Newsletters from 2015 - Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School

Transcription

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School for Girls
NEWSLETTER
All newsletters can be viewed in colour on the school website. www.egaschool.co.uk
Founded 2005
Vol 12. Issue 14
Friday 9th January 2015
Dear Families,
Happy new year to you all. I
hope you had a restful and
enjoyable break.
As you are only too aware, we
had a long awaited visit from
Ofsted in the final week of
last term. Not ideal timing at
the end of the longest term,
however, we are not yet in a
position to share the result as
it remains confidential until
the report is published which
should be within the next week
or so. What I can share with
you is how proud we are about
some of the comments about
the girls in the verbal feedback.
Inspectors talked about the
level of commitment to, and
engagement with learning
which surpassed anything they
have seen in other schools.
They recognised the very
special nature of EGA and
talked about the absolute
regard that every member of
the school community has for
each other.
What also impressed the team
was the huge support from
parents; the number of parents
completing the ParentView
survey was exceptionally high
as was their support for the
school.
I look forward to the
publication of the report so
that we can celebrate all the
very positive findings. In the
meantime, thank you for all
your support, not just during
the Ofsted period but on a daily
basis.
This term will be as busy as
ever and it is good to start with
the knowledge that what we
are doing at EGA is recognised
as exceptionally good practice.
Yours sincerely,
Christmas Celebrations
The Christmas spirit was well and truly
community centre for distribution
alive at EGA during the last few weeks of to elderly residents. 7H were named
term.
the tutor group who created the best
hamper.
Talented singers and musicians from
all year groups performed at our annual End of term assemblies for the all the
Winter Concert on Wednesday 10th
year groups showcased wonderful
December.
drama, dance and choir
performances from students and
Year 7s and Year 8s visited
staff and, of course, the annual
The Magical Ice Kingdom at
sing along to The Twelve Days of
Winter Wonderland in Hyde
Christmas.
Park.
The Half Moon Crescent Tenant
Year 7s organised their
Management Co-operative
own Christmas Disco
have written to EGA to thank
to top off a brilliant first
all the girls involved in creating
term at secondary school
and delivering the Christmas
and participated in a Christmas tree
hampers. The residents who received
decorating competition, of which 7E was them were delighted and they wished us
the winner.
a very happy new year.
Tutor groups prepared beautifully
decorated Christmas hampers which
Year 7 students delivered to a local
We hope you all had a wonderful break
and are raring to go for a new year of
hard work!
An introduction to Coding.
Starting on Tuesday 13th January 2015
This will be a weekly session running from 3.45-4.45 in school . It will be for 8 EGA students
taking Computer Science next year and there are an additional 10 places for any parents
who would like to come along. If you are interested you will need to book a place through the
school reception .
Year 7 students visit The Ministry of
Stories for a Comic Book Workshop
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hey! I hope you all had the
greatest fun over the past term,
reading the LIBRARY COLUMN
and participating in all of our
event and competitions!
Seven Year 7s visited The Ministry of
Stories on Thursday 18th December
for a Comic Book Workshop.
The girls were intrigued with the
range of ghoulish gifts (spot the
alliteration) in The Monster Shop
such as tinned Night Terrors,
Creeping Dread or Mortal Terror!
The workshop began with an
“It was fun and they made me laugh.”
(Becky)
exercise involving the girls increasing
their sketching speed. This was
done by copying a very cute photo
of a baby owl. They coped well under
timed conditions and managed
to complete their last sketch in 10
seconds!
“It was brilliant!” (Yusrah)
“I enjoyed being creative. I would have
liked it to be longer.” (Doha)
It was a real opportunity to extend my
imagination.” (Jazmine)
Thank you all for donating in the
Readathon and well done to all
the girls that accomplished their
reading and fundraising targets.
I hope you enjoyed your welldeserved break and wish you a
Happy New Year!
I hope you have come back in
2015 with news or reviews
on books you read over the
Christmas holiday.
I recommend to all:
I Am Number Four by Pittacus
Lore
Oksa Pollock by Anne Plichota
and Cendrine Wolf
These are two very addictive
books, so I hope you enjoy them!
Until next week bookworms,
contributed by The Book Chatterbox
Studies show that you need to be in
school, on time, at least 96% of the time
to achieve your potential.
Are you giving yourself the best
possible chance of success?!
Best Attendance
7E - 97.7%
8T - 97.4%
9A - 95.6%
10Z - 98.0%
11H - 98.9%
Best Punctuality
7A - 99.2%
8H - 99%
9E - 99.1%
10L - 97.2%
11H - 99.2%
MISSING SCHOOL = MISSING OUT
After some guidance from Ben,
an illustrator, on presenting and
showing changes in time and action,
they moved on to creating their
own comic book characters from
a range of shapes and then chose
one to develop further. To do this
they decided on a name, where their
character was from and where they
lived, what they dreamed for as well as
their worst fear. They then drew and
wrote a short comic strip imagining
what their character would do if they
met their worst enemy or chose a
sequence of events for a short time.
“It was like drawing your
imagination.” (Kacey)
“It was interesting.” (Anne-Louise)
“The workshop was really good
because they explained things to us
really well.” (Dalia).
All of the girls did extremely well and
behaved brilliantly.
Well done to you all: Kacey, Dalia
and Doha from 7A, Becky from 7E,
Jazmine and Yusra from 7H and
Anne-Louise from 7L.
Finally, they all presented and
explained who their characters were.
The NSPCC has written to EGA
to thank us for raising £758.42
which they say will make a
huge difference to the lives of
vulnerable and abused children
across the UK. By raising funds
through Number Day, we have
helped to ensure that their
services, including their helpline
service ChildLine, are always
there for children and young
people with nowhere else to turn.
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Vol 12. Issue 15
Dear Families,
I hope you have had the
opportunity to read the full
Ofsted Report which is now
published both on the school
website and the Ofsted
website. We are all very proud
of the achievements of the
students which are reflected
in the exceptionally positive
report.
In the past two weeks, we
have had the opportunity to
meet up with many parents
at both the Year 8 Option
Evening and Year 9 Parents’
Evening. It is the turn of Year
10 parents next week when
there will be an opportunity
for you to meet all your
daughter’s subject teachers.
Design your own
bookmark competition
Congratulations to the winners of
the ‘Design your own bookmark’
Competition: Hafsa Gedi 7H, Alima
Begum 8E, Tasnia Khan 11T. Your
recreated bookmarks are ready to collect
from the library! Also a big thank you to
all those who entered and presented
their amazing bookmarks. We can’t wait
to see the entries we receive in the next
competition!
LIBRARYCOLUMN
Hello readers and happy 2015 to
everyone!
It’s the start of a new year and I’m
looking forward to reading lots of
new books! Last year, these stories
were major hits with teens:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
We are becoming concerned
about the number of girls who
are bringing fizzy drinks into
school, some of them being
energy drinks which have
exceptionally high sugar and
caffeine content. It is in the
girls’ best interest if we ban
fizzy drinks from the school
so none will be allowed from
Monday 19th January. Please
support us in making sure
that your daughter knows
the health risk of drinking too
many sugary drinks and that
she does not bring them into
school.
The Fault In Our Stars - John
Green
Awful Auntie - David Walliams
Divergent - Veronica Roth
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Gangsta Granny - David
Walliams
Insurgent - Veronica Roth
Looking for Alaska - John Green
The Maze Runner series - James
Dashner
When you’re not revising for exams
or in detention (not saying you
should be), take the time to sit down
and read a little. It is proven that
those who read for pleasure have
a better vocabulary and get higher
grades in all their GCSE subjects, not
just English! So even if you really
really want to play on your iPad or
text on your phone, read instead.
The library offers a wide range of
different books, so find something
you like and borrow it!
Read more next week,
The before school, lunchtime
and after school clubs are now
up and running. Our aim is
contributed by The Book
that every girl participates
Chatterbox
in at least one additional
activity every week so please
encourage your daughter to
sign up and take part. A great
way to develop a skill, learn
Parents and carers of students in Years 8 and 9
something new and make
University College London (UCL) is
(students can bring a maximum of
new friends.
Yours sincerely,
running an event on Saturday 28th
February called ‘Bring Your Family to
University Day’. The event will run from
10:00-15:00 and will focus on choosing
GCSE options, university courses
and careers. Every student must be
accompanied by a parent or guardian
two guests). Younger siblings are also
welcome to attend.
Please apply using the link below to
apply for a place.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospectivestudents/widening-participation/
prosp-students/pre-16
A memorial event for Mr Silva will take
place on Tuesday 10th February at 5pm in
the EGA lecture theatre. Some of his family
and friends will be attending to see how
important and appreciated he was here.
Staff and students, including ex-students,
are warmly invited, but ex-students must
confirm their attendance in advance by
emailing [email protected] to
ensure we have enough seats.
Current students who wish to attend must
sign up with Ms Wilkins in her office on
Level 2a. Some students have already
asked to sing or speak about Mr Silva at the
event, but if any other students would like
to perform or contribute in some way, please see Ms Wilkins. Please keep an
eye on the school website and future newsletters for more details
.
E Safety Workshop For EGA Parents
When: Monday 26th January
Time: 9.30am – 10.30am
Where: Lecture Theatre
On Friday 9th January, all
of year 8 went to the Park
Theatre in Finsbury Park to see
Islington Community Theatre's
'Brainstorm'. The play explores
the workings of the teenage brain
and the frustrating, chaotic and
exhilarating changes that happen
to us. Year 8 were a fantastic
audience and really engaged with
the play. Here are some of their
comments:
"It made me think about the way
I treat my parents and how I
should respect them a bit more."
"I could really relate to what the
Refreshments will be available in the canteen before the workshop starts characters were experiencing."
RSVP to reception if at all possible so we can estimate numbers.
"The message of the whole
production was that the teenage
The internet is an amazing resource for all of us and particularly in schools. It is
brain isn't as developed as the
used to develop our children’s and students’ learning, awareness and creativity
and to allow us to communicate quickly, easily and globally. However, it is vital we adult brain but is beautiful just
educate ourselves, our children and students to stay safe online. We are therefore the way it is as we discover who
we are at this age. Our brain
pleased to offer a one hour e safety workshop for EGA parents and hope that as
isn't a complete disaster but is
many of you as possible will be able to attend.
learning."
Everyone has a role to play in creating a better internet. It’s up to us!
Many thanks and we look forward to seeing you there.
"It made me realise that I should
tell my parents I love them more
often."
Studies show that you need to be in school,
on time, at least 96% of the time to achieve
your potential.
Best Attendance
7L - 98.6%
Best Punctuality
8H & 8L – 99.7%
Year 8 will now have the
opportunity to create their own
Thirty students from year 7 to 11 with 'Brainstorm' in their Drama
100% attendance and punctuality
lessons!
were rewarded with a trip to see
the West End musical Wicked on
Tuesday evening. The songs are
stirring and the sets spectacular,
but what is most fun about this
production is that it puts the
importance of female friendship
centre stage. It explores familiar
problems like insecurity about
appearance, feeling like an outsider
and angst about crushes, as well as
the deeper themes of racism, freedom
of speech and the evil of dictatorial
regimes. Thank you to Ms Wood for
organising the reward.
Adriana Sanders in 8Z wrote:
“The play was funny and made
people laugh but towards the
end it got very emotional and
connected to people; there were
even some tears shed. I and the
rest of year 8 would personally
like to thank Ms. Gold and all
of the teachers that helped make
this happen.”
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Vol 12. Issue 16
Dear Parents,
We had a lovely end to the
week last Friday when we held
the Key Stage 3 Art Exhibition.
The work was of such great
quality and showed such
creativity and imagination. At
the same time, GCSE Drama
students performed scenes
from the play “The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the
Nightime”, which they are
preparing for their examination
piece. They were exceptionally
good and I was delighted that
so many families were here to
see the performances.
Following the tragic events in
Paris two weeks ago, we have
spent time discussing what
happened and I have been
so impressed by the way in
which the girls have explored
very difficult issues with such a
degree of maturity. What came
out of these discussions was a
re-affirmation that EGA is a very
special place and as was stated
in the Ofsted Report,
“Students are supportive
and protective towards each
other. Relationships are
harmonious and students
develop their understanding
of other faiths very well”
and
“Students are sensitive
to the needs of others,
irrespective of their
backgrounds, beliefs and
ethnicity”.
Our message to the girls is that
they have a huge responsibility
to ensure that they promote
the same sense of community
in their lives outside EGA both
now and in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Friday 23rd January 2015
EGA Art Exhibition
Last Friday the Technology and Arts
faculty held an exhibition of Year 7
and Year 8 work. This included textile
bags and cushions, boxes made in
Resistant Materials and lino printing
done with Mr Lofts in art lessons.
Also displayed was the work of the
year 8 students who made masks
in the style of Cubism and Kabuki
Theatre with Mr Thomas and Miss
Naumann. In Food Technology Year 8
students made tasty dips and snacks
to accompany the viewings.
There was an excellent turn out of
staff and students and it was really
great to see the students’ work
celebrated in this way. It will become
an annual event.
LIBRARYCOLUMN
Hey guys! This week I’ve brought
you a book recommendation!
(From my own expert selectionobviously)
‘Vampire Academy #1’ by
Richelle Mead
Prepare to be tested.
St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t
just any boarding school—it’s
a hidden place where vampires
are educated in the ways of
magic and half-human teens
train all their life to protect
them. Rose Hathaway is a
Dhampir, a bodyguard for
her best friend Lissa, a Moroi
Vampire Princess. They’ve
been on the run, but now
they’re being dragged back to
St. Vladimir’s—the very place
where they’re most in danger…
Rose and Lissa become
enmeshed in forbidden
romance, the Academy’s
ruthless social scene and
unspeakable night-time rituals.
But they must be careful
lest the Strigoi—the world’s
fiercest and most dangerous
vampires—make Lissa one of
their latest victims…
Like it? I have never been a fan of
‘Twilight’ or vamps – but when I
say this I mean it – it is The. Best.
Vampire. Saga. EVER! It’s funny,
full of romance (but not the
mushy kind) and the story line
is forever twisting and turning.
READ IT!
Your expert book advisor,
Chatterbox
Year 7 Netball League
On Tuesday 13th January,
the year 7 netball team took
part in the first round of
matches in the Islington
Borough Netball League.
The league, held at EGA,
saw 7 schools from around
the borough come together
to play in the annual event.
EGA’s first match was
against St Mary Magdalene
Academy. All players from both
sides played incredibly well and
fought until the final whistle to finish
with a draw of 6-6. Their second
match of the evening was against
Highbury Grove School who looked
very professional in their new netball
kit. This, however, didn’t put the
EGA team off with the final score
being a superb 9-0 to EGA!
All the girls from EGA should be
congratulated on their performance
and we wish you luck over the next
4 weeks:
Anna Ebbatson-Solomon 7T
(Captain)
Matty Allison 7T
Dalia Kavungu 7A
Georgie Price 7T
Beauty M’Vwatu 7E
Stephanie Arenas Paredes 7L
Mahira Islam 7T
Mia Oyesiku 7H
Samanta Abreu Franco 7T
Islington Indoor Athletics
Primary Competition
E Safety Workshop For EGA
Parents
When: Monday 26th January
Time: 9.30am – 10.30am
Where: Lecture Theatre
Refreshments will be available in the canteen before the
workshop starts
RSVP to reception if at all possible so we can estimate
numbers.
The internet is an amazing resource for all of us and particularly in
schools. It is used to develop our children’s and students’ learning,
awareness and creativity and to allow us to communicate quickly,
easily and globally. However, it is vital we educate ourselves, our
children and students to stay safe online. We are therefore pleased
to offer a one hour e safety workshop for EGA parents and hope
that as many of you as possible will be able to attend.
Everyone has a role to play in creating a better internet. It’s up to us!
Many thanks and we look forward to seeing you there.
Studies show that you need to be in school,
on time, at least 96% of the time to achieve
your potential.
Best Attendance
9Z - 100%
Best Punctuality
7Z & 8H 99.7% – 99.7%
Last Wednesday, eight Year
10 sports leaders helped to
organise and run the Islington
Indoor
Athletics
Primary
Competition.
They were
counting and scoring different
field events such as speed
bounce, javelin, chest push and
long jump. After the field events, the girls
helped to set up the running relays. All
the girls were engaged with the children
throughout the day and really made
EGA proud! Well done to Taylor Ibrahim,
Fatima Adam, Elifnur Uysal, Abigail
Dyson, Amaal Adbullahi, Aniqa Rahman,
Zuzanna Szemborowska and Ayan Muse.
Did you know that breakfast is the most
important meal of the day?
BREAKFAST CLUB
7.45 - 8.30am
FREE breakfast every single morning in the cafeteria. Come along for
healthy food, a friendly atmosphere and much more. It’s the perfect way to
start your day and get your brain working!
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Vol 12. Issue 17
Dear Families,
Last week we were visited by a
group of Danish educators and
next week we will be welcoming a number of Norwegian
prospective head teachers. All
of them visit the school because
they are aware of the outstanding practice at EGA which we
are always happy to share.
At the end of last week, we had The Islington Jack Petchey The Leader Award went to
a delightful evening when the
awards took place at the Ms Johanna Roussouw from
girls who visited South Africa
Town Hall to celebrate the science faculty for her
shared their experiences and
the Achievement Award tireless work in supporting
learning. Their presentation
winners from the last year. students, particularly in Year
was very powerful, both in
EGA students past and 10 and 11 GCSE classes.
present included Bethlehem Ms
Roussouw’s
award
terms of their own confidence
Tamerat, Jyothi Dev, Juli nomination was made by the
and also in their understandParhana, Perihan Seyitoglu, students. Congratulations
ing of their responsibilities
Karen Oliveira, Diamond to all for your outstanding
in a global society. We were
Kasai, Saskia Brown, Razia contributions.
very fortunate that the charSobratty and Tanzila Begum.
ity “Broaden Out Their Horizons” (BOTH) funded this
Borough Cross Country
opportunity and very grateful
to the charity’s patron, Helena
Bonham-Carter who continues
to give her personal support to
the project. We will be welcoming ten students from our
partner school in the Eastern
21 EGA girls recently took part in 8A, Lattina Da Costa 7E, Zuhal
Cape in February.
a cross country championship Sumbul 7E, Sumaya Anshur 7A,
at Finsbury Park and many Umayma Chakour 8H, Freya
May I ask parents to continue
other schools came to compete Francis 7A, Marsha Lockner,
your support in ensuring that
in this annual event. First to race Kitty Kelly 8H, Carlotta Balestra
all girls arrive in school on
were the Year 8s and 9s, who Lawrence 8H, Lula Mama 8H,
time and in the correct uniform. ran 3000m and were pushed to Penelope Kaur-Kingdon 9T,
A number of girls have been
their limits, but did not give up, Fahima Yasmin 9A, Miriam
wearing the incorrect headscarf finishing with a total score of 35. Fleary 10Z and Opah Cruz 7A.
lately. Please be aware that if
Second was the Year 7 2500m A special well done to these
this continues, they risk being
race and it was their first time students who placed in the
sent home to change. Many
attending the cross country top three: in the year 8-9 race,
thanks, in advance.
championships. However, they Caitlin Russell, 1st place, and
tried really hard and ended up Jasmia Dyer, 3rd place, and
Yours sincerely,
with a score of 33! As well as in the Year 7 race, Carolina
that, one Year 10 member ran Fernandez-Bold, 1st place, and
3500m and came 19th.
Mia Oyesiku, 3rd place.
I would like to congratulate the
following girls on their amazing By Iman Hassoun Fernandez 8L
performances: Iman Hassoun
Fernandez 8L, T’Mai Jones
LIBRARYCOLUMN
Well ahoy there, me lovable
land-lubbers! How are ye
seafaring book ways been?
Today the reading group
went to see ‘Treasure Island’
after reading the fantastic
book in school. We all
really enjoyed it and the
performance was amazing!
The Year 9 also went to see
‘The Book Thief’ – a film
based on a book about the
WWII Holocaust by Markus
Zusak. It was a sad but
inspirational story of a brave
little orphan girl. I would
recommend everyone to
read the book, as well as
see the film. Here is the
blurb:
HERE IS A SMALL FACT YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.
1939. Nazi Germany. The
country is holding its breath.
Death has never been
busier.
Liesel, a nine-year-old girl,
is living with a foster family
on Himmel Street. Her
parents have been taken
away to a concentration
camp. Liesel steals books.
This is her story and the
story of the inhabitants of
her street when the bombs
begin to fall.
SOME IMPORTANT
INFORMATION - THIS
NOVEL IS NARRATED BY
DEATH.
It’s a small story, about:
• a girl
• an accordionist
• some fanatical Germans
• a Jewish fist fighter
• and quite a lot of
thievery.
ANOTHER THING YOU
SHOULD KNOW - DEATH
WILL VISIT THE BOOK
THIEF THREE TIMES.
Chatterbox
MEET THE EDGE AUTHORS
Last week EGA proudly hosted a
panel of writers – Keren David,
Dave Cousins, Sara Grant and
Katie Dale – who belong to a
group of Young Adult authors
known as the EDGE. Three local
schools attended the event, as well
to hear the stories read and also
the reasons behind writing them.’
‘I enjoyed the activity where we
were spilt into groups and had to
make up our own characters and
stories. It gave us a quick chance
to learn about other people and
as students from EGA.
The event kicked off with a
panel, during which each author
introduced themselves and talked
a bit about their writing, followed
by a question and answer session.
Next, everyone was divided into
four groups, each splitting off
for a workshop with one of the
writers. To round off the event,
also more about the authors.’
‘Yesterday we were able to
speak to four authors about what
inspired them to write their books
and how they came up with ideas
for books. We then got to do a Q
and A and a workshop where we
used different techniques to come
up with crazy story plots.’
Keren exclusively revealed the
cover of her new book, ‘This
is Not a Love Story’, and the
afternoon ended with book sales
(provided by Peagreenboat
Books) and author signings.
The next Becoming a Writer
event at EGA will be on
Tuesday 7th March with Faye
Bird, author of ‘My Second
Life’.
Dave Cousins lead feedback from
the workshops, which proved
very popular. Here are some
quotes from students about the
day:
‘Meeting the authors yesterday
was very interesting. It was nice
Congratulations
to Kelis Dillon 9A
for passing her
Grade 1 Trumpet
exam and Mahla
Nasrollahi 10L
for passing her
Grade 3 Piano
with merit.
40 GCSE Drama
students performed
extracts from The
Curious Incident
of ‘The Dog in the
Night-Time ‘ as
part of their Unit 1
coursework on Friday
16th January. It was
really interesting to
see different groups' interpretations of the text
and how they had been influenced by Frantic
Assembly's style of physical theatre in order to
tell stories. Congratulations to the girls on their
first public performance and thank you to all the
parents, teachers and friends who supported the
event.
school, on time, at least 96% of the time to
achieve your potential.
Best Attendance
7T- 99.3%
Best Punctuality
8Z & 7A 99.7% – 99.7%
Did you know that breakfast
is the most important meal of
the day?
BREAKFAST CLUB
7.45 - 8.30am
FREE breakfast every single morning in the
cafeteria. Come along for healthy food, a
friendly atmosphere and much more. It’s the
perfect way to start your day and get your
brain working!
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Dear Families,
This will be the last newsletter
of the half term; a half term
where we have seen the
publication of the fantastic
Ofsted report and just last
week the school League Tables
where the value we add to our
girls’ learning is plain for all to
see.
We are now considering
building on our very successful
partnerships with a number
of local schools to form a
Teaching School Alliance
which would enable us to
ensure a greater number of
outstanding teachers and
share excellent practice across
the schools. If you would like to
know more about this, please
do not hesitate to contact me.
There are a number of extra
classes taking place over the
half term holiday and it is very
important that your daughter
attends the relevant sessions.
These are aimed at helping the
girls to reach their potential in
the GCSE exams which will be
upon us very soon.
Next Friday is a Professional
Development Day for staff
so there will be no school for
students. We will be working
with Guy Claxton who is very
well known for his work on
developing a growth mindset.
Finally, a reminder that Year 7
Parents’ Evening will take place
on 25th February, the first week
back after half term.
Yours sincerely,
Friday 6th February 2015
Vol 12. Issue 18
Recently, we held
a successful event
to celebrate the
global partnership
between EGA and
Magoba School in
SouthAfrica. MsDibbintroducedthepresentations
and explained
why EGA felt it
so
important
to take up the
opportunity
offered to us by
BOTH because it
socloselymatches
the ethos of
the school, not
only to ‘learn
without
limits’
but to provide
life
changing
opportunities for our students. The ten girls that
went to South Africa then spoke about their
experiences, including getting the audience to
participate interactively – replicating some of the
Poetry Corner
Ms Kelly shared this poem by
Shafina Akther in 8Z, which was
inspired by ‘Song’ by Adrienne
Rich:
Loneliness
You’re wondering if I’m lonely:
OK then, yes, I’m lonely
as a mountain that is covered
in snow.
You want to ask, am I lonely?
Well, of course, lonely
as a person driving through
the hot empty
desert.
If I’m lonely
it must be the loneliness
of night and the cold
winter.
If I’m lonely
it’s because you left
me here on the boat, where it’s cold.
lessonstheydeliveredinSouthAfrica. TheEGAchoir
also sang a wonderfully upbeat medley; when the
South African students are in London in February,
they will record a song together, produced by
Guy Chambers. The final part of the evening was
a Question and Answer session with the girls and
then Helena Bonham Carter and the Mayor of
Islington both
spoke briefly.
Martha Braggins,
Director of
BOTH, said: ‘The
students inspired
us all with
their maturity,
eloquence and
empathy; they
really are the best
ambassadors we
could ask for.’
Helena, patron
of BOTH, was hugely impressed by the girls on the
night, saying: ‘You must know you are not normal
- what you have achieved is amazing. Go to sleep
tonight knowing you are marvellous’
Volleyball Tournament
On Thursday 22nd January, a
volleyball tournament at EGA
determined whether we would
represent Islington at the London
Youth Games. The team battled
it out against North Bridge House
for the ultimate victory and, after
two jaw dropping matches, EGA
won!
The following girls put in time,
dedication and effort and it really paid off: Caitlin Russell 8H (team
captain), Jasmia Dyer 8H, Carlotta Balestra Lawrence 8H, Lisa Dawit
8H, Jessica Magnus 8H, Kitty Kelly 8H, Medina Sharipova 8H, Saskia
Brown 8A and Emek Aksoy 8H (her first ever match). On behalf of the
team, thanks to Ms Silva, the ultimate coach!
Did you know that breakfast is the
most important meal of the day?
BREAKFAST CLUB
7.45 - 8.30am
FREE breakfast every single morning in the
cafeteria. Come along for healthy food, a
friendly atmosphere and much more. It’s
the perfect way to start your day and get
your brain working!
New Careers in Technology On Show
‘Treasure Island’
On Wednesday, Year 9 students spent
the day at a fantastic event at the BBC.
“Technacool” was a day designed to get
Year 9 girls thinking about careers in
technology by participating in interesting
workshops and listening to professionals
within the BBC speak about their careers.
The girls were broken into groups with
Last week, the Cloud reading group other schools to try out 3D printing, app
went to the National Theatre to see the
play of ‘Treasure Island’, originally building and network management
written by Robert Louis Stevenson, but amongst other areas. Over a working
rewritten for the stage by Polly Findlay lunch our students spoke to women who
are leading technology areas within the
and Bryony Lavery.
company, such as the head of iPlayer.
In this adaptation, the main character Perhaps the highlight was a tour of the
is played as a girl and there are several places in the building where the public are
additional female pirate characters. A not usually allowed, such as Radio 1 Live
surprise for those who have ever watched
‘Doctor Who’ is that the uncanny Long
John Silver is played by Arthur Darvill,
who is the timid Rory in the TV series.
Hey fellow bookworms! Half term is round
The most interesting aspects of the
the corner, it’s taking years to get here and
play were the staging and how the few
the homework is flooding in, but there is
props were used and adapted to engage
good news!
and take the audience 200 years into
Faye Bird is coming in on Tuesday
the past, along with the cabin boy Jim
March 17th for the Library’s ‘Becoming
Hawkins, who is played by the striking
A Writer’ event!
Patsy Ferran.
Review
Lounge, green rooms and the set of BBC
London news.
It was a really
informative
and inspiring
day that led
to our girls
considering
jobs they did
not previously
know existed.
Our students
also
feature
in
a
BBC
School Report on the day, so please
have a look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/
schoolreport/31059683 for the story.
LIBRARY COLUMN
The end of the play left us all dazzled
and on a high, with a roaring, seemingly
perpetual applause as each troop of
characters made their way towards the
front of the stage to bow in delight. We
left entirely satisfied.
By Sheepa Ahmed 10A
It’s a great opportunity to meet a debut
author in person and a rare chance to ask
her questions about her book, My Second
Life, or if you’re interested in writing
yourself, to ask her about how she got into
writing books.
This will take place in the library after
school, from 3:30pm – 4:30pm. There are
only so many people that can fit in the library,
so please book your space in advance rather
than turning up spontaneously. Also, if you
want to buy a signed copy of her book,
the opportunity will present itself after the
session.
