The Endeavour - Summer Edition 2020

THE ENDEAVOUR EVELYN GRACE ACADEMY'S OFFICIAL MAGAZINE

SUMMER EDITION 2020 Cleverer and kinder every day

THE ENDEAVOUR - VOL.8

Ark Evelyn Grace Academy

3

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

5

NEWS & HIGHLIGHTS

8

SHOWCASE

INSIDE THIS

ISSUE

22

UPCOMING EVENTS

Every term, we produce our very own school magazine, 'The Endeavour', which aims to highlight all our key events from the term.

We celebrate all our successes as an academy and highlight staff and student awards.

'The Endeavour' is a brilliant way to share all the good things that happen in our academy with the local community and beyond.

'Cleverer and kinder every day'

OPEN DAY EVENTS 2020 255 Shakespeare Road, London, SE24 0QN www.evelyngraceacademy.org/open-days

Book your place TODAY! or request a link for our virtual tour & principal talk

"We provide a transformational education that enables our students to live happy and fulfilling personal and professional lives"

Open Mornings & Virtual Tours Monday 21st September 2020 at 9am Tuesday 22nd September 2020 at 9am Wednesday 23rd September 2020 at 9am  Thursday 24th September 2020 at 9am Friday 25th September 2020 at 9am

THE

ENDEAVOUR

-

VOL.8

Dear Parents and Carers, It’s been a very emotional year with plenty of highs and lows. It’s been so tough on staff, students and parents, but we have finished the year with our fabulous year 11s securing some excellent results. They were a special group of students who worked so hard and had such a positive attitude towards their learning and that’s why they got such amazing results!

Principal's Message

At Evelyn Grace we want to transform lives, that’s our mission and their results allow them to take one step further towards living happy and fulfilled, personal and professional lives. So any of them are now able to realise their goals and go on and do the courses that they want and attend the institutions that they selected. So, we are all over the moon! It’s been a very interesting 6 months and I think it’s fair to say there have been a lot of changes to government guidance and we’ve had to keep a close eye on the news and DFE announcements.

However, the final decisions about GCSE results allowed our teachers to make fair and robust assessments of where they were and as part of the Ark network of schools we have standardised assessment across all our schools, so we knew and trusted our grades. We’re just so pleased that our students can walk away with the grades that they absolutely deserve.

It has been a challenging year because we’ve had to reach out to our students remotely, we’ve had to use MS Teams to have video lessons. As you all know we’ve had to phone home and we’ve been in regular contact to make sure that they were learning, to make sure that they were engaged and focused on their learning and that they were safe and well. Our parents’ job of home education has also been immensely challenging, we hope we have been able to adequately support you all through these difficult times.

We’ve really come together as a school and a staff body, so much so that I think we’ve grown as a community because of the challenge we’ve faced together.

We’ve risen to the challenge and we are now very excited about welcoming our students back to school. We have robust plans and measures in place to keep our staff and students safe so that the focus on the main thing: student’s learning and ability to become cleverer and kinder every day.

I look forward to working with staff, students, parents and governors in having a great year and continuing apace with our goal of rapid and sustained school improvement and ensuring we provide an outstanding quality of education.

Mr T Dainty

0207 737 9520 info@evelyngraceacademy.org 255 Shakespeare Road, London, SE24 0QN www.evelyngraceacademy.org

NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS

GCSE RESULTS DAY SUCCESS FOR OUR 2020 COHORT

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

2020 GCSE HIGHLIGHTS

By Mr Dainty, Principal Students at Ark Evelyn Grace Aacdemy received their GCSE and provisional BTEC grades today, in what has been a difficult and challenging year.

I would also like to say how proud I am of our teachers and staff who have responded to the changing demands placed upon us all because of COVID-19 pandemic.

They have risen to every challenge with commitment and resilience.”

All Ark schools are ensuring that students have all the information available to take their next steps.

