Cranford_Review_June_2014

Cranford
Review
June / 2014
Cranford Community College has gone from strength to strength, and even more so this year. It continues to
build from achieving the full set of top grades in its Ofsted inspection in October 2012 and the school being
described as being ‘beyond outstanding’.
In addition to the Ofsted inspection, Cranford Community College ensures that its teaching remains of the highest
quality by being involved in several school improvement organisations such as PixL, Hounslow EiP and Challenge
Partners (CP).
As part of ‘Challenge Partners’, the school is inspected once a year by a qualified team including a Lead Ofsted
Inspector. The inspection took place this in March 2014, and the outcomes confirmed the school’s existing Ofsted
grading of ‘beyond outstanding’.
The headlines are:
The QUALITY OF TEACHING is confirmed as OUTSTANDING
ACHIEVEMENT is confirmed as OUTSTANDING
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES were judged to be OUTSTANDING
The inspectors concluded OVERALL that Cranford Community College is FIRMLY into the OUTSTANDING grade
in Ofsted terms. Every member of the team found the school to be a truly remarkable place.
The school had asked for 2 specific ‘areas of excellence’ to be reviewed. These were ‘Curriculum & Behaviour’
and ‘Community and Partnerships’. Both areas were confirmed as an outstanding area of excellence ‘and inspectors
commented in the oral part of the feedback that this had been achieved ‘and some’.
An incredible achievement, even in Cranford terms, was the very, very high percentage of outstanding teaching that
the inspectors encountered. There was a massive 96% OUTSTANDING teaching over time (of which over 79% was
judged as strongly outstanding)
This is an absolutely remarkable accomplishment and one that many schools would surely envy. This should make all
colleagues, Governors, students and parents really proud!
The team saw exemplary behaviour in terms of pupil engagement, positive pupil-staff, pupil-pupil and staff-staff
relationships and they also noted that they had seen absolutely zero low-level disruption. Behaviour FOR LEARNING
was judged as exceptional and the school’s commitment to ‘Restorative Justice’ came in for high praise.
Inspectors commented that ‘Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and an impressive
knowledge of exam specifications which is used to help pupils towards gaining the highest
grades, and learning has a strong ethos of fun and enjoyment. Expectations and challenge are
high and there is thorough marking although pupil engagement with this feedback needs to
be developed further. The school is consistent in its ethos, systems, expectations, values and
processes. Reading, writing and communication are also strengths and there is effective use
of various graphic organisers by pupils and across subjects’.
They added that ‘This school is outward looking, awe-inspiring and exciting’.
The team were impressed by the level of resource to enable so many things to happen and
to meet the needs of such a wide range of pupils. The school’s capacity was also judged as
a strength.
Kevin Prunty
(Executive Headteacher and Director, National Leader of Education)

On
Tuesday 11th February
2014 Cranford Community
College Silver and Bronze Award
students attended their Duke of
Edinburgh Award’s celebration
which was held at Lampton School.
It was an opportunity for the
students to receive their badges and
certificates for all their hard work.
I felt very proud seeing so many of
our students being recognised for
their success and I would like to
thank all the staff who helped out
with the D of E Award Scheme at
Cranford for the past two years,
without whose hard work and
determination these students would
not have achieved this award.
Thank you to; Priscilla Ledlie,
Katie Hibbins, Kevin Biggs, Pam
Mehay, Michelle Cousins, Aaron
Sohi, Rachel Sullivan and Richard
Parris as well as Paul, Harmeet
and Brijinder from the local cadet
unit and those colleagues who have
offered assistance this year.
Simon Dean (Assistant Head of School-
D of E Leader)
The
Crime Prevention workshop is a joint initiative between Cranford Community College, the Safer Schools
Partnership Police Officer, the Local Neighbourhood Police Team and the Hounslow Community Safety
Team. The elderly are often targeted by criminals who will engage them in conversation and deceive them into believing
that they are looking after their interests. The criminals have ulterior motives and will aim to con or to steal from the
vulnerable elderly victims.
Crime
Prevention
Young people are often vilified in today’s society and are seen as lacking
respect morals, always in engaging in anti-social behaviour. We want to
change this perception by involving young people in this project and by
doing so, show that both young people do care about the vulnerable in their
community.
The aim of the workshop was to raise awareness of local vulnerable members
of the community, mainly elderly residents in spotting those who wish to
con them and how to prevent themselves becoming the victims of crime.
