CHECK OUT BEHIND THE

SCENES PHOTOS OF EDEN’S

EXCITING EVENTS

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:PRINCIPAL SAYS

TRIPSSPORTS DAYS

BIG SOCIETY, LEADERSHIP & MUCH MORE

#1Spring 2015

TheEnjoy the first EVER issue of Eden’s official student magazine!

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Contents

2 Principal Says3 Meet the Team

4 Eden’s got Talent5 Fun & Games

6 The Black DeathExperience7 Houses ofParliament

8 Sports Day9 Leadership Day10 -11 Big Society

12 Spirituality

PRINCIPALSAYSAll praises to the Almighty, Lord of the Worlds and the Master ofour fortunes and salutations to our beloved Prophet Muhammad(PBUH), the seal of the Prophets and the guide for all our actions.The First 100 Days…It has been exactly 129 days since Eden Girls’ School, WalthamForest opened its doors to 151 Year 7 and Year 8 students and withthe grace of Allah the school has got off to an excellent, excitingand extraordinary start. As the first state funded Muslim school inLondon, not only has it been pioneering in the delivery of BritishFundamental Values, at times where the national picture has beenbereft with problems, anxieties and challenges; but is a resoundingtestimony to what can be achieved by a group of people who havecome together from different parts of the country to venturetogether on this shared journey- to provide a great education to itsstudents, a successful partnership to its parents and to add anotherexcellent school to the educational community of Waltham Forest.The journey so far has been varied and bold as we have establishedourselves in temporary accommodation and carried out an exhaus-tive list of tasks. We have made the most out of a building that wasonce designed for offices, created recreational space in a convertedcar park, established routines and rituals, procured a caterer whocan deliver ready- made meals, established the school day, atimetable and a new culture that can be truthfully be reflected bythe very distinctive ethos that characterises our school summed upin one full sentence- ‘An Eden girl is a busy girl!’Generation ChangeOur relentless drive not only stems to standards but to characterbuilding and a fostering of community spirit. Our specialisms inLeadership and Big Society have meant that our girls have beendeveloping not only entrepreneurial skills but have been contribut-ing to national agendas such as working closely with the LondonMetropolitan Police on tackling extremism and radicalisation as wellas giving back to the local community by running a weekly FoodBank. Our Edonians are fast becoming pioneering young women whono doubt will one day become what we truly want them to be-Ladies, Learners and Leaders, contributors to the world stage asthey find a part they will play as they move towards adulthood.Making Dreams a RealityI would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody, staff,students, parents and governors most profusely for making thejourney so far an enjoyable one. Dreams and visions can only beachieved when teams work as one. I hope you enjoy this first editionof The Edonian and read for yourselves the students’ accounts ofthe initiatives, successes and opportunities provided for them bythe staff team. Best wishes and Wasalaam (Peace be with you).

S. Ahmad

April 2015/ Rajab 1436

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MEET THE TEAM

Hi! I’m Halimah and I’m in 8A.I’m the Journalistic Team’seditor for theEdonian, (which means I’m incharge of all the articles in themagazine). I absolutely loveHarry Potter, Sherlock andDoctor Who although somepeople say it’s boring, I enjoyreading!

Hi! I’m Nabihah and I am part ofthe Edonian design team It’sgreat fun! I am also StudentShura which makes me in chargeof representing the schoolvoice. (Also, I LOVE food!)

Hi there! I'm Haadiyah andhappy to say I'm part of TheEdonian Design team. Many ofmy friends think I'm strange be-cause myfavourite subject is Maths. Any-way, more about me. I'm bright,right handed, an artist, happy,smiley, crazy, sporty.

Hello! I am Iqra and I am proudto tell you that I am part of theEdonian Design Team. I loveworking as a team and mostimportantly I love chocolate. Iam a very cheerful person andlike to be in charge when thereare opportunitiesgiven to me.

Hi, my name is Suraiya. Myfavourite subject is Art, which isprobably why the role as editorof the design team is perfect forme. I also like baking things likecupcakes and brownies as a hob-by. Yum!