That’s all for this week folks,
contributed by The Book Chatterbox
BLIND DATE WITH A BOOK
Spice up your reading life by going on a date with a book!
Congratulations to
Fiona Lu 9A for passing
her Grade 1 Trumpet.
To celebrate Valentine’s Day, the Cloud is playing matchmaker! Going on a
blind date is a bit like opening a new book – you never know what kind of
experience you’re going to have.
Between now and Valentine’s Day, select your ‘date’ from the display of
specially wrapped books, check it out at the desk, and then unwrap it. *
Hopefully, it will be love at first sight!
Studies show that you need to be in school, on
time, at least 96% of the time to achieve your
potential.
Are you giving yourself the best possible
chance of success?!
Best Attendance
11H - 99.5%
Best Punctuality
8L - 99.3%
*Fill in the review slip inside to be entered
into a prize draw
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Friday 27th February 2015
Vol 12. Issue 19
Football Tournament
Dear Families,
I do hope you had a good half
term and that the girls have
returned ready for the next
few weeks of hard work.
In the week before half
term we remembered and
celebrated Reynold Silva’s
time at EGA. He worked with
us for over twelve years and
it was clear from the tributes
just what an impact he had
on both staff and students.
We were delighted that
representatives of his family
and friends were able to join
us.
I have spent some time
recently talking to Year 7
girls who have achieved
the maximum number of
commitment to learning top
grades. We talked about
what they liked about EGA
and their ambitions for the
future. I was delighted to
hear that we have a future
forensic
palaeontologist,
a pharmacist, a teacher of
English and a voice over for
animated films!
During half term, the
students and teachers from
our partner school in South
Africa arrived and we have
very much enjoyed their
presence in school this week.
Look out for more news
on the exchange in future
newsletters.
Yours sincerely,
Year 8 Indoor Athletics
Before half term, a group of
year 8 pupils took the bus to
St Aloysius College to take
part in the annual indoor
athletics event. With field
events that included speed
bounce, standing triple
jump and vertical jump, as
well as the one and two
lap races followed by the 8
lap parlouf and the relays,
we knew that we had an
exciting evening ahead of
us.
All the girls put in a sterling
effort and were rewarded
with a silver medal, only
5 points off a gold! They
should be congratulated
on their performance
and their exemplary
behaviour:
Lashay Dilaver
Liyah-Renee Braithwaite
Rashida Walker
Grace Ikhinmwin
Muji Osunbayo
T’mai Jones
On Tuesday, 7 girls
represented EGA in a
football tournament. Out
of 25 schools, we raced up
the rankings to 5th place,
finishing our games in the
quarter finals. We played
extremely well as this was
our first time playing as a
team.
Thank you to Ms Silva for
organising the tournament
and Ms Collen for taking us
there. Congratulations to
the team:
Saskia Brown 8A
Dea Bozhani 8Z
Rashida Walker 8Z Adrianna
Sanders 8Z Opah Cruz 7A
Sonya Miah 7E
Stephanie Arenas Paredes
7L.
If you are interested in
representing EGA in the
football league, please
speak to Ms Silva or come
to the afterschool club on
Mondays or Wednesdays.
BOOK OF THE MONTH FEBRUARY 2015
HALF BAD – SALLY GREEN
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hello fellow readers, half term is
over – it gave me a chance to
catch up on some reading.
overwhelming favourite
being Allegiant by
Veronica Roth
February 13th was the
closing date for the
second stage of the
Islington Teen Read
competition, with EGA’s
THANKS FOR VOTING - those of
you who did so will be entered
into the prize draw on March
3rd draw to win £20 vouchers
and free books! WATCH THIS
SPACE for results.
Half Bad is set in modern-day England, is the first in a trilogy and
this first volume centres on Nathan's quest to find his outlaw
h
father. Witches and Humans
live together. There are the Black
Witches and the White Witches. The 16-year-old protagonist,
Nathan is half-white and half-black. His mother is dead, and his
father is the most powerful and the cruellest Black Witch in the
world. Trapped in a cage and abused, Nathan has to escape
before his seventeenth birthday, when he will receive three gifts
from his father and his magical ability. Otherwise, he will die.
A few recommendations from
books I took home for half term:
• Anna and the French Kiss
by Stephanie Perkins
• Poppy by Mary Hooper
There is gore aplenty (some of the witches supposedly feast on
live hearts) but there are also tender scenes, particularly
Nathan's romance with Annalise and his touching bond with his
brother Arran. Half Bad is full of suspense. We wonder whether
Nathan is capable of evil, as a sinister witch called Mercury
predicts with the words: "Killing is in your blood, Nathan. It's what
you are made for."
The book ends on a neat cliffhanger, but the good news is that
HALF WILD will be published on March 26th 2015.
This art work is by Tayeba Syeda in 8Z. We were creating
Islamic style art, starting with the ‘flower of life’ pattern
and expanding from it. Tayeba wanted to finish hers off at
home and we are very glad she did!
Year 10 Citizenship students joined City and Islington
College students and staff, Hogan Lovells law firm staff
and Bite the Ballot to promote the importance of young
people developing an interest in politics and registering
to vote in the future. Bite the Ballot is a charity that
introduced National Voter Registration Day to educate
young people about the importance to have their say in
our democracy. Despite the cold day there was a lot of
support from the young people to make a difference in
the future of this country.
Girls in Education
As Year 10 Citizenship students, we would
like to raise awareness about the issue of
girls in education. We feel that you, as
students of an all-girls comprehensive
school, should be aware that education
is not a right in some countries around
the world. We are lucky that, in the UK,
education is acknowledged as a right for
all, but that is not the case everywhere.
There are many reasons as to why girls
around the world do not have easy
access to an education.
One, for example, is cultural views. In
some countries, people think that girls
should stay at home and do chores
while boys should go to work to provide
financial support to their family. There is
also the mind-set of some parents who
think that girls are going to go away
after marriage so there is no point in
educating them as they will not hold the
family’s name after marriage.
There are also political views which
stand as a barrier to girls’ education.
For example, some governments may
not have the funding for education as
they prioritise their budget spending
on other things. This acts as a barrier to
girls’ education as they do not have the
resources which would educate them.
As pupils of an all-girls school, we must
think globally and take action locally.
To promote girls’ education, we must
raise awareness about these issues and
contribute in changing these views so
that women can be equally treated in
terms of education.
Best Punctuality
for the term: - 8H and 7T – 99.2%
By Mahima, Sheepa, Julakha, Lara,
Abigail and Zannat
school, on time, at least 96% of the
time to achieve your potential.
Best Attendance
for the term: - 7E 98.4%
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Friday 6th March 2015
Vol 12. Issue 20
Dear Families,
Today (Friday) we are
celebrating
International
Women’s Day and will be
holding special assemblies
to mark the event. Our guest
speaker is Sima Kotecha, the
BBC Journalist who will, I’m
sure, be of great interest to
the girls. This year’s theme is
“Make it Happen” and the girls
will spend some time thinking
about how they can make
the right things happen for
themselves and others.
We were delighted to hear
last week that we are one of
27 schools and organisations
across the country which has
won an award for our work on
“character education”.
The
awards are given where there
is exceptional work to help the
students build determination
and resilience which will
help them succeed, both at
school and in their future
employment. There will be
one national winner which will
be announced at an event on
March 16th. Fingers crossed!
I hope that you have, by now,
received a separate letter
from me informing you of
the possible federation with
Copenhagen School where
the governors of EGA would
also take responsibility for
Copenhagen. As I said in
that letter, I am very happy
to discuss the proposal with
families.
Yours sincerely,
This year’s theme is
‘make it happen’ and
today EGA is doing
various things to mark
this. All students will
be using tutor time to
reflect on what they
want to make happen
in the near future. This
will be captured on a
postcard and will be
given back to them in
May to see whether
they made it happen!
Other events include:
Inspiring women
breakfast
Some students in
Year 7 and 8 will
start the day having
breakfast with some
inspiring women from
various career sectors
including:
• Maggie Semple
OBE FCGI, Chief
Executive, The
Experience Corps
• Jennifer Potter,
Reverend, Chair
of Islington’s Faith
Forum
• Justine Lutterodt,
Founder and
Director, Centre
for Synchronous
Leadership
• Suzanne Lee,
Artistic Director, All
Change Arts
• Jeanette Arnold
OBE AM, Greater
London Authority
Member
• Louise Quick,
Associate, Michael
Barclay Partnership
LLP
Assemblies
Students will hear
our guest speaker
Sima Kotecha – a
BBC journalist – speak
out her career, her
education and what
she feels passionate
about. We will also
reflect on issues
that affect women
around the world
and celebrate the
achievements of
students at EGA.
Some students in Year
10 will have morning
tea with Sima to talk
more with her.
Event at City Hall
In the evening a group
of Year 9 students
will be attending an
event with Ms Wood.
There will be a series
of inspiring speakers
and our students will
have an opportunity
to network with
professional women.
Aukette Swanke
Students in Year 7,
8, 9 and 10 listened
to a talk last week
by female architects
from Aukette Swanke,
an international
company based in
Kings Cross. It was
an opportunity to
think about how
all of our lives are
affected by design
and some girls came
out of the experience
considering
architecture as a
career. Some of
these students then
enjoyed a tour of the
Angel building which
Aukette Swanke
designed.
LIBRARY COLUMN
BOOK OF THE MONTH MARCH 2015
MY SECOND LIFE – FAYE BIRD
Hey! How’s is it hanging? Later this
week Christina Banach, author of
the book Minty, will be visiting EGA’s
reading group, so I thought I would
share this review I wrote of her book:
MY SECOND LIFE: What if your past
life could shatter your future?
Fourteen-year-old twins Minty and
Jess are inseparable. Maybe they
bicker now and then, even crave a
bit of space once in a while. But they
have a connection. Unbreakable.
Steadfast. Nothing can tear them
apart. Until a family trip to the coast
puts their bond in jeopardy. As
Minty tries to rescue her dog from
drowning, she ends up fighting
for her life. Will Minty survive? If
she doesn’t, how will Jess cope
without her? Only the stormy sea
has the answer. Minty is a story of
love, loss and coming to terms with
consequences. It’s a spiritual tale
that will linger in your mind long after
you’ve read the final word.
Ana struggles to live a normal life, bombarded by
memories of her previous life as Emma. The worst
memories are of a little girl who tragically drowned: was
Emma responsible? Consumed by guilt, Ana will do
anything to uncover the past.
This is a beautiful, heart-wrenching
book that is unlike any other story.
It truly reveals the strong bond
between two sisters and their
struggle at being ripped apart. Minty
sees her family and friends start to
crumble at her sudden absence. It is
a book that is written from the heart
and reflects real life. I finished the
book in a single day and I hope you
will be as eager to get through it as I
did. Get reading!
‘The first time I was born, I was Emma. I was
beautiful. I had everything to live for. But I died. I
was 22.’
FAYE BIRD will be appearing at EGA on
March 17th 2015.
Please see Ms Cheetham asap if you would like to attend.
“Mentoring has allowed me to gain perspective on
the working world”
As one of the new seniors, I was asked to interview Sabrina Ahmed (11A), who is one of
Year 11’s executive seniors, about her time being mentored by The Guardian and how it
helped her. This is what she had to say:
“Mentoring was a great experience for me because I felt that it was really helpful to have
someone outside of your immediate environment to talk to and to ask questions to in order
to help you get organised. I also got the experience of what it’s like to be in a professional
environment which I think will be really useful for me in the future when I’m looking for a
career. It really benefitted me and I think next year, if the new executive seniors get the
experience of being mentored, it would be a great opportunity for them as each individual
can take something different from the mentoring experience. I know that the executive
seniors in my year definitely interpreted the experience in the ways that benefitted them and
we all enjoyed it thoroughly. Personally, mentoring has allowed me to gain perspective on
the working world, which will be valuable in the future.”
When asked to summarise the whole experience in one word, Sabrina immediately
responded with “Opportunity”, and it was clear that she really appreciated the knowledge she
received and the time the mentors put in to help her become a better student and senior. I
now believe that last year’s group really made use of this training, and if the process repeats
again then I think this year’s executive seniors should be feeling very enthusiastic.
Kristin Benson (10L)
Vocab Express Global
Challenge 2015
Signing off,
The Book Chatterbox
Until Tuesday 10th March at 3.30pm we are competing in the Vocab Express
Global Challenge when we are competing against schools nationally!
For your information:
• Lots of certificates to be won! The
competition from other schools is
fierce, so your school needs you!!
• Great in years 7, 8 and 9 for
increasing your language learning,
and for having a go at another
language!
• For years 10 and 11 - also available
are many other languages you might
be learning, you may be familiar with
already or that you might just like to
try:
Arabic, Japanese, Italian, Latin,
Mandarin, Modern Hebrew, Polish,
Russian and Urdu
PLEASE HAVE A GO AND ENJOY!
school, on time, at least 96% of the
time to achieve your potential.
Best Attendance
7L - 99.7
Best Punctuality
7A - 100%
7T 100%
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Dear Families,
Vol 12. Issue 21
The architect
firm
Aukette
Swanke hosted
EGA students
at the Angel building. The Year 7, 8 and 9
students had a tour of the building and met
with architects to hear about the design
Last
week,
we
really
enjoyed our celebrations
for International Women’s
Day, starting the day with
a breakfast meeting with
a number of influential
women. This was followed
by our special assemblies
and in line with this year’s
theme, “Make it Happen,
every student in the school
decided something they
would like to make happen
in the coming year.
In
the evening, a number
of students were invited
to City Hall to join the
Last Thursday, the Year 7 girls taking
celebration there.
part in the Debate It! club went on
a trip to the Houses of Parliament.
On Monday of next week We enjoyed a tour, asking the guide
we will be celebrating “Pi” plenty of questions on the way, and
watched two debates: one was in
Day with lots of numeracy the House of Lords and the other
activities both in and out of was in the House of Commons,
about International Women's Day.
lessons.
Afterwards, we walked around
Parliament and saw plenty of
Earlier this week the annual exciting things like statues of
Art Exhibition featuring EGA important men who worked in
artists and work from City Parliament in the past - we noticed
and Islington College and there were no statues of women yet!
process. The tour finished with some time
to sketch the view from the roof terrace and
the art work in the foyer. The girls asked
some excellent questions about the building
process and deciding on which materials to
use. Halima in 8E and Aqila in 9L showed real
potential in the area of design!
EGA at the Houses
of Parliament
the other partner schools
began.
The exhibition is
based at Islington Museum
and runs until 2nd May. I
do hope many of you
are able to visit and see
the exceptional standard
reached by our young
artists.
Towards the end of the day, we
took part in a speechmaking and
Today (Friday 13th) we had debating workshop with the Central
Foundation Boys Secondary School.
a visit from Christopher Finally, we got to meet Emily
North, the UK Managing Thornberry, the MP for South
Director of Amazon, who Islington and Finsbury, and asked
spoke to a group of girls her questions about what it's like
to be a Member of Parliament.
about the opportunities She then took only the EGA girls to
open to them.
see the cupboard that the famous
suffragette, Emily Wilding Davidson,
illegally locked herself in to show that
Yours sincerely,
women should be in parliament.
Overall, it was an amazing
experience and a great opportunity
for us.
By Amanda Zere 7L and
Sumaya Anshur 7E
World Book Day was bigger and better than ever last
week. In fact, it should be renamed World Book Day
week. It began with a series of reading assemblies in
which staff and students shared their love of reading.
Tutor time quizzes and games followed and World
Book Day itself saw the piazza filled with books (to swap
and share) and students living the part in costume.
The day was rounded off with a reading party in the
library, in which Mr Costello read “The Perks of Being A
Wallflower” to an enraptured audience.
www.islington.gov.uk/acl
Islington Learning and Working
Family Learning
L1 Supporting Children in Nursery
and Reception with crèche
Crèche available but places are limited and must be booked
This FREE accredited course is for you if you want to:
 Start the journey to gain qualifications for working with children
under 5
 Discover how children learn
through play
 Take part in practical play
activities
 Find out about the Early Years
Foundation Stage
 Support language, reading,
writing and number development
in Under 5’s
 Develop your own speaking and writing skills.
Starts:
Time:
Place:
Wednesday, 6 May to 15 July
9.30am - 12.30pm
Hungerford School and Children Centre
Goodinge site, Corporation Street N7 9EH,
0207 607 5850
Assessment/enrolment session: 22 April 2015,
9.30am – 11.30am at Goodinge site
Please contact Anna, 07769235790, to confirm a space on the course list
Boost your
skills and career
prospects with
free learning
for adults
Best Attendance
10Z - 100%
Best Punctuality
7E - 100%
Find out more or enrol on a course at our adult learning open enrolment days on
Thursday 16 and Friday 17 April between 9.30am-4pm:
First Steps Learning Centre
Central Library,
2 Fieldway Crescent
(Holloway Road entrance)
N5 1PF
T: 020 7527 7002
3Corners
Learning Centre
Northampton Road
EC1R 0HU
T: 020 7527 5083
In addition to courses such as ESOL, ICT, English and maths, we offer a range
of vocational courses to help you move from our community learning centres
into further education courses at City and Islington College or employment.
These include childcare, retail, hospitality, customer service, health and
social care, catering and food hygiene courses. Come and talk to us about
progression opportunities and your learning goals at the enrolment days.
Courses and services are for Islington Residents aged 19+, or those with children
at an Islington school. You must be receiving out-of-work or in-work benefits.
Please bring proof of identity (passport / driving licence/ EU identity card / birth
certificate) and proof of receipts of benefits (JSA/Universal credit letter, or other
proof of state benefit. Or for low waged/employed learners a copy of Working Tax
Credit/Housing benefit/Child Tax Credit or Universal Credit)
This course is for Islington residents or parents with children in Islington schools.
You must be 19 or over, unemployed and receiving benefits.
U13 Football League
Last Thursday, a group of Year
10s visited the Royal Courts of
Justice. We were led to Court
64 where we learnt about the
different types of court and
the situations in which they
are used. Then we enacted
a real trial from the past in
two groups: the appellants
and the respondents. I was
a respondent and as a
group, we had to develop
the arguments against the
defendant. As the solicitor,
my job was to write down
the key points and summarise
them at the end.
From this trip, I learned
that a lot of thought and
consideration is involved
when dealing with cases
and that there are many
roles in court. I really enjoyed
obtaining more knowledge
about law and being in a real
court and it has made me
consider the option of being
a solicitor or barrister in the
future.
Thank you to Ms Henry, on
behalf of all of us that went,
for taking us on this visit.
By Mahima Aktar 10E
EGA Cross Country
On Tuesday 3rd March, eight
girls proudly represented
EGA in a cross country race
against many schools from
across London. The event
took place in Ares Hill, South
London. Since there were so
many schools, EGA joined
forces with the girls’ school
not far from here, Highbury
Fields, becoming Islington
Schools. Every girl put in 100%
effort and tried their best in
a difficult race. The course
itself included many hills, a
ditch we had to jump over,
and was just over 2 miles.
The competition against the
other girls was not easy, as
these were girls who trained
regularly, but the EGA girls
ran amazingly. It was quite
challenging but at the same
time a great amount of fun.
All in all, it was a great day,
even if we were a bit stiff
afterwards!
Year 7: Mia, Carolina, Salma
and Sumaya
Year 8: Caitlin, Jasmia, Iman
and T'mai
By Carolina Fernandez Bold
On Wednesday 4th March,
year 7 and year 8 girls started
the campaign to become
the football champions in the
borough. They played Highbury
Grove B team and won 4-0,
displaying an outstanding
performance by all but in
particular the goal scorers,
Dea and Saskia, and the goal
keeper, Adrianna.
Their second game was with
Highbury Grove A team, a
much more tense game as they
were very good and at the last
minute EGA lost 0-1.
The league continues next
Wednesday where they
will be playing COLA I and
Highbury Fields. If you want to
play with them, the club runs
every Monday after school.
Congratulations to the following
girls for their performance:
Sonya Miah 7E, Stephanie
Arenas 7L, Opah Cruz 7A, Dea
Bozhani, Adrianna Sanders and
Rashida Walker 8Z, Saskia Brown
8A, Angel Chennis-Smith and
Jasmia Dyer 8H.
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hey! It’s that time – more
library news! Next week
Faye Bird, author of My
Second Life, is visiting
EGA to talk about her
book and run a writing
workshop. My Second Life
is also book of the month
for March, so check it out.
Also new this week is the
YA Prize shortlist display –
ten fantastic titles which
have been shortlisted for
this new award. There are
several copies of each
book available in the
library. The books are:
Goose by Dawn O’Porter
Salvage by Keren David
Only Ever Yours by Louise
O’Neill
Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus
Sedgwick
Trouble by Non Pratt
Lobsters by Lucy Ivison and
Tom Ellen
Finding a Voice by Kim Hood
Say Her Name by James
Dawson
A Song for Ella Grey by David
Almond
Half Bad by Sally Green
Ms Cheetham has just
started reading Say Her
Name and says: ‘Only
two chapters in and
I’m hooked. A group of
teenagers at a boarding
school try summoning up
the ghost of ‘Bloody Mary’
on Hallowe’en night. Mary
is rumoured to have killed
herself on the site many
years ago. Mysterious
writing appears on the
bathroom mirror… I don’t
know what happens next
but I can’t wait to find
out!’
So there’s no excuse - get
reading!
Signing off,
The Book Chatterbox
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Vol 12. Issue 22
Dear Families,
This is the final newsletter
of the spring term which
has, as ever, been very full
and busy and next week
promises to be the same.
On Tuesday we will be
enjoying a performance
by the Almeida Theatre but
taking place in the school’s
Drama Space. Wednesday
evening is parents’ evening
for Year 8 families and we
are looking forward to
seeing many of you there.
EGA School wins a London
region Character Award
EGA
School
was one of
three schools in
London to win
one of the first
ever Character
Awards
from
the Department
of Education. We were chosen out of
more than 500 schools which is quite
an achievement. The Character
Award recognises the outstanding work
that EGA does to develop students’
resilience, leadership, kindness, team
work and social action, amongst many
other attributes and skills. Year 11 student
Khairna Boulyn attended the ceremony
at St James’s Place and accepted the
award from the Secretary of State for
Education, Nicky Morgan. The award
comes with a £15,000 prize. We will
be sure to use this to provide many
exciting opportunities for EGA students to
develop their skills and attributes!
On Thursday, we will be
marking the exceptional
service of a number of
long-serving
governors
who have shown such
commitment to the school
over a significant period of
time. Although not often
in the limelight, governors
are critical to the success
of the school. We are very
grateful to those governors
leaving us and to those
who continue to work with
For the last few
us.
Crossrail Challenge
Finally, I want to share with
you a note I received after
we had a visit from the
British Transport Police:
“Thank you for allowing BTP
in to your school today.
I have never encountered
such polite and respectful
young ladies”.
Wishing you an enjoyable
holiday. The summer term
starts on Monday 13th April
2015.
Yours sincerely,
months, two groups
of Year 9 students
have been
participating in a
unique challenge
run by Crossrail.
Their task was to
consider an existing
railway station and
to then create and
present a proposal
for improvement.
Recommendations
were to focus on
upgrading the
station and the
general journey
experience for
commuters.
Both groups
were paired
with a mentor to
assist them with
their proposals
and all the girls
worked very hard
brainstorming,
researching and
rehearsing.
The project
culminated on
the 12th of March,
when our students
presented their
proposals against
teams from
competing schools.
In the end, it was
EGA's proposal
to improve
Bromley-By-Bow
that was chosen
as the winner.
Congratulations
to all the students
who participated
for their hard work
and commitment.
On Monday 23rd February, 36 girls travelled to
Stevenage to take part in Rock Challenge 2015.
We competed against 12 other schools, one
of which was a private college all the way
from Dubai! We came away with awards
for excellence in choreography and
entertainment – it was a great day.
For some participants it is their last
as they move on from EGA. I'd like
to thank all of the year 11 girls that
have taken part this year, especially
those that have been involved in the past three years.
I hope you enjoyed your Rock Challenge experience
as much as I have enjoyed you being a part of it. Here's
what some first timer students had to say about the
event:
"The other schools were so friendly and supportive, it
was a fantastic atmosphere and experience"– Lydia
Noronha 8z
"I really enjoyed the whole day, even though it was
long. I really enjoyed meeting new people and seeing
how they dance and what their rehearsal experience
of Rock Challenge was like. I definitely want to do Rock
Challenge until I leave EGA" – La'shay Dilaver 8z
Remember, if you think you are up to the challenge,
look out for information for next year! Ms Wells.
EGA raised £892.21 for Comic
Relief from various activities
that took place on Red Nose Day.
Well done everyone!
EGA’s Pi Day
celebration on
Monday 16th
March was a
roaring success,
with more than 140
students turning up
to recite Pi to 10 digits or more.
There were two major prize
winners: Halima Abdulle Alasow
in 8E who managed to recite Pi
to a monumental 133 digits(!),
and Alima Begum in 8E who
most accurately guessed the
circumference of the apple pie.
Halima wins two cinema tickets
for her excellent effort, whilst
Alima wins the pie. There will be
more brilliant competitions from
the numeracy team in the
summer term. Stay tuned.
London Youth Games:
Year 10 and Under Volleyball
Competition
Competition Success for Creative Club
We are proud that Dea Bohzani’s poem will be published in the next Young
Writers anthology, Poetopia. Inspired by the popular Divergent trilogy,
students had to choose a faction and write a poem inspired by that faction’s
rules. If, like Dea, they chose to write a poem that did not conform to one
faction’s rules, they became Dissimilis. Dea wrote the poem at Creative Club,
which runs every Tuesday after school with Ms Hazine and Ms Kelly in B1. A
key factor in her success is that she demonstrated the qualities of a growth
mindset as she developed the poem, drafting and redrafting it many times,
taking on board feedback, to make it as good as possible. If you would like to
get involved in future creative writing competitions, please try out Creative
Club or speak to your English teacher.
Me And Them
Honesty is what you ask of me
Castitas
Life is same-old, same-old
Repeating itself day by day
Being a teenager is confusing
One minute you’re happy,
another snappy
They are me, I am them
Judge me all you like
Dissimilis – different
A. Bit. Of. All
Tempramentia – you ask to reveal
my anger
Anger fills my heart and soul
Anger is the thoughts in my head
Anger leads to things I dread
Not allowing me to think ahead
Label me all you like
A. Bit. Of. All
Humilitas – you ask of celebration
Well, here it goes
Ode to my bed
Ode to the colour red
Ode to the food we eat
Ode to the music which makes us
complete
Evaluate me all you like
A. Bit. Of. All
To express my love and emotion
Beneloventia you ask
I love my family, who teach me
right from wrong
I love my friends who help me be
so strong
I hate it when my family and I
debate
I hate it when my friends are late
Judge me all you like
A. Bit. Of. All
You ask – Industria – for diligence
Life is full of brilliance
Each day with something
unexpected
Make mistakes – then be
corrected
Categorise me all you like
A. Bit. Of. All
Unique each of one is
A faction I do not fit
A bit of every faction I am
And that’s what makes me
Dissimilis!
Dea Bozhani 8Z
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hello bookworms.
Thunderous Thursday, the 12th of
March, when six brave girls and one
excellent team coach represented
Islington in the 2015 London Youth
Games at the University of East
London SportsDock.
EGA first played Urswick School and
the game ended 21-25 to Urswick;
however, Harris Girls’ School
couldn't make it so EGA advanced
to the second round!
Things were getting tough and EGA
lost 7-25 to Central Foundation
Girls’ School. EGA were feeling
the pressure and lost 25-17 to Tiffin
Girls’ School but the quality of their
play was improving so they won
their next match against Elm Green
School 25-10. EGA were in it to win
it!
In the end, it all came down to the
last game; unfortunately EGA didn't
win, but for playing year tens and
other experienced players they did
remarkably well, demonstrating
much potential for improvement in
the future.
Congratulations to Caitlin Russell 8H
(captain), Jasmia Dyer 8H, Medina
Sharipova 8H, Saskia Brown 8A,
Kitty Kelly 8H and Lisa Dawit 8H,
with a special thanks to Ms Silva for
training and believing in us!
If you like the sound of volleyball,
join the club Wednesdays from
3:30-4:30 with professional coach
Gary. See you there!
By Lisa Dawit 8H
“ Pa r e n t i n g P ro g r a m m e ” c o m i n g s o o n !
Taster session on
Wednesday 15th April 2015
Time: 9am-10am
Venue: EGA Dinner Hall
Refreshments provided
It is a free parenting programme
of 13 sessions discussing topical
parenting issues to help support
your children.
Weekly session will last for 3
hours with free lunch and crèche!
Places are limited so register
now!
Contact: Shirin Begum on
[email protected]
or call 07885367253
Y e a r 8wereTable
r itopdiscover
t obooksW
aterstones
we might hard work!
