Education News June 2008
Stitching up the competition
Two students from Hackney Community College have scooped a fashion design award.
Nicole Da Silva and Phong Nguyen, otherwise known as The Urbanites, won £450 cash and a sewing machine for the N1 college, in the Ethic 08 competition.
They both took part in a catwalk show and reception at the Fashion and Textile Museum, in SE1, hosted by eco-entrepreneur and TV presenter Joanna Yarrow.
Ten finalists presented their work to a panel of ethical fashion experts from the museum, as well as judges from The Guardian, Eco-Boudoir online boutique, and Sari UK.
Nicole said: “I am so surprised. The standard of all the finalist’s costumes was incredibly high. Until now there has been little opportunity for fashion students in further education to showcase their work.
“This means so much to me as I am hoping to continue my studies in fashion at university.”
Nicole and Phong created a wedding dress by deconstructing and customising an old gown from a charity shop. They screen-printed it with recycling information and embellished the dress with pearls, also found in a charity shop.
The annual Ethic competition features new, up-and-coming talented fashion designers.
Entrants’ designs had to combine current trends and style, while also addressing at least one of a number of issues surrounding ethical fashion – Fairtrade, organic materials, recycling, animal friendly or innovative green materials – with a budget of just £100.
Girls have tools for success
Clapton Girls' Technology College (GTC) has been rated as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.
The chief inspector from the Government’s education watchdog gave the E5 secondary the best grade possible in recognition of its high performance and significant improvement, following a visit in May. He reported that pupils have been making rapid progress due to the consistently high quality of teaching, and noted that students are rightly proud of the school.
One parent said:“My daughter is very happy about everything in her school and that makes a happy mother as well.”
Headteacher, Cheryl Day, said: “I am delighted that the determination, hard work and commitment of Clapton’s staff, and the talent and enthusiasm of the students, has been acknowledged by Ofsted.
“Last year’s GCSE results were fantastic and we will continue to ensure that Clapton GTC does the best for every girl who is lucky enough to attend.”
Turkish delight
Schools enjoyed a host of cultural celebrations as part of Hackney’s second annual Turkish, Kurdish and Turkish Cypriots (TKC) Week.
Workshops, plays and puppet shows featuring the jokes and tricks of legendary Turkish performer Nasreddin Hodja kept children entertained, as did folk dancing, cookery and storytelling.
The Learning Trust delivered resources to schools, including a pack to help with planning lessons, and a set of Nasreddin Hodja books to mark his 800th birthday.
Hamiyet Asan, the Learning Trust’s Ethnic Minority Achievement Consultant, who organised events, said: “The week celebrates the positive contribution, achievements and cultures of TKC pupils and communities.
“We believe it’s important to provide opportunities for all pupils to explore how Hackney has been enriched by the immigration of TKC communities to Britain.
“It’s also a good opportunity to get Turkish and Kurdish speaking parents involved in organising events at school.”
We're not staying in
Students from Gainsborough Primary School got to display their creative talents when a play they helped to write and produce debuted at the E9 school.
Can I Go Out? was developed by pupils and parents with help from local company, Immediate Theatre.
It aims to capture the reality of life today for children, young people and their families and confronts issues of street safety and ‘what can be done to make a change’. After each performance, the audience has the chance to respond to the story and try out ideas to resolve some of the issues raised.
Professional actors Clara Onyemere and Jotham Annan worked with the group and performed in the play.
The project began when the school’s Parents’ Group invited Penny Cliff, writer in-residence with Immediate Theatre and Sanctuary Housing Association, to set up a weekly, after school drama workshop in playwriting and acting for parents and children.
Can I Go Out? forms part of Immediate Theatre’s Big Blue Fence Project, which works with groups in E9 to reflect the views and issues of people living around the 2012 Olympic site.
Discovering a new way to learn
An impressive delegation of VIPs visited Hackney Community College to learn more about new Diplomas for 14 to 19-year-olds – due to be introduced in schools and colleges from September.
Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families led the group as it toured the Shoreditch college, which will be one of the first in the country to offer the brand new qualifications.
He was joined by Minister for Schools, Jim Knight; Apprentice winner, Tim Campbell; former Learning Trust chairman, Sir Mike Tomlinson; and Chairman Emeritus of Toyota, Sir Alan Jones.
After hearing tutors and parents’ views on the new courses, the VIPs chatted with construction students to find out how the Diplomas could have helped them.
