September 2011

A-Level Exam Results Press Release

For the third year running, students from Writhlington School are celebrating their school’s best ever results at A-level – with a 100% pass rate and the 101 students in Year 13 achieving an average of 833 QCA points – the equivalent of three A grades. The school is delighted with the continued improvement in results.

A remarkable 40% of all grades achieved were at grade A and A*, whilst 86% of all grades awarded were at grades A*, A, B and C.

17 students achieved 3 or more A/A* grades: Bella Alexandroff (A*A*AA), Lisa Hill (A*A*AB), Kate Fenna (AAAB), Daniel Collins, Richard Cummings, Evie Dibble, Harriet Goudie, Chelsea Gregory, Sophie Hurst, Oliver Marshall, Danny Mitchell, Jack Morris, Nikki O’Brien, Nathan Reakes, Daniel Rosser, Henry Steeds, Georgina Symes.

In addition to achieving outstanding A level results, Daniel Collins and Daniel Rosser continued to shine on the football pitch as part of the Writhlington Football Academy and were selected to play for the England Colleges squad.

This year’s phenomenal set of results means that almost every student has been able to go to their first choice of university. Headteacher Marie Getheridge said “everyone has heard about the shortage of university places this year and grade increases and we are thrilled that all students who apply to University have been successfully placed”.

“We are delighted with the outstanding results achieved by this year group, although it comes as no surprise given the consistent commitment shown by so many of the students throughout their seven years at Writhlington”.

Ms Getheridge also pointed to the broad choice of courses as an important factor in the students’ success. “At Writhlington we have a very wide range of Post-16 courses to suit the different interests and aspirations of our students. The very high proportion of A grades achieved this year demonstrates just how highly our students can achieve when they are following courses that challenge and motivate them”.

5A*-C for almost every student at Writhlington

A remarkable 97% of Writhlington students have achieved five or more A*-C grades in this summer’s exams – the third year running that almost every student has achieved the gold standard against which students are judged by employers, colleges and universities.

With the equivalent score for schools nationally at 69%, students at Writhlington have once again far exceeded expectations.

66% of students also achieved the challenging accolade of reaching five or more grade A*-C including both English and Maths, a continued increase on previous years’ results and well above the National average of 53%. The proportion of very high grades was equally impressive, with 44% of grade achieved being A or A*.

Headteacher Marie Getheridge is clear about the reasons for her students’ success: “At Writhlington we believe every student is of equal value, and so every student follows a personalised curriculum that is tailored to their individual interests and talents”.

"Our students and staff have worked very hard indeed to achieve these outstanding results and of course we are very proud of all their achievements”.

With 98 students gaining between five and sixteen A and A* grades, there were many highly impressive individual achievements. Amongst those students with exceptional performance were George Beechener (11A* and 1A grades), Nicola Varney (9A* and 7A grades), Jen Morgan (8A* and 4A grades), Alex Perry (7A* and 7A), Katie Elsam (7A* and 5A grades), Jess Bray (7A* and 5A grades), Jayde Dix (6A* and 6A grades), Jess Butler (5A* and 8A grades), Callum Masterton (5A* and 7A grades), Callum Jennings (6A* and 3A grades), Bethan Lewis (6A* and 2A grades), Ryan Gullock (6A* and 3A grades) Charlotte-May Messer (4A* and 7A grades), and Chloe Hilleard (3A* and 9A grades)

July 2011

Writhlington students win Science Communicators Prize at South West Science Fair

Writhlington students scooped one of the top prizes at the annual South West Science Fair at Exeter University this month.

The students Rachel Threlkeld, Caroline Albrow, Zoe Barnes and Luke Barnes are all part of the School’s Laos project working with the community of Paksong in the south of that country to help them set up a rural enterprise and conservation project.

Caroline explained, “At the science fair we set up a display about the work we are doing in Laos and I explained to the judges all about our plans for the next student visit to Paksong which happens in October this year.”

The Science communication prize is awarded to a school student or group of students who show exceptional skills in communicating the details of their project as well as the wider significance of their science work.

Teacher Simon Pugh-Jones said “I am very proud of the students. They faced some very strong competition with students from all over the South West exhibiting some fantastic work but the judges were particularly impressed with the confidence with which the Writhlington team expressed the way in which their work can make a major contribution to both conservation and peoples’ lives in one of the World’s poorer communities”

Celebrity Author Visits Writhlington School

On Wednesday 6th of July, 250 Year 7 students had the privilege of a visit from our truly ‘local author,’ Christopher Lewis-Smith.

Chris engaged the audience from the opening of his talk with a humorous ‘leg-pulling’ tale, before swiftly moving on to explore the art of writing. Chris encouraged our students to follow their dreams, whilst maintaining the discipline to ensure they succeed, be it in creative writing or other areas of life.

After reading extracts from his novel ‘The Water of Light’, Chris answered a range of insightful questions from our students. The event was a huge success, with over sixty signed copies and Chris was so impressed with Writhlington students that he has made arrangements to visit us again next year!

Chris stated that:

'It was great to talk to the Year 7s at Writhlington. I was impressed with everyone’s focus and then the range of excellent questions at the end. To those that bought copies of the book, many thanks. I hope you enjoy the story. When you are done with the book and if you liked it, lend it to someone else, or even better, get them to buy a copy! I'm looking forward to coming back to the school. As I only live just across the road it's easy for me to get here. I really am a truly local author! Have a good summer everyone'. Chris Lewis-Smith.

The English Department would like to extend their thanks to both Christopher Lewis-Smith and the Year 7 students who supported the event.

REAL SCIENCE FOR STUDENTS IN UNIQUE ENTERPRISE CENTRE

Writhlington School has joined forces with Abington ScienceScope to form a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Enterprise Centre – the first one nationally to be based at a school.

The STEM Enterprise Centre is a joint venture between Writhlington School and Abington ScienceScope, a business which provides electronic sensors and dataloggers to schools, colleges and universities for use in the classroom.

The ScienceScope business has moved onto the Writhlington campus, and invested £15,000 to equip a Science laboratory with state-of-the-art technology for use by students and visitors to the school. This co-location enables ScienceScope to trial new products in an educational setting, whilst ensuring Writhlington students are the first in the country to access newly developed cutting-edge scientific equipment.

The STEM Enterprise Centre is already working on a number of projects. Technology students in Years 7-9 will be helping to develop new products such as a bat detector, and Science students in Years 10 and 11 will be closely involved in the trialling of new ScienceScope products.

Post-16 students will be carrying out their Extended Projects through the STEM Enterprise Centre, for example by developing prototypes of new high-tech electronic and mechanical products.

Headteacher Marie Getheridge said: “This is a very exciting opportunity for Writhlington students. The STEM Enterprise Centre is more than just a novel learning experience for the students. They will develop their understanding of mathematical principles and scientific methods through real-world practical investigations.”

David Crellin of Abington ScienceScope said: “Students at the school will experience real scientific engineering, mathematical and technological challenges in the work-place. They will contribute to the development of high-technology products from concept through to production. The students will bring a new dimension to our business, and we are proud to be supporting the education of the next generation of scientific entrepreneurs.”

Macauley Targets Paralympics

Macauley Dempsey in year 10 has been setting his sights high this year in his chosen sport of Wheelchair basketball. His currently training schedule is a Wednesday night session for 2 hours and a Sunday session for 3 hours.

Macauley says that “It may not seem a lot 5 hours training a week but the intensity of these sessions, makes them feel about 8 hours long”.

Macauley’s training sessions involve a lot of strength and conditioning work and player working on their basketball skills in isolated and competitive situations.

Macauley is currently pushing himself in training and in matches to be part of the London Paralympics basketball squad. We wish him all the best in his mission to achieve this goal and be the first Writhlington Olympian.

June 2011

Writhlington Students work with Madagascan Scientists

Two leading conservation scientists from Madagascar took time during their recent visit to the UK to come and work with students at Writhlington School.

Helene Ralimanana and Tiana Randriamboavonjy who work to conserve the many rare plant species endemic to Madagascar were keen to share their work and learn from the experience of the Writhlington School Orchid Project.

Twelve year old Ashley Teale described the visit as “Fantastic. We learnt all about the projects in Madagascar to save some of the amazing plants from extinction and how the scientists are working with schools and communities.”

Writhlington pupil Zoe Barnes who gave the visitors a training session on micro-propagation techniques explained, “Helene and Tiana are keen to expand their work and develop a conservation laboratory and so I gave them a try at all the techniques that we use to grow our orchids for conservation work in Laos and the Himalayas.”

Simon Pugh-Jones who runs Writhlington’s Orchid project described the visit as a great success. “I am sure that this is just the start of our work with colleagues in Madagascar. We can learn a lot from each other and I hope that in the future Writhlington students will visit Madagascar and work with communities on practical conservation work and research”.

More information about conservation in Madagascar as well as the schools work in other tropical countries will be on show at this year’s Writhlington School Orchid Festival on Saturday September 17th.

May 2011

WRITHLINGTON SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM WIN THE UNDER 19’s SOMERSET CUP

The Writhlington School football team were successful in beating Millfield School 2-1 to win the Somerset County Cup on Tuesday 3rd May.

The students, who are aged 16 to 19 are part of the Bath City F.C Football Academy in association with Writhlington Business and Enterprise School. The students combine academic study at Writhlington’s Post 16 Centre whilst furthering their football career with high quality coaching from Academy coaching Director Billy Clark and Marcus Holmes.

The students put in an outstanding performance and showed great attitude and commitment to win the fixture after being 1 nil down at half-time to come back and win the fixture with goals by captain Lewis Redwood and second half substitute Will Hailston.

Mike Burr, Assistant Headteacher at Writhlington, who is the Director of Post 16 said: “The young men are a fantastic group who have developed in many ways during their time at Writhlington in the classroom and on the football pitch. It is just reward for the team who put so much effort into their football and they thoroughly deserved to win the Cup.

“A lot of work goes into the students by all staff involved with the Football Academy and the students and put the same efforts back into their studies and football. It is great to see the results on and off the pitch with students this year gaining places at University to study Sport Science, others gaining apprenticeships to become Sports coaches and some looking to further their careers as semi professional footballers after being selected for the England Colleges squad and Bath City FC first team”

The Bath City F.C Football Academy in association with Writhlington Business and Enterprise School is a 2 year programme that recruits new players/students every year, for more information contact Billy Clark on 07968 086836 or email

April 2011

CHINESE STUDENTS JOIN WRITHLINGTON SCHOOL

20 students from Suzhou in China are studying at Writhlington School for the summer term. The exchange forms part of a partnership to promote cultural and educational links between the two countries.

The students, who are aged 11 to 13, started at Writhlington last week and are attending school alongside their English hosts until the end of the summer term in July. The students are staying with families of Writhlington students who volunteered to be part of the project.

Although the students attend one morning lesson with their Chinese teachers, for their other five lessons of the day they sit with their English counterparts in normal lessons at Writhlington.

Although the Chinese students wear their own school uniform, in every other respect they work in the same way as Writhlington students, and have even been allocated their own netbook computer for the duration of their stay.

The Chinese students go on an educational visit one day each week throughout their stay, and are going on a tour of the UK at half-term.

Mike Burr, Assistant Headteacher at Writhlington, who has overseen the visit said: “The exchange has been a great success in the first week. Students at Writhlington are very excited about meeting guests their own age from China, and we have all been amazed by the very high standard of English spoken by the young Chinese visitors.

“A lot of preparation went into the visit, even including special assemblies to teach students at Writhlington about Chinese customs and culture. Those students who are hosting Chinese visitors have taken part in a China Club run by our China Link Co-ordinator, Mrs Fanping Kong-Friel, and have learned some basic phrases in Mandarin.”

The visitors come from the Suzhou district of China, which is the Chinese equivalent of Bath, specialising in high-tech engineering. Teachers from Writhlington have visited China on two occasions in preparation for the student exchanges.

Eight students from Writhlington Post-16 Centre will be spending 12 days in Suzhou this October as part of the next phase of the partnership between the schools.

January 2011

WRITHLINGTON SCHOOL TOPS THE TABLE AT GCSE AND A-LEVEL

The publication of national performance tables this week has confirmed the outstanding success of Writhlington School at both GCSE and A-level.

The performance tables, published this week by the Department for Education, are based on last summer’s examination results. At Writhlington, a remarkable 98% of Year 11 students achieved five or more A*-C grades – higher than any other state school in Bath & North East Somerset, and well above the average for local schools of 77% - with some students achieving as many as 18 higher grade passes.

This was the second year running that almost every student has achieved the gold standard against which students are judged by employers, colleges and universities. The school’s “CVA” (contextual value-added) score, which measures the progress made by students in their first five years at secondary school, was 1034.2 – significantly higher than for any other school in Bath & North East Somerset, and one of the highest scores in the whole of England.

Writhlington students also recorded the school’s best ever results at A-level – with the 107 students in Year 13 achieving the equivalent of three A grades each. Writhlington topped the B&NES league table not just with the highest overall point score, an average of 809 points, but also with the highest average points per entry in the local authority, at 230 points.

Headteacher Marie Getheridge said “We are thrilled that our students have achieved such stunning results, and it is a tremendous accolade for Writhlington to be officially recognised as one of the highest performing schools in the country.” “At Writhlington we offer a very broad curriculum, with students choosing their own tailor-made programme through our innovative “pathways” system. This means that every student’s courses are relevant, engaging and suitably challenging”. “Through our specialism in Business & Enterprise we have developed innovative courses and new approaches to learning, which young people find highly motivating and relevant to their future lives”. “We believe that every student is capable of succeeding, and our staff work very hard to identify and resolve quickly any issues that might prevent a student from reaching their full potential”.

December 2010

Writhlington School China Club - Ni Hao! - (Hello!)

These are exciting times for staff and students of Writhlington School, especially for those with an interest in taking part in an international exchange partnership. Our school is one of eight from this region who have formed a collaboration with approximately sixteen schools in Suzhou New District near Shanghai in China. The partnership will involve students from China coming across to Bath for two terms in the springtime of 2011 (April – July) and students from here making the return trip in October 2011, albeit for a shorter twelve day visit in the first instance. The long term objective is for our students not just to visit the schools in Suzhou, but to undertake a period of work placement and fully experience life in one of the world’s newest and most unique expanding economic powers. That’s a little further down the road, but for now the year 7 and Year 8 students have been introduced to the Writhlington School China Club, run by Mrs Fanping Kong-Friel, our China Link Co-ordinator.

The China Club is held on Monday lunchtimes and affords the students the opportunity to learn some simple Chinese Mandarin language, to gain an insight to Chinese culture and find out how their contemporaries live in the Far East. It will also provide the first opportunity to contact some of the students who plan to make the first visit from China to Writhlington School by means of satellite links and email.

The Chinese students will stay with host “Homestay” families and hopefully forge friendships for life. The total number of students visiting Bath and the surrounding area is close to eighty, with twenty students and two staff being accommodated by Homestay Families from Writhlington School. An invitation to be a host family has already been distributed, however if you wish to know more about this programme, please contact Mr BURR or Mrs Kong-Friel as soon as possible. The first stages of the Bath Suzhou Educational Partnership (BSEP) have already been made with two teachers from China having been guests here in Bath from October through to December 2010. Mr Zou teaches English in his school in Suzhou and has been a regular visitor each Tuesday watching how our staff and students interact and learn.

He has been accompanied on this trip by Mr Wang, who has been focussing his attention on Primary Schools in the area. A formal reception was held to honour the two teachers and to recognise the Partnership at the Guildhall in Bath on 19 October 2010. We hope they have enjoyed their experience as much as we have enjoyed their company and look forward with great anticipation for a long and prosperous relationship. Who know, this time next year you may even be able to greet your friends in Mandarin by saying “Sheng dan quai le!” or “Happy Christmas!”

This programme is yet another example of how our school continues to push the boundaries of learning with the provision of educational opportunities. Just ask your parents what excursions they were able to take part in and they may say something like “a day trip to the coast”. We are part of something quite incredible and adventurous in the BSEP. For more information on any of the above, please feel free to attend the China Club or contact Mr Burr or Mrs Kong-Friel.

November 2010

My Fair Lady

Writhlington students never cease to amaze and exceed expectations and last week's performances of My Fair Lady were no exception. The audience could not quite believe it and were on their feet at the end to offer the cast and orchestra a richly deserved standing ovation.

The stunning new 400-seat auditorium was packed during each of the 5 performances which saw the students deliver a polished rendition of the well-loved musical which had more in common with a professional show than any "school production".

As well as outstanding performances from those on stage and in the orchestra, other youngsters at the school were responsible for stage management, front of house, ticket sales, creation of wonderful hats and parasols showcased during the Ascot scene, the design of the programme and interval refreshments.

It is difficult to single out individuals when excellence was the norm - not only were the leading characters of fine voice but there was a wealth of supporting talent in the chorus. However, special mentions must go to Michael Bijok who gave a truly remarkable portrayal of the petulant but brilliant Professor Henry Higgins; to Hannah Long, a spirited Eliza Doolittle and to Joe Beadleson as Alfred Doolittle, who brought a smile to everyone's face with his joyful rendition of "Get me to the church". A sensitive portrayal of Colonel Pickering by Matthew Newman made him a firm favourite amongst many of the audience.

This production will be a hard act to follow, but in the years to come we can no doubt look forward to high standards of performing arts at Writhlington in the fantastic new theatre.

All in all, a wonderful evening's entertainment which left the audience believing that all things are possible. Guest Reviewer

Visit from Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg

Jacob Rees-Mogg our newly elected MP for Bath and North East Somerset visited the school in November to talk to the Year 12, Public Services group concerning life as an MP and issues around the constitution. He spoke to the students about the workings of Parliament and discussed constitutional affairs giving an insight from an insider’s point of view. Afterwards he invited questions from the students about any issues currently concerning students, including, electoral reform, blood sports, university tuition fees and law and order.

Later he very kindly agreed to speak to a number of Post 16 students regarding proposed tuition fee increases and other areas included in the Governments White Paper on Educational Reform. The group were very pleased to meet their new MP and enjoyed the opportunity to discuss matters of state. We understand he enjoyed his visit and we are hoping to see him again in the House of Commons, sometime in the next year.

Year 9 Trip to Bristol University

On the 24th of November, our Year 9 science class went to Bristol University’s Chemistry Department to experience university standard chemistry. We each had the opportunity to take part in a chemistry experiment involving extracting caffeine from tea. We also had the chance to use all of the university specialist equipment and the pleasure of being taught by the university's chemistry lecturers. During the day we split into pairs so we each got an experience of what university lessons are like. When part taking in the caffeine extraction experiment we were taught step by step by the university lecturers, to allow us to get the full experience of university life.

To extract the caffeine from the tea we had to go through a number of stages to get pure caffeine, and then some further processes to check how pure the caffeine was. Each of the stages involved using new equipment that we wouldn't before have a chance to use. Working in pairs allowed us to get the full potential out of the day, due to us not having to wait for equipment to become available. It was a great experience and a fun day; it really gave us a taste of what university standard education is like.

Volunteering in Romania

This summer Helen Park and I joined Mrs Mitchell on her trip to Romania to volunteer there. During the first week the mornings and afternoons were spent at the Centre with children from the local Roma village, Tarlungeni. It was amazing to see their faces and the excitement of being able to have showers, a change of clothes and to be able to join in the craft activities and games.

This was followed by a welcome lunch of soup followed by traditional meat dishes and rounded off with fresh fruit. The second week was run differently with trips into Tarlungeni, cooking with families. This was really well received because, apart from providing the family with food, it gave us an opportunity to play with the children, and give the mums a break. Both Helen and I had an unforgettable time in Romania. It was very rewarding to be able to help other people less fortunate than us. It was really amazing to see the difference that can be made to someone’s life by providing them with something as simple as electricity which is something that we all take for granted every day. We would like to say a big thank you to Mrs Mitchell for giving us the fantastic opportunity to go and also Ms Getheridge for putting £500 towards the trip which was a great help. Harriet Goudie

Extended Schools and Enrichment Services Update

The Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award Group are fast approaching completing their award this year after taking part in 3 expeditions on Dartmoor and The Mendip Hills.  They are currently working towards finishing their volunteering, skills and physical part of the award.   We will again be taking part in the British Schools Motor Karting Championships in January after making it through to the national finals this year.  Three teams are taking part from years 8-9.   Music Technology workshops are still being delivered by our Extended Schools Manager Dan Harper daily to our primary feeder schools as well as at Writhlington in the new recording studio.  Two year 8 students are currently being externally moderated towards their Bronze Trinity Arts Award after being tutored by Mr Harper in Music Technology.  The studio will, in time, be available for hire to bands and musicians with our in-house production and engineering.  