It aimed to demonstrate collaboration and partnership working of various
organisations and agencies and bridge the age-divide to show young people in
a positive manner working to safeguard elderly members of the community.
Students from Cranford Community College working with the Safer Schools
Partnership Police Officer performed a series of short rôle plays and
workshops to different groups. The plays highlighted scenarios including;
“Preventing burglary”, “How to beat the bogus caller” and “Courier fraud”.
I would like to thank Cranford Community College for allowing Jade
Roopraye and Savas Barima (year 11) and Imran Noorabdul and Olusegun
Babatunde (year 12), to take part in a crime prevention initiative.. The
students who performed were a credit to themselves and to Cranford
Community College. I was proud to be part of this collaboration seeing the
students perform to a live audience of 80 people at the Paul Robeson Theatre,
Hounslow in such a professional manner. The students had limited rehearsal
time, but improvised and showcased their acting and improvisation talents.
2 2
PC Danny Macintosh (Safer Schools Officer)

The Jamie’s Farm
Experience
We
arrived at Jamie’s Farm on a Monday afternoon
and immediately were made to feel so welcome.
Over a cup of tea and some homemade flapjacks we all
sat around the table and were told what we could expect
over the next five days. We had a walk around the farm
including a lesson on what happens when we touch an
electric fence. Every afternoon we would go on a walk
which lasted about 2 hours. It is very hilly around Jamie’s
Farm and the walks could be really difficult but students,
Cranford and Jamie’s Farm staff all helped each other
along with encouragement and sometimes a helping hand.
Every day was jam-packed full of different activities from
cleaning the pigs and cows out, gardening and collecting
vegetables for the meals to preparing and
cooking delicious home cooked meals,
chopping wood, making rugs out of sheep
fleece, feeding the animals, grooming horses and leading them in the training ring to even delivering
baby lamb it was absolutely amazing. All of the meals were eaten at a huge table as a large family
and at the end of every meal we all took turns in saying how we felt and also shouting out the name
of someone who we had noticed had done something really good that day. Very quickly the farm felt
like home and it was as though we were just one very large caring family. It really was non-stop from
7 a.m. to 9 p.m. when everyone was just about ready for bed (and we were all very grateful for the
hot water bottles that we had).
The students were an absolute credit to Cranford and it has been fantastic to see how much they all got from the
experience. You can’t help but smile at the many happy memories that we all have of our time there.
Vanessa Tutt (SEN Department)
“I think I did really
well because I learnt
a lot and overcame
some challenges.
I delivered a
lamb which is a
highlight for me;
I can’t believe I did that!
Also eating all kinds of different food
that I don’t normally try was good. The teachers helped me a
lot, especially on the long walks where we all kind of helped each
other along. The farm really helped me be independent which is
what I need to do”.
Rohan Sharma (year 10)
“I loved working with the
horses. I liked Cracker the
best. It was fun, we cleaned
the stable and groomed the
horses. When we went in the
ring with the horse I was
kind of scared at first but
Rachel helped me and by the
end I could talk to the horse
and get him to walk, trot and canter just by my voice.
The food was so delicious – freshly made and healthy. The
staff at the farm were so nice and really helped me a lot.
I liked going to Annie’s farm (next door) and the piglets
there were so cute, but they smelt so bad. Annie was really
good and I liked her a lot.
The teachers were really
good too. Ms Saini was nice
and Ms Tutt was great. She
tried everything (even though
she is older) and she got
better and better at climbing
fences and getting over gates”.
“I had a truly
life changing
experience at
Jamie’s farm; it
was an opportunity
to get to know some
of our wonderful
pupils in a way that is
just not always possible
in school: one that I am
thankful for”.
Aaron Sohi (English Department)
“Jamie’s Farm was an
amazing experience
for students and
staff. We were lucky
enough to be there at lambing
time, and I will never forget holding a
new born baby lamb; something I never
thought I would do, and to actually be
able to stroke Valerie the bull.
The staff at Jamie’s farm are the most
caring group of people. The change
they made to the students and also
my outlook on life will stay in our
memories forever”.
Julie Prunty (Support Staff)
“My experience of Jamie’s
Farm was fabulous. I highly
recommend it. I
learnt a lot about farm animals, the
students and myself. Visiting the farm
was challenging as I was out of my
comfort zone and pushed my boundaries
to experience new things.”
