summer newsletter 2012

St Angela’s Newsletter

Summer 2012

in this issue . . .150th Celebration Sports Day Olympic Events

Olympics are nearly here! See how our students have been getting involved

Rain couldn’t stop play!Great fun was had by all!

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Dear Parents & Carers,We reach the end of a momentous year for the school. With celebrating our 150th year, being so involved in the run up to the Olympics, making changes to uniform (next year’s Year 10 blazer), switching canteen provision and the rebuilding of the school reception, it has been an incredibly busy year for the school! The year has been crowned by the recently received official confirmation that our 2011 results, placed us once again in the top 10% of schools in the country. Of course the 2012 exam season has only just finished and we are naturally eagerly awaiting this year’s summer results, I am sure they will reflect the hard work all our students put into their public examinations.

I want to take a moment to thank you, parents and carers, for all your hard work at home in supporting your daughter through this challenging time. As ever, the hard work of the school and all the extra support your daughter gets from us would be severely limited if it was not for all you do.You will find within this bumper summer edition of the newsletter a vast array of the fantastic experiences of our students. I am constantly amazed about the sheer scale and variety of the wonderful opportunities on offer for the students. I am very proud to inform you that St Angela’s have once again won the 2012 Debate Mate National Competition, the Newham Schools’ Basketball Tournament as well as local swimming and athletic competitions. The students of the school and the sixth form have all had great fun getting involved in Olympic test events and music performances. With just weeks to go, 165 students now have tickets for the Games and many sixth formers and staff will be playing their part in the great event as volunteers.

All of the above, and much more that you will find within, are a great testament to the strength of the school and the outstanding staff we have. I wish to pay special tribute to two staff members who retire this year. Mrs Ovington (Head of Art) & Pat Nolleth (Head Cleaner) have served the school for 35 & 28 years respectively. They are both greatly loved in the school for the care they have shown for the students and staff of the school over those years and will be greatly missed next year. We wish them a very happy and enjoyable retirement and thank them for their embodiment of the spirit of Serviam.

I wish you and your families a very restful yet fun filled extended summer holiday, I hope you greatly enjoy the Olympic games and I look forward to welcoming your daughter back on Wednesday 5th September for the first day of the student term.

Yours in service

Mark JohnsonHeadteacher

St Angela’s Summer Newsletter 2012

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St Angela’s 150th Anniversary Celebrations

For several years now we had eagerly awaited the 150th anniversary of the school, conscious of how privileged we are to be here at this moment in time and slightly anxious to ensure we ‘did ourselves proud’.As we prepared for the event we delved into the school, Ursuline sisters and OBA (Old Brownie Association) archives, to find a rich photographic history of the school, some of which you can see above. This really brought home a great sense of the passage of time and the wonderful journey this school has been on since the Ursulines arrived in 1862. The fete for the students, the Saturday service and tea party for the Old Brownies and the big day itself with all our guests culminated to create a wonderful and fitting celebration of St Angela’s, and as I stood before St Angela herself (in the side chapel of the Church of St Angela) in Brescia Italy it really brought home what an amazing history we have in the school and the work started by our great saint nearly 500 years ago.I must finish by paying tribute to the wonderful staff of the school. Though I greatly enjoyed thinking up how we would celebrate such an event, the staff of the school made this a reality and, as always, without their tireless dedication to St Angela’s this momentous event would not have been as wonderful.We dedicate ourselves now to the next 150 years and to all the girls who will come to this school and go on to live their lives in the spirit of St Angela & ‘Serviam’. Mark Johnson - Headteacher

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As part of the 150th St Angela’s celebrations, the Ursuline Cup was resurrected – in years gone by the Ursuline Schools would play a variety of sports against one another in the hope of winning the cup, a highlight of the sporting year. It was decided that a Year 7 netball tournament would take place in order to see who the winner of the cup would be in 2012. After returning from Mass the very successful St Angela’s team (at Newham League and tournament levels) warmed up. With good weather conditions it was set to be a great tournament. The first game saw a narrow loss, but gave the girls the hunger and spirit to go on and put in a sterling performance in the matches that followed. Our defence was outstanding with Isha Bell preventing the attack on opposing teams any chance of attacking play, mid court play by Kira Elliot and Sandy Wallis was fast paced with good movement to the attacking circle where Ralista Angelova and Melanie De Campos capitalised with some excellent shooting putting our goal tally for the event high. With one game to go the team were very nervous, would we place 1st or 2nd?: – it would come down to goal difference, truly nail biting! After securing a win against Wimbledon Ursuline (Miss Lebby’s old team!) Ms Jarvis finalised the results........ It was either St. Angela’s or Wimbledon Ursuline who would take the silverware home and we won by a 1 goal difference. The team were both elated and relieved as the pressure us as hosts was to deliver and the team certainly did that! Well done and let’s keep that Ursuline Cup in St Angela’s next year too!

Miss Lebby

Ursuline Netball Cup

In May this year, there was a tremendous cause for jubilation in the St Angela’s and the Ursuline community, as our school celebrated 150 years since its foundation. The school started off as a humble convent, founded in 1862 by the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, the Netherlands, but soon grew rapidly into a successful and achieving school, much like it still is today.

Although the celebrations were spread over two whole days, the school spent much more time planning and preparing for them. From detailed exhibitions to a time capsule, St Angela’s strived to preserve the wonderful 150th anniversary. Each form class, in every year, wrote a letter to their corresponding class, in 50 years time, and a USB drive full of music from the charts, and school projects was also included in the capsule, which will be opened in 2062!

The festivities started off on Friday 4th May, with some St Angela’s related games, and then there was Mass at St Antony’s for the whole school (we each received

commemorative badges, which everyone loved!). After Mass, the school was treated to an early Summer Fete, with barbecues, games and performances from the school’s drama group, StARS. It was really lively and lots

of fun, and the bad weather didn’t dampen our moods!

But the celebrations didn’t end there, oh no! On Tuesday 8th (the school’s actual 150th anniversary), Mother Cecilia Wang, the Prioress General of the Ursulines, made a special visit to the school, and some of the pupils were even lucky enough to meet and talk to her. Another Mass took place

to commemorate the school’s anniversary, except this time, many distinguished guests

attended: former headteachers, Ursuline nuns from across the world and even some past pupils! The atmosphere was really brilliant, and it was fantastic to see so many people turn up to celebrate 150 years since the founding of St Angela’s, and I now look forward to the opening of the time capsule, for the school’s 200th anniversary!