Hi, I’m Ayesha! I’m part of thejournalist team in the Edonianteam. I am friendly, funny anda little shy! I absolutely lovechocolate and my favouritesubjects are Art and P.E.

Hello! I am Mrs Ayub and I over-see the smooth running of thedesign team here at TheEdonian. My two passions areexploring new destinations andI love, love, love technology!

My name is Safiyah Ahmed andI am part of 8B. I’m extremelydelighted to be part of TheEdonian Magazine team! Ienjoy baking, archery andhorse-riding. My favouritesubject is Maths and at themoment, I have the ambition ofbecoming aCardiothoracic Surgeon (asurgeon who specialises in theheart and lungs).

I’m Zhour Moutaabide. I lovefootball, and support Arse-nal, (the best team in theworld!). I also like HarryPotter. I'm quite mischie-vous, (according to somepeople), and I hate Art, (nooffence to Miss Dauhoo, butthat's just me!)

EDITORS

Hi All!I am: essay expert, journalist,poetry amateur and novel novice(aka English Teacher) by termtime; enthusiastic explorer,traveller and relaxer by schoolholiday! Welcome to The Edonian-enjoy!Ms Patel

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On Thursday 18th December 2014, Eden Girls’School hosted their very first talent show. It was afantastic day and students as well as teachers hada lot of fun.

Staff worked extremely hard in decorating andorganising our stage, so it looked stunning and justlike a real talent show! Students also put in a wholelot of effort in preparing for their amazing perform-ances and the results were fantastic!

We had our students performing a variety oftalents, from an emotional recitation of the Quran,to beautiful nasheeds and impressivepoems. The comedy act by Anisaa Zerrouk washilarious and we all cried with laughter! On theother hand, the Quran recitation read by FatimaSedoo brought a tear to everyone’s eyes. AmaniAyub's nasheed mash-up was wonderful, and thehula hooping by 7C was very impressive. We alsohad Sumayyah Hassan who dazzled us with hercreative rap at the end of the show.

All of the performances were fantastic, but ofcourse we had to choose the winners. It was quitehard and challenging for the judges to choose whowon, but obviously they had to! In third place cameFatima Sedoo, with her beautiful recitation of Su-rah-Rahman. In second place, Rayanne with heramazing nasheed, and in first place, Amani Ayub,with her wonderful and impressive nasheedmash-up! The winners got boxes of chocolates, andeveryone clapped and cheered while they werebeing called up to the stage. Overall, everyoneagreed that the talent show was an amazing experi-ence, and we all hope that we have another talentshow soon! Thanks to all the girls that took part andsupported the competition!

Anisaa Zerrouk’s comedyact was hilarious and we all

cried with laughter

An Imam was selling his horse in the market. Aninterested buyer came to him and requested if hecould get a test drive. The Imam told the man thatthis horse is unique. In order to make it walk, youhave to say Subhanallah. To make it run, you haveto say Alhamdulillah, and to make it stop, you haveto say Allahu Akbar. The man sat on the horse andsaid Subhanallah. The horse started to walk. Then hesaid Alhamdulillah and it started to run. He keptsaying Alhamdulillah and the horse started runningfaster and faster. All of a sudden the man noticedthat the horse was running towards the edge of thehill that he was riding on. Being overly fearful, heforgot how to stop the horse. He kept saying allthese words out of confusion. When the horse wasjust near the edge, he remembered Allahu Akbar andsaid it out loud. The horse stopped just one stepaway from the edge. The man took a deep breath,looked up towards the sky and said Alhamdulillah!

Time to Laugh OutLoud! There are five mothers mentioned in the Qur'an:

1. A mother who was not born but married and

gave birth.

2. A mother who was born, did not marry but

gave birth.

3. A mother who was born, married but did not

give birth.

4. A mother who was not born nor married nor

gave birth.

5. A mother who was born, married, and gave

birth but was unlike any other mother.

Email us your answers.

BRAIN TEASERS

Email us your jokes, stories, brain teasers and

riddles. The best ones will feature in our Summer

issue.

theedonian@edengirlswalthamforest.tetrust.org

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FUN & GAMESTime to Laugh Out Loud and Train your Brain

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THE BLACK DEATHEXPERIENCE !

