International Week 13 th – 17th October 2008

To celebrate International week, our theme was “One World Valuing Differences”. Many different activities took place in college during that week.We started in Active Tutorials by asking students to identify different languages and getting them to communicate using signs. They loved this. We also gave students the Braille alphabet and they worked out the meanings of sentences.On Wednesday, we invited a French entertainer to perform for Year 7. He spoke in French all the time and students were able to take part and respond to him in French. The students were very enthusiastic and the entertainer was very impressed with the participation and the ability of our girls.On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we offered activities after school such as henna tattoos, hairbraiding, making international key rings and tasting international food.On Thursday, we had a performance and many students took part. We invited primary school pupils as well as governors and parents and carers. All the year groups attended the different performances which took place during the day. Students recited poems in Arabic and Urdu. A Spanish song was played and sung by a group of year 8 students and lots of music with an international theme was performed by our students.We hope that next year, more parents will attend to celebrate your daughters’ contributions to international week.Mrs M Shah and Mrs F Hemamda Modern Languages

Citizenship and ‘Mind Brent’

Year 8 and Year 11Over the first half term of this year, we have worked closely with “Mind Brent”.“Mind” is the leading mental health charity in England and Wales. They work to create a better life for everyone with experience of mental distress.Their vision is of a society that promotes and protects good mental health for all, and that treats people with experience of mental distress fairly, positively, and with respect.

Mind representatives, visited the school and delivered workshops on drugs to Year 8 who are currently learning about the problems that drugs cause to individuals and our community. They also delivered “mental health” workshops to our Year 11 students. During these workshops the students discussed the importance of good mental health, ways that one can maintain good mental health and explored the attitudes of the society towards people with mental health problems.

On Friday 17th October, Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent South, joined 11K and 11G and delivered two Mental Health Workshops. The students got the opportunity to meet the first ever black woman Minister, ask her questions and discuss a number of issues with her.

We would like to thank Mind Brent and Dawn Butler for the delivery of the workshops. We would like to congratulate 11K and 11G for their excellent attitudes, participation in the discussions that took place and fantastic contributions!Mr E Kavieris Humanities

Newsletter October 2008

GCSE Results

The following girls achieved excellent GCSE results:Congratulations to them all.

Wathna Vilasini A* - 8 A - 3Tamkin Abbas A* - 6 A - 3 B - 2Blerina Hashani A* - 2 A - 8 B - 1Mulki Abdillahi A* - 2 A - 5 B - 3Hawaa Budraa A* - 1 A - 7 B - 4Jasmin Taffurelli A* - 2 A - 3 B - 6Sarrah Ibrahim A* - 1 A - 3 B - 5Gladys Valle A* - 1 A - 5 B - 4 C - 1Houda Araghi A* - 1 A - 6 B - 1 C - 1Hashma Haidar A* - 1 A - 4 B - 5 C - 1Benesh Munir A* - 1 A - 4 B - 5 C - 1Marjan Issa A* - 1 A - 4 B - 4 C - 2Farah Chaudhry A* - 1 A - 4 B - 1 C - 3Najwa El-Aziz A - 4 B - 6 C - 1Jumana Hasso A - 4 B - 6 C - 1Jemini Kunwardia A - 4 B - 6 C - 1Mari Aqtash A - 5 B - 3 C - 1Sarah Sourroukh A - 5 B - 2 C - 3Zainab Hussain A - 5 B - 3 C - 4

Year 13 Destinations

Nazish Abbas Gap Year

Sarah Abdulrahman St. GeorgesDiagnostic Radiography

Mehwish Ajmal Roehampton Primary Education

Parveen Akhtar Middlesex Law

Haleema Akram Westminster Human Nutrician

Saadia Ali BrunelBusiness & Management

Safaa Al-Khuzaiee KingstonFoundation Biomedicine

Lemis Al-Naseri Westminster Bio Chemistry

Alda ArifiAnglia Ruskin Media Studies

Simran Bhatti BrunelBusiness & Management

Anita Bhuva CityEconomics / Accountancy

Alicia Burnett Warwick English Literature

Iram Chaudhury Southbank Marketing & Media studies

RandimaDeyalagedona Greenwich Architecture

Sarah Ehui HertfordshireBusinesss / French

Nimo Hassan Middlesex Human Resources

Rachel Howells Southbank Digital Media

Hana Ibrahim Bedfordshire Public Relations

Damilola Ikuseru Kingston Economics

Smera Iqbal Middlesex Psychology

Deemple Jeshani BrunelBusiness (Foundation)

