insight no 11
DESCRIPTION
The magazine of Highgate Wood SchoolTRANSCRIPT
News from Highgate Wood School arts college
Issue No 11 March 2013 CONSIDERATION COOPERATION COURTESY CONTRIBUTION
BREAKING NEWS: HIGHGATE WOOD SCHOOL WIN U18 MIDDLESEX CUP ++ FANTASTIC SIXTH FORM TEAM ++
March 2013
2
The Chair of Governors, Charles Wright,
writes: I and fellow governors looked in
on the Model United Nations day
recently. Organised by Highgate Wood
and now involving schools across north
London, it gives students the
opportunity to research and debate world issues, in UN
format, and reach agreement.
This is challenging enough, but the day is also run and
managed by students, and there’s a link with higher
education too, as former students come back to take
part as well. It’s a fantastic event and showcase for the
school, which was great to attend, and many thanks to
all involved.
Another important part of the governors’ role is
recruiting senior staff, and some of us were also
involved recently in two days of interviews and tests for
the deputy headship candidates. I’m confident that we
have a strong appointment in Craig Hewitt, who will be
working alongside Katerina Christodoulou from
September, helping us continue to improve.
We also spend a lot of time looking data, checking we
are on track to meet the challenging targets we are
setting ourselves. You may have seen the new ‘data
dashboard’ on the school website, launched with a bit
of a fanfare by Ofsted for every school. It is only a
snapshot, looking back to 2012 results, and we go into
much more detail on how we are performing, but it
does show that Highgate Wood continues to do well
compared to schools across the country and similar
schools, and that’s good news.
One area where we are not doing so well is on
attendance. Being at school is of course vitally
important, and I hope that parents and carers will
support us as we look to do better in this area.
Finally, I’m pleased to welcome Chris Tully as our new
parent governor. Chris already serves as a charity
trustee, and has many years’ experience of governance,
and I’m sure will help us continue to improve.
I hope you all have a good break.
Chair of Governors:
Charles Wright (Community Governor)
Vice Chair:
Imogen Pennell (Representative Governor)
Representative Governors:
Cllr Eddie Griffith • Oliver Blackaby • Brenda Allan
Parent Governors:
Andrew Boardman • Diana Brown • Philip Cavendish
Caroline Conlon • Elizabeth Hess • Chris Tully • Rob White
Community Governors:
Phil Cocksedge • Violet Hazelwood‐Henry • Chris Parr •
Carol Vincent Headteacher Governor:
Patrick Cozier
Staff Governors:
Tristan Ashman • Jack Fitzgerald • Saad Gul Mohammed
If you wish to contact the Governing Body please write to the
Chair of Governors, c/o Mrs K Ozturk, Highgate Wood School,
Montenotte Road, London N8 8RN
HIGHGATE WOOD SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY
GOVERNING BODY UPDATE
Cover picture: Return to the Forbidden Planet was our brilliant spring Musical and showed off the extraordinary talents that we have at Highgate Wood School. The shows were sold out, and everyone commented on the quality of the production. Read about the experience of being in the show in this issue of Insight in Fionnuala Stevens’ article.
Mr Demetriou writes:
Summer examinations will run from 13th May until
26th June and all students should have now received
a timetable. If you require a new one or If you have a
clash on your timetable, please discuss this with the
Examinations Officer.
EXAM NOTICE
Liz Whitlock writes:
Money raised exclusively through the HWS Lottery
has just paid for two trampolines and a spectrometer
for use by all HWS pupils. Both the PE and Science
Departments are hugely grateful for these much
needed items.
Just think how much more we could buy if EVERY
parent and carer bought just one lottery ticket at only
£12 per year! If you're not yet signed up to the lottery
‐ please, please do so now and help raise money to
buy even more great things for even more
departments ‐ remember, all our kids benefit!
To buy a lottery ticket, please email Arabella or Jane
on [email protected] or contact us via school.
Thanks to all parents who responded to the email
about first aid training, we will be planning a session
shortly and will send an email with dates.
March 2013
3
This has been an
unusually short spring
term but, as is to be
expected, so much has
happened in that time.
You will get a good sense
of this from the current
edition of Insight.
During the course of this term I have had the genuine
pleasure of attending a range of events that have
showcased the talents of our students and
demonstrated what is special about Highgate Wood.
The Musical (Return to the Forbidden Planet), Model
UN and Highgate Wood School’s Got Talent are just
three such events. But there are many other fantastic
things that are happening in our school, both in the
classroom, on the sporting field and around the
school in general. We should be proud of the
students for their many achievements, and I am
particularly proud of my hard working staff who
provide the energy and enthusiasm to facilitate these
great opportunities for our students to thrive.
Alongside the extra‐curricular, the general hard work
of staff and students in preparing for the upcoming
public exams continues unabated, and for this I thank
everyone who is continuing to make a positive
contribution to what we believe will be another
impressive set of results for our students come
August.
Post 16 at Highgate Wood
Following on from last year’s excellent recruitment, in
the last couple of weeks I have had the joy of
interviewing some of our Year 11 students following
their applications for places in the 6th form. It really
has been fascinating getting the opportunity to listen
to them talk about themselves as learners and to see
how much thought and care they are putting into
their decisions about their future.
What has been really pleasing is listening to them
explain why they have applied to the Highgate Wood
6th form. Students have talked about
The enjoyment that they have experienced at
Highgate Wood over the years and that they see
Post 16 as a natural continuation of the learning
that is taking place in Key Stage 4
The benefits or remaining at a school that they
know, but more importantly a school that knows
them; where their teachers know their strengths
and how to build upon them; where their teachers
are aware of their areas for development
The good progress that they are currently making,
and a belief that this will continue this progress in
the 6th form
The trust that they have (and the evidence that they have seen and heard) that teaching in the 6th
form is of a high quality
The wide (and growing) range of opportunities available to them at Post 16 to embrace extra‐
curricular opportunities
Knowing that at Highgate Wood School, they
benefit from teachers who really do care about
them and will go the extra mile to support them
throughout their studies to achieve their potential
and to help them go on to the very best
universities
It is heart‐warming to know that they are so proud of
their school and that they want to stay because they
feel that they belong and where they know they will
do well. I am proud of them all and want them to
remain here at ‘home’ at Highgate Wood School. I am
looking forward to having an excellent Year 12 cohort
in September.
