CR June 2016

Cranford Community College Wins Award for SSAT

Exceptional 2015 Results

Iam delighted to announce that Cranford Community College has been nationally recognised for its exceptional 2015 performance by the Schools, Students and Teachers network (SSAT). Educational outcomes data analysis from SSAT has shown that the school is in the top 20% nationally for value added progress made by students between their key stage 2 results at primary school and their key stage 4 results.

The school’s SSAT Educational Outcomes Award Ceremony, held to draw attention to the work of high-achieving, improving and innovating schools and teachers, took place on Tuesday 3rd May 2016 at Holland Park School. Rita Berndt Assistant Head of School, who accepted the award on behalf of Cranford said of the event:

“It was an honour and a pleasure to attend the SSAT South of England Awards Evening and represent the extremely hardworking staff and students of Cranford Community College. To be in the top 20% of schools nationally for progress is a huge achievement and reflects the commitment, energy and outstanding teaching and learning that takes place every day at Cranford. I am always very proud of our school and will happily talk to everyone and anyone about the amazing opportunities and successes the students enjoy at

Cranford. The awards evening was one of those occasions and I took great pleasure in sharing with Headteachers from the south of England how wonderful Cranford is”.

Sue Williamson, Chief Executive of SSAT said:

“It’s my great pleasure to commend Cranford Community College on their excellent 2015 performance and to have the opportunity to highlight and share their great work at the SSAT Educational Outcomes Celebration Evening. I have the privilege of visiting a lot of schools and I am always impressed by the creativity of teachers in engaging and inspiring their students”.

“I hope that SSAT’s Educational Outcomes Award will highlight the professionalism, commitment and hard work of the leaders, teachers and students at Cranford Community College. Recognising and sharing success like this is at the heart of SSAT’s mission, so I’m delighted to congratulate Cranford Community College on their achievement”.

This is the third consecutive year that Cranford has been awarded one of these prestigious education outcomes awards and I continue to be enormously proud of the teachers and students who work tirelessly to achieve beyond expectations.

Kevin Prunty Executive Headteacher, National Leader of Education

We have been given a sensational opportunity this year to run the National Art and Design Saturday Club for students from Cranford and the wider community.

The club offers 30 weeks of creative workshops which help build skills and raise confidence. Club members explore art, have free museum visits, workshops in different media, a master class with an industry professional and finally have their work on exhibition at Somerset House at the end of the year.

It has been really exciting to work in collaboration with the Sorrell Foundation and to provide a place for young people to be creative. We are officially the only school that has run this as it requires specialist teaching and facilities that are usually only available at higher education and university establishments.

We have 29 students aged 14-16 taking part. The students have come from 7 local schools and one third of club members are male. Club members are from a diverse range of backgrounds and it has been great to see their shared creativity. We have two student assistants who give up their time on a Saturday to assist with the club.

To launch the club we visited King’s College where everyone had their portraits displayed as part of a pop up exhibition. They were thrilled as some students have never had work exhibited before. This was an excellent opportunity and helped to empower and inspire them in their own work.

During the visit Sir John and Lady Sorrell did a presentation about the National Art and Design Saturday Club and met club members from across the country. The trip to the Design Museum was particularly helpful as it has a large number of current designers exhibiting and it helped everyone to consider possible career paths.

It has been both rewarding and exhilarating to see how the group have progressed with their creative skills and also spiritually, culturally and socially. Both staff and parents have seen the positive impact this club has had. Teachers say

the students are really excited about attending the club every week and talk about it to other students. One parent commented that their child had an artist in residence at his school and that the artist was surprised that he had already covered a difficult technique. She said she felt the club was really extending his learning and enthusiasm for art. Another parent said she felt her son had started to show more confidence and was able to interact with others more easily since he had joined the club.

We have covered a range of disciplines much like a foundation course which has focused on building new skills for individuals. We have nurtured confidence and creativity through collaborative activities. We have completed sessions on mono printing, creating a zine, block letter modelling and responding to typography, creating ceramics and using glazes, product design, chemigrams, felt making, using CAD (computer-assisted design) and creating laser cut pieces, paper engineering, drawing and printing with bleach, gesture drawing, blind drawing and using Brusho (crystal colours). Group tasks were very open and encouraged creative thinking skills. Mono printing, using Brusho and laser cutting using CAD were most popular.

The club members have said that the skills they have learnt have helped them to improve their GCSE coursework and their confidence. They feel more knowledgeable about how much the creative industries bring to the UK economy and of the career routes that art and design can lead to. This has helped to change their perception regarding studying art and jobs opportunities, when it is one of the biggest employers in the country. They can see they a part of something that is larger than them, a national incentive.

We are now looking forward to exciting times in May 2016. We will attend a Masterclass at the studios of Wallpaper* an award winning magazine and the up and coming summer show in June 2016 at Somerset House where they will exhibit work.

Pirmjeet Hunt (National Art & Design Saturday Club Tutor/Second in Charge ADT)

explore different forms of art and meet people with similar interests whilst doing so. I am so thankful to Ms Hunt who offered me this opportunity because not only does she buy great snacks for lunch but every Saturday I am inspired; I am now determined to have a career in the creative arts industry, something I never would’ve considered a year ago, because I’ve realised where my passion lies”.

