Brampton Manor Academy News “Outstanding” (Ofsted 2012) Success through Effort and Determination
Issue 27: February 2016
Dear Parent/Guardian, Important Dates This has been an incredibly busy but successful term at the Half Term: 15 to 19 February 2016 school. In January, the government published the GCSE and A Back to School on Monday 22 February 2016 level performance tables which confirms that we are the most Year 12 Exams: 22 to 26 February successful school at GCSE and A level in Newham. Some key Year 13 Exams: 7 to 11 March 2016 highlights of the table are as follows: Year 12 Parents Evening: 8 March 2016 In 2015, 76% of our students achieved 5 or more A*-C Year 10 Work Experience 21 to 25 March 2016 grades including English & Maths and 53% achieved the English Baccalaureate. Our value-added score places us in Year 7 Residential trips: 21/22 March and 23/24 March 2016 the top 1% of all schools in the country. Ski Trip: 25 March to 31 March 2016 Our 2015 GCE A level results are clearly the best in INSET Day: 24 March 2016 (school closed to Newham and the East London region: 63% achieved A*/A students) grades and 86% A*-B grades. Our value-added score of Spring Break: 25 March to 8 April 2016 +0.45 shows that our students performed almost half a grade better than they would have done elsewhere! In 2015 five of our students went to Oxford and Cambridge universities to study Medicine, English literature, Geography, Engineering and Biological sciences. Our overall Russell Group progression rate for 2015 was 85% and this is the best of any state school in the country! In 2016, five of our current students hold offers to study medicine, mathematics, political and social sciences at Cambridge and Oxford universities. Our Russell Group university offers currently stands at 93%! The recently completed year 11 mock examinations shows that our students are on track to achieve amazing grades in their GCSE examinations later this year. Our A level students have their mock examinations after the half-term and we are very pleased with the progress that they are making. We remain a massively oversubscribed school both at year 7 and year 12 (A level). In order to meet the huge demands from our parents, we are building additional classrooms to enable us to increase our intake. We have submitted our planning application to the council and are optimistic of a positive outcome. This development will undoubtedly make many more of our local residents happy as it would enable them to get their children into an outstanding school. We will keep you informed of developments in this area. Thank you for continuing to work in close partnership with us to make Brampton Manor the school of choice in Newham. Dr Dayo Olukoshi, OBE, Executive Principal
Brampton Manor Academy, Roman Road, London E6 3SQ
020 7540 0500
Brampton Manor Academy is trying to find the next big talent who can represent the school against Langdon Academy in TRUST’S GOT TALENT. The auditions have already taken place where we witnessed some exceptional talents ranging from beat boxing, gymnastics, martial arts, dancing, Djing and of course a large number of singers. The standard was incredibly high, therefore it was extremely difficult to choose just 16 acts to go through to the second round but with a lot of consideration we finally managed it. The year 7 cohort will be the live audience for the second round and will play a big part in selecting which amazing 5 acts will go through to the final on Wednesday 2 March to compete against Langdon Academy. I’m sure we have the winner who will finally bring back the title ‘TRUST’S GOT TALENT 2016 Champion’ to Brampton Manor Academy.
Year 9 G&T – KPMG and Cambridge University Trip The Year 9 Gifted and Talented group recently attended a workshop at KPMG and a visit to Cambridge University. They are completing a project in which they learn to put forward a business proposal. They will be planning a regeneration project for Newham and exploring how to use the space left when West Ham football club move to Olympic stadium. This extensive project will take place over the course of the year and the winning group will be offered work experience with KPMG over the summer. The workshops have been a fun experience so far, filled with creative thinking and complex debates.
Rocket Science at Brampton Manor Farm Students at Brampton Manor have the exciting opportunity to become space biologists by taking part in a nationwide science experiment working with the UK Space Agency. In September 2kg of rocket seeds were sent into space and currently UK Astronaut Tim Peake is looking after them. In April the seeds will be sent back to earth and Brampton Manor will be lucky enough to receive 100 of these seeds from space, alongside 100 seeds that have remained on Earth. A four week experiment will then take place with students in Brampton Manor Farm Club. The students will grow the seeds and measure data and differences between the two sets of seeds. This data will then be entered into a national database, alongside other schools. The data will help to understand the effects of anti-gravity upon seed growth. Brampton Manor are very lucky to be one of the few schools being given this opportunity to work alongside the UK Space Agency in such an exciting educational project.