St Angela’s 150th Anniversary - a student’s view

By Mia (8 Britton)


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Best support and Banner Winners:

10 SAWAHLA9 WHARTON

8 AYRES7 WHITBREAD

individual Champions10 FINETTE

9 ELI 8 HELEN

7 CHANNELLE

Sports Day 2012This year St Angela’s annual sports day, held on Friday 22nd June at Newham Leisure Centre, had an Olympic theme.

Winning Forms:10 KNIGHLEY9 WHARTON8 BRITTON

7 SANDERSON

This year at Sports Day we were celebrated the athletes and cultures of the London 2012 Games, with each year group representing a continent and each form class a country.

The five interlocking rings represent the five main regions brought together by the Olympic Movement: Africa, the Americas (North and South America combined), Asia, Europe and Oceania. As it says in the Olympic Charter, the five-ringed symbol “represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games.” The five rings, coloured blue, yellow, black, green, and red on a white field represent the flags of the countries that participate in the Olympics. Every flag of a country participating in the Olympics includes one of those colours.

There was a competition for all pupils to enter. They had to design their own flag, which had to include the following:Serviam badge, Olympic rings, Continent name & Theme (relating to their year group)

Year 7 – Yellow – the AmericasYear 8 – Blue – Asia

Year 9 – Green – EuropeYear 10 – Red – Oceania

Staff – Africa

The flags and banners were used to start the day with our own 2012 opening ceremony! There was a huge amount of imagination, creativity and colours on display in the students banners & t-shirts. Congratulations to all pupils and staff for making sports day 2012 a memorable one!

Olympic theme

Flag Competition Winners

Year 10: AMANDA Year 9: RAJNI Year 8: AMY

Year 7: OLAYINKA

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10 months ago I was identified as the young person to represent Newham for Adidas’ advertising campaign ‘Take The Stage’. The project has 32 young people from different boroughs. Talented in many things as artists, singers and bmx riders. As part of the project, on Thursday 8th March I was lucky enough to train with two elite GB athletes - Goldie Sayers (Javelin Thrower) and Chris Tomlinson (Long Jumper) in Uxbridge.

I was really excited yet anxious because I didn’t know what to expect and knowing there were cameras filming everything I did, I didn’t want to slip up.

I trained with Goldie first. Warming up with a professional athlete, I was able to learn new stretches and drills useful for the event. Whilst training I could ask questions about Goldie’s experiences and tips for the future. She said that I was “ very coordinated” and that I was “the most impressive javelin throwing heptathlete she’d seen in a long time.” I was thrilled!

Then I trained with Chris Tomlinson who also represents Newham and Essex Beagles Athletics Club (my club too). I learnt a lot more about the technique used for long jump than I did before, in a fun relaxed way. Training with Chris boosted my confidence in long jump because he told me I had the necessary speed and power therefore when I have confidence and put effort into the jump I will always jump further!

Considering I had my GCSE PE practical moderation immediately before this, I think I did well. The experience as a whole was truly amazing and a real eye opener on how far I can go if I put in the effort and hard work.

So “Go for gold because achieving is only believing!”

Emma

it’s Finally out!Adidas #TakeTheStage

If you want to watch my video go onto the Adidas UK website > take the stage > load more news > Emma OR

Adidas presents Take The Stage: Emma trains with Goldie Sayers and Chris Tomlinson

Emma with Chris Tomlinson

Emma with Goldie Sayers

Emma has been selected to represent Essex at the prestigious English Schools’ Championships. She will be competing in the

Hurdles and Relay...good luck Emma!


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maths’ trip to Forest schoolTwelve year 12 and 13 students attended the lecture ‘Don’t Believe This Talk’ on Tuesday 29th March in Forest School. This was a fantastic opportunity to see an entertaining speaker in the field of science and mathematics, Steve Mould. The students left the school’s theatre truly inspired and enthused about the prospect of studying a mathematical subject at university.

After a year of serious study it was about time our year 13 Spanish students took some time out with their Spanish teachers to sit back and relax in the Spanish way with delicious authentic Spanish tapas and some incredible live flamenco music in a real Spanish tapas bar in London! Great fun was had by all and we savoured amazing food and melodies all night. ¡Viva España!

Time for Tapas… stop press!St Angela’s Year 10 Debate team has just won the Deutsch Bank National Debate Mate Cup for the second year running. Over 150 schools from London, Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester take part in the competition so we are absolutely delighted to win this prestigious and competitive trophy again!

St Angela’s Ursuline School has gained national recognition for being one of the top 10% of schools at adding value to their students’ achievements at GCSE.

By scoring 10 points or more on the SSAT value-added scale for achieving five or more GCSEs at grade A*-C including English and maths.

Every school in the country has been ranked according to how much value they have added to the scores their students were expected to achieve in their

GCSE results in 2011. This is determined by the progress students in a school have made between their test results at age 11 and 16, according to the measure used by SSAT — the representative body for schools.

“St Angela’s Ursuline School is one of the best schools in the country at outperforming expectations for their pupils and improving their future prospects. There is plenty that other schools could learn from St Angela’s Ursuline School’s success.” Sue Williamson, Chief Executive of SSAT

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OlympiC NEwS

uK sChool gamesOn Tuesday 9th May the PE Department took 45 year 8 pupils to the Olympic Park for the annual UK School Games. After checking through security the group made their way to the Olympic Stadium, which now completed everyone agreed looks amazing! The group watched athletes competing in a range of different events such as high jump, javelin and sprinting as well as wheelchair events and although it started to rain we had great seats under cover! The atmosphere was great and the group were involved with a few Mexican waves!

At the end of the morning athletics session the group walked through the Olympic Park to the Aquatics Centre were we watched short and long course swimming as well as some exciting relays to round off the day!

one stage one event On Saturday 21st April Miss Lebby and Mr Johnson took a group of 20 pupils to the ‘Copperbox’ Handball Centre at the Olympic Park, as part of ‘One Stage One Event’ – an event which invited pupils from Newham Schools and all other Olympic Host Borough Schools to take part in a multi-

sports event. The venue was hugely impressive, sure to wow the handball audience and was a great setting for all the activities on offer. During the day girls got to take part in a range of taster activities such as table tennis, handball, dance, rowing, race cycling and sports hall athletics to name but a few! It was a full and very active day and was a great chance for pupils to get to know pupils from other London Boroughs. One of the highlights was St Angela’s winning the Olympic Facts Quiz which saw Kia Commodore win a JD Sports Voucher!