Ajeet Khela (Cranford Community College)

“Saturday Art Club has been a very good experience for me because I got the chance to think about my future in the creative arts industry and to learn things which are more advanced and some things that are not in the GCSE syllabus. The most important part for me was being able to learn about future careers as I am in year 9 and thinking about my future”.

Kirandeep Kaur (The Heathland School)

“The National Art and Design Saturday Club is a fun and educational club. I have really loved coming every Saturday. I have made many new friends and the tutor is good fun and engaging and is excellent at teaching, making every lesson fun. I have learnt many new skills such as: zine making, photo-making, bleach painting; and clay work. I recommend it to anyone interested in art and design”.

Ajay Gill (Tiffin School)

Each year

Cranford’s media students work tirelessly to create original media products for their examination portfolios. This year the department decided to celebrate and share this work with an audience of supporters who have helped our students to bring their products to completion. Actors, friends, family and staff all gathered in the concert hall on Wednesday 16th March 2016 to witness these screening premières and applaud their creators.

Audiences were delighted by the quality of GCSE documentaries which clearly incorporated typical conventions and demonstrated a high level of skill. ‘Queen of Cakes’ directors Suraiya Baig, Ruby Thompson and Usman Hassan (year 11) were even complimented by William Elwes and Sylvie Vu of the Hounslow Media Trust for the professional quality of their production.

Year 12 social realism film openings engaged viewers and left a sense of intrigue as we wondered where the journeys of protagonists in these creative openings would lead. Gurvir Thind, Chloe Edosa and Jatin Dhillon’s (year 12) opening sequence of ‘Loose Change’ was particularly effective in building audience/character relationships through the use of an original

The evening took an emotional turn when audiences were introduced to Road Runner Productions’ short film ‘Escape’ which delved into issues of self-harm and poverty in the life of a young girl. Year 13 students Ashwin Thakur, Mahima and Jatinder Liddar were extremely proud of the impact they managed to have on an audience through their creativity.

The final screening of the evening was the culmination of a joint project between the Hounslow Media Trust and Cranford students Kulbir Maras, Suraiya Baig and Kayleigh Bic (year 11) who developed a documentary reflecting on the history of Hounslow high street which was really interesting and gave everyone an insight into their local area which they may not have known before..

We would like to congratulate all the students on their efforts and look forward to future celebrations of our young directors.

Sharandeep Saroya (Head of Media Studies)

Options and Careers Day

On Monday 1st February 2016, year 9 students took their first steps into planning their careers by taking part in the GCSE Options and Careers Day. The day included: a speed networking event, a lesson based around what values are important when embarking on work and a production by the 2Engage Performing Arts Company with their amusing and informative show “Choices.”

The production is based around two year 9 students, Danielle and Rob, thinking about their GCSE choices and facing different pressures and expectations from family, friends and teachers. They are helped on their journey by an eccentric careers advisor who recommends they make WIRED (pronounced “Weird”) choices, which turn out to stand for WellInformed-Rounded-Decisions.

The speed networking event, organised by Spark, gave students an excellent understanding of many different employment opportunities available locally thanks to volunteers from local employers such as GSK, London Borough of Hounslow, the Home Office, NatWest Bank, Rackspace, IBM, and Transport for London as well as students from King’s College, the University of Law and University of Greenwich.

The year group gave really positive feedback about the day and said they found the information helpful in making these important careers decisions.

Cath Goold (Careers Coordinator)

Meet Milo

Cranford Community College, renowned for its innovation, has adopted a novel way of dealing with the problem of pigeons. The school has employed the services of a hawk to scare away and deter the pigeons. Milo, a Harris hawk has been visiting Cranford Community College on a regular basis since Christmas and has become a firm favourite of both students and staff.

Kevin Prunty, Executive Headteacher said, “This really is a case of ‘killing two birds with one stone’. The hawk is dealing with the local pigeon problem humanely while generating a great deal of interest from students. Teachers

are able to make a wide variety of curriculum references to Milo including the life cycle and conservation. English are even using him as inspiration for a piece of creative writing”.

Milo is pictured here with his handler Mike Laing and students from the Picasso Centre which is part of Cranford Community College.

Alan Fraser (Assistant Headteacher - Community)

Milo Creative Writing Competition

AtCranford Community College, we are lucky enough to have a friendly hawk by the name of Milo to help us keep pigeons and doves at bay and away from school property. It is the presence of Milo that was used by the English Department to inspire some creative writing from the year 7 students. Students were asked to write a poem or short story inspired by Milo and to consider the many adventures he may have based on his experiences with the pigeons and doves. This was run as a competition across the year group. The 1st prize won by Zehra Hasan (7Y) was a book voucher, having the opportunity to let the Hawk take flight and recall him as well as to have their work published in the school magazine. Aryaman Dhir (7U) won 2nd prize and Filsan Abdillahi (7U) came 3rd. Their prize included meeting Milo and having their picture taken with him as well as having their work published in the school magazine. The winning students were also given certificates to celebrate their work and all students who entered were given DREAM points for their fantastic and creative work.

