Newsletter - Langley Park School for Girls

Newsletter
April 2016
Langley Park School for Girls
A message from the Headteacher
Dr Anne Hudson
OPENING CONFIRMED
Dear Families,
The greatest excitement this month is that we are
going to be opening our own Langley Park Primary
School this September.
I strongly believe that one of the best ways of
raising achievement in secondary schools is
through a deeper awareness of the learning
development that happens in the primary years. I
know that working closely with our own primary
school colleagues and those in our Multi Academy
Trust will raise our expectations.
LPGS teachers will be teaming up with our primary
partners to develop a dynamic Transition
Curriculum.
To the right is an excerpt from the press release
we sent out at the same time as our Offer Letters
on Monday 18th April 2016.
Best wishes,
Dr Anne Hudson
We are delighted to announce that the Secretary of State has
signed the Funding Agreement with Langley Park Academies to
open Langley Park Primary School in September 2016.
Langley Park Primary School is the culmination of a partnership
of local schools, Langley Park School for Girls, Langley Park
School for Boys, Hawes Down Junior School and Hawes Down
Infant School. Together, we aim to offer local parents more
choice, and more places, in high quality local schools.
Langley Park Primary School will provide a safe, happy
environment in which children can excel. We aim to combine
traditional values of courtesy, consideration and care with
creative and innovative approaches to learning. Our key
specialist focus will be on Maths, drawing on the expertise of
both Langley schools and the primary schools.
The permanent site for Langley Park Primary School has been
confirmed on the land owned by the trust, within metres of
facilities offered by the Langley secondary schools. In the
meantime, appropriate temporary accommodation has been
secured at the Hawes Down Centre in Hawes Lane, BR4 9AE. We
are excited that the children starting in September 2016 will
therefore be part of the Hawes Down family as well as part of the
Langley community. Arrangements will be made to transport the
children to this temporary site.
We are fortunate in having as our Headteacher, Mrs Louise
Turner, who recently led a temporary school site involving very
young children. We will look to her leadership to ensure that the
children thrive at our school from the outset.
‘If you promote a love of
learning and nurture an
enquiring mind, then children
are empowered to live a full and
rewarding life’.
MRS LOUISE TURNER, HEADTEACHER
LPGS STUDENTS IMPRESS IN THE
INTERNATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION
Following the launch of the International Poetry Competition
in September by the Bromley International Cluster, 28 of
our Year 7 and 8 students were nominated to represent the
School at the ‘Words and Music’ event at St Olave’s
Grammar School on Wednesday 20th April. Through the
PSHCE programme, PSHCE days, International Schools
Award and whole school fundraising, LPGS students
explored the Syrian refugee crisis. This work culminated in
producing work including poems representing their
understanding of the situation. They were chosen for the
outstanding poems they wrote in response to this theme.
‘Students responded with sensitivity,
imagination and detail…’
These are comments from the Head Adjudicator of the
event and Fellow of the RSA, Mrs Sezgin Kemal:
‘It was heartening to read so many sincere, strong
responses to the refugee theme highlighting the
significance of the current Syrian tragedy. Students
responded with sensitivity, imagination and detail, crafting
together the experiences of abandonment and horror.’
Congratulations to all 28 successful nominees listed below.
We are pleased to announce that the international overall
winner is Emily Bance who came first out of all students
nominated from schools as far afield as India, Syria,
Lebanon and France.
Erika Hyseni
Gracie Whitter
Ella Monks
Isabella Zihni
Alana Neville
Keira Hennings
Leila Chaovic
Lucy Sproule
Emily Bance
Crystal Collins
Mary Ajiboye
Gwennan Hardy
Elif Kazan
Chloe Ellis
Katie Dackombe
Serena Mutiso
Celia Tipton
Harriet Stenning
Lucy Nolan
Alice Hodge
Elena Reveina
Anisha Malhotra
Tai Wallace
Rhianna Babb
Chantelle Kwenda
Isobel Dobson
Madeleine De Freitas
Stella Moren Rosado
‘Keep your eyes open for the press releases in both the Bromley Times and The News Shopper’
Peter Beardsworth
Head of PSHCE & Citizenship
PAGE 2
Francesca Artini
International Schools Award Co-ordinator
Imran Saumtally
International Schools Award Co-ordinator
LANGLEY PARK SCHOOL
FOR
GIRLS NEWSLETTER
Langley Park School for Girls wins SSAT
(Schools, Students and Teacher network)
award for exceptional 2015 results
I’m delighted to announce that Langley Park School for
Girls has been nationally recognised for its exceptional 2015
performance by the Schools, Students and Teachers
network (SSAT). Educational Outcomes data analysis from
SSAT has shown that the school is in the top 10% of
non-selective schools nationally for high average grades
achieved by students and the top 10% nationally for
progress made by pupils between their Key Stage 2 results
at primary school and their Key Stage 4 results.
