Year 11 Easter Revision Headlines by Rachel Mcgowan

Issue 79

Working together to promote & celebrate achievement

Wednesday 28th March 2018 Name & Tutor Group:

Headlines by Rachel McGowan

Year 11 Easter Revision

As I write we have 19 school days before Year 11 sit their first written exam on Monday 14th May. Written GCSE exams run in the week beginning 14th May and the week beginning 21st May. We then have Whitsun half-term from Saturday 16th May until Sunday 3rd June. Examinations then continue in the week beginning Monday 4th June and finally in the week beginning 11th June. At Plashet, our last exam is on Monday 18th June. Our Year 11 girls and their families also need to note that Ramadan begins on Wednesday 16th May with Eid-Ul-Fitr likely to be celebrated in the final days of the exam season.

Over Easter the additional sessions we are running are for Year 11 and the table below outlines the programme.

Day & Date Morning Session Afternoon Session 09.30 – 12.30 13.00 – 3.30

Monday 9th April 18 Geography with AFO in room G06 Sociology with ZTE in room G15 LT Oversight: Geography with JHY in room G07 PE Theory with RHa in G16 Anna Forshaw Geography with SNE in room G08 Geography with MCO in room G16 History with TOB in room G15 History with JUB in room G14

Tuesday 10th April 18 Maths with TDG in room G06 Urdu with NAK in room G13 LT Oversight: Maths with LHV in room G07 Sarah Heath Maths with HJO in room G08 Maths with RZA in room G15 Maths with NSH in room G16 Maths with ZKA in room G11 Maths with ZBH in room G12 Maths with FAH in room G13 Maths with JJE in room G14

Wednesday 11th April 18 English with LSA in room G14 Science with MMA in room F07 LT Oversight: English with KHJ in room G06 Science with SBY in room F06 AM: Kalash Thakor & English with ECU in room G15 Science with RUD in room F04 Louisa Sanderson English with KTH in room G08 Science with AKM in room S01 English with GEV in room G16 Science with TOD in room S02 PM: Tomas O Donnell English with KOM in room G07 English with GAI in room G11

Thursday 12th April 18 RE with SHE in room G14 RE with SHE in room G14 LT Oversight: RE with LST in room G15 RE with LST in room G15 Sarah Heath RE with TSU in room G16 RE with TSU in room G16

Friday 13th April 18 RE with KHo in room G15 RE with KHo in room G15 LT Oversight: Anna Forshaw

Preparation

Examinations are approaching for all students.

 Year 11 written exams begin on Monday 14th May  Year 10 written exams on 6th June.  Year 9 written exams on 30th April.  Year 8 written exams on 1st May  Year 7 written exams on 2nd May. Diary Matters

Our Easter holiday runs from Friday 30th March until Sunday 15th April. All students in Years 7, 8, 9 and 11 are expected back to school on Monday 16th April. Remember also that Year 10 are on work experience straight after Easter.

Road Safety

Plashet Grove is a very busy road. Unfortunately, some drivers break the speed limit when driving down it. This means Plashet students need to be very careful when crossing the road. There is a zebra crossing to enable students and members of the public to cross safely. At the end of the day when we have all students leaving the site during a 15-minute period, my leadership team and I are on duty to ensure students leave the site safely and this includes manning the zebra crossing. In the morning when students arrive over an extended period from 8.20 until 8.50am, we have members of our site team on duty at our student gate.

There are a number of students who are dropped off from their parents’ cars in Plashet Grove in the morning. I would ask that all students getting out of cars on Plashet Grove ensure they get out on to the pavement and not open passenger doors and get out onto the road. This is very dangerous. I also ask that all students use the zebra crossing and do not walk across the road at any other points. Taking a few minutes to walk a few more steps is worth it rather than risking an accident.

Active Newham

Included in this edition of Plashet Post are details about Park Lives the free Easter Active Newham programme. Anyone interested in attending can join and register at the following address: https://www.parklives.com/ account/register. Alternatively, they can just turn up on the day.

Park Lives is a free and easy way for you to get the best out of your local park. In fact, it’s much more than just a walk in the park – you’ll find a whole host of activities ranging from Family Tennis to Horse and Pony Rides! Newham have made it easy for you to take part and all of the activities take place in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere, delivered by qualified coaches and instructors.

