Hammersmith Academy Newsletter - October 2014

HAMMERSMITH ACADEMY

NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2014 ISSUE 19

TIMENDI CAUSA EST NESCIRE - IGNORANCE IS THE CAUSE OF FEAR. It has been an incredibly successful start to the academic year. The pace of our term is relentless and we pack so much in to a short space of time. The hard work is truly paying off. Students, staff and parents look forward to a well-deserved rest over half term.

other universities is coming up fast. no one.

Our open evenings and mornings for potential year 7s and 6th form showed the academy’s fantastic qualities.

The pride of our ambassadorial students shone through

forward to competing against local schools and winning over our Mercers’ school group rivals at St. Paul’s Girls’ and Boys’ Schools at some time in the future.

Ambitions run high here at HA.

coupled with the amazingly positive comments from our visitors. Thanks to our parents who helped out on the night. A great exhibition of a school really going places.

The new students look exceptionally smart in their suits and it feels like year 7 have been here longer than 8 weeks. They have taken to secondary school like ducks to water. They have also entered into the spirit of leadership with an impressively large number of applications into our Junior Leader Teams. Over 15% of the academy student base applied for roles in Media and Communication, Events and Community, Sport, 6th Form and Teaching and Learning. These positions will all feed into our wider Academy Council.

Our Comenius project students are gearing up for the week-long residential to Seville, spain following a successful trip to France this term. These foreign

The future waits for

Sports have taken on a new direction thanks to the partnership with Fulham Reach Rowing Club. Getting students on the water is proving very popular and I look

We continue to plan for the residentials for years 7, 8, 9 and 10 in the coming year. A great way to take

students outside their normal comfort zone and apply their leadership skills. Seeing them find new qualities and abilities in challenging situations is always inspirational.

Further, with the WW1 centenary this year we look forward to the visit to the war graves and battlefields of northern France in the New Year. This commemoration of the WW1 sacrifice will be a truly enriching experience for year 8.

Have a great rest and look forward to the next stage of HA life. I can’t quite believe that it is Our tenth term since opening!

exchange trips really develop individual confidence and a real camaraderie amongst staff and students. In addition, the mfl department are running another repeat of the successful lille Christmas market trip. Seats run out very quickly so be sure to be on the coach!

The Year 12s are finding their feet quickly and follow in the giant footsteps of the leavers of summer 2014.

Over 85% of the Year 13s went to a university of their choice which included a significant number of Russell Group universities. We will be tracking their progress

GARY KYNASTON HEADTEACHER

going forward and will share their stories with the current crop of university hopefuls. In the meantime, Oxbridge letters have gone off while the deadline for

INSPIRE CREATE SUCCEED

HA STUDENTS HELP OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST OPEN FULHAM REACH BOAT CLUB Hammersmith Academy students have assisted London 2012 Olympic gold medallist Katherine Grainger in opening the Fulham Reach Boat Club which provides free training to schools in Hammersmith and Fulham.

Ms Grainger described the Fulham Reach Boat Club as ‘wonderful’ as she cut the ribbon to officially open the boat house which stands underneath the new St George development along from Hammersmith Bridge and is passed by the famous annual Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.

The club, which hopes to encourage local state schools to take part in rowing and to train them to a standard where they are able to compete against top clubs, is being managed by former national champion, Steve O’Connor, and his focus is very much on providing a free opportunity for schools in the area where pupils may not have had a chance to try the sport.

Hammersmith Academy students have been training at the club which has a brand new fleet of 18 boats, an indoor training room with eight rowing machines, immaculate changing rooms and a kitchen.

Ms Grainger, who also won three silver Olympic medals, said: “This is the nicest boat club I’ve ever been to, it’s so smart! It’s the most amazing thing to bring rowing into the community. I’ve ended up being very involved in rowing and going on to a very high level, but I started out at uni having a laugh.

“It’s such a sociable sport and it’s wonderful Fulham Reach Boat Club is putting such an emphasis on teaching youngsters who go to school so near the river, but haven’t had the chance to row.

“They may take it for granted, which they definitely should, but the Hammersmith stretch of the river is one of the best in the UK and as they get more into the sport they’ll realise this is where the best races are and is one of the most famous places to row in the world.

IMPRESSIVE A LEVEL AND BTEC RESULTS CONTINUE AT HA Students and staff at Hammersmith Academy have revelled in the second year of successful A Level and BTEC results.

70% of all student entries achieved the highest grades of A*-C with an overall pass rate of 98%. Students excelled across the range of curriculum areas, with many exceptional grades seen in Maths, the Sciences, Drama, Spanish, Sociology and the Academy’s specialisms of ICT and Media. 16% of students were awarded the highest level of A* or equivalent.

