Message from Cheryl Day, Headteacher

ReviewMarch 2015

Ms Miln MBEDeputy Headteacher, Ms Miln has been toBuckingham Palace to collect her MBE which shereceived for being an outstanding teacher. Shewas further honoured to be presented the awardby Prince William. Congratulations again Ms Milnon your well-deserved accolade.

The Rt Hon David Laws MP, Minister of State for Schools has written tocongratulate CGA on its results.

A quote from his letter to our Headteacher says, “Your school has provento be one of the top 90 in England showing the greatest sustainedimprovement in the percentage of pupils achieving five or more A*-Cgrade GCSEs (or equivalent), including English and mathematics GCSEs.Finally, your school is also one of the top 100 non-selective state fundedschools in England based on the key stage 2 to key stage 4 value-addedmeasure.”

Technology ShowcaseSix Headteachers from Hortens in Denmark have been to see CGA in action.Their main focus was the use of Computer Aided Design and manufacture inour Design and Technology department. Showcasing their work were leadingDesign and Technology students in Years 10 and 11. They explained theprocess they go through to design, make and evaluate their products usingboth traditional and computer aided methods.

Impressed with the facilities, equipment and ‘shop quality’ of the students’work, the Headteachers summed up what they had seen by saying, “What youare doing with Technology is very exciting!”

Another wonderful edition of Clapton Review. It isgreat to see Ms Miln’s MBE feature on the frontpage, and the success of our debate teams and

basketball players is a real credit to the academy. However, it is thecuriosity, commitment and enthusiasm of so many hundreds of ourstudents that really characterises Clapton Girls’ Academy. If your daughterdoes not yet attend 2 clubs a week or involve herself in one of the manyexciting activities, please encourage her to get involved - it will be to herimmense benefit.

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Your VoteCounts

Last term elections were held forthe new School Council. Twostudents were elected to officefrom each Year group.

Early this term new SchoolCouncil members had a day’straining so they could get to gripswith their role. Evelyn Dumbleton7L said the day “helped me tothink differently and see whateverybody in the academy wantsnot just me and my friends.”

Rabia Iqbal 10C describes whatbeing a School Council memberis all about, “Being part of theSchool Council is an important job as we represent the students and voice theiropinions about all sorts of things to do with CGA. The meetings we have arevery well thought out and inform us of what needs improving in our academy.As a School Council member I should understand the strengths andweaknesses of my academy so that when I meet up with other School Councilmembers we can highlight areas of concern and give objectives to one another.This role is amazing for confidence and it is a lot of fun working with othercommitted students to bring improvement and change.”

Cambridge ShadowsSixth Formers, HajrahAnis and Nadia McLennonwere recent participants inthe Cambridge UniversityStudents’ Union (CUSU)Shadowing Scheme.

This year’s ShadowingScheme was the biggestyet, with places prioritisedfor young people who donot have universitybackgrounds but who havea strong academic trackrecord. Our CGA‘Shadows’ stayed in aCambridge college,attended lectures with theirundergraduate mentors,and tried out socialactivities with theUniversity’s vast array ofstudent societies.

Helena Blair, CUSUAccess Officer explained,“The Scheme provides thechance to experienceuniversity life, and helps tobreak down the mythsstudents hear aboutCambridge. Somestudents may be put offapplying to Cambridge bymisconceptions andnegative stereotypes andthere’s no better insightinto being at universitythan shadowing a studentfor a few days during term-time.”

The first round of the Urban Debate MateLeague at Lammas School saw our Year9 teams winning both of their debates. Inthe second round on 5th March, 9 studentsfrom Years 8 and 9 continued the winningstreak taking out the opposition in 3 oftheir 4debates. CGA is currently ranked 6th

nationally out of the 200 schools in thecompetition, and positioned 5th amongstthe London secondary schools.