On Friday 6th March 2015, my English
class visited Waterstones with our
teacher Ms Kelly. We arrived at the
book shop with our tokens for World
Book Day and explored different
books that we were interested in. There
were many genres such as fiction,
non-fiction, history, horror, comedy
and many more eye-catching titles.
The trip was extremely useful as we
Best Attendance
10Z, 10 T & 7L 98.7%
Best Punctuality
7Z - 100%
like and, most importantly, showed Ms
Kelly what a great class we really are,
whether learning in lessons or being
trusted outside school to represent
EGA in a positive way.
We would like to thank Ms Kelly and
Mr Pasa for buying us mouth-watering,
delicious ice-creams on a sunny
winter’s day, as a reward for all our
This day made me reflect on the year
8 motto: ‘Be the best you can be’ …
to get the opportunities you wouldn’t
believe!’ which means that if you work
hard you will get many opportunities
that will help you in the future.
By Eilaf Mohamed 8E
How is the sea of literature
faring?
Today I come with news
of Harper Lee’s amazing
comeback – a sequel
to her amazing, world
class novel – To Kill a
Mockingbird!
For the few who need
their memory jogged, or
the even fewer who have
never read it, the novel is
based on life in the mid1930s, in a small town in
Alabama, where a white
lawyer – Atticus Finch
(father of young tomboy
Scout, narrator of the
novel) defends a black
man – Tom Robinson. The
sequel, called Go Set a
Watchman, is about the
return of Scout to her
hometown as a young
woman.
Lee had actually already
written the manuscript
before she published her
first novel, but it was turned
down by her editor. Now,
over half a century later,
she is happy to announce
that this sequel will be
published in July!
You may have studied
To Kill a Mockingbird or
maybe not read it at all, so
this is a great opportunity to
read or re-read the novel
for the sequel to come! For
more information search:
http://www.theguardian.
com/books/2015/feb/03/
harper-lee-new-novel-goset-a-watchman-is-a-boltfrom-the-blue or other
articles on Harper Lee.
That’s all for this week –
bye!
Contributed by,
The Book Chatterbox
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Vol 12. Issue 23
Dear Families,
I do hope you had a good
break and that the girls
are ready for the term
ahead. At the end of last
term we had a number
of exciting events. The
drama production with
the Almeida theatre was
outstanding as was the
work produced by GCSE
students in their Art exam.
We also celebrated the
success of our Debating
Team who were winners
of the competition held at
The House of Commons.
We are, as ever, looking
forward to a very busy
and eventful term. The
exam season will be
upon us very shortly;
we have a Professional
Development Day on 1st
May and our Celebration
of Achievement evening is
on 14th May. It’s also the
time of year when we start
preparing to welcome our
new intake for September
2015 and our new students
will be joining us on a
number of occasions
during the term. We are
very much looking forward
to meeting the next group
of EGA girls.
Yours sincerely,
Friday 17th April 2015
U13 Football League
Early in March, our year 7 and
8 girls started their campaign
to
become
football
champions of the borough.
They played Highbury Grove B
team and won 4-0, displaying
outstanding performances by
all, but in particular the goal
scorers, Dea and Saskia, and
the goal keeper, Adrianna.
Their second game was
against Highbury Grove A
team, a much more tense
winning both games. The last
match was against Holloway
and unfortunately they lost.
EGA’s final result was 3rd
place. Congratulations to the
following girls for their efforts:
game as they were very
strong and EGA lost 0-1 at
the last minute. The next
week they were up against
COLA-I and Highbury Fields,
Running League 2015
Sonya Miah 7E, Stephanie
Arenas 7L, Opah Cruz 7A, Dea
Bozhani, Adrianna Sanders
and Rashida Walker 8Z, Saskia
Brown 8A, Angel ChennisSmith and Jasmia Dyer 8H.
Islington Borough
Gymnastics Competition
On Tuesday 10th March, six very nervous
yet excited EGA pupils travelled to the
Sobell Centre to take part in the Islington
Borough Gymnastics Competition.
Having practiced every Monday and
Over the last 7 months,
Wednesday lunchtime since January,
Saskia Brown 8A
EGA’s running team
they were more than ready to perform
T'mai Jones 8A
have taken part in
their routine to the judges.
Caitlin Russell 8H
over 6 races across
It had to include a given criteria of jumps,
the borough. From
travel, rolls, balances and individual
Lula Mama 8H
pounding the streets
moves; Miss Howe ensured that all of
Umayma Chakour 8H
of hilly Highgate, to
these were in place and then allowed
Carlotta Balestra Lawrence 8H the girls to use their choreographic skills
traipsing through the
mud at Clissold Park, the Kitty Kelly 8H
to create a large part of the routine.
team have turned out
Despite their nerves, all girls performed
Penelope Kaur-Kingdon 9T
at each event ready to
with true professionalism, showing
Fahima Yasmin 9A
perform their best.
courage and determination to present
Several Hackney
Carolina Fernandez-Bold 7L
their best performance and, after much
schools also took
deliberation from the judges, were
Lattina Da-Costa 7E
part in the event, all
announced the winners. They each
Zuhal Sumbul 7E
showing fantastic form
received a gold medal and the Islington
Sumaya Anshur 7E
too. Since the first
borough trophy.
race, Clapton Girls and Salma Anshur 7A
A huge congratulations to the girls. They
EGA had been neck
showed such commitment throughout
Mia Oyesiku 7H
and neck, but they
training and their hard work really did
eventually pipped us to Freya Francis 7A
pay off!
the post with the EGA
Jasmia Dyer 8H
team coming a valiant
Zaynab Labidi, 8L, Iman Hassoun, 8L
Rashida Walker 8Z
second place overall.
Alyssa Madz, 7H, Hafsa Gedi, 7H
Iman Hassoun 8L
Well done to all girls
Salma Anshur, 7A, Sumaya Anshur, 7E
who took part:
BOOK OF THE MONTH
APRIL 2015
Best Attendance
7E- 99.6%
Best Punctuality
7Z & 8H - 99.7%
Parenting
programme
On the 23rd March, 4 school
teams battled it out for the
prestigious title “Young
Crossrail Debating Champions
2015”. The esteemed judging
panel consisted of Mike Capes
MP, Elizabeth Cillbe, Mary
Macleod MP and Crossrail’s
Chairman Terry Morgan.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
School claimed victory to lift
the trophy but Westminster
Academy and Greenwich UTC
put up a mean fight.
A few spaces left!
ONLY EVER YOURS
LOUISE O’NEILL
'Gripping ... like all the best
dystopias, Only Ever Yours is
about the world we live in now'
Irish Times.
We are pleased to
offer a free parenting
programme of 13 sessions
where we will discuss
topical parenting issues
to help you support your
children.
Weekly sessions will
last for 3 hours with
refreshments and lunch
provided.
Please register now by
contacting Shirin Begum
Frieda and Isabel have on SBegum@egas.
islington.sch.uk
been best friends their
or call 07885367253.
Almeida Theatre Project
On Tuesday 24th March, we
were delighted to host the
Almeida Theatre’s Schools
Residency performances here
at EGA. Each term, Almeida
Projects work with a number
of their partner schools to
create a performance, a unique
opportunity for students across
the borough to come together
and share their work.
Since January, the groups were
working with their facilitators
in response to the Almeida
Theatre’s production of Game
and the following questions:
- How can theatre compete
with other media?
- What is experimental theatre?
It was a wonderful evening
of theatre and great to see
young people performing
such
experimental
and
thought-provoking
work.
Congratulations to all the
students involved.
EGA Drama club (who meet
every Thursday after school)
are already looking forward to
their next performance project!
whole lives. Now, aged
sixteen and in their final
year at the School, they
expect to be selected as
companions - wives to
wealthy and powerful men.
The alternative - life as a
concubine - is too horrible
to contemplate. But as the
intensity of the final year
takes hold, the pressure to
remain perfect becomes
almost unbearable. Isabel
starts
to
self-destruct,
putting her beauty - her only
asset - in peril. And then,
the boys arrive, eager to
choose a bride. Frieda must
fight for her future- even if
it means betraying the only
friend, the only love she has
ever known . . .
The programme starts on
Monday.
Date: 20th April 2015
Time: 10am-1pm
Venue: Hugh Cubitt
Centre
Hugh Cubitt House
48 Collier Street
N1 9QZ
Poetry Corner
Yasna Nasrollahi in 7L was
asked to write her own recipe
poem on a topic of her choice
and she spontaneously came
up with a growth mindset gem!
Doing Well at School
Measure the homework,
ONLY EVER YOURS - WINNER Then give it a good stir.
OF THE YA BOOK PRIZE 2015
When it turns to red,
Add a spare paragraph
To make a great effort.
Keep on adding,
Until your head explodes.
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Vol 12. Issue 24
Dear Families,
We have been talking
with the girls a great deal
recently about the notion of
a “growth mindset” which
essentially means that they
must believe in themselves
and in their abilities to
improve in anything which
they find difficult. We are
trying to encourage them
to understand that being
challenged is good and
that challenge is what
helps them to improve.
We find that many girls are
frightened of failing and
therefore give up when the
going gets tough. They may
say things like “I’m no good
at Maths”, for example, but
we know that isn’t true. All
of us get better, the more
we practise. Musicians and
sports people are absolutely
clear that what makes them
great is hours and hours of
practice on a daily basis.
When talking to your
daughter about her work,
please encourage her to take
risks, to practise and not to
be afraid of failure, as failing
is the best way of ensuring
success in the future.
Yours sincerely,
It has been one year
since the Chibok girls
were kidnapped by Boko
Haram from their school
in Northern Nigeria: 219 of
them are still in captivity.
8A have taken part in the
#DearSisters campaign in
their tutor time by writing
a letter of hope to the
families of the missing girls.
Here is their letter:
Dear Families of our sisters,
We would like to tell you
that we are all thinking
about you. We are a year
8 class at Elizabeth Garrett
Anderson School.
Our
school is a girls’ school in
central London, made up
of many different cultures
and beliefs.
We are
proud to stand up for girls’
education and freedom,
rights and fairness for all.
We believe that equality
for women and girls is very
important, especially in
the society we are living in
now.
Ever since the terrible
events of last year, you
have been constantly
in our thoughts.
We
have raised money and
awareness through bake
sales and we think about
you in our assemblies and in
particular on International
Women’s Day.
We are writing to show our
full support and affection
Friday 24th April 2015
towards your girls, our
sisters. We are fully aware
our sisters are suffering
and we are all trying our
best to help this situation
and avoid this happening
to other innocent families
across the world.
We
couldn’t bear to imagine
the suffering of our sisters.
We would like you to
know that no matter what
troubles or hardships you
are facing, we will always
be behind you every step
of the way.
We will continue to think of
you and we hope that you
will be reunited with your
daughters very soon. Just
stay hopeful that things will
eventually get better.
Students of 8A
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
School, London
Poetry Corner
Year 9s are studying war poetry in English and were set a
homework challenge to write their own poem which satirised
jingoism. This topical piece was by Hajar Chakour in 9Z:
There is a muted game going on, a slight competition.
Virtually unnoticed.
Hidden in plain sight.
On clothes, on cars, on ornaments
flaunted and omnipresent with strange pride
who can wear the biggest pin
who can have more bumper stickers
who flies the biggest flag
But those who parade around and advertise their
beliefs with no hidden meaning
doesn’t make them more valid than those
who conceal
There is a muted game
Open your eyes.
BECOMING A WRITER - FORTHCOMING EVENTS
JUNE 23rd
Teri Terry will be
visiting The Cloud
to talk about her
books, the SLATED
trilogy and her
new novel Mind Games.
SLATED
Kyla’s memory has been
erased, her personality wiped
blank, her memories lost
forever. She’s been Slated.
The government claims she
was a terrorist, and that they
are giving her a second
chance - as long as she plays
by their rules. But echoes of
the past whisper in Kyla’s
mind. Someone is lying to her,
and nothing is as it seems.
Who can she trust in her
search for the truth?
MIND GAMES
The
gripping
new
psychological thriller from Teri
Terry!
In a future world, life is tightly
controlled by the all-powerful
PareCo. Standing out from
the crowd is dangerous so
misfit Luna hides her secrets
carefully, not realising her own
power. Unlike her friends and
family, Luna has never been
able to plug into Realtime,
PareCo’s virtual world, where
almost everyone now lives
Theatre Trip with
Richard Cloudesley
Best Attendance
9Z - 99%
Best Punctuality
7E & H - 99.7%
LIBRARY COLUMN
their lives. So how do PareCo
know about Luna, and why
do they want her for their
elite think tank?
The truth is hidden in a web of
shining silver secrets, and the
corrupt authorities would do
anything to keep it that way.
Can Luna find a way to use
her own hidden powers and
bring the truth to light before
it’s too late?
Just to remind you…
Just before Easter, myself and
another Y7 student were invited
to take part in a theatre day with
Richard Cloudesley Secondary
School.
First, we set off to The Mousetrap
Theatre for a drama workshop,
exploring sets, costumes and
props up close. It was really
fun and we were able to meet In March, our senior and As well as seeing all the
some of the cast that would be junior choirs joined a sights of London and
group of students from experiencing life at the
performing later that day.
South Africa to record a EGA, the South African
After the workshop we went to song with a little help from students joined the girls
see Memphis the Musical, an actor Helena Bonham from EGA at the AIR Studios
Olivier award winning show. The Carter and songwriter Guy in Belsize Park to record a
cover version of R Kelly's
cast that we met earlier were Chambers.
amazing, really impressive singers It was all part of a cultural song The World's Greatest.
program
and dancers, and we were lucky exchange
to be sitting right in front of the organised by the charity Watch this space for the
stage. Overall, it was a great Broaden Out Their Horizons, exciting release of their
of which the Harry Potter song and the documentary
show.
star is a patron.
about the project!
Once the performance had
finished,
we
bought
some Did you know that breakfast is the most important meal of
merchandise and
the day?
then returned to
school.
It was
certainly a day to
remember: I had
so much fun!
Free breakfast every single morning in the canteen. Come
along for healthy food, a friendly atmosphere and much
By Robyn Herbert
more. it’s the perfiect way to start your day and get your
brain working!
7T
Breakfast Club
7.45-8.30AM
Hello bookworms! How is
the sea of literature faring?
Today I come with news
of Harper Lee’s amazing
comeback - a sequel
to her amazing, world
class novel: To Kill a
Mockingbird!
For the few who need
their memory jogged, or
the even fewer who have
never read it, the novel is
set in the mid-1930s, in a
small town in Alabama,
where a white lawyer Atticus Finch (father of
young tomboy Scout,
narrator of the novel) defends a black man, Tom
Robinson, falsely accused
of raping a white woman.
The sequel, called Go Set
a Watchman, is about
Scout’s return to her
hometown, Maycomb,
when she has grown up.
Lee had actually already
written the script before
she wrote and published
To Kill A Mockingbird, but
it was turned down by
her editor who advised
her to write about Scout’s
childhood instead.
Now, over half a century
later, she is happy to
announce that this
first manuscript will be
published in July! You
may have studied To Kill
a Mockingbird or maybe
not read it at all, so this
is a great opportunity to
read or re-read the novel
to prepare for the sequel
to come! For more info
search:
http://www.theguardian.
com/books/2015/feb/03/
harper-lee-new-novelgo-set-a-watchman-is-abolt-from-the-blue or other
articles on Harper Lee.
That’s all for this week.
Bye!
The Book Chatterbox
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Thursday 30th April 2015
Vol 12. Issue 25
Dear Families,
Last week we had visitors
from Denmark and in
a few weeks we will
be welcoming a head
teacher from Australia.
All our visitors are
directed to EGA because
of our reputation as an
outstanding school, not
just in terms of academic
achievement but also in
preparing leaders for the
future. It’s always good
to meet educators from
different environments
as we learn so much
from each other. Next
week, Mr. McIntyre will
be taking part in a visit
to China to look at their
schools and, in particular,
their approach to Maths’
education. Later in this
year, I have been asked
to be one of the group
of National Leaders of
Education which will make
a study visit to Shanghai
and Auckland.
Close to home, we’re
looking forward to our
Professional Development
Day tomorrow (Friday)
where we will be busy
updating Schemes
of Work to meet the
requirements of the new
curriculum. Enjoy the long
weekend.
Yours sincerely,
Islington
Netball League
LIBRARY COLUMN
Over the past
six weeks, a
group of EGA
pupils from year
8 have been
taking part in
the Islington
Borough netball
league which
took place at EGA
every Tuesday evening.
London Mini-Marathon
2015
Eight schools entered
the league: EGA, SMMA,
Mount Carmel, COLA-I,
IAMS, Holloway, Highbury
Fields and Highbury
Grove. All turned up
every week with a full
team, ready to play to the
best of their ability.
Despite the early start and
the gloomy weather, all
three girls set off with high
spirits, ready to do their
best and finish the 5km
course.
Despite putting in a
sterling effort week in
week out, EGA lost one
match to the eventual
winners and came in 3rd
place overall.
Congratulations to the
following girls:
Jasmia Dyer
Caitlin Russell
Saskia Brown
Sarya Fidan
Iman Hassoun
Carlotta Balestra-Lawrence
Kitty Kelly
Jessica Magnus
Ruby Riley
On Sunday, over 37,000
people took part in the
biggest ever London
Marathon. One hour prior
to this, three pupils from
EGA were pounding the
pavements as part of the
London mini-marathon.
Caitlin Russell, 8H,
represented Camden,
whilst Penny KaurKingdon and Jasmia Dyer
represented Islington. All
three girls finished the
course and had a great run,
saying that the atmosphere
was fantastic and that they
loved running through
central London and seeing
all the sights. It was also
really great to see Miss
Howe cheering them
on outside Buckingham
Palace!
Hey!
This week I have some
exciting news from the
library as two fantastic
authors are lined up for the
Cloud ‘Becoming a Writer’
events later in the year.
Teri Terry will be coming
to EGA on Tuesday June
23rd. Teri is the author of
the SLATED series and her
new novel Mind Games
came out this month.
Cat Clarke will be talking
about her many books –
Torn, Undone, Entangled
and A Kiss in the Dark, all
of which explore interesting
contemporary issues.
OTHER NEWS – Half Bad by
Sally Green is now in stock! Find
out what Nathan gets up to next.
A huge well done to all
of the girls. If you were
And The Cloud has joined twitter!
inspired by the London
Follow your school library to keep
Marathon, then come along up with the latest news.
to running club which takes FOLLOW @egaschoollib
Signing off,
place in PE every Friday
The Book Chatterbox
morning at 8am.
EGA LUNCHTIME CLUBS SUMMER TERM 2015
MONDAY
Computer club
French GCSE club
Cricket
Guitar club
Keyboard club
Homework club 1.15
Spanish club
Year group(s)
Year 7&8
All years
All years
All years
All years
Yr7
Yr7
Room
R3
A1
Sports Hall
F2
F1
C7
A4
TUESDAY
Brass band *break time 10.25-11.00
Table tennis club
Card making club
All years
Yr7,8,9
Year 7&8
Music
Sports Hall
R1
Homework support club
Drum club
Sewing club
Fitness Suite
Year 7&8
All Years
Yr7
Yr10&11
B6
Music
C7
PE
WEDNESDAY
Chamber group *breaktime 10.25-11.00
German GCSE club
Spanish GCSE club
Computer club
Advanced Piano
Introduction to Mandarin language
All years
All years
All years
Yr7&8
All years
All years
Music
A5
A4
R3
Lecture Theatre
A1
Homework support club
GCSE PE revision
Year 7
Yr9,10,11
C7
PE
THURSDAY
Booked Up club 1.15-1.45pm
Tennis
Gardening club 1.15-1.45pm
Junior Choir 1.10-1.40
Citizenship & PSHE c/work support
All years
All years
Yr7&8
Yr7&8
Yr9,10,11
Library
Outside courts
Beeton
Music
R1
Games, puzzles and quizzes
Yr7
C7
FRIDAY
Computer club
Senior choir 12.45-1.10
Word Games
Introduction to Chinese culture
All years
Yr9,10,11
Yr7&8
All Years
Roquia 3
Music
B6
A1
Before school every day – Breakfast Club in the dining hall
8.00-8.40am
Before school Friday
Running club – All Years – PE
Before school Friday
Yr11 & staff circuit training – PE
After school Monday-Friday
Homework support sessions run every day after school in the Library
EGA AFTERSCHOOL CLUBS SUMMER TERM 2015
MONDAY
Computer club
Psychology club
French club – preparing for A level
Football club (Arsenal coaches)
Badminton club
Year 11 GCSE English Lang & Lit
Year 10 GCSE Maths
Textiles Club
Advanced Guitar club
Debate club
Street Dance
Duke of Edinburgh award
When Apple's mother
returns after eleven
years of absence, Apple
feels whole again. She
will have an answer
Room
Roquia 3
C1
A1
Outside courts
Sports Hall
English
Maths
Dean
F2
GJ
Graham
PE
TUESDAY
Guides
Netball club
Year 11 GCSE Maths
Year 10 GCSE Science
GCSE History
GCSE Textiles
Let’s Get Cooking club
English Creative writing workshop
Building your confidence through drama
RE revision
Yr7&8
All years
Year 11
Year 10
Yr9,10,11
Yr9,10,11
Yr8
All years
All years
Yr10
Lecture Theatre
Outside courts
Maths
Science
W1
Dean
Beeton
B1
Hepburn
Weil
WEDNESDAY
Computer club
String group
Debate It (Hogan Lovells)
All years
All years
Invited Yr7s
Roquia 3
Music
B4
THURSDAY
Drama Club (Production rehearsal)
Rounders
Year 10 GCSE English
Year 11 GCSE Science
GCSE Geography
GCSE Textiles
GCSE Business Studies
School band & Samba band
Contemporary dance club
GCSE RE
All Years
All Years
Year 10
Year 11
Yr9,10,11
Yr9,10,11
Yr9,10,11
All years
All years
Yr 9&10
Hepburn
Outside courts
English
Science
Bi2
Dean
Roddick
Music
Graham
Weil
FRIDAY
Computer club
GCSE ICT
GCSE Geography
GCSE Textiles
Art club
Photography club
Photoshop club
All years
Yr10&11
Yr9,10,11
Yr9,10,11
All years
All years
All years
Roquia 3
Lovelace
Bi2
Dean
K2
K3
GA Mac room
BOOK OF THE MONTH MAY 2015
APPLE AND RAIN: “A
story of the redeeming
power of love. It's
beautifully written and it
made me cry but it also
made me laugh” – The
Bookbag
Year group(s)
All years
Yr9-11
Yr10&11
Year 7&8
All years
Year 11
Year 10
Year 7&8
All
Yr8,9,10
All years
Year 10&11
to her burning question
– why did you go? And
she will have someone
who understands what it
means to be a teenager
– unlike Nana. But just
like the stormy Christmas
Eve when she left, her
mother's homecoming is
bitter sweet, and Apple
wonders who is really
looking after whom. It's
only when Apple meets
someone more lost than
she is, that she begins to
see things as they really
are.
APPLE AND RAIN –
SHORTLISTED FOR
CARNEGIE AWARD
2015.
Tutor group 7A are
proud to announce the
publication of their class
poetry anthology, which
they produced with the
support of their English
teacher Ms Kelly. You can
read it in the school library.
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Friday 8th May 2015
Vol 12. Issue 26
Dear Families,
Foreign Language
Spelling Bee
The exam season is now
fully underway and it
is important that we do
all we can to maximise
the achievement of our
students. In school,
lessons are very focused
on the skills needed in
examinations and ensuring
that the girls are familiar
with revision techniques.
There is also a wealth
of opportunities for girls
Four brave year sevens
to attend extra revision
travelled to Essex to compete
sessions with their teachers. in the Regional Final of the
Foreign Language Spelling
Bee. Anna Solomon and
At home, please make
Samanta Franco, both in 7T,
sure that your daughter
participated in the French
is adopting a sensible
spelling bee while Samiha
approach to her work. Short Rahman, 7Z, and Amanda
revision sessions with a
Zere, 7L, took part in the
short break are much better Spanish one.
than spending hours without
a break. It is also a great
help if family members can
test the girls on what they
have learned and of course,
do make sure that they eat
sensibly, drink plenty of
water and go to bed early.
Girls will have a copy of
their exam timetable so you
will know what exams are
happening when.
If you have any concerns
that your daughter is doing
too much or too little work,
please do not hesitate to
contact her tutor or head of
year.
Yours sincerely,
All of the girls had won the
championship at EGA and
likewise, all of the other
competitors were winners in
their schools, so it was a tough
competition. They were all very
brave as they had to stand up
in front of everybody and spell
certain words in the foreign
language using the relevant
alphabet.
They all competed in the
quarter finals brilliantly but
unfortunately, against all of
the competition, only Amanda
managed to get through to the
semi-finals. Although she had
a great round, she didn’t quite
make it to the finals.
However, they all thoroughly
enjoyed the experience, as
well as learning lots of new
vocabulary!
Thank you to Ms Quinn and Ms
Nash who accompanied and
supported us.
By Anna Solomon and
Samanta Franco 7T
Visit to Houses of
Parliament
Last week, 20 year 8 girls travelled
from EGA to the Houses of
Parliament to participate in a tour.
All the girls went in and came back
out with a smile! Our guide, Phillip
was very funny and made sure
we weren't bored by asking us
questions and making jokes.
When we arrived we were
safety checked, given a black
lanyard and then walked to the
Westminster Hall to meet Phillip.
As soon as we met him, we set off
on our tour around Parliament.
First we visited King Henry the
Eighth's private church, which was
a hall lined with grand statues,
then went to the House of Lords’
voting halls. They were lined with
books which recorded every single
word shared in debates for a very
long period of time.
Then we moved on to see the
chamber where the Lords debate,
but were not allowed to sit down
as we hadn't earned our place
as a Lord! We moved on to visit
the House of Commons, where
elected Members of Parliament
debate.
I'm sure that all the girls on the
trip would recommend visiting the
Houses of Parliament and would
definitely go again.
By Rose Jeffs 8H
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hi! I hope you enjoyed
your extra-long
weekend - I certainly
did! Unfortunately, it
meant I read a lot which
now means that I have
finished all of my books.
I come here this week
with suggestions
for those who have
completely devoured
their book supplies
and are in need of new
stock. As the following
were nominated for a
very prestigious award
this year, I am fairly sure
they will make excellent
reading material.
Nominations for the
Carnegie medal 2015:
When Mr Dog Bites by
Brian Conaghan
Apple and Rain by Sarah
Crossan
Tinder by Sally Gardner
(author) and David Roberts
(illustrator)
Cuckoo Song by Frances
Hardinge
The Fastest Boy in the
World by Elizabeth Laird
Buffalo Soldier by Tanya
Landman
The Middle of Nowhere by
Geraldine McCaughrean
More Than This by Patrick
Ness
All are available in the
school library; I will see you
there!
Until next time,
The Book Chatterbox
Debate Mate Urban Debate League
Recently, the Year 8 and
9 debate team finished
their participation in the
Debate Mate Urban Debate
League. This year we have
debated motions including:
• Should parents monitor
their child’s social
media accounts?
• Can eco terrorism be
justified?
• Should people be able
to sell their organs?
• Is Crossrail a good
thing for London?
Debating is a fantastic
way to gain confidence in
public speaking and also
to develop the discipline to
listen to alternative points
of view. It has been a
great year, the girls doing
EGA proud with their
enthusiasm, motivation and
determination to argue the
socks off all competitors.
The year has seen us
competing at
prestigious
locations
such
as the
Nomura
Bank at
London Bridge,
the London School of
Economics and the Houses
of Parliament.
Highlights have
included EGA seeing off
Westminster Academy and
Greenwich Technological
College to win the Crossrail
Debate Cup in the House
of Commons in March,
as well as participation
in the prestigious Debate
Mate Cup Competition
(alongside 90 other
schools) at the LSE.
In the 2014/2015 Debate
Mate Urban Debate
League, EGA finished
Year 11s had to describe a
memorable event from their
school days in their recent
mock English Language exam.
As their time at EGA draws
to an end, we will be sharing
some of their memories in this
newsletter:
At EGA it has always been tradition that
we have a Christmas assembly every
year, including everything from singing
to handing out certificates. Now the
2014 assembly was definitely the most
emotional, as it was our last one as a
year group. Being in school for five
years with the same people means
a lot of friendships are created, both
with teachers and students. Knowing
30th out of 101 competing
London schools.
Nationally, we finished 44th
out of 170 schools which
is a fantastic result and an
achievement that the girls
can be extremely proud of.
A huge thank you to our
team members: Alisa
Avdyli, Alex Callender,
Ayan Mohammed, Kaliyah
Flavius, Karolina Hracka,
Ridwana Ahmed, Hanan
Osman, Ibtisam Osman,
Afnan Oumar, Ines
Kirati, Rinessa Zeqa,
Fatjona Palushi, Elvisa
Muja Kesiana Mehmeti,
Surayyah McGowan
and Jackie Appiah. Also
thank you to the staff
who have supported us
by accompanying girls
to a multitude of venues
to debate: Ms Wales, Ms
Luke, Ms Ahmed and Ms
Fidan.
I would never be sat in the same place
with the same people made me tearyeyed.
