Cranford Review 2020

C

2019 / 2020

Together

we are

Stronger

2019-2020

Cranford Community College

is a charitable company limited by

guarantee registered in England and Wales

under company registration number 7559818

at High St, Cranford, Middlesex TW5 9PD

Mr. Kevin Prunty

Executive Headteacher &

National Leader of Education

Veronique Gerber

Associate Headteacher

Peter Stumpf

Associate Headteacher

Alan Fraser

Assistant Headteacher & Director

of Community Partnerships

Rita Berndt

Joint Head of School

Rob Ind

Joint Head of School

Maria Bramhall

Deputy Head of School

Partnership: Berkeley Academy - Heston West Big Local -

Hounslow Promise - Hounslow Education Partnership

Dear Reader,

C

EDITORIAL

I am delighted that you are now perusing our annual

publication of the Cranford Review for 2019/20. It

is a celebration of last year and although I have been

incredibly lucky that there has been so much to celebrate

over my 20+ years as a Head Teacher, I have never been

so proud, as I am now, of this school, its staff, its pupils

and its community.

The academy has had to function ‘remotely’ for one third

of the year. This has presented a series of challenges and

yet continues to offer a myriad of opportunities.

There are undoubtedly further challenges to come

educationally as well as in health, employment and the

economy, but these are challenges we will face together

and we will succeed in turning them into successes.

What is so impressive about the events, experiences,

accomplishments and activities recorded in this booklet,

in the context of lockdown, is that the importance and

value of the wider curriculum has never been so clear.

C

The title of this publication ‘TOGETHER We Are

Stronger’ is very meaningful.

Firstly, it reflects on how much we have genuinely missed

being together as a school community of students and

staff, working and socialising together, coming to school

to learn, to educate, to grow and to belong. We perhaps

took some things about being together for granted before

that privilege was suspended.

We can look forward to spending more time together once

schools can re-open, doing some things a little differently

but doing them again and most importantly doing them

together – ‘together as one – together as ‘Cranford’.

2

“Cranford Review” © 2006-2020

is a publication of Cranford Community

College, distributed in printed copies, either

available in PDF (digital format) to be

downloaded from our school website:

www.cranford.hounslow.sch.uk

Editor-in-chief: Jessica Joyce

Graphic Design: Enzo Gianvittorio

Printed by: Springfieldpapers.com

Secondly, it reveals how we have been brought even

closer together with our wider community and partners;

to overcome adversity together, to work together to

find creative solutions to new problems, to care for and

help others in unprecedented need, and to join forces to

magnify impact. It is inspiring and heart-warming.

Cranford and its community have hardly skipped a

heartbeat. We have quickly adapted to the challenges

of teaching, learning and assessment ‘at a distance’. We

2019 / 2020

by Mr Kevin Prunty

developed safeguarding, pastoral and communication

provision in spite of obstacles.

We have taken practical steps to ensure that no-one

goes unfed or unnoticed, to ensure that community

mental health and emotional well-being have not been

overlooked and we have connected people together

so that we all know that we are not alone, especially

those feeling most vulnerable.

We have weathered this first storm well. We have

been blessed and we are grateful.

The pandemic forecast remains changeable and it

seems probable that the storms are not over. It is not

just one storm, though, that helps a tree grow deeper

and stronger where it stands. It is several storms over

time, a series of torrents and gusts. All of this rooting

and growing in the face of heavy weather protects a

tree from simply blowing over. And, it prepares a tree

for the storms yet to come.

Hence, we are learning from the challenges, developing

new skills, innovating and we are incredibly optimistic

about the good things that will come from our

resilient response to adversity, including the potential

to develop a positive, transformational and quantum

shifts in social mobility and community cohesion as

well as new approaches to teaching and learning.

If there are further storms ahead, we will learn more,

seek to do things better and be ever better prepared.

We value learning and its powerful benefits.

This review of the year celebrates our values and our

curriculum, as well as the excellence, the community

and international dimensions of our unique academy,

and the enormous breadth of curricular and extracurricular

provision, which is virtually unrivalled in

the state and private sectors. We learn from the best

in the world.

We also know that summer 2020 will be another

record-breaking year in terms of examination

success and we have put in place additional support

strategies for catch-up for those younger students that

will be taking their exams in future years so that the

continuous improvement trend is undiminished.

A truly special and huge thank you is owed to the

teachers and support staff, key workers, who have

rallied and worked incredibly hard and diligently to,

almost instantly, offer a full-service virtual school

for the whole of the summer 2020 term, alongside

some on-site provision and the enormous task of

grading GCSE, A-level, vocational and technical

qualifications. The dedication of Cranford staff and

the high level of engagement of most students is an

indicator of why the children who attend Cranford

make such excellent progress and accomplish so

much.

As an academy, we have used the time in lockdown

strategically too, heavily and urgently investing in

adaptations and safety improvements to our site and

premises so that we can all be as safe at school and

work as we could possibly be.

In addition to our commitment to all round excellence,

a key theme of Cranford’s identity has been our longterm

commitment to transforming the community.

As founding members of Hounslow’s Promise and

Heston West Big Local, two partner organisations that

also focus on improving the life chances of our young

people through exciting community development

programmes, we continue to take a holistic approach

to community development, school improvement,

cultural capital and social mobility.

The astonishing range of wider curriculum

opportunities also includes specific projects that

deepen and enhance students’ learning experience

through performances, challenges, masterclasses,

debates, conferences and competitions as well as

clubs, trips, visits and lectures.

As a result, we have happy, well-educated, wellqualified,

well-rounded, well-behaved, wellmotivated

and well-prepared contributors to society,

good citizens who value education, are able to enjoy

it, succeed in life and thrive in a wide range of social

contexts.

Kevin Prunty

Executive Headteacher

National Leader of Education

1

Cranford Community College

wins two awards from the

national high-performing

schools network

and is congratulated by

the Minister of State

for School Standards

Once again, Cranford Community College has been recognised

for its outstanding level of performance by Leading Edge, a

national network of exclusively high-performing secondary

and special schools. Leading Edge supports schools working in

partnership to raise achievement, develop innovative practice and

share practical strategies within and beyond the network.

Run by the Schools, Students and Teachers network (SSAT),

Leading Edge is made up of schools who have demonstrated

statistically significant levels of progress and that their students

perform well above the national average. Cranford Community

College has been awarded two certificates

for exceptional student attainment and for

exceptional student progress at KS4 which

places the academy in the top quintile of

schools nationally.

SSAT’s Chief Executive Sue Williamson

said ‘Congratulations again from everyone

at SSAT to you, your team and your students.

During these difficult times, thank you for

everything you do to make a difference to the

lives of the young people in your care. It is a

credit to the hard work of all of their staff and

students that they have been recognised once

again as one of the most high-performing

schools nationally.’

Top 4% of

state funded

secondary

schools in

the country

Top 10%

nationally

Nick Gibb Minister of State for School

Standards wrote to congratulate Executive

Headteacher Kevin Prunty for the outstanding

progress achieved by students at Cranford

which he points out is well above national

average putting the school in the top 10%

nationally. He also praised the academy’s

ambitious curriculum and the school’s

high level of EBacc entry putting it in the

top 4% of state funded secondary schools in

the country, thanking Kevin Prunty and the

staff for ‘continuing the drive towards ever

higher academic standards.’

Veronique Gerber (Associate Headteacher)

Ambitious

curriculum

and High

level of

EBacc entry

2

One of the

most highperforming

schools

nationally

Outstanding

progress

achieved by

students

3

# MATHS

The

Continuing Outstanding Success of

Cranford Mathematics Department have had an amazing

year. In August 2019 we were delighted with the

exceptional GCSE results gained by our year 11 students with 29%

of students gaining grade 7 or above, 63 % gaining grade 5 or above

and 77% gaining grade 4 or above, compared to national averages at

the same grades of 15.9%, 39.7% and 59.6% respectively. We would

especially like to congratulate our 11 students who received a grade

9: Namra Ansar, Brahmnoor Brar, Neha Hussain, Warda Khalif,

Aryan Khan, Samha Lund, Abraham Matthews, Prabhdeep Nijjar,

Nirujan Rajakumar, Shreya Shrestha and Shabnam Uria.

We were also very impressed with our year 13 students, who received

excellent A level results including 4 students gaining grade A* and

10 with grade As. Students who particularly impressed were Teodor

Jevtic and Maeve D’Souza who both achieved A*s in both Maths

and Further Maths A Levels, Shubhdeep Sethi, who gained an A* in

Maths and A in Further Maths, and Sukhpreet Gill who got an A* in

Maths. In addition to these students, Haroon Lukka also gained an

A* in A Level Maths, despite only being in year 11.

Congratulations to all our students who worked so hard and achieved

wonderful well deserved results.

Success in the UKMT Mathematics challenges has also become a

Cranford tradition. In November 2019, year 12 Mathematicians,

along with a number of year 11 and 13 students took the Senior Maths

Challenge. After the excellent GCSE results in the summer, we were

hopeful that certificates would be won, and they did not disappoint

with 5 year 12 students achieving Bronze Certificates. Our highest

scoring student was year 13’s Ibrahim Abokar who also gained a

Bronze certificate and scored best in school. Congratulations to

Ibrahim and our year 12 certificate winners, Shreya Shrestha (best in

year 12), Warda Hashi, Brahmnoor Brar, Shaan Abbasi and Mashal

Nejrabi. An honourable mention goes to Ahmed Ali, who scored the

highest score in year 11 and narrowly missed out on a certificate.

In February 2020 students in years 9,10 and 11 had their chance to

shine in the Intermediate Maths Challenge and they were certainly

determined not to be outdone. Three year 11 students, Ajeet Bhatti,

Rohan Kapoor and Shargeel Hussain gained Gold certificates as well

as places in the follow up challenge, known as the Pink Kangaroo.

Ajeet scored the highest score in the school. We also won 22 Silver

certificates and a massive 36 Bronze certificates, with Silver

certificate winners Shreyas Shikhare and Rajveer Bisla scoring the

highest scores in year 10 and 9 respectively. Amazingly we also had

a Silver certificate from Aamina Ashfaq, and Bronze certificates

from Miya Dhaliwal and Muqadas Saleem, who as year 8 students

all entered the competition a year early.

Congratulations to all certificate winners and all who participated.

Students from years 7 and 8 will have to wait till next year as their

competition was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Sarah Brackley (Head of the Maths Department)

4

MATHS #

Cranford Mathematicians

A star students

at A Level:

Teodor Jevtic

Maeve D’Souza

Shubhdeep Sethi

Sukhpreet Gill

Year 11 Grade 9:

Namra Ansar

Brahmnoor Brar

Neha Hussain

Warda Khalif

Aryan Khan

Samha Lund

Abraham Matthews

Prabhdeep Nijjar

Nirujan Rajakumar

Shreya Shrestha

Shabnam Uria

Rameez Ahmed

Year 12 and 13

Bronze Winners:

Ibrahim Abokar

Shreya Shrestha

Warda Hashi

Brahmnoor Brar

Shaan Abbasi

Mashal Nejrabi

Year 11 top score in

Senior Challenge:

Ahmed Mohamed

Haroon Lukka

Year 11 gold winners

intermediate:

Ajeet Bhatti

Rohan Kapoor

Shargeel Hussain

Year 10 Top score (Silver):

Shreyas Shikhare

Year 9 Top Score (Silver):

Rajveer Bisla

Year 8s who won

Intermediate Certificates:

Aamina Ashfaq

Miya Dhaliwal

Muqadas Saleem

5

# SCIENCE

Going

from

Strength

to

Strength

The Science Department

This

has been an exceptional year for the Science department

at Cranford. We have built an amazing team for our

community which highly values the subject of science as an academic

course but also as a successful and important career pathway. This

academic year we won the “Outstanding Department” award at the

Cranford Oscars reflecting our ambition to do the best by our students.

At the heart of everything is our ambition to make the students’

experience of the science curriculum both outstanding and enjoyable.

Pupils’ achievement and progress have been incredible in 2019. We

are in admiration of how hard the students worked to achieve excellent

examination results from their commitment in lessons, completion

of extra homework, attendance at period 0 and period 6 revision

classes – the list is endless! In 2019 the GCSE science results were

in the top 20% of ALL UK schools in terms of pupil progress. A-level

results carried on their upward trend. We are proud of all our science

students, regardless of background and prior attainment and we would

like to give a special mention to the following students who have

achieved truly exceptional results:

• The following students gained the top grade of 9 in all three GCSE

Sciences – Namra Ansar, Bhanuya Balendran, Harit Boonyarakyotin,

Neha Hussain, Warda Khalif, Haroon Lukka, Aliza Abbas, Nirujan

Rajakumar and Jaineet Soni

• The following students gained the top grade of a 9-9 in GCSE

Combined Science – Abraham Matthews, Jack Blandford, Aryan

Khan, Prabhdeep Nijjar

• The following students achieved an A or an A* in one or more of

their A-Level Science Courses – Akashdeep Kundal, Sulaiman Hamid,

Rhea Rana, Ali Sarwar, Maeve D’Souza, Shubdeep Sethi, Sameer

Verma, Teodor Jevtic.

Rhea Rana, a highly successful A Level Science student, gave the

following testimonial: “Taking two A Levels in Science, namely

Physics and Chemistry, unlocked my desire to pursue a career in

Mechanical Engineering. Having the support from the Science

Department enabled me to gain the confidence and obtain the results

needed to achieve my dream and take up a degree in mechanical

engineering. Not only this, but I have also started university with

vital skills and knowledge, all of which would not have been possible

without the amazing support of the science teachers at Cranford

who continuously encouraged me to push myself to reach my full

potential.”

The Science Department continues to remain positive amidst the

global challenges facing us and we anticipate a continued upward

trend of exceptional results at both GCSE and A Levels for many

years to come. Whatever happens, we will continue to do the best for

our pupils, always!

Chetan Shingadia and Amrat Atwal (Joint Heads of

Science Department)

6

SCIENCE #

Cranford Science Champions Shine

After winning the West London regional qualifiers in June 2019, two year 10 students travelled to the

University of Greenwich Medway campus to compete in the South of England STEM Challenge finals.

Kehan Munir 10W and Uthistan Sritharan 10V competed along with a pair from the local Dormers Wells High

School competed against winners from other qualifiers as far afield as Leicestershire and Norfolk for the prize

of being ‘South of England Grand Champions’. Their day saw them work as a team to programme a LEGO

Mindstorm robot to successfully navigate a maze, avoiding obstacles and making noises on different prompts,

all the while staying within the lines of the track.

They got off to a successful start, managing to get their robot halfway through the maze in one of their first

tests, before an attempt to correct an understeering left wheel went awry and caused a chain reaction of further

problems. They were successful in correcting many of these and made a commendable attempt at the maze

in the testing rounds. The second part of the day saw them work in their groups to produce a presentation on

robotics and the future of artificial intelligence. Our students spoke with passion with excellent detail to interest

and engage the listening audience of participants, staff and judges.

Despite our best efforts, we did not finish in the winner’s spot but both Uthistan and Kehan left Kent with

their heads held high as they did their school proud at this prestigious event. We will be back next year to win.

Bradley King (Science Department)

STEM Club Crest Awards

Four Year 10 students have been working hard throughout the year on projects that have seen them progress

towards the Silver tier of the nationally recognised Crest Awards. Consisting of 3 levels – Bronze, Silver

and Gold, Crest Awards have been set up by the British Science Association to encourage young scientists and

engineers to work on STEM projects.

Our four students – Manav Vivek 10U, Neha Khendria 10U, Harsimran Bath 10U and Nehchal Singh 10T,

completed their Bronze Award early this academic year, with a project involving engineering a way to

incorporate composted biogas production into an apartment block, thus reducing energy costs for the residents

living there.

For the Silver Award, a change of focus was decided upon, which involved looking at a selection of 10 popular

soft drinks. A variety of chemical tests were conducted on the drinks to produce a ‘health ranking’. Students

at Cranford were then surveyed to investigate how popular the 10 drinks are and to test student perception of

how healthy they are believed to be.

Although the progress towards the Silver Award has been interrupted by the temporary school closure as part

of the country’s lockdown, they will be up and running in the near future in the quest to earn Silver and then

go for Gold!


7

#

SCIENCE / PHYSICS

GiP Club

hysics department hosted their

The Pfirst ‘Girls in Physics session’

more commonly known as a GiP club session.

This gathering of Year 11 girl physicists were

educated on gender stereotypes from birth

until this point in their lives. The aim of the

session was to give the girls an insight into the

obstacles they may unknowingly face whilst

studying Physics and provide them with the

motivation and skills to overcome them.

Kristy Foale (Head of Physics Department)

The Girls in Physics Club meeting succeeded in giving me a great boost in motivation and confidence in my ability

to pursue Physics after GCSEs. The topics discussed in the session such as how society has stereotyped Physics to be

a subject tailored more to boys which has led to jobs involving Physics becoming male dominated were the driving

force in my determination to continue to work hard and prove the statistics wrong. The meeting also boosted the faith

I had in my own abilities: Ms Foale and Ms Mehmi spoke about how women had been trained by society to downplay

and underestimate their potential and skill. They told all the girls to

trust their abilities more which was a much needed reminder both

for the exams which were steadily approaching and for the next

phase of academic and general life. Overall GiP club was extremely

successful and I hope it continues in the future to inspire more girls

at Cranford Community College to choose a career in Science.

Zehra Hasan (year 11)

I liked the fact that the staff encouraged many girls to study Physics

and break gender stereotypes as well as making people realise that

boys had been advantaged in Physics from childhood due to the

stereotypical selection of toys by gender which was something I

had not been aware of. The GIP club was quite enlightening as the

statistics showing gender groups picking particular subjects were

surprising, therefore I learnt a lot and it was also very encouraging.

Buvaneswari Jayaraman Rajagopalan (year 11)

I think the GIP meeting did have an impact on me because it

enlightened us about all the inequalities in the world of Physics and

highlighted how girls have less opportunities than boys. It showed

that we fundamentally have to work harder than them and this was a

favourite part of the meeting: the fact that it gave us the motivation

to prove the statistics wrong.

Abinayah Kagenthirarasa (year 11)

I found the GiP club very inspiring, as it gave me an insight into what

girls can do, regardless of the challenges we may face in our lives. It

also made me realise that I might want to pursue a career in Physics

and allowed me to understand that girls can do whatever they want,

and that we are just as capable as boys in every way.

Nawal Mir (year 11)

8

The GiP club meeting was an amazing experience and it really helped

me understand the stereotypes that exist in society and how important

it is for us to overcome them. It was also wonderful to be a part of

the discussion, listen to and understand other people’s thoughts and

opinions. Thank you for inviting me!

Maryam Ayub (year 11)

SCIENCE / PHYSICS #

Annual Launch of the Physics Buddy System

Each

year the Science Department pairs up year 12 students with year 13 students which greatly

benefits both sets of students. As part of the programme the students attend a buddy brunch

every term where they take part in a challenge competition against other students. This time the challenge

was a multiple choice question relay and the winners were Kareena Suman (year 13) and Aamna Abbasi

(year 12) with Ria Kalia (year 13) and Parmveer Dhaliwal (year 12) coming a very close second.

In addition to the buddy brunches, the year 12/13 pairs get set a termly virtual buddy challenge which they

must work on together. Each pair win points after completing the challenges which are entered onto the

leader board. They get a prize after each challenge and an even bigger prize if they become the ultimate

buddy pair and the overall winners!

This popular programme provide the year 12 students with an additional resource to aid with their

understanding of Physics concepts and the year 13 students benefit the most as the year 12 buddies enable

them to refresh their memory of year 12 Physics topics. The challenges are fun and create a strong bond

between students in each pair who act as peer mentors.

Kristy Foale (Head of Physics Department)

In my opinion the buddy system challenge is a great

opportunity for both year 12 and 13 students. This

enables us to use the knowledge learnt from the

lessons and revision sessions and to participate in

fun, competitive challenges, where we learn new

things as well as improving our social and team

work skills. I think it is a great way to boost our

confidence and expertise in Physics.

Elina Gorjunova (year 12)

The quiz we took part in really gave me great energy and enthusiasm

regarding Physics, in particular, the topic of electricity.

This competition was executed very well as there was an

emphatic element of enjoyment due to its intense nature. Each

individual had a real passion for the subject, as evidenced

through their commitment to attempt to secure victory. I believe

this buddy challenge helped in boosting everyone’s confidence

and was extremely enjoyable, especially when our team won.

Aamna Abbasi (year 12)

9

# ENGLISH

The English Department

The

English Department continues to achieve outstanding outcomes for students.

Now, more than ever, communication skills are vital for all young people,

enabling them to interact successfully with the world around them. Our aim is that every

student will leave Cranford Community College with the ability to critically evaluate

information they have read and question the source of that material, with the confidence

to express their ideas articulately and skilfully, and the maturity to listen to others

carefully and sensitively and to respond appropriately.

As a department we are proud that all students, regardless of their prior attainment

or ability, are given the support to make progress and develop their communication

skills. The inclusivity of our mixed ability classes reflects the way that we learn

and grow together as a community.

At GCSE our results for English Language and Literature are consistently above

the national average and in 2019 our GCSE results were truly exceptional. 92%

of students achieved a grade 4-9 in English Language or Literature and 77%

achieved a grade 5-9. These results are a testament to the outstanding teaching,

intervention and support these students have received throughout their 5 years

of studying English at Cranford. As a team, we are incredibly proud of every

child’s achievement.

Top grade 8s and 9s in both GCSE Language and literature were achieved

by: Kimran Virk, Aliza Abbas, Anjali Bhambra and Rajvir Sran, Ahoura

Bakhtiara, Neha Hussain, Ayisha Mahmood, Hanit Booyarakyotin and

Namra Ansar.

At A Level, 82% of our 2019 class were awarded grades at A* to C and

30% achieved the top A* - B grades. Haashim Nisar achieved one of

the highest unit scores nationally for the Pre 1900 text component of

his exam and Cristiana Eftenoiu, Megha Dahdrai, Shaista Yousafi,

Juhi Kumra, Aria Cundall and Zarka Hussain also achieved A and

B grades.

As English teachers we believe in the transformative power of

literacy and communication skills. We are incredibly proud of

all of our students’ achievements and the opportunities that this

opens up for them. As we move into a new decade, we continue

to do all we can to empower our students with the skills and

confidence to achieve highly.

Fran Green

(Head of English Department)

10

Frankenstein

Lecture at

ENGLISH #

In

the bleak mid-

October my classmates

and I had the opportunity to attend a lecture

on Frankenstein at Queen Mary University in East

London. It was refreshing to hear a different standpoint

to the argument “What is Frankenstein really about?”

with one of the lecturers suggesting that it may have

been linked to climate change. Quite drastic, you will

agree. Having had the ability to attend the lecture

before studying ‘The Gothic’ gave me an insight

into exactly what arguments and critical opinions

I should be drawing upon within my essays. I can

wholeheartedly say I utilise the critical arguments I

have learnt

in my essays

which has meant that my

points of view always stand out given how versatile

the different perspectives of the lecturers were. The

benefits of attending these events and lectures are

paramount; you gain a depth of knowledge of the

subject and topic; you may even decide you would like

to study at that particular university after sampling its

environment and you gain more knowledge in general.

Knowledge is power. So, next time Ms Brooks or

another English teacher invites you to attend an event

like this one – go for it.

Selsabila Bekhouche (year 13)

11

# ENGLISH

On

The Duchess

of Malfi

Saturday 11th January 2020, a

group of enthusiastic year 13

English Literature students took time out

of their revision schedule to set out to

Islington, to the Almeida theatre to

watch The Duchess of Malfi.

This compelling play

explores the themes

of forbidden love,

corruption, power and

deceit. As it is a set

text on the A Level

specification, we had the opportunity to engage

in an active form of revision by consolidating our

understanding of the production. Having already

watched an interpretation of the play in class, we were

able to witness this exceptional piece of literature

come to life! Originally set in the 17th century, this

performance offered its own 21st century twist, with

some remarkable directorial choices. The production

was one of high quality which kept us captivated from

at the Almeida Theatre

the very outset at the sight of a large glass

box on the stage right to the bloodbath

of the last act. The play was entwined

with tragedy, humour and definite ‘wow’

moments. There was an amazing

atmosphere in the theatre and it

was an all in all remarkable

experience.

The year 13 students left

the production feeling

confident of having

enriched their knowledge of the play and definitely

ready to tackle the mock exam in the days that

followed. We were very privileged to have watched

such an amazing production and are very grateful to

Ms Brooks who gave up her time to spend the day with

us, as well as thoroughly supporting us throughout our

A Level course.

Prabhleen Ghattoray (year 13)

12

Studying English at Oxford University

I

left Cranford in 2018 and since then I have been studying

English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford.

The degree is definitely testing at times and I am constantly

pushed way beyond anything I ever would have imagined, but,

ultimately, there is nowhere else I would rather be. At Oxford, the

English course involves looking at literature which stems as far

back as 650 AD. It is amazing the amount of content you learn in

the short eight-week term! Attending Oxford has shown me that

many of the preconceptions about the university are, quite simply,

untrue. It is not full of posh people and you are not expected to

study every second of your living existence – in fact, it is quite the

opposite; there is a diverse student body and extra care is put into

the social welfare aspects of your time there given the intensity of

the degree. Opportunities are endless. So far, I have been able to

work for newspapers and interview some very interesting people,

I have put on an exhibition showcasing mixed-race students and

staff at my college and I have been exposed to some of the most

limited and sought-after resources in the world. It scares me that

soon I will be going into my final year, but I am excited to start

working on my dissertation focusing on George Orwell and having

the freedom to research the writers that interest me most. I am so

grateful to be here but even more grateful to have started my studies

at Cranford and to have been taught by Ms Brooks – without whom,

I certainly would not be where I am now. I look forward to seeing

more Cranford students at Oxford in the future, and, if there are

students who are considering applying but unsure as to whether it

is the right choice, I can assure you that Oxford is for you and you

will love every minute.

Lucy Tirahan (Cranford Alumni student)

13

#

THE

SORRELL FOUNDATION /

SATURDAY ART CLUB

On

Saturday 14th December 2019,

Bonhams Fine Art Auctioneers held

a Masterclass for members of the Saturday Art

Club and Writing and Talking Club.

It was an amazing opportunity for students to

visit the famous auction house at New Bond

Street in London. Club members gained a

first-hand cultural experience as they were

able to get close to amazing artwork in an

extraordinary way.

All elements of the auction process were

discussed giving club members a greater

insight into the range of careers and different

aspects of this thriving industry. Students had

an opportunity to interview staff as part of a

‘speed dating’ style carousel which they found

very interesting. The interaction between the

auction house staff and club members was

electric and there was an amazing buzz in the

room.

Art Auctioneers

Masterclass

Club members also had an opportunity to value

items for auction by analysing art work under

UV filters and investigating it by looking at

clues. They could see first-hand how layers of

paint can disclose secrets about a work of art.

Students were then shown how to catalogue

items for the auction so that the Artwork

could be referenced. They were given the

opportunity to look closely at items and then

catalogue them for sale.

The club members were also given insight

into the art auction process and the auctioneer

imparted skills on how to run an auction. With

an emphasis on building public speaking

skills, club members were told how to engage

the audience’s interest in the room and retain

the focus of the clients.

The day culminated in a mock auction, which

utilised all the skills and understanding gained

during the day and helped the young people to

gain confidence in their creativity.

It was a fantastic day and a unique opportunity.

Bonhams staff were so impressed by how the

club members engaged with the day that they

donated a Genuine Banksy DI Faced Tenner

to the school.

Pam Hunt (Saturday Art Club Lead)

14

It was a really great chance for me to be

going to Bonhams Auction House in London.

We all went by train which was fun. When we

reached Bonhams we were introduced to the

staff who handle the auction work, which is

quite significant.

We were then put into groups of six and taken

to each activity led by a specialist member

of staff. My first activity explored how the

auction is carried out and how the art work

is sold. I was the first person to be picked and

hold a mock auction and I learned different

types of expressions spoken by an auctioneer.

I had a great experience and it was amazing.

The next activity looked at if the painting has

been painted again or if the artist had left any

messages about the painting that could tell us

when it was made, by whom and where.

In other group activities we learned what

year the painting was made, any signatures

or name left as a clue, whom it belonged to

and how it had been framed.

Lastly we held a little competition to find out

who was the best auctioneer by using specific

auctioneer language. I was chosen to be the

auctioneer for my group and I used different

language features like “final warning” and

“Going once, going twice and sold”, “online

bidder”.

It was a tremendous experience for everyone

in my art club. I will never forget this fabulous

day we had in Bonhams.

Prableen Gurwara (year 10)

I have really found going to the trip an amazing

opportunity. Inside the building which was

enormous, we were greeted by the staff and

auction workers who divided us into groups of

six. We got to explore Bonhams and look at some

of the amazing art work housed there. I really

liked the different activity stations and the fact

that staff could speak one to one about their

experiences and role. This was really amazing

as it allowed us to explore different types of

creative jobs in the real world. At one station we

learned how to identify an artist’s piece of work,

the year it was created and by whom.

We all then went to the main hall were we took

part in an auction which was fun to experience

and a great opportunity. We were taught about

the different ways of budding, what goes on

and the different roles in an auction house. I

did learn that they use a lot of metaphors when

persuading clients to bid as it makes them feel

compelled to.

Overall, it was a magnificent experience as we

all learned something that would help us in the

future and shared this amazing memory with all

the fantastic people in the art club.

