter comes, but these should be an addition to their blazer, not a replacement.

I am really looking forward to the new half term. I want to ensure our school provides the very best education for your child and your support with the above will allow greater focus to be on our core purpose of teaching and learning and the progress your child is making. Next term we will start a review of our key stage 4 curriculum to evaluate if we can better meet the needs of our students and further promote academic success.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your children a fantastic half-term break.

As we entered the last week of half-term, our assemblies turned their attention to the incredible talent we have in our GCSE music classes.

Students performed for all year groups, showcasing their skills on piano, guitar, drums, and vocals.

Mr Hyden, Head of Music, commented, "It was wonderful to see the students perform in front of their peers. The reaction of the students watching was fantastic when they realised how much talent we have within the school."

We can't wait to see our students perform at the annual Christmas Concert at the end of the year, where parents will be able to witness the talent we have as we all get into the festive spirit.

Until Covid and lockdown struck, the MFL faculty, together with our German counterparts , ran a very successful exchange with our partner school in Bad Laasphe. There will be parents reading this who took part in our school exchange, visiting their exchange partners in Bad Laasphe and hosting them in their homes here in Tamworth.

Mrs. Whiffin’s first time of leading the exchange was back in February 2000. However, the German exchange had been a regular fixture on the school calendar for many years before then. A former headteacher of the Wilnecote School, Philip Prettyman, was instrumental in setting up the exchange programme. He was a leading light of the town twinning association and as part of this civic twinning, partnered our school with the Gymnasium (grammar school) in our twin town of Bad Laasphe. The German exchange has been running for well over 30 years and during this time firm friendships have been formed and have endured over the years. Bad Laasphe is a beautiful rural small town in the Lahn valley in state of Nordrhein-Westfalen and has been Tamworth’s twin town since 1980.

And all being well the German Exchange will be back as a regular event, hopefully later this academic year. We are currently in the process of agreeing dates of when German students will be coming here and when we will be going there.

The principle of the exchange is to forge links with our partner school and to provide students with an immersive cultural experience. Our students are paired up with similarly aged and like-minded students from our partner school.

Whilst the German students are here, they stay with their partner and their families, attend their lessons with them, take part in a joint day visit and work

collaboratively on a day long project. This arrangement is reciprocal so we travel to Bad Laasphe and it is the turn of the German families to host.

As soon as we have agreed the dates with our teaching colleagues in Bad Laasphe, we will be sure to share all of the relevant information with students and parents and hopefully make the exchange as successful and rewarding to all involved as it used to be in years past.

MFL Faculty

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.

Thursday 5th October was National Poetry Day and to celebrate this day, Key Stage 3 students were invited to enter a “Write a Haiku” competition. They were given the choice of writing a haiku about either school, family or Autumn. They had to follow the recognized structure of a haiku , which has three lines with 5, 7, 5 syllables for each line respectively. It is not as easy as it seems to create such a short poem. It is tricky to convey all that you want in terms of feelings and imagery when you are limited to the number of syllables you can use. Thank you to all of you who entered.

Congratulations go to Eva M-S in Year 7 as runner up with her haiku about Autumn. The overall winner with a powerful haiku called “The Beat” was Corey E in Year 9.

Well done to both of you! - Marg Whiffin - Literacy Lead

Mrs Glover has this week welcomed a group of students into the library to become part of the Student Librarian Team. All students were invited to apply for the role which involves assisting Mrs Glover in the library during lunchtime. Duties include issuing books, re-stocking shelves and keeping the library tidy. Rota's have been issued, lunch queue passes handed out and duties explained. As the library is open every lunchtime, the Student Librarians will play a pivotal role in ensuring the library space is a calm and friendly environment.

Well done to all applicants!

Our new Junior Leadership Team Harry, Saskia, Tammy, Poppy, Finley, Elliot and Lauren have had a very busy start to the term. They support our Year 6 Open Evening, showing families around the school and sharing their experience with them. They also visited two local primary schools alongside our headteacher Mr Foskett to meet students and their families and answer any questions they may have about The Wilnecote School.

They have also been working with our Senior Leadership Team on projects to improve student’s experiences here at The Wilnecote School. They have been looking at everything from how to support Year 11 students through their exams to rewards and value points.

September saw our first Value Points Focus Week where students were encouraged to achieve as many Value Points as they could by consistently doing the right thing. Congratulations to the top five students (one from each year group) for being the highest awardee in their respective year.

Each student received a certificate and a sweet treat. Look out for the next focus in the next issue of The Warbler.

For homework, students in Years 7,8 and 9 were asked to celebrate Halloween by recreating a character of their choice from a Tim Burton film. They were welcomed to use any media and technique that related to Art and Design Technology, and encouraged to try something new.

Many outcomes produced were imaginative and well-executed, and the ADT faculty is very proud of the effort invested by students and thank parents and carers at home that helped and supported in some way.

