Issue 8 2014 15

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Bonjour France!

By Abigail Bragginton, Year 7 & Miss Seguier After months of hard work and organisation, the first Compass trip abroad took place. Forty students went to Boulogne-Sur-Mer in France, on the 9th of July for the day. It was a fantastic day filled with visits and opportunities for our students to use their exploration skills, one of our core values. They also were able to put the vocabulary learnt in class to very good use during the day.

Story continued on page 9...

Page 1

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Principal’s message

labs, and fabulous art, design & technology and

By Ms Thorpe

these new rooms, and to welcome our students.

drama spaces. We cannot wait to start using

Compass School is almost two years old! As we approach the end of this academic year, I have been reflecting on how far the school has come since the school opened in September 2013, and 41 fresh-faced Year 7 students were photographed and appeared in Southwark News, alongside their 6 teachers.

This newsletter was named “Our Journey” by our students, as a way to record and share our experiences and achievements as a community.

As I look back through the editions of Our Journey, I am proud of all that we have achieved.

This year alone, all students have

been on at least one school trip, with visits to France, Blacklands Farm, the Docklands, the Science Museum and the Tate Modern Gallery, to name but a few.

Our students have

performed at the Southbank Centre and in the Southwark Orchestra. They have represented the school in sport, debating and in their writing – with two students now published authors in a poetry anthology.

Letter from the editor

By Archie Gilbert, Year 8 Hello, and welcome to the 8th edition of Our Journey. It has

But we have further to go as a school, and many

been yet another exciting

more successes to come. We end our second

term at Compass and this

year with 110 students on our roll, and a further

newsletter will prove that.

90 students will join us in September. Over the

Articles

on

the

Student

summer, we will be moving into our next home

Council President elections, the brilliant Year 6

– the old Scott Lidgett Secondary School on

Transition Day and our first ever Sports Day (if

Drummond Road – where we will be for three

the photos are submitted before we go to

years until our new building is complete. When

print!), this edition is sure to entertain you, as it

our students return in September we will have

already does every term.

15 classrooms, 2 music practice rooms, a food technology classroom equipped with brand new cooking equipment, 2 new specialist science

Page 2

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Student Council President

By Cassie Fergus, Year 8 On Thursday the 14th of May, an election took place in our school to find our first Student Council President. There were four candidates who stood in this election: Abigail Bragginton & Laila Dehiles from Year 7 and Robbie Inglott & Maisie White from Year 8.

We decided to run an alternative vote for the presidential

elections

because

students

experienced a first past the post system when

During a special Tuesday morning assembly each candidate made a speech about their promises and told us a bit about themselves.

voting for their form reps. After you had voted, you received a sticker saying ‘I voted today!’ which students wore proudly.

Laila said ‘Together we can achieve everything.’

Maisie stated: ‘Be honest, be real.’

Robbie promised: ‘Always give 100%’ Abigail: ‘I would give anything up for someone else.’

The exit polls suggested that it was a two horse race from the very beginning. Congratulations to Laila Dehiles, Year 7 who was voted in as Student Council President!

At break and lunchtime we queued up at the polling station with our poll cards. We were

Thank you to Miss Cockram and Miss Helme for

marked off by a member of staff who gave us

organising this event. Now most students have

our ballot paper with all 4 candidates’ names.

a clear idea of what a real election/polling

We were then called into the voting booths,

station is like.

st

where we had to make a clear choice of 1 to 4

th

of which candidate you wanted to win.

Page 3

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

The Student Council

Jack Petchey Awards

goes bowling

By Abigail Bragginton Year 7 For the past week

By Miss Helme The

Compass

School

Southwark

(a week in May) the

Student

Council has been working hard this year to improve the Compass School community for everyone. They have run charity events e.g. the Red Nose Day Cake Sale and taken on lunch time duties to ensure the canteen is a calm, tidy place to eat.

whole school has been choosing a Year 7 student to win the Jack Petchey award –they win £200 to spend on the school community.

Last term winner Archie

Gilbert, Year 8 chose to spend the £200 on athletics equipment. In assembly on Tuesday the 19th of May I found out that I had won!! I was really nervous and also I had the school council president election on my mind and so I thought “how am I meant to keep all this up” making me even more nervous.

Finding out that I had won made me so happy, knowing that I had been chosen for showing the

As a reward for all of this hard work, we took the

Compass Values was so exciting. Making my

Student Council bowling on Monday the 12 of

whole family so proud of me and also that I have

July. We had a great time and even managed

never really experienced something like this

more than few strikes!

before is amazing. In that assembly hall I felt the

th

tension and all the people around me saying “ It’s going to be Abigail ” or “ Abigail’s going to win ”, making me think all these people believe it was going to be me. Getting the Jack Petchey award makes you feel like you can literally do anything you put your mind to and that’s what I had learned from all my hard work to get to where I am today.

