BGA Creative News Issue 1

Creative News Issue 1 . Spring 2014

News, views and information about creativity at Bethnal Green Academy

The Light Princess

Welcome to our first issue of our termly newsletter, Creative News - keeping you informed about the creative learning opportunities and activities offered to students at BGA.

Introduction from the Principal

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”

Albert Einstein

As we approach the crucial examination season at Bethnal Green Academy our students are aiming once again for the highest grades at GCSE and A Level. The ambition and hard work of our outstanding teachers and students means that every year more of our young people achieve their personal goals and secure the University places, apprenticeships and employment that they aspire to.

We have tripled our 5+A to C grades including English and maths since I first became headteacher here in 2006/7 and still, I believe, the best is yet to come.

The National Theatre, January 22nd 2014 Review by Tauhida Zaman, Year 8

£4000 raised for charity at Winterfest Winterfest, BGA’s two week festival of culture and learning in December, saw a programme of exciting activities and events across the whole school. During the fortnight students, staff, parents/carers and friends gave generously to raise over £4000 for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philipinnes which was sent via DEC (the Disasters Emergency Committee).

Events included a charity football knockout, a pantomime performance, Victorian Evening (pictured here) and the Winter Fayre.

But a good school; a truly good school does more than that.

A good school provides young people with the memories that will last a lifetime. It challenges young people to explore new ways of learning and develop their talents in ways that they may not have previously considered.The experience of performing in front of an audience, of learning a musical instrument, and of working in a team and achieving success together helps young people to grow in so many ways.

At BGA we are all committed to ensuring that our students have the best possible opportunities for learning outside the classroom. This year the opportunities on offer are greater than ever before.

None of this would be possible without the commitment of our staff and the support of our partner organisations. Fundraising is always a challenge but somehow, with your continuing support we will keep finding ways to maintain and develop our outstanding Arts and Sports provision..

With your help we will ensure that our young people will keep growing, learning together and making memories that will last a lifetime.

Mark Keary Principal

Year 12 rehearsals at Richmix On 5th March the Year 12 A Level Drama group took part in a rehearsal at Richmix in Bethnal Green. It was an amazing opportunity for the students to rehearse in a professional space. The students self-rehearsed for two hours and were able to look at the perfomance space which they will be using for their final exam in May. They will be performing a version of the expressionist play ‘Machinal’, which will be set within the finance sector of 1980s London.

The Light Princess was an excellent musical as it was humorous and it was very emotional in parts, for example when the Princess and Prince’s mother died. I was scared when the gunshots went off as they were very loud. The ringing noise was still in my ears the next day. The use of props was amazing and I was astonished to see people carrying the Princess in the air, risking their lives as well as the princess’. The dance routines were in unison so it brought the whole musical together. I would recommend this musical to everyone.

Alice in Wonderland

The time is approaching and to say the least I’m overwhelmed by the sheer dedication and talent from our students here at Bethnal Green Academy. Students across all age groups have been rehearsing for Alice in Wonderland for the last five months, giving up their time after school and during break times to be part of this year’s school show. Students have been learning new songs, dance routines and cryptic poetic dialogue to deliver an innovative two hour version of this classic tale.

Every rehearsal is different but starts at the same beginning -‘The Wall of Clocks’. This scene highlights the students’ determination as they are all focused, dedicated, creative and inspiring. This scene takes me back to when the students first auditioned for the school show, feeling nervous, but pushing themselves to excel. I feel so privileged to be working with an inspiring ensemble that makes imagination a reality.

Every day I see them gain in confidence, taking on new challenges as experienced in the physical theatre chess scene - not to be missed! Each individual has a story, a part to play; I hope you can be there to see their profound professionalism. So if you want to see, moving clocks and numerous teapots, this is the show for you, but more importantly, the children who bring each detail to life. This is an art form in itself and I’m so proud to be working with you all. Tickets are available for 1st and 2nd of April, starting at 6pm in The Street. Don’t be late!

Issue 1 . Spring 2014

Art at BGA

Sixth Form Art goes to Paris In January this year the Art Department took Year 12 and 13 Art and Photography students to Paris part funded by Allen & Overy.

The main rationale for the trip was to broaden the students’ cultural horizons, by experiencing the atmosphere of a new city and responding to the art work in the galleries and museums by drawing and taking photographs. Among some of the activities, the students had the opportunity to experience the Musée d’Orsay, with its wealth of beautiful Art Nouveau sculptures and impressionist paintings, the Pompidou Centre’s collection of modern and contemporary art and ground breaking architecture, walk along the River Seine, climb the Eiffel tower, view the Mona Lisa in the Louvre and taste French desserts for supper.

We also visited the Allen & Overy Paris offices, where the students could draw and take photographs from the roof top balcony overlooking the Arc de Triomphe.

