Issue 84 March 2019

HARLINGTON UPPER SCHOOL FAMILY NEWS BULLETIN

Issue 84 March 2019

Dear Parents

We have had an incredibly busy spring term with a huge number of activities, trips and visits. In addition our students have really impressed me with their focus and hard work. We are now moving into the revision period where I am sure they will be studying hard for the upcoming exams. Easter is an important time for Year 11 and Year 13 students in particular to focus on revision, but I hope you will also encourage your son or daughter to take the opportunity to build in some rest and relaxation too.

You can see in this Family Bulletin how much has happened since Christmas. Too late for the copy deadline was the news that last week Harlington band The Kolliders won the Bedfordshire Schools’ Battle of the Bands finals, held at The Stables. Also last week 96 Year 12 students attended a Higher Education conference in London, a group of students spent the week working with animals and on the land at Jamie’s Farm, and the sixth form welcomed older local residents for afternoon tea. Finally, many students have been actively fund-raising for our chosen charity this year, The Alzheimer’s Society.

Thank you for your continuing support to help maintain the highest standards. We think a focus on the small, but important details such as good uniform and punctuality help to create the right environment for learning. A particular push next term is on improving the school environment through careful waste management, recycling and eliminating litter. This appears to be a national issue, so we would like Harlington students to take the lead, for the next generation, to make a difference, both in school and out. Below : Kolliders winners of Battle of the Bands With very best wishes for a happy Easter,

Yours sincerely

Shawn Fell Headteacher

Left: Yr 11 Geography trip to the Bay of Naples

Right: Ski Trip to Austria

On March 6th, the familiar scent of home baking filled the nostrils of Harlington students as children in the Food Technology department were busy making many tasty treats. Children from lower and middle schools in the area were busy working with our Year 9’s, 10’s and 11’s in multi-year groups to bake an array of delicious recipes, all for the chance of becoming the Bake Off Champions for 2019!

Our Student Leadership Group welcomed many timid children into the school with friendly warm-up games,

As the competition began, the teams discussed their tactics and their presentation skills, and then started to prepare for their first bake. Teams were named after famous chefs and bakers; therefore we had Phil Vickery, Prue Leith, Greg Wallace, Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood, Jamie Oliver and Tom Kerridge.

The scrumptious treats that were expected included Chelsea Buns, soft crust pizza with tomato and cheese topping, warm chocolate brownies, quiche lorraine, home-baked bread shaped in rolls and plaits, and flaky profiteroles, all of which is quite a feat for any skilled baker, yet many of our bakers were as young as 9 years old.

As I drifted between each team, savouring the flavours of melted chocolate in my mouth, the repeated answer to my question surrounding the hardest thing to make was the profiteroles. The Year 11’s from Harlington Upper focused on baking the profiteroles, which were carefully baked out of delicate choux pastry, then filled with a creamy inside and smothered in melted milk chocolate. This is an example of the high skills needed for Year 10 & 11 Food Technology students, who will be taking their GCSE exams in the summer.

For the presentations, the bakers arranged their food in creative ways in order to impress the judges. I witnessed a brownie resting on a plate with an outline of a teaspoon dusted from cocoa power and a dollop of cream above the spoon– a very effective and impressive presentation of a dessert.

The bakers went to lunch, looked after by the Harlington Student Leadership Group, whilst the judges evaluated the student bakes from their appearance, flavour and presentation.

It was clear to see that these bakers had worked extremely hard on their overall presentation, with hand- drawn menus and label cards for each dish, and this effort did not go unrecognised. “I’ve been judging the Bake Off for a few years now, and I think this is the best overall standard of any competition that we’ve seen so far!” quoted from a judge that was speaking to the crowd of hopeful bakers at the rewards ceremony.

Every single team received prize boxes as congratulations for their hard work throughout the day which held recipes of what they had baked as well as baking accessories to take home, such as measuring spoons, cupcake cases and a whisk.

Our winning team was Paul Hollywood, consisting of a Harlington Upper Year 10 and 11 student, a student from Arnold Academy, and children from Greenfield Lower School, Westoning Lower School and Ramsey Lower School. Our winners received

It was another successful year for the Bake Off competition, and here’s to many more years of fun bakes and tasty surprises!

