Issue No. 415 ...

Issue No. 415
Friday, 17th October 2014
Dear Parents and Carers,
Congratulations to Mrs Julia McAuley who received her award from
the Mayor, Jules Pipe, for 25 years’ work in Hackney. She attended a
special presentation ceremony at the Town Hall last week for all
Hackney employees who have achieved this impressive landmark in
years of service. In Julia’s case, it has been continuous service in Our
Lady’s Convent High School, firstly as school secretary, then as office
manager and now as Headteacher’s PA. I know I speak for all staff
and students as I thank her most sincerely for her tremendous
commitment to our school. Nothing is ever too much trouble for
Julia and she is always willing to help – not least with the annual
admissions process when many of you will have had conversations
with her about baptism certificates and supplementary information
forms!
Welcome to Ms Amma Adjei who joins us on Monday as a new Learning Support assistant in the
Inclusion department, we wish her every success in her new role.
Year 11 Parents’ evening
Thank you to all the parents who joined us last Thursday for this important consultation evening
regarding your daughters’ progress towards their GCSE achievement. I know that staff really value
this opportunity to speak with you about how students can improve in their studies. Ms
Georgakakou, Head of Year 11, also provided a very useful reminder of the revision classes
available, if you missed your copy, then it is posted on the website in the Information section.
Charity Collection – update from Daniela Bishop, Charity prefect
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our collection last week for Breast Cancer we raised
the sum of £104.40.
Wet weather reminder
Please could you ensure that your daughter abides by our guidelines regarding umbrellas in school,
they should be the telescopic variety and kept folded and away whilst inside the building.
Visit to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace
Tifany Sahili - Y12 AS Art and Design Textiles
Going to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace for the first time made me want to
go again. When you hear the word 'show' you would probably think it was an actual show but
actually it's more like a market. There's a bunch of kiosks with things from textiles technology to
fabrics and tutorials on how to braid and create various textiles products which really blew my
mind away. I loved this experience, it gave me more ideas as to how I can improve my work as
well as the confidence to just be creative and not be afraid to think 'out-side-the-box'.
Our Lady’s Convent High School, 6-16 Amhurst Park, London N16 5AF
Telephone: 020 8800 2158 Fax: 020 8809 8898
E-mail: officeadmin@ourladys.hackney.sch.uk Website: www.ourladys.hackney.sch.uk
Headteacher : Mrs Jane Gray
Marie-Lauren Appavoo - Y13 A2 Art and Design Textiles
Last Wednesday we visited the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, it was a chance
for us to see artist’s and textiles designer’s work and to be able to gather information about
techniques, fabrics and ways of manipulating and creating our samples and final pieces.
During the exhibition I was able to find direct links to my theme or a similar theme of landscapes,
it gave me the opportunity to find out how create a flowing layered landscape using a techniques
such as chenille and felting. This was a problem that I faced when attempting to create samples as
it was just blocks of colour rather than a whole picture, but being able to talk to the artist and
textile designers it enlightened me of how something so beautiful and intricate could turn out to
be very simple.
Year 8 Trip to the Isle of Wight – Report by Mr. Shine, Head of Year 8
The year 8’s were on a trip to the Kingswood centre on the Isle of Wight last weekend. They left
on Friday morning and took part in a number of fun activities allowing them to discover their full
potential in a very different environment. The activities were Abseiling, Zip wire, Carting,
Climbing and Archery to list but a few and a great time was had by all. The girls gained a great
deal from the activities developing their group communication skills and learning to work as part
of a team.
Technopop Trip – 8th October – Report by Mr. Andrews and Mr. Duffy.
Year 8, 9 and 10 students attended a
Technopop festival in Stratford Olympic
Park. Year 10 students attended a talk
about space exploration while Year 8
and 9 students competed in a robot
competition where they had to design
and build their own robots.
On the way back from the festival we
walked through the Olympic park,
exploring the gardens, water fountains
and engineering structures along the way. Well done to all the students who attended whose
behaviour was fantastic throughout even though the festival itself was slightly disappointing.
Hackney Youth Parliament election results - Report by Mrs Rose, Head of History and
Citizenship
Surita Boateng in year 8 was this week elected as a member of the Hackney Youth Parliament.
Five girls from Our Lady’s went to witness the announcement, and also took part in a question
and answer session with the Hackney mayor, the Head of Hackney's Children Services, Chief
Inspector Crick from the Metropolitan Police, together with a current member of the Hackney
Youth Parliament. Questions our students asked included what plans the mayor had for future
developments in youth services, and what the panel planned to do with less funding coming from
the government. A huge congratulations for Surita, who now has two years to try and influence
change and developments in Hackney for the young. More information about the event can be
found at www.younghackney.org, as well as information about local events and clubs that our
students can become involved with.
Black History Month year 8 workshop at Sutton House – Report by Mrs Rose, Head of
History and Citizenship
The History department this week took nine year 8 students to Sutton House to get involved in a
local Black History Month project. The girls were given a tour and told about the history of Sutton
House and the links it has to Olaudah Equiano, an anti-slavery campaigner. They then took part in
drama workshops to understand how Equiano would have felt about being taken as a slave as a
young boy. The girls are now designing posters to advertise a production of ‘Olaudah Equiano: the
Enslaved African’, which is due to be performed during November. The posters will go on display
in Sutton House, and the winner will be announced next week.
Attendance and Punctuality – Information from Dr Blackwell
The table below shows the Form within each year group achieving the best attendance and the
form achieving the best punctuality for the week ending 10th October 2014. Congratulations to
these forms and a special mention to 7P with 100% Attendance.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Jane Gray
Head Teacher
Attendance
Punctuality
Form %
Form
%
Year 7
7P
100
7P
99.06
Year 8
8H
99.68 8J
99.33
Year 9
9J
97.19
9H
99.69
Year 10 10P
99.31
10M 98.67
Year 11 11J
97.24
11H
98.33