Rock School is also still running three times a week for students to learn the skills needed for playing in a band and composition.   Our Let's Get Cooking after school club is expanding and has now evolved into the Orchid Cafe business where children not only learn how to cook but also learn how to run a catering business.   Kids Club also takes place every holiday at the Writhlington Sports Centre offering holiday sport, art and crafts for 5-12 year olds.   We have started an exciting partnership with Somer Valley FM Radio where not only do our students gain work experience and training from the radio station but they also take part in airing a monthly radio programme for the school.  

Street Dance continues to run as a free after school club at present on Tuesdays in the new Writhlington Dance Studio.  This is very popular with students who have an interest in either sport or the arts.  We are also currently interviewing some community artists to try to re-start the after school Fashion Design and Textiles Club.   The second round of weekly Cycle Safety Training has just been completed for students in years 8&9 which took them around Radstock Town and over obstacle courses constructed behind St Nicholas Church. Our Study Centre still runs after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays for students wishing to spend extra hours on their subjects. 

It also takes place once a week at Bishops Henderson in Coleford.   Your Time Funding is still available to students on free school meals to try out a new activity ranging from sports to the arts.  Information is available from your child's Support & Guidance Team.

October 2010

Writhlington Sculpture Lifted into Place!

On Friday 29 October the Writhlington campus came to a temporary standstill as a massive sculpture was delivered and erected on site – an operation requiring a large crane and some precision placement by the crane operator. The sculpture, a statement piece which complements the new school building, was designed by artist Ray Smith who has worked closely with the school on a range of art for the campus.

New orchid centre opens at Writhlington School

Writhlington School’s new orchid centre at was opened to the public on 25th September, at the School’s first Orchid Festival. The centre includes 240m2 of new glasshouses and extensive propagation facilities. The glasshouse is divided into five sections providing environments for orchid species from different habitats. The sections; Cool Asia, Warm Asia, Cool Americas, Warm Americas and Temperate/Sub-tropical allow visitors and the students who grow the plants to link orchid species to their habitats and learn about the geographical distributions of their plants. The sections also link to the school’s overseas visits to Central and South America, South Africa, the Himalayas and South East Asia.

Propagation facilities now include a small propagation laboratory and growth room in the main school building, plus a large propagation classroom with three laminar flow cabinets in the greenhouses themselves. This allows all Writhlington’s students to use in-vitro orchid propagation methods in their science classes and propagation workshops to be held for interested groups and the public. Six hundred people attended the festival which included the official opening of the centre by Julia Willison who is Education Director for Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). Writhlington's link scientist from RGB Kew, Dr Lauren Gardiner, described the day as "The beginning of the next phase for the Writhlington School Orchid Project - the new facilities will allow students to train others in the laboratory propagation techniques they have learnt.

They get to share useful skills but also gain valuable experience and confidence through the process of teaching. This confidence, particularly in the younger students - who gave tours of the greenhouses and orchid advice throughout the day, manned the sales tables of plants grown by the project, and gave talks on their work and expeditions - was commented on by lots of the visitors at the orchid show."

Other attractions included an exhibition of photographs, lectures about orchids in cultivation and the wild, and the annual orchid show of the Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset Orchid Society. Twelve year old student Matthew Bell clearly enjoyed the day, describing it as “Absolutely brilliant. We had loads of people around the greenhouses and the orchid show had some amazing plants.” For thirteen year old Katie Heal the best part of the day was working on the orchid sales table: “It was really fun to sell the plants we have grown. People wanted to know all about how to grow plants and get them to flower well so we took them down to the greenhouse and show them what conditions we keep our plants in.”

The orchid festival is likely to become a regular event and anyone interested in visiting should contact Simon Pugh-Jones by e-mail on

We are delighted to announce that tickets are now on sale, and can be purchased by calling the Box Office on 07779061067.

Tickets can also be purchased by students in school time. The Box Office is open in the Student Shop at break times on Monday & Friday and 12:30 – 1:30 on Tuesdays & Thursdays. Tickets are priced at £7.00 for Adults and £5.00 for Concessions (Including Students & OAPs)

As the first whole school musical in seven years, the premiere production of My Fair Lady in Writhlington’s new £4 million Theatre is set to be a huge event. y Fair Lady is a classic rags to riches story about a young flower-girl working on the streets of London and her chance encounter with a professor of Phonetics. The musical is full of memorable tunes and exuberant costumes. Based on George Bernard’s Shaw’s Pygmalion & Gabrial Pascal's motion picture, the show is loved by many.

With departments all over the school coming together to create what was always going to be a rather adventurous choice for a debut production, the rest of the school wait in anticipation to see the hard work of the past few months come together. Performances will take place on; Wednesday 3rd November at 7:30 Thursday 4th November at 7:30 Friday 5th November at 7:30 Saturday 6th November at 2:30 AND 7:30.

August 2010

GCSE Exam Results

5A*-C for almost every student at Writhlington

A remarkable 98% of Writhlington students have achieved five A*-C grades in this summer’s exams – the second year running that almost every student has achieved the gold standard against which students are judged by employers, colleges and universities.

With the equivalent score for schools nationally at 67%, students at Writhlington have once again far exceeded expectations.

62% of students also achieved the challenging accolade of reaching grade A*-C in both English and Maths.

The proportion of very high grades was equally impressive, with more than a third of all students achieving more than five A and A* grades, well above the national average. Twenty students achieved more than five A* grades.

Headteacher Marie Getheridge is clear about the reasons for her students’ success: “At Writhlington we believe every student is of equal value, and so every student follows a personalised curriculum that is tailored to their individual interests and talents”.

“Our students and staff have worked very hard indeed to achieve these outstanding results and of course we are very proud of all their achievements”.

With 80 students gaining between five and eighteen A and A* grades, there were many highly impressive individual achievements. Amongst those students with exceptional performance were Ellie Owen (9A* and 3A grades), Alec Howells (8A* and 8A grades), Tom Benney (8A* and 4A grades), Luke Barnes (7A* and 5A grades), Jack Greenwood (7A* and 4A grades), Ella Goodman (7A* and 3A grades), Abigail Dowler (8A* and 3A grades), Claire Shaw (6A* and 5A grades) and Sam Hopkins (6A* and 4A grades).

A-Level Exam Results

Students from Writhlington School are celebrating their school’s best ever results at A-level – with the 107 students in Year 13 achieving an average of 810 QCA points – the equivalent of three A grades.

A remarkable 43% of all grades achieved were at grade A and A*, whilst 86% of all grades awarded were at grades A*, A, B and C.

Eleven students achieved A* grades, including Luke George who achieved A* grades in Chemistry, Physics and Geography as well as grade A in Maths, and Annie Tidbury who was awarded A* in English Literature and History as well as grade A in French and German.

Students following applied courses once again achieved remarkable results, with two students receiving Distinctions in all four of their courses: Jordan Rogers (Double Business, Computing and Sport) and Melanie Miles (Double Business, Travel & Tourism and Health & Social Care).

This year’s phenomenal set of results means that almost every student has been able to go to their first choice of university. Headteacher Marie Getheridge said “everyone has heard about the shortage of university places this year, but by 10am on results day, all but two of our students had their university place confirmed”.

“We are delighted with the outstanding results achieved by this year group, although it comes as no surprise given the consistent commitment shown by so many of the students throughout their seven years at Writhlington”.

Ms Getheridge also pointed to the broad choice of courses as an important factor in the students’ success. “At Writhlington we have a very wide range of Post-16 courses to suit the different interests and aspirations of our students. The very high proportion of A grades achieved this year demonstrates just how highly our students can achieve when they are following courses that challenge and motivate them”.

In total, twenty-two students achieved three or more A/A* grades: Paige Blacker, Alice Carpenter, Alex Chaudhuri, Joanne Clapp, Jorden East, David Ford, Kingsley Gallagher, Luke George, Gemma Grimsby, Daniel Groves, Finnigan Illsley-Kemp, Robert Kearney, Melanie Miles, Iain Parnell, Jordan Rogers, Alana Sandall, Nellie Stevens, Annie Tidbury, Ross Whittock, Guy Solomon, Scarlett Williams, and Jenny Wyatt.

July 2010

Internet Safety

The internet is an integral part of our children's lives these days, both in and out of school. It opens up many educational and social opportunities, giving access to, quite literally, a world of information and experiences. At Writhlington School we deliver safe internet training through PSHE days, assemblies, ICT lessons and throughout the curriculum.

In September we will be to running sessions for parents. In the meantime can I strongly urge you to visit the following website;

http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/

The website is run by CEOP, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection organisation and provides excellent resources. The parent’s page offers lots of excellent advice on how to keep our children safer online and is well worth a visit.

Also, I hope you have noticed the CEOP report abuse button on the front page of the school website. We beat Facebook to it!

June 2010

A zoo full of orchids

This month Bristol Zoo has had more to offer than the usual lions and marmosets, with a special feature put on by Writhlington school pupils featuring their famous orchids.

The display put together by fifteen students ranging from 11 to 16 years in age featured at the zoo’s Plant Conservation day and international year of biodiversity celebrations. Matt aged 12 explained “Bristol Zoo asked us to help with the event and so we put on a display of plants and information about Writhlington’s conservation work in the Himalayas.”

The event attracted a large number of visitors. “People were really interested in some of our rarer orchids” said student Caroline Albrow, “They had never seen anything like them before and were fascinated by everything we told them about the special habitats they come from.”

Writhlington School has been working closely with Bristol Zoo for more than ten years and future plans include collaborations to support the zoo’s newly planned National Wildlife Conservation Park.

Teacher, Simon Pugh-Jones explained “The Zoo has exciting new plans and I am delighted that Writhlington students can help thanks to their expertise in orchids and conservation. The team of pupils that have been working at Bristol Zoo’s plant conservation day will lead our future collaborations with the zoo and I am sure we can look forward to some exciting projects.”

Simon also reported the sad news of the recent death of a good friend to the orchid project. Mr. Madan Tamang a politician and conservationist in Darjeeling, India, had warmly hosted Writhlington School visits and introduced students to the amazing rhododendron forests around his remote home village of Meghma. Mr Tamang will be missed and remembered by students and staff at Writhlington.

May 2010

Young Biologist of the Year

Writhlington student Luke Barnes has won the title of ‘Young Biologist of the Year’ at the National Young Scientist of the Year finals in Manchester. Luke, who is a Year 11 student, entered his research project from last year’s school expedition to the Himalayas.

“My research involved recording the altitude of all the orchid species I found from the hot tropical valleys right up to the snow at 3600m. I then compared my results to records from 1898 to see if climate change has had any effect of these plants in the last 112 years. My data showed that the plants are now growing an average of 189m higher than in 1898. Analysis of climate data suggests that plants would need to 180m higher to be in the same climate as they were in 1898.”

Luke adds “Judges at the competition were particularly impressed by the depth of my work and its significance for policy makers in their efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change.”

Luke’s work was supported by his Scientist mentor Dr Lauren Gardiner, a botanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Luke explained “Having a working scientist to advise me was a real help as I now understand how to put together a proper scientific paper rather than just a GCSE science report.”

Luke’s teacher, Simon Pugh-Jones, explained “Luke’s work is being submitted for publication in the scientific press and winning this prize will make a real difference to Luke’s future career as a scientist.”

April 2010

THE NEW WRITHLINGTON SCHOOL

We are now just days away from the opening of the brand new Writhlington School, with the finishing touches being made to a building that has been three years in the making.

The new school is funded through a £25 million award from the government's Building Schools for the Future scheme. Writhlington was chosen as the Bath & North East Somerset Pathfinder School in 2007 in recognition of the school's innovative curriculum and dynamic approach to teaching and learning.

Students and staff worked alongside members of the community to develop the early plans for the school, which is designed as a practical yet inspiring learning environment.

The school is divided into five learning zones, each leading off a dramatic central atrium:

- Business & Enterprise
- Science & Technology
- Communications
- Humanities
- Creative Arts

The sixth learning zone, Sport, is located in the existing Sports & Community Centre. The campus will be completed at the end of 2010 with the construction of a £4 million Applied Learning Centre that will be home to the new 14-19 Diplomas.

The new building includes state-of-the art facilities in all learning zones, enabling students to use industry-standard equipment and techniques in all aspects of their learning.

Of particular note is the 400-seat theatre in the Creative Arts learning zone, which also houses a TV Recording studio and Dance studio alongside specialist facilities for Music, Art and Drama.

The Business suite is open-plan, replicating as closely as possible a real work environment, with Enterprise pods to house the student-led Writhlington enterprise companies.

The internationally renowned Writhlington Orchid Project will also move into purpose-built accommodation: greenhouses which replicate a range of different climatic conditions.

New technologies have been utilised throughout the school, with a wireless network supporting "cashless" catering as well as personalised library and printing systems. And Writhlington students will be amongst the first in the country to be able to use their own laptop computer at school and at home, as a result of the cutting-edge "E-Learning@Writhlington" project launched this month.

With the opening of our new school, we can justly claim to be making real our longstanding Writhlington vision of "Excellence for all and from all"!

March 2010

A new Writhlington SmartCard is about to become an essential part of school life.

On their first day in the new school building, students will be issued with a Smartcard which will give access to lunches or snacks in the Dining Room. Cash will no longer be accepted. Payment will be via a secure on-line payment system called ParentPay, which is easily accessed via the school's website. A large proportion of parents already use ParentPay and this will now become our standard method of payment. Students will have a smartcard pre-loaded with credit in order to pay for their meals or to access free school meals.

The cards will also be used for library loans and for collecting printing. This prepares young people for adult life where cards are an essential and accepted part of daily living.

Parents have already been issued some months ago with a Username and password for ParentPay by the school's Business and Finance Officer, Sacha Parsons. Parents who have not activated their account and require further details of Username and password can be sent this again on request. Please contact Sacha Parsons in the Finance Office as soon as possible.

Parents need to have activated their ParentPay account in preparation for the transfer to cashless catering and to have added credit by 15 April in preparation for the start of the term. This will ensure that the cashless catering system can be in operation from day one in the new building.

We will, of course, make separate arrangements for those parents who do not have internet access and/or do not have a bank account.

Parents were recently sent an information leaflet on cashless catering which can be downloaded from the school website.

February 2010

Charity Showcase Concerts

On Friday 26 and Saturday 27 February musicians from Writhlington and Downside schools entertained audiences at the annual Charity Showcase concerts to raise money for CLIC Sargent.

ownside School Orchestra got the proceedings off to a rousing start with three march tunes, 'The Grand March from Aida', 'The Dam Busters' and 'The Stars and Stripes'. How many eagle eyed audience members spotted the infiltrator?!

Writhlington's Male Voice Choir followed with the Beatles', 'Penny Lane' and a spine tingling performance of, 'You Raise Me Up'.

Downside School Concert Band was next on stage with three toe tapping melodies including the ever popular, 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy'. We were then treated to the intricate fingerwork of the Downside Piping Quartet for, 'Steam Train to Mallaig' who joined with the Concert Band for the haunting, 'Last of The Great Whales', 'The Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines' went down well with the younger members of the audience and the Concert Band completed their set with Downside's school song, 'Patriae Domus'.

It was now the turn of Writhlington Junior Wind Band who played, 'Hey Baby', 'Yesterday' and 'Proud Mary' with a competence belying their young age and with obvious enjoyment.

The choirs of Writhlington and Downside joined together for an acapella performance of Billy Joel's, 'And So It Goes' which held the audience spellbound and brought the first half to a close.

Writhlington Senior Band began the second half with 'Eagle Point Overture' which was upbeat and contrasted well with the short, but beautifully played, 'Precious Lord, Take My Hand'. 'Soul Bossa Nova' gave the brass section chance to show off their talents and completed the set.

Writhlington School Choir sang three very different pieces - the popular, 'Lean on Me', the beautiful harmonies of 'Donna, Donna' and Pergolesi's Stabat Mater demonstrated the choir's versatility and use of dynamics.

Writhlington Stage Band changed the tempo with, 'Comin' Home Baby', 'One Day I'll Fly Away' and the jazzy, 'Thieves in The Temple'.

Downside's brilliant Barbershop Ensemble treated us to three varied pieces; the traditional, 'My Evaline', the religious, 'Steal Away' and the hugely enjoyable, 'De Animals A-Comin'

Downside and Writhlington bands combined to fill the stage for the Finale. 'Mambo No5' and, 'Hootenanny' were the perfect choice to complete this excellent evening of entertainment.

Thanks to the Music Staff from both schools and of course to the students for helping raise £1477 for CLIC Sargent.

Writhlington Business & Enterprise School's Level 2 Btec Art & Design Students Wow The Public At Cabot Circus

Students at Writhlington School greeted the Lord Mayor of Bristol to become the first school to exhibit in Cabot Circus.

The Right Honourable, The Lord Mayor of Bristol, Councillor Christopher Davies, came to view the Level 2 Art & Design students' exhibition focused on Fashion, Surrealism and France.

Holly Hembidge the Visual Merchandising Manager from Urban Outfitters, acted as a mentor throughout this project. Holly said: "The students' final pieces have exceeded my expectations, their design and creativity is inspiring..."

The students wanted to display their work in an exhibition which reflects shopping and retail, so worked in collaboration with the Level 2 Design & Technology Students, who created their own exhibition company to provide a service to the Art & Design students. Students said: "it has really helped us by working in a team; we have shared different ideas and skills and have learnt from each other."

Russ Culliford the Display Artist at Urban Outfitters worked with the Design and Technology students and commented: "These students have a real talent in woodwork and design, their work here today is of professional standards".

Two students in Year 11 Ryan Rodd and Fran Horler won the prize for creativity and design, presented to them by Holly Hembidge at Urban Outfitters.
Marie Getheridge, Headteacher said: 'I am extremely proud of everyone involved; the students have created exceptional work which reflects their creativity, innovation and design. I would like to thank our Business Partners, Cabot Circus and Urban Outfitters who gave their time, resources and experience to this event, and contributed to its success'.

January 2010

Year 8 students triumph in Regional Science, Engineering and Technology Competition

Six year 8 students are celebrating winning a top prize at this Year's regional Go4SET competition. The competition sets environmentally themed challenges to groups of KS3 students who have ten weeks to present a report and presentation on their research and experimental work.

The Writhlington Team, supported by teacher Simon Pugh-Jones and Engineer Peter Bone, selected to work on recycling and focused on plastics. Company secretary Heather Limond explained "Following research and a waste audit we investigated the potential for Writhlington to manufacture pots from old plastic drinks bottles."

According to Ike Shackleton who was in charge of engineering development; "Our biggest challenge was moulding our prototypes. We tried lots of methods before inventing our own press moulding system"

The competition judges were particularly impressed with the groups' attention to health and safety. Caroline Albrow, as safety officer, was responsible for drawing up risk assessments for all the practical work.

Judges were also impressed by the enterprise potential of their product. "Our product is a completely new idea as there are no recycled pots on the market. We have already had interest from the Eden Project who would like to sell our product once we get it into production" explained team member Katie Heal.

The team were awarded the Pupils Choice Award. This is the second year in succession that Writhlington have won at the Regional Go4SET finals representing a significant achievement for the school.

WRITHLINGTON SCHOOL IN "TOP 100"

The outstanding success of students at Writhlington Business & Enterprise School has been officially recognised with the publication of national performance tables that place the school in the top 100 schools in the country for the third year running.

The performance tables, published this week by the Department for Children, Schools & Families, are based on last summer's examination results.

At Writhlington, a remarkable 98% of Year 11 students achieved five or more A*-C grades - higher than any other state school in Bath & North East Somerset, and well above the average for local schools of 76% - with some students achieving as many as 14 higher grade passes.

The school's "CVA" (contextual value-added) score, which measures the progress made by students in their first five years at secondary school, was 1044.5 - significantly higher than for any other school in Bath & North East Somerset, and one of the 100 highest scores in the whole of England.

This will be the third successive year that Writhlington School has been in the "top 100" nationally, and the school will once again receive an official letter from ministers recognising the school's special achievement.

Headteacher Marie Getheridge said "We are thrilled that our students have achieved such stunning results, and it is a tremendous accolade for Writhlington to be officially recognised as one of the highest performing schools in the country."

"At Writhlington we offer a very broad curriculum, with students choosing their own tailor-made curriculum through our innovative "pathways" system. This means that every student's courses are relevant, engaging and suitably challenging".

"Through our specialism in Business & Enterprise we have developed innovative courses and new approaches to learning, which young people find highly motivating and relevant to their future lives".

"We believe that every student is capable of succeeding, and our staff work very hard to identify and resolve quickly any issues that might prevent a student from reaching their full potential".

Construction of the brand new £25 million Writhlington School building is nearing completion and will open to students after the Easter holidays.

