Insight 28

Half-termly news from Highgate Wood School Issue No 28

February 2016

GOVERNING BODY UPDATE I was pleased recently to attend a meeting looking at the performance of Haringey’s schools overall.

It’s a really good news story for a borough which as well all know is one of the most divided in London if not in the country, with extreme disparities of income, life expectancy and so on.

Despite these challenges, all borough schools have improved significantly over recent years, and as a whole the borough is now above national achievement and improvement levels at all stages, up to GCSE. Highgate Wood has been a part of this, and I’m hopeful that with the continued effort all of us – students, teachers, parents – we will continue to see improvements following this round of exams already underway.

Exams aren’t everything of course, but the real extra opportunities afforded to hundreds of young people, at Highgate Wood, in Crouch end and in Haringey as a whole, that good results bring, cannot be discounted.

It’s a tribute not only to individual schools but also to the borough’s small school improvement team, and underlines the importance of schools working together as a family, supporting each other and together taking pride in the achievement of all.

The educational landscape is changing, with the Government determined apparently that every school should become an academy. Whatever happens, I think its vital that the importance of a local family of schools, working together for our local communities, is not lost.

Good luck with the exams all who are taking them!

Cover picture:

Our House is the School Musical for 2016. Please ensure you reserve yours tickets in good time.

Email tickets@hws.haringey.sch.uk Our House by Tim Firth.

Music & Lyrics by Madness.

Our House was first produced at the Cambridge Theatre, London on 28th October 2002.

Producers were Tiger Aspect Productions, Rupert Lord, Andre Ptaszynski & Phil McIntyre in association with Madness.

This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Josef Weinberger Ltd.

2

In this issue of Insight you will find information about a number of PSA initiatives that enhance the life of the school.

On page 13 you will find the link for a survey for parents and students, reviewing our traditional summer MADFest and soliciting ideas to make it an even better event. On page 19 you can read about how we have been able to fund Phase 1 of the wet weather covering for the playground from money that we have raised through the PSA Lottery.

If you would like to be more involved with the PSA please email to our new address: psa@hws.uk.com

Don’t forget easyfundraising.org.uk. Visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk/hwspsa

HIGHGATE WOOD SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY Chair of Governors: Charles Wright (Co-opted Governor) LA Governor: Cllr Eddie Griffith Parent Governors: Julia Chalfen • Dr Torun Dewan Mark Harber • Chris Tully Co-opted Governors: Oli Blackaby • Phil Cavendish • Phil Cocksedge Joe Demetriou • Phil Dileo • Violet Hazelwood-Henry Elizabeth Hess • Chris Parr • Imogen Pennell Charles Wright Headteacher Governor: Patrick Cozier Staff Governors: Emily Ford If you wish to contact the Governing Body please write to the Chair of Governors, c/o Mrs K Ozturk, Highgate Wood School, Montenotte Road, London N8 8RN

Issue 28

February 2016

MESSAGE FROM THE HEADTEACHER Welcome back to successful learning at Highgate Wood School.

I wish to start this edition of Insight by taking this opportunity to wish you all a very belated Happy New Year! As always however, time flies and instead of reflecting on the festivities of Christmas and the New Year celebrations, we have already reached the spring half term break. It is difficult to believe that we are already half way through the school year. So much has been accomplished, but as ever there is so much still to do!

As can be seen, we are rightly proud that since 2011 our results have been significantly better than the national average. Over the last few years, the national context has changed and government policy has made it harder to sustain the year on year growth. However, we are pleased that we continue to achieve well above the national average and importantly, the progress that our students make puts us in the top 17% of the country and our current year 11 are on target to do even better!

We know what are students are capable of when backed by our excellent staff and supportive parents. Let’s ensure that we continue to work together to help them achieve their best.

Year 11 – Getting those grades

HWS Sixth Form proving to be very popular

If you are the parent of a child in Year 11, you will be aware that our students sat their Year 11 Mock Exams before the Christmas break. Since we have come back, they have received their Mock Exam Results and as a result they all know on an individual level how well they are achieving – and what else they need to do to hit their personal targets across each of their subjects. We are very impressed with the work ethic and attitude of our year 11s and this is reflected in the fantastic progress that they have made since September. It is also a testament to the dedication of the staff members who are making themselves available virtually every break time, lunch time and after school to help support our students.

I am now very pleased to report that the number of applications that we have received for September 2016 remain very high, as they have been for the last few years. Having been involved in a number of the interviews held with our own Year 11 students, I have been very impressed with their attitude and commitment to both their studies and the school.

What came across clearly was that our students want to stay with us because they are happy and comfortable with the ethos of Highgate Wood School and they are inspired by the excellent teaching they receive. The specific feature described by the students that I spoke to was the very positive and caring relationship that exists between staff and students. This is something of which I am intensely proud and will always remain a distinctive characteristic of Highgate Wood School.

What is pleasing for us as a school is that both individually and collectively, our Year 11s are broadly on target to achieve and exceed what we believe they are capable of. A reminder of our results for the last ten years and our target for 2016 is shown below.

Issue 28

February 2016

I can also reveal that we have received a record number of applicants from students who attend other Haringey schools and schools in our neighbouring boroughs. This is very good news for the school as it says that students from within and outside of the Highgate Wood School are clear about what our sixth form can offer them. However, it also means that competition for places in the sixth form and particularly for popular courses will be high. Our students need to make sure they achieve their very best this summer, and the key drivers for this are listed on the next page.

3

1.

Work really hard between now and the summer exams to secure the very challenging grades necessary to gain access to our Post 16 courses

2.

Understand that not everyone will automatically be offered a place – it has to be earned

3.

Be committed to doing their absolute best in the sixth form which includes taking full responsibility for their learning, making learning their first priority and ensuring excellent attendance and punctuality to all lessons/study sessions

4.

Ensure that they continue to make a positive contribution to HWS as a positive reference from their tutor or their head of house is also a pre-requisite for entry

We also recently held a Sixth Form Taster day on Wednesday 6th January where our students had the opportunity to be treated like a sixth former for the day, including going to sixth form lessons and having non-teaching periods. The initial feedback has been very positive, and I hope that this will help students make the best decisions in August when we have our enrolment day.

New Behaviour Policy – An Update Further to the letter that I sent to you last month, I wanted to give you some more information about the changes to our behaviour policy. Those of you who attended the PSA meeting that took place on 2nd February will already be aware of the changes in more detail following my presentation on that evening. I would like to now share some of that detail with parents more widely.

The first thing to say is that the majority of the things that we have highlighted in our policy are not changes to the expectations that we have as a school. The policy places a greater emphasis on setting and maintaining the highest expectations of all students with a belief that all students can exhibit excellent conduct. The systems for rewarding excellent behaviour and the consequences for poor conduct are more specific 4

and clear. However, many of the specific things that we need students to do to achieve those expectations remain the same.

Why change the policy?

Behaviour at Highgate Wood is good and we have a very positive and hardworking ethos. So one of the obvious questions that has been posed is why change the policy at all? Our view is that good behaviour is ok, but we want it to be great.

Essentially;  We want to make sure that the experience that our students get at Highgate Wood is the best that it can be – we want it to be always pleasant, calm and safe  We want to find more and better ways to reward the very good behaviour that most of our students exhibit every day  We want to find a way to give our students a better experience at break times and lunch times  We want to make sure that any disruption to lessons and around the school are minimised and dealt with immediately and without impact on other students

In lessons, behaviour is excellent! Students are focused and hard working. Relationships between students and staff are positive and strong.

However, we wanted to do more to further improve the level of calm on the corridors and in the playgrounds.

