www.rooksheath.harrow.sch.uk

16th July 2010 Issue 63 Monthly email: contactus@rooksheath.harrow.sch.uk

t is hard to believe that this is the last ‘Voices’ of the year. At the end of this term I will

have been Headteacher at Rooks Heath for 10 YEARS!! Doesn’t time fly when you are

enjoying yourself? The college has had a really good year and in the past two weeks

there have been many events celebrating our success.

The summer, however, is still a busy time for the college. The height of this is the publication

of examination results for Years 11, 12 and 13. I am really hopeful that this will be the most

successful year ever for our students.

The new term will also bring exciting times. We have a brand new curriculum in place and we

are welcoming for the first time TWO year groups, Year 7 and Year 8.

It only remains for me to wish you a really happy holiday period and I look forward to seeing

you all in September as I enter my second decade as Headteacher.

.

I Head Teacher’s Comment

A Night on the River Page 2

John Reavley

n Thursday July 1st, 9 students joined Mrs

Arnold and me on a trip to Oxford to speak to

lecturers and to find out about life at one of

the world’s very best universities. It was a very inter-

esting day and we learnt more about the

importance of personal statements and gaining the best

results possible.

The whole of Year 13 will be going on a coach to the

Open Day at the University of Southampton in early

September.

So, we are coming to the end of yet another busy but

hopefully successful year for Rooks Heath Sixth

Form. We are expecting 75 students to join us next

September and I am confident that they will quickly

feel at ease and happy to have made the all important

decision to stay with us for another two years.

Veronica Lane Head of Sixth Form

O ” “

This has been a busy few weeks for the Sixth Form. They have now finished their examinations; Year 13 students have

been on their final outing and Year 12 have returned to lessons and are now filling out their university application forms.

ast Friday evening, 50 Year 13 students and a number of staff, set off on the coach to catch the boat at Westminster

Pier at 7pm. Once again this year, we had a bit of a panic, as the coach got stuck in traffic near the Houses of Par-

liament and we had to abandon the coach and walk, high heels and all!

It was a superb summer’s evening and as we sailed down the Thames, we all marvelled at the sights and were thankful that

we lived in such a fabulous city. The students and staff alike enjoyed the evening, relaxing and chatting about the “old”

days in year 8, 9, 10 and 11!

We would like to wish the students every success in their life post Rooks Heath. They all agreed that they have had a won-

derful time in the Sixth Form and we hope that they get the results they need to move on to their chosen pathways.

fter the great success last year, we decided to

send 40 students to Earlsmead to spend a whole

day teaching Enterprise to students from Years

3 to 6 on Wednesday 30th June. The students

worked in small groups and were assigned a class to

work with. The students were trained by Gosbert Cha-

gula from Young Enterprise and had to spend time pre-

paring for their lessons.

On the actual day, the students arrived at Earlsmead at

8am and worked brilliantly with the young children in

their charge. The teachers there were very complimen-

tary about their teaching ability and commitment and

felt that we had a few budding teachers in the group!

The students gained a great deal from the experience

despite feeling completely worn out by the end of the

day! They now realise just how tiring teaching is.

My experience at Earlsmead School was one of a kind. Teaching the children about our world and global

trade was very fulfilling. My team worked well with each other and we got through the tasks swiftly. The

most satisfying thing was when the children asked if we were coming back the

following day.

Shyam Mashru, 12 Blue

Sixth Form News

L Ooh…. what a night!

Year 12 Enrichment: Teaching Enterprise at Earlsmead First and Middle School.

A

Trip to Open Day at Keble University Oxford

n Wednesday, 30th June the Year 11 said their final farewell to Rooks Heath – at the Prom. It was a

gloriously sunny evening and everyone turned out in their finery at Venue 5 in Eastcote. They turned up

in stretched limos, open-topped sports cars and even a motor tricycle! Pink seemed to be the colour of

the day for both girls and boys. All the students looked very elegant in suits or smart dresses; it’s amazing how

sophisticated they looked. They seemed to have become grown-ups overnight!

The food was excellent and the DJ was brilliant, encouraging everyone on to the dance floor. The behaviour of

the students was impeccable and everyone had a fantastic time dancing the night away. Prom King (Lenny

Lavers), Prom Queen (Sophie Darby), Prom Prince (Jonel Savory) and Prom Princess (Karolina Boguszewska)

were elected on the night to huge cheers from all. It was a night that made me very proud of this group of young

people whom I have had in my care for four years.