A selection of this work is now displayed in the school library, should you wish to visit one evening and take a look.

Girls Football

We have girls teams entered into the Staffordshire County Cup competition for the first time in over a decade. The Under 14 team started their campaign away against Erasmus Darwin. Wilnecote dominated for large periods of the game but with a goal just cleared off the line, a goal disallowed for offside and quite a few near misses the game went into extra time. The Under 14 girls were well-deserved 2-1 winners.

The Under 13 girls team travelled to King Edwards Lichfield for their first game. The first half finished 0-0 but King Edwards proved too strong in the second half. The majority of the team had never represented the school before and can be very proud of how they performed.

Boys Football

The Year 7 football team have started fantastically in the Staffordshire County cup campaign with a 3-0 win over Paulet High School. With it being the Year 7 boys’ first football fixture to represent the school, We are really pleased with the application and dedication of the lads to compete for the school’s badge. Year 7 were victorious through hard work and a lot of pressure on their opponents from the start and lasted until the end of the game. The boys are now eagerly waiting for the next round draw, can the year 7 pupils make it two wins out of two?

Netball

The netball season all started with games at The Rawlett school. The Year 10/11 team were beaten by a very good Rawlett side but performed well especially missing players, playing with 6 players for most of the match going down to 5 in the last quarter. The resilience and determination of the team was amazing. The Year 9 team came from 4-1 down in the first quarter to win by one. A high level of teamwork and leadership was on display with the girls swapping positions, some playing out of their preferred position, in order for the team to be successful.

Starting on Monday, 6th November 2023, The Wilnecote School will welcome a new catering provider.

ABM has secured the contract following a rigorous and competitive tendering process.

This development is excellent news for the school, as it will lead to various positive changes. These changes will encompass the reintroduction of additional surveys, refurbishment of the existing service areas, an enhanced menu, increased staff, and more.

Students will experience the effects of these improvements from the very first day, and we eagerly anticipate the superior service provided by a company in which we have complete confidence.

Payment methods will remain unchanged, and all existing balances will be transferred.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding these exciting improvements, please reach out via email to mstevenson@wilnecotehighschool.org.

Dear Parents/Carers

At The Wilnecote School, we understand that the rising cost of living is having a negative impact on the budgets of our families. We are beginning to see the impact of the crisis in the way our food provision service is used. We have every sympathy with those adversely affected by rising prices across food, petrol and energy bills, but the school is unable to sustain increased levels of debt incurred by some users of our restaurant. Simply put, if debts are incurred and not remedied it is the school budget which pays for them. This means that money which should be spent on the education of our students through the delivery of the curriculum, or to provide extracurricular activities, or to improve facilities, is used to pay for these individual debts. We are sure all parents/carers will agree that this is not acceptable or fair.

Therefore, we now have a strict DEBT policy relating to the school meal service.

Parents/carers of those children NOT in receipt of free school meals, must pay in advance for the school meals using their online Parent Pay account. Students will not routinely be allowed to access the food service if they do not have credit in their account. We understand that on rare occasions oversights can occur. Please be reassured that, if payment is genuinely forgotten, the school may grant a debt allowance of £3.00. However, this must be paid off before any further meal is provided. Whilst that debt of £3 remains, students will be unable to use the restaurant and therefore parents/carers must provide a packed lunch. In a case when the payment of the debt is not received nor a packed lunch provided, the office will phone the parent to ask them to remedy the situation by either placing credit on the account or making alternative arrangements.

For those children who are in receipt of Free School Meals, it is important to realise that students who are entitled to Free School Meals have a set daily budget of £2.41. This meal must be taken on the day. If the allowance is not used it is not rolled over to the following day. If the daily amount of £2.41 is exceeded, this becomes a debt which will need to be paid back.

If you believe your child(ren) may qualify for entitlement to Free School Meals, please contact office@wilnecotehighschool.org for more details. This allowance is a statutory right, and it is important that you use it if you qualify. We will help and support you all we can with your application. Please be aware that, although the policy has been applied from after the Easter holiday in 2023, any current outstanding debt is included within it and therefore any students with a debt on an account will be unable to use the restaurant until all the full outstanding debt is cleared..

Any long-term debt on an account may impact upon access to and/or attendance at to other non-curricular school activities and events which have a charge. e.g., ski trip, prom etc.

We hope that by implementing this policy we are able to help our parents/carers (and students) manage their school dinner money more effectively (particularly given the current cost of living crisis) and at the same time ensure that all money in the school budget is used appropriately for the benefit of all.

If you have any concerns about how the policy will affect you or your family, please do not hesitate to contact the school using office@winecotehighschool.org.

Thank you for your co-operation in the matter and please be reassured that no student with a genuine need on any given day will be disadvantaged by this.

Yours faithfully

M Stevenson - Operations and Facilities Manager

L. Bingham - Senior Financial Manager