Do you want to become a Parent/Governor? Click on the link on Page 5 to apply

Follow us on Twitter @LangleyAcademy

OPEN DAY Saturday 6 December 10:00 – 12:00 See Pages 6 & 7 for more details

NEWSLETTER

ISSUE 1 - OCTOBER 2014

See how Students celebrated Internationalism Week. More details in House News

Would you like to volunteer at TLA? Go to Page 9 to register

Dear Parents/Carers

I am delighted with the start to the year which was made that much better by our best ever results in

August. Using the same rules as last year, we achieved 61% 5A*-C including English and Maths, an

improvement on 5% on the previous year.

Our AS and A2 results also improved at each indicator putting us in the top 11-25% of similar schools in

the country. In particular our A2 results were extremely impressive with 71 students going on to their

first choice universities, including many Russell Universities. Students, their parents and carers and the

Academy staff should be very proud of these achievements. In particular it is so great because of the

many doors that have been opened for the futures of our young people, many going on to University,

some going on to Further Education Colleges or apprenticeships; some moving directly into

employment and some taking a gap year. We have been impressed with the quality of their future

destinations and by their commitment to be the best they can be.

The summer also saw our first World Challenge Trip to Swaziland. Students gave a presentation on their

experience to staff on the INSET day. Clearly it was memorable and a real learning experience that they

will remember for the rest of their lives, very much part of our vision here at the Academy.

The results have led the way for many other engaging activities at the Academy in this first half-term

including our Internationalism Week, the Year 7 Choir, a host of PE fixtures against local schools and

those across the country and several Museum Learning activities resulting in different and new

experiences for students. You will be able to read about these events and many, many more in this

newsletter.

The first 7 weeks of the year are said to be amongst the hardest for staff as various processes begin

including report writing, finalising improvement and quality assurance plans and completing

performance management and so I would like to take this opportunity in thanking staff for going the

extra mile in fulfilling their ambitions in making a difference to the lives of the students in their care.

It has also been a very difficult period of time because of the speed and nature of changes that the

Government are making, in particular with regard to examinations and curriculum changes in the 6th

Form.

Finally, I wish you a great half-term and I wish all of those students taking exams in the first week back

the very best of luck and I hope that they take advantage of the superb revision timetable that the

English faculty has arranged.

Rhodri Bryant, Executive Principal

Message from the Principal

We have had a very positive and busy start to the new academic year. The newly constituted Langley

Academy Trust met for the first time in early September to agree the vision for the Trust and the

priorities and targets for the next 3 years. The headline target for The Langley Academy for this year is

to move from good to outstanding in every Ofsted judgement category. We have also identified the

specific areas that need addressing and have put in place robust plans to support them. The Academy is

a vibrant place to learn where students are engaged in their learning and staff and students are

ambitious for themselves and the whole academy community. We use our strap line 'Curiosity,

Exploration, Discovery' to ensure our students have enriching experiences which contribute to their

development as successful, considerate, resilient adults who succeed in their studies. The Academy has

changed dramatically over its 6 years since opening and each year brings new positive developments.

Our ambition for this year is to ensure that every aspect of what we do at the Academy is outstanding

because our students deserve no less.

Parlaunt Park Primary Academy: On 1 September The Langley Academy Trust was constituted and

Parlaunt Park Primary joined our Multi Academy Trust under the sponsorship of The Arbib Foundation.

This is a very exciting time for us all as we move into the primary sector. In a year where The Langley

Academy students have celebrated some of our best results ever we are delighted to be able to extend

our work to primary schools to ensure that more children in Langley receive a high quality education

and more notably have access to the outstanding opportunities currently enjoyed by students at The

Langley Academy, whether within the classroom or outside.

The academic year started with a joint meeting of Langley Academy and Parlaunt Park staff followed by

a lunch where colleagues from both schools happily mixed with each other and with Trustees to discuss

our shared aims. This was just that start of a long and happy working relationship.

New Clerk to the Trust: The growth of the Trust means that we need a full time Clerk to look after the

interests of the Trust. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Barbara Davies, our former Clerk to

Governors, who is now able to focus on her other roles as PA to the Executive Principal and HR Manager

at the Academy. We welcome Maggi Howlett to the role of Clerk to the Trust. If you need to make

contact with any of the Trustees or Governors then please direct your enquiries in the first place to

Maggi by email: Maggi.Howlett@langleyacademy.org.

The Langley Academy Primary: Our plans for The Langley Academy Primary are progressing well. Tracey

Bowen, Headteacher Designate, started on 1 September and has been working hard on all aspects of

setting up the new primary to ensure that everything is ready for opening next September. We are

delighted to have been able to appoint our building contractors and architects last week so we are now

going to be working hard on the design of the new school. Tracey has planned a fabulous Open Day for

prospective parents to the new Primary on Saturday 6 December from 10-12pm. This will be an

informative meeting, run in partnership with The River and Rowing Museum, to be able to demonstrate

the experience children in the new primary will expect to experience when they join us next September.

If you have a child who is due to start Reception in September 2015, we would be delighted to see you

at our Open Day. More information can be found later in this newsletter.

Parent Governor Elections: Under the new Trust structure we have set up a new Local Governing Body

(LGB) in each of the 2 academies in the Trust. Since all of the statutory responsibilities of Governance

Message from the Sponsor

regarding health and safety,, safeguarding, financial compliance, etc are held by the Trustees, the LGBs

will be able to focus solely on the students. The remit of the LGB will be to challenge and support

leadership regarding student progress, achievement, the quality of teaching and learning, curriculum,

results, etc.

The role of governor is challenging but extremely rewarding for anyone who is interested in contributing

to continually raising standards by asking probing questions. Governors do need to be able to read and

understand data but no prior experience in schools is needed. We will arrange training as necessary and

have a thorough induction programme in place.

In each academy we are inviting parents to enter nominations for candidates to go forward to an

election to be held after half term to appoint 2 parent governors. Later in this newsletter you will find a

letter from me explaining the process and containing nomination forms for completion. I look forward

to receiving these in due course.

This is a time for development and growth of the Trust and I look forward to sharing our future success

with you over the course of the year.

Annabel Nicoll - Chair, The Langley Academy Trust

OCTOBER

Wednesday 22 Year 11 Academic Afternoon 14:00 – 16:00

Friday 24 End of Summer Half Term 2 13:20

NOVEMBER

Monday 3 Start of Autumn Half Term 1 08:20

Thursday 13 Year 8 Parent/Carer Evening 16:30 – 19:00

DECEMBER

Thursday 4 Year 10 Parent/Carer Evening 16:30 – 19:00

Wednesday 10 Parent Forum 19:00 – 21:00

Wednesday 17 Year 9 Academic Afternoon 14:00 – 16:00

Thursday 18 Certificate Evening 17:00 – 19:00

Friday 19 End of Autumn Half Term 2 12:00

JANUARY

Monday 5 INSET – No students at Academy

Tuesday 6 Start of Spring Half Term 1 08:20

Dates for your Diary

24 October 2014

Dear Parents/Carers

Local Governing Body – 2 Parent Governor Vacancies

I am writing to you as Chair of the Board of Trustees to inform you that we need to appoint 2 new Parent

Governors to sit on the Academy’s newly formed Local Governing Body.

Since the formation of The Langley Academy Trust on 1 September, the structure of governance has changed to

allow us to become a Multi Academy Trust. The statutory duties of governance no longer reside with The Langley

Academy Local Governing Body. Instead, the Board of The Langley Academy Trust has assumed all legal

responsibility for the Academy and its stakeholders. The purpose of the new Local Governing Body is to focus

solely on the students: their achievement, progress, curriculum, the quality of teaching and learning, etc.

This is an exciting role, which I hope will interest many parents. You will have the opportunity to learn much more

about how the Academy operates and work closely with members of staff. You will be expected to be a ‘critical’

friend so that you are both supportive and also challenging. The focus of the governing body is on student

progress and achievement, so we are looking for new governors who are confident enough to interpret and

understand data and to ask challenging questions in order to improve the experience of our students. You do

not need any prior experience in education and training will be provided to support you in understanding the

data and how to be an effective member of the governing body.

As a Governor you would be expected to attend the six Local Governing Body meetings per year, each of which

last about two hours, during Academy hours.

Governors are also asked to be a Link Governor, which entails developing a relationship with a Head of Faculty,

normally in a subject that you may have an interest in, so that you can assist them in raising standards of

achievement at the Academy. You would meet with the Head of Faculty each term (3 times per year).

The role is very rewarding and I hope that many of you will respond to this letter by completing the nomination

form and skills audit attached to maggi.howlett@langleyacademy.org by Friday 7 November.

Please click here to apply.

Yours sincerely

Annabel Nicoll Chair of Trustees, The Langley Academy Trust

I am delighted and honoured to be leading Arbib House into this new academic year and incredibly

proud of our Arbib students as they have made a great start after the summer holidays. Ever since I

joined the Academy, 5 years ago, I have worked in Arbib House. Therefore now having the opportunity

to lead this House, bring in new ideas and work with our outstanding students as we look to make Arbib

the best House in the Academy is a real privilege.

