CR March 2007 by Cranford Community College

Cranford Community College, High Street, Cranford, Hounslow. TW5 9PD - Tel: 020 8897 2001 - www.cranford.hounslow.sch.uk

THE CRANFORD REVIEW

2007 will be an exciting time for us all at Cranford. We have installed two small scale wind turbines on the school field. In November 2006 planning permission was finally granted for this installation. As this is a relatively new technology and with our close proximity to London Heathrow, it gave our planning department at the London Borough of Hounslow quite a task contacting all those responsible for both primary and secondary radars. Our renewable energy project was given funding by Clear Skies and EDF energy with further contributions from Ormiston Wire and Cranford Students. The average wind speed for our site is 4.8m/s so the two turbines should generate just under 16MWh per annum. This will make a direct saving of carbon emissions of 7.96 tonnes and will make a small contribution to the energy needs of the college. The turbines will be a very useful tool for the teaching of renewable energy in both science and geography lessons. The local junior schools are also keen be able to visit the school and use them as a teaching resource. Both of the turbines will be visible to all who pass along the A312 and the many community groups and teams who use the school field. Hopefully all who view the turbines will be inspired to be more energy efficient and do their bit too and will realise that we are all responsible for global climate change.

March 2007

Poetry passion gains international recognition for Cranford student Nida Bhatti a year 12 student at Cranford Community College received international recognition for her Poem “The Puppet”. Nida, who is studying A levels and hoping to pursue a career in medicine was invited to enter this competition having successfully published a previous poem “Yet I smile…” in the International Society of Poets anthology earlier this year. Nida said of her experience: “I am just an ordinary student. I always loved poetry as a child, Roald Dahl being my favourite poet at the time inspiring me to write my own poetry. My real success started when I stumbled on an international poetry website. There I entered my poem, “Yet I Smile…” in an online contest for Valentine’s Day. The next thing I knew was that I received a letter in the post, all the way from the USA, asking permission to add my poem to an anthology being published by the International Society of Poets. I could not refuse this offer.”

Nida was awarded a runners up trophy for her poem and a medal for ‘Poet of Merit’ and membership to the International Society of Poets. Everyone is enourmosly proud of Nida. Watch out for Nida’s work in the future.

A Memorable Evening at Cranford On Thursday 23 November 2006, Cranford Community College celebrated its annual Presentation of Awards Evening, where more than 50 students were rewarded for their achievements over the past school year. Four of the students were also presented with a special award by GlaxoSmithKline for their achievements both at SATs levels and GCSE levels. Parents, staff, governors and special guests were invited to share in the celebrations which also included a variety of performance pieces under the theme of ‘Learning in Harmony’. Our guest speaker for the evening was Judith Petterson, the newly appointed Director of Children’s Services and Lifelong Learning, who also presented the awards to prize winners. This was a wonderful evening giving everyone an opportunity to applaud the successes of not only Cranford Community College students, but also community sports staff and adult learners. Many former students are now following courses at various top universities. It was truly a memorable evening and one of which we are all proud.

First Flight Competition A group of six year 11 students (Vijay Chhaya, Bhavik Bhatt, Kiranjot Grewal, Navjeet Matharu, Mandeep Bath and Harpreet Bains) have been participating in the design and marketing of a new board game. The competition was organised by First Flight Young Entrepreneurs and supported by companies such as Barclays, Hasbro and Brunel University. The group worked independently for two weeks in the design of their new game called BONANZA. The game has an element of entertainment as well as having educational value. In November 2006, they presented their design and business plan to a group of entrepreneurs. The panel was so impressed by their presentations and ideas, that they have been chosen to go to the next round in the competition. The panel said: “This group of students have demonstrated an excellent capacity to work in a team in a mature and intelligent way. It is a pleasure to work with such enthusiastic and thoughtful students.”

British Cycling - Go Ride Course We held the first session of cycling coaching course at Cranford on Thursday November 30th 2006. 13 pupils from year 8 took part in the event. It is run by British Cycling and involves lots of fun activities on 2 wheels. Some of the activities that the students took part in were cycling limbo, track races and team relays. This was the first opportunity for students to use the road markings that have been painted on to the playground. These markings were funded partly by a £500 prize that the school won in the summer for having the best sustained School Travel Plan in the borough. 8U Odiri Obibi Salman Mustafa Sunny Arora Hicham Brahimi Shafiq Karwani Harmeet Sekhon