Well done to the three prize winners and to everyone who took part in the competition; Thank you Milo for being their inspiration.

Sahrish Shaikh (English Department)

Milo

The Knight of Cranford’s Skies

I’m at the tender age of five

Yet I am the knight of Cranford’s skies

When you are as wonderful as me, You will have a job, you see So I will tell you what I do through my poetry.

I miss my parents and sister We are the great Canadian hawks I’m the baby of the family, Yet my talent makes everyone gawk.

At 40 miles an hour

I whizz through the skies

My job is to scare the pigeons Who use Cranford’s base to fly.

Chasing pigeons is easy

It is my love and pride Yet the dove is the bird I’m scared of They make me want to hide.

I love my job as chaser

With a lunch of raw chicken I become strong Those birds better watch out Because my plans to catch them never go wrong.

I’m at the tender age of five

Yet I am the knight of Cranford’s skies When you are as wonderful as me, You will never have a job, you see And I have told you about it through my poetry.

Zehra Hasan (year 7)

Milo! Milo! Thanks for your hard work A flight of doves stare at you and smirk Gliding high in the gentle breeze Get your food in the tall trees Milo is as fast as a racing car Who is likely to go very far He perches looking down at the school When he spreads his wings he looks so cool! His eyes are as flaming as fire He sends the other birds haywire Have you seen his beak?

He sees everything, he hears everything but can’t speak His family have long tails, broad wings and a strong build They are sinister hunters who like to kill… Female hawks are bigger than the males But they all make the prey’s face go pale Milo! Milo! Why do you lurk? A murder of crows glance at you and smirk Floating high in the peaceful breeze Grab your food from the contorted trees.

Aryaman Dhir (year 7)

Parkour in the Park

Parkour in the Park is a joint initiative between Cranford Community College, London Borough of Hounslow and Foucan Freerunning Academy. This initiative is part of wider efforts by the council to get more youngsters playing sport, with a number of other activities and projects planned in the coming year.

The aim of the project is to teach nearly 100 young people how to use the recently installed parkour equipment in Avenue Park. Hailed as London’s first purpose-built outdoor parkour course, it was opened by Mr Foucan in August 2015.

On Tuesday 12th January 2016, a group of enthusiastic year 9 students arrived for their first session. Sébastien Foucan, one of the founders of parkour who played the freerunning Bond baddie Mollaka in Casino Royale, teamed up with Coach Jacob Peregrine-Wheller to teach the students’ first session and said of the progress made by them as ‘inspirational’. The session marked the launch of a six weeks’ course and each week each student received an hour’s coaching.

The art of freerunning and parkour, in which participants use a combination of strength, speed and skill to vault, climb and perform tricks on obstacles like railings and benches, is rapidly growing in popularity across the world. Cranford is particularly pleased to be involved in this project as parkour builds confidence and resilience in our young people. The underpinning principles of parkour: humility, respect, community spirit and creative vision are ones which Cranford Community College embraces.

Alan Fraser (Assistant Headteacher - Community)

“I signed up for parkour without even knowing what I was signing up for and I have to say I most definitely don’t regret it because it was well worth it. So far the experience has been very exhilarating and challenging, but the whole team is determined to keep working hard. Although it’s hard, our team just wanted to keep going and we were almost hypnotised by the fun. We were told Parkour was about climbing, jumping and running but I now can confidently say it requires skill, determination and a whole load of creativity. We have learnt many things and this definitely was a new experience and we all feel very privileged to have it.

Our first session was located in Avenue Park and even the piercing cold did not stop us. It was jam-packed full of action and all this hard work most definitely led to body aches but, “no pain no gain”. The last session left us feeling really confident about this activity. It felt great working alongside my peers and hope for more opportunities like this. Our coach tells us there is no such thing as can’t - it is can’t, yet. If I could sum up the experience in one word it would be incredible.

A big thank you to our Year Manager Ms Knights and Mr Fraser”.

Mahnoor Unar (year 9)

Train to Teach Event

Cranford held a second Train to Teach event on Thursday 11th February 2016. We had great attendance with people interested in becoming teachers and training to teach with us or in one of our partner schools.

Cranford is already a national Teaching School and Kevin Prunty, Executive Headteacher is a National Leader of Education but in addition Cranford Community College has been made a lead school for teacher training by the Department for Education. This means that Cranford is taking the lead in training new teachers in this part of London across our alliance of schools. So far we have already recruited strong numbers of trainee teachers to train in our alliance from September 2016.

We look forward to hosting future events of this kind in our continued role as lead Train To Teach School in the West London area.

Double Celebrations for the Maths Department

We are delighted to announce that the Maths Department has been awarded the Prince’s Trust Institute Mark. The Prince’s Trust Institute (PTI) launched the Schools Programme in 2007 to recognise and reward school departments that develop inspirational ideas and activities which enhance the teaching of their subjects regardless of their pupils’ backgrounds or abilities. We received the mark in recognition of our commitment to fostering a love for the subject among the students through exciting teaching and events such as puzzle days and competitions such as team maths challenges and rock star times tables.

