Unity 022 apr2016 online

unity Westminster City School Newsletter wcsch.com

April 2016 Edition 022

In this issue

YEAR 10 GO WILD STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE GCSE LEAGUE TABLES

World Book Day Graphic Novel Workshop Mathematics Challenge Winners Residential Revision Course Commonwealth Day Ceremony Cadet Football Tournament Mods & Rockers Cambridge University Musical Accolades Imperial War Museum Foundation Art Show Model United Nations Charitable Pupils Ash Wednesday Holy Week Service Imperial Students Community School Project Campaign for Lara Boys Meet England Rugby Team University of Oxford Student Council Particle Physics Year 10 Chemistry Challenge Careers Event Speak Out Challenge Jack and the Beanstalk Stars of the Future Music Mentors Magic Flute Away with the Circus Football Champions

Year 10 News

Year 10 Outdoor Adventure The Hindleap Rap...

Now this is a story all about how Year 10 got flipped-turned upside down And I’d like to take a minute, just sit in your seat I’ll tell you how Year 10 took on a place called Hindleap In the depths of a wood it hailed and rained Walking through muddy deep water was the first day Slippin’ and slidin’ shivern’ and cold Whilst other groups rock climbed and Joel Lewis jumped for gold Some abseiled whilst we soldiered on in the rain Amanfo ran on as Mishaal then complained I got in a mud fight and Ruman got scared He vowed for Karma as Asante tackled him, Bamm! He fell with flair!

We laughed as the banter grew day after day Each of us addressing fears by the Friday Ezenwa overcame the leap of faith Whilst Big C handed out tips on how to date The twins lost a flip-flop up on a shelved roof And Tim adamantly argued that he wasn’t the most rude Gathering round the camp fire chanting the WCS Jam Chino bust his moves to show he was the man Marshmallows burning as we sat all around I looked at my Year group and felt really proud!

You overcame obstacles and worked as team From problem solving to tackling the crazy high beams!

Your personalities all came shining through And showed staff that my words are true, Year 10 are the best at Westminster City – No doubt Hindleap report, over and out!

Miss Michaela Forsyth, Head of Year 10 Learning

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Year 10 News

Year 10 Outdoor Adventure Year 10 recently enjoyed a fantastic team-building residential trip at Hindleap Warren. This was a really exciting opportunity for boys to develop their confidence, encourage team spirit and foster good relationships with each other and staff.

During the trip boys had the opportunity to to take part in a number of exciting activities including: climbing, abseilling, high rope courses, archery, team tasks, orienteering, obstacle courses, walking, swimming and generally getting involved with outdoor muddy activities.

Thanks to all the pupils and staff who took part in this fantastic trip. I must also say thanks to The OWCA Trust Fund and The Hammond Trust Fund for providing funding subsidies to make the trip possible.

Miss Michaela Forsyth, Head of Year 10 Learning

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Striving for Excellence Awards

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Striving for Excellence Awards Lent Term 2016 Dean Sukcharoen 7W He has very impressive attendance and punctuality and has received well over 500 positive points and no negative comment or point at all, since joining the school. He also regularly receives positive letters home regarding his behaviour, attitude and points. He is always polite and cooperative and offers to help his own peer group, as well as staff.

As one of the two Year 7 school council reps he has voiced opinions and views at meetings on behalf of the year group, as well as taken part in meetings with the senior leadership group and with a group of architects who were considering designs for the building. He also regularly takes minutes at the school council meetings and completes these to a high standard.

Daniel Egwuekwe 8H I would like to nominate Daniel Egwuekwe 8H for this award. He has 100% attendance and no negatives. When I asked Year 8 teachers to nominate students they teach that have made excellent academic progress this term, Daniel was nominated seven times - an outstanding response to one of our most dedicated and hard-working students at the school.

clearly show that Tushar is a resilient character who works well with his teachers to achieve academic excellence, and this is reflected in the many positive comments I have received from my colleagues.

Hariz Hadzahalie 10K Hariz has an exemplary attendance record and his punctuality is impeccable. He strives to do his best and be the best in all that he does from his academic studies to his involvement extra-curricular activities. He has already secured an A* in Mathematics and Core Science two years ahead of his contemporaries and was successful in his application to take part in an engineering taster week at the City of London University a few weeks back. His kind nature and willingness to help often sees him supporting peers with their learning both inside and out of the classroom.

He is an asset to both the year group and the school, a very worthy winner.

Amdadul Haque 11K

Tushar Ahmed 9K

He has a good attendance and punctuality record. He shows a real commitment to developing his subject knowledge in lessons and attends all intervention sessions without having to be reminded. Amdadul is always smartly dressed and always has all the correct equipment.