Headteacher, Gary Kynaston, added: “I am immensely proud and delighted with our students and the hard work they have put in; their impressive results are a tribute to their teachers and the students’ dedication after choosing to study in our Sixth Form.

“This cohort of students come from all over London and their progress in their short time with us is truly remarkable. It is fantastic to see so many move on to Higher Education. On behalf of everyone at the Academy, we wish them all the best in the future.”

Students achieving remarkable success include: • Ali Omar, who achieved AAA and will study Medicine at Imperial.

• Amina El Bakkali, who achieved A*A*B will study Business Management at Brunel.

• Taybah Mahmood, who achieved AAB will study Law at SOAS. • Artem Yurlov, who achieved AAAAA at AS Level.

• Marko Gvero, who achieved AAAB at AS Level.

The excellent results mean that students have secured places to study courses such as Law, Medicine, Maths and Biomechanical Engineering at highly prestigious universities across the country, with many poised to attend Russell Group universities.

Students studying vocational BTEC courses also performed well and have secured places at the institutions of their choice.

Of the Academy’s results, Head of Sixth Form, Rob McKerrell, said: “I am overjoyed by the fantastic results our students have yet again produced, with a number achieving the highest possible A* and Distinction grades.

“Seeing our students grow and develop into confident and well-rounded individuals with high aspirations, has been astonishing.

The Academy’s culture of high expectations and standards, with the support of parents, has inspired fantastic academic success.”

STUDENTS ATTEND BLACK ACHIEVEMENT CONFERENCE A number of students in Year 10, and their parents, attended the London School of Economics and Political Science’s (LSE) Black Achievement Conference which took place during Black History Month.

The conference is designed to help students and their families to plan for their future by providing a taste of higher education. The event inspired students to aim higher, think bigger, realise their potential and make informed decisions about what to do with their futures after school.

The day included motivational talks and practical workshops for both parents and students, one of which was focused on student life and was led by LSE’s African Caribbean Society.

The conference was an excellent opportunity for all. Students were exposed to stereotypes of how the world around them perceives them, statistics of black academic achievement and the various issues that are prevalent in communities. Parents in attendance were also enlightened by the information received from speakers from the government, entrepreneurs and entertainers.

Students acted as excellent ambassadors at the conference, with a number of parents and teachers from other schools commended students on their intelligent questioning.

TRIP TO THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY The Science Department have taken over thirty Year 8 students to the Royal Observatory to find out more about Space, which students had been studying in Module 1.

The students watched a film in London’s only planetarium, before having the opportunity to question an astronomer. Students asked some deep, philosophical questions, and ended up discussing what would happen if you went into a black hole: would you be spaghettified, or would you enter a parallel universe?

Students also had a great time exploring the history of space exploration, looking through old-fashioned telescopes and using computer simulations to launch research satellites into space. As the astronomer said, and the students agreed, the universe is literally “awesome!”

The Royal Observatory was founded by Charles II in 1675 and is one of the most important historic scientific sites in the world. It is the home of Greenwich Mean Time and, by international decree, the official starting point for each new day, year and millennium.

COMENIUS VISIT TO BITCHE, FRANCE Twelve students from Years 9 and 10, accompanied by Mr Knocker and Miss Flynn, spent a week in Saarbrucken, Germany and Bitche, France.

The trip formed part of the European Union’s multilateral Comenius project that the MFL department has been coordinating for the past year. Students have spent time visiting our partner school LycÊe Professionnel Albert Schweitzer in Bitche and have been working collaboratively with students from our partner schools in Italy, Spain and Germany.

The trip was an amazing opportunity for learners to put their languages into practice and understand their position as part of the European Union.

Students and staff flew to Luxembourg before travelling on to Saarbrucken where they met their colleagues from our partner schools in Italy and Spain. They then travelled by coach to Bitche where they visited the Lalique Museum, and learnt about the traditional local trade of crystal making and saw stunning examples of crystal objects. In the afternoon, students from all five countries visited the local golf course and undertook a very enjoyable golf lesson.

Wednesday was spent visiting Haut-Koenigsburg, a medieval castle that was entirely rebuilt and restored from 1900 to 1908. Everyone really enjoyed learning about what it would have been like to live in a medieval castle and the challenges that its inhabitants would have faced, before later visiting the beautiful village of Riquewihr to learn more about the culture of the Alsace region.

Back in Bitche, students discussed the differences between the French and English education systems, looked around Thermal Engineering laboratories and observed a lesson for students who are training to become business administrators. The final day at the school ended with a celebratory lunch in the school canteen.

