How Ark Academy Is Celebrating the London 2012 Olympics Through Living Its Values Every Day

ARK ACADEMY’S OFFICIAL MAGAZINE Issue #6 Summer Term 2012 Special Olympic Edition: How Ark Academy is celebrating the London 2012 Olympics through living its values every day. 1 Dear Parents/Carers In this year of the Olympics – I think we can safely say that our sporting successes have surpassed all expectations and as I write there are more honours to be contested – so fingers crossed! We have also just finished the wettest secondary sports day I have ever know (the pictures of primary sports day in sunshine tell a very different story). The competition was excellent – some real athletes in the making – the support of the house teams demonstrated respect and friendship and we all showed true grit, determination and courage to get through such difficult conditions and with absolutely no moaning. I was very proud! So this day demonstrated to me, like the Olympics, was much more than just a sporting competition and the Olympic ideals of respect, excellence, friendship, courage, determination, inspiration and equality really are truly reflected by our four core values. This Olympic edition of the CIVITAS magazine highlights these ideals in a very tangible Ark Academy way. Of course we will all have our own specific memories of the year, from the courage and friendship shown by Year 7 on the Kingswood trip, to the excellence and inspiration of our first music concert in Ark. Unfortunately, my memory is selective, so I really welcome the final CIVITAS edition of 2011/2012 reminding us of all that has happened throughout the year and the sheer extent of engagement by our pupils. May I take this opportunity to thank all parents for your support over the year, like any family we need to stick together through the good times and difficult times. We have all worked (pupils and staff) very hard to build Ark Academy into a great learning institution. So we all need a good rest now, but please encourage your son/daughter to read as much as they can over the summer (which I hope will start next week) and I look forward to seeing Year 8 and 9 in September refreshed and ready to show how keen they are to learn and be CIVITAS! Yours sincerely Delia Smith Principal 2 Dear parents and carers, This academic year has been the best ever – as our community along with experience and confidence grows we are ready to take on greater challenges and opportunities. Our confidence is of course derived from our continued and increasing successes. From an academic perspective our children has outstripped national expectations again but by a greater margin this year . In KS1 SATs national tests 95 % of our children were at or above national expectation in reading; 90% were ar or above national expectation in writing and 95 % were at or above national expectation in maths . All our other year groups displayed similar attainment. Our reputation for academic excellence is increasingly renowned. We have received visits from the Department for Education and Ofsted as part of their research into standards and best practice. We have also been at the centre of a pioneering new maths teaching methodology know a Maths Mastery which is now being rolled out by a government backed programme. But we also do different things and have lots of fun in the doing so ! Here are just a sample of the best: Our very first overnight stay at PGL for year 3, our amazing Christmas concerts, our sensational Science week when my mysterious murder was investigated; World Book Day, World Maths Day, our incredible sponsored bounce when we raised over £4,000 for Children in Need; our Easter Bonnet parade; our design an Olympic torch competition, we were winners of the Spelling Bee competition and our year 3 and 1 children won their sports day ; we won our first competitive football match ; we celebrated the Diamond Jubilee with a Kings and Queens day and who will ever forget our amazing class assemblies and our end of year productions - and much more... I must thank all the staff who work tirelessly and with energy and creativity to make all this possible . As the benchmark increases this year they simply rise to the challenge . You are amazing and everyday I am reminded of just how special you all are. But of course our children and parents are stars too – and what shining lights ! The children at Ark make our jibs so much easier and more fun – they both challenge us and motivate us to do the job well. Finally , we have to blame the parents ;0 ). Thank you to everyone of you for your unstinting support in helping us to achieve our vision. Have a wonderful break and hopefully some long awaited sunshine ! Jacqueline Steele Primary Headteacher 3 Olympic Special With Civitas at our core, respect is something that comes easy to us here at Ark Academy - and there have been plenty of opportunities over the year for us to demonstrate it. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June was the perfect time for us to demonstrate respect - and an action packed set of activities that included the nursery visiting London on a sightseeing tour, afternoon tea, crown making, a Union Jack themed non-uniform day and a special assembly reflecting on the life and work of the queen. Some students were lucky enough to be chosen to go to the Queen’s Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace. Throughout students demonstrated their respect for the queen and her work for our country. 4 Olympic Special “For most, it was their first concert and definitely one everybody would remember. We were very lucky and got a good space with loads of room to dance. Some students later spotted themselves on TV! Not only were the performers great, but the fireworks were awesome! It was a brilliant night.” Kassia Tavares, 8Doyle The house debating competition took place in May and respect was a key ele- ment of the day as students learn to argue in the right format. It was a great day of Plato were debating and eventually crowned the winners - well done to Cullen, Clement, Haider and Isabella. 5 Olympic Special Excellence comes easy to us at Ark Academy and every field we demonstrate the highest quality performances. From the sporting field, to the stage and from spelling bees to singing, our students are reaching the top, striving to be the best and wowing audiences. Five students who took part in the MyStreet filming project were shortlisted for and eventually won a filming prize for their ‘Documentary in a Day’. Well done to the boys who won and a special thanks to the people from MyStreet who helped make it all possible. 6 Olympic Special Fabulous end of year productions from our primary students. Year 3 Spelling Bee champions celebrate their fantastic success. On Wednesday 11th July, Ark Secondary put on its first annual music concert. It was a wonderful night of excellent music making from the students. Special thanks must go to Mrs Cooke for all her hard work. 7 Olympic Special Friendship is a key Olympic value because of The nursery children, staff, all the people from all around the world com- parents and members from ing together for one cause. That is just like LLoyds Bank were busy planning Ark Academy - people from all walks of life a new outdoor learning space for working together for the children. The theme of the learning and, of course, CIVITAS. project was the ‘2012 Olympics’. The shed was painted with multi cultural images of boys and girls from around the world, a floral display and a mural of Wembley Stadium. There was lots of paint work on the ground including: a new bike track, a caterpillar number line, and an alphabet snail. A growing patch and a flower area was added for the children to plant fruits and vege- tables. Students from the nursery hosted a Zara McLeod, Nursery Manager mothers and fathers day event and have also worked with the local community to help decorate the nursery playground. 8 Olympic Special We can’t reflect on how we demonstrate friendship at Ark Academy without remembering Kingswood in the spring term - a great demonstration of friendship and CIVITAS that helped bind our year 7s together. 9 Olympic Special Students across the academy have demonstrated courage on many occasions throughout the year -we’re never afraid to take on a challenge or have a new experiences, including the Modern Foreign Languages trip to Boulogne in France where students got to try out their French, picture below. Andrei Bogdan and Rosheni Navaneetharajah represented Ark Academy’s maths department in Cambridge at the Prince’s Teaching Institute conference. They spoke in front of hundreds of guests including politicians, definitely demonstrating courage. 10 Olympic Special Our debating team continues to do well demonstrating courage in the face of much older students, finishing 19th out 107 schools nationally in the Urban Debate League and second in the Ark School’s Debating Competion. Well done to all the Ark Debaters. Trailblazers was a fantastic opportunity for 25 students in year 7 to show courage - they slept under canvass, built fires, cooked their own dinner and did many outdoor activities. Thanks to Mr Chandler and the Geography department for organising this fantastic adventure. 11 Olympic Special It wouldn’t be a proper Olympic issue without highlighting our amazing sporting success this year. If last year’s weren’t goo enough we’ve Shannae Campbell racked up success in almost every Summer Bywater Kaftun Mohamed field—a true reflection of how the Kayleigh Nightingale Lorena Bala students how used the Olympic and Jamelia Campbell Tia Brogan Paralympic values to shape their lives Ugne Plekaviciute Alice Muratovic at the school.

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