New Timetable starts on Tuesday 4th June 2013
A reminder to all that the new timetable will be in
operation from June 4th,which is the first day back
after the half term of the summer term. It is a
Tuesday because the school will be closed to students
on the Monday for staff training. For those parents
who are new to the school, the biggest impact of the
June early roll is that each year group will begin their
curriculum for next year half a term earlier.
The main rationale for this is to benefit our Year 9
students by enabling them to start their GCSEs (and
other Key Stage 4 courses) half a term early. This we
believe affords them a greater opportunity to
succeed in Key Stage 4.
The implication for all other year groups is that their
current teachers may change in June. However, as
the timetable that we start in June 2013 will remain
in place until next June 2014 (and from June to June
MESSAGE FROM THE HEADTEACHER
March 2013
4
each successive year after that), it means that there
will not be any further change of teachers this coming
September.
Year 11 and Post 16 Students – Preparation for
Exams
Year 11 and Post 16 students are now entering into
that final stage leading up to their exams. As always,
there will be a range of exam preparation sessions
available over the Easter Holidays. Students are
encouraged to make full use of these and to follow
the guidance that they have been given by their
teachers in terms of revision and preparation. We are
confident that they will all do fantastically well – but
they have to put in the hard work to make sure!
A reminder of our ambitious 2013 target (along with
the exam results over the last few years) is shown
below.
New Deputy Headteacher Appointment for
September 2013
As you may recall, since last April we have been
operating at Highgate Wood School with one Deputy
Headteacher (Katerina Christodoulou). We have
taken the decision to go back to having two Deputy
Headteachers, which is more in line with most
secondary schools of this size. Consequently, as you
may have been aware, on Wednesday 13th March and
Thursday 14th March we interviewed six candidates
(from 40 applications) for the post of Deputy
Headteacher.
I am pleased and excited to announce that following
an intense and rigorous process we have been
successful in appointing Mr Craig Hewitt to the post.
Mr Hewitt is currently an Assistant Headteacher at
Stoke Newington School in Hackney, with overall
responsibility for Post 16 Education.
Over two days of very testing and demanding
interview tasks and activities Mr Hewitt
demonstrated a number of big strengths and is
someone who I am confident will bring many positive
and new qualities and some exciting ideas to
Highgate Wood School as we continue our journey
towards being the ‘Outstanding’ school that we want
to be. He is a very strong addition to the Leadership
Team and will be a huge support to all staff and
students. He starts officially in September – however,
I will look for opportunities for him to meet with staff
and students during the summer term.
I would also like to offer a huge thank you to the
many staff, students and governors who helped out
over the two days. So many people helped out in so
many different ways throughout the interviews. Their
contribution was highly significant and a very
necessary part of the process.
Other Teaching Appointments for September 2013
In addition to the Deputy Headteacher appointment
we have also been successful in recruiting a new
Head of ICT to start in September, Mr David Talbert.
Mr Talbert is already a Head of ICT at his current
school. He has good experience, energy and
enthusiasm and I am confident that he will bring
these qualities to Highgate Wood School. I would like
to take this opportunity to thank Benjamin Odei who
has been an exceptional acting Head of Department
since the departure of Ms Riaz, and who I am sure
will continue to contribute hugely to the success of
the ICT department and the school as a whole.
We have also appointed Ms Nicola Michael who will
be joining the Science department in September. We
were very impressed with Ms Michael during her
interview for the post – and she especially impressed
some of our year 11 students who are keen to do
Chemistry next year in the 6th form when she taught
them an A Level Chemistry lesson. I am confident that
she will add further strength to the department.
Ms Mikki Patel says farewell
We are very sorry to be losing Ms Mikki Patel who is
leaving Highgate Wood School this week. Ms Patel
joined the Science department in the spring term of
2011. She has made a really positive contribution in
her time here. We wish her well for the future.
March 2013
5
OFSTED has published a new ‘Data Dashboard’ for all
schools, which provides an overview of school
performance in exams and attendance, compared to
other schools.
It shows clearly that Highgate Wood is doing well
compared to schools across the country and
compared to similar schools. That is a credit to our
staff and to parents and carers for their support, and
confirms that we are providing a very good education
for our students and we are on the right track to
becoming outstanding.
Unfortunately, the Dashboard does show that
attendance at Highgate Wood is not as good as in
other similar schools and is below the national
average. This is an issue we have highlighted in the
past and we hope that parents and carers will
continue to support us in addressing this.
(Please see Mr Hartley’s letter in this issue of Insight)
Uniform Issues
The issue of school uniform is one that changes
throughout the year, mostly depending on the
overriding temperature. I know that given the current
freezing temperatures, this may seem ridiculous;
however, I anticipate warmer months ahead and
would like to issue a couple of reminders for parents
and students:
Blazers are compulsory, but jumpers/cardigans are
not; hence, if students do not wish to wear two layers
on top of their shirts, it’s the jumpers/cardigans that
should not be worn. If at some stage the weather is
very hot, then we will relax the need to wear a blazer
– however, we will inform you and the students if and
when this happens
No other alternative to the school jumper/cardigan
(with the Highgate Wood School blue trim) can be
worn. If they are they will be confiscated.
Short sleeve shirts are a perfectly acceptable
alternative to long sleeve shirts for girls and boys.
Primary Secondary Transfer – September 2013
Highgate Wood Oversubscribed Again!