I would like to welcome some new House Tutors into Arbib House as well as welcoming back Tutors

from last year. Ms Smith, Ms Hussain, Mr Huggett and Mr Martin are all joining us this year and I am

delighted to say that Ms Warr will be taking up her new role as Assistant Head of Arbib House. Ms

Hegarty will be staying with Arbib 3 and we look forward to welcoming back Ms Malama from maternity

leave before the end of the year.

It has been an exciting start to the new academic year as we say a warm welcome to our new Year 7

students. Many of them have already represented the House in various activities including netball,

football, open evenings and Academy Councils.

In keeping with tradition it was Globe House’s “Internationalism” Focus that kicked off the year. Arbib

House students were fully immersed in their internationalism projects this term as each House Tutor

Group looked into a different part of the Caribbean and the clothing and fashion that hailed from that

area. Letting their creative juices flow, Arbib students developed some inspiring costumes, posters and

displays on their respective regions. All 6 Tutor Groups combined to create an amazing gazebo that

stood proudly in the Atrium.

One of my aims as the new Head of House is to ensure that those students that work hard and go above

and beyond are rewarded for it. One of the ways I intend on doing this is by having a rewards brunch

every term. Selected deserving students will be treated to a special brunch with Ms Humber and me.

The first students to attend the rewards brunch were (pictured below): Josh Cook, Harjasmine Virdee,

Kashan Chaudry, Gavina Malhi, Lauren Callero as well as our House Captains Erin Simmonds, Robbie

Ensby, Ibrahim Noor and Cara Burton. Congratulations to those students and I look forward to treating

more students soon.

ARBIB HOUSE

The Langley Academy Open Evening was a great success and I was so proud of all of our Arbib students

that stayed late to help. Erin and Tatyana looked after the Arbib stand whilst Abbi showed the

prospective Academy students how to row. So many Arbib students were involved and thank you to all

that helped.

I would like to say a thank you to our Year 7 Parents and Carers who attended the recent Parent/Carer

Tea. It was great to meet you all and your support is not only appreciated but I believe vital to the

success of our students.

I am delighted to announce that Arbib House is now on Twitter. Please follow us @ArbibHouseTLA as it

is a great way for me to communicate key date reminders, important information and student successes

to anyone Arbib!

Arbib students continue to aim for the top in attendance, punctuality and attainment and I am sure we

can keep up the outstanding efforts moving on into next term! It is no coincidence that the students

with the highest attendance are also the highest achievers!

Well done Arbib and keep up the good work.

Mr Sullivan

Pictured above: Erin Simmonds and Tatyana Domville-Dailey at the Arbib

stand while Abbi Griffin (right) shows off her rowing skills

Darwin students in Year 7 and Year 8 are currently being mentored by more senior students within our

House. Year 7s have regular meetings with Karina Kakar and Ololade Idowa and Year 8s with Georgia

Blackman and Dilip Hundal.

Academic and Year group issues are voiced and discussed: senior students make sure that the

appropriate outcome is forthcoming and junior students learn from the experiences and wisdom of

their Seniors.

Georgia sent a selection of quotations from the students:

“It’s helped me by making me feel more confident on my options” - Megan Barton

“It’s good to talk to people who are going through GCSE, about GCSE” - Endi Danjolli

“This has given me more knowledge of GCSE and it’s been really useful” - James Whelan

“I think it’s a good idea because people that we didn’t really talk to we now do, simply because

we have got together as a Year group” - Tyler Austin

DARWIN HOUSE

Darwin House Captains and Mentors: Karina Kakar, Delza Brown, Dilip Hundal, Georgia Blackman, Ololade Idowa, Paras Sharma, Fazile Zogjani,

Samuel Adenmosun and Zahira Batool

The initiative has grown from a suggestion by our wonderful Year 11s, who wanted to have a greater

impact on learning. It also fits very nicely within the ethos of the House, where the family values of

discussion, understanding and support are held in high regard as means for healthy group cohesion and

rapid individual academic and personal growth.

Our House captains have also set in place initiatives to enable the younger members of our House to

learn from their elders: Samuel Adenmosun, Fazile Zogjani, Paras Sharma and Zahira Batool have set

up a House suggestion box, a Homework club and sessions where each visits the individual Houses Tutor

Groups to discuss HTG issues. Once again, the initiatives have come from the students, once again

demonstrating Darwin House students’ disposition for Leadership from within.

This term has seen Darwin House compete in the House Sport Indoor Football competition. We have

done very well and we are currently top of the table in two Year groups.

Our Year 8 and 10/11 team are topping the tables with some exceptional performances!

Darwinners, doing what comes naturally!

Mr Bott

Last Term

CAS Week saw the House and the Academy participate in a variety of different activities ranging

from Thorpe Park trips, the 7k Charity Walk, the TLA Fair and Sports Day. The students were amazing

and their performances at Sports Day were simply sensational! We finished in 3rd place and that was

credit to everyone who was involved with the House from the House Tutors through to the students

– well done. There were many outstanding contributions throughout the day but a few that were

notable were Frank Francis and the rest of the Year 10 boys’ relay team handing the baton to Frank

in 3rd position and Frank simply did the rest by steaming past the other Houses who were in front of

him to bring the baton home in 1st place. A second came from the Year 9 girl’s relay team coming

across the line in first place after being anchored by Lea Foster – another example of determination

and skilfully executed relay running – well done girls.

GAIA HOUSE

Gaia House enjoying their day at The Thames Valley Athletics

Track during the Academy’s Sports Day last term

Lea Foster (Gaia 6) with Anisah Chaudry looking on, bringing the

baton home for our girls in the Year 9 relay

Our winning Year 10 Boys relay team: Liam Staples (Gaia 6), Krishan Sharda (Gaia 3), Frank Francis (Gaia 4) and Munashe Ganje (Gaia 2)

This term has seen an Internationalism Focus. Gaia House has been working hard on their

given project idea. The area we were allocated was African Technology. We were asked to

look at how African technology had changed due to international influence. The African countries

were South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Kenya. Students worked exceptionally hard

on researching and developing materials for display.

Year 9 Gaia House students taking part in the balloon release

The Gaia House “Africa” gazebo Gaia students Supriti Shukla, Nico Powar and Illiev Domingos

preparing material for the gazebo

Gaia House Captains

All six students that put themselves forward to be House

Captains were successful in their application. The standard

was so high that we were unable to choose just two. We

believe the different skills and experiences each can bring to

the role will be a huge benefit to Gaia House. They have

already shown excellent attitude and aptitude to all that has

been asked of them. Below is a selection of articles they have

written for the newsletter. Our House Captains are Jaya

Ralhan, Krishan Sharda, Kazia Edwards, Baghel Sandhu,

Emily Llewelyn, and Katie Long.

“Internationalism” by House Captain Kazia Edwards (Gaia

2): The Year 11 this year did a dance workshop for

Internationalism Week. There was a range of different dances we could have done but Gaia House

did Caribbean and most of us took part in the activity. The experience overall was interesting and

helped us to see how other cultures expressed dance. Two amazing dancers Connor Stichbury and

Matthew Wadeson did extremely well and put loads of effort in to their piece. All year 11’s enjoyed

the experience as it was a lot of fun.

A Student Focus by House Captain Katie Long (Gaia 5): Jasmine Jenkins, Year 7 went on an

orienteering trip to Black Park on Monday 13 October 2014. On this trip they went on a hunt around

Black Park to find letters, eventually creating words out of them. This trip was designed to improve

their literacy skill, and to teach them how to make their way around the park using maps and their

sight. Jasmine said “The trip was very exciting and fun as I didn’t know quite how to use a map at

first, once I got used to the environment and the surroundings I found it quite easy.” These well

designed trips are for Year 7’s to help them create new friendship groups and skills that they didn’t

have before. Well done to Jasmine for completing the tasks on the trip, you have done Gaia House

proud for your excellent conduct and behaviour around the site of Black Park.

Being a House Captain by Krishan Sharda (Gaia 3): Being a House Captain for me is a great

opportunity and experience as it brings new responsibilities. Since becoming one I have been able to

reach out and have new opportunities not supplied to me before, from helping with simple tasks

inside Gaia House, to writing articles for the TLA newsletter. Baghel, Jaya, Katie, Kazia, Emily (fellow

House Captains) and I find it a great experience to work together and support our House. Behaviour

mentoring Year 8s is a great opportunity as it helps to see perspectives of the Academy from

younger years and it is always good to advise someone who was once in a similar position to me.

Overall being a House Captain is a productive and worthwhile experience and brings a new

perspective to my school life.

“Gazebos” by Jaya Ralhan (Gaia 6): Gaia House's focus during Internationalism Week was Africa.

Our House had our gazebo located in the south side of the atrium. The gazebo was decorated with

models made by Gaia 3- which was a banana tree to represent how bananas in South Africa are

harvested. During House Tutor Time, students in Gaia House had key roles to find out information

about Africa. This proved to be a great expanding knowledge task as many kids were interested in

facts they found out about Africa that they did not know before. Posters were spread around to

occupy people when they visited the gazebo. The aim was to provide information and expand their

knowledge about Africa. Our aim seemed to have been achieved as the audience of our gazebo

increased. Thanks to the students and teachers that helped pull

off a great presentation of our gazebo, it resulted in successfully

having something going on in every corner. A week of our gazebo

proudly standing in the atrium truly showed how well the

students and teachers worked together and pulled off a great

team effort, showing how strongly Gaia House pull together.

