The Halley's Comment

The Halley's Comment

Issue 17 - Module 2

“Those who can imagine anything can create the impossible”

Turing School

The conclusion of one calendar year, and the start of a new one, is a time for reflection, future goal setting and the celebration of achievements and accomplishments. As a school we have a number of things that we will celebrate within our student population, but I believe none are more important than the way our school community has remained a steady, committed and supportive presence for its students in an increasingly challenging and confusing world.

During 2022, we welcomed a number of Ukrainian students into the school, with all students adding value, personality and warmth to our community. As a school we are committed to ensuring that their experience of education is one that every child should have regardless of circumstance, and will continue to work with their families and our partners to ensure that this is sustained.

The role of the Small School Senior Team in this work is vital, and I would like to take this opportunity to remind our new Year 7 and in-year admission families of the key stakeholders in their child’s education:

Head of School - This role is to ensure that all aspects of your child’s progress, wellbeing and safety are in place and they feel supported, cared for and provided with the tools and opportunities to thrive. A Head of School is responsible for all aspects of their Small School, and they have fantastic opportunities to communicate with the many students and their families they come into contact with on a day-to-day basis.

Deputy Head of School - This role is similar to my own and will deputise for me as required and usually has a specialism in supporting students academic progress, particularly with students in Key Stage 4. They work closely with the rest of the team to ensure that your child is developing academically and will challenge them to be at their best in every lesson.

Director of Progress - They are the Turing School’s student champion and are responsible for ensuring that our students make progress, regardless of year group. A Director of Progress is a teacher themselves, and provides a fantastic link between a student's subject and the Turing School to ensure that all stakeholders are providing opportunities for the student to thrive. They also lead our induction programme for new admissions, with many of you I am sure benefitting from their great work.

Small School Managers - Our Small School Managers are the drivers and gatekeepers of the Small School. They are involved in all aspects of your child’s time here at the academy and the first port of call if you have any concerns or information about your child. They provide high quality pastoral care to all our students and are a fantastic asset to the Turing School.

Small School Administrator - The Turing School can be contacted directly via telephone or email, with a Small School Administrator responsible for the management of all communications within the academy and will be able to support you in speaking with the right person and help with any queries you may have.

As I mentioned at the start of this article, we have a number of things to celebrate within the Turing School. We currently have over 110 students with 100% attendance, with Ms Brown’s tutor group - 7T2 leading the way with 97%. The fantastic achievements of our students are also reflected in the number of award cards they have been awarded. Patricia, Olawunmi, N’Tay, Ruby, Sean, Aleksandra (all of Year 8) have led the way in completing their award cards and being fantastic role models in their year group.

The role our students play in being ambassadors for the academy contributes to its continued success. It was heartwarming to see so many of our fantastic students supporting our highly successful Open Evening and morning tours, with all of our prospective families commenting on the welcome they received and the quality of conversations they had with their tour guides on their learning.

I would like to conclude by also thanking you for your support and communication throughout this calendar year. We rely on your openness and willingness to support us and your child during their school lives, with those firmly rooted relationships enabling each child to prosper. As always, we are here to support your child and will keep you, the families, updated as we travel through the course of this academic year. If you would like to contact someone at any point, please email us at turing@thehalleyacademy.org.uk.

Mr Stevens

Head of Turing School

Easley School

What a wonderful first 2 modules of the 2022-23 academic year. The Easley students have started this academic year as they left the last, meeting and exceeding the highest of expectations. Our year 11 students have stepped up and are currently demonstrating an immense commitment to their studies through the mature and thorough approach to their mock examinations. This series of exams enables them to apply their learning and reflect on the work that still needs to be done to achieve the very best that they are able to in the summer of 2023. The whole of Easley are behind them and supporting their endeavours every step of the way. If your child has any concerns, worries or questions about the examinations they can speak to a member of the Easley team or their subject teachers.

Our year 7 students have settled well and it already feels like they have been Halley students forever! They have made friends, both in Easley and the rest of the year group and we are excited about the potential they have already shown. It has been fantastic to see how quickly they have settled and grown in confidence.

A number of the year 10 students have become Halley’s Heroes and started to mentor younger Easley students. Their own experiences and guidance will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the growth of our younger students. The Heroes will also develop a range of highly valued skills which will serve them well in applications and future careers.

There are also a number of other leadership opportunities to highlight and celebrate. Year 11 Easley students are taking an active role in the Prom Committee and are a driving force behind the fundraising for the prestigious event. Our Sports Captains have been appointed and will take on leadership roles with primary school students, as well as within the academy and a large number of students from years 8 - 11 have been incredible ambassadors for the academy during our open day and evening events.

Many of you may remember that last year we were proud to let you know about Tomi’s (year 10) achievements in Taekwondo. We are very excited that Tomi had a recent call-up from British Taekwondo to the GB Cadet Team to compete in the European Championships in Malta.

