There was much celebrating as the results were published in August.  It had been a long wait and clearly the hard work by students and staff had paid off.

In Year 13, Poppy Mason is off to Exeter University to study French and Arabic after gaining A grades in French and Psychology and a B in English to add to her A in Spanish which she already holds.

In Year 12, Pooja Tanwani scooped up another 4 A grades at AS (Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Psychology) to add to the Spanish one she gained lasted year.

Joseba Wulff was top IGCSE student with 8 As and A*s,1 B and 1 C.  Other notable success were achieved by Sanam Balani with 6 As and A*s, 2 Bs and 2 Cs and Clement Chauvin 2 A*s, 5 Bs and 4 Cs.  Each of these students also obtained an A for AS Spanish.  Other students with 3 or more As and A*s include Kristina Williams, Tom Hooper and Jamie Hayes.

The statistics for Year 11 are: 74% five or more A*-C passes; when English and Maths must be included the figure is 69%.  78% of students gained a C or higher in English and 77% for Maths.

Many of those successful at IGCSE are now embarking on A level courses at Wingate in the Sixth Form. For full results click Here

Wingate Senior School believes that charity begins at home. Last year we raised 1303 euros.  All the money was collected under the banner of "Children".   We sent some to "Children in Need" in the UK and some went to the  Lions Club International here in Tenerife.  It is to be used to help support the marvellous work they do for needy causes.  Desnee Mason (Senior Teacher) handed over the cash at the end of July.

Throughout the year, students devised various schemes to collect money.  These included: cake sale, a French cafe, a mufti (Non-uniform) day, a silence day, a "Guess the number of sweets in a jar" competition, a pay-as-you-watch basketball match and of course student's and staff's loose change.

Wingate Sixth Awards

Thursday 18th June 2 pm

The students in Year 13 have completed their A level exams  For those who joined Wingate in the Reception Class this will be a notable moment.  Wingate Sixth Awards includes the Graduation Ceremony for all Year 13 students.  We know we will miss them but we know it is time for them to move on.

Here are the details of the awards and the list of those Graduating.

Class of Year 13 2009 are:
Alice Cooper, Anjali Vaswani, Cameron Rivero, Danielle Wallace, Gulshan Thawani, Jenny Houghton, Jessica Page, Josh Knill, Kerry Walters, Natasha Lloyd, Patrick Haase, Poppy Mason, Ritika Mahtani, Sarah McIlwaine, Stefan Thompson and Yasmin Parker.

Entertainment by Caz (former Wingate Student)

Year 13 High Achievement Book Prizes
Maths and Science  Yasmin Parker; Languages   Poppy Mason;
Social Science   Jessica Page    and  ICT  Josh Knill

Other Book Prizes
Greatest Progress    Jenny Houghton;  Affability Award   Stefan Thompson
Positive contribution to Wingate Sixth   Josh Knill;
Creativity award  Jessica Page;  Mrs Kerbey’s award  Sarah McIlwaine;
Mr Stait-Gardner’s award   Poppy Mason and Sra Barrio’s award   Danielle Wallace.

Attendance Awards
Attendance    100%    Gulshan Thawani  and Sarah McIlwaine
Attendance    95% +   Anjali Vaswani, Jenny Houghton, Josh Knill,  Poppy Mason and Ritika Mahtani.

Nominations for awards to be announced during the ceremony
Year 13 Contribution to the Life of the School
Gulshan Thawani, Jessica Page, Josh Knill, Poppy Mason, Sarah McIlwaine Yasmin Parker and Stefan Thompson.  The winner was Jessica Page
Year 13 Student of the Year
Dani Wallace, Jessica Page, Josh Knill, Kerry Walters, Poppy Mason, Ritika Mahtani and Stefan Thompson.  The winner was Poppy Mason

Year 12 High Achievement Awards
Maths and Sciences Pooja Tanwani, ICT Luke Webber, French Donata Wulff
Business Studies  Victoria Reeve and Actor of the Year Ayla Sayles.

