The Compton Newsletter April 2014

THE
COMPTON SCHOOL
National
Teaching
School
National Teaching School
“Outstanding” Ofsted
Newsletter
April 2014 Issue 2
INSIDE:
Message from the
Headteacher
*
Message from the
Chair of
Governors
*
Expansion
Update
*
Celebrating
Achievement
*
Charity News
*
Departmental
News
*
Trips and Visits
*
Sports
The cultural diversity of The Compton School community is represented in a
colourful ‘Cultural Diversi-tree’ sculpture, created by students in Years 7, 8 and 9
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
Incredibly
we
have
reached week 25 of the
school year and so much
has happened in another highly eventful
school term.
Celebrating success
As you know we had a wonderful start to
2014 receiving a letter from David Laws,
Minister of State for Education,
congratulating the school on being one of
the top 100 non selective secondary
schools in the UK. This is wonderful news
and we are very proud of the
achievements of our students. A big thank
you to staff and parents for the hard work
and support provided to make this so.
This good news was followed in
February by our accreditation from the
Department for Education to run our own
teacher training programme – training new
teachers from start to finish at the school.
We are one of only a few London Schools
to have been approved to deliver this
important training. The first cohort of our
trainees will start a year-long programme
in September 2014 during which time they
will be tutored by some of our highly
experienced and outstanding teachers.
This term we also hosted a one day
review by Peter Gale, who, until recently,
was an HMI (Her Majesty’s Inspector of
schools) working for OFSTED. Peter
observed lessons, met students and
spoke to heads of department, senior staff
and governors. Amongst the many
positive statements he made about the
school he commented that “achievement
is remarkable – with all key subjects in the
top 10% for achievement”, that students
are very positive about their experiences
at school and that Governors
are
“impressive and knowledgeable”. This
Message from the School Governors
Dear Parents
Following the parent governor elections, we welcomed two new parent governors
this term. If you think that you’d like to be part of our team of governors in the future,
please keep an eye out for future vacancies on the website.
As part of our review of the 2013 exam results, Ms Mulkerins gave a
presentation to the governing body on the DfE performance tables
(http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/) which highlight the school’s
excellent performance as further noted in the letter received from David Laws MP,
which was circulated to parents earlier in the term.
As you are probably aware, the school has regular visits from representatives of
all sorts of national education bodies. I am delighted to say that the feedback from
these is invariably excellent. One benefit of such visits is that they serve as a
means of keeping the school in continued readiness for a potential Ofsted
inspection. As a governing body we also need to be ready for Ofsted and this term
some of us took part in an informal review by a former Ofsted inspector. This was
very useful and gave us some good guidance in the event of a formal inspection.
On behalf of the Governing Body, I hope you all enjoy the Easter holiday.
Sebastian Wood, Chair of Governors
chairofgovernors@thecompton.org.uk
final comment was a timely observation as
we received news this term that Sebastian
Wood, our Chair of Governors, had
been designated a National Leader
of Governance. Congratulations to
Sebastian who joins an elite group of
Chairs of Governors, all from schools with
an Ofsted grading of Outstanding for
Leadership and Management. Sebastian
has been trained by the National College
to offer support and advice to other Chairs
of Governors in schools where leadership
is not as strong.
Expansion building work
The torrential rainfall and storms of early
January have unfortunately caused a
slight delay to the building programme, but
I am pleased to report that we are getting
back on track. With the steel frame for the
building in place we can now see what the
outline of the new block will be like. Stop
frame video footage and regular bulletins
on the building progress can be found on
the school website.
Hello and farewell
This term saw the arrival of baby Finlay
for Mr McDonnell and his wife but sadly
we also bid farewell to Ms Hatton from
Science who is moving out of London to
return to teach in her former school in
Manchester. Thank you to Ms Hatton for
all she has done for the school and best
wishes for her future career. We also say
goodbye to one of our cleaning staff, Mr
Debra who is moving out of the area.
Finally I would like to wish you and your
families a very Happy Easter.
Teresa Tunnadine
EXPANSION UPDATE
Weather Doesn’t Stop Steel Skeleton Taking Shape
Despite the very wet winter
months, work continued to
press
ahead
with
the
construction of the new
building. Over the past few
weeks there has been a lot of
2
excitement and interest as the
steel framework has been
taking shape. This part of the
project is due to be completed
by the time we break for the
holiday and the next stage will
be the construction of the roof
ready for walls to be put in
place when we will really begin
to get a feel for how the
building
will
look
on
completion.
We continue to develop our
educational partnership with
our construction company,
Morgan Sindall, who loaned us
their Site Manager for the day
to take part in Year 11 Interview
Skills Day. Students in Year 8
have been working on designs
for a sculpture which will be
displayed near the front
entrance when the building
opens in the autumn and Year
8 are also embarking on a
project using the steel
framework of the building as a
stimulus for an art project.