Gaia House gets a Twitter Account

In keeping with the Academy’s new Twitter account, Gaia House

have started their own. The account keeps students up to date

with what is going on in Gaia and celebrates achievements of the

House. Join us at @GaiaHouseTLA

Mr Spilsbury

19

Globe House is now on Twitter. Follow @GlobeHouseTLA for

weekly updates from each Tutor Group, student celebrations,

weekly facts and jokes and pictures and posts from Globe House

endeavours! Students and parents alike are invited to follow the page.

GLOBE HOUSE INTERNATIONALISM

This term the students at The Langley Academy celebrated the key focus for this term: INTERNATIONALISM.

The theme of our celebrations was Migration and Journeys. Students were given the opportunity to build their

own museum displays with personal objects they acquired on journeys they have experienced and were able

to tell their own stories of Migration.

The LA Museum also celebrated with an installation that was loaned to us by the Migration Museum in

London. This comprised of photographs and Migration stories as well.

Year 7 to 11 all participated in a variety of activities during Internationalism Week, 6 - 10 October- these

included, dance, migration and music workshops. Our Year 9 students were involved in the “Release of

Balloons” activity in Friday 10 October. So far, 6 balloons have been returned to us.

GLOBE HOUSE

Globe House students with their House colour balloons

20

Successful Return of the Balloons - Ethan Burford, Hafsa Bedwi, Nathan Dhadrall and Aaron Foster (pictured

below) were treated to a lovely surprise as the balloons that they released on Friday 10 October were returned

to them. These balloons travelled all the way to Suffolk!

House Football

Globe House have made a fantastic start to the House football tournament and have been fantastically

represented across all the age groups. A special mention must go to Josh Kirby in Globe 2 who scored the

winner from over the half way line!!

Year 9 students with “Man of the Match” Joshua Kirby-Jalo’

21

Globe 2

Bilal Pervaiz Year 9 has recently won a Fifa 15 online

tournament against other players from a range of different

countries. He was successful with him Ultimate team containing

players such as Menez, Januzaj and Luke Shaw. This resulted in

Bilal receiving 2k and 1 gold pack. He is so confident in his ability

he is willing to challenge anyone in the Academy providing they

have an Xbox.

George Awuah Year 11 has successfully scored 2 hat tricks for his team Taplow United. His team successfully

defeated Wycombe Saints FC 19-0.

Eyaad Ali is currently sporting a smile like the Cheshire cat because he has recently been selected by Mr

Jeyaratnam to be the captain of the Year 7 football team. He is over the moon at the opportunity to lead his

team into battle.

Globe 3

By Shree Fatania, Year 10

The words "Aik Saath" mean "Together as One" in Hindi, Punjabi and

Urdu. The name embodies the very ethos of the charity which is a

volunteer group that is also part of Youth Engagement Slough (YES). Aik

Saath believes in working together for positive social change with people

from all communities, faiths and backgrounds. Their aim is to promote and

encourage conflict resolution and community cohesion through training,

campaigns and projects.

I have met so many people being part of Aik Saath and have recently

volunteered in projects such as working with a women’s shelter called

Domestic Abuse Stops Here (DASH). As well as this, I have been part of the

youth café in Langley, the YES shop in Slough High Street and Airwave.

Airwave is a business that seeks to bring your ideas to life!

During my time at Aik Saath, I have learnt many things helping me to

become someone I never thought I could be. Being with a youth group

that inspires me to do well is amazing. Even cares about everyone – even

if you’ve met for the first time! Aik Saath is now my second home.

If you would like to find out more, get involved and support their cause please visit their website:

www.aiksaath.com

22

Globe 5

For Internationalism Week Globe 5 chose to look at flavours of the

world and hide them in chocolate to provide a taste testing activity in

Globe's Gazebo. Flavours included vanilla from Madagascar, popcorn

originating from Mexico, salt and pepper as a French seasoning and

chilli from the Asian influences. Kyle Patel-Keena, Amy Dent, Vidhant

Mehta and Harry Chahal from Globe 5 melted and flavoured the

chocolate themselves and manned the stall at break time to allow

students to have a go at tasting the flavours, some they enjoyed, some

they definitely didn't!

Globe Gazebo

With Internationalism Week in full swing it was terrific to see all the gazebos being assembled by all 6 Houses.

The gazebos are all very interesting and once again demonstrate the diverse cultures that make the Academy a

unique place to be. The Globe House gazebo pictured below demonstrates the theme of Internationalism

week very well.

Ms Pereira

23

Incredibly, we are already at the end of our first term of 2014/2015 at the Academy, but this is the first chance

that I have had to congratulate Grace House on their stunning win on Sports Day, back on Wednesday 16 July

2014. We had a fantastic turn out of students and we managed to fill every event. We won the Key Stage 3

trophy, the KS4 trophy and the overall winners shield. It was the most amazing day and one the students and I

will never forget. It is right up there with my most memorable moments in my teaching career. I am always so

very proud of Grace House, but I was fit to bust with pride on Sports Day and I am still floating on cloud nine

whenever I think of it. Well Done, Grace House!

Year 7 students have made a fantastic start to Year 7! They have settled in extremely well. They have enjoyed

a trip to Hillingdon Outdoor Adventure Centre and we had a very successful and enjoyable Parents’ Tea.

Most of our Year 7’s handed in very pleasing transition folders, with the hard work they put in being evident.

They have been presented with certificates for their efforts in Grace House Assembly.

Last term we appointed our two new House Captains.

They are Armeen Butt and Ravi Sharda (pictured left).

They have already ably represented Grace House and I

look forward to working with them this year.

Our two Deputy House Captains are Sehanna Dev and

Aman Basra.

Grace House students worked very hard on the sport

linked project for Internationalism week. The Gazebo

looked most impressive showing all the students’ hard

work. I would also like to thank the Grace House Tutor

Team for the efforts they made with setting up the

display.

Finally, Grace House has started the Rowing Competition very well with some very strong teams pulling out

some strong performances and great times. We have the second round out of six coming after the mid-term

break and if we all attend and pull together as we did for Sports Day, we are hoping for some great results! Go

Grace! GRACE is ACE! (I have always said so!).

Ms Decosemo

GRACE HOUSE

24

This term, students in Henley House have achieved many things both within and outside of the Academy. A

great example of this achievement is Henley 4 having the highest attendance in the Academy for two weeks

this half term. This is a brilliant way to start the year and we hope that it continues. It was confirmed Henley 4

have the most days of 100% attendance this term. A huge congratulations to them.

Recently, our Henley House Captains Manraj Tack from Henley 4 and Maarukh Nasir from Henley 2 led

opposing sides in The Great Debate on Scottish independence. This was an important debate as it dealt with

something that could’ve impacted us all and we could not be more proud that it was led by Henley students!

As well as The Great Debate, Manraj and Marukh have both taken part in debating events outside of the

Academy which have contributed greatly to the growth of their public speaking skills.

Henley House members were active in contributing to events and activities that were held throughout

Internationalism Week. We were impressed with the amount of effort put into the House stall by all Tutor

Groups and would like to thank everyone who took the time to help set it up.

Congratulations to Milo Quinton from Henley 6 for getting a solo in this year’s Night at the Musicals and to all

other Henley House members that are involved in groups or the chorus. We hope that rehearsals go well and

look forward to seeing you perform soon!

Written by Emily Jacobs

Mr Goodchild

HENLEY HOUSE

Ms Young with her Tutor Group Henley 4

25

Watching a dramatic presentation of drama set texts is an invaluable experience. This year, neither Macbeth

nor Othello were being staged locally, so we decided to send our Year 12 students to the Opera. Here is an

account of their experiences by Chloe Jacobs:

Last week, a group of Year 12 English students went into London to watch the English National Opera’s

production of Verdi’s ‘Otello’, based on the Shakespeare play, ‘Othello’. After successfully navigating the tube,

we made it to the theatre in time to have a quick Frappuccino at Starbucks, before finally finding our seats. The

theatre was huge and opulent, with cherubs painted on the ceiling and everything edged with gold paint. Of

course, we were up in the nosebleeds – the highest seats in the house – where I’m sure some of us were

actually suffering from altitude sickness. The opera itself was very impressive musically; the singers had no

microphones, yet their voices resonated to the very back of the theatre – and possibly a few roads beyond it.

After a powerful first act, we spent the interval eating our body weight in Skittles and marshmallows and, no

doubt, irritating the regular opera-goers with our banter. The second act was less powerful, however, with a

dead woman continuing to sing even after being strangled. Said dead woman, Desdemona, also managed to

commando roll down stage at the very climax of the last scene. It was bizarre, to say the least. We also

survived the train journey home (somehow), but the artistic choice that led the actress playing Desdemona to

merge gymnastics and opera still leaves us all puzzled.

The students will be comparing this production to their interpretation of the play as part of their AS

coursework.

Maths has started back in full swing in the first half term. The Year 7s students who came in for summer

school got to see how maths related to life as a pirate via activities about bearings, coding and treasure

hunting. This was a great way for many of our new students to start their Maths studies here at the Academy.

As the rest of the Year 7s joined they have begun their KS3 curriculum and completed projects on tessellation

and constructing Islamic Art.