On Monday 23rd February, 7.1 travelled to theMuseum of London, for a history trip. They wentback in time to the 14th century to discovermore about the Black Death, which was theirnew topic in history.

It was very exciting to be part of Eden’s firstindividual outing, even though our head (MrsAhmad) was a tad bit nervous. Or maybe a lot!We explored the galleries, finding out tons moreinformation about other areas in the subject,(even in the toilets - you can never stop learn-ing!). We went through the Black DeathExperience which really and truly was a greatexperience, although some of us came out alittle freaked out! The class also participated invarious activities such as a drama session (which

7.1 TRAVEL BACK IN TIMEwas well enjoyed by the class, according toBadriyah Islam, 7.1) where a 'survivor' from theBlack Death told us all about the spreading andconfusions of the serious disease, infecting manypeople living and travelling in Europe at the time.

The class were very privileged to have thechance to handle a number of items dating backmany hundreds of years ago. We were split intogroups, and we analysed paintings from theMedieval Ages and tried to guess what artefactsthey had with them.

We were told that 'the trip was a very memora-ble experience' (Zainab Patel) and we hope foranother educational outing again soon!By Iqra Vahora and Haadiyah Cassam

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HOUSES OFPARLIAMENT

On Tuesday 3rd March, 8.1 were given thechance to visit the Houses of Parliament. Theyfollowed the footsteps of King Charles I throughhis trial and execution and even met KingCharles himself! They asked him difficultquestions in a trial, to see if he was to blame forthe Civil War. Students were very well- behaved,showing off just how wonderful Eden Girls are!First, they went to visit the Houses of Parliamentto review what King Charles did wrong, thenthey went to the Banqueting Hall to discuss whyCharles should have stayed alive. Pupils also gotto visit the gift shops to buy souvenirs that would

help them remember their wonderful time there! Hereare some of the girl’s opinions on the trip:

By Suraiya Husain 8A

YEAR 8 VISIT THEHOUSES OFPARLIAMENT.

Fatemah Sedoo at the Lee

Valley Tennis & Hockey Centre

I can’t wait until sports day 5 when we will get theopportunity to try rowing!

8A at the Velodrome Dry Diving at the London

Aquatic Centre

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At Eden we have been fortunate enough to have ourSports days at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, inStratford - London.

To date we have had 4of 5 of our Sports daysthere and each onehas been great fun.We have taken part inlots of different typesof sports and activties.

We have had trainingfrom professionalsports coaches, someof whom coachOlympic athletes. Wehave taken part inactivities at the LeeValley Olympic park,Copper Box Arena,The Velodrome andmy personal favourite - Swimming and Dry Diving atthe London Aquatic Centre.

The third Sports day held by Eden GirlsSchool, took place on Tuesday the 3rd ofFebruary 2015. The event went extremely

well (apart from the coldweather) and all of thestudents participated inand enjoyed the day.

Unlike any other Sportsday, we had a tour aroundthe place and also got toknow facts about thestadiums and what eventsof the Olympics were heldthere. Students especiallyenjoyed watching somecyclists go around the trackat an extraordinary paceand they found it “reallycool”, according to AminaMohammed, in 7A!

SPORTS DAYSAT EDEN

Leadership Day the‘Dragon’s Den’ Way!

On Thursday 17th March, thegirls at Eden transformed intoa hoard of excited entrepre-neurs. Mrs Hasan, the head ofLeadership Days at Eden, hadorganised for each form classto focus on a specific catego-ry and create original, ‘gap inthe market’ types of productswithin their forms- includingaccessories, apps and food. Ineach class, smaller groupsworked on their items, pre-sented to their classes andthe best from amongst themwere chosen to present to theschool and the ‘Dragons’ lateron in the day.

