July 2010 - Woodchurch High School

www.woodchurchhigh.com
[email protected]
0151 677 5257 Summer Issue
July 2010
We have come not only to the end of a successful school year but to the end of our time in this
school building. We are all very excited about the move to our new school and feel very privileged
to have been chosen as a BSF Pathfinder School. Kier North West building contractors have proved
to be superb building contractors, developing excellent working relationships with the school and
the local community. The building project has not impacted at all on the education of our pupils
since they came on site in January 2009.
I appreciate your support and understanding that we will need a staggered return in September. In
order to maximise pupils’ learning we will continue to teach the curriculum up until Wednesday afternoon. I have also included 2 Staff Development Days onto the end of this term. I would remind
you that pupils can access work on the VLE.
I would like to thank the pupils, staff, Governors and parents for their support and hard work
throughout the year and wish you all a relaxing summer break.
This year’s induction day on 7th July was hugely successful. Our biggest
ever intake of 284
pupils thoroughly enjoyed sampling lessons, watching a drama production and touring the new
school build. They left us very excited about the prospect of joining us in September in their new
school.
We were also very encouraged by the superb attendance in the evening when the senior hall was packed with our new parents and carers. We look forward to our new partnership and relationship with
them.
Already over 50 parents have attended a curriculum evening where
they met with Maths, English, Humanities and Modern Foreign Language staff and learnt about the Year 7 curriculum in those areas. In
the next academic year we will be continuing our programme of curriculum evenings for Year 7
parents so that they can “keep up with” their children.
Thank you to the staff for the many revision
sessions they provided before and after school,
in the holidays and at weekends.
Year 11 worked extremely hard and they deserve every success when the results come out
on Tuesday 24th August. A reminder that pupils will need to collect results from The Sports
Hall from 10.00 am.
As a School with a Church of England Trust, we
have appointed a Chaplain who will begin his
role in September. Mr Sean Chandler will be
supporting our pastoral work and developing
the spiritual life of the school.
Goodbye and best wishes to the following staff
who are relocating to other parts of the country
or, in the case of Mr Cotgrave and Mr Gouldson, a round the world trip.
Mr Bob Chapman - Maths
Mr Michael Cotgrave - Science
Mr Neil Gouldson - English
Miss Anna Hamilton –GTP Student - English
Miss Michelle Hilton – Maths
Miss Besmira Koka – GTP Student – Maths
Miss Liana Kontos – English
Miss Melanie Massey – ICT
Miss Amy Newton – RE/Humanities
We wish Mrs Neoptolemos, Mrs Morris and Mrs
Eyre a long and happy retirement and thank
them for their commitment to our pupils and
the school throughout the years.
Mrs Daniels has relinquished her role as Pupil
Progress Leader and is reducing her time to 3
days English teaching. Thank you to her for
her significant contribution to the pastoral
work of the school.
We are delighted that more Woodchurch High
School families have accessed this grant than in
any other Wirral school.
Increasingly, computers and the Internet are
required to support learning.
Again this year Year 11 marked the end of their time at Woodchurch
High School with a Prom at the Leasowe Castle. At the beginning of
the evening pupils, families and neighbours gathered at school for
Bucks Fizz and photographs. Coaches transported pupils and staff
to the Leasowe Castle where we were greeted by a Pipe Band!
It was a fantastic evening and every one of
the pupils looked wonderful—please see the
school website for full photographs.
Thanks to Mrs Daniels and Mrs Walker for their hard work in arranging the
evening.
At the end of June pupils returned for the Leavers Assembly where Senior
Staff and Pastoral Staff shared memories of the last five years, together with
awards and musical performances from Year 11 pupils. There were many
tears and reluctant goodbyes.
Woodchurch, Claire House and Sainsbury’s
collaboration!
This Art Graphics project was a live brief for
GCSE pupils. The pupils were set a design brief
of designing a leaflet for Claire House which
was geared towards the same age group as the
designers themselves.
Once all the designs were complete the clients
came in and were presented with a wide range
of individual designs, in their own words they
were amazed by the standard of the work and
had a hard task of choosing a design!
Jodie Barber’s design was eventually chosen as
their preferred choice. This design was then
sent to the printers. The cost of the printing
was funded by Woodchurch pupils doing a bag
pack in Sainsbury’s.
