Wheatley Park School
Terms 3 and 4 Newsletter March 2023
Dear Parents/Carers, One of many highlights from Terms 3 and 4 was our first ever Wheatley Park Culture Day held last Friday. As well as being a really positive celebration of the diversity within the school, this was a particularly special event because it was almost entirely organised by our Senior Student Leadership Team. Enjoy finding out more about this dynamic group of Year 12 students - the student counterpart to the school's adult leadership team - who introduce themselves below. All the best for the Easter Break, Tim Martin Headteacher
Lo
SSLT UPDATE
Oxford University Computing Challenge
We are the new Senior Student Leadership Team for 2022-23. All of us have been at Wheatley Park since Year 7, and so we have had the opportunity to benefit from the work of previous SSLTs in their work in making the school a better place- and now it’s our turn to make our mark! After the popular Countdown to Christmas organised by the SSLT, we are excited entering the New Year to make lasting improvements to the school. While Wheatley Park is already a school that we can all be proud to be part of, there is always the space to make the school an even better place. In recognition of this, we as the SSLT will be focussing on six main aspects of student life: the Eco Group, the Interact Club, Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Careers, Social Time, and Student Communications (including our school newspaper, the Purple Pages). We believe that by focussing our attention in such a way, we will be able to have the greatest impact on the school. While we have our own ideas on how we can improve the school in these key areas, and indeed more generally, we recognise that an integral part of our role as Senior Students is as a bridge between the student body and teachers and the school leadership team. Because of this, we will be working with Year Reps from across the school, thinking about how we can improve the six key areas. However, while we will be working closely with the Year Reps, we also want to hear from members of the school community more generally. We want to increase our accessibility to students, and encourage them to get in touch with us about any ideas they might have about improving the school; we have an SSLT email address for them to do so. We will then take those ideas on board, and if possible, make action on them. We recognise that we are greatly privileged to be Senior Students and to have the opportunity to make the school a better place. Hopefully, by the time we leave the school, we will be able to look back and see the improvements we have made. The SSLT Head Students: Estelle Nwadike, Kayla Helsby Assistant Head Students: Kenzie Taylor, Umar Abdulkareem, Martha Block, Xavier Fernandes
Photo of some of the students getting their OUCC certificate yesterday. Guy Massy in Year 7 (front row - centre) got a merit and the highest score in WPS on the challenge.
In the last newsletter you may remember we shared the news of the amazing results that Wheatley Park students achieved in the Bebras computational thinking challenge. In January, a group of those students who achieved a result in the top 10% of their age category out of all the entries in the UK went on to take part in the OUCC (Oxford University Computing Challenge). On the first day of school after February half term we gathered the students together to celebrate their achievements in this challenge. They all did amazingly well and demonstrated the strong talent we have amongst our computing students coming up through the school. We'd like to give a special mention and congratulations to Guy Massey who achieved a Merit award in the Juniors category and the highest point score out of all Wheatley Park participants. Well done to Guy and all the students that took part in the OUCC!
Sixth Form News
Sixth Form Winter Ball - 26th January 2023 On Friday 27th January we were delighted to, once again, hold our Sixth Form Winter Ball. Over 150 staff and students put on their glad rags and headed to The Oxford Belfry, Milton Common for a lovely evening. We had a meal followed by the traditional Winter Ball Awards, which included things such as 'Most energetic on a Monday Morning' and the hotly contested 'Westy's favourite'. After the awards there was a disco for the rest of the evening. A great time was had by all. This will be the last time we hold a Winter ball as, from 2024 we are moving it to a summer one, to be held once Y13 have finished their A Levels. Another reason to get dressed up, although slightly less glamorously, was for World Book Day on Friday 3rd March. Traditionally the Sixth Form students make a real effort and this year was no different. From The Mad Hatter, Snow White and her dwarves to Mr West dressed as a banana everyone looked great. The younger students love seeing the Sixth Form dressed up and it was a great way to celebrate the joy of books. VRU Young Leaders discuss Crime, Violence, Safety Over 200 school children from 20 schools across the county of Buckinghamshire participated in the “Youth Voices Bucks” youth summit on Thursday 23rd February. They joined a range of workshops on topics which matter to young people, including sessions discussing crime, violence and safety. The event was an opportunity for students to raise their concerns and ideas directly with the authorities. Three of our sixth formers: Alicia Potrimba, Nazlim Kececi and Olivia Barton helped to deliver workshops and facilitated the discussions. This is what they said: Olivia - “The workshops were really lively and the students showed surprising maturity with the ideas and experiences they shared. “We had diversity too, with students from different areas and from different backgrounds. “They were concerned about crime and feeling safe, yet also realised that there was much that they could do to help themselves and their friends.” Alicia -“They recognised how young people are under so many influences. Whether that is from their upbringing and the area they live in, to their peer group and the influence of social media.” Naz - “Both in our workshops and also through the online poll we ran, it was clear that knife and violence is still a major concern for young people along with an interest in hate crime, concerns around sexting, and the need to better know their rights when dealing with the police. “This gives some good insights for local partners to now run further more detailed sessions. We thank everyone for their energy on the day.”