The school’s SSAT Educational Outcomes Awards will be
presented at a regional celebration event held to draw
attention to the work of high-achieving, improving and
innovating schools and teachers.
Sue Williamson, Chief Executive of SSAT said:
‘It’s my great pleasure to commend Langley Park School for
Girls on their excellent 2015 performance, and to have the
opportunity to highlight and share their great work at
the SSAT Educational Outcomes celebration evening. I
have the privilege of visiting a lot of schools and I am
always impressed by the creativity of teachers in
engaging and inspiring their students. ‘I hope that
SSAT’s Educational Outcomes Awards will highlight the
professionalism, commitment and hard work of the
leaders, teachers and students at Langley Park School
for Girls. Recognising and sharing successes like this is
at the heart of SSAT’s mission, so I’m delighted to
congratulate Langley Park School for Girls on their
achievement.’
Well done and thank you to all our wonderful colleagues,
the students themselves, and you, the parents, for your
ongoing support for your children’s learning and
progress.
Nia and Zuri Blackman
GRAPPLING ASSOCIATION CHAMPIONS
Nia and her sister Zuri
competed in the National
American
Grappling
Association
(NAGA)
Championships held at
Crystal Palace Sports
Ce n t r e.
The y
we r e
champions of the Expert
No Gi division, winning
very impressive belts.
Recently Nia became the
2016 Kids Pan Am Jiu-Jitsu
World Champion, which
she said was a dream
come true.
The family has also
featured in a Channel 4
documentary called ‘Tiny
Tots Talent Agency’.
APRIL
2016
PAGE 3
British
Science Week
British Science Week went off with a bang at LPGS this year – and that was just Professor
Wibbleysocks’ demonstrations! There were different events on each day such as ‘Fun with
Bubbles’, where students tried to blow the largest number of bubbles inside bubbles and play
bubble` tennis, and ‘Rainbow Fish’, which involved using knowledge of indicators to change the
colour of paper fish. We even had a mini zoo where students got to meet some of the weird and
wonderful pets kept by the Science Department. Thank you to everyone who took part – let’s see
if we can make it even bigger and better next year!
LAURA SMITH, WHOLE SCHOOL STEM COORDINATOR
2016
PAGE 4
LANGLEY PARK SCHOOL
FOR
GIRLS NEWSLETTER
ELIZABETH OBIKOYA 7KS
I attended four of the events during Science
Week and I think all of them were amazing.
It was fun going to new events every day and
learning new things about science, especially
what you can do at home. The event I liked
the most was Friday’s ‘Meet the Animals’
because it was really fun hearing about new
animals. I especially liked holding the rabbit!
OLIVIA LENGTHORN 7KS
I think the whole of Science Week was great
because there was something fun to do every
day. My favourite activity was ‘My Local
Wildlife’ because we got to see stag beetle
larvae, spiders and other mini beasts. We
even put them under the microscope so that
we could see what they looked like close up!
KOMAL SINGH 7KS
I enjoyed the ‘Bubble Tennis’ session the most
as there were lots of mini activities to do as
well as an amazing demonstration from Jess.
Overall, Science Week was amazing! It was
fun and we learnt new things.
APRIL
2016
PAGE 5
Easter Ski Trip
37 students and four members of
staff travelled to Claviere in Italy for
six days skiing over the Easter
holiday. The snow was good and the
sun shone for the first few days,
giving our girls a great first
experience on the mountains. The
skiing progressed quickly and within
a day all the groups had progressed
up the main chair lift and were skiing
confidently back down to the village.
The progress continued and
confidence grew, with excellent
instruction from the Italian ski school
all the girls had skied from the top of
the mountain by the end of the
week, and experienced some not so
perfect skiing weather in the
process. I was really impressed by
the girls’ determination and
eagerness to develop their skiing,
demonstrating that Langley girls
really are the best!
Off the slopes we enjoyed a karaoke
night, disco and a brilliant ski show
from the professionals in resort
showing us how it really should be
done! The trip was a brilliant way to
spend the first week of the Easter
break and allow some of our
students a taste of mountain and
Italian life.
Thank you to Miss Walker, Mrs Tagg
and Miss Harvey for accompanying
the trip and making it such an
enjoyable time, without their support
it would not have been possible.
We plan to run the ski trip every
other year, so the next one is
planned for Easter 2018. If you’re
not sure if it’s for you then here are
some comments from the girls who
went this year:
MISS BUSH
Italy 2016
PAGE 6
LANGLEY PARK SCHOOL
FOR
GIRLS NEWSLETTER
LUCIA MELOTTA, YEAR 10
‘I think the ski trip was an
amazing experience and has
given me confidence to go
skiing again in the future. I
also made close friends with
people I may not have
spoken to before.’
