February Half Term Parent Newsletter

WOODBRIDGE PARENT NEWSLETTER
It’s been a great half term and as
usual we have been incredibly
busy making our kids great! The
children and staff have worked
extremely hard and deserve a
break.
Take a look though our new Parent
Newsletter to see what’s on at
Woodbridge!
Have a restful half-term!
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the
world."
— Nelson Mandela
ATTENDANCE & PUNCTUALITY
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
FEB 13-17 - HALF TERM
FEB 21—6TH FORM OPEN
EVENING
FEB 23—YEAR 9 CHOICES
EVENING
MAR 2 YEAR 8 LANG OPTION
EVENING
MAR 9—YEAR 8 CHOICES
EVENING
MAR 16—6TH FORM
PARENTS EVENING
MAR 28—KS3 ACHIEVE-
MENT EVENING
We are pleased with the improvement in attendance over the last year.
This is over 95% for the whole school which means that most of our
students are achieving a good level of attendance. This level of attendance
supports students making progress with their learning and achieving
the qualifications that are so important to their future well-being.
Please continue to ensure that your child attends every day where possible
so that they do not miss out on their learning.
On the rare occasion when your child cannot attend school please ring
the absence line 0208 504 9618 and selection option 2 to leave a message.
It is important that you ring in on each day of absence. Students who
are late for school after gates close at 8.40 am will be issued a late detention
unless there is good reason for being delayed. We are pleased
with the improvement in punctuality.
The school now has a contract with EWAS, who already works with
many Redbridge schools to manage statutory duties around attendance.
MAR 29—KS4 ACHIEVE-
MENT EVENING
APR 3—17—EASTER HOLI-
DAY

VIVO STARS
REPORTING ABSENCES
Students are rewarded Vivo
points for anything positive that
they do. The student with the
most points in each year is rewarded...
Any absence from school due to illness, appointments, or any other reason MUST be
reported to the Attendance Office.
Attendance line:
0208 504 9618
Option 2
Thank you in advance for your co-operation.
Iqra N
Maya L
Nedas R
Pelin N
Vladislav S
Denis C
YEAR 7
Nina P
Fox H
Nedas R
YEAR 8
Jack B
Jack B
Renee S
Iris B
Valensiya Z
Adam T
YEAR 9
Mohamed E
Noureen M
Lan Ha V
YEAR 10
Zeshann M
Richard S
Nafisa Z
Joseph S
Andy I
Nathan R
YEAR 11
Mollie H
Safdar N
Charlie K
Areej B
Ruiz J
Lisa D

HOLOCAUST
MEMORIAL WEEK
30th Jan- 3rd February
In Assemblies for Holocaust
memorial week the students
learned of the dangers of radicalisation.
To the left is an article written
by some of our students who
had a chance to visit Auschwitz.
Head over to our You Tube channel to view the video...
WOODBRIDGE STUDENTS VISIT AUSCHWITZ
Whilst studying for our A levels at Woodbridge High School, the chance arose for a number
of students to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau near the town of Oświęcim in Poland, on
behalf of Lessons from Auschwitz, a project created by the Holocaust Educational Trust.
This was not to be like your average school trip - staring blankly at the ruins of some once
-pretty castle, distracted by the prospect of eating lunch on a stuffy coach with friends -
no, there was a responsibility with this opportunity. The experience was to increase our
awareness, knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust, and realise its absolute relevance
today. And with the appreciated burden of education, to pass it on.
We had a seminar before the trip in which Mala Tribich, a Holocaust survivor, spoke to us
about her life before, during and after the war. You realise suddenly that the person
standing before you is a similar age to your Grandma, to the man who lives down the
road, to the woman often sitting alone in the café who you never give a second glance to.
This is not ancient history, this is not a story merely engraved into the pages of school
textbooks; this is real and horrific, and humans did it, and humans are still living with the
consequences today.
After the seminar, we were as ready as we could be to visit Auschwitz itself, but I don’t
think any amount of preparation, imagination or preconception could properly formulate
what we were about to be confronted with. That is why visiting the camp was important:
it made history feel less detached and more real by disbanding dark romanticisms of the
place: in fact, birds do fly over Auschwitz-Birkenau, and we even saw a deer sprint across
the grass. It helped to keep an open mind and let whatever was in front of you to affect
you. We soon realised that there are a lot of questions and no definitive answers, and this
is fine as long as you are open to interpretation and remember that this is a part of human
history: human being the key word.

