The Compton Newsletter April 2016

April 2016: Issue 2
THE
COMPTON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
“Outstanding” Ofsted
INSIDE:
Message from the
Headteacher
*
Message from the
Chair of Governors
*
Celebrating
Achievement
*
Student Leadership
*
Events and Activities
*
Departmental News
*
Trips and Visits
*
Sports
Cover Photo: Year 12
Graphics students were
given a rare and wonderful
opportunity to try their hands
at gilding a royal ornament.
See page 9
EXCELLENCE THROUGH
DEDICATION AND RESPECT
Visit the school website on www.thecompton.org.uk
The school website is updated regularly.
Please visit for the most up to date information.
Information from the Headteacher
Dear Parents and Students
They say that success breeds success.
Undoubtedly, our continuing success as one
of the top schools in the country has
contributed to the strong support we’ve
received from Barnet local authority and the
Department for Education for our application
to open a new secondary ‘free school’. With
almost perfect timing, just before we submitted our application, we
received a letter of congratulations from the Minister of State for
Schools, Nick Gibb, praising us on having one of the highest
GCSE Progress 8 scores in the country - a ringing endorsement
of all the hard work by staff and students at The Compton.
It’s always nice to receive recognition for our achievements. I
was lucky enough to be invited by the Prime Minister to 10
Downing Street for a lunch reception to celebrate International
Women’s Day I joined a number of other women drawn nationally
and like me invited to celebrate the contribution they make to the
country as leaders in their field.
Every day and every week I see motivated students striving for
success, not only in their daily lessons but in the multitude of
afterschool and enrichment activities that so many of our students
participate in. The following pages will I hope, give you an insight
into some of those activities and convey something of the many
personal achievements that are part of daily life at the Compton.
I wish you and your family the very best for an enjoyable and
relaxing Easter and look forward to welcoming students back to
school on Tuesday, 19th April.
Message from the School Governors
Teresa Tunnadine
Dear Parents
Following a very well attended Sixth Form Open Evening last term, we have been delighted with the number of applications made
for entry next academic year (September 2016) – an increase from our inaugural year last year.
As many of you will now have seen, we have just applied to open a new secondary ‘free school’ in Barnet - our ambition and
intention being to replicate the outstanding teaching and learning practices at The Compton to provide an outstanding education for
students at a new school. This is something we have discussed and considered over the last couple of years as we have looked
at our longer term strategy and development opportunities. Our application reflects the demands of the education agenda both
locally and nationally and specifically as a result of the opportunity in Barnet with the increasing demand for secondary places over
the next few years. We have received strong support from Barnet and the Department for Education for our application.
Notwithstanding the application for a new free school, we remain focused on making sure that The Compton School continues
to deliver excellent educational outcomes for students and I am delighted to tell you that we have received a letter of congratulations
from the Minister of State informing us that we have one of the highest Progress 8 scores across all schools in the country.
On behalf of the Governing Body, I hope you all enjoy the Easter holiday.
Sebastian Wood, Chair of Governors
chairofgovernors@thecompton.org.uk
The Year 7 Brilliant Club and The Scholars Programme
You may be tricked into thinking from the
title that this is a potential new storyline
from JK Rowling and whilst there were
magical moments, the creation of the
Bristlebots was down to science, sweat
and tears.
Twelve of our Year 7 students were
selected to participate in The Scholars
Programme run by the Brilliant Club. The
programme begins and ends with a visit to
a highly selective university. The Brilliant
Club believes that giving students a sense
of the intellectual and physical
environment of university is a key part of
the experience and these trips provide an
opportunity for students to develop the
knowledge, skills and ambition needed to
progress to higher education.
The programme began in November
2015 with a launch trip to King’s College
London, Waterloo Campus, where the
students found out more along with the
study skills required for successful
completion of the project. In addition, the
students were assigned a PhD tutor who
delivered a programme of university-style
tutorials developing their knowledge, skills
and ambition with the aim that they will
eventually secure places at highly
selective universities. The students
discovered that engineering would be their
subject specialism and they learned all
about the programming and science
2
behind designing and racing a Bristlebot.
In case you are wondering what a
Bristlebot is, it is a simple robot whose
lower surface is covered with bristles. The
students de-constructed an electrical
toothbrush for this challenge and, in their
last tutorial, raced their Bristlebot around
an obstacle course. Their final assignment
involved writing an abstract, introduction,
methodology, results, discussion and a
conclusion.
The students worked incredibly hard to
complete their assignments which were
marked and graded like university
degrees:
• First-class honours (1st)
• Second-class honours, upper division
(2:1)
• Second-class honours, lower division
(2:2)
•Third-class honours (3rd)
The students did incredibly well; four
achieved a 1st, three achieved a 2:1 and
three achieved a 2:2. The students, their
parents, Ms Bailey and Ms Hand all
attended the graduation ceremony at
King’s College London, Guy’s Campus on
Saturday, 30th January 2016. It was a
wonderful occasion enjoyed by all, as the
students’ comments reflect:
“I am so glad I was chosen to participate
as it has given me the knowledge and
information about engineering which I
might now take up in the future!”
“It has taught me so much and it was a
lot of fun. It was an amazing experience.”
“I learnt about different career choices
for the future and it gave me a better
understanding of universities.”
Congratulations to: Wadah Abdelaziz,
Parendy Ahmadi, Ivana Dimitrova, Ido
Insler, Monica Lewis, Lion Malhamoub,
Jacob Nustedt, Jasmine Sabri, Dylan Swift
and Jade Walsh who all graduated.
