On Wednesday, 14 December, Heston held its second annual Christmas chess tournament. Due to illness and harsh weather, the turnout was a modest eight students. But all came with the drive to win! 

With a jolly atmosphere and a range of questionable background music, every player managed to win at least one game. 

The winner was decided on points after timed games and, after some difficult games, Kevin Afonso [13A] emerged victorious.

The rest of the participants won chocolate.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Mr A Juriansz [Club Co-ordinator]

At the end of Year 12 we were given the opportunity to interview for roles working within the canteen. Both of us successfully began work in October this year. I have been able to work on the tills, serving food and learning about different processes in the kitchen. Beginning work between 07:30-08:00 has helped me become more productive and prepared for the day that follows. The different types of work we do pushes us to interact more with both our co-workers and fellow students, which I find very enjoyable. Not only do we gain productivity, we also have fun. Being able to work alongside friends and peers has been amazing, and I feel has helped us both to grow in confidence and has certainly set us up for the world of work. Specifically, on Friday mornings when there is breakfast for our teachers, it’s been really pleasant being able to interact with them in a different capacity.

We are so happy to have been given this opportunity.

Amrita Dhesi [13C]

Anisha Nareydo [13F]

As a year 11 student, I am faced with the difficult choice of selecting my A-Level subjects. The Open Evening helped me to better understand the subjects and the challenge at this level but also which careers would be open to me with each subject. Each teacher spoke in great depth about their curriculum and course structure, and also offered reading materials and tools I could use to plan ahead. It was an interactive evening with fun practicals and interesting conversations.  Overall, it was very helpful.

Diya Harrish [11P]

The Post 16 Open Evening was an amazing experience which allowed me to broaden my knowledge about the possible choices I can make for the future. These choices could be T-levels, A Levels or BTEC options. Furthermore, this allowed me to think about my future career choices and the routes I can take into university. Overall, the experience was really useful for me as I was able to speak to lots of different teachers who could help me consider my choices for the future.

Gursimer Dhaliwal [11W]

Recently, the Economics department took us to the Emmanuel Centre for a series of Economic lectures. The lectures helped us to re-shape the way we see economics based on what we have been learning in class.  We heard from world renowned economists such as Linda Yueh, the author of “The Great Economists”, talked in some depth about the history of economic thought; Dr Stephen Davies, who gave us his perspective on trade policies and the nature of money and Dr Matt Prichard, who talked about rational decision making by humans. 

Through understanding the history behind the economists, we were able to develop our knowledge on key economic theories, which we can now use our essays and exam questions. It was exciting to hear external speakers discuss topics that we have been taught in the classroom, as it highlighted the true relevance and applicability to the real life. We came across a lot of new information that would help us apply our understanding to industries and firms such as Uber.

The biggest takeaway from this trip was truly the rich data that we were able to gather, which will now aid us when we sit our exams.  We came out of the talk with a much better understanding of how economics is used in the real world and how it can help us progress further. Experiences like these are extremely enriching, giving us real life application to develop our knowledge on the subject.

Baheen Butt [13D] and Mansour Celab [13D]