Parent, Guardians and Friends
41 public exams have been sat in school in the last two weeks by Year 11, Year 10 (POR) and Year 13 students. They have been remarkably calm and upbeat…we are thinking of them all and wish them good luck for another three weeks!!
Lower stakes, for sure, but still important, Year 7, 8 and 9 students are preparing for their assessments which are timetabled for after half term. Students have not been set additional home learning so we hope they have been able to use the time wisely to revise so that they can take a good break from schoolwork over half term.
A couple of weeks ago, 8C organised a bake sale and raised £78.00 for Diana Brimblecombe the Clothworkers charity. Holding a bake sale not only raises money for charity but students gain so much from working in a team to come up with the idea, to work out who is doing what, bringing in cakes and then marketing the event and finally selling the cakes. Initiative, teamworking, problem solving, reliability and being enterprising are all skills which are so important in life and cannot be learnt from reading a textbook – well done to 8C!!!
House Dance is one of the highlights of the school year and took place this week for Year 9 with their theme being films. Students have been working hard all term to produce a performance to show in the competition. There were dances based on a range of films including High School Musical, Mamma Mia and The Greatest Showman. The Year 9 audience were engaged and cheered on their peers who were performing. The winning performance came from Spinners this year who mixed a range of dance genres for their piece. Well done to all the students who participated, Year 9 will go onto supporting the younger years house dances as choreographers next year. Thanks to Mrs Ebden and the PE department for organising.
76 Year 10 students applied to be a Year 10 House prefect, where they had to write a brief letter of application and if selected, go through an interview process. Each Head of House will select five prefects. Our House system is very important to the ethos of the school. Right now, the short-listed candidates are being interviewed and the successful students will be notified on Friday. It is great that students have gone through this process – they not only learn more about themselves as they prepare for the interview, but they also gain experience of being interviewed and having to think on the spot and finally in building up resilience if they are not successful. Well done to those who are selected as prefects and to those who weren’t …for putting themselves forward!
Dr Bike is back in Wokingham over the half term. There is a free session at The Forest School between 12 and 2pm on Thursday 30th May. I needed new brake pads on my bike…I took it to my local bike mechanic at the weekend and ended up with a new wheel hub, chain and tyres….£106 – so a free check-up seems good value!!
The web link for bookings is https://www.myjourneywokingham.com/events/free-bike-checks-at-the-forest-school-winnersh-30-may-2024/
Year 7 had a talk from Wokingham RBFRS service on road and water safety on Friday 17th. The whole team enjoyed talking to students and said they were really impressed with them. Thanks to Ms Herron for organising.
Finally, it is a non-uniform day on Friday where we are inviting students to come to school in non-school uniform in exchange for a voluntary donation of £2. Students are raising money ‘WalktheWalk’. ‘Walk the Walk’ are dedicated to raising money and awareness for vital breast cancer causes and to encourage women, men and children to start walking as a way of keeping fitter, healthier and as an important part of cancer prevention.
Five members of staff, Mrs Williams, Mrs Darby, Miss Vockins, Mrs Bernadotte and Miss Hurry took part in the Moonwalk to raise money for Breast Cancer. Miss Vockins said ‘’ It was an incredible experience for us all to take part in, walking a marathon over night was not a light task! But it was amazing to be around so many people of all ages taking part, there was such a sense of community throughout! It was fantastic to also see London lit up in pink and so many people in London cheering and beeping their horns in support!’’
The proceeds from the non-uniform day will be part of their fundraising and the proceeds will go to Walk The Walk. Well done to the teachers for finishing the moonwalk and to our students for being so supportive in raising money for the charity.
Enjoy the half term break!
Anne kennedy
Co-Headteache