English

Maths

26

Well done to last to the Year 11 students who sat their GCSE Maths in Year 10. All students made expected or rapid progress with four students achieving an A*. Maths G&T KS4 students have been invited to take part in a maths trip to Disneyland Paris in February and preparation is well under way led by our Maths G&T co-ordinator Ms Young. Maths students have regularly been set homework of a minimum of one www.mymath.co.uk assignment a week. Parents/carers are asked to help support by regularly checking on their child’s progress. The Maths faculty has lessons after school and during enrichment to support homework, the KS3, KS4, and 6th Form curriculum.

Science has had an exciting start this year. We were very sorry to say goodbye to Mr Morgan last year but the

great work of the Science faculty is continuing. We have some great staff working on expanding Science

Specialism by expanding links with Primary schools and by having regular updates and activities relating

science to a wider context.

Years 7 and 8 are starting a course which covers the new National Curriculum. They should all have their own

personalised login through which they can access homework and use the text book to support them at

home. The login and user name is initial surname (no space) and the institution code is ri1.

We have had our first ISSP Science activity which was led by a new member of the Science team Mr Madej.

Students from local schools were invited to take part in an experiment about electricity and sound which

involved making speakers. It was a lot of fun for the students that took part and a great learning experience.

Next half term Year 10 and 11 students will be doing controlled assessments so it is important that they are

focused!!

Science

27

Geography Map Skills Throughout the week beginning 13 October, all Year

7 students attended Black Park Country Park to

partake in an Orienteering course. The aim was to

increase map reading skills which both students and

staff successfully achieved. Despite the wet weather

Year 7 were great map readers and managed to find

most of the points marked on the maps. The winning

time throughout was by the Darwin girls in 1 hour 17

minutes! Well done to everyone involved.

This month the ICT Faculty have delivered a number of assemblies and lessons on the theme of e-safety. We

all need to be aware of issues of the children’s e-safety, that is their safety on the internet, on social messaging

sites and when texting using mobile phones. In order to help you to back up this work at home I have copied

below some recommended sites for you to visit as parents, and/or with your children, to give you more

information and support in dealing with issues around e-safety.

I hope you find these useful. You can also access the links on our Academy website: www.langleyacademy.org

Please also feel free to contact me anytime if you have any queries on the subject of e-safety.

Ms Naylor - Head of Faculty

Secondary E-Safety Resources

ThinkUKnow

http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

Thinkuknow is a site in which the information is brought to you by the team at the Child Exploitation and

Online Protection (CEOP) Centre. On the site visitors can find the latest information on the sites young people

like to visit, mobiles and new technology. Find out what’s good, what’s not and what you can do about it.

There are resources for parents and teachers and, most importantly, a place which anyone can use to report if

they feel uncomfortable or worried about someone they are chatting to online.

Humanities

ICT

Ms Warr with Year 7 students at Black Park

Geography KS3 Support Club runs every Thursday lunch time

in W2.21 with Ms Warr

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CBBC - Stay Safe (Year 7)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/articles/staysafe-facts

CBBC's Stay Safe website invites children to join Dongle the rabbit in learning how to stay safe on the web. The

site features a cartoon and quiz, along with a screensaver and wallpaper giving tips on safe surfing. Visitors to

the site can also print out Dongle's factsheet reinforcing the SMART rules. The site links to the BBC

ChatGuide website and to several of the organisations providing advice and support to young people, such as

Think U Know, Kidsmart and NCH.

Cybersmart

http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/ This site has been created by ACMA - the Australian

Communications and Media Authority. Cybersmart Kids Online provides information on 'smart net surfing for

kids and their grownups'. The site gives general tips on staying safe online, using chat and mobile phones, and

a quiz. Content in the main information sections is split into three user types – 0-7, 8-12, 13-17, so pupils can

be directed to relevant information depending on their age and/or level of understanding.

iKeepSafe.org

www.ikeepsafe.org

iKeepSafe.org teaches the basic rules of e-safety to children and parents. The website uses an animated

mascot, Faux Paw the Techno Cat, to teach children the importance of protecting personal information and

avoiding unsuitable material on the internet. Children can learn how to safely navigate the internet through a

virtual playground, Faux Paw's adventures in story books, an animated video download and educational

games. Educational materials, including worksheets and tests, are also available for parents and teachers.

Reporting

It is imperative that any illegal or suspicious contact with a child on the Internet is reported to the police

immediately. You will find help and advice at the child exploitation and online protection centre:

www.thinkuknow.co.uk

It has been a very busy start of term, with EXCELLENT work produced by many students, across all year groups,

in lessons, at lunchtimes and after school.

Some of you will have seen that we have launched our Twitter account;

SO….DT@DT_TLA. Why not follow @DT_TLA to see some of the great work

going on within the faculty and keep up to date with news and challenges.

Remember if you see your work on twitter let Ms Stacey know and you can get a

DT plus point, your entry to the termly DT raffle.

Key Stage 3

Year 7 and 8 started the year with a short design and make task, there were some fantastic examples, and we

look forward to the work that has been complete over the course of the year. There are great things to come!

Year 7 and 8 DT groups have been named after famous designers and chefs. Students have done some

research on their designer and we look forward to seeing posters going up soon!

Design Technology

29

The overall winners of this terms marble challenge were team ‘chicken’

from Year 8 Zaha Hadid. Well done to Tyler Austin, Conor Lawless, Abdul

Nasir Nuhu and Kacey Wootton-Jones.

A touch of Internationalism

Year 10 prepared an amazing array of gourmet

burgers. The talent displayed by some of the

young chefs was astounding. The American

inspired burger was particularly eye catching

and smelt rather tasty too.

Students and staff worked tirelessly to produce

a delicious spread for the International buffet,

which proved so popular that sadly all the food

was gone by the time Ms Stacey appeared with her camera (and fork).

Year 9 Product Design

Inspired by Pop Art this striking calendar was one of the first finished in Mr Bott’s

Product Design class. Well done for super effort and attention to detail. It is a

great piece of work.

Ms Stacey is very excited about seeing the USB sticks of the Memphis and

Blobjects groups soon after half term.

30

VEX

The Vex club is under way, with a dedicated group of students working on

systems and mechanisms for their robots, in preparation for the national Vex

Skyrise competition.

Tech stars

This terms Tech stars are: Harpreet Dhillon, Tyler Austin, Jakub Mlodzinski, Catherine St Ledger, Harry

Mewett, Danielle Byrne, and Mariam Bhatti. Thank you for your tremendous help and effort throughout open

evening, you were brilliant.

DT Half term twitter challenge:-

Tweet (@DT_TLA) or email (dt@langleyacademy.org) your DT Halloween creations……….be they

food, textiles or product design. (Make it, photograph it, and share it with us)

Remember: If you see your design on Twitter you’ll gain a DT plus point. And of course there will be a little

treat for the best one.

Welcome back to all CAPA staff and students. We hope you had a fun and restful summer holiday. Hopefully

some of you had the opportunity to see a film, visit a local museum, gallery or stately home, or attend a

cultural/family celebration. I am sure many of you will have travelled abroad to explore the wonders of the

universe.

The academic year started in August with students and staff celebrating our successes on results days for GCSE

and A-Level. A2 Media and Art students achieved significantly above national average and more GCSE students

were awarded A and B grades than ever before across the faculty. We were especially delighted that seven

Year 13 students have gone on to study Art, Media or Drama-related courses at university. We look forward to

celebrating the successes of our current Year 11, 12 and 13 classes next year.

As a faculty we are pleased to Welcome Ms Shaw who joins us this year as a full-time teacher of Drama and

Media Studies. In addition Ms Shaw is currently working with the IT department on a Museum Champion

project for our Year 8 Drama Students. We look forward to her bringing inspirational ideas to the faculty and

wish her every success as a valued member of the CAPA team!

It has already been a busy term for CAPA with students exhibiting work at the Hilton Hotel in Heathrow,

visiting the National Portrait Gallery, Big Draw for WW2, auditions for the Night at the Musicals, Year 7 Choir,

the Museum Champions project and a number of 6th Form Theatre Trips.

CAPA

31

Art

The Art department had a fantastic time

contributing to the Summer School this

year; an initiative to support Year 7 students

through the transition from primary to

secondary school. Led by Mr Samouel

students produced some great artwork

around the theme of Pirates and Island Life.

Their work was exhibited in the atrium at

the beginning of the year. Well done to all

those who took part and we look forward to

seeing more fantastic Artwork from you

soon.

Mr Rider and Mr Samouel visited the Hilton Hotel on Saturday 11 October. We would like to give a special

thanks to Mr Bevan, the General Manager, for allowing the TLA Art dept. to have two Art exhibitions on show

at the Hotel. The first exhibition contains a series of dress designs by ex-TLA student Von Ruzive who left Year

13 last year. The second exhibition contains a series of poems and art work created by our current Year 11 Art

students. The work will be on display until later this year.

Mr Samuel’s Year 7 class have been producing large pieces of work

inspired by the art and photography produced during the world wars. As

part of their introduction to Art students have been exploring different

materials, media and techniques to produce these large scale pieces of

work. Many people have commented and praised the students involved.

This work will be displayed in the Atrium next term.

