Civitas Magazine - Spring 2018

The Civitas ARK ACADEMY’S OFFICIAL MAGAZINE SPRING 2018

UNIVERSITY APPRENTICESHIPS

WORK EXPERIENCE

GCSES CHOICE S

S S E C C U S O T S P STE

Dear Parents and Students, I am sure everyone understands the importance of the focus of the Spring Civitas – Steps to Success. We have this term paid particular attention to the needs of our students in relation to their choices, next steps, their pathways through school and beyond.

Sometimes their choices are not purely about academics but the life choices that they make and the impact of them on their next steps or even throughout life. I know Year 7 responded really well to our day’s programme called ‘Your Life you Choose’. Likewise Year 9 explored their next steps, not just GCSE choices in their Careers Day which gave them a real chance to think beyond school. We were also really delighted to host our fist Apprenticeship Day with our Sixth Form.

This massively successful event was aimed at again broadening the thinking of our students and ensuring they fully understand all the choices they have post sixth form. I am truly grateful to all the staff that planned this inspirational day and I continue to be absolutely certain that our sixth form are getting the best possible progression advice. Our sixth form truly goes from strength to strength.

The incredible experiences offered to our primary students also ensure that from the earliest age they have their minds opened to a whole range of experiences.

So many other experiences have been given to our students from the Litfest and the world of Slam Poetry (this has really taken off in Ark) aided by the fabulous award winning Harry Baker to our largest group of Duke of Edinburgh students to date. Truly we can cater for the mind, heart and body in Ark. There is so much to celebrate.

Students we now need to nail those exams and please read the exam stress tips inside this edition of the Civitas Magazine.

I wish one and all a very Happy and peaceful Easter break.

Delia Smith OBE Principal of Ark Academy

YEAR 9 CAREERS DAY February saw our Year 9 students embark on a day devoted to career exploration and ended with a speed networking event where they had the opportunity to talk with over 30 career professionals. With students dressed in their finest business attire the mature attitude and atmosphere was tangible!

The Fix Up team started the day with an incredible assembly, pupils were inspired to believe in themselves, to set themselves targets and not accept anything but the best for their futures.

Students followed this up with ‘The Real Game’, an activity that enabled them to explore their ‘dream’ future and compare this vision with the reality of career choices and income.

To say it was eye-opening would be an

understatement! The day culminated with students mingling amongst 34 professionals from various walks of life; asking tem questions such as ‘what do you enjoy about your job?’, ‘when did you decide to pursue this career?’ and of course ‘is your job well paid?’. We had lawyers, solicitors, doctors, financial advisers, aviation cabin crew staff along with authors, singers, physiotherapists and journalists to name but a few.

The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and took so much away from the day. They have a better understanding of the professional world and what it takes to be successful. I’m sure their GCSE option choices will have a far clear focus now!

Mr O’Carroll

UR LIFE, ‘YOUR YR77 ‘YO YR YOU CHOOSE’ Twenty Year 10 students spent a day at the Harrow offices of Ipsos Mori.

Ipsos MORI is the second largest market research organisation in the United Kingdom. They are behind some of the largest market research projects across the globe and many of you will have seen their work without realising it; they are behind the infographics shown on the BBC during a general election for example.

Students spent the afternoon in the Ipsos boardroom where they heard from various departments across the business.

The facilities and finance team shared their role in a global business along with insights from the team behind the surveys, the digital research team and HR department. Key messages came through from all sessions; that ‘standing out from the crowd’ on a CV is vitally important; students need to ensure they are developing themselves beyond their academic studies. Small details like handshakes, eye-contact and body language during interviews were highlighted time and time again. The students enjoyed feeling immersed in the business world and are keen to be involved in further insight days…watch this space.

Mr O’Carroll

Year 7 students spent a day in various workshops that exposed them to the importance of making the correct decisions in difficult situations. ‘Your Life, You Choose’ is a multi-agency initiative aimed at deterring young people from a life of crime. Pupils were lucky enough to hear from Magistrates, the Metropolitan Police, a HM Prison officer, an ex-offender and the ambulance service. Pupils were fully engaged with the various workshops and as a result they now have a much greater understanding of the consequences of crime; not only for the offender, but also their family and friends.

Mr O’Carroll

“It was an insightful day that enabled us to discuss multiple things with people from a multitude of departments within just one company. I enjoyed being able to hear it from the professionals” Hannah Mae (Yr 10)

IPSOS MORI

LIFE CHOICES PAGE 3

L We celebrated this year’s LitFest with a whirlwind week of literary events, culminating in World Book Day! Here’s a roundup...

We kicked off with ‘Around the world in 60 minutes’, featuring performances by 10 acts ranging from year 7 to year 12, and ably compared by year 10 superstars, Bipanshu Shah and Latoya Cardoza.

