St Angela’s Newsletter

Christmas 2011

in this issue . . .World Challenge Sporting Success Celebrating 150 Years

1862 - 2012, The first Ursuline school in the country

Only commitment wins gold!Our adventures in Uganda!

Dear Parents and Carers . . . I write to you as ever at this time of year with Christmas wishes as we approach the end of another term packed with excitement, fun and education for the girls of St Angela’s.

As you can see from within, the pace of life in the school never seems to slow and this term we have had some marvellous successes; having been long-listed for the church school awards 2012, completed a fantastic anti-bullying week, enjoyed trips to Paris (as well as welcoming visitors from Lille), been part of the Olympic build-up at test events and grand openings and beginning our preparations to celebrate 150 years of our marvellous school – the first Ursuline School in the country!

On top of all that the girls and the sixth form have managed already by this point to have raised a total of over £4500 for their respective Christmas charities. Simply amazing!

As ever we have some sad farewells this Christmas. Firstly to Miss McKay with our deepest thanks for her sterling work in the sixth form in Psychology and even more so to Miss Annalize Hoek – Head of Music whose skill, drive and determination, epitomise the spirit of the St Angela’s girl. Ms Hoek has produced countless superb musical performances and developed many outstanding musicians in her 13 years of service to the school. She returns in January to her native South Africa and we wish her every success in what will no doubt be a remarkable career.

I wish you all a prosperous 2012 and a very happy and holy Christmas time. In our very busy catholic school we take great care to focus on the real meaning of Christmas, and so I wish you great joy as you celebrate with your family the birth of our Lord Saviour Christ.

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Yours sincerely,

Mark JohnsonHead Teacher

Important newsDear Parents and Carers,After Christmas the school is going into an exciting but no doubt logistically disruptive period as we have the school reception being re-modelled. There will be no access to St Angela’s Reception on St George’s Road from January 3rd until late June. In order to maintain a school reception a temporary reception will be in place at the Grosvenor Road entrance to the school. (Grosvenor Road links Upton Lane to Green Street at the back of the school.) My apologies, in advance, for any disruption caused by this temporary reception. Student entrance & exit to the building will be as normal (Brescia & Merici gates). Late exits from the building (after 3.40pm) will be from Grosvenor Road.

Give your view on the school: If you wish to give your views on the school or contribute photos or memories for our

upcoming 150th celebrations this year please do so at

viewsofparents@stangelas-ursuline.co.uk

The Student Leadership Team is made up of two representatives from each year group who meet with Mr Johnson and Ms McWalter to discuss the views of students. In our meetings we discuss views of students who have informed their student council representative. To date we have arranged for a new lunchtime rota which is fairer for all students. Also the SLT will be presenting the new September 2012 Year 10 Blazer throughout the year. Please look at our Student Leadership Team page on the MLE to vote, add comments or suggestions.

Ana Owuamanan- Year 8

Student Leadership Team & Student Council

St Angela’s 150th Anniversary Celebrations

On May 8th 2012 we will be celebrating our 150th year as a school and that week will be full of celebrations for the students, staff, governors, Ursuline sisters and Old Brownies who are such a great part of the rich history of the school. As part of our celebrations we want to capture as much of the visual and other history of the school. If you were a student or know anyone who was, please ask them to send or email (viewsofparents@stangelas-ursuline.co.uk) their pictures, memorabilia or remembrances of the school in years gone by to add to the celebrations. More to come on this as we go into our sesquicentennial year!

Celebrating 150 years

on 8th May 2012

1862 - 2012

St Angela’s has been long-listed for the church school awards 2012

Ursuline Convent, Upton Forest Gate, 1901

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movember Charity

Collection

A big thank you to all the students and staff, who generously donated to the Movember appeal.

This charity does research into Prostate cancer in men and all of your donations were gratefully received. We raised a total of £430!A big thank you also to all the gentlemen who took part in the fundraising and we all look forward to donning some more facial hair in next year’s charity push.

Mr Foley

European day of Languages was hosted at St Angela’s on 23rd September 2011 for the Year 7s. On the language day everyone dressed up in traditional costume. Mostly

from their own countries.Before the event we brought food from different countries for example the Philippines, Jamaica etc. into school. It was a whole new experience for me trying out new foods I’d not tasted before.After all that eating we all went to Brescia hall to do some dancing. We all learnt the basic steps of salsa and the teacher who taught us the dance, Ms Chislett, also showed us a video of professionals doing salsa. I already knew a little bit of salsa so it was quite easy.European day of Languages was great because we learnt a new dance and I have a new favourite food!

By Maylene De la Cruz7 Romero

2011

Charity Basketball event On 7th December Atkins had a charity basketball match, Teachers vs Year 10. It was such a success that we raised £93.00 altogether. I got feed back after the match and everyone said it was hilarious and it was worth £1, we also thought of doing a raffle for people to decide whether the teachers or the students would win and off course the students won! So all the raffles that were

in the student box had a chance of winning a £10.00 voucher to whatever shop they wanted.

My form class contributed so much and we got more money then we expected. It’s amazing how the money is going to help the Women’s Aid Charity and at the same time it was an enjoyable time. Well done teachers and the basketball team you were great also thanks to everyone who came, I hope you enjoyed the wonderful event!