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The Gospel Choir were one of five choirs selected from almost FORTY choirs to perform at the Sains-bury’s School Games 2012 at the Olympic Park on 9th May 2012. They performed in front of the new Aquatics Centre and also at the Closing Ceremony in the Basketball Arena in front of 6,000 people. They sang five songs including ‘The World’s Great-est’ by R Kelly and ‘Rollin’ in the Deep’ by Adele.

Earlier in the day, the girls were able to spectate at the 80,000-seater Athletics Stadium and see the

next generation of UK athletes competing on world-class facilities.

For the Closing Ceremony, they shared the same stage as Cover Drive, who later performed their hit singles ‘Twilight’ and ‘Sparks’. SpelBound (Winners of Britain’s Got Talent 2010) and Jonathan Edwards (world record holder in the triple jump) were also on stage. It was truly a wonderful experience and one they will never forget.

Young Games MakersThe Young Games Makers have taken on the role of volunteering for the Paralympic Games in August and September. They will be part of a 6000 strong technology team of which 3600 are volunteers. They will be working in one of the biggest teams at the Paralympic Games, helping to distribute results to a variety of clients on the day, which will for example enable the broadcasters to relay detailed information about the different athletes to the

viewers at home or for a medal ceremony to take place. So, they have a job, which requires great responsibility and focus. At one of the training events, the pupils were told that if they

did their job properly it is unlikely that anyone one talk about them, so I’m sure they will become one of the unsung heroines of the Games. So, during the Paralympic Games, if you see one of the volunteers dressed smartly in her uniform heading to Excel, she could be a St. Angela’s girl. Congratulations to Samia, Michele, Janet, Elaine, Francesca, Eddisia, Lauren, Hilary, Maddie and Susan.

the gospel Choir at the school games 2012

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Wednesday, 22nd March, a group of St Angela’s girls made their way towards the Aquatic Stadium in the Olympic village. The group consisted of GCSE PE & Dance pupils, as well as an array of girls chosen by their PE teachers. The Diving World Cup was one of many Olympic and Paralympic Test events arranged throughout the year

in preparation for the Games this summer. We made our way through security excited and anxious to be inside the stadium and a stones throw away from the main athletics stadium. The warmth from the pools hit us full on as we entered the Aquatics stadium and took our seats. We even had a privilege of watching the other divers (who were preparing for the other heat competitions) who had travelled from all over the world to take place in the world cup. Those training consisted of springboard platform and the spell-binding synchronised divers.

Then as the semi finals got underway, a camera scanned across the stadium picking out individuals from the spectators to display on the big screen: St Angela’s girls were real favourites! This was when we spotted, Tom Daley and fellow Team GB divers on the other side of the stadium supporting their team mates. The competition was spread over 6 rounds and the independent judges marked the contestants on their takeoffs. Tumbles and entries (looking out for the perfect ‘riping-entry!’) After the hours of commitment and years of training, Team GB secured one diver from the Men’s Spring board team, Jack Laughter through to the final, and you can be sure the home crowd gave him a much deserved land deafening cheer! By Lucia

18th FINA World Cup semi-finals of Men’s 3M spring board diving

stars – “live like Champions”On Tuesday 26th June, StARS Theatre Company (girls in Year 9) gave two performances of “Live Like Champions” – a play with songs about the life of Saint Angela. The story of the play had been devised by the cast, whilst the songs chosen ranged from Queen to gospel music!

The performance brought Saint Angela’s story closer to home by focusing on the story of a talented dancer whose very strict parents are reluctant for her to attend rehearsals after school – instead wanting her to concentrate on more traditional subjects. She is inspired by the words of her PE teacher, who was played by the same actress as Saint Angela. There was also a sporting theme to tie in with the Olympics and the Olympic values.

The girls’ hard work and dedication throughout the year ensured that the performances were a tremendous success. The girls certainly lived up to the school’s motto for the year: only commitment wins gold!


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6th Formers to perform at Olympic Opening Ceremony Back in November St. Angela’s and St. Bonaventure’s 6th Form Centre were invited to audition a group of young people for the chance to perform at the Olympic Opening Ceremony. After two auditions they were successfully chosen to be part of the biggest show on earth. The group has been practising weekly since April, supported by staff members at St. Angela’s who have acted as their chaperones at each session. At the end of June the rehearsals became more frequent and will build as we get closer to Friday 27th July. Of course what they are doing on the day is a surprise but they will be participating in one of the very exciting sections, so you’ll just have to look out for them.

Here are some of the thoughts of the girls involved:

‘It has been a wonderful and thrilling experience! Having such young and enthusiastic dance

captains, not only raises our spirits but also creates a huge impact on our development and self

confidence!’ Adithya S.

‘So far the rehearsals are going great, the dance is coming along and it looks good. I’m so grateful to be there and to take part, The stadium looks great, can’t wait for the show day!’ - Francesca A.

‘This whole experience is unforgettable and it’s worth while!’ - Anna-Joi P

‘Where do I begin, My experience has been fantastic. Rehearsing in preparation for the ceremony has been absolutely amazing and so much fun. I’ve had the chance to work with great choreographers and meet new

people. Rehearsals are always enjoyable and I love learning and perfecting all our routines. I’m so glad I took up the opportunity to participate in this big show and I wouldn’t trade it in for anything. It’s been awesome!!’ -

Theresa B

Congratulations and good luck to all the performers involved who are: Adithya, Dalanda, Anna-Joi, Gifty, Dorcas, Jakiya, Mariella, Francesca A, Theresa Boakyewaa, Tahira, Sedudzi, Francesca U, Adaora, Shynell, Chloe, Jaini and Beverly.

