At this time each year we celebrate the life of our founder, Christopher Urswick, who died on March 24 1522.

In Hackney, Urswick is remembered for founding free education in the Rectory by establishing a school to teach ‘12 poor boys’ to read. From that small starting point, nearly five hundred years later, we are educating 800 students in

our award winning, modern new building.

Over the past few months I have been establishing a small library of books which feature the attributes of Christopher Urswick. ‘Hackney: An Uncommon History in Five Parts’ (edited by Margaret Wiles) celebrates Urswick on its very first page as the builder of St Augustine’s Church in the centre of Hackney in 1519 - the tower from that original Tudor church survives to this day.

In ‘Winter King’, a book about Henry VII written by Thomas Penn, Urswick is described as a ‘mild mannered man’ who saved Henry’s life by telling him of a plot to kill him. As the title suggests, ‘Blood Sisters’ by Sarah Gristwood tells a rather more murky tale of the various plots, some involving Urswick, during the War of the Roses.

I have learnt a little of Urswick’s life through reading. This is why I am so delighted to see the school library being so well used. It is open from 8.00 am to 4.00 pm. In addition to the private study facilities available, the library is issuing on long term loan around 200 books, CDs and DVDs per week.

Is your child a regular borrower from the library and reading regularly at home? If not, please encourage regular reading and don’t accept any excuses about not being able to borrow a book. Thanks to the donations of The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers, we now have a library that would astonish and delight Christopher Urswick.

During the Easter holidays I look forward to seeing many students in Year 10, 11 and 12, for revision classes between 2nd April and 5th April.

I wish students, staff, parents, governors and friends of the school a happy Easter.

Richard BrownHeadteacher

The Urswick School

newsletter

A spectacular trip to the Royal Albert Hall

Eight lucky students were invited by the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers to attend the Classical Spectacular Concert at the Royal Albert Hall on the 15th March.

This was an impressive treat; students saw performances from a full orchestra, artillery band and dancers. Laser animations and an explosive canon added to the excitement of the performance, led by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,. The students had one of the best views in the hall, sitting next to the royal box.

Year 10 student, Hiram, was particularly impressed by the laser animations, describing the lights moving as though they were ‘doing the waltz with the music itself’. He said :“I would urge all young people to watch the concert. The most interesting part of the show was when the canons were firing. It was extremely exciting”.

E-SafetyIs your child using the Internet safely?

Year 9 Options MorningProfessionals give careers advice to our students

Year 7 Boy’s AthleticsThe team are through to the London finals

Issue 12 – March 2013

PE Clubs Timetable (until the end of the school year)

Regular reading

Last day of spring termStudents will be dismissed from school at 1pm on

Thursday 28 March, the last day of term.

Students who wish to have lunch at school will leave

the premises by 1.40pm.Laser animations at the

Royal Albert Hall

School cross competition

In February we introduced a competition for students to create a school cross to celebrate our community. One large cross will be named in the memory of student Ruth Magloire and smaller crosses will be displayed around the school.

Students across the school took up the challenge with enthusiasm and almost 650 designs were entered for the competition. The winning designs have now been selected and are in the process of being painted, having been carved in wood by Mr Doyle.

As you can see, the crosses look amazing. We will be unveiling the winners after Easter but students might be able to recognise their designs from this photograph.

A message from Father Rob, Rector of Hackney

One of the things I love about being in Hackney is that I get to perform lots of baptisms. As part of our preparation for baptism, each family will be visited, and if it is a baby to be baptised, I will ask the parents why they chose their particular names for the new child. Many names mean particular things, and you get to see something

of parents’ hopes and dreams through the names that they have chosen. I wonder whether your name means something specific.

As I write, the new Pope has given himself the name Francis. This is a clear indication as to what kind of Pope he will be. Both St Francis of Assisi and St Francis Xavier dedicated themselves to the service of the poor, and for striving for social justice, and for this reason they are revered as Saints in the Catholic Church, for they have much to teach you and I. I look forward to Pope Francis working for peace, and encouraging others to do the same, enabling us to live simply for the Common Good of all.

Easter used to be the only time of the year when Baptisms were performed, as a symbol of new life lived in the generosity and love of Jesus’ resurrection. This was demonstrated through the giving of a new name. This is where we get the term “Christian name” from. I wonder as we prepare to celebrate Easter what your Christian name can teach you, and whether you, like Pope Francis, will be able to live simply for the Common Good of all?

