July Review 2011

Website address: www.clapton.hackney.sch.uk

Clapton ReviewThe newsletter of Clapton Girls’ Technology College & Sixth Form Centre

July 2011

Message from Cheryl Day,

Headteacher

Welcome to the ‘bumper’ edition of Clapton Review.

As we end the school year it is wonderful to look back

at all that was achieved last term.

This Summer edition is full of fantastic success stories,

wonderful trip reports and many accounts of community

activities. It proves once again that ‘Clapton Girls’ are not only

everywhere but are also talented, inquisitive, enthusiastic and generous.

I look forward to continuing to work with all our stakeholders as Clapton

Girls’ moves into its next exciting phase of development.

We Are Hackney!The final stage of the Tick 4 Change project took place on 2nd and 3rd

July when a new twenty foot mural entitled ‘We are Hackney’ was

painted on the wall of Downs View Special School. The mural was

designed to celebrate the rich diversity of the neighbourhood and

raise public perceptions of the borough.

The project was the brainchild of a team of Clapton Sixth Form

students who have been part of the Envision Schools’ Programme

which supports young people wanting to make a difference in their

communities. Artists from Soulful Gallery kindly donated their time to

help the students pull together contributions from the community and

provided the mural design. The Clapton Team are thrilled that so

many different community groups were involved in their project.

Student team leader Rashida Khanom said, “We wanted to show that

young people care. Looking back to where we started sitting round a

table talking about ideas and now seeing the mural up with all the

bright colours, I feel we’ve really achieved something.”They achieved even more on 7th July when the Tick

4 Change team joined with over two hundred young

people to celebrate a year of amazing Envision

‘make a difference’ projects in their schools and

communities. There was plenty of opportunity for the

teams to showcase how and where their projects

had created legacies in their community through film,

photos and a massive legacy map before the

Envision Award ceremony began. The nail-biting

moment arrived – the announcement of the winning

projects. Big smiles broke out as the Clapton Sixth

Form Tick 4 Change team were announced the My

London, My Legacy Team winners.

TERM DATES

Autumn Term startsWednesday 5th September

Please check the website for the

start time for each Year group

Despite heavy rain thousands of people turned

out for the Clapton Festival over the weekend

of 11th-12th June. There were film screenings,

music, fun and games. Over a hundred people

joined in with the swinging, clapping ‘Clapton

Walk’ which made its way down Lower Clapton

Road to Clapton Square where the

entertainment continued on the main stage

with live bands.

BTEC Business students made the

most of the opportunity and

demonstrated what they had learnt

at an events management

introduction at Linklaters and an

introduction to visual merchandising

at Mark & Spencer’s office, by

organising a tea party for festival-

goers. They put into practice their

communication, problem-solving,

team work and management skills

while visitors enjoyed refreshments and listened to the school

choir performing on the steps of the Portico. The tea party

successfully raised £100 for the charity ‘Shelter’!

Thirty three years of

polishing the

corridors at Clapton

Girls’ Technology

College were over on

20th May as the school wished cleaner, Hannah

Somers a happy retirement. Throughout her

long service Hannah witnessed many

milestones in the school’s journey, cleaning new

buildings as they were added to the site starting

with Curie (built in 1978), then Tereshkova (built

in the 1990s) and more recently the Nightingale

building (built in 2009). Hannah began her

employment when the school was known as

Clapton Girls’ School and then through its years

as Clapton Girls’ Technology College. She now

leaves at another momentous time in the

school’s life as it converts to become an

academy. Hannah said, ‘I will miss Clapton

– for a while!’

Long

Service

The Big LunchClapton FestivalUndeterred by the drizzle, over a million people the

length and breadth of the UK got together in their

neighbourhoods for food, fun, games and

conversation at thousands of Big Lunches on 5th

June! The Eden Project started the Big Lunch in the

belief that, as a society we are better equipped to

tackle challenges when we face them together.

The residents of Powerscroft Road proved this as

they pulled off a team effort with their Big Lunch on

the school’s running track area. It was a real

community affair as those who came enjoyed a

delicious feast made up of dishes they had brought

before making full use of the ready-made facilities

with an impromptu sports day. Both grown-ups and

children took equal delight in three-legged, piggy

back and wheelbarrow races!