What exactly has changed?

There are a number of things that have changed to bring us closer to the consistent excellent behaviour that we wish to see. These are detailed below.

1. Additional Core Values In addition to the 4Cs of Courtesy, Consideration, Cooperation and Contribution, we have added the core values Perseverance and Hard Work (as part of Growth Mindset approach) and Respect and Honesty (as common human values). All aspects of the behaviour policy are underpinned by our core values.

Issue 28

February 2016

2. Rewards and Celebrating Achievement We wanted to place a greater emphasis on rewards and in particular on the way in which we help our students to acknowledge and celebrate their own achievements and that of others. The new policy underpins some of the new systems we now have in place to reward and recognise the myriad ways in which our students excel:  More opportunities for being rewarded – staff are encouraged to reward more than sanction  More staff giving greater attention to positive behaviours rather than negative conduct  More inter-house competitions – every department running competitions across the year  More creative prizes available from the school shop – we have begun working with the school council on this who are coming up with some very original ideas!  More certificates and commendations given out at regular intervals  Automatic rewards for attendance and punctuality - 5 merits are awarded for every fortnight that a student achieves 100% attendance and punctuality and zero demerits  Commendations awarded for every 15 merits earned  Head of House Commendation awarded for 50 merits achieved  Bronze, silver, gold, platinum and purple certificates available for 75, 125 and 200, 300 and 400 merits respectively

Head of House Commendations will be awarded by each Head of House for students who have achieved 50 Merits. A Head of House Commendation can also be awarded to students who have demonstrated any of the School’s core values in an outstanding way Bronze Certificates will be awarded by House teams to any student who has achieved 75 Merits

Issue 28

February 2016

Silver Certificates will be awarded by Deputy Headteachers and Assistant Headteachers to any student who has achieved 125 Merits Gold Certificates will be awarded by the Headteacher to any student who has achieved 200 Merits Platinum Certificates will be awarded by Headteacher to any student who has achieved 300 Merits Purple Certificates will be awarded by The Governors to any student who has achieved 400 Merits 3.Epraise instead of Vivo Although Vivo has been extremely successful in allowing parents and students to see their achievements online, we believe that we have found something that does even more and does it better. With Epraise, parents and students will still be able to see their achievement points, but will also be able to view any negative behaviour and keep track of their school attendance. There is more on this later in this edition in Insight.

4. Mobile phone rule It remains the case that students are allowed to bring their phones to school at their own risk. It is also still the case that students are not allowed to use their phones on the premises at any time – i.e. from the moment they step through the gates at the start of the day until the moment they step out of the gates at the end of the day. However, the sanction has changed.

Now, if the mobile phone rule is broken, phones are confiscated for a week. This means that if it’s taken on a Monday students get it back the following Monday; Tuesday to Tuesday, and so on We believe that this is a fairer rule than the previous ‘phones are handed back on a Thursday’ rule as this means that everyone is now treated the same.

5

5. Same day detention The threshold for getting a same day detention has been raised to 5 demerits in a day to reflect the fact that some incidents are more serious and therefore accrue more points than others.

5 Demerits - 20 minute same day detention

The policy will be available on the school website straight after half term for your information.

Should you wish to query any aspect of the policy, please do not hesitate to contact me at the school.

Thank you as ever for your continued support!

6 - 7 Demerits - 40 minute same day detention Regards

>7 Demerits—60 minute same day detention All detentions are definitely served

Patrick Cozier Headteacher

6. A new tariff for behaviour points Previously, all behaviour incidents accrued one demerit. However, our belief is that this was unfair as some incidents are more serious than others.

From now on each negative behaviour incident will receive between one and five demerits depending on the seriousness of it.

7. New behaviour thresholds In the same way that accumulating merits attracts acknowledgement, rewards and prizes, continued poor conduct accumulates increasing sanctions in the new policy. Every 25 demerits that a student receives results in additional and increasingly serious consequences. However, alongside that comes an intervention with additional support being put in place for students at every threshold.

Importantly, the number of demerits that can be accrued is not endless and we have decided that once a student has reached 225 demerits in any one academic year, they will be considered for a managed move to another school, alternative provision or possibly a permanent exclusion (subject to governor approval). This is an important aspect of the policy as it makes it clear that Highgate Wood School will not tolerate continued disruption to the learning of others indefinitely.

In summary, the changes that we are making are designed to ensure that behaviour at Highgate is not just good, but great. We have high expectations of every single student at our school and we want to make the school the absolute best that it can be.

6

GOVERNOR ELECTION RESULTS Congratulations and thanks to Dr Torun Dewan and Mr Mark Harber who have been newly elected as parent governors.

There was no clear winner between two other candidates, Chris Reed and Man Manoharan.

We will thus be reballoting after the half-term.

SEND AFTERNOON TEA EVENT We would like to invite parents and carers to meet the Learning Support team and see their new base.

You will be able to find about what we do and how we support students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

We hope to hold the event in early March and would be grateful if parents and carers who wish to attend email tow@hws.haringey.sch.uk so we can firm up the best date.

Issue 28

February 2016

Ms Burniston, Mr Key and Mr Rowlands write: We are delighted to confirm the appointment of our Head Boys and Head Girls from each House.

These exceptional students were selected by the House teams with the expressed aim of promoting the values of the different Houses and of Highgate Wood School itself.

Their first task is to devise a new competition for Year 7 students.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEW STUDENT LEADERS Martha White Jake Canton Perry Hannah Crabb-Krivine Harry Ghose Coveney Maddy Baron

Gabe Brown Tommy Escott Phoebe Bennett Lucy Whelan

The best way to predict the future is to invent it

From caring comes courage

Success comes from perseverance

34,570

35,378

34,395

so far this year

so far this year

so far this year

Top Merit Earners Joel Olatunji (Yr 11) Anastasia Abramchuk (Yr 10) Isabel Pountney (Yr 9) Lotte Ezer-Ahern (Yr 8) Ava Todd (Yr 7)

Top Merit Earners Maddy Baron (Yr 11) Ismaili Daniela (Yr 10) Rory Butler (Yr 9) Hugo Clague (Yr 8) Rosie Boardman (Yr 7)

Issue 28

February 2016

Top Merit Earners Jordan Brown (Yr 11) Tugba Oguz (Yr 10) CJ Williams (Yr 9) Macy White (Yr 8) Zoe Street (Yr 7)

7

GCSE OPTIONS - CHOICES FOR YEAR 9 Mr Hartley writes: The options process, where students in Year 9 are guided to make the choices of courses they wish to take at Key Stage 4 will begin after the half-term break, with Options Evening on 14th March. As many parents and students will already be aware, 2015 saw the introduction of the new GCSE courses in English and maths, and next year this will expand to many more subjects. Courses will be more demanding, much more reliant on a terminal examination and graded on the new 1 9 scale (with 9 being the equivalent to above the current A*).

These changes will not affect the overall process for choosing options which remains very similar to last year. Parents have been asking for an update on some queries and now that we have finalised the offer for next year I am able to provide this information. The changes outlined below are the only significant differences from last year. It is important to note that if a subject is available to be chosen we fully intend it to run though cannot guarantee that it will as this depends on student uptake and staffing.

Will Dance still be available as an extra-curricular GCSE? We intend to broaden our extra-curricular offer. We are offering dance, drama and music on the options form as extra-curricular subjects. Drama and Music will of course remain available as options within the school day. The criteria for choosing an extra-curricular subject will be explained in the options booklet.

The major stipulation will be that only students who are committed and who will be able to cope with the extra work will be allowed to take an extra GCSE. This should enable more students to study a language, a humanity and also study two arts subjects. We understand that a significant number of students are very keen to study two arts subjects but that this limits their choices in the traditional academic subjects.

Guided choices We believe that options are not a completely free set of choices by students. Students, parents and the school work together to decide on the best set of non-core GCSEs to be chosen. For many students a conversation with tutors is sufficient but we will interview some students with their parents if we believe that choosing the most suitable options might be a difficult task. All options choices need to be agreed by the school as being suitable for the student and providing a broad range of skills and knowledge. This will usually take place in a discussion with form tutors when the options form is handed in.

Information from the DfE on the GCSE reforms is available on their Get the Facts: GCSE Reforms webpage available through a search or http:// tinyurl.com/hws2016

KEY DATES Options Assemblies: 22nd Feb and 29th Feb Options Evening: 14th March Deadline for return of Option Forms: 21st March 8

Issue 28

February 2016

E-PRAISE—OUR NEW SYSTEM FOR KEEPING TRACK OF ACHIEVEMENT AND BEHAVIOUR

Mr Ashman writes: To support our new behaviour policy and to improve information sharing with parents, carers and also students we have now introduced e-praise.

E-praise builds on our previous Vivo system, allowing us to develop things beyond just keeping track of achievement points and turning them into more tangible rewards in the “shop.”

E-praise allows students and families to be automatically alerted every time a milestone is reached (usually every 15 achievement points), it provides a way for the school to recognise and reward students who consistently do the right thing, and it also provides parents, carers and students with a detailed overview not just of the positive achievements but also of negative behaviours, or demerits, that have been recorded.

The new system also offers some useful tools for students, letting them see their timetable on-line, compiling and reviewing their own biography and making suggestions for what should be available in the shop. With e-praise it is the school and the students who make the decision on what should be available in the shops, and thus the School Council is now busy going through the ideas on what should be on offer. They may want to maintain some of the plastic trinkets that were available through Vivo, but current proposals have been rather more creative and have included things like buying a non-uniform day for their form, a lunch pass to get ahead of the dining queue, having a hot chocolate with the Headteacher or having a weeks dispensation from having their top button done up.

Students have automatically been enrolled into e-praise, and can access the site with their regular school username and password. Parents and carers need to register using their own email account. They should have already received details on how to do this, but if they need any help please email data@hws.haringey.sch.uk.

(The Vivo system is still “live” and accessible and may be used differently in the future as Vivo are now moving from their “rewards” functionality to provide educational content.)

Issue 28

February 2016

9

SCHOOL COUNCIL 2016—2017 Ms Gribble writes: Congratulations to our new representative who will make up the School Council for the coming year (the School Council runs from January to December).

The current council have already been involved in discussions with the school’s Leadership Team on Year 7

H I G

Elsa Poutney Ellis Mbachu James Hastings O’Shea Jennifer Oxford-Williams Felix Andrew Katiya Dickson

Year 7 A T E

Year 8

H I G

Caitlin Gillespie

Lewis Robinson Clara Klein-French Bradley Kentish Romilly Gosling

Samuel Glaser Wesley Haynes

I

Ollie Freeman

G

Mia Johnson Rebecca M

Ellice Almeida Stacey Slawinski

I G

Joe Cadden Isobel Murray

I G 10

Lloyd Bolton Laura Gibbons Hannah Crabb-Krivine Martha White Tarrel Watson-Noel Ebony Walcott

W

Gabrielle Percival Zeki Jones

D

Matilda Heath Betty Knox

S

Matty Brewer

Jack Gordon

T

Glenford Hughes

E

Louis Yule Nancy Moule Marlon Costa Tamsin Jacobs Pema Rogers Abdi Warsame

Year 8

Hug Clauge Ty Knox Sadia Sharif

W

Faber Bell

D

Cheyenne Sloane

S

Moresha Manseray

Selin Tas Joe Ewbank Kelton Ryland Ben Millard

Year 9 A T E

Year 9

Louise Cole-Legate

W

Matthew Mackie Rojda Sigicli

Emer Stevens Cass Beckford

D

Brandon Durand Jem Clift

S

Natalie Manorahan

Desai Campbell Muir Charlotte Whelan

Year 10 A

Erdem Cavusoglu

T

Jaden Bevan

E

Year 11

H

Armando Idrizi

A

Year 10

H

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

H

the new behaviour policy and the rewards that could be available on the new e-praise system.

They have also reported back to Mr Hewitt on students’ views on marking and feedback, and have successfully campaigned for the provision of wet weather cover in the playground (see elsewhere in Insight for details about this).

Year 10

Savannah Mundle Maya Eagles Dennis Demeter

W

Elle-Mae Netherton

D

Nancy Mahon

S

Tony Tyler

CJ Mcarthy Max Cowie Aiesha Shallo

Year 11 A T E

Year 11

Madeline Baron

W

Tre Jackson Frankie Foster

D

Jace Griffiths Ibrahim Sertkaya Amy Townsend-Lowcock Issue 28

S

Kiehm Assare-Sonkour Lucy Whelan Jake Hamilton Alice Bowen Jabed Abdullah Mohammed Neve Maher

February 2016

DIGITAL SAFETY AND SAFER INTERNET DAY

YEAR 11 REVISION GUIDANCE Mr Hartley writes: Several Year 11 parents have asked me for advice on how much time students should be spending on revision and how that should be apportioned.

There is no definite answer to this, but I hope the guidance below will be useful.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Mr Ashman writes: Following on from our esafety Parent Information Evening on Safer Internet Day we have free copies of Digital Parenting magazine available for parents and carers.

This is a useful publication providing advice and guidance on a wide range of concerns, from sexting and cyberbullying to coding and computer gaming.

If you would like a copy please pick one up from Wren Reception in school.

Start with equal time for all subjects For subjects that you find the easiest (you got really good results in your mocks) reduce the time allocation - increase it for the tricky ones Increase time allocation for English and Maths Increase (slightly) allocation for the subjects that you need to prioritise for 6th form.

After this you should have an approximate percentage of revision time for each subject that adds up to 100%

How much time?

School days. There are 25 useable hours during the school week (4pm— 9pm = 5 hours) x 5 days. If you allow yourself 10 hours of “personal” time, you are left with around 15 hours that could be divided between subjects as above.

Weekends: The available time, say 9am to 9pm is 24 hours. If you allow yourself half of this for personal things, you have 12 hours available for revision. Divide this between subjects as above. Try and slot in a 1/2 hour slot for an exam under test conditions each weekend.

Holiday time: If you assume 5 days available each week, that gives you 60 hours. If you use half of those for work and half for personal things that gives you around 30 hours of revision time.

We also have a number of useful “check list” guides to help keep users safe on Twitter, Instragram, Facebook and Snapchat. These are also available from Wren reception.

Information and resources from the Information Evening will soon be added to the existing material already available on the esafety pages of the school website.

For more information please email: esafe@hws.haringey.sch.uk

Some students will do more than this and, provided there is still scope for relaxation and it is not causing undue stress, this is a good thing. Others may find it difficult to commit themselves to this amount of work, in which case some negotiation may be appropriate (and remember that homework, as well as any classes in school should count as revision). But the key thing is to ensure that a revision programme has been agreed, and is being followed.

Starting now is much, much better than leaving it until later.

Issue 28

February 2016

11

PEARLY WHITE EXPERIMENT

Olivia Birkett writes: A group of year 9 students are carrying out a very exciting project after school with Ms Andreas: How good are teeth whitening toothpastes at removing everyday stains from our teeth?

For the next 5 weeks they will be investigating how white eggs soaked in everyday liquids like tea, coffee and juices respond to whitening and non whitening toothpaste. They are using eggshell as a substitute to real teeth as they are made from the same chemicals.

In the near future, the students will be presenting their project and their findings at a conference which will be held at the University of Westminister.

INTERNATIONAL WORK: UPDATE

HISTORICAL FICTION COMPETITION

Ms Harding writes: The history department will be launching an inter house competition next term. The competition will be launched in a year 8 assembly, which Keren David has kindly offered to host with us.

Year 8 students will write an imaginative story that must be historically accurate. The story must be based on factual events, places, customs, and give an accurate portrayal of life as it was in the past.

The best three stories will be sent to the Historical Association as part of a competition that they run each year. Highgate Wood School students have won this (international) competition 3 times over the last six years!

The winners have their story published in the HA magazine, as well as receive a ÂŁ25 prize and a paper weight.

Also, as it is an inter house competition, the three winners will be announced in assembly. The three students who's stories are chosen will receive merits and a certificate from the history department. They will also be commended in next term's issue of 'Insight'.

MFL LUNCHTIME CLUB

Mr Grimmett writes: The International Society and our partner school in Kuurne, Belgium, are recording school life which will include recording classes, conducting interviews and explaining to our counterparts what makes our school community special. After recording we will be editing it ourselves and hope to publish it onto the school website.

We are also in talks with an Istanbul school regarding the environment. See the Environment Society article for more information.

12

Ms Clyne writes: A reminder that the MFL department runs a lunchtime workspace in A35 every Wednesday for invited students to work on their language skills and have access to a computer. Don't forget to take advantage of this space if you have been invited.

The Year 9 French Club is still running every week 1 Thursday in A34 at 1.10 by our French language assistant Eliane. Come along to develop your confidence in French and learn some spontaneous language in a fun environment.

Issue 28

February 2016

NECK OF THE WOODS - CALL OUT!

VISIT TO PARLIAMENT

Esme Cavendish writes: Neck of the Woods is an entirely independent student-run newspaper, created in order to empower the students of Highgate Wood School and provide an opportunity for them to explore the various roles that are required in the running of a newspaper: these range from writing and editing to advertising and photography.

Over the past year, we have covered a lot of exciting material, including interviews with actors and sports personalities in addition to a BBC news team who reported from Sierra Leone during the Ebola crisis.

We are very keen for current Year Elevens to get involved in the next issues so that the paper can continue to thrive as they move up into the Sixth Form.

We also welcome advertisements; if any parents, carers or students wish to place an advert in the paper, feel free to contact us at

Ms Birnie writes: Year 12 and 13 Politics students visited Parliament to get an insight into Westminster. After a tour and visit to a Commons debate, the students took part in a workshop to create their own new law: to establish Compulsory Voting in the UK. After much deliberation and heckling, with pleas of “Order, Order” from acting speaker Oscar, the red team led by Aaron emerged the winners.

ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY

PLANNING FOR MADFEST 2016

Mr Grimmett writes: Are you interested in the environment? Are you interested in helping to make our school community greener? Are you someone who will put their mind to a goal and work towards achieving it?

Then why not help set up an Environment Society?

We are looking for students from Year 7-10 to set up and lead an environmental group which will focus on improving the environment both within the school community and the local community.

Mr Grimmett is currently in talks with a school from Istanbul, Turkey, who would like to visit us as part of an ‘environment conference’ in May. We are looking for students to fill the roles below so we can set this up in time for their arrival. If you’d like to be involved please e-mail Mr Grimmett (dgr@hws.haringey.sch.uk) so that he knows you are interested.

The first meet-up will be at the very start of lunchtime on the first Thursday back (25th Feb) in A1. Reminders will be put up on the Admin Building entrances.

Issue 28

February 2016

Lindsey Reed from the PSA writes: MADFest is the biggest event in the PSA calendar and has been a major part of Highgate Wood School life. In recent years it has grown to include not just music, art and drama but also to showcase work in Media Studies and Design Technology and now, maybe, it is time to develop it even more.

We are asking all staff, students and their families to complete a short on-line survey of their thoughts and ideas about MADFest in the hope that this leads us to plan for even greater success in the future.

The survey, which only take you about 5 minutes, is available at http://tinyurl.com/madfest2016 13

YOUNG MUSICIAN JAZZ AWARD

MEDIA STUDIES VISITS THE BFI

Ms Pinnick & Ms Daws-Knowles write: Mr Harlow writes: Congratulations to Noah Stoneman who has become the youngest finalist in the prestigious BBC Young Musician Jazz Award 2016 We all wish him the very best of luck in the finals which takes place on Saturday 12 March in the Dora Stoutzker Hall, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff.

A2 Media Studies students attended a study day at the BFI Reuben Library on London’s Southbank.

Students were able to access the vast collection of books, journals and digitised material about the world of film, television and the moving image to research for their Critical Investigation coursework.

Our students were surprised at the huge volume of reading and note-taking they managed to achieve in a day. Many are planning a return visit!

This year we have some really interesting research questions such as: 

Why is TV comedy drama the perfect genre for discussing the 'hard stuff'?



Why is children's TV not held in the same high regard as other genres?



Why are films with more complex narratives becoming more successful?

The Librarian commented that our students were the best behaved, most focused group to visit the library in recent years - and they meet a lot of school groups!

14

Issue 28

February 2016

SIXTH FORM NEWS

Mr Charlesworth writes: This year one hundred and five of our students have completed university applications with a further fifteen applying to study a Creative Foundation Degree at a College of Art or Design. As ever students have chosen a wide variety of options across the country, with courses in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Maths and Sciences being the most popular.

Over the last few year Highgate Wood Sixth Form has been encouraging more students to apply to the top 20 Russell Group of Universities and students in Year 13 have certainly taken this on board.

In 2015 32 students leaving the school won places at Russell Group Universities representing just under a third of students gaining a place. This year 85 from the 105 students applying have a Russell option as part of their application and most of these have a good chance of winning a place.

Applications to Oxford or Cambridge totalled ten this year with nine being offered an interview. Of these four have received offers for places to study history, English Literature, English Literature and Language and mathematics. In addition Jake Hamilton who finished his A levels in 2015 has accepted a place at Oxford to study Human Sciences – a mix of the physical and social sciences – starting in October 2016. Jake gained grades A* in Biology and Sociology with an A in English Literature to win his place and is the first student from Highgate Wood Sixth Form to take a place on this course.

It is not just those taking A levels who have university offers. A group of students taking BTEC Business Studies are working hard to gain Distinction grades that will enable them to take a place at Issue 28

February 2016

University College London where they will study Management and Business Studies. Russell Group Universities have been accepting BTEC qualifications for a few years but this is the first year that such a prestigious university as UCL has made offers to those taking a BTEC option. Of particular note is a student who only came to live in the UK aged 14 with very little English who has an excellent chance of winning a place at UCL to study Information Management for Business.

For those taking a more creative route into Higher Education an application to a Foundation degree is the first stage of their program of study. This Year there are 15 such applications from Highgate Wood School Sixth Form students who have applied for a range of courses – Film Making, Photography, Fine Art, Animation. To support these students Neale Marriott oversees a series of workshops on the building of an effective portfolio and he is confident that all 15 have a strong application and a good chance of gaining a place.

APPLICATIONS TO THE SIXTH FORM A record number of applications have been received from students currently attending other schools who have expressed an interest in joining our successful sixth form.

Over 160 applications have been received from more than 15 schools in North London.

Interviews are scheduled for after half term when we hope to have a clear indication of which students will be offered a place to start in September 2016.

Year 11 students who are currently at Highgate Wood School have already had a meeting in school to discuss their plans for Year 12. Interest in their Sixth Form is extremely high and it has been a pleasure for those staff involved in the meetings to hear how positively students talk about Highgate Wood and how supportive it has been of them as they prepare to take their GCSEs. 15

MAGNIFICENT CASTLE PROJECTS

BBC SCHOOL REPORT

Ms Wildman & Ms Daws Knowles write: Ms Harding writes: Year 7 students produced some fantastic castle projects this term. They had to research two different medieval castles, and include information about the history of each castle. The students also added a description and explanation of the strongest features of the castle. They also had to label pictures and diagrams of the strong features explaining what makes them good defensively.

Students also designed a ‘super’ castle. The design had to use medieval castle methods only. It had to be possible to build using medieval building materials and techniques only.

Many students produced excellent projects and received merits and praise cards.

Well done year 7.

EXAM INVIGILATORS WANTED Highgate Wood School will need to recruit invigilators for the upcoming spring and summer exams.

If you are interested please apply on-line on the school website.

We are also looking for individuals who are fluent in English and one of the following languages: Arabic, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian to help the languages department in conducting oral exams in those languages.

Please contact Mr Demetriou for details: jde@hws.haringey.sch.uk

Year Ten Media Studies students are invited to participate in the awesome BBC School News Report, which will be aired on Thursday 10th March.

For one day, the Media Suite will be turned into a newsroom. Selected students will spend the preceding weeks planning, researching and filming and then will have the day off timetable on the 10th to film and present news stories. We will link up with schools all over the country and our stories will be seen by a national audience. School reporters will experience the excitement and pressure of presenting the news to a tight deadline. Highgate Wood School has a proud record of successful reporting with this project, with last year’s team appearing on national news and one student reporter interviewing the then Minister of Education Rt Hon. Michael Gove .

This is a unique experience as well as a fun and rewarding opportunity where students have the possibility of visiting the BBC Newsroom and meeting professional journalists.

Student applications have already taken place and we will be announcing the team immediately after the half-term break. These students will put together a practice report which will be available to view on the school website.

The school is committed to paying Invigilators the London Living Wage

16

Issue 28

February 2016

SCHOOL MUSICAL—OUR HOUSE

Ms Crook writes: Over the last term and a half, the cast and musicians of 'Our House' have been rehearsing tirelessly to put together an all singing, all dancing Highgate Wood showstopper of a musical!

Moreover, the fabulous art department and their production crew have been sweating away to create a stunning stage set that will truly bring this performance to life!

'Our House' the musical (written by Tim Firth) employs the music of Madness to explore the themes of love, family values, growing up, responsibility and dealing with losing the people that shape us. The story follows Camden lad Joe Casey who, on the night of his 16th birthday, makes a decision that will change his life, causing it to quite literally - take two very different paths. The show takes influence from well known classics such as Willy Russell's 'Blood Brothers' and was the winner of the 2003 Olivier award for Best New Musical. It has since gone on to tour both nationally and internationally to great acclaim.

Highgate Wood School drama and music students are delighted to offer students, parents and members of the community the chance to come and see their take on this fantastic production and encourage you to purchase tickets before it's too late!

Issue 28

February 2016

The Cast Joe Casey: Max Cowie & Fraser Frengley Sarah: Zoe Hutchings Casey’s Dad: James Courtney Lewis: Celine Gyamfi Reecey: Jayden Bevan Emmo: CJ McCarthy Billie: Phoebe Bennett Angie: Frankie Shand Kathy Casey: Lucy Whelan

The Band Musical Director: Ed Harlow Sax, Clarinet & Flute: Esi Ugboma Guitar: Ping Lee Keyboards: Maddy Baron Bass: Ethan Fraser Drums: Noah Stoneman Trumpet: Lucy Newbold & Gabe Brown Trombones: Patrick HegartyMorrish

Set Construction & Props Milou-Mai Law Romilly Gosling Ramneet Bains Maya Koski-Wood Colette Rogers Anna Keating Sibylla Baron Edan Silbiger Vuk Winrow Eleanor Bolton Sabine Kikuchi-House Lila-Rose Marcuson Aoife Davey-Gunn Camilo Chapman Roxanne Norbert Tatiyana Thomas Gabrielle Percival Staff Neale Marriott Michelle Mastericks Katty Zwicky Charlotte Angove Wendy Bardsley

Artistic Director: Luke Brown Costume Design: Eileen James Lighting: James Ramsden Photography: Empire Productions

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM MRS HASSAN OR tickets@hws.haringey.sch.uk 17

YEAR 8 PUPPET MAKERS Ms Allaway writes: Well done to our superb puppet makers in the Year 8 textiles rotation.

Rene Raymond, Eleanor Bolton, Zachary Chisholm, Eleanor Bolton, Abdiadiz Adan, and Vernon Green were among those who planned, designed and then created these great hand puppets.

Well done to everyone, and I look forward to seeing the first Highgate Wood School Puppet Show early in the new term!

18

Issue 28

February 2016

WET WEATHER COVER ON ITS WAY

HWS PSA LOTTERY FUNDED PROJECT Mr Ashman writes: We are delighted (and grateful) that our Highgate Wood School PSA has been able to authorise a major purchase for the school.

Following a campaign by the School Council we are committed to providing some wet weather cover in the playground. Phase 1 of this project is for the construction of a canopy on the wall spanning down the building with the school hall, where students line up for the canteen.

The cost is over ÂŁ8,000 and is being met entirely by the PSA Lottery. It is a fantastic demonstration of what the lottery can bring to the school.

Currently around 10% of the school community subscribes to the PSA lottery. It costs just ÂŁ12 a year, but gives those who are part of it the chance of winning, whilst also allowing the school to benefit significantly from the scheme. Without the lottery revenue, this wet weather covering would not have been possible.

If you are not already involved in the lottery please join now. It will help us move forward to get funds for Phase 2.

For details of the PSA Lottery Scheme please contact Jane or Arabella at hwslottery@me.com

PLEASE JOIN THE HWS LOTTERY SO WE CAN ALSO RAISE THE FUNDS FOR PHASE 2 Issue 28

February 2016

THE BENEFITS OF LEARNING LANGUAGES

HOW HAS YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF A SECOND LANGUAGE BENEFITED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER? Ms Lacroix writes: The languages department will be holding a Year 9 assembly on the 22nd February on the importance of learning languages. We wanted to gather the views and experiences of parents on how language learning helped, or its absence hindered, their career paths.

Already we have received some feedback from parents. We know of a parent who was offered two fantastic career opportunities in a major multinational, one based in Belgium the other based in Spain. He had to turn them both down because of his lack of languages.

Another parent has explained the value of learning French in their career. They qualified as a barrister, and now have to use French on a regular basis as it is the official language of the European Court and of the European Commission.

A Highgate Wood School mother who is a musician has found that her knowledge of foreign languages has been hugely beneficial to her career as a performer, allowing her travel all around the world, whilst another mother uses her proficiency in a second language to the benefit of those she works with in providing legal advice and support to others.

If your ability to speak another language has helped in your career, or your inability to speak a second language has hindered you, please let us know.

Email me with your story and we will be able to share it with the students. ala@hws.haringey.sch.uk

19

FIRST STORY I'm a man

By Victoria Stogdon-Culbert 9E I froze. Time seemed to have stopped. The deadly silence crept upon me as I felt angry, sad, scared, and betrayed all at once.

Who would do this? My sweet little bundle of love was dying right in front of my eyes and there was nothing that I could do to stop it. The last boy on earth has died. The sensible one. The ONLY one.

Men are all that are left now. No women. No girls.

No boys. Just many controlling men.

Not me. I'm brave and kind. Thoughtful too. I'm a man of respect. My boy has taught me lots. To Mr Gowan writes: stay positive. Learn from my mistakes. And most The First Story Scheme has been running fortnightly importantly, stay on top of my game because writing workshops with myself and professional when 'the guys' return everything turns ugly. No writer Adam Kammerling. I've seen individuals one’s safe. blossoming into a confident group who continue to Poor Alex hasn't lived to be a man and in a way surprise me with their grasp of language and unique I'm glad. Men aren't friendly. They go about their lines of thinking. business showing no emotion whatsoever. "You’re As part of First Story we recently received a copy of a man, not one of those girls from centuries ago. our favourite books and have just enjoyed a They're long gone. Focus on your big future as a fascinating and rewarding trip to a UCL writing strong powerful man!" workshop. We are continuing to amalgamate our That is exactly what I’m afraid of. I'm a kind man ideas and look forward to unleashing our with many feelings though I’m a 'man'. One of professionally published anthology in the near "them" and there's nothing I can do about it. future.

SPEAK OUT CHALLENGE

Ms Gribble writes: Congratulations to Noah Stoneman and Max Cowie who performed their speeches at the Regional Finals for Speak Out Challenge. They were both extraordinarily impressive, intelligent and persuasive.

20

Noah spoke about the importance of music in the National Curriculum. The judges were very impressed by how articulate and mature his speech was, and commented in particular on how well structured his argument appeared.

Max spoke about his own life experiences but applied them to a wider audience to argue very coherently about how everyone should have a contingency strategy when finding themselves in new and unfamiliar situations.

We were very proud of both of them and though they were not the ultimate winners of the challenge many people agreed that they should have been. Maybe next time!

Issue 28

February 2016

JACK PETCHEY AWARD WINNERS

DEBATE MATE VICTORY

Ms Sayers writes: On 27th January, Ms Monaghan, Ms Bielby and myself had the pleasure of taking 23 students to the first round of the Urban Debate League at Oaklands School in Bethnal Green. For the first time, Highgate Wood entered three teams, each of which comprised of seasoned debaters and Debate Mate newcomers.

The teams took part in two debates, both of which were unprepared, meaning that students only had 15 minutes to prepare their speeches.

They argued their positions zealously in response to the first motion, 'This house would allow students to choose what they study in school' and tackled wider societal issues in the second motion, 'This house would ban advertising for things that are bad for you'.

Both teams came up against formidable opponents but the students debated expertly with precision and passion. Their efforts were rewarded with a clean sweep, winning all six of their debates!

National results for the competition will be published shortly and competition is fierce to say the least; only the top 14 of 200+ teams will advance to the finals at the House of Lords!

Many congratulations to all of the students who took part- we are very proud of you!

MUSIC FEES Mrs Hasan writes: Please could you ensure that any outstanding fees for music lessons are paid as soon as possible.

I am now only available on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays but you can contact me through email.

We have also set up a music fees payment facility on Wisepay. tha@hws.haringey.sch.uk Issue 28

February 2016

Ms Gribble writes: Congratulations to this year’s Jack Petchey Award winners, Ella Reynolds, Reuben Braman and Noah Stoneman.

All three were nominated by the School Council and seconded by the Heads of House to receive an award from Jack Petchey. They were each given £200 grants to be spent within the school.

Ella Reynolds: Year 9 Awarded due to; always being helpful and kind to others, for hard work, participating fully in school life and generally being a real pleasure to have as a member of our student body.

Ella’s grant is to be spent on lunchtime equipment such as balls and games and materials for lunch clubs.

Reuben Braman: Year 7 Awarded due to; having settled really well into year 7 and having been very supportive to other students in the transition. Reuben has shown he is friendly, pleasant and tries his best in class.

Rueben’s grant is to be spent on badges for students who have earned the most achievement points as well as subject awards Noah Stoneman: Year 10 Awarded due to; participation in school events via the big band and the orchestra. Noah took part in the Jack Petchey speak out challenge and has been put forward to go to the regional finals. He is always conscientious and has a lovely sense of humour.

Noah’s grant is to be put towards the Jack Petchey Speak Out Training so that others in his year group can take part.

21

NORTH LONDON MODEL UN CONFERENCE

Beth Gosschalk writes: Model United Nations, otherwise known as MUN, is a very good experience, and therefore definitely worth doing. It is a re-creation of the United Nations, which is an international organisation that aims to improve human rights and reduce conflict. Before the MUN conference, you, as a delegate, are given a country and from then onward, have to act as the country would act. This means that you have to research your country's stance on the issue that you've been given and then, at the conference, you represent your country in all forms of debate.

In March 2016, our school is holding the ninth MUN London conference. It is organised by a group of students, with the help of Mr Robertson. Each committee is chaired by year 11s/12s and is directed by a student in the upper sixth, or even a student who previously studied at Highgate Wood School. This means that we have a lot of control over the conference, so try and make it as enjoyable and valuable as possible. This year the conference title is 'A place called home? Refuge and migration', which couldn't be more relevant given the refugee crisis we currently face. The UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for 22

Refugees) estimates that at the end of 2014, the number of forcibly displaced people had reached over 59 million. This means that, globally, one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced or seeking asylum. If this were the population of a country, it would be roughly equivalent to the UK and would be the 24th largest population on the planet. It is therefore evident that much is to be done about the refugee crisis, which is why we chose the topic that we chose. The conference will explore topics from the rights of refugees to conditions in refugee camps to human trafficking. It is a hard hitting topic, but undeniably a very interesting and up-to-date one. We hope that the conference will make people more aware of the crisis, thus inspired to help out and do their bit.

You certainly do not merely gain 'something for your CV' from doing MUN, it's so much more than that. It helps you develop skills in research, writing, debating and critical thinking. The day itself is very fun, as you have the opportunity to debate, meet new people, dress up smartly and have a very nice meal. I've been involved in MUN since year 8 and not once do I regret being part of it. It gives you something to aspire to by opening your eyes to what is going on around the world. I would definitely recommend getting involved if you can, you will not regret it!

Issue 28

February 2016

YEAR SEVEN SPELLING BEE

Ms Wildman writes: Huge congratulations to the winners of the class spelling tests. They are now going on to a wider Spelling Bee competition to end in a “Knock out” round to determine the overall winner.

7H: Cassia Begg, Izzy McBroom, Art Jubb-Baddeil 7I: Orgena Kola, Ava Todd, Tulsi Vaithilingham and Maya Kane 7G: Gabriel Cahill Coady, Ameera Bracko Mounti, Daisy Murray 7A: Roxanne Norbert Dit Imbs, Lily Corran, Manon Elliot 7E: Finn Quateramain, Joel Penn Lawrence, Jess Renton and Matthew Brewer.

7T: Risat Hussain, Alice Jenkins, Diyar Ciftici 7D: Zoe Street, Pia Kanani, Anwara Shorab 7W: Bethany Matsuda Gaviria, Siyar Sigirtmac and Lily Bacon-Darwin 7S: Evan Shute, Ellie Hutchings, Nancy Shand

MATHEMATICAL COMPETITION Ms Payton writes: Over the last fortnight dozens of students have been busy working on our first Inter-House Maths Competition. We have been really pleased about how popular it has been and look forward to going through all the entries soon after we return.

The competition will be open for one week after our return from the half-term break and we will then be announcing the winning individuals and the winning House.

Issue 28

February 2016

Read on for tips to become a better speller, whatever age you are: Which words are difficult to spell?  Words you are unfamiliar with.  Long and complex words with many syllables.  Words that are derived from another language, like English words that are derived from French, for instance.

‘Macabre’ is a good example of this.  Words that have the same sounds but have different letters, for instance, “cautious”, “Conscious”- the T and the SC make the same sound. Words with “C” and “S” making the same sound are also good examples of this.  Words that are pronounced differently to how they are spelled, for instance, the noun “separate” (“we were moved so we were separate”), is pronounced “seperate”.  Words with silent letters, like “subtle”.

How to become a better speller (for all ages!):  Top spellers revise and practice for their class spellings test.  Some people read differently to others; they see words in a different way to others. For instance, they may see a word as a whole shape rather than a group of letters. This can affect your ability to spell and is not linked to effort or intellectual ability; you can be a poor speller but have a great imagination when writing stories, or you can write an essay which analyses a book really effectively. These people have to learn different or specific methods in order to improve their accuracy when spelling, like learning groups of words with similar patterns and learning groups of six words at a time.  Some people read more than others. Research shows that if you read more, then your ability to spell will improve.  Some people have really good spelling methods. For instance, they might visualise the word in their mind or they may separate the word into different syllables in their mind. Many top spellers use a method where they link a new spelling with another, in order to remember how to spell it. For instance, you may link the word ‘achieve’ with the word ‘believe’ in order to remember that ‘I’ goes before ‘e’ here. A time-old method is to separate the word into syllables or smaller sounds in your mind, like ‘con-science’. Pronouncing the word as it is spelled (in your head) is also a good way of remembering how to spell words that are pronounced differently to how they are written. You could pronounce the ‘K’ at the beginning of the word ‘Knead’, for instance.  Give it a try yourself by going onto the spellingbee.com website and having a go on the quiz at the bottom of the page.

23

SKILLS FOR LIFE @ PRUDENTIAL

Mr Talbert writes In January, twelve Year 12 A Level Business and ICT students started their 6 months innovative programme of employability workshops organised by the Transformation Trust in partnership with the Prudential.

The workshops have been designed to explore their own skills and strengths, how these will be useful in their careers and how they can best communicate these to a potential employer, be it a Saturday job or career role, an apprenticeship or university.

The workshops are professionally facilitated by Andrew “Bernie” Bernard and attended by Prudential senior leaders and employees who mentor the students and convey their experiences and career path to date.

The students have gained a better understanding of themselves and their career goal so far and look forward to the remaining workshops.

MINECRAFT RETURNS

Mr Talbert writes: After a brief absence from the lunchtime enrichment calendar, Minecraft Club is making a comeback after the half term break. We are currently in the final stages of beta testing before we officially launch so be on the lookout for more news after the half term break.

Thanks to Sibylla Baron (8E), Maya Koski-Wood (8E), Lila-Rose Marcuson (8E), Anya Seymour (8E), Edan Silbiger (8E) & Sabine Kikuchi-House (8W) for beta testing the software.

BOWLING REWARD

YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE Ms Eisa writes: Our year 10 students will be completing a week of work experience from the 29th of February to the 4th of March. There are some really fantastic placements this year and we can’t wait to hear how they have enjoyed the experience.

Students should be preparing themselves over the half term making sure they have contacted their placement and gone in for an initial meeting. I’m sure you will make the school very proud with your hard work. Don’t forget this is a great opportunity for you to get a fantastic reference for your CV and set yourself above the rest in the job market!

24

Ms Burniston writes: Congratulations to the fantastic 7T. They were rewarded with a Bowling Trip on Monday 25th January for being the form with the most merits in the entire school, and also the very best attendance in Seacole House.

A well deserved reward, and a really enjoyable outing.

Issue 28

February 2016

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES IN PE

INTER-HOUSE SPORT

MONDAY LUNCHTIME

Year 7—11 Girls Football

Astroturf

LUNCHTIME

Year 8—9 Trampolining

Sports Hall

KS3 & KS4 Netball Training

Back PGrnd

AFTER SCHOOL

TUESDAY LUNCHTIME

Year 7 Boys Football

Astroturf

LUNCHTIME

Year 7 Trampolining

Sports Hall

AFTER SCHOOL

Tennis (Highgate Tennis Club)

Tennis Courts

AFTER SCHOOL

Year 7+8 Basketball (LSB)

Sports Hall

AFTER SCHOOL

KS3 Rugby Training

Astroturf

WEDNESDAY LUNCHTIME

Year 8 Boys Football

Astroturf

LUNCHTIME

Indoor Athletics

Sports Hall

AFTER SCHOOL

All Years Badminton

Sports Hall

AFTER SCHOOL

Year 11 Football

Astroturf

THURSDAY LUNCHTIME

Year 10—11 Boys Football

Astroturf

LUNCHTIME

Year 7 + GCSE Trampolining

Sports Hall

AFTER SCHOOL

Cross country training

School to

AFTER SCHOOL

Year 9—10 Basketball

Sports Hall

FRIDAY LUNCHTIME

Year 9 Boys Football

LUNCHTIME

Year 7—8 Indoor Cricket

Sports Hall

AFTER SCHOOL

Girls Cricket Training (NMCC)

Sports Hall

Astroturf

Lunchtime sessions run from 1:10pm - 2:00pm After school sessions run from 3:30 pm - 5:00pm

Mr Bomani writes: The PE department hosted the first sports Interhouse tournaments of the year last week with great success. Each House in Year 7, 8 and 9 played each other at football and basketball.

It was great to see such a large number of students participating.

In terms of points for taking part, Seacole are in 3rd with 24 points, Da Vinci in 2nd with 27 and Edison taking an early lead for the participation trophy with 28 points! On the performance side of things Da Vinci are leading with 28 points, Edison are in 2nd with 25 points and former champions Seacole have some catching up to do with 14 points - come on guys you can do it!

Well done to all that took part and we look forward to the next tournament after half term.

SEX FM COMES TO HIGHGATE WOOD SCHOOL Ms Allaway writes: In the week before half-term the education theatre company, Sex FM, arranged a workshop for the whole Year 9. It was a powerful and thought-provoking production around some of the important issues to do with sex and relationships.

The whole year group behaved extremely well, and showed great maturity and good sense and were a real credit to the school.

Many thanks to everyone involved.

Issue 28

February 2016

25

Ms Ereira writes: Well done to all the students in Year 7 and 8 who have made such progress with Accelerated Reader since September. The Awards that are recorded on this page demonstrate just how much work they have done.

