The
Heathlander December 2018
The Heathland School, Wellington Road South, Hounslow, Middx, TW4 5JD Telephone: 020 8572 4411 Fax: 020 8569 5126 Email: admin@heathland.hounslow.sch.uk H. S. Pattar, BSc(Econ) Headmaster
Mathematics and Science
Questions and Treats at the Halloween Quiz
Quiz Team: ‘Things that go Trump in the Night.’ Featuring Mr Spragg, Miss Hall-Curtis, Alex Berner and Rahul Shah
This year’s Halloween Quiz in the 6th Form Base was a very successful evening with six very sociable teams.
T
here was an evident spirit of competition throughout the evening and to ensure spirits were raised, the Bosnia team supplied delicious treats - not
tricks - throughout the event. The winning team was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Quizardary. All money raised from the event went towards the Bosnia
orphans charity. A special thank you to Kaya Simon for her amazingly varied and interesting questions that challenged and amused us all evening.
given us. There are a wide array of activities, from maths challenges to critical thinking tasks that are waiting to be
solved. No matter what, there is something for everyone and you never get bored. Sabriyah Hussain (7 GR)
Challenge Club
T
his term saw the launch of the Challenge Club which is for some of the most able students across Key Stage 3 and 4. As the name suggests, this club offers many opportunities for you to challenge yourself in an enjoyable way. In addition to this, it is a chance for us to make new friends from different year groups and have lots of fun. The picture shows us with our completed challenges in a special booklet that Ms Farooq had
Impressive achievement for our top Mathematicians
From Left to Right: Year 13 Arantsha Colaco and Mohammed Hakim. Year 12: Wiktor Saladaj and Mohit Chander
F
our of the schools top mathematicians from Year 12 and 13 took part in this year’s UKMT regional maths competition. The event promotes mathematical dexterity, teamwork and communication skills. They also give pupils the opportunity to compete against pupils from other schools in their region. This year’s regional final was held on Friday 2nd November at Kingston University. Thirteen regional school teams across West London competed: a mixture of state and private schools and the event was sponsored by Rolls Royce among others. The Heathland School came an impressive 4th this year. Mrs McGree attributed this success to, ‘Their underlying confidence in their abilities.’ The students entered the competition to support their university applications and to test their mental mathematical skills against some of the brightest mathematicians in the surrounding area. For the purposes of fair play, teachers were assigned to students not from their school. Comments from these teachers portrayed the Heathland school maths team as very polite with a great attitude. Fine ambassadors for the school and an impressive achievement. December 2018 | The Heathlander | 1
t Rohan’s Engineering Work Experience with British Airways
I
’ve always been advised that getting some work experience, particularly if you want to study Engineering at University, is really important – so I was glad when I secured a week of work experience with British Airways. It was fascinating looking inside the aircraft engines and learning how the mechanics work in combination with the rest of the plane. I was able to do some walk-throughs of a few planes, including the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380, which I had never been on before. A particular highlight was sitting in the cockpit and pretending I was a pilot! The week was a brilliant opportunity to see how Maths and Physics goes beyond the classroom and into industry. It has definitely reaffirmed my interest to study engineering at University and I recommend it to anyone thinking of pursuing the subject or who shares an interest in aviation. Rohan Mangat (13 BA)
BP STEM Trip
O
n the 19th of October, we attended an introductory session of the BP Engineering Education Scheme, a sixth-month long course where we plan new and interesting solutions to current problems. Fuelled by our passion for the environment, we decided on working on methods that can be used to make energy extraction more
efficient. The scheme is prestigious, challenging and most importantly fascinating chance for hopeful engineers or physicists to apply skills to a modern-day situation. With help from two mentors who work in industry as well as a vast array of ideas, we hope to develop a unique solution to optimise fossil fuel extraction. Mr Kart, Vivek Kumar Siddhi, Sachi Sahi, Natasha Galpayage Dona, Siddhi Barhanpurkar, Mrs Rana, Nathan Maghlaoui and Muntasir Uddin
Eton Summer School Attending the Eton College Summer School to study Biology and Chemistry not only allowed me to learn about my favourite subjects in further depth, but also gave me numerous opportunities, like carrying out a rat dissection. As well as that, the advice given in support of university applications was invaluable. But the best thing about those 10 days was meeting some of my best friends today and the immeasurable amount of fun we had together. Jigyasa Anand (13 GR)
2 | The Heathlander | December 2018
Upon signing up for the Eton summer school, I evidently underestimated the sheer amount of learning that I could possibly undergo over the span of ten days. Stepping away from the classroom and into an undergraduate style of teaching, we covered topics ranging from the derivation of Bernoulli’s equation to the depths of the quantum world. From late night homework sessions to mandatory biscuit breaks, the friendships and memories formed at Eton are some to cherish: though I still don’t understand how to play the Eton Fives game. Davina Thandi (13 GR)
Students very much enjoyed the challenges of Summer School at Eton
t Year 11 Geography Field Trip to Slough and Windsor
Y
ear 11 Geography students had a wonderful time exploring the unique sights of Slough and Windsor as part of their GCSE fieldwork. Students compared a range of features such as the type of shops; the quality of the environment; and the opinions of locals even in the cold and windy weather. The focus of the trip was to determine how and why Slough and Windsor were so different despite being 9 minutes apart! Many students did miss the feel of Hounslow, that is, until it was lunch time!
