Brampton Manor Academy News “Outstanding” (Ofsted 2012) Success through Effort and Determination Dear Parent/Guardian As we approach the end of this academic year, it is worth reminding ourselves of our most remarkable achievements this year: The GCSE and A level league tables published in January 2016 show that we are the best school in Newham both in terms of academic attainment and student progress; Our university progression rate to Russell Group universities (including Oxbridge) is one of the highest in the country; The quality of teaching and the level of care and guidance that we provide to our students is the best it has ever been; Our students have made significant progress academically, socially and emotionally. All of the above has been achieved as a result of our sharp focus on what really matters and our belief that all students can achieve and make progress, regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds. We are also very proud of your partnership with the school this year and cannot overstate the contributions that this has made to our continuing success as a school. As you know, the changes to the GCSE and A level specifications will continue to bed-in next academic year, but rest assured that we are fully ready to grasp all the opportunities that this presents to us and your children. The 2016/17 academic year starts on Thursday 1 September 2016 for all students and I have written separately to you to inform you of the arrangements for the first day of term. Please note that it is not an INSET day and we expect all students to resume on this day in full school uniform, ready to learn. I would also like to extend our best wishes to all the staff leaving us at the end of this academic year. Our thanks goes to Mrs Saola, who retires after over 10 years of meritorious service to the school as a science teacher. I also want to thank Ms Nahira Akhtar and Ms Katie Turner for their many years of service to the school. My best wishes to all the other staff leaving us at the end of this term. I wish them well in their future endeavours. Brampton Manor is not only an outstanding school, but also a forward looking school. We are extremely optimistic about the future and eagerly look forward to the start of the 2016/17 academic year with great hope, in the knowledge that our best days are still ahead of us. Have a wonderful and restful summer break. Dr Dayo Olukoshi, OBE, Executive Principal
Issue 30: July 2016
Important Dates A Level Results: Thursday 18 August 2016. Year 13 students to arrive at 8.30 am; Year 12 students to arrive at 11 am. GCSE Results: Thursday 25 August 2016. Students to arrive at 9 am. The school office will close at 12.30 pm on both results days. Back to School on Thursday 1 September 2016. Years 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13 to arrive at 11.55 am. Year 10 Information Evening: Tuesday 13 September 2016. Year 7 Information Evening: Tuesday 20 September 2016 Year 8 Information Evening: Tuesday 4 October 2016 Year 9 Information Evening: Tuesday 11 October 2016 Year 7 Tutor Evening: Wednesday 19 October 2016 Half Term: Monday 24 October to Friday 28 October From Brampton to Brighton On Sunday the 26th of June six adventurous sixth formers and eighteen ambitious staff members challenged themselves to cycle the 60 miles from central London to Brighton to raise money for charity. The event started at a bleary 7am at the London Eye and (for some) finished at 5:30pm on the picturesque Brighton seafront. For many students and staff this was their first experience of long-distance cycling and it is fair to say there were more than a few fearful faces at the beginning of the day. Those fears soon dissipated as the team tackled the task in hand. The weather was gloriously overcast without raining; the perfect conditions for cycling. It was an incredible event and all of the students and staff can be incredibly proud of their efforts. We also managed to raise just over £1000 for Norwood education charity and the Down's Syndrome Association. Congratulations are due to Laura Kuzavaite, Adonis Emmanuel, Valuola Ojeme, Robyn Wilkinson, Daniel Lucking and Anju Lama. Mr Jankowski, Head of Geography
Wimbledon Trip—A group of year 8 and 9 pupils recently competed in a tennis competition at the national tennis centre in Roehampton. This was an excellent opportunity in association with West Ham and The Premier League Sport For All. Whilst at the competition, the pupils got the chance to meet British qualifier, Marcus Willis. Watching from Wimbledon’s Court One, the students were in awe of the players that they normally on see on television; they appreciated the standard of tennis on show. The pupils were a credit to Brampton Manor and their behaviour was Mr Oliver, Teacher of PE exemplary throughout the whole day.