Miss McTaggart, Teacher of English The Year 7 football team has qualified for the finals of the Newham Borough 7-a-side Tournament. During qualifying at Langdon last Tuesday the team played four matches, they were undefeated and conceded only one goal in the process. The team showed fantastic spirit and endeavour to beat Cumberland 2-0 in the final group game to ensure qualification, both goals were scored by John Adikwu. The team are confident of performing well in the finals due to be held in the first week back after half term. Mr Cohen, Teacher of PE
Sports Relief 2016—On Friday 18 March the nation will be raising funds for Sports Relief and Brampton Manor are aiming to be a big part of this process. Last time we were in the Top 100 schools in the UK to raise the most money and we are looking to beat that total this year and do even better. There will be various events going on throughout the week during PE lessons where you can be active; raise money and have fun all at the same time. On the Friday you will be able to wear non-uniform but you must be wearing something red in exchange for £1. Pupils must bring in the correct size school bag with all the correct equipment, no makeup, no high heels, no excessive jewellery, no fake nails or nail varnish will be allowed. There will also be sporting competitions between teachers for you to watch during lunch time and after school. Let’s raise as much money as we can for this worthy cause. If you have any questions about the events happening during the week then do ask your PE teacher. Ms Farley, Year 10 Academic Coordinator German Christmas Market On Friday 11 December 39 year 8 and 9 German students left (at 3:45am!) for the trip to Cologne - which began with an enjoyable ferry crossing and drive to Cologne. We visited two German Christmas markets, as well as sampling some tasty food and drinks. Students had the chance to buy presents (some were extremely generous with their choices for friends and family - lucky them!) Then we visited the Cathedral, a breath-taking gothic building which is notorious for its stunning gothic architecture. Everyone arrived home tired but buzzing after a great weekend with their friends! Ms Garrett, Head of German
Y12 History Lecture -We were given a talk by Professor Conrad Herschel of SOAS University on the Crusades, which we currently study at A Level. The lecture was extremely insightful and challenged our pre-existing views of the Crusades and their interactions with the Muslim world. Conrad’s viewpoint was that although the Crusades were very important to the European Christians, they were actually of far less importance to the contemporary Islamic world than we had thought. It was fascinating to listen to his research on the topic and to hear his discoveries about the crusades and hearing the importance their memory holds across many Islamic states today, and how the memory of them was used in the twentieth century. I was motivated by Conrad’s passion for his area of history and it gave me a taster of how university lectures were structured and what to expect when I go to university. By Koehun Year 12
Brampton Manor Farm Congratulations to Brampton Manor Farm which has been awarded a Level 1 Certificate of Achievement in the RHS School Gardening Awards. Some of our newest Year 9 members: Jack James Hunter, Ellie Clarke and Kasia Fallan with Miss Dalton The awards are designed for schools to develop horticultural skills and encourage interaction and fun within the garden among students. There are five levels of challenge. Each level has set targets which must be reached in order to progress. Brampton Manor Farm Club will be working towards the awards, with the aim to reach level 5! Level 1 required identifying an area for gardening, designing a plan and gathering resources ready for student involvement. The next stage of the awards, reaching level 2, will include student involvement, with students carrying out basic gardening skills such as preparing soil, planting seeds, growing plants and watering their harvests. Anyone can help take part! The Farm Club will meet on Wednesdays/Thursdays after school (2:35-3:30) and activities will include digging, planting, watering, design and building within the farm, alongside opportunities to take part in competitions and win prizes. If interested please sign up with Miss Dalton on the farm. Miss Dalton, School Farm and Grounds Assistant Calling all Gardeners! FARM CLUB starting WEDNESDAY 24 February! Come along to our new Farm club on WEDNESDAYS and THURSDAYS after school (2:353:30). Activities include: Digging, planting, watering, building, experimenting and designing within the garden. Sign-up at the Farm with Miss Dalton.