Nominations for awards to be announced during the ceremony
Year 12 Contribution to the Life of the School
Aaron Dowling, Ayla Sales, Pooja Tanwani and Victoria Reeve.  The winner was Ayla Sales,
Year 12 Student of the Year
Aaron Dowling, Ayla Sayles, Donata Wulff, Luke Webber, Pooja Tanwani and Victoria Reeve.  The winner was Victoria Reeve

Click here for details of Award Winners and Nominations

Nominations for Contribution to the life of the School 2009

Amy Burdis, Ashley Hall, Clement Chauvin, Ishaan Sehvani, Jamie Hayes, Laura Hayday, Monika Chandani, Rachna Chandnani, Ryan Cunningham, Sanam Balani and Thomas Hooper  Winner: Jamie Hayes

Nominations for Student of the Year 2009

Amy Burdis, Ashley Hall, Danny Holland,  Jagriti Nandwani, James Feather, Jamie Hayes, Jessica Dawson, Joseba Wulff, Kristina Williams, Maniah Thanwani, Monika Chandnani  and Sophie Campbell
Winner: Monika Chandnani

It is important to remember that we are in the Canarias and the Dia de Canarias gives the excuse to do just that. 

During Semena de Canaries at Wingate Seniors, in many lessons , not just Spanish, aspects of Canarian culture were explored.  On Friday a display was mounted of some of the work.  It attracted a lot of interest from student and from parents waiting to pick up their children at the end of school.

Awards
Easter 2009

Follow these links to see those nominated and the winners

For students in Years 7 to 9       For students in Years 10 to 13

Senior Award Nominations

As the term draws to an end teachers in the Senior School have been deciding who to nominate for the end of term awards.  There are three categories Achievement, Progress and Community.  Achievement is given to students who are working at a high level within their class.  Progress for those who are markedly improving their knowledge and understanding.  The community award is intended for students who contribute to the life of the school.  This can take many forms.  Perhaps a singer or a sportsperson.  They might organise a charity event or they just be helpful to others in the school.

The two students with the most nominations in each category for each year group win the  award.  These awards are given out several times a year but an important rule is that no one can win the same award on two consecutive occasions.

The link below will take you to the Nominations page.  Winners will be announced at the assembly on Thursday and appear here next weekend.

Remembrance at Wingate 
2 minutes at 11 am on the 11th

Tenerife's Got Talent !

We would like to send our warmest congratulations to Charlie Karlsen who won last Friday's competition.  Charlie, who is in Year 11 at Wingate, was not the only Wingate student to reach the final of this competition.  The panel of independent judges had a very hard time deciding between the top five and this included Jordana Burridge, who came 3rd, and Liam O'Reilly (both Year 10).  The competition was for performers of all ages and most of the finalists were professionals. Well done to them all but especially to Charlie who has won the chance to work with a professional recoding studio in Los Angeles.

A huge surf success at Wingate

The Surf Club at Wingate School has gone from strength to strength and now includes over 30 students from Years 7 to 13.  Students in all Senior Years have the opportunity to take part in the Surf Club.  The Wingate Sixth members, in particular, have impressed the instructors at K16 Surfing School with their attitude and commitment to learning the skills necessary to surf and be safe in the water. 

Rich Bullock (Head of Sport and PE at Wingate) started this Club in October 2007.  He wanted to show students that there was more to sport than just football.  He knew there were fun and exciting activities on the doorstep and was sure they just needed help in making the first move.

Teachers at Wingate have been impressed by the reaction of students throughout the school. In a short time students have developed such excellent surf skills.

Rich commented “My main concern with young people at present is that some would prefer to “play” football on a computer rather than get out there and kick a ball around with friends.  They then miss out on all the other aspects to sport such as the social benefits, for example working with others.  K16 Surf School has been extremely helpful and patient with our students and continues this positive attitude when they go back to practice at weekends and even after school.  Many students at Wingate even look healthier; they have lost weight, toned up and have even commented to me that they feel better”.

The instructors at K16 have commended the students for being extremely well behaved, motivated to learn and great fun to teach.  This kind of activity also helps student’s self-esteem and confidence; as well as promoting even better relationships with teachers.

 Wingate School already runs a popular annual Ski Trip each February and Rich is now looking to introduce other sports such as climbing, sailing and kayaking.  If there are any interested companies that can deliver such activities, or other outdoor pursuits, please contact Rich Bullock at Wingate School.

