ARK ACADEMY’S OFFICIAL MAGAZINE Issue #9 Summer Term 2013
INSIDE
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Welcome and a great deal to be proud of. Sadly we also say goodbye to some staff this summer. In particular we say a fond farewell to Mr Benson Vice Principal who is moving on to his own Headship. We can be very proud of the work he has done in helping establish this academy and wish him all the very best in his new and very demanding role.
Delia Smith Principal
I am also extremely pleased that we have expanded the leadership team in Primary which will enable the school to go from strength to strength, as our first cohort enter their final two years in Primary.
This is a fabulous edition of our Civitas Magazine to round up the school year. There has certainly been so much happening and our focus on Citizenship in this edition reflects just a small part of what happens to support CIVITAS throughout the academy.
Year 9, we know, have had a demanding year but they are exceptionally well prepared for the rigours of their GCSE courses. We now need them to prepare themselves for developing into the independent and resilient learners that they will need to be. So Year 10 will start Key Stage 4 on Thursday 5th September for a really focussed two day GCSE induction programme.
I have seen so many students blossom and grow as they learn to speak in public about their hopes for a better society and meet so many interesting and diverse people. They are learning the very valuable life skill of persuasion and they also confound the stereotypes that so many people have of the young. As Mrs Haslam states we really do want to grow the next generation of leaders.
I do hope all parents have taken the time to read and digest the information I and Ms Bates have sent in separate letters. I will, of course, tell you more about our plans and the big events for the forthcoming year in my Parents Letter in September.
Our students‘ development in public speaking is certainly enhanced by the focus we have in Ark Academy on debating, as highlighted by our House Debating Competition last half term. This was crowned this year by the ‗Ark Academy‘ team winning the ARK School Debating Competition. Well done to them!
I wish you all a happy and CITVITAS safe summer and as I always say...keep reading. God Bless
Alongside North London Citizens, our School Council has developed and increased their profile. Their visits to the Brent Council chambers and to the Houses of Parliament to meet with our local MP has certainly given them new insights into their role. Again this role enhances their ability to speak with confidence in public.
Delia Smith Principal
With our academy growing every year there are many challenges but also much to excite
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Welcome we are strongest when working together and there have been many examples of this in the summer term. Have a wonderful summer and we look forward to seeing you in September!
Annabel Bates Primary Head Teacher
It has been a busy summer term in the primary school, with fantastic learning in all of our classes. As this issue of Civitas shows you, as well as making great progress in learning we also strive to become better citizens. All of our children know how to be Civitas and we have so many examples of great Civitas in action.
Annabel Bates Primary Head Teacher
This year‘s winner of the primary Civitas award demonstrates kindness, generosity and genuine concern for others on a daily basis. Always willing to step in and help her classmates, she is a true ambassador for Civitas and we are so proud of her. Many of our children show these qualities and we should all be proud of the amazing progress they are making, both as learners and as great citizens. We also celebrate Civitas through our learning, and children thoroughly enjoy celebrating the work of people and have an understanding of how individuals can pull together to make the world a better place. Our classes are all named after great citizens, who changed the way that humans think about the world – through the sphere of Mathematics and Science. We could not be truly Civitas without the dedication of our staff and parents. This is a great school because of our shared belief and desire to improve the life chances of all of our children and give them the best possible school experience to prepare them for life after school. Thank you all for your continued dedication, perseverance and Civitas –
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Citizenship In Action
CIVITAS SHOUT OUT - “Yusef Abodoh for carrying my things
CITIZENSHIP IN ACTION! All of our students strive to be good citizens inside and outside of school — Civitas really is at the heart of everything we do. Mrs Haslam, our Assistant Principal, discusses the work our students have been doing to try and make our school and local community a better place.
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around school when I broke my collar bone” - Aleksej Burakov
Citizenship In Action
developing active and effective citizens. Brent is a borough of extreme ethnic and religious diversity and we feel it is essential that institutions like ours become engines of good relationships between communities. Communities working together to make change for everyone We know that for students to be effective and active citizens they need to leave our Academy with more than a set of outstanding results. Their involvement in social action and campaigns develops fundamental life skills that provides benefits to students themselves and to wider society.
