st angela's easter newsletter 2014

St Angela’s Newsletter

Easter 2014

In this issue . . .

Book Week Dance Concert ABA House of Lords Visit

Students take their Anti Bullying message to the House of Lords

St Angela’s girls show off their dancing talent!

Students & staff celebrate their love of books!

2 | St Angela’s Ursuline School | Easter Newsletter 2014 |

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope this bumper edition of the Easter Newsletter finds you well as we approach the solemn Easter liturgies.

I start with an apology regarding the strange nature of the Easter break itself this year. The mid-week start and finish of the term was by no means a choice of the school but rather dictated by Newham. I am aware that St Bonaventure’s changed from the agreed plan of the Catholic schools, so I am sorry if this has caused differing holidays for your family members. I would like to feedback to Newham regarding these mid-week holiday times and this would be greatly helped by your views so please give them by email at: [email protected]

The school has been echoing to the sounds of fun and learning this term, as well as our usual highlight events of Book Week, Dress as a Character day and the Dance Show. This has been complimented by superb achievements and opportunities for our girls and for our students on the St Angela’s campus of the sixth form. This included a moving talk from Harry Olmer a Holocaust survivor. Alongside this, and events of the debating, sporting, dramatic, artistic and cultural aspects of the school, they collectively make me very proud that St Angela’s continues to work so hard for your daughter’s wider educational growth.

It strikes me as sad that as parents, you only get the opportunity to see the school at parents’ evenings, evening events and newsletters such as this and so I would like to invite groups of parents into the school to see St Angela’s during its working day. If you are interested in this, please let me know by emailing again to [email protected]

This term, one member of staff leaves the school who has served St Angela’s since 2000 in a role that has become central to the care of so many of our students. Ms Wallis, our Inclusion Manager, retires this Easter and she does so in the knowledge that the care and support she has given students, often at the most challenging times in their educational and personal lives, has secured their greater wellbeing and qualifications that would have been very unlikely without her. Throughout her dedicated career, she has been the very epitome of Serviam. We wish her all the very best in retirement and express our gratitude for everything she has done for the school.

We congratulate Ms Chavda (current HoY11) in following in Ms Wallis’ footsteps as she moves the LSU, as the new Inclusion Manager, through its next phase in the history of the school.

As ever during the spring term, the student body has been working very hard in charity fundraising for CAFOD, in support of its ‘Dig Deep’ campaign. It is fitting that the students place so much emphasis on the poor and needy, whilst being mindful of how extremely fortunate they themselves are.

We have, of course, been preparing in Lent for the sacrifice of the crucifixion and the glory of the Risen Lord. I wish you a Holy Easter and I look forward to the return of all students for the start of the Summer Term on Wednesday 23rd April 2014.Yours sincerely

Mr Mark JohnsonHeadteacher

| St Angela’s Ursuline School | Easter Newsletter 2014 |3

On Tuesday 4th March the sixth form CAFOD group sold pancakes to raise money for CAFOD. It was a great way to celebrate the day before the Lenten season.

Stations were set up, and pancakes were sold to Year 7 and 8 in Merici court and Year 9-13 on Brescia court.

The team plated up over 200 pancakes and served them with sauce, cream and sprinkles for 50p each.

There was a massive response from the students, as all 200 per sold in 20 minutes during lunch!

Over £80 was raised for CAFOD. Well done team!

PANCAKES FOR CAFOD

Each year as a school community we come together to raise money for our Lenten charity, CAFOD.

In his role as Head of Year 7, Mr Owen Gayle, who we sadly passed away last year, would organise a sponsored walk for the Year 7 students. The staff and students of St Angela’s School are continuing this legacy by holding a Memorial Sponsored Walk around West Ham park in honour of Mr Owen Gayle.

Each form class walked once around West Ham Park. The walk was approximately depart and return to school and will be approximately 2km in length, which took students between 40-60 minutes to complete. We would be most grateful if you could support your daughter in collecting sponsorships, perhaps at your place of work, church group and amongst family and friends.

Owen Gayle Memorial Walk

This term St Angela’s students have been raising money for CAFOD (Catholic Overseas Development Fund). The girls fundraising included a sponsored silence, a sponsored walk, ‘Boss Day’, food sales, scooby doo sales & non-uniform days, to name a few.

LENTEN CHARITY FUND RAISING

TOTAL RAISED SO FAR: £1140.89

Book Week3rd-7th March 2014

Book week was from the 3rd -7th March. During this hectic week, the TLC organised a wide range of fun activities for all the students. There were also many engaging quizzes and paper activities during the week for all the pupils to do. We had events such as creative writing, where’s Wally, Storytelling, and of course not forgetting the book character day on Thursday! This was a really enjoyable day for everyone in the school. Many people dressed up as all sorts of characters and at lunch break, prizes were given to the best dressed student, teacher and department. Everyone had lots of fun and created many memories together during this lively and spirited week!Nadia, 10 Malone

I had a lot of fun listening to books the sixth form students recommended. Lots of the books where similar to books I have read before, but the books the sixth form recommended sounded a lot better. Sophie, 7 Carson

At the start of Book Week, on Monday, I took part in the storytelling session. I loved it as I enjoyed listening to the teachers speak about their chosen book and it made me feel that I was inside the book. I also took part in the Les Miserables with my friends on Tuesday. We really enjoyed the session and I got to learn about other books in a fun way. I think that this year’s Book Week was one of the best so far, because the activities I took part in made me love reading even more!Krizzel, 8 Victoire

World Book Day was used by the 6th Formers as a charity fund raising opportunity and raised £300 for the National Literacy Trust.

The 6th Form embraced the World Book day celebrations this term and we were surrounded by hundreds of ‘Where’s Wally’, next year we are going for a far more glamorous approach!

Book Character Day

IGNITEST ANGELA’S PRESENTS

DANCE CONCERT

Congratulations to the 120 dancers who participated in Ignite Dance Concert! The dancers were inspired to create their own pieces and worked hard over the last few weeks to delight audiences over three performances. The dancers ranged from Yr 7 to 13 and were truly wonderful and should be very proud of themselves. Ms Jarvis

Seriya (Yr 13) commented:“I am in my final year at St Angela’s which means my final dance show, I took part in my first dance show in Yr 8 and found it to be a really fun experience. It gave me the opportunity to meet new people in the school, in my own year and those in other year groups who shared the same interest as me, namely dance!I can really say that from my very first dance show, I have been hooked! It is a great experience that I will be truly miss.”


RELATIONSHIP WORKSHOPIn 2011, over 30,000 women under the age of 18 had a child. Through this workshop we learned how difficult it is to have a child at a young age. We got to know the difficulties we would have to deal with if we ever came face to face with that situation. We had to put ourselves in a young mother’s shoes and see what it would be like. We got to see how some Teen Moms would have to live. We couldn’t even imagine it yet many young women find themselves in this challenging situation, often having been disowned by their families and having nowhere nice to live or bring up their child.The facilitator explained to us that she was a teenage mother herself and it was just plain hard, especially balancing education and caring for her child. She explained that it was not easy at all and that she was lucky enough that her boyfriend stayed with her to support the child. Quite often many young mothers have to look after the child all on their own as they don’t have a partner and that is very difficult.This session helped us to understand how important it is to finish our education before we even think about anything else like starting a family.Chantelle, Year 9

On March 17th thirty students from Year 9 attended a performance of Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’. We watched it at the Globe Theatre in Southwark and that was an amazing experience. We sat on the top tier of the balcony which had an excellent view of the stage. These were very prestigious seats because in the 1600s only the very rich people could afford to sit in them.

The acting was excellent; we were amazed when we saw a ‘pool’ appear on the stage; we were nervous for Antonio when Shylock arrived waving his sword and demanding his ‘pound of flesh’; we had butterflies in our stomachs when Antonio and Portia finally kissed. The Shakespearean language was quite difficult to follow, but the acting really made us understand the story. Musicians in the balcony above the stage provided the music.

Overall, the experience was both fascinating and amazing and we felt privileged to have the opportunity to go on this trip. We thank the teachers who came with us and made this such an enjoyable outing. We would recommend the trip to the Globe – it was really great!

