The Official Magazine of Ark Academy
Excellence!
Persistence!
Participation!
Civitas!
# 10 - Autumn 2013
ivitas C
The
Edited by Dawid Soltysik
Warm Welcome…
Dear all,
We have a new style Civitas!! The editorship has
moved on and I am particularly pleased that there has
been significant editorial input from our Year 10
prefects. They are already displaying strong journalistic
skills.
So many highlights from the week - staff inter-house
basketball (great hit with the students), wet sponge
throwing at teachers on the windiest, coldest day, to
carol singing in various locations around London after
school and on weekends. Fantastic CIVITAS in action.
This edition is aptly named, therefore,’ Pupil Power’,
this ranges from the student editorial team to the
sterling work in the community carried out by our
North London Citizen group. Not only are the latter
spearheading our buses campaign, focusing specifically
on the 206, but also it was the challenge from this
group to Councilor Butt (Leader of Brent Council) that
led him to launch Brent Council’s Living Wage
Campaign – some power!!
Finally we had our best ever Christmas Fayre which
raised an excellent sum of money (over £1,500) in a
couple of hours (again exact figure later). So now
assessment week is over, the results are in and we have
some very tired teachers and students. The students of
course are blessed with a long Christmas vacation
(nearly 3 weeks). They return on Thursday 9th January
so should feel completely rested. Then we can get back
down to the serious business of supporting (sometimes
pushing) every child to reach their best.
We have also had a very keenly fought Charity Week in
aid of very worthy causes so I would like to thank the
pupils and staff for their powers of persuasion during
this frenetic week. They certainly persuaded many
people to give significant sums to our named charities!
The final totals will be available at the beginning of the
Spring Term. I know how hard everyone worked and
the team spirit in each House was phenomenal.
Students, staff and parents have a peaceful and happy
Christmas break.
Delia Smith
Principal
MEET THE EDITORS
This year The Civitas Magazine is being taken over by the students of Ark Academy.
The following year ten prefects have been appointed to the editorial team, from left to right: Dawid Soltysik,
Sonia Jajua, Anithya Balachandran, Sharlicia Blake, Faith Agyemang-Loraine,, Jai Stewart and Ciara Barrett.
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Front Cover: Wendy (Y5) and Faith (Y10) show off their new prefect badges
THREE IS A MAGIC NUMBER
In September the secondary academy celebrated its third birthday,
and the primary school celebrated its fi fth birthday. On the 20th
September everyone at the school received a free slice of cake
made by the marvelous catering staff. Later in the day, a photo
was taken with the school’s birthday cake and our current holders
of the Civitas Badge - the highest achievement in the academy.
Many people enjoyed this day. “I love the cake and the
atmosphere!” said Miss Shotton from Pupil Support. We know it’s
late, but Happy Birthday Ark Academy!
SIXTH FORM
FUNDRAISING BEGINS
This term the school began fundraising for our
sixth form building, and already the appeal is
making progress. So far, Mrs Smith has worked
hard to bring us up to £1.3 million out of a
required £3 million, and as a school we’re aiming
to raise £25,000 ourselves.
To kick off, we had the Christmas Fayre where
we raised £1,500! 50% of the money we raised
during charity week will go to our sixth form
fund as well, and over this year we’ll make as
much money as we can. Some students have even
started making and selling red flowers to
symbolize support for the appeal.
STARTER FOR TEN
On the 30th September, our Y10
students sat their first ever controlled
assessment for their GCSEs. This
revolved about the ‘Of Mice and
Men’ theme and students had to
answer a question in essay style that
was then formally (and toughly!)
marked and sent off to the exam
board.
Many people were amazed by their
results but a few were disappointed!
Dawid, from Y10 said: “I didn’t reach
my target grade yet I know there is
room for improvement in the
upcoming assessments”.
On the right are some of these same
year ten students getting to grips with
some problems on their Induction
Day at the beginning of the year.
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Edited by Faith Agyemang-Lorainey
Pupil power
On the 20th November Ark got Political! The day was
hosted by the North London Citizens team, but
everyone got involved. A counter was given to every
student giving them the opportunity to cast their vote
as to which of three campaigns the NLC team should
go ahead with. The choice was between: building
communications with older people, improving the
buses and the creation of city safe havens.