Calling all Animal Lovers! ANIMAL CLUB starting! Activities include: Animal feeding, grooming, health checks, petting, handling and cleaning. Register Interest at the Farm with Miss Dalton.
RS ambassadors On Wednesday 20 January our RS ambassador’s team spent the day at Manor Primary school with other local pupils to complete their projects on ‘Religion and Legacy’. The students completed this project inspired by religion and their trip to the British Museum last year. There are four layers to the paintings each representing something the student associates with themselves, their legacy. The first layer was a choice that represented themselves for example blue was calm. Next the students had to pick an object that would represent their character and one that thought was important to them or their family – something of great importance to them that they would want people to associate with them. The first layer are the animals, the students had to pick an animal that represented the side of their personality they wanted to leave behind e.g. a bull is someone who doesn’t think before they act. Their final image was a picture of something they wouldn’t want to leave behind, either emotionally or physically. The pupils have commented how enjoyable this experience and their pleasure at being able to express themselves. The team now want to inspire other students at Brampton Manor Academy in their roles as RS ambassadors and teach others about Religion and Legacy, including a desire to get students to participate in smaller scale version of the project. Miss Daw, Acting Head of Religious Studies King’s College Medicine outreach A group of year 11 and year 12 students experienced an outreach session run by students of medicine from King’s College London on 12 January. The session involved a circus of activities that gave students an introduction to some basic skills in medicine: taking blood, suturing and taking a person’s blood pressure. They were able to learn and practise these skills using specialist training equipment provided by the university. At the same time, the King’s College medical students were able to answer questions and offer advice about how to apply for medicine and how to succeed in a medicine degree. The students found it a really engaging and interesting session and reported how informative it was, especially that the medical students could offer first hand advice using their own experiences. Learning some of the practical skills necessary in medicine brought the vocation alive for the students, helping them to experience the more practical aspect of the career. Ms J White, Leading Practitioner Practioner of Biology
Jack Petchey Award Winner – Kasia Fallan, one of our most talented year 9’s, won the Jack Petchey Achievement Award this term for she making a positive contribution to The Arts at Brampton Manor Academy. Kasia has worked extremely hard in drama and shown she has a flair not only for her performance skills but also the technical elements such as costume design. She took part in a production of Othello within The Shakespeare School Festival giving a very mature performance of Emilia as well as creatively making an essential prop for the show. In music Kasia is a valuable member of the school choir already performing in a number of concerts at Newham hospital and The Troxy Theatre. She is going to take part in an exceptional singing opportunity with the nationally renowned acapella group, Apollo5. Apollo5 will teach students how to lead a singing workshop, developing their leadership and musical skills. Kasia's ability in art has been brilliantly consistent throughout Key Stage Three. She won the Red Award in Year 8 for student of the year for her exceptional work in Textiles design and Art. Check out her website http://www.kfallan.wix.com/kasienka where Kasia is already progressing as a textiles designer making money from her own business, a true creative entrepreneur. Due to her commitment to The Arts she won the Jack Petchey Award and as a prize received theatre tickets to watch the critically acclaimed Warhorse with nine of her friends. Congratulations Kasia on all your achievements you really are inspirational. Mr Balaam, Lead Practitioner
Kasia Fallon (Year 9)
History Club This half term Year 7 History Club have been making Medieval castles. In the first session we were split into two groups to build a sturdy and strong castle to defend our king. After building our castles, we tested them by throwing paper aeroplanes (archers) and tennis balls (catapults) at them. Next session, we used the internet to research some features of castles, including murder holes, oubliettes, and arrow slits and made designs for our miniature castles. This week we are going to finish building our castles before painting them before half term. We are having a lot of fun and if you want to explore History beyond your lessons come along!