Megan Bell 12Ap

Bay of Naples

A group of Year 11 geographers set off for The Bay of Naples just before half term to experience and learn about the physical and cultural geography of the area. They climbed Mount Vesuvius, visited Pompeii to learn what happened in 79AD when the town was covered in ash from the volcano, went underground in Naples to explore the manmade passages under the city, visited the UNESCO world heritage Amalfi Coast where they enjoyed a boat trip along the coast, went to see the ancient ruins of Paestum and enjoyed the spectacular limestone caves of Pertosa with an underground boat trip through the caves. They also managed to fit in ten pin bowling, making their own pizzas and learning how to make Italian gelato.

Options Morning

Our excellent Careers Team organised an event for our Year 11 students in January, at which the students were exposed to various Post-16 options including local colleges, apprenticeships and more academic options such as Harlington Sixth Form. Each provider gave a short presentation and the students were then given the opportunity to talk to them directly.

Hopefully, this day of activities will inspire the students to look forward to what they want to do after the summer and work hard to achieve it.

Harlington Upper School, Harlington, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU5 6NX Tel: 01525 755100 Fax: 01525 755101 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.harlington.org FAMILY NEWS BULLETIN

Enterprise Day

Year 9 students have been getting a taste of what studying Business Studies might be like by taking part in our annual Business Enterprise day.

The students were split into teams, each helped by a current Sixth Form Economics student. They then competed to see which team could sell the most pies at the greatest profit, taking into account costs (both fixed and variable), pricing and the rules of supply and demand.

Careers Fair

All of our Year 10 and Year 11 students were able to visit a Careers Fair held in our Sports Hall in February. Students were able to speak to representatives from a wide range of employers and see what careers are available to them in the future.

Thank you to all the organisations who attended this really worthwhile event.

Oxford Trip

A group of Year 12 Maths and Science students went to Oxford University to find out what studying STEM subjects there might be like. They had tours of Brasenose College and Wadham College and also listened to a sample lecture.

Cambridge Trip

Some Year 12 students visited Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge on Thurs 7th March. This taster day included information on how to apply to Cambridge or Oxford, personal statements, a tour of the college, question and answer sessions with admission staff and current students, in addition to a lunch in the formal hall. A very informative day for all.

Harlington Upper School, Harlington, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU5 6NX Tel: 01525 755100 Fax: 01525 755101 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.harlington.org FAMILY NEWS BULLETIN

Cross Country Congratulations to Aiden Killeen, one of our Year 12 students, who has become the Senior Boy’s Cross- Country County Champion!

He will now go on to represent Bedfordshire in the English Schools Cross-Country Championships in Leeds on Saturday 16 March. We wish him all the best!

National Apprenticeship Week The Careers Team would like to thank all the companies that gave up their time and gave our students the opportunity to speak to them about apprenticeship opportunities.

Thank you to Lizzie Gibbons from Leonardo and Matt Edmondson from Deloitte – both ex HUS pupils! They gave presentations to all Year 12 students during the ‘Alternative to University’ study session delivered by Careers. This was followed by a whole school ‘Career Insight’ talk.

Technology Rotary Tournament In the morning, we got on the minibus to Stopsley Baptist Church, where the tournament was held. We were taken upstairs to the hall, where lots of tables were set out, one for each team. At 9:15 we were given our task: to build a crane which travelled to a bridge, ducked under it, then picked up a container labelled irritant from a fallen truck. After that you had to lower your crane to back out under the bridge, to the start line.

We were given 30 minutes of preparation, to design and discuss our ideas for the crane. Then construction started. But we not only had to build a crane, we also had to write a portfolio, describing our ideas; development of those ideas, challenges we came across; and drawings of different ideas by each member of the team. Evidence of teamwork and listening to each other’s ideas, and discussing as a team which design was the best and why, had to be visible.

We set about building a base for our crane, and adding wheels and axles. The motor provided was very fast, and in order to successfully lift the container, a slower speed was needed. Therefore we made a series of pulleys, to slow down the motor for more control. In addition, to lift and lower the crane, we had to make a switch to alter the direction of the motor. When we finished the base, pulley system and switch, we had one thing left to build: the crane arm.

We had two choices on what to lift and lower: the arm itself, or keep the arm in the same position and lift and lower the string. We decided to move the crane arm, pulling it up and down by the string, via the motor. We constructed it, and took it to the test track to see it in action. It worked! After a few tries, we managed to lift the container up and out of the cup it was in, and then back out under the bridge. We did not have to drive the crane, so we pushed it using a stick.

Harlington Upper School, Harlington, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU5 6NX Tel: 01525 755100 Fax: 01525 755101 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.harlington.org FAMILY NEWS BULLETIN Finally, it was time to judge. We ceased construction and waited for our turn to perform. Only a few teams actually managed to lift the container and reverse out, so we weren’t sure whether our trusty crane would pull through. We were called up. One student pushed the crane using the stick, and another controlled the motor using the switch. We lowered the crane under the bridge, and attached the magnet to the container. Now to lift it out. We put on the motor but it couldn’t do it! We looked on, hoping it would lift, but it didn’t.