We have recently received data from the Local
Authority that shows allocations and preferences for
the schools across Haringey for secondary transfer in
September 2013. The list below is in alphabetical
order.
We have reason to be pleased that the number of
preferences has now topped 1000 for the first time
ever.
We have also increased the number of first choices to
267, higher than the number of places available (243)
The data below shows comparisons with the other
Haringey schools
... And Finally – Thank you for your support!
I would like to thank you all again for your valued and
continued support. I wish you and your families a
pleasant Easter break.
Please remember, we return on Monday 15th April at
the later start time of 10.50am.
Regards
Patrick Cozier Headteacher
NEW DATA DASHBOARD
March 2013
6
GIVING NEWS TO THE SCHOOL
If students, parents, carers or friends want
to alert the school of an achievement or
good news to be shared please contact us by
email at: [email protected]
We also have an email address for those who wish to
make a complaint or raise a concern:
Ms Lacroix writes:
The Modern Languages
Department is looking for native
speakers to help in the conduct of
some examinations. We need adults who can speak,
read, write and understand fully the language in:
‐ Arabic
‐ Modern Hebrew
‐ Italian
If you are able to help, or know of someone who
could be, please contact Aude Lacroix, Head of
Department, or Joe Demetriou ( Exam Officer).
Extension 240.
NATIVE SPEAKERS WANTED
Ms Roberts writes:
Between 29th April and
3rd May, Year 10
students will undertake
a week of work
experience. They will be
getting an insight into
places of work such as
accountants and law
firms, banks, publishers,
pharmacies, schools, sports academies and vets to
name but a few.
Students will be expected to work the usual working
hours in that organisation and adhere to the
placement's rules and regulations, including dress
code which can range from smart business wear to
steel toed boots and jeans!
This is an exciting opportunity to meet people in their
industry of interest, get a flavour of the day to day
work involved, apply their skills and knowledge in a
scenario outside of school and be ambassadors for
Highgate Wood. It is a great opportunity to make an
impression and who knows, there may even be future
offers of part time or summer work.
For some students it can confirm their area of
interest for future career paths, for others, it may do
the opposite! Either way, they will gain some
knowledge from this experience which we hope will
assist them in future choices.
If you have any queries regarding work experience,
please email: [email protected]
Best of luck to all Year 10!
WORK EXPERIENCE BEGINNING FOR YEAR 10
Mr Charlesworth writes:
Student interviews for the 6th Form are nearing
completion and offers will be made to successful
applicants in April.
Each Year 11 student has been interviewed by a
senior member of staff to discuss their A level choices
and the routes into University that they provide. In
addition to students from Highgate Wood interviews
have been offered to just over 100 external
applicants who have strong applications and live
within a 30 minute journey on Public Transport. As
soon as all interviews are complete students will
receive an offer of a place in the 6th Form for
September 2013 subject to confirmation of GCSE
grades in August. Once students have received their
GCSE grades they will be interviewed again to confirm
the courses they will study at A level.
Feedback from students in Year 11 is positive about
the opportunity the interview gives to discuss the
choices they have made and find out more about the
school 6th Form and the transition to A levels that
they will face in September.
SIXTH FORM INTERVIEWS
Mr Ashman writes:
Don’t forget everyone in the school has access to
SAM Learning ‐ and it is a proven way of improving
your grades.
Visit www.samlearning.com and put in the school’s
ID which is N8HW. Your username and password are
the same (unless you changed your password). It is
your date of birth followed by your initials. For
example: 010898DJ would be the username and
password for David Jones born 1st August 1998
If you have any problems logging on contact
March 2013
7
THE COMING TERM’S KEY STAGE 3 HOMEWORK PROJECTS
The coming half-term will see the following homework projects being set: Year 7: Geography:- Building a settlement ICT:- e-Safety Year 8: Design & Technology:- Life Cycle Assessment ECS: - Religious Pilgrimage Year 9: No projects this half-term, but preparing for GCSE courses. Information to help you with these will be available on the MLE. Independent work and self‐study is always available on SAM Learning and the MLE
A MESSAGE REGARDING ATTENDANCE
Dear Parents,
Many thanks to those parents and students who have improved their attendance since Mr Worth our Education Welfare Officer raised this issue in the previous Insight. We are committed to improving our attendance so that our students achieve their very best at Highgate Wood School.
In order to bring ourselves in line with procedures in other Haringey schools we will no longer automatically authorise absence even with a note or phone call from a parent. If a student’s attendance is below 96% we must have a medical note from a doctor to automatically authorise absence, without this a request to authorise is likely to be declined. This includes appointments that we believe could be organised outside of school hours. Of course this will not affect students with medical conditions that are known to us.
I hope that parents understand that this is a usual procedure in many schools and is due to our continued efforts to raise the achievement of students at Highgate Wood School. Evidence is clear that an attendance of above 95% is required if a student is not to underperform at school and so I am sure that parents will be happy to support the school in ensuring that students achieve their best.
If you have any queries about this new procedure please do contact me and I will be happy to clarify any questions you might have.
Yours sincerely, Adrian Hartley Assistant Headteacher
English
Science
Maths
Paper 1/2 Taking place in class
Paper 1
Science Paper 2
Paper 1
23 Apr
23 Apr
9 May
08:35
14:10
08:35
09:35
15:10
09:35
Maths Paper 2 9 May 11:10 12:10
Subject Paper Date Start End
YEAR 9 OPTIONAL TESTS
Ms Payton writes:
There are End of Year Assessments in Maths that will determine
the setting for the beginning of the new academic year in June.
The assessments will include two written papers and one mental test.
Year 9 ‐ Thursday 9th May ‐ in the hall
Year 8 ‐ Monday 13th and Wednesday 15th May
Year 7 ‐ Monday 13th to Thursday 16th May
MATHS ASSESSMENTS FOR SET CHANGES
Students will be notified in class about
controlled assessments happening in the
coming term.