Other exciting plans include
the
History
Department
involving students in putting
together a Time Capsule to be
buried in the foundations to the
entrance.
Denise Beardshaw
Associate Headteacher
AWARDS AND WINNERS
Celebrating the Achievers of Autumn 2013
Headteacher’s Award Winners - Year 7
7C - Meena Azim, Szyman Sokolowski
7O - Devika Dabasia, Samuel Cahill
whose efforts and hard work last
7M - Krina Ruparel, Nicholas Surtees
7P - Damini Depala, Amirali Monshizadehm
Autumn have been recognised through 7T - Scarlett Birdi, Rio Ajayi
7N - Fatima Addo, Joseph Ellis
7S - Poppy Halksworth, Mathimakan Nadarajah
The Compton School’s Award system 7H - Megan Mulligan, Gent Gashi
Headteacher’s Award Winners - Year 8
Headteacher’s Award Winners - Year 9
8C - Faizel Nuamah, Arjan Arenas
9C - Louis O’Shea,Karishma Chauhan
8O - Katerina Sandamas, Matthew Chadder-Manchego-Humphrey 9O - Farah Fahad, Amir Razak
8M - Jillian Tus-Ling Cheng Jaymin Shah
9M - Iman Abdulahi Siyad, Tawheed Ghafoori
8P - Georgia Hennessy, Billy Ephgrave
9P - Stanley Martin, Mariqua Keshi-Clunis
8T - Doaa Ahmed, Amaan Kaleem
9T - George Charalambous, Bethan Davies
8N - Rheana Buffonge-Crawley, Gamos Havolli
9N - William Lloyd, Shanaz Hosany
8S - Nikola Petkov, Athena Poyiadjis
8H - Hannah Gasasira, Louis Udeh
9S - Sahand Lali, Chhaya Ganda
Headteacher’s Award Winners - Year 10
Headteacher’s Award Winners - Year 11
Jason Cheng, Clara Therese Lescano
Bhavnisha Karamshi, Emma Lloyd
Ravi Nakrani, Zaynab Chowdhury
Elena Bozova, Micha Claydon
Asmaa Ali, Kaynath Rahman, Khadijah Sufi
Sasha Reechaye, Padina Amininavaei
Leanne Drury, Gabriel Musker, Yashil Gopee
Alisha Gohil, Samaradynee Kolas
Natasha Joseph, Ambereen Razak, Mohamed Kassim
Maryam Muhktar, Umika Patel
Anya Mallerman-Bristow, Ryunosuke Yamazaki
Julia Karpa, Aneri Damodar
Chloe Jakharia, Emina Pignatelli
Georgie Ephgrave, Jack Judd-Robinson
Avni Master, Youcef Sedaoui
Congratulations to all these students
Celebrating Cultural Diversity
Cultural Art Project
This term has seen the introduction of a
new project to celebrate the cultural
diversity of the school. A group of 30
students from Years 7, 8 and 9 worked with
Ms Crivellaro and Ms Odjida on a
sculpture which is on display in the
concourse. The sculpture is of a tree,
representing The Compton community.
The students took part in research about
what we mean by culture, different
religions and human rights before focusing
on their own backgrounds and those of the
other students in their group. They then
produced leaves for the trees, using
images and words, each one representing
their culture and background in some way.
The sculpture is a visual display of our
diverse school community and of our pride
in
this
aspect
of
our
school.
As the students change and the
community evolves, so can the sculpture
as new students can take part in the
project, producing their own leaves.
Students who took part in the workshops
said that this project had given them time
to learn about their own culture and the
cultures of others and that this helped
them to understand other people. Tia and
Abbie, Year 7, said, “We learnt a lot about
different cultures, religions and how people
show respect. We enjoyed making the
leaves for the artwork and thought it was a
creative and enjoyable experience."
A huge thanks goes to Ms Crivellaro
and Ms Odjida for all of their hard work on
the sculpture and well done to all of the
students who took part. The tree sculpture
has taken its place in the concourse and
can be enjoyed by students, staff and
visitors, as well making an important
statement about our commitment to
celebrating diversity.
Ms Oakley, Cultural Diversity Co-ordinator,
Cate Mandell, Cultural Ambassador and
Iman Abdulahi-Siyad, Literacy Leader
2014: The Year of the Horse
The Cultural Ambassadors at The
Compton have been busy working behind
the scenes carrying out research, writing
news articles for The Compton News, and
creating
resources for Personal
Development Time and about different
cultural events.
In January, the school celebrated
Chinese New Year which, this year, is The
Year of the Horse. Did you know the horse
sign symbolises prosperity through
fortitude and hard work? Apparently, those
who are born in the Year of the Horse are
good at communicating, always want to
be in the limelight and like entertainment
and large crowds.