The buzz of creativity perme-ated the entire school, whenit came to break time, MrsHasan had to come round tothe classrooms to remind usthat it was break-timenobody wanted to leave! MsPatel mentioned: ‘I havenever seen my class work soenthusiastically and co-oper-atively, I’m amazed and verypleased- I want more!’Upstairs the groupspresented their products tothe panel and after somedifficult decisions theDragons came to theirconclusion: 7D (Ms Aswat’sform) won the lucrative deal,with 7B (Ms Patel’s form)coming a close second. Thewinning product was a

premium ice-cream, contain-ing delicious and extravagantflavours, alongside a cupcakeand confectionary in thecentre of the ice-cream-yum! Mrs Mahmood (one ofthe Dragons), commented: ‘Ican see these being sold atniche and upmarket storeslike Harrods.’ High praise in-deed! Well done to 7D team,led by Sabiha Makda.

A great day for Eden- just oneof many more to come!

NextLeadership

Day

June 2015

Aneesah Sanford & Mariam Afzalof 7B

Winning form 7D, CommanderMack Chisty, Sgt. Javaria &

Spencer Fearon

Twisty Frame by 8B

Mr. Rahman & his form 7A

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SPONSORED SILENCE HITS THE JACKPOT

On Wednesday 4th ofFebruary, Anisaa Zerrouk (8B)and Yasmine El-Hamri (8A)performed a sponsoredsilence in order to raise moneyfor Tauheedul Trust’s ‘Food forAll’ campaign. They both man-aged to raise over £250 in justthree days of collecting sponsors.They used this money to buy a

massive amount of food for the‘Food for All’ campaign” to givefood to the people who are inneed of it. Their efforts wererecognised by Tauheedul Charityand they were awarded 2nd placein the ‘Tauheedul Student of theYear Award’.

On February the 2nd 2015, Eden Girls’ schoolcelebrated World Hijab Day. It was a colourfulaffair, where students got to wear any hijab theyfancied! The event raised an extraordinary £111for the great cause, ‘Food For All’. The moneyraised was used to buy food for the campaign thatwent to many people who needed it.

EDEN GIRLS’ SCHOOL

Year 7 students celebrating World Hijab Day

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Eden Girls’ recently took part in Tauheedul Trust’s‘Food for All’ campaign to help collect food forpeople who are desperately in need of it. Theteachers and local supporters commented on the factthat it was lovely to see how many people showed upon the Fridays to receive the donated food. Onewoman even wrote to the school after she had seenthe poster, to tell of her current predicaments and

struggles and Insha’Allah, now having receivedhelp and support from the school, her situationwill have improved.Later on, students were carefully selected to bepart of the ‘Big Society’ along with the StudentShuras and helped bring Food for All to life for theschool and for others. They all did a tremendousjob and were great at helping make the campaigna success. The volunteers were:

Aqsa Ali (8B), Areej Dar (8A), IsmahanAbdirahman (8A) & Shukri Ali (8B).

At one point, students were requested to bring incans and packets of food to the school, to begiven to the Trust and then distributed to people.The first few days were a little slow and peoplemay not have seemed very enthusiastic, butover a week, the amount of food brought in by thestudents was astounding and Eden felt extremelyproud of their accomplishment. Thereis no doubt that they have done the school proud.

BIG SOCIETY

Walking into Eden on the 9th March, we were facedwith fanatic cake bearing Edonians.

There was a scramble before lessons began asrows of fabulous sweet delicacies were laid out,enticing students to part with their money for theGreat Eden Comic Relief Bake Off.

The students worked in their individual classes togive us a fantastically fatty week full of treats,charity and lots of fun.

The allure of a class pizza party added to thecompetitive spirit across the school, with studentspushing their best bargaining techniques to selltheir wares.

A grand total of £500 was raised for this fabulouscause, and the lucky winners were Class 7.4 - enjoyyour pizza party girls!

I am proud to be part of big society; I feel more like aparticpator towards our school. Aqsa Ali (8B)

Ammarah Younas in 7.2 - Selling Red Noses

EDONIANS AT THEMUSLIM YOUTHFESTIVALOn Wednesday, 4th March 2015, Shukri Ali,Yasmine El-Hamri and I (Safiyah Ahmed 8B), wereescorted by an officer, along with Ms Mayet and MsAyub, to the headquarters of the MetropolitanPolice - New Scotland Yard in Central London aspart of the Muslim Youth Event, 250 other studentswere also included and so it was a very busy night!Islamic State was discussed and the pupils wereasked to come up with various ways to avoid youngadults or children joining them. Other things likeIslamaphobia were deliberated.

