Clapton Review June 2015

TheClaptonReview

In this issue:

June 2015

Raising aspirations, pp2-3 Expressive arts, pp4-5 Sporting stars, p8

CGA is in the top 10% nationally for high attainment (SSAT Educational Outcomes Awards 2015).

Top 10%

2 A message from

Ms C Day, Headteacher This is another brilliant Clapton Review. There is so much talent, enthusiasm, and devotion on the pages that follow. I really love to read about all the different activities our wonderful students and staff are involved in. Thank you to our marketing team for their great work in producing our fantastic Clapton Review.

Woman of the Year Chrisann Jarrett, who was CGA’s Head Girl during her time at the school, has been named Young Woman of the Year at the Women on the Move Awards, backed by the UN Refugee Agency. She received the award in recognition of the launch of her Let Us Learn! campaign, which aims to help students living in Britain who struggle to go to university because of their immigration status. Chrisann moved to Hackney from Jamaica when she was eight, but almost lost her place at LSE to study law when she found that she was classed as an international student and was not eligible for a student loan. After winning a scholarship from LSE and funding from Just For Kids Law, she was able to take up her place and launched Let Us Learn! to help others in her situation. She said: “This award has made me proud of myself. The recognition that I am doing something right is validation that I should keep going.”

Excellence in Science Ms Fairweather, CGA’s Head of Science, is a Fellow on the Teaching Leaders Fellows programme, sponsored by Linklaters’ Learn to Work programme. TL Fellows is a leadership development programme; over the course of two years, participating teachers receive intensive coaching, training, and support to enable them to lead their teams with confidence and to transform pupil outcomes. To read more about Ms Fairweather’s experiences of the project, go to: www.teachingleaders.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Case-Study_ Fellows_Annabel-F-Clapton-girls-Academy.pdf. In June, Ms Fairweather was also awarded the level of National Expert STEM Teacher by the National Science Learning Network, which congratulated her on the impact she is having on the education of young people.

Ask a Nobel Scientist As part of their Key Stage 5 studies, students studying a BTEC or an A Level in a science subject went on a trip to The Francis Crick Institute for a question and answer session with Nobel Prize winner Sir Tim Hunt, followed by a careers workshop. The trip encouraged students to consider a career within the field of science by facilitating interaction between our students and inspirational members of the science community. Students had the opportunity to quiz scientists about the issues that matter to them and one of our students’ questions was selected to be put to the panel and awarded a prize for being one of the top three questions asked by all the students attending from across North London.

Top 10%

The SSAT Educational Outcomes Awards also recognised CGA as being in the top 10% nationally for progress made between Key Stage 2 at primary school and GCSE results at 16.

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Raising aspirations Year 13 student and Head Girl Salimah Bilal has been part of the Linklaters’ Raising Aspirations programme this year and in April an interview with Salimah was published online, detailing her experience of the programme. The scheme aims to raise aspirations and achievement in Hackney, giving young people access to Linklaters’ facilities, and, more importantly, their staff, who can share their skills and experiences with the next generation. Salimah has participated in The Noisy Classroom debating scheme, Mentoring Works, and the Access Project. She visits Linklaters regularly and says that the programme “has inspired me to work somewhere like this”, giving her access to “a lot of advice about different industries”. She says that it has helped her with essay structures, writing clear arguments, time management, and revision, and has raised her aspirations, giving her the confidence and skills to apply to the best universities and plan a bright future as a journalist.

How to be political Just before the general election, a group of Sixth Formers helped to organise and take part in an event with Hackney Citizens. For this event, we presented to the prospective parliamentary candidates for Hackney North and Stoke Newington three issues that concern young people in Hackney. The politicians then had to agree to pledges helping us to tackle these issues, such as agreeing to expand the Hackney 100 paid work experience programme. The event was filmed by BBC News 24, and I was interviewed about why young people’s involvement in politics is so important and what we were hoping to achieve during the event! It was so scary because the interview was live so there was no room for mistakes or editing things out! The event was very successful, with all the candidates agreeing to our manifesto points. We look forward to working with Diane Abbot and Meg Hillier, Hackney’s MPs, to tackle these issues.

Beth, Year 13

Mentoring Works Last October, 30 Year 10 students signed up to the Mentoring Works programme, where they were each matched with a Linklater mentor. Over the last ten months, these students have travelled into the City to meet with their mentor to explore topics including CV writing, interview techniques, public speaking, work experience, and confidence. Some groups have also been able to have more creative sessions, with mock interviews, tours, and museum trips. One participant said, “My mentor has become a great figure in my life. She has really helped me and she’s almost like a big sister to me now!” Our students have really enjoyed their sessions, finding them challenging but also rewarding. The 2015/16 Year 10 programme will be looking for new participants in the coming weeks - interested students should look out for information in assemblies or speak to their tutor.

