24 January 2013 - Westminster Academy

N E W S L E T T E R
V A L U E O F T H E W E E K : A S P I R A T I O N
BITC Conference
In November, Aferdita Qerimi, Dylan Kawende, Hassan
Kanso and Sophie Morgan (Year 11 Academy Council
Reps) went to a conference at St Marylebone School
about business and education with Ms Bora, Dr Rana and
Mr Farmbrough.
During the conference many important speakers, including
the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, spoke about
how schools should improve connections
with businesses for 11-16 year olds and how to give more
opportunities to students. A lot of the advice brought up
Westminster Academy was already doing - which made us
feel proud because we were miles ahead of other schools.
It was a very good opportunity as we could see how politicians
discuss and
make decisions about
our lives.
Message from the
Principal, Ms Bora
By Sophie Morgan and
Hassan Kanso, Year 11
This week, I would like to thank all
students, parents and staff for coping
with the snowy weather conditions
through showing resilience
and helping to keep the school
open—well done! This means that
many of our students have still
maintained their 100% attendance
records. Unfortunately, some students are persisting with
taking time off school to go abroad; parents are reminded
that this is not permitted by the Academy, and will result
in a fine from Westminster City Council.
The week has gone exceptionally well, despite the snow,
with some real academic achievements but also an increase
in COURTESY shown by students, although there
are a few students who have been excluded recently for
bringing the Academy into disrepute. Enjoy the rest of the
week, remembering to read, revise and practise questions
(especially science) in addition to homework!
The taster session involved
talks about the
pathways to studying medicine
in the future at
university level, and an
informative talk about
university admission
interviews and all the
questions they may ask
you at Russell Group
2 4 J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 3
Taste of Medicine
@ Imperial University
On Sunday 9 th December, I
went with eight other Year
11 students to a medicine
taster session at Imperial
College, a university well
known for its fantastic science
departments.
universities such as Oxbridge
and Imperial.
I found the Pathway to Medicine
talk extremely interesting,
as it described the various
levels
at
Medical School and what you
may experience there. The
university admission talks
gave me an insight into how
to prepare for the questions
at university and how to respond
when the professors
ask you the
questions. It definitely
encouraged
me to
study medicine
in the future.
By Ionie Johnson,
Year 11

Westminster Academy Newsletter 24 January 2013 Page 2
In December, Westminster Academy
was privileged to have a visit
from four-time Paralympic athlete
Tim Prendergast as a part of the
Sky Sports – Living for Sport programme.
Paralympian Prendergast
inspires Year 8
The event started off with
an inspirational talk to the
Year 8 cohort. All students
were amazed and very inspired
by Tim’s story. Two
groups of students were
selected to take part in a two-hour team building workshop
as a reward for their hard work and dedication to
sport and physical education
at Westminster Academy.
The day was a great
success, and we hope to
have Tim back later in the
year to run some more
sessions with our students.
By Mr Trampnau, Teacher of PE
Uncovering the price of 007’s
underwear at Christie’s
Last term we went on an art class school trip to visit
Christie’s Auction House in South Kensington. When we
arrived, there was a brief explanation of the auction
house’s history and how it has developed throughout the
years. Afterwards there was an amusing simulation of an
auction where we divided into groups of three and received
a catalogue containing ten items. The objective
was to try to guess how much each item had been sold
for and the team that got the closest would win. Although
I didn’t win, I learnt a lot, especially how eccentric people
can be. For example, the underwear worn by the actor
who played the role of James Bond in one of the recent
films was sold for over £30,000.
Overall, I believe the trip had a good balance between
being instructive and entertaining
and I think everyone
that went had a great
time.
By Kevin De Wit, Year 12
Sixth Form students
experience UCL
As part of the HEAPS mentoring scheme, Sara,
Hana, Amne and I were all invited to University College
London for a taster day in December.
We started the day by meeting current undergraduates
studying science and humanities subjects at
UCL. After that, we were given a tour of the campus
during which we were able to see the worldrenowned
sites which make up UCL.
Once we had had our lunch, we were given the option
of two taster lectures: science or humanities.
In the science lecture they discussed the concepts
of intelligence and what studying biology at university
is like. In the humanities lecture, they examined
how governments respond to epidemic diseases
(such as the plague) and whether publishing
information on bird flu caused more harm than
good.
We were then
given an informative
talk
on applying to
competitive
universities,
in which they explained what the application process
is like and how to write a good personal statement.
To end the day, we took part in a skills development
workshop where we developed our ability
to speak about ourselves with confidence.
Overall, the taster day was a very informative and
valuable experience which gave us an insight into
what studying at a competitive university would be
like.
By Anita Zejnullahi, Year 12
Get Caught Reading
This week Walid
Jeylani, Year 7,
got caught reading.
Walid wins a
£ 5 A m a z o n
voucher!