Year 7 visit Shere The beginning of October saw the annual Year 7 Geography field trip to Shere. It’s always a memorable trip for the pupils who get to explore the beautiful Surrey village and nearby farm. And not forgetting the classic ghost story of Vicky’s gate.
Year 13 Physics Students visit Cern: Home to the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments Pictured left: Students saw the ELENA experiment (Extra Low Energy Antiproton deceleration ring) which allows antiprotons to be ‘trapped.
Pictured right: Visiting the world’s only Antimatter Factory
During Half-Term fifteen Year 13 Physics students visited CERN, Europe’s laboratory for particle physics. The Large Hadron Collider, which in 2012 proved the existence of the Higgs Boson Particle, was operating on the day of the visit so we couldn’t descend the 100 metres to the 27 km circumference ring of superconducting magnets. Instead we visited the vast Data Centre where collision results are analysed and houses the world’s only Antimatter Factory. We really packed a lot into the two days visiting Geneva’s Science Museum, the United Nations building, sightseeing in Geneva and taking a wonderful boat trip on Lake Geneva.
Prospective Parents Evening: Food Tech Demonstration
House Competition Update At the end of the first Half Term, Hirst House is in the lead thanks to a huge effort from all Hogarth and Turner tutor groups collecting ‘good comments’ scores and a huge 74 pupils attaining five or more ‘Excellents’ in their PIPs! 14398
15000
12592 11559
12000
10613 8593
9000
6000
Vansh Arora (9BA), Pritika Sivagnanasundaram (9SH) and Sansar Chand
T
his year I was very fortunate to take part in the schools Prospective Parents Evening for the Food Technology Department. During the evening we learned a great life skill: how to make pasta. We got to enjoy cooking and
learning whilst the parents came in and asked different questions about what we do in food tech within the Heathland School. It was a great opportunity and I really enjoyed the evening. Pritika Sivagnanasundaram (9SH)
Year 12 Opportunities Week – Volunteering at Ashgrove Care Home
B
isma Noor and Aaisha Ali. Both students volunteered for the Ashgrove Care Home during Year 12 Opportunities Week. At the end of the summer term, Year 12 students participated in ‘opportunities week.’ It was a week set aside for students to undertake work experience, volunteering or enrichment activities based on their chosen subject for university. Bisma and Aaisha volunteered at Ashgrove Care Home on the Staines Road in Hounslow. Bisma writes, ‘I volunteered at a local care home for a week and during my time there I developed my communication skills, responsibility and most importantly patience. Many
3000
0
Da Vinci
Foster
Hirst
Newton Shakespeare
Newton tops the group in ‘Best Participation’ while Foster holds the title for ‘Best Sportsmanship.’ Coming up in the next half term is the House Pumpkin competition for Year 7 pupils and Staff along with many more opportunities for you to support your house! Special thanks goes to the 6th Form referees Mrs Dark and Mr Bailey for making it possible.
of the people I worked with suffered from dementia and other metal illnesses. Initially the residents were quite reserved however, due to my regular visits, they became familiar with me and started to engage in conversations. During the week I was exposed to many situations I wouldn’t have experienced in dayto-day life which helped me develop my interpersonal skills. Towards the end of the week the residents had become very comfortable with me and would look forward to my visit. This made me realise that I had a passion for helping people and communicating with the vulnerable, offering them support and comfort. Bisma Noor (13TU) December 2018 | The Heathlander | 4
t The Annual House Dodge Ball Competition. And the winner is?
T
Be Your Greatest: Victorious
he last week of October Half Term saw one of the favourite annual house competitions return: Dodgeball! It was a hard fought competition with Da Vinci and Foster drawing to win the Year 7 and 8 tournament. Hirst dominated the Year 9 and 10 competition whilst Foster won Year 11 and 6th Form tournament outright with Newton storming to victory in the staff category. Hirst and Foster came out on top, securing the most points for Dodgeball whilst Newton secured best participation. Foster was awarded a sportsmanship bonus of 100 points by the referees of the games, the first time this has been done in the events history.