Page 4

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Year 7 Prep

By Miss Helme On

Friday

afternoons Year

7

students who

are making

great progress took part in prep project sessions designed to encompass all of our school values.

The first project was about exploring our community.

Students

researched

the

Bermondsey area and produced a time line.

They completed this project in groups and some had really creative ideas of presenting these, such as a 3D time line! The next project was a cross-curricular group project where students had to regenerate Bermondsey. They had to explore existing facilities and then create an aspirational new Bermondsey. Our third project was a creative mix of clock making, brand production

and

book

making,

another

successful project.

Our final project was a business venture where groups were given £10 and told to create a business to make money from the £10. Once again the enthusiasm from the students was astonishing and this remained up until the big sale, where all teams went head to head to make the most money. The students created their business from scratch, they sourced materials and marketed their business around the school. The big sale day was a very busy day as students worked very hard to get their stalls ready for the lunchtime rush! We had stalls

This project was completely led by the students and I am very proud of each and every person who was involved. A special mention to the group that made the most money - their delicious cakes, which included banoffee pie and an Oreo cake, were just too much temptation for the buyers! An amazing finale to what has been a superb prep experience for both students and staff involved.

selling cakes, lemonade, origami and virtual reality experiences!

Page 5

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Southwark News visit

UKMT Maths Challenge

By Molly Neale & Jamie-Lee Bowles, Year 8

By Mr Mohammad

On the 7th of

On Thursday the 30th of April,

May Joey Miller,

students took part in the UKMT

a journalist from

Maths Challenge.

the Southwark News, came to Compass school to visit the media enrichment group. Joey spoke to us about his career and how he became a journalist. He also told us about the kinds of stories he had written and how we could be

national

This is a

examination

with

students across the country competing for the illustrious bronze, silver or gold award.

The

challenge tests not only maths ability, but problems solving and logic skills.

successful journalists like him - by working

hard! The interview was very informative and he gave some good advice. We learnt a lot about what journalism is really like and what you have to do to be a journalist. It gave us lots to think about for the future!

Interview by Robbie Inglott Which journalists do you most admire?

I really admire the journalists that risk their lives to report on the news. The ones that go into places like the jungle or caves. I don’t think I would have the courage to do that sort of stuff!

Well done to the following students who received a Bronze Award: Osama Boumnina ElHarrak, Vinnie Shelly, & Laila Dehiles Year 7 and Alfie Hunt Year 8.

Congratulations to the following students who demonstrated exemplary aspirational learning and received a Silver Award:

Did you always want to be a journalist?

George Keogh & Teddy Lewington Year 7.

Yes, I was in a journalism club at school and it was always something I wanted to do from a very young age.

Who is the most well-known person you have interviewed?

Ed Milliband If you would like to have a go at the challenge yourself, the first eight questions are on the next page. The full question paper and answers can be found at http://www.ukmt.org.uk/individualcompetitions/junior-challenge/

Page 6

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Page 7

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Science Week

By Mr Wilson The 15th to the 19th of June was Science Week at Compass School Southwark. Students visited Queen Mary University to attend the Centre of the Cell exhibition.

Later

in

the

week we

completed

STEM

challenges including building an aerodynamic racing car and wind turbine. Finally, we were visited by the space dome. From the outside it looks like an inflatable dome but step inside and you are in space!

We learnt all about the body’s defences and Douty Diabate, Year 7 was selected to play the role of a white blood cell on stage.

Later in the term Year 8 visited the sixth form science labs at St Marylebone School. Students were

able

to

conduct

proper

chemistry

experiments for the first time this year.

Students tested for the presence of gases using lime water and the pop test and created the pH scale using acids and alkalines.

By far

everyone’s favourite experiment was igniting methane bubbles as we held them!

After the formal science presentations, there were lots of stations around the room for students to get hands on with science. Students heard and felt their heart beats, saw fish just hours old under the microscope, saw slides of a human brain, made DNA and tested their strength.

Page 8

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

English Department

Bonjour France cont.

lunch

After driving to Dover on the coach and taking a

By Liam Bryant, Year 7

called Boulogne-Sur-Mer where there were

massive ferry, we arrived in France in a town many shops, bakeries and restaurants. Firstly we visited a few shops and people spent a lot of money buying souvenirs and sweets. I know the teachers were thinking ‘It looks like they bought things that can entertain them for at least a month!’

