The Edonian Spring 2022 - Issue 20

SPRING ISSUE 20

E D

N I A N

TODAY'S READERS TOMORROW'S LEADERS

WORLD BOOK DAY RETURNS

CYBERFIRST GIRLS COMPETITION WINNERS

HOSPITALITY & CATERING AND SPORTS SCIENCE EXAM SUCCESS!

W E L C O M E F R O M T H E

C O N T E N T S

T E A M Welcome to Issue 20 of our Spring magazine!

3 PRINCIPAL Says

T H E

T E A M

Mr Janoff & Mrs Ayub Aydah Abbas, Faaiza Abby, Nasrin H Ali, Mamdudah Said, Nawal Karim, Aleesha Amir, Hibatullah Qtifan, Suhayba Ali, Suad Saeed, Maryama Abdi, Ameera Malji, Yumna Mirza, Zainab Cheema & Zara Joomaye

School re-opens for students : Tues 18th April 2022 Eid Holiday: Tues 3rd & Wed 4th May 2022 May Half Term: Mon 30th May - Fri 3rd June School re-opens: Mon 6th June

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@edengirlswf

WORLD Map

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MENTAL Health

LITERACY AS A Human Right

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FOOTBALL Team

Email us at: theedonian@egwf.staracademies.org

T E R M D A T E S S U M M E R 2 0 2 2

4/5

STEM Celebrate

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WORLD Book Day

HOLOCAUST Memorial Day

says

Dearest Students and Parents, Message from The Principal

All praises to the Almighty, Lord of the Worlds and the Master of our fortunes and salutations to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the seal of the Prophets and the guide for all our actions.

"Nurturing Today’s Young People, Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders" Welcome to our Powerhouse edition of The Edonian celebrating Female Writers and Literacy!

It is an absolute honour to be sharing this edition of The Edonian with you which is a celebration of the written word and particularly eminent female authors. Not only will you be able to explore the many adventures, fantasies and dilemmas found in this collection of books, but will also be able to learn who is recommended by the most avaricious of our readers. It has been an exciting term with some great news stories - one of the finest this term has been the amazing and admirable representation of the school at the regional Cyber First Competition where we were runners up in London once more. A huge shout out and congratulations to our winning team who represented the school with great pride and success.

It has been wonderful to see the many trips and workshops that have taken place this term including theatre trips and workshops. I would like to thank the Science Department for the exciting opportunities planned for students in British Science Week and I really hope students enjoyed the offer.

The Cultural Capital offer is very important to us so that students not only get a classroom-based experience but one that allows then to have real life experiences first hand and also enriches learning beyond the curriculum.

With Ramadhan fast approaching in the Easter Break, I hope that students and families can immerse themselves fully into the activities that this Spiritual month has to offer and give generously to those communities locally and throughout the world who find themselves in challenging circumstances. I would like to remind you of the various Ramadhan charity appeals we have on offer; please donate and give generously.

To students and staff who come from all the various faiths represented within the school, I would like to wish you all the best for your Faith related celebrations: for Hindus, a very special New Year, for Sikhs, a glorious Vaisakhi, for our Christian students a good Easter and for our Muslim a blessed Ramadhan Kareem.

I would like to remind you to keep safe during the holidays. A huge thank you to staff who have shown great resilience, commitment, and courage during this term.

A reminder that we return on Tuesday 19th April following the Monday Bank Holiday, to a new school timetable for TWO weeks until Ramadhan is over.

Wishing Everyone a Blessed Month of Ramadhan and a restful Easter break, Best Wishes

Mrs Shahina Ahmad Principal

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A R O U N D

T H E

world

Suzanne Collins is a highly praised American author that published the wellknown dystopian series The Hunger Games beginning in 2008. She won several awards and titles such as New York Times Bestseller and many more. Suzanne Collins’ career started with Nickelodeon where she wrote children’s shows and later became an author of many bestselling series, including The Hunger Games and her first bestseller Underland Chronicles.

Maria Firmina dos Reis was the first ever female Brazilian novelist. She was known as the founding mother of Afro-Brazilian literature. She published her first novel Úrsula in 1859, a depiction of life for Afro-Brazilians under slavery. During school, Maria won a scholarship for further studies which prepared her to become a teacher - one of the few fields open to any woman at the time. Reis maintained her profession for thirtyfour years until her retirement in 1881 whilst publishing books all the while.

J.K. Rowling is a British author most known for her seven-volume children's fantasy series, Harry Potter, published from 1997 to 2007. Harry is a wizard who lives with his non-magical relatives until his eleventh birthday, when he is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The series has been enormously successful: it has sold over 500 million copies, been translated into at least 70 languages, and spawned a global media franchise including films, plays and video games!