Ian Ashman, Hackney Community College Principal, said: “These new Diplomas really will transform the way that young people can learn and achieve. By working in partnership with schools, we can deliver a more practical, skillsfocused curriculum, with high academic standards, giving students a better choice of options, either into employment, or on into higher education.”
A quick guide to Diplomas
The Diplomas will offer a mix of theory and hands-on learning, and are being touted as an alternative to more academic GCSEs and A-levels.
Three new Diplomas will be offered in Hackney schools from September: Construction and the Built Environment; Society, Health & Development; and Creative & Media.
The courses can be studied at different levels, with GCSE and A Level equivalency. They are industry-related, but not job specific.
Eventually, 17 Diplomas will be offered with three levels of attainment: foundation, intermediate and advanced.
More information
For further details visit: www.dfes.gov.uk/14-19/
Train for work
Creative pupils from Hackney have been involved in constructing an imaginary new railway from London to Cambridge.
The six students from Hackney Free and Parochial School were among teams from across London that presented their ideas to industry experts.
The event at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers was the climax of an innovative workshop series called ‘Vision to Reality’. The aim was to set young people real work construction challenges and encourage creative thinking.
Thirty six Young, Gifted & Talented (YG&T) students living along the proposed Crossrail route from Maidenhead to Heathrow took part.
The Government-backed initiative is designed to stimulate the brightest young learners, particularly under-achieving and disadvantaged students.
Those who took part were tasked with developing a strategy for constructing a hypothetical railway between London and Cambridge, one of Britain’s most crowded rail lines.
Alex Cobb, from Hackney Free and Parochial School, said: “I really enjoyed working with the other students and found the station design part most interesting.”
Geraldine Craig, Careers Advisor for Greater London, said: “There is such a wide choice of careers on offer such as architects, surveyors and engineers. We want to encourage more people to join this interesting and vital section of the industry.
Pleased to meet you
Hackney students have completed a 3,000 mile round trip to meet the Queen and develop their business skills.
Young people from Hackney Community College and Haggerston School greeted the monarch during a recent Royal visit to Turkey.
They were on a British Council funded trip to Kabatas School in Istanbul, where students worked on a business studies project with their Turkish counterparts.
The scheme involved developing a business plan for marketing a pedal bike with an electric motor.
The Hackney pupils chatted with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, explaining how they created a business model that would see the hybrid bikes made in Istanbul sold in the UK.
Jessie Russell Donn, 15, from Haggerston School, said: “This is really good. It’s amazing and certainly beats meeting the Queen in Buckingham Palace.”
Courtney Caton, 13, from Dalston, added: “It’s so great. Istanbul is the furthest I’ve been away from home. I feel really lucky to be here.”
The Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who was also on the trip, was so impressed by the students’ work that he even took a ride on one of the bikes.
Ozlem Kol-Giray, a teacher from Haggerston School, who is originally from Turkey, said: “I feel very privileged to be part of this programme. It’s been a great opportunity for my students to come here and work with the students from Kabatas.”
Ian Ashman, Hackney Community College Principal, added: “It’s been an excellent opportunity for our students and we look forward to continuing to support the Turkish Government in developing their vocational curriculum.”
Cash for creativity
Hackney schools have been chosen as among England’s most creative.
Jubilee and Lauriston primaries were selected by a panel of education experts to get a slice of a ’110 million national creative learning fund.
The 30 new ‘Schools of Creativity’ will each receive ’45,000 over three years to develop and promote creative learning using cutting-edge teaching techniques in partnership with professional artists and designers.
School Standards Minister Lord Adonis said: “These schools have shown what can be achieved with a creative approach to learning. Everyone has seen improvements because of their willingness to be bold in the way they engage students’ aspirations.
Embracing ‘pupil voice’ and ‘peer learning’ has been fundamental in their successes.”
The Hackney primaries will lead a local network of between four and 10 schools to share creative learning, and will form part of a national network to develop creative learning in England’s schools.
They were picked from hundreds of schools working with Creative Partnerships, a Government programme managed by Arts Council England.
Paul Collard, National Director of Creative Partnerships, said: “These schools are the ones we believe we can place at the centre of local networks.
They will share their unique creative approach, so that other schools can learn from their experience. Our panel of experts were inspired by what these schools have achieved over the past five years.”
Page updated: 7 Jul 2008