Then it was lunchtime and we looked for a nice spot for a picnic where there was sun but also

On Thursday the 4th of June a lucky few Year 7 and 8 students were given a prize for having a great term in English - both in Ms Walker and Ms Robb’s class. The winners were chosen for their aspiration and exploration in English. Students may have been chosen specifically for their progress, for their positive attitude or for their contributions to the lessons.

The lucky student winners were:

shade

so

we

could

have

our

lunches

comfortably.

Next stop was a bakery. We split into two groups. In my group we started by learning how to make bread the traditional way which was really exciting because by the end we were making our own. After this, a French baker taught us how to make croissants. He also taught us how to say the ingredients used in the making of croissants in French.

Year 8: Taylor-Rae Ward and Khalil Stambouli Year 7: Liam Bryant, Kevin Soares Santos, Urielle

Our last activity was a snail farm where most of

Olawale Arowoshola and Isiah Owusu Jallo

our nightmares were about to come true! At the

Jamboria.

start we talked about snails and their habitats, but then it came to TOUCHING THEM.

This

It was a brilliant experience because it was great

made a lot of us very uncomfortable but we

having something different within the school

adjusted quickly and enjoyed holding them.

day with only a few lucky people there. Our

However, the next step was to actually EAT

prize was a pizza feast including Double

cooked snails. The majority of us were brave

Pepperoni, Hawaiian and Vegetarian Feast

enough to try them and we were very proud of

pizzas, chicken poppers and garlic bread. Ms

ourselves for doing this!

Seguier was our special guest. Many students wanted to come in but unfortunately weren’t

Finally we went home on the Eurotunnel. People

allowed (winners only!). We are looking forward

were very surprised to see our coach getting

to finding out who will receive the prize in the

inside a train. We thought it was really cool!

last half term…

Page 9

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15 Baking croissants…

“Should we eat the snails?”…

Page 10

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Sports Day special

By Miss Aiworo

Some last minute discus coaching

What a great first Compass School Sports Day! Our four school houses: North; East; South and West competed against each other for the new house trophy! Wonderful sportsmanship was shown throughout the day by all competitors and spectators.

It was wonderful to see all of our students looking smart in their Compass PE kits. Our students worked fantastically as a team and

The high jump

many talented athletes took to the track and field!

The weather was on our side and along with the incredible support from volunteering parents and staff, we had a very exciting day.

Congratulations to North for winning the event!

A big thank you to all the staff that helped set up and support our students throughout the day, we couldn’t have done it without you!

The javelin

I am really looking forward to developing PE next year. In particular coaching the talented athletes we saw today to compete in borough competitions next year and the wide range of sporting opportunities we will take part in. Next year’s sports day will be even bigger and better and we hope to see just as much determination and dedication from our students as we saw this year!

Well done everyone!

Boys sprint races

Page 11

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

A neat hand over

Starting the race

Start of the boys’ relay race

Some of today’s medalists Sprinting for the line

Page 12

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

It was a close finish in the girls’ relay race

Not so close in the mixed race, Mr Wilson was so confident of victory he crossed the line backwards!

Page 13

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Michael Penney, Year 8 represented North to collect the winners trophy

North - The proud winners!

Page 14

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15 Some last minute shopping…

Page 15

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Year 6 Transition Day

The day ended with an assembly where we were

By Mr Collins

able to look back on the successes of the day

On Wednesday 1st July, Compass welcomed our new Year 7 cohort for their secondary transfer day. More families than ever have chosen Compass and it was great to work with and meet our new students and their families.

and celebrate all we had achieved. Lots of parents joined us for this and stayed to meet the staff

afterwards.

Our

team

of

Compass

Ambassadors were an asset to the school, and I know will continue to be so as they help support and settle our new students when they start with us on the 4th September. Well done Year 6, and

welcome

to

the

Compass

School

Community.

We welcomed the circus to Compass School and had a great day not only exploring and learning new circus skills but finding out about the science, maths and creativity of the circus.

Students created and launched their own rockets; created an entire circus in art; learnt about forces and balancing in maths; learnt and played circus themed music and created acrostic poems with alliteration to describe the circus.

Page 16

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Page 17

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Rock Assembly

By Abigail Bragginton, Year 7 On Wednesday 1st July a group of

Compass

School students visited Wembley Arena to attend Rock Assembly 2015.

We travelled by tube to the Arena, which was a very hot journey. As we arrived there were small white tents in the market square telling us about

The show started with videos of students talking about what their aspirations for the future were and why. After that was a bit of magic and then the amazing concert which featured M.O., Melissa Steel, Hex, Examples Rizzle Kicks and special guests Krept and Konan!

universities and possible careers. Our group loved posing with the actual Premiership trophy and having a virtual reality tour.