Yasmina Debieche (year 10)

15

16

International

Conference

Summer 2019

We

all know that our world is flawed. We all know

that there are people on the other side of the

world who are forced to live with things that we wouldn’t

ever have to worry about. Men, women, children and

everyone else in between are suffering from various issues

outside of their control. These individuals all have faces

and names and stories to tell; most of which falls on deaf

ears. The sad truth is that these people do not matter to the

majority of us at all, because they are just that. People on

the other side of the world. Irrelevant to our lives until the

next big news story we see on the media about violence,

death, abject misery. We share a few condolences when

we see the news, maybe share it out with a couple of

family and friends. And then we repeat, getting on with

our own lives until the next big event considered relevant

by the media. This is the problem with the cycle – it’s

a cycle, and without any external inputs, the suffering

continues. As Einstein said, insanity is doing the same

thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Last summer, I was fortunate to get accepted onto a

summer camp called Seeds of Peace, which was a threeweek

long retreat to a beautiful lake-side camp in Maine,

America. But the special thing about the camp was that

the youths participating came from various places, all

deeply rooted in conflict. I met friends who came from

Israel and Palestine; Pakistan and India, and of course the

US and the UK. The camp was a maelstrom of emotions

from start to finish, as you may imagine, as different

ideals and perceptions came together.

I started off the camp with mixed feelings; I hardly knew

anyone beforehand, apart from the small UK delegation. I

also didn’t know what to expect from a camp such as this,

where hostility and disagreement ran so deeply. It is in

moments like these that I learn to doubt my communication

skills, something that I don’t really need to consider much

back in my everyday life. It was a place of trust, where a

choice of words can change the course of the rest of the

session. While I was worrying over my conduct, I was

surprised to find that the level of excitement from the

other campers was through the roof. Stepping off the bus

into the camp, each delegation was met with the cheers

and screams from the group that came before,

with music and dancing to accompany. It was at

this moment I realised that a large majority of

these people had never left their countries, with

this camp being their first escape from hardship.

It gave me a whole new perspective on the camp

from that point on.

The way that camp worked was very simple.

Everyday included new activities for us to do,

from art projects to singing to water skiing. It

was everything one would expect a summer

camp to be. However, each and every day there

would also be a 2-hour dialogue session with a

group that remained the same for the entirety of

camp. I was in Dialogue I, and we had the chance

to discuss the actualities of the India-Pakistan

conflict over Kashmir. After the fun activities of

the day, the sessions were a jolt back to reality

and reminded us of the reason why we were here.

Not every session was intense, but there would

be a clear veil of silence hanging over the camp

after each gathering.

It is hard to describe what happened in the

camp because it is a difficult fact to accept that

nothing has really changed back home. The world

continues to be the same place it used to be, and

I was met with the realisation that camp was a

bubble, one of the very few safe havens in the

world where conflict was paused, if only for a

brief moment. However, it is important to also

appreciate that change may not have happened in

the world, but it had definitely happened within

me. I had a new outlook on life, and the selfimprovement

which occurred during the three

weeks in all of us may be the key to the peace that

we have been searching for. Change must ensue in

ourselves before we can even dream of making the

world a better place. We must accept and grow in

our own identities to truly understand our roles and

responsibilities as a human being. This may sound

obvious, but everything that we want to come to

fruition really does start with ourselves as individuals.

That being said, there

are many things that

we are able to do right

now to contribute to

the process. I have

learnt that one of

the best ways to

grow is to keep a

journal, because we

actually forget a

significant number

of the lessons we learn from our experiences. Any

thoughts or ideas about any particular topics are

important to note down, because keeping things in our

subconscious mind and not actively acknowledging

them is what most of us have been doing thus far, and

thus everything remains as is.

As a student of Cranford, there are also many other

opportunities available to keep exploring the world

that we live in. Opportunities such as Generation

Global and the many connections

the school has with different

countries which can be a good

starting point; seek out these

opportunities rather than waiting

for them to come to you. Become

an active player in the world.

Guy Boonyarakyotin

(year 12 - UK Seed)

17

# CHARITY

On

the 28th April 2019, I watched one of my friends

run the London Marathon. The elation of the

day, the pride and determination on every runner’s face

and the feeling of nearly a million people out supporting

each participant to do something incredible must have got

to me – that, or the moment I had a little weep at a woman

shouting “that’s my mum!”. By the end of the month, I

had entered the ballot and applied to my chosen charities.

I waited nervously until the Autumn, when ballot places

were announced… No. And then the charity rejection emails

started to come in. And I breathed a small sigh of relief –

clearly I had been caught up in the moment, and there was

NO WAY I was going to be running 26.2 miles. The furthest

I had ever done was a very slow 5k.

December 2019, 2 days before the end of term and deep in

all the busyness this entails. The phone rings. It’s Young

Minds. They have a marathon charity space open and I was

top of the reserves list. Did I still want to run?

I cannot explain why I said yes at that moment. Blame the Christmas spirit, or adrenaline, or just wanting to

put my money where my mouth is and do what I had set out to do. But I said yes. Not having run for 3 months,

with £2000 to raise, and 4 months (16 weeks!) to train for a marathon from scratch. Madness. Which is exactly

the response I had from 90% of the people I told once I had accepted the place.

Training was incredibly tough – I was getting up at 5am to run in the dark, the rain, the cold. I had more tantrums

during long weekend runs than I can count. I often sat down and refused to go any further. There were tears,

and moments where I woke up terrified of what I had signed myself up for. I am NOT a runner, and £2000 is

a HUGE amount of money. I absolutely could not do it. I was going to withdraw.

But I didn’t – I made an agreement with my form that every week I would update them on my training and

they would do the same to me for their revision as they were working towards their GCSEs. I racked up the

miles. I ran my first half marathon AND managed to make it into school the

next morning. Donations were coming in, and soon £2k didn’t seem that far

off. The support from the school was phenomenal, with staff and students

behind me all the way – and finally, at the beginning of March, I hit my

target! I had a 16 mile run planned for Sunday, and mentally I was ready to

tackle whatever was to come in 5 weeks’ time. And then Coronavirus struck.

So, while I do not know if we charity runners will be out on the rescheduled

event in October, or whether we will have to wait until next year, I do know

that I am still going to be running. Training is keeping me going during lockdown,

and it is quite nice to be able to run in daylight. So far in May I have

run 31 “miles for Mind” and have signed up to do 75, and I am doing the

virtual “Samarathon” for Samaritans in July. But what has been incredible

through all of this is the support from the Cranford Community –that’s what

will keep me going whenever that day dawns and I finally get to run the

London marathon.

18

Evelyn Brooks (English Department)

Charities Committee

September 2019

This

year the Charities Committee held

their first Bake Sale on Thursday

26th September 2019 and collaborated with class 8U

to raise money for Jeans for Genes and MacMillan

Cancer Research. The event was dedicated to the

loving memory of Mohammed Iqbal from 8U who

sadly passed away on Wednesday 4th September

2019 after suffering from a rare metabolic disorder

called Proprionic Acidaemia, a genetic disorder

which impacted on his heart function and immune

system.

On the morning of the bake sale, classroom A121

was flooded with generous donations not only

from 8U but also from staff and students across

the school, including cookies, cupcakes, muffins,

donuts and even homemade cakes. The Sixth

Form Committee and students from 8U produced

creative posters and banners for their stalls and

their passion for the cause was evident.

The dedicated Charities Committee prepared the

bake sale stands with all the sweet treats ready

for break one. Within five minutes the stalls

were surrounded by eager students who not only

bought the treats but demonstrated compassion by

giving more money without wanting anything in

return. It warmed our hearts knowing that these

students were so kind as to show sympathy for

such a neglected cause, but it came as no surprise

because these were Cranford students. As a result,

the event raised £242.77 which was divided up

equally between both charities.

This successful event illustrates the power of

community partnership and shows how much an

individual in society can contribute through the

simplest of actions to help the vulnerable. The

Charities Committee members are very proud of

the students who demonstrated compassion during

this event.

Sharandeep Saroya, Shanan Bhamra & Selsabila

Bekhouche (Year 13 - On behalf of the Charities

Committee)

19

# BUSINESS

Visit to

European Head Office in London’s Fleet Street

Verizon is an American telecommunications company based in New York which offers

wireless products and services. As part of the BTEC Business course, on Thursday

28th November 2019 year 12 students were given career advice from Anna Joanes-

Cox (International Marketing Strategist) and John Williams (Marketing Director) on

how to develop their own personal brand at their European Head office in London’s

Fleet Street. Students had a tour of the offices and a look around their new 5G suite,

which will be opening later this year. After lunch, they were taught about event

management and how to increase the chances of success of their charity football

tournament.

Jonathan Ryan (Business Studies Department)

20

Trip to

RESIDENTIAL PSHCE #

December 2019 saw 12 students and three members of

staff make the bi-annual trip to Jamie’s Farm, near

Bath, for a week long residential visit. Jamie’s Farm is

a working farm which is home to cows, sheep, horses,

pigs, chickens, ducks, cats, dogs and a donkey. Visits

here incorporate farming and caring for these animals

alongside a 5-day programme of therapy, reflectiveness

and personal growth. Students are without their phones or

other technology for the week, which alongside vigorous

daily walks and three home cooked nutritious meals a

day allows them to thrive away from the distractions of

the city. Our students (and staff!) acquitted themselves

well against the sizeable tasks that were given to them

– cleaning out and feeding the animals before breakfast,

preparing, cooking and serving the meals for over 20

people at each sitting and throwing themselves into the

other tasks that farming life has to offer. We planted new

herbs and salad leaves at the vegetable patches; chopped

logs for the huge boiler; helped herd and tag sheep at

nearby Steve’s farm; assisted with the training of a new

horse to the farm, alongside many other jobs. All of these

activities taught our students courage, determination and

leadership skills. I am very proud of our young people

and looking forward to seeing where the new bonds, skills

and values our week at Jamie’s Farm lead us.

Bradley King (Jamie’s Farm Trip Leader)

21

#

PERFORMING

ARTS - DRAMA

Theatre Trip

As

I really liked the School of Rock performance

because of the naturalistic acting, for example

when Ned and Patty were sitting on the sofa talking

it was very realistic. Moreover the props were really

impressive because of how they came on and off stage

so fast and how they were set up so quickly.

Suneha Aziz (year 8)

School of Rock was an amazing experience, which gave

me a real insight into how actors breathe so much life into

a simple line. I also really liked the show because it helped

me realise how important props and costumes are to make

a performance amazing, it is not just about the acting. I am

really grateful for this amazing experience.

Caitlin Pyatt (year 8)

part of the Mind Body Soul programme the Performing

Arts team are working across Key Stage 3 to stage a

production of ‘School of Rock’. To help inspire our students and

demonstrate how much young performers can achieve, we took 60

students to see Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s smash hit.

On Thursday 5 December 2019, a quiet, cloudy day in London,

60 gifted and talented students leave school to go to the West

End! The excitement is palpable on the way to the Gillian

Lynne Theatre, students have seen the film, read the script and

now they are about to see it performed live.

The opening scene introduces the audience to the world of

Dewey Finn, a thirty-something rocker who just doesn’t fit

in a band. His ambition is to climb to the top of Mount Rock

and realise his dreams, with whoever will go along with

him for the ride. A few twists and turns later, Dewey finds

himself posing as a supply teacher and leading a group of

eager students to a local Battle of the Bands competition.

The students in the West End production were all

played by young people, the youngest of whom was

just nine years old. The energy the group brought to

the stage was phenomenal and they sang out hit after hit to

which our Cranford students sang along at the top of their

voices. As well as acting and singing, many of the onstage

actors were also accomplished musicians, playing bass,

guitar, drums and keys.

This hugely inspiring performance showed Cranford

students what they could do if they put their mind to

it, and also demonstrated how much work goes into

creating a high-energy musical.

Back in the rehearsal room, the excitement was

like a buzz running through the studio. We got into

position for the opening scene, a rock concert,

fans screaming and singing along, band on

stage, phones waving in the air. School of Rock

has landed at Cranford and we are going to

ROCK IT.

Katie Turner (Performing Arts)

22

On

Thursday 31 October 2019, year 9 students

went into central London to see Agatha

Christie’s ‘Witness for the Prosecution’.

Set in County Hall on the Southbank, Witness for the

Prosecution is a site-specific performance bringing to

life Agatha Christie’s short story of the same name,

originally published in 1933. On walking into County

Hall the audience are ushered into the building’s grand

Council Chamber which doubles up as a domineering

court room for this performance. The audience are

seated around a central playing area, including in the

public gallery and twelve to the side of the stage as

a jury.

In the following two hours, Cranford

Community College students were

drawn into a tale of intrigue, deceit and

false accusations. Protagonist Leonard

Vale is accused of murdering a widow

he has befriended to inherit her vast

wealth. He has an alibi, but does his

partner? The majority of the play is

set in court, various statements being

read out and witnesses questioned,

allowing for the audience to act as

jurors.

“Witness for the Prosecution was amazing and very professionally

performed. When you walk into the ‘theatre’ you realise it is an

actual courtroom. Watching the play, you feel like you are part of

the court case and that is what is so amazing about it. The play is

full of actual court scenes which made me feel all these emotions.

I think from all the plays I watched this is one of the best plays

I have seen because you are watching it but also in it. I would

recommend it to anyone who loves court cases or who just loves

watching plays”.

Alexandra Czyz (year 9)

On entering, each audience member is given a mobile

number to text during the interval with who they think

has committed the murder and why – taking notes is

encouraged! Cranford Community College students

promptly took out their pads and decided to catch

the killer. Indeed, one of our party guessed correctly.

Students said the performance was “really exciting”

and engaging and that it “went by really fast”. This

theatrical experience broadened students’ cultural

horizons and displayed a type of site specific theatre

they had not encountered before. The cultural

appreciation included a visit to the beautiful County

Hall, and the sites of the Southbank – taking in the

London Eye, Westminster Bridge, and the Thames, all

in glorious sunshine. A brilliant and inspiring outing

for all.

Katie Turner (Performing Arts Department)

23

# SCIENCE

Cranford Goes Global

As

is becoming a yearly tradition for

the Science department at Cranford,

British Science Week is an opportunity

to advertise the biggest and best of

what Science can do for our students.

The annual theme this year was

‘Our Diverse Planet’ which saw

our activities showcasing the true

diversity of all areas of Science

throughout Biology, Chemistry

and Physics. We had a great level

of participation from our students

which surely shows that the future

of Science at Cranford is very

bright indeed.

Cranford Science Week – Race around the World

Race Around the World

Each department at Cranford has become a habitat from around the

world. Use your three clues below to work out what habitat you

should visit first. Collect clues from there to lead you to the next

habitat, then repeat.

The first students from each year will win a prize! All students who

show a completed sheet will win something.

FORM: _______

Every year the Science Department involves

the entire school in a whole school activity

week. This year saw individual departments

turn into one of Earth’s many diverse habitats

– from the icy Arctic in Humanities, to the

humid rainforests of the PE Department,

and the densely populated urban cities and

towns in the Languages Department. In this

challenge, students were presented with

three clues given to them in tutor time –

these clues all led to their next habitat,

where three more clues were waiting to

be discovered. As the week went on more

and more students turned into intrepid

explorers collecting and solving clues

to eventually reach their prize in the

Science Department. The game was

enjoyed by all from year 7 to year 13

– truly capturing the imagination of

the whole of the school. Well done

to everyone who took part! See you

again for the next challenge in 2021.

Habitat #1

Clue 1: ______________________________________

Clue 2: ______________________________________

Clue 3: ______________________________________

The next habitat is: ____________________________

I need to go to this department: _________________

Habitat #2

START HERE

Clue 1: It looks like very little lives here

Clue 2: The Nganasan people live here

Clue 3: Moss and lichens are everywhere

The first habitat is: ____________________________

I need to go to this department: _________________

Clue 1: ______________________________________

Clue 2: ______________________________________

Clue 3: ______________________________________

The next habitat is: ____________________________

Write your names belo

Cranford Habitats

Tick these off after you have

visited them

o Forest (Student support)

o Grassland (Maths)

o Tundra (English)

o Rainforest (PE)

o Arctic (Humanities)

o Coral reef (ICT + Business)

o Urban (Languages)

o Rivers and Lakes

(Sociology and Psychology)

o Desert (Creative Arts)

o Ocean (Science)

24

I need to go to this department:

SCIENCE #

__

w:

Period 0 Sessions

Throughout the week the Department organised period 0 sessions

for Key Stage 3 students which spanned across the three Sciences:

Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The main objective was to

overcome the misconception that Science does not exist outside

of Science labs and give the students an insight into the scientific

diversity of the real world around us.

The Chemistry session primarily focused on the diversity and role

of Chemistry in everyday life including the Chemistry of bath

bombs and fire extinguishers which are essential items in any

household and not just limited to the Chemistry labs. The students

engaged very well and definitely had a lot of fun making and

testing fragrant bath bombs as well as using household basics like

vinegar and sodium bicarbonate to put out tea light fires.

Physics sessions included an array of Physics practicals using very

simple household objects and materials which gave the students

an understanding of experiments that they could safely perform at

home whilst exploring the scientific concepts involved.

Biology took it a step further with the very popular animal or organ

dissections that the Key Stage 3 students got to perform or observe

with the help of Sixth Form Science student volunteers. They explored the diversity in the adaptations present

in different species which make organisms successful in their habitats.

All the activities that took place during Science week were extremely well received and helped develop student

curiosity and engagement in their Science lessons even further.

We are already looking forward to you joining us in the Science week activities in 2021.


25

Duke of Edinburgh Awards Evening 2020

On

Thursday 5th March 2020,

Cranford’s Duke of Edinburgh

awards evening took place, celebrating

the achievement of 87 young people who

completed their Bronze and Silver Duke of

Edinburgh challenge supported by Cranford

staff. The awards were presented by local

MP Seema Malhotra and accompanied by

performances and contributions from DofE

participants. In total, 58 Bronze awards were

given out and 15 Silver awards.

I took over as coordinator for the DofE in

September 2019, having been involved with

expeditions in previous years. However the

young people receiving their awards this

evening stretch back to 2018. The reason I

took on this role was to continue the amazing

work of previous colleagues (including the

work carried out by Ms Ledlie for years)

and because of the incredible value of

this award. In a time of tight budgets and

financial pressure, schemes like the DofE

mean that students get to enjoy invaluable

experiences which challenge them and

broaden their horizons. They learn skills from

cake decorating and first aid to cat grooming

and how to put up a tent. They come across

wildlife they have never seen before, deal

with challenges like climbing Beachy Head

in 34C heat and learn how dark it can get

outside of London. This scheme could not

run without the support of staff and we are

deeply grateful to all of those who have given

up their weekends to run training, support the

students, supervise expeditions, assess, verify

and help provide the opportunities that are so

important to our young people. This is part

of what makes Cranford so special. Every

single participant can rightly feel proud of

themselves and of their achievements – for

many the award means a real step out of

their comfort zone, and they have risen to

the challenge admirably.

Silver

The DofE award at Cranford continues to grow

from strength to strength! We are looking at

the best year yet in terms of participation

with nearly 100 young people taking part, a

number of Gold Awards undertaken by our

intrepid Sixth Form students. I am really

excited about the years ahead. The future is

bright indeed.

Evelyn Brooks

(Duke of Edinburgh Award School Lead)

26

Bronze

27

# BUSINESS

Team from Cranford Community College Beats

£ 5,000 in Stock Market Challenge

28

A team of year 11 students from Cranford battled their way into the Student Investor Challenge semi-finals,

beating over 9000 teams from schools around the UK and abroad.

The Student Investor Challenge is an online investment simulation run by the London Institute of Banking

& Finance for students aged 14 to 19. It helps students increase their understanding of how stock markets

work. They hone their investment skills by investing virtual money on the London Stock Exchange and trade

stocks and shares to make a profit. It aims to improve financial capability and to encourage engagement with

the finance sector. In addition, it gives students a positive and practical experience of what it is like to invest

in the real-life stock market, gain team-work skills and strengthen their

mathematical knowledge.

Teams from schools around the UK and internationally compete against

each other by trading two virtual portfolios worth £100,000 on the stock

market over a four-month period. They trade their shares to achieve the

most profit, trying to predict how share prices might move, bearing in mind

market and economic conditions. The trading process mirrors reality, with

feeds from Bloomberg and the real costs of trading included. Students

are challenged to make both long and short term trades, encouraging both

day-to-day and strategic thinking.

There were thirteen teams from Cranford totalling forty-eight students

competing which represents a record participation year. The Business

Teachers team also had a record year finishing 98th overall and 16th out

of all the teacher teams.

Cranford’s top team of investors were called ‘Finnexia’ and included

students Manpreet Bahtra, Sharanjit Kaur, Amandip Khurana and

Shahneen Ramji who successfully invested virtual money in the first

round of trading. Only the top 500 teams progressed to the semi-finals,

where they finished a very respectable 230th.

Catherine Winter, Managing Director of Financial Capability at the

London Institute of Banking & Finance, said:

“This competition is a powerful way of engaging young people with how

the finance sector works and relating it to everyday life. The movement

of stocks and shares, currency fluctuations and central bank activities can

feel quite remote and difficult to get to grips with. By bringing it to life

through a trading game, young people have proved they can grasp how

economies work and the basics of investment. So, congratulations to the

semi-finalists for making the top 500, it’s a great achievement!”

Well done to all the teams who took part. You did Cranford Proud!

Jon Ryan (Business Studies Department)

Since

Year 10 & 11

BTEC

Construction

Project

October 2019 eight year 10 and

one year 11 students have been

taking part in a pilot BTEC construction project. The

course is sponsored by Heathrow Airport Limited

and delivered by an organisation called Satro. Every

Monday afternoon their tutor Ron, a former Head

of DT, arrives in a van full of all the equipment

and raw materials they need. The students help to

unload the van and after a quick briefing they get on

with the practical side of the course. Concentration

and engagement levels are very high as the students

learn new skills and see the outcome of their labour.

They were completing their first project which was

making a free standing bird table as the lockdown

happened.

At Cranford we strongly believe it is important to

give students the range of skills needed to enjoy a

very successful life after school. Construction is an

important part of our economy and certainly a career

pathway which the students will now consider.

Alan Fraser (Assistant Headteacher - Director of

Community Partnerships)

29

# PSHCE

Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education

PSHCE

at Cranford focuses on developing students’ understanding of themselves and the world

around them. The curriculum includes personal responsibility, morality and mental

health alongside the wider world and life in modern society. We engage with issues of equality, fairness, human

rights and look at current events and societal issues. We examine gender, sexuality and race whilst learning how

to reflect, evaluate and think critically. We support students to fulfil their potential, develop a positive attitude

and learn how to overcome obstacles and develop useful lifelong skills. Students feedback about PSHCE is

overwhelmingly positive showing that they value their lessons as a key part of their secondary curriculum.

Barbara Lodge (Head of PSHCE)

PSHCE has helped me to develop a more

positive outlook and to always look on the

bright side of things.

SA

I really enjoyed the lesson about fairness

and equality not always being the same

thing, it made me consider things in a

different way.

ND

Learning how to control my emotions,

especially my anger was really helpful. I

learned strategies to help me calm down

and channel my feelings elsewhere for

example through music.

DG

The PSHCE lesson on kindness really got

me thinking about how others feel and has

helped me to become a better person. I

don’t think about myself so much and I try

to smile at others more and be a positive

influence.

NH

The lesson that helped me personally the

most was the lesson about developing

grit, facing challenges and developing my

interests. I think that learning to reflect and

develop yourself to be a better person has

had a real impact on me.

ZH

PSHCE gave me the confidence to try extracurricular

activities and also taught me

how to reflect and examine my moods and

feelings to make better choices and improve

my mental health.

TK

30

PSHCE #

The lesson about courage really helped me

to try and be braver, for example talking to

people more. Being able to stand up and talk

in front of the class was really challenging

and I am so pleased that I was able to do it.

AR

Learning about meditation has helped me

to reduce my stress, the lessons are fun and

we have good warm ups!

IS

Learning First Aid has helped me to feel

confident that I can assist someone who has

become injured or ill. PSHCE has given me

the confidence to offer help in an emergency

and perhaps even save a life one day by

helping a casualty until the emergency

services arrive.

RA

It was useful to learn about the importance

of sleep and diet, I have been making a real

effort to make sure I get the right amount

of sleep and drink more water. When we

learned about bad influences I realised I

needed to spend less time on my phone and

cut this down.

HA

Learning about diet was interesting

especially realising how much sugar was

in everyday items.

AB

Learning about First Aid has taught me how

to help a family member who has diabetes.

IB

Learning First Aid was really important. I

really enjoyed learning how to put someone

in the recovery position and how to perform

CPR correctly.

AF

Learning about the dangers of smoking was

really important.

MH

PSHCE helped me to realise the additional

benefits of exercise that I hadn’t known,

for example that it can improve my mental

health and also prevent diseases in later life

such as diabetes or a stroke.

KK

31

# PSHCE

The importance of exercising encouraged

me and my family to go outside and play

cricket more to make sure we are more

active.

FK

Learning about issues in the real world

such as knife crime and drugs is important.

IK

The PSHCE lessons have shown me that I

am born as my unique self and shouldn’t be

self-conscious about my feelings. I learnt

how I should deal with other people’s

comments about me and to shrug away any

negative thoughts.

AL

My communication skills have improved

a lot by learning how to manage difficult

conversations and how to talk about issues

rather than keeping them to yourself.

SR

The science of happiness and positivity was

fascinating. Did you know that being kind

to others releases all sorts of chemicals that

activate happiness? I do now and it works!

ZS

PSHCE has helped me understand the

importance of both mental and physical

health. I feel much healthier and I am more

physically active now.

AY

Learning about meditation helped me feel

more peaceful and allowed me to gain a

sense of quietness. I have learned how to

order my mind and it has really helped me

with my focus.

YG

I learned to appreciate what I have rather

than what I don’t have. Learning about how

gratitude can impact happiness has helped

me feel more thankful.

EG

Learning about the LGBT community really

helped me understand how important it is to

show respect and value people even when

we are different.

AH

I tried my hand at drawing in the ‘Learning

a new skill PSHCE lockdown challenge’.

GL

32

During the lockdown our focus has been on

improving mental health and encouraging students to

spend their time constructively. Here are just some

of the wonderful lockdown PSHCE examples:

This year we learnt about lots of the big

issues in the world such as child slavery. It

has really helped me to be thankful for my

education and opportunities.

ME

Meditation is really helping me during

lockdown. Whenever I go to try and sleep,

my brother and I struggle as we have a

lot going through our brains so we both

use meditation and we sleep much better.

Another thing meditation helps me with is

to get rid of stress because of the current

situation. Meditation helps me feel relaxed

and less stressed.

BS

Learning how to travel virtually on my

computer has become a quarantine hobby!

Meditation has also helped me to manage

the stress of the situation.

AM

Using a virtual reality headset, I created

and rode a virtual rollercoaster for the

virtual travel lesson!

DA

I found the lesson on mental health and

physical activity really helpful.

TB

Learning a new skill in lockdown was a

challenge I enjoyed, I have been baking!

KS

I used the new skill challenge to learn how

to juggle! I practised using tennis balls and

can now juggle three balls pretty well.

SR

The ten steps to happiness and work on

positivity was a huge help to me in lockdown

to help me appreciate my lovely family and

remind me of all the good things in my life.

TM

Learning how to meditate has really

changed me and helped me to focus on

happier things.

AM

I rose to the new skill challenge by learning

how to bake.

RA

LOCKDOWN PSHCE #

33

Mind

Body

Soul

Learning a new

skill or taking up

a challenge can

give you a sense

of achievement

and increased

confidence.

Being

physically

active is

good for

your overall

physical

fitness and

also has a

positive effect on

your mental health.

Choose something

you like to do and

share this with

others. As shared

interest helps

build friendships

and positive

relationships.

The

Mind, Body, Soul programme goes from strength to

strength every Wednesday afternoon. Mind, Body,

Soul provides a wide range of opportunities to Cranford students,

the inspiration of which is often the particular passion a member

of staff or sixth form student wants to share with the students

such as Body Percussion, Fashion Upcycling or learning Korean.

As well as the firm favourites such as the Duke of Edinburgh

Award, Swimming, First Aid, Art, Chess, Debating and STEM to

name but a few, new great opportunities for 2019-2020 included:

Sports Leader Award - Develop your leadership skills through

organising and running sports activities for other students and

primary school pupils.

Textiles - Create amazing pieces of art and designs using a range

of materials and your imagination.

Volunteering in the Community - Work alongside Heston

West Big Local charity, engaging with the local community and

improving outdoor spaces for everyone.

Body percussion - Make music without instruments because

your body is an instrument. Your body acts like a drum-kit which

means you can create amazing rhythms through clap, snap, stomp

and slap and more.

School of Rock Production - Rock Your Mind, Body and Soul.

Sing, dance, act and play some rocking songs in this year’s huge

musical! A great opportunity to be part of Cranford’s biggest

ever musical, with all students welcome as actors, musicians or

designers – if you have skills and passion, we are looking for

you!

Fashion Upcycling - Spruce up old worn out or damaged

materials into brand spanking new pieces to wear with pride.

With upcycled clothes, unused items are looked at creatively and

transformed into something new.

Korean - Learn the basics of this Asian language and find out

about Korean culture.

Merchant of Venice - A ‘Shakespeare in Schools’ performance

and opportunity to develop not only amazing skills but curiosity,

empathy and pride and an appreciation of Shakespeare.