AUSCHWITZ ARTICLE CONT...
During the trip, we understood that it is important
to remember that the Holocaust 'is about what you
can't see'. Because we can view the remains of the
victims' hair, their shoes, their pots and pans, their
hairbrushes - but these are the very material items
that the Nazis reduced Jewish people to, the only
worth they saw in millions of human lives. So,
should we be remembering them like this? Their
true remembrance lies in their stories, lives, histories,
and personalities - the aspects that the Nazis
tried to destroy.
although they have us squirming, encourage confidence
in originality and give a voice to our selfworth.
But also questions about freedom, which
were met with awareness of privilege and reflection
on the not-so-perfect present state of the
world. We then asked each student to read out
Salmen Gradowski’s diary entry, before revealing
his story and capturing some final, insightful
thoughts. You can watch the final short film on
Woodbridge High School’s YouTube page: https://
But, at the same time, these items provide shock
and realisation of what really happened 70 years
ago, and are maintained as proof so that us, and
the generations to come, never forget. And the
very word 'victims' can sit uncomfortably, because
wouldn't it be frustrating and unjust to have your
entire life boiled down to your death: that for years
to come you were always remembered by your last,
horrific moments? But, at the same time, those
last, horrific moments are important for us to face
up to today – because they were executed by humans,
and if we do not learn from our fatal mistakes,
we will make them again. And that is the
most important - never forgetting, and from there,
never repeating.
These methods of memorialisation were all created
with the right intentions, but some sat more comfortably
than others. The reading of a diary entry
written by Salmen Gradowski (one of the
Sonderkommando: Nazi death camp prisoners
forced to aid with the disposal of gas chamber
victims during the Holocaust), the room displaying
archive footage of life before the Holocaust for
those murdered and the Rabbi singing in the middle
of Auschwitz-Birkenau as night fell. These all
felt like powerful acts of defiance against the murderers
and oppressors of the Holocaust – sparks of
light splitting the darkness they had created and
shining on the individuals whose stories deserved
to be heard.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNjjCZNV_ZQ
Really, there is no right way to remember the Holocaust.
There are no ready-made answers for
memorialising the people subject to mass murder.
But there cannot be any accurate, succinct, undisputed
method of remembering; because for as long
as we are in touch with the prevalent compassion
of humanity, we are never going to find any form
of memorialisation comfortable or satisfactory, as
we should never have had to face such devastation,
and we should never have to again.
Yet, the overlooking of prejudiced behaviour, the
withstanding of discrimination and the bypassing
of racist comments: a careless, increasing acceptance
of injustice. It sounds all too familiar.
Perhaps Holocaust Memorial Day is more than
necessary this year: it is a critical reminder of the
mistakes we have made in the past, and a warning
of the disastrous consequences if we continue to
act as bystanders to bigotry.
Thus, celebrating human stories and individuality
felt like the best route for memorialisation. To
display the relevance to our modern world, we
chose to ask a selection of our peers, ranging
across the entire school, questions about themselves;
questions that are foundational to our being,
but are barely addressed amid the chaos of our
private and reserved lives. Probing, pleasantly
bashful questions such as ‘What do you love about
yourself?’ that celebrate our individualism, and
By Elliana Hamer, on behalf of Vanessa Wilson,
Henry Moore and Sinead Jones.