Kiora Dekermanjian.

european day of Languages- 26th september 2011

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A fast and fun way to make friendsA week filled with fun! What happened? Anti-bullying week 2011 of course! Girls from all years came together to stand as one in our spree to stamp our bullying.On the week beginning Monday 14th November girls from every year came to enjoy the events happening in our school, and all to promote anti-bullying. The anti-bulling alliance (ABA) planned the week thoroughly. Some planned events including “Friends for Change”, an Anti-Bullying Fair, a wear something blue day and even a flash mob!“Friends for Change”, was an event designed to encourage students to make new friends and get to know each other. The aim of the game was to also meet new people in other year groups. What made it more fun was that it was organised as speed friending instead of speed dating. So basically a fast, fun way to make new friends! The Anti-Bullying Alliance was surprised to welcome girls from years 7 all the way up to year 10! Even our event leaders (Alicia Jordan and Daljit Kaur) made new friends, the event was definitely a success. With an excellent turn out, it was a lunchtime to remember.

On Thursday of that week the Anti-Bullying Alliance presented a flash mob! Of course being a flash mob, it came as a surprise. However, there were many rumours circulating around school about an alleged “milking of a cow” taking place that lunchtime. Because of this, a lot of students and teachers were milling around Brescia and Merici court that afternoon. One crowd got so impatient they started to chant for the cow. Luckily the flash mob was soon underway. It was certainly a lively atmosphere. The ABA team doing a dance to Queen’s smash hit “Under Pressure”. In the excitement a lot of spectators decided

to join in and learn the dance (choreographed by Yvonne Gyamfi). Most spectators stated that it was a hilarious event. A filmed version (recorded by Khiera Odle) will

soon be on the MLE for any girls who missed the event.

The last event we had was the much anticipated Anti-Bullying Fair. On this day we also organised a wear something blue day. The aim was to wear blue accessories or other little items just to silently support anti-bullying. There were many girls who wore blue head bands and flowers or blue shoelaces - however, one girl came in dressed in a blue wig! The fair was another success story. With many fun activities such as blue nail painting and ice-your-own-blue-anti-

bullying-cakes. Also girls who came to the event recieved a

complimentary face paint. They would get either a ribbon or a symbol on their face or hands. All blue of course! Mr Johnson also popped in to get a ribbon on his hand. Face painter Maria Charmaine Nadarajah said, “I’m just glad I didn’t mess up”. The cakes went really well as well. Clearly we have many budding artists in our school as the cupcakes looked excellent and tasted just as good. Also the nail-painting was excellent with many girls coming in to get their nails done. Nail painter Marianna Marcelline stated, “I can’t believe how many people have come to support anti-bullying!”The week was, overall, very eventful and was a joyous celebration. A big thank you from the ABA team to everyone who came or took part in the events to promote anti-bullying and thanks to Ms Peacock . We couldn’t have done it without you!

Maria Charmaine Nadarajah

Anti Bullying Week 14th-18th November 2011

westfIeLd to eastfIeLdMr Ryan’s form class along with a number of other sixth formers walked over 13 miles on 3rd December - from Westfield, Shepherd’s Bush to “Eastfield”, Stratford – and raised nearly £400 for CAFOD along the way. The group of 19 students, accompanied by Miss Crystal and Mr Ryan, were glad the weather held out so that they could complete their ambitious six-hour trip. Some sightseeing highlights along the way included the Prince Albert Memorial, Downing Street, the Horseguards’ Parade, Buckingham Palace and the Christmas markets at Southbank. The students enjoyed the day and were glad to be supporting such a good cause, but were certainly glad to reach the finish line at Stratford!

Florence Ross

Senior Maths Team Challenge Christy Thevathasan (Year 12), Bettina Rosaria (Year12), Selorm Tay (Year 13) and Ana Maria Ocampo Lucumi (Year 13) were chosen to represent the sixth form at the regional heats of the UK Mathematics Trust Team Maths Challenge held at Queen Mary, University of London. This yearly event is a prestigious competition and is entered by the many of the best schools and sixth forms in the country. The competition combines mathematical, communication and teamwork skills and offers pupils another way to express and develop their enjoyment of Mathematics. Our centre finished a respectable 21st out of 37. The team were commended by our judge for our innovative ways of approaching some of the problems and our excellent teamwork and communication. All four of our entrants thoroughly enjoyed the experience and our two year 12 competitors are already looking forward to next year’s competition.

Senior Maths Individual CompetitionThe following sixth formers managed to secure either a Gold, Silver or Bronze award at the UK Mathematical Trust Senior Maths Individual Competition. Special praise goes to Christy Thevathasan who gained a gold award by finishing in the top 6% nationally - a fantastic accomplishment considering he is still in Year 12!

Gold Award Christy Thevathasan (Best in School Award)

Silver AwardAna Maria Ocampo Lucumi

Bronze AwardSanjeev PatelVishal Barot

Haris Ehtisham

maths InspIratIon day

On 22nd November, twenty sixth formers went to the Criterion Theatre to see a Maths Inspiration show. It was an opportunity to experience the UK’s most inspiring maths speakers live, in a big venue, presenting mathematics in the context of exciting, real-world situations. They saw a wide variety of mathematical talks which included Rob Eastaway, Paul Shepherd and Mark Lewney talking about “The Maths of TV Gameshows”, “How Maths Built The Olympic Stadium” and “The Maths of the Rock Guitar”. The students left the theatre truly inspired and enthused about the prospect of studying a mathematical subject at university.