Newham is the only borough in London where residents can enjoy Park Lives activities. So do go into the park to raise your spirits, have fun and enjoy some brilliant days out with your family and friends.

Police Project Encompass

The school has been given the opportunity to take part in a project that will run jointly between schools and the Newham Police. Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools, prior to 9.00am on the next school day, when a child or young person has been exposed to, or involved in, any domestic incident. Operation Encompass will ensure that a member of the school staff, known as a Key Adult, is trained to allow them to liaise with the police and to use the information that has been shared, in confidence, while ensuring that the school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children, or their families, who have been involved in, or exposed to, a domestic abuse incident. We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our students and we believe this will be of benefit to any students who find themselves in this situation. Staying Safe Online

Technology research company Comparitech has recently launched a guide to help parents, carers and educators protect children’s privacy online. The guide also tackles the issue of online privacy, which can span not only protecting children from online predators but also things like preventing identity theft and ways to minimise the risks of the household computer becoming compromised. The following is the address at which students and parents can find the guide: https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/protecting-childrens-privacy/

Year 7 Interform

The Year 7 netball interform league has now begun! The standard of netball seen has been very high. Well done to all the girls who have taken part so far. The following forms have all won their first game: 7A, S, H, E, T and G.

Keep up the hard work.

Miss Lee, Teacher of PE

Wild Wednesday – When Year 7 Came Face to Face with Invertebrates and Reptiles

The animal show was amazing – we saw a lot of animals such as stick insects, a bearded dragon, a tarantula and snakes. It was very interesting because we found out a lot about these animals. I had a fear of large insects but thanks to Paul and my classmates I have overcome my fear. I hope to take part in another activity like this again. Aishah 7A

I had to hold an adult tarantula and it was really nerve-wracking but at the same time I felt brave. This was the most amazing experience ever. If you get a chance, please try and and hold animals like these. Wyshnavi 7A

During Science Week, the animal show was a great experience for people who weren’t really comfortable with snakes and insects. The kind sir showed us some of his most interesting animals and it has made me more comfortable with insects. Mehreen 7A

I was so surprised to see the gigantic python which was 30kg and needed 10 students to hold it. It was just awesome and I would love to explore more! Mastura 7A

It has been an adventurous day – I had never seen these creatures before let alone come face to face! As I have been fearful of these throughout my life I can’t believe I got to hold a 30kg snake that had just shed its old skin to reveal a new shiny skin! Aminah 7A

Ms Byrne, Science Department

Year 8 Balloon Rocket Challenge

To celebrate Science week all of Year 8 took part in a challenge during their Science lessons. We were given limited resources and had to use our knowledge of forces to make a ‘balloon rocket’, the one that went the furthest would win. It was a very fun experience. The winners of each class went to a grand final on Friday, where they competed with each other. The designs were amazing; however, we could only choose one rocket.

Well done to Shabana Ibrahim, Aaliyah Patni and Nabiha Nadeem from 8E on their winning rocket!

Tasnia Islam 8G Year 9 Sociology trip to the Ragged School Museum and to the Childhood Museum

Our Year 9 students had an interactive session about teaching and learning in Victorian times. Students were then asked to compare the standards, curriculum and opportunities given then and now as well as contemplate if all the changes have been progressive and successful.

In the afternoon students were given the opportunity to go around the Childhood Museum and compare toys from the past and present. Students were then asked to make links between these toys and their curriculum within the socialisation unit.

After the students were then given a lecture on the ‘construction of childhood’ and why it is seen as an important part of your life course today.

Ms Teles, Subject Leader for Sociology & Debating Co-ordinator

Year 9 CSI Activity

On Monday the 12th March, we attended the Crime Scene Investigation organised by Mrs Taninki during lunch time. We had the opportunity to learn a range of new scientific techniques.

We took part in a series of experiments, such as identifying our fingerprint patterns using ink and how to lift fingerprints from a crime scene using carbon powder and sellotape. We also took the part of playing a detective, finding clues around the classroom and identifying poisonous pens using chromatography, also using UV lights to identify invisible notes and messages.

Using all these scientific methods we were able to identify the suspect in the murder investigation.