Resident Violet Koska said, ‘We've recently moved to

Powerscroft Road and, though we know a few

neighbours, we were keen to get to know more of

them and create an opportunity for others to do the

same.’ This year’s event was so successful plans are

already being discussed for Clapton’s next Big Lunch

which will fall on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee

celebrations in May 2012.

Pathways2CitizenshipSixth Formers, Nida Dyer, Hafsa Khatun and Fataima

Begum scooped three of ten national awards at a

Pathways 2 Citizenship award ceremony on 9th July. A

further award went to ex-Clapton student Maariya Ahmed.

The girls took home a trophy and £100 each!

The scheme, run by Muslim Aid, recognises the talents of

young muslims and the work they have done in the

community. Our students won their awards for completing

over two hundred hours of community service throughout

the last year in a wide range of activities through the Police

Cadets such as fixing sports courts, marshalling at the

royal wedding and the Race for Life and also through the

school such as the Duke of Edinburgh programme, Work

Experience, Young

Enterprise, Envision

and the Hackney

Schools’ Mentoring

Programme.This month Clapton GTC’s parents’ committee, CASP has registered

with Clipper Woven Labels as part of an initiative to raise funds for

Clapton’s after-school and weekend programmes. This means that for

every order of identity labels purchased by parents/carers our school will

receive a donation of £1.00. The labels are available in a variety of

styles, colour and finishes that can be easily fixed to school uniforms,

personal belongings and footwear. Samples of these labels are available

for viewing at the school’s Reception desk.

An order form is enclosed with this issue of Clapton Review for you to

complete and send straight to Clipper Woven Labels Company, or

alternatively you can order on-line at www.clipperwovenlabels.co.uk. For

on-line orders please enter our registration number (22223) to ensure the

£1.00 donation goes directly to our school. Additional order forms are

available at the school Reception desk and at all CASP events.

Name it!

Our YardAs part of their Geography

curriculum, Year 7 students

completed a survey of the

shops and services, traffic

and environment on Lower

Clapton Road in May,

using describing,

comparing and explaining

skills and recognising

different viewpoints and

perspectives.

Most students were surprised to find out just how many shops

there were; almost a hundred! They presented their data in a

series of different graphs and then used it to compare our street

with one in Port Antonio, Jamaica.

July Review 2011 July Review 2011

Year 12 Wild Swan students, Briony Lambert,

Tania Hossain, Titilope Badru and Alexie

Telan went on an amazing weekend trip to

Londonderry in April as part of the Wild

Swans Programme. The programme

promotes the values of women’s leadership

and addresses the gender gap in business,

environmental and social leadership.

We went to meet the Irish Wild Swans and take part in leadership

workshops with them. During our flight to Derry, we had a mixture

of feelings but our hosts quickly made us feel that Ireland was our

second home. Over the weekend, the girls took us on a tour

around the maiden city, which included looking at the remarkable

view of Derry from its historic walls built between 1614 and 1619

and showing us the fantastic murals in the Bogside (the

neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry).

It was hard leaving

the girls, even

though we had only

just met them.

Fortunately, we are

going to meet them

again for our next

trip during the

summer holidays to

South Africa!

Alexie Telan 13P

At the end of the school year it is a good time to review the past year’s exciting activities involving

the school’s partners and students, as well as looking forward to our new future as an academy.

Students have had the chance to expand their cultural horizons with a book club, drama workshop

and trip to the theatre offered by Clare College Cambridge. Clare also gave students the chance to

feel like a real Cambridge undergraduate student for a day, hosting visits to the College and lectures on Italian literature and the

History of Science. Students were also introduced to the world of advocacy, citizenship and employment through Linklaters, the

law firm. Literally hundreds of students from Years 7 to 12 got involved in debating and community action ideas, developing an

understanding of politics and leadership. Mentoring from Linklaters staff also exposed the students to future employment

opportunities. Finally the University of East London has also been motivating and inspiring

students with health and social care sessions, business studies workshop and assistance

from members of staff on how to make the most of university applications.

We were privileged this

term to have the

opportunity to visit the prestigious

Oxford University that has formed so many great minds, and

been home to many Harry Potter scenes.