Roda Jeylani BedfordshireBusiness & Management

Naike Kabeya Gap Year

Farah Khan Brunel Business

Rupal Kunwardia BrunelBusiness & Management

Sundus MahammedOxford Brookes History

Nazia Malique Brunel Psychology

Mariam Naeem City Economics

Sarah Nargis Working

Ferhana Nargis Working

Arti Patel Kingston Film Studies

Nabeela Pervez Hertfordshire Business

Meena Rabadia HertfordshireMarketing & Accounting

Divya Rabadia Hertfordshire Business Studies

Rita Recica Brunel Journalism

Mariam Salad EssexBiomedical Studies

Sobia Saleem Gap year

Kiran Sattar Hertfordshire Business Studies

Saba ShamimThams Valley

Hotel Management

Niloufar Thawer Middlesex Interior Design

Faryeal Uddin BrunelBusiness & Management

Zainab Undre RoehamptonPrimary Education

Romani Wijiseri Hertfordshire Law

Subia Zahur City Speech Therapy

Sophia Zahur Gap year

60 languages spoken at JKGTC!

At JKGTC, we have always celebrated our cultural diversity and now, for the first time we have 60 languages spoken by students in the college. These are:Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Borana, Brava, Bulgarian, Creole, Crioulu, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dutch, English, Farsi, Finnish, French, Fula, German, Greek, Gujerati, Hindi, Ibo, Italian, Kurdish, Lingala, Lithuanian, Luganda, Malay, Nepali, Pahari, Pampangan, Pashto, Patois, Pete, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Roma, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sesotho, Singhalla, Somali, Spanish, Sranang, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tamil, Telegu, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Twi, Urdu, Wobe and Yoruba

The Top Ten!Somali and English are the joint most spoken languages, followed in order by Urdu, Arabic, Farsi, Gujerati, Pushtu, Punjabi, Albanian and Portuguese.

If you speak a language that we have not included, please come to tell us in the EMTAS room.

Ms BambroughEMTAS

Congratulations to all the girls and we look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Year 7 Visit St Albans

Year 7 went on a trip to St. Albans on Tuesday 14th October with Mr. Moore, Mrs. Sheehy, Miss Scally, Mr. Varma and Mr. Kent.We looked at Roman artefacts found in Verulamium, the Latin name for the area. We even saw skeletons of adults and children which are nearly 2000 years old. We saw how the Romans lived and the tools they used for everyday life. Some of the original buildings and part of the old Roman wall still exist.After that we walked through the park and looked at the River Ver, noticing how the river erodes and deposits when it meanders. We even drew some very good sketches!Then we had a picnic. We sat around the pond and some of us fed the birds – ducks, geese, coots and water hens. Afterwards, we visited St. Alban’s Cathedral which is nearly 1000 years old. We were amazed at the Baptismal Font and the stained glass windows and some of the stone and wood carvings.We had a fantastic day and felt sorry for the girls who had missed it!!Mrs Sheehy Humanities

Fish are Fun

In April 2008 the Science Department bought coldwater and tropical aquariums. The goldfish in the coldwater tank in Mr. Singh’s laboratory have grown to about twice the size they were when we got them and have had one baby. The Marble Mollies in Mrs. McCann’s tropical tank have had so many babies that we intend to sell some when they get big enough, with the proceeds going to charity.

If you want to buy some fish, you will need to have a working tropical fish tank at home. See Angus Gulliver (science Technician) if you are interested!

The Marble Molly breeding ground! They will be for sale at £1.50 each.Mr A Gulliver Science

Jeans for Genes day

We celebrated Jeans for Genes day on the 3rd of October. One in every 33 children in the UK has a genetic condition, which means that it’s very likely that some of you may know someone who is affected by a genetic condition. Jeans for Genes was about raising money to help children with genetic conditions so that they can lead healthy and happy lives!Thank you to Bhaveshri Varsani 10C, Krishna Pindoria 10G, Becky Laxton-Bass 10C, Hina Navin 10C and Ankita Laxaman 10T who did both assemblies for KS 3 and KS 4.

THANK YOU TO EVERY ONE WHO CONTRIBUTEDMONEY AND TIME. WE RAISED £439

Ms E Van Der Walt Science

Target Mars Science Event by Aim Higher

Our baby shubunkin, a type of goldfish. He’s about 3 cm longand is not for sale!

Our baby shubunkin, a type of goldfish. He’s about 3 cm long and is not for sale!

GenesCell

DNA

Chromosome

Gene

nucleus

The Science Faculty provided an excellent event for year 8 students on Thursday 23rd of October 2008. They worked throughout the day to meet two objectives.

1 Design and build a craft to land their team safely on Mars. It had to be dropped from a high distance, with a raw egg inside.

