Cranford Review 2009-2010 (Annual edition 2010)

Cranford Community College, High Street, Cranford, Hounslow. TW5 9PD Tel: 020 8897 2001 www.cranford.hounslow.sch.uk
Cranford Review
2009 2010

Welcome to the Cranford Review for
2009/2010. Another year of record breaking
examination success with an impressive 82%
of our year 11 students achieving 5 or more
GCSE grades A*-C.
It’s amazing to reflect upon the enormous
range of curricular and extra-curricular
events, activities, trips and enrichment
opportunities that have helped to develop and
realise the potential and the differing talents
that exist within our student population. I can
hardly believe that we achieved all of this (and
more) within just one academic year. Thanks
are due to the dedicated staff that make
these things happen and to pupils, parents
and ‘friends of Cranford’ who participate so
enthusiastically.
Editorial
By Kevin Prunty (Headteacher)
Cranford Review 2009/2010
Word certainly seems to have got around our
community and we are delighted that so many
people now want to be part of this exciting
and happy place. We wish there was space for
everyone.
At Cranford Community College, we
are committed to meeting the needs and
aspirations of our community and this
brochure, whilst only the tip of the iceberg,
gives a good flavour of how we can and do.
The school has travelled a long way towards
its goal of ‘Excellence in all areas’ receiving
many outstanding judgements because of its
academic success and its positive, caring and
inclusive ethos which nurtures and encourages
pupils to grow into healthy, well-rounded,
happy confident citizens with the skills and
values to make a positive contribution to
society and live fulfilling lives.
Executive Editor:
Graphic Designer:
Printed by:
Jessica Joyce
jjo@cranford.hounslow.sch.uk
Enzo Gianvittorio
enzo.gianvittorio@gmail.com
School House Studios
www.schoolhousestudios.co.uk
Copyright © Cranford Community College - 2010
We are particularly delighted to have ended
the year by achieving the Cultural Diversity
Gold Award and the International Schools
Award for the 5th consecutive time, making
Cranford almost unique in this success.
I’m so proud of the school, its students, its
staff and its community – this is what school
should be like.
2 Cranford Review 2009/2010

Election Fever Hits
Cranford Community College
Thursday 6 May 2010 will be remembered as the day the
country voted, and a coalition government was formed. At
Cranford Community College this day will be remembered as
the day the whole school community came together to choose
their next Head Girl, Head Boy and their Deputies.
Each candidate, supported by a campaign manager, was tasked
with a variety of campaign activities including publishing a
manifesto, creating a campaign video, running a hustings event
and talking to their electorate to engage their support.
When Mr Prunty
announced that I was
Cranford’s new Head Girl,
a sense of excitement,
thrill and relief ran
through my body. I never
anticipated that I was
going to win; after all
it was the first time the
whole school
was voting.
I couldn’t believe that
I had come such a long
way from that original
application letter.
The whole election process
was definitely different,
I never knew what
hustings or a manifesto
were until then.
I look forward to working
alongside the rest of the
quartet and prefects.
I want to thank Ms
Painting, my campaign
manager, who worked
incredibly hard. I couldn’t
have done it without her.
So all that’s left to say is…
”Yes she Can.”
By Radhika Badiani
(Head Girl 2010-2011)
On election day the whole school buzzed with anticipation.
The candidates began the day early as did the polling stations.
Students were welcomed into school by the candidates,
canvassing right up to the final minute. Polling stations with
sealed ballot boxes were set up around the school. You could
hear students and staff speculating as to what they thought the
final outcome might be. At 4.00 p.m. the polling stations closed
and all the ballot boxes were brought to the Leadership and
Management Centre for the count.
The tension grew as the count got underway.
The candidates gathered in the memorial garden with their
sixth form supporters, campaign managers, staff and family
waiting in nervous anticipation of the outcome. The drama
grew. A recount was needed. The result was too close to call
for the Head Boy position with only one vote between the two
candidates the count had to be checked.
Finally, with the count completed, Headteacher Kevin Prunty
as Returning Officer, took to the stage to announce the results
to cheers and applause for every candidate. Head Boy Amarpal
Khuttan, Head Girl Radhika Badiani, Deputy Head Boy Cyrus
Mwangi, Deputy Head Girl Shivaani Kaushik.
Kevin Prunty, said of the school elections; “This has been a
wonderful example of togetherness where the whole school
community had one focus and came together to achieve a real
result. I am extremely proud of all the candidates and how
they have managed themselves throughout the process. I am
looking forward to working with the new quartet as they join
the leadership and management of the school in achieving its
goal of excellence in all areas”.
By Jessica Joyce (Assistant Headteacher)
The election
campaign for me
was electric. It really
helped in developing
my personal skills
opening my mind to
marketing methods
from the large posters
we had to create
to the leaflets and
stickers. Shouting
out loud through a
loudspeaker on the
concourse to making
wristbands all helped
in achieving that
community spirit
around school and it
was fantastic to have
such strong support
from my campaign
manager Ms Rose,
my friends and
fellow supporters.
I now look forward
to working together
with the quartet and
the prefect team to
develop and carry
through ideas.”
By Amarpal Khuttan
(Head Boy 2010-2011)
Excellence in all areas
1

What have you done
today
The sports festival was very
successful and everyone in the
school (teachers and students)
were having fun throughout
the whole day.
Our Creative and Media group
organised the event as part of our
coursework and it was a great
achievement and particularly
impressive to have organised such
a complex day in such a
limited timeframe.
2 Cranford Review 2009/2010

to make you feel proud?
The day started
with music
blaring from the
school’s new PA
system. Staff and
students danced
in the corridors
to the sounds
of ‘I’m gonna
shine’, ‘Eye of the
Tiger’,’Proud’ and
other motivational
sporting songs.
Our special guests on the
day included Cllr. Sachin
Gupta, Lead Member for
Education and Cllr. Lily Bath,
Lead Member for Children’s
Services as well as Education
department officials, Mike
Pears and Susan Williams.
My role on the day was to go
round the school with Ryan
Hodges finding out who the
teachers would nominate for
the leadership award.
Overall I enjoyed the day very
much and I think it should be
an annual event.
Chelsea-Ann Cook (year 10)
The rattling of the bats, the
rhythm of the dance floor, echoes
of cheering, the day brimmed with
excitement as Cranford Community
College hosted its International Sports
Festival. The air was vibrant and full of
excitement as students started to make
flags and inspirational banners to cheer
on their countries. Each zone offered
a variety of sports activities ranging
from 100m sprint, rounders, cricket,
tennis, dancing, skipping and aerobics to
trampolining, high jump, football and even an
assault course or Wii Sports; the list goes on...
The weather was amazingly hot and this gave the
students motivation to try various sports from an
energetic football match to a calm and relaxed
yoga class.
My role for the day was a news reporter,
going around to each activity and
interviewing people about the Sports
Festival. We used our Creative and
Media Bus to broadcast the event
around the school site. It was very
motivating and enjoyable to work
with professional people from
outside school. They taught how
broadcasting systems work just
like in national and international
sporting events. One participant
said; “This is the best sports
day ever” and “I definitely want
to do this again next year”.
Walking around interviewing
people made me feel like a
famous reporter interviewing
famous sports people. I truly
enjoyed the experience.
The International Sports
Festival was fantastic.
At Cranford, we indeed
have future sports
stars.
By Saujanya Natarajan
(year 10)
Excellence in all areas
3

First Story
Garden party
On Tuesday 22 June 2010
Cranford held its annual First
Story Open House event in the
Memorial Garden in glorious
sunshine. Fifteen year 12
students read extracts from their
published anthology entitled
“The Buzzer” to staff, family
and friends. The various stories
were inspired by students’
life experiences and creative
thinking, some humorous and
some thought provoking. These
were enjoyed by all in the
wonderful garden surroundings
on a summer afternoon.
First Story allowed us to sit
down with author, William
Fiennes, every Wednesday
afternoon and use different
methods to create our own short
stories. One week we used our
five senses to reminisce what
it was like to be ten years old.
Another week we were all given
a postcard and using the image
on it, we created the main body
of a story. Not only did First
Story help us improve drastically
in our creative writing and
give us the opportunity to
meet William Fiennes, it also
organised a trip to Oxford
University. We were given a tour
of the Christchurch campus
and learnt all about its
history.
By Fatima Karim
(year 12)
4 Cranford Review 2009/2010