The NLC team then presented all three campaigns to
a council of guests including Councillor Michael
Pavey from Brent council at a meeting chaired by
Samir Hussain. Clement Owusu said ‘the main reason
I joined North London Citizens was to help people
within the community’ and events like Ark Gets
Political have given him the opportunity to do just
that.
All the guests were extremely impressed with
the way our students presented their ideas and
also all the hard work and effort they had put
in to support their campaigns. As Kirthika
Dhamarajah said ‘that’s what Civitas and
being a good person is all about.’
Sherine Walker in Year 9 also wrote a poem
which she recited in the meeting about why
she loves being a part of North London
Citizens, which Councillor Pavey has asked to
… publish. Well done Sherine!
Now that we have the support of
people like Councillor Pavey you really
could say Ark has gone Political. But
the last word should go to Mrs Smith:
‘Civitas isn’t something you learn
about in books- it’s learnt through
communications.’
3
Above: The North London Citizens team and
representatives from Brent Council.
Below: Even before Ark Gets Political Day, the
NLC team scored a major victory when they
helped persuade Brent Council to commit
to paying all their employees
a London Living Wage.
SILVER DAY
In early October the North London Citizens
team held a ‘Silver Day’, celebrating the older
residents of our local community. In the
morning there was a workshop in which the
team learnt all about dementia, but the
highlight was definitely the afternoon, when
our students got an opportunity to teach their
visitors new skills. Clement Owusu hosted a
music lesson, Amaan Hussein and Aksha
Vohra taught an iPad lesson while Ray’rna
Benoit-Smith and Jamelia Campbell got a
chance to show off their Spanish skills.
NEW LIBRARIANS
We would like to congratulate all our new student
librarians! I’m sure you’ll be a great asset
to Ms Lipner and the existing students.
Well done to Anab Lloyd, Yasser Dadd, Alex
Burakov, Hawra Mahdi, Marian Badu, Leanne
Robinson-Hills, Hammah Ahmad, Rehan Abbas,
Parbes Ahmed, Rahmo Abdullkadir, Nikhil
Manojkumar and Bisharo Mohammed from the
secondary school and Hadeal Abdelatti and Roshan
Patel from the primary.
PERFECT PREFECTS
We would also like to congratulate the 28 new Ark
prefects in Years 5 and 10! We hope you work together
to help sustain the Civitas community we aim to work
and learn in. And for the rest of the students: don’t
worry there will be more opportunities to become an
Ark prefect in the future. Watch this Space! The Year
5 prefects are Jenna, Errice, Wendy, Ruth, Rayyan and
they are pictured on the left with the primary
librarians. Th e Year 10 prefects are Niche, Mi-Cah,
Maarryah, Keleisha, Ana, Sonal, Trenae, Cherisse,
Anithya, Adiba, Ciara, Shivani, Faith, Ashley, Sonia,
Sharlicia, Kassia, Simeon, Dawid, Darshil, Jai and
Clement.
PRIMARY COUNCIL ELECTED
Finally, a big congratulations goes to 23 students
elected onto the new primary council. These
students will have a crucial say in decisions relating
to the smooth running of our school. We don’t have
space to print all your names, but you know who
you are!
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Edited by Anithya Balachandran
New Faces
It’s a new dawn with a new year and some new faces at Ark. I think everyone has given the new Year 7's a
warm welcome along with quite a few ‘awww’s . In this article, I get to know what the new students think
of Ark but also what the new teachers feel about the school.
DISCLAIMER: None of this is scripted - we really are this wonderful!
My first interview was with Ms Ioannou who is the teacher of the Year 2 class -Escher.
Q: Since you’re not from London, how are you finding the
city?
A: London is different….there is lots of traffic and people are
different compared to the countryside people.
Q: What is Ark is like compared to your old school?
A: What I love about Ark is that it’s so multicultural. For
example, the students speak so many different languages.
There is not only diversity in the children - it’s also there in
the staff.
Q: Your most interesting experience so far…?
A: I was asked on my birthday ‘are you as old as Henry VIII?’
I was slightly offended.
Q: Something you’re looking forward to?
A: I am looking forward to getting to know the school better
and making links with the secondary.
Q: Describe Ark in one word.
A: Aspiring! My second staff interview was with Mr Ozpalas who has joined the Maths team (who prefer to go by the name
‘The Dream Team’). Q. So, what is Ark like compared to your old school?
A. In Ark there is a larger sense of community and you can
always find something to get involved with here.