AIMEE PULLEY, YEAR 10
‘I had a great time skiing, we had lots of
laughs and the skiing was really good.
After skiing Emma decided to throw a
snowball at me who started everyone off,
it ended being teachers against students.
That's only one of the many memories I
have of the trip which will stay with me
for a very, very long time.’
ELLICA MCGREGOR, YEAR 10
‘My favourite moment of the trip eight out of the nine had made it.
“Hello? HELLO?” cried Miss Walker.
She was nowhere to be seen. Two
seconds later, she came skiing
out of the bushes, we survived!’
LUCY SCHOFIELD, YEAR 10
‘Going on the ski trip was a great
experience because I was able to
make lots of new friends, learn to
ski and have lots of fun! It was a
fantastic week and I wish I could do
it again.’
CHARLEY DIGBY, YEAR 10
‘We had the best time skiing in the snow and sun (despite all the pasta). We
all felt sad when it was time to leave but we were all very pleased with what
we had achieved. #Claviere2016.’
ZOE MARTIAL, YEAR 9
‘I loved the ski trip because I gained a lot of confidence with my skiing and
made new friends. I didn’t want to leave!’
CHLOE BENEY, YEAR 9
‘An amazing trip and I was thoroughly spoilt on my birthday! Very tasty
cake and a great place to stay for the week.’
SATHYA KUMAR, YEAR 9
‘I really enjoyed the trip. It was really fun to ski with all my friends and try
something new.’
APRIL
2016
ANNA LARKIN, YEAR 9
‘Learning how to ski was a great
experience, I would love to go again.’
PAGE 7
We are proud to offer our students a choice of German, French and Spanish
in our school. Languages are popular and students enjoy their lessons, which
focus strongly on communication and creativity.
FILM WORKSHOP
As part of the ‘Why languages matter’ initiative,
we also wanted to showcase classroom practice
and get opinions from a wide range of students
and members of staff on the value of language
learning. To achieve this, we invited 20
students from Years 7-9 to take part in a film
making workshop. The students were lucky
enough to meet a professional TV production
team and create a short film about languages
with their help. They had the chance to give
creative input on the content of the film, learn
media skills regarding camera and sound work
and use film editing software in our media
suite. You can now see the video featured in
the news section of our website.
PAGE 8
FILM WORKSHOP FEEDBACK FROM SKYE SWEENEY, YEAR 7
In our workshop, in the beginning we shared ideas on what questions
we could ask people in the video and what the message should be. We
then worked with two professional video producers, Tara and Elliot,
who explained what the shooting day would look like. When we made
the film, we got to look behind the scenes of a professional camera set
and we got to try out the camera lens and put it into focus. To check
the sound, we put headphones on to see if the speech was clear. When
we shot the film, we had interviews in one room and in the other we
were recording different language classes to show how language
lessons work at LPGS. When we did the editing, we got to go on the
apple macs and create our own short film and edit it on iMovie, with the
help of sixth formers and Elliot, the camera man. It was a really good
experience because we got to know how to work a camera set which
could help with media in our later life. It was nice to show how
languages work at LPGS and why they are fun.
LANGLEY PARK SCHOOL
FOR
GIRLS NEWSLETTER
Parent Survey
We also wanted to know how parents feel about languages. All students in KS3 carried out a survey and talked to
parents about their experiences with languages and why they think that languages matter. We had 543 replies in all
and were pleased with the very positive responses.
I can speak another language
strongly agree 25.5% – agree 24.5%– disagree 30.5%- strongly disagree 19.5%
I have used languages for work or travel
strongly agree 22% – agree 35% – disagree 23% - strongly disagree 24%
I think that languages matter in life
strongly agree 52% – agree 45% – disagree 2.5%- strongly disagree 0.5%
I would like to learn another language
strongly agree 27% – agree 53% – disagree 15% - strongly disagree 3%
A question for the student: Learning a language is important
strongly agree 47% – agree 45% – disagree 2%- strongly disagree 1%
With these positive attitudes our students will have a head start in life!
Miss Stavrou
Head of Languages and German
APRIL
2016
PAGE 9
UK Junior Maths Challenge
DEMI ESAN 8SA
I was privileged to be chosen to attend the UKMT Maths
Challenge as I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I
enjoyed it because I was able to represent my school in
an important event where I could compete against other
schools and show what Langley Girls could do.
SASKIA CARROLL 8GC
Going to the Junior Maths Challenge was a really good
experience for me. I learnt how to do things under
pressure and as a team.