Karen Hand
Deputy Headteacher
AWARDS AND WINNERS
Celebrating the Achievers of
Autumn 2015
Congratulations to all these students whose efforts and hard work last term have been recognised through The
Compton School’s Award system
Headteacher’s Award Winners - Year 7
Eduardo Bovo, Naomi Carvatchi, Caleb Chan, Bruno Comba,
Ivana Dimitrova, Ivana Ignatova, Jessica Kilkenny,
Monica Lewis, Eisuke Matsuura, Charlie O'Shea, Keir Reid,
Ruhi Shah, Mohamad Shuman, Francesca Smaldone,
Aitana Soete-Lopez, Kenn Yamaguchi
Headteacher’s Award Winners - Year 9
Alice Chadwick, Devika Dabasia, Ben Dixon, Genc Gashi,
Joseph Kilduff, John Lanitis, Marsha Lau, Ryutaro Matsumura,
Amirali Monshizadeh, Arjun Nanning Ramamurthy, Maria Savva,
Saloni Shah, Eman Shahzad, Ruby Snell, Nicholas Surtees,
Saffron Willett
Headteacher’s Award Winners - Year 11
Archie Billingsley, Karishma Chauhan, Emma De Duve,
Farah Fahad, Maeve Gibson, Mariqua Keshi-Klunis,
Gabriella Kyriacou, Zoe Leibowitz, George Lesbirel,
Cate Mandell, Louis O’Shea, Amy Phillips, Amir Razak,
Niralee Shah, Blessie Simbol, Priyanka Siregar, Michael Spann,
Shaelle Twum-Barimah, Dorian Williams
Year 12 Subject Awards
Lauren McNamara (Drama and Theatre Studies),
Taran Patel (Physics), Alicia Pickard (Business Studies),
James Ross (Sociology),
Youcef Sedaoui (Product Design - Graphics)
Akhil Shah (Accounting and Finance), Anjani Shingadia (PE)
Headteacher’s Award Winners - Year 8
Summer Amster, Lily Archer, Ziggymantas Austynas,
Dimitar Bozov, Chloe Benham, Caitlin Carter, Daniel Chiu,
Joseph Dembina, Isabella Dickson, Elena Dionissou,
Neha Master, Albert Mock, Aman Pathak, Rafi Shaikh,
Zachary Shannon, Mishel Stefanova
Headteacher’s Award Winners - Year 10
Doaa Ahmed, Josephine Chadwick, Jillian Tsu-Ling Cheng,
Sofia Dellamura, Hannah Dembina, Lucy Gibson,
Annika Keshu, Zachary Leibowitz, Sahil Nakrani,
Meghana Pathak, Josh Pear, Nikola Petkov, Jaymin Shah,
Anish Sheth, Ryan Sparks, Cavern Taylor
Year 12 Subject Awards
Jibriil Abdi (Biology), Sumeya Ahmed (Chemistry),
Jason Cheng (Maths), Tejal Depala (Psychology), Yashil Gopee (History),
Amina Hassan (Religion, Philosophy and Ethics),
Ann-Marie Oluwagbemisola Ilesanmi (Geography),
Amelia Kibblewhite (English Language and Literature)
Year 12 Subject Awards
Nilofar Soltani (English Literature), Harry Souroukides (ICT),
Kiran Taylor-Patel (Further Maths), Nicole Zahouani (MFL),
Gaius Zhou (Economics)
Enrichment Awards: Mohamed Kassim, Maria Kyriacou
Academic Excellence: Anya Mallerman-Bristow, Taran Patel
SIxTH FORM DEVELOPMENTS
TCS has its first Sixth Form Leadership Team
The students of The Compton Sixth
Form have had a tense but exciting few
weeks making their applications for The
Sixth Form Leadership Team. Students
applied for a range of positions on the
Leadership Team including Enrichment
and Charity Coordinators, Career
Coordinators, Events and Public Relations
Coordinators, Deputy Head Boy and Girl
and finally, Head Boy and Girl.
Students had to go through a rigorous
process including submitting CVs and
covering letters and completing a first
round interview. To be in the running for
Head Boy and Head Girl, students were
also required to complete a second round
interview including a presentation to Mrs
Tunnadine. Finally, students presented a
one minute pitch to their year group in
assembly about their ideas and suitability
for the role.
Workshops inspire post-18 choices
The Year 12 Careers Workshop afternoon took place in March. Year 12 were able
to choose two out of a series of workshops provided by: Ernst & Young post-18
opportunities; Former students now employed as apprentices at Accenture and the
City & Guilds Institute; Frontier - a non-for-profit organisation offering overseas
volunteering and travel experiences; Step Forward - an opportunity for students to
gain a 12 month paid work experience placement after Year 13.
Feedback from students and presenters was very positive and the afternoon has
hopefully inspired the students to consider the wide range of opportunities existing
along side the Higher Education options they have been investigating during form
time.
Dominique Doyle
Sixth Form Careers and Study Support Adviser
The standard of the applications was
hugely impressive but it was the
confidence in student’s public speaking
that impressed staff the most from this
process. A huge well done to all those who
applied and we are very happy to
announce that the following students were
successful.
Head Girl: Anya Mallerman-Bristow;
Head Boy: Yashil Gopee; Deputy Head
Girl: Meelie Kibblewhite; Deputy Head
Boy: Kiran Taylor-Patel.
Sixth Form Leadership Team: Jibriil
Abdi, Rufeida Alhatimy, Faiza Dhaga'Alen,
Leanne Drury, Amina Hassan, Maria
Kyriacou, Tahsin Rahman, Yagoda
Sokolowska, Nilofar Soltani, Khadijah Sufi,
and Akhil Shah.
