cranford annual review 2010-2011

Cranford Review2010 2011

E d i t o r i a l

Welcome to the Cranford Review of 2010/2011.

Ano ther year o f record b r e a k i n g e x a m i n a t i o n s u c c e s s w i t h 1 0 0 % o f Cranford students gaining more than five GCSE passes and with more than 91% (more than 9 out of 10) with more than 5 GCSEs at the higher grades A*-C and more than ever gaining high grade passes in GCSE English and mathematics.

Cranford became an academy in April 2011 and as such is an independent school, a regis tered company, a charity and no longer under

the control of the local authority. The freedoms, funding and independence gained by becoming an academy have been put to great use already with a massive additional investment in facilities (come to the school to see the difference with your own eyes), additional high quality staff to make smaller groups sizes and greater support in key areas (for example in maths, English, ICT and science), an enhancement of training for teachers to ensure the best teaching and support for our pupils, a massive investment in extra-curricular opportunities (including the W-factor every Wednesday afternoon, holiday programmes, etc.) and improvements to our school curriculum to better meet the needs and aspirations of all students.

We are delivering everything we promised and the extensive use of the school facilities by the community means that the whole community benefits from these investments and improvements. Cranford is also delighted to have become a founding partner in the ‘Big Local’ lottery project which will bring £1 million for the local community to spend on its own priorities.

In the summer of 2011, the school became one of less than 1% of organisations to achieve the Investors in People GOLD award (the highest possible accolade), Cranford became one of a very elite group achieving the Cultural Diversity Quality Standard at the most challenging ‘Diamond’ level and the school again achieved a number of other awards and recognitions to add to its wall of achievement.

It’s always amazing to reflect upon the enormous range of curricular and extra-curricular events, activities, trips and enrichment opportunities that have helped to develop and realise the potential and the differing talents that exist within our student population. I can hardly believe that we achieved all of this (and more) within just one academic year. Thanks are due to the dedicated staff that make these things happen and to pupils, parents and ‘friends of Cranford’ who participate so enthusiastically.

Word certainly seems to have got around our community and we are delighted that so many people now want to be part of this exciting and happy place – enrolment into our sixth form this year has been very intense and we are fully subscribed in year 7. I wish there was space for everyone.

Cranford s tudents unders tand that ‘education changes l ives’ and I am delighted that our students know they do have a future even in this harsh competitive and economic environment. They retain the ambition, optimism and hope that is built from the confidence they gain by doing well academically, making progress and achieving at school. This is, perhaps, one of the reasons our students were not caught up in the riots of the summer.

As an academy and a significant local employer, Cranford will also be ensuring it provides employment opportunities for young people to get a foothold in the world of work.

The school has travelled a long way towards its goal of ‘Excellence in all areas’ receiv ing many outs tanding judgements because of i ts academic success and its positive, caring and inclusive ethos which nurtures and encourages pupils to grow into healthy, well-rounded, happy confident citizens with the skills and values to make a positive contribution to society and live fulfilling lives.

Our behaviour strategy in the coming year will be encouraging our students to contribute to the ‘moral and charitable’ dimension, to contribute positively to society and to the local community in particular and ensure that the general public see the positive and polite young people that we know and work with every day.

When you’ve read this digest of the last year you will understand why I remain so proud of the school, its students, its staff and its community – this is what school should be like.

Kevin Prunty (Headteacher)

Cranford Review 2010/20112

First Story is a creative-writing society which helps foster the artistic flair of students in their written work, all over the UK. Each school gets given an

author, we had the best author: Ross Raisin, or as the First-Storians call him ‘Sir Ross’. First Story isn’t anything like a traditional English lesson; in fact, far from it. Workshops are held Wednesdays after school and range from writing 6-word stories to completing your final original piece, to be printed in your very own anthology. The great thing is you’ll all be published authors by the end of it because you can buy your anthology from places like Waterstones! If you don’t believe me, go to Google and type ‘9780857480194’ to have a look at our completed anthology ‘This’ll look nice when it’s framed’. But wait, there’s more to First Story than just writing.

In the past couple of m o n t h s w e ’ v e b e e n treated to Banoffee pie made by our very own talented cook, Shabab; w e ’ v e e a t e n s o m e delicious fairy cakes made by our other fabulous cook, Manpreet C; we had a chance to do some laugh-out-loud comedic acting; visit the prestigious Oxford University; and generally just have a lot of fun. I think I speak on behalf of the entire First Story group when

I say thank you Sir Ross, Ms Powell, Ms Chatralia especially when it came to writing up our final pieces; and Miss Ara, a maths teacher, who could easily teach an original-writing English class. Looking back at the First

Story year, it’s been brilliant and gone far too quickly. The only bad thing about all of this is that we won’t be having a ‘Second Story’ next year. So seize the opportunity when you have chance, year 12 students – you won’t regret it.

By Maninder Bhambra (year 12)

Excellence in all areas 1

This year we have managed to gain the Higher Award for our school travel plan. This is a real boost to the school and we will continue to work even harder to improve areas such as car sharing, walking and cycling to work, safety on the roads and involvement of the community.

To gain the Higher Award we had to meet a long list of criteria including having a more innovative approach to travel and a high level of participation. We had to review our travel plan, build in more student involvement, partnership and consultation, apply for funding, achieve some modal shift; eg. less car use, more students walking to school or greater use of buses and produce evidence of everything we had achieved.

To maintain the standards we now need to continue to promote safe and sustainable travel, keep it as a whole school approach, push for all our new targets to be achieved and update our evidence.

I think the assemblies that we did during “Walk to School Week” gave lots of information and we told

everyone how the record card works. It was also a great hit as we put posters up around the school. The “Walk to School Week” was a good idea as lots of people took part.

“Walk to School Week” keeps people fit and having the £50 gift voucher as the prize made students competitive and encouraged them to walk more than they usually do.

To make walking fun we gave them ideas on what they can do while walking, like:

Junior Road Safety Officer

Cranford Gains the Higher Standard for our School Travel Plan

• Walk with your friends• Listen to music• Play games etc.

If we ever have “Walk to School Week”again, I think more people will walk than before.

By Rimsha Amjad (year 7 - Junior Road Safety Officer)

Some of the initiatives that we have organised this year included “Free your Feet Week” Monday 16th-Friday 20th May 2011, cycle training and a staff pool bike scheme. We now have two folding bikes for staff to use to cycle to work or if they have meetings at other schools during the day. We have introduced Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSO) and cycle training on the playground with a complete road layout marked up.

We have recently secured funding for more resources, including more staff pool bikes and rewards for students who cycle or walk to school on a regular basis. If any students are looking to get more involved in the school travel plan, please see Mr. Dean.

By Simon Dean Assistant Headteacher)


‘Congratulat ions to everyone at Cranford Community College on achieving the GOLD

standard of Investors in People.

This is a truly amazing accolade for all of us as less than 1% of businesses and organisations that undergo IIP assessment have achieved the GOLD, the HIGHEST POSSIBLE

ACHIEVEMENT.

Cranford has achieved the standard by a very clear margin with a MASSIVE 176 out of 196 being achieved with the additional criteria and there were no gaps or big weaknesses in any of the remaining 20 standards. The threshold for achieving the GOLD was 126 criteria at this level, we achieved 50 more at this high standard.

The repor t descr ibes Cranford s ta ff as ENTHUSIASTIC, PROFESSIONAL and DRIVEN. All staff were open and honest and this allowed the assessor to get a really convincing, accurate and holistic picture of the way the organisation leads, develops and invests in its people.

Particularly impressive is the range of CPD activity, the use of people’s skills, the sharing of knowledge and the fact that the school takes account of people’s different learning styles. Individuals recognise that they have responsibility for their own learning and make excellent use of the myriad opportunities provided.

Leadership and Management is also a real strength, consistently solid in this category, and people feel they can trust leadership and can develop their own leadership skills. Staff feel very well supported by their line managers and are committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for the school, the students and the community. One member of staff said ‘ We are consulted regarding the direction the school is taking so I know that Senior Managers respect our views’ another quotes ‘our views on how improvements can be made are sought on a regular basis.’

Quotes from staff say ‘ I am proud of the reputation the school has in the community’; ‘I am proud to be part of an efficient team’ and ‘ the school does

the best i t can for each

and every one of its students,

irrespective of the i r academic

ability and I am proud to be par t

of this.’

O t h e r s t r e n g t h s a r e social responsibility and

continuous improvement and that nothing stands still. One person interviewed said: ‘Excellence in al l areas

underpins everything that happens in the school so we

are always looking for ways to improve how we work’.

We should offer our thanks to all those that took part in the assessment (teachers, support staff, members of the Governing body) and represented us all ensuring that Cranford and its staff are credited and recognised as an outstanding, people focussed organisation.

As a GOLD organisation, Cranford will now be invited to become an IiP Champion.