Tiago Manuel: I took this photo at the Louvre Museum in Paris. I was interested in capturing abstract forms in our environment.

Aklima Begam: I saw this street while walking around Paris and I just had to capture it.

On returning to Bethnal Green Academy the students found a new confidence in discussing art and visiting galleries and museums independently. Some students’ used the research from Paris as inspiration for their art work. The Art Department would like to thank Allen & Overy for its financial support.

Khadija Thalukdar - We walked along the River Seine in Paris and then suddenly the Eiffel Tower loomed out of the mist.

Artbeat Exhibition at Allen & Overy Students who took part in the Allen & Overy Artbeat project this year were thrilled to see their work exhibited at the offices of Allen & Overy. The launch of Artbeat 2014 on February 27th was a culmination of a 10 week project with two inspiring artists, Jackie and Stewart, who worked with BGA students to develop ideas and create their finished pieces. They had the opportunity to use techniques and materials that they had never tried before and the results were fantastic, telling personal stories and showing imagination and skill. Here’s what some of our young artists said: “In my art project I want to explore the past of the three countries where I lived (Equador, Spain and England).

I wanted to show all the good things about the people of those different countries and also how my life has changed since moving to London. In my project I was inspired by good memories of Burgos, my city in Spain. I think this opportunity with Allen & Overy was really good and I learned about different countries and cultures as well as some new skills in art.” Marcelo Logacho “In my art project, my inspiration was Italy, my family, friends and my life. My work shows many things which are very important to me such as important dates, my street and my dreams. I tell my story and what I want to do in the future. The experience was amazing because all the other “artists” told their stories through their work showing us different countries and their culture.” Alexandra Timpani “There are a lot of things I have learnt during my art project! I expressed my feelings through the piece of art I made for this project. I used different ideas and pictures that I like about my country (Philippines) and here in London. Allen & Overy gave us a great opportunity to express our feelings and the things we value through the use of art. I hope I will be able to work on other similar art projects in the future!” Majan Almukhairi

Year 8 painting workshop with resident artist Paul Smith Year 8 students participated in a painting workshop with resident artist Paul Smith. The aim was to explore the concept of distance, space, depth and horizon. They each produced a canvas on which they had painted a skyline. This is what they had to say: “The art project was fun and I enjoyed it because we were able to show people how good we are at art and we met new people who have something in common with us and shared our passions.” Asrima Khatun.

Young Photographer of the Year

The first BGA Young Photographer of the Year competition is underway with a theme related to this year’s Photography exam: Earth, Wind, Fire, Water. Students must use this theme to inspire their photographs and they can be creative and imaginative with their interpretation of the theme. Within the theme there are four categories: Landscapes, Portraits, Nature and Still Life. Students may take their photos on a phone or with a camera. Photographs should be emailed to either: camera@bethnalgreenacademy.co.uk or phone@ bethnalgreenacademy.co.uk or brought in on a USB stick. All photographs should be submitted by Monday March 24th.

A panel of judges will select the best photographs in each category and the winners will be announced on Monday March 31st. Photographs will be exhibited in The Street.

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“The workshop was fun and full of information and I learned to paint scenes and I used a variety of different tones to make a colourful scene. I would like to do it again.” Ali Idrees Khan.

“In the art project I enjoyed looking at the skyline on the roof and learnt how to recreate that view with three similar shades/colours.” Yoseph “We have learned how to create really cool illusions with colour to show distance. It was fun and a really useful technique to learn. We had an artist to help us, so that was really cool too.” Momota “The project was really creative and fun. I’ve learnt that instead of painting fast and rushing, small, careful strokes work better. On the palette you work with one colour and mix lighter/darker shades.” Shumita Rahim

Issue 1 . Spring 2014

Drama and Dance at BGA

Barbican Box Year 10 Drama GCSE Ask our teacher On Tuesday 18th March, Bethnal Green Academy students performed at the Barbican Theatre, as part of the 2014 Barbican Box Project. Students devised an inspired piece based on the components inside the Barbican Box, to look at the theme of immigration and the challenges many people face when starting a new life away from their family home. Students developed a piece which is inspired by the famous story tellers Complicite. Each scene is crafted by heavily animated sound-scaping and ever-changing moments which

Emil and the Detectives

Thirty Year 7 students visited The National Theatre on Saturday 15th March 2014. Emil and the Detectives is about a young boy who says goodbye to his mother and leaves his home and sets off on a journey that will change his life. His money is stolen on a train by a mysterious stranger.

Emil thinks he has lost everything. He decides to track down the thief and he soon discovers that he is not alone in the big city after all...

Dancing at Disneyland On the 1st June sixteen students from Bethnal Green Academy will be performing on stage in Disneyland Paris.