Ria Jarvest (year 8)
Nisha Saini (Support Staff)
3

National Science and Engineering Week ran from
14th - 21st March 2014. The aim of the week was
to celebrate science, engineering and technology and
its importance in our lives. This year the Science
Department at Cranford put on a number of special
events to celebrate the occasion. Members of the
department conducted experiments on the blue spot
each morning before school. As the pupils gathered
round to watch, the screaming jelly baby and the soda
snake proved to be real crowd pleasers. There were
plenty of opportunities for topical debates in form
times as there was a science thought for each day of the
week; topics ranged from the future of life on earth to
inventions that changed the world and designer babies.
Special science themed assemblies were given and one
member of the department could be seen dressed as a mad
scientist for a day. The science fun continued after school
when pupils debated who the greatest scientist of all time is and
year 7 and 8 pupils set about building chain reaction contraptions
in B103. The week was rounded off in
style with a final celebration and a party hosted
by the department. Next year’s event will run from
13th - 22nd March 2015 and the department will be hoping to make this bigger
and more exciting than ever and hope that even more
pupils will get involved in the fun.
Craig Appleby (Science Department)
4 4

NOFA
National Orchestra For All
During the spring term 2014,
Cranford’s NOFA ensemble group
has gone from strength to strength.
Having had our debut concert in December
2013, this spring our focus has been on
two main opportunities: a rehearsal day
in London with students from across the
capital, and our Spring Concert, here at
Cranford.
The National Orchestra for All (NOFA)
is an organisation that aims to provide
any enthusiastic student, regardless of
ability, with opportunities to participate in
ensemble music making. This year they have
launched the Conductors for Change (CFC)
project which supports schools in expanding
these opportunities and performing music
together, and last term they brought all
participating schools together in a rehearsal
day at Highbury Grove School.
On Saturday, 15th March 2014, Mr Wambua
and I met with twelve of our dedicated
members to travel into London to attend
this event. The day started with a physical
warm-up in which we learnt a range of
different body percussion sounds we could
make. After this we broke away into smaller
groups to work on the music we had been practising at
school. Over the course of the day students got a chance
to work with a range of professional musicians and other
music students from around London, including having a
go at conducting.
After returning to school, the focus moved to our concert
on Wednesday 19th March 2014. We once again welcomed
students and staff from Feltham Community College to join
us in a really exciting concert. We rehearsed all afternoon,
with the students showing impressive focus and mature
attitudes. The concert started at 6 p.m. and featured solo
performances from both schools. The finale was the large
ensemble pieces we had been rehearsing at the conducting
day, featuring all the students involved from both schools.
Arranged especially for this project by NOFA’s resident
composer, we played our version of Benjamin Britten’s
“A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”, followed by a
piece called “Shackles”.
The school’s NOFA ensemble is currently rehearsing in
WFactor, preparing for another concert. Building on the
success of the last, it will be held in the Memorial Garden at
Cranford Community College on Wednesday 2nd July 2014.
If you would like to attend please contact Leah Mirsky,
lmi-cc@cranford.hounslow.sch.uk
On Saturday 15th March 2014, we went
to take part in playing music with students from another
school. It was a worthwhile trip and we all had a lot
of fun learning new pieces of music. We were split into
groups to work with other students and it helped build
our confidence as some of us took turns to stand up and
conduct. We got to learn the music with a larger group of
about 40 students which is bigger than we usually do.
I am glad that we went on the trip and we got to play our
music all together which made me feel as if I was in a
real orchestra. I think we benefitted a lot from this trip,
new skills, such as learning how to play our music with
dynamics and at different tempos.
Carmen Mya Gaur (year 9)
GCSE Music Showcase 2014
On
Thursday 3rd April 2014, year 10 GCSE musicians
gathered to show off their performance skills to
an audience of parents, students and staff. Students have
been working hard on preparing solo performances for
Unit 1 of their GCSE course and there was an impressive
range of talent on show, from Carnatic music played on
Indian Classical instruments, to performances which had
been sequenced on the computers as well as a range of
singers, guitarists, drummers and keyboard players. The
performances were of a very high standard and the audience
was thrilled. Well done to everyone involved.
The students are continuing to develop their skills and
there will be another performance from this talented group
of students taking place on Monday 7th July 2014.
