Wheatley Park School
Terms 3 and 4 Newsletter March 2024
Dear Parents/Carers, Spring is the season of growth and I like to think that Wheatley Park continues to grow in line with our values of Everyone Learning and Everyone Caring. Everyone Caring Since Christmas, we’ve further strengthened everyone’s sense of belonging through an emphasis on warm greetings. Adults greet students warmly on arrival to school, on entry to lessons and around the site. Students, despite some teenage awkwardness, have become much better at returning and initiating these greetings. At the same time, we recognise that warm greetings are only the ‘icing on the cake.’ Caring and respectful behaviour has to be the norm everywhere to generate true belonging. To this end, we’re looking forward to our Diversity Day, the successor to last year’s Culture Day. Families and friends are welcome to join us between 2:00 and 3:30pm on Friday 19th April to visit student-run stalls celebrating the diversity of cultures represented at Wheatley Park. Please complete this brief form in advance if you are able to attend. Everyone Learning Diversity Day demonstrates how students are increasingly learning to develop their leadership skills, whether this is through organising fundraising events like the ever-popular teachers’ karaoke, delivering assemblies (including input on staying safe online and choosing careers this term) or facilitating sports events for local primary schools. And most Mondays, students of all ages and backgrounds have the confidence to join me as ‘special guests’ on our weekly online briefing, broadcasting live to the entire school community. They promote school events, celebrate successes or discuss topics ranging from recycling to Ramadan. Hopefully, the school’s ongoing growth will continue to be apparent in other ways, too, as you enjoy reading about the middle portion of the academic year at Wheatley Park School. Thank you as ever for your support and best wishes for a happy and healthy Easter break. Tim Martin Headteacher
Attendance - Everyone Here, Every Day!
In order to further raise awareness of the importance of good attendance here is the fifth termly update regarding attendance at Wheatley Park this academic year. As mentioned in the first update our individual attendance target for every student is for them to achieve over 95%. This is seen as a minimum with everyone’s goal being 100% attendance each term. I am pleased to report that in the first four weeks of term 4, 74% of students have achieved this target of being here over 95% of the time with Year 8 leading the way with 80% of their cohort being over this target. A special well done to the 52% of students that have been here every day. There are 30 school days in term 5. This equates to 60 sessions (144 lessons) and to achieve over 95% students need to be present for at least 57 of the 60 sessions. Thank you for everything you are doing to support your child to be here and achieve these targets in order to be happy, healthy and successful. Finally, please note: We are considering asking all parents/ carers to inform us of their child’s absence by using only the absence form from September. This would mean the absence phone line would no longer be available. Prior to making this decision we would appreciate your feedback via this brief form. Term 5 finishes on Friday May 24th at 3:00pm with all students returning on Monday 3rd June. Thanks again for your ongoing support. Steve Pearson Deputy Headteacher
In February, Mr Nixon took sixth formers who study A-level computer science to Kellogg College in Oxford. The students were invited, as part of Bletchley Park week, to view a live demonstration of how an Enigma machine was used in the 20th century to scramble top secret messages. The machine was used extensively in the second world war by Nazi Germany within all branches of the German military. During the war British and Polish mathematicians including Alan Turing collaborated to develop techniques to unscramble Nazi communications which gave the Allies a vital advantage in the later stages of the war. The students learned about these techniques at the demonstration, as well as about the people that worked at Bletchley Park during the war, ¾ of whom were women. The machine the students got to interact with was a working original used by the German military in the second world war and now worth approximately £300,000. It featured in the 2014 film The Imitation Game and was used as part of the filming by Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Alan Turing in the film. Mr Nixon commented: “Having studied this area of history in detail during my academic career, I very much enjoyed this rare opportunity to be able to try using the Enigma machine. I was proud of the codebreaking abilities our students demonstrated in the interactive parts of the session and the quality of follow up questions they asked of the presenter. I’m grateful to Kellogg College for facilitating this opportunity for our students.”
