RATED ‘GOOD’ IN ALL AREAS: Headteacher Saeed Hussain with George Mitchell School pupils Much to celebrate OUR headteacher has been hailed by We will now be body are ambitious for the school. Ofsted after we were rated Good at an focusing energies “They have devoted their energy to inspection. on working towards successful improvement of teaching The school was judged to be Good achieving an and pupil outcomes.” in all areas – including leadership and “ Outstanding The school was rated as quality of teaching, behaviour of pu- judgement in the “requires improvement” in 2013, just pils and academic outcomes – follow- three months prior to Mr Hussein’s ing an inspection in January. next inspection. appointment. It comes on the back of In their report inspectors said the Headteacher Saeed Hussain a successful 12 months for George school was “improving quickly” un- Mitchell, which scored its best ever der the stewardship of “determined pupils, commitment of teachers and GCSE results and was rated in the and hardworking” headteacher Saeed described the governing body as top 1 per cent for improvement in Hussain. “highly motivated”. ” maths nationally. They also found pupils were pushed Ofsted inspectors said: “The school Headteacher Saeed Hussain said: to achieve academically and that stu- is improving quickly and securely. “I am delighted that we have now dent expectation had been raised. The headteacher, senior leadership officially been judged a Good school. They praised the behaviour of team and members of the governing Story continues on page 2 n George Mitchell Newsletter n March 2016 1 Ofsted recognises our dedication to learning Continued from front page “Having been recognised as Good we now look to the future and building on these ex- “Inspectors were full of praise for the direc- cellent foundations. These are very exciting tion the school has taken and spoke highly of times for George Mitchell School.” both staff and students. Waltham Forest cabinet member for chil- “This is a very good report. The few are- dren and young people Councillor Mark as for further improvement are easily tackled Rusling said: “I am delighted that Ofsted has and we will now be focusing our energies on recognised the great strides taking place at working towards achieving an Outstanding George Mitchell School. judgement in the next inspection. We have “Last year’s GCSE results were an enor- much to celebrate.” mous improvement on the year before and the Chair of Governors Sue Milligan said: The whole school is now being rebuilt. Governors are delighted Ofsted has recog- “These are exciting times at the school. nised the leadership of Saeed Hussain and the Many congratulations to all the teachers, hard work and dedication of staff and pupils, staff , parents and pupils who have made this Praise for school: as well as the support of parents and carers. happen.” Mark Rusling

A TRANSFORMATION Pride l Leadership l Behaviour OFSTED inspectors praised our INSPECTORS have described headteacher for his “determination our pupils as “polite and well- and hard work” in transforming mannered”. the school. They said since taking They are also respectful in our over 16 months ago, Mr Hussain of the school and its resources has raised expectation in pupils and and respond quickly to reminders aspiration in teachers. from teachers of what is They also praised the expected, the report school leadership team for pro- found. moting British values They noted the good and supporting pupils’ attendance rate at the It [the Ofsted “spiritual, moral and cul- school, which is well tural development” above the national average, result] has made The inspectors said: “To- and that the school is kept “me proud to be a gether with senior leaders and the very tidy by pupils. student at George governing body, the headteacher The report said: “The behaviour Mitchell school. has made sure the whole school of pupils in lessons and throughout community has higher expectations the school is good. Pupils are polite Pupil Stephano Ampofo for pupils’ outcomes. He has raised and well mannered.” the aspiration of teachers.” l Outcomes The Ofsted report” l Teaching OFSTED said the improvement in OFSTED hailed teaching at the teaching standards has driven up makes us proud of school describing lessons as progress at the school. our“ school. It gives “engaging and eff ective”. They said pupils from all us confi dence that The report found staff captured achievement levels had made huge we will achieve the interest of pupils and encour- strides by the time they reached our goals. aged them to work together and Year 11. Pupil Sadaf Arif share ideas. They also singled out the They said teachers planned work reception class for a huge that challenged pupils, helping to turnaround since the last deepen their understanding. inspection in pupil progress in It is fantastic that” the school Inspectors said: “Relationships key subjects such as maths and has got the recognition it between teaching staff and pupils English. “deserves. The school is is positive and encouraging. Across Inspectors said: “By improving really well-thought of in the the school, pupils are eager and the quality of teaching, leaders local community.” attentive because teaching is engag- have successful rates of pupil ing and captures pupils’ interest.” progress throughout the school.” Parent Julie Mace n George Mitchell Newsletter n March 2016 ” 2 Hard work and high targets bearing fruit