Our inspirational students and staff sang songs, and performed poems in their native languages, which included Greek, Somalian, Ukrainian, French, Spanish, Punjabi and Urdu, German and English, to name but a few. Thank you so much to Ms Lantza, Mr Asif, Ms Figueroa and Ms Searle and Mr Robinson, to everyone who took part, and to all staff who came to watch, alongside around 70 students.

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We were privileged to welcome award-winning slam poet, Harry Baker, to Ark. With huge numbers of students having already familiarised themselves with his works, there was a palpable buzz around school all day. He led workshops for years 7, 8 and 9, inspiring students to write and share their creative thoughts. He gave a brilliant assembly to year 9, talking about how he started writing poetry, and showcasing his work with them, which then encouraged more than 100 students to come and watch his incredible lunchtime performance in the library.

The afternoon was an inspirational treat of 3 poetry slams for years 6 and 7, year 8 and years 9-13. Each student who competed performed an original composition and all were a credit to themselves, and the audience were treated to some unbelievable acts. Highlights from year 7 included Jarrell Mulimbi’s hilarious performance of ‘Edible food’, Sarra Sghaier and Hela Basheer’s ‘Once upon a time’, and Hana Abdelatti’s ‘You’, talking about how you have the power to decide your life choices; highlights from year 8 included Da’jon Jones’s very honest and courageous poem about knife crime, an impressively confident Maksim Kobyashev discussing many topical issues in ‘Open for debate’, and Archie Mccrea’s beautifully composed ‘Clean slate’.

Team English, alongside the help of Mr Robinson and Mr Vick saw an excellent turn out of Grammarians for the first Gram Slam of 2018. It was very exciting as you can see from the photos.

The following students fought hard tied and are through to the Grammies in July: Hana M, Simran , Maryam , Priyansha and Niksika.

They will be joining our Newtonite winner Ghofran and our Socrates winner Khushi who won in Autumn term!

GRAM SLAM

All participants were nominated for silver merits and priority for a reward trip later this term!

Ms Hanna

The bar was raised yet again during period 7, with years 9-13 competing for the crown of ‘slam champion’. Standouts included Bathseba Fesehazion-Mahray’s (year 10) empowering performance, packing a serious feminist punch, Stacey Mulua Neto’s (year 9) moving poem embracing the issue of mental health, and a brand new composition from seasoned spoken word artist Milola Adelekan (year 13). The after-school Slam featured an impressive array of first-time performers, including Nour Antypa’s (year 12) heartfelt poem on belonging, and Ms Clark’s ‘When I Grow Up’ – highlighting how we could all aspire to be as persistent and adaptable as a river!

The competitiveness continued with World Book Day Games. Over 30 students took

Once again a champion year 10 represented Ark Academy at the “Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge”.

The competition was stiff as students spoke on a range of personal and emotive topics, from the rising threat of knife-crime in our capital to islamophobia in the modern media.

Despite the fierce competitors and inevitable nerves of speaking in front of such a large audience, Bipanshu Sharma represented Ark Academy amazingly. He spoke in an informed, passionate and articulate manner about the significance of mental health awareness and reminded competitors and audience members alike that our mental wellbeing is something that all of us should pay more attention too.

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part in 3 rounds of activities; the first, a ‘Bookalikes’ round – in which students had to find the common link between 5 books – tested their literary knowledge (one very clever round had 5 books written by authors who had surnames as teachers in the school). They then completed a literary Spelling Bee, and finally had the run of the library in a bid to hunt down and identify as many book characters and titles as possible. It was a closely fought competition with the following results: 1. Simran, Nitya, Misha & Priyansha (year 7) 2. Hela, Zina, Susain, Sarra & Saha (year 7) 3. Nora, Azka, Hana & Amir (year 7) World Book Day itself saw teachers across all departments transformed into an

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array of book characters in ‘Book Bingo’.

It was the task of students to ‘collect’ as many characters as possible – by trying to establish which book each teacher has escaped from. Thanks to the 80+ teachers who participated – including Mr. ‘Tinkerbell’ Chandler, Ms. ‘Trunchbull’ Barton and Fantastic Mr. ‘Fox-by’, to name just a few.

This year’s World Book Day theme was ‘share a story’, so it seemed only fitting to round off the week with the return of Real People Read – with twelve extremely civitas souls giving up their lunch breaks to treat year 7 to a storytelling session.