The school continues to enjoy an excellent
partnership with the Upton Store and already
we have planned further activities in the new
academic year.
Recently Year 10 GCSE Art Students have been lucky enough to
have two workshop days with local watercolour artist, Ian Fennelly.
Ian is a very successful artist who sells his work through a range of
galleries and produces in the region of 5-6 watercolour paintings
per week in order to keep up with the market’s demand.
Ian gave very clear instructions and students were able to produce
some very successful sunflower paintings following his guidance
using water colour loosely and creatively. Their results were bold
but sensitive and each painting was very individual. Availability will
follow shortly together with a price guide!
We are almost there!! The Building work is nearing completion in
readiness for the pupils to move in on 6th September. The site landscaping is transforming a building site into a tranquil environment
where pupils can learn and relax. Improved security throughout the
grounds and building will ensure safeguarding for all our pupils.
The Big Move is on schedule also and staff are doing a magnificent
job in balancing their teaching right up to the pupils’ last day on 14
July and packing their crates. Many have taken advantage of the school being open at weekends
recently to allow work to continue on the big clear out.
On 15 July we start the move to the new building and the old buildings will be handed over to Kier
on 23 July. This will be the start of Phase 2 when the old buildings will be demolished and the
playing fields, bus drop off area and car parking will be reinstated. The premises staff, led by Mr G
Morris—Facilities Manager, have worked ceaselessly.
A number of temporary measures will have to be put in place for operational management during
this period up until end of March 2011. These include temporary car parking for staff and visitors
on the Kier site and temporary Bus Drop Off areas for pupils. Parents will be given separate guidance on these arrangements by the Head Teacher, Ms Phillips.
All staff and most pupils have visited the site on at least one occasion and everyone is looking forward to the New Term on 6th September. During the Year 7 Induction Day on 7 July, the new pupils
also had a conducted tour of their new school.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the
memorabilia weekend.
The Trip Down Memory Lane – an exhibition of
memorabilia going back over 50 plus years was a tremendous success with over 600 former pupils
and staff visiting and reliving their memories of Woodchurch
A lot of happy memories and stories were shared as well as the reunion
of old friends.
On Friday 2nd July, past and present pupils gave superb musical performances.
Visitors had the opportunity to tour the school and examine the displays from 1957 – 2010.
On Saturday a constant stream of past pupils/staff came to Woodchurch High School for a final
tour, visiting the diary room, sharing memories and collecting their exam certificates from as far
back as the 1960s.
Danny King of Year 11 has created a short film that has been entered for a national competition. Danny’s film was made for his GCSE coursework and looked at the transition
from the old school building to our new school. Danny interviewed former pupils who
attended the school when it opened and filmed in the old and new schools to show the
contrast in the two buildings. The film was entered for a film competition that was part
of the National Teaching Awards. We are waiting to hear whether he has made it onto
the national shortlist.
We are extremely proud to announce that last month we achieved the CPD Mark. This
is a very prestigious award and recognises the schools commitment to the professional development of all its staff. As a school, we firmly believe we should constantly
update our skills, knowledge and competencies, as that way, we ensure the best possible results for all our young people.
Woodchurch High School was the first school within the authority to achieve this award – scoring
100% in the final assessment (most schools average 70%!). The report highlighted that there were
no significant areas for development with regard our practices and instead suggested things which
we may wish to trial to improve things even further. A huge thank you to Mr L Bannon, Assistant
Headteacher, who prepared the documentation for this assessment.
School is proud to announce that it has been commissioned
by the Local Authority to run the ‘Return to Teaching Programme’ on their behalf. This is a programme designed for
people who have Qualified Teacher Status, but have left the
professional for maybe a career break, long term maternity
etc and now wish to return to the profession. They undertake a series of professional studies sessions, bringing them up to date with the latest pedagogy and practice, as well as undertake a classroom based experienced. Woodchurch is proud to be supporting the teaching profession in this
way.
Due to the huge success of our Training School Status and the work
we carry out in training the teachers of tomorrow, school has been
asked by the TDA (Training & Development Agency) to run a pilot
project, called ‘iTeach’, which is designed to recruit and train Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry
teachers.
Woodchurch is one of only two schools in the North West of England to be invited to participate in
this project and so will act as a ‘hub-school’ overseeing the work of other schools within our
‘cluster’, which covers Wirral and Cheshire.