Our day started by attending a Classics taster (the study of

ancient Greek and Roman civilisation). We learnt the basics

of Greek scriptures and were surprised to learn how

influential the Greek language is on modern dialect today.

We experimented with ink on papyrus, scalpels on clay and

hard wax, which made us realise how much we take paper

and pen for granted! The trip also included a tour of

Christchurch where we marvelled over the size and beauty

of the architecture and were given a talk from the admissions

officer. We ended our exciting day with a fun scavenger hunt

around Oxford.

We had a great day and were encouraged to aim higher,

think bigger, work harder and be the best that you can be!

Faatimah Bhana & Melika Everitt 11A

As an Olympic ambassador I have learnt about the

Olympics and Paralympics and the regeneration 2012 is

bringing to East London. I can also appreciate how the

Olympic park will change the lives of people living in

Hackney and East London.

I went to the Olympic Park

on 6th July for an event to

mark the end of my

involvement with the

construction crew project.

As this was my last day with

the project, I had the honour

of being among the first

group of people to actually go

inside the Olympic Stadium which is huge! I was

privileged to meet another famous athlete, gold

medallist Marlon Devonish who runs the 100m

and 200m sprint races. Later, some of the current

construction crew members and members of the

ODA (Olympic Delivery Authority) made speeches

about their experiences throughout the project.

Being part of the Olympic Construction Crew has

been a wonderful opportunity, it has changed my

life, making me more confident. I have seen the

Olympic site built from beginning to almost

completion, I have met famous people, I have

made new friends and learnt skills such as

leadership and teamwork. One thing is for sure is

- I won’t forget the London 2012 Olympics!

Khadijah Hibbert 9A

Clapton GTC's

trampolining team

headed down to

Bridge Academy for

the annual borough

trampolining

competition in May. Our students competed in

the Advanced category in which the routine

includes complex twisting combinations and

finishes with a front somersault. As a team, we

came 2nd with an outstanding 105 points.

Special mentions go to Elizabeth Kaethner and

Ikoney Hall, who received medals for 2nd and

3rd place, and their exceptional scores of 9.5

and 9 out of 10 respectively.

This term many Sixth Form students had the

great opportunity of completing the BTEC Level

2 Award in event stewarding. This rare

opportunity guarantees us an interview to be a

steward at the 2012 London Olympics. Not

only will we be able to apply for a job at the

games but we can steward at many other

events such as concerts, sports events, music

festivals, educational events and award

ceremonies. Arta Azemi 13D & Hazera Begum 13G

An aquathlon is a sporting event,

which involves swimming then

running. I participated with four

other Clapton GTC students in an

aquathlon in London Fields in

April. The event was organised by

London Fields Triathlon Club. We had to

swim 100m then run 1km.

Once I got into the swing of the event I

found it really enjoyable, although at times exhausting

too. When you get out of the pool you have to quickly put

on your trainers, T-shirt and shorts. It felt a little odd

running soaking wet but also a relief as it cooled you down for the long,

sweaty run ahead. I am really glad I took part. The people who organised it

were extremely friendly and encouraging. I loved it! Jessie Feeney Davies 8C

Global DimensionsConstruction CrewOn 23rd June, Year 7 went on a Sports trip to the

University of East London to participate in

activities based on the global dimensions of the

2012 Olympic Games.

We took a 245 bus to Stratford, catching a glimpse

of the Olympic Stadium on the journey. Once there we were put into two

groups to invent a country with its own flag, national costume and anthem!

After lunch we had a treasure hunt where we had to run all around the

whole university to find the brown letter and then answer questions about

the Olympics. The first group back to the classroom would win the prize and

get gold certificates. We were all given UEL goodie bags for our contribution

during the day. Courtney Finch & Eman Benatallah 8A

On 5th May, Clapton

GTC Trailblazers joined

with over eighty other

secondary schools at an

event in the House of

Lords. The students

enjoyed afternoon tea as

they focused on the

theme of new

technologies and their innovative use in schools. Zoe

Sunu 8N and Leila Hutchinson 8A gave a presentation

to the gathered audience of over three hundred people

including students, teachers, business leaders and

other well-known figures like presenter Kat B about

their Digital Leaders’ role in Clapton GTC.