When I heard about First Story, I was very excited
to say the least. I had finally found an opportunity
to express myself through writing and be given
topics from keys to postcards to writing as if I was
ten again. I allowed my imagination to drift and
write stories that I would never have dreamed of
writing; from experiencing a hurricane to a story
from a key’s perspective.
Not only has first story improved my self esteem
and my reading skills, it has enabled me to visit
places that I wouldn’t have normally. The first
story cohort travelled by minibus to Oxford
to attend the Oxford Literary Festival with
special guest Philip Pullman author of ‘His Dark
Materials’ trilogy. This was an overwhelming
experience as we saw the beauty of the renowned
Christchurch College and even saw the great
hall used in the Harry Potter films. It was really
inspiring and a great experience to be in such a
great place and hopefully in the future I will be
there too, not as a visitor, as a student.
On 10 May 2010, the First Story group went to
the Le Café Anglais where we were going to read
extracts from our story to help persuade investors
to support the First Story Charity. We were all very
nervous and it was the first time that I had taken
part in a public speaking event. To do so in front
of 300 acclaimed members of society was nervewracking
for someone who at most had read a story
to 10 of his fellow students. However, I only had
one chance and as it was for a good cause I had
to put all nerves aside. The evening turned out
to be a huge success and there were some great
stories, from Cyrus’ fear story to Fatima’s about
bullying. Through the evening First Story raised an
impressive £40,000 which will support the charity
with its work in another 8 schools for a year.
I would like to finish by recommending any
younger students who love to write to join First
Story as it is a great experience and will help you
in so many ways.
By Amarjot Deol (year 12)
First story and what it means to me
Ever since joining First Story I have learnt a lot about writing and I have met some
wonderful people and have been guided by an amazing writer: William Fiennes.
I was excited at the prospects of working with a well-known published writer for a
year. As soon as the session was finished I was amazed at how well it had gone and
it really opened me up to a new style of writing. As I wrote about things ranging
from a plain desert with tracks and saving my grandmother from a storm, a femme
fatale to a lost soul trapped in hell I found that I have learned different techniques
on how to portray the emotions I desired to show in my work. Mr Fiennes
recognised my keen and positive attitude towards writing along with my English
teacher Mr Ind who set up a First Story workshop for key stage 3 students which
I with Simran Kahlon organised. I have new and exciting times to look forward to
and being a part of the First Story Workshop for almost 8 months has helped me get
those few steps closer to my dream of becoming a writer.
By Aniq Imran (year 12)
Excellence in all areas
5

Karandeep learns to rear chickens
The chickens are an exciting
addition to Cranford
encouraging students to take
on responsibility for looking
after and nurturing them.
This has provided learning
opportunities in a variety of
forms including, developing
emotional and social skills.
The eggs are enjoyed by all.
On 21 April
2010 Ms Knock
and her group
went to see some
marvellous new
chickens which
arrived. At first I
though Ms knock was joking
but she wasn’t.
We walked to the
Conservation Area and saw
the chickens which we were
allowed to hold. All of our
group felt the chicken by
stroking it. I went to the chickens’ house and started
to help the man who had brought the chickens to
help build the house. I cut the chicken feathers to
stop it from flying. This morning we got good news
because one one of the chickens laid a egg.
By Karandeep Sidhu (year 7)
The creation of an outdoor classroom
space in the conservation area provides
a different learning opportunity and
environment. Making greater use of the
outdoors inspires learning in a different
context which enhances the curriculum.
Year 10 Green fingered Growers
We chose our vegetables (lettuce, corn,
peppers, beans, cabbage) and Ms Kirke got
the seeds for us. We took them down to the
Conservation Area and we planted them in seed
trays. Over the half term we kept a record of
their growth and kept them watered. We dug
over the raised bed and did some hard work
weeding so the plants could be moved outside.
Soon it was half term and our work was over
so Ms Smith’s group took over caring for the
vegetables keeping them watered and weeded
and protected so the two groups had food to
take home for the holidays.
Students participating in growing vegetables
are Amar Khan, Lieam Smith, Zohaib
Ahmead, Kaltej Bassi, Ilwat Abuker,
Savannah Grant-Williams and James
Barratt
By Lieam Smith and Amar khan
(year 10)
6 Cranford Review 2009/2010
Learning is fun under the sun
My year 7 English classes were fortunate enough to
enjoy the natural surroundings of the outdoor classroom
during the summer term. The wild flowers, dragonfly
chrysalis and of course the chickens offered much
inspiration for descriptive writing and poetry in the
style of Romantic poets, much of which can be seen in
and around the English department. The experience
of teaching in the outdoors makes for a refreshing
change; students are energised and inspired, showing
an appreciation for the natural surroundings and asking
Mrs Spiller many questions regarding the wildlife and
conservation area. The outdoor classroom is a fantastic
facility that I have found not only inspires students’
creativity but is also enriching across the curriculum.
A very enjoyable experience for us all.
By Kerry Mulhair (English Department)

Would you like
to get stuck
in too?
Ms Kennedy and a group of
Cranford girls attended a ‘Girls
Conference’
This was an unforgettable
trip, definitely one not to
miss out on. During the event
we had to team up with girls
from other schools to face
4 different challenges
like dancing on dance
mats, playing volley
ball (that was harder
than you think), using
these weird-looking skateboards
(they seem to have no wheels, but I got
the hang of it), doing boxing (this was a
little bit more challenging than the other
activities because I wanted to beat the other
girls records, which I didn’t), then after all of
that hard work (it was lunch), it was optional
to go and do some rock climbing (it was wicked),
I even got up to the top because I was so determined.
Overall my favourite was the weird-looking skateboard it was
called ‘View Do’, because I now know an easier way to use a
skateboard.
The day, totally changed my way of thinking about sport. I
used to think it was always about sweating and getting tired but
it’s about fun, learning new techniques of being more alert,
in control, ready for action and challenges. I have also gained
confidence and enjoy helping others when they don’t know
how to do something. My highlight of the day was meeting
a celebrity athlete, Enigma (her stage name). She was really
eager for everyone to be successful, achieve the best they could
and follow their dreams in life like she did. She also talked
about her life and how she got where she was. I and my friends
went to school the next day with grins on our faces, we shared
how the experience made sport easier. I would love to do this
again and lots of girls should get involved so get started. Would
You Like To Get Stuck In Too?
Fahma Mohamed (year 9)
National Schools
Sports Week 2010
I thought National School Sports
Week was great. It was very
active and everyone did exercise
which is good for health. All the
zones had different sports which
everyone took part in. This was
a great chance for everyone to
show their sporting abilities. I
am really looking forward to
National School Sports week
next year.
Divya Verma (year 7)
I believe that I gained a lot from
National School Sports week. It
made me more active and had a
very good influence on me and
the others in my class. Being
part of this gave me experience
in different sports activities and
helped me develop new skills.
My favourite part of National
School Sports week was when we
did trampolining and football.
It was great and I have loads of
fun memories from it. I enjoyed
the week and hope we can do it
again.
Simran Chopra (year 7)
National schools sports week
was the most fun thing my class
did. There were so many things
and we loved them. We did
trampoling, we learned some
tricks and used tackling bags
to play pass the ball in rugby.
I wish all schools did this.
It was great fun.
Gurdeep Khela (year 7)
Excellence in all areas
7

ART
DESIGN &
TECHNOLOGY
The Big Bash 2010
In July 2010 the ADT Department
organised for year 7 and 8 students
a competition in the style of The
Apprentice. Students worked in
teams to produce a concept idea
to present as an event. Each
team created a design and made
invitations, company logos,
posters, leaflets, and a party
pack for their chosen event.
They also had to design and make
a model of the venue in which
the event would be held. In
addition students designed and
cooked food to be served at this
event. Students used their ICT
skills to design a Power Point
presentation for the final round.
Teams adopted inventive company
names such as Pixie Dust, the
A-Team and Sweetie Pie. Initial
work was completed in the
classroom and the successful team
from each class went forward
to the final and presented to the
judging panel consisting of the
Head of Year, Year Manager,
members of SLT and the Chair of
the Governing Body, Roger Owen
At the end of the day the winners
were announced, Pixie Dust and
Party Paradise were the winners
for year 7 and 8.
It was a fantastic day. It showed
how imaginative Cranford
students can be and how
well they work together.
In year 13 I was asked to
produce work for a specific
topic. I chose portraits. I saw
it as a challenge.
I completed a whole sketch
book which included
research of artists including
Rembrandt, Van Gogh and
Franz Xavier. All of my
work contributed towards my
final piece which was a self
portrait.
In my exam unit I chose
to answer a question about
clowns. My first observation
for the exam question
(clowns) was based on the
Joker character from the
Batman movies. I then took
the character and applied it
to myself to show
a personal observation.
For my final piece I
provided a triptych painting
which consisted of 3
canvases which covered all
my research.
At the end of the year I
was awarded The Best
Artist. I was given a
trophy as well as a
certificate. Winning
this award was an
exciting and overwhelming
moment as I was awarded
for all the effort I had put
in over the whole year for
both units.
By Ruby Qureshi
(Head of Art)
By Mandeep Kalsi
(year 13)
8 Cranford Review 2009/2010