Faith and Shekida9 TORVILLE

Globe Theatre TripTATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES COMPUTING SKILLS

Careers Workshop March 14th

Six Year 10, ten Year 11 and five Year 12 students attended a Computing

Careers workshop in school run by three IT Professionals from Tata Consultancy Services, a major IT consultancy.

This helped our students find out more about cutting edge developments in Computing/IT including Big Data and Mobile Collaboration. This also looked at the increasing importance of higher level IT skills in the graduate labour market where there is a skills shortage of Computer Science and IT graduates.

As a result of the workshop student were invited to apply for an online competition The Challenge describing IT in schools in 2020! Winners will get 5 days’ work experience with Tata Consultancy in August.

Mr Jarvis | Careers Department


Just before the February half term, we were fortunate enough to be visited by Dr Daniel Siemens, a History lecturer from the University College, London, who immersed a group of students from Years 9-13 in the captivating and detailed history of Horst Wessel. Horst Wessel who, previous to the lecture many of us knew little about, was a man who came to be a defining feature of the Nazi Party through writing the lyrics to the song ‘Die Fahne Hoch’ (‘Raise the Flag’) This was used as the Nazi Party’s anthem and then become Germany’s national anthem between 1933 and 1945.

His unconditional support for the Nazi Party as a commander of the SA was highly appreciated and admired by the political group and once he was

assassinated by Communists in 1930 aged just 22, his status was used as propaganda by Josef Goebbels to portray Wessel as a martyr. The life of Horst Wessel, although short, depicted how many German teenagers found themselves involved with the Nazi Party and gave an insight into what life was actually like for them during that period.

Dr Siemens, an expert in the field of Nazi Germany, was

invaluable as a source of opinion and knowledge for the events and happenings in Germany during that time. He not only strengthened our passion for History as a subject, but his visit also deepened our awareness of Nazi Germany which will definitely come to great utility in our upcoming GCSE and A-Level History exams.

By Marianna, 12 Thompson.

The case of Horst Wessel: History Lecture in the TLC

A group of us from year 8 and 9 went to the Royal Albert Hall to see the Classical Spectacular concert on the 21st March. I had never been to the Albert Hall before, and it felt really ancient when we walked inside! I liked the seats we had because we had a good view – we had our own box really close to the stage and we could see the lightsand the lasers really well.

The conductor was really entertaining, he talked with the crowd and made people laugh between songs. There were amazing dancers doing the can-can, everyone interacted with them and they had the biggest smiles ever! There was never a dull moment, but my favourite was the 1812 Overture at the end, which had guns and cannons and fireworks all going off at the same time!

I would definitely go to another concert, because I enjoyed myself and we really enjoyed all the different kinds of music.

CLASSICAL SPECTACULAR TRIPFriday March 21st, Royal Albert Hall


On Wednesday 12th February 2014, 15 students in year nine were given the opportunity to go and see ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time’ at Stratford Old Town Hall. I was one of these lucky students and I absolutely loved it! It was truly amazing!

This play was based on the original book by Mark Haddon, and I found it quite astonishing how the director could transfer all the feelings, thoughts and emotions that Christopher Boone (the main character), went through. Christopher Boone (played by Mark Nobel), is 15yrs old with a disability similar to autism that makes it hard for him to understand metaphors, hard for him to decipher people’s feelings and emotions which make it hard for him to socialize. A narrator inside of Christopher’s head helps him tell his life story to us, the audience, reading it from a book Christopher had written. His mother had died from a heart problem, and was left with his not so sensitive father. Christopher then finds his neighbour’s dog dead, killed with a garden fork.He decides to go on an investigation to find out who could commit such a crime to his dear friend. However his father doesn’t approve, and finds Christopher’s book, where he has written EVERYTHING about life, his thoughts and what he knows. Christopher now has two investigations, finding his precious book, and the murderer of his neighbour’s dog. On his way, he has many twists and turns, revealing hidden secrets found. He runs away from home, gave us a quick maths lesson, attacked a police officer and gave us an insight of what goes on in that very smart brain of his. He even reveals to us his mother....... well, you’ll just have to go and read the book or see the play for yourself, yes, it’s that good!I asked several people who I met at the theatre what they thought of the play. They

had all positive comments, and only a few minutes before the interval, we were left at such a cliff-hanger, everyone was jumping in their seats, waiting for the play to start again.I felt that Christopher’s bluntness was really amusing at times, yet the whole play had this silly, but serious vibe to it. It was really emotional, and I’m sure I saw our teachers rubbing away at their eyes.The special effects, music, lights, the random yet helpful items scattered across the makeshift stage like the beer can, or flip flops, the stools, and different compartments in the stage just made the play even better! It was complicated, yet very simple, and you could tell, how dedicated and how much effort they put into this play, a round of applause to all those who contributed in making the play what it was, it was truly astounding!!All the actors had several years of experience, some more than others, but it was very inspiring to see how they were all so dedicated, the amount of time they put in, and how down to

earth they were when we were doing the Q & A. It gives us courage to see them, and just shows whatever you put your heart to, you can do it.

It must have been hard to try and construct and structure the play, but they did such a good job. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is an absolutely amazing play and book, and I really do recommend you to either read the book or see the play, even if you have already!! By Simi, 9 Ennis

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time


The Big Debate: The annual Model UN style ‘Big Debate’ took place on 27th January. The topic of the debate this year was ‘The elimination of world poverty’.

The topic was well received by the year 7 students and all six form groups picked 5 girls to represent them. These girls gave a lot of time, enthusiasm and vigour as we prepared and practised for the debate.

On the final day, the girls were well prepared and well informed as they impressed all present to witness the event. The event, attended by the entire year 7, was organised by year 9 (press team), year 10 (experiential learning), year 11 (debate) and year 12 (workshops). Sr Una was the chief guest of the debate and spoke to the girls about poverty and her project in Ethiopia. After that, Ms Harvey President of the General Committee declared the debate open. After watching for a bit, our audience – the rest of our year 7s divided themselves into groups and went to the workshops and experiential learning sessions. The day was a big success and would not have been made possible without Ms Boyd, Ms Labonte, Ms Jarvis, Ms Charles, Ms Birch and her team (care takers) for their help and support - and the groups of years 9, 10, 11 and 12 who worked tirelessly and gave up 2 hours after school (twice a week) for three weeks. Many thanks to all.

The year 7s had a wonderful experience, learned a lot about poverty and a great time was had by all. To see for yourself, go to the St Angela’s website home page and click on ‘The Big Debate’.

Ms Afonso

The Big Debate – Citizenship in action

31 Girls attended the Spring Cheer and Dance showcase hosted by the Ascension Eagles Cheerleaders at the Excel Centre. After months of training the team showcased their competition ready routine and were once again awarded the GOLD medal! Team member Vesta said: ‘Today was really fun. We got to the Excel centre and we had been chosen to perform for the Mayor of Newham, this was very exciting. Our main aim was to win a Gold award and we did! Another win for the St Angela’s Allstars!’

ST ANGELA’S ALL STARS CHEERLEADING TEAM


The day started with some introductions and greetings. There were a total of 24 teams, attending the event, and during the competition we had to complete four stages.

The first stage was done as a group, so Kira (9 Simmonds), Mimi (8 Xavier), Kelly (8 Victoire) and I had to work togeth-er. We had to complete ten questions in 40 minutes while all the teachers were taken to another room. We decided to split them between ourselves, so Kira and I did 5 and Mimi and Kelly did 5. We cracked on with them and then checked each other’s answers.

We then moved to the second stage and the teachers came back, but there was a twist. We now had an ‘adoptive’ teacher, which meant we had a teacher from another school. So Mr Hector had new students and we had a teacher called Mr Walker. We had to fill in a Cross-Word, but it was split in two. So Kira and I worked on filling in the down spaces, while Mimi and Kelly tried the across spaces.We then had to put our answers on the joint Cross-Word and Mr Walker would tick it if it was cor-rect or put a cross and give us the right digit. But the two halves of our group were not allowed to talk to each other, so Mr Walker was our messenger.