The event finished with students suggesting how to use

social networking sites to promote success in Hackney

schools. They live-tweeted an imaginative range of

ideas via the Twitter profile @hackneysuccess. With

only sixty-seven tweets they reached a staggering

13,600 people in less than three hours!

Clapton GTC has now joined the social networking

world. Follow us through our Twitter profile

@ClaptonGTC or view our Facebook page, Clapton

Girls’ Technology College.

Tweeting Trailblazers

Partners’ Review

It was a wonderfully

warm morning in April

when Year 8 Gifted and

Talented students

stepped off the coach in

Cambridge. Our guides

from Kings College and

Clare College told us

about the college and Lady

Elizabeth de Clare, the granddaughter of King

Edward I who founded the college in 1326. We were then split

into two groups to go on tours of the town and the Zoology

museum where we saw different species of animals and

insects that are no longer in existence. In the afternoon we

were introduced to some Maths professors who gave us some

very annoying but fun problems. We had to convince them

why an odd number, added to another odd number equals an

even number!

We were also given helpful information about entry

requirements, student loans and told what the students study

at the college and what they get up to at weekends!

Shalom Onyeukwu & Edie Sharples 9C & Beatrix Webb 9N

Oxford & Cambridge

A q u a t h l o n

In my year as an Ambassador I have passed

on what I know about the games to other

young people in Hackney, promoted sports

participation amongst them and represented

Hackney at a variety of 2012 related events.

The Olympics is not just about winning

medals but about encouraging everyone to

pursue their dreams. Another benefit of my

role is that I will get tickets for events, get to

steward at the games and be part of

presenting the medals. If you would like to

become an Olympic Ambassador you can

apply through www.younghackney.org

website or see Ms Keatley. The programme

lasts one year, with all training in the evenings

or at weekends. Ara Brace-Sartaj 10C

A m b a s s a d o r s

Event Stewards

Trampolining AthleticsThis term saw students in

Years 7 to 10 competing in

the Borough Outdoor Athletics

Competition at Mile End

Stadium. In the Year 9 & 10 competition Akwaugo Dike 9C won the shot putt,

Akina Okoye 10T & Ikoney Hall 9P won the hurdles, Sharlia Odoi 9T won in the

200m and Sakinah Muhammad 9L in the 100m. In the Year 7 & Year 8

competition Clapton GTC finished in an amazing second place, narrowly

missing out on first place. The following students all came first in their events;

Olbunmi Abbass 7L in shot putt, Taitu McMorris 7L in the 200m race and Hayley

Ozdemir Lloyd 8A in javelin. As a result of coming either first or second place

at the Borough Athletics competition five students were selected to join the

Hackney Secondary Schools Athletics Team in the London Secondary Schools

Outdoor Athletics Competition - Taitu McMorris, Olbunmi Abbass, Hayley

Ozdemir Lloyd, Milly Croft and Oluwaseun Adeduntan.

July Review 2011 July Review 2011

The Expressive Arts department held

two fantastic art exhibitions in June.

The creativity of GCSE and AS and A

Level students was very much on

display. Visitors were impressed not

only by the quality of work but also the

sheer range and variety of the media

being used by our talented young

artists. It felt like professional gallery

shows.

H a p p y E n d i n g s

Debating clubs take place on

Tuesdays from 4 – 5pm in

Drama Studios 1 and 2.

DebateMate is for Years 8 & 9

when a university mentor

comes in each week to train

students in debating skills. The

Debating Society is for Years

10-13 where students engage

in more complex debates with

their peers.

eXtra opportunities

Portrait

Awards

K e y S t a g e 4Jamiah Okoye 11L, Najma Ahmed 10C and Rommana Delair

10L represented Hackney in the English–Speaking Union

(ESU) London Debate Challenge at Central Hall, Westminster

on 1st July. As winners in the borough debating competition in

March they now found themselves up against other champions

from twenty-five London boroughs!

Our girls were successful in their three preliminary rounds

debating on topics including protecting the environment, using

performance enhancing drugs in sport and abolishing private

education and were in the four teams with the highest overall

scores to go through to the finals. They prepared a final debate

against Lambeth in only fifteen minutes on the motion “This

house believes students should be allowed to skip school to

take part in political protests.” Having less than a year’s

debating experience between them they disguised their nerves

well as they argued forcefully in favour of the motion to an

audience of one hundred and fifty people including students,

judges and various mayors! After careful deliberation the

judges announced that Hackney were the winners of the

competition with their ability to form structured arguments and

defend their points rigorously when faced with scrutiny.

