Dear Parents and Carers Aslamu –a –laikum (May peace be upon you) As the end of our first full term approaches, I would like to express to you how extremely proud I am of our tremendous achievement in developing a school that is outstanding and also of our girls, whom it goes without saying, are a credit to us all. The move to a brand new school in September must have been met by them with a certain amount of apprehension but they have all settled in extremely well and they meet each day with high levels of enthusiasm. It is such a pleasure to see them all developing in to such fine young women. This sentiment of course is shared with my dedicated team of staff who throughout the term have worked tirelessly to meet the very high standards that we have set ourselves. I am sure therefore that you will join me in expressing to them all our very sincere thanks and appreciation.

Whilst everyone will look forward to spending time with their families, we leave the school on Friday knowing that 2015 will be just as exciting as we start to use our new temporary premises during the spring term and see the creation of our brand new purpose built school building scheduled to open during the autumn, I look forward to updating you on its continued progress. Finally I would like to wish you all a restful end of term break. Walaikum –As –Salam (peace be upon you) Asiyah Ravat

Message from the

Principal

Eden Girls School-Coventry

19th December 2014 Volume 1, Issue 1

Principal’s Newsletter

Inside this issue:

Eden fundraising 2

Weekly Assembly 2

The accumulator 2

Harvest Assembly 2

Student Shura 3

Big society 3

Football 4

Rugby 4

Awards Evening 4

Breakfast club 5

Food Bank 5

Ground Breaking 5

Curriculum evening 5

Open Evening 5

Attendance 6

Key Dates for Next 6

Head Girl/Deputy 6

Enrichment Clubs 7

Historian Visit 7

Anti-bullying week 7

Armistice Day 7

Diwali Temple Visit 8

Aashoorah Iftar 8

Report Cards 8

The Eden Eye

Weekly Assembly Programme

Harvest Assembly

The Accumulator Challenge

Page 2

Principal’s Newsletter

Eden Fundraising

Children in Need Everyone became involved and raised an amazing £410.06.Amongst other things we held a baking competition during which judges sampled all of the cakes. It was a hard job but someone had to do it! The amount of time and skill that went into the baking was fantastic. The top 3 winners received cake stands. Well done to –Madina Chaudhury, Husnaa Mota and Maariyah Mohammed. NSPCC During December the Maths Department held a ‘numbers’ day. The pupils joined in a number of games and quizzes and even paid 50p to wear their own scarves. The amount raised was a fantastic £69.20 Poppy Appeal The Royal British Legion were very grateful to us for raising £112.49 . This will go towards helping servicemen and their families. Global Education Project Collection We held a non uniform day to raise money for Building schools and vocational centres in poor communities across the world – again the girls did not let us down and raised an impressive £129.35 MacMillan The Humanitarian Club held a coffee morning in order to fundraise for cancer support on 25th of September. The students in the club organised the afternoon, baking homemade cakes and other varieties of baked goods and raised £171.14. They also publicised the event to other students.

This term, we have discussed a variety of different

topics during our assemblies. The Hadith of the Week is

an item which we concentrate on every week. However,

along with highly enjoyable discussions pertaining to

Islamic and universal values, we have also used our

time to raise awareness of other calendar events such

as World Homelessness Day, World Hunger Day and

Diwali. Likewise, our students have prepared a variety

of different presentations, role-plays and speeches

which all contribute to enhancing their leadership skills.

The Humanities Club were asked to compete in the School Accumulator Challenge to raise money for the Papworth Trust. They have certainly risen to the challenge. They were given £50 to invest and have raised nearly £200 in a month with a movie night and by running a tuck shop. We certainly have some entrepreneurs in the making.

It was our pleasure to welcome Reverend Hanna from our local

church interschool to lead our Harvest Assembly. She spoke to

the students about the true value of the donations and what a

huge difference they make to those less fortunate. We were all

very impressed and grateful for the kind hearted donations made

by the pupils, all of which will be divided between the Harvest

and the Food Bank.

Shura is the Arabic word for “consultation”. The Quran and Sunnah encourage us to decide our affairs in consultation (discussion) with those who will be affected by that decision. Shura is mentioned three times in the Quran as a praiseworthy activity. It is applied in Muslim-majority countries in an effort to bridge the gap between Islamic heritage and modern democracy. An important decision should never be made without Shura. How was it run at school? Week 1 Speeches Candidates present speeches to their class—4 were selected to go to the final stage. Week 2 Campaign stage Those who ran for election committed themselves to a variety of campaigning activities: Manifestos, speeches, badges & posters. Week 3 Viewing of final speeches Four finalists presented their amended speeches to convince their classes. Their names were added to the ballot papers. Week 4 Election day Ballot papers were distributed and each form class

voted for one person from their form group to be their Student

Shura representative.

