11 -Spring 2014 The Official Magazine of Ark Academy

16 Pages·2014·3.73 MB·English

by  Kimberley Hay

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Warm Welcome…
As is spelt out so clearly throughout this edition of the Civitas, we
celebrate, reflect on, promote and generally acknowledge our founding
principle – Citizenship.
What could be more central to our lives than to be a responsible, happy,
caring citizen of this planet? We are proud that every member of our
community really understands what makes Ark Academy tick and what
sets the bar for all of us on a daily basis. We don’t always make it but, by
goodness, we love to celebrate it when we see it and I am really thankful
to say there is more Civitas every day.
Congratulations to everyone mentioned in The Civitas and let’s keep the
good deed feeds coming.
Have a lovely Easter break.
Delia Smith
Principal
THE EDITORS ARE BACK! This issue they reported on the ways Ark Academy
demonstrated ‘Civitas in Action’ this term. From left to right: Sharlicia Blake , Jai Stewart,
Ciara Barrett, Dawid Soltysik, Faith Agyemang-Lorainey, Anithya Balachandran and Sonia Jajua.
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That’s so CIVITAS!
Miss Ryan giving her support
to the cause!
The idea of Civitas isn‟t
new or limited to Ark
Academy, being a moral
citizen with good manners
isn‟t too much to ask for.
The art of being Civitas
is at the core of Ark
Academy and the main
focus this term has been
to remind us of this and
During tutor time, each year group has been looking at the
essentially get us back
importance of Civitas both inside and out of school and how it‟s
into that Civitas spirit.
the little things that matter.
We shouldn‟t just be Civitas to be rewarded at the end of it, it‟s
Different Civitas inspired
about doing the right thing because it‟s the right thing to do.
incentives have been
introduced this term such
as Mr Edwards‟ „Paying it
Good Deed Feed
Forward‟ idea for Socrates
house & the Good Deed
We would like to give special recognition to the students
Feed.
who have been nominated for the ‘Good Deed Feed’.
Zaki Dawlazie inY10.He isanablemathematician but voluntarily comesto Thursday Y10 Mathsstudy support session
andhasnevermissedone.Hewillhelpanyoneandrespectfullystaysquietotherwise,notevenwhenhewantstogive
answers. He’sanassettotheothers,andtome,andisagreatrolemodelforbehaviourandcourtesy.–MissKubba
Lorena Bala handed in Mustafa M’s wallet (with C HasanSaidforhandinginaniPhonehefoundonthe
moneystillinside).-MissGeary I 3Gpitch -MissDowney
V
I
Samir Hussain and Dawid Solstyk for always being Agirlinmy form saw her desk partner didn’t havea
around at break and lunch to set up Media Studies T red pen, and might be sanctioned for it. So she said
equipment for controlled assessments for their ‘Here, take one of mine. I have 3’. It made my day
A
peers–MissDowney  -MissKubba
S
Elise Benjamin and Alexandra Bazavan in Year 7 allowing other students who'd
beenabsenttophotocopytheirclasswork–MissLewisSmith
OneWednesdayMissCookecameintomyroomat4.30whileAlexIonwasonthepianotosaythatIshouldleaveby
5, because it had been such a crazy week. I told her that I had to do one or two more things including tidying my
room.IleftAlexonthepianowhileIdidsomephotocopyingandresourcemaking.WhenIcamebackmyroomwas
immaculate.Alexhadtidieditforme.That’ssoCivitas.- MrFranklin
North London Citizens
CitySafe Haven Campaign
The North London Citizens team have been working on a project to make London a safer place. We want
to make sure that if you are in any danger, local shops and stations can protect you. We heard two tragic
stories; one of Martin Dinnegan and another about Jimmy Mizen who were being chased, so ran into
their local shops but they were both turned away by the owners and killed as a result. To prevent this
happening, the NLC team convinced Brent Civic Centre to become a CitySafe Haven. They met with Cllr
Butt, who agreed to display the CitySafe sticker. We asked him why he chose to be part of the campaign
and he said, “I do value the community and I want them to feel safe wherever they are. It will raise
awarenessof what CitySafe Havens are for, as the Civic Centre is a central point in the community.”
