Happy New Year! I hope the holiday passed illness free and you were able to take advantage of some rest and recuperation alongside your Christmas festivities.

 

As you may know this year is our 90th birthday; we are hoping to celebrate this birthday across the year and to start the year we have launched our new logo. 

 

It was 90 years ago in April that a new, local school for secondary students was opened. It was to take students from its two neighbouring villages, Botley and West End, as well as from Curdridge. The school was designed to take up to 370 students aged 11-14 years with room for growth as the total number in the school system at this time was 340!

The school was to have specialised science, cookery and woodwork classes as well as have nine general purpose classrooms but with spending cuts, one of these did not happen! Nothing changes!

 

Over the course of this year we will be giving you an insight into life at Wildern across all 90 years - there are certainly some eye opening titbits!

 

Below is the plan of the new school, you may recognise the school as Shamblehurst as that is where we were first situated before moving into a new school adjacent to Shamblehurst in 1963 which is where we have remained!

 

We would love to gather together memories, stories and photos of Wildern School from our wider community. If you have photos or anecdotes of your time at Wildern we would love to see / hear these. You can email these to 90thbirthday@wildern.org.

  In this issue...  

Access your FREE university and apprenticeships guides for parents and bonus STEM guide now by clicking the images below! 

The Wildern website careers page has also been updated to include local Labour Market Information, a Career Comparison tool, the guides above and information on writing a personal statement.

Education for Life - what is being studied this half term 

This half term we are focussing on our third theme ‘Living in the Wider World’. 

 

All Year groups

Students will be looking at a variety of whole school and national events that link into the theme of Living in the Wider World. These include:

• Holocaust Memorial Day - Students will learn about what this day means to us and others.
• Kindness Month Launch - February is Kindness Month. This will focus on how and why to be kind to everyone and everything.
• Apprenticeship Week - The last week of half term will be a direct look at Apprenticeships and how this career route could work for individuals.

Please see below for a brief outline of what each year group will be studying in their Education for Life lessons and Tutor sessions this half term:

 

Year 7:  Living in the Wider World

This topic encourages students to think about their futures and develops any ideas that they might have had already. Themes will include looking at Careers and the Future, different transition points in someone's life and how these can be affected by external influences and taking account of personal qualities and skills that students already have.

 

Year 8: Setting Goals and Pathways

This topic is to develop thoughts towards next year and making sure that Pathways choices selected are the best suited to every individual. Topics include thinking about exploring careers, making decisions about Key Stage 4 and thinking about the various subjects there are on offer.

 

Year 9: Health and Wellbeing

In this unit, students will explore health and wellbeing, including an awareness of teenage cancer and looking after your emotional wellbeing. Students will be looking at a number of examples of positive coping strategies to support their wellbeing. They will also be looking at self determination in relation to the issue of Euthanasia, along with religious arguments for & against. This unit also includes a series of lessons on first aid that includes both theory and practical taught by an accredited member of staff to award students a first aid certificate.

 

Year 10: Finance 

During this unit students will be exploring money issues that they are likely to come across over the next few years, such as understanding their first payslip, how to budget for things like driving lessons and holidays, and explore the positives and negatives of getting a loan.

 

Year 11: Human Rights

In this unit students will explore what Human Rights are and how they can be applied to ethical issues in the world around them. They will explore two rights in detail - the right to vote and the right to life. The unit will allow students to explore the concept of voting in terms of how a general election works, how people make decisions on how to vote, along with issues surrounding voter turnout and apathy. For the right to life, students will explore the punishment of criminals with a focus on the death penalty and ethical arguments surrounding this.

Ways to improve wellbeing

How to help your teenager with their studies

As a parents, you can’t revise for your teenager, but there are plenty of ways you can support them in practical ways to improve study techniques. Read through some of these articles to get some helpful tips and ideas.

 

The Parents' Guide to:

• Teaching your teen to revise well
• Five proven strategies to helping your teen with revision
• Creating a revision timetable
• Making study interesting

Dan and his catering team can adapt the majority of meals to any dietary needs if they know in advance (your child can speak to them by visiting the kitchen before 8:30am that day). Main/grill vegetarian options are always available - just ask Dan and his team. 

Please see our updated clubs timetable for the Spring term. This includes focus groups which are running as part of our student leadership programme. More details can be found on our website using the button below.

The library is always available to students after school as well.

Drama Club will return 3:15-4pm for Year 7 on Monday 16 January and for Year 8 on Monday 23 January. 

Stay Safe on New Devices

 

A free online safety guide on staying safe on new devices.

 

Whether you’re an internet newbie or a pro at surfing the web, it’s always important to keep online safety in mind. We’ve pulled together a list of top tips to make it easier for you to protect yourself and your devices in the digital world - helping you steer clear of hazards like misleading information and vicious viruses. There’s never a bad time to refresh your internet safety knowledge, but it’s an especially smart thing to do before you start using any shiny new devices!

 

In the guide, you'll find tips such as double-checking your news sources, taking breaks from being online and not sharing personal information.