Brampton Manor Academy, Roman Road, London E6 3SQ
020 7540 0500
Year 7 Community Art Project As part of our Year 7 community project, a group of year 7 students from 7B joined Miss Stevens and Miss Soobrayen to help run an Art workshop with elderly patients at Newham Hospital. We had a wonderful afternoon talking to the patients and hearing about their lives. We also shared our experiences as teachers and students in Newham. The Year 7s were excellent teachers and taught the patients and nurses how to make origami birds, paper sculptures and embroidered bunting. We hope to run a similar project next year. Miss Stevens, Teacher of Art
On 21st of June, 60 year 7 students participated in a one-off Gatka (Sikh martial arts) session with Mr Herman Singh from Gravesend Gurdwara. Students had the opportunity to try out some traditional martial arts, and show off their best Gatka moves. Practicing with bamboo sticks, the Year 7s quickly got the hang of it and were able to show their skills at Brampton National, accompanied by traditional drums. Dr Greer, Teacher of Religious Studies
Congratulations to Suriya Raviendran 7T, who took his Grade 2 guitar exam this half term and passed with distinction! Ilani, 10C, came 2nd in the XLP London Showcase. She will now have the opportunity to meet Les Twins, who are Beyonce’s back up dancers. She will also have the opportunity to film a music video with London Grime artists and will be attending the Breakin’ Convention Festival in November. The XLP graduating students were so impressed with Ilani’s performance that they have requested her to perform at their graduation in August. Well done, Ilani, and we wish you all the best! C Spillman, & Ms Putnina, Music
Underwater Love—On Wednesday the 22nd of June year 9 students watched Underwater Love, a new production by Futures Theatre Company. The play explored issues surrounding social media and relationships, with our main character Vinnie losing one of her closest friends due to her relationship with Sebastian. Following the performance, students participated in changing the plot using forum theatre. Forum theatre allows the audience to make new decisions. The students stepped in as the characters to alter the outcome of the play. Futures Theatre Company expressed their positive experience at Brampton Manor Academy and the thoughtful responses made by students. Year 10 Showcases—This term, year 10 GCSE students were set the task to devise a piece of theatre exploring the theme, and raising awareness, of mental health. Over three days year 10 students showcased their work to an audience of parents and students. We are very impressed with the commitment demonstrated by year 10 who presented their audience with complex and engaging work. ‘The theme was really interesting as we had a range of ideas and it was really exciting being able to perform to an audience. The showcase allowed me to demonstrate all the skills I’ve learnt and has made me more confident. I really enjoyed working with the different members of my class and forming bonds in the collaborative’ – Agne Valantiejute, 10B. DNA – Year 9 Production—This term a group of Year 9 students have been rehearsing D.N.A., a play by Dennis Kelly that they had been studying in their Drama lessons. D.N.A. is about a group of teenagers who commit a crime and try desperately to cover it up by framing somebody else. A dark comedy, the play explores issues of peer pressure and bullying. The students have really grown in their performance skills, embracing the challenges of the play, from it’s snappy dialogue to it’s poignant monologues. The actors have been rehearsing hard after school and at weekends, exploring the reactions and status of their characters within the gang, as well as developing their ensemble physical theatre work as part of a large cast of 18 students. Year 9 students have also been involved behind the scenes, designing costumes, creating sets and coordinating sound and lighting for the performance, showing outstanding commitment within the Drama department. Drama Club – The Lion King- Wow! Teamwork makes the dream work. For the last few weeks Drama club students have been busy rehearsing for their Brampton National performance. We decided to collaborate with the school orchestra and African drums to bring this performance to life. The audience was stunned as the students entered the stage to the sound of African drums; their faces painted as the original Lion King characters. The performance was outstanding due to hard work from all the students involved. It has been a pleasure to be part of Drama club this year. The students have a dedication and passion for Drama that shines through. The success of Drama club’s performance of The Lion King at Brampton National was a great way to end the year. Miss Bason and Ms Lindsay
On Saturday 18 June, four members of the Brampton Manor vocal group had the fantastic opportunity to sing at the Tower of London as part of the Water City Festival. They performed alongside choirs from other schools, including Mossbourne Community Academy and Stoke Newington School. The vocal group performed in front of all the visitors at the Tower and even got to see a marching band and the world famous crown jewels! Miss Hornig, Teacher of Music Young leaders project with a’capella group Apollo5 On Tuesday 17 May, four Brampton Manor students took part in the culmination of their project with A’capella group Apollo 5. After 3 training sessions, where we learnt different warm ups; vocal skills; songs and a’capella techniques, we travelled to Park Primary School and St Francis Primary School, where we, along with three students from other schools, led workshops using the skills we’d learnt. Not only did we learn how to become better vocalists, but we also learnt vital skills in teamwork and team leading. Kasia Fallan 9H
