March 2016 - The Langley Academy

NEWSLETTER
Issue 4 - March 2016
Follow us on Twitter @LangleyAcademy
More details and fantastic
pictures from our Science
Week on Page 16
Find out which staff won
‘Best Costume’ on World
Book Day on Page 35
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Message from the Executive Principal
Dear Parents/Carers,
Another remarkable half-term which unbelievably has only been 5 weeks in length; so much has happened that
it is difficult to keep up! We have won more rowing medals, we have achieved 2 awards for the 6th Form Slough
Young Enterprise 'overall best trade stand’ and 'innovation' which is a remarkable achievement; we witnessed
some stunning drama performances for the A-Level work, Year 10 completed their work experience week with
some amazing comments from their employers and we heard from our anti-bullying and student council at our
recent whole school Assembly. The assembly dealt with 2 themes, that of respect and employability skills. I
explained the Oxford Dictionary definition of respect is:
‘A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.’
I asked students to think about their abilities, qualities and achievements to date and consider what they think
they need to do to ensure they keep as many doors open so that they are as employable as possible when they
leave us. I talked about how important it is to respect oneself and to respect others and the many ways you can
achieve that.
Once again I was so proud with the student body in the assembly because they put into practice the theme that
I was delivering.
We have also appointed our new Academy Student Leaders:
Head boy:
Head girl:
Robbie Ensby
Leah Lewis
Deputy Head boy:
Deputy Head girl:
Ravi Sharda
Erin Simmons
They went through a rigorous interview process including the application itself, a presentation to their peers, a
staff and student vote and a formal interview. All candidates did themselves and their families proud and we are
delighted with the results. We have also appointed Fazile Zogjani as our 6th Form Student Director who will have
significant responsibility for co-ordinating systems and structures in the 6th Form.
The new building for The Langley Academy Primary is in line with our expected opening date of September 2016
so we are delighted with the progress here and look forward to welcoming 90 more primary age students onto
the site instead of men in hard hats! The temporary site with the units will then be removed and we will then
be able to use our cricket nets again.
It is that time of year when exams are just around the corner. This is a difficult time for everyone but we believe
we have an excellent support programme in place, including a very busy Easter break revision programme. We
will be working exceptionally hard to support each student through this period but ultimately we all know one
indisputable fact and that is the responsibility relies with the student and hard work is almost always the best
way of achieving their potential. I am also asking every teacher to be very clear with each student on knowing
what they each have to do to improve in each subject and how to achieve that. Students saying work harder is
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not accurate enough so students need to be able to identify specific areas in each subject that will help them
achieve the next grade. This is particularly true of many students currently on a grade C who are capable of a
grade B, the prerequisite grade for many subjects at A-Level and University.
Finally, we are saying goodbye to 4 members of staff. Ms S Qureshi is leaving our SEND faculty and moving into
different role working in adult care; Mr N Al-Araimy, one of our Science teachers is moving to another school;
Mr H Qarni is leaving the Maths faculty and going to Qatar and Mr Elliot is leaving his role as Head of PE and
moving to another school much closer to home. I want to thank them individually and collectively for their hard
work and expertise and wish them all the best for the future.
I wish you all a great Easter and look forward to seeing you next term.
Rhodri Bryant, Executive Principal
Message from the Trustees
As we celebrate the start of Spring it is encouraging to see our students spending more time outside enjoying
the improved weather. It is also exciting to watch the eggs which are being incubated in our museum space in
the Atrium and which have their own live link to a webcam on our website. The sense of anticipation at each
break time amongst the students is palpable as they patiently wait for chicks to emerge!
At The Langley Academy we have been delighted to welcome two new members of the Local Governing Body:
John Hartley has been appointed as our new Chair of Governors. John recently retired as Headteacher of Saffron
Walden County High School (SWCHS). He was also Chief Executive of Saffron Academy Trust (SAT) from
2011. SWCHS is the largest secondary school in Essex, and was rated outstanding by Ofsted in its most recent
inspection in 2012. John has been a National Leader of Education since 2011, and has led and co-ordinated
improvement programmes to raise standards in several schools facing challenging circumstances. As well as
taking responsibility for Chairing the Board at The Langley Academy, John has continued to work as an Executive
Consultant for Alec Hunter Academy in Braintree.
Samia Baig has joined us as a parent governor and may well be known to many of you. Samia has 24 years
experience in Children’s social care with a specialism in Safeguarding which is of utmost importance to the Trust
and we welcome her expertise in this area. She has already made a significant contribution to the Governing
Body. Since 1999 Samia has successfully run a consultancy service specialising in Social Care Management. Samia
is married with two children and currently resides in the Langley area.
Chair of the Trust: My role at The Langley Academy Trust has grown as we have extended our Trust to take on
Sponsorship of our two primary academies. As well as being overall Sponsor of the Trust, I currently hold the
role of Chair of the Trust and sit as a governor on each of the academies’ Local Governing Bodies and on every
Trust committee. Recently, I have been discussing with my fellow Trustees my feeling that the Trust would
benefit from the introduction of a new Chair who could bring in further expertise and experience. I have
therefore decided to stand down as Chair of the Trust at the end of this academic year (or when an excellent
replacement has been found) but I will remain in my roles as overall Sponsor and a governor in each of the three
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academies. This does not mean that I am stepping back in any way from my commitment to The Langley
Academy Trust. I am still just as committed; I simply feel that I am spread too thin with the current level of
responsibility that I hold. By bringing in a new Chair, with the right range of skills and experience, I will be able
to devote more time to each of the academies and their stakeholders.
