Newsletter February 2015

As part of our on going drive to raise achievement and aspirations
in science, we have planned an educational trip to ‘The Burgess
School for Girls’ in Sussex. This visit is for girls from Year 9, 10 and
11. They will be participating in the workshops organised, with
the aim of securing a place at one of the Oxbridge Universities,
which are part of the Russell Group Universities.

Message from your Headteacher, Ms Bower

We have had a very exciting term so far with students en- press launch of a forthcom-
gaging in our dynamic curriculum and making good pro- ing Outward Bound charity event in
gress in their learning. Our students have actively en- London. We told an audience of 80
gaged in many new opportunities and challenges as our people, including HRH The Duke of
school continues to build strong links with local, national and international York, about the excellent work that
partners. Our partnership with our sister schools in India has continued to our school is doing in partnership
grow and Ms Kitouni and Ms Westgarth-Flynn are visiting our international with The Outward Bound Trust. The
sister-school colleagues and students in India over February half term. They event was held on the top floor of
will give us a full update in the Easter newsletter! the Gherkin and we enjoyed amaz-
I am very proud of the excellent programme that our school is continuing to ing views over the city and felt a
take part in with The East London Business School Alliance. This week, Y7 real sense of pride to be asked to represent our
students are enjoying an enterprise day and will be presenting their work to school at this event. The charity event being launched is called The
parents and families. Y7 will also be hearing about their forthcoming expedi- City Three Peaks and will involve individuals abseiling down The
tion with The Outward Bound Trust that will see them head off for a fully Gherkin, the ‘Cheesegrater’ and The ‘Walky-talky’ building: three
funded residential to Aberdovey in Wales at the start of Y8. Mr Drugzani and iconic sky scrapers in the centre of London! The photographs above
Mr Nichols have led an impressive careers, information, advice and guidance show Lucia making her very impressive speech, the view from the
programme this year, bringing great opportunities to students from all year top floor of The Gherkin and the Outward Bound launch.
groups and I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the very thoughtful way in which
our students have responded to this to help plot and navigate their future
pathways. Our staff and students are striving every day to realise our school
vision and create an inspirational centre of learning for our local community .
Please remember that we encourage and welcome visits to our school. There
is no need to make an appointment, as one of our non-teaching Heads of Year
or a member of our SLT will be very happy to escort you on a visit. Staff and
students will be proud to show you the very high standards of behaviour and
work evident across our school. Lucia (Y11) and I were asked to speak at the

We invite you to join with us in creating something very special. We
are building a fully inclusive environment that celebrates

achievement, aspiration and a life-long passion for learning for all
members of our community.

Through rich provision, a holistic approach to learning,
excellent teaching and no ceiling on aspirations, our students will
develop into young men and women who are successful, motivated,
and proud to be ambassadors for themselves and their communities.

Our students will be highly literate and numerate and fully prepared to
begin the next phase of their lives, able to work resiliently
both as part of a team and

independently. They will have a firm belief in their own potential and
will always look for the potential in others. They will know how to lead

healthy, safe and happy lives and will never lose a
thirst for new knowledge.

Governors, staff, families and students will act as strong
role models, embracing cooperative

involvement and setting high standards that create a
clear identity and ethos for the school.

Together we will build a reputation as a centre
of excellence in Custom House; an inspiring
beacon that is celebrated locally, nationally and internationally.



A day at
The Burgess
Hill School

for Girls

On the 5th of February a group of girls from The Royal Docks Community School went to spend a day at The Burgess

Hill School. This day brought many new experiences and knowledge to us as it was a change of atmosphere, widening

our eyes to how other people learn in independent schools.

My experience at the There were many similarities but also some differences in the
Burgess Hill School for girls: way we both get educated. However, it was a wonderful op-

When we arrived at the train station, we were portunity that was only available to us due to the effort of our
approached by a very nice man who was a school and The Burgess hill students and staff were more than
welcoming to have us visit for the day.
member of staff at the Burgess Hill School. He
talked to us about how the school had kindly We set out in the morning as we had to travel on a variety of trains to
get to our destination - including getting the train to Brighton. Alt-
prepared hot chocolate, coffee or tea for us hough the journey was long it was worthwhile as we were able to talk
girls to drink due to the wintry weather out- and relax before entering a place of work. We soon arrived and were
side. From the station it was a 5 minute walk warmly greeted at the train station by a member of staff for the inde-
to the outstanding school. The people walking pendent school. We then walked to the school and were welcomed by
past in the area were very kind and would
smile as we walked past. It made me happy.