Year 12 Art students attended the National Portrait Gallery, London at the

start of the term as research for their current project on Portraits. As well

as developing their contextual understanding of portraits produced by

Traditional and Contemporary Artists, students looked at how the work

was displayed and curated. Favourite pieces of art included ‘Jean

Simmons’ by Sir Mathew Smith and ‘A Conversation Piece at The Royal

Lodge, Windsor’ by Sir James Gunn. We look forward to seeing their

work which will be exhibited at the annual Portrait Exhibition at the

Academy later this year.

Art enrichment continues to flourish with over 50 students from all

years attending every Wednesday afternoon. Students are given the

opportunity to produce their own artwork on a theme of their choice

using the wealth of materials and equipment available. In the past

students have also entered competitions and taken part in other art

initiatives during enrichment. We look forward to them taking part in

such events this year. Congratulations to all involved particularly the

staff team who volunteer and support Mr Samouel in the running of this extra-curricular activity.

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The Art department continues to run an after school art club for students from all years. Priority is given to

students in exam classes. It is really important for these students to attend if they are to succeed in achieving

their full potential. The club runs on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday after school until 16:30.

Drama

This term in Year 8 Drama students are working on a cross-curricular

project with ICT and the Amersham Museum. Students will be looking into

the story of the Amersham Martyrs, a group who fought to have the

Catholic Bible translated into English, with some devastating consequences.

Looking at promenade performance, students will have the opportunity to

create a living museum exhibition of the story with tour guides leading the

audience around the dramatic production.

Students who audition will have the opportunity to perform their piece on

location at the Amersham Museum, which will be recorded and put into a

student designed app which will be used by the Museum for visitors to

watch students’ performances any time throughout the year. This is a very exciting opportunity for Year 8

drama and ICT students to experiment with new kinds of theatre, new ways of working with museums and

new settings!

Year 8 Football v Dedworth

The Year 8 football team began the season with an impressive 4-1 victory over Dedworth. Goals from Conor

Lawless (2), Aaron Amponsah and Bradley Farren secured the victory. The man of the match award was given

to Kyle Dobbyn for his battling display in central midfield.

Year 8 Football v Westgate

The Year 8 team made it two wins out of two with a great 5-0 victory over Westgate. Goals from Conor

Lawless (2), Aaron Amponsah (2) and Bradley Farren secured the victory. The man of the match award was

given to Kai Cassidy for his composed performance in goal.

Year 8 Football v Wexham

The Year 8 football team won their third league game in a row with an outstanding performance to beat

Wexham 8-2. Goals from Bradley Farren (3) Conor Lawless, Aaron Amponsah, Zak Koundi, Bradley Foster and

Ben Greenidge secured the victory for the team. The man of the match award was given to Bradley Farren for

his dynamic performance in midfield.

PE

33

Year 9 Football

The Year 9 team have had a positive start to the current season with a huge amount of students turning out

each week for training. The season has only seen us complete one fixture so far against Langley Grammar

School where we were unfortunate not to come away from the game with at least a draw after a promising

performance. The game saw us start well and keep possession of the ball really well against an organised

Langley Grammar side. After going a goal down, the boys worked hard to get back into it and Cavan Gruber

converted at the back post after excellent work from George Hunt. The game saw Jay King make his debut for

the team with a solid performance at right back. As the match ran towards a close, Cavan picked the ball up

just outside the Langley Grammar penalty area. His first touch turned him away from goal and in the same

motion saw him strike the ball towards the far post. As it looped over the keeper it looked destined for the far

corner, but unfortunately it struck the post and then rebounded into the thankful Langley Grammar keeper's

arms. As a result, we then conceded late on that saw us lose 2-1, but the result was not a fair reflection of the

game after another hard working performance from the boys.

Under 14 Berkshire County Football

Congratulations to George Hunt and Ethan Long in Year 9 who have been selected for the Under 14 Berkshire

County Football team. The two boys were involved in a two week trial and were selected for a friendly fixture

against Hertfordshire on Saturday 4 October. The team lost 6-0 on the day however George captained the side

in the 2nd half and Ethan played during the 1st half. Both students were impressive and represented the

Academy impeccably.

Under 15 Slough District Football

Congratulations to Bailey West and Connor Dobbyn in Year 10 who have been selected to represent the

Under 15 Slough District Football team after attending a trial at Burnham Grammar School. They will be in the

squad for the team’s first game on Saturday 18 October. Good luck to both boys!

Under 15 Berkshire County Football

Congratulations to Olusola Sola-Ogunniyi in Year 10 who represented the Under 15 Berkshire County Football

team against Hertfordshire on Saturday 4 October. Shola produced an excellent display and scored twice in the

5-4 defeat.

Under 16 Berkshire County Football

Congratulations to Frank Francis in Year 11 who represented the Under 16 Berkshire County Football team

against Hertfordshire on Saturday 4 October. Frank performed well in the 4-0 defeat.

Year 10 Football

The Year 10 football team have started the season in style, with a new coaching set up it was always going to

take time to adapt. The first game was away to Beechwood which in the past have produced some exciting

games. The game started at a furious pace with the Academy taking the upper hand in the early exchanges.

With the sustained amount of pressure mounted on the Beechwood defence it would be a matter of minutes

34

until the Academy were to score, and score they did Shola releasing the ever present Bailey west to calmly slot

the ball past the keeper with relative ease. These seemed to have a real impact on the boy’s confidence and

were now able to pass the ball with more control and flow, which led to the second goal which was extremely

well finished by the Man of the Match Harrison Farren. The second half was a lot tighter, Beechwood

managed to score a further 2 goals in quick succession which meant the pressure was mounted on the

Academy. Luckily Harrison Farren was there again to produce the goods with a powerful shot which rifled past

the keeper; however it wasn’t all going to plan. The Beechwood striker pounced onto a missed header from

the TLA defence which put them level. Luckily Shola managed to produce a moment of magic from the restart

and managed to dribble it through the oncoming defenders and thread a lovely ball into the welcoming feet of

Harrison Farren who managed to successfully convert his third goal and seal a dramatic victory for the Langley

Academy.

Rugby Coaching @ TLA

The PE staff have managed to secure a fantastic opportunity for Year 7, 8 and 9 students to receive some free

coaching courtesy of the RFU All Schools Programme. We have selected 20 Gifted and Talented students from

each year group. The coach is from Slough Rugby Club and has been impressed with the quality produced from

the students across the Academy. The sessions will be running up until the Christmas break and we hope to be

competitive when we play other local schools involved in the programme.

Year 11 Football

It has been a fantastic start to the season for the Year 11 boy’s football team. Last season the team managed

to go through every league game unbeaten and they have picked up right where they left off beating

Churchmead 6-1 at home. Goals from George Awuah, Bailey West, Olusola Sola-Ogunniyi and Harrison

Farren ensured the team brushed a-side our local rivals. A week later we were drawn against Wexham in

round 1 of the Slough Cup, a team that always pop up in the last few seconds to salvage a draw against us. We

went 2-0 down in the first half but an inspired second half saw us bring the game back to 2-2. The Year 11 boys

dominated extra time but, as with tradition, in the last 2 minutes Wexham countered and scored to win 3-2.

There were superb performances in this match from Robbie Ensby, Bradley Eastmond and Kyran Power. The

team can now be fully focused on the league as we look to bring home the trophy in their last year together.

A call to all of the PE GCSE students in Years 9-11. Mr Sullivan runs a revision session in the Library at 15:40 on

Thursdays just for you. Stay as long as you like and get the help on the topics you need help with!

6th Formers, who have been there and done that, will also be there to assist. It could be the difference in a

grade or two!

Year 7 Netball

On 25 September the Year 7’s had their first netball game representing the Academy. The girls were very

excited about the prospect of being selected and hopes were high. The game started well with some superb

centres from Jamie-Leigh White who looked for her team mates to get into space before passing. This was

then followed by some excellent passing down the court to Wasila Ahmed who scored some fantastic goals.

Some of the girls who have only played netball for short time showed what they have learnt by landing well

and then pivoting to look for a good pass. The defence was good from Julita Gralicka who intercepted plenty

of passes and was able to stop St Josephs from shooting. Malaika Khan was an asset to the team holding

strong. In the centre third where she found space and was able to move the ball down the court well. The

35

team consisted of: Wasila Ahmed, Malaika Khan, Julita Gralicka, Jessica Woodford, Jamie Leigh White,

Elizabeth Monds, Melissa Toubal, Roma Bains and Cana Williams. Well done girls.

Year 8 Netball

The Year 8s had a fantastic start to the season with their match against St Joseph’s. The team consisting of

Mahnoor Khan, Sophie Ward, Esha Bhalla, Alexis Hansell, Asees Gill, Aiofe Brennan, Amy Dent, Charlotte

Bedford and Annabeth Gyamfi showed some fantastic team work skills moving the ball up the court using

some strong tactical play. The girls in the centre of the court showed good attacking skills to move the ball up

to the goal circle where Annabeth, Amy and Aoife demonstrated some successful shooting skills. Their

outstanding performance was noted by the teacher from St Joseph’s particularly the performance of Esha and

Sophie helping them to achieve a win of 8-2. This was a great start to the season and starting as they mean to

go on.

Girls Get Active

On Tuesday 7 October Ms O’Brien took girls from Years 7-10 to Slough and Eton

School to take part in Girls Get Active. This was set up by a former 6th Form student

and has continued to run by the current Year 12 & 13 students of Slough and Eton.

