CGA July 2010 Newsletter

“Excellence in Education for All”

Newsletter July 2010

Sue Kayser’s long

association with John

Kelly Girls’ Technology College and more

recently The Crest

Girls’ Academy, began

in 1990 when she

became head of the

modern languages department. She taught

German and led a large and thriving

languages department.

While continuing as head of department she

took on a new role in initial teacher training

at the SSAT and when this became a full

time job Sue left John Kelly.

However she did not stay away for long.

When she returned she fulfilled a number of

roles; Assistant Principal, Head of 6th form

and the college bursar.

Sue believes that our students’ lives should

be enriched by a diverse range of activities

which they would not normally be exposed

to. As head of department she organised

trips abroad and when she became a local

magistrate she set up workshops for pupils

in Brent to experience the workings of a

magistrate court first hand.

One of Sue’s great passions is horse riding

and she has enabled our students to have

the opportunity to attend horse riding

lessons, an activity that was unique to

pupils in Brent when it started. Hundreds

of girls have attended the weekly lessons,

taken part in competitions, participated at

events in Wembley and helped with fund

raising activities.

Some girls are still members of the riding

club they were introduced to in year 7.

Since Sue ‘retired’ from teaching she has

been busier than ever. Already on the John

Kelly board she became Chair of Governors in 2008 and when John Kelly became The

Crest Girls’ Academy she continued in this

role.

Always a ‘hands on’ person she has worked

tirelessly to ensure that the transition from

John Kelly to The Crest Girls’ Academy has

been as seamless as possible. Her

innovative ideas about the new academy

buildings and structures will form part of

her legacy.

Whatever Sue decides to take on next she

will surely pursue it with her customary

enthusiasm and zeal and of course she will

be continuing the weekly horse riding

lessons at The CGA.

Mrs P Webber, Assistant Principal

Year 10 GCSE art students were invited to

take part in an art competition based on

the theme of ‘Hate Crime’. The competition

was organised by Brent police and fourteen

schools in Brent took part.

The students investigated the theme and

came up with a wide variety of different

ideas.

The competition was judged at Capital City

and Anastasiya Kurlovich came second.

Ethel Fuenzalida , Mehrun Shah, Kristen

Beaumont and Samana Gurung were all

runners up.

Sue Kayser Stands Down as Chair of

Governors

Year 10 Brent Art Competition

‘Hate Crime’



by Anastasiya Kurlovich

The Year10’s attended an awards ceremony

at Al-Khoei Foundation on 7th July.

The ceremony began with a speech by the

Mayor of Brent and was followed by

speeches by other notaries. The girls really

enjoyed the speech by Chris Preddie from

Crime stoppers. Sarah Teather, MP for

Brent gave out the awards.

After the ceremony the girls were given

lunch and prizes; a £10 voucher for the

cinema and Anastasycia received art books

from the Tate Gallery. Anastasycia will now

be helping at the Willesden Gallery for the

day with Lorenzo Belenguer helping him

mount his next exhibition. This will give her

an interesting insight into the working practice of an artist.

The five runners up also went to the South

London Gallery on the 18th July for a day of

workshops and art events. Well done to

them all.

Ms C. Blackburn, Curriculum Leader

Expressive Arts

The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship

(NFTE) five day programme gives year 9 an

opportunity to learn about how to start and

run their own business.

Day 1 was a fun packed day full of

inspirational business ideas. The students

had to complete a pre-task called the NFTE

win, lose or draw. The students had to

take £1 and try and make profit from it.

Razieh Mohammed from 9E purchased a

scarf for £1 and sold it for £3. She then

took the £3 she had made and purchased

another three scarves and sold them for £3

each. Razieh kept going back and forth to

buy and sell her scarves.

NFTE Win, Lose or Draw

The £1 Game



She made SALES of £120 and a PROFIT of

£119!

Razieh donated all the money to charity

(even the £1 she started off with!).

Ms Halai, NFTE coordinator

Twelve of our year 8 gifted students

participated in the Brent and Harrow

Science and Technology Challenge day held

on Thursday 24th June 2010.

They worked in teams with other schools on

a rota basis and completed three of the four

challenges on the day; bridge building,

programming a toy robot, building a model

car and designing a floating buoy. The

students did very well and enjoyed the day.

We had yet another successful year giving

primary school pupils the opportunity to

visit The Crest Girls’ Academy and

experience working in a laboratory.

The topics this year varied from micro

organisms with Wykeham Primary school to

states of matter with Brentfield Primary

school.

The students are always very eager and

they participated in all the activities with

great enthusiasm.