Because of the need to ensure students are
fully prepared we cannot always guarantee
in advance when the assessments will take
place. However, we will endeavour to
inform parents through the school journal
or with a text message a week or so before
they do take place.
Currently controlled assessments are
scheduled for Year 10 in French, Spanish,
and Business & Economics. In English there
will also be opportunities to revisit past
controlled assessment tasks.
CONTROLLED ASSESSMENTS
EASTER REVISION—YEAR
Revision and coursework
catch‐up sessions for Year 11
will be taking place through
the Easter holidays.
Students will have been informed by
their teachers, but the information will
also be made available on the school
website.
If you have been invited to attend a
session please ensure you arrive on
time and ready to work!
March 2013
8
THE LAST SUPPER WITH YEAR 7
Ms Kemp writes:
Here is 7T re‐enacting the last supper as we lead up
to the Easter festival and learn about Christian
history.
Ms Hickey writes:
In early March the Geography AS students spent four
days in Devon studying coastal, urban and rural issues
in preparation for their imminent exams. Despite the
cold and wet weather the students were enthusiastic
about their work and proved to be a far more
knowledgeable group of students than the other two
schools that they were working with.
All agreed that the course had been a good learning
experience.
Well done Year 12!
A Level GEOGRAPHERS INVESTIGATE DEVON
Mr Contor writes:
Late last month, Ms
Jennifer Harris (Second in
Charge of English) and I
travelled to Romania as
part of the Comenius
International Schools
Project to participate in
four days of educational
and cultural exchanges.
Since the focus of this visit was drama and
communication, Highgate Wood School’s industry
partner, Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass
(represented by Grace Staniland), travelled with us.
Between the three of us, we delivered workshops on
Public Speaking Skills, The Use of Voice in
Performance and Spatial Awareness. The workshops
were well received by the participating schools from
Denmark, Belgium, Estonia, The Basque Country and
our hosts, the Romanians.
It was an excellent
opportunity for us as
professionals working with
drama and communication
in our normal contexts in
Britain. It made us aware
how different and advanced
the Performing Arts
curricula are in our schools
compared to our European neighbours. Whilst we
were kept very busy delivering our workshops, it was
a fantastic opportunity for us to work with students
from five other European schools.
Many thanks to Ms Katerina Christodoulou and our
hosts in Iasi, Colegial National Emil Racovita for this
enriching experience.
TRAVELS TO ROMANIA
Ms Christodoulou writes:
Highgate Wood School hosted a group of Tunisian
teachers and representatives from the Tunisian
Ministry of Education on Tuesday 12 March. The
purpose of their visit was to provide an opportunity
VISITORS FROM TUNISIA for the visitors to meet with us (we have a link with a
Tunisian school), and to experience education in a
mainstream British school.
The visiting colleagues met with a number of staff,
visited a range of lessons, were interviewed by
members of the School Council and even ate in the
school dining hall.
The visitors were very impressed with the wide range
of opportunities that students have access to both in
and out of the classroom.
March 2013
9
SOAS SATURDAY SCHOOL: GRADUATION
Mr Fitzgerald writes:
On Wednesday 13th March
thirty‐six Year and School
Councillors seized the
opportunity to put the six
short‐listed candidates for
Deputy Headteacher under the
spotlight as they conducted their own
'pupil panel' interview.
Mr Cozier, Mr Wright, and myself were proud to
witness such impressive interrogation, and all agreed
that we could not have asked more salient questions
ourselves. Accordingly, we would like to thank all
those involved and I for one hope not to have to face
any of them in such a cross‐examination in the
future!
In other news, the School Council would like to thank
Mr Hatch, the school business manager, for taking
the time to meet this week and for having so willingly
listened to some of the key issues raised by form
reps. In particular, Mr Hatch indicated that he
thought it very possible to have a new CCTV camera
installed outside the changing rooms, agreed to
discuss the idea of some form of 'meal deals' being
introduced in the canteen with the canteen manager,
and also to look into installing a change machine to
help students who wish to change notes into smaller
denominations.
Over the summer term the School Council have also
agreed to join the e‐safety working group to help
make sure everyone at Highgate Wood School is able
to make safe and effective use of all the possibilities
that digital technologies bring.
SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS
Ms Roberts writes:
Students in Year 9 and 10 have been attending a
weekly Saturday school at the School of Oriental and
African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
They attended lectures taught by the students at the
University and learnt about subjects including Law,
Anthropology and Japanese.
The following students graduated in a ceremony at
the University on Saturday 16th March.
Andrea Ahern
Milo Fraser
Nick Green
Carsel Ryan‐Small
Renee Lamy
Duygu Gulsin
Yunus Korkmaz
Tyrane Wynter
Magdalena Zieja
Max Currer
Adyna Moseley
Thana Nelson‐Reshat
Sarah Weber Rudolf
Liliana Ricketts
Alicia Lerche
Magda said "I took History of Art, German and Music.
We were taken on trips to a Picasso exhibition and to
see a Chinese roof garden.
The teachers were excellent, well organised and very
funny. It was a great experience to have and I would
definitely do it again given the opportunity."
They commented favourably on the wide range of
learning and teaching strategies that they observed,
and were very taken with the school uniform!
Most of all they were impressed by the positive
relationships that were evident between staff and
students ‐ which they believed helped to support a
constructive working environment in each of the
classes they visited.
The visitors wished to thank all member of the school
community for making their visit so memorable. Our visitors from schools in Tunisia and the Tunisian Ministry of
Education
Our new Deputy Headteacher, Craig Hewitt, will be joining the
school in September ‐ filling the space left when Paul Guenault
took up his current Headteacher appointment last year.