The date of Chinese New Year changes
each year as it is based on the lunar
calendar. This year it was on Friday 31st
January. Students learnt about different
traditions in celebrating Chinese New Year
and how to say ‘Happy New Year’ in
Chinese. We also enjoyed Chinese food in
the café and Chinese traditional music in
the concourse. Other events that the
Cultural Ambassadors have been
preparing resources for are Iranian New
Year, St George’s Day, Passover,
Ramadan and Eid, reflecting the wide
range of cultures in our school. Xīn Nián
Kuà i Lè !
Ms Oakley
Cultural Diversity Co-ordinator
3
CHARITY FOCUS AND UPDATES
A Helping Hand for Those In Need
Looking Out for One of Our Own
More than £3200 was raised at our
second charity event of the spring term
which took place on Friday, 14th March.
One of our Year 8 students has been
very ill with leukaemia and requires a
special operation. The family have set a
target to reach in order to pay for the
operation. Some of her Year 8 friends
along with Charity Leaders thought it
would be a great idea to devote our fund
raising efforts to help this appeal.
Charity Leaders and Year 8 students
quickly got to work to ensure that we were
able to raise plenty of money to support
her cause.
One of her friends prepared a power
point to be used by all Year 8 tutors with
their groups during a PDT session. This
informed the whole school about the need
to raise money to pay for the operation. A
group of friends planned and presented an
assembly to Year 8 students. Volunteer
bakers were recruited to prepare cakes for
the traditional cake sale. There was also a
‘knock the cans down’ competition which
added to the fun and the school day had
been designated a non-school uniform
day with students donating £1 to wear
non-school uniform.
We were all amazed at the generosity of
The Compton School community and their
families - the response was overwhelming
and all parts of the fundraising event were
a great success.
This record-breaking effort was a result
of the hard work of fundraisers and the
generosity of parents and students.
Thank you all very much indeed.
Homeless Action in Barnet
In February, Year 10
students organised their
Charity Event. It was decided
that a local charity would be a
great one to do - one that
helped people going through
particular difficulties. After
research and discussion, it
was agreed that we would like
to support Homeless Action in
Barnet. This charity is based
on Woodhouse Road and is a
day care centre providing
support and guidance for local
homeless people.
Year 10 Charity Leaders
visited the centre and met the
manager and were very
impressed with the excellent
work the Charity is doing.
Several weeks later one of the
Trustees of the Charity, John
Bier, visited the school to
meet Charity Leaders and
provide more information
about their work. John also
agreed to give an assembly to
Year 8 students who had
recently been studying the
topic of homelessness in their
English
lessons.
The
assembly provided a valuable
insight into the Charity and
students were involved in a
question and answer session.
On 7th February, we held
our fund raising event.
Students paid £1 or more to
attend school in non-school
uniform on that day. There
was a cake sale and
hundreds of cakes were sold all produced by some
exceptional student bakers
and, in some cases, their
parents. The event raised
£1275 to help the Homeless
Action In Barnet continue its
excellent work.
Disasters Emergency Committee
At the time of publishing the last newsletter, students were in the middle of preparing their
charity event to help victims of the Hurricane in the Philippines. You will remember that there
were thousands of victims who lost lives, family, home and livelihoods. Students investigated
how best to help these victims and over £1200 was raised by
students at The Compton School to help the international relief
programme. In our small way, students were able to reach out to the
victims and help survivors to rebuild their shattered lives.
The Disasters Emergency Committee has written to the school and
thanked us for our fund raising efforts and told us how the money will
support people in desperate need of direct help as well as our
thoughts. Thank you to all involved.
4
by Michael Barrett
SMSC Coordinator
My Role as
Charity Leader
A Student’s View
This leadership role has
allowed me to collaborate with
my peers and develop my
group work skills, take
responsibility and be punctual,
build confidence and public
speaking skills. Furthermore, I
have taken part in several big
opportunities correlating with
this role, including presenting
numerous times in assembly,
visiting local charities whilst
representing our school and
taking lead roles in organising
charity days. Lastly, I have
expanded my knowledge on
my local community and have
become active in supporting
local charities and tackling
issues they may face. This
fantastic role will benefit me in
the future when group work
and public speaking will
become more dominant.
Emina Pignatelli
Charity Leader, Year 10
Art & Photography
by Hayley Durkin
Head of Art
Workshop at the Royal College of Art
On Monday, 17th
March, Year 10 Art
students were given
the exciting opportunity
to take part in a
workshop at the Royal
College of Art. The
workshop coincided
with the college's RCA
Secret
exhibition,
which was used as a
source of inspiration by
the students. During
the workshop, led by
artist Bethan Durie,
students
explored
monoprinting
and
collage techniques in
their own work.
"We
found
the
day an inspirational
experience!
