I was so glad to be picked to attend the KS3 Born Free Great Debate on Wednesday 22nd June at SOAS University London [School of Oriental and African Studies]. While we were there, we watched two lectures. The first speaker (Dominic Dyer) spoke passionately about saving bears, badgers and cattle, and how we can make a difference. We also listened to him talk about how important it is to protest for what we believe in.  

After the first lecture, we broke off into groups and were given the task of creating an environmental campaign. My group designed a campaign on how palm oil is leading to more and more deforestation, affecting the orangutan population and their habitat. We had to think very carefully about how we could pitch our ideas to our target audience, which was our peers.  

Lastly, we attended the last discussion of the day which included a group of panel speakers who answered questions from the audience. They all urged us to use our voice and to find a platform as young people, to make a change.  

I learnt some very interesting facts about why we should save animals and our environment. It was both a very fun and inspiring, educational experience.

Kalila Yasin 9P

On Tuesday we had the Met Police come in to talk about different pathways and opportunities for careers in policing. They spoke about their personal experiences and their career progression over their years of service. The officers were frank about the difficulties of day-to-day policing but also spoke about the rewards of a career as a Police Officer and the positive impact they make on the lives of citizens in their local area.

One of the opportunities that they discussed was the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship. I found this particularly interesting as you are working towards a fully funded degree whilst earning a competitive salary. Another thing that was quite interesting about the opportunity was that you would be employed as an officer from day one, making a difference to London's communities and applying everything that you're learning practically on the job. This is an amazing opportunity and I would definitely consider applying in the future.

Yusuf Siddiqui

Year 12 student

Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure helping  some of the Year 9 students improve their reading skills. The aim is to enhance their reading experience through a series of one-to-one sessions whereby we listen to them read. During the session, whilst listening to them read, I help with word pronunciations, definitions and enhance their comprehension of the text by asking them a range of thought-provoking questions. The continuity of supporting the same student every week helps build a great rapport and we are able to communicate more effectively with one another.  After a few weeks, I noticed a significant improvement in the Year 9 students’ ability to read and engage with the text. Reading is slowly becoming a passion rather than a chore which gives me great satisfaction in seeing them become more fluent and confident readers.  

Ria Adatia 

Year 12 

Monday saw the Year 7s boys football team travel to Heathlands School for the Year 7 finals. In the semi-finals, Heston played in a very close game against Isleworth & Syon School, conceding a goal late in the second half losing 1-0. In the 3rd and 4th place playoff, Heston played against Heathlands School. This again was a very close game. After full time and extra time neither team could be split with the game finishing 2-2. The outcome of this game would be decided on penalties which Heston won 4-3. A big thank you to Mr Abdulla and Mr Haque for their coaching.

I was really excited when I was told that we were going to take part in the National Reading Quiz. The regional heats took place at school, in the library via Microsoft teams. We all worked hard as a team, only to find out we won!! This meant that we got to take part in the finals, with schools from all across the UK. On the day of the finals, we arrived at school at 8am and took the tube to Central London, where the finals would be. When we arrived, I was amazed that even though all the schools were competing against each other, we all had something in common - our love of reading! There were 10 rounds of 10 questions each, and we all worked together to do our best. During the lunch break, we were given some books and bookmark to take home. Also, there was food, hot drinks and lots of snacks to keep us energised and ready for the last few rounds. When the final round ended, I saw the relief on everyone's faces. There was a very interesting interview with author Patrice Lawrance. We also had a special message sent from author Michael Morpurgo, wishing us luck for the competition. We came 19th out of over 300 schools! 

Jasia Kwokova 8Y

Congratulations to Prem Ghatora, Himat Rai, Jasia Kwokova, and Sylvie Maclean.

On Friday 6^th May, the Heston Community School Governors were invited to the Governors’ Open Day, in order to see a normal school day in action and to speak to staff and students about how the school is operating. 

This was a wonderful opportunity to spend time getting to know about all aspects of school life, from the way the PSHE curriculum is implemented across different year groups, to the role of the Head Students, as well as the building plans that the school has been working on behind the scenes. The highlights of the day were the opportunities to see the students in a wide range of lessons, from the creativity of seeing Year 8 crafting some beautiful Islamic-inspired stained glass windows in Art, to the essential life skills of Year 12 learning about how to de-escalate dangerous situations and report assaults. 

Conversations with staff and students throughout the day were productive and demonstrated the commitment that the whole school community has to developing kindness, ambition and resilience in all students. 

Sarah Farmer, Staff Governor