Winter term is one of the most stressful
terms and everyone is racing to finish
their coursework before the deadlines,
so having a relaxed assembly on the
last day is exactly what we need. There
is all the excitement of Christmas and
the new year ahead. It’s nice to have
a fun day with the people you grew up
with.
Yes, I’ve complained about the
homework and coursework for the last
couple of years. Yes, I hate waking
up early every morning. But I couldn’t
have asked for better people to spend
my most crucial teenage years with.
Best Attendance
(Figures for last two weeks)
8L - 99.3%
9E - 100%
Best Punctuality
7E - 99.6%
7E - 99.7%
Gardening
Club
We are currently planting
potatoes, carrots and herbs.
Hopefully we will get more
boxes soon.
The best part of the assembly is the
end! Knowing there is a two week
holiday ahead of us creates a huge
wave of excitement when leaving the
school gates. No waking up early, no
teachers nagging you to hand in your
coursework…
But then it hits you. You look back at
the gates and watch the last few girls
leaving. You’re reminded that this was
your last year. That moment can never
be recreated.
You are reminded that this time next
year you’ll be in college with completely
different people in a completely
different place. I always wanted to
grow up quickly, have my own house
and drive around in my Ferrari. Not so
sure anymore.
Who knew that walking out of your
school gates could make you reevaluate your school years and
contemplate your future. Those school
gates made me who I am. I may be
leaving but the memories I created
within these walls will never leave me.
By Yaran Mafko 11A
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Friday 15th May 2015
Vol 12. Issue 27
Dear Families,
Trip to Parliament
Booked Up Club
I do hope you received
the letter informing you
of the federation with
Copenhagen school. It’s
a great opportunity to
ensure that excellent
governance is shared.
We are looking forward
to sharing good practice
across the two schools.
On a day to day basis,
there will be no difference
for EGA students and
staff.
Yesterday (Thursday)
we enjoyed our
annual Celebration of
Achievement when
we recognised the
commitment and success
of so many students. It’s
always difficult to single
out students as there are
so many achievements
every single day and
I am always delighted
to see the commitment
to learning of all our
students. In many
ways, the girls receiving
the awards do so both
for themselves and as
representatives of so
many others.
Tomorrow we are looking
forward to welcoming
our new students for
September when they
come into school to sit a
number of tests which will
help us to identify their
strengths and where they
may need extra support.
Yours sincerely,
Last week, Booked-Up Club
students visited The Guardian
Newspaper offices to find out more
about what they do. It's not just
journalists who work there - we
met researchers, analysts and
fact checkers too. There is even
a department where the public
test out new products! It was very
exciting to be in a professional
environment and see where our
reading volunteers work.
We had a fantastic and fascinating
outing, during which we learnt all
about the history of the building
and how politics work today. We
were very eager to participate
and find out more about the
political process. It was a real
eye-opener and we were able to
see where all the decisions to run
our country are made. Learning
all about the architectural and
political history of one of the
most famous buildings in Britain
was really enjoyable. Rosie,
8Z, commented later: 'The trip
was really interesting and it was
wonderful finding out about how
the government works. The
trip has made me think about
pursuing politics when I am
older!'
‘The Course of True
Love Never Did Run
Smooth…’
Year 7 are enjoying working
towards their special ‘promenade’
performance of ‘A Midsummer
Night’s Dream’, which they
will perform after half-term on
Thursday 11th June at 4pm. An
event like this has never been
done before at EGA, and the girls
are very excited about it!
Each class will stage a different
key scene from the play in a
different location around the
school grounds, and the audience
By Helia Murdoch 8Z
will walk or ‘promenade’ from
one scene to the next… possibly
getting sprinkled by a little fairy
dust on the way!
Everybody is welcome to join us,
but we need to know numbers to
help us organise our ambitious
Best Attendance
performance on the night; Year
7E & 10Z - 100%
7 parents will soon receive a
letter asking them to confirm
Best Punctuality
attendance. We look forward to
seeing you there!
7A - 99.1%
MISSING SCHOOL = MISSING OUT The Year 7 English teachers and
students
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hey readers!
Did you know that the
library has some awesome
picture books in stock?
These books are works
of art, with beautiful
illustrations and meaningful
texts. Every year a
selection of the best picture
books are shortlisted
for the Kate Greenaway
award. The titles this year
are:
The Promise by Nicola
Davies (author) and Laura
Carlin (illustrator)
Jim’s Lion by Russell
Hoban(author) and Alexis
Deacon (illustrator)
Tinder by Sally Gardner
(author) and David Roberts
(illustrator)
Shackleton’s Journey by
William Grill
Dark Satanic Mills
by Marcus Sedgwick
(author) and John Higgins
(illustrator)
Smelly Louie by
Catherine Raynor)
Goth Girl and the Ghost
of a Mouse by Chris
Riddell
Rules of Summer
by Shaun Tan
Two of the most popular
picture books in the school
library (especially with
certain year 10s) are This
is Not My Hat and I Want
My Hat Back by Jon
Klassen
Another classic with a cruel
twist at the end is Chicken
Clickin, which deals with
the perils of online surfing,
(thanks to Ms S Begum for
recommending this).
Why not come and check
out the books for yourself?
That’s all folks!
The Book Chatterbox
EGA’s GCS E A rtwor k
Year 11s had to describe a memorable event from
their school days in their recent mock English
Language exam. As their time at EGA draws to an Amazing new GCSE exam work really shows off how
end, we continue to share some of their favourite well our students can respond independently to a
theme. They had to choose from a range of themes
memories in this newsletter:
including Spirals, Food, the Human Condition and
But this year was different.
Megan Robinson 11A
Fantastic & Strange.
It was too hot. Too hot. With
hardly any breeze to cool me We hopped and dragged ourselves In art GCSE we nurture students’ ability to develop
down, I wanted to turn around and to the finishing line, climbing ideas through discussion and making connections
go home right away. The day had ruthlessly over fallen people, with with the world around them.
the sound of screaming deafening
come: sports day.
our ears… until it was over.
It was year 10, the last ever
sports day in my life, so it had to We came third! My first ever medal
be good. I would usually dread it: in my whole existence and the
lots of noisy teenage girls, bossy first time I had been ranked in the
teachers and the humiliation of me top three at sports day. It was
participating in a sporting event (I marvellous! I, the non-athletic,
am not athletic or sporty - at all) so lazy, unfit fifteen year old, had
it was strange that I enjoyed this finally won a medal!
day so much.
Peeling off stickers at the end of
It was June 26th 2014 and the the day revealed bright pink arms
weather was amazing; the sun and faces. Our feet were hurting
beamed down and there was a hot and we were exhausted. But it
breeze in the air. I was walking to was the best sports day of my life.
school with my younger sister who
was also dreading the day ahead.
I arrived at my class to see my form Naomi Da Silva 11T
group in their PE kits with stickers My time at EGA is sadly coming to
plastered all over their faces. They an end and the years have been
insisted I do it too. Once we were one heck of a rollercoaster.
ready to go, we headed off to the
However, one of my favourite
overground station.
memories is the demolition of the
Usually trains are filled with old building. Of course it was
adults in suits or other people sad that the old buildings were
with rucksacks on with sweaty disappearing forever, but it was like
underarms. This time there were the whole school came together
merely a handful of people on and relived every last memory
the train, so girls in pink and grey before they got knocked down in
the rubble.
invaded the carriages.
When we arrived at the park, my
form group claimed an area of
grass and we sat there layering
ourselves in sunscreen and putting
on sunglasses and hats to shield
ourselves from the bright, yellow
sun.
We watched year seven, year eight
and year nine run 100 metres,
cheering and cheering, and when it
was year ten’s turn, we raced down
to the line so that we could show
sportsmanship to our friends. It
was great to see everyone having
fun and not taking it too seriously.
Once a few events had finished
it was lunchtime. We all grabbed
our delicious food and tucked in to
our feast. Pringles, brownies and
biscuits were being shared, while
teachers came along selling fruity
ice lollies that were melting in the
blazing heat.
The three-legged race was
next and it was my turn to face
humiliation along with my friend.
In previous years we had always
placed last or second to last.
The day was strange but in a good
way. Everyone had huge smiles
on their faces due to the fact that
we were going to moving a brand
new, state of the art building. All
the teachers were packing up, all
the chairs were stacked and our
school janitor was wheeling out the
equipment.
It felt like everyone was leaving
themselves behind and taking a
new person into the new school.
I remember taking pictures with the
old buildings behind us, before we
lost them. It was a bit childish but
I didn’t care because I was happy.
I knew I would never have this
moment again so I took advantage.
You’re probably asking why it’s so
memorable. The answer to that
is because it was such a joyous
moment and one so full of potential.
The transition from something
so old and frail to something so
modern and bright just made the
school community much closer
than it was before.
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Friday 22nd May 2015
Vol 12. Issue 28
Year 8 Residential Trip
Dear Families,
It’s been an incredibly
busy half term, as ever
and I hope you have
enjoyed reading about all
the extra activities over
the past few weeks.
This week, there have
been GCSE exams for
students in years 9, 10
and 11, with lots of extra
revision classes taking
place last Saturday and
after school.
On Saturday, we also
welcomed the new year
7s for September. After
a week of sitting SATs,
they spent the morning
with us completing even
more tests. They all
coped really well and
enjoyed getting to meet
their fellow students.
Tomorrow, students
working towards the
Duke of Edinburgh
Award will be setting out
on their expedition and
there will be a number of
revision classes taking
place during the half term
week.
Hey readers!
Year 8 students have been
on a PE residential to
Cardfields in Essex.
Lydia Noronha 8Z said:
“The weekend trip to
Cardfields was incredible.
One of the highlights for
me was the Saturday night
bonfire. We made the
typical American s'mores,
shared stories and our
greatest achievements and
sung a song that Caitlin
Russell 8H taught us. We
learnt so much more about
one another from sharing
stories and team building
exercises. Thank you to
the EGA and Cardfields
staff for making it a great
weekend!”
Jasmia Dyer 8H reported:
“Cardfields was really
good. The activities were
fun and exciting and the
rooms were really nice
with comfortable beds! I
really got to know loads
of other people from the
programme and I enjoyed
spending time with them.
Overall, Cardfields was an
awesome experience and
I'd love to go again.”
U15 Football League
In April, year 9 and 10
girls started the campaign
to become the football
champions of the borough,
playing a series of matches
until May. They played the
Highbury Grove A and B
I wish you all a really
good holiday.
Yours sincerely,
LIBRARY COLUMN
Best Attendance
11H- 100%
Best Punctuality
7E- 99.3%
teams, and the Highbury
Fields A and B teams. They
were up against some
tough opposition and played
their best. EGA came 4th
overall. Congratulations to
the following girls for taking
part:
Rana
Habbouchi
9Z, Epaphrodite Zumbila
10H, Asraa Ali 9A, Yusra
Mohamed 10T, Jameela
Walker 10L, Isha Kamara
10L, Rahma Abdulle 10H.
Football club will resume in
September so if you want to
play in the league then start
attending; it is open to all
years.
Hi peeps! As usual, I
can’t wait till half term –
my bed, my books and
my food!
I actually realised that
most of the content I
submit for this column is
written by self-obsessed
moi – so I’ve decided
I would publish a
recommendation by one
of you guys instead.
‘Cherub Series’ by
Robert Muchamore:
“At first I wasn’t keen
on reading the series;
however, a close friend
of mine managed to
convince me. The main
character, James, is
someone you can relate
to due to his typical
teenage attitude and
super-hot looks (his
charming attitude is very
appealing). From the
beginning I was hooked.
The best thing is that
there are more than
ten books in the first
series, each addressing
a major criminal problem
in the 21st century. I
would recommend it to
everyone!”
From Mystery girl with
long eyelashes.
Please keep sending me
your reading tips via The
Cloud!
The Book Chatterbox
Year 11s had
to describe a
memorable event
from their school
days in their recent
mock English
Language exam.
As their time at
EGA draws to an
end, we continue to
share some of their
memories in this
newsletter:
Sanjidha Rahman 11L
Multicultural Day. Where
talents and cultures from
around the world are
unleashed.
We’d
look
forward to the event that
united diverse cultures from
around the world. There was
always that buzz in the air,
the mouth-watering smell
of tasty foods, the vibrant
colours of banners and flags
hung around the school, the
excitement as we’d see girls
performing and practising
their synchronised dances,
trying to get them perfect.
We’d always look forward to
it each year. This was the
final build-up to the end of
term.
Soon it was the evening of
the event. Multicultural Day
had finally come. I could
already sense the lively and
warm atmosphere as the
sound of beautiful melodies
filled my ears all the way
from school.
“We’re going to be late!” I
pestered my mother to hurry
up as she fixed my shawl, a
colourful, vibrant finishing
touch to my traditional Indian
dress. I was delighted in my
best clothes, hurrying out of
the door in a rush of pure
excitement. I could feel the
giddiness running through
me as we made our way
in as a family through the
entrance.
We had been practising for
weeks; my time after school
consisted of getting together
with a few of my best friends
and working out our routine.
I remember seeing them run
up to me, dressed in similar
clothes, representing our
home countries, the feeling
of being united, of being
one.
Tasnia Khan 11T
A woman came around
dressed in a kimono, red
and gold with embroidered
flowers. I longed for one.
She was handing out
sweets. Traditional sweets,
the taste of honey and
cinnamon, still sweet on my
tongue.
It is that one day a year
where the whole school
comes together to enjoy
and partake in sport. I love
Sports Day because it brings
a sense of unity amongst us
all, where the whole school
is around one track and we
all interact with each other.
I especially enjoy the team
relay because teamwork is
put to the test and we see
how well we work with our
form groups.
I remember being halfway
through the food, eating
away to my heart’s content
until they called our names.
The hall began to get so
packed. I hadn’t realised I
was standing on stage and,
before I knew it, my mother
was holding a camera to my
face, waggling her brows
and waving.
That night we danced.
I gave it my all. We spun
and synchronised to the
beat of the rhythmic music.
Sounds of tambourines and
drumming as the music
sped up, the heat of the air
and my sweat combining as
adrenaline rushed through
me, increasing with the
claps and laughter from the
audience. They were elated
and so was I.
Before we knew it, we
were
breathless
and
off stage, awaiting the
announcements of who
had won this year’s contest
with such an intense
atmosphere.
A loud announcement of our
names bellowed through
the speakers. We had won!
Running to the stage,
I looked at my mother,
happily smiling at me. I had
never felt so proud in my
life.
Sports Day: such a joyous
occasion for us all. The
event that gives us all such
unforgettable memories that
will stay with us for the rest of
our lives.
Everyone feels important on
Sports Day because we are
all given roles, even if it’s
team support. Every year I
was given the task of making
our team banners and every
year we tried to do better.
We thoroughly enjoyed this
because our banners were
so distinctive that we had
become an inspiration for
others to put an effort and
make theirs even better.
It’s truly amazing to see the
versatility in our school and
the huge amount of talent
each individual possesses.
It never fails to amaze me,
especially the cheerleaders.
Also, how often do you get
to see teachers partake in a
race? It allows you to see
teachers in a whole new light!
To make things better, the
weather is always beautiful
and sunny on Sports
Day, adding even more
excitement and fun to the
already buzzing atmosphere.
It is almost as if it is some
kind of miracle that we are
always blessed to see, as
everyone knows London
weather is unpredictable.
But above all, the most
memorable aspect of Sports
Day would have to be
winning! I hate to brag but
my form has won sport days
for 3 years straight, a record
for EGA.
C o n g r at u l at i o n s
Congratulations to these students for
passing their piano exam:
Saskia Brown 8A - Grade 1 with merit
Jasmine Wembankoy 9A - Grade 1 with
merit
Dea Bozhani 8Z - Grade 5 with merit
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Friday 5th June 2015
Vol 12. Issue 29
Dear Families,
I do hope you enjoyed
a good half term
break. We now just
have a few weeks until
the end of the school
year. Lots of exciting
things to come,
however: Year 11
Prom, Sports Day and
Graduation to name
but a few. Students in
Years 9, 10 and 11 will
be busy completing
their GCSE exams
and there will be
internal school exams
for Years 7 and 8 too.
On 15th June, we start
next year’s timetable
so that no time is
wasted and girls have
a head start on their
new courses.
During the last week
of last half term, all
Year 7 students took
part in a residential
experience where,
by all accounts, they
worked hard, played
hard and really
practised their team
working skills and built
their resilience.
Yours sincerely,
Y e a r 7 Re s i li e n ce Re s i d e n ti al
Throughout Year 7 we
have been encouraged
to be resilient. We have
to had to do challenges
from a booklet and set
ourselves goals which
have really tested our
resilience and improved
it. Some of us didn't
know what resilience
was and others thought
it would be easier to give
up. But soon we all had a
pretty good idea on how
to keep on going.
The final test was to go
on the residential trip: a
whole night and two days
away from home doing
activities outside of our
comfort zone. However,
the experience was
one that we shall always
remember.
We had forest walks
where we did a
challenging rope obstacle
course, a real campfire
where we burned our
marshmallows, stayed
up mainly all night and
took part in two new
adventurous activities:
Zorbing and Go-Carting.
The whole experience
improved our team work
skills and confidence.
We also made new
friends from outside
our form groups. Whilst
having lots of fun, we
learned the important
lesson of what it means
to be resilient.
Carolina Fernandez
Bold 7L
Year 11s had
to describe a
memorable event
from their school
days in their recent
mock English
Language exam.
As their time at
EGA draws to an
end, we continue to
share some of their
memories in this
newsletter:
quickly, Mr Silva, one
of the best English
teachers of all time,
was remembered in
many different ways.
day. The tears that
were shed, the smiles
that were shared and
the love that was
felt for a man that
had such passion for
Recited were poems, teaching his students
songs and messages and such dedication
from his dearest and to the English
closest to him. We
department.
even got to hear his
angelic voice in a
Although everyone
song he recorded
knew he liked to have
many years ago. Who a little shout at us if
There are many
would have thought we weren’t paying
memorable moments he was able to sing
attention to his love
in life, but some of
like that?
(that’s English by the
the best are made
way), we all knew he
in school. The day
This one evening
just wanted the best
that I will never forget brought everyone
for us.
and will forever be
together: family,
engraved in my
friends, teachers
That one day, that one
heart is the memorial and students past
evening of everyone
of such a beloved
and present, stood
being together,
teacher – Mr Silva.
together in memory
remembering the
This memorable event of such a loved man. moments that such
brought everyone
It was as if everyone a wonderful man
together.
was a big family
brought to our
and we had this one school, will forever be
It wasn’t a matter of element that brought engraved in my heart.
grief; it was a matter us together – the glue I will never forget that
of remembering all
to family of EGA… Mr day and I never forget
the happy moments. Silva.
him – Mr Silva.
In such a short
Sara Nour Ahmed
evening that went so I will never forget that 11H
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hey readers!
Half term went by as quickly as usual …I
ran out of books after 2 days!
So I looked around a bit and found
Maximum Security by Robert Muchamore,
and this is definitely one of the most fulfilling
books I’ve read so far. Do me a favour and
read it!
Signing off,
The Book Chatterbox
B e s t A t t en d an ce
1 0 H - 9 9 .1 %
B e s t Pu nctu a lity
7 E - 99 .7 %
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
JUNE 23rd 3.25 – 4.25pm
Teri Terry will be visiting The
Cloud to talk about her books, the
SLATED trilogy, and her new novel
Mind Games.
BOOK YOUR PLACE IN THE
LIBRARY NOW!
BOOK OF THE MONTH
J U N E 2 0 1 5
SLATED by TERI TERRY
SLATED: Kyla's memory has been
erased, her personality wiped blank,
her memories lost for ever. She's
been Slated.
The government claims she was a
terrorist, and that they are giving
her a second chance - as long as
she plays by their rules. But echoes
of the past whisper in Kyla's mind.
Someone is lying to her, and nothing
is as it seems. Who can she trust in
her search for the truth?
Book 1 in the acclaimed SLATED
trilogy.
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Vol 12. Issue 30
Dear Families,
It was good to meet up with
our new Year 7 students
and their parents when they
attended for their admission
interview, earlier this week.
There was, as ever, great
excitement and a little
nervousness but we know
that the girls will quickly
become part of EGA once
they start in September.
Many of them will, of course,
be attending our Summer
School in the last week of
August when they will have
the opportunity to work and
have fun with fellow students
and staff. It’s a great way to
ensure a smooth transition to
secondary school.
Yesterday, we had a special
“Promenade Performance”
by Year 7 students who
have been studying “A
Midsummer Night’s Dream”
in their English lessons
and showcased their
interpretation.
Next week is Sports Day
and competition is fierce as
the girls put in extra practice
aiming for both personal
and school records. Watch
out for the results in future
newsletters.
Yours sincerely,
London Youth Games Under 18 Volleyball
On Saturday, five year 8s
and an ex-student were
offered the opportunity to
represent Islington by playing
volleyball at the London Youth
Games. They travelled to the
SCORE Centre in Leyton
early Saturday morning and
were the youngest team
there. Competing against
some very tough teams such
as Hounslow, Kensington &
Chelsea, Ealing, Waltham
Forest and Harrow, their
best score of the day was
19 out of 25. They may not
This was the best year
ever for EGA, as 29 girls
achieved a medal in
the UKMT Junior Maths
Challenge.
Congratulations to all the
girls, especially Caitlin and
Jade, whose high scores
put them through to the
next stage of the challenge.
have won any matches but
they gave up their time, they
were committed, had a lot
of fun and learnt from the
experience. If you want to play
this great team game, then
start coming to the club from
September to represent your
school and borough. A huge
congratulations to the following
girls: Jasmia Dyer, Lisa Dawit,
Medina Sharipova and Emek
Aksoy in 8H, Saskia Brown in
8A and Gamze Kaplan (an exstudent now at college).
Corner
The Maths department have started
running a weekly challenge which is on display in the maths
corridor. There are 3 questions with different levels of difficulty :
‘spicy’ (foundation), ‘hot’ (higher) and ‘fire’ (advanced). Can you
solve all three?
Which of the following
calculations gives the
largest answer?
A1−2+3+4
B1+2−3+4
C1+2+3−4
D1+2−3−4
E1−2−3+4
Spicy
The UKMT
Junior Maths
Challenge
How many prime numbers are
there that are 1 less than a
square?
How many prime numbers are
there that are 1 less than a
cube?
What about primes of the form
nk – 1 for k > 3?
Fire
Which is longer 1 000 000 minutes or 100
weeks?
Hot
Gold Award
Caitlin Russell
Jayde Parkin
Silver Award
Dea Bozhani
Fatima Osman
Ayat Filli
Saskia Brown
Helia Murdock
Firdaus Noor
Nabiha Ahmed
Tammy Bruins
Skye Blyden-Jarrett
Jasmia Dyer
Rebecca Sattaur
Tania Akther
Bronze Award
Carlotta Balestra Lawrence
Sade Elufowoju
Salma Eloutmani
Fiza Ali
Sirin Koca
Halima Abdulle Alasow
Anisah Al Sahar
Iman Hassoun
Zeba Ahmadi
Lula Mama
Sahra Mire
Seemeen Khan
Jakia Khatun
Asima Islam
Thahira Alam
Students in Year 7 to Year
10 are getting excited about
our annual Sports Day,
Hey readers!
which comes around again
next week. Tutor groups
have been planning their
In case you didn’t know,
teams and we are hoping
for the past year Malorie
for good weather. As part of
Blackman has been Children’s
our series of EGA memories
Laureate (an eminent writer
from our leaving Year 11
of children’s books who is
students, two girls share
appointed to promote and
their different reflections
encourage children’s interest and memories of past sports
days:
in literature and reading).
LIBRARY COLUMN
Malorie is the
author of some
of the most
popular books
in the school
library – most
notably the
‘Noughts and
Crosses’ series. Malorie said
that the best thing about her
role was meeting so many
children and teenagers. If
you’d like to read more about
her time as laureate, follow
this link:
http://www.theguardian.com/
childrens-books-site/2015/
jun/04/malorie-blackmanchildrens-laureate-i-dontbelieve-in-regrets
Chris Riddell has been
appointed the new Children’s
Laureate.
Chris is the
author of
‘Goth Girl
and The
Mouse’,
which is
currently
on the Kate
Greenaway
nominations.
Signing off,
The Book Chatterbox
Denada Histoni 11L
One of my most memorable school
experiences is Sports Day. The
day which teachers see as an
athletic, productive and fun day in
comparison to how us girls all saw
it: a day to sunbathe, miss lessons
and eat until your belly pops!
Sports Day is memorable every
year. Floods of children relaxing
and socialising; it feels like a big
family. However, our last year of
Sports Day in Year 10 was the
most memorable.
We were out all day in the athletics
track, surviving sweltering heat
of 27-30 degrees. Everyone had
loaded on sun cream and placed
hats on, shielding them from the
sun’s harsh rays.
However, of course my group
of rebellious and extremely
intellectual friends had decided
not to do any of the above, but
sunbathe and catch a beautiful
Mediterranean glow. The only
thing my friends and I had placed
on were our matching sunglasses
as this made us feel ‘extra cool’.
We sat there all day as our skin
began to cook under the high
temperatures of that summer’s
day. We blasted out the music,
cleverly trying to ignore the
teachers as they called us up for
our chosen athletic events.
As the day was drawing to a
close, it was time to go home. Of
Fundraising for Nepal
Non Uniform Day on Friday 19th June
As part of our support of
Refugee Week there will be
assemblies, a Non Uniform
Day and a cake sale to raise
money for the Disasters
Emergency Committee’s Nepal
Appeal. The cake sale will be
in the piazza at break time on
the Friday.
As you know, thousands of
people have died and millions
more need urgent help as
a result of a massive 7.8
magnitude earthquake which
struck Nepal on Saturday
25th April followed by another
on 12th May measuring 7.4
on the Richter Scale. These
cataclysmic events severely
shook the lives of at least 8
million people and left many
homeless. Nepal’s major
cities, including the capital
Kathmandu, have been badly
damaged and rural areas
near the epicentre have
been completely cut off by
Best Attendance
7L 99%
Best Punctuality
8 L & 9E 9 9 .7 %
avalanches.
Over 8,800 people have been
confirmed dead and more
than 23,000 injured by these
two earthquakes. Even those
whose homes are still standing
are sleeping in the streets
because they are terrified by
regular aftershocks, of which
there have been over 300.
DEC member agencies and
their partners are working
urgently to provide emergency
shelter, food, clean water and
blankets. Once immediate,
life-saving needs are met
they will work with individuals,
families and communities to
support them to rebuild their
lives.
Please remember to donate a
pound on the day and more if
you can. Thank you for your
support.
course I was excited to see my
Mediterranean glow. However,
walking home we go strange looks
from members of the public, some
baffled faces and some dying with
laughter.
I was confused.
As I entered my house and ran up
the stairs to put the TV on, I caught
a glimpse of myself in the mirror. A
red alien had engulfed me. I was a
tomato with legs and arms.
That was definitely a moment I will
never forget!
Fouzia Ahmed 11H
Sports day: a day held with high
anticipation and often waited and
yearned for each year. Weeks
after the date is given, each class
thoughtfully selects the tactics
they’ll use in order to beat the other
teams. Selections and details are
planned out so carefully that even
each breath taken on the day is
timed to how long it should last. As
if it were the Olympics.
When the long waiting and
anxiety finally ends, the day
begins. Teacher say that Sports
Day is where students can
celebrate the end of the year
with fun ‘competition’; however,
with the look on everyone’s faces
it seems more like the warriors
going on the battle field.
Races are often the most
competitive events, where
students seem more like a pack
of lions battling for a bit of their
prey. With the stench of fear
hanging over the athletics track,
it seems like each of the students
are thirsty for medals.
Waiting all in line for the piercing
gunshot, sweat pours in floods
from each of their faces. Bang!
They all run like a pack of
wolves, each student hungry to
claim the medal for their own.
Finally, when the winner is
crowned in glory, the look of
despair is shown in each of the
losing faces. The only way to
conceal the losing faces is by
shaking the winner’s hand.
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005
Vol 12. Issue 31
Dear Families,
LIBRARY COLUMN
Sports Day on Tuesday
was a lovely event. We
were extremely lucky with
the weather and, as ever,
everyone joined in and the
girls were very supportive
of each other.
Hey readers!
We started our timetable
for the new academic year
this week which means
that everyone has now
moved up a year, several
weeks early. The new
Year 11s are very clear
that they are now the most
senior students in the
school and the standards
they set will be an example
to all the other students.
It’s a big responsibility but
we know that they can
take it on and raise the
bar for achievement and
commitment to learning
even further.
Next week, we will
be holding the formal
graduation for the outgoing
Year 11. It’s always sad
to say goodbye to the
girls who are leaving us
but we know they are well
prepared for the next stage
of their education and that
they will stay in touch with
us.
Yours sincerely,
Congratulations to
Year 7 for their spectacular
promenade
performance
of
Shakespeare’s
‘A
Midsummer Night’s Dream’
on Thursday 11th June!