Q. Describe Ark in one word.
A. Civitas!
Q. Your most interesting experience so far?
A. It has to be the charity week, it was amazing to see
everyone getting involved in order to raise as much money
as possible.
Q. Something you’re looking forward to?
A. Teaching my own classes and getting to know the
school better.
This sums up most of what the new faces at Ark think of the school. Hope you feel like the new faces aren’t so new
anymore. Till the next time, keep calm and stay CIVITAS!
5
2
YEAR SEVEN INDUCTION WEEK Now onto the people who all eyes are focused on - the adorable, ‘still
getting used to the rules’ Year 7s. Let’s have their take on Ark:
“I have enjoyed my time at Ark so far, as I think the teachers make the
lessons fun and I think everyone at Ark is polite.” – Shania Varshani, 7
Goodall
“I think that Ark Academy is a wonderful school and I wish to continue as
a pupil who learns all the time.” –Zenayce Cameron-Bussue, 7 Goodall
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Edited by Sharlicia Blake
House Competitions
At Ark Academy, House Competitions have become an important tradition. The urge to win creates a warming
atmosphere for all with houses participating for good causes. The competitive attitude towards these events
really shows how much my fellow students enjoy being a part of these competitions.
The first major contest on the secondary calendar is the house
art competition at the end of the first half-term. It is a good
opportunity to take an early lead in the standings, so each
.
house gives it everything they have got.
This year there were four fantastic entries, but the
judges unanimously decided that Curie should win
for their innovative animation. Their piece was
inspired by Aaron Koblin’s ‘Johnny Cash Project’, in
that each frame of the 3 minute long animation was
hand-drawn by a different member of the house.
These 180 odd-frames were then expertly stitched
together by year nine whizz-kids Alex and Alain. You
can see some of the sample frames on the right.
This victory – along with table-topping results in
attendance and commendations - gave Curie a solid
lead in the overall standings at half-term. But will
they take the lead into Christmas? We will have to
wait til the last day of term to find out.
BLUE HOUSE ROAR
House competitions aren’t just for
the secondary school. In a
ferociously competitive singing
competition in the primary school,
Blue House (below) were named
winners after a stirring rendition of
Katie Perry’s ‘Roar’. Coincidentally,
this was also the soundtrack to
Curie’s winning art video – it must
truly be the song of
champions.
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SLAM DUNK FOR ARK POETS
The Annual Poetry Slam went down a buzz. Students came and
showed off their creativity with practised poems and ones they
had written themselves. As always, my fellow students were
nervous but can’t wait until next year to do it again.
FELICITACIONES CURIE!
The winners were:
Y7: Laurentiu Vancea and Tre Camps
Y8: Yash Shah and Khatra Hassan
Y9: Ray’rna Benoit-Smith + Kandice Hopwood, and Corey John
Y10: Kassia Tavares Marques Monteiro and Kiara Taylor ! The European Day of Languages took place on
the 26th of September 2013. Many students and
teachers wore stickers saying ‘Hello’ in different
languages. In the library at lunchtime was the
Languages Competition. A big audience was
waiting to hear many rich and vibrant languages.
Curie was the winner of the Languages
Competition. Th roughout the day, teachers tried
their hardest to learn and recite many phrases in
different languages to fill up their ‘Teacher Merit
Cards’. Mr Cooper of Newton House was the
winner. An MFL competition to look out for is
the Vocab Express Competition, so be sure to
practice your vocabulary to secure your house
some precious points!
NEWTON AND PLATO
SHARE GELOSIA GLORY
The Math Department’s Gelosia Off was a big
success. This competition involved students
answering long multiplication questions in a set
space of time. Newton & Plato were the eventual
winners.
The times table relay on the 17th December gave
students another opportunity to show off their
mental maths skills, but the winners had not been
announced when we went to press.
What’s 8x7 again? Elliot Howard gets his Gelosia on
8
Edited by Ciara Barrett
Charity week
After last year’s whopping total of
£12,000 it was all we could do to
challenge that again, but the money
for this year is still being counted so
we will have to wait until January to
discover whether we beat it and which
house raised the most.
Curie was raising money for Marie
Curie Cancer care and they kicked off
the week with their disco in the main
hall, alongside 2 films during
enrichment including Fast and
Furious 6 and Men in Black 3. As well
as that, we saw the return of Sponge
the Teacher and Curie Car Wash. The
students and teachers gave up a lot to
help out and showed loads of Civitas!