While taking part in the session we learnt key things such as that even identical twins will not have the same fingerprint because of different positions in the womb. The rarest fingerprint pattern is called accidental, which only 1% of the population in the world would have. We also learnt the science behind UV light used in detecting invisible ink and used chromatography to separate the ink in the poisonous pens to identify the suspect.

Overall we enjoyed the session and learnt new insightful information. We hope that there will be more sessions like this in the future.

"I had so much fun, I learnt new things about how to find fingerprints and what to look for when you are involved in a criminal investigation, and I am really looking forward for something like this to happen again" Maaria Yousef 9T

“The most fun part was identifying my fingerprints. It was very interesting and cool.” Roshni S Mohandas 9A

“While helping the Year 9s in their Crime Scene Investigation I not only developed my confidence but also my scientific and presentation skills. I enjoyed the experience thoroughly.” Safaa Adel 11N

It was an amazing opportunity to see Science in a new light to further improve my knowledge in the subject. It was interesting to lead the session and ask scientific questions.” Mooskan Gul 11G

Marium Kadir and Zahra Mahfuza 9T

Year 9 Engineering Bridge Challenge

On Friday 16th March, our Year 9 students took part in `Engineering Bridge Challenge` with Mrs Taninki in celebration of Science and Engineering week. We began by learning about the social, cultural and eco- nomic impacts of bridges across ages. We looked at several factors that engineers consider when designing bridges. They also creatively strive to meet people's needs within budget and material constraints.

Before we made our own models, we studied about the forces acting on the bridge - compression and tension and how having different geometrical designs affect the strength of a bridge. We read about how real life engineers make bridges with steel and concrete: how they had to weigh up the pros and cons of each material. Steel is a useful bridge material because of its high strength in both compression and tension. Steel is also a ductile material, meaning that it can be bent or shaped easily into different forms. While concrete is extremely strong in compression, it is extremely weak in tension. When designing concrete structures, engineers often do not allow for any tension forces in a concrete part. To compensate for the weak tensile properties of concrete, steel is often embedded in the concrete to handle any tensile forces. This combination of concrete with embedded steel is called reinforced concrete.

We then studied about three main types of bridges - suspension, arch and beam bridges in the UK. It was interesting to know that Tower bridge has all three designs in one.

We then had to discuss and plan an innovative bridge design which can withstand maximum force. This gave us the opportunity to build on our creativity and imagination in engineering. This is a very challenging task since we had to think about the structure and the concept of the bridge very carefully. We had to take into consideration the weight distribution across the whole bridge and how it could support the weights.

Then we got started and created our own models and we realised that it’s not as easy as it seems. It was very interesting to see everyone’s unique interpretation of the most effective bridge. Overall it was a very useful, challenging and thought-provoking project. We look forward to many more engineering projects like this in future.

Sanam Anjum 9H, Haram Ali 9H and Nidhi Ben 9E

Year 10 WoW Festival - London Southbank Centre

On Friday 9th March, twenty four Year 10 students attended the Women of the World Festival (WoW) at the London Southbank Centre. Students listened to talks from writers, politicians, and activists who shared their experiences and raised important issues about gender equality. The festival was aimed at celebrating the achievements of women and girls as well as addressing any obstacles that prevent them from achieving their potential.

This festival marked the 100th anniversary since women got the right to vote in the UK and is particularly apt following recent campaigns such as the #MeToo campaign and #PressForProgress. Below are some student reviews:

“The WoW Festival was an incredibly enriching experience for all of us. We were so lucky to attend talks of women leading in various fields of professions. I think a key lesson we learnt was that confidence and equality is the core of female empowerment. It was really inspiring to see female role models who broke expectations and are actively promoting feminism.” Arpita Chowdury, 10H

“The WoW Festival was an extremely enriching experience where I was able to contemplate pressing issues that affect women today. I learnt about violence and abuse against women in politics and the discrimination of women in prison. I was inspired by the numerous empowered women who fight for these causes and I believe that it was crucial that these issue are spoken about.” Noshin Sadia, 10N

“I enjoyed the experience immensely as it was an eye-opener to the issues we face in today’s society. It was amazing to meet such inspirational women who showed us, through their own stories, that females are capable of anything they put their heart, mind and soul to.” Bisma Khokar, 10T

Miss K Hogan, KS4 Lead for Most Able Students 11

Year 10 Museum of London Trip

Our Year 10 students visited the Museum of London to take part in workshops around ‘campaigning in London’. Within the first part of the workshop, students focussed on the suffragettes and what made their campaign so successful. There was a discussion around their use of sponsorship, merchandise, marches etc. Students were given original sources to look at to stimulate the discussion. This included flyers stating why the suffragettes wanted the vote, anti-suffragette campaigns, games created by the suffragettes, e.g. pank-a-squith, etc.