Favourites included Mr. Chandler’s retelling of the classic, ‘A Monster Calls’, Miss Johnstone’s foray into the Wonderful World of Henry Sugar, and Mr. Edmondson’s introduction to the mysterious vacuum

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cleaner God in Terry Pratchett’s ‘The Carpet People’. Meanwhile, Mr. Wanklyn, Mr. Bingham and Mr. Cheetham entertained with lively renditions of some of Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes. Thank you also to Ms Boyd, Ms Oyeniran, Ms Clark, Ms Shah, Ms Mariner and Mr Oxby, and to all who came to watch and support!

We are so grateful to every single staff member across the school who promoted, supported and participated in the events, activities and overall ethos of this week. A MASSIVE and heartfelt thank you for advocating the joy of reading!

Mrs Brandman

HARRY POTTER

Ms Clark

Almost 50 students and staff took part in our (slightly early) celebration of Harry Potter Night 2018 this lunchtime.

After being ‘sorted’, they had to use their expertise to categorise flobberworms and nifflers, amongst other beasts, according to their level of danger, using the well-known Ministry of Magic’s classification system.

Teams then had to guess what type of creature would hatch from a variety of magic eggs using the eggs themselves and some clues.

Round 3 tested their knowledge

of the Harry Potter books, requiring them to recognise which book various extracts came from, and finally, they took a trip to the bestiary, with volunteers choosing to either mime or draw whichever beast they pulled out of a hat.

Potter’s ongoing popularity can’t be overestimated, as seen by the numbers of students participating, which also included year 11s and a year 12, and their level of enthusiasm. Thanks to everyone who took part and supported.

Mrs Brandman

LIBRARY PAGE 5

WE WILL REMEMBER Year 9 had the privilege of hearing the testimony of George Vulkan who came to speak about his experiences of living through the Holocaust. Born in Austria, George spoke vividly and movingly about his escape as a 9 year old boy, first to Paris, and then to London, with his parents, leaving the rest of his extended family behind, and later learning of their murders by the Nazis.

All students and staff who attended were thoroughly engaged by his story. George held a question and answer session after his talk so that students could freely discuss and comment on what they had heard. With several of our students here at Ark also having been in the position of having to up and leave their home countries and families behind due to circumstances beyond their control, the message George left us with of the criticality of tolerance towards all others, regardless of differences of culture, faith, sexuality and so on, remains so relevant to the world and society today.

Mrs Brandman

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY I was joined by year 12 students Suchita Rana and Edil Mohamed at city Hall for the Holocaust Memorial Ceremony. We had been invited by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan as participants in the lessons from Auschwitz project, where our Ambassadors, Suchita and Edil visited the site of Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp. Since then, the girls have been working hard to educate the school community on the events of the Holocaust.

This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day theme, ‘The Power of Words’, was a reminder of how words can make a difference – both for good and for evil. We heard the testimonies Manfred Goldberg, a survivor of the Holocaust and Kemal Pervanic, a survivor of the Bosnian genocide. The words of these men reminded us of how important the memories of survivors are in our fight to rid our community of racism and prejudice.

Mr Oxby

SUPREMELY GOOD TRIP

Politics students visited and had an introduction to the role of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal and hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole population. During the trip, the students studied some landmark cases including: •

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R (Begum) v Governors of Denbigh High School [2006] a case about school uniform and the legal regulation of religious symbols and dress under the Human Rights Act 1998.

Bull and another v Hall and another [2013] a case about whether it was

HAMPTON COURT

Mr Grande

unlawful discrimination for Christian hotel owners to refuse a doublebedded room to a same-sex couple.

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FirstGroup Plc (Respondent) v Paulley (Appellant) [2017] a case about whether a bus driver should compel other passengers, disabled or nondisabled, to vacate a wheelchair space if it is required by a wheelchair user.

R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2017] a case about whether the government could initiate withdrawal from the European Union without an Act of the UK Parliament.

All of the students were excellent ambassadors for our sixth form, asking perceptive questions that displayed their in-depth political knowledge.

“Before visiting the Supreme Court, I had not realised how interpretation of the law can be so fiercely contested. It was fascinating to learn how issues ranging from school uniform, discrimination and Brexit have all ended up being debated in the Supreme Court. I know that this experience will help me in Politics A Level and give me ideas about my progression options after sixth form.” Maihan Bakhtani Mr Coward

30 enthusiastic Year 8 historians visited Hampton Court Palace, one of Henry VIII’s favourite palaces.