Also many thanks to all the staff chaperones who have given up their time over the months of rehearsals: Ms Jarvis, Ms Owen, Ms Bacon, Ms Brennan, Ms Turvey, Ms Steedman, Ms Moyter, Ms Sohi, Ms P. Kerr, Ms Hawkins, Ms Bangura, Mr. McCarthy, Ms Warin, Ms Charles, Ms Chernanko, Ms S Kerr, Ms McWalter, Ms Hall and Ms Boyd.

Without you all, this opportunity would simply not be possible for our students.Yvette Jarvis

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A group of students in Year 10 have spent the year completing their Bronze Arts Award with Mr Bellamy. The girls have performed a drama in the Christmas liturgy, been to the theatre, completed an arts apprenticeship, and researched their arts heroes and heroines before uploading their presentations to the MLE. For their arts apprenticeship, the girls planned and delivered warm-ups at the beginning of Year 7 drama lessons. Their work was seen by an external moderator on Monday 11th June and all of the girls passed. We invited the girls’ parents and other teachers to a celebration after school when the girls chatted about the work they had done over tea and cakes!

Kirsty said: “I really enjoyed the experience. Drama has helped to improve my confidence.”

This year, the sixth form has participated in the New Views playwriting competition, which was organised by the National Theatre and involved schools from across the UK. Before Christmas, ten students attended twilight

sessions at school focusing on all aspects of playwriting, for example, creating interesting characters and writing dialogue. The students also attended two performances at the National Theatre.

The students were mentored by the award-winning novelist and playwright Nell Leyshon. Nell was extremely positive about all of our students, very excitingly, Mia Smith’s play – The Regime – was chosen as one of eight runners-up in the competition. Mia’s play was given a rehearsed reading by professional actors at the National Theatre at the beginning of July.

Successful Playwright – Mia (Year 12)

Shakespeare in YorubaOn Thursday 24th May, Yoruba speakers in Years 7 and 8, along with some of their parents, went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to see a performance of “The Winter’s Tale” by Ren-egade Theatre. The company is from Lagos in Nigeria. The play had been renamed “Itan Oginintin” which is the Yoruba transla-tion. The story of the play was infused with traditional Yoruba folklore, dance and myths. Leontes, the king of Sicilia, and his wife Hermione were re-imagined as Sango, the Yoruba God of Thunder, and Oya, the Goddess of the Wind. To celebrate the occasion, some of the girls – and their parents, Ms Owen and Mr Bellamy – wore traditional African clothes.Outside Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

Bronze Arts Award

Kirsty completing her Arts

Apprenticeship

The Arts Award Celebration

DRAMA NEWSNew Views Playwriting Competition


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Winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Award Sita Brahmachari really enjoyed her visit to St Angela’s last year after the publication of Artichoke Hearts, that she asked to come back to talk about the follow up novel Jasmine Skies. She talked about her experience and love of India, her father who came from Calcutta, growing up in the Lake District and how all this history came together and inspired her writing. The highlight of the visit was when she brought out a beatutiful Indian bag, which she passed round the students and as they pulled out the contents she described how those little mementos from her family life, her visit to India, inspired scenes in the book.

International author Jodi Picoult, perhaps best known for her book My Sister’s Keeper which was made into a Hollywood blockbuster starring Cameron Diaz, has written a book with her 16 year old daughter Samantha Van Leer. Between the Lines is Jodi’s first book for young adults and is about what happens when happily ever after…isn’t. Our year 7 and 8 girls had a fantastic afternoon listening to both Jodi and Samantha talk about the book and how it all came together. Afterwards there was an opportunity to get a book signed by both of them.

TLC NEWS

For the Year 9 & 10 St Angela’s Athletic team, 2012 was an eventful season. It had been a long time since any of our age groups had got to the quarter-finals of this very tough competition. However, perhaps the girls were inspired by the Olympics coming to our doorstep, and out of 514 senior teams in England, St Angela’s managed to secure a spot in the next round. The girls were absolutely phenomenal and lost out to the winning team by just 3 points. The team now takes all the knowledge they have gained from this competition and will be back next season with a vengeance.

events:

english sChools athletiC Cup

name event 1 event 2

Kimberley R Hurdles JavelinCamille F Hurdles Triple JumpDoyin O 100m Long JumpAbigail A 200m Long JumpEvelyn A 200m ShotFinette A 300m Triple JumpAmber B 300m Javelin Ellie W 800m High JumpBrenda K 800m DiscusMaria D 1500m DiscusMilene G 1500m High Jump T. S/T. A 100m Shot Putt

Well done to all the girls, what a great year they have had!Miss C Charles

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The Year 10 Young Enterprise Team

In April this year a group of year 7 & 8 students

sailed across the English Channel for the day to visit Calais, a town in northern

France. It was a fabulous day with warm weather and fun activities which included eating a delicious meal at a French restaurant, visiting a traditional lace museum and catching some rays on the beach. Fantastique!

Calais trip 2012

Year 7 Futsal Team left school in fantastic spirits in the mini-bus heading for Hornchurch Leisure Centre to face Essex Schools in the Essex County FA Competition. The team played fearlessly with fantastic defensive clears by Grace Baby and consistent safe hands from Chidera their goal keeper. Iasha was our lead scorer with Tiffany scoring the goal of the match. As the tournament progressed the team stepped up their game winning against Sandon 3-0! Unfortunately, our two losses against Sandon cost us valuable points. The team came 5th overall out of the 12 teams entered. They were the true shining stars of the tournament though winning the Fair Play Award - proof they entered into the true spirit of the competition. I was proud of our team who demonstrated tireless stamina and determination against some challenging teams. They have true potential and a real chance at becoming Futsal champions in 2013!

the year 7 Futsal team:grace, lavinia,

Chidera,guylaine,

iasha,tiffany,

Fa u12 Futsal team 22nd March

(JUXTA) entered the Young Enterprise Innovation Awards at Barking & Dagenham and Newham London Final on Wednesday 28th March. They were being assessed on the Trade Stand, Company Report, a Presentation by chosen members of the team, Best Team in Newham and Best Team in East London. After spending the day meeting the judges and giving a presentation to the finalists the team anxiously waited on the judges’ decision. They won “Best Company Report” and came runners-up in the category for “Trade Stand” & “Best Team in Newham”. Well done to the whole team for a successful year of business! Their badge making company has proven to be highly profitable and popular around the school with both pupils and teachers.