The Bethnal Green Academy dance group will be putting on a professional performance that will last for twenty minutes. They will be on an international dance stage where they will be performing and competing alongside other dancers from performing arts schools from across the world.

Students have been working extremely hard in rehearsals every week and even giving up their time in the school holidays to prepare for the show. Students will be performing on stage in front of a live audience of 5,000 people.

The performance will be held inside one of the Disneyland Parks on the Videopolis Stage and will be televised in France and across the Disneyland Park. All of the participants are very excited and cannot wait for their performance.

This is the first professional international dance performance that Bethnal Green Academy are a part of and it definitely will not be the last.

are defined by the action and mood, as a woman reminisces about life back home on her farm, ‘There was a place where everyone looked happy in the four seasons.’ The students have explored the mysterious woman’s new life in London and the barriers she faces when adjusting to her new surroundings. They worked incredibly hard and I was very proud to see their final performance.

Ms Bellingham

Woman in Black A review by Sajeda Miah, Year 11

On the 15th January 2014, we visited the Fortune Theatre in London to see the ghost play Woman in Black, which is based on the novel by Susan Hill. The whole production was performed by two actors called Stuart Fox and Gwynfor Jones who retold the story of the ghost of Jennet Humfrey haunting the village of Crythin Gifford. I expected the play to be incredibly haunting and it did not disappoint.

The lighting played a key part in creating suspense within the play and the use of the recorded sound effects made a huge impact on the whole production as it helped to build the scenes and it contributed to building tension and suspense for the audience.

Unexpected sound effects such as loud noises and screams happened frequently in the play to excellent effect. Although this tended to instil nervous laughter from many audience members, the sudden loud noises enhanced the experience for both the characters and the audience.

The actors regularly entered the auditorium, taking the action directly out to the audience. In doing so, it made the audience feel involved in the action and feel constantly aware that someone (possibly the Woman in Black) may be behind them. The Woman in Black never appears slowly, she always appears in scenes in a flash which makes it ghostly just as the secret is only revealed at the end, maintaining the suspense and interaction. To conclude, by watching the play in the theatre it left me feeling anxious throughout the play especially in Act 2. I also learnt that suspense and tension can be created through simple elements.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

We went to a theatre to watch a performance of ‘Charlie and The Chocolate Factory’. It was fantastic!

Charlie was the main character of the play, and he had a large family. This play was about bars of chocolate!

There were only five bars of chocolate with golden tickets in the world. The children who found those tickets, would win a trip to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. There were five children who won, and one of them was Charlie, and he was chosen to visit the factory. I had read the book before I went to the theatre, however, I never imagined that the director could transform the book into a play. The songs were really catchy and the scenery wss magical.

Airien Jubaida, Year 8

The Great Big Dance Off On Monday 3rd February eighteen students from Bethnal Green Academy from years seven-eleven competed against thirty one secondary schools in the regional London heat of The Great Big Dance Off competition. The show was held at the New Wimbledon theatre. This was the first dance competition that Bethnal Green Academy had been entered in.

The standard of all the secondary schools performing at the competition was really high. Bethnal Green Academy dancers performed extremely well and as a result scored 217 points out of a possible 300, ranking them in fifteenth place. All students should be proud to have made it to the regional stage as it is a fantastic achievement. All the students that performed should be proud as the judges remarked how impressed they were with the overall standard of the group and the interesting contact movements that they performed.

This is a fantastic achievement for the schools dance group. Well done!

Name: Lucy Bellingham Subject: Drama One interesting fact about yourself: I did an MA in Physical Theatre and Performance.

What do you like about BGA: The atmosphere amongst staff and students is second to none.

I like how supportive staff are towards the students and their learning.

What would you like to achieve in a year’s time? I feel that myself and Ms Higdon have already made a lot of progress in Drama since September. So many performances have been staged and so many projects are in progress. By the end of the year I would like to see students enjoying Drama throughout the school and growing in confidence in all areas of the school as a result of this. I feel that being able to present yourself confidently is the best skill you can have when leaving school and going out into the world.

Students going above and beyond…

Not often am I speechless, but this term I have been overwhelmed by the impressive boxes created by our Year 7 Drama students. As part of their ‘Who am I?’ unit in Drama students had to make a box, which contained objects which were personal to them. In addition to this, students had to perform a speech to accompany their box and express why their objects were important to them. Students went to great lengths to share their objects and stories; however, one student, Olayinka Sterling-Badmus, devised the most inspiring speech which left her class speechless. Olayinka, combined a sound track with contemporary movement to complement her speech about what is important to her, to include a moving passage about why Drama helps her to express herself and why her mother is her biggest inspiration. This was a moving, mature and highly creative piece, which was performed in assembly also to share her amazing work, oh, and did I mention she performed the whole piece blind folded! A true inspiration and a star in the making, well done Olayinka.