By Veronique Gerber (Deputy Headteacher)


“ I C T a n d B u s i n e s s E n t e r p r i s e E x c e l l e n c e Evening was an experience that was educational and

enjoyable with a competition like “The Apprentice”. We had to create a chocolate bar for China and it had to have its own packaging. We had to use maths skills to work out the prices of the advertising and much more. This competition made me want to recommend to anyone to come to the ICT Excellence Evening, I would say to participate and use your computer skills as well as other skills. ICT Excellence Evening helps you

experience the joy of taking part and working in a team. It was great to work alongside teachers and parents on the project and not just being told what to do”. By Mandip Gill (year 7)

Cranford Community College’s ICT and Business Enterprise Excellence Evening held on Tuesday 14th June 2011, was a fantastic success.

The theme of the evening was to design a Chinese chocolate bar. The judges (teachers from the school) were very impressed with the standard of work achieved by all involved. The students had no idea what task was to be given until the start of the evening. A little surprise was waiting for the parents who turned up, as they were also asked to participate.

Some of the ideas the students came up with were:

• “China-Choc”. The wrapper design would be a Chinese flag divided into 3 equal areas, designed for a family chocolate bar, a chocolate bar where all of the family would eat a piece. In gold coloured writing [ in the middle ] it would say “China Choc” and in small writing below it would say “family bar”. The three sections would be different types of chocolate; milk chocolate, white chocolate and dark chocolate.

• “Jackie Chan Goes Nuts”. For the wrapper design they had a cartoon version of Jackie Chan doing a karate kick; behind him would be a picture of the world map and in the left bottom corner it would say “Jackie Chan Goes Nuts”. The actual chocolate bar itself was nuts wrapped in a solid rectangle shape chocolate.

• The wining chocolate bar, voted by the judges, was …. “XIONMAO” (a Chinese word) which translates as “Panda Choc”. The wrapper was Kung Fu Panda standing on a rock ready to do a karate kick. “XIONMAO” was positioned at the top of the chocolate bar just below Kung Fu Panda. They also had a bamboo stick background. What convinced the judges was the price of the chocolate bar and how it can influence the Chinese

to get a bit of a western cultural into China.

We hope Cranford can make other excellence evening just as good as this one.

By Faheem Uddin (year 7)


In February half term 2011 we visited New York. I found that New York City was one of the most colourful and vibrant cities that I have visited in my life. New York has a significant impact upon global business, finance, media, art, fashion, technology, education, and entertainment. Centre Park contains numerous attractions; there are several lakes and ponds, two ice-skating rinks, the Central Park Zoo, the Central Park Conservatory Garden and during my trip to New York I had the opportunity to visit this wonderful park. We were able to visit the 9/11 Memorial Ground where we were allowed

to have a tour of the museum; this was an emotional encounter. I descovered New York was the best city for shopping. We visited the famous 5th Avenue. Manhattan’s

skyline with its many skyscrapers is universally recognised, and the city has been home to several of the tallest buildings in the world which include the

Chrysler and Empire State Building.By Jusdave Atwal ( year 12)


Thursday 7th July 2011 saw the annual Art, Design and Te c h n o l o g y E x h i b i t i o n .

This was a celebration of students’ achievements in their examination courses. I t is a tradit ion across the faculty to display work from every student who has completed an examination course and this year was no exception.

Each year the exhibition follows a theme and this year “The Wizard of Oz” invited visitors to “follow the yellow brick road” with students h o s t i n g t h e e v e n t d r e s s e d i n character.

Munchkins welcomed visitors with lollipops into the magical land of Oz while the Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow and Dorothy guided visit ing students and their guests along the yellow brick road to view the displays. Staff, students and guests alike expressed their admiration for the quality of work on display.

Kevin Prunty, Headteacher proposed a vote of thanks to the

students and staff who had put in so much

hard work to make the evening such a success.

He said; “this exhibition once again demonstrated

the outs tanding ta lent of our students and the

quality of teaching in the ADT department”.


“I think it was a wonderful experience to be part of the ADT exhibition”.

Anum Ashfaq (year 12 - Applied Art student)

“The ADT exhibition was very impressive I was the Tin man in the Wizard of Oz theme and I would love to help out next year. The ADT department is one of the best in the school”.

Sara Mallah (year 12 - Applied art student)


“I would like to thank all my art teachers for a wonderful year. I really enjoyed my A level art and the work I produced. My dad was very proud of me! He was so proud he insisted Mr Wildbore to shine the spot light on my work during the ADT exhibition”.

Amandeep Dhunay (year 12 - Fine Art student)

“PETRVRG” and the study

of Social Science

On Tuesday 10th May 2011, the Social Sciences Department held their excellence evening. This was a valuable and important opportunity for our 6th formers to revise some of the essential information required for their exams and a chance for them to demonstrate their knowledge and research methods skills.

The main focus of the evening was to look at PETRVRG issues in social sciences research methods. Practical, Ethical, Theoretical, Reliability, Validity, Replicability, Generalisability issues in all of the studies they encounter throughout the course.

The evening began with Ms Bilkhu’s revision session on Philip Zimbardo’s prison experiment with a particular focus on ethics. Zimbardo assigned r andom peop le with the roles of either ‘prisoner’ or ‘guard’, and then observed these people in an artificial prison setting to see what happened, the results were shocking, so shocking in fact that the experiment had to be cut short. This study created a very lively debate between both students and staff who attended.

This was followed by Mr Cripps’ session on James Patrick’s study of the Glasgow gang, a group of disaffected young boys. Staff and students were able to learn about some of the issues involved with participant observation. It was a study into the activities and behaviour of a gang of young people, and illustrated how little some aspects of gang culture have changed over the last 40 years. This was a very thought-provoking session and raised quite a lot of interesting questions, particularly as the media tend to portray gang culture as a relatively recent phenomena.

The next revision session was led by Ms Nandra focussing on the darker side of human nature, with a look at Milgram’s infamous electric shock experiment. The results of this study showed that we are prepared to inflict harm on others as long as someone else takes responsibility. This sparked a very lively and interesting discussion about ethics, methods and the application of psychology and sociology in the real world.

The evening was rounded off with a lively and extremely competitive quiz, which tested how much the staff and students had managed to remember from the revision sessions. The quiz results showed that everyone had done very well and went away having learnt something new about sociology and psychology.


Youth and Philanthropy Initiative wins £3000 for The 2000 Club

Wednesday 20th July 2011 saw the spectacular final event of the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) that year 12 students

had been working on in their PSHCE lessons. One local, grass root charity was awarded £3000 (funded privately by the Toskan Casale Foundation). YPI gives our students a hands-on experience of philanthropy that provides them with the skills and awareness to make a positive difference to their communities. In groups the students researched and discussed the social needs of our local community and identify the local social service charities they believe are best placed to make a positive contribution. As part of this scheme year 12 students visited and built relationships with their charity, and all the charities had representatives attending at the final event.

The students had prepared presentations in order to pitch their charity in front of four judges, Mr Prunty, Mr Scher, Mr Hoffman and Ms Berndt. In total there were seven groups in the final, with a range of charities and social issues. For example, the Icthyosis Support Group highlighted a serious skin condition that most people have no knowledge about.

The groups were extremely passionate about their charities, and were able to articulate just how important their charities are to the people they support. The presentations were outstanding and I was greatly impressed by the range of presentations, which included role play and poetry. As many of our students have not presented or spoken in front of a large formal audience, this experience was even more rewarding for them to develop their confidence in public speaking.

The judges had an exceptionally difficult decision to make on deciding which group should be awarded the money to present to their charity. After some

deliberation Mr Hoffman explained the rationale behind their decision. They based their decision on how the £3000 would most benefit the local community group that served our local community. The judges were very complimentary to the groups, in particular they commented on the group pitching for Hounslow Extra Club (Kuljeet Kang, Gulvant Atwal and Raihan Ahmed), Horn of Africa Community Group (Faiza Ali, Fatima Adan, Sonela Seljekaj, Juanita Stuber and Nasrin Warsame) and The 2,000 Club (Maninder Bhambra, Ambryn Saini and Ashnee Dhondee). However, there could only be one winning group which was The 2,000 Club. This charity is based in Heston and offers membership to adults who have a disability, offering a range of recreational and sporting activities. It was a touching moment when the charity was awarded the large cheque for £3000 pounds. The charity had 6 representatives, who were overwhelmed by the whole experience. Not only will the money help secure further activities for these people but it will encourage links between the different charities as they work together to achieve their ultimate aim. A member (Ashnee Dhondee) of the winning team declared; “I was absolutely thrilled that The 2,000 Club won, it is such a rush of adrenaline. Ambryn added that she really wants to keep this relationship active and keep good links with the charity. Maninder Bhambra concluded, “It was a brilliant experience and I have really developed my presentation skills.” Faiza Ali had this to say about the experience, “It was an interesting experience as it gave me an opportunity to work within a group researching something I felt passionate about.”

I want to say well done to all the competitors, I was very proud of all of you. Thank you to the judges for helping to make such an important decision and to the charities for attending our event. Lastly, an important thank you to YPI for allowing us this opportunity

(and the funding) for this event.


