Chestnut NewsDate: 15 Feb 2019 Issue No: 84

MESSAGE FROM THE HEADTEACHER

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to the final edition of the newsletter for this half-term. Yesterday we welcomed the author Nikesh Shukla into school who spoke passionately to the students about his writing. Nikesh is a screen writer, an award winning author, editor of an online magazine for teenagers and he was a columnist for The Observer and a diversity activist. Nikesh spoke about two books during his visit. The first was ‘The Good Immigrant’, a bestselling book with a collection of essays written by people of colour in Britain. He decided to put these essays together to show the publishing world that people would buy books written by people of colour after he was told by a literary agent and publishers that books written by non-white people don’t sell. The other book he spoke about was his Young Adult novel, ‘Run, Riot.’ It’s about teenagers who witness an elder from their estate being beaten up by the police so they have to go on the run. It’s also about gentrification and how estates can have their own community, even if the flats aren’t posh. Nikesh was inspired to write these books because of his own life experiences of not being able to afford to live in London, where he was born, and many racist incidences that he has faced in his life. He mostly spoke about the importance of using your voice to stand up for what is right, that everyone has a story to tell and they should be able to tell it regardless of what colour they are. He also told a couple of stories about how one or two people can make a difference and not to be afraid to stand up to those in power who abuse their position, such as an MP who tried to sue him for creating an award to celebrate writing from people of colour. Nikesh explained to the students that he was was here to talk about important issues such as racism, rather than trying to sell his book as he feels this is the most important message on his visits. I was extremely impressed with the questions the students posed and how well they engaged with Nikesh’s story. I am sure he has inspired many of our students to write and to consider the changes that can be made through activism in their everyday lives.

I am also delighted to announce that our Year 10 Dance Group won the Wandsworth Dance competition and will now go through to the London finals. Congratulations to all of the students involved and good luck for the finals in Stratford next month.

I had hoped to be able to share the OFSTED report with you by now but unfortunately it is not yet published. As soon as it becomes available I will share the main findings with you.

I hope you all have a wonderful half-term.

Christian Kingsley, Headteacher

Safeguarding Your child’s safety is of paramount concern to us. If you have any concerns over the personal development, behaviour or welfare of your child or any other child within Chestnut Grove Academy that cannot be resolved by the child’s teacher, tutor or RSL, please contact the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) Ms Jackson on 0208 772 2510 or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead Mikayla Jolley on 0208 772 2545. Should either of these be unavailable and you have an urgent safeguarding concern, please ask for the other Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads, Mr Buchanan (KS3), Ms Verber (KS4) or Mr Taylor (KS5).

Students are expected to attend the Academy every day with the expectation that each student should achieve a minimum 95% attendance.

Sickness:If for any reason a student will be absent then Parents/Carers are requested to phone the Attendance Officer (Ms Ramsay on 0208 673 8737 option 1) before 08:30 on the first day of absence. If the absence is for more than one day, you will need to phone the school each day of the sickness. A doctor’s note will be required after three days absence.

Lateness:Morning registration starts at 8.45am. Students arriving after 8.45am will not be admitted through the main gate and will be asked to sign in at reception. Students will be marked late by the attendance officer and parents will receive a text informing them that the student has a same day detention to make up the number of minutes late. Students who are late and have a note from their Parent/Carer explaining the lateness, should report directly to the Attendance Officer before going to class. Students who arrive after 10am with no parental explanation are considered absent and are recorded as such on the Academy roll.

Appointments:The Attendance Officer should be alerted to appointments attended during the school day, by a note in your child’s planner, which should also be accompanied by the appointment letter or copy of the confirmation text received.

Please do not call, email or text the school if your child needs to leave school early for an appointment as their note will suffice. This note must be authorised by your child’s RSL (Raising Standards Leader) before they can leave.

Ms Ramsay, Attendance Officer

ATTENDANCE

TERM DATES 2019 - 2020

We would like to confirm our dates for the start of term, 2019-20 Academic Year as:

Monday 2nd September: Staff InsetTuesday 3rd September: Staff InsetWednesday 4th September: New Year 7’s OnlyThursday 5th September: All Students

The full list of term dates and other events will be published as soon as they have been confirmed.