On the day of the City Safe Haven
launch, the Ark NLC team set out
to raise awareness of the cause we
were fighting for by holding a flash
mob.
Yes, you heard right - we danced
our way into the public‟s mind. We
didn‟t grab as many people‟s
eyeballs as we intended , but had a
few spectators and many
enthusiastic NLC students dancing
their Civitas feet off! It was
wonderfully choreographed by our
very own Clement Owusu and
musical accompaniment on bongos
by Srinjoy Mukherjee, whose
hands were sore by the end but for
a good cause. The entourage was
led by a cheerful Ms Haslam and Left to right: TareekFrater –Simpson, Joyce Mugume
motivating NLC leader Paul and Clement Owusulead the dancers
Amuzie. Edited by Ciara Barrett and Anithya Balachandran
Bus Campaign
Victory for Ark
Campaigners!
To show how tired we
.
were of waiting for a
response from TFL
managing director
Leon Daniels, NLC put
their pyjamason &
went to TFL HQ to
demand he meet us!
Later that term, John
Barry, Head of TFL,
Ty-rellEdwards explains the difficulty he
met with the NLC team
has getting home due to poor bus service. John Barry, Head of TFL at Ark Academy to
listen to our individual
testimonies about the
Brent Citizens Assembly
problems we
experience when trying
to get home. We
secured a 25% increase
in capacity, equalling
two more 206 buses
every hour. An amazing
result –well done to
the NLC team!
On Wednesday 2ndApril, at the Brent Citizens Assembly, Ark Academy’s hard work
really paid off when they won NLC Action of the Year for their continued work on the
Bus Campaign. TreCamps said “We were very persuasive and enthusiastic about what
we were doing and it worked. It was inspirational to see how the other young people
expressed themselves as I would like to speak like that in the future.” Congratulations
to them all, especially to SamirHussein (right), who was awarded Young Leader of the
Year and Miss Haslam who was honoured with Leader of the Year.
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Community Leaders - A Perspective
Let’sgetanoutsideviewonourschool.
Arkworks withourschoolsliaisonPCDonna
aspartoftheprojectwhichaimstocreate
saferneighbourhoods.
Q. So PC Donna please explain to us what a City
SafeHavenis?
A. A City Safe Haven is a place where anyone can
go to for help when in a crisis for example if
you’re being chased by a gang and you run into a
CitySafeHavenwhichmightbeacornershopitis
theirdutytoprotectyouandcallthepolice.
Q. How fardo youthink Ark hascomeintheSafer Q. Last but not least what is your opinion on our
Neighbourhoodsproject? core value of Civitas?
A. Oh, Ark is definitely streets ahead (pun not A. I think it is great. The idea of citizenship should
intended) in terms of knowledge and practical be implanted in every young person’s mind so
implication. Compared to other local schools Ark is as they grow older in life they will become
the school where my job becomes easier as I don’t betterpeople.
havetodomuch astheteachers and students both
areveryknowledgeableinthismatter.
My second interview was with IssaIssa,
Director of the Bright Education Centre.
Q. What is your role at Ark?
A. The Bright Centre mentors students which the school
refers to us. We then have a meeting with students to With students Yusuf Yusuf, AbtidonYusuf
help them sort out any issues they have. and AbdirashidHassan
Q. What is your opinion on Civitas?
A. I think it is great. That is my expectation of every
young person. It is very impressive. This is one of the
30 schools I work in and in this school I see where
people work in teams every department works with
each other.
Q. What is your perspective on Ark?
A. I have seen good things in many other schools both
primary and secondary but Ark is definitely one of my
favourites. Students are always punctual to lessons,
teachers go to the canteen to have lunch and the food
is amazing!
Q. One word to describe Ark:
Edited by AnithyaBalachandran
A.Great!
School Governors & School Council
Although we as students don’t see the governors very often it’s important to know they play a
significant role in our school and their feedback is very valuable. I interviewed two of the parent
governors, ShamaSiddiquiandSamira Sadeghi who had visited Ark Academy, to get their views.
Shama Siddiqi
Q.Whatkindofimpactonourschooldoyoufeelyouhaveinthisrole?
