Week 39 - 2012.indd - Old Palace of John Whitgift School

issue 39
JULY 2012
www.oldpalace.croydon.sch.uk
Keeping you informed about what’s been happening
AROUND THE PALACE
Welcome
Prize Giving celebration
On Tuesday evening, Old Palace welcomed governors, families, alumnae, staff and
students to Croydon Minster for the annual Prize Giving celebration.
Students from Seniors were rewarded for achievement and progress and there was a
special contribution to school life award for one member of each year group.
The audience also enjoyed musical performances by Megan Deniran in Year 5, the Jazz
Band and the Year 6-8 choir. There was also an extract from the recent summer production
of The Women. The incoming Head Girl, Megan Francis, and outgoing Head Girl, EmmaJane Humphreys were also rewarded for their contribution to school life.
MFL family meal
A school like Old Palace rightly prides
itself on the high quality rapport that exists
between teachers and students.
This was clearly evident at the local tapas
bar “Galicia” alongside great (and great
quantities of) food, good humour and some
really nice relaxed interaction between the
current and new members of what has become
to be known as the “MFL family”.
Mr O’Neill need not have worried about the
30 or so students and teachers who attended
being left hungry- Fernando ably fulfilled his
brief to bring “something of everything” and at
times there was almost too much food for the
table to bear.
This was the first such MFL meal and all
agreed that it was a great success; students
were able to interact with their teachers
in more relaxed surroundings and some
really good connections across the subjects
were made. Our new recruit Ms Harrison
commented that she is really looking forward to
joining the MFL family come September.
As we reflect on a most exhilarating year,
students are already embarking upon a series
of varied summer activities.
On Thursday 5 July a party of students set
off for the Brecon Beacons on their Gold
Duke of Edinburgh award expedition. We wish
them every success and I do hope that the
weather is kind to them all.
On Saturday 7 July a party of musicians,
bound for Belgium are singing in a number of
venues including a special invitation to sing
at a service at the Menin Gate.
On Monday 9 July a group of 22 scientists
are visiting CERN Geneva, an area of current
world focus in Science.
It was wonderful to welcome so many
families to Croydon Minster to celebrate
Junior and Senior Prize Giving ceremonies.
May I thank two former students, Jannine
Nicholas and Meera Doshi for their words
of encouragement to our students at Prize
Giving.
May I take this opportunity to thank each
member of staff for their hours of dedication
and hard work - Old Palace is proud to have
such a devoted and passionate team of
professionals.
Finally, thank you to you all for your
unstinting support of the School with
attendance at so many events, information
evenings, performances and concerts.
May I wish you all a restful and relaxing
holiday.
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Activities Day
PTA Fun Day
Old Palace PTA Committee would like
to say a big thank you to everyone who
supported us to make the Summer Fun Day
2012 the biggest and most successful ever.
A record attendance by the school community
and a fantastic welcome by our VIP guest
Ms Alex Scott; who will after the Olympics be
returning to inspire our students further. Thank
you to all the local businesses and donors;
without whom the event would not be possible.
If you were a lucky prize winner please contact
the school office by 13 July 2012 at the latest,
to collect your prize.
by Zahra Mahmood 8J
On Friday 29 June 2012, Old Palace
students participated in Activities Day - a
series of fun events organised by the staff.
The day was enjoyable and put a smile on
everyone’s face.
Some activities included Costume Chaos,
where we had to make a superhero costume
from scratch, Line Dancing, Water Polo, Drama
Workshop, Craft Workshops and many other
enjoyable events.
Year 6 - Asia project by Naamua Dodoo
Eurozone debate
Year 12 recently tackled a complex and
highly technical debate with aplomb.
Proposition and opposition matched one
another in their determination, team work
and powers of analysis. They examined the
implications of Greece staying in or leaving the
Eurozone from the perspective of the Greek
people and government, and of fellow EU
members.
Congratulations to all involved, especially
debate organizers Oyindamola Shobowale
and Fola Swain, both 12W. Other speakers
were Rima Abbott, Anushka Patel and Romana
Kesavan in 12O, Jainni Patel 12W and Kirstin
Nazareth 12P.
Arts Award - Dance
This year’s Arts Award moderation took
place on Wednesday 27 June, and Old
Palace is pleased to announce that all
students have again been successful in
gaining both Bronze and Silver Awards.
Arts Award is delivered as part of Core PE
options at Old Palace in Years 10-11, with a
focus on Dance. The aim is to develop the
students as young arts leaders, with many of
them choosing to run dance clubs and create
dance pieces for the Annual Dance Show in
March.
Arts Award is accredited by Trinity College
London and is a joint venture with the Arts
Council England. The qualification has gained
recognition at many colleges, universities and
creative industry employers. A Celebration
Event is being planned for September where
students will receive their certificates!
The moderator, Manjeet Johal, praised the
students’ work, saying it ‘demonstrated hard
work and reflects the individual abilities of
each student’, which is clearly within the ethos
of what the Arts Award is trying to achieve.
Congratulations to all 28 students!
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In Year 6 we have done a project for Logic
and Reasoning about Asia. We were given a
sheet so we could choose the mini projects
we wanted to do.
I decided to make a dragon for one of my mini
projects because it seemed interesting to me.
I used YouTube to find out how to make it,
but ended up improvising on the head because
there weren’t instructions for the head. I
improvised by using smaller triangles. Miss
Guppy said she was amazed by the dragon and
Mrs Jewell is going to put it on display in the
new Reception room.
I enjoyed making the dragon and I am proud
of the result.
Olympic farewell
On Tuesday 26 June Old Palace Nursery
Pre-school had their end of term concert in
the Preparatory school hall.
The theme was the Olympics, and it started
with the lighting of the flame, followed by all of
the children participating in group sport routines
including Kung Fu, Swimming, Horse Riding
and Gymnastics.
They performed so well on the big stage
remembering all the movements and words to
the songs. At the end of the show, they were
all awarded medals and special scrolls to
commemorate their time at Old Palace Nursery.
Athletics round-up
Old Palace was crowned the Small
Schools trophy winners last week at the
Primary Borough Athletics Championships.
The whole team produced excellent
performances resulting in the team clinching
the top honour.
Outstanding performances included Briana
Anderson, Year 3 – Sprint Semi Finals; Anna
Bascombe , Year 4 - Sprint Semi Finals; Yasmin
Irving, Year 5 – 4th Sprint Final, Jessie – Eve
Okasilli, Year 5 – 6th 800m, Jessica Binns, Year
5 – 2nd High Jump and Renée Austin, Year 6 –
4th High Jump.
The relay team also reached the semi finals:
Sherkai Whittaker, Jada Lydgate, Renée Austin,
Yasmin Irving and Onyx Knibb.
On 13 June, eight Year 7 students went to the
Croydon Sports Arena for competitions against
other schools in track and field events.
Old Palace had a successful day with some
strong results. On the field we had Ayo in the
shotput, and her longest throw was 5.26m.
Ireayo, in the discus finished fourth, and
Lauraya in the highjump produced a jump of
1.25m.
The students on the track performed well;
Danielle finished fourth in the hurdles. Kyanne
came sixth in her 200m heats.
The long distance runners; Jessica who
finished fourth in the 800m and Freya who came
fourth in the 1500m.
For the relay Lauraya, Kyanne, Danielle and
Sonia represented Old Palace and finished
eighth. The students were very pleased with
all the results and they all worked hard against
some stiff competition.