Winter Wonderland On the last week of the autumn term 2015, Years 7, 8 and 9 took part in the Winter Wonderland with the aim to raise as much money as possible for Richard House Children’s Hospice. During long break on the 14 and 15 December, Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils were able to enjoy treats such as candy floss, hot chocolate with whipped cream, marshmallows and sprinkles, not to mention the vast choice of crisps, chocolate, sweets and cakes. This was all topped off with fun games, face painting and crafting. Richard House Children’s Hospice is a charity that provides care and support to children and young people who are at risk of death because of a life-limiting or life-threatening health condition. When they first opened in 2000, they were the first children’s hospice in London and cared for just a handful of children and young people. Today, they care for over 300 children. Richard House services are free of charge to the families they offer support to. This is why contribution is even more crucial. We are extremely pleased that we were able to raise a grand total of £741.64p which exceeds previous years. Thank you to all the staff, Departments, pupils and to you all, who helped us raise this amount. All your support is hugely appreciated not only by Brampton but also Richard House. We look forward to raising even more in the next fundraising event ‘Macmil-Land’ and all future fundraising events. Miss Ali, PSHE Coordinator
Debaters continue unbeaten run to make national finals Faria Tabassum (Y13) and Kaviraj Sivarajah (Y12) have enjoyed a phenomenally successful start to the debating season, having won every competition they have competed in. This run began with an outstanding performance in winning the Regional Final of the Cambridge competition, earning Brampton a place in the national final for the fourth consecutive year. They then went on to win the Oxford Regional Final, with this national final taking place in early March. In addition to these victories in the British Parliamentary format, they also showed their skill in winning the regional final of the English Speaking Union’s Mace Debating Competition. This has firmly established them as the best team in the region. This is a well deserved reward for the exceptionally hard work the pair have put into their debating over the past year, which has required them to become experts on a range of domestic and international political, ethical and economic issues. Faria is looking forward to taking her debating further when she takes up her place to study Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge next year, having received a conditional offer in recent weeks. Mr Dobin, Director of Sixth Form
Farhat Ahmed (second from right) and Ibrahim Khan (fourth from right) recently attended a reception in Downing Street to reward them for their outstanding performance in work experience placements arranged by Access Aspiration. Farhat, who has offers to study Law at a number of top Russell Group institutions, spent a week in 3 Raymond Buildings, a leading barristers’ chambers, shadowing lawyers in court. Ibrahim excelled in his placement at The River Café restaurant, where he learnt about the strategic decisions made by businesses in preparation for studying Economics at university next year. Mr Dobin, Director of Sixth Form Grease the Musical Following the success of Little Shop of Horrors last year, students were eager for another school production. In January, Brampton Manor Academy had its very own Danny Zuko along with the Greasers, Pink Ladies and Class of ’59 in their 2016 production of Grease the Musical. Let’s also not forget Miss Lynch, Johnny Casino and the main brain… Vince Fontaine! Students were absolute stars and the show was a huge success across both nights. This would not have been possible had it not been for the dedication of the students and staff involved. Well done! You can find pictures of the production on the school website in the gallery. Miss. Cartwright, Head of Drama Assembly Performance – Year 9 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Last term, Year 9s studied The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in their Drama lessons. Students studied the context of the Nazi Concentration Camps and explored extracts from the play practically; developing their ideas about the characterisation and staging of the piece.
War Horse On Thursday 4 February a group of KS3 and KS4 had the opportunity to go and see Warhorse at the New London Theatre. This trip was funded through the Jack Petchey Award, received by Kasia Fallan 9H for her work in Brampton’s Shakespeare Schools Festival production (Othello) this year, and many of the cast were invited as a reward for the effort they committed to the production last term. The play is based on a novel by Michael Morpurgo, following the story of a horse who is requisitioned to fight on the battlefields of France in World War I. The set and sound design created a breath-taking performance, and students were in agreement that the astoundingly life-like horse puppets (controlled by three puppeteers working seamlessly together) was the highlight of the night. Miss Bason & Miss Lindsay
To commemorate Holocaust Memorial day on Wednesday 27 January, six Year 9 students performed these key extracts in Assembly for Years 7 – 10. They were able to share the outstanding practical work that has been going on in KS3 drama classrooms. The response to the performance was very positive from both students and staff, many thanks to Muhriz Tauseef 9A, Aishni Mittra 9P, Ana Maria Rischitor 9P, Laura Afon- Upcoming Trip: so 9T, Jack Hunter 9N and Daniel Thomson 9N. Herons – Thursday 11 February – Year 10 – see Miss Cartwright for details. Ms Lindsay, Teacher of Drama Keep checking the department for updates.
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