Education News December 2009
Top of the class
A topping out ceremony marked a milestone in the development of Hackney’s fifth academy.
The Skinners’ Academy in Woodberry Down, N4, due to open in 2010, will replace the existing Skinners’ Company’s School for Girls, in N16.
Mayor of Hackney, Jules Pipe, joined pupils from the current school at the 23 November event, where the completion of the highest point of the structure was celebrated.
Academy Principal designate, Jenny Wilkins, Skinners’ school governors, and John Burrow, from The Learning Trust were also present. Christopher Everett, deputy chair of governors, said: “The Skinners’ Company are delighted that their association with Hackney – which began with the Foundation of the Skinners’ Company’s School for Girls in 1890 – will continue for years to come in the Skinners’ Academy.”
The new school will be a non-denominational, 11-18-year-old, mixed school for 1,150 pupils. It is the first part of a new education and life-long learning campus for Woodberry Down, that will include a remodelling of the existing primary school, a new Children’s Centre and an Adult Education Training Centre.
The £30million project is being developed by The Learning Trust, on behalf of the Council, and is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
14 December 2009
Going green
Students from St Dominic’s RC Primary have been working with engineers from a City firm to come up with ideas to make their school greener.
The children worked alongside volunteers from Medland Metropolis to create plans for making the school more sustainable, while learning about the day-to-day work of an engineer.
Suggestions from pupils included solar panels, sensor-controlled lights that only come on when needed, cycling to school, curtains for insulation, making pens from recycled material and having taps that push down rather than twist to save water.
One pupil said: “I learnt how to be more eco friendly and to care for the environment.”
Another added: “The environment is very important, not only to us, but to our children and our children’s children.”
Inspire!, Hackney’s education business partnership, arranged the project with the aim of helping children learn about the environment and the building services industry, while also acquiring business-related skills such as planning, team working and creative thinking.
The E9 school is currently looking into the students’ suggestions.
30 November 2009
Town hall trips and ‘taches
Pupils from Daubeney Primary School savoured their first taste of local government after a visit to Hackney Town Hall.
The Speaker of Hackney, Cllr Muttailip Unluer, invited the group to the Council chamber, where he explained aspects of local democracy and led the children in a mock Council meeting.
Ese Kalusi, 10, said: “It was a great pleasure to visit the Council and it taught us a lot about how things work. It was great to meet the Speaker and it was very interesting to see the Council Chambers.”
Cllr Unluer added: “The children were very engaged and asked lots of questions, and they were very good debaters. I hope they went away with a greater understanding about local government.”
Back at the E5 school, teachers and pupils have been sporting fake moustaches to raise money for prostate cancer awareness charity Mo-vember. Daubeney’s male teachers even grew a real ‘Mo-stache’ for the November campaign.
Pupils and staff donated 20p to don a ‘tache for a day.
30 November 2009
New playground opened
A hut with children’s bikes, toy cars and a mini petrol station are among the additions to Belz Day Nursery’s new state-of-the-art playground.
The Clapton nursery, which caters for 60 children, aged three to five, from the borough’s Orthodox Jewish community, received a grant from The Learning Trust to develop the imaginative playground.
It was officially opened by Benjamin Perl, Huntingdon Foundation chairman, and Jules Pipe, Mayor of Hackney, on 17 November. He said: “It is a key priority of the Council to ensure the borough is a great place to grow up. Play is an important part of this, and new play facilities are part of our commitment to younger children.”
The playground replaces a forecourt of shrubs, grass and sand with climbing frames, a canopy, road markings made on asphalt for the toy vehicles and children’s gardening patches.
30 November 2009
Pupils are on the ball
Leyton Orient FC players had to be quick on their feet, both on the pitch and off, when pupils from Jubilee Primary School quizzed them on their lives as professional footballers.
As part of the club’s Adopt-A-Player scheme, Leyton Orient midfielder Charlie Daniels and left winger Loick Pires visited the N16 school last month to take part in an assembly and some fitness tests. They also gave out free tickets to the club, and took part in question and answer sessions related to curriculum-based, healthy living schemes.
Community Coach, Yassin Abidou, said: “The pupils asked them about healthy eating and nutrition during their professional careers, their playing history, their diets and what they do away from the pitch.
“After this they took part in some fitness exercises; leg power tests and flexibility tests.”
30 November 2009
Page updated: 15 Jun 2010
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