We
enjoyed seeing art in
different contexts and
discussing our own
ideas with the artist."
Maria Kyriacou
Students considered
how
artworks
are
curated and used
drawings made in
response to others'
work to explore mark-
making and repetition.
Well done to all
students involved!
Sculptural Collaboration to Create Welcoming Display
Students from our 'Sculpture Club' have been working on a project where they
have designed a sculpture which will form part of our schools new expansion.
The sculpture, which will be created by sculptor Paul Margetts, will be displayed
near the entrance to the school. On Thursday 13th March, Year 8 students from
the after school club had the opportunity to present their projects to senior staff
and sculptor Paul Margetts. The students
involved in the project demonstrated
talent and enthusiasm in their work with
Ms Crivellaro and presented their ideas
eloquently to the judging panel. The final
sculpture will be based on a design by
Petar Djordjic whilst encorporating
elements of designs by Catherine
Moransee, Zara Alshakrey, Thanugi
Thurendiran, Cosmin Avadanei and
Courtney Tilley. Whist visiting the school,
Paul Margetts also gave a presentation to
Year 8 students detailing his impressive
body of work and gave demonstrations of
a variety of metalwork techniques.
Zara Alshakrey, Year 8, said, "It was a
great experience to be part of the
Sculpture Club. I loved the work we
created and we made friends. It brought
us all together and we worked as a team"
Order and Disorder
at Tate Modern
During this half term, Year 11 Art and Year
11 Photography students have visited the
Tate Modern during their Art or Photography
lessons. Students enjoyed walking along
the Southbank in the sunshine after
spending time in the gallery to research the
work of contemporary artists as part of their
externally set assignment whilst exploring
the theme of 'Order and / or Disorder'.
5
Drama - Act I, Scene I
Bronze Arts Award students pass with flying colours!
Huge congratulations for the
16 Year 11 students who
passed their Bronze Arts
Award
this
term.
The
moderator had high praise for
the students' creativity and in
particular for the high quality
theatre reviews that they had
written as part of the award.
The Bronze Award consists of
four parts. Part A involved the
students taking on a role
within a production. These
roles ranged from actor to
stage manager and from
lighting operator to leading on
'Front of House'. Our two
school productions last year,
Oliver and A Christmas Carol,
provided opportunities for our
students to pass this aspect of
the award. Part B involved the
students being an audience
member. Over the year the
arts award students saw six
pieces of live theatre and so
had a range of productions to
choose from when writing their
review. Part C saw the
students researching their arts
hero or heroine and Part D
required them to share the
skills they had developed with
others. In order to achieve
Part D, the students worked in
small groups to devise a
workshop for Year 7 and 8
students on a range of skills,
these included use of voice on
stage, characterisation skills
and use of 'Physical Theatre'.
Next term we will be launching
our next arts award group, this
will be open to all Year 10
Drama students.
Zoe Merritt
Senior Teacher
Year 11 GCSE Performance Evenings
Desperate to Understand The Truth
As part of their preparations for their performance exam
at the start of April, our Year 11 Drama students had to
showcase their work to families and friends. Seven different
plays were shown over two evenings on 24th and 25th
March.
The students were credited for exploring a wide range of
themes and theatrical styles such as secrets, riots, poverty,
racism, peer pressure, the mind and missing people. The
evenings presented the short plays with a mixture of
comedy and tragedy highlighting the exceptional talent
amongst the students. A visiting examiner is marking their
performances on 1st and 2nd April: Good luck Year 11!
25 Year 9 students have the amazing opportunity to see The
Believers by Frantic Assembly (a movement and physical theatre
based company) and award-winning playwright Bryony Lavery, at
the Tricycle Theatre at a discounted price. This will take place in
the summer term on 15th May.
Synopsis: Two families
are flung together on a
Liana Anthony, Joint Head of Drama
night
of
cataclysmic
weather. Bruised, tired
and seduced by the flow of alcohol, they wrestle with their differences until, suddenly, the
unthinkable happens. Something unbelievable. As their versions of what happened begin to
fall apart and their perspectives become clouded by suspicion, they turn on each other in a
desperate fight to understand the truth.
Sarah Tunnadine, Joint Head of Drama
Advice for the Young At Heart
Act Out! ‘The 39 Steps’
The collaboration of our Year 9 Drama
Consultation group and current Year 10
GCSE students created a lively learning
environment in January for the Act Out
theatre programme. A professional actor,
Robert Stephenson delivered two drama
workshops exploring the performance style
Farce, Film Noir and Physical Theatre
through the West End’s The 39 Steps as a
stimulus. Students were really impressed
with just how
amusing a farce
can be and, for
most, this was a
w o n d e r f u l
introduction to the
original story of
The 39 Steps.
Students were very eager to re-enact parts of
the play in their drama workshops, playing
comedy duos, slapstick comedy and
exaggerated stock characters.