Ms Higdon

A Midsummer Night’s Dream A review by Cansu Uslu, Year 10

In February 2014 the Year 10 Drama group went to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Barbican Theatre.

After seeing the production, I left the theatre feeling very impressed with the way that puppetry was incorporated into the show. Overall, the production was outstanding because the company used the stage space effectively and all of the actors were aware of their stage positioning. This added to the professional feel of the production. One element I particularly liked was when the wooden planks were used to write the word ‘interval’. This created an innovative and original transition. During the production the wooden planks were used in several ways, such as creating the setting of a forest and as weapons. This impressed me because they manipulated one object and transformed it into many different things. The atmosphere in the theatre was magical because of the inspiring ways they used physical theatre to transform the character ‘Bottom’ into a donkey. Overall the production was incredibly inspiring and gave me several interesting ideas for developing my own drama work.

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Issue 1 . Spring 2014

Science at BGA

Arcola Energy Hydrogen Challenge

Year 10 Triple Science have taken part in the Hydrogen London competition. The Mayoral programme, in partnership with Arcola Energy, works towards developing London’s hydrogen economy.

Students enjoyed the interactive opportunity to develop Lego hydrogen-powered vehicles..

The workshop developed their understanding of electrolysis and hydrogen fuel cells: exploring the role that hydrogen could play within a low carbon society and electrolysis. Students used iteration based scientific enquiry to build and adapt efficient vehicles.

Sixth Form Science Club

Sixth Form students are given the opportunity to use more advanced scientific techniques for experiments that are beyond the syllabus. These have included synthetic methods for making soap, as well as how plastics can be made from starch. The students thoroughly enjoy the sessions and can link the applications of science to cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and many more!

The winning group, Hanim Karoc, Musmmoth Mahima, Laurel Russel, Sumaya Yasmin, Ciaran Constable and Mascaud Dahir have been invited to attend the final at City Hall where they will compete against other schools to develop the best hydrogen-fuelled vehicle.

Ask our teacher

Name: Henry Palmer Subject: Science (Biology) One interesting fact about yourself: I don’t have a TV.

What do you like about BGA? Great staff. Students at BGA are incredibly loyal.

There are a vast array of exciting opportunities to be involved in which include fun, school-wide activities which are not necessarily to do with planning science lessons.

What would you like to achieve in a year’s time? All A-Cs for Year 10, 4 As at A2. A huge farmers market in July from all our school-grown produce. A drop day interfaith session as part of Solfest. A Question Time session in the hall. I would like to get a staff band going. Also I would like to do a general mechanics course, have bought a house and taken my van back up to Scotland.

Big Energy

Over the next six weeks Year 7 Science students are taking part in the EDF Big Energy Project. Students are working in teams to develop their own energy efficiency campaign to persuade families, friends and the community to be more energy efficient.

Please keep an eye out for some of their campaigns as they roll out over the next few weeks. The more we support our youngest students, the better their chances are of doing well in this national competition!

Science Workshops with Virginia Primary School

Y5 students from Virginia Primary School attend weekly science workshops which allow them to explore investigative skills and work in a lab. The students found the sessions exciting and meaningful, aiding to bridge the gap between KS2 and KS3.

SciRes Project The SciRes Project explores the world of scientific research; how it is carried out and how it is changing our understanding of some of science’s biggest questions. It is aimed at students who have a real passion for science and who want to study a sciencerelated subject at university, and is open to Years 1113. The project has two core aims: firstly, to improve students’ scientific understanding and to expose them to extracurricular science, and secondly, to develop and strengthen students’ skills in independent learning, teamwork, critical analysis and data presentation.

In addition to students exploring their own research, scientists from London universities have visited BGA to present their research to the students. So far, we have welcomed molecular biologist Dr Louisa Petchey from UCL, who discussed her research on congenital heart disease; evolutionary biologist and palaeontologist Dr David Hone from QMUL, who discussed his research on feeding behaviour; and physicist Peter Davison from UCL, who presented his research into high energy particle physics.

Teen Tech Awards The TeenTech Awards are for students from 11-16 (Years 7 to 11) working in teams of up to three to look at problems large and small to see if they can find a better way of doing things.

BGA has 4 teams from Years 8 and 9 taking part in this year’s competition, working with science and technology to develop their ideas. They have come up with some great products to make people’s lives better or easier, but we cannot share the ideas publicly just yet! The teams are busy developing their ideas, contacting professionals in their areas, designing their products and carrying out market research before they hand in their innovation logs to be judged in April.

A Review by Samiul Basour, Year 8 I have been participating in the TeenTech Awards programme since Christmas. It is a wonderful opportunity to develop our knowledge in the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths). In TeenTech we work in groups and think about today’s technology and life. We look for “blank spaces” and see what we can do to fill them in, to improve people’s lives significantly in the future.