For further information please contact:
Will Roberts, Deputy Headteacher, 01761 433581 or 07779 241478

December 2009

Sixth Form Scholarship from the RAF

Ben Stokes in Year 13 has recently been awarded a prestigious Sixth Form Scholarship from the RAF. He is one of only 80 students in the country to have this award bestowed on him.
The scholarship has meant that the RAF have sponsored Ben £1000 to complete his Post 16 studies. For Ben to be awarded this scholarship he had to pass through a difficult selection process. After his first interview with the RAF Careers Office in Bristol, Ben was sent to RAF Cranwell for selection. He then went to RAF Brize Norton and has since undertaken vigorous training.
So far, Ben has been parachuting from 3000 feet on a static line, mountain biking, gliding and spent a night under canvass. Ben is hoping to join the RAF in 2011 once he has passed his selection for Officer Training at RAF Cranwell in October 2010.
We would like to wish Ben all the very best. He is an inspiration for others. Well done!

Biking, Baking and Packing for Cancer Research

Eight students from Writhlington School have raised more than £1100 for charity as part of a Year 12 team building course. The three-pronged challenge involved cake baking, bag packing and a sponsored cycle ride, and on Friday the students handed over a cheque for £1104.33 to representatives from Cancer Research UK.

The students were inspired by the Personal Learning and Thinking Skills course which all Post-16 students at Writhlington undertake. They were asked to participate in a team challenge and decided to turn their efforts towards charitable fundraising.

School lunchtimes were brightened up by an endless stream of chocolate brownies, iced cupcakes, muffins and pastries that the team had baked. Every last biscuit crumb was sold and a total of £317 was raised.

The team could also be seen packing bags for frenzied Christmas shoppers at ASDA, collecting donations from the public raising a further £266.

The bulk of the money was raised in a thirty mile sponsored bike ride. On the 14th of November the team made use of Bradford-On-Avon's excellent cycle path. Despite 60 mile-an-hour gales and pounding rain, the team fought on.

Year 12 student Claire said "at one point the wind was so strong it felt like we were travelling backwards! But it was definitely worth the effort, as Cancer Research is such a fantastic charity which has helped thousands of families who have been affected by cancer".

She added: "We are particularly grateful to staff at the animal feed manufacturer BOCM PAULS, who gave lots of practical help with the organization of the fundraising events."

James Bevan, Assistant Headteacher responsible for Post-16 students at Writhlington, praised the team's success. "The students have made a fantastic job of organizing their team challenge, going the extra mile with every activity to raise a large sum of money for a great cause. They are rightly very proud of themselves."

Other projects overseen by Post-16 students this year include a Halloween talent show for younger students, and the organization of a bat-shelter for the new Writhlington School campus which opens in April 2010.

Royal Horticultural Society Blog

Writhlington School Greenhouse Club blog is regularly updated on the Royal Horticultural Society website, follow this link to keep up to date with their news and information about plants.

Swine Flu Vaccinations

The government has now expanded their priority groups and is recommending that all children with potential neurological conditions should be vaccinated against swine flu'. If you believe thatthis is your child please can you contact your GP for the vaccination.

November 2009

Every new Post 16 student started their Personal Learning and Thinking Skills course with a team day out at Mill on the Brue at Bruton in September.

It is now widely accepted in educational circles that some of the most effective learning happens outside of the classroom and this was evident by the feedback from the majority of the students who took part. Kial Swift, one of the team leaders said, "I think Mill on the Brue was a good way to develop my personal effectiveness skills as well as having a good laugh. I wish all lessons were as active and enjoyable as this".

Students were challenged by activities involving building rafts and racing them down river, high rope work, assault courses, building and crossing the river Brue and other team building tasks.

Skills such as effective group working, problem solving, effective communication and using initiative were being finely tuned as well as opportunities to get to know fellow students and to have some fun.

James Bevan, Director of Post 16 said "the experience was an overwhelming success and we hope to repeat the event every year".

Thirteen year old Zoe Parfitt and twelve year old Zoe Barnes have been to Durban in South Africa over half term, to share the skills they have learnt at Writhlington School at a major international conservation conference.

The girls are running a workshop on orchid micropropagation at the BGCI (Botanic Gardens Conservation International) congress. Both students are active members of Writhlington's Orchid Project and were invited to take part in the event after their success at the Chelsea Flower Show.

The girls' trip to Durban has been funded by the award of two bursaries from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and donations from both The Somerset Gardens' Trust and Norton Radstock Rotary Club.

Zoe Barnes explained "We are the youngest people ever to win RHS bursaries and it is our job to represent the best of Britain's young gardeners. We will be teaching botanical garden staff from all over the world how to grow orchids the way we do at Writhlington and also meeting children and teachers from South African schools."

According to teacher Simon Pugh-Jones, "It is a great honour to be asked to run a workshop at such a prestigious event and I would like to thank Dr Lauren Gardiner at Kew Gardens who has been instrumental in our involvement with BGCI. The girls are working hard to prepare for the trip and are getting lots of help from the rest of the orchid club. As well as the workshop, we will be working with the staff of Durban Botanic Gardens, and giving a lecture to local horticultural societies"

You can follow the girls progress by following their blog on the Royal Horticultural Society website www.rhs.org.uk and going to the 'my garden' section.

LOTTERY BID FOR CLIMBING WALL TO SERVE LOCAL COMMUNITY

Writhlington School is through to the final round ofThe People's Millions Lottery and will be attempting, on regional ITV news next month, to win support for its bid for nearly £50,000 to build a climbing wall facility at the community sports centre.

The People's Millions fund gives local people a say in how lottery money is spent in communities throughout the UK and is run in conjunction with the regional ITV Network. Six projects will be showcased on ITV West during three evenings in November and the public will vote for the projects they most want to see funded.

Matt Wise, Director of Sport at Writhlington, said that the school had jumped at the opportunity to bring a state of the art specialist climbing wall to the local area. "We already have sports facilities here", he said, "but a climbing wall would particularly meet the needs of local disabled people who often find it difficult to access mainstream sports". The climbing wall will be equipped with specialist harnesses and will allow those with disabilities to take a full part in the activity. Fosseway Special School and Lynwood House are already lined up to use the facility and will be lending support to the bid.

"There are lots of positives for other groups too", said Matt. "Not all young people are keen on taking part in sport and this is something different – climbing is exciting, challenging and helps young people to gain leadership skills, work as part of a team and build confidence - as well as staying fit and active of course. We believe that a climbing wall will have a very positive impact on youngsters across the area. We know that there is a demand. The nearest climbing wall is in Bristol and it is not easy for our young people to get there."

"We need the local population to get behind us", said Matt, "and be prepared to pick up the phone and vote". The project is being showcased on ITV West on 23 November.

Click here to find out more information about the Peoples Millions.

September 2009

It was a dark Saturday night that kicked off the Writhlington School European music tour to the Rhine area of Germany. Both students and sleeping bags boarded the coach awaiting the fifteen hour journey to the hotel, currently unaware of the four hour motorway breakdown they were to face. Remarkably, some students remained oblivious until arrival, managing to sleep through the breakdown- to the jealousy of all the others!!
After a good night's sleep, day one began with a riverboat cruise to the beautiful Rudhesheim area to enjoy the spectacular views over the Rhine valley. Other than the beautiful scenery, unusual sights were enjoyed by some as they watched a certain student's bag make its way back down the chairlift, as the owner stood staring from the top. Later a concert was held in the town square and enjoyed by many of the locals. The first evening's entertainment was a quiz evening organised by the Year 13 students. This included questions such as 'How many people die every year from walking into lamp posts?' and a teacher baby picture round.
It was exercise that signalled the start of day two as students and staff, (not all Mrs Langley!!) made their way up a 'small hill' to enjoy displays of eagles and falcons in free flight. Both the show and sit-down were well received by most, although some sat terrified as the falconer threatened to put the giant bird, 'Herman the German', on visitor's heads. A wander around the town of Boppard was then enjoyed before a concert in a small bandstand which again was well received by both tourists and the local people. After the evening meal all boarded the coach to go bowling and after enjoyed the rivalry surrounding the table football as some got more competitive than others (Mrs Langley!!).
After a morning at the Tauris Adventure pool in Mulheimkaerlich, the band's final concert was played at Andernach- one of Germany's oldest towns. Once again, many enjoyed the performance; in particular the more recognised pieces such as 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and 'Shrek Dance Party' which received loud rounds of applause. That evening's entertainment was a painful leg wax endured by Sam Langley after agreeing to face the torture for a measly five Euros believing it would never go ahead. It did; and pleasure was taken in ripping off the hot wax strips, as one by one people stepped up to take their turn.
The next morning students enjoyed a day at Phantasialand- one of Europe's top entertainment parks. Some dared the scariest rollercoasters in the park whereas others preferred the more tranquil rides such as the merry-go-round. That night, the week's awards ceremony took place where those with the 'best sunhat' and 'champion pillow fighter', were awarded prizes. Students were then sent to their rooms to pack and tidy before departure the next morning.
After an early wake up call the coach was loaded again with luggage, students and sleeping bags. The coach ride home was almost as smooth as the legs of Sam Langley, were it not for the rough sea during the ferry from Calais to Dover. However, overall the journey went well and students pulled back into Writhlington School on Friday night both happy, but exhausted having enjoyed a wonderful week in Germany.

August 2009

OUTSTANDING RESULTS AT GCSE AND A-LEVEL

Writhlington students have broken yet another record this summer with a stunning 98% of Year 11 students achieving five A*-C grades in this summer’s exams.

This means that almost every student has achieved the gold standard against which students are judged by employers, colleges and universities. With the equivalent score for schools nationally at 67%, students at Writhlington have once again far exceeded expectations.

The proportion of very high grades was equally impressive with a quarter of all students achieving more than five A and A* grades, significantly higher than the national average.

Headteacher Marie Getheridge is clear about the reasons for her students’ success: "At Writhlington we believe every student is equally valuable, and so every student follows a personal curriculum that is tailored to their individual interests and talents".

"Our students and staff have worked very hard indeed to achieve these outstanding results and of course we are very proud of all their achievements".

With more than 50 students gaining between five and fourteen A and A* grades, there were many impressive individual achievements. Amongst those students with exceptional performance were Sacha Czarnuszewicz (7 A* and 4 A grades), Kate Fenna (5 A* and 6 A grades), Matthew Newman (6 A* and 5 A grades), Jake Phillips (6 A* and 2 A grades) and Jessica Wheeler (5 A* and 6 A grades).

Year 13 students have also been celebrating their success – and with nearly a quarter of all students achieving three or four A grades there was certainly good cause for celebration.

A remarkable 40% of all grades achieved were at grade A – more than 10% higher than any otherschool in Bath and North East Somerset.

In total four-fifths of all the grades awarded were at grades A,B or C, meaning that almost all students have been able to go to their first choice of university.

The Writhlington students achieved an average of 761 QCA points – equivalent to grades ABB at A-level. Headteacher Marie Getheridge said "We are delighted that so many of our students have achieved such impressive results. Their final grades are the culmination of seven years of hard work at Writhlington School and of course there are many individual success stories that we are particularly proud of."

"At Writhlington we have a very wide range of Post-16 courses to suit the different interests and aspirations of our students. The very high proportion of A grades achieved this year demonstrates just how highly our students can achieve when they are following courses that challenge and motivate them".

In total, twelve students achieved three or more A grades: Charlotte Bickley, William Brown, Jack Cole, Catherine Devonshire, Natasha Devonshire, Lucy Edgell, Sophie Harwood, Lisa Head, Daniel O’Brien, Georgina Ovington, Rebecca Smith, and Jessi Sparey.

June 2009

Writhlington Hosts the Summer Meeting of Orchid Conservation International

On June 27th students at Writhlington School hosted a public meeting of the global charity Orchid Conservation International (OCI) with lectures tours and laboratory demonstrations.

Students from Year 7 to 12 spent the day showing visitors how orchids are grown and explaining about Writhlington’s conservation work in tropical countries.

Caroline Albrow ,Year 7, explained “I showed the visitors the Masdevallia Orchids and explained how the flowers have evolved to attract different pollinators. Masdevallia picea from Colombia really attracts flies and its flower really stinks.”

Visitors came from as far away as London to see the plants and to listen to a lecture describing the work of the Orchid Project. “Visitors were most interested in our propagation laboratory” according to Year 11 student, Luke Shakleton, “We showed them how we grow orchids from seed as well as how we are sharing our skills with conservationists in tropical countries.”

Teacher Simon Pugh-Jones who runs Writhlington’s Orchid Project described the day as a great success. “I am very proud of the student team who worked hard all day to ensure that the public had an enjoyable and interesting day. I would also like to thank the adults that helped to run the day especially Dr Lauren Gardiner from Kew Gardens who has been working closely with Writhlington this Year, and Annie Pugh-Jones who has been a key member of the Orchid Project since its inception.”

Writhlington Business and Enterprise School takes part in first ever my money week
Celebrity-led lessons to teach Bath children the importance of money

Children in Bath and North East Somerset will be taking part in money lessons using materials including contributions from Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy, singer Mutya Buena, presenter Ben Fogle and all-girl pop sensation The Saturdays as part of the first ever My Money Week taking place in schools from 29th June 2009.

As part of the week, Bath and North East Somerset has been provided with free toolkits filled with exciting celebrity-led activities, interviews and questions to inspire young people to think about what money means to them. Writhlington Business Enterprise School will be showcasing the Writhlington School Bank as part of the programme, which aims to equip young people with financial knowledge and skills that they can use now, and in later life.

Writhlington Business Enterprise School realised that, in addition to financial issues covered in the curriculum, there was a need for students to experience progressive, real life scenarios which would give them an insight into personal finance.

This project will help to improve student’s financial understanding and competence and to facilitate them taking responsibility for their own financial decisions through reflective learning and effective participation".

James Fox, Deputy Head “ The Writhlington School Bank gives our students an opportunity to respond to real life financial situations. The bank manager and cashiers will be interviewed and appointed by local financial experts.” Max Morton, Head of Enterprise in the Community said “This is a great opportunity to collaborate with local businesses and further strengthen our links with the local community.”

My Money is the first financial education programme in schools to provide a completely joined-up approach to financial education, from when a child starts school through to the transition to working life or further and higher education. My Money Week, delivered by pfeg (Personal Finance Education Group), and funded by the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) will offer every primary and secondary in England the chance to deliver exciting, engaging and relevant money lessons with free toolkits brimming with exciting celebrity-led activities and ideas to get schools started.

Wendy van den Hende, Chief Executive of pfeg, said: “Schools are vital in teaching the next generation money skills and the exciting lesson plans will help teachers tackle this important topic whilst also allowing young people to have fun in schools. It’s also an opportunity for parents and the wider community to get involved and ensure that young people gain skills and confidence in financial matters at a time when money management has never been more important.” To find out more about My Money Week, please visit: www.mymoneyonline.org

May 2009

Writhlington’s orchid growers are celebrating the top accolade in UK horticulture; a Gold Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Writhlington’s innovative display featured a working micro-propagation laboratory, plant displays and information about the school’s conservation action, enterprise work and research in the Himalayas.

Display designers Luke Lucas and Ben Stokes were delighted by their success. “We spent three days building the display and making sure that the finish was up to Chelsea standards. The feedback from the judges was all positive and they felt that our display had many outstanding features.”

During the show a team of ten students ranging from Year 7 to Year 12 demonstrated Writhlington’s laboratory propagation, talked about their plants and explained the conservation work.

Zoe Parfitt, Year 8, who spent most of her time showing the public how orchid seed is sown in microbe free laboratory conditions explained; “People were really interested to see me work. I think everyone has heard of micro-propagation but few people have actually seen how it is done.”

Television coverage included features on BBC Regional News and a spot with Alan Titchmarsh for BBC1.

Alan interviewed one of Writhlington’s youngest orchid growers, Zoe Barnes from Year 7. Zoe described the interview as “Great fun. He asked me about the work we are doing with the Gangtok Schools in India and about what I do for the Orchid Project.”

Plants featured on the display included some of the world’s rarest plants. “Our display featured only orchid species and information linked each plant to its native habitat” explained Ben Stokes. “The public were also really interested to see our display showing all the stages of growth for an orchid from pollination to seed to first flowering."

Teacher Simon Pugh-Jones who runs the Writhlington Orchid Project said afterwards “I am really proud of the Chelsea team, both students and staff. They worked very hard with the show running from eight in the morning until eight at night and they were a credit to the school. We have received hundreds of messages of congratulation and have clearly had a real impact on British horticulture. This is the second time Writhlington School has displayed at Chelsea Flower Show and the school can now proudly declare ourselves Double Chelsea Gold Medal winners.”

Star Spellers from Writhlington School take part in the Times Spelling Bee Competition.

Four pupils from Writhlington School took part in the first Times National schools’ Spelling Bee championship at the Odeon Cinema in Bath on the 30th April 2009. Seven teams in total took part and the team from Writhlington came third in a closely fought heat.

The Times Spelling Bee aims to discover the country’s best young spellers and make spelling fun for children of all abilities. Schools from Somerset and Wiltshire have been practising their spelling skills and each sent a team of three 11-12 year olds (plus a reserve) to the regional championship heats.

Taking part from Writhlington were Ellie Soccorsy, Kelsey Dix, Erin Slater and Hannah Greenwood.

Teacher Miss Lennon who has been preparing the students for the competition said, “The girls did a fantastic job and were great ambassadors for the school. They had a fantastic team spirit and managed to correctly spell words such as: symbiosis, quintessential, decimate, synonym and neurotic.”

Pupil Ellie Soccorsy also commented that “It was really fun to be with friends and a great learning experience. Even though we didn’t win I still had a great time.”

April 2009

Students from Writhlington School have just returned from a two week expedition to Sikkim in the Himalayas to support the development of the Gangtok Schools Orchid Conservation and Enterprise Project.

The trip marked the culmination of four years collaboration between the orchid growers of Writhlington and leading conservationist Mohan Pradhan. Student Luke Lucas explained “We have grown a very rare Himalayan Orchid called Cymbidium whiteae from seed at Writhlington and we took these plants to give to pupils from seven Gangtok schools to help them start their own orchid project.”

A day of workshops at the Taktse International School allowed the Writhlington Students to share their experiences with the Gangtok school children. According to Year 12 student Ben Stokes, “We had a fantastic day getting to make new friends and sharing some great experiences like identifying wild orchids in the jungles around the school.”

Teacher Simon Pugh-Jones who runs the Writhlington orchid Project described the day as “Very significant. The Cymbidium whiteae seedlings are a symbol of what is possible in School based conservation enterprise and we are really excited to be supporting the development of similar projects in Sikkim Schools. The students and teachers we met were really enthusiastic and the potential benefits for the students in terms of scientific knowledge, enterprise skills and conservation experience are really exciting.

Our next challenge is to set up propagation laboratories in the first seven schools. Fund raising starts at the Chelsea Flower Show in May where Writhlington Students will be taking orders for seedlings of Cymbidium whiteae and other orchids.”

As well as working with the schools in Gangtok Writhlington pupils carried out field research into Sikkim’s legendary orchid flora travelling from hot tropical valleys to the snowy valleys of the high mountains. Help with this research came from Kew botanist Dr Lauren Gardiner.

OLYMPIC SPRINTER INSPIRES WRITHLINGTON STUDENTS

Darren Campbell, the winner of Olympic gold and silver medals, has recently visited Writhlington School to launch an exciting project that inspires young people to “Be the Best you can Be”.

All 225 Students in Year 7 are participating in the project, in which they will learn strategies to help them maximise their own potential and achieve challenging personal goals. The programme has been developed to secure a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympics, and Writhlington School has been selected to take part in the pilot programme in the South West.

Founded on Olympian principles of respect, friendship and excellence, “Be the Best you can Be” will embed these values and help the students to gain greater self- awareness, meaning and purpose, together with tools for life by introducing peer mentoring, leadership and emphasising personal responsibility.

Marie Getheridge, Headteacher, said: “I was determined that Writhlington would be first in line to help pilot “Be the Best you can be”. The inspiration offered by our Olympians and Paralympians who strive to achieve their goal is an incredibly powerful role-model for our young people today. We were very pleased to welcome Darren Campbell to Writhlington, and our students are looking forward to contributing to this exciting and transformational programme.”

The recent visit for the Year 7 students follows a training session in March for all the staff at Writhlington, which was led by David Hemery, Gold medallist in the 1968 Olympics.

Spring Concert - Thursday 30th April 2009

Parents/Carers are invited to our annual Spring Concert, which will take place on Thursday 30th April in the school hall starting at 7.30pm.

This promises to be an exciting evening featuring music from the School Wind Bands, Choirs, Solo and Ensemble performances including recital pieces from our Advanced Level musicians.

Tickets are £3.00 [£2.00 OAP/children] and will be available at the School Reception.

March 2009

Mid-Somerset Festival Success

Writhlington School musicians enjoyed huge success at this year’s Mid-Somerset Music Festival – entering their Wind Bands, Choir and vocal soloists.

Writhlington School Stage Band won the ‘Gibbs Memorial Cup’ in the Swing Band competition performing ‘Blue Skies’ and ‘Ready Freddy’, Whilst the Senior Wind Band triumphed over Hayesfield and King Edward’s Secondary Schools securing the ‘Lamb Orchestral Trophy’ in the Wind Band Competition performing ‘When the Sun Breaks Through the Mist’ and ‘Just a Closer Walk With Thee’.

