Community is a core value at School 21, and this week’s newsletter shares some of the varied ways students and staff celebrate and build community in school and beyond!
LATEST NEWS:
Festival of Light
We are delighted to announce our Festival of Light concerts for 2023! This is an extra special year because we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of these amazing music showcases.
The Festival of Light concerts are centered around ensemble and community. Every student from Reception to Year 9 performs in one of these concerts, with the final concert (Year 10-Year 13) as a showcase of our students who have chosen to continue their music education at GCSE, BTEC and A Level.
Festival of Light tickets are ON SALE NOW via Reach More Parents (Weduc) and letters have been sent out to all parents and carers with further details. Don’t forget to order your tickets as soon as possible! The ‘one ticket cap’ on tickets will be lifted on Monday 6th November for concerts 1-3 and Monday 13th November for concerts 4-5.
Community Choir
Community choir has got off to a great start this year and we have welcomed families and students from almost every year group in the school! Please come along to our next community choir rehearsal on Friday 10th November 3.30-4.15pm (Primary families welcome from 3.20pm). It's not too late to join and thank you to everyone who has come so far!
Future Fest
✨ Welcome to Future Fest at #School21 ✨ This week students from Year 7 to Year 11 enjoyed exploring their career and education options for after their GCSEs. A HUGE 'Thank you' to all our exhibitors and organisers!
Dia de los Muertos
Students from Year 6 to Year 10 were invited to take part in a very special cookie decorating session, led by the School 21 Spanish department, to celebrate the festival of Dia de los Muertos (1-2 Nov) this week. The festival is traditionally a celebration of the bond with departed family members, including the creation of offerings to honour the departed.
THIS WEEK AT SCHOOL 21:
Reception
This week in Reception, we started our new project: "How does our community celebrate?". During this project, we will be learning about lots of different cultural celebrations. This week, we started by thinking about the celebrations that we share within our family communities and drew pictures to show them. We also celebrated Halloween in our classes, by painting some fun pictures and dressing up in costumes!
Year 1
We had an ooky spooky day in Year 1 on Tuesday! We had ghouls, ghosts, superheroes, monsters and princesses all come into school! We made and wrote potions, we drew witches and we learnt all about Halloween.
Year 3
Year 3 investigated how light and shadows worked in our Science lesson by looking at objects through holes in a box with and without torches. We described our investigation and gave reasons for what we could see and what we couldn't.
Year 5
First and foremost, we are thrilled to inform you that Year 5 students have been working diligently in their mathematics lessons, with a special focus on statistics. It's been a challenging but rewarding unit, and we are extremely proud of their hard work and dedication to learning this important subject. In addition to their impressive mathematical accomplishments, the Year 5 students have also demonstrated their creativity and literary skills. They have been busy writing beautiful diary entries inspired by the novel "The Explorer" by Katherine Rundell. The literary pieces they've produced are not only insightful but also incredibly well-written.
Furthermore, our Year 5 students recently embarked on an exciting planting project, and we were delighted to see many parents come in to lend a helping hand. Your involvement and support in these practical, hands-on experiences are invaluable to the children's learning and development.
Year 6
Our Year 6 students have been hard at work, and we're excited to share with you their latest project, which explores the rich tapestry of Newnham's diverse residents.
Over the past few weeks, our Year 6 students have embarked on an exciting journey of discovery. They have taken on a research project that involves exploring and celebrating the diverse backgrounds of Newnham's residents. The goal of this project is to foster a greater sense of understanding, empathy, and unity within our school community.
In the interviews that took place outside Stratford Library, students had the privilege of learning about local residents from various backgrounds, asking them about their experiences, stories, and what they love most about Newnham. These interviews have been a fantastic opportunity for our students to learn firsthand about the diversity that makes our community so special. Next week, they will analyse the information gathered and see what trends they can identify.
Year 7
We are thrilled to share some fantastic news from our Year 7 students as they have successfully completed their first half term in Year 7, and their enthusiasm and hard work have been truly remarkable.
Throughout the past several weeks, Year 7 has been delving into the spirit of Black History Month with an engaging project. The students have been diligently researching and discovering the rich history and contributions of Black individuals throughout history.
One of the most thrilling aspects of this project has been the creation of captivating carnival costumes. Our students have been exploring their creativity and designing costumes that reflect the vibrant and diverse cultures celebrated during Black History Month. The dedication and attention to detail in these costume designs have been truly impressive, and we're eager to showcase their hard work in our upcoming parent assembly.
Year 8
In the Food Technology lesson, the students used seasonal vegetables and learn how to make a vegetable soup!
Year 10
The Year 10 GCSE music class have had a fantastic start to the year! Building on their strong performance at the Year 9 Battle of the Bands last year (as well as many years of Festival of Light and Band Project gala concerts…), they have been studying the history and conventions of Pop music since the 1950s. They've looked at Rock & Roll artists such as Chuck Berry and Elvis, composed ballads in the style of Elton John, and performed heavy rock anthems from Bon Jovi and Black Sabbath! We're all looking forward hugely to their debut public performance as an ensemble at this year's Festival of Light on Thursday December 14th!
LOCAL NOTICES:
Attention Year 7 to Year 13 – Newham Libraries is celebrating all things STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Maths)! On the 8th of November, join us at Stratford Library from 4-7pm as we share information, listen to guest speakers from companies such as Microsoft and Amazon, and take part in interactive tech workshops. Learn more about careers in STEAM and speak to STEAM students from UEL, UCL, UAL, and more as they demonstrate some of the cool projects they’re working on. Free event. Everyone is welcome!