Having learned about the religious and political history of sixteenth and seventeenth century England, the students were really excited to follow in the footsteps of so many of the historical individuals they had learned about. This included walking through the room where Henry VIII ordered break from Rome, visiting the chapel where Henry married his sixth wife and wandering down the corridor supposedly haunted by Henry’s fifth wife, Catherine Howard! The students also had a workshop focusing on the Tudor religious rollercoaster, where they were able to show off their superb knowledge of the see-sawing between Catholicism and Protestantism. Kajal Kerai writes: “Mainly we went to Hampton Court Palace so we could learn about Henry VIII and his life, this included: his wives; children etc. We did many different activities. One of these was going around exploring the tapestries, which were handmade with silver and golden thread. They usually took years to make and were very expensive. Also, we had a workshop, throughout the workshop we had a guide to show us why Henry loved and cherished the palace more than the other palaces he had. In addition to this she also taught us about the different religions at the time. The most common faiths were Catholicism and Protestantism, and we learned how strongly the Tudors believed in religion.

The Tudor religious rollercoaster had ups and downs.

Also, their religion was different to each other. For example, Mary I was a strong Catholic, on the other hand Edward VI was a strict Protestant.”

HISTORY PAGE 7

Dear Primary school children & parents, Another packed term of events in the primary school – even the snow couldn’t stop us!

We have seen another successful World Book Day along with World Maths Day. Our Reception children have been astronauts for the day, our year 2 have been to the zoo and year 4 and year 3 have both been to the British Museum.

Year 5 – not to be outdone – have been learning Bollywood Dancing as well as a trip to the V&A and year 1 have been to the Brent Museum. We have all been to the local library recently because we know that reading is the most important thing that we do. Our class assemblies continue to be the hottest entertainment in town and I want to thank all the parents who have come along in such great numbers to support and even learn a few interesting facts along the way.

Fundraising has been of great importance to us and I would like to thank everyone who has helped. We have so far raised over £3000 as a result of our bake sales, movie nights, themed days, discos and much more. This is helping us to create a really exciting new playground for the children in Key Stage 1. Please do get in touch if you can help us to raise more funds or would like to be involved.

The theme of this Civitas Magazine is “Pathways” and I am proud to be part of our all-through academy whose shared mission is that every child will be able to go to university or have the career of their choice. We have tried to give many “real-life” experiences to the children, including engaging people from all walks of life here in school. The Firemen have been to visit the Nursery and year 4 and 6 children have been working with “MyBnk” in order to learn how to be smart with money when they get older.

Coming up soon is our “Art Week” and we are delighted to be hosting several artists that will also be talking to children about careers in the arts. We may have the next Van Gogh at our school already!

Thanks for your continued support.

Peter Watkins Primary Headteacher

Reception have been learning all about Space. It was our half term homework to design and make an astronaut suit to wear to school for Astronaut day. On Astronaut day we learnt all about the job’s that astronauts do. We even found out how they brush their teeth and wash their hair in space. Finally, our parents came to watch our Astronaut fashion show, where we got to show our friends and family the astronaut suits we made. We all want to be astronauts when we grow up!

Miss Devlin

BRITISH MUSEUM This Term 60 children and 8 parents set off for the British Museum. The reason for our visit was to immerse ourselves in as many Egyptian artefacts as we could fit in. We boarded the coach and after much excitement arrived at the museum.

We split into groups and using our booklet and maps as guides we sought out all the artefacts we wanted to find.

First we came across Canopic Jars which we have learnt so much about in class. It was amazing to see things that were made thousands of years ago. We also saw mummified bodies which some of us thought was really gross but really cool at the same time! We had an amazing day applying all our knowledge from our lessons to what we were now physically seeing in front of us.

Ms Ryan

NOT LIKE THE OLD DAYS As a part of our topic on ‘Changes’, Year 1 have been learning about how things have changed from when our parents and grandparents were children compared to now. We learnt about how schools are different, how clothing has changed and how technology has gotten better over the last twenty years. From our trip, we learnt about how toys have changed and we saw a lot of very old toys made from different materials. The oldest toy we saw there was a doll made from wood and ceramic made in the early 1900s!

Ms Burke

THEATRE MAGIC WORLD BOOK DAY

EYFS and Year 1 students had an exciting afternoon seeing the show Big Goldilocks and The Three Bears Plus. They enjoyed watching the retelling of the story ‘Goldilocks and The Three Bears’ and some of the children even volunteered in the show, displaying the Ark value of participation. The students were both attentive and supportive towards the actor and volunteers on stage; showing excellent Civitas! It was a great way to teach children about the Performing Arts and instill in them a passion for reading.

Ms Tracey

V&A MUSEUM

On the last day of the half term, Year 5 Devi Class visited the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of our History Topic ‘Leisure and Entertainment in the 20th Century’, not only did we get to see the exhibition to support our learning but we attended a workshop where we discovered how clothing had changed over time. An interesting and enjoyable day was had by all.

Miss Pickering

PRIMARY PAGE 9

Dear Sixth Form students and parents, Though Spring has officially sprung it is hard to believe it as the snow builds on the window frame as I write my Easter letter! But even though it may not look like spring it is certain that we are moving ever more rapidly to the ever important AS and A-Level exam season.