Carla Haslam
Secondary Assistant Principal
As a Citizenship specialist school citizenship themes run deep within our curriculum. We have developed an academic curriculum that reflects and deepens global citizenship and understanding. Students will consider the fertile questions:
Why do we use a community organising approach? Develop potential leaders.
Am I a Civitas consumer?
Develops employability and life skills — independence, empathy, communication and articulacy, creativity, resilience, problem solving, optimism, confidence.
Is life fairer because of maths? What is the price of money? Does jail work?
Building and strengthening relationships between teachers, parents and local residents.
How has our need for materials impacted the world?
Develop skills that enable people to take social action that brings about change — negotiation, public speaking.
Can a bully also be a victim? Do actions really speak louder than words?
Provide opportunities for us and our community to work together on specific issues that affect the local community.
What makes a good friend? Is it possible to sit on the fence?
together to identify a problem STEP 1 -- Working Developing people power!
Should a country have to pay for its past? We use community organising through our involvement in North London Citizens as a way of embedding citizenship within school life and not just confining it to citizenship classes. Since our opening in 2010 we have been founder members of North London Citizens — an alliance of schools, universities, churches, mosques and synagogues from across the borough that come together to address issues of common concerns.
STEP 2
- Working together with the person who can solve that problem. - Identify the person in the community or in government who can help change the problem. - Meet this person, build a relationship with them -Find ways to work together to solve the
STEP 3 problem.
-Create change!
We aim to embody the values and practices of good citizenship and to be a national leader in
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Citizenship In Action
CIVITAS SHOUT OUT — “Yash Shah is always helping other
Ark students on the NLC team have been working hard trying to improve bus services as well as relationships in the local community between young and old people. BUS CAMPAIGN to persuading the people in power to give us what we want — more frequent buses and safer journeys. This campaign has certainly developed and tested our resilience and optimism!
We have known for a long time here at Ark Academy that there are problems with capacity and congestion on the buses to and from school. We all want safe, quick journeys where we are able to travel without disruption and we also want good relationships with our bus drivers. So, we have launched a dedicated campaign alongside Crest Academy to improve bus frequencies — on the 206 and 182 in particular. So far we have met with Councillor Mohammed Butt and representatives from the Bus Companies and TfL. We took our campaign to Willesden Bus Garage where we presented the Head of the bus drivers union with our banner of hands. The banner of hands represented all of the stories and issues that you have on your journeys to school. As a result of our stories, our action and the negotiation by our team we have now secured a meeting with those in power at TfL. We have created a video campaign to send to TfL and the Head of Brent Transport to highlight this issue further. Unfortunately this campaign is a slow one and there is no quick fix to a lack of buses — but we are certainly moving closer 6
Citizenship In Action
people around school” - Mohammed Khayam
INTERGENERATIONAL WORK In the new school year we will develop this project further. We have teamed up with St Johns Church in Wembley where each student will team up with an ―oldie‖ to teach them a new skill — for example Photography, how to use Facebook, BBM and even street dance! In return they will teach us one of their skills like cooking, painting or sewing. It‘s a great project that helps to build and strengthen relationships between different parts of our community.
Through our listening campaign with Year 7&8 in the Autumn term we found out that our students wanted more respect between young and old people in the community. We heard that many of us felt that young people are stereotyped as troublemakers by older people and we felt that this was unfair. Sadly we also found out that there are many older people who are too scared to leave their homes for fear of violence or intimidation from youngsters. We know that the vast majority of young people are kind, respectful and show Civitas at all times. To address this issue we made one of our priorities this term Intergenerational work, to try and break down these barriers and improve relationships. Over the last few months we have been working hard to build relationships with our neighbours and other community groups.
CITYSAFE One of the big campaigns we have been involved in since we opened Ark Academy is CitySafe Havens. A CitySafe Haven is a place that will offer young people protection when they are in danger. We have now built up relationships with 7 local businesses who have agreed to offer their shop as a safe place for a young person in need. In addition to this they are committed to calling the police and reporting 100% of antisocial behaviour. So wherever you see the CitySafe Haven sticker you know that help is close at hand and you will be protected.
We have had meetings with London Interfaith centre in Queens Park and most recently we visited a pensioners group at St John‘s Church in Wembley. During these sessions we make time to have one on one conversations, play games and even dance.
