lampton school · pdf filelampton school newsletter september 2014 ... question and answer...

Lampton School Newsletter

September 2014

Two lucky students, Jonathan Brown, 10K

and Prabhleen Grewal, 9K, were nomi-

nated by Mr Keane, as a part of the Basket-

ball Academy, to participate in an interview

most others would never dream of. Both

students visited the Westminster’s Sky News

Studios to interview the second most pow-

erful man in the country, George Osborne.

Jonathan and Prabhleen participated in a

question and answer session after an informa-

tive discussion from Mr Osborne, the MP for

Tatton. They tested him with a series of ques-

tions that they had prepared earlier. Jonathan

had experience interviewing the President

of the Cayman Islands, but it was a first time

experience for Prabhleen. Both were rather

nervous in what they would and could say,

however, to the Chancellor of the Exchequer

The talk heavily revolved around the promo-

tion of politics among young people. They

said, ‘He was a bit reserved at first’, all talk of

pay scales were completely off the table, ‘but

after a while he warmed to us and had a bit of

a laugh, as he told us about how he “likes bak-

ing with his daughter”, which surprised a few.

Second most powerful man in the country faces Lampton students

However, they had him lost for words when

one student gave him a maths calculation that

was left, let’s say, unanswered. They also saw

a side to him that made them relax a little, the

story of his missing hamster, to which he said,

‘I found it in the basement after a few weeks!’

To round it all off, Jonathan and Prab-

hleen were asked back to the Sky Studios

the following day, to put together a short

video news report of their experience of

the day. They even made it on live televi-

sion, giving a report to the news reporters.

Jonathan seemed quite keen on the po-

litical side of matters and Prabhleen said she

learned a lot more than she knew previous-

ly about George Osborne and his role and

ideas. More than anything, they both gained

a little more confidence in putting forward

their ideas and being confident in speaking

to adults, even if it was to the Prime Minis-

ter’s neighbour and close colleague. It is an

experience that they both would truly rec-

ommend, and perhaps we have our own fu-

ture Prime Minister in our hands, or at least,

a couple of news journalists in the making.

IN THIS ISSUE

Message from the Head

· 2 ·

Trips Galore

· 3 ·

Year 10s Play Live at Sky Studios

· 6 ·

LAMPTON LEAVES OSBORNE LOST FOR WORDS

Report by Amara Randhawa, Year 13

Sept Newsletter.indd 1 01/10/2014 12:59:29

2 Lampton School Newsletter • Sept 2014 •

Students worked in

teams to use their

economic knowl-

edge to win prizes

in the museum

and were also able

to try to lift a real

gold bar worth over

£350,000! They

also took in the

sights and sounds of

the City of London

and visited Canary

Wharf to develop

students’ awareness

of the key financial

districts of London.

Below are just a few pictures that record some of the many varied jobs our Year 11s experienced in the world of work this SeptemberYEAR 11 WORK EXPERIENCE

Bank of England TripAt the end of last term, 35 AS Eco-nomics Students visited the Bank of England, in order to learn about the changing role of the Bank of England in today’s economy.

MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD

Welcome to the first newsletter of the

Autumn Term! An especially warm

welcome to our new Year 7s and their

families as they join the Lampton School

community.

Lampton pupils performed well in the

summer examinations of 2014. At GCSE

progress made by pupils in English and

Mathematics was strong and a high

proportion of pupils, 41%, achieved the

EBac suite of subjects. Over half of last

year’s Y11 pupils achieved 10 or more

subject passes at grades A* - C. 25% of

all grades achieved were either at A or

A* grade – a fantastic achievement.

In the Sixth Form ‘A’ level success has led

to a high number of students gaining

admission to their choice of university:-

Zareen Bhatti, University of Cambridge,

Yara Chaer, King’s College London, Di-

ana Jaganjec, King’s College London,

Lida Kabir, University College London,

Karow Maruf, Imperial College Lon-

don, Saif Masood, University College

London,Congratulations!