Last term a team of CGAdebaters competed in the firstround of the English SpeakingUnion (Mace) Debatecompetition. Of the 4 schoolspresent only 2 schools couldgo forward to the secondround. Our girls, Salimah Bilal13F, Beth Foster-Ogg 13A,Kowther Mohidan 10C, ZainabBhamjee 11P, Hadiyah

Patterson 10C and Amina Omar 10C very comfortably took one of theseplaces as they won their debate against Camden School for Girls.

In the second round this term CGA did very well to come in third positionafter some strong debates against 5 other schools, narrowly missing outon a place in the next round.

Three Faiths ForumVolunteers from the Three Faiths Forum which sends religious believers ofdifferent faiths into schools to share their beliefs came to speak to Year 11about Buddhism, Christianity, Islam,Judaism and Humanism. TheThree Faiths Forum believes thatevery individual has their own takeon their religion and, by hearingpersonal stories and being able toopenly ask sometimes difficultquestions students are better ableto understand why people hold thebeliefs they have.

Year 8 have had afascinating time at theScience Museumexploring the exhibitsand learning aboutdifferent satellites andequipment that havebeen in space - somethat even made it tothe moon.

They also watched adocumentary called‘Mysteries of the UnseenWorld’, learning that thenaked eye perceives onlya fraction of what there isto see on Earth; we aresurrounded by things thatare either too fast, tooslow or too small for us toobserve, such as the flightof a dragonfly, the bacterialiving on our bodies andeven the invisible rays oflight which surround us all.

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Does God Exist?

The apparent conflict betweenreligion and science was thetopic of discussion for Year 9 inReligious Education lessons thisterm. Alom Shaha, author of TheYoung Atheists Handbook camein to talk to the students.Through the use of magic tricks,theological debates and somepersonal and emotional storieshe provided food for thought,challenging the audience withthe question ‘Can you be a goodscientist and believe in God?’ Hein turn was posed some verydifficult questions from ourstudents from ‘What makes usdifferent to animals?’ to ‘Whatabout the existence of thesupernatural?’

Baking MadIn science we have been studying plant and animal cells. We have beenresearching all the different tissues which make up a cell. Our wonderfulscience teacher, Ms Bugtti gave us a creative home learning task to create amodel of a plant or animal cell. I ingeniously baked a biscuit in the shape of aplant cell. I used icing, halal gummy worms and strawberry laces to representthe different structures. Because I love science I put my heart and soul intocreating my plant cell and it was tasty! Who said science wasn’t fun?

Written by: Chris-Anna Thorpe 7A.

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At CGA every student has access to a stimulating range of extracurricularopportunities that improve students’ motivation, build self-esteem, help them tobecome more effective learners and above all, raise achievement. All studentsare encouraged to attend two or more clubs each week to build on learningexperiences within the curriculum and provide experiences that extend anddevelop students’ skills.

Visit the academy website to view the new clubs timetable, which is updated everyhalf term. Over 120 clubs are currently on offer every week, ranging from judo todebating to current affairs discussion groups, helping to support students’ physicalhealth, critical thinking and global understanding. Our new Club Suggestions boxin the LRC has allowed students to input into the range of clubs and a Japaneseclub has now been introduced as a response to their feedback.

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Alter EgoFinalists for Hackney’s number one talent contest, Alter Ego were selectedfollowing an X Factor style contest in January. Performers aged between 13and 19 took to the stage to deliver a variety of different entertainment includingacting, singing, rapping, dance and comedy in the hope of making it throughto the finals. Among the successful 9 acts were CGA’s spoken word artistsJamilah Bint-Usman 9L and Kyanne Richards 9A.

Hundreds packed the Hackney Empire for the sell-out final event. The winnerwas selected through a 50/50 combination of text votes by the Alter Egoaudience and nominations by the judging panel, made up of industryprofessional Ghetts, Bless Beats and Leroy FX from dance group Flawless,and Hackney Empire’s Susie McKenna. Huge congratulations to Jamilah andKyanne who came in joint 3rd position.