Ms Payen, Office Manager

DATA PROTECTION ACT 2018 (GDPR) - UPDATE

As part of our role as a school we provide the Education and Skills Funding Agency with certain details about your child. We have been asked by the ESFA to pass on details about their privacy notice which will explain what they use the data for and details about your rights. Alongside this we have also updated our own privacy notices to give you a link to this information.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/lrs-privacy-notices/lrs-privacy-notice

Mr Hepworth , Data Protection Officer

MY CHILD AT SCHOOL - UPDATE

We hope you are finding the My Child at School site useful and informative. If you have not yet accessed the App or the website then we would encourage you to do so. Access gives you the following information for your child/children.• Timetables• Progress Reports • Behaviour Reports• Proud Points• Attendance• Announcements from the schoolAs I am sure you are aware, the App for Android and Apple devices are fully up and running. If you have not yet installed the App, it is very easy to do and gives you fast easy access to your child’s data.

If you are using the App, we are now using push notifications with important updates from the school. These will replace text messages for those who have the App.

To download the App please search for “mychildatschool” or “MCAS” on the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. We have also moved to emails for certain messages like, no homework or PE kit. If you have changed your email address or have never received an email from the school please email the address below and we will update our records.

The website will, of course, still be an important part of our MCAS system, but with most people having smart phones we feel that the App will give you faster access to your child’s activity’s at school. For the website go to www.mychildatschool.com

If you are struggling to get access to My Child at School or need your user name and password then please email:- MCAS@chestnutgrove.wandsworth.sch.uk

As with last year, all student reports are only being uploaded to MCAS, you will not receive a paper copy of a report. This is allowing us to significantly reduce the printing we do by around 14000 less prints a year, which has a huge environmental and cost impact. If you would prefer to receive your child’s report by paper then please email the address above and we will add you to the paper mailing list.

Steel Pan WorkshopOn Wednesday 16th January, the Performing Arts department invited Fircroft Primary School to take part in a steel pan workshop, at which our Year 9 group (Purple) performed a few pieces as well as taught some Year 5/6’s the start of a basic arrangement. This was a great opportunity for Fircroft Primary School to get a feel of what our school has to offer, as well as engaging their musical interest for their upcoming scheme of work. Our Year 9s did an excellent job of welcoming the younger students, as well as gaining some experience of teaching how to play the pans. I’m very PROUD!- Sam Mills

Thank youA big thank you to the father of Robin West for donating a djembe drum to us. What an amazing addition to our percussion collection!

We Will Rock You RehearsalsRehearsals for We Will Rock You will take place every Tuesday and Thursday from 3.20-5pm in the theatre. Students may wish to bring trainers (especially for our dance rehearsals on Thursday) and a snack/drink. Scripts will be distributed this week and a rehearsal schedule will follow in due course, along with costume requirements. Our first rehearsals will require the whole cast for read through/blocking.

Dates for the diary include...Preview performance at the dance show - 27th MarchPreview performance at the spring concert - 4th AprilSaturday ‘tech run’ - 6th July, 9-4pm

The show will run on the 9th, 10th and 11th of July, doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start.

Please let us know if you would like to assist with costume/hair and make up, or if you have any contacts or expertise which, you feel, could benefit the production! Our thanks, for your support

Ms Durban & the Performing Arts Team

PERFORMING ARTS

Football

Year 8 Match Report – Chestnut Grove v Bolingbroke – Wednesday 23rd January /2019

The boys remain undefeated with a battling 2-2 draw against local rivals Bolingbroke last Wednesday. We started the game in a 3-5-2 formation with the intention of flooding the midfield and dominating possession. This didn’t quite go to plan. Early on in the match, Bolingbroke’s forward was very quick and got in behind our defenders with ease, going through on goal on a number of occasions. Had he been more clinical we could’ve found ourselves 2 maybe 3 nil down inside the first 15 minutes. Because of how easy they were getting through on our goal, we were forced in to making a slight tactical change, which meant dropping our captain Ellis Burridge back in to defence and adding a bit more steel.