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Huda Shaarawi was an Egyptian feminist, nationalist and author born in 1879 who wrote a famous memoir and was known for being involved in the largest women’s demonstration advocating for Egyptian independence from Britain in 1919. Her work, Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist, 1879 – 1924 provides her firsthand account of her early life in Cairo.

Nadia Hashimi is an Afghan Muslim and writer of The Pearl that Broke Its Shell, When the Moon Is Low, and A House Without Windows. In 2014, Hashimi released her debut novel, The Pearl that Broke Its Shell.

It is the story of two women in Afghanistan, living a century apart but tied by legacy. Goodreads finalist in the categories of Debut Author and Fiction, it has been translated into multiple languages, including: French, Italian, Norwegian, German, Turkish and Hungarian.

Moroccan author Asma Lamrabet is most noteworthy for being both a faithful Muslim and a committed feminist. In her 2016 book Women in the Qur’an, which is divided into: “When the Qur'an Speaks of Women” and “When the Qur'an Speaks to Women.” These are divided into smaller sections telling stories of or about women in the Qur'an.

She encourages young females around the world to pursue their passions no matter what the social norm is.

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani, Muslim activist for female education and writer of the bestseller autobiography I am Malala. Malala was born in the Swat Valley in Pakistan during turbulent times of trouble and terror. Targeted and shot because of her belief and bravery to stand up against prejudice, a real-life story of one of the most incredible and inspirational young people in the world.

Hafsah Faizal is the New York best-selling, award winning Muslim author of We Hunt the Flame, We Free the Stars and A Tempest of Tea. Although born in Florida, Hafsah Faizal comes from Sri-Lankan and Arab descent, weaving in bits of her culture into her books and making it subtly diverse and relatable for many young people of Asian/Arab roots. Her fantasy books never fail to entertain her young readers and have gripping plot twists keeping people hooked. No young fantasy fanatic would want to miss out on her brilliant reads.

Aleesha Amir

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d n a y Stud h t l a e h l a t n e m tips icks and tr

With GCSEs coming up for many students this

TIP 1

year and important preparation for the younger years, studying and remembering

Flashcard and Revision Notes

information for all your subjects may seem

Use flashcards. Flashcards will help with

impossible and full of stress. However, we’ve

memory and vocabulary that is imperative to

come up with some of the different ways you

remember.

can feel at ease while preparing for your

Good websites to use:

exams.

FlashTabs https://flashtabs.co/ Quizlet

TIP 2 Memorisation

Use repetition to keep information in your

https://quizlet.com/160911463/tabs-flashcards/

TIP 3

head. Go over topics you're weaker on daily

Complete practice questions. This will give you an indicator

to improve your memory- it's excellent for

of how well you will be able to answer exam style questions.

niche topics you tend to overlook and for

Use: Physics and Math Tutor, Math Genie, Maths Up Grade,

extensive courses.

Corbett Maths and Math Made Easy https://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/

TIP 4 Study in a quiet area. This way you will not be distracted and can get the work done.

https://www.mathsgenie.co.uk/ https://mathsupgrade.co.uk/ https://corbettmaths.com/ https://mathsmadeeasy.co.uk/

It’s easy to say, ‘I’m going to study today,' but then your great friend named procrastination comes round. Procrastination often gets the better of us and delaying tasks just leads to added stress. Here are some tips on how to beat procrastination: Tip 1- Do the hard tasks first. This way you will not only get the satisfaction of completing a task, but you will also have more energy to complete that task rather than being tired from doing other ones first.

Tip 2- Learn what time of day you study best at. This way you can study effectively.

Tip 3- Use different study methods like the ‘pomodoro method’. These methods allow you to study while having breaks in between.

Tip 4- ‘Getting things done to the best of your ability is better than worrying over perfection.’ This is advice for those who only like to do work if they will get it 100% correct - or if it’s revision, get stressed over whether it will even help. Making a decent effort is better than doing nothing because you are afraid of getting things less than perfect.

Mental health and study are more closely linked than most think. When you are faced with a hard task, you may feel stress and anxiety, especially if study is not your forte. Just remember to take a break to reflect on how you are feeling and take frequent breaks to reduce anxiety and stress.

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Hibatullah Qtifan & Faaiza Abby

ENGLISH TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Do books give you insight about a person?

We caught up with a few of your English teachers to find out!

Miss Descombes

Miss Hussain

Which books made a big impression on you when you were a teenager?

Which books made a big impression on you when you were a teenager?

The books I always remember fondly are the Agatha Christie mysteries. They were my first detective stories and it is still one of my favourite genres.

