Congratulations to all our students collecting their GCSE examination results today. We are delighted that so many of them will be returning to our ‘Outstanding’ Sixth Form.

Headteacher, Ranjit Berdesha, commented: “I am extremely proud of the hard work and commitment, from both our students and staff, especially considering the challenges experienced during and after the pandemic.”

Particular congratulations go to Alisha Rizwan who achieved eight Grade 9s.

'This journey could not have been possible without the many people who have supported me. I would like to thank my parents and all of my teachers. I couldn’t have done it without you. I couldn’t ever have dreamed of getting these grades. On to the next chapter!' Alisha 11G

'First of all, I would like to thank Heston and all my teachers for helping me and the great amount of effort put into teaching me. Overall there were a myriad of emotions yet nonetheless I was successful and thankful. I am very grateful to belong to this spectacular school. Thank you very much.' Sehraj 11B

    

              

Carl from Uptree came into School last week to deliver two workshops, to Year 12 students. There were over 30 students in each session. Carl shared information on careers within Law and STEM, as well as the work experience opportunities on offer.

Attending both Uptree workshops was very useful, as a person who wants to work in the tech industry, Carl [the person who hosted the workshop] gave a truly informative and welcoming presentation. He told us about the different types of careers for people who do STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics], and some salary figures for those jobs. He allowed us to ask multiple questions and wanted it to be as interactive for us. As it progressed, Carl started to show the different work experiences that Uptree offers such as from huge companies like ARM, Coca-Cola, and more. He emphasised how important work experience is and how it can separate individuals as the students you're going to go against when getting a job will have grades similar to you. For the Law workshop, it increased my general knowledge of the corporate world and he explained briefly the different areas of law while also giving examples to make us better understand such as Microsoft's acquisition of Activision and how some aspects work such as the reason why it is taking so long to finalise the deal, mainly due to different countries having different laws. 

Iman Zaini Rusly [12G]

This term, our amazing Year 7 cricketers won the overall league for Hounslow Schools’ Cricket. They have dedicated great amounts of time to practising and improving their skills and truly deserve this accolade. 

Maanas, [7O] told us, “In late June, Gunnersbury Boys School visited us for a match. We bowled first, Eisa took 3 wickets (2 catches and 1 wicket). We were in a strong position from the start.” 

“After that, Saksham tooka couple of wickets which Eisa caught. At the end of the 10 overs, they hit 18 runs. We finished the game early!” 

Areeb, [7B] told us, ”In the recent match with Heathlands, we did really well. We scored 121, we scored the runs first so they were chasing it.” 

The staff who run the Cricket Club have offered fantastic coaching to our students, who are really grateful for the time and effort that is put in. 

“We haven’t lost a single match. At Cricket Club, we are taught to focus on accuracy rather than speed, and to understand timings as well as how to hit the ball and run.” 

Let’s hope we can continue this great run of victories into next summer! 

 

            

The Junior Maths Challenge encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems.

Special mention goes to Abhayjit Bhangu who got best in Y7, Zayd De Silva who got a Gold award and best in Y8 and Laksh Damree who also was awarded Gold. Congratulations to all that took part. 

In my opinion the Junior Maths Challenge was quite challenging due to the fact that it had very complicated questions. I also think that the junior maths challenge is very luck based in spite of the fact that negative marks used to be handed out for the wrong answer. I found the maths challenge relatively easy as I have done it last year but for year 7s that is not the case. I can say that the test is a good thing as you could add it onto you CV and have a certificate as proof.

Laksh Damree [8Y] - Gold award

'The Junior maths challenge is a very fun and good experience. It allows us to think out of the box and solve problems that we would not usually get in class. Although it can be a little difficult it's worth the experience and you get a certificate at the end to show for your hard work. In my opinion everyone should attempt it because it is fun working through these difficult puzzles and rewarding when you solve them.'

Sahil Kotak [8P] - Silver award

The 2023 Sports Day provided an opportunity for Y7-10 students to showcase their abilities to perform in a highly competitive setting while also having fun. The harsh sun beating down on the field initially caused some to look irritated, however, this was shortly remedied when ice pops were distributed to compensate for the hot day. By sporting the colour of their form group, everyone in their team felt as though they were all working together to achieve one common goal: to beat the other forms in every competition! Despite being on opposing teams, they demonstrated refreshing sportsmanship as the racers were overheard complimenting each other on their accomplishments. A few aspiring athletes even left with as many as three medals around their necks. Sam and Mr Fakouri, who were in charge of making the announcements, advocated for a lot of encouragement from the spectators. The morale maintained high throughout as the students who were watching collectively cheered when their form came around the corner of the track. "Come on Raheem, that's what I mean!" was one of the many rhyming chants they began. Water bottles were handed to all runners as they sat in their ranked seats so that they could catch their breath before the victors walked to the podium to snap a picture of their unforgettable achievements. 

The Yr10s, in particular, gave it their all in the relay, as evidenced by the way they slumped onto the chairs afterward, sighing in relief at their efforts. Considering today is possibly their last ever sports day, the competition in the air most likely brought drove them to work as hard as they could. Even when they weren't racing, the Yr10s could be seen having a push-up competition among themselves; while they didn't get any points for this, their dedication still shone through. 

Something that is not really done at our sports day very often is the sac race which today brought out the most laughs. Teachers and participants joined in the light-hearted atmosphere as some pupils would often lose their balance and fall whilst jumping in the sac. 

Since the school does not have a starting pistol, a wood clapper that could mimic the desired sound was used for "firing" that alerted participants to start the track races. Undoubtedly, the competition that required the most encouragement from the rest of the school was the 800-meter race. All of the runners performed incredibly well for one of the most challenging runs. Some of them slowed down near the middle, indicating that it was clearly quite exhausting for them, but Ms. Jennings admiringly ran alongside them for support. Since there was not a staff race this year, she was unfortunately the only teacher to run on the track. Whilst this may have been disappointing to some, students in the older years have learnt from experience that the P.E. department always wins anyway - for obvious reasons. 

At the end of the event, Orange house was announced as the overall winner. However, we saw a great effort from every single form class representative that competed. 

Roving Reporters

Malaika Abbas [12A] and Abdisalam Abdulkadir [12E]

 

“We are really strong; we can beat every team!” – 7Y [tug of war] 

“There was not that many people going for the race, so I thought, why not try.” – Taranveer 10R [sac race] 

“It felt good to win. I didn’t expect to since I have a lot of pain in my leg, but it still worked out.” – Rawda 7W [sac race] 

“It’s not something you can practice for.” – Angeli 9O [sac race] 

“I fell over but still won.” – Kabir 7B 

“I was not expecting to win since I have never done a sac race before.” Alexandru 10W [sac race] 

“I like P.E, it is different to other subjects where you have to think logically. I think that we need more female sports personalities as role models.” – Heer 9R [40m sprint]

“I enjoyed the race, but I was panicking because my form tutor told me to have an ice lolly before I started. I thought it was going to slow me down, but I still won. I still have to do the relay and tug of war next” – Arvind 8B [40m sprint]

“I ran for my life.” – Najma 10R [40m sprint]

“I didn’t prepare for the race but was still able to apply technique to win. I just ignored the crowd and ran. My sports inspiration is Christiano Ronaldo.” – Y10 1^st place [obstacle course]