Fundraising ideas and giving to others less fortunate or in need is nothing new to Cranford. Skipathons, cake sales, football tournaments, sponsored silences and a whole school mufti day helped to raise £1273.47. Once again students and staff showed kindness and generosity to various charities home and abroad including; Comic Relief, the Japanese Earthquake Appeal, Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Shooting Star Hospice. The success of the YPI Citizenship project by year 12 culminated in a further £ 3,000 awarded to local Charity, The 2000 Club. This Academic year a total of £5,902.27 has been raised f o r c h a r i t a b l e causes. Well Done Cranford.

Junior Maths Challenge 2011As the challenge grew closer, tensions rose higher. Questions were buzzing through our minds. How hard would the questions be? How many people were going to enter? As we sat in the class, we were told what to do. The shapes, numbers and equations floating around the yellow piece of paper challenged our minds, but we got through it. A couple of weeks later, the results were announced. Amy Ale (year 8) stole the top spot with a Silver Award, meaning she is in the top 20% of mathematicians in the country while Jay Modhwadia (year 7) and myself: Alexinder Riyat (year 8) achieved the Bronze Award meaning we are in the top 30%. We felt a real sense of achievement and were extremely proud of ourselves. We now knew we were in the top 30% of junior mathematicians in the UK. We look forward to similar competitions that will test our knowledge.

By Alexinder Riyat (year 8)


Being in further mathematics gave me and my fellow maths students a way to express our talent as mathematicians and created a strong bond between us all. Having lessons nine times a week not only

made us a family but allowed us to enter a journey of hard revision, frustration and achievement together.

A fast pace of learning and having to pick up ideas quickly keeps everyone focussed and on their toes. One of the most pivotal moments is after the January exams which is when things start to get tense. Staying late in the study centre after school, hunting down any teacher with a vague knowledge of integration and sleepless nights only intensify what is already hard maths. When leaving the exam hall after C4 everyone was fearful of what the future held. After months of uncertainty we finally were rewarded with great results including one member of the group one mark away from the A* grade, another two only 10 marks away and the rest of the group hitting their personal targets made us feel proud and ready for the next stage of learning and the challenges ahead.

After the January exams we were introduced to the most creative, out of this world, crazy modules; FP2 and FP3. These two modules being the uncles of C3 and C4 were just as demanding but were a little more easy going. When studying for these modules the pressure was really on. We spent a long time getting the hang of FP2 during April giving us limited time for FP3. This was when we had to dig deep; we were covering content very quickly, shifting from example to example, technique to technique. Study leave for us all was a very simple equation “Maths + Killing yourself With Hard Work = Conquering FP2 and 3” but with other subjects piling on, the Apprentice and loads of good films coming out keeping loyal to this equation was hard. Walking out of the exams left us with talks of revising harder and paying more attention in class. Now was the end of our journey in further maths. With only results left only time will tell whether our hard work had paid off.

The experience of further maths is something which goes much further than the class room. Spending time together, working hard and then playing hard plus making some amazing friends is what it’s all about. Yes there is the aspect of hard work and yes there is the fact that you are probably smart and intelligent to be part of the group but later on through the tough times you realise that passing exams is only half the story. That it is the people and the experience itself that makes the second half just as crazy, exciting and fulfilling as the first.

A year in the life of a Further Maths Student

By Resham Lall (year 13)Excellence in all areas 11

We did forensic science for careers day. We learnt how to collect evidence by taking finger prints, sampling blood stains and collecting fibres from the crime scene. We learnt many skills of how to become a SOCO (Scenes of Crime Officer).

After collecting the samples we analysed them using a microscope to determine who the killer was. It was an interesting day full of learning activities and we had fun.

By Sharleen and Shannon and Nida (year 9)

An insight into University lifeOn 15th June 2011 we went to visit Royal Holloway Universi ty in Egham. When we arrived we met our student university representatives from different subject areas. We started with a question and answer session about the university and their courses which I found to be very useful and informative. After this session we had to feedback to the rest of the group on what we had learnt about our representative. This was helpful because we were able to learn about different courses and degrees.

The second part of our visit took us on a tour around the university campus and we had the opportunity to look at the different lecture theatres, the library and the student association building. I enjoyed this part of the visit because I could envision myself leading a student lifestyle and being part of a university atmosphere.

I am very glad that I decided to go on the trip because it was very informative and it will definitely help me make a decision about which university to attend and I also feel much more confident now in applying for a university place.

By Mohamed Saeed (year 12)

Week beginning June 13th 2011 Cranford launched i t s whole

school career week offering a varied and inspiring programme for students. Working with outside agencies, students learned new skills and undertook career challenges to help them with their subject choices and future aspirations.

Year 7 and 8 students were entertained by the Around Midnight Theatre Company and their production “I want to be….”, followed by workshops which helped them to understand the importance of learning and future aspirations.

Ye a r 9 s t u d e n t s w o r k e d w i t h a variety of career providers including; the Army, Nandos, NatWest Bank, Brentford Football Club, Collage Arts and a forensic science team working on projects which enabled them to understand aspects of their chosen field of interest in an exciting and interactive forum. Other projects included catering, cons t ruc t i on , bus ines s en t e rp r i s e and designing an Olympic City. To inspi re thei r th inking, “Twis t and Pulse”, runners-up from ‘Britain’s Got Talent 2010’ wowed year 9 with their inspirational dance performance and careers presentation.

The year 10 programme focussed upon what alternative careers pathways are available to students and the importance of GCSE grades including; what i t means to go to university presented by student ambassadors from Westminster, Roehampton and Roya l Hol loway Universi t ies , Pharmacy, Landscape Gardening, Human Resources careers in nursing and teaching; careers in IT and Apprenticeships and much more.

The sixth form focussed upon higher educa t ion , s t uden t gap yea r and voluntary work and al ternat ives to university. Students were also provided with an opportunity to visi t Royal Holloway University.

Careers week has certainly made a difference to Cranford students and the way they view learning in relation to their future careers and aspirations. As one year 9 student said… ”what a great week”.


Cranford’s Careers week

T h e L a n g u a g e s E x c e l l e n c e Evening on Tuesday 7th June 2011 focussed upon the importance of languages in the world we live in, both within our school context and the global business world. With the introduction of the English Baccalaureate, languages are a key element to achieving this qualification and Cranford is committed to ensuring all students have the chance to enjoy their chosen modern world language and be confident linguists for the future.

Guest speakers talked to parents and students about how languages had helped them in their careers in accountancy, the media and business, providing them with an addit ional qualif icat ion and skill which employers are looking for.

The languages s ta ff inv i ted parents and students to learn the key techniques to support language learning at GCSE to achieve success.

“This was a very successful and worthwhile experience for everyone. As a parent I now feel able to really understand how I can support my daughter in languages. The teachers work so hard. Thank you”.

By The Modern World Languages Department

Languages Excellence Evening


28th March to 1st April 2011 was Urdu Culture Week. Everyone from our class participated in the assembly, research and the preparation. During Urdu week we did an assembly for every year group. In the assemblies we talked about the spring celebrations in Pakistan and we showed a video on how and why Pakistan celebrates Basant.

We enjoyed doing our research on Basant. We found out in Pakistan people celebrate Basant to welcome spring. They wear traditional clothes and eat nice food. Children celebrate basant by flying kites; they also have an early day off from school or work.

On the Thursday, traditional Pakistani food was served to everyone during lunch.

Our teacher, Mrs Shah, designed a quiz for all the students to see what they know about Pakistani culture, festivals and Urdu.

We really enjoyed the week and everyone liked it.

By Rimsha Amjad (year 7)

German Christmas Market

Trip to South Bank in London

On 15th December 2010 we took 39 students from year 7 and year 8 to the German Christmas Market on London’s South Bank. This market is held every year and is a great opportunity for our students to experience traditional German food and hand-crafted gifts for Christmas. The market is beautifully lit and has typical stalls with German people selling food or crafts.

We left school at lunchtime and went by coach to the South Bank. Once we arrived, the students had the opportunity to walk around the market at their own pace in groups and look at street artists. It was an amazing experience for the students to be able to say what they had learnt in the classroom to Germans and to be able to be understood and buy things. The students completed a quiz about the Christmas market and had a lot of fun asking for the required answers in German. It was a very successful and exciting day for everyone and we are looking forward to the Christmas market 2011.

By Angela Roeder (Joint Head of Modern World Languages Department)

Great trip to FranceWednesday 6th July 2011 was the best day of my life because year 7 and 8 students were able to go to France for the day. We went to Boulogne where we visited the beach and went to a market. We also visited an aquarium called Nausicaa.

First we met at school, we did the register and checked all of our passports. Then we set of to Folkestone to get the Eurotunnel which was a bit shaky. We went to the market to get some souvenirs, to the beach and had our lunch. Afterwards we went to Nausicaa where we saw lots of fish and other marine creatures such as sharks, turtles, seahorses, clown fish and many more amazing species. Finally we had ice-cream and bought some sweets which were very tasty and came home from our long journey to France.