Students were then given a task to go around the museum as well as research on iPads two other modern campaigns and find similarities and differences between them. Students were then expected to create a presentation and feedback their findings to the group.

Some of the more modern campaigns that the students looked at were Windrush, Equal Pay, the Trump march, Black lives matter, London riots, etc.

Ms Teles, Teacher of Sociology

This is Engineering - Year 10

Engineering is an exciting, varied and rewarding career and yet the UK has a shortage of young people applying for engineering courses and engineering jobs. One of the prime reasons for this shortage is that many people hold outdated views of what engineering is, and what engineers do.

This is Engineering challenges those misconceptions, by presenting a positive image of modern engineering. Through real young engineers, it illustrates how engineering is behind many of the things they are already interested in – sport, fashion and tech for example – and that they can follow what they love into engineering, and in doing so, help shape the future.

Year 10 students had an opportunity to look at different aspects of engineering as a part of Science and Engineering week. They looked at an overview of several different types of engineering, researched to find out which subjects are useful, what they might learn about, what would they do and how much they could earn. They also looked at different routes into engineering.

They also looked at different skills needed for engineering: Project planning, Problem solving and creativity, Communication and teamwork , Persistence, Numeracy and Computer skills.

Here are some of the thoughts of some Year 10 students.

“I have learnt that within engineering there is a wide range of career paths. Today I have been inspired to include my passions such as beauty and sport with engineering.” Tasneem Zaman 10T

“There are lots of jobs that include engineering such as Film TV in engineering, Fashion engineering, space engineering, and a lot more.” Ashra Al Hussainy 10E

“I learnt that engineering is not just for men. There are lot of jobs for women in engineering such as in music, sport , fashion, saving lives in flood, etc” Rushaa Noordally 10L

“Engineering gives a variety of jobs that I did not know about. Engineering is everywhere around you. Engineers are paid well and you can get into a job that you feel passionate about. I can do Design and Technology through engineering.” Malikah Bhuta 10H

“Engineering is a large part of many occupations. I learnt about all the skills needed to be a good engineer.” Arya Pillai 10E

Ms Taninki, 2nd in Science

Year 10 Science Show

As part of Science Week 2018, some of the enthusiastic Year 10 students performed in the Years 7 and 8 assembly. We wanted to inspire and encourage young students to take interest and participate in science activities, therefore we demonstrated a series of exciting experiments.

There were many experiments and some of these were: the dry ice bubbles, screaming jelly baby and the whoosh bottle. Even though many of the teachers were very timid to assist us, Ms Veeramany was very brave indeed to “volunteer” and allow us to drop a dry ice bubble on her head! The students were amazed at how the dry ice sublimated from a solid directly to a gas!

The younger years really enjoyed it and we hope that we have encouraged young students to get involved in Science in school, as well as aspire to take it forward as a career.

Overall, it was a great assembly and we hope that we can demonstrate and participate in more activities in the future which will motivate the Plashet girls to take a profession in some of the various fields of Science.

Arundhathi Roy 10L

Year 10 Residential to Northern France

This year for the first time, the French department offered a truly immersive experience with a 3-day residential trip to the Opal coast in Northern France, located less than an hour from Calais. The group of Thirty two Plashet students had a dedicated and specially-trained native French “animateur” who spoke French throughout their stay and encouraged interactive responses all the time. He ensured our students tried to speak French at every opportunity but also made sure they had an enjoyable experience. Here is the account of the experience of one of our student.