Now the hard work begins in earnest for

Y10 & Y11 pupils as they continue with

their preparations for GCSE next sum-

mer. A series of information evenings

have been held with parents/carers of

these year groups outlining the higher

expectations that will be placed on these

pupils with regard to knowledge, rigour,

examination technique and preparation.

Intervention and support activities for

these pupils were also outlined.

Our brand new Sixth Form block is near-

ing completion – this state of the art fa-

cility will not only house teaching rooms

but also a dedicated study support area

for our students.

As ever staff have organised a wide and

varied programme of extra - curricular

enrichment activities, trips and visits.

We look forward to our continued work

in partnership over the coming term as

we strive together to achieve the very best for all our students.

Dame Sue John, Headteacher

Stephen Davis, Associate Headteacher



Twelve Year 9 students had the opportu-

nity to visit Jamie’s Farm recently. Over the

week, pupils had the opportunity to get fully

involved in all aspects of farm life. Each day

started with a feeding round of the cows, pigs,

bulls, ducks and chickens before breakfast.

The rest of the day was spent doing a vari-

ety of jobs around the farm including cook-

ing, gardening, wood chopping, horse work

and hay moving. Every afternoon ended

with a piece of cake and a lovely walk

through the surrounding countryside (and

sometimes a very cold swim in the river!).

The group also got to visit a neighbour-

ing farm and had the opportunity to work

with the sheep – rounding them up and

catching them to be weighed and sorted.

There was also time to enjoy riding on

the quad bike and taking part in the ob-

stacle course challenge. It was a fan-

tastic week for everyone involved!

AS PART OF AN EXTRA-

CURRICULAR TRIP, LAMPTON

KS4 STUdENTS vISITEd THE

EMIRATES STAdIUM ANd

ITS MUSEUM, ObSERvINg

ARSENAL’S PAST gLORIES

INSPIRES ME WEEK -

WORK EXPERIENCE

Twenty-two of our Sixth formers

applied and were offered places on

this work experience scheme which

took place during the last week of

July. On the final day they were

invited to City Hall where they were

split into teams and took part in a

Dragons Den style activity. Lampton

was represented in every team.

‘Now in its third year, InspiresMe

Week is a week-long scheme

where over fifty students intern at

various businesses in the Workspace

portfolio. For many of these

students, InspiresMe Week is not

only their first experience working

in a business but it’s also the first

time they’ve even considered

working in any of the varied

creative, digital, tech and other

industries based at Workspace.’

Jamie’s Farm Trip



In February and May 2014, some of

the students from Lampton took part

in the school’s first “French Exchange”.

This was a new, unique, exciting experience and a great opportunity for the students in Lampton School. It was certainly a great challenge for the French department in terms of trips, and it defi-nitely paid off.

In February, 30 French students came from

Rennes, in France, to Hounslow. They were

met by the 30 Lampton students and met

their exchange partners for the first time.

These students stayed with the Lampton

pupils and their families for a week, dur-

ing which there were many trips for both

parties and everyone took something out

of the enjoyable, yet educational week.

Then in May, Lampton students went to

Rennes, located in the beautiful region

of bretagne in the West of France. This

time, the English students experienced a

French student’s life. Once again students

were reunited with their partners who

previously stayed with them in London.

Also within this week many trips took

place as well as day visits to the French

school. Students had the chance to put

their French into real contexts, stay with

a French family, and completely im-

merse themselves into the French culture.

Students remained in contact with

their partners and some are even go-

ing to privately meet their part-

ners this summer - this has created

very strong bonds between students.

Even now many of the pupils reminisce

about this experience; a student in-

volved said, “It will remain a very memo-

rable time and the best experience ever.”

At the end of that final week, it became

very apparent as to how enjoyable the

trip actually was. Lampton created an

eternal bond with the school in Rennes

which will be continued in years to come.

As Aleksandra said, ‘The French ex-

change was an amazing experience.

I made many new friends and had a

lot of fun. I experienced how it is to

be in a French family and I loved it.‘

‘It was the best trip ever. I am surely staying in

contact with my French friends. Thinking of France

now will bring back lots of memories but as Miss Huet says, this is just the

beginning!’