It was an awesome day and a great experience all; thanks to Ms Painting for organising this mind-blowing trip and we all wish to go there again one day.

By Tapinder Sran (year 7)

Urdu Culture Week


Knowing tha t only 10% of UK schools a r e c u r r e n t l y

offering Mandarin classes Cranford students can feel very privileged as we have been offering it as an option to year 7 students since September 2010, and as Saif Malik would say ‘it’s not that hard’ like everything else, it comes with practice.

At the beginning of the academic year, 8 students arrived in a Chinese classroom with no previous knowledge of the language. Now you can’t stop them from talking about the weather, food, holiday destinations, places in town and much more. This group is simply fantastic. Their confidence is growing daily. Even their friends are practising Chinese they have learnt from them during break time.

This year, we strengthened our link with TIFERT, our Chinese partner college in Tianjin. In September 2010, a delegation of teachers and students stayed with us for a fortnight- what a windfall for the year 7 students, regular exposure to the language with native speakers from the start.

Empowered by the experience, we put together a Chinese culture week to share our passion about China with the rest

of the school. Raising awareness about Chinese culture and language through assemblies , language workshops, paper cutting session and even a Chinese lunch.

Ms Fan from the Tianjin College stayed with us 3 more months and helped us to create excellent resources for teaching Chinese; she gave classes to teachers after school on Wednesdays which people attended on a regular basis.

The impact of Chinese Mandarin on the whole school has been incredible. We look forward to continue.

It goes without saying that students will be well qualified for the global market with the language opportunity they are being offered at Cranford Community College.

再见 - ByeBy Cecile Ajinça (Modern World Languages Department)

“Through this year I have learnt not just to say hello and good bye but I learnt many other things like: complex sentences, how to write characters, how to read characters, and how to play some Chinese games”.

Li An - Saif Anwar (year 7)

“Chinese this year has been fun yet hard. The fun part of this was learning a lot

about the cultural facts about China and learning how they write. The hard part of this was learning how to speak their

language and pronounce the tones”.

Li Zhonghan - Harjot Sahota (year 7)

“Nihao! Hi in English, my name is Hazel, or, in Chinese, Wei Wei! This year. I have progressed from

saying a simple ‘hello’ ’goodbye ‘to ‘what’s your favourite fruit?’ and ‘where are you going on holiday’.

I truly believe that Chinese will help me a lot in the future and it will be a good thing to know”.

Zai Jian or bye

Weiwei - Hazel Bennet (year 7)

“We enjoy Chinese because of our teachers Mr Dobison and Ms Ajinca. We also liked it when it was Chinese New Year; Mr Prunty gave all of us £5.00. The characters are easy but the rest is hard. Chinese is really fun”.

Li Manlian Saif Malik (year 7)


After I had completed my tasks preparing the stage, me and my fellow creative and media students had to start getting changed into our costumes that we designed ourselves. When we started the parade I faced a little problem which was because my wings were so big it was a bit hard to walk in the front of the parade so I had to move back. Most people said the costume looked really good.

I had a great day and I really enjoyed it because all my friends were there and also because everything went well. I learnt how to work as a group and how hard it is to organise an event and how to make a carnival costume by myself.

By Sathma Nugera (year 10 - Creative and Media team)

On Saturday 2nd July 2011 Cranford Community College and its local community buzzed with excitement as we opened our 3rd biennial International Festival. After

weeks of poor weather we all crossed our fingers for sunshine and to our relief the day was bright, rain free and very warm.

Cranford is known for its ability to stage an event with pizzazz. True to form we adorned the concourse with bunting creating a multi-coloured frame which led to a large performance stage designed, built and managed by the outstanding Creative and Media Diploma group under the skilful eyes of the Creative and Media Faculty.

At 12.00pm approximately 60 pupils and staff dressed in coloured T-shirts representing the five continents of the world paraded from Brabazon Road along the High Street to Cranford. A sea of brightly coloured national flags accompanied by drumming announced the parade for all to see. Residents came from their homes, members of the community lined the streets and shop keepers left their places of business to cheer the parade on its journey.

Kyle Powell, year 10 who recently represented Great Britain at the Paralympics proudly led the parade carrying an Olympic style torch which he handed to Kevin Prunty, Headteacher, to light our Festival flame and formerly open the Festival.

A stream of visitors joined in the festivities including staff and students past and present, their families, friends of Cranford, members of the Governing Body, pupils from primary school who are about to join us and a large number of our local community.

It was quite a spectacle to see all the flags placed along the concourse to frame the events of the day. The smell of various national dishes mingled with popcorn and BBQ aromas. Stall holders offered opportunities to purchase plants, books and soft toys amongst other things whilst children were entertained with face and plate painting, a bouncy castle, a bungee run and a host of oversized games on the field. An army assault course, dance mats, football and other sports challenges engaged the energetic whereas those who just wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet indulged in cream teas and cakes in the tea room or croissants at the French café. There was something for everyone.

The hub on the day was definitely the stage. One by one performances by students and guest performers, sang, danced and acted their way through a packed and varied programme, pronouncing loud and clear that Cranford’s got talent. The highlight for us was our Jo rapping to capture the hearts of all who watched him. Even PC Danny Mac zumba’d away whilst the Metronome Steel Band played on to close the event in style.

The success of the day was entirely due to the good will of the staff involved, before during and after. Although it was hard work we did it together and everyone had a great time.

By Jessica Joyce (Assistant Headteacher)


My role for the day was ‘stage hand’ alongside Marie, Sathma and Khatra.

The whole festival wasn’t as simple as it may sound. Firstly, we had many technical problems. For example; one performer started to sing and the microphone wasn’t working. We had to instantly stop the performance and give her a different microphone.

‘Cranford International Festival’ was very successful. The thing that was successful for me personally was my job.

It was a great experience because I got to learn a lot of things over the process of organising it as well as running it.

By Nazish Hussain (year 10 - Creative and Media team)

I have never hosted anything quite so big, at first I felt nervous as I made my first announcement but everyone really motivated, encouraged me and helped me improve.

Our goal was to show Cranford’s talent and we accomplished that. Everyone was very impressed with the standard of talent and how well everything was organised when it came together. We also had external acts, and they really appreciated how we organised everything and were impressed with how we dealt with them.

In my personal opinion I feel as if the day couldn’t have gone better, even with the problems we came across, I’m happy they happened as it made everything more of a challenge and just gave the team more of a drive to work hard. The day was a great success, a day to remember and a great experience.

By Sara Khan (year 10 - Creative and Media team)Excellence in all areas 17

Following a Student Conference in the summer term of 2009, we began a programme of introducing real jobs for students at school in Autumn 2010.

Using the feedback from the conference, roles were created around the school for students to take on real life responsibilities. The concept of working alongside staff and also learning a work based skill or qualification proved appealing.

Students are able to apply for positions as in reception, the LRC and SSO. In addition roles were created for student leader, student buddy, news and events team management. A large number of students have applied for and been successfully appointed to these roles.

We always evaluate the progress of any new scheme and this year it was clear there were favourite roles and those that proved less appealing. With that in mind I am introducing a new role for the new academic year which will have an enhanced responsibility. This new role will be titled Student Ambassador... more news on this in the Autumn term.

It has been a great experience for me to see students apply and secure a post of responsibility and to watch them grow within the role and become competent and confident in the skills they learn. A real reward for me. But don’t take it from me... here are some quotes from students who have held posts of responsibility in the last two years. And some quotes from students keen to try the new Ambassador role…

By Tracy Murphy (ECM Pastoral Co-ordinator)

“I enjoy working in reception because I get to do a lot of things such as answering the phone. I always get nervous if I have to answer the phone. The encouragement I have received from the staff has helped

me through it”.

Sharmaake Mohamed (year 7)

“My job is going really well. So far I love this job because I am helping the school and doing something for myself”.

Jatinder Sran (year 9)

“I think that my job as SSO assistant is really good. I enjoy working because I can help

others, at the same time I learn new things”.

Idil Mohamed (year 8)

“I learnt a new skill and the job also made me more responsible”.

Tofiq Qilmanov (year 9)

“I am looking forward to applying for this role, I was excited when Ms Murphy told me about it”.

Tiffany Harris (year 8)

Student roles of responsibility


Head Girl / Head Boy Elections 2011

At the start of my campaign to become Head Boy, after the interviews and the application process, I began to think about how I might get my message across. I attended and gave presentations in the year group assemblies and also had a t-shirt made (by Milan Parmar 12s – to whom I am very grateful). The overall campaigning process was very stressful but also very rewarding as I knew that as I undertook every step of the process I was gaining more support. I believe my only regret throughout the process was not giving myself enough time to produce a video. However, that said, I was happy with my performance throughout the festival day where, as a quartet we were assessed by the electorate. I am very happy with the results and I look forward to being Head Boy and working with the quartet – I do hope that Karishma and I can change aspects of the school for the better. I thank you all who voted for me and I promise I will achieve the points I set out in my manifesto.

