The Quest Academy - Autumn 2018 Newsletter

nEwSLETTER

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iSSUE 1 AUTUMn ‘18 Quest News

Quest News

Quest News

Quest News

I Principal’s Message I A Level results

I A Level results cont’d I GCSE results

I Awards Evening

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I eQUESTrian enrichment I Royal Society Summer Exhibition

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100% Pass Rate At A Level for 4th Year Running

Principal’s Message Congratulations to all of our students on another year of excellent results.

In the Sixth Form 100% of students passed for the fourth year running, at GCSE two thirds of all grades were a C/4+ and there were some exceptional individual and departmental results.

I’d like to thank all of the staff team for their unstinting dedication and commitment to ensuring that students did their best and to families for supporting students through what is a challenging time.

We also began this year with two fabulous Awards Evenings which you can read about in this newsletter. It was a proud moment for the nominees, their parents and us – well done to all the award winners. If you were there, we appreciate your support. We were also fortunate to celebrate some promotions in the Combined Cadet Force, which continues to go from strength to strength.

Best wishes for the term ahead.

Mr. A. Crofts

Students at The Quest Academy achieved a 100% pass rate at A Level for the 4th year running, meaning that every single Year 13 student passed every one of their A Level subjects. 81% of all results achieved were A* to C at A Level or equivalent.

In addition to overall successes, 7 individual A Level subjects saw a 100% A*-C achievement, 86% of BTEC grades awarded in Applied Science Extended Certificate were Distinction and 100% of BTEC grades were Distinction or above in Sport Diploma.

Three students achieved A*, A and A in A Levels: Luke Farmer in Maths, Geography and Biology, who will now go on to study Geography at Royal Holloway; Sadia Raman in History, Economics and Philosophy & Ethics, who will now go on to study Politics & International Relations at Queen Mary, University of London; Daniel Rodney in Economics, History and Sociology, who has a place to read History at Bristol University.

Daniel, Head Boy for the last year, said, “I’ve been at Quest since the start of Year 7. I always had the goal to get into a top university and now I’ve done it! I’ve had great friends, excellent teachers; everyone here has got your back through everything.

The teachers have played a really important part giving me opportunities, pushing me to achieve my goals and always believing in me.”

Sadia said, “All I can say is that hard work really pays off! Bless the teachers really; it was their support that helped me achieve this.”

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Madihah Hussain achieved double Distinction and A in Philosophy & Ethics and Applied Science and now goes on to read Finance & Accounting at Queen Mary, University of London. Madihah said, “I really wasn’t expecting this! But my hard work has paid off. All those nights staying up late, revising, reading the textbook over and over. The teachers were so patient. Patience is the key. I asked a billion questions and they always listened and took time to explain to me until I understood. I want to thank all my teachers for supporting me throughout my time at Quest.”

Andy Crofts, Principal at The Quest Academy said, “We’re delighted by yet another year when every student has passed every one of their A level courses. To have achieved four out of every five grades at C or better is testament to their hard work and the commitment of their teachers and families.

We wish them well on the next stage of their journeys with these excellent results.”

Quest graduates are going on to study at a number of top universities including University of Bristol (History), Royal Holloway University of London (Geography), St Mary University of London (Finance & Accounting), University of Southampton (Physiology) and University of Reading (Pharmacy).

GCSE Results Students at The Quest Academy achieved another set of excellent GCSE results. 65% of all results were Grade 4+ or C+ with a larger number of subjects than ever before seeing their cohorts meet or surpass this figure. Six out of ten students achieved five GCSEs between grades 9 and 4 including English and Maths.

(Previously known as 5 A*-C including English and Maths.) All three GCSE separate sciences had a 4+ rate of 79% or better and English achieved a 77% pass rate.

Particular mention goes to Hannah Little who achieved two 9s, two 8s, four 7s a BTEC Merit, and an A. Hannah said, “It’s better now the wait is over!

That’s the worst part of it. Now I am ecstatic! My advice? Buy text books in Year 9 and start working early on.”

Mohammed Zakaria achieved a 9, an 8, two 7s, two 6s, a 5, a 6-5 and a BTEC Merit. Mohammed said, “I’m completely shocked! I wasn’t expecting this, it’s just incredible! Huge thanks to all my teachers. Without them I wouldn’t have achieved these results.

Hard work really does pay off!”

Guled Dubbad achieved two 8s, three 7s, a 6, two 5s, a B and a BTEC Merit and Jasmine Florence achieved three 8s, three 7s, two 6s, two 5s and a BTEC Merit. Guled said, “I’m happy that all the hard work paid off. It’s a massive release of stress to know my results.

Thanks, especially, to Mr Cotton and Mr Russell for always making sure that I kept on track.” Jasmine said, “I did work hard but I also had doubts leading up to results day! I was really worried. Now I feel relieved. Of course, thank you to all the teachers. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”

Principal Andy Crofts, said, “Congratulations to all of our students on their results today. It’s pleasing to see that in English 77% of students passed with a 4+, in Maths 66% passed with a 4+ and across the board 65% of all grades awarded were 4/C or higher.