Kellogg College Trip
Duke of Edinburgh
This school year we have 139 Year 9s taking part in their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award, 18 Year 10s taking part in their Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award and 7 Year 12s taking part in their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. These students are due to complete their expeditions in the summer terms but in the meantime they have been working hard on their volunteering, physical and skills sections. We are so proud of all they have achieved and all they have given back to their communities. Examples: Ellie (Year 9) has been developing her cooking skills for her skills section of her DofE Bronze Award: Oscar (Year 9) has been working to maintain his village churchyard for his volunteering section of his DofE Bronze Award. Sam (Year 9) has been volunteering at Oxfam superstore for his volunteering section of his DofE Bronze Award. Jack (Year 9) has been supporting younger children at Oxford City Athletics for his volunteering section of his DofE Bronze Award. Annabella (Year 9) has been learning sign language for her skills section of her DofE Bronze Award. Eva (Year 9) has been supporting an elderly neighbour for her volunteering section of her DofE Bronze Award. She has supported them with activities they struggle to complete physically like gardening and cleaning. Aisheh (Year 10) has been improving her running fitness for her physical section of her DofE Silver Award. Oscar (Year 12) has been supporting Year 7 students with their Maths for his volunteering section of his DofE Gold Award.
GCSE Year 10 examples of monoprinting portraits using tissue paper
We have focused this term on reducing plastics in school. At the start of term the catering team have continued to hone their services to reduce plastic waste. As a bid to engage students better in the vegetarian options on the menu we're trying to normalise and promote vegetarian options by listing them first in the menu choices. As a result of this work from the catering team we are seeing many fewer items of plastic packaging around the site as a consequence. A bunch of committed sixth formers and a group of Year 7s and 8s took part in the Great British Spring Clean and prevented 4 very full bags of waste entering the waterways and moat. This is great news. In total so far the 404,291 bags of waste have been collected across the UK during the last week! Students found a crisp packet from 1998 and a pair of sunglasses in the Orchard. Thank you very much to all who took part. To increase our awareness of the local and international environment we ran an assembly on plastics and microplastics. The assembly focused on preventing litter being swept by wind across the site and into the moat and/or local water sources. The problem of litter being in our waterways, is that it breaks down into microplastics, that we then ultimately end up drinking in our drinking water! In Britain 2 billion pieces of plastic are thrown away each week, we produce more plastic waste, per person, than ANY other country apart from the USA! We know that plastic is a genuinely brilliant material, is durable and waterproof in many of its forms as well as being flexible and frankly unlike anything else! But plastics comes from crude oil which takes millions of years to form, and hundreds of years to break down. A plastic sandwich bag thrown away today will still be in the landfill long after we are all gone! Using plastic reduces the Earth’s resources and contributes to climate change. Sadly, we are only just beginning to understand how plastics break down during their lifetime. Plastics give off microscopic particles into the environment and into our bodies in their use and disposal. They can be found everywhere; in the darkest depths of the deepest ocean to the blood in our veins this very second! We eat, drink, and breathe in microplastics everyday! By some estimates, we take in up as much as a credit card's worth of plastic every week! This is one of the reasons why we are working as a school to reduce our consumption and need for disposal as well as carefully disposing of our plastic rubbish. Did you know the average UK household throws away 141 pieces of plastic rubbish into the bin every week! Some tips of reducing plastic consumption are: Carry a reusable bottle Give up gum Carry reusable shopping bags Bars of soap Avoid excessive food packaging - get an unwrapped apple rather than a packet Next term we are launching an Art from Waste competition. We aim to continue to promote awareness of littering and the hazards of plastic waste through this school-wide project. We want everyone to get creative in making a design of a tree (our school emblem the Doom’s day Tree) from rubbish that cannot be recycled. More information on this next term, with prizes for the best entries and showcasing in prominent parts of the school. The Howe Trust Please visit the Howe Trust website https://howetrust.org.uk/ https://howetrust.org.uk/news-events/
Spring News Update from the ECO Group
Sixth Form News cont.