Liana Anthony
Joint Head of Drama
6
On Monday, 20th January, year 9 and
10 students watched a play in the
school hall called Advice for the Young
at Heart. Students were asked to write a
theatre review to develop literacy skills
and also for practise for GCSE exams.
Overall, the students were really
enthused by the performance and have
really engaged in this topic.
“Linking in with modern day issues,
the play portrays Candice as an
everyday teenager: her face is strong
and she seems fierce until we find out
what she has been through in order for
her boyfriend to become the gang
member he is” Yagoda Sokolowska, Year
10
“I think the play was designed very
cleverly and the actors supported the
masterpiece through the choice of
drama techniques and they played the
subtext incredibly well.” Harry Curley,
Year 9
“This influential play by Roy Williams,
successfully portrays a teenage girl
making the difficult choice between the
person you love and your morals and
how she copes with the loss of her
grandad; the father-figure in her
childhood filled with poverty” Cate
Mandell, Year 9
Sarah Tunnadine
Joint Head of Drama
FOCUS ON LITERACY
Book Swaps and Tokens on World Book Day 2014
World Book Day is an annual
charity event to celebrate
reading, books, authors and
illustrators. It is celebrated in
more than 100 countries
around the world. This year
World Book Day was on
Thursday, 6th March. The
Compton marked the day with
a book swap, book tokens for
all students in Years 7, 8 and 9
and teachers reading extracts
from their favourite books at
lunchtime in the LRC.
The book swap offered
students an opportunity to
bring in books they had read
and swap them for something
new. Any books left over were
donated to the LRC. Over 60
books were entered for the
swap and lots of students were
able to liven up their
bookshelves
with
new
additions. This event was such
a huge success, it will be
repeated. So watch this space!
All students in Key Stage 3
were given a £1 book token,
valid until 30th March.
To use this token, students
should take it to a book shop
and they will receive £1 off any
book (or audio book) worth
£2.99 or more. Alternatively,
they can swap it for a copy of
The Boy in the Smoke by
Maureen Johnson or Rock War
by Robert Muchamore and
they won’t have to pay
anything at all! This is a
fantastic way to encourage
students to read over the
Easter holidays.
Many thanks go out to the
teachers who volunteered to
read to students from their
favourite
books
during
lunchtime on World Book Day
itself. Groups of students were
enthralled by Ms Merritt’s
dramatic reading from one of
the Harry Potter books, Ms
Groves reading The Magician’s
Nephew and Mr McGlynn
reading The Jungle Book,
amongst others. Staff also took
part in a video entitled A Book
that Changed My Life, which
was delivered during a PDT
session but which parents and
students can see on the school
website. Special thanks also
go to Ms Thompson and Ms
Doyle for all their hard work
and support with organising
this year’s events.
To find a list of 50 books that
could change your life or for
games, competitions or to sign
up to the World Book Day
newsletter, please visit the
World Book Day website (www.
worldbookday.com).
Happy reading!
Ms Oakley
Literacy Teacher
MATHS DEPARTMENT
The Compton Loves Maths
MATHS TRIP TO
HERTFORDSHIRE UNIVERSITY
YEAR 10 MATHS COMPETITION
REGIONAL HEATS
On Wednesday 15th January, some of
our Year 10 students went to Hertfordshire
University to take part in some maths
enrichment activities. There were schools
invited from all over London and even
some from Barnet, such as Queen
Elizabeth Boys.
There were some lectures by
professors and also some university style
activities. They also learnt some new
maths symbols such as “Zequals”. The
students were firmly told that they could
not use this symbol in a real exam. They
then asked the teachers, Ms Chapple and
Ms Lewis, if they could use it in the end of
year mock. The teachers then replied
with, “You heard what he said!”
The students also managed to work out,
‘How long is a piece of string?’ They were
then shown two pictures of string and had
to decide which piece was longer, A or B.
The students spent quite a bit of time
working it out and realised that the answer
was, ‘However long you desire’.
Just before lunch, there was a
workshop done on the ‘length of a
coastline’. Depending on the scale you
use, the coastline can be longer or shorter
than it actually is. The students had to
work out the coastlines of Britain and
On Friday, 14th February, four Year 10
students, Gabriel, Khadijah, Jake and
Avni, went to a regional heat of the
Further Maths Support Programme’s
team competition to take part in a series of
challenges in Mathematics. Five rounds of
challenges took place with simple puzzle
solving to Base 6 arithmetic. Throughout,
The Compton team stayed at the top of
the leaderboard and won the competition
with several points above the runners-up.
This meant that the team is through to the
final round which will be much harder than
the previous. The Compton’s competitors
have already started working on the
matrices section of the final, a subject not
usually covered until A’ Level.
