Winchcombe Weekly Weekly updates during school closure – Friday 24th April 2020

Winchcombe Working

Bumper Issue!

Message from the school Wow!

So I asked teachers on Wednesday if they would like to send me some examples of work

that they had received this week. 20 minutes later my Inbox was exploding with fantastic

examples and stories of how you are all working.

Some of you are working on projects and tasks given to you by your teachers, some of

you have devised your own projects and some of you are even cooking entire meals for

your families. I received so much work that I lost track of who had done what as I tried to

make sure we shared as much as possible…can you spot your work?

I have tried to include as many examples in this issue - but please keep sending work to

your teachers or to wcc@winchcombeschool.co.uk so that we can keep in touch with

each other.

Times are difficult and all of us wish we could be leading more normal lives. Do your best,

ask for help and take care of each other is all that we can do right now.

Mr Templeton

Art

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20200409-rainbows-as-signs-of-thank-you-hope-and-solidarity I’m sure everyone’s heard of and seen rainbows appearing in windows, but the symbolism of a rainbow is

interesting and I love how creating and displaying art helps connect people and is a sign of hope and a bright future. I would love to see if anyone has made their own rainbow!

I read another article which was interesting to me:

Art is often used to chronicle events in history and we are living through history right now! This group of artists are capturing their everyday life in lockdown – views from their window, working from home, daily chores, etc.

An excellent opportunity to capture this strange time.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-52227503

Art isn’t the easiest subject to teach from a distance as I’m not there to demonstrate and talk them through it,

but they (those that have sent me work!) are trying hard and doing well and I'm proud of them.

Ms Davis

Catering Some tasty treats made by students - well done to Alfie and Henry in Year 7

Computing Year 7 and 8 have been learning about cyber security with Cyber School. They have

undertaken a bit of social engineering by accessing someone's Facebook page and trying to

guess a password.

Ms Cheslin

Duke of Edinburgh I have been looking through all the Bronze DofE participants and one stands out for helping out an

elderly neighbour by making a cottage pie, and baking biscuits and cakes for other elderly people in her

street.

What a lovely and commendable gesture.

I thought Violet should have a mention for being so kind and thoughtful.

Ms Russell

English At The End At the end of this chaos I will finally see sunlight Children playing at the park

Their eyes, full of joy. I will see the ice cream truck

Circling around and around the neighbourhood. Or perhaps

At the end of this chaos

I will go out on the streets Looking for people to talk to

But no one will be there The streets will be empty Like a zombie apocalypse

Or maybe it was Medusa Who turned people into stone. Or perhaps

At the end of this chaos Everyone will be at peace

The environment will be clean Because people will no longer take it for granted. The parks will be looked after

By people who used to never come Because they hated crowds

And little kids dressed up as clowns. Whatever happens at the end of this chaos I hope every individual, every soul Has something they can be grateful for As gratitude is something we need, As humans, Just as much as we need happiness. Melis Y8

French

Mon Chien, Levi

Mon chien s’appelle Levi. Il est un grand

labrador jaune. Il a des grandes oreilles

et des yeux marrons. Son nez est

toujours froid et humide. Levi aime faire

des promenades et joue avec sa balle. Il

est très effronté, par exemple il essaye

de boire le thé de ma mère et manger

des biscuites. Sa chose préférée est

dormir sur le lit de ma sœur. Il est un

bon ami et je l’adore.

Geography

Earth Day 2020

Spanish

History

Maths We have seen huge numbers of tasks being completed on MyMaths with some really impressive

progress scores.

Some of you prefer to work ‘offline’.

Music Year 8 are looking at the history of Art Music (often called "Classical" Music), starting with music from the Baroque period (European music composed between 1600 and 1750). We are thinking about the instruments that were used at the time and how music has changed over time. Melis produced some wonderful descriptions in response to the following pieces: Pachelbel's Canon in D

J.S.Bach's Toccata and Fugue

See if you agree with these descriptions - You can watch performances of these pieces here: Pachelbel's Canon: https://youtu.be/JvNQLJ1_HQ0 J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/229bLqF7XBz9wWMcZHQKcBf/toccata-and-fugue-in-d-minor-by-johann-sebastian-bach

Technology

Science

Mr Watson’s Album of the Week After 5 weeks of lockdown we are all getting a bit frustrated, so we need something to get us up and moving so this week we are going for a change of tempo with some old school drum and bass. In my mid 20’s for 2 years I loved drum and bass and it reminds me of Euro 96 and I was lucky enough to be at Wembley for my favourite England performance of all time England 4 Holland 1. The album is called “Modus Operandi” by “Photek” and it will get you up and moving. If you want something softer with a slight jazz feel try “Logical Progression” by LTJ Bukhem.

Mr Watson

Extra Activities Garden Furniture Recently, we have been so lucky with the weather. Can you design and create a piece of furniture or a garden set?

Are you going to use a traditional chair design or will you adapt it to make it more modern?

What materials will you employ to ensure it lasts if we get some rain or a cold frost?

Can you use recycled materials to create an eco-friendly furniture?

Make a miniature version of this? You could use recycled materials, like kitchen rolls or lolly sticks. Be as creative as you can.

William Shakespeare April 23rd is the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birthday and his death. Can you help to commemorate the Bard? Shakespeare wrote over 40 plays, 154 sonnets and 3 narrative poems, many of which you will study. Can you recreate or modernise one of his plays:

as an image/painting

write one of his plays as a poem

express one of his sonnets or narrative poems as a screen-play.

as a cartoon

or storyboard? There are lots of films that have taken the plots, characters, themes or motifs in his work:

10 Things I Hate About You (rating 12) – based on The Taming of the Shrew.

Shakespeare Revisited 4 plays modernised, including Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing (BBC)

Please help out at home and look after each other.

