Perkin Post
Third Edition
21/03/16
Intelligent engagement with the wider world.
The Editors
Welcome to the forth edition of this year’s Perkin Post! We have so
much in store like: World Book Day; a sneak peak of Strictly Come
Dancing and much more! We hope you enjoy your Easter holidays and
enjoy reading it!
Aaron (8P)
Shamima (9I)
Super Spellers Defend WP’s Title
On 10th February, a group of five Year 7s and Year 8s went to Greenford High School to compete in the Ealing Schools KS3
Spelling Bee. Below is Aditi’s account of the evening.
When my name was entered in the spelling bee, I was excited, thrilled but anxious. For the
Ealing spelling bee, 5 students were chosen and I was one of the 5! We took the bus to
Greenford high school where other high schools had come to take part. Each high school
had their own table. There were 2 rounds. In the first round, teams of three from each
school competed to spell words which became increasingly difficult. The judged would ask
one team member to spell a word, if you got the word right, you stayed. If you got it
wrong, the judges would ring the bell and you would be out. After each school had spelt a
word of a particular difficulty, the remaining members of each team rotated and it was the next team member’s
turn to spell. Whichever high school stayed in the competition the longest would get the most points. We came
second in this round. After that there was a short break. Next was the speed round! This round was teams of three
from each school again. Each team of three had 1 minute and 30 seconds to spell as many words as possible. There
were 3 levels, easy, medium and difficult. For every word spelt correctly in easy, you would get 1 point; In medium
you got 2 points per word; in difficult, 3 points. In
this round we went last and chose medium. No one
knew which words they spelt correctly or incorrectly.
After that second round, the points were added up.
We came third. We got a bronze medal and
everyone got a certificate. It was really fun!
Elite Science at WP
On 4th March, the Citizens group and few other students went on a sleep out near the development site where
they have been raising awareness for called Old Oak Common. They stayed in a hall in City Mission Church with
other students from Twyford, Newman college and few other schools where they presented to each other what
each school has been doing for Old Oak Common and, generally, how each school is.
However, it wasn't all just work! The students and teachers played various games
including quizzes, which no one knew the answers to, and
they also watched a movie. Even though everyone went to
sleep at about midnight (the poor teachers!), it gave everyone
a chance to mingle and meet with new people and a chance
to learn what other people think on important issues. Thank
you to Miss Alvis and Fr John for organising such insightful
trips!
Terrific Teachers!
This week we have two terrific teacher interviews for you.
Mr Robinson, IT and Computing Teacher
What’s it like being a teacher at William Perkin?
‘It’s great, this is a fantastic place to teach.’
What first attracted you to William Perkin?
‘A great bunch of students, the beautiful new building
and the opportunity to help shape the computing
department.’
Mr Smith, Head and Geography Teacher
What is it like being a head teacher?
‘It is very enjoyable and a lot of hard work. It’s lovely to see how
much students appreciate the work from staff at WP.’
What is your favourite thing about WP?
‘How positive and cheerful the students and staff are everyday
whilst working so hard. I am also proud of how polite all our
students are and how much they enjoy being William Perkin
Citizens and value our community and charities.’
What were your first impressions of the school when it was being
built?
‘Big, wooden, light, impressive and inspirational. It is a beautiful
building.’
Were you well behaved in school?
‘Not really, I always did my work and achieved good grades. I talked
too much, and if Mr Bedford was my teacher, I would often have
been in daily detention (but I was a good student at heart so would
never be in Friday detention).’
What was your favourite subject?
‘PE and Geography.’
What is the cricket bat all about?
‘I really enjoy cricket, the bat was given to me by a friend on my
40th birthday, who was given it by Andrew Strauss. Hopefully we
will do cricket really well here at WP when we have our pavilion and
cricket wicket in place.’
What is your impression of the school now?
‘Amazing! We have a wonderful student body and a fabulous set of
teachers. I am really happy that the school is such a positive place
and I look forward to planning our sixth form. I really hope that we
have brought something very positive to the people of Greenford,
and the local community.’
What first interested you in IT?
‘Probably playing video games on the PC. IT gives you
the ability to create anything you can imagine.’
What is your best IT tip?
