ST MARK’S NEWS Issue No. 5 13 Nov 2015

Reminder of Emergency Procedures I am always deeply reluctant to close the school unless I truly have no other choice, however, as we approach the colder months of the year I would like the opportunity to share emergency arrangements with you before any poor weather. There are several factors which, combined together, have affected our enforced closure in the past: some main roads may be running smoothly whilst local roads can be extremely icy and dangerous; our school site can be affected by black ice; a large number of our pupils travel to school by bus and when weather conditions are poor the buses are sometimes unable to run or journeys take a great deal longer; staff at our school travel in from a wide range of places up to 50 or so miles away from St Mark’s, and our site is very open to the elements. Clearly, the safety of pupils travelling to school is of paramount importance as is their safety on the school site. It is crucial, when we are open, to ensure we have sufficient staffing to safeguard children as well as have the time to make the site safe. The following procedure will be put into place in the case of an emergency school closure: Miss Heaphy will liaise with the Site Manager, Mr Cole, to clarify the situation of the school site regarding the Health and Safety of pupils and staff. If the school is to close, Miss Heaphy will inform the local radio stations, Heart Essex and BBC Essex of the closure. Staff will be informed by their line managers. All parents /carers signed up to ParentMail will receive an email or text to inform them of the school closure and a message will be put on our website. Elaine Heaphy — Headteacher

St Mark’s Christmas Fayre Sunday 22 November 12.00pm until 2.00pm Only one week to go! PLEASE HELP US WITH DONATIONS.

Each year group will be running a stall on the day. Year 7 - Toiletries; Year 8 - Chocolate; Year 9 - Sweets; Year 10 - Candles;

Year 11 - Christmas decorations All donations should be sent into Mrs Dundridge, and pupils will receive a merit for each item donated. All monies raised go to The Friends of St Mark’s, who help with funding for such items as Kindles for the literacy prizes; help towards the Year 11 Prom; prizes for ‘St Mark’s Got Talent’, as well as other support to departments and trips. If you are interested in running your own stall please contact Reception. We would like to thank you in advance for your contributions, and look forward to seeing as many of our families and friends at the event.

“Ich liebe Berlin.” Around 20 pupils have just spent part of their half-term in the German capital, exploring the sites, from the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust Memorial to Frederick the Great’s palaces in Potsdam and a World War II bunker complex. Highlights included a late-night amble around the glass dome of the iconic Reichstag building; a visit to the imposing and intractable granite blocks that make up the Holocaust Memorial; and a trip to Treptower Park, a cemetery for 5,000 of the 80,000 Russian soldiers killed in the battle of Berlin in 1945. Pupils had plenty of chances to practise their German, and we were very impressed with their efforts on this front. The trip will run again in October 2016.

Mr Manzaroli—Head of Languages

DRY ICE Year 7's were treated to a demonstration of the wonders of dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) which was given by two of our year 13 A level chemists (Mason Arnold and Robert Leslie). The pupils very much enjoyed seeing the dry ice bubbles. the pH rainbow and the extraordinary glowing glow sticks.

“NO CHILD WITHOUT”

St Mark’s received a letter of thanks from ‘No Child Without’ charity thanking us for our

generous donation of £852 raised by our pupils on non-uniform day. The money that

was raised will help many of the young people in our community move closer to

achieving ambitions and to make opportunities possible for them to grasp.

They said “It is schools such as yours that are helping to make a difference to the lives of

the young people that we work with and they are as grateful as we are”.

Black History Month Celebrations at St Mark’s

October was Black History Month and during the final week of last half term pupils from Years 7-11 celebrated and shared their cultural heritage with their peers through a series of assemblies.

Presenters Nicole Elikwu and Claudia Minta (11H) introduced the performers and led the prayers for harmony and peace in our world. Charles Asante-Amoabeng (10E) gave a rousing demonstration of African drumming and Charmaine Kangwende (10B) sang a beautiful rendition of a song by South African singer Zahara. Choreographed by Caleb Nimo

(10M), fusion dance featuring traditional and contemporary styles, was a popular inclusion from Dara Shekoni, Joshua Wilkening, Ruvimbo Mukachana , Sade Akanni and Kelsey Ntangu, and traditional dress was proudly modelled by Estelle Owusu, Yaa Agyirifo, Ayo Oluwole, Charmaine Kangwende,

Ruvimbo Mukachana, Zonelle Mupfayi, Sade Akanni, Lola Akanni, Nisha Muchineuta, Asherly Dube, Lauryn Simon, Paris Gyamfi-Nimako, Tyrone Kangwende, Lewis Amissah, Charles Asante Amoabeng , Abel Bakare & Nathaniel

Frobour.

Year 10 performers Ruvimbo Mukachana and Zonelle Mupfayi , said, “ We think it is important to help other people understand about Black History and our cultural background. We were proud and excited, to

take part and to express our identity.”