Ms Teague

Distance Learning Until it is decided that schools can re-open, we will be providing learning tasks remotely for students. This is a

difficult situation which we could never have planned for.

We are looking to find a balance that allows students some structure to their lives, gives them learning

opportunities and keeps them engaged with learning.

We know there will never be a perfect solution that works for all students so your feedback, both positive and

developmental, is welcome to help us refine our offer. Over the next couple of pages are the plans we have put

into place for the next term, beginning Monday 20th April. Until then students should continue to work on the

tasks previously set.

1. Keeping everyone safe is our top priority. Although our students are not currently in

school, staff will be in regular contact with them via school approved platforms. The

school’s E-Safety policy is still in operation. Staff, students and parents must

conduct themselves as professionally as they would were the school to be open as

normal. Students and/or Parents should also appreciate the staff well-being and only make contact during

normal school hours Monday-Friday. Any concerns should be reported to: wcc@winchcombeschool.co.uk

as soon as possible.

2. Work will be set for each class using Go4Schools. This is so parents are aware of the

expected work students need to complete and how and when work should be

submitted. If students are emailing their teachers, they should only do so via their

school email address. Teachers will feedback to students via email or through

personalised online platforms e.g. MyMaths, Doddle, Seneca etc.

3. Work will be set fortnightly. Enough work will be set to cover the amount of sessions that a student

would normally have in that subject (see table below). It is up to families to decide how to structure the

learning of a student – a suggested timetable was included in the last newsletter. A ‘Session’ might not be

the same as a 1 hour lesson – they are different pieces of work which teachers are setting over two weeks.

Table to show how many ‘Sessions’ of work to be set, fortnightly, per Subject per Year Group:

Subject / Year Grp Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10

English 8 (incl, Reading) 8 (incl, Reading) 8 (incl, Reading) 8 (Lang & Lit)

Maths 7 7 7 8

Science 7 7 7 10

Computer Science 2 2 2

MFL (Fr and/or Sp) 4 4 4

Geography 4 4 4

History 4 4 4

RS/Ethics 2 2 2 1

Art 2 2 2

DT 2 2 2

Hospitality/Food 2 2 2

Drama 2 2 2

Music 2 2 2

Y10 GCSE Option A 5

Y10 GCSE Option B 5

Y10 GCSE Option C 5

Y10 GCSE Option D 5

Y10 Blocks: Option A Option B Option C Option D

2019-2020 Art

Design Tech

Media Studies

Music

PE

Cambridge Nat

Sport

Spanish

Computer Science

Design Tech

French

Hospitality

Spanish

Religious Studies

Art

Geography

History

Media Studies

Triple Science (set 1)

Additional Science (set 4)

Drama

Design Tech

French

Geography

History

Hospitality

Spanish

4. Go4Schools will contain details of: what the work is; where the resources can be

found (this will often be SharePoint) and how the work should be submitted.

Teachers will be monitoring submission of work and may give some feedback to

improve work. This may not always be possible as many teachers are also at home

with their own children – please be patient with requests for help and follow the

communication guidance in last week’s newsletter.

5. Work will not be ‘marked’ in the traditional sense. We will not be having formal

summative assessments and progress this year will not be graded. This is because we

have no mechanisms to ensure that all students can have the equality of time and

support with their work as they would at school. Where we are concerned that a

student isn’t submitting any work we will, in the first instance, email parents to see

what support is needed. If problems occur, please let us know.

6. Much of the work set will be consolidation tasks to ensure students do not forget

the knowledge they have already learnt. It may also be research tasks to prepare

students for new learning. Where structures allow it e.g. through online platforms,

new learning/topics may be introduced. The reason we need to restrict the amount

of new learning is to make sure that we can support students with misconceptions –

doing this remotely is problematic.

7. Years 7 to 10 will be expected to work in all the subjects they are currently timetabled in. For Year 9 this

will be reviewed at the end of the next half term with their chosen option subjects taken priority alongside

the core subjects. Year 11 students should continue to follow the advice published previously on the

school website.

8. Much of the work set will require the use of an electronic device. We are aware that in some households

these may be shared or that connectivity might be difficult. Please let us know if you need help and we

will do our best to find a solution. It is also important that students take frequent breaks when using

screens.

9. At present we will not be conducting any streamed or recorded lessons. As a small

school we have not yet go the required technology configured to support this for all

students. We are also aware that this puts a huge strain on both the students and staff

involved. If the current situation remains in place, for an extended period, we will revisit this option.

10. We are all trying to do our best in a difficult and changing situation. We all need to be patient with each

other and remind ourselves that this situation is happening across the country. Sometimes learning will

have to take a backseat when other difficulties occur. Mr Clarkson

Free School Meals – Changes in circumstances During these unprecedented times we have seen reported in the news that nearly a million people have applied

for Universal Credit in the last two weeks. If you have been affected by the current situation and your

circumstances have changed, you may be eligible for free school meals. Although your child may not be attending

school at the current time, we are providing food vouchers for supermarkets in the absence of being able to

provide school meals for families that are entitled to this provision.

If you think you may be eligible to apply for free school meals and would like further information or to apply,

please see our website or follow the link below.

https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/education-and-learning/school-transport-and-free-school-meals/apply-for-

free-school-meals/

Ms Franklin

Information

We are posting regular information and links to work on our dedicated web

page on the school website.

http://newsite.winchcombeschool.co.uk/covid-19-info/

We know that many of you will be anxious to have information – once we

receive and process it, we will put it on the page and let you know there has

been an update.

The site is open for a very small number of people to minimise

contact. If you need help or have a query please email

wcc@winchcombeschool.co.uk this email address is monitored by

the SLT and admin teams. Please send photos of workspaces,

activities, great work or articles for us to share!