Get Set 2012

As a Humanities Specialist College in an Olympic Borough Willowfield’s staff and students are very excited about the approach of London 2012. The Olympic and Paralympic values of friendship, respect, equality, determination, inspiration, courage and excellence are embedded in the ethos of the school, as well as the Citizenship and whole school curriculum.

Olympic Number crunchers! Willowfield’s Maths Department have been using the Get Set web site as a resource for students to learn about placing numbers, averages, weights, and data collection. Our English Department have been working with Y8 on an Olympic Reading Project where students have been researching the history of the event, the variety of events and the achievements of athletes past and present. The English team are also running an Olympic themed literacy challenge for Y7 and 8 this term. In Y8 Geography lessons students have been involved in a project looking at the creation of a sustainable Olympic Park. In History students have also been studying the role of the Games in historic events. The Science Department have worked with students looking at the use of fireworks in Olympic ceremonies. The Art Department have designed Olympic themed posters for the PE changing rooms. PE have run a Y9 Active Girls Day for Y9 to promote enjoyment of sport in school and in the community and the SEN department have run a speaking and listening Olympic project, as well as a special project to create an Olympic Project for our EAL students and a badminton tournament to encourage the values of friendship and respect.

Citizenship Week is Coming! In our July Citizenship Week our Expressive Arts Department will be taking students to visit the Olympic site and exploring different Olympic sports in Drama. Also during Citizenship Week our DT Department have selected a disability awareness focus and will be looking at how technology helps Paralympic athletes to compete. They will also design an Olympic clock. PE will host an Olympic day for Y7 and students from our local primary schools. Next year all of our Departments will offer activities with an Olympic Theme during Citizenship Week.

In DT planning is also underway for an Autumn Y7 Olympic biscuit project! Y7 will be working in teams on an enterprise project combining skills learnt in DT, Food Tech., Resistant Materials and Graphics to create the perfect healthy biscuit promoting the 2012 games. They will then sell their final product and donate money to a Sport related charity.

This year we have also had a Winter and Summer Olympic school quiz, whole school assemblies focused on the Olympic and Paralympic values. We have also raised funds for a variety of international charities, such as Water Aid and Action Aid and campaign for global human rights through our Y10 Amnesty group. This term we are launching a Y7 Olympic Values Competition for our Y7 students to devise ‘thoughts for the week’ relating to each of the Olympic values. Our programme of ‘thoughts for the week’ forms the basis of tutor time discussion as well as providing the theme for whole school assemblies for that week.