Music Department
Leah Mirsky (Music Department)
5

Book Week
2014
World Book Day is a
UNESCO initiative to
celebrate reading and
books. At Cranford we did not hold
back on the celebrations which we
made into a week of events and
activities. We purchased several
new titles beforehand for students to
enjoy. We had two fantastic authors
and a spoken word artist come and
visit us too.
Chris Bradford is the author of the Young Samurai and BODYGUARD
series. He has written 15 fiction books to date, been published in
more than 20 languages and nominated for over 23 book awards,
including the shortlist for the Red House Children’s Book Award
2009 and winner of the Northern Ireland Book Awards 2011.
Meg Rosoff is an award winning author of titles like “Picture Me
Gone”, “Just In Case”, “There Is No Dog” and “How I Live Now”,
which also has been made into a motion picture. Meg has won
the Carnegie and Guardian Children fiction prize as well as being
shortlisted for US National Book award, LA Times shortlist.
Molly Case, who’s studying at the Royal College of Nursing,
performed her “Nursing The Nation” spoken word poetry to a
packed room of students. Molly’s words echoed across the LRC
when she shared her work with us. She inspired students to write
their own creative pieces.
Our school was also represented by year 9 students in a cross
borough event called the Hounslow Teen Read. Several students
met Matt Dickinson who spoke about his upcoming book “The
Everest Files”, Matt has also created a documentary for National
Geographic. Students attended to hear the announcement of the
Hounslow Teen Read winner they read a selection of 6 books from
a list that was collated by the Hounslow School Librarians.
There was a great atmosphere within the LRC; we held a Book
Shop everyday as well as a range of activities during both breaks.
Students could take part in ‘Write an opening to an adventure
book’, the 12 Word Story competition, and the Chris Bradford
quiz and treasure hunt themed around past present author events.
Our 6th Form students could take part in a write a 20 word story
competition. We thoroughly enjoyed holding this book week and
thank all students who so enthusiastically took part in all that we
had to offer. We can’t wait for next year. Happy reading.
Kiran Gawali,
Mahavir Ladva,
Clare Ghazi-Harsini
(The LRC and
Study Centres Team)
On
Chris
Bradford
Wednesday, 5th March 2014, Chris Br
courtesy of our Book Week. As we fil
wearing dark sunglasses. For a while, I though
and whiteboard ready for Chris’s awesome pres
when Mr Ladva announced the beginning of the
A gunshot!
Chris Bradford sprang into action and grabbed M
dragged Mr Ladva out of the room and kicked o
entered the room again and introduced himself.
and pointed to the series logo, on the whiteboa
explained some information about the series.
camera and one boy pointed to the fake coke c
the spying device. Chris showed us some footag
there was nothing embarrassing. Then he told us
the first book in Bodyguard. He asked for some
as high as I could and was lucky enough to be
to one side and told me that I was to be the “m
screaming loudly when he pointed his water pist
the audience out of the calming reading. We all
our clothes. I don’t think anyone minded.
Chris Bradford then showed us videos of bodyg
had taken bodyguard lessons and had become a
bodyguard formations and asked some volunteer
bodyguard codes such as the Cooper colour code
and how some Chinese bodyguards train by sm
focus to his other series, “Young Samurai”.
He gave us some facts about the new book and te
and then told us to make a bit of space. Then h
bag and started to demonstrate its strength. He t
through the middle. Awesome. After that, he sho
Push and “Pain Assisted Learning” which looke
In the end, he signed our books and I bought a
signed by Chris Bradford, smiling as I gabbled
got in a photo with him. Biscuits and nibbles w
off a phenomenal afternoon.
6 6
Sadaq Sharif (year 7)

Molly Case Review
Review
adford visited Cranford Community College,
ed in slowly, he stood at the front of the room
t he was just a technician, getting the room
entation. But I soon realised his true identity
presentation. And it started off with a bang.
r Ladva, narrowly missing the fake bullet, he
pen the door. What a show! After that, Chris
He spoke about his new series, “Bodyguard”,
rd. After that he showed us some slides and
At one point he asked us to find the hidden
an Chris had on his desk, correctly guessing
e of us coming into the library but thankfully
that he was going to do a reading of “Rescue”,
volunteers beforehand and I put my hand up
chosen alongside another girl. He pulled me
ystery screamer”, returning to my seat and
ol at me. I did my job magnificently, shocking
were shot with the water gun though, soaking
uard training and even disclosed to us that he
licensed bodyguard. He showed us a clip on
s to protect him. Cool. After explaining some
(different colours for each stage of alertness)
ashing bottles on their heads, he shifted our
levision series that would be coming out soon
e took his katana (samurai sword) out of his
old two students to hold paper and cut cleanly
wed us some martial arts such as the One inch
d very painful to experience.
