The Urswick School

newsletterThis is a time of celebration and the exchange of presents for most of you. For me the greatest gift will be the completion of our three year building project.

When students return at the start of 2012 we can celebrate the beginning of Olympic year by using our Astroturf and MUGA pitch for the first time (MUGA stands for multi-use games area).

I will be pleased to say farewell to the builders and everyone associated with the project but at the same time want to say a huge thank you to all at McLaren Construction, Hackney Council and the London Diocesan Board for Schools. We have a school site to be proud of and we treasure your part in creating it. How pleased would Christopher Urswick be to see the school he founded in 1520 for 12 boys of Hackney transformed into such an impressive, modern centre of education.

As you may be aware Ms Jodie Hassan, Deputy Headteacher, is shortly going on maternity leave. In addition to your child’s tutor and Head of Learning, Assistant Headteacher Ms Louisa Seymour will monitor learning and behaviour in Years 7, 8 and 9. Ms Catharine Wensley will also be joining the school as Associate Deputy Head. Ms Budd, Deputy Headteacher, continues to have oversight of Years 10 and 11.

Although the staff involved sometimes change our commitment to offering students outstanding care, guidance and support as reported by Ofsted in 2009 remain as strong as ever. Headteacher’s Surgery is every Monday between 3pm and 4.30pm.

On behalf of the staff and the governors I wish you all a happy Christmas and peaceful New Year.

The Spring Term starts on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.

Best wishes,

Richard Brown, Headteacher

Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths Club

The science department has been running a gifted and talented after school Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths Club for pupils from Berger, St Paul’s with St Michael’s, Kingsmead, St John and St James and Gainsborough primary schools.

This has been a term-long project in which students learn how to make fireworks from the chemical reactions with different metals to designing the shape of the rocket.

During the designing process, students investigated how sparklers are made and how rockets work, including a discussion of biodegradable materials in Chinese rockets.

It has been great fun and all the students have had a great learning experience.

Jen Cullen, Primary Link Science Teacher

Lawyers in SchoolsYear 10 students work with professional lawyers

Cross Country ChampionshipsStudents compete in borough-wide race

Tanzanian PartnershipThe Urswick School links with Kibasila School

Issue 3 – December 2011

Looking ahead

Read all about itLook out for the next edition

of our newsletter on Thursday

9th February 2012.

Pupils from Kingsmead primary school investigate how sparklers are made

The Urswick School’s Chef, Pino Santagada, believes that eating a healthy, balanced diet is really important for children as it gives them the energy to study in school and achieve better results:

“I work with a nutritionist to make sure that all the food we serve at the school is healthy and provides the right vitamins and nutrients for the students, but also ensure that the food is full of flavour by adding fresh herbs and spices.

Our menu works on a four-week cycle and changes every week, so the students can always have something different to eat.

Students can choose from a meat or vegetarian option

and a desert or drink. Other students prefer a lighter lunch and can pick up a sandwich, wrap, jacket potato or salad and choose from a hot or cold desert or a drink.

The students here are very adventurous and enjoy trying different dishes, but if there is something that they don’t like, we listen to their opinions and look at new ideas for the menu.”

If you think your child is eligible to receive free school meals, please contact Sharon Lewis, Receptionist, at the school. T: 020 8985 2430 oradmin@theurswickschool.co.uk

What’s cooking in The Urswick School kitchen?

A Message from Father Rob, Rector of Hackney

At the end of November, St John at Hackney church was the happening place to be in Hackney. Indeed, some 8,000 people flocked to our building for the Little Noise sessions, hosted by Jo Whiley. During these sessions, we enjoyed Elbow, Marina and the Diamonds, Chris Martin and Coldplay, Goldfrapp, Example, Ed Sheeran and Sinead O’Connor to name but a few. This

was truly a week which I shall never forget. For St John’s, this was the first time that we had hosted such an event, and what a huge impact it had!

Having said that, we are now turning our attention to remembering an event even greater than the Little Noise Sessions in Hackney, and that is the birth of Jesus. Sadly, however, given that we celebrate Christmas every year, it might seem not to have that same sense of cataclysmic impact which it would have done that very first time.