Happy Easter to you all,

Fr Rob

E-safety and your child‘Safer Internet Day’ took place in February and this highlighted the importance of using the Internet safely in order to keep all young people safe. It is important to remember that the Internet is a valuable learning tool, but there can also be hidden dangers.

As technology develops and more students have access to social media on their phones and computers, it becomes even more important for schools to give clear advice to students and their families.

This is something we consider very important at The Urswick School. On admission, you and your child signed an ‘E-Safety’ document which explained the policies and rules that we have in place to keep your child safe whilst using the Internet in school. This is also a topic that students discuss in their PSHEE and ICT lessons.

In order to protect your child, parents are advised to closely monitor their use of the Internet and their phone. This includes;

• Talking regularly to your child about the issue. Discuss what they do online and on their phone, who they talk to and what they are looking at. Ensure the time they spend on their phones and on the Internet is limited to prevent them falling behind with school work or becoming addicted to social media.

• Only allow your child to have a Facebook profile if they are over 13 years (this is the legal age) and then ensure that their profile is private and only their friends can access information. Regular checks on this are useful.

• Remind your child not to share any personal information online, including email address, mobile number or details of their social plans. Small pieces of information can easily be pieced together to give a picture of themselves and their activities. They must ensure that they don’t reveal anything about their identity, where they live or the school they attend. For example, no images with school uniform must be on show.

• Make sure your child chooses their screen name, email address and profile picture wisely. Research has shown that young teenagers are most likely to use suggestive names such as “sexyteen” or “niceboy1” but they are largely unaware of the implications of this.

• Regularly access your child’s phone and online profiles (including BBM). Check to make sure that the content is suitable and that no-one has posted something they shouldn’t on Faceook, YouTube, Instagram or another site (this includes private messages, photos and videos). Remember that personal or embarrassing material can be very hard to delete once it has been posted online.

• Discuss the reasons why your child should only be ‘friends’ with people that they really know and encourage them to delete anyone immediately if there is conflict or they are uncomfortable with something. Advise your child to tell you about any inappropriate comments and messages shared about them or others. They must tell you this information to get it resolved as soon as possible.

This is an important issue and I hope that you will regularly discuss Internet safety with your child.

Jenny Hunting, Head of Year 7

Crosses designed by our students

Celebrating LGBT History Month

Year 7 students celebrated LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) History Month in February, by finding out about the work of Alan Turing in Mathematics, Science, History, ICT and Literacy lessons.

Alan Turing was a wartime code breaker, who is regarded as the father of the modern computer because of the machine he built to break the German Enigma code in World War 2. Sadly, he was persecuted by the authorities as he was a gay man and that was illegal at the time.

The students went on a visit to Bletchley Park where the code breakers carried out their top secret work, and saw Turing’s machine in action. They also got to use an original Enigma machine that had been used by the German army!

Five students presented the work that they had done at a special LGBT showcase at the Emirates Stadium, alongside other schools from Hackney and Camden. They all displayed excellent public speaking skills and showed that the Urswick School is committed to stopping homophobic bullying.

Susan Caldwell, Maths Teacher

The Urswick School links with Ugandan schoolDuring the summer of 2012 Dan Austin, our Art and Display Technician, was working in Uganda in East Africa. Whilst there he established a link between The Urswick School and Bwera Secondary School. Dan has written this report:

We now have a link with Uganda and a school in Kenya. Bwera is a Church of Uganda secondary school in the far west of the country, on the border with the DRC. If you look at a map of Uganda, it is on the equator in the west; just between Lake Edward and the Rwenzori Mountains, almost in the middle of the continent.

The school has been receiving updates through our newsletter and have been interested to learn about life here at the Urswick School. They were especially impressed to see that our facilities were provided free to students as most students in Uganda have to pay school fees.

The school, which was founded in 1982, now has electricity, a school farm with animals and Internet for at least one computer! They have a large display in their school library with a map of the world and The

Urswick School’s ‘Believe and Achieve’ motto. Their own school motto is ‘Diligently we learn to live.’

Students at Bwera Secondary school have been inspired to produce their own school newsletter called ‘The Elephant’. A copy is available in the Harriet Wade library for students to read. Next term, our Year 7 students will be studying African art and we will be exchanging tips with Bwambale James, the Art teacher at Bwera.