The main aim is to invent a product/device that has/ involves possible technology, that can have a positive effect on people’s lives. The product/device will then be developed under three sections: Marketing, Design and Brand. In marketing we think about the market, how big it is and who is going to buy the product. The price also comes under the marketing section. In the design section we think about how our product is going to work, how it will look and what it will be made of.The brand section is a mixture of both marketing and design. It involves logos and names.

There were different categories, e.g. wearable technology, communication and education. My group chose Transport. We are thinking about safety on the road and how accidents can be decreased.

Throughout this project we will be meeting companies like Airbus, HP, JVC and National Grid.

KS3 science club is fabulous! My wonderful students have recently been programming a Big Trak machine, writing with fire, dissecting fish, and investigating SMART materials for the future. I have had the pleasure of watching my science club students grow in confidence in leaps and bounds, and discover new science in an independent and creative way!

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I think that this is a wonderful opportunity to develop our thinking, teamwork and leadership skills and lots of other skills that will be helpful in the future.

The groups with the best ideas (this is a national competition) will win a trip to Buckingham Palace or lots of money for their school.

Issue 1 . Spring 2014

MFL at BGA

Our Roman cena!

On the 24th of January 2014, 7XLt1 had a very exciting day. This term, we have been learning about the type of food that the Romans used to eat. We thought it would be a good idea to have our own Roman dinner party.

We wanted to prepare the food ourselves. There was a variety of salads, a cheesecake, and many honey biscuits. We had made the food the night before and brought it in for the whole class to enjoy.

To make our Roman dinner party a real one, we wore togas. We had learnt in previous lessons that the Romans used to lie down on their left elbow and eat.

It was not good for digestion, but the Romans still did it – and because the Romans used to do it, we did it as well.

To be a proper Roman, you must have the manners of a Roman. Before having our feast, we watched a short video clip from Horrible Histories explaining Roman manners. These manners were: • •

You must eat with your hands. To eat with cutlery was known to be rude.

If you feel the need to burp, you must do it at the

table because it shows that you have enjoyed the food.

• It was considered rude to leave the table to go to the toilet. That’s why they carried buckets and tins at a dinner party.

• The Romans believed that a good Roman is never full. If they ever felt full, they would get a feather and tickle themselves by putting the feather down the throat. This caused them to vomit, so there was space for more food in their stomach.

Why don’t you try doing one of these at dinner? See what your mum says!

Ask our teacher Name: Claire Thompson Subject: Latin, French and Spanish

Spanish:

Day of the Dead

A group of Year 7 and 8 linguists took part in an exciting cultural project which involved exploring the history and background of the ‘El Día de Los Muertos’ - Day of the Dead.

In Mexico and in other regions of Spanish speaking Latin America, this day involves festivals, lively celebrations, and the sharing of food with family and friends.

In the first session, students listened intently to a lecture delivered by Dr Genner Llanes-Ortiz, a Postdoctoral Researcher and Maya Associate from the Indigeneity in the Contemporary World Project.

Our enthusiastic students wowed Genner with their intelligent questions and inquisitiveness.

The second session was delivered by two community leaders from the Mexico Lindo Querido Project, who showed students how to make and decorate marzipan sugar skulls, a typical activity that children in Mexico participate in at school each year.

One interesting fact about yourself: I have lived in many countries since a young age: USA, Norway, France, Spain.

This has instilled in me a passion for languages and travel and broadening my horizons, discovering what is out there.

In the past I worked in other sectors (PR, Charity, Business) which made me realise my interest is in inspiring and working with children to give them the possibilities in life.

What do you like about BGA? There are opportunities to become involved in new and exciting projects. I admire the enthusiasm of students and staff to strive continually to improve and excel.

What would you like to achieve in a year’s time?

I would like Latin to become part of the curriculum.

I would like to organise a trip abroad to Pompeii/ Rome and Hurculanium.

I intend to organise a Roman festival which celebrates everything the Romans have given to modern society.

BGA Languages, Football, Germany and Brazil Links

in collaboration with the London Goethe Institut, UK-German Connection and Arsenal Double Club Languages.

Students in the football teams from Y7 through to Y10 have been involved in an incredibly exciting ‘Triangular‘ project in which they are learning a combination of Brazilian Portuguese and German, linked closely with their weekly football training. These languages were chosen not simply in line with global economic shifts, but to enthuse and energize students who are fanatical

about football as well as being academically aspirant, able and relentlessly hard-working.

Due to the success of the project, we have been awarded £5000 of funding to take a group of students to Germany where they will spend some time in a German school, play football with their peers, go to a match and soak up the rich culture of beautiful Berlin.

