Lampton School Newsletter
September 2014
Two lucky students, Jonathan Brown, 10K
and Prabhleen Grewal, 9K, were nomi-
nated by Mr Keane, as a part of the Basket-
ball Academy, to participate in an interview
most others would never dream of. Both
students visited the Westminster’s Sky News
Studios to interview the second most pow-
erful man in the country, George Osborne.
Jonathan and Prabhleen participated in a
question and answer session after an informa-
tive discussion from Mr Osborne, the MP for
Tatton. They tested him with a series of ques-
tions that they had prepared earlier. Jonathan
had experience interviewing the President
of the Cayman Islands, but it was a first time
experience for Prabhleen. Both were rather
nervous in what they would and could say,
however, to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
The talk heavily revolved around the promo-
tion of politics among young people. They
said, ‘He was a bit reserved at first’, all talk of
pay scales were completely off the table, ‘but
after a while he warmed to us and had a bit of
a laugh, as he told us about how he “likes bak-
ing with his daughter”, which surprised a few.
Second most powerful man in the country faces Lampton students
However, they had him lost for words when
one student gave him a maths calculation that
was left, let’s say, unanswered. They also saw
a side to him that made them relax a little, the
story of his missing hamster, to which he said,
‘I found it in the basement after a few weeks!’
To round it all off, Jonathan and Prab-
hleen were asked back to the Sky Studios
the following day, to put together a short
video news report of their experience of
the day. They even made it on live televi-
sion, giving a report to the news reporters.
Jonathan seemed quite keen on the po-
litical side of matters and Prabhleen said she
learned a lot more than she knew previous-
ly about George Osborne and his role and
ideas. More than anything, they both gained
a little more confidence in putting forward
their ideas and being confident in speaking
to adults, even if it was to the Prime Minis-
ter’s neighbour and close colleague. It is an
experience that they both would truly rec-
ommend, and perhaps we have our own fu-
ture Prime Minister in our hands, or at least,
a couple of news journalists in the making.
IN THIS ISSUE
Message from the Head
· 2 ·
Trips Galore
· 3 ·
Year 10s Play Live at Sky Studios
· 6 ·
LAMPTON LEAVES OSBORNE LOST FOR WORDS
Report by Amara Randhawa, Year 13
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2 Lampton School Newsletter • Sept 2014 •
Students worked in
teams to use their
economic knowl-
edge to win prizes
in the museum
and were also able
to try to lift a real
gold bar worth over
£350,000! They
also took in the
sights and sounds of
the City of London
and visited Canary
Wharf to develop
students’ awareness
of the key financial
districts of London.
Below are just a few pictures that record some of the many varied jobs our Year 11s experienced in the world of work this SeptemberYEAR 11 WORK EXPERIENCE
Bank of England TripAt the end of last term, 35 AS Eco-nomics Students visited the Bank of England, in order to learn about the changing role of the Bank of England in today’s economy.
MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD
Welcome to the first newsletter of the
Autumn Term! An especially warm
welcome to our new Year 7s and their
families as they join the Lampton School
community.
Lampton pupils performed well in the
summer examinations of 2014. At GCSE
progress made by pupils in English and
Mathematics was strong and a high
proportion of pupils, 41%, achieved the
EBac suite of subjects. Over half of last
year’s Y11 pupils achieved 10 or more
subject passes at grades A* - C. 25% of
all grades achieved were either at A or
A* grade – a fantastic achievement.
In the Sixth Form ‘A’ level success has led
to a high number of students gaining
admission to their choice of university:-
Zareen Bhatti, University of Cambridge,
Yara Chaer, King’s College London, Di-
ana Jaganjec, King’s College London,
Lida Kabir, University College London,
Karow Maruf, Imperial College Lon-
don, Saif Masood, University College
London,Congratulations!
Now the hard work begins in earnest for
Y10 & Y11 pupils as they continue with
their preparations for GCSE next sum-
mer. A series of information evenings
have been held with parents/carers of
these year groups outlining the higher
expectations that will be placed on these
pupils with regard to knowledge, rigour,
examination technique and preparation.
Intervention and support activities for
these pupils were also outlined.
Our brand new Sixth Form block is near-
ing completion – this state of the art fa-
cility will not only house teaching rooms
but also a dedicated study support area
for our students.