The second set of mock are now behind us it is hugely important that our Sixth Formers use these exams for that which they are designed – as learning tools!

Mistakes are only “mistakes” if we don’t use them to push our learning on. I encourage all of our 6th formers to reflect on the parts that weren’t correct and use that as the basis for their Easter revision. I would encourage everyone not to get hung up on the outcomes, both the pleasing and the disappointing.

This is a mock – there is still time to rectify the outcome for the real exams which start in May. Year 13 pupils are now entering their final half term at Ark Academy. It still takes me by surprise to know that they are our most senior year group. It is now their time to be most selfish and take every last ounce of learning and opportunity that comes their way. I would like to thank all of the teachers who have given up their time over the Easter period to come into school to run revision sessions. I expect to have a full complement of Year 13 every day until their study leave starts taking full advantage of the expert advice on hand to guide them through the final preparations for the exams.

So with that in mind I urge you let the Easter break refresh you, clear your head, prepare yourself for the final term. Make sure that in this forthcoming exam season you are confident, renewed and ready to show everyone just how hard you have worked over the past number of years.

I wish you all a rejuvenating and peaceful Easter.

Tracey Keane Director of Ark Academy Sixth Form

Will they be ‘hired’ or Ark Academy’s first Ap

Mr Ding

All our sixth-formers abandoned their lessons as we held our inaugural ‘Apprentice Day’. It was a big commitment: over the course of the day 180 students were put through a full-scale recruitment process for an apprenticeship, completing a one-on-one interview, a group task and an online skills assessment. To make the day possible, we partnered with three top apprenticeship providers, Lloyds Banking Group, Transport for London and The Civil Service, who all generously made employees available to interview the students.

But why did we do it?

We have been watching closely as the number of Higher and Degree Apprenticeships for school leavers has been rapidly increasing in recent years and have read the Sutton Trust research about the ‘access gap’ that exists for the best programmes. We also know from speaking to our students that prejudiced views about the value of apprenticeships are widespread.

The objectives of ‘The Apprentice, Ark-style’ were two-fold: to challenge any preconceptions our students and their parents may have about apprenticeships; and to give them all practical experience in the kinds of tasks and interviews they are likely to face whenever they enter the workforce.

How did it work?

The students were split into three streams, with 50-60 students competing for each of three ‘imaginary’ apprenticeships: software development

at TfL, business administration at The Civil Service, and project management at Lloyds. The students were given a briefing on the role they were applying for and plenty of advice and time to prepare themselves. The guest interviewers were especially impressed with the research many of the students had done into their companies and the depth of the experiences many of them were able to draw upon when giving examples.

Shahir Yadgari from 12 Rogers said “the most inspirational thing I took from the day was that I now understand that I can end up in the same place whether I do a degree or an apprenticeship”, while for Medan Kwaw “the best bit of the day was getting feedback on my interview technique”.

At the end of the day the students gathered together in the hall to hear who had been ‘hired’. The successful students were Iman Ahmadi (The Civil Service), Hammad Ahmed (Lloyds) and Varruni Somasundaram (TfL), but what stood out most was the tight competition.

Isabell Palmer, the Head of Non Domestic Policy and Engagement at The Civil Service’s Department for Business, Skills and Industrial Strategy said “We were very impressed by the sixth formers we met, who all seemed to be of a consistently high standard. They are a credit to the school. The Apprentice Day was a great opportunity for students to find out more about the opportunities on offer in the world of work. They got a very realistic insight into how companies recruit, which should give them more confidence for the future.”

While Sophie Pinn, who works on the roll-out and promotion of apprenticeships at the DfE, said “What a wonderful day! And such a great opportunity for the students to find out more about apprenticeships and the choices they have after school. I was really impressed with how professional, polite and well-turned out the Ark students were. I’ve no doubt Alan Sugar would hire them all!”

‘fired’? – pprentice Day Over the past three years,

56,200

people have started a higher or degree apprenticeship. The government has pledged to create 3 million apprenticeships across all levels by 2020.* Our first ‘networking’ event By 5pm the pressure of the application process had subsided, but we weren’t finished yet. It is commonly accepted that the lack of a ready-made ‘network’ of contacts to draw upon for career advice is one of the biggest barriers to social mobility.

For this reason we finished the day with our first sixth-form ‘networking event’ at which our students rubbed shoulders and sought advice and inspiration from 64 special guests, representing the broadest possible range of careers.

John, a geologist who works for Shell International said: “I thoroughly enjoyed it .The students were really serious and professional, I genuinely enjoyed talking with them” , whereas Suchita Rana from 12 Hadid said “The networking event was really informative and such a great chance for us to meet some incredible people.”

