Little Ilford School News & Events Autumn 2023 - Issue 34
Magazine
InLINE COURAGE COMMITMENT COMPASSION In this edition: Theatre Visits, Sports Success, Gallery/Museum Visits Theatre Productions... and much more
Dear Parents/Carers, As we approach the festive season, I wanted to take a moment to extend my warmest wishes to you and your families on behalf of the entire Little Ilford School community. The holiday season is a time for reflection, gratitude, and celebration. Despite any challenges we have faced this year, our school community has shown remarkable resilience and dedication. Our students have demonstrated outstanding commitment to their studies. All of our staff have worked tirelessly to provide a supportive, enriching learning environment with many additional unique experiences. I am incredibly proud of the achievements and progress we have made together as a school community. The positive spirit and collaborative effort of students, parents, and staff continue to drive our success. Therefore, could I request that parents complete this online survey and provide us with your feedback and suggestions using the link below: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N2GBHVD As we look forward to a well-deserved break, I encourage you to take this time to rest, rejuvenate, and cherish moments with your loved ones. Looking ahead to the New Year, we have exciting plans and initiatives to enhance the educational experience for our students and could I remind students and parents of the importance of high attendance at school and that we should all aim for %100 attendance. I am confident that 2024 will be a year of growth, achievement, and continued success for Little Ilford School.
We are pleased to advise Newham Council has again decided to allocate funding to schools to provide food vouchers to children eligible for free school meals for the Christmas break.The funding will cover food voucher costs for children in Reception to Year 11 who are currently in receipt of statutory (benefits related) Free School Meals (FSM), to cover the holiday period. In line with the approach taken for the previous vouchers issued by the school we will be sending 30£ vouchers for the holidays through text and or email using Wonde. The vouchers will be sent out on the last day of term. Please see below links: Newham Activities Programme Attendance Campaign Young People’s Health Challenge Thank you for your ongoing support, collaboration, and trust in our school. I wish you a joyful and restful holiday season and I look forward to welcoming the students back to school on Monday, 8th January, at our usual starting time of 8:20 am which will be Week B. Warm regards, Andrew Finn Headteacher Little Ilford School
‘NEW BEGINNINGS‘ THEATRE PRODUCTION
At the end of August, 13 students from years 11 - 8 took part in a collaborative performance project with Queen›s Theatre Hornchurch and Central School of Speech and Drama. They worked with artist and director David Shearing on an immersive performance which was performed at Queen›s Theatre from 30th August to 2nd September. The performance was hugely successful and received rave reviews. At the end of August, 13 students from years 11 - 8 took part in a collaborative performance project with Queen›s Theatre Hornchurch and Central School of Speech and Drama. They worked with artist and director David Shearing on an immersive performance which was performed at Queen›s Theatre from 30th August to 2nd September. The performance was hugely successful and received rave reviews.
Y9 FUEL THEATRE COLLABORATION
In September we were lucky to have the Fuel Theatre company visit the school to not only perform a live adaptation of Inua Ellams ‹The 14th Tale› to all of year 9, but also 120 students from the year were able to attend workshops with the actor. This was an experience for the students and they gained a lot from the workshop.