We started to settle and grow in to the game and we won a penalty after Kobe Russell was dragged over in the box. The boys handed the ball to Bram Borodej who we thought would give us an undeserved lead from the spot going in to the half time break, until Bram decided to blaze the ball over the crossbar before it finally landed somewhere in the River Thames (Bram you’ll score the next one, we all know you will). More changes were made in the last 5 minutes of the half as both Jesse Ngoma and Rio Gordon came off with injuries which meant we had to shuffle the pack again, and then with almost the last kick of the half Bolingbroke took advantage and scored, giving them a one nil lead going in to the break.

We lined up for the second half in an old-fashioned 4-4-2 formation with the intention to use our two wide players to support the forwards as we were now chasing the game. Chances went begging at both ends before we finally managed to equalize from a corner with debutant Preston Travers –Elwin poking the ball home from close range. GAME ON! With 15 minutes still to play, there was plenty of time to go and get the winner. Angus Heritage from Year 7, who was also making his debut for the year above, started to pull the strings in midfield. If there had been some more composed finishing from our front line, we would’ve surely put the game beyond the reach of Bolingbroke but instead it was Bolingbroke who went ahead with a fine volley in to the top corner from the edge of the box, totally against the run of play. With 5 minutes to go, the lads picked themselves up and went in search for an equalizer, and with the clock running down it was Issa Virtue who picked the ball up and curled the ball beyond the Bolingbroke keeper in to the top of the net. Then with just seconds to go there was a big shout for a penalty, after what looked like a handball in the box by a Bolingbroke defender, but the ref did not give it and waved play on before blowing the whistle for full time.

The effort and application of the boys was superb. They remain unbeaten but there is still plenty to improve on, mainly some finishing practice in training.

Great effort boys!

Mr Giddings and Mr Richards, Year 8 Football Team Coaches

PE DEPARTMENT

Sixth Form Match Report - Chestnut Grove vs Southfields - Friday 1st February 2019

After winning their last two games, Chestnut had the chance to win 3 out of 3 on this day against Southfields, who had a reputation as one of the best teams in the borough, which made the thought of the win even more envied by the team.

The weather on the day was not kind to Chestnut Grove, with temperatures hitting rock bottom during the game and even spells of heavy snow throughout the game. Despite these harsh conditions, Chestnut Grove were still able to pull away with the victory, winning 2-1 on the day, putting us at the top of the league table with 9 points from a possible 9. This also gives the team a good chance at winning the league overall.

Our usual goal scorer, Yousuf, was at it again in this game, scoring both of our goals in this game and once again putting in a very solid performance, also getting a goal that was controversially ruled offside which prevented him from getting his hat-trick. Today was also our lowest conceding game, only conceding 1 goal. This was largely down to a strong defensive performance from the back line, specifically from our main centre back Shay, who put in a dominant performance at the back, along with Arthur, Jumale and Jeavarn. The goalkeeper, Rhys Nagle also put in a great performance, with top level distribution and some top class saves throughout the game which allowed Chestnut Grove to hold on to their lead late on in the game.

Our midfield, consisting of Mo, Jerrell and Emmanuel, was also top class as their pressing of the ball and interplay with the front men proved too much for Southfields. We generally controlled possession of the ball and also the overall tempo of the game, allowing us to emerge with the victory.

To conclude, this game was a prime example of a champions’ display, as despite the harsh weather and the gritty nature of this game, Chestnut Grove were able to use their quality to transcend the opposition and emerge with the 3 points. These points could prove vital in the race for the title, which Chestnut Grove look to be in pole position to win after this victory, adding to its significance!

Rhys Nagle Sixth Form Student and 1st X1 Goalkeeper

CGA Basketball U12 team invited to Jr. NBA League!

Chestnut Gove Academy’s U12 Basketball team are the newest addition to the most prestigious basketball league competition for secondary schools in Great Britain – Jr. NBA League.

The Jr. NBA is a 30-franchise wide league, comprising of six localised divisions with five schools each drafted to represent one of the NBA teams. The CGA team are going to play eight games in the regular season, hopefully followed by straight elimination play-offs, semi finals and a final.