The aim of the day was to get girl’s more involved in sport and realise there are a

variety of sports to get involved in and what a fantastic opportunity it is to meet

new people and improve confidence.

The girls took part in: seated volleyball, wheelchair basketball, curling, bench ball

and handball. The girls also had the opportunity to listen to Manisha Taylor who is

36

an inspirational speaker based on involving girls in sport. She spoke to the girls for about half an hour about

her life and how she became involved in football and what barriers she has met on the way. The girls were

impressed with Manisha and came out discussing her life and aspirations.

At the end of the afternoon students were voted by the 6th Formers as to who the ‘Girl of the day’ was for each

year group.

For Year 7 Inza Iqbal won. She

had a fantastic day trying

every sport with a huge smile

on her face and was making

new friends left, right and

centre the whole group were

extremely proud of her. The

girls who attended were: Year

7 –Inza Iqbal, Emily Tuitt and

Sukanya Shourie. Year 8 –

Harlin Dhillon, Leena Toora

and Agnesa Haziri. Year 9 –

Ella Serafinski, Year 10: Lucy

Mwangi, Jessica Swan

Gonzalez and Ieasha Khan.

Year 7 Rounders

The Year 7 rounders’ team consisting of Mahnoor Khan, Esha Bhalla, Sophie Ward, Supriti Shukla, Alexis

Hansell, Jade McGuinness, Nikola Wedolowska, Lauren Bradburn, Annabeth Gyamfi, Harpreet Dhillon and

Aoife Brennan took part in the final event of the summer season; the Year 7 Slough Borough Tournament. We

went to the tournament with high expectations after a very successful season. The first game we were unlucky

as we were drawn against Langley Grammar who unfortunately just beat us. However we moved through the

group stages into the semi-final where we played against Hershel Grammar and we closely beat them. We

then moved onto the final, where we came up against St Bernard’s. We knew we could beat them as they

were someone we had beaten within the season and the girls played fantastically under such pressure and

excitement with them wanting to win so much and knowing that winning was well within their reach. The year

7s demonstrated extremely solid fielding particularly from Mahnoor Khan, Sophie Ward and Supriti Shukla and

outstanding batting from Jade McGuiness and Nikola Wedolowska.

The Year 7s came away winning the tournament, leaving a fantastic end to the year and completing The

Langley Academy’s successful year.

37

Year 11 Netball

The Year 11 girls’ netball

team took part in the Slough

Borough tournament in the

last week of September. The

team lead by Erin

Simmonds consisting of

Katie, Ellie and Kerrie Long,

Stevie Swann, Lola Idowu,

Praise Okoro and Leah

Lewis had a lot of pressure

upon them from themselves

and their rival teams as they

had been undefeated within

the previous season and had

won the tournament the

previous year. The girls

played fantastically as per

usual with their

performance moving from strength to strength and their great team play and tactical awareness evident

beyond all of the other teams. The girls won all their games achieving some great results winning 5-2, 7-4, 10-

0, 8-3, 8-1, 6-2 and 9-2 meaning they were overall tournament winners for the second year so they remain

undefeated within the Slough Borough for two years running.

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“Girls on Tour” - Netball Sports Tour

On 19 September Ms O’Brien and Ms Bellis bravely got on a coach with 17 Year 10 & 11 students to Condover

Hall, Shropshire – Girls on Tour had begun. A stress free journey entailed with some people having a few naps

on the way (Erin ‘Granny’ Simmonds and Stevie Swann) and we arrived at Condover Hall to be met by our

leader JD who took the girls on a tour and we all went for dinner. That evening the girls could choose what

activities they wanted to do, most went to the campfire where they were able to sing to their hearts content

while others had a go at tunnelling.

The Saturday consisted of climbing, abseiling and laser quest where Ms O’Brien and Ms Bellis dominated. The

afternoon the netball started; it was a tough start as we didn’t know what to expect from the teams. Year 10 &

11 had a mixed bag of games with some wins and losses. A great day was had by all. Saturday evening the

silent disco and loud disco occupied the students with some great dance moves from Lola Idowu. On Sunday

the netball continued with Year 10 and 11 playing for the plate. The Year 10’s unfortunately did not win their

group however the Year 11’s did with some great centre passes and shooting from Kerrie Long and Erin ‘the

snail’ Simmonds. The weekend was a great success and Ms O’Brien and Ms Bellis would like to thank all the

girls for a fantastic weekend and they were a credit to the Academy.

Year 10 girls Mattu Simbo, Ela Metalia, Annabel Okoro, Felicia Tang, Ellie Smith, Hana El Amri, Molly Frewin, Liliana Carri and Danielle Deadman. Year 11 girls: Praise Okoro, Stevie Swann, Erin Simmonds, Kerrie Long, Ellie Long, Katie Long, Ololade Idowu and Leah Lewis

39

Year 10 & 11 Netball #GirlsOnTour

The weekend started with a 3 hour coach drive to Condover Hall, Shropshire, where we were to be playing for

the next few days. When we arrived we were greeted by a member of staff who took us on a tour around the

site. It was bigger and better than we imagined, from climbing walls to camp fires, tunnelling to laser maze and

much more. After dinner we parted from the teachers and headed to the camp fire where it was safe to say

that we won the sing off. With that our night ended and it was an early start in the morning after a rough night

sleep. With breakfast came excitement as we spent the morning doing abseiling, rock climbing, high ropes, low

ropes and laser tag. During laser tag, some people were a little too excited about the idea of shooting students

but everyone had a great time. After two games of laser tag and lots of squeals the Year 11s, accompanied by

Ms O’Brien, beat the Year 10s twice by a clear margin. Unlucky!

Finally the reason for

going began with our

netball matches in the

afternoon. The Year 10s

had a good start,

winning their first game,

showing the Year 11s

how to do it. The Year

11s upped their game to

play their hardest

competition yet but

unfortunately only

winning a few games.

There were large amounts of time between games so Ms Bellis along with a few students decided to go

abseiling. This turned out to be a very entertaining experience for all of us as we watched the struggle that was

Praise attempting to get onto the platform of the trapeze. That evening the students and staff enjoyed various

activities including a disco and a silent disco. The following day brought more energy and enthusiasm with

both the Year 10s and 11s competing in the plate competition. Unfortunately the Year 10s were not able to

win their plate however the Year 11s fought hard as a team to win their competition, much to their surprise.

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I suppose a small thank you is required for the teachers Ms O’Brien and Ms Bellis. Whilst they seemed to enjoy

the weekend more than the students they did have to put up with us moaning and complaining. On a seriousl

note, a massive thank you to Ms O’Brien and Ms Bellis from all of the girls on tour. #GirlsOnTour.

By Erin Simmonds

You can get up to date news and information regarding PE and sport at the Academy by following

us on Twitter @TLA_Sport

‘Do you remember the rats; and the stench of

corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench’

(Siegfried Sassoon)

110 students from across the Academy have worked

on a WWI sound piece that will be played to all

students during assemblies in Museum Learning

Week. The students were recorded doing WWI

inspired Drama lessons, during Arbib House Tutor

Time, in Museum Council and Club and doing WWI

object handling in History lessons to capture letters,

diaries and facts about the war. The sound piece will

be available on our website soon so keep a look out!

Internationalism Week

We are pleased to have the Migration Museum’s “100

Faces of Migration” exhibition on display in the Atrium

for Internationalism Week. The exhibition has been

popular with both students and staff. During

Internationalism Week we welcome Emily Miller and

Harriet Ward from the Migration Museum. Emily and

Harriet worked with Year 8 and Year 10 students to

learn more about migration and to think more deeply

about the exhibition. The students worked hard to

understand more about each image and to question

what was happening.

Museum Learning

41

All students have been asked to bring in an object relating to their

own migration journey or family story. Along with the objects, each

student has written a label explaining more about the importance of

that object. These objects are currently on display in the Atrium and

are a really fascinating exhibit.

Our Academy Attendance target for the year is 95.5%. Students have made a good start to the year and we

had 389 students who have been here every day on time since September. Well done to them all.

HOUSE

Number of students with 100% attendance

and punctuality

ARBIB 60

DARWIN 62

GAIA 62

GLOBE 75

GRACE 58

HENLEY 72

TOTAL 389

All 389 students were put into a raffle by House to win a voucher (1st Place £20, 2nd Place £15 & 3rd Place £10)

and the three winners in each House were announced during their House Awards Assemblies this week. This

terms winners are:

Arbib 1st Place – Asees Gill – Year 8 2nd Place – Maya Dhaliwal – Year 8 3rd Place – Adam Warner – Year 11 Darwin 1st Place – Victoria Evans – Year 10 2nd Place – Megan Maynard – Year 11 3rd Place – Stefan Fowke – Year 7

Attendance & Punctuality

42

Gaia 1st Place – Jordan King – Year 8 2nd Place – Joseph Balleza – Year 7 3rd Place – Agnesa Haziri – Year 8 Globe 1st Place – Adam Jones – Year 8 2nd Place – Tyreece Glewis – Year 9 3rd Place – Amani Ahmed – Year 11 Grace 1st Place – Thomas Pellow – Year 9 2nd Place – Jordan Nicholls – Year 8 3rd Place – Vijai Patel – Year 10 Henley 1st Place – Khadeejah Usmani – Year 11 2nd Place – Hunain Jaffrey – Year 7 3rd Place – Sam Harris – Year 7

Each term the House Tutor Group with the most days

of 100% attendance gets rewarded £100 to be spent

as they choose for example a House Tutor Group

party, bowling, pizza in the restaurant, or the money

to be split between each student and added to their

lunch cards to use in the restaurant. This terms

winners are Henley 4 who had a total of 25 days of

100% attendance!! Henley 4 students have chosen

to spend their £100 on a pizza feast during house

tutor time and donate £50 towards their House charity. Congratulations Henley 4!!!!