Errin Keefe
Sixth Form Administrator
3
Charity begins at...The Compton School
Shelterbox Update
Born Free Foundation Charity Day
Charity Leaders decided that in February they would like
to support an animal charity. After much research and
discussion, it was decided that the Born Free Foundation
would be our chosen charity. This charity supports the
protection of animals in danger of extinction in Africa,
particularly lions, tigers and rhinos. Charity Leaders
organised a non-school uniform day and provided displays
and information in the concourse. Earlier in the week,
students across the school had learned about the charity
through a PDT activity aimed at raising awareness about
the plight of the big cats in Africa.
Around £1000 was raised to support the Born Free
Foundation and their excellent work.
Michael Barrett
SMSC Coordinator
In mid-December, we held a
Charity Day, raising money for
our chosen charity, Shelterbox.
Shelterbox is a well known
organisation that aims to support
and give aid to people who have
been affected by natural
disasters and have been left
homeless.
As well as it being non-uniform
day, we also held a cake sale to
raise money and this was very
successful. Additionally, we had
a drawing competition and the
winner was Dylan in Year 7.
There were other interactive
which
were
competitions
enjoyed by the whole school.
Overall, we raised over £1000
for Shelterbox.
Vanessa Njoki said, “I enjoyed
selling cakes” and Adam
Dhaga’Alen said, “It was nice
giving information.”
As Charity Leaders, we would
like to say a big ‘Thank You’ for
all your support.
Lemmuella Owusu-Ansah
and Venessa Njoki
Charity Leaders
Modern Foreign Languages
A taste of Paris in the sun
Mademoiselle Kosovsky took 21
students to Paris this February for a
cultural and linguistic trip aimed at
boosting listening and speaking skills as
well as cultural knowledge for GCSE
exams. Mrs Lynch and Miss Vincent also
accompanied and supported the group.
The trip was fantastic! Both students
and teachers had a very lovely time with
bright sunshine and blue skies
throughout which made all our visits even
more enjoyable.
After a long day of travelling on Friday,
we had our first taste of France with a
lovely dinner at Flunch, a famous French
chain offering local dishes and desserts.
Saturday was packed with visits to the
Arc-de-Triomphe and Cathédrale Notredame-de-Paris. The Arc-de-Triomphe
offers one of the best panoramic views
over Paris and the Champs-Élysées.
Later on, we took a boat cruise along the
river Seine for a better view of the
monuments and an insight into Parisian
life. Students then had some free-time to
shop on Rue de Rivoli, one of the main
Central Paris shopping streets, which
they thoroughly enjoyed! We were very
proud to see that students took every
opportunity to practise their French in
restaurants and shops. But the most
anticipated visit was undoubtedly the
Eiffel Tower which we had the privilege of
visiting at night time. The views and lights
from the Eiffel tower were absolutely
stunning! The Tower sparkles for a few
minutes every hour at night so we quickly
descended to enjoy the sparkling from
the opposite gardens.
We made our way back home on
Sunday, stopping at Boulogne-Sur-Mer, a
famous sea resort near Calais, where we
spent part of the afternoon. Sadly it was
time to get back to England after that but
we brought back with us lots of wonderful
memories and a deeper knowledge of the
French language and culture!
Thank you to all teachers and students
who made this trip very special!
Foreign Language Spelling Bee
Foreign Language Spelling Bee is a
competition for Year 7 students to practise
and improve their vocabulary, spelling and
memory skills in a foreign language
(French, German or Spanish). Students
have to translate the words from English
Mademoiselle Muriel Kosovsky
MFL Teacher
Don Quijote challenges Spanish language students
On 27th January 2016, 53 GCSE Spanish students went to Woodhouse College to
watch a Spanish play of Don Quijote y la busqueda de Marcela, performed by The
Firewalk Theatre Company.
“The play was not only challenging in
regards to the complexity of the
language and vocabulary but was also
very comical and enjoyable” Athena &
Nicole
“The play was great and going through
the script in class really helped us to
understand it” Mansi
“The play was entertaining, interactive
and made easy to follow for non-Spanish
speakers” Lois
Cristina Cabeza Redondo
Head of MFL
4
and spell as many words as possible in
their foreign language within one minute.
After a fierce school competition on 11th
February, three students will now
represent our school in the regional finals
in April: Leon Nitsch (Spanish), Alice
Saldani (French) and Ivana Ignatova
(French). They are all working hard with
Miss Bienka and Miss Kosovsky to get
ready for the competition ahead!
A huge well done to all of the students
involved!
Magdalena Bienka
MFL Teacher
ENGLISH, LITERACY AND DEBATE
Reading, Writing, Rewards
World Book Day 2016 - Book Swap
Everybody loves reading at The Compton
and on Thursday, 3rd March, World Book
Day, a range of activities took place to
celebrate books and writing. Students
recommended their favourites stories and
we displayed them in the LRC to inspire new
ideas.
That afternoon after school, a rumble
could be heard in the concourse as a
throng of eager Key Stage 3 students
hurried down to the LRC to take part in the
book swap as part of World Book Day.
Over 150 fantastic books changed hands,
from current favourites such as Dork
Dairies and Diary of a Wimpy Kid to
sought-after classics such as The
Borrowers and The Secret Garden. For
some reason there were a few Skelligs left
over… but these books will no doubt be
invaluable next year when our new Year 7s
read this great novel during their English
lessons.
Word millionaires
As part of Accelerated Reader,
students can view how many
words a book contains and then
see how many words in total they
have read and been quizzed on.
Students’ totals can easily reach
the tens of thousands and soar to
a million and above for the most
avid readers/quizzers! We are
proud to say that there are
already many ‘word millionaires’
in the school whose names are
listed here in order of word count:
Bibi Maimona, Molly, Khadijah,
Bibi Hanifa, Spike, Yi-An, Mena,
Kathryn, Maia, Aitana, Anthea,
Francesca, Jasmine, Sara E,
Amy, Harvey, Savan, Tenshi,
Emily M, Sara R, Prabhnir,
Soma, Rafi, Rowdha, Mishel,
Asha, Parendy, Jenny, Leon,
Alexander K, Timera.