An Exhibition of Excellence
Many people will never understand the delicate accuracy
required when painting a picture or cutting a block of
wood. They will never understand the joy that some people
acquire when they finally see their finished product, after
hours of brush strokes or after the endless sanding of wood.
The inner workings of the Art Design and Technology
department is always a mystery to all but when the
spotlight was turned on and the work went on display,
you couldn’t help but stand back
and applaud.
The Art Design and Technology
excellence evening held on 8
July 2010 was a chance to
celebrate the vast amount
of art and design work
produced by students
ranging from self
portraits to vivid
blue waves crashing
on silent shores. To
complement the
evening’s theme
of “Night at the
Museum”, lamps
designed by year 12
students lit the way
as flocks of people
entered the darkened
‘museum’ to view work
on display.
Art students became
living sculptures dressed
in various costumes
including a mummy, two
wind-up dolls, a roman
soldier, a mime artist and
security guard.
The evening went extremely well
concluding with an awards ceremony
where Mr Prunty presented the awards.
This has been an extraordinary year for all students,
and the evening allowed us to celebrate the diverse
talent within Cranford.
As part of Art and Design in
year 12. I was asked to work on
the topic ‘Natural Form’, so I
chose fruit and vegetables.
I found the topic interesting so
I decided to use different media,
my favourite being oil pastels.
The project included work from
two sketchbooks, some preps
and a final piece which
came from primary images
of peppers painted in
acrylics. My second
project was based on
festivals and carnivals
where I decided
to do a project on
Hallowe’en relating
to Mexico’s “Day of
the Dead” festival.
The final outcome
of this came from
different artistic
influences which I
found unique and
unusual. The final
piece was made up of
four different sections
conveying a different
aspect of the topic.
When I got my award from
Mr. Prunty, I was actually
surprised as the rest of the
students worked really hard just
as I did. I was really pleased
with myself.
By Amandeep Dhunay
(year 12)
By Faizan Khan (year 12, Product Design Student)
Excellence in all areas
9

Year 7 & 8 trip to Boulogne
Somalia
Culture
Week
The Somalia cultural week beginning 21 June
2010 was a great success. The week included a
running presentation of information screened
around the school, an assembly by Anas Hassan
(y9), Huda Yossuf and Busseina Ali (y8)
featuring a video presentation on: ‘Somalia
then and now’; an interactive quiz for tutor time
and a third event which focused on food from
Somalia with traditional dishes of suq-suqaar
(minced meat), beef and potato and rice served
in the canteen. The feedback from staff and
students was that the food was delicious.
The aim of Somalia cultural week was to
raise awareness about Somalia, its profile
and different peoples throughout Somalia by
highlighting some of the achievements and
struggles of the nation. The events provided
opportunities to showcase the various aspects
of their culture and promote racial harmony and
social cohesion within the school community.
Somalia Cultural Week has provided an
opportunity for students of Somalian heritage
to build their sense of ethnic origin and cultural
background. K’naan’s ‘waving the Flag’
World Cup song was the icing on the cake as
many people did not know that K’naan is from
Somalia!
On 7 July 2010, 38 pupils from years 7 & 8 got up
bright and early to travel all the way to France and
back in one day. Accompanied by Ms Painting, Mr
Alfaro, Ms Ajinça and Ms Ashfaq, the pupils had a
wonderful opportunity to practise their French and
experience French life.
After a quick journey to Folkestone, the pupils
were amazed to be getting on a train whilst still on
a coach and travelling under the sea. In Boulogne
we visited the historic old town with its medieval
walls, pleasant cafés and souvenir shops. There
could be no question of which country we had
been to visit as the students left the old town
draped in berets as well as some interesting
jewelry and carrying model Eiffel Towers.
After lunch we visited the Nausicaa Sealife Centre
where we saw sharks and sea lions up close, saw
an underwater 3D film and stroked some very
friendly stingrays!
Finally, there was just enough time for the pupils
to practise their French buying an ice cream
before it was time for a return journey, tired but
happy to think of all we had experienced in one
day.
On behalf of parents and pupils, I would like
to express our great appreciation for this
opportunity to share Somalian achievements
and challenges with the school community.
With its positive community cohesion practices,
Cranford Community College has embarked
on innovative programmes to make all parents
and pupils an integral part of its multi-cultural
community and in the process shared
with them the school’s aspirations and
opportunities for their personal, social
and academic successes.
By Mohamed Kahin (EAL)
10 Cranford Review 2009/2010

French language and culture week
During the spring term 2010, the French department
organised a week of events to celebrate and promote French
language and culture throughout the school.
Sixth form students studying French put together an
assembly for each year group on the theme of the French
national anthem, ‘la Marseillaise’. The assemblies explained
the origin of the name and song and Cranford students
learned about its beginnings during the French revolution.
During the week, French food was available to sample in
the dining hall and a variety of French films were on show
during lunchtime. Students were given the opportunity to
test their knowledge during tutor time, by completing a quiz
on all things French.
Au revoir Cranford, Bonjour Paris
In July 2010 thirty six year 10
students began a journey which
would take them almost up to
the front door of Notre Dame
Cathedral for the first part of
their Parisian adventure, followed
by an evening meal at a French
restaurant where they could
practise speaking French.
Despite a long journey on a really
hot day, the students’ appetite
for discovery clearly had not
diminished and, having boarded
the bus for a night-time sightseeing
tour of Paris which took
in the Louvre museum, the
Champs Elysée and the Eiffel
Tower, they ended up at the
Arc de Triomphe and
everyone braved the
200-stair climb
to the top.
Saturday began with a short
trip to the most French of
theme parks, Parc Astérix
where students spent the day
on a huge range of roller
coasters, shopping like mad and
watching a variety of shows,
from sea-life to gladiator style
stunts.
The final part of the day was
spent at ‘Trocadero’, just
opposite the Eiffel Tower where
street performers entertained
the crowd in front of the tower.
Sunday morning concluded
their journey with a fantastic
boat trip past the city’s finest
examples of architecture
where they learned so
much about the history
of the city.
By Simon Watkins
(Head of French)
Primary French
Market Day
On Wednesday 14 July
2010, it was Primary French
Market Day when primary
schools came to Cranford
to shop in French. Norwood
Green Junior school and
Berkeley Primary School
came this year and really
enjoyed it.
The purpose of the day was
to encourage the children
to use their knowledge
of French and to improve
their French language.
There were so many stalls
including a café, bakery,
clothes shop, sweet shop
and many more and at every
shop two or three year 7
students took control. At
the end, everyone ate a
selection of French snacks
and baguettes.
Everyone enjoyed the day.
By Vivek Mandalia (year 10)
Excellence in all areas
11

St. Martins method and
Primary Languages Partnership 2009-2010
This year I have been working with staff and pupils
from Berkeley Junior, Bedfont Junior and Victoria
Junior Schools.
It has been a real pleasure to teach French to year
3 and year 4 classes, using routines and mimes
so that all children speak as much French as
possible during their lesson. The children are very
enthusiastic and always look pleased when they
realise it is time for French: “Oh yes, Madame
Edwards is here! Bonjour Madame! Ça va?” .
Using routines to start the lessons gives the pupils
a sense of security as everything they have to say
is scaffolded on the board, with words and pictures.
As every word or expression is accompanied by an
action, this approach to teaching is very inclusive
and means that every child can access the lesson.
Routines are used to teach quite complicated
language but the pupils take it all in their stride
and are able to produce an excellent level of
spoken French for their key stage.
The starting routines (for sitting down, doing
the team points) are followed by input of new
vocabulary, always scaffolded and always
kinaesthetic, practised through a variety of games
that mean the children repeat over and
over again in a variety of ways. They do
not always realise how often they have
said the same thing due to the nature of the
games. They can now nearly always beat
the teacher at “Répète si c’est vrai” (Repeat if true)
and “Jacques a dit” (Simon says).
Towards the end of the lesson the children practise
in pairs, then the class count up the points gained
by each team. This is followed by a song to
celebrate the winners.
The aim of the lesson is to get the children
speaking as much French possible. Speaking
English is not normally allowed. Initially class
teachers are a bit apprehensive about taking this on
board, especially if they do not speak French at all.
However, when they realize that the lesson routines
are easily managed, very repetitive in content and
mostly driven by the children themselves, they are
happy to take part in some of the lesson.
One of the highlights of the year was when a
teacher at Berkeley Junior School informed me that
during an observation lesson teaching maths she
put both thumbs up to check for understanding and
this triggered a spontaneous response in French
from her pupils who recognized the gesture used
in French lessons (“C’est clair ou ce n’est pas
clair?”). The observer was very impressed and
suggested that next time the whole maths lesson
was conducted in French.
So, as the pupils would say: “Merci Madame et au
revoir!”
By Susie Edwards (French department)
12 Cranford Review 2009/2010

