Subject Overview 

Please see below for a student’s account of the day:

Our instructor made us feel comfortable; they reassured us that speaking in front of others can indeed be daunting for everybody. We had to introduce ourselves one by one by going up to the front of the class and we had a criteria to follow in our introduction: our name, its meaning, our passion, dislikes and ambition. Everyone was very supportive and respectful, and we all were able to comfortably speak in front of everyone. Then we were given impromptu statements and, in small groups, had to argue either for or against (by articulating using a point, providing three justifications and a punchy conclusion). We would give each other feedback and try to focus on these for the rest of the day.

During the afternoon, we had to perform two speeches, both within small groups of around 5 or 6. For the first speech of the afternoon, we were asked to describe a moment in our lives when we felt strong emotions; our aim was to make these entertaining. Our peers listened attentively to each story before providing advice on how we could improve engagement levels.  Following this, we moved onto the final speech of the day, where we practised and improved our already written speeches in preparation for our English oral mock exam. We practised them to 5 other attentive listeners and delivered them twice, with a timer to help us to moderate how fast we should be speaking. Then we made some adjustments to the speeches, using what we had learned throughout the day whilst incorporating comments from peers. 

The Jack Petchy workshop helped give us confidence when delivering our formal English oral assessments. At the start, we didn’t want to so much as tell our names to the group. However, through practice we ended up being able to deliver our entire speech to groups of our peers. This opportunity to practise public speaking provided so much encouragement and useful feedback. Public speaking is something that many people dread mainly; the workshop definitely made the thought of it much less daunting. - Stanley S, year 10.

We would love to see students getting involved with Sparx over the summer holiday. As a preview to what they will be learning in the first set of modules, Sparx can be a very strong starting point for students to get ahead of the curve and start learning early. This would put them in a fantastic position at the start of the new school year. For Year 11s, particularly, this would be very helpful going into their final GCSE year.

Things to do this module outside of school

1. 1. Watch the film Antarctica 3D IMAX at the Science Museum, Kensington;

   2. Discover how London grew from a bustling capital city to a global hub for trade, commerce, and scientific inquiry at the Science Museum, Kensington;

   3. Go to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit at the Natural History Museum

Throughout the summer, we wish all students and families marking any religious holidays the happiest of celebrations. 

Things coming up next module

From September onwards, we will have a much bigger cohort for Business studies; Year 10, Year 11 and Year 12. 

Year 10 - They will be introduced to Theme 1; developing a real passion for the subject by researching potential business ideas that they could start up, for the Peter Jone Tycoon competition. 

Year 11 - This will be the schools’ first year 11 Business cohort. They will be entering a new stage of maturity, within themselves and the subject. They will be moving on to Theme 2 ‘ Building a business’. This will allow them to further solidify their knowledge so they are fully prepared for their GCSE next summer. 

Year 12 - This will be the first cohort of year 12’s for the school, they will be studying L3 BTEC Business National Diploma. Units ranging from; Unit 1 Exploring business, Unit 2 Developing a marketing campaign, Unit 3 Personal and business finance, Unit 4 Managing an event, Unit 5 International business, Unit 6 Principles of management, Unit 8 Recruitment and selection and finally, Unit 19 Pitching for a New Business

It is imperative that ALL Business students are readily prepared for the new academic year. This can be done by utilising the links at the bottom of the page. 

Below is a student’s accounts of the day: 

In today's technology-driven world, exposure to different computing skills and concepts is crucial to communicating effectively with one another. LAB’s digital fair allowed year 8 students to delve into computing, providing information on many different career paths and opportunities to consider. It was eye-opening to explore Adobe’s design tools and its possibilities for visual communication. The ability to create compelling visuals and manipulate images left me with a newfound respect for online design, and provoked genuine interest in a career path in this field, something I had never previously considered. Additionally, working with Lego robots was an exhilarating experience that brought together my love for problem-solving and engineering, whilst engaging in Micro:bit and App Lab introduced me to a whole new world of coding (it was inspiring to see how a few lines of code could bring an idea to life and address real-world difficulties). 

The digital fair not only exposed me to new fields of interest but also provided valuable opportunities that extended beyond the activities themselves; I developed critical skills, analysed problems, devised strategies, and implemented solutions to practical, real-world problems. The fair gave me a feel for how I could use my knowledge of Computing in real life, and in a future career. - Sriya P, Year 8

GCSE Students 

Throughout module 4 and 5 our KS4 student have been devising their own theatre performance on “Refugees”