Thanks to all who participated and to
Maia, Francesca, Khadija, Amelia and
Ambra for running the event. Many thanks
also, to Parendy, Ella and Leon in Year 7,
who visited many classes on the day and
talked about the books they love the most.
Luke Tokarz, 3ic English,
Linda Oakley, Head of EMA
and Natalia Marshall, LRC Manager
Paired Reading success
Students in Paired Reading Club have achieved
considerable success this term. With the support of
their Year 10 partners, these Year 7s have made
exceptional progress in reading. The weekly club
sees Year 7 students reading with their partners and
quizzing, using the Accelerated Reader Scheme.
Most of the hard work happens behind the scenes.
However, as students need to be reading daily at
home in order to improve reading levels and to make
the kind of progress that these young readers have.
Congratulations to all of these students and a huge
thank you to their very supportive Year 10 partners.
Linda Oakley, Literacy Teacher
Natalia Marshall
LRC Manager
Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge 2016
The Jack Petchey Regional ‘Speak Out’ Challenge took place on Tuesday, 26th January
2016. Students from across the borough took part in the public speaking event which was
held at St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School.
Last year’s Barnet Champion, Amir Razak was the event's MC and received personal
thanks and congratulations from Jonathan Drew of the Speakers' Trust, who said, "Amir
really got into his flow and soon captured the audience with his subtle use of humour and
thoughtfulness. He managed the whole competition extremely well and was the constant
glue that kept the 250 strong crowd engaged throughout. Well done to him.”
Amira Bhatt won the in-school competition and represented The Compton School at the
Barnet Finals. Amira gave a passionate and compelling speech entitled ‘Ask Questions’,
about the importance of civic engagement in defending the rights of vulnerable citizens.
Well done Amira, you did us proud!
Jane Telot
Year 10 Manager
Asia House Literary
Festival
Last May, Jolie, now in Year 10,
came second in a literary competition
organised by Asia House. Let's see if
we can do better this time round.
Year 12 and Year 9 students have
recently taken part in a series of
creative writing workshops run by a
visiting author that focused on
cultural diversity.
There will be another writer visiting
The Compton soon and we will
submit entries to join the celebration
event later in the year.
Poetry Live
We took 30 Year 11 students to
Poetry Live, a national literary
conference, which is an annual
symposium celebrating the poets
whose work we appreciate and
analyse studying for the English
Literature GCSE.
The outing was very successful
and allowed a more nuanced insight
into the texts.
Many thanks to Ms Thompson and
Ms Hickey who kindly chaperoned
the group to Central London.
Young Writers Winners
Congratulations to Farid, Thugipa
and Ivana whose spine-chilling gothic
sagas were selected from over a
thousand entries to be published in a
collection of stories.
Their success follows an earlier
victory of our Year 11 poets whose
lyrical compositions gained similar
recognition.
The stories are published on the
school's website magazine - please
have a look and enjoy reading.
Luke Tokarz, 3ic English
Young Writers Winners
The annual CILIP Carnegie Medal
is a highly prestigious prize
recognising the very best in literature
for children and young adults. We will
again be taking part in the shadowing
scheme from now until June. A small
group of Year 8 and 9s will be reading
as many books as possible prior to
nominating a favourite and attending
the presentation event in Barnet.
Natalia Marshall, LRC Manager
5
Drama - Act I, Scene I
Chickenshed’s Crime of the Century
In January, Chickenshed
Theatre Company performed
The Crime of the Century to
the whole of Year 9. It is a
hard-hitting, raw piece of
theatre which explores antigang
violence
issues.
Students were asked to
’respond to live theatre’ by
writing a review. They went on
to write their first ever
assessed piece of written
work for drama. Here are
some quotes that outline their
views and experience as a
plot: it goes back and forth
between past, present and
future; the scenes change
often and very abruptly.”
Marsha Lau
critical audience member:“ChickenShed performed a
jaw-dropping play that really
Drama students eager to get
involved with Frantic Assembly
opened our eyes to gangs and
knife crime” Yash Pankhania
“This play has a non-linear
Alice in Wonder.Land
Sarah Tunnadine, Head of Drama
On 10th February, a group of 20 Year 8 students
were taken to The National Theatre to see
Wonder.Land. This is a modern musical adaptation of
Alice in Wonderland (set in the technological age) and
is scored with music written by Blur's Damon Albarn.
The students showed great interest in the interactive
exhibition just outside of the theatre and gave really
positive feedback about the show. The songs were
definitely stuck in their head! They were beautifully
behaved and it was lovely to see them being so
enthusiastic about live theatre.
As part of the A-level course, our students have to review live
theatre, so, on 7th January, the second trip of the academic
year was a visit to the Gielgud Theatre to see The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The students had
explored this in lessons and were pleasantly surprised by the
visual and movement aspects of the play. They left buzzing with
lots of elements to write about for their theatre reviews. Some
of our GCSE Year 10 and 11 students also attended the trip and
they were brilliantly behaved and shared positive reviews about
the show: the presence of a real puppy on stage was what stole
the show for them!
6
Sarah Tunnadine, Head of Drama
Liana Anthony
2icDrama
FaceFront
Theatre Company
Back in December, our Year 11 and 12 Drama
students took part in a Frantic Assembly workshop.