Ms van der Walt, science teacher

The geography department took forty two

year 10 students to the seaside in

Worthing, West Sussex on Monday 12th

July.

The students collected data for their GCSE

coursework as well as enjoying the sea and

the tourist attractions of the town.

Everybody had a wonderful time – Amina

Adan wants to go again as soon as

possible!

We look forward to taking the new year

10’s there next year.

Mrs Sheehy, geography teacher

Year 10 Geography Trip to Worthing

Science Primary Outreach

Brent and Harrow Science and Technology Challenge



On Tuesday 13th July eighty students from

year 7 and year 11 went on a day trip to

France with seven members of staff. We

left at six o’clock in the morning and

returned at ten in the evening.

We travelled on the ferry to Calais and then

drove to Wimereux, a lovely town by the

sea. The students played by the sea and

ate their lunch on the promenade. Some

students used the French they had learnt in

the classroom to buy ice-cream from the shops.

Then we went to City de l’Europe, a

shopping centre where girls bought lots of

souvenirs and sweets for their friends and

family.

The students were well behaved and

enjoyed their very long day, but they were

very tired in lessons the next morning.

Ms Hemamda, Curriculum Leader,

modern foreign languages

On 20th July the EMTAS and SEN

departments organised a trip to Greenwich.

Fifty girls took part in this ‘new experiences

day’. Some girls had never been to central

London before and this trip gave them the

opportunity to encounter a whole new

world.

We took the underground to Westminster

where we looked at The Houses of

Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye.

From there we took a boat and had a

guided commentary along the river

Thames. Not only did we learn a lot about

the surrounding buildings but we were

greatly amused as the presentation was

very humorous.

On arrival at Greenwich we admired The

Royal Naval College and had a picnic in the park. We played and ate ice cream.

EMTAS/SEN Trip to Greenwich

Day Trip to Wimereux, France



For our return journey we took the DLR

which allowed us to have a close look at the

beautiful buildings in Canary Wharf.

The day was full of fun and everyone

enjoyed it immensely.

Ms Stoyanova

On Wednesday the 8th July all of year 8

participated in a Stop the Clock day

workshop organised by Mr Mackenzie and a

team of Brazilian facilitators.

Inspired by images taken by a group of

street children from Rio de Janeiro, the day

involved learning about aspects of Afro-

Brazilian history and participating in some

cultural activities. These were then used to

explore some of the difficulties faced by the

poorest and most vulnerable groups in

Brazil today.

Through these activities, which include

‘Capoeira’ (a Brazilian martial art form),

percussion, theatre and image analysis, the

girls saw how culture is being used

creatively to challenge negative stereotypes

and empower young people in Brazil.

With an increasing number of Brazilian girls

now in the academy it also provided a good

opportunity for the rest of the girls to learn

a little bit about the history and culture of

their new friends.

Mr MacKenzie, Spanish teacher

On 9th July The Crest Girls’ Academy

completed their first sports day at Willesden

sports centre. There was glorious sunshine

which made the day special. The girls took

part in a variety of events from football to a

tug of war tournament. Other events

included 100m, 200m, 300m, long jump, 3

legged race, space hopper race and finally

the 4x100 relay.

The event which caused the most stir was

the bucking bronco competition. It was so

popular that even the staff joined in on the

fun.

The houses became alive throughout this

event and a real sense of pride and

belonging became more apparent. There

were house songs and banners and looking

down the stands all you could see was a sea of colours. The girls poured their heart

and souls into their events with Turquoise

House becoming overall house champions.

The First Crest Girls’ Academy Sports

Day Year 8 Brazil Stop the Clock Day



Thank you to all students and staff for

making The Crest Girls’ Academy first

sports day so special.

Ms T Ayles, Year Director of Learning,

year 8

From September

2010, we are finally

opening the doors to

our Food Academy

for all students. This

has been a 2 year

project for the Design Technology

department and we are very excited that

we are now ready to start cooking!

Licence to Cook is an entitlement for all

students in secondary schools in England. It provides a programme to enable students

to learn to cook and understand the

principles of diet and nutrition, health and

safety and wise food shopping.

More details to follow….

Mr McGill, Assistant Principal

On Thursday Evening

15th July fifty actors,

musicians and dancers

presented a “Cabaret!” in the main

hall at The Crest Girls’

Academy. Led by

Chante Joseph and

Elleyne and Elham

Asghari as our

incomparable hosts, the audience of

families and friends were presented with a

whirlwind of famous scenes and songs from

stage and screen.