Dialogue - This session is run by Harit (Guy) Boonyarakyotin

who had previously taken part in Seeds of Peace camps. Dialogue

is the central focus when discussing challenging topics such

as nationality, religion, Brexit, identity or euthanasia. The

experience was so powerful for Guy that he wanted to share

this with the students in year 9. This led him to facilitate a

Mind, Body Soul group called ‘Dialogue’. Dialogue is a type of

discussion which allows participants to share their experiences,

emotions and beliefs without being judged. It encourages young

people to understand different perspectives and reflect on their

own. Year 9 students discussed such topics as identity, artificial

intelligence, Brexit and benefitted from contributing their

opinions and listening to others. This was a great success and

‘Dialogue’ will continue to be a feature of Mind, Body Soul.

Rita Berndt (Joint Head of School)

34

On

2019

Tuesday 17th December 2019 the Arts and Culture Committee

hosted a talent show with students from all year groups. This was

supported by many staff, students and parents who were invited to watch

the absolutely astounding performances. This was a chance for Cranford to

show off all their talented students. Most importantly, this enabled many

students to build their self-esteem and also have the chance to improve their

performing skills.

It will definitely be a memorable experience as I was lucky enough to co-host the show. Alongside the

audience, we were able to enjoy all the upbeat dances but also be emotionally captured by all the heartfelt

songs that were sung and the recitations of various poems.

The performers who took part in the show showed so much enthusiasm and interest which came across in

all their performances. It requires commitment, dedication and perseverance to attend all rehearsals and the

students at Cranford never fail to live up to these expectations. They took weeks rehearsing and refining

their performances until it was of the highest quality and ready to be shared with the invited audience.

Congratulations to all the performers, they should be very proud of themselves. I had an amazing opportunity

to be with them at every rehearsal and I can whole-heartedly say that they have come a very long way from

where they started.

Nabeela Ali (year 13 Arts and Culture Committee)

35

Blues and Twos

The Met Police Ride Along

A Cranford

experience

money

can’t buy

In

December 2019 and March 2020, seven year 12 students had the experience of their life. As a reward

for helping run the 100 Years of Women in the Met police the year 12 students were offered the chance

to take part in the Met Police Ride Along scheme. This scheme is usually only open to adults but the police

were so delighted with the efforts of our students at their event that they decided to invite them to participate.

The students share their experience below but I have never see such excitement and on their return many

of them were speechless. The adrenalin was still pumping as they tried to put their experience into words.

I am sure the day will live with them for a long time.

A massive thank you to Inspector Dee O’Brien and Inspector Katie Peal and her Emergency Response

Officers for providing this amazing opportunity.

36

Alan Fraser (Assistant Headteacher - Director of Community Partnerships)

“The police Ride Along was an indescribable

experience. On that day we worked alongside

Police Constables and went to all the crime scenes

with them. I am so grateful I got this opportunity

as it was genuinely a once in a lifetime experience.

It allowed me to have an insight behind the scenes

and see aspects of the police force that we don’t

get to see. Time went so fast as it was so much fun

that I didn’t want the day to end. I would do it all

over again! ”

Reeya Patankar (year 12)

“Going on the Ride Along event was a thrilling experience

as I was able to truly see all the work that the police do.

I was even able to go on some blue light calls! Further to

this, I saw how the officers worked with paramedics in order

to help vulnerable members in our community. Overall, it

allowed me to see a different side to the police and has

given me such confidence in the great work of Hounslow

police force”.

Kimran Virk (year 12)

“The Ride Along was an experience like no other. I got to learn

and experience a true day as a Police Officer. We even went along

to some blue light calls and were thrown into a new environment.

It left me wanting to go back and experience it again”.

Arsida Dukaj (year 12)

my

At

experience

the start of 2020 Cranford was invited to select one

student to attend the International Women’s Day

event at British Airways. Maira Syeda in Year 9 was selected

to represent the school as she has expressed an interest in a

career with British Airways. She certainly made the most of

her experience and here is her account of the day.

On

Mahavir Ladva (Careers Coordinator)

Tuesday 13th March 2020, I was honoured

to be part of the International Women’s

Day workshop at the British Airways Headquarters.

Though ordinary looking on the outside, it was home

to a whole other world inside. It was bigger than any

building I have ever been to and the ceiling towered

over me. I was struck in awe as soon as I stepped in.

#ProudToBAWoman

Undeniably, the workshop was no less an enriching

experience than I had expected. Through the course of

the event, I learned about how the number of women

in the workforce (mainly in the aviation sector)

was increasing. A few years ago, you would be

unlikely to have ever heard of a female pilot! The

spokesperson told us how equality for women

was changing for the better.

Before the event began, we were given

information booklets which aided me in

discovering my interests within aviation. I was

also given a quick insight as to what was coming up.

Participants won prizes if they answered questions

asked by the host of the event and the founder of ‘Like

Minded Females’, Sonya Barlow.

She was definitely one amongst the most

inspiring and motivating people I have ever

met. Everyone was supportive of each other’s

interests and everyone’s opinions mattered.

I made really good friends with the girls who

were sitting next to me we found out that we

had the same dream: to become a pilot or work

in the aviation industry. The second part of the

workshop was equally interesting as we got to talk

to women who worked at British Airways. Everyone

was taking part and asking questions which the three

women answered with enthusiasm.

I must say that this has been a very rewarding

experience which allowed me to learn many things

about myself that I had not known before and I

am proud to have represented Cranford at such a

prestigious event.

#ProudToBAWoman

Maira Syeda (year 9)

37

In

Visit to Partner Schools

in China and Thailand

December 2019, I had the privilege of being able to visit two of our very significant partner schools

in China and Thailand.

Firstly, I went to Tianjin College of Commerce in Tianjin, Northern China. This college has been a partner with

Cranford for many years and it was a special moment to be able to meet with President Mr Gong Baoli and his

senior staff to formally sign a further partnership agreement between our two institutions. This will mean many

more opportunities for exchange work between our schools including annual

visits to China for Cranford students to experience Chinese culture firsthand.

38

Then I visited Princess Chulabhorn Science High School in Pathumthani, Thailand. This school is a newer

partner for Cranford with their first visit to London having taken place earlier in the year for their students

and staff. Whilst at PCSHS, I was able to have a comprehensive tour of the school, meeting with students

and staff. I was so impressed with their friendliness and enthusiasm. The visit provided the opportunity to

agree upon the teacher exchange visit due for July 2020 whereby 15 of our teachers go to work in the school

during their summer holiday. (Sadly this has had to be delayed since to the Coronavirus pandemic but will be

re-instated as soon as possible).

Kevin Prunty (Executive Headteacher)

39

#

MODERN

WORLD LANGUAGES

MODERN

LANGUAGES

Week of World Languages 2019-20202019

Monday 23 rd September – 27 th September 2019

It

has been a busy year for Modern World Languages with

much to celebrate. We began with the whole school

Languages Week, where students and staff enjoyed a range of in

class and extra-curricular activities and competitions. This was

followed by a Spanish and German baking challenge for year 7

and 8 students and a wonderful trip to Cologne in December 2019

for year 9. In February 2020, year 12 and 13 Languages students

visited Goldsmiths University for an intense language session and

our amazing year 7 Spelling Bees did Cranford proud by getting

into the regional finals.

Although the year has been interrupted by the lockdown, we

continued to teach and inspire students through our online lessons

and we look forward to building on the success of this year in

the Autumn.

Ally Manole (Modern World Languages Department)

40

Spelling Bee Competition

Our

amazing year 7 students have done it again! They braved

the challenge to learn 50 and then an additional 100(!)

new words in German or Spanish and took part in a class and then

whole school competition to spell the most words correctly in one

minute. In a foreign language.

‘That’s easy’ you’re saying? Let me give you a bit of insight. First

they had to translate from English into Spanish or German and then

spell words like: ‘Inglaterra’, ‘el zapato ‘,’ich verstehe nicht’ or ‘ein

Beispiel’! All this in front of all of their class mates.

We are all very proud of every single one of our students who stood

in front of their class and gave it a try. It takes courage and they have

done amazingly well. Our fantastic school winners, who were due to

go on to the regional final in London are Divya Sareen, Chandeep

Baweja and Sonny Nuri! They will be going to the regional final later

this year representing Cranford and will have to translate into Spanish

or German and spell words (in Spanish or German) from a pool of 200

challenging words.

Congratulations on a great performance under pressure!

Christmas Baking Challenge for Year 7 and Year 8

Another year, another new set of Christmas German and Spanish baking recipes to try out. Our creative

year 7 and 8 students took on our baking challenge and produced some delicious looking (and tasting!)

traditional Spanish and German baked goodies. The recipes they used were in either Spanish or German and

they had to use their language skills and translate the recipes before baking. Buen trabajo! Gute Arbeit!

Feeling inspired? Try one of the recipes yourself!

Lenguas De Gato

Receta:

Ingredientes:

120 gr de harina de repostería

100 gr de mantequilla

100 gr de azúcar glas

2 claras de huevo + 1 yema

1 cucharadita de esencia de vainilla

1 pizca de sal

100 gr de chocolate negro para la cobertura

1. La mantequilla tiene que estar a punto pomada, sin pasar por el microondas.

2. Ponemos en un bol la mantequilla y el azúcar molido y lo batimos enérgicamente con un batidor manual

hasta que quede todo bien integrado.

3. Añadimos poco a poco las claras de huevo, sin dejar de batir, hasta que quede todo bien mezclado.

4. A continuación pondremos también poco a poco la harina previamente tamizada y seguimos batiendo.

5. Lo mezclaremos todo con una espátula hasta conseguir una masa bien fina.

6. Pasaremos la mezcla a una manga pastelera con una boquilla lisa.

7. Preparamos una bandeja para el horno cubierta con papel de hornear y con la manga hacemos unas tiras

finas de unos 7 cms. aproximadamente de largo. Hay que dejar una separación ya que al entrar en el horno

se expanden.

8. Hemos precalentado el horno a 200º centígrados por arriba y abajo y ya las cocemos durante unos 12

minutos aproximadamente.

9. Cuando empiecen a dorarse hay que sacarlas del horno ya que después se secan. Las dejamos enfriar.

10. Derretimos el chocolate en el microondas y después le ponemos un poquitín de mantequilla para darle

brillo al chocolate.

11. Al final bañamos una de las puntas con el chocolate caliente y las dejamos en una rejilla hasta que el

chocolate se seque

Ally Manole (Modern World Languages Department)

41

#

MODERN

WORLD LANGUAGES

Christmas Trip to Cologne - December 2019

The

Modern World Languages department organised a

wonderful trip to Cologne in Germany from the 12th-

17th December 2019 and I was fortunate to take part. In my opinion

the trip to Germany was amazing and I had a really great time with

all my friends.

I was able to communicate with people using the German phrases

I learnt. It was such fun. We visited many places and even though

it was sometimes freezing cold it was worth it.

The Christmas Market was just so magical and we got to try out

so many new things including the food which was delicious. There

were so many lovely things to buy in the decorated stalls and I

wished I could buy everything.

We also went to a theme park called ‘Phantasia Land’. The rides

were amazing. It was a bit like Thorpe Park. I tried out the scariest

rides. The food in the Theme Park was also AMAZING. The

desserts were especially nice.

We enjoyed relaxing in the hotel in the evening. It was fun playing

games with the teachers and we appreciated their trust.

I was upset when we had to leave and wanted to stay on. I look

forward to more visits to Germany in the future!

Alishba Mehar (year 9)

42

MODERN WORLD LANGUAGES

Sixth Form Languages trip to Goldsmiths University

#

On

Friday, 14th February 2020, six year 12 and 13 languages students attended an intense Modern

World Languages A Level afternoon session at Goldsmiths University. Here is an account of one

student’s experience of the event:

‘Goldsmiths University was an amazing experience as both the year 12 and year 13 students were allowed

to travel by themselves and got to meet other students who had chosen languages as their A Level subjects.

As I was studying German A Level, I met students from different schools who also studied German for their

A Levels. Some had chosen it as an additional A Level whereas others had chosen it as their third A Level.

The trip was very educational. We were divided into two groups where we performed a drama act in German but watched

videos which helped us to communicate in German and express our opinions effectively. It was helpful because we

exchanged the techniques we had learnt in school and applied our knowledge to the given scenarios. To keep the

students engaged, the staff had brought a surprise of chocolates that would have been given to the winning team.

It was useful to compare what other students were learning at their schools and see the things we had in common

which made this experience exceptional. Studying a foreign language is vital for our global community. As

Nelson Mandela once said:

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him

in his language, that goes to his heart”.

Sajneet Bagga (year 13)

43

# INTERNATIONALISM

Trip to South Korea

44

During the October Half Term 2019, year 12 and 13 students had the fantastic

opportunity to visit South Korea. The trip included two destinations, Pohang

and Seoul.

During their time in Pohang, students were able to visit a long standing partner school,

Ocheon High School. We were warmly greeted on our arrival and students were able to

reunite with friends they had made the previous year when Ocheon High School visited

Cranford. The students left their comfort zones as they experienced a homestay and

spent three nights living in the homes of their Korean buddies. They attended lessons

which ranged from Korean Language to Dance and Maths. We also learnt about Korean

culture through participating in a tea ceremony wearing traditional dress. The students

enjoyed learning about a culture different from theirs and experiencing a different way

of life. They also finally had an opportunity to practise the Korean language skills they

had been learning in an extracurricular club held by the Languages Department.

After departing from Pohang and a very emotional

farewell between the students, we took a (very

quiet) sleeper train to Seoul where students could

be tourists and sightseers. We visited numerous

shopping and food markets, the highlights being

the Myeongdong and Cheongyecheon market,

where we were able to experience Korean street

food. Another highlight of Seoul was viewing the

beautiful panoramic views of the city from the Nam

San Tower.

The trip was a great experience for both students and

staff, and an amazing opportunity to gain confidence

through trying a new culture and experiences.

Avneet Kang (Trip Leader)

The idea of an overseas school trip to a country on the other side of the

world with friends sounds great. Cranford is a great school in that it builds

connections with other places around the globe to give its students unique

experiences that would be very difficult to get elsewhere.

This trip happened during the first half-term holiday of our school year, and

was extremely fulfilling as both a holiday and as an educational excursion. For

the first half of the week, we met the students of our host school and immersed

ourselves in their day-to-day lives. We went to lessons in the mornings and on

trips in the afternoon to explore aspects of Korean culture. One particularly

memorable day was when we put on traditional Hanbok dresses which is a

form of formal attire usually worn to ceremonial events. Learning about their

cultural meaning was both fun and eye-opening as we were definitely able

to see the differences between the roots of our own cultures as well as the

traditional attitudes of Korean society.

The second half of the trip was definitely the ‘holiday’ part of the trip. We went

to Seoul, the capital city, and spent our remaining time as tourists. It was sad

that we had to leave our new friends back in Pohang, but the experiences of

Seoul were also unforgettable. One of the best parts of the trip was that, as

6th-formers, we were allowed to choose what we wanted to do. There really was

something for everyone, as we went from sightseeing and visiting old palaces

and towns to shopping in night markets.

Overall, although the endless traveling took its toll, it was completely worth

the effort because of how much we achieved on the trip in a mere week. I would

definitely consider going on a similar trip with the school next year.

Guy Boonyarakyotin (year 12)

This trip has been one of the best experiences of my life and

I would never have changed it for the world. My favourite

part surprisingly was the home-stay and the last two days

when we were out sightseeing in Seoul where we got to see

a variety of different things and shop at famous markets.

During the days we were at school I was surprised at how

different a normal school day for Korean students was as

it was also completely different to my own expectations.

During this trip I have made new friendships with the

Korean students as well as students from school I had gotten

to know and bond with. I definitely feel as though I have

made friends for life.

Shanan Bhamra (year 13)

45

# INTERNATIONALISM

Korean Teachers and Leaders visit Cranford

In

the Autumn term 2019, Cranford hosted a number of visits by Korean teachers and school leaders.

These groups particularly choose to visit Cranford in their brief UK tour due to the excellent

reputation of the school which already has many significant links with Korean partners. In October 2019,

we saw our second group of Cranford Sixth formers visit Korea where they were hosted by Ocheon Senior

High School in Pohang, South Korea.

The teachers visiting Cranford were particularly interested in assessment for learning and the different ways

in which we assess student learning. Some Korean schools are also piloting new curriculum initiatives and

were interested in how we structure our curriculum particularly at Post 16 where students choose their own

subjects to study. They also wanted to know about school layout and buildings and were utterly amazed by

the size of Cranford’s site, the massive range of facilities and of course the Cranford Super Dome.

Peter Stumpf (Associate Headteacher)

46

SCIENCE #

Astrophysics Online Summer School

After

many attempts at applying for a summer school, I was selected for the University

College London (UCL) Astrophysics Online Summer School. Due to COVID-19,

the programme changed from a residential to an online school. I chose the Astrophysics subject

out of the 13 subjects because I admire the efforts in the aerospace industry; with role models like

Elon Musk planning to set foot on Mars with SpaceX and NASA sending satellites to celestial

objects, like the Sun, to make observations to help us understand and appreciate our solar system.

The Online Summer School will include lectures, live group work, seminars and information about UCL. It will

include live events, taking us to the Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) and UCL’s observatory with a tour of

its facilities to observe the Sun. Furthermore, we will go ‘exo-planet hunting’ online and have workshops on coding.

I am delighted to have had an opportunity at UCL as it is one of the first universities in the world to become

involved in making scientific observations in space. It is working with the European Space Agency with a new

mission, ARIEL, to study newly discovered planets which is due to launch in 2028.

Abraham Mathews (year 12)

47

Song Writing

in the

USA

During February Half Term 2020 I visited Redding California

for six days followed by Los Angeles for three days, to work

with professional song writers and DJ’s to further develop

my song writing skills. Song writing is a key element of our music

curriculum at Cranford and both visits were extremely productive and

have been valuable for my song writing work as well as the syllabus

we offer at school.

In Redding I managed to reconnect with two DJ’s I had met in

November 2019, one of which has recently launched a new record

label ‘Bring The Kingdom’. I was able to get some insight into

the process of starting your own record label and the various

opportunities this can open up as a song writer or artist. I managed

to work on and finish two new songs that will be released through

this new record label. This information will certainly come in handy

when teaching RSL lessons. Part of what we coach pupils in is how to

build a career in music and this first-hand experience has given me a

lot of insight that I can pass on.

The L.A. leg of the trip was very different but just as insightful. I met a

lady called Lorita who has been involved in sound design for films and

TV programmes for 15 years. I was able to learn more about the process

of creating sound effects, a technique known as ‘Foly’, where sound

effects are recorded directly using special microphones. I have already been invited back to visit her studio

next year where she is working on a new Netflix series. This experience will again be invaluable in teaching

particularly for the RSL students wanting to pursue a career in the music industry or as another avenue into

the music industry working as a sound designer. I also connected with a DJ called ‘Jacob Plant’ who lives in

L.A but is originally from Kent and this new contact should also open up more opportunities in the future.

As a teacher, the more I can remain actively involved in my professional development the more energy and

relevance my lessons will have. This experience has certainly given me plenty to bring back to my lessons and

the music syllabus development to help students realise the joy of song writing.

Rory O’Hare (Music Department)

48

The Picasso Centre put on

‘A Christmas Carol’

One

of the key areas of study

in the Picasso Centre is

Social Skills, in which students explore

the subtleties of human interactions,

define types of behaviour and consider

human reactions. What better way to

practise these skills than through the

process of creating drama? During

the second half of the Autumn term

the students set work, and although a

performance was always intended, the

focus of the students was the process

of creating the show; a puppet version

of A Christmas Carol.

Groups from year 7 to 11 were

involved, and once all were familiar

with the story they began to explore the

characters, defining their behaviours,

understanding their strengths and

weaknesses. Then out came the wooden

spoons, pipe cleaners and boggley eyes, and all threw their creativity into translating their findings into suitable

puppets. Glue everywhere, huge fun … and outstanding, supportive group work, acknowledging each other’s

strengths, appreciative of successes, tolerant of mistakes.

The day of the performance threw up many memorable moments – the finest ‘Bah, humbug’ in any school, the

characterisation and relationships created by the year 10 students and the sheer energy of the year 7 students.

All the students’ performances made the supporting staff proud, but no more than the pride they felt in the

skills they demonstrated and resilience needed to create the performance. Outstanding.

Damian Miles (Picasso Centre)

VE Day Celebrations

Lock Down style

I

was invited to carry the Heston

British Legion Standard (Flag)

for VE day celebrations at Heston

War Memorial in my role as Captain,

19 Company Commander. This was a

great honour on such a special day.

The Mayor of Hounslow Tony Louki and

Seema Malhotra MP were in attendance.

We did a social distance walk from the

Legion to the War Memorial. I held the standard at

the Memorial and the general public and Councillors laid

down wreaths in memory of all the fallen soldiers in World

War II. We held a two minute silence and returned home.

From there we had a VE Day street party and all our

neighbours took to their front gardens with a picnic. One

of the neighbours is a Winston Churchill look-alike, one of

only three Churchill look-alikes in the UK and we had the

honour of him delivering a speech to the community in our

road and a drive by with the famous hand gesture out of

the sun roof which was very impressive. We had musical

entertainment with war time songs and everybody joined in.

Ms Ledlie

Flies the Flag

Priscilla Ledlie (Assistant to the Senior Teacher Pastoral)

49

2020

On

Friday 28th February 2020, 30 year 10 fortunate students took part in the Jack Petchey Speak Out

Challenge! The day consisted of interactive workshops led by Carl Meah from the Speaker’s Trust

which enabled students to increase their confidence in public speaking. Students were selected by the English

department as public speaking is also a component of the GCSE English Language Speaking and Listening

unit. This workshop allowed our enthusiastic students to enhance their skills even further as well as giving

our more reserved students a chance to shine and learn some top tips from the experts. As their Head of Year,

I was delighted to be able to join in alongside some incredibly talented students. What struck me most was

the way that this workshop gave our year 10s a platform to speak about issues that matter to them. I was truly

fascinated to hear their ideas and thoughts on topics such as mental health, islamophobia, freedom of speech,

feminism and many more. The Speak Out Challenge encouraged students to ‘come out of their shells’ and use

their voices to spread positivity and share valuable messages no matter how nervous they were at the beginning

of the day. Carl, the students and I found the conclusion of the day incredibly moving; there was cheering,

laughter and a real sense of pride as we watched students speak from the heart and overcome their initial fears.

The quality of public speaking demonstrated by the end of the day made it very difficult for me to select just

2 quarter finalists so I decided to nominate 7 students to perform at the Year 7 assembly. Mr Ferreira and I

chose Isra Jadoon as our semi-finalist and Ahmed Mumin as the finalist. The Regional Finals were due to take

place in May but due to the lockdown Ahmed Mumin will now be taking part in the virtual Regional Finals

instead – another very exciting opportunity for our students to showcase how talented they really are!

Randeep Sidhu (Head of year 10)

For me the Jack Petchey workshop was a very enjoyable and productive

experience and I can definitely say that I learnt a lot about public speaking and

giving speeches to large audiences. Carl the workshop leader taught us many

skills that greatly helped us speak to the public, for example, he taught us to

always have a bottle of water with us whilst we were speaking, so that we could

better remember what to say next. He also taught us to be genuine about what we

said to the audience, so they could tell that we were passionate about our topic.

In the first activity we had to announce to the rest of the class what our partner

liked and disliked. This helped us get a taster of what speaking out in front of

others was like. The next activity required us to put everything Carl had taught us

to use. We had to choose a topic to present to the class in one minute. I chose to

speak about stereotypes. I chose this topic because in everyday life and in social

media you see people continuously say things and label individuals or groups

of people based on virtually no evidence or facts. I felt really nervous about the

task but after the first 10 seconds I became more comfortable. I managed to get

to the next stage and made a new speech to the whole of year 7 about my topic.

I was then chosen as the finalist and am going to take part in the next stage on

a digital platform. I got this far thanks to the skills that Carl taught us and the

support from Ms Sidhu and the other students.

Ahmed Mumin (year 10)

50

This year I was lucky to be chosen to participate in the

annual Jack Petchey “Speak Out” Workshop held at Cranford

Community College as part of a group of about 30 other

students. The purpose of the workshop is to help students work

on their communication skills and confidence when speaking

in front of others. Throughout the day, we participated in many

activities which involved us getting up in front of the group

and speaking about different things on the spot. For many

of us, this was nerve racking and challenging. Fortunately,

we learned many tips to help us feel more confident when

speaking in public. One thing we learned is the “5 S’s”. Our

speeches should always include the 5 S’s- Stride, Stand, Smile,

Speak and Stay. This, among many other techniques, really

prepared us well for the final task. Near the end of the day,

we were told that we each had to write a short speech about a

topic of our choice and deliver it to the entire group. Although

many of us felt unprepared and extremely nervous, we all were

all able to stand in front of our large group and deliver our

final speeches. All of the speeches were unique and interesting

and you could see a clear difference in the speakers’ level of

confidence between the beginning of the day compared to the

final speeches. After all of us had delivered our speeches and

received a certificate for completing the workshop, a small

group of students including me were chosen to perform our

speeches during an assembly for all of Year 7. Overall this

workshop was very helpful and an amazing experience and

I can say without a doubt that all the participants including

me are much more confident in the way we present ourselves

when speaking in public, as well as delivering meaningful

speeches.

Aja Cundall (year 10)

On the 28th February 2020 I participated in the

Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge. I was hesitant

about doing it at first as public speaking is not my

strength, especially once I found out I had to do a

speech in front of the whole workshop by the end of

the day! I became quite reluctant. However Carl who

ran the workshop was extremely motivational and

encouraging; he helped in bringing out everyone’s

confidence in public speaking. Throughout the whole

day there was not one moment where I felt uninterested

– the workshop included interactive activities and

spirits were kept high. I found the activities very

useful in terms of building my confidence to talk on a

chosen topic. I was also given constructive feedback

to improve my method of public speaking. Not only

did I learn ways of communicating efficiently but I

also understood the importance of listening and how

to be a good listener.

We were given booklets with strategies on how to

present ourselves, and what to do when we are

speaking in public. It entailed the best methods on

how to get our point across to our audience, and ways

to make this more memorable. I picked up different

tips for speaking, important life skills and a strong

understanding of the importance of being a good

speaker. I got to learn different tricks companies and

organisations use to get customers to remember them,

for example using the rule of three. Towards the end

of the workshop, we had to do a speech in front of

everybody on a topic that we felt passionate about – I

chose body image. When presenting my topic utilising

the advice given, I showed great confidence whilst

talking and my peers and teachers acknowledged

this. Overall, I found the workshop exceptional,

teaching us unique methods of being a good speaker

and listener. It helped me improve my self-confidence

and broadened my knowledge. I am overjoyed that I

was fortunate to be given this opportunity as I learnt

much more than I initially expected, and it changed

my perspective on a lot things.

Shritu Singh (year 10)

51

# SCIENCE

Science Students meet the son of

Buzz Aldrin at the American Embassy

On

Tuesday 8th October 2019, year 10 Triple

Science students were overwhelmed

with excitement to be invited to meet Andy Aldrin,

President of the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute and son

of Buzz Aldrin (who, along with Neil Armstrong,

was one of the first two humans to land on the

moon).

Dr Andrew Aldrin serves as the President of the Buzz

Aldrin Space Institute (BASI) and is an Associate

Professor at Florida Institute of Technology. BASI

is a multidisciplinary institute created to advance

space exploration and development toward the goal

of establishing and maintaining a permanent human

presence on Mars. Buzz Aldrin’s Share Space

Foundation is the organization within BASI with

a focus on students.

Dr Aldrin holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from

UCLA, an MBA from TRIUM, an MA in Science

Technology and Public Policy from The George

Washington University, and an MA in International

Relations from the University of California at Santa

Barbara.

Before going on the visit students researched the

Apollo 11 landing as Andy was going to hold an

interactive Q&A session with the students after

screening the actual footage of Apollo 11.

The meeting was to be taking place at the US

Embassy in London which has very tight security

and as we got closer to the date the students became

more excited. The visit coincided with World Space

Week which made it extra special. For students an

opportunity to meet the son whose father was the

second man to land on the moon made it even more

significant, a once in a lifetime moment.

Students were seated in an auditorium with popcorn

and refreshments at the embassy to watch the 45

minute unseen footage movie before a Q&A session

was held. Year 10 students were joined by students

from two other schools in asking questions. After

the session, Cranford students got the opportunity

to shake hands and speak to Andy one to one. It

was amazing to see their faces full of excitement

and disbelief that they actual met the son of Buzz

Aldrin.

Bharti Patel (Science Department)

52

Visiting the US Embassy was an amazing experience

but most of all meeting Buzz Aldrin’s son was

incredible. I definitely learnt a lot from him and his

father’s journey, working in the space unit. We were

also able to ask questions at the end. Another favourite

experience I enjoyed was watching Apollo 11, since

everything that happened during that mission was

documented and we could see what really took place

with our own eyes. The whole event was great and I

learnt so much.

Bhavika Balajothy (year 10)

The trip to the US Embassy was a fantastic experience. When

watching the documentary of the Apollo 11 mission I was

fascinated as it was such a historical moment. Seeing what

all the people involved had to go through, all the emotion and

tension was so gripping. Being in an environment where we

were was like watching the film in the hall of fame. When we

got to ask Mr Andrew Aldrin questions it was nerve racking

but he was really nice and pretty funny. Throughout it was one

of the coolest trips I have ever been on!