As ever staff have organised a wide and
varied programme of extra - curricular
enrichment activities, trips and visits.
We look forward to our continued work
in partnership over the coming term as
we strive together to achieve the very best for all our students.
Dame Sue John, Headteacher
Stephen Davis, Associate Headteacher
Sept Newsletter.indd 2 01/10/2014 12:59:33
3 Lampton School Newsletter • Sept 2014 •
Twelve Year 9 students had the opportu-
nity to visit Jamie’s Farm recently. Over the
week, pupils had the opportunity to get fully
involved in all aspects of farm life. Each day
started with a feeding round of the cows, pigs,
bulls, ducks and chickens before breakfast.
The rest of the day was spent doing a vari-
ety of jobs around the farm including cook-
ing, gardening, wood chopping, horse work
and hay moving. Every afternoon ended
with a piece of cake and a lovely walk
through the surrounding countryside (and
sometimes a very cold swim in the river!).
The group also got to visit a neighbour-
ing farm and had the opportunity to work
with the sheep – rounding them up and
catching them to be weighed and sorted.
There was also time to enjoy riding on
the quad bike and taking part in the ob-
stacle course challenge. It was a fan-
tastic week for everyone involved!
AS PART OF AN EXTRA-
CURRICULAR TRIP, LAMPTON
KS4 STUdENTS vISITEd THE
EMIRATES STAdIUM ANd
ITS MUSEUM, ObSERvINg
ARSENAL’S PAST gLORIES
INSPIRES ME WEEK -
WORK EXPERIENCE
Twenty-two of our Sixth formers
applied and were offered places on
this work experience scheme which
took place during the last week of
July. On the final day they were
invited to City Hall where they were
split into teams and took part in a
Dragons Den style activity. Lampton
was represented in every team.
‘Now in its third year, InspiresMe
Week is a week-long scheme
where over fifty students intern at
various businesses in the Workspace
portfolio. For many of these
students, InspiresMe Week is not
only their first experience working
in a business but it’s also the first
time they’ve even considered
working in any of the varied
creative, digital, tech and other
industries based at Workspace.’
Jamie’s Farm Trip
Sept Newsletter.indd 3 01/10/2014 12:59:34
4 Lampton School Newsletter • Sept 2014 •
In February and May 2014, some of
the students from Lampton took part
in the school’s first “French Exchange”.
This was a new, unique, exciting experience and a great opportunity for the students in Lampton School. It was certainly a great challenge for the French department in terms of trips, and it defi-nitely paid off.
In February, 30 French students came from
Rennes, in France, to Hounslow. They were
met by the 30 Lampton students and met
their exchange partners for the first time.
These students stayed with the Lampton
pupils and their families for a week, dur-
ing which there were many trips for both
parties and everyone took something out
of the enjoyable, yet educational week.
Then in May, Lampton students went to
Rennes, located in the beautiful region
of bretagne in the West of France. This
time, the English students experienced a
French student’s life. Once again students
were reunited with their partners who
previously stayed with them in London.
Also within this week many trips took
place as well as day visits to the French
school. Students had the chance to put
their French into real contexts, stay with
a French family, and completely im-
merse themselves into the French culture.
Students remained in contact with
their partners and some are even go-
ing to privately meet their part-
ners this summer - this has created
very strong bonds between students.
Even now many of the pupils reminisce
about this experience; a student in-
volved said, “It will remain a very memo-
rable time and the best experience ever.”
At the end of that final week, it became
very apparent as to how enjoyable the
trip actually was. Lampton created an
eternal bond with the school in Rennes
which will be continued in years to come.
As Aleksandra said, ‘The French ex-
change was an amazing experience.
I made many new friends and had a
lot of fun. I experienced how it is to
be in a French family and I loved it.‘
‘It was the best trip ever. I am surely staying in
contact with my French friends. Thinking of France
now will bring back lots of memories but as Miss Huet says, this is just the
beginning!’
We were delighted to welcome the Researchers in School train-
ees for their first training day at Lampton. The programme is a
highly prestigious project which got off to an excellent start with
a training week based in King’s College London, and run by staff
from the brilliant Club and Lampton School. The trainees will
be based at Lampton every Wednesday and they will be follow-
ing a Professional Studies course, and a research programme
that will focus on independent enquiry, evidence-based teach-
ing and action research. A key part of the trainees role will also
be to champion university access in their placement schools.