Mr M. Soares


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The Cheerleaders competed in the Spring Cheer & Dance Showcase on Thursday, 29 March, at the Olympic venue of ExCeL London. The showcase was a chance for the cheerleaders of Newham to celebrate their work and achievements and also compete. Our team consisted of 30 year 7 & 8, some of whom had only had a few weeks experience cheerleading. Rehearsals for the St Angela’s team had been a little fraught leading up to the competition and we felt unsure whether we were truly ready to compete at our best. However, St Angela’s under the guidance of coach Lucy proved they could handle the pressure and worked together cramming in extra rehearsals and effort to come out on top and win the competition in a close final!Well-done St Angela’s!

The St Angela’s All Stars cheerleading team also performed on 26th June at the opening ceremony at Cumberland primary schools collective sports day. The day was a great celebration with drama acts, singing and steel pans. The St Angela’s All Stars with energy and charisma. Miss C Charles

the year 8 trip to the newham leisure centreA few selected members from Year 8 were chosen to participate in a multisports fun day at the Newham Leisure Centre. Many schools participated throughout the day, we started of by splitting off in to different groups so we could try the different activities. We tried Areo cycling, Zumba dancing, street dance, cheerleading, yoga, trampolining, weights, and heart racer exercises. This trip was very interesting because I got to try new sports that I never would have thought I would do, overall this trip was a heart racer! Yasmine (8 Durrant)

Cheerleading event

Once again St Angela’s stamped their dominance at the Newham Schools tournament with 1st places for the Junior and Senior team. In the Newham League the team of ballers

took the 1st place for the year 7, 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 teams. St Angela’s reputation started to spread and the schools in Hackney challenged our Year 7 team to battle their Year 7s. St Angela’s Year 7s, always up for the challenge, took them up and came out the winners of that Challenge Cup (well done Year 7!).

Meanwhile the under 16s and the under 15s were unfortunately knocked out by Grieg City Academy on their quest to the National title that the St Angela’s girls had won last year 2011. The under 15s lost by 1 point, making the girls really want to start next season as they have the National Trophy 2013 firmly in their view.EVELYN ADEBAYO represented ENGLAND in a NATIONAL TOURNAMENT in POLAND.BRENDA KIPEWU represented ENGLAND development team in a NATIONAL TOURNAMENT in DENMARK.Miss C Charles

BasKetBall Multisports Fun Day

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So where to start? The beginning, a little chapter I like to call ‘the hunt begins’. We emerged barely unscathed from the morning tube rush to our destination, but we didn’t have time to recuperate

until the hunt began for the Debate Mate venue – the London School of Economics. After a few wrong turns we finally made it to the next chapter, ‘let the games begin’. Let me start by telling you a bit about the competition. We have 4 debates, if we win the first three, we then move on to the finals. Our team in speaker order: is Charmaine, Celina, Jemima, Sonie. They are being helped to prepare by Leonora Joseph and myself.

So there we were, after the first three debates, the judges deliberated and made up their minds. And the finalists are … ST ANGELA’S! You can of course imagine our shock. On top of this we had achieved the highest number of

speaker points by far. Over 200 schools take part in the Debate Mate programme and we were in the top two that went to the finals of one of the London rounds! Now for the last chapter ‘the finals’. This was the big one. We worked very hard to get here and we were not going

to let it slip through our fingers. After a head to head debate with Central Foundation School For Boys the winners were chosen and they were, you guessed it - Central Foundation School for Boys. Only joking. ST ANGELA’S of course! Now I would like to again say that over 200 schools entered the programme and we, st Angelas Ursuline School, won the London cup. Words can’t describe the joy we felt. We were now on our way to the England finals, but that’s a story for another day.

Yvonne (year10)

the debate mate london Cup

sCienCe neWsOn 14th June, twelve students and two teachers, Miss Motyer and Mr Sudall, took part in the Queen Mary’s University Science and Technology Challenge Day. We competed against 6 schools in Newham to create working robots, build functional motor cars, solve crimes using forensic science skills and build the strongest bridge. I particularly enjoyed making the robot because we got to programme it, and it’s really fascinating that they are used in the real world to detect bodies in a fire. The bridge challenge was difficult but really interesting as well. We were commended for our use of initiative, imagination and creativity under time pressure, and as a school we won three out of the four tasks!Cecilia (year 9)

homeWorK CluB aChievementsOver the last few months a number of KS3 girls with an excellent record of attendance at Homework Club were selected participate in the AQA ‘Homework Study Skills’ Unit Award.

Congratulations to the following students who all participated and will soon receive the certificate for the award:

Chiamaka - 7 TORSimisoluwa - 7 ENN

Monica - 7 ENNSophie - 8 FEDKarina - 8 AYRIdia - 8 AYR

Karen - 8 PARGabriele - 8 FEDDanielle - 9 ANG

Throughout the unit all students displayed impressive commitment, enthusiasm and positive attitudes.We are looking forward to seeing the next group of students achieve the award!

If you are interested in participating or in hearing more about what’s involved, please see Miss MacMillan in the LSU or at Homework Club in the TLC.


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Judo Competition March 13th

year 13 trip to the national museum of ComputingYear 13 BTEC National Award students spent a day at The National Museum of Computing in Milton Keynes. Students learned about the history of computing from the 1940s to the present day. Students were shown live technology of how codes were intercepted and dycrypted by the German High Command radio during World War 2. Students made many discoveries such as learning Basic Programming Language by coding a game. Overall, the trip was a positive experience and many students gained a deeper understanding of the world of computing. Mrs Ali

The girls were the second school to arrive at Newham College Dojo and after tackling parking issues, lugging heavy judo kit and finding our judo coach Wayne we were ready for anything. The day was organised by the British Judo Association so we got a true insight into how a true judo competition works and for most of our girls it was their first ever judo competition. The first task was for the students to be weighed so they could be put into the right weight category to make the competitions fair. There were five different weight categories and girls from different year groups and the same schools were able to compete against each other. In one category we achieved 1st place Soraya, Nerissa 2nd and Precious 3rd. Overall we got one 1st position, four 2nd positions, 3rd positions and one 4th. Included in the St Angela’s team was Akvile from year 11 who officiated the tourna-ment and holds a British Judo Young Officiators’ Award. She not only looked smart in her official uniform but dem-onstrated maturity and skill in the knowledge of the rules and assisting the British Association. Well done the judo girls, what a fabulous day!