My hope and my prayer is that this Christmas will be different for all of you. This will be the first Christmas celebrated in The Urswick School, this will be the first Christmas celebrated with a School Chaplain, and this will be the last Christmas which we celebrate before the events of next summer and the Olympics. Each Christmas is unique, in the same way that you are unique, our school is unique and this year is unique. May the birth of Jesus demonstrate to all of us the enormous and unconditional love that God pours out upon The Urswick School, and may our celebration of Christmas fill us with hope, with love and with peace afresh this year.

The Little Noise sessions came as a complete surprise to St John at Hackney. I wonder what will come as a complete surprise to you, if you see the birth of Jesus through fresh eyes this year.

May God bless all your celebrations and festivities in this Holy Season.

Fr Rob

Lawyers in Schools

This term, students in 10ETF have been working with a group of lawyers from Cameron McKenna law firm in their weekly PSHCE lessons. The sessions are part of the Lawyers in Schools scheme, organised by the Citizenship Foundation to provide links between schools and legal professionals.

The students have been looking at issues such as police powers, intellectual property, discrimination and youth justice. The lessons will continue in the New Year when students will be learning about their own rights and responsibilities and what a lawyer’s day to day life entails. At the end of the programme, a few lucky students will be offered work experience placements at Cameron McKenna.

Mario Massimino, Year 10 Head of Learning

Lawyers from Cameron McKenna have been working with Year 10 students

Patrick Sanders, Head of Art, and Louisa Seymour, Assistant Headteacher and PE Teacher, recently visited Tanzania in order to set up an international partnership with Kibasila Secondary School. They have written this report.

On the 6th July 2005 it was announced that the Olympic Games would be coming to London. On that day Sebastian Coe made a promise that schools in the UK would work with schools in developing countries, to use the power of sport to inspire young people to achieve success. This is how International Inspiration began and it is the reason that we visited Kibasila Secondary School in Tanzania.

While we were in Tanzania we were in the capital city of Dar es Salaam. The city itself could be in some ways compared with London. However, there were many obvious differences.

Christmas Carol ServiceOur annual carol service will be held at St John at Hackney Church on the last day of term: Friday 16 December at 11am. All parents are invited to attend.Students in Years 9 and 10 will be dismissed from the church at 12pm. Years 7 and 8 will return to school where they will be dismissed at 12.15pm. Year 11 students will be following their mock exam timetable.

International Inspiration

On Thursday 3rd November, Yusuf and Kevin (Year 9) went to Eton College, Windsor. Eton has educated boys for nearly six centuries. The College continues to develop Henry VI’s original vision by providing a distinctive education, which they aim to make accessible to any talented boy.

The Urswick School were invited to attend an Education Conference at Eton and both Yusuf and Kevin talked to 6th Formers and headteachers from private schools and academies about motivating students and making learning engaging.

It was a great opportunity for The Urswick School to show how our student leadership and reward structures are more effective than other schools and the confidence and maturity of Yusuf and Kevin whilst talking to Year 13 students about lessons was excellent.

The students helped to promote some of the active learning and dynamic approaches our staff have to teaching their subjects at The Urswick School and even with Eton’s 600 hundred years of history, The Urswick School definitely left their mark!

Rachel Kelly, Assistant Headteacher and AST in PE

An Eton education

“Red Satsumas” by Nikola Filar, 8FEK

Art

Cor

ner

Numeracy Using ICT starting at The Urswick School on Saturday 14th January 2012. For more information please contact Jean Clarke,

Extended Schools Coordinator, T: 0208 985 2430 E: jclarke@theurswickschool.co.uk

Free course for adults

Our rules about mobile phones is ‘Off and Out of Sight’. They are brought to school entirely at your child’s own risk. There will be no compensation for mobile phones that are lost or stolen whatever the circumstances.

Mobile phones

The Urswick School marked Armistice Day with a special service at St John at Hackney Church. 300 students attended the service where they observed two minutes of silence.The congregation sang the national anthem and enjoyed a performance of John Lennon’s “Imagine” by the school’s gospel choir.

As the service ended, the students laid a wreath of poppies at the cenotaph, outside the church. Year 9 students have been studying the Great War in their history lessons and the service was the perfect opportunity for them to reflect on the events of the First World War and the continuing impact of conflict around the world.