We will embark on the process of appointing a new Chair in the next few weeks and will be advertising the role
nationally through a range of networks, to ensure we recruit exactly the right person for the role. I will update
you in due course on our progress.
Parlaunt Park Primary Academy: Our search for an outstanding Headteacher for Parlaunt Park Primary Academy
continues following the departure of Jane Sweeney. We are currently advertising the role (details on the Trust
website: http://www.langleyacademytrust.org) and look forward to interviewing candidates at the start of next
term. This is a particular focus for the Trust to ensure that we find an excellent candidate for the role in this
current climate of a national shortage of Primary Headteachers. In the meantime Interim head teacher Andrea
Fricker has been doing an impressive job of leading this wonderful school and the staff there continue to ensure
their pupils’s experience is not disrupted during this period of transition in leadership.
The Langley Academy Primary: You will have seen the new building for our Primary going up very quickly on
site. We have been delighted by the progress made by the builders and also by the welcome our building
contractors, Bouygues UK, have given to the pupils and staff. The children have been welcomed to the site and
will be designing decorations for the site hoarding. Bouygues will be holding a roof top 'topping out’ ceremony
for the Primary Academy on 12 April to celebrate the progress made. The building is on schedule and everyone
at the Primary is excited to move into their new school building in time for September.
As we reach the end of term, I hope that you all have a chance to enjoy some quality time at home with friends
and families and that our students who are preparing for their public exams this summer manage to find the
right balance between revision and rest, to ensure they return next term ready to embrace the exam process.
My own children are also about to sit A Levels and GCSEs so I feel a particular sense of solidarity for our students
in a very personal way this year. My message to my own children and to our Langley Academy exam candidates
is to rest well and prepare for the exams ahead. Good luck to you all!
Annabel Nicoll, Chair of The Langley Academy Trust
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Dates for your Diary
MARCH 2016
Thursday 24
End of Spring Half Term2
12:00
INSET Day – No Students at Academy
Start of Summer Half Term 1
PGL Information Evening
Year 11 Certificate Evening
Year 8 Parent/Carer Evening
Year 6 Welcome Meetings
08 :20
18:00 – 19:00
16:30 – 17:30
16:30 – 18:30
17:00 – 18:30
Parent Forum
Year 10 Academic Afternoon
End of Summer Half Term 1
18:00 – 19:00
14:00 – 16:00
13:20
Start of Summer Half Term 2
08:20
APRIL 2016
Monday 11
Tuesday 12
Wednesday 13
Thursday 14
Thursday 21
Wednesday 27
MAY 2016
Wednesday 4
Wednesday 18
Friday 27
JUNE 2016
Monday 6
ARBIB
Term 4 is about passing the half way mark and counting down the days till summer for most students, and this
one has gone incredibly fast!
Our House attendance as a whole has been rocking and will be a major focus point next term. We are a
competitive House and pride ourselves in all areas but this is one we need to work on.
This terms focus has been Science (Darwin House foci). There have been many weird and wonderful things going
on but the most captivating has been the watching the eggs hatch. In the Museum Learning area we have had
several eggs on show with a live feed waiting for them to hatch. This week 4 have hatched so far which has been
really exciting for all students! Students this term have also being around snakes and spiders!
Next term we look forward to announcing our new House Captain Team ready to lead us into next term. Good
luck to the Year 9 and 10 students who have applied!
Don’t eat too many chocolate eggs and enjoy your long awaited break!
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Arbib House Update:
Year 7 - Year 7 Arbib have been very excited about Science Week and Pi Day. These two events have been
extremely amusing. For Pi Day we drew our own numbers and to make them original we drew them in Arabic.
Furthermore, for Science Week, 7 Arbib was the first Tutor Group to go into the amazing dome in the atrium.
We engaged a lot of significant information about our solar system and space. In addition, Arbib have been
successful by making an alien for the Year 7 House project. We hope to carry on like this after the Easter break!
Written by Abbi Griffin and Aman Deol
Year 9 - My experience of The Langley Academy was incredible. I came here with a lot of doubts but I instantly
was relieved and welcomed kindly. The teachers were very helpful and helped me to achieve my full potential,
especially Ms Agulair and my House Tutor Ms Chotai. They went out of their way to help me extend my abilities.
I will miss the Academy a lot and hope that it continues to help other students like myself.
Written by Mahwish Ibrahim
Year 10 - My work experience (Sports Academy in Stoke Poges) was amazing. The boss and other students and
colleagues were very welcoming to me and I was also involved in their practical and coaching course. It was fun
to experience working for an organisation and made me realise how important education is in order to get into
the career I want. Feedback I got made me even happier as they said I was welcome to come down anytime I
want. I definitely appreciate this opportunity.
Written by Tadiwanashe Ndhlovu
Year 11 - In Arbib House this term we have been in discussion about who the new House Captains and Prefects
are going to be once the current Year 11’s leave. We have done interviews with the Year 9 students who
submitted applications and shall be doing the Year 10 interviews as soon as possible. We have had an
outstanding amount of people submitting applications and so far everyone has been brilliant and all the students
show a keen interest in becoming a leading role in Arbib House. On behalf of the Year 11 body we are
overwhelmed at how much the students want to get involved and we are happy with who our roles are going
to be going to.
Written by Louise West
Ms Chotai – Head of Arbib House
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DARWIN
The focus this term at the Academy is Science - Darwin House specialism. As such our students across all years
are looking at life and beyond.
The Science department have put on some amazing events aimed and stoking curiosity and exploration of life
on Earth. Students have been given then chance to work with exotic animals, watch chicks and caterpillars hatch
and watch experts give exciting demonstrations about life on our planet.
