Jason Statham was at Old Palace filming for his latest movie, Hummingbird.
Twenty of the singers in the Year 6 and 7 choir will actually be appearing in the
film ...
issue 31
MAY 2012
www.oldpalace.croydon.sch.uk
Keeping you informed about what’s been happening
AROUND THE PALACE Welcome
100% medical success for Old Palace Huge congratulations to our hard-working Year 13 Medics and Dentists who have all received offers to study at a range of prestigious medical and dental schools next year including Imperial College, Birmingham, Nottingham, Newcastle and Queen Mary’s. Entry to medical and dental courses has become fiercely competitive in recent years with universities receiving thousands of applicants for relatively few places. Our girls have worked so hard not just on their academic studies but also on their extensive work-experience placements, and all of this in addition to their numerous hobbies and positions of responsibility. The students have received a great deal of support, particularly through the Medsoc programme in which they can draw upon the expertise of staff and also support each other. Most of the credit, however, must go to this talented group of individuals and we wish them the very best of luck in their A level examinations.
We are pleased to announce that Old Palace, in conjunction with the Whitgift Foundation, will be introducing a new online payment portal for parents shortly. Starting with lunch money payments, parents will be able to top-up their daughter’s card via the online link that can be accessed via our website. More details will follow - but we hope to extend this service to cover other outgoings. Also, in the next couple of weeks we will be confirming our transport routes for September. Keep a look out on the website for further information and to reserve a space if required.
Carol Jewell, Head
Government and Politics
Medics: Yasmin Jameel, Dara Rasasingam, Kavita Uddin, Hana Sbahi, Tania Jeyaseelan, Lauren Ankrah Dentists: Niva Shah, Nikkita Shah
Hard work rewarded
An impressive number of preparatory students in Years 3- 5 were awarded certificates for the excellent effort they put
into their work in praise Assembly last week. Congratulations and keep up the good work!!
We are very proud of the enthusiasm and interest that our students always show for their studies of Government and Politics at Old Palace. This was demonstrated recently by two of our Year 12 students in the studio audience for the recent BBC mayoral debate hosted by Andrew Neil, in Stratford. Alicia Vaughan-Dick and Nicole Vigilance joined the audience and participated in the debates by posing their questions to the candidates. Both students thoroughly enjoyed the event and it certainly brought their studies to life!
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Sixth Form news Last week, Sixth Form members of the Critical Thinking AS group, Emma, Freyja, Keerthanaa, Ruth and Vicky, who also run the Critical Thinking Club for Year 7s put on a challenging Easter egg hunt for Year 7. It proved so popular during the Easter break that they decided to organise another one last week. There were colour-coded eggs for each team placed around the school in all four buildings. Each of these eggs had a rhyming riddle/clue that lead to the position of the next egg. There are prizes for everyone who entered. We hope they all enjoyed it.
Inspiring talk In other news, last week the Sixth Form received yet another inspiring talk from Alice Fookes, the UK’s UN Ambassador for women’s rights. She spoke to us on the importance of creating and developing women’s leadership in all areas of society. As an all girls school we found this subject exceptionally personal and challenging, as we considered what our role would be in society, now and in the future.
Transport Economics Talk
On Thursday 26 April, the Year 13 Economics students were treated to an afternoon lecture on the subject of Transport Economics. The talk was delivered by a parent of one of our Year 7 students - Derrick Jones – a senior economist in the Civil Service. Contrary to popular belief Transport Economics really is exciting – honest. Our students learnt about the process and techniques of appraising transport projects such as the Coulsdon bypass, the pros and cons of expanding airport capacity in the UK and the methods that Economists use to place financial values on external economic costs and benefits such as noise, time and pollution.
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New staff arrival: Dance Corrie Lunghi joins us this term as Subject Leader for Dance, after 5 years working at the Royal Academy of Dance as a Lecturer in Dance Education, training dance teachers at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She is covering Catherine Ferrer who is on maternity leave. Corrie trained as a professional contemporary dancer/choreographer at the Laban Centre London and has worked with dance companies and choreographers in the UK and Europe. Corrie has been teaching dance to young
people and adults for 15 years. Corrie’s work has involved dance within and beyond the curriculum, specializing in cross curricular work and different dance styles in primary, secondary, sixth form and higher education. Residencies include work with the National Gallery, British Film Institute, Creative Partnerships and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Corrie is a Ministry of Defence approved artist and has been delivering dance in Service Children’s Education (Germany, Italy, Cyprus) since 2007.
Hollywood comes to Old Palace You may have seen in the local press that Jason Statham was at Old Palace filming for his latest movie, Hummingbird. Twenty of the singers in the Year 6 and 7 choir will actually be appearing in the film after appearing as extras! A portion of the movie was shot in the Old Palace Chapel over Easter including a scene with a choir singing in an “assembly” shot with lead actress Agata Buzek. Despite an early start on Sunday morning, recording the sound track at 7am, the students were on top form and did a really professional job. One of the production supervisors commented “They were great. They were exactly what we wanted. If I need a choir or children for filming
again, I know exactly where to come.” So look out for Old Palace students at a cinema near you!
Year 6 trip to the Isle of Wight
Expectations were high as we set off on our first school trip abroad. OK, so we were only going to the Isle of Wight but it involved a ferry and we would be leaving the mainland! This was going to be a very exciting adventure! The purpose of our trip to the newly refurbished Kingswood Centre near Bembridge was to have as much fun as possible and to challenge ourselves to participate in activities that we thought were really beyond us and to overcome our fears. We also spent some time on the beach at Whitecliff Bay looking for aquatic “mini beasts” which live in the rock pools and also learnt about the tides and coastline. This was one of the highlights of the trip!
Back at the centre it is hard to pick out a favourite activity – they were all so exciting, but the Leap of Faith and 3G Swing were hard to beat! The Leap of Faith tested our courage and stamina as we climbed a very tall telegraph pole and then jumped off the top to catch a trapeze bar. By contrast the 3G Swing involved team work as we pulled the swing as high as we could and then released a bar: we made a lot of noise as we swung backwards and forwards – with excellent views across the Bay. For all the activities one of the most important elements was encouraging and supporting each other and we are very proud of each other’s achievements as well as our own!