Encouraged by the German Language Assistant Svenja, girls in Year 7, 8 and 9 have started writing to pen pals in the German city Essen (yes, there is a city called ‘food’!). Here you can see some of the Year 9 students opening presents their pen pals had sent them: from Haribo to Kinder-chocolate, from little shopping bags to marzipan and from Bavarian sausages to sweet mustard and Sauerkraut, the German pen pals had made a huge effort to bring Germany a little bit closer to the girls in our school.

german pen pals

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On 13th June 2012 at approximately 11:57pm I discovered that I, Maria (10 Knightley) of not-so-sunny Plaistow, had been selected to be in the English Speaking Union’s Development Squad for the England Schools Team to compete in World Schools’ Debating. By the great level of detail I have chosen to describe this amazing moment, you can tell I was excited! Excitement was the understatement of the century. At that moment I felt an array of emotions-joy, elation, pride and happiness are only a few to name. But mostly I felt astonished.To be honest, I really didn’t expect to get in. I only entered because

it was an amazing opportunity and it would have been a waste to just not try-out. “You never know” is what my fellow debaters said. But I mostly entered because Mrs Pellegrini forced me-thank goodness she did! Moreover. I am extremely happy to say that Zana (10 Knightley) was also accepted into the squad. The first thing I did was sprint and wake my parents up to tell them my amazing news. Unsuccessful, I had to sleep for a whole night with this huge volcano of happiness in my head just begging to erupt. You can imagine that I barely got any rest whatsoever.I was just so jubilant, completely intoxicated with happiness. I just didn’t know what to do with myself. I was on cloud nine. I still haven’t got over it and I probably won’t for a while! By Maria (10 Knightley)

my acceptance to the england development squad for debating

We felt extremely lucky to have had the most per-fect day for the London Youth Games Disability Athletics. With sun cream in hand and decked out in Newham Athletics uniform we waited proudly to compete for Newham. St Angela’s was the main team selected to represent Newham girls, and there was also a good turn out from East lea and Lang-don.

The Newham team competed with determination and grit against the best of the best from London boroughs. There was some great success for Ne-wham including winning gold in the 100m boys race and some many fabulous wins in the wheel-chair races. Our very own Daniela came second in her heat of the 200m running race. Every Newham

competitor competed with their best efforts. The Newham team included Iyanu and Blessing in the shot putt and Grace in the long jump. To finish of the afternoon, Vivian and Daniela competed in the mixed 100m relay team along with two boys from Langdon school.

The standard from the other boroughs was extremely high but this didn’t defeat our fighting spirit as we cheered and cheered Newham team onwards and upwards. The team cohesion from all the schools was fantastic and if there was a praise for team spirit it would have with no doubt gone to Newham. Watch out: Newham is ready for the 2012 games!

london youth games disability athletics 20th June


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SWIMMING

Throughout the past year, I, along with many other Year 10s, have been working towards gaining our Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. At the beginning of the summer term, we went to Danbury, Essex to complete the last stage of the Duke of Edinburgh award, the tiring expedition. My group was full of pure determination and all 7 of us worked together to complete a two day walk. This was filled with

not only hard work, but with stunning scenery and it allowed you to bond with your friends, even when walking through muddy forests, animal-filled fields and steep hills. However this was not the difficult part, we only realised the full extent of this expedition when we set about the task of putting up tents in the extremely windy weather, causing a huge dilemma among our camp. After many attempts to try and pitch a mere single tent, we were

unsuccessful. Only then did we flee to find shelter behind a tree and re-attempt the important mission. We were then successful and the rest of the group followed the plan. I have learnt many things from this expedition about teamwork, communication skills, trust and most importantly, how to find the perfect spot to pitch a tent.

To celebrate the Prince’s Teaching Institute’s 10 Year Anniversary a lecture was held in the Royal Institution on 19th June and 2 teachers, Miss Murtagh and Miss Motyer, and 2 students, Marianna and Katrina, from St Angela’s were invited to attend and play a special role. The lecture was given by Mr. Francis Wells and was entitled ‘The Heart of Leonardo: Looking and Seeing Through the Mists of Time. The Observations of an Artistic Scientist’. During the lecture we were taken on a whirlwind tour of Leonardo’s work describing his incredible talent as an artist, engineer, mathematician, anatomist and above all, a scientist. However, as the lecture ended our work began! Twitter was used in the Q and A session. Questions for the speaker were ‘tweeted’ to the ‘tweetdesk’ where Marianna and Katrina sorted through the questions and chose the best questions which were then read out by Miss Murtagh. Some ‘tweets’ made the speaker, Mr Francis Wells, think carefully and others just made us laugh! All in all it was a good evening.

duke of edinburgh’s award

By Lillian

pti summer leCture series

St Angela’s got back into the pool after a 2 year absence from the borough competition.St Angela’s

managed to gather both senior and junior teams as the competition fell when most of the senior team had finished their exams. Both the senior and juniors had a fantastic swim and St Angela’s man-aged to beat Forest Gate by 1point and this all came down to who would win the Freestyle relay race. St Angela’s won the race by a finger tip and we came away with the brand new trophy. Thanks for diving in girls!

FRANCESCA, KATHRINE , JASMINE, ZHANE, SHA-RON, JESSICA, SANDRA

Miss C Charles

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This term saw the first ever Year 7 Spelling Bee. Merici Hall was decorated with bunting and bees and the teams of five representing each form had been revising hard. Not only was form pride victory was at stake, but a trophy and Westfield shopping vouchers were

up for grabs. It is no surprise that the competition was tough and up until the final spelling round, just two points separated the top three teams. Eventually, the spelling prowess of Team Torville won through, with Team Ennis and Team Whitbread earning respectable 2nd and 3rd places. Well done to all who took part, whether they were in the Form Team or cheering them on. Let’s see if next year’s spellers will match your scores!