Basketball England and the NBA League have recognised our training program and consistent development strategy implemented across our school teams and invited our team to participate in this

elite competition.Basketball Head Coach Bartek Wisniewski said: “We started this exciting project 3 years ago and there is no better way of recognising our success than by inviting our school team to participate is this competition. This success would not be possible without the full support from our Head Teacher, Mr Kingsley, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for this priceless support on behalf of our basketball community. We are counting down the days to our first Jr. NBA league game in the long history of our school”

Chestnut Grove Academy has been drafted as the Dallas Mavericks. We are in South West Division in Western Conference.

SOUTH WEST DIVISION / WESTERN CONFERENCE

1. Memphis Grizzlies – Bishop Thomas Grant School, Streatham 2. Dallas Mavericks – Chestnut Grove Academy, Balham3. New Orleans Pelicans – The Holy Trinity School, Crawley4. Houston Rockets – Christ’s School, Richmond5. San Antonio Spurs – Kingsdale Foundation School, Dulwich

February Matches:07 February: Dallas Mavericks - Memphis Grizzlies14 February: Dallas Mavericks - New Orleans Pelicans14 February: Houston Rockets – Dallas Mavericks

Head Coach Assistant, Sam Mills added: “After officially starting the club in 2016, we’ve been training extremely hard throughout these past years, with students coming and going. It’s been amazing to see the progression of the club, especially the enthusiasm portrayed by the new Year 7’s, they can’t wait to play their first Jr. NBA game!”

The regular season’s final games will be played between 11th and 22nd of March.The Western Conference Playoff Round 1 games will take place in the last week of March and The Western Conference Semi Finals will be played in the first week of April, followed by the Finals.

Head Coach Bartek Wisniewski added: “We have a great group of students forming our team called the Dallas Mavericks and over the next eight weeks, during the regular season, we are going to face much more experienced teams, with Jr. NBA’s pedigree. It’s an amazing opportunity for everyone to learn new things, meet new people, to embrace the NBA values and most importantly – play competitive basketball games”.

Mr Wisniewski, Basketball Coach

Ultimate Frisbee

At the start of February, ten of our Year 11 students went to Wolverhampton to compete in the UK Indoor National U16 Ultimate Frisbee Championships. More than thirty teams from all over the UK came together to battle it out to be number 1. However for us, this was our first ever competitive tournament so our aim was to just enjoy ourselves and learn a lot.

Our tournament started with a pool of six teams. We lost our first three games against good teams. Then came our moment – our first ever victory against a team from Windsor. It was a great game and a fantastic way to end Saturday’s play.

On Sunday the team finished the pool in 5th position, meaning we went into the third tier. In our new pool of four, we chalked up a draw, an amazing win against the top seeds of our group and a 9-2 victory in our final game to seal 17th place, winning our tier and a trophy to boot!

All of our players learnt so much over the weekend and really enjoyed competing against teams who welcomed us with kindness and respect. Ultimate Frisbee is based around Spirit of the Game where each player is required to uphold the highest level of fair play possible. One of our players embodied the feeling by telling me “Sir, I never thought I’d find a sport that had nothing malicious in what-so-ever”.

Well done to Adam Souttou, Aidan Evans, Edan Prabhu, Euan Gallagher, Jack Banasiak, Mark Petrov, Oisin Austin-Walker, Nathan Lui, Samuel Rosenberg and William Bailey. And a special thank you to Ms Guerreiro who came with us to support the team.

Mr Greer, Ultimate Frisbee Coach

London Schools Cross Country Championships 2019

22 Athletes from Chestnut Grove attended this year’s Cross-Country Championships at Wormwood Scrubbs on Wednesday 6th February. It is always a very strong field featuring the best runners from state and independent schools throughout Greater London.The distances ranged from 3 - 4.5 Km depending on age and gender and it was running perfect conditions - dry, mild and muddy.

The team did very well with an exceptional performance from Johanna Nicholson who came third in the Junior A race and qualified for the London team. Also a brilliant performance from the Year 7 boys’ team who came third in the Junior B team competition behind Dulwich College and Alleyns.

