November 2016 Issue #149
Word on the Street The Newsletter of Green Spring Academy SHOREDITCH and Sixth Form
GSAS raises awareness for Anti-Bullying Week
The week commencing 14th November GSAS’ hosted its first anti-bullying week. Students really took ownership of this week through various activities, from the drama performances in assembly, to freedom writing in The Street to donating their own time to spread positive messages and raise awareness of the issues/consequences surrounding bullying. We will continue to revisit this topic to ensure our students have a voice and feel able to discuss and show support to others. A massive thank you to everyone who has supported GSAS’ first anti-bullying week and a special thank you to Mr Palmer, Ms Gullick and Ms Wallace and Ms Higdon.
Make a difference for #iwill Week Monday 21st November marked the start of our third #iwill Week. It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase all the things that our students do to make a difference in their communities. #iwill Week marked the beginning of our annual WinterFest appeal which, for the second year, aims to raise at least 1000 food items and £500 in funds for Tower Hamlets Foodbank run by charity First Love Foundation. Our students and staff have been filling our Foodbank collection boxes all week, they baked cakes to raise money and brought in their loose change to donate. Students have been spending their breaks and lunchtimes collecting and encouraging our school community to keep giving.
GSAS is Getting Ahead!
On the week commencing 14th November GSAS Year 10 students took part in the Getting ahead Event. The aim of the programme is to prepare students for the world of work by encouraging them to think about the skills and qualities they have as well as those they may need to develop or improve. Each conference is divided into various workshops which introduce key Work and Life skills such as making a good first impression, listening and communicating, understanding employer expectations, working in a team, problem solving, applying for a job and developing good interview skills to name a few. Year 10 were absolutely amazing throughout the 3 days and produced some great presentations which every student took part in.
Bikeability at GSAS
On the week commencing 21st November our Year 7 students completed their level 1 and level 2 bikeability awards (cycling proficiency). The students learned the skills to prepare for on-road cycling, recognise typical hazards and pass parked vehicles and side roads.
Find us online at: www.gsacademyshoreditch.org.uk
Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter
DofE students meet Prince Edward at Anniversary Ceremony
On the 10th November GSAS were invited to a celebration of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme which recognised Tower Hamlets as the fastest growing area in the UK for new participants. A selection of students who have completed their bronze or silver awards from Years 10 to 13 attended. The students represented the school and the D of E scheme with pride and demonstrated great maturity as they had the opportunity to meet and talk to Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex. The Prince was impressed with our student’s efforts and spoke for a while with our group listening intently about their experiences of the Duke of Edinburgh award. The Prince then completed an archery activity alongside our students. A memorable moment for those involved. We are extremely proud to have become the highest achieving school for Duke of Edinburgh in Tower Hamlets in 2015-2016. A huge congratulations to all those students who have contributed to this success and have achieved their award.
Crash, Bang, Wallop it’s the Nobel Prize Awards!
On Thursday 24th November 2016, the annual GSAS Nobel Prize Award ceremony took place with students, families and members of the community in attendance. The purpose of the event is to celebrate the achievements of students within the science faculty at the academy. Students from Years 7 to 13 received a total of 32 awards and a scroll in recognition of their tremendous efforts, which included attending extra-curricular clubs and interventions, as well as remarkable academic achievements. With flashes and bangs a plenty, the science faculty under the careful direction of Ms O'Connor, Science Technician, saw a wondrous night of science in action. The audience were also very lucky to have a guest speaker from QuantumBlack join the ceremony. QuantumBlack help companies use data to make transformative and sustainable performance improvement. Aris Valtazanos, Senior Data Scientist, spoke about reducing pit stop times at Formula 1 races and how difficult it is to make a team of robots play football autonomously! We were very proud and humble to come together to recognise our students’ hard work over the last year and reward them with our applause and a GSAS Nobel Prize.
Unveiling of the new GSAS Mural
During this term, a group of art students have been designing and making a mosaic mural to brighten up our playground. The project, run by Bow Arts and generously funded by Allen & Overy, enabled the students to work from a professional brief to create a beautiful piece of work with the help of artist Anita Andrews. They were asked to reflect the evolution of the academy and the cultural landscape, growing aspirations and environment of our students. They chose to respond to the brief using the seasons as inspiration. On 24th November the mural was unveiled by Steve Bonnick, one of the academy’s Local Advisory Body members and presented by the students who explained their ideas and the process that led to Seasons Turn, a wonderful, uplifting work of art that will be enjoyed by our school community for years to come.
Find us online at: www.gsacademyshoreditch.org.uk
Students take a trip around the world with Google
On Tuesday 22nd November, a representative from Google Expedition came into our Geography classes with their state of the art Google virtual reality headset. Students in Years 7-10 were able to have an immersive virtual reality tour all over the world. The students thoroughly enjoyed this experience, with one student commenting: “I loved the fact that we could be able to move around the world. I have been able to experience the feeling of being in different places just sitting in this classroom.”
Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter