Portland Place School
Weekly Buzz 12 June 2017
Latest school trip to France announced! Upcoming play, trips, concerts
What’s happened in the week and key dates in the diary
Academic and Sports fixtures
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Letter from the Headmaster Dear Parents,
Portrait of Editor
Sadly this half term started in the shadow of last weekend’s tragic events in the centre of London. We have been addressing these issues in assemblies, form time and through Citizenship across the week, giving pupils opportunities to express their feelings and ask the questions they want to. As a school we are reviewing all our procedures regarding potential emergency situations, in line with advice from the Metropolitan Police, and will hold drills on these with pupils in due course. The central message is, as always at such times, to carry on as normal so with that in mind Year 8 visited The Globe on Tuesday afternoon to see a performance of Twelfth Night, reimagined to a 1970s Scottish disco!
This was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon watching an interesting interpretation of Shakespeare that Year 8 pupils really engaged with. And the weather just about held for them as well. Our Mathematics Faculty have been asked to work with two highly regarded organisations - UKMT (United Kingdom Mathematics Trust) and FMSP (Further Maths Support Programme) – on developing new resources for teaching Mathematics to Years 7 and . 8. These resources will be published nationally. This is great recognition and of course your sons and daughters will benefit from these new developments first. I sincerely hope that more of our faculties become involved in such projects. There are many exciting developments for teaching and learning happening within Portland Place that will warrant that wider audience. And now we have the fallout from one the more interesting, if inconclusive, general elections to look forward to and doubtless that will be a live topic of conversation in Portland Place in the coming days and weeks. David Bradbury, Headmaster
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Notice board Opal Coast Trip, May 2018 Ms Magniez, Teacher of MFL The French department is organising a trip to the Opal coast in the north of France from 24th to the 27th May 2018. The trip will be offered to our French students and will include visits to a local boulangerie, a snail farm, Nausicaa (the biggest aquarium in Europe) and more. There will also be opportunities to take part in evening activities such as crêpes making, boules, quizzes and tasting sessions of local delicacies etc. We will be staying at the Château d’Ebblinghem, a 19th century French country house set in a rural location. The price is approximately £650. Letters have been handed out in class, if you are interested please return your reply slip to your French teacher by Friday 16 June.
Summer Concert 2017 Mr Hill, Director of Music It is the time of year where we showcase the talented musicians at Portland Place School through our many and varied ensembles, as well as some solo and small group items, with music from Wagner to Nirvana! Please come along and support the students and email me (steve.hill@portland-place.co.uk) to reserve tickets – please do not contact RADA Studio directly.
HPV Immunisations for year 8 and year 9 girls Ms O’Neill, Deputy Head Teacher The Camden Immunisation Team are scheduled to attend Portland Place School for the 2nd immunisation session on Tuesday 13 June 2017. This is for the HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) which can help to protect against types of cervical cancers. The 1st Dose vaccine for Year 8 and Year 9 girls was given on Thursday the 29 September 2016. The HPV injections can only be given to girls aged from 12- 15 years. Here is a useful link ; http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/hpv-human-papillomavirus-vaccine.aspx
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News Y7 Concert Ms Boyle, Head of Year 7 This year's overriding theme was 'Musicals' and some of the evening performances included: 'Hard Knock Life' (Annie), 'Consider Yourself' (Oliver!) and 'Hakuna Matata' (The Lion King). We also had instrumental solos from our three 'Symphonfree' beginners. Well done to Max, Arturo and Nicholas! One of the highlights for me personally, was the group performance of 'Revolting Children' (Matilda). This was a very challenging piece with time signature changes and many tricky rhythms! A huge well done to all! I would like to thank all parents for attending the Year 7 Concert last week and supporting our students in the build up to the event. We are very proud of them and hopefully this is an experience they will remember.
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News Extended Project Qualification Ms Price, Deputy Head of 6th Form It has been a pleasure supporting and overseeing the EPQ presentations this year. We had topics ranging from an illustrated children’s historical book called ‘The Time Travelling Adventures of Sonny and Poppy’, an essay looking at the biology and ethics involved in ‘designer babies’, an exploration into the significance of Gettysburg in the context of the American Civil War, an investigation into the successful and unsuccessful legal approaches to sex work in a globalised world and a study of the German economy and it’s solutions after the Treaty of Versailles. Seeing the progress made by the students over the course of the year and the outstanding end results was tremendous.
Anthony Horowitz Visit at Daunt Books Elspeth Turnor, Parent of Gordon Turnor Here's a picture from our visit to Daunt Books. Laurie and Gordon really enjoyed meeting Anthony Horowitz and hearing about the return of Alex Rider in "Never Say Die".
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News London to Paris Cycle Ride 2017 Guest piece written by Year 11 Student Mr Naemi (our Maths teacher) took part in the ‘L-2- P’ cycle ride in support of the U-Foundation, a charity organisation active to improve the well beings of children in rural Zambia. The ride took four days, 320 miles/500 km. The routes went through the farm lands, war graves and memorials to the fallen heroes of WWI.
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http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Ebra himNaemi http://www.theufoundation.org/
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Compelling Article Shot
Sports Cricket Club Mr Mcloughlin, Head of PE We are running cricket club this term mainly on Tuesdays after school. This is taking place at Lord’s Indoor Cricket School from 4pm – 5pm. If you wish to attend you must have cricket ‘whites’ otherwise you will not be permitted into the Cricket School, these are the rules of the MCC. Please register your interest on a weekly basis with Mr Kubik in the PE department to avoid missing out as we have limited spaces.
Athletics Sports Day Mr Mcloughlin, Head of PE House T-Shirts are being ordered for sports day. We will only have a limited number of T-shirts and these will be issued out on a first come first served basis. The t-shirts order will be collated by Mr Kubik in the PE department and cost £6 each. Please don’t bring money in, your name will be taken and this will be added to the school bill at the end of term. For those of you who already have a House T-shirt there is no need to buy another unless of course it is too small for you. Please see Mr Kubik for further information.
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Sports Parents Races – Calling All Parents Mr McLoughlin, Head of PE Once again an athletic force needs to be assembled to take on our pupils and teachers in this year’s sports day. After a succession of encouraging performances, we challenge the parents to step up and try and prize the esteemed Parent/Teacher Cup off the teachers who are the current holders of the Trophy. Whilst none of these events are currently Olympic disciplines, they are nonetheless highly demanding tests of endurance, fortitude and skill: Sack Race: x1 Egg and Spoon: x1 Three legged: x2 Obstacle: x1
In addition, during the climax of the day we need competitors in: 4x100m: x4 (mixed, vs parents, 6th form and Y10 boys) Tug of war: x7 (vs parents and 6th form) Sports Day is on Friday 30 June please dust off your trainers and declare yourselves on the day at the earliest opportunity if you would like to be part of this historic event.
ISA National Athletics Championships Mr McLoughlin, Head of PE 14 Athletes chosen to represent London North at the ISA National Athletics Championships
14 athletes from Portland Place have been selected to represent London North at the ISA National Athletics Championships. These are due to take place on Monday 19th June at the Alexandra Stadium in Birmingham. Each athlete was selected on merit from their performances in the London North Championships held before half term. Congratulations to the following Portland Place pupils who have been selected to represent London North in the ISA National Athletics Championships:
Anton Polyakov Erin Dytor Sonny Hayter Jan Ceylan Sumaya Al-Thani Laura Logan Max Ackermann Ben Doll-Steinburg Perdy Bilton Freya Francis Baum Alfie Earnshaw Nicholas Kazarina Lola De Luco Martinez Alfie Campbell
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Calendar and Contact
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Thanks for reading! Look for our next issue at www.portland-place.co.uk/ @PortlandPlaceHD