All plays are written to be
acted out and enjoyed
by audiences, and it
was wonderful to see
Shakespeare being brought
to life in such a magical and
exciting way.
line-learning, prop-making,
and the creation of costumes
that would make even the
Globe Theatre proud, year 7
pulled it off in dazzling style!
The many relatives, friends
and teachers who came to
watch were enchanted by
the experience, and praised
the girls for their exceptional
teamwork,
energy
and
dedication.
Each class was responsible
for staging a scene in an
outdoor location around the
school, and after weeks of
We are very proud of the
results of all your hard
work, and we are sure that
Shakespeare would be too!
Well done, Year 7!
Ms Hazine and the English
department
It’s that time – more
library news! I need to
remind all you readers out
there that next Tuesday
the awesome Teri Terry
will be in the Cloud at
3.25pm. If you’re a fan of
the SLATED trilogy, then
her latest book, MIND
GAMES, is a must read!
In a future world, life is
tightly controlled by the
all-powerful PareCo.
Standing out from the
crowd is dangerous so
misfit Luna hides her
secrets carefully, not
realising her own power.
Unlike her friends and
family, Luna has never
been able to plug into
Realtime, PareCo’s virtual
world, where almost
everyone now lives their
lives. So how do PareCo
know about Luna, and why
do they want her for their
elite think tank?
Signing off,
The Book Chatterbox
Resilience Nominations
Staff who supported on the Year
7 resilience residential trips before
half term have nominated these girls
for demonstrating positive learning
habits, such as embracing challenges,
showing leadership qualities or being good
team players:
Rasiha 7E – for being very helpful with
preparing and organising the evening meal.
Fiona 7Z – for actively offering her support
in all activities and tasks
Pelin 7E – for taking a lead on preparing
and organising dinner for everyone
Courtney 7L – for taking a lead on preparing
and organising dinner for everyone
Ruqayyah Labidi 7L – for taking risks,
going out of her comfort zone and making
new friends
Sonja 7E – for taking a lead on ensuring that
the house was left clean and tidy for the next
group
Nabilah 7H –for being incredibly helpful and
very mature, taking on so many duties that
were not done by others
Well done to these girls.
Corner
The Maths department are
running a weekly challenge which is on display in the
maths corridor. There are 3 questions with different
levels of difficulty : ‘spicy’ (foundation), ‘hot’ (higher)
and ‘fire’ (advanced). Can you solve all three?
The difference between 1/3 of a certain
number and 1/4 of the same number is 3.
What is that number?
D 60
A 24
E 72
B 36
C 48 Spicy
The diagram shows a regular pentagon inside a
square.
What is the value of x ?
A 48
B 51
C 54
D 60
E 72
Hot
The diagram shows a square of side length 8cm,
and a circle. The circle passes through the two top
vertices of the square, and the midpoint of the bottom
side of the square.
What is the radius of the circle?
Fire
On Tuesday, EGA students and staff
travelled to Parliament Hill Athletics
Club for our annual Sports Day.
Lucky as usual, the weather was
kind to us and we enjoyed a beautiful
day of sportsmanship and sunshine.
Students participated in many different
events: sprints, long distance races,
field events, Paralympic events and
of course the traditional sports day
classics of sack races, three legged
races and egg and spoon, topped off
by the ever competitive tutor group
tug of war. The L tutor groups from
Years 7-10 won the overall victory, just
pipping the Z tutor groups to the win
by only one point! Thank you to all
staff and students who made the day
such a success.
Results
POINTS
296
342
341
309
270
308
GROUP
E
L
Z
A
T
H
PLACE
5th
1st
2nd
3rd
6th
4th
NEWSLETTER
Founded 2005 Vol 12. Issue 32
Dear Families,
Today (Friday) we
are looking forward to
celebrating with Year 11 and
their families and marking
their five years at EGA. It’s
wonderful to see and reflect
on the transformation from
the nervous little girls who
joined us to the confident,
resilient, highly qualified
young women who leave us
today. We particularly enjoy
celebrating with families
because the partnership
between the school and
home is such an important
factor in the girls’ success.
Yesterday we held our first
official meeting of the full
Federated Governing Body
of Copenhagen and EGA
schools and already we
are seeing the benefits of
working together. We have
a highly committed group
of governors who work so
hard to ensure the best
educational opportunities and
outcomes for our students.
Earlier this week, we
were visited by a group
of very senior delegates
from the Brazil education
service. They were
particularly interested in how
transforming the environment
of a school can help to raise
aspirations and achievement.
They were full of admiration
for both our students and our
buildings.
Yours sincerely,
Borough Athletics Success for EGA
commitment and dedication
to sport.
A huge congratulations
goes to the following girls
who won their categories
and were presented with
trophies and goody bags to
mark their victory:
The annual Islington
Sports Borough Athletics
presentation evening was
held on Monday 22nd June.
EGA was nominated in two
events: the Secondary
Female Sports Team of the
Year and the Secondary
Sportswoman of the Year.
The evening started
with an inspirational talk
from Maddy Badcott, an
Islington resident and a
current Oxford University
student, who competed
as part of the prestigious
Oxford University rowing
team in this year’s boat
race, as well as winning
gold at the European
Championship. This was
then followed by a whole
range of awards presented
by the Mayor of Islington
to those who have shown
Secondary Female
Sportswoman of the Year:
Caitlin Russell, 8H.
Secondary Female Sports
Team of the Year: EGA
Year 7 & 8 running team A
- Caitlin Russell 8H, Jasmia
Dyer 8H, Saskia Brown 8A,
Carolina Fernandez-Bold
7L, Sumaya Anshur 7E and
Mia Oyesiku 7H.
Michelle Obama returns to London
When we arrived at
Mulberry School for
girls, the atmosphere
was upbeat due to the
anticipated arrival of
the First Lady herself,
Michelle Obama.
Her speech was very
motivational as it brought
tears to her eyes and the
issues she raised were
so relatable, which made
the speech even more
moving.
Let Girls Learn is her new
campaign for getting all
girls around the world to
get into school and for
every girl to complete their
first stage of education.
The First Lady’s will
and drive to undergo
this amazing but difficult
project is what affected all
of the students, teachers
and every other person
engrossed in her speech.
This was an amazing
opportunity for some EGA
students, including me,
to experience the drive
which the First Lady has,
which made us want to
do the same and affect
other people’s lives in the
same positive way. This
experience has changed
students at EGA and it will
change opportunities for
girls beyond our school.
By Josephine
Adutwumwaa Nuamah
Y11
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hi people.
I am actually going to resign as the Book
Chatterbox so I will no longer be writing
the weekly library column. This is my last
post.
BUT that means that the space is now
available to you guys! Any bookwormy
student who would like to become the
next Book Chatterbox is very welcome to
take up my spot and continue submitting
weekly entries from September onwards.
I would also like to add a THANK YOU to
all those who have followed my entries
each week - I hope you enjoyed them
and will take up the challenge to replace
me!
So I guess this is goodbye.
GOODBYE!!!!!
P.S. Have any of you actually guessed
who I am? Just curious. If you think you
cracked it, tell Miss Cheetham or Charlie.
Signing off,
The Book Chatterbox
Corner
The Maths department are
running a weekly challenge
which is on display in the maths corridor. There are
3 questions with different levels of difficulty : ‘spicy’
(foundation), ‘hot’ (higher) and ‘fire’ (advanced). Can
you solve all three?
Spicy
What is the value of x in this triangle?
A 45
B 50
C 55
D 60
CARNEGIE
SHADOWING 2015
The Islington Carnegie Shadowing
Event was held this week at IAMS.
Each school put on a presentation
and the standard was excellent,
ranging from poems and songs to
drama and book trailers.
This year EGA put together a
selection of book trailers and excellent
contributions were made by groups
from both Year 7 and Year 10. The
Year 7s especially displayed a great
talent for acting!
Special thanks to Sheepa Ahmed,
10A, who edited all the clips and
put them together. They can
be seen by following this link on
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=lOrWtb93deM
Individual trailers can be seen on
Sheepa’s own YouTube channel,
DivineTrailers.
PARENT GOVERNOR
ELECTION : OUTCOME
Thank you to all parents
who voted in the recent
election for an EGA Parent
Governor on the Federated
Governing Body of EGA
and Copenhagen.
The results are as follows:
Tim Lawrence34 votes
Eszter Solyom12 votes
Therefore, Tim Lawrence
is elected to serve as
EGA Parent Governor on
the Federated Board of
Governors.
Hot
Which of the following numbers is not a
square?
A
B
C
D
E
1
5
2
4
3
3
4
2
5
6
Fire
According to recent research, global sea levels could rise
36.8 cm by the year 2100 as a result of melting ice. Roughly
how many millimetres is that per year?
A 10
B4
C1
D 0.4
E 0.1
Best Attendance
7E - 99.7%
Best Punctuality
7E- 100%
MISSING SCHOOL
=
MISSING OUT
Author Keren David was compère
at the event and told Sheepa that
authors would be very interested in
her book trailer skills!
The Islington Carnegie Shadowing
winner was When Mr Dog Bites
by Brian Coughlan (about a boy
with Tourettes) and the national
winner was Buffalo Song by Tanya
Landmann.
On Tuesday
16th June, two
girls from each
year group
were asked
to represent
the school at
the First Lady
of the United
States’ recent speech about
girls’ education at Mulberry
School, who were celebrating
their fifty year anniversary.
However, we were only found
out that we were going to get
this great opportunity early that
morning, as the school were
only informed about the plans
by the American Embassy the
night before!
When we reached Mulberry,
we had the chance to talk
to the girls at the school,
and were then introduced to
Michelle Obama. She told
us a wonderful story about
her childhood and how her
campaign was partly inspired
by her previous visit to EGA in
2009. Mrs Obama also said
that it doesn’t matter where you
start in life, that it doesn’t hold
you back, as hard work will pay
off.
Fiona Lu 10A
NEWSLETTER
Dear Families,
Today (Friday) we are
welcoming our new Year
7 students to spend the
morning with us to start
to get to know the school
and each other. They
will meet their tutor and
sample some of the
lessons they can expect in
September.
Earlier this week, we
met with their parents
and I spoke about
the importance of the
partnership with families in
making sure that the girls
succeed; the importance
of attending parents’
evening, of asking your
daughter about what she
has learnt in school every
day and of course, making
sure that she is always
present and ready for
learning.
This week, we have had
a number of successful
“Pop-Up” trips where girls
have met with authors in
a setting which reflects
their book. I hope you will
be hearing from the girls
about these visits in future
newsletters.
Yours sincerely,
Friday 3rd July 2015
Times Table Championships
On Friday 26th June
2015, four Year 8
students represented
EGA in a London
wide Times Table
competition, competing
against
39
other
schools.
Well done to Sirin Koca,
Dea Bozhanai, Zeba
Ahmadi and Saskia
Brown, as well as Eilaf
Mohamed who was our
reserve.
It was an amazing
day which included
the tour of the
Bloomberg offices in
Moorgate, with lots of
opportunities to speak
to employees of the
company who use
maths daily in their
roles.
Don’t feel left out…
We will be having our
own Times Tables
competition on Friday
10th July during lunch
time in the Lecture
theatre.
Take part for your
chance to win a £20
Nando’s voucher.
Good luck and practise
online at ttrockstars.com
with your school user
name and password!
Corner
The Maths department are running
a weekly challenge which is on
display in the maths corridor. There
are 3 questions with different levels
of difficulty : ‘spicy’ (foundation),
‘hot’ (higher) and ‘fire’ (advanced).
Can you solve all three?
Spicy
In this partly completed pyramid, each
rectangle is to be filled with the sum
of the two numbers in the rectangles
immediately below it.
What number should replace x?
A3
B4
C5
D7
E 12
Hot
The sum one + four = seventy
becomes correct if we replace each
word by the number of letters in it to
give 3 + 4 = 7.
Using the same convention, which
of these words could be substituted
for x to make the sum three + five=
x true?
A eight
B nine
C twelve
D seventeen
E eighteen
Fire
Karen has three times the number
of cherries that Lionel has, and
twice the number of cherries that
Michael has. Michael has seven
more cherries than Lionel. How
many cherries do Karen, Lionel
and Michael have altogether?
A 12
B 42
C 60
D 77
E 84
Congratulations to the students below who were nominated for showing positive Sports Day values:
For
Go tta D a n c e Showc as e 2 0 1 5
On Thursday 25th June,
the dance department
held its showcase, Gotta
Dance 2015
to a packed
audience. Girls from Year
8 up to Year 11 danced
pieces created in dance clubs, Rock
Challenge and GCSE coursework. All
the girls that took part were absolutely
dedicated and committed to the show
being a success. The dancers were
professional throughout, even during a
technical glitch! Ms Wells would like to
take this opportunity to say thank you
again to all the performers, Shyann on
lights, students on front of house duties,
the premises team and of course the
audience for coming to support the girls’
achievements. Well done all.
NEWSLETTER
Friday 10th July 2015
September 2015 : School Starting Dates
Dear Families,
School starts for Year 7 students on Wednesday 2nd September at 9.30 – 2.45.
School starts for Years 8, 9, 10 and 11 on Thursday 3rd September at 8.40 a.m.
This will be the last
newsletter of another
successful and busy year
at EGA. At the beginning
of the year, we celebrated
the completion of all the
landscaping works with
a wonderful Community
Event. Such was the
success of this, that we
plan to hold a similar
event on Friday 11th
September. I do hope
many of you will be able
to come along and join in
the fun.
G r a d u at i o n
During the course of
the year, we welcomed
visitors from Norway,
Denmark, Afghanistan,
Australia, South Africa and
Brazil. It’s great that EGA
is known across the world
and stands out.
We are very grateful
for all the support from
families which makes
such a difference. Thank
you. Wishing you a very
good summer and looking
forward to working with
you in the next academic
year.
Yours sincerely,
was time to celebrate
and share five years of
achievements with staff
family and friends. It was
also an opportunity to
reminisce and say good
bye and farewell to the
class of 2015.
We listened to speeches
Class
with words of wisdom
and appreciation
from Ms J. Dibb
(Head Teacher), Ms
T. Southall (Deputy
Head Teacher), Dr
L. Amechi (Head of
Year) and the Year
11 tutors. Dr Amechi
reminded the girls
about their ethos: “Your
attitude determines
your altitude.” The girls
echoed it back to him like
a chant of praise.
It was clear to see and
feel the pride around
the hall. There were
tears and laughter
of 2015
from students, families
and staff. One parent
said to a member of
staff, “Thank you for all
you have done for my
daughter. I’m just so
proud of her.”
The afternoon ended with
a beautiful buffet, photos,
signing of books and
uniform. The girls will be
dearly missed, but their
futures will be bright. We
shall see them again on
exam results day August
20th 2015, when they
can start the next stage
of their journey.
Media and Film Studies Update
It has been a busy start for
students who chose Media
and Film Studies as one
of their GCSE options this
year. Last Thursday, 25 new
Media and Film Students
spent the day at UCL to find
out more about film-making
How HOT is your attendance and documentaries.
Monday 29thJune – Friday 3rd July When we first arrived, we
heard from documentary
maker Isis Thompson who
spoke about the process she
goes through when creating
a documentary and then
showed the audience two of
her short films.
All students were then put
into groups where they made
some short films of their own
– which were a big hit when
shown in the UCL Darwin
Lecture Theatre!
We were then lucky enough
to hear a Channel 4
documentary maker Marc
Williamson who showed us
his documentary Bad Boys,
about a special school for
boys with emotional needs.
The girls wish to thank Tom
for organising the event as
part of the Open City Docs
Youth Day.
Well done girls!
Twenty students also
recently took part in a BBC
Focus Group, discussing the
way young people consume
the news. Many ideas were
shared, including using
social media to share the
news, how young people are
represented and how the
BBC could address the 12
– 15 year old audience. We
look forward to seeing some
of EGA’s ideas used in the
near future!
National Women in Engineering Day 2015
Crossrail
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hello Bookworms!
I am the
new Book
Chatterbox.
Hope you can
enjoy this new
chapter (do you
like the pun?)
with me!
I thought I would
write about a
book that nearly
everyone has heard of:
it’s Girl Online.
Penny has a secret.
Under the alias Girl Online, Penny blogs
her hidden feelings about friendship, boys,
high school drama, her crazy family, and
the panic attacks that have begun to take
over her life. When things go from bad to
worse, her family whisks her away to New
York, where she meets Noah, a gorgeous,
guitar-strumming American. Suddenly
Penny is falling in love - and capturing
every moment of it on her blog.
But Noah has a secret, too, one that
threatens to ruin Penny’s cover - and her
closest friendship - forever.
On 26th June, year 8 girls from Young Crossrail partner schools, Elizabeth
Garrett Anderson, St. Marylebone and Westminster Academy, visited
Crossrail’s head office for a morning of activities to celebrate National
Women in Engineering Day.
The girls had the chance to network with women from across the project and
find out about their exciting careers in a game of Networking Bingo!
Students worked in teams to design a campaign to encourage more women
into engineering. The teams came up with some excellent ideas, including
displaying architecture and pieces of engineering created by women in
popular hotspots in cities, and creating posters to highlight some of the great
benefits of working in the industry.
The winning team came up with a #Femgineers hashtag to use in social media,
and presented their campaign in an engaging radio interview.
I loved this book because it had a mix of
emotions and a clear storyline. There were
some flaws, but you would need to read it
to find out! Have fun reading!
Book of the Month July: Buffalo Soldier
by Tanya Landmann
Signing off,
The Book Chatterbox
Young Crossrail would like to thank the volunteers for their
support and of course the brilliant students who took part.
EGA raised a total of £767.84 as part of Refugee Week to help rebuild
and support Nepal after the area suffered devastating earthquakes in
April and May. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who donated, collected
donations, baked cakes, sold cakes and generally supported this effort
to reach a very healthy total. WELL DONE to you all!
Spicy
Corner
The Maths
department are
running a weekly
challenge which is
on display in the
maths corridor. There
are 3 questions with
different levels of
difficulty : ‘spicy’
(foundation), ‘hot’
(higher) and ‘fire’
(advanced). Can you
solve all three?
The result of the calculation
123 456 789 × 8 is almost
the same as 987 654 321
except that two of the digits
are in a different order.
What is the sum of these
two digits?
A3
B7
C9
D 15
E 17
Hot
Fire
The square ABCD has an area of 196.
It contains two overlapping squares; the
larger of these squares has an area 4
times that of the smaller and the area of
their overlap is 1. What is the total area of
the shaded regions?
A
B
A 44
How many
integers between
1 and 2014 are
multiples of both
20 and 14?
B 72
B 10
C 80
C 14
D 152
D
E more information is needed
C
A7
D 20
E 28
NEWSLETTER
Friday 4th September 2015
Dear Families,
EGA Transition Summer School 2015
Welcome back to the new
school year. I do hope you
all had a really good summer
break. I am delighted to report
that, once again, the results
for EGA students improved for
another year, with some stunning
successes for our young women.
We are well above national
averages in all key measures
and what is particularly pleasing
is the number of girls gaining A*
and A grades. We are one of
the highest performing schools
in the area where girls can be
assured of being stretched and
challenged so that they reach
their full potential.
Last week, 78 of our new year 7 students
attended our annual summer school to
make new friends and get a head start at
settling into life at secondary school. We
started the week with a strong growth
mindset message and asked students to
reflect on their current mindset and attitude
towards learning. They were encouraged
to:
• show a desire to learn
• embrace the different challenges they
would face during the week
• persist in the face of setbacks
• see effort as the path to mastery
• learn from feedback
• learn from and be inspired by the
successes of others
We are also celebrating the
news that we have been
awarded “Teaching School
Status”. This means that we
will be taking a leading role in
training new teachers, identifying
leadership potential and
supporting others in promoting
excellent teaching. We will be
working in partnership with a
number of local schools to the
benefit of all.
The year ahead will,
undoubtedly, be one of
opportunities and challenges and
we are in a very strong position
to maximise these opportunities
and rise to the challenges. We
will be continuing our work with
the girls to help them develop
a “growth mindset”, the belief
that they can achieve and the
resilience to keep going even if
they are finding a subject difficult.
Students who do well are those
who do not give up and who are
prepared to make a real effort.
They should feel a sense of
challenge, otherwise they won’t
be learning.
Finally, I am looking forward to
continuing to work with families
over the course of the next year.
Yours sincerely,
Over the course of the week, they had the
chance to develop new skills and improve
on their existing ones, through:
• writing a reflective mindset diary
• team building activities
• building and experimenting with their
own pinhole camera
• playing a table tennis tournament
• planning, filming and editing a short film
• putting up tents in teams
•
•
•
•
•
•
developing their skills in gymnastics,
trampolining and hula hooping
battling the rain on a day trip to the
London Eye, along the River Thames
and around Greenwich
creating a volcano
designing a t shirt
cooking for the Friday tea party with
their families
reading the fantastic book ‘Wonder’
On the final day, students presented the
fruits of their summer school learning to
their families at the afternoon celebration
event. A few students were even brave
enough to speak to the audience about
how they felt they had already developed
their growth mindset over the course of
the week. Students were presented with
a certificate acknowledging their efforts in
developing the growth mindset behaviours
listed above.
Well done to the students who committed
to the week and thank you to the teachers
who gave up the last week of their summer
holidays to ensure the summer school was
such a success.
ARE WARMLY INVITED TO
elebrat
C
e
4-6.00pm
Our best ever exam results
The class of 2015 worked
really hard during their time at
EGA; this was rewarded with
great exam results that are well
above national results.
•
•
•
•
BBQ, SPORTING ACTIVITIES, GAMES FOR
CHILDREN, COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS, PRIZE
RAFFLE, PERFORMANCE & ART ALL ON THE DAY
Following our successful community celebration
last year, we have decided to make this an annual
event. “Celebrate EGA” will take place on Friday 11th
September from 4-6pm. Families are welcome to join
us for outdoor performances, art, activities for children
and sporting matches. We hope some families will take
part in our football matches taking place at 5pm. There
will also be a BBQ. Tickets for this will be available for
£1 per person at the gated entrance on Donegal Street.
We hope to see you there and are keeping our fingers
crossed for some good weather!
Liberty Human Rights
Award Nomination
Helawit Hailemariam (Year
11 leaver and member
of Islington Community
Theatre) has been
nominated for a Liberty
Human Rights award for
co-developing the play
'Ask' to pressure the British
Government into pressing
for the release of her
father, democracy activist
Andargachew Tsege, who
is being detained by the
Ethiopian regime. Head of
Drama, Jayne Gold, saw
the play over the summer
and said it was ‘incredible’.
It was developed with the
Royal Court and featured
Helawit, alongside four
other EGA leavers: Nubia,
Justine, Nadia and Pia.
•
•
80% achieved 5 GCSE
grades C or above
68% (105) students
achieved 5 or more GCSE
grades at A*-C including
English and maths – the
results you need to study
level 3 courses such as A
levels or level 3 BTech
50 students achieved 3 or
more grades A/A*
89% achieved A*-C grades
in English Language
38% of students achieved
the Ebacc group of
qualifications – meaning
they achieved A*-C grades
in English, maths, science,
a language and history or
geography
Our highest achieving
student passed 13 GCSEs
all at grade A/A*
The students were very
pleased with their results and
have told us that they really
appreciated all the support
they received from family and
school. They emphasised the
importance of taking up all the
other opportunities on offer
at EGA, which helped build
their resilience and develop
their confidence. The advice
they would give to our current
students is to start working
hard and revising as early as
possible.
Our Year 11 leavers are now
signed up to a wide range of
college courses. Very well done
to the class of 2015. We wish
them all the best for the future
and that, in a paraphrase of
their year motto, their attitudes
continue to determine their
altitudes.
To all parents:
If your daughter has a medical condition
which requires medication – inhaler,
EpiPen, etc. – please inform the
school and make sure that we have the
appropriate medicine in the school office.
Year 7 Debate Team Success
See https://www.libertyhuman-rights.org.uk/
news/press-releases-andstatements/liberty-humanrights-awards-2015-shortlistannounced
for more information.
The Year 7 'Debate It'
team,that have been
working with Hogan Lovells
law firm throughout the
year to develop their
debating skills, won the
debating final for the third
year in a row! Beating
Central Foundation
Boys’ School, the girls
did an outstanding job at
presenting their arguments
and left feeling like
confident and experienced
debaters. We are sure they
will do even better in the
future!
NEWSLETTER
Dear Families
I do hope that many of
you will be joining us for
our Community Event this
evening (Friday).
Last year's was a
tremendous success and
we're keeping our fingers
crossed for good weather.
Having just welcomed
our year 7 students into
the EGA community (they
have made a tremendous
start, by the way), we are
thinking about the girls who
will be joining us in in 2016.
We are visiting primary
schools with some of their
former students who can
tell the year 6 girls about
their experiences at EGA.
Open mornings take
place in the last week
of September and
Open Evening is on 7th
October. We expect to be
extremely busy given our
academic success and
the the breadth of other
opportunities available to
EGA girls.
Many lunchtime and
after school clubs have
now started so please
encourage your daughter
to get involved. There is
so much to choose from
and girls can develop their
talents or learn new skills
as well as having fun.
Yours
STUDENTS, FAMILIES, STAFF & GOVERNORS
ARE WARMLY INVITED TO
elebrat
C
EGA Reading Festival
e
4-6.00pm
BBQ, SPORTING ACTIVITIES, GAMES FOR
CHILDREN, COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS, PRIZE
RAFFLE, PERFORMANCE & ART ALL ON THE DAY
Following our successful community celebration
last year, we have decided to make this an annual
event. “Celebrate EGA” will take place on Friday 11th
September from 4-6pm. Families are welcome to join
us for outdoor performances, art, activities for children
and sporting matches. We hope some families will take
part in our football matches taking place at 5pm. There
will also be a BBQ. Tickets for this will be available for
£1 per person at the gated entrance on Donegal Street.
We hope to see you there .and are keeping our fingers
crossed for some good weather!
Before the summer holidays,
Year 7 students all participated
in EGA’s annual festival of
reading. Each of the eight Year 7
English classes read a different
novel and were lucky enough
to meet the author of that book
at a relevant local setting. The
group reading Sawbones, by
Catherine Johnson, heard the
author speak at the London
Canal Museum – she was very
funny and explained how her
interest in local history inspired
this book.
Musical Achievement
Former EGA student receives
Liberty Human Rights Awards
Recent Year 11 leaver
Helawit Hailemariam
has won the Christine
Jackson Young
Person Award as part
of Liberty's Human
Rights Awards 2015.
It was presented
at the Southbank
Centre on Monday
evening. Helawit was
nominated for the award
following her work
Well done to Fiona Lu, 10A,
who recently passed her
Grade 2 trumpet exam.
with Islington Community
Theatre to develop ASK,
a play which details
the situation regarding
her father, democracy
activist Andargachew
Tsege, who has been
illegally detained by the
Ethiopian government.
Congratulations Helawit!
S u m m e r
S p o r t s
Islington Sport Award London Youth Games
Islington Netball Team
Evening 2015
The annual Islington Sports
Awards evening took place
on Monday 22nd June 2015
and with Maddy Badcott,
GB Rower, presenting the
awards,
alongside
many
dignitaries
from
Islington
Council, the evening was set
to be a great success. Many
EGA pupils were nominated
for a variety of awards due
to their excellent sporting
achievements this academic
year, but a special well done
goes to Caitlin Russell who
was awarded ‘Islington Senior
Sports Woman of the Year’ for
the commitment and success
she has displayed this year.
In addition to this, the Year
7 and 8 running team were
awarded the ‘KS3 Sports
Team of the Year’. Having
won the Islington running
league in 2014 and coming a
courageous 2nd in 2015, the
girls were thrilled with their
award. Huge congratulations
to all girls involved and their
sporting successes!
R o u n d
U p
Islington Borough Athletics 2015
On Wednesday 8th July,
over 30 girls represented
EGA School at the annual
Islington Borough athletics
competition. Girls who
had shown particular flair
at Sports Day were picked
to see if they could exert
their sporting prowess at
borough level.
The athletes did not fail
to perform to their best
and, after many well
fought competitions
in the track and field
events, the results of the
girls’ competition were
announced:
1st EGA 362 points
2nd Highbury Fields 360
points
3rd IAMs 277 points
4th Mount Carmel 204
points
5th SMMA 125 points
6th COLAi 86 points
7th Holloway 64 points
Samanta Abreu Franco, 8T
Lashay Dilaver, 9Z
Jasmia Dyer, 9H
Caitlin Russell, 9H
Dea Bozhani, 9Z
Grace Ikhirimirin, 9Z
Angel Chennis-Dixon, 9H
Zainab El-Guerbouzi, 9H
Sirin Koca, 9Z
T’mai Jones, 9A
Marsha Lockner, 9A
On Saturday 4th July, 12 girls from
across the borough of Islington
headed to Crystal Palace to compete
in the prestigious London Youth
Alexandra Callender, 10Z
Games. Previous competitors include
Tainia Jordan-Beckles, 10H
Linford Cristie and Mo Farah which
Sofia Angel Rodrigues, 10A
shows just how high the standard
Penny Kaur-Kingdon, 10T
is! Girls from Mount Carmel, COLAi
Monet Roberts, 10H
and EGA have been training at EGA
Jasmine Wembankoy, 10A
School every Tuesday from 3.30 –
Jadah Stewart, 10Z
5.30pm in preparation for the event
Kamaria Duncan, 10L
and were raring to go!