Newton was raising money for Save
The Children. On Tuesday, Newton
ran 2 film rooms and the Bronte
Boutique was a hit once again.
Defying gravity as usual!
Next we saw Plato’s action packed
evening of Teacher Basketball, won by
reigning champions Curie.
Their money is going to Great
Ormond Street Hospital and the Muir
Maxwell Epilepsy Centre. As if that
wasn’t enough, they ran a cinema and
sold cakes, biscuits and doughnuts
every lunchtime.
Socrates was raising money for Action
for Children and they seized Thursday
with the 4th annual Ark’s Got Talent!
Featuring a special guest Mr Scott
showing off his hidden talents, it was
another great show with Noor Balash,
Janvi Pandya, and Sahra Mohamed
winning the show and a guest
appearance from previous winners
Jamar Clarke and Renee Rookwood.
To end the week with a bang, we
had
. our non-uniform day where
everyone paid a pound to go
towards the fundraiser, then the
Christmas fair, where each house
had a stand, raised the totals
even higher. Thanks to everyone
who took part and donated! “Quote from around Ark”
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Some well-groomed year seven students man the desk at the Newton Photo Booth
Students show off their moves at the Curie Disco
Which one of us is Simon? The judging panel looks as students take
to the stage at Socrates’ Ark’s Got Talent contest
Miss Kubba takes one in the eye for charity
MY 1ST CHARITY WEEK
Lekailia Jarrett wows the crowd
Mr Fakhoury goes for three
Charity week was a memorable week that all
students and teachers would never forget.
We had a variety of activities from all
fantastic houses for students, staff and the
local community. Amazing activities enjoyed
were the Curie disco where everyone showed
off their cool moves, even the teachers. The
teachers’ detention was a success and they
were behaving badly. Who could imagine
Miss. Keen in detention and throwing paper
across the room. There was Ark’s Got Talent
which was amazing since there were many
fantastic acts which blew us all away. We will
never forget this memorable week.
102
– Anab Lloyd, 8 Euler
Edited by Jai Stewart
The Arts
A DRAMATIC START TO THE YEAR The first term of the year has been
bursting with dramatic goings-on,
perhaps the most notable of which was
the creation and performance of a new
play called “The Shakespeare Story”,
by our GCSE students in cooperation
with their drama teachers. The play
was performed at the Shaw Theatre for
the Shakespeare Schools Festival, but
the actors then returned to the Ark
and performed to the whole school so
that everyone could enjoy their
performance just as much.
Dhruv Gajjar from year ten attended
the original show and exclaimed
afterwards “Those guys were legends!”
Our technicians also got a word in,
with Ciara Barrett telling us that
“Being a technician in a play like this
really helps me to build up to my
possible future in theatrical technology
like my dad.”
311
This term also saw a number of school
trips to visit plays that students were
studying in English. After seeing
Warhorse Phoebe Dyer from Year
Eight told us that she “preferred the
performance to the book because it
was more dramatic”. Likewise Miss
Sutton enjoyed her time at the Royal
Opera House watching a ballet version
of the famous Macbeth. She described
the mixture of English, Welsh and
Polish within the play as a “revelation
which made the play seem much more
vibrant”.
Finally, students in year nine were
recently studying Shakespeare’s Much
Ado About Nothing in order to give
them an idea of the wonderful comedy
in live performance. I think it is safe to
say that with all of these visits to
theatres the levels of all students will
be taking a turn for the better.
ART AT ARK
It’s been an exciting term in the art
department. The Year 9’s began their first
GCSE-style unit of work on portraits
and the Year 10 students went on a
fantastic trip to the V&A and Grant
Museum.
SPARKS FLY
The music department has also been thriving over
the last term, and the SPARK choir have gotten off
to a magnificent start. Participating students from
Ark Academy have been singing their hearts out
among students from other ARK schools. Aysha
Lohan from Year Ten explains that “SPARK choir is
a place for me to make new friends and boost my
confidence vocally and socially.” Th e broader school
choir also had an important, if solemn, role to play on
Remembrance Day (pictured), when they did the
whole school proud.
