Making the school “the best place to learn in, the best place to work in St Paul’s Way and the best place to partner Education Foundation Trust with”... SPWT is part of the University Schools Trust NEWSLETTER Monthly News Updates | November 2019 | www.spwt.net | @StPaulsWayTrust Executive Headteacher’s Message Dear Parents/Carers, This month has been another busy period for St Paul’s Way Trust School as we continue to build on the successes we had during first half term. There has been a truly exceptional range of opportunities with increasing numbers of students taking part in extra-curricular clubs, competitions and curriculum visits. Please do continue to encourage your son/daughter to participate. Away from the classroom, our Parents Evenings for Year 8 and Year 9 were really well attended and we would like to thank parents/carers for their feedback. Although the feedback was very positive, we are constantly seeking ways to improve our student experience (Future parents evening dates are on the back of this newsletter). It is also worth mentioning our sporting success for both boys and girls where we have won a number of competitions against other Tower Hamlets schools, reaching the latter stages of any ongoing tournaments. In addition, we would like to commend our students for their fundraising efforts for various good causes, highlighting the global citizens we want our student to become. Lastly, we are very fortunate to have been selected to partner with National Youth Orchestra (NYO) of Great Britain, this will mean greater opportunities for our students in Music for the foreseeable future. We would like to wish our Year 11 and Year 13 students the best of luck for their upcoming Mock exams. Thank you for continued support. Kindest regards Phil Akerman Raza Ali Executive Headteacher Associate Headteacher Maths Off Piste Event—Building a Partnership with Forest School An article written by: Sakibur Rahman and Fahim Faisal, Year 13 The talk by Ben Sparks at Forest School regarding the origin of numbers was enlightening as we took an in depth look into all alternative views on maths and answering whether or not we discovered numbers or created them. It was for all ages with topics at degree level which were well explained to allow all members of the audience to understand topics such as fractals. Attending the talk has inspired us. We feel able to view maths in ways we wouldn’t have previously imagined and have a new perspective on what it means to be a mathematician. Ben’s talk also touched upon the maths and further maths curriculum such as, the roots of negative numbers and how they are used as imaginary numbers. Collectively, Ben’s talk was highly beneficial for both young mathematicians and the public, as it gave a useful insight to what it means to study Mathematics at a degree level and how it’s integrated in day-to-day life. Global Citizens, Global Awareness; Year 10 Special Lecture - Genocide On Tuesday 29th October, Year 10 students at SPWT received a visit from Dr Thomas MacManus - a Lecturer in State Crime from Queen Mary University of London and Director of the International State Crime Initiative. The focus of the assembly was around the Rohingya genocide and human rights. Dr Thomas explained research findings around the processes of genocides, drawing parallels between the Holocaust and the Rohingya crisis, and his involvement in writing to the government of Myanmar in early 2012. This was very powerful for our students, helping them widen their understanding of global issues. Dr Thomas enlightened our students with his experiences in Myanmar, specifically with his involvement in political discussions with government officials as well as his experiences of the Rohingya refugee camps. Feedback from students and staff highlighted what an interesting and stimulating experience this was. Wash Out Hate Campaigners Trip to Olympic Park “SPWT students engaged with the from Mile End Spotlight Centre were invited to the Leopold & Burdett Resident Board BBQ to meet Dr Paul Brickell (Chair of Poplar HARCA Board) to talk about the recent success of their 'Wash Out Hate' campaign. Paul, who is an Executive Director at London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), was so impressed by the young people’s hard work that he helped Spotlight's Youth & Community Engagement Manager, Nahim Ahmed to coordinate a tour of UCL and Plexal at the Olympic Park, to help broaden the young people’s knowledge of engineering—a subject he found out they were interested through conversations with them.” Steve Camden, Author Visit to St Paul’s Way Trust School A review written by: Samuel, Yasir, Aqeel, Ziyad, Tanjeel, Ishak, Ishfaq and Ms Jeffrey We really enjoyed meeting the author Steve Camden on Tuesday, 29th October 2019. Steve talked about how he writes his books and stories and we had the opportunity to