William Brookes School Blog

Monday 22^nd of September was an important day for several Sixth Form students, as the results of the election for President and Vice President were announced.

The victors would represent the school at important events, such as Open Evenings, Parents Evenings and Presentation Evenings.

They would prepare meetings and liaise with the school Leadership team on important issues. 

They would be pivotal in the smooth running of the school council and become positive role models, not only for the Sixth Form, but for the whole school.

Each of the candidates had to complete an application; attend an interview with the Leadership team and give a presentation to the Sixth Form during the run up to the election.

Sophie Deer won the lion’s share of winning votes to become President, with Sam Wood securing the role of Vice President on the day.

Many students had their sights set on other responsibilities and applied for specific roles.  These included:

Sports Captains to develop sporting activities;

Activities and Charities Managers to organise fundraising events and social activities;

Media and Publicity Assistants to report on school events and successes;

and Senior Mentors to oversee and assist with the organization of Sixth Form Mentors.

Congratulations to all those successful candidates and a big thank you to everyone who took part.

Sophie Deer - President 

Sam Wood - Vice President 

Matthew Allen, Bethan Pugh and Daniel Thomas - Sports Captains

Daniel Carter, Daniel Evans, Rebecca Moore, Tom Poole and Tom Jennings

Media and Publicity Team

Charlotte Wood, Bethany Dawes and Emma Jamieson

Activities and Charities Managers

Rachel Lefroy, Laura Whitehouse, Tom Crane, Jenny Beddow and Elspeth McGregor

Senior Mentors

This week is European Language Week at William Brookes School and we are celebrating different languages used throughout Europe.

In the school entrance you will see a display portraying students and staff who have varied language skills: some speak a second language quite well, whilst others have learnt English as their second language and continue to learn more. Wednesday’s assembly included presentations of different languages native to
Europe. Students acted in French, German, Welsh and Italian, and one performed a song from ‘South Pacific’ in French. The Modern Foreign Languages department are also teaching Spanish, Welsh and Italian this week, and students are being encouraged to use ten different languages to say ‘hello’, ‘good day’, ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Friday 26^th September is ‘European Day of Languages’ and, we hope, a day for us all to begin improving our awareness of languages and cultures.

Where better to hone your bit blitzing skills than a quiet corner of the Library at lunch time?

 We have pictured just some of the many jigsaw constructors who have very, very, very nearly finished a 1000 piece pictorial pastiche of historical events.  Unfortunately, the last 3 bits were missing, so the crew have drawn a line under the project and called it a day.Spurred on by their problem solving success, the puzzle-pounding pack are putting out a request for any neglected jigsaws to be handed over, so the team can make them whole again.If you would like a broken jigsaw mended and it’s in bits at the moment (at least 1000 bits) please hand it to Mrs Herdson, who will look after it until the puzzle practitioners are ready to work their magic once again.

Posing proudly are six of the many who helped complete the picture: Kim, Rosie, Adam, Nicola, Tim and Lucy.

P.S If you do happen to have the missing three pieces, we would be grateful for their return.  One is jigsaw shaped and has an apple with a bite taken out; another is jigsaw shaped with a man in a helmet looking closely at an arrowhead and the third is jigsaw shaped with some writing on it (e = mc).

Okay Year 7s, you’ve been with us for two weeks now and we would all like to know how you’re doing…

• What’s your favourite lesson?
• Who’s your favourite teacher?
• Have you made new friends?
• Are you using a school bus for the first time?
• Have you joined any clubs?

Look at some of last year’s posts to see the kind of experiences our current Year 8 had when they first came to the school.

If you would like to tell us about your first weeks here, please pop along to see Mr Bertrand, opposite the Library.  You can even leave a comment on this blog!

This year we are again delighted with the results of our A level students. Amongst them are Moira Kelly, Rebecca Bushell and Rebecca Ingram, all of whom achieved straight A grades in their chosen subjects.

Moira Kelly’s A grades were in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Further Maths which means she has secured her place at Cambridge to study Veterinary Science.

Rebecca Bushell achieved her A grades in Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths and Art & Design, whilst Rebecca Ingram gained an incredible 5 A grades in English Combined, History, Law, French and General Studies and will be taking up her place at Manchester to read Law and Criminology.