This supported and inspired the students in their
practical work for their exam in March. We were very
excited to have the physical theatre group teach our
students many interesting performance techniques
including stage lifts and movement sequences. Many
of our students were eager to get involved and have
now researched the theatre opportunity ‘Ignition’
which targets boys aged 16-25 which will run from
September 2016.
Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time
“Expressing their anger
through vandalism seemed
like a really effective way to
show troubled youth and their
struggle to fit into society,
creating a real sympathy for
those who think they are living
above the law” Areli Tumba
Hannah Most
Drama Teacher
On 23rd February, FaceFront
Theatre company visited The
Compton to perform their play ‘Sex
FM’ to our Year 10 students. The
play focused on personal well-bring
and explored the themes of identity,
self-esteem, confidence and feeling
empowered to make informed
choices. The play explored the lives
of four young people and
contrasted comic and upbeat
scenes with some more serious
and moving moments.
The play was a piece of ‘Forum
Theatre’ meaning that our students
had an opportunity to discuss the
themes and issues presented with
the actors as well as get up on
stage with them to replay some of
the scenarios to improve the
outcomes for the characters. The
actors commented on the maturity
of our students and their excellent
responses to the discussion and
debate.
Zoe Merritt
Assistant Headteacher
Art and Photography in focus
Abstract Sculptures entered for
Fourth Plinth Schools Award 2016
This great competition is
open to all schools in
London, giving students an
opportunity to create any
artwork inspired by the
commissions for the Fourth
Plinth in Trafalgar Square,
their thoughts about London
and London’s place in the
world.
In 2015, the Fourth Plinth
Schools Awards had once
again
another
recordbreaking year attracting
more than 1,800 entries from
over
3000
students
representing every London
borough. We at The
Compton School are very
proud to be entering
students work in this award
again. Our current Year 10
Art and Design GCSE
students have worked hard
to
complete
abstract
sculptures. Initial charcoal
studies of a still life subject
were developed into large
abstract paintings, these
images were then explored
in 3-D using plasticine and in
conclusion to this exploration
made
into
cardboard
constructions.
Please do take a look at
the entries - they can be
found at the web site
address below.
http://www.london.gov.uk/
what-we-do/arts-andculture/art-anddesign/fourth-plinth
Angela Barton
2ic Art/Photography
Paper crafting for Arts Award
A group of Year 9 students are working
towards their Arts Award Bronze qualification this
term. By taking part in a Paper Sculpture project
they are exploring storytelling and illustration
through the theme ‘Journeys’. So far they have
been experimenting with a range of techniques
and learning about paper craft practitioners,
such as Sarah Bridgland, Peter Callesen and
Polly Verity. After what was an inspiring journey
around public artworks and local galleries in
Kings Cross, work on their own paper craft final
pieces is now underway. Look out for their
creations coming soon!
Coursework
Inspiration at
Tate Modern
The Year 12 art students went
on a visit to the Tate Modern. The
aim was to find inspiration for
their coursework and research
several artists that they could
respond to. They viewed
collections by Picasso, Gerhard
Richter and Rebecca Horn.
It was a really enjoyable visit
and students found lots of
inspiring works to help them
develop their own independent
work. Since returning from the
visit students have been
experimenting with large scale
figure drawings using sticks and
string as well as with using latex
and metal in their work.
The art department is looking
forward to showcasing some
really imaginative and creative
coursework final pieces soon.
Watch this space…….
Victoria Freed
Head of Art
Emilie Spark-Guillaume
Art Technician
Hitting all the right notes with Dominic Peckham
Dominic Peckham, conductor and vocal coach, led an amazing
vocal workshop with 60 students on Monday 8th February. Students
learnt about the universal language of singing and how to breathe,
create and sustain sounds effectively. They presented an evening
performance to parents and staff.
Angelina Barlow,
Head of Music
Musical Notes
Musical inspiration courtesy of the Royal
College of Music and Southbank Sinfonia
On Monday 7th March, Year 10 GCSE Music students
travelled to the Royal College of Music to watch a
performance of Handel's 'Ariodante.' The performance
was fantastic and the students of the Royal College were
extremely impressive.
Following this, on Thursday 10th March, a selection of
Year 7 and 8 students went to St John's Waterloo to watch
the Southbank Sinfonia perform in a Rush Hour concert.
The Southbank Sinfonia were joined by students from a
local school whose young musicians are mentored by the
Southbank Sinfonia, to create an orchestra of 68. We
were treated to the sounds of Shostakovich's 10th
Symphony, a vivid depiction of Stalinist Russia marking a
creative release following years of cultural oppression.
The performance was impressive and inspiring.
Alice Gray
2ic Music
7
MATHS DEPARTMENT
The Compton Loves Maths
2016 Regional Final of the
UKMT Team Maths Challenge
On
Wednesday,
24th
February, a team of Compton
students went to Preston
Manor School in Wembley to
compete in the Regional Final
of the UKMT Team Challenge.
Team members were Jemma
Evans, Neha Master, Amirali
Monshizadeh
and
Mathimakan Nadarajah. The
UKMT Team Challenges
promote
mathematical
dexterity, teamwork and
communication skills. They
also give students the
opportunity
to
compete
against students from other
schools in their region.
“We trained a lot before,
working on being a team and
helping each other with the
maths. I found it enjoyable
and exciting when the
My
challenges started.
favourite part was the final
round when we got to do
some running as well.” Jemma
Evans
“The challenge took place
at Preston Manor School in
Wembley. Tasks included
relay, shuttle, cross-number
and a group challenge where
we had 45 minutes to answer
10 questions. The day was
great and we all had a lot of
fun.” Neha Master
We were team number 13
and we came 13th out of the
25 teams taking part, so 13
was a lucky number for us!
The top three teams were
University College School,
Harrow and North London
Collegiate, all independent
schools so the competition
was very strong. Well done
team! You really worked well
together and your enthusiasm
and determination were
evident.
