SLT Aims for 2020 – Part 4

In this week’s edition of WimLearn, Jess, Vera and Lili discuss their aims for this year as our head girl team of the Student Leadership Team 2021.

Coming back in 2020 is already different to any other year. For us in the Head Girl Team, part of that entails the humble yet vital aim to keep our school full of safe and healthy students: taking measures against the spread of the pandemic, while also trying to support mental health by reconnecting students as well as possible. We also wish for a continued push for environmental change, both in and outside of school as we don’t want to give COVID the chance to side-track us from this important issue. Part of doing this will involve encouraging out-of-the-box thinking both in extracurriculars and in academics (and we hope this will be facilitated by our wonderful new STEAM tower!). The world needs bold, creative, and brave thinkers to tackle the problems we face today. We believe that those thinkers are at WHS.

This year there is no shying away from our need to partake in conversations surrounding race. We aim to diversify the academic curriculum and the pastoral system at WHS. This encapsulates areas of PSHE, the peer counselling program, and extracurricular life. We want discussion groups and committees to create a dialogue surrounding racial inequality since awareness and discussion are key to making a change. We aim to foster the courage ready to stand up for what is right and decent when injustice is in the way. Some of these conversations may be uncomfortable or unpleasant, but the consequences of not having these discussions are far worse. We hope the student body is on board with our mission to bring ourselves together – even when we are apart – to build the foundations for a better post-COVID world.

1st October 20207th June 2022

SLT Aims for 2020 – Part 3

In this week’s edition of WimLearn, Anna, Charlotte, Millie, and Kate discuss their aims for this year as our house captains of the Student Leadership Team 2021.

Anna (Scott House Captain):

This year, more than ever, it is so important that everyone feels as though they are a part of a community outside academic lessons, or even co-curriculars. Houses are all about bringing a variety of people together who otherwise may not come across each other – whether that’s within one year or between the different academic years. Something that will be really important over the coming months is ensuring that out brilliant house communities continue, as well as the enthusiasm and fun that goes with it. We have been developing ideas for a new range of events and that will enable the house spirit and friendly competition to continue, whilst maintaining the zoning rules. So, although this year is and will be very different to previous years, I hope that everyone feels united and has a truly great year.

Charlotte (Meredith House Captain):

Walking into school in my bright orange lanyard, I felt guilty not being able to approach and say hi to anyone in the years below. It feels impossible to feel connected to each other, to our friends, or to our school spirit, in a time when we are physically separated from one another. But I know that with the bright, fun, and caring minds of the students at Wimbledon High, we won’t let this time take away from our school experience, but rather accept it as a new challenge and format to our lives. My hopes for the houses this year is to continue nurturing that spirit. In the words of the Meredith song ‘like a spring flower, Meredith grows’, and I know that whether that is a seed of enthusiasm in Year 7, to (let’s be honest) a probably equally small seed of enthusiasm in Year 11, or a full flower of commitment in Year 13, we continue to involve ourselves in coming events, even if they don’t occur as they would have in past years.

Millie (Arnold House Captain):

This year, I aim to make sure that everyone feels like they are a part of a house community, together even if we are apart. In these unprecedented times, the house values of kindness, respect, grit and resilience are more important than ever. I hope that we continue to support each other as we always have, taking all of the opportunities we can get. Although this year may be different, we can still feel like part of a house family and always have someone to reach out to, whether in person or virtually. My main aim is that we all enjoy ourselves, relishing the chance to be back in school. Houses are all about bringing people together and having fun, and a little competitive spirit never goes amiss. We will be working hard this year to ensure that the house spirit is still felt strongly throughout the school. Arnold’s house animal is the wolf, strong, loyal and brave, qualities which everyone has shown throughout this time. I really hope everyone has a brilliant year and that we can all feel united even when we are not together.

Kate (Hastings House Captain):

It is fantastic to be back together again even if it is slightly apart physically. Our recent challenging experiences during lockdown have certainly been unprecedented, not only in terms of this school’s history but also on a global level. Thanks to the hard work of our teachers, we were able to continue our academic studies, our social and personal interaction inevitably suffered. The house community is the perfect forum to seek to compensate for this loss. My main aim this year is to embrace life. Through the creation of smaller communities within a larger community it allows students to create resilient bonds and connections with shared values. It is critical for us to embrace the plentiful opportunities that arise from the house community. It provides advice or encouragement and motivation and – of course – some healthy competition

17th September 20207th June 2022

SLT Aims for 2020 Part 1

In this week’s edition of WimLearn, Malin, Ariana, Alice and Hannah discuss their aims for the year in their roles on the 2020 Student Leadership Team.

Malin (Sports Captain):

As sports captain for this coming academic year, I am absolutely thrilled to be back as a sporting community. In terms of the aims that I (and the P.E department) have, we really want to place an emphasis on instilling a strong sense of camaraderie between everyone. Excitingly, despite the tightened rules and regulations, we will be back into teams and squads (e.g. netball, hockey, rowing, swimming etc…) which I’m sure will be very fun for everyone involved (albeit that no external fixtures will be taking place).

The only bad aspect of playing sports at school is- I’m sure you can agree- having to wear the smelly and unpleasant sports bibs. This will no longer be an issue! Not only will bibs we washed frequently, but equipment will also be thoroughly disinfected. I hope that everyone is as excited as I am to be back playing sports with friends, and if anyone has any questions feel free to reach out to either the PE department, me, or any of the new sport specific captains!