The Big Society is a crucial part of student life at Eden Girls School. There is a huge emphasis on

community service and each student contributing towards the society they live in. It is to teach our

students to become model British Citizens and respect fundamental British Values by making a

difference in society. The concept of community service is intrinsic in the activities that the school

promotes and as you will have read we have featured a number of different events to endorse The Big

Society

Student Shura

Big Society

Page 3

Volume 1, Issue 1

The Winners: 7A – Sameena Hoque 7B – Umamah Shaikh 7C – Taybah Rah-man 7D – Iman Ali 8A – Husna Mota

Eden Girl’s Football

Page 4

Principal’s Newsletter

Eden Girl's receive football coaching from Coventry City Football Club. The sessions are attended by about 20 girls and take place on Thursday evenings at Coventry City Sports Centre. On Friday 14th November 2014 the girls took part in their first competitive competition. The Football League Trust, U13s cup, is a national competition and Eden Girl's took part in the Coventry area finals. They travelled to Holbrooks under the management of Miss Rushton and Miss Sheikh and played 3 games against other Coventry Schools. Competition was very good, and the girls were up against a number of teams that had county and district level players. The girls acquitted themselves well, and although they did not win any of their games, they were in no way embarrassed losing narrowly in all three games. Organisers of the event commented on how committed and enthusiastic the girls were and hoped that they would enter the competition again next year. I have high hopes for the girls and know that they will train and practice hard to improve in the New Year.

Eden Girls’ Rugby As you may be aware, London Wasps Rugby Club, one of the top Rugby sides in Europe have recently

moved to the Ricoh Arena. As part of their support for Coventry the club will be working with a number of

Coventry schools, delivering sessions on rugby, and the discipline and control that is such an important

part of the game. Eden Girls' has been selected as one of the schools that the club will work with in the

New Year. This will see current, and former, England internationals coming into the school and taking

part in PE lessons, leading assemblies, and delivering sessions on self discipline, nutrition, the

importance of sport in the community, etc. Wasps have donated a number of match tickets, for

upcoming domestic and European games, to the school as part of their support for us. We hope that this

will grow to be a strong and fruitful partnership.

Awards Evening On Monday 15th December we held the Student Achievement Awards Evening at Coventry Muslim

Centre. Students, Staff and governors attended. The evening began with a Tilawaat by Madina

Chaudhary (Deputy Head Girl). Saniyyah Bapu gave a talk on the vision of the school, followed by

Rabiah Khan (Head Girl) who gave an opening speech. There were many subject, attendance and

merit awards and a beautiful performance by the Eden Nasheed Choir. The Pupil Shura spoke of the

Enrichment Celebrations and the evening came to an end with the Poetry Competition Awards.

Page 5

Volume 1, Issue 1

Breakfast Club The Breakfast Club, which is delivered daily every morning between 7:40 and 8:15. Here, breakfast is served (toast, cereal, milk) by the Heads of Years. Due to the increasing numbers that attend Breakfast Club, the student leadership will run the club. A breakfast club manager and finance manager have now been appointed. During Breakfast Club, an Islamic circle takes place, Heads of Year discuss a different Islamic topic each day. Students also have the opportunity to express any concerns or issues they may have with their Head of Year during this time. The Breakfast Club has been very successful.

Food Bank Our food bank is run from the Muslim Resource Centre every Friday afternoon by a group of Year 8 students. The students help sort through the food, pack the bags and distribute to the families who attend. Especially during the cold winter months the food items are extremely valuable and the work is very much appreciated within the local community.

“The Foodbank run by Eden Girl’s School and Tauheedul Charity has helped me and my children so much, God bless you. The Foodbank is really the only support I get and I’m so grateful for it. It’s not easy to ask for help but the staff at the Foodbank are so understanding and helpful.” Maria “I hadn’t eaten a proper meal in 3

weeks and my neighbour took me to

the Foodbank. They’ve been providing

me with food packs ever since. My

pension only covers my household bills

so food is always scarce, I can’t tell

you what a relief it is not to worry about

food anymore. At my age it can

sometimes feel as if you’ve been

forgotten but the Foodbank has made

me feel that people still care.” George

Curriculum Evening On Thursday the 25

th September, we

welcomed parents and carers through

our doors for the first time. It was an

opportunity to meet all of the staff at

Eden, have a look at both the curriculum

and the work that had been taking place.

Of course, it was also a chance to see

inside the Portacabins. The event was a

great success and was received

extremely positively by both parents/

carers, staff and pupils.

Open Evening On Tuesday 7th October Eden opened its doors to future students and their Parents, for the September 2015 intake. Staff and students worked exceptionally hard around

the clock to ensure the evening was a great success.