Thanks also to Miss
Clapham for running the
Maths Club and working with
the team to prepare for the
competition.
Maths Club continues on
Mondays with lots of fun and
engaging activities to stretch
you and help you think
mathematically.
Joanna Lewis
3ic Maths
Amazing results in the UK Intermediate Maths Challenge 2016
The Year 9, 10 and 11 mathematicians
underwent a demanding yet exciting
challenge this term by competing in the
UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge. It
was a unique and fun opportunity for the
students to test their mathematical
reasoning beyond the classroom. It
allowed students to test their
mathematical ability by applying it to a
GCSE Religious
Studies Conference
In March, GCSE Religious Studies
Students set off from school to visit
the City of London School for Girls,
which was the venue for a special
GCSE conference where students
participated in talks about issues
relevant to their course of study.
Students first heard about the work
of the EducAid charity. This is a
charity which has been working for
over a decade to improve the
educational opportunities of young
people in Sierra Leone. Later there
was a talk by an author and examiner
who provided top tips on how to
achieve great grades. Finally,
Cardinal Vincent Nichols led a
discussion on the sanctity of life and
the value of education.
The Compton students were
fantastic and they fully participated in
the discussion by asking questions
and providing comments to the
packed hall of students.
Michael Barrett
Head of RE
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range of different scenarios that could
only be solved through analysis and
application of maths. We achieved some
amazing results this year;
Gold: Blessie Simbol, Cate Mandell,
Michael Spann, Ferdous Azizi, Jillian
Cheng and Nikola Petkov, Arjun Nanning
Ramamurthy
Silver: Zoe Leibowitz, Areeba Paracha,
Sofia Dellamura, Josephine Chadwick,
Ahmed Haj, Anjali Depala, Paul
Jenkins, Annika Keshu, Anya Nanning
Ramamurthy, Jack Kariya
Bronze: Chhaya Ganda, Raza Naqvi,
William Lloyd, Frankie Pearson, Markus
Brighton, Jaimin Patel, Raphael Akamo,
Amira Bhatt, Priyanka Depala, Anish
Sheth, Abdulrahman Ahmed, Oliver
Hewison, Jazmine Degrasse, Zachary
Leibowitz, Kweku Ackom Mensah,
Saffron Willett, Molly Hoon, Damon
Judge, Riam Kaabi, Joseph Kilduff, Belle
Malone.
For the first time, we have six students
who will be competing in the next round
to compete in the Pink and Grey
Kangaroo Challenge on 17th March.
They are Blessie Simbol, Cate Mandell,
Jillian Cheng, Nikola Petkov, Arjun
Nanning Ramamurthy and Jack Kariya.
Good luck to them all and we are
confident they will do great!
Emad Elkhalat
Head of KS5 Maths
A Mathematical Feast for Year 10
On Wednesday, 9th March, a team from The Compton went to Highgate School to
take part in an exciting competition for students in Year 10 testing mathematical,
communication and teamwork skills.
Representing The Compton were Josephine Chadwick, Jillian Cheng, Sofia
Dellamura and Nikola Petkov. Twelve teams took part, with schools from several
surrounding boroughs represented.
The competition, called the Maths Feast, is organised by The Further Mathematics
Support Programme and is designed to support students in developing their problem
solving skills. There were five rounds in the ‘Feast’; Starter, Amuse-Bouche, Main,
Dessert and Petits-Fours.
Our team worked together very well throughout and enjoyed the challenge of the
competition. There was no overall winner declared but instead winners for each
round. We performed very well in each round and were delighted to be joint winners,
along with Henrietta Barnett and QE boys, of the Petit-Fours round. Congratulations
Team!
Joanna Lewis
3ic Maths
Design and Technology
A Rare Insight Into The Royal And The Beautiful
Mrs Westgate and Mr Hall took 13 Year
12 Graphics students to the Royal
Collection Trust in early February. It was
fabulous. We were treated like royalty; all
the staff had clearly downed tools for the
afternoon and had prepared a
presentation for us.
An official
photographer took endless photos.
We started with the lacquer cabinet and
furniture restorer with pieces from
Windsor Castle, followed by the porcelain
and ceramics restorer featuring parts of a
giant pagoda from the Brighton Pavilion
and ornaments from Balmoral Castle.
Next came the armour restorer with some
wonderful stories of the pieces he has
worked on, including those with gunshot
holes!
The clock restorer was working on a
magnificent tortoiseshell, ivory and silver
commemorative piece and the 'Boulle' or
tortoiseshell restorer explained how
Skater Skirt Success
difficult it was to work with this rare and
beautiful material. We were given the
fascinating history of a beautiful 17th
century ceramic and gilded decorative
clock; combining the best of Dresden
porcelain and French metalwork and
ceramics.
The highlight was the gilding room
where we were surrounded with golden
Year 10 Textiles students have
successfully completed making their own
skater skirts, but not by using a commercial
pattern. Instead, they took their
measurements and plotted a pattern for a
full circle skirt onto the computer using 2D
Design. The laser cutter then cut out the
skirt panels which included intricate cut out
shapes. Students then learned how to
apply a zip and waistband, complete with button and button hole.
The skirts were made of suedette and some students added a lining
too. A fantastic well done to the group.
Fashion Trip to Paris
During February half term, a group of 32 girls went on the very first
TCS fashion trip to Paris. The group visited the Eiffel Tower, Parc de
la Villette, March Saint Pierre, Sacre
Coeur, Mademoiselle Slassi Hat
Designer and the Musee des Arts
Decoratifs by the Louvre. We even
had time to fit in a bit of shopping.
