William Brookes School Blog

Once again, our Year 11 leavers turn on the style and take to the red carpet. Here’s a little look at how some of them found their way to the event.

Didn’t we do well !

On Wednesday 30th June we hosted an Athletics Sports Day for our 8 Partner Primary Schools. Not only was the weather on our side, but we had a little support from a very special guest, as well. Wenlock, the Olympic Mascot named after Much Wenlock, met students from William Brookes and the primary schools before cheering on the young athletes in their bid to reach the podium.

Over 350 children took part in the event, organised by our Year 10 Sports Leaders. Two of our finest athletes, Oliver and Josh, led all 8 schools around the track to mark the beginning of the competition. As well as the usual track events, we enjoyed long jump, discus, shot put, high jump, and javelin.

 Jane Rendell of Lloyds TSB was on hand to present certificates to the winners and trophies to the overall winning large school and overall winning small school. We would like to thank her for her participation; Ann Smith and Mrs Jardine for their hard work; the staff and pupils of all the primary schools; the Year 10 Sports Leaders and Sixth Form Team. And, last, but not least, Wenlock, for being here when we first use our impressive new track and field facility.

Just as the Wenlock Festival draws to a close, William Brookes launches its own month of ‘Wonderful Wednesdays’, celebrating dance, music and drama in a series of evening performances by WBS students.

1.       WEDNESDAY 30 JUNE

We kick off on Wednesday 30^th June with our Music Concert; talented soloists, instrumentalists, the choir and rock bands take to the stage from 7.30 p.m. £2

2.       WEDNESDAY 7 JULY

Next, we have the first night of our two night SummerDance 2010 event, which brings together WBS students and local dance academies performing in a range of styles. From ballet to contemporary dance, this great celebration of youth dance sells out every year. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

SummerDance 2010 - Wednesday 7^th and Thursday 8^th July, 7.30 p.m. £5 / £4

3.       WEDNESDAY 14 JULY

Early Booking is advisable for one of the hottest events of the season at William Brookes School. The ever popular W Factor final will showcase some of the most exciting singers the school has to offer. Auditions for the 10 act final begin this week, Wed. 9^th June, and contestants will perform in front of a panel of judges, who will decide upon the line-up for the evening of 14^th July.

Last year’s event was a complete sell out, so we would advise early booking for this year’s show.

Tickets are available now and cost £5 / £4

Our photo shows last year’s winner and a pair of runners up. Ffion, Amy and Kate. 

4.       WEDNESDAY 21 JULY

Taking the limelight this Wednesday are our Year 11 Drama students, performing the macabre 2,000 year old play – The Bacchae by Euripides. This story of revenge, decapitation and women transforming into snakes was considered too gruesome to perform for 1900 years. Now, we bring it back to life under the stars, at an open air location in Much Wenlock.

Wednesday 21^st and Thursday 22^nd July 8.30 p.m. £5 / £4

All tickets and any further info. from The Edge Arts Centre - 01952 728509

manager@edgeartscentre.co.uk

www.edgeartscentre.co.uk

STUDENTS ATTEND NATIONAL LAUNCH OF LONDON 2012 WENLOCK MASCOT

Students Georgie Hanafin (Head Girl), Kieran Osborne (Head Boy), Danny Budd (Student representative on the Wenlock Olympian Society and the Much Wenlock 2012 Legacy Group), Saffron Allen, Josh Burrows and Oliver Gribbin accompanied Mrs Cooper, Mrs Jardine, Mrs Smith and Mrs Jaeger to the Much Wenlock based launch of the new London 2012 mascots. Other WBS students with strong sporting associations (including Student Council member Michael Edwards) and ex-students (including rugby player Ryan Arnell) were also invited as representatives by their clubs.

They knew in advance that Gold Medallist and World Champion triple jumper Jonathan Edwards would be making a presentation but were taken by surprise to find that the event was actually one of the three national launches of the new London 2012 mascots – a historic moment!

Even greater was their surprise when they were shown a short film, also shown on national TV, revealing that one of the mascots was named Wenlock! At long last, the unique history of Much Wenlock - and the contribution of Dr William Penny Brookes to the rebirth of the modern Olympic Games – is gaining greater national prominence in the run up to 2012. 

Students had the opportunity to meet with Jonathan Edwards and also to receive their own Wenlock 2012 mascot pin badges, together with a copy of Michael Morpurgo’s book Out of a rainbow that tells the story of the London 2012 mascots.

There’s a lot more to come as we move towards London 2012 – watch this space!

Organised by the Friends of William Brookes School, our last reunion to be held in the old building was hugely successful.

The proceedings began at 11 a.m. when our current Head, Penny Cooper and former Head, Geoff Richards, cut the blue and yellow ribbon. They were joined by ex Deputy Head, Alan Townsend (Mayor of Shrewsbury); Mayoress, Judy Townsend; Event Organiser, Tracy Weaver; Teacher, Peter Braddick; School Governor, Claire Wild (not in photo) and MP, Daniel Kawczynski.

Both Heads gave a welcome speech to visitors in the Main Hall at 12 noon, reflecting on the past, present and future of our school. The Dining Hall began filling up shortly after that, as the Hog Roast became available (please see yummy close up of Hog Roast at foot of post).

At 1 p.m. it was time for Music and Memories, as one veteran student of the school humorously re-lived his five years here before handing the mic to ’Soul Band’ front man Martyn Pridmore. A string of hits from the sixties to the modern day entertained young and old alike, until it was time for the auction.