Zinniyrah Rajab (07PA) takes flight to avoid a ball!
Rashneet Arora from Shakespeare takes aim!
Team Hirst co-ordinate their throws
Open Mic Night
Solo performance by Sean O’Brienaim! 5 | The Heathlander | December 2018
O
n Wednesday the 17th of October the Performing Arts Department amazed everyone with another of their wonderful Open Mic Nights. Some of the acts included Sean O’Brien (10GR) performing the song: ‘Can’t help falling in love’ which was very good. Another performance included Luane (10JE), Saaya (10JE) and Mahi (10JE). They performed the song Cheap Thrills by Sia. The show was another success for the Performing Arts Department because of the brilliant musicians and their performances which made it such an enjoyable event to watch. Congratulations to the Performing Arts Department and we are all looking forward to the next wonderful show.
“In Year 7 I was diagnosed with an illness which prohibited me from doing the things I loved. I had a 3 year chemotherapy treatment plan which meant I had to shave my hair and couldn’t participate in PE - even though it was my favourite subject. I really wanted to come to school despite the fact that my Doctors didn’t want me to so I used to stay at school for two periods and then go home. I was missing a lot of school which was very bad for my education and I was falling behind massively. “Only three teachers knew about my condition, the rest were oblivious and treated me like a ‘normal’ child. I liked that as it made me feel included - the same as everyone else. In year 8 I came to school every day as most of my treatment had ended in hospital and I was able to spend time with my friends. My friends to this day still don’t know how unwell I was. People kept asking me questions and labelling me, I brushed this off and got on with my studies. My illness was not going to affect my education and what I wanted to achieve, ‘which was to be the best I could be’. “My hair grew back and no one suspected a thing as and I looked completely normal. I continued to exceed my target grades and now I am well and able to take part in all the school activities I couldn’t before. I am happy with the way I spent my time at The Heathlands School and how I kept my secret. I was still able to achieve and exceed. The Heathland School enabled me to ‘be my greatest’.” Miss Waring supported this pupil throughout their illness and raised £305 for ‘Bloodwise’ when she ran the Great North Run in September.
From left: Haris Ahmed (10AD), Sacdi Mohamed (10TU), Navanjut Bagga (10DI), Pranjal Awasthi (10DI) and Wali Mehmood (10TU)
t Boys celebrate becoming Table Tennis Borough Champions On Thursday, 18th of October, a total of 8 students represented the Heathland School at a Table Tennis tournament at Isleworth and Syon School for boys. 5 boys from Year 10 and 3 girls from Year 11. The evening saw the boys proclaimed Borough Table Tennis champions. They won the trophy along with individual medals which they have been longing for since Year 8. We expect more of these achievements in future matches and tournaments to come. Despite a valiant performance, the girls came runners up after missing out to Reach Academy. Overall it was a great tournament for both teams and we are all proud of our individual achievements and hope for more success in future.
Girls come a close second
D From Left: Hafzah Ali (11BA), Gurpreet Bains (11JE) and Tripti Kohli (11BA)
Sports Celebration Evening
I
t was an evening filled with fun, laughter, fond memories and success, not forgetting some very questionable dancing (mainly from Mr Bailey!). On Friday 5th October, 110 pupils gathered at the Indian Gymkhana, Isleworth. Several pupils recalled the highlights from the previous sporting year and many awards were given out to pupils who had ‘most improved’ throughout the season. The prestigious Luke Pearce Award was given to Leah Randall (11GR). The evening concluded with every pupil on the dance floor strutting their best moves. It was certainly a celebration all round.
The Debating and Public Speaking Club
o you enjoy a good argument? Do you love proving someone else wrong? Well then, The Heathland’s Debating and Public Speaking Club is where you should be! Join all of our regular debaters to discuss school topics, such as mobile phones and school rules, to more political topics such as Brexit and equality. We meet every Wednesday in 157B to debate these topics and so many more. Furthermore, be in with a chance to become a member of the official debating team and debate with other teams both in Hounslow and on a more national scale. If you would like more information, see Miss Hogan in 135Y.
Term dates Spring Term 2019 Monday 7th January – Friday 5th April Half term week: 18th – 22nd February Easter Holiday Monday 8th to Monday 22nd April Summer Term 2019 Wednesday 24th April – Friday 19th July Leah Randall with the Luke Pearce Cup Award
Half term Week: 27th May – 31st May