To further enhance the skills and competencies of our staff, we are
launching our own in-house CPD programme, called CPD Bitesize. All
staff are able to attend these sessions, where good practice is shared
and staff can reflect upon their current practice. Ms. Phillips, Headteacher, said ‘We are delighted to be launching this programme, as this
yet again demonstrates our commitment to improving outcomes for all
our young people.’
Following the successful adoption of the ASDAN / CoPE programmes of
study, we are delighted to announce that we have had our first ever awards
of the Level 1 and Level 2 CoPE (Certificate of Personal Effectiveness). Level
2 is the equivalent of Grade B at GCSE, and Level 1, Grade F.
Special congratulations go to not only Georgie McCall, Rebekkah O’Gorman, Koren Hornby and
Chloe New, who all achieved the Level 2, but also to those pupils who achieved the Level 1 and the
AoPE Award – we are proud of you.
As many of you are aware, a
number of our Year 10 and
11 pupils attend the Maritime and Engineering College in Birkenhead, where
they study engineering
based qualifications, validated by City & Guilds.
We are very pleased to
announce that the results
for our Year 10 and 11
pupils have now been published. The following Year 11 pupils have
achieved the Level 2 C&G Certificate in Engineering:
Craig Johnston
James Sadler
Liam Whiting
Curtis Standing
Kyle Harvey
Connor Wait
Nathan Dunne
Jamie Clays
Tom Allen
Robert Deer
Adam Stephenson
The following Year 10 pupils have achieved the
Level 1 C&G Certificate in Engineering:
Reece Charmley
Sean Cooke
Stefan Dodd
Gary Ferguson
Chrisopher Ferguson
Kieran Garry
Jack McEvoy
Daniel Phillips
James Reilly
Dean Smith
Jake Smith
Zac Stowell
James Tollerton
Jack Tyler
Mr. Bannon, who oversees the programme for
school, said, ‘We are delighted that these pupils
have achieved success at MECNW, these results
represent a lot of hard work and determination
on the part of the pupils’. Congratulations to all
our pupils, we are proud of your success!
Keeping safe online over the summer
This summer our pupils will probably spend a
lot of time online. To help keep them safe the
following information has been released by
Think U Know. As a Training School we offer
courses to support parents in understanding
how their children use the internet. Please contact Mr Woods if you require any further information.
Parents Fact Sheet
Know what your children are
doing online and who they
are talking to. Ask them to
teach you to use any applications you have never used.
Keeping the computer in a
family room means that you
can share your child’s online experience – and
that they are less likely to act inappropriately
(i.e. via webcam).
Help your children to understand that they
should never give out personal details to online
friends — personal information includes their
messenger ID, email address, mobile number
and any pictures of themselves, their family or
friends. If your child publishes a picture or
video online, anyone can change it or share it.
Remind them that anyone may be looking at
their images and one day a future employer
could!
If your child receives spam/junk email & texts,
remind them never to believe them, reply to
them or use them. It’s not a good idea for your
child to open files that are from people they
don’t know. They won’t know what they
contain — it could be a virus, or worse — an
inappropriate image or film.
Help your child to understand that some people
lie online and therefore it’s better to keep
online friends online. They should never meet
up with any strangers without an adult they
trust.
Always keep communication open for a child to
know that it’s never too late to tell someone if
something makes them feel uncomfortable.
Teach young people how to block someone
online and how to report them if they feel uncomfortable.
Websites:
www.ceop.gov.uk
www.thinkuknow.co.uk
www.getnetwise.org
For the past month, STEM club has been working with Scottish Power trying to design and build a
simple wind turbine using plastic piping and a small motor. The blades have also to be designed
from strong cardboard.
In July, the pupils from the club spent a day a Bletchley Park which was where the Allies in World
War 2 tried to decipher codes used by the Germans and Japanese, particularly the enigma code
used by German forces. Pupils were shown how an enigma machine worked and everyone had the
chance to input a message in order to code it and they were shown how it would be decoded. We
also saw the first computer, called Colossus, that was built to help decipher other codes during the
war; the machine was the size of a small room.
12 year 9 Woodchurch pupils from STEM club were lucky enough to be
asked to take part in a boat lift at the Albert Dock in Liverpool. We had a
wonderful day with Merseyside Maritime Volunteers learning about boats
and barnacles and ended up getting lifted out of the dock (whilst still on
the boat) by a huge crane!
