The City Times Spring 2 2017

TheCityTimes Year 8 GCSE Options Forms

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Spring 2 issue 2017

MAY

Upcoming events 5

Year 7/8 Parent Day Monday 5 June

5

PSA Meeting Monday 5 June

6

All students return to school Tuesday 6 June

JUN

All year 8 students must return their completed GCSE Options Forms to their tutor on 12 June.

JUN

MAY

6-9 JUN

Year 9/10 Consultation Week Tuesday 6 June - Friday 9 June

9

PSA Second Hand Uniform Sale Friday 9 June

12

GCSE Options Deadline Monday 12 June

30

Year 11 Prom Friday 30 June

6

INSET Day Thursday 6 July

JUN

JUN

JUN

JUL

11-13

Summer Performance Tuesday 11 July - Thursday 13 July

Jack Petchey “Speak Out” Challenge

JUL

This term saw year 10 student Laylah Nassor reach the Jack Petchey Hackney regional, held 18 May at The Petchey Academy. She confidently delivered an inspiring speech titled ‘Your Worth’. They were also joined by year 11 student Ferdosi Abbott; as she won the Hackney final last year, she was in charge of hosting the event and introducing all the speakers. She was very professional and composed throughout!

See page 4 for a list of events for the term ahead or visit: www.thecityacademy.org.

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JUL

Term dates 2017/18 Autumn Term

The “Speak Out” Challenge is annually run with funding by the Jack Petchey Foundation in conjunction with the Speakers Trust, which aims to promote confidence and public speaking in students and young people.

First day of term Tuesday 5 September Half term week Monday 23 October Last day of term Tuesday 19 December 2017

Hackney Table Tennis

Spring Term

Arda Buz and Charlie Ashcroft both got through to the Year 7 Hackney Table Tennis finals on 8 May. After a tense final, Arda was crowned the winner of the finals. Well done to both for representing the academy so well and reaching so far in the competition.

TheCityTimes - online every term |

www.thecityacademy.org/news

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Sports Day Monday 17 July

First day of term Wednesday 3 January 2018 Half term week Monday 12 February Last day of term Thursday 29 March Summer Term First day of term Tuesday 17 April Half term week Monday 28 May Last day of term Friday 20 July

@CityAcadHackney

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flickr.com/tcah

Top merit winners this term www.thecityacademy.org/students Congratulations to all of our top merit winners from the past few weeks! Students receive merits every day and rewards each term for outstanding behaviour, attainment, effort and positive contribution to the academy. These merits can then translate into prizes for individual achievements as well as awards to top attaining Houses, tutor groups and year groups.

GCSE Exams Huzayfa Dawood Aldgate P

Emmauel Kumapayi Aldgate L

5 June

6 June Jiri Loveless Aldgate M

Honour Okoroji Moorgate P

Accelerated Reader of the Week Congratulations to the Accelerated Reader of the Week www.thecityacademy.org/students winners for this term. Each week our winners are announced in assembly, in the library section of our website and via our Twitter feed.

Yi Lin He Newgate C

Shaianna Wilson Moorgate T

Kesia Underwood Newgate I

Exam season is in full swing - below is the timetable for the GCSE exams until the end of this academic year. The full list of all exams is on the events page on our website.

Marlow Depeza Purvis Ludgate G

Ali Arda Bozkurt Newgate L

7 June 8 June 9 June

12 June 13 June 14 June 15 June 16 June 19 June 20 June

Accelerated Reader 46, 521, 077:

number of words read by our students this half term.

Yi Lin He and Leon Musson Brown both read over 1 million words each this half term!

NGC was the top tutor group

History - Unit 1 Food tech - Unit 1 Economics - Unit 1 and 2 Bengali - LIstening English Language - Paper 1 Geography - Unit 3 Astronomy - Unit 1 Computing - Unit 1 Maths Paper 2 Economics - Unit 3 Bengali - Reading and Writing Additional Science - Biology Biology - Unit 2 and 3 Music - Unit 3 Portuguese - Reading English Language - Paper 2 Maths Paper 3 Additional Science - Chemistry Chemistry - Unit 2 and 3 History - Unit 2 Certificate in Further Maths Additional Science - Physics Physics - Unit 2 and 3 Resistant Materials - Unit 1 Certificate in Further Maths Arabic - Unit 1 and 3 History - Unit 3 Arabic - Unit 4

PSA Second Hand Uniform Shop Are you a parent of a student in year 11?