We wish all students the very best for the future; it has been a pleasure to work with them.”

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QuESt NEwS Academy Awards Evening ‘Celebrating Students Successes of 2017-2018’ Wednesday the 12th September and Thursday 13th September provided the new dates for our Academy Awards Evenings. Traditionally an end of year event the move to the start of a new academic year gave the chance to reflect on all the hard work of the previous year, but also use the event in inspire students to aspire to even further heights in the coming year.

Key Stage Three were first to have their celebration events with over 200 students being nominated for awards by all subject areas and the pastoral teams. Students were invited to receive their awards for attainment, progress, attendance and the four star standard.

Form Tutors had the honour of reading their tutees names and citations as they

took it in turns to be recognised. Every award was the result of hard work and dedication and was warmly applauded as student took to the stage in groups of three. Students picked up between one and ten awards each on the evening and our overall Key Stage Three student of the year was announced as Giulia Dusea.

Key Stage Four and Five awards evening followed the very next day with awards being made in all the same categories as for the younger students. Again large numbers of students were nominated and picked up between one and nine awards for their commitment and effort over the previous year. A further award was made to Shanti Harbourne and Ryan Donnelly for their promotions to

“Sylvia” On Thursday 13th September 30 Quest students were lucky enough to travel to The Old Vic to watch the musical Sylvia. It was an immensely evocative performance of the life of Suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst and was inspired by the modern hip-hop genre.

This performance was the first of four this year and the Quest Academy were one of 40 schools to be successful in applying for this project from over 120 that applied.

G. Kensit

Lance Corporal and Corporal respectively as part of our Combined Cadet Force unit. The culmination of the evening saw Amber Chase win the award for Key Stage Four student of the year and Zakaria Rage collect the award for Key Stage five student of the year.

Both evenings are always clear highlights of the academy year and it was amazing to see so many parents and carers there to support the children.

Thank you to all those that attended and supported the evening, particularly Emma Roseweir, Joey Roseweir, Catherine Colvert, Summer Saundercock, and Joshua Smith who performed so wonderfully to entertain the audiences during both evenings.

R. Houghton

the Riot Act On Thursday 13th September the new year 7 intake at The Quest Academy were delighted and enlightened by the engaging ‘Riot Act’ theatre-ineducation performance group. The theatre group returned to the school to bring their unique and personal take on road safety and awareness to the 160 strong audience of students and staff.

Over the course of the hour long performance students were taken on an immersive and interactive journey forcing them to reflect heavily on their own decisions and behaviours, whilst also investing in compelling and engaging storytelling. All students seem to have come away from the experience having thoroughly enjoyed the show, and we hope to welcome The Riot Act back very soon.

A. Boundy

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QuESt NEwS eQuEStrian enrichment Thursday 19th July marked the end of the eQUESTrian enrichment at Kingsmead Stables, Warlingham.

The students have done 30 weeks of lessons and in that time have learnt about stable management as well as developing their riding skills. In their final lesson, students demonstrated their skills as a lead rider and mastered a 3 loop serpentine in the school.

The students have persevered throughout the year, riding in rain, snow and even a storm. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Kingsmead as they have offered the students to continue with their riding privately and to volunteer at the stables.

H. Budd

Royal Society Summer Exhibition My experience at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition in 2018 was wonderful. Firstly, we passed a stall about Mars and finding any type of life on Mars.

They talked about sending new equipment up into space, specifically technology that is able to detect different gases in Mars’ atmosphere. The presenter also kindly let us use the same exact device to show us how different the findings are for specific gases such as Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide.

We also met a representative from the “Nurturing Nature’s Innovations” exhibition. The science researcher of that exhibition had a slug’s body in a vase filled with a dirty mixture. We questioned the man and he explained to us that his exhibition was about using slugs’ slimy

substance (that helps them stick to wet surfaces) in surgeries for important organs such as the heart and the brain. As curious children we asked lots of questions as we found it peculiar for surgeons to be using such substances in surgery but fortunately he was kind and explained to us everything about that topic.

Towards the end of the day, we had a talk and a presentation from a monologist who had started to work as a meteorite researcher in Antarctica. She showed

some exciting pictures.

Overall, I loved my experience at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition because I have learnt many new exciting things which could help me in the future.

Keshica Cahoolessur, Year 9

Important dates for your diary Half Term Holiday - Monday 22nd October - Friday 2nd November End of Autumn Term - Friday 21st December 2018 Events Wednesday 3rd October - Year 7 settling in evening, 5pm-6pm Thursday 18th October – Year 11 Trip to the V&A Thursday 18th October - Year 11 Revision evening, 4pm-7pm Wednesday 17th October - Academy Day 5th-18th November - Year 11 Mock Exams Thursday 8th November - Parent Forum Meeting, 5pm-6pm

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Thursday 15th November - Year 10 & 11 Theatre Trip Thursday 6th December - Year 11 Parents Evening, 4pm-7pm Q6 Open Evening Tuesday 9th October 4pm - 7pm ACADEMY AT WORK TOURS Monday 1st October 11am Monday 8th October 11am Monday 15th October 11am Monday 12th November 11am Monday 10th December 11am