PHD GRADUATES POINT THE WAY TO SUCCESS
Lampton French Exchange 2014
Sept Newsletter.indd 4 01/10/2014 12:59:36
5 Lampton School Newsletter • Sept 2014 •
YEAR 8 PUPILS LEAD
THE WAY
“I am amazed and heartened by
the AR stats; they prove that there
is a strong correlation between
reading ability and performance in
class– in most cases the best read-
ers are those that are now excel-
ling in their writing.”
R. Ahmed (Teacher of English)
I’m increasing my vocabulary
every time I read a new book. With
all the books in levels, it is easier to
find the right book for me”
Simin ( 1st prize)
Caption ut wisi enim ad minim veniam nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit
AR ACCELERATED READER Accelerated Reader is a software pro-
gramme produced by Renaissance Learn-
ing to monitor reading progress. Each
book is computer analysed to assign a
level of difficulty, taking in to account fac-
tors such as length of words and sentences.
Each pupils takes a Star Reading Assessment,
which establishes their reading level and
there are quizzes based on the books to test
understanding. Here at Lampton AR is be-
ing used as a tool for further promoting a
reading culture, motivating children to read
and finding the right book at the right level.
Class timetables have been changed to in-
clude 20 minutes of reading time where
pupils drop Everything and Read; essential
for pupils to progress in the programme.
AR was initially piloted with one class in late
April, 2013 to establish the programme for
pupils, staff, administration and operational
aspects before it could be rolled-out to Ms
Welch’s year 7 group. The pilot required key
staff to lead the project and training for tutors,
English teachers and dEAR session teachers.
The Library staff were tasked with updat-
ing stock; relabelling of books and purchas-
ing more fiction and non-fiction books
to support the AR level requirements.
Finally in September 2013, the entire cohort
of 220 Year 7’s (now Year 8’s) were Star test-
ed and the AR programme was in full action!
Pupils have been reading in their dedi-
cated Reading Lessons in the Library.
Their English teachers do short inter-
views with them to discuss and encour-
age them to read books in their reading
level range and set targets to increase their
reading ability. Once pupils have taken a
quiz, they move on to read more books.
Every 100% pass means they can collect
a prize from the Library! Every week quiz
results are shared with the tutors and pu-
pils and display boards around the school
are updated in a Champions List which
shows the top 50 readers in the year group.
At end of term assemblies, pupils are re-
warded for reading the most books, read-
ing the most words and having the most
number of 100% quiz passes—Yes, reading
wins you prizes at Lampton! Year 8 (now
9) ended the successful first year of AR at
with a final awards assembly on 11th July.
by Ms P Randhawa
WHAT IT TAKES TO BE AN ACCELERATED READER
Take a Star test to establish a reading
level
Ensure you have 2 AR books to read
in your reading range every day
Have your reading record in school
at all times
Read in silence during DEAR sessions
Make good notes in reading records
Read them before taking a quiz
Quiz within 24 hours of finishing a
book
When you pass with 100% get your
reading record signed by staff
Return or renew your books on time!
“by October this year all KS3 pu-pils will be in the AR Programme. Thanks to everyone who has
made AR such a success!”
THE IMPACT
IN 10 MONTHS:-
174 million words read
792,000 words read on average
4486 books read
20 books each on average
Average Book level – 4.7 Average book length - 39,000 words
69% of quizzes above 80%
37 % of quiz scores at 100%
Average quiz accuracy – 79%
Sept Newsletter.indd 5 01/10/2014 12:59:36
6 Lampton School Newsletter • Sept 2014 •
LAMPTON gIRLS ROCK SKY
Six Year 10 Students were invited to per-
form at Sky Arts Sessions, and from their
arrival at Sky Studios, the Lampton girls
were all treated like stars. greeted at the
gates by the entertainment production
co-ordinator they were then escorted to
their very own green room, kitted out
with a guitar table and a violin lampshade!
The girls were brought water and told
to relax whilst their team of road-
ies and runners set up their equipment
for them (which we had had to load
into our mini bus ourselves at school).