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Citizenship In Action
CIVITAS SHOUT OUT — “Amanda Nzekwue brings a positive
MONEY WEEK Ark students participated in a public debate on student finance and also raised money for various charities. MYBNK FINANCE DEBATE
ENTERPRISE IN A BOX
As part of My Money Week and our work with the organisation MyBnk three Ark Academy students were invited to attend and participate in a public debate at the House of Commons on the subject of the importance of financial education and financial literacy for young people.
Year 8 and 9 Maths Challenge students participated in this MyBnk Challenge. The students went on the journey of making a profit whilst helping people and the planet. Through the experience of running their own social enterprise students gained valuable skills such as working as a team, conducting market research, identifying their target audience, advertising, pricing, customer service, cash flow monitoring and planning ahead.
As a maths specialist school we know that it is essential that young people gain the skills, knowledge and confidence in money matters to thrive in our society. “Financial education is key for any student when they leave school. It doesn’t only teach you how to manage your money, but it prepares you for the bigger picture — the world around you”
The winning team consisted of Cherise Pacquette, Farjana Choudhury, Anithya Balachandran, Sonal Varsani, Ciara Barratt and Natasha Chauhan. They made a total of £101 in sales of the CD Freedom Cry.
Andrei Bogdan (Year 9)
“Enterprise in a box helped us develop enterprise and teamwork skills — we felt like we were on Young Apprentice! It was challenging but in a fun way” Ciara Barratt and Anithya Balachandran (Year 9). 8
Citizenship In Action
attitude to lessons” - Ciara Barratt
wouldn‘t give her the importance and respect that she needed and deserved. We then moved to a room where various members of the royal family were on display to represent virtues including MERCY, COURAGE, RELIGION & LOYALTY.
SCHOOL COUNCIL TRIP
OUR TRIP The visit to parliament was very inspiring as we managed to see inside both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, with a number of MPs showing groups around. We learned so many new facts and are all proud to have been part of the Ark Academy visiting group. Thank you to Miss Bates and Councillor Pavey for enabling us to go!
The School Council visited the Houses of Parliament. Year 7 student, Chandra Bowen, looks back on the trip. On Monday 15th July the School Council visited the Houses of Parliament. It usually takes a long time to get booked on to a visit to parliament, but thanks to the support of Councillor Michael Pavey we managed to get to the front of the queue! We travelled to Westminster by train and had an amazing tour with Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North. Mr Gardiner was an excellent tour guide and knew the history of the houses of parliament very well. It was an excellent history lesson! INTERESTING ART WORK Mr Gardiner told us to look closely at the paintings on show to try and understand the true meaning of the art work. One of the most interesting paintings we looked at was one of Queen Victoria. There was a light shining on her face to show her power and to deflect attention from the fact that she is only 4 foot 7 inches and her feet were on a footstool! It was felt that if her shortness was obvious she wouldn‘t look like a real ruler of a country and people 9
Citizenship In Action
CIVITAS SHOUT OUT— “Phoebe and Hannah for helping me
INTERNATIONAL DAY The Parents’ Association organised another successful International Day to celebrate cultural diversity.
International Day was a great success in Primary with a whole week of International work across age groups, preparing for the day itself. All of our children took part in the day and there were many different performances from children, including: an African chant, a French song and Djembe drumming! The Parents‘ Association did a wonderful job of organising stalls and many of our parents and children stayed all afternoon to enjoy the music and the amazing international food!
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around school when I hurt my back - Sara Arybou
Citizenship In Action
CIVTAS BADGE
The Civitas Badge is the highest accolade in Ark Academy and is awarded to students who have made an outstanding contribution to the academy or to the community. Here are this year’s winners...
Vishal Mistry 8LE Nominated by Miss Eminton “He is always so eager to learn, participate in class and finish his work. Beyond learning, he is an extremely polite and friendly pupil who always has a smile on his face. He clearly takes a lot of pride in the school, he is a real ambassador for everything Ark and he enjoys being here. This enthusiasm rubs off on the people around him.”