Manav Vivek (year 10)

Visiting the United States Embassy was a great opportunity

and it was an honour to learn about one of the greatest

achievements in history: The Moon Landing. The Embassy

staff were very friendly, offering us popcorn and water while

we were watching the documentary on Apollo 11. However,

without a doubt, the best part of visiting the Embassy was

being able to ask the son of the second man who landed on

the moon questions. What made this even better, was the fact

that I was able to personally speak to Mr Aldrin, and shake

his hand.

Samuel Dickson (year 10)

I really enjoyed the trip to the

US Embassy because it was very

interesting and taught me that

there is more to space than I

first imagined. The movie about

the Apollo 11 mission was really

fascinating and gave me an insight

into what going to space is like.

Also, meeting Andrew Aldrin was

a very exciting experience.

Durrah Mir (year 10)

I was in a complete trance as soon as we reached

the US Embassy: it was an experience like no other,

the type of experience of a lifetime that makes your

heart race. Cranford’s two triple science classes

had the opportunity to attend and celebrate the 50th

anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing- an event

that changed the world. All students were fascinated

by the grand building, the welcoming staff and of

course Andy Aldrin. We eagerly sat down to watch

the documentary, Apollo 11. The entire experience

was exhilarating; I simply could not take my eyes

off the screen for those 93 minutes. A short while

after, we had the chance to ask questions and got

a better insight of what it was like during those

trips into space. A fellow student and I mustered

up some courage and personally met Andy Aldrin

himself! It was extraordinary getting even further

insight of what it was like for him as a child; it was

incredibly inspiring. To this day, I cannot help but

think about this wonderful opportunity with awe.

“Ad Astra.” (Latin for: to the stars), Mr Aldrin said

to me. “Make your dreams a reality.” I recommend

you do the same.

Swarnali Acharjee, (year 10)

We went on a trip to the US embassy

for the viewing of a documentary about

Apollo 11 and to meet Andrew Aldrin

which was an amazing opportunity to

gain knowledge about space exploration.

We first viewed an informative and

entertaining documentary about the

Apollo 11 mission. Afterwards we had

a chance to ask Andrew Aldrin – who

coincidentally is the son of Buzz Aldrin,

the second man to land on the moon -

about the future of space exploration.

This allowed us to understand how, if we

chose to pursue a similar career in the

future, we could impact the knowledge and

understanding of space.

Harsiman Bath (year 10)

53

European School Administrators Programme

Germany and The Netherlands - March 2020

Cranford has been an integral part of the 2016 US

sponsored European Administrators Programme and

this year, this experienced group of school leaders

met in Dusseldorf and the Netherlands at the very

start of March 2020.

The group previously met at Cranford in 2019 and this was a great

opportunity to meet together again and further collaborate on the

challenges facing refugees, newcomers and ethnic minority groups

in our schools across Europe and the US.

During the week, the group visited a range of different schools in

Dusseldorf (Germany), Roermond and Alkmaar (The Netherlands).

We heard from teachers and students first-hand about the challenges

that they face and strategies used to ensure success for everyone.

Martin Opperman was our group participant who put the programme

together for Dusseldorf who used his many contacts to ensure

that we also were able to meet with politicians notably in the

Parliament building in North Rhine Westfalia where we met with

the President of the State and the Education minister.

In the Netherlands, we visited some very creative schools

including the Agora School in Roermond where Regina Bulze, our

participant group leader gave us an extensive tour and explained

the philosophy behind the school. Everything is to do with student

choice. There are no classes as such and there is no age division.

The word ‘Agora’ is Greek for ‘market place’.

Students set their own goal and then choose the route to get there.

They have their own dedicated desk where they can keep their

school things and study there for as long as they like. There are

no teachers, only coaches.

The school is extremely well resourced with purpose built rooms

reflecting the relaxed approach. It was clear that this type of school

suits some students for whom a more traditional school does not

work.

In Alkmaar, we were hosted by Anna-Pauline Smits, the Principal

of Dalton College a highly successful college located in the north of

Holland serving a wide range of pupils. The week was a wonderful

opportunity for this group to reconnect and further develop the

opportunity to share best practice and learn from each other by

visiting schools and educational settings first hand.

Peter Stumpf (Associate Headteacher)

54

Cranford Hosts New International Partners

December 2019 saw the launch of our new Erasmus Plus

project following a successful application last year.

The project focuses on transnational learning under

the title ‘Educational and vocational education within the

context of a changing European landscape’ and is part of

Cranford’s ongoing mission to learn from high performing

education systems across the globe.

With Brexit looming, Cranford is bucking the trend and getting

closer to our European neighbours. We are partnered with

Kvaløya Videregående Skole in Tromsø and Koning Willem I

College in Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. The first week of December saw us welcome Oddbjorn, Jon

and Emilie all the way from a technical upper secondary school in the Arctic circle and Peter, Imre and

Carola from a Post-16 college of 15,000 students in the Den Bosch region of central Holland.

The strength of this partnership is built on our different contexts as well as the things we share. All three

outstanding educational institutions bring different things to the table and are keen to learn from each

other. Each country has their own focus with Cranford wishing to learn about best practice in high quality

technical education to support the launch of the T levels. Norway and the Netherlands are widely recognised

as international leaders in technical education. In return we are sharing our experience and practice of

effective assessment systems and the successful integration and achievements of students from diverse

backgrounds, for which we are internationally renowned.

This was the first of six planned trips, two in each country, scheduled between 2020 and 2022 and it was

fantastic start. Cranford, as always, extended a warm welcome to all and our visitors had a great time

during their three day visit touring both Cranford and Berkeley, observing lessons, engaging in energetic

and informative discussions and sampling a few nights out in London!

We cannot wait to visit Tromsø in February and meet up again with our partners on the next leg of a very

exciting learning journey.

Rob Ind (Joint Head of School)

55

On

Tuesday 8th October 2019, Cranford hosted the sixth annual US Embassy 6th Form talk.

Experienced US diplomat Jennifer Whelan gave the talk accompanied by a visiting member of

the US State Department who was observing the work of the London US Embassy.

Cranford contributed to the format of the talk which was filmed and is now used to train other diplomats.

The speaker asked Cranford students about their opinion of the US both positive and negative. The two hot

topics which came up were Donald Trump and Foreign Policy. The US Embassy play an important part in

creating a safe place for students to ask questions on difficult issues they feel passionate about and it also

allows the Embassy to understand young people’s opinions on political issues that are important to them.


US Embassy Talk on

Foreign Affairs

American History Conference

On

Tuesday 3rd March 2020, year 13 History

students attended a conference in central

London. This conference was not only a great revision

day for them, covering content from their A Level

course spanning the history of USA Civil Rights from

1865-1992, but also a great opportunity for them

to experience a university like environment where

they attended lectures given by leading American

historians and asked them intriguing questions.

Sahrish Shaikh (Head of History)

The conference on American Civil Rights was not only important

because of the incredible knowledge we gained, it was also

extremely helpful in allowing us to understand the environment

of a University lecture and how much information is passed on

through it. Most helpful of all was the specific information we

were given through the lectures and the statistics. I was able

to use most of the statistics I learned on the day in my own

essays on this topic thus proving the importance of attending.

The experience itself was also exciting because of the number of

opinions expressed by the different people attending on certain

matters; these opinions were interesting to listen to and formed

the basis of the debates that took place after the lectures. Being

able to ask the lecturers questions after the conference was also

vital as it allowed us to learn even more specific details not

always covered during the conference. Overall, attending the

conference was pivotal in allowing my knowledge of the topic to

grow as the lecturers went into an extraordinary amount of detail

on all topics and the trip definitely proved its worth because of

this.

Hardayn Lall (year 13)

Our trip to the Conference for US Civil

Rights was really informative and a great

experience. Thanks to our teachers we

were able to attend a talk specifically

tailored to our topics delivered by

University lecturers which made this an

even better experience. It started off with

one lecturer followed by a second who

sometimes shared similar and sometimes

different points of views. It was interesting

to hear what each had to say. After every

talk there was a question and answer

session so we were able to ask anything

related to the topic especially the main

topic for debate such as the impact of the

Civil Rights leaders. My favourite session

was about Malcom X as I have been really

interested in his Civil Rights story....

hearing what historians had to say about

his life fascinated me even more. Overall

it was a great experience and a fun one

to share with my friends too!

Iqra Nadeem (year 13)

56

National Community Award 2019

On Thursday 21st

November 2019,

Cranford Community College and

Heston West Big Local (HWBL)

will have been working in

partnership for over eight years.

The success of this partnership

has been recognised through both

national and international awards.

In November 2019 Heston

West Big Local was shortlisted

for the national Groundwork

Community Awards event at the

prestigious Gladstone Library

which is part of The Horseguards

Hotel in Whitehall.

HWBL was shortlisted for

its promotion of community

cohesion, uniting people from

different ages and backgrounds

to tackle local issues together.

This was an achievement in

itself because there were three

organisations shortlisted out of

hundreds of nominations. All

three would have been worthy

winners and the winner was

a project called Vee’s Place,

which operates, in the second

most deprived area in England

on Merseyside.

Although HWBL did not win, the

awards evening was enjoyable

and it was great networking with

other successful community

groups. Being shortlisted was

an honour and something the

school and local community can

be proud of.

Alan Fraser

(Assistant Headteacher - Director

of Community Partnerships)

57

#

IT

& COMPUTER SCIENCE

Programming Workshop

Year 10

We

were very lucky to have

Efstathios Stivaros, a full

stack developer, run a short workshop for

our Year 10 Computer Science class. The

workshop covered how Efstathios got into

programming and what a career in this

field would look like. Students were then

challenged with a programing problem

and worked in pairs to solve it.

Sukhjeet Kudhail

(Head of Information Technology)

I had a very informative & helpful experience at the computer

science workshop. It was informative in terms of learning

what being a programmer and software developer entails

and how you get to work through complex and intuitive

tasks for work in a peaceful environment, with flexible

hours and sometimes even in the comfort of your own home.

It was really exciting how we got to work through and see

how to solve a programming problem. I have also been

using it to design my own program to encrypt & decrypt

words and sentences creating secret codes. I would love to

attend similar workshops in the future.

Manav Vivek (year 10)

When Efstathios Stivaros started the lesson he started

telling us the things that he did, the pros of working in

computer science, and he told us some of the different jobs

we could get with it. One thing that I liked about it and was

surprising was that he told us that the majority of the time

he spent wasn’t actually programming but instead working

out problems. I like it because I enjoy solving problems

a lot. After that he gave us a task to make a programme

in Python where we had to control the amount of people

entering a bus by making sure it was more than 50. I also

enjoyed this as I found it stimulating. Overall I found the

workshop productive and I would enjoy it if something like

that happened again in the future.

Ahmed Mumin (year 10)

A few months ago, the GSCE computing class was given the

opportunity to see potential career paths in computer science

through the eyes of someone who works in the field. It was

an eye-opening experience as our previous misconceptions

about coding jobs were challenged. We learnt that a

significant portion of the work is problem solving and that

most companies (even those that have nothing to do with

computing) need software developers to make their work

more efficient. This is very beneficial as we were shown the

multitudes of opportunities that computer science unlocked.

Furthermore, the coder (who was running the lesson) gave us

insight on the educational pathways he took through school.

The lesson was uniquely engaging, and we were able to

absorb all the knowledge he had to share. I am very grateful

for being given that opportunity as it made me consider a

new and better career path that I would have otherwise

been ignorant of.

Marjaan Aman (year 10)

58

Cranford

Cranford

moves

to

the

Next

Level

with

Digital

and

Education

T Levels

T LEVELS WILL TAKE YOU

TO THE NEXT LEVEL

T Levels are exciting new twoyear

courses, designed and

backed by industry, to ensure

we are giving young people the

skills and knowledge the need

to get ahead.

Industry placements are already

helping employers and businesses like

yours go further.

was delighted to be chosen in 2018 as the only provider in Hounslow to launch the

ARE YOU SELFfirst

T Levels in Digital Production, Design and Development and in Education and

Just starting out or well established; we want all local businesses to

Childcare. These prestigious new courses are EMPLOYED being launched OR in September thrive here in the 2020 London and Borough planning of Hounslow. With and our expert preparation

help you can

have been proceeding at pace this year.

RUNNING A

BUSINESS WITH

FEWER THAN 10

EMPLOYEES?

T Levels are exciting brand new two year courses designed and supported • Developing by industry Your Growth Plan to ensure young people

• Women in Business

are taught the skills and knowledge they need to get ahead in their career.

• Understanding Tax and VAT

There are only a handful of schools across the country selected to be amongst

• Cash Flow

the

and

first

Planning

wave

for

of only 50 providers

Work Hounslow want to offer

the Future

nationally. Cranford is well known for its track record of trail-blazing innovations designed to give its students

the best opportunities going.

you FREE one-to-one business

support and a suite of fantastic

workshops.

Cranford Community College are the

only provider in Hounslow to have

been chosen by government to launch

the first T levels in Digital Production,

Design and Development and Education

and Childcare in September 2020.

We are still recruiting businesses to join

our expanding team of partners such as

Heathrow Ltd, Amazon, DHL and provide

industry placements for our innovative

and inspirational young people.

Get involved and find out how T levels can support your organisation and work with

a local outstanding school. Contact Rob Ind at rin-cc@cranford.hounslow.sch.uk.

increase your productivity and grow, market your business to reach its maximum

potential and manage your finances in the most efficient way.

One to one expert support and workshops in the following topics;

• Turbocharge your Sales

• Grow your Business Online

Young Cranford digital

entrepreneurs in a recent

project with Amazon

New vocational qualifications are essential to Post-16 education and Cranford has long been campaigning

for parity of esteem between academic and vocational pathways. Recent visits to Norway and our ongoing

Erasmus projects with colleges in the Arctic Circle and the Netherlands offer a range of highly successful

innovative work-based educational models to learn from. We have a tradition of sharing excellent practice

14 hounslow talksbusiness

with the best education systems around the world which is why we are one of the first providers to introduce

T Levels to England.

For more information on how WorkHounslow can help you contact us:

Tel: 020 8583 6174, email: work@hounslow.gov.uk

www.workhounslow.eventbrite.co.uk

Our year 12 student cohort of 2020-22 will have the opportunity to learn a new digital curriculum to help

them develop the skills they need for a wide range of careers in the digital sector, from software development

to coding to data systems and emerging technologies. In Education, the core content will focus on child

development and the expertise students require to work in an early years setting.

Embedded within the specialist content of a T Level is an Industry Placement for all students of 315 hours

(about 9 weeks of school) alongside a Maths and English core. We will be working with a range of industry

partners in both the Digital and Education sectors and building on existing partnerships with global companies

such as Heathrow Ltd, DHL and Amazon, as well with local Early Years Providers like Berkeley Academy

and Twinkle Totz nurseries. Nearly 20% of Hounslow’s local economy is in the digital sector and with these

new qualifications and our close partnership with Hounslow’s Chamber of Commerce, we are giving all of

our students the real life experience and employability skills they need to go on and be successful in their

chosen pathway.

Staff leading in each subject area have already completed a week long industry placements of their own (well

done to Ms Kudhail and Ms Dosanjh) to further their understanding of current best practice in the Digital and

Early Years sectors. With bids for capital funding to transform the ground floor of the B block building and

new orders for specialist equipment from 3D printers to drones on the way, Cranford really is an exciting place

to be this year. Watch this space!


59

#

DIGITAL VISUAL MEDIA

This

year Key Stage 3 embarked on a new course

at Cranford Community College, learning

all about the exciting and creative Digital Visual Media

Sector. Each tutor group was divided into five teams who

worked together to earn points during the autumn term

and the winning team from each tutor group was invited to

attend a reward trip to Warner Bros Studios: Harry Potter

Tours. 126 students from year 7, 8 and 9 experienced the

magic and wonder of film making as they went behind

the scenes of the Harry Potter films and engaged in short

workshops with professionals in the industry. Students

were given the rare opportunity of seeing priceless

props and costumes up close and even learnt about some

of the secret film making being done at Warner Bros

while touring the studios. From the moment we stepped

through the doors of Hogwarts, Cranford students were

mesmerized by the detail and skill involved in bringing

this international success to our screens. Students came

away with memories to cherish including getting to play

quidditch on their own broomsticks, learning the art of

casting a spell and the sweet taste of butterbeer. This was

a truly wonderful experience which we hope to replicate

for our new year 7 students in the future.

Sharandeep Saroya (Digital Visual Media Department)

60

I loved the trip because I love Harry Potter, I have watched

all the movies and read all the books. My favourite bit was

when the 3D dragon came, also when we went on the set of the

dinner hall (it was beautiful). I liked when we watched small

clips from the movies and were told facts most people did not

know. I really enjoyed seeing the castle model. It was one of

the best things I did, and I hope I go again.

Balveen Sodi (year 7)

Harry Potter world was amazing and really enjoyable even if

you are not a hard-core Harry Potter fan. We got to witness

the actual props, costumes, and special effects and designs

and even saw the process of how they made and brought the

magic to the Harry Potter franchise. This really makes you

appreciate how much effort was put into the creation of the

films. In my opinion, my favourite part of the trip was the life

like projection of the dragon that breathes fire towards you.

Deen Asskoumi (year 7)

Overall, my experience at Harry Potter studios was absolutely

magnificent. The main highlight for me was when we walked

through the fascinating street of Diagon Alley and witnessed

all the shops such as Olivanders. I really would like to thank

Cranford for giving me the chance to go to this amazing land

of fantasy.

Syed Rizvi (year 8)

At Harry Potter World, I had a really fun time. First we

were taken to this room where we were shown how different

costumes are made. For example, Voldemort’s costume was

made by 8 different materials and they purposely created it

with holes and rips to show where the spells have hit him and

destroyed the costume. We were also told about different shots

within movies. Later on we were taken to the cinema room

where we were shown clips from Harry Potter. Then we were

taken to Forbidden Forest where you got to walk around and

if you pulled a lever it made a cool sound.

Amani Salim (year 8)

At Harry Potter World, we went to a workshop where we saw

the different film shots as well as some of the actual props that

were used in the films. My favourite place was the Forbidden

Forest because of the really cool sound, wind and lightning

effects. Overall, I had a great time.

Muqadas Saleem (year 8)

They showed us how they used different camera angles and

techniques to film and how they used special effects to create

the background and the different effects in the movie. It was

very interesting to find out how the movies were made.

Oliwia Dabrowska (year 9)

61

#

KEY

STAGE 3 / INTERFORM

One

World Marathon is an international programme

which aims to bring people across the world

together by running a virtual marathon. As part of this exciting

venture we decided to hold a pilot event focussing on schools.

In October 2019, the One World Marathon saw all of the students

in years 7,8 and 9 compete against each other in an attempt to

complete as many miles as possible. PE lessons involved running

laps around the Cranford Superdome. Students ran as individuals,

in pairs or teams to complete the required number of miles. It was

a massive Key Stage 3 effort and in total 992 miles were run over

a week. All students put in 100% effort and did their best.

Max Elliot from year 8 who completed the most laps said:

“I managed to do 26 laps around the school’s football dome

because I do football training every Tuesday, Friday, Saturday

and Sunday which is when I work on my stamina. I was the only

one in my class to carry on jogging because as soon as my teacher

blew her whistle everyone started sprinting to be first like it was

a race. I was concentrating so much on keeping the distance and

I just made sure that I didn’t stop, I really enjoyed this Interform

event and am glad I finished as the top boy”.

As a reward, on Monday 25th November 2019, the top performing

students were invited to join Dave Fortier, President of One World

Strong and a survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing, for a preschool

run around the field. This was followed by breakfast and

an animated Q&A session with Dave Fortier himself.

Hamesh Rattu (Director of Sports and Community Wellbeing)

& Max Elliot (year 8)

62

In

October 2019 as the UK RAN representative, I attended a thought provoking and emotional

meeting on the impact of trauma on refugee children in Zagreb, Croatia. Representatives from

child centred institutions across Europe attended this event.

The first day was spent identifying the issues and hearing about the types of trauma that children

experience when leaving their normal setting, on their journey and finally when they arrive in another

country as a refugee. It was a moving experience which I will never forget. The second day was one of

hope looking at practical strategies to help refugee children overcome this trauma. The focus was on

what education and schools can do to help these children. The primary contributor was a Dutch colleague

who has set up a programme and training for teachers to support refugee children in dealing with trauma.

It was a reminder that education is about more than just academic qualifications and of the impact that

good education can have on children.

In October 2019 I was invited by the European Union to co-chair the education section of the annual

plenary meeting in Brussels. The plenary meeting reviews the past year and sets the agenda for the

coming year. It brings together practitioners and policy makers from around Europe to review the

progress being made in combatting radicalisation. This year a particular focus was the rise of far right

extremism.

It remains a privilege to be part of a network working hard to overcome the many challenges we face

as a global society in the 21st century.


63

Cranford was approached by Inspector

Dee Dhillon of the Metropolitan

Police requesting that we host a

prestigious event to mark 100 Years

of Women in the Met Police. The

academy worked with the Met and

the London Borough of Hounslow to

plan this event which involves over 200

serving and former WPCs. The event

which took place on Tuesday 15th October

2019 celebrated the achievement of

past and present female officers. To represent the

future of women in the police 50 Year 8 and 9 female

students were invited to attend. The sports hall was

transformed and the ‘past, present and future Women

Police Constables’ enjoyed a sumptuous afternoon

tea and speeches by senior police officers including

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Amanda Pearson and

Chief Superintendent Paul Martin.

The guest speaker for the event was Lynda La Plante,

CBE, the crime novelist who is perhaps best known

for the creation of the character Jane Tennison and

her book and TV series Prime Suspect. Our students

enjoyed talking to her and getting her to autograph her

latest book.

The Year 8 and 9 students soon entered into the spirit

of the event as they got caught up in the comradery.

This was an excellent opportunity for them to develop

their networking skills, one of the most important

life skills and a large number of guests commented

on how wonderful our students were. In addition, a

group of year 7, 8 and 9 young reporters engaged the guests

in various questions about their experience of working as

women in the police force. A sample of their discussions are

reported in this article.

A big thank you should also go to the year 12 team who helped

to run the event and ensured it was a great success. The police

were so impressed by them that they offered them an amazing

opportunity to ride on a patrol, something money can’t buy.


Paula (control room support)

Q: What brought you to become a

member of the police force?

A: Left school, didn’t go to college,

inspired by friend.

Q: Have you experienced

discrimination?

A: Did not experience

discrimination. Was treated

superior to men.

Q: Satisfied with your job?

A: Satisfied and proud of job.

Q: Need any improvements?

A: Needs no improvements.

Maria and Denise

Q: What made you become a member of the police force?

A (Maria): My friend joined the police force and inspired

me to join.

A (Denise): I Had a passion to become a front office

volunteer and heard stories from other officers.

Q: Have you experienced discrimination?

A (Denise): Had to restart courses. Wasn’t given much

access.

A (Maria): Didn’t experience discrimination but wanted

more females to be recruited.

Q: Any improvements?

A (Maria and Denise): More support after maternity leave

and more courses and lessons.

64

Alice (retired)

Q:What made you become a

member of the police force?

A: Joined at age 46. Wanted to

help other people.

Q: Have you experienced

discrimination?

A: No discrimination experienced.


A: Loved job. Very satisfied.

Q: Did you miss your job after a

while?

A: Yes, missed her job deeply.

Mary (control room support)

Q: What brought you to become a member of the police force?

A: Got advice from sister and was suggested.

Q: Have you experienced discrimination?

A: No discrimination.


A: Children are proud. She is satisfied.

Q: Need any improvements?

A: No need for improvements.

Ricky Singh

Q: Views on women in the police force?

A: Women are exceptional police, bringing joy and energy into policing.

Interviews made by Khadhar Abdullai (year 7), Ravrahet Singh, Farzan Kashif (year 8) & Damon Szumowski (year 9)

65

Into the Linguistic Loophole

The First Story Group at Cranford Community College

INTO THE

LINGUISTIC LOOPHOLE

An Anthology by the First Story Group at

CRANFORD

COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Edited by

ROSS RAISIN

2019-2020

Every

Monday after school in the Autumn

term of 2019, Room A108 was

transformed into a magical world of imagination as

a group of 14 budding writers – inspired by author

Ross Raisin and each other – put pen to paper and

delved ‘Into the Linguistic Loophole’.

This year, we were fortunate to have a guest sitting

around the table with us every week – Toby Campion,

real-life poet, in-house motivator – who managed

both to become part of the group and to guide the

new writers in developing their work.

It is the group members themselves, however, who

created the atmosphere of these sessions. And it was

indicative of their spirit of togetherness that there

was never any detectable line between the year 10

and year 12 cohorts around the table. Rather, there

was a particular kind of rhythm to each afternoon.

A discursive, reflective mode took place during the

first half of a session. Then following the entry of the

year 12 students once their after-school commitments

had ended bringing a new wave of energy into the

room – shared laughter, a little injection of craziness

that turned into more ideas, writing and performance.

Finally students headed for home, every week a

slightly bolder version of themselves. Whilst this

year due to the lockdown the group did not have their

launch party to celebrate the birth of their beautiful

anthology, it is celebrated by everyone who reads

it and copies are available for all to access in the

library.

As you read the pieces our talented cohort toiled over, I am sure it will become clear just how important

storytelling is to our students. Fostered by a Head Teacher who believes passionately in the educational and

social benefits of the arts, a staff team who constantly encourage students to think for themselves, and a

diverse and nurturing wider community, students at Cranford Community College are imaginative, creative

and empowered with their very own authentic voices. This collection of writing testifies to that and I am

incredibly proud of all involved. I hope that this is just the beginning of their literary careers and regardless of

what the future holds for this particular group, Ross and Toby have given each and every one of them the gift

of confidence, and in doing so have held a microphone for those voices and stories to be heard.

In what has been one of the stranger years that Cranford Community College has experienced, we have been

extremely grateful to First Story, Ross Raisin and Toby Campion for this beautiful, concrete example of the

amazing work our pupils do.

The 2020 anthology took a term of dedicated work from a group of students and delicate guidance from two

inspiring artists. It is a cross-section of a school and a community, and a testament to the work of all the staff,

parents and pupils who contribute to the ethos of a truly outstanding school. I hope you enjoy the work of our

2020 First Story cohort as much as we all thoroughly enjoyed crafting it. May the writing of our incredible

pupils entertain, inspire and stay with you as you delve Into the Linguistic Loophole.

Aisling McConville (First Story Lead Teacher)

If you are in year 10 and want to take part in the upcoming First Story Cohort,

contact Ms McConville for more information.

66

Into the Linguistic Loophole is an anthology of new writing

by the First Story students at Cranford Community College

who took part in creative-writing workshops led by Writer-in-

Residence Ross Raisin. First Story believes there is dignity and

power in every person’s story, and here you’ll find young

people expressing themselves in their own unique voices.

Featuring writing by:

Adelaide Samgi•Aliza Abbas•Angel Aibuki

Anjali Bhambra•Arwa Umar•Kimran Virk•Mahira Butt

Manav Vivek•Maryam Moeen•Nadra Hassan

Raisa Hassan•Syed Jaffery•Tara Rooprah•Zena Rehmamn

‘First Story is an inspiring initiative.

It’s a joyful project that deserves as

much support as we can give it.’

ZADIE SMITH

Author of White Teeth

and Swing Time

Into the Linguistic Loophole

The First Story Group at Cranford Community College

“Taking part in the First Story programme

this year has not only acted as a creative

outlet for me INTO to express THE myself, but it has

also proven to be incredibly valuable

LINGUISTIC LOOPHOLE

giving us the opportunity to work with

Ross Raisin- a fantastic author. Each week

would consist of short activities to give

An Anthology by the First Story Group at

us inspiration for writing our own pieces

later on in CRANFORD

the session which we would

then share with the rest of the group. What

I liked COMMUNITY most about the workshop COLLEGE is that no

one’s story was the same, despite everyone

being given a common brief. The content,

Edited by

style and delivery were personal to the

writer and ROSS this is what RAISIN makes First Story

so great”.

Anjali Bhambra (year 12)

Cover design by First Story

www.firststory.org.uk £10.00

The Fall

On the Battlefield

I feel entrapped by the chaotic crowds of monstrosity.

Their interrogative, manipulative energy surrounds me,

glaring at any potential insecurity of mine

to aggressively highlight it in a headline

for The Sun or The Daily Mail.

I am a prisoner to the graphic and visceral corruption of:

‘How many pounds of fat have you gained since

the last red-carpet event?’

‘Which lucky man is taking your fancy this time?’

I am not an aura, but an object used solely

for the purpose of journalists’ perpetual greed,

gambling with my mental instability and

toying with how much I can take before

The Fall: a place where I can escape

the copper shackles of blinding expectations.

Where I can regard the everlasting fans

creating a perfect construction of

their bodily aspirations in me.

I can taste the luminescence of freedom.

Syed Jaffery (year 12)

On the battlefield lies the blood

of millions of soldiers.

Remembrance Day is supposed

to bring some closure,

but how can I get closure

when my heart is still broken –

from the death of my friends

and fellow soldiers in the war.

How am I supposed to cope

when my heart is still sore?

We wear poppies to show respect,

but that doesn’t fix

what has been wrecked.

People have lost their lives over

conflicts that could have been solved,

so I send my prayers to all the

soldiers involved.