By Dean Blake (Head Boy)

The election campaign was a chance for all candidates to shine individually. It was an amazing experience for me because it has turned me into a person that is committed, confident, enthusiastic and a team player. I enjoyed all of the activities that were part of our campaign as they all gave me different experiences even though I didn’t win the Head Girl position. However, I am going to take full advantage of my role as a Deputy Head Girl and

work on making sure that I can achieve all the aims stated in my manifesto.

By Hilay Qurban (Deputy Head Girl)

‘Running for head girl was a new experience altogether; I was not previously accustomed to being in the spotlight so much but I found it an enjoyable experience, nonetheless. It provided me with a chance to get to know the younger students and really listen to what concerns and ideas they have for the future running of the school. It provided me with the chance to improve my confidence, public speaking skills and ability to engage an audience. In all, it is something I would definitely do again and I am very excited to being in my role as Deputy Head Girl.’

By Sonela Selgjekaj (Deputy Head Girl)

The HG/HB elections at Cranford are what everyone looks forward to. They’re your chance to support someone who could become the next

ambassador for the school, the voice of the student body and most importantly a friend.

This year ’s elections were definitely interesting since there were only four candidates. We had been campaigning for weeks by going to assemblies, creating our manifestos, videos and speaking to students - it all depended on one day – 6th July 2011. It was hard for us not to embrace the competitive atmosphere although we knew we would all be working together soon

Ms Judkins was my unfailing campaign manager for the elections and I could not have chosen anyone better for the job.

Looking back at the experience, I find it hilarious that I forgot my speech in both the year 9 and 10 assemblies we did. I was left standing on the stage completely frozen; having forgot what I had prepared! It was definitely my highlight of the elections.

The results were announced by Mr Prunty at 4:00pm on 6th July 2011 in front of staff, students and our families and it was by far the most nerve-wracking experience ever. Sonela could not attend the ceremony however I recall Hilay, Dean and I were shaking wildly with nerves as the results were being announced. It was all over within a couple of seconds and before I knew it, we were being asked to make our speeches and shake hands with our teachers and supporters. The tiring last couple of weeks had definitely been worth it!

For that reason, I would like to say that although Sonela, Dean, Hilay and I have different personalities and ideals, we make a great team and therefore I look forward to working with them next year and I am sure we’ll make ‘change’ come to Cranford.

By Karishma Lall (Head Girl)Excellence in all areas 19

NEW SCHOOLOLD SCHOOL

One of the highlights of my visit was the way I had to get around. Mr Gutierrez who has been teaching in a little village in Malawi, took 2 days by road to get to Swaziland (that included a 24 hour bus, a lift on a massive trailer and also travelling on the back of a pick-up truck). I, on the other hand flew to Johannesburg from London,

but not in style, as the hand luggage compartments in the plane kept randomly opening and the crew

kept telling me to go help myself in the kitchen if I wanted more water. Once in Johannesburg I took a bus to Manzini in Swaziland which took 8 hours.

Mr G and I spent the night at Michelle Brear’s house. Michelle is an old Australian university friend of mine who has

been living in Swaziland for the last 5 years. She helped the little village in

Kaphunga to start Matjana Pre-school back in 2007. She taught there until last

year and now she has been focussing on the fundraising side of things.

The next day we made our way to Kaphunga. Again it was a healthy combination of a bus and hitching a ride with whoever drove by. We noticed that these are the same options that the local kids have to get to school. Later we were told that just in case no cars drive past some students leave home 2 hours before school to make sure they get to school on time. I think I might stop complaining about the 105 bus being late.

The next morning, with

my backpack full of donations from Cranford we

were finally walking towards Matjana pre-school. We encountered some kids on the

way, so Mr G and I practised our Siswati: “Sabona bhutti/sisi” (Hi brother/sister)… in return, they practised

their English with us: “Hello, my name is Mgoni, I am a boy, I am 5 years old.” We were outdone by 5 year olds.

Matjana pre-school has only one building, with 4 tables that seat about 6 kids each: two tables of 3 year olds, one of 4 year olds and one of 5 year olds. They welcomed us by introducing each other, singing a few songs and then we presented the donated stationery to them. Most of them had not used a marker pen nor coloured paper before, equipment that young kids in first world countries just take for granted.

The building that the pre-school uses at the moment is borrowed from an unused backpacker ’s s i te . Construct ion has started towards the new building. The walls and floor were in place when we visited, the fence around the ground was being prepared by the parents, and the cash donations I received from Cranford teachers were put towards the materials needed for the roof.

Sadly most of the children in the pre-school are HIV positive, they do not have

contact with anyone outside Kaphunga, have no access to electricity and

they have no access to any other recreational activities outside

school. Nutrition-wise, their main staple food is made out of ground maize which is very low on nutrients. It is very clear that they need plenty of support; s imple th ings such as stationery can make a lot of difference in their lives.

Mr G. and I had one of the best experiences possible, and are glad that with the help of some Cranford students and teachers we were able to make a little difference.

If you are interested in supporting this little pre-school please contact me.

By Luisa Ara (Maths teacher)

Teaching in a little village in Swaziland


42 degrees, a bumpy ride and 24 hours later, I arrived in the tranquil and sleeping town of Dwarka. I was greeted by students with striking smiles, a perfect way for them to welcome me into their lives. It wasn’t long before introductions had taken place and we were all playing ice breaker activities. It was nice to put my native language Gujarati into good use. The kids were fascinated by the English language and eavesdropped on every single word I spoke and even attempted to mimic me when my back was turned. The grounds of the school and orphanage were really big, there were 16 dormitories and each room had 6 beds. It has its own farm so that the school doesn’t have to purchase milk from anywhere else; this is a great way to save money in the school and cows are considered to be an auspicious god. The school’s kitchens used wood as they don’t have a stove and many of the facilities are very basic. The students have to pull water out of a well to have a shower as there is no running water.

A day into my trip I went on the hunt for equipment that I could use with the activities I had prepared. After searching for some time I came to the conclusion that there were none. After speaking to the students I learned that they only used a pen and a book in their classes. It was shocking to hear that the youngsters, who ranged from 6 to 18, had never used a colouring pencil, a felt-tip pen or even a normal pencil. I ran a hygiene promoting activity where the students had to design a poster about keeping clean. The activity went really well and they showed that they had a good understanding. All of them presented their work to everybody else and then we all displayed them around the school. While I was there I held 2 folk dancing programmes and also went on 3 different visits to student’s homes.

One student, Anand, lived about two hours away from the school. The journey took one hour in a bus to the nearest village and then another hour on a dirt track road in a ‘chakra’ (motorbike with a trailer mounted on top). The roads are too small for the buses and the areas too remote. We were nearing his house when he pointed to a field; he said with excitement ‘that is my house’. All that could be seen was deserted land and a little tent like structure, a polythene sheet held up by tree logs. There was no running water or electricity, no sign of life, just the sun showing its presence on the dry parched land. Anand was proud to show us his father’s field; I took some presents for his brother and sister too. It was quite shocking to see the circumstances that Anand’s family endured but also I contemplated how tranquil and surreal the place was. There was a calf which provided milk for the family; their last cow had died because it had been bitten by a snake. Anand’s granny was happy to invite us onto their farm. She longed to see Anand get an education and tears welled up in her eyes in appreciation of the time and effort I took to see and visit Anand’s field.

I could write endlessly about the tales of my adventure, a trip that will be remembered for a life time. Teaching the students of Dwarka who were deprived of a creative, interesting and dynamic education was very rewarding. I hope to accept their invitation, to return back again soon.

By Mahavir Ladva (Learning Resource Centre Assistant)

Volunteering at a School and Orphanage in India


My adventure at UCLOn Wednesday 4th May 2011, 3 students (including me) went on a trip to University College London also known as UCL for a day to discover new things and do experiments in science.

The minute we got in we were welcomed by a member of staff and she gave us some booklets and then led us to the auditorium where a man gave us a welcome speech. We went to a massive science lab to start on our first experiment. Then we had lunch and then did our second experiment and concluded the day with a lecture.

Experiment 1 The case; the day before our trip a man had died and had a white powder on his shirt. There were six suspects and all six suspects had a white powder on their shirts. Our task was to test the six substances and see which one matched with the powder on the dead body. For this experiment we had to dip the

wire into hydrochloric acid and then burn it with a Bunsen burner. We had to do this with all the chemicals until we found the right one that matched with the chemical on the dead body.

Experiment 2 The star trek Enterprise’s engine just malfunctioned and the engine’s temperature just went up and we needed to cool it down using two types of chemicals and distilled water.

The lecture For the lecture a scientist came in and did lots of cool experiments in front of us like making a blown up glove really hard to break. At the end of the lecture the scientist made us all ice-cream in less than 2 minutes with liquid nitrogen, sugar, chocolate and fruit. I thought it was a great day.

By Kapilan Marutharajah (year 7)

From April to July this year we learned about pesticides and grew our own vegetables without using them. First we looked at a vegetable planner to see which

ones we could grow at the time then we chose which vegetables we wanted to grow. I chose potato

We prepared the potato bed and the raised box bed. We had to work hard to weed the potato bed and get the surface raked and ready. The raised box bed was even harder work as we had to move soil from one end of the conservation area to the other using the wheelbarrow and then move all the soil up to the

raised bed. After that we put compost on top of the soil.