15 QUIZZES PASSED GOLD AWARD Seth Bland (7I) Reuben Braman (7E) Tian-Xing Chaudhry (7A) Julia Coroama (7A) Lily Corran (7A) Max Haslam (7G) Risat Hussain (7T) Ellie Hutchings (7S) Alice Jenkins (7T) Bruno Lansdown (7S) Rory McDermid (7A) Gabriel Monaghan (7A) Orrin Ross (7W) Scala Tromans (7H) Tulsi Vaithilingam (7I) Louis Yule (7W)

500,000 WORDS GOLD AWARD Lily Bacon Darwin (7W) Cassia Begg (7H) Rosie Boardman (7T) Shanya Braithwaite Ambrose (7A) Talia Bunting (7T) Gabriel Cahill Coady (7G) Tian-Xing Chaudhry (7A) Julia Coroama (7A) Lily Corran (7A) Daisy Daman Underwood (7E) Olivia Dennis () Katya Dickson (7G) Manon Elliott (7A) Katie Ewbank (7W) Jenae Feisal (7T) Matilda Heath (7T) Rosie Hegarty Morrish (7T) Peter Hogan (7A) Ellie Hutchings (7S) Alice Jenkins (7T) Maya Kane (7I) Bruno Lansdown (7S) Bethany Matsuda Gaviria (7W) Rory McDermid (7A) Alfie Montgomery (7H) Jonathan Moughton-Small (7W) Nancy Moule (7W) Daisy Murray (7G) Patrick Newcombe (7S) Anders Skovsende (7G) Ella Taylor (7W) Maria Tewodros (7I) Alice Tolipan (7H) Scala Tromans (7H)

26

Fabienne Valancogne (7T) Peter Vincent (7W) Stanley Webb (7I) Louis Yule (7W) Felix Andrew (7G)

10 QUIZZES PASSED SILVER AWARD Najibah Batanda (7S) Cassia Begg (7H) Katie Ewbank (7W) Jenae Feisal (7T) James Fleming (7D) Chimey Gawa (7D) Maya Kane (7I) Orgena Kola (7I) Jonathan Moughton-Small (7W) Nancy Moule (7W) Patrick Newcombe (7S) Nicole Pawlikowska (7E) Lucas Ramos-Thornton (7W) Maria Tewodros (7I) Ava Todd (7I) Holly Tunnicliffe (7H) Peter Vincent (7W) Jenasia Walker (7G) Annie Walker (7W) Stanley Webb (7I)

300,000 WORDS SILVER AWARD Kathleen Archbold (7W) Mushtaba Azizi (7S) Lily Bacon Darwin (7W) Najibah Batanda (7S) Luna Berger (7G) Olivia Dennis (7A) James Fleming (7D) Seren Hurst (7W) Jess Illari (7I) Filip Jaremek (7S) Daisy Mattocks (7T) Isabelle McBroom (7H) Leila Mentash (7D) Taya Miller (7D) Gabriel Monaghan (7A) Nancy Moule (7W) Maya Muir (7S) Tamsin Orford-Williams (7H) Lucas Ramos-Thornton (7W) Orrin Ross (7W) Sienna Santeramo (7T) Elodie Soteriou (7H) Ava Todd (7I) Tulsi Vaithilingam (7I) Annie Walker (7W)

5 QUIZZES PASSED BRONZE AWARD

HWS BOOK AWARD: VOTING OPEN

Naji Ataya (7A) Luna Berger (7G) Tom Biro Sidford (7T) Shanya Braithwaite Ambrose (7A) Su-Lim Chang (7T) Julia Coroama (7A) Olivia Dennis (7A) Katya Dickson (7G) Taulant Krasniqi (7A) Bryce Martin (7T) Rory McDermid (7A) Abdimajid Mohamed (7A) Gabriel Monaghan (7A) Jonathan Moughton-Small (7W) Rio Osman (7T) Gabrielle Percival (7A) Lucas Ramos-Thornton (7W) Denai Riviere-Chance (7W) Tatiyana Thomas (7A)

HWS BOOK AWARD VOTING OPEN

100,000 WORDS BRONZE AWARD Tristan Ashworth (7T) Naji Ataya (7A) Louisa Benamer (7I) Amara Blair (7S) Gabriel Cahill Coady (7G) Zeynep Cengiz (7W) Celeste Clift (7T) Julia Coroama (7A) Gareth Davies (7G) Sophie Davis (7H) Poppy Duval Johnston (7T) Tsiona Fernandes-Tadesse (7S) Renee Garrana (7A) Max Haslam (7G) James Hastings O'shea (7I) Kesena Ivego-Amaiyo (7S) Alice Jenkins (7T) Pia Kanani (7D) Yousaf Khan (7I) Taulant Krasniqi (7A) Lennard Luckett (7S) Ellis Mbachu (7H) Honey McCloy (7E) Rory McDermid (7A) Patrick Newcombe (7S) Joel Penn-Lawrence (7E) Elsa Pountney (7H) Lucas Ramos-Thornton (7W) Latisha Rankin (7W) Jess Renton (7E) Anders Skovsende (7G) Saron Tariku (7D) Isabelle Tye (7E) Annie Walker (7W) William Wellington (7W)

Online voting for the Highgate Wood Book Award is now open via the LRC Blog at www.highgatewoodlrc.wordpress.com Students will also be able to vote in school after the half term holiday, so if you haven’t yet read the shortlisted books, get reading.

You can find them all in the LRC – or pop down to Pickled Pepper Books and see our window display!

Our shortlisted books are: A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond The Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell The Lost and the Found by Cat Clarke One by Sarah Crossan The Door That Led To Where by Sally Gardner Better Left Buried by Emma Haughton The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

Issue 28

February 2016

PICKED PEPPER BOOKS WINDOW DISPLAY BY HIGHGATE WOOD SCHOOL

Keren David writes: We’re incredibly lucky in Crouch End to have an excellent children’s bookshop – Pickled Pepper Books in Middle Lane – and the lovely people who run the shop were excited to hear that Highgate Wood School was running its first ever book award.

We cooked up a plan to promote the book award in the shop’s window.

The LRC’s reading groups rose to the challenge of designing the display, with some great ideas, put forward with very professional presentations (one or two of the designers should be on The Apprentice). Two designs were merged into one winner, and a group of four Y8 girls – Ruby, Yasemin, Leah and Mia – went to the shop on Tuesday to create the window, helped by Ms Ereira and me (I was good with cleaning windows. Less good with tangling string).

The design comprises a huge book, with the names of the shortlisted titles around it.

Behind are the stacks of books and hanging from the top of the window symbols from all the books. It was hard work – the girls were still working away at 4pm – and well worth it, the finished window is eye-catching, colourful and a brilliant advert for the award and the school.

The winner of the award will be announced just over a month from now. So, borrow a copy of the shortlisted books from the LRC, or head down to Pickled Pepper to buy one. Or two. Or all of them.

Which book do you think is going to win?

Issue 28

February 2016

27

School begins again on Monday 22nd February 2016

at 8:35 am It will be Week 2 KEY DATES PARENT EVENINGS Year 7

Tues. 26th April

Year 8

Tues. 3rd November

Year 9

Tues. 23rd February

Year 10

Tues.12th April

Year 11

Thurs. 14th January

Year 12

Thurs. 28th January

Year 13

Thursday 11th February

SPRING 2016

Year 9 Parents Evening

Tues 23rd February

School Musical: OUR HOUSE

Wed 24th February Thurs 25th February

Year 10 Work Experience

29th Feb—4th March

World Book Day

Thurs 3rd March

INSET AFTERNOON (2:00pm)

Wed 9th March

GCSE Coursework Deadline

Friday 11th March

MODELUN CONFERENCE

Sat 12th March

Year 9 Options Evening

Mon 14th March

Term Ends

Thurs 24th March

SUMMER 2016

Mon 4th Jan

Term Starts

Mon 11th April

15th Feb– 19th Feb

Half term break

Thurs 24th March Term Ends

AUTUMN 2016 Term Starts

Mon 5th Sept

Term Starts

30th May - 3rd June Half term break

24th Oct– 28th Oct

Half term break

Friday 22nd July

Wed 21st Dec

Term Ends

Term Ends* * Term ends for students

* 2016-17 dates not finalised

The school calendar is available on-line at www.hws.uk.com

Keep informed Find out what is going on at Highgate Wood School and keep up with our news visit us at our website www.hws.uk.com follow us on twitter twitter.com/highgatewood Check the school’s opening status Call 02084087508 and give the school’s DfE code: 3094030

Insight is available on-line at www.hws.uk.com