Judge, Leroy FX, said: “I was amazed by the talent and I enjoyed every actthat was on, it was a really good night. I thought each artist, really gave it theirbest.”

What’s in the Box?Since October, a select group of 13 students worked on the Barbican BoxMusic Project. They developed a composition based on the contents of thebox and used their local area and surroundings to get their creative juicesgoing. American folklorist and ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax also provided aninspiration.

The group had a very exciting time putting the finishing touches to their workwhich included tuba, trombone, clarinets, piano, singers, spoken word andmuch more. During the project they benefitted from working with mentors suchas rapper and producer Prince Rapid and singer/songwriter Sam Mumford.Their moment of glory came when they performed their finished 20 minutepiece on stage at the Barbican on 26th February.

See the performance athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CajDmMACbQE&feature=youtu.be

Merchant of VeniceOur A level drama students weretreated to a fine example ofShakespeare brought into the21st century when they went to aperformance of The Merchant ofVenice at the Almeida Theatre.The students will compare thisversion to the originalperformance conditions for theirfinal drama exam. Theproduction opened in a casinowith poor Antonio agreeing to borrow money from Shylock in return for apound of his own flesh. This modern setting allowed the audience toconnect with the dangerous results of being in debt to the wrong people.The horrifying sight of Antonio being strung up to the rafters of the theatre,while Shylock prepared to claim his debt, was a sight that will stay with theaudience for a long time.

Summer Art Festival9th July 2015

Coming soon - even more ‘extra’ opportunities forstudents to audition to perform on stage or showcasetheir artwork in the end of Summer term Arts Festival.

Jamilah Bint-Usman & Kyanne Richards (3rd & 5th from left respectively)

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Hop, Skip &Jump

Pupils from schools within the Hackney TeachingSchools Alliance (HTSA) had a fantastic, fun-filledprimary sports day at CGA as part of their PhysicalEducation programme.

The sports hall and dance studio were buzzing withactivity and excitement as the children, agedbetween four and seven years old from Rushmore,Nightingale, Kingsmead, Gayhurst, Harrington Hilland Millfields put their energies into mastering theart of trampolining, street dance, ball skills andtarget practice. Clapton students’ outstandingleadership skills came to the fore as theysupported the pupils throughout the day.

Licenced to deliverDofE Award

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) isthe world’s leading achievement award foryoung people, recognised by employers anduniversities alike. It gives all young peoplethe chance to fulfil their potential, make apositive difference to their community anddevelop life-long skills. We are very excitedto announce that CGA is now set up as aDirectly Licensed Centre and can deliver afull DofE award programme and grant Dukeof Edinburgh’s Awards on behalf of studentsat CGA.

Ms Gakungu who oversees the DofEprogramme at CGA said, “It is an amazingopportunity for us to be able to deliver the DofE programme in ouracademy. All our students are encouraged to get involved and worktowards gaining this award which is an asset to their CV and enhancestheir employability skills, leading to a multitude of opportunities.”

WhistleblowersCongratulations to Sixth formers Fahdi Ahmed,Tiye Kabara-Clarke, Kevser Kilinc and SeunAdeduntan who recently qualified as Level 2basketball table officials with Englandbasketball. The girls are now in the process ofundertaking their Level 2 refereeing course andwill be the first CGA students ever to becomeLevel 2 officials, making them eligible to officiateat national league basketball games.Fahdi Ahmed

Kevser Kilinc Tiye Kabara-Clarke Seun Adeduntan

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Sports HallAthletics

CGA hosted Hackney’s Primary Sports HallAthletics competition final. There was strongcompetition between the qualifying students inteams from Gayhurst, Morningside, Northwold andMandeville Primary schools. After the final raceit was Gayhurst Community School who werecrowned borough champions. They now go on torepresent Hackney in the London schools roundlater this year. Special thanks to Jasmine Charlton10C, Molly Bennett 9N, Francesca Beaumont9T and Ezelina Owens 9P who were involvedin the organisation and leading of this event;demonstrating their excellent understanding ofathletics.