Finally we were ready to plant the seed potatoes and water them in. Over the next few weeks we watered and weeded both of the beds.

At last some of Harpreet’s carrots were ready so we all tried the carrots fresh out of the ground, they were

delicious and sweet.

I am looking forward to harvesting lots of potatoes and I will take them home to be cooked and eaten.

By Ben Coleman, Manraj Lotay and Omar Shawqi (year 10)

Growing Organic Vegetables

Why should people be interested in astronomy?

Well I am interested in astronomy because all the stars and the planets really fascinate me and their facts just seem out of this world.

What Does Astronomy Mean?

Astronomy means the science that deals with the material universe beyond the earth’s atmosphere.

Where Does It Come From?

The word comes from the Greek -astro- and -nomia- meaning the study of the stars. The Greeks were the first to map the skies.

I’ve discovered about the amazing and massive VY CANIS MAJORIS. It is currently the largest known star to man. It was discovered in 1801 by Lalonde. It wasn’t until 2006 that

we could measure its radius. It is located in the constellation Canis Major.


By Taranvir Dhaliwal (year 8)

River Thames Field Trip (Pier House, Chiswick)

On Thursday 14th July 2011, 25 year 12 A level Biologists and Applied Scientists, accompanied by Ms Dhillon, Mr Marway and Ms Kerr, visited Pier House, managed by the Thames Explorer Trust. This is a research and educational centre on the banks of the River Thames which amongst other things, carries out conservation work and research for the Environmental Agency on how human activity is affecting the wildlife in the Thames.

The studies that the students did at Pier House are also being done by the Zoological Centre for London and our data is going to be sent to them to be analysed, alongside the data that they collect.

Our lecturer on the day, Joe Pecorelli, was very enthusiastic and positive about how our students worked. The students really enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot to support their studies at post 16.

A big thank you to everyone who made the day such a positive experience.

By Kiranjit Dhillon (Head of Science/Biology)

River Thames Field Trip (Pier House, Chiswick) - A student perspective -

Where to start? This has been one of those experiences which left us speechless. There were many things which blew our mind away. One of those things was the Chinese mitten crabs which many students were allowed to hold.

This field trip was a great opportunity to be out in this environment which has helped me to realise the drastic impact human activity has had on the river. It has led to deaths of organisms due to sewage waste overflowing and pollution. After many years of treatment the Thames is beginning to return back to its natural beauty with all the organisms living in one community.

What an eye opener. There was so much to see and learn. Since the tide was out, we had a chance to look at some of the creatures you wouldn’t normally be able to see, since they are at the bottom of rivers. Confusing the exoskeleton of a crab with a real Chinese Mitten crab, we had the opportunity to kick water and collect invertebrates, how often do you get a chance to do that in your wellies? Never.

We finished off with a series of tests assessing the water in the River Thames, in particular the temperature, nitrate and phosphate levels, and salinity (salt levels) of the water. Since this area is between salt water (from oceans) and freshwater (from mountains), we had a range of results, but generally the water was very clean despite looking murky. This made us realise how human activity is impacting our rivers.

By Maninder Bhambra and Amarpal Johal (year 12)


‘The War of the Worlds’ is about a martian-like creature emerging from a cylinder and it describes how the people present felt. The atmosphere created is spooky and scary.

‘The Day of the Triffids’ is about two people in a car, coming across a triffid which is a dangerous plant. The atmosphere created is terrifying.

H.G. Wells uses interesting adjectives and figurative language to create suspense and fear. He uses interesting adjectives such as ‘brown’, ‘oily’, and ‘fungoid’. He also uses figurative language such as ‘as it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like a wet feather’. These things suggest how dirty and slimy the Martian was in great detail. By using these techniques, it helps us to really imagine what the Martian looked like and helps build up an image of the Martian in our heads.

In contrast to ‘The War of the Worlds’ , ‘The Day of the Triffids’ uses direct speech and powerful verbs to create suspense. John Wyndham uses people’s reactions to the sight of the triffid. This can be seen through Josella’s reaction: “Josella gave a cry and ran forward”. He also uses powerful verbs such as “hesitated”, “whipped” and “screamed” which let you know how the characters are feeling through their actions. For example by saying “glanced fearfully”, you can tell the character is feeling scared as she “glanced”.

In addition to this, H.G. Wells uses various sentence structures and punctuation to create suspense and fear in ‘The War of the Worlds’. He uses short sentences

In English we created our own eco-campaign. In the campaign project Ms Tank set us three compulsory tasks and a bonus task. Some groups were really enthusiastic and completed all four tasks as well as some extra tasks by themselves. The project was great fun. Everyone in the class enjoyed working in groups chosen by them. They loved having a challenge. Lots of children used their imagination and thought of really amazing ideas. In the end the presentations were brilliant. Ms Tank said:

“7X have been a DREAM class”.

such as “I know I did” as well as complex sentences such as “A big, greyish rounded bulk, the size of perhaps a bear, was rising slowly and painfully out of the cylinder”. The effect of the short sentence is that it keeps the reader interested and focussed on the text. The effect of the complex sentence is it gives the reader lots of information and detail.

However, in “The Day of the Triffids” the author uses dialogue to create suspense. John Wyndham uses dialogue like “Stop!” which creates a terrifying atmosphere because it is an example of dramatic irony. You know there is a triffid behind the girl but she doesn’t until the other character screams at her. By using dialogue, you can really see the emotions of the characters.

H.G. Wells’ text is very effective because he uses interesting adjectives, figurative language, sentence structures and punctuation. These techniques make the text interesting to read as well as building the suspense well. John Wyndham’s text is action-packed because he uses dialogue/speech to show people’s emotions and powerful verbs. These techniques make the text different from the other one.

In my opinion, I think that ‘The War of the Worlds’ is the more successful text because I feel it builds up suspense and fear better. I also find it scarier to be in the position of the character which builds up suspense better.

By Alexinder Rayit (year 8)

The work of HG Wells and John Wyndham - A critical comparison -

E C O - C a m p a i g n s


Bonjour monsieur Gauguin

The stars twinkle brightly As the flowers sleep tightly

Not everyone is asleep except a man Walking his dog

He sees the flowers, trees and the juicy grass And everything that’s

Surrounding him is seen as a work of art A woman on the other side all wrapped up

She’s out there as well but why at this cold night The birds start to sing but not during the light

The fluffy dog sniffs its way is there something hidden

Or is it not to be spoken of It may look beautiful at first and

disappear the next

Is she a ghost or a real human or maybe my eyes just playing

Playing tricks She’s still staring but at a different

Direction

By Parnoush Islamzadeh (year 7)

A Memory

In a distant memory of delectable abstract art, I will always see a splodged shimmering rainbow, Coloured peas in a pod gracefully roll off the edge of nothingness, And fall into the deeps of the swirling, gushing sea of pink coral and shells, With a faint plop the colour disperses slowly mingling with the others.

Jelly fish swarm, Bubbles issuing out of their tiny mouths, And the waves of streaks resemble seaweed, Above a dewy colour dripped cave, While unusually twisted snakes slither, In a whirlwind of a rainbow, Tickled by the hands of lightning, An imprint of imagination.

The stenches of pears hover above a sunset, Of a ship in its way, Its flag swaying for a lonely surrender, Uplifting the spirits of the darkened, Though in a distant memory of delectable abstract art, All I can remember is that I’ve wasted half an hour of the test, Pondering over my socks!

MY PORTRAIT FOR THE DAY !

By Bavneet Dhanjal (year7)

The work of HG Wells and John Wyndham - A critical comparison -

Carlos Donnel ly from Global Warming campaign said: “I enjoyed working with my group and it taught me quite a lot and I got quite a high grade from it, Ms Tank’s lessons are great.”

On the day of the results there was lots of tension but in the end we all knew the best group would win. The winners were Save the Planet and Green Globe. There was a draw but both campaigns were presented with certificates and a gift for their amazing end product.

Daniella Sangha from Green Globe said: “I was so excited when our campaign won. I wanted to scream.”

Unza Ahsan from Save the Planet said: “I felt proud of myself and my group for doing such hard work and it all paid off.”

By Unza Ahsan (year 7)

These photographs are from 7V’s performance of the Greek myth ‘The Gorgon’s Head’ in September 2010. The students worked in small groups, each group te l l ing a d i fferent par t of the s tory (hence the multiple actors playing Perseus, identifiable by the pink paper-plate shield).