copy of the “Way of the Dragon” which was
on about how much I liked his work. I even
ere available afterwards, a tasty treat to top
I walk into the study centre as I usually do and I see a projector
set up and a young woman. With a confused look on my face, Mr
Ladva explains that the young woman’s name is Molly Case. She
is a spoken word artist, which for those of you who don’t know,
is someone who writes their own
poetry and performs it by reading
it aloud with lots of emotion and
with dramatical effect, similar to
rappers. Coincidentally it was a
rapper who inspired her, the lyrical
genius of Eminem. The workshop
was looking at how to write and
what things to include to engage and
connect with the audience, it was
a very interesting and informative
talk. We also got to see some of
her work, which really captured our
imagination and inspired us to do
some writing for ourselves. You can
check out her work on her YouTube
channel “Molly Case”.
Hardeep Rai (year 13)
Meg Rosoff Review
“I don’t get nearly enough credit in life for the things I manage
not to say.”
Meg Rosoff, author of widely acclaimed
novel, “How I Live Now”, which is now
also a motion picture, paid a visit to our
school for Book Week 2014. This event
attracted the attention not only of students
but also teachers. From her amazingly
catchy accent to her enthusiasm about
how she began to write at the age of 42,
she had all the pupils and teachers at
Cranford hanging on her every word.
Her enthusiastic attitude and ability to
turn every negative thing into something
positive were inspiring. We loved the
ideas that changed her life, such as buying
a hat, which led her to her husband, now
of many years, as it gave us an insight into
how life can be truly surprising. Rosoff’s
storylines proved to be inspiring to the
young writers here at Cranford and left
us believing that anything can be worth
writing about.
Rosoff’s devastating story of her sister’s death engaged the audience
and made us think of the importance to grab every opportunity with
both hands and to never let go. Meg’s career may have grown to a
point she least expected, but this has only been beneficial for us
readers as we are able to surround ourselves in the fictional but
beautiful and magical world she creates.
Life, truly, doesn’t have to be a straight line...
Harshita Bedhi & Harinder Ahluwalia (year 13)
7

Physical Education at Cranford
Living for Sport:
Hockey Player
Meeting Helen Richardson was an amazing experience; we
learnt, most importantly, a lot about perseverance and
cooperation. She was very open about her own experiences
and what she gained through them and she shared this with us,
making it imperative never to give up in any aspect of your
life regardless whether related to sport. We completed
a series of team building activities
in which it was necessary for
every member of the team to work
together in order to successfully
complete it. From this, we learnt
that communication is key as well as
leadership and determination as some
groups failed on the first try because
of their lack of ability to listen to all
members of their group, however they
persevered and finished albeit last.
This demonstrated the importance of
perseverance in completing any task
and we learnt this important lesson
from Helen Richardson-Walsh.
Fizza Amjad (year 11)
Living for Sport:
Boxer Hannah Barry
We
were told that we were going to get spoken to
by a female boxer, I didn’t know much about
her and I presumed it would be a motivational speech
comparing life to boxing metaphorically; however it
was something completely different. She walked in and
immediately her presence was known despite her small
stature, she had an aura about her and it caught everyone’s
attention. She spoke about her life to us; it was a life
that most of us could only imagine, filled with domestic
violence, drugs, gangs and her being excluded from school
on numerous occasions but from looking at her and seeing
the professional manner in which she carried herself I
would never have believed it. After all that she has been
through, all the doors shut in her face and despite all the
abuse both physical and mental that she experienced, she
became one of Britain’s greatest female boxers and beat
the famous Olympic gold medallist Nicola Adams on two
occasions. This success did not happen overnight; it took
thousands of hours of hard training and was due to her
making the right decisions from a young age. She could
have lived a life of crime and done nothing with herself
but she turned her back to that life and channelled her
energy into something positive. So I ask you, what will
you channel your energy into; schoolwork and sports or
the PS3? And will you realise that in order to be successful
you have to put in the work today to build the foundations
of your future, SATs lead to GCSEs lead to A levels leading
to university which eventually leads you to the career that
you aspired to all those years ago. So I urge you to make
a positive change today to better your future.
