As a part of our annual school tradition for Christmas, the School came together as a community to help raise food and toiletries donations for local charity, Hounslow Food Box. Over the month of December, this was heavily promoted around the School and as a result of this we received a significant number of donations which meant the School bus was packed to the rafters. Senior Students were then given the responsibility to meet with the volunteers at Hounslow Food Box to hand over the donations.  They were so pleased that the School continues to support their cause and were thrilled at the volume of the donations and also the £550 that students raised.

Priyal Bhatkhumar [12E] and Shameer Haidery [12G]

I would say that photography is my hobby because whenever I see something that looks appealing, I take the opportunity to capture it. Thus, when I first found out about the annual RSPCA Young Awards where anyone up to the age of 18 can enter for free, I asked myself of why not giving this a go? As a result, I sent in my entry last August and looked forward to the best. I then received a response indicating that one of the photographs was shortlisted for a category. I was thrilled because this is a national competition where many skilled photographers enter it too. So, getting a photo shortlisted was an incredible achievement. In addition, to then win the Mobile Phone and Devices 16-18 category was unimaginable. Hence, this accomplishment has driven my motivation to keep on with my hobby.  

Please see below for the image description that accompanied the photo in the exhibition:

The story behind the photo is that I was on my phone at night and I noticed a fly around a lamp. The fly seemed to stay around the edge of the lamp as it was attracted to the light. I realised that if I take a photo from the right angle, I will be able to depict the light bulb as if it was the sun and the silhouette of the edge of the lamp as the ground, thus seeming as if it is the sunset. Hence, the name 'Time to sleep'. Overall, I really liked how this picture turned out with the silhouette of the fly. 

Palvin Fernandes 13B

At the beginning of the day for the Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge, we did an individual speech about something we liked and disliked, a hope we have for the future and 3 words to describe ourselves; we had to start the speech with a question. We then had to go in groups and decide the most important top tip when presenting a speech.

The next task was that we had to prepare questions to ask. Then, we were asked a question by a fellow student and we had to answer the question on the spot.

The final task was the actual Speak Out Challenge and this was less terrifying than at the beginning of the day... I got together in a group where we practised our speech and got some feedback as to how we could improve it. This was great as I really benefited from the feedback. The Speak Out Challenge was to present about a topic we chose to talk about. It made us feel more confident and comfortable to speak to an audience.

We learnt oracy skills: how to present a speech by projecting your voice, eye contact, hand gestures, great posture, practice and many more other helpful tips. These oracy skills will help us in the future: job interviews, presenting your work to your colleagues at conferences and speaking at events.

Joane Santos, [10O]

“The workshop really helped improve my skills on how to deliver a speech effectively. I only had a vague idea on how to write one, not so much deliver. I really liked the different activities throughout the day leading up to the speech as talking in front of people is something I avoid doing!”

Ayma Babar, [10G]

“The workshop was great, it gave all of us the opportunity to take a subject that is close to us and gave us a way in which we could effectively convey our opinions on that matter. The workshop gave me a lot of confidence and skills that will benefit me all the way from school assembly to job interviews. It was a delightful day.” Ben Rixon, 10 White