For further admissions information please get in touch

with the Admissions Department at Coventry City

‘Ground-breaking’ Event – New Building

Remediation work on the ground is complete while

excavation for laying the foundation commenced on the

11th November. The steel frames are scheduled to be

erected on the 15th December.

The project will take 54 weeks to complete and we are

currently on week 5.

On Tuesday 16th December we had a ‘Ground Breaking

Ceremony’ for the new build as it is an important mile-

stone in Tauheedul’s history with the commencement of

the first new school building project. The Lord Mayor

Cllr Hazel Noonan, Governors, Tauheedul Trust and

Directors of Thomas Vale attended. The event began

with a speech from the Chair of Governors Mr Afzal

Ismail, the Lord Mayor Cllr Hazel Noonan spoke and

thanked everyone for their efforts and expressed her joy

for the girls and the new build. Mr Nigel Jones from

Thomas Vale then invited the girls from the Shura

Council to bury a time capsule which they had filled with

letters and poems. This officially marks a new phase

for the school and we look forward to seeing it grow.

Page 6

Principal’s Newsletter

Attendance Congratulations to the students (86 student- 55%) who achieved 100% attendance this term. How

does your child compare?

Congratulations to the students with 100% attendance: Hadiza Ahmed 7A, Lamees Ahmedabadi 7A, Halima Akbar 7A, Sameenah Hoque 7A, Javaria Iqbal 7A, Rabyah Malik 7A, Sumayyah Memi 7A, Kareemah Memi 7A, Iman Naeem 7A, Ifrah Sajjad 7A, Hannah Sheikh 7A, Rukayya Vania 7A, Safah Younis 7A, Amira Aanam 7B, Munira Ahmed 7B, Muminat Akinwale 7B, Raisa Batool 7B, Iqra Khan 7B, Sumayyah Khan 7B, Saira Mukhtar 7B, Sara Pathan 7B, Maram Rahal 7B, Halimah Sadiya 7B, Umamah Shaikh 7B, Shamim Shojai 7B, Israt Tai 7B, Safa Yusuf 7B, Samaaha Adam 7C, Amina Bibi 7C, Manahil Jamil 7C, Thureti Kadir 7C, Anisa Kauser 7C, Sana Khalifa 7C, Fahima Khatun 7C, Sabirin Mussa 7C, Jamila Shamba 7C, Atfa Xasan 7C, Haiqa Adrees 7D, Alina Akbar 7D, Imaan Ali 7D, Kosar Bidar 7D, Ibtihal Elmesalati 7D, Hodan Hirsi 7D, Faizah Khan 7D, Saba Khan 7D, Alisha Mahmood 7D, Hafsa Mbarouk 7D, Gulali Mohamedi 7D, Zakia Nuur 7D, Najah Saalim 7D, Esha Aanam 8A, Leyla Abdurahman 8A, Rumaysa Ali 8A, Aaliah Aziz 8A, Amarah Bukhari 8A, Aaishah Fakir 8A, Safiya Hirsi 8A, Suad Farah Issa 8A, Amira Jama 8A, Khadeeja Khan 8A, Danua Kheer 8A, Maryam Malik 8A, Nasreen Mohamedi 8A, Husnaa Mota 8A, Yasmin Mussa Farah 8A, Muna Osman 8A, Aishah Parveen 8A, Sophia Patel 8A, Yomna Shebani 8A, Fatimah Suleman 8A, Maryam Vania 8A, Hana Abdurahman 8B, Hia Alhashemi 8B, Henna Aqeel 8B, Saffiya Esmail 8B, Wardah Hassan 8B, Arub Hussain 8B, Rabiah Khan 8B, Ummarah Khan 8B, Sania Nawaz 8B, Samra Abubakar Omar 8B, Sakinah Omar 8B, Najdah Parveen 8B, Tayyibah Shahid 8B, Asmaa, Sheikh 8B, Atqiya Tasnima 8B,

Attendance during one school year

Equals this number of days absent

Which is approxi-mately this many

weeks absent

Which means this number of lessons

missed

90% 19 days 4 weeks 100 lessons

80% 38 days 8 weeks 200 lessons

70% 57 days 11.5 weeks 290 lessons

Head Girl/Deputy Head Girl For the Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl applications, students were required to complete a statement in support of their application and were then invited to an interview with the Head of Year and another member of the leadership team. They were given a job description and person specification of the roles and responsibilities of the position. The head girl was selected from the current Year 8 students and the deputy head girl selected from the current Year 7 Students. The formal interview included questions on why the girls wanted the position and how they would make a difference to the school and the other students. The standard of the interviewees was exceptional and the decision was not easy, however congratulations go to Rabiah Khan Head Girl and Madina Chaudhury Deputy Head Girl.

Armistice Day

A 2 minute silence was ob-

served by all students and staff

on Tuesday 11th November for

Armistice Day.