Shortly after winning, Gabriel said, “It
was great to have this chance to study
harder Maths outside of school. I think the
team worked really well at dividing tasks
to ensure our success. I have a lot of
confidence for the final round.”
Australia. They took the different
measurements
and
applied
the
‘Richardson Effect’.
During lunch, the students were given a
quiz that they could do. The questions
were from all the topics of maths.
After lunch, they learnt ‘The Maths of
Games’. This was a very interesting
workshop on how there is maths in every
board game that you play. For example,
the most visited square on Monopoly is
‘Jail’. There is a sure way of winning
Chocky Soap. The next you play with
someone, make sure that it is not one of
our Year 10s!
The Year 10 students thoroughly
enjoyed the day and would “definitely” do
it again if given an opportunity.
Avni Masters
Year 10
Jake Taylor
Year 10
The Regional Final will be held on 7th
May. Watch this space.....
7
Design and Technology
ROTARY YOUNG CHEF COMPETITION
Sparks Flies on the Taste of Success
On Saturday, 15th March, Anthony
Sparks, Year 10, became the Rotary
Young Chef Regional Champion after
winning the Regional Final that took place
in Kingsway College, Westminster.
Anthony wowed the judges, who
included: Gary Lee, Head Chef at the Ivy
restaurant; Paul Wayne, Gregory
International Chocolatiers (whose clients
include Microsoft, Harrods, Harvey
Nicholls, to name but a few); Peter Tiley,
Head of Catering at Barnet Southgate
College and Geraldine Higgins, Chef
Lecturer at Ealing Hammersmith and
West London. Anthony is now in the final
of this competition to be held up in
Scotland at the end of April. We all wish
him the very best.
The first round was held back in
November at The Compton School when
Anthony and Lauren Stephens-Spence,
from Year 8, were chosen to represent
the school. These two students then
competed at Wembley College of North
West London in January against other
students from North London. As runner
up, Anthony was invited to enter the next
round held at Kingsway College in
Febuary. This round was attended by the
Mayor of Westminster, Councillor Sarah
Richardson. Anthony was judged on his
chef abilities, presentation skills and the
flavours of his dish. His dishes were
salmon fillets baked in a red thai curry
wrapped in a banana leaf served with
steamed jasmine rice infused with
lemongrass. This was followed by a
lychee and lemongrass sorbet. This feast
was enough for Anthony to win through to
the regional final and offer a taste of
flavours to come!
Class of Your Own
Architects for the Day
Mrs Carter and Mr Hall visited one of the biggest architect/engineer companies in the
world, Mott McDonald, on a fact finding mission over February half term.
The purpose of the visit was to find out just what engineers do and pass that information
onto our budding architects and engineers in Year 9 who are currently creating their own
eco building designs in COYO (Class of Your Own). They were introduced to engineers
working on such projects as the HS2 Railway and Headingly Cricket Ground. The whole
ethos of the engineers was to build in the most ecologically sound and sustainable way
which ties in beautifully with our own students’ designs.
Year 9 Designers at The Royal Institute of Surveyors
Back in January, our Year 9 Product Designers participated in an all day enterprise
workshop run by 'Class of Your Own'. In teams of eight, the students had all day to plan
and design an eco classroom that was the same size as the hall. Experts, including an
architect, a landscape designer, a surveyor and a
company director, all helped and gave every group
guidance and advice. At the end of the day the
students presented their work to a panel of judges
and the winners and runners up were chosen.
Well done to winning Team Two, George,
Imogen, Ryan, Frishta, Lucy, Gregory and
Tawheed and to the runners up Team 3,Lara,
Amin, Keirha, Bethany, Evan, Adam, Taylor
The winning team will be presenting at the Royal
Institute Chartered Surveyors in front of industry
professionals on March the 20th.
Rachel Carter, i/c Product Design
and Rob Hall, Senior D&T Technician
All’s Well in the TCS Garden Club
After the long, wet winter it was great to be
able to get outdoors and stuck into The
Compton Garden. The greenhouse has
been repaired and now the garden clubbers
can begin planting up the seeds that have
been kindly donated. Also repaired is the
compost bin so that we can turn all the
veggie cuttings from the food room back into
lovely compost and grow more veggies for
the food room. Recycling in action!
Even though the poor weather and darker
nights have kept the club indoors there were
still plenty of fun things to do, including
making seed cakes for the birds to feast on.
The bird seed cakes have been positioned
8
around the garden to tempt our feathered
friends so that we can begin to use our
identification skills to work out what species
we have around. Once the bird table is
completed and positioned outside G6, we
can begin to spy on the birds feeding.
Although we want to attract birds to the
school we don’t necessarily want them
munching on the seeds we plant so we will
be making some scarecrows to keep them
off the areas we want bird-free.
There’s always something fun to do at the
Garden Club. If you want to know more or
have some ideas of your own, let us know.