Mr Hallsworth, PE Department

YEAR 9 HISTORY

Year 9 have been studying the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, initially by focusing on the long and short term causes. This is a sensitive topic which requires great maturity and our students have been demonstrating their PROUD values. Our students have demonstrated great understanding of how Human Rights relate to this topic, and have explored how the 8 stages of Genocide can be identified in what happened in Rwanda. Students have also been making incisive connections with our world today, for example noticing the polarisation that is perhaps building in society or the dehumanisation of particular groups. It is exciting to see our young people using their history to challenge their thinking about the world, I suspect we will have a generation of activists who will not put up with history being used and twisted to meet a particular agenda.

9X1 were set with the challenge of building their answers to the question ‘what was the main cause

of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994?’. Students worked in groups to create a working document that revealed the thinking behind their conclusions. You can see in the examples below how they have used different colours and arrows etc to show the building up of their thinking. You can also see how they have started to think about categories such as social, political, economic and racial as well as linking the eight stages of genocide to their answers. I was really encouraged by the way the students worked together and the maturity that their conclusions show.

Ms Adams, Head of History

YEAR 7 ART

Utopian Space Scape

Year 7 students have been working hard to complete a collaged, Utopian space scape. Numerous creative techniques have been explored such as oil pastel blending, cross hatching and using tonal shading to create form. There was also lots of experimentation with acrylic paint, washing up liquid and creating spacescapes with ink and bleach.

Students have developed lots of creative skills and techniques that can be introduced into more projects during the year.

Well done year 7 for producing such exciting outcomes.

Year 7 Art Specialists

Year 7 Art Specialists have been creating Grayson Perry vases and Pablo Picasso inspired plates in their Art Specialist lessons. Students have had a great time exploring a variety of ceramic techniques and processes. I will post images of the finished pieces once the work has been fired and glazed.

Ms Keeble, Head of Art

BioMedia Meltdown Update

I’m pleased to inform you that 11 of Chestnut Grove’s students have been selected as finalists for the Linnean Society’s 2019 BioMedia Meltdown competition. The artworks were selected from over a thousand entries by young people from all across London. They will be announcing the final winners and handing out prizes at a celebration event on an evening in March, which will take place at their beautiful headquarters at Burlington House in central London. There will be food, drink, and fun art and science activities.

The students that have been selected are:Maia Ganesh 8 BlakeKaroline Lanuza 8 KapoorEloise Clements 9 BlakePoppy Coultas 9 daVinciAmy Wenn 9 daVinciEllie Chambers 9 HepworthLeila Mehanna 9 HepworthTilly Sheldon-Ralls 9 HepworthElla Webb 9 HepworthIzza Anwar 9 KapoorLeonie Senior 9 Kapoor

Keep an eye out to see if we have any winners announced at the end of March!

Mr Coulson, 2iC Art

STUDY INCENTIVE CLUB

For the last couple of weeks, students at study incentive club have been mastering the art of cookery, revision skills and pottery. We have been learning about the benefits of healthy eating and cooking from scratch and students put this into action by making their own fresh pasta sauce. Last week, we had a crash course in pottery making, thanks to Ms King in the Art Department. You can see that we had some very creative results! This week we have celebrated our achievements at Pizza Express, having learnt to make pizzas from scratch at the beginning of the year. Well done everyone on your hard work this half term.

Ms Vanstone, Study Incentive Club Teacher

YEAR 7 TRIP TO PARIS - TRIP MEETING

G&T - THE BRILLIANT CLUB

This is a reminder that there is a trip meeting for the Year 7 residential to Paris on 26th February from 16.00-17.00 in the drama hall, located in the south block.

Please remember to bring your child’s passports and EHIC card.

Ms Gerrard, MFL Teacher

The 12 Year 9 students who completed The Brilliant Club Programme have finally received their much awaited results for their assignments! Students had a series of small seminars during which they were educated by a PHD student at UCL on neurodegenerative disease. She set them the challenge to write a 2000 word essay answering the question “If you were given £1 million, how would you spend that money on neurodegenerative disease research?” Students were able to choose one of the many diseases they looked at or split the money as they saw fit.