Please donate their blazer and/or any uniform items in good condition to the PSA second hand uniform shop. This academic year alongside the events they run each term - our Parent Staff Association (PSA) has set up a regular second hand uniform sale.

Sales are held on the second Friday of each month, provided it is in term time, between 4 - 6 pm by our school reception. Parents are invited to show up between those times to find any uniform they may need.

Money raised by the sales goes towards any cleaning costs, and profits are put back into the PSA for events throughout the year.

Next Sale: Friday 9 June, 4 - 6 pm

Half term highlights

This half term has been focussed on study skills, exam preparation and active revision.

Follow: @CityAcadHackney for a weekly digest of news on our Twitter feed.

Parent Governor Vacancy Thanks to all six parents who put themselves forward to be a Parent Governor. Voting will be held the week of 5 June - during Year 7/8 Parent Day and Year 9/10 Consultation Week.

Oleander Agbetu I am applying for the post of Parent Governor for several reasons; my experience of working in the community of Hackney spans nearly 18 years. I bring knowledge of working with vulnerable people – such as those with mental health, emotional distress and sensory impairments. I am part of the user led group that designs and trains health care professionals to work with those with disabilities.

As the CEO of Creative Lifestyle CIC – a Social Enterprise, I have experience of delivering creative workshops in Hackney and worked in partnership with various community groups including housing associations; Hackney young person’s university; Sistah Space; Hackney CVS; The Hackney Learning Trust; Hackney Council; Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham; various children’s centres running family learning workshops.

I have over 20 years’ experience of working in the voluntary sector and am the parent/carer rep on the Board of the Hackney and City Sickle Cell Support Group which is attached to Homerton and The Royal London Hospital called ‘Solace SG’.

If I am successful in being recruited, I will bring my wealth of experience and knowledge to support the already excellent work the school is doing with the children. As a parent of 2 students who attend the school, I have experience of special needs issues as well as teenage and GCSE concerns. I believe each child benefits from the high standards which City Academy Hackney maintains year after year, no matter what their ability and I intend to do my part to keep it that way.

Yaa Boller I was born and bred in Hackney, and therefore have always had a real passion for our community. In becoming a parent I recognised the importance of not just living in but being part of the community. Being a parent further also opened my eyes to the issues and resources that affect our children, educational establishments being the foundation to our children’s development and a significant part of the community as a whole.

As a parent I appreciate the importance of quality education of all levels. I understand that each stage of education

Yaa Boller (continued) is a big jump and I sincerely believe in the importance of having parental participation throughout the statutory education years. Having a child in year 7, I can honestly say that I also acknowledge the stresses that educational transitions can bring about and therefore would like the opportunity to be more actively involved in supporting the staff, children, and parents alike.

My employment involves me supporting and assisting people to solve complex problems, as well as representing group and individual needs. My field of work requires me to keep up to date with social policies including safeguarding and child protection to name a few areas. It is therefore my view that such experience has given me tools to act as a representative in the interest of others.

I would say some of my greatest skills are my ability to actively listen, create and implement plans. Also I am capable of representing the views of parents/guardians at the relevant meetings and providing feedback where necessary. I can assure you all that if I was elected as a parent governor I would make myself available to you, to raise any concerns you may have in relation to the pupils and our school community. I chose this school specifically for its ethos, community cohesion as well as the high quality education standards. It would be an absolute pleasure to represent the parents and pupils at this school. Thanks and appreciation for taking the time to read my statement.

Bethan Brookes My name is Bethan Brookes and I would like to represent you as a Parent Governor. I have a son in year 7 at school and am committed to ensuring that City Academy provides the best possible secondary experience for our children.

In the 11 years I have lived in Clapton, education in Hackney has transformed – from failing schools to a borough with some of the best secondary schools in the country. City is already a success story and has much to offer our children.

When established 8 years ago, City committed itself to building a school with the highest levels of academic achievement and personal development. Achieving some of the best results nationally, the academic foundations of the school are today solidly in place.

I believe that there is now a real opportunity to take City to the next level, allowing the school and its pupils to confidently flourish.

If elected my main interests would be: • To keep the school outstanding – consistently delivering excellent academic results for our children.

• To ensure that a strong parent and community voice is heard by the Governing body of the school. and • To build on the solid foundations of the school to focus on the personal development of our pupils - ensuring that in addition to great results, our kids leave City with a strong sense of self-confidence, resourcefulness and a belief in their own ability to shape their futures.

My working background as a campaigner with some of the best-known charities in the UK means that I have a track record of identifying problems, proposing solutions and making change happen.