We were delighted to welcome the Researchers in School train-

ees for their first training day at Lampton. The programme is a

highly prestigious project which got off to an excellent start with

a training week based in King’s College London, and run by staff

from the brilliant Club and Lampton School. The trainees will

be based at Lampton every Wednesday and they will be follow-

ing a Professional Studies course, and a research programme

that will focus on independent enquiry, evidence-based teach-

ing and action research. A key part of the trainees role will also

be to champion university access in their placement schools.

PHD GRADUATES POINT THE WAY TO SUCCESS

Lampton French Exchange 2014



YEAR 8 PUPILS LEAD

THE WAY

“I am amazed and heartened by

the AR stats; they prove that there

is a strong correlation between

reading ability and performance in

class– in most cases the best read-

ers are those that are now excel-

ling in their writing.”

R. Ahmed (Teacher of English)

I’m increasing my vocabulary

every time I read a new book. With

all the books in levels, it is easier to

find the right book for me”

Simin ( 1st prize)

Caption ut wisi enim ad minim veniam nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit

AR ACCELERATED READER Accelerated Reader is a software pro-

gramme produced by Renaissance Learn-

ing to monitor reading progress. Each

book is computer analysed to assign a

level of difficulty, taking in to account fac-

tors such as length of words and sentences.

Each pupils takes a Star Reading Assessment,

which establishes their reading level and

there are quizzes based on the books to test

understanding. Here at Lampton AR is be-

ing used as a tool for further promoting a

reading culture, motivating children to read

and finding the right book at the right level.

Class timetables have been changed to in-

clude 20 minutes of reading time where

pupils drop Everything and Read; essential

for pupils to progress in the programme.

AR was initially piloted with one class in late

April, 2013 to establish the programme for

pupils, staff, administration and operational

aspects before it could be rolled-out to Ms

Welch’s year 7 group. The pilot required key

staff to lead the project and training for tutors,

English teachers and dEAR session teachers.

The Library staff were tasked with updat-

ing stock; relabelling of books and purchas-

ing more fiction and non-fiction books

to support the AR level requirements.

Finally in September 2013, the entire cohort

of 220 Year 7’s (now Year 8’s) were Star test-

ed and the AR programme was in full action!

Pupils have been reading in their dedi-

cated Reading Lessons in the Library.

Their English teachers do short inter-

views with them to discuss and encour-

age them to read books in their reading

level range and set targets to increase their

reading ability. Once pupils have taken a

quiz, they move on to read more books.

Every 100% pass means they can collect

a prize from the Library! Every week quiz

results are shared with the tutors and pu-

pils and display boards around the school

are updated in a Champions List which

shows the top 50 readers in the year group.

At end of term assemblies, pupils are re-

warded for reading the most books, read-

ing the most words and having the most

number of 100% quiz passes—Yes, reading

wins you prizes at Lampton! Year 8 (now

9) ended the successful first year of AR at

with a final awards assembly on 11th July.

by Ms P Randhawa

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE AN ACCELERATED READER

Take a Star test to establish a reading

level

Ensure you have 2 AR books to read

in your reading range every day

Have your reading record in school

at all times

Read in silence during DEAR sessions

Make good notes in reading records

Read them before taking a quiz

Quiz within 24 hours of finishing a

book

When you pass with 100% get your

reading record signed by staff

Return or renew your books on time!

“by October this year all KS3 pu-pils will be in the AR Programme. Thanks to everyone who has

made AR such a success!”

THE IMPACT

IN 10 MONTHS:-

174 million words read

792,000 words read on average

4486 books read

20 books each on average

Average Book level – 4.7 Average book length - 39,000 words

69% of quizzes above 80%

37 % of quiz scores at 100%

Average quiz accuracy – 79%



LAMPTON gIRLS ROCK SKY

Six Year 10 Students were invited to per-

form at Sky Arts Sessions, and from their

arrival at Sky Studios, the Lampton girls

were all treated like stars. greeted at the

gates by the entertainment production

co-ordinator they were then escorted to

their very own green room, kitted out

with a guitar table and a violin lampshade!

The girls were brought water and told

to relax whilst their team of road-

ies and runners set up their equipment

for them (which we had had to load

into our mini bus ourselves at school).