YEAR 7 NEWS
Year 7 have settled in really well and are getting up to really exciting activities. After all the fun
and games at Christmas, and Lambourne End (here’s a few pictures to remind you of that) the
focus is on how we can progress in our learning.
- In technology our students are making sweet dispensers! They have been gaining experience
in working with a range of tools and materials in the workshop. In Graphics they have made
Art Deco pendants and are studying the art deco design movement by making and advertising
metal jewellery. Students are also involved in Food Technology making sweet and savoury
dishes where they study a range of nutritional information. I have been lucky enough to sample
a few Pizzas and Fruit Muffins from year 7s fine culinary skills!
- In English We started the year with a lovely unit called "School Memories". Students read a
range of texts (JK Rowling, R Dahl for example) and then they were invited to write their own
memories of Primary school and life at Woodbridge so far.
Before Christmas, students moved on to the novel unit including ‘Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’,
‘Warhorse’ and ‘Private Peaceful’.
We are currently working on the poetry unit - William Blake and Victorian England. The students
are about to begin writing their own animal poetry in the style of Blake. Coming up we
will be celebrating: Busta Rhyme and World book day, how exciting!!
- In Drama students have developed their skills and techniques and their abilities to work with
different people. Drama is a fantastic opportunity to develop confidence and the performances
they have created have been exceptional. Don’t forget to catch lots of our super 7s in the school
production in March!
- ICT has been really exciting this year. Students have been using
a programme called ‘Scatch’ to create their own video games!
They have also been learning about Cyber Safety which will be a
key theme throughout the year.
- Our Spanish classes have been working really hard and as a
reward had a trip to a tapas restaurant for excellent effort/
achievement in Spanish last half term. Year 7s are learning to
talk about their school at the moment. A key phrase has been
‘¡Me encanta el español porque es muy divertido!’
- In French Year 7 have been learning about the school day in
France and how to talk about their day at Woodbridge. In particular
they have enjoyed learning about what French students eat
at the canteen! The have now moved on to talk about free time
activities and will be researching and discussing French speaking
sports stars. All the while they have been also studying increasingly
complex grammatical structures. Well done year 7, very
impressive!
The French department have a really exciting opportunity coming
up. They are taking a trip to France. Speak to your French
teacher if you want more details!
- Our Sports teams have been doing really well. The netballers
and footballers are gearing up for the second part of the season
and the basketballers are just finishing theirs.
- Year 7 have also been involved in ‘numbers day’ designing maths games to promote awareness
of the work the NSPCC do.

YEAR 8 NEWS
Year 8 Choices Evening
23rd February 2017
6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
Parents will need to attend a talk in
Wynndale Hall at the times below
before visiting departments.
Talks are at:
6.00pm
Students in 8B, 8E, 8G, 8N, 8P
6.30pm
Students in 8R, 8D, 8Y, 8W, 8L
YEAR 9 CHOICES
GCSE Choices Evening
23rd February 2017
6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
Parents will need to attend a
talk in Wynndale Hall at the
times below before visiting departments.
YEAR 9 NEWS
On Thursday, 22nd December, in the middle of the Christmas holidays, Mr Samuels and
Mrs Turner took a group of German students and students who have done the Arsenal
Double Club for Languages to the Arsenal Community Hub at the Emirates Stadium to
meet with two German players, club captain Per Mertersacker and Shkrodran Mustafi.
The players, both top German international defenders, played a game in German with
the students before signing autographs and giving Christmas presents. This opportunity
represents the school’s language department’s reputation as a leading provider of the
Double Club and a leading provider of German.
Talks are at:
6.00pm
Students in 9B, 9E, 9G, 9N, 9P
6.30pm
Students in 9R, 9D, 9Y, 9W, 9L
The Arsenal Double Club for Languages combines language learning and football to
boost learning in a fun way and will return in the Summer Term.
YEAR 10 TRIP
Some of our Year 10 students
ventured on a trip to Berlin this
Wednesday and will return
today. We look forward to
hearing about their experiences!
YEAR 10 NEWS
It has been an absolute pleasure returning to Woodbridge after my maternity leave to see
how well Year 10 are doing with their all-important GCSE’s. It is great to see that so many
are showing real promise in terms of achieving their target grades!! After half term we
have the wonderful occasion of the Key Stage 4 presentation evening where I can’t wait to
reward all students who put in maximum effort all of the time and celebrate success with
students and families. Year 10 – we are over half way through the year. Keep going, continue
to produce fantastic class work, complete your home learning and be the best you
can be!
Ms Payne

YEAR 11 NEWS
Y11 Core Mocks - Monday 27 February - Tuesday 3
March
Y11 Mock Innovation Challenge (GCSE Product Design)
- Wednesday 22nd February for SO's group and Friday
24 February for CSL's group
Y11 Performing Arts Assessment - Monday 20 March
Y11 GCSE Music Creative Task - 27 - 31 March
“What one does is what counts and not what one had the intention of doing.”
— Pablo Picasso
6TH FORM OPEN DAYS
(INVITATION ONLY)
TUESDAY 21ST FEBRUARY
WEDNESDAY 22ND FEBRUARY
TUESDAY 28TH FEBRUARY
THURSDAY 2ND MARCH
FRIDAY 10TH MARCH
6TH FORM PARENTS
EVENING
16th MARCH - 4:00pm—7:00pm
SIXTH FORM NEWS
Missed our Sixth Form Open Evening?
Woodbridge Students
Collect a prospectus from Mallards Office or the Sixth Form
Are you an External Year 11 Student?
· Please refer to our 6th form prospectus and course booklet found on our website for
the subjects on offer in September 2017. Also, you will find the entry requirements and
criteria for admission.
· If you would like to attend one of our Open ‘days’ in February or March please contact
the Sixth Form Administrator, Mrs C Copley.
Attendance to an Open ‘Day’ is by invitation only.
· Applications for the Sixth Form are made during the Open Days.
· The contact email for Mrs Copley
is: contact6thform@woodbridge.redbridge.sch.uk or she can be contacted by telephone
on 020 8506 5557

