March 2015

Jumaada Al-oula 1436AH

Issue 2

Eden Girls’ School Coventry win the Nelson Mandela Food Drive Award Ibthihal Elmesalati 7D

It has been an exciting term so far at Eden

Girls’ School and students have been

revealing just how competitive they are!

The Tauheedul Charity held the annual

Food for All Day, collecting a vast amount

of non-perishable items and monetary

contributions to give to the Trust’s Food

Bank distributors around the country.

We at Eden Girls’ Coventry wanted to

encourage young people to engage in

different activities to develop their

understanding and provide a platform to

make a difference. The Food Drive aimed

to raise awareness of food waste and

poverty in the UK, to organise a national

school food drive and to develop

fundraising skills and raise funds for the

establishment of Food Banks and

Breakfast Clubs.

Before the day, all forms in year 7 and 8

tried to bring in as much food as they

could and successfully did as we had a

colossal amount of food being brought in

by the students and teachers. Students at

Eden Girls’ Coventry did fantastically well,

with so many contributions and three

whole baskets full of donated items, we

knew we were in with a very good chance

School Termly Newsletter

of winning the Food Drive award for the

most food raised; also known as the

Nelson Mandela Food Drive Award. We

are very proud to announce that the Food

Drive from Eden Girls’ Coventry raised a

phenomenal 1015kg of food and just over

£1000 on this day alone! It was a team

effort and we are extremely happy that a

school of 156 pupils could make such a

difference. All form classes contributed

by arranging their donated food in the

most creative way. Some fun events that

took place during the day were bake

sales, sweet stalls, face painting and

many other exciting stalls. Furthermore,

there was a building competition

between all the forms. This is where the

students had to build a sculpture out of

the food they brought in. From towers

made from tinned goods, to our very own

‘Eden Masjid’ created by the girls of 8A;

we sure had a blast and were pleased to

be part of such a fantastic achievement. A

big thank you to all of our hardworking

staff, pupils and parents who helped to

make a difference. May you be rewarded

for all your efforts in the fight against

poverty!

On Sunday 22nd February 2015 a group of children were invited to a communion by Reverend Hanna to experience how Christians worship in a Church. This was a very special day for the church as it was their 30th anniversary and were expecting a visit from the archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu. The church looked amazing. As we entered we walked down a red carpet, passing many wooden benches beside us as we walked down to our seats. To the left there was a big silver church organ with long wide tubes sprouting from the top. As we looked to the front we could see a glistening stained glass window forming pictures of stories from the Bible, including an image of Jesus.

When we arrived, we were given a booklet of the timetable for the day and also we were given the lyrics to hymns. Everyone wasn’t dressed as we expected. We thought that everybody would dress smartly but, to our surprise many people were just wearing jeans with tops or a normal dress. I guess everyone wanted to feel comfortable whilst in worship. First Reverend Hannah

introduced the ceremony and what was about to happen and of course mentioned the famous Archbishop of York. After this everybody stood up and sang a Hymn. As a sign of respect we stood up too. After the Hymn, Dr John Sentamu stood up and gave a speech about how we should live and about the teachings of life. I found it interesting as so much of what she said was similar to our own Islamic faith. There were volunteers who circulated with a basket gathering any money people wanted to donate to help the food bank and other charities.

Overall, this communion was very

enjoyable as it showed us what the church

was about and what Christians do as part

of their worship at Church. We also

learned that it was very similar to a

mosque: participants pray, they receive

blessings for attending and they also learn

about their religion. I found it enlightening

to take part in something so sacred and

beautiful.

Students pay the Church a visit for the Archbishop of York

Manahil Jamil 7C

It is astonishing to discover that

disabled people pay an average £550

per month for care and special

services – the abated money is a sign

that disabled people are harassed and

mistreated just because they do not

have an appropriate functioning

body. How is this justifiable? Just a

simple donation could benefit a

person and let them carry on with

their daily lives. As you already know,

the G&T team run the tuck shop

every day. You may not agree with

the prices but at least you consumers

are supporting The Papworth Trust.

At the start we had been given £50 to

invest we are reaching almost £400-

this is mind blowing we have raised this

much because we come from a school

with a small numberof students and we

have raised an incredible amount of

money. Our hard efforts were

recognised by the Trust and we even

had a special article printed in the

Coventry Telegraph!

Eden Girls run their own business with a tasty tuck shop! Hana Abdurahman 8A

Issue 2

Numbers Day Rabiah Khan 8B In the Autumn term, Eden Girls School

took part in Numbers Day. This is a day

devoted to raising awareness and

money for children who are abused and

mistreated. Furthermore, the pupils

delivered assemblies to the other classes

in order to educate the girls about the

importance of the NSPCC, what they do

and why they hold Number Day every

year. Additionally, all the students put in

some donations and wore different

numbers to celebrate this day.

