TheCityTimes

AcademysupportsOperationChristmas Child

Issue 48 | Autumn Term 2 | 2012/13

OperationChristmas Child

Hydrogen CarEfficiency Race

Automatic Art

Snowman Invasion

Top merit winners

Accelerated Reader of the week

Don’t forget, you can keep track of your merits on ePortal, and all of our weekly merit winners are also posted on our blog which can be found at:

www.thecityacademy.org/news.

Week 11 Joshua Weekes46 Merits

Week 9Nyaling MalangNewgate L

Week 12Emma UgboajaAldgate T

Week 13Shahid ChopdatMoorgate Y

Week 9AadamAbbas32 Merits

Week 12Luz Edwards48 Merits

Week 13Precious Meta-Kabemba44 Merits

Our Top Merit Winners from weeks 14 and 15 this term will be posted on our website.

Week 10Andi RamadaniMoorgate G

Week 10AdedayoAdesanyo76 Merits

Week 11Chesney BoyceLudgate TSnow many snowmen

Cover story: Operation Christmas Child

Students and staff support shoebox appeal

White Christmas arrives early at The Academy

Students and staff from The City Academy, Hackney teamed up for some festive fundraising this month in aid of Samaritan’s Purse, Operation Christmas Child appeal. Each tutor group was asked to donate toys, pens, pencils, notepads and sweets. During tutor period, students then wrapped their gifts and decorated a shoebox to put them in.

The beautifully decorated gift boxes are then distributed all over the world to children and families who are perhaps less fortunate than us and do not necessarily have the money for toys, let alone presents at Christmas. Last year, nearly a quarter of a million shoeboxes were distributed in Belarus, as well as tens of thousands more around the globe.

The Academy is really committed to its students being good citizens. Consequently, we decided to run the campaign so the students could learn the importance of charity and giving to those who are less fortunate than themselves, learning what it means to be an active citizen and echoing our motto: values and success.

Thank you to all the students, parents and staff of The City Academy, Hackney for their kind donations. Let’s hope your gifts will put lots of smiles on lots of children’s faces this Christmas.

To see what happens next to the shoeboxes filled with toys and to find out more about Operation Christmas Child, visit the Samaritan’s Purse appeal website, www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk.

This year, the Art department set our students the festive challenge of making their very own snowmen as part of a homework project - and the invasion has begun. Dozens of snowmen of all shapes and sizes, made from a variety of materials, from balls of string to plastic cups, cotton wool to origami, have taken over the Café Bar in the academy foyer.

Aaron Brook’s miniature snowman - with a crayon tip for a nose - features on our Academy Christmas card this year, available to buy from Reception priced 50p each or £2 for 5. More photos of our students’ Christmas creations can be found on our website.

Students help Ms Tamufor pack all the decorated shoeboxes, ready for delivery.

Our Accelerated Readers of the week from weeks 14 and 15 this term will be posted on our website.

The City Times is available in print and online at the end of each half term. Further information regarding upcoming events and many more news articles are available on our website, www.thecityacademy.org.

Table for twenty

The race is on and on and on

Music to my ears

Automatic ArtGifted and talented workshop

Student Council meeting at KPMG, Canary Wharf

Hydrogen-powered car science challenge

Rock Around the Clock concert and music recital at Sutton House

On Monday 26 November a group of talented artists, from across all four year groups, took part in a G&T Art workshop with Ms McKenzie exploring ‘Automatic Art’. Pioneered by the Surrealists, Automatism was developed as a means of expressing the subconscious. The idea is that through chance and accidental mark-making, linear decisions are made along the way. The resulting artwork formed by these subconscious links could never have been produced had our students planned their thinking in advance. Food for thought!

Photos and videos from our sell-out Rock Around the Clock concert and the intimate recital at Sutton House are available on the News page of our website. I am sure everyone in attendance would agree, it was great to see so much musical talent on show at The Academy. Thanks to the Creative Studies faculty for producing such a wonderful week of shows and to the team at Sutton House for hosting our first recital of the year.

Ahead of their feedback to the Senior Leadership Team, our Student Council held their final meeting of the term at the offices of KPMG (joint sponsors of The Academy with the City of London Corporation). It was a very productive session and we hope the Council got a lot out of the trip in terms of professional expectations and aspirations as well as the opportunity to see the environment in which our sponsors work. The Council agreed three items to carry forward and present to the Senior Leadership Team: a summary of their student-led lesson observations which take place each term, Student Council elections in January, and a proposal to consult students on alternative reward trips including Duke of Edinburgh. Minutes from the meeting and additional photos from KPMG can be found on our website.

This term, a group of Year 10 GCSE science students were challenged to build and test a Hydrogen-powered vehicle. The winning car would be the one that travelled the furthest.

Using just one syringe of Hydrogen gas the students were given a tiny Hydrolysis engine and a selection of cogs and wheels to choose from to create their super-efficient vehicles.

Learning iteratively – repeating a process over and over, learning from your mistakes and making improvements as you go – students built their first prototype, took it to the track and tested their design. Some had wheels turning in opposite directions, some simply wouldn’t move at all. “Back to the drawing board.” By the second test, the distances recorded were much more impressive – the race was on.