It was really exciting and also a bit scary dangling from 4 wires holding up
a huge boat! Mrs Moulton was scared she would fall in but the pupils reassured her that the life jackets would keep us quite safe! We were then given long handled Brushes
and set about scrapping the barnacles from the bottom of the boat!
A wonderful day and many thanks to Merseyside Maritime Volunteer Service.
Year 9 girls all achieved Bronze Crest Award when they successfully
completed a Rocket Car challenge day with EDT. The girls were set the
task of designing the fastest car they could build using only a fixed set
of equipment. The winning car travels a distance of 22m and this was
apparently a record for the organisers! )
There were many representatives from Engineering Industry there as
STEM Ambassadors who were so impressed with the behaviour and
achievement of our pupils they have since provided the opportunity
for 12 of our year 9 pupils to take part in the “Boat Lift” as well as a
Falconer who came back to show us two of her Hawks!
On Wednesday 30th June and Thursday 1st July all of the year 9 pupils took part in an interactive
sexual health and risk taking behaviour event. The workshop consisted of 7 work stations which
the pupils visited for 30 minutes each. At each of these stations the pupils learnt about different
aspects of life and how to keep themselves safe.
The event was very informative and the pupils gained a lot of knowledge and skills. Staff from
Brook and Response delivered this workshop and wanted the parents/carers of all the pupils to
know how impressed they were with the behaviour, manners and maturity.
“It is always such a pleasure to work in Woodchurch High School, it is such a friendly and caring
school”. This is just one of the comments from staff at Brook and Response asked me to pass on.
Well done to everyone and remember to use the information from the workshop.
The Chickens have landed at School in the shape of six young Warwick hens
who were rescued from a destined life of “egg laying slavery” at a local battery
farm. Netta, Margy, Matilda, Giselle, Sooty and Camille are all growing well and
looking fabulous now with glossy copper feathers and are each laying an egg a
day! One of them even lays a double-yolk egg which is supposed to be very
lucky - it certainly is for these hens!
They have all had their beaks clipped by the farmer before we got them, but are
happy to take grains of corn from your hand and are getting very tame. So far
they have even helped to contribute to some lessons. Pupils have been doing
“Chicken Maths” and were using the plight of the hens to practice writing persuasive letter in English lessons to encourage people to buy only free range
eggs. One even wandered into Mrs Dulson’s History lesson!
Pupils have also been learning how to handle the hens and the health and nutritional needs to
properly take care of the birds. Mrs Moulton is delighted that the vast majority of our pupils have
been so sensible around them and is now planning on trying to increase the number of animals we
keep in school. Plans to hatch our own chicks in September and the purchase of some North
Ronaldsay sheep will go ahead now as pupils’ excellent behaviour makes it possible for us to
extend the Rural Dimension at Woodchurch High School!
In early July Ms Oldham, Mr Roberts and Mr Clarke along with 2 Year 10 pupils
Ella Neale and
Alice Champion spent a week at our partner school Kanah High School in rural Eastern Uganda
where most parents are subsistence farmers. As always in order to make the most of the visit there
was a busy programme of activities that included: lesson observations, team and solo teaching,
meetings with the school council, prefects, all the girls, the whole school management team, head
teacher, parents and governors. Everyone at Kanah really values the partnership with Woodchurch
and they are all very keen to find out more about our culture and our school.
During the 6 days at school Ella and Alice attended lessons, played
netball and made some really good friends. The girls cannot be commended enough for their absolutely superb attitude throughout the
whole of the trip.
Mr Clarke observed and taught Citizenship, History and Geography,
and also coached the Kanah football team, having first chased the
cows off the pitch! Mr Roberts used his IT expertise to sort out the
school’s computers and train students and a member of staff. He also
met with pupils with behaviour issues and contributed to an assembly about good attendance. Ms
Oldham worked with the girls on Sex and Relationship Education, met with the School Council and
the eco-group who on hearing that we now have hens promptly decided to get 10 ducks!
The team also visited 5 of Kanah’s feeder primary schools, taking letters, diaries and disposable
cameras from their partner schools here in Wirral. The primary pupils sung and danced, and generally treated us like royalty!