6th Form January Examinations

year 13 begin their module examinations and re-sits on the 9th January. They must be in full 6th Form Centre Dress Code for all examinations.They will be on examination leave from the 10th January- 23rd January inclusive. Class teachers may arrange individual revision sessions with their students during this time.

year 12 will sit their mock examinations as published and in class examination venues in January. They must be in full 6th Form Centre Dress Code for all examinations. They will not be granted examination leave over this time period.Students will be entitled to take the day before their examination onLy.

Sixth Form News

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I was very pleased to be selected in St Angela’s as a Debate Mate mentor for the second year running. I feel it is my duty to be a part of the ever-growing school debating society before I leave sixth form and the world of schools’ debating. It is a privilege to watch students from Year 8 and 9 develop their talents and participate in the many competitions dotted throughout the year. This will probably be the last time I’ll ever get to explain the complex rules of debating to eager 12-14 year olds.

With regards to sixth form debating achievements, in November Mia Smith (Yr12) and I attended the first round of the Cambridge School’s tournament, and won both our debates. We arrived at the venue (New Vic College) utterly drenched by the rain, and had to wait an hour for all schools to turn up. Understandably our nerves had been building throughout this time, but despite our anxious and rain soaked appearance we were determined to enjoy ourselves, and make Miss Pellegrini proud! The competition opened with a debate we had been preparing for for weeks: whether or not all states should be allowed to develop Nuclear Weaponry. We were kept in suspense throughout the second debate as to how we had performed in the first round. It wasn’t until the end of the evening when we were given our feedback on both debates, and were rewarded with the opportunity to compete at the next round of the tournament! Maybe it will rain just as heavily before out second round, a sure sign of luck to propel the sixth form debating partnership to success!Tara Kearney

VoyageVoyage is a group of 20 sixth form students who have created our own Enterprise Company.We commenced our first meeting in late September, where we nominated different roles within the company. Voyage have currently made an establishment within St Angela’s and St Bonaventure’s by advertising with posters, assemblies and by word of mouth. We are currently selling tickets for our raffle: the 1st prize being an iPod touch, 2nd Westfield vouchers and 3rd

HMV vouchers to raise capital to start our business. We are currently undergoing the high pressured task of producing a brilliant product for 2012! We are very much looking forward to this where we can give something back to our schools who have provided us with the ‘Business Brains’ we have developed over the past 5 years.

Ikeah PownallDeputy Marketing/Sales Director Voyage“One Vision, One Team, One Destination”

Sixth Form Non Uniform Day

Students of St Angela’s & St Bonaventure’s Sixth Form Centre

have raised over £800 for Cafod with a sixth form non-uniform day

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6Th Form debATiNg

The main School Choir has sung in a variety of countries, performed in internationally renowned venues and won a number of competitions – so it was only right that the teacher who played the essential role in these achievements was presented with a farewell concert to thank her 13 years of service. Miss Hoek has been a part of St Angela’s for just over a decade, her dedication and passion for music has allowed the main School Choir to surpass standards normally set for school choirs.

For over two months Mr Ramos, Ms Sohi and the girls of the Main School Choir planned ‘ A event’ - a farewell evening for Miss Hoek. Secret rehearsals, secret letters and secret collections took place and on 1st December 2011, all the hard secret work came to an end.

A hush swept over the audience, peppered with parents, past students, teachers, governors, and nuns in Merici Hall because of news that the guest of honour was on her way.

‘Surprise’ was the word of choice that greeted Ms Hoek as she walked in through the right entrance.The evening was filled with poignant pieces and speeches, all from students that Miss Hoek had taught through the years. At last came the video (which I had

marvellously edited) of students and teachers bidding goodbye to who we all think is the best music teacher in the world! This was followed by a comic impersonation of Miss Hoek.

An emotional Miss Hoek then rounded off the evening with a genuinely touching speech.

Goodbye for now, Miss Hoek, you will be sorely missed, South Africa should be glad because they are getting a truly magnificent woman back.

Miss Hoek’s Farewell Evening

Ola Ojuko13 Cox

Argentina link-upA number of students in Year 9 and 10 have been writing to a secondary school in Argentina through a link set up by the British Council. After exchanging letters and identity cards a few months ago their recent task was to create a recipe book with popular dishes from around the UK. The girls were asked to create the book in Spanish and decided to include dishes such as fish and chips, toad in the hole and sweet and sour chicken. Our partner school in Argentina have sent their own recipe books in English with some traditional Latin American dishes which some of the girls are excited to try and make. Hopefully the next project will be as successful as the recipe books, which were beautifully presented.

Well done girls!

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A trip to Essen, GermanyOur trip to Essen was nothing but fun, interesting, and enjoyable - with smiles all round.The journey was long but definitely worth it.

As soon as we arrived in Essen we travelled to a school to meet our German partners. We discovered that this school was run by nuns. We were set the task – with our partners- to go around the town, completing riddles, questions and tasks.

We discovered that society in Germany is very different to ours in London. Everyone seems much friendlier in Essen. We even made casual chit chat with the locals!We also learnt of the differences in schools between Germany’s and England’s. German schools start and finish school earlier than us. They normally leave around 12 or 1 o’clock.

Schools in Germany do not have uniforms, however, in England some schools do and some do not.