8 8
Hardeep Rai (year 13)

Sky Sports
Living for Sport
Games
I
attended in Osterley an event with my other team leaders and
teachers. On that day, I helped Sky Sport members and volunteers
to work with children from primary schools participate in and
enjoy the sports that were on offer. I first had a warm up session
with my team leaders and volunteers and got to introduce myself
to the volunteers. The volunteers were enthusiastic and fun to be
around with. Then we got into small groups and helped a small
group of children warm up and get prepared for the sports and called
our group: Team GB. We got the little children to participate and
helped push themselves to the limit so that we could win and get as
many points as possible. Although we didn’t win, the volunteers,
the children and I enjoyed the day which was the most important
objective of this event. I should like to thank the kind volunteers,
children and the Sky Sport members for making such an amazing
event. If I could, I would do this event again with the children.
Tania Pereira (year 11)
Step
into
Dance
group
Our BTec Dance group
has been taking part in
after-school sessions for
different dance activities.
We previously took part in
Capoeira sessions, where a
teacher came in and taught
us different types of brand
new moves. Recently a coach
called Wade has been coming
to these sessions to lead
sessions on Urban and Street
dance. It has been a really
good experience and has
helped me widen my range of
choreography and improve my
performance.
Bethany Johnson (year 12)
These sessions are enjoyable and
energetic as he teaches the class. I find
these sessions useful as they help me
with teamwork by dancing in a group.
These sessions are helping with different
ways of movement to dance and giving
me more experience on transitions and
how to work together with dynamic
synchronisation in our dance. Capoeira
has given me a big insight into dancing.
Pedro Bandarra (year 12)
9

Cranford Celebrates
Sports Relief 2014
Sports Relief 2014 at Cranford needed to be
bigger and better than ever. We wanted to
raise £500 by students being active in helping
those less fortunate than themselves. The Physical
Education Department thought long and hard on what
we could run that would be quick, fun and engaging.
Our ideas culminated in three mini competitions held
on the mornings of Thursday 20th and Friday 21st
March 2014 with the live band finishing with The Red
Mile on the Friday after school.
PowerPoint presentations were sent to Heads of Year
and tutors to capture the students’ enthusiasm and we
were not disappointed by the numbers of staff and
students who took part.
The crowd gathered to put the pressure on for the
quickest 3 shots scored and the most “keepie ups”
completed in 30 seconds. Students were engrossed
and wanted to compete at every opportunity to beat
the best score by other students and teachers.
To complete the programme in style was of course
The Red Mile with the finishing straight along
the concourse; a nice crowd gathered to watch the
competitors and were in for a treat. The students and
staff went all out for the wear the red element. The
mile looked fantastic with people running, skipping,
and strolling round, (some 3 legged competitors as
well) to help raise money and awareness of the plight
of others.
The quickest “3 shots” prize went to Fatima Thabitt
(year 8); the most “keepie ups” prize went to Jay
Sihota (year 8); the “best dressed” prize went to
Diana Atougia (year 11) and the winner of the mile
went to Michael Gathinji (year 11). 8T raised the most
money for Sports Relief, an amazing effort from a
form group pulling together.
We would like to thank our two 6th formers who
dressed up and helped out the two mornings in their
Sports Relief gear and looked amazing. (In total
Cranford Community College raised over £660, the
most we have ever raised, hopefully the next sports
relief will be bigger, better and redder. Bring on the
challenge.
10 10
Anita Fiddes (second in PE Department)

WFactor
A new year
brings new
opportunities
WFactor 2014 has begun with some exciting new opportunities
for students and staff along with some old favourites.
“Know Your City” enjoyed visits to the National Grid,
Osterley House and the Urban Farm whilst the new Archaeology group
discovered there is more to learn about this local area and our school
grounds hold many interesting objects buried in the earth.
Puppet Making has become extremely popular and the creative talents
of our students have been realised through the imaginary puppet
characters they have invented. In addition model making has inspired
students to try their hand to build replicas of Hampton Court Palace.
Our exotic animals’ collection has grown with the introduction of
some new reptiles and for the first time we have some eggs laid by the
lizards. It will be interesting to see if they hatch.