Writhlington School choir were entered for three classes, the Sacred Choral Class where they sang, Berlioz‘s ‘Thou Must Leave Thy Lowly Dwelling’, and Howard Goodhall’s, ‘The Lord is My Shepherd’ [better known as the theme tune to the ‘Vicar of Dibley’] In the Show Choir Class the choir performed, ‘May it Be’ from The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘California Dreaming’. In their final class singing ‘Tears in Heaven’ and ‘Dance of the Shepherds’ by the Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly they were rewarded with a distinction for their efforts.. In the first two classes the Choir were awarded a commended and a merit. This was this first time the choir had ever been involved in this standard of competition and the Music staff were incredibly proud of them.

Commendable vocal solo’s were also performed by Jessica and Amy Dowler, Victoria Hodges, Hannah Regan and Harriet Brixey.

Well done to all those musicians involved!

Red Nose Day

Friday 13th March 2009 was Red Nose Day at Writhlington School, staff and students managed to raise a grand total of £2071.79 for charity! when they did something funny for money!

Writhlington School did something funny for money for Red Nose Day and raised a record amount for Comic Relief. Staff and students took part in a number of activities largely organised by a small group of Post 16 students. Marcus Head got a bit gooey as he was smothered in baked beans whilst he sat in the Drama department’s tin bath, bravely offering to take part at the last minute. Many members of staff (including the Headteacher) and some courageous students had wet sponges thrown at them and as we know revenge is certainly a dish always best served cold.

Josh Bridges arranged a basketball tournament; Ryan Gullock ate a disgusting looking sandwich; Chevy Bidwell taped his mouth up with masking tape: Year 7 girls had an impromptu sponsored “hokey-cokey”; Year 8 students held a Red Nose biscuit stall and Lydia Smith raised the largest single amount for one student by holding a sponsored silence. Everyone was encouraged to dress up for the day and wear their red nose with pride. They all agreed the day was very enjoyable and we raised over £2000.

A big thank you to everyone who organised an event and took part on the day.

Writhlington’s Young Engineers Triumph in Competition.

A team of five students from years 8 and 9 won Best Overall Project at the regional Go4SET competition this week. Go4SET is run by the Engineering Development Trust to develop Science and Engineering skills and this year asked teams to produce projects looking at energy and water use in their school. Writhlington’s winning team of (left to right) Mitchell Williams, Kain van den Elsen, David Evans, Thomas Cureton-Corbett and Ben Carpenter developed work on energy for the new School Greenhouse. Mitchell, Year 8, explained, “We built a model boiler to test fuels and a glass cube to test insulation materials.” David, Year 9, added “The judges were really impressed with our research and practical work.”

Teacher, Simon Pugh-Jones said “I am very proud of the lads; they worked really well as a team and tackled some really ambitious work with enthusiasm and skill.” The students’ work will now be displayed in pride of place in Writhlington’s Science and Technology Zone.

February 2009

Felting Workshop

This is a selection of work from the felting workshop. Artist Jenny Pepper came all the way from Yorkshire to demonstrate the process of felting for the Year 10 BTEC Art & Design students. Fantastic work was produced and the knowledge gained will be used to produce vessels based on orchids for the start of their Final Major Project later this year. This is a new course that started this year and the external assessor has already said that the much of the work is on the way to a DISTINCTION – Brilliant!

Charity Showcase Concerts 2009

Once again the musical talents of both Downside and Writhlington Schools will be combining for the ‘Charity Showcase’ Concerts 2009 on Friday 27th February [Writhlington School] and Saturday 28th February [Downside School].

Music will be performed by Downside School’s Chamber Choir, Concert Band, Pipe Band, Baroque Group and Rock Group along with Writhlington School’s Senior Wind Band, Junior Wind Band, Stage Band and Choir. Both schools will also be combining to perform ‘Highland Cathedral’, ‘Smooth’ and the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ with the Massed Bands, Pipe Band and Choirs.

These concerts promise an exciting and varied programme covering many styles to suit all musical tastes with all proceeds going to worthy charitable causes. This year’s collection proceeds will be divided between ‘Children’s Hospice South West’ and Sue Ryder Care.

Entrance is free; however tickets must be booked in advance. For the concert on Friday 27th February at Writhlington School please telephone 01761 433581 and for the Downside concert on Saturday 28th 01761 235146. Please book your tickets early as these concerts have always proved extremely popular!

Students from Writhlington Sports Centre raced to the medals tables after taking part in the South West Schools Trampoline Competition held on the 7th of December at The Bristol City Academy.

The students representing Writhlington School, St Johns Primary and Royal Junior School Bath came home with a total of 9 medals with 6 of them qualifying for the Southern Zonal Championships which will take place in Sussex in January of next year.

From Writhlington School, Sarah Lanning, Nathan Love and Laura Hill all won Individual silver medals in their categories with Katy Elsam being awarded the first gold medal of the day. Annie Blake of St Johns Primary School in Midsomer Norton was also awarded a silver medal in the under 11girls.There was more success for Writhlington teams who took home gold medals in the under 15 girls and 3rd position in the under 13 girls.

Club coach, Melissa Reeves said “I was very proud of all of my students. They performed beautifully. Many have never competed at competition level before so it was a very daunting experience for them. However, they all conquered their nerves and supported each other throughout the day. Well done to them all”.

Writhlington Sports centre run classes for children and adults from age 4 onwards. If you would like information about classes and are interested in taking up this sport and many others on offer then please contact the sports centre on 01761 438559.

January 2009

British school students return rare plant to the Himalayas

A groundbreaking conservation project linking Writhlington School students with the gardeners of Gangtok is making a real difference in Himalayan conservation as well as providing a model for effective international community co-operation. Students at Writhlington who have become experts in orchids and raising these exotic plants from seed in a dedicated propagation laboratory have used their skills to help the future of one of the world’s rarest orchid species. Our story starts in 1884 when a Victorian plant enthusiast, Mrs White travelling in the Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim first found an orchid later named in her honour as Cymbidium whiteae.

The species, which has never been common, has only been found in the area around Gangtok, capitol of the now Indian state of Sikkim. The wild population has suffered from habitat loss with development around Gangtok and from a hundred years of collection particularly for export to Europe. Writhlington School has been involved in orchids and their conservation since 1995. Lead by teacher Simon Pugh-Jones students have carried out field work in the jungles of Brazil, Central America and Laos, exhibited their orchids across the UK and successfully grown orchids from seed that are sold at Horticultural Shows and at Botanic Gardens. Simon explained how the School became involved in Sikkim. “In 2003 Mohan Pradhan, orchid expert from Gangtok in Sikkim first met the orchid growers of Writhlington School at the European Orchid Congress. It was agreed that we should work together to help Mohan to develop community based orchid conservation and a first visit to Sikkim was planned for Easter 2004.” It was during the 2004 visit that the potential for working with Cymbidium whiteae was identified and Simon returned to the UK determined to find a plant in cultivation that could provide the seed needed for the new project.

Writhlington in top 1% of Schools

The outstanding success of students at Radstock’s Writhlington School is officially recognised today with the publication of national performance tables that place the school in the top 1% of all schools in the country. Local MP Dan Norris will recognise this extraordinary achievement with a special visit to Writhlington today, Thursday 15 January, to congratulate staff and students on their outstanding results.

The performance tables, published today by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, are based on last summer’s examination results. At Writhlington a remarkable 93%* of Year 11 students achieved five or more A*-C (higher grade passes), placing the school in the highest 1% of all schools nationally.

Headteacher Marie Getheridge said "We are thrilled that our students have achieved such stunning results, and it is a tremendous accolade for Writhlington to be officially recognised as one of the highest performing schools in the country." 61% of students at Writhlington achieved 5 A*-C including English and Maths at GCSE, the challenging measure introduced by the government two years ago. The school performed equally well at A-level, with Writhlington’s 18 year-olds achieving an average of grades AAB at A-level. This is the best ever set of results of any state school in Bath and North East Somerset.

At Key Stage 3, Writhlington again recorded its best ever set of results, with 85%* achieving the benchmark Level 5 in English, Maths and Science. The "value-added" (progress made over three years) for Writhlington’s Year 9 students is therefore in the top 4% of all schools in the country.

Marie Getheridge is able to identify the reasons behind her school’s dramatic success. "At Writhlington we offer a very broad curriculum, with students choosing their own tailor-made curriculum through our innovative "pathways" system. This means that every student’s courses are relevant, engaging and suitably challenging". "Through our specialism in Business and Enterprise we have developed innovative courses and new approaches to learning, which young people find highly motivating and relevant to their future lives". "We believe that every student is capable of succeeding, and our staff work very hard to identify and resolve quickly any issues that might prevent a student from reaching their full potential".

During his visit, Dan Norris MP will meet students at Writhlington School to learn about the reasons for the dramatic improvement of the school, which has seen its GCSE results rise from 28% to 93% in the last ten years. Dan Norris noted "when I was first elected as an MP eleven years ago less than a third of students at Writhlington were achieving five good GCSE passes – now it is nearly all of them. The school has been transformed through considerable investment in technology, making learning more exciting and relevant, and extra staff to reduce class sizes and ensure students get more individual attention".

"The outstanding success of Writhlington School is first and foremost a tribute to the hard work of students and staff. The whole of our community will want to join me in saying a huge ‘well done’. Indeed the school’s success is also a reflection on the aspirations of the whole community. Good education transforms young peoples’ chances in life, which is why we should be so proud to have a local school recognised as one of the best in the whole country." The brand new Writhlington School building, being built as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme which has resulted in a £25 million investment for Writhlington, is currently under construction and will open in just over a year’s time.

December 2008

Hawaiian Day in "The Hub"

Hawaiian a Taste of summer was a great success. The catering team, dressed in grass skirts and garlands, served the students with pork and pineapple curry, fish kebabs, Hawaiian pizza, couscous or chicken kebabs followed by summer fruits and delicious desserts. This was near the start of the summer holidays the sun was shinning and the event was enjoyed by students and staff alike.

The new term started with many new students trying our meals and purchasing lunch cards. We sell meal cards for £23.50 (50p discount) enabling students to have 10 main meals, dessert and a drink. This means no more problems with lost dinner money or students missing out on lunch having spent too much money at break time. (We have a system where the staff in 'The Hub' will look after lunch cards. If the cards are mislaid or lost we cannot provide another.) The pre paid system is available from ‘The Hub’ payment (cash or cheque made payable to Writhlington School) should be placed in a sealed envelope clearly marked with students name and tutor group.

A Taste of India took place, on Tuesday 21st October) with a choice of Tikka, Korma, Madras and Rogan Josh curries (including! veggie options) these were served with a variety of rices, poppadoms, Naan bread, onion Bahjis and samosas for only £2.40 including a free bottle of water and a choice of tempting desserts.

We returned to our winter term on Wednesday 5th of November with a bang!

It was bonfire theme day, bangers, burgers. Jacket potatoes, spicy wedges and leek and potato filo parcels plus many other exciting dishes. Not to forget the toffee apples and muffins. Everyone was welcome at only £2.40 which included a free bottle of water.

November 2008

History Trips

The History department would like to thank all the students and staff who participated in the year 7 trip to Chepstow Castle and the year 9’s visit to the Imperial War Museum, London. The students were a real credit to the school and we were very proud of their behaviour and interest in the subject. After the success of the castle making project, 100 year 7’s had the opportunity to visit a full scale version in April. They had a brilliant day out exploring Chepstow Castle and its features. Students learnt about the castle’s changes over 400 years and how the area had changed and developed as a result of the building. Ms Violante said ‘It was a lovely day out, great weather and the students were so well behaved – I enjoyed it that much I am going to take my own children there.’ As you can see from the pictures students and staff thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Well done year 7! Year 9 sstudents also had the opportunity to visit an excellent museum to enhance their current studies in World War Two and the Holocaust. The Imperial War Museum continues to grow and change with new exhibitions, which the students and staff found very interesting. Seeing the planes, tanks and artillery that were part of WW2 really inspired some students and the new Holocaust tour is remarkable giving an excellent insight into the treatment of the Jews under the Nazis regime. Once again Writhlington School was represented well and students showed a real maturity in their conduct around the museum. We are very proud of our all History students as their enjoyment and enthusiasm for the subject is really rewarding.

Football Academy Kicks Off In BANES

Aspiring young footballers are being presented with new opportunities this week as Bath City and Writhlington Business and Enterprise School open their doors to the authority’s first Football Academy. Quality young players will be able to further their careers in football and gain academic qualifications at the same time. Successful applicants will study 4 mornings per week at school on Advanced Level study, followed by football coaching with Bath City with an emphasis on improving high order skills and gaining qualification within the UEFA framework. Players will also be expected to be part of the club’s Under 18 squad, with the opportunity of playing at Conference level. Players who are taking GCSE examinations this summer who would like further information on this exciting scheme can telephone Paul Williams at Bath City FC ( Tel 01225 423087 ). Trials are expected to take place next month.

Writhlington School Podium Art Exhibition

Art students at Writhlington Business and Enterprise School are celebrating exceptional examination results in 2008 ( 80% A* and A grades) with an exhibition of their framed work at Bath Central Library in the Podium between 26th November and 5th December. The work is themed around a diverse range of subjects, artistic influences and approaches a wide range of media on display including self portraits, famous faces, dynamic Popart, an eclectic range of textiles and a broad range of mixed media. Members of the public are invited to view the students’ work in the gallery during normal Library opening hours. The success of the school’s Art students in external examinations follows closely on their national awards at the National Gallery in London earlier this year.

More Football!

With Olympic success fresh in our minds and the football season well underway is it time for us all to become a little more sporty? One man who certainly thinks so is Marcus Holmes. Marcus is the Football Development Officer at Writhlington Sports Centre and has set his sights on getting as many people as possible involved within the game of football.

He said “My aim is to increase football participation levels for all ages and to raise the standards of football within the area. Football is a great sport and everyone should have the chance to see for themselves just how enjoyable it is.”

Marcus has already implemented lunchtime leagues and after school girls football at Writhlington School which he hopes will go from strength to strength during the new term. Other initiatives include an FA ‘Ability’ centre, 7-11 girls’ football centre and team training opportunity

He said “I would like to see even more girls taking up football. Here at Writhlington our aim is to encourage as many girls as possible to try football and then work with local clubs to develop new girls’ teams in the area.

Marcus has come to Writhlington from the Somerset Activity and Sports Partnership where he was a senior Development Coach. The 31 year old has first hand experience of playing having played for the county and many local clubs including Yeovil Town and Wells City FC.

Anyone interested in getting involved within football in the local area or for more information on the football facilities at Writhlington please contact Marcus on 07939061229.

September 2008

GCSE September 2008 Results

Year 11 students at Writhlington School had their best ever set of GCSE results this week with 94% of the year group passing at least 5 subjects at grades A* - C and 62% achieving 5 A* - C passes including English and Mathematics. Major achievements include over 30% of the grades at A* or A for the whole year group and it is anticipated that these results will place the school in the top 5% of highest achieving schools nationally using the government's value added data.

Headteacher Marie Getheridge said: This is a remarkable set of results and is probably the best ever set of GCSE results achieved by any state school in Bath and North East Somerset. This year’s results reflect the continued hard work by staff and students. I am especially pleased that every single one of our Year 11 has obtained Level 2/GCSE qualifications and is able to pursue their career choices at Post 16 level. All of our students have really worked hard and thoroughly deserve their success She added We are particularly pleased as we expect that in 2009 our results will be even better!

A-Level Results

A Level students at Writhlington School had their best ever set of results with almost 45 per cent top A grades and 100 per cent pass rate for the fifth year running. The university points tally also topped 340 entrance points for the first time. The percentage of top A and B grades was over 64% . Well over three quarters of the students gained at least 1 A grade and twelve high flying Year 13 students scooped 3 or 4 top grades (Lydia Blake, Chloe Caddick, Charlotte Denning, Victoria Fielden, Sarah Hancock, Liz Hicks, Rebecca Long, Redmond Mitchard, Emma Osmond, April Parfitt, Sadie Parfitt and Kevin Yip.) Over 70 of the students will be continuing their studies at universities across the UK next month, including Kevin Yip who will be following up his four top A grades with a degree in Medicine at University College London.

Headteacher Marie Getheridge said : I am delighted with the success of our Year 13 students. The 100% pass rate and the extremely high percentage of A and B grades is a reflection of the hard work and diligence of both students and staff at the school.

August 2008

WRITHLINGTON SCHOOL CCF IS CONSIDERED AS OUTSTANDING BY THE TRAINING STAFF AT PENHALE ARMY CAMP IN CORNWALL.

2LT White, 2LT Kluth, 2LT Dent, SSI Nicholas and Captain Price had the pleasure of taking 44 Writhlington School CCF cadets to Penhale Army Camp in Cornwall for a week. They were involved in a range of activities which included Canoeing, Sailing, Rafting, a 6 Mile march and shoot, Obstacle Courses, Firing the LSW Support Rifle with live round, Military Skills and Cadet Skills.

This was an extremely successful week in which we won 9 medals overall. CPL Newman won a gold in orienteering and 8 of our under 16 Boys won Silver in the 6 mile March and Shoot.

Major Hauffman in front of all the other 12 schools said that Writhlington School CCF is outstanding and is the best CCF contingent in the UK. He then continued to say that he wishes us to return to Penhale Army Camp next year.

Writhlington School was invited to take part in the RFCA and Cadet Association centenary parade at Wells Cathedral. Writhlington CCF was the only CCF in the south west to parade their colours e.g. their flag at the start of the service.

All the cadets enjoyed the parade especially the hog roast after.

YEAR 11 AIM HIGHER UNIVERSITY SUMMER SCHOOL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

In July six students were fortunate enough to be accepted on various University Summer Schools where they had the opportunity to meet other young university hopefuls and discover what being at university was like. Here is an account by Guy Solomon, who with Chevy Bidwell spent a fun time at Exeter University. Mid- July saw two Writhlington student take part in a summer residential at Exeter University, where they participated in a number of University style lectures and received a taste of university social life along with information sessions on support and services available for university students. The course was absolutely superb and recommended for any student trying to decide whether to attend university. The students also lived in the University halls, ate in the university facilities and were able to make use of many of the facilities located on campus, with freedom to what they wished outside of the planned activities, which included socialising with student mentors in the evening, whilst taking part in pool tournaments, going bowling and the entire group going out to a restaurant for dinner. Students also participated in the Exeter challenge- a five hour event where the residents were asked to provide photographic evidence of performing certain challenges, including fitting the entire group into a taxi, and retrieving specified items, such as a boiled egg, in teams. The residential was an excellent opportunity to get a taste of university life and consider whether this is a prospect for the future. And whilst the course-style lectures and workshops were interesting the social aspect of the week was definitely the highlight of the trip.

June 2008

Summer Holiday Activities

Writhlington Sports Centre offers an exceptional range of holiday activities for children from 5 to 12 years.

All day Kids Club

Available from 8am – 4.30pm everyday from as little as £1.50 per hour!!!!!!!!!!!!

Children are supervised throughout the day by qualified and experienced coaches and staff on a ratio of 1 member of staff per 8 children. Children are separated into 2 groups, a 5 – 7year old group and an 8 – 12year old group. Please note brothers and sisters can be kept in the same group if requested. Activities are then tailored to the age of the children.

Each group will experience a number of different sports and activities throughout the day depending on their age including

• Trampolining
• Gymnastics
• Football
• Messy Cooking
• Dance Mats
• Sports Walls
• Team Challenges
• Arts and Crafts
• Bouncy Castle
• Laser Combat
• Fire Engine and Police car visits
• And much, much more

Drinks will be provided throughout the day. Children will need to bring a packed lunch and snacks with them as these are not provided.

The Centre’s child care policies and procedures are available to parents on request. These include Equal Opportunities, Behaviour and Child Protection amongst others.

Cost:      Full Day 8am – 4.30pm                     MemberPlus Members       £2.50 per day

Members                               £12.00 per day    

Non Members                      £15.00 per day

Students Work Alongside World Renowned Artist In Art Workshop

12 Yr 10 students were selected to participate in an art workshop day with the world renowned artist Ray Smith. Ray was born in London in 1949 and educated at Southend High School and Trinity Hall Cambridge. He has shown widely in group and solo exhibitions in Britain and abroad.