Sixth Form News
Sixth Form Winter Ball - 19th January 2024 On Friday 19th January we were delighted to hold our Sixth Form Winter Ball at the Oxford Belfry Hotel in Milton Common. As you will see from the small sample of photos below, everybody made an effort and looked fabulous! The students were welcomed with a non-alcholic cocktail, followed by a sit down dinner. After that and the handing out of the traditional Winter Ball Awards, which included 'Westy's bestie', 'Most Likely To Have Something Named After Them?' etc. the students took to the dance-floor to crown off the evening in style. Trip to Paris On Saturday 10th February at 4.30am, 50 students and 4 members of staff left Oxford by coach for Paris. After the ferry crossing to Calais and a couple of motorway breaks, we arrived in Paris, where we started our visit straight away. The first thing we did was walking to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysée. We had dinner in a restaurant and carried on to Montparnasse Tower, which is the tallest building in Paris after the Tour Eiffel. There, we reached the Observation Deck via the fastest lift in Europe - even though some students managed to get off on the wrong floor - and we were greeted by a breath-taking night view of Paris from above. We then went to the hotel, and the morning after we made our way to the Stade de France, which is the national stadium of France where the rugby world cup is played and also where the Summer Olympics is taking place. Afterwards we went to central Paris and explored the area around the Louvre and the Centre Pompidou and experienced some French cuisine. In the evening we boarded the Bateaux Parisiens and had a night cruise of the Seine. The following day we made our way to the Eiffel Tower, where we queued for over two hours, only to then find out that there was a strike and we couldn't go up - quite disappointing. To console ourselves we went to McDonalds to drown our sorrow in burgers and chips, before starting our journey back to Oxford. Apart from the Eiffel Tower tour not going to plan, we all had a wonderful time in Paris. Football Match On Wednesday 6th March, our Sixth Form played in a football match against Wallingford School. Both sides put 2 balls into the opposition's goal, with our second coming with the last tick of the ball... unfortunately it was ruled to be offside! Mock Exams All of the Sixth Form have been completing these in March, ahead of their real exams in the summer. We wish them all the very best World Book Day On March 7th we had the pleasure of seeing many students and staff dressing up for World Book Day. A lot of effort went into the outfits, you can judge for yourselves looking at the photos below.
Year 12 enjoyed a residential trip to Margam Park in Southern Wales where we completed fieldwork in a variety of settings including: beach cross-profiles along Three Cliffs Bay Beach; following the River Ilston from source to mouth (resulting in some flooded wellies) and carbon content comparison of the woodlands of Margam Park. Alongside our fieldwork we enjoyed exploring Southern Wales with: local bakeries, beachfront walks/sunsets at Porthcawl and a slightly windswept lunch enjoying the view from Pennard castle (left). Additionally, after dinner we enjoyed evenings of golf at a nearby driving range and walks around Margam Park (once we had the park to ourselves)!
Geography Field Trips
Year 13 visited Brick Lane and the London Docklands in February. Our walk along Brick Lane considered the impact of exogenous factors including evidence of past conflict and riots of the 1970s. Additionally, we saw how graffiti was reflecting the voices and concerns of local people particularly as a response to gentrification (following the ‘Cereal Killer Cafe' riots). Finishing our walk with Spitalfields Market food court, was an excellent choice! We savored a diverse selection of street food, with stalls specialising in dumplings, Jollof and Crumble!
Our afternoon in the London Docklands allowed us to observe the impacts of government led regeneration, we also enjoyed watching some on location BBC filming for upcoming comedy shows and dinner together in the centre of Canary Wharf.
Arts Department News
Year 10 GCSE Drama students went to Southampton Mayflower Theatre in February to watch their exam text: Blood Brothers. The play was outstanding and taught them all about social class and the issue of nature vs nurture along with being able to see how a production works as a director, designer and actor. In January Kerry Frampton the artistic director from Splendid Production ran a whole day workshop with Year 12 and 13 A level Drama students. They explode physicality and story telling the Splendid way! Year 7 Art - Students have produced some lovely homework this term, including these great pieces of artwork in response to that artist Angie Lewin. Students had to create their own versions of the artist's work and produced really creative outcomes. In lessons, Year 7 have been studying texture and learning about the artist Yellena James. Students made their own watercolour backgrounds, created shell and coral designs, transferred these using a monoprint technique and then added colouring pencil and fineliner over the top. It was lovely to see students confidently using a range of techniques and producing such detailed outcomes. Year 8 Art - Year 8 students have produced some excellent homework. Here are some great examples of a pattern homework. Students have to explore different pattern designs within artists' work and then apply these to their own animal outline. Some really amazing and original responses. Art club - During Monday lunchtimes, Art Club have been learning new techniques all based on different artists. We have studied Antony Gormley’s ‘Field’ clay sculptures, My Dog Sighs’ tin cans and Louie Jover’s graphic designs. Here are a few of the exciting pieces of work that have been produced. Next we move onto acrylic painting!
