Senior School Newsletter
Welcome to our weekly update, where we celebrate the breadth of school life at Westonbirt. Each edition offers a snapshot of the learning, achievements and wider opportunities that define our community.
Welcome to our weekly update, where we celebrate the breadth of school life at Westonbirt. Each edition offers a snapshot of the learning, achievements and wider opportunities that define our community.
Year 9 have been exploring the periodic table, investigating the chemical properties of Group 1 metals and observing the similarities and differences in how they react. Today’s experiment saw potassium react vigorously with water, producing a striking lilac flame! A fascinating opportunity to bring their classroom learning to life and deepen their understanding of chemical reactions.
Our A-level Photography students enjoyed a cultural day out in Bristol on Friday, exploring the city’s rich photographic and artistic landscape. At the Martin Parr Foundation, pupils visited the Dark Tales exhibition, discovering Gothic-style documentary photography from across Britain, before heading to the atmospheric Crypt at Arnos Vale Cemetery. In the afternoon, a visit to the Arnolfini offered the chance to explore contemporary photographic work by Polly Braden and capture Bristol’s urban landscape.
Year 13 students developed their photography around their chosen themes, while Year 12 gathered inspiration for their final portfolio projects, which begin next month. Despite the typically Bristolian weather, everyone had a wonderful day!
Year 11 enjoyed an action-packed day at the SCAPE Athletics Meet this week, putting their sporting skills into practice and capturing footage of their performances for their GCSE PE practical portfolios. A great opportunity to experience competition in action while developing their practical skills and building towards their GCSE assessments!
Grace D and her horse Furst Dance made the 6hr round trip to Moreton in Dorset to compete in the NSEA National dressage qualifier. It was well worth the journey as not only did Grace and Darcy win the Prelim 2 class, they won by such a huge margin, 4% ahead of 2nd place, with 79%, taking the top qualifying spot for the National Championship in Addington in October.
Grace joins the 14 other Westonbirt showjumpers who have also qualified to compete for honours at Addington. There is one more qualifier remaining, this weekend at Hartpury College where we are hoping to have some more team members added.
Grace is also waiting on the judging of the Pony Club International virtual dressage where she was selected to represent the UK Pony Club team in the Freestyle Level 1 against Pony Club teams from Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, USA and Canada. Good luck Grace!
Seventy Business Studies students recently visited Brimscombe Mill in Stroud, a unique social enterprise hub where business is used as a force for positive social and environmental change. The visit provided pupils with a valuable opportunity to see the principles of social enterprise in action and to gain real-world knowledge that will support their Business Studies coursework.
The day began with an engaging talk from Tim Lee, who currently runs Gloucestershire House Clearance. Tim introduced pupils to the concept of social enterprise and explained how businesses can operate commercially while having a strong social purpose. He used personal examples to demonstrate how the primary aim of a business can be to help people and make a positive difference, rather than simply maximise profit.
“The body of a business, with the heart of a charity.” was a key phraase to sum up what a social enterprise is. This provided a memorable way of understanding the balance between commercial activity and social purpose.
Students then heard from the Directors of three of Brimscombe Mill’s social enterprises: The Long Table, Kids Stuff and The Home Remedy. Each organisation demonstrated a different way of combining business activity with a clear social or environmental purpose. Brimscombe Mill describes itself as a community hub bringing together social enterprises focused on people, the planet and the local community.
Pupils then had lunch at The Long Table, which operates as a pay-as-you-can restaurant.
The visit was an excellent opportunity for the students to develop their understanding of social enterprises and provided valuable knowledge and real-world examples that they can draw upon in their forthcoming coursework.
It’s been another action-packed week in sport at Westonbirt, with fixtures across a range of teams. You can view the full set of fixtures and results here.
The microphones were out and dancing shoes firmly on as Westonbirt’s House Shout took centre stage this week! Our houses brought plenty of energy, enthusiasm and show-stopping performances, but it was Beech who took home the Senior School crown with their rendition of 24K Magic. In the Juniors, Cedar and Oak claimed the honours with Since U Been Gone and California Gurls.
A fantastic celebration of house spirit, teamwork and musical talent. Go Team WBS!
A few of our Year 7s were invited to enjoy a hot chocolate with Ms Porovic this week, celebrating the positivity, kindness and helpfulness they have brought to school life. Mrs P shared some of the history of Westonbirt, and pupils even had the chance to ring some of the house bells, which are still working to this day!
A lovely opportunity to celebrate the little things that make a big difference to life at Westonbirt.
We always love to hear about achievements and moments of teamwork or collaboration. If you would like to share something, please email marketing@westonbirtschool.uk.