March 2013
10
E‐TWINNING WITH SPAIN
Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) by David Hockney
Ms Gomez writes:
The MFL department’s
work with e‐twinning
and the European Union
has now blossomed into
a fantastic partnership
between our A level
students and sixth
formers from a school in
Ciudad Real in Spain.
Ruth Mostyn‐Dignan
explains:
“E‐twinning has been a
really useful way of
getting in touch with spanish teenagers and
practicing our language skills.
We have all really enjoyed sending emails and
presentations about our school and ourselves to
Spanish teenagers who live in Ciudad Real.
Hopefully we can be part of an exchange were we get
to go to Spain and visit the Spanish school and I think
it will be will be a great way of improving our
speaking and understanding of the language.
INSPIRED BY HOCKNEY
Overlapping
Ms Stephens writes:
Art students in Year 10 art have
been responding to the work of
more established artists.
The piece titled overlapping was
created by Bethy Parker and the
repeated swirls piece was created
by Cassie Norton. They are both in
response to David Hockney's
paintings of swimming pools and
were made using wax resist and
ink.
Others are studying the theme of
movement in art, responding to
the work of the futurists, Marcel
Duchamp, and the first moving
imagery created by Eadward
Muybridge.
A series of photographs were taken by students in Mr
Marriott's class. They went on to use these photos of
moving persons to create paintings in the style of
Marcel Duchamp's nude descending staircase series.
Repeated Swirls
CLASS OF 2013 YEARBOOK
Ms McConville writes:
I would like to extend a
massive thanks and
congratulations to the
Year 11 Yearbook
Committee: Zara Ali, Maja Darlington, Courtney
Etherson, Sacha Francis, Lois Green, Jack Horsfall,
Emily Kitchen, Ella Krikler, Conrad Lee, Alanna
Michael, Sabi Newman, Shannon Noone, Alys Owen,
Rashmi Patel, Tom Ryle, Elysia Sun, Rukiye Tas and
Izzy Terrington who, together with the help of Ms
Mayer, Ms Zwicky and Mr MacDougall, have worked
incredibly hard to make the Yearbook for the best
year group I have ever had the privilege to lead,
become a reality.
March 2013
11
James Barth writes:
On Friday 1st March, we
attended Poetry Live at the
Dominion Theatre in central
London. The aim of the trip
was to prepare us for our
exam come June time and to allow us to hear poetry
read from some of the world’s most famous poets as
well as their take on their own poems. The day was
split into three main sections: Poetry reading,
questions and answers and a talk given by a chief
examiner.
The day started with Carol Ann Duffy, the poet
laureate for England and Gillian Clarke, the national
poet for Wales. They read their own poems as well as
a poem that someone else had written that had
inspired their writing. These recitals were followed by
some questions from the audience, including “who
would win in a poetry read‐ off?”
Then a Chief examiner with a monotonic voice and a
few too many “pauses for effect” took to the stage.
Yes, we did learn roughly what examiners were
looking for in an answer, but his sarcastic tones at
previous answers did nothing to lighten the dullness
from his hour.
A show is never too late to be
saved! And in this instance the
saviours name was John Agard. An
expressive man from the Caribbean
entered lastly and to be brutally
honest had everyone laughing‐
including myself. He was what this
day was truly about which was
getting young people involved in
poetry and making poetry something anyone from
any social group can appreciate. He read his poem
“flag” which we are studying with such enthusiasm
along with a couple nursery rhymes and other poems
that got the audience clapping and cheering by the
time the day rolled to an end. We left with a smile
that lasted about as long as British sun, which wasn’t
out to greet us on our way home.
POETRY LIVE!
Carol Ann Duffy
John Agard
Ms Ronay writes:
Some students may be
wondering what the Think‐
a‐link box is that has
appeared on our Intranet
homepage.
Think‐a‐link is the brain child of the entertaining Andy
Salmon, AKA Sir Linkalot whose work with letter
linking has been described as “ground breaking” by
the British Dyslexia Association.
He came to school to speak to staff on our INSET
afternoon and demonstrated spelling strategy which
give mnemonics a whole new meaning by linking
different ideas.
Linking is a fun an easy way to learn commonly
misspelt words, subject key words and to use as a
revision tool for learning key facts for GCSEs.
Use the link on the Intranet or go directly to
www.thinkalink.co.uk and explore the site.
You will find videos of Andy explaining his work and
you will also be able to submit your own “links” and
rate those of others.
Happy Linking!
THINK‐A‐LINK!
Mr Ibrahim writes:
Seventeen A‐Level PE students completed a basic first
aid that focused on the skills of CPR, choking and
bleeding in the sporting environment.
Across the year, students have had to complete a
series of leadership sessions in a chosen activity. The
first aid session is an essential part of the course.
Along with a Child protection session planned for
April, the students will be gaining valuable life skills
preparing them for the next phase of their
development as well as exam success.
STUDENT LIFE SAVERS
March 2013
12
Mr O’Connor writes:
The Sixth North London Model UN conference was
held at school on Saturday 16th March and was once
again a great success.
This year’s event marked a significant advance in the
level and depth of debate in North London Model UN
conferences. Not only did the conference include a
record number of schools and committees but for the
first time NLMUN introduced a ‘Crisis Committee’ that
dealt with a topical issue and responded to problems
occurring in ‘real time’.
After six years it is of course encouraging that we are
able to host an over‐subscribed conference but it is
also important that the standard of debate has
developed to the extent that we can include an
‘accelerated committee’ for the most able delegates.
This allows the opportunity to include Sixth Form
colleges – and it is also gratifying that our best Year 10
and 11 students are able to rise to this standard.
The topic this year was Global Development, a critical
global issue as we advance towards the 2015 deadline
for the achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals. HWS Sixth Form student and NLMUN Secretary
General Sam Tims commented “In my opening remarks
I said that I expected delegates to have widened their
knowledge of some vital global issues, considered why
the world needs to unite to resolve them, and that
they should take into consideration how the United
Nations fits into global politics. The debates
throughout the day proved that they had done just
that and I am proud of the passion and seriousness
with which delegates responded”.