Languages Excellence Evening: Parents Learning the St. Martins way
On 20 July 2010 parents, students, staff and invited
guests had the opportunity to experience their first
ever languages’ taster lesson as part of the Languages
Excellence Evening. Parents joined their children and
discovered first hand how much fun their languages
lessons are here at Cranford Community College.
Staff from other departments were impressed by the
teaching methodology, “such a great way to learn”, said
Mr Booth (Maths): “all the repetition and actions are a
fantastic way to remember”, said Ms Bramhall, Assistant
Headteacher (ICT).
Students were keen to show off to their parents and soon
had them chanting structures as though they had been
doing it for years.
In the memorial garden the sun shone as everyone
gathered to applaud the presentation of awards by Mr.
Prunty at the Awards Ceremony, whilst ensuring they
sampled the delicious cakes, Indian sweets and samosas.
Amarpal Khuttan and Simran Kahlon compered the event
and wowed the audience by speaking in five different
languages. The guest of Honour, Lucia Miarka, German
Embassy Representative for Culture and Education
assisted in the presentation of awards to those students
studying German.
To round off the afternoon the Languages Choir sang
‘Lean on Me’ in six languages – everyone loved the
performance so much the crowd called “encore” and the
choir had to perform twice.
Sathma Nugera year 9 said ; “I was so nervous but really
enjoyed it”,
It was a wonderful event which celebrated that Cranford
is a successful Language College where the global vision
is part of our future.
By Tiffany Robinson (Language College Manager)
German Cultural Week
In December 2009 we celebrated German
Cultural Week. During the celebrations staff
and students were introduced to different
aspects of German culture including German
R&B music and films.
Every tutor group completed a quiz about
Germany. The quiz not only focussed on
Germany itself but also on how England is
related to Germany in a variety of ways. George
I from Hanover in Germany, for example,
was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1
August 1714 until his death in 1727.
The week was a great success and was enjoyed
by staff and students alike.
Spanish Culture Week
In Spring 2010 we celebrated
Spanish Culture week, and
tutor groups took part in
activities to teach them all
about the Spanish speaking
world- all 400 million of them!
The highlight of the week was
definitely the incredible acting
skills displayed by some of
our Y7 Spanish students, who
performed a short play in
assemblies for all year groups
and managed to impress and
amuse wherever they went.
¡Felicitaciones!
Excellence in all areas
13

Expedition Tropics Eagle - Borneo 2010
We are members of the Air Training Corps
based at 86 Squadron (Heston & Isleworth),
We were amongst twenty other cadets
based around the country who received the
wonderful opportunity to take part in the trip
of a lifetime...an expedition to Borneo, a large
island in South East Asia shared by Malaysia,
Indonesia and Brunei.
The expedition was a life changing experience
learning to live in the jungle and do without all those
things we take for granted at home. In the first few days
we had to get used to our surroundings and the challenges
ahead of us in the jungle. We were taken to a smaller
version of the jungle we were going to be camping in
order to be taught how to light fires, tie our hammocks
to trees, purify water, and set-up our campsite.
We began with an exhausting 3- day and 2- night trek.
Before going deep into the jungle we visited a school
where the small children were overwhelmed to see us as
we handed them stationery and toys. We had collected
these items donated from school. Our trek was hard going,
climbing hard, while carrying 15kg rucksacks.
Our main job was to be a transporter to help rebuild a
bridge. We carried large pieces of wood over to a bridge
where the other cadets arranged and nailed them onto the
bridge. In the heat, this wasn’t easy.. With the help of the
local villagers, the bridge was completed and ready to be
opened to the public the very next afternoon. We held an
opening ceremony .
Cranford Comm
Charity Ch
We ha
great track
Cranford of fund
in need and those do
work. In 2009-2010 we h
£1,500 to the Haiti Appea
Cancer Charity, £1,500 to
£1,000 to First Story, £650 t
to the British Heart Foundation
Start as part of the year 9 Citize
This totals £9,800. During the
initiative and raised a further £
£250 for Sports Relief, £20 for
AIDS and UNICEF.
We expect, therefore, to have
£11,464.10 in total. Cranf
truly amazing.
By Kevin Prunty
We were pleased to take part in a remembrance parade
for the Sandakan Death Marches where 470 prisoners
of war were forced to march through the jungle until
they eventually died. Air Cadet wreaths were laid in
remembrance of those who died for us. Lest We Forget.
Then came the nervously-anticipated climb of Mount
Kinabalu. The 4095m (13,435ft) beast of a mountain
is not completed easily and requires two full days of
climbing at high altitude. It was tough, but everyone got
up to the Laban Rata mountain hut at 3200m high. The
next day, with our head torches on, we plodded on further
up towards Low’s Peak - the summit of Mt. Kinabalu.
Finally hitting the top in time for sunrise, we arrived to
great open views of N.E. Borneo. The final push to the
summit was incredibly hard since oxygen levels were
so low. The scary part was the descent from
the peak. We had to hold on to ropes and walk
backwards while bits of rock were chipping away
beneath our feet. It was incredibly scary .
By Daniel Matharu and Manpreet Settie (year 11)
I love to help charities
because people desperately
need our help. My favourite
charity is NSPCC because
they help young people who
have suffered from abuse.
I have raised £20 from my
Art Exhibition
By Cindy Onwuokwu
(year 11)
14 Cranford Review 2009/2010

unity College
ampions
ve a
record at
raising for others
ing charitable good
ave been able to donate
l, £1,500 to the Prostrate
the Terrence Higgins Trust,
o Children in Need and £650
with £3,000 donated to Homenship
Philanthropy Initiative.
summer term we continued this
1,000 towards Haiti as well as
NSPCC and £394.10 for HIV/
donated at least a whacking
ord charity champions are
(Headteacher)
Home-Start-YPI Project 2010
For citizenship we had to choose a charity
that is in our community and the charity that
would win would get £3000.
We wanted a charity that would cover a wide
range of problems in our community and
decided on Home-Start because last year
they supported 109 families including: 176
children under five years old, 24 families
with a disabled main carer, 45 lone parent
families and 58 children aged five and over.
We contacted Home-Start and asked if we
could choose them as our charity for the YIP
competition, they agreed and were delighted
to be entered in a competition because
£3000 would make a massive change in our
community. They sent us so much helpful
information, and visited them more than
three times and made a short video clip of the
manager to Home-Start (Margaret) and one of
the volunteers in home start (Reena).
We gave our charity presentation to our class
(9z) and Reena came to answer questions.
Our group and another group called
‘Mulberry Centre’ went through to the final.
On the final day we were one of the last
presentations which made us nervous but
when we walked on stage and said our first
words, our nerves disappeared. It was a great
feeling when we saw Home-Start written
on the £3000 cheque. When we heard that
we won, all the hard work paid off. We will
never forget that day because it was a very
memorable day for us!
By Inderpreet Bhupall, Parnyan Islamzadeh
and Gursharan Maheroo (year 9)
Excellence in all areas
15