The Addams Family! What a wonderful production we had of The Addams Family this year! Wheatley Park once again produced a show that showcased our wonderful students' talents as they told the audience about Wednesday Addams’ love for Lucas - a normal everyday man! The production captured the horror and comedy of their journey of love! The show sold out on all 4 nights. Thank you for supporting us. Year 10 GCSE Drama students went to Southampton Mayflower theatre in February to watch their exam text Blood Brothers. The play was outstanding and taught them all about social class and the issue of nature vs nurture along with being able to see how a production works as a director, designer and actor. In January Kerry Frampton the artistic director from Splendid Production ran a whole day workshop with year 12 and 13 A level Drama students. They explode physicality and story telling the Splendid way! Year 7 Art - Students have produced some lovely homework this term, including these great pieces of artwork in response to that artist Angie Lewin. Students had to create their own versions of the artist's work and produced really creative outcomes. In lessons, Year 7 have been studying texture and learning about the artist Yellena James. Students made their own watercolour backgrounds, created shell and coral designs, transferred these using a monoprint technique and then added colouring pencil and fineliner over the top. It was lovely to see students confidently using a range of techniques and producing such detailed outcomes. Year 8 Art -Year 8 students have produced some excellent homework. Here are some great examples of a pattern homework. Students have to explore different pattern designs within artists' work and then apply these to their own animal outline. Some really amazing and original responses. Art club - During Monday lunchtimes, Art Club have been learning new techniques all based on different artists. We have studied Antony Gormley’s ‘Field’ clay sculptures, My Dog Sighs’ tin cans and Louie Jover’s graphic designs. Here are a few of the exciting pieces of work that have been produced. Next we move onto acrylic painting!
Arts Department News cont.
Year 9 - Year 9 art students have been working on their 3D clay pot, based on the artist Grayson Perry as well as social issue themes. Students carefully designed their pot and are now at the stage of completing their clay response. Next stages are painting them white and adding in all the coloured details carefully in paint. We can’t wait to see the outcomes. Year 12 - Over the last term our A Level art students have been learning about oil painting, how colours advance and recede and how artists use oil paint effectively. Students tried some different application techniques, including the use of palette knives, before creating research boards and their own large painting. These were based on developments of either landscape, portrait or still life. The work looks fantastic and shows such a great drive to improve and learn new skills. We can’t wait to see where they take this as we move through the year.
Battlefields Trip to Ypres, Belgium and France
Lydia Hinks, Year 9 I think that the Battlefields Trip was a very moving and mind opening experience. Socially, the trip was great for spending time and having fun with our friends. The hotel we stayed at was a great place to relax after a tiring day out. The overall highlight for me was the Notre Dame de Lorette memorial. It really visualised for me how many people the war affected and the memory of it will stay with me. Another striking place we visited were the fields where the Battle of the Somme was fought. Walking in the footsteps of the soldiers who fought there, once more brought the war into tragic reality. Overall, the trip was one of the moments in my life that I will remember, and I would highly recommend it to others. Anonymous, Year 9 The Battlefields Trip was an amazing experience, being with your friends and exploring sites, well explained by friendly tour guides in a really engaging way. An interesting site I visited was the Vimy memorial, a colossal and elegant structure with the names of lost Canadian soldiers engraved in the walls. It was shocking to realise how many soldiers were killed and not found during the war. It really makes me thankful to not have lived back then, realising how many lives were lost. It was humbling to know, and pay respects to, the sheer amount of people who sacrificed their lives for the future generations. Another site I really enjoyed exploring was the Hooge Crater Museum, a museum filled with relics from the war and stunning wax sculptures which really made you feel like you were there. On top of these, we went to a few cemeteries, where we learnt how respected these soldiers were, as all of the graves were the same height, colour, and shape. No one was different, everyone was treated equally. The travelling experience was very pleasant with a spacious, clean, coach. The stay at the hotel was quite enjoyable, with a nice outdoors space, a games area with a football