A. IfeelIcanbringtheconcernsthatparentshavedirectlytotheattentionof MrsSmith.
Q. WhatkindofimpactdoesArkAcademyhaveonyou?
A. ArkAcademyhasgivenmetheopportunitytoseehowgoodteachingpracticeanda
strongcitizenship ethoscanbringarealsenseofcommunityandconfidenceto
disaffectedstudents.
Q. WhatdidyouspeakwiththeSchoolCouncilaboutwhenyouvisitedus?
A. IfoundoutabouthowsafeandsecurethemajorityofstudentsfeelatArkAcademy;
howseriouslytheytakeCivitas;howproudtheyfeeltobeattendingArkAcademy;
howtheyhadgainedsomuch confidenceinsuchashortspaceoftime;howthey
reallyenjoyalltheenrichmentopportunitiesand howpoorbehaviourwassanctioned
anddealtwithquickly.
Q. Whatwereyourimpressionsofourschoolwhileyouwerevisiting?
A. I was struck by how orderly and composed the school was and that there was a real sense of calm throughout the
building. The lovely displays, excellent use of form boards and scrapbooks around the school celebrate achievement
andreflectthevaluesandethosoftheschoolaswellasdemonstrateallthedifferentactivitiesthattakeplace
Q.WhatareyourimpressionsofCivitasatArkAcademy?
A. I’veseensomeexcellentexamplesofCivitasaroundtheacademy–themainthingsIseeareusuallypeoplepickingup
litterorclearingawayatraythatisn’ttheirsinthecanteen. InitiallyIchosethisschoolasagamblebutit’sreallypaid
off.There’saverywelcomingatmosphereandtherearealwaysvisitorsabout.BeingaparentgovernorI’mextremely
interestedtoseethewaytheschoolguidesthestudentsalongamoralpath.
Samira Sadeghi
Q.WhatkindofimpactdoesArkAcademyhaveonyou?
A. IhavebecomemoreCivitas!Inadditiontomyroleasaparentgovernor,Ialsovolunteerinthelunch halltwodaysa
week. I have a new-found respect for the school teachers and staff - they are a dedicated, talented, and selfless
groupofindividualswhosacrificeagreatdealoftheirowntimeto doourchildrenanenormousservice.
Q.WhatdidyouspeakwiththeSchoolCouncilaboutwhenyouvisitedArkAcademy?
A. We primarily wanted to know whether Ark Academy was a place where they could expand their social, cultural and
moral horizons, as well as their academic knowledge. The councillors enthusiastically ensured us that it is such a
place,especiallybecauseoftheschool'smainethosof Civitas.Didtheyfeelsafeandincludedaftertransitioningfrom
Primaryschool?Again,theYear7councilwereunanimousinexpressinghow safeandwelcometheyfeltatArk.
Q.Whatwereyourimpressionsofourschoolwhileyouwerevisiting?
A.Iwassoimpressedwiththelevelofengagementexhibitedbythestudents,thequality
ofteaching,thehighlevelofdiscourse,thecleanandattractivesurroundings,andthe
overallsensethatstudents werehappytobeatthisschool.
Q.Whatdoyouthinkofourschoolmotto,Civitas?
A. Asyoucantell,I'malreadyquitesoldonCivitas!Itisoneofthequalitiesthatsetsus
apart as human beings and is so valuable to improving all of our lives. Ark was
teemingwithCivitasduringourvisit-studentsholdingopendoorsforadults,
standingrespectfullywhenvisitorsenteredtheclassrooms,speakingandlisteningto
eachotherattentivelyduringlessons,andbeingwillingtosharetheirclassroomwith
totalstrangers!
Edited by Faith Agyemang-Lorainey
National Science and On Year 7’s trip to the Science
Museum they viewed an exhibit
about Earth, which explained
Engineering Week how earth was formed and the
potential future of the planet,
and also got the opportunity to
At Ark Academy we focus on all aspects of learning and if getting involved explore the Interactive Launch
and active is the way to embed it, then so be it! One of our core values is Exhibit. Zara Zeshan said the visit
Participation and, asyoucan see fromthephotos, everyyear group joined was ‘An exciting experience. I
together to show their enthusiasm during challenges they really enjoyed, learned a lot of information
inordertowinhousepointsandsupporttheirhouse. aboutnewtopics.’