Nevertheless, the best thing about this

day was that Eden held a bake sale; all

the girls, as well as teachers enjoyed

delicious cakes all for a good cause.

These cakes were all donated by the

generous students and parents. In the

end we all raised an amazing amount

of about £70. Well done to all the

staff, students and parents.

On Friday 27th February, Eden Girls’ Coventry held a fundraising day full of fun activities after school to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. The Teenage Cancer Trust, otherwise known as TCT, is a charity and organisation that supports and educates young cancer victims around the UK. They create world-class cancer services for teenagers, providing life-changing care and support so young people don't have to face cancer all alone. We sold a range of different items, from special TCT wristbands to food and drinks to nit-bit toys. We also held a 'Guess the teacher’s baby-photo' task where students were shown a few of the teachers’ baby photos and take a guess at which photo belongs to which teacher. The Young Humanitarian Club at Eden took the lead on this day, organising roles for participants and ensuring that the day was a success. More activities included a questionnaire, lucky dip and a scrumptious cake sale.

On Sunday 29th February, a motivated group of people from the Midlands ran the Coventry half-marathon for the Teenage Cancer Trust and our fundraising helped them exceed their target of £5000, helping them raise a staggering £8,752. What a phenomenal achievement! All students should be very proud of themselves for participating.

Success for the Teenage Cancer Trust Fundraiser Yomna Shebani 8A

“

Susi’s heartfelt story was closely followed by

a short film about another survivor from

Bosnia called Kelma. He had survived the

Bosnian genocide where 400,000 Bosnian

Muslims were gunned in schools and sheds.

This event collided with the persecution of

millions of Jews in Poland.

The next event was the lighting the 50

candles which was symbolic, more formal

and solemn of the day’s events. The candles

were lit to remember the Holocaust. This

was followed by the chief executive- Martin

Reeves who mainly thanked all the

attendees.

We then listened to more from Susi; the

Holocaust survivor. She spoke about more

horrific facts of living as a Jew in Germany

under the Nazi Hitler. She narrated about

her childhood when she grew up in a care

home before she arrived to England. She

was a twin and was transported along with

her twin sister to England. While her sister

died at the age of 32, Susi survived long

enough to tell the tale. One thing that sadly

amazed me was the fact she was unaware of

the events of her past life for 50 years until

she decided to track it down later in her life.

She found it thoroughly shocking with the

findings as much as I did. For our group the

time was up to return back to school, so we

couldn’t stay until the end even though I

was keen to listen to the end (of her

amazing life experiences).

The afternoon of the 27th January 2014, was

an enlightening experience for me,

especially because I participated and

listened to the survivors of the Auswichtz

Holocaust but also remembering and

reflecting the genocide in countries like

Bosnia and Rwanda.

I’m happy to have been part of the

Memorial Day where we helped to ‘keep the

memory alive.’ We were able to reflect on

these atrocities committed and we can

hopefully prevent them from happening in

the future.

On the 27th Tuesday, January 2015 few

children from both Years 7 and 8, along

with our teachers Mrs Marshall and Mrs

Hafejee, took part of the Holocaust

Memorial Day organised in Coventry at

the Lower Precinct. We honoured the

survivors and reflected upon the lessons

of their experience to challenge hatred

and persecution.

The Lower Precinct was set up with

leaflets and information about the

Holocaust. There were very few

youngsters besides us so we felt rather

privileged to be there.

The guest speakers included Martin

Reeves, the chief executive of Coventry

City Council and Susi Bechhöfer, a

Survivor of the Holocaust. There was

music performed by the Arts Service

Brass Quintet and songs by the children

of Saint John Fisher Primary School.

The Programme was initiated by The

Lord Mayor’s speech in which she

highlighted the importance of

remembering and keeping the memory

alive of the Holocaust. She also

extended her sympathy to the survivors

and descendants of the victims of the

Holocaust. Although I knew much of

what she spoke about it was still quite

enlightening and reflective for me to

hear about the dreadful events of the

Holocaust. It made me think of why it is

important to remember and respect

those who died in this genocide.

The next speech was from the survivor

of the Holocaust. Susi Bechhöfer who

arrived in England through Kinder

Transport she survived to tell the tale in

greater detail. She shared her

experiences of her survival and the

tragedy that hit her and her family which

was very touching for me and to all

those present there.

Holocaust Memorial Day: An emotional experience

Hadiza Ahmed 7A