I have also been a parent governor in a local primary school, where we won an award for the “Best improved school in Hackney”. I know what it takes to be a governor, have an insight into some of the challenges faced by local schools and have a real appreciation of the benefits of forging tighter links between parents and school.

I am proud of City Academy and all it has achieved so far and feel passionately about seeing the school go from strength to strength. Please help me do this by voting for me. Thank you.

Donna Brown As the parent of a year-seven student, I am thrilled that the chance to apply to become a parent governor has arisen so soon. I view this as a great opportunity to support the School and act as an advocate for the views and concerns of parents.

I work in higher education, for the University of London. The central aspects of my job are lecturing and researching in economics, but I have held many additional administrative roles. These have involved curriculum design and quality assessment; developing expansion strategies; undertaking investigations of student satisfaction; managing budgets for staffing and student development; and I spent years on student recruitment and mentoring. My main voluntary experience has been as a trade union representative, firstly for postal workers, then university teachers.

This has always involved supporting my co-workers but more recently has involved negotiating detailed employment policies. My ongoing union responsibilities focus around health and safety, a specialism I was able to use as a school governor, and equality issues.

I have previous experience of work in the local community too: as a member of my son’s nursery management committee; as a Community Governor for a large primary school and more recently as a member of a local GP surgery’s Patient Participation Group.

These roles provide me with a wealth of relevant experience, notably knowledge of curriculum design and assessment; accounting for significant budgets; equalities issues; and encouraging students in to universities. The skills these duties developed will help me to get to grips with the important work governors undertake. The transition of children from primary to secondary school represents a big change for them, but also offers less opportunity for parents to be involved in their children’s life at school. I will be particularly keen to discuss the transition period and strengthen channels to engage parents in their children’s education.

To be successful a school needs a great Head and committed staff. But the job of school staff is easier with the enthusiastic support of parents and the engagement of members of the wider community. I would be delighted to represent parents as a member of the School’s governing body.

Pedro Fernandes I have been a parent at the City Academy for six years, and feel very indebted to the school. My children have received a brilliant education there, with the opportunities and space to thrive intellectually and socially. I am keen that the school continues to give those opportunities to others and that it continues to live up to its own mission statement of developing young adults to achieve to the best of their ability. I see the role of Parent Governor as that of holding the school to account on that. The need to do so may be particularly pressing over the next few years, as the school is likely to face tough decisions in order to cope with increasing financial challenges.

I think I would make a valuable contribution as a Parent Governor. I have the energy, time and commitment which the role warrants. I am very comfortable with figures, being an economist by profession. I am originally from Portugal but I have lived in Hackney for 17 years so I know the area the school serves well, and I am familiar with and supportive of the school’s goals and approach. I enjoy meeting and talking to other parents and students. I would really enjoy getting to know the school better from the inside, and I would be delighted to have this chance to give something back to the community.

Laura Howard My son, Max, is in year 8 at the Academy. Max loves the school and is eager to get there every morning; you may have seen us cycling to school together. We are both committed to Hackney and City Academy. As my son has special educational and health needs, I am in regular contact with staff at the school, and have had to deal with a range of behavioural issues and sanctions. I have found staff willing to listen and work with me and my son to achieve positive outcomes. I feel we are all extremely fortunate to have such a disciplined and caring school.

I believe that parents’ involvement with their young peoples’ education is vital to helping them and the school achieve their full potential, and if elected I would be keen to foster communication and understanding between all sides of the school community to achieve the best outcomes for everybody. I helped set up the Special Needs Parents’ forum where parents can meet for informal support and also raise issues direct with the SENCO. For the past 20 years my work has been managing new-build social housing developments in east London; these days I work part-time as a consultant to a local housing association. My skills include project management, managing budgets, architecture, legal, and I am used to governance issues affecting publicly funded organisations and the impact of funding cuts. I am also a qualified Nutritional Therapist; health and wellbeing is my passion.

Ishtiyaq Siddiqui Ishtiyaq Siddiqui is a Chartered Accountant based in London. He graduated from City University studying Economics and Accountancy. After qualifying in 1998 he worked for Ernst & Young in their Corporate Tax Assurance practice before embarking on a career within the City. During his time there he has worked in a variety areas such as Equities, Operations and Finance focussing on roles ranging from Management Information reporting, Controls management to Head of Revenues for some of top names in the sector such as Goldman Sachs and Blackrock. As well as voluntary work and fundraising for a variety of charitable causes he is also a governor of a Rushmore Primary school chairing their Finance Committee.