Tushar is a worthy nominee for this award. He is a polite pupil with a smart uniform, a good attendance record and excellent punctuality. His reports

Mr S Boden, Acting Deputy Headteacher

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Edition 022 April 2016

Academic News

Music mentor pirates staff and pupils dress up on World Book Day

World Book Day Staff and pupils in Year 7 dressed up as characters from books related to pirates. Year 7 have been reading Treasure Island on their Kindles and allowing them to come in costume was a reward for their hard work and to celebrate great literature.

Staff came as a variety of pirate characters in the most fantastic costumes. In Year 7, we had both pirates and parrots! Around the school, ‘wanted’ posters appeared, searching for dastardly pirate figures such as ‘Ma Shillingford’ and ‘Davy Jones’ Lockyer’!

The music mentors enjoyed dressing as characters from Treasure Island on world book day. They ran their own cake stall at break and lunchtime an made £20 towards the choir tour to Holland.

It was a brilliant day enjoyed by all. Most importantly, our winners of the Costume Competition have been selected. Winners were announced in assembly and prizes given out.

Thank you to everyone who made the effort to get involved!

Ms B Kara, Assistant Headteacher

Library News

Graphic Novel Workshop with Matt Whyman We were delighted to welcome author Matt Whyman to the school for a day focussing on graphic novels.

After hearing about Matt’s very funny experiences at school and learning about how he became a writer, we discussed writing inspiration, being a ghost writer and then focussed on the popularity of comics and graphic novels and the different skills required to write in this genre.

Pupils were given examples of scenes and worked collaboratively to design a page of a story. As a graphic novel writer, the storyline needs to flow through image panels on a page. In addition, the author is also giving instructions to the illustrator and colourist who will help bring the words to life in pictoral form. It was really interesting to try and break away from the usual longer descriptive prose we generally use and write shorter, punchier dialogue and explore how different people might visualise a scene. A fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable day!

Breaking News I am currently in discussion with the Art Department to set up a project to take the pieces written by our pupils during the graphic novels workshop and collaborate with art students to make illustrated story pages for display in the Library. Watch this space...

Mrs M Joshi, Librarian wcsch.com

Westminster City School Newsletter 5

Academic News

GCSE LEAGUE TABLES

Headmaster explains why GCSE league tables are now almost meaningless

Following the recent publication of GCSE results for every school in the country by the Department for Education, I thought it would be a good time to remind our school community of our current policy on early exam entry and the effect this has on our league table position.

At Westminster City School, we allow pupils to take exams at appropriate stages in their school career, including taking an exam early and re-sitting an exam if needed. We believe in a stage not age curriculum and OFSTED agrees, judging our curriculum as outstanding during their last inspection.

If allowing a pupil to re-sit an exam enables them to achieve a higher grade then that’s exactly what we should do. We do what’s best for our pupils, not just what’s best for the league tables and are proud of our stance.

In the official published tables this year’s GCSE results for Westminster City School are 23% lower than the actual results achieved by the pupils.

The real results are 73% A*-C including English & Mathematics, which would place the school in the top 20 state schools across London.

We cannot rely on a single exam entry in the summer of Year 11 to define a pupil’s five year school journey at Westminster City School.

There have been some scandalous outcomes from exams boards in recent years that have unfairly disadvantaged thousands of young people and we have no intention of letting our pupils down.

Following the DfE’s changes and the decision to include only first entries and the removal of many vocational qualifications the school decided to continue its successful policy of early exam entries. Pupils who are entered early are not capped at GCSE grade C. We encourage and prepare pupils to achieve aspirational targets. Last year, eight boys in Year 10 were entered for the iGCSE in mathematics in January 2015 and seven of them successfully achieved grade A* whilst the eighth boy achieved his A* in the summer of the same academic year.

Another example that demonstrates the school’s carefully coordinated curriculum, is that two boys in Year 9 were entered for GCSEs in Core Science and Mathematics. They both achieved A* in these subjects two years earlier than usual.

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Arb Xhameni, Year 12 Student, says: The opportunity to take my GCSE exams a year, and in the case of English Literature, two years in advance has been invaluable to me. As a result of the hard work of all the teaching staff, and my own revision, I achieved 10 A*s at GCSE in Year 10. This enabled me to transfer to the school’s sixth form a year earlier than a student normally would do, meaning I can work even harder and potentially go to university a year earlier, or I have an extra ‘buffer’ year, which allows me to either take more A-levels and further qualifications such as the maths STEP programme, which is highly regarded by Russell Group Universities.

