21 June 2013 - Westminster Academy

N E W S L E T T E RV A L U E O F T H E W E E K : E N T E R P R I S E2 1 J U N E 2 0 1 3Former Financial Times CEO teaches class at Westminster AcademyOne of the manygood things aboutW e s t m i n s t e rAcademy is withouta doubt theamount of opportunitiesoffered toits students. Butnot only does the quantity of opportunities differ frommany schools, also different is the quality. On Tuesday23 rd April we were privileged to take part in a workshopwith Rona Fairhead, the former CEO of the FinancialTimes Group. Needless to say it was an inspirationalvisit in many ways. When we think about the businessmarket and how male dominated it unfortunately still is,we can‟t help but feel amazed to hear of a woman whogot so far and reached what is considered to be one ofthe top jobs in the world. Not only that but she wasn‟t,as they say, „born with a silver spoon in her mouth‟.Coming from a small town in North Yorkshire and from afamily with limited financial resources, she was broughtup by her parents with a strong belief in education andthat „through education you can achieve anything‟.As a very dedicated student she applied to Cambridge,and a letter came back telling her she had been refused.This fact alone would put many students off oftrying to go to Cambridge. However for Rona this did notonly not put her off, but it made her even more inclinedto go. She mentioned „I didn‟t really want to go there atfirst, but after I got refused, I made up my mind thatthat was the place I had to be‟. So she reapplied, andthis time got a place to study law at Cambridge. On thisshe told us „You‟ll get some knock backs but perseverancewill get you far, and when you can‟t get in after alot of effort, there is probably some other great opportunitylying out there just waiting for you to grab it‟.Although she concluded her law degree with excellentgrades, she never became a lawyer herself. She realised,that, though it was a fascinating subject, it was notfor her and decided to study business. When choosingwhich university to apply to, she found only one whereno one would question her about her choice. So Ronawent to do a Masters in Business Administration atHarvard. During her final year, her father had a heartattack and for that reason she returned to England.He turned out to be fine, however she was alreadyback in England and decided she wanted to stay.She always tried to maintaina balance between familyand work, never letting workinterfere with important familyevents, such as birthdaysor other special occasions.She would often work extra just to make sure shecould have time off for these specific events. Anotherthing she told us was how important having an extralanguage is. According to her, „If you can speak anotherlanguage it makes a difference, because then youcan create much stronger bonds‟.We are grateful for Rona for being such a unique andimpressive guest teacher; it was a great experiencefor both students and staff.By Kevin De Wit, Year 12Message from thePrincipal, Ms BoraThis week, I would like to congratulateour Year 11 studentsfor persevering with the laststretch of their compulsory education.All Year 11 studentsmust attend school every dayuntil Friday 28th June in fullschool uniform. After this date, students who havecompleted all the work and tasks outlined on theLeavers‟ Form are permitted to start their holiday, iftheir form has been signed off. As Year 11 leave, therest of the Academy begins end of term exams andtests. Please ensure your child is reading, revising andpractising “long answer” questions every night, includingthe memorising of facts and vocabulary.

Westminster Academy Newsletter 21 June 2013 Page 2This week Nahim Henry, Year 7, gotcaught reading. Nahim wins a £5 Amazonvoucher to spend on anything hewants!Anyone can win….Year 11 PromThe Year 11 Prom2013 will be held in Club Tenon Monday 1st July. We havechosen this location because itlooks amazing! The prom is aspecial occasion which allowsus to spend one last time with our fellow peers whowe‟ve been with for the last five years. By allowingus to have this specialevening, we can alllet our hair down andlook forward to the bigwide world. It will alsobe the last time we getto see and spend timewith our teachers whowe love dearly and whohave worked so hard with us to achieve (hopefully) ouramazing results - we want to get better results thanlast year!Year 11s are allowed to go depending on:Punctuality and attendanceAttendance of revision classes and after schoolsessionsCompletion of NCFE and being „signed off‟PROM TICKETS ARE NOWON SALE! They cost £5 forstudents and are availableevery KS4 lunchtime.By the Prom Committee:Warda, Rabab, Hana, Nana,Rhiane, Schmone, Antoinetteand Lauren and M i s sJackson, Year 11 CoordinatorComing soon...Year 6 Induction Day Friday 28 JuneYear 8 Parents‟ Evening Wednesday 3 JulyInternal Exams Monday 15 - Wednesday 24 JulyGet Caught Reading‘Nothing is impossible’On ThursdayJunegroup13 thaofYear 7s andYear 8swent to theSerpentinegallery in Kensington Gardens. As we entered thefirst thing that grabbed our attention was the Pavilion,which was a sculpture designed by Sou Fujimoto.This sculpture, made out of 20mm steel poles, isshaped like a cloud. However, we had different viewssuch as Israfile saying: “It looks like an igloo.”As we carried onwith the tour outsidethe gallery, wesaw the sculpture„ F is ch li / We iss‟,which is two massiverocks balancedon top of each other with the help of a craneand physics. We all thought that it was a miracle howthese rocks were still balanced without falling. Thinkingabout this sculpture, we took it a step further andmade our own impossible sculptures.Working in pairs, we eachmade an impossiblesculpture. The winningsculpture with an impossibilityrate of 9 out of 10was the „Salami Tower‟.This tower was two salamishaped sticks that wereoverlapping each other inthe shape of a cross. Atthe end we made our ownsmall gallery with oursculptures lined up for everyone to see how hard wehad worked on them.Overall, from this trip, we found out that nothing isimpossible.By Zahra Al-Kinani, Year 7

REPRAZENT@octaviafoundation.org.ukTel: Octavia Foundation 020 8354 5675Www.octaviafoundation.org.uk/REPRAZENTGET INVOLVED!Let’s Get Men CookingAre you a dad or a male carer?Are you aged 20 – 40 years old?Let‟s Get Cooking has been given the opportunity towork alongside the Health Lottery and if you said yesto these questions, this is your chance to take partat Westminster Academy.Benefits:Free ingredientsYou get to take home the food you makeYou learn new skills to show to your familyRange of delicious recipes to selectNew recipes every sessionWhen: Fridays 2.30-3.30pmRegistration is mandatory!To register, please contact:Mr Ojewunmi or Mr GothardRoom: 212Tel: 020 7121 0600Email: AGothard@westminsteracademy.bizRegistration will end as soon as places are filled.Places are limited so act fast!ICT Drop-in Sessions for ParentsEvery Wednesday 16.00 - 18.00Sessions include:in the LibraryWA portal, parent portal trainingEmails, web safety, parental securityIntroduction to Microsoft Office SuiteExcel: formulas, graphs, charts and morePowerPoint: slides, transitions, animationsand moreWord: mail merge, labels, tables, graphs andmoreOutlook: configuring emails, calendars andmore