Ms C. Louot

My Experience in France On 14th March we set off on a coach to the Eurotunnel, once we were there we got through the passport check and headed off to France. Once we were in France we went to the historical museum of La Coupole which was about the Second World War. On the 2nd day we went to a street market in a seaside town called Le Touquet which had all sorts of souvenirs which were good value for money! After we visited the market we then had a stroll on the beach nearby and had so much fun!!! We stopped at a massive military cemetery from the First World war with 11000 tombs. Afterwards we made our way to the cheese and apple juice farm which was amazing. At first I hated cheese but when I tasted the cheese they offered I realised I had a love for cheese and could not stop eating it! On Thursday it was our last night so the hotel served us a 5 - course meal in true French style. We had…

1. a platter of salad 2. a sudden surprise of snails !!! 3. fish and rice 4. a platter of up to 5 local cheeses we could try 5. fruit cocktail

On our last day we went to Cap Gris Nez where we saw a few German bunkers and from where they bombed invaders. It was sooo interesting!!!

After that everyone can guess what we did next...... SHOPPING!!! We went to Cité Europe in Calais which was so much fun. But then sadly we all had to go back home. Ebony Brown 10T

Year 11 Food Preparation & Nutrition Practical Exam

On 8th February students sat the first practical exam for the new GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition course. Students were required to plan and prepare a menu of three meals within a three-hour period.

The girls demonstrated a high level of technical skills and processes, resulting in a range of dishes of an exceptional standard. Students worked extremely hard, incorporating skills such as: making their own mozzarella cheese to filleting fish and jointing chicken, making tortellini, bread crumbed ravioli, fresh baguettes as well as decorated swiss rolls. Incorporating food science into their meals, two students tried their hand at specification to produce balsamic vinegar pearls. The results looked and tasted amazing.

Our panel of tasters included Mrs McGowan, Mr O’Donnell and Mrs Besley, all of whom were highly impressed by the standards of the girl’s dishes as well as the tastes. As Mrs Besley rightly commented “I could be tasting the food of a future Master Chef contestant.” The girls should be very proud of themselves and would prove to be successful in any food competition. A huge well done to: Amali Ali, Sana Ali, Kamila Amla, Priyanka Bance, Raisa Chaudhri, Sufna Fazil, Aveesa Khasif, Amaani Khan and Amirah Patni

Mrs Begum, Food Preparation & Nutrition Subject Leader

World Book Day

Thursday 1st March was World Book Day and students from across the school joined in enthusiastically with this year's celebrations. Throughout the day, students tried to find members of staff who were wearing badges featuring book titles which had some link to their subject area. Despite bad weather impacting on the school day, some very determined participants managed to find almost all of the badges before they went home!

We also held a 'Body in the Library' murder mystery in the South Library. Students completed a series of challenges designed to test their knowledge of books in order to reveal clues. Twelve students successfully identified Miss Trunchbull from Matilda as the killer.

"The murder mystery treasure hunt was great fun. It was a really good challenge and a lot of people got involved. It was an excellent addition to World Book Day." Matt Wells 11P

The following day the North Library Prefects hosted 'The Big Book Quiz' in the North Library. Teams from all year groups answered questions on a range of books, from Peter Rabbit to the Bronte sisters. Well done to the winning team, 'Dumbledore's Army' from 9E whose knowledge of literature was genuinely impressive!

"The book quiz was very exciting and competitive. It was a challenge to test our knowledge about books, authors and characters. To round up the quiz, each team had to make a model about any of the books using a limited amount of tin foil. It was great!"

Wahida Shakoor 9N

International Women’s Day

th Thursday 8 March 2018 called for women (and men) to #PressForProgress in terms of parity between the sexes. Throughout the week, there were several focused activities inside and outside of school to raise the profile of the importance of using our collective voices in favour of equality.

th Monday 5 March saw four 2017-18 Jack Petchey winners attend a tour of the Houses of Commons and Lords and a Q and A session with The Rt Hon. Stephen Timms, the MP for East Ham since 1994. Neelima Alim 8L, Ghajana Gajendra 9N, Wahida Shakoor 9N and Arooj Ubaid 10S thoroughly enjoyed the informative tour and were excellent ambassadors for our school - asking Stephen Timms probing questions and working effectively with students from Little Ilford and Kingsford Community School. Wahida Shakoor had the following comment:

The tour of the Palace of Westminster was amazing. Our tour helped us understand the history of the Royal Palace and how it functions today. The paintings and sculptures were stunning and the House of Lords and the House of Commons were both interesting places to visit. I particularly liked finding out about how laws and decisions are made on behalf of us. Wahida Shakoor 9N

Year 11 were fortunate to have a presentation from Victoria Zubuike, a 21 - year old from Islington who started up @usprogramme to establish greater networking opportunities for all young women. She is currently studying at Warwick University and invited our Year 11 students to submit applications for her current leadership opportunity - ‘She Who Excels’. The Year 11 students were impressed by her ambition and sincerity and hopefully many of them will be joining Victoria and the other candidates on Saturday 24 th March at the event.

