Wildern School 90th Banner Strawberry Flowers in the 90th Design of light green and red

Parent Bulletin Friday 31st January 2025

Hello! My name is Mrs Emily Thomas and I lead the Music department at Wildern School. As we move into the heart of the academic year, the Music Department remains as busy and vibrant as ever. Our students and staff have been working hard, preparing for some incredible events that highlight the talent, dedication, and passion for music in our school community.

Last term, after providing the pit band for our school production of Legally Blonde, we were thrilled to perform in our Christmas concert which not only showcased the hard work of our students but also brought our school together to celebrate the joy of music. Our Christmas celebrations also saw us joining Barton Peveril College for the spectacular Romsey Abbey Christmas Wassail concert, a true highlight of the festive season.

Beyond our own school performances, we are proud of our ongoing outreach work with local primary schools including the Primary Music Festival which will be held this year, helping to nurture the next generation of musicians and instilling a love for music from a young age.

One of the most exciting recent events was taking Year 7 and 8 students to the O2 for the Young Voices concert. It was an incredible experience, with over 8000 young singers coming together to create an unforgettable night of music and camaraderie.

Looking ahead, we are excited to be holding both a Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 Music Festival, providing opportunities for our own students to perform, collaborate, and shine. Alongside these events, the Music Department continues to run a busy and dynamic instrumental and vocal lessons timetable. These lessons are taught by highly skilled Hampshire Music Service teachers as well as private instructors, offering a wide range of opportunities for students to develop their musical skills further, whether they’re beginners or seasoned performers. If you are interested in your child taking advantage of this provision, please click on this link

Thank you for your continued support of the Music Department. We are excited for what the rest of the year holds.

Celebrations

In this issue...

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Whole School

Monday 3 February Week B

Friday 7 February NSPCC Number Day

Monday 10 February Week A

Friday 14 February CPD day - School closed to students

Friday 14 - Monday 17 February Spanish trip to Madrid

Monday 17 February - Friday 21 February Half Term

Monday 24 February Week B

Thursday 27 February Parent Information Evening: Supporting your Teenager

Year 7

Tuesday 11 February SEN Parent consultation day

Tuesday 25 February Science trip to Winchester Science Centre

Year 8

Thursday 6 February Parents Communication Evening (virtual)

Thursday 13 February Careers Speed Networking Day

Year 9

Tuesday 4 & Wednesday 5 February Teenage Booster Vaccinations

Saturday 22 February DofE practise walk

Year 10

Monday 3 February Practice exams continue

Tuesday 4 February Parent Information Evening: Apprenticeship Careers Fair

Monday 10 February Practice Art & Photography exams

Tuesday 11 & Wednesday 12 February Head student interviews

Year 11

Tuesday 4 February Parent Information Evening: Apprenticeship Careers Fair

Monday 10 - Wednesday 12 February English & Maths practice exams

Thursday 13 February Dance practical NEA

Thursday 27 & Friday 28 February Food practical NEA

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Whole School

Number Day - Friday 7 February 2025
Throughout the day, students in Years 7 to 10 will take part in a variety of fun, number-themed activities during their lessons, helping them to develop their numeracy skills in an engaging way.

If you would like to support the NSPCC further, please consider making a donation via the following link: NSPCC Number Day Donations.

We look forward to a fantastic day of fun, learning, and fundraising! Thank you for your support.

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Year 7

No letters or reminders for Year 7 this week

Year 8

Year 8 Science Live trip - London, Friday 14 March 2025
The Science department would like to offer your child the opportunity to attend KS3 Science Live at the Emmanuel Centre, London. KS3 Science Live is an excellent opportunity to stimulate and improve your child’s scientific literacy by connecting science taught in school to the real world through workshops with leading scientists. Sign up deadline Wednesday 5th February.

Letter here

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Year 9

Teenage Booster – 4 & 5 February 2025
Your child’s Teenage Booster is NOW DUE. The vaccines help protect against Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio and Meningitis. Click this link for the electronic form and information about the vaccine. Please use the School Code: SH136654. Access to the form will close two working days prior to the session.

Letter here

Battlefields Trip to Belgium (Ypres) and France (Somme)
Friday 3 October - Monday 6 October 2025
The History Department will be offering the opportunity for Year 10 (current Year 9) History students to enrich their experience of the History curriculum through a field trip to France and Belgium. Students will gain a detailed insight into the events of World War I at Sanctuary Wood, the underground tunnels at Vimy Ridge, the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, the contrasting British and German cemeteries at Langemark and Tyne Cot, and the most impressive interactive state of the art Memorial Museum in Passchendaele. The cost of the trip is £390. Sign up deadline Sunday 2nd March.

