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Sporting Success for Gemini

		Great fun and much good natured rivalry marked Wingate Seniors' annual inter-house sporting competition.  Teams from all four houses did their up-most to win the different competitions.  In the end though it was Charlie Raglan, as Gemini House Captain, who lifted the trophy.
		The competitions were all team events.  Cricket, netball and football teams included members from across the Years.  Then came the relay races, which all had novelty value.  Students from Wingate Sixth and teachers joined their houses for these more humorous races. The competition, however, was no less fierce whether it was the bobbing for apples race, the egg and spoon race or the basketball race.   The event was rounded off with the traditional Tug-a-War, and many sore hands it caused.

The competitors were exhausted, the spectators hoarse and this marked another successful event for Wingate School.  In closing the afternoon, Tony Garwood thanked Rob Finnie, Head of PE, for his excellent organisation.  He commended the House Captains for their tireless efforts throughout the day.  But most of all he congratulated competitors and spectators for their sportsmanship.

Graduation Day

"What a fine group of people, a credit to their parents."  With these words, Tony Garwood (Head of Seniors), commended the students of Year 11 who had gathered with their parents for their Graduation Ceremony. 

This, he said, was a happy day because most of the IGCSEs had now been taken and because a long summer holiday stretched before them.  However, this was also a sad day because this was absolutely the last time they would all be together at Wingate. 

A hall crowded with students and parents applauded as special certificates were awarded for Sports (Chris Harrison), Drama (Leah Walters), Dance performances (Jasmine Hall, Rebecca Jervis, Georgina Kay, Charlotte Harrison, Lauren Watson and Ruby Walker), and for organising the music for the twice weekly school assemblies (Ayla Sayles and Celeste Whitehead).

The award for Progress and Determination was given to Danni Smith.  The final award went to Head Prefect Rebecca Merritt for the efficient and effective way she had led the Prefect during the last year.

Then it was on to the Graduation Certificates themselves.  Chloe Pinchin (tutor of 11P) presented to her form and Rob Finnie (11F) to his.  There was much joy shown in the applause from parents and fellow students as each person received the certificate marking this milestone in life.

Each certificate contains the names of everyone in Year 11.  A fine memory jerker in 20 or 40 years time. 

11F

11P

Mr Green, commenting afterwards, praised the sense of community that the students were so clearly demonstrating.  And perhaps this is one reason why so many of them plan to return to Wingate Sixth in the Autumn to continue with their studies.

World Record-breakers!

Students from Wingate Seniors made their personal contribution towards the Global Campaign for Education last week by taking part in the Guinness World Record attempt to hold the World’s Biggest Lesson.

The lesson took place on Wednesday 23^rd April in over 100 countries.  It was part of the Global Campaign for Education’s ongoing campaign to raise awareness and pressurize politicians around the world to keep their promises to provide Quality Education for All.  In 2000, leaders of rich and poor countries committed themselves to a set of goals and targets to end global poverty and make the world a better place. Central to these are the Education for All (EFA) goals signed up to be achieved by over 164 Governments in Dakar in 2000. 

The target was set to be reached by 2015 and although we are already past the half way point to 2015, there is still a lot of progress to be made on this issue.  According to the Global Campaign for Education, “there is an inequitable distribution of quality education, with children in poorer countries most affected by a lack of teachers as well as learning materials. 72 million children and 774 million adults are currently missing out on an education.  Quality Education for All is fundamental to ensuring that people of all ages are able to develop their full capacities.”

In total 109 Wingate students participated.  In doing so they learnt about the importance of getting a good quality education, as well as the impact not being able to read and write or count has on someone’s life.  They also explored different ways in which individuals can come together to try to influence politicians to take action on such key issues.

The Global Campaign for Education is still collecting verification forms from schools worldwide, but an early count shows that the record has already been broken, with an estimated minimum of 7.5 million people taking part.  It may be some time before exact figures are published, but Wingate students should feel proud to have done their bit.  They left the lesson feeling very fortunate about their own education, and despite the success of the attempt would probably all agree that the old cliché ‘it’s the taking part that counts’ was more meaningful than ever.

Surf’s Up at Wingate

On a more serious note, I believe that learning new skills in a challenging environment can have a massive positive effect on students’ self-esteem, can improve team-work and communication.  Surfing is a sport that can promote a healthy lifestyle, is great fun and is perfectly suited to life in Tenerife.

Awards went to

Jacob Ashley (Year 7) – First wave ever caught and he stood up and rode nicely.

K16 commented on how quickly the students picked up the basic skills and that their behaviour was excellent.  So, all set for the next wave.

Wingate Students visit HMS Portland

Students of Years 10 and 11 of Wingate School were invited to a tour on board HMS Portand on December 10, when it docked at Santa Cruz.  The students were very interested to learn about how a British warship operates, visiting all the installations, and speaking to several of the navy officers and the ships Commander Mike Utley.

One of the highlights of the tour was when the students were shown the ship helicopter.  The officers shared their experiences with the students and encouraged them to look into the navy as a career choice.

Open Day Friday 26th October

Parents of Senior students met with subject teachers on the last day of the half-term to review progress.  Parents were given their child's Grade Sheet.  This showed how well the student was working, the percentage of homework attempted and A National Curriculum level or predicted IGCSE or A level grade.  Most were comfortably in the good or satisfactory category for effort.  Four students demonstrated maximum effort in all their subjects: Rebecca Merritt in Year 11, Poppy Mason and Yasmin Parker in Year 12 and Amrit Mirchandani in Year 13.  Virtually all students have attempted all the homework set this half term and the few that had not will be completing the missing work after half term under the supervision of Tony Garwood Head of Senior School.

Parents met with subject teachers in the school hall.  A busy afternoon for all concerned.  Senior parents had been asking for the opportunity to meet directly with subject teachers for some years.  This was our first attempt to satisfy this request.  A massive 92% said that they were pleased with the way the afternoon was organised.  8% would have preferred to have met with just the Tutor as in the past.  The summer Open Day will be Tutor based.  The chief improvement we feel we need to address is reducing queue sizes and waiting times.

Year 11 Officials

Head Prefect: Rebecca Merritt. 

Prefects: Aaron Dowling, Noemi Garcia, Jasmine Hall, Charlotte Harrison, Christopher Harrison, Georgina Kay, Nicole Parker, Victoria Reeve, Stevie Reynolds, James Rubes, Ayla Sayes, Pooja Tanwani and Celeste Whitehead.
 

House Captains and Vice Captains:
Apollo              Elicia Hattersley (Cap), and Josh Waterman.
Challenger      Jasmine Hall (Cap) and Aaron Dowling. 
Columbia        Chris Harrison (Cap) and Craig Allen.
Gemini            Charlotte Harrison (Cap) and Lauren Watson.

Copyright © 2005 [Wingate School]. All rights reserved. Revised: July 25, 2008