I’ve read many books which have had a profound effect on me but I’d have to say Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie is a poignant one. This is a book I read during Secondary School, it was action packed and full of adventure with emotional and self-fulfilling undertones.

Who is/are your favourite women writer/s today?

One of my favourite authors at the moment is Katharine Rundell. Her books are Young Adult books but they are good stories for anyone of any age: great adventures, vivid characters and powerful descriptions.

What book/play/poem would you recommend as a must-read for Eden students?

I would thoroughly recommend the latest book I’ve read: The Crossing by Manjeet Mann. It deals with big issues like grief, war, and being a refugee which means it’s not always an easy read but I think that books should make you look at the wider world and make you think.

Miss Khatun Which books made a big impression on you when you were a teenager?

Who is/are your favourite women writer/s today?

I enjoy reading books written by Stephenie Meyer and Silvia Moreno-Garcia. .

What book/play/poem would you recommend as a must-read for Eden students?

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a MUST read for all Eden students because it is such a heart-melting story which teaches us about the importance and value of friendship and companionship which will never go out of style.

Miss Noor Who are your favourite women writers today?

Jojo Moyes; Huma Qureshi; Margaret Atwood

This may sound very cliched but for me Harry Potter felt like I was being transported to an entirely new world that excited me!

What made you choose to become an English teacher?

Who is/are your favourite women writer/s today?

English is a subject that allows one to express their opinions, ideas and read a range of literary texts which I find engaging.

Brit Bennette.

What book/play/poem would you recommend as a mustread for Eden students?

I’d recommend The Giver if you enjoy reading dystopian fiction as Lowry creates a society where colour, emotional depth and memory is eliminated. It challenges you to question the world around you and ideas around personal identity.

- Suad Saeed & Suhayba Ali Abdullahi

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What book/play/poem would you recommend as a must-read for Eden students?

Poems by Carol Ann Duffy from her collection 'The World's Wife' is amazing. Dracula, Frankenstein, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and The Alchemist.

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WOMEN'S LITERACY & EDUCATION LITERACY AS A HUMAN RIGHT Education is what differentiates us from other living beings on earth. It makes the human being the smartest creature on the planet. It empowers humans and gets them ready to face challenges of life efficiently. That being said, education still remains a luxury and not a necessity in many countries across our world. Educational awareness needs to be spread through the globe to make education accessible and available for everyone - especially the women who are not able to have the blessing we have today.

Women have faced many obstacles when trying to gain equality. They were seen as the “weaker sex” and were not seen as worthy of education nor as capable as men. When they then turned around to prove how capable they truly were they were ostracised and dismissed as if they were unimportant.

Here’s an illustration: the male literacy rate in Yemen in 85% but it is only 55% for females - that is a giant gap of 30%. This needs to change and although it cannot happen instantly, if we fight for one another, if we fight for girls and women who do not have the chance to be able to become what they aspire to, who have never had the chance to pick up a book or who may not even be able to read, we can make progress.

If we fight for the young girls who may be facing the same fate as their mothers before them - the little girls who will remain uneducated and be stripped of any choice of their own future due to the outdated views of a country then there is hope.

Napoleon said, ‘Give me an educated mother, I will give you an educated nation’. Give this quote some thought. An educated mother can create an educated nation. If our wives and our sisters won’t get proper education, then how can we expect that our next generation will be educated? That’s why we need to put some extra effort into ensuring female education.

About 258 million children and youth were out of school for the school year ending in 2018, according to UNESCO. The total includes 59 million children of primary school age, 62 million of lower secondary school age and 138 million of upper secondary age.

The global literacy rate for people aged 15 and over is 86.3% while women is only 82.7%. Women make up two thirds of all the illiterate adults throughout the world - most of them coming from less developed countries.

The education of women is fundamental to the integral development of the country. It is analogous to an effective medicine that can treat a patient and restore their health. The educated woman can manage her personal and professional life. The physical and intellectual development of the child is the moral end of education. A main aim of education is to provide students with knowledge and information. An educated woman provides the skills, knowledge and self-confidence needed to be successful mothers, workers and better citizens. A well-educated woman will also be more productive and better paid at work. In fact, the return on investment in education is often higher for women than for men.

Discrimination and inequality always start from the root. When a male child goes to school while his sister is at home simply because she is female, there is a seed of bias planted in the young boy’s head. He then develops a superiority complex and believes he is better than others only because he is a man. When women participate in education within schools and universities with men, their children are more conscientious about their educational rights and the young boys are less likely to have a superiority complex. As a result, educating both male and females further advances the concepts of equality and democracy within society.