During our stay at Essen, we made new friends and formed bonds, and brushed up on our German; but it was simply not enough time there! A week was definitely needed. It would be wonderful if another trip to Germany was organised, as it would be educational as well as fun.

Myah Bellevue

Candoco moving Bodies performanceIn the months of September and October the St. Angela’s girls along with three other schools continued to work with their own dance company, ‘Equal Stars’. The Moving Bodies project was run by two Candoco dance artists, Jen Irons and Louise Portlock. The

young dancers from St Angela’s, St Edward’s, JFK and Shaftesbury Schools created and developed a dance work over 3 workshops in preparation for their big performance at the South Bank.We travelled to the South Bank by train, when we got there we were amazed by the beautiful buildings by the Thames. We were so glad we had a chance to perform at the Royal Festival Hall. When we arrived we had the chance to do a technical run and we were filled with excitement because of all the hard work we had all put into the dance. We couldn’t wait to show it to the audience. The audience were great and supportive and gave us lots of encouraging cheers. After we had performed we all knew we had done well not only as individuals but also as a dance company. We all enjoyed ourselves and if we had the chance to do something like that again then we definitely would!

Congratulations to St Angela’s ‘Equal Stars’ dancers who were: Shanice Francis, Kumari Ezigwe, Lauren Hilare, Jasmine Semujju and Nicole Elliot.Moving Bodies is a three-year national project created by Candoco Dance Company, the contemporary dance company of disabled and non-disabled dancers. This performance was the culmination of the work which took place in six regions: Essex, Hertfordshire, South East, South West, Wales and Yorkshire . We are hoping to continue to this project with new partners. St Angela’s was the hub school for the South East region. By Shanice Francis and Kumari Ezigwe.

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Melvin BurgessIt was a great experience having Melvin Burgess in our school. It was an enjoyable time because he read us extracts from some of his books and he also entertained us by telling us some of his own stories. At the end we also got to get books signed by himself!

Nadia De Noronha 8 Malone

TLC NEWS Gregg Olsen

Melvin Burgess

Sophie McKenzie

TLC Author Visits

Sign ClubCongratulations to the ‘successful

2nd cohort’ of sign club, New students are very welcome to join Sign Club in the the new year, see Ms George in the LSU if you

are interested.

Gregg OlsenGregg Olsen is the New York Times bestselling

author of seven previous nonfiction books and four novels. A journalist and investigative author for

more than two decades, Olsen has received numerous awards and much critical acclaim for his writing. He lives in Olalla, Washington.

Cathy Cassidy

Cathy CassidyThe visit was very good and I enjoyed Cathy Cassidy talking about her childhood and her day dreaming.Marie Elumeze 8 Britton

Isla J Bick

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I’d been to France before, but had always dreamed of going to Paris! So, I jumped at the opportunity to go to the capital and I had a great time!We had to get up and be ready very early to get on the Eurotunnel train. It only took us around 40 minutes; we had to still go from Calais to Paris which took a couple of more hours but when we got there it was definitely worth it. At the Étoile Centre where we were staying there was a huge swimming pool, lots of grass to play outside and it even had its own restaurant where we dined each day!In the two days we went around visiting Paris to see all the sights and we visited a French school where we got to talk to some French students. I had been especially looking forward to going up the Eiffel Tower, the view of Paris from the second floor was breathtaking. Then, being able to walk down all the steps was exhausting, but I felt great afterwards, especially as most of the others had taken the lift!I honestly loved the trip so much that I can’t pick one thing I liked best! Not only have I finally gone to Paris, but the trip as a whole has persuaded me to study French even further!

By Mia Damerum Year 8

My trip to Paris, September 2011

A group of thirty-five dancers entertained students during two lunchtime performances to raise money for charity. The lunchtime dance shows raised £75 for the Osteopathic Centre for Children based in the UK that seeks to ensure that paediatric osteopathy is an option for parents and carers concerned for their child’s health, regardless of their ability to pay.

A range of dance styles were performed for example Tap and African dances, highlighting two of the new

dance clubs that students from years 7 to 9 have participated in

this term. In preparation for their mock exams, GCSE and AS Level Dance students performed technical and choreographic studies. The students performed very well and for some of them it was their first time dancing in front of an audience. Congratulations to all the dancers and for the students who supported this event!

Dance Episodes

Fausta & Marilia perform a Rumba

Year 11 GCSE Dancers

A group of dancers went to watch a ballet production called Jewels

at the Royal Opera House. We arrived there early as we have been

offered a backstage tour. John, our tour guide, told us about the history of the Opera House, the schedule of the productions and about the 850 people who are employed in different jobs there. There were also some fascinating facts:

• It houses £3 million worth of lighting

• The auditorium was covered with 24 carat gold during the last renovation

• The theatre caught fire twice and was destroyed having to be rebuilt

• There are 10 floors, covering a plot of 2.5 acres.

We also got to see some of the dancers from the company doing their ballet class before the afternoon’s matinee. They practise in a sound proof studio with a live accompanist at the piano. They were doing allegro work, which included intricate footwork and jetes (jumps). We were even lucky enough to have one of the world’s leading principal ballerinas, Tamara Rojo give us a smile.

We finally entered the auditorium to watch the performance of Jewels choreographed by George Balanchine in 1967. “Jewels” was inspired by Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery as it was admired by Balanchine. There were 3 acts and they represented a different jewel and pays tribute to ballet history with reference to three distinctive schools of style.