All coursework is nationally moderated: 1st indicates working at Year 13 level, 2:1 indicates working at Year 12 level and 2:2 indicates working at GCSE level. Our students travelled to University College, Oxford University, with myself and Mr Stokes to celebrate their Graduation from The Brilliant Club on Friday 8th February. We had an impromptu tour of the city before arriving at the ceremony. Students were given a delicious lunch of steak and chips before a tour of the college.

I would like to thank all of the parents, carers and staff who have provided invaluable support to the students throughout the programme. I hope all invested parties have enjoyed the process as much as I have!

Many thanks, and very well done to these students.

Ms Buchanan, Associate Assistant Head G&T

FRIENDS OF CHESTNUT GROVEDates for your 2019 diary

Quiz night (for parents and Sixth Formers only) is on Thursday 28th March 2019. More information will be available after the half term break.

Comedy Night Thursday 27th June.

EasyfundraisingWe have raised £795 so far using this scheme and there is absolutely no cost to you! Please consider signing up to activate it for all your online shopping (groceries, holidays, insurance, fashion, home, garden and so on). Once you have done so you will only need to click on the automatic pop-up whenever you browse these sites. The link is: www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/chestnutgroveacademy

General emails to friendsofchestnutgrove@gmail.com Follow us on our Facebook page Friends of Chestnut Grove.

CHESTNUT21

CALLING ALL BUDDING GARDENERS! We are working in partnership with CARAS (Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) to design and build raised beds for the students of Chestnut Grove to grow vegetables and herbs, and to provide habitats and food for wildlife. They are providing the manpower and many of the materials for free!

On WEDNESDAY 20th FEBRUARY we are holding an initial planning and investigation day onsite at CGA and we would love to invite any parents and students that may be interested in taking part. The session will run from 10am to 2pm and will be looking at what we want to grow, design and logistics.

PLEASE NOTE THAT AS THIS IS IN HALF TERM WE CANNOT ACCEPT UNACCOMPANIED STUDENTS BUT WELCOME A STUDENT AND THEIR PARENT/GUARDIAN TO ATTEND. If you are interested in attending please email Ms Noble on snoble@chestnutgrove.wandsworth.sch.uk

Sharon Noble, Development Manager

HEAD’S COMMENDATIONS

Headteacher’s commendations are given for students demonstrating the PROUD ethos, either through behaviour or exceptional pieces of work. Any student can be nominated by their teacher. Students who receive a commendation get a certificate from the Headteacher and also receive 100 PROUD POINTS. The following students have received commendations in the past fortnight:

Curiosity ClubLucy KeenoyIvana Kuzmanoska

FrenchCora White

HistoryEloise JollandsMax Pittam

Year 11 Hamza BhallilCourtney CollinsDaisy Giles-YatesApril MacrohonCameron PrestonHope SharpHolly Smith

YEAR TEAMSYEAR 7

AttendanceThis week the students that have over 98% attendance enjoyed the traditional rewards breakfast. I was pleased to see that Year 7 had the highest number attending - Well done!

Behaviour for LearningBehaviour for learning remains positive! I have had reason to sanction a number of students because of aggressive physical contact. Chestnut Grove is a NON CONTACT ACADEMY. (Regarding contact of an aggressive, intimidating nature) Resolution meetings have taken place and I am confident that students have understood that a change in their behaviour is necessary to ensure positive outcomes at school.

MCASI have been informed that a number of parents/carers have not logged onto the My Child at School ( MCAS ) app . The app gives information on Attendance & Punctuality , Behaviour both positive & negative and importantly your child Year 7 report. Please see the message earlier in the newsletter for more details.

Leaders of tomorrowIt was great to listen to the presentation by the Year 7 School Council reps in Assembly. Congratulations Mohammed, Bill, Jessie and Rachel on your delivery of what the council is up to and what’s in the pipeline!