The day started off reasonably well
Condasy Greer, 11E
but, with a difficult draw against
Jameela Walker, 11L
teams such as Ealing and Hackney,
Isha Kamara, 11L
the Islington team struggled to find
Miriam Fleary, 11Z
their feet at first. However, after lunch
Shahrima Hussain, 11Z
they came back much stronger and
Tiara Le, 11Z
successfully beat Greenwich and
Epaphrodite Zumbila, 11H
Camden.
Ubah Mohamed, 11Z
Congratulations go to all girls who following girls:
took part and, if you have been
Helpers:
inspired by their success, we look Nafisa Patel, 8E
Sarah El-Guerbouzi and exforward to welcoming new players Fatoumata Camara, 8L
EGA Leaders and
students Hannah Basic, Sufia
to Netball club every Tuesday after Mia Oyesiku, 8H
Primary Sports Days school (speak to Miss Howe if you Carolina Fernandez-Bold, 8L Yahiya and Kourtnee Sinead
EGA sports leaders have a have any questions).
Opah Cruz, 8A
Williams
tradition of supporting local
Jazmin Brade, 8H
primary schools run their
sports days and this year was BOOK OF THE MONTH -THE LOST AND THE FOUND – CAT CLARKE
no exception! Over 40 Sports
LOST
the teddy bear Laurel was last
Leaders have helped plan,
When six-year-old Laurel
seen with. Laurel is home at
organise and run the following
Logan was abducted, the
last, safe and sound. Faith
events:
only witness was her younger
always dreamed of getting her
Change4life Festival – 1st July
sister. Faith's childhood
sister back, without ever truly
2015
was dominated by Laurel's
believing it would happen. But
Vittoria Sports Day – Friday
disappearance - from her
a disturbing series of events
10th July 2015
parents' broken marriage and
leaves Faith increasingly
Rotherfield Sports Day –
the constant media attention
isolated and paranoid, and
Tuesday 14th July 2015
to dealing with so-called
before long she begins to
All the girls utilised the skills
friends who only ever wanted
wonder if everything that's lost
that they had learnt during their
to talk about her sister.
can be found again...
level 1 Sports Leader Award
FOUND
CAT CLARKE IS VISITING
and were praised by staff and
Thirteen years later, a young
EGA ON SEPTEMBER 22ND
pupils from across the borough.
woman is found in the garden
3.30PM
Congratulations to all girls for
of the Logans' old house,
BOOK YOUR PLACE IN THE
the commitment and dedication
disorientated and clutching
CLOUD NOW!
that they showed.
NEWSLETTER
Dear Families,
EGA Community Celebration
It was good to see so many
of you at the Community
Event last week. I do hope
you enjoyed it as much as
we did.
Last Friday saw the
return
of
the
now
annual ‘Celebrate EGA’
community event. We
were
delighted
to
welcome students and
their families, governors
and staff to enjoy our
grounds and facilities
on a sunny September
evening.
musical
performances
and the reprisal of scenes
from the year 7 production
of A Midsummer Night’s
Dream.
There were many different
activities on offer at the
event which families
could participate in: face
painting, henna, bouncy
castle, bookmark making,
table tennis, cooking, art
activities and the games
run by the Girl Guides.
Meanwhile, on the sports
pitches some nail-biting
matches were taking
place. After the exciting
netball
and
football
tournaments that the
girls played very well
in, the parents stepped
up to take on the EGA
teachers.
We have had a very
positive start to the new
school year. Standards
of uniform, attendance
and punctuality are very
high and I am grateful for
the support of families in
making sure that girls leave
for school on time in the
correct school uniform.
It really does make a
difference and ensures
girls get into good habits
which they will need if they
are going to succeed both
in education and in the
workplace.
Very shortly, we will be
welcoming prospective new
students and their parents
to the school. I know that
they will be impressed
by the outstanding
examination results, the
fantastic environment and
the ethos of learning which
is so apparent to all visitors.
Eid Muberak to all families
celebrating next week. An
absence of one day will
be authorised for relevant
students.
Yours sincerely,
We were also treated to
.
Of course, everyone
thoroughly enjoyed the
tasty barbeque that was
kindly prepared by our
canteen team.
Both teams played well
in the first half, with the
score staying at 0-0.
After their half time pep
talk, the parents came
back stronger and more
determined to win, scoring
4 goals in the second
half. The teachers were
able to pull back 1 goal,
leaving the final score at
4-1.
Well done to everyone
who took part and
congratulations
to
the parents who were
successful for a second
year in a row! Also, a
massive thank you to Ms
Silva for refereeing the
game.
EGA LUNCHTIME CLUBS AUTUMN TERM 2015
MONDAY
Film Club
Computer Club
Maths Club
Yr8 Dance Club
Guitar and Keyboard Clubs
Give It A Go Club
Year group(s)
All Years
All Years
Yr7&8
Yr8
All Years
Yr7,8,9
Room
Lecture Theatre
Level 5 L/support
Level 5 L/support
Dance Studio
Music
PE
TUESDAY
Film Club
Computer Club
Maths Club
All Years
All Years
Yr7&8
Lecture Theatre
Level 5 L/support
Level 5 L/support
Table Tennis
All Years
PE
WEDNESDAY
Film Club
Computer Club
Maths Club
All Years
All Years
Yr7&8
Lecture Theatre
Level 5 L/support
Level 5 L/support
Dance Rock Challenge
All Years
Dance Studio
Fitness Suite
Yr10&11
PE
THURSDAY
Film Club
Computer Club
Coursework catch up
Maths Club
Junior Choir
All Years
All Years
Yr9,10,11
Yr7&8
Yr7&8
Lecture Theatre
Level 5 L/support
R1
Level 5 L/support
Music
FRIDAY
Advanced Piano club
Senior Choir
All Years
Yr9,10,11
Lecture Theatre
Music
Before school every day Breakfast Club in the dining hall 8.00-8.40am
Before school Mondays Badminton – All Years
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hello Bookworms!
I’m back with ‘What to Read this Autumn’!
So let’s get right into it.
My Top 5 Autumn Reads:
1. The Hunger Games Trilogy by
Suzanne Collins
2. Her Sister’s Voice by Lesley
Cheetham
3. The Divergent Trilogy by Veronica
Roth
4. Warm Bodies by Issac Marion
5. Cleo by Lucy Coats
I hope you try to read all of these books
because they are some of my favourites.
Also, try to read the book of the month
as well which is The Lost and Found by
Cat Clarke. Remember to sign up in the
library to meet her!
Bye!
The Book Chatterbox
Before school Wednesdays Running league – All Years
Lunch time Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs Film Club in the Lecture Theatre
EGA AFTERSCHOOL CLUBS AUTUMN TERM 2014
MONDAY
Entry Level Science
Computer Club
Targeted GCSE English
revision
Textiles
Rock Band and Music IT
support
Football
Year group(s)
All Years
All Years
Year 11
Room
Level 5 L/support
Level 5 L/support
English
Year 7&8
All Years
De (Art block)
Music
All Years
PE
TUESDAY
Entry Level Science
Homework club
Guides
Targeted GCSE Maths revision
GCSE Textiles
Dance Rock Challenge
Music chamber group
Netball
All Years
All Years
All Years
Year 11
Yr9,10,11
All Years
All Years
All Years
Level 5 L/support
Level 5 L/support
Lecture theatre
Maths
De
Dance Studio
Music
PE
WEDNESDAY
Building your confidence
through Drama
Orchestra
All Years (From
Oct)
All Years
Drama Studio
Yr7&8
Year 11
Drama Studio
Science
All Years
All Years
Yr9,10,11
All Years
Level 5 L/support
Level 5 L/support
Dance Studio
PE
All Years
All Years
Yr9,10,11
Level 5 L/support
Level 5 L/support
De
THURSDAY
Drama Club
Targeted GCSE Science
revision
Computer Club
Homework Club
Dance Technique Club
Gymnastics and Trampoline
FRIDAY
Entry Level Science
Homework club
GCSE Textiles
Music
Clubs for GCSE revision will run at key times during the year and
targeted students will be invited to these sessions.
GCSE Drama students have been
taking part in a series of workshops
with the Almeida Theatre to develop
their performance skills with theatre
practitioners. Movement and puppetry
sessions have proved extremely
useful as they prepare for their first
performance assessments.
NEWSLETTER
Dear Families,
During the course of next week
we will be collecting information
from all teachers about the
students they teach. This is
not just about the standards
they are reaching but also the
commitment to learning which
they have shown in lessons
and in completing homework
tasks.
A great deal of emphasis is
being put on commitment to
learning as we know that it is
effort which counts and there is
no such thing as being ‘good’
or ‘not good’ at a subject. It is
particularly important that you
are aware of your daughter’s
commitment because the
National Curriculum levels you
have been used to no longer
exist. This means EGA, like all
schools, is looking at a system
which tells you where students
should be at each stage of
their learning and whether
your daughter has reached
this is or is indeed exceeding
expectations. It sounds
complex but we will be giving
you a full explanation each time
we send out any data.
Next month, we will be
meeting with the parents of
our new Year 7 to share all the
information we have and talk
further about their transition to
secondary school. From our
perspective, it has been very
smooth; the girls seem very
happy and enthusiastic about
all aspects of life at EGA.
Yours sincerely,
Transition to EGA:
Caitlin Kelly 7Z
I am very lucky
that I was offered a
place at EGA, as it
was my number one
choice. However, I
was offered a place
here and at one
other secondary school and I had
to weigh up both schools on which
offered the best options for me.
After some consideration, I chose
EGA and have never looked back
on my decision.
On my first day here I had mixed
emotions; I was excited but very
nervous at the same time. I have
settled in well and have met some
nice teachers, as well as making
some fantastic new friends that
weren't with me at my primary
school, although I still have some
close friends from there.
Since being here, I have joined a
couple of clubs: film club, that takes
place during every lunch hour
except Friday, and trampolining,
which is on a Thursday evening
after school.
EGA makes students feel very
welcome and are very good at
supporting me when I need it. I
feel that I can speak to any of the
teachers or my Head of Year if
anything worries me and I feel very
comfortable in doing this.
Some of our new Year 7 students share their reflections
on their first few weeks at secondary school.
school started and have a taste of
things we would be learning at
EGA. We went on a trip in Central
London, where we went on the
London Eye and watched a short
film on London in 4D! It was an
amazing experience.
When school started, that was
when our lessons began. It was
a different environment as there
were more lessons and more
classrooms. I was very puzzled at
first when finding my way around
the building, but then I got used to
the layout and it became easier to
find my way around. It was busy in
the hallways as well, and I wanted
to make sure I was not late!
One of the other things that is
different is that we get homework
more than we did at primary school
and we are expected to complete
it to the very best of our abilities.
At EGA we are taught that one of
the key ways to achieve highly is
to give it our all in every lesson - to
have outstanding commitment to
learning.
Everyone made friends very
quickly due to the fact that
everybody is new and everybody is
feeling the same way. I think one
of the best things about starting
EGA is that we all lucky enough to
be fully equipped and have lots of
resources.
However, the main thing is that
everyone is happy. I started EGA
because every female member
of my family went to EGA and I
wanted to keep that tradition up.
The teachers at EGA are really
nice and they do help if you are
Samirah Fidaus 7E
stuck. They are very supportive of
When I started EGA,
us, they help us whatever level we
I felt mixed-emotions.
are on, and they respect us in the
It was nerve-wracking
way that we respect them.
because there were
about 900 students in
Overall, my few weeks at EGA
the school, many more
have been much better than I
than were in my primary school.
expected, especially as I did worry
However, I was excited to start a
lots about everything and how it
new adventure and another chapter
was going to work out, but now I
of my life, because it was going to be
really enjoy attending secondary
somewhere I would spend the next
school.
five years, achieve high levels and
Keira-Joan
exceed everyone's expectations.
There are so many opportunities
here for me and I feel that I have
made the best decision for myself
and for my further education.
Alexander 7Z
In the summer holidays, many
students got a chance to attend
summer school, where we did a wide
range of different activities. We had
a chance to make new friends before
My first few weeks at
EGA have been the
best! I have made
lots of friends and
enjoyed all of the
lessons. My favourite lessons so
far have been food technology,
maths, history and textiles
because I have learned new and
exciting things. Also, EGA has
given me tons of opportunities to
improve my growth mindset so
far. I have learnt that no matter
how hard you find something,
you should never give up.
Although it is scary being at a
new school, I think moving up
and starting year 7 has helped
me improve my study skills and
my confidence.
Aisha Abdi 7E
My first day at EGA
was quite difficult
as I joined late,
considering
that
everyone else had
four more days to
socialise and form
friendship groups.
However,
meeting my tutor group turned
out well, as we exchanged warm
and welcoming smiles.
After one week or so, I started
getting used to the school but I
still had to find my way through
the corridors to different classes
without getting squashed by all
the other students!
Now that I have made a couple
of good friends and started
getting used to the new routine
here, I am really enjoying it
and I hope I come out with high
grades and with a bright smile
on my face.
Ndey Grant 7E
My few weeks at
EGA have been
great! I have made
friends
easily
and
the
older
girls have been
willing to help. I
definitely thought
it would be harder, but with all
the support from my form tutor,
teachers and summer school,
the transition was much easier
than I expected. The lessons are
great, especially art and textiles.
They are getting more fun as I
have learnt the basics and have
started using sewing machines,
painting and much more. Don’t
feel scared - you will enjoy your
time at EGA. I have!
Transition to EGA
We all know how it feels to be new students
at a new school. After a while, you will soon
make many friends, as well as keeping the old
ones. New classes, new experiences and a
whole lot of new opportunities.
At this school you will never be bored because
you will experience a wide range of challenging
lessons: dance, food technology, drama, art,
science and many more.
Also, if you have a keen taste for an after
school activity, there are many cool clubs at
EGA. You can also sign up for sports teams
and represent the school at lots of different
games. Even better, you can learn many
instruments here!
Veronica Nedilko, Silviya Manandhar and
Shahreen Hussain 7E
Parenting Course at EGA
Becoming a Writer Workshop
Cat Clarke, author of Torn,
Entangled, Undone, A Kiss
in the Dark and The Lost
and the Found, visited EGA
this week and hosted an
extremely lively discussion
about writing. Cat said
afterwards that it was ‘the
best group she’d ever met’
and the most fun she’d ever
had on a school visit. She
was really impressed with
the questions asked, which
ranged from ‘Where do you
do your writing?’ (answer
= sofa, bed) to ‘Does she
still have eyeballs?’ (about
a character in Undone)
– which Cat said was the
most bizarre question she’d
ever been asked!
Cat lead a writing
workshop in the second
part of the session and
each group came up with
amazing ideas. KeiraJoan in 7Z proved to
have an amazingly fertile
imagination, with so many
great ideas for stories!
A TWEET FROM CAT!
Cat Clarke ‫@‏‬cat_clarke
Thank you so much for
having me! The students
were AWESOME.
EGA.ST.PANCRAS
Parents celebrated, with their
children, the successful completion
of the ‘Strengthening Families,
Strengthening Communities’
Parenting Course at EGA on
Monday 21st September. Ms
Southall presented them with their
certificates. Here are some of the
things parents said at the graduation:
Ifrah: ‘The programme is excellent
because it suggests different
strategies and practical ways to
improve your relationship with your
children. It has had a positive impact
on my family.’
Arezou: ‘It was nice meeting new
parents and sharing our experience.’
Many thanks to Ms McWilliams and
Ms Begum who taught the course for
13 weeks.
DO YOU
Reading Map
LOVE
READING?
Then take part in the reading
map challenge!
EGA ST Pancras Reading Map
The EGA St Pancras reading map is based on
the London Underground map, with each
colour coded line representing a different
genre of fiction. Genres used are:
Why take part in the EGA
reading map you ask?
Discover new books to enjoy!
Thanks to the ‘genre tube lines’
you might even find your new
favourite!
Collect loyalty cards and earn
badges whilst reading the
books you decide on!
The chance to be the top reader
in your year group and the
entire school for the reading
map challenge!
Adventure
Crime/thriller
Family and Friendship
Fantasy
Global
History
Romance
Sci-fi
War
Books are also colour coded according to level
of reading:
Zone 1& 2 simpler, easier reads
Zone 3 Years 7-9
Zone 4 GCSE level, more challenging
Zone 5 Advanced readers
Come in to the library
to find out more!
NEWSLETTER
Dear Families,
It’s been a very busy week
of open mornings. As we
had anticipated, we had
large numbers of Year
6 girls and their parents
who were, as ever, very
impressed by the lessons
they visited and the girls
they spoke to. Next week
is OPEN EVENING and
we have two further open
mornings later this month.
At the beginning of the
year, we carried out some
research into the reading
habits of the girls. Whilst
most girls arrive at EGA
as keen readers, this
enthusiasm often trails
off by the end of Year 8.
This is a great concern
to us as reading is so
important in developing the
understanding, vocabulary
and cultural literacy which
are needed if girls are
to be successful in all
their subjects. Please
encourage your daughter
to read every day. We
have a very well stocked
library including access
to E-Readers. Regular
reading really will make a
difference.
As the weather gets a little
colder, please help us to
maintain high standards of
uniform. A plain jacket is
allowed but no sweatshirts
or hoodies. Many thanks
for your support with this.
Yours sincerely,
Friday 2nd October 2015
EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES 2015
On Thursday 1st October we
celebrated our 14th European
Day of Languages with our
annual Languages Fair. This
is a very important day in our
school calendar offering us the
opportunity to recognise and
share some of the languages
and cultures that make EGA
and its community so special.
There were a variety of
different languages represented
included
Albanian,
Farsi,
Finnish, Mandarin Chinese,
Tagalog from The Philippines
and Somali.
As always the girls diligently
stayed after school to prepare
their stalls. Thank you to all staff
that helped in the preparations
and during the day, and to the
girls for their commitment and
hard work!
Also a huge thank you to years
3, 4, 5 and 6 from Winton
Primary and both Year 6 classes
from Prior Weston Primary who
made a special effort to come
and join in our celebrations.
Great fun was had by all!
In the art
department
we encourage
work from
a range of
cultures and
after just two lessons in Islamic art,
the year 8s are producing some
amazing work as shown in these
examples
by Opah
Loreto Cruz
Moritz 8A
and Nabilah
Mallah 8H.
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hello everyone!
I recently just finished Amy Alward’s new book
called The Potion Diaries and it is so good! It is
about a young alchemist called Samantha Kemi
who needs to procure a potion to help the Princess
of Nova, also known as Princess Evelyn. Princess
Evelyn has accidently poisoned herself with a love
potion and Sam is taking part in the Wilde Hunt to
save the Princess from dying. Will she be able to
do it?
NEWSFLASH: Every month we will be publishing
the top borrowers –students who have borrowed
the most books from the library. See this newsletter
for September’s results.
Signing off,
The Book Chatterbox
EGA SDT PANCRAS READING MAP
– FIRST REVIEW
The first review of a book from
the EGA St Pancras reading map
was from Lillian Stephenson, 7E.
It was of Alice in Wonderland by
Lewis Carroll, which is on the
Fantasy line. She says: ‘The most
interesting incident was when Alice gets fed up
of the nonsense in Wonderland, grows really
big and tells off the King, Queen and jury for
saying stupid things, then wakes up to find it
was all a dream.’
Lots of students have started their journeys
already; don’t forget to pick up your loyalty
cards from the Cloud!
SEPTEMBER LIBRARY
ISSUE FIGURES
L AT E S TA R T
Thursday 8th October 2015
YEAR 7
TOP BORROWER: Racheal
Tidman 7Z
Gar-Man Madigral 7H
Catherine Vargas-Jimenez 7T
Nima Shiek 7E
Alexia Rama 7L
Following Open Evening on
Wednesday 7th October, when
many girls will have been at
school late in the evening, on
Thursday 8th October school
will start at 10.40 a.m.
YEAR 8
JOINT TOP BORROWERS: Laila
Ahmed 8Z/ Aisha Khadi 8H
Kyra Allen 8Z **
Sumayo Mohamed 8T
Courtney Stainsby 8L
N’senga M’Vwatu 8E
Inaya Choudhury 8L
YEAR 9
TOP BORROWER: Sadia Ahmed
Shama 9L
Mujidat Osunbayo 9E
YEAR 10
TOP BORROWER: Mahfuza
Anjum 10L*
Rashida Hoque 10H
Fatimo Mohamed 10E
Calling all parents!
We would really like to get some
feedback on our weekly newsletter. We
know that some parents very much
value receiving it; however, making
copies for every student in the school to
take home is not necessarily the most
environmentally friendly approach.
We would really appreciate any
feedback in response to these questions,
so we can work out the best way of
sharing news with you:
•
YEAR 11
TOP BORROWER: Isha Kamara
11L
Sheepa Ahmed 11E
Mahima Aktar 11A
•
*TOP BORROWER IN SCHOOL
**TOP NON-FICTION BORROWER
•
First month at EGA
•
I have really enjoyed
exploring the school and
experiencing different
classes. So far, I
have been particularly
interested in science
experiments, especially
using the Bunsen burners.
I have really enjoyed making new friends
and getting to know the girls and the
teachers better. At lunch time, I really like
going to film club with my friends. All the
teachers at EGA have been really kind
to me and so have the girls. I am very
happy I chose EGA for my school and
I cannot wait to experience more new
challenges.
Sara Lamine 7E
•
Do you read the hard copies of the
newsletter that your daughter brings
home?
Would you prefer to receive colour
copies?
Would you be willing to collect
these from reception, or to get your
daughter to collect one for you?
Would you be happy just to receive
the newsletter via email?
Do you have any other feedback
on the content or distribution of the
newsletter?
Please send your feedback to admin@
egas.islington.sch.uk marking it for the
attention of Ms Wilkins in the subject
heading.
Well done
to Emek
Aksoy
9H for
passing her
Acoustic
Guitar
Grade 6.
NEWSLETTER
Friday 9th October 2015
EGA Open Evening 2015
Dear Families,
Last week I had the
pleasure of attending
City Hall to receive the
Certificate marking our
membership of the “London
Schools’ Gold Club”. This
is given in recognition of
exceptional performance
in terms of outcomes for
our students. There is
an expectation that we
will share the outstanding
practice at EGA with others.
This award is just one of
the recognitions we have
had since this time last
year. We were a regional
winner in the first ever
Character Awards; we
received a Pupil Premium
Award; Ofsted confirmed
that we continue to be an
outstanding school and,
along with our partner
primary schools, we were
awarded Teaching School
status. It just confirms that
EGA’s a very exciting place
to work and to learn and
that we are always seeking
new opportunities and
challenges for our students.
Next week we will be
meeting with the families
of our new Year 7 students
to share all the information
we have and to talk about
how they have settled into
their new school. I look
forward to seeing you on
Wednesday at 5.00 p.m.
Yours sincerely,
On Wednesday we held our annual
Open Evening for prospective
parents and year 5 and 6 students.
The evening was a huge success
and attendance increased by 50%
on the previous year.
•
•
•
•
Families enjoyed personalised
tours round the school from our
student tour guides, who received
very positive feedback. Our
visitors were treated to huge array
of activities organised by our
departments:
•
•
•
•
•
•
A journey through the English
curriculum, including a
reprisal of the finale scene of
the Y7 A Midsummer Night’s
Dream production
Mathematical challenges,
origami and problem solving
Science experiments
including dissections and
circuits
•
•
•
•
A GCSE drama workshop
with the Almeida Theatre
A Rock Challenge rehearsal
in dance
Instrumental and vocal
workshops in music
Pop Art inspired batik in
textiles
Print skills, drawing and
design in art
Learning about binary
numbers and physical
computing, plus trying out
coding software
Sampling food made by the
students in food technology
A trip around the world to
complete their passports in
geography
Revision film making in the
mac suite for history
Language teaching stalls, a
spelling bee and a visit to a
French café
Student leadership at the
•
•
•
executive seniors meeting
Ethical debates on capital
punishment and euthanasia
in RE
An introduction to the library
and its activities by our
librarian and reading group
Student animations and
finding out about literacy and
numeracy interventions in
learning support
We are holding two more open
mornings on Tuesday and
Thursday next week and are
expecting them to be very busy, as
many attending the Open Evening
said they would be coming back.
We always encourage families
to come to both, as it is just
as important to see the school
during the normal school day and
we know that they will be very
impressed with what they see in
lessons.
My First EDL
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hello people!
ISLINGTON TEEN READ 2016
Voting has opened for this year’s Islington Teen Read
Award. The top 20 recently published books which are
popular at EGA have been selected for Phase 1 of the
vote.
Come to the library to make your vote for one of the titles
in the image. Voting is open until Dec 15th. Alternatively,
email your choice to Ms Cheetham or Mr Costello.
Tuesday 13th October
Open Morning for prospective parents
9.15am
Wednesday 14th October
Year 7 Settling in Evening 5-6pm
Thursday 15th October
Open Morning for prospective parents
9.15am
w/c 12th October
Year 8 core tests (English, maths and
science)
Wednesday 4th November
Year 11 Parents’ Evening 4.30-7pm
Thursday 12th November
Primary Tea Party 4.30-6pm for invited
Year 7 students and their primary heads
and teachers
A group of year 8 art students were
lucky enough to receive letters,
postcards and art work from a girls
school in China after writing to them
telling them about life at EGA.
On another note, one of the parents at Open Evening
last night was a YA author – Jane Hardstaffe – who
was thrilled to see her book on our tube line! It was her
second visit to the school and she was returning with her
daughter Freya to show her the ‘beautiful library’! She
tweeted about meeting the ‘spirited reading group’ and is
hopefully going to be able to come in for an author visit.
Signing off,
The Book Chatterbox
Primary Tea Party
Our annual tea party takes place on
Thursday 12th November from 4.306pm. We have been sending out save
the dates to our feeder primary schools
and Year 7 students have started writing
beautiful letters to invite their teachers
and head teachers. We know that both
our primary colleagues and Year 7
students really look forward to this event
and getting a chance to catch up with
each other and reminisce about year
6. There will be musical performances
and lots of delicious cakes on offer. We
hope to see lots of people there.
EDL stands for
European Day of
Languages and it is
where we celebrate
the fact that there
are many different
languages spoken
around the world.
At EGA, many year 7s, 8s and
9s were busy last week planning
lessons to run their own stalls
for this event. Samirah (7E) and
I ran a Bengali stall where we
taught children numbers from 1-10
and information on what we like
traditionally like to do in Bengali
culture, such as playing cricket!
At first, we were not confident at
all. However, 4 days before the
big day, we decided to take on the
challenge. We planned the lesson
carefully and created the banner.
When it had begun, we were both
happy to find ourselves teaching
younger pupils about our language.
Year 7s came to see if they could
learn new things and languages
too! When our tutor group came,
we were so happy to see them
want to come and learn something
new.
To sum up, EDL was a great
experience, as you learn to plan
and design your own lesson, as
well as boosting your confidence. I
would recommend all students to
try to get involved one year.
Shahreen Hussain 7E
Founded 2005
Vol. 13, Issue 7
Dear Families,
Friday 16th October 2015
Year 11 National Poetry Day Trip
This will be the last newsletter
of the half term. It has been as
busy as ever and we have
particularly enjoyed welcoming
our potential new students and
their families. There has been a
great buzz around our open
events with families very
excited about what they see.
Feedback has mentioned how
happy the girls appear and how
much they enjoy their learning.
We certainly know this is the
case and it’s good to have it
confirmed by visitors.
During the next two weeks I will
be visiting schools in Shanghai
and Auckland. I will be part of a
delegation of National Leaders
of Education. The aim is to
share good practice and to learn
from each other.
The first week back after half
term we will be holding a
Parents’ Evening for Year 11
families. It is very important
that we have full attendance so
that we can work together to
ensure that students reach their
full potential. In the meantime,
have a really good half term.
Yours sincerely
On Thursday 8th October we (Ms
Hazine’s Year 11 English class)
went to The South Bank Centre
to celebrate National Poetry
Day. This amazing opportunity
was based on our work in class
on poems. The trip consisted of
award-winning poets of
different ages reading out a
couple of their own works –
exciting! We travelled by tube,
ate our lunch, and then it was
time to go in...
Mahla Nasrollahi and Sumaya
Ahmed compiled this list of favourite
lines of poetry from the event:
"Fear is your father forgetting your
name"
"You're not a mark on a piece of paper"
"You who found your dream but
couldn't spell it"
"This poem wants to be a poem but this
poem is a bullet"
"But even in September my heart is in
June"
"I'm waiting for stars to explode"
The building looked beautiful as soon
as we stepped inside. We all sat down,
eager to listen to the poems and
fascinated by the stage, which
included an enormous poetic light
installation. The people who organised
the event were also giving out
‘goodies’ such as glow bands, inspiring
badges and surprise poems!