The first named ‘Emeralds’ was set to music by Gabriel Fauré, which evokes French Romanticism and elegance, featuring two principal dancers and a trio, framed by an all-female corps de ballet. With Igor Stravinsky’s jazz Capriccio as its score, ‘Rubies’ explores the 20th century American School of Ballet that Balanchine himself developed. The costumes reveal strong footwork and the principal couple, soloist and ensemble revel in a fast paced game of wits.‘Diamonds’, the final act is set to the last movement of Tchaikovsky’s Third Symphony and is a reference to the 19th century Russian ballet tradition. The patterns and style are elegant and courtly with a corps de ballet of 14 women, four soloist couples and a principal couple who join together for the final Polonaise in a celebration of glittering splendour.Everyone had a fantastic day at the Royal Opera House and we all came away with different views on which act of Jewels we liked best!

By Ronalyn Ragasa

PE

NEWS

Jewels at the Royal Opera House

Lille VisitOn 23 November, Year 9 pupils were very pleased to welcome a group of pupils from our partner school, College Pablo Neruda, in Lille, France.The pupils have been involved in a letter-writing exchange and were very excited to finally meet each other in person. Milene Vaz Gama in 9 Angelou said “We had so much fun, we talked to them in French and they talked to us in English. We did lots of different things with them, had a quiz and made models out of rubbish. We got to know them and they got to know us. Before they left we took pictures and they gave us

a little gift, which was very nice of them.”

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would you like to learn a new Language?

have you ever seen anyone do this and wonder how they do it and what it means?

Then come along to the LSU on Wednesday at 3.30pm and learn the basics of British Sign Language!

(AQA accredited)

Science News . . . In late October, 30 year 8 students went on a field trip to the View Tube overlooking the Olympic Site. In an afternoon of fun educational activities the pupils participated in games and group discussions; they explored issues relating to sustainability of the Olympics and how it will impact on local communities - which culminated in a very lively debate!

Café Sci has started to run once a month after school and we have been lucky enough to have two guest lecturers from UCL come and talk to the students about space and interstellar space travel. There will be more lecturers visiting in the coming term talking on a range of topics. Current medical students from UCL have also been into school to advise the pupils on the choices that they need to make if they are interested in a career in medicine. They were able to answer lots of questions which the pupils had especially regarding grades and how hard they would have to work.

In early November 30 year 10 pupils visited Queen Mary University for a morning of physics. The pupils met current university students who demonstrated the way in which different energy sources work. It was very interactive and the highlights included the bicycle powered disco and the thermal imaging cameras.

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dare 2 danCe showCaseThe following dancers performed at Newham’s Indoor Hub as part of a Dance and Cheerleading Showcase. The dancers have participated in a Street Dance class for the last 10 weeks in which they explored different styles of Urban dance. The dancers performed a strong routine and the audience really enjoyed their performance. St. Angela’s dancers came joint first but were also awarded the Grand Champions trophy as they achieved the highest marks overall.

Congratulations to Luchia McKenzie, Janet Njuguna, Diana Lozano-Calderon, Gianne Pineda, Kirstyn Amagatcher and Myah Bellevue.

St Angela’s were invited to send a group of students to the opening of the Aquatics Centre during the summer holidays. It was to celebrate one year to go before the start of the Olympic Games. A host of ex-Olympians were in attendance and the Year 7 Swimming Team and 6th Formers met Linford Christie and Tessa Sanderson.

Inside the Aquatics Centre we were entertained by a group of synchronised swimmers who performed a great routine and we saw a 50m race in which Tessa Sanderson, Roger Black, Jamie Baulch, Mark Foster and Duncan Goodhew took part. Tom Daley also performed the first dive into the water off the 10m board with an inward 1.5 somersault pike, bringing the crowd to its feet. It was a great evening and very thrilling to be part of.

Olympic & Paralympic Values

Aquatics Centre Opening AUDITIONS FOR LONDON 2012

OPENING & CLOSING CEREMONIES

In November St Angela’s and St Bonaventure’s 6th Form Centre were invited to bring a group of young people to audition for the opening & closing ceremonies for London 2012. The first audition took place at 3 Mills Studios in Bromley–By-Bow and we were all excited at the prospect of participating one of the ceremonies. In the audition we were lead through a series of dance and drama episodes by the creative team in which 150 people took part all together. It was great fun and really exhilarating and we left with the hope of getting through to the next stage. 48 hours later, we found out that all 24 of us had been re-called for a ‘specific role’ audition! This audition was more dance orientated and at a much faster pace. Members of Boy Blue Entertainment took us through our paces and by coincidence an ex-St Angela’s girl Vicky Mantey was leading our audition! The routine was fast and great to perform and the process was being watched by Danny Boyle who is the Artistic Director for the London 2012 Olympic Games ceremony. This time when we left we felt even more nervous than before as we now face a 6-8 week wait to find out if we have been successful!

masCot desIgn now a pIn BadgeCongratulations to Shannon Belvin, who won the London region for the Get Set to Make Your own Mascot Competition earlier in the year, as her design has now been created into a pin badge. On Monday 5th December the pin badge went on sale in John Lewis shops and in the London 2012 online shop www.london2012.com/shop. All 12 winning designs from different regions across Great Britain are now on sale, so don’t forget to look out for Shannon’s design and buy one!Finally, London 2012 made a film about ‘the making of the pins’ featuring footage from the final and the London design workshop which the winning students attended. You can view Shannon and the other winners at www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBTm7dFqoe8

Boxing TesT evenTOn Thursday 24th November 5 Year 10 and 3 Year 7 students were given the opportunity to go to an Olympic test event for Boxing. It was held at the Excel Centre in Royal Victoria Docks. They got to see a number of different fights from three weight categories. There were boxers from all over the world participating, for example from Argentina, Italy and China. They were very lucky to see Freddie Evans, a 20 year old British boxer who has already qualified for the Olympics.