As part of the House Tutor Program students will be discovering life on other planets … they have been
challenged to create their own Aliens capable of living on a chosen planet. As this is Darwin Houses’ focus, our
students will be doing everything they can to win the award for best House from across the Academy.
I hope you enjoy your Easter break.
Mr Royle - Head of Darwin House
GAIA
This term has been a short but sweet one! Attendance and punctuality has been great, with 7 Gaia winning the
100 Club and 9 Gaia winning the most days of no lates – only 3 lates in the whole term! A massive well done to
those students and staff who are continually driving for high standards within the House.
After a busy Sustainability week and term, the baton was handed over to Darwin and Science. I’ve seen a number
of Gaia students getting stuck in with all the activities on offer including watching some live chicks hatch in the
atrium! All Gaia Tutor Groups are currently working on using recycled products to make an alien, who needs to
be designed to live on the planet Mercury. This is proving a little difficult given the volatile conditions on Mercury
but I have no doubt that Gaia will produce high quality entries in every year group.
Ms Smith – Head of Gaia House
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GLOBE
Globe House students have been representing the Academy across multiple sport teams and have been very
successful in doing so.
Year 7 students Amrees Sroa and Wiktoria Borkowska have recently represented the Academy at Bisham Abbey
sports facility in the Berkshire School games competition. Amrees was key cog in the team and worked
exceptionally hard in defence. Wiktoria was exceptional in her work rate and attacking flare. Well done to all
the girls involved, the House are very proud.
The following Year 7 Boys from Globe House have recently represented the Academy at a rugby tournament at
Aylesbury RFC. The Boys involved were Josh Munzara, Thomas Jenkins, Sobaan Ali and Connor Anstee. A special
mention must go to Joshua Munzara who was highlighted by the opposing schools as one to watch. Well done
boys you have done the House proud.
Mr Evans – Head of Globe House
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GRACE
Whilst this term has been a short one, it has been a busy one!
First of all a big well done to all the following students who have achieved 100% attendance and punctuality
this half term:7 Grace
Aden, Ahmed
8 Grace
Adnan, Rafay
9 Grace
Ahmed, Wadhha
10 Grace
Bhachu, Gagan
11 Grace
Ashton, Adam
Ahmed, Amani
Ahmed, Wasila
Chaggar, Nikki
Clark, Alexander
Clack, Harrison
Bhandal, Amrit
Aramunde, Irabor
Din, Rheece
Daw, Melissa
Dawson-Rose, Alfie
Butt, Ahmed
Babber, Shyleen
Howard-Phelan, Keara
Hayer, Gurkiran
Dhesi, Navdeep
Gardner, Morgan
Chander, Vivek
Mattu, Gaganveer
Iqbal, Hadiqa
Gamit, Krutik
Grewal, Roshni
Hans, Simran
Daraskevicius, Titas
Davis, Rebecca
Panwar, Davina
Panwar, Divya
Jadid, Suhaila
Mehmood, Jibran
Jhalli, Rian
Muneka, Drilon
Jensz, Wiktoria
Haider, Areej
Phull, Ramandeep
Mirza, Tanzeel
Mwangi, Lucy
Johal, Jeevan
Ibrahim, Beker
Sandhu, Esha
Pellow, Thomas
Patel, Vijai
Karira, Dylan
Iqbal, Inza
Simbo, Donald
Phull, Sukhdeep
Rakhra, Tanisha
Yau, Jamie
Keta, Shanna
Jezewicz, Jakub
Multani, Sunpreet
Kang, Harpinder
Nhlangano, Chloe
Mirza, Adeel
Sandhu, Sonam
Pahoyo, Hannah
Paskarathas, Kapila
Roberts, Liam
Sagoo, Tanisha
Yau, Oscar
Saini, Reeth
Shafique, Murtaza
Sattar, Aadil
Villacrusis, Troy
Shah, Malaika
Wareham, Kareem
Zhang, Cecilia
White, Jamie-Leigh
Sritharan, Joel
Roberts, Callum
Wilson, Thomas
Sandhu, Aarandeep
Williams, Cana
This half term has seen all students take part in creating Pi around the Academy and Year 7 Grace made 3
numbers to add to the end. Amani Ahmed and Cecelia Zhang were both awarded the prize for their entry into
the World Book Day competition.
Year 8 Grace have excelled this half term with their attendance and punctuality and have won the 100 club with
18 days of 100 % attendance and punctuality this half term. Well done guys.
Ms Young – Head of Grace House
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HENLEY
Science Week - The 3D Dome
The Dome was a wonderful and unique experience. It was great fun and the 3D effects were amazing. We
learned about different planets and Human nature. I enjoyed it a lot and I found it very interesting.
By Aysha Potts
Year 11 GCSE Maths
After several years of achieving below average in Maths, I grew resentful and chose to not try as hard as I should.
This only added to my surprise when I learned that I was being considered to take my Maths GCSE early. I decided
to drastically alter my perspective and I tried exceptionally hard. I believe that by attending all revision classes
including Saturdays, it helped me achieve my B in Maths. I am extremely proud of myself. Thank you to all the
Teachers at TLA.
By Emily Jacobs
This year’s Science Week allowed staff to also get involved in overcoming fears of their own!!
Ms Vernon – Head of Henley House
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English
If you’re a parent/carer of a Year 7 or 8 student at The Langley Academy, your son and/or daughter is enrolled
onto our Accelerated Reader programme. This gives students an opportunity to read a book and then take a
quiz. Any student who achieves 100% on their quiz is automatically entered into a prize draw which takes place
at the end of every term. The more 100%’s a student achieves the more times their name is entered into a prize
draw. The prize draw gives students the chance to win family bowling tickets, ice skating tickets, gym and swim
passes, trampolining tickets, books and much, much more!