Debate Mate Success On 14th April, we went to the LSE in the City of London to take part in an all-day debating competition against schools from across London. The motions for the debates were given to us

by Debate Mate, the organisers. They included ‘This house would support eco-terrorism’ and ‘This house would make people volunteer for their state benefits’. Overall, the day was very successful, with the B team coming third and the A team coming in first place and winning a trophy!

Margot, Year 9

Congratulations to Alma in Year 8 for achieving a distinction in her Grade 4 violin exam earlier this year!

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Drama in the Mix This term, a group of our Radio Club students have been writing a radio play called ‘Saving Bella’, and were selected for inclusion in Drama in the Mix, a workshop and performance of their play with top industry professionals at the Rich Mix in Bethnal Green. The live performance was accompanied by sound effects created by the students and was judged by a panel of professionals. You can listen to the recording online here: www.eastlondonradio.org.uk/?p=3593.

School of Rock For the last few months, a group of Year 9 students have been rehearsing without fail every break time, focusing on learning a selection of new songs and creating some serious rock grooves in the music studios of Rosa Parks. We labelled them the ‘break time band’ and snapped up the chance to get them to perform at Daubeney Primary Rock Festival at the end of March. The girls performed a crowd-pleasing set and also got to hear musicians from other primary and secondary schools in the borough. It was wonderful to see such talent from our local schools.

Earlier this term, we really enjoyed seeing the fantastic work produced by CGA’s GCSE and A Level artists for their exams. Their exhibitions were spectacular and the girls should be really proud of their work. Check out photographs of both events on our Flickr profile.

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Spoken Word Showcase At CGA, we are lucky enough to have a Spoken Word Coordinator, Sarah Perry, who runs a very successful Spoken Word programme involving students from all year groups. At the end of April, a group of students performed in a fantastic showcase, in association with Globe Poets, and really impressed the audience. It was brilliant to see these poets perform pieces that they had worked so hard on and to see the supportive, collaborative atmosphere that the group has fostered. The audience was thoroughly impressed with their performances, examples of which can be seen online on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/ClaptonGirlsAcademy.

AS Drama Performance The AS drama students transported their audience back to the 1960s this term with their performance of ‘Be My Baby’

by Amanda Whittington. Set in 1964, the play explores what life was like inside the Mother and Baby Homes in the north of England at that time. The play follows the story of Mary Adams from her admission to the home as a pregnant 19-year-old to her release following the baby’s birth.

Mary has to deal with the realisation that her baby will be adopted, no matter how much she wants to make a life for herself and her child. Under the watchful eye of Matron, the girls whom Mary meets inside the home all struggle to come to terms with their feelings of shame and powerlessness.

However, they find solace in the songs of the era and all dream of a life in which they have a voice in society. Our students’ performance was riveting, and an excellent showcase of their incredible dramatic skills.

January 2015 was Attendance Awareness Month and 7A and 7L were the winners! Both forms had an average of 98.6% attendance over the whole month. Well done!

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A trip into history

Ecology Trip

On 15th May, 40 Year 7s travelled to Arundel Castle cricket grounds in Sussex. They spent the day playing cricket at one of the world’s top ten most scenic cricket grounds and were given a tour of the castle.

Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle, built originally in 1067 during the reign of William the Conqueror. The Year 7s really enjoyed their trip.

On a rainy afternoon in April, 22 Sixth Form biologists went to Larkswood in South Chingford to carry out two controlled assessments. The Year 12s carried out random sampling using quadrats, looking at the biodiversity of particular areas. The woods were very pretty, with the bluebells in full bloom. The Year 13s carried out two line transects, one inside the woods and one on the mown grass near the woods, examining how soil type affected the abundance of various species in particular areas.

The trip was a great success, with students collecting all the data necessary for their assessment and enjoying seeing the different wild plants in the woods.

National Archives On 25th March, a group of AS history students visited the National Archives in Kew and participated in a session on Elizabeth I, focusing on her speeches and letters. It was an amazing experience, as students were invited to explore original documents that are nearly 500 years old.