Our 5 year partnership takes time and effort to nurture, but is reaping great rewards in both
schools, helping to raise standards and foster a better understanding of development issues. We
are grateful to the Department for International Development Global Schools Partnership programme for financing these amazing exchange visits for the past 3 years, and we look forward to
developing the partnership further.
This term has been another busy one for pupils involved with our Actual Enterprise Education programme. Lots of projects have taken place, including a project with Ridgeway and Wirral Met College and Prenton Primary School.
One of our major events was the organisation and planning of the schools Memorabilia Celebrations. Seven year 8 pupils, along with support from staff, helped plan, set-up for, and run our
events on 2nd and 3rd July when nearly 600 guests attended over the two days events.
Some year 7 pupils helped with these celebrations with a ‘buy a brick for a £1’, where we are offering people the opportunity to buy a brick from our current school site, after it is demolished.
11 pupils in year 10 were involved with two Enterprise projects. They split into two business
groups. One ran a fair-trade tuck shop for two weeks at breaktime, buying products, setting up
the stall, selling the goods and advertising the project. The other created our schools lovely photographic memorabilia booklet. Some of these booklets are still available for people to buy. These
types of Enterprise projects were a first for the school, and we hope to do similar projects with another year group next year.
As part of building leadership skills for our pupils, working with the PE
department we were pleased to subsidise some pupils in Year 10 to
help the Y7s on their PGL trip. The leadership and responsibility experiences which were gained were invaluable and the pupils concerned
have all completed audits to help identify their areas of success and areas to improve for the future.
Next year we have many more plans to expand our Actual Enterprise
experiences for pupils. Working with a major national bank, we are
aiming for pupils to help start and run a school bank where pupils can open accounts and pay
money in every week. In addition the new year 7’s will have an Enterprise Day, year 8’s will complete the pound challenge, some year 9’s will be working on a project which will be part of a BTEC,
year 10s will participate in a Dragon’s Den type event and year 11s will have an Enterprise day.
In May, Year 11 Drama pupils took part in a very successful GCSE
performance evening where they performed final pieces to their
parents. Pupils acted scenes from the plays “Rebecca”, “Abigail’s
Party”, “Stags and Hens” and “Blood Brothers”.
Year 10 staged a production called “Wonderwoman” for our Induction Day. This was performed to
Year 6 pupils who will be coming to this school next year. They hosted a question and answer session to allay any fears Year 6 pupils may have about coming to this school.
After School Drama Club will be performing their song “Don’t Stop Believing” for the “Arts in the
Park” festival to be held in Birkenhead Park. Samantha Giblin from “Little Actors” Theatre Company
delivered some workshops to the pupils to help them prepare for their performance.
LIVING PICTURES, MOVING WORDS
Year 9 pupils worked alongside other schools to create a workshop for
Year 5 pupils, putting on a performance of their own drama work.
Their scripts and monologues were performed as part of a Wirral
Schools exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery.
Young Engineers at Woodchurch High School
Race Day Final, Silverstone
Winners (Expert) Teamwork
6th overall in the competition
Tuesday 8th June brought this year’s competition to its close. In the
months running up to June the team had been working hard to finish
the car designs and build the cars ready for race day.
During the last few months the pupils have worked hard to manufacture parts for, and assemble the car.
CML Group – Birkenhead
After discussions with engineers at CML, our modified designs, for the chassis and suspension
parts, were emailed to the machine shop at Birkenhead. Here the drawings were converted into the
machine codes to manufacture the parts
Silverstone – Race Day
A wet and early start (yes there are two 6 o’clocks in the day!!!!!). We arrived at Silverstone in plenty of time to unpack and get both cars running. Then the rain came down to make it a very wet qualifying session.
First session the car was ready to race and as it was put onto the track
the engine stopped with the starter broken, so no laps this session. So
back to the pits to replace the starter mechanism.
Second qualifying session and the rain was coming down much heavier. This time we managed to get a couple of practice laps in before
the start of the qualifying session. Qualifying started and we were in
the lead for the first two laps until the car was hit from behind and
taken out of the race. Back to the pits to restart but water in the electronics stopped any further racing for our car.
We now had lots of time to sort the car out and were able to put it
through its paces in the Silverstone car park. Once satisfied that the
car was ok we packed up ready to go home and stayed to watch the
trophies being awarded. We were very surprised to find that we had
won the trophy for best TEAMWORK (Experts). So up onto the podium to receive our award. Once again it was a very good, long, day
for the team but they are already looking towards next year’s competition. Since race day we have found out that we finished 6th, out
of 40, overall in the whole competition for our class of car.