OUR says a “back to basics” approach to education is the reason results have improved by 350 per cent in the last two years. Results released recently by Waltham Forest Council show re- ception pupils, aged four and fi ve, at George Mitchell scored 69 per cent in good learning development tests, which is above the national and bor- ough average.

TURNAROUND

The remarkable turnaround is the re- sult of a huge overhaul in the school’s nursery, which is now headed up by qualifi ed teacher Kate James. The school has also introduced a series of educational programmes and brought in new facilities for pupils in a bid to raise standards.

OVER THE MOON

Ms James said: “We are over the moon with these results. It sounds simplistic but a back-to-basics ap- Back-to-basics approach: Kate James with youngsters proach has really made a huge diff er- ence. stand the educational needs of pupils “This is just the beginning for our “The pupils learn English and maths and to support parents.” reception class. and there is a focus on developing lan- “With Kate overseeing development guage skills. CONFIDENT we are confi dent results are going to “As a school we are very aspiration- be even better next year. al so we have set very high targets for The school recently scored its best “Following on from a huge im- our pupils because we feel that is the ever GCSE results, a 17 per cent im- provement in our GCSE results in best way to ensure progress. provement on results in the previous the summer this is yet more proof She added: “As a qualifi ed teacher, year. that the school is going in the right I am perhaps better placed to under- Headteacher Saeed Hussain said: direction.” William passes on good advice A FORMER pupil who graduated After graduating, William, who left from one of the top universities in the the school in 2000, worked for City country has returned to off er advice to fi rm Goldman Sachs before moving to current students. Barclays. William Fu, who studied politics and economics at King’s College Right: Former student William , spoke to George Mitchell Fu, third from left, with George pupils in November. Mitchell pupils

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Good foundations – but looking to future OUR HEADTEACHER has de- us next year will arrive to a brand scribed the new school rebuild as new building. There will be no dis- the “fi rst step” towards becoming an ruption to their learning. They will Outstanding school. be going on a journey with us that The secondary and primary schools will see this school become one of are set for the multi-million pound the best in the country. That is our makeover after planing permis- goal and we will not rest until it is sion was agreed by Waltham Forest achieved.” Council in February. Plans for the primary school, in Buildings on the existing sites will State of the art: Rebuild plan Burchell Road, include new class- be demolished and replaced with that goal. We have worked very hard rooms, main hall, nursery, drama state-of-the art learning facilities. to have the school rebuilt so that we and art studios, and a library . It comes after Ofsted described the could off er pupils in Waltham Forest The new , in school as “rapidly improving” when facilities to match those anywhere Farmer Road, will boast a four-sto- rating it Good at an inspection. else in the country. That is what they ry red brick building with facilities Headteacher Saeed Hussain said: deserve and that is what we can now such as a sports hall, new classrooms “Having just been rated Good by Of- off er. This is the perfect time to be and studios, science laboratories and sted, we are now setting our sights joining George Mitchell.” offi ces. on becoming Outstanding. Work on the secondary site is due The school is being rede- “The new building with its state-of- to start next month and is expected veloped as part of the priority school the-art facilities and new classrooms to be completed by September 2017. building programme. Work is funded is the fi rst step towards achieving Mr Hussain added: “Pupils joining by the Education Funding Agency.