2. Design & build the first energy generation tower on Mars. The design needed to hold a boiled egg as high above the base as possible and feature a moving propeller.

The students had exciting, stimulating and challenging activities throughout the day, and they all achieved their targets.

“It is an imaginative event. I imagined life on Mars and working as a team there” Parveen Ahsar, 8G

“It is fun because its team work. It helped me to work in a team, to discuss ideas and to work together” Aida Bouchenir 8K

“I enjoyed experimenting, and following instructions” Razia Mohammed 8K

The students were interested in answering questions on physics topics.

Ms N McCann Science

Working as a team.

John Kelly Cookbook

To celebrate the John Kelly half-centenary we intend todesign and publish a John KellyGirls’ Cookbook, with recipe contributions from staff, students and parents/carers. The intention is to have the cookbook split into sections by country, so as to celebrate the many cultures represented at the college, and to be published by July in a similar, professional way as our yearbooks are. Please donate any tried and tested recipes you would like to be included in the cookbook; they do not have to be typed or written out neatly as we will do that. Many thanks.

Mr M Jayapal Maths

Lost Property

There are a large amount of items which have been handed into lost property including a number of jackets/coats. Some items have been held for a number of weeks.

If your daughter has lost any items please ensure that she asks if it has been handed in or telephone the College on 020 8452 4842 between the hours of 10 am to 3pm to check.

Ms M Shepherd

Cheerleaders Win National Lottery Funding

The John Kelly Girls’ Technology College Cheer leading team is jumping for joy, because they have received £8,915 for their after school cheerleading club for students aged 11 to 19.

Earlier in the year we sent a group of cheerleaders to a nationwide competition and finished in the top 10, prompting a huge enthusiasm for the dance.

Ms Kamala, Vice Principal, said: “This is fantastic news because the idea for a cheerleading group came from the girls themselves. They rehearse and dance at every opportunity they get and will be able to say they are the first group in the borough doing it. They’re so enthusiastic they even want to take cheerleading into other local schools and encourage them to start clubs of their own. It’s wonderful to take something which started off small and get the chance to build on that with this funding

Environment News

If you live in the Borough of Brent and have a “green” box from the Council you will know that since the beginning of August there has been compulsory recycling in the borough.

The Council takes recycling very seriously and those who fail to recycle can be fined up to £1,000.

Like the Council we should all take recycling seriously because of the damage that is being done to the environment. I am pleased to say at John Kelly Girls we are doing really well and recycling one wheelie bin of cans and plastic bottles each week. Most weeks we also recycle about 5 ½ bins of paper. All this would previously have thrown away as rubbish and put into landfill site to rot instead of being reused.

This is all great news but do not forget both sides of paper can be used and always think before you print anything and make sure you pick it up afterwards so you do not need to do it again.

Please remember it is very important only to put paper in the recycling boxes in classrooms. Plastic bottles, fruit cartoons and cans go in the recycling bins in the playground and canteen.

Ms M ShepherdEnvironment Officer

Breathing Places

We have been very fortunate to receive a grant from the BBC’s Breathing Places scheme. This campaign runs primarily to inspire and motivate people to turn unused and unloved pieces of land into wildlife havens for people and animals to enjoy.

At John Kelly we have ambitious plans to turn our unused pieces of land into outdoor classrooms, as well as quiet areas for relaxation.

Work has started apace and along with a willing bunch of volunteers we have begun to transform the green space at the back of the house and the bank opposite the Expressive Arts block. During half term, weather permitting, we hope to continue work in both areas.

Future plans As soon as the hard landscaping is completed we will be looking for students, staff & parents to become involved so keep your wellies clean and watch out for further information.

Student Social Worker

JKGTC would like to extend a warm welcome to our newSocial Worker Student 08/09, Natasha Smith. Natasha went to school in Brent and asked for a Brent school for her final placement whilst studying for her degree. This will be our third placement and we are sure Natasha will continue with all the worthwhile projects started by her predecessors. Natasha will be based in the House and will mentor individual students as well as working in class. Any families who wish to receive advice or support from her are very welcome to make contact on 0208 450 5021.

Ms K Aylott

Extended Schools Activities

The following activities are open to students as indicated. Students should enrol onto classes through the member of staff running the activity. We are happy to expand the provision outlined above and are open to suggestions from staff, students and parents. Please speak to Mrs Hyare if you have any suggestions.