table, ping-pong table, vending machines, and a boxing machine. As well as this, the rooms we were staying in were very large and the beds were nice and comfortable. We ate at different restaurants throughout the trip, with delicious food and a nice environment. Finally, the chocolate shopping in Ypres was great with amazing and delicious belgian chocolate. Overall, I would recommend this trip to anyone who wants to have a fun time with their friends, while expanding their knowledge on history, and having a great time. Evie Davies, Year 10 The most interesting place for me was the Langemark German cemetery, which was the resting place of thousands of German soldiers from the First World War, which Hitler commanded to be left untouched during World War Two because there were soldiers from the first war that he fought himself. The journey didn’t actually seem too long. Most people listened to music and/or slept on the coach journeys. The ferry journey went really quickly and there were lots of different areas on the ferry to spend the journey, including an arcade. The accommodation was really nice, we didn’t spend that much time there because we had really full days of travelling and visiting sites, but there was lots of space to spend your time when you were there, either in your room or in our social space. Overall, the trip was really memorable. Antonia Warner and Isla Pearson, Year 10 The Battlefields Trip was a fun and new experience for everyone, unlike any other opportunity you will get at school. We went to multiple memorials and cemeteries where we reflected and learnt about war stories and individual soldiers, learning about different war experiences. Other sites we visited were museums where you could go through replica trenches and could see real weapons and actual uniforms soldiers had previously worn. As well as this, we had a sufficient amount of social time including getting time at the hotel to use arcade machines and go into each other's rooms to chill before lights out, as well as free time to go around Ypres to explore the town and go into shops on our own accord to buy what we wanted. We were then taken to a belgian chocolate shop. Overall, the Battlefields Trip was a great experience.
Battlefields Trip to Ypres,
Battlefields Trip
Netball Years 7-10 have all been involved in South Oxfordshire league games this term and travelled to host schools to represent WPS. We have been proud of their performance throughout and at times resilience was needed. Always playing with a smile, with teamwork building in each game, we have seen our school values shown all along. League results will be out in term 5. Sports Hall Athletics Interform Term 3 saw KS3 compete in their indoor athletics competition, completing track and field events to earn points for their tutor group. There were some fantastic individual performances and we were proud to see students taking on challenges and pushing themselves outside their comfort zone. Individual performances are always worth recognising but everyone’s performance was what ultimately made a difference to the results, so a massive well done for all those taking part creating the following results; Y7 - Winners 7CLA, Runners up LCA Y8 - Winners 8CCA, Runners up SFO Y9 - Winners 9RRA, Runners up JHO Football Leagues The boys' football league began in Term 3 Year 7 played in a Vale of the White Horse indoor football tournament. Wheatley Park were one of six teams competing. The boys played very well throughout the tournament, finishing the group stages unbeaten. They came up against a strong Fitzharry's team in the semifinals and narrowly lost 2-1. The squad was Malakai Strong, Zach Rayner, Steven Justice, Ben Day, Adam Bourne, Lucas Crossley, William Barker. Year 8 played King Alfred’s in the first round of the Vale cup and won. MOTM was Freddie Busby. They got a bye in the second round and then in the quarter finals the opposition pulled out, taking them through to the semi-finals vs St Birinus. They played a league fixture away to MECE. Debutant Harry Roberts played excellently and picked up the MOTM award. Freddie Busby also scored 4 goals. They continued their league games against Icknield and Gillots unfortunately losing both matches: 3-0 and 1-0. The year 8s headed into the Vale cup semi final in a positive mood and looking to banish the demons of a 4-1 loss at the hands of St Birinus back in Year 7. With no recognised striker, they lined up with an audacious false 9 formation. This worked really well in the first half, with Henry dropping deep to create an extra midfielder. It allowed Wheatley to control possession and create some chances. This led to chance for Krishan which he scored emphatically but was ruled out for offside and another chance for Priestly who dragged his shot narrowly wide of the right post. With a strong back four leading the way defensively, this was disrupted halfway through the first half with Harry Roberts having to come off injured for the sentinel that is Josh Lamb. The first half ended with Wheatley on the front foot and playing