Roman banquet

A Year 7 Roman banquet... what’s better than that? Well, let me tell you. Nothing is! If you want to be in the real festive Roman spirit then listen to this and find out what happened. In this banquet the Year 7s had to dress up (obviously) in togas, specifically white pieces of cloth, which all the boys and girls wore. Even though togas are really for Roman men, the girls didn’t really care. Some were gutted but it’s the thought that counts, right? Back to the main bit - after that was out of the way, it was story time! An old fashioned Roman story took place shortly.

While this was going on the slave quietly set out the mouth-watering food which was brought in by some of the ‘young Romans’. As soon as the story finished everyone was queuing up for the refreshing food. One by one they took their food with napkins, of course, laid down (like real Romans) and ate their fantastic meal peacefully.

Finally the slaves were ordered to clean everything up and to take everyone’s rubbish away. Shortly after they said their goodbyes to each other and left the banquet knowing that it was the best one they had been to.

Gifted Linguists Launch Mandarin to GCSE Project In October, MFL teachers were asked to identify and nominate gifted and talented linguists in their classes to take part in a long term project to learn Mandarin outside of the curriculum. Gifted linguists identify themselves by demonstrating some or all of the following qualities: •

Have a strong desire to put language together by themselves; • Show creativity and imagination when using language; • Have a natural feel for language; • Pick up new language and structures quickly; • Make connections and classify words & structures to help them learn more efficiently; • Seek solutions and ask further questions; • Have an insight into their own learning style and preference; • Show an intense interest in cultural features of the language being studied.

Students who were successful in gaining a place in the pilot programme have already learnt a number of characters, as well as having mastered the tones and basic strokes. Some of the students involved also practised their highly impressive new linguistic skills with the Chinese teachers who came to BGA as part of the SSAT Hubei Province Visit. Hearing our students introduce themselves in Mandarin was certainly a highlight for the visitors.

We have recently heard that our Mandarin linguists may have the opportunity to take part in a Confucius Institute / Hanban China Summer Study Camp in Beijing, an exciting development and an opportunity that will propel our students towards the success which they seek on a global platform.

Trip to Pompeii

We are very excited to announce that we are planning to organise a trip next year to the famous Classical sites at Pompeii, Hurculanium and Rome for students studying GCSE Latin. The provisional dates for the trip are 26 March - 1 April 2015.

This will provide our students with an amazing opportunity to gain a real insight into the lives and world of the ancient Romans. If you would like to be involved in any way or have any contacts for sponsorship, please contact Miss Thompson, Deputy Director of Learning - Languages.

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Issue 1 . Spring 2014

Music at BGA

Little Love Mix

A literary composition In music lessons during World Book Week (7th-10th March) students were asked to interpret passages from their favourite book using musical techniques and compositions (pictured below). Translating words into music made students think carefully about the meanings of the words and how music could enhance the telling of their story.

Little Love Mix is a short film set to a musical mash-up of Four Tops classic, Reach Out I’ll Be There and Florence and the Machine’s You’ve Got The Love. The film shows BGA students working together and helping others in a snapshot of everyday life here at the academy. The DVD was made to help raise funds for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan which struck the Philipinnes in November. Members of the public who watched the film said: “Wonderful! It brought a tear to my eye! Well done to all at BGA.” “What a wonderful film. It raised my spirits no end as I’m sure it must for others. What a super school!”

“The pupils seem so confident and happy. Keep up the good work.”

Battle of the Bands

Instrumental lessons

This term, studentsfrom BGA will be auditioning to participate in Tower Hamlets Battle of the Bands 2014. This is a competition which is held every year at Morpeth School and is open to bands from schools round the borough.

Piano lessons began in September for students in Years 7 and 8. Particular progress has been made by Suraiyah Uddin (often to be found practicing in her break-times!) as well as Shanzida Haque and Famida Akther. Meanwhile, Olayinka Sterling-Badmus is already working on Grade 1 pieces, in preparation for an exam.

BTEC Performance The Year 11 BTEC Class performed contemporary pieces in bands to our Year 7 students. All the students playing instruments have only been playing for just under a year. They are due to perform new pieces as a whole class band in March, this time in a venue in Tower Hamlets.

Independence Calls Our Year 11 BTEC music group are working with Richmix on a project involving the Grand Union Youth Orchestra as part of the Richmix Independence Week Festival. They are currently preparing for a performance for local primary schools on March 26th.

Radio station at BGA Our school radio will be up and running soon.... The school radio station will be a platform for our students to discuss the issues that matter to them and to share different types of music with one another.

Radio BGA will be run by our students, for our students.

Easter 2014

Planning and presenting a radio show requires a great deal of teamwork. Radio BGA will be run like a ‘real’ station assigning roles and responsibilities for presenters, engineers and station management.

