Clapton Review July 2016

The Clapton Review

July 2016

In this issue: US Ambassador visit p3 Phasels Wood p5 Summer Exhibition p6 Barbican Box p10

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A slam dunk season Once again, CGA’s Greenhouse Basketball Team have had an amazing season.

Here we look back and acknowledge their fantastic performance over the course of this academic year.

Goodbye from the Headteacher One of the many lovely things about my job as Headteacher of Clapton Girls’ Academy has been reading and commenting on the Clapton Review. It is always such a pleasure to read about the many successful and varied things that students from our academy are involved in. Our students are wonderful ambassadors for young people everywhere. Sadly this is my last Clapton Review as Headteacher.

Ms Feltham will take over from September, and I am sure we all want to wish her every success in her new role.

Thank you for continuing to support Clapton Girls’ Academy. Good-bye and best wishes for the future.

Students Scoop Literary Prize Eight students from Years 9 and 10 won first prize at an annual children’s literature competition after competing with 11 other local schools.

Clapton Girls’ Academy students: Yasmin Mamoud, Maddy Diggins, Eve McBride, Alice Wallace, Matilda Mendick, Esta Mac Innes, Maddi Vass and Habibatu Kamara, spent many hours in the academy Learning Resource Centre throughout March in preparation for this. They researched the history of The Carnegie Award and read other shortlisted titles and gave presentations to each other. The group was awarded first prize for their presentation of The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness.

Their presentation took the form of a dramatic scripted response to the novel.

Each school was allocated one of the books from the Carnegie short list to read and prepare a presentation to be performed in front of the other competitors and a panel of five judges.

This was followed by a Q&A session with the visiting author.

Headteacher Cheryl Day said: “It is fantastic news that Clapton Girls’ Academy won the Carnegie Award this year. As usual both students and staff worked extremely hard but also with a great deal of creativity to prepare for this event. They are deserving winners!”

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By Royal Invitation In May, Ms Day and Ms Van Staeyen were invited to Buckingham Palace to meet Prince Philip and receive an official license for the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Ms Van Staeyen, who leads the Duke of Edinburgh programme, was later invited to a conference which gave fund raising ideas and information on how to lead expeditions safely.

Meanwhile our Year 11 and 12 students are about to commence their practice expedition in Ashdown Forest for Bronze and Silver Awards.

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For the fourth conseutive year, every year group team are Hackney Basketball Champions and remain undefeated this season.

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UNITED IN

THANKS On Monday 25th April the US Ambassador to the UK Matthew Barzun visited CGA to speak to our sixth form students about US/UK relationships.

Mr Barzun has been the US ambassador to Sweden, worked for CNET, one of the biggest website domains for product reviews, and has worked on Obama’s successful election campaigns in 2008 and 2012. He hosted President Obama just this weekend when he visited the queen.

Students were given a 60 minute presentation that touched upon the historical ‘special relationship’ between USA and UK, where students were asked to discuss what most frustrates them about US affairs and what they hope to

see from the US in the future.

Students questioned Mr Barzun about US domestic and foreign policy, discussing racial divides, gun crime, police brutality and climate change. The students also touched on wider issues such as American power in the economic markets.

Mr Barzun was extremely impressed with the students’ knowledge, enthusiasm and willingness to ask questions and contribute to debates that are dominating the headlines.

Year 13 student Inayah Uddin said, ‘The ambassador was a really inspirational and informative speaker.

It was interesting to learn more about America and its international politics and perspectives.’

An A* Graduation After weeks of dedicated revision, our Year 11 students finally completed their GCSE examinations. The exam period ended with an End of KS4 Celebration event where we said goodbye to them for the summer in anticipation of their return as sixth formers in September.

You can enrol into sixth form on GCSE results day on 25th August Head of Progress Ms Thorsen said “It has been a privilege and a pleasure being Head of Progress. We have had an incredible journey together and I can’t wait to see you in sixth form.”

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Our U14 academy basketball team came 2nd in London

Y7 Ambassadors This term our Year 7 ambassadors have been busy preparing for our new Year 7 students who will be joining us in September. The Year 7 ambassador programme is a valuable leadership opportunity for students which is designed to help them grow in confidence and gain experience in becoming future leaders and strong independent role models.

So far the ambassadors have written a newsletter, visited primary schools and also created a dedicated area on our website. Their aim is to give an insight into life as a Year 7 at CGA, help prepare new students for what to expect and make them feel welcome at their new school. The Year 7 amabssadors will meet the new students on their upcoming Taster

Day and will be available to mentor them during their first weeks in September.

“Being a Year 7 ambassador has made me more confident. I am able to speak out and be a leader in situations. I love being able to meet new families and show them around my academy. I am so excited to meet the new students in September.”

Vishakha, Year 7

Faraday Challenge In June Year 7 students were invited to participate in the Faraday Challenge which was organised by The Institute of Engineering and Technology. The Faraday Challenge is a one day STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) activity where teams of 6 have the opportunity to research, design and make prototype solutions to genuinely tough engineering problems.

