Most Enterprising School in England
Writhlington Business and Enterprise School has just been recognised as the most enterprising school in England and was awarded the trophy this week at a ceremony in the school by Rhona Hassan from the Academy of Enterprise in London. Head of Business and Enterprise James Fox received the trophy on behalf of the school and said:
“We are delighted that the achievements of our students in this field have been recognised at a national level. Three quarters of our students follow a Business Studies course to GCSE level and their participation in Enterprise programmes enables them to achieve outstanding results.”
Writhlington has 15 student led companies, all of which are registered at Companies House in London and the Enterprise provision at the school has been recognised as “outstanding” by Ofsted. All students at the school take part in dedicated Enterprise programmes of study which this year are centred around globalisation issues. The school recently became the first school in the South-west to receive the Challenge Award for excellence in provision for Gifted and Talented students.
Picture shows Rhona Hassan, Year 10 students Annie Tidbury and Ben Stokes with Assistant Headteacher James Fox
Popular Sport Gets Lottery Funding
Youngsters from all over the Norton Radstock area have been flocking to Writhlington Sports Centre to take part in trampolining and gymnastics classes. The demand and increasing skill levels of those taking part prompted Sports Centre Manager, Matt Wise, to see how the Centre could raise funding for more specialist equipment.
“Trampolining and Gymnastics are fun and enjoyable ways to keep fit and both sports have seen a surge in popularity in the last couple of years. Some of our children are really gaining in confidence and are ready to push forward to higher levels, including competition level, but are being held back by the lack of specialist equipment” says Matt Wise.
An award of £10,000 from the National Lottery through its Awards for All programme will now fund the much needed equipment. “We are delighted to receive this grant as the whole community will benefit.” said Matt Wise. “Not only will we be able to improve the quality of our existing classes but we will now expand the range of opportunities to our children’s holiday and after school clubs and get the parents to try it too.”
Despite having limited training facilities, six gymnasts from WSC Gymnastics Club have pulled off an amazing victory. The team won the second match of the West Country League Gymnastics competitionheld at Fromeside Gymnastics Club, Winterbourne, Bristol on Sunday the 1st October.
Naomi Jones (Captain aged 12), Tiffany Butcher (15), Carley Hounsell (15), Amelia Griffin (11), Bethany Hounsell (11), Rebecca Tamin (11) finished the team event eight points clear of the second place team Baskervilles Gym Club from Bath. Individually the Writhlington team took Gold (Amelia Griffin), Silver (Bethany Hounsell) and Bronze (Rebecca Tamin).
The team have recently moved to Writhlington Sports Centre, Radstock with their Senior coach of 6 years, Kelly Belbin. Since September the gymnasts have had access to limited equipment consisting of a vault, a training beam and a hard floor area making training for this competition particularly challenging.
“It will be extremely gratifying to be training in a fully equipped gym as of November, when the hall that the gymnasts are currently training in is transformed with a brand new floor, viewing gallery for parents and specialist gymnastic equipment for the gymnasts to use. We did not have high expectations for this last competition due to our circumstances. However, the results would suggest that the girls’ talent and ability has shone through despite the situation they have been faced with and that dedication and hard work can go a long way” said Matt Wise.
The gymnasts are now in training for the West Country League Finals which will be held at The city of Bristol Gymnastic Club on the 12th November, and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their new equipment.
Anyone interested in starting gymnastics or trampoline lessons should contact Writhlington Sports Centre, Radstock (01761) 438559. Both programmes cater for children from as young as 4 years old.
Sizzling Start to Jungle Summer
Visitors to the Eden Project this summer would have found Writhlington Pupils high in the canopy of the tropical biome, while in the new Core building there was a summer long display highlighting the School’s conservation work.
Events director Justine Quinn explained "Writhlington is a key partner for the Eden Project and it is great to have students involved in this summer’s Jungle event."
The school’s display went up on 19th July and as year 7 pupil Luke Barnes noted "It was ironic that while the rest of Britain was suffering the hottest July day on record we were publicising our work in even hotter places like Guatemala."
Through the summer and September, A Level students from Writhlington were on site at Eden to carry out research using orchids grown at the school and under the guidance of Curator Don Murray. Don explained, "This research builds on four years of collaboration and the younger pupils putting up this summer’s display can look forward to some very exciting opportunities in the next few years."
October 2006
Medal for Dedication & Hard Work
Year 8 student Natasha Stokes represented the Norton Radstock Guides at the recent UK Transplant Games held at Bath University. Natasha was part of the event ceremony held and was presented with a medal for her dedication and hard work.
October 2006
Writhlington Operation Christmas Child Shoebox appeal
This year Mrs C. Lewis will be delivering empty shoeboxes to Year 7, 8 and 9 tutor groups, giving students the opportunity to wrap and fill them with small gifts for underprivileged children around the world.
The dead line for the boxes will be the 10th November. Please hand in to Student Reception or Mrs Mitchell in the ILC. It is hoped that all tutor groups will participate for this good cause.
October 2006
’Fly High’
Coming Soon"..’Fly High’ ~ an English magazine written by and for the students of Writhlington School. Each edition will include stories, poems, book reviews, puzzles and much much more.
If you would like to contribute your own writing or become a member of ‘The Fly High club’, come to H16 on Fridays between 12:50pm and 1:20pm.
Any contributions published will receive a Prize!! New members always welcome! Contact Mrs Flagg for more details.
Rook Lane Art Exhibition
Writhlington School Art Students are celebrating their successful exam grades this year by exhibiting their framed work at Rook Lane Arts, Rook Lane Chapel, Bath Street, Frome on 10th – 23rd November 2006. Private view – 9th November 6.00 – 8.00 pm. The students use a wide range of media including collages, relief work, 3-dimensional structures, paintings, batik and print. Their work is themed around a diverse range of subjects, artistic influences and approaches from Film Noir to Surrealism, Still Life, Picasso style self portraits, landscapes of Bath in monochrome, Phillip Treacy hats and identify in Ranchenberg style.
Rook Lane Chapel is an ideal venue for the exhibition as it enhances the visual imagery to its best.
GCSE and A Level art work is often not seen and instead forever wrapped up and hidden in cobwebbed folders – well Writhlington School are shaking the dust off that old attitude and invite you all to view the work in its real form – 10th – 23rd November, 10.00 am – 5.00 pm including Saturdays.
For information about Rook Lane Arts see their website at www.rooklanearts.org.uk
View slideshow of photos CLICK HERE View Gallery CLICK HERE
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