The highest achievement was by Pooja Tanwari who achieved only A and A* grades.  She passed at A* grade in Maths, English Literature, Geography, Double Science and Spanish; and A grade in First Language English and Travel & tourism.  For good measure, she also clocked up an A grade at GCE AS level Spanish.  For once, Pooja was almost speechless while her proud mother was full of praise for her.

Tony Garwood (Head of Seniors) congratulated all the students.  He said that achievement was the result of consistent hard work and this Year Group had worked hard.  He wanted to make sure all the students were congratulated for their hard work.  Although everyone did not get five higher grades there were no students un-graded and everyone had achieved at least one higher pass.

Some other notable students were Victoria Reeve and Rebecca Jervis with 6 A*/A grades each plus AS Spanish.  Noemi Garcia and Rebecca Merritt with 5 A*/A.  (Noemi also got AS Spanish).  With 4 A*/A grades were Charlotte Harrison, Lauren Watson and Nicolas Pinto Coelho (who was the highest achieving boy).

Results compared well with those published by the GCSE boards in the UK.

Overall pass rate (A*-G): at Wingate 100% (98.4% in UK)

Overall A*-C grades: at Wingate 75% (65.7% in UK)

Overall A*/A grades:  at Wingate 22% (20.7% in UK)

Achievement in Maths, English and Spanish was also particularly good.

Wingate students have done better than the English averages published recently and beaten all the targets set for English schools.  They even beat one for the year 2011.

Tony Garwood, Head of Seniors, congratulated the students and teachers for their hard work.  He commented that students really benefited from the broad curriculum offered in Years 7 to 9.  A rich programme including National Curriculum subjects, Spanish and sport all contributed to a feeling of purpose during these formative years.  ICT has seen a massive investment and students are really making excellent use of the facilities.  He said that the school was developing the cultural side to ensure that academic study was balanced by other activities.  Choir was an important part of the week at Key Stage 3 with everyone capable of singing roped in.  Each year there are opportunities to take part in school productions.  At Wingate, the aim is to produce well rounded people who also do well at exams.

The targets Wingate students beat:

Target 1:
Each of English and Maths at Level 5 or above 85%

English:  Wingate 97%   (England 73%)

Maths:  Wingate 92% (England 77%)

Target 2:
Both English and Maths at Level 5 or better 74% by 2011

Wingate 90% (England 66%)

Target 3:
Science at Level 5 or better 80%

Wingate 85% (England 72%)

Target 4: 
ICT teacher assessment at Level 5 or above 85%

Wingate 100% (figures from England are not available).

 Richard Bullock, Wingate PE teacher, and life-long surf enthusiast, has started a Surf Club.  This is his account of their first outing.

 We left Wingate at 9.15, our destination, K16 Surf School in Las Americas; twelve students from Years 7 to 10, ready for their first taste of riding the waves.  The forecast was for small waves and very little sun so when we arrived at the beach I was pleased there were no surprises!

Both instructors met us outside the shop and after brief introductions we were taken to get fitted out with all our surf equipment.

The girls insisted on pink surfboards, James wanted his regular board and Lucy was embarrassed as she knew the instructor and was wearing school uniform!

After squeezing everyone into wetsuits and fitting the girls with pink surfboards we were ready to hit the water.

Lois managed to hit 90% of the expensive cars on the way to the beach with the back of her board.  Talking and carrying a surfboard is a skill yet to be mastered by this budding surfer!!

Once the lessons started the students were taught how to safely control the board in the waves, the paddling technique and how to stand up.  

Once we hit the water and seeing the waves closer up I noticed some students say “they look much bigger out here!  ” and Lois saying “I’m gonna die!!” AGAIN.

Although a little on the small size, the waves were perfect for the learners in the group.  All caught lots of waves, most managed to stand up and with no injuries and a lot of laughs, it all made for a successful surf trip.

Sam Finnie (Year 8) – Longest wave, all the way in, but forgot to stand up.

James Stormont (Year 9) – Best Wave.

Lois Whitelaw (Year 7) – The “am I gonna die award” for survival.

After warming up and a little food, it was back to school and lessons.

HMS Portland is a modern Type 23 frigate (there have been 15 HMS Portlands since 1653).  It has one of the most modern weapon systems in the Royal Navy and it’s motto is “To be ready to fight and win.