Check out the list of Year 7 and 8 students below who have already achieved 100% this term!
Year 7
Abdul Abdulrahman
Jazmine Agbangla
Zara Ali
Megan Ballantyne
Lois Boland
Gurkaran Boparai
James Butler
Nailah Choudhury
Claudiv Cronicec
Josh Gill
Roshni Grewal
Cameron Gruber
Alfie Hunt
Aiza Iftikhar
Haroon Javed
Janat Liqat
Edward Lorincz
Shreya Mehra
Matas Montydas
Ledion Neziri
Gargi Pande
Jessica Panesar
Kapila Paskarathas
Jamie Powell
Kewin Prietz
Simi Purewal
Munazza Rana
Nathan Riley
Shilpa Shojo
Ria Sidhu
Marshall Stevens
Rebecca Tesfamariam
Shreyas Tripurari
Macy Tsang
Tanushka Ukidve
Emilie Vitaro
Zaafir Virmani
Year 8
Rafay Adnan
Connor Bates
Danielle Byrne
Callum Dennis
Stefen Fowke
Jakub Jezewicz
Harpinder Kang
Kuljit Kaur
Yashkaran Kumar
Wiktor Lachowski
Elizabeth Monds
Astrid Okyere
James Omokaro
Samiyah Osman
Rehunma Rahman
Alhad Salum
Tanisha Sagoo
Alisha Sharma
Sharanjan Sri
Lewis Thirkell-Brown
Reece Villacrusis
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The Millionaire Challenge
The following students are now members of
our Millionaire’s Club (they’ve read 1,000,000
words!):
Amani Ahmed Year 7
Munazza Rana Year 7
Zaafir Virmani Year 7
Anisha Khatri Year 7
Rayan Bahadur Year 7
Raheem-Abdul Qayum
Edward Lorincz
Wiktor Lachowski Year 8 (who’s a double
millionaire!)
Duke of Edinburgh Reading
Challenge
This term the DoE Reading Challenge has begun. The
programme, where Year 7 students will receive
mentoring support from Year 10 students, will run for
a period of 12 weeks and will support part of the
volunteering requirements needed to achieve the
Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award. At the end of the
12 week period, the Year 7 student who has made the
most progress will win a £20 Amazon voucher which
has kindly been donated by B Simmons estate agents
located in Langley village. Runner-up prizes are also
available!
Thank you to the following local businesses for
supporting our Accelerated Reader programme!
Caitlin Witheridge Year 8
Rehnuma Rahman Year 8
Megan Kelly Year 8
Elizabeth Monds Year 8
CONGRATULATIONS!
RECOMMENDED READ
‘The Book Thief’ by Markus Zusak
BL/ZPD: 5.1
What’s it all about?
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World
War II, Death relates the story of Liesel, a
young German girl whose book-stealing and
story-telling talents help sustain her family
and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as
their neighbours.
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Read For My School
If you’re a Year 7 or 8
Join over 200,000 children around the country and take part in England’s biggest school reading
competition that gives you:
 A free online library of over 100 titles by top children’s authors!
 The chance to win a Reading Legend award and a tower of books!
 The chance to help your school win a £1,000 prize!
From 18 January 2016, sign up and create an account at www.readformyschool.co.uk
 Read as much as you can in three months!
 Choose books from the free online library.
 Or read any book you like offline – then log in to tell us what you read.
The Langley Academy’s Classroom Code is:
168976
Check the ZPD/BL of an online book by using:
www.arbookfind.co.uk
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Maths
Celebrating Pi Day 2016
How do these three statements mean the same thing?



Tom, I need a drink. Powerades do things. Tomas, you fetch Powerade.
Yes, I like a piano. Classical is lovely music. The music revolves immensely
through knowledge.
Can I tell a story regarding my family lives and views?
A “job well done” goes to Adam Ashton and Callum Roberts (Grace 11) who had worked out they all are digits
to Pi. They managed to win pizzas to share with their House Tutor Group on our final day of the term. On March
14, TLA recognised Pi day with the rest of the mathematicians and scientists all around the world with members
of staff incorporating Pi into their lessons. Here are a few examples:
Mr Weare and his rowing
team had to “row Pi” on the
rowing machine. They were
assigned the task to
somehow row the
numerical value of Pi on the
monitors. Have a look!
During their House Tutor time, Year 7s
had to draw numbers that would go up
around the atrium, contributing to the
already ongoing numbers of Pi from
year groups in previous years. The
following students: Dinari Dawkins
(Globe 7, above), Kayleigh Law,
Kawthar Koundi and Shreya Mehra
(Gaia 7, left) hold up their work.

Students in their English lessons had to write a short story (comedy or thriller) using the digits of Pi to
structure their writing. So, the first sentence they wrote had to have three words. The next sentence
had to be a one word sentence (onomatopoeia or a word that creates tension), and so on. The winning
story was by Rebecca Davis (Grace 8).
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
The PE team had students run for 3.14 kilometres and stretch for 3 minutes 14 seconds.

And, coincidently, as part of the Year 10 curriculum the Maths faculty taught their students about finding
the circumference and areas of circles or sectors. Students had to locate Pi on their calculators and use
it in their calculations. Their answers were given in terms of π or rounded to significant digits.
Impressively, Year 10 student, Alara Chaudhery (below) was able to recite Pi to the 90th decimal place.
Wow!
Mr Estrabillo
Year 11 January Maths Results
This term the results from the Year 11 maths results were released. The cohort of 46 Year 11s sitting the exam
put in a tremendous amount of effort and it paid off with 100% A*-C attained. These are some of the best results
in the Academy’s history with 2 A*s and 21 As. With the rest of the students still to take their exam in summer
they now have many of their peers to look at for inspiration.