Suhayba Ali Abdullahi

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International

Women's Day

‘Celebrate women's achievement. Raise awareness against bias. Take action for equality.’

Celebrated around the world on the 8th of March, the origins of International Women’s Day go back to the early 20th Century and the women’s suffrage movement. It is a day in the calendar to celebrate the great women of the past and present. It reminds us how many women have changed the world like Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart and Rosa Parks.

The day calls on us all to increase awareness about women's equality and recognise women's accomplishments. The event is celebrated on this day in the calendar because on the 8th of March last century thousands of Russian women marched through the streets St Peterborough to demand the end of World War I and demonstrate against food shortages. This year's themes is #breakthebias which recognizes the 23% wage gap between men and women.

Big companies such as Microsoft, Google and Mattel support International Women’s Day and likewise so do we at Eden. At Eden we invited the inspirational South Asian poet and writer Jaspreet Kaur to speak on topics that Eden’s girls can relate to and we conducted a workshop where women can start to recognize their power in the world. #breakthebias.

Suad Saeed & Ameera Malji

DROP EVERTHING

& Read

This term we introduced DROP EVERYTHING AND READ at Eden. Staff and pupils must literally DEAR for at least 15 minutes on Thursday morning from 8am. Why is reading so important?

Good literacy at an early age improves academic achievement and this leads to greater opportunities of all kinds in adulthood. Children who are engaged with reading and writing are three times more likely to have higher levels of mental wellbeing than children who are less engaged. Good literacy is essential to learn new knowledge and to be able to understand exam papers. Children who enjoy reading and writing are happier with their lives. At Eden we encourage reading and writing through activities such as DEAR, Bedrock and of course our wonderfully stocked library.

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EDEN'S FIRST FOOTBALL TEAM ZAINAB CHEEMA AND ZARA JOOMAYE

Football Eden Girls WF is thrilled to announce that we now have our very first football team, launched by PE teacher, Miss Karim. The team

consists of pupils from key stage 3 and Year 9. The team has had the opportunity to take part in training sessions run by the Leyton Orient Trust.

Q&A with the Coach Coach Karim was kind enough to take part in a

Q&A interview with The Edonian.

WHAT WOULD SUCCESS MEAN TO YOU? Success for me is not all about winning. It’s about

learning from your loses, picking yourself up and

going again. The girls have already been

successful and as their coach this provides great

joy.

The team has played three tournaments so far and have managed to reach the semi-final stage. Every Monday since the start of the season the students have gone to the Hackney pitch after school

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE TEAM DEVELOPING?

I am hoping to get a few girls to go to trials so

they can play at a more competitive level outside

and played against several local schools.

the school environment. I think we forget to

The team’s coach Miss Karim has high hopes and ambitions for the

only played together for around 6 weeks, they

team, stating: "My long-term ambition for the team is to win a

tournament and hopefully bring a trophy back to Eden. The girls

remember that it is a brand-new team, they’ve

have the potential to win future tournaments.

have already done a successful job of finishing 3rd in their first ever

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO COACH THE TEAM?

Trust Futsal Tournament where they won 6 out of 7 matches. And

I played a lot of football growing up. I also went to

tournament.” The girls earned bronze medals at the Leyton Orient

they finished 4th position out of 13 different schools in the Waltham Forest borough tournament. Congratulations to the team!

Players ASMAA RAGE – WINGER MALIHA AFZAL – STRIKER AZEEMA MALJI – CENTRE BACK MARIYA SAMI – CENTRE MIDFIELD FAHEEMAH SABRATTY – WINGER LINA MOHAMMADI – CENTRE BACK TAYBAH DAR – GOALKEEPER ZAINAB KHAN – MIDFIELD BISMA AJAZ – STRIKER SARAH ABDILLAHI – RIGHT BACK JANNAH AHMED – GOALKEEPER SARA CHIHEB – LEFT BACK FADUMO AHMED – GOALKEEPER MUNA ABUKAR – DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD MALIKA MOHOBOOB – DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD

an all-girls school which didn’t have football on

their curriculum as it is seen as a ‘masculine’

sport. It was important for me to give the girls the

opportunity to play a sport they love.

WHAT’S YOUR VIEW ON WOMEN’S FOOTBALL?

I’m glad it is starting to get the recognition it

deserves; Sky Sports have started to show the

WSL live. It’s continuously growing and hopefully

one day in the future it can get as big as men’s

football.

WHICH PLAYERS AND MANAGERS DO YOU MOST ADMIRE IN THE WOMEN'S LEAGUE?

Alex Scott (Arsenal and England player) – now

retired. She’s a great role model. To see her talk

passionately about football and the

understanding she has on the game is nice to

see. She has been given the opportunity to pundit

Men’s football, this shows how much the Football

world is growing.