The GSK Award
A moment of great pride
It’s nice to get rewarded for your efforts,
especially if all the hard work you’ve
put in is recognised by a prestigious
organisation such as Glaxo Smith Kline.
Having won the GSK award for the Best
GCSE science grade last year, is one of
the best feelings ever when you’re on
stage, applauded by the crowd for your
effort, being handed the GSK trophy at
Presentation Evening.
It was a moment of great pride for all the
hard work I had put in during key stage 4,
firstly by achieving the best grade in my
year and secondly by being recognised in
the school community for doing so. It was
a moment I will never forget.
I am about to start applying to universities
including Oxford and need to write
my personal statement. The award will
provide a basis on which to talk about
my academic performance when going
to interviews at university and this
will hopefully set me apart from others
applying for the same place as me.
Winning the GSK award was, and still is,
one of my best achievements in Cranford
to date. What I do hope is that more
students will be inspired to achieve the
best that they can and go on to win
such awards.
By Jagjit Kang (year12)
Endangered animals
In many places across the world, there are
endangered animals, such as tigers, whales
and all sorts of other animals. Endangered
species are a population of animals which is
at risk of becoming extinct because they are
very few in numbers. It could also mean that
due to the effects of deforestation there may
be a lack of food or water.
There are many more species alive right now
on Earth than there have been at any other
time because humans have destroyed and
changed their habitat more species are being
threatened with extinction than ever before.
We know that a lot of animals are suffering
because humans are destroying their habitats
and upsetting the balance of nature.
We have to save endangered plants and
animals because they can help us alot. For
example; research into medicines and major
developments in science.
You can help endangered species by telling
all your friends and family’s about them. We
can also raise money needed to help treat and
maintain the lives of the endangered species.
In doing so, the delicate and wonderful
balance between us and the environment is
restored.
By Simran Bakshi (year 7)
16 Cranford Review 2009/2010

Amersham
Field
Centre
On the 6 July 2010 ten Advanced Biology
students visited Field Study Centre in
Amersham Buckinghamshire to carry
out field studies for their Unit 4 exam,
involving a lot of practical and classroom
based study.
From the moment we arrived we were out
in the woods putting the Mark-Release-
Recapture method into practice by catching
woodlice. We discussed many areas of
ecology; biomass, food chains, energy
flow, pyramids, biodiversity and species.
We were given the opportunity to carry out
various sampling techniques ; quadrats,
point quadrats and transects which we used
to measure plant diversity in areas of the
woodland, causing us to go deep into the
wild plantation. We measured both biotic
and abiotic factors like light intensity, soil
and air temperature, canopy cover and soil
pH.
The activity we most enjoyed was
the pond dipping in the meadow and
woodland ponds. By tallying the number of
individuals of different species we found
from three different samples, we were able
to produce our own diversity indexes.
Apart from the numerous bugs and
hayfever it was definitely an experience to
remember, mainly because we were able
to put into practice everything we have
learnt in the classroom and see how the
methods of estimating population sizes
or measuring biodiversity really work.
Many thanks to the science department for
organising this for us.
In March 2010 at every corner
of the science department all
that could be heard was talk
of the future. A future in the
medical profession!
The cause of this sudden
interest was the presence
of Michael and Matthew
medical students from King’s
College London University in the
Science department.
Mr. Nosimohamed had arranged for them to come into
school to enable students to meet and engage with real
doctors. They were soon assured that Cranford truly is
the home of Britain’s future doctors, dentists and nurses,
by the scores of students who attended daily lunchtime
sessions. Michael and Matt discussed their experiences
of medicine and answered any queries. They were
surprised by the depth of research that students had
carried out into their chosen professions but were able
to provide several useful pointers on how to excel in
this field.
Intrepid Science
If you come to Science on any Wednesday lunchtimeyou
can hear liquids boiling, equipment moving, and
even one or two explosions. The cause... a group of
intrepid young scientists.
Enthusiastic year 7 students come every week to
enhance their science skills and do the experiments not
normally able to be done in science lessons, ranging
from forensic investigations to making bombs (in a
safe way of course). Their enthusiasm has paid off as
they now exhibit the best practical skills not just here
but within class as well.
No doubt they will be among the leading future
students and who knows, the leading scientists in
Cranford.
By Amrat Johal (joint Head of Science)
Doctors
in the
House
By Harsimran Sall (year 12)
Excellence in all areas
17

John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, directed by Elizabeth
Freestone captures the very essence of the decadent
Renaissance Italy adhering to the typical revenge tragedy.
It bursts into a blood-thirsty vengeance, a pool of jealousy
and exhilarating madness, only to be balanced by the
blossoming romance of the Duchess and Antonio. Not only
was it a theatrical sensation but it brought learning to life,
benefiting the vast number of students present who were
glued to the action.
The spectacular performance reincarnated the bleak
Jacobean era and promulgates in vivid and dynamic
ways distinct moral and political
positions. Webster’s decision of
a female protagonist evokes a
whole new interpretation of
the play, where as audience we
are forced to judge analytically
and objectively the male attitudes
towards violence and oppression through
a female perspective. Notably the production
manages to bring out the concept of patriarchy including
themes and values that were just beginning to be explored
in Renaissance thought. This therefore, enabled young
spectators to critically evaluate reasons for attitudes
towards submissiveness, domesticity and class.
What’s more, Aislin McGuckin delivered a truly
remarkable performance conveying the stereotypical
attitudes of the 17th century, in which she highlights
the consequences of marrying below social class whilst
being a powerful woman of her time. Ironically,
the playwright makes points about women’s
rights at a time when only men were allowed to
act on stage. In doing so, students were able to value
the social attitudes of historic periods and the changes
regarding social breakdown, which have been the work of
influential woman such as Webster’s Jacobean heroine.
The tragic journey on which she embarks is largely
solitary in both the physical and spiritual sense despite
her romantic motivation. Her determination to defy her
brother’s choices ultimately leads to a disturbing ordeal
of pain, torture and a final blood-fest.
The staging was used to great effect, where a number
of psychologically delusional characters were
situated on different levels surrounding the
Duchess and feeding on her insanity only to
be watched by an enthralled audience and
their convulsive enthusiasm. Dowdeswell’s
impressive yet simple designing, plunges the
stage in to a world of utter darkness where we
witness a growing
“Tempest” as
Ferdinand’s
passion for his
sister erupts
into a fearful
madness. Having been successfully executed with an eerie
set and a single spotlight that outlines his ominous figure,
we engage with his spiritual detachment from reality.
In addition, Mark Hadfield makes a convincing Cardinal
as a means to mask his sinister attempt in ruining his
own blood and swiftly stimulates the dark humour which
Tim Steed’s neurotic character highlights. Specific stage
directions incorporating the Cardinal’s corrupt nature
demonstrate the hypocrisy of the Early Roman Church
which the 17trh century English audience would have
opposed.
The contextual significance is what gives the
production a back-drop of Jacobean intensity
simultaneously educating the audience on
religious and political levels.
Credit must also be awarded
to the play’s production in
terms of bringing out Webster’s
dramaturgical elements, making
it sound impressively modern and accessible for the
audience.
Despite being a real benefit for literature students in
terms of the dynamics of language it also acts as an
exemplar piece for drama in classrooms and therefore
is a credit for both students and teachers.
On the whole, Freestone’s imaginative directions
introduce those studying the play to the fundaments of
the human mind, where the unconscious can
be driven by love, wealth and ill-desires. Her
means of directing a sensational performance stems
from John Webster’s portrayal of universal themes in a
morally corrupted era. Such depiction of 17th century
reality gained her much praise as people left talking
about the grotesque blood-bath not to mention the
erotic scene characterised by Bosola and Julia which
stimulated a draw-dropping reaction.
Undoubtedly as a whole, it provoked an electrifying
response from the audience and turned out to be an
incredible learning stimulus for students. The production
was thought-provoking, enabling them to enjoy learning
through entrancing visuals and designated props and
characterisation. It was also successful in
terms of developing analytical and evaluative
skills within students whilst leaving them to
experience the true flavour of Jacobean society
in an objective manner.
By Sharmin Walters (year 12)
English A Level student,
Sharmin Walters, year 12,
receives public recognition for her
outstanding review now published
on the theatre’s website
18 Cranford Review 2009/2010