The atmosphere was fantastic. We were on the edge of our seats as most of the fights were very evenly matched.The girls all said that they had a lovely day and felt privileged to be involved in such a great event. So if you are lucky enough to have tickets for the boxing start making your ‘go freddIe’ banners now!!

handball test eventOn Sunday 27th November a group of students from St. Angela’s had the opportunity to go to the Handball Arena in the Olympic Park to watch the test event in preparation for London 2012. The match for 3rd and 4th place was between China and Angola, with Angola winning the game. During the interval, we got to meet members of the Great Britain Handball team, who were also taking part in the event but sadly finished in 6th place. The final was between Austria and Poland. All the St. Angela’s girls adopted Poland as their country to support and we cheered for them throughout the match. It was an exciting and extremely close match with Austria winning by 1 point in the last minute of the game. It was really interesting to watch world class Handball live and if the test event is anything to go by, then the Olympics will be very exciting indeed. By Siobhan Lynch

For the last two and a half years students at St Angela’s and St Bonaventure’s Sixth Form Centre have been raising money to take part in World Challenge: Project Uganda.

In total the 8 students that took part raised over £24,000 to cover all the costs of the project , accommodation , food, and transport.We set off for Kampala on 6th July and returned on 29th July. We explored Western Uganda and followed the Bu-wata Comminty Trail through the foothills of the Ruwenzori Mountains for the first 4 days of our trip.We then spent eleven days at Rumuri Primary school,

which is situated in Bunyarugulu, where our tasks were to complete an unfinished class room block and Library. It was a great opportunity to meet and work with the local community.After our hard work doing manual labour and teach-ing classes ranging from 45 - 90 students, we had a well deserved treat with a Safari at Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Project ugandaJuly 6th 2011

Before the work on the primary school began

. . . during,

& after

Ms HarveyDirector of Pastoral Care

CHEERLEADING SHOWCASEThe 6th December was a brilliant day filled with excitement and many achievements. It all started in the minibus when we were making our way towards our first Cheerleading competition. Excitement and joy filled our hearts but by the time we arrived at the Newham Indoor Hub, things had changed. Panic overtook us and butterflies appeared, for as we entered the Hub it felt like we had entered another world. The other teams were already warming up and were showing off their talents. We then realised how tough the competition was going to be.

Soon our role model, coach Lucy arrived and we started practising. The more we practised, the more confidence we became and the routine started to feel better. Lucy encouraged and inspired us and we were ready to do this and we knew that we were going to do our best.Finally, the time had arrived for us to perform. This was our only chance we couldn’t ruin it. Again the tension and nerves were there. As we walked onto the stage, the crowd cheered and gave us support. In seconds the music had began to play and we began our performance. We started with our Cheer and this helped to give us more confidence. We performed the rest of our stunts and routine and cheers rang in our ears as we finished our performance.

Once the other schools had finished performing the results were ready to be presented. As the awards were given out, we became more tense…were we going to get Bronze, Silver or Gold? Suddenly we heard St. Angela’s being called out and realised that we had won Gold! We raced to the stage and collected our medals and certificates. We posed for the cam-era and gave our best smiles. We had done it!

We guess the mantra ‘Only Commitment Wins Gold’ is right. By Ralitsa and Veronica in Year 7

In September a new generation of Year 10’s formed a team to compete in the 2011/2012 Young Enterprise competition. They set about the task of creating a company with a set ethos, to create and sell a product to the world. So far they have held a successful doughnut sale and are due to hold a Christmas raffle, they will be marketing/advertising and selling their badges in the New Year.

They are JUXTA!

Young Enterprise

JUXTA

By Mr. Soares

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A group of dancers went to see Merce Circus and undertook a dance workshop by the world renowned Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Merce Cunningham was a leader of the American avant-garde throughout his seventy year career and is considered as one of the most important choreographers of our time. Through much of his life, he was also one of the greatest American dancers. With an artistic career distinguished by constant innovation, Cunningham expanded the frontiers not only of dance but also of contemporary visual and performing arts. His collaborations with such artist innovators such as John Cage, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschensberg, helped to change the face of contemporary dance.

Of all his collaborations, Cunningham’s work with John Cage, had the greatest influence on his practice. Together, Cunningham and Cage proposed a number of radical innovations. The most famous and controversial of these concerned the relationship between dance and music, which they concluded may occur in the same time and space, but should be created independently of one another. The two also made extensive use of chance procedures, abandoning not only musical forms but narrative and other conventional elements of dance composition—such as cause and effect, and climax and anticlimax. For Cunningham the subject of his dances was always dance itself.