ANY THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSLIM WOMEN AND FOOTBALL?

Anybody who knows me, knows I’m a great

advocate for female participation in sport. Being a

Muslim women myself, I understand the challenges

that come with participating in sport. To overcome

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these challenges, we must break down the

stereotypes and barriers. The Eden WF football

team are doing a great job at doing this!

RELIGIOUS GREETING CARD PROJECT INTERFAITH LINK DAY WITH FOREST SCHOOL

NAZ LEGACY INTERFAITH WORKSHOP Recently, students from year 10 were selected to take part in an interfaith discussion - a prototype of hopefully more to come - overseen by the Naz Legacy. In the workshop, students from Eden Girls Waltham Forest, Lantern of Knowledge, JFS, King Solomon School and Kingston collaborated in depth, looking at the issues of social media and how it influences discrimination and the similarities between the experiences of Jews and Muslims.

The workshop opened with the question: what exactly is Islamophobia and antiSemitism - and how does social media influence them?

Islamophobia is any behaviour that stereotypes or discriminates against the religion of Islam. It often is manifested in hatred towards a person out of fear or sheer ignorance.

Anti-Semitism was most infamously adopted in recent times by Adolf Hitler, the Nazi leader behind the Holocaust - but the prejudice towards Jews still exists today across many societies, including the UK. Both issues are on the rise today due to social media, where ignorant posts are often not dealt with severely enough. Due to the allowance of anonymous accounts, people can discriminate online and spread hate against Islam and Judaism without any consequences, easily creating new accounts when others are banned. Charities such as Tell MAMA and Community Security Trust (CST) were set up to publicly deal with situations where citizens are discriminated against due to their faith.

Students learnt that besides their differences, there are similarities between the two faiths, such as Muslims being descended from Ismail while Jews are descended from Isaac - both sons of Abraham.

Throughout the workshop, students learnt that there are more similarities than differences between people and that maybe you need to see more sides of the story to see the bigger picture clearer.

Note: The Naz Legacy aims to help young people from minority communities and disadvantaged backgrounds by supporting their education whilst encouraging positive integration into British society. It supports bringing together people from all faiths and none for community integration events and projects.

By Mamdudah Said

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STEM

CELEBRATING G E O M E T R I C I T Y

Pupils in Year 7 & 8 took part in the Geometricity Competition. They had been challenged to create a city made of geometric shapes. There were many entries, but we are certain you will agree that all of these cities are fantastic. 1st place Zubeda Landi, 2nd place Khadija Ali and joint 3rd place winners Iman Shabbir Yr 8 and Khadija Dada, Halima Javid & Janna Saliman Yr 7.

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The Science department, led by Ms Saleban, planned a week packed full of engaging and interesting Science activities to celebrate British Science Week. Year 8 constructed structures from spaghetti and marshmallows.

The Silly Science team spent the day wreaking havoc and laughter with KS3.

Pupils tested household substances in Chemistry and took part in flame tests.

The highlight of the week was the worlds largest planetarium. Pupils in KS3 and KS4 got to experience different shows.

Comic Relief is a British charity founded in 1985 by comedian and scriptwriters Richard Curtis and Lenny Henry. The concept of Comic Relief gets British comedians to make the public laugh while raising money to help people around the world and here at home in the UK. The first Red Nose Day was celebrated on the 8th February 1988 – focusing on the need in Ethiopia at the time – when over 150 celebrities and comedians participated raising over £15 million.

The aim of Red Nose Day is to bring about positive and lasting change to the lives of poor and destitute around the world through innovative projects on the ground.

Today, Red Nose Day is celebrated around the globe and has become a firm tradition and anticipated event in the UK. At Eden students were encouraged to dress in red, give donations to the Comic Relief charity and to buy merchandise - all to help raise money for those who need it more. An outstanding £805.48 was collected throughout all the year groups - and by the generous donations of teachers and staff – all in the hope that those less fortunate can benefit.

Mamdudah Said

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World Book Day was first established by The United Nations

Eden teachers put on a great show this year with many

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

outstanding costumes, but special mention to English

on 23rd April 1995 to celebrate books and authors and

teacher and Edonian Magazine editor Mr Janoff who

encourage young people to discover the pleasure of

dressed up as English cavalry officer Captain James Nicholls

reading. World book day is an annual event where students

from the much-loved book War Horse by Michael

are encouraged to dress up as book characters to celebrate

Morpurgo.

the joy and thrill reading brings.