Their hard work shall not be ignored.

Raisa Hassan (year 10)

67

Spilled Inks

Darling,

you have magic in your bones and gold in your soul.

Don’t let anyone treat you like you’re ordinary.

No matter what you do, no matter how high you climb –

people will be forever judging.

So, it’s time to let those fears go

and do what your heart pleases,

because you’d only be criticised if you didn’t anyway.

Love, laugh and live… your life is what you make it.

Zena Rehman (year 12)

Come Back

Her parents not in sight, Mary trudged through the desolate alleyway

in search of any form of human life that might save her. However, the

longer she walked the more it seemed like the suffering would never

end, as the street grew longer with every step she took. In desperation,

she ran. She ran until she could not run anymore. She felt as though

she was about to throw up, as all around her became too eerie for

comfort. Her quivering legs gave way and she dropped to the floor

sobbing. She wanted to get out somehow, in any way possible, so that

she could survive the mess she had put herself in. Reflecting on the

hours before, she wondered how she could possibly get herself out of

this nightmare she was trapped in. Looking into the distance, she saw

a light. It was dim at first, but growing closer until suddenly it became

much brighter, speeding up. Mary got up quickly to see a figure in the

light. Before she could scream, her eyes clouded over, and darkness

surrounded her once again.

Angel Aibuki (year 10)

The Gift

Love: a gift from God.

Five years ago, I admired you;

your eyes were a window to your soul.

Innocently, we’d watch the stars and plan our future,

dreaming about our naïve journey

as our love swiftly lingered through nature.

Little did we know our boundless adventure

consisted of hopeless dreams.

We wandered through the alleys of lust

as my heart melted in your arms at 2 a.m.,

just as you grabbed the knife of my last lover

and cut me in the same place as the last wound.

Goodbye my feelings;

love: the gift from God.

Adelaide Samgi (year 12)

68

Young Writers Festival 2019

at Cambridge University

In

early December 2019 a group of year 10, 11 and 12 students travelled to

Cambridge University in order to take part in the second annual Young Writers

Festival. Open to all schools who partner with the First Story programme, the annual

festival welcomes up to 450 students and teachers for an inspiring day-long event

including keynote speakers, book signings, workshops and readings.

John Berkavitch, the internationally acclaimed storyteller and poet, compered the day,

welcoming the young writers from across the UK to the event. He explained its unique

nature stating that ”it is a festival focussed on the “writing of its audience rather than

the writers on the stage”. Dr Phil Knox from the University of Cambridge urged all

the young writers to consider Cambridge as their study destination in the future.

Guest speakers at the event included Jessica Willmott and Blessed Olowolagba, both

former Cambridge students, who completed First Story programmes in 2018–19. Also

present was Lewis Buxton another former First Story writer, now an established poet,

who led the mass writing exercise about names titled ‘What does your name sound

like, what does it taste like?’ Ioney Smallhorne ended the introductory session by

reading her poetry and talking to the audience about how dyslexia would not stop

her from writing.

We then broke out into groups to attend writing workshops led by a selection

of First Story’s acclaimed poets, novelists and playwrights, including Melvin

Burgess, Stephanie Cross, Nik Perring, Bridget Minamore, Sonya Hundal, Khadijah

Ibrahiim, Rachel Seiffert and Paula Rawsthorne. The teachers also took part in

training and development sessions led by Anthony Cartwright.

Juno Dawson headlined the 2019 Festival. She read from her latest novel ‘Meat

Market’ and spoke of her journey as a writer. She shared that writing something only

she could have written and finding her own true voice led to her big break. She spoke

about how the ‘First Story’ programme had a major influence on both her writing

and who she is today.

All the writing produced during the festival culminated in the students showcasing

their talents where we finally got to hear some of the brilliant writers’ voices in the

crowd.

Aisling McConville (First Story Lead Teacher)

“The Cambridge trip was inspirational and allowed me to

gain a further insight into authors’ perspectives and how

their life events influenced their writing style. By visiting

a prestigious university like Cambridge, I was also able to

interact with students from across England and share my

creative writing skills with them”.

Syed Jaffery (year 12)

69

Celebrating Book Week

2020

In

the week beginning 2nd March 2020

Cranford celebrated Book Week in the

Learning Resources Centre with a book shop,

competitions and two different workshops.

The bookshop was very popular, with students

being able to purchase books, journals and various

items of stationery.

On Monday, we launched two competitions which

ran for the whole week, allowing all students to

have time to enter and join in.

‘Who’s Reading?’ involved students guessing the

identities of 16 staff who had been photographed

with their face covered by the book they were

reading. This meant students had to guess from

clues such as the classrooms in the background,

the types of book they were reading and their

70

clothes. None of the entrants got all 16 correct

but many came close!

‘Hunt the Bookmark’ consisted of a series of

clues directing students all over the library to find

bookmarks with an individual letter on each. The

questions related to each section of the library

which led students to explore book sections of the

library they had not seen before, such as European

Languages, United Kingdom History, Cooking

and Nature & Animals. Once the students had

collected all the letters from the bookmarks,

they rearranged the letters to make the name of a

popular and well-loved fictional book character.

The prize giving was well attended and students

enjoyed both receiving and watching their peers

receive a wide variety of prizes.

On Wednesday, year 13 student Maisie Mullens

supported by her peers facilitated a ‘Modern

Day Shakespeare’ workshop. Students watched

video clips of modern alternative Shakespeare

soliloquies and then recreated their own,

individually, in pairs or in groups. All the students

demonstrated real support for each other and did a

great job performing in front of the group.

Back by very popular demand, Zahra Sadiq from

year 13, held a ‘Manga’ workshop which drew

great crowds and was thoroughly enjoyed by staff

and students alike. Everybody had a chance to

learn how to create their own Manga characters

and this was a fabulous end to our Book Week.

Sarah Haskins

(Supervised Study Centres Manager)

71

Year 10

Cisco Work Placements

November 2019

Visit to Cisco

72

In November 2019, a handful of student including

myself were invited to complete five days of

work experience at a company named Cisco, a

world leader in IT, networking and cybersecurity,

which is located in Bedfont Lakes. Upon our

arrival, we were greeted by Colin Seward CEO

of Cisco for Europe, Russia, Middle East and

Africa. He gave us an introduction to the week

we would be spending at Bedfont Lakes and what

it would entail, along with some history about

Cisco and what the company does. There were

two streams of work to choose from: business or

technical. In the technical stream, we completed

a range of activities such as ethical hacking,

cybersecurity, human networking and number

fundamentals to name a few. These were highly

engaging activities as we were given numerous

opportunities to experiment with new technology

and to build up our skills with the technology we

were familiar with.

Throughout our week at Cisco, we also took part

in activities that would help us strengthen our

skills in other aspects of working life, such as

the process of getting a job. We were given tips

on writing CVs and taught about employability

skills, both of which were useful for our

future. After this, we also participated in speed

interviewing led by members of the Cisco team

who asked us a variety of questions to expand

our knowledge and interview skills, another task

which was extremely beneficial. There was a

session at the end of every day where we would

sit in our groups and set the challenge of creating

a product that used technology. On the last day

of the week, we presented our pitches to a panel

of judges, similar to Dragon’s Den. To conclude,

our week at Cisco was truly eye opening and

helped us to take our first steps into the world of

work in a very useful and exciting manner.

Ria Dhaliwal (year 10)

In November 2019, I got chosen to do work experience

at Cisco in Bedfont Lakes. It was an absolutely

amazing experience and taught me many important

skills, like creating a CV, how to present yourself at

an interview, how to create successful products, and

so much more. Also, we were able to learn about

the many different jobs that are a part of a business,

like sales and accountancy, and what makes them so

valuable and crucial for a company as big as Cisco.

In addition, not only was I taught important skills

needed for a job, I was made aware of many hidden

talents and abilities I did not know I possessed, like

presenting, debating, and even being a leader. One

thing that surprised me was that the work experience

taught me how to manage my time. This is because I

would arrive home at 18:00pm every day, and I would

immediately have to not only get my clothes ready

for the next day, I would sometimes have to get my

cadet uniform ready, and even catch up with school

and homework I had from the same day. I realised how

important having a schedule and a routine is as an adult.

My favourite part of doing work experience at cisco,

was the business game. In this game we were put into

groups with people we didn’t know. We then had to

assign our team members different roles that are needed

in a business, and all the teams were competing to

see which team could make the most profit by making

handmade products using paper and other resources

we had to buy from the bank, and selling them to a

saleswoman. I loved this part of the work experience,

as I made many new friends, and I realised my full

potential as a leader. My team didn’t end up winning,

but we still had a lot of fun, and even came second

place in the debating part of the game, in which the

groups had to argue why their group was the best.

Overall, I loved my work experience at Cisco, as all

the employees, interns and other staff were extremely

kind and welcoming to all the students. Not only did

I learn many valuable and important business skills, I

also made many new friends along the way.

Samuel Dickson (year 10)

SCIENCE #

The

University

of Cambridge

comes to Cranford

Microscope image of Ebola virus

Cranford Community College has

strong links with many top universities

in the UK. One of these is the world

leading University of Cambridge. On the

30th October 2019, Dr Liz Hook, Fellow and

University Lecturer in Cellular and Molecular

Pathology, delivered a highly enjoyable and

engaging interactive session to 45 enthused

year 10, 11 and 12 pupils on “Ebola –

Public Health and Tropical Medicine.”

The lecture was particularly interesting as

students gained a greater understanding of

the challenges of working effectively in a

resource-poor setting. Dr Hook explored the

diagnosis, treatment and containment of

Ebola as well as some of the difficulties

encountered in providing medical

care in remote parts of North Africa.

Dr Hook also gave helpful and practical

advice to the pupils on applying to

Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

The students selected for this event had

demonstrated an aptitude in Science and an

interest in entering the medical profession.

The students were excellent ambassadors

for the school and were fascinated by the

content of the lecture asking many insightful

questions at the end. They enjoyed the event

tremendously and represented Cranford

Community College at its best. Dr Hook

commented on how impressed she was with

the enthusiasm and contributions of our

students, who have benefited hugely from

this memorable lecture, with a renewed

passion for medicine.

This lecture had excellent curriculum links

to infection, response and immunity topics

in GCSE Science and A Level Biology and

students also benefited from an enhanced

knowledge and understanding of these topics.

Chetan Shingadia

(Joint Head of Science Department)

73

#

PERFORMING

ART / MUSIC

CRANFEST held on Thursday 12th December 2019 was a wonderful evening of music from a variety of genres

and a celebration of outstanding musicianship showcasing the development of the music curriculum at Cranford

over the past three years. The Music department has seen a significant growth in the number of students who

attend additional instrumental classes daily before and after school in addition to the daily lessons. This event

was an opportunity to share with staff, students and parents the amazing range of music on offer.

The department is keen for young people to take up an instrument, learn to play and perform, thus building

self-confidence, an understanding of what it means to be a musician and a love of making music. The music

staff encourage original composition writing and thanks to the two recording studios and vocal room, students

are able to experiment with modern technology as well as traditional instruments to bring to life their own

compositions.

The evening was ably compered by Manav Vivek, year 10. Many of the performances were original compositions

by the students as well as covers of published songs from the world of rock and pop, including some cultural

music influences. Notable performances included; ‘You Say’ performed by Luliya Jemal, ‘Bhangra’ original jam

written by Year 11 music students Aman Vilkou on Dhol, Corben Smith on Bass, Alexander Hickey and Zaiya

Berim on Keyboard and Adil Asskoumi’s stunning performance of ‘My Shot’ from the musical ‘Hamilton’. A

surprise staff band playing their version of ‘Closer’ added to the atmosphere and the concert finished with a

rousing rendition of ‘Uptown Funk’ where audience and performers joined in the fun.

We were also delighted with the £478 raised through ticket sales which we

donated to the End Youth Homeless charity.

We are incredibly proud of what the students have achieved and delighted

to be able to share their talent with everyone. Our hope is to widen the

participation even further and make this an annual event.

Luke Joyce and Rory O’Hare (Music Department)

74

PERFORMING ART / MUSIC

“The concert was the most extraordinary

show I have ever seen. Stunning, moving,

talented beyond words, and at such a high

standard. The students brought the house

down. Too many stars to mention but Adi

Asskoumi doing ‘My shot’ from Hamilton was

astounding, Luliya singing ‘You say’ and Wole

performing ‘Take me back to London’ will stay

with me for a long time. The band finishing

with ‘Uptown Funk’ were incredible. Most of

them would give the West End performers a

run for their money!”


#

“Very many congratulations to you,

your team and our amazingly talented

students for an absolutely superb concert.

It is so wonderful to see how you have inspired

and nurtured so many students to embrace

their musicality and bring so much joy to us all.

It is also so lovely to see students of all ages

working together and supporting each other.

The atmosphere was fantastic, truly uplifting

and we are so lucky to have you both working

at Cranford as you have transformed Music.

You can take pride in making such a difference

to so many students and staff’s lives. The hard

work and dedication are so worth it.

Maria Bramhall (Deputy Head of School)

“I just wanted to say how amazing Cranfest

was. The students’ performances were

excellent, the quality and calibre of music was

outstanding. It was lovely to see the student’s

talents tapped into so well with a great variety

of genres. Students performed very confidently,

many of the acts were awe inspiring and there

was such a nice atmosphere in the audience.

The staging was really professional and

the supporting visuals intertwined with the

performances perfectly. The music teachers

and bands have outdone themselves; it was

the best set of performances to date. Well done

all”.

Pam Hunt (Digital, Video & Media

Department)

“It was an amazing event showing just how far

the music department has come from my time

as a student a Cranford, and how talented and

gifted so many of the students are. Had I had

Mr Joyce and Mr O’ Hare as my teachers who

knows how far my music would have gone?”

Jake Fernandez (TA and Former Student)

‘The music concert was absolutely amazing.

The atmosphere was great and the students

were stunning. The music staff are incredible

to get so many students involved and to love

performing and at such a high level!

Bernadette Moir (Executive Assistant)

75

# ENGLISH

at ‘The Globe’

SHAKESPEARE’S

GLOBE

Shakespeare is an important part of our

literary and cultural heritage but studying

the plays in the classroom is no replacement

for seeing the words brought to life on the stage.

So, after studying the text of Macbeth and writing

numerous essays on the language and structure of

the play, the English Department were delighted to

be able to take the whole of year 11 to see the play

being performed at The Globe Theatre. The Globe

is a reconstruction of the original Elizabethan

playhouse for which Shakespeare wrote his plays

and is a cultural and historic landmark on the bank

of the Thames. The production was a collaboration

between the Playing Shakespeare Company and

Deutsche Bank and the performances are created

especially for young people with the aim of

inspiring them with live theatre and simultaneously

deepening their understanding of the play. It was a

truly interactive experience that incorporated jump

scares, knock-knock jokes, canons of confetti,

singing, dancing and audience participation with

both props and actors; students got a thrilling

taste of theatre as Elizabethan audiences must

have once experienced it. In just 90 minutes,

the play was transformed from words on a page

read in a classroom to a thrilling and emotional

experience as we watched the rise and fall of one

of Shakespeare’s most tragic of heroes. A great day

for students and teachers alike, it was a wonderful

celebration of all of the year 11 students’ hard

work and dedication to English and a day that will

live in our memories for a long time.

Fran Green (Head of English Department)

Magnificent Macbeth

On

March 6th 2020, we journeyed from

Cranford to London’s South Bank to

witness the tragedy of Macbeth being performed

in Shakespeare’s Globe in Southwark on

London’s southern bank. We witnessed a play

that was written four centuries ago yet the tale of

ambition, revenge and murder did not seem out

of place in modern day Britain and by the end

we could see why this theatre was still one of the

most popular attractions in London in 2020.

The Globe is a famous performing arts venue

which is located on the bank of the River Thames

in London where many of Shakespeare’s plays are

performed. It is meant to be a reconstruction of the

original Globe Theatre which was built in 1599

but sadly destroyed by fire in 1613. The Globe

has a circular structure- which is three stories

high- that was enclosing a central arena open to

the bright March sapphire skies of London. The

remarkable Elizabethan playhouse contains the

audience either sitting or standing on three sides

of the stage. As soon as you enter the historic

building, you immediately feel a sensational

energy and buzz as you wait with the rest of the

audience for the characters to take to the stage

and play their part. Everyone in the crowd was

very upbeat and the intense atmosphere made

the arena feel like a football derby. When the

characters were going to step out, you just knew

you were going to have the thrill of your life.

76

ENGLISH #

Macbeth was first performed in 1606 and many

centuries later, it still conveys a significant message

through Macbeth’s fatal flaw which is his driving

ambition. The immense feast of acting has been

brought to many generations and certainly enhances

this fictional though realistic play.

From my perspective, I believe every actor played

like a jigsaw piece as every single one of them helped

to create a sublime masterpiece. The actor who played

Macbeth moved so elegantly, like the movement

of oil, prowling around the stage, performing the

confidence of Macbeth’s opening soliloquies and then

turns to despair as he realises how the witches have

equivocated with the truth and led him down a dark

path to destruction. He did such a commendable job of

presenting himself as the tyrant Macbeth and equally

made sure he portrayed an empathetic tragic hero.

Despite his magnificent performance, I enjoyed Aiden

Cheng’s (who played Malcom) performance the most

because he conveyed the vulnerability of the character

yet with a comedic quality as if he were some sort

of clown. Aiden made sure he connected mirthfully

with the audience and had an alluring personality to

grab our attentions. Despite Aiden looking feeble,

his emotions were very vigorous and he portrayed

himself to be a robust warrior. Molly Logan – who

played the porter- was a triumph as she discarded all

vanity to portray an abominable appearance, clearly

shown through her repellent vomiting towards the

audience! I definitely enjoyed witnessing Molly’s

acting because she may have made us experience a

wave of nausea but she has to be fully credited for

making us all smile and giggle a little excessively.

I do wonder how extreme the atmosphere must have

been four centuries ago if the atmosphere nowadays

is so strong. Every time those trumpets were being

played it gave us a jolt as we realised that a major

situation was forthcoming. We felt a thrill of

excitement when the actors were literally walking

through the standing part of the arena making us

feel we had a close bond with them and that we were

part of the action. The design of the costumes was

appealing as it clearly resembled an era of civil war

with some actors having blood smeared ferociously

on their costumes. The design of the stage made sure

that the audience were focusing on every little detail

because it was so alluring as well as being unique. I

honestly have never seen anything like this!

Overall, it was a brilliant team performance and made

all of us feel exultant yet sympathetic as well. This

show was worth every single penny: We could feel

the intense feelings from the play that Shakespeare

himself had created and I think the bard himself

would have been impressed with the energy and fun

that this company brought to his 17th Century play.

Everyone should go and visit the Globe Theatre -

the very moment you step in and out of the distinct

arena, you feel the overwhelming emotions as the

history of the venue mingles with the passion and

joy of the thousands of performances that have been

performed under the London skies. I will never forget

the experience.

Janujan Jeyaseelan (year 11)

77

# ENGLISH

Is this a dagger, which I see before me?

prophecy about him becoming King of

Scotland one day. Consumed by his ambition

and spurred to action by his wife leads him

to brutally and cold-bloodedly murder King

Duncan. This allows him to take the throne

but also kill more people out of paranoia and

to maintain his status. In the end, Macbeth

is wracked with guilt and paranoia and is

himself killed by Macduff. The real heir of

the throne, Malcolm (son of Duncan) can

now rule Scotland and make Scotland great

again.

78

Macbeth is one of the most famous Shakespeare

plays. This play is about vaulting ambition,

guilt and murder and shows how fear takes

different forms – anxiety, paranoia, terror and panic – and

what it can make people do. I have always wondered how

it would have felt to watch this play where it was first

performed. Well, I was lucky along with some Year 11s

from other London secondary schools to get free tickets

to the Shakespeare Globe Theatre to watch Macbeth.

After an hour’s drive to the theatre, we entered this large,

open circular, globe like building, just like its name.

The building was filled with all the fortunate students

chattering and admiring the Globe. I used the first few

minutes to look around and see what was so special

about this ‘Globe’ that so many people come here to

watch a play. It is the history of the Globe that makes

it so special, the fact that the original Globe was build

hundreds of years ago and we can still experience how a

contemporary audience of Shakespeare’s felt when they

first watched this electric play.

The Globe had a sitting area and a standing area. Back in

Shakespeare’s days, the standing area was for the poor

and the sitting area was for the rich people. However,

I personally think the standing area is much better than

the sitting area, as it allowed us to stand near the stage

and interact with the actors. I was glad that I was one

of the many students who got to stand right next to the

stage and interact with the performers. In the middle

of the stage there was a pile of dead bodies, which was

alarming, but helped to set the mood for murder and

terror. As time went by and the closer we got to the start

of the play I was able to literally feel the anticipation and

excitement growing inside of me and the other students.

The play was about a brave soldier, Macbeth, and how

his ambition led to his downfall and his death. Macbeth’s

first downfall occurs when he believes the witches’

I personally liked the fact that Lady Macbeth

was presented as pregnant when in the play she

was not. This give emphasis to her dialogues

and more reasons for Macbeth to kill Duncan

and take the throne. One of the dialogues

that was emphasised by her appearance was

when she was trying to manipulate Macbeth:

‘I know how tender ’tis to love the babe that

milks me....’This shows that she loves her

husband so much that she would rather kill

her baby than break a promise to her husband.

I also liked the way Malcolm was presented

as childlike as it showed that the real heir

of the throne is not ready to rule and be a

king due to his immaturity. Also he flees the

country and leaves Macbeth to rule because

he is afraid that the murderer will kill him

too. This shows he is not only childlike but

a coward as Kings are supposed to brave. He

comes across as unfit to be King.

Lastly I liked the play overall and some of the

stage changes worked well and made the play

even more interesting, giving a whole new

meaning to it we would not have thought of.

Most of all I really loved the way actors were

engaging with the audience and made us seem

part of the play. For example, when King

Duncan entered the stage, he came through

the crowd of teenagers and shook hands with

them (I was one of them!). This was a very

good technique as it showed us how a good

King interacts with his people and made it

easier for us to compare him with Macbeth,

who was a bad King. The play ended with all

the actors on the stage dancing and singing. I

was grateful for this amazing opportunity to

experience a play in the place where it was

originally performed. I will never forget it.

Jasmin Kaur (year 11)

ENGLISH #

An eye-opening

brilliant experience

The

wonderful English Department organised

a trip to the Globe Theatre for the whole

of year 11 so we could all watch a live production of

Macbeth and consolidate our understanding of this

GCSE text of betrayal, ambition and the power of

supernatural forces. Whilst the Globe Theatre went

up in flames on June 29, 1613, the new reconstruction

known as Shakespeare’s Globe opened in 1997 and

is a replica of the real Globe, about 750 feet from the

original location.

When I first entered Shakespeare’s Globe I was in awe

of my surroundings and a little tremor of excitement

ran up my back. The capacious circular open-air

venue in itself is a unique playing space. Having a

circular shape not only helps in projecting the voice

of the actor but also gives the audience a beautiful

opportunity of having a 360° view. I was among the

audience who stood around the stage; undeniably

the best spot in the house are the standing tickets.

Astounding actors often moved through the yard to

get to the stage, so I could see and meet the actors.

This feature of interactive acting appealed to me the

most as it really puts you into the heart of the story,

rather than just letting you watch it, which is what

most productions do.

Moreover, the director’s interpretation of the play

was unique; her portrayal of many characters was

very different to what most productions and movies

portray. In particular, I was really fond of the way

Lady Macbeth was presented because it matched my

interpretation of her. I have never seen a production

which had interpreted Lady Macbeth to be loving,

supportive and vulnerable. This approach of Director

Cressida Brown allowed the audience to interpret the

play in a contrasting way.

Additionally, having watched the live production

of the play I realise what importance costumes play

in conveying the story. Witches wore ragged and

unkempt clothing, something which humans would

not wear reinforcing that they are outside of the Great

Chain of Being. Furthermore, Malcolm wore shorts

throughout the play hinting that he is immature and

certainly not a fit candidate to be a King. Flags were

incorporated into the costumes to show the allegiance

and status of the characters.

At the end of the performance, the actors did not bow;

they jigged as lively as a festive caravan on Christmas

Eve. Even when everyone had died (Macbeth, Banquo,

etc.), they all leapt back to life and began dancing.

They changed from tragic heroes to actors, and a

spontaneous burst of applause filled the theatre as

the audience clapped in time to their dancing. It was

a real refresher after a harrowing production, and a

lot of fun. Nobody does this like the Globe.

This was an eye-opening brilliant experience as I

learnt a new way of interpreting Macbeth. The Globe

is very different from other theatres, as they make

the audience a large part of their production and the

actors play off this immensely well. Undoubtedly, it

was one of my most memorable experiences and I

would love to visit it again.

Manpreet Bahtra (year 11)

79

#

PERFORMING

ARTS - DRAMA

The Merchant

of Venice

For

this year’s Shakespeare School Festival,

we chose to perform The Merchant

of Venice. While the play is technically one of

Shakespeare’s comedies, the story revolves around

some serious themes. Racism, bullying, gender

equality, familial disputes, and the nature of revenge,

justice, and mercy all feature strongly from the start.

Having held auditions at the end of the summer term

and assembled a great cast, we hit the ground running

in September and began to build the world in which

we would set our story. The cast worked hard to

create the feeling of bustling streets, busy markets,

and raucous carnival party processions for Venice. In

contrast, Belmont, the play’s second location, was to

be an oasis of stately calm, a private estate for the

wealthy nobles and their staff of servants. With a rule

of ‘little to no set,’ It was up to our actors to show the

difference between these two worlds in their speech

and physicality – no easy feat, but one which they

rose to brilliantly.

Half way through the rehearsal process we visited

our performance venue, The Beck Theatre, with the

staff of the Shakespeare Schools Festival. Our cast

gained a lot from working with the workshop leaders,

especially techniques for working on the much larger

stage at the theatre.

“It was really worth being part of “The

Merchant of Venice”. The production

taught me many theatrical skills from

‘Kiss and Kill’ to ‘stage performing’.

I had an amazing experience performing in

a real theatre in front of a large audience

and at school. I hope to be part of more

school plays in the future”.

Fatima D Fonseca

(year 9)

Back at school, our focus shifted to the major

challenge of the play; the climactic courtroom scene.

Occupying over a third of the text of our version of

the play, it’s the major scene where everything comes

to a head as the character of Shylock demands his

pound of flesh from the merchant Antonio. The cast

all pulled together to build a real sense of suspense

and danger before Portia steps in to save the day.

All our hard work paid off with a fantastic

performance in front of a large audience on Tuesday

12th November 2019. The students did the school,

and themselves, proud in a retelling of the story

which was full of life and the energy, a much needed

foil to the play’s darker moments. Our play was well

received by the audience and the festival director was

full of praise for our cast. Congratulations everyone.

80

Tom Daplyn

(SSF Director - Performing Arts Department)

Merchant of Venice

by Cranford Community College

at The Beck Theatre, 12/11/2019

appraised by Anna Brook Peck

I would like to extend my most sincere congratulations to Cranford Community

College for your tremendous production of Merchant of Venice as part of the 2019

Shakespeare Schools Festival. It was an excellent night of theatre, and I’d like to

highlight a few aspects that really stood out.

It was a great choice to set this play during a carnival and the cast had an infectious

sense of fun and vibrant carnival energy.

The ensemble worked well as a team - we saw lots of interaction and spontaneity,

brininging so much life to the production.

You conveyed key aspects of the story well, like when Shylock sets a high price to

lend money - a pound of flesh!

You created status for certain characters on stage, really emphasising their

importance. For example when the ensemble circled the Duke and she demandingly

clapped her hand for their attention.

Well done for bringing lots of energy to your play and working brilliantly as an

ensmble.

Performing Shakespeare’s words on a professional stage takes bravery, resilience,

and creativity. You should be immensely proud of what you and your teachers have

achieved in this Season of Infinite Variety.

I hope to see Cranford Community College in the 2020 Festival!

Anna Brook Peck

“I was privileged to be able to watch

a very inclusive performance of The

Merchant of Venice by our Year 8 and 9

students. It was such a pleasure to see

so many students that I teach on stage:

they were confident, entertaining and

engaging. Shakespearian language

can be quite hard to understand, yet

they learnt their lines impeccably and

clearly got into the characters that

they were portraying, giving a very

believable performance, captivating

the audience and owning the stage.

Well done to everyone involved, from

the acting to directing to costumes and

lighting”.

Maria Bramhall

(Deputy Head of School)

“Vibrant take on the play – with the

hard work put into rehearsals evident

from the bursting enthusiasm. And

cartwheels”.

Fola Adesanmi (Lettings)

“The Merchant of Venice was

an amazing learning experience

because I got to learn the

Shakespearean language in-depth

and truly understood the meanings

of things. This opportunity was

something special and I learned

a lot about theatre, Shakespeare

and character building and how

to capture the emotions of the

character”.

Nizelle Soares

(year 9)

“I was so impressed with all the

performers who memorised and

internalised very old language and

brought Shakespeare’s language

and vision to life. I was particularly

impressed with Naeira for being

able to step in at the last minute and

still manage to make her lines flow

naturally. The staging and lighting

were fantastic and professional

and I thought Hunaidat, Ella and

Farzan really made their roles their

own. Looking forward to the next

production”.