After the judging, a man in the crane industry talked to us about his work, and the winners were announced. Unfortunately, none of the HUS teams won or came runners up, but we had a great day overall. We learned about cranes and pulley systems, and how to make a reversing switch. Overall, we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and learnt something at the same time! John Munns Yr 10

Maths Challenge

Congratulations to the 46 students, in Years 9 to 11, who completed the second round of the National Maths Challenge, with over half being awarded a certificate. Four students did so well that they are now through to the next round, which is international. Well done everybody who took part.

Year 9 Rugby County 7’s tournament A beautiful day for rugby where Harlington started slowly but worked harder and harder to perform well in the final match. Some great tackling and running with the ball. Excellent efforts.

Year 9/10 Girls Rugby 7’s Tournament Harlington Girls were superb in their rugby matches against strong opposition. Harlington were fierce in the tackle and really developed their play throughout each match. The girls involved were brilliant and thoroughly enjoyed themselves whilst playing hard and representing the school.

A’ Level Geography Trip

Harlington Upper School, Harlington, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU5 6NX Tel: 01525 755100 Fax: 01525 755101 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.harlington.org FAMILY NEWS BULLETIN A’ level Geography students spent the day at Amersham Field Studies Centre studying the water cycle. They measured infiltration rates on varying types of land use, interception rates in different types of woodland and enjoyed splashing about in the River Misbourne measuring channel characteristics.

Art News

One of our Year 13 Art Students from last year, Megan Rodger, has had her Artwork selected, to go forward and be exhibited at the Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL), St James, London W1 from Friday 26th April – Sunday 19th June and then at the RBA’s (Royal Society of British Artists) annual show at the Mall Galleries in London, from Thursday 4th July – Sunday 14th July. This is in conjunction with The Woburn Area Arts Society. You may recall that the year before, Simran Ahira’s work, ‘Apples and Pears’, was also chosen to go forward, which now hangs in The Street here at HUS.

Year 12 – Bookbinding Workshop

Over the past few lessons this term, Year 12 students have been working on creating their own books by learning the book binding process, it has been a real success, here are some images taken during the making process.

Students are working on the theme of nature and have particularly focused on landscapes. From a photograph of their choice they recreated it using glass. The students all used various tools to grind the glass down to different shapes and textures. This was then arranged and fired in the kiln at 700 degrees.

Year 9 – Sculpture

Students have been studying ‘The Everyday’ and are inspired by the issue of plastic. The students have designed various sculptures based on animals to highlight the impact of plastic on the environment. They are currently constructing their sculptures out of newspaper and cardboard whilst working in teams of two or three. Their overall intention will be for their outcomes to look like Robert Bradford’s work.

DT Presentation Evening

On Tuesday 19 March our DT department held their annual celebration evening. Work by Textiles and Product Design students from all years was on display, but with an emphasis on showing off our Year 11 and 13's excellent final products.

CERN Trip

Our Year 13 Physics students have been on a very long, but exciting day out to CERN in Switzerland, where they learned more about the research being carried out at this amazing international facility.

Harlington Upper School, Harlington, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU5 6NX Tel: 01525 755100 Fax: 01525 755101 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.harlington.org FAMILY NEWS BULLETIN

Music News

Last term saw the immersion of the Music Department in the whole school musical “High School Musical". As ever, the Music and Drama Department joined forces to create a wonderful week of performances. So much talent is evident when we put on these productions, the many hours of twilight rehearsing that is necessary is so worth it. It was an utter pleasure to be part of such a creative team of staff and students. January saw the HUS Battle of the Bands, where we were delighted to welcome back past students – Jan Margolius, Oscar Aldred and Jarred White to judge the groups. All three past students are now in the music industry having read Music at University/Conservatoire. The evening was a great success and by the time this has gone to press, The Kolliders (Jack Bishop, Nathan Denham, Conall Islip and Cameron Woodman), winners for HUS Battle of the Bands, will have performed in the Bedfordshire schools’ finals at The Battle of the Bands at the iconic Stables concert venue at Wavendon. STOP PRESS! The Kolliders won the Bedfordshire Schools’ Finals of the Battle of the Bands at The Stables on Wednesday 27 March, a huge congratulations to them all. This is the 3rd success for Harlington Jammers! Many thanks for Anthony George our wonderfully dedicated guitar teacher who supports the groups each Friday after school in Jams. The Spring Concert will have taken place, so more news on that next term. Congratulations to Charlotte Brettell (Year 11) who passed her Grade 7 piano with Distinction. As ever, please do let me know if your child/ward has passed an exam – it’s always lovely to be able to share their success. Mrs E Carrol, Head of Music—[email protected]