Hawra Mahdi 7DE Nominated by Mr Cooper “Hawra Mahdi is a model Civitas student in Ark Academy. She demonstrates Civitas on a daily basis by offering support to teachers and students. She comes in with a smile in the morning and speaks to adults and students politely and respectfully. ”
Osman Hassan 9EL Nominated by Miss Mason “Osman is a great example of a student who tries hard everyday to embody the four principles. When it comes to pair or group work Osman is always willing to get stuck in straight away and, where other students need help, he is more than willing to share notes. Alongside all of this Osman is unfailingly polite, respectful, friendly and positive and is a real joy to have in the classroom.”
Riya Patel 7EC Nominated by Miss Kubba “If there is one student who puts their all into exhibiting Ark’s 4 core values it is Riya. Since her first day at Ark Academy Riya has embraced every opportunity our school has to offer. No house competition goes by without Riya volunteering to represent or to cheer on her house... More than all above though, Riya’s defining feature is her commitment to Civitas.”
O’Keen Bloomfield 9DA Nominated by Mr Dainty/Miss Ryan “O’Keen is a model pupil and has been an absolute pleasure to teach since he started in year 7. He works hard and as a consequence he has made a huge amount of progress since he joined Ark Academy. O’Keen benefits enormously from all that his teachers do for him because he listens and takes on board the advice we give him. Not only that, he is just a lovely boy that is nice to other people.”
Nadine Alosert 7AR Nominated by Mr Edwards “Nadine has been a model student from the first day she started at the Academy and has embraced everything that we stand for as citizens in the school. She has never received a negative comment and has contributed an excellent amount of commendations to her house, as well as having 100% attendance. Nadine impressed from the outset in the way she participated and showed her peers support.”
“Samantha is truly Civitas and always goes out of her way to do the right thing. As well as always doing her best in her own work, she Samantha Koosaletse-Tsotetsi helps other children and always supports them. Her kind, helpful approach has been recognised and appreciated by children, teachers 4 Euler and parents. If another child is feeling sad or unwell Samantha Primary citizen of the year always comforts them. She is also sensible and diplomatic, supporting other children to resolve disagreements and make friends.”
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Summer Term News
ARK IN PARIS
On Monday 22nd April 2013, 43 Year 9 students and 5 members of staff took part in Ark Academy’s first ever residential trip abroad. They travelled to Paris by coach and shuttle and spent five days there. Amanda Nzekwue from 9 Orwell shares her memories of the trip. We travelled by coach and shuttle for over 8 hours to get to our PGL accommodation on the outskirts of town. When we arrived at our destination in France, we were welcomed by the warm and friendly PGL staff. We got to choose which 2 or 3 people we shared a dormitory with and we were given the big responsibility of looking after the keys to our rooms. On the Monday evening we were asked to participate in a Mini Olympics. We were split into 5 teams and had to compete in a series of challenges that included trying to make the longest line by just using our bodies and belongings!
Paris g n i k oo Overl
Parc
On Tuesday we got to experience the most anticipated part of the trip, which was to visit the city of love – Paris! We spent the day visiting sights such as the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame Arc and the Louvre. We learnt many interesting facts about major landmarks by the helping hand of our tour guide on the coach. In the evening we enjoyed a campfire. The activities were led by the PGL staff and we enjoyed activities such as who could collect the biggest log to add to the camp fire and one person clapped and moved about, while everyone else copied, bar one, who had to guess who the leader was.
Asté ri
x!
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Summer Term News On Wednesday we got to experience g-force thrills by going to a theme park called Parc Astérix. There were many rides to suit everyone‘s taste – storm in a teacup and train rides, and for thrillseekers there were rides that span you 360 degrees up in the air. Our evening activity for that day was to make a food that is very popular in France – crêpes. We got the opportunity to be chefs and work as a team.
ics!
lymp Mini O
On Thursday we visited a picturesque, quiet town called Brie. We had to take part in a town trail in our 5 original teams. The questions were in French, so we had to use our prior knowledge to figure out what we were supposed to find in the town. In the afternoon we took part in 4 events with the PGL staff back where we were staying. Some of the activities such as abseiling and the leap of faith required determination and bravery, so everyone showed Civitas by encouraging each other.