In character

Bookish: Staff get into the spirit of World Book Day

STUDENTS and staff dressed up as WINNERS: performance of The Hanging Tree characters from their favourite books l Year 10’s Eddie Cantwell, Sara from The Mockingjay. to celebrate World Book Day. Fathi, Suhaib Hashi, Nadia Hassan Pupils took part in an X Factor style and Yusuf Patel came fi rst for their l The primary school winner was competition performing songs, scenes, dramatic performance of Macbeth. Year 5’s Masiti Ahmed for her poetry and poetry from their favourite books. recital of Little Red Riding Hood and Mr Marshall’s costume Orphan l Secondary school runner-up was the Wolf from Roald Dahl’s Revolting child won “best dressed”. Lilly Sabanda, year 7, for her vocal Rhymes. n George Mitchell Newsletter n March 2016 4 Headteacher’s comment Great year “Welcome to the Spring edition of the GM School Times. “It has been a very good start to the year at George Mitchell for IGCSEs School. A RECORD-BREAKING 91 per The remarkable results come as GOOD IN ALL AREAS cent of our bright Year 11 pupils have it was announced the school scored scored top marks in their English 0.61 on a secondary school pupil per- “In this newsletter you will IGCSEs. formance tracker, known as Progress read about our wonderful Ofsted An overwhelming majority of stu- 8. report where the school was dents achieved an A-C grade in the The Fischer Family Trust (FFT) rated Good in all areas. exam taken in January. gave the school the 0.61 score, which “You will also hear from our The international GCSE is signifi cantly above the na- proud pupils, parents and consists of coursework, a tional average. teachers. speaking and listening Ms Chapple said: “You will also read that exam and a written “It is a fi ne exam- building work has begun on paper exam. ple of what can be transforming the school into an It counts as an achieved with ex- state-of-the-art learning facility. additional sub- cellent teaching and ject and is studied motivated and hard- EXCITING JOURNEY in more than 120 working students. countries. “It really showed “This is the beginning of a The school ran ex- the ethos of our very exciting journey towards tra Saturday classes to school – to excel and becoming one of the top schools help pupils prepare. achieve through collabo- in the country. Jakub Kralik said: “I am rative hard work.” “Along the way we will need very thankful to my teachers for In 2015, the published RAISE your continued support as par- helping me get an A grade. They gave report put the school in the top fi ve ents and carers in helping us to up their time on Saturdays to give us per cent of schools nationally for pro- becoming a beacon of success, all the best opportunity of passing.” gress across all subjects. creating life-changing opportuni- Year 11’s Madihah Manik, who ties for our students. scored an A grade, said: “Getting an A in my fi rst GCSE paper has got rid of THE PROGRESS 8 GREATER SUCCESS my doubts for future exams. INDEX EXPLAINED: “I am now feeling much more posi- “Together we have already tive about my forthcoming exams and l School performance based on a turned George Mitchell into a hope to do just as well in all my other pupil’s GCSE results in English very good school, providing an subjects. and mathematics, their best grades exciting, challenging, supportive “I would like to thank Ms Chapple in three other EBacc qualifi cations, and caring environment. and our curriculum leader for English and three more GCSEs or other ap- “It is now time Ms Aswat for all the help they pro- proved qualifi cations. for us to push vided. We couldn’t have done so well forward in our desire without them.” l It measures progress from the for even greater Marie Anne Moore, from Year 11, start of secondary school to the end success. also thanked deputy headteacher Be- of GCSEs and compares it against “Join us in our linda Chapple, pictured, for helping schools of similar character. journey towards her get an A. excellence.” She said: “I wouldn’t have achieved l Scores will be demonstrated by such a high grade if it wasn’t for Ms a number between 2 and minus 2, Chapple’s encouragement and I’m with 0 being the average of similar grateful to her for making us all go to schools. the many revision sessions at week- ends and the holidays. l It is set to replace the percentage Head “Now that I know how it feels to get of pupils gaining fi ve good GCSEs, Saeed an A, I feel a lot more motivated to do including English and maths, as Hussain just as good, or even better, in the rest the headline measure of school of my subjects at GCSE.” accountability. n George Mitchell Newsletter n March 2016 5 Dreaming of scholarship