The conference gives a great opportunity for the
school to engage with others in North London and this
year we had a record number of HWS students
involved – not just delegates, but the Press Team,
Rapporteurs and Conference Secretariat. HWS faculty
Director Neil Robertson commented “The success of a
good conference lies in the work and preparation by
delegates prior to the day. I am pleased to say that all
the HWS delegates worked hard on their research and
delivered, as we expect them to, excellent debates
throughout the conferences. Of course I am proud of
our experienced delegates, but it is also heartening to
see so many new students rise to the challenge of their
first UN conference”.
Under Secretary General Ellie Whitlock pointed to the
concluding ceremony as a highlight “It was great to
students from such a wide range of schools win awards
– including from schools who have just joined us this
year. But it was also inspiring to see HWS alumni
students as part of the Secretariat and to hear from a
University undergraduate who talked about what a
difference involvement in Model UN has made to her
in terms of knowledge, skills opportunities and
confidence. It just shows we all still have a long way to
go with Model UN yet!”
MODEL UN ‐ GOING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
March 2013
13
MODEL UN PRESS TEAM
Ms Dawes‐Knowles writes:
The London Model UN at Highgate Wood School could
not have succeeded without the support of the press
team. They interviewed guests and delegates, wrote
articles and designed quizzes as well as photographing
and recording the day’s events.
During the course of the conference the Press Team
researched, wrote, designed and produced two four
page newsletters that were then distributed across the
event. The team were extremely mature, creative and
incredibly hardworking.
The team comprised Alice Goss (Morning Editor), Mattie
Moss Kendall (Afternoon Editor), Gizem Alici, Eda Koc,
Best Moshwe, Shannon Osei, Sasha Agyapong and
Sophie Gladstone (Senior Photographer).
Patrick Hegarty‐Morrish writes:
“Everything will be all right ‐ you know when? When people, just people, stop thinking of the United Nations as a weird Picasso abstraction and see it as a drawing they made themselves.”
Dag Hammarskjöld (Second Secretary‐General of the UN)
To be part of the Model UN conference on Saturday
16th March is something none of the delegates will
regret. I’m sure of this because of the efforts of my
fellow delegates at the conference and also because
of the impact it has on participants.
Being able to reflect on world issues and
understanding how the world works is a vital set of
skills. Also knowing that there are ways to overcome
serious world issues like poverty and climate change
is brilliant. What I think people will value most in
Model UN is that they worked out ways to solve
these most pressing of world issues by themselves.
I am sure all the students taking part in Model UN
had a memorable, educational, enjoyable and
interesting day. For me the most unforgettable and
rewarding feeling was when another delegate and I
had finally finished writing the resolution for
‘Inequality and Development’, and not a single
person in the committee voted against it.
Reflecting back on how I felt during the conference, it
feels strange because we were all behaving as if we
were in a real UN committee, co‐operatively trying to
solve the most un‐solvable of world affairs. Everyone
was taking it seriously, the chairs, the teachers and
especially the delegates, but really we were in a
classroom, in a school and we are only teenage kids.
But that it what I think is so amazing about Model
UN: teenage kids from North London comprehensives
can work out ways to solve the most complex of
international problems.
If you are reading this and you were at the
conference, thanks for a great day. If you are a parent
and your child went, then pat yourself on the back. If
you are reading this and you didn’t come, try for a
place next time (trust me it’s worth the effort).
Lastly thanks to everyone who helped put the
conference together:
the delegates, the
teachers, the
Secretary General
and under Secretary
General, the Chairs
and finally Mr
O’Connor, without
whom there would
be no Model UN.
MODEL UN ‐ A DELEGATE’S EXPERIENCE
March 2013
14
Fionnuala Stevens writes:
Another year, another show!
Successful?.. Well.. that’s for
you to decide.
This year was again full of
stress, panic and a not so
great singing solo from Max!
‘Return to The Forbidden
Planet’ is a musical based on
Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’
and 1960 sci‐fis.
The musical tells a story of a
spaceship crash landing on a
planet, allowing a beautiful,
young girl aboard; in which
not just one, but two crew
members fall madly in love with; not forgetting her
father’s robot too!
A year ago I had the not so
flattering role of a sexually
frustrated man. This year, I
upgraded! I played the
spaceships lonely, helpless
romantic, MALE chef, who has
his heartbroken before Act 2
had even begun! Personally, I
loved and miss Return to The
Forbidden Planet.
The cast, the teachers and
the band made it
extremely embarrassing
and hilarious all at once;
in fact we find ourselves
quoting each other’s
embarrassing lines
even now. From the
first time we learnt
our songs till, to be
perfectly honest, the
first performance, none of us were sure
how it was going to turn out. Luckily, other than a few
skipped lines.. or pages.. all ran smoothly; expect
when I got overly excited and nearly took the set
down with a guitar!
I have to say one of my
favourite bits, other than
attempting to smash a
guitar, was ‘Born To Be
Wild’ and all the songs
that followed, more
specifically, the dancing!
Lined up at the back, the
two girls – Kika and
Neena ‐ and me! Oh and
not forgetting Alice and
Ellie doing the dance in the wings ‐ we didn't let them
on stage!
After the twisting and turning came on ‘drunk’
newscaster who made sure to hit on any character
she saw as she struggled to walk downstage with a
RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET
March 2013
15
Ms Zwicky writes:
This year the Set club had the opportunity to create
the interior of a spaceship for 'Return of the
forbidden planet' The students did us proud using
their imagination and creativity to design and
incorporate a wide range of recycled materials into
an imaginative and fun set... not to mention the
fantastic Alien which took centre stage just before
the end of Act one! Well done to all involved.
