Warbler May 2019

WARBLER
NEWSLETTER
THE WILNECOTE
SCHOOL
May 2019
Issue 14
1

WELCOME
Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019
WECOME
We would like to take this
opportunity to wish all the
year 11’s the very best of luck
for their exams, we understand the
pressures of exams and know they will
work hard and do their best. The final half term is always different in school.
With the year 11’s not in school all year groups essentially move up a group a half
term before. With this comes added responsibility. There is still a lot to pack into
the final half term at school, with exciting opportunities for all year groups to get
involved with, from tutor challenges, work experience and Performing Arts events.
Have a great holiday, relax and get ready for the final half term. Our theme
of attendance will continue into the next half term. We want to see as many
of you as often as we can, it’s the only way you will give yourself the best
chance of reaching your academic potential.
Best wishes
The Pastoral Team
2

Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019
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3

Ski Trip 2019
Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019
The 2019 Wilnecote School Easter Ski Trip to Austria
On Friday the 12th of April 43 students and 6 staff made the
long journey to Zell am See in Austria, for the first school
ski trip in a number of years. Following a long, seven-week
half term at school, a week in the mountains was just what
everyone needed.
Travelling by coach, we headed for Dover to catch a night
ferry to Calais, before driving down through northern
Europe overnight. 25 hours after leaving school we finally
pulled into our sleepy village with the beautiful mountain scenery
all around.
Having had a good night’s sleep and recharged our batteries
Sunday was our first day on the slopes. The weather was not
great, as snow, fog and generally poor conditions greeted us on
the nursery slopes for our morning lessons. In the afternoon we
progressed up the Kaprun glacier to continue our lessons. The
sun broke through and thereafter we had amazing conditions all
week; blue sky and warm sunshine!
“With five hours of ski tuition on the slopes per day, students
made fantastic progress during the course of the week. Having
started on the blue runs, on day one and by day five we had
students on red and even black runs. Some students even
managed time trials and also conquered the ‘black mamba’ a
speedy adrenaline filled ski run.” Commented Mr Handford, the
ski trip leader.
“It has been a fantastic week,” said Maisie Baker in Year 10, “skiing
is really hard work but well worth the effort, I’ve loved every
minute of it. Even when you are not skiing down the slopes the
views just take your breath away. Being up so high is stunning.”
Every evening, having returned to the hotel and freshened up,
staff and students were out and about in the town of Zell am See,
as a range of activities had been organised. Students enjoyed
mixing with each other whilst bowling, swimming, eating pizza
and having an awards night.
Exhausted but very much satisfied with their week away, on
Friday 19th April we boarded the bus and made the long trip
home. Dreaming of ski slopes, mountains and the prospect of
another adventure in 2020… watch this space!
4

Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019 Ski Trip 2019
5

YOUR LIBRARY
Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019
CRAFT CLUB
Ladies from our Monday
morning craft club
received a personal
thank you letter from Alisha
Alleyne, Supported Care
and Fundraising Hub Officer
at Birmingham Women’s
Hospital, for their kind
donation of beautiful handknitted
baby items adding
“We truly appreciate your support here at Birmingham
Women’s Hospital, and I know the beautiful items will be
greatly appreciated by the families who receive them.”
STUDENT BOOK REVIEW
Book Review by: Abigail Fraser
Title: Little Darlings
Author: Jacqueline Wilson
I like this book because it keeps you on the edge of your
seat in places, and it’s full of drama.
My favourite part of Little Darlings is when Destiny and
Sunset (The Z-Girls) meet in Sunset’s back garden. I love it
because I thought they connected so well. The main reason
I think that they connected so well is because of their
names. They both have pretty unusual names, but they fit
really well!
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes
drama and family reunions. It’s also got a fantastic range of
vocabulary, so I think that it helps with English skills and
many other important skills.
Altogether, I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down! It
hooked me in really well, and I guarantee that if you read
it you won’t be able to put it down either! I would love to
see a sequel where it shows Destiny’s new life with her dad
(who is secretly a rock star), Danny. I’d rate it four stars out
of five.
6

Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019
CAREERS
YEAR 10 MOCK INTERVIEW DAY
On Thursday 11th April The Wilnecote School welcomed
local people from the business and careers world to
support us with the Year 10 Mock Interview day. All
Year 10 students participated throughout the day as they
were excused from normal lessons to attend their individual
interview.
Having prepared CV’s and covering letters in English lessons,
prior to the event, as well as being briefed on how to present
themselves, in specific mock interview assemblies, students
had to be formally interviewed for about 20 minutes. At the
end of the interview they were given feedback on what they
had done well and areas they might want to think about for
the future.
“At first it was quite daunting,” commented Year 10 student
Nathan Livesey. “I had never had an interview before so it
was a new experience. My interviewer was really nice and
made me feel at ease, whilst asking me all about myself
and my career aspirations. It was great to talk to someone
from the business world and it has given me plenty to think
about, in terms of my next steps after Year 11.”
Lauren Holmes from Higher Horizons commented, “All the
students that I met over the course of the day conducted
themselves with the utmost professionalism and integrity,
I was so impressed! They were a pleasure to meet and
interview. In terms of feedback; where possible, I gave them
tips on things like CV writing, body language, questioning
and what the world of work really is like, so I hope that
each student will take away at least one piece of advice to
support them in the future.”
We cannot thank our volunteer interviewers and all our
Year 10 students enough for their involvement in what really
was a superb day,” commented Mrs Hartle. “It is a long and
intensive day for our interviewers, who gave up a day of their
valuable time to support us with this event, so a big thank
you to them. But also a big well done and congratulations to
all our students who should feel very proud of themselves;
they acquitted themselves superbly. It was undoubtedly a
really beneficial and worthwhile exercise and hopefully it
has given them aspirations for the future.”
Head of Careers, Mr Handford and Mrs Abbott said; “We
would like to thank the following organisations for all their
help in making today such a huge success.”
Royal Burton Hospital Foundation Trust, Kool Hair and Beauty Ltd , Colden HR Ltd, Associated Vending Services Ltd,
The CQ Initiative, The Polesworth School, LD Fitness, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Accountancy Company,
London Firebrigade, Higher Horizons, Houseads Ltd, WHITE Therapy Ltd, Capita Local Public Services, Landau Forte
Academy, The Career Owl, Midlands Partnership Foundation NHS Trust, Finning UK Ltd, Santandeer, S
outh Staffs College & Higher Horizons
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SCIENCE
SCIENCE NEWS
It’s Been a Good Month:
Thirsty Astronauts:
The solar winds may provide a water supply
for future settlers on the moon, says NASA.
Protons carried by solar winds interact with
free electrons on the
lunar surface to produce
hydrogen. These latch
onto oxygen atoms in
the lunar soil to crate
H2O.
Death Metallers:
Despite the aggressive music and graphic
lyrical content, death metal does not inspire
violence researchers at Macquarie University
have found. They say most death metal fans
feel joyful when listening to favourite jams.
Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019
It’s Been a Bad Month For:
Lovers of Olive Oil:
Extreme cold snaps due to climate change
have led to a 57 per cent plunge in Italy’s olive
oil harvest, making it the worst harvest for
25 years, a study by the Euro-Mediterranean
Centre for Climate Change has found.
Weekend Lie-ins:
If you think that catching up on shut eye over
the weekend can make up for missing out on
sleep during the week, think again. A team at
the University of
Colorado found
it may actually
make matters
worse, as the
changing routine
increases the
risk of obesity
and diabetes.
Calculators
Please remember that all Y9, Y10 and Y11 students are expected to bring a scientific calculator
to all science lessons. If they don’t, they will be issued with a half hour detention for lack of
equipment.
In Numbers
Exam warm up sessions
We are running exam warm up sessions for Y11 for the chemistry exam on Wednesday 12th June
and the Physics exam on Friday 14th June. These will start at 8.00 am. The biology exams are in
the afternoon and we will be running working lunches for both of these. The one after half term
on Friday 7th June. Science revision is every Thursday after school.
2 Hours
The time it took 10,000 maggots to eat their
way through a 16-inch Margherita pizza, as
recorded by a team at Georgia Tech.
32
The number of times more deadly
ingesting party balloons is to seabirds
than eating hard plastic, as found by
researchers at the University of Tasmania.
5
Earth masses is the speculative mass of
Planet Nine, the hypothetical planet that
may or may not lie beyond the Kuiper Belt,
according to the latest models.
8

Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019
STUDENT SUCCESS
KARATE CHAMPION
Karate kid, Amber Gibbons, has kicked her way to the top
throughout these past seven years, showing excellence
and reaching her true potential. Amber started karate with her
mother, who has been training for eight years, and her brother,
who has been training for nine. Amber trains at LSKC, five to
six days a week. Thanks to this commitment, Amber received
her black belt in October 2017. All her hard work has paid off
as Amber has won over 50 tournaments. Amber said, “I would
really recommend doing karate because it can help you feel
more confident and if you ever need to defend yourself you will
know how to.”
Amber says the hardest part of doing karate is the world
championships, she feels it is a lot of pressure having to go up
against all the other countries. However, her favourite part is
meeting up with the different clubs and being social with people
who do the same thing as her. Amber finds karate more of a
hobby but is glad she has become experienced in it, which helps
her confidence in everyday situations and helps her in PE.
Amber hopes it will help in future, if she is ever in danger she
will be able to protect herself easily. Although Amber has
accomplished so much in karate she still gets nervous when she
goes into competitions and when she gets graded for her belts,
because she always wants to reach the top. Amber has always
rose above it and done incrediblly well. In 2016 Amber came 1st at
the world championships in the category ‘fighting’. Her favourite
move is a jump (flying) kicks. Amber is now qualified for this
year’s world championships and we have a lot of faith that she
will do amazing well and come back with many more awards.
Story by: Paris Wallbank (Y9) & Becky Williams (Y9)
9

FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS
Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019
10

Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019
FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS
WILNECOTE WIN THE THE FAZELEY SHIELD (AGAIN)!
The Fazeley Shield Cup Final
The Wilnecote School 3 - 1 Landau Forte Amington
Date: Wednesday 10th April
Venue: Coton Green FC, New Mill Lane
Kick-off time: 7.30pm Kick off
The Wilnecote School retained The Fazeley Shield in emphatic style when they played the final at
Coton Green just before the Easter holidays. Having dominated district football for five years, the
Year 11 team had one final point to prove and thus bring to an end their superb school football playing
careers. Only thing standing in their way was Landau Forte Amington on a chilly April evening.
Landau started the brighter of the two teams and deserved their lead. Perhaps the early goal was what
was needed to kick start Wilnecote into action. Playing their high intensity passing game, Wilnecote
moved through the gears and created a few chances before being awarded a penalty mid-way through
the first half. The scores were level through a neatly struck Connah Price spot kick.
The score was 1-1 at the half time and the instructions were simple; maintain the energy, keep passing
and the gaps will appear. Wilnecote duly dominated the second period and scored two finely worked
goals, as well as hitting the bar and creating plenty of other goal scoring opportunities. With Alex
Paterson and Jordan Murrell getting on the score sheet.
Captain and Mr dependable, Connor George, lifted the famous shield in front of players and family
however every single player contributed and played their part, both on the evening and over the past
five years, in what has been a superb team effort.
“Keeping a squad of players who have always worked for each other, put in the maximum amount of
effort, shown commitment and enjoyed the whole team experience has been the key to this fantastic
group of players’ success”, said Mr Handford, their coach since Year 7. “I wish them all the very best in
their football careers and the future is certainly very bright for such a talented group!”
So it’s over to next year’s Year 11 to see if they can make it a hat trick of victories, as Wilnecote aim to
put their name on this historic local trophy.
11

HUMANITIES
Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019
GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP
On 2nd, 3rd, 16th and 17th of May, the Geography department took 85 students out of
school to undertake some fieldwork required for them to complete their GCSE Paper 3:
Geographical Application exam in the Summer of 2020.
As part of the Human Geography element, we took them to Birmingham City Centre. Here
the students had to work in small groups and visit 5 different sites to complete a pedestrian
count, a traffic survey, a quality of environment survey and annotate some photographs of
each of the areas. The aim of this piece of fieldwork was to see how the regeneration of areas
in Birmingham City Centre is affecting Birmingham’s quality of the environment.
Students collected the data required for the Physical element of the exam from Carding Mill
Valley in Shropshire. Here the students worked in small groups again to measure and calculate
the velocity of the river at 3 different sites along its course. Students also did some random
load sampling, measuring the ‘a’ and ‘b axis’ and identifying the class of the load. The aim
of this piece of fieldwork was to see how closely the river Ashbrook matches the Bradshaw
model.
The students worked well collecting their data. We are now analysing the data in school to
enable us to conclude whether our hypotheses we made before the visits were correct or not.
The conclusions they make and the techniques they used whilst they were out in the field will
assist them in their examination.
Thank you to all the staff that took part, the parents for preparing their son/daughter with
wellies and packed lunches and the students for getting so involved - another great set of
trips that will hopefully serve as a lasting memory.
12

Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019
STAFF SUCCESS
LONDON MARATHON 2019
On Sunday 28th April 2019, 42000 people ran the Virgin Money
London Marathon. Amongst that huge group of runners was
me, Mrs Ager; Head of House for Grazier and one of the science
teachers here at Wilnecote. This was my first ever marathon after getting
into running about 3 years ago. I found out I had my place through the
charity Kidney Care UK in the summer last year and I spent from August
to Christmas fundraising in memory of my dad. I then spent 16 weeks
from mid-January training for the longest run of my life to date.
Running the London Marathon is more than just showing up in the
morning and covering the distance. It is one of the 6 major marathons in
the world and I was lucky enough to be a part of it this year. There is a big
buildup to the actual run which includes a big runners expo where you
collect your race number, listen to talks from expert runners - Mo Farah
was there at one point!
Race day itself was great. The atmosphere right from getting on the tube
train at 8am was fantastic and continued throughout the day. London
just seems a nicer place on marathon day! The whole 26.2 miles were
lined with crowds out cheering all the runners on. Each mile was marked
with a balloon tower, there were live bands playing, people blasting music
out, other giving out sweets and fruit along the way. It was like running
through a festival - the crowds really did make the experience so much
more enjoyable.
So many of our students have asked me about the day and congratulated
me on my achievement. Knowing I had the support of so many people
back at home and work really helped to keep me going through the
difficult parts of the run along with the knowledge that I had raised over
£3400 for the charity. I’d like to thank all at Wilnecote who donated,
offered good luck wishes and supported me throughout the buildup. I
enjoyed the experience so much I’ve signed up to do it all over again next
year!
UPCOMING EVENTS
This half term in Performing Arts we have been busy planning for an exciting end to the academic
year. During the first week in June we will be travelling to six local primary schools to perform a Music
Concert to students from Year three to Year five. It is a great opportunity for students to show off
their skills and in some cases visit their old school’s. It is also a fantastic opportunity for us to develop
links with the local primary schools and the community of Wilnecote.
Parents and family members can also see the show on Wednesday 12th of June when it will be
performed at The Wilnecote School. Tickets are available from:
www.shop.thewilnecoteschoolcom
Also look out for students from The Wilnecote School performing live on stage at The Belgrade
Theatre, Coventry on Wednesday 26th June as 30 students from Year 7 and Year 8 participate in The
Physical Fellowship Project. The UK’s only Physical Theatre Festival which is exclusively for young
people.
Finally, the academic year will be rounded off with our annual Arts Spectacular, in which students
from across the school will be given the opportunity to present the performances they have been
creating in lessons to family, friends and members of the local community. Check out our school
website, Twitter feed and Facebook page for more details on all upcoming events. We look forward to
welcoming you to one of these events soon.
Miss S.Julius
Subject Leader - Performing Arts
13