Won lottery. Lost ticket. Very depressed.
Vania Catanho (year 7)
Superman in his cape: so cool.
Cameron Sidhu (year 7)
The world is about to end…
Simran Bakshi (year 7)
Tried, tried, tried. Never, ever succeeded.
Dilpreet Pannu (year 7)
Lost, found: a place called home.
Jasleen Brar (year 7)
Wasted day, wasted life…dessert please!
Jaspriya Lall (year 7)
Oh no! Meteor! End of world.
Tofiq Qilmanov (year 8)
He was beaten. He got revenge.
Ali Almosoy (year 8)
She waited…then she gave up.
Harveen Sekhon (year 8)
Another innocent life ruined by parents.
Bethany Johnson (year 8)
DEATH! Where? When? Why? How? Who…?
Jatinder Sran (year 8)
Abandoned dog; loved once, forever neglected.
Nida Malik (year 8)
Love at first sight. (She’s blind).
Fuad Warsame (year 9)
Drive, turn… Brake! Bit too late.
Sahwen Sethi (year 9)
A look, a smile; first love.
Rivar Journet (year 9)
It’s all over! Tactical nuke: inbound.
Rajan Bains (year 9)
Aah! Zombie! Hack its head off!
Joseph Najjar (year 9)
Big day. Burned face. Happy ending.
Petra Fernandes (year 9)
Loved: happy. Betrayed: sad. Abandoned…
heartbroken.
Julieta Catanho (year 10)
Drank potion. Which bottle, again? Aagh-
Aneeqa Mahmood (year 10)
She loves him! She loved him…
Gaurika Bedi (year 10)
‘Mum, am I allowed to-’’ ‘‘No!’’.
Manmeet Rajbans (year 10)
Failed Jedi: chose the dark side.
Arun Sahni (year 10)
Greatest ship ever built. Iceberg….Nooooo!
Jaspreet Saini (year 10)
Ernest Hemingway once said that the best story he ever wrote was only six words long:
‘For sale: baby shoes, never worn.’
It is a tragedy, as our English students worked out when asked ‘why were the shoes never
worn?’
Then, when asked who the voice in the story might belong to and where the words might be
found, they quickly put together a picture of a grieving mother advertising for sale the shoes
of the baby she had recently lost. Or the baby she had always wanted, but never had…
The beauty of the story is in its apparent simplicity. The reader has to infer, or read between
the lines, to understand it..
Our students had to make sure the stories were understood and enjoyed by their readers.
Who were the winners? We’ll let you be the judge…
By Lucy Judkins (English department)
Excellence in all areas
19

Andy Briggs comes to Cranford
Community College
The very popular Hero.com
and Villain.net author Andy Briggs came to
Cranford Community College on Wednesday
19 May 2010. We were already reading
‘Council of Evil’ and ‘Rise of the Heroes’
when we met Andy so we were extra excited.
Everyone welcomed him with warm applause.
Andy talked about his inspiration for the
series and what the books were about. He
talked about the amazing things and people
he had seen around the world; in America
he met his idol creator of “Marvel
Comics” Stan Lee That’s amazing right?
His words of inspiration made everyone
feel like they had the spark that Andy
did. He spoke about the many careers
that you can follow with writing.
Finally came the questions, and
he got a wide array of questions.
Someone asked about Andy’s day at work.
Andy answered, “It’s all fun and games”.
What a job.
By Pranav Bhatt and Karanveer Kang
(year 8)
Tony Lee -
A Graphic Novelist
visits Cranford
Local
inspiration
and comic book writer
Tony Lee, was invited to visit
Cranford Community College on 7 July
2010. Originally from Hayes, Tony said that one of the
most important parts of his job was to inspire another
generation of writers and give something back to the
community. His own inspiration
and encouragement came from
his English teacher who had
told him that he had a very
comic book way of writing.
He mentioned his recent
graphic phenomenon ‘Pride
and Prejudice and Zombies’
which has sold over 700,000
copies. Tony described the
writing strategies he uses
when converting a novel into a
graphic novel.
At the end of the event he
announced the winner of the
competition which was to draw a
sign for the new Graphic Novels
section in the LRC.
Fatima Mohammed’s entry was
creative but also functional as it did
the job of marketing the new collection.
Tony’s view of Cranford Community
College:
“One of the friendliest and most
enthusiastic group of students I
have had the pleasure to talk to.
I Would certainly come back”.
20 Cranford Review 2009/2010

Taking part in
UK Chess Challenge
The LRC holds the chess club every
Wednesday at lunchtime. We took part in
UK Land Chess Challenge 2010 which
started in January. The first stage was
between the students of the school which
ended in March. Four students qualified.
The students were Adrian D’Souza,
Dominick Cybulski, Nield Dela Cruz and
me. I was delighted when I qualified as
this is my first tournament in UK.
On 9 May 2010 we went to play
in Lady Eleanor Holles School
in Hanworth for the Middlesex
Megafinal. We played against sixteen
students from different schools and I
was lucky enough to qualify. I won
the Under 18 category and earned
the title Supremo. The Giga Final
was held in July in Berkshire. The
fourth and final stage was held in
August at Warwick. It was exciting
to know I was representing my
school and Middlesex County. I
would like to thank the LRC staff
and the school for giving us their
support so that we could take part
in an event like this.
On Thursday 8 July 2010, six
year 9 students were chosen to
attend the annual Speed Reading
event in Paul Robeson Theatre
which schools across Hounslow
attended. We began by shaking
hands with other children with
the same interest of reading
then spread out in rows opposite
another gender and spoke about your favourite book
and how it interested you to read. Speed reading is
based around the idea of speed dating as every pair
has one minute to advertise their book and convince
the other why their book is worth the read.
At the end we all voted for the book we felt most
like reading. The boys voted for ‘The Hunger
games’ and the girls voted for ‘The Last Taboo’
presented by Hardeep Rai and Kyle Powell who
won from Cranford. The day was fun and full of
energetic people who have the same hobby of
reading.
By Fatima Mahmood (year 9)
By
Darpit Shah
(year 12)
It was a great opportunity for us
because as well as reading we met
new people and I got a great chance
to talk about the book I had chosen
for the Speed Read. I enjoyed
discussing in groups what we
thought each book.
Speed Read is all about choosing
a book you enjoyed and want to
recommend to other people. The
book I had chosen was called
“Cherubs” which are about teenage
children who are spies. Overall it
is a very good book and I would
recommend it to any one.
By Paavan Mohindru (year 9)
Excellence in all areas
21

A Sunny weekend in Swanage
A
Trip to
Chepstow
Castle
A 45 minute delay on the M4
didn’t ruin our excitement
as we crossed the Wales-
England border and found some road signs
in Welsh. At the Castle we noted two holes
in the entrance door which may have been
used to store oil when the enemy attacked.
We walked to the cellar and the kitchens
where we saw defences including the high
walls and the river outside. We then walked
into a room possibly used for storage and
a large window to allow large goods to be
taken into the castle. After that we climbed
the tower (which had very steep steps) and
was very high. We walked into the inside
of the tower which used to have an upstairs
and downstairs however the floor above had
worn away. After lunch we went onto the
grassy area for some drama - role plays.
In groups, we went to visit the gift shop to
buy some memorabilia. We
then headed back to England
- very tired and sleepy.
It was a very interesting and
educational trip. I am looking
forward to many more
similar ones.
One sunny weekend in April 2010 the AS
geography group went to Swanage, in Dorset.
The aim of the trip was to look at fieldwork
technique in preparation for their exams, but
it was also an excuse to learn outside the
classroom – something geography is all about.
The Dorset coastline is officially called the
Jurassic Coast because of the geological history
dating back to the Jurassic period, some 250
million years ago. Geographical processes have
affected the rocks changing their shape, structure
and overall appearance.
Fieldwork techniques are an important part of
any fieldtrip and is crucial for the students in their
exams as they will be asked specific questions
about what they did and how they did it. Much
of Saturday was spent at Lulworth Cove, walking
along the coastal path to Durdle Door.
On the way back we stopped at Boscombe in
Bournemouth to see how they had rebranded the
town into a UK’s “surfer’s paradise”. Although
there are few similarities between Boscombe,
England and Surfer’s Paradise in Australia, it was
great to see how the town had rebranded itself.
All the students enjoyed their visit to the south
coast to put theory into practice. Through the skills
they learnt on the trip they were able to enter their
exams with confidence and had real life examples
to relate to. The department is already looking
forward to organising the trip again next year;
let’s just hope the weather is as good!
By Mark Kemp (Head of Geography)
By Alexinder Riyat (year 7)
22 Cranford Review 2009/2010

A trip that
changed
my mind
Sixth Form Philosophy
and Ethics Conference 2010
This year’s R.E conference was a huge success because
of the great amount of enthusiasm that we all had.
Our key note speaker was a Buddhist monk who for 2
minutes managed to keep the whole of year 12 silent
in meditation captivated by his lifestyle and speech.
During the Philosophy and Ethics Conference we
were split into 3 different groups, where each
workshop had a different theme: ‘Is God to blame
for the bad actions of humans?’; ‘Is God a fashion
accessory?’ and ‘How relevant is God in the decisions
we make?’. In these workshops students were asked to
participate in various activities, varied from watching
videos, debating to filling out a Facebook page for God.
The debate at the end of the day saw teachers and
support staff of a variety of different faiths being
questioned by the students on various religious
controversies such as genetic modification, life after
death, science and religion, religious experience and
the existence of God.
The students got really involved and took an active
role in each workshop and gave back positive
feedback. Many students even said that they would
like these events to be more frequent.
By Luul Hussein, Huda Qanyare, Devinder Gill,
Andre Costa, Naina Karwal and Jane Gathinji
(year 12)
On 2 July 2010, a group of year
9 and year 10 students, made the
journey to St. Johns College,
Oxford University. They were given a
guided tour, asked questions and heard stories
about ghosts and famous former residents.
I then met a gentleman
named Hashi who had been
to Oxford and now works in
London as a barrister. Hashi
told us his amazing story of
how he turned around a hard
start in life to achieve all
the things he has done today.
Speaking to Hashi was very
inspiring and made us all realise we can achieve
anything we put our minds to.
After lunch we went with Hashi to the Islamic
Centre and mosque where we were met by Dr
Hassan, the Head of Islamic Studies
at Oxford who gave us a guided tour
of the mosque.
The mosque was made from
beautiful stones from around the
world and it was fascinating to
hear about the construction.
The trip has changed my mind
about higher education and
university and in particular aiming
for a top university like Oxford.
By Ikram Abukar (year 10)
Excellence in all areas
23