Astronaut. As part of their visit pupils also had a Planetarium Show, where we were educated on what it takes to be an astronaut. After lunch pupils worked in The Challenger Learning Centre, which is one of only two educational space mission simulators of its type outside of North America. Throughout the Mission, pupils were presented with tasks and realistic dilemmas developing their skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and communication skills. “It was an amazing experience to learn about being on a space craft and working under pressure, I would love to go again.”-Carine Yim. “It was an awesome trip, full of exiting activities. The experience I had was amazing. The best experience of the trip was the Mission to Mars. It‘s the best day of Year 9. I would love to go again.”- Aswin Sivapalan “I really enjoyed the trip and it was great to be able to learn different skills in such a different environment, and be able to put all the transferable skills we learn in school to use in a real life situation.” – Kasia Fallan. Mr Balaam, Leading Practitioner
BRAMPTON MANOR ACADEMY GOES TO SPACE The year 9 Gifted & Talented pupils visited The National Space Centre in Leicester where students had the opportunity to take part in a wide variety of interactive galleries. These demonstrated what the pupils needed to know about Space including; how Stars are formed; what is gravity like on other planets; and what is it like to be an Bugsy Malone On Wednesday the 6th of July, students travelled to The Lyric Theatre to watch Bugsy Malone, following its return after a sell-out run last year. Sean Holmes, an Olivier winning director, revived the well-known musical, supported by a truly talented and inspiring cast, armed with their famous splurge guns and foam pies. 'Bugsy Malone was really enjoyable and all the songs were very catchy and fun!' Joshua Joseph,7A. Students thoroughly enjoyed the show and spent the coach journey home singing along to 'You Give a Little Love'. Once again, Brampton Manor Academy’s students demonstrated immaculate behaviour throughout the production. Miss Cartwright, Head of Drama
From Tuesday the 5th of July to Friday the 8th of July, Mr Martos, Ms Renciot and Ms Nahser took a group of 27 students to Barcelona, Spain. All students really benefited from this trip as they had the chance to practise their Spanish and experience Spanish culture. Students really enjoyed visiting the “Sagrada Familia” cathedral and marvelled at paintings in the Picasso museum. They also had the chance to visit other local sights such as the Gothic quarter, Las Ramblas, Port Vell, La Boqueria Market, Camp Nou and the Tibidabo. Authentic Spanish food such as chorizo, tortilla de patatas and croquetas also proved extremely popular with students. Jenese Alexandre (8P) was mesmerised by the scenery and commented that she hopes to return to Spain soon. Fatoumata (8H) “I had a lot of fun and I learned new phrases when I ordered food”. Funmi (8S) “I loved visiting Spain and I liked meeting Spanish people. They were so friendly and relaxed. What I liked most about Barcelona was that it’s not as hectic as London” Miss Nahser, Teacher of MFL
Celebrating Bramptonational 2016
Another year of success! Highlights: Still Borough champions in Football and Netball. Trials for County in Netball with selections to represent London Youth representatives. Selection for West Ham. Trials for Tottenham, Leyton Orient and Charlton Athletics. Represented Newham at Essex Schools. Quarter finals in Essex and London
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Brampton Manor Farm Rocket Science Trip A few weeks ago, students took part in an exciting experiment working with the European Space Agency to grow seeds that had been taken into space. A few lucky students were then chosen to go on an exciting trip to the National Space Centre in Leicester. At the space centre they learnt a lot about what it takes to be an astronaut and the different effects that being in space imposes upon on the body. It was a fun day including activities that involved replicating going into space and working on board a space craft. The trip helped the students to understand the importance of the rocket science experiment we carried out in school. Bramptonational Thank you to all the volunteers that helped out on the Farm Stand at Bramptonational. It was a great success with students selling vegetables and plants that they had grown and handpicked from the farm themselves. The stand really helped to showcase the success and hard work of all our gardening club members. Our giant onions and carrots were a firm favourite! Thank you to everyone that came to visit the Farm Stand. Miss Dalton, School Farm & Grounds Assistant Year 10 girl’s tennis team For the first time, Brampton Manor entered a year 10 girl’s tennis team into an Essex League. It was a tough start when they lost to Clapton Girls Academy and to Cumberland School, though Melissa and Joyce did pick up their first win with a doubles victory. The team then had an outstanding victory verses St Paul’s Way where they won five fixtures and lost only one. All four girls won their singles matches. The pupils performed extremely well with the majority of the pupils new to the sport. All the girls should be congratulated on their hard work, determination and effort throughout the summer term. Well done Fortessa Topallaj, Marwa Al-Busaidy, Melissa Rybicki Villalba, Joyce Crystal Ekakoro and Valentina Dancheva!!!. Mr Oliver, Teacher of PE Year 9 KPMG Workshops 30 Year 9 students have been completing a series of workshops under the guidance of experts from KPMG. They have been creating proposals for Upton Park and learning valuable finance management and business skills. In the final workshop they will present their proposals and a winning team will be selected. This winning team will be offered a work experience scholarship with KPMG over the summer. Miss McTaggart, Teacher of English