The Coronavirus pandemic meant that year 11 students

Students will be given the grade their school thought

were unable to sit their exams this summer – and recent

they would get if they had taken the exam. This is

confusion about how grades would be awarded without

called the Centre Assessed Grade (CAG).

exams created concern for many of our young people.

Almost all students’ final grades will be the same as In a last-minute change, students who took BTECs will

their CAG, except in cases where the exam regulator

have to wait for their final qualifications as these are

Ofqual’s calculations would have given students a

now being re-graded by the exam board Pearson, to

higher grade. No one will get a lower grade than their

ensure the outcomes are fairly comparable to GCSEs.

CAGs. All Ark students’ CAGs were based on our database of regular assessment outcomes and we

Mr Tim Dainty, Principal of Ark EvelynGrace Academy

followed a robust process to ensure all young people

said:

got the grades they deserved. Staff are available to

“This year has been extremely challenging for all our students because of the pandemic. Given this, I am even more delighted to celebrate their success and hard work.

discuss grades and explain what they mean.

We have such high expectations for all our students and these results will enable them to go on to sixth form and college and study the subjects that they planned to.

Ark schools will do everything they can to help students go on to the post-16 placement of their choice. For the full coverage of our GCSE day visit: www.evelyngraceacademy.org

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS YEAR'S RESULTS: Brenda

Joshua

Achieved 5 9's, 2 8's, 3 7's

Achieved 5 9's, 2 8's, 3 7's

& 2 6's and is off to study

& 2 6's and is off to study

English Literature,

English Literature,

Politics, Philosophy and

Politics, Philosophy and

Geography.

Geography.

Samuel

Diana

Achieved 4 9's, 2 8's, 4

Achieved 4 9's, 2 8's, 2

7's, 6 & 5. He is off to

7's, 2 6's & 5. She is off to

study Business,

study English literature,

Economics and

Psychology, Biology and

Computer Science.

Spanish.

Adriana

Abdaullah

Achieved 4 9's, 5 8's, 7 &

Achieved 2 9's, 2 8's, 2

6 is off to study History,

7's, 3 6's & 2 5's and is

Politics, Psychology,

off to study History,

Portuguese & Spanish.

Maths and Economics.

Dieago

Ashanti

Achieved 2 9's, 3 8's, 4

Achieved 9, 2 8's, 3 6's, 5,

7's, 6 & 2 5's and is off to

5/4 & 4 and is off to

study Computer Studies

study Politics,

and Business.

Psychology and RE.

Nii

Ark Alumni - Support for past students We would like to encourage all our students to join our

Achieved 8 7's, 2 8's & 6

ARK Alumni. ARK Alumni can offer all sorts of

and is off to study

opportunities, such as internships, jobs, advice on

Maths, Physics and

business and a chance to take advantage of a network of

Economics.

over 6,000 ex-students. Visit: https://evelyngraceacademy.org/ark-alumni-support-paststudents

SHOWCASE

CELEBRATION OF STAFF AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK DURING COVID19

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

IQM FLAGSHIP STATUS, FOR A 2ND YEAR RUNNING

We are also very excited to have developed our new ‘Inclusion Space’ (a work room and relaxation area in the heart of the school for our the students who require the most support).

Well done to Ms Walley, our learning support assistants and our entire inclusion team.

We have also been working very hard in developing

For a second year running, Ark Evelyn Grace Academy

the quality of teaching and learning for our students

has been awarded flagship status for the Inclusion Quality

through staff training; and our Learning Support

Mark. The assessor commented on our excellent inclusion

Assistants have been working superbly in and

practice, stating our award was "well deserved".

outside of classrooms, ensuring inclusion is at the heart of the academy.

