Issue No.26 April 2009 www.theharefieldacademy.org The Harefield Newsletter Achievement through Active Learning

From the Principal...... Subject Champions 2009 February 2009 saw the first wave of students The highlight of this half-term for me has not been all of the appointed as Subject Champions. Fifty-eight students achieved this wonderful events (and more) reported in this Newsletter but, accolade and were given certificates and badges by the Principal, Mrs. rather, one email. As I receive hundreds of emails in a week Gadd, during a very special assembly. Students were recognised for what they have already achieved in that particular subject, were readers might wonder why one particular email was so special. rewarded for their hard work and requested to continue to be It is because the email in question was from Fred Smith (Year committed to that subject by acting as a role model for other 10) to staff about his peer mentoring of a Year 7 student. students and championing that subject and its importance within The Fred’s early years at The Academy were not easy but now he is Academy. a reliable and sensible student who is more than capable of sending an email to staff to explain his mentoring work with Amy Sharman Maths Jennifer Harris Catering Jake Matthews Maths Jessica Blanks I.C.T. the younger student. This for me illustrated a very successful Kane Harrison Maths Kelham Speers I.C.T. journey and gives me real hope for the future of The Harefield Tiffany Oxley Drama Samy Tahssein I.C.T. Charlie-May Hallam-Flaherty Sarah Harpoeth Technology Academy. It is in this spirit of excited optimism that I wish all Drama Sophie Bird Technology Daniel McPherson Theatre Studies Charlie Costard Science of our readers a very good spring break and Happy Easter! Nikita Sodha Music Kasim Malik Science Connor O'Carroll Music Manuela Wypych Science Danielle Newberry Music Technology Scarlett Hanna Science Sarah Owen Music Technology Francois Lombard Human Physiology Jordan Newton Art Billy James COPE Oliver Roques Art Luc Haher COPE Baroness Sue Campbell CBE Adam Lacey Business Studies Hannah Findlater-Bentley visits The Harefield Academy Melissa Lombard Business Studies English Jenisha Patel Economics Faisal Choudhry English Aaditya Pathak Enterprise Laura Evans English Holly Esson Geography Sophie Searle English Dami Fashakin Geography Chloe Byrne Media Bobby Moore History Jazzi Barnum-Bobb French Liam Hagan History Qasim Khan French Jennie Woodwards History Harry Kyprianou Spanish Sana Malik R.E. Iyad Housni Spanish Charlotte Jackson R.E. Charlotte Swatton Sign Language Ciara McGrath Theology Adeeba Ali P.E. Chantelle Wilks L2L George Tomlin P.E. Curtis Coombes Psychology Matthew Desai P.E. Laura Manser Hair & Beauty Austin Eaton Sports Studies Niamh Lovejoy-Thurley Charlotte Colliard Sports Studies Food Technology Jack Mullan Sports Studies Alexis Feek Catering

Joseph Bennett receiving his award from Sue Campbell On Wednesday 25 th March Baroness Sue Campbell CBE visited our Academy. Sue, who is Chairman of UK Sport and very passionate about improving the lives of young people through sport, toured The Academy and viewed students participating in Table Tennis, gymnastics, a cycle session on the MUGA, cricket, ballet and football. Sue enjoyed a performance by the British Sign Language students, toured classrooms and enjoyed lunch in our healthy eating Café. Finally, before Sue had to leave for her next appointment she signed our VIP Visitors’ All 58 students with Book and wrote “ Absolutely fantastic! Well done !” their certificates and pins