Totally Over You:
School Production - July 2010
“I love drama because it’s so much fun.
I really liked learning about human rights
this year when we created our own play based
on how you can stop knife crime. I’ve gone
on to do the creative
and media diploma as
well so I’m learning
about all the arts
industries”.
By George Streather
(year 10)
“Drama has given
me a real sense of
purpose and direction
in my life, and I’m off
to university to study
it further. I’m not sure
what I would have done
without my teachers who
are always so dedicated
and there for you”.
By Kulraj Thethy
(year 13)
In March there was an audition
for a school play called ‘Totally
Over You’. The teachers that were
organising the play were Ms Joyce,
Ms Crocker and Mr Lopez. There
were three auditions which
took place in the Concert Hall
at different dates because so
many students from Cranford
Community College wanted to
take part in this exciting play. I went
to one of the auditions with my friends because
I totally love acting and I thought it would be a
really fun and enjoyable time.
The feeling of auditioning was nerve-racking,
knowing that I was competing against many
talented Cranford students. Half of the people
who attended the auditions looked nervous. My
heart rate went up every time we came closer
and closer to auditioning.
After what seemed like two long, hardworking
weeks the cast names were finally announced
on a board outside DR1. I didn’t think that
my name wasn’t going to be up there but
surprisingly it was and I was so shocked, I
was speechless. The whole cast was given a
script and a timetable to tell us when the first
rehearsal would be.
As time passed everyone got to know each
other and become good friends. No one was
shy, nervous or scared of anything that the
teachers may have asked us to do. Some of
the times we had our ups and downs but
we did it and achieved a sense of pride
and much more. Our first performance
was on Tuesday 14 July 2010. Everyone
was nervous but we went on stage and
put on a great show. Our audience loved the
play, and were amazed by the performance.
On the Wednesday we performed to primary
schools and they loved it. Each performance got
better and better and by the last night
we did our best performance
ever. It was a great feeling
just to be part of something so
exciting and working with such
great teachers like Ms Joyce,
Ms Crocker and Mr Lopez.
By Parnyan Islamzadeh (year 9 )
24 Cranford Review 2009/2010

Governors’ Corner
‘Totally Over You’ written by Mark
Ravenhill was originally created as part
of the National Theatres Connections
season of short plays in 2007. His idea
was based around Moliere’s play Les
Precieuses Ridicules where two young
women reject their suiters because they
do not have courtly manners, manners
which Moliere believed were affected and
stifling of humanity. Mark Ravenhill felt
that our modern celebrity culture had
the same stifling affect on our society,
particularly the young teens who are
at this very impressionable age. Many
teenagers see things only through the
media representations of celebrity,
they want to look like them, be like
them and live like them. It is a
very powerful and often worrying
factor of our modern society.
Please pass on my congratulations to
the actors and those involved in the
production of ‘’Totally Over You’’. It
was brilliant entertainment by some very
talented people and totally awesome.
It was one of the most professional
performances I have seen at Cranford,
and I have seen a few. Cranford
Community College always manages to
put on excellent entertainment and last
night the actors excelled.
Thank You.
By Roger Owen
(Chair of Governors -
Cranford Community College)
“I really like
Drama because
they explain
everything really
clearly and use
lots of good
examples to help
us. It’s also
really good fun!”
By Abdiweli Hersi
(year 7)
Setting the play in a
school and using the
idea of putting on
a play exposes the
shallowness of
this celebrity culture
and how teenagers are
seduced about the
‘possibilities’ without
seeing consequences.
The vision for this production
was to go that much further and really
bring to the forefront the reality of this
exposure on teenagers today through
the turbulent relationships
of each of the couples,
sometimes funny,
sometimes
not, and how
they ‘grow up’
by the end of
the play and
reflect on their
experience.
We hope you all
enjoyed ‘Totally Over You’.
By Jessica Joyce (Director)
First of all it was a
pleasure to work with Mrs
Joyce as her passion for
theatre helped me interpret
Letitia’s character making me
comfortable on stage. It was an
amazing experience for me as I
love drama and I got to meet students
from other years. Letitia’s character
was over confident as she
loves to take the spot light
in every scene and I tried to
portray this by projecting
my voice and using lots
of noticeable gestures.
Over all “Totally Over
You” was a challenging
yet superb experience that I will
take and remember forever.
By Alka Masson (year 12)
Excellence in all areas
25

Year 9 Interform
On the 16 June 2010
a football competition
took place at Cranford
Community College called
Inter-form, which occurs
every year, during the
summer and this allows
students from every form to
compete against each other
and become the ultimate
champions of their year.
This year, seven studemts
from each form in year 9
represented their form. “It’s
not all about the winning
but to build on relationships
and encourage friendship,
but more importantly to
enjoy and have a good
time”.
The tournament was
exciting with running,
tackling, diving and
shooting the ball until goals
were conceded. At the end
every form managed to play
each other and have a great
time, while the audience
cheered on their teams.
It was a great tournament
but unfortunately my form
(T) did not win and (Y)
became the “Ultimate
Champions” of their year,
however there’s always a
next year.
By Zakariya Ahmed
(year 9)
An Unexpected Day
On Friday 2 July 2010, Cranford
Community College held an educational
safety day, exclusive to all year 9 students.
My initial reaction was “how dull”, much like other year 9 students.
We initially thought safety day would be a rather boring event, where
we all had to run through a series of safety drills. In fact, the event was
something unexpected, and something that would affect us all.
Three organisations were involved; the Arc Theatre, Locked in Locked
out and a one man act Shabazz Nelson, helped us come face to face with
emotional and real life dilemmas. We learnt about violence, jail, and
underage sex and pregnancy. These topics are becoming an increasingly
dangerous issue amongst teenagers. All three organizations, had their
own unique way of exploring the topics, and of involving students in
their presentations.
We particularly enjoyed the ways in which the acts included us in
their presentations; one perfect example of this is the Arc theatre, a
professional theatre, which cares passionately about the learning of
children our age. They allowed us to empathise with young teenagers
situations presented. They used drama to involve us in their act and
allowed us to see each one of the dilemmas from all perspective. They
were fantastic and were my personal favourites.
Shabaz Nelson, well he’s just amazing. His comic strategy of educating
us about violence and confidence was absolutely phenomenal. He
used magic, jokes and even the students to widen our understanding of
violence. He left every single member of the audience in stitches. On the
other hand, Locked in Locked out, took a more serious approach to teach
us about the dangers of going to prison. The couple are professionals
who have experience working with young offenders. They introduced
us to a prototype prison cell. It was revolting and looked absolutely
horrendous; no colour, no excitement, no life. Although there was less
student involvement in their presentation than in the other organisations,
they successfully taught us about the damage going to jail can do to our
lives. We were, without doubt, put off gaol.
26 Cranford Review 2009/2010
Safety day was an amazing experience that will stay with me and other
year 9 students for the rest of our years to come. It has opened each
and every one of our eyes, as to what is wrong and what is right for
us, and how the small things we do in life can make a huge difference
to our futures and our person. It was a very clever and imaginative
event, and I’m sure that the rest of year nine would love to have
another event similar to this, and hopefully be able to share it with
other years in Cranford Community College.
By Suhani Visana (year 9)

