WGSG Blog week ending 21st April

We are all justifiably proud of our amazing school community and its endless capacity to support and lift everyone within it.  We are no strangers to a celebration and thoroughly enjoy taking every opportunity to come together to mark great achievements or for cultural events such as our recent Arts Festival at WGSB and Cultural Dress Day here at WGSG. 

Our Cultural Dress Day was a joyous and empowering extravaganza culminating in a catwalk fashion show with live music and poetry performances.  Each and every contributor who took to the stage or catwalk was met with thunderous applause as students shared their cultural heritage and influences in a wonderful display of self-expression and celebration!  I hope you enjoy the wonderful photos which capture the essence of the event .. and of our school community.

Our students regularly give their time and support to a range of charitable endeavours and community schemes as part of school initiatives such as the DofE Award, WG6 Electives programme and House charities.  Some students take part in ambitious schemes to provide help further afield; including Bella Dellarda-Collins who will be undertaking a volunteering project over the summer.  Bella has provided more information on her plans and how we might be able to support her work ..

“My name is Bella and I’m in Year 12 based at WGSG. In the summer holidays I am going to be volunteering in Portugal undertaking a food rescue and distribution programme with IVHQ in order to offer food and support to disadvantaged families and the homeless community in deprived areas of Lisbon. This program includes recovering unused food from local cafes, restaurants and supermarkets and redistributing it among families, elderly and homeless people in need. I am hoping this will be an introduction to my larger goal which will hopefully take place during my gap year before university when I plan to spend a minimum of two months in Tanzania volunteering in an orphanage or school and offering support to young people and children with additional needs. In order to fund these trips, I am undertaking a number of fundraising activities, including a sponsored silence, and a confectionary sale at school. I also have a GoFundMe set up for this purpose, and any amount of donation will be gratefully appreciated. Closer to the time, physical donations of lightweight necessities (due to minimal luggage space) such as sanitary products, toiletries and toys for young children etc will also be gratefully appreciated. Thank you!”

Wilmington Grammar School for Girls collaborated with the Boys’ school to stage a Spring Arts Festival at WGSB.  Students showcased performance, song, music and art in a display of great talent and creativity.  The concert acted as a unique insight into the creative arts practiced and nurtured across our two schools with a rich set list that included world music, musical theatre, contemporary rock, choir and group pieces.  Our students performed to a packed and enthusiastic audience, thank you to our WGSB PTA for providing the refreshments. 

Congratulations to all student performers and contributors for such an enjoyable and uplifting show!

Year 10 MEP students had a brilliant time in Birmingham for the ‘Journey to the East’ conference. At the conference, they listened to a talk by education minister Nic Gibb and talks about learning Mandarin from people who work at universities, the Home Office, museums, an intelligence agent, and more! They also had a chance to interact with other students who are currently studying Mandarin in university or at A Level. In the afternoon, our students attended lectures about Chinese literature, music and animation. During all the talks, they used apps to ask questions or to vote. They were provided with a lot of information about Chinese culture, the language, politics and the economy. They also got chance to write Chinese characters, do paper cutting, drumming, dancing and Tai Chi. The whole conference was very inspiring and informative.

On top of that, the girls stayed in a nice hotel overnight and enjoyed Chinese hotpot, which was also their first experience. They were also massively impressed with the robot waiters!

Our Maths department delivered an ‘eggstra’ special lesson before we broke up for Easter .. involving delicious chocolate eggs and a series of calculations using crème eggs as the scale!  Students estimated the height of famous landmarks from around the world .. in crème eggs and measured their teachers as well as each other! 

Mrs Isles, Mrs Selfe, Miss Skrine, Mrs Fiander and Miss Rosa accompanied our students on an amazing ski holiday to Alpendorf, Austria over the Easter break.  The weather was brilliant .. lots of snow and plenty of sunshine, perfect for our intrepid skiers out on the slopes.  I’d like to congratulate all our students on their sporting prowess – I wish I could have been there with you.  In addition to their time on the slopes, students enjoyed a night-time roller-coaster, shopping trips and meals out.  The feed-back from the instructors, resort and travel company staff was universally complementary, all remarking on what wonderful company our students were throughout their stay.  Mrs Isles and some of the students are planning to share pictures, videos and stories of their adventures during a forthcoming assembly.   In the meantime – here are a few photos from their trip!

Miss Rosa added “as a novice skier myself, I would encourage all students to give it a go – it was an incredible experience .. my only regret is that I didn’t try it sooner!”

Sporting fixtures update from the PE department

Badminton Tournament.  Well done to all student competitors who took part in the recent Badminton tournament at Dartford Grammar School.  There were some really close fought games, especially in the upper school singles and some brilliant results across the board. We have some talented and promising players. The girls who are new to the club and those who had never played before did themselves proud! 

Final results:

Lower school

Singles 

Wilmington 2 - 4 Dartford

Doubles

Wilmington 2 - 1 Dartford

 

Upper School

Singles

Wilmington 2 - 5 Dartford

Doubles

Wilmington 1 - 3 Dartford

On 30^th March 18 students from WGSG competed in the Kent School Trampolining Competition at the Rebound Centre Gillingham. With over 300 students competing from all over Kent, our students faced fierce completion. We were confident having trained hard all term in preparation. All students performed two routines across the day enjoyed a big award ceremony at the end of the day. Miss Skrine is very proud of all WGSG competitors for overcoming their nerves and performing challenging routines in front of such a large audience. We are pleased to announce we came home with two trophies:

1^st place Individual Y11 & over – Fabian F

3^rd place Team Y7 & 8 Novice - Elija V, Jaime V, Isabelle P

Thank you to all staff who provided additional revision sessions and mentoring over the Easter break ahead of the GCSE and A Level examinations this term.  The sessions form part of our commitment to supporting our students as they make the final preparations ahead of the formal exams.  Students have received revision workshops provided by specialist practitioners as well as a comprehensive period of in-class preparations and lunchtime and after school teacher-led sessions.  Year 11 and Year 13 .. you have all the necessary tools and knowledge to achieve your full potential .. You’ve got this!  As always, our Student Managers, Teachers and SEN team are available should you need any further support.

Please join me in congratulating Ms J Cregan (Head of Art Department) who married Mr J Langley at The Knowle Country House in Higham Kent during the Easter Break on Friday 14^th April.

 “We were so thrilled to be joined by many of the staff from WGSG during the ceremony and the evening reception there as we danced the night away to the band and DJ. Thank you to all who came to wish us well and to celebrate our marriage.  We did manage to have a ‘Mini Moon’, over the weekend and will be honeymooning in the summer break in various locations, including, Warsaw in Poland as Mr Langley’s heritage is from there, plus Cornwall & Italy. We had a fantastic day and would like to say thanks again to everyone for making it so special for us.”  Ms Cregan

Forthcoming dates;

• Year 12 Mocks commence
• Years 7 & 8 Junior Maths Challenge – Wednesday 26^th April
• Strike Action – Thursday 27^th April and Tuesday 2^nd May
• Bank Holidays – Monday 1^st and 8^th May
• Year 12 Politics Trip to County Hall – Tuesday 23^rd May
• Year 12 Geography Trip Thursday 25^th to Sunday 28th May

 

Best wishes,

Michelle Lawson

Head Teacher