Rob Hall, Senior D&T Technician
Ms Clifford, Head of Food Technology
and Mrs O’Shea, D&T Technician/Food
High Praise for
Textiles Students
A group of 12 Year 10 Textiles
students visited the fashion
department at Barnet and
Southgate College on 28th
February for a 'Customise a TShirt' day.
The day was led by college
lecturer Joanne Sutherland who
stated she was amazed by the
students creativity and ability to
work independently. Students
spent the day working on
designs and then customising tshirts. A huge thank you to
Joanne Sutherland, Mr Kumar
and Mrs O'Shea for taking the
students. Also, a ‘Well Done’ to
the students who attended the
visit, who were Precious Isles,
Zahirah
Khan,
Najuma
Greenwood, Eloise Monague,
Brogan
Church,
Chandni
Thakkar, Baille Scott-Nicholls,
Charli Scott-Nicholls, Soraya
Skinner, Victoria Pohlmann,
Christopher
Antoniou
and
Mairead Blowers.
Julie Tinsley
Head of D&T
Textiles design
Competition
The
Design
and
Technology
Department are holding a competition for
students to design a fashion garment or
accessory made from recycled products.
The competition is open to all students
at The Compton School. Students should
submit a design idea for their product,
then they can come along after school to
make their design become a reality. The
competition will be in two parts; we will
look for a winner for the most innovative
design and a winner for best made
product. So who can use everyday throw
away items most creatively and effectively
and come up with exciting and ingenious
designs? See Ms Tinsley for an
application sheet. All entries must be
submitted by Monday, 28th April 2014.
STEM CLUB
Whizz! Flash! Bang!
Bath bombs, snowflake crystals, lighthouses, snowglobes, rockets, nylon… no, it isn’t
our birthday wish list, it’s all the exciting things the STEMlets have been making this term
at STEM club!
The STEMlets have been very busy bees, developing their teambuilding skills,
meeting students from other year groups and perfecting their science techniques while
having lots of fun conducting scientific experiments.
There might be robots on the horizon and even a
return visit from the Animal Man…
Join us at 3.10pm in M9 every Monday to feed your
scientific appetite.
Sarah Groves and Jemi Patel, Science Teachers and
Evanthia Anastasiou, Teaching Assistant
Julie
Tinsley
Head
o
f
MUSIC DEPARTMENT
Musical Notes
Handel House Opera Project
The Compton School was
chosen
as
the
only
Secondary School in London
to work with artists from the
London Handel Festival,
Royal College of Music and
the Composer-in-residence
from Handel House, as part of
an Opera project.
The Year 10 Music Class
was selected to participate in
this wonderful opportunity.
As part of the project, the
students went to the Royal
College of Music and listened
to International Conductor,
Laurence Cummings, who led
a talk on Opera, including the
traditions of performing and of
staging a Baroque Opera.
Students
then
watched
students from the Royal
College of Music perform Act
1 from Handel’s Opera Ariana
in Creta, which is the stimulus
for the project.
On 10th March, the
by Angelina Barlow
students
visited
Handel
House Museum in Bond
Street, where Handel (and
also Jimi Hendrix) lived. They
also met and got to work with
the composer-in-residence,
Cevanne. The students were
given a tour of the house and
learnt about Handel’s life and
works, whilst he lived there.
The students participated in a
Composition Workshop with
Cevanne and put together
their initial reactions and
ideas
for
an
Opera
Performance.
In the weeks following,
Cevanne has been visiting
The Compton to help and
inspire the students to
compose their own Opera
Performance, using Handel’s
Opera Ariana in Creta as the
stimulus. The project will
culminate in a performance
and a mini film.
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SKI TRIP
2014
Graduates of the Happy Ski School
February half term saw students of The
Compton School depart for the slopes for
the annual school ski trip.
The trip departed on Friday, 14th
February 2014, in romantic mood, and
headed for the Austrian ski resort of
Altenmarkt. Following an excellent journey
we arrived in resort at 11.00am and made
ourselves at home in the fantastic Hotel
Ennshof.
Our first day of skiing saw us visit the
local resort of Altenmarkt and Radstadt,
and despite the weather being surprisingly
warm for half term, all students enjoyed
their first day on the slopes. In the evening
all students took part in team building
activities, with Merritts Marauders coming
out on top!
Following heavy snow overnight, day
two was a powder day and saw us visit the
higher resort of Zauchensee. On a perfect
day for skiing great fun was had by all
groups of skiers. The evening was
rounded off with the annual table tennis
tournament, won by Stephen Bell and
Shania Hughes. We returned to
Zauchensee on Tuesday for a second day
of high altitude skiing.
On Wednesday, we visited the action
packed resort of Flachauwinkl, where the
beginner group took to the mountain for
the first time. Again, heavy snow in the
afternoon made for some interesting skiing
conditions but all students made it home
safely.