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Edited by Sonia Jajua
Sport
The year nine football squad find time to smile
BRENT ALL-STARS
MIXED START FOR ARK
FOOTBALLERS
Congratulations to these students for
showing their excellence and
representing their borough at football:
YEAR 8 - Amari Ofusu-Newman &
Matthew David-Tate
YEAR 10 - Fabien Reid &
Antwayne Plummer
This term has been one of highs and lows for our football
teams, with an overall record of 8 wins, 6 defeats and 2
draws. Here is what the year ten squad had to say after a
tricky start to the season:
"Sometimes I think we underestimate our opponents and
we need to stop doing that.” - Zaki Dawlazie
"I think even though we've had a rough start, we still have
a chance of success.” - John Seraphin-White
Thats the spirit John! Fingers crossed as all four teams
battle to reach the top of the table after Christmas.
BASKETBALL TEAMS UNDEFEATED
A few days prior to their first match of the season here is what a few of the Y10
boys said:
“We need to pass more.” - Deniro Roberts
"We have a great team and a lot of chemistry since we've been playing together for
4 years” - James Dudhi-Price
And it seems as though James was right because in their first match they won
102-10 to Wembley High, and in their second they beat Kingsbury 48-9. Indeed,
the year tens have led from the front as all the boys basketball teams had an
undefeated term, with five wins and one draw in total. A special congratulation go
13the year nine boys who haven’t lost a game since they joined Ark Academy.
to
Q&A WITH MS ADDISON
Term after term Ark students are used to
there always being a portion of end of term
assemblies dedicated to Mrs Smith reading
out names for sporting success. Our school
seems to be excellent at sports, but why is
that? I asked Ms Addison.
Why is sport one of our school’s strong
points?
Ms Addison- " Mr O'Carroll and I
invested a lot of time and effort into our
sports teams during the first year of Ark
and our success has become the standard
for others. We find the strengths of our
pupils, develop their skills and provide lots
of fun and competitive opportunities.”
BRENT FUTSAL
CHAMPIONS
Five year ten girls were
crowned Brent Futsal
Champions this term by
beating all comers,
including Kingsbury High
School in a pulsating final.
Congratulations to Kiara
Taylor, Munirah Sawyers,
Michaela Johnson, Rafaela
De S il va and Nerice
Campbell-Forde
What do you enjoy about being a P.E.
teacher?
Ms Addison- " I enjoy the challenge of
making P.E. fun, watching the pupils smile
when they learn something new and
achieve well. I enjoy helping the next
generation."
CHESS KINGS
Well done to Cyrus,
Stillian, Nimai, Kevin,
Joshua and Arjun from
years 4 and 5, who
represented the primary
school in the very first
ARK Primary Chess
Tournament at King
Solomon Academy.
WORLD BEATING MARATHON RUNNERS
Another sporting highlight of the term was the Marathon World Challenge.
This was a mixed team run where each person ran 200m until the team had
covered 26.2miles. What’s more, on the 26/11/2013 Ark Academy was ranked
as the 7th fastest team out of 219 in the entire world!
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TO THE LIBRARY!
We have been spoilt with visiting
authors this term. In October a
year seven class heard a mixture
of raps and extracts from Steve
Tasane’s debut novel ‘Blood
Donors’
at Brent Library
(pictured). Then in November
two groups were lucky enough to
have a creative writing session
with book-club favourite Marcus
Alexander.
THE BRILLIANT CLUB Twenty lucky students from Year 7 & 8 are now official members of the
Brilliant Club, and have the privilege of a PhD tutor to teach them
university-style content! At the end of the unit they will sit a 1500 word
examination.
BLAZING TRAILS On Monday 7th of October a group
of ‘trailblazing’ students joined Miss
Arnaize and Mr Chandler on a
camping trip to Margaret McMillian
house in Kent. The weather was cold
yet the trip was action packed and,
ac c o rd i n g t o S a m i r H u s s e i n ,
“AMAZING”. Everyone on the trip
demonstrated all four Ark values by
supporting each other through the
challenging activities.
3MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM EVERYONE AT ARK ACADEMY!
This edition of the Civitas Magazine was edited by a team of Y10 prefects,
under the guidance of Mr Ding and Miss Lewis-Smith
Above: Year 8’s visit the Houses of Parliament and receive a
guided tour from their MP
Left: Year 1 students investigate prehistoric times as they
ask ‘What age are you?’ at the Gordon Brown Centre Ark Academy is an all-through school in Wembley and part of Ark Schools.
Contact 020 8385 4390 / www.arkacademy.org / [email protected]
Ark out & about