Jessica Joyce (WFactor organiser)
This
WFactor
Archaeology
spring the Archaeology
group has been discovering
lots of things about the past, exploring
our local area and using metal detectors to
search for artefacts in the school grounds.
Disappointingly we have found nothing more
exciting than an old button, a piece of floor
tile and a rusty old Coke can, but we will find
something – we just need to keep looking.
The students have learnt all about what
life was like in the Stone Age and have
tried to make flint tools. We wove together
some branches to make a simple fence and
discovered how difficult it must have been
to transport the enormous stones that made
Stonehenge, all the way from Wales. In our
reconstruction we dragged bricks across the
playground and tried to work out how they
managed to stand them up.
We visited Syon House and met a real
archaeologist who had been on the Time Team
episode about the “Lost Abbey of Syon”.
He told us all about the Roman roadside
settlement that was discovered when building
a new hotel and showed us some real Roman
pottery and a skeleton of an extra-ordinarily
tall man which is kept in the crypt.
On our trip to Cranford Park we looked
at the site of the old manor house that
stood there for almost 700 years – only the
stable block and the ha-ha wall remain.
In St. Dunstan’s church cemetery we found
some really old graves and wondered
what life would have been like for the
inhabitants of the tiny village of Cranford
(mentioned in the Domesday Book).
We discovered that where the school is today
used to be one of the best dairy farms in the
area – famous for its creamy milk.
Our last trip was to St Leonard’s church in
Heston where we started our research into
World War One. We found lots of graves
from 1914-19 and are looking forward to
discovering some stories about the war effort
in our area to contribute to Activities week
in the summer.
Cath Goold and Tracey Chapman
(WFactor Archeology)
11

Our
Epic
World
Challenge
Journey
Over
the last year, we have been
working towards our World Challenge
expedition. As a group of 14 students
(eleven students from year 10 and three
from year 9), we have had to fundraise
£1429 each. We’ve worked towards our
target by organising various different
events such as: cake sales, hot chocolate
stands, mufti days, an Easter egg hunt
and much more. Some of the things we
have organised outside of school are: bag
packing, sponsored events, tutoring and
our tuck shop.
To date, as a group, we have raised through
activities at school £6527.14 of which we
are very proud. But we still have a long
way to go and more money to raise before
we embark on our journey to Morocco.
On our expedition we will be helping a
local community thrive by increasing
their opportunities of having a sustainable
education. We wish to thank everyone who
has contributed to our phenomenal journey
over the last year. And an even bigger
thank you to our amazing team leader, Ms
Hibbins for putting in countless hours, her
limitless optimism and her boundless love
– we couldn’t have done it without her.
Najma Hersi & Nameerah Ahmed (year 10)
“I’m excited about the opportunity
to build on my skills as an
independent learner. But most of
all, the trip to Morocco excites
me because I want the opportunity
to help others. Helping to build
a school is a once in a life time
opportunity and we’ve been
working really hard to reach our
aim. I’ve been tutoring at the
weekends to build up funds for the
trip and helping at the school tuck
shop we have set up”.
Rufayda Sahal (year 9)
“Naveed remembers my full name
and is adamant that on expedition
I should not be known as Sarhi but
Sahithya Natarajan. I think quirks
like this show how together we
are as a group now, compared to
the beginning of the year when we
were afraid to speak. As a group
we’ve made new friendships and
it’s allowed us to become extremely
proactive, independently, wanting
to learn and gain something for
ourselves. I feel proud of myself
that I’ve been able to raise so much
money. I really cannot wait to go to
Morocco and enjoy the trekking and
the camping; it’s such an amazing
opportunity and I really can’t wait”.
Sahithya Natarajan (year 10)
“Working
together as a team has
been the major learning curve
for me. Remembering that this
trip isn’t just about me but the
people I have come to know
like family this year. Coming
up with sponsorship ideas and
learning how to put up a tent is
a little insight into what we do.
I can’t wait for the summer,
I really can’t.”
Muhammad Subhan (year 10)
“Going into World Challenge,
I knew it would be difficult,
first to raise the money
and then the expedition
itself. Despite this, it was a
challenge I chose to take on
board and long to complete.
Fundraising over the course
of a year and coming up with
ideas for my own individual
fundraising was anything
but easy, but it is a task that
we have worked on together.
Helping each other has been
a big part of the journey and
something Ms Hibbins said
what we must do is, “support
each other”.
Muhammad Sarwar (year 10)
12