Before the event some grumbles were heard in the sixth-form study room (“why do we have to do this the week before the mocks!?”). However there was a palpable buzz in the air throughout our first ‘Apprentice Day’ and by the end of the networking event, many of the students were visibly energised. Munira Ali in 13 Ford summed it up when, after speaking to Leo McNally from Unlocked (a new programme for recruiting top graduates to work in prisons) she said “Now I just want to smash my A-levels, get my degree and start working. I’ve found exactly what I want to do.”

We hope all our students can sustain the same level of vision and ‘intrinsic motivation’ through the next few months and wish them all luck in their upcoming mock exams.

77%

After finishing, of apprentices stay with the same employer, 46% received a pay rise, and 36% reported getting a promotion.* * Statistics from GOV.UK

* Statistics from GOV.UK

@ 28,000

Up to apprenticeship vacancies are available online at any one time.* *Statistics from GOV.UK

1 in 5

Companies have a former apprentice at

Board Level Higher apprentices could earn The government is investing £60m in supporting the training of apprentices from the poorest areas in the country and providing support for apprentices with learning or other disabilities, to ensure social mobility for all.

£150,000

more on average over their lifetime compared to those with level 3 vocational qualifications.

RM FOTS E AR THTH SIX PAGE 11

At the beginning of spring term, the A Level Politics students visited the Westminster Parliament. In the House of Commons, the students heard Brent North MP Barry Gardiner scrutinising Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade, about the economic impact of Brexit. In the House of Lords, students observed peers from all parties working together to improve tenancy rights for victims of domestic abuse.

The students were then able to take part in their own parliamentary style debate.

POLITICS IN MOTION

Edil Mohamed, in 12 Hadid, said “visiting Parliament was an incredible opportunity. I had not realised how easy it is for ordinary people to visit Parliament. It is brilliant that we can see directly what is happening in Parliament. I have since been back in my own time and hope to return in future.”

A Level Politics gives students a valuable qualification that enables them to access the top universities, but just as importantly, it gives them knowledge and experience that enables them to be active citizens in our democracy.

Mr Coward

TOP CLASS CHEMISTRY

Ark Academy was thrilled to discover that our past pupil Jai Sorbaji-Stewart (Class of 2017) achieved the top 5 highest marks in the Slaters Advanced Chemistry course.

Jai was over the moon with his achievement and while he knew he had done well, getting and A* in A-Level Chemistry, to learn he was in the top 5 was beyond his expectation. “I always enjoyed the course and the challenge presented through the spiralled curriculum, it made sense to me to study chemistry in real world settings.”

I taught Jai Chemistry since he started at Ark Academy in Year 7 and was thrilled with his achievement. To achieve such a high grade in Chemistry is particularly difficult as the subject and exam is so multifaceted. It shows a real flare for a multitude of skills, and obviously his affinity to Maths has helped, but the level of extended writing, decoding questions from difficult and unfamiliar contexts, reading longer chemical literature in order to access questions and be pin-point accurate with answers is by no means easy! Jai is a credit to himself and his work ethic and his dedication has paid off.

Jai is now studying Maths at St. Johns College Cambridge and while his first passion lies in the world of mathematics he hasn’t quite ruled out a future career in Chemistry.

Ms Keane

How to manage exam stress Top tips!

Use Post-it notes to help break ideas down into bite-sized chunks and highlight key points you wish to remember.

Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day to form a good sleep routine.

De-clutter your mind and your environment Give social media a break ...

Make sure you make a timetable to organise what revision or essay work you’re going to tackle each day. It really helps you set out what you need to do in small chunks.

Break up your revision with some exercise! Whether it’s a brisk walk or a session in the gym, not only will it let your mind relax for an hour, you’ll also get a burst of energy.

Keep your body and brain well-fuelled by choosing nutritious foods that have been proven to aid concentration and memory.

Looking over some past exam questions or even answering some in exam conditions can help calm your nerves.

Focus on you and don’t worry about anyone else. Remember your best is good enough!!

RM FOTS E AR THTH SIX PAGE 13

DUKE OF EDINBURGH EXPEDITION In preparation for their Duke of Edinburgh expedition, students ventured into central London. Students worked in groups and had to follow a set route whilst solving cryptic clues and finding the answers to questions based on the history, culture and architecture of London. In order to do this successfully, they needed to apply their understanding of map reading and had to work effectively as a team, elements which are assessed as part of their Duke of Edinburgh expedition. We visited St. Paul’s cathedral, Tate Modern, Tower Bridge and the HMS Belfast. All students applied themselves to the challenging task and as a result, they

all completed their routes successfully! An enjoyable day out had by all! Students will go on their expedition during the summer term. The assessed expedition lasts for two days, during that time students must navigate their way through the countryside as a group, following routes that they have planned. Students must also be able to set up camp and cook for themselves. I have been very impressed by the students’ dedication to completing the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. A huge well done for all the hard work so far!