Each term the House Tutor Group with the most days of above

95.5% attendance and the House Tutor Group with the most days of

100% punctuality get rewarded with pizza in the restaurant during

House Tutor Time on the last Friday of term.

This term’s winner for the most days of attendance above 95.5% was Gaia 5 who had a total of 30 days.

This term’s winner for most days of 100% punctuality is Gaia 5 who had a total of 28 days of every student

being on time to the Academy.

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The SRB welcomed three new students into Year 7 and have recently welcomed back Dewlyn Rose into the 6th

Form! Good to see you Delwyn. All four of these students are enjoying a newly introduced radio aid system

called Roger! Speech in noise testing has shown improved scores using these new systems and so the students

have better access to their lessons throughout the Academy. We look forward to a successful year.

TLA Charities Council needs you!

• Do you enjoy raising money for Charity and helping others?

• Are you looking for something extra-curricular for your CV?

• Do you want to represent the Academy?

• Do you want to help others and make a difference?

• Are you willing to attend weekly meetings?

• Are you willing to give up your own time after school to help?

• If you answered yes to any of these questions then you could be a Charities Council Rep. Ask your

House Tutor to send Ms Brock or Ms Decosemo an email with your name. Meetings will commence in

November.

Academy House Council Reps 2014/15

Tutor Group KS3 KS4

Arbib Sulaiman Mohammad Cara Burton

Darwin Tyler Austin Karina Kakar

Gaia Sumaiya Malik / Sunil Doshi Munashe Ganje / Anisah Chaudry

Globe Gracjan Bowkowski Ramsha Syeda

Grace Sophie Bassett Praise Okoro

Henley Jahmoy Stewart-Sinclair Milo Quinton /Emily Jacobs

Student Leaders – Student Councils

There are numerous ways in which the students at the Academy can develop and cultivate their skills and

attributes via involving themselves in leadership roles within Academy life. The below Councils outline some of

their areas of involvement and success over the first term.

Sensory Resource Base (SRB)

Charities Council

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Charities Council

TLA’s 5th Annual Summer Fair Breaks Fund Raising Records!!!

I would like to start by thanking everyone who

helped organise and run a stall and to those who

attended the Academies 5th TLA Fair. It was an

amazing event which resulted in us raising a

Fantastic £2,567 for our House Charities. We

completely SMASHED last year’s total!!

All the money raised will be shared equally

between the 6 House Charities.

Well done and thank you to all the staff that ran a

stall, supervised and helped run such a fantastic

and enjoyable event. I would also like to thank

Mr O’Neal and the Leadership team for overseeing the event. Thank you again to Kuehne and Nagel, The

Global Logistics Network who kindly sponsored the event and gave us a cheque for £1,000 to cover the stall

materials costs.

I look forward to next year’s event.

Ms Brock

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Museum Council

It’s been a great start to the year and the council are looking forward to new and exciting projects. We are

pleased to welcome many new members to the Council; Nicole, Catherine, Paramveer, Hamza, Maisie and

Shahin. They have already contributed greatly and we are very glad to have them.

The Story Museum: This year the Museum Council will be working with the English Faculty on a Year 7 Literacy

project. Research for this project began with a trip to The Story Museum in Oxford. The Story Museum is

brand new museum and the Council enjoyed a fun afternoon working with the Education Officer, Kate. Kate

was really pleased to work with the Council as it gave her a good chance to get some feedback about the

museum and for the Council to share future plans for the museum.

The Council really enjoyed the visit and commented ‘I love it’ (Kazia, Year 11), ‘I loved the Story Museum! It

was really fun looking around and I also loved the activities in each room’ (Amrit, Year 8).

Arbib Noticebaord: Museum Council helped Miss Warr to display a new noticeboard for Arbib. The theme

was unusual and funky museums across the world. Museum Council came up with some great suggestions

including the Gnome Museum, the Pencil Museum and the Chocolate Museum.

Migration Museum: Over the past few weeks we have had the Migration Museum exhibition in

the Atrium. The exhibition has been very popular and memorable. Museum Council worked

with Emily, the Education Officer from the Migration Museum, to offer their feedback about

the exhibition and also suggest ideas for the Museum.

Ms Barker

Eco-Council

Last year in the Eco Council we welcomed many new members into our student body; this was a delight to see

as we always want fresh faces and ideas being put forward. This year we are hoping to receive some of our

new Year 7’s keen in either joining us or helping our cause, however, we are always welcoming to anyone from

any other years joining too. For all of the Year 7’s that do not know, Eco Council is a student based council with

Ms Decosemo as our staff leader. Our aims in Eco Council are to make the Academy as sustainable as possible

and to achieve recognition from doing so by achieving awards such as the Green Flag Award.

At this moment in time and last year we have mainly been focusing on achieving the Green Flag Award. The

Green Flag Award Scheme recognises and rewards the best green spaces in the country. To achieve this award

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we need all of the Academy to carry on being eco-friendly, just by every form empting their paper rubbish in

the recycling bin every week is helping the environment a lot.

Last year we were also successful in presenting all of our assemblies to all of the Houses, we did this to

hopefully raise awareness and knowledge of what we actually do in the Academy and how you as students can

contribute. We felt this went very well as we received a lot of positive feedback and each House helped us into

getting you opinions on how we can be more eco-friendly too. Over the next year we are hoping to have made

the Academy a lot more eco- friendly by making a couple of changes and achieve the Green Flag Award.

Did You Know?

Over 75% of waste is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it.

We generate 21.5 million tons of food waste each year. If we composted that food, it would reduce

the same amount of greenhouse gas as taking 2 million cars off the road.

Recycling one aluminium can saves enough energy to listen to a full album on your iPod. Recycling 100

cans could light your bedroom for two whole weeks

Leah Lewis, Year 11

Sports Council

The Sports Council have already met twice this term and have been working together to recruit new Sports

Council members after Matthew Ensby and Bradley Powell left year 13 and Brandon Calder and Abigal Cobley

joined the 6th Form.

We have already recruited Toheed Iqbal in Year 9 who was very keen to get involved. He has a real passion for

sport and is keen to change the PE curriculum for students at the Academy. The students have also been

interacting with the new Year 7’s to see if we should run a year 7 dodgeball league. The feedback so far has

been positive.

Agha Yousef and Aaron Wickens have now also been recruited to the Sports Council to replace Matthew and

Bradley and the Year 7 dodgeball league will now start in term 2.

Mr Elliott

House and Academy Council

This term has seen the House Council election which has led to the election of some new faces…but also a few

old ones. The House Councils meet twice a term and is overseen by their Head of House and the students

input has contributed greatly to the Academy’s development and progression.

The process has been very successful and we now also have this year’s representatives for the Academy

Council from the nominated house students. Good luck to all who are standing and let’s hope we can build on

all the positives of last year’s success.

Mr O’Neill

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Bullying Intervention Group (BIG)

Breaking news…BIG is going to be replaced with Princess Diana Anti-bullying Ambassadors.

BIG has been very successful over the last 4 years and the effectiveness of how the programme has been

operated meant the Academy achieved a kite mark for its outstanding work and in the process it helped

reduced the already small amount of bullying incidents by 50% last year. However, as we are always looking to

build on our successes, we are now looking at starting a new campaign with the Princess Diana Award Anti-

Ambassador Programme. This will consist of 4 students from each year group, from 8 to 11, who will be

trained by Princess Diana Award specialists and then they will act as peer mentors for the year group below.

Their presence within the Academy will be heightened by the use of identification badges. However, the

website will still function with the use of the Anti-bullying form, but highlighted more to students. We will

have monthly group meetings to discuss ways forward.

Three of the former BIG students, now in the 6th Form, who received the Princess Diana Award last year, will

be helping to set up this important intervention and chairing the meetings as part of their community service.

A poster was released in mid-October informing students how they can apply.

We aim to have Princess Diana Award winners every year now by running this programme which gives them

access to an array of opportunities including the WE! Day at Wembley Stadium.

Ms Wingrove

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All TLA students win rowing medals at the Berkshire Games

At the end of the summer term, The Langley Academy was asked to represent Slough Borough in 3 of the 4

rowing events at the Berkshire Level 3 Games at Wellington College.

The Year 7/8 girls’ team of Lea Foster, Abbi Griffin, Anike Abegunde and Lauren Bradburn finished as silver

medallists.

The Year 7/8 boys’ team of Jay King, Mikolaj Chibner, Donald Simbo and Aryan Suny dominated their event,

and had already won the title of Berkshire Champions before the last relay, which they duly won as well.