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The Faraday Challenge was a fantastic day and the Year 7 students enjoyed ever minute. The day was challenging on all levels but the students and their teams worked so hard to promote their ideas to the Faraday team. The winning groups’ idea was fantastic and well deserved. Well done girls!

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Our Year 7 team got to the Quarter Finals of the Junior NBA League

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PHASELS WOOD “Phasels wood was a tight and narrow, but we really good experience are both glad that we did because it was fun and it. It’s an experience we’ll we learnt lots of new never forget. things. We learnt how to make a fire during On our last day we the bushcraft task. We participated in the ‘bin had to keep the fire bag fashion contest’. We burning by using twigs of had to design clothes different lengths and sizes out of bin bags. It was depending on what stage really fun making the the fire was at. It was a lot models outfits and telling of hard work the judges but really fun. the sun was setting about the we had a bonfire designs and One evening, fashion and we sang songs our as the sun inspiration. was setting, we had a We even had our own bonfire and we sang version of Simon Cowell! songs and ate warm, soft It was a great experience and gooey marshmallows. and we are both very They were yummy. glad that we went!”

Another fun, yet terrifying, activity was tunnelling.

Megan and Mairead We were so scared Year 7 because the walls were so

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SUMMER EX

SUMMER EXHIBITION

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EXHIBITIONS

“The Clapton GCSE and A level art exhibitions were a roaring success both events showcased the students’ visual art outcomes at KS4 and 5, They were both rich in skill and diversity of materials, processes and conceptual approaches.”

Mr Purday, Head of Art

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15 of our students play National League Basketball

Robot Wars As part of ECM Day, this term Year 10 students had the opportunity to get involved in a robotics workshop. Students worked together in small teams to build their machines and then programmed their robot to travel around a course of cones.

Eau de Clapton KS3 gardeners made perfume using scented plants and flowers from around the academy gardens greenhouse.

Students perfumes were judged on the appearance of the perfume bottles and the smell.

“I thought my flowers were a really good combination. I used roses, lavender and mint.”

3rd place Khadjia Patel “I chose flowers that looked pretty. It was by luck that their scents went together well.”

2nd place Hazera Hoque “I really enjoyed this project.

I chose lemon, lavender and mint.”

1st Chelsea Moccia

You’re Hired In May students took part in an Apprentice style enterprise workshop called Custom Made.

Students had the task of creating a start up business selling bags and t-shirts. Students had to list their expenses and calculate how much they would need to sell their products for in order to make a profit. Students added value to their products by creating designs and customising them.

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9 of our students are qualified Basketball England score keepers

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Language Leaders Four Year 9 students were invited to teach Spanish as part of Hispanic Week at William Patten Primary School. Members of the Spanish Embassy and the London Mayoral Office also attended to see the students in action.

Headteacher of William Patten, Ms Law, was very impressed with the students performance and thought the lessons they delivered were well planned, interesting and engaging.

“Language Leaders is a weekly club I attend. We

organise presentations, activities, and classes inside and outside of our school to help raise awareness of the benefits of languages.

On our most recent trip to William Patten Primary School, one other student along with myself taught two year three classes. The primary students were very enthusiastic and seemed to really enjoy the activities we had prepared for them.

It was great to see how younger people can be engaged by languages and get involved too!”

Maddi Vass, Year 9

The Big Dance Pledge On 20th May, 12 Year 8 students took part in The Big Dance Pledge.

The Big Dance is a biennial festival of people dancing all over the world led by the Mayor of London and Move The World – a dance organisation that provides workshops to build students’ self-confidence and develop leadership and teambuilding skills.

The Big Dance is the UK’s biggest ever celebration 9

of dance with over 3,500 events taking place simultaneously in all sort of locations and in all dance styles.

The students worked together to develop their own choreography and after many hours of rehearsals, at 1pm on worldwide performance day, they live streamed their performance and linked up with groups from all over the world, all dancing simultaneously.

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17 of our students are qualified Basketball England Level 1 referees

MUSIC BOX In April, ten students from Years 7 – 11 performed on stage at the Barbican as part of the Barbican Box Music project. The students were given a portable box that contains different sounds and objects to encourage an imaginative approach to making music.

This year’s box was created by Soweto Kinch, a saxophonist and rapper who fuses jazz with popular music and draws on his life experiences in his music.

The students worked with Soweto and music teacher Ms Hanoush in weekly workshops to compose their own 15 minute piece of music based on ‘identity’ as a response to the items in the box.

The students then performed their own composition on stage at the Barbican. They gave an outstanding performance and were some of the youngest at the event and did themselves and the school proud by performing a confident, fluent and highly musical set. The parents and audience were very impressed. The girls worked incredibly hard throughout the whole project and had a glimpse into the life of professional musicians.

They can’t wait for next year!