We are continuing our work with the Prince’s trust this year, focusing on developing challenging but fulfilling maths lessons that prepare our students for the new GCSE qualification.

We continue our celebrations with our recent successes in the national Maths Challenges both at senior and intermediate level. On Thursday 5th November 2015, 60 year 12 and 13 students sat the Senior Maths Challenge and we are delighted to announce that we received 1 Silver award and 8 Bronze awards. This success was followed by students from years 9, 10 and 11 in the Intermediate Maths Challenge on 4th February 2016 whose results were outstanding with 7 Gold Awards, 14 Silver Awards and 31 Bronze Awards.

Congratulations to all the students involved who worked so hard to achieve these results, in particular our Gold Award winners Ritek Kapoor, Hamza Mohamed, Anjitha Anilkumar, Mohamed Gulaid and Warsan Hashi, from year 11 and Zahra Sadiq, from year 9. Our final Gold award winner was Haroon Lukka, whose achievement is exceptional, given that he is currently in year 7.

Sarah Brackley (Head of Maths Department)

The usual buzz and excitement surrounded the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) for the annual World Book Day celebrations 2016. World Book Day is an annual event in March when schools and libraries get together to celebrate the wonderful world of books. Students at Cranford are always eager for the competition details to be announced and this year was no exception.

The first competition, ‘The Bumper LRC Quiz’ challenged students’ knowledge of the LRC and the resources we stock. Students were asked questions on books, magazines, DVD’s and more. Exploring the LRC was the only way to answer the questions so there was an excited buzz as students enthusiastically investigated to find the answers. They soon realised they could not use “Google” it was all down to investigative skills and determination.

The quiz was very challenging. Two year 8 students got full marks. ‘The Bumper LRC Quiz’ winners are:

Finish the story winner

The ground gave way. An amber red path lay like a corpse on the lifeless ground. The path was like an endless red carpet, beautiful enough to have an actress walking on it. The path was surrounded by distorted tall walnut brown trees; trees that danced in complete harmony. The proud peacocks (trees) stood as still as a statue, holding on the weight of the emerald green leaves, that fell down effortlessly on the unique trail. The view was picturesque, however, the trail contained a story, a story which has never been unravelled before.

Legend has it, that long ago there was a courageous girl called Destiny. Destiny was alluring. She had two soulful eyes, which were a fragile, universe aquamarine: her eyes scintillated in the light of the day, in the depths of the night, her lips as red as blood, her skin as soft as silk. “As black as charcoal” was the remark that was made about her hair: her hair and her heart.

It has been said that people had been deceived by the beauty of Destiny. Destiny was cruel, cold-hearted and disobedient. She never expressed her love for anyone and one day she wasn’t able to control her own destiny.

The second competition entitled ‘Finish the Story’ challenged the students’ creativity and imagination to do exactly that and finish a story. This they thoroughly enjoyed. The quality of entrants made it a very tough competition. Three year 7 students’ stories came top:

It was a dusky evening of November and the surroundings were as bright as Zeus’ eyes. The periwinkle blue sky had faded in the distance and in replacement was a granite sky full of charred marshmallows (clouds). The jungle was serene and secluded; there was no-one there except for Destiny, who briskly walked along the path scanning the area like a machine. She was in search of a plan, however, what she had seen, instead was so scary that a cold shiver had rambled down her spine.

Well done to all of the students that joined in the World Book Day.

Mahavir Ladva (LRC and Study Centre Manager)

No-one knew what she wanted to prove, but everyone knew that she had been too close to the object. Blood had trickled down Destiny’s knee; she ran, ran like she had never run before. Blood poured out onto the embedded trail. No-one knew where she’d gone. No-one has seen her for the past 8 years.

Ilyas Rabi

3. Gurshaan Ghattoray (comic

On Wednesday 10th February and 23rd March 2016, the Music Department presented a showcase by the GCSE and RSL (Rock School Ltd) students. The first of the two concerts showcased the talents of our musicians through various classical pieces performed on piano, violin and vocally. The second concert continued this theme and in addition showcased their talents in performing music from the 21st century.

Both concerts, hosted and compèred by the students themselves, really highlighted the growing talents of our musicians and how they are becoming confident performers keen to share with an audience their love of music, their chosen instrument and the lifelong skills they are gaining from studying music.

“The value of music as an academic subject lies in its contribution to enjoyment and enrichment, for its social benefits, and for those who engage in music seriously as well as for fun. High quality music education enables lifelong participation in, and enjoyment of music, as well as underpinning excellence and professionalism.

These concerts seek to showcase the wonderful talent of each of the students studying the course with a musical repertoire ranging from classical pieces by Chopin to more contemporary pieces such as “Read All about It” by Emeli Sandé”.

Mo Wasiq (Head of Music Department)

“My name is Cristiana and I am one of the performers at the RSL Music Showcase. I wanted to tell you a bit about the journey we’ve had since starting RSL.