From classroom door signs to ornate clocks, Egyptian inspired ceramics to garden benches, there was everything but the kitchen sink. No, come to think of it, there was a kitchen sink. In fact, there were two!  Meanwhile, the Dining Hall staff have turned our attention to Cream Teas (for those of us who might already have a kitchen sink).

People continued to arrive throughout the day and enjoyed looking around their old classrooms. Arguments were breaking out all over the school - “This was definitely the metalwork room. No doubt about it.” “No, it was woodwork… woodwork, woodwork, woodwork, and that’s the end of it!.” “Where have all the sewing machines gone? And why are there all these French flags on the wall?”

Hundreds spent hours hunting down pictures of themselves, their teachers and friends, whilst others simply sat and reminisced. Many visitors were keen to keep in touch and gave us their email address to keep them abreast of life at William Brookes. But, perhaps the most noticeable feature of the day was the number of smiling, and often overjoyed faces, milling around the familiar spaces and laughing with old friends. 

Professional photographers were on hand to take photographs of friendship groups in the Foyer, African drumming workshops were held in the Edge and the opportunity to take a nostalgic swim or play a game of badminton was also on offer.

Dozens of staff and students joined the Friends of William Brookes School to help make the event the success it was. In excess of 900 people joined us on the day and the Friends of William Brookes School have raised over £3,000 to directly benefit our students. That incredible figure could rise again, as FoWBS are asking you to sponsor a brick! There is to be a sculpture at the new school, and we are inviting students and teachers, past and present to have their name ’stamped’ on a brick, to be used as part of the sculpture. If you would like to be immortalised in this clay creation, please contact wbs2010reunion@yahoo.co.uk to register your interest. The brick will cost you £10 - a lot of that goes towards the fundraising efforts.

If you came along on the day (or even if you didn’t), and you’d like people to know what you’re up to these days, why not join us on our alumni board at www.williambrookesschool.co.uk/formerstudents.php where you can spot old school friends from last year to 50 years ago.

Much hard work has gone into the preparation of this event and we would like to thank all those involved: Mr Geoff Richards (his idea, apparently), Tracy Weaver, Joyce Pridmore, Stephanie Bellowes, Sue Gibbs, Ellie Peters, Debbie Marks-Rumble, Janet Good, Sylvia Taras, Carolyn Abberley, the FoWBS committee, Angela Jones ( J L Edwards Trust ) and her helpers, Simon and Paula Gibbons (for the delicious looking Hog Roast (that was gone by the time I got to it)), Fotologic event photography, St. John Ambulance, our VIP guests and the many staff and students from the school.

Sue Gibbs did a lot of groundwork on the sponsorship front and found a lot of local support for the school and students. We were so pleased to have attracted so many sponsors for the event, familiar names to most of us and generous to the last. Here’s our roll call:

Cakes and Groceries:

Copper Kettle, Much Wenlock

Wenlock Flowers, Much Wenlock

Catherine’s Bakery

Sainsburys

Tesco

Raffle Prizes:

Wrexham and Shropshire Trains - 2 x First Class return train tickets to London

Wolves F.C. - Signed book by Steve Bull

Toni & Guy - cut and blow dry

White Hart Inn, Ironbridge - 2 x £25 meal vouchers

The Shakespeare Inn - £25 meal voucher

Paddy Ryans Butchers - 2 x £20 vouchers

Telford Ice Rink - 1 Family Skating Pass

Subway - Meal Vouchers

Blue Ginger Indian Restaurant - £40 Meal Voucher

The Shropshire Golf Club - 18 hole round of golf for 2

Fotologic

Ironbridge Gorge Museum - 2 Adult Passes

Thanks again for your support for William Brookes School.

Tracy Weaver with ex student, Jean Hanson, 1953 - 1957

Ex teacher, Mr Ballard, 1967 - 1998

Ex teacher, Harry Hill, reputed for his 'economical' smile.

So near and yet so far - the Hog was a runaway success, unfortunately.

Mind the Gap is an evolving group of William Brookes School theatre students either in, or contemplating their gap year.

‘The Pillowman’ tells the dark tale of a writer in a non-specified totalitarian state being interrogated over the content of several of his Brothers Grimm style short stories. He finds out that there have been a series of local child murders that seem to have been inspired by his gruesome stories. Only one other person has read most of those stories, however: his intellectually disabled brother, who just happens to be in the next interrogation room.

The performances are on Thursday 29th and Friday 30th April at 7.30 p.m.  Admission prices are £5 and £4 concessions.

Here are a few shots from our recent production of ‘Kiss Me Kate. The musical attracted a lot of interest and ran for four nights.

Well done to all the cast, musicians, production team and outside agencies who helped make this show as spectacular as it was.

William Brookes Year 8 girls’ athletics team are County Champions!

The girls convincingly won the first round of the Aviva Sportshall Athletics Competition, against our partnership schools, and their excellent performance gave them a place in the County final in February.

Hosted by the Charlton School, Wellington, the competition in the final proved tough, but we beat the Blessed Robert Johnson School by just 3 points to take the honours, and secure a place at the West Midlands Final in Solihull.

The 8 strong team chose to adopt the names of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and wore tops with their names on them.

 Well done Joanna, Anna, Sophie, Lindsey, Josie, Claudia, Georgia and Chloe.