Cunningham died in August 2009 and it had been decided before his death that the Company would embark on a world tour over two years and then perform for the last time in New York on the 31st December 2011. So, we were privileged to be part of this legacy tour and work with members of the company.On a Sunday we went to Stratford Circus to participate in the interactive ‘Merce Circus’ and explored the multi-faceted nature of Cunningham’s work. We saw a performance of Squaregame and watched a multi-media performance by Music Director Takehisa Kosugitook. It was really interesting to see how he made

an accompaniment with ordinary objects such as a

hose pipe and bell.The following day at school we were excited about taking part in the dance workshop. In the morning we undertook a Cunningham technique class with Robert Swinston, who is the Director of Choreography and has performed with the company since 1980! We were taken through our

paces of Cunningham’s technique, in which fast footwork quickly shifts in different directions and then adds on top a fluid torso, bending to the side, extending upwards and curving low forwards.

In the next workshop we used a computer programme called Dance Forms as a stimulus to create movement. It was fun to use and enabled us to explore a variety of

movements that the body could do and then we had to try and replicate these on ourselves. It was always challenging and sometimes impossible! Working with Trevor Carlson, the Executive Director of MCDC and Kevin Taylor we then worked in two groups to create a group dance using Cunningham’s chance method to reorder a dance phrase and to find multiple variations of a single movement. It was a new an interesting way for us to work and the two group pieces created , although coming from the same starting point, were very different in appearance. We loved our time with the artists from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and it was a privilege to be part of the story.

Merce Cunningham Dance Company

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In October St Angela’s celebrates Black History Month, one event which celebrates the academic achievements of black youth in order to promote a more positive representation of young black British people are The London Schools and the Black Child Awards hosted by Labour MP Diane Abbott which are held in the Houses of Parliament.

We are proud to say that between St Angela’s and St Bonaventure’s we absolutely dominated the nominations this year and although no prizes were given to our students we had the highest grade results and five runners up, the largest number of nominations for any London School. It was great to celebrate their success and have the British Government recognise the brilliant young people within London Schools. We would like to congratulate and celebrate our amazing nominees: Janet Talabi, Maaeme Eshun, Karmen Marie Parker, Christopher Achiampong and Anthony Enyioma.

London Schools and the Black Child Award

BAskETBALL TEAM Of ThE YEAr

Congratulations to the U14 Basketball team who won School Team of the Year as part of the Telegraph School Sport Matters Awards

2011

Footballer Lee Dixon wrote: I have chosen the girls for their outstanding commitment to their chosen sport. Attending a school

from one of London’s most deprived boroughs presents its own problem. These girls however, during their lunch breaks

and after school, have formed an almost unbeatable team. Rising from under dogs to National Champions, takes commitment, dedication, sacrifice, hard work & team

work. All the attributes that make me smile! Well done girls

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Our visit to Berlin was tiring (we had to meet at 3.30 am at Stratford to catch our coach to Stansted), exhausting (we visited loads of different museums, sights and memorials) and demanding (our teachers made us constantly speak, think and in the end dream in German) but you won’t believe it: IT WAS GREAT FUN! The lovely breakfast in the ‘Grand Hostel’ helped us to get out of bed, the people were friendly so speaking German became easier. The film and the play we watched were entertaining (some things you wouldn’t see in English theatre...) and the sights we visited were really interesting and thought provoking. We learnt a lot about the history, culture and daily life in Germany. If you ever get the chance to travel to Berlin, do - it’s an amazing city!

YEAr 12 & 13 in BErLin

On Wednesday 23rd November, seven Year 10 students who are working towards their Bronze Arts Award with Mr Bellamy, went to see a performance of the play “Blackberry

Trout Face” at the Union Theatre in Southwark.

The play was about three siblings who are left to fend for themselves when their mother disappears, leaving them a note in a packet of Frosties. Lauren Hilaire wrote about the performance: “I enjoyed it because they used good music (especially Dizee Rascal) which made it more entertaining. It was also a story about real people.”

To achieve their Bronze Arts Award, the students will also be performing a drama at the Christmas liturgy, researching their arts heroes and heroines and assisting Mr Bellamy in teaching some Year 7 drama lessons.

TheaTre Trip

Come join our ‘reading’ club

When: Every TuesdayWhere: in the TLCTime: 3.30pm - 4.25pmWhy: Because reading for pleasure is fun!

All Welcome in ks3!

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Following the success of our introductory sessions for Year 7 and 10 parents to the Triple P (Positive Parenting Programme) we would like to invite you to enrol in our Group Teen Triple P programme, lead by Ms Harvey.This programme is designed to help promote your teenager’s development. Teenagers have to cope with many changes and demands as they move through school and the challenge for parents is to provide a home environment that guides and supports teenagers as they strive to become independent, well adjusted adults.Triple P is an 8 session programme. It employs an active skills training process to help parents acquire new knowledge and skills.The program consists of four initial group sessions, which provide an opportunity to learn through observation, discussion, practice and feedback

Following the group sessions, three follow up telephone sessions provide additional support. a final group session is held to review progress and bring closure to the program.

the dates are as follows:-

25th January 2012: introductory session 6-8pm in the TLC

1st February 2012: session 2, 6-8 in the TLC

8th February 2012: session 3, 6-8 in TLC

22nd February 2012: session 4, 6-8 n the TLC

21st march 2012: 6-8 celebration evening in the TLC

I understand that this programme will require your commitment, your partnership and your time. Many parents around the world have followed Triple p and all of those who have been able to give it their full participation were delighted with the outcome.The benefits of this program include support, friendship, and constructive feedback .You will be provided with all resources to support the course.