Attendance - Everyone Here, Every Day!
Attendance continues to be a very important focus for everyone at Wheatley Park School as we talk about ‘Everyone Here’. Next term we'll continue this by having regular conversations with all students about the importance of being in school everyday. Attendance of 96% or above means students are more likely to perform, on average, significantly better in their exams which in turn will lead to better outcomes and life choices. I’m sure you will join us in supporting your child’s attendance and helping them to develop their resilience by encouraging them to get to school, even when they are feeling ‘under the weather’. You are now able to see your child’s attendance on MCAS and using the attendance diamond diagram attached here, can see what band they are currently within. It would be great for all students to aim to increase their attendance over the next term and move forward into the next band or maintain if they are currently in the green band. Your role in supporting us with this is not underestimated and we thank you for all your support so far this year. Lucy Nell Assistant Headteacher
Sixth Form News cont.
Art News
Year 7 Art Our Year 7 artists have been exploring the Fauvist art movement and the work of Matisse. Students have been using their colour theory knowledge to draw and paint accurate copies of the artist’s work. After these are complete, students will be designing, photographing and painting their own interior spaces!
Year 13 Biology trip Recently our Year 13 A-level Biologists went on a day trip to the Oxford Museum of Natural History, to take part in a DNA workshop. During the day they used their own DNA to carry out experiments such as PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and gel electrophoresis, which helped to identify whether they had a particular gene on chromosome 7. This gene is used to taste for a substance called phenylthiocarbamide, which mimics a bitter chemical often found in foods such as cabbage, grapefruit and coffee. The students used a variety of new techniques in order to determine their genetic makeup of this particular gene, and whether it matches their taste buds. V Patterson
Year 8 Art Our Year 8 artists have created their own distorted portraits, inspired by Picasso and Basquait. Here is their brilliant work in progress. Some really creative, original and striking outcomes.
Art cont.
Year 9 Art Year 9 artists have completed their pot designs inspired by popular culture and the work of Grayson Perry and are now well into the construction process. Here are some of the great pieces being created, including intricate areas of relief. Next stage will include some detailed acrylic painting.
GCSE Year 10 examples of monoprinting portraits using tissue paper
Drama News
Battlefields Trip to Ypres, Belgium and France It was a real pleasure to revive the Battlefields Trip after a few years of hiatus due to the pandemic. Year 10s spent three days on the 19th to 21st February visiting various battlefields, cemeteries, memorials, and museums in Belgium and France to deepen their knowledge of World War I. Particular highlights included the visit to the Menin Gate memorial for missing soldiers where we watched a procession that has taken place everyday at 8pm for the past 100 years! We also visited cemeteries at Tynecot and Lijssenthoek, where the sheer scale of deaths caused by the war began to become comprehendible. The students also visited Wellington Quarry to see first-hand the huge network of underground tunnels built by the British Army at the Battle of Arras. The final highlight included a visit to the state-of-the-art In Flanders Field Museum, where students were able to interact with various objects to build a deep and meaningful picture of the war in its entirety. Aside from the many thought provoking sites, Year 10 students also enjoyed their social time at the hotel, on the coach and ferry, and in the town centre at Ypres where they enjoyed chocolate shopping! Finally, I would like to congratulate the students for conducting themselves respectfully and responsibly during outings. We now look forward to next year's visit! Mr Haque Head of History
Noughts & Crosses On March 8th the Drama department went to The Oxford Playhouse to watch Noughts and Crosses. The play is a modern Romeo and Juliet in a modern world where love between different races is seen as impossible. The play questions race and social class by switching around the stereotypical power and status between races in our society. The play made us as an audience, question how race / racism is within the world we live in and how we, as individuals, can be proactive in making a positive difference to our world. Footloose What a fantastic show we had this year! We had 4 sell out nights of fun, music and dancing! The students were amazing and took on the roles of actors, band, lighting, sound, set, props, stage management, costume, makeup and front of house! We were so proud of all of our young people. We are very much looking forward to next year's show.... watch this space! Mrs Brown Head of Drama
Battlefields Trip
ECO Group cont.