Before travelling back to Saarbrucken, students got the opportunity to sightsee, sample traditional German foods, as well as purchase souvenirs to take home!

The trip was a huge success and staff were incredibly proud of all students who, were not only excellent ambassadors for the Academy but, also managed to make friends with students from other countries and who speak other languages! The MFL department is very much looking forward to our next Comenius visit to Seville, Spain in November.

STUDENTS ENTER YOUNG ENTERPRISE COMPANY PROGRAMME A group of Year 10 GCSE Business and Economics students have formed their own company as part of the widely recognised Young Enterprise Company Programme.

Young Enterprise is the United Kingdom’s largest business and enterprise education charity. Every year over 250,000 young people learn about business and the world of work in the classroom under the guidance of a network of 5,000 volunteers from 3,500 companies.

As part of the programme, students find out what it’s really like to set up and run a business.They make all the decisions about their company, from raising the initial share capital through to designing their product or service, to selling directly to customers and ultimately winding up the company and paying their taxes. All this takes place with the support of a Business Adviser who brings a wealth of business knowledge and expertise to the team.

Students are currently in the embryonic stages of their business at the moment, with important decisions still to be made.

Who will be the CEO? What are we going to sell? How can we make a profit? To give additional help and support, students will also have the expert advice of representatives from General Electric.

Students will get the chance to see their ideas come to life whilst also developing key employability skills in teamwork, problem solving, communication and resilience. In addition, taking part in this scheme will make the students stand out in their job applications and university applications later in their career and education.

Students meet every Thursday at 4pm in S50.

Institute of Financial Services Student Investor Challenge

Have you ever wanted to trade stocks and shares? If so, you can do this without risking your own money in the IFS Student Investor Challenge.

The Student Investor Challenge is a national competition where you are given an imaginary £100,000 to spend on a portfolio of shares. You will need to closely follow what is happening in the business and finance news to make decisions about what shares you buy and sell to generate the most profit.

This challenge is open to student from all year groups and you can work in teams. It is a national competition and students can win prizes ranging from £200 per team member to an all-expenses-paid trip to New York.

To register your team contact Mr R Saunders (rsaunders@ hammersmithacademy.org). You can also have a look on the IFS Student Investor website www.studentinvestor.org for more details. Trading is up and running so hurry!

Session 3 Enterprise Club - Years 7 and8

Ever wanted to run your own business? Want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg? Well this could your chance to see if you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Develop your own business ideas and learn about strategies and marketing techniques to sell them.

If you are interested in joining please see Ms Steyn or contact her on hsteyn@hammersmithacademy.org Every Monday in S51 with Ms Steyn.

ENGLISH The recent Year 7 Open Evening was a highlight for the English Department as examples of fantastic work were displayed for all to see. Parents were impressed by the quality of students’ written feedback in green pen.

Not only did the department display good old fashioned written work, but they also focused on the interactive kind. From debating to interactive games based on the narrative techniques, led by Miss O’Connor and Miss Burgess, the English Learning Base was a hub of activity and excitement.

One Year 7 pupil even led a lesson, while the teachers pretended to be English students. Hasten to add, many detentions were given for continuous chatter...

As we approach Module 3, Miss Gelder-Smith has used her artistic ability and passion for cross-curricular opportunities to inspire Year 10s to draw the opening scene of ‘Of Mice and Men’ with accompanying quotations. This has enabled pupils to visualise Steinbeck’s setting and produced some fantastic results!

Both Mr Lewis and Mr Graham were in charge of leading the front on ‘Scrabble’. Frustrated, Mr Lewis was exasperated by the Year 7s’ flagrant disregard of the rules... Nevertheless, the Year 7s expanded their vocabulary and developed the HA skill of reciprocity as they tried to foil Mr Lewis’ plans for world-wide Scrabble domination.

PEFORMING ARTS NEWS BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL

The Performing Arts Department is delighted to announce that this year’s musical production will be Bring it On: The Musical.

With the biggest cast ever seen, cheer stunts and rap, this is bound to be a huge hit! Performances will be on Thursday 26th and Friday 27th March. Keep an eye on the @dramaatHA twitter feed for rehearsal updates and further information.

Cast Campbell - Cylthia Williams Danielle - Celest Anto-Agyei Nautica - Dhanitra Henry-Nangle Randall - Said Ozarar

La Cienega - Diaz Desagurante Steven - Ryan Nolan Kylar - Emily Jean Davis Eva - Luxi Yao

Twig - Kais Al-Kaisi Bridget - Natalie Brundle Skylar - Denniesha Ross Cameron - Mahmoud Abouchakra

Session 3 Alert!