Once we reached the school, in front of me many other staff and due to the cold weather we were served deli-
was a beautiful school nicely constructed for cious hot chocolate which gave us time to break the ice and get social-
all the students there. There were different ise with others.

houses for the children who were boarding Soon after that we went on a tour of the amazing school which had
there. He then led us to the dining room where many different buildings which made me wonder, how do the students
not get lost? The school was not only for sixth formers but also had
we were going to be served our delicious hot children from both primary school and secondary school. This was
chocolate and biscuits. The deputy head quite surprising to me as I have never seen such a school in London.
The tour gave us an insight in to where the students learn and stay. It
teacher was there and she gave us a warm was nice to see that they had rooms in the dorm which made the stu-
welcome and she explained what was going to dents feel at home such as the living rooms, where I learnt they had
occasional dance battles or movie nights. We were also able to meet
happen throughout the day. some students and teachers who were in their lessons and they were
all very kind. The tour lasted around an hour and a half because of the
After having the hot drinks and snack, we huge building structure, but afterwards we went to the canteen and
were introduced to sixth formers whom were were served a delicious lunch during which we were praised about our
going to give us a tour of the school which I having excellent table manners.
found amazing. I was extremely excited to dis-
cover a school which was completely different After lunch we had an assembly from people who came from Cam-
to our school. We met sixth formers called bridge and Oxford who educated us about how to apply to those uni-
Nikita and Robyn. They were really nice and versities and what to do as well as what not to do. It was a very good
they made us feel welcome in this new environ- opportunity as it gave us a chance to learn things we didn’t know and
ment. Nikita and Robyn showed us the differ- therefore improving our chance of getting into top Russell group uni-
ent classes that were happening during that versities. The lecture was very detailed and the teachers answered all
period of time. They were very small classes of the questions any students had. Overall, we all enjoyed listening and
4-8 students. It was very weird because the taking notes on the advice given. I believe more students should have
classes were very small compared to a class in the chance to gain this knowledge to help them apply for university
our school with an average of 30 students.
The variety of teachers that we met were very
kind to us and they explained what kind of
topics they studied—some we don’t study at
school. Also, the students in some of the clas-
ses were very nice to us and welcomed us to

their school.

and I am personally grateful that I was chosen to attend this event.

By Neshat Islam

Saturday Classes

For the first time, the math’s department has invited a group of students targeted grade C/ D borderline to work with us on
Saturdays. This has been going very well with the attendance to these sessions really high. Based on the evidence seen, the
math’s team is confident that these classes are having an impact on the students’ progression. Here are the views of some
students that have been attending:

Saturday classes will resume on the 21st February.
There will be no classes on the 14th February. PLEASE ensure that you all attend.

by using the maths watch CD, the revision guides or BBC Bitesize.
There will be revision during the half term on the 20th February from 8:30am-3pm.

Please make use of this opportunity. Please see the Half-term time-table.

Exciting News for Year 8! All of Year 8 have been invited on a trip to see War Horse at the New London Theatre on April 2nd 2015.

The trip will take place from 12pm- approx. 6.30pm and all of Year 8 are expected to attend.

The trip has been fully paid for by the school.

WHY have we organised this? The English Department believes that a range of cultural experiences are an important part of a child’s education.
Our vision is to ensure that all students have attended at least one theatre trip during Key Stage 3.

War Horse is an exceptional play. It has won a host of prizes and critics hail it as one of the
best stage performances to ever hit the West End. It tells the story of Young Albert who en-
lists to serve in World War I after his beloved horse is sold to the cavalry. Albert's hopeful
journey takes him out of England and to the front lines as the war rages on.
All students have been provided with a letter detailing all of the requirements and arrangements for
the day. Please return the slip if you have not done so already.

For further information, please go to http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk and follow the links to the
War Horse page.

Congratulations to the following people who were nominated for their excellent pre-
Christmas Home-Learning Projects. First, second and third prize-winners received

VUE Cinema vouchers as a reward for their outstanding work.

The KS3 Home-Learning Projects for after the February holidays are in the table below.
Pupils are encouraged to challenge themselves by picking the most appropriate task to complete before the deadline. They
should aim to manage their time effectively across the half-term and are more than welcome to attend homework club on

Mondays after-school if they require support.

Year 11 English Revision Guides are Now Available!! For those studying the AQA GCSE,

you will receive a FREE copy of the AQA Language Non-fiction guide to help you prepare for the English
Language paper on June 2nd.