Letter here

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Year 10

Year 10 English
As you will be aware, Year 10 have only sat a ‘Macbeth’ essay in this January round of practice exams. Please be assured that in the Summer term, Year 10 students will sit a much more comprehensive round of English practice exams that will assess them on the GCSE content they have learned across the year.

Parent Information Evening - Open to Year 10 & 11
Apprenticeship Fair Year 10&11 - Tuesday 4 February, 5-7pm
Organiser: Mr L Fenner
Venue: Hall

We are thrilled to invite parents and carers of Year 10 & 11 students to our upcoming Apprenticeship Fair, an event designed to showcase the incredible range of career opportunities available through apprenticeships. This is a fantastic chance to learn more about how apprenticeships can provide young people with valuable skills, practical experience, and a clear pathway to a successful future.

This is a bookable event and spaces are limited, so we encourage you to secure your spot as soon as possible. To book simply click the link above. Please follow the instructions on Eventbrite carefully when selecting the amount of tickets you require (inclusive for your child). To aid the management of the event, we have split the evening into four half hour slots, 5pm-5.30pm, 5.30pm-6pm, 6pm-6.30pm and 6.30pm-7pm. Please ensure that you only attend in your allotted time slot.

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Year 11

**More tickets secured** English trip - Macbeth at The New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth
We are delighted to offer your child an exciting opportunity to attend a live performance of Macbeth at The New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth, on Tuesday 25 March 2025 for £14.50. This experience promises to enrich their understanding of the play, a core text in the GCSE English Literature
curriculum, and bring Shakespeare’s words to life in a memorable way. Sign up deadline Thursday 13th February.

Letter here

Parent Information Evening - Open to Year 10 & 11
Apprenticeship Fair Year 10&11 - Tuesday 4 February, 5-7pm
Organiser: Mr L Fenner
Venue: Hall

Year 11 English
Thank you for the positive response to our Grade 7-9 Masterclasses which will be starting after half term. We had overlooked the Easter bank holiday so please note that the Masterclass on ‘Kingship in Macbeth’ will run on Monday 28th April, rather than Monday 21st.

The English department has compiled a series of 15-30 minute revision tasks to support your son/daughter with revising for their Language and Literature GCSE’s. Please see below for the electronic copies. If your son//daughter would like a paper copy provided, these can be requested from their class teacher.

Wildern English study plan - January/February 2025

Study plan - Feb/Mar 2025

Year 11 Art & Photography
Students are currently working on their ESA ( Externally set Assignment) worth 40% of their final GCSE grade - ESPs are running on Wednesday 5th March and Wednesday 19th March 2025 in block 2 - alongside the Drop In on a Monday evening.

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Wildern School Achieves Prestigious Platinum Artsmark Award

Wildern School is thrilled to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious Platinum Artsmark Award, the highest accolade given by Arts Council England. This achievement recognises Wilderns unwavering commitment to embedding arts, culture and creativity throughout its curriculum and school community. The award is valid for two years and highlights the school's innovative initiatives and dedication to fostering a rich creative environment.

Artsmark, awarded by Arts Council England, celebrates schools that make the arts a priority ensuring all children and young people can access a high-quality creative education. The Platinum Award is reserved for schools that demonstrate exceptional dedication and impact in the arts.

The Platinum Artsmark Award is testament to the hard work and dedication of Wildern School's staff, students and community partners. The Assessors commended several standout projects, including

Fluid Motion Collaboration; Developing a theatre and wellbeing programme, in partnership with local schools and the NHS to support young people's mental health across Hampshire.
Day to Create Project; Engaging students in hands-on artistic experiences in every subject area.
KS2 Music Development Pilot; Providing music lessons to feeder primary schools, culminating in a public performance at the Wildern Primary Music Festival alongside Wildern student Music Ambassadors
Culture Day Celebrations; Empowering students to lead events celebrating diversity and identity within the school.

Additionally, the school was praised for its strategic focus on diversity and inclusion, subsidising music lessons for disadvantaged students, and building positive relationships within and beyond the school through the arts.

We are incredibly proud of this achievement and this award reflects the collective effort of our entire school community to champion the arts as a vital part of education. We are deeply grateful for the support of our staff, students, and partners who have made this journey possible.