Inclusion is at the heart of Evelyn Grace Academy. We provide our students with a range of support catered to

In addition to the work we do at the academy, we

their individual needs. From our therapy dog Percy and

also support Lambeth Local Authority in securing

horse therapy sessions for children with social, emotional

good feedback from Ofsted and, most recently all of

and mental health issues to our targeted literacy and

our EHCP Year 11 students secured a place at a

numeracy interventions, EGA provides its students with

suitable college or post sixteen provider, this being

all the support they need to secure good life chances.

further proof that with the right support all our

Working creatively to ensure any barriers to learning are

students can succeed and have good life chances.

overcome in a caring and thoughtful manner.

Mr Tim Dainty, Principal at Ark Evelyn Grace We have had a busy year in Inclusion at EGA, with the

Academy said: “I am immensely proud of securing

introduction of our Nurture Group, offering new students

this award for the second year running. It is

a well-being package as well as literacy and numeracy

testament to the excellent work of Claire and her

support to help them succeed.

team. We do many things very well at Evelyn Grace,

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

but the support we offer for our vulnerable students and those with additional needs is second to none.”

Ms Claire Walley (Head of Inclusion and Safeguarding at Ark Evelyn Grace Academy), said: "We are very pleased to have secured the IQM flagship status for the second year running. Our vision at Ark Evelyn Grace Academy is: Evelyn Grace Academy is committed to providing the conditions and opportunities to enable any child with SEN to be included fully in all aspects of school life.

Our vision is for all students to be respected and seen to have potential for improvement. Through effective teaching and learning, support and encouragement and working closely with parents and carers we can enable the fulfillment of each child’s potential, preparing them for life as successful, independent members of their community.

All students' additional needs are catered for in every lesson, every day. Inclusion is part of the fabric of our school.And I am proud to say that this vision is becoming a reality."

If you have any questions or queries about Inclusion at Ark Evelyn Grace Academy, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@evelyngraceacademy.org.

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

CHICKS! By Ms Hickling, Head of Science Before lockdown, students at Ark Evelyn Grace Academy had a unique opportunity to hatch chicks from eggs.

They were able to watch the chicks actually breaking through the egg, learning to walk and feed. Some of our year 8 students led on caring for the chicks and produced projects on them.

SOCIAL WORK AT EGA By Ms Ekhator, Marketing, Communications and Admissions Officer

At EGA, we are proud of the support we offer to our students, their parents and carers. A significant part of extending our support offering this year has been to take up the government's programme which places social workers in schools. The programme has allowed us to secure a social worker who works onsite on a regular basis to help support the welfare and well-being of our students.

It has helped to improve communication between the academy, local authorities and families. Our parents and carers have received the support they need much quicker and faster as well as easier access for any advice they need.

We are extremely happy with the outcomes of this programme at our school. Our social worker, Ms Fearon, has made a positive impact! She is well known and loved by our entire school community. We are grateful for her continuous hard work with our students and their families (particularly during this pandemic).

A full report about the success of this scheme at EGA can be viewed online here: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/theprogramme-placing-social-workers-in-schools/

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

EGA ACHIEVES IMPRESSIVE 4861KM!

By Mr Clarke, Head of PE From 1st July- 15th July, as a school we took part in the schools sports day challenge.

This involved running, walking or cycling as my many kilometres as possible. We aimed to get to 5200km which is the distance between Evelyn Grace Academy and Washington DC. We just missed out on the distance but we manged to get an impressive 4861 KM which meant we were still able to get to American state of Maine.

There were some absolute amazing performances from staff with Mr Dainty achieving an impressive 226KM, Mr Gretton 353KM and Miss Hickling 225 KM cycling.

In terms of running, Mr Clarke ran 154KM and Ms Findlay 148KM; Ms Crawley ran 80 KM and Mr Wood 100 KM. On top of this, Ms Hall and Mr Kemp raised an astonishing amount for the school. Proceeds will go towards purchasing Google Chrome Books for students.

Thank you to all who donated towards this cause and Well done to every one who took part.

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

A SONG FOR WINDRUSH Staying connected, working together and celebrating diversity On Monday 22nd June 2020, at 10:27 am, we joined our local borough, Lambeth, to celebrate the Windrush Generation with a special rendition of the universally loved song 'You can get it if you really want' by Jimmy Cliff.