I was born and brought up in Hackney and with three children have an obvious interest in seeing Hackney schools doing as well as possible. There would be a great sense of satisfaction derived from being in a position to both contribute and serve the academy and the surrounding communities through the school’s future achievements and continued success.

As parents we both selected the academy as our top choice because we believed that both the ethos and focus on discipline are in our child’s own best interests. As such I would look to work collaboratively with the school so that through academic achievements and character building endeavours all of the City Academy’s children are best equipped to achieve the best possible outcomes. I am used to working within professional environments and have been impressed by what I have seen at the City Academy to date. However there is always room for improvement and it would excite me to be part of the governance structure that seeks to improve upon the academy’s achievements to date.

Alan Walsh I’m the father of three children, the youngest is in Year 10 at City. I’ve lived locally for forty years. These are critical times for schools; financial cuts are coming, bigger than anything seen before in education. Particularly in these circumstances the contribution that Parent governors bring to the discussions, and the difficult decisions to be made, will be invaluable. Parent governors have always had a vital role to play in school life, and are especially important on the governing body of Academies in holding sponsors to community account. Education should provide opportunities equally for all young people. For the last 15 years I’ve been working in Hackney, developing and providing sporting opportunities for young people who have special needs, organising inclusive sports clubs, teams and events. My 5 years as Vice-Chair of Governors at Rushmore Primary has given me a working knowledge of good governance; and of the standards and commitment demanded from Parent Governors. I would love the opportunity to contribute to the governance and running of City Academy as a Parent governor.

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How many words can you find containing the middle letter? There’s one nineletter word too.

Key dates for the next term The last term of the year will be a busy one, with PSA meetings, uniform sales, Sports Day and, of course, our yearly Summer Musical.

This year staff and students will be performing Sister Act. Tickets will be available on Parent Pay soon.

To sign up for specific events and for a complete and up to date list, visit: www.thecityacademyhackney.org.

5

Year 7 and 8 Parent Day Monday 5 June, 1.30 - 8 pm All Year 9 and 10 parents/carers are invited to meet with their children’s teachers to discuss progress.

5

Year 6 Transition Interviews Monday 5 June

5

PSA: Meet the Governors Monday 5 June, 5.30 - 6.45 pm An opportunity for parents to meet and discuss the life of the school with the Chair and Vice-Chair of Governors, Catherine McGuinness and Dawn Elliot.

JUN

JUN

JUN

6

JUN

6-9 JUN

5

Sports Awards Wednesday 5 July, 4 - 5.30 pm Annual awards evening celebrating the successes of our competitive sports teams.

6

INSET Day Thursday 6 July School will be closed all day due to Year 6 Transition Day.

JUL

JUL

11-13 JUL

All Students Return to School Tuesday 6 June, 8.20 am Year 9 and 10 Consultation Week Tuesday 6 June - Friday 9 June Parents/carers of students in years 9 and 10 are invited to meet with their Personal Advisor in order to discuss progress and set targets.

14

PSA Second Hand Uniform Sale Friday 14 July This will be the last second hand uniform sale for this academic year. They will resume again in September.

17

Sports Day Monday 17 July The academy ends every academic year with Sports Day. All students will be participating in a range of track and field events at Lea Valley Athletics Centre, earning points for their House.

18

End of Term Tuesday 18 July The last day of the academic year - students will be dismissed after the Achievement Assembly.

17

A Level Results Day Thursday 17 August Sixth Formers will be able to find out the results of their AS and A Level exams.

24

GCSE Results Day Thursday 24 August Year 11 students will be able to find out the results of their GCSE exams.

JUL

JUL

9

PSA Second Hand Uniform Sale Friday 9 June This will be the second hand uniform sale for the month of June. Please turn up at the academy anytime between 4 pm and 6 pm if you would like to purchase any uniform.

12

Year 8 GCSE Options Deadline Monday 12 June Year 8 will need to have handed in their completed GCSE Options form by this date.

JUL

30

Year 11 Leavers’ Prom Friday 30 June, 6.30 pm Year 11 say goodbye to the class of 2016 at Hackney Town Hall.

AUG

JUN

JUN

JUN

AUG

The City Academy, Hackney is sponsored by KPMG and the City of London Corporation.

The City Academy, Hackney is a registered charitable company. Registered office: The City Academy, Hackney, Homerton Row, London, E9 6EA.

Summer Show Tuesday 11 - Thursday 13 July, 6.30 pm This year’s end of school musical will be Sister Act: a story of a lounge singer who pretends to be a nun as part of a witness protection programme.

Tickets on Parentpay.com