Students from Bwera School

Year 7 students take part in LGBT showcase at Emirates Stadium

Entwined by Tamia Leigh Fowler-Gocul, Year 12

Art Corner

Options MorningWe were very pleased to welcome Year 9 students, their parents and carers and a whole host of visiting professionals on Saturday 16th March for Options Morning. The event forms part of our programme of independent careers

guidance offered to students throughout their time at the school.

Mr Brown, Ms Hassan and Ms Cooper spoke to a packed audience in the Breary Hall about the options process that Year 9 are now undertaking and how the right choices can lead to further and higher education and achieving career goals. Year 10 students, Agnieszka Przygodzka and Bruno D’Almeida, gave a meaningful insight about how they felt going through the same process and advised parents and carers on how to support their child at home.

Students and parents then had the chance to each meet with at least ten professionals from various fields to find out how they achieved their career goals. Visitors included ex-students and friends of the school from various professions including Barristers, Lawyers, Psychologists, Politicians, Police Officers, Nurses, Electricians and Plumbers.

Jodie Hassan, Deputy Headteacher

Bring a water bottlePlease encourage your child to bring a bottle of water to school with them. Students can buy other drinks from our vending machine, including sparkling fruit waters and milkshakes, but only bottles of water can be consumed outside the canteen.

100% attendance at Options Morning

Former student, Chris Murden-Wade provides career advice

The Urswick School sportsnews

Sporting superstarsHuge congratulations to the Year 7 basketball team who have continued their exceptional run of performances by beating Stoke Newington 52-0.

The Year 10 handball team competed in a National competition in Croydon, in March. With minimal experience, they managed to pick up three hard-fought victories and improved greatly as a team against some very talented sides. Special mention goes to Michael Bramble for his exceptional performance and scoring a vast amount of goals.

Year 7 boy’s athleticsAfter winning the Hackney Sportshall Athletics Championships, the Year 7 boy’s athletics team competed in the regional final on Monday 11th March against the winners of all the East London boroughs.

They again excelled, finishing second and qualifying for the London finals which are being held in Crystal Palace on Tuesday 26th March. Best of luck to the boys!

Mattew Williams, 2 i/c PE Department

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday07:30 - 08:00 Table tennis Trampoline Badminton Cricket Tchoukball13:00 - 13:25(all students must wear trainers)

Basketball Basketball Basketball Basketball BasketballFootball Football Football Football Football

14:45 - 16:00(students must be changed by 15:00)

Cricket Handball Rounders Athletics Zumba (girls only)A Level/BTEC Practical Basketball (Y7, 8 & 9) Tennis CricketTrampoline (KS3)

A Level/BTEC Practical Table tennis

Football (Y10)16:00 - 17:00Table tennis (KS4 & KS5) Basketball (KS4 & KS5)

Volleyball (KS4 & KS5)Trampoline (KS4 & KS5)

Football (Y11)

PE Clubs Timetable (until the end of the school year)

Gordonstoun A Level PE residentialUrswick School Sixth Form Academy students have returned from an exciting residential trip to Gordonstoun School, Scotland, where they took part in winter skills training as part of their A Level PE studies.

The five students joined sixth form students from Gordonstoun to take part in an orienteering session, where they excelled in some very difficult conditions, on uneven terrain, to navigate their way along the route.

The second day of the trip saw the students tackling freezing conditions on the Cairngorms, Britain’s highest mountain range, during a Winter Skills Day. The boys learnt how to use an ice axe in deep snow, sliding down a 80ft section of the mountain with only their axes to use as a brake.

The students developed confidence during the trip and are all expected to excel in their A Level PE studies. Montel Thomas, Year 12, said: “It was the best experience I have ever had. I really enjoyed learning how to ice climb and use crampons on the Scottish mountains.”

Rachel Kelly, Assistant Headteacher and Advanced Skills PE Teacher

Important Dates• Easter Holidays: Friday 29 March - Friday 12 April

Students dismissed from school at 1pm on Thursday 28 March

• Easter Revision for Y10 & Y11: Tuesday 2 - Friday 5 April

• Y11 Moderation Day: Tuesday 23 April (no school for students)

• Y10 Subject Evening: Wednesday 1 May (5pm - 7.30pm)

• GCSE and GCE Exams start: Monday 13 May

• Y9 and Y12 Subject Evening: Thursday 16 May (5pm - 7.30pm)

• INSET Day: Friday 24 May (no school for students)

The Year 7 team proudly hold their athletics certificates Brittany Kandza-Laurent, Year 12, keeps warm inside an ice hole used for emergency rescue