Cranford Review
March • 2012
Celebrating the life of a wonderful friend and colleague
Friday 11/11/11 will be remembered as the day Cranford Community College students, staff, parents and friends, past and present came together on a damp winter’s afternoon to celebrate the life of a wonderful friend and colleague, Tracy Murphy.
We wanted as many people involved as possible and unsurprisingly staff, students, parents and former students who had valued so much the impact she had made on their lives wanted to say something.
The setting of the Memorial Garden lit by fairy lights created a magical atmosphere. The purpose-built stage surrounded by flowers was a wonderful focal point for everyone to congregate and many guests laid tributes by the tree whilst waiting for everyone to arrive. More than 600 people arrived from far and wide to share in the celebrations.
It was incredibly moving to hear the students representing each year group speak about what Tracy meant to them; some very personal reflections and all spoken from the heart. This was followed by parents and former student messages and some humorous anecdotes and memories from the Year Managers. Who will ever forget the hand drying story? As we listened we could all reflect upon our own personal experiences of knowing and working with Tracy and it made everyone smile. Finally the staff and student choir and band led us all in their rendition of “Thank You for Being a Friend” and invited everyone to join in, which we all did as best we could. The words said it all.
Her son, Steven then thanked everyone for all their support and finished by saying how much Tracy had loved Cranford Community College and how grateful they were for what the school had given their mum. Kevin Prunty, Headteacher then presented Steven and Tracy’s daughter, Jess with the book of condolence on our behalf.
It was quite a vision to see everyone holding coloured balloons waiting for the moment when they could send a message to Tracy. Cheers, applause and a mass of fireworks accompanied their simultaneous release when Mr Prunty gave the word and the crowd sent them on their way. There was a sense of joy, of celebration; a truly memorable moment and fitting conclusion in celebrating the life of a wonderful lady who touched all our lives; Tracy Murphy, forever in our hearts.
Careers Fair 2011
The autumn term 2011 was a busy term for year 9 students. As the deadline for option choices loomed, the year 9 team hosted a careers fair to help inspire the year group about possible careers they could pursue.
During tutor time and PSHCE, students were provided with the opportunity to discuss their future plans and provide them with an insight into possible industries in which they may want to work.
Thanks to Mr Biggs, Ms Goold and Ms Meek students had a number of professionals deliver practical workshops ranging from engineering, broadcast journalism, hospitality, landscape gardening, finance and banking.
The timetable for year 9 students was collapsed for the day so each student could experience two different industries. This gave them the opportunity to gain some hands on experience and a chance to ask questions to the industry professionals. There was a real buzz about the day and clearly the students found the experience well worthwhile.
Bhavisha Tank (Head of Year 9) and Priscilla Ledlie (Year Manager)
“I liked the jobs I was in; engineering and music, landscape gardening. They were really interesting and helped me think.”
“I liked how the army people tried their hardest to provide answers and information. I feel as if they really did bring their jobs to school and gave us some army experience with their problem solving exercise.”
“The day was fun I liked acting in Richmond Theatre. I liked learning about the different roles in theatre and the different shows that take place at the theatre.”
“I think the Creative and Media Bus session went really well because it was exactly what I wanted.”
“I think the police cadet’s info was useful. Maybe I wanted to go into Law but now I’ll consider the police since they have lots of useful information. The day made it easier to decide about my future.”
“It was proper fun and I learnt how to customise things on a Mac computer”.
“I learnt about cooking and how to stir-fry and different types of knives that you can use in cooking and what you can do when you are a chef. “
“The army sessions may have changed what I wanted to do with my life and I found almost everything they said interesting.”
“It was fun because the man was explaining everything clearly and he gave us an opportunity to talk and ask questions. He also gave us a Natwest card which we could call them for job experience.”
Year 9
got the Cranford’s W factor
If you walk around the school on a Wednesday afternoon you will find there is a different buzz. It is the W Factor; Cranford’s Wow Wednesday, A new initiative initially for year 7 & 10 students begun in September 2011 to provide staff and students with the opportunity to try new activities, build relationships and learn new skills. Staff and students identified the activities they would like to be involved with and have great fun learning together.
