Senior Prefect Team 2021/2022
We are delighted to announce the appointments below. It was a very strong field with 75 applications in total. Our congratulations and best wishes to the Senior Prefect Team for 2021/22.
Head Prefect
Harikesh Murugan 12SCH
Deputy Prefects
Rohit Gill 12AKU
Joshua Stewart 12EHA
Juwairiya Walimia 12SCH
Cameron Nahl 12IBE
Chair of School Council
Nyrun Hargun 12DGR
Curriculum Article Publication
Mr Dubay (Head of English) has recently had an article published in an educational journal – Curriculum Wide Newsletter. It focusses upon the effective delivery of the curriculum and the barriers that can exist which in turn prevent the best outcomes for students.
Please click on the link for more details.
Focus on Education June 2021 No. 2
We have recently finished our assessment series for Years 11 and 13, and our students can now breathe a huge sigh of relief as we begin the grading process. They have prepared well and we have been impressed by their dedication and focus as they have sought to give the best account of themselves at the culmination of their courses. We have set Year 11 a series of Summer Tasks in readiness for their chosen A Level courses, which is an important aspect of their A Level preparation work. These are mandatory tasks and will prepare them well for A Level life as well as enabling them to effectively cope with Year 12 work and assessments. We have also provided them with some broader guidance on Sixth Form life such as Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Syed’s Bounce. Please encourage Year 11 to regularly check their Teams channel for support, resources and guidance. Please also encourage your son in Year 10 and Year 12 to check their Teams channel regularly as information and resources are being posted for them to help them catch up in readiness for their delayed Summer Exams, which will be held in September.
The good news from the Pearson’s 2021 Global Learner Survey is that young people may recover faster from the pandemic than previously thought. The survey polled more than 6,000 people globally, including a UK sample. It found that 80% of British university students had found new ways to be more resilient and self-sufficient, and that 57% felt they had grown as people. Parents of school-age children reported a similar trend, with 85% saying they were impressed by their child’s self-sufficiency and adaptability.
Although other surveys have unsurprisingly reflected loneliness and mental health concerns due to the disruption to education and long periods spent at home, the majority of students apparently feel they have become stronger and more empathetic. Parents have also noted their children’s resilience during months away from school and friends.
Some 68% of parents and students said they felt that the pandemic had caused people to be more caring and understanding. 83% of parents said that their children are more aware of the hardships other people face, and 64% expect that they will become more interested in social issues as a result.
It was often said earlier in the pandemic that the world should never be the same again and that we should learn lessons, emerging as more considerate human beings, making time to support our neighbours and to rebuild communities.
It has been a steep learning curve for all of us, and we shall benefit from some of the lessons learnt during the pandemic in order to mould our school development and values over the years ahead.
Stay well and safe.
Be kind to yourself and each other.
Best wishes,
Dr Bird
Tropical Fish Club – Week 8
Nitrogen cycle article written by Mubarak & Kiran 8N – 19/05/2021
This week in the Tropical Fish Club, we learned about how we care for fish tanks at home. We learned that keeping healthy fish means that we must first, keep healthy bacteria! We learnt about the nitrogen cycle and that we need a good understanding of this in-order to develop the tank the way that we want.
The Nitrogen Cycle is probably the most important thing for a tank to keep going. This cycle, maintains a healthy state in a tank; the cycle works like this:
When a fish gets rid of it’s waste it sinks to the bottom and starts to decay, like anything which has nutrition (this also includes uneaten food). This makes Ammonia which is really dangerous to fish and is lethal to them. Amongst other issues, ammonia can harm the gills of fish which will disrupt their method of taking in oxygen!
So our filter in the tank needs to be given the chance to develop a bacteria which can convert the ammonia into nitrites (NO2−). These nitrites are also deadly for fish though. When there is enough nitrite around in the tank, other bacteria will develop in our filter which will convert nitrites into nitrates (NO3-). Fish are able to cope with nitrates in the water, unlike ammonia and nitrites.
These nitrates are also very good for the plants, the plants will use these nitrates as a source of nitrogen for their growth (acting as a fertilizer). Having said this, too much nitrate can kill fish, which is why we must carry out regular water changes. This will reduce concentrations of nitrates weekly, so we will never reach toxic levels.
This means that bacteria which convert ammonia to nitrites, and nitrites to nitrates are very important to establish in our filters before adding any fish. We can do this by regularly adding fish food to fish tanks (without fish in) to begin to build up these bacteria within the running filter. Alternatively, we can add products into our tanks which contain these bacteria, such as the ones, kindly donated to us by API! They very kindly gave us some of these quick-start bottles which speed this process up! They also gave us some test kits which allows us to monitor the water chemistry in our aquarium. We would like to thank API for sending us so much equipment which will help us with our projects!
This has given us a lesson in patience, water chemistry and responsible pet care. This is going to be helpful in the future, especially for beginners like some of us in the club!
Mubarak DeSilva & Kiran Patel 8 Nelson
Week 8