Newsletter Spring 2 February 2016
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Ark Elvin Academy Newsletter Spring 2 February 2016 A very positive start to 2016 Welcome to our Spring 2 newsletter. We have highlighted just some of our great achievements so far this year. As you can see we managed to pack a lot into the short Spring 1 half term. Spring 2 is even shorter, with only 23 school days; you can see key dates at the end of this newsletter. Our big focus is on helping all of our pupils to continue to make excellent progress and achieve their targets. We are particularly proud of our year 11 pupils and our sixth form students. They have taken the final push towards their exams very seriously and are ensuring that they do everything they can to achieve. Year 11 now have assemblies 4 times a week where we give key tips on how to improve grades and get the very best results this summer. Please help and support your child during what can be a very busy and stressful time of year, and reassure them that with support and advice from family, teachers and friends they will be able to achieve their targets and go on to be successful. We are very proud of all of our pupils and students here at Elvin and I look forward to sharing more of their success with you later this term. arkelvinacademy.org @ARKElvinAcademy Finally, as we are now in our 5th full term as Ark Elvin Academy we are expecting an Ofsted inspection at some point in the next couple of months. We are very pleased with the progress which we are making as a school and are very much looking forward to showing this to inspectors, along with our plans for further improvement. When the inspection comes we will receive notice around lunchtime of the day before. I will inform all of the pupils that afternoon and send a letter home with them to let you know as well. The full visit should last two days and I will send out details of their findings as soon as it is complete. Thank you in advance with your support with this and for your continued support as we strive to improve our school and outcomes for our children. Best wishes, Elvin Learning Support Assistant wins prestigious award Congratulations to Ms Abdul-Rahman for winning the Ark Schools award for Secondary Teaching Assistant 2016. The award was presented by Ark chief executive Lucy Heller at the Ark Schools conference, in front of 2,000 teaching staff from all Ark Schools. Ms Abdul-Rahman, who was selected for the award ahead of learning support assistants from schools across the country, was recognised not only for the tireless work she puts in to our pupils on a daily basis, but also for the training she has delivered to teachers on how to support pupils with hearing or visual impairments. Miss Bates said “Miss Abdul-Rahman is a real asset to Elvin and I am proud that she has won this well- deserved award. She is passionate about helping children to overcome any barriers they may face and never sees special educational needs as an issue, but rather as a series of challenges which we need to learn to overcome with the child. She puts the needs of our pupils at the centre of everything she does. She is a fabulous colleague and all children and adults in the school think she is wonderful!” Year 11 GCSE preparation nears the final stretch Our year 11 pupils have shown excellent attitudes and effort as they near the final weeks before GCSE exams start in May. The level of support and attention they have been receiving also increased over the last half term. The year started in January with all year 11s receiving their mock results in a special assembly in the hall, nervously opening envelopes as they will be doing in August for their final results. Year 11 have also had assemblies four mornings a week, focussing on a range of topics such as revision techniques, planning for the future, the importance of attendance, and skills for maths, English and science. Specific year 11 resources for many subjects are now on our website, with some of these updating on a weekly basis, and most pupils have been attending extra sessions after school or during half term. All year 11 pupils also sat mock exams in the hall for maths and English earlier this month, and will have a full set of mocks for all subjects later this half term – see the last page for more details. We’re incredibly proud of the effort all our year 11s have been making and look forward to seeing the fruits of this when they receive their final GCSE grades in the summer. INTEGRITY COURAGE COMMUNITY MASTERY Sixth Formers’ premier university and careers workshop Sixth form students at Ark Academy and Ark Elvin Academy were given top league training on preparing for university and their future careers in a session organised by Barclays LifeSkills. The students were taught on getting ready for the world of work by representatives from the bank during an intensive session on CV writing, interview skills and professional presentation. LifeSkills also helps to improve access to work experience opportunities, traineeships and apprenticeships to give them the key skills and experience through businesses across the UK. To help inspire them to go for the top, students were able to pose for a photo finish with the Barclays Premier League Trophy. Head girl Olufunke said that "The sessions were really helpful and about developing yourself as a person". Fellow sixth former Naveed added that "They really help you get a little further in life and with your career" Elvin was selected from hundreds of schools to host the trophy and receive Barclays LifeSkills sessions. Kirstie Mackey, head of LifeSkills, commented: "We are delighted to reward Ark Elvin Academy with a visit from the iconic Barclays Premier League Trophy. We’re proud of the positive impact we have on young people’s lives and are honoured to be part of the journey which helps shape their future.” Miss Bates added: “It’s vital that we work with partners such as Barclays LifeSkills to ensure our students are well equipped to enter a competitive university and employment marketplace. As well as learning vital work- readiness skills, it was a real privilege for Elvin students to see the trophy first-hand. Not only is the Barclays Premier League an important part of local life in Wembley, but our school is also named after Sir Arthur Elvin, an inspiring individual who worked hard to make Wembley Stadium what it is today.” Year 9 visit to Rothschild’s Bank On the 28th January, a group of year 9s went to visit Rothschild, a top global bank, in central London for a day of career workshops. Miss Patel writes: Miss Abdul-Rahman and I were fortunate enough to accompany some pupils from 9 Amethyst and 9 Coral to Rothschild’s in Bank. The pupils had an amazing day discussing transferable skills in jobs, CV strengths and weaknesses, 'hot' and 'cold' jobs, and educational routes that they can take following GCSEs and school. Following a tour of the office building (and the company gym and doctor's surgery of course!), they were also treated to a lovely lunch on the 15th floor overlooking London. Even at this height, the pupils managed to stuff themselves silly and avoid any sickness! The day came to an end with an opportunity for groups to design and pitch their ideas for an educational app to four of the dragons of Rothschild’s! A prize was then awarded to the best group pitch. The pupils were an absolute credit to the school and I couldn't have been more proud. Their behaviour was impeccable and all facilitators were particularly impressed with their confidence, participation and engagement! The Chief Officer of Security for Rothschild’s has given me his card in hopes of having a follow up with the pupils and has offered to visit the school and volunteer in any way that he can. All in all, the day was a fantastic opportunity for the pupils and greatly enjoyed and appreciated by all. INTEGRITY COURAGE COMMUNITY MASTERY Budding Elvin Engineers visit Alstom Train Care Centre On Wednesday 10th February, our year 12 Physics students went to the Alstom depot in Wembley to see engineering in action. Shangar writes: “Alstom is a train care centre and manufactures modern day trains such as the Virgin Pendolino. The experience gave us a fantastic opportunity to see how the physics we learn in class is used in engineering industries like Alstom is a train care centre. We were given a tour of the centre and got up close to the wheels of the trains and also saw how the engineers at Alston repair the wheels. We also learnt how important safety is in the engineering industry as we had to wear safety hats and shoes. For me personally the best part of the trip was learning about the industrial machines and their uses. To top this off we were allowed to sit in the drivers area of the Virgin Pendolino and we were also shown how the drivers operate the trains.” Nikita adds: “I really enjoyed the trip to Alstom Train Care Centre, on which we learned that much of our classroom learning could be applied to the real world. We were also able to see the extraordinary mechanical process; of which train wheels undergo to be fixed when damaged.