Once finished, we would appreciate it if you could return them so that next year’s students can use
them!

All AQA and IGCSE students are invited to buy a copy of the Literature Poetry Guide for the CONFLICT
poems. They are priced at £3 each. The poetry exam takes place on May 22nd.

Miss A Borland Please see Mrs Borland in S06 for further information.

Year 11 Student, Joel Claudio’s piece on Social Responsibility

Are you not concerned about the reason why them wear saddles. He also goes to failing schools to train
youths in the UK drop out before they even sit relationships with teachers and students and prisons. Robert
their GCSE exams? describes his work as a mission to leave the world a better
place then he found it. This evidentially proves he’s a modest
I’m going to inform you why young people of man that cares about revolutionising the way we communi-
the UK should have more mentors and guidance cate in society.
to stay on track. I hope you understand why the
population of mentors should increase drastically. Uninspiring teachers. They know how to fill a jar of annoy-
ance. Have you ever felt down from an unnecessary comment
Why do people fall? People fall because they never tie their which made you feel dejected or alone, and then you disguise
shoe lace, concede a goal or fight for love; however, they yourself as a ball. Their lively hood is not to be selfless to-
probably learn how to pick themselves back up again from wards students but be selfish to their own needs.
their mistakes. We could prevent young people from falling in On the other hand, we have teachers who portray as heroes,
school by having more connected groups. Form classes can be injecting you with help constantly when you need it, injecting
made only for pupils who have common difficulties in a sub- you hope when you need it and injecting you with confidence
ject(s). when you need it.

Figures show almost one in five pupils currently leave school The margin for error is so small; I mean one half steps too late,
at 16 before taking A-level style qualifications, but who is to too early and your child won’t make it. One half second to
blame? This has to be from the government, giving parents slow to fast you won’t quite catch it. Most of them who say
full choice over school places and deciding whether students they want to be successful but you don’t want it bad, you just
should be segregated ‘by ability, socio-economic background kind of want it, you don’t want it as bad as you want a party,
and ethnic background’. It comes as a surprise to me in the you don’t want it as much as you want to be cool, well most of
age of equality, individuals are still segregated by grade and you don’t want success because you want to sleep; at an error
the system has our fate decided for us; we will have C grade like this it is time to change the game for your own hope, it
by a whole year but teachers like Ms Alyward and Ms Ahmed will be you against the world. Now deep down you need to
are successfully able to achieve higher grades than C with a look in the mirror and ask who you’re going to be what you’re
middle set class and have a same levels as a higher set class. going to be and how are you going to be it. You struggle
Monty Roberts trains horses to respect their owners, to help course! So, why do we fall?

Submitted by Miss R Ahmed

by Mr A O'Brien

Our pupils at The Royal Dock Community school have demonstrated a great level of Successfully
independence and commitment in completing their Science homework. To celebrate extracting
their outstanding effort and continually completing homework they have been award-
ed as our homework stars in Science! DNA from Kiwi

Pupils testing
how drinking
caffeine can
affect their
reaction times

Year 9 Royal Docks students at

This term a group of visited the
Financial Conduct Authority in
Canary Wharf for an aspiration
and career workshop looking at
identifying life skills and how
they are used.

Mr Wilson

A group of 6 students and 2 members of staff had an educational visit that they will never

forget. They had the honour to attend the Holocaust Memorial day at the Newham

Stratford Hall, where they had an opportunity to hear Rudi Oppenheimer, a holocaust

survivor, who as a child was taken to the camps of Westerbork and then Bergen-Belsen

along with his brother, sister and parents.

Rudi shared his experience to a packed event at the town hall. Though Rudi spoke for

over an hour, not a sound could be heard from the audience despite the young age of

many of the students. Rudi gave a real insight into what it was like to be a Jew during this

horrific time. The fear, and anxiety they faced, the many of the hardships of being forced

Mr Coe to work in conditions that no human should have to face, with their friends and family
dying around them. After the event our students reflected on the event. Awe inspiring,

remarkable, were just some of the comments. As we had lunch we realised how much

we take for granted. Each one of us was probably, during one meal, eating the equivalent

of 2-3 months rations of food that Rudi was allowed. Our lunch would have been a feast fit for a king compared to mea-

gre rations they were given. He even spoke of times they ate grass as a form of food. Most days they would get a weak

cup of coffee, no milk or sugar, 4 cm of bread and soup with Turnip and potato skin and if they were lucky possibly some Jam for the bread.