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V&A Museum of Childhood and Inline Hockey Success “A very well prepared Tate Modern Trip James Buckingham and Ben Ealey-Newman, both in Year 7, compete session. The students On Wednesday 25 th February, Year 11 Art students in the very exciting sport of Inline Hockey. Training almost every day were all engaged and of the week with their team mates in Bracknell, they were both visited the V&A Museum of Childhood to record enjoyed learning about selected to represent the South of in the GBHI (Great Britain a selection of works observations, gain ideas and look at the work from Hockey Inline) Conference 2008/2009. They competed in the Under through discussion and other cultures and times. The students then took 12s section against teams from all over the country, including practical work’” Oliver Roques --- Year 11 part in a workshop at the Tate Modern in the Scotland and Wales, travelling to Bisley over the weekend of 21st and afternoon based on the theme, Objects and their 22nd March Meaning. The aim of the workshop was to develop In this very tough competition the team won all four of their matches and became the Conference Champions 2008/2009. students’ knowledge, investigative skills and creative thinking. James and Ben not only play Inline Hockey but are also part of All the students were eager to express their reactions, thoughts and views to the Bracknell Ice Hockey Club where they play for the Under 12s team collection of art, this being developed through the process of thinking, talking, called The Bumble Bees. making art and taking part in discussions and activities within the group. Both sports are very closely linked and complement each other Miss Sidhpura --- Art Teacher perfectly; the boys thoroughly enjoy training and play games every weekend. Being at The Harefield Academy has meant that they can train during PL time on the Our Elite Table Tennis players reach newly finished MUGA (Multi Regional Championships Use Games Area) and this has On Thursday 12 th of February 2009, The Harefield Academy Table Tennis Elite team took part and improved their skills won the U13s and U15s School Table Tennis Championships, held at High School. immensely. When the team arrived, they were guided into the sports hall, and from there Head Coach Eli Baraty James has also been chosen to divided the team up into two U13s and one U15s. The Other schools involved were Bishopshalt, represent Great Britain in the and the hosts Ruislip High School. Junior Olympics in Philadelphia The winning team was Baiden Thoroughgood, Tyrone Wells, Mitchell Arnold and Don-Boscow at the end of June. We wish him Rodgers, with our other team consisting of Samuel Jumbo, Bobby Moore, Jordan Martine and Adam and Ben all the best for their Young, all students in Year 8. next fixtures. James and Ben with the The Academy also took an Under 15s squad to the Grace Blacklock winning trophy tournament, one member of the squad is UK Junior Number 1 Zak Zilesnick, who has been to many internationals this year and is gaining more and more Our New Academy experience with every tournament that he plays. There was also Reece Tan, Junior Number 3 in the UK, gymnasts are shining at and Guy Ben-Aroya. The three boys dominated the Regional and National Level competition and won, giving The Harefield Academy This new academic year saw four new Harefield the best teams in both Under 13s and Under 15s. Gymnastics Academy gymnasts join The This means that they can now advance to the Academy. Ryan and Connor Bartlett and Amber Regional Borough Championships to be held at The Campbell-White all joined Year 7 and in a short Harefield Academy sometime in April. More news will space of time have all made remarkable follow on how the boys get on. improvements. Amber and her partner Kirsty Lai Thanks must go to Eli and the umpires who attended, competed at the Regional Preliminary Rhys Thoroughgood and Su Gyamfi-Kumaning, and Championships, on March 15th. They came away Baiden Thoroughgood shows with a silver medal and are reserves to go to off his skills congratulations to all players. Connor and Millie Adam Carpenter National finals. Ryan and his partner Samuel in action Jarrett also competed at these preliminary championships and they won their category quite convincingly. This means that the boys can represent the London Region at the National Finals. Connor Bartlett and his partner Millie Spalding competed in the 11-16 category in the 2009 British Championships and came away with bronze medals from this competition, very close to second. Connor was 24 Game Maths Challenge at the youngest base in the competition by a few years and so to get a medal of any colour was a massive Ruislip High achievement for him. This third place has meant that they now have a place on the National Squad for the year and can also take part in the European Trials in June. They have also been invited to represent Great The 24 game was held on a Thursday 5th March at Britain in the forth coming Acrobatics Tournament in Bulgaria, a massive achievement for the youngsters. Ruislip High. Six students in Year 7 from The Harefield Robyn Birch, Year 10, moved to The Academy in Dec 08 specifically to work with partners Claire-Louise Academy competed against seven other schools in the Thompson and Grace Blacklock, both staff at The Academy. They, like Connor and Millie went to the British borough. Championships and gained a silver medal. Second place has also earned them a spot on the National Team The Students from The Harefield Academy were: Carol and a chance to be selected for the Europeans. They also have the chance to go to USA and China for the Cripps, Sana Malik, Harry Kyprianou, Danielle Hubbard, World Games in July and will be working very hard to become the Number One GB partnership for this year. Nathan Thompson and George Jones. Each school had They will also travel to Bulgaria in May with Connor and Millie. three groups of two students and we split into groups, Coach Natasha Maxwell said “ I am delighted with the results that our younger gymnasts at The Academy have A, B and C. been producing. We now have Bulgaria to In the 24 game we were given four numbers and with focus on and the gymnasts will be working hard these numbers we had to make 24, this is why the to improve on their scores.” Free courses game is called 24. The numbers varied from decimals Grace Blacklock If you live in or outside Hillingdon courses are still and fractions all the way to double digits. free. Harefield A, which was Carol Cripps and Sana Malik, Free - Family Learning courses for an adult and student came 2nd in the competition. We got a key ring with Free Kayak and Canoe the number 24 on it as our prize. Free Rock Climbing Carol Cripps --- Year 7 Free Self Defence Free Young Life Savers Free Cookery Cycle to School weekweek---- Free Art Club Monday 27th May to Friday 1st May Free Creative Embroidery Free Pottery Free food tokens on one of the days during the cycle to school week for any Google - adult learning Hillingdon or students who take up cycling. Students will require a cycle permit from The hae.hillingdongrid.org/ for more information Academy to cycle and park their bike in the cycle sheds. Application forms Peter SmithSmith————BeyondBeyond School Leader from Student Services after Easter. Claire, Robyn and Grace