Ms Butzen
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Science
Science week 2016 got off to a great start. This year saw the
return of the Dome where students were treated to excellent
visuals in the Planetarium. They were taken on a virtual tour
of our Universe without even leaving our Atrium.
New this year were the workshops with Owen’s Animals.
During the workshops, students were able to hold a variety of
creatures from Geckos, Bearded Dragons, Snakes and even a
Tarantula. Nicole Blackman in Year 12 even said ‘it helped me overcome my fear of Spiders’.
There was a show in the theatre for Year 10 and 11 students and some even got to see two Snakes being fed
during enrichment.
The second week saw the 3D Body Works show take place for three days in the theatre. This required students
to wear a pair of 3D glasses while they looked at the inner workings of the human body.
While all this was going on, in the Atrium, visitors to the museum cases where able to witness the four stages
of the Butterfly metamorphosis and Chicks being hatched.
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Science staff also demonstrated some unusual experiments in the Atrium to the students. We had the smoke
machine and Bazooka’s making smoke rings which the students had fun firing into the air. A demonstration of
dry ice showing how it produces copious amounts of fumes when added to water. The students most enjoyed
adding it to bottles with water and seeing how far bungs could be fired!! Finally we had a 50 foot solar bag
which when taken outside into the sunshine inflated and soared to the height of the Academy. Ms Hegarty had
to keep a tight grip on it least it soar off into the Heathrow flight path!
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Spreading Science far and wide
It has been our great pleasure to share all our activities in Science Week with our Trust partners. 90 students
from Parlaunt Park joined us for the Space Dome show and the children from the Primary have been frequent
visitors to see the Chicks and have also enjoyed the Dome show and a special Assembly with Owen’s Animals.
We hope we are inspiring them all to enjoy Science.
Many of you will have also
enjoyed our live Video link to the
hatching Chicks and watched
their amusing antics as they
grow. In just 4 days we have had
4,280 hits on the video link. This
was an amazing first for the
Academy with people sharing
our hatching experience abroad
and all over the UK. If you were
one of the many who enjoyed
this
please
tweet
us
@LangleyAcademy to tell us
what you thought. We would
also like to hear your ideas on
other things you would like to see broadcast.
Finally a lovely photograph to share, taken by Cezary, I wonder what the Chick is thinking?
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Humanities
History
This term a group of Year 13 students had the
opportunity to talk to a former Deputy Supreme
Allied Commander Atlantic in NATO, Sir James
Perowne.
He talked about his experiences working as part of
the Royal Navy, from what it was like running a
Submarine and the physics behind tracking enemy
ships. He also answered our questions on his life and
experience, particularly during the Cold War as this is
the topic we are studying in A2 history, as well as his
predictions for the future.
The Governor of Windsor Castle Admiral Sir James Perowne
The talk was incredibly interesting, and allowed all of us to appreciate the real-life implications of the Cold War,
outside of our textbooks.
By Chloe Jacobs, Year 13
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CAPA
Even though it’s been a short half term, it has been an extremely busy and successful month for students and
staff in the CAPA Faculty. We started the half term with the Art Department taking students to the National
Gallery and Tate Britain in London. The following week saw the Drama department and AS Drama students
performing in the theatre in front of a live audience as part of their Unit 2 Practical Performance Exams.
Finally we ended the term with students from the Music Department performing as members of the ISSP Choir
at Eton College. A huge thank you to all the staff and students who came to watch the performances and those
who helped work behind the scenes. Your support is always gratefully received.
Can I remind all exam students to check the Easter Revision timetable and attend as many Art, Drama, Music,
and Media Studies sessions as possible as these are extremely beneficial as we embark on exam season.
I hope you all have a lovely Easter holiday and I look forward to seeing the amazing creative work produced in
the summer term.
Ms Brock - Assistant Head of CAPA
Art
Year 7 & 8 Art students have been busy exploring the themes related to Darwin and Gaia House Foci. Last half
term Year 7 Art students looked at the work of Earnst Haeckle and developed their drawing skills by drawing
cells and micro-organisms to create their own Microscopic World out of colouring pencils and oil pastels. This
half term they have started to work in air-dry clay to create their own sculptures and tiles.
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Poster by Malaika Khan, Year 8 Gaia
Looking at Sustainability and art Ms Brock’s Year 8 students have designed and made a campaign poster for an
animal of their choice. Having explored different campaign posters and looked at the use of colour and
silhouettes, students made their own posters out of shredded magazine pages. Continuing with the theme of
sustainability, students are designing and making a cup, bowl or vase out of a plastic bottle or container
decorated with rolled magazine pages.
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At the start of this half term Mr Rider, Mr Samouel, Ms Brock, Ms Blay and
Ms Puddefoot took 60 Year 10 GCSE Art students to the Tate Britain in
London. The purpose of the trip was to collect information for their current
project ‘What Is Art?’ in which students are exploring artwork produced in
different periods/genres. The students were exceptionally well behaved.
They thoroughly enjoyed the visit to a London Gallery, with students taking
selfies with some of the famous works of art. One student commented on
how she was so excited to see the original painting that she had researched
online and that inspired the artwork in her sketch book.
Mr Rider also took his AS Art and Photography students to the National
Portrait Gallery to look at the works of art on display. As inspiration for
their current portrait project students were able to see a range of Portraits
produced by some of the great Masters of Art and Photography. The
artwork they produce as part of this project will be displayed later this year.