The students were ecstatic! Their prizes included ESU

Scholarships for the Debate Academy. They will now focus on

competing to join the England Debate Team to debate on an

international level, as well as helping to train other students in

debating at Clapton and local primary schools.

Turkish TilesContinuing our partnership with

Üsküdar Altunizade Hafize Özal

School in Istanbul, the Art department

hosted two visiting artists in May to

work with a group of Year 8 students.

The workshop focused on Iznik

Turkish tiles, and students learnt new

painting techniques to create their

own original designs. Each student

created a detailed artwork and these

were combined to form the finished

banner which will be viewed by

thousands of visitors to the Thames.

On Show

This September Clapton GTC will be offering an even wider

range of new and exciting clubs.

Students will be able to sign up for Beginners Latin and

Beginners Classical Studies - great opportunities for students to

widen their curriculum for only £15 each term per course.

Another great new club starting for students is fencing. A chance

to learn the art of the sport in six consecutive sessions at a cost

of £50 (cost includes the hire of equipment).

Parents/carers are not forgotten as from September ten places

are on offer to adults at beginners pottery classes on Saturdays

(10am-11.30am) at a cost of £30 for six sessions.

This term staff have already tried out new Zumba and Punch Fit

classes. These fitness sessions will continue next term, together

with Body Combat and Salsa Dancing!

For further information please e-mail Ms Fennell, Associate

Assistant Headteacher on mfennell@clapton.hackney.sch.uk

For our AS Level Drama students, several months of

rehearsal and intensive preparation for their Unit 2, Text

in Performance practical exam came to fruition on 25th

May, in front of the external examiner and a supportive

audience of friends, family and staff. Working in two

groups, the girls performed edited versions of two very

different plays, ‘The Gut Girls’ by Sarah Daniels and

‘Looking for JJ’ adapted by Marcus Romer. Following

this, they had the challenge of performing a two minute

monologue either solo, or a slightly longer duologue with

a partner from a range of classic and modern plays.

The demanding rehearsing paid off as they gave some

very accomplished performances, impressing their

audience who were full of appreciation. As the

performance counts for 60% of their overall AS exam

marks we look forward to seeing their achievements

reflected in some excellent results in August!

Stage Call

K e y S t a g e 3

K e y S t a g e 5

After five rounds of gruelling

auditions Rashmika Torchia, who

graduated from the Sixth Form

last summer, is overjoyed to have

been awarded one of only fifteen

places this year for female

actresses at the Royal Academy

of Dramatic Arts (RADA). Selected

from over 3,500 applications Rashmika is no stranger to

success, being congratulated in August 2008 by Edexcel, the

UK’s largest examination board for having one of the top ten

GCSE Drama results in the country.

Since leaving Clapton Rashmika, already an accomplished

actress in performances of A Midsummer Night’s Madness at

the Hackney Empire and the Edinburgh Festival; Macbeth at

the Arcola Theatre and on TV in Spooks has also been passing

on her talent to other aspiring young actors at a Saturday

morning youth theatre in Bethnal Green.

S p o t l i g h t s On 29th June, seven Year 13 students

went on a trip to the National Portrait

Gallery in Central London. They were

visiting the BP Portrait Award, an

exhibition showcasing a huge range of

portraits, from photo-realist to more

loose expressionist styles, and taking

part in a portrait painting workshop.

After looking at and discussing the

pieces in the exhibition, students were

encouraged to consider composition,

background and colours for their own

self portraits. Each student was given

a mirror, easel, A2 canvas and a

limited range of acrylic paints and

challenged to work as professional

artists directly from life. The result was

a diverse collection of portraits

representing the range of skin tones,

facial features and painting styles of

the students.

Debate Champions

Join the Debate

Eda Ergan 10L, Elizabeth

Kaethner 8L and Lucienne Labep

11C recently participated in ‘Sum

of Parts’, a new work by the

prestigious Sadlers Wells Creative

Learning department, Connect, in

which six companies were formed comprised of dancers from a

variety of backgrounds and groups.