Year 7 activities include swimming; volunteering in the community, film club, boxing, “Know Your City”, book club, crafts, cooking, football, African drumming, photography and yoga. Year 10 activities include bowling, golf, swimming, dance, badminton, cooking, the year 10 band, “Making the best of yourself”, chess club, screen printing and Spanish. Fifty year 10 students are also using this experience to undertake their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award.
From January 2012, year 8,12 and 13 will be joining the programme and over 30 different activities will be on offer.
Cranford’s “Wow Wednesday” is a winner with everyone.
hey say there is no businesslike show business andwhen pantomime seasoncame to Cranford CommunityCollege in December 2011 somewould say that the staff version of“Snow White and the N-Dwarfs”was as good a production as anyseen in the West End.
The school community wereentertained by the traditionalSnow White story set inCranfordonia which includedevery other fairy tale princeand princess possible. Nearly40 staff from different areas ofthe school, including Kevin Prunty,Headteacher as the woodcutter,dressed in amazing costumes, donnedwigs and makeup and learnt lines and danceroutines. Rehearsals began in October2011 although the pantomime remainedtop secret and the students had no ideauntil they entered the hall.
Laughter could be heard aroundthe school as the Head of IT, KevinBiggs, playing the wicked queen,sang “Baby You’re A Firework” toKing Alwin. Sympathetic “aaahs” echoedfor Philip Dobison, Assistant Headteacher,playing “Dobby”, dressed in rags, an orange wigand green paint, as he shuffled across the stage infear of the wicked queen. The audience joined in with the normal interactive banter associated withpantomime; “boos, hiss” and “oh no he isn’t” couldbe heard as various characters underwent the journeyto the inevitable happy ending with the whole castperforming “You’re The One That I Want” to cheers andapplause from the audience. It was a truly wonderful way to end the term and an unforgettable experience for all.
Black History Month
We went on a Black History Month trip to Hounslow Manor School to meet author, poet and story-teller, Jane Grelle. Twelve students from year 9 attended the event. The poet and story teller was wearing African attire and presented herself in her true cultural way. She danced and sang with great emotion while reading one of her stories to us.
Jane introduced herself and then started telling us cultural stories from Africa and India, using different African instruments such as the armpit drum, balafon, sanza, lute and ivory horn.
She read her collection of poetry to us. The first poem was called ‘Hold On’, I really liked that poem. It was emotional and it was meaningful. The moral of the poem was to hold on to people, don’t leave them, respect everyone, because you never know who is going to help. I was inspired by that poem.
After all the stories and poems, it was our turn to ask her questions. This session really helped us understand why Black History Month is important and why it is an international event.
All of the stories we heard seemed to contain morals and were very educational. There were a lot of messages even in just one story. We would get some stories with more than 3 morals and it would be jaw-dropping how one tale can teach us so much. I personally enjoyed the trip because it taught me so much about life and the culture around us.
Mariyum Mahmood, Alisha Jivraj and Pariksit Dogra (year 9)
Presentation Evening 2011 is a magical occasion
Could it be magic? Yes; Amardeep Singh Dhanjal - AKA Magic Singh, former student and now professional magician who returned to Cranford Community College as Guest Speaker for Presentation Evening on 10th November 2011. An evening of celebration and an opportunity to applaud the talent and achievements of our students. It was so appropriate to have a former student share with us his memories of school, his journey to achieve his ambition, his current success and his plans for the future. It was inspirational listening to someone who had returned to say thank you and to prove to students that everyone can really achieve their dream if they work hard and grab every opportunity given them at school. He even delighted us with some magic tricks which surprised everyone. You could hear mutterings of “How did he do that?” echoing around the hall.
The highlight of the evening as always was the presentation of awards to students across the school who were clearly such worthy winners.
The theme, “On the Right Track” was beautifully reflected in the various entertainment pieces including a rendition of Adele’s “Someone Like You”, sung by Jade Roopraye with Pariksit Dogra (year 9) on piano, a dynamic dance routine choreographed by Sara Khan (year 11) entitled “Run The World” and a humorous but thought-provoking drama piece devised and performed by year 11 Drama students entitled “The Right Decision”.
As always the evening provided an opportunity for everyone to come together and share in all the successes of the last twelve months. There is no doubt it was a magical occasion and one to be remembered.