Performing Arts Course Are you interested in music, dance, drama and movement?

Would you like to improve your confidence?

Limited spaces available

Monday April 7th - Thursday April 10th 9.30am - 3.30pm culminating in a performance to parents on 10th April.

For further details contact the school reception 6

@ BETHNAL GREEN ACADEMY

There will be one or two live broadcasts a week over the school tannoy in the first instance.

Summer Jam 2014 Watch out for Summer Jam... A stage show with singers, actors, comedians, dancers, bands and more. It will be a ticketed event and we will be holding auditions in the summer term. Please see Mr Privett for further information.

All students taking GCSE Music will have free peripatetic music lessons in their chosen instrument in 2014.

Issue 1 . Spring 2014

English at BGA

Jack Petchy award

Year 9 theatre trip

Fifty students in Year 10 took part in a day’s training on public speaking with an external trainer as part of the Jack Petchy awards. All students were then involved in an individual presentation which led to finalists presenting to all year groups in assemblies.

The two finalists then took part in the Tower Hamlets final held at Bow Boys. Mascuud Dahir gave an outstanding presentation on exploitation of workers in factories to produce designer goods and Amria Abase gave an inspirational presentation on the wearing of the hajab. Both students excelled themselves in their performances and gained runners up prizes.

During February the whole of Year 9 were involved in visits to the Globe Theatre. Students took part in workshops and even got to perform on the Globe’s stage. The trip has been truly inspirational with students now producing some fantastic work in class on Macbeth which they have been studying. Not to be outdone, both Years 8 and 9 are soon to be visiting the Globe theatre to see The Merchant of Venice.

Tower Hamlets speaking project

Twenty students in Year 10 underwent training in presentation and debating skills which culminated in two students being put forward to represent the school in the Tower Hamlets speaking project. Ciaran Constable and Sumaya Yasmin presented to a group of panellists in business in the semi final on debating topics based in the work place. Both students gave confident and engaging performances. However, after being dubbed a ‘budding Obama’ Ciaran Constable made it through to the final, to be held at the Lloyds Insurance building.

Resident poet

Maliaka Brooker professional poet has been working residency at the school. During her residency she has been working with students in their English lessons alongside producing a specialist project with a focus group. The focus group have been working on a final project which will be presented at a concert at Rich Mix on the 31st March.

BBC School Report 2014 BBC Schools News Report, the annual event where students take on the news, will take place on the 27th March. In preparation Nick Tarry, war correspondent and producer, came to school to give an enthralling talk on his experiences. Students in Year 8 certainly gave him a grilling on what it took to be a journalist.

Students are currently exploring what makes a good story in preparation for the day itself.

Filmmaking at BGA

Jake Bush and Ethan Paice put on their creative thinking caps to consider how they could support World Book Day. The Maths department were basing their lessons around The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The story is about a teenager who sees the world differently; he has Aspergers, a form of Autism. Both Ethan and Jake also have Autism and they wanted to use their insider knowledge to raise some awareness about what having Autism means.

After much preparation, filming and editing, the clip was released to wide acclaim and great applause on Wednesday morning when it went ‘live’ in Maths! The boys were exceptionally professional, creative and showed maturity beyond their years in the making of this important video. We know it will help all of our students to understand Autism differently. As they say ‘Different does not mean bad’, we are all unique.

Ask our teacher

Name: Angela Wallace Subject: English One interesting fact about yourself: I used to live in Manchester and commute to work at BGA.

What do you like about BGA?: I like the collaborative and enthusiastic attitude of staff and students. The hard work and commitment shown on a daily basis never ceases to amaze me.

What would you like to achieve in a year’s time?

I would like every student in English to have experienced creativity and challenge this year and to achieve record exam results.

The Library Ignites A poem by Destiny Ayanna

The library ignites Systematically frowning Methodically devouring blank minds Its shelves encrusted with an inferno of words Vigorously pouring its knowledge into the atmosphere Creeping into cracks along the blaze of books Piled up on an neglected desk in an abundant Silence is broke when a page is flicked Librarian and taciturn Its floors paved with ancient carpets, burning with enthusiasm Shh...Suffocates the room.

There’s a fire in an adolescents mind.

World Book Week Highlights From 3rd to 7th March, all students and staff at BGA celebrated reading with a range of workshops and fun activities! All departments took part, developing World Book Week learning activities and resources.

Main events and activities: Students got involved in the Readathon, raising money through reading.

Students, staff and visitors were invited to swap books they love and would love everyone else to read. 200 books were passed on from one student to another, from one teacher to a student or the other way around.

with students and revealed what inspired her to write How I Live Now, now a major movie. On Wednesday, James Messam led a performance poetry workshop where students were encouraged to find their own voice and try their hand at writing their own poems. Stephen Kelman, author of Pigeon English, also visited BGA and answered students’ questions on his novel, on what inspired him and on his future projects.