Upcoming Drama Trips

Ukulele Club will take place on Thursdays from 4-5.30pm.

All year groups are welcome. We have spare ukuleles so you do not need your own!

November: Year 9 - Girls Like That. Unicorn Theatre November 27th: Year 7 - Dick Whittington and His Cat. Lyric Theatre

Choir is also back! Join us on Fridays from 3.40-5.15pm in the music room. Teachers, parents and carers are all welcome.

Music Trip GCSE Music students visited the Barbican Centre to see the London School’s Symphony Orchestra perform a selection of orchestral music, featuring a harp concerto performed by a young musician of the year finalist.

Advance Notice The Christmas Music Concert will take place on Monday 15th December. Please join us for an evening of seasonal music from the Academy’s musician.

Music Tuition We have many students taking lessons on violin, piano, drum kit, guitar and singing. Spaces are still available on guitar.

Lessons cost £7 each paired and £14 individual and are paid in termly instalments. Financial assistance may also be available.

Please see or email Miss Sampson for more information or to register your interest.

UNICORN THEATRE WORKSHOPS

Drama students in Year 8 have taken part in a series of workshops with the Unicorn Theatre based on the work of Bertolt Brecht and his play, The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

Evaluation Brecht used a number of techniques to eventually create a form of drama called ‘epic theatre’. One of the most important techniques Brecht developed to perform epic theatre is the Verfremdungseffekt, or the “alienation” effect. The purpose of this technique was to make the audience think about what was going on; he wanted them to think socially and politically.

Exaggerating status, mark the moment, audience participation (rhetorical questions to audience) and making the choices the characters made important are all ways he used to achieve the Verfremdungseffekt.

In the second workshop we learnt a lot about how Brecht used status to create the effect mentioned above. An example was at the beginning we had to act as people of different statuses. Later we talked about how status affected us socially (one of the ways Brecht wanted us to think). Watching the end performances, focusing on status and addressing the audience directly out of character (“breaking the fourth wall”), we performed some ‘epic theatre’ and managed not to get the audience sucked in to the show but to think about what was happening - we used Verfremdungseffekt.

This could help us in other Drama topics such as Sparkleshark. It would help by allowing us to show the different statuses between characters. For example Russell would have a higher status than Jake. Therefore if we used the techniques we learnt to show that status; before we even said our characters names the audience would probably have had a good sense of our character.

In the workshops, I mostly enjoyed performing because I got to show off all the techniques I had learnt. It was also fun experimenting with the new techniques. In my practical work I used status. I did this so the audience understood my character better. My character was quite funny because he started off with quite a high status however, when I met someone with a higher status (Russell), I became scared and my status dropped. Then others followed so my status dropped further. By exaggerating my status I could easily show how Russell had scared me, how Russell had a very high status and make it funny.

All in all, I think I was quite effective in the way I used it.

In conclusion, overall, I would say the workshops were very useful because it gave me lots of new techniques to use in Drama and to improve my levels. They also helped me understand and learn a whole new style of drama that I’d never even heard of before, therefore helping me discover a new part of drama I can now use.

By Hafiz Onitolo

STUDENTS ATTEND BRITISH LIBRARY CONFERENCE Sixth Form students visited to the British Library to attend a conference entitled ‘Washington Confidential: an Insider’s Guide to the Mid-term Elections’.

Students heard from a leading American political analyst on the forthcoming US mid-term elections and were able to gain an understanding of the significance they will have in the 2016 Presidential Elections which begin in January 2015. The election results show potential candidates what their obstacles in office are likely to be should the Senate become dominated by Republicans instead of Democrats.

Students also discussed the impact this may have on Hilary Clinton’s expected race for the Presidency.

Arab-Israeli conflict Talk

Year 13 History are currently studying the Arab-Israeli conflict and instability in the Middle-East. As such, it seemed perfect timing that a relative of Miss Sampson, Roni Keidar, was in the country making talks about the conflict.

Roni is an Israeli citizen and proud Zionist, yet is good friends with her neighbour across the wall in Gaza, Mehanna. They both work for a group called Other Voice, a grassroots volunteer organisation comprised of citizens from the communities surrounding the Gaza border that promotes Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and has maintained their friendship through many rounds of fighting. Roni spoke about her beliefs and her hopes, as well as her fears. Students were also able to ask Roni questions that were both topical and held meaning to themselves.

Roni was a truly inspirational speaker who was in no way blind to the faults of her government or others, but who left the students with the positive message of hope.

ROWING This term has seen Hammersmith Academy students take to the water at the newly established Fulham Reach Boat Club.