The BBC were also there filming, so it could be puton their 6 series documentary called “The Met”,which will be released this summer.Following the event 20 students from Eden tookpart in the Muslim Youth Festival held at theThistle Hotel, Marble Arch.

By Safiyah Ahmed 8B

Baroness Warsi & our Year 7 Students

The night was a clear success and I cannot wait forthe next get-together! - Shukri Ali 8B

COMIC RELIEF CAKE OFF

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Time to reflect...

SPIRITUALITY AT EDEN

Amongst our constant, busy and all-consuming lives,we often forget to take a moment to move awayfrom it all and reflect on ‘the bigger picture’; thepurpose and meaning of our lives. At Eden, onFriday 27th February we celebrated ‘SpiritualityDay’ to give ourselves this much needed ‘moment’.

The day began with an influx of holy Zam Zam waterand luscious dates to reflect the common staplediet of the blessed Prophet Muhammad (pbuh):dates and water. Students enjoyed an array oflessons all spirituality themed in a variety of ways,looking at Rangoli patterns in Maths, to discussionsof the well-known book and film Life of Pi inHumanities and English. The corridors were coveredin ‘think deeper’ questions causing passers-by tostop and discuss: ‘Are we really the only living beingto bury our dead?’

Lastly, as the day came to an end, we celebratedthe beautiful life of our blessed Prophet Muhammad(pbuh), focussing particularly on his graceful

character and conduct with others. ‘Sent as a Mercyto Mankind’ (Al-Quran), it was both humbling andinspiring to have this time to rethink our own actionsand how much we needed to work on ourselves so wecould imitate the man we call our Prophet; someonewho we aspire to follow. It was also fascinating tosee just how many well-known, learned andrespected people in history had so many admiringand honourable things to say about him: Ghandi,George B. Shaw, Annie Besant, Rev. R. B. Smith andLamartine. Here I wish to leave you with one ofLamartine’s famous quotes on our Prophet (pbuh):‘If greatness of purpose, smallness of means,astounding results are the criteria of human gen-ius, who could dare to compare any great man inmodern history than Muhammad (pbuh)?’

What does spirituality mean to you?Spirituality to me is something which is within aperson which guides him towards goodness, keepshim away from what’s wrong and gives him a verypure, clean outlook on life.How do you promote spirituality in your widercommunity?You can promote spirituality by encouraging peopleto do good things and for us that’s very much infollowing the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu-Alayhi-Wassalam). So in terms of being spiritual, a way inwhich a person can achieve it is by doing things likepraying regularly, reading the Qur’an, and having aconstant remembrance in his mind and in his heartof his Creator.Do you think spirituality should be somethingthat’s celebrated by people everywhere?Yes, I think generally there are many people thatdon’t, but tonnes of people who do, who believe inGod and some believe in different forms of God, butmany people have some form of spirituality andpeople will define it differently, but if we were tocome to some common ground and generalgoodness within one’s heart, then that should becelebrated everywhere.

INTERVIEW WITHMOULANA MUHAMMED

Did Spirituality Day generally go well in school andhow could it go better?I think Spirituality Day went really well, it was agood day we had a really nice, new outlook onthings, we had the dates and water and we had thediscussion on Muhammad (Sallallahu-Alayhi-Wassalam) and his spirituality as well. I think it wasa really good event, it was something different,something that you wouldn’t find anywhere else,unique almost. And I think going forward, this daywould have been better if we had perhaps had itlonger. 30 minutes or so was good but I think if wehad had something longer it would have been better.

Are we planning on doing Spirituality Day everyyear?Yes, we’re hoping to have a Spirituality Day, inwhich we can really side-post aspects of our liveswhich we need to change and make better andtarget different things that Muhammad (Sallallahu-Alayhi-Wassalam) did and by doing differentactivities. I think Mrs Ahmad is really looking forwardto the next one.

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