It is really important that students studying GCSE and A level Art and Photography visit as many galleries and
museums as possible. By looking at the work of existing practitioners they can see how the artwork is produced,
and appreciate the scale and dimensions of the artwork. It is also extremely beneficial for students to discuss
the works of art with their friends and family, developing their use of descriptive, evaluative, artistic language.
More information about the galleries across the UK can be found at: www.artfund.org
Music
It’s been a busy term for the Music
Department. Our big event has
been the Independent State
Schools’ Partnership (ISSP) Vocal
Project, where students in Year 7
and 8 have had the opportunity to
work with local vocal composer
Alexander l’Estrange. L & G groups
in Years 7 and 8 spent a morning
with Alexander learning a song
called ‘Zadok Rules – Hallelujah’ – a
song about the English Monarchy
set to music by famous composers
such as G.F. Handel.
On 17 March the department took 13 students to Eton College to join up with the choristers of Eton-ality and
other singers from schools across Slough and further afield. It was an exhilarating moment of music making,
something the students won’t be forgetting in a hurry. I hope that this experience continues to foster your love
of music-making in the near future.
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Our Year 11 students have also been extremely busy completing their controlled assessments. Students were
set a brief to compose an African Drumming piece inspired by ‘Yiri’ – a percussion piece written by a band from
Burkina Faso called Koko. The students have produced some exceptional pieces of work, and you can hear these
by visiting @Music_TLA twitter feed, or searching for us on Sound Cloud.
Drama
Ms Shaw and her Year 12 Drama students took over the theatre at the start of term, working over the half term
break and after school until 7pm most evenings, rehearsing for their practical exam performances. All their
efforts were not in vein. Over 2 nights the students’ wowed audience members with a series of mature and
highly professional performances. The first night involved students performing a 3-minute monologue from
plays written by some of our best known playwrights including Shakespeare and Sarah Kane.
Rehearsing for performances of ‘The Cage Birds’ and ‘The 100’
Audience members returned for a second night of performances in which the student cast worked in small
groups to perform their shortened versions of the plays ‘The Cage Birds’ by David Compton and ‘The 100’ by 3
collaborative writers. Working closely with teacher, choreographer and director Miss Shaw students produced
their own dynamic versions of the plays. Audience members, staff and students shared in the celebrations of
the students’ success, posting comments on the Drama Twitter account @TLAdrama.
Following the first night’s performances Mr Bryant emailed the staff to congratulate members of the department
and encourage others to attend the second evening: ‘It was a huge success, I was in awe of each performance
and as I explained to the students afterwards, they really drew the audience in to each of their very different and
diverse interpretations of the works they were sharing with us. I would really encourage you to go tonight if you
can, the students really appreciate it as do the staff’.
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Media
Mr Endacott took twenty of our Year 12 Media Studies students to a careers day at Sky last week. The event was
designed to give students a taste of what the media industry is really like to work in and students benefited from
the expertise of a number of industry experts (including Sully!)
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PE
Year 7 and 8 Netball
It has been a very successful term for our Year 7 and 8 netball teams, with both teams winning all of their games!
The girls have played some challenging fixtures against Westgate, Baylis, Upton Court Grammar School, St
Joseph’s and Beechwood.
Our Year 7 team has consisted of:
Wiktoria Borkowska,
Lois Boland,
Lauren Foster,
Emma Wilson,
Abigail Gilder,
Elena Dos Santos,
Morgan Gardner,
Teagan West,
Chloe Rayner,
Megan Ballantyne,
Shreya Mehra,
Annie West,
Kayleigh Law,
Hannah Pahoyo and
Tanishka Ukidve.
Our Year 8 netballers were
Malaika Khan,
Lauren Callero,
Amelia Runiewicz,
Wasila Ahmed,
Julita Gralicka,
Cana Williams,
Jamie-leigh White,
Shanelle Onestas and
Sukanya Shourie.
We would like to wish both teams good luck in their forthcoming tournaments. We are sure that you will be
fantastic!
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Year 9 Netball
The Year 9 season has had its ups and downs so far so there was a bit of apprehension going in to the tournament
at Langley Grammar. Having lost the first 5 games, the girls ended positively winning the last 2 games against
Upton Court and Baylis Court. Overall the team finished 5th. A good team performance overall, but a special
mention goes to Amy Dent who’s shooting and all round game play has improved greatly this season due to her
dedication to training.
Year 9 netball team below: Charlotte Bedford, Esha Bhalla, Aoife Brennan, Amy Dent, Annabeth Gyamfi, Alexis
Hansel, Mahnoor Khan, and Sophie Ward.
Year 10 Netball
The Year 10s had their annual netball tournament, held this year at Herschel Grammar school. The girls felt
positive, having had a number of good wins this season. They started well with a win against Langley Grammar.
This year a round robin format was used, meaning the team had a whopping 8 games to play. The girls lost 1,
drew 3 and won 3, with the last game against St Joseph’s who TLA had lost to in a home game the previous
week. St Joseph’s had taken their eye off the ball and the TLA netballers won their final game of the day. Overall
the Year 10s came 2nd on points which was a great achievement and well deserved. An outstanding team
performance, with credit going to Jessica Davis, who’s shooting has come on leaps and bounds this season due
to her commitment to netball both in and outside of school.
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Year 10 netball team below: Chloe Boland, Anisah Chaudry, Simrit Chawla, Jessica Davis, Amreece Gill, Abbi
Griffin, Muneesa Natt and Salma Usmani
Berkshire School Games
The Year 8 girl’s indoor Athletics team and the Year 7 and 8 girls football team both qualified to represent Slough
in the Berkshire School Games. The Berkshire School Games is a very prestigious event, which was held this year
at Bisham Abbey and the girls did very well to qualify.