thier best football all year. The second half started in the same vein, with Wheatley on the front foot. St Birinus scored within the first 10 minutes due to a mistake in a pass back to the defence which they capitalised on, rounded the GK and slid the ball into the net to make it 1-0. Wheatley continued to press and create chances but were undone by St Birinus making the most of their opportunities and finishing coolly into the bottom right corner to make it 2-0. Wheatley were then undone with a bit of misfortune for the third goal when a corner came in and the ball slipped through the goalkeeper's hands to make it 3-0 and the game was over. The boys showed great spirit and determination to play with certainty, freedom and most importantly enjoyment. It was hard to pick a MOTM as there were so many great performances all over the pitch, particularly from Drew Thompson, Jack George and Harrison Kent. The MOTM eventually went to Jackson Ball, not only for his level headlines throughout the match, but leading by example with his footballing ability and constantly trying to be positive with his passing. Year 9 have played 2 league fixtures this term. They played Gillots and also played Wallingford in a highly entertaining game, with the attacking intent flowing back and forward and the game finishing in a 3-3 draw. Year 10 season was slightly curtained by the international break in Belgium. The team picked up 3 draws and a number of players have had the opportunity to represent the school for the first time. At the time of writing the team will be heading to a development tournament next week giving even more first caps. Year 11 have squeezed a friendly game in around the mock exams. They came second but showed great team spirit and comradeship with Wallingford School with all players celebrating goals regardless of which team scored them . Cross Country Emy Lewisman and Evan Timbs qualified for the national competition in Loughborough with both finishing in the top 10 in their categories. Sports Leaders Our Y9 sports leaders supported our local primary schools in their Sports Hall athletics event, acting as officials and event organisers. Their effort and enthusiasm ensured that all participants had a positive experience regardless of their result and they were so amazing that they repeated their efforts as WPS hosted the South Oxfordshire final! We were so proud of them displaying the school values in everything they did and this was reflected in the praise and thanks shared by one of the south primary schools who said they have been coming to this event for many years and these are the best leaders yet! They also helped with a Year 5 & 6 indoor girls' football tournament, helping to run coaching sessions and officiating fixtures. Again, their enthusiasm, knowledge and effort was infectious, ensuring everyone involved developed their skills and had a great time.
Languages News
Sports News
Chinese New Year On a cold January morning our Year 9, 10 and 12 Mandarin students got on a bus to London to visit Chinatown for the day. Chinese New Year was celebrated on 10th February and we were lucky enough to be in Chinatown to enjoy the beautiful lantern decorations. The students spent the morning trying bubble tea and buying Chinese gifts and food. We then all met up for an amazing ‘all you can eat Chinese buffet’, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all! We then finished the trip by walking around Chinatown where some students were brave enough to ask Chinese people questions about themselves in Mandarin. It was a fantastic experience and the students who came on the trip got to experience a little bit of Chinese culture for the day! Spanish Trip (Year 10) At the end of February, Mr Cansdale and Mrs Munro took a group of Year 10 students to the beautiful town of El puerto de Santa María, just outside Cádiz in the south of Spain. Over the four days, the students took part in lots of activities - including Flamenco and paella cooking. We were also lucky enough to experience the last day of the Cádiz carnival, watching and listening to local groups of local people singing ‘chirigotas’ and dancing. The students sampled lots of new Spanish dishes - gazpacho, paella, tapas and churros were all on the menu! There was a lot of Spanish spoken and the students gained a lot of knowledge and confidence while we were on the trip. We are really proud of them and can’t wait to take another group with us next year.
Sports News cont.
MON 13/05/23 YEAR 12 AND 13 STUDY LEAVE BEGIN
WED 3 - THU 4/07/24 SPORTS DAYS 1 &2
THU 9/05/24 GCSE EXAMS BEGIN MON 13/05/24 A LEVEL EXAM BEGIN
MON 03/06/24 START OF TERM 6 for all students
For the full calendar please refer to our website or follow this link: https://www.wheatleypark.org/index.php/parents/calendar
THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD IN TERMS 5 & 6
WED 24/07/24 END OF TERM 6 12.15pm
FRI 24/05/24 END OF TERM 5 3pm
MON 15 - FRI 19/07/24 Year 10 work experience week & Year 12 professional work placement week
MON 15/04 /24 START OF TERM 5 for all students