Well done to the team for such excellent work and effort through the year.
For more information about the competition visit the Formula Schools web site at www.formulaschools.com
Also remember to look at the school VLE pages for more
information about what the team are doing.
Once again many thanks to the following for all their help
during this competition:
The year 7-10 rounders teams all competed in the Wirral Schools
Rounders Tournaments. All pupils were excellent representatives of the
school and worked brilliantly as a team.
The results were:
Year 7 and 8 teams came second in their section
Year 10 achieved third place
And saving the best till last…..
The Year 9 team won their section!! They beat all the local comprehensive and grammar schools
and gave their best team performance. Well done girls!
The PE department would like to thank all of the staff and pupils who took part
in some way in Sports Day. It was once again a huge success with many outstanding individual and team performances. The sports day assembly will take
place on Tuesday 13th July 2010. This is an opportunity for the whole school to
celebrate individual success and this year we are introducing new awards.
Good luck to Gabbi Howarth and Laura Black who are currently in Sweden
representing Great Britain in a Handball Competition.
Fun Club has finished now but will start again in September. Well done to
all the boys and girls who have attended. Hope to see you there next year.
The annual Year 7 outdoor education trip to PGL was
another huge success. The pupils had a brilliant time
and enjoyed all the high ropes challenges to test
their bravery and teamwork. Even a
torrential summer thunder storm didn’t dampen spirits in the tents we
stayed in!
The PE Department organised their first trip to
the Oaklands Centre in North Wales in July for
the GCSE PE pupils. Pupils participated in a
coastal sea level traverse, finished with cliff jumping and a gorge walk
up a mountain river. The pupils all had a brilliant time and although they
got extremely wet they never stopped smiling!
Well done to all the boys who have represented the school
at Cricket and Softball this year. This has been the first
year we have had teams in these sports and it has been a
great success. We hope you will continue playing over the summer ready for next year.
The School Athletics teams have done really well this year again at
the Oval. In the Inter School competition the Year 7 boys finished 2nd
and the Year 8 boys finished 4th. In the Relay Championship for
Years 7-10 Woodchurch won the boys combined trophy
Congratulations to Jake Yang and Sean Cookson who were selected for the Wirral Athletics team.
Jake for the triple jump and Sean for the long jump. Well done lads!
CONGRATULATIONS to Mark Beech who has been retained by Tranmere Rovers and Marley Forster who has been retained by Everton
Ladies. Well done to both!
World Cup fever spread to the “Let’s Get Cooking Club” where pupils enjoyed
making England Flag Tartlets using puff pastry, mozzarella cheese and red
pepper as part of the themed Tea Time Treats.
All pupils developed their cooking skills using new techniques and a range of
equipment. They engineered their own seasonal scones trialling a range of additional ingredients
creating a Mediterranean scone with black olives and sundried tomatoes and developed a sweet
scone adding strawberries to the mix - a real hit with the group. They progressed to making a
range of multicultural breads including African Flat bread.
The usual muffins were made but a popular choice were the breakfast muffins, nicer served warm from the oven. Pupils were able to take their dishes
home and used the recipes again. Parents were invited to school to participate in the final session, working alongside their child to produce a selection
of treats which were sampled by the group and invited guests.
Look out next term for another course.
The Woodchurch ICT Community Project (WICT) is funded by a government grant allocated to the
residents of Woodchurch by Wirral Council, and the budget is managed by the residents and Woodchurch High School.
Jack Davies has been appointed as ICT Community Co-ordinator and he will be engaging with residents and community groups to find out their needs. This may include helping people with their
community and business websites, local network access points and training, from beginners to
more experienced users. The whole community is invited to become involved, regardless of age,
income or mobility. Keep your eyes open for notice of events, look on the website WICT.org.uk or
contact the Project Coordinator on 07769702573 or by emailing: [email protected].
Full school uniform is compulsory for all pupils. Pupils not in full uniform are liable to be internally
isolated as failure to do so is seen as a blatant disregard of school rules. In any emergency, parents may request permission in writing for pupils to wear other than full school uniform and the
Headteacher is authorised to grant permission only for a very short period. Application for uniform
grant should be made to: The Special Services Dept., Department of Education, Hamilton Building,
Conway Street, Birkenhead.