The indoor athletics team consisting of Jamie-Leigh White, Jessica Woodford, Elizabeth Monds, Shanelle
Onestas, Jennifer Agyekum and Abigail Gilder who stepped up from Year 7 to help out the Year 8s due to injury.
The girls performed very well and finished in the top 8 teams in Berkshire.
The Year 7 and 8 football team, were very excited to qualify for the Berkshire School Games as they have minimal
football experience. The team consisting of Emma Wilson, Amrees Sroa, Eleina Dos Santos, Lauren Foster,
Wiktoria Borkowska, Wasila Ahmed, Cana Williams and Bahiya Arbibey played really well and acted really well
as a team.
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Both teams worked very hard in their events during the competition and were an asset to the Academy and
Slough in both their behaviour and their sportsmanship.
Museum Learning
Northern Lights, The Firework Maker’s Daughter and Millions
Year 7 English students have been working with The Story Museum in Oxford to create their own museums in
their classrooms. At the end of last term the students and their English teachers decorated their classrooms
with all sorts of objects. Decorations included alethiometers, snowflakes, WWII posters and bunting. The
students had put a lot of thought into the decorations and linked it very well to the books they were reading.
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Castles and Scrolls
Year 7 History students found out more about medieval castles thanks to a loan box from Reading Museum. The
boxes included a model castle along with objects relating to Windsor and Windsor Castle. The students will now
go on and make their own castle as part of their homework.
Year 8 RPS students used a loan box full of Judaism objects to learn more about the religion. Mr Rowland, Mr
Royle and Ms Rafiq got the students to guess what the objects were and what they may be used for.
3.14159265359
The Academy has once again been decorated for Pi Day! This year the numbers have stretched onto the 2 nd
floor and the artwork looks fantastic! Next year we are hoping to add even more numbers.
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Cheep! Cheep!
This term has seen the arrival of some very special visitors in the museum cases. We are lucky enough to
welcome caterpillars and chicks as part of the celebration for British Science Week 2016. The eggs arrived on
Monday 14 March and hatched on Wednesday 16 March. Both staff and students have enjoyed seeing the
development of the animals and how much they have changed since arriving.
Lecturers for an afternoon
Ms Blay and Ms Barker were invited to Reading University to give a
lecture to students studying Curatorship. The students learnt more about
the Academy and even helped with some label writing!
The students will be working with Academy students to curate our term
6 exhibition.
Museum Council and Museum Club
Museum Council have been helping Ms Blay and Ms Barker to make
decisions for the rehang happening this summer. The Council will be
visiting Chiltern Open Air Museum in July to learn more about
Langley’s brick making heritage and to have a go at making their own
bricks.
Museum Club have been busy writing up their Arts Award. The
students have done a fantastic job and their work will be moderated
soon.
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Rowing
National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships Friday 11 March 2016 at Lee Valley Sports Centre
RESULTS LIST
Year
Name
Category
Position
Out of
Distance
Personal
best?
8
Sachin Chadda
Yr8 Boys Ind
3rd
235
846
Yes
13
Delwyn Rose
Special Invitation
Race Boys (2’)
3rd
61
576
Yes
7-9
Sachin Chadda, Morgan Williams, Kieran
Hennessy-Hunt, Donald Simbo
Boys sprint relay
4th
66
6:38.7
Yes
7
Muhammad Tariq
Yr7 Boys Ind
8th
198
521
Yes
9
Kieran Hennessy-Hunt
Yr9 Boys Ind
11th
248
1099
8
Cana Williams
Yr8 Girls Ind
19th
283
748
7-9
Cana Williams, Lovenn Locke, Jasmine Jenkins,
Elizabeth Monds
Girls Sprint relay
22nd
86
7:59.7
Yes
7-9
Luca Gabella, Aaditya Gupta, Muhammad Tariq,
Adeel Mirza
Boys sprint relay
23rd
66
7:39.2
Yes
9
Gracjan Borkowski
Special Invitation
Race Boys (2’)
33rd
61
448
Yes
10
Roy Carlton
Yr10 Boys Ind
35th
154
1321
Yes
9
Donald Simbo
Yr9 Boys Ind
36th
248
1068
Yes
8
Lovenn Locke
Yr8 Girls Ind
39th
283
729
Yes
7-9
Aidan Kelly, Gracjan Borkowski, Hunain Jaffrey
Boys sprint relay
42nd
66
8:22.6
Yes
8
Morgan Williams
Yr8 Boys Ind
86th
235
730
8
Aaditya Gupta
Yr8 Boys Ind
89th
235
728
8
Adeel Mirza
Yr8 Boys Ind
100th
235
717
8
Aidan Kelly
Yr8 Boys Ind
116th
235
705
9
Lauren Bradburn
Yr9 Girls Ind
122nd
230
874
8
Jasmine Jenkins
Yr8 Girls Ind
124th
283
666
8
Hunain Jaffrey
Yr8 Boys Ind
131st
235
697
8
Luca Gabella
Yr8 Boys Ind
139th
248
968
8
Caitlin Witheridge
Yr8 Girls Ind
146th
283
656
8
Elizabeth Monds
Yr8 Girls Ind
175th
283
637
7
Wiktoria Borkowska
Yr7 Girls Ind
DNS
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Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Slough Schools Indoor Rowing Championships
The Langley Academy won all 4 categories at the Slough Schools Indoor Rowing Championships, earning the
right to represent the borough of Slough at the Berkshire Youth Games in July in all 4 categories.
Last year, all 16 students won medals at SSIRC, but this is the first time we have had a clean sweep of winning
all 4 events.