We were all so excited to see the performances and excited to hear the artists sing. The concert was amazing and we all discovered new artists that we had never heard of before. It was a real day to remember!

The arena seats 10,000 people but we were very lucky to have front row seats which meant we had a great view and lots of room for dancing!

Page 18

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Science Museum

And finally… the museum shop where pens,

By Mr Brushneen

robots, bouncy balls, badges, magnets and

On the 1st of July 2015 twenty intrepid Year 7 students led by Miss Aiworo, Miss Adnett and myself embarked on a trip across London to the Science Museum on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far. We were well equipped, we had our lunch and more importantly lots of water to quench our expected thirst.

pretty much anything you could think of as a souvenir to our fantastic visit. Then back to school on what was probably the hottest tube train I, for one, have ever been on.

One day was not enough for us to take in everything that the museum has to offer so I would highly recommend that you visit during the summer holidays as you’ll have hours of fun learning.

The aim was to look at how things we take for granted have developed throughout the ages and how Maths and Science have helped. From

I will leave you with this puzzle. What number is this Japanese Abacus representing?

the first computers and primitive adding machines through to supercomputers and modern day telecommunication.

The museum galleries took us through a trip from steam power, to the industrial revolution, to petrol power and on to space exploration and this was just the ground floor!

‘We learnt about the many and fascinating ways science and maths can be used in real life. They

The ‘Who Am I?’ gallery enabled us, through lots of hands on experiments and activities, to discover what your voice sounds like as a member of the opposite sex, morph your face to see what you’ll look like as you age and let us investigate some of the characteristics that make humans such a successful and fascinating species.

taught us how important science is and how everything works. It was great fun!

The Science Museum is very interactive and we played many games. We saw a star that you can throw and it will always come back to you. We saw the technology of the past, old cars, a space ship, a space man and even a planet.

The highlight of the visit was undoubtedly the ‘Launch Pad’ an area devoted to over 50 hands on experiments and activities from the world of physics, maths and chemistry from making water

stretchy,

to

catching

shadows,

experimenting with mirrors to hearing echoes and music through your teeth.

We saw so much at the Science Musuem, I can’t wait to visit again in the future!’

Leonard Amlak, Year 7

Page 19

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Year 8 Futures Evening

By Mr Collins On

Monday

the

8thof June, we held our

first

Future

Evening for Year 8.

This was an event to introduce our students to range of

careers

pathways

as

we

prepare them to reach

their

aspirational future destinations.

The evening was a tremendous success with our guests staying around to answer questions from Year 8 and unanimously offering to come back and speak again next year. We look forward to running this again next year and to build on this evening as we make option choices in Year 9.

Our Year 8 cohort continue to make excellent progress and we predict great outcomes in their formal exams in Year 11, expecting them to far exceeding both local and national averages. It is therefore right that we spend time now, really thinking about the pathways each of our students needs to be successful.

We were delighted to welcome eight prominent

Want to find out more?

guest speakers to the event including Alan Mak,

www.successatschool.org

Member of Parliament for Havant, Georgina

information about universities, different careers

Rosen, a BBC Journalist and Wendy Heller from

pathways and what qualifications/skills you will

the Construction Youth Trust. All spoke about

need to be successful in a career.

has

lots

of

the fantastic opportunity this event was for our students and about their personal pathways to success. Each encouraged our students to work hard and make the most of all the opportunities we provide for them.

Page 20

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Cambridge comes to

Review of the year and

Compass School

farewell

By Miss Cockram

By Mr Brushneen On Thursday the 11th

I can’t believe that the year is almost over, it has

of

just flown by. So many things to be proud of.

June,

Emma

Paulus, the Schools

Here are just a few of the highlights for Maths.

Liaison Officer for Pembroke College at

First of all I congratulate you all for the amount

the

of

of progress that you have made. Whilst some

visited

have made more than others it has been

University

Cambridge Compass School Southwark.

inspiring to see the integrity and resilience that you have shown in wanting to improve. This has

Emma spoke to students and their parents

been more than evident in the number of

about the different types of university and the

students attending extra sessions at lunch, after

range of courses available at degree level. Did

school, at the weekends and even during your

you know there were 51,000 degree courses in

holidays.

the UK! Emma also spoke about what to expect from

student

life

at

university

including

Secondly the success our students gained

managing your own study time and having to do

through their accomplishments in the UKMT

laundry.

maths challenge. A special mention should go to George Keogh and Teddy Lewington for

Finances seemed to be a worry for some

receiving the Silver award and Alfie Hunt, Laila

students so Emma explained that once you

Dehiles, Vinnie Shelly and Osama Boumnina El-

graduate, you have to earn a certain amount per

Harrak achieving the Bronze award. Overall it

year before you even start to pay back your

was a fantastic achievement for the school in its

loan.

first year of entry into the nationally recognised

If you never earn above threshold

amount, you will never pay back your loan. Lots

competition.

of universities now offer scholarships and bursaries that do not need to be paid back so

Finally our students made use of their problem

financial concerns should not be a reason not to

solving skills throughout Maths Week this

apply to university.