Students also attended the Women of the World event at the Southbank Centre on Friday, represented Plashet School at Europe House and visited the Museum of London proving that #ThisGirlCan.

Miss Sanderson, Assistant Headteacher

International Women’s Day at the CMD

On 8th March, the CMD welcomed the young women of Plashet School to come and celebrate International Women’s Day.

IWD commemorates the achievements of women as well as acting as a catalyst for change when it comes to gender equality. The theme for this year was #PressforProgress. The IWD website expressed, “We can’t be complacent. Now, more than ever, there’s a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity”.

Celebrating IWD at Plashet is about educating and inspiring our young women about the importance of their role in society and the world at large, through honouring women’s contribution to challenging gender stereotypes and bias.

We asked the young women entering CMD to answer questions and give their thoughts on gender equality, women they are inspired by and what they would like to see change for women in the future. Some of the responses were. ‘It means everybody being treated equally, men and women being the same. It makes our world equal.’ ‘Be yourself, do not listen to what people say about women. Be like a woman and do what you think is right.’

They also had fun taking pictures in a photo booth style set up, with props of prominent women who have made a contribution to championing women’s rights. They were also given cupcakes and stickers with inspirational quotes, as a token for participating in celebrating IWD with CMD. By providing a small space for these young women, we are educating their minds today to be the young women of change tomorrow. School education about gender equality is the most grassroots difference we can make.

CMD Department

Speakers’ Event

Year 11 had the privilege of two female physicists talk to them about their careers and the pathways they took to get there. The students were really inspired by their work and the fact they were women who were experts in their field.

“On Thursday 15th March, we were honoured to welcome two inspirational physicists. Dr Paniez Paykari who talked through cosmology and the wonders beyond our galaxy, and gave us an insight into 'The Big Bang Theory'. Dr Ceri Brenner, who works with the most powerful lasers in the world, started off with where she was and how far she has come in terms of achieving many things. Both speakers inspired many students and gave them an insight into how science has an impact on the world, now and in the future and where it can lead to accomplishing the seemingly impossible and having a positive impact.”

Safiyya Master 11N

“There were two physicists, who gave us a lecture on their careers, which were related to Physics. This helped me to understand if I should take Physics further in A-Levels and University. It was really interesting how there is so much more to discover in the universe or the multiverse, which one of them was looking into. It was even more inspirational that they were both women. I hope to be like them one day.”

Vaishnavi Ramamurthy 11E

STEM Club

Our STEM club has been extremely busy this term working on projects such as the BP challenge, Shell’s Bright Ideas Challenge, STEM leaders award, Solutions for the Planet, Animation 18, The British Science poster competition and Scrub up for Science.

Watch this space as the next edition will include details of these projects once submissions are complete!

Mrs Esa, Teacher of Science

BBC School Report

Thursday 15th March marked the annual BBC School Report News Day event and our roving reporters collated a newsreel to capture our most recent events in school.

Follow the link to watch the report: http://plashetschoolnewham.com/2018/03/bbc-school-report-2018/

The most recent events that they captured were as follows;

1. The Royal Airforce Roadshow 4. The STEM Club 2. The Greenhouse Club 5. A Leadership interview with the Headteacher 3. An Urdu play

A massive thank you to Nishat Basir and the reporting team for publishing such a fantastic report!

Science Family Quiz

On Friday 16th March, students and their families took part in a fun evening to mark the end of Science week.

The evening consisted of a fun family science quiz, lots of practical demonstrations carried out by a wonderful group of Year 9 students, science jokes and a duet by two very talented Year 10 students!

Staff members also had a share of the fun with many joining forces with students to compete for the £100 Westfield voucher prize.