Rowing

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The Year 9/10 girls’ team of Catherine St Ledger, Annabel Okoro, Jieying Zhang and Mattu Simbo had

completely outclassed their Slough opposition at the Slough Indoor Championships in February to earn their

right to represent the borough, but came up against a group of rowers from Maidenhead and Marlow Rowing

clubs, representing Ascot & Maidenhead, to produce a very close fought battle, especially in the two relays

(2012 metres, and 2 minutes 12 seconds), where the Langley Academy team led until the very last. They took

the silver medals.

So, all 12 students from The Langley Academy won either gold or silver at the Berkshire Level 3 Games. The

Langley Academy will host the Slough Schools Indoor Rowing Championships again in February 2015, where

the best two indoor rowing students from each year (yrs7-10) will be invited to represent the Academy.

Mr Weare - Director of Rowing

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Seniores Evening – Year 11 students Aqsa Hussain, Prathna Kumar, Nasra Bedwi, Fazile Zogjani , Catherine

St Ledger , Zuzanna Kiciewicz and Zahira Batool attended a Seniores Evening at Slough & Eton School.

The speaker for the evening was the Labour Councilor Rob Anderson, Leader of Slough Borough Council and

Commissioner of Finance and Strategy. His ward is Britwell and Northborough.

Councilor Anderson started the

evening telling the group about

why he had got into politics

which was to be involved in

discussion and implementation

to improve Slough. He also talked

about his pride of being involved

in Slough schools’ improvement,

as they are now in the top 7% of

all schools in the country.

The evening concluded with

students having the opportunity

to ask Councilor Anderson

questions.

The students were articulate and

ask some hard hitting questions

especially regarding new free

schools impact on the excellent

cultural cohesion in Slough and

the possible loss of this due to

single sex and faith schools

starting to emerge across the

borough.

Other questions related to the

loss of school playing fields due

to development as well as his opinion on 16 and 17 year old voting, as they did in the Scottish referendum.

Seniores hold events termly and are always looking for inspirational, motivating speakers. If you have a story

to tell or have/had a job that you think would inspire Slough students please contact Linda Blackmore by email

linda.blackmore@langleyacademy.org

ISSP (Independent State School Partnership)

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It is with sadness that we bid farewell to our long standing library prefects who are stepping down to

concentrate on their GCSE studies. However, we are pleased to announce that a new cohort of Year 7 student

librarians have volunteered to replace them!

A thoroughly enjoyable day was had when all the new Year 7 students had their library induction lessons. The

students were fantastic

Library News

Pictured top row L-R, library prefects ‘retiring’: Jessica Swan Gonzalez, Akhila Joseph, Madihah Rashid, Byada Hamed, Jade Leonard and Karis Boycott Pictured seating L-R, new student librarians: Elizabeth Monds, Rebecca Davis, Georgina Utley, Jessica Woodford, Elizabet Boyadzhieva and Megan Kelly

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The university

prospectuses will

now be kept at the

6th Form Centre and

not in the library.

FlipSide general interest magazine, which is the most popular read in the library,

is unfortunately no longer being published. The Academy has however

subscribed to some additional titles this year which should cater to all interests

and age groups.

They include: National Geographic for kids, Top Gear, You magazine, Hello

magazine, The Cricket paper, Discovery Science magazine and How it Works

magazine.

Rohan Perera our Head Chef at the Academy has been shortlisted for the

Education Award at the FSM awards 2014 to be held at the luxurious Lancaster

Hotel.

We wish him the best of luck on Tuesday 11 November.

FSM Awards 2014

The acclaimed Accelerated

Reader Programme will slowly

be introduced into the library.

More details will follow

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Another year of DofE is up and running, but this year sees the introduction of the Silver award for students in

Year 12, added to the success of Bronze award in Year 10. Last year’s Bronze group are in their final stages of

completion for the 60 participants, whereas this year has seen 123 applicants in year 10 (for the 60 available

places) to begin in their efforts for the completion of their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. The students

involved needed to complete four sections to a high standard, which comprised of:

Volunteering: undertaking service to individuals or the community Physical: improving in an area of sport, dance or fitness activities Skills: developing practical and social skills and personal interests Expedition: planning, training for and completion of an adventurous journey in the UK

In addition to this, the students involved experienced levels heightened self-confidence, increased levels of

independence of thought and action, developed an increased sense of responsibility, cultivated new talents

and abilities, cemented new relationships and developed their ability to lead and work as part of a team. What

made the evening even more special, was the fact that 100% of the students who started the award,

completed it for the second year in succession, compared to a national average of below 50%.

A huge congratulations to all students involved and let’s hope that the current groups of students will achieve

the same level of success.

Mr O’Neill

Mr Blewett took some Year 12 students to the Dorney Retreat which is owned by Eton College to encourage

reflection and understanding of different faiths and religons. The topic for discussion involved sexuality and

the body. Their observations are recorded below:-

“My trip to Eton Dorney house to discuss the body’s relation to religion and how it differs between men and

women in Islam, Sikhism and Christianity was enlightening. It helped me, as an atheist, to understand how

different people see and treat their body in comparison to me for example. I believe that my body is mine to do

as I see fit with however as a woman or man of Sikhism you are strongly discouraged to cut your hair and to

see your body as a temple to be respected.

It was a great experience in which I met people from other schools and saw their points on religion. I feel this

has broadened my understanding, knowledge and increased my respect further toward people who practise

religion on a daily basis”.

By Harry Dewing

Dorney Retreat

Duke of Edinburgh 2014/15

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“The Eton College cultural learning trip has been great, proving to be very fascinating especially in

acknowledging the extreme diversity and variance in human cultures and religions across the globe.

Throughout our time there, we were constantly provided with a wide range of interesting and entertaining

activities, and there never really was a single moment of boredom to punctuate our trip. We have been, so to

speak, illuminated with new knowledge, whilst in turn illuminating others with our own knowledge, and I

believe this experience alone would interest many, at least those who are inclined to such matters. For those

who are not, the trip is still a memorable and worthwhile event, with ample leisure time and amusing, albeit

sometimes embarrassing, activities which build friendship, trust, and knowledge”.

By Yasen Mohammed

“The trip to Eton allowed us to seek the views of the body image from different religious perspectives and find

truth in the purpose of the body and soul in certain religions. This truly enlightening experience was full of

knowledge and wisdom which it allowed me to understand the world better and become a more rounded

person. Even though the day only lasted around 4 hours, it has slightly changed my outlook on religion and

life”.

By Brandon Calder

Year 7 have had a busy start to the Academy - their thoughts on Summer School, Day 1, Team building at

Hillingdon and what it means to them to be a member of The Langley Academy are detailed below

Summer School

In Summer School the theme was based on pirates. As a result of this, we did lots of activities, such as using a

map to find our way around the Academy, building our own island, designing our own treasure map and many

more. The most exciting bit about Summer School was dressing up as a pirate. I liked Summer School because

it helped me get used to the school and where everything is.

Summer School

Before I started going to The Langley Academy I went to Summer School during the holidays. It was truly

amazing and fun because there were lots of activities such as cooking, fun maths games and sports.

Summer School

Summer School was fun because it was only Year 7’s and I made friends with people I didn’t know and then we

had to be competitive against each other so we tried really hard to beat one another but in the end we won.

New Year 7 students

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Day 1

On my first day at The Langley Academy, it was all overwhelming having come from Parlaunt Park. I was really

excited but nervous at the same time.

Day 1

As soon as I walked into The Langley Academy I felt little again being in the smallest year, Year 7, I was worried

if I’d get lost. As the weeks went on I was starting to fit in at The Langley Academy. I felt proud to be at The

Langley Academy.

Day 1

I was very excited and nervous on my first day at The Langley Academy. The teachers made me feel very

welcome and I made a few new friends.

Day 1

Day 1 was very hectic; as soon as I entered the Academy all I could see was tall people looking at us. Then I

felt relieved when I saw some teachers I knew from Summer School.

Day 1

I was very nervous on day 1 when the whole school was going to be here but as soon as I saw all the lovely

people all my nervousness vanished and I settled in really well.

Team Building

Hillingdon was amazing. We did a lot of team building and we had a lot of fun there.

Team Building

Hillingdon was amazing. Our last activity we were able to build a raft and 4 people got to go on it. I was one of

them, I fell in at the end and was very cold but I enjoyed myself and had fun.

Team Building

Hillingdon was really fun because we got to make our own boat. Unfortunately my group was having a bit of

trouble getting in the boat, but we soon managed to get in and start rowing.

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Team Building

It was a fun and unique experience because together we had to work as a team to succeed. We got to engage

and interact with others and make new friends.

Team Building

The team building at Hillingdon was great! We did so many fun and exciting activities and from that I made

lots of new friends and got very wet. I felt this was a chance for me to know more people whilst having fun.

What The Langley Academy means to me

The Langley Academy means a lot to me because I care about my education. Even though I have just started

at The Langley Academy, I have realised that education means a lot and so does The Langley Academy.

What The Langley Academy means to me

To me The Langley Academy is a very special place where I can learn and make new friends. It is a very unique

building and from the top shaped like a tooth.

What The Langley Academy means to me

I love The Langley Academy because of the lessons and how great the teachers teach you.

What The Langley Academy means to me

The Langley Academy is my strength. It is my strength because it’s what inspires me to do things that I haven’t

done or tried before.