RSL, for those of you who don’t know, is an extensive range of qualifications that aims to challenge and develop the musical and performing talents of students at Cranford Community College. There are two pathways available in RSL: one is the performance pathway which other students including myself have chosen to follow and the other pathway is the technology pathway where you look at recording performances and learning the technical requirements for arranging a concert.

I can certainly say that it has been an exciting and enjoyable journey since September 2015 filled with both satisfaction and anxiety at times, but it

key skills that are necessary in many other activities as well as music. RSL has enabled me to increase my confidence levels, build better communication skills and be more independent in the work I produce.

One of the best things about this course is that you don’t just sit in front of a projector screen with a pen in your hand noting things down. In RSL music we, as performers, are given more freedom in things such as: planning our rehearsal times, deciding what we would aspire to look like on stage, building up our image as a performer and choosing our own repertoire. It gives us a lot of independence rather than having a teacher telling you everything; we become our own guides.

In RSL, team work skills are most important owing to the large amount of group work we do. During rehearsals we have been able to give each other feedback as part of our preparation for performing. At times, preparing a 15 minute repertoire for this concert was a real challenge and I think the other performers would also agree, but seeing everybody so dedicated and focused in all the rehearsals, helped us overcome these challenges and getting audience feedback makes it all worthwhile”.

Cristiana Eftenoiu (year 9)

So, Are You What You Eat?

Nutrition and health are incredibly important topics and who better to deliver that message than a GB athlete, a performance nutritionist for a major football club and a professional chef. So in March 2016, Cranford hosted a special Question Time - nutrition special. This was part of Cranford’s PSHCE programme with students carrying out some research and submitting questions before the event. The panel consisted of Cleo Stephenson, a GB athlete and Mo Farah sponsored athlete at Brunel University, Laura Andrews, performance nutritionist for QPR and

our very own Nana Busiah, chef for Chartwells, who provide our school meals service and someone who has cooked his way around the world.

Students learned in a fun and engaging way about the importance of eating healthy food and avoiding prepared and processed foods. Perhaps one of the most interesting points was comparing the diet of an athlete that of a footballer. The athlete wins hands down when it comes to eating healthily.

Alan Fraser (Assistant Headteacher - Community)

Competition

On Monday 11th January

2016, Quantum Theatre presented “A Christmas Carol” to year 8 in support of them reading the novel by Dickens in their English lessons.

As a follow-on from this experience, we held our young writers competition to encourage any budding journalists to critique the Quantum Theatre production.

We were delighted to receive so many entries which made it hard to choose but the winning article, jointly written by Neha Hussain 8T and Gargi Jadhav 8T, demonstrated a confident use of creative language and journalistic techniques in understanding the way to review theatre. The prize included a book token and the publication of their review in this spring glossy.

Congratulations to all those students who entered the competition. Special commendations go to: Khalid Mohamud, Harit Boonyarakyotin and Sara Mohammed in year 8 whose articles where highly commended.

Hayley Andrews (English Department)

“It was a great experience to see the book come alive on stage”.

Sara Mohammed (year 8)

“The play was a perfect representation of what the story would have looked like in the past. I must give credit to the actors; their powerful voices were heard by all 210 of us and the message of Christmas reached the bottom of our hearts”.

Harit Boonyarakyotin (year 8)

“I would recommend watching this play because it was very good and the actors did an amazing job in performing it. They were a professional company and I enjoyed the play enormously”.

Khalid Mohamud (year 8)

Play Review

Welined up for our period five lesson but were excited as we had been told that we would be watching the Charles Dickens’ play, ‘A Christmas Carol’. We had been learning about this in English and it was exhilarating to finally see the words come to life. We would be able to witness the cold, unknown secrets of old Scrooge. Our teacher (Miss Wrigley) guided us to the concert hall where we saw the lines of each form group, marching through the doors to see the unlit hall with a huge set that seemed to look like Victorian Britain.

Everyone in the audience settled down to find out what would happen next. All the characters in the book were played by only three people. We found this remarkable as they changed their costumes in seconds so we (the audience) did not notice, as we thought that there would be more actors in this play. These actors performed and pointed out how vicious, brutal and self-indulgent the rich (from the Victorian era) were. They brought out the truth about how innocent, helpless, vulnerable people were treated.

We were left speechless by the performance; our eyes couldn’t believe what they had just seen. This gave us a clear understanding of the book and all the confusions we had gone through while reading the book, were now understood as it gave us a visual image of what was happening. The concert hall was very crowded as the stage took up a huge amount of space. Echoes of all the chatter about the play of ‘A Christmas Carol’ filled the hall and as we left, we applauded.

The performers had brought out the clear message of Dickens. The play demonstrated how one person can truly change, if they are willing to do so. This performance has left people’s minds filled by thoughts on how they are and how they might need to change. These actors, positively changed the way people thought, through a fun, amusing play.

Neha Hussain and Gargi Jadhav (year 8)

Cranford Celebrates National Science and Engineering Week

From Monday 14th March to Friday 18th March 2016, Cranford Community College celebrated British Science Week, a celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM Subjects) which featured fascinating and engaging activities for students all across schools throughout Britain. The ultimate objective of Science Week at Cranford is to inspire our students to pursue studies and careers in these disciplines. It is about showing young people what is possible through science and the exciting opportunities these great disciplines can present to them. At Cranford, we aimed to show our students that science is much more than what they study inside the classroom.