‘Make sure your social network settings are adjusted to
‘private’. You can also trick someone by making a
screenshot of their desktop their background to confuse
them.’
If you weren’t a teacher, what would you be?
‘I think I would be a YouTube content creator.’
And finally, what’s your favourite song?
‘Rudimental’s Feel the Love.’
World Book Day
On the 3rd of March, the teachers were all dressed up in AMAZING costumes to celebrate World Book
Day. At lunch time, there was more excitement than usual in the café with Year 7s everywhere
shouting the names of the book characters that the teachers were; "Great Expectations" and
"Shakespeare" could be heard from the midst of the crowd. It was like a group of monkeys (lead by
Miss Hamid as Curious George!) reaching out for their bananas! Someone even came up to Miss
Hewett and asked if she was a Suffragette! Mr Bhardwaj had used Mr Djogo's hand-me-down costume
(which was a death eater) that he wore last year; I hope Mr Djogo had washed it! Mr Djogo had
exchanged his cast-off for a Dennis the
Menace outfit which quite obviously stated
this on the shorts (good one, Sir!).
At the end of the day, all of the forms had to
guess who the teachers were imitating, for
example, Ms Neelands was Miss Havisham
and Mr Miall was James Bond.
The overall winner was: 7P!
Well done to them!
I hope everyone had a great time.
Y8 Mandir Trip
On Monday 16th of February and on Tuesday 17th of February the Year Eights went on an outing to Shree
Jalaram Mandir in Greenford which is a Hindu temple. Firstly, we had a talk on the background of the
religion and the history of it, for example the guide mentioned that Hinduism was founded somewhere in
between 2300-1500bc as it's said that it is the world's oldest religion. Secondly, he gave us a tour of the
Mandapa which is the main part of the temple, this is where all the statues of deities (Gods) are housed
so people can worship towards them. Additionally, we had a chance to ask questions to a priest; this was
really interesting because we got to learn more about the religion and who started it and everyone found
it very captivating. After this we all had a traditional meal (with the exception of some chips and pasta on
the side!). The people who ate found the banquet delicious and enjoyable. Also, we could eat something
called prashad, which is an offering
made to God, this could then be
eaten by devotees; prashad could
consist of: fruits, nuts, rice or sweets.
We were lucky enough to be given
this as the prashad was blessed by
God. The Mandir trip proved a big
success!
Strictly Come Dancing for
A whole host of teachers have been getting their dance on for Sport Relief. Students
across school have been speculating about who will be paired with whom and which
teachers are going to prove they have the music in them! We went to interview Miss
Neelands and Miss Lovell in rehearsal in the lead up to the big performance.
Miss Neelands
Do you enjoy dancing the Strictly way?
‘I do, I've learnt a great deal from Ms Lovell. She
has taught me a lot of dance moves and she has made it
very fun.’
Is It hard work?
‘Yes, because I am not a natural dancer and we have very little time to rehearse.
Also at one point, I have to perform a high kick and if I fail, I will end up kicking a
certain teacher in the head.’
How long have you been rehearsing?
‘I've actually only been in about 3
rehearsals, but I am about to have
another one. It's important to make
every second count in the rehearsals.’
Miss Lovell
Any tips on who to look out for?
The standard is very high, everyone brings something unique to the dance floor. Mr Barnsley & Miss Neelands are
ones to look out for as they won in 2014. Also, keep an eye out for Mr Bedford and Ms Hall because Mr Bedford has
a signature move; The Bedford!
Mr Bedford declined to comment on his ‘signature move’ but we will certainly be looking out for it in the final
performance!
Y7’s Daring Dodgeball Match!
This term began with a bang with all seven forms competing in another one of our fabulous sporting
events. This time it was dodge ball. W,P,E,R,I and N had five players but K only had four. Nonetheless,
they were allowed to play. The tournament ended with everyone exhausted but proud of themselves. In
first place was Watson with Kelvin hot on their tail in second place (even though they were a player
down). Einstein was right behind them in third place, then Newton in fourth place, with Pascal behind in
fifth place. And bringing up the rear, there was Isambard in sixth place and Rutherford in seventh. Overall
all of the year seven teams did very well and I think we all want another dodge ball tournament soon!