Every student received a token to swap for a free World Book Week book from their local bookshop.

On Tuesday, students had to complete a reading quiz, reading well-known quotes and finding either the name of the book it came from or the name of the writer. The winner of the competition was Destiny Kelvin – 9DCo. A number of workshops led by famous writers, journalists and poets enthused and inspired students.

Erica Wagner talked about how writers plan their stories, looking at events from two viewpoints, while Meg Rosoff shared her personal experience as an author

Maths at BGA Last term, we had a very successful Festive Number Day, where pupils searched the school grounds for numbered Christmas presents where they then had to solve the problems inside.

More recently, we have been investigating logic puzzles and mathematical problems based around the Maths department’s favourite book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” for World Book Week (left). Upcoming events include Pi Day, where we have already had a number of entries for our “Design a Pi Day t-shirt” competition (right). More Pi activities will be announced closer to the day. Lastly, we are looking forward to a Learning day with Year 7, with a focus on STEM and the teambuilding skill required for STEM careers!

7

Issue 1 . Spring 2014

Sport at BGA

Saturday London Schools Football League @ Hackney Marshes

Fitness Testing

U15 BGA 2 vs 3 Stoke Newington (25th Jan)

The U15 football team played top of the league Stoke Newington School last month and were extremely unlucky not to get a result. It was an even game which was lost in the last 10 minutes. To be competing with the top schools in London in our first season shows how far the students have progressed as a team. Silvio Biziki and Joshua Lindsey scored the goals. Due to the extreme weather, 3 other Saturday morning fixtures were cancelled and will be re-arranged.

Hackney and Tower Hamlets football

Yassir Saadnani, Muhaymin Hoque, Kevani Cameron and Sakariya Hassan represented Hackney and Tower Hamlets twice this month in the London and National cup.

Futsol results U15 BGA 8 vs 5 George Green (6th Feb) U13 BGA 7 vs 3 Raines Foundation (13th Feb) We have been arranging futsol fixtures to improve our students’ close control and technique in football. It also gives the wider squad an opportunity to participate in competitive fixtures. This month we won both our fixtures.

Rock climbing

A group of students from Years 8-10 took part in a rock climbing taster session on February 11th and made excellent progress in their first session.

The students represented BGA extremely well and demonstrated great teamwork and a range of key social skills. Rock climbing club starts this week and runs till Easter.

Basketball fixtures U13 BGA 21 vs 39 Haggerston (4th Feb 2012)

The U13s played Haggerston (Hackney basketball champions) this month in their first competitive fixture of the season. The boys did fantastically well to make it a competitive game with Ismail Mustapha and Devonte Watson excelling throughout.

As part of ‘Health, Happiness and Kindness week’, the PE department created a health test area in The Street. Organised by sports leaders and Mr White, students were able to participate in a range of physical and health related tests to find out their fitness levels. All donations went to charity.

Mini Marathon

A group of students participated in the Tower Hamlets Cross Country at Victoria Park (3 miles) on 13th Feb. All secondary schools from the borough attended.

Results (top 8 in each race go on to represent Tower Hamlets at the Flora London Marathon) Under 13s Boys 1st Sakariya Hassan (qualified for the London marathon), 9th Yassir Saardani (reserve for the London Marathon) Under 13s Girls 5th Yinka Sterling-Badmus (qualified) Under 15s Boys 9th Daniel Gbadegan (reserve) 11th Conor Carauna-Lavin (reserve) Under 17s Girls Paulina Bazala (qualified)

Hadri Taikwondo partnership with BGA The well established ‘Hadri Taikwondo’ club have relocated to BGA and are now running sessions each Saturday, starting at 11am and finishing at 4pm. The club have offered taster sessions to our KS4 students in PE and have been impressed with the students’ enthusiasm and skill development. Omar Hussain and Kelvin Lac have been attending the club and have passed their level one examination.

COMING SOON BETHNAL GREEN ACADEMY

Solfest: Summer of Learning Festival . Poetry Week . GCSE and A Level Drama performances . The Oscars on May 8th . Shakespeare Day: Hamlet . Trips to Paris, Barcelona and Pompeii . Year 9 performance at the Donmar Warehouse . The Art of Persuasion in conjunction with the Kalisher Foundation . Pop-up art shows . Irving Penn Photography project . Summer Jam 2014 . Evening Fundraising event to support the arts at Bethnal Green Academy.

visit us at www.bethnalgreenacademy.co.uk

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Bethnal Green Academy . Gosset Street . London E2 6NW . Tel: 020 7920 7900 . Email: info@bethnalgreenacademy.co.uk