Year News Year 9

The short Spring Term always seems to fly by and Year 9 have been very busy making their GCSE option choices. I was very impressed by the numbers of students and parents that we had at the Options Evening. We all know that education is a three way partnership involving the student with school and home support; this was very evident on the evening of the 10th of January. Mr Russon held the first Awards Assembly for Year 9 giving out the bronze badges for Achievement and Attainment. 26 students gained the Achievement Badge and 13 students gained the Attainment Badge. I very much look forward to them, and others, going on to get their silver and gold badges over the next terms and wearing them with pride. I was pleased to see Year 9 well represented in the Student Leadership Group. It is important that students get to have their say and work together for the good of the school. Our Year 9 representatives are; Ben Horan, Leah Brown, Mehroz Ghulam, Isobella Porzio and Eloise Brown. From the Year Office Team I would like to praise the following students for obtaining over 95 Exceptional Behaviour points and fantastic attendance too. Well done to Chloe Greenwood, Alex McLean, Cara Newbold, Emily Simkins, Emmie Taylor, Thomas Warren and Chardy Weedon. On Friday 22nd March six students took part in the UK Maths Team

Harlington Upper School, Harlington, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU5 6NX Tel: 01525 755100 Fax: 01525 755101 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.harlington.org FAMILY NEWS BULLETIN Challenge. Well done to Isla Fleming, Riley Keeble, Taylor Spedding, Tom Rayner, Luc Durancer and Dharma Rumpal. By the time I write the next newsletter I will be Head of new Year 10! This year does seem to be passing quickly and Year 9 are now ready to tackle the challenge of their GCSE subjects. I hope they develop into resilient and confident students taking full advantage of the opportunities they have at Harlington. Thanks to everyone for all their hard work this term, the great Year Team of my 12 Tutors, Mrs Clarke and Mrs Harris. I hope everyone has a sunny and restful Easter break so they are ready to tackle the Summer Term! Mrs Alison Yates, Head of Year 9—[email protected]

Year 10

At time of writing, we’re two months away from ‘rollover’ and therefore, two months away from becoming Year 11, which is just amazing. Every year of education is important, but there can’t be a year more important than Year 11 with the culmination of years of study with GCSEs and BTEC exams finally happening. Year 10 will start their exams at the end of May, they would do well to undertake some study over the Easter holiday, I know that most of them will. I wish them well with this. I think approaching these Year 10 exams in a calm and prepared way will stand them in very good stead for their Year 11 mocks and for the ‘real’ exams. At this point, I would like to pay tribute to the Year 10 Tutors, Support Worker Mrs Sawdon and Intervention Worker Mrs Mulcahy, who all work so hard to keep Year 10 in their classes and in the best state of mind for learning. Aside from preparing for exams, Year 10 have continued to impress me with their hard work in extra curriculum activity. I was delighted to see girls taking part in a rugby event and breaking all stereotypes about women in sport. Across the year group, there are some stunningly talented artists, musicians, dancers, actors and sportspeople, I am so proud of them and all they achieve. I hope they never give their passion for their sport or art up, all too often people think these are less important and that we have to give up what we love to make room for work, I think we must keep a sense of self and allow children to do the same. It’s not quite off the ground yet but I have been working alongside Team Luton and Beds in conjunction with Sport England to start a project promoting good mental health for our students through activity. I am very excited by this because I have first-hand experience of the benefits of activity for stress management. Please watch this space - I hope to update you soon. In a couple of days, I will be going to The Battle of the Bands at The Stables at Milton Keynes to support The Kolliders, a truly exciting Year 10 band, who won the qualifying round at Harlington last month. If you haven’t witnessed a Kolliders’ gig yet, you really must, their energy and vitality is truly infectious. I just want to finish with some stats about Year 10. When we broke down the number of Disruptive Behaviour points over the year, the largest of the groups was those who have got less than 9 disruptive points. Indeed, a significant percentage has no ‘DBs’ at all. In terms of attendance, most students have over 96% and again, a significant number have 100%. To me, this represents effort and determination, not just from the young people themselves but from their families and carers who support their children with having the right uniform and equipment, with getting their homework done and with getting in on time every day. It’s not glamourous stuff, its routine hard work and it goes a long way to ensuring academic success, so thank you! I hope all involved with Year 10 have a lovely Easter break and I look forward to meeting you all again in the last term of the academic year.