WOODBRIDGE SPORTS NEWS
A fantastic start to the year for sport at Woodbridge High school.
We have had a total of 72 extracurricular fixtures since September including Football/Netball/ Rugby/
X country/ Basketball/ Table tennis.
A big Well done to all students involved in fixtures below. Stand out performances of the term.
6th form basketball team who beat Forest Academy 51-41 in a great end to end game
U19 netball team who beat Palmers College in a convincing 50-12 victory'
Y8 basketball team who won 22-18 against Mayfield. Fantastic first game of the season. Great start!!
Year 7 A & B football teams who played West Hatch in two fantastic games.
'A' team drew 1-1 with Jack Freeman man of the match.
'B' team won 4-2 with Arun Arulanathan man of the match
Year 10 netball result against valentines – we won 15-4. POM was Darcy Mather-
Y8 football team who won their first league and cup game this year. They beat Oaks Park in a convincing
7-3 win with Cameron Hunt earning MOM
Well done to all who represented Woodbridge at this year’s annual X country event. Special mention
to William Clifton who finished 3rd overall across all year groups and well done to all Y7/8/9 boys
who came first in the Junior team category.
Well done to all students who took part
in this weeks borough rowing competition.
Great results from all students
involved’
Laura -2nd place for year 11
Max - 4th year 10 boys
Rennay - 4th year 10 girls
Ezra - 2nd for year 9 boys
Olivia - 2nd for year 9 girls - 955m
Zak - 1st for year 8 boys - 785m
Ellie - 3rd for year 8 girls
Daniel - 1st year 7 boys 505m won by 3m
Jenny - 2nd year 7 473m

WHS BREAKFAST CLUB 7:20AM—8:30AM

WHS & COMMUNITY EVENTS

SIXTH FORM NEWS

FREE CYCLE TRAINING
IN REDBRIDGE
BikeKlubz Cycle Skills Sessions at Wanstead
Leisure Centre
· Wednesday 15th February - 10am to
3pm - Confident Riders (ages 7 to 11)
· Friday 17th February - 10am to
12pm - Beginners & Improvers (ages 4 to
8)
· Friday 17th February - 1pm to 3pm -
Beginners & Improvers (ages 4 to 8)
Ø FREE Bikeability and learn to ride
cycle training for children in February
half term and at weekends at Ray Park /
Valentine’s Park / Fairlop Waters
Ø FREE adult cycle training at Ray Park
or Valentine’s Park (in a group) or individual
sessions at a time and location to
suit you
Ø FREE family cycle training arranged at
a time and location to suit you (any age)
Ø FREE group led bike rides starting at
Ray Park or Valentine’s Park every month
Ø FREE Dr Bike session (basic bike
service) on Sunday 5 March between
11am and 3pm at the Wanstead Farmers
Market (and first Sunday of every month)
MORE FREE CYCLING...
Bike It You Can too: Free Intense learn to ride training course for adults
Each course will consist of ten, two hour sessions, where experienced cycle trainers will assist
you as part of a group to get you cycling with confidence.
You will be supplied with a bicycle and helmet, so all you need to do is register and turn up
Once completed we hope you will want to continue cycling; to encourage you to do so we are
offering you the opportunity to buy your training bike at a discounted rate and will provide you
with a few cycle essentials to get you started.
The courses will run from the following venues:
· Venue 1: Chadwell Primary school, Chadwell Heath
The course will begin week commencing Monday 6th March
This course is open to any parent/ guardian who is 18 years of age or over, who has a child attending
the school
· Venue 2): Valentines Park, Ilford (Women Only)
The course will start Saturday 11th March from 10am
If you are female, 18 years of age or over, and live, work or study in the borough you can register
for this course.
To register please contact the following to receive a registration form:
Ø Jeremy Tranter (Sustrans BikeIt+ Officer) email: jeremy.tranter@sustrans.org.uk
Ø Andy Cremin (Sustrans, Senior Project Officer) email: andrew.cremin@sustrans.org.uk Tel:
0207 0172360 Mob: 07796 870741
ENJOY HALF TERM!
We will welcome back the students on
Monday 20th February.
YOUR LOO HEE