After lunch break we were reunited with Mr Hector and talked about how we were getting on. We then decided to change our pairs. So I was with Mimi and Kira was with Kelly.

The third challenge was the mini shuttle, and Mr Walker came back. We had 16 cards in total, split into four colours. One pair had to figure out the answer and give it to the other pair and they had to use that to solve their question and this continued for the 16 cards. We did quite well in this round and even managed to get bonus points!

The last challenge was a relay and some people came extra prepared! They wore trainers! We were in pairs again, and we had to answer questions, give it to Mr Walker at the end of the hall, collect the next question and take it to the other pair, then they had to do the same with their question. We walked very fast.

Overall the whole experience was a good one, we learnt new things, made friends and in-creased our love for maths!

Christiana (9 Torville)

The UKMT Team Mathematics Challenge 2014

Students and staff went to see Matthew Bourne’s production of Swan Lake at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. It was a great way to start the new term. This production is now firmly established as a modern day classic and is perhaps best-known for replacing the traditional female corps de ballet with a menacing male ensemble. Matthew Bourne blends dance, humour and spectacle with extravagant, award-winning designs by Lez Brotherston, to create a provocative and powerful Swan Lake for our times.

SWAN LAKE


LONDON YOUTH GAMESMembers of St Angela’s U13 Cricket team were selected to represent Newham at the London Youth Games last month. They were a young team who played very convincingly at times during the day but unfortunately they did not make it to the finals. They finished 12th overall out of 33, so well done to all involved. Players were: Shekinah, Jessica (Captain), Connice, Owa and Kiara.

On Thursday 27th and Friday 28th February 2014, two Year 10 students, Teddianna and I, had the great opportunity to attend a new enrichment event for young mathematicians – the UKMT Mathematical Circle.This event took place at the University of Greenwich over two days. We had the chance to complete UKMT questions before in class so we understood that the work would be mathematically challenging and demanding but we were excited nonetheless! Both days started off with registration at 10 am and a warm welcome from Dr Peter Neumann, an enthusiastic Professor of Maths in the University of Oxford. The days were broken up into eight sections, four on each day separated by breaks and lunch. Thursday morning, we were introduced to binary code which is also known as base two (a unique way of writing numbers purely with ones and zeros) and the ways that words can be listed and ordered in maths, starting from a simple two letter alphabet. As we were sitting with students from other schools, everyone was quite shy and the whole room worked in an awkward silence, with the slight interruption of teaching and hints from the lecturers. After lunch however, after making introductions and realising, there was a mutual love and passion for maths, the classes carried on with friendly open discussions! On Thursday afternoon, we talked about polynomials with powers greater than 2 and how maths discovered or studied at Greenwich have changed the world for example, measuring longitude and latitude. Friday, however, was a different story! It was quite unusual yet oddly comforting to see some students happily playing maths board games, or building complex shapes with maths puzzle pieces or even discussing the proofs of many advanced maths theorems I hadn’t even heard of, during their break!! In the morning, we

discussed and solved problems with numbers and patterns as a table, making quite a few new friends and also continued to look at words and the mathematical connections between them. After quite a tasty lunch, eating with new friends outside of the campus, we revisited the

Pythagoras theorem, in order to answer more advanced questions about the gradient of a line and where two lines intersect. We also looked at secret primes and the way we use maths to hold our secrets especially on the internet.All in all, reviewing both days, I absolutely loved it as I was able to discover new areas of maths I didn’t know before, strengthen the skills I already had and also to teach and be taught by some of the other advanced mathematicians from various different schools. I had loads of fun, developing and increasing my love of maths and I’m very grateful I was given the opportunity to go!!

Dionne,10 Britton

UKMT MATHEMATICAL CIRCLE


A2 Geography field trip to Snowdonia, Wales Monday 3rd – Friday 7th MarchIn early March, the geography department took 18 A2 students to Snowdonia for a week of fieldwork in preparation for the upcoming examination series. Upon our arrival, our first task was to attempt to reach the peak of Mt Snowdon, the highest point in England and Wales. The students did extremely well and were within 100 metres of the summit, but then had to turn back under the advice of our mountain leaders, due to adverse weather conditions.

The remainder of the week was spent gathering the necessary data required to complete the A2 geography skills paper. This included a day working along the Afon Nant

Peris, where students conducted a study of river processes and a day looking at sand dune succession along the west coast.Back at the field study centre, time was split between the lab and classrooms analysing the data we had collected. After a hard day’s work, there was an opportunity to relax by playing pool or table-tennis, or watching television. Many of the students actually took the opportunity to further prepare for their upcoming exams and the centre staff were impressed by their level of commitment. Undoubtedly this is one of our most conscientious cohorts to date and we look forward to an excellent set of exam results.

Harry Olmer at the age of 12 was a Jew living in Nazi-occupied Poland. He had lived with his family of 8, 5 siblings and his parents. Upon being taken by the Nazis in 1941 the family was split up with himself, his brother and his father put to one side and his mother and grandmother put to another; he later found out that they had been sent to an extermination camp. He was eventually separated from his father and brother as they were transported to different camps in Poland and then eventually Germany. It was in 1945 that Harry’s camp was liberated by Russian soldiers. Harry joined a programme by the British government that took 1000 young holocaust survivors to Britain and it is here where he became a qualified dentist. Harry was only reunited with his sister, who had moved to Israel, after the war and was

aware that one of his brothers was alive; his family of 8 now only three. Harry’s story was both harrowing and beautiful. He spoke of the horrors of the camp, living in squalid conditions and living off only cabbage soup but he also spoke of his life after the holocaust. He smiled when he spoke of

his wife, his eight grandchildren and becoming a qualified dentist, ironically his post with the British army, for whom he worked, was in West Germany. Harry Olmer’s ability to become a well-adjusted, productive member of society is awe inspiring and we can only try to emulate

the strength and resilience he exhibited as he didn’t allow the Nazi’s to ruin what has become a long and fruitful life.

Holocaust Survivor


On Wednesday 12th February, the History department travelled to Berlin with year 12 and year 13 students to embrace the delights of the modern city, whilst exploring its fascinating and controversial past. We met at school at 3am (!) so that we could get one of the first flights out of Luton airport, which was at 7am. We arrived and went straight to our hotel in central Berlin, where we left our luggage. We then visited the Jewish Museum where we explored the rich history of Judaism throughout the years and looked at the experiences of the Jewish people who lived in Europe under German occupation during WWII. The museum itself is captivating as it has been designed in such a way that your experience there is influenced not only by what you see, but also the architecture of the building and in some instances how the building makes you feel, so that you can appreciate somewhat the way in which Jewish people would have felt during the periods of upheaval and migration. This was then followed by a visit to the Bundestag – the German parliament – where we were treated to a late night tour by a Doctor of Social Sciences and Politics. He told us about the history of the building, pointing out features such as the Russian graffiti that was scrawled over parts of the internal walls of the original building. Interestingly, it was the covering up of such graffiti in the 1960s that preserved it, and it was Sir Norman Foster’s

insistence in uncovering it and making it a key feature of the current building that has ensured it has remained, revealing a glimpse of the thoughts and emotions of Russian soldiers. The following day was spent on a train that took us to a concentration camp just outside of central Berlin, called Sachsenhausen. They day was hard as what we learnt was hard to digest and it was also very emotional. Sonia Weitz, a Holocaust survivor, wrote a poem that stated ‘Come, take this giant leap with me into the other world… the other place where language fails and imagery defies.’ We found this to be true as it is difficult to put into words what we saw and what we heard, however what was resounding was that the story of people who both did and did not survive should never be forgotten. After a day which required a considerable amount of reflection, we went to listen to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with Simon Rattle conducting. It was truly amazing. We sat on the actual stage and could watch Simon Rattle in action and through his direction, we watched as well as listened to stories unfold before

our very eyes. For some of us, it was the first time to hear such music and it is definitely an experience that we wish to revisit. The last day was spent exploring the sights and sounds of Berlin today as a forward looking international city entrenched in its historical past - a city that does not deny its involvement in the key events of the 20th century. We went to Checkpoint Charlie, the site of the ‘Burning of the Books’, various places which still has the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gates and the bunker where Hitler took his own life. Would you believe that it is now a car park! We then left Berlin, and after a slightly bumpy flight – you may remember the winds – we landed safely and arrived back to school. We would like to thank Mr. Johnson and Ms. Siaw for allowing us to go on such a great trip.