When we got to Trinity School, we did a little brain
teaser where we got only one question wrong. This
showed Mrs Harper we were prepared. From then on, we
worked as a team to answer the questions that would
determine what place we came in.
Some of the rounds had everything to do with teamwork.
For example, for one round of the competition the other
pair on your team had to answer their question correctly
so you could use their answer for your question.
However if they got their question wrong so would you
and that meant that you couldn’t make any stupid
mistakes.
Our biggest challenge was the fact that all the schools
there were grammar and independent schools apart from
LPBS (Langley Park Boys School). Despite this, we tried
our hardest and came 23rd out of 35 schools. In addition,
teachers from other schools commended us highly on
how well behaved and quick we were with the questions.
Also going to the competition was very fun because the
maths activities needed a lot of different skills and no
question was the same which was a lot better than doing
the same things in class over and over again. Before I
was very nervous to go but after I went I realised how
enjoyable it was and would like to go again.
This was a very unforgettable experience and I hope I
can compete again next year.
At the end of the day I didn’t care what place we had
come because it was such a good experience and it had
prepped me for going to competitions in the future.
PAGE 10
LANGLEY PARK SCHOOL
FOR
GIRLS NEWSLETTER
JOIN LANGLEY GIRLS’
ROAD TO RIO CYCLING TEAM
SATURDAY 14TH MAY
Bromley’s Road to Rio is an exciting event coming up on 14th May locally in
Norman Park. Road to Rio is a community event for everyone in the London
Borough of Bromley to celebrate the legacy of the Olympics in 2012.
Collectively we hope to cycle all the way to from Bromley to Rio (5670
miles). You may know that we have, over the past 5 years, managed to get
our own LPGS family cycle team together each summer, usually to join the
Tour de Penge. This year that event takes place during the half term week.
Instead, we’d like to ask you – students of all ages and abilities, Mums and
Dads, brothers and sisters, to join our LPGS team and see how many miles
we can clock up together for the Road to Rio. Currently we plan to meet at
11:45 a.m. on the day at Norman Park.
We would particularly like to encourage any students who have recently
done their Bikeability in school to join in the cycle and any other students
who have participated in cycling in school time to come along too, however it
is open to everyone! Please ensure that you have the correct safety
equipment for the cycle and a good road worthy bike! If you need to borrow
a bike, LPGS do have a small pool of bikes which we would be willing to
‘lend’ cyclists from LPGS for the day.
If you would like to join us, and are willing to accompany your children or to
authorise another team member to be responsible for their safety, please
email Mrs Yonge by Tuesday 3rd May([email protected]).
Please state:




Your daughter’s name and tutor group
How many family members you plan to bring
How many ‘Langley Girls on Wheels’ T shirts you would like to buy and
size (all sizes available, for males and females – Dads wore them last
summer) £4.00 per T shirt
Contact phone number
I look forward to hearing from you and to participating in this great event to
publicise the fun we can have cycling at the same time as promoting
sustainable travel.
Strictly Come Dancing
With a little extra fun!
Saturday 9th July 2016
Main Hall
Doors Open 7pm
‘Teacher/Student Dance Competition’
Tickets on sale
NOW!
See Mrs Smith, Dance Department
APRIL
2016
PAGE 11
Dates For The Diary
Summer Term 2016
Monday 2nd May
School closed: Bank Holiday
Monday 30th May - Friday 3rd June: Half Term Holiday
Tuesday 28th June
7 p.m. New Year 7 Parents’ Evening
Wednesday 29th June
Sports Day
Friday 1st July
7 p.m. KS3 Drama Performances
Tuesday 5th July
New Year 7: Induction Day
Wednesday 6th July
Reserve Sports Day
Wednesday 6th July
7 p.m. Summer Concert
Saturday 9th July
7 p.m. Masquerade Ball
Monday 11th July
Uniform Sale
Wednesday 13th July
KS3 Presentation Evening
Monday 18th July - Tuesday 6th September: Summer Holiday
Congratulations to the winners of the
EASTER RAFFLE:
1st prize - Crystal Palace Football tickets
CHLOE LOGAN 11LC
2nd prize - 32” LED TV
MRS J CHALMERS
3rd prize - Giant Thornton’s Easter Egg
ALICE HODGE 8SC
Summer
Market
e!!
Save the dat
Sunday 3rd July
Easy Fundraising
Don’t forget to head to:
https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/
langleyparkschoolforgirlsbeckenham/
EVERY TIME YOU SHOP ONLINE
PAGE 12
If you run a business and would like to have
a stall at the market, please contact the
PTA at [email protected]
More details to follow shortly.
LANGLEY PARK SCHOOL
FOR
GIRLS NEWSLETTER