Goodbye, Year 11, and all good wishes for the future! Katrina Pearn Head of Year 11

O Year 11 Prom

” “

t melts in your mouth, is exquisite and makes you fat, but we all adore it – chocolate!

On 29th June Yr. 8 students were involved in a cross curricular ‘chocolate day’ where seven departments

got ‘stuck in’ looking at many aspects of the chocolate industry. Each department focussed on a different

aspect of chocolate. The aim of the day was to develop skills such as risk-taking, team work, creativity, decision

making and problem solving in our young people.

English produced some descriptive writing about how ingredients affect the taste of chocolate, Maths looked at

different methods of buying chocolate and how prices vary. Science looked at how much air is in an Aero bar,

how much chocolate is in it and how much we pay for the bar. Geography investigated the production process

from bean to bar and the life of the cocoa farmer. This also included how Fair Trade can help farmers growing

cocoa beans. Drama/ RS worked together on Fair Trade and the ethical issues surrounding child labour. Art/

Photography produced a large scale painting of a chocolate, based on Andy Warhol & Claus Oldenburg works.

The children worked in teams and fed back their findings to Staff and the whole year group at the end of the day.

They were rewarded with some chocolate products kindly donated by Mars Ltd.

‘I thought the chocolate day would be boring, but I was wrong. It was an excellent day.’

Fatima 8R

‘I learnt that we pay for air in the chocolate Aero bar. Actually air is free, but for the taste we have to

pay.’ Sahana 8R

‘It was great fun in all my lessons and I really enjoyed the hall when we all had to do presentations.’

Rahul 8R

‘I think it was a fabulous day because we had to work on many different activities such as experiments in

science, descriptive writing in English and working out costing in maths.’

Delane 8R

I Chocolate Cross Curricular Project for Yr.8 students

Turn to page 5 for pictures...

My Child at School (MCAS) ooks Heath College is pleased to announce that student information will be available electronically with

effect from September 2010. Parents and Carers will be able to see their child’s timetable, attendance

and assessment reports by logging on to ‘My Child At School’.

This is a new system, which is extremely user friendly and we hope that parents and carers will find it useful and

informative. We hope to expand the information available to include important announcements, copies of letters

home and details on behaviour, both positive and negative, as we progress through the year. Parents and carers

will be able to use their unique login and password to access live data that will enable them to track their child’s

attendance and time keeping.

Parents and Carers can monitor their child’s attendance in each lesson, or look back over an entire college year.

All college reports will now be available on MCAS. Paper reports will also be sent home for the immediate fu-

ture.

We hope that this system will help to enhance communication between home and college. The system will also

remind Parents and Carers to ensure that they update their personal contact details to help to keep the information

held by the college completely up to date.

We hope that you will find the system is a useful tool for keeping in touch with the college and we would wel-

come any feedback or suggestions you may have.

R

r Robert Bowles, a ChemNet Executive from the Royal Society of Chemistry, enthused ‘A’ Level Chem-

ists on careers involving Chemistry on 23rd November, 2009. Students were made aware that medicine

is not the only option; Chemistry offers a large number of career opportunities. There is something for

all from clinical biochemists to pharmaceutical chemists working for internationally renowned drugs companies,

patenting law, working for the Ministry of Defence, museums & zoos, ophthalmology, optometry, dentistry, vet-

erinary sciences, research and development, teaching, beauty (cosmetics), engineering or even working in the

City – students were made aware of the benefits of the professional skills developed when undertaking ‘A’ Level

Chemistry.

hemistry has forever been a vital

science that has evolved with

advances in the field and gives

opportunities to pursue topics which link

with other fields. While the areas of re-

search are increasing in breadth and

complexity, the molecular approach to

problems has remained unique to Chem-

istry itself. Through our visit to the

Coryton Oil Refinery, we were given an

incredible idea about how Science works

outside of the classroom through a valu-

able lecture. This will prepare us to

value and respect Chemistry throughout

the course and in the future.

Mr Rob Farr took us on a tour of the oil

refinery and we were shown different

parts of the processes that we study

which was a rare opportunity due to on-

goingsecurity concerns. We must therefore thank Dr. Rathod for arranging this incredible visit.

Mohamed Ali Al-Badri

Information for Parents and Carers

D To be or not to be a Chemist?