Everything about modern day China is big. The population
of 1,300,000,000 is united by a common language, Mandarin
Chinese (Putonghua) based on Beijing’s dialect. The Chinese
economy has overtaken that of Japan as the second largest in
the world and grew last year at a rate of 9%. Beijing airport
is an impressive gateway into this fascinating country, a great
showcase for the 2008 Olympics it is the largest building in the
world.
Although this wasn’t my first trip to China, it was going
to be a very important one as the aim was to come back
with a signed friendship agreement with our long-standing
partner TIFERT (Tianjin Institute for Foreign Economic
Relations and Trade) in Tianjin about 2 hours by car to the
south east of Beijing. The link with Tianjin has been strong
but perhaps not as strong as it will be from now, and the
length of our partnership held us in good stead with Mr Gao,
Party Secretary and Dr Qian, TIFERT’s president. Our
new partnership agreement was signed with appropriate
ceremony in March 2010 by Kevin Prunty and Dr Qian.
Our Chinese hosts offered us a great gastronomic, local cultural
Headteacher
and educational feast. As part of our work with the local area,
we met with Mr Li Shi Liang, General Secretary Director of the
Beichen Education Bureau in Tianjin. A visit to no 47 Middle
school and Nankai primary school, famous for its associations
with Zhou Enlai, a former pupil, was a delight. Both were
modern and very large, with over 2000 students. We enjoyed
a cultural visit to the Eastern Qing tombs, near Tianjin where
5 emperors, 15 empresses, 136 imperial concubines, 3 princes,
and 2 princesses of
the Qing Dynasty
were buried,
covering a total
area of 80 square kilometres. It is a world heritage site.
Mandarin Chinese is a modern world language and as part
of our commitment to the future, we are seeking ways to
promote learning for our students that will serve them for
the next 40 or 50 years of their lives and beyond. English
shares this platform alongside Hindi, Arabic and Spanish,
which are on our Language College agenda for promotion
and development.
We can share our
knowledge and understanding of European business and social
mores, language and culture and gain the equivalent from the
Chinese. Their society and education system are changing and
moving in strikingly similar ways to our own and this is a real
win-win situation. The agreement that was signed is the first
step along the road to making our partnership, co-operation
and collaboration a day-to-day reality at Cranford.
By Philip Dobison (Assistant Headteacher)
Excellence in all areas
27

Celebrating the
Best Results Yet
The A2 & Level 3 results are pleasing and the
efforts of students, family and school staff have
proved to be very important for the futures and
dreams of many of our students this year. We can
all also be happy with an increase in top grades
achieved by our students and yet there is no
doubt that we need to build on this and really
get to grips with the new A* grade to benefit
the next cohorts.
22 students achieved A* and A grades,
with overall 63 gaining A*-B grades of
which we are particularly proud.
Some notable successes include Gagandeep
Chaggar (A*A*A) reading English at
Nottingham, Amrita Dehil (AAA) reading
Business at City University, Tasneem Kasenally
(AAA) studying Business at Queen Mary’s and
Omair Nazimi, former Head Boy (AAA) reading
Accounting and Finance at Warwick. These
results reflect all the talent of our students
and staff and
Cranford’s GCSE results are fantastic for
the students and the school. These results
are the strongest results ever achieved overall
with 82% achieving at least five or more
GCSEs at higher grades A*-C beating last
year’s record. The achievements consolidate the
steep trend of improvement at the school over
the last 8 years. We are all very happy and
congratulate the students, staff and supportive
families. 15 students achieved 10 or more
A*/A grades, including Joshua Desouza with
an impressive 14 A*/A, Akhil Suresh, Hiruni
Galpayage Dona & Gulvant Atwal with 13A*/A
and Safwan Khan & Jasmeet Gill with 12 A*/A.
We are very proud of the whole year group.
If you were here to see the students’ faces,
smiles and body language in the memorial
garden as they opened their results, you will
have been reminded again why working
with these young people is such a
privilege, is different from many
other jobs and is so important to our
community.
By Kevin Prunty (Headteacher)
28 Cranford Review 2009/2010
Good times
to remember
and
Good times
to come
Year 13 Celebration
Evening is always one
to remember for lots of
reasons and this year was
no exception. Could it
have been Aruneema’s
Lady Gaga impression or
Diltaaj’s delightful dance?
Maybe it was Amerjeet’s
(slightly off key) OMG
with Omair break dancing
or even the Bhangra
boys breaking our
ear drums? No it was
definitely the sight of
all the smiling faces
dressed to impress
and looking so grown up
as they collected their
certificates from
Headteacher Kevin
Prunty.
As always the
formalities are a joy to
watch. Seeing these
young people blossom and
grow into inspiring
young adults is a
delight and being able
to spend the evening
with them and their
families is great fun.
But it is the tutors and
year team that make the
difference and it is clear
that the relationships
developed with their tutees
during their time in
the sixth form is very
special.
We wish all our year
13 good wishes
and success for the
future.
By Jessica Joyce
(Assistant Headteacher)

THE COLOURS OF LIFE - June 2010
Painting helps me to express both my happiness and
my pain, so other people can really see some of the
things that go on inside me.
As you see I love all the colours of the Rainbow. I use
multi-colours to make large signs to tell people all
the things I love. This shows them how enthusiastic I
am. For me life is full of colour and interest.
My sign for the gymnastics club has a big heart on it.
I have tried to make it look like a wonderful club
that anyone would love to go to.
The dance club was my favourite inspiration. I loved
picking my own dance moves.
I like to use hearts as well on my posters; these show
to everyone how much I care about so many things.
Life is full of colour – Enjoy!
When you see the black picture on the other side, it
is something I don’t often talk about to other people,
but bad feelings are important too. Bullying can
make people feel unhappy, hurt and angry. Feelings
can come back years later. I know these feelings
are normal. All teachers must help young people to
express their feelings and not hold everything inside.
The black picture explains this feeling.
I would like everyone to know that bullying hurts.
I love to help charities because people desperately
need our help.
“I love Cranford Community College because
it is good; everyone is friendly, polite,
special and helpful in different ways we are
all one family who care about each other and
help out each other whenever we need help
or need a friend to talk to or somebody who
will always be there for you, never laugh at
you, gossip about you or be rude to you, we
are one community we come together as one
race, one family if we all love and care for
each other nobody can bring us down we
walk with our heads up high feeling proud
and happy of who we are and know we
will never forget each other and always be
faithful! I will miss everybody at Cranford
Community College. HAVE A WONDERFUL
AND EXCELLENT FUTURE”
By Cindy Onwuokwu (year 11)
St. Mary’s University Visit
On Wednesday 19 May 2010, ten students from each
year 9 tutor group visited to St. Mary’s University as
part of an Aimhigher trip. St. Mary’s in Twickenham
is a small university on campus and surrounded
by the countryside. We were introduced to all the
different courses which are available by playing a game of Pictionary. After, we were all taken
around the university on a tour which was led by students that study there. After lunch we had
two trial lessons. The first one was Media Studies which was fun and exciting!
In the room there were Apple Macs and the teacher showed us how to make our own song using
a type of software called ‘Garage Band’. There were funny cartoon sounds that you could add
into your song as well as your own voice. The second one was Drama and this subject involved
a lot of practical work. We made lots of different freeze frames and then made our own scripts
using any old textbook which made it funny and strange. Then the university students escorted
us out. It was a great experience.
By Heenalì Odedra (year 9)
Excellence in all areas
29

Lights,
Camera,
Action !
On a fine
s p r i n g
evening our
own Cranford
stars hit the
stage for the Media
Excellence evening.
Students, parents,
teachers and guests joined
together to experience life
behind and in front of the camera
as they sampled activities related
to the world of the media. GCSE and
A level students organised activities which included imaginative storyboarding, interactive quizzing
and mobile photography and really putting guests to the test.
Special guests included Chief Examiner for OCR, Pete Fraser and Head of Education at the British
Film Institute, Mark Reid. The quality of coursework this year was outstanding and some of the AS
and A2 coursework portfolios have been recorded as exemplary and retained for future use by the
examination board.
Congratulations to all nominees and winners for all of the awards categories: ‘Best overall Year 10
student’ ‘Best Horror Project’, ‘Best Foundation Portfolio’, ‘Best Advanced Portfolio’ and ‘Outstanding
contribution to Media Studies’ presented by our guests and Headteacher Kevin Prunty.’.
By Kirsty Lowden (English Department)
Trip to
Osmington Bay
In July 2010, fifteen
intrepid year 7 students were lucky to be chosen to
participate in a free, five day activity holiday at the
beginning of the summer break. Mr. Parris raised £3,500
for this fun – packed trip as a reward for outstanding
behaviour and improved confidence. He was joined
by Ms Ledlie and they both had a fantastic time
with a superb group of very appreciative students.
Activities included quad and mountain biking,
kayaking, Jacob’s ladder, archery and much more.
in Dorset
30 Cranford Review 2009/2010 Excellence in all areas 30