Alongside dressing up, students organised a World Book As always, our students turned out in force this year and we

Day themed bake sale where book-themed cakes and

had over a half of them sporting colourful and creative

cupcakes were sold for charity, raising an impressive

costumes. We had students dressing up as everything from

£196.39. Year 7 student Zaynab Khan once again baked a

Power Puff Girls, Shrek and Fiona to Money Heist, Squid

wonderful cake fit for the occasion which was auctioned off

Game and Horrid Henry. This year was extremely special

to our hardworking teachers. Teaching assistant Miss Patel,

because many students coordinated and dressed up with

who dressed up as Bellatrix from Harry Potter, baked some

friends. This contributed to making it a very a memorable

wonderful witch hat cupcakes that were a great success

celebration at Eden.

and sold out quickly.

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Ameera Malji & Faaiza Abby

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CYBERFIRST GIRLS COMPETITION

BY NASRIN HASSAN ALI

The CyberFirst Girls Competition offers students in Year 8 the opportunity to test their skills in a ‘fun but challenging’ environment and is a pivotal part of The National Cyber Security Program for Schools.

Teams of four students participate in an online qualifier lasting ten days before a regional final where the top ten teams from the region compete for a regional Winner. Eden has been taking part in the competition for the last four years and has made it to the final three times.

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This year our amazing Maimunah Kola, Aaila Ahmed, Juwairia Butt and Hafsah Samee worked extremely hard and qualified for the final and

came 2nd place in the National Competition after Tiffin Grammar School. We only missed the top position by an extremely close margin of 70 points.

As a school we won the Girls Competition 2022 State School with Most Teams Entered Award and were invited to the exhibition award dinner in Bradford.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Mr Swati, Lead Computer Science teacher for supporting the girls. This is the third time in three years that Eden Waltham Forest has made it into the finals. It is the first time we have brought home a trophy.

PI Day & bake sale

Pi day, celebrated annually at Eden, takes place on the fourteenth day of the third month. (3.14!) This year's competitions were held by math teacher, Mr. Uddin in M3.

These competitions included the Pi memorisation contest in which students tried to memorise as many digits of Pi as they could and recite them from memory without making any mistakes.

There was also a baking competition where students were encouraged to bake either a pie or any other delicious, sweet treats with a mathematical twist to them.

These cakes were then sold in order to raise money for Syrian and Lebanese charities. In total we were able to raise £67 from the bake sale.

The winners of the cake contest were chosen by the teachers of the math department and were awarded to the cakes which were most mathematical in their design. These winners alongside the three winners of the Pi memorization contest will be announced in the end of term assembly, so make sure to watch out for that!

Finally, I'll leave you all with a fun fact: computers have calculated pi to more than 22 trillion digits! So, you better start memorizing for the 14th of March next year....3.14159265358979............

by Aleesha Amir

Congratulations to Mamdudah Said on achieving the Gold award in the UKMT Intermediate challenge (awarded to the top 8.3% of participants)!

The UKMT challenge is composed of increasingly difficult, atypical maths problems; getting bronze/silver is impressive as it is, let alone gold which we haven’t had a student achieve in the past few years, we believe.

Mamdudah (Y10) & Farwa Ahmed (Y9) - who achieved the only Silver award in Year 9 - have been invited to take part in the Kangaroo challenge next week which is even more difficult than the UKMT. Others who achieved silver in Y10 include Nasrin Hassan Ali, Nawal Karim, Maryama Abdi and Aleesha Amir. Congratulations to them all. Well done.

Nielle Ramos

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this term

LEADERSHIP, LITERACY & LEARNING

On the 2nd February, Eden Girls' School welcomed the Scholastic School Book Fair.

The fair lasted a week in total, attracting tonnes of students and teachers alike. The fair helped to encourage many students to read books they’ve never read and discover new and enticing stories that they would otherwise not have come across. The library was able to raise a total of more than £800+ worth of books to be dedicated to our very own library!

In Languages we celebrated 'Express Yourself' - a celebration of languages.

Pupils recorded videos of themselves reading poetry in French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and more. Check out our Twitter to see them all.

To celebrate International Women's Day 2022, the Royal Opera presented Lost and Found: a series of brand-new, train-themed, micro-operas created by women composer and librettist teams. Students from Year 7 visited St. Pancras station to enjoy these live opera performances.

Yr 7 Inaya Malik Completes Riyadh Marathon

World Book Day Cakes.

Performance of Detritus at St Pancras Station celebrating female composers and librettist teams

Year 7 Art

Textiles

Brilliant Club Launch

KS3 Mental Health

SUCCESS AFTER YR 10 EXAM RESULTS ARE IN In Y10 students at Eden will be sitting early entry exams this May for subjects including: Computer Science, Religious Studies, Drama and Citizenship. However, at the beginning of this year in January, students from both Food Technology and Sports Science sat their exams. After excruciating revision over the winter break, their hard work was shown through their amazing results.

