The following posts have been reproduced from a newsletter originally distributed to the parents of pupils at Windsor Boys School in 2007 followed by a
letter from Mr Dawkins after Ofsted's excellent report in 2008.
We thought they should have a wider readership!
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The Headmaster, Mr Dawkins, writes:
You may recall me writing to you earlier in the year about our bid for redesignation as a Specialist School in the Arts. I am delighted to let you know that we received the news that we SUBSTANTIALLY met the criteria for success. So our major specialism will continue to be the Arts.
We also now enjoy High Performing Specialist School Status. Because of this we have been invited to develop a Vocational Specialism and the further specialism as a Mentor school, supporting other schools raise their attainment and transform their learning.
Some 1 in 10 schools are invited to take on a second specialism. That we have been invited to even take on a third is a great compliment to our school. Developing all three specialisms will move our school forward in our attempt to move from Good to Great!
Examples of our achievement have recently been in evidence. Of 95 Year 11 students sitting GCSE in Mathematics early in November some 70 were successful. This is a very fine achievement as those who may be more natural mathematicians were not entered and will do the GCSE in the summer.
69 Year 10 students recently sat the first of the modules early in their new course. It was a very successful beginning with a 99% pass rate at C grade or above. 40% of the grades were at A* or A.
As part of the gifted and talented enhanced curriculum, a group of Year 9 boys have recently been working towards the national science challenge competition. This is a university challenge style competition where teams of four compete against each other and against the buzzer. The skill comes from not only being confident in your science knowledge but also being fast enough to buzz in first and get your team the bonus questions. The team of Alex Bates, Sam Kidman, Alex Redford and captain Jack Rans had to play four rounds of the competition throughout the day, their greatest victory coming in the final round against St Barts where they won 130 points to nil (they had worked out that they needed 60 points to win the competition outright) After the points from the eight schools had been added up Windsor Boys had ensured a convincing victory over all seven of the other schools, their nearest opponents being a full 75 points behind them. Not only did they win the regional heat but they were also complemented on their team spirit and manner towards both the organisers and the other teams. In March they will compete at the national level of the competition.
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We thought they should have a wider readership!
____________________
The Headmaster, Mr Dawkins, writes:
You may recall me writing to you earlier in the year about our bid for redesignation as a Specialist School in the Arts. I am delighted to let you know that we received the news that we SUBSTANTIALLY met the criteria for success. So our major specialism will continue to be the Arts.
We also now enjoy High Performing Specialist School Status. Because of this we have been invited to develop a Vocational Specialism and the further specialism as a Mentor school, supporting other schools raise their attainment and transform their learning.
Some 1 in 10 schools are invited to take on a second specialism. That we have been invited to even take on a third is a great compliment to our school. Developing all three specialisms will move our school forward in our attempt to move from Good to Great!
Examples of our achievement have recently been in evidence. Of 95 Year 11 students sitting GCSE in Mathematics early in November some 70 were successful. This is a very fine achievement as those who may be more natural mathematicians were not entered and will do the GCSE in the summer.
69 Year 10 students recently sat the first of the modules early in their new course. It was a very successful beginning with a 99% pass rate at C grade or above. 40% of the grades were at A* or A.
As part of the gifted and talented enhanced curriculum, a group of Year 9 boys have recently been working towards the national science challenge competition. This is a university challenge style competition where teams of four compete against each other and against the buzzer. The skill comes from not only being confident in your science knowledge but also being fast enough to buzz in first and get your team the bonus questions. The team of Alex Bates, Sam Kidman, Alex Redford and captain Jack Rans had to play four rounds of the competition throughout the day, their greatest victory coming in the final round against St Barts where they won 130 points to nil (they had worked out that they needed 60 points to win the competition outright) After the points from the eight schools had been added up Windsor Boys had ensured a convincing victory over all seven of the other schools, their nearest opponents being a full 75 points behind them. Not only did they win the regional heat but they were also complemented on their team spirit and manner towards both the organisers and the other teams. In March they will compete at the national level of the competition.
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