CITY OF LONDON

ACADEMY

S O U T H W A R K

NEWSLETTER

Christmas

2018

Dear Parents, Guardians, Governors and Students,

As the Christmas tree in the main atrium is raised into position and announces to all that the festive season is upon us, it is good time to reflect on this terms achievements by our learning community as we come to the end of 2018. This month we had the formal opening of our now fully completed William Fraser Sixth Form Centre. The building has been named after our Founding Chair of Governors William Fraser OBE who was instrumental in the establishment of our school nearly a decade and a half ago. Greeted by our excited students Lord Mayor, Alderman Peter Estlin formally opened the building and distinguished guests and dignitaries including Sir Simon Hughes had a tour of the state of the art facility. Please see supporting photos in this newsletter for the full story. We have had a record number of 15 students apply to Oxbridge this Year from our Sixth Form. This highlights the great work being carried out by Mr Brosnan (Vice Principal – Sixth Form) and our sixth form team and teachers in raising the aspirations of our student body. All this is added to well over 100 students starting university this year, from CoLAs Sixth Form. Our Year 11 and Year 13 students had their first full experience of Mock GCSE and A-Level exams. We have found our three year KS4 GCSE curriculum has helped students grapple with the new, more content heavy, course specifications and we look forward to seeing the fruits of all their hard work next summer.

To enrich the very broad and balanced curriculum we offer at CoLA students have been on a number of study trips this term including a Languages trip to Paris, France; the Tower of London; the Body Works exhibition at The Natural History Museum; A Senior Maths Challenge; Debate Mate; the Jack Petchey Speak Out Competition; a PE Trip to the ATP Finals.

In November, we hosted the City of London Basketball Festival, showcasing sporting talent across all of the schools in our City of London Family. Our own basketball teams continue to go from strength to strength. Our girls’ squad now host 6 of the England under 18 National Team and our teams are well placed in the Elite Basketball League, now entering their winter recess. This term, students and staff have been fortunate, through our Sponsor the City of London, to attend several City Functions including, the Lord Mayors Banquet where our Head Girl, Mamusu and Head Boy, Gideon, met PM Theresa May. Students also attended the annual Christmas lunch with the Worshipful Company of Fletchers and students in Year 8 worked on a Graffiti art project, marking the Centenary of Armistice Day. The academy received a record number of applications for Year 7 places for the next academic Year with over 1250 applications for the 240 places making us one of the most oversubscribed state schools in London. We would like to thank our community for the confidence and trust you place in us. Earlier this half term we launched ‘Nurture November’ focusing on staff wellbeing and the Danish concept of Hygge. I would like to thank Hannah Matthews, our Head of Well Being, for helping to make November so positive. We have just celebrated our annual Senior Citizens Party where the entertainment is provided by students and staff, together with the excellent support of our hard working Parent Teacher Association. A great time was had by all. As a key member of the Leading Edge Network of high performing schools we have been engaged in showcasing our best practice work in education. In addition, we have equally been absorbing the very best new educational practices from the exceptional schools in the SSAT network. In support of this we have been reaccredited as an Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM) Centre of Excellence for our nationally recognised inclusive practice. This celebrates the rich diversity of work done in our community, ensuring an inclusive culture pervades here. In support of our community our academy will be once again hosting the Charity Crisis at Christmas supporting the homeless. We will be passing over our academies facilities to the charity over the festive period to enable it to be used as one of their national centres. Students within the academy have been involved in fundraising to support this very worthy cause. Can I take this opportunity to wish you, and your family, a happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year and thank you for all your support in 2018. We look forward to welcoming our students back to CoLA at the start of the new term on Tuesday 8th January.

Executive Principal

Trips & Visits Here at CoLA our students are extremely fortunate to have such a wealth of opportunities to

engage in exciting, challenging and often unique trips and visits. We are grateful to all of the

members of staff who have dedicated time and effort to making these trips and visits happen.

Cultural,

Aspirational and

Rewards

Our Head Girl, Mamusu Kamara and Head Boy,

Gideon Quaisie, circled right, were delighted to

attend the prestigious Lord Mayor’s Banquet at

Guildhall.

Community & Environment

Several year 7 students, including Khadija, Lola

and Tallulah have been involved with British

Land’s mentoring programme, based at The

Printworks, near Surrey Quays. This is a

creative project, where our students take the

lead with primary school children in designing

and creating urban planning projects in the

local area, including parks and gardens. All

their work has the key focus of sustainability.

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As always, they represented

the school with aplomb and

enhanced the mood with

their usual effervescent

personalities.

The PE Ambassadors

enjoyed their trip to the

Olympic Park. It appears

Loreth and Jesse have

converted to the dark side,

by the look of their gestures

of support for West Ham Utd.

Below are a high achieving

group of year 7’s celebrating

their attendance and

classroom merits. The new

super-hero badges system is

proving hugely popular and

reflects CoLA’s commitment

to a praise based culture.

CoLA International: London, Korea & Paris

Sport & Physical Education .

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Students of French enjoyed a taste of food, culture and

art in Paris. As the cover picture, at the Louvre,

suggests our students cheerfully contributed to The

Entente Cordiale. Above we see

members of Ms

Szucs’s Korean

Studies group,

delighted to meet

with Eunji Lee from

London’s Korean

Cultural Centre. She

kindly invited them

all to an exhibition.

Aaron and Ashna

(left) were doing

detailed research at

London’s Thames

Barrier, as part of

their Geography

studies. It’s hard to

say if their faces are

flooded with smiles

or not.

Regular readers will know all

about the sporting success of

the schools’ basketball teams.

However, it is also great to hear

about their charity work, such

as the recent game coordinated

by year 13 student Noor Abu-

Salem (pictured right).