Following ten weeks of rehearsal at the Urdang Academy with

Zoonation Youth Hip Hop dance company, the students performed

their piece which explored questions of identity and belonging

alongside other youth dancers from across London on the main

stage at the Sadler's Wells theatre in the half term holiday. Their

performance is a real achievement for Clapton GTC as it is our

second performance on this stage this year, reinforcing that we

have some real dance talent at school!

July Review 2011 July Review 2011

Ella Belton-Saunders 8N has had her work

recognised by the National Trust. Inspired to put

pen to paper for the Trust Magazine’s first ever

competition, ‘Landlines’ Ella’s poem was among

over 1,700 received from all over the country,

written to the theme of ‘the Outdoors’.

Looking particularly for poems that startled,

surprised and excited, judges Jo Bell (Director of

National Poetry Day) and Ian McMillan (presenter

of Radio 3′s The Verb) whittled the poems down to

just twelve placed in two categories! Ella’s poem

was a runner-up in the 16s and under category.

Her winning entry, The Blue Lake can be seen on

http://ntmagazine.wordpress.com/ and will also be

published in the National Trust Magazine in

September and in an Ode to the Countryside

poetry book. She also won a VIP day out at a

National Trust attraction.

I visited the British Library and the Dickens

Museum with a group of Year 9 students

on 31st March. Starting with the British

Library, the smell of the past hit us

instantly as we stepped through the doors.

Old books, ink, perfumed memories - the

smell wafted everywhere as we embarked

on our tour. We were encouraged to gather

words, nouns, adjectives and adverbs that described our surroundings

to write a group story in a creative writing workshop after the tour. It was

an immensely rewarding and satisfying experience.

The second half of our trip was spent at the Dickens Museum. Again, it

felt like we stepped back in time. We learned interesting facts about

Dickens’ life and saw the legacy of his hard work. It was an experience I

will remember forever.Carey Osborne 10T

Out of Shadows

On 21st June at 9.00am, students from all over

Hackney gathered at the Tomlinson Centre for the

annual Carnegie ‘Ask the Author’ event. They were

greeted by three of the best authors in the country,

Jason Wallace (Out of Shadows), Meg Rosoff (The

Bride’s Farewell) and Geraldine McCaughrean (The

Death Defying Pepper Roux), who were all

shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie award. The

Carnegie award is given every year to the author of

the best new book for Young Adults, so called after

Andrew Carnegie (A Scottish-born philanthropist,

who set up a series of libraries all over the world).

The Clapton GTC team, from 9P, 9T & 9N, had been

shadowing the long list for a while and put together

a short presentation about Out of Shadows, which

they had read in their own time. There was a

competition for the best demonstration, and Clapton

did very well being the runner-up out of all the

Hackney schools represented. Autographs were

collected and opportunity given to ask questions of

the authors. It was a wonderful experience.

Isabella Harter & Florence Adeoye 9T

Keats on the

HeathFifty Year 8 students headed to Hampstead Heath on 20th May to

visit John Keats’ house. Keats was a romantic poet in the early

nineteenth century. His most famous poem is called Bright Star

which has been adapted for film.

We set off on a short walk across the Heath to the house after we’d

eaten lunch enjoying the views and the sun! The house was much

smaller when Keats lived in it than today and it was fascinating

looking at many of his possessions close-up in cabinets. It was a

great experience and we learnt a lot about the history of the house,

as well as gaining information about Keats himself. His poetry was

greatly inspired by Shakespeare’s work, but he also often included

the scenery around in his poems. Keats moved to the house

because of the wonderful views that we had been seen earlier - the

city skyline was stunning. We had a great time and were very

pleased that we all went, it would be great to see it all again.

Mathilda Wesley-Weeks & Humairaa Patel 9T

Poetry

in

Motion

Make-up, costumes and jazz

hands can only mean one thing:

dance competition! On 26th May

Clapton GTC’s junior and senior

Dance Elite groups participated in the Hackney Schools’ Dance

Platform at Bridge Academy. We were confident we would do well as

we had amazing choreography composed for our piece ‘Blackbird’,

by Sixth Form Dance Leader, Sophie Jemeljanova.