Attendance

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Before School

Parents drop in for coffee and a chat 9-10am LRCBreakfast Club-canteenLRC Homework Club 7.45-8.20amBreakfast Sports Club

Breakfast Club-canteenLRC Homework Club 7.45-8.20am

Breakfast Club-canteenYear 11 Ext French ML4 (8-8.55am)LRC Homework Club 7.45-8.20amKS4 graphics Workshop

Breakfast Club-canteenLRC Homework Club 7.45-8.20amSports Club

Breakfast Club-canteenLRC Homework Club 7.45-8.20am

Period 4 lunch

Get help – EMTAS RoomY10/11 - IT1 study ClubLRC Study Club Y10/11Textiles Club KS4

Get help – EMTAS RoomY10/11 - IT1 study ClubLRC Study Club Y10/11Textiles Club year KS4

Get help – EMTAS RoomY10/11 - IT1 study ClubY7 LRC Study Club

Get help – EMTAS RoomYear 11 Maths andstatistics Higher Tier Workshop (HC-MA6)Y10/11 - IT1 study ClubLRC Study Club Y10/11

Get help – EMTAS RoomYear 11 revision Sp ML3Y10/11 - IT1 study ClubLRC Study Club Y10/11

Period 5 Lunch

Get help – EMTAS Room‘ Mad about Booksclub’1pm LRCIT1 Study club y,9LRC Study Club Y 7,8

Get help – EMTAS RoomLunchtime TournamentsIT1 Study club y 8LRC Study Club Y7,9

Get help – EMTAS RoomArt, Technology/ScienceClub ( NH/NMc) T5LRC Study Club Y8,9 Textiles Club

Get help – EMTAS RoomIT1 Study club y7LRC Study Club Y 8,9Textiles Club KS3

Get help – EMTAS RoomIT1 Study club y 7,8,9(limited number)

After School clubs

LRC (3.15-4.45) Cheerleading(TAY)Y10/11 Keep Fitclub(SNa)KS2 Homework club(3.30-4.39) LRCLRC open to allstudents up to 6pm

Textiles Drop in 3.15 – 4.00pm

Y 10 Ext Spanish ML3(RAI)Y 11 Urdu Revision ML1Y11 Ext French ML4KS3/4 jewellery Club( until January 08)CheerleadingYear 7/8 netballKS2 Homework club(3.30-4.39) LRCLRC open to 4.45pmTextiles Drop in 3.15 – 4.00pmKS4 graphics Workshop

Science Club (Lab 5) MFYear 10/11 Science revisionY10 Ext Spanish (RAI)Y11 Ext French (FH)Keep Fit Club ( SNa)KS2 Homework club(3.30-4.3O) LRCFilm Club ( 3.45-6.30pm)Textiles Drop in 3.15 – 4.00pm

Year 10/11 SciencerevisionY11 GCSE SpanishrevisionKS2 Homework club(3.30-4.39) LRCFilm Club ( 3.45-4.30pm)

Congratulations to the following students who achieved 100% attendance and punctuality from the beginning of term in September to half term.

03.09.2008 – 24.10.2008

Hasina Gorsia 10G

Opeyemi Olaoye 10G

Reena Khatri 10K

Hannah Martin 10K

Katheryne Ikechukwu-Uduh 10T

Ankita Laxaman 10T

Sheena Patel 11J

Vandana Vastani 7C

Bunsi Vekaria 7C

Reshma Nanji 8G

Suhani Jeshani 8J

Suganya Lambothararajah 8J

Anisha Vekaria 8J

Amelia Newton 8T

Shiwangi Bagoan 9G

Hunza Khan 9G

Jaiminee Varsani 9G

Shannon Gordon 9K

Sukisha Rawat 9T

Well done to all the girls and lets hope there are even more names on the list next time.

The following classes in each year group achieved the best attendance last half term:

7K 8G 9T 10J 11T

Who will it be at the end of term?

Brent Youth Parliament Election Winners

Faduma Hassan Year 13 Bhaveshri Varsani 10C

Faduma and Bhaveshri have been elected as the John Kelly Girls’ representatives on the Brent Youth Parliament. They wrote manifestos about what they would do if they were elected and then they campaigned by going to assemblies and talking to girls in breaks and lunch times.

During local democracy week John Kelly Girls’ was one of five schools in Brent who took part in a pilot scheme where students were able to vote for the candidates on line or by text. This was an exciting scheme and many students voted.

We look forward to hearing about their work for the parliament and students should look out for Suggestion boxes that will be appearing around college so that they can make their views and ideas known.

Mrs Webber

Can you fill this space. Would you like to write something for the newsletter. If you are interested please contact Mrs Webber on 020 8450 5021 or by e mail sw_admin@jkgtc.brent.sch.uk

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DIARY DATES

17th – 21st November ANTI BULLYING WEEK 2nd December Year 10 Parents evening 5 – 8pm 9th December 6th form parent’s evening 5 – 8pm 8th – 12th December Year 11 mocks 19th December Break up End of term