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Head’s Piece It is often a question in any quiz: in which city did the first United Nations Conference on International Organisation meet in 1945?

There is common misconception that the answer is New York or Geneva, but in fact it is San Francisco. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, and of the Security Council all took place in London in 1948. The General Assembly

then selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, and the facility was built in 1952.

Amongst other things the UN was founded to promote greater understanding between nations; an aspiration with which it is easy to sympathise in the shadow of the Second World War. The above serves as a brief introduction and inspiration to an activity in which

SWPS has been involved in for a number of years – namely the Model United Nations. MUN, as it is often called, provides a wonderful forum in which young

people can assume the role of national ambassadors to debate global issues. I cannot think of a better way by which young people can both understand the world around them more deeply and develop their skills of public speaking, analysis and negotiation.

Arguing from a perspective that is unfamiliar, the participants are required to immerse themselves in the problems and issues of global importance, seeking solutions in the form of mutually agreed treaties. This weekend SWPS will send a strong cohort of students to take part in a Model United Conference. We will undoubtedly hear next week how they have performed. In the meantime, if you are considering something which is current,

intellectually stimulating and brilliantly worthwhile, then MUN might be the right thing for you!

C Muller

Head

SWPS NEWS

Upcoming Events

26, 27 & 28 Jan

Model United Nations:

Conference at LEH School

28 Jan Year 7:

Self-Defence Course

29 Jan

Sixth Form:

6F Committee Meeting

Academic Ambition:

Mr Chris Newell—’The Law & Euthanasia.’

31 Jan Science:

S6 Biology Olympiad

Maths:

UKMT Maths Challenge

1 Feb Parents’ Evening:

Year 11

2 & 3 Feb School Production:

‘Arabian Nights’

Spec ia l Reminder

21 Feb 19.00 Main Hall

‘Managing Screen Time & Screen Dependency’ Talk for

all parents/carers with Dr Aric

Sigmum

Y7 Lunchtime Concerts

These concerts begin at 1 PM.

Year 7 Parents/Carers, please advise us if you

would like to attend by completing the reply

slip attached to the letter that was recently

sent out to you and ask your child to place it

in the Music post box.

1 Feb 7L (earlier start time of 12.55 PM)

8 Feb 7P

1 Mar 7Q

R e s i d e n t i a l T r i p s

SWPS are offering variety of residential trips,

details of which can be found on our website.

This page is updated whenever new trips are

added, and currently covers the period

2018—2019.

Staff vs Students Charity Quiz On Wednesday teams of Sixth Form students took on their teachers in a

charity quiz in aid of Mind. Over six fiercely competitive rounds, one of the staff teams (Messrs. Greenhill, Jones, Peel, Stewart, Ms Gomez and Mrs O’Hara) narrowly clinched a one point victory from their ‘Science Wizards’ colleagues. Nonetheless,

the students did themselves proud with a Senior Sixth team and Lower Sixth team jointly topping the student leader board. We raised a considerable amount for Mind* and all involved had a great time: we might have to make this an

annual event! Special thanks go to Senior Sixth student Jess Norton who did a fantastic job coming up with the idea, writing questions, and organising the event.

S McCormick * Mr McCormick is running this year’s London Marathon in aid of Mind - if you would like to find out why or donate to his cause, please follow this link https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SamMcCormick2

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NHS Careers Competition 2018 Congratulations to the class winners of the ‘Step into the NHS Careers Competition’. The four winning entries have

been submitted to the National Competition so we wish them luck!

8L – Lily Brown, Imaan Siddiqui, Bethan Williams, Kaya Kondel 8M – Evie Oborne and Isabella Gray 8P – Sierra Warnes, Alma Thomsen, Masha Zenina,

Lauren Mansey 8Q – Honor McDonald, AishaTheophilus, Aalee Mishra

L Haley

Debating Competition Th e r e c e n t l y - f o rm ed Debating Club had their

inaugural competition at the

Cambridge Union Schools Debating competition last Saturday at St Paul’s Girl’s School. Four Lower Sixth students made up the team, Hannah, Seren, Luke and

Lauren.