Matt Nation-Tellery

(Head of year 9)

81

#

THE


SATURDAY ART CLUB

Tate Exchange Master Class

On

Saturday 1st February 2020, Cranford

Community College took club members

from the National Saturday Art and Design Club

and Writing and Talking Club to the Tate Exchange

which took place on Level 5 of the Blavatnik Building

Tate Modern, Bankside.

The activity included an introduction to Scale Rule: a

team of structural engineers, architects and designers

who produce innovative building design. Students

engaged in discussions on the industry professional

career pathways and followed their strengths to

work with the different specialisms of the team.

Understanding the different roles within the team was

very insightful.

Club members were guided to a Tate exhibit which

they used as an inspiration for their collaborative

work. They worked with the Scale Rule team and club

members from other institutions to create designs and

plans for a construction. Their creative interactions

with each other and with the architects served to

produce some amazing innovative structure designs.

The teams then started to construct their piece taking

inspiration from the artwork and using the resources

given to them. It was amazing to see how the structures

began to take over the Tate Exchange space with their

towering designs. The Masterclasses had definitely

given club members the skills to work collaboratively

and share ideas effectively.

The day concluded with presentations by the students

and discussions of their designs. As a result, students

who were very shy and quiet are now able to express

their ideas to an audience. They are more confident

about participating in group tasks and presenting their

collaborative work. It was a really inspirational day

for all who attended.

82

Pam Hunt (Saturday Art Club Lead)

“The masterclass was inspiring and it gave me ideas about what I wanted to

do in the future. The process of team work and the architecture based activity

were quite fascinating. It was interesting to look at the artists and how they put

together their ideas. It was good to see that even video filming could be seen as artwork.

I enjoyed having the opportunity to design a structure and work with other people outside

my own group. We now have a better understanding of all aspects of architecture and see

how enjoyable a career it is”.

Aiyla Rana

“I personally really liked the experience because it allowed me to create something

as part of a group which had been inspired by an artist. I liked the way we got to see

different artists’ work in the Tate and then we were able to create our own version using

string and bamboo which I think went really well. I enjoyed working with other people

with shared interests of art and creativity. I think the Architects, Engineers and tutors

that worked with us were very supportive and helped us create what we wanted while

also giving us ideas. I liked how we got to make mini sculptures and sketches before we

completed the main activity. I think the presentation at the start was very interesting as it

introduced everyone to the task. Overall it was a really good opportunity and experience

and I thoroughly enjoyed it”.

Chloe Rowell

83

#

VISUAL ARTS

Year 12 & 13

Gallery Visits

In

December 2019 A Level Art

students visited the National

Portrait Gallery, the Natural History

Museum and the National Gallery. They

viewed a range of exhibitions as part of

their research and produced a portfolio of

their own work using various media.

Trips of this kind are vital to help

students develop their understanding and

appreciation of Art, not only Art from the

Old Masters but from modern artists who

are pushing the boundaries and inspiring

students to do the same. Here are a few

students’ comments about this valuable

experience.

Pam Hunt (Digital, Video and

Media Department)

Our first year 12 Art trip took us to the National Gallery where we

gathered many valuable pictures and resources. We saw various

pieces of artwork which had been constructed using different media

and techniques. We encountered new artists and learnt about their

work techniques as well as the inspiration behind many of their

artworks. This experience was an eye opener as we deepened and

widened our ideas for our own pieces of work. This trip was a lot of

fun and a great experience.

The second visit was to the Royal Academy of Art. We were privileged

to see the Lucian Freud exhibition and followed his career journey as

an artist. We looked at his life and saw his work develop throughout

the years. We got to discover his techniques and the media he used

within his artwork which inspired us to create our own pieces of work

in his style. He created many unique pieces of work capturing not

only the human body but also aspects of nature. This helped us create

new ideas for our own work relating to our chosen themes. This was

a very useful, fun and worthwhile experience.

Sara Majothi (year 12)

Year 12 students went on a captivating trip to the National Art Gallery.

This museum is based in Trafalgar Square and houses a collection of

over 2,300 paintings. We saw many famous portraits, for example:

The Portrait of Madame Moitessier. Along with each painting there

was a blurb about the image. The background information about the

masterpieces was fascinating as it deepened our knowledge of the

work.

Harkiran Kaur (year 12)

84

I liked the range of artists and styles that we saw at the National

Gallery. They gave me inspiration for my artwork. The Lucien

Freud exhibition at the Royal Academy was really interesting and

has inspired my current project. I liked that Freud’s work was raw

and bonding as he gave so much of himself through his work. The

experience really helped me to connect to the paintings and the artist.

Daniel Collado (year 12)

Visiting the National Portrait Gallery was a great

experience because it was really useful looking at the wide

range of paintings. It was interesting to see the changes in

artwork over time through different centuries until now.

It was really good to be entwined in History and to gain

a better understanding of the place and importance of

Art within time. We could identify the cultural variations

within portraits and see the contemporary portraits which

included work from ‘Stormzy’.

Alisha Sidhu (year 13)

I found the trip to the National Portrait Gallery interesting

because I saw the contrast between ancient and modern

Art. It was good to see current work like the ‘‘Stormzy’

piece as it is relevant to our generation.

Simran Sidhu (year 13)

The trip to the National Portrait Gallery was very useful

and enjoyable because I like looking back at the history

of ordinary people. It was really exciting to view the

detail in each painting and it was inspiring too. It really

helped me with my work on emotions and looking at facial

expressions.

Azhar Rahim (year 13)

I found the visit to the Natural History

Museum very interesting as I saw a

range of fossils and bones which

helped me gain greater understanding

and resources for my coursework. I was

mainly focusing on structures through

time. The building was Victorian in

style so I really liked observing close

up the architecture and the shapes of

the rooms.

Samir Lund (year 13)

85

#

THE


SATURDAY ART CLUB

National Saturday Art Club

Exhibition at City Hall and

Visit to Tate Modern

Cranford Community College continues to host the

National Saturday Art club, an exciting and excellent

opportunity for students across different schools

in the local community to receive free tuition in both the

Saturday Art and Design Club and the Writing and Talking

Club.

As part of this prestigious programme students

take part in a National event where they have the

opportunity to meet other Club members from

other institutions across the country. They also gain

valuable insight into the club and the importance

of creativity. This year students visited City Hall

where they had their self-portraits exhibited.

Students had the opportunity to visit the Assembly

Hall and to listen to an insightful presentation by

Katie Greenyer about her journey into her creative

career. In addition Mayor Sadiq Khan spoke via

video link about the importance of the Arts to

society and the vital role of the National Saturday

Art Club. Students had the amazing opportunity

to view London’s Skyline on the observation Deck

at City Hall which was followed by a guided talk

on the History of London.

Students also took part in a cultural visit to the Tate Modern.

They were guided through various works of Art by the Q-Art

team. This great experience was followed by a valuable

introduction to talking about art and the meaning of art. Club

members were fully engaged with the work and enjoyed this

event enormously.

Pam Hunt (Saturday Art Club Tutor)

86

100 Word Creative Writing Competition 2019/2020

At

Cranford we have many talented, creative students who like to explore their skills by entering creative

writing competitions. This term many of our students entered a flash fiction competition run by Young

Writers. Students were challenged to condense all the intrigue and entertainment of a story into just 100 words

from the theme of “Missing”. Here are three of the great entries we received. We will undoubtedly be facilitating

more writing competitions next year – have a go and enter – you could end up in the school glossy too.

Katherine Pedersen (English Department)

As I was passing through the glorious lake, I looked into the twirling water, which

seemed as if she was dancing along with the waves. When I saw the twinkling stars

in the gloomy sky, I remembered the glow in her eyes and the shyness in her smile.

As the violent wind touched my face, it felt as if she was whispering to me with the

same stiffness and boldness in her voice. I wasn’t crying but water was pouring

down my eyes. The page to that memory suddenly opened “mum” I screamed. Until

I realised I was missing her.

Prableen Gurwara (year 10)

When a human is born, they have no responsibilities. How could they? Babies have

no duties they must attend – it’s beautiful. I grew up with people looking at me with

fear. They knew… they knew I could destroy their pathetic lives; due to this I lived

a secluded life. Now I’m missing. I lived in the lap of luxury, I had safety. When I

ran, I gave up so much… a fool I was, now all I have is a bounty on my head. I’m a

curse to my family name, for I’m the one that got away.

Gobind Virk (year 10)

The Day My Dreams Went Missing

The day I lost my life and everything I dreamed of, all my dreams went missing the only

one left was me. I was sweet and humble, innocent not guilty, why does it only happen to

me. It all started with my dreams, all of them went missing in one second. One ferocious

sweet night a dusk black rose was found in my journal, the place where my dreams

lived. All my pages were shattered into pieces except one, a picture of me. Why that

page? Like the spider in your bedroom or that tiny creak you will always have in a

dream.

Ashvika Jaitly (year 7)

87

#

IT

& COMPUTER SCIENCE

Headquarters trip

Pavneet Syan is a Cranford Alumnus who

works for Amazon. She contacted the

school to promote the Amazon national

competition for year 8 students which

involves designing an App for their school

or local community. The winning App

design will then be brought to life by the

experts at Amazon. The aim is to promote

more girls into computing and all groups

included at least 50% girls. Pavneet was

invited to speak to the year 8 students in

assembly where she talked about her career

at Amazon and introduced the competition.

Students were organised into groups and

started working on their App ideas, meeting

up every Thursday period 0. A selected

number of participants from each group were

invited to the boot camp at Amazon HQ in

London which took place on Thursday 17th

October 2019. They worked with Amazon

Web Services Ambassadors and Future

Foundations coaches to develop their ideas

and learn about all aspects of designing an

App.

On the day, the selected group of students

were very excited and ready to share their

ideas with the AWS Ambassadors. They

took part in different activities and learned

about the stages of designing Apps including

a presentation session to help them improve

their presentation techniques. All in all it

was a very enjoyable and productive day.

Working at the Amazon HQ made the

competition that much more real.

Sukhjeet Kudhail

(Head of IT and Computer Science)

When we went the European Amazon Headquarters on the

16th October 2019, I knew it would be a day to remember,

and I was right. We had an amazing day finding out how

to create Apps so that we are ready to go if we win. We

also had a class on how to lead a presentation in front of

an audience. What I liked about it was that it was a good

way to meet students from other schools and it helped us

to bond with other people in our year group. Thank you

for this amazing experience.

Isabel Ortega (year 8)

I really enjoyed the trip to the Amazon Headquarters and

it was a great experience. We got to meet people from

other schools, learn new things and had great support

with developing ideas. We learnt the story behind the

competition. My favourite part was the afternoon session

because it really helped to improve our presentation

skills and we did a lot of activities to boost our

confidence before presenting our ideas.

Muqadas Saleem (year 8)

Thank you for taking me to the Amazon Headquarters.

It was really fun and I enjoyed it a lot. It was a great

experience as I learned new things and it was not only

learning, it was also fun. Thank you,

Ravjot Matta (year 8)

88

Amazon Get IT App Competition Selection

Cranford was able to submit 2 final ideas

from the 15 year 8 students who participated.

We arranged for the groups to pitch their

ideas to a panel of judges; Pavneet Syan

former student and Amazon employee, Alan

Fraser Assistant Headteacher-Director of

Community Partnerships and Mrs Jenny

Lewis, Chair of the Academy Trust Board.

This took place in Conference Room 2 via

a video conference. Students put in a vast

amount of hard work and time preparing

for the presentation of their ideas. All

the judges were very impressed with the

ideas, presentation skills, confidence and

the ability to take on feedback and answer

questions.

Sukhjeet Kudhail

(Head of IT and Computer Science)

The AWS competition was an amazing experience

as I have never done anything like this before. The

competition was to design your own App idea and

present it to an audience at Amazon. If you get chosen,

then your app idea gets made into a real App.

Our concept was an App that lets you book school

facilities and book teaching sessions. Teachers can also

login to remind students to hand homework in on time

or remind them of sanctions. We prepared a 20-slide

presentation with the vital data. We also did a few

surveys in our form class. I was nervous as this was my

first video conference however there were no issues. We

got positive feedback and our group got chosen to move

forward in the competition along with another group.

Caylan Rebello (year 8)

When the days were becoming closer and closer to

the day of the presentation we got a bit nervous and

started to do everything in a hurry and thinking that

our App wasn’t good enough. When there was one

day left one of our team came and told us that he had

completed everything. The day we had to present we

were apprehensive. We had to remember a lot of the

information and make a good first impression. This was

a scary experience but I tried to stay confident till the

end. We all put in a lot of effort into the project.

Victoria Albu (year 8)

Taking part in the Amazon competition has been an

amazing experience. Our group really enjoyed working

as a team, using communication skills and listening

skills. We were all nervous at first when presenting but

when it was our group’s turn we took a deep breath and

made sure we put 100% effort in to it. We were excited

to receive Pavneet’s feedback on how we could improve

our work. Throughout the whole competition we have

had some great feedback from Pavneet and have tried

our hardest to action it.

Amani Salim (year 8)

89

BBC

500 Words

Competition

2019/2020

BBC 500 Words is the UK’s most successful short story-writing competition for children between the

ages of 5 and 13. It was launched in 2011, after the radio presenter Chris Evans had a dream of getting

children excited about reading and writing. He wanted to involve all children: no matter what their ability,

experience, or background and since its launch, the competition has received over 912,986 short stories.

All entrants have to write an original story, no more than 500 words in length, and submit it online. It can

be about ANYTHING you want – space-ships, grannies, insects, time travel. The list is endless and this

year we had some amazing entries from our Cranford story tellers. Here are just a few of the wonderful

stories submitted by our young authors.

Katherine Pedersen (English Department)

Mystery of a town

This story is about a town and a few people in the town. The name of this town is Greendale. In Greendale, a

lot of unexpected things happen, no one knows why these things happen, some say the town is cursed, others

know but they wouldn’t say anything. It was a normal day, people were going to school or work, nothing weird

was going on. There were 10 teenagers, they were always in all the things that happened to the town, there were

others. That day, they went to school, there was something about these teenagers, something they didn’t know.

That morning, at school some were talking about what’s new, others talking about the things that happened to

them in their summer holidays. Kat, she is one of the 10 teenagers that have something weird, well Kat, she is

the mean girl you see in the movies and her family is the richest in Greendale. Max, he is in the football team,

Sam, she is the smartest, Nick, he writes music, these four have a lot to do in the town, and the other 6, are

Jess, her mother is the Mayor, then there is Tom, he is the quiet one, Sabrina, she is an artist, and the twins,

Jake and Ben, they are Kat’s siblings. That day they went to school, something was in Nick’s backyard at his

house, he didn’t know, infected. Noone knew what happened, because no one was at home, everyone was at

work or school. The town was small but, it was very rich, and some say dangerous. When Nick got home, he

found out what happened. Before he went to look at it, he called Max and asked him to come over at his house

and help him find out what happened. Max came over to Nick’s house, they both went to find out. They found

a garden house that was never there, they opened it and they found a note in the box. Nick started to read, it

said ‘Nick you know me we have met once, I want you to do something, don’t you dare tell anyone if you do

I will know, I want you to get me the town’s most precious thing which is the diamond. If you don’t, someone

you know is going to die’ Nick and Max called everyone that can help them find out who it was and why they

wanted the diamond. They had a meeting and they made a plan. Jess’s mum is the mayor of the town, so Jess

would know how to get the diamond, and Nick would get the diamond and make a copy of it, and Max, Kat,

Sam would be looking at the CCTV cameras, and Tom, Sabrina and the twins would be hiding. If the plan

doesn’t work they are to do something like call the police. The plan worked they called the police, but the

person disappeared, with Nick, Max, Kat, and Sam.

By Gresha Leitao (year 8)

90

So what’s next?

• You have the ingredients of a great story: An idea, a character, a plot, and

some interesting language.

• At home or in the library, write up your story in no longer than 500 words.

• Email the story to KPE-CC@Cranford.Hounslow.sch.uk

• Enter by Monday 24 th February.

• If you enter I will reply to your email with a permission slip for you to

complete. This must be filled in and signed by your parent/guardian.

Shadow

<You can check

this on word.

I dragged my heavy felt feet down the lonely hallway.

Staring forward into nothing like I was being

hypnotized. Every step I took the more I felt my heart

ache. I was alone, there was no one else around, and

it was strange because it was only 8:30 at school,

normally there is a swarm of people and an echo of

voices around the halls.

I was what I thought a normal teen, I was tall, I had

quite a lot of friends, and I had light brown hair.

However, I didn’t have normal human eyes. I had fiery

red eyes that if you stared too long into, it seemed as

though they were a dancing flame drawing you closer

to hell.

My school isn’t the same one you would see in a

romance film or one in your ordinary life, my high

school is magical…

All of a sudden people came crashing down the

hallway like a sea of terrified people. I rushed past

the force of the ocean all the way to the end of the

hall. I stopped in my tracks when I saw creatures just

like me, but one was a devil and angel hybrid and the

other was a dragon king.

“Hello Alpha.” They both said synchronised.

“I-I think you’ve got the wrong person,” I said while

I laughed nervously, “I’m Shadow…”

“Oh we know Alpha.” They said with a grin.

They disappeared…

I quickly transformed into one of my wolf forms as a

wolf-vampire hybrid and followed their scent. ‘They

lead me to the field?’ I thought kind of confused and

then I saw it.

A hell demon, a demon sent from the devil normally

to do his bidding, but what does he want to do with

the school. Then flying out of nowhere they fought the

devil’s minion. Quickly I joined in to help.

Everything went black. I closed my eyes and listened

carefully. There were no voices except from whispers.

“I know you are the strongest.” said the echoed voices.

“Who are you?!” I shouted questioningly.

“I command you to kill Lunar and Axel.”

“I don’t know who they are.” I mentioned.

“The angel-devil hybrid and the dragon king.” Their

voices quite annoyed.

“Yes master.” I answered like a puppet.

I stood silently. Having my claws ready to strike.

“Alpha fight it.” said Axel the dragon king

“We are one of you.” They smiled softly.

I walked to them and hugged them, back to normal,

and in my normal form. I smirked and my eyes were

still green.

Clink! Slash!

“Argh, why?” they questioned in pain.

“You should know a hybrid of my kind can change

their eye colour” I grinned like a maniac. Suddenly, I

fell to the ground unable to move.

“Mwhahahahahahha!”

“Who are you and why can’t I move?” I asked angrily.

“Your worst ni…” The voice said unfinished.

Kirsten Woodward (year 8)

91

World Clean Up Day:

Supporting our global community

On Saturday 21st September 2019 we collected just over 50 bags

of rubbish and had over 45 volunteers taking part including many

families and young children! We tackled the Redwood and Brabazon

Estates and the horrid Henlys Alley. Great effort was put in by all

and the residents are very grateful to everyone who attended. We

are doing our bit for World Clean Up Day.

A big thank you goes to our cooking club participants for

preparing our lunch alongside Manju Malhi and also to BTS

Hounslow and Hounslow Highways. Well done to all the other

fantastic community groups in our borough for engaging everyone

and doing their part for World Clean Up Day including Heston

Action Group and Cranford Community College.

Big Local and

Heston Action Group’s

Spring Community Clean Up

with the Mayor of Hounslow

Before the lockdown over 40 volunteers

attended our Big Local and Heston Action

Group Community Clean Up on Sunday 8th March 2020. We tackled the Brabazon Estate and Henlys Alley

despite the showering hailstones. Great work and excellent teamwork was displayed by everyone and a big

thanks goes to all the amazing volunteers for their support. Also a special thank you to the Family Healthy

Cooking Club participants with Manju Malhi for making a scrumptious lunch for our brave volunteers.

We would also like to thank the Mayor of Hounslow Tony Louki and our local ward councillor and Deputy

Leader of the Council Lily Bath for their support.

In addition, we would like to thank Igor and his team at Leecliffe Big Local and Rachel at CPP Hounslow for

coming along and showing great community spirit and also all our incredible Big Local volunteers and Heston

Action Group not forgetting Hounslow Highways for providing the equipment and picking up the bags. Watch

our highlight film on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/lhi-ykXXTDw

“Portrait of Place”

Our Big Local community quilt displayed at

Gunnersbury Park Museum for all to enjoy

On Monday 14th October 2019 we were invited to Gunnersbury

Park Museum’s private viewing of their new exhibition titled

‘Treasured Threads: Unpicking Gunnersbury’s Quilts’. After

months of hard work and dedication we were proud to see our

‘Portrait of Place’ quilt designed by the wonderful Big Local

participants & volunteers alongside the Deaf & Hard of Hearing

Women’s Group in Ealing. This project was supported by Ekta

Kaul, Sharan Walters & the team at Gunnersbury as well as our

own volunteers. It is amazing to know our piece of artwork will be displayed for many visitors to enjoy over

the next few years at the museum.

92

Donating

and

Delivering

Christmas

Joy

to

Local

Families

We would like to give an indebted thank you to the Metropolitan Police for

generously donating Christmas gifts to our community, especially to the

families who have benefited from the Heston West area. On Sunday 22nd

December 2019, our team of enthusiastic and dedicated young and adult

volunteers delivered the gifts to the Redwood, Brabazon and Harlech Gardens

Estates. All the families really appreciated the gesture and the gifts. Our Big

Local volunteers also enjoyed the experience and felt really proud delivering

the gifts and seeing the reaction from the families.

“A massive thank you to the

police officers who have gone

above and beyond their duties to

provide for our community and

enhance the relationships in our

tight-knit family. We appreciate

your commitment to create the

best backdrop for our youth to

prosper in safety and access

opportunities”.

Twinkle Sood, age 16

Big success at our Ugandan inspired Community Theatre performance of

“Together We Are Stars” with Bantu Arts

On Friday 29th November 2019 an incredible

community intergenerational play was performed by

our fantastic volunteers and participants in partnership

with Bantu Arts. In our Ugandan inspired performance

‘Together We Are Stars’, we highlighted social

concerns and issues surrounding online bullying,

body image, Brexit and climate change. The play was

written and directed by Big Local youth volunteer

Sharanjit Kaur, 16, and this was the first time she

ventured into the dramatic arts and what a wonderful

job she did!

In our first story, Juhi Kumra (long-standing

volunteer for the Big Local and now a university

student studying Theatre and English Literature)

was brilliant in her role as the shy but stubborn Tina

Rajput. Tina is struggling with social anxiety, online

bullying and with her body image, and suddenly

finds herself involved in the dark world of knife

crime. The story focuses on how a combination

of low self-esteem, the pressures of looking good

online and peer to peer bullying can lead someone to

take the wrong path with devastating consequences.

Our second story told a tale of the impact of Brexit

and how the referendum result had divided our society

rather than uniting it. Our final story highlighted the

real concerns of climate change and what we can do

to help. We heard from giant Tortoises explaining

how plastic waste is destroying their habitats, killing

innocent animals in the process. The audience were

given tips on how to reduce waste, save energy and

tools to protect their local environment.

Despite the heavy social topics, the performance was

inspiring, captivating, colourful and entertaining.

Through the art of Ugandan music and dance, our

performers were able to bring the topics to life,

wowing the audience during the evening. Overall, all

performers and crew did an exceptional job bringing

joy and laughter to the audience. Big congratulations

to all at Bantu Arts, our talented performers,

volunteers and their families for their involvement

and also to our excellent audience for showing their

community support. We look forward to starting a

new intergenerational theatre project with Bantu

Arts in the New Year, so watch this space.

93

HWBL finalist in the Best Community

Group Contribution to Community

Cohesion National Awards

On Thursday 21st November 2019 we attended a

prestigious ceremony at the Royal Horse Guards Hotel.

Heston West Big Local was amongst 30 nationwide

community organisations nominated for the National

Community Group Awards, shortlisted from 720

organisations. Although we did not win the main National

Community Group Award for Community Cohesion it was

a great testament to the work of our Big Local charity to

have made it to the last 30 for this fantastic award and we

are very proud of our community achievements to date.

Heston West Big Local

Community Volunteer

Awards Celebration

On

Friday 6th December 2019 we held

our fourth Heston West Big Local

Community Volunteer Awards Celebration.

This year we also presented our Brian Clark

Community Leader and Community Young

Leader Award in recognition of outstanding

community leadership and work. This award was

dedicated to the memory of our late volunteer

and community hero Brian Clark. The awards

were presented by Sadiq Khan, Mayor of

London, Philip Keith-Roach, Former England

2003 Rugby World Cup Winner and Brian Clark’s

daughter, Debbie Siminson and son, Darrell Clark

at Cranford Community College.

Congratulations to all the other nominated groups and the

worthy winners across the UK. In addition, a huge thank

you goes to Groundwork UK for organising a brilliant

event. We are getting ready for next year.

Heston West Big Local featured live

on BBC Radio London’s Robert Elms

Show in November 2019

In November 2019 Taz Virdee and Youth volunteer

Serena Lola, 17 were invited to be interviewed by

legendary presenter Robert Elms on BBC Radio London

about the work of the Big Local. The interview focused

on volunteering, our community projects and our

legacy: You can listen to this interview on YouTube at:

https://youtu.be/05TAjbWOK7E

94

Brian Clark Young Community Leader of The Year 2019

In recognition and celebration of exceptional youth leadership and helping to

transform communities and lives.

Layba Nisar

Big Local International Community Development Award 2019

In recognition of exceptional contribution working on behalf of the Big Local

to develop international community relationship with the city of Vienna,

Austria.

Hitendra Parmar, Debbie Noad, Ruby Bharaj, Nafeesa Nisar, Kapil Lund,

Serena Lola, Juhi Kumra, Megha Dahdrai, Callum Wills, Layba Nisar,

Sharanjit Kaur and Anjali Kumar

Big Local Youth Legacy Award 2019

In recognition of our first group of dedicated young leaders and volunteers

who paved the way for our successful youth engagement programme in the

local community

Amrita Tar, Juhi Kumra, Abbie McFerran, Harpreet Kaur, Simran

Bangar, Anjali Kumar, Megha Dahdrai, Kulbir Maras, Baljinder Padda,

Rajan Sandhu, Lucy Tirahan, Huzayma Khamis and Caitlin Poon

Mayor Of Heston West Award 2019

Awarded for outstanding contribution, commitment and leadership to help

transform our local community.

Callum Wills

Big Local Community Role Model 2019

In recognition for inspiring and encouraging residents to get involved with

Heston West Big Local and serving as a positive role model in our local

community.

Muna Abdulahi

Big Local New Music Talent Award 2019

Recognition of new musical talent in our local community.

Luliya Jemal, Lovell Nanditta and Brooke Smith

Big Local New Film Talent Award 2019

Recognition of new film talent in our local community.

Arfhan Razak and Kulbir Maras

95

New Community Podcast

“Hey I’m Tarek Mrad! I am 22 years old and have Cerebral

Palsy. Despite my disability I am heavily involved with the

local community and enjoy volunteering. I recently joined

the Heston West Big Local Board. My aim is to help inspire

others like me to also get involved with volunteering and

community work. My goals for this year are to find parttime

employment, complete my Level 2 ICT Qualification and grow my

community podcast show!”

During the COVID-19 pandemic we wanted to share stories and

experiences of lockdown, volunteering and community work locally and

beyond. We interviewed local residents, community partners and young

people about how they have been coping and thriving during this period.

To listen to our community podcasts please visit:

www.hestonwest.org/community-podcast.html

Maria’s Story / Maria Pedro Documentary

“Maria Pedro fought her way through many barriers to live a truly incredible

life making a real difference to many lives...”

Maria Keith-Roach or as many of us knew her Maria Pedro

(1952-2018) lived a remarkable life. From the most challenging

background she fought her way through many barriers to live

a truly inspirational life. This film brings together some of the

people who were influenced and inspired by her. We held a

Zoom premiere of the documentary on Friday 22nd May 2020

(which would have been Maria’s birthday) with over 100 people

in attendance across three showings, ranging from the US,

Saudi Arabia and Europe. Watch the full documentary here:

https://youtu.be/v01pGyVPf1o

We are deeply grateful to Baroness Floella Benjamin, OBE DLV,

Michael Caines, Seema Malhotra MP, Sir Kenneth Aphunezi Olisa,

OBE, Khalid Ahmad, Paul Lynch, Capt. Priscilla Ledlie, Haroon

Lukka, Anjali Parmar and Steven Curran. In addition, we would

like to thank The Warrington Hotel (Maida Vale, London), The

Queen’s Head Pub (Cranford, Hounslow), Cranford Community

College (Hounslow), the House of Lords (London), Lympstone

Manor (Exeter) and Restoration Partners (London) for providing us with the free filming locations.

Our special thanks go to Philip Keith-Roach. The film was directed and edited by Blaise Singh; produced by

Alan Fraser, Taz Virdee and Kelly Tennison; camera work by Arfhan Razak; and presented by Serena Lola.

It was created in partnership with Heston West Big Local and Cranford Community College.

96

“Hard to Reach” Documentary Launch

Young People’s views of Hounslow

Last summer Heston West Big Local’s MADE in HESTON WEST Youth Film Production Club teamed up

with London Borough of Hounslow’s Community Partnership Unit team to develop the “Hard to Reach”

documentary. We engaged with young people across the borough to gather their views and make sure that their

voice is heard by the leaders and staff of Hounslow Council but also by our residents.

Our team of young volunteers asked these three questions:

• What are your hopes?

• What are your fears?

• What would you like to tell the leader of the council?