Talent SpottingOver 10,000 young Londoners take part in theLondon Youth Games basketball competitionsevery year and the Games have been the steppingstone for some of Britain’s top basketball talent.CGA hosted the opening match of the U16schools’ basketball competition in the Big Kick OffWeek of the 2015 London Youth Games.

Team GB basketball captain Drew Sullivan was aninterested spectator as Hackney youngsters tooktheir first steps towards representing their boroughin Europe’s largest annual youth sports event.On this occasion, our team proved far toostrong for Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and ran outas 66-4 winners.

LondonSchoolGamesFinal FourOur U14 and U16 basketballteams are through to the LondonSchool Games Final Fours. Theysealed their places when HarrisAcademy Battersea received ahammering from the U14 teamwho won their match by a massive62 points, followed by a decisivevictory for our U16 team, who won59-32.

Our girls have done brilliantly toget this far as this competition isopen to every school in Londonand is the basketball equivalent tothe FA cup (but for Londonschools). The London finals willbe on 19th March.

March Review 2015

www.clapton.hackney.sch.uk

TERM DATESParent Consultation Evenings, 4.30-7.00pm

Year 7: 19th MarchYear 8: 23rd April

New Families Evening, 28th April, 6.30-7.30pm

End of TermFriday 27th March, 12.30pm

Visit the website to see more calendar events

Language LeadersYear 10 Languages Leaders, Beatrice Brierley 10L, Alexandra Virlan 10C, SofiaBegum 10A, Munira Haffeji 10N, Aisha Mangera 10N & Sumayya Patel 10Tvisited Year 3 and 4 at William Patten Primary School. They had a very excitingafternoon teaching two Spanish classes each, which they had planned andprepared themselves. They were very nervous to begin with but got moreconfident as the afternoon went on and they are looking forward to their nextvisit soon!

Wanted: Parent Governor

Are you committed to the education and achievement of young women inHackney? Can you devote 3 evenings and a day per term to ouracademy?

The Articles for the Academy Trust provide for parents/carers of registeredstudents to be Parent Governors on the governing body. A vacancycurrently exists and you are invited to put your name forward should youwish to stand for election. Please contact the academy atpforde@clapton.hackney.sch.uk by 13th April 2015 and enclose a brieffactual statement about yourself. If a number of candidates come forward,the appointment will be determined by an election. All parents are entitledto vote in the election.

Attendance AwarenessAttendance Awareness Month kickedoff the Spring term at CGA with a focuson ensuring all students, staff andparents were even better informedabout the importance of attendance ingaining outstanding achievmement.Displays, assemblies and CollectiveTime were used to reinforce keymessages to students and all parentsreceived a new attendance leaflet. Newattendance initiatives were alsolaunched across the academy including:a weekly tutor group raffle; anAttendance Awareness Year group

raffle; free breakfasts in the Dining Pavilion for those arriving early to school onselected days throughout Attendance Awareness Month; Collective Timeattendance activities of wordsearch, maths & languages activities linked toattendance and a poster competition which was won by Zainab Akhoon 7N.

To be or not to be

To enrich their understanding of Literature and the Arts, Year 8 students havebeen to the Tate Modern and the Globe theatre. A guided tour took themthrough the “Highlights of the Permanent Collection” where they explored theart works of surrealists Dali, Picasso and Miró.

A quick walk along the Thames and the girls were immersed in the world ofShakespeare’s Globe, taking part in a bespoke Hamlet workshop anddramatizing their interpretation of the immortal words “To be, or not to be” onthe Globe’s stage. The trip was a culturally rich experience taking in the sightsof Southwark Cathedral, Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hinde and the smells ofBorough Market.