Friday 14th March 2014 Issue No. 24 ______Dear Parent/Carer

Community events  Wilmslow Artisan Market: On Sunday, 16th March, over 100 of the finest food, drink, art and craft stall holders, music, entertainment and activities will take place on Grove Street, Grove Avenue and Bank Square from 10.00am until 4.00pm  Police Walking Beat Meeting: police officers will be holding their monthly Walking Beat Meeting in Handforth and Wilmslow. They will be foot patrolling on Wilmslow Road and The Paddock between 10.00 – 11.00am, and on Grove Street between 12noon and 1.00pm if you would like to discuss any issues with them.  The Histories Festival runs from 21st March until 28th March. It is not just about history but about art, music, literature, science and much more. It also marks the reopening of the Central Reference Library in the centre of Manchester with its reconstructed Reading Room and state of the art facilities. There will be something for all the family so take a look at the following link to see if there's something you fancy: http://www.manchesterhistoriesfestival.org.uk/whatson/  Wilmslow Half Marathon: the 30th Wilmslow Half Marathon sponsored by Waters Corporation, will set off from Wilmslow Rugby Club at 10.30am on Sunday, 23rd March.

Community ‘Xtra’  ‘Mindful Outlook’ who run mindfulness courses in Wilmslow will be holding two free taster sessions, one at Wilmslow Library from 10.00am – 12noon on Saturday 15th March and a second from 7.00 – 9.00pm on Monday 17th March at Knutsford Heritage Centre. Jo Bentley of ‘Mindful Outlook’ has been teaching the ‘Mindfulness in Schools’ programme to some students at Wilmslow High School and also at Cheadle Hulme School. ‘Mindful Outlook’ also run courses for teenagers and adults in Wilmslow. The taster session will provide information on mindfulness, its benefits, how it works and also include some sample mindfulness practices. For any further information please call Jo Bentley on 07557 037043 or email [email protected]  ‘Be Active Bootcamps’ is a Wilmslow based fitness class set to give members the results they desire. Our effective 45 minute routines are designed for you to get incredible results in a short period of time. Sessions are delivered by highly successful personal trainers to give you the very best advice in both training and nutrition to help you achieve your goals. Sessions are available for ages: 16+ and for all abilities. ‘Be Active Bootcamps’ runs every Tuesday and Thursday 7.00 – 7.45pm on the large astro-turf at Wilmslow High School. For more information contact Jenna on: [email protected]

For more community news, visit the wilmslow.co.uk website and the Wilmslow Express. Please email [email protected] if you would like to advertise in the ‘Xtra’ or the ‘Events’ section.

Events next week Date and time Activity Monday, 17th March, all week  National Science and Engineering Week 7.00 – 8.00pm  Parents’ Information Evening for the Holland hockey tour, in the pavilion learning area Thursday, 20th March, all day  Oxbridge Conference for approximately 40 Year 11 and Year 12 students in Haydock 6.00 – 8.30pm  Holocaust exhibition in the upper and lower drama studios 7.00 – 7.45pm  Talk by Holocaust survivor Arek Hersh Friday, 21st March, all day  Sports Relief and non-school uniform day 9.00am – 12.45pm  Year 12 business studies visit to Ferodo 4.00pm  Departure of 13 sixth form students for the national Bar Mock Trial in Saturday, 22nd March, all day  National Bar Mock Trial in Cardiff