Ariana (Admissions Ambassador):

As Admissions Ambassador my aims for this year include: improving the buddy system by getting the new girls and the girls present in the school to write interests and pair the girls using similar interests, have more conversations with girls about to go into year 12 to help them prepare for the jump from GCSE to A Levels and set up a society for girls joining the school to help them feel more comfortable in their first few weeks at WHS.

Following on from this I want to improve the inter-year bond between Year 11s going into Year 12 and the year above them by having more meetings (either online or in person due to COVID-19) when they know which form they are going to be with in order to help them adjust quicker.

Lastly, I would like to try set up a virtual tour for Wimbledon High School so that we can accommodate the COVID-19 situation allowing new parents to tour the school online as well as hopefully encouraging more prospective international pupils.

Alice (Editor in Chief of Unconquered Peaks):

As Editor in Chief of Unconquered Peaks, it is my aim for this year to publish articles that both inform and challenge readers. In the age of the Instagram infographic, which has become particularly ubiquitous in the wake of the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement, nuance is more important than ever. It is important to be up to date with current affairs, but equally vital to understand issues and question things instead of taking things at face value.

My wonderful team of writers and I will endeavour to inspire critical thinking and a desire to explore. As well as offering interesting perspectives on the issues of the day, we will also be writing about things that we’re passionate about, from exciting areas of academia to our favourite books and films. I hope that Unconquered Peaks will keep everyone inspired and amused during this strange time!

Hannah (Charities & Partnerships rep):

The world as we know it has been turned upside down, in unimaginable ways over the past 6 months. Major charitable events (including the London Marathon and Glastonbury!) were cancelled, causing thousands of charities around the country to lose millions of pounds.

However, despite this adversity there is always hope. This year we will continue to support our partner charities, particularly Faith in Action, following the catastrophic increase in homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an unimaginable situation not having a roof over your head, or not knowing where your next meal will come from, and our alliance with London homeless charities is something I am keen to strengthen.

My primary aim for the coming academic year is to achieve this ongoing support; by raising awareness of individual causes both within school and our wider communities, encouraging everyone to get involved and take time out of their week to help others, and increasing our fundraising output by working towards the new charity targets.

This year, more than ever following the global pandemic, there will be more and more people in need, and we will strive to make this the best year yet for both fundraising and strengthening our partnerships here at WHS.

17th October 2019

Why should WHS connect more with the community?

Janvi, (Year 13) explains what her role as Charities and Partnerships Rep involves and explores her plans for the year. In our busy daily lives, why is it important to make connections to the wider world?

What does the role of Charities and Partnerships Rep involve?

I think it is reasonable to say that the average WHS girl leads a fairly busy life. With countless deadlines and extra-curricular commitments, sometimes it seems impossible to find time for yourself, let alone for others! As Charities and Partnerships Rep, one of my main duties is to remind students of the importance of giving time to charity and helping those in need. I truly believe the core characteristics lying at the heart of every WHS girl are empathy and kindness, and my aim is to motivate pupils throughout the school to use these values to help make a significant impact on the lives of people around us.

Another important aspect of my role is organising and running various charity events such as the Autumn Charity Fair which took place last week. It was heart-warming to see students of all ages working together to raise money for various causes, led by our newly elected year-group charity reps.

Aims for the year

My aims for this academic year fall under three categories:

Raising awareness

Bringing awareness to the work which a charity does is very important as it encourages more people to get involved and fundraise as well as bringing to light different issues faced by people across the world. For this reason, I plan to start a termly newsletter detailing the work done by our chosen year-group charities and the charity events that have been taking place.

Giving time and getting involved

As I have mentioned, giving time to charity is often neglected due to our busy lives, so with the help of our year-group charity reps, I would like to encourage people to take time out of their week to help others.

Increasing our fundraising output

Fundraising is crucial as charities need money to provide the people they help with specific resources and services. Therefore, the goal for each year group this year is to raise £300 per term towards their chosen charity.

Why is making connections to the wider world so important?

Our pastoral theme for this year is “Connections”, which is an idea that links very closely to charity and partnerships. When it comes to charity work, there is often a heavy focus on fundraising. Whilst giving money to charity is undoubtedly important, the power of connecting with individuals on a personal level is astounding and often underestimated. Every week during our Enrichment session at Kew House Care Home, I find myself astonished at the impact our visit has on the elderly residents. Seeing their faces light up as we chat to them and play games with them is a powerful reminder of the difference that can be made to a person’s life by simply giving your time and energy without expecting anything in return. To us, it is simply an hour out of our day every week, whilst to them we are making a significant improvement to their day.

Spending time with people in our community and making connections with them is also incredibly rewarding. Not only does it bring happiness and a sense of fulfilment and purpose, but it constantly challenges us to see the world from somebody else’s perspective and reminds us to be grateful for what we have. In our day-to-day life it is very easy to forget how lucky we are and the privilege we hold, but charity work enables us to put our problems into perspective which is crucial to living a fulfilling life.

For these reasons, my main goal this year is to encourage students to make connections, whether it be locally or globally, because giving a tiny fraction of your time to support a person who is in desperate need of help can truly make a significant improvement to their life.