Highlights included scenes from “Titanic”,

“Finding Nemo”, “Blood Brothers” and there

was a surprise highjacking by the evil Dr

Zorg (who looked uncommonly like a

teacher in the technology department…)

Thank fully the twins were armed with

unlicensed nuclear accelerators strapped to

their backs and they saved the world from

imminent destruction by Dr Zorg’s ray-gun.

There were moments of real tenderness,

especially in the scenes presented by the

year 10 drama class. We were taken to the

trenches of World War 1 to that special

Christmas Eve when there was a voluntary ceasefire, and then to the drawing room of

a soldier’s wife who shared a letter with us

from her husband, and who never made it

home from the front.

But – as Chante so aptly put it – “life is a

cabaret old chum!” and the evening

finished on a high note with Siti Awled and

Maryam Osman leading the great Queen

song “Somebody To Love”.

Food Technology comes to the CGA

CABARET Expressive Arts Performance



It was a mammoth undertaking at such a

busy time of year and thanks must be

made to the students behind the scenes,

without which, the evening would never

have been a success.

Special thanks to Shilan on the sound desk,

April on audio-visual, Baiyan and Koular on

lighting, Shukri and Charlotte for stage

management, the sixth form girl’s film crew

and the front of house girls.

Thank you also to the expressive arts team

and supporting cast, Mr Kaveris, Mr

McDonnell, and Mr Tydda.

We couldn’t have done it without you!

Ms K Whitlocke, head of music

On Thursday 22nd July the students and

staff celebrated their third celebration of

the year. Our special guest was Sue

Kayser, performing her last task as Chair of

Governors. The hall was full of students

eagerly anticipating the result of the house

point competition. But first we were

treated to acts from the ‘Cabaret’

performance from the night before.

Many students received prizes and

certificates from their heads of house and

Ms Kayser.

Finally, the moment had arrived… the

announcement about the winning house,

who had gained the most house points –

Turquoise had won. Congratulations!

This has been a fantastic first year for the

new house system and especially thanks

must go to the heads of house: Ms Ahmed

and Ms Appah (acting head of house for

two terms), Ms Ercan, Ms Halai, Ms Hartley,

Ms Patel, Ms Pindoria, Ms Seymar, and Ms

Shepherd.

Mrs P Webber, Assistant Principal

The Third CGA Celebration Assembly



Fourteen years ago, in 1996, a young girl,

an Afghan refugee arrived in the UK with

her family. They had emigrated here to

escape the war in Afghanistan.

The young girl’s name was Muska Khpal.

She arrived; unable to speak a word of

English and she came right here to The

CGA, then known as John Kelly Girls’

Technology College.

Muska quickly established a reputation for

herself, studying very hard, and learning

English with such alacrity, that she was

soon top of the class in not only that

subject, but virtually every other subject

too. Teachers and staff remember her as a

cheerful student, always asking advanced

questions about her subjects.

She passed her GCSEs with flying colours,

getting some of the best results of her

year, and joined the sixth form to study

biology and chemistry. Her ambition was to

become a doctor and build hospitals to

treat children in Afghanistan.

Muska was an all round student, who

embraced everything positive that life had

to offer. She did not have a privileged

background, but that didn’t stop her from

attaining her goals.

Hence, in 2004, Muska’s continuous hunger

for new learning experiences found her

being chosen to participate in a Channel 4

Documentary “My Shakespeare”. Produced

and directed by Baz Luhrmann and

Paterson Joseph, this was a production of Romeo and Juliet, using young amateur

actors, some, like Muska, who had never

acted before.

Muska won the coveted role of Juliet, and

four weeks later went on to become a star

receiving standing ovations at a RADA

Theatre, when she played “Juliet” to

perfection. The documentary was shown

on Channel 4 in December 2004.

Muska Khpal’s ‘A’ level results were again

amongst the best the school had seen, and

she was given the opportunity to study

medicine at the highly esteemed St.

Georges University of London Medical

School.

Muska first spent a year working at JKGTC

as an LSA, helping students who were in a

similar situation to herself, when she first

arrived in the UK.

Muska Khpal worked very hard indeed. Her

idea of rest and relaxation was continuing

her interests in acting, and subsequently

appearing as an actress in the film

“Exodus” in 2007.

This summer, 2010 – Doctor Muska Khpal

graduated from St. Georges University.

Muska is an inspiration to every student, in

every school, regardless of race, colour or

creed. She has taught us that through hard

work and ambition, you can achieve your

goals, your dreams.

Her legacy to us is simple; work very hard

and you can achieve anything!

Mr T. Akinbule, ICT Systems

administrator

A Tribute to Muska Khpal Medical Doctor