GCSE MUSIC CONCERT
Wilnecote Warbler
May 2019
LIVE LOUNGE EVENING
As we enter the final half term of the school year, Years 9
and 10 have almost completed their first year of GCSE
Music study. 30% of the music specification at GCSE involves
students performing a solo as well as an ensemble piece.
Many of our students taking the course are already regular
performers in concerts and productions but not all, so to help
with this two ‘live lounge’ concerts were held during April.
Students demonstrated some of the practical pieces they
had been working on in lessons including various vocal and
instrumental works. Mr Hyden, Head of Music said ‘Giving
students as much experience of performing their work live
as possible is vital for the course, the various concerts held
each year not only showcase pupils amazing musical talents
but clearly develop their confidence skills and performance
techniques. Well done to everyone who took part’.
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Wed 22 May 13:00 Combined Sci Trilogy Physics P1F
Wilnecote
Wed 22 May
Warbler
13:00 Combined Sci Trilogy Physics P1H
May Thu 2019 23 May 9:00 English Literature Paper 2
Fri 24 May 9:00 Investigating Small Bus.
Date Fri 24 May Start 13:00 Component Design and Technology Title Written Paper
TBA Mon 03 Jun 9:00 TBA Medicine French Speaking Britain Test Tier F
TBA Tue 04 Jun 9:00 TBA English French Speaking Language Test Paper Tier 1 H
TBA Tue 04 Jun 13:00 TBA Building German A Speaking Business Test Tier F
TBA Tue 04 Jun 13:00 TBA Music: German Listening Speaking and Test Appraising‐Wtn
Tier H
Mon Wed 13 05 May Jun 13:00 9:00 Principles Geography of Paper Comp.Sci. 2
Mon Thu 06 13 Jun May 9:00 Calculator Info Tech: Undrstndng (F) Tool Tchnqs Wtn
Mon Thu 06 13 Jun May 13:00 9:00 Calculator Religious Studies (H) A P1‐3 Christ
Mon Thu 06 13 Jun May 13:00 Early Religious Elizabethan Studies A P1‐5 Islam
Tue Thu 14 06 May Jun 13:00 9:00 Superpower French Listening Relations Test Tier F
Tue Thu 14 06 May Jun 13:00 9:00 Superpower, French Reading Elizabethan Test Tier F
Tue Fri 07 14 Jun May 9:00 English French Listening Language Test Paper Tier 2 H
Tue Fri 07 14 Jun May 13:00 9:00 Biology French Reading Paper 2 Test Tier FTier H
Tue Fri 07 14 Jun May 13:00 Biology Paper 21 Tier HF
Tue Fri 07 14 Jun May 13:00 Biology Combined Paper Sci Trilogy 1 Tier HBiology P2F
Tue Fri 07 14 Jun May 13:00 Combined Sci Trilogy Biology P1F P2H
Tue Mon 14 10 May Jun 13:00 9:00 Combined Food Prep Sci and Trilogy Nutrition Biology Written P1H
Wed Tue 11 15 Jun May 13:00 9:00 English Calculator Literature (F) Paper 1
Thu Tue 11 16 Jun May 9:00 Chemistry Calculator Paper (H) 1 Tier F
Thu Tue 11 16 Jun May 13:00 9:00 Chemistry The Usa Paper 1 Tier H
Thu Wed 16 12 May Jun 9:00 Combined Chemistry Sci Paper Trilogy 2 Tier Chemistry F P1F
Thu Wed 16 12 May Jun 9:00 Combined Chemistry Sci Paper Trilogy 2 Tier Chemistry H P1H
Thu Wed 16 12 May Jun 13:00 9:00 Application Combined Sci Comp.Thinking
Trilogy Chemistry P2F
Fri Wed 1712 May Jun 9:00 French Combined Writing Sci Trilogy Test Tier Chemistry F P2H
Fri Wed 1712 May Jun 13:00 9:00 French German Writing Listening Test Test Tier Tier H F
Fri Wed 1712 May Jun 13:00 Theatre German Makers Reading in Test Prac. Tier F
Mon Wed 20 12 May Jun 13:00 9:00 Religious German Listening Studies A Test P2A Tier Excl HText
Tue Wed 21 12 May Jun 13:00 9:00 Non German Calculator Reading (F) Test Tier H
Tue Thu 21 13 May Jun 9:00 Non Geography Calculator Paper (H) 3
Tue Fri 14 21 Jun May 13:00 9:00 Geography Physics Paper Paper 2 Tier 1 F
Wed Fri 1422 JunMay 13:00 9:00 Physics Paper 12 Tier FH
Wed Fri 1422 JunMay 13:00 9:00 Physics Combined Paper Sci 1 Trilogy Tier HPhysics P2F
Wed Fri 1422 JunMay 13:00 9:00 Combined Sci Trilogy Physics P1F P2H
Wed Fri 1422 JunMay 13:00 Combined Further Mathematics Sci Trilogy Physics Paper 1P1H
Thu Mon 23 17 May Jun 9:00 English German Literature Writing Test Paper Tier 2 F
Fri Mon 2417 May Jun 9:00 Investigating German Writing Small Test Bus. Tier H
Fri Mon 2417 May Jun 13:00 Design Further and Mathematics Technology Paper Written 2 Paper
Mon 03 Jun 9:00 Medicine in Britain
GCSE
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