With harmonious vocals, proud faces, smiles and bodies swaying, staff and students came together virtually (others from their own front doors) to sing during lockdown.

10:27am represented the arrival of 1,027 people on the original Empire Windrush and it was a pleasure to honour them in such a way.

A special thank you to Mr Morrissey for organising this and his lovely rendition along with Mrs Latunji for her solo rendition also.

Both can pleasantly be watched on our YouTube channel here:Â https://www.youtube.com/user/ArkVega/videos

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT Culture & Ethos @ EGA

STUDENTS EXPRESS THEIR VOICES THROUGH POETRY, SPOKEN WORD AND ART

By Mr Morrissey, Associate Assistant Principal As a community, we have been deeply shocked and saddened by the death of George Floyd in the USA. The global protests have served as a reminder that no matter how much racial inequality there continues to be, millions of people are standing up and challenging this injustice; to which our students have taken a part in and shown great courage through producing inspirational poetry, art and videos of spoken word about racism, as well as thoughtful letters to George Floyd's family.

Their work has been collated into an Anthology, which will be debuted later this year as part of our celebrations of black culture and contributions to society in October 2020.

Copies will also be made available to read in our school library.

Thank you to every student who submitted a piece and has made their voice heard.

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

STAFF AND STUDENTS SPREAD LOVE AND HOPE WITH MUSICAL HOUSE CHALLENGE Thank you to all our key workers and NHS from us all at Ark Evelyn Grace Academy The entries received were heartfelt. Thank you to all who contributed.

We received poetry, spoken word and musical performances from both staff and students.

Thank you to all our key workers and NHS staff who have worked extremely hard throughout this pandemic. We appreciate all your hard work. Thank you all our house As part of our efforts to stay connected as a community

leader, Ms Bimson and Ms Latunji for

and school, staff and students took part in our 'Love and

organising this event.

Hope' musical house challenge celebrating all key workers and our NHS.Â

Musical entries can be heard on our school YouTube channel:

Staff and students represented their house teams spreeding joy amongst each other during lockdown.

Here are some of the entries submitted:

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

YouTube performances by Mr Hadden and Miss Latunji: https://evelyngraceacademy.org/news/staff-and-students-spread-love-and-hope-musical-housechallenge.

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

CAPTURING ISOLATION EGA PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

CONGRATULATIONS TO ESTHER ORENA IN YEAR 10

By Mrs Vida Ekhator, Marketing, Communications & Admissions Officer

As part of our efforts to stay connected, we held an exciting photgraphy competiion titled 'Capturing isolation'.

Esther won the competition with these beautiful images pictured on this page.

"Well done to Esther and everyone who submitted work for the photography competition - it is inspiring to see you being creative and finding strong images to focus on at this time.

I am so impressed by everyone's talent and thoughtfulness when taking these pictures. Thank you!"

Ms Mansell, Art Teacher Well done to all who took part.

A special 'Thank You' to Ms Mansell for organising such a lovely competition, and thank you to to all our students for their submissions.

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

By Ms Hickling, Head of Science

BIG IDEAS CHALLENGE

HOSPITAL HEROES

Before lockdown, our Year 7 Hospital Heroes had a brilliant term learning all about the world of medicine. We started with learning about parts of the anatomy like real medical students using Earlier this year, our year 8 students got to design

dissections of chickens and lambs’ hearts and

inventions that have the power to change the world.

lungs. We even tried inflating real lungs! We also tried to beat the teachers with our breathing and

Every student in year 8 participated in a whole day

lung volume experiments.

event learning about all about sustainability and they participated in a competition to design the best and most

We also worked with Kings College London,

sustainable project.

learning how to do stitches, take blood and learn about all the routes available in medical

They worked with mentors from industry to create their

industries. We worked with King’s College medical

designs and prepare their presentations.

students teaching us how to do it.

