February 2016 Issue No 1

Welcome: Year 2 at the NCS Welcome to the first NCS Newsletter of 2016, at the start of what promises to be another memorable and spectacular year for the Newham Collegiate Sixth Form (The NCS)

If anything, Year 2 at the NCS has been even more busy, active and successful

than our first. Not a week seems to pass without the NCS welcoming some

famous speaker or eminent lecturers, and our students constantly make the

most of the many enrichment opportunities on offer, some of which you can

read about below.

However, we never lose sight of the need for our students to gain the best

possible examination results. Maintaining the outstanding teaching and

learning that has been our hallmark since we first opened remains our core

focus. Our first AS results last year were exceptional and we have every

confidence that this year’s full A-level results will be even better.

Our first AS

results last year

were exceptional

and we have

every confidence

that this year’s

full A-level results

will be even

better.

Ashna

Below: Mr Ismail with NCS students celebrate success on results day 2015

University here we come!

How good is the NCS? An expert view

We believe we are creating something quite unique and special at the NCS,

but we want to be sure. Last year we commissioned a national education

expert to carry out an observation of our work and we were delighted

when we were judged ‘Outstanding’ in every category assessed. However,

we want to continually improve, so we have organised another external

inspection of the NCS to get an expert judgement of the quality of what we

do, and whether we are meeting our high ambitions. This will happen in

the next few weeks and, whatever the outcome, we will bring you the

results of this new external Inspection in our next Newsletter.

Above :Year 12 NCS students visit Oxford University

A Growing Reputation

Since we opened in September 2014, more and more people in East

London have been finding out what The NCS offers; expert A-level

teachers, outstanding learning and teaching, amazing enrichment

opportunities and exceptional university and career guidance. It is

understandable that many talented students are interested in joining the

NCS, and we are excited by the prospect of working with them.

If you haven’t yet had a look at what we do, please take time to visit our

new web site - www.thencs.co.uk – where you will find a wealth of

information and videos highlighting our work, and have a chance to meet

our teachers and current students (and do check out our Emerging Talent

Programme, our Super Curriculum and the Opportunities Timeline there

– we believe the NCS Enrichment programme is unrivalled).

“Results for new external inspection out soon. Watch

this space…”

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Visit our new

web site, where

you will find a

wealth of

information

and videos

highlighting

our work, and

have a chance

to meet our

teachers and

students.

Recently our first ever Year 13 students have been receiving their university offers. We are delighted to announce that we have already had our first two offers from Oxbridge; Zereena Arshad has a place to study English and History at Oxford and Maaz Vali will study Mathematics at Cambridge.

Many of our medics are now receiving offers to study Medicine and other students are delighted with their news. Our students have applied to Russell Group universities and given the success of our AS results last year, and the support and opportunities we provide at the NCS, we fully expect that most of them will get the places they richly deserve.

Students see their future?

Our Year 12 students have also been busy, as a number of them have just returned with glowing reports of their time at Cambridge University, where they stayed for 2 days as part of the Cambridge shadowing scheme. They have returned determined that this will be their future university.

Our NCS Ambassador’s mentoring day last term provided Year 12 students with detailed practical advice on applying for university and preparing for future professional careers. Our NCS Ambassadors, successful young professionals in their own right, are a fantastic resource and support for our students. Find out more about them on our website.

“Our first two

offers from

Oxbridge;

Zereena Arshad

has a place to

study English

and History at

Oxford and

Maaz Vali will

study

Mathematics at

Cambridge.”

3

UNIVERSITY, HERE WE COME!

Above : NCS student Vithu attended the Science Project at Kyoto University in Japan

Above: NCS students with Vince Cable, Mr Ismail (Principal) and Ms Lomax (Deputy

Principal)

The NCS Lecture Programme – Exposure to big ideas

When we started the NCS, we were determined to give our students exposure to some of society’s key ideas and decision makers, to help prepare them as future leaders. Our academic Lecture Programme this year has done just that; in the last few months we have welcomed outstanding speakers. Sir Vince Cable, former secretary of state for Business, Innovation and Skills, spoke about the 2008 financial crash, how government works and his life in politics and the economy.

Only recently we welcomed Shami Chakrabarti, the Director of Liberty, the civil liberties organisation. She gave students a truly inspirational insight into the key issues surrounding human rights and the law, and why the work to protect these values is so important.

Our scientists listened to Dr. George McGavin, eminent zoologist and TV presenter who gave a wonderful lecture on entomology. Not to be outdone, our Maths students enjoyed a thought provoking and challenging lecture from Simon Singh, scientist and mathematician, acclaimed author (”Fermat’s Last Theorem” & “The Simpsons and their Mathematical secrets”) and TV star.

You can see our podcasts on all these lectures, and find our more about our guests, on our website, but the central theme is that NCS students have direct access to some of society’s key thinkers, preparing them for university and their future careers. Coming next to the NCS lecture series, Tony Gardiner, British Mathematician and Founder of the UKMT and soon…… our mystery guest - the fastest man on the surface of the Earth!

NCS students have been given exposure to some of

society’s key ideas and decision makers.

4

“Shami

Chakrabarti,

the Director of

Liberty, the civil

liberties

organisation,

gave an

inspirational

talk to our

students.”

Leading in Mathematics

With regard to Simon Singh, the NCS is delighted to announce that we will be working closely with Simon, leading on a prestigious new project to design and implement an innovative Mathematics curriculum that will prepare students for high level mathematics thinking at the most competitive universities. Find out more about this exciting project in our next Newsletter.