When visiting Mademoiselle Slassi,
students learned about hat making
and hat styles and were even able to
try on Mademoiselle Slassi’s
wonderful creations.
A huge thank you to all the girls who
were impeccably behaved and were
excellent ambassadors for The
Compton School. Thank yous are
also in order for Ms Hylton, Mrs Cran and Mrs Telot who very kindly
gave up their holiday time to escort the students on this trip.
Don’t Throw it Away!
Our Key Stage 3 Textiles projects are heavily focussed on
recycling and making products from recycled materials. Year 7 and
8 students make fabric containers and Year 9 students make
decorative cushion covers.
We would love to see donations of buttons, ribbon, old zips, fabric
and even old pairs of jeans. Any old bric-a-brac and haberdashery
would be welcome and no donation would be too small.
Julie Tinsley, Head of D&T
objects, from huge picture frames to
extraordinary furniture. Ismail and Martin
can now claim that they have gilded an
ornament that will soon be returned to its
home in Buckingham Palace.
The craftspeople and staff were
exceptionally welcoming and we were
greeted and introduced to the workshop
by Rufus Bird the Deputy Surveyor of the
Queen's Works of Art. It was clear that a
lot of people had gone to a great deal of
effort to make this trip as worthwhile as it
proved to be.
The students were wonderful; bright,
polite and engaged. The skills and
traditional techniques they saw will
provide them with invaluable information
for the manufacturing task they have
begun for their AS Coursework.
Electronics in Textiles
Joanne Westgate
ic Graphics
This term, Year 9 Textile Technology students produced
cushion covers using a range of decorative techniques to
bring their ideas to life, including LED lights within their
designs as an additional feature. All students produced
fantastic cushion covers which they proudly took home at
the end of the project. Both Miss Hylton and Mr Kumar
were very proud of the work and attitude of all students.
Bianca Hylton, Teacher of Textiles Technology
Dennis Kumar, D&T Textiles Technician
Cooking Club - Another
Triumphant Array of Dishes
A wide selection of dishes to tempt the palate were
created by our cooking club students. These included
pancakes, pasta with green pesto sauce, fruit crumble and
chocolate dipped strawberries. The students and I would
like to say a big thank you to Mrs Kelly for all the help she
gave us every Wednesday. We wish her good luck in her
new position within the school.
Rotary Club Young Chef of The Year
Our entrant into this year’s Rotary Club Young Chef of
the Year competition was Belle Malone.
Belle won through a tough heat held at The Compton last
December to progress to the district finals held in Edgware
in January. Although Belle did not win, she can feel proud
of her achievements in competing against older students.
Belle’s menu on the day was Sea Bass with a tomato
and olive salsa served with fennel infused savoury rice
followed by a dessert of Lemon Sorbet served in a lemon
and lime jello cup garnished with lemon zest. Belle was
presented with a recipe book by the Mayors of Barnet and
Edgware in recognition of her talent.
Jacqueline O'Shea, Food Technician
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Getting Down to Business
Footballing inspiration for business success
In early March, a group of GCSE and A
Level Business Studies students were
selected to attend a presentation made by
Mr David Dein, ex Vice Chairman of
Arsenal Football Club. Mr Dein gave them
wonderful advice about how to excel, both
as students and as professionals, and
impressed upon them the importance of
working hard and taking pride in their own
performance.
A major part of the presentation focused
on how football has developed from being a
sport watched by a few to a world-wide
business that attracts the attention of
viewers and investors alike on a global
scale. Students were also able to see how
football clubs maximise revenue and use
branding to help develop the Premier
League as a product.
This was a fantastic opportunity for our
students to learn from a successful
business owner who went on to become
one of the most influential people in football
today. Thanks to Mr Dein for visiting the
school and sharing his experiences with us.
Students Adapt and profit at trade fair
On Wednesday 10th February, a group of
Year 12 students attended the Old Spitalfields
Market Young Enterprise Trade Fair.
Throughout this academic year, 15 students in
Year 12 have set up their own business called
'Adapt'. This has involved allocating roles,
buying stock, holding meetings and designing
packaging. The trade fair was the first
opportunity for them to sell their products to the
general public. By the end of a pretty hectic
day's trading, their business had made just shy
of £90 which was a fantastic achievement.
During the day they showed some excellent
Strategy pays off in
Micro-Tyco Challenge
In February, a group of our Year 8
students undertook the Micro-Tyco
Challenge, the premise of which
was to turn an original investment of
£1 into as much money as possible
over the course of one month. The
idea was for entrepreneurial
thinking to raise money which
would be sent to The Wildhearts
Foundation charity to support
entrepreneurs
in
developing
countries.
Unfortunately,
the
students only had one week to raise
as much money as possible, but
they performed amazingly well,
producing a 1000% profit and
turning their £1 into £11. Shahar
Koren, Bibi Farid and Jordan Orton
showed outstanding team work
skills to develop a strategy of
buying products that their friends
wanted, selling them and re-buying
new stock that day. This took a high
level of organisation, knowledge of
their market and the ability to
deliver their service on time - all
excellent entrepreneurial skills. This
was a fantastic achievement and
one of which they should be
amazingly proud. These young
business stars have a very bright
future!
Morgan Crump
Business Studies Teacher
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Aashiq Pujara
Head of Business Studies
selling, customer service and communication
skills and should be very proud of themselves.
The day was rounded off with the group
meeting last year's The Apprentice finalist,
Vana Koutsomitis which left a few of them a
little star struck! With a few more trade fairs to
come this year, things are looking very bright
(and profitable!) for this young group of
budding entrepreneurs; Yashil Gopee, Osman
Murad, Youcef Sedaoui, Tejas Depala,
Kaloyan Vasilev, Leanora Rexha, Nika Namini,
Anjani Shingadia and Miranda Eracleous.