On Friday 21st February 2020, we were invited by the London Borough of Hounslow to the launch of our

documentary at Hounslow House. We were joined by several councillors including Steve Curran (Leader of

the Council), Lily Bath (Heston West Ward and Deputy Leader), Katherine Dunne (Communities and Climate

Emergency), Guy Lambert (Highways, Recycling and Companies) and Hanif Khan (Transport and Corporate

Property). The Mayor of Hounslow, Tony Louki and Feltham and Heston MP Seema Malhotra were also in

attendance.

Big Local Youth volunteer and Film Club member Serena Lola delivered a short speech about the documentary

project which was followed by the official screening ending with a panel discussion with Youth Board

Representatives Layba Nisar and Taz Virdee. The film was well received by the council leaders and they have

agreed to take action on the suggestions made by the young people in our borough. Overall, it was a positive

experience for our Big Local volunteers and participants and we are extremely proud to have been given this

opportunity to make this film with the London Borough of Hounslow.

We would like to thank all the incredible young people involved with

this film, we appreciate and value your time and support. To watch the

film please visit: https://youtu.be/oSfrojWSsUA

For more information about Heston West Big Local please

visit our website: www.hestonwest.org

Contact Mr. Taz Virdee / E-mail: t.virdee@berkeleyacademy.org.uk

Phone: 078 40047771

97

# INTERNATIONALISM

Erasmus Visit to Norway - February 2020

98

During February 2020 we were fortunate to undertake

an Erasmus visit to Kvaloya upper Secondary School

in Norway. The school is located on whale island

‘Kvaloya’ and the closest city is Tromso which is the

largest city in northern Norway and also known as

‘the gate to the Artic’. The area in which the school

is located in the region of Troms og Finnmark is

beautiful. The winter snow which engulfed the school

and surrounding city looked magical. We were very

fortunate as we experienced some of the ‘Sami’

traditions such as ‘Mushing’ and were given a cultural

tour of the local region.

The focus of the visit was to gain knowledge and

insight into the excellent Norwegian vocational

education system and how it was implemented in

this setting. The school has 520 students and 100

employees with specialisation in general studies.

A large number of students undertake vocational

courses. The knowledge we gained was very insightful

and definitely informative for our development of

the T Level courses and the delivery of a broad and

balanced curriculum.

On arrival we received a friendly welcome from our

host Snorre Brathen, (Headmaster) and the Norwegian

Erasmus participants. We undertook the visit with our

Erasmus colleagues from the Netherlands and started

with a tour of the school. It was really encouraging

to see how practical work-based skills were being

delivered and how mathematical and scientific skills

were integrated into the practical implementation. The

experience was really useful as it allowed discussion

of direct comparatives between the different

educational settings and enabled us to investigate how

we approached teaching in a vocational context.

It was a great opportunity to gain an

understanding of how students keep motivated in

the vocational setting and the flexibility it creates

for future career pathways. Here are two accounts of

students’ experiences of vocational education:

“In my first two years of upper secondary I studied to

become an electrician. I decided to do the additional

year to go onto university. I could also go back to an

apprenticeship and then go on to be an engineer which

makes me more attractive to employees. I knew I could

fall back on coming here. The one year makes it more

motivational as it’s shorter. Mathematics is the most

difficult subject, coming back to do maths at a higher

level is difficult. It is always nice to have all these

options when deciding what to do next”.

Student 1 (Kvaloya Upper School)

“We decided to go into healthcare but we switched in

our third year. It is kind of hard but it means we can

complete the supplementary year to go to university.

It’s a good opportunity if we change our mind in the

third year and decide to choose another pathway. I can

work alongside my study and it also allows me to go

back to do a three-year apprenticeship. It’s easier if

you have an interest in the subject”.

Student 2 (Kvaloya Upper School)

We undertook a visit to the apprenticeship employer

and construction site managed by BYGGOPP

where 10 out of the 45 employees were apprentices.

BYGGOPP students on this placement came from the

plumbing and concrete courses at Kvaloya. Students

are identifiable on the building site by a reflective

strip on their hat which distinguishes them from

normal workers. We were able to get a good insight

on how BYGGOPP and other training professionals

manage and support the apprentices.

On day three we visited the County Municipality. It was good to have had the experience of visiting the

municipality offices. The talk was informative and helped to understand the different aspects and official

bodies involved in the education process.

We also visited Ishavsbyen and Breivang Upper Secondary Schools. This experience was again insightful as

the focus was on different crafts.

The visit to Ishavsbyen was helpful because it was really obvious that the students were motivated and

clearly happy to be following their career path. They all took a lot of pride in their craft. We were welcomed

to a silver service dining experience that was professionally executed by trainees on the Catering course.

Students delivered service at a very high level and created dishes to a professional standard. We then went to a

presentation confidently delivered by students studying for the Health Services. Students were very articulate

about their experience and how they developed through the education they had received.

The visit to Breivang was refreshing as it was clear that students were working with a lot of independence

and trusted to pursue their chosen career pathways. It was also helpful to see how functional spaces were used

within Hairdressing, Graphic Design, Media and Art. The environment was open plan and studios in the new

modern building were well equipped. There was a shop unit selling products created by students. We then

visited the media room where a group of students were working on a project together. They informed us that

they had set up their own Media Company and covered both Media and Graphics. It was clear that an ethos of

entrepreneurship was encouraged through vocational learning and that this was building confident students.

We investigated how the vocational courses are assessed and marked. It was interesting to see how teacher

assessment is paramount in both the Dutch and Norwegian system and how online systems

are being used to record each student’s journey.

This visit was most valuable as it really helped us to see examples

of good practice which we can use to support our students’ learning

and development. It will help us to innovate within our

own curriculum design thanks to a greater

understanding of the international approach to

vocational education. It also created cohesion and

fostered good communication between our schools

and foreign colleagues.

Pam Hunt (Digital, Video and Media Department)

99

#

DIGITAL VIDEO MEDIA

On

Digital and visual trip to

Framestore

Tuesday 19th November 2019 Cranford Community College teamed up with Screen Skills to offer

an exciting opportunity for year 7 students at Framestore in London, where students were able to

participate in a ‘Discover! A Creative Careers Workshop’.

Framestore is an award winning British animation and visual effects company based in Chancery Lane in

London. They are known globally for visual effects, and have a proud history of creating extraordinary images

and scenes for some of Hollywood’s biggest pictures.

The students were given the opportunity to visit the Framestore Headquarters in London and participated in a

workshop. The workshop explored ways in which we can use our creativity to promote positive change, either

globally or within our local communities.

Students spent the day formulating an idea and completed a presentation

about a campaign that either raised awareness of or actively challenged

the issue that they had chosen to focus on.

It was a great opportunity for students to get an insight into the industry

and gain knowledge and understanding of how global campaigns are

launched. They also gained valuable experience working in a professional

digital environment.

Pam Hunt (Digital Visual & Media Department)

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I had an amazing time on this

trip. We got to compete against

lots of different schools. We

wrote articles about how we

can solve global issues. In my

group the issue we picked was

to save the Amazon Rainforest

and we made a presentation

about our campaign. After everyone had made their

presentation in front of each other we got the result

and found out that we WON! In my opinion this was a

really fun and helpful trip.

Sukhdeep Toor (year 7)

I had an amazing trip to the Framestore as we were

involved in spectacular activities, writing articles

about how we can help solve global issues. In my

group we made a whole presentation on how we

can help save the Amazon Rainforest. This was an

excellent trip and our stimulating idea won. I would

love to go on an amazing trip like this again.

Aaisha Akbar (year 7)

The trip to Framestore was fun as well as educational. I

learnt that there were more jobs than I knew in the Digital

and Visual Industry. We made presentations to each other.

The focus of our presentation was about recycling. Our team

motto was ‘Beat the Plastic’. Many other schools came up

with their own slogans. It was good that our presentation

was one of the best as we came second. The best thing about

the trip was that there was competition between the schools.

It was good to share ideas about how to save the planet. I

would really recommend this career to others and it was a

great opportunity to be involved.

Nasra Hashi (year 7)

The trip to Framestore was really good as we got an

opportunity to present in front of other schools. It helped us

to gain confidence in public speaking. It was good to learn

about issues such as knife crime, saving the environment and

staying safe. The best part was standing in front of others

and discussing the topic that worked hard on. The people at

the Framestore were very nice, especially the people who

worked with our team.

Nilab Walimohammad (year 7)

Years 12/13 - Media

British Film Institute

edia Department organised a

The Mseries of study day trips to The British

Film Institute (BFI) on the Southbank in November and

December 2019 and in early January 2020. The objective

was for students to develop and reinforce their learning on

a range of topics including Historical Print Media, Video

Gaming, Critical Theory and the Newspaper industry. We

were astounded at the quality of student contributions during

the study days and the opportunities to have Q&A sessions

with professionals from the Film Industry.

Sharandeep Saroya (Digital Video & Media Department)

Each of the study days

was extremely helpfulas

we were able to recap

previously learnt content in

detail. The topic days that

the teachers had picked

for us to take part in were

topics that the teachers

knew we had struggled

to grasp in the past. This

was a great help as we

were not only recapping,

but filling any gaps that

we had. In November the

Year 13 media class took

part in the BFI session on

the Newspaper Industry,

an area I have always

found hard to comprehend.

However, once the brilliant

speaker had completed

his lecture and the guest

speaker had explained

her experience in the

industry, I had a much

better understanding of the

sector.

Suzannah Hussain

(year 13)

During our trips to the BFI studios over the winter

term we attended three workshops in which we

focused on different aspects of media studies.

The first one was focused on newspapers and

took place in a large theatre in which multiple

schools attended. This allowed us to broaden

our knowledge of the newspaper industry and

develop our analytical skills whilst learning in

a fun and interactive way including from other

students at different schools. Our next trip was

much more intimate with us being one of only

two schools that attended which meant we were

stretched further in order to develop our media

skills. The responsibility for this independent

trip as well as the lecture style format of the

workshops helped prepare us for independent

study at university. The third and final trip was

centred around gaming and was also attended by

Year 12 Computing students who were studying

gaming at the time. Because there were fewer

students it allowed for more engagement and

intimate discussion. Furthermore, all three

workshops ended with guest speakers from the

Media Industry related to the subject area we were

focusing on. This gave us a glimpse of potential

careers we could go into and we were able to ask

them questions and gain further knowledge both

in and outside of our examination specification.

Serena Lola and Ayesha Bhatti (year 13)

Taking part in the three study days

was a fun experience that really let

us expand our previous knowledge

as well as learning on a different

level with many other students who

attended. The insight into the other

examination specifications also

helped as we learnt new terminology

and were able to take a lot from this.

It was definitely a fun and productive

trip.

Diogo Atouguia (year 12)

The BFI study day for Video Gaming

was interesting as it allowed us to get

a better understanding of the Gaming

Industry in terms of how games are

produced and how they are released.

We were also introduced to Chris

Filip,a game designer, who gave us

a lot of inside information on how

they worked at Ubisoft, a giant in

the industry. I learned a lot from

this session as I do aspire to become

a game designer at some point in

my life.

Atanas Aleksandrov (year 12)

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# CHARITY

Christmas Jumper Day

& Christmas Market

During the Christmas period everyone is busy excitedly

preparing their Christmas trees, decorating their

homes, buying and wrapping presents and indulging

in food. The Charities committee felt it was extremely

important to acknowledge and help those less fortunate young

people whose Christmas may not be as bright and festive

as their own. The Charities committee was keen to support

‘Save the Children’ and ‘EYH – End Youth Homelessness’

and decided to run two events in December to raise money

for these charities.

We set sixth form students and teachers the target of raising

£300 to participate in the Save the Children Christmas Jumper

day. The target was smashed as we raised £596.04 through

donations from year 12,13 and staff as well as the Arts and

Culture Committee’s contribution from donations given at the

end of the Cranford’s Got Talent Show. Cranford’s staff and

sixth form donned their festive jumpers on 12th December,

and as they walked in through the gates they were reminded

of the cause they had contributed to as our staff carollers held

placards promoting messages from Save the Children.

The Charities committee also worked hard to organise a

Christmas Market to raise money for End Youth Homelessness.

Students set up a Tombola stall (which sold out within minutes

of opening), sweets and baked goods stalls, hot chocolate &

mince pies stall, pin the nose on the reindeer and even a

penalty shoot-out against Santa. The atmosphere was amazing

and lifted further when Santa joined students on the concourse

for a whole school rendition of ‘Let it go’. We raised £381

for EYH and would like to thank all the staff and students

who supported the event especially Ms Prunty for her work

behind the scenes.

Sharandeep Saroya

(on behalf of the Post 16 Charities Committee)

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Overall in my opinion the market was a great

success and a great way to include and welcome

the year 7s into our community at Cranford by

allowing them to help us out with the event. The

year 7 classes were all extremely enthusiastic

and eager to help out with creating posters,

promoting the event to the whole school and

taking part by buying things from the market

such as hot chocolate and mince pies. It was also

extremely heart-warming that 6th formers who

were not part of the charities committee offered

to help out at the market and this really showed

the sense of community and respect members of

Cranford have for each other. As an added bonus

we were able to raise lots of money for the End

Youth Homelessness charity.

Shanan Bhamra

(year 13 Charities Committee)

It was an honour to host the Christmas market

with year 8. It was astonishing to see how engaged

the year 8 students were in decorating their stalls

and bringing in some food items for their stalls.

During the Christmas market, we laid out 7 stalls

on the concourse, that offered a range of food and

activities. We also played some Christmas songs

and the best bit was when the whole school came

together to sing “Let it go”. This showed that the

school is truly one community and we managed

to raise many and awareness for the End Youth

Homelessness charity. Overall, it was a good way

to end the year on such a positive note.

Sajneet Bagga

(year 13 Charities Committee)

Staff that run

together!

On

Sunday 1st March 2020,

4 intrepid members of

Cranford staff set off for Eton Dorney

on a sunny but very cold and windy

morning for their own little date with

destiny. For Vinay Dokia and Randeep

Sidhu this was their very first race,

and for Jescynda Savige only her

second. As the elder statesman of the

group this was by no means my first

rodeo, though it was certainly the

coldest start to a race I’ve ever had.

So cold and windy was the start that

we all spent the 45 minutes before

the race started huddled in the club

house. Once we all got going though

it became very strictly a race of 2

halves, into the wind was hell - out of

the wind a slightly easier hell.

A little under two hours later with

medals around our necks and warmed

by Eton Boating House’s finest coffee,

the pain was forgotten and we were

basking in the euphoria of a race well

run and the feeling that it has all been

worth it.

We all said we would be back again

and will welcome anyone else brave

(or foolish) enough to join us for our

next adventure when conditions allow.

Simon Watton (Head of year 11)

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# SPORTS

Sports Leaders

Cranford Sports 2019/2020

Cranford PE Department and Sports Leaders have worked hand in hand for over 10 years. Each year

students from year 9 and 10 are given the opportunity to further develop leadership skills working with

Luri from Sport Impact. Leaders then provide support for many of the local sporting events such as

primary school sports day, athletics and football competitions that Cranford hosts for local primary schools.

This year we have used over 40 leaders across many events with our students – Thank you for all your hard

work dedication and help. You have kept the Cranford Community Legacy of successful sports leaders going

and we look forward to another successful year ahead.

Hounslow Primary Sports Day

On

Monday 21st January 2020 Cranford hosted and ran the Cranford Hounslow Primary Sports Day for

year 2 in the Cranford Superdome.

Twenty one year 9 & 10 Sports Leaders assisted with the day, managing activities and encouraging the

participants. This is one of the many Primary Sports events hosted by Cranford during the school year. The

Sports Leaders did a great job and all felt they had gained from the experience.

Hamesh Rattu (Director of Sports and Community Wellbeing)

Here is just one example of the benefits there are to being a Sports Leader.

“My experience as a Sports Leader has been very humbling. Every time I do a Sports Leaders event, it is

very thrilling. I love to work with children and I love seeing the children’s’ faces light up when doing the

activities. Setting up and cleaning up can be a bit tedious but it is all worth it to make sure the children

have a good time. Personally, I know that I love to help out, especially with these sorts of things, as sports

are my passion and I aspire to be a PE teacher later on in life. It is very inspiring to be able to be a part

of such great events. One of my personal favourite leadership roles is being umpire at tennis events. The

children are really polite and it is such a great experience working with people that inspire me. Also, I

love to support children at the Sports Day event as I can see my younger self in many of them. I love to

encourage them to do their best”.

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Sanjana Bhola (year 10 Sports Leader)

Year 7 and 8 Netball

On

Tuesday 28th January 2020 the

year 7 and 8 netball team played in

a netball tournament against multiple schools

in the borough. The girls did absolutely

brilliantly considering this was the first

real competitive tournament as a team and

as individuals with a team of mostly year 7

students competing against year 8 students.

The girls played several games trailing

different positions they had been practicing

and refining during their period 6 lessons.

Our current junior netball team has shown

that they know how to work hard at training

and play hard in competitions. The mini bus

journey back to school after the tournament

was full of exhausted girls who thoroughly

enjoyed their first tournament and are ready

for more next year!

Jescynda Savige (PE Department)

Basketball

is back

This

year saw the resurgence of Basketball at

Cranford. The club had over 50 regular students

both male and female spread over two days each week

throughout the year. Their dedication and discipline

was phenomenal with students in the Sports Hall

from as early as 7.30am practising shooting and

1v1s. A special mention to Ibrahim Hersi and

Aman Sangha in year 11 who helped coach the Key

Stage 3 students every Thursday showing just how

much students care for each other at Cranford. I am very much

looking forward to the next season.

Basheak Bussue (PE Department)

Break 2 Sports Club

This

year saw the return of Break 2 Sports clubs run by the PE Department. The team were able

to offer a variety of sports such Basketball, Dodgeball, Futsal and Badminton. Students who

attended the clubs thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to have structured physical activity provided for them.

The teachers have seen a significant improvement in PE lessons from students with their technical and tactical

ability. The sports clubs had a massive impact on extra-curricular student participation numbers with weekly

numbers averaging 300+ per week across key stages.

Congratulations to all those who consistently attend clubs, your dedication has not gone unnoticed –

keep it up!

Mary Elder (PE Department)

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Youth Forum

World’s Top Airport Terminal for Terminal 2

World’s Best Airport Shopping

Best Airport in Western Europe

World’s Top 10 Airports

Heathrow Airport approached Cranford about setting up a Youth Forum to discuss the expansion

of Heathrow Airport. The approach we decided to take was a pilot project where students would

shape the new Youth Forum which would be rolled out to all the boroughs that are impacted by

Heathrow. It was identified that in order for students to be able to do this they needed to be up skilled and

a programme was agreed between the students which saw them going airside and working on a project

with a budget to bring benefit to the community. Our students were also invited to attend the reception for

the launch of Heathrow’s Apprenticeship scheme. There they had the opportunity to meet and talk with

John-Holland Kaye, CEO Heathrow Airport Limited.


The Heathrow Youth Forum is a great

initiative to engage young adults with

the chance to see behind the scenes in

a busy workplace, and I was fortunate

enough to be chosen to take part.

Throughout the course of the project, we

were delegated certain tasks focusing on

a particular aspect of either Heathrow

or Cranford, and worked in small groups

to research and present our findings.

Not only did I gain an insight into the

various operations at Heathrow, but I

also became more knowledgeable about

different options after finishing as an

alternative to university, such as a fulltime

job or an apprenticeship. We were entrusted with a lot of responsibilities in regards to improving our area, and

our most significant task was working on rebuilding the appeal of three locations in the local Cranford area. This

was really enjoyable as we worked alongside Keep Britain Tidy and stuck to a specific budget to ensure we achieved

positive, tangible results. My favourite part of the entire programme was going on an airside tour of the Heathrow

runways. We drove around the land in a minibus, and it was incredibly fascinating seeing aeroplanes from such a short

distance. We got to see a unique perspective of the airport.

Anjali Bhambra (year 12)

106

As a plane enthusiast, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience with

Heathrow Youth Forum. I never would have thought that I would have

the opportunity to be a part of Heathrow, especially the chance to go

airside. We designed and presented to the Heathrow Academy about

apprenticeship schemes as well as planning and implementing projects to

improve the communities in Hounslow in collaboration with Heston Big

West Local and Keep Britain Tidy. The experience will be unforgettable.

Abraham Mathews (year 12)

During the Autumn term, Heathrow Airport pioneered a project where a group of year 12 students could become a

part of the decision making behind some of Heathrow’s activities in the local community. The idea was that we, as

members of the community, should have a say in how the areas that we live in can be improved, as we can bring in

new perspectives to pitch to Heathrow. Through the Heathrow Youth Forum we were given the means and materials to

actually spend on improving the quality of the environment for a given area. The original plan was for our term as the

pilot group to be over at the end of the school year, but with the effects of the pandemic, our ideas were unfortunately

halted before they could be put in place. However, during the planning stage, we all still got to develop our skills in

research, teamwork and the presentation of our ideas to a panel. Getting the chance to talk to the different members

of staff in Heathrow (plus a guided tour of the runways!) also proved to be an incredibly valuable experience for our

journey into the world of work.

Guy Boonyarakyotin (year 12)

When I first applied to the forum I was a bit unsure as to what I had signed myself up for. After arriving at the site and

meeting the staff running the programme I was quickly relieved of my uncertainties. Everyone I met on the day was

polite and knowledgeable and proved to be very helpful when completing tasks that were assigned to us. Everyone was

enthusiastic and ready to get involved. The overall experience was extremely fun and a a nice break from the stress of

starting A levels. The Heathrow Youth Forum encouraged me to get involved in more extra-curricular activities and

exposed me to the world of opportunities available to me at the airport. It was an eye opening experience and I am

grateful I had the chance to take part in it.

Naman Salaria (year 12)

The Heathrow Youth Forum has been an

interesting and exciting opportunity for

me. There are always new challenges ahead

every month, from working with the CEO of

Heathrow to working with environmental

officers. We have managed as a group to

make our community a better place. There

were amazing airside tours and we got to

see certain hangars and certain planes

such as the historic Concorde. I have

managed to improve my communication,

teamwork and coordination skills during

this period of time. I highly recommend

joining the Youth forum as we will expand

in the near future.

Jagdeep Singh (year 12)

Hi Alan,

Thank you for allowing your students to come to our National

Apprenticeship week. Your students carried themselves very

well and all personally held conversations with our CEO John

Holland-Kaye and Lord David Blunkett.

Also we held the airside tour yesterday which I think they all

enjoyed.

Our next session is on the 26th of February where we plan on

tasking them with a challenge from the Community team.

Kind regards

Thomas Elliott

Education & Skills Officer

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#

YEAR 12 COMMITTEES

Well-being Committee

The

Well-being Committee is

one of the newer committees

which was established this academic year,

alongside the other five committees. As a

group of ‘well-being ambassadors’, our

core aim is to increase students’ awareness

of the importance of positive mental

health and well-being while supporting

them with strategies. We worked closely

on a project with the year 9 students by

initially delivering an assembly to the

year group, explaining the importance of

mental health and wellbeing. Following

this, each committee member visited the

year 9 form groups and worked with the

students in completing a self- reflection

task. The students were provided with

a template of the brain, whereby the

outcome of the activity was to enable the

students to identify their stress triggers

and how they can manage them. In the

new academic year the committee intends

to continue promoting positive wellbeing

and providing a range of strategies and

opportunities to support and improve the

mental health of all students at Cranford.

Prabhleen Ghattoray

(Head Girl, year 13)

The unexpectedly successful event that was the year

12 inter-form took place this year on Wednesday 26th

February 2020. The Sports Committee discussed and

brainstormed endless ideas and options for ways we

could target the new Sixth formers, in order for them to

show a higher level of interest in their physical health.

We came to the conclusion that a mixed football Inferform

would be ideal as who doesn’t enjoy the thrill of

team playing and running around after a ball? Not only

is football a leisure activity it is also seen as a way to

promote healthy lifestyles, discipline, teamwork and

other areas of social development.

The Sports Committee and I were patiently waiting at

the entrance of our breath taking Cranford Superdome,

feeling hopeless. As time ticked, we progressively thought ‘everyone’s decided to go home’. The moment it

hit 3:40pm, there was an influx of students wearing brightly coloured football kits running towards us with

smiles, ‘There’s still hope’. The excitement on their faces was refreshing, everyone was extremely keen to go

up against other forms and finally settling the battle of the strongest form!

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We were able to quickly begin the matches. Each form had 8 players and competed in a minimum of 3 matches

against different teams. All the players pushed themselves to the limit and took this event very seriously,

conducting themselves politely and honourably.

This

year the Sports

Committee and

STEM committee joined forces

to develop the ‘NERDLETICS’

event (logo designed by Onkar

Riyat), which was held in the

upper gym on Friday 13th December 2019.

Nerdletics was designed as an inter-form

competition aimed at year 12 students to

test their STEM knowledge and sporting

skills in a tutor group battle. Each tutor

group nominated two of their brightest

and most sporting students to represent

them with prizes including £10 gift card

for Bronze Place, £15 gift card for Silver

Place and £20 gift card for Gold Place. The

students were challenged with buzzer

rounds, kick-up challenges, a cup-stacking

challenge, picture round, multiple choice

round and even a wheel barrow obstacle

race. The atmosphere was fun and exciting

as the competition heated up to reveal our

two winners Guy Boonyarakyotin and

Rhiannon Pateman 12W. The committees

came together with students in year 12 to

share a slice of cake and talk about their

passions…it’s not surprising that many

who took part in the event went on to join

committees themselves.

Sharan Saroya and Ria Kalia

(year 13 Deputy Head Girl Chair of

STEM Committee)

Football is a clear passion in our Sixth form and we were able to explore the talent at Cranford with this

event. It is one of the most popular and social pastimes yet as the pupils I discussed the event with stated ‘it’s

hard to organise a big event like this outside of school, it costs lots of money and everyone’s too busy with

schoolwork’. So what more perfect way than having a tournament after school, allowing the students to be

productive and full of endorphins when they study at home. This was aimed at reigniting the Sixth formers

passion for exercise, as it can be a difficult shift between GCSE to the more intense world of A Levels, where

sports may no longer be seen as a priority. We, as a Sports Committee are here to change this; the inter-form

was the first step towards our goal. The tournament was received enthusiastically and all the participants were

thankful and excited for more upcoming events.

We had several rounds and then it quickly reached the very intense finals between 12R and 12U. These are both

amazingly powerful teams, with great stamina and control throughout all of their games. In the end 12R won

the cup (well technically a box of Chocolates) with perfect finesse in the last few seconds of this heated match.

Overall, the Inter-form competition was an absolute success. Everyone was extremely supportive including

the lovely teachers that volunteered to supervise, the friends that came to watch and the participants. We have

planned several other events due to the positive feedback we received on this first Sixth form inter-form. We

aim to keep up the fun and emphasize the importance of sports at Cranford.

Aya Sadouki (Deputy Head Girl and Chair of Sports Committee)

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Cranford celebrated the new year with our

annual awards evening held at the Riverside

on Thursday 9th January 2020, a fitting setting

for such a prestigious event in our school calendar.

The Evening was a huge success with recipients of

awards sitting down to celebrate with parents, staff

and guests to a meal and entertainment.

As is the tradition, the evening is a packed programme

of speeches, awards and entertainment ably hosted

by the student leadership team led by the Head Girl,

Prabhleen Ghattoray and Head Boy, Rohit Bhullar and

an opportunity to look back over the success of the

previous academic year and to share some delicious

Indian food.

We were delighted to welcome as our guest speaker

Lady Frances Sorrell, chair of The Sorrell Foundation

and The Saturday Club Trust who was delighted

to present the various awards to students. In her

speech she spoke of her joy in working with such an

outstanding school over the years and how important

it is to continue to encourage young people to engage

with the arts.

There were a number of special awards presented

including The Pride of Cranford award, which was

awarded to two year 10 students, Mahwish Khan and

Eduarda Silva. They had the presence of mind to take

the number plate of a vehicle involved in a domestic

110

The atmosphere for the whole evening was so positive, it was a joy to

be with you all.

situation which was then dealt with by the police who

praised them for their quick thinking response and

for their outstanding act of community service. The

Services to the Community Award went to Rachel

Doherty for her work with the community particularly

through holiday projects and working with the Heston

West Big Local and the Rod Lewis award was given

to Chester Aitken year 9 for his outstanding all round

progress, in spite of many challenges.

The evening’s entertainment was truly diverse and

of a very high quality including an extract from

“The Merchant of Venice” by the Shakespeare in

Schools group, a solo performance of an original

song by Kavleen Aurora year 11 entitled “Trust You”;

“Lane Boy” performed by Adi Asskoumi, Alexandru

Marinescu, Mikael Sohail, Samuel Ubhi, and Corben

Smith ended the programme with an original bhangra

jam created by year 11 RSL students. But it was the

stunning performance of “My Shot” from the musical

Hamilton performed superbly by Adi Asskoumi, year

11 which stole the show.

After much applause, inspirational speeches and

prize giving, everyone enjoyed a chance to catch up

with the prize winners and their families, many of

whom are now at university. The evening was a great

opportunity to remember and celebrate all the happy

memories of Cranford 2019.

Jessica Joyce (Event organiser)

Dear Jess and Pirmjeet,

I just wanted to congratulate you on all the arrangements for last night,

it was wonderful, all the young people came up and shook hands so well,

the presenters were exceptional and the entertainment was outstanding.

Many thanks too for the beautiful flowers and the book - great choice!

Warmest wishes and thanks

Lady Frances Sorrell

The Sorrell Foundation / The Saturday Club Trust

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2019

On

Thursday 21 November 2019 the entire staff came together for an award

celebration event at the Heston Hyde Hotel: The Cranford Oscars was an

opportunity for the staff to celebrate all the amazing things that go on at the school

and to appreciate individual and collective achievements.