TWO of our brightest lots of very bright pupils at pupils have set their sights the school who will be given on winning a scholarship to fantastic opportunities with a top sixth-form. this new programme.” Nadia Hassan, pictured Martin said: “This is a right, and Martin Barry are very interesting idea. The being given extra classes school has always recog- and tutorials in preparation nised that some pupils need for interviews. an extra challenge. Headteacher Saeed Hus- “I am very excited to take sain set up the scholarship this journey. Academically programme after helping a Mr Hussain thinks we are pupil at his previous school ready but there are other in Newham win a place at things these schools are David Cameron’s old school looking for that we will be Eton College. prepared for.” He plans to extend the Nadia said: “I am hoping programme next year to to go to an Oxbridge uni- include more pupils. versity. A scholarship to a He said: “We had huge top school will help with success at my previous that. school with a scholarship “I am very glad that I programme. go to a school like George “We now have the time Mitchell because they really and resources to do it at want us to do well and fulfi l George Mitchell. There are our potential.”

Remarkable eff ort sees pupil gain PiXL praise A HARD-WORKING teenager has a ceremony held in London recently. dreamed I would do so well in my been honoured in a nationwide award Mobin, from Leyton, said: “At exams.” ceremony after scoring top marks in George Mitchell the support is very George Mitchell headteacher Saeed his GCSEs – despite only moving to personalised. So I had my own men- Hussain said: “Mobin is a very good the UK a year earlier. tor who would work with me example of the school’s motto, Mobin Rahat, 16, pictured, could every break time with my More in Me. not speak a word of English when he English. “He thought that the swapped his home in Bangladesh for “She even gave me best he could do in such east London in 2014. her email address so if I a short space of time at But thanks to support and extra tui- was stuck at home and school is learn English. tion from teachers at George Mitchell needed help I could That would have been School, he now speaks fl uent English write her an email. a remarkable achieve- and even managed to get top grades in “They really believe ment in just a year but his GCSEs including two A*. in you here and that gives we saw more in him. His remarkable eff orts were reward- you amazing confi dence to “We knew he was capable ed when he was shortlisted for the out- go on and do more. of more and that is why we sup- standing progress award at the Part- “My only real aim when I fi rst got ported and mentored him to achieve ners in Excellence (PiXL) awards at here was to learn English. I never his full potential.” n George Mitchell Newsletter n March 2016 6 Barry McGuigan visits the sports camp; Girls in training, inset Sky Sports

Barry proves a big hit THE school hosted a new Govern- boxer Barry McGuigan at a sporting boxing abilities at the camp. ment initiative aimed at getting girls camp held in December last year. Sports Minister Tracey Crouch also into sport. The former featherweight world attended the event, which was broad- Our pupils trained with former champion praised the girls for their cast on Sky Sports News. Our new PTA events ‘are great fun’ Good causes OUR dedicated team of parents, morning – held every Thursday, 9am- teachers and friends have spoken of 10.30am, at the primary site. benefi t from their excitement at joining our new- They have also organised themed ly-formed PTA. events at Halloween, Valentine’s Day The George Mitchell Parents, Teach- and Easter. charity week ers and Friends Association (GMPT- Fatima Roche said: “It’s a great way OUR Year 10 charity week saw FA) supports the school through vol- to interact with other parents and gain pupils working hard to raise mon- untary work developing relationships a better understanding of the diff erent ey for good causes. with the wider community and perspectives and cultures that Fundraising events included through fundraising events. make this school a true com- a bake and smoothie sale, a hot Funds raised go towards munity.” chili eating contest, Movember supporting children at the Julie Mace, left, said: “Be- and guess the sweets. school, paying for books and ing involved in the themed Cash raised will go to Oxfam, equipment, the cost of work- events and movie nights is Macmillan Cancer Support, Ac- shops and funding events. great fun. I loved seeing the tive Change Foundation and the Supporters of the group in- looks on the children’s faces British Heart Foundation. clude mums, dads, grandparents, when they met Father Christmas at the teachers, voluntary groups and busi- winter fayre – it was magic.” nesses. For more information about GMPT- Events already held include the FA email kathleen.smith@george Our motto: More is in me summer and winter fayres, movie mitchell.waltham.sch.uk. Mark it for nights, cake sales and a regular coff ee the attention of GMPTFA.

n George Mitchell Newsletter n March 2016 7 Sights and sounds YEAR 10 pupils were treated to a day visiting London landmarks. The BTEC travel and tourism class visited Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.

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