The City Times Spring 2 2021

Spring 2 April 2021

The City Academy, Hackney

TheCityTimes Returning to Lessons in School We asked our students to answer a few questions for us What have been the best things about coming back into school?

Having a sense of 'normality' Feeling part of a community Seeing teachers Eating together at lunchtimes Practical lessons like D&T, Art, Music and Science Not spending so much time in front of a screen Getting out the house Getting to do PE and sports Seeing my friends What did you miss about coming to school that you never thought you would?

Here are just a handful of student’s responses ‘Learning’ ‘Drums!’

‘Science lessons and lunch’ ‘Drawing in School’

‘Face to face learning’

‘Walking to school’

‘The structure of the day... Time flows very differently when you’re at home 24/7 in limbo’

‘Work that isn’t online’

Did you learn any new skills in lockdown Here are just a handful of student’s responses ‘Baking’ ‘Patience’

‘Better ball control’ ‘Realistic drawing’

Did you improve your IT skills over lockdown?

TheCityTimes

‘Computer Skills’

‘How to peel a banana with my feet!’

‘How to juggle’

YES 57%

Maybe 26%

No 17%

Available every half term at www.thecityacademy.org

Going Back to School

By Sylvio Moungabio, Y9 Following on from his piece about life during lockdown in the last edition Sylvio tells us about his experience of returning to school Going back to school has caused a gallimaufry of emotions for all parties; parents, teachers and obviously students. We are all at risk of falling victim to COVID and that is what worries us the most but we have also wanted to get back to school and here we are. The social and academic aspect is much better by far - during online learning, you would sit facing a screen all day and it was far too easy to get distracted. But with everybody being back at school, there are limited/no distractions and it is certainly better than online learning.

What’s more in lockdown we only had the chance to communicate with our peers over the phone but now we can talk face to face and it is much healthier. (Germophobes might not agree.)

The school has had all these restrictions put in place to maximise our safety - such as, masks on at all times and testing kits for us to do at home. All years have missed out on a LOT because of this pandemic, it has undoubtedly affected us heavily but that solely means we must work harder and carry on striving. And remember…

Stay alert. Control the Virus. Save lives.

Science Week Event

By Damla Ozur, Y7 For British Science Week this March we were joined by top scientists from The University of Huddersfield at a live online event especially for TCAH students I attended this event along with a lot of other students from Y7 & Y8. For those who missed out, the talk featured Dr. Martina Whitehead - Innovating colour chemistry, Dr. Esta Bostock - Whodunnit Forensic challenge and last but not least Dr. Kimberley Bexon - The Marvellous Science of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid).

The reason I attended this science event was because science is more interesting than it seems. For example, you may think turning on a light is so simple but actually when you find out the procedures it’s way more interesting than you think. It’s just so interesting to see the ways that science is in our everyday life but we don’t realise it.

I learnt lots of new things like the difference between fabrics like cotton, polyester and polycotton and how to separate them. We also learnt about a new type of dye that reacts to electricity and will be used to tint things like sunglasses and aeroplane windows.

Dye reacting to UV light one of the live experiments demonstrated What I enjoyed the most was learning new information on how science is used for different everyday objects that seem so simple to us. I learnt a lot of new things and really enjoyed it so I’d like to thank the teachers of The City Academy for putting together such an amazing event and also I’d like to thank the scientists from the University of Huddersfield for taking some time out of their day to do a special presentation for us.

Half Term Work Experience

By Dylan Law, Y10 Over half term some of our Y10 students took part in online work experience placements. We were delighted to receive incredibly positive feedback from employers. Here we hear from one of the students who impressed so much!

Originally I signed up for the infrastructure project to gather work experience for future jobs. I was placed with Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, a construction and urban regeneration company.

I quickly realised the depth of what I was working on. During the experience I gathered many skills including quick thinking and teamwork with completely new people. It was a fun way of exploring creative and innovative methods of fulfilling your tasks such as researching and budgeting for situations within groups.

At the end of the week I had to do a final 10 minute presentation to test the skills that I had learnt through the week. This included discussing your own design for an ideal office, the work compound set up as well as the way you would inform those affected by said works. Overall I enjoyed the journey especially the pride that came from battling the obstacles in the way and I believe I have become more informed on the everyday experience of work.

Fundraising Success Maha in Y8 has raised a huge £875 for Great Ormond Street Hospital by cutting her hair!

Like many of us during lockdown Maha got to the point where she needed a haircut. She decided to cut off enough hair to help make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment.

But Maha didn’t stop there, she also took the opportunity to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital by asking her friends and family to donate too.

We spoke to Maha about her fundraising: What inspired you to raise money for charity?

Before

I already wanted to cut my hair as it had grown quite long, so my mum suggested that I should cut enough hair to be able to donate it. Then we decided to start a fundraiser to raise some money to give with the hair donation.

What advice would you have for other students looking to raise money for charity?

- Choose a cause that people will find easy to empathise with - Start by asking your friends and family to support - As it’s for a good cause, push it as far as you can take it

After

You can donate to Maha’s fundraising efforts online at Go Fund Me - Maha’s Fundraiser for Cancer.

DONATE

Library Highlights Some amazing stats from this term’s Accelerated Reader!

Words read in Spring term: 51,826,194 House totals: Quizzes Passed: 1272 Aldgate 1883.3 Ludgate 1616.2 Millionaires Moorgate 1663.6 Saul Kenworthy - 1, 436, 887 Newgate 1971 Tayybah Ahmed - 1, 415, 577 Lena Cade-Swindells - 1, 251, 659 Top Books: Roy Mattar - 1, 217, 232 Year 7: Harry Potter and the Malachi Mahbeer - 1, 007, 300 Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling Year 8: Code Name Bananas by AR of the Term: Saul Kenworthy David Walliams Tutor group of the term: 7 Aldgate 1 Year 9: One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

The Lee Library has been getting some love

Improving Parent/Carer Communications Make sure you have downloaded the PAM Parent App and activated your account PAM Parent: Over 700 parents and carers are already using the PAM Parent App. The App essentially allows you to access all school communications in one place. There is also the PAM Parent website where you can get more information about your child’s day a school. This includes their timetable, details of any behaviour incidents and updates about rewards they are receiving.

On Thursday 1 April student reports were delivered through PAM and when we return to school on Wednesday 21 April we will be sending detention notifications by the PAM Parent App. It is essential you download the app so you can keep up to date with your child’s individual progress and also what’s happening in the wider school community.

If you have any questions or require your log in details please contact: communication@thecityacademy.org Google Translate A Translate button has been added to our website - you can find the button at the very top right corner of each page. This will allow you to translate each page to over 100 languages using Google Translate.

Staff: Leavers & Joiners Leavers Mr Nash - Music Teacher (Mat cover) Ms Baker - Geography Teacher (Mat cover) Joiners Ms Cran - Music Teacher P/T (returning) Ms Crawford - Music Teacher P/T Ms Baker - History Teacher (returning) Ms Lewis - Geography Teacher

Diary Dates Tue 20 Apr - Y9 Parent Day

assessments (KS3 focus) Fri 21 May - SEND Parent Event

Fri 23 April- GCSE Wed 21 Apr - First Day of Summer 1

Remember to test the

night before!

Fri 28 May - How to help your teenager have positive

healthy relationships Fri 28 May - Last day of Summer 1

21-23 Apr - Y12 Parent Evenings

31 May - 4 Jun - Summer Half Term

Wed 28 Apr - Y7 Parent Evening Thu 6 May - Preparing for end of year

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Mon 7 Jun - First day of Summer 2

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