The History Team

History Trip to Berlin


Year 10 win a competition at UCLAs part of the Debate Mate programme at St Angela’s, debaters from Year 10 and above are given the opportunity to attend Debate Mate Plus sessions on Saturday morning at the charity’s offices in Southwark. This year Mary Ann and Melissa (both year 10) have taken full advantage of this opportunity, which has given them the chance to make lots of friends from schools across London, develop their general knowledge and, of course, improve their debating skills. In fact they have made so much progress that on Saturday 8th March they attended a competition at the prestigious University College London. We are very proud that they won the Novice Cup at this

event against some really challenging opposition. In the final they faced St Paul’s and Dulwich College and spoke on the complex motion: “this house would give more votes to people from low socio-economic backgrounds.”

This is an excellent achievement. Well done, Girls!

DEBATE MATE PLUS

St Angela’s History Department were privileged to welcome Dr. Ted Vallance from Roehampton University to give a lecture to students from Years 8 to11 on the origins of Chartism. The Chartism movement started in the 19th Century and called for, amongst others, universal suffrage for men, annual general elections and voting by secret ballot; interestingly many key features of our current constitution. In the lecture, Dr. Vallance talked about the earlier radical movements that had preceded the Chartists, as well as introducing us to the ‘People’s Charter’, which was produced by the Chartists and contained their key points, and whether the movement could be seen as a success or a failure.

I found the lecture very interesting as Dr. Vallance showed the links between time periods before and after the Chartist movement. The lecture gave some of us an insight into what a university lecture would be like, whilst also enabling us to

participate in active discussions across the year groups, which we would not usually be able to do. Overall, the lecture was really useful for both myself and others, as it gave us a taste of 19th Century Britain that we do not study in depth but may go on to look at if we study History at university, which is something I am definitely considering after attending the lecture!

Cecilia , 11 Cather

The History Department welcomes Dr Ted Vallance


On 20th January, 50 St Angela’s and St Bonaventure’s AS geography students made the long journey to Devon for a week’s worth of geography fieldwork. The trip formed an integral part of the students’ preparation for their summer exam, in which they need to answer a series of questions based on geographical fieldwork.The week’s work included an investigation into river processes and the ways rivers can be managed to prevent flooding – something very much in the news of late! This was followed up by a 6 mile hike along the Devon coastline where students had the opportunity to visit the abandoned village of Hallsands, a timely reminder of the devastating power of the sea.Evenings were spent writing up the days’ work, followed by a mixture of table tennis, some marathon card games and a lot of tea drinking. All in all, the trip was a huge success with a good mixture of hard work and fun, placing the students in excellent stead for their upcoming examinations.R.A. Sterlini (Head of Geography)

AS Geography field trip to Slapton Sands, DevonMonday 20th – Friday 24th January

The school has recently benefited from a project called ‘K-Link’ in association with King’s College, London. The University’s Spanish and Portuguese

Department has been twinned with St Angela’s Modern Languages Department in order to try and promote studying languages at university level.Earlier on in the year a lecturer from King’s came in and gave Year 12 Spanish students a taster lecture on Spanish history and culture which the students found very interesting and enjoyable. Their prior knowledge was stretched and they enjoyed being able to learn about the wider importance of the Spanish language in the world. Another part of the scheme includes a current Spanish undergraduate student from King’s who has been assisting in Spanish lessons as a mentor. She has been wonderful in getting involved with the girls and an excellent role-model. We will also be hosting a PHD student who will be coming in to give some of the Year 10 dual-linguist Spanish students a seminar session in the last Monday of term during PSHE. This will be an excellent opportunity for students to stretch their understanding of the language and their mind.We are very lucky to have this scheme and look forward to all the exciting things to come in our future link.The Spanish Department

K-Link Spanish Project

Congratulations to the Year 7 Netball Team who finished 3rd in the Year 7 Newham Netball Tournament.The team have been through a tough season playing in the Essex and Newham Cup. They have had their ups and downs but that didn’t stop the girls from playing at the top of their game at the tournament. A total of nine schools were competing and after a number of successful wins we had a very close semi-final and finished in 3rd place! Well done girls!

YEAR 7 NETBALL


SIGN CLUBWould 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!IT’S FUN!!!

“The Women in Black” was a phenomenal film!Forty Year 9 students went to see the film at the Stratford Picture House as part of their Gothic Horror Workshops. Firstly, we had to get there, so we walked through West Ham Park. It took a while because we were introduced to the rare plant a ‘Fanta in the bush’. Which Ms Taylor and Mr Jenkins that thought it was really interesting.When we got to the cinema we waited and by the time we were called in we were full of excitement. We listened to a talk about what it was like moderating films and how the Film Board decides what certificate to give a film – what makes a film a PG, a 12, a 12A or a 15. They didn’t tell us much about ‘The Women in Black’ because they didn’t want to spoil it for us.

The film started with a shocking opening; let’s just say there were lots of dead people. There were a lot of scary and freaky moments but the one that shocked us the most was when the ‘woman in black’ appeared for the first time. Arthur touched the window her face just popped up and we felt the same emotions as Arthur; we screamed and I grabbed my friend’s sleeve because I was freaked out. Even the teacher’s jumped and Mrs Taylor hid her face for quite a while!But what was really shocking was how Arthur couldn’t see that the woman in black was actually sitting in the rocking chair. The chair was rocking all by itself. When he looked at it, she wasn’t there but when he turned away we saw her face. The sound effects here really made us jump! Although we watched the 12a version it had already been explained to us that 15 certificated version had sound effects that were much louder and even more dramatic. The ending was amazing. We really enjoyed the trip; it was educational and exciting at the same time. Thank you to the English Department who organised a really fun day out for us.

Joana 9 Simmonds

The Woman in Black – Year 9 Trip

SPORTS & DANCE LEADERS

Sports and Dance Leaders in Yr 10 have had the opportunity to develop their leadership skills by assisting at Newham Sportshall Athletics and Handball competitions. The young leaders were trained in how to officiate for the year 8 Sportshall Athletics and Handball competitions for Yr 3 and 4 pupils. The leaders will have the opportunity to develop their skills in Gymnastics officiating later in the term. Well done to all involved!


On 11th March about 25 students from Yr 8 & 10 participated in the 2nd round of Debate Mate’s Urban Debate League competition, hosted at St Angela’s,

for around 130 pupils. There were two debates.

I was in the Year 8 team and the first debate was against Willow Field School and the motion was ‘This house will give development aid to countries who share the same British values of democracy and equality’. This was a “researched motion” meaning we actually prepped for it before the debate. We only just slightly beat Willow Field School because I feel that they were awesome but luckily we pulled through.

The second debate was the motion ‘This house will enforce an 8pm curfew for children under the age of 16’. For this debate we had 15 minutes to prepare against St Bonaventure’s who had a strong team.

However, once again we just had the edge and won.Overall St Angela’s had 3 teams in the debate and we won 5 of the 6 debates that we competed in – a great triumph for our school!

To conclude, debating has been a wonderful experience and it’s a nice way to meet new people in a competitive environment.

Jacqueline Year 8

DEBATE COMPETITION

Newham Rowing ChampionshipsCongratulations to the St Angela’s Indoor Rowing team who competed at the Newham Borough Competition, which was organised by London Youth Rowing in February. The pupils did themselves proud on the day, with most of them improving on their personal best. The results were as follows:Year 11 – Nakita Barnes 1st rowed 1233m in 6mins – competed in a year above her ageYear 10 – Mary Ann Oludipe 3rd rowed 1002m in 5 minsYear 9 – Bukola Okesade 3rd rowed 832m in 4 minsYear 8 – Rebecca Falola 3rd rowed 645m in 3 minsYear 7 – Tara Whelan 2nd rowed 431m in 2mins

Congratulations to all involved, as they were committed and supported each other through their individual events.

