30/01/15 Quotation of the week “Take sides: neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented,” Elie Wiesel Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. Inside the issue: -2— Owen Jones’ Talk The Holocaust -2— Sketch-a-Day available in the school office on both sites and it promises to be an excellent evening of entertaining poetry. Do come along if you can and hear from our own poets and from this year’s Young Poet Laureate for London, former Holy Family student, Aisling Fahey. -3— Adam Scott Visits The Education Performance Tables This week saw the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I am sure you have seen the commemorations and some excellent programmes on the TV and radio. Students study the Holocaust in history and next week we are privileged to have a survivor of the Holocaust coming again to speak to some of the students about her experiences. Happy New Year Headteacher Commendations These were published on Thursday 29th January and are easily accessible online. Holy Family comes out very well and we should all be proud of our achievements and the progress that students have made and continue to make in the school. There is much that cannot be gleaned from the league tables though. We are equally proud of the fact that we have an extensive extra-curricular programme, that Also this week we have two commendations from many students take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Mrs Ramadan in Media Studies. Arjun Anthony Croos scheme, that we raise lots of money for charity and (11P) for showing great enthusiasm and commitment that we have such strong traditions in sport, music, in Media Studies GCSE. Also nominated is Minda drama and the arts. Unfortunately very little of that, Grizas (13P) for Media Studies A-Level. Minda's if anything, can be seen in the league tables! recent mock exam was exemplary. Well done to both Parents’ Surgery students. This week Mrs Perera has nominated Margot Phillipson in Yr 7 for her “excellent piece of homework on 'maze games research' in Resistant Materials. Margot always produces very good work and this piece of homework was outstanding”. Congratulations to Margot. The General Election -3— Payment Page is Ready! -3— Spoken Word -3— Meet the Teacher -3— Sports Round-Up -4— Fashion Show -4— Chaplain’s Corner Come & Say Hello Click the logo to visit our website. Or visit: Holy Family Catholic School Walthamstow. Click the logo to visit our Twitter page. You may need to sign up if you’re not a member. Or search: HFCSWaltham/twitter Parents’ surgery is every Tuesday 4pm to 5pm on the Walthamstow site. If ever I am not available a member of the senior team takes my place. We are, of course, less than 100 days from the general election. Some of our students will be old Please continue to remember us in your prayers. enough to vote and I hope they are registered and will exercise that right to vote. We will be holding a mock election in school and encouraging the students Dr Andy Stone to engage in the political debate. Lots of people are cynical about politics and politicians, but we should Headteacher be mindful that there are many people in the world who do not have the right to vote, nor the opportunity to choose their governments. Support the ‘Buy a Brick’ Campaign by visiting and donating at: The Website: http://bit.ly/1AEwIqZ Or donate for free: http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ causes/holyfamilywaltham Spoken Word Evening On Thursday 5th February at 6.30pm we have our Spring Term Spoken Word Showcase. Tickets are Scan here: Owen Jones’ Talk On Wednesday the 29th, leading journalist and political commentator, Owen Jones came to speak to our students following an invitation from Mr Lodziak. He is also well known as a columnist for The Guardian and The Independent and other national publications and is a regular on TV and radio. Owen spoke to an audience of staff have come to power in the past that have seemingly no charisma, for example Margaret Thatcher had no charisma.” Owen Jones is the author of ‘Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class. He also had a recent release, and students about a range of social and political issues and the session was extremely well received. Owen had just flown back from Athens the night before so we were very thankful that Holy Family was his next stop. Students were ready and raring to ask Owen some controversial questions and one student asked: “Is there any hope for the uncharismatic Ed Milliband?” ‘The Establishment – And How They Get Away With It’. Owen finished by urging everyone to become more engaged with their surroundings and community and that we don’t have to know a lot about politics as long as we stand up for what we believe in. Owen calmly answered: “Yes, I think there is hope. Many politicians Payment Page is Now Ready! Sketch-a-Day Miss Shah took students from year 10 and 12 to ‘Shapes’ in Hackney Wick to participate in the Sketch-a -Day Project bringing students and artists together. Work is steaming along with the new building. We still need your support though so we have set up a secure online payment page which can be accessed through the school’s website by following this link: They were given the opportunity to work with an artist called Jane Moore and create some interesting life drawing. Students said: "It taught us not to be precious about our drawings but think more about personality in our work" "Quick drawings from life help develop skills and can sometimes look more exciting on a page. We also did our own quick studies on the train and in a café". 