Our final days of skiing saw us return to
the resorts of Zauchensee and Altenmarkt
before we headed home on Friday, 21st
February. Another safe journey saw us
arrive back at school at 10.00am on the
Saturday, with some tired students and
staff ready for a well deserved rest.
Special thanks must go to all of the staff
who made the trip so enjoyable and
memorable for our students, Mr
Hammond, Mr Merritt, Miss Hand, Miss
Groves and Miss Wray. Thanks also to our
coach drivers Stuart and Sean, the
Thurner Family at the Ennshof and our ski
intructors from the Happy Ski School, all of
whom helped to make our holiday so
amazing.
Toby Kirkby
Assistant Headteacher
INTERVIEW SKILLS DAY
2014
Students Impress in College Dress Rehearsals
Year 11 students got the
opportunity to practice the skills
they have been learning in
school to prepare them for their
upcoming College and Sixth
Form interviews over two
afternoons during Interview
Skills Days. Students were
interviewed by a variety of
professionals and members of
the community who all shared
their experiences and gave
helpful tips to build confidence
and improve technique during
the interview process.
The school was very proud
of Year 11 who made sure they
were very well prepared for the
day by dressing appropriately
and
showing
awards,
certificates and achievements.
Individual feedback from the
interviewers was given to
10
“I enjoyed hearing of their
ambitions and how they
intended to reach their goals they all were a credit to The
Compton School.”
Vicky Cran
Year 11 Manager
students and general feedback
about the day was very
positive.
“I had a fab day, really was
blown away by the young
people I had the pleasure of
interviewing, what a lovely
bunch!
SPORTS News at The Compton School
by Nikki Chodurek
Another Sport-filled Term Draws to a Close
Under 16s Girls’ Football
It’s been another packed sporting Spring term. We have managed to
secure coaches for various activities ranging from American Football to
Girls Boxing.
The Saracens Rugby Blast has been extremely successful, allowing
students to access this sometimes elitist game.
We have had numerous team and individual successes this term which
are all highlighted below.
It has been a busy and hectic term but we are seeing many more
students participating in our ever expanding extra-curricular programme.
Thanks again to: Mr N Clark, Mr K Clark (KS3 Basketball); Mr K Civan,
Mr M Taylor (Table Tennis); Ms O Savage, Ms K Silva, Ms E Anastasiou
(Badminton Club); Mr A McDonnell (Year 7 Football manager) Mrs K Kelly
(Year 7 Football Coach), for all their hard work and commitment to the PE
department.
Howzat for Indoor Cricket!
The Under 16 girls played extremely well this season
reaching the semi-finals of the Middlesex Cup. This
was a fantastic achievement.
We
saw
an
amazing turnout for
the trials and two
teams
were
selected- one for
Year 7 and one for
Year 8. The boys
are now playing in
an indoor league
and
are
well
prepared for their
summer games.
Representing Barnet at The London Youth Games
On 6th March, the Year 7
and 8 Girls' Rugby team
represented Barnet at the
London Youth Games at
Blackheath Rugby Club.
They played against schools
from all over London and were
placed ninth at the end of the
tournament. They should be
very
proud
of
their
performances as they won two
out of five games, narrowly
losing the other three.
Congratulations
go
to
Josephine Chadwick, Donya
Rahmani, Kalli Bargiela, Tara
Haji Molla Ali Kandi, Shez
Khan, Dujeta Isufaj, Quraisha
Ibrahim (all Year 8), Megan
Mulligan, Zoe Baker and Angel
Alejo (Year 7).
Top tacklers - Kalli & Shez
Top Try Scorer - Angel
Well done girls you were
amazing!
TCS Girls Just Keep On Dancing
Dance is as popular as ever and the
Year 9 girls have produced a GCSE piece
of contemporary work this term, called
‘Ghost Dances’.
As a contrast, we have Years 7 and 8
performing Street Dance.
11
SPORTS News at The Compton School
by Nikki Chodurek
A ter m in pictures
Compton Gets a Rugby Blast - During the first half of the spring term, the Year 8 boys were
enjoying specialist coaching by Saracens Rugby coaches. The weather was a little unkind but it
did not spoil the learning or the fun. The girls had their lessons during the second half of the term.
The Year 7 Rugby squad who
competed in the Barnet Schools’
Rugby Tournament
The Year 10 boys were lucky
enough to experience a six week
block of American Football
coaching held on the 5G Pitch
every Wednesday.
The Year 7 and 8 Girls’ Netball teams who have had an extremely successful season
culminating in both teams reaching the Barnet Schools’ Play Offs. Well done girls
Barnet Team Cross Country Representatives
Boxing - Girls pack a pretty punch!
Top trampolinists triumph
Students return to school on Wednesday, 23rd April 2014, Week 1
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