March09Final

CONGRATULATIONS: John Kelly Girls’ Win the Citizenship Foundations Mock Trial Competition

On Saturday 14

th March 2009 we took two groups of

John Kelly Girls’ students to the Brent Magistrates Court for the Citizenship Foundations Mock Trial competition. The Girls were up against groups from Alperton, Kingsbury, Bushy Mead and John Kelly Boys’ School. Team A; Fariha Blaaza, Baiyan Al-Lameh, Arisha Kadiri, Zarah Ashraf,, Sarah Khan, Cloe Ezechie, Shannon Gordon, Fahmo Yusuf, Bushra Jaber, Shiwangi Bagoan, Shanniqua Henry, Samana Gurung, Safia Jaghoori. Team B; Juhi Navin Yasmin Warsame, Nur Kua, Freya Jewett, Nafisah Saraf, Amina Adan, Yasmin Choaie, Asha Pindoria, Lahiruni Dantanaraya, Mariam Mahmoud, Anushri Khetani, Hana Dahir, Aaliah Hector, Hansae Belhadj. The substitutes were Zahira Choudry, Natasha Shahriman, Shannon Davey and Frouzon Ahmadi. Team B were the winners of the competition, and will be going to the final at Enfield Magistrates Court on 16

th May.

Thank you to all the parents/carers who supported the girls, the teachers who allowed the girls to prepare and the students themselves. They worked extremely hard, helped each other and proved that JKGTC is the best school in Brent!

Kashmir Education Foundation

Attached is a message I received from a key member of the Kashmir Education Foundation for whom we have raised money for the last 2 years from our International Week activities.

It is heart warming to know that we contributed in some way to the building of this school and have helped secure the future happiness of the children.

Thank you for supporting this worthwhile cause and I hope that we can raise even more money for the children of Kashmir next year.

The school’s first assembly Mrs Shah Director of the Languages Specialism

Dear Mrs Shah

It is a great opportunity for me to inform you about another remarkable achievement of KEF in the shape of Banjosa Valley Public School. It was set up in operational state on 24th of March 2009. This has been accomplished by your generous help, encouragement and continuous support from time to time. Javed Kashmir Education Foundation

Mr Kavieris Head of Citizenship

Samana

Newsletter April 2009

Year 10 Romeo & Juliet Trip On Monday, 9th March sixty-three Year 10 students made a trip to the Globe Theatre to watch 'Romeo and Juliet'. The performance was really inspiring and Year 10 represented JKGTC very well. Everybody was standing in the Courtyard as a real 'Groundling' true to a real Shakespearean performance! A great start to their GCSE 'Romeo and Juliet' coursework too! Thanks to Ms Kittoe, Ms Xamdi, Ms Aziz, Ms Georgina, Ms Dhillon and Ms Najma and Ms Nicholls for all their help on the day! Ms Waseem

Cheerleading Performance at Dance Showdown JK Exclusives performed brilliantly at the Capital City Dance Showdown on Thursday 26

th March.

There was a packed audience and the girls were the final performance of the first half. They closed the first session superbly and got the theatre all cheering. There were a variety of performances from ballet, to street, to cheerleading. Another great show, well done girls!

‘Designer of the Year’ Award Pupils were nominated by their Technology teachers for a ‘Designer of the Year’ award. These students were outstanding in Technology: Year 7 Niveeta Vijayakumaran 7J Maryam Tellia 7K Karishma Magan Bica 7C Bunsi Vekaria 7C Nicole Ramsay 7C Daria Avram 7C Hanin Kua 7T Yuser Abaes 7G Pana Ahmadzai 7K The criteria for ‘Designer of the Year’ was: Is their book/folder well organised? Do they complete homework regularly? Do they show excellent ‘model’ behaviour at all times? Are their practical work and skills outstanding? Do they show initiative and work independently? Do they have the ability to help/teach others during lessons? During DT week in June, as a reward, we will be organising an educational visit to London design museums and exhibitions. This will only be available to our award winners. Congratulations to these girls. Keep up the great work! Ms Vekria KS3 Coordinator of Technology

Cross Country Competition On Tuesday 3

rd March 16 girls from years 7-10 took

part in the Brent cross country competition at Fryent country Park. It was a horrible day, cold, windy and raining - not ideal for cross country running! However all the girls made it around the course in one piece. We even had Jawahir Roble in year 10 complete the course in second place. This means she is now entered into the mini marathon in central London on 26th April. Well done girls and congratulations Jawahir! Miss Naisbett Head of PE