Bard Ain’t That Hard

Earlier this term actors from The Globe Theatre were invited to perform Macbeth for Year 10 students. This was a great chance for the students to see their syllabus brought to life as they are currently studying the play for their GCSE coursework. The actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company took over the drama studio in full costume for this special production.

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“We saw an RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) production of the Shakespeare play, ‘The Merchant of Venice’. It was live streamed for schools and there was a useful Q&A during each of the breaks. We also had the amazing opportunity to discuss the production with some members of the RSC who visited the school.”

Sukie Jenkins, Year 10 10

This academic year alone girls have committed to over 6,340 hours of training

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Super Staff

20% off drama summer schools The award winning Anna Fiorentini Theatre & Film School, based at Clapton Girls’ Academy on Saturdays is hosting two Summer Schools. Participants will work with the Fiorentini team to produce their very own musical. E-mail hello@ annafiorentini.com and quote Clapton Girls’ for a 20% discount. Places are limited. to find out more visit: www.clapton.hackney.sch. uk/alliance-partnerships/ anna-fiorentini-filmtheatre-school/

Congratulations to Ms Van Staeyen who abseiled down 50 Bank Street, Canary Wharf on behalf of the National Autistic Society. She raised £200 for the charity and said it was terrifying, as it was extremely windy. Well done Ms Van!

Congratulations to our science technician Ms Peart on being awarded the level of Leading STEM Technician as part of the teacher and support staff recognition scheme. Ms Peart said: “The training sessions have had a huge impact. I am so proud to have been awarded Leading STEM Technician.”

A Song for London

Congratulations to Ms Fairweather, Head of Science who ran her first marathon for The Dogs Trust. Ms Fairweather said: “I trained really hard over the last eight months and finished with a time of 4 hrs 55 mins. The day was really tough, the crowd and my supporters on the day helped me to reach the finish. I never believed in my wildest dreams that I would ever run a marathon and I am so proud of myself.”

On Thursday 28th May, our choir got the opportunity to mix politics and music whilst performing in a 1000 strong massed choir at the London Citizens Mayoral Assembly at the Copper Box in the Olympic Park.

Students learnt a range of songs from 'Bridge over Trouble Water' to 'Our House' by Madness. The massed choir was made up of schools from across London and they got to hear the debate between Sadiq Khan and Zac Goldsmith the two main Mayoral candidates.

STEMettes Science experts shared their passion for the subject with the next generation. Year 10 students took part in Science Clubs with UEL (University of East London). As part of the 10 week project, students had the chance to design a water supply system for a town and take part in bioscience experiments. They also received talks from industry professional and tuitions from UEL postgraduate students. The aim was to introduce students to STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects.

The programme culminated with students gathering at The Crystal in Stratford to pitch their science project posters to a panel of academics.

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40/62

Our girls have competed in a total of 62 games from September 2015 to June 2016 and won 40 of these games across all leagues from Borough, to London leagues to National league.

GOING FOR GOLD

Senior team CGA Greenhouse Tennis players Evelyn Dumbleton, Molly Bennett and Tatiana Nash won gold representing Hackney in the London Youth Games. Most of the students have only been playing tennis since September, which makes this fantastic victory even more amazing! Not to be outdone, junior team player Alice Wallace also scored an excellent victory coming sixth overall in the finals. Well done girls!

Basketball England On Saturday 25th June, Basketball England delivered a level 1 referees course to eight of our students. All of the girls passed and are now Basketball England Assistant Referees. Huge congratulations to J’Nique Lewin, Safiyyah Patel, Lauryn Foster, Zenzele Kabara-Clarke, Kemi Olayemi-Tufuor, Astrid Everall, Eghonghon Ighodalo and Paige Stevens.

New Balls Please 12 CGA Greenhouse Tennis students were invited to be ball girls for the BNP Paribas Davis Cup event. They trained for several weeks before the event at the Campden Hill Lawn Tennis Club. Eight large corporate companies entered the tournament and the CGA ball girls were on court for over two hours. They also had the chance to meet former UK number one, Greg Rusedski.

This Girl Can Fly On the 20th – 24th June, CGA took part in National School Sport Week organised by the Youth Sport Trust. This year’s theme was the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Each day the PE department organised different sports to run at break time and was a fantastic opportunity to encourage students to be more active and take part in sports they would not normally do including cheerleading, rowing and seated vollyball.

Upcoming dates Aug 18

A Level Results Day

Aug 25

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GCSE Results Day

Sep 5

First Day Back to School

Sep 17

Sep 22

Saturday Open Session 10.00 - 12.30pm

Academy ‘Live Tours’ 9.15 - 10.30am

Sep 27

Oct 4

Academy ‘Live Tours’ 9.15 - 10.30am

Open Evening 5.00 - 7.30pm

Oct 5

Oct 11

Academy ‘Live Tours’ 9.15 - 10.30am

Academy ‘Live Tours’ 9.15 - 10.30am

Please visit our website for a full calendar of events and holiday dates.

Oct 24

Half Term 24th - 28th October

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