In Hospitality & Catering, 12 out 15 students (80%) received a distinction.

Meanwhile eight Sports Science students out 15 received a Distinction Star (a mark of over 90%) and three received a Distinction (a mark of over 80%). We hope that these students can continue their amazing success and hope for the best for the upcoming exams.

Thank you to Ms Dadabhoy & Ms Parrott for all your support and guidance.

by Mamdudah Said.

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Year 10 students Fatima, Suhayba, Faaiza and Aydah attended an inspirational and thought-provoking poetry workshop by Anthony Anaxagorou

Book Buzz

Mosaic Enterprise Challenge Returns for 2022

Amazon AWS Project

Scholastic Book Fair

Holocaust Memorial Day On January 27th this year, Holocaust Memorial Day, students from across Star schools paid tribute to the millions around the world who have lost their lives to genocide. The theme was ‘Light the Darkness’ and

households were encouraged to light candles in their windows to remember and reflect on the lives lost during the holocaust and victims of subsequent genocides.

Here at Eden, our students were featured in a new film made by the

Holocaust Memorial Day Trust which includes footage of Bosnian genocide survivor, Smajo Beso, who spoke to the pupils about his harrowing personal experiences of genocide as an eight year old child.

The film can be found here:

By Mr Janoff

19

Spirituality ān places a huge emphasis on learning and literacy;

The Qur’

in fact, the very first verse to be revealed to the Messenger of Allah (may peace and blessings be upon him) was:

Read! In the name of your Lord who created: He created man from a clot of blood. Read! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One who imparted knowledge by means of the pen. He taught

ān 96:1-5)

man what he did not know. (Qur’

These were the first verses that Allah, the Exalted, had sent to mankind. It encourages reading, learning and the appreciation of knowledge which has been transmitted through the ink of a pen. As such Islam places a huge importance on learning; the Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever travels a path in search of knowledge, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise. People do not gather in the houses of Allah, reciting the book of Allah and studying it together, but that tranquillity will descend upon them, mercy will cover them, angels will surround them, and Allah will mention them to those near

Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

him.” (

Moulana Dalvi

Year 8 Interfaith Linking Programme

A group of 11 Year 8 pupils from Eden Girls Waltham Forest and Forest School recently took part in two link days as part of the Schools Interfaith Linking Programme, organised by the Faith and Beliefs Forum.

During the first link day, both groups of pupils met at Forest School and exploreded their faith and identities. It was the first time that they had met and they learnt so much about each other.

For the second link day, both groups of pupils met at Eden Girls. The pupils enjoyed taking part in fun icebreaker activities, designed Eid and Easter greeting cards and took part in some reflection activities at the end of the day.

Overall, pupils have found the link days very enriching and made them feel so much more confident about themselves and their faiths. The pupils look forward to meeting for the

Year 8 took part in the MOPAC Digital

final link day, which is scheduled to take place during the final

Citizen program with the Mayor of London's

part of the summer term.

Policing & Crime team. The program aimed to teach pupils what makes a good Muslim Digital citizen.

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R E V I E W S

With such beautiful animation, in-depth and complex characters, and an amazing plot, Encanto is definitely my favourite Disney movie of 2021.

The main character, Mirabel, embarks on an emotional journey to find out who she truly is, what her Abuela’s story is hiding, and where the notorious Bruno has disappeared to. All the while she realises how much she has taken her sisters for granted and she starts to form a stronger relationship with the both of them.

My favourite characters are Luisa and Dolores because as an older sister myself I understand and relate to Luisa and all the pressure she feels and I really admire how she handles her problems with such strength, while Dolores seems like a very misunderstood and underrated character with her quiet voice and soft nature.

Encanto perfectly balances humor, music and culture with messages around family pressures and problems and being happy with one’s true self. The movie also promotes self-love through the main character, Mirabel - the only one in her family without special powers. While she is conscious of this absence at the beginning and throughout the movie, by the end she learns to love and accept herself as she is.

- Nasrin H Ali

Five Nights at Freddy’s also known as FNAF is an American game franchise created

by Scott Cawthon set in the fictional arcade ‘Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria.’ The players are set as the role ‘security guard’ where we watch over animatronics the little mascots that oversee the kids visiting the pizzeria. As security guards, like the title suggests, we must survive all 5 nights at the pizzeria without getting caught by these animatronics. Although it sounds easy, the game requires a lot of strategy and multitasking. The player can monitor the animals through security cameras, doors and lights. There are many easter eggs and hidden endings to complete. However, surviving these few nights doesn’t mean you complete FNAF. That’s when the whole series comes in. FNAF isn’t just a game but a universe where players can create theories, interact with communities, and just overall have a lot of fun! Bits and pieces from each game are spread out to create this entire map which players can use to create their own storyline. Just recently, a new game was added onto the FNAF franchise leaving many players to interpret their own ideas. The series is targeted at teens and young adults; however, it’s loved by many of all ages. Due to the new game, FNAF has recently skyrocketed in popularity after a long wait.