Let’s not forget other sporting

endeavours by our students.

Here is the year 7 netball team,

taking part in this term’s Vitality

event. They also got to meet

the English Netball Team prior

to their recent BBC SPOTY

success.

Extra-Curricular Education

There is an enormous range of extracurricular activities and clubs on offer at

CoLA. Here are a few that have been taking place this term. A massive well done

to the students who have attended and of course a big thank you to the staff who

have given up their time to make these clubs happen.

Maths, Science & Geography

Social Campaigns

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Some of our most passionate and articulate Year 11’s – from left - Simbiat, Ashna, Xi, Gracie, Micheal,

Olu and Gbemisayo, were clearly taking their publicity shoot for CoLA’s involvement with a national

campaign very seriously. I’m sure anyone challenging Gbemisayo’s views, in particular, will receive a

strident response. Having delivered some of the best speeches ever heard, during the schools speaking

and listening exams last year, all these students were ideal proponents of such an important message.

Congratulations to 13 Further Maths Students for an

amazing array of gold, silver and bronze medals at

the recent senior maths challenge. Howard, Lewis,

Tommy, Tyler, Molly, Megan and Ravi are pictured

with Miss Bennet at the 6th Form Awards Assembly.

Thanks to Miss Richardson, we can see four year

11s, Daisy, Michaela, Alfie and Samuel on a fantastic,

if slightly gothic, adventure to the Bodyworks

Exhibition.

Several 6th Formers ventured to the Kent coast for

vital fieldwork. It seems uncertain what the girls were

surveying, but it certainly looked like fun!

Other Events

At CoLA we celebrate many academic, cultural and sporting events. However,

we must not forget the huge work that keeps our Academy growing and thriving.

A Grand Opening

Visual Arts

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Following the vision of Bill

Fraser, CoLA’s founding

Governor, and the planning

of a team led by Principal,

Richard Bannister, and the

previous Head of 6th Form,

Abigail Blessing, The Fraser

Building finally had its official

opening by The Lord Mayor,

Peter Estlin. Mr Fraser,

eagerly watched by a large

audience of students, is

pictured with our bechained

visitor. Also shown above,

with The Right Honourable

Mayor, is year 9 student

Numarni. When asking about

her badges (including “I’d

rather be at Hogwarts”), he

was met with her usual

intelligent, confident and

cheerful response. Naturally,

she denied wanting to meet

Harry Potter more.

Above, Libby Batchelor in year 8 is engrossed in

a Graffiti Art Project. This event was specifically

themed with the idea of bringing a modern day

flavour to the 100th year anniversary of Armistice

Day. The school wants to ensure all its students

are not just encouraged to remember through

their studies of History but also in more creative

and inventive ways, aimed at ensuring these

traditions endure.

Pictured below, Ashana Hinds was delighted to be

part of the Art Department’s trip to Dulwich

Gallery. A workshop was arranged to develop

students’ articulacy and confidence, whilst

speaking critically about art. In this case Adam

Pynacker’s Landscape with Sport and Game.

Celebrating Literacy

as well as Christmas

A Message from Head of School, Bryce Wilby

I have spent this term with a relentless focus on positivity, aimed at enthusing the student and staff body.

Having a positive outlook makes all the difference to achievement and our wellbeing. The wall in my office

has my favourite J K Rowling quote on it – “It is our choices that show us what we truly are, far more than

our abilities” – Albus Dumbledore. Albus is an inspirational Headteacher who builds trust and achievement

in the face of many challenges. Making tough choices is challenging and teachers all know how important

consistency is in making our school a better place.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I look forward to seeing you all in 2019.

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REFER TO C001.1 EAST STAIRCASE

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Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff and Governors,

Our Year 11 and 13 students have already sat their second round of mock examinations, ahead of the public

examinations next term, and I am particularly impressed by their conduct during the hectic examination period.

Already, many of the students have achieved encouraging results, so we thank all parents and guardians for

supporting your children at home with their studies.

As we embark on the last phase of revision towards the final exams, we are certain that the students will continue

to strive for excellence in pursuit of their dreams and aspirations. However, although Easter holidays provide ideal

time for students to work independently at home - consolidating their hard work done in school - there will be a

range of Easter revision sessions being held in the Academy for Years 11 and 13. Many students who participate

in Easter classes have, in the past, shown significantly better performance than in their mocks. Therefore, it is vital

that as many as possible take advantage of teachers offering their time during the holidays.

I would like to use this opportunity to wish every member of the CoLA community a Happy Easter. My sincere

thanks go to staff and students for their continuous hard work to improve the teaching and learning, across all key

stages, here at the Academy.

And don’t forget! Enjoy the Easter eggs everybody.

The Literacy Team would like to say a big thank you

to our lovely Y9 Literacy Helpers, who supported

the Word of the Week Tutor Time Literacy

Activities.

Abdiqadir, Aram and Luis displayed the Word of the

Week posters around the school every Monday

morning; ensuring everyone at CoLA has had the

opportunity to encounter them daily.

And finally. Here’s a wonderful festive picture featuring, including Jester, Masud, Andras, Janelle and Malakai. Students all paid to wear celebratory knitwear to raise money for Save the Children UK.

EXISTING CORRIDOR 100m m BLOCKWORK (INTERNAL & EXTERNAL ) WI TH

FORM NEW CAVITY WALL

100MM CAVITY (50MM INSULATION)

+3.70 FFL EXTERNAL FINISH OF 20MM RENDER

CITY OF LONDON

ACADEMY S O U T H W A R K

240 Lynton Road, London SE1 5LA Tel: 020 7394 5100 www.cityacademy.co.uk