Year 8 Laura Bruzaite 8K Amelia Newton 8T Kubra Shah 8C Bushra Nasir 8C Suganya Lambothararajah 8J Aruni Palamandadige 8T Noreen Khokhar 8K Aviarme Ramachandran 8C Shilan Ahmad 8K

Miss Naisbett Head of PE

Science University Ambassador Programme The Science Department welcomed Jumina Qureshi once a week during the spring term to work with Year 8 students. Pupils greatly enjoy her stimulating experiments and demonstrations. They saw that learning Science can be fun. Here are Jumina’s own words: I am a final year undergraduate at Kingston University studying Pharmaceutical science. I am doing the University Ambassador scheme because I am interested in teaching science, and it is part of my final year project. The aim of the scheme is for me to have experience in teaching and to provide a role model to younger students. I wanted to choose a subject/theme which would interest younger students and chose to do 'fun with science' chemistry experiments. My aim was to try and make science appealing to younger students by showing them practical demonstrations, and allowing them to do experiments themselves. I also taught them why these reactions happen. We have looked at flame tests and volcano experiments and experiments with luminous chemicals. I have enjoyed my experience at John Kelly and I hope that the students have learned something interesting. I have definitely found John Kelly a very friendly and helpful place to be in and would like to thank the Science Department for giving me this opportunity.

Science Live!

Dr. Maggie Aderin talking to a packed Great Hall On Friday 6

th March, 15 Year 10 students attended

“Science Live!” at Westminster Central Hall. Westminster Central Hall is a spectacular building opened in 1912. It has seen meetings of the Suffragettes in 1914 and the first ever General Assembly of the United Nations in 1946. Famous speakers at the hall include Mahatma Ghandi in 1931 and Winston Churchill in 1945. More recent speakers include Prince Charles. The domed ceiling is said to be the second largest of its type in the world. During the event at this historic location the girls attended a day of lectures by top scientists, given in the Great Hall, which included spectacular demonstrations and the opportunity to ask the scientists questions. The lectures included Ben Goldacre, who writes the “Bad Science” column in The Guardian newspaper demonstrating how a little basic research can show you that some ‘scientific’ stories in the media are rubbish. Dr. Greg Offer heads a team at Imperial College who are researching hydrogen fuel cells and other alternative ways of powering cars. He gave a talk on alternative fuels and showed how an electric car can accelerate faster than a Ferrari. Dr. Andrea Sella of University College London demonstrated various chemistry experiments while the day finished with Dr. Maggie Aderin excitedly explaining what inspired her to become a scientist and the amazing places she has worked during her career working for the European Space Agency.

Students added Mentos mints to bottles of Diet Coke. A vigorous chemical reaction makes a fountain higher than some of the pupils! Don’t try this indoors!!

Two students making a volcano by mixing water, detergent, food colouring, sodium, bicarbonate and vinegar

The students sat awaiting the next exciting talk.

Sweet Science On Friday 27

th March, a group of 14 Year 7 students

visited Brunel University for a whole day’s activities on how we taste things. The girls joined pupils from John Kelly Boys, Wembley High and Capital City Academy and were split into groups so that students from different schools worked with each other. For the first experiment the students had to taste various unknown substances. They learned how we taste the difference between sweet and sour, and which parts of your tongue detects different tastes. Next was an experiment to see if you can still taste things as strongly if your pinch your nose, so you can’t smell. Then the students had the chance to make popcorn. They had four different types of unpopped corn and found out which made the most popcorn. They could eat the regular popcorn after they had popped it! In the afternoon the students designed and made their own sweets. They melted milk, dark and white chocolate together and added colouring, hundreds & thousands and coloured icing to make their own unique sweets which they could eat. “I liked it because we did lots of experiments and even got to see Mentos mints fizz up in a big bottle of coke. We melted chocolate in hot water and made our own sweets, that was cool” Osnia 7K “I liked the whole trip; learning to work together with new people from different schools was the best thing” Nuha 7K

Pancake Day

The House students on Pancake Day

Come Dine with JKGTC Thank you girls for signing up for the cooking club, we will be giving you the opportunity to learn new skills, make new friends and entertain each other while you enjoy a healthy meal. Why come dine with JKGTC? Well for those of you who have not seen the channel 4 programme. It is a group of four or five people who cook for each other. You cook a starter, main and a desert for the other guests. Then you all give the person who has cooked a score out of ten and the person who has the most marks wins. We have had our first group of students on Friday 13

th.