8V Rohit Motivares Anisa Morgado Senna Hussain Demi Howlett Laila Hanafi

8Z Mohammed Saeed Virren Thakur Mr. Dean

A Long Awaited Trip: The A-level French trip to Paris On Friday 1st December 2006, five AS French students, accompanied by Miss Sill, Miss Bullock and Mr Blades headed to Waterloo to catch the Eurostar to Paris. This was the trip they had all been waiting for. Navpreet Kundal, Jasmine Bhullar, Pavneet Syan, Aman Dhanoa and Jay Bhadricha were keen to visit Europe’s most beautiful capital city and experience its important culture and history. Each day of the visit began with croissant, pain au chocolat and café and ended with typical French cuisine, such as moules-frites or canard confit. The students did a walking tour of all the most important Parisian sights, visiting the Sacré Coeur, the artists’ square in Montmartre, the Tuillerie gardens, the Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde and Notre Dame. They were also treated to a night time tour of Paris where they saw the Eiffel Tower in lights. One afternoon was spent exploring the Louvre with its beautiful architecture and important paintings, including, of course, the Mona Lisa. Despite blustery weather on Sunday, they decided to brave the dizzy heights of the Eiffel Tower and ended the day with a river boat cruise along the Seine at sunset, which included a guided commentary of all the famous sights and their historical importance. The trip was a total success and a memorable experience for all. It has inspired the students to return to France next November where they will complete a week’s work experience in Rouen and immerse themselves in the French language.

German Exchange In December 2006, a group of 25 German pupils and their teachers visited Cranford. They came from a school near Frankfurt and were visiting England for the first time. They attended some lessons where they studied ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and recorded a rap with Mr McKeever. They also went out on two day trips; One to Oxford where they visited Keble College and the Natural History Museum and one to London where they visited many sights including Big Ben and Buckingham Palace.

They also had time for a quick shopping trip to Oxford Street. On the Friday the German students interviewed representatives from the school council and went on a tour of the Gurdwara in Southall. In June 2007 a group of Cranford students will make a return visit to the German school, visit a castle for the day and go to Frankfurt city centre.

Celebration Assembly

A Gospel quartet, Indian dancing, a rock band extravaganza and selection of Christmas songs were the highlights of the December 2006 end of term Assembly at Cranford. Students throughout the school also enjoyed applauding their friends and peers as more and more awards were handed out for achievement. The updated system of rewards initiated by the students through the autumn Student Conference met with approval as the system now makes it more possible for a greater number of students to be rewarded. There were also two gold prizes awarded and students were able to select a prize of their choice. Once again the Jack Petchey recipients were recognised for outstanding achievements in specific fields. each student received £300 for a school project of their choice.

Qasim Yussuf yr 7 Gold

Lukman Bhatti yr 7 Gold

Roland Aka Adou yr 8 Silver

Aelaha Ahman yr 8 Bronze

Kulwinder Bassan yr 13 Sixth form

Boxing Congratulations To Martin Ward from 7X holding his boxing trophy that he won at Dale Youth Boxing Club, in Shepherds Bush. This is the 2nd Major junior trophy Martin has won. Well Done!

Jay Badricha , sixth form student at Cranford Community College recently joined the ranks of the Gifted and Talented by being awarded national recognition for his achievements as a member of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth. Membership of this academy is only awarded to those exceptional students who demonstrate an all round outstanding ability both in the field of academia but also in other areas, such as the Arts. Jay has already been recognised within school for his exceptional ability as well as his talent in music and languages and this new accolade is just one further award in recognition of his achievements. Jay is keen to pursue his ambition of studying History with French at Oxford. This award will provide him with additional opportunities to take part in a number of conferences and events, summer schools and lectures prior to his university application.

Jack Petchey Awards

Christopher Nicholl 9Z September Award

Gagandeep Chaggar 10V October Award

Anooj Saundh yr 12 November Award

Tala Abdel - Hai 7Y December Award

Chris is an extremely self motivated student, who is a great asset to the school. He leads tours around the school and does so in a very mature manner. He always makes everybody feel welcome

Top grades in all SATs. Grade B in early entry Citizenship. Winner of inter form Music competition in years 7 and 9. Winner of girls discus in sports day. Her English teacher says that she is A’ Level standard. Fantastic all round contribution within school.

Excellent leadership in extra curricular basketball. Anooj coaches the basketball team in games and leads basketball training every week. His work with the students has been excellent and is a fantastic role model within the game.

Tala is a fantastic role model and leader amongst her tutor group. She leads by example in her academic achievements, positive attitude to learning and ability to guide and mentor others in her class.

Health and Social Care students raise money for Cyber Baby In December 2006 the year 12 A level Health and Social Care students dressed as fairies on Mufti day and raised money for a cyber baby to assist them in their course. These dolls are extremely expensive but are of vital importance in understanding the needs of a young baby and this life like replica allows students to deal with the demands of the parenting role . In spite of the cold winter weather the girls braved the elements and embraced the Christmas spirit, by selling cakes and going around school with collection buckets throughout the day. Their hard work paid off and they raised enough money to purchase a cyber baby. Well done girls.

Celebration at its best Cranford Style

Sixth form student achieves national recognition