Once in the studio they were introduced
to the floor manager who made them
all feel very relaxed and they began their
set. They performed 2 songs a couple of
times and were recorded by about 8 cam-
eras and a team of 30+ people watching!
The girls coped amazingly with the pres-
sure and didn’t flinch when the camera
man put the camera right in their faces.
The girls provided an opportunity for the
technical team to rehearse in prepara-
tion for the sky arts sessions later on.
The staff were so impressed by the students professionalism and mu-sicianship and could not believe
they were only 14.
Avani doel, who played drums for the
band, said it was, “An amazing experience.”
Six Year 10 girls playing live at the Sky Arts Sessions
Sept Newsletter.indd 6 01/10/2014 12:59:41
7 Lampton School Newsletter • Sept 2014 •
WOMEN CAN DO
DAY - 2014 › The keynote speaker was Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE – she is chief executive of Mitie group.
› She is 35th most power-ful business woman in the world according to Fortune Magazine!
› She came to us as part of Speakers for Schools.
› We had a further 35 pro-fessional women who all did speed dates with the year 11 girls and then some workshops
Students at Lampton School will soon
be taught about money and personal fi-
nance, after it was announced that the
school has been chosen to become a
Centre of Excellence in financial educa-
tion as part of a ground-breaking part-
nership between the UK’s leading finan-
cial education charity pfeg (Personal
Finance Education group) and Santander.
The announcement means that the school
will work with pfeg’s educational spe-
cialists to create a detailed programme
of financial education for their students
and integrate the teaching of personal fi-
nance into the school curriculum. Teach-
ers will be supported in the delivery of
effective personal finance lessons and
learning activities, drawing on the char-
ity’s 14 years experience of supporting
educators in the schools across the UK.
Santander is supporting the development of
Lampton School to achieve pfeg Centre of
Excellence* status in the next year, turning
it into a beacon of best practice in teaching
children and young people about money.
The school, one of 40 across the country
set to benefit from the programme, will
also be supported in sharing its new exper-
tise with other schools in the local area to
benefit the wider educational community.
dame Sue John, Headteacher at Lampton
School, said:
“Lampton School prides itself on preparing
our students for life, and to make sure they
are equipped for the challenges of manag-
ing their personal finances that has to in-
clude high quality financial education. We
are extremely pleased to be working towards
becoming a pfeg Centre of Excellence in fi-
nancial education – this will be a great addi-
tion to our offering and will make a big dif-
ference to students, now and in the future.”
Tracey bleakley, pfeg (Personal Finance
Education group) chief executive, said:
“We are delighted that Lampton School has
joined our Centre of Excellence programme
through our partnership with Santander.
The work that staff will be doing with our
educational specialists over the coming
months will be of enormous benefit to stu-
dents, with financial education set to be
firmly embedded into the curriculum. Our
aim is to ensure that all students enter adult
life with the skills, knowledge and confi-
dence they need to manage money well.”
A spokesperson for Santander said:
“At Santander we believe it is important for
everyone to have good basic money man-
agement skills, but particularly young peo-
ple who are encountering money earlier
than ever. We recognise that teaching young
people requires specialist delivery and the
Centres of Excellence programme offers a
tailored programme using materials that
have been designed by education experts
that complement the existing curriculum.”
Lampton School to become a Centre of Excellence
in Financial Education
Sept Newsletter.indd 7 01/10/2014 12:59:42
8 Lampton School Newsletter • Sept 2014 •
5
12
19
26
6Occasional day: Eid School site closed
13English ‘A’ Level conference
20Art trip to Kew gardens
27
7Open Morning
14
21
28
1Year 11 Parents’ Evening16:30 - 19:30
8Early closure for students at 1pm due to Year 6Open Evening18:00 - 20:30
15Yr 10 History trip to berlin15th - 18th
22Sixth FormOpen Evening17:00 - 20:00
29
2
909:15 Late start for studentsfollowing Open Evening
16Yr 9 Parents’ Evening16:30 - 19:30
23geography trip to Lake district
30
3
10Art trip to the Museum of London
17
24
31
4
SUNdAY MONdAY TUESdAY WEdNESdAY THURSdAY FRIdAY SATURdAY
11
18
25
OCTObER
HALF-TERM 27/10/14 - 2/11/14
Sept Newsletter.indd 8 01/10/2014 12:59:42