Students are being taught how to row by the club’s high quality coaches, whilst using their brand new top-of-the-range equipment. It is the beginning of an exciting new era of sport at the Academy and students have taken to it like a duck to water!

RUGBY Year 10 students Amari Drysdale and Omar Soliman recently made their debuts for Wasps U15 rugby team.

Miss Hobson, Mr Vaughan, Mr Ford and Mr White all went along to the match, which proved to be a fantastic game to watch. Both students performed outstandingly; Omar pulling off some astounding tackles and Amari scoring a try! The game was a tight affair and finished 27-27. Congratulations to both boys for representing themselves and the Academy in such a professional manner.

Good luck for the rest of the season!

ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET The English National Ballet (ENB) are back! For the second year running, the Academy have been given the opportunity to work with the ENB on their exciting ‘Dance Journeys’ scheme.

Dance Journeys aims to shift young people’s perceptions of classical dance forms through the experience of creating new dance work with world-class professional artists. Last year students participated in a number of workshops delivered by specialist choreographers from the ENB and the Akram Khan Company. These workshops culminated in a large performance at The Barbican which commemorated the First World War. Students in Year 8 have already auditioned for places, with the selected group soon to start rehearsals. On the back of last year’s amazing performance, this is definitely something to look out for!

SIXTH FORMERS TO WORK IN PARTNESHIP WITH PWC Year 12 students have been chosen amongst just a handful of students from London schools to participate in a new two year outreach programme being launched by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) called ‘PwC Classroom’.

PwC are the world’s second largest professional services network and one of the ‘Big Four’ auditors. They offer a range of support activities to the world’s biggest businesses, ranging from tax and accounting advice, to staffing and restructuring, cybercrime and responses to sustainability and climate change issues. They also employ more than 184,000 people in 157 countries.

PwC Classroom will involve the running of a series of workshops throughout the year with high potential Sixth Form students who are interested in a career in the city. These workshops will offer students skills and advice in areas such as writing a CV, interview technique and networking. Students will additionally receive mentoring support and have the opportunity to arrange some work experience and internships.

The scheme will benefit students’ CVs and UCAS personal statement, and may well-position them to be nurtured onto one of PwC’s fast track schemes whereby they will either pay for degrees, or train in-house, helping students achieve get their accountancy qualifications.

PwC Classroom is an extraordinary opportunity students interested in a career in finance, the City or running their own businesses, or those considering studying Economics, Business Management, Mathematics and Accounting to get close to one of the world’s biggest organisations.

SCHOOL PHOTOS As always, we had the school photographers in to take all student photos at the start of the year. Additionally, we also took this opportunity to have our many sports teams photographed, ready to display inside the Academy.

If you would like to order copies of your child’s individual photo, please log on to https://www.successphotography.com/ Schools-Online-Registration/ If you would like to order one of the sports team photos, please contact Ms Forster, who will be able to give you a copy of the photo and details of how to order.

YEAR 7 Congratulations to all Year 7 students for such a fantastic start at the Academy. Miss Cato is very proud of how quickly you’ve adopted the ethos and values of Hammersmith Academy.

Well done to the following students who have received the highest number of praise postcards, positive phone calls home and subject tokens each week this term. All students will receive a pair of cinema tickets as a prize, as well as a praise postcard from Miss Upham.

Week 1: Samia Hoque

Week 2: Viktor Sinani

Week 3: Monika Myint

Week 3: Jade Rawlings

Week 4: Week 6: Artora Mehmetaj Asiel Osman

A massive well done also goes to the Year 7’s who are featured in within the Top 5 of the Academy’s Vivo League Table.

YEAR 8 Congratulations to the Year 8 students with the highest number of positive phone calls home, praise postcards and subjects tokens this term. All winners have each received a pair of cinema tickets as their prize.

Week 1: Shteyru Iliev

Week 2: Luka Gvero

Week 3: Joshua Deans

Week 4: Rahima Mohammad

Week 5: Nedal Harris

Week 6: Ellen Stevens

YEAR 9 Congratulations to the Year 8 students with the highest number of positive phone calls home, praise postcards and subjects tokens this term. All winners have each received a pair of cinema tickets as their prize.

Week 1: Brandon Kelly

Week 2: Cecil Kotei

Week 3: Donn Madlangbayan

Week 4: Shomar Williams

Week 5: Tazmin Harper

Week 6: Diaz Desagurante

TOP OF THE VIVOS

1st Nedal Harris Total: 197

2nd Savanna Wilson Total: 187

3rd Artora Mehmetaj Total: 167

4th Kayleigh Corbin Total: 165

HOUSE RESULTS

5th Igor Ivanovic Total: 158