VOLLEY BALL

On Thursday 20th March, five girls from our school played for the under 15’s volleyball competition. Our school played for newham against all different boroughs across London. The games were 4-aside with a roll on sub. Although we had only actually practiced for 2 hours we managed to compete in pool 1 which was decided in our first couple of games. We played against lots of schools from different places, we came 16th place out of 28 however is was a great experience.Yasmin


ANTI-BULLYING ALLIANCE EVENTS February 2014

THE ANTI-BULLYING ALLIANCEThe Anti– Bullying Alliance (ABA) is doing quite a lot at the moment to raise awareness of bullying. Each year group have come up with their own ideas to implement this.

Year 8 have recently held a dancing competition in which they taught Year 7 how to dance and then chose the best dance group out of all of them. This helped to bring the two year groups together and resulted in all of them having a good time. The winner was a group called ‘Beyoncé’s groove’. Meanwhile, Year 9 helped to encourage friendly relationships between one another by making “friendship cards” and delivering them to students at our school. This was a good way for friends to show one another that they appreciate each other.

Year 10 are currently making a website that will represent the ABA and display news, events, surveys and links for students and parents. The aim of the website is to fulfil our duties on the physical and virtual realities. The year 10s are also creating a blog and an app.

Sixth Form CharityOn Thursday 13th March, the sixth form choir gathered together to sing at the Annual Awards Ceremony for the Homeless Charity, Anchor House in Canning Town.

The set was only supposed to last for 30 minutes as people arrived, however an audience formed and the choir sung for a full hour with much applause from the residents and guests!

The choir were all given a charity wrist band to acknowledge their service to the community.

Many of more students from the sixth form will be offering active service to Anchor House during the summer programme!


On Monday 17th March five ABA ambassadors from Yr 8, 9 and 10 visited the House of Lords to showcase the work of St Angela’s ABA Alliance. It was a great trip and we really felt inspired.

When we arrived we set up a market stall showing all the work and events that many of you have been part of. We had a chance to meet MPS, other ABA ambassadors from other schools and the general public. We even met someone from a radio station who wants to interview our school! It was great to see all the hard work that ABA ambassadors all around England have done to raise awareness. Everyone said really positive things about our stand.After the market stall we had afternoon tea. We could choose from a delicious range of cakes and sand-wiches.We then had the opportunity to listen to Diana Award winners make very inspirational speeches. We also listened to what the MPs thought about what we were doing. There was a Q&A section where we all discussed what could be done in the future to build a positive environment in the country and about giving young people the opportunity to vote.

We had a great day and feel really inspired to put on more events to raise awareness. Look out for more

events coming soon.

Written by the ABA Alliance members:Fausta, Trinity, Shona, Melissa and Cherelle.

ABA AMBASSADORS VISIT THE HOUSE OF LORDS AS DIANA AWARD WINNERS

LADY TAVERNER’S CRICKET COMPETITION

The U15 Cricket Team played very well in thischallenging competition at the Essex County Ground. The team had three matches against schools from Essex some of which also fielded county players. The team lost their first game and then won their second game, so they were feeling very positive going into the final match. The third game was incredibly tight and ended in a draw. However, the team finished 2nd in the pool having equipped themselves well throughout the day. Congratulations to Nichole (Captain), Melanie, Peace, Precious, Lydia, Bukola, Jesufemi, Ralista, Simone, Grace, Nicole.


The girls had a fantastic opportunity to visit Greenwich University and attend master classes within the campus. They participated in treasure hunts, maths games and a wide range of problem solving activities which got them to put their thinking caps on! The St Angela’s girls really showed their competitive side when teaming up with students from other schools in south east London. A tour was given around the campus where they had a better insight to university life.

“The day at Greenwich was really fun. We had a great time problem solving and visiting the university. We worked in groups with girls from other schools and made lots of new friends. The trip helped us understand our weak areas in maths.” Malika

“This maths experience has been pleasurable and very educational. Not only did we manage to further our understanding of mathematical issues, we took away with us knowledge which would be to our advantage in the future. We also had great fun socialising with the girls from other schools whilst having a friendly mini competition! I loved the maths Greenwich trip.” Miriam (10 Ayres)

6th March 2014Our first chamber concert of the year was a wonderful success, with outstanding performances from students in all year groups. There was a huge variety of styles on display, with some students preparing for grade examinations on their instruments, and others gaining valuable experience of performing to an audience for their GCSE and A-Level coursework. Highlights included our Year 7 drummers Phoebe Durojaiye and Tolu Afelumo giving solid renditions of their Grade 1 pieces, Clauresse Amo-Yartey, Georgina Naluyange and Martha Moyo from Year 10 giving a soulful piano and vocal interpretation of Read All About It by Emilie Sande, and Chloe Espiritu from year 13 wowing the crowd with a theatrical performance of I’d Give My Life for You from Miss Saigon.It is a sign of how multi-talented our girls are that so many of them either had to perform early and rush off to their Drama assessment later in the evening, or arrive late because they had been rehearsing for the Dance show the next week! The audience was very impressed and enjoyed every minute of the evening!

Year 10’s Visit to Greenwich

St Angela’s Chamber Concert


6th Form News

The 6th Form are Digging Deep for CAFOD this term and we are giving of our time, building hampers and collecting pennies. Each tutor group is taking an active part and a volunteer hours chart is being created.

6th Form students were proud to attend the launch of the City Safe with TELCO event in Stratford in March. Five of our students were recognised for leadership awards in promoting the safety of young people in the borough. Money mentors have also been into the 6th Form to encourage financial literacy with the students and to help organise their money for the future at university.

We are delighted that three students had the opportunity to listen to Malala speak in central London as a part of International Women’s Day. The students reported that she was inspirational and funny!

We are delighted that this term 60 students were given the opportunity to work with Sir Phillip Green the owner of the Arcadia Group which includes stores such as Top Shop and Miss Selfridge. The students have been to a range of workshops including finance, marketing and global markets.

Record applications have been received this year from Year 11 students from St Angela’s & St Bonaventure’s and many other London boroughs.


So proud of Hayley in Year 12 who started her own motivational blog and this term was selected by Action Jackson to blog for his company.

Katrina in Year 12 was named in the GB fencing squad this term, part of her journey that may well lead to participation in the Olympic Games.

Our 6th Form students were the first students to enter the pool at the London Aquatic Centre this term. They were given a diving lesson from Tom Daley’s coach and saw Tom’s training session while they were there.

The Media students visited the National Portrait Gallery to see the David Bailey exhibition, the students were stunned by the building and the art!

Biology and Psychology students visited London Zoo, both sets of students had a hands on experience examining the animals and behaviour patterns.

Amazing event organised for 6th Form by Mr Clift, to watch live drilling on board a geology ship. The students felt a part of the experience linking the classroom to the South China Sea.

Our second round of Post 16 Excellence Plus students have now joined cohort one. This term they have experienced student/ Head Teacher lunches, mentoring and the next university visit is being planned by the students.


Enterprise Day was really interesting. I learnt a lot about what it is like working in a company and also I learnt how teamwork is vital to make everything run along smoothly. At first we had to make egg cups out of paper to sell to one of the teacher. We started with three coins and then we had to buy the supplies and then sell the egg cups. This activity taught me how you should take risks with money when it comes to buying too many or too little supplies and, I also learnt that when you’re selling products it is about quality not quantity.The last task we did was making a business from an empty space and then present it back to the class. For this activity we had to think about prices, funding, target market, logos and design. Because of the great teamwork and organisation we all made very solid presentations.Overall Enterprise Day was a fun experience which I would love to do again! By Canice, Year 7

Ninety-eight students from seventeen different East London schools from Newham, Barking & Dagenham, Redbridge and Havering took part in the Panathlon Challenge at Langdon Academy.Congratulations went to Newham and Barking & Dagenham for making it through to the Champions Final and will be joined by Hackney and Waltham Forest.The East London Finals will take place next month at the University of East London Sports Dock. Four St Angela’s girls competed in this year’s event after their successful trials in January. They were Vivian, Danielle, Bella and Chloe.The scores were incredibly close, between Newham and Barking and Dagenham. Both are previous London wide winners; however, the early running was made by Redbridge who won both Boccia & Table Cricket and continued their good form up until the end with their running team silver. Barking & Dagenham triumphed in Polybat and the Athletics Field competitions and the consistent Newham winning the Kurling and Athletics Races. Only 2 points separated the 3 top teams overall, with Newham edging it with 48 points and Barking & Dagenham by the finest of margins gaining 2nd Place on count-back.