Waiting fo r the Métr o
e
pfir ge cam Our hu
On the last evening in France we all enjoyed a disco. We enjoyed busting moves to many current songs such as Harlem Shake and Gangnam Style.
Sailing down the Rive r Seine
We were very sad when we made our way back to London on the Friday, However as we were ahead of schedule, we got the opportunity to visit a hypermarket that we had visited last year when we went to Boulogne in year 8.
Abseil
ing
Overall we had a marvellous time, we learned more about French culture and we had talked to people who we don‘t normally speak to. Brie
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Summer Term News
HOUSE DEBATING COMPETITION This year’s House Debating Competition encouraged students with no previous debating experience to get involved. The grand final saw Socrates and Plato debating whether the Police in the UK should be armed. Although Team Plato made some excellent points in favour of the motion, they were brilliantly countered by Team Socrates. Team Socrates were declared the winners after an intriguing debate, which could have gone either way. Throughout this competition, Ark students demonstrated excellent critical thinking, effective communication and strong teamwork skills.
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Summer Term News
HOUSE MATHS 21 COMPETITION The famous Ark Casino returned for the House Maths 21 competition! This house competition centred around the card game 21. The objective of the game is to get the highest total without exceeding 21. This competition follows on from the hugely successful year 7 fertile question, which taught our students probability. Students discovered that playing cards is great fun, as long as you realise that the odds are stacked against you! 1st Curie with a loss of £34 2nd Plato with a loss of £45.50 3rd Socrates Socrates/Newton Newton both with a loss of £53.50
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Summer Term News
DT WEEK Design and Technology week was back with more events and challenges. Students created jet propelled dragster cars and fired them to see who‘s car would go the farthest.
Year 8 students visited the Crystal, a new landmark in London, which is home to the world‘s largest exhibition on urban sustainability.
Students were challenged to customize a denim garment with a pop art design.
The Geodisic Dome challenge was back! This challenge definitely required good teamwork and communication.
Students got to show off their cookery skills by baking a cake that represented their house.
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Summer Term News
DEBATE CHAMPIONS The year 9 debate team are officially the champions of the Ark School Network! After finishing runners up to Evelyn Grace Academy last year, the year 9 team were determined to finally get their names on the trophy. They not only performed exceptionally well, but also showed great sportsmanship throughout the competition.
SUMMER GALA Ark Academy students joined together with choirs and orchestras from other Ark schools to put on an incredible music show at the Barbican Theatre! Ark Academy students from primary and secondary performed a moving rendition of “I’ll be there” by the Jackson 5.
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Summer Term News
RACHEL CAINE Ark students met an international best selling author. One of the library competitions this term challenged students to write an opening chapter of a paranormal novel. There was a top secret prize which was the chance to meet American author Rachel Caine. Her ‗Morganville Vampires‘ series is very popular at Ark Academy and the students were thrilled at having the opportunity to meet her. Rachel spoke about her experiences as a writer, and how she had achieved her dreams. She answered questions, gave advice about writing, and signed books (and planners!). Some students even gave her samples of their own writing to read. It really was an unforgettable afternoon and the students were all inspired to continue writing in their spare time.
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Summer Term News
Manga literature continues to grow in popularity at Ark Academy. This term the library held a competition which asked students to design their own manga hero or villain. There were some fantastic entries, some of which can be seen below!
Farjana Choudhury 9AU
Walid Tahori 7DE
Allain Del Rosario 8TH
Leanncy Ruban 9DA
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Laura St Phorose 7GE
Clement Owusu 9AU
Summer Term News
VICTORIAN DAY Throughout the summer term, our year 3 pupils have been learning about the Victorians. As part of this learning, the children enjoyed a day dressed as Victorians. They spent the day finding out about school life and what it must have been like for a child growing up in Victorian Britain. When asked about what they thought, they all confirmed that they much preferred life as a child in 2013!
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Summer Term News
SPORTS DAY The eagerly anticipated final house competition took place. The outcome of this year‘s Sports Day was more important than ever, since all four houses sat neck and neck with one another in the struggle for the Ark House Cup. Students knew that victory at Sports Day would potentially secure the trophy for their house. The competition provided us with non-stop excitement and drama throughout the day. It showed once again that our school is full of so many talented athletes.