Ms Sandeman

ARK DEBATE WINNERS Our team of excellent Year 9 debaters managed to win the Ark Senior Debating Championship yesterday! The first debate with Bolingbroke was extremely tough but they secured a very close win then went from strength to strength through the rest of the debates and performed brilliantly in the final against Burlington Danes. Hadeal was also awarded an individual award for best speech and Hamza was given best speaker of the day. They all worked extremely hard and are thrilled with their big trophy. Congratulations to Hadeal, Ismail, Adriarna, Theodore and Kyla!

Ms Whitehead

MATHS CHALLENGE

In February the UKMT held their annual Intermediate Maths Challenge. Aimed at pupils with a keen eye for solving problems, the challenge comprises 25 multiple choice questions which the candidates must complete in one hour. Several students have participated in an after school mentoring programme with the aim of developing their problem solving skills since September. Ark Academy entered 13 students from year 9 and 7 from year 10, hoping to have a few of them progress to the next round (the Kangaroo papers) by scoring at least 82 out of the maximum 135 marks. The students prepared well for the afternoon and brought with them their enthusiasm and love of all things mathematics. Best of luck to Alex and Ismail Abbas who made it to the next round.

Mr Triantafilidis

I... HAD.. THE TIME OF MY LIFE Even through the cold, wet and snowy weather conditions, students had an amazing experience at Kingswood and many lasting memories and new friendships were formed. We had an amazing time there and it was a great opportunity for the students to be brave, have fun and take advantage of new experiences. One of the highlights on the trip included seeing Mr Jarrett do the 3G swing, swinging from a great height!

The students really enjoyed themselves taking part in Archery, 3G swing, Â Leap of faith, High Equilibrium and the Kingswood disco- to name a few.

Miss Lisk

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C I S U M E S U O H First up were the Socrates soloists Jonathan and Grace, performing Ed Sheeran’s Perfect, followed by Socrates’ choir entry, conducted

by Angel, a year 10 student. They mixed together Read All About it and No Words, mid-way through adding a rap from Jeliqa, and accompanied by Jonathan on Cajon.

SOLO 4th

CHOIR 1st

Next up was Curie; their duo act featured Meesha and HannahMae who performed a version of Running by Beyonce. Their choir performance, a mix of Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and Am I Wrong, featured excellent solos from Elidona and Paul.

SOLO 1st

CHOIR 4th

CHOIR

Plato’s entry came from Milo and Bilan, performing “Too Good At Goodbyes”. Plato’s choir followed with their rendition of “Impossible”, with Faith and Teonne contributing solo’s to their entry.

3rd

SOLO 2nd

SOLO 3rd

CHOIR 2nd

Finally, Newton’s solo act brought down the tempo with the Labrinth ballad Jealous, performed by Ashante, and accompanied by Amirah. The last act, Newton choir, featured dances by Bathseba and Miss Gatford, and Elizabeth on solo vocals singing When Doves Cry. The show was then brought to a close with an energetic version of Finesse, conducted by Miss Anderson.

ROBOT WARS

Ark’s Robotics Club entered our first Vex IQ Robotics Competition.

The two student’s teams of Bytebots and Fl1pbots played their initial competition at the City of London Freemen’s school.

They were up against fifteen teams from various state and private schools.

In the regionals they played 13 matches across a whole day which meant that the teams quickly had to get to grips with a complicated scoring system and some quick tactics to remain in contention.

After the first few matches the table positions became set and remained relatively constant throughout the whole day and our teams, the Bytebots finished the first round in 6th and Flipbots 15th.

Despite their table positions our students persevered till the very end, improving and adapting with each match. The Bytebots eventually ended up 3rd, only just missing out on an automatic place in

the National finals.

However as we were the ‘fastest losers’ we secured a place at the UK National finals.

This time our venue was a huge arena in Telford, and we we’re competing against 3 times as many teams, but our students weren’t fazed After the first round we ended 10th out of 45 teams. This was a great achievement for a team that wasn’t even supposed to be there and in their first ever year competing. In order to finalise their place Bytebots had one more match. Of course being Ark students, they knew how to excel in front of a packed arena of their peers and are now the 4th best UK team.

They did us proud and this is well deserved achievement by our students as they put an immense amount of hard work to achieve this.

Mr Asare

REWARD ART This term saw the return of the Art Reward trip where 30 of our year 9 students were able to experience the delights of contemporary Art and Design.