Girls -
Grey skirt no more than 2 inches above the knee. (Mid grey, charcoal or black tailored
trousers may be worn)
White or blue long sleeve school blouse. Optional short sleeve white or blue school
blouse for Summer.
*School Tie (To be worn at all times)
Grey (not black) V neck pullover or cardigan. (optional)
Tights or ankle socks: white, grey or black.
Black sensible, low heeled shoes but plain black trainers are acceptable.
Black blazer with *Badge.
P.E. Kit-
Plain Navy blue shorts, football type (not cycle shorts).
Woodchurch High School Polo shirt (Red).
Plimsolls or training shoes (Non marking soles - old trainers will be useful for outdoor
education lessons (Football boots may also be worn/useful).
- A navy blue wrap-over games skirt. (Optional)
- Tracksuit bottoms - Navy (allowed for outdoor lessons in the Winter term).
- White Sports Socks
- Woodchurch High School Sweatshirt (Red)** optional.
It is advisable for names to be printed on shirts (the supplies will provide this ser
vice)
Boys - Mid grey, charcoal grey or black trousers.
- White or blue long sleeve school shirt.
- Optional short sleeve white or blue school shirt for Summer.
-* School Tie (To be worn at all times.)
- Grey V neck pullover. (optional)
- Socks: white, grey or black.
- Black sensible shoes are preferred, totally black trainers are acceptable.
- Black blazer with *Badge.
P.E. Kit*
White P.E. shorts with Woodchurch motif (two pairs).
Woodchurch High School Polo shirt (White).
Training shoes or plimsolls (non marking soles).
Woodchurch High School Rugby Shirt.
White sports socks.
White football socks.
Football boots.
A towel.
A track suit (optional), jogging suits are not suitable.
Woodchurch High School Sweatshirt (Blue) optional
It is advisable for names to be printed on shirts (the suppliers will provide this ser
vice
Ties and Badges can be purchased from school.
Uniform Suppliers: Wirral Uniform Shop, 2a Princes Pavement, Birkenhead
Tel: 0151 647 9588
Can I reminder all parents who will be buying new uniform for September that pupils are only allowed all black shoes or trainers. There should be no other colouring (pink shoe laces etc). We ask
for your continued co-operation in this matter as we have no wish for parents to incur extra expense in having to buy replacements. Please can I also reassure parents that, despite rumours,
it is not my intention to change school uniform for the new school!
Over the past few weeks we have been delighted to welcome Year 5 pupils from our local Primary
schools. Pupils have come to Woodchurch to attend a joint Maths/Science activity, learning about
the Ancient Egyptians, looking at Hieroglyphics and constructing a 12 foot pyramid from sticks!
Other groups have taken part in Code Breaking activities that helped them to develop their algebra
skills.
Our annual Gifted and Talented Team Challenge was held this week, with teams from
St Michael’s, Prenton, Woodchurch C of E and Overchurch all taking part. The competition was fierce, and the winners were decided in the final round, with Prenton
snatching a well deserved victory! Congratulations to all those who took part.
At Woodchurch High School, we place high importance on good attendance and punctuality. Generally our pupils display excellent levels of both, unfortunately a small minority do not. Both of
these qualities are valued by Further Education Colleges and Employers. A reminder to parents/
carers that your child is expected in school by 8.45 am. If they are not in school by 9.15 am, the
Law states that this should be treated as an Unauthorised Absence and this will be coded in the
register accordingly. Continued Unauthorised Absence and lateness will be referred to our Education Social Worker. This can now result in a Fixed Penalty Notice. We are sure that all parents will
agree with us on the importance of this matter and we look forward to your continued support.
PUPIL ABSENCE HOTLINE
Direct Line
641 8218
Please telephone school on the above number to leave a message if your child is absent from
school. Please state the name of your child, his/her form and the reason for
absence.
Any absence during term time seriously hinders the continuity of a child’s education and reduces
their chances of success.
Autumn Term
Monday 6th September
Year 11 only
Tuesday 7 September
Year 8 only
Wednesday 8th September
Year 9 only
Thursday 9 September
Year 7 only
Friday 10th September
Year 10 only
Monday 13 September
All year groups return full time
Friday 22nd October
Close for half term
Monday 1st November
School re-opens
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