June2011Issue - Westminster Academy

Westminster Academy Newsletter Page 6
Mosaic Stars attend World of Work session
at Conran & Partners
The three Mosaic Stars students
from Westminster Academy,
Kaled Said, Mariam Al Kayssi
and Ismail Tajzai, spent the afternoon
at the prestigious design
and architecture firm Conran &
Partners.
The students were received by
Azhar, Director of Architecture,
who spoke to the students about
the history, ethos and work of
Conran & Partners. Azhar also
inspired the students with his
professional journey in the world
of the creative industries. The
students were in awe of the collaborative
efforts the industry
represented. Azhar spoke to the
students about the importance of
hard work and pursuing their
dreams. He paid particular attention
to the importance of developing
skills such as communication,
interpersonal and presentation.
Azhar gave the students a
guided tour through the office,
giving them an exclusive view of
working life at Conran & Partners.
The fun didn’t stop there with the
students being given an ecodesign
workshop at the Design
Museum, where they designed
and evaluated the eco credentials
of new products. The students
also had a tour of the
2011 Design Award gallery and
marvelled at the winning design.
Azhar; Director of Architecture at
Conran & Partners
Year 8 students enjoy ‘Puzzle Day’ lesson
The Happy Puzzle Company spent a day at the
Academy recently and several Year 8 maths
classes enjoyed a lesson working in teams trying
out their puzzles. Here is some of the feedback
that Ms Claudia Fayers class gave:
Rahwa Zeinu
I thought it was really interesting and I enjoyed it
very much. It helped our self-confidence and developed
our brain skills whilst working as a team.
We did lots of puzzles and tried to solve mystery
things. I especially enjoyed the illusion puzzle, it
was very creative. The most important lesson of
the day was team work- how well we worked together.
Safwaan El-Madkouri
Puzzle Day was the best day ever. The puzzle I
liked best was when my team had to join up all
odd pieces together to form an endless road. I
also liked the black and white circle illusion- it
freaked me out when I saw the lines on my
friend’s face. Another good one was when we
had to hang all the nails on top each other without
any nails falling.
Ali Fatahipoor
In my opinion I found it really exciting and a fun
experience. It made me visualise the challenge
of creating the puzzles and solving them. It also
was clear to me how mathematics was linked to
puzzles and how we could use maths and our
brains to find the best solutions to the puzzles.
There was a splendid atmosphere in the class as
every group tried to be the first to solve the puzzle.
My favourite challenge was when we had to
balance the penguins on the ice without dropping
them. This puzzle showed us how our
group work skills and team-work were needed
to complete the puzzle. The entire lesson was
really great.