Our first stop was the Tate modern, where students were asked to explore, sketch and write about paintings and sculptures that inspired them. It certainty

sparked some interesting debates about what Art is and how it can be represented through abstract forms and everyday objects. The conclusion? Well, the Year 9’s certainly approved of the swing installation in the Turbine hall.

Museum looking at the history of design from the perspective of the user, maker and designer. A lot of the exhibits at the museums were interactive displays, and as always our students behaved impeccably well. We all had a lot of fun.

The afternoon was spent at the Design

Ms Mchaffie

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THE POWER OF BOXING

HIJAB POWER On International Women’s Day, some of our fabulous girls featured on the BBC’s ‘Power of the hijab in sport’.

Check out the video: www.bbc.co.uk/sport/43332471

Leroy (from Sweet Science Boxing) has been coming in to provide boxing/ mentoring sessions to some of our Y10 pupils.

Although there is a clear focus on physical training and boxing, Leroy also dedicates a significant amount of time to talking through a variety of social issues including: •

The importance of self-discipline, punctuality and being organised

•

Knife crime and having a weak mental attitude

•

Race/and or racism and people’s perceptions of young black people

•

Specifically Ark Academy School rules and why they are important (e.g. walking/hanging around in big groups on streets after school)

•

Anti-social behaviour

•

Success and having what it takes to make it

We had an excellent debate with the students about why people may feel intimidated by large groups of young people walking together. Despite being reluctant to begin with they really started to open up to the idea of why this can be a problem in society and participated with some excellent responses and ideas. The participation and engagement by all pupils was superb!

Mr Foster

Did you know Miss Shaikh is a six time Kung Fu World Champion?!

The PE department hosted a Year 7 boys Football tournament on our 3G. We entered two teams (A & B) with Ark Elvin, St Gregs & JFS each bringing one team. We had 24 boys representing Ark and a lot of these boys for the first time. The boys all played in excellent spirit showing great skill and persistence which was rewarded as our A team managed to win the tournament!

Shout out to our Noelani in year 7. She was featured in the Watford Football Club magazine, The Hornet.

YEAR 7 VICTORY

READ ALL ABOUT IT

BRENT BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS We travelled to Capital City Academy for the final of the Brent senior boys basketball competition. With Coach Carter [aka Mr Robinson] brimming with confidence I couldn’t help but hope that he wasn’t being too complacent. That’s not Coach’s style…he just knew his troops too well. With Cameron Russell and Elliot Howard appearing in their last ever competitive basketball game for Ark Academy we all wanted them to sign off in style. Many of you will know that they have been the basketball pin ups for some time…acting as incredible role models to younger students both on and off the court. They also wanted to make sure they left a lasting impression and they didn’t disappoint. Cameron Russell was sensational… leading the team from the tip off to last second of the game.

Not only was this a final for Cameron, it was also his A Level PE Practical assessment…the pressure was high but he coped as if it was just another game…he did what he does best…enjoyed himself!! Elliot has had his ups and downs with dislocated knees and a broken leg over the years so it was great to see him fit and well and complete the full 40 minutes…again it was clear to see that he loved every minute.

With Matthew David Tate back, we had the nucleus of an excellent team. Add Joel Ageyekum to those three and the team start to look frightening! Pace, power and passion covering every inch of the court! Having said all that we started slow…with Newman stealing an early lead…a lead that took nearly 10 minutes to claw back. Over arousal was playing its part with at least 5 or 6 missed opportunities in the opening minutes. It was Cameron who settled the nerves with a composed lay up to get us into the game. With points

on the board we were able to relax and let our basketball do the talking…at times it was difficult to keep up with the speed of our movement and passing. Newman had two or three boys who were technically very good and every time it looked like we were going to pull away they would find a gap and score a couple of points to keep them in it.

Yousef Bensar has become an important member of the squad having not featured in the basketball team throughout years 7-11. It’s a credit to his willingness to get fit and turn up to training every Friday!! He played his part with some important rebounds on both defence and offence. Devonte and Lemuel from Year 11 made up the remainder of the squad…there is no way you could tell they were Year 11. They were more than capable of holding their own against the Newman boys; Devonte excellent with the ball in hand while Lemuel causes opposing defences all sorts of problems with his strength and speed!

By the end of the third quarter we were marginally ahead… wise words from the backroom coaching staff [Ms Rees & Mr Semugabi] helped the boys focus for the final 10 minutes and ultimately stretch their lead. In the end we ran out comfortable winners A huge thank you must go to Mr Robinson for all of his work with these boys, to Ms Rees for joining the coaching team since Christmas and giving them a pep talk when needed and to Mr Semugabi for his continued support [its means so much to the boys].

Mr O’Carroll

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Happy Easter