The timing of Science Week fitted in conveniently with International Women’s Day which had taken place during the previous week. This provided us with the opportunity to help highlight the issues of gender imbalance, which is something we as a department have made a conscious effort to reduce in the past two years. For more than 25 years, only around 20% of students progressing on to A-level physics have been girls, despite about equal success between the genders in GCSE physics and science. This has unfortunately led to a lack of female engineers and physicists further down the line. Currently, the Science Department is working hard with the Institute of Physics to tackle this issue through The Drayson “Girls in Physics” Pilot Project. This is aimed at increasing the number of girls who take up physics at A-level. Science Week in 2016 therefore provided us with an invaluable opportunity to generate and maintain an interest in the very important STEM subjects at Cranford, and it also gave us the chance to reiterate the importance of gender balance in the classroom.

Throughout the week, the Science Department had a wide range of activities planned. Every morning members of the department conducted the latest exciting and awe-inspiring experiments outside on the concourse before registration. Conducting these experiments outside had the added advantage of being able to showcase them on a much larger and impressive scale than can be done in the classroom. The key stage 3 science lessons were designed by our excellent physics team and required the students to use their problem solving and teamwork skills to deal with a wide range of common issues encountered by scientists and engineers alike. Ms Malik organised the highlight of the week for many students – The “Cranford’s Got Science Talent” Competition. This involved students working in groups to design and create a scientific invention of their choice. The students had to present their inventions in a Dragons’ Den type scenario and demonstrate what they had built. The standard was exceptionally high with the winner Adam El-Kosbi (year 8) who created his very own plasma cutter. Special mention must go to Billy Parker (year 8) who received an award for the best presentation. In addition we held the Great Science Bake Off competition to design a science themed cake. We had lots of amazing entries and the winner was Holly Smith 7V with her science professor inspired cake.

Throughout the week members of the Science Department led a number of assemblies across all year groups to highlight the importance of the week and the issues surrounding gender imbalance.

Overall the week was a huge success and something that we, as a school, are very proud of. I would like to thank both staff and students alike for all their hard work in making Science Week 2016 possible.

Chris Dawson (Science Department)

Cranford’s Got Science Talent

“We decided to make the Boss Mobile – a remote control car – for the Cranford’s Got Science Talent Competition. Our idea was to use materials found around the home. We based our design on a YouTube tutorial. We had lots of fun making the Boss Mobile and made two of them. The first one was a prototype which we changed before the final edited version. We also made a garage out of lollipop sticks glued together with a hot glue gun”.

Sachin Karir and Samir Rahim-Bux (year 7)

“The competition was about the person who had the best invention which was useful in some way. We had to create something from household objects. I made a levitating match which is useful as a decoration. I learnt that you can’t get everything right first try and that it is scary showing and explaining things in front of a crowd who are judging you on how well you explain it”.

Inderjeet Khera (year 7)

OnFriday 18th March 2016, Cranford Community College was delighted to be invited to a workshop run by Seema Malhotra MP for Feltham and Heston, on the current and much debated topic on whether Britain should stay or leave the European Union (EU).

The event was organised and attended by local councillors and residents. Students studying economics at GCSE and A level were invited to attend to learn more about the issues surrounding this debate.

At the start of the workshop Seema gave a brief description of the Remain and Leave camps before opening the floor to questions. Students were able to ask a question and gain an insight into this current and complex issue. Even when the workshop had finished the students and local councillors continued their discussions and debate.

This workshop is another example of Cranford providing a forum for young people to air their views with local, national and international politicians. We believe it is important to give our students these opportunities in order to develop their confidence and networking skills.

Alan Fraser (Assistant Headteacher - Community)

“The EU Forum with local MP Seema Malhotra was a very insightful and interesting experience. It was wonderful to be able to see how the views of an MP may differ from those of the general public. The depths of her answers were also pretty impressive and clearly articulated so that we youngsters and the general public who were also present could engage with them. My view points were similar to Seema which are to stay in the EU but it was interesting to hear the points against staying. An example would be that staying in the EU creates peace and prosperity but leaving it could disrupt this and what’s more important than peace? Another point which was brought to my attention was that if we leave the EU we would have to apply for visas and wouldn’t be able to go to any EU country without them”.

Abdullahi Sudi (year 13)

“This fantastic opportunity proved to be very beneficial to us as it provided us with a good understanding of whether the UK should stay or leave the EU and what positive and negative impacts it would have on the UK. Seema Malhotra was very professional and concise when it came to answering questions. She was also not afraid to put out her personal opinions on the EU referendum and was straightforward about the main issues surrounding it such as: financial stability, political stability and social stability. The part I particularly enjoyed about this forum was that no question was left unanswered and I was able to find excellent answers from Seema Malhotra regarding my misconceptions about UK being part of the EU”.