The Year 7 and Year 8 teams have had a busy season in the Sportshall and Indoor Athletic competitions. Sportshall Athletics is an introduction to Track and Field but held in the cosy confines of a sports hall. It combines all aspects of sprinting, middle distance, throwing and jumping. This is an excellent way to discover the budding Jessica Ennis in your school! The Year 8 team did well in their competition and finished a very good 2nd in the Newham competition. However the Year 7’s went a bit further and came 1st, which then qualified them for the regional final where they finished an agonising 4th place. They missed out on selection for the Nationals by 2 points. It is hoped that the teams continue to be the best that they can be and next year they go all the way.

Miss C Charles

sportshall & indoor athletiCs Competitions

Spelling Bee

After school activities are a big part of St. Angela’s and for the last few months, I have been attending cookery club. We have made many products such as Victoria sponge cake, bread, macaroni cheese and much more. Through the course of cookery club we have improved our skill and knowledge of cook-ing and had fun doing it. I believe cookery club is a real asset to the school because it gives people a chance to learn to cook, as you are shown how to make the dish step by step and are shown a variety of dishes. By Brogan


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BarCelona tripIn April, the MFL department and some of their Spanish students, jetted off to Barcelona for 4 days. Whilst we were there, although the weather wasn’t what we expected it to be (it rained twice), we were treated to the beautiful sights of Barcelona including La Sagrada Familia - which was a truly breath taking experience, the Olympic Stadium, the beautiful coast line, the Parc Guell, the main plaza of Barcelona and we got to go to one of Barcelonas beautiful beaches. On the last day, we stopped off at a spanish restaurant where we sampled spanish cuisine and although we weren’t all fans of the Paella, we had nonetheless an unforgetable experience.Siobhan Year 10

The Year 7s have yet to compete in the borough Championships; however it is envisaged that there will be some good results as we have Shenelle Heywood 100m & 150m silver medallist in Essex Championships, Tiffany Adelakun High Jump silver medallist at Essex Championships, Grace Baby Long Jump Bronze medallist in the Essex Championships. These girls and many others have already been exposed to big competition and have some good experience under their belts which we hope will see St Angela’s win back the Year 7 borough Championship.

The Year 9s Athletic team romped to victory at the Borough Athletic Championships with: Doyin 1st 100m; Abigail 1st 200m & Long Jump; Nicole 3rd 200m; Eli 1st 400m & 4th High Jump; Sophie 1st 800m & Triple Jump; Milene 4th 1500m & 2nd High Jump; Kimberley 3rd 75m Hurdles & 2nd Long Jump; Deanna 4th 75m Hurdles & 6th Javelin; Cecilia 2nd Triple Jump; Tinoula Shot Putt 1st and the Relay team with smooth like butter change overs placed 1st. It is clear to see that with such a fantastic haul of medals that the athletic talent in the Year 9s is overflowing.

The Year 11s had their swansong combined with the year 10s at the Newham Athletic Championships: Sarah Giwa 3rd 100m & 7th Long Jump; Tersoo Agera 4th 100m; Fi-nette Agyempong 1st 200m & Triple Jump; April Abella 5th 400m & 2nd Triple Jump; Amber Byrne 3rd Javelin; Melissa Mitchell 8th 800m; Brenda 1st & Aurelija 5th

1500m; Emma Nwofor 1st 80m Hurdles; Bernice 2nd Long Jump; Amina 5th ; Tanisha 7th LongJump; Jemima 1st & Tima 4th Shot Putt; Evelyn 1st Javelin

EMMA was chosen to represent ESSEX in All England Counties’ Championships at GATESHEAD. Well done Emma!!! Miss C Charles

ATHLETICS

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intermediate maths Challenge On 2nd February Year 11 and some Year 10 students took part in the

Intermediate Maths Challenge achieving excellent results! The following students managed to secure either a Gold, Silver or Bronze award. Special praise goes to Caroline Casey who gained a gold award and was the best in the school. gold award Caroline (Y11) silver awardZarmala (Y11) and Kim (Y10)Bronze awardFrom Y11: Bianca, Ieria, Elaine, Jessica, Kristine, Erin, Jas-mine, Hilary, Margaret and Naomi.From Y10: Katrina

Junior maths ChallengeOn 26th April Year 8 and some Year 7 students took

MATHS NEWS

part in the Junior UKMT Maths Challenge achieving excellent results! The following students managed to secure either a Gold, Silver or Bronze award. Special praise goes to Louisa Le Mon who gained a gold award and was the best in the school. gold award Louisa, Teddianna, Dionne and Rica.silver awardHelen, Maxime, Amber, Ayana and YasminBronze awardAshleigh, Kriselle, Beamari, Elizabeth, Serena, Jacqueline and Rheanne.

uKmt maths Challenges

maths gCse exam in marchYear 11 took their GCSE Maths exam this year and the results were superb! They percentage of A*- C achieved by the year group was 86.7% leaving only a few students to try the exam in June. This was an excellent achievement considering it was 3 months earlier than the normal date for the exam!

thorpe parkThe Maths Department organised a trip to Thorpe Park with the whole Year 7 group on Friday 6th July 2012. The students expressed how much fun they had, and did not realise how much mathematics was involved in the construction and the maintenance of rollercoaster rides. It was an enjoyable day for all!

maths inspiration dayOn 22nd November, twenty sixth formers went to the Criterion Theatre to see a Maths Inspiration show. The Maths Inspiration is one of the largest maths enrich-ment programmes for teenagers in the UK. This was a chance for our sixth formers to experience the UK’s most inspiring maths speakers live, in a big venue, present-ing mathematics in the context of exciting, real-world situations. Our pupils saw Rob Eastaway, Paul Shepherd and Mark Lewney talk about “The Maths of TV Game-shows”, “How Maths Built The Olympic Stadium” and “The Maths of the Rock Guitar”.

numeracy ClubMiss Ahmed and Ms Brown took the Numeracy group on a trip to Kew Gardens on Friday 29th June 2012. During the visit the students did a Numeracy Trail around Kew Gardens, they practised their numeracy skills and had a GREAT time!


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regional Final of this year’s uK mathematics trust team maths Challenge

This yearly event is a prestigious competition and is entered by the many of the best schools and sixth forms in the country. The competition took place on Thursday 24th November at

Queen Mary, University of London. This competition combines mathematical, communication and teamwork skills and offers pupils another way to express and develop their enjoyment of Mathematics. Our centre finished a respectable 21st out of 37. The team were commended

by our judge for our innovative ways of approaching some of the problems and our excellent teamwork and communication.

