Friday 5th May 2017 Issue 27 Creative Writing Winners The final of the Creative Writing Competition 2017 Contact Details hosted by Wilmslow Library on Thursday 27th April Reception: was a brilliant event, well 01625 526191 attended by friends and family of the finalists. The Attendance: theme this year was ‘Letters 01625 441089 from Literature’; entrants Sixth Form were asked to adopt Attendance: the perspective of their favourite literary character. 01625 441070 Second hand We were joined by author uniform shop: Jo Welch, who had made an extra special visit to 07889 924692 the High School that day, Community Liaison: marking the release of her 01625 444159 much anticipated second novel, ‘The Darwin Code’. Jo signed books and joined the judging School lettings: panel as they listened to the finalists present their work. 01625 441053 The winner was (an extremely surprised) Matilda Walker. The judging High Notes panel were very impressed with her letter written from the perspective highnotes@wilmslow of Beatrice from ‘Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing’. Upon the judging panel’s announcement of her victory, Matilda looked ever so high.cheshire.sch.uk slightly faint! It was truly a delight to present her with the amazing Kindle Fire first prize. In second place was Alissia Cross with a very sensitive and empathetic letter written from the perspective of Tommo from ‘Private Peaceful’. Third place was awarded to Jenny Cairns for her letter from ‘Anne Frank’ which was both poignant and endearing, with funny and subtle @wilmslowhigh references to Anne’s crush on Peter. @whigh_maths All of the finalists should be hugely proud of the way in which they @whigh_eng presented their work and outlined for the audience the thinking behind wilmslowhigh.com their letters. Martha Simpson particularly wowed us with her highly articulate explanation of the admiration she holds for Much Ado’s fiercely strong woman, Beatrice. Watch out, Emma Watson! 1 Skills Development visit to the Chesnut Centre On Wednesday 3rd May, as part of their current topic ‘Sport and Leisure’, the Skills Development Group went over to The Chestnut Centre. Their task was to look at the following and assess its suitability as a place to go for a leisurely visit: accessibility, facilities, signage, customer services, age range of visitors, suitability for certain age groups, routes, map and most importantly, enjoyment factor. As well as the above, we enjoyed learning lots of interesting facts about a variety of different creatures such as otters, owls and foxes. We had the opportunity to witness feeding time for the deer which was a truly magical experience. As always, the students and staff had a wonderful time and would definitelyecommend r it to others! Wilmslow Food and Drink Winners Miss Speed would like to congratulate and pass on her thanks to those students entering the Wilmslow Food and Drink competition on the 29th April. Daniel Araujo in Year 9 made a giant doughnut with scrumptious pink icing, Year 8’s Hannah Barnes made a realistic mouth-watering sub way sandwich and Abi Beton in Year 7 made a Rex cinema inspired popcorn bag featuring small hand-made icing clapper board and cinema tickets. An excellent effort made by all and second prize of a voucher for a family meal at the Merlin restaurant was won by Abi. First prize was a gravity defying ice cream design and third prize a Minion cake, both from students in local primary schools. 2 Mock General Election In April, Prime Minister Theresa May announced a snap general election to be held on Thursday 8th June 2017. This is a great opportunity for students to learn about the political system and get involved in an exciting national event. We will be offering various opportunities for students to get involved in preparing political campaigns, as well as taking part in debates with other students. However, due to the timing of these exams, most of these activities will be for Years 7-10 only. On the 8th June we will hold our own election – but will it give us an early clue of the real result? In 2015 the Conservatives won both. Joe McBride chairs the student debate during the 2015 Mock General Election, which was eventually won by Joseph Vale (Conservative) Political education news coverage aimed at secondary school Throughout the campaign tutors will be students. Enter either via the link on Firefly delivering several sessions on politics or go to www.theday.co.uk (Username: and the election. We will be covering how wilmslowschool, password: theday) elections work and what the different political parties stand for. There will also be If you know any young adult – please an assembly where student representatives encourage them to register to vote. It only answer their questions takes 5 minutes and they need to know their national insurance number. What you can do at home The school has subscribed to a website This can be done by going to called ‘The Day’. This gives up-to-date www.gov.uk/register-to-vote On Wednesday 24th May Wilmslow High School will be hosting two debates between the real candidates hoping to become MP for Tatton. The first will be from 1:30 – 3pm for all interested students to attend and ask questions. The second will take place from 6:30 – 8pm and will be open to local UKIP candidate, Stuart Hutton addressed Wilmslow students in residents. the 2015 General Election 3 Dance Showcase Over 90 students from Wilmslow and 23 students from Poynton High School performed in a spectacular night of dance in front of a large and appreciative audience. Individual students and groups displayed their talents to the backdrop of a wide range of music. This collaboration between schools is a concept that we hope to develop in the future in relation to the performing arts. Well done to everyone involved in this thoroughly enjoyable evening. Prom Makeover Night Year 11 students were treated to a Prom Night makeover session at Space NK in Wilmslow this week. 14 students visited the store for demos by the store’s make- up artists before trying out the techniques they’d been shown on each other. Space NK still have spaces available for prom night makeovers, where their expert make-up artists will discuss your ideas before creating your unique look. Each makeover lasts 30 minutes. There is a booking fee of £20 which is fully redeemable against products purchased on the day. To book either go in to the store or call 01625 525570. NOTES Are you in Year 10, 11 or 12 and interested in studying in America? An American Universities Fair will be taking place at Manchester Grammar School on Monday 15th May from 5.30-7.30 pm. This event, organised by Univisits, brings together 13 universities from the USA and Canada. As the main focus of the evening, each of the universities will have a stall with personnel to answer questions, so that students can move round, compare institutions and register their interest where they would like to study. In addition, as this will be unfamiliar territory to almost all attendees, there will be break- out sessions on how to apply for US and Canadian universities and how to finance study abroad. Tea and coffee will be available through the evening. Please give your name to Mrs Flannery on Pavilion reception if you are planning to attend so we can give Manchester Grammar School an idea of numbers. Interested in a career in law? On Monday 8th May at 3.15pm in Meeting Room 2 (the meeting room opposite the Inclusion room in the pavilion) Bott and Co. (local law company) will be visiting Wilmslow High School to talk to any students who may be considering a career in law. They are particularly interested in speaking to 6th form students, but this opportunity is all open to younger students who may be thinking about this career path. PROGRESS ASSEMBLIES Last week, as part of their exam preparation, Year 11 had an assembly on the ‘marginal gains’ that they can make by focusing on exam technique. There is a link to this assembly below: https://tinyurl.com/mk4mejq Year 7-10 students had an assembly on some interesting features of progress on Wilmslow High School and two key strategies that can make a big difference to effective learning. There is a link to this assembly below: https://tinyurl.com/mfua7ml School travel survey Cheshire East Council would like parents/carers or students to complete a brief survey detailing what methods of transport they use on the way to and from school. The information gathered in this survey will help the Council promote alternative modes of transport The survey can be accessed via this link: http://surveys.cheshireeast.gov.uk/s/ADTQU/ (students have been encouraged to complete the survey as a ‘task’ on Firefly). The survey is confidential with all responses compiled and analysed as a group. The deadline for all responses to the survey is the 31st May 2017. Thank you in advance for your support with this. 6 Now that the warmer weather is finally upon us, please make sure that your son/daughter has a water bottle with them throughout the school day as we no longer provide plastic cups for the water coolers. Thank you. Water bottles are available to buy from PrintWorks. WATER BOTTLES NOW AVAILABLE AT ASSORTED COLOURS £1 Water coolers are available for students to use at the following times • before school • break time • lunch time • after school (Students are not to use the water coolers during lesson movement times): Students are allowed to have a drink of water from a water bottle during lesson time, as long as the bottle does not stay on their desk and is returned to their school bag.