Ray Smith's awards include: a Linbury Trust Artists Award, the Deutscher Jugendbuchprels, and a Major Award in the Sainsbury's 'Images for Today' competition and in the 7th Cleveland (UK) International Drawing Biennale. He was a prize winner in the John Moore’s Liverpool Exhibition 16 (1989-90) and received a Royal Society of Arts: Art for Architecture Award in 1993. He won the Rouse Kent Public Art Award for 1995-6. His work is represented in many public collections, including the Arts Council of Great Britain, Eastern Arts, Southern Arts, Contemporary Arts Society, Contemporary Arts Society of Wales, the Linbury Trust, Stadt Nurnberg, Manchester City Art Gallery, City Art Gallery Southampton, the University of Southampton and the Cleveland County Museum. For more information about Ray visit his website at: www.raysmithartist.com

The endeavour of the art workshop was to produce a Writhlington School banner. This completed banner will then be used to block off student access to the construction site of the new school building until it is ready.

The Students discussed with Ray how they could manipulate the shapes of the letters and how they could apply abstract patterns or more pictorial designs. Each student produced their own plan for their chosen letter which they discussed with Ray before starting the vinyl work. They were given a selection of bright vinyl colours to work with but had to consider which tones of colour would make their letter design eye catching and easy to read. Although some of the patterns may look simple, each student spent the day, measuring carefully, lining up, cutting and sticking down their design.

It was clearly a much enjoyed and successful day that will need additional time to finish off the words in school.

Drama Opportunities

Like drama? Get bored during the long summer holiday? Want to sharpen up your acting skills and maybe be in a play?

For few months now a small group of Writhlington students (year 9) who live in Peasedown have been working on drama activities and script devising with professional playwright and theatre director Shaun McCarthy, who is working on arts project in the area.

We are now holding a youth theatre drama summer school for one week in the summer holidays. We are going to meet from Monday August 18 to Friday 22nd, from 10am to 5pm in the Youth Centre in Peasedown St John. We hope to create a show to be performed locally in September but what actually happens during the week will depend on who turns up and how things develop.

It's fun, friendly and free! But we are working to proper theatre standards, so you turn up for calls and be prepared to push yourself to make things special.

Shaun has directed youth theatre plays at Bath Theatre Royal and currently directs student productions at Oxford and Bristol universities. His own play SAFE, set in a youth prison and based on time he spent working with prisoners on a show in a high security prison, opens in London in the autumn.

This project is supported by Peasedown Opportunity Group & funded by an “Awards for All grant”.

Major Art Achievement – MALL GALLERIES, LONDON

Students’ works of art were picked for the second year running for a top London Exhibition.

Talented Writhlington School artists Rebecca Long, Emma Bond and Sarah Hancock achieved recognition of their talents from The Royal Society of British Artists.

Rebecca Long and Sarah Hancock had their work selected for an exhibition which took place at the Mall Art Galleries in May alongside other talented young artists.

More than 800 students from all over the UK submitted their work but only 130 of the best students were chosen to exhibit.

The exhibition was opened by the president of The Royal Society of British Artists, Cav Romeo Di Girolamo, who congratulated all the students for being the most creative and impressive young artists in the country.

The Head of Art, Caroline Slater and Sarah Hancock were both interviewed and filmed for a promotional education film.

Rebecca Long – Winter landscape

Sarah Hancock – Brooklyn Bridge

Art News – Year 8 – “FIRST PRIZES AWARDED”

Helen Sen-Sharma entered Yr 8 students into the Bath International Music Festival for a “Design a Poster Competition”.

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Jessica Bray and Chloe Hilleard for being awarded first prize in the 9 – 13 years age category and Alina Game and Briony Kays for being awarded highly commended.

Their work is being framed and exhibited in The Assembly Rooms, Bath until 7th June.

Future Art Exhibitions

Summer Exhibition, Writhlington School – July 8th – 10th 2008

Pageant Rooms, Bath – November 2008

Base

New enterprise company BASE (Buy and Sell Enterprises) is currently being developed to offer Writhlington students an exciting way to develop their interactive skills by selling their unwanted CDs, DVDs and gifts through the BASE website. From September, students will be able to submit their products to sell online and buy these products direct from other students.

Managing Director Gabrielle Durham said, “BASE’s mission statement is to encourage creativity and technical skills through the development of innovative media solutions. We are offering students this opportunity to learn how to participate in a successful business transaction so they can make a profit from their unwanted gift.”

Operations Director, Rachel Bodinar said, “The BASE team are currently creating their marketing campaign and look forward to launching BASE in September. We hope every student will get involved in this exciting new opportunity for Writhlington School.

May 2008

Business Studies Enrichment Day – UWE

On Thursday 1st May five Writhlington students were invited to attend a Business Studies Enrichment Day at the University of West of England. The day was based around the business of building rockets. Five other schools were invited and were pitched against Writhlington in a competition to build the best rocket and deliver a presentation on team performance.

After being given a vivid presentation in the main UWE lecture theatre, including the largest rocket in the world and examples of explosions of failed rockets, students were informed of the task requirements. Within the school groups students were sent away with UWE Student Ambassadors, their equipment for the preparation of the rocket and loaded with paper and pens to track their progress.

With the support of the Ambassadors, students were allocated a variety of job roles such as Quality Control and Project Manager. They were then given one hour to plan and build their rocket. After the rockets were completed the students had to prepare a presentation to demonstrate how they achieved the task and problems encountered.

Towards the end of the day all schools came together to deliver their presentations. Most groups were successful in building the rockets however it was the presentations themselves that set the teams apart. The students from Writhlington showed creativity in their preparation and delivered an engaging ‘Apprentice’ style presentation demonstrating how the task had been completed. The presentation was well received by the other schools and got a special recommendation by the UWE lectures and Student Ambassadors.

Overall the Enrichment Day was a massive success with students not only being able to learn more about Business Studies but also experiencing higher education first hand and learning new skills. The students representing Writhlington School at this event were: Tom Benney, Oliver Brown, Tom Camacho, Elysia Bunn, Ellie Owen and Shellie Hendy.

Writhlington Pupils put plants first at Bristol Zoo

Bristol Zoo is famous the world over for its leading role in the conservation of rare animals but last weekend the focus changed with the Zoo’s first Plant Conservation Day. The day featured a display, by Year 7 and 8 Pupils from Writhlington; all about the School’s pioneering work in Central America and South East Asia.

“The public loved the unusual plants we had on show” said Zoe Parfitt, Year 7, “We talked a lot about all the animals that pollinate the different orchids which made sense in a Zoo. We also showed how we are using micropropagation to help save endangered plants in Belize and Laos.”

As well as meeting the public, students were able to discuss their work with leading plant scientists gathered for the Association of British Zoos Annual Conference.

Photo – Zoe discusses her project with Natasha de Vere, Medicinal Plant Conservation officer from the National Botanic Garden of Wales.

Jason Gardener Visits Writhlington

It was an action packed morning the day British sprinter and Olympic medallist and athlete Jason Gardener paid a visit to Writhlington School.

Jason was visiting the school to host two sprinting ‘workshops’ with GCSE students as well as gifted and talented athletes. He took them through sprint drills to improve technique, warm up and training techniques. He also gave them an insight into what has helped him gain success as a sprinter and what his busy training schedule has been.

Students were able to ask him questions about his success. They thoroughly enjoyed the workshop but many were exhausted by the end of it. Jason did tell the students that when he finishes a good training session he is often physically sick!!

Jason also spoke to the students about the UK School Games that are taking place in Bristol and Bath during the summer holidays. He is working with the Youth Sports Trust visiting local schools to promote these games. We were delighted at Writhlington that we had the opportunity to meet Jason.

Students thought the visit was ‘brilliant’.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Bath Sky Line Walk

Rather than having a lie in or watching TV a group of Year 10 students assembled in the school car park at 9 o’clock on Sunday morning!

Why? In order to get in some final training for the Bronze level Duke of Edinburgh’s assessment later on next month.

Having driven to Bath University students and staff set off across the fields to complete the 6 ½ mile Bath Sky Line walk.

Whilst the walk was relatively flat there were still some rather nasty hills that had to be climbed; however the view across the city at the surrounding countryside more than compensated for the extra effort required.

Thanks to the glorious summer weather we were able to enjoy a leisurely lunch break half way around - there was even time for one student to cook up pasta, sausages and fried bread!

The group’s determination and outstanding behaviour meant we completed the walk in record time and even had half an hour to spare in which to buy drinks and ice-creams.

This is good news as next month students will be required to head out across the Mendips on their own for a night. They will be required to complete 8 hours of walking as well as set-up camp and cook their own meals!

As well as the walks and overnight expeditions students have been meeting once a fortnight on a Wednesday to learn basic survival skills such as first aid and orienteering.

If you will be in Year 10 next year and think you can take on the challenge why not speak to either Mr Wood or Mrs Wilton now to see what is involved. It’s more fun than day time TV.

South West Regional Trade Fair

Last Wednesday Writhlington School opened its doors to over 100 young entrepreneurs from across the South West.

The students were here to take part in the first ever South West Regional Trade Fair in association with NfTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) a national education charity and Barclays Bank.

Students were given time to set up their stands and prepare themselves for a morning of brisk trading and intense scrutiny by the visiting business experts who were there not only to judge the students efforts but to offer advice and encouragement to their fledgling companies.

On sale were a vast range of products including hand painted mugs, personalised key rings, greetings cards and orchids.

Following a series of business seminars hosted by experts from Barclays Bank and local businesses, students had the opportunity to present their business to the panel of experts in a bid to scoop a cash prize to invest into their company. Despite initial nerves all the students performed exceptionally well and were not fazed by the bombardment of questions from the panel.

At the end of the day there could only be one winner and the winning team, made up of four Writhlington students Stephen Smith, Matthew Williams, Maverick White and Ashley Read, was ‘Tags 4 Bags’ who not only won best business pitch for their innovative and original personalised key ring and timetable concept they also took 2nd prize for the best trade stand. First place went to ‘Games Co’ from Brimsham Green School.

The whole day went fantastically well; students made money, learnt from real business people and had a wonderful experience. All of this was made possible through the generosity of Barclays Bank who sponsored the event and local business people who gave their time to work with the students.

March 2008

Year 9 Trench Competition

In recent weeks, a number of Year 9 History students have taken part in a Trench competition to show their understanding of the conditions faced by many soldiers during the First World War. This follows on from their study of the First World War and required detailed research to find out about the harsh conditions in the Trenches on the Western Front. The task was to recreate a model of a trench and show the various features of it, for example, the sandbags, barbed wire, firestep and dugouts.

The Trenches have been designed using a variety of different products ranging from mud from the back garden to Shreddies for the sandbags. All students did a fantastic job and were very proud of their efforts.

A variety of prizes have been awarded; most imaginative design, most realistic and best presentation of ideas to name a few. This History Department would like to thank the students for doing a brilliant job on this project.

New “Meal Cards” guarantee nutritious lunch!

In response to requests from parents we will be introducing a pre pay system for the school ‘meal deal’. The meal deal consists of a main meal, dessert and a drink which costs £2.35. The introduction of the card system will mean peace of mind for parents and students alike as there will be no more problems with lost dinner money or students missing out on lunch having spent too much money at break!

The prepay system will provide a card entitling your child to ten Meal Deals for £23.00. These cards are now on sale from Student Reception. Payment (cash or cheque payable to “Writhlington School”) should be made in an envelope clearly marked with your child’s name and tutor group.

Radstock Museum Project

Humanities students from Writhlington School are taking part in a joint tourist venture with Radstock museum. The project uses mobile technology and GPS to allow visitors to the Colliers Way in Radstock to access information about the site when they are visiting the area. Ten Year 9 students and 3 six form students are currently designing the content which will be loaded onto the hand held devices (PDA’s); the devices will give tourists information whilst walking or cycling on the Colliers Way.

So far the students have visited the site, and with help from the museum, gathered the information they need for the project. The students hope to eventually produce an interactive tour of Radstock which includes History, Geography, Biology and the future of Radstock.

The Somerset Guardian has produced an article in the weekly paper which was published on Thursday 13th March. However, we still need help. If you have any information or stories about this area or know anyone who knows anything, please contact the humanities department at Writhlington School. We would be very grateful to be able to include your work in this venture.

Enterprise company, Smooth Me, wins contract to promote dining rooms

Last September the school took over the management of the dining rooms from Bath and North East Somerset Council. One of the reasons for the move was to ensure that we would be able to make some changes to provide the students and staff with quality catering to suit a variety of appetites at lunch times, break times and for special events.

Following a consultation meeting with School Council representatives, changes were made to menus – which have been very well received. However, to ensure that we continue to make progress, the school has commissioned market research expertise from the Enterprise Company, Smooth Me. The company has bid for and won a contract to carry out a detailed range of customer surveys amongst staff and students which will provide data on meal preferences, branding and promotions most likely to be successful in attracting customers to the dining rooms. Managing Director of Smooth Me, David Ford, said “this is a fantastic opportunity for the company to put business and enterprise learning to good effect for the benefit of the school and its students”. As part of the contract, Smooth Me will be designing a logo and working on an “image” for the dining rooms.

Young Publishers win Bath Area Young Enterprise Competition.

A team of Young Publishers from Writhlington School have won the Bath Area Young Enterprise Competition with their company called Bonk.

Marketing director Eleanor Jones describes their product as “A book about growing orchids that is special because it is both entertaining and informative”

The book is called ‘The Dos and Don’ts of Orchid Growing’ and is available in bookshops all across the UK and sales since December have all ready topped £1400.

After winning Young Enterprise Competition, against companies from schools all over the Bath Area, Bonk will now compete at the West of England Finals in Bristol in May.

Managing Director, Luke Shackleton, described his team as “Confident” and noted that “The judges were impressed by our product and the professional approach we have taken in getting an ISBN and Bar Code to allow sales of our book on the high street and our national advertising campaign.”

Future plans include selling at the Gardeners World Live Show and publishing a version of their book in German. This is clearly a company with a bright future.

BUILDING THE FUTURE AT WRITHLINGTON

By 2010 the Writhlington campus will have over £30m worth of new buildings.  As well as the new school, we are undertaking a major expansion of the sports facilities.  Here is an update on our progress.

New school:  We are in the process of appointing a contractor for the £26m build and work will begin on site by the end of May/early June.  We are very fortunate that the contractor will have a self-contained compound with separate entrance/exit which will ensure that the daily life of the school can carry on as normal.  The architects, from Aedas, have delivered a design for the school which we believe will provide a wonderful environment for learning.  We now need to begin work on selecting the detail of furnishings, equipments and decorative finishes.  The target date for completion of the building is early 2010.

Artificial Turf pitch:  With the help of the Football Foundation, we have recently completed a fantastic high specification artificial turf pitch costing in excess of £500,000.  Students and staff are delighted with the freedom the pitch brings for all-weather play and the local community are also benefiting as the pitch can be booked by local clubs outside of school hours.

Tennis Centre:  The tennis bubble has been vulnerable to the high winds on the Mendips!  With support from the Lawn Tennis Association we have raised £600,000 to replace it with a state of the art four court indoor tennis arena which will be suitable as a venue for competition.  This is a fantastic opportunity for our students and the local community to take up and enjoy playing tennis all year round.  We already have some very talented players who could become our sporting superstars of the future.  The Tennis Centre will be open for play in the autumn

Changing rooms:  Two new suites of changing rooms with shower facilities are under construction.  One set will serve the gymnastics sports hall and the new Tennis Centre and the second will support football and other outdoor sports.  As part of this development we are constructing a coach/referee education centre so that we have facilities to train more coaches to support our burgeoning sporting activities!

Soft Play Centre:  As part of the development of community facilities on the site, Writhlington Trust (the charitable organisation responsible for the management of Writhlington Sports Centre) is funding the construction of a Soft Play room at the Sports Centre for younger members of the community up to the age of 11.  This will be a boon to local parents who will be able to relax with a cup of coffee while their youngsters safely burn off energy on the inflatable equipment.  The Soft Play area and new changing rooms will be completed by December 2008.

Multi Use Games Area:  The old hard courts used for tennis and netball which front the Frome Road will be refurbished as a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) suitable for a range of sports/outdoor activities.

Turf pitches and cricket:  Some of our pitches suffer from poor drainage and at times during the winter, become unplayable.  This spring we will lay a new drainage system and reseed the pitches, ready for play in the autumn.  As part of this process we will also construct a new cricket square and practice nets.

There will be some minor inconveniences during construction of these facilities, but please be patient as we will be rewarded with some of the most outstanding school sports facilities in the area.

Lao Visitor comes to Learn at Writhlington

Chansouk Southivong Writhlington’s partner in Southern Laos has arrived in the UK to learn Orchid propagation techniques in the School laboratory and at the Micropropagation department at Kew Gardens.

Chansouk who is setting up her own laboratory to raise native Lao orchids in the town of Paksong has been working with Writhlington’s orchid experts for two years but this is her first visit to the UK.

She started her visit with a week in the Writhlington Propagation Laboratory learning aseptic techniques and sowing and growing orchid seeds. Her tutors were students from Writhlington Orchid Group including Luke Shackleton from Year 10, Luke Barnes from Year 9, Harry Seviour from Year 8 and Zoe Parfitt from Year 7.

Luke said afterwards “I am really impressed with Chansouk’s technique. This has been her first week in a laboratory and she has shown a real talent for Micropropagation.”

After a week in the school laboratory she joined Writhlington’s stand at the London International Orchid Show. Ben Stokes who had worked with Chansouk in Laos last April explained “Our display focused on the threats to orchid populations in the wild. We featured a massive image of burning forest. This was a photograph we took in Laos of rainforest being cleared for coffee planting and helped us to explain to the public about the problems in tropical countries. With Chansouk on our stand we could also demonstrate the positive things that can be done for conservation and rural development in places like Laos.”

After the show Chansouk spent a week at the Kew Gardens Micropropagation Laboratory building on the skills she learnt at Writhlington before returning to Laos.

The next Writhlington expedition to Laos is planned for 2010 when students will be helping Chansouk with her project in Paksong and continuing their long term research into the wild orchid populations of this amazing country.

CHARITY SHOWCASE – 7TH & 8TH MARCH 08

Once again music students from Writhlington and Downside School combined for a weekend of joint concerts. Over £2,600 was raised this year for CLIC. (Caring for Children and Young People with Cancer) A phenomenal total. Huge thanks to all parents and friends of both schools.

Apart from the usual outstanding contributions from Writhlington Senior, Junior and Stage Bands, Route 64 and Downside’s Slaughterhouse 7, the audience were treated to the Downside Pipe Band, School Orchestra and Concert Wind Band. A ‘first’ was the choirs from both schools combining, at the end, for ‘I Got Rhythm’. With only one previous joint rehearsal, they performed extremely well. The boy band, ‘Blake’ made a surprise guest appearance at Downside on Saturday night and would now be grateful for all your votes in the Classic Brits Awards. Please do vote for them, they are superb. You can do this by visiting the Classic FM web site.

The music staff from both schools really enjoyed putting on this venture, and look forward to doing the same next year. The students from both schools were excellent, and demonstrated great musicianship. A big thank you to them for all their hard work in raising money for the. CLIC SARGENT appeal.

Parlez vous franςais? Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

63 of our Year 9 pupils have been proving that they do. Over the past ten weeks, students have been involved in a Business and Enterprise project involving languages. They formed their own companies to create leaflets in French or German to promote tourist attractions in Bath. These involved the Jane Austen Centre, the Roman Baths, the Herschel Museum, the Fashion Museum, the American Museum and finally, the No. 1 Royal Crescent. Students found out about the work of Bath Tourism and were helped by outside visitors from the attractions themselves.

Over the course of the project, pupils worked together designing their brochures and finding out and translating information which would interest foreign visitors. The event culminated in a trade fair, where pupils were able to show off their finished product and give a presentation promoting their company and product. The morning was a great success and both staff and students were very pleased with the end result.

One French and one German company were chosen as the overall winners. Both the standard of their presentation and their innovative ideas helped them to shine. “Ein Step Näher “(one step nearer) involving Katie Madams, James Hilton, Vicky Bresnan, Charlie Tomsett and Kieron Futcher won the German award, and “Frenchorians” , involving Emily Sheppard, Alice Gouldbourne, Saskia Mead, Ben Skuse, Martin Lenihan and Zara Malone won the French award. The winning teams will spend a day in Bath visiting the Tourist board and some of the attractions they have been promoting. All the teams tried hard and the experience proved to be a great opportunity to develop and use their language skills.

Readathon

As part of the 2008 World Book Day celebrations all pupils in Years 7 and 8 were invited to take part in a sponsored Readathon. The event took place over one week and has so far raised £608.46 with monies still coming in.

The money raised will go to CLIC Sargent and the Roald Dahl Foundation; Helping children and young people in Britain suffering from cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, leukaemia, epilepsy, blood disorders or acquired brain injury.

Another Successful Siege - Year 7 Castle Project

Year 7 students were challenged once again in History lessons to gain their classmates’ votes to win the job of ‘chief architect’ for the Castle Project 2008. They used knowledge from previous History lessons on attack and defence and were given two weeks to complete the challenge. The originality of students’ ideas and fantastic presentation skills are a real credit to them. This year students used their creative talents to put together castles made of card, wood, connex, lego, clay, cake, chocolate, playing cards, shreddies and even sugar cubes! Congratulations to all the year 7 students who entered the challenge and many thanks to the friends and family who helped create these masterpieces or had to drive them into school!