Recycling When we surveyed the school site we found that there were many recyclable items lying around and that this was a significant proportion of the waste. We have made a pledge to recycle more this year and forever after. Our strap line for this project is: Everyone binning it, everywhere and Everyone recycling better. We began our campaign to achieve this by educating everyone on what can and cannot be recycled, surprisingly few people knew that contaminated cardboard food packaging cannot be recycled! Our school wide recycling launch has involved encouraging everyone to use the new recycle bins provided in every classroom. We have appointed form group Recycling leaders who are responsible for making sure the recycle bins get emptied when necessary and respond to surveys about recycling. Our most active recycle leaders this term have been: Lucas Abesser-Hill, Jamahl Henry, Thom Wilson, Daisy Coke, Vicky Simpson, Reuben Hinks, RubyAnn Dimmick, Millie Foster, Lydia Hinks, Janet Monkonge, Charlotte Betteley, Bella Bridle, Isla Hunter, Charlotte Emsden, Harrison Oliver-Browne and Priestley Kanu. A big thank you from the Eco group and the school as a whole for your efforts. Curriculum - Contribution by Charlie Clift I’m a student staff member at an organisation called Teach the Future, who are campaigning for Climate Change and Sustainability to be embedded across the curriculum, and introduced one of the first ever student-written bills, the Climate Education Bill, into parliament, which we are now trying to get into law. It would mean that: The Department for Education (DfE) would be required to review the national curriculum to integrate climate change and sustainability, including approved subject content; Climate change and sustainability would be further integrated into vocational training in further education colleges; Maintained, independent and academy schools, and further education colleges, in England would have a new duty to provide quality, integrated solutions-centred climate education to their students; Agencies of the DfE, such as Ofqual, Ofsted and the Office for Students, would be required to ensure that applicable educational institutions adhere to their new duty; Exam boards would be required to integrate climate change and sustainability into qualifications, exams and assessments, where appropriate; The DfE would need to support teachers and tutors to integrate learning about climate change and sustainability into their teaching. For this bill’s first reading, we held a drop-in briefing for MPs, which I was able to attend. It was a great event, with many MPs from multiple political parties attending, and it was all over Twitter. Unfortunately, it is unlikely to progress further towards being law before the general election due to parliament’s packed schedule. It has also been watered down quite significantly from our first bill (the Climate Emergency Education Act), as MPs were simply unwilling to support such a large piece of legislation. However, outside of the bill, we’re making lots of other progress towards our ultimate mission of quality climate education in all subjects across the UK: the Department for Education released their first ever climate change and sustainability strategy, which we as an organisation greatly influenced. Whilst this is a monumental step in the right direction, the strategy was shockingly lacking in many areas: it provided little additional funding for schools to implement the strategy, it gave few measurable targets and deadlines, and made many crucial things (such as sustainability leads and a climate action plan for every educational institution) recommendations rather than requirements. With all of this taken into account, we’ve just released our updated England Policy Asks for 2023, calling for a lot of what's missing in the current strategy. Moving forward, we’ll be engaging political stakeholders, such as MPs, lords and Think Tanks, to try and get parliament to implement our asks. Specifically, we’re working to persuade the major political parties to integrate our bill and asks into their manifestos ready for the coming election, which would give them a mandate to introduce it into law. This is all super exciting, and if you’d like to get involved, there are many ways you can help, such as: Sharing our asks / this blog with your local MP and ask them to publicly declare their support by sharing our Tweet Donating to Teach the Future Volunteering with us (ages 14-25). Being entirely student-led, it is a super fun campaign to be involved in, as well as providing you with lots of experience. Become a supporting organisation Writing to your MP using our letter template asking them to sign the Climate Education Bill EDM