try his way of developing a story. Our story about Ishak the hotdog seller developed into him being a billionaire superhero fighting Dr Maniac Miscellaneous. There was much laughter as we decided on our own superhero names and powers. We are looking forward to writing our own superhero stories using our characters in our English lessons. Steve was very funny and made a lot of jokes that made us laugh. Thank you for spending time with us. Debate Mate Launch On Tuesday, 5th November 30 students from Year 7 and Year 8 attended the Debate Mate Launch which was held at the Emmanuel Centre. The students watched a show debate on the motion: This House would lower the voting age to 16. The students left the event feeling enthused and ready to learn the art of debating and the range of skills it encompasses. The Debate Mate Programme began in our school from Tuesday 11th November. This will provide opportunities for students to become independent thoughtful learners who communicate well with each other, engage in the curriculum and the world around them in a meaningful way. National Youth Jazz Orchestra The National Youth Jazz Orchestra performed to our Year 7 to Year 10 instrumentalists on 4th November This is the beginning of a new partnership with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and some students will be working with them closely this academic year! Deaf Support Base Shape Arts Award 2019 We are very proud of some the DSB students that took part in the Shape Arts Project. The students worked extremely hard to achieve the Arts Discover Award by Trinity College London. This was a unique opportunity and is a recognised formal qualification. The theme was “in circles” and encapsulates the challenges/frustrations that many deaf people encounter. Science Club: 7th November The launch of the KS3 Science Club has been a huge success with budding young scientists keen to participate in a range of exciting experiments. These would not typically have been done in their normal science lessons. Students were inspired by Halloween to make ghosts and pumpkins with potassium iodide, starch, bleach and hydrochloric acid. The week was themed around Guy Fawke’s Night and the evening went down with lots of colours, whooshes and bangs. Students experimented with sparklers and explored the chemistry of how they work. Students also carried out flame tests to show what salts produce the different colours in fireworks and investigated propulsion as bottles flew across the classroom showing what causes rockets to fly into the air. Charity Food Sale: In Memory of Enamul Islam, Former St Paul’s Way Student Article written by Zohrah Ahmed (13U) and Abu Sufiyan (13A) On Friday the 8th of November, Year 13 students organised a charity bake sale in remembrance of our dear friend Enamul Islam who sadly passed away recently. Enam was a kind hearted, bright individual who positively impacted on all our lives in different ways. In his honour, the Year 13 students baked cakes, made samosas and came together to sell over a thousand tasty treats. From the sale and additional donations, Year 13 have managed to raise over £1300 for Human Aid. The funds raised will go towards building and resourcing an education centre, as well as constructing water wells in lesser developed countries. Both of these causes were close to Enam’s heart. Football was Enam’s passion. On Friday 28th November a commemorative charity football match was hosted at SPWT against Atlee, his former college was played, more funds were raised in our dear friend’s honour. Dragon’s Den at the Prince’s Trust Our Year 10 Golden Group students were invited to attend a Dragon's Den workshop at the Prince’s Trust on Thursday, 14th November. The students were accompanied by Jabon Nahar, Saumya Partheepan and Thasmin Siddique. Our students were placed in two teams; and worked alongside professional business mentors to create an innovative product, develop a business plan and deliver a pitch for ‘Dragons’. The students competed with two other schools and unanimously took first and second place. Team ‘B-Tech Notebook’ consisting of Abdirahman Muse, Fahema Mohammed and Abu Talhah won first place with their amazing idea of an electronic notebook which could merge all your exercise books and notebooks into one unit. They impressed the Dragons convincing them how this would save the environment by reducing paper wastage and also save students from carrying multiple exercise books around. Team ‘Cakes Express Online’ consisted of Zaynab Begum, Oliur Rahman Karim, Saidul Islam and Tayubur Rahman. Their online cake delivery service won the Dragons over with their idea of having different bakers at hand to bake any request and delivering it on time. Both teams had to think about costing and functionality of their products, and work as a team to allocate different roles in their business.