Well done year 7!

February 2008

Writhlington School plans Botanic Gardens in Belize

Four year 11 students from Writhlington School have been working in Belize as consultants to an exciting project to develop the Lost Botanic Station just outside Belize City.

The students Luke Lucas, Chevy Bidwell, Jenny Wyatt and Beth Harrington were asked to advise on the potential of the development because of their experience in tropical botany and community enterprise.

Chevy explained the project, “We went to Belize with our teacher Simon Pugh-Jones to survey the recently discovered site of the lost botanic station. The Station was a botanic garden, research centre and nursery set up under the British Empire in the 1800s but abandoned after a destructive hurricane in 1931. Since then it has been reclaimed by the Belizean jungle.”

The Writhlington School team drew up a report for the development of the site as a tourist attraction, educational centre and commercial nursery. They then presented their report to the land’s owners, the local school, the University of Belize and the British High Commissioner for Belize.

Fifteen year old Jenny Wyatt described the response to her presentation as “very positive.” and added “We believe that the gardens can make a significant contribution to economic development, education and conservation in Belize.”

Writhlington School and the student team will now act as long term international consultants and botanical experts for the project working alongside Belizean specialists and coordinating work with educational and botanic institutions in Belize.

Teacher Simon Pugh-Jones described his student team as very professional and added “It is very exciting to see pupils using their botanical and enterprise expertise to push forward such a significant international project. There is a lot of work to be done before the gardens open to the public in the autumn of 2010 and Writhlington School’s involvement in the project will continue well into the future.”

Quickstart Languages

Writhlington Business & Enterprise School has been selected as a national centre of excellence for the delivery of Business and Enterprise Education. As part of the commitment to Enterprise Education a new Modern Languages Enterprise course is being introduced for Year 9 students. Quickstart Languages is recognised nationally as a high quality programme in Enterprise Education.

The course will be delivered by French and German teachers and Young Enterprise leaders but the key to its success will be the active involvement of Business and University mentors, including managers from Bath Tourism Plus and a number of Bath tourist attractions.

The programme started last week and 60 Year 9 students were trained by Young Enterprise Facilitators on how to establish their own business. Over the 10 week course tourist booklets and brochures for clients will be produced and published in either French or German. Clients include the Herschel museum, the Roman Baths, The Fashion Museum and other tourist attractions in Bath. At the end of 10 weeks the finished products will be presented at a major trade fair.

This week students are attending a presentation from John Carmichael, Business development Manager from Bath Tourism Plus and Nicola Presley, Learning and Audience Development Officer from the Herschel Museum in order to gain an overview of tourism in Bath. John and Nicola will be mentoring the groups and providing professional advice and guidance on student business ideas.

This is one of a number of Enterprise programmes in Writhlington and strong links have been established between the school and the business community. Companies wishing to be involved in this or similar projects can contact Mrs Emma Cox, Enterprise Manager at Writhlington Business and Enterprise School on 01761 433581.

Young Publishers win enterprise award.

A publishing company set up just four months ago by students at Writhlington School is already winning prizes for their business success and creativity. The company called Hammerhead Publishing is made up of seven students aged fourteen and fifteen and won first prize at the West of England Young Enterprise Trade Fair this week with their book ‘The Dos and Don’ts of Orchid Growing’.

The book was written by Luke Shackleton and Luke Barnes both experienced orchid growers and illustrated by artist Eleanor Jones. Eleanor explained “Each of my illustrations show what not to do with your orchid while the facing page explains what you should do. That way we give an entertaining but informative guide to succeeding with your exotic pot plants.

The book is receiving excellent reviews including one in a Royal Horticultural Society magazine giving the advice ‘If you have a friend who dithers about growing orchids – or grows them and kills them – give them a copy of this book!’

The students have backed up their creativity with a professional approach to the publishing business and the book can now be ordered through any bookshop in the UK by its ISBN number 9780955773105.

Managing director Luke Shackleton described the future as exciting. We will be selling this summer at the Gardeners World Live Show at the NEC and hope to get into the European and US book markets.

January 2008

An Exciting Opportunity to take part in the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award

What is it?

The award is a programme of activities for you to do in your spare time. There are three Awards to try for: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Gold takes the longest to do and is the hardest one to try for - usually, people start off on the Bronze award. We are pleased to offer the opportunity for our students to take part in the Bronze Award. Taking part in the Bronze Award takes about 6 months and participants must be at least 14 years old.

Delivered in partnership with Skills Force, the programme will take place on Wednesdays 3.45 – 4.45 every other week over the rest of the academic year and will be offered to Year 10 students. The programme will include a focus on team building, communication, first aid, route planning and will be designed to provide support and guidance for the students throughout their progression on the Award. The student activities will include:

• Team working, problem solving and communication
• Expedition training and assessment
• Team building and leadership
• First aid and camp-craft
• Map reading/route/planning
• Support and guidance with Community, Sport and Skills sections of the Award
• The opportunity to experience new challenges.

How do I find out more about taking part?

We will be holding parents and student information evening between 7 and 8pm on Wednesday 8th January 2008. At the evening you will be given a presentation about taking part in the Award and the cost involved. This will be followed by a taster/practice walk on Sunday 27th January between 10am and 2pm.

Taking part in the award certainly won't wipe out your studying or social life... so go on, take the challenge! First of all - it's a great laugh! It's all about trying something new, or improving your existing skills, and spending time with your friends.

What's more, as many employers regard the Award as an extra qualification, what you do could even benefit your career. And, with so many others taking part, you're sure to make some new friends too - and, of course, you'll have the time of your life!

More information can be found at http://www.theaward.org/ or telephone the Extended Services Team for more information on Duke of Edinburgh Award at Writhlington School on 01761 439925

December 2007

High Achievers Awards at Writhlington

MP Dan Norris was Guest Speaker and presented awards to Writhlington Business and Enterprise School students at a ceremony held in the school this week. Examination certificates and achievement awards were presented to students in front of a packed Main School Hall. The official ceremony was followed by a buffet for the 460 guests who attended the event.

Our photo shows some of the successful A Level and GCSE students of 2005 with Headteacher Marie Getheridge. Best GCSE results awards were presented to Rebecca Chaudhuri and Will Brown and the best A Level results winners were Sarah Girvan and Thomas Darlow. Alex Chaudhuri won the Harold Bryant Memorial Trophy for his performance in Music and Jake Boardley won the Computer Village ICT Award.

Hewlett Packard Trip

On the 17 and 18 December a group of Year 9 students attended an Enterprise Masterclass in Information Technology at Hewlett Packard in Bristol. Writhlington students were very privileged to be the first school ever to use the Business Laboratories on site. The Business Laboratories are normally used to demonstrate new technology to Hewlett Packard’s biggest clients. In the morning students were shown around the real-life scenarios where new technology had been used to make life easier. The first set up was a lounge with digital photo frames, and a plasma television. Students were shown how the technology could make life easier for a doctor on call by using his plasma television instead of being on call or relying on his pager, we were shown digital pens used by the police or for filling in forms and the electronic books of the future. Students then watched a video outlining a new type of technology called mscape which, when attached to a special pack, allowed users to virtually see the sights and sounds of any situation in the past, present and future. It also contained a chip which stored information that could be scanned into it. In the afternoon, students were given the task of coming up with an idea of how to use mscape and launch it in the UK market. All students came up with some brilliant ideas which ranged from virtual personal shoppers, an army training device and a virtual organiser for school. Managers from Hewlett Packard judged the presentation and awarded 2 winners from each day. Matthew Webb from Hewlett Packard commented on how innovative and creative the students’ ideas were - making it very hard to judge.

November 2007

School Bank

Writhlington School has joined with Barclays Bank to offer a simple way of managing money for Writhlington pupils. On Thursday lunchtimes from 12.45 in M3, pupils have the chance to open a Barclay’s account, which gives the opportunity to have a debit card so that they can access their money from cash points and make purchases in stores. Money in the account also earns 5% interest. The bank is being run with the expertise of Barclays’ staff with help from Mr March and Year 10 pupils. At the moment, the accounts are only open to Year 7 pupils but we will be opening them to all pupils over the coming year. We will be visiting assemblies over the next few weeks to give you more information.

Get smart with your money and join the school bank.

Enterprise Week

On Monday 12th November Year 8 students took part in an Enterprise Day as part of Enterprise week. The day was facilitated by Young Enterprise and Business Volunteers. The students began the day in the hall where they were given the task of designing their own historically themed restaurant. Each tutor group had a theme and the students were split into teams. Within their teams each student had a role to fulfil. Human Resources had to talk about how they would interview new employees and what uniforms they would have. Marketing had to design posters and flyers as well as organise a launch event and Operations had to think about the location of the restaurant, the exterior design and the inside layout. We had some excellent ideas from all tutor groups, from Medieval themes, the Future, 80’s and Roman. The standard was really high and it was really hard to judge; however the winning team was from 8AB, Shannon, Georgia, Aaron, Ben and Jade. Their restaurant was called Hippy Dippy and their theme was the 1960’s. Their idea was very creative; they used excellent visuals on the presentation and looked very smart and professional. Lisa Holden from BCWA in Bristol, one of our business volunteers, commented on confidence and professionalism shown in the presentations. She was impressed at the level of team work as every student got involved in the presentations and supported each other throughout the day.

Year 7 took part in a Bright Futures Enterprise day. They started with an exciting video clip introducing the students to Enterprise and Entrepreneurs. The day involved a lot of team activities which tested the students’ ability to communicate with each other and overcome challenges. One of the tasks was to build a rollercoaster out of sheets of card and sellotape. We had some excellent ideas and some really adventurous rollercoasters. However, the winning team was the one who could make the marble run the longest through their rollercoaster and that was Charlotte, Sophie, Sam, Nathan and Kathryn with a winning time of 12 seconds.

Year 9 also took part in a Bright Futures Enterprise day and got to see video clips of successful entrepreneurs. They were able to see their stories and how they made their ideas into a successful business. In teams Year 9 had to form their own business and design top up card holders. Each team had some start up capital and very few resources. They had to make their first design simple yet professional and then sell it onto the shop for a profit. Once they received money for the top up card holders they made they were able to go back to the shop and buy more materials to make better top up card holders and gain a bigger profit. They had a set time to do this and their team work skills were tested, as groups had to decide on managers, production managers, supplies and design. At the end of the game the results were displayed on the screen. Some groups were in debt, whereas others just managed to break even. The winning group was Alex, Harriet, Zoe and Amy with a fantastic profit of £64.

On Thursday Young Enterprise ran a master class challenge with Year 11 in Science and Technology. In their tutor groups they had to launch a UK division of a business called Sci-Tech. The business specialised in producing scientific technology products all over the world. In their teams they had to come up with a strategy for the UK launch, providing a marketing strategy, new company branding, operations for the new factory, the financial implications and the launch event. They also had to design an innovative product to launch in the UK market to go alongside the launch of the UK division. The students had to split into the different areas of business within their teams and concentrate on their own particular tasks. At the end of the day they had to present back to the year group their ideas. It was a very hard competition to judge as all the product ideas were fantastic, one group devised a machine that you placed on your steering wheel which could detect if you’re over the legal limit to drive, if you were then it would stop the ignition and you could no longer drive the car. The winning team called their product Mute, they created a mobile phone that also operates all the appliances in your home. The judges decided that their marketing strategy was the most effective, they had really thought about the financial side of setting up and developing the product, and their presentation was the most professional overall.

On Friday the Year 10 students turned into Forensic Scientists. CSI forensics came into the school and gave all the students a challenge, the caretaker had been shot and they had to find out who had done it. They were split into teams and spent the morning learning how to interpret blood splatter, footprints and take fingerprints. They were each given a workbook with 4 suspects in and it was their job to find out who did it. After lunch they had to dress in the forensics kit and go into the hall where they had a crime scene to analyse. They took evidence from the scene then went back into their groups to decide on the murderer. The day was an excellent insight into forensic science, and how important team work and effective communication is in the world of work.

Orchid Project on Japanese TV

A film about the Writhlingon Orchid will be to be shown on the Japanese TV station NHK on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th November.

Link: http://www.nhk.or.jp/eurkodawari/

Iceland Trip

On the 20th October 2007, 22 students and 4 staff from Writhlington School set out on an arctic adventure to Iceland. After an early stress free flight we arrived in Iceland as it began to get dark. Our first destination was the world famous Blue Lagoon, which is an outdoor geothermal heated swimming pool and spa. Here we had a great time swimming, sitting in the steam rooms and covering ourselves in volcanic mud, which is meant to be really good for you, if not a little smelly! As the night drew in we retreated to our accommodation at Reykjavik youth hostel where we received a healthy dinner and a fascinating talk about the country and its people from a local teacher.

On our second day we did the ‘Golden Circle’ tour visiting some of Iceland’s most spectacular geographical and historical sites. Our trip took us to Þingvellir which was the site of Iceland’s first parliament and also marks the divide between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. We then drove to Gullfoss or the ‘Golden Falls’ as it is known in Iceland which were not particularly golden but still very impressive. We also visited Geysir park, after which all geysers are named, which contained a number of spectacular geothermal water features including a 25 foot super heated water fountain which blasted into the air every 3 minutes. Some students and a teacher were caught a little unaware when the geyser exploded two times in a row! We ended the day by visiting a huge geothermal bore hole which is soon to be developed into a power station; the noise was immense and so powerful we could feel the ground shaking beneath our feet.

On Tuesday we drove away from Reykjavik along the southern coastline toward the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap via two spectacular waterfalls one of which we could walk right behind. We also had the opportunity to visit an Icelandic folk museum whose 14000 items had all been collected by the museum’s fascinating curator. He played some traditional music to us, sang for us and even showed us how to spin wool. By the time we reached the icecap the weather was closing in and the wind was howling. We boarded an ex NATO transport vehicle which had been specifically designed for ice travel and set off up the glacier. When we reached 1000 meters we got out for a play in the snow but the intense cold and driving gale force winds forced us to make a hasty retreat down the glacier and back into our lovely warm coach. What a day, I don’t think a single person stayed dry!

Wednesday was glacier day! First of all we went to Skeiðarárjökull and walked right up to the snout of the glacier where we could actually feel and hear this spectacular geographical feature. We then took a long drive to Jökulsárlón which is where they filmed the James Bond film ‘Die another day’. This is a glacial lagoon which was littered with icebergs ranging in size from a shoe box to a small house. This was probably the highlight of the trip as we had a break in the weather and got to see a spectacular sunset over the icebergs.

Torrential rain and fog greeted us on our last day as we drove towards Bakki airport where we were due to fly to the volcanic island of Heimaey. Unfortunately the weather was too bad to fly and we had to change our plans. Shopping and sight seeing soon made up for the disappointment and a hearty dinner at Red Chilli and action packed swimming trip ended the day.

We had a wonderful trip and the students were superb ambassadors.

CCF MOI Weekend

Mr White and Mr Kluth had the pleasure of taking the Year11 Senior Cadets on a Method of Instruction weekend at Downside Independent School. This means the Year 11 had to learn how to teach other cadets the Combined Cadet Force Syllabus. Under test condition they had to deliver a 30 minute lesson on part of a rifle drill.

All the Cadets passed and the following Cadets were promoted to the following positions:

• Junior Officer Adam Willcox
• Platoon SGT Sam Batstone
• Platoon SGT James Webb
• SCT CPL Luke George
• SCT CPL Tom Lovegrove
• SCT CPL Edward Dale
• SCT CPL Marcus Head
• SCT CPL Vicky Jones
• SCT CPL Nathan Folland
• L/CPL Ross Biberger
• L/CPL Heather Lowe
• L/CPL Ben Horler
• L/CPL Dean Heal
• L/CPL Mike Taviner
• L/CPL Marc Cook

Congratulation to all cadets involved.

Business and Enterprise Conference 5th November at Colston Hall

Year 10 and Year 11 students attended a Business and Enterprise Conference at the Colston Hall in Bristol on Monday 5th November. The conference aimed to inspire business students and budding entrepreneurs. The day featured a number of keynote speeches from motivational business leaders, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship and enterprise. The speakers included Wilfred Emmanuel Jones "The Black Farmer" who has taken his passion from the West Indies and combined it with inspiration from his farm in Devon to produce a range of products under the label ‘The Black Farmer’. His products are sold across the country in leading supermarkets. In 2005 Wilfred launched a Rural Scholarship, introducing an agricultural way of life to young people from culturally diverse communities living in the inner cities; Ruth Badger (BBC’s The Apprentice and Sky One’s Badger or Bust) and Michelle Mone (Founder MJM International). Michelle launched her own company, MJM International, after noticing a gap in the lingerie market for a comfortable cleavage-enhancing bra, it was famously worn by Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich, and it quickly became the fastest growing ‘intimate apparel’ brand in Europe. Success has led to the expansion of the Ultimo collection - with lingerie, underwear, nightwear and swimwear. The company has since secured the licence in 45 countries for some of the biggest lingerie brands; Michelle Mone is a board member of The Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust, and Save the Children. She also writes for The Sun as their ‘Business Doctor’. Writhlington Students formed a company led by Jade Seymour called Wizbe on the day and completed various challenges hosted by Alex Lovell presenter of BBC Points West and Channel 5's Brainteaser. All students left the conference feeling inspired to become England’s next successful Entrepreneur.

Gold Medal at Cape Town Flower Show for Writhlington Orchid Growers

Students from Writhlington School have just returned from South Africa with a Gold Medal won at the country’s most prestigious flower show, the Cape Town Flower and Garden Show.

The school exhibit featured a working orchid micropropagation laboratory and a group of five expert students aged between 13 and 15 years old demonstrated techniques developed at Writhlington.

As well as wowing the judges and attracting large crowds the exhibit featured on two TV channels, a radio station and in several newspapers. Luke Shackleton aged 14 explained “We became local celebrities and we were recognised when we went to restaurants.”

As well as demonstrating Writhlington’s horticultural excellence the visit was a focus for developing orchid based conservation enterprise in South Africa. Writhlington pupils trained members of the Londolozani, a Women’s Orchid Legacy Project, in propagation techniques and visited the Erica School in Cape Town where the laboratory used at the show will be permanently installed.

According to Writhlington pupil Luke Barnes aged 13 “visiting the school was the best part of the whole trip” and in turn Erica School principle Jonathan Dennis described Luke as “An inspiration to my pupils, showing what can be achieved by young people with passion, skill and determination.”

Teacher Simon Pugh-Jones who led the trip said afterwards “I am really proud of my team. It was a real challenge to travel half way across the world and stage a top class exhibit but everyone worked really hard. We had fantastic support from our South African hosts. We were given accommodation at the Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve by Cape Nature, transport from National Car Rental, and the individual support of many wonderful South Africans. I am really excited for the future of orchid project at the Erica School. I also look forward to the benefits Writhlington pupils will gain from working with our new friends in Africa.”

David Cox Struck Gold

Year 8 Student David Cox struck Gold this term as he became the Somerset Under 13 Champion at The County Tournament held in Bridgwater. Well done David and good luck in your next major Championship

Year 12 and 10 Tourism Enterprise Day

The Year 10 and Year12 Travel and Tourism students had another successful Tourism Enterprise Day arranged and organised by Bath Tourism Plus, which is the Government Agency responsible for managing and marketing Bath tourism. The day started with a presentation on the role of Bath Tourism Plus and then the students had to work in small focus groups solving tourism problems in the Bath area. These are real problems and some of the ideas generated by the students will be used. They had to come up with ideas on revamping and improving the Bath Christmas Market and develop a brand profile for the new shopping centre which will be built in the centre of Bath in 2010. The students had to then present their ideas to John Carmichael Marketing Director at Bath Tourism Plus.

Last year’s Year 10 and Year12 Travel and Tourism students had the task of how Bath Hotels could increase their occupancy at the weekends. One of the group’s ideas was to develop a discount card for all hotels to give out to weekend guests. As a result of this Bath Tourism Plus actually developed a discount card for Visitor Attractions in the Bath area for guests staying in hotels at weekends. They now also sell the discount card at the Bath Tourism Information Centre.

October 2007

School Students Perform With National Youth Orchestra Band

Students from Writhlington School, Radstock and Critchill School in Frome had the exciting opportunity this week to perform alongside the National Youth Orchestra Band. The students and band have been working hard on a unique performance of their own works as well as a piece by Cameron Sinclair, which was specially commissioned for the performance.