Signing our petition If you’re a teacher, please consider joining our teachers network, which is a great way of sharing resources and meeting other like-minded teachers. Tree planting Over the past few months we have been working on a project to plant nearly 300 trees around the school site. The Woodland Trust has donated free trees and hedging trees to hundreds of schools across the country to try to help the UK reach carbon net-zero target by 2050. First we needed to decide which trees to get from the Woodland trust and to raise money to buy the equipment to properly care for them over the coming years. The Woodland trust gave us a range of British species including rowan, oak, birch, hazel, holly, hawthorn, dog rose, dog wood, goat willow, crab apples which, in the coming years, will greatly increase the biodiversity on our site. We applied to the Emma Wilson Memorial Fund for money to support this venture and amazingly received £1000! Our research suggested that the larger trees will flounder in their early stages without substantial tree protection. So, very much wanting our tree planting efforts to be a success, we used the generous donation from the Emma Wilson Memorial Fund to buy more advanced tree protection (which was biodegradable not plastic). Our research tells us that it is vital to protect the trees from the weather, wildlife and pesky Roe deer, who can nibble buds up to 1.2meters high! We did a bake sale in school too, where we raised £135 which will also contribute to sustaining our saplings. Finally we were ready to plant the trees. On Saturday the 18th of March some kind volunteers (children, students and adults) armed with spades and compost helped plant many of the 265 trees. This took six hours in total (including some well-deserved snack breaks) and we planted trees in many places including planting a hedge which is ideal for the local wildlife all along the edge of the premises behind the maths block, lower labs. We are continuing to plant the remainder of the trees in the meadow and along the bus entranceway near sixth form. We are hoping that our trees will be approved and recorded as part of a nation-wide project for The Queen’s Green Canopy in celebration of her life and the Jubilee. The grounds team are doing their annual cut of the meadow next week, after which we will hope to see the effects of the yellow rattle we planted last summer begin to take effect. Hopefully we will be able to do a diversity count again this summer and see some new species of meadow flower. The Eco group will continue to rewild and diversify WPS further in the coming months and are looking forward to watching the trees grow.
ECO Group
Boys Football Year 7 Year 7 started the league fixtures off with 3 games all on the same day. They started fantastically well with a 4-0 victory over Wallingford B team with goals from Kian Tripp, Priestly Kanu and 2 from MOTM Archie Ramsey. The next fixture was against Wallingford A, this was a much closer affair with Wheatley taking a 1-0 lead with Archie Ramsey scoring, before a late comeback from Wallingford A saw them win the game 2-1 and inflicting Wheatley’s first league defeat. Although there was a loss, Priestly Kanu was running their defence ragged and quite rightly picked up the MOTM award for this game. The final game was against Gillotts school, this proved to be a much sterner test, with Gillotts physicality and composure in the final third playing a big part in the result, with them ultimately beating Wheatley. MOTM Drew Thompson was more than up for the task in terms of physicality and quality on the ball. Year 8 Year 8 have progressed through the first round of the Vale Cup with a resilient victory against Larkmead. WPS started off the stronger team, but despite having lots of chances, struggled to find the back of the net. After half time WPS continued to dominate and scored quickly through Ollie Fuller. However, Larkmead bounced back and quickly turned the game on its head taking a 2-1 lead into the final 10 minutes. Wheatley rallied though and player of the match, George Golding, pulled the strings to orchestrate a brilliant turn around with WPS scoring 2 quick goals to see out a 3-2 win. Year 9 Year 9 have gone unbeaten in the league with 3 wins and a draw so far. Everyone who attends training has played in games. The team spirit has been excellent with some players taking their first steps into competitive football. Year 10 The Year 10s have only played one game so far this season, which was a cup game away at King Alfred's. The game was a close affair with King Alfred's scoring in the first half before a spirited comeback from Wheatley Park in the second half, creating lots of chances but not finding the end product. After