This was a message of courage and human values which reminded us of the importance of embracing cultural diversity.

Whole school diversity survey

Students in Year 8 and year 9 have been investing diversity in the UK. Students will shortly be carry-
ing out a survey of the school to produce a ‘snap shot’ of how diverse and multi-cultural our school
is. Already, during class surveys it has been found that individual classes have up to 15 different
nationalities with even more additional languages spoken in some classes!

The results will be used to see how diverse our school is and compare it to Newham, London and the
UK. Students will then be writing about the benefits and the challenges of living in a diverse society.

Mr McGoldrick

Getting ready for Spring….Visitors to the school will have noticed gardening work has taken place

around the perimeter of the school site. This has involved clearing litter, pruning tress and getting the
grounds ready for new Spring growth. Two exciting projects that have been created are firstly, a
‘Woodland Walk’ which will allow both Royal Docks and Primary pupils, to study plants, birds and ani-
mals in their natural environment. Also we have created our own school orchard, this is lo-

cated outside the student entrance. When complete, it will allow stu-
dents to relax on benches at break and lunchtime in a shaded area. The
added benefit will be fresh apples and pears which will be used to cre-
ate mouth-watering dishes in the Food Technology Department!!

Mr Ross

Students in all years have made such a
great start to 2015 in D&T! There are
many great designers at our school,
who continue to think creatively and
are able to work independently and in
supporting teams to produce great
pieces of work.

RMT / Systems

Martynas Veryga in Yr 7 has been working on a vacuum formed
moodlight. He can been seen in the picture connecting the electrical

components together using resistors to allow LEDs
to function at the same time and has also pre-
pared the plastic by sanding and polishing the edg-
es to give it a uniform finish. He is working inde-
pendently and is using his own initiative.

In Food Technology
students have been
very busy cooking
recipes from all
around the world.
Year 7 learnt to cook recipes for healthy and

tasty breakfasts in wraps. Year 8 have
been experimenting with vegetables
Ms soups and spices. Year 9 looked at menus
offered on International aeroplanes. All
KS3 pupils are going to participate in
cakes and milkshakes sales this term. All
the money collected will be going to our
Royal Docks Community School student
travel Fund. Remember Enrichment Food
Club is on every Thursday in E06 from
3.15 TO 4.30pm. FREE… All welcome!

Ms Harper

This year 6 students (3- Yr9 and 3 – Their predicted grades for A –level are A/B (B for Alina and Linda).
Yr10) will sit Russian GCSE exams. Russian A-level is much more complicated compared to the GSCE
According to their written and read- exam. Students have to show an ability to be able to demonstrate
ing work already assessed, they are on their understanding of material from a wide range of everyday,
track to do very well with some on topical, technical, business, literary, social and historical sources; to
track to gain A*. 6 Yr11 students are show detailed knowledge of countries, customs and culture of Rus-
entered for A-level (GCE) Russian sian people; to be engaged in conversation, discussion or debate
and develop a logical argument showing a high level of grammatical
language. accuracy.
Speaking GCE (A-level) will take a place 23 April.
Ms L Horidko

As part of our R.E lesson, we N26 went out on a trip to Barking bus garage to learn about the role and responsibilities of the
visited St John’s Church in bus driver. This is part of their ASDAN module. As part of the trip, students had a bus ride around
Stratford to learn about how East London and also had the opportunity to sit at the driver’s cockpit.

Christians wor-
ship. We also
learnt about
baptism
and
arte-
facts.

Ms D’Hayfron

NO8 students watch the end Klaudia pours the water
result the volcano erupts!!
Mrs Wallbank’ s KS3 science
Jordan adds red Mo adds the Samyha pours in the lessons for Spring term are
colouring vinegar washing up liquid about ‘Compounds and Mix-
tures’. To explore this topic we
used ingredients (Compounds)
to make an erupting volcano
(Mixtures). The students had
fun mixing the ingredients and
watching what happened.
They were very surprised at
the result.

Ms Wallbank

Y8 girls Guylene Yomi-Alliou, Jada Vernon, Kayonne Gaskin
and Katrina Paul brought an extra feeling of pride to the
Royal Docks recently.