Many of us found that listening to
poetry being read out loud brings the
words to life, compared to reading
poetry on paper.
Julakha Jahan & Sheepa Ahmed 11A
EGA’s Angel 1st Guides Unit
Congratulations to two of our staff
members, Geraldine King and Gill
McClay, on achieving their Girl
Guiding Leadership Qualification for
the EGA’s 1st Angel Guide Unit.
They were presented with this on
Tuesday 13th October by Islington’s
Division Commissioner.
My First EDL
Sophia
Madrigal 7H
Hi people!
Year 7 & 8 Theatre Trip
Last week, a group of lucky EGA
girls were chosen to go on a trip
to see ‘Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory’, as a reward for doing
really well at school.
It was great fun and went really
well because we followed all the
six Rs, but at the same time we
were enjoying ourselves. For
example, we were being
resilient when we had to wait a
long time for the bus, but we
were not going to let a tiny
setback which actually seemed
really big, get the best of us.
We were being respectful by
standing to one side of the road,
letting people walk past us. Of
course we were being respectful
to the teachers since they were
the people who set up the
wonderful trip for us to go on.
At the theatre, the stage, scene
settings and props were so
amazing and breath-taking; it
was absolutely brilliant. We had
to behave responsibly as we
were part of a big audience, and
also by following the teachers
and knowing where everyone
was at all times.
But most of all we had fun and it
was a really good trip to go on.
So if I were you, I would try to
work to the best of your ability.
It was a great experience...so get
learning! Lillian Stephenson 7E
EDL was such an amazing event to
celebrate as I was settling in to
EGA. I was quite nervous about
teaching people a language because
in my primary school we never
used to do that and I didn’t know
what to expect!
My friend and I had joined together
to create a Russian/Tagalog stall as
we didn’t have partners. It was
quite stressful to get everything set
up on time, because we got
involved at the very last minute!
Also, in our workshop we included
lots of different activities which
included flash cards and snap.
During the event, I was quite
anxious because there were lots of
schools there and I thought that I
wouldn’t be able to do it. Teaching
a language was harder than I
thought as there was so much to
teach and a lot to take in. I was
teaching Tagalog which is a less
common or known language.
Everyone I taught picked up the
language pretty quickly and we
were soon having a conversation in
Tagalog! As soon as I started
teaching, I couldn’t stop smiling
and welcoming new people to try
out the language.
It was a fantastic experience and I
was so happy that the event went
amazingly well and I really enjoyed
my first ever EDL; it was full of
surprises and was so much fun!
I would like to say a big thank you
to Ms Quinn for holding the event
and to all the staff who helped set
up the hall. Hopefully, next year I
will be able to do EDL again as it
was such a great success!
Sophia Madrigal 7H
I recently finished David
Walliams’ new book, Grandpa’s
Great Escape, and I loved it! It
was great, especially how he
managed to tie in a major
disease that most children don’t
really understand (dementia).
The beginning is a bit boring but
once you get into the book, you
get more involved with Jack and
Grandpa. I’m not really the sort
of person to read children’s
books - usually I go more for
young adult books – but this
was a good one.
I particularly loved the minor
characters of the book like Raj
the newsagent and the vicar. It
all ties in together. Overall, it
was a great book and I’d
recommend you check it out.
Signing off,
The Book Chatterbox
OCTOBER’s BOOK OF THE
MONTH: THE REST OF US JUST
LIVE HERE
by PATRICK NESS
Growth mindset corner
We were thrilled when EGA
favourite Nadiya Hussain won the
Great British Bake Off last week.
Our tutor time ‘Thought for the
Week’ this week explored how she
demonstrated a growth mindset
while working towards this goal.
She experimented and was open to
learning and feedback. When she
failed, she practised harder for next
week. She reflected at the end: “I’m
never going to put boundaries on
myself ever again. I’m never going to
say I can’t do it. I’m never going to
say maybe... I can and I will.”
NEWSLETTER
Friday 6th November 2015
Dear Families,
I hope everyone had a good
half term break and is ready
for the next few weeks. It is
traditionally a challenging
time as the weather gets
colder and the days are short.
There is much to look forward
to, however, a whole host
of extra opportunities and
activities.
We returned from half term
to discover that we are
the winner of the London
Evening Standard’s award
for Outstanding Achievement
and a number of girls will
attend the awards ceremony
to be held at the end of this
month where they will meet
Nicky Morgan, the Secretary
of State for Education and
have a tour of the News
Room. It’s a great honour
for the school and recognises
the remarkable achievements
of our young women. Well
done and thank you to
everyone who contributes to
their success.
This week, a number of girls
attended the “Women Making
a Difference” Conference
in Islington, where Shami
Chakrabati was the guest
speaker. The girls also had
a role in interviewing some
of the women who were
featured as part of the event.
Yours sincerely,
Huge
congratulations
and
a great big thank you to all
who took part in the Vocab
Express League of Champions
- yet again it was great to see
the
dedication,
hardwork,
competitiveness,
but
also
supportiveness, of the many
students who got involved. As a
school we scored 496,945, our
best score yet!
Of particular note this year was
the sheer determination and
commitment of Saskia Brown
in 9A - Saskia started the
competition first at 8.12am on
the day it started and finished it
at 3.30pm one week later with
a record breaking total score of
103, 455 points!
Saskia didn’t do a lot of sleeping
that week, but a lot of vocabulary
was learnt and tactics were
developed to ensure that in the
end, after a battle backwards
and forwards, she was the
overall winner in Spanish of all
the schools competing across
the world, with a clear 6,210
points between her and 2nd
position and a total of 100, 170!
Not only is Saskia now a World
Champion, but additionally, as
you can see below in an excerpt
from their press release, Vocab
Express have now introduced
a new award of Grandmaster
status.
“6
students
–
including
those mentioned - achieved
Grandmaster status, introduced
at these championships to
provide special recognition
for those students scoring
more than 100,000 points
either overall or in a particular
language. Completing that list
were Christian O of Manchester
Grammar School and Saskia B
of EGAS.”
Brilliantly
done, Saskia congratulations!
Congratulations
also to Toni
Portsmouth, 2nd overall, and
Dea Bozhani, 3rd overall,
in EGA. Certificates will be
awarded to all who participated
in assemblies.
Once again thank you and
congratulations.
Ms Quinn and the MFL Team
Islington Schools Running
A team of 20 keen runners
participated and raced against
other Islington Schools at the
St Aloysius Sports Field on
Monday 19th October. They
all had a good race, with
Carolina in 8L leading the
group and Mia in 8H closely
behind her. These girls train
regularly on Wednesdays
from 7.45 – 8.30am at school
and some also attend a
running club at Finsbury Park
on Sundays from 10 – 12am.
If you would like to become a
runner, improve your fitness
levels and represent your
borough at the mini marathon
next April, then why not come
along?
A group of year 10s and 11s
went to the Almeida Theatre on
Wednesday night to watch the
recent adaptation of the Greek
tragedy Medea. Medea has a
following girls for taking part, dark and twisted plot and in this
modernised version Medea is
showing commitment and
dedication, and representing a screenwriter and author who
gets a divorce. Throughout the
EGA:
Olivia, Alexia and Anjesa in 7L story you can see the damage
this toxic divorce has brought
Sabirin, Bethlehem, Nazra,
upon her children. Instead of a
Sabina and Valerie in 7Z
Greek chorus, there is a group of
Alexi in 7E
“yummy mummies” who basically
Shani in 7T
talk badly about the other mums.
Carolina in 8L
Overall, it was an amazing play.
Lattina, and Sumaya in 8E
This thrilling version is not be
Opah, Kadiesat, Jazmin and missed!
Salma in 8A
Mia in 8H
Lauren Anderson 10T
Sumayo in 8T
Fahima in 10T
Also thank you to Evette for
coming as a second member
of staff to escort the girls and
support them.
Islington Women's
Conference
This week, thirteen Year 10
Executive and Communication
Seniors ventured to the Almeida
Theatre with Ms J Dibb for a
conference. It discussed some
of the main issues faced in
today’s society by young adults;
the importance of women in the
modern day society was the main
highlight. Different organisations
and charities that support women
as well as young girls gathered to
voice the right for young people
to go out to playgrounds and
have a break from the burdens
of the contemporary world. Other
topics were the lack of human
rights or the failure of them being
applied or possibly being altered
by authorities.
The conference was led
by activists such as Shami
Chakrabarti, Cynthia Akinsanya,
Feride Kumbasar, Jean Wilson
and Anita Grant. Their speeches
inspired and moved us to make
a difference in the Islington
community by volunteering in
charities, and they are some
of the greatest role models for
young women and the leaders of
the future.
Among the audience were young
women from schools such as
IAMS and Mount Carmel. The
conference was given a touch
of light heartedness through
a combined song and speech
performance conducted by three
girls from IAMS on the issue of
climate change. Elvisa (10Z)
said: “I really enjoyed the first
speech as it was interesting
and informative as she (Shami
Chakrabarti) used information
from the UN convention, which
is very relevant to what we
are currently learning about in
Citizenship. In addition, it made
her speech more powerful
because facts are basic truth.
She also used a true story of a
woman who faced discrimination
on a shocking level.”
It was an empowering and a
wonderful experience for all of us
who had the pleasure of going to
this convention, mainly because
of the inspirational women
who spoke with eloquence and
determination; they inspired us
EGA girls and captivated the
audience to work with passion
and fight for what is right,
regardless of gender.
Ahlaam Osman 10L
greenlight for girls Book Review
The future is full of possibilities
Only Ever Yours
By Louise O’Neill
On Monday 19th October, a group of
Year 8s set off with Ms Rossouw and
Ms McBride to the Oxo Tower on the
South Bank to attend a STEM trip run
by Greenlight for Girls. They are an
international charity that inspires girls
to pursue STEM subjects (science,
technology engineering and maths)
by participating in a range of exciting
activities designed to show how
science can be interesting and fun.
The activities included ‘Experiencing
the Haka 360’, a virtual reality
experience that allows you to be on the
rugby pitch as the New Zealand rugby
players perform the intimidating Haka,
as well as meeting a real life All Blacks
player, Aaron Cruden and exploring the
world of nutrition using a bicycle and a
food processor!
As you may have guessed, the theme
was science in sport and in particular
rugby. There were lots of news
reporters there and even the Evening
Standard featured an article about it.
We walked out of the tower feeling
inspired, excited and bearing a lot of
freebies such as decorated lab coats
and gum shields!
Overall, we all had a fantastic day
and are very glad we got this amazing
opportunity to be inspired!
Anna Ebbatson Solomon 8T
This book
is a bit
different.
It’s a dark
young
adult’s
novel and
it’s really
thrilling.
The main
idea
explored is of girls being
undermined by having to
be perfect 24/7. They have
to look nice, they having to
act like young ladies and
not complain or cry all of
the time. In this book it’s
practically against the law
to cry. The book is based
on one of the girls called
frieda. The author doesn’t
use capital letters for the
girls’ names and that really
bugs me! They have to find a
companion to be with for the
rest of their lives and have
lots of boy babies. This book
is about what girls do in our
society today and it’s really
horrible. Anyway if you want
to read this book, it’s in the
library now! Also if you want
to read any other books that
O’Neill has written, check in
the New Books section in the
library and look for ‘Asking
For It’.
See you next week!
The Book Chatterbox
FREE COURSES FOR PARENTS LIVING IN ISLINGTON
OR WITH CHILDREN IN ISLINGTON SCHOOLS TO
DEVELOP THEIR SKILLS AND EMPLOYABILITY
Check the school website at:
http://egaschool.co.uk/content/180/parent-opportunities
for current opportunities.
Olga Poiolek 10A, Deenah
Ali 11T, Esra Irki 11A and
Alice Waugh 10L were
fantastic in running
the auditions for
Rock Challenge
this year.
Olga choreographed and
taught routines for the
contemporary style audition
with Deenah’s support, and
Esra choreographed and
taught the audition for the
commercial/street style with
Alice's support.
90 students attended the
auditions this year, so the
Islington Borough
Table TennisTournament
On Wednesday 21st October,
8 students (two teams) from
Year 7 and Year 8 went
to St Mary Magdalene’s
School to participate in the
first Islington Borough Table
Tennis Tournament of the
year. It was big tournament
with teams there from
EGA, St Mary Magdalene,
Holloway School, Highbury
Fields and Highbury Grove.
The standard on display was
very high and there were
some thrilling matches.
The performances from the
EGA girls highlighted huge
effort levels and massive
progress made from all the
training at table tennis club
since September. Highbury
Grove won the tournament
but the future of table tennis
at EGA is very bright and we
will be hoping to win the next
tournament!
If you are interested in getting
involved in table tennis at
EGA and playing in future
tournaments then come
along to table tennis club
every Tuesday at lunch time.
You can also use the outdoor
table any lunch time or break
time. Just ask at reception for
bats and a ball.
Well done to the following
girls for their efforts last
Wednesday:
Veronica 7E
Alexie 7E
Alexia 7L
Anjesa 7L
Vita 8L
Chloe 8L
Fahida 8L
Loreta 8T
Mr Hurley
girls had to run two auditions
for each style over two days
- lunch time and after school.
They were fantastic teachers
and made it very easy for
Ms Wells to select the 52
girls that are now in the Rock
Challenge 2016 team.
NEWSLETTER
Dear Families,
I know that many of you will
be reading this newsletter
online instead of waiting
for the paper copy to be
retrieved from the bottom
of your daughter’s school
bag. I do hope that our
digital distribution is helpful
to you but if you know of
any families who are not
receiving the newsletter
each week, please do let us
know. Likewise, if there is
any specific information you
would like included, please
do not hesitate to inform
us. We are always ready to
listen.
This week we received
our World Class Award in
recognition of outstanding
academic achievement and
a commitment to nurturing
the whole student to further
ambitions and aspirations.
This is a relatively new
award and EGA is one
of the first recipients.
We are, of course, very
proud of the students who
have contributed to this
recognition.
On Thursday, Year 7
welcomed their primary
head teachers and class
teachers to EGA and were
very excited in showing their
visitors their new school and
all that they have achieved in
the first half term.
Yours sincerely,
Last weekend,
students from
year 7 and
year 8 took
part in Islington
Community
Theatre’s ‘Big
Weekend.’ This is a
weekend of theatre fun for
around 50 year 7 & 8 students
from Islington schools who work
together to create pieces of
drama.
During the weekend we took
part in different drama courses
such as performance skills
and storytelling, how to boost
confidence through drama,
how to light a stage, how to
create an effective plot and
how to combine those skills
to create a short, but gripping,
performance.
By the end of the weekend,
each group had to produce
a 4 minute, mind blowing
performance, completely
Kadiesat from 8A said: “I really created by us!
enjoyed Big Weekend because We really enjoyed our weekend
it was an exciting chance to
and we felt ever so privileged
meet people from other schools. and grateful to be able to work
We also got to create our own
with professional actors and
short pieces of theatre using
directors. Thank you for the
stage lights, music and props. It experience.
was a really great experience.
Thanks Ms Gold!”
STUDENT REFLECTIONS
We were two of the ten students
from EGA who attended the ‘Big
Weekend’ 2015. It was a two
day drama course at Platform
run by Islington Community
Theatre. At the beginning of
the weekend, we were put into
groups with students from other
schools who had also been
nominated to attend.
Matty Alison and
Robyn Herbert 8T
ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES –BY JENNIFER NIVEN
Violet Markey lives for the
future, counting the days until
graduation, when she can
escape her Indiana town and
her aching grief in the wake of
Hafeeza Ahmed 10L
Skye Blyden-Jarrett 9L
Miriam Fleary 11Z
Rana Habbouchi 10Z
Isha Kamara 11L
Aisha Omar 10L
This is the highest number of
candidates that EGA has ever
put forward! In total, there are
37 candidates standing for
election across the borough.
Well done to these students for
being willing to take the risk to
put themselves their ideas out
there and for their commitment
to the local community.
BOOK OF THE MONTH NOVEMBER 2015
Theodore
Finch
is
fascinated
by
death,
and
he
constantly
thinks
of
ways
he
might
kill
himself. But
each time,
something
good, no matter how small,
stops him.
T h i s y e a r ’s E G A
candidates are:
Students will be encouraged to
vote in the elections on the 25th
November. Please support the
EGA candidates!
her sister's recent death.
When Finch and Violet meet
on the ledge of the bell tower at
school, it's unclear who saves
whom. And when they pair up
on a project to discover the
'natural wonders' of their state,
both Finch and Violet make
more important discoveries:
it's only with Violet that Finch
can be himself - a weird, funny,
live-out-loud guy who's not
such a freak after all. And it's
only with Finch that Violet can
forget to count away the days
and start living them.
Best attendance figures for
last week were:
7T – 99.3%
8E – 98.7%
9L – 98.3%
10Z and 10L – 98.9%
11E – 98.9%
But as Violet's world grows,
Finch's begins to shrink.
OCTOBER LIBRARY
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hello Bookworms!
A booklet to
accompany the EGA
St Pancras reading
map is now available
from the Cloud. It
contains a resume
of every book on the
map.
ISSUE FIGURES
KS3 students have been writing letters for this competition that is
run by Royal Mail every year, open to children aged 11-14 across
the UK. The aim of the competition this year is to write a letter about
We would like to recognise
their dream job which can be anything (even a completely made up
these students for their
profession!) They need to write about why it's their dream job and why
commitment to regular reading they would be the right person for it. Here we share a few of the EGA
and making the most of the
entries from 7E:
library’s excellent resources:
Dear Danny Dreamer,
Dr Mr Shalom,
TOP BORROWER: Racheal
Tidman 7Z
Nima Shiek 7E
Anjesa Govori 7L/Sara Kidher 7L
If you enlist me as you dreammaker, I promise to make your
dreams riveting and pleasurable,
and to do my best.
YEAR 8
You see, I take ideas from
my own nightly fantasies and
adventures to advance them for
others to play in their mind, while
they rest.
I’d like to apply to become a
bank manager at your lovely and
wonderful bank. I’ve heard so
much about it and I definitely am
certain that I’m the one which
you would like to employ.
To name all the qualities I have,
they are good communication,
listening, multitasking, great
responsibility, respect, manners
and much more. I love to help
people out with finding a solution
to their problems and personal
matters.
YEAR 7
TOP BORROWER: Sumayo
Mohamed 8T
Laila Ahmed 8Z
Lotus Singh-Hall 8H
YEAR 9
TOP BORROWER: Nor–Anne
Gee 9A
Sadia Ahmed Shama 9L
Syeda Tyeba 9Z
YEAR 10
TOP BORROWER: Mahfuza
Anjum 10L*
Ellese Atkinson 10L
Lauren Anderson 10T/Salewa Bey
10E
YEAR 11
So why not stop off at
the library to have a
look?
OR DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY HERE
See you next week!
The Book Chatterbox
TOP BORROWER: Isha Kamara
11L
Yusra Ahmed 11L
Rachel Baugh 11T/Mahla
Nasrollahi 11L
*Mahfuza is the top borrower
in the whole school, borrowing
three times as many books as
anyone else!
Notice to Parents / Carers
Internet Safet y
We often get asked by
parents about keeping
students safe on line. For
your information, advice
on keeping young people
safe online can be found
at:
www.getsafeonline.org
www.thinkuknow.co.uk
We have had some reports
that the following sites/
apps may not suitable for
young people:
•
•
•
Talking Angela
TalkingTom
MyTalkingDog
Young Letter Writing Competition
•
•
•
Putlocker
Myboo & Mybou
Projectfreetv
If you have any concerns
about anything your
daughter encounters on
the internet, please notify
the appropriate authorities
using the links below:
http://www.ceop.police.uk/
safety-centre
I know how much work is
needed in the profession of
a dream-maker, but will take
the extra shifts if I must. I am
very hard working as you can
hopefully tell. I will cover any
task given in a sufficient matter
of time.
So let me pursue my dream
to become the director of your
nightly adventures.
With kind regards,
Evie Commons 7E
Dear Sir/Madam,
I write in regards for the
volunteer position of a teacher to
work in developing countries.
I am very enthusiastic about this
role, because I can help children
learn and develop social skills.
Developing social skills will help
build confidence. For example,
learning English, because it is a
universal language, will help with
better prospects. Wouldn’t you
want children to have a brighter
future? Every child has the right
to an education.
I believe I am suitable for this
position, because I am an
energetic individual, who enjoys
helping out whenever I can. It
will be an excellent opportunity
to experience different cultures
as it will be challenging as
well as rewarding. I have lots
of patience and outstanding
qualities.
http://content.met.police.uk/
Home
Thank you for your consideration
and I look forward to a positive
response.
www.actionfraud.police.uk
Yours faithfully,
Nuha Alam 7E
Despite the fact that some
people don’t think that this is a
great job, to be honest, this is
my dream, not theirs; they get
to choose the best choices for
their lives, so I can too. Every
individual
has their own
lives to look after.
Dream high to any
level without limits
and fly high. With all
the splendid qualities I
hold, I can be someone in
your bank who will shine;
also, I can change it to an
even better bank than it is
currently.
You may have been in my shoes
at the beginning, willing to get
your dream accomplished.
Whether you did complete it or
not, you must have tried a lot,
like I am doing right now. You
would be able to understand the
hard work and effort I am putting
into this; you can imagine how
pressurising it is just to complete
your life goals. To become a
bank manager is mine.
Thank you ever so much for
taking the time to read this!
Kind regards,
Hafiza Ahmed 7E
NEWSLETTER
All newsletters can be viewed on the school website. www.egaschool.co.uk
Dear Families,
Next Friday (27th November)
will be a Professional
Development Day for staff
and there will be no school
for students on that day. We
will be looking at models
of tutoring and considering
whether the way in which we
organise pastoral support for
the girls is the best model
going forward.
If you have visited the
school recently, you may
have noticed groundworks
taking place near the Art and
Technology building. This
is in preparation for our new
teaching and resource base
which is so necessary now
that we have smaller class
sizes and commitments
through our Teaching School
Alliance.
EGA – A World Class School
On Thursday
evening, three
students
and
staff attended the
award ceremony for our World
Class School quality mark.
The award recognises those
schools that go beyond their
“Outstanding” OFSTED rating;
a select group of schools
who prepare students to be
World Class learners ready to
meet the challenges of further
education and employment.
Through a rigorous application
process,
students
found
evidence to meet strict criteria,
produced a video showcasing
the best of EGA and met
with an assessor from the
organisation.
The
quality
mark recognises outstanding
secondary schools that “have
improved student progress,
Yours sincerely,
country and look forward to the
opportunities available to us
through being part of such an
esteemed award.
You can see our application
video here.
Primary Tea Party
Last Thursday, we welcomed
colleagues from 16 of our feeder
On Wednesday of next
primary schools to our annual
week, there will be a Parents’ Primary Tea Party. Heads,
Evening for the families of
deputies, year 6 teachers and
teaching assistants visited EGA
girls in Year 10. This is
to enjoy tea and cake, but most
a very important meeting
importantly to meet up with
where we can share
their ex-students who are now
information to ensure that
attending EGA in Year 7.
your daughter achieves
as highly as possible. It’s
only a few months until
they will be sitting their next
GCSE exams and making
any necessary changes at
this stage can make all the
difference. I look forward to
seeing you at the meeting.
aspiration and achievement
to such an extent that their
standards rival those of the
best schools internationally.”
We are very proud of being
recognised as one of the best
secondary schools in the
Our Year 7 students were
thrilled to be able to meet up
with their primary teachers,
catch up with the news from
their old school and to show
them everything they have
been learning since starting at
EGA.
Vivian Short in 7T serenaded us
with a solo bassoon piece and
the Junior Choir performed an
enthusiastic version of We’re
All In This Together to much
applause.
Thank you to our primary
colleagues from these schools
for making the time to attend
the event, as the girls really
appreciated it:
Argyle
Brecknock
Christopher Hatton
Copenhagen
Duncombe
Hanover
Hugh Myddleton
Prior Weston
New North Academy
Robert Blair
Rotherfield
Soho Parish
St Alban’s
St John Evangelist
St Mary & St Pancras
Tufnell Park
Also, thank you to Alison and
Ms Fitzgerald for organising the
music, Mark and the team for
the wonderful food and Mel and
the premises team for setting
up the venue so nicely.
See here for more photos from
the event.
Brainstorm on
Parents and carers often ask us how
they can help their children learn
better. One way that parents can
really help is by carefully choosing
the words and phrases used when
they praise. Every word parents say
and every action they perform sends
a message to their children about
how to think about themselves.
For example, a parent might say:
“You learned that so quickly! You’re
so smart!”
“Look at that drawing. Is she the
next Picasso or what?”
“You’re so brilliant, you got an A
without even studying!”
The danger is that children can hear:
If I don’t learn something quickly I’m
not smart.
I shouldn’t try drawing anything hard
or they’ll see I’m no Picasso.
I’d better stop studying or they won’t
think I’m brilliant.
Islington Community Theatre’s
five star (Times) play about
teenage brain development,
Brainstorm, has been filmed for
BBC iPlayer and is now online for
anyone to view for 27 days.
ten Islington teenagers. It's fun,
moving very theatrical and deeply
personal.
It helps teenagers
understand themselves better and it helps adults better support
teenagers and treat them better.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
episode/p037yjfp/brainstorm (30
mins long)
EGA’s
own
version
of
Brainstorm,
created
with
Islington Community Theatre,
can be viewed here: http://www.
islingtoncommunitytheatre.com/
brainstorm-resources/
Brainstorm is play about what it
means to be a teenager, made by
Suffragettes Sociology Trip
Last week, the GCSE Sociology
classes went to watch Suffragettes.
The historical period drama is
based in the 1900s and is about the
Suffragette movement – when women
Carol Dweck, a psychologist, fought to gain the right to vote.
completed
experiments
with
hundreds of children and had The film portrays the inequality of
clear findings: praising children’s men and women at the time (for
intelligence harms their motivation example rights over their children as
and their performance. Praise for well as voting rights) and the tactics
intelligence or talent gives them a used which eventually achieved
boost for a moment, but the minute women’s voting rights. These include
they hit a snag their confidence goes bombing of mailboxes and the cutting
and their motivation. If success
means they are smart, failure means of telegraph wires, used in order to
they are ‘stupid’. That’s the fixed gain attention for their cause.
mindset.
Another famous incident during the
However, we can praise children movement was the death of Emily
as much as we want for growth- Davison, the first martyr, in 1913.
orientated processes – what they She ran out in front of the king’s horse
have accomplished through practice, as it was taking part in the Epsom
study, persistence, and good Derby. These incidents increased
strategies. And we can ask about
their work in a way that admires and awareness of and progress for their
cause, unlike the previous peaceful
appreciates their efforts:
“You really studied for your test and protests.
your improvement shows it.”
“I like the way you tried all kinds of At last, in 1918, women won the
strategies on that maths problem right to vote, although it was only for
until you finally got it.”
women over the age of 30, whilst men
over 21 could vote. It was not until
“I know school used to be easy for 1928 that both women and men over
you and you used to feel like the
smart girl all the time. But the truth the age of 21 had equal voting rights.
is you weren’t using your brain to the Overall, I found the trip interesting
fullest. I’m really excited about how and insightful as, although I was fairly
you’re stretching yourself now and knowledgeable on the movement, it
gave a deeper viewpoint on women’s
working to learn hard things.”
“That picture has some many inequality, revealing more of the
beautiful colours. Tell me about struggles women experienced in
them.”
order to gain our rights to vote.
Last week I was fortunate enough to
visit the Vue cinema with my class to
watch Suffragettes, an award winning
movie based on the British historical
period of the 1900s, about a group of
feminists who protested for the rights
of women to vote.
The film is based closely on 24 year old
a woman, Maud, who gets caught up
in a suffragette riot and ends up giving
a testimony about the importance of
women’s right to her. Despite her best
attempts to stay away for the sake of
her family, Maud ends up getting in
the middle of a crowd where police are
beating the suffragettes. Arriving back
home from prison, she is faced with
social sigma from her neighbours and
co-workers, which was the reality for
many women who had fought to gain
the vote.
The movie was a really interesting way
to see the amount of energy women
put in to trying to gain equal voting
rights as men, which reflected the
real life situation of the activist group.
Overall the film was a very influential
way of conveying the ideas about the
suffragette movement.
Visit to the Tate Modern
and drew interesting drawings
of the London skyline for their
project. The girls were really
inspired by both the work in the
galleries and by the city itself. A
great time was had by all.
EGA raised/donated
£91.72 to The
British Legion
Poppy Appeal by
buying poppies from
reception.
Thank you for your contribution
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hello Bookworms!
THE HERE AND NOW –
ANN BRASHARES
In my history class I have studied the
suffragettes, who were a group of
women that sought the right to vote
through organised protests. They
believed in peaceful protest but when
they realised that they would not be
heard, they retaliated and formed a
more powerful feminist campaign.
A similar plot happens in the movie
where, after much effort to be heard,
the women know that they have to take
a drastic action. This is highlighted
though the death of Emily Davison.