Kamesha and Cloe (yr 10) cooked for Rianne and Renee (yr 11).

Starter Main Dessert The girls cooked all three meals themselves from scratch and received positive feedback for the menu choice, presentation and for being great hosts. We are looking forward to the next group. Natasha Smith House Mentor

The girls are measuring how much popcorn they made.

Decorating hand

made sweets.

Mrs McCann and Mr Gulliver Science Faculty

Teens & Toddlers Three students from JKGTC completed the project and attended the graduation ceremony in Brent Town Hall on 10

th February 2009. Kamesha Francis,

Shanice Akoto and Carmel Lucien all committed Thursday afternoons to work with toddlers at Braincroft primary school.

Year 7 Tea Party The Year 7 Tea Party took place on Thursday 26

th

March in the hall and was a fantastic event. The girls had worked hard to produce a range of performances, including poetry, drama, music and dance. Some parents and siblings attended, as did some teachers. Our Y7 students proved themselves to be confident and talented individuals – with a love of biscuits and juice! A special well done to Yuser and Koloud who presented the event and to the students who helped to clear away after the event – your help was much appreciated.

Ms Halaka Year Director of Learning

College Council Congratulations to: Nafeesah Saraf who has been elected as new Head of College Council. Nicole Hughes is Deputy Head and Asha Abdullah is secretary. Ms Mary

Combined Cadet Force Expedition Tired students at the end of the expedition The cadets from John Kelly Girls’ and John Kelly Boys along with Highgate went on a field day on the 17

th March to Brown down camp.

Although we were tired after the coach journey we managed to survive that and the late night and the very early 5.30am start. Then we had to cook our own breakfasts from ration boxes. Then we were split into teams with Forest School cadets. There was a mixture of students from year 9 to year 12. We participated in activities and worked together all day. We did field craft, an obstacle course, orienteering, weapon handling and shooting and drill. By the end of the day we had all made many new friends and we can’t wait for summer camp. Shannon Davey Year 9

Spring Festival I have just watched one of the best performances I have seen at John Kelly (and I have seen many over the 17 years I have been here). The opening piece was by The Stunners, performing La Bamba, with the fantastic Steel Pan Band accompanying them. Chante and Sarah were word perfect, using their excellent Spanish skills. This was followed by Sadia Masood, introduced as the ‘Queen of Bollywood’. Sadia’s dancing was mesmerising, every twist and turn enthralling. The next act was a complete change of pace with Shannique, Chloe and Chelsea rapping with such enthusiasm, never missing a word. Next were Shokan and Anatasyia and their band, they are all very talented. One of my favourites was the Cheetah Girls; the dancing was entertaining with an infusion of traditional and modern dance – an interesting twist on traditional Indian dance – loved it! How brave of Dujarana to sing a solo, watch out X Factor! Watching Siham perform her solo on keyboards ‘In a Strange Land’ by Schumann brought goose bumps to my arms, everyone listened in awe.

Crisis – Natasha, Yasmin, Ethel, Anastasiya, and Safa again are a very talented band (even if one of the girls did get the giggles). Kerry-Ann and Lasharn (Hardest Crew) rapped at an alarming speed. The mood mellowed with Midnight Roses performing ‘A Love Story’ and the ‘Case of the Ex’ with Riffet, Nafisa and Asha. The final act was everyone’s favourite, the Cheerleaders, JK Exclusives – they were simply AMAZING! What a fantastic way to finish off the term. We are so lucky to have so much talent at JKGTC. Ms Welstead Admissions officer

Mad About Books Club

The Mad About Books club tried making their own plays, and finished the term with book charades. Next term they are writing poetry. Just to get you in the mood try the following sites:

The British Library has a free exhibition of old poetry books entitled "Twinkle Twinkle little bat". The library is near Kings Cross and any one can visit the galleries and see rare and original books.

"Giggle poetry" is an American site but good for a laugh. The poetry library is on the South bank and welcomes children, there is a poetry trail. Or if you prefer to do your learning from a computer chair try the Children's poetry Bookshelf, or "poetry class" if you want tips on writing poetry.

Don't forget you can also borrow poetry books from the library at number 821.

We also have a post it note board in the LRC where you can display book titles on post it notes, under the headings cool read, ughh! or whatever. Ask the library staff for the post it notes and stick on your suggestions, or check out other people's ideas to help you decide what to read next.

It's been great to welcome the primary school children to after school reading and more are welcome if they wish to come. It's lovely to see lots of students reading together from other years too.

