We have started this year with a lot of achievements and successes, both collective and individual, with some of these included in this term’s edition of the Webberzine.

Firstly, our 2024 GCSE results were an improvement from 2023’s results, continuing the upward trajectory in our overall progress performance. With a positive Progress 8 score of +0.08, we have moved up to 5th out of all schools in Shropshire. This is a fantastic achievement and is a fitting testament to the combined efforts of the students in this cohort and how well they engaged with the support given by their class teachers. You can view the performance tables for Shropshire here:

Our Head Boy, Leon, and Head Girl, Tilly, joined me on BBC Radio Shropshire, every Friday morning in September, in their Winner Stays On quiz. We enjoyed a winning streak which earned us the right to have our own ‘walk-on’ music, which we asked one of our school bands, Kaos, to perform. Tilly, Leon and I were thrilled to be able to give band members David, Natasha, Sam, Will M and Will R the chance to perform on local radio, their cover of Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Our winning streak has earned us a place in the Champion of Champions round of Winner Stays on, with our appearance in the semi-final being at 9am on Thursday 19th December.

During this edition of the Webberzine, you will get to read about some of our Curriculum Day trips to Harper Adams University and Blists Hill – contrasting visits as the former looks to the future, with the latter looking at the influence of the past on our lives today. You will also find out more about our students’ achievements in articles on some of the STEAM extra-curricular activities we have taken part in this term – the RAF’s Glider Challenge and the Faraday Challenge. And just before the October half-term, we held our annual STEAM Awards, which recognises and celebrates the achievements of our students, in the STEAM subjects. The overall award for STEAM Student of the Year was given to Rohan France.

There were plenty of individual achievements spanning the term, with many students making fantastic progress in their academic, reading and sporting endeavours. Accelerated Reader achievements, which recognise this important part of Mary Webb School and Science College life, are included a bit later on. In sports news, we there is an article on a brother and sister who, through sustained high performance and effort, are excelling in their chosen team sports – this is as much about their physical fitness as it is about their character.

Sticking with the theme of character, three of our Year 8 students, Maisie, Konrad and Jayden, embodied our value of being supportive, when coming to the rescue of an 87-year-old lady who took a fall in Pulverbatch. She had been on the floor for around half an hour, before our three students heard her calls and came to her aid. They enlisted the help of a person in a nearby house, as they were unable to safely help the lady to her feet on their own. The lady took the time to write to me at the end of November to make me aware of the kindness shown to her by our students.

After half-term, we welcomed a broad range of over 40 employers, post-16 providers and higher education institutions into school for our annual Careers Fair. You can read more about this towards the end of the Webberzine.

To conclude the term, there was our Annual Christmas Showcase, which was our best attended yet. You’ll enjoy reading about it and seeing some of the photos of our talented performers in the section of the Webberzine which covers it.

On behalf of the students, staff and governors of Mary Webb School and Science College, we hope you all have a fun-filled and festive end to the year, as you all enjoy a restful and relaxing break with your family and friends.

Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mr P J Lowe-Werrell

Headteacher

Faraday challenge competition winners

On Monday the 25^th of November I took part in the Faraday challenge, which the school hosted. This year the challenge was to use batteries in your product, but that is all I can tell you as this is part of a National challenge and the exact nature of the challenge must remain a secret so no one has an unfair advantage.

My group worked well together and were pleased with our end product, which we had to present to the Judges. There were lots of other great inventions presented by the other attending schools, Meole Brace and Church Stretton. It was a very fun day with lots of teamwork and challenges to overcome.

Sadly, my team didn’t win, but the other Mary Webb team did, which was amazing! We now have to wait for the official scores to be published to see how our winning team fairs compared to others in the National Competition. If they are one of the 3 top teams they will be invited to a finals event in the summer term.