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The Hillingdon Book of the Year 2009 Back in October a dedicated group of readers started to read the books nominated for The Hillingdon Book of the Year 2009. They patiently read all six books, discussing and sharing opinions about each one. Eventually deciding on a favourite book “Ways to Live forever” by Sally Nicholls Georgina Devine, in Year 8, won the overall Young to produce a presentation about. Heroes Award in the Gazette and Uxbridge So after lots more discussion, art work and rehearsals they arrived at the Winston Churchill Hall on Thursday March 12 th to give their final presentation. College Local Heroes Awards, held annually. All their hard work paid off and they delivered a brilliant presentation to The Young Heroes category saw many youngsters everyone in the hall including the Mayor and his wife. awarded for their good deeds and acts of bravery. This was then followed by voting and lunch including Häagen Dazs ice-cream Georgina won the category for giving up her spare supplied by General Mills who sponsored the event. time to be a companion to an elderly lady in The students all had a good time and they were delighted to hear “Ways to Live Harefield who had communication difficulties. She Forever” voted the winning book. was invited to the award ceremony held in Hayes Ms. Motley --- Librarian Community Campus on Thurs 5th March and was awarded with a certificate and £250. Colin Daley, Year 9, was highly commended in the same category for calling 999 after seeing a pensioner get run over in the road. Congratulations to both students Grace Blacklock

Apryl Toms, Amy Manucci, Katy Bowden, Elena Keeley, Georgia Meaker and Hollie Gadd with their artwork.

Wings of Hope SemiSemi----FinalsFinals

The Sixth Form’s inaugural Wings of Hope team have sailed through to the Semi-Finals of the competition to be held on Wednesday 25th March at the House of Lords. Wings of Hope are a charity that originally came to present their scheme to the Sixth Form at their assembly in the Autumn Term. The scheme asks students to raise money for the charity, which funds education programmes and schools in Africa and India, and at the same time compile a portfolio of their fundraising activities to present to the charity’s board. Group ‘Telos’ which is Greek for ‘End Purpose’ raised just under £800 in less than 3 months by holding a mufti day, selling charity cookies and a host of other events. The group met in their PL times to prepare the events and create their portfolio. The best schools are then invited to the semi-finals to make a presentation to Lauren McCormack, Sophie Searle, Saba Choudhry, Cassandra Fitzgerald, Sophia Williams and Shane Coombes. a panel of judges, chaired by Sir David Jason; who will decide who will make it through to the Grand Final ceremony, to be held at Wembley Stadium. ‘Group Telos’ are Sophia Williams, Bird and Wildlife Watching from the LRC Cassandra Fitzgerald, Lauren McCormack, Sophie As many of you may know the view from our Learning Resource Centre windows is superb. Searle, Saba Choudhry and Shane Coombes. We would really like to be able to make the most of it by encouraging students to bird/wildlife Miss Fitzgerald --- Sixth Form Student Manager watch to broaden their understanding and experience of the natural world around them. For this we need to encourage the birds and other wildlife into the area in view. We will be setting up feeding stations and homes in the trees behind the Astroturf.

