THE URSULINE ACADEMY ILFORD A Catholic Academy for Girls Weekly News – Issue 11 27th November 2020 Dear Parents/Guardians Headteacher’s Headlines… Last week on BBC Lifeline Martin Kemp made an appeal for The Children’s Trust - a charity that helps children overcome brain injuries. Featured on the programme was our own Brittney Thompson who in April 2019 was involved in a near fatal car accident and suffered brain damage. Brittney attended the Children’s Trust Rehabilitation Centre at Tadworth in Surrey where she received daily physio to help her walk again and intensive therapy to re-learn the skills she had lost. Brittney is back in school and doing well but we would like to raise money for Children’s Trust as a thank you for the work they did with Brittney. We intend to have a non-uniform Day on Wednesday 16th December where will ask for a donation of £1 (or more if you can) to raise money for this worthy cause. Please give this your full support and allow your daughter to take part. We are very proud of Brittney and all she has achieved. See the link below if you would like to view the programme and see Brittney’s story. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000prcl/lifeline-the-childrens-trust In honour of St Cecilia’s day on November 22nd we usually hold an annual concert celebrating the musical talents of our girls. St Cecilia is of course, the Patron saint of Music. Sadly this year the concert has had to be a virtual one but it is now ready for you to view on YouTube! Many thanks to Ms. Deller and the peri teachers who have worked so hard with the girls to prepare this year’s concert. Special thanks to Mr. Tsocos who did a fantastic job editing the video! Please see the link and the credits on page 11. Well done girls! Also in this weeks’ Newsletter we bring news of the recent Curwen Press visit to Ursuline working with Year 11 art students. See pages 8/9. We also share news of the National Youth Fun Day which some Year 9 students took part in. It did indeed look like good fun but also included time for prayer and reflection. Thanks to Cleo our Chaplain for coordinating! Serviam! 1 I was on the rota for this week’s virtual whole school Assembly, the theme this week was Loving and Compassionate, the Ursuline Student Profile values we are concentrating on this half term. I was very grateful for the assistance of 4 of our Year 10 students who helped with some of the readings and reflection. Thank you Aaliyah, Roxsini, Nicole and Yasmin (pictured right). The RE department have also been doing some work around being more loving and compassionate - see below. We have had two students this week test positive for COVID, one student had not been in school during the incubation period so other students and staff were not affected. The other student in Year 8 resulted in eight students who had been in close contract being sent home to self–isolate. All parents were informed by phone and followed up with a letter to confirm dates. As stated before please do not send your daughter into school if she is feeling unwell, we need to try and keep everyone safe. We are ever striving to provide the very best for our students. In common with other schools, Ursuline has a School Fund to collect contributions from parents, School Fund is not used to support the running costs of the school but to cover costs not provided for by public funds. Examples would include extra-curricular activities, special items of equipment for music or drama or for enhancements to our facilities. Each year, we rely on your generosity to support Ursuline in its developments. Last summer we were able to redecorate the main school Hall and renovate the parquet flooring using money raised by the fund which would have otherwise remained a little ‘shabby’. We realise that these are difficult times for families too, but if ever we need your support for School Fund it is now. With a donation of just £60 per family, per year, or £20 per term you could support us to make improvements to our school building and environment and enhance your daughter’s school experience. This could really make a difference to our school community. We have taken the liberty of adding this Year’s donation to ParentPay. Alternatively, we are happy to accept a cheque, made payable to The Ursuline Academy Ilford, for £60, for the full amount for this year or £20 for this term. This payment is a voluntary contribution so some may pay less and of course you are allowed to pay more if you so wish. These are difficult times, but the school has a very strong staff and a dedicated Governing Body who are determined to continue to provide an excellent education for your daughter. Thank you so much for your support and for those parents who have already contributed. Serviam! I hope all our families are keeping safe and well. You remain in our thoughts and prayers. God bless! Keran Reilly 2 Newsletter Contents this week: Chaplaincy, Pages 3 - 7 Art News, Pages 8 - 9 Drama News, Page 10 Music News, Page 11 Mental Health & Wellbeing, Pages 12 - 15 Careers, Pages 16 - 19 Online Learning Codes, Pages 20 - 27 Dairy Dates, Page 27 Chaplaincy Appendix, Pages 28 - 30 Chaplaincy News Pope Francis@Pontifex – 25th November When we pray, God opens our eyes renews and changes our hearts, heals our wounds and grants us the grace we need. #GeneralAudience#Prayer Forward in Joy – 366 days with Angela Merici – Daily words of wisdom from our patron saint November: Community 27th November: I assure you that every grace you ask from God will infallibly be granted to you. 28th November: Blessed are those who will take very good care of this company. 29th November: They should do honour to Jesus Christ. 30th November: Act, move, believe, strive, hope, cry out to him with all your heart. December: Hope 1st December: Although at times they will have troubles or anxieties, nevertheless this will soon pass away. 2nd December: The suffering of this world is nothing in comparison with the blessings which are in Paradise. 3rd December: Let them set their hopes on high and not on earth. Please see Chaplaincy Appendix, (pages 28 - 30) for details of BCYS in Lockdown, and The Word, sharing next Sunday’s Gospel with Parents and Families… 3 The Ursuline Student Profile The Ursuline student profile encapsulates a series of key values that all the Ursuline schools in Britain and Ireland are working………………. Earlier this term we focused on the value of ‘listening and attentive’. Last week in RE we focused on the value of ‘loving and compassionate’ and studied a series of incidents where Jesus showed great compassion to the people he encountered, including the ‘woman caught in adultery’ and the parable of ‘the unmerciful servant’. Gyatri 8U wrote, ‘forgiving someone means they can learn from their mistake and if you don’t forgive you might lose more than you already might have lost.’ Aisha 8U adds, ‘ forgiveness is key in Christianity because we have all sinned before, so it’d be unfair if we don’t forgive others for a mistake they have made, no body’s perfect and that’s why Jesus encourages us to forgive.’ Hiranni in 9C wrote, ‘by being loving and compassionate we show others how much we really care without being judgemental.’ ‘I thought this was really valuable because the facets of the Ursuline Student profile is a true reflection of our school here at Ursuline - an understanding, compassionate and caring community. The Ursuline Student Profile is a wonderful and inclusive set of values that can be applied to any person regardless of where they are from or what they believe. This past year has been a tumultuous one, with a countless array of challenges, yet we have battled through, with strength and optimism’ said Mr Mangerah Form Tutor 8U and English teacher, who has reinforced the importance of these qualities in form time activities and prayers. In the spring term, we will look at two new values. The first being, ’faith filled and hopeful’ as well as being ‘courageous and resilient’, look out for further updates then. Mr McGhee Head of RE. Ursuline Links - Feel Good Fridays for Year 11 This week at Feel Good Friday our topic was stress and how to deal with it. We discussed the impact of lockdown and how it affected motivation. Part of our discussion focussed on exam stress in particular and how positivity and building each other up is key to motivation during these times. 4 During the first lockdown stress was lower as all students didn’t know what would happen and every school was closed so we didn’t have to worry about falling behind. However, the second lockdown only happened to our year group in our school which set us slightly behind other year 11s as online learning isn’t as effective. To de stress, I personally started a new TV series to distract myself which gave me something to do other than revision so I didn’t burn out. Others use doodling and art, or nature and going for a walk to calm down but it’s important to find something to help you to de stress. It was great to discuss this topic in a safe environment and I am certain it will come up again in future sessions.