Navneet Arura (year 12)

“UK; In or out the EU? That’s exactly why 20 of us from years 11, 12 and 13 had gathered together after school with local councillors, members of the local community and our local MP, Seema Malhotra to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of staying within the EU. The two hours’ worth of discussion was well spent listening to each other’s ideas of why we should remain in or exit the EU. The considerations included the impact it will have on us students in the coming years and surely our parents, family and the UK economy. Our local MP, Seema mentioned she was 100% supporting the UK in campaign so that Britain can remain within the EU. Even though many of us that attended the discussion will not be able to vote in the upcoming referendum in June as we are under 18, our voice may still be important as we can make people in Britain realise why UK should stay or leave the EU. We are greatly appreciative of the teachers who organised this discussion”.

Aadil Awan (year 11)

“The EU Referendum Discussion Forum with Seema Malhotra gave me a deeper insight into the advantages and disadvantages of the UK staying in the EU. It was an exciting experience which furthered my knowledge of European politics and economics. The debate on the EU is a complex one so it was helpful that we got to listen to the views of our local MP and her reasons for supporting the IN Campaign. I was amazed by Seema’s confidence in answering some of the more challenging questions the public had asked. For instance: “How deeply affected will EU nationals be in terms of working in the UK?” Her answers were clear, straight to the point but explained in enough depth to help everyone understand. Alongside this we participated in a debate between the members of the public and local councillors. The debate strengthened my ability to evaluate the different arguments that may occur from an economical perspective resulting in the construction of informed judgements. The EU debate is a specific focus for A-level economics which the event was particularly useful for. This was an amazing opportunity for me as it supported my general knowledge about a prominent issue in current politics and my academic understanding to support my A Level studies”.

Zoha Sheikh (year 13)

Cranford “Poetry Trials” competition was run in conjunction with National Poetry Day (October 2015) with the Young Writers Association. We are delighted to announce a number of our young poets work has been published in a regional anthology. Well done to all those students who took part. Here is just a sample of the excellent work they produced.

Sahrish Shaikh (English Department)

The Prisoner

I lose myself in a crystalline moon Weeping a tarn of tears, As I sit above hell As everything I loved and cherished slowly disappears,

Throughout the night that covers me As darks as my mind contempt I wait for the infinite void that fills me This was never kept kempt,

If I had a dream, then no lord for me; If I had no supreme, There would never have been a cord for me,

I left all hope

That has ever tried to nest For what I had committed to do Would lay someone to rest

Throughout the web that is my mind Thought which drives me insane As I stare in a loch Of pain from a pine cane

I have a soul with no captain And a fate with a cruel master Whose cruelty is far from what my mind can imagine As I look further down all I can see is far from alabaster,

Time is a murderer

Much like a close one, An angel or a devil. From time there is no difference.

I was never forgiven; Judgement came quickly and soon I cannot look in a mirror Or live a life not surrounded by fire and curse.

Karan Kumar (year 10)

Why not?

I like the blue one

But my brother has them Crisp clear sound, like cocking back a machine gun Proud of wearing, a true gem. Bass boosting in through my ears Raw emotion

These artists painting their fears Flows slick like hand lotion. They’re solo, maybe studio But we don’t know Yet here we are Making a poem, which we know won’t go far. As we come to the end Let’s all pretend We win the prize We can only fantasise

Why not?

Jaytesh Gill (year 9)

The Nightmare Inside

Ding dong the doorbell rings

My heart beckons

Open it please

Behind this door my saviour might be Or behind this door my demise might be.

Ding dong my doorbell sings

My fear asks, why do the star’s shine so bright on such a day of misfortune Woo woo a night owl’s voice projects itself through the darkness.

Hello, an angelic voice speaks from beyond the door Hello, says the voice one more time Will though save me from this darkness.

My heart wavers let us open it please

My fear wavers let us open it please

Thump thump my heart screams

Click the door speaks as I free it from its bondage.

Relief my heart feels

For an angel stands before me

Relief my fear feels

For my saviour is here to save me.

OR SO I THOUGHT!

Tears of blood drip from my heart

Tears of blood fall from my heart

Tears of blood forms the pool

Where my heart lies on

For my saviour was not my saviour

My saviour was my demise in disguise.

A saviour was far from reach now

A saviour was a figment of my imagination

For the only thing I could reach now was pain.

For the door had been open through lies.

For the door had been open through disguise.

For the door which was the door to my heart was tricked.

My love is like a red red rose

My love is like a red red rose Her grace makes you stare She smiles sweetly in the heat While bees buzz in her hair

My love is like a red red rose She looks fragile and thin But best be aware of her Because she holds her prickles in

My love is like a red red rose She growing taller than a tower Her green, narrow and smooth hands are wrapped around the bower

Why wouldn’t it make sense to fall in love with someone like a flower?

Kumail Abbas (year 11)

And for the nightmare which was the nightmare of love had prevailed

And for my heart which was tricked laid there drifting into eternal slumber

So shall my hope drift into eternal slumber.

For the nightmare of love had taken the most precious thing known to man away from me. JOY.

Oluwatimileyin Akinniran (year 10)

Syrian Boy

Through the night; Under the sunset, Tears of sorrow; Grief, Cascade leisurely through the flawless face that once was your son.