Photography Competition Winners

Here are this terms Wildern Photography competition winners, certificates will be handed out next week. Thank you to everyone that has entered!

Fingers crossed to everyone that has entered for the Ringwood Competition

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Children's Mental Health Week

Next week is #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek with @Place2BeCharity. Wildern will be taking part in the following activities to help raise awareness.

Their goal is to raise £100,000 to expand mental health support for children and young people across the UK. You can donate here.

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T Level Parents Information Evening
South Hampshire College Group are excited to invite you to T Level Parents Information Evenings. These events are designed for parents/carers, school staff and students in years 10 and 11 to learn about T Levels.

The events will be held at Southampton College, Eastleigh College, Fareham College and CEMAST.

Each evening will begin with an introductory presentation from our Vice Principals, followed by a tour led by our Curriculum Directors and Lecturers. During the tour, attendees will receive detailed information about work experience, structure, highlights and possible progression routes for our T Level courses.

Whilst the Vice Principle presentations will be similar at each event, the tours and T Level subjects vary per college so if you are interested in more than one college, please be sure to sign up to more than one event.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions and speak to current T Level students, our Lecturers, Work Experience team and local Universities.

We would love to see you there, please use the links below to book your place:

Wednesday 5 February, 5.30pm – 6.30pm - CEMAST

Thursday 6 February, 5.30pm – 7pm – Fareham College

Wednesday 12 February, 5.30pm – 7pm - Eastleigh College

Thursday 13 February, 5.30pm – 7pm - Southampton College

Please note: You will be prompted to select which subject you are interested in from the T Level subject list. This will determine your tour and lecturer presentation.

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Co-Curricular timetable

Here is our Spring term Co-Curricular timetable of activities.

Timetable here

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Results this week:

Year 7 Boys Football lost 6-1 to Bitterne Park School

Year 8 Boys Football lost 5-4 to St George's Catholic College

Year 7/8 Girls Football lost 1-0 to St George's Catholic College

Year 9 Boys Football drew against St George's Catholic College 2 - 2

Fixtures next week:

Year 7 Boys Football v St George's Catholic College

Year 8 Boys Football v Woodlands Community College

Year 7/8 Girls Football v Hamble School

Year 9 Boys Football v Upper Shirley High

Sports spotlight

U13 Girls Football- Southampton School FA- Division 1

Wildern win 9-0 against Woodlands. Player of the Match: Rosie W

Wildern lose 3-2 against Deer Park School

Wildern lose 1-0 against St George's Catholic College

We had a fantastic opening match against Woodlands which gave us the opportunity to try lots of combinations and take risks. It was a great showcase of our U13's talent. We lost our two most recent matches by the narrowest of margins. The team fought hard in both matches to create opportunities and keep us in the game. We are looking forward to playing our remaining three matches in the league.

U12 Southampton Schools Netball League

In the opening tournament of the league ten schools arrived to compete in a Round Robin competition at the Southampton Sports Centre. For some of our students this was the first time ever representing their school in sport. We had a wonderful afternoon of sport competing against schools from across Southampton and neighbouring areas.

Our match results were 7 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. It was an anxious wait to see where we had placed. We were delighted when it was announced that this put us in the Gold Medal position! We will attend the second tournament in this league on Tuesday 11 February. The top two performing schools will this time go through to the Hampshire Games Finals in April.

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Please see the menu for our hot food options for next week.

The main school meal deals are £3.20 which is in line with all Hampshire schools. In a meal deal, students can get one of the meal choices below with a bottle of plain water and a cookie or piece of fruit.

either of the hot meal options,
a jacket potato,
a pasta pot,
a chicken or beef burger,
a salad pot (from the salad bar)

We encourage all families to use the free school meals eligibility checker, which can be found here, to determine if they qualify for this entitlement.

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

* correct at time of sending, but may be subject to change

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What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Health & Fitness Apps

Over time, more and more fitness apps have been finding their way into circulation. Usually free to download – at least initially – these apps claim to offer helpful advice and assistance in routine management to those looking to lead a healthier lifestyle.

While these platforms can be useful, they do present several safety concerns. These issues become more significant when we consider that children and young people can use these apps to stay active – whether out of concern for their own health or for reasons of body image. Our free guide breaks down the risks of health and fitness apps and offers expert advice on how to address these concerns to safeguard younger users.