DISABILITY PENTATHLON CHALLENGE

Year 7 Enterprise Day

REL AUNCH OF

R E A DI N G C L U BW h e n : T u e s d a y

W h e r e : T h e T L CT i m e : 3 . 3 0 – 4 . 2 0


Thirty Year 7-10 students were given the opportunity to engage in the construction and performance of electronic drum synth instruments based on Makey-Makey boards and conductive household items such as paper plates wrapped in tin foil and cups of water. The project’s goal was to open up the world of electronic music performance to a new generation of young artists and provide creative outlets for expressions.

“We made unusual and interesting musical instruments out of aluminium foil and other conductive materials. When I touched my handmade electronic instrument, it created a sound. The instrument was wired to a device called a ‘Makey-Makey’ which was plugged to the Music Department’s iMacs. At the end of two making days, we had a chance to perform the pieces we had composed with our unique instruments. I finished in 6th place and was given a ‘Makey-Makey’! It will not only be useful for playing instruments, but with also be useful for playing games and more. It was one of the most interesting experiences of my life and I loved it!”

Valentina Bueno Riveros, Year 9

Conductive Music

FOOTBALL REPORTESFA UNDER 12 (YEAR 7) INDOOR 5-A-SIDE CUP FINALS

27th January 2014

After winning the Newham schools completion we were entered into a national tournament, playing against schools from the south-east of England. The tournament was played at The London Soccer-Dome, North Greenwich.Our group started off really well, with 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, which saw us top the group with 10 points. At this point we felt confident and had a chance we could go on and win the tournament.The next round was the semi-final against a very strong Thamesmead side. They were very good on the ball and quick on the attack. We had to be very organised and disciplined in defence to withstand an early onslaught of attacks, but with an injury to our goal-keeper Sarah Beronilla, we couldn’t stop a very powerful shot that flew into the top corner.We gave it everything to get an equalizer; we made changes, pushed up more in attack and had a couple chances, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Themesmead then caught us on the counter attack near the final whistle. Final score 2-0 Themesmead.

By Elisabeth & Marisa Eneso


A group of 50 pupils were lucky enough to see the latest Cirque Du Soleil show called QUIDAM be performed at the Royal Albert Hall. It is a story about a normal girl called Zoe. She is curious and needs adventure and is taken to a new world called Quidam by The Target. Here individuals are celebrated and are free to behave and say what they want. On her journey she meets weird and wonderful characters that show her it is okay to be yourself. The Target takes her back to her own world and she is reunited with her family. Here are some of the opinions of the girls who attended:

“It was really good. I really enjoyed the part where they made the mine film it was so funny, I was laughing so much. The acts were amazing and mind-blowing.”

Melanie (Yr 8) said, “The show was amazing. I especially enjoyed the very talented gymnastic doing all of the tricks and lifts. I also enjoyed watching the tense moments leading up to a big moment. It was fantastic.”

“The show of Quidam was spectacular and the artists were so talented. My experience of Cirque de Soleil was exciting throughout because each character did a trick that I thought was interesting in the way they used their bodies to form shapes on different objects, e.g. hula hoop, rope, cloth, etc. I also enjoyed the costumes they wore and make-up they used along with the lighting and sound effects. They also involved the audience in fun activities.” Liezel – Yr 7.

Camille (Yr 9) said, “I really enjoyed the show because it was great to see how focused they were and it was really inspiring. I loved seeing the different talents that must have taken years to practise. It was a really great performance that I would watch again!”

“The performance was brilliant and it was well rehearsed. The solos and duets were absolutely amazing. They were in time and so confident. The music was live so that was a bonus, this show is definitely worth watching.” Jellianne – Yr 9.

Come join our Reading Club!When: Every TuesdayWhere: In the TLCTime: 3.30pm - 4.25pm

All KS3 welcome!

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL – QUIDAM


The week beginning 17th March was Positive Mental Health week here at St Angela’s. This has been a week packed with lots of fun for the students in the Sixth Form involving a range of activities taking place every day after school including baking cakes, hairstyling, and watching a movie together to name just a few. However, to start the fun

off, the week began with a talk from the British Psychological Society (BPS). We had two speakers from the BPS talk to us about mental health and why it is important to try and always have a positive mental health, especially as we are nearing exams! One of the speakers shared her experiences of living with bi-polar disorder and it was very interesting to gain an insight into her life and how she deals with it, as well as how she tried to battle it in order to have a

positive mental health. This helped us to realise that when we feel alone and when things get difficult, we must talk to others and get help to try and feel better. They both then answered some great questions provided by various members of Sixth Form and gave out handy advice sheets on how to keep positive during this stressful exam period! Let’s all keep positive together, smile at one another and help each other through the difficult times that might lie ahead! Thanks to Miss Miesuria and Malandra Antwi for making this all possible. We really enjoyed it.Looking forward to next year already!Emma

Positive Mental Health Week, Fairycake frenzy

This week being Positive Mental Health Week enabled twelve lucky sixth-formers to spend their Wednesday afternoon after school with Ms Miesuria de-stressing.It was enjoyable as not everyday Ms.Miesuria takes us away from her psychological side in D3 to show us what a good cook she is. All the girls (sadly no boys signed up) made yummy fairycakes which will surely be of some use when taking a break from revision now that we know how to bake them. Working in pairs we followed the recipe and thoroughly got involved in the making of the cakes. I think it was a really relaxed atmosphere and everyone went home with a smile on their face or some cake falling out the side of their mouths.Positive mental health week definitely gave us something to think positively about, how could it not with Ms.Miesuria there? I look forward to positive mental health week next year and seeing what tricks Ms.Miesuria has up her sleeves, de-stressing surely helped calm down with exams coming up really soon! Saima

Shoulder Massage-ooh so positive!

As part of Positive Mental Health Week, on Tuesday 18th March some of us lucky students had the luxury of receiving a full back and shoulder massage in the comfort of our own Sixth Form Centre. Since I had never had a massage before, I was a little apprehensive but also at the same time excited to embark on a new experience.I took off my shoes, lay down on a bed and comfy pillows were placed under my feet. Dela quickly made me feel at ease by briefly explaining how the massage was going to work and during the massage, asked general questions about sixth form life. During the massage, the music was soothing and the whole process was just relaxing.Before I knew it, the massage was over and my back felt relieved of so much tension I never knew I had! Feeling ‘relaxed’ is a rare feeling in the life of a Sixth Form student so I really enjoyed and benefitted from that time of quietness and reflection. Special thanks to Dela and her expertise and for Miss Miesuria who made it all possible: we had a memorable, fantastic Positive Mental Health Week!

Elizabeth Year 13

Promoting a healthy attitude to mental health and wellbeing

This is all about de-stressing students pre exam preparation

Positive Mental Health Week

watching a film

shoulder massage

hair styling

cupcake baking

yoga instruction

meditation and exercise

Activities during the week include:

17th-21st-

March

Positive Mental Health WeekThe week of 17th March, saw the launch of the 6th Form Postive Mental Health Week, launched by Dr Pemberton and Jo Heminfield. Events of the week include yoga, meditation, baking, shoulder and head relaxation and hair dressing. The week was designed to reduce levels of anxiety for all.

British Psychological Society visit to launch Positive Mental Health Week


St Angela’s Ursuline’s Year 10 students, Helen, Rebecca , Melissa , Helen and Annbella attended the fantastic This Generation Youth Conference sponsored by Barclay’s Bank.

As we arrived at the venue we were welcomed with refreshment and colour coded badges. Little did we know that those colours would have an implication as to the way the day would unfold.