Mental Health awareness week 2019 - Show and Tell Tutor group activity

7 Blake

A massive well done to Rickwaun, Florence, Mena, Tania, Alex, and Charlie in 7 Blake who brought in a wonderful selection of personal items that symbolised activities that support their own positive mental health. Rickwaun brought in a boxing glove and discussed his passion and success at the sport. Charlie brought in a brown karate belt, symbolising his excellent achievements in the karate. Alex brought in photographs of him and his much loved Cat, called Pip. Florence, Mena and Tania brought in their Art sketchbooks, showing off their creative ability, and explained how they find Art a therapeutic activity. Well done 7 Blake!

7 Kapoor

Well done to Tai, Ella, Sam, Levi, Josie, Finlay, Sonny, Bill Davy and Danny in 7 Kapoor for bringing in a range of items for show and tell during this week’s mental health week.

7 Kapoor were treated to seeing Finlay’s collection of tri-athlete trophies where he had come 4th and 6th position out of over 100 entries; Ella’s talents in her cricket team and her commitment to training at the oval; Bill Davy’s passion for rugby and his love of (arguably) the best rugby team in the world, the All Blacks; Sam’s musical talents and playing the guitar; Levi’s love of drawing; Danny’s love of surfing; a collection of images from Tai and Josie and a book from Sonny.

Dance Competition

On Wednesday 13th February a group of Year 7 and Year 10 students competed in the Wandsworth Dance Competition 2019 against four other schools.

Well done to the following Year 7 students in the Dance Troupe for their positive representation of Chestnut Grove:

Olivia RaySophia Shade

Jessie Turner Leila GashiLyra ClarkeHannah AndersonMia StoneSarah AbduelatiefRachel Fletcher RogersFlorence BazeleyMena PatelCerys Kaniuk

Ms FletcherRaising Standards Leader Year 7

YEAR 8

This week, I would like to pass on to you as parents and carers how proud I was of Year 8 during the recent OFSTED inspection. Teachers emailed me students who particularly impressed whilst inspectors observed lessons:

• Rihanna (Kapoor): Amazing answer in geography detailing China’s One child policy• Lauren (Blake): Articulating the learning goal and the human right to expression to inspectors• Korab (Blake) and Preston (Hepworth) for insightful questions in History regarding life in

workhouses during the industrial revolution• Gabriel (Kapoor) Explaining the learning goal in history• Covenant (Kahlo) Excellent learning goal explanation in English.

It was fantastic to see Year 8 show off their learning and represent the best of our academy.

Amya demonstrating her extended tasks feedback and response in

science.

A Year 8 guided reading lesson.

Mr O’Keeffe, Raising Standards Leader Year 8

YEAR 9 As we come to the close of a very busy half term, full of inspection and learning, I would like to remind all students of the expectations of uniform and punctuality within and around the school community. All students are expected to wear the correct uniform at all time in the day and this includes a plain black coat, the Chestnut Grove bag and plain black socks. This is a policy the students are very familiar with and should be following.

Over the past few weeks we have been celebrating our successes with attendance breakfasts, Leanne’s Amazing Medics graduation and Brilliant Club award ceremonies at Oxford University! A big congratulations to Stefan, Neil, Tenley, Esme, Clara, Joe, Milun, Savannah, Lola, Welid, Polly and Maliyka of the Brilliant Club. I was lucky enough to join them on the trip with Ms Buchanan, who gave us a tour of her home town and then we were treated to a posh lunch at University College Oxford! The students loved having a tour of the college and then were awarded their certificates, some students were awarded 2:2s, 2;1s and even Firsts! What an achievement!

I hope you all have a very well-deserved break and look forward to the next half term, within which the main focus will be GCSE options!

Mr StokesRaising Standards Leader Year 9

Learning to make bread in food tech. Hakeem leading the discussion in English.

YEAR 10

My Child At School

Please ensure you have read the above details about how to access My Child At School. I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight the benefits of using an online portal to access information about the progress of your child at Chestnut Grove Academy.

We hope you are finding the My Child at School site useful and informative. If you have not yet accessed the App or the Website then we would encourage you to do so.

Access gives you the following information for your child/children.• Progress Reports • Behaviour Reports• Proud Points• Attendance• Announcements from the school

Year 10 Dance

The students named below competed in the Wandsworth Dance Competition 2019 against 4 other schools on Wednesday and will now be going on to represent Wandsworth at the London School Games Final! Good luck ladies!