Pupils at our school enjoy the rigour and challenge of exams.

Consequently, pupils who have taken early exams and successfully achieved their highest grades, have not been held back and are pursuing additional and new courses which will help them when it comes to university applications or job opportunities.

Simply removing our early entry policy to satisfy the requirements of the latest league tables would be detrimental to our pupils and their needs.

We are a fully comprehensive secondary school and are proud of our pupils’ progress and achievement.

According to the official league tables, some of the most prestigious independent schools in England are achieving below the governments floor standards. How are parents supposed to interpret and trust these league tables if they do not reflect the true performance of pupils in all schools?

Westminster City School continues in its quest to strive for excellence and to do what is in the best interests of its pupils.

James Wilson, Headmaster

Edition 022 April 2016

Mathematics Department

Mathematics Challenge Winners Pupils at Westminster City School achieved two gold, five silver and seven bronze awards in the year’s UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge.

Over 200,000 pupils from across the UK sat the Intermediate Maths Challenge, and nationally, the top 6% were awarded a gold certificate, the next 13% silver, and the next 21% bronze. A small number of pupils are invited to take part in the next stage, which is a multiple-choice world-wide Kangaroo round and we are delighted that Iftikar Ali represented our school in this round on March 17th. Congratulations to all award winners.

Ms Moore and Ms Lockyer

Mathematics Department

Mathematics KS5 Residential Revision The eagerly anticipated mathematics residential revision weekend took place in East Sussex this month. Along with learning a variety of examination techniques across Core 4, Statistics and Mechanics, the students also enjoyed developing their team building and organisational skills, with an intense timetable of indoor classes, mathematics games and outdoor challenges. Both teachers and students worked very hard during the day and committed themselves to the very challenging climbs outside, surprising themselves with their abilities - especially those with a fear of heights! We were extremely impressed by the enthusiasm, courtesy and manners shown by all students at the centre and in particular, observing how encouraging and supportive they were to one another. I would like to say a big thank you to Mr Collins, Miss Davis, Mr Lewis and Miss Moghal for helping make it happen and also to Miss Solani and Mr Wilson for visiting on the Sunday. We look forward to going again next year!

Miss Moore wcsch.com

Westminster City School Newsletter 7

Westminster City School Cadets

Westminster City School Cadets

Westminster City School cadets attend Commonwealth Day Ceremony in London

Cadet National Football Tournament

Commonwealth Day is held on the second Monday in March every year.

It is an opportunity for individuals, communities and organisations to promote shared Commonwealth values of peace, democracy and equality, and to celebrate the association’s rich diversity.

234 Westminster City School Cadet detachment was invited to attend a memorial service on Commonwealth Day, Monday 14 March, to be held at the Memorial Gates at the Hyde Park Corner end of Constitution Hill.

This memorial commemorates the armed forces of the British Empire from Africa, the Caribbean and the five regions of the Indian subcontinent (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) who served in the First and Second World Wars.

The seven cadets in attendance for this service arrived early and were able to lend a hand to the setup of the seating area. Special guests and dignitaries began to arrive and were directed by the cadets to be seated. There were representatives from most countries of the Commonwealth; also in attendance was special guest, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.

After various speeches and the laying of wreaths the service came to an end and all guests were invited into the adjacent marquee for a spot of tea. The cadets sprang into action clearing the seats and accompanying name badges. Last duty of the day was to affix all of the wreaths to the memorial railings with wire to ensure that they, at least for the immediate future, would remain a permanent and poignant feature of the memorial.

With their responsibilities taken care of it was now time for the cadets to sample the delicacies that the chefs had prepared for tea time; food from the Commonwealth. With full stomachs there was time enough to take a look at the displays in the historic tent that had been erected next to the marquee, before heading back to school in time for lunch.

An enjoyable time was had by those cadets in attendance. All were vitally reminded of the ultimate sacrifice made by those drawn from not just the United Kingdom, but from all parts of the world, in the quest for peace.

The cadet senior football team were set to defend their title as cadet national football champions.

Having competed and won at both the sector and regional competitions, the cadet senior football team were set to compete at the nationals, to not only represent the London region but to defend their title as cadet national football champions from 2015. On Friday 11 March the London team met at Hammersmith in order to board the coach which was to convey them to the venue for the national football competition in Cumbria. Eight hours later and they had arrived at their destination for the weekend, Warcop training camp.