We presented three dance pieces of contemporary, broadway and

street styles against tough competition. The winners were

announced and we were very proud to be the only school awarded a

placing (second) and a certificate for the ‘Best Teamwork’ for our

brilliant showcases. All dancers also received medals.

Rebekah Fisher & Zara Hennessy 8L

To celebrate International Book Day la

Lectura on 23rd April, the UK Instituto

Cervantes centres, in collaboration with the

Education Office and the Office for Cultural

and Scientific Affairs of the Spanish Embassy,

held the II Short Story Competition with the

theme "El Quijote de tu vida".

Twelve students from Clapton GTC got in the Spanish mood as they

set off for the Awards Ceremony on 25th May. On arrival the award

winners were asked about their interests and hobbies and then

introduced to the audience alongside the guest of Honour – Eliacer

Cansino, a Spanish poet. One by one the winning short stories, based

on Don Quixote were read out by their authors before the prizes were

awarded. Clapton had two winners in the 8-12 year old category,

Lizzy Diggins 9T (2nd place) and Beatrix Webb 9N (3rd place). Their

stories had been selected for their expression, creativity and originality

and their overall response to the question posed.

Lizzy Diggins 9T & Beatrix Webb 9N

The Salters’ Festival of Chemistry

at the Queen Mary University of

London on 6th May saw three

students from Years 7 and 8

competing against teams from

eleven other schools to solve a

mystery case. Using their creativity and forensic analysis,

including flame tests and precipitation reactions, the girls

did really well and unravelled the criminal details of the

‘murder’. In their second challenge lots of investigative

and innovative skill was required to identify different

solutions without access to any pH measurement. The

students really enjoyed the experience, especially using

the university’s laboratories.

The day finished with a variety of exciting interactive

demonstrations, from seeing liquid oxygen to the catalytic

reaction produced by the bombardier beetle, given by Dr.

Sheriff from the Chemistry department.

The Hackney Maths

Challenge on 27th

June saw our Years 7,

8 and 9 teams battling

it out at Queen Mary

College against eight

other Hackney

secondary schools.

Twelve problems had to be solved in an hour. The panel

gave out the first question and the clock started ticking –

each question had to be accurately answered before

another was given. When the time was up the students

were given a tour of the College before going back to the

hall for the results. The Year 9 team narrowly missed 3rd

place by one point, the Year 8 team went to a tie break for

2nd place and the Year 7 team of Bridie Goddard-Hunt,

Emily Armes, Thuong Nguyen and Ella Popper came in an

amazing 1st place and received medals and certificates for

being ‘best in Hackney’.

On 7th July it was the turn of the Year 11 team. Again a

well-fought competition saw our team finish in 3rd place.

Crime Scene

Scores on the Doors

Clapton’s results for the UK Maths Challenge this year

were the best-ever. The Intermediate Challenge took place

in February and the results saw eleven students receive

certificates from Leeds University for their achievement,

double the amount of students than in 2010. Eight bronze

certificates, two silver certificates and one gold certificate

were awarded. Phoebe Ballantyne-Brown received the

highest score at this level.

The Junior Challenge took place in May and the results

saw fourteen students receive certificates, five more than in

2010 – five bronze certificates and eight silver certificates.

Lizzy Diggins received the highest score, just one point

away from a gold certificate!

Step back in time

Spanish Tales

On 29th June Year 8 and 9 students went

to BSix for a Science and Technology

competition. We were put into teams of four

consisting of a pair of Clapton students and

a pair of students from another school.

Our first challenge was to build a bridge

made from twenty-five pieces of paper,

masking tape, nails and screws, strings and a

hole punch. We tested its strength by adding weights to see how

much it could take. We also made a robot and had to operate it,

making sure it went round a route marked out for us. A lot of

thought was put in and we did an amazing job. Our last task was

to make a motor vehicle from a few pieces of equipment. We had

to make sure the circuit was working and the motor placed

accurately. This was by far the hardest task for our team but we

got our car to work perfectly!

The day went fantastically well. Not only did Clapton GTC win the

competition, we learnt a lot in a fun way! Milly Croft 9L and Beatrix

Webb 9N will now go on to represent Hackney in the semi-finals!

Latifa Haque 10C

Building Bridges

UK Maths Challenge

Sum of Parts

Dance

Platform