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Summer Term News
SPORTS ROUNDUP The summer brought us an action packed term of sport. There were some fantastic performances by our students. YR 8 Girls Shanel Edwards — Brent 800m runner up Shaakeelah Greenland — Brent long jump champion Shaakeelah Greenland — Brent 100m champion
BRENT ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIP We took students from every year group to compete in the annual Brent Athletics Championship.
YR 9 Girls Te‘Rique Dover-Lloyd — Brent 200m runner up Michaela Johnson — Brent triple jump champion Kiara Taylor — Brent shot put runner up
Standout individual performances: YR 7 Boys Matthew David Tate — Brent 400m champion YR 8 Boys Tyreke Griffiths — Brent long jump champion Tyreke Griffiths — Brent 100m champion Cameron Russell — Brent 400m champion
Overall results: Year 7 Girls — 4th in Brent Year 7 Boys — outside the top 3 Year 8 Boys — 1st in Brent Year 8 Girls — 3rd in Brent Year 9 Boys — outside the top 3 Year 9 girls — 2nd in Brent
Zion Suffren — Brent shot put champion Zion Suffren — Brent 800m champion YR 9 Boys Kyle Briscoe — Brent shot put runner up Jamar Clarke — Brent discus runner up Ebou Njie — Brent 1500m 3rd place Antwayne Plummer — Brent triple jump Runner up Antwayne Plummer — Brent 1500m champion Tayshon Skyers — Brent 200m champion John Seraphin White — Brent 400m champion
MIDDLESEX COUNTY ATHELETICS CHAMPIONSHIP We were proud to have 11 students represent Brent at the very competitive Middlesex County Athletics Championship. The standout performances of the day were Antwayne Plummer‘s jump of 11.10m in the triple jump giving him 5th position. Tayshon Skyers ran 200m in 26.68, coming 5th in his race. Kiara Taylor threw 7m70 in the shot put. Cameron just missed out on the triple jump final jumping 10m38.
YR 7 Girls Yasmin Ali-Ahmed — Brent 1500m champion Safiya Adesanya — Brent 200m runner up
All 11 students did their school and Brent proud.
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Summer Term News
REGIONAL TRACK AND FIELD FINAL
U15 GIRLS HANDBALL
Our year 8 boys athletics team qualified for the regional finals, which meant that as a team they had been chosen to represent the south-east of England! The team also included four students from year 7.
After winning a number of tough qualifying matches, our year 8 and 9 girls earned themselves a place in the U15 National Handball Final on the 29th June. The girls were very excited because the final was being held at the GB Handball Olympic training venue in Essex.
The boys performed brilliantly and gained good experience from the event.
The girls played very well and showed great determination and persistence throughout the competition. They are now officially the 3rd best U15 handball team in the country!
Standout individual performances: Jonathan Alele — 2nd in javelin (26.48m) Kai Franklin — 3rd in 100m Tyreke Griffiths — 5th in long jump (4.51m) — 1st in 100m Cameron Russell — 1st in triple jump (10.85m) Tayshon Skyers — 2nd in 200m Zion Suffren — PB in shot put (9.60m) — 2nd in the 800m Dontae Temple — 2nd in the hurdles
CRICKET YEAR 7 BOYS CRICKET RESULTS
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Christ‘s College — Lost by 7 wickets Newman College — Won by 41 runs Claremont — Lost by 4 wickets
All three year groups managed to make it through to the Brent play off final, which was a fantastic achievement.
YEAR 8 BOYS CRICKET RESULTS
Year 7 girls: finished runners up to Queens Park in a tightly contested match 4-6
Alperton — Lost by 38 runs Kingsbury — Lost by 2 wickets
Year 8 girls: the year 8 Play off final is yet to be played.
YEAR 9 BOYS CRICKET RESULTS
Year 9 girls: defeated Capital City 12-8 to become Brent Champions for the third year running.
JFS — Won by 2 wickets Wembley Park — Lost by 39 runs
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Everyone at Ark Academy would like to thank you for all your support and wish you a great summer.
The Civitas magazine was edited and designed by Colin Knott. Thanks to all contributors. Special thanks: Emma Franklin for much of the Secondary photography. Pushpa Hirani for printing.
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