I had grieved, I had mourned for months upon months. Years upon years; Soon, centuries had passed; Your face, Gone.

The simple scent of your clothes had fainted into the moonless midnight; The vacant place in my heart can never be restored with any other face.

We adapt, we believe but we never get over it. The pain and torment seems to balance my life in the Devil’s palms; Insanity dragging me into its deepest pits. Seclusion, Isolation- I wept through nights and daysHoping for you to saunter home.

Though the everlasting fairy-tale we always talk about was gone, My heart could not have consumed this any longer. Ripping, piercing, tearing, the only dregs which were left in my heart Slowly disappears into the night sky. Gone.

Fighting, War, Murder; I prayed for your help- Dad.

I was: frightened, petrified; traumatised as the war kept on going on and on and on. You were gone; I was alone. Death pulling me ever so closer, I was,

Gone… Abdiaziiz Sahal (year 9)

Unison

We were together in unison Then fell apart over an argument You went your way and I went mine Hard at times But we were fine

Like a puzzle with broken pieces To only be sewn on thread and needles My heart was right but yours is not Little did I know your heart was bigger than alot? Now I feel my mind is full of snot.

Because we know no one’s wrong or right Let’s step back from the fight I’ve said sorry and so have you I’m happy with that, you should be too Now that we are together, there are so many things we can do…

UNISON !

Syed Jaffery (year 8)

Getting into the Top Universities

“The PiXL 6 conference was extremely helpful in understanding how to get into top universities. They provided a programme which described different degrees in depth and what A-Levels would be suited to each one. They also gave us a number of sources to look at which will benefit us when applying for Russell Group universities”.

Lucy Tirahan (year 11)

Student Conference - London 2016

On Wednesday 13th January 2016, I joined 39 other year 11 students and our Head of Year, Mr Southern-Myers, Year Manager, Ms Kolhatkar and Head of Sixth Form, Mr Ryan, and attended a PiXL (Partners in Excellence) event at the Central Hall in Westminster. This conference was held to help and advise students like myself on “Getting into the top universities”.

The conference featured guest speakers from Oxbridge and Russell Group universities and gave students information and tips on applying to the country’s top universities. They advised us on what we should start doing now in year 11 so that we are prepared and have a strong university application making it more likely that we get a place. They identified things such as creating a portfolio which contains all the different things you have done and participated in.

This visit was really interesting and helpful. We gained a lot of important information which we would not have otherwise gained during the conference and we will use the information and put into practice to make sure we get a place at one of the top university we want to get into.

Thank you to all our teachers taking us to this conference where we gained precious knowledge and for making it more possible for us to achieve our ambition of going to a top university.

Awan (year 11)

Bird Box Project

In February 2016 I had the pleasure of working with our amazing year 11 students on a volunteering in the community project at the Old Rectory Nursery, Church Road, Cranford. Even though the weather was not on our side the year 11 students were enthusiastic in giving their ideas to renovate the nursery gardens for the 80+ children who attend there. The nursery staff were impressed with the students’ garden design ideas and we hope to see some of them materialise later this year. To make an immediate impact the students built bird boxes and painted them a multitude of colours to brighten up the garden. Not only did we have great fun building the bird boxes, the students also took real pride in their designs and were thrilled at the final result. Staff commented on how splendid they were and requested that we donate some to our ASD Centre. The students were delighted to present the bird boxes to the ASD Centre and at the joy they brought to the students there. I am immensely proud of all the students and looking forward to many more successful volunteering projects.

Creatures at Cranford

Sports clubs, science experiments, trips and more: we’ve got all these wonderful and interesting activities here at Cranford Community College. But every day, around 8am, some of our year 7 pupils come in to the science lab to care for some exotic animals. We have various animals such as our snake, Fungus, our turtle, Raphael, our skink, Gary, our lizard, Fat Pac and our leopard gecko, Wink. They feed them food that may seem revolting to us but scrumptious for the creatures: for example, dead mice and rats, vegetable, snails and worms. The year 7 students care for them by playing with them and keeping their cages clean and homely. We interviewed one of the animal-loving year 7 students, Oliwia Dudek, who cares for the exotic creatures.

Q: Why did you decide to care for these animals?

A: I wanted to do this because they are just cute and it’s a really fun experience.

Q: What do you find was the most interesting thing that has happened in the animal room?

A: When Gary started shedding his skin. It was really interesting and quite fascinating.

Q: Which is your favourite animal and why?

A: My favourite is Wink, our leopard gecko because I find him really cute and incredible really. I’m now looking forward to getting one of my own.

Q: Is there anything that you dislike about this experience?

A: Well, personally, I really find the fact that our snake, Fungus, eats dead mice and rats a bit revolting. But other than that, I really like helping out.

The animals’ room is always lively and fun. The year 7 students absolutely love helping these sensational animals. If you visit the science block at Cranford visit these exotic animals. They are worth your time. You might even get a chance to hold and feed them.

Charlotte Meek (Volunteering in the Community Leader)

Abinaya Kagenthirarasa (year 7)