ParentMail® We recently became aware of a service called ParentMail® which will enable The Academy to send their letters direct to parents by email. The service is already being used by more than a thousand schools around the UK. The Academy will replace the current system of communication with ParentMail® in the Summer Term. We hope the result of this will be that you receive information from The Academy in a more reliable and efficient manner. Clearly this is expensive and we need help! See attached letter for more details Please could you donate bird boxes or bird feeders (of any sort), hedgehog boxes, insect houses etc (second hand but in good order is fine!) Also various foodstuffs; peanuts/birdseed/fat balls etc. Thank you Ms. Motley --- Librarian

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Young Chef Awards Richard Watt, Year 9, has won The Harefield Academy Young Chef Competition. His menu The Rotary Club Jack Evans Award showed skill and a flair for cooking. Lauren McCormack (Year 13) has been nominated for the Wining this competition meant that Richard prestigious Rotary Club Jack Evans Award which is given to could go forth and represent The Academy at young people who have been industrious in giving back to the semi finals of the Rotary Club’s ‘Young their local community. Lauren was nominated for her Chef competition on Wednesday 25th February inspiring work with the SSP (Student Support) programme. at Stockley Academy. Richard competed with Lauren has always wanted to become a PE teacher, and in 15 other students from schools in the borough aged between 12-16. order to give herself some further experience she regularly Unfortunately, Richard didn’t make it through to the final but did say volunteered to assist with PE classes during her prep that he had learnt a lot on this exciting trip. Richard had support from periods last year. She was so successful, that this year all members of the Sixth Form are asked to classroom assist his mum, Jake Vincent, Harry Hannafin and Michael Speers and wants or assist an Academy department during one of their prep to thank them. periods every week. The scheme has benefitted both staff Mrs. Gadsden and Mrs. Shepherdly and sixth formers and it is all as a result of Lauren’s great idea. The presentation ceremony takes place on Friday 27 th March, where the students who have been nominated will Parachutes flying around The Academy!! be celebrated at a special luncheon in their honour, hosted by the Uxbridge Rotary Club. As part of National Science Week (9 th -16 th March), the Science Faculty held an Miss Fitzgerald Academy-wide competition to design and build a working parachute. Throughout the week each PL group dropped their parachute from the second floor, timing the speed of descent. Students created some exceptional parachutes in all shapes and sizes, and every PL group deserves enormous credit for their effort. Special mention must go to the House Champions GT1, R1, L4, C1, N5, P2, and The Academy Champions P2. Well done everybody!

Mr. Ferrand The winning Parachute made by P2

Lauren McCormack

Critical Thinking On Wednesday 11 th February 2009, The Harefield Academy won a ‘Critical Thinking Topic’ competition which was held at Brunel University. Four Year 12 students took the trip down to Brunel where they were placed Students carefully drop their masterpieces into groups, Jenisha Patel, Sophie Searle and Kane Harrison were all in one from the second floor. group, with Curtis Coombes in another. Part of the day was used to analysis then discuss possible floors in different scenarios, working in their groups to come up with the best possible reasons/solutions. Jenisha, Sophie and Kane London Cycle Campaign won some celebration chocolates for their attempts and Curtis Coombes won best male speaker for day, he was also given chocolates. The Harefield Academy has been successful in its application to the London Sophie thoroughly enjoy the day and felt apprehensive yet excited about the Cycling Campaign. The Academy has been awarded a £5,000 grant to promote situations that they were given to discuss. Jenisha thought it was very cycling in the community. Part of the grant will go towards buying Ten bikes to loan to students wishing to cycle to school. The loan of the bike will include beneficial because it was a different experience and she enjoyed her time Keep in Touch cycle helmet and lock. If you are interested please make contact with: Would you like us to send a Peter Smith - Beyond School Leader and Manager at Brunel! Adam Carpenter copy of this Newsletter to a member of the community? To be added Parent Voice Dates for your Diary to our distribution list or to suggest new contacts, The next meeting of Parent Voice is scheduled for please telephone, email or Tuesday 2nd June. 18.15 for tea and coffee,18.30 start. 6th6th6th-6th ---17th17th April --- Easter Holidays write to us at: For those who have not attended Parent Voice before Monday 27th April --- HPV Vaccine it is an opportunity to be updated about The Academy, Northwood Way, to ask questions that concern you and the students. If Wednesday 29th April --- Year 9 Book Look Harefield, you have any agenda items or questions please pass 16.00-19.00 Uxbridge, them onto Peter Smith 01895 827866, Monday 4th May --- May Day Bank Holiday Middlesex, [email protected] . 11th11th----22nd22nd May - Year 10 Work Experience UB9 6ET If you wish to go onto a mailing list for the minutes Friday 22nd May - Year 13 Study Leave Telephone: 01895 822108 then again please make contact. Lastly, if you plan to 25th25th----29th29th May --- Half Term come to the next meeting an email would be Email: appreciated to make arrangements for seating and 20th April --- 17th July Summer Term [email protected] refreshments.

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