Congratulations to Jason, Sakib, Olivia and Farhan, a.k.a. Team Hydro-Tastic (pictured above) whose vehicle notched up an unbeatable 36.5 metres. They now progress to the finals next term where they will compete against 19 other schools from around London.

Thank you to Arcola Energy, based at the nearby Arcola Theatre for coming into The Academy and running the event. The session was a great, hands-on way to learn about the future of fuel and proved to be incredibly competitive too.

Hannah Clavier, Joshua Owusu and Charlie Parker strike up a tune at Sutton House.

The Student Council and Mr. Massey gather round the boardroom table at KPMG .

The great outdoorsThird time lucky

Cross Country Challenge fundraiser

On a crisp October weekend, nine students were selected to take part in an orienteering task to test our navigation and map reading abilities.

It was a great experience and although a little muddy we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We were given a map, compass and on the map were circled 12 points that we had to find in order before proceeding to the finish to see how we had performed. To unsure we reached all 12 points we were using a relatively new electronic chip which is scanned and records all kinds of data on how our pairs performed during the session.

Report byTom Willingham, MGP

You can read Tom’s full report on the News page of our website.

Congratulations to our Year 9 netball squad who won the Academies Cup for the third year running last week.

Winning 8 out of their 9 games at the one-day event, The Academy took top spot on goal difference and successfully retained their title and the trophy.

The girls’ triumph capped off a successful term of team sports at The Academy with our rugby squads recording some impressive wins and our U15 Boys football team still in the national, English Schools’ Cup competition, having secured their place in the fourth round with a convincing 3-0 win over Blessed Hugh Faringdon.

For more sports results and match reports written by our squad members, visit the News page of our website and click on Sports News.

On a freezing cold afternoon all the Year 9 students prepared themselves for an epic race across the frozen, muddy marshland of Mabley Green. It wasn’t just students that took part; a number of teachers including Mr. El-Salahi, Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Sage and Ms Thomas all competed for the top spot. The teachers and students competing in the two kilometre race set off at a steady pace. Mr. Gallagher took the lead straight away and kept it for the whole race. Ishaq Miah bravely battled to keep up with Mr. Gallagher and eared himself first place out of all the students. As for the girls, Anele Konami took first place. After that race, the one kilometre challenge began with Israel taking the lead. He maintained his lead through the race to take the win ahead of the top girl, Shaniah Burns. Report by Kieran Hart, 9 MGL

Well done to all of our students who took part come rain or shine (or snow) and a huge thank you to our parents and staff for supporting our annual fundraising efforts by both donating and taking part. It’s not too late to donate. Our Just Giving page will remain live for the next three months as we collect in all the money you have pledged and you can text in a donation too. More photos and all race results are on the News page of our website.

Visit www.justgiving.com/thecityacademychallenge or text ‘TCAH99 £2’ to 70070.

Key dates for the half term ahead

Sunday 23 Dec. - Sunday 30 Dec.Crisis at ChristmasThe Academy is providing a national charity, Crisis at Christmas, space to set up a day centre for homeless people over the holiday period. If you are interested in volunteering please register your interest with Chris Freed, Volunteer Project Manager, by calling 020 7036 2678.

Monday 7 January 2013Year 10 science revision classes, 08.30 a.m.Our Year 10 students have a series of additional revision classes ahead of their GCSE science exams on Thursday 20 December 2012, Monday 7 January and Friday 11 January. Confirmation letters were sent to all parents last week.

Tuesday 8 January 2013Parent Day - Years 9 and 10, all day

An opportunity for parents to meet our teaching staff to discuss their child’s progress.

8.15 – 9.45 a.m. Year 10 Aldgate and Ludgate10 – 11.30 a.m. Year 9 Aldgate and Ludgate1.30 – 3 p.m. Year 9 Moorgate and Newgate3.15 – 4.45 p.m. Year 10 Moorgate and Newgate

Wednesday 16 JanuaryParent Staff Association meeting, 5.30 p.m.

Our third meeting of the academic year. All parents and staff are welcome to attend. We really value our parents’ input and have just put forward a proposal for the PSA to run a second hand uniform shop. See website for more information.

Wednesday 30 JanuaryPSA Subject Evening, 5.30 - 6.30 p.m.

A chance for parents to join their children for an evening of outstanding learning and teaching. This term Mr. Gennuh will be welcoming families into the Maths department.

Wednesday 13 February, 6 p.m.Year 9 Options Evening

A chance for parents and Year 9 students to get more information and choose their GCSE options.

Further information regarding our upcoming events can be found on our online calendar, www.thecityacademy.org/events.

Term dates 2012/13Spring term 1Tuesday 8 January - Friday 15 February

* Tuesday 8 January 2013 is a Parent Day for Year 9 and 10 students and parents. All other year groups return to school on Wednesday 9 January 2013.

Spring term 2Monday 25 February - Thursday 28 March

Summer term 1Monday 15 April - Friday 24 May

Summer term 2Monday 3 June - Tuesday 16 July

* Monday 3 January 2013 is a Parent Day for Year 7 and 8 students and parents, and an Options Day for Year 9. Normal lessons resume for all students on Tuesday 4 June 2013.

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Ms O’Riordan points Year 8 in the right direction.