Word on the StreetMonday 9th February 2015 . Issue 138

The Newsletter of Bethnal Green Academy and Sixth Form

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On Monday 26 January, 19 Year 7 students, recognised for their hard work and outstanding attitudes in English lessons, gathered in the main hall to celebrate the annual Scottish tradition of Burns Night. Named after one of Scotland’s greatest poets, Robert Burns, the celebration represented an ideal opportunity to promote our cultural diversity. With a number of Scottish staff working at the academy, the day proved to be an exciting and entertaining one for all involved.

The experience involved students learning more about Robert Burns’ work through the reading of a selection of his poems. Alongside this, a game of ‘Scots Bingo’ gave the students the chance to learn a few words of the Scots language, which was prevalent in much of Burns’ poems. The day culminated in a few typical Burns Night traditions, including addressing the haggis, ceilidh dancing and singing Auld Lang Syne. Two

students, Anisah Ahmed and Maria-Iulia Marin, even tried their hand at reading verses from ‘Address to a Haggis’, a Burns poem written entirely in old Scots, doing a sterling job despite the unfamiliar vocabulary!

The celebration was a triumph for the cultural awareness we promote at BGA, giving students the unique chance to experience Scottish culture in the same way they share their own with staff every day. Well done to all involved!

BGA students celebrate Burns Night

A Week of Art and ButterfliesLast week was Art Week at BGA. Butterflies took over the street every lunch time as students painted, cut-out and made a Kaleidoscope of butterflies. Art Week celebrated the fluttering creature that adorns our BGA school badge. The week's programme of activities also included a day of ‘Art Beat’ and a workshop run by London's Courtauld Gallery in which students selected famous paintings and each curated their own mini exhibition. Mr Marston photographed as many faces as he could so that all the faces can be combined to create a BGA Faces poster. This week we can all enjoy a "Turbine Hall-style display of butterflies in the Street so that we will continue to reflect on what the butterfly means to us at BGA.

Mayoral Elections at BGA

It's Official! BGA is Best!Best examination results in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets: 80% of students achieved 5+ A*-C grades

On Thursday 28th January The Street was transformed into a polling station. BGA students were invited to cast their vote for the next Young Mayor of Tower Hamlets. The Young Mayor represents 11-18 year olds across the borough and is elected every two years by young people who live, work or study in the borough. Students had read the Candidates' Manifestos before deciding who they would elect to represent them for the next two years.

St Matthias House building Project

On the 21st and 28th January, the St Matthias primary school workshop saw Year 5 and Year 11 work together to mark out, saw and glue up 6 timber framed houses in an hour! It was a spectacular sight, and year 11 represented the academy brilliantly. A few of the year 5's announced that they wanted to come to school here because they'd had so much fun learning.

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9TH -13TH FEBRUARY 2015 BETHNAL GREEN ACADEMY

Next week at BGA the whole school will be participating in our second

Celebrating Difference Week. There will be a range of activities that embrace

the diverse school community that we enjoy here at the Academy.

Poem By Maher Reza Chowdhury

The Tower Project is a day centre for people with physical and learning disabilities. It provides various activities for their needs. Every day they have different lessons, activities and trips. For example: drama, dance, work experience, computer skills, gardening and cooking. Some of the attendees help out and gain work experience by preparing lunches in the kitchen. The Tower Project has been providing services for some of the most needy members of or borough for over thirty years.In the Tower Project, people have different skills so they need to have different activities to meet their needs. Some disabilities affect people’s ability to take part in physical tasks so they need one to one support. However, they manage to have lots of fun with plenty of evening events such as Karaoke, massages, theatre and spa events! We were particularly interested to hear that the attendees enjoy taking part in gardening which has been supported by a donation from Ms Healy’s family to provide a garden shed. At the Tower Project there are different varieties of food like soup for people who cannot eat hard food. The group eat together so that meal times are a time to socialise. Some of the attendees help to cook so that they can learn life skills and the kitchen is open to

everyone just like a kitchen in your house.Attendees arrive between 8am and 9am and take part in their first activity until lunch time. If it is a hot day they might go outside on a trip to the park or sometimes even the seaside. After lunch they have another activity. It seems like a really important place for the people who attend, it supports them in lots of different ways as well as supporting their families or the carers who look after them at home. Everybody enjoys themselves there! Nobody is left out, it is a place where everyone can get involved.

A Visit to the Tower Project by Muhith Bilal

What was once just a school,not only for fools,is where we visited,with our pens and tools.

There were large outside spaces,for sports and leisure,activities and congregation,to everyone’s measure.

How many people?60 come and go.When did it start?Almost 30 years ago!

From logos to buses,all under one name,it’s used to celebratedifference, not fame.

An hour and twenty minutes,on the computers they may stay.Different software is available,all this in one day!

Q&A with the Tower ProjectTanvir Rahman interviewed the manager at the Tower Project.Q Normally, how many people attend the Tower Project?A In a day there are around 60 people who attend.

Q Was this building always used as a care home?A No, a long time ago it was actually a school.

Q Do any people with disabilities work at The Tower Project?A Yes some people are employed here and some people help out with chores.

Q If they go on public transport, do they find it confusing or distressing?A Sometimes, but they have support workers to help them with this until they are independent enough to use public transport independently.

Q How do you make new members of the Tower Project feel welcome?A We give them lots of extra care and support and make sure that their timetable suits their abilities and interests.

Abul Hasan interviewed Danielle Smith of the Tower Project.Q Do the attendees of the Tower Project have different activities according to their needs?A No, we let them choose what they want to do because we do not want to limit them.Q When was the Tower Project founded?A It was founded during the early 1980s.Q What do the attendees do during the holidays?A Each year we take the young people here on a big holiday. Last year we went to Egypt.Q Do they have a learning curriculum here?

A Well yes, and no. We encourage our young people to take an interest in English and a bit of maths but we don’t have the facilities to do any science experiments.Q How do attendees get here every day?A Well, we have coaches that pick people up and bring them in every morning. Q What is provided to eat here?A We have fresh ingredients delivered every day and the cuisine we serve is different every day. We have our own kitchen with staff and some of our young people contribute to cooking the food and cleaning the kitchen.

The Tower Project is a

facility for young adults with disabilities. It caters for

people with a range of needs from age 17 and over.

I was really impressed with how the young people got really involved with

the different activities on offer for them, like singing and drama. The

place was like a big family.

Musa Ibrahim:Personal response