Other students who did exceptionally well were Hayley Davies and Lawrence Flynn, both of whom achieved 3 A grades and 1 B grade and both of whom will be going to study Law. Hayley will take up her place at Cardiff this year whilst Lawrence is taking a gap year travelling around Australia before going to Manchester next year.

In addition to these successes, Rhian Petty and John Beresford, who completed their exams last year, gaining all A grades, will this year take up their places at Oxford. Rhian will read English and John is going to read Law.

We are especially pleased this year as many of our students who have achieved the top grades exceeded all of their original predictions, which is testament to the hard work of both the students and staff at the school.

William Brookes students have achieved very strong results this year and most will be taking up university places in the autumn. Our overall pass rate is extremely high and the number of exams passed at the top grades is very impressive. Our staff and students work extremely hard, and it is this combination which ensures consistently high standards and achievement across all the grades.

Our highest achieving students show maturity well beyond their years and the fact they achieve grades which afford them places in the most prestigious universities is reflective of the hard work, thorough revision planning and commitment to succeed, along with high quality teaching and parental support. We would like to wish all our students the very best and hope that they can build on their A level successes at university and beyond!

Year 11 students have achieved the second best set of results in the school’s history this year, with passes exceeding the rigorous targets set for the cohort. 71% of our Year 11s gained at least 5 higher grade passes at A* to C, with 64% gaining this mark including English and Maths.

This year we have seen an increase of 8 percentage points over the 2007 result for this last measure, a very pleasing result considering that in 2007 the national average was only 46%. Students across the entire ability range also did well, with 96.5% gaining 5 or more GCSE passes at A*-G and 91% gaining at least 1 grade C or above.
The average points score for each student will be equal to about 11 grade C equivalents. English, Maths and Science have all performed exceptionally well this year with an A*-C pass rate between 70 and 80%. ICT, the Performing Arts, especially Dance, Art and Design, History and RS have all been very successful this year too.

I am very proud of our students and the way they have worked towards these important examinations. Many students deserve special congratulations. Elspeth McGregor led the way with 9A*, 3A and 2 Bs. Natasha Gibbs and Laura Whitehouse gained 4 A*s each and a further 16 grade As between them.
Other high performers include Colette Goodfellow, Rory Kelly, Lisa and Sophie Rhodes-Martin who gained 34 A/A* grades between them. Many students have grades that, although they are not this high, are very impressive in relation to their own ability. Most are ambitious to do the best they possibly can and they were very well prepared for the examinations by our committed staff team.
More of them than ever before are returning to continue studying in the Sixth Form and they fully understand the importance of beginning life in the Sixth Form, Colleges or in work-based training from a high level starting point.

In addition, 31 out of 32 Year 10 students gained GCSE passes at A* - C, in Statistics, and a further 17 out of 18 passed Drama. This is an excellent achievement for them all and a great start to their first year of GCSEs.

My congratulations go to all our students and my thanks go to all staff, parents and governors who have again pulled out all the stops to assist each student in achieving their best. We wish you all well for a bright and happy future in the next phase of your busy lives.

You may have already seen our website article about the successful bid for building the new school. Here’s a brief outline of the project and important dates for you to find out more about this exciting venture.

As many of you are aware, William Brookes School is built on the site of the Wenlock Olympian Games, forerunner to the modern Olympic Games. Respecting this heritage is an important aspect of the new build, as is the surrounding countryside setting, which will be reflected in the overall design.

The modular design provides four learning zones as well as the ‘heart’. The heart includes the main performance and sporting facilities and can be open to the community without affecting the other learning zones.

Not only will students benefit from top quality classrooms, workshops and laboratories, but a variety of inspirational learning environments:

• Dance and Drama Studios
• Dedicated Music Suite and Rehearsal Rooms
• Sports Hall
• Fitness Suite and Gymnasium
• Grass and all weather Sports and Athletic Facilities
• 25 metre Swimming Pool
• Lecture Theatre and Small Cinema
• New ‘Edge’ Arts Centre

Please come along and see the design at either of two public exhibitions on Saturday, 13th September.

• Much Wenlock, Priory Hall. 9.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.
• Broseley, Birch Meadow Centre. 1.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.