Lots of our year 8s built up the courage to present their

This was a brilliant experience for our year 7's,

ideas in front of their year group with 15 of the best

many of who now want to pursue a career in

going on to prepare a pitch for a national competition.

medicine!

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

THE SCHOOLS CHALLENGE

By Ms Hickling, Head of Science Over the past 6 months, representatives from year 9

Next Ecolution

have been participating in the National Schools Challenge competition with JP Morgan.

Next Ecolution designed a filter to purify the air, removing toxic particulates. With increased

They have loved visiting Makerspace, having the unique

amounts of fossil fuel being burnt air in cities

opportunity to use lots of specialist design equipment,

contains an increasing amount of particulates. Air

visiting the JP Morgan offices and being mentored by JP

passes through our three specialist filters which

Morgan investment financiers.

remove these particulates, allowing pure air to be released. This could help people who suffer with

Our students made their own company from scratch and

asthma.

worked together as a team to design something that could actually help the planet.

Both teams were really proud of their work. Carla said, ‘We all had fun and a different experience’.

Bee-Have

Reo felt that they had a unique opportunity to experience a new adventure. He was really

Bee Have designed an artificial bee hive that is designed

proud that the idea his team had could actually

to make the population of bees rise. It can contain

help the environment in the future. Angel was

thousands of bees and it is a safe space for bees to live

proud that her team made a clever idea that could

without getting harmed or injured in any way.

actually be made in the future!

It can be placed in parks , rooftops and on the sides of

Both teams presented their designs to mentors

houses. In 4 years, bees may be extinct which means no

and industry specialists at the Excel Centre and

fruit or other foods because bees help produce those

Ark Evelyn Grace Academy received awards for

foods, so our prototype could help with that.

team work.

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

GOLDMAN SACHS MENTORING SCHEME

By Ms Hall, Careers Lead We would like to congratulate our key stage 4 students for successfully completing their mentoring programme this year with Goldman Sachs. The successful scheme allows for our students to be mentored by a Goldman Sach employee for the year and have the opportunity to learn more about the various career paths the company offers. Employees coach students and supports with careers advice; they inspire students by sharing their own career journeys and share key workable skills during group sessions. Mentors also provide students with encouragement as they prepare for exams and life after secondary education. Thank you to our fantastic Goldman Sach Mentors for the wonderful work they continuously provide to our students every year.

WORK RELATED WORK DAY

By Ms Hall, Careers Lead For the last 7 years at the end of the summer term Year 10 take part in 5 day programme which focuses on the World of Work, where students get to interact with different professionals from a broad range of backgrounds to gain insight into different job sectors, and raise aspirations. It is a transition point from Year 10 to Year 11. So why should this year be any different!

We decided on an ambitious virtual Q and A session with Year 10. Actually, we thought it was such an exciting project that we invited Year 9 too. We had over 30 professionals taking part in 3 virtual sessions from Finance, IT, Law, and Medicine. Creative sectors such as TV, journalism, and advertising. Construction, architects, and engineers. Kyle worked for Lego as Director of Play in the Creative Play Lab, which designed new and fun ways for families to play with Lego!

The highlight was Shao Dow the motivational speaker.

Shao Dow is not only a rapper, a Ninja expert who trained in China but also holds a law degree and produces his own manga cartoon. Needless to say, he was very inspiring and also managed to come up with a rap to round the event off.

Our students were full of curiosity and asked some thoughtful and tough questions of our guests who were very impressed with our student’s eloquence. A special heads up to Theo Protheroe (Year 9) Abudu Ziwa (Year 10) and Shalom Vergara Zambrana (Year 9) they just kept the questions coming!

We still have 2 days of the programme to go when we get back in September so watch out for updates soon!

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

OUTSTANDING SUMBMISSIONS REMOTE LEARNING - COVID 19

Throughout this pandemic, our students have engaged and adapted to a new way of learning.

Despite the change, we are proud of the quality of teaching and learning we have been able to provide our students.