Some of you will have revision to worry about but for the rest of you don't let your brain cells vegetate feed them with reading. Have you ever tried to learn a

poem off by heart (remember it)? If you do, it can stay with you all your life like a song you know really well, only you get to choose the tune. Ms Geddes Librarian

ICT Outreach Team The ICT Outreach was set up by John Kelly Girl’s Technology College as a result of becoming part of an Educational Action Zone in 2001 involving seven schools. Since then the project has grown to encompass a total of 30 schools in the London Borough of Brent. The remit for the team is to provide front line ICT technical support for the schools who buy into the scheme. ICT Outreach is made up of six ICT Technicians namely; Godfrey Oti (Manager), Veren Vaja (Deputy), Youcef Ouldbezieou, Hassan Berrouane, Rajesh Patel, Salah Al-Daheri. Our work involves supporting and fixing ICT related issues in up to 30 Primary schools, within the borough of Brent. The schools we support include: The support we provide includes maintaining a school’s networked and stand alone computers. The network suppliers vary from RM Community Connect3 / Community Connect4, Cannon Network, Beebug Network, Viglen Network, CSC Network and Mac operating systems. Recently, primary schools have been installing laptop trolleys. The number of laptops can vary between 40 – 100 laptops per school. These are usually wirelessly linked to the school’s main network. We have also been busy changing individual schools from Web mail to the new Staff mail, in order to meet the July deadline.

Braintcroft, Brentfield, Chalkhill, Donnington, Fryent, Gladstone Park, Kensal Rise, Kingsbury Green, John Kelly Media, Lyon Park, Mora, Mpower, Newfield, Northview, Oliver Goldsmith, Park Lane, Stonebridge, Uxendon, Wembley, Wykeham, Convent of Jesus and Mary Infants, Our Lady of Grace Infants, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Josephs Infants, St. Mary’s CE, St Mary’s RC, St. Robert Southwell, Woodfield and Wembley Learning Zone.

Smart boards and Promethean boards have also been installed in every classroom and are among the peripherals we support. Printers, scanners and all ICT tools that help Teachers perform their duties efficiently are also supported by our team. We also advise individual schools on software and hardware available, thus ensuring that these are relevant to their needs. Mr Godfrey Oti

Environment Year 11 recently had an Active Tutorial about Environmental Crime given by Mrs Crace of Brent Council. Although those attending may not have thought everything they were told was of relevance, how we treat the environment is relevant to us all. Environment crime is illegal and those who are caught face a fine or the possibility of a court appearance. Dropping litter and leaving chewing gum all over the place is an environment crime which is not only costly to clear up but spoils where we live and work. Take a few moments to look around the playground on a nice sunny day as break or lunch time ends and see how much litter has been left behind! The only reason the seagulls and pigeons flock there is because of the food that is dropped. Each and every one of us should take pride in ourselves and our environment which includes our College and where we live. There are plenty of litter bins in the playground and in the College please use them. Ms M Shepherd Environment Officer

Christmas Cards Thank you to all students and staff who brought in their Christmas cards into College for collection after the Christmas break. The cards were collected by Brent Council staff and taken to Tesco Brent Park, who provided cages to store them until The Woodland Trust picked them up. 31 Brent schools took part and a combined weight of 674.5 kg was collected. Although John Kelly Girls did not collect the most cards we can be proud of how well we did in helping The Woodland Trust and diverting waste from landfill. As a multi faith school we celebrate many different festivals so from September 2009 I hope to be able to collect all greeting cards (birthday, Eid, Diwali etc) ready for next years collection by Brent. Ms M Shepherd Environment Officer

Help John Kelly Girls’ Technology College earn prizes

In the last edition of Student News I asked for help in earning Leaves from Generation Green for JKGTC. Generation Green is a schools and community programme from British Gas, which encourages and supports ‘green’ behaviour through a combination of green lesson plans and activities.

Each school which registers for Generation Green is given a leaf goal and once the appropriate number of leaves have been achieved they can then be exchanged for green rewards.

If you have not yet completed the British Gas Energy Savers Report please take a few minutes to do so. The report can be found under the heading “Families and Friends” on the Generation Green website on www.generationgreen.co.uk. Possibly your daughter might like to practise her computer skills and complete the report with you.

You will not only be helping the College but you could also save some money on your gas bill. Ms M Shepherd Environment Officer

DIARY DATES Tuesday 21st April – First day of term Tuesday 5th May – Year 10 Work Experience Friday 22nd May – Break up for half term Monday 1st June - Return to School