March. The aim was to solve the mystery of the missing school bell. The challenge was to solve

Twitter is a great way to keep up with

a daily clue that was written in code something

universities. Why not follow Pembroke College

that lots of you managed to do either

(@pembroke1347) or Cambridge University

individually or as a tutor group.

(@Cambridge_Uni).

Hopefully next year there will be further success stories to be reported in ‘Our Journey’.

Page 21

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15 On a personal note I am hugely proud of all the

‘Although I prefer F.C Barcelona, Millwall has

achievements that have been made no matter

been very supportive and helped me improve

how small they may seem to have been. I wish

my football skills a lot. Millwall has shown me

you all the best for your continued journey at

that they know how to play football amazingly. I

Compass School and beyond.

thought they didn’t know how to play football but they actually have amazing skills. Millwall is

I would also like to take this opportunity to

now one of my favourite teams. If anyone were

introduce Mr Kevin Hall as the new Senior

to tell me Millwall are not a good team, I would

Leader for Mathematics and can I ask you all to

know they were lying!’

welcome him to the Compass community as warmly as you have me.

Leonard Amlak, Year 7 ‘In school we have been working with two trainers every Tuesday and Wednesday for both boys and girls. I am really enjoying it so far and it really makes me happy to do it. This is a great

Millwall at Compass

thing for me to do because most of my friends are in it too and it’s great for me to bond with

By Mr Chapman

them. The coaching happens in the sport hall Each

week

coaches

top from

Millwall football club come to Compass School Southwark to work

with

our

on

their

students

football skills and teamwork. Three students would like to share their experiences…

‘I have supported Millwall football club all my life

where it’s nice to run about in the big space.

This enrichment happens because girls want to get into football a bit more and just have fun.

Since I have joined the girls Millwall football club at school I have really enjoyed football and maybe want to do it in my future once I have improved. The two trainers are really nice but tough because they want to challenge us. I’m always up for a challenge. The other girls in the group also enjoy it very much.’

Abigail Bragginton, Year 7

and even though they are going through a tough time, it has been great to train with them at School. I think the team will power through the difficulties they are having and I have a lot of faith in them. They are such a great local team and a lot of people like them. There are 4 trainers that come into school - they are really supportive and I would definitely join the enrichment again if they come back.‘ Sidney Gilbert, Year 7

Page 22

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Reading challenges

The future…

By Miss Cooper

By John Neka and D’Quaun Cole-Burton, Year 8

There are three reading challenges to

We are really excited about next year because

complete this summer:

our buildings are going to be expanded and there will be more members of staff. The new

Challenge 1: How many books can you read

teachers and students, with a variety of

and review?

interesting backgrounds, will bring something

Each time you read a book this summer, write a

different and unique to the school.

short review. The most avid readers will win prizes in September!

Challenge 2: Postcard reviews.

Are you taking a break this summer or going somewhere exciting? If you are, I’m sure you’re taking lots of fantastic books to read. When you’ve read them, why not send the library a postcard with a short book review. The best will form part of our new library display and win prizes. Our address: Compass School Library, Compass School Southwark, Keetons Road, London, SE16 4EE

The facilities are getting better, especially science because of all the new specialist equipment we will have next year. We have been looking forward to doing experiments all year.

The trip to the St Marylebone School

laboratories was fantastic!

This year we had a variety of events and enrichments and can’t wait for the new ones next year.

We were here from the start when the school opened so it is amazing to have watched from how the school is increasing in numbers and improving academically.

Challenge 3: Get Caught Reading Take a photo of yourself reading in the most

We’re really excited for next year and hope that

unusual or creative location. The best will win a

it is an even more successful year!

prize. Although will you beat the photo that Miss Cockram took in front of the White House in Washington DC last year?!

Dates for your diary  Fri 4 Sep – Year 7 begin school  Mon 7 Sep – All students begin school

Page 23

ISSUE 8 – Term 6 2014/15

Page 24