As a result, we have received outstanding pieces of work from students throughout lockdown. From Year 11 GCSE Art, to beautiful photography submissions, to well thought out Geography plans, to creative written work for English, written Mandarin assignments, Science experiments, beautiful Art work for Spanish. The quality of work has been wonderful to receive from our students. Well done to all our students for their hard work and for submitting some fantastic pieces of work!

Visit: https://evelyngraceacademy.org/news to view some of the wonderful work submitted.

'CLEVERER AND KINDER EVERY DAY'

WHAT'S TO COME DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Autumn Term Year 7 Welcome Induction Day - Tuesday 1st September 2020 Â Staff Inset - Wednesday 2 September 2020 - Friday 4 September 2020 (The academy is closed to ALL students)

Return to School - Autumn Term Year 7 - Monday 7 September 2020, 8:00 am - 3:15 pm Year 8 - Tuesday 8 September 2020, 8:35 am - 3:40 pm Year 9 - Tuesday 8 September 2020, 8:00 am - 3:15 pm Year 10 - Tuesday 8 September 2020, 8:35 am - 3:40 pm Year 11 - Monday 7 September 2020, 8:00 am - 3:15 pm Staff Inset Day - Friday 4 October 2020 (The academy is closed to ALL students) Last Day of Term - Friday 18th October 2019, 8:25 am

"Cleverer and kinder everyday"

Farewell to all our staff leavers We wish you all the best in all your future endeavours. Thank you for all your hard work and contributions here at Ark Evelyn Grace Academy: Mr E. Evans - Vice Principal Ms K. Bimson - Assistant Principal Ms M. Laing - Associate Assistant Principal Ms J. Clarke - Head of Science Ms L. Pattison - DT Teacher Ms A. Kinnon - Humanities Ms H. Scanlon - English Ms M. Asefew - Humanities Mr C. Asuoha - IT Mr M. Hashemi - Science Mr D. Kemp - Drama Mr S. Hamilton - Science Mr C. Dirkzwagner - Science Mr L. Obosi - Science Ms L. Derewnicka - Science Ms S. Allen - PE Mr L.Gretton Mr R. Baksh A warm welcome to all our new staff joiners Ms S. Thomas - Assistant Principal (Behaviour and Attendance) Mr A. Abraham - Head of Computer Science Mr D. Oldridge - Head of History Ms L. Manning - Head of Drama and Head of Brockwell House Ms S. Raghubeer - Design Technology Ms C. Bedos - Design Technology Technician Ms L. Paine - English Teacher Ms K. Healey - English Teacher Ms I. Oguntokun - English Teacher Ms H. Roe - Biology Teacher Ms A. Yeboah - Science Teacher Ms G. Biangue - Science Technician Mr A. Okonkwo - Cover Supervisor Mr O. Olayinka - Finance Assistant (Maternity Cover) Ms A. Hanley - Librarian (Maternity Cover) Ms R. Pennington - HR Advisor (Maternity Cover)

STAFF

LEAVERS

AND

NEW

JOINERS

KEEPING UP TO DATE

THE ENDEAVOUR - VOL.8

We are active on social media and regularly post the latest news and highlights from the academy.

Please visit our social media pages and keep up to date with us.

Ark Evelyn Grace Academy

@ARKevelyngrace

www.evelyngraceacademy.org

EGA IS NOW A FLAGSHIP SCHOOL The Inclusion Quality Mark – Flagship School.

The Inclusion Quality Mark Award provides UK schools with a nationally recognised validation of their inclusive practice and ongoing commitment to developing educational inclusion.

There are three award levels, beginning with the IQM Inclusive School Award. Two higher award levels are available to schools that continue to grow and develop their practice in conjunction with other like-minded schools – IQM Centre of Excellence Award and IQM Flagship School Award.

EGA is now a flagship school, meaning we offer the highest level of inclusive practice and will be working with other schools to support them to improve.