Without hesitation the girls chose to sit at the front, thus demonstrating fabulous enthusiasm for learning and participating, which did not go unnoticed by Kevin, one of the organisers of Run Enterprise programs, who politely greeted the girls personally. He praised their professional appearance and flair and encouraged them to make their school and area proud. The conference started with a guest speaker, Mr Terry Jervis, an entrepreneur from Hackney, who made his fortune through sheer entrepreneurship and flair for good opportunities. “Terry Jervis is recognised as an innovative writer, television producer and director. His background in all forms of modern media communications is extensive; ranging from radio and print, multi-media, internet, mobile phone content and digital platforms.” Mr Jervis was truly inspirational, his lecture was engaging and motivating as he offered many key points for young people to hang on to such as: “money is only a bi-product of what you produce…”, “Find your passion in business…”, “care for the people who help you progress..” , “be strong at home before you are strong anywhere else..” in reference to business. Mr Jervis advised his audience to establish strong roots and foundations where they are before trying to spread out and conquer the world.

Following the talk, the audience was then split up into groups, which were colour coded according to the badge students chose at the start of the day. This work shop included five different tables all lead by professional bankers who would encourage each group to brain storm the idea: “should enterprise be part of the school curriculum”. Throughout the day, groups took turns on each of the tables and finalised their findings in a mini presentation. Each group presentation was filmed on stage. Melissa, Helen K, Helen I, Annbella, Rebecca all participated brilliantly to this final part of the work shop. The ideas produced by our students were outstanding.

OUR DAY OUT TO CANNING TOWN


Wednesday 12th February, Professor Richard Pemberton invited Miss Miesuria, Philomena and I to an interactive debate in South Kensington at the Science Museum.The debate was about the diagnosis of mental illnesses and the Psychiatrists and Psychologists argued in favour or against diagnosis. This debate became heated quite quickly and turned into a debate of Psychological verses Biological and the audience made sure they got their point heard loud and clear!

What I found particularly interesting was that the Psychologists and Psychiatrists were patients themselves! In particular, Mary Boyle who was arguing against diagnosis and her story was extremely fascinating about how the doctors did not even really analyse her, and instead just labelled her as having a Personality Disorder, which was later changed into her having Bipolar. But what was particularly entertaining was how she told her story with such humour and no bitter feelings, making the evening even more enjoyable. It also made me question if diagnosis is helpful to the patient or does it harm the patient? For most of the evening I was sitting on the fence and this was not helped by the young male Psychologist (shown in the image on the right) who argued in favour of diagnosis, but was not as convincing as Mary Boyle despite being a patient himself. Despite this, for us to just be able to listen to this debate and to spend the evening with Professor Richard Pemberton was a really great opportunity as well as.Malandra, Psychology student (12E)

A group of year 11 students and some Sixth Formers formed three groups to take part in the Brunel University Adoptabot Challenge. For the challenge we had to learn how to programme a Finch robot, create and build scenery for the robot to work on and update our wiki pages on the progress we had made. Learning how to programme the robot and making the robot move correctly on the scenery was very difficult. Luckily we had mentors from Brunel University who came into school on three occasions to help us. We even had a few minor problems on the competition day but we quickly adapted to demonstrate our codes on the Finch robot during our presentations. The competition was held at Brunel University and all the St Angela’s teams were successful! The Sixth Form team won the “Best Presentation Award” and the two Year 11 teams were joint overall winners! As winners we were awarded with a trophy and the school will be sent a specially made Finch robot straight from the USA! Overall the whole experience was really rewarding, as we all worked together in our teams to overcome various programming problems and deliver prize winning presentations. By Cecilia Year 11

St Angela’s Compete at Adoptabot Challenge!

Psychological vs. Biological explanations of Mental Health


Tuesday 18th March 2014 was the date of our first fashion show and the Year 7s were buzzing with excitement. The show took place at lunch time in Merici Hall. Each form was represented by a model, four designers and a compère. The four designers were responsible for dressing the model in the most elegant way, however there was a catch, they could only use newspaper and cello tape! That minor obstacle did not get in the way of some beautiful creations being made. The next job was to develop a description that summarised the outfit in a way that was interesting and catchy, and each of the comperes had this role.Finally, everyone was ready and it was time to start. All of the forms models walked the catwalk to a roar of cheers and applause, whilst their outfits were being described by the compere. We then had to give a big clap at the end to help the teachers to judge which outfit was the best and deserved to be the overall winner. We clapped and roared and clapped and roared some more. And the winner was … 7 Maathai.

We wouldn’t have been able to have held the fashion show without the teachers, models, designers and compères and so we would like to thank them, with special thanks to Ms Muriel and Ms Kerridge for making it happen. It was so successful that not only have we raised valuable funds for CAFOD, it will also become an annual event in our year group’s calendar.Hannah and Karolina, 7 Maathai

Students at St Angela’s Ursuline School achieved 7 silvers and 7 bronzes in this year’s UKMY Intermediate Maths Challenge. Over 200,000 pupils from across the UK sat the Intermediate Maths Challenge with roughly the top 6% receiving a gold certificate, the next 13% silver and the next 21% bronze.

Our highest achievers are: Iani (11ANG), Sophie (11WHA), Ceclia (11CAT)

Here are sample questions from this year’s Intermediate Maths Challenge:

The Year 7 Fashion Show

You are given then m is an even integer and n is an odd integer?

A 3m+ 4n B 5mn C(m+3n)2 Dm3n3 E5m + 6n

Zac halves a certain number and then adds 8 to the result. He finds that he obtains the same answer if he doubles his original number and then subtracts 8 from the result. What is Zac’s original number?

A 82/3 B 91/3 C 92/3 D 101/3 E 102/3

INTERMEDIATE MATHS CHALLENGE SUCCESS 2014

STOP PRESS!St Angela’s have just won round one of the London Deutsche Bank Debate Mate Cup at the LSE!

Congratulations to the year 10 team on this massive achievement. They are

Mia Damerum, Amber Pereira, Ayana Moore, Melissa Yeung, Ella Luck and Sarah Uwadiale.Well done, girls!


“VOX”, the Year 10 Young Enterprise Team have made an emphatic start to this year’s competition.By the end of 2013, they had created an innovative and highly popular product to attract the seasonal market – customised sustainable Christmas tree decorations. With sales of the decorations in full swing they then switched their attention to the main product – customisable sustainable key rings. They have had a busy start to 2014, as they entered the Pan London Trade Fair, at Spitalfields Market on 12th February. They had the opportunity to showcase their products and sell them to the public. As well as being assessed by a judging panel including finalists from this year’s “The Apprentice” and Deutsche Bank. They were able to meet and speak to the contestants whilst demonstrating their entrepreneurial skills. They recently won best overall company for Newham at Young Enterprise Company of the Year Competition at the 2014 Outer East London Final, at Eastbury Manor House on 27th March. They set up a trade stand, meet the judges and give a short presentation about their company products and goals. Well done girls and best of luck in the London finals! Mr M Soares

LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION CAPS 1 PROJECTSeven of our Year 12 students have now been successful in getting onto The London College of Fashion (University of the Arts) Caps 1 Project after applying following the briefing given in School. They have now taken part in a week of fashion taster activities and portfolio advice and will be guaranteed an interview for their chosen London College of Fashion degree when making their UCAS application for any of LCFs creative courses such as fashion design, styling, fashion textiles, tailoring, TV theatre make- up or photography courses.

Our successful students are: Shanice, Paige, Jasmine, Chantelle, Amanda, Hayat, Charlene

This is the 1st time we have participated in this compact agreement with LCF and this is a great opportunity for our students.

Mr Jarvis | Careers Department

YOUNG ENTERPRISE


Monday 10th March 2014On Monday 10th March Year 8 RE classes took part in a workshop about gangs, violence and social networking. In this workshop we learnt about the consequences of being in a gang, sexting and bullying. Year 8 thought that it was very interesting and serious workshop.

Having spent the day listening to scenarios and other people’s stories we agreed that we would be more careful with who we come in contact with. The guest speaker, Richard, had explained about sexting in more detail. One of the scenarios he had given was of a 14 year old girl and a 16 year old boy. She had sent a picture of herself naked and got bullied at school but never told her parents (Dumped, Embarrassed and Bullied).