It was an early start on the Saturday morning. The London team were in pool 1 with four other teams representing the West Midlands, the North East, Northern Ireland and the South East. Easily winning their first match against the South East 3-0 really boosted confidence however the London team were to come up against a very tough North Eastern team in their second match. A last minute goal left the team in shock, the 0-1 score representing their first defeat in the competition. Picking themselves up from the defeat the London team went on to win against the West Midlands 4-0. A final nerve-wracking must win pool stage match against Northern Ireland saw the London team come back from 0-1 down to win 2-1. Having finished second in their pool they advanced to the semi-finals which were to commence after lunch.

After a sausage roll and an afternoon siesta the London team battled against the North West in the second of the semi-finals. Emerging victorious with a 4-0 win the London team were to play the only team ever to defeat them at the nationals in the final – the North East team.

The London team fought hard during the first half going into the half time break 0-0. An early goal from the North East team in the second half eroded the London team’s confidence and led to a further two goals. 0-3 being the final result the London team would have to settle for second place this year. It was a deserving win for the North East team and fortunately one which has incentivised the London team to return next year in order to reclaim their title.

Detachment Commander AUO Lionel Bush

Detachment Commander AUO Lionel Bush 8 Westminster City School Newsletter

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History News

History News

Mods & Rockers

History and Politics at Cambridge University

Year 10 and 11 historians recently visited to Brighton for the day.

They went to support their studies on the ‘Battle of Brighton’ in 1964 between two rival youth subcultures, the Mods and the Rockers. We were met by Glenda who was a Mod in the 1960s. She showed them shops that sold Mod and 1960s merchandise, where the fights happened, a Mod nightclub and newspapers from the period. For lunch the pupils went to Brighton Pier, where the Mods and Rockers also entertained themselves in the 1960s.

‘The day was enjoyable because we saw the Battle of Brighton from the Mod’s perspective of ’ Feisal Hussein 11H History News

Ewan and I recently visited Christ’s College in Cambridge for a History and Politics Taster day.

After arriving we had an introduction by Dr Andrew Spencer, who also explained the admissions process in great detail. This enabled us to gain a greater insight into applying to prestigious universities like Cambridge.

We also experienced two lectures; one on “The study of History and the understanding of Politics” and one on “Politics: what is it good for”. In addition to this, we received a guided tour of the college in which we visited the second oldest swimming pool in Europe, the only university in Britain with a circular lawn and a Charles Darwin-inspired garden. The day at Christ’s was immensely erudite and captivating.

Yazad Unwalla 12JE

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Musical Accolades

Pupils from Year 9 recently visited the Imperial War Museum with Mr Weare and Miss Dennis.

This term saw several pupils taking their music exams in both piano and violin:

We explored artefacts and exhibitions focusing on the Cold War, WWII and Nuclear Warfare. I found the visit to the Anderson Shelter interesting as it encapsulated how small they were. After lunch, we were also able to see a section of the Berlin Wall which was standing outside the entrance.

Azhy Abdulla – Grade 1 Violin Jordan Yaheya – Grade 5 Violin Amaan Ahmed – Grade 1 Piano Miss S Mole wcsch.com

Eliakim Alem – Grade 1 Violin Ioan Crabb – Grade 5 Violin Virgil Doe – Grade 1 Piano

Desmond Eseoghene-Akpodonor 9S Westminster City School Newsletter 9

Charity News

Chaplaincy

Charitable pupils lead the way Pupils and Sixth Form students have been fundraising for Shelterbox and Sport relief this term. The Shelterbox survival tent was on display in the playground for a week whilst our Sixth Form students have been holding cake sales with a range of delicious home baked delights on offer.

Well done to all the pupils, students and staff involved.

Chaplaincy

Ash Wednesday Service The school celebrated Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent and traditionally commemorated by the marking of a cross made of ashes on the forehead. This is an ancient custom of the church and is a symbol of repentance and of our identity as Christians. Many boys received ashes and will begin this season of Lent in a prayerful and meaningful way.

Rev Garry Swinton, Chaplain

Mathematics Department

Imperial Students This term we welcomed four Imperial mathematics students, Thomas Barry, Peter Balsdon, Timothy Jones and Bethany Slater, to support learning on Wednesday afternoons. They provided individual coaching to selected pupils in Year 10 and 11, and also created a weekly mathematical challenge which has piqued the curiosity of the students on their way to lessons. Thank you for the hard work and commitment shown by both the university students and the pupils they were working with.

Miss Moore 10 Westminster City School Newsletter

Holy Week Service The school gathered on the last day of term to celebrate the achievements of our pupls and to hear part of the story of Holy Week and Easter. Awards were given, hymns were sung and prayers were said. Palm crosses were distributed at the end of the service as they are a symbol of God’s love for us.