They were able to act as historians, deciphering the messages in each document, on topics ranging from Mary Queen of Scots to Elizabeth’s decision not to marry. It really complemented their in-class studies and it was also inspiring to see first-hand important documents that they had studied, like the Thirty-Nine Articles. Other highlights included viewing items that had been brought out of high-security storage for our visit, like a letter written by Elizabeth to her sister Mary I begging not to be sent to the Tower of London, beautifully ornate ‘plea rolls’, and even Elizabeth’s official seal!

Having accessed this amazing resource and heard about the role of an archivist, students are keen to return next year to support their coursework on the suffragettes.

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Keep up to date with all the latest news by following CGA online through Twitter (@ClaptonGA), Facebook (/ClaptonGIrlsAcademy), and Instagram (@claptongirls).

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Run Hackney The Vitality Run Hackney Race weekend kicked off on 9th May with a free 5km run around Hackney Marshes! Some of our students who were not old enough to take part in the Hackney Half Marathon were itching to get running and found this a great way to get involved.

Meanwhile, Ms Van Staeyen, Ms Coakley, and Mr Webb braved the full 13.1 mile run on 10th May. They were cheered along the awesome route through Hackney and the iconic Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park by many students and staff. It was a great community event that brought Hackney together. Well done to all students and staff who participated.

Year 12 student Yasmin took some amazing photos on the day: www.flickr.com/photos/yasminnavsa/sets/72157652682445335.

“I liked learning how to make a fire and being able to cook on it!” Leila “I wish we could have gone for longer!” Anna

Phasels Wood Just before half term, 69 Year 7 students visited Phasels Wood campsite in Hertfordshire for three days of team-building and outward-bound activities.

They learnt bushcraft and survival skills and how to solve various problems using teamwork, and were given instruction in climbing and caving. The students put up their own tents and even washed up after themselves! The girls really appreciated the chance to get to know students from different classes and the opportunity to spend a few sunny days exploring the great outdoors. For many (including some of the teachers!), it was their first experience of camping! Students learnt some valuable cooperation skills, bonded with each other as a year group and, most importantly, had lots of fun.

“The tasks were challenging and I enjoyed conquering some of my fears.” Precious “My favourite part was washing up - I’ll definitely be helping out more at home now!” Rhian

An exceptional result at the London Mini Marathon in April - our girls dominated the Hackney teams for U13, U15, and U17 and helped Hackney to achieve some of their best results in over 30 years!

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Physics Experience Day On 14th May, ten Year 9 students attended a Cambridge Colleges Physics Experience Day hosted at Newnham College, Cambridge, and the Cavendish laboratories. The morning was spent at Newnham College and Murray Edwards College, considering university life. Our students demonstrated an impressive level of curiosity about university life.

In the afternoon, students heard a talk at Cavendish laboratories about the site’s important role in the history of science, followed by a workshop of perceptions of physics and a number of engineering challenges, such as building the highest stable tower possible from eight blocks. We won the bridge challenge, where our girls thought outside the box and used their knowledge of pressure and friction to cause their bridge to span a gap of seven blocks! Using the school motto of wisdom and togetherness, the girls also won the final challenge of building a paper crane using file paper, cloth pins, and sellotape - four challenges, four victories for CGA! The afternoon finished off with a talk about how astronomers use filters to look at the different forms of electromagnetic radiation emitted by stars. It was a great day for all involved, really inspirational and intellectually challenging!

Cambridge Insight Four Year 9 students have been accepted onto the two-year Cambridge Insight programme.

During the programme, students will visit a variety of university departments and museums and will be able to explore academic subjects that may not be taught in school. Originally, CGA was offered two places for this programme but, due to the very high standard of applications submitted by our students, four places were awarded to our Year 9s. We would like to congratulate Nabihah, Falak, Tahia, and Kim on their success.

Debating Success On 21st May, four Year 8 students competed in the Credit Suisse Debate Mate competition. The girls did fantastically well and were praised for their excellent ideas and points of information! They won both of their debates and came sixth overall out of 32 schools, a really brilliant achievement and a great start especially considering that this was their first ever competitive debate. Well done to Tanya, Maddy, Leila, and Maisie.

Upcoming Dates June Year 11 Achievement Event 24 5.30-7.30pm

July 2

Taster Day for new Year 7s All day

June Year 9 Achievement Event 26 1.50-2.50pm

July 3

July 9

Year 13 Graduation Event 6.30-10.30pm

Please visit our website for a full calendar of events and holiday dates.

@ClaptonGA /ClaptonGirlsAcademy www.clapton.hackney.sch.uk

Summer Arts Festival 6.00-7.30pm

July 17

End of term