Year 8 were given two challenges, ‘Build the tallest tower
to support a tennis ball’ and only given one newspaper
and some sellotape. The second challenge was to create a
parachute to support an egg, with string, a piece of card,
twoballoonsandsellotape.
Azaina Eugene from 7Sanger said, ‘I think that all the
engineering challenges were a great way to show your
Going, going....gone!
creativeartskills aswellasyourscienceskills!’
But did the egg make it??
For the “Lollipop Bridges” engineering challenge
teams had to build a bridge across a 60cm gap to
support a toy car with only lollipop sticks &
sellotape.Curie grabbed1stplace gaining 250 House
Pointsandareclearlyveryproudoftheircreation!
The ping pong projecting machine zip line gets
underway! Left to right; TharshiyaParamanathan,
Sasha Barrett, Bianca Ionsecuand Shania Varshani
The science fair had students build a machine to
project a ping pong ball as far as possible. The
competition was well and truly on and things got
very heated! Devonte Kearny earned 100 House
Points for his creation; Maliqua Stephenson came
2nd with Brandon Ramos-Martin (below) taking 3rd
place. Martyna Szczachor from 7Fleming said, “I
enjoyed watching all the activities, the week
intrigued me because I’m not a big fan of science
butNSEWchangedmyopinion”.
Hoping for the correct spelling...
The Spelling Bee tested students on the most difficult
vocabulary in Science, with Hossein Ali commenting, ‘It
was a good remembering activity for us to see which
words we have learned.’ The quiz was another popular
event, with sports, space, general science quickfire
questions and a picture round which consisted of
guessing celebrities with science degrees and
microscope images of everyday objects. Mr Barnes said
‘It was a lot of fun!’. Well done to Curie, who were the
Edited by Sharlicia Blake
overallwinnersoftheweekwith750housepoints!
News
Year 7 & 8 attended their
Brilliant Club graduation at
Royal Holloway University.
Nadia Stewart said, “We did a
tour that was really fun and it
wasusefultogetanswerstoour
questions about life at uni. I’ve
now got the skills of researching
by myself and greater
knowledge about Maths and
Sciencesincetakingpart.” Brilliant Club graduates celebrate, balcony style!
For World Book Day the entire school got involved in World Book Day
a mystery story trail. In each of the lessons that day
we read a new chapter of a short story that kept
students gripped until the end. The interesting twist
was enough to provoke a reaction from our Year 10s.
Dawid Solystk said, “I was just so shocked. I never
expected that,” and Andrei Bogdan thoughtthat “The
cliffhangers were exciting - we expected the
characters to be vampires as the story led us to
believe this but they weren’t and this was a good
thing.Therearetoomanyvampirebooks!”
Victory for Ark Academy’s legal eagles!
OnSunday16March,ourveryownMsHodges, The Year 10debate team won the opening heats of their Mock
Ms Mintern, Ms Bates and Mrs Smith put on Trial competition, held at Willesden Court. Anithya
their red & white stripy Where’s Wally? outfits Balachandran and Cullen Holas gave a sterling performance in
anddida5kmjogaroundVictoriaPark toraise defence and our defendant, Jai Stewart, (charged with
money for the National Literacy Trust. They handling stolen goods) was found not guilty. Iman Ahmadi
completed the route in a very respectable 45 Moghaddam also won an individual award for Best
minutes and congratulations to Miss Hodges Prosecution Witness. He said it felt ‘wonderful’ to win and ‘We
especially, for doing the 10km in only 50 rehearsed well and as witnesses we were very specific.’ Jai
minutes! Mrs Smith said: 'It was a beautiful declared,‘Weareallveryexcitedtocompeteagainatregionals
day, great fun and all for a very worthy cause.’ in May, we had a really fun day!’ Congratulations to Miss
Theyraised over £300, and it’s a great example Sutton and all the students involved for their hard work &
of‘CivitasinAction!’ excellentlegalskills!