India Adams Monet DayleyWiktoria KoltermanJagoda KitlinskaSiyam MohammadSelma Mohamud Abdi

Mr McCarthyRaising Standards Leader Year 10

Peer Education Project12 Sixth Form students have successfully completed the Peer Education Project. These students delivered five Health sessions to the Year 7 cohort, specifically focused on mental health and strategies we can use to look after our wellbeing. The students have worked hard during their enrichment period to complete training, and prepare engaging sessions.

The Peer Education Project has been developed by the Mental Health Foundation, and is currently being run by 52 schools across the UK. The Peer Educators have enjoyed the opportunity to build relationships and act as mental health ambassadors for Year 7 students. Congratulations to Elizabete Dzene, Stephanie Dwamenah, Natasha Boodhoo, Casey Seed, Kadine Hill, Rahma Abdulalaziz, Sonia Zia, Yasemin Jurczynski, Alisha Patel, Kareena Rathod, Sumayyah Mohamed and Maryam Mukid for all of your hard work with Year 7.

Year 11 Sixth Form interviews

The vast majority of Year 11 students have now been interviewed, with catch up interviews arranged for those who missed their appointment.

The task now is for Year 11 students to sweat blood and make those grades happen at GCSE so that they can enter the Sixth Form on the subjects that they have chosen. Remember, for A levels, students need to achieve five or more grade 9-4 passes at GCSE, preferably with at least a grade 6 in the subject(s) they wish to continue to A level. For the sciences, including psychology, grade 6s are required in science at GCSE, and for A level maths at least a grade 7 (for further maths you need a

SIXTH FORM

grade 8).All entry requirements have been explained to the applicants at interview, and additional copies of the ‘Sixth Form Course Guide: 2019 Entry’, which details all entry requirements for all the courses we offer, are available via the Sixth Form office.

External applicants to the Sixth Form are scheduled to have their interviews week commencing Monday 4th March 2019.

UCAS update – beware the ‘unconditional’ offer!With Year 13 students now receiving their UCAS offers from a range of universities, I felt the need to remind all students, and their parents, that institutions will offer tempting incentives to lure students to them, and that all applicants should wait until they have heard back from all their choices before accepting any as their ‘firm’ or ‘insurance’ institutions.You will have seen in the press that offers of lower grades for accepting as first choice, ‘unconditional’ offers, offers of free laptops and three years university halls guaranteed, are all being dangled in front of students in an attempt to secure their tuition fees.

What must not happen is that this ends up as a race to the bottom, where students stop working hard, fail to fulfil their potential and underachieve. In such a competitive market, what appears attractive now may be less so in the future. Similarly, future employers, of all descriptions, will scrutinise A level results as a sign of the gold standard. Therefore each student, irrespective of their offers, must keep their eye on the main chance, keep working hard and keep focused on securing their own progress.

Recently, the University of Nottingham has contacted schools to inform them that they will end their practice of unconditional offers from next year. I applaud this decision and hope that other providers will follow suit. Then no student will settle for anything less than their very best.

Sixth Form Achievement Evening – 6.00pm to 7.00pm on Wednesday 27th February 2019This event will provide practical tips and advice to our students, and their families, on maximising achievement ahead of the March Pre-Public Exams (PPEs 2). The guest speaker will be Sebastian Boo, Advisor to the Neurodiverse Students at the Teaching & Learning Centre, London School of Economics & Political Science, University of London. Sebastian is a specialist study skills tutor and his presentation will cover the following:

• Understanding the principles of memory, and mnemonics for enhanced learning and information retrieval

• Self-kindness for better stress management• Knowing the rules of the exams game – developing your exam technique • Taking control of your time – effective time management

Such themes are incredibly pertinent as we approach the examinations season and may help parents and carers navigate the challenges which lie ahead.

Please be seated in the Sixth Form Study, First Floor South Block, by 5.55pm.

Entry to the school site on the evening will be via the student entrance gate on Chestnut Grove only. You will not be able to gain access via the main reception.

Mr Taylor, Head of Sixth Form