When students have worked hard
on something and still didn’t do well, Nazihah Al-Sahar 10Z
Yasmin Aktar 11H
parents can say:
‘I liked the effort you put in but let’s
work together some more and figure
out what it is you didn’t understand.’
‘We all have different learning
curves. It may take more time Last Thursday and Friday, all
for you to catch onto this and be GCSE Art and Photography
comfortable with this, but if you keep students visited the Tate Modern.
at it like this you will.’
‘Everyone learns in a different way. Not only did they see some of the
Let’s keep trying to find the way that greatest art from recent times, but
works for you.’
they took amazing photographs
The next time you want to praise
your child, pause and think about
how to use the opportunity to praise
his or her effort and encourage a
growth mindset.
last week were:
7H - 99.7%
8A - 98.3%
9Z - 99.3%
10T - 99.3%
11E & H– 98.6%
This book is about a girl
called Prenna, who is from
another time. She is from
the future and has come
back to save her people.
However, she never
expected to fall in love with
a boy from the past called
Ethan.
I love this book because I
am getting into thrillers and
this is the perfect book to
read if you like these type
of books as well. I couldn’t
put it down because it was
so gripping.
Signing off,
The Book Chatterbox
NEWSLETTER
Dear families,
It was good to see that so
many families were able to
attend the Parents’ Evening for
Year 10 students earlier this
week. There were some very
positive discussions about how
to support the girls as they
prepare for their next GCSE
examinations.
Next week we will be
welcoming back the students
who left us this summer. It is a
lovely occasion; the girls are
always so pleased to see each
other again and to connect with
their former teachers.
As the weather gets colder,
please remind the girls that
uniform rules do not change.
No hoodies are allowed. There
is a school zipped top and
outdoor coats should be worn
to and from school. Uniform
standards are generally very
high but there is a small
number of girls who are still
not always wearing the school
headscarf. Please support
us in maintaining our high
standards. As I often tell
the girls, people outside the
school, rightly or wrongly,
make judgements about us
and when they are applying
for colleges, universities or
jobs, they will want everyone
to think of EGA as the school
where the students always had
the correct uniform and whose
behaviour was impeccable both
in and outside the school.
Thank you for your support
with this.
Yours sincerely,
This year, EGA took part in the Royal Mail Young Letter
Writing competition. The aim was to write a letter about your
dream job; the winners will be announced by the Royal Mail in
January. We had an astounding number of entries from Year
7 and 8 students and below are a few extracts of the amazing
work we received:
Jacqueline Asare 8Z
Rawiya Ahmed 7T
Dream job: To be a chef
Dream job: Business Woman
It is no exaggeration to say
that cooking improves your
life greatly. In the present fastpaced age, due to the easy
means by which ready-to-eat
food is available, people are
neglecting to learn cooking as
they find it no longer essential.
When I was 11, that’s when
I realised I wanted to be a
business woman, I just didn’t
really know what a business
woman was so that desire
faded quickly.
Imperial College
London
Last week, some pupils from
year 8 went on a trip to Imperial
College London in South
Kensington, to learn how to
design, construct and program
robots. It was a unique experience
which we all found enjoyable. At
the end of the day we took part in
a competition to find out whose
robot was the strongest. After a
long battle, the team consisting
of me, Keisi 8Z and Lamisa 8E
triumphed.
After that, I decided that I
wanted to own a stationary
shop, something like
Paperchase just without the
requirements of having to
Cooking is creative, purposeful spend over £5 on a notebook.
and relaxing. Once you learn
I’m not saying their notebooks
to cook a few things, you’ll get are bad (they’re actually very
beautiful) but if I’m going to
addicted to learn more and
own a stationary shop, I want
more! There are many cool
to make sure my products
A big thank you to the maths
gadgets that make cooking
are pretty and affordable so
department for such an amazing
even healthier than eating out. everyone will be able to buy
day out.
If you are the one cooking, you from my shop.
will be the one who controls the Who knows? Maybe it might
Sonya Miah 8E
ingredients. This will allow you get lots of recognition and be
turned into a company and
to avoid using the unhealthy
it might be famous one day.
additives and preservatives
I don’t know. These are just
used in processed food.
dreams being put to paper,
This also helps to make your
and being shared with whoever
recipes even more nutritious.
reads them.
THE 18 DAYS OF ADVENT
LIBRARY COMPETITION
Take part in this year’s seasonal library quiz! Each day between
Tuesday December 1st and Friday December 18th a
question will be displayed on the Christmas trees in the Library
and Reception. Write down your answer and pop it in the
box on the library/reception counter. One lucky student from
each day giving the correct answer will win a prize. Prizes
will be awarded in tutor time on Fridays.
All participants will be entered into a draw for the main
prize which will take place on
Friday 18th December.
For full details see the Librarian
last week were:
7T - 99%
8T - 100%
9L - 98.6%
10Z - 98.9 %
11L - 98.6%
S t u d e n t Po e t r y
Year 9s and Year 10s are studying unseen poetry in English
at the moment. Maibritt Henkel, 9T, has written a wonderful
poem about her well-travelled upbringing, exploring what
home means to her. We are very pleased that she is making
EGA her home for a while and just had to share her writing in
this newsletter.
Home
Monday 23 December
2015
June 2002, Home was
Berlin
City of the traffic light, of
the cosmopolitan
Air heavy with the untold
stories of people past
History lines streets,
crumbles in crevices
Lies like a film of dust on
the skyline.
Home of the outcast, the
immigrant, the native,
Of a baby born at 7:00 pm
Brought home by taxi to a
sunlit apartment;
A fleeting resident of
Linienstraße
Year of 2003, Home was
Princeton,
World of white porches and
wisteriaa walks,
Suburban wastelands of
smiling faces,
Ivy League conferences in
gilded halls
Whilst a little blond head
watches maple leaves fall
On crackless pavement
Dusk of 2004, Home was
Williamstown,
Auburn hills the colour of
embers,
Nestle the cluster of two
story houses.
Floorboards so old they
creak from the weight
Of first steps and cat claws
Pecan pies and turkey
gravy
Enter square toothed
mouths.
Crisp Mornings of 2005,
Home was Vancouver,
Blue Ridge Mountains greet
the sky,
Bursting clouds, purple with
rain, on English Bay beach.
Cream cheese bagels on
Granville Island
Eaten in the sticky grasp of
an apple cheeked girl,
Strutting along shores,
clambering over ancient
tree trunks,
Spotting orcas off rotting
jetties,
Watching icicles form on
pine needles,
And then smash by pink
rain-booted feet.
Summer of 2008, Home
was Ann Arbor,
Town of students, of
teachers, of the Wolverines,
Back yards with flaking
sheds,
Squirrels nibble newspapers
thrown on doormats
Passed by the size 2 feet of
the new girl next door.
Weeks passed by YMCA
classes and soccer practices
on lawn dotted with
Circarda carcusses
Pale Spring of 2011, Home
was Copenhagen,
Swan filled canals, legs
dangling over its edges,
Harbor houses, hand
painted window frames
line cobbled streets like
the multi-chrome lightbulbs highlighting the metal
structures of Tivoli ferriswheels.
A long limbed girl leans
her bike on a blooming
chestnut.
The sun, slipping slowly,
dyes Strøget’s display
windows
A ferocious scarlet.
Blistering August of 2015,
Home became London,
Its jungles of houses,
oceans of people, rivers
overflowing with cars.
Cold mornings spent
waiting at gum splattered
stations
English wind flushing the
cheeks of uniform sporting
youth’s cheeks a flustering
rouge.
Neon lit shops crowd bus
flooded streets,
Butcher’s rub shoulders
with Nail Salons
Sainsbury’s with tattoo
parlours
A world of lovers, of
dreamers, of makers, of
actors, of realists and
politicians
A world, a home for a baby
born at 7:00 pm whose
home is the world.
Maibritt Henkel 9T
Educational
review
On Tuesday
24th
November,
the teachers
had organised
a fun day for
us year 7s.
this included
visitors
coming from
the Bank and
road safety company. They gave
us advice that would help us now
and possibly in the future.
First off, we had a lesson on
finance which taught us how to
stay within budget and in my
opinion I think that it was useful
and helpful for later on in life.
There was a variety of topics we
had discussed in that lesson and
they were: how to tel if a note
was fake, how to convert pounds
to another currency and many
others.
Shortly after, there was a
performance on how to stay safe
when crossing roads. This act
had taught us all a valuable lesson
on not using our phones or to
concentrate on the road. We were
very lucky to have this opportunity
on having visitors in our school.
It has been a great experience
learning things we haven’t come
across before.
Kesia Araya Borges 7L
NEWS
FROM THE CLOUD
CONGRATULATIONS To
Opah Cruz Ateba Moritz
8A who is the first student
to have read 25 books
from the EGA Reading
map.
With mock exam season
on the horizon for many of
our students, we thought
we would share some
research on how a student’s
beliefs about intelligence
can influence their revision
habits.
How does mindset influence
revision?
Carol Dweck’s research
showed that students with a
fixed mindset (who believe
that intelligence/talents are
fixed) tended to revise by
just reading the textbook
and class notes, and
possibly read them again
if they were really hard.
They tried to memorise
everything like a vacuum
cleaner. If they did poorly,
they concluded it wasn’t
their best subject: “I did
everything possible didn’t I?”
Well, no, actually.
Students with a growth
mindset (the belief that
intelligence/talents can
be improved with effort)
took charge of their own
learning. They said things
like: “I looked for themes
and underlying principles
across lectures”; “I went
over mistakes until I was
certain I understood them”.
The growth minded students
confronted their deficiencies
and weak areas, rather than
avoiding them, and were
studying to learn rather than
to just ace the test. This
why they got better grades
in the end – not because
they were smarter.
Source: Mindset by Carol
Dweck
NEWSLETTER
Dear Families,
This week, we had the
honour of receiving
an Evening Standard
Award for Outstanding
Achievement. Only four
schools across London
were recognised in this
way and we are delighted
that the successes of our
students are receiving
such public acclaim. In
addition to meeting the
Editor and Nicky Morgan,
the Secretary of State for
Education, we were taken
on a tour of the News
Room to see how the
paper is put together.
It’s now only two weeks
until the end of term and
students in Year 9, 10
and 11 are busy with
mock examinations. We
know how important it is
to prepare thoroughly.
Parents can help by
making sure that the girls
take regular breaks during
their revision, go to bed at
a reasonable time and that
they eat breakfast either at
home or at Breakfast Club
here in school. Seemingly
small things can make all
the difference.
Yours sincerely,
Friday 4th December 2015
EGA honoured at
Evening Standard School Awards
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan presented EGA
representatives with the award for ‘Outstanding
achievement in challenging circumstances’
Evening Standard article here
B a dm i n t on To
u r nam ent
place in both the KS3 and KS4
On Monday 9th November,
EGA hosted and entered a
team for the Islington Schools
Championships. They all
played really well and have
been committed members of
the badminton club, but were
up against stronger teams at
this stage.
EGA’s final results were 2nd
competition.
Congratulations to all the girls
who took part:
Anjesa Govori 7L
Keisi Ruci 8Z
Ena Fejzullahu 8Z
Sophia Sergides 8L
Fahida Islam 8L
Saskia Brown 9A
Dea Bozhari 9Z
Jasmia Dyer 9H
Natasha Merchant 10A
Rahma Abdulle Alasow 11H
Badminton club is on Mondays
from 7.45 – 8.30am if new
students would like to join.
Year 7 Indoorscored
Athletics
points for their
Over the last four
Wednesdays, eight year 7
girls have been taking part
in this event at St. Aloysius
College against Mount
Carmel, Cola I, Highbury
Fields, Highbury Grove,
Holloway and St. Mary
Mags.
They have participated in
indoor athletics events such
as sprinting, relays, standing
long jump, vertical jump,
shot, speed bounce and
triple jump.
In all these events they
school and have achieved
either 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 5th
place.
Wednesday 25th
November was the last
week of the competition
and, after all the points
were added up, EGA came
in 3rd place overall.
The following girls showed
commitment, dedication,
perseverance and resilience.
Throughout the competition
they have also improved
their athleticism, selfconfidence and self-belief.
Congratulations to Shani
Warwick 7T, Alexie Warwick
7E, Anjesa Govori 7L, Clara
Angus Lane 7H, Valerie
Mitala 7Z, Olivia Ofori 7L,
Priyanka Lohia 7Z and
Jahmal-lah McFarlaneMoore 7H.
Best attendance figures
for last week were:
7H - 98.3%
8Z - 98.8%
9A - 96.7%
10T - 98.2%
11 T - 1 0 0 %
EGA School Reporters
were pleased to be
taking part in the BBC
100 Women Series.
#100women event with
@bbcschoolreport.
Our students were
very much involved in
conversations about
leadership.
Youth Council Elections
Islington’s Youth Council
elections were heralded “a
victory for youth democracy”
as a record-breaking number
of young people went to the
ballot box last week.
I AM MALALA
BY MALALA YOUSAFZAI
both higher than the previous
election in 2013.
Miriam Fleary, a
year 11 student from
EGA, was delighted
to be one of the 12
candidates elected
to the youth council.
A record 37 candidates stood
for election and nearly 5,200
votes were cast in schools
and youth hubs to elect 12
youth councillors for Islington,
Youth councillors are elected
who will represent the voices
to represent the borough’s
and views of their peers on 7A young people, influencing
7A
Islington's Youth Council. Amrita council
Kaur policy on issues that
Amrita affect
Kaur them and aiming to help
J’Nya Parkinson
Some 57% of secondary J’Nya Parkinson
make the borough a better
school pupils voted, and 7H place for their peers.
7H
overall turnout was 40% - Eve Dawit
They help decide how money
Eve Dawit
Emily Ortega
Emily Ortega
is spent on services, and aim
to improve the range and
quality of activities and places
for children young people to
go.
Miriam and the other youth
councillors will each serve for
two years when they formally
take their seats next February.
Election results information is
available on9A
the youth council
7E
pages on Izzy (Islington
7E
Najma Elmi
Council’s
youth website)
Evie
Commons
Evie
Commons
Sarah Said
http://www.izzy-info.com/
Ndey Grant
kb5/islington/enterprise/site.
Ndey
Grant
9H
7L
page?id=wogXgk2sQ7o
7L
Lisa Dawit
Anjesa Govori
Anjesa Govori
Kelly
Kesia Araya Katherine
Borges
Kesia Araya Borges
Student leadership
7T
7T
7Z
7Z
9T
Rhiannon Hall
Courtney Tsirtou
Maibritt Henkel
Rhiannon
Hallheld our own school council
Courtney
Tsirtou
Alongside the borough wide election,
EGA
elections.
Congratulations to
Salina Ghebrehannes
Balquis Abdulle
Tania
Salina
Ghebrehannes
Abdulle
the following students who were
elected
to represent their tutor group Balquis
and year
group
thisAkther
year:
8A
8E
9A7E
9E
10A
9A
8A
8E
7A
7A
7E
Kadiesat Turay
Samsam Noor
Kadiesat
Turay
Samsam
Noor
Najma
Elmi
Rayan
Haji
Bibi
Noor
The amazing story of Amrita
Malala's
Evie Commons Najma Elmi
Kaur Amrita Kaur
Evie
AmiraCommons
Roble
Sanah Habbib
Amira
Roble
Sanah
Habbib
courage and her fight for the
Sarah
SaidGrant
Asima Dillon
Islam
Kelis
Sarah Said
J’Nya Parkinson
Ndey
J’Nya Parkinson
Ndey
8H Grant
8L
education of girls is well known.
8H
8L
9H7L
9L
10H
7H
9H
7Htells of
7L
Tawhida Syeda
Yusra Kalayci
Here, in her own voice, she
Tawhida Syeda
Yusra Kalayci
her journey from her early Eve
daysDawit
as a
Eve Dawit
LisaAnjesa
Dawit Govori Lisa Dawit
Skye Blayden-Jarrett
Jessica
Filipi
Hafsa Gedi
Yasna Nasrollahi
Anjesa
Govori
Hafsa Gedi
Yasna Nasrollahi
clever school girl to her exceptional
Kesia Kelly
Araya Borges
Islam
Katherine
Ilhan Ali
Afnan
Oumar
KatherineReserve
Kelly – Fahida
Emily Ortega Emily Ortega
Kesia Araya
Borges
Reserve – Fahida Islam
life as an international speaker on
8T
8Z
7T
9T 7Z
9Z
10T
9T
7T
7Z
the rights of girls to get an education.
8T
8Z
Sumayo Mohamed
Jaquiline Asare
Growing up in a village in Rhiannon
the Swat Hall Rhiannon Hall
Courtney
Tsirtou
Maibritt Henkel
Tayeba Syeda
Jasmin
Alakija
Courtney
Tsirtou
Maibritt Henkel
Jasmine
Alakija
Sumayo Mohamed
Jaquiline Asare
valley in Pakistan, Malala and her
Nicole Saavedra
Leiton
Ena Fejzullahu
Salina Ghebrehannes
Balquis
Abdulle
Salina Ghebrehannes
Balquis
Abdulle
Tania
Akther
Sirin
Koca
Kesiana
Mehmeti
Tania
Akther
Nicole Saavedra Leiton
Ena Fejzullahu
friends faced persecution from
8A
8E
8E
7A
7E
9A
9E
10A
10E
Islamic fundamentalists who8A
believed
10A
women
should
not
be
educated.
In
Kadiesat
Turay
Samsam
Noor
Kadiesat TurayEvie Commons
Amrita Kaur
Najma Elmi Samsam Noor
Rayan
Haji
Bibi Noor
Niamh Tuite
Bibi
Noor
2012, Malala and her two school
AmiraGrant
Roble
Sanah Habbib
Amira Roble Ndey
Sanah
Habbib
J’Nya Parkinson
Kelis Dillon
Falhad Abanur
Sarah Said
Asima Dillon
Islam
Kelis
friends were targeted and shot when
8H
8L
8L
7H
7L
travelling home from school8H
one day.
10H
10L
10H
9H
9L
Fortunately,
friendsSyeda
Tawhida
Syeda
Yusra Kalayci
Eve
Dawit Malala and her
Anjesa
Govori
Tawhida
Yusra Kalayci
Jessica
Filipi
Aquila
Begum
Jessica
Filipi
Blyden-Jarrett
Lisa Dawit
Skye Blayden-Jarrett
survived. From that day on, Malala
Hafsa Araya
Gedi Borges
Yasna Nasrollahi
Emily Ortega
Kesia
Hafsa Gedi
Yasna Nasrollahi
Afnan Oumar
Afnan
Katherine Kelly
Ilhan AliOumar
campaigned for the rights of all girls
Reserve
– Fahida Islam
Reserve – Fahida
Islam
7T
7Z
to get an education. Hearing her tell
10T
10Z
10T
9T
9Z
8T
8Z
her story isHall
inspirational. 8T
8Z
Rhiannon
Courtney
Tsirtou
Jasmin Alakija
Jasmin
Alakija
Maibritt Henkel
Tayeba Syeda
SumayoAbdulle
Mohamed
Jaquiline Asare
Sumayo Mohamed
Jaquiline Asare
Balquis
Kesiana
Mehmeti
Kesiana
Mehmeti
LOVEREADING)
Tania
Akther
Nicole
Saavedra
Leiton
Ena Fejzullahu Sirin Koca
Nicole Saavedra
Leiton
Ena Fejzullahu
8E
Salina Ghebrehannes
(Julia Eccleshare,
8A
10A
Kadiesat Turay
Samsam Noor
Adult
and Community Learning
– Islington Council
Bibi Noor
Amira Roble
Sanah Habbib
Boost your skills
and career
prospects with
free learning
for adults
Are you an Islington resident aged 19 or
Kelis Dillon
over,
8H or have a child in an Islington school? 8L
Would you like to brush up on your skills or
Tawhida Syeda
Yusra Kalayci10H
learn something new? Islington Council’s
Jessica Filipi
HafsaAnd
Gedi
Adult
Community courses may have Yasna Nasrollahi
just the thing for you, with a range of
Reserve – Fahida
AfnanIslam
Oumar
courses including IT, English and Maths,
8T Care, Admin and Customer Services. 8Z
10T
Child
Sumayo Mohamed
www.islington.gov.uk/acl
or call 020 7527 5782
10L
Aquila Begum
10Z
Thursday 7 and Friday 8 January 2016 between 9.30am-4pm at:
Arsenal
Learning Centre
Arsenal Hub
56 Benwell Road
N7 7BA
T: 020 7704 4500
First Steps
Learning Centre
Central Library,
2 Fieldway Crescent
(Holloway Road entrance) N5 1PF
T: 020 7527 7002
3Corners
Learning Centre
Northampton Road
EC1R 0HU
T: 020 7527 5083
In addition to courses such as ESOL, ICT, English and maths we offer a range of
vocational courses to help you move from our learning centres into employment
or further education courses at City and Islington College.
These include:
childcare
retail
customer service
health and social care
Come and talk to us to find out more.
Niamh Tuite
Falhad Abanur
Jaquiline Asare
Jasmin Alakija
Ena Fejzullahu
Find out moreKesiana
or enrol on Mehmeti
a course at one of our Enrolment Days on
All courses are free, but you must be
Nicole Saavedra Leiton
receiving in work or out of work benefits.
For more information on what’s available, or
to sign on to a course, why not pop along to
one of our Learning Centres on Thursday 7
or Friday 8 January 2016 9.30am-4pm ? Our
staff will be happy to help you! Please bring
along proof of benefits and your identity,
so that we can enrol you on the course you
choose.
10E
hospitality
catering and food hygiene courses.
Courses and services are for Islington residents or those with children at an Islington
school. You must be 19+ and on a low wage or receiving benefits to be eligible for our
free courses. Please bring proof of identity and proof of receipts of benefit with you on
the day. For information about what to bring please visit www.islington.gov.uk/acl
or call 020 7527 5782.
Sana Nasser
Alexandra Callender
Sana Nasser
Alexandra Callender
NEWSLETTER
Friday 11th December 2015
I Have A Dream…
Dear Families,
This will be the last
newsletter of a very long
term. We started the year
knowing that our students
had, once again, achieved
exceptionally well in their
GCSE examinations. Just
last week, we received
the information outlining
the national picture and I
am delighted to share the
fantastic news that EGA is
in the top five per cent of
schools in the country. For
progress in English, we are
in the top two per cent. This
really is a great tribute to
the work of all the students
and staff and a good way
to start the holiday. It is
little wonder that we have
so many applicants for the
September 2016 intake. It’s
just a pity that we don’t have
the capacity for all the girls
who want to be part of EGA.
I hope many of you will
be attending our Winter
Showcase next week as it
promises to be a wonderful
event with drama, music and
dance performances from our
talented young women.
School re-opens on
Monday 4th January 2016
at the usual time but in the
meantime, best wishes for a
very Happy Christmas to all
those celebrating the festival
and I do hope that it is an
enjoyable holiday for all.
Yours sincerely,
On Tuesday, five students
from EGA were invited to
take part in the BBC Series
“100 Women” at Broadcast
House. The series looks
at issues involving women
from around the world as
part of its World Service,
using debate, conversation
and film to discuss many
interesting issues such as
“What makes a ‘good girl’?”
Our girls were involved in
a televised conversation
about leadership and body
image for women. Although
they were the youngest
women
amidst
various
professionals,
lawyers,
models, fashion designers,
artists and many other
women, our girls “really
made the show” according
to the producer, offering a
fresh voice on issues that
affected them.
They really did make EGA
proud with their mature
views and the confidence
with which they shared
them.
Click here for more photos.
In Year 8 Skills, students have been
taking part in a workshop designed
to develop their ability to hold a
conversation with an audience that
they do not know. They have learned
to evaluate what makes an effective
speech, considering the use of
tone and body language, as well as
content. For the final task, students
were asked to write their own "I
have a dream" speech or poem and
perform it to the rest of the group.
Here are some of them:
I have a dream…
That the world will change for good.
Reparation will be understood.
That war is no longer the answer
and that countries will unite and hold
hands.
I am telling you that everyone will
understand that peace is the answer,
what we need; so join me my
children.
Think about a new day. A day when
you won’t have to worry about
anything because, my child, every
day is a new beginning.
Louise 8L
I have a dream…
That one day I will see this world,
and the children of all different
This year group achieved backgrounds, stand together in unity.
I have dream that the children of
the highest ever GCSE
today will become the leaders of
results at EGA. Recently tomorrow and that tomorrow will be a
released Raise Online
time of equality and kindness.
A place where no-one is judged.
data showed that EGA
A place where everyone is loved.
achievement last year
I have a dream.
put us in the top 5% of
Bryana 8Z and Beauty 8E
GCSE Certificate Collection
Last Tuesday, we
welcomed back last
year’s Year 11 students
as they came to collect
their GCSE certificates.
They were very excited to
catch up with each other
and their former teachers,
now that they are
studying at sixth form and
further education centres
across the city.
schools in the country.
I have a dream…
See more photos of the
That all people should be free to live
girls with their certificates the lives they want and to not be
judged.
here.
Wars should be forbidden and
everyone should be equal.
My niqab won’t hurt you.
My hijab won’t hurt you.
My Islamic beliefs won’t hurt you.
I have a dream.
We have a dream.
Everyone has a dream.
Tasnim and Yasmin 8A
EGA Students on Stage
ADVENT LIBRARY
COMPETITION WINNERS
Day 1: Carolina Fernandez Bold 8L
Tawabeen Chowdhury 11T
Two year 9 EGA students are performing
in London shows over the Christmas
period.
Kitty Kelly is appearing in
Cinderella and Rebecca Sattaur Mathews
in Godspell. Well done to both girls and
we hope that lots of you are able to catch
their performances.
Day 2: Ilhan Mahamed 8A
Day 3: Keira-Joan Alexander 7Z
Day 4: Opah-Loreto Cruz
Aleva-Moritz 8A
Day 5: Nura Noor 7A
PLEASE COME TO THE LIBRARY
TO COLLECT YOUR PRIZES!
Friday 11th 4.30-6pm: Year 7-8 Winter Party
Wednesday 16th December
Lunchtime: Christmas lunch for students
4pm: Craft Fair
5pm: Winter Showcase – all families welcome
Friday 18th December:
Early finish – Y9 and Y11 leave at break time; Y7,
Y8 and Y10 leave at 12.00
Monday 4th January:
Start of Term - Week 2 timetable
Wednesday 6th January 5pm:
Year 8 GCSE Options Evening – essential that
all Y8 parents / carers attend to receive important
information about GCSE choices
Friday 8th January:
Year 11 Presenting Yourself Day
Wednesday 20th January 4.30-7pm:
Year 9 Parents’ Evening
Free Workshop! All residents welcome
Booking essential
Understanding Credit & Digging out of Debt
Tuesday 15 Dec 2015
10:30-12:30
Finsbury Library,
245 Saint John Street, London EC1V 4NB
To book
a place
Phone 020 7288 7682
020 7288 7681
Email
[email protected]
Kitty
Rebecca
On December 2nd, a group
of Year 7 students took part
in a film production for Safer
Internet Day, co-ordinated in
the UK by the UK Safer Internet
Centre. The celebration sees hundreds
of organisations get involved to help
promote the safe, responsible and
positive use of digital technology for
children and young people. The students
were all filmed sharing their responses
to the 2016 slogan "Play your part, share
a heart" which looks at how you can
make the internet a kinder place. They
also got to meet with SID - the giant
Safer Internet Day character - and have
lots of pictures taken with him. Overall,
the filming was very successful and we
have even
been invited
to the Safer
Internet Day
celebrations
in February,
which will be
a star studded
event at the
new BT offices
in London!
LIBRARY COLUMN
Hello again!
So this week’s review is
about the book of last month
‘All The Bright Places’ by
Jennifer Niven. This book
is so beautifully written and
the two characters are both
portrayed excellently. Out of
the two
characters,
I was more
attracted
to Finch
than Violet,
and I really
enjoyed
getting
inside both
of their
heads. If
you like The Fault in Our Stars
then you will love this.
I hope you find the time to
read this book and why not
share your thoughts on www.
goodreads.com ?
Also, go check out the library
advent calendar and maybe
you will win a prize if you
enter!
Signing off,
The Book Chatterbox
Public Speaking Challenge
Congratulations to these Year 7 students who
were the finalists in our annual Hogan Lovells
public speaking challenge.
Deborah Turkson
7Z
Nadia Rahman
7Z
Amrita Kaur
7A
Khadiza Islam
7A
Salina Ghebrehannes
7T
Shirel Kabongo
7T
Rhiannon Hall
7T
Sofia Madrigal
7H
Clara Angus Lane
7H
Anjesa Govori
7L
Hafeeza Ahmed
7E
Shanae Wilson-Gatdula 7L
Nadia Ali Sharif
7L
On the 12th January, they will visit the Hogan
Lovells law offices in central London for a
speaking workshop and lunch.
Best attendance
figures
for last week were:
7T - 97.9%
8A - 96.8%
9L - 96.1%
10L - 97.2%
11 A & L - 9 5 . 9 %

Newsletters from 2015 - Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School

Transcription

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