Rev Garry Swinton, Chaplain Edition 022 April 2016

Social Science News

Year 8 News

Relief as Lara finds donor

Community School Project Books donated to the Pantoase School project

Miles Casalotti-Lochore, a Year 8 pupil at Westminster City School, has a cousin, Lara 24, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in December. She was told her best hope of a cure was a stem cell transplant.

I would like to thank you for the books you have donated to us in support of our Pantoase School project in Ghana West Africa.

She faced a “needle in a haystack” search because only 3% of worldwide stem cell donor registers have mixed race donors.

Your kind gesture will go a long way to help us in our quest to provide an opportunity for disadvantaged children at Pantoase and its surrounding areas to have quality education. Pantoase is a farming community in the Akuapem North District in the Eastern Region of Ghana without a school.

We are therefore helping to build a school for Pantoase to prevent children in the area to walk miles to school elswhere.

Lara’s match would most likely come from someone with a similar mixed ethnic background to herself. Lara’s Thai and Italian heritage required a global campaign to find a suitable match.

We have a limited budget for the school project, but we are hoping to start the basic school, that is, Primary and Junior High in September 2016 as the building is nearing completion. However we have a big challenge of getting the library ready before September. We need books and computers but we do not have the funds at the moment for that. We are therefore delighted and inspired by the books you have kindly donated to us. We are hoping and praying that more donations of this kind will come so we can get them to Pantoase by August 2016.

Lara, who is studying for a Masters in global migration at University College London, said: Thanks to everyone’s immense support, I have always stayed hopeful that I would find one, but I realise how lucky I have been given how difficult it was to find that donor.I want to keep urging people to sign up to the donor registries so that everyone can have a chance of finding their match.

Thank you again for your kind help.

Lamans Adams, Minister in Charge

“We are delighted to be involved with the work of Elim Pentecostal Church supporting them by providing a variety of fiction and non-ficion resources for their new community build in Ghana”.

Mrs Joshi, Library Manager

Now, after a global search by blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan - which included Thailand, the US and Italy - a match has been found.

Miles’ mum Nicoela said: Thank you to everyone who helped to highlight the campaign and to raise awareness, signed up to the donor register, prayed and said kind words of encouragement - especially the boys at Westminster City School who said kind words to Miles.

To find out more about Lara’s story read match4lara.com and sign the register to be a donor not just to save Lara’s life but also to raise awareness of how few donors are registered from mixed raced backgrounds.

School News

New Lunch Menu A new lunch menu will begin after the Easter holidays and features a range of delicious hot meals for everyone to enjoy.

The price of a school dinner will be going up from £2.00 to £2.10 after Easter and there will also be small increases on individual items such as sandwiches and snacks too. The school meal has been held at £2.00 for many years despite food price inflation. School meals offer amazing value and ensure pupils are able to enjoy a hot nutritious meal everyday.

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Year 10 News

A group of Year 10 students were given the opportunity to visit the prestigious University of Oxford.

The visit was part of the Challenge Days programme which Oxford offers to secondary schools across the country. In essence, Challenge Days are large-scale day events designed to offer a taste of higher education, involving subject taster lectures and opportunities to meet current undergraduate students.

After arriving at school at 8am, we set off by coach to Oxford. The one and a half hour journey led us to Queen’s College. Remarkably, Oxford’s collegiate structure is constituted of 38 colleges and 6 permanent private halls.

We began the day with a talk about the vast range of courses that Oxford offers, as well as some of the entry requirements. This was followed by a tour of the campus, guided by a current undergraduate student.

Our undergraduate student studied classics, and we asked her several questions regarding grade and subject requirements.

During the course of the tour, we visited many places such as the Bodleian Library, which happens to be the second biggest library in Britain after the British Library and one of the oldest libraries in Europe. Also, we explored the Ashmolean Museum, which was the world’s first university

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museum. After our tour, we had lunch in the student cafeteria with other undergraduate students, who gave us further insight into university life.

Our last session of the day was a lecture on philosophy. The lecture was extremely captivating and fascinating as we learned about Plato and Aristotle’s ideas about knowledge as well as belief, and the differences between the two terms. It was a wonderful way to end a terrific trip.

Ultimately, the lecturers and Oxford staff emphasised the importance of hard work and commitment to your desired future paths. Whereas, the students highlighted the enjoyable social life that Oxford offers. They also claim that there is a society for just about every topic/subject that you can imagine. All in all, it has given us further inspiration to do well in our academic career as we seek higher education.