Assisted by funding from Youth Music, Bridging the Gap is a partnership between the National Youth Orchestra, Writhlington Business & Enterprise School, Jason Thornton (director of the Bath Philharmonia) and Critchill School. It aims to inspire young musicians to continue with music after they have transferred from primary school to secondary school. The project engaged with many of the pupils in primary schools from the Radstock area before they attended Writhlington School this September for the first time and culminated in two stunning performances of ‘Journeys and Crossings’ at the Merlin Theatre, Frome on Thursday 18th October and at Writhlington School on Friday 19th October. "It has been the best experience of my life. I loved playing the instruments and the NYO were awesome!" - Writhlington participant The pupils have been playing with the youthful and energetic NYOBAND; a 15 piece ensemble made up of ex-members of the National Youth Orchestra. Led by experts in music education the band members are in their early twenties and add a unique element that the young participants can really identify with and be inspired by.

Writhlington School Lands £1M Funding Boost From The Football Foundation

Footballers in Radstock were celebrating today following a £984,904 award by the Football Foundation, the UK’s largest sports charity. To mark the occasion Dan Norris, local MP for North East Somerset, will present a cheque to the school at 10am on 15 October at Writhlington School, Knobsbury Lane, Writhlington, Radstock, BA3 3NQ.

The cash bonanza will allow the school to bring high quality community sports facilities to a rural area which suffers from a lack of proper sports provision for local people. The facilities will boast a much-needed artificial turf pitch and two large changing rooms for outdoor sports, as well as upgraded grass pitches.

It is estimated that this development will enable an increase in participation of 430% amongst male users and 130% amongst female users at the facility.

The Football Foundation is dedicated to revitalising the grass roots of the game, constructing modern football facilities, developing football as a force for social cohesion and as a vehicle for education in communities throughout the country. Funded by the FA Premier League, The Football Association, Sports England and the Government, the Football Foundation is the nation’s largest sports charity with a £45m budget going straight into the heart of football.

Dan Norris, MP for North East Somerset, said: "The Football Foundation represents a successful partnership between the government, the Premier League and the FA which has so far delivered around £2.4m worth of projects to our area since its launch in July 2000.

"I know local residents will join me in cheering this latest significant cash award. Together with the full rebuild of Writhlington School, made possible by government money, these new facilities promise another fantastic boost for our community.

" Headteacher Marie Getheridge said: “This very welcome award and support from the Football Foundation forms part of our continued commitment to providing high quality sports facilities for both school and community use. The next two years is a very exciting time for the school and we are looking forward to opening the £3 million extension to our community sports complex in the next year.”

A Passion for Plants

We just can’t get enough of gardening, whether it’s digging our own little plots, exhibiting in competitions or nosing around in grand public gardens. It may be a quiet passion, but plant obsessives are a unique species grown and cultivated in Britain. And now a new BBC series celebrates this national passion for gardening.

Narrated by Alan Titchmarsh, this series of 8 half hour documentaries takes us into the world of the UK's leading gardening charity to discover what lies at the heart of our Passion For Plants. The BBC spent a year with The Royal Horticultural Society – the plant charity that’s home to four public gardens, two hundred years of horticultural expertise and the renowned national flower shows in Cardiff, Chelsea and Tatton. It’s a year to remember….

The RHS School of Horticulture opens its doors to a new group of students and master classes begin in everything from how to dig an allotment to how to climb a tree.

The arrival of a new Director General and a new Head of Gardens and Estates brings a fresh approach to a venerable organisation with well established traditions.

And as the gardening calendar unfolds there is deadline after deadline to hit; from the opening of the new multi-million pound glass house at Wisley in Surrey, to the meticulous organisation of the world famous flower show in Chelsea.

And with the wettest summer on record, at times gardening proves to be quite a challenge. Flooding at Harlow Carr, the RHS public garden in Yorkshire, brings into focus the eco-friendly plans that are already underway there. And the green philosophy of the garden’s curator, Matthew Wilson, means pigs become a feature of an RHS garden for the very first time.

The Britain in Bloom campaign encourages communities up and down the country to brighten up their streets and outreach projects see allotments established by budding young gardeners at a local primary school.

The stars of the show include RHS staff and members alike; the enthusiastic ordinary gardeners who exhibit at shows – and the strict RHS judges who decide their fate; the passionate dahlia and verbascum growers whose plants are trialled and archived at Wisley, and the behind the scenes staff who meticulously cultivate, trial and perfect the plants we grow today in our own treasured gardens.

The BBC's behind the scenes documentary about the life and horticultural loves of the RHS starts on BBC2, Friday 19th October at 8pm.

Find out more at the RHS Website: http://www.rhs.org.uk/passionforplants/profiles.asp

September 2007

Three students from Radstock have just returned from Romania saying that they would all love to go back. Emma Clifton, Chloe Caddick and Liz Hicks spent two weeks with the charity ’Poplars’ visiting Roma gypsy communities and working with children and young people with disabilities.

Emma (currently studying at Bath Spa University) Chloe and Liz, (both at Writhlington School) took over large suitcases crammed full of craft materials, clothes, soap, sweets and pens to distribute to the people they met. They saw at first hand the difficult conditions that some people still have to live in. Often large families were living in the smallest of huts with no heating and no running water. ‘However, although these living conditions are horrific, all of the children and adults that we met were happy and full of life with huge smiles’ said Emma.

While in Romania they visited a project which assists in supporting families to build themselves new homes, providing them with the materials and teaching the skills needed. They also helped at a Day Care and Educational Centre which provides learning activities for children from Roma families, many of whom would otherwise receive no form of education.

Emma, Chloe and Liz were supported financially by a number of companies, organisations and churches in the Radstock and Midsomer Norton area. From this money they were able to donate over £1000 to the ‘Better Homes Project’. ‘We are so grateful for all the generous contributions,’ they said. ‘We saw a completely different way of life and met many interesting people. It is an experience we will never forget’.

Photo shows Liz Hicks, Emma Clifton and Chloe Caddick with some of the aid they took with them on their recent visit to Romania

July 2007

Germany 2007

In July this year, 44 Year 8 students from Writhlington took part in a trip to the Rhineland in Germany where they experienced the great German weather, many a bratwurst and a fun packed week of trips and visits.

During the trip we visited Marksburg Castle, experienced the vibrant city of Koblenz and visited Rüdesheim, where we took a trip on a chairlift above the vineyards and enjoyed the wonderful views of the River Rhine. Other highlights included swimming in the “Freibad”, a boat trip down the Rhine (complete with Oom pa pa music to get us in the mood!) bowling and of course, Phantasialand, the best theme park in Germany! Everyone seemed to enjoy the trip and had a chance to have a go at speaking the language.

Special thanks go out to Mr Nunley, Miss Wardlaw, Miss Benoit and Mr Sheriff whose help was greatly appreciated. Another trip to Germany will be taking place next July 2008 and anyone interested in joining us (years 8 & 9) should speak to Miss Rusling in the languages department.

Year 8 Bowling Trip

Year 8 rounded off the school year with a trip to the Bowlplex centre at Longwell Green. Nearly sixty students and seven staff set off after school to enjoy an evening of fun, competition and of course food!!

A good time was had by all, especially for those who were to witness the downfall of Mr. Bridges and Mr Corbett; both resoundingly beaten by Miss Dent who must have been practising for weeks judging by the number of strikes and spares she scored! Many thanks to all who took part, particularly Mr Bridges and Mr Corbett who organised a great evening out.

French Alps Music Tour

Sunday 8th July saw 43 Writhlington School musicians ranging from years 8 to 13 [plus one ex-student!] packing suitcases, instruments, drum kit, amplifiers and everything except the kitchen sink into coach and trailer bound for the French Alps.

23 hours later [with humour now a little jaded with fatigue!] we disembarked at ‘Chalet La Troika’ in a pretty mountain village about a mile away from the Swiss border called La Chapelle – D’Abondance.

Cold weather did not dampen our spirits the next day as we swung from ropes and rip-slides up to 70 feet in the air [with safety harness, of course!] at the Parc Adventure in Aigle. Most of the band tackled all four available difficulty levels – impressive!!! [especially Mr Mellor!)]

After a hasty packed lunch we set off for our first concert venue in Chatel – [re-routed from outdoors to a small concert hall due to the weather!].

Wednesday saw the highlights of a visit to Nestle Factory where Mr Mellor won hands down for eating the most free samples – closely followed by most of the boys!!! Chocolate consumed was worked off in a concert in the town of Vevey in Switzerland, – right beside the waters of the immense and beautiful ‘Lac Lemon’. Any remaining chocolate overdose was well and truly lost on the huge waterslides at ‘Le Bouveret’ water park – definitely a hit!

The following day we set off for the U.N building in Geneva – a bit of culture here! Very interesting nevertheless – with quite a few tricky questions asked by our intrepid future diplomats [ Becky Chaudhuri, Jess Wheeler and Vicky Jones)]. This was followed by our last outdoor concert – 2 hours in the sweltering heat of the pretty village of Yvoire on the other side of the lake. No time to rest though – dinner at the Chalet followed by bowling at Villeneuve in Switzerland. The evening concluded with a ridiculous electronic ‘punchbag’ game where Mrs Langley scored a pathetic ‘5’ (twice) and Ms Sloman fared slightly better, however, the stars in this activity were clearly Mr Mellor who scored a high 545 but even better, Mike Obern on 550!!

On our last day we staged an impromptu concert for the two groups of French students staying at the Chalet [definitely our best audience!] followed by a picnic lunch and a very long overnight journey home dreaming of snow – covered mountains, the ‘Sound of Music’ and bells tinkling round the necks of Swiss cows!!

Many thanks to Ms Sloman, Mrs Langley, Mr Mellor and Mrs Tout – also to all the students who made it such a great event! Watch this space for the 2009 tour!

Twenty-first Century School Takes Shape – Community Consultation

The £25 million new building at Writhlington Business and Enterprise School takes a major step forward next week with the public display of the new facilities scheduled to open in Spring 2010. The design of the new school follows a series of discussions with students, parents and staff and the community. It will be built with all the latest energy efficient materials using sustainable resources wherever possible. It includes a number of exciting new features including a Business and Enterprise Centre with a conference suite, video-conferencing, business offices for the very successful student-run companies and a four hundred seat theatre and performing arts centre.

A new Media Arts Centre comprises a professional recording studio, dance studio and music recital and performance facilities. A Design Studio for electronics and robotics complements an ICT rich environment with 24/7 on-line learning for students, internet-café and open access learning resource areas for private study. An outside ecology area and four greenhouses mirroring different environments from around the globe offers students exciting study possibilities for GCSE and A Level science research. Professional industry-standard kitchen facilities provides a high quality learning environment for Hospitality and Catering courses. Spacious dining room facilities opening onto landscaped play areas are linked to covered courtyard areas where students can relax at break and lunch.

In sport major developments are taking place with over £3 million of additional facilities opening over the next 18 months. A new Multi-use Games Area, full size floodlit artificial grass pitch, Coach Education Centre and Soft play centre will complement the very successful Sports Centre at the school. Further suites of brand new changing rooms for outside sports, grass pitch upgrades, high quality cricket nets and a new cricket square will provide superb new sporting facilities for both school and community use.

All these new facilities are on view at the school next Thursday 26th July between 5 and 9 pm as part of the community consultation. Architects and staff will be presenting an interactive ICT presentation on the new school and the opportunities it will offer to all the community.

Art Exhibition – Artists Celebrate Classes

On Tuesday 10 July, artists from the Leisure and Learning classes at Writhlington School celebrated their work with an end of year art exhibition. The enthusiastic students brought along their friends and family to view the wonderful and varied display of paintings and drawings whilst enjoying refreshments together.

Over 100 visitors of all ages came to view the 500 pieces of work on display and even though these were not for sale, a number of offers were made. The students have all been attending Watercolour and Drawing Classes at Writhlington School, led by tutors Deborah Chisman and Sheila Broun.

They will be continuing again in September and anyone interested in joining them should contact the Leisure and Learning Team at Writhlington School on 01761 439925

CCF Penhale Summer Camp in Cornwall

Forty seven Year 9, 10 & 11 students went away for one week at Penhale Army Camp. They carried out a variety of adventure training activities including canoeing, sailing, rock climbing and abseiling. We spent a whole day at Millpool ranges where cadets had the opportunity to fire the LSW machine gun in short automatic bursts. We had some fantastic scores which included Rhys Swift who shot 47 out of 50!

Our school contingent competed in the Penhale challenge against over 600 other cadets in orienteering, march & shoot and the assault course. We successfully won 25 medals in total which is a new Writhlington School record. These medals were silver in all the girls’ assault course challenge and 2 bronze awards in the all girls team and boys team march & shoot competition. A special mention to Heather Lowe of Year 10 who won the girls orienteering against 300 other competitors. A great gold medal.

The students were excellent throughout the week and displayed good military skills and discipline. The Ambush Stand & Section attacks where students learnt and took part in battle drills was a particularly tiring day. They were running around the sand dunes in torrential rain firing the GP weapons in section attacks. During the casualty evacuation the cadets could not cope with the weight of Mr White on the stretcher, so they left him behind enemy lines!

All the CCF staff would like to congratulate the CCF cadets on another fantastic camp.

Year 7 Dyson Foundation Workshop

On Friday 6th of July, the Dyson Foundation came into the school to do a workshop for 40 Year 7 students. The aim of the workshop was to introduce engineering and innovation to the students. Students were split into groups and given a brief.

Each group had a theme, from ‘in the garden’ to ‘search and rescue’. They had to design a product which was powered by air for use within their theme, then they had to create a prototype out of cardboard and parts of Dyson’s. Before they started they were given a presentation from a Dyson engineer, who talked to them about the design process from idea generation to modelling out of card.

The students produced some amazing designs with the help of Mr Pugh-Jones and the Dyson leaders. At the end of the morning each team presented their idea back to the group and were judged.

First prize went to ‘The Warm - up Room’, a room which could be used by search and rescue to help people warm up after they had been rescued, a special prize went to ‘Walking Breeze’ for team work.

After the workshop the Dyson foundation talked to the whole of Year 7 about the engineering process at Dyson, and about their fantastic opportunities at the Dyson Foundation. The students had a real insight into engineering and design, each group produced fantastic prototypes and all worked really hard together in their teams.

It was an interesting and exciting day for all involved, special thanks to the Dyson Foundation who committed their time to this project within the school.

Bonito wins the day at Young Enterprise competition

Earlier this term three students Elliott Dix, Georgia Butler and Richard Cummings from Bonitos, a Writhlington School Young Enterprise Team Programme company, took part in the Young Enterprise Team Programme South West regional competition. They competed against many schools and had to answer probing questions from the judges. They had to present a stand with their products, write a report reviewing the financial year for the company and put together a presentation about the company.

Bonito has been a big success this year. The students have made over £500 profit and their well-judged teamwork skills won Best Presentation at the regional Young Enterprise competition.

Historic Orchid In New Breeding Programme

An orchid that was imported from India over a hundred years ago has been donated to Writhlington School by plant enthusiast Rear Admiral Hugh Tracey. Teacher Simon Pugh-Jones explained “The orchid is called Paphiopedilum Insigne, a species now scarce in its natural habitat of the Khasai Hills in Assam. Back in Victorian times many thousands of plants were brought to the UK and grown for cut flowers, this plant is a remnant from these times. We now plan to pollinate the plant, produce seed and grow seedlings to both increase plant numbers and raise money for conservation efforts back in India.”

Rear Admiral Tracey met Writhlington students at the Bath Spring Flower Show and has supported their work with a generous donation as well the ancient orchid with an exciting future.

Seeds of Success

Young entrepreneurs from Writhlington Business and Enterprise School will be representing the South West of England at this Year’s Young Enterprise finals at the Savoy Hotel London later this month.

Nine students all aged fifteen set up their company ‘Cockroach’ last September and won competitions in Bath and Bristol before winning the South West regional finals in Poole. Managing Director Marc Cook explains the unusual name; “We decided to call ourselves Cockroach because of the insect’s legendary status as indestructible. That’s what we wanted to be - an indestructible company. Our product is unique Palm tree seed kits which are now available at outlets right across the UK.”

Judges have been impressed with the kits which include seeds, compost and pot but the real success of the company has been their sales record. Ben Stokes, Sales Director outlines their approach. “We have designed a special point of sales unit containing 140 kits and we have sold these to Garden Centres and Botanic Gardens across the country. We are currently selling as far a field as Edinburgh Botanic Gardens and Kew Gardens in London but our biggest sales are through Hillier Garden Centres and Garden and Leisure Group.”

The National finals will see companies from twelve regions across the UK competing for the coveted prize of Young Enterprise Company of the Year as well as a place in the European Finals. The young directors of Cockroach are hoping to show that the seed of a great idea can grow into something big- and indestructible!

29th June 2007

Leaving in Style

Year 11 students at Writhlington Business & Enterprise School left in style last week. Over 100 students will be returning to Post 16 studies but for the moment limousines, minicycles, tandems and 1930s glitz were the important things in life.

Year 11 student Adam Willcox said “What a day, what weather – the only dry interlude in constant weeks of rain. The gods smiled down on us”.

As part of the Year 11 Celebration Day, the students were treated to a short presentation from the actor James Laurenson. An introductory dvd showed clips of the films and programmes he has appeared in – The Bourne Identity, A Touch of Frost, Hustle, Spooks, Midsomer Murders to name but a few.

He then spoke to the students about how different it was when he was 16 and leaving school in New Zealand and how their leavers had been addressed by an army major who told them what to expect from life after school.

He spoke about interview techniques and amused them with some funny stories of auditions including one where he tried to exit via a broom cupboard! The moral of this story was; always take note of the layout of the room where you are being interviewed.

The students listened attentively and gave him a rousing round of applause when he finished. Junior Soper presented him with a copy of the Yearbook as a token of appreciation.

He was then treated to a tour of the orchid greenhouse by Luke Lucas and Ben Stokes who presented him with an orchid.

27th June 2007

Writhlington Business and Enterprise School Dragons Den Event

Writhlington Business and Enterprise School in conjunction with Bath and North East Somerset Council hosted their annual Dragons Den event.

13 local schools presented their product to the Dragons. Their brief was set by Rob Kinna a Dragon Slayer who had previously been featured on BBC2 Dragons Den Programme.

Students had to devise a product that was able to produce the home cooked flavour of porridge. The Dragons were Alec Reed founder of the Reed employment agency, Maxine Corbett the commercial director of Xerox, Tim Westwood Regional Business Development Manager from Kier Western, Paul Delbridge-Smith Network Programme Co-ordinator for Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and Dave Morgan from the DTI Intellectual Property Office.

The aim of the day was to encourage and inspire Key Stage 4 students to become young entrepreneurs and raise awareness for enterprise education. The commitment from the students, teachers and facilitators in this project was outstanding.

All Dragons spoke very highly of the presentations and were amazed at the standard of presentation and content. Students taking part in this day gained valuable skills in presenting, communicating, teamwork, problem solving and entrepreneurship. All students took part in workshops including Rob Kinna’s BBC 2 Dragon’s Den experience, and an inspirational workshop by Mark Delamere on how to be successful.

The Dragons had a tough time choosing the eventual winners. James Fox Assistant Head at Writhlington Business and Enterprise school said “It’s absolutely fantastic that students have taken the event so seriously and had the opportunity to interact with each other”.

Writhlington Business and Enterprise School took the first prize with their idea of ‘twisted oats’, a self-contained heating device to eat porridge on the go. Team members Mia Idiens, Ross Whittock, Jordan Rogers, Martha Cooper, and Natasha Siddiqi led by Business Studies teacher Matthew Shafto received £100 each presented to them by Councillor Ian Dewey.

Second prize went to St Gregory’s Catholic School in Odd Down whose team ‘Sqidge’ impressed the judges with their innovative ideas and presentation skills.

Third Prize went to Brislington Business and Enterprise School ‘Just Right’ impressed the judges with their confidence, presentation and smart company uniform.

The day was a huge success, with everyone involved inspired to become entrepreneurs. Special thanks go to our sponsors of the event Kier Western, The DTI Intellectual Property Office and JBP Public Relations.

The day was organised and run by Emma Duncombe Enterprise Manager of Writhlington Business and Enterprise School, and will be an annual event if you need further information on the day or next years event please call 01761 433581 ext 317.

26^th June 2007

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain

Assisted by funding from Youth Music, Bridging the Gap is a partnership between the National Youth Orchestra, Writhlington Business & Enterprise School, Jason Thornton (director of the Bath Philharmonia) and Critchill School. It aims to inspire young musicians to continue participating in music and also to encourage more pupils to join in with music-making once they have started secondary school.

What better way to achieve this than to inspire young musicians at primary schools with the youthful and energetic NYOBAND; a 15 piece ensemble made up of ex-members of the National Youth Orchestra. Led by experts in music education the band members are in their early twenties and add a unique element as the young participants can really identify with and be inspired by these young musicians.

Year 6 Primary school students in the Radstock area and students at Critchill School in Frome enjoyed taster performances from the full band in February and March this year inspiring them to join in with the project. This has been followed by a series of workshops held at Writhlington School throughout the summer term exploring different musical genres and styles including melody, movement, performance technique and Latin American. The workshops have been attended by students from primary schools that will transfer to secondary school in September, and have been joined by year 7 students at Writhlington School and supported by year 12 peer mentors.