November: the Month of Remembrance

During November the Church asks us to pray, particularly for those who have died. We have

done this through our assemblies and also through our Book of Remembrance, which can be

found at the entrance of the Chapel in the Hall.

Pupils and staff are invited to enter the names of deceased relatives and friends and these

loved ones are prayed for during Morning Prayer, our weekly Mass and in assembly.

Armistice Day 2015

This week we also remembered those who died in wartime as we held a two

minutes silence at 11am on Armistice Day – 11 November. Members of the

Pupil Liturgy Group have been selling poppies throughout the week to

support the work of the Royal British Legion.

Some of our pupils , and their families, have been celebrating a very important festival in the Hindu calendar – Diwali – also referred to as the festival of lights.

It celebrates the return of the Hindu deities Rama and Sita to Ayodhya after their 14-year exile. Its message is that of the triumph of good over evil.

8 More presented a really interesting assembly related to the symbolism of light in religious belief. They highlighted the Christian message of Jesus as the light of the world leading His people out of darkness, and explained the festival of Diwali including the story of Rama and Sita, who were guided out of exile by lamps (divas) being lit along their pathway home.

Justin Man takes on yet another piano competition …

Year 7 pupil, Justin Man (7 Elgar), who stunned the St Mark’s Got Talent audience with his piano

performance of Sugar Plum Funk, is taking part in the prestigious Chelmsford Competitive

Festival of Music and Drama, to be held this weekend. He will be performing a varied recital of

piano music, including the Theme from Harry Potter, Minuet in D and one of his grade 7 pieces

Struttin’ at the Waldorf. We wish him every success and eagerly await the results.

Justin will also be performing at St Mark’s on the evening of Monday 23rd

November as part of the

Poetry and Music evening coordinated by Miss Hughes and Dr Coplestone-Crow (6.30 – 8.00

pm). Tickets are free upon request.

STEM CLUB

Stem club started this week with twenty enthusiastic pupils from different year groups

working on “the heat loss project”. The aim of this project is for pupils to integrate

knowledge and skills from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics to build a

model house with the best insulation, using materials of their own choice. The outcome will

be for pupils to understand how heat energy can be conserved at homes, saving money

and also saving the planet by reducing emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.

Special thanks to Mr. Watts for

providing most of the materials

and engineering tips!

Mr Osei - (STEM coordinator)

Dates for your Diary Year 7 Parents’ Evening—Wednesday 18 November 5pm - 7pm, including information sessions on ‘Assessment without levels’ at 4.30pm and 7.00pm, in the School Library. The session will last approx. 30 mins. An Evening of Music & Poetry—Tickets available on request; Monday 23rd November, 6.30pm—8pm Year 11 & Sixth Form Year group and friendship photos—Wednesday 25 November Year 7-11 Electives Programme 3.45pm—5.45pm—Thursday 26 November Year 11 Interview Day at Harlow Study Centre—Friday 27 November Christmas Lunch Thursday 3 December 2015—must be booked and paid for in advance Year 11, 12 & 13 Mock Exams Friday 4 December—Friday 11 December (Early lunch) Due to unforeseen circumstances we will be moving our Carol Service at Holy Cross church to another date. We will let you know asap.

END OF TERM (finish at 12.30pm) - Friday 18 December

Netball The St Mark’s Netball Teams were fortunate enough to have a visit from the England Goal Shooter and ex-St Mark’s pupil, Jo Harten. They throughly enjoyed the coaching session and Jo was fabulous!

Girls’ Football Well done to the year 7 girls who played in their first friendly tournament last night at Passmores. Mrs E Larke & Miss E Webster - PE Department

Year 11 Interview Simulation Day; November 27th

2015

The aim of the day is to provide as genuine an experience as possible of the

application and interview process for our Year 11 pupils.. They have been busy

preparing Curriculum Vitae’s and personal statements, leading up to the finale

when they will be interviewed individually by a representative from business or

industry. We are currently collating incoming Curriculum Vitae (CV’s) from pupils in

preparation for Interview Day at the Harlow Education Study Centre and are very

grateful to those who handed in their paperwork by the deadline of 4th November

2015. However, there are still some CV’s outstanding. Those pupils who have yet

to submit their CV need to do so immediately. We are very proud that we have

professionals who have stepped forward to assist us on the day, the CV’s will be

forwarded onto them to enable them to prepare for the event, in much the same way that this would happen in the

real world of work. Mrs Moon – Careers Coordinator

Your Careers Centre – every day, every break, every lunchtime.

My name is Mark Abdelmalek, I am standing for election to Harlow Youth Council (HYC) and

I NEED YOUR VOTE!

If I am elected I will listen to your ideas about life in Harlow and how we can make it a better place. Your voices will be heard; I will represent you and do my best to share your ideas at Council meetings. I like living in Harlow but I would like to see more opportunities for young people in the town. This is something I would like to work towards if I was elected. Please vote for me at school. Election time: 10 December. Mark Abdelmalek