On behalf of our fellow peers, we would like to thank Miss Forsyth, Miss Ansah as well as everyone else who was involved for making this phenomenal opportunity possible!

Najib Salam & Adewale Kukoyi, Year 10

Student Council News

The Student Council has continued to make positive changes within the school Debating solutions to suggestions from their peers and putting requests forward to the canteen staff, teachers and the senior leadership team. As a result of our meetings the Sixth Form have a new computer room, a new Film Club has been set up, teachers are giving more positive points and students have had a say in what the new Puttick building should look like.

Olympics’ in the summer term to raise money for more playground facilities. We that hope pupils from all years, and even some staff members, will get involved in the activities.

The Student Council is also planning a ‘Westminster

Ms L Paxman

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Please keep your suggestions coming too, so we can help to make even more of a difference throughout the school.

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Student Council Members are: Tahmin Hussain - Sixth Form Saskia Dakin-Chery - Sixth Form Luka Lulaj - Year 11 John Popova - Year 11 Junior David - Year 10 Jayden Fowora-Knight - Year 10 Philimon Tewodros - Year 9 Philip Odetola - Year 9 Daniel Egwuekwe - Year 8 Aaron Rex - Year 8 Andy Levry - Year 7 Dean Sukcharoen - Year 7 Edition 022 April 2016

Science Department

Particle Physics Year 12 physics students recently took part in particle physics masterclass that was part of a European wide event coordinated by the scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

In the morning we went to a series of lectures which took us through the history of particle physics, delivered by British scientists who worked on Noble Prize winning discoveries and who are currently working in CERN. After lunch we used real data from the ATLAS experiment, to attempt to find the Higgs boson and W boson.

ATLAS is a particle physics experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN that is searching for new discoveries in the head-on collisions of protons of extraordinarily high energy. ATLAS will learn about the basic forces that have shaped our universe since the beginning of time. Following the discovery of the Higgs boson, further data will allow in-depth investigation of the boson’s properties and thereby of the origin of mass.

We ended the day by video conferencing with staff from CERN and students from all over Europe, (Prague, Milan, Grenoble and Colmar). Hassan and Dabby represented the 50 British students. We discussed the results of our ATLAS analysis, asked questions about the scientists research and life at CERN. For information about the ATLAS experiment please visit atlas.ch

Ms E Swift, Science Teacher

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Year 10 Chemistry Challenge Year 10 pupils recently participated in a Chemistry Challenge held by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The competition consisted of several teams of four, all working together to tackle chemistry questions, anagrams and puzzles. Most of the questions were challenging and required a great deal of thought. An example of this would be: What compound is HIJKLMNO? Although the question befuddled many, the answer was simply H2O as the letters were rearranged in the order of the alphabet from H to O. wcsch.com

The question paper itself was compromised of similar style questions, attempting to stretch our chemistry knowledge as far as possible.

Nonetheless, it is fair to say that all of the participants enjoyed the challenge.

On behalf of all of the competitors, I would like to thank Miss Forsyth, Miss Ansah and the rest of the science department for enabling us to take part in this reputable competition.

Najib Salam, Year 10 Westminster City School Newsletter 13

PE Department

Boys meet England Rugby Team Westminster City School pupils were selected to be the guard of honour for the England Rugby Team during their recent training session at Twickenham.

The England senior team were put through their paces under the watchful eye of 15,000 spectators at Twickenham Stadium on Friday.

“I hope seeing the team train at Twickenham has offered inspiration to any young players out there.”

"It was a great honour to see the England team in training, I can't believe how big they are in real life" Sean Wilmot, Year 8

When asked about his favourite position, Alfie Bingham from Year 12, who plays for local side the Battersea Ironsides replied: "I definitely prefer playing in the back row and hope I don't get bigger so I have to play at the front."

School children from across the country saw the team train together at the home of England rugby for the first time under new Head Coach Eddie Jones.

“Every player on the pitch today started rugby either at school or with their local club and now they are playing for their national side,” said Eddie Jones.

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The event also included a question and answer session with new captain Dylan Hartley and players Jack Nowell and James Haskell.

Westminster City School will be competing in the RFU Schools Rugby Competition which starts soon.

Edition 022 April 2016

Performing Arts Department

Performing Arts Department

Jack and the Beanstalk at The Peacock Theatre Pupils, parents and staff attended the annual Peacock theatre pantomime, as part of a rewards trip for outstanding achievement. They were treated to a great theatre performance, full of music, acting and dancing, The PwC Pantomime aims to bring joy to children everywhere. The show also provides children with the chance to see a theatrical production at a professional theatre and aspires to nurture a life-long love of the performing arts. The show is put together by more than 200 PwC staff and alumni who work on all aspects of the production in their spare time – from acting, singing, dancing and directing to costume design, make-up, lighting, sound, backstage crew and playing in the band.