Noah, Isaac L and Alfie in 7G wrote this about the
set club:
It was very enjoyable and productive. It gave us a
sense of accomplishment when we saw our boards
up on the finished stage. If you have the time or
chance to join we would highly recommend it!
champagne bottle in her
hand who gave our
audience one more good
laugh before we all
embarrassed ourselves
mightily with our
finishing songs ‘The
Monster Mash’ and
‘Great Balls Of Fire’
It would take me at least
another three pages to tell all my favourite bits in this
peculiar performance so for your sake, I’ll stop here!
A huge, huge, HUGE thank you is given from the
whole cast to Mr Brown, Ms Keates, the music
department, the band, the art department, costumes,
hair and make‐up, lights and mics and of course, the
audience for turning up!
Thank you especially to Mr Brown. But can I be a
woman next year?
THE SET CLUB
Mr Ibrahim writes:
On the last Monday of the term our fantastic sixth
form team last night celebrated a win against Douay
Martyrs School, Hillingdon in the Middlesex Cup Final,
thus winning the Brigg Cup.
The competition is for small sixth form colleges that
run one football team. The format of the competition
meant sixteen schools played a series of games to
qualify for the quarter finals.
Highgate Wood School sixth form remained unbeaten
and progressed through the knock out stages to
eventually win the final against last year’s winners.
Credit to all of those involved for achieving success in
but the hero of the final was Lucas Perivolas who
scored a match winning hat‐trick.
This is the first time we have won the Middlesex
competition since 1988.
Let’s hope we continue our march to victory with our
match against Greig City Academy in the Haringey
Final on Tuesday 16th April 2013.
The team celebrating third goal and Lucas' Hat‐trick
March 2013
16
LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE Open: every school day at 8:00 am
every break time
every lunchtime
and... every school day after school:
until 5:00 pm Monday to Wednesday
until 4:00 pm on Thursday and Friday
HWS CHESS CLUB
Mr Lamb writes:
Chess club membership has really picked up and stu‐
dents are practicing each lunch and break in the LRC
to improve their skills.The current school rankings are
listed below. Chess club runs each Thursday after
school from 3:10 ‐ 4:10 with students attempting to
get to the number one spot by challenging those
ranked above them.
Here are the current rankings:
1st Ceake Maddix (8G)
2nd Abel Kent (8G)
3rd Madeleine Baron (8G)
4th Harry West (8A)
5th Scarlett Monaighan (8A
DEBATE MATE
6th Ertan Kiziloz (7I)
7th Sertan Kiziloz (7I
8th Alisa Gudzinkaite (8S)
9th Louie Shann (7W)
10th Giorgio Ardeleanu (8A)
Mr Lamb writes:
On Monday 4 March, Highgate Wood School took
part in the final round of the Urban Debate League
Cup held at Greig City Academy . Fielding four teams,
Highgate Wood dominated the competition with a
total of six wins from eight debates.
Students argued for and against the legalisation of
performance enhancing drugs, followed by a heated
discussion on whether the UK should introduce
compulsory military service. The teams are heading
off to the Deutsche Bank Debate Mate Cup at the LSE
on Tuesday 16th April, and will hopefully bring back
the cup!
Well done to all debaters!
Mr Lamb writes:
On Friday 8 March, fourteen Highgate Wood School
students went to Heartlands High School to meet
author Sufiya Ahmed. She discussed her book, Secrets
of the Henna Girl, with members of 7A and the Book
Club. Students asked questions and even took part in
a mock wedding ceremony.
Ms Ahmed spoke about her time working for Gordon
Brown and how she decided to give it all up and
dedicate her life to writing.
TRIP TO SEE AN AUTHOR
March 2013
17
Dondu Ocak writes:
Highgate Wood School’s first ever talent show took
place on Friday 15th March.
The event was organised by Year 13 BTEC Business
Level 3 students (Dondu Ocak, Alpa Joshi, Jaydine
Hastings, Shannon Barnett, Ben Cary, Ben Haynes,
Andrew Osborne, Chloe Brownlie, ljiwole Oluwaseyi,
Robert Fillingham) with the able assistance of Mr.
Frimpong and Ms. Hastings as part of one of their
assessed assignments.
Not only did this event showcase the talent Highgate
Woods School has to offer, it allowed us a chance to
raise funds for the Hillcrest Aids Charity. The whole
event in total raised over £300 to go towards a good
cause.
Our three judges Mr. Cozier, Ms. Hastings and Ms.
Allaway had many great and comical comments for all
the acts and a few times they were left speechless
(especially Mr. Cozier) and during the two dancing
acts, Ms. Hastings even wanted to get up on stage
and join in.
Mr. Cozier also approached Rainbow Man after the
event to organise a rap spar battle later on in the
year. Ms. Allaway on the other hand was left teary
AUTHOR VISIT ON WORLD BOOK DAY
Mr Lamb writes:
To celebrate World Book
Day, author Andy Robb
visited the school on
Wednesday 6 March to
explain how he got his
ideas for his new book
Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind.
The event was well attended and students were
interested in finding out how Andy came up with his
ideas, how long it took him to write and how they
could go about being published one day.
Students used their World Book Day tokens to buy
copies of the book and even had them signed by the
author.
HIGHGATE WOOD SCHOOL HAS GOT TALENT
eyed after many of the singers’ performances.
The event was a huge success for both the school and
the Hillcrest Aids Charity. The audience was larger
than we had ever hoped for, and there was a
wonderful atmosphere. Everyone got involved in the
competition, making it a real night to remember.
Lastly keep your eyes and ears open for the even
bigger and better Highgate Wood School’s Got Talent
2014, which will include more drama, more comedy
March 2013
18
Ms Jones writes:
We are delighted that some of our
students are exhibiting at the Ben Uri
Gallery. The exhibition is a transatlantic dialogue/
project called 10 Days, whereby our Highgate Wood
School students are twinned with a secondary school
in San Francisco. The exhibition highlights the work
of these young people as they explore identity and
the contemporary portrait, through digital and
mobile phone photography.