In th is s tory, Perseus is challenged to get Medusa’s head by the mean k ing Polydectes, who is in love w i t h P e r s e u s ’s m o t h e r Danae. Perseus must outwit the monstrous ‘Grey Ones’, negotiate with the goddess A t h e n a , a n d d e f e a t t h e terrifying Medusa (or else be turned to stone)! Even then, his heroic adventure is far from over…

By Lucy Judkins (English Department)


Fantastic Netball success for year 7

Year 7 students had their first Cranford sports day on Wednesday 20th July

2011. The much anticipated event was greatly supported and

organised by the year 7 team. The track and field events showcased year

7 talent and their conduct during the events were second to none. The spirit and

sportsmanship displayed by the students was impressive and everyone cheered each other on regardless of which tutor group they were representing. Whilst everyone waited in anticipation the points were calculated and the results were announced. There was only 1 point difference between 1st 7Y, 2nd 7X and 3rd 7U. It was a fantastic end to

a fantastic year and the rain held off.

By Catherine Goodwill (Head of year 7)

I j o i n e d S t . M a r y ’ s R i c h m o n d A t h l e t i c s Club in March 2010 and

I now train 3 times a week at St. Mary’s University in Twickenham. I was identified and fas t t racked through the Aviva Parallel Success programme and made my Aviva Grea t Br i ta in and Northern Ireland team debut in the Paralympic World Cup on the 27th May 2011.

I am currently working hard on training and technique sessions with my coach and put in 100% all the time. I have now been selected to represent Great Britain in the 2012 Paralympic Men’s 4x100m T46 Relay team, and this involves going to Portugal for 10 days for warm weather training and I’m excited about it, and hope it will be another great learning experience and hope to have a lot to offer to the team.

The only way forward for me is up, my goal is to be the best, and I believe with the correct training, motivation and dedication I will be the best , and my main focus is the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympic games.

By Kyle Powell (year 10)

Cranford’s Olympic hopeful

Year 7 Sports Day

I’ve been in the Cranford netball team for about a year. I started in my primary school in year 5. I have carried on playing netball since then. I’ve had a lot of practice recently with friends, family and of course teachers e.g. Ms Sacha. Ms Sacha is my netball coach and has helped me gain more helpful skills.

I’ve always appreciated her help. When we had our first game against The Green School I was really nervous and I never thought we’d win, but then I realised that if me and my team work really hard, we would win. We won our first game 10-1. We then came third in the borough tournament. I was really happy and thanked everyone who arranged it and we had a group discussion.’

We won all our games and we played against the Green School, Lampton, Heathlands and Brentford. The netball club is a really good place to make friends and exercise after school.

By Thinekitha Mathybalan (year 7)Cranford Review 2010/201126

Another bumper year of outstanding studio performances engaged an audience from far

and wide. The year 13 projects, “Believe Me” and “Poise-On” both based around the condition of Munchausen Syndrome and Munchausen by Proxy, amazed audiences with their touching storylines and outstanding character portrayals.

Year 12 Drama students also wowed audiences with their excellent monologue performances from Berkoff to Chekov and group performances of “East is East” and “Metamorphosis”.

Key stage 3 and 4 students have a tough act to follow but looking at their work this year, there are some stunning performers in the wings just waiting to enjoy the smell of the greasepaint the roar of the crowd.

By Barry Bray (Head of Creative and Media Faculty)

The smell of the greasepaint The roar of the crowd

“At different points, the performance made

me feel different things including anxiety, worry

and sadness. I am glad that it made me feel

those things because it was those feelings that

made me empathise with the characters

and meant that I left the studio feeling like I had watched a truly

meaningful piece of theatre.”

On “Believe me” By Siobhan Croker

(Drame Teacher)

“Throughout the play, I had the surreal

feeling that I wanted to help the characters;

this was because of the interaction of the actors

with the audience which made me feel actively involved in the story. I felt like I had been a bystander at a terrible tragedy and not done anything to help. This made me think

about how in life people will often stand by and watch something awful unravel because they think It’s nothing to do with me.”

On “Poise-on” By Siobhan Croker (Drame Teacher)

“From the whole drama experience I learnt how to work as a group and how to handle any problems that may occur. I also

learnt new drama techniques and how to use these

techniques when putting a play together. I feel that from an actor’s point of view, to be part

of drama it’s all about experiencing different

things that you are not used to, developing many

techniques and understanding about things and that it doesn’t matter if you get something wrong. This is because I believe drama is all about learning how to become better and improving on areas which you may be weak in so you can get it right.”

On “Believe me” By Pooja Pisavadia

(year13 A level - Drama student)


The Thunderbees experience

When I was picked for the Times Spelling Bee, I was told that I had to stay after school 1 hour every Thursday and Tuesday but actually it was great fun being taught by 6th formers and playing various different spelling games. I was nervous about the big day but I wanted to do a good job and try to help my team win. I knew that it would take a lot of work if we wanted to win the competition.

On the day I was very nervous. I was happy that I would not have to wait any longer for the competition. I was scared but was determined to win.

While on stage it is very nerve-wracking when you have to spell a word. Everybody looks at you and you feel a lot of pressure. I liked the quick fire challenge the best because I like trying to spell hard words very fast.

By Muhammad Sarwar (year 7)

A Mentor’s Perspective

Joining “The Thunderbees” at the end of every Tuesday and Thursday was always something to look forward to.

I, along with the other mentors, were extremely proud to see our Bees try so hard, and do as well as they did in the Spelling Bee local championship event.

Sylvia showcased her amazing calmness throughout; always supporting her fellow team members, ready to offer one of her amazing smiles to us all.

Nameerah was always a delight to talk to and work with. She is a girl of many talents and I shall really miss plotting plans of mischief with her.

Shafla brought great maturity to the table, always offering comfort and encouragement to the others to help achieve full potential.

Melissa was a great laugh and a great contributor to The Thunderbees; always full of team spirit and support for the others.

Muhammad - well the boy is a pure genius. He is smart, funny, and always with a bag of crisps on him. Mohammed achieved great things throughout his time with the Bees, but the biggest one I have to say, was him finally learning how to spell “moose” correctly. Well done you.

My advice to those who want to mentor the Bees next year would be: do what me and Nameerah planned to; bring a custard gun and soak anyone who gets a spelling wrong.

By Sabahat Mahmood (year 12)

nail-biting event. After 3 anxious hours of the competition, Cranford came 5th which was a great achievement. The Sixth Formers and I had been training the year 7 students along with Mr Ladva and Ms Gawali, since January and we were so proud of how far the group had come.

I would definitely recommend taking part in the Times spelling bee again next year as it is an amazing opportunity.

By Karishma Lall (year 12)

The Spelling Bee is an American invention which

came to the UK in 2008 and Cranford was one of hundreds

of schools to take part. On the 28th of April 2011 a group of year 7 Cranford Pupils and Sixth Formers went to Feltham Cineworld to take part in the Times Spelling Bee.

The Thunder Bees ; Nameerah , Muhammad, Shafla and Sylvia were chosen to compete against 10 other schools from around the county Middlesex. This was definitely a


On Wednesday 20th July 2011 the LRC organised for an internat ional

bestselling author MG Harris to visit our students in Cranford. MG or Maria which is what the ‘M’ stands

for has been shortlisted for several awards. Her book series has sold over 150,000 copies and has been translated into over 15 languages worldwide.

Maria talked about her book series “The Joshua Files” which briefly can be described as conspiracy-thriller fiction. She also spoke about Mayan culture, end of world prophecies and the importance of reading. The students connected well with her due to her personal stories. I particularly enjoyed the way she explained belonging to two cultures and having the opportunity to travel. She believed that her having a Mexican background was a privilege and enabled her to develop a better understanding of the world.

Maria also brilliantly described how one can have different passions in your life and that if you are brave enough you can have a go at anything. Some students actually asked her for career advice

We went to the Paul Robeson Theatre in Hounslow, to participate in the annual borough wide Speed Read. There were about 30 or more students from different schools.

We were told to stand in a circle, and we did some warm up exercises with host Tony Dallas. We then had to walk around and meet some of the students. Next we had to stand in a line alphabetically from the first letter of our name and we had to communicate effectively with each other as there was a limited time to complete the activity. Then we had to stand according to the month and date of our birthdays, it was fun.

After that we sat in two circles, facing each other. We had to talk to the person in front of us about the book we chose. I was talking about Vampire Federation by ‘Sean McCabe’. The book is fast paced and its easy reading.

After the 10 minute break we swapped so people were telling me about their book. Then we all had to vote for the book we were most likely to read based on the talk we had. Although my book didn’t win, I enjoyed it a lot and made a few new friends.

By Nathan Payne (year 9)

LRC Author event -MG Harris-

alongside the autographs. In Maria’s case she loved science and did a degree in biochemistry and worked for the industry for several years. All the time she had a lingering urge to write and finally an accident led her to a new career and the success she has achieved now. Maria explained to the students what processes are involved before getting published and even afterwards when you need to continue to write. There was great interaction between Maria and the students during her audio visual presentation as students were able to ask questions in-between watching small film clips and photographs from Marias visit to the Mexican jungle and the Swiss Alps (all part of her research).

MG Harris said on her visit to Cranford:

“Thank you so much for making me so welcome at Cranford! It was wonderful to meet such attentive, enthusiastic people with such enquiring minds! Lovely conversation afterwards too especially with Nathan (conspiracy theory fan, just like me) and Gaytri a budding barrister! Keep reading and valuing books…!”