Performing Arts Department

Stars of the Future School pupils took part in the recording for a potential new television show recently.

Music Mentors The music department has created a band of music mentors to help and support anyone interested in music.

They have all had successful job interviews for the position of music mentor, and have been making a huge difference in the music department.

They are all skilled musicians in either drumming, piano, guitar, music technology and singing, and it is part of their role to help other pupils at lunchtime or after school with their music work and practise.

Miss S Mole, Performing Arts Faculty Leader wcsch.com

Two representatives from production company, Twenty Six 03, who make programs for the BBC and Sky television, came to do a test filming of the Westminster City School choir and band performing ‘O’Holy Night’. The pupils worked tirelessly to ensure they would produce the best performance possible. After the performance was recorded the pupils were interviewed to find out what they loved about music. Well done to the Choir, soloists Aaron Porter, Tyron Timothy Marabi, Gessica Abello Mondragen, Nathan MosesEkeke, Seth and Gerald, Fatih and Cenk, the sax group, Dylan Garcia-Ross and Samuel Olufawo for their hard work and excellent performance.

Miss S Mole, Performing Arts Faculty Leader

“Thank you so much for yesterday, it was a really successful day of filming and everyone was an absolute delight to work with. Their energy and enthusiasm for the school and music was infectious and the performing was great too. We appreciate the extra effort you went to in such a short space of time to put it all together.”

Gemma Goodyear, Producer Westminster City School Newsletter 15

Performing Arts Department

Magic Flute Year 10 and 11 music groups recently went to a special talk about how the production team work at the English National Opera’s Coliseum venue. They were shown the ins and outs of the lighting, sound and stage design of the show and were even able to take part in some sound effect creation. They then saw the show in the evening, which was a great chance to see all the production they had learnt about in action.

Music instrument lesson payments are now due As we are coming into the summer term I would like to remind parents and carers that the final payments for the music instrument lessons are now due. If your son is having lessons in more than one instrument you will need to click on the Parent Pay amount of £65 for each instrument your son is learning.

Miss S Mole, Performing Arts Faculty Leader

Performing Arts Department

Away with the Circus Othello Cast Open Stages As part of their Arts Award the Othello cast, explored the majestically and eccentric world of a Travelling Victorian Circus on 29th February. Toured through the vast backstage areas of the Royal Albert Hall, this promenade performance toured Westminster City School’s Shakespeare Company behind the scenes of a dysfunctional travelling circus show. From drunk clowns, to elderly French dancing girls with puppeteered legs, this multiarts, multi-media event effectively presented our young company of actors with inspiring and imaginative use of theatre, music, contemporary dance, physical theatre and art installations.

The Othello cast are currently working towards their Arts Award Bronze and Silver Awards and I look forward to seeing how this wonderful opportunity inspires their exploration of the Arts further.

Miss Coe, Performing Arts Teacher 16 Westminster City School Newsletter

“This is the best trip I have ever been on! This is so strange and wonderful” Year 9 Performing Arts pupil

“When the actors started speaking to me, I didn’t know what to do. I’ve never been so up close to a performance before!”

Year 7 Othello Cast Member

“I’ve come away with from this event with so many ideas of how we can make our performances at school better” Year 8 Othello Cast Member

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PE Department

Westminster City School Football Champions Year 9 Football

Year 11 Football

The Year 9 league started in December having played three games.

Our first game was against St Augustine’s and we were 2 - 1 winners, goals came from Tyreese Telfer on his debut and a great header from Melchi Mateta.

In their final season together the Year 11 team wanted to end their four years without a trophy. Having to play six games City won the first five games. It went down to the last game against Paddington Academy who had played 5 won 4 and drawn 1. This meant that all City had to do was win or draw to secure the league title. The game started in City’s favour who went 1 - 0 down after 10 minutes, then we were 2 - 0 down after our keeper brought down the striker conceding penalty, which they scored. Just before the end of the half City scored two goals in quick concession from Kofi Anokye-Boadi and Nathan Moses Eke, which gave City hope.

Our second game was against a strong Westminster Academy side who dominated the majority of the game but with five minutes to spare a clearance from Adam El Alaoui bounced over their keeper to make it 1 - 0 and two wins in a row for our team.

Our third game was against QK and we ran out 4 - 0 winners with goals from Alimany Conteh, Patrick Kanu, Leslie Menka and Tyreese Telfer who scored a terrific goal from 20 yards out straight in to the top corner.