The exhibition runs until 7th April at the Ben Uri
Gallery, 108a Boundary Road (off Abbey Road), St
John’s Wood, London, NW8 0RH (www.benuri.org.uk)
but can also be visited online at
The exhibition runs between now and 7th April. If you
are not able to make it you can visit it on line at
http://10daysproject.shutterfly.com
EXHIBITION AT BEN URI GALLERY A LEVEL TRIP TO PARIS
Ms Zwicky writes:
In February Half term, 24 Art & Photography students
went on a trip to Paris together with Ms Masters, Mr
Marriott and Ms Zwicky.
The trip was great fun, as we visited all the major
galleries including the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, the
Orangerie and the Centre Pompidou. We walked the
streets of Paris and the students managed to record
their impressions through drawings and photography
over the four days. We even managed to squeeze in a
boat trip, giving us an alternative view of Paris.
We are so proud of the entire group , who used the
time brilliantly producing excellent work throughout,
teaching each other photography techniques as they
went along, and producing excellent work within the
galleries. This work even extended into their spare
time!
There are some true artists and comedians amongst
our students, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and
look forward to the next trip!
We also want to extend our thanks to Ms Hassan who
helped us organise this trip with such precision.
YEAR 7 CASTLE COMPETITION
Mr Fitzgerald writes:
These are some of the staggeringly brilliant castles created by Year 7. The winner will be announced next term.
March 2013
19
MADFEST 2013
Spendandraise ‐ which you can access
through the school website ‐ allows
you to buy on‐line from a huge range
of retailers, including John Lewis,
Halfords, Currys, Habitat, Evans Cycles, Play.com and
Asda.
There are no charges for using it, but every purchase
through www.spendandraise.com/hwspsa provides
extra funds for the Highgate Wood School PSA.
RAISING MONEY FOR THE HWS PSA
STUDENT SICKNESS
Mrs King writes:
If your child is off‐sick could
you please call every day
that they are unable to
come into school.
Please phone
0208 342 7970
Could parents and
carers also please
ensure that the school has emergency contact
numbers should your child become ill at school and
we need to contact you.
Mr Cozier explained the rationale behind the school’s
use of early closure afternoons to support staff
training in an earlier edition of Insight.
INSET DAYS and INSET AFTERNOONS
INSET (In Service Training) Days were introduced to schools in the 1980s. Taken from what had been school holidays, they are extra days when teachers take part in training (or sometimes in admin tasks). Currently schools are required to deliver five INSET days each academic year. At Highgate Wood School we meet our requirements
for INSET through four regular days, and a series of
INSET afternoons when children are sent home for
the last period of the day. On our INSET afternoons
staff remain in school beyond the normal length of
the school day allowing them to make full use of the
time for training and development. This is particularly
useful now with so many changes happening in
education. It also has the advantage of allowing
students on Free School Meals to get their free lunch.
Katherine Glossop from the PSA writes:
Madfest is here again. This is our largest fund raising
event and we would love to have as many people
involved in it as possible . If you feel you could
contribute there is a planning meeting at the school
on April 30th at 8pm. Everyone Welcome.
Mr Fitzgerald writes:
Congratulations to the School Council for helping to
organise, and thanks to everyone who took part.
We estimate our non‐uniform day on Wednesday will
raise over £1,000 for Hillcrest and for those Sixth
Formers travelling to South Africa to help them.
E‐SAFETY
Ms Ashman writes:
During the coming term we will be
feeding back on some of the findings of the e‐safety
review and contacting those who expressed an
interest in getting involved with developing the
school’s approach to e‐safety issues.
In the meantime the e‐safety page on the school
website is being updated, and we now have a twitter
feed providing regular updates on e‐safety issues:
twitter.com/ukesafety.
MADFEST 2013
The school calendar is now available on‐line at www.hws.uk.com
(the exams timetable is available on the exams page of the site)
The timetable for public exams is also on the home page of our mobile site
(You should get to the mobile site when accessing www.hws.uk.com from a smartphone)
Keep informed Find out what is going on at Highgate Wood School and keep up with our news
visit us at our website www.hws.uk.com
follow us on twitter twitter.com/highgatewood
Insight is available on‐line at www.hws.uk.com Give us your news at: [email protected]
AUTUMN 2013 Mon 2nd September
28th Oct ‐ 1st Nov
Friday 20th Dec
Term Starts *
Half term break
Term Ends
SPRING 2014 Mon 6th Jan
17th Feb– 21st Feb
Friday 4th April
Term Starts
Half term break
Term Ends
SUMMER 2013 Mon 15th April
27th—31st May
Wed 24th July
Term Starts
Half term break
Term Ends
School starts again on Monday 15th April
It will be Week One. Lessons will start at 10:50 start
Tuesday 7th May 2013 Year 7
Remaining Parent Consultation Evenings INSET DAYS and INSET AFTERNOONS
Inset afternoon Tuesday 23rd May
INSET DAY Monday 3rd June
Monday 15th April SUMMER TERM BEGINS (10:50 start for students)
School OpenCheck To see if the school is open normally
0208408 7508 and giving the school’s DfE code 3094030
We will also always endeavour to update our website, twitter feed and send text messages to keep parents informed if school is disrupted for any reason
29th April—3rd May Year 10 Work Experience
Monday 6th May BANK HOLIDAY
Tuesday 7th May Year 7 Parents’ Evening
Wednesday 8th May 9:35 am start following Parents’ Evening
Friday 24th May End of Key Stage 3 Celebrations
Friday 24th May Year 11 Leaver’s Assembly
27th May—31st May HALF TERM
4th June New Timetable Begins
Friday 21st June Year 11 Celebration Evening
Saturday 6th July MADFest