Notes  NUT strike action: You are probably aware from the national press that members of the National Union of Teachers are intending to take industrial action on Wednesday 26th March. The action is not against the school but is part of national action organised by this trade union concerning changes to the pay, pensions and conditions of their members. Please read the attached letter for information regarding how this action may affect the running of the school on that day.  Science mock examination: the forthcoming additional science ‘mock’ examination is at 9.00am on the morning of Friday 4th April. All Year 11 ‘additional science’ students in sets 11a/bSa1, 11a/bSa2 and 11a/bSa3 will sit a 2 hour mock examination. On that day, all students involved should report to the downstairs science labs at 8.40am before making their way to their allocated venue, details of which will be provided in a letter during the week commencing Monday 17th March. This letter will also be published on the schools website.  New fitness suite membership offer: before Christmas the new fitness suite was offered to families and students on a membership scheme. Unfortunately, not enough people expressed an interest in joining to make the offer viable, which has led to a rethink. The new offer (see attached advert) gives families and students the opportunity to use the fitness suite at weekends only, for a small monthly payment. During week nights, the suite will be open to local clubs and groups to use, at an hourly rate. If this new offer is of interest to you or your family, please contact Paul McManus or Helen Blake on 01625 441053 or on [email protected]  Lost property: The Student Services office has at least 12 black unnamed coats waiting to be claimed, as well as a large number of PE bags. Any students who think one of these items may be theirs should visit the office.  WinAtSchool – Win up to £3,000 for your school: The WinAtSchool prize competition is now open, with prizes of up to £3,000 for winning schools. WinAtSchool is an online competition, in statistics and mathematics for UK students aged 14-15 on 1st September 2013 (Year 10 and 11), although anyone can try it. The best scoring 12 schools from the prize competition will qualify to compete against each other in the live national final in July. Students can take the practice quiz as many times as they like before entering. Visit www.winatschool.org.uk to enter. There are two pieces of information which the site asks for before you can enter: the LEA code required is 895 and the school ID is 4225.  Year 7 tutor group photograph: on Monday 24th March a professional photographer will be in school during period 3 to take the Year 7 form photographs. As in previous years, these photographs will be available for parents/carers to purchase.

Reminders  Holocaust Exhibition – ‘Journeys’: on Thursday, March 20th there will be a ‘Holocaust Exhibition – Journeys’ held in the drama studios at Wilmslow High School. This follows our PHSCE Day this week, during which Year 9 students took part in the national ‘Think Equal’ programme exploring discrimination and the Holocaust. The exhibition will include an art installation created by students from treasured possessions that have been given in memory of a child who lost their life in the Holocaust. These gifts are intended to symbolise the arrival of the children at the concentration camps when all of their possessions were taken from them. Students have written a message to a child explaining why they have dedicated the item to them. There will also be a small exhibition from the Wiener Library in , performances from our school choir singing Hebrew songs and a testimony from a Holocaust survivor, Arek Hersh, who was born in Poland and taken to his first concentration camp when he was only 11 years old. The camp started out with 2500 men and 18 months later, only 11 were alive. Arek moved around several camps before being taken to Auschwitz. 300 holocaust surviving children, including Arek, were brought to the Lake District when they were liberated and as a result he became one of the ‘Windermere Boys’. On Thursday March 20th, Arek will show his video from 6.00-7.00pm and tell his story from 7.00-7.45pm, with an opportunity to ask him questions afterwards. If you would like a place to be reserved to watch Arek’s film and to listen to his testimony please email: [email protected] stating how many places you would like reserved and who they are for. Places will be issued on a first come first served basis and will be confirmed via return email. The exhibition will be open from 6.00 - 8.30pm for those who wish to visit without attending Arek’s testimony. Thank you in anticipation of your support (Mrs Dunn).  Duke of Edinburgh Award: If you shop at Wilmslow Waitrose please support our Duke of Edinburgh Award students by placing your green token in the charity box during March. The school programme will receive a share of £1000 at the end of the month. The share depends upon the number of green tokens deposited in to the box. This money will go towards buying new outdoors equipment and will help the school to accommodate more students on the Award.  Kirkland Rowell Survey: you will have received a parents’/carers’ survey via your son/daughter. Please ensure that all surveys are completed and returned to form tutors (for every student); the last day returns can be accepted is Monday 17th March. Thank you in advance for taking the time to answer these questions.

PTA  Second-hand uniform/PE kit: the PTA has offered to collect and sell any second-hand uniform / PE kit. If you have any clothing that you can donate, or if you need to purchase any second-hand uniform, please contact Heather Vincent on 07889 924692 or [email protected]. Alternatively, contact Kay Ferguson on 07870 070468 or [email protected]. Heather and Kay will be in High Options every Tuesday during term time between 2.15pm and 3.15pm. This service has now been running for just over a year, and has contributed over £1000 to school funds. Thank you for your contributions and support.

