DREAM IT, DO IT With every passing moment, more and more great news arrives. Through their positivity, work-rate

and determination to succeed, our students are realising that dreams do, in fact, come true and are

made possible through sheer willpower. In the pursuit of our dreams, challenges do, of course,

present themselves and when things don’t go as well as we’d hoped, goals are achieved through

redoubling our efforts and learning from the past. Many possible pathways are shown to our Sixth

Form who have already achieved dual Oxbridge and medicine offers alongside our highest ever

number of unconditional university offers. With much more news to come, it’s becoming

increasingly evident that ‘if you can dream it, you can do it.’

Hertswood Academy Aim High Achieve Excellence

Hertsbeat Monday 9th May 2016 | Issue 11:23

Peter Gillett, Headteacher

With A-Level exams fast approaching, our Sixth Form are firmly focused on their

futures. We continue to see great university offers flood in with staff, students

and parents working extremely effectively together to make this happen.

Medon Sopa, who had already received an unconditional offer to study

architecture at the University of Greenwich, has now received an offer from The

Bartlett at UCL, ranked 2nd in the world for architecture. Medon’s

determination really paid off, having sought the guidance of the Sixth Form

Team to perfect his personal statement. With only 11% of applicants to The

Bartlett at UCL receiving offers, this is a fantastic achievement.

Emma Bowers has also impressed her teachers, showing great dedication and rising to all of the challenges that Year 13

presents. A keen sportsperson, Emma is eager to work with young people to develop their skills. We are delighted to report

that following a tough application process, she will be taking up the role of PE School Sports Apprentice at Parkside

Community Primary School from this September.

Another student whose dream is now becoming a reality is Harvey Rising. Harvey is a keen actor, taking leading roles in

several amateur productions, as well as appearing as an extra on EastEnders. He applied to study acting at university and was

shortlisted for an audition and interview at the University of Central Lancashire. When the admissions tutor watched Harvey’s

audition, he was offered a place on the spot without the need for an interview.

Realising our Dreams by the Sixth Form Team

Year 13 student Tae Beck achieved an A* in Art and Design and we have recently received

fantastic news that he has been awarded a place at the world famous Central St Martins, to

study an art foundation. CSM’s reputation as one of the world's top art schools was forged in the

1980s, and it continues to be notoriously hard to get a place.

Countless future stars have come through Central St Martins over the years, including Stella

McCartney and John Galliano in Fashion, Lucian Freud and Antony Gormley in Art & Sculpture,

and musicians Adam Ant and Jarvis Cocker. (Continued overleaf)

Harvey, Medon and Emma

Fantastic News for Tae Beck by Miss Slatter (Head of Visual Arts)

www.hertswoodacademy.org | facebook.com/hertswoodacademy | twitter.com/hertswooduk

Parking Hazard - For the safety of your children could we ask you to refrain from using the approach road to the vehicle

barrier on lower school to drop off and pick your child up at the beginning and end of the day.

Similarly, please do not bring your cars up Thrift Farm Lane on Upper School. Students and staff move frequently between

sites and the use of these approach roads makes this difficult.

On Friday, our Year 7 students visited the Ark Theatre to enjoy an interactive performance by

notable children's author Chris Bradford. His work includes the 'Young Samurai' and 'Ninja' series

of books, and more recently the 'Bodyguard' series. Chris, as well as being a popular author, is

also an experienced martial artist and a champion of children's literacy.

The performance kicked off with a bang, as I was kidnapped from the stage while giving an

introduction! Students were brought on stage and shown how to be bodyguards, trained to stay

alert to protect Chris as he moved through the audience. There were on-stage demonstrations of

basic self-defence, even using a copy of his own book as a defensive tool, and the performance

closed with him showing how to stay safe against a knife attack.

"It was really cool to be able to meet Chris Bradford in person, because I really enjoyed his 'Young

Samurai' books." -Kian (Year 7)

"I was very impressed to learn that Chris had been through lots of difficult training exercises to

get experience to write his books, as well as earning a Black Belt." -Harry (Year 7)

Bodyguard Training by Mrs Dunk (Librarian)

The whole faculty is incredibly proud of Tae’s achievement. Tae applied last year and was

unsuccessful, but his determination to succeed will inspire future Hertwood students to

acknowledge that a small set back is just an opportunity to try again and reach your goals.

Below is an excerpt from a letter Tae wrote to Miss Slatter and the Visual Arts department.

I want to thank you for the endless support you have been giving me. I would have regretted so much if I didn't take art

at Hertswood, but through you and the art teachers' encouragement, I was able to think twice, thus getting the best

grade out of it. I look forward to many great future artists coming from Hertswood. I'd be glad to keep in contact in the

future when I achieve more to share and won’t forget being a proud student from Hertswood.

Simon Collins, Chairman of KPMG, was so impressed with the Hertswood

Sixth Form students when he visited in January, he arranged for a group to

visit their head office in Canary Wharf. They had sessions on working for

KPMG and the qualities big organisations look for in potential staff.

The highlight was a delicious three course lunch in KPMG’s fine dining

restaurant where we were joined by Melanie Richards, Vice Chairperson.

Melanie shared stories about her career journey and imparted really

insightful advice. We all agreed that we couldn’t thank KPMG enough for their generosity. Tsitsi Hunda (Year 13) said “It was a

wonderful opportunity, truly insightful and inspirational.”

KPMG Visit by Mrs Endersby (Sixth Form Lead Academic Tutor)

Some of Tae’s work on display at

a Hertswood exhibition last year