After winning there next two games it all came down to the last game against Paddington Academy and both teams were unbeaten. After a goalless first half we changed the formation and within five minutes of the half Leslie Menka scored to make it 1 - 0. But with ten minutes to go, bad defending from City lead to a Paddington equalizer. It was a tense finish as Williams Olufemi picked up a back pass which lead to an indirect free kick for Paddington just inside our six yard box. Paddington took the free kick and a brilliant save from Williams and then a great pass from Chuks Egbirika to Leslie Menka who lofted the ball over their keeper to make the score 2 - 1 to Westminster City and clinch the league title.

Five minutes in to the second half Paddington’s main man scored his third and we were looking at second spot in the league. There were 15 minutes left on the clock and we had a free kick just inside the opposition half.

Ade Gbolahan floated the ball in to the box to find Jeff Yohou to head in to make it 3 - 3.

All City had to do was to hold on for 5 minutes to draw the game but a wonderful cross from Kofi Anokye-Boadi found Nathan Moses Eke who headed back across the keeper to make it a 4 - 3 victory.

The final whistle went and we had won the league having played six and won six. A fantastic team effort from all our Year 11 players.

We would like to say a thank you to all the boys and coaching staff.

Mr B Asante, PE Teacher

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Westminster City School Newsletter 17

Year 11 News

Year 11 Interview Workshops Year 11 recently took part in a series of interview workshops where the objectives were to outline the principles and tips for successful interviews.

Some of the topics explored included: • Explore employers’ expectations • The importance of interview preparation • Practice creating and delivering common interview questions Employers will tend to think about three main things when interviewing: • Can you do the job? Do you have the knowledge and skills?

• Do you want the job? Do you have the motivation?

• Will you fit in? Do you have the relevant personal qualities?

The pupils enjoyed the workshops and realised knowing things is only useful if you can communicate what you know clearly and concisely.

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Sixth Form News

AT&T Mentoring Program AT&T volunteers guided students from Westminster City School in future study and career option workshops.

Seven students from Westminster City School shadowed AT&T employees for two weeks and attended customer meetings. For the final, the students were challenged to deliver an ‘RFP’ (Request for Proposal) presenting an AT&T service to their mentors who posed as AT&T customers.

Since the success of this inovotive pilot program with our students AT&T is planning a career mentoring program for secondary school students across Europe to help them succeed after they leave school. The company has contributed $116,000 to Young Enterprise, the enterprise education charity, to identify schools in France, Germany, Slovakia, The Netherlands and the UK. Employee volunteers and Young Enterprise mentors will lead custom master classes about future study, career options, personal goal statements and interview techniques. Where possible, students will gain work experience through job shadowing with AT&T employees.

The program is similar to AT&T Aspire Mentoring Academy, which gives AT&T employees in the U.S. the opportunity to mentor students across the country.

Junior Achievement (JA), the sister organization of Young Enterprise, is one of the non-profit organisations working with Aspire Mentoring Academy.

Alex Parker, vice president, Global Service Management, AT&T said: “I understand the value and insight mentoring offers as I have benefited from mentors guiding me throughout my career. It’s exciting that we have the chance to inspire young people in Europe and share our knowledge about the business world.”

Michael Mercieca, chief executive officer of Young Enterprise said: “We are delighted to be working with AT&T. With youth unemployment at unacceptably high levels across Europe helping students develop their key employability skills for when they enter the workforce is essential and is making a big difference to the students involved.”

About Young Enterprise Young Enterprise is the United Kingdom’s largest business and enterprise education charity. Every year Young Enterprise helps 250,000 young people learn about business and the world of work in 5,000 schools, colleges and universities under the guidance of volunteers from 3,500 companies. www.young-enterprise.org.uk.

About AT&T AT&T and its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of communication services in the United States and internationally. With a powerful array of network resources that includes reliable 4G LTE network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided is available at www.att.com/aboutus.

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Westminster City School Newsletter 19

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April 2016

Dates for your Diary

Thursday 14 April Year 7 Parents’ Evening Friday 27 May Trinity Term 5 Ends Monday 30 May - Friday 3 June Half Term Break Monday 6 June Trinity Term 6 Begins Thursday 30 June Year 6 Induction Day Friday 1 July Sports Day Friday 8 July Celebration Evening Wednesday 20 July Trinity Term 6 Ends Thursday 21 July - Monday 5 Sept Summer Break

Westminster City School Striving for Excellence, Learning for Life 55 Palace Street, London, SW1E 5HJ www.wcsch.com

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