Y10 TATE MODERN ART TRIP
On the 9th of November the Art department took the Year 10 GCSE classes to visit the Tate Modern. Students explored the gallery to bring back ideas on art techniques, materials and presentation of work. Students were very engaged and happy to see the importance of Art and we are hopeful it will motivatethem for future projects.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH STORYTELLER
Carol Russell is a British-Jamaican writer. Her screenplay, House of Usher, was one of six short films made by Crucial Productions for the BBC. She has been celebrating Black History Month with Little Ilford School for nearly 10 years now! This year, she delivered another highly engaging and riveting storytelling session to our year 7 and year 8 students. Below are some comments from the students: “It was a highly engaging, interesting and insightful performance that was very well structured and gave us a lot of powerful stories with very powerful messages about African culture.” 8b/En1
“We liked the stories that had a message about friendship and about staying away from trouble. The story teller told the stories in a very expressive and powerful way. We liked the way she acted out the stories and included sound effects. We could imagine Annasi actually eating the tiger’s fat from the bowl! We loved her beautiful singing.”- 7c/En4 “We loved how the storyteller brought the stories to life through her gestures and powerful singing. Our favourite was the story about the boy with the red hair. The lesson we took away was to treat people the way we want to be treated.”- 8b/ En4
NEWHAM CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
16 Year 10-7 pupils competed admirably in the Newham Borough Cross-Country championships on Tuesday 10th October at Wanstead Flats. 5 pupils finished in the top ten and have been invited to represent the Borough at the London Youth Games CC Championships at Parliament Hill in November. Special mention goes to Arda 7.5 who came 2nd in the Year 7 Boys race and Abdelmalek 9.12 who came 3rd in the Year 9/8 Boys race
Y9 BOYS RUGBY NEWHAM BOROUGH COMPETITION
The Y9 Boys Rugby Team enjoyed another afternoon of competitive Rugby at the East London Rugby Club. The boys won their game 6 tries to 5 against tough opposition from Eastlea School. There were many excellent perfomances from Ayman who scored three tries, Adelino who made the most tackles in the tournament and Emmanuel was outstanding in defence. Most importantly, the team showed excellent courage to come from behind to win the match LIS 5 - 6 Eastlea
Y10 BOYS FOOTBALL NEWHAM CUP V LISTER
The Y10 Boys team are through to the next round of the Newham Cup after a very entertaining match. Despite having a 1-3 lead at half time, Lister worked hard to get back into the game and the full time score ended 4-4. Extra time was played but there was little to separate the two teams. A fantastic save in the penalty shoot out from David helped LIS toa 4-5 victory on penalties. Goalscorers: Jamil, Levi x2, Yunus
Y11 ‘BLUE MIST’
In November, the year 11 GCSE Drama class went to the Royal Court Theatre to watch the production of ‹Blue Mist›, MohamedZain Dada’s debut play. It is a story about South Asian Muslim men navigating a system that isn’t built for them. The students did a workshop with one of the actors (Omar Bynon) when they were in year 9 and so he came out with the other two actors (Arian Nik, Salman Akhtar) and the writer of the play (Mohammed-Zain Dada) to meet them, speak to them and answer questions about the play.
TRIP TO THE DESIGN MUSEUM
Students in Year 11 (DT - Graphics and Resistant Materials), had the opportunity to visit the Design Museum before half trm. Students wee aple to explore a range of possible ideas linking to their GCSE NEA. They generated design ideas and the exhbition helped them to be imaginative in their approach by experimenting with different ideas and possibilities that avoid design fixation. The DT Department was very impressed by their effort and commitment to this trip. Students were able to interact with the exhibition for anti furniture designed Fyodor Pavlov Andreevich. They were also very interested in the exhibitio of ‘Email is Dead’ and ‘How to Build a Low Carbon Home’
Y9 MATHS / CAREERS TRIP
20 students visited global financial institution Fitch in Canary Wharf. They networked with corporate staff and presented eloquently in groups on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. From the way they travelled on public transport to their interactions with Fitch staff, they portrayed the very best of our school values.
Please could you congratulate the following students: Fatima 9.2, Hamza 9.2, Daniele 9.2, Linith 9.2, Saqibur 9.2 Xin 9.3, Iba 9.3, Muhammad 9.4, Hajar 9.4, Tai 9.5, Sammi 9.6, Tia 9.8, Jashandeep 9.8, Fatima 9.9, Md Ayman 9.9, Eliyah 9.9, Luca 9.10, Mario 9.11, Abir 9.12 Report by Bobby Seagull, Maths Department
DRAMA PERFORMANCE ‘ANTIGONE’
In December, after rehearsing for more than 3 months, we had our annual school play which this year was an adaptation of Inua Ellams› ‹Antigone›. It follows the story of Antigone who is torn between doing what is right and what is legal. Set in modern day, in London, this is a revamp of a Greek Classic by Sophocles first performed in approximately 441 BCE. We adapted and cut Ellams› adaptation of the classic which was performed at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in the summer of 2022.
In the current political climate, now more than ever, it has become particularly poignant. The text questions and explores the ways the media and politicians can manipulate and change information to create a specific narrative. It was a huge success and we were lucky to have Inua (the writer) as a guest at the final performance. He not only loved the production but also stayed and spoke with the cast and tech team for over 30 minutes at the end of the performance.
Thank you for reading!
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