Supporting students’ learning A great science website: http://www.my-gcsescience.com/. The content is relevant to both OCR and AQA specifications.

Parents supporting students’ progress: parents of students in Year 9 – Key Stage 4 Course Choice Process – next steps Many thanks for the support you are giving to the Key Stage 4 Course Choice process. The two key documents relevant at present remain the following which can be downloaded by clicking on these links: Letter to Year 9 parents re KS4 Courses Final Choice Form - 28 February 2014 KS4 Courses - Final Choices Form - printed version - published 28 February 2014 Following Tutor Review Day this week the next key events are:

Friday Deadline for return of the completed Final Course Choices form to Form 14th March Tutors.

Spring & Analysis of Final Course Choices – opportunity for further advice and summer term guidance to be provided by school staff

Summer term Confirmation of Course Choice letter issued to students

The following section of the school website contains the contact details of key staff and information to help you through the next stage of the process: http://www.wilmslowhigh.com/curriculum/key-stage-3/course-choices-for-ks4/

What did students investigate on PHSCE Day – Wednesday 12th March 2014? Each year group investigated a specific theme drawn from the overall PHSCE programme and we would encourage parents to discuss these themes with their sons / daughters so that the learning can be powerfully related to family and community experiences. Year What are they learning about? How will they be learning? Group 7 PSHE – Anti-bullying Working with a variety of curriculum teams to explore why people bully and how to prevent this 8 Citizenship – the justice Visits from prisoners, young offenders, process in the UK the police, a performance of the Magistrates Mock Trial and form based activities 9 Citizenship – Holocaust A visit from a Holocaust survivor and a Memorial – lessons for variety of form based activities today 10 Citizenship – The European Tasks in MFL and History/Geography Union – what is Britain’s role, lessons and a debate between local what are the perspectives of candidates in the European elections other nations 11 PSHE (Economic Wellbeing) – With the maths team for a variety of Understanding credit and interactive activities debt 12 Careers – Post 18 options Presentations from universities and apprenticeships and the UCAS convention, or activities in school. 13 ‘Survival skills’ Survival cookery, understanding how to manage your finances when you leave home, relaxation skills to combat stress If you have any queries about PHSCE Day 3 please do not hesitate to contact Mr T Munro, CTL for PHSCE, by email: [email protected]

Achievement Partner thank you This week’s thank you goes to ‘Royles’ for offering work experience placements and for previously sponsoring a school attendance award. Visit their website www.royles.biz/.

Supporting local business – ‘Famous Henrys’ Hairdressers We are a new business open on Grove Chambers, 36 Green Lane, Wilmslow, SK91LD; come and pay us a visit. We offer free WiFi, easy parking, disabled access, complimentary refreshments, sports channels, no appointment necessary and open on Sundays. Contact us on 522505.

Dates for your diary Date and time Activity Monday, 24th March,  Year 7 tutor group photographs being taken Tuesday, 25th March, 3.30 – 8.00pm  AS and A level drama preview evening in the drama studios Wednesday, 26th March, 6.30 – 8.30pm  KS4 and 5 Presentation Evening in the main hall Thursday, 27th March, all day  BBC School Report News Live 7.00pm  D of E Year 11 Silver Expedition Information Evening in the main hall Friday, 28th March, all day  ‘Go Green Day’: fundraising for the Teenage Cancer Trust 9.00am (all day)  Model United Nations Conference for Year 12 and Year 13 students at Magdalen College, 7.30am – 3.30pm  27 students to visit Alton Towers as part of National Science and Engineering Week

Letters distributed this week (all letters can be viewed on the school website) If you would like to promote a community event or community club, or would like to feedback on this ‘High Notes’ issue, please email [email protected] Please do not reply to this email. If you need any further information please visit the school website or contact main reception on 01625 526 191.