Michaela Matters January 2017
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MICHAELA MATTERS KNOWLEDGE IS POWER Dear Families, also have special guests who talk to been immensely proud had she still the pupils. Teachers oten visit to been with us today. Welcome to 2017! At Michaela we learn from our methods and to take are delighted to start the New Year some of our ideas back to their own We move towards the future know‐ and term reinvigorated and ready to schools. Guests always comment on ing that the right values are the take on the world! how amazed they are by our polite bedrock of the school. We believe in and delightful pupils. Visiting teach‐ working hard, being kind and disci‐ As ever, the future is decided by the ers are simply dumbfounded by the pline. We look forward to the next past and so it is with great pride that standards reached in our pupils' es‐ two terms which will see Year 9 I read through our various achieve‐ says. complete the irst year of their Reli‐ ments from the last term and end of gion GCSE. We are expecting a lot last academic year. heir extraordi‐ his last term we were lucky enough from them and I know they will not nary achievements in Maths even to be visited by Michaela's partner. disappoint. resulted in some of our boys going Faduma's article explains who on a helicopter ride, having won irst Michaela was and why we named With best wishes for the rest of this prize in a national competition. Our our school ater her. Her partner, term. pupils' dedication to hard work devastated by her death from cancer shines through on every page. in 2011, found it too emotional to Katharine Birbalsingh visit before now. When he visited, he he school continues to have guests was so impressed by the school, say‐ Headmistress visit from around the country. We ing that Michaela herself would have 2 Issue 5 Genius Generator visits Michaela Michaela pupils were fortunate enough to meet Tony Sewell, an ed‐ ucational consultant. He toured the school and talked about why it is Former Education important to work hard for our fu‐ tures and how lucky we are to be at Secretary Inspires Pupils 'He was highly his term we were thrilled to be vis‐ I was fortunate to have Mr Gove sit‐ impressed by our ited by he Rt. Hon. Michael Gove ting at my table during family lunch. extensive MP. If it were not for him, Michaela He set an excellent example for us as would not exist: he developed the he was professional, polite and kind. knowledge and free schools programme that al‐ He asked the pupils on my table var‐ lowed Ms Birbalsingh to establish ious questions, such as: what time discipline' does school inish? What things do 'Mr Gove taught us that if we we do to get merits? How do parents want to change society we should know how pupils are doing in Michaela. Mr Sewell spoke to our ta‐ persist' school? How are we able to learn ble about his programme called and recite poems such as Julius Cae‐ 'Generating Genius,' enabling sar's speech on courage? hese ques‐ teenagers from the inner city and our school. Mr Gove was the Secre‐ tions led to interesting discussions various other backgrounds to attend tary of State for Education and held about Michaela and how it is differ‐ Russell Group universities and study the position from 12th May 2010 ent to other schools. science. He was highly impressed by until 15th July 2014. His persistence our extensive knowledge and disci‐ and resilience changed the way the Overall, Mr Gove taught us that if pline and he hoped for some government viewed education, lead‐ we want to change society we should Michaela pupils to attend his pro‐ ing to many new schools in England persist, especially when it is difficult. gramme next year. such as Michaela. Tayrese, 8P Amrutha, 9A Issue 5 3 C'est Simple Remembrance Day Comme Year 9 pupils have been learning 'Bonjour'! about the First World War and Armistice Day, which took place on French at Michaela is taught in a dif‐ 11th November 1918. he First ferent way to other schools. he at‐ World War began in 1914 with mosphere created in the classroom many countries including Britain, is really fun but also very focused. France and Russia ighting against the German Empire. Our three French teachers Made‐ moiselle Lund, Mademoiselle Betta‐ 'Many gave up their lives in order to har and Monsieur Forgeron (Mr protect their country's freedom' Smith) explain French in a thorough the democratic society in which we way and make it less daunting de‐ now live. On 11th November 2016, spite it being a completely new lan‐ here were a number of atrocities we commemorated Armistice Day guage. committed and many casualties dur‐ and every pupil and every teacher at ing the war. Many British soldiers Michaela donated money to charity In lessons, we learn to understand gave up their lives in order to pro‐ and wore a poppy on their lapels. the depths of the language. his is tect their country's freedom so that We did this to show gratitude and possible because our ethos is not to we could live the life we have today. thankfulness for the soldiers who waste a single minute or second of On Armistice Day, we express our died so that people in Britain could learning time in a lesson. As a result, gratitude to those fearless soldiers. enjoy the luxuries we have now. many visitors end up questioning their sight when they see our consci‐ Without the soldiers who fought in Hamse, 9A entious pupils in French. Even the Battle of the Somme or the naval Michael Gove wasn't expecting the Battle of Jutland, we would not have high level of French that we can al‐ ready speak! he fact that we learn complex phrases, such as 'il faut que je sorte' and 'il est rare que je fasse', helps us to improve rapidly in the language. We read so well because teachers put symbols in the text which indicate the correct accent to use. We under‐ line the vowel combinations to un‐ derstand the vowel sounds of the word, put a dot underneath silent letters so that they prevent us from saying the letter, and put liaisons be‐ tween two words if they are capable of being connected in speech as we say them. Malaikah, 8P 4 Issue 5 Trip of a Lifetime 'It was a mesmerising experience' I had always dreamed of going to Oxford and Hadi, Ali, Anas, Mahad and I were lucky enough to be able to visit the university to support Mr Reddy at a teaching conference. Whilst there, we demonstrated our Times Table Rock Star skills and then answered some questions from the audience. Meeting Mr Reddy was amazing. We were given a tour around Oxford and spoke to some Our Michaela team won the top iers, the 16 pupils who answered undergraduates about what it took place in the TTRS Rock Wrangle the most questions in total entered for them to get there. competition by answering the most the quarter-inals. All of us made it times tables and division questions through to the grand inals and we during a time limit. 50 schools en‐ had three minutes instead of one to tered their top three Times Table answer as many questions as we Rockers. Hamza, Ali and I were could. We worked relentlessly and picked and we competed for were overjoyed that we came irst, Michaela. We were aiming for the second and third! top prize: a helicopter ride across London. Soon aterwards we embarked on a 20-minute ride across London. We he Rock Wrangle consisted of 11 really enjoyed the view of the Lon‐ We learned a great life lesson: to times table sessions. Ater the quali‐ don Eye, the Millennium Dome, achieve things we have to work im‐ Wembley Arch and other famous mensely hard. he students we met landmarks. he helicopter lew up to had worked hard, even though they 310m high: level with the Shard. We were more privileged than us, and are so grateful to Mr Reddy and the they emphasised how much work members of staff who ran the Rock we need to put in. hings do not Wrangle and TTRS. It was a really happen by accident. his is a key les‐ special and memorable day. son that we learn at Michaela. All in all, it was a mesmerising experience Hadi, 8P and boosted our conidence for the real TTRS competition. Hamza, 8P Issue 5 5 Importance of TTRS TTRS Wisdom I am one of the fastest Times Table Rock Stars players in the world. When I came to Michaela I knew all of my times tables, but I had one problem: I could not type a single word or number without looking down at the keyboard. Eventually I overcame this and achieved success. 'Time is valuable; when it is gone we cannot get it back' To improve at TTRS I recommend the following three things: 1. Take risks. At the beginning of my career at Michaela I would look down, type a number and then enter it as slowly as a At Michaela, pupils practise their sloth. Now I am more coni‐ times tables on Times Table Rock 'Ms Quinn says that dent. I do not look down and Stars, a website which aids memori‐ my hands ly all over the place.