Trust Wide News Brampton Boys perform with Langdon in the Olympic Park On Thursday the 26 of May 2016, Abubaker Abdalla, Calvin Kasule and Emmanuel Chideme (Year 7), performed at HereEast in the Queen Elizabeth Park. They danced and sang with students from Langdon as part of a Breakin’ Convention ‘Moving Rap’ project, funded by Sadler’s Wells. Combining rap and dance, the students worked with Breakin’ Convention, to create a piece of performance around the themes of ‘Home and Belonging’. The project culminated in a wonderful showcase event at HereEast, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The students performed to a very high standard, and were awarded a trophy for the ‘most energetic performers’. ASMF professional musicians visit Brampton Theatre On Friday 1 July 2016, students from Brampton came together with GCSE Music students from Langdon for an interactive concert with Musicians from the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. This was a unique opportunity for our students to listen to a variety of live repertoire and see different instruments of the orchestra ‘up close’. They were able to ask questions, see demonstrations of different instrumental techniques, conduct the musicians, and use key words to help with listening and appraising music. The positive, professional attitude of our students was commented upon by the musicians, who had been touring schools all day. Miss Majcher, Leading Practitioner in Music Following their AS exams all Year 12 students have taken part in a range of activities designed to prepare them for university admissions and the world of work. Students participated in an employability workshop, mock interview and a university finance session. The feedback from the interview panel, of respected professionals from a range of industries, was excellent. They stated unanimously how articulate our students are and were especially impressed with the students’ attitude towards their academic studies and how motivated they are to advance to Russell Group universities. The interviewers were also in awe of how much work experience, voluntary work and extra-curricular activities the students participate in. Year 12 students are now looking forward to receiving their AS results this summer ahead of making their applications to university in the Autumn Term. Congratulations to this inspirational group of students on completing a successful first year of sixth form study. Mr G Cohen, Deputy Director of Sixth Form
KS3 Olympic Week On Monday the 20th of June Key Stage 3 students began a week of Olympic themed activities in and out of lessons, including a mouth-watering Olympic inspired menu! There were a host of Olympic themed lessons and activities taking place which students and staff alike really enjoyed. In English, students wrote motivational speeches; the maths department challenged students to redesign the ranking system of countries based on their medal count and students in Science carried out experiments to measure blood oxygen levels after exercise. In Humanities the RS department arranged for year 7 students to have a Gatka lesson, which allowed them to find out more about this Sikh martial art. The History and Classics departments combined to treat year 7 and 8 students to a lecture on the Ancient Olympics and in Geography students explored the impact of the Rio Olympics on the local community. In Technology students were involved in a range of activities, which included creating and designing an Olympic torch, medals, logos and even an Olympic stadium! In Art, students produced some impressive mixed media paintings based on their research of Olympic stadiums. In Music, students were given the task of composing the tune and lyrics for their very own Olympic anthem. On the field PE pupils took part in their own Olympics and they achieved some spectacular distances in the long jump! The girls competed in a 100m sprint whilst their times were recorded by others in the class. Overall, it was a fantastic week. See if you can spot your work on display in the Library! Miss Hassan, Lead Practitioner in History
Year 12 get first hand experience of working with world famous Architecture firm Grimshaw Year 12 Fine Art students made the most of their opportunity to question architects from the world famous firm, Grimshaw. This opportunity was sponsored by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and students questioned Bridget, Mo and Rich on what life is like as an architect and what the job entails. The group were extremely enthusiastic about applying to top universities for architecture and they learnt about the importance of a portfolio and of developing good questioning and answering skills for their UCAS applications next year. They also had the chance to develop their own ideas in relation to a mini brief set by the team to test their skills in 3D modelling. Mr Scott, Head of Visual Arts