WAINGELS Better Never Stops
WELCOME Lindsey Humber, Headteacher Welcome to Waingels. An exceptional school, at the heart of our community. Where we believe that Better Never Stops. I am sometimes asked what we mean by Better Never Stops. For us it means that we will never rest on our laurels, indeed we – all of us – students, staff and Governors - will always be striving to be better tomorrow than we are today. This means that we are constantly focused on ensuring we create the best possible learning climate that nurtures our young people and allows their natural talents and curiosity to ignite, grow and flourish. We are very fortunate that our buildings already provide the perfect setting for our students learning journey. Completely rebuilt in 2010 following a multi-awardwinning design, our buildings are modern, spacious, light, technology-rich and built entirely out of wood. There is a strong community focus – each of our four main blocks has a central forum staircase, and the buildings face inwards to our courtyard – filled with trees whose leaves follow the seasonal colours of the buildings – Green, Yellow, Red and Brown Waingels is a comprehensive school and we offer a broad and balanced curriculum, effectively differentiated and enriched to meet the needs of all students regardless of their background, advantage and ability. Our curriculum evolves and is agile to respond to the needs of our students. There is a long tradition of academic excellence at Waingels with many of our students achieving outstanding examination results and attending top universities. Approximately 60% choose to stay on after Year 11 in our Sixth Form and the vast majority of these choose to go on to university and to prestigious apprenticeships with Microsoft and Deloitte to name but two. However, we define the outcomes for our students in much more than just examination grades. Our students make above average progress from their various starting points and we provide a broad range of wider and extracurricular opportunities to enable them to develop their team work, leadership, problem solving, communication and creative skills. Our students leave us with a toolkit of skills and qualifications, ready to grasp the opportunities and embrace the challenges that the world will inevitably present them with. And our culture - the way we do things - is based on the values of Respect, Kindness, Resilience and Pride. The students, staff and governors at Waingels are proud of our school and we would be happy to welcome you if you would like to come and have a closer look. “Pupils enjoy being part of the inclusive community that is Waingels” OFSTED 2023
At the heart of our success is our commitment to establish and grow a Better Never Stops culture. Providing a safe, inclusive and rich learning environment where students feel valued, founded on respectful relationships for all. Learning at Waingels takes place in a climate of mutual RESPECT where diversity and difference are celebrated. Students strive for excellence in everything that they do and take PRIDE in their achievements, effort and conduct. We challenge our students to be independent, RESILIENT and responsible learners; to embrace challenge, to learn from disappointment and failure, and to accept the challenge that getting “better never stops”. We are proud of our students’ progress and effort and set high standards and expectations. We value kindness and expect all members of our community to be KIND, courteous and considerate. We all belong to a community and work together as a team in a spirit of co-operation, collaboration and support. Our values underpin our Waingels Ready expectations that we have for everyone within the Waingels community. These expectations form the basis of everything we do, and everything we believe in as a school and as a community. VALUES BASED ETHOS & CULTURE WAINGELS READY EXPECTATIONS I am prepared to learn I am a positive member of the Waingels community I am proud of my achievements, efforts, and successes I will respect myself, others, and our drive to learn and grow I will build resilience, remaining focused and on task I will be responsible for speaking and acting towards others in a kind way
QUALITY FIRST LEARNING “Teachers’ subject knowledge is strong” OFSTED 2023 “Students are resilient, responsible learners who embrace challenge and work together” TEACHER “Staff nurture and support students to ensure they are prepared for the future” SUPPORT STAFF “I really feel I can talk to my teachers and ask them for help” YEAR 8 STUDENT “Our teachers encourage us to have a go and help us to get better” YEAR 7 STUDENT “Students are encouraged to explore and question, to be curious and independent” YEAR 11 PARENT All of our teachers strive to create an environment for quality first learning. They do this by using the Waingels Way which ensures that students understand what their learning will look like across the school and guide them to aim high and achieve their very best.