Morgan Crump
Business Studies Teacher
Style and quality to make you stop and Oye-stare
This year, as part of the Young Enterprise Challenge, we selected a group of Year 9s to
start their own company and sell products with the aim of making as much profit as
possible, which would be donated to a chosen charity at the end of the year. The group
decided to sell high quality leather card holders and named their company 'Oye-Stare'.
They were invited to sell their products at the Spitalfields Market near Shoreditch. I am
pleased to say that the group performed amazingly and sold £100 worth of stock despite
intense competition from other schools. A huge thanks to Riam Kaabi, Eman Shahzad,
Yashvi Depala, Joshua Howell, Harry Morgan, Marwa Satar and Shiv Thakkar who all did
a fantastic job selling the product and working tirelessly throughout the day.
Aashiq Pujara
Head of Business Studies
Coca-Cola Real Business Challenge
On Thursday 28th January, eight
Business Studies students attended the
London Regional Final of the Coca-Cola
'Real Business Challenge' at the Kia Oval in
South London. The students had reached
this prestigious event by being one of the
ten best school teams out of over 2,000
entries. This was a fantastic achievement
and one of which they should be immensely
proud. The Compton team, ably led by Anjali
Depala, had the task of designing an antilitter campaign for Coca-Cola. This involved
creating a smartphone application, a busstop poster, a mascot and logo, costing the
whole campaign and then delivering a
speech about their idea to an audience of
over 200 people.
The Compton team were: Anjali Depala,
Matthew Chadder, Teo Canmetin, Josh
Pear, Sofia Dellamura, Soraya Siregar,
Jaymin Shah and Anish Sheth.
All of the students presented to the
audience and they should be given a huge
amount of credit for their clear, concise,
informative and sometimes humorous
delivery. Well done!
Morgan Crump
Business Studies Teacher
SPORTS News at The Compton School
by Nikki Chodurek
And so we conclude another hectic winter season. Considerable success has been seen in Handball, Football
(Girls and Boys) and Trampolining.
Interform competitions have been well attended throughout the two terms and many thanks to Mr Clark and Mr Farley
for organising these.
We have some extremely talented and skillful students who constantly display enthusiasm, resilience and tenacity…
.another excellent sporting term. Well done.
• Year 7 and 8 Girls Football – North London Winners and are off to Goodison Park
• Year 7 Boys – Rugby. Had a ‘blast’ at Saracens Allianz
• Barnet Schools Cross Country Championships. Josephine, Maria and Wadeh all represented Barnet at the
Middlesex Championships and Josephine went on to run at the English Schools competition in Nottingham.
• Girls Rugby – Winners Year 7 and 8 Barnet Schools Tournament, and are now representing Barnet in the London
Youth Games.
• Winners Year 9 and 10 – Barnet Schools Tournament and represented Barnet at the Middlesex ‘play offs’ at Harrow
RFU
The Compton School Hall of Fame - Spring 2016
Interform Winners: Year 8 Girls Football
Girls U15 Handball Team - Barnet
representatives at the London Youth Games
Interform Winners: Year 7 Girls Football
Year 7: Barnet Netball League Winners
Boys U15 Handball Team - Barnet Representatives at
the London Youth Games
Year 10 Boys Football: Barnet Cup Winners
Terrific Tens! Barnet Schools
Netball League Champions
Top trampolinists triumph: medals galore!
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SPORTS News at The Compton School
A place in the Under 14 Middlesex Rugby Squad for Josh
Joshua Howell captains
Finchley Rugby Club and was
put forward by his coach to try
out for the Middlesex Under 14
rugby team. Josh performed
exceptionally well over the
three trial evenings and made it
through to the squad training
phase. This is an amazing
achievement because all rugby
clubs in Middlesex put forward
their best three players for trials
and from the hundreds of
players who trial a squad of
only 24 is selected.
Josh has been training
regularly with the Middlesex
Squad in Staines RFU and is
looking forward to his first
game this month.
Well done Josh, an amazing
achievement!
Stuart Merritt
Assistant Headteacher
Barnet Borough Boccia Champions
Mr Civan and Ms Robinson accompanied four KS3 students to a borough-wide Boccia
competition where they became the Barnet borough champions. This led to them taking part in the
London finals where the students got
through to the quarter finals - the furthest
Barnet have ever got in this competition.
Boccia, related to bowls, has been a
Paralympic sport since 1984 and is played
in over 50 countries across the world. The
game was originally designed to be played
by people with cerebral palsy but now
includes athletes with disabilities affecting
motor skills and is contested at local,
national and international levels.
Well done to our team!
Sharon Robinson
Senior Teaching Assistant
by Nikki Chodurek
Lewis wins a
Scholarship
Huge congratulations to
Lewis Hobbs who has
been offered a scholarship
at Barnet Football Club
beginning in September.
This is something that
Lewis has been working
very hard towards over
the course of Year 11,
training
hard
whilst
keeping on top of his
academic work and we
are delighted that all his
diligence and
his
determination have paid
off.
The scholarship means
that Lewis will be able to
study for his A’ Levels
whilst training with the
club and pursuing a
career in Football.
Well done, Lewis, we
are all extremely proud of
you!
Danielle Irving
Key Stage 4 Leader
Year 7 Boys Cross Country
Barnet Schools Senior Girls Cross Country runners up
Year 9 and 10 Barnet Schools Rugby Tournament winners - now
representing Barnet in Middlesex playoffs
Year 7 and 8 Barnet Schools Rugby Tournament winners - now
representing Barnet in the London Youth Games
Students return to school at 10.45am on Tuesday, 19th April 2016, Week 1
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