Watson’s Enterprise Day
On Friday the 5th of February it was Watson's enterprise day. As there was a bit of a
valentines theme, students and teachers sent lovely heart cards to people they adored. At
break and lunch there was a cake sale with a scrumptious array of goodies to choose from.
In addition to all this, there was also a raffle with some fantastic prizes up for grabs. All of
these events were really popular!
The games room was in 1.12 and was filled with game consoles. It was packed and
permeated by a competitive buzz. We were all invited to change items of clothing for 50p,
we could also change our bag for (£1) (as long as we had something red to replace our
usual attire with). As well as this, people could also get their nails done for 50p (Mr Miall
took full advantage of this offer). Overall this day was a picture perfect enterprise day and
we think that Watson did an amazing job.
Citizens Sleep Out
On 4th March, the Citizens group and few other students
went on a sleep out near the development site called Old
Oak Common for which William Perkin as been raising
awareness. They stayed in a hall in City Mission Church with
other students from Twyford, Newman college and few
other schools. While there, each school gave a presentation
about their school community and what they have been
doing for the Old Oak Common site. However, it wasn't all
just work! The students and teachers played various games
including quizzes, which no one knew the answers to, and
they also watched a movie. Everyone eventually went to
sleep at about midnight (the poor teachers!), it gave all the
students a chance to mingle and meet with new people as
well as a
chance to
learn what
other people
think about
important
issues.
Thank you to
Miss Alvis and
Fr John for organising such interesting
trips!
History Scholars
On Monday 29th February, the Year 9 History Scholars went to Twyford with Mrs Easton to watch
Twyford Sixth Formers debate the motion that they have been studying “Was the British Empire more of
a force for bad than good?” Everyone watched, gobsmacked, how the sixth formers tackled the motion
and it was very impressive! Here’s some quotes from the History Scholars on the trip:
Adiba Sheikh (9K): “It was intriguing to see how other students interpret things we haven’t noticed
before.”
Shamima Islam (9I): “I was completely blown away by how smart and sophisticated they were and the
amount of content and depth their speeches had. They were also really confident and loud which is
something we can look up to.”
Karos Rauf (9R): “I was really inspired by how confident and sophisticated they were and I hope I will be
able to debate like that one day.”
Miriam Ramzi (9E): “Everyone was so clever! I was inspired by how well they formed their arguments and
I’m aspiring to be like them when I’m older!”
Thank you to Mrs Easton for organising such a beneficial trip and good luck to the History Scholars for
their debate later on this term against Twyford - let’s hope we’ll win this time!
Belgium Trip
On Thursday 11th February, some Year 9s had a very special opportunity to go to Belgium! Around 17
students visited the trenches and cemeteries of the world wars with Ms Gandy and Mr Bedford and,
obviously, had a great time! In History, Year 9 have been learning about WWI and WWII and we have
heard some gruesome and horrible stories of the conditions soldiers had to live in. We visited one of the
only trenches left outside Ypres, and trudged through the muddy, wet ditches, trying to keep our wellies
clean. We found out how hard it was for soldiers to live in the trenches; they had constant guns firing at
them. After lunch, we visited Tyne Cot cemetery, the biggest grave site from the war. Tyne Cot is a
beautiful and solemn burial ground with hundreds of soldiers buried, most of them sadly unknown. This
made us really understand how serious war is and how so many people lost their lives due to it. Then, we
visited a much smaller grave site in Langemark, this is the only place in Belgium where German soldiers
are burried. After the damage inflicted on Belgium by the German forces during the war, the Belgians
were not very sympathetic towards their fallen.
Later on, the students went “touristing” around Ypres and brought so much chocolate that it would take
months to finish all of it! Well, you can’t really blame us when the chocolate capital of the world had
shops with special William Perkin discounts and signs like
“Welcome William Perkin school!” on the door! Finally, after
dinner, we attended the “Last Post Ceremony” in the city centre
and joined a huge group of other schools and local people to reflect
on all the people who gave up
their lives for us. Mohaiman
Malik (9W) and Shamima Islam
(9I) got the special opportunity
to put up a poppy wreath on
the behalf of William Perkin as
a symbol of gratitude and
appreciation. A massive thank
you to Ms Gandy and Mr
Bedford for organising such a
thought-provoking and fun
trip!