One student said, “I really love FNAF, it’s an amazing game. It has many twists and turns, and it’s fun playing together with my friends.”

Although jump-scares may seem a little frightening at first, FNAF is an engaging game with an unpredictable story line.

Maryama Abdi

21

WHAT IS THE PODCAST ABOUT? The Glow up Diaries podcast is targeted towards teenagers and young adults that perceive themselves negatively and wish to embrace self-acceptance and confidence in themselves. The podcast focuses on topics ranging from weight loss to socialising, self-confidence, body image, overcoming your fears and finding the motivation to be consistent and chase your dreams.

WHERE CAN I LISTEN TO IT? The podcast comes out every other Thursday and is available on any podcast platform - such as Spotify, Apple podcasts and YouTube, just to name a few.

If you want to listen to an episode, there is no need for you to start from the first episode and listen to them all in chronological order; instead, you can just tune into any episode and listen to the chosen topic that was selected for that day. Each episode consists of inspirational advice, tips and Alivia D’Andrea’s personal experiences and stories relating to the selected topic.

WHO IS ALIVIA? Alivia D’Andrea, a YouTuber with over 2 million subscribers, is best known for her YouTube Series The Glow Up Diaries which is a raw docu-series of her physical and mental transformation during her teenage years.

“I’ve created this self-improvement podcast because I want to be a friend that I needed back then; a friend that made me not fear judgement and feel accepted for exactly who I am with all my flaws that I found difficult to accept. A friend told me that no matter who you are, what you did, where you’ve come from, you can always change and become someone better.”

by Yumna Mirza

Murder Most Unladylike is a popular fictional series based on the lives of young Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells, two 14-year-old schoolgirls solving murder cases in the 1930s. Written by Robin Stevens, the first book of the series was published in 2014 and has continued through to 2021.

The beginning of Hazel and Daisy’s story starts at nothing less than their boarding school: Deepdean School for Girls, where a terrible tragedy takes place and all traces of the crime scene go missing merely minutes after its discovery. Little did they expect more murders and scheming connected to what had originally seemed to be a devastating suicide.

Since the first book, there have been ten subsequent books full of murder mystery and peril for the two young teenagers, as well as four extra mini-books telling mysterious tales that the two young detectives are challenged to resolve.

Nawal Karim

22

Sands of Arawiya Written by Hafsah Faizal, Sands of Arawiya is a duology, a series consisting of two books, inspired by the folklore of Arabia. Here, we follow the adventures of Zafira, a hunter who disguises herself as a man - the only one who has braved the shadowy forest called the Arz - and Nasir, a boy nicknamed the Prince of Death, who assassinates those foolish enough to defy his father so he can earn his approval.

Both are legends that never wanted to be.

As war threatens to break and the Arz increasingly engulfs the kingdom each passing day, Zafira embarks on a journey to retrieve the Book of Jawarat and bring about magic again. Meanwhile Nasir is sent on a mission to assassinate the hunter and steal the artifact. But an ancient evil stirs as their journeys enfold, bringing the unlikely pair together. Zafira and Nasir must fight their insecurities to bring about peace. Packed with fantasy, action and sweet, sweet romance, Sands of Arawiya invites you to travel with them on their thrilling journey.

Mamdudah Said

Scorpion is a TV series revolving around Walter O Brien, who is leading a group of geniuses to tackle worldwide problems that may lead to catastrophes. It has uplifting themes of friendship, comradery, and responsibility. Some of the main characters include: Tobias Curtain, Happy Quinn, Sylvester Dodd and Cabe Gallo.

The series follows them around the U.S.A. as they attempt to prevent disasters.

Viewers are kept entertained by cliff-hangers and plot twists and in many episodes they come so close to destruction. The team uses a diverse set of skills and expertise such as coding, psychology, and engineering. While they are frequently called into service by the Department of Homeland Security, they also accept work from private individuals and organizations. There are tense moments when a disaster is about to happen, but the government does not take them seriously. And when the government finally takes them seriously, it is almost too late. Overall, it is an exhilarating and exciting show with a rating of 4.5 stars; the demographic audience is pre-teens of 12 years and above.

Faaiza Abby

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