Congratulations to our quiz winners Ms T Patel, Khadija Patel 9A, Fatima Arooj 9T and Fatima Khatun 9P!

Ms N Sheikh, Teacher of Science 21

Carnegie Medal shortlist

This year's Carnegie Medal shortlist has been announced and Plashet students are busy reading and re- viewing the eight books which have been chosen by the judges. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is a strong contender for this year's prize and has been nominated for several international awards. It tells the story of 16- year old Starr who is the only witness when her friend Khalil, a young black man, is shot dead by a white police officer. Starr must chose whether to seek justice by speaking out about what happened or whether to protect her family and friends from the negative impact this could have on the local community. This is what Taniya Tasnim 10A thought of the book:

"The Hate U Give is a story that is inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement in America. This story tackles issues such as police brutality and racism and how it still happens today.

My first thought about this book was how popular it was within the book community, everyone was talk- ing about it and everyone had loved it and I knew I would love it too. This book deserved all the hype re- volving around it and I am excited to see the film in theatres when it comes out.

The concept of this book was quite interesting to me because although cases such as that of Oscar Grant happened not too long ago, I never came across a book that discussed it.

I think we can all agree that from this book we learn a lot. We learn how police brutality, racism still happens today but from this book, we can learn that the key is to always do the right choice.

Overall, I honestly hope Angie Thomas will become the first black author to win a Carnegie Medal this year and #Justice4Khalil."

Mrs Clifford-Smith, Resources and Library Manager EAL Visit to East Ham Library and Leisure Centre

On 21st March, some EAL students, and me, went to East Ham Library and Leisure Centre. Ms. Kirtley (the Head of the EAL department) and Ms. Gohil, came with us and showed us the library and leisure centre. I felt it was useful because I like reading so I enjoyed the visit to the library. This was also needed for new students who came from abroad because they will know the arrangement made in the library which is different from the one in their country. Hence, the exploration of new academic places such as the library was helpful and interesting. Moreover, the leisure centre gave us ideas of sports which we can do in our free time. Sharmi 9A

The trip to the Library and Leisure centre was very nice. After lunch, we walked along the High Street in pairs. When we reached the library, there was an instructor, her name was Ro. She explained about the library and we had a tour of the library. There are many categories of books like fantasy, humour, fiction, cooking and action and adventure. They also have CDs and DVDs for children etc. Each person can bor- row six books, which is absolutely free. I saw many elders, kids and students who were utilising the facilities. We were issued with our library cards and we borrowed some books.

Then we moved to the leisure centre and had a tour of the leisure centre. We saw the gym, swimming pool and badminton courts. We have to register and get a membership according to our interest, with a small fee. It’s a great opportunity for people. We had a 10- minute break, we were given forms which has information of timings of the gym, swimming pool and badminton.

We returned back to school. I really liked the trip. I learned so many things like how to use a library card, how to use the borrowing machine and I came to know the facilities in the leisure centre. Thanks to the EAL department for giving this great opportunity to new students. Sai Mani 9P

‘Our Trip’ This was my first visit to the library and the leisure centre. We had lots of fun there. East Ham is a big library. Everyone got a library card. We also borrowed some books from the library. The second floor of the library is for computing and the ground floor is for reading and borrowing books. The leisure centre is behind the library. It is big too. We saw the swimming pool, gym and many other things. Everyone got a form so that they can become a member of the leisure centre. It was a nice fun-filled trip. Samiha Rahman 8T

On 21st March, we went to East Ham Library and Leisure Centre with Ms. Kirtley and Ms. Gohil. It was the best trip ever and we were surprised! It was really sunny and we learned a lot about library rules. We saw the swimming pool and gym in the leisure centre. It was really fun! Prottasha Hossain and Likhita Ali 7S

I really enjoyed the trip and I I enjoyed this trip. It was a know some information sunny day. On this trip we about the library. learnt more about books. We Sanjana Dhali 7T went to the leisure centre and that inspired me to have a fit and more healthy life. Theodora Vale 7N

It was a brilliant place to visit.

We learnt about the library

machines and the leisure cen-

tre’s activities. Hafza Zaib 7N

I had a lot of fun going to the leisure centre and enjoyed the library. Samsun Nahar Mirza 7H

Ms Kirtley, Teacher of English as an Additional Language