2 http://bit.ly/1AEwIqZ Emilia Iskra said: “It was inspiring to work with Jane Moore. I thought the life drawing workshop was really interesting.” Jane Moore began her career by deciding to keep a journal of sketches as a New Year’s Resolution. Since then she has been recording observations, thoughts and ideas in a collection of trusty moleskin sketchbooks and encouraged our students to do the same. “I Love my Job” On Monday, we hosted professional photographer Adam Scott who came in to give an interesting talk about his life in the photography business. Adam began by telling us he didn’t go to university and he started working for local papers in Hackney whilst attending a course in Bethnal Green. This he said helped him understand the technicalities of photography and started his career taking pictures at music concerts. Over the years Adam managed to take pictures of Tim Robinson, Tina Turner, Alan Shearer, Madonna and Michael Jackson. He added that it isn’t all glitz and glam and you must be determined and willing to put the hours in. John Phillip Salalima said: “Adam was a really funny, charismatic guy who made me laugh when I took a picture of him and he informed me I was holding the camera the wrong way.” Adam finished by stating how lucky he has been to visit great places and witness historic events. He made many students laugh as he cried out: “I get paid to do something I love; it’s great!” Spanish Lesson Well done to Juan Salazar and Derick Okyere, year 9 students who are sitting GCSE Spanish this year. The pair have also set up a Spanish beginner’s class for staff who wish to learn the basics in Spanish! Their aim is to prepare teachers for the summer holidays! Ms Schmidt will be helping to prepare the lessons but the pair will deliver in buena moda! The class currently has 25 members and they have chosen to conduct two sessions a week to split the numbers– Monday and Wednesday. If there are any more staff wanting to join please inform Ms. Schmidt. Come and enjoy a night of passion, expression and creativity as students showcase their spoken word talents. We also have a special guest performer, past Holy Family student Aisling Fahey, who has recently been awarded the new Young Poet Laureate of London. The night promises to be very interesting and entertaining so please do come along and join the fun! Refreshments will be provided. When: Thursday 5th February Where: Walthamstow House Site Hall Tickets are available at both school Time: offices. £3 Adult, £1 Students. 7.00pm Get them while you can. Meet Mrs. Dean What do you do? “I am the receptionist” What did you do before working at Holy Family? “Before working at Holy Family I was a supervisor at Sainsbury’s in Walthamstow, and before that I was a police officer” Where were you born? “Epping” Where would you like to visit? “New Zealand” What do you like to do in your spare time? “I love to spend time with my grandchildren” Something unknown about yourself? “I was a police officer” Best thing about working at Holy Family? “It’s great to work with young people” 3 Quick fire round: Sport to watch/Activity: Snooker/ I used to play tennis a lot Colour: Blue Dessert: Ice cream Food: English Music: Josh Groban Book: Anything written by Martina Cole or Leslie Pearse Hobby: Singing Movie: ‘Gone with the Wind’ TV Show: Midsomer Murders Claim to Fame: I used to see Rod Stewart quite often in Epping, mostly when I went shopping in Tesco Click on the red links to discover! Sports Round Up Boys’ Basketball: Yr 11 HF 30 v 25 Norlington | Yr 7 HF v Norlington | Yr 7 HF 5 v 6 Buxton | Girls’ Basketball: Yr 9 HF 12 v 10 Leytonstone ||Basketball Semi-final draw: Boys’ Yr 11: Norlington, Yr 9: Lammas, Yr 8: Norlington, Yr 7: Buxton. Girls’ Yr 10: Lammas, Yr 9: Walthamstow for Girls, Yr 8: TBC William Morris Fashion Show Student review by: Maya Borel Bernard Last Thursday the William Morris Gallery opened its doors to our school and many others to participate in a fashion show. The show was based on the theme of ‘destructive fashion’. All of the tops produced were designed by us (the students) and we were accompanied by a very talented artist. In total we transformed 20 plain T-shirts into something interesting. These tops had been burned, ripped, tye-dyed, painted and decorated in many other way and they all looked fantastic. there was lots to do. There was loads of food to eat, clothes to try on and great photo opportunities. Upstairs there were amazing pieces of art work that were all related to the theme of destructive fashion. It was such an interesting fun evening and I’m glad I went and it was enjoyable and refreshing to see what other students had designed and created. The show was very enjoyable and interesting and the tops were modelled by girls who all agreed that it was fun to model in such creative clothing. Even though the show itself only lasted 5 minutes, Chaplain’s Corner ‘It is not enough for young people to be loved they must know Christ our Lord, you give us that they are loved’ our lives: all that we are, our -Saint John Bosco- bodies and our minds. St John Bosco whose feast day we celebrate this week (30th January) is highly relevant to the work of education. He was a man ahead of his time whose central work was that of educating young people. For him education was a “matter from the heart” where all young people need to feel that they are wanted and loved. St John Bosco wanted all young people to achieve their potential and so he dedicated his life to caring and teaching the young. He founded the Society of Francis de Sales (known as the “Salesians”) You inspire us to learn more about the world around us, about you, about ourselves and about one another. May we serve one another in kindness and humility. Today the Salesians work in most countries of the world educating and helping the young. For more information: http://www.salesians.org.uk/ Be assured of my prayers. Michael Georgiou (Lay School Chaplain) Prayer Group A fantastic turn up to the prayer group on Wednesday, well done to all year 7 and 8 students who attended. Prayer group is every Wednesday at lunchtime. Publisher: [email protected] 07466599448 May we gain the knowledge to build a better world, and realise the potential you give to all. Amen. 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