What made this especially noteworthy was that our Year 9/10 girls’ team was made up from one Year 9 and 3
Year 8s, who beat the Year 9 and 10s from all the other Slough schools.
South of England Indoor Rowing Championships
The Langley Academy won 5 sets of medals at the SEIRC in January.
Sachin Chadda dominated the J13 boys’ event, then was part of both the victorious J13 team event, with Morgan
and Cana Williams and Aaditya Gupta, and was also part of the bronze medal J14 team with Donald Simbo,
Luca Gabella and Lauren Bradburn.
We had medals in both the J14+ and J17+ adaptive events, Gracjan Borkowski winning gold in the former, whilst
Delwyn Rose earned silver in the latter event.
National Junior Sculling Head
We have one crew entered in the NJSH at Dorney Lake on 18 March, with Kieran Hennessy-Hunt and Donald
Simbo of Year 9 linking up with Sachin Chadda and Morgan Williams of Year 8 to race in the J14 quad event,
coxed by Wiktoria Borkowska of Year 7.
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Careers & Work Experience
Careers Day – Friday 4 March
We recently hosted our annual Careers Day for our Year 10-13 students, with over 25 companies representing
potential career pathways from the army to 3D computer technologies. Students were given an insight into
what these careers entail, qualifications needed, pay and progression.
Our aim is for students to begin to have a clear view of their future careers options and the positive feedback
from them suggest they are engaged and looking to the future with ambition and enthusiasm.
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Work Experience
Students have recently returned from their week of work experience. This is the opportunity we provide
students to experience working life outside the Academy. A varied range of employers get involved from
accountancy and law firms, engineering to vets.
The main aim of the experience is to develop a higher level of independence; they are responsible for their travel
arrangements, making contact with the employers and attending interviews if necessary.
Working alongside people unknown to us can be daunting at any age and we have received glowing praise from
many of the employers. Many comment on the level of commitment and the work ethic of our students and,
particularly pleasing, the respect and manners clearly evident.
Well done year 10 and I hope to continue to see that level of commitment throughout the rest of your studies
and into your chosen careers.
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Another fantastic effort by students and staff supporting this event. Winners of Staff Best Costume went to Ms
Randhawa, Mr Estrabillo and Ms Jagdev. Student WBD competition winners were Cecilia Zhang and Amani
Ahmed from Grace House, with Alessia Awuah from Henley House as runner-up.
Above: Mr Estrabillo as Sweeny Todd
Left: Mr Jeyaratnam as Frankenstein and Ms Randhawa as Maleficent
Below: Ms Jagdev as Cleopatra with Vice Principal, Mr Blewett
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Staff
Character/Book
Ms M McCarthy
Snow White/Same title, by the Grimm Brothers
Ms T Puddefoot
Rapunzel/Same title, by Friedrich Schulz
Mr P Garland
Mr. Gamfield-chimneysweep/Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Ms L Blackmore
Grace O'Malley/The Pirate Queen by Alan Gold
Mr P Estrabillo
Sweeny Todd/The Life of Sweeny Todd by Robert Mack
Ms S Randhawa
Maleficent/Sleeping Beauty by by Charles Perrault
Ms J Young
Hermione/Harry Potter by J.K.Rowling
Mr P Trafford-Smith
Pirate Black Dog/Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Ms G Axford
Zombie/Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
Ms L De Fonseka
(same)
Ms C Beaton
(same)
Ms J Harte
Katniss Everdeen/ The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Mr N Jeyaratnam
Frankenstein/ Same title, by Mary Shelley
Mr S Soliva
Cowboy Bebop/Same title, by Hajime Yadate
Ms R Wauchob
Rupert the Bear/Rupert Annual by Mary Tourtel
Ms B Brock
Rey/Star Wars-screenplay by J.J. Abrams
Ms J Medhurst
Little Red Riding Hood/Same title, by Charles Perrault
Ms L Shaw
P.T.Barnum (circus)/The Life of P.T.Barnum by Philip B. Kunhardt
Ms M Jagdev
Cleopatra/Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
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Offer from Synergy Health & Fitness
Family Membership
Synergy clubs offer exciting fitness activities for kids and grown-ups to
get more active and have fun. Our family membership entitles up to 2
adults and 3 children (under 18) to full club access and a wide range of
benefits including:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Unlimited gym access
Unlimited swimming
Over 140 group exercise classes for adults & kids to choose from
Ladies only area at Montem & ladies only nights at Langley
Up to 30% discount on Swimming lessons
Discounts on Absolutely school holiday camps (Slough)
Opening times:
PEAK
Off PEAK
Mon-Fri: 06:30-22:00
Sat: 08:30-18:00
Sun: 08:30-21:00
Mon-Fri: 06:30-16:15
Sat: 08:30-18:00
Sun: 08:30-21:00
Offer ends: 30 April 2016
Open to all families at The Langley Academy
•
•
Receive 10% discount off your membership
Pay no Admin Fee
For more information and/or to receive your free day pass please contact Sam or Gareth on 01753
478 666.
37
Sainsbury’s Active Kids Vouchers
It's time to engage your community and get them behind Sainsbury’s Active Kids voucher collection. Because
the more vouchers we collect, the more new sports and cooking equipment we can provide for our students.
You can collect vouchers in Sainsbury's stores from 27 January - 3 May 2016.
We will place a brand new collection box on the SSM desk to enable students and staff to easily drop their
vouchers in.
Students, parent/carers and staff of The Langley Academy have done really well at this in the past and I would
encourage you to ask students to get their parents to start collecting as soon as possible.
This year the vouchers are slightly different and are printed off with your till receipt and other money off
vouchers.
Thank you for your support
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