She sent the picture not knowing what the consequences were to her boyfriend and thought she could trust him but he was not trustworthy. We learnt from the story:‘If you wouldn’t want your parents to see it then don’t send it.”

Richard encouraged us to do a piece of drama on how that story ended so that if the situation ever came up we would know what to do. We also learnt that if you have encouraged gossip about someone that has been in that situation, even though you might not know the person, you would be categorised as a bully. There were a lot of things in that workshop that we did not know about and it improved our street knowledge. We think that this workshop would be useful for everyone in the school so we know what to look out for and what dangers we may come across.Eboni and Kiera Year 8

GAGV: Group against Gang Violence

The following organisations took part:

• Kier Construction (Civil Engineer)

• The London College of Fashion

• London City Airport (Airport careers)

• Barclays Bank (Forest Gate Branch Manager)

• TFL London Underground (Mechanical Engineer)

• BP Legal (Lawyer)

• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Lawyer)

• X Changing Claims Services Ltd (Insurance loss adjuster)

• The Brokerage City Link (City / Finance careers)

• Thames Tideway Tunnels (Organisational Managing Director)

• Lee Tunnel CH2M Hill (Civil Engineer)

• Elmo Artists (Artists and Designers)

• London College of Beauty Therapy

• Perrella Weinberg Partners (Investment banker)

• Anglia Ruskin University (Adult Nurse)

• The Hoxton Hair Project • Elevated Aspirations (Youth worker)

• The Peabody Trust (Media, PR and Youth projects)


We received really excellent feedback from all of the delegates on the organisation of the day and for the girls’ behaviour. Examples of comments from delegates included:

“Very polite, well informed and engaged students…excellent event”“Great to see children engaged and confident”

“Good questions from pupils”“They were engaged and excited by talks”

“They asked questions afterwards which were quite specific which showed me that they had listened well, were interested and curious to know more”

“They seemed to relate well to discussions” “Great line up of companies and great structure”

“Well prepared students…..it would be hard to improve on this successful formula” “The booklet was very useful and I think the whole idea of a career day and getting young people

to start thinking is great”

YEAR 9 INSIGHT INTO INDUSTRY DAY

A big thank you to all of our Year 9 students who helped to make the event a success.Mr Jarvis and Ms Brennan

Wednesday 26th FebruaryThis event took place in school with a mix of 18 employers, universities and industry organisations who delivered mini talks to our Year 9 students about their industries, areas of work, job roles and skills required. We were able to get some high profile organisations and good speakers into school:

The following organisations took part:

• Kier Construction (Civil Engineer)

• The London College of Fashion

• London City Airport (Airport careers)

• Barclays Bank (Forest Gate Branch Manager)

• TFL London Underground (Mechanical Engineer)

• BP Legal (Lawyer)

• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Lawyer)

• X Changing Claims Services Ltd (Insurance loss adjuster)

• The Brokerage City Link (City / Finance careers)

• Thames Tideway Tunnels (Organisational Managing Director)

• Lee Tunnel CH2M Hill (Civil Engineer)

• Elmo Artists (Artists and Designers)

• London College of Beauty Therapy

• Perrella Weinberg Partners (Investment banker)

• Anglia Ruskin University (Adult Nurse)

• The Hoxton Hair Project • Elevated Aspirations (Youth worker)

• The Peabody Trust (Media, PR and Youth projects)


We have included this as a reminder of what is and isn’t accaptable uniform at St Angela’s for a full detailed list please visit www.stangelas-ursuline.co.uk/schooluniform

We would like to remind you that uniform outdoor coats must be plain black, brown or beige and large enough to wear over blazers. Footwear is still an issue of concern. Please ensure your daughter wears sensible sturdy shoes for school and the correct uniform at all times.Shoes

ALLOWED NOT ALLOWED

Flat, leather black or brown with no big design

Anything that looks like a trainer or plimsoll

Hair Bows

Allowed Not Allowed

Black, brown or cream plain design and the

smaller the better!

Bright colours and big bows or scarves or

headbands

Coats

Allowed Not Allowed

Black, brown midlength

with no large designs

Short, coloured big

designs or patterns

Why all the fuss?• The uniform identifies us as a student body. We want you to look smart & sophisticated!• Remember as St Angela’s students we want to be positive role models for others• Following rules of uniform is a criteria for getting into MOST Sixth form colleges

Have you grown out of your school uniform?

Then why not donate any unwanted/nearly new items of school uniform to our uniform

shop?All donations are gratefully received: please bring to

reception.

How to adjust the button on your school skirt

School UniformWhat’s allowed

Hair Shoes CoatsAllowed Not Allowed Allowed Not Allowed Allowed Not Allowed

Hair Bows

Allowed Not Allowed


smaller the better!

Bright colours and big bows or scarves or

headbands


smaller the better

Bright colours and big bows or scarves or headbands

Flat, leather, black or brown

with no big design

Anything that looks like a pair of trainers or plimsolls

Shoes

ALLOWED NOT ALLOWED

Flat, leather black or brown with no big design

Anything that looks like a trainer or plimsoll

Black or brown, mid-length with no big designs

Short, coloured, big designs or

patterns

Coats

Allowed Not Allowed

Black, brown midlength

with no large designs

Short, coloured big

designs or patterns

Hair Nails PiercingsAllowed Not Allowed

Natural hair colour Bright coloured dyed hair

Allowed Not Allowed

Natural nails and natural nail varnish colours

Bright colours and over sized fake

nails

Allowed Not Allowed

One set of small earrings per ear

Multiple piercings in one ear. Any

other body piercing


Attendance and Punctuality newsAs a school we pride ourselves on our high levels of attendance and punctuality.Each term students with 100% attendance/ punctuality are rewarded with a silver merit, as are students who show a great improvement over the term.In addition to this, form classes with the best attendance / punctuality statistics are rewarded regularly in assembly.

The Pastoral teams and our Education Welfare officer closely monitor attendance and punctuality as it is so important. The reason it is important is that it links directly to student academic progress and future career prospects.

In order, the form classes with the best attendance are:7 Bamber and 7 Carlson – 98.6% | 8 Cresentia – 97.6% | 9 Ennis – 97.8% | 10 Malone – 97.5% | 11 Hurston – 97.9%

The form classes with the best overall punctuality this academic year so far are:7 Malone | 8 Cresentia | 9 Torville | 10 Parker | 11 Wharton

Many of the late marks are due to students arriving in school on time but taking their time getting to their form classes. We are asking parents and students for support in improving this.

So what can you as a parent do to help make your daughter’s attendance even better?• Call the school every day your daughter is absent.• Ensure medical appointments where possible be made outside of school time.• Ensure your daughter returns to school after a medical appointment, it is

becoming a concern that students are leaving to go to the dentist / opticians / doctors and then having the rest of the day off. Unless it is an appointment that prevents your daughter coming back to school she must return otherwise the morning / afternoon will be marked as absent.

• Avoid taking term time holidays- Newham council can now impose Fixed penalty notices for term time holidays http://www.newham.gov.uk/Pages/Services/School-attendance.aspx

• Seek medical attention if your daughter has been ill for more than 3 days.• Ensure medical evidence is provided for more than 3 days of absence, this

can be a GP note, copy of prescription or copy of label from prescribed medication. –EVIDENCE OF OVER THE COUNTER MEDICATION IS NOT ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE FOR LONG ABSENCES OR FREQUENT ABSENCES.

• Agree to sign a GP consent when requested by the Education welfare officer for on-going ill health.

Any questions? Please contact Mrs Patel, EWO

DON’T FORGETSummer term begins for students on Wednesday 23rd April 2014

EASTER PRAYER

“Compassionate and loving God,

You created the world for us all to share,

a world of beauty and plenty.

Create in us a desire to live simply,

so that our lives may reflect your generosity.

Creator God,

You gave us responsibility for the earth,

a world of riches and delight.

Create in us a desire to live sustainably,

so that those who follow after us

may enjoy the fruits of your creation.

God of peace and justice,

you give us the capacity to change,

to bring about a world that mirrors your wisdom.

Create in us a desire to act in solidarity,

so that the pillars of injustice crumble

and those now crushed are set free.”

st angela's easter newsletter 2014

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