Towards the end of last term they expressed their wish to

supply Christmas presents for those less fortunate than

themselves. They designed a presentation which they delivered to all

year groups to raise awareness and funds of the Salvation Army’s nation-

al appeal. In a very short amount of time they managed to raise £121.01

for the charity. Salvation Army Officers were invited down for the

presentation ceremony and they in turn described some of the varied

work that they do, including working with the homeless. Following their

meeting with the Salvation Army, the girls have pledged to promote

more charitable events in the very near future including a “shoe-box

shuffle”! Don’t ask…just watch this space  We are proud of them and

the fact that many people benefit from their efforts. Ms J Payne

In the photo from left to right: Kayonne, Guylene,
Jada and Katrina alongside SA Officers Marlin & Christabel.

School Of Hard Knocks is a sport related charity that helps children and young people achieve their
potential through sport (rugby) and mentoring. School Of Hard Knocks for Schools has teamed up
with our Year 9 students and will work together for the remainder of the year to help motivate and
engage them.

Mr Wilson

The year 10 boys competitive season finally came to mond Akanjuisi, Funsho Olawole, Charlie Hagger Ben Brako,
an end last week as they bowed out of the London Devine Osuji, Jose Bento, Evandro Concalves, Kyle Windross,
cup, 4-2 after extra time to a
strong All Saints. Cesario Mendes, Everton Bai-
ley, Charlie Spaulding, Hassan
The team showed their usual Khan, Martin King
grit, coming back from 2-0
down to draw level 2-2 with 5 The year 9 boys 7 a side team
minutes of normal time remain- flew through their group stage
ing thanks to goals from Kevin to make Monday’s final, win-
Songolo and Bosun Olajide but ning 3 and drawing 2 of their 5
couldn’t capitalise and eventu- games.
ally conceded two more. I am
very proud of the team’s perfor- Notable results included and
mances this year. Year 10 has hard fought draw against St
developed into a strong, well knitted group of play- Bons and a 2-0 win against
ers with an excellent attitude to their sport. Sqaud: Cumberland, Frederick Obiasor and Kadyn Michael grabbing
Sam Ajayi, Andrew Bowrage, Mathew Ferriera, Sach- the goals. Sqaud: Jamie Hunter, Bruno Trombetta, Levi Boy-
ton, Kadyn Michael, Enison Islami, Kymani Taylor, Elliot To-
by, Benny Pedro, Murilo Periera, Om Khamseaphan

Boys Year 8 National Cup Quarter Final 10/02/2015
Royal Docks vs Haverstock School

On the 10th February The Royal Docks Community School (Newham) Year 8 boys football team hosted Haverstock School (Islington/Camden) in the
National Cup Quarter Finals. The competition was evenly contested; both teams created goal scoring opportunities but failed to convert. Deep into
the first half, a scramble in the Haverstock box resulted in the ball falling to Noah Adejokun which he tucked away to break the deadlock, giving
Royal Docks the lead. Haverstock quickly responded by turning up the pressure, thus leading to a misunderstanding between the Royal Docks’ de-
fender and goalkeeper involving an awkward back pass that was misread and turned into the goal. The game was level. Towards the closing stages
of the first half, two reckless tackles, from a very gifted Haverstock midfielder, were rightly deemed as dangerous play by the referee resulting in a
red card and the dismissal of the player.

The second half, similar to the first, was very well contested. Even with the disadvantage of being down to 10 men, the opponents put in a sterling
performance, which pushed the home side for the entirety of the second half. Both teams amassed chances and the game looked set for extra
time. However, minutes before the final whistle Tony Shaw hit a well-struck half volley from just outside the centre circle leaving the Haverstock
keeper with no chance and reasserting the home team’s lead; a wonder strike by Shaw ultimately sealed the game for The Royal Docks Community
School. Royal Docks progress in the competition and are due to play St Michaels Middle School (Poole & East Dorset) in the Semi Finals of the
Smalls Schools National Cup. Dates to be set.

Year 8 Drama students have
been studying the theme of

Rosa Parks and the civil
Rights Movement.

The students embraced the
learning enthusiastically and
showed great empathy for

the topic.
Well done Year 8!

Year 7 Drama have been exploring the Myth of The Odyssey. They were set the
challenge of creating either a costume for Odysseus or staging for the play. Con-

gratulations to Justinas in 7A for creating the costume for
Odysseus and Charley 7G for creating the staging.

Your hard work and dedication to learning is noted.
Well done!

LIBRARY

KS4 drama students attended a trip to see ‘Wicked’ on Tuesday 10th February
2015. They thoroughly enjoyed the performance and will write a review of the
show which will form part of their final GCSE grade. They were model audience

members and represented the school with pride. Well done KS4!

Edited and designed by Sophia Paul Royal Docks Reprographics