C Visiting Coryton

UK Maths Challenges

he Maths Challenges take place annually. They provide opportunities for talented mathematicians to pit

their wits against problems and puzzles and to display skills that lie outside the normal examination cur-

riculum. This year, 60 students from Year 8 took part in the Junior Challenge and 90 from Years 9-11 took part in the In-

termediate Challenge. All the students did well, and many actually achieved Bronze, Silver and Gold Certifi-

cates. In the Intermediate Challenge, Bronze Certificates go to: Kushboo Govind, Sophini Logeswaran, Laura Gardner,

Wingyee Hau, Benjamin Nithyandaraj, Sinduran Sivarajan, Sulax Balachanthiran, Wingchun Hau, Kiran McE-

wan, Ahsanul Choudhury and Aslam Sookia. Silver Certificates

go to: Rachana Khamar, Saajan Shah, Bhavik Shah and Saghar

Abdibayat. There were even two winners of Gold Certificates: Bobby

Pringle and Sathana Jeyasingam. In the Junior Challenge, Bronze Certificates go to: Rickesh

Choudhry, Shujana Luxmanan, Ava Patel, Ehsan Totakhil, Aye-

sha Kashem and Angusan Thavarajah. Silver Certificates go to

Thenuka Baby, Husayna Hassan, Daniaal Hussain, Kimberley

Grant, Dhruv Mohan and Ajharul Choudhury. Mathematics Masterclass Day

The Masterclass day was held at the Royal Institute in London. Two students, Sathana Jeyasingam and Apekcha

Rai from Rooksheath attended this event. There were seminars and discussions ranging from forces and gravity

to mathematical patterns and proof. It was very enjoyable and the girls were introduced to many new concepts in

mathematics.

Some useful websites www.sumdog.com Games with different levels for useful skill and drill in basic numeracy. Excellent for

speeding up your maths skills. http://nrich.maths.org/forstudents Organised by Cambridge University, this site provides a wealth of games, in-

vestigations, activities and puzzles for students at all stages of the national curriculum. www.ukmt.org.uk This is the UK Maths Challenge website and it has puzzles and games from past challenges. http://www.fi.uu.nl/rekenweb/en/ A wide variety of mathematical games produced by educators from the

Netherlands

Mr Outen

Maths At Rooks Heath College

he Ha2 Cando Carnival theme this year was musical instruments. The BTEC

students made stringed instruments from willow and tissue paper before

painting them and adding neon highlights. Gabija, Leanne, Christina, Archel

and Aiyesha from Year 10 were responsible for designing and making all the hats

and accessories and Gabija also did some of the sewing. They worked really hard

and contributed some great ideas. The day was really ‘Hot Hot Hot,’ and everyone turned out in full. Despite the initial

lack of a truck, the day went really well with eight schools taking part.

Rooks Heath students looked really beautiful and they created a dance for the

performance at the Roxeth Show en route. Check the website for more pictures. Isabella Hargrave

T Carnival Time

T

FRIDAY 16th JULY LAST DAY FOR STUDENTS

Thursday 2nd Sept Year 12 Induction and interviews

Friday 3rd Sept Year 7 & 8 induction morning only

Monday 6th Sept Years 7 -11 Start

Tuesday 7th Sept Years 12 & 13 start

Diary dates

H A R R O W C R I C K E T F A C T O R Y

M o n d a y s & F r i d a y s

Times: 10am-12pm 9-14 year olds. 2pm-4pm 15-18 year olds.

To book your FREE place, please email: greenhill.snt@met.police.uk

Mondays Harrow Rec. Ground,

Roxborough Road

26th July to30th Aug

Fridays St Marys Cricket Club,

Headstone Lane

30th July to 27th Aug

Summer Coaching Courses

For Boys and Girls aged 6-16

For more information please visit: www.hca-london.com

Harrow Cricket

Course 1: 19th to 22nd July — Course 2: 26th to 29th July

Course 3: 2nd to 5th August — Course 4: 9th to 12th August

Course 5: 16th to 19th August — Course 6: 23rd to 26th August

ocks Heath would like to say a BIG THANK

YOU to Ms Girvan for all she has done for us

regarding the BlastBeat program!! We would

also like to formally congratulate her for winning the

BlastBeat Teacher's Award for the amazing work she

has done!

Miraj Pankhania

Public Relations

R Thank You Ms Girvan