By Kiran Gawali (LRC & Study Centres Manager)


-Friday 8th July 2011-

“Participating in the RE conference required full concentration in order to prepare ourselves for the day. To plan and prepare our workshops we were given two weeks, in which we formed our group and assigned tasks to each individual, we created resources and activities to ensure that workshops were both informative and enjoyable. When it came to the day, we felt as if we had prepared ourselves sufficiently to deliver a professional lesson. As a whole, the day was a success, and the RE conference gave me more confidence with talking to large groups of people, and was a good way to put the information we’d learned over the year to good use”.

By Ruttan Masih (year 12)

In June 2011, “West London Impact” facilitated a visit to Cranford Community College by the British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Adam Thomson for a question and answer session with our pupils and staff. Being of Pakistani origin, I was excited both personally and professionally by this opportunity. It took a good deal of perseverance to ensure the High Commissioner came to Cranford but I finally pinned him down and the pupils began preparing their questions for him. So many pupils were eager to attend, and more interest was generated as the visit came just 2 days after the operation in Pakistan that during which Osama Bin

Laden was killed. Pupils had prepared a number of topical and potentially controversial questions such as should Bin Laden have been tried a court of law; why did India and Pakistan develop differently after partition; could former cricketer and politician Imran Khan lead Pakistan in a better way; and a question about the role of American and British foreign policy as well as other factors in the radicalisation of some young people. Each question generated several more and the session could have lasted hours as everyone was gripped with interest. We were very grateful for Mr Thomson’s generosity answering questions long into ‘extra time’ and for his very honest and direct answers. Unlike many politicians he did not sit on the fence and the audience appreciated his frank and

open approach. He inspired some of our youngsters to consider a career in the Foreign Office and he continued to chat to some of our year 13 students after the others had left about what it involved and how to apply.

By Mehmoona Yousaf (Joint Head of Humanities Faculty)

“I believe the R.E. conference as a whole was a massive success. I was pleased with how the day turned out. In my opinion the workshop debating the problem of evil workshop in RE3 was the most enjoyable. Not only was it entertaining, it was extremely thought provoking and informative. It was clear a lot of planning had gone into the production of these workshops and it was evident in the end product. The Question Time was really engaging as we got to see teachers debate and answer our questions based on their beliefs; it was great to see them in a different light”

By Harish Ravi (year 12)

The visit of the British High Commissioner to Pakistan,

Adam Thomson


Cranford’s Rewards day on Monday 18th July 2011 rewarded students across the school for their Discipline, Respect, Enthusiasm, Achievement and Maturi ty throughout the Academic year.

The new rewards system encourages students to collect DREAM points. Every student from year 7 -11 accumulated enough points to go to either Thorpe Park or Bowling or to work with a theatre company on circus skills, drumming or drama workshop. Year 10 students even had a chance to do paint balling with the army cadets.

They were loving the DREAM….

Meanwhile…. The whole of year 12 were living the DREAM as they had the amazing opportunity to work with a professional music video director to recreate the Robbie Williams video “Let me entertain you”. This was quite an experience for staff and students alike.

How often do you get a chance to feature in a music video directed by (director) and watched by Robbie Williams himself? Never. This once in a lifetime opportunity was grasped by the lucky year 12 students on 18th July 2011.

The concert hall could be likened to a real-life studio: lights, camera and a room full of clowns. No, seriously, the theme for the video was black and white clowns, mainly to match the original “Let me entertain you” music video by Robbie Williams.

There were many roles allocated to us students. We had colourful playback “singers”, like Manjot; pro drummers, like Ms Cousins; crazy guitarists, like Gulvant; dedicated dancers, like Dipesh; and of course, the stars of the show: Alka, Milan, Pavanjot and Mr Scher. The mood was insane at one point! Everybody was just enjoying themselves and giving everything they had.

It was a brilliant day and I’m sure all of us would recommend that the younger years take up an opportunity like this if they get the chance. Thanks to the Creative and Media Faculty for organising this for us.

Loving the ...

Living the ...

By Maninder Bhambra (year 12)

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“It was fun because we learnt about what some

circus people do for eg juggling, tight rope walking and we had a go at trying different

things”.

Marcelo Alves

“I had a lot of fun when I went to Thorpe Park as I went on four

rides and I would like to go there again next year”.

Fizza Amjad

“It was very fun. It was fun to see the teachers

try to bowl because they weren’t very

good”.Kunal Fatania


The night began with a fabulous Bhangra performance by Satvir Sidhu, Jaspreet Saini,

Hazra Vora and Sharonpreet Brar; the dance was entertaining, enthusiastic and energetic, getting everybody into the mood of the night. Even I could not stop my feet from tapping to the beat of the ‘dhol’ Lakhvir Bhagri was playing.

One entertainment after the other: next was Ryan Hodges with a cool break dance performance, followed by Saujanya Natarajan doing a Bollywood dance - full of elegance and expression.

The handing out of the folders ran very smoothly. So smoothly that no one (despite all their previous fears) tripped!

Throughout the ceremony there were many speeches: touching and nostalgic, leaving a melancholy atmosphere which suddenly made the fact that school had ended more realistic - more scary. Some were in tears - (including my mum). Tears continued when all the years we had spent together as a year group were reflected upon in the beautiful video Faiz Sheikh made. Another video after that was played (made and directed by Miss Lowdon), that got us all laughing (great acting Mr Blades, Ms Knights, Mr Booth and Mr Fraser). The video ended with ‘Friday’ by Rebecca Black.

Food and photos followed; actually lots and lots of photos followed instantly after the ceremony on the concourse which was full of us year 11 students - all looking smart and fabulous, of course!

Soon the concourse was empty, we all left. Class of 2011 left happy from our wonderful farewell from Cranford Community College.

Only to return again on 25th August 2011 for our GCSE Results…

By Roshni Mehra (year 11)

On Wednesday 20th July 2011 we went on a trip to Oxford University to understand the importance of an education and we all have it in ourselves to have a bright future (job). Oxford University is old yet beautiful, we all went on a tour bus to see all of Oxford; as we learnt at the start when we visited St. John’s College that Oxford University isn’t a campus as it’s not all in the same place, there are colleges scattered all over the place but are part of Oxford. Later in the day we met a man called Hashi. Hashi shared with us his past and told us that no matter what the consequences you can make it. There was also

some of Hashi’s friends such as Muna, Rupa, Emma, Jake, Nick, Marco and Ugi who were all very successful and from different backgrounds. Personally I found this experience very inspiring and thank my Head of Year Mr Paterson and Hashi and his friends for this opportunity.

By Nada Hassan and Kadar Yousaf (year 9)

Hounslow Youth Question TimeIn the spring term 2011 some of our year 12 students were given the opportunity to attend Hounslow Youth Question Time; the purpose of this Saturday afternoon event held at the Civic Centre was to allow young people to express their concern and interest in Global political and economic issues (focussing particularly on the USA and Britain) in a safe environment and allowing their voice to be heard. There was an array of guests on the panel including Diplomats from the American Foreign Office and entrepreneurs trying to inspire young people to actively engage in society to make it a better place for them. Our students did themselves proud and asked a number of challenging questions on topics ranging from the backdrop to increasing pirate activity, American foreign policy, the British Coalition Government as well as the damaged reputation of the Liberal Democrats since joining hands with the Tories. The year 12 students relished this opportunity to mingle with other young people and listen to panel members tackle their questions. For me it helped initiate contact with West London Impact who helped bring another amazing event to Cranford in June 2011. By Mehmoona Yousaf (Joint Head of Humanities Faculty)

Trip to Oxford inspires year 9’s


There was no mistaking the sense of pride and joy at the year 13 Celebration

Evening as the Class of 2011 said their fond farewells to the teachers and friends they had known and loved for the last seven years. Many parents joined in the fun to share this important moment in their son or daughters life, as they leave Cranford for the next stage on the journey of learning.

The formalities of the evening w i t h t h e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f certificates to every year 13 s tudent was punctua ted by entertainment from the year 13 band and dancing from Gurkavel Mahli and Brahmjeet Sahota

The Head Girl /Head Boy quartet (Amarpal, Radhika, Cyrus and Shivaani) bid a fond farewell to everyone and thanked the teachers on behalf of year 13 for their support, hard work and commitment in helping them achieve their ambitions.

Then everyone partied the night away, staff and students together. Good times, good friends and great memories

Good luck year 13.


END OF TERM ASSEMBLY

Cranford’s annual end of year whole school assembly was a celebration of talent and achievements on many levels across the school and culminated in the presentation of certificates for the top DREAM rewards students in each year group.

Kev in Prun ty, Head teacher, congratulated everyone on another amazing year a t Cranford saying that there had been so much to celebrate and he asked students to think about their favourite moment in the year. As he and the Chair of Governors, Roger Owen thanked everyone for their hard work and wished them well, the assembly served as a fitting ending to a fantastic year.

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cranford annual review 2010-2011

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