EVERY CHILD NEEDS A CHAMPION We are committed to knowing our students as individuals and want each and every one of them to flourish. Our Intervention and Inclusion team is committed to; Progress We offer an inclusive, forward thinking education built around mutual respect and kindness. Growth We aim to support responsible and positive learners who are resilient to change. Excellent Provision Waingels is proud to offer students The Den which hosts a range of specifically designed spaces and specialist provisions. Wellbeing We have a School Counsellor, Nurture Assistants, Mental Health First Aiders and strong pastoral support systems to support and guide our students. “The curriculum is well sequenced. It builds pupils’ knowledge and develops skills for future learning and employment” OFSTED 2023 We pride ourselves on offering a traditional curriculum but our curriculum offer is so much more than this. All students have the opportunity to study a range of practical and vocational subjects including Creative and Performing Arts, Social Sciences, Sport and Beauty. Students not only make option choices for their GCSEs in Year 10; In Year 9, students are able to tailor their Arts, Design and Technology and Performing Arts curriculum, which means that they are able to spend more time specialising in the areas they enjoy the most. We believe this lets their talents flourish. Outside the formal curriculum we offer a wide range of extra-curricular activities and clubs ranging from football, rugby and netball to coding, debating and craft. We value the wider world and our students will have opportunities to travel around the UK and the world, with trips to London, the South Coast, Barcelona and more. CURRICULUM
RESILIENCE KINDNESS RESPECT PRIDE PRIDE We aim to motivate and enable our students to be independent learners who are ambitious and who are committed to excellence in the pursuit of academic achievement and personal development. RESPECT We aim to provide a safe, inclusive and rich learning environment where students feel safe and valued, founded on respectful relationships for all. RESILIENCE We aim to develop resilient, responsible and independent learners who embrace challenge and are prepared and equipped for life after school. KINDNESS We aim to be a community school with kind, courteous and considerate citizens who contribute positively to the communities we serve.
SIXTH FORM We provide young people with an exceptional academic platform, which gives them a strong start in life and a launch pad for the future, wherever it may take them. We hope that all Waingels students will want to progress to our Sixth Form and we offer a wide range of A Levels and Vocational qualifications to suit the needs of all learners. Our Sixth Form students achieve excellent results, that open the door to the courses they want to study at university or high-quality apprenticeship and employment opportunities. The Sixth Form Centre is a hub of activity and opportunity, with extensive ICT facilities, silent study space, Common Room and a Sixth Form café; supported by a team of dedicated and highly skilled teachers, tutors and pastoral support staff. “Waingels enabled me to achieve excellent grades, whilst also developing and growing as an individual. Without a doubt, my time in Waingels Sixth Form has been the best two years of my education” ALUMNI STUDENT “Students in the Sixth Form achieve ver y wel l and are wel l prepared for thei r next steps” OFSTED 2023 PREPARING STUDENTS FOR BRIGHT FUTURES
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT We nurture our young people to help them to reach aspirational academic outcomes whilst supporting their social and emotional development. Ensuring that they acquire knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and capabilities needed to contribute to our community as active, productive, responsible and creative citizens and live fulfilling lives. We have a Personal Development programme that is coherently planned to ensure that students have access to a wide range of rich experiences. This will include Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural Education (SMSC), Religious Studies (RS), Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education (PSHCE), British Values, Careers and Enterprise Education and Extra-curricular provision. Our students shape our school and have been influential in many decisions, including designing our school uniform, improvements to our school buildings and supporting our commitment to mentoring. This is through our active School Council which includes elected representatives in each year group led by our Head Team. Our tutor programme is planned to support each year group, helping them develop skills that will support them to be successful at Waingels and in the wider world. This includes mental health for each year group, study skills, careers and enterprise education and more. “Pupils throughout the school value the wide range of extracurricular clubs they can go to” OFSTED 2023
Waingels Road, Woodley, Berkshire, RG5 4RF www.waingels.wokingham.sch.uk 0118 969 0336 @WaingelsCollege Better Never Stops
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