Page 7

Volume 1, Issue 1

Key Dates for the next Half Term

Tuesday 6th January – School re-opens Wednesday 7th January – Report cards Thursday 15th January – year 7 Parents’ Evening Thursday 22nd January – year 8 Parents’ Evening Monday 26th January – Student and Parent Pastoral Meetings Monday 2nd February – Parent Shura Evening Monday 16th to Friday 20th

February – half term week.

Enrichment Clubs The Humanities team currently deliver the Young Humanitarians club. This takes place on Monday evenings after school and is concerned, primarily, with the development of community and leadership skills through participation in charity and social enterprise. The club currently has some 25 participants, with new pupils joining regularly. The Young humanitarian club has held several events afterschool school including the Macmillan cancer support coffee morning. Pupils’ baked and sold cakes to raise money for the charity, raising £171.56 in 45 minutes. The Science team leads the Young Gardeners club. This takes place on Monday evenings after school and is concerned with encouraging horticulture amongst pupils. There are currently 6 members. Sport England deliver specialist Netball coaching on Tuesday evenings. These sessions take place from 3:45 to 4:45 at Coventry City Sports and Leisure Centre. There are currently 20 girls that take part and there are plans to develop this into a school team to take part in local school’s competitions. Coventry City FC, through their football in the community initiative, deliver specialist football coaching on Thursday evenings. These sessions take place from 3:45 to 4:45, at Coventry City Sports and leisure Centre. There are currently 20 girls that take part and a school team has been

established.

Historian Visit – Asian Contribution to World War 1 and 2 On the 28 November, an historian – Mr Jahan Mahmood visited us – this is what the students thought: The Historian came to Eden to teach the Year 8 pupils about the contributions Indian and Pakistani soldiers delivered to World War 1 and 2. He bought in various artefacts that were taken from the bat-tlefield: swords, medical sets, shells, helmets, guns, and much more. Furthermore, the historian spoke about how all the countries within the British Empire were the first to stand up and fight for Britain. These soldiers belonged to a range of different religions, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and many others. He went on further to explain the conditions of the trenches, the bravery of the soldiers and the disas-trous deaths that took place. As well as the immense cruelty behind the face of war; nowadays war is portrayed as glamourous business.. The presentation was extremely interesting and Year 8 students thought it was “Awesome!”

Anti-Bullying Week The school took part in Anti-Bullying week and the pastoral staff held an anti-

bullying poetry competition. All forms produced an anti-bullying pledge which

was displayed in our school photo-booth.

Page 8

Principal’s Newsletter

Diwali – Temple Visit For the festival of Diwali, students visited the local Hindu temple on the 13th of October as part of the

Religious Education curriculum. The girls listened to a talk by a member of the trust about the

festival, its practices and the rituals that are carried out on Diwali.

Aashoorah Iftaar Event

An Aashoorah Iftaar Event was organised on the 3rd of November to encourage all students and staff to fast and take part in a collective Iftaar. The event took place at Eden from 3:15pm till 5:30pm. Students prayed Asar together, followed by an inspiring speech by Molana Zubair on the topic of Muharram and the importance and reward of fasting on the day of Aashoora. The students then had a chance to recite poems, speeches, and nasheeds they had prepared. This was followed by a collective Iftaar for all staff and students that wanted to stay behind.

Report Cards Students have now completed their end of term assessments for December. As with the October assessments you will receive a report card first week after the Christmas break. The report card will give you the following information: 1) End of Year Target Level - This is the level that your daughter is expected to achieve by the end of year 7 or year 8. It is based on her performance from Primary school, but also reflects Eden's expectations. 2) End of Year Teacher Prediction - This is the level your daughter's teacher expects her to achieve at the end of the year, based on her performance in the December assessments. 3) Homework - This is rated as Yes or No and reflects whether your daughter completes homework regularly and on time. 4) Classwork - This is also rated as Yes or No and reflects whether your daughter's classwork is at the standard expected of her. 5) Behaviour - This is a reflection on whether your daughter's attitude towards her learning is acceptable or not, and is again rated as Yes or No. Please note, you will find that the End of Year Teacher Prediction is colour coded. A green means that your daughter is either on track, or already meeting, her target level in that subject. An orange indicates that your daughter is currently predicted to finish the year 1 sub level below her target level. This means that she needs to apply herself more in this subject. Finally, a red indicates that your daughter is in danger of failing to achieve here target level by some way and immediate action is required. In addition, the report card will also give you vital information such as attendance to school (expectations are that attendance should be at 97% as a minimum) and positive and negative behaviour events. Should you have any queries about the report card please feel free to contact Mr Patel at the school.

There are parents evenings planned for Year 7 and Year 8 in January.