"It has been the best experience of my life. I loved playing the instruments and the NYO were awesome!" - Writhlington participant

"I loved the sessions and I'd recommend them to anyone - it was brilliant!" - Writhlington participant

Bridging the Gap will culminate in a grand finale during September and October when students from Critchill School will join their peers at Writhlington School for the final workshops and rehearsals, putting the finishing touches to a stunning performance to be held at the Merlin Theatre, Frome on 18th October and Writhlington School on 19th October.

23^rd May 2007

Year 10 Enterprise Day

Earlier this term a group of Year 10 students participated in a Young Enterprise masterclass. The students were split into groups with a challenge to complete. The challenge was to design Writhlington's new rugby kit. Each group had to work towards presenting a proposal which was to include benefits for prospective investors, designing the kit, a launch event, PR and Marketing and additional funding.

In the morning the students set about designing their kits and their launch events. We had some fantastic ideas which included a sports fashion show and a meal where the rugby team would be waiters wearing the kit. In the afternoon Fraser Digby Business Development Manager of Sports Solutions GB came to the school.

The twist of the day for the students was that they were going to present their proposal to Fraser who would pick a winner and he would actually be sponsoring the school rugby kit. As Fraser was an ex-professional football player students had the opportunity to have a question and answer session with him before they presented their proposals. Fraser and Kate Clark, Regional Manager of Young Enterprise judged each of the presentations.

After a very difficult decision Vickie Seymour, Paige Blacker, Jade Peddle, Chloe Norris and Mia Idiens won through with their creativity and detailed launch event idea of a sports fashion show. A special thank you goes to Sports Solutions GB which is now going to be making and sponsoring our school rugby kit.

21^st May 2007

Year 10 AXA Educational Finance Trip

Year 10 Business Studies students participated in AXA’s Educational Finance programme, organised in conjunction with Young Enterprise.  The day was held at AXA’s main office in Filton, Bristol.  We were greeted with professional name badges and led into AXA’s conference room.  The aim of the day was for the students to gain an understanding of how their lifestyle choices would affect their financial situation in the future and improve their ability to manage debt and  monthly spending.

The day was split into 2 activities. In these games the students were given a balance sheet and consequence cards.  They had to make choices for the future with reference to their living arrangements, their lifestyle, their education and their part – time work.  AXA provided “sharks” who gave the students points or took them away depending on their answers. This  showed  the students how  unexpected events can affect your financial situation.  Game 1 represented their situation after leaving  school and Game 2 took it  past the age of 21. 

A lot of the students were surprised at the results which saw many of them get into debt, However AXA’s trained staff were on hand to provide answers and solutions to their financial concerns for the future.

The day ended with a very informative presentation on employment skills.  AXA presented the students with facts and information on how to make yourself more employable and gave useful CV and interview tips.  If any student or parent  would like additional  information on the day please do not hesitate to speak to Miss Duncombe on 01761 433581 ext 317.

12^th May 2007

Ten Tors Challenge Ends in Evacuation!

Saturday 12^th of May saw the 47^th year of the Ten Tors competition where 400 teams of 6 youngsters aged between 15 and 20 tackle routes of 35, 45 or 50 miles across the wilds of Dartmoor over 2 days. This year one team of 6 lads from Writhlington CCF attempted the 35 mile route.

Adam Willcox, Danny Taylor, Sam Batstone, Kessler Wood, Kial Swift and James Webb endured torrential rain and fog from the moment they arrived onsite to register on Friday afternoon accompanied by Mr Albon and Mr Nicholas whose hard work made the event possible for the team.

The team rose at 05:00 to the rousing sounds of Chariots of Fire over the camp tannoy system with the starting gun setting them off on the moors at 07:00. The teams follow a set route that takes them past 10 checkpoints located on the rocky outcrops known as ‘Tors’, camping out overnight on the moors.

By the end of Saturday, four of the team were still going with 360 people having dropped out of the challenge at that point. Poor conditions and swollen rivers combined with extreme weather forecasts meant that a decision was made by the organisers at 9:30pm on Saturday to abandon the event.

Although a great disappointment for the people involved, safety was imperative, especially considering the tragic death of a girl from Edgehill College who was swept away by a flash flood in training on Dartmoor in March.

Sunday saw a massive evacuation operation with 800 young people airlifted from the moors by two navy Sea King helicopters and two army Gazelle helicopters, the remainder, including the Writhlington team making their way to the roads to be ferried back by road. The team were in good spirits upon arrival back at the camp and having received their medals were keen to have another go next year despite the disappointment of not being able to complete the course. They had completed 7 out of the 10 Tors on the first day.

Congratulations go to the boys for a fantastic effort and thanks to the all the staff involved who made the event possible, with luck next year the weather will allow the teams to finish their routes.

May 2007

Art News

Well done and Congratulations to Daniel Green-Richards and Jamie Chard (Year 11 Students 2006).

The Royal Society of British Artists selected Daniel and Jamie’s art work to be exhibited at The Mall Art Galleries, London – May 17th – 27th 2007. Well over 800 students from parts of the United Kingdom applied but only 130 of the best students were chosen to exhibit.

The President of The Royal Society of British Artists, Cav Romeo Di Girolamo opened the exhibition and congratulated all 130 students for being the most creative and impressive young artists in the country. Daniel and Jamie were both interviewed and filmed for a promotional education film and were also photographed with the President.

May 2007

Writhlington School CCF Biannual Inspection

On the 2nd May 07 Writhlington’s Combined Cadet Force had their second biannual inspection since Sept 2003. The inspecting officer was lieutenant colonel Daniels who inspected our contingent, which is now 100 cadets strong, undertaking various military and adventurous activities at Emborough Quarry.

The colour party met the inspecting officer on the parade square by the CCF block and impressed him with an exceptional display of their drill and turnout. The colour party should be congratulated for all the extra hours they put in practising with the weapons and flags for the parade, which definitely paid off!

The cadets were competing in sections as they rotated around abseiling, kayaking, sailing, speed boats, paintballing, first aid, weapon training, observation, survival and signals training.
The sailing saw Millie Murphy and Harriet Goudie whizzing around the lake at Emborough Quarry at break neck speeds. Unfortunately Tom Smart and Stephen Smith weren’t so controlled and kept capsizing their boat!

For the first time a new section won the cup, beating Chiefton, who have won it and dominated all competitions since we began. Warrior section, headed by Edward Dale lifted the cup for completing each stand throughout the day in the highest score. They also narrowly missed out on winning the gun run, but they secured the title by winning the tug of war competition at the end of the day.

The day was a fantastic success and the cadets were a real credit to the school. Lieutenant Colonel Daniels was delighted to see so many of our students taking advantage of and enjoying the excellent opportunities provided for them by the CCF. Mr Albon will be taking Year 8 assemblies to show you what goes on in the CCF as we are now recruiting for next year.

May 2007

Writhlington Students lead Conservation Effort in South East Asia

Writhlington students spent this Easter working with conservationists and scientists in the remote jungles of Laos in South East Asia.

Teacher Simon Pugh-Jones who led the trip explained its purpose, "Laos is an amazing country with large areas of tropical forest and we are helping locals to conserve their beautiful wild orchids which are under pressure from collection, by growing plants from seed."

The expedition group included fourteen year olds Ben Stokes and Luke Lucas who took orchid seedlings they had grown at the Writhlington laboratory to help with training Lao staff in raising plants. "Our plants caused a lot of interest" said Luke. "Our partner Chansouk Southivong will come to the UK next year to train with us and at Kew Gardens before starting large scale production in Paksong."

Students also explored forests on the Bolevan Plateau in Southern Laos and recorded over a hundred species of orchid in the wild. These records will be used to evaluate the long term success of the conservation project as well as providing opportunities for original GCSE science research projects. Kew botanist Dr David Roberts, who also took part in the expedition, will continue to work closely with Writhlington Students to support their research and is hoping to publish their findings in scientific journals when complete.

12^th – 16^th March 2007

French Food with a Local Flavour

Bath District Farmers are a group of local farmers who have successfully secured a contract with Bath and North East Somerset Council to supply food and drink products into 82 council establishments and schools.

Writhlington students joined the Bath District Farmers and French chef Michel Lemoine in an after school project to produce a three course gastronomic meal with the authentic flavour of Provence, using ingredients produced within a twelve mile radius of the school.

The students spent a week with the local farmers visiting farms and discussing the connection between local produce, sustaining the country side, local economy as well as the importance of reducing food miles and global warming.  After discovering the variety of seasonal local produce available, a three course meal was planned, and under the guidance of Michel the students cooked the gourmet meal for their parents and local dignitaries.

As the guests tucked into Parsnip Soup with Curry Sabyon, Fillet of Beef au Poivre, and Caramelised Apple Tart, the students explained where the ingredients had come from, how far they had travelled and details of the preparation. The visiting guests were astounded by the quality of the meal and the professionalism of the students as they prepared and presented the food.

Bath District Farmers said they welcomed the opportunity to work with the students and meet their parents in order to raise awareness of these important conservation issues. They also look forward to continuing their links with the school to further integrate farming into the school curriculum.

All the ingredients for the meal were provided by the local farmers and producers and wine was donated by Mumfords Vineyard and Great Western Wine, Bath.

Marie Getheridge Head Teacher at Writhlington Business and Enterprise School said;

"We are pleased that our students have had this exciting opportunity to work together with the Bath District Farmers and Chef Michel Lemoine.  Working with professionals provides a new dimension to learning, which not only compliments, but enhances the education experience for our students."

March 2007

Orchid Project Enjoys Best Show Ever.

This year's London International Orchid show proved to be the Writhlington Orchid projects most successful ever with students selling more than 2000 orchids grown in the schools specialist laboratory. The school display won praise from visitors and a Silver-Gilt Medal. The display featured a naturalised tree arch festooned in Coelogyne cristata an orchid species from the Himalayas.

Year 10 students Ben Stokes and Luke Lucas who built the display will also feature in a BBC2 gardening program in September where viewers will be able to see the story of the display from selecting and preparing the plants to the moment when the medal was awarded.

Funds raised by sales at the show will support this years expeditions, the first of which leaves for Laos on April 2nd. Students will be working with Kew Botanist Dr David Roberts to map the orchid populations of the Bolevan plateau.

March 2007

Chuffs last Jazz for MS.

Downside School for this annual event. Chuff (Musical Director and organiser of Jazz for MS) wanted to end his era with raising over £30, 000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Centre at Warminster and to date the weekend concerts raised over £3,500 which has made his wish come true.

The audiences were treated to two brilliant concerts with Writhlington Senior, Junior band, Stage band and the newly formed Route 64, a new Dixie band who played a varied assortment of music including Tiger Rag, St Louis Blues, Footprints and Sing sing sing.

The end of the evening saw over 140 students squeeze onto the stage to play the popular Sultana song Smooth and a piece entitled Undecided. Our thanks go to all the students and stage crew for all their hard work.

Even though this may be the end of an era with Jazz for MS concerts the musical collaboration between Downside and Writhlington Schools will continue in the future.

Watch this space!

Half Term March 2007

Post 16 New York Visit.

Once again, Post 16 students had a truly fantastic time in New York. 21 students, Ms Sloman, Mr Fox and Mr Mann ventured to New York at the beginning of February half-term.

Apart from the obligatory retail therapy students also saw the main sights.

On the first day in temperatures of-13c students toured New York by bus and on foot and saw Central Park, Greenwich Village, Trump Tower, Times Square, Ground Zero, the Winter Gardens, the Financial Centre including Wall Street, the lucky Bull, China Town, Little Italy, Soho, Battery Park, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges, and Grand Central Terminus. In the evening, time was spent ice skating at the Rockefeller Centre.

A tour round United Nations proved to be very interesting especially as we saw The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In the evening students ventured up the Empire State Building and saw the New York sky line at night - awesome! The day time views from Top of the Rock were equally spectacular.

The last day was spent on a New York Waterways cruise viewing the Stature of Liberty, Ellis Island and Manhattan.-

This was a truly wonderful trip and we are looking forward to another in 2008!

March 2007

Food and Farming Project

Bath District Farmers are a group of local farmers who have successfully secured a contract with Bath and North East Somerset Council to supply food and drink products into 82 council establishments.

The Bath District Farmers are now working with local schools to raise awareness of local food and farming as well as the natural, social, economic, and political implications of actions in the countryside. There are a number of themes within the curriculum that have clear links to faming and agriculture and the local farmers are keen to offer up to date information about real-life tasks in the countryside and the benefits of using local produce.

In partnership with Writhlington Business and Enterprise School, Bath District Farmers will join Writhlington students in an out of hour’s project looking at the connection between local food and faming, the local economy and its sustainability
The group of students will spend a week visiting a farm and investigating foods available from local suppliers, before working with French chef
Michel Limoine to design and cook a three course menu based around seasonal produce. The culmination of this event will be the presentation of the meal to parents and local celebrities together with a display and information from the Bath District Farmers.

This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to benefit from learning in a new context. Meeting and working with adults who are not teachers can be particularly motivating and can provide alternative opportunities and experiences beyond our normal school day.

We are pleased to have this opportunity to work with Bath District Farmers to raise awareness of these important issues which affect our local countryside and communities.

February 2007

Writhlington at the Cape Town Flower Show

This October Writhlington Orchid growers are off to their most exiting show yet in Cape Town, South Africa.

The invitation followed last years Gold Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show and will really be something different.

Students from the school's "Lab Club" will set up a display that is a working micro-propagation laboratory and during the show they will demonstrate how orchids are raised at the school.

We have also linked with two schools in Cape Town so that Writhlington students will train South African pupils in lab techniques. The display will go to one of the schools after the show so that they can set up their own Writhlington Orchid Project.

The students taking part are all from years 8, 9 and 10 and are amongst Britain's top experts in orchid propagation.

January 2007

Writhlington Orchids go on sale at Kew

The famous orchid seedling kits grown by students at Writhlington School can now be purchased at the World’s premier botanic garden, Kew.

This week students from Years 7,8 and 9 braved cold north winds and snow to take their first delivery of tender tropical orchids to the shops at Kew.

Year 8 pupil Luke Barnes described the day as “Really exciting. I have seen about Kew on the TV and it’s brilliant that they are now selling the plants that I have grown at Lab Club.”

Fellow student Ben Clifford explained the production system “We grow the plants from seed in the school lab and after two years they are big enough to put in their own little jars. We then work really hard to make up the boxes which tell the customer what to do and all about their orchid. I grow orchids at home as well as at school and I hope to write my own book about them one day”.

Profits from the sales at Kew will help conservation efforts in South East Asia as well as funding research for Writhlington’s orchid experts. In 2007 expeditions are going to Laos, Belize and Cape Town which goes to prove that a little horticulture can go a long way.

January 2007

Young Entrepreneurs Sow Seeds of Success

It has been said that all you need for business success is to find a gap in the market. Well a group of young business people at Writhlington have done just that and are reaping the rewards of record profits.

The group of Year 10 students call their company ‘Cockroach’ after a certain enterprising insect  and their product is a unique Palm Tree Kit now available all over Southern Britain.

Company Secretary Luke Lucas explained that “Sales Manager Ben and I wanted to develop a horticultural product and looked around to spot something that wasn’t available to gardeners. We realised that people love Palm Trees but you just can’t buy them from seed. We worked with the rest of the company to develop packaging and a kit to make germination easy and then found wholesale customers interested in the product”.

The company is now selling to Botanic Gardens and Garden Centres and sales of more than £4000 have been made in the first two months of trading. A proportion of company profits are going to be used to support conservation in tropical countries and in April Luke and Ben will be visiting the jungles of Laos in South East Asia to work with locals keen to protect rare plants including Palms in the wild.

If anyone can’t find the Palm Tree kits in their local Garden Centre they can purchase them on-line at www.kroach.co.uk the website run by fourteen year old Daniel Groves. The website has advice and information as well as sales and there is even a competition for customers to enter their creative ideas for reusing their Palm Tree packaging

January 2007

Buckingham Palace Science Day.

A Level Science students were invited to display their research and orchid enterprise work at Buckingham Palace last term at a special event organised by the Royal Society.

The day was organised to showcase the very best in British science and featured universities, research establishments and one school.

Writhlington was represented by Rachel Mandley, Callum Swift and Hannah Heal who put up a display explaining the work of the Writhlington Orchid Project and their own science research carried out in Brazil and Guatemala during the expeditions of 2005.

Visitors to the display included top scientists such as Dr Steven Hawking as well as invited members of the public and several royals.

“It was a great chance to get to know some amazing people” said Callum afterwards, “and just being inside the Palace has been quite an experience.

Writhlington’s site supervisor Chris Harwood also enjoyed the chance to drive the school minibus through some rather famous gates.

January 2007

World of Work students at Frome Fire Station

The visit

..On Wednesday 17 January the Year 10 World of Work class spent the morning at Frome Fire Station with Tutor, Mr Williams, who is also a retained fire fighter. The purpose of the visit was to complement the students’ classroom work on emergency services and to give them a real experience of a day in the life of a fire fighter. The visit also re-inforced the important message that fire can kill.

A real experience

Shortly after arriving at the station the students were given a safety briefing and given instructions on what to do if the alarm went off and the crew were called out on a “shout”.  Next came a practical demonstration of the kit that a fire fighter has to put on within seven minutes of the bleeper going off.   Marcus Head was a willing volunteer (see images) who not only put on the clothing but also the Breathing Apparatus.

Touring the station

Frome station has two appliances and a Land Rover.  Students were able to clamber aboard one of the appliances, Lima 1 and look at all of the equipment she carries including the costly thermal imaging camera.

Despite the freezing temperatures and the risk of getting soaked, Mr Williams demonstrated and encouraged the students to run out and practice with a water hose.

Fire Safety

Amongst the fun and enjoyment came a key safety message - not to play around with fire.  Mr Williams gave the students some shocking statistics about the number of fire fatalities he had dealt with and how people had died simply because of drinking too much and dropping a lit cigarette.

January 2007

Two Year 12 students, Chloe Caddick and Liz Hicks, are travelling to Romania in the summer to take part in a Summer School for children and young people with physical and learning disabilities. They will be joined by Emma Clifton, a former pupil. The trip will also involve visiting orphanages and working with Roma families. Chloe and Liz are looking for sponsorship for the trip and have written to local companies. If anyone is able to help in any way please contact them at the school.

January 2007

Gymnastic Fanstastic

Gymnasts from Trowbridge have once again been successful on the competition circuit. Young contenders from WSC gymnastics club in Writhlington, Radstock have succeeded at their last 3 competitions, the first being the finals of The West Country League Championships held at The City of Bristol Gymnastics Club on November the 12^th.

Amelia Griffin (Captain aged 11), Tiffany Butcher (16), Carley Hounsell (15), Naomi Jones (12), Bethany Hounsell (11), Talitha Vowles  (10) finished the team event in gold position, having also won the previous 2 matches the girls were delighted to be crowned the league champions and gladly took home the trophy.   Individually the Writhlington team took Gold (Naomi Jones), Silver (Amelia Griffin) and Bronze (Carley Hounsell).

The team continued their success when Amelia Griffin and Bethany Hounsell came a respectable 6^th and 8^thposition out of 37 at the South West Alpha Factor Championships held in Poole the following week..

The final competition of last year saw the younger members of WSC Gymnastics Club proving that they too could perform just as well as their older team mates.

Maria Bush (8), Emily MacKay (7), Rebecca Oates (7), Tiana Tallentire (7), and Elspeth Todd (7) all put on a fantastic performance at The Wiltshire Grades Competition held at Melksham last month. The young gymnasts all successfully passed their grades and were placed in the following positions, Maria Bush took gold in Grade 1 (8years), Elspeth Todd took gold in grade 2 (7 and 8 years) and in the grade 3 (7 years) Tiana Tallentire took the silver position with team mates Emily MacKay coming 5^th and Rebecca Oates 7^th.

“WSC Gymnastics Club has grown rapidly over the last three months and through the support of the school, the gym has been completely transformed, for which we are very grateful.  We are now catering for approximately 180 gymnasts per week, although we are currently still in the process of expanding the classes on offer. It is pleasing to know, despite all of the changes and obstacles the gymnasts have been faced with during this transition period, that the quality of our gymnastics has not suffered. The arrival of new equipment has also made training easier as we no longer need to visit other gyms every week and our recreation classes are thoroughly enjoying exploring all the new skills they can learn on the various pieces. All of the coaches are very excited about next year and are looking forward to achieving new things both with our recreational and squad gymnasts”.  (Quote from Kelly Belbin Head Coach)

Any one interested in starting gymnastic lessons should contact Writhlington Sports Centre, Radstock (01761) 438559 The club will also be holding an open day later in the  year.