a harsh decision, Wheatley were then facing a penalty, there was nothing Dekon could do to save it, with the match ending 2-0 to King Alfred. MOTM Finlay Singleton. Netball This year all netball teams have played in the South Oxfordshire league. This has involved hosting at Wheatley Park or travelling to play against seven other schools. Year 7 It has been fantastic seeing the numbers coming to club grow and we now have great depth to our squad, but new members are always welcome! We have been focusing on the basics at training and in games, we have covered positions, footwork, dodging, defending and most importantly having fun! I have been proud of all players embracing this in practice and game situations. Everyone who has been to training will be involved in as many games as possible and it is always a welcome pleasure to try and work out how to get everyone involved! The picture shows our Year 7 first league netball game. Year 8 We have so many Year 8 at training, which is brilliant! What I enjoy most about working with these guys is their determination and support of each other, particularly in the game situation. Their resilience has been incredible and they are an inspiration to others, they show that progress doesn’t always come hand in hand with a win, our success is measured by our performance, behaviours and reactions and I am proud to say that all of the team show such positivity in all these aspects. Year 9 Being the Year 9 netball captain this term has been an amazing opportunity and I have really enjoyed it. Every player on the team has worked very hard helping us win many matches home and away. Unfortunately we also did lose a few matches but the team morale always remained high. Our team has been fantastic this year and I look forward to many more matches. Written by Evie Boardman Year 11 Great team effort from the Year 11s in their netball matches so far. Still more to be played as some were cancelled with the snow. Interform sportshall athletics Well done to all of Key stage 3 that have taken part in this year interform sportshall athletics. All students were ready to participate, respectful of everyone taking part and very responsible in their behaviour. Results were: Yr 7 1st - SFO, 2nd - GWA, 3rd - SHA Yr 8 1st - SPT, 2nd - VPA, 3rd - CNU Yr 9 1st - EST, 2nd - KAY, 3rd - KCA & GSP South Oxfordshire Sportshall Athletics We went into the sports hall where there were several other teams competing there with us which at first seemed quite scary. After we warmed up, the events began: there were sprints, obstacle relays, field events and normal relays. We lost a few of our races but still smashed it. Overall, the Year 7 boys came 1st and the Year 7 girls came 2nd! Everyone was supportive of the people running and it was a really fun experience to take part in. Written by Mili Parojcic-Miles Sports Leaders Our sports leaders allow events to happen, without them it simply wouldn’t be possible. We have been lucky enough to have leaders involved in events including indoor athletics, netball and football so far and will be introducing more leaders in some new and exciting opportunities over the coming months. We are proud to be developing young leaders in the school, demonstrating that sporting performance and success extends far beyond our own competitions and looking to encourage involvement in sport at all levels. Their skill, support and enthusiasm has supported younger students engage with some key events hosted at WPS and I am proud to say that they were so awesome that we hosted the South Final with schools from across South Oxfordshire and not just our Partnership. I think the one word description from the event organiser perhaps sums up the role our students played best - PHENOMENAL! Our Partnership Sports Hall Athletics Sports Leaders; Our South Oxfordshire Sports Hall Athletics Final Sports Leaders; Our Y5/6 Girls Football Tournament Sports Leaders;
Sports News
Sports News cont.
WPS CULTURE DAY
On Friday 24th March, we held our first Culture Day. The day was about celebrating and respecting the different cultural backgrounds which make Wheatley Park School such a rich and inspiring place to study. Some students put up stalls where a culture they are associated with was represented and and both students and staff could wear something associated with their culture or one they felt passionate about. We are hoping to make this event the first of many.
MON 15/05/23 GCSE EXAMS BEGIN YEAR 12 AND 13 STUDY LEAVE BEGIN
WED 5 - THU 6/07/23 SPORTS DAYS 1 &2
WED 17/05/23 A LEVEL EXAM BEGIN
MON 05/06/23 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
FRI 21/07/23 END OF TERM 6, 12.15pm
FRI 26/05/23 END OF TERM 5
MON 17/04 /23 START OF TERM 5 for all students