These intrepid orators were thrown in at the deep end by their cruel teacher with only limited practice having been possible beforehand.

They set to the four debates with fearsome pluck and industry, debating motions about removing fear from soldiers if the technology were to exist to the

government’s obligation to prioritise funding to female-only tech companies. All four students at least pretended to their teacher that

they had fun and evidently surprised themselves with the arguments they were able to contrive. New faces to the Club are always welcome and a new Junior Debating Club for Years 7-9 will be starting soon - come and equip yourself with the tools to speak effectively for life!

A Stewart

Y10 Geography to Juniper Hall FSC The day began with

typical miserable British weather, drizzle to

dampen everyone ’s spirits. Luckily, the discovery of chocolate in our packed lunches brightened the day. After

a short and relaxed bus journey, we arrived at Juniper Hall Field Centre. We were greeted in the common room with the

promise of cake and hot chocolate later if we contributed

throughout the day. Afterwards, we were led to the classrooms by Dan and Helen, our instructors for the day, where the planning began. We were familiarised with the six stages of a successful expedition: the introduction; the

method; data presentation; data analysis; conclusion; and evaluation. We were taught the location and size of the River Tillingbourne and how to insure a safe experiment

whilst hypothesising the outcomes, with the outcome of being able to predict the changes in river discharge as you progress downstream. We then collected our clipboards, wellies and wate rp roo f

t rousers be fore setting out on our expedition. At the first stop, Crossways

farm, we did a field sketch despite the

distraction of the horses (scaring some SWPS students). Avoiding disrupting the river, we jumped in and began our experiment. We took depth, width and velocity measurements so we could later analyse our results. At

the second stop, Abinger Hammer, we repeated our method with a little more ease. Thankfully, we were cheered up by the prospect of lunch, despite the lack of seating (some of us opting for tree stumps out of hunger fuelled desperation). Finally, we arrived at our third and last stop, Gomshall, where we unfortunately discovered

how deep rivers can get. Surprisingly, the teachers and

instructors declined our invitation to join us and opted for taking embarrassing photos of us instead. Once completed, many girls proceeded to empty the contents of their water-filled boots.

As soon as we returned to

the warm classrooms we rushed to change our wet, dirty clothes, with the excitement of cake and hot chocolate awaiting us. Sadly, our break had to end and we begrudgingly

made our way back to

finish our analysis and conclusions. We spent time drawing graphs, sharing data and evaluating our hypotheses. Succeeding the long, tiring, yet enjoyable day we said our thanks and left Juniper Hall with fond memories.

I Elliott & S Hawken (Y10)

Eagle Radio Christmas Carols Competition Over the Christmas holidays, I have taken the opportunity to submit a recording of the School Choir singing ‘I See A Star’ for the Eagle Radio Peter Gordon Breakfast Show Christmas Carols Competition.

Although we have not been selected for the finals, I am still very proud that the School Choir has participated in their very first music competition. The recording can now be accessed via the SWPS school website by CLICKING HERE.

P Tham

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SPORTS NEWS

Dance

Zoe Morton (Y7) is a committed dancer, and has been dancing for many years now; this is the second year her

dance school has chosen students to dance in festivals, and Zoe is one of only two in her age group chosen. The Woking Festival of Dance is affiliated to The British and International Federation of Festivals and A Nominated Festival of the All England Dance Competition. Congratulations to Zoe on her selection.