Unrivalled Opportunities at the NCS

It is our belief that in addition to outstanding teaching in the classroom, our students should experience exciting opportunities to help them develop as learners and future professionals. The NCS prides itself on how we support the ambitions of our students through our Emerging Talent Programme. Here is a flavour of some of the opportunities students enjoy.

Law placement in Abu Dhabi. Our NCS future lawyers will spend a week working at an international Law firm… in Abu Dhabi, with all expenses paid. Our students are currently taking part in a challenging selection process to see who will be the lucky lawyers to get this once in a life time opportunity!

In addition some of our lawyers recently spent a week at Copperstones Solicitors who specialise in Family Law, and others learnt key law & advocacy skills on a visit to international law firm CMS Cameron McKenna.

Work Experience – but not as you know it!

“To give our

NCS Medics a

competitive

edge we have

been providing

high quality

preparation,

focussing on

the specific

demands of

Bmat/UKCat

tests. ”

5

Below: NCS students with Simon Singh, Mr M Ismail (Principal ) and Ms Law (Head of

Maths)

Medicine is highly competitive – let the NCS help! We know that getting to study a degree in Medicine or Dentistry is highly competitive and we want to give our students an edge. The NCS guarantees all our medical students with the right academic profile a placement shadowing consultants at Guys & St Thomas’ Hospital. Students have recently shadowed policy makers to Jeremy Hunt, MP at the Department of Health. Our dentists spent a week at a leading private Dental Practice shadowing qualified Dentists, discussing treatments and sitting in on surgery and will return this summer for a second placement. Our medics received practical advice and coaching from NCS Ambassadors and current medical undergraduates on the BMAT / UKCAT exams to support their university applications – looking at the results, it obviously worked!

Maths and Engineering – designing the future

It is exciting times for our Engineering club, run in conjunction with our strategic partners UCL, as we launch our F1 challenge. Students, working with mentors from UCL Engineering, are designing their own Formula 1 car as part of a national competition. Those interested in computer science took part in Robotic workshops at KLC robotics labs, creating their own robots and using coding. Our strategic partnership with UCL has already brought many advantages to NCS students, and our students are currently benefitting from tutoring from UCL mathematicians, looking at advanced maths problems each week and developing their mathematical thinking and eloquence.

Forthcoming Trips – NCS style

Science research in Japan: Once again this summer, 4 of our lucky science students will travel to Japan for a week to take part in a multi national science project at Kyoto University working with Japanese students carrying out laboratory research. Students who went last year declared it the trip of a lifetime!

White House, here we come!

We are delighted to announce our fantastic politics and history tour to the USA. NCS students will fly to Washington to look at key historical and political issues, including civil rights and constitutional development, and will also visit two of the world’s greatest universities, our friends at Harvard (who came to the NCS last term) and MIT (officially the world’s best!). Who knows, it might open the door to our first applicants to these famous places of learning.

NCS students will fly to Washington to look at key

historical and political issues!

6

“NCS Students

are currently

benefitting from

tutoring from

UCL

mathematicians,

looking at

advanced Maths

Problems.”

Preparing for University – going the extra mile

We want our students to receive the best possible support in their studies and university applications. Throughout the year, undergraduates from LSE come to the NCS to work with our students on their subject skills and understanding, readying them not just for A-Level examinations, but for the future challenges of degree study.

Nine of our future bankers and accountants were short listed for interviews for a mentoring scheme by KPMG, one of the world’s great finance firms. KPMG were so impressed by our students that all nine were taken onto the scheme, learning a range of business and personal skills to enable them to succeed in this competitive industry.

Fantastic Student Achievement

We were delighted to hear recently that Year 13 student Daniella Nagy (pictured right) has been selected for the highly prestigious KPMG School Leaver Programme, one of the UK’s most competitive financial training programmes that attracts thousands of applicants. This is a huge achievement and we wish Daniella every success.

Congratulations also to our superb Year 12 Accountants (pictured above), who had recently won the London finals of the Business, Accounting, and Skills Education (BASE) organised by the Institute of Charted Accountants, demonstrating great confidence and incredible business acumen to win this competitive and prestigious prize. They will now represent London in the national finals in June. Best wishes and good luck, boys!

“Year 12

Accountants

recently won the

London finals of

the Business,

Accounting and

Skills Education

organised by the

Institute of

Chartered

Accountants”

7

PREPARING FOR UNIVERSITY

Joining the NCS. Application Update 2016: Still time to apply…….just!

We were pleased to meet so many excellent prospective students at our Open Evenings recently, and it was a pleasure to get to know students who we hope will join us in September.

Our online Application window for 2016 is still open, and we are delighted that the word about the NCS success is well and truly out; we have been inundated with applications this year, having received well over 1,500 applications already.

If you haven’t yet applied there is still time – our application window closes on Friday 12th February – and remember, it is not first come first served, so do not be put off by the numbers applying; we are always keen to hear from highly talented students who share our ambition to achieve at the highest levels. All applications are made online, and do see our ‘Top Tips’ on the website for helpful advice in making your application.

Visit our website www.thencs.co.uk, which has all a wealth of information and is regularly updated with details of life at the NCS.

If you share our passion for learning and want to be taught by outstanding A-Level experts, in the company of like minded, ambitious and talented young people like you, we look forward to hearing from you.

Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre A specialist centre for Science and Mathematics

326 Barking Road London E6 2BB

t. 020 3373 5000 e. enquiries@ncs6.org