A total of 15 different awards were presented for categories ranging from Outstanding

Trainee Teacher to Outstanding Whole School Contribution. All winners received a

glass trophy to take home.

On arrival guests were greeted by the classical melodies played by the London Niche Stringed Quartet, as well

as some stunning interpretations of modern music creating a magical start to the evening.

The presentations of the awards were followed by a delicious dinner and dancing to live music. This was

appreciated by the staff who made considerable use of the dance floor for the rest of the evening.


112

2019

The award winners

included:

Outstanding department or team

Science Department

Outstanding In-class support

Satpal Nagpal

Outstanding extra-curricular

Mahavir Ladwa

Outstanding trainee teacher

2018-19

Priya Agarwal

Middle leader award

Kerry Mulhair

Outstanding contribution

to the local community

Priscilla Ledlie

Outstanding NQT 2018-19

Milton Venacio Ferreira

Outstanding Tutor

Barbara Lodge

Outstanding staff mentor

Aastha Swaminathan

Innovation award

Luke Joyce and Rory O’Hare

(Music Department)

Senior leader award

Ruth Painting

Outstanding support staff

Bernadette Moir

Outstanding teacher

Kristy Foale

Outstanding whole school

contribution

Julie Prunty

Outstanding contribution to the

school community

(In memory of Claire Ghazi)

Alan Fraser

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Climate

Conference

2019

On

Friday 22nd November 2019, six year 11

students, with an interest in the climate

crisis and five year 12 A level Geography students

set off for the new Hounslow Council Chambers.

The 111 bus brought us quickly to Hounslow.

When we arrived, we were all immediately

impressed by the new council building, both the

architecture and all the facilities.

The first half of the meeting took place in the

Council Chambers in the style of a Global debate

on ‘Climate Change Negotiations’. We split into 2

groups and each group was given a country to take

a position in the debate. The year 11 students had

Fiji and the year 12 students Nigeria. The debate

was very informative, with the whole experience

of using the council chamber and the facilities

it provides being a highlight. We also learned in

the process to negotiate with the other countered

representatives to try and get the result we wanted

and to have a prepared, evaluated response to

present to the whole group.

The second session was themed ‘Local Action’

and took the format of a marketplace. In this

session we had the opportunity to see what local

groups and businesses were doing to help the

local environment and to help Hounslow address

climate change at a local level. We picked up

some really useful ideas that we hope to be able to

implement at Cranford when the situation allows.

All in all, the day was very worthwhile. I and the

students gained a great deal from participating

in this kind of debate and we all left the meeting

have learnt something new and with a greater

understanding of the issues involved both locally

and globally.


114

Winter Wonderland Reward Trip

Monday 16th December 2019 marked the rewards trip

to Winter Wonderland for a group of dedicated year

13 students, who put hard work and effort into their roles

of responsibility as committee members and prefects.

Accompanied by Ms Saroya, Ms Sidhu, Ms Nandra, Mr

Singh and Mr Ferreira we kicked off the afternoon by

grabbing our skates and experiencing the outdoor ice.

Despite some of us being complete beginners, it was

quite entertaining to watch. After an hour of skating, we

explored London’s biggest Christmas markets, relishing

the food (most importantly the famous churros) and

enjoying the evening lights of Hyde Park, before it was

time to head back home. Overall the afternoon was one

of the great examples of how Cranford rewards students

for their hard work. A big ‘thank you’ to Ms Saroya who

organised such an exciting trip and to all the teachers who

came along to experience the day with us, we all had a

great time.

Prabhleen Ghattoray (Head Girl, year 13)

December 2019

The Winter Wonderland experience was amazing as it

helped to reduce the stress of the upcoming mock exams,

which was really needed at that time. It celebrated the

success of our hard work and determination for running

the different clubs and achieving the goals we had set. The

ice rink brought everyone together, as everyone helped

each other getting up, when they fell on the ground which

was often. Overall, the experience was fantastic.

Sajneet Bagga (year 13)

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116

Year 7

A Message from Mr Venâncio Ferreira

In

July 2019 I had the privilege of welcoming year 7 to Cranford

Community College for their Taster Day. It feels like a life

time ago that they first stepped in through our blue gates. Then, in

September, we officially welcomed them as fully fledged members

of our community. During that first welcome assembly I saw in front

of me a group of exceptionally talented young men and women with

such incredible potential. Through the use of our bespoke Character

Development Programme, which aimed at supporting transition and

developing crucial skills for a successful academic and work career,

our year 7s slotted seamlessly into Cranford’s way of life. They

made strong friendships and connected easily with their teachers.

Whilst walking down the corridors I would often be stopped by

members of staff raving about their year 7 classes and how wonderful

and respectful they are.

Kindness is a key characteristic in our year group. We have

established a system whereby we focus on selflessness and support

for one another. You will often find our year 7 students supporting

each other with work, uniform, social times and even identifying

subtle acts of kindness. We have also developed a year group that is

aware of its own mental and emotional health needs and then gave

them the tools to be able to communicate those needs to members

of staff.

Throughout the year, our two power words were TEAM WORK

and OUTSTANDING. I wanted a year group that was a team with

an overarching goal: to achieve ‘outstanding’ in everything they

did, both academically and also in their day to day lives. The focus

was being the best version of themselves. Naturally I had very high

hopes, but I couldn’t have predicted the heights that our year 7s

would reach. From participating in not one but several charitable

projects (eg., The football interform competition and the Christmas

market) to achieving an incredible 82% ‘Good and outstanding’

attitude to learning across the curriculum.

During lockdown we have had students completing high quality

work, checking in on their teachers and even putting their creative

skills to the test by designing videos like Youness Goudari in 7Y who

helped spread hygiene awareness and posters designed to celebrate

our incredible NHS like the one created by Tashmin Kaur in 7T.

I am incredibly proud, privileged and excited to be able to share

this stellar achievement. I am looking forward to the next chapter.

To the year 7s I would like to say, ‘Thank You’ for an incredible year,

stay safe and let’s make next year even more incredible.

Miton Venâncio Ferreira (Head of year 7)

Year 8

A Message from

Ms Painting,

Mr Seijas & Mr King

It

was an absolute pleasure and

privilege to look after year 8 up

until the amazing Mr King could take

over. During the term and a half, we

saw the year group get involved with

so much – wherever you looked, Year

8 were there, making us proud.

Highlights of our time as Heads of

year 8 included seeing our students

act as amazing ambassadors for

the school on Open Evening, give

incredible performances at the talent

show, get involved in creating an

app with Amazon, write beautiful

stories and poems for the Young

Writers competition, complete the

British Red Cross Heart Start first aid

certificate, contribute to the 100 years

of Women in the Met event, achieve

amazing distances in the One World

Marathon and of course, demonstrate

outstanding attitude to learning, day

in, day out.

We know that you will go from

strength to strength with Mr King to

lead you and, although you won’t see

as much of us, we will be watching

from the side lines because we can’t

wait to see what you achieve next.

Ruth Painting and Uxio Seijas

(Previous Joint Heads of year 8)

Having nearly reached my threemonth

milestone as the Head of Year 8

I have to say how impressed I am with

the attitude, mindset and resilience

shown by our year 8 students both

before and during our operation as a

virtual school. I knew that year 8 were

a year group with a huge potential

and they really have proven that to

be a fact with the approach to the

challenges that the school closure has

forced them to face. I cannot wait for

normal service to resume again. More

to come from us all in 2020-2021.

Bradley King

(Current Head of year 8)

Year 9

A Message from

Mr Nation-Tellery

The

year 9s, what a phenomenal year

group! I am so proud to be their

Head of Year as I watch them go from strength

to strength. They are dynamic, unique, funny,

brave, energetic, creative, ambitious, kind and

talented. I have seen them acting, singing,

dancing, painting, studying, competing,

socialising, baking and they take everything

in their stride. Like any group of people there

are ups and downs, but these students always

bounce back even higher than they were

before.

I had the privilege of taking a group of students

from the year group to the Christmas markets

in Germany in December. It was a long coach

journey but everyone was in such high spirits

that even the travelling was part of the fun.

We packed in lots of activities in to a short

period of time and despite the cold, we spent

the entire time smiling and laughing.

That all seems like a bit of a distant memory

now but since we have been at home they

have been showing off their creative skills

by competing in Mona Lisa and ninja art

challenges and sending me their pictures. I had

no idea just how talented some of them were.

During lockdown I asked year 9 to fill in a

questionnaire and I received an astounding

amount of replies. There were a wide range of

answers, some were short and sweet, others

were more elaborate but they were all very

reflective. There were a few consistent themes

in their answers. The vast majority wrote that

they missed their friends and teachers. I think

if teachers were given the same questionnaire,

they would also say that they missed their

colleagues and the students too.

But we will be back together soon and as year

9 move to year 10 I am sure I will continue to

be proud of my phenomenal year group.

Matt Nation-Tellery (Head of year 10)

Year 10

A Message from Ms Sidhu

In

September 2019 I remember welcoming my year

group back after their summer break as GCSE

students. It felt as though they had all suddenly matured

from children to young adults with clear goals set out

for the next two years as they recognised the hard work,

motivation and dedication that lay ahead. Our aim for year

10 was to provide students with the tools they will need for

the rest of their academic and professional lives. Tools such

as: resilience, motivation, drive, work load management,

independence and academic curiosity. It is certainly fair to

say that many of our year 10 students have been striving

to master these skills as they have challenged themselves

by leaping into brand new subject areas and impressing

members of staff with their thirst for knowledge and drive

for academic excellence.

This academic year has been one full of opportunities

for year 10 as, although they have their eyes set on their

exams, they are also starting to think about professional

industries. We have worked with CISCO, Speaker’s Trust

and KPMG to expose our students to as many opportunities

as possible to allow them to flourish into confident and first

class candidates for the world’s leading careers. Students

were able to complete work experience placements and

public speaking workshops to prepare them for the wider

world. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the

KPMG Future Leaders Technology programme for Girls

has been postponed but organisers were impressed with

the 17 students who applied as they expressed enthusiasm

and creativity by designing a possible ‘next big invention’

as part of the application process. Namely, Shamaila Baig

impressed the leaders of this initiative at KPMG with her

creation of an app to encourage healthier food choices and

reduce our use of plastic in the environment.

As their Head of Year, I am incredibly proud of the hard

work and dedication our students have put into the first

year of their GCSE’s. We have had a mixture of students

who have strived to push themselves to achieve nothing but

the best, whilst others have worked tirelessly to improve

their work ethic and focus on a growth mindset – it truly

has been a year of overcoming fears, growing up and rising

to the challenge of GCSE’s. This determination to improve

and progress is evident in our ongoing termly reviews of the

year group’s overall Attitude to Learning data, whereby the

number of students who are demonstrating an Outstanding

ATL across the board is ever increasing. As with adults,

our students have risen to the challenge of remote learning

during the lockdown as they continue to persevere and

propel their way towards their goals of being high achievers.

To the year 10s - I would like to say that I look forward to

another year filled with exciting milestones and celebrations

of success with you!

Randeep Sidhu (Head of year 10)

117

Year 11

A Message from

Mr Watton

Year 12

A Message from

Mr Singh

It

would have been great to do this in

person, having the opportunity to

speak to you all directly, but sadly that is

now not possible.

It’s been 6 years since you started at

Cranford and in that time you have grown

immensely. From the small children I met

all those years ago to the incredible group

of young adults I have had the pleasure of

supporting over the past year.

I have tried to support you all, treating you

the way that I treat myself: being tough,

pushing you and challenging you to be

better, holding you to account and not

allowing you to make excuses for yourself,

but always with your best interests in mind.

Year 11

you will forever be unique in the

history of the school as being the

first year 11 group not to sit their GCSE exams and the first

year 11 group to get their results based upon centre assessed

grades. But to me and your form tutors, Ms Brooks and Mr

Bina original tutors, Ms Awuah and Ms Manole who have

been with you since year 8 and Ms Lodge and Ms Sheikh

later but much appreciated additions to the tutor team and

not forgetting Mr Rattu, head of Year and then back as form

tutor; you will always be unique for far more than just that.

You are unique for your sense of humour, your kindness,

your freedom of spirit and your generosity. You are unique

for your adaptability, as you have shown in this period of

lockdown, your teamwork and your ability to make me

smile. You are unique for your talents in music, art, sport,

drama and in your creativity and you are unique for your

intellectual curiosity and ambition.

I know you will use this uniqueness over the summer to

ensure that regardless of the lockdown you are the best

prepared year group ever to start your Sixth Form courses

at Cranford. I look forward to seeing you all when we can

meet again and know that for the vast majority of you, I will

enjoy even more the next 2 years of working with you in our

Cranford Sixth Form. We are the class of 2020.

I hope that I have shown you all that I care,

not always by words, but in a practical

way, by taking action and doing things

to support you, providing opportunities,

encouraging you to take chances and do

something different.

I do hope that over the last 6 years you will

have had a great experience at school that

helps set the foundation for your future.

You are the year group that achieved the

best ever GCSE results at Cranford for

which you deserve to be very proud.

The winds of life and living will blow

you all in different directions, away

from what has been and is now; some

directions expected, others less so. You

will remember your school years forever,

those first formative years that made you

into the person you are now, the person

you are becoming and the person you will

be. Make sure that person is someone you

would look up to now and you’ll be doing

just fine.

Goodbye and good luck.

Aaron Singh

(Head of year 12)


118

Year 12

Christmas

Foodbank

Collections 2019

Farewell to Year 13

Cranford

Community College

and Hounslow Community Foodbox

continued to work together to

develop their long standing

relationship in the past year with

another drive amongst students and

staff to raise donations. Foodbox

is a volunteer run registered

charity (1170666) which provides

emergency food, support and

advice to those who are in need

and live in the London Borough of

Hounslow. The run up to Christmas

saw staff and students alike raiding

their cupboards, managing to

gather together over 900 items

and requiring multiple vehicles to

transport the collection. Year 12

students undertook to organise and

manage the collection and assist

with the distribution. Yet again,

the students and staff of Cranford

showed their commitment to

the community and really came

together to demonstrate the values

we prize and have come to expect

from those working and learning at

the school.

Aaron Sohi (Head of year 12)

A Message from

Ms Patel

On

Friday 20th March 2020, schools across the

UK closed their doors to most pupils due to the

lockdown. For 18-years-olds schools were suddenly out.

Friday 22nd May 2020 would have been the final day for our

year 13 students who are bidding farewell after seven years

of learning at Cranford to embark on the next stage of life

in education, training or employment with an extraordinary

range of memories to remember.

Over the past two years Cranford students have studied hard

to gain their A Levels and further their aspirations towards

their chosen career. It has been a roller-coaster journey of

highs and lows and as I say my farewell from a distance it

is with tears of joy knowing these wonderful young people

will go on to make a great future for themselves. I had been

planning my farewell speech for a while, but no words could

describe the way I feel as I say good bye to the mature young

adults you have become. From the bottom of my heart I wish

you all the best for the future and please keep in touch. You

will always be part of the Cranford family.

Bharti Patel (Head of year 13)

Quarantine / Life on lockdown

with Class of COVID-19

119

Message to Year 13

from the Student Leadership team 2019-2020

Dear year 13,

Although our time together was not supposed to

end so quickly and unexpectedly, we have finally

made it to the end of the race. Our teachers always

said that “year 13 would be a year to remember”,

but who would have thought that we would be

remembered as the year group to not sit our end

of year exams! Whilst our time at Cranford has

come to an end and it has been a roller coaster of

a journey for all of us, we are going to be starting

a new, exciting chapter of our lives. It has been a

privilege to have been a part of an amazing year

group and to share unforgettable memories over

these past years.

Thank you to all the staff at Cranford who have

supported us unconditionally to the very end face

to face and through the virtual school.

As we embark on a new journey, I wish you all

the very best for whatever you choose to pursue in

life; we are all going to go ahead and achieve great

things. Farewell and best wishes Class of 2020!

(Prabhleen Ghattoray, Head Girl 2019 -2020)

During my 7 years at Cranford Community College,

I have learnt a huge amount, not just about the

world around me, but also about myself. I have

had opportunities to cross paths with a multitude of

extraordinary people, students and teachers alike, all

of whom I have learnt a great deal from. I have been

privileged to receive endless support from everyone

around me. I have felt appreciated and accepted as

part of what has become like a family to me, with the

reassurance that we are all in this together. I have had

several memorable opportunities that have aided my

personal development and taken part in lessons that

will forever stay with me and guide me through life.

Thank you Cranford.

Rohit Bhullar (Head Boy 2019 -2020)

Our sixth form journey was cut short but the valuable

skills and memories we acquired will last forever.

Being deputy head boy has been a challenging but

rewarding undertaking. It has given me the opportunity

to meet enthusiastic individuals across all years and to

work with the greatest teachers. It is a shame to say

goodbye but I wish everyone good luck and success

as they start on their new pathways.

Sukhjinder Padda (Deputy Head Boy 2019-2020)

I cannot believe that an unforgettable seven years at

Cranford have come to an end. I have never been fond

of endings but what excites me is that we are all able

to move onto new adventures and new beginnings.

The countless opportunities I have been given at

Cranford are absolutely phenomenal. I really cannot

120

thank all my teachers enough as they have inspired

us all to become better individuals and have always

encouraged us to strive to do our personal best. They

have influenced me in a positive way which has

molded me into the confident and determined person

I am today. Most importantly, I am so grateful to have

made such amazing memories which I will cherish, be

proud of and will never forget.

Nabeeha Ali (Deputy Head Girl 2019-2020)

As much as it hurts to say goodbye to the last 7 years

in such a sudden way, it is important to keep all

our memories alive. Never forget the first days, the

reunions after long breaks or the amazing school trips.

Our cohort is a strong one: we have been through

a lot together and we will continue to succeed.

I am so thankful for the people who shaped my

journey, from the teachers who have taught me for

years to the ones who though they did not teach me

never failed to lift my spirits. Most of all I want to

thank my peers: the class of 2020 has been really

fortunate to be filled with such funny and charismatic

people. I will not say I shall miss you because I know

our paths will continue to cross for years from now.

What I will say to you is good luck for everything else

life throws at you - never stop trying your hardest no

matter what and keep up hope.

Ria Kalia (Deputy Head Girl 2019-2020)

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Cranford.

Moving schools was a massive decision that truly

paid off...I have had a blast. The way the school

ended was not ideal. However, it does not take

away from all the unforgettable experiences I have

had over the last two years. Becoming Deputy

Head Girl as well as the Chair of the Sports

Committee was an absolute highlight. I feel so

honoured to have had the opportunity to represent

our school and hopefully improve it. I was able

to make speeches and presentations across all

year groups about topics I am passionate about.

I also had the chance to host the annual awards

event alongside the talented student leadership

team which was a big achievement and extremely

rewarding. The sports committee and I were able

to organise several events throughout my time

at Cranford. This has helped many students to

understand the importance of sports in their daily

lives and how it has the ability to promote both

physical and mental health. A huge success was

the final Year 12 interform event which took place

in February and was received extremely positively

by all participants. Overall, I loved every second

of my time at Cranford and look forward to what

comes next, confident in the skills set I have built

up during these amazing two years.

Aya Sadouki (Deputy Head Girl 2019-2020)

121

Introducing

The Student Leadership Team 2020-2021

The new Student Leadership team has now been elected and we are delighted to introduce

them to you. They have already been busy setting out how they want to support you in the

coming year. Check out their new site on FROG:

https://frog.cranford.hounslow.sch.uk/152231922904df07a71827a1cc442beb

Sharandeep Saroya (Post 16 School Improvement Team)

Since year 7, I have witnessed Cranford Community College and its

students grow as one entity. The school has offered a multitude of

opportunities throughout the years and has always encouraged me to

be the best version of myself. I want the next generation of students

to feel the same. As Head Girl, I aim to work with the rest of the

student leadership team, committees and prefects of year 12 to ensure

Cranford continues to thrive and bring positive change to the wider

community. I am studying A Level Biology, Chemistry and English

Literature as I hope to pursue Dentistry at university, and I believe

the role of Head Girl will enable me to develop vital skills for the

future. It is both a great privilege and responsibility to represent the

student body at such a level, and I am excited to work with pupils

and teachers across the school in the coming year.

Anjali Bhambra (Head Girl - Chair of Charities Committee)

My main role as Deputy Head Boy is to work alongside the whole sixth

form team and to provide support and be a strong role model to younger

students. My main aim for the Arts and Culture Committee is to raise people’s

awareness about the wide range of cultures within our community as well

as to increase student participation in the creative arts. It is a great way to

display the huge talent pool at Cranford and to increase the involvement of

all students in shaping their school.

Ashley Shoy-Skepple (Deputy Head Boy - Chair of the Arts and

Culture Committee)

Both my roles as the leader of the Environment Committee and sixth form

prefect have provided me with a strong teamwork ethic. This will allow me

to make positive changes to the environment in Cranford with the help and

support of my team. As Deputy Head Girl, I relish the responsibility to help

my school achieve even higher standards and an even greater reputation in

the community.

Jasneet Gaba (Deputy Head Girl – Chair of the Environment Committee)

122

Student Leadership Team

2020-2021

Like many things that I do in life, I am writing this

caption without much of an idea and the same goes

for me undertaking the role of Head Boy. But like

many things in life, I believe that the most educational

experiences are the ones that we undertake together

with other people, who are probably also as confused

about the meaning of life as we are. I will be looking

forward to working with the Cranford community

(including, but not limited to, everyone currently

reading this paragraph) during the next year, and to

make this a valuable experience for us all.

Guy Harit Boonyarakyotin (Head Boy - Chair of the

STEM Committee)

Having been elected as Deputy Head Boy and leader of the Sports Committee,

I will ensure that student feedback is actively listened to and acted upon

within the school. Whilst studying is an important aspect of my life, I also

partake in many extra – curricular activities and have represented the school

in various cricket tournaments as captain. I have also been a leading member

of a cricket club for almost 10 years. This has made me understand the crucial

role that sports can play in developing and increasing a person’s skillset.

I am a hard working, conscientious individual with the passion and desire

to help provide greater sports facilities for students. I also want students

to get involved by helping the committee organise interactive inter – form

competitions for everyone to enjoy. I am open to any sensible suggestions

and will aim to work in collaboration with the PE department to create a high

number of fixtures for all of the school’s sports teams.

Ruhaan Mughal (Deputy Head Boy - Chair of the Sports Committee)

Being a student at Cranford since Year 7 has helped me grow as a person

and has definitely shaped who I am today. I am both privileged and proud to

undertake my new roles as Deputy Head Girl as well as leader of the Well-

Being Committee. In this position, I hope to inspire those who are struggling

with their well-being and to motivate them by providing activities that help

build the required skills needed to live a full and happy life. Moreover, it is

important to raise awareness about different topics and ensure that Cranford

is a safe space for everyone to feel welcome and be open about themselves.

Jaineet Soni (Deputy Head Girl - Chair of the Well Being Committee)

123

Cranford in Lockdown

“Many of my

friends and I have

been watching the

news and actually

paying attention.

Not because we

are mandated in

school or told to

by our parents but

because we are

finally curious

about what is

happening around

the world”.

Manpreet 11Z

“Another thing I will always remember

about this dark time is how the whole

world has come together to support one

another in this difficult time – Like bees

in a hive”.

Yuvraj 11V

On

20th March 2020, Cranford closed its doors

to all but the most vulnerable students and

those with key worker parents due to the Coronavirus

pandemic.

For many years, we have heard students every winter

asking each other about potential snow days and

the answer is always the same: ‘Whatever else is

happening with local schools, Cranford never closes’.

It took a global crisis on an unprecedented scale to

shut our doors, but as is true across the UK and indeed

the world, it is often only in genuine adversity that

you see the true strength and spirit of a community

and that has certainly been the case at Cranford. The

following pages will hopefully give you a glimpse

of some of the care and creativity, innovation and

inspiration in the most challenging circumstances,

which our students and staff have exemplified. It has

without doubt been, as Ofsted once so wisely put it

‘beyond outstanding’.

Cranford prepared for the pandemic early, with

purchases of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

in mid-January that were later passed on to West

Middlesex University Hospital to be used by our

heroic frontline colleagues in the NHS. When the

Prime Minister’s instruction to close schools came on

March 18th 2020, we were as ready as we could be

and there was still time for staff training on Thursday

19th March 2020 on virtual learning and our online

learning platform FROG, before final assemblies

for year 11 and year 13. There were tears and fond

farewells but hugs had already been replaced by

elbow taps and socially distanced waves and good

wishes. This was an end of term like no other. It was

also the beginning of an entirely new chapter for the

academy and the community.

At the heart of our virtual school have been two

priorities: innovative and exciting learning and

teaching and the highest quality pastoral care. Form

tutors have made weekly phone calls to all students,

with some more in need in daily contact, and the

stunning collaborative leaps forward in teachers’

(and students’) use of technology has made remote

learning ever less remote.

Powerpoint presentations on FROG have moved to

learning mats and live lessons on MS Teams and

weekly tutor calls have become video group chats

with the chance for students and staff to see each

other and share learning and laughter, even in this

most difficult of times.

Alongside our academic provision, Cranford’s

partnership with Heston West Big Local leapt into

action and the pop-up foodbank has been providing

food parcels to 120 families throughout the lockdown.

124

Social Skills lesson.

I’m thankful for my cats,

I’m thankful for my afternoon tea,

I’m thankful for blue skies,

Etc.

I owe great respect to our doctors,

And a handful of actors,

But I owe it all to our bus drivers

Who get us from A to B safely.

Without our key workers

we would all be in a pickle,

As they keep our earth turning

without a tickle!

“Cranford is also something I miss:

coming to school laughing with my

friends and enjoying the canteen food.

Oh, the canteen food! Delicious”.

Iman 11W

We have one planet

that was handed to us,

And we need to do our best with it.

But if we do not comply,

We haven’t done our bit.

Daniel 10U

This group of volunteers, including staff, students and

community members, have been joined each Tuesday

by increasing numbers of colleagues organising the

printing and mail-out of work and resources to 100

students. More recently we achieved full connectivity

for our whole community by delivering laptops and,

to date, 92 of the academy’s own desktop PCs along

with internet dongles to ensure that everyone is now

online and connected. We may have been locked in

but no child has been locked out of their learning or

our community and we have remained fully inclusive.

At the same time, students and ex-students have been

going above and beyond. A new student leadership

team, elected during lockdown, have produced their

own web pages, videos and challenges. Our alumnae,

led by Magic Singh and Esther Nicholls, have given

their time to making uplifting and thought-provoking

materials for our current students, from magic shows

to lift spirits to guides on what to read and how to

prepare for university degrees.

The work students have been producing is the most

spectacular of all these achievements. There is more

than enough unbelievable poetry and painting to fill

a gallery when we return. From year 10s using their

daily exercise time to keep running logs with the PE

department; the year 11 band’s followers on social

media topping 100,000; English You Tube channels;

year 9 rainbow ninjas; individual Physics tutorials;

Geography’s exploration of rainforests; the School

Counsellor’s mindfulness activities; the list is endless

and things to make us proud are everywhere. Students

and staff have been baking, building, sewing, cycling,

writing, drawing, singing and learning their socks off.

Staff have never worked so hard recording assemblies

and lessons, marking and feeding back to students in

ever more creative ways and donating ipads, bikes

and above all their time across evenings, weekends

and holidays.

We are now busily planning our return to real school

life. All year 6 pupils have been interviewed online

and exciting transition activities are available for

them, alongside the transition sites for year 11 and

year 13 full of engaging activities, opportunities and

stretch.

Whatever difficulties are to come, we can be proud

of all we have achieved and confident in our futures.

In the words of one year 11: “I will always remember

about this dark time how the whole world has come

together to support one another – like bees in a

hive.” Nowhere has this been truer than at Cranford

Community College.


125

Lockdown Food Bank

Where a Community Comes Together

At

the start of lockdown in March 2020

we realised that many vulnerable

households did not have the means or

ability to feed themselves. Government and Local

Authority schemes were not in place and many people

could not go out because of shielding. Add to that

the shortages of food on supermarket shelves and the

situation did not look good. As a result, the Heston and

Cranford community came together to help feed the

vulnerable in our community. This pop up foodbank

delivery service is being led by Heston West Big Local

and Cranford Community College. The initiative is

being supported by our partners Berkeley Academy,

Heston Royal British Legion, Heston Action Group

and Seema Malhotra MP for Feltham and Heston.

We were able to secure the supply of food from

Chartwells Catering Company with each household

receiving a pack of food to the value of between

£40 and £50 including items like rice, pasta, tinned

tomatoes, tuna, corned beef, beans, milk, bread,

cereal, tinned fruit, eggs and toilet roll, for a week.

After 11 weeks of deliveries we have delivered

over 1000 food parcels bringing food to over

430 people in the Heston and Cranford area on

a weekly basis.

A huge thank you to the amazing volunteers who

have given up their time including bank holidays

to make this all happen. We have had over 40

people volunteer to either sort the deliveries or to

deliver. In addition to community volunteers we

have had Cranford staff and students all working

together to support their community. A particular

big shout out to Ryan and Damon who have been

stunning working two days a week right from

day one.

There are many things to worry about at this

difficult time so let’s try and make food something

that people do not need to worry about.

Alan Fraser (Assistant Headteacher - Director of

Community Partnerships)

126

Cranford Review 2020

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