And now something for parents ...

newham Disability Community Games

St Angela’s team arrived spritely at Newham Leisure Centre at 9.15am on Friday 4th November. The girls sported pink Community games T-shirts. They were geared up and ready to win. The day was fun packed with different competitions and the chance to trial many different sports.

There was particular talent shown by our team in goal ball, which uses a ball with a bell within it. The players were blind folded and teams had to use their auditory senses to hear the ball and score in the opposition’s goal. Wheelchair rugby was a particular favourite amongst the girls and once we managed to navigate the wheelchairs successfully we were scoring tries and winning. Other games included Boccia, handball and sitting down volleyball. The event finished with a demonstration of Goal ball by the USA Goal ball team who where in the UK ready to take part in the test event for the Olympics.

St Angela’s was represented by girls with great enthusiasm, effort and community spirit. What a fantastic day!

Congratulations! to Karen Felix from 8 Parker (seen here with Ms Chislett) with her fantastic flag, which she made for European Day of Languages 2011.

fLagtastIC!

Art NewsOn 12th October, Year 12 & 13 visited the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House in London, for a critical studies day. The gallery is famous for its collection of Impressionist paintings. The students had the opportunity to work with both Art Historians and Artists for the day.

Duke of Edinburgh AwardDuring the weekend of 17th September some Year 11 students took part in this year’s Duke of Edinburgh bronze award. This included walking roughly 25 kilometres over a period of two days. The girls went down to

Danbury, Essex to complete the walk accompanied by Ms Murtagh and Ms Harvey, who was the assessor. The weekend was filled with tears, smiles and laughter as the girls endured the unpredictable weather, one minute the sun was shining then it poured with rain, Camping out on a cold, wet September night was not fun! Nevertheless, the experience helped us create new friendships and gain lots of confidence and teamwork skills. In addition everyone took away great, everlasting memories from this experience and also a new found appreciation for their warm beds. However, most of all, we learnt to be there for one another and demonstrated our true serviam spirit. Eddisia Samuel

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In St Angela’s two groups in Year 9, took part in the Stem Challenge 7, the BT App challenge. Our task was to design an application for the London 2012 Olympics. In this project we took the process the next step further, as we did not just make the presentation of the design and the theories that this application addressed, but made the application itself!

We wanted to make sure we took advantage of the material and human resources we are lucky to have around us. To produce something that resembled the excellence of the staff we see around us.As a group we respected each other throughout the project, by appreciating each other’s ideas, being open minded and accepting one another’s views among us. It was also important to split roles in each of the groups, as we wanted to demonstrate individualised and independent learning and then as team putting that together, and welding all the unfinished cracks, to result in a strong shield of work.

We made the application, on software called ‘App Inventor’. This was really hard software to use; and required a lot of input, patience and hard work from all of us. However, at the end of this, an application was born and was called ‘Olympiapp’. In the group I was working in, one of our members, Cecilia, researched how to use the software so much, that she became an expert; She showed us an example of what true determination is; from the tedious tutorials, and the experimenting with buttons. We also had Martina and Sophie, who showed everyone how to use Microsoft Movie Maker, and expressed their creativity through a very eye catching and gripping video. This left Phillipa, Jordan and I, to continue on the main task of the presentation that we were judged on. In our group we each had the sense of equality (one of the Paralympics values); and each individual had the same work load which I think was one of our strongest aspects, and shone throughout our work. We worked together to join the PowerPoint presentation, the video, and a demonstration of AppInventor, and we were ready to present.

Both groups travelled to the Science Learning Centre in London, near Russell Square, on Thursday 6th October, at exactly 3.00pm, to be judged on our work. It was a nerve-wrecking experience as we waited outside the judging rooms before being called in. Yet we wanted to be courageous, and to speak with confidence to get our views across. Our target was to be able to communicate our work to audiences, both expert and non expert and to consider the broader implications of the work of scientists and technologists.

At first there was a rocky start to our interview but soon things ran slightly more smoothly; and we finished by presenting, our video; we then attempted to answer all the questions that were fired at us from the panel of three judges, prompting us to think about how we could relate to the ‘real world’ context in our answers.

Two weeks after waiting, we were faced with the result that we did not get through towards the regionals. However despite not winning, we all tried our best, and we could all say that from this experience we had fun and learned a lot. We showed the Paralympics and Olympic values of: Excellence, Friendship, Respect, Courage, Determination, Inspiration, Equality, and the essentials of Team work and Enthusiasm. We experienced advanced life skills and one saying that stuck in my mind strong and bold, was ‘It’s not all about the winning, it’s about taking part.’

Bt oLympIC app ChaLLenge

Rajni Davegun, 9 Cather

True Christian ChristmasChristmas isn’t showy giftsOr glittering decoration;

it’s honoring our saviour, Jesus Christin humble adoration.

it’s serving those less fortunate,Meeting their needs before our own;it’s making sure at Christmas time

That no one is alone.

it’s taking what we would have spentOn things that no one needs,And using it to help someoneWith service and good deeds.

Our saviour showed us how to liveWith charity, faith and service.

it makes the holidays a joy,More peaceful, and less nervous.

so let’s remember Christmas isAbout our saviour’s birth;

That’s the way to happiness,The way to peace on earth.

DOn’T fOrGETspring term begins

Thursday 5th January 2012