Cross-Country Josie Cox (Y11) came 13th in Inter Girls (Y10/11/12) at Surrey Schools XC Champs at Reigate on Saturday (in that

rain and wind!) below is the full list that ran from our region of Surrey and highlighted in yellow, those who were selected for Surrey. As a result she has been selected for Surrey Athletics which means;

She will compete in South East Schools Inter Counties

Cross Country Championships on Saturday 3 February – representing SWPS (against schools from Sussex, Berkshire, Essex, Hampshire, Kent)

She will be one of 20 athletes in the Elite cross country

training day on Monday 12 February where she will be coached by successful elite athletes including Mara Yamauchi (second fastest time by a British woman over

a marathon) and Emelia Gorecka (European junior champion in cross country and 3,000 champion)

Badminton The U16 Badminton team had a very successful

afternoon at Tomlinscote School this week where

they won the District Competition. The team consisted of: Alexandra Oprisan, Ruth Devapragasam, Rebecca

Sproston and Isobel Henderson. The team won all 5 of their matches against both Tomlinscote and Winston Churchill School, in both singles and doubles matches. The team will go forward to the County Round at Guildford High School on Friday 23

February. We wish them every success as they try to repeat this first round success and reach the Regional Round which are scheduled for Thursday 8 March at Guildford Spectrum.

Rowing

Weybridge Winter Head Last weekend had the boat club out in considerable

numbers at Weybridge Winter Head. The 3000m race from Elmbridge Canoe Club to Walton Rowing Club was the first race of 2018 for all of the athletes racing. The weather was typically British, cold and raining for much of the day which added an extra challenge for the rowers to cope with.

In total some 57 J14 and J15 rowers competed at this event, with the J14 Octo of Katya Nearcou, Amber David, Mary O’Donnell, Emily Wright, Lizzie Way, Samar Alam, Khushy Toor, Alexia Fletton and Alex Glasspool building on a good start to their rowing career with a top 5 finish from 14 crews.

Similarly impressive was the performance of J15 4x+ crew of Celia Crosbie, Tess O’Donnell, Lola Wright, Grace Taylor and Felicity Cunliffe also securing a top 5 finish from 15 crews entered. The J15 squad showed how far they have progressed with a total of four quads racing finishing 5th, 7th, 9th and 13th respectively.

The senior squad were also out competing in a variety of events with many of them racing the course twice. With a really positive start to 2018 the senior squad brought home a total of 5 wins in J18 4x-, J16 4-, J17 2x, J16 2x and the crew of Lily Porter, Louise Wax, Isabella Daniels, Charlotte Herbert-Brown and Christiana Iacob winning an

adult women’s category in the coxed four.

With the river being unpredictable due to current weather conditions this was a good opportunity for the rowers to put into practice some of the skills and athleticism they have been working on in the gym. Fingers crossed the

river flow reduces in time for Hampton School Head on Saturday 3 February.

J Keir

Isabella Smith (Y8), took part in the Weybridge Winter Head Rowing

event on Saturday 20 January.

It was Isabella’s first race for her club, the Walton-on-Thames Rowing Club, as part of the W.J14.4x+ and raced an impressive 13:21 time beating stiff competition in freezing conditions...

Overall her crew came 7th out of 13 - not bad for their first time! Go Isabella!

Lucia Frigé, Anna Cowell and Katie Knott (all Y8)

were also back in action last weekend competing in the Weybridge Head for their club, Walbrook Rowing Club.

There were no W.J.13 events to enter so they rowed up to

W.J.14 in the coxed quad and posted a very respectable time of 13:28 to finish 6th out of 13 boats in their group. Later in the day Lucia coxed the Women’s Masters boat finishing in 3rd place; a great day for their club.

SWPS.ORG.UK

ACTIVITIES

LIBRARY

Book of the Week

This week’s BotW is ‘The Spy’ by Paulo Coelho, selected by Mrs Vidgen.

What’s on in the Library

Follow @SWPSLibrary to keep up-to-date with what’s happening in the Library!

ARTWORKS OF THE MONTH

Here’s two of our four Artworks of the Month, for January,

selected by the Art & Design Dept staff.

These are by Onaisa Jalali (Y10)

and Bea Ross (L6).

Take a look at more of our students’ artwork on our new Art Dept website: artdesignswps.org.uk

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