Remembrance DayStudents lay a wreath at the cenotaph with

Father Chris Ferris, School Chaplain

Year 9 students Yusef and Kevin visit Eton College

There were many young street children who didn’t have parents, couldn’t go to school and were forced to beg. Despite this poverty the people were happy and there was a genuine sense of community.

In Tanzania sport and education are seen as the key to escaping poverty. Kibasila Secondary School has an established group of young leaders who have formed their own International Inspiration Club and have been given the opportunity to develop their leadership skills through sport. Last week, two teachers from their school visited The Urswick School. Whilst they were here they helped us to select young leaders for our International Inspiration Club.

Look out for more news about our partnership with Kibasila School in future newsletters and on our school website.

International Inspiration

The Urswick School sportsnewsStudent of the month

Leighton Williams, Year 7For demonstrating a positive attitude towards The Urswick School’s sports teams and winning the Hackney Schools Cross Country Championships.

Leighton says: “I take part in lots of different sports at the school but my favourite is football. I would definitely recommend sports clubs at The Urswick School to other students because they’re fun and you get to play with your friends. Also the more practice you put in, the better you get.”

24th September8th October15th October5th November19th November3rd December

14th January28th January4th February25th February

Cross Country ChampionshipsEarlier this term students from Years 7, 8 and 9 took part in the Hackney Schools Cross Country Championships. In the Year 7 boys race there were some stellar performances with Leighton Williams, 7GOR, winning by a second. Jiva Efete, 7KHA, and Reece Reid, 7CHB, also did extremely well to finish 8th and 9th respectively.

In the Year 8 and 9 combined race, Harry Myers, 9DUI, ran a very smart race to take the gold, and represent Hackney in the London Youth Games. Hermon Abraha, 9CHM, completed the podium in third. Well done to all students who took part!

Daniel Davis, PE Technician

Year 11 BTEC PE

Miss Kelly’s Year 11 BTEC group have been working since September to develop their leadership, communication and organisational skills in order to plan, deliver and evaluate a student led primary school session within PE. For four weeks, Year 5 students from Morningside Primary School have been taking part in PE lessons run by Miss Kelly, Assistant Headteacher and AST in PE, with the support of the Year 11 BTEC group.

The Year 11 students delivered their own lesson to pupils and learnt what it was like to be the teacher rather than the student. The students were fantastic in their professionalism and their relationship with the children, who commented on how enjoyable the sessions were and that they had learnt an lot of new things at The Urswick School. Our BTEC students now only need to complete their evaluations of the event and then 100% of them will have achieved a Distinction, which is the equivalent to an A* for this unit at GCSE level.

Important DatesSpring Term 2012:

Start: Tuesday 3 January

Half Term: Monday 13 - Friday 17 February

Finish: Friday 30 March

• Year 9 and 10 Progress Day and Year 8 Enterprise Day

(no timetabled lessons for Years 7, 9, 10 and 11):

Thursday 19 January

• Year 11 Subject Evening: Wednesday 25 January (5pm start)

• INSET Day: Monday 12 March

PE at The Urswick School in 2012As you are aware, we will have two new, all weather, state of the art pitches in January, including flood lights. All PE lessons at The Urswick School will still require your son/daughter to bring in the full, correct PE kit as they have been doing since September.

Some PE lessons will be on the Astroturf which allows us to use different equipment. You may wish to buy for your child some of the following items which are not compulsory but which will improve performance. These would be ideal Christmas presents!

All PE lessons will still require your son/daughter to bring the following items:

• School PE T-shirt • Navy blue tracksuit bottoms/Navy Blue Shorts• School PE sweatshirt• School Football Socks • Trainers

The following items can be used on the Astroturf pitch only and must match the requirements that have been listed below:

Shin pads Can only be worn if fully covered with school football socks.

Moulded football boots/blades These are not football boots. Moulded football boots are ideal for hard surfaces, such as an astroturf, and have rubber based studs instead of screw in studs. This decreases injury but increases grip and stability. Football boots will not be allowed on the Astroturf.

or

Astroturf trainers (Astros)