Born to run (save the children)

Part of the World Marathon Challenge, run for Save the Children, was held at the university in Twickenham and was attended by Commonwealth Games medalist Steph Twell, Charlotte Purdue and Mike Skinner. A total of 93 children from across London (St Angela’s being among those 93 children) joined the annual race, in which 30 teams of children from 15 cities in the UK, and more than 25 teams from 12 other countries, compete. In villages, towns and cities across the world, the 26.2m relay races saw children aged 11 to 13 run together to send a powerful message to the world that No Child is Born to Die. The aim is for a school team to beat the marathon world record time of two hours, three minutes and 38 seconds, set by Patrick Makau from Kenya. London submitted three teams from Newham, Hounslow and Hillingdon, all with 31 children in each team. The Newham team of which the St Angela’s girls was part of was the fastest London team, London place 3rd in the whole of Great Britain and Great Britain came 2nd out of all the other countries that took part.

CROSS COUNTRYThe year 7’s Cross Country team had their first bite at school competition at the Lee Valley Invitational Cross Country Relay Championships. Each girl in the team had to run 2000m and then hand the baton onto the next runner with 5 girls in the team all giving their best the St Angela’s team finished a very impressive 4th place.

Royal Opera House – Ballet workshopsA group of dancers had the opportunity to participate in two dance workshops with a dance artist from the Royal Ballet education department. The artists were undertaking a course in which they look to deliver creative ballet workshops in a school setting. These workshops were scheduled so that they could be assessed by their tutor and fingers crossed that the dance artist passed. The St. Angela’s dancers really enjoyed the sessions and hope to go and see The Royal Ballet perform next season.

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From January, St. Angela’s girls along with three other schools continued to work with their own dance company, ‘Equal Stars’. The Moving Bodies project was run by two dance artists, Charlene and Laura, from East London Dance and Candoco Dance Company. The young dancers from St. Angela’s, St. Edward’s, JFK and Shaftesbury Schools created and developed a dance work over fortnightly classes and 2 workshops in preparation for their performance as part of the Big Dance Bus.

The Big Dance Bus is a routemaster, which arrives at a location, and groups, which are scheduled to perform, dance to members of the public. The audience were great and very supportive. Congratulations to St. Angela’s ‘Equal Stars’ dancers who were Lauren, Esther, Bukola and Charlotte.

moving Bodies performance

Wimbledon Tennis ChampionshipsA group of keen tennis fans accompanied by Ms Jarvis and Miss Lebby, headed off to the Championships this year. Meeting at Upton Park station at 7.30am, the group left bleary eyed to arrive at Wimbledon an hour or so later to join the ground passes queue. This allowed them into see tennis matches on courts 3 to 18 taking in a variety of singles and doubles games. The group also went to the play zone to play on various games or to have their photo taken with a tennis star! It was an excellent day and as usual Wimbledon looked fabulous and will be used for the Tennis competitions at London 2012 in a few weeks.

Family Event at Stratford Picture HouseTwo families were selected to attend a special showing of Men In Black 3 in which they were presented with another 18 tickets for St. Angela’s families to enjoy the chance of going to the cinema together for free. Stratford Picture House launched the scheme so that a party of four can see a film of their choice and also receive free ppcorn and a drink. The celebration which was attended by the Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales and he presented two Year 7s, Melanie and Nicole with St. Angela’s tickets.

Step into DancePupils from St. Angela’s took part in a inter-Borough event held at our school, showing off their talents to an audi-ence of friends, teachers and families.

Step into Dance is a partnership programme between the Royal Academy of Dance and the Jack Petchey Foundation. Hosted at St. Angela’s the inter-borough event saw St. An-gela’s perform alongside ten other schools. The St. Angela’s dancers performed two routines, a tap piece called ‘Boogie

Woogie’ and an African People’s dance called ‘Rhythm City’. Rhythm City went on to be selected for a chance to perform at the Southbank Centre in July, as part of Big Dance. So congratula-tions to all the dancers involved: Tap dancers were Year 7s: Grace, Bukola, Priscilla and Esther . African dancers were from Years 8 & 9: Helen, Jessica, Ta-labi, Tatiana, Claire, Reini, Georgina and Jasmine.

CRICkET NEWSCongratulations to the U13 and U15 Cricket teams who won the Newham Cricket League this summer! Well done to both teams:U13 Team: Melanie(Captain), Baheera, Nichole, Bukola, Grace, Jasmin, Maria, Sandie, Lydia and Peace U15 Team: Amber (Captain), Dorthea , Tinuola ,Brogan, Helena, Aleena ,Eli, Vanessa, Shannon, Camille, Vanessa, Siobhan and Iani.The U13 Cricket team also attended a Cricket Festival at Lords Cricket Ground. They were given the opportunity to develop their fielding skills, play a match against another team and have a tour of the pavilion. This

was very exciting as they went through the Museum, the Long Room and England changing rooms at Lords. All had a fantastic day!

Dare2Dance group perform at London Youth GamesA group of Street Dancers from St. Angela’s were invited to perform at the London Youth Games in June. The dancers had been attending Street dance classes after school on Friday evenings, in which they were put through their paces with dance artist Kloe. On the day they were fantastic and entered the audiences at Crystal Palace throughout the day.

Congratulations to: Gianne, Myah, Diana, Nicole, Sophie and Kimberley.

inter-Form sporting CompetitionsDuring the school year, pupils from Years 7 to 11 have participated in seven competitions: Football; Cross-Country; Basketball; Badminton; Dance; Vol-leyball and Softball, to see who will win the Inter-Form Trophy. In some cases it went down to the last competition, so congratulations to the pupils of the following form classes who won:

Year 7 TorvilleYear 8 Ayres

Year 9 HurstonYear 10 AtkinsYear 11 Baez

Summer Reflection

Our lives are marked forever by those we meet; the

friendships we make and the love we experience, the reconciliations and quarrels, the works we have tried to do together, for each other and for the less fortunate. All this

has given us something that will last.Long after we’ve forgotten the marks of our exams, we’ll remember the friendship, the times of growth, the fun,

the quarrels, the laughter and the jokes. We’ll remember how we helped each other grow, in faith, in hope and

in love.May what we have done in this place be given

to many others in our lives.

summer newsletter 2012

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