Once in the studio they were introduced

to the floor manager who made them

all feel very relaxed and they began their

set. They performed 2 songs a couple of

times and were recorded by about 8 cam-

eras and a team of 30+ people watching!

The girls coped amazingly with the pres-

sure and didn’t flinch when the camera

man put the camera right in their faces.

The girls provided an opportunity for the

technical team to rehearse in prepara-

tion for the sky arts sessions later on.

The staff were so impressed by the students professionalism and mu-sicianship and could not believe

they were only 14.

Avani doel, who played drums for the

band, said it was, “An amazing experience.”

Six Year 10 girls playing live at the Sky Arts Sessions



WOMEN CAN DO

DAY - 2014 › The keynote speaker was Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE – she is chief executive of Mitie group.

› She is 35th most power-ful business woman in the world according to Fortune Magazine!

› She came to us as part of Speakers for Schools.

› We had a further 35 pro-fessional women who all did speed dates with the year 11 girls and then some workshops

Students at Lampton School will soon

be taught about money and personal fi-

nance, after it was announced that the

school has been chosen to become a

Centre of Excellence in financial educa-

tion as part of a ground-breaking part-

nership between the UK’s leading finan-

cial education charity pfeg (Personal

Finance Education group) and Santander.

The announcement means that the school

will work with pfeg’s educational spe-

cialists to create a detailed programme

of financial education for their students

and integrate the teaching of personal fi-

nance into the school curriculum. Teach-

ers will be supported in the delivery of

effective personal finance lessons and

learning activities, drawing on the char-

ity’s 14 years experience of supporting

educators in the schools across the UK.

Santander is supporting the development of

Lampton School to achieve pfeg Centre of

Excellence* status in the next year, turning

it into a beacon of best practice in teaching

children and young people about money.

The school, one of 40 across the country

set to benefit from the programme, will

also be supported in sharing its new exper-

tise with other schools in the local area to

benefit the wider educational community.

dame Sue John, Headteacher at Lampton

School, said:

“Lampton School prides itself on preparing

our students for life, and to make sure they

are equipped for the challenges of manag-

ing their personal finances that has to in-

clude high quality financial education. We

are extremely pleased to be working towards

becoming a pfeg Centre of Excellence in fi-

nancial education – this will be a great addi-

tion to our offering and will make a big dif-

ference to students, now and in the future.”

Tracey bleakley, pfeg (Personal Finance

Education group) chief executive, said:

“We are delighted that Lampton School has

joined our Centre of Excellence programme

through our partnership with Santander.

The work that staff will be doing with our

educational specialists over the coming

months will be of enormous benefit to stu-

dents, with financial education set to be

firmly embedded into the curriculum. Our

aim is to ensure that all students enter adult

life with the skills, knowledge and confi-

dence they need to manage money well.”

A spokesperson for Santander said:

“At Santander we believe it is important for

everyone to have good basic money man-

agement skills, but particularly young peo-

ple who are encountering money earlier

than ever. We recognise that teaching young

people requires specialist delivery and the

Centres of Excellence programme offers a

tailored programme using materials that

have been designed by education experts

that complement the existing curriculum.”

Lampton School to become a Centre of Excellence

in Financial Education



5

12

19

26

6Occasional day: Eid School site closed

13English ‘A’ Level conference

20Art trip to Kew gardens

27

7Open Morning

14

21

28

1Year 11 Parents’ Evening16:30 - 19:30

8Early closure for students at 1pm due to Year 6Open Evening18:00 - 20:30

15Yr 10 History trip to berlin15th - 18th

22Sixth FormOpen Evening17:00 - 20:00

29

2

909:15 Late start for studentsfollowing Open Evening

16Yr 9 Parents’ Evening16:30 - 19:30

23geography trip to Lake district

30

3

10Art trip to the Museum of London

17

24

31

4

SUNdAY MONdAY TUESdAY WEdNESdAY THURSdAY FRIdAY SATURdAY

11

18

25

OCTObER

HALF-TERM 27/10/14 - 2/11/14


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