By: Gracie-Mae Harris

Congratulations to all those who were chosen to represent the school

This year saw a record number of STEAM awards being presented at the annual awards ceremony. Awards are presented for the highest achieving students in each of the STEAM subjects as well as the students who have made the most progress. The reason for the increased number is the vast array of extra-curricular activities and competitions that students have been involved with over the year. The following students took to the stage and spoke with enthusiasm about the activities they took part in over the year:

Harper Adams trip

Today we went on a school trip to Harper Adams University, we arrived at the campus around 10:30am. When we arrived, we got greeted in a lecture room and started our first task. We were given a piece of plain paper and were told to write one word or phrase that you associate with University. We then made snowballs out of them and had a snowball fight. This shows how we view the University. Then we had a couple of team challenges, to build a tower and a bridge out of lego.

Then we had lunch before doing a quiz all about University life and looking at stereotypes for who goes to University. Finally, we had a tour of the University.

By: Lily-Mae Green

The trip was interesting in many ways of peoples’ perspective. In my opinion it was good to look at this amazing University, I enjoyed it, and it gives me a chance to think of what University to choose in the future. I’d like to go to Oxford University because I like Palaeontology and they’re the best University for that type of career.

But in my opinion the trip was excellent and thank you for taking us there today CHEERS!

By: Robert Johns

Leon has recently been selected for the Gloucester Rugby Academy and continues his role as Captain for the U16’s at Shrewsbury Rugby Club and is thoroughly enjoying both roles.

Freya has been working really hard in her football and has been signed for Wolves U14 Girl’s Academy as their goalkeeper this season.

Since signing over the summer she’s been attending two 3hr training sessions after school and a Saturday game, she’s doing amazing and taking it all in her stride.

“This morning, 11 employers came to Mary Webb School to talk to Year 9 about different careers. It was interesting because I heard some jobs being mentioned which I had never heard of before.”

Karina

“I was interested about hospital jobs and learnt just to go for it! I also learnt from today, to focus and try your best in everything you do.”

Tia

“The people who I talked to, have taught me to have a job that you love, and enjoy, and to work hard”

Lotan

“In the future I’ll probably end up working as a care worker. The reason for this is because I like the idea of looking after people and being there for them. I want to be able to make people’s lives better.”

Lexi

“This morning I learned from 11 different employers that you don’t just need a degree and A Levels, you need a good attitude and perseverance.”

Ashton

“What I found interesting was, that not only is working hard important, but so is confidence. I did not know that you don’t need degrees for so many careers, and I was surprised to know that even without a particular degree, you can have a high up job.”

Isolde

“I enjoyed listening, and learning about jobs that I didn’t even know existed. I think when I’m older I want to work with animals.”

Tilly

“Communication and listening is very important in jobs. I don’t think I liked any of their jobs, so it wasn’t very helpful for me, but two people gave amazing advice that really stood out. A Shrewsbury Town Football Coach said to follow our passion, no one else’s. Steve Owens also gave great advice. He said to have the right attitude, and teamwork is crucial for most jobs. He also said to be honest with ourselves. If we haven’t worked hard, say it. We don’t want to look back and say we wish we had done that.”

“It was a fun experience, they took time to speak to the year nines, I would happily do it again”

Ajay

“I want to be a builder, so hopefully in the future I can build my own house.”

Rilon

We have recently carried out a review on how the school utilises the Accelerated Reader programme which we subscribe to for KS3. In order to use it to it’s full potential, we have started to record and celebrate the school’s ‘reading stars’, based on data such as most words read and quizzes passed.

Students have been doing brilliantly, reading lots and earning house points and prizes along the way. Well done to all those who have taken quizzes this term!

Most Words Read

1. Henry Shepherd (yr7) – 1,545,244
2. Konrad Stokes (yr8) – 1,140,714
3. Oliver Lewis (yr7) – 566,789
4. Lily Hilton (yr7) – 465,959
5. Isobel George (yr8) – 357,212
6. Harvey Durham (yr7) – 338,143
7. Bethany Hughes (yr9) – 337,242
8. Keelan Jones (yr8) – 299,464
9. Tillena Morris (yr9) – 209,385
10. Charlie Williams (yr7) – 155,945

Congratulations to Henry Shepherd in year 7, and Konrad Stokes in year 8, who have both read over 1 million words this term! Both students will be awarded with a gift voucher for Theatre Severn, to celebrate this fantastic achievement.