Year 11

So Easter is almost upon us and, as I write this, the students only have 7 school weeks until they go on Study Leave (only 5 until some of the exams actually start) – it’s becoming very real all of a sudden! Since coming back after Christmas, the students have really knuckled down in lessons and have shown a really mature, focussed attitude towards their revision and study, which I know will serve them well in the summer exams. As part of this, revision sessions have been a real focus for students and they have been very well attended. I’ve been to see Tech who have been busy finishing their products in time for the Display Show they did. I’ve seen Maths filling with students on a Wednesday after school and the form time intervention sessions went very well and continue to do so. English and Science have also been well-attended this half -term and students are really wanting to do well. I have a very positive energy about the Year 11 productivity and, therefore, how they’re going to cope with their study leave and exams. Whilst on such a positive note, I want to say a huge well done to the 10 students who have received the most EB’s (Achievement Points) this half-term: Clare Stringer (35), Radiah Khan (34), Tilly Haestier (32), Bradley Shumbambiri (30), Liam Hall (29) Courtney Hedges (28), Luke Brewer (27), Charlie Lawson (26), Grace Hattle (26), Kyle Arnold (26) I also want to say a massive well-done to the students who’ve had 100% attendance this term – Sam Anderson, Lewis Austin, Isla Ayres, Jasmine Beauhill-Wood, Hamza Bhatti, Gracie Board, George Brackenridge, Ryan Bray, Luke Brewer, Sebastian Butacu, Oliver Butchart, Alex Butterworth, Romy Catling-Peat, Finlay Chubb, Jack Clayburn, Izzy Davis, Francois De Bruyn, Sophie Eaton, Joe Edmunds, Bisola Eruloa, Mason Finn, Daniel Fordham, Jeremiah Fowler, Alexander Gatehouse, Charlotte Greatorex, Harvey Greenwood, Daniel Griggs, Tilly Haestier, Harry Hart, Courtney Hedges, Milly Heys, Thomas Hicks, Kieron Holloway, Sam Horner, Kate Kilby, Imogen Kirby, Meagen Lambert, Charlie Lawson, Robbie Lee, Daniel Litchfield, Will Ludgate, Ryan Lynch, Ollie Mann, Karen Marijeni, Cristina Masala, Ellie Matthews, Caragh McGarry, Katie Morley, Ethan Morris, Yash Naranbhai, Carlton Njambi, Connor Norman, Naomi Palmer, Yasmin Palmer, Ava Panconi, George Phillips, Kyle Rayner, Emily Redman, Eden Rosenfield, Aswin Sarma, Harvey Saunders, Hayden Scantlebury, Bobby Scott, Ben S. Smart, Charlie Smith, Alex Spyrou, Amy Stanners, Olivia Stevenson, Jesse Storey, Krishan Tailor, Joshua Tang, Jenai Walters-Albert, Elliot Whaley, Tiffany Wong, Jade Wood, Will Wright, Murtaza Zaidi, Mahdi Zaman. As you can see, many are here and keen to learn. I hope this continues after Easter and I look forward to organising the Leavers Assembly (as sad as I’ll be) as well as the up-coming Prom!

Mrs H Lloyd, Head of Year 11 - [email protected]

Harlington Upper School, Harlington, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU5 6NX Tel: 01525 755100 Fax: 01525 755101 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.harlington.org 2019 DIARY DATES

Tuesday 23 April WK 2 Start of Summer Term

Thursday 25 April Yr 10 Parents Evening

Monday 6 May Bank Holiday

Tuesday 21 May Parents Forum—6pm

Monday 27 May to Friday 31 May Half Term

Monday 3 June Yr 13 Art Exhibition Evening

Thursday 20 June Yr 8 –9 Music Day

New Intake Evening Monday 24 June New Yr 12 Induction Day

New Intake Evening Tuesday 25June New Yr 12 Induction Day

Wednesday 26 June Yr 9 Show

Yr 8 Induction Thursday 27 June 6th Form Ball

Friday 29 June Y8 Induction

Thursday 4 July Yr 11 Prom

Thursday 11 July Summer Concert

Tuesday 16 July Sports Day

Friday 19 July End of Term

Wednesday 4 September Start of Autumn Term

Harlington Upper School, Harlington, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU5 6NX Tel: 01525 755100 Fax: 01525 755101 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.harlington.org