Mrs Cronin

Head of Easley School

“You can do anything you want to, but you have to work at it”

“All that is necessary is the belief that by doing our best we shall come nearer to success and that success ..... is worth attaining”

Franklin School

At the start of module 2, it was a pleasure to welcome back Franklin students to the Academy after the October half-term break. We have been incredibly impressed with the continued work ethic of students, returning to their studies with the focus, commitment and drive that are essential to success.

Our new Year 7 students are settling well into Academy life, forming strong positive relationships with their fellow tutees, whilst our Year 10 students are making good progress as they commence their GCSE and vocational courses. All Franklin students benefited from their Cultural Capital Day Experiences, whether, for example, visiting the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace or Wicked the Musical. It was lovely to see students make links with their learning in the classroom as part of their IB Middle Years Programme. Year 11 students have completed a successful round of mock examinations, giving them the experience that will afford them success in the summer. It was also a pleasure to see so many Franklin students take part in the Academy Christmas Concert at the end of the module too.

We also want to celebrate the large number of Franklin students who, by the end of Module 2, have a 100% attendance record. Research shows us that attending school every day is the factor which has the largest impact on a student's achievement and progress. We therefore want to highlight the following students from across Franklin school who have maintained their 100% attendance so far this academic year: Kehinde, Taiwo, Roheemat, Mateen, Alaa, Rayhanath, Aisha, Wesley, Wyndlyn, Sara, Edita, Victoria, Matthew, Daria, Daniel, Bernard, Emmanuella, Mario, Lewhat, Laila, Frederick, Julia, Lea, Tom, Eric, Arinze, Boaz, Christian, Oluwatomiwa, Daniel, Francis, Stephanie, Mariah, Dzheren, Shucayb, Monsuru, Abdullah, Selina, Diego, Ahalaban, Yulia, Emmanuel, Hannah, Lucien, Tenzin, Jay, Havilah and Pishon.

As the academic year unfolds we will of course strive to keep you, the families, updated with everything that your child has been up to. If you would like to contact someone at any point, please email us at franklin@thehalleyacademy.org.uk.

As I move into my new role from January, I wanted to pass on a personal thanks to everybody in the Franklin learning community - students, parents/carers, tutors and staff - who have made this Small School such a great place to work. In particular, Mrs Parsons (Deputy Head of School), Mr Roques (Director of Progress), Ms Billings and Ms Godfrey (Small School Managers) and Mrs Walder (Small School Administrator), who go above and beyond every day to support the academic progress and pastoral care of our students. We are very fortunate to have Mr Jonathan Kamya join us as Head of Franklin School from January, who will bring with him a wealth of experience, knowledge and compassion to the role. We look forward to welcoming Mr Kamya to the Franklin learning community, and I know that he cannot wait to meet and work with you all.

Mr Russell

Head of Franklin School

Hawking School

Thank-you from the Service Learning team!

Thank you again to everyone who helped by providing items, boxes or creating a whole box: your simple act of kindness will put a smile on a child’s face and for that you should feel so proud.

The service learning students together created a total of 17 boxes for the Operation Christmas Child project, and are already planning how to increase this number next year.

Very well done, and thank-you again.

"Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet"

Judo England Development Team

Rebecca Thundercliffe (Year 12)

We would like to congratulate Rebecca Thundercliffe for her outstanding performance in a recent Judo championship held at East London University.

Her previous competition had seen her competing against 20 year-olds and over-20 year-olds in national tournaments. Rebecca obtained 3 gold medals in these competitions.

Rebecca will be attending the finals in March against British school students in Sheffield and she has been selected for the England Development team. Good luck Rebecca!

Y13 Mock Exams

Congratulations to Year 13 for successfully completing their mocks. This was the first opportunity for some students in this cohort to face a formal exam setting following the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was a valuable learning experience for all. Results will be available in Module 3.

A reminder for those Level 3 vocational students with exams in January to continue their revision over the winter break.

UCAS Deadline

A reminder to Year 13 students that the deadline to submit their UCAS applications is Sunday 15th January.

Over the winter break, teachers have been working hard preparing your references. Please ensure that you have completed your personal statement and that this has been checked and verified by your form tutor, any relevant subject teachers and a member of the Hawking team (Mr Harrison, Mr Burrows or Ms Badesha).

Uptree

We are pleased to announce that Uptree will again be support sixth form student with destination assemblies and specific advice on employment, apprenticeships and extended work placements.

Uniform standards

A reminder to all Hawking students of our business wear uniform expectations - this are important as our Year 12 and 13 cohorts act as role models to younger students in the Academy.

Hoodies and trainers are not permitted, and students must also wear there lanyards throughout the day.

The geography department is excited to announce that The Halley Academy is one of only five schools in London that has won a Climate Change Kickstart grant of £10,000 to make our Halley community more sustainable. Our project, focused on addressing the cost of living in our local community, aims to support those with hardships due to the cost of living crisis as well as make our Halley community more sustainable by tackling the climate change crisis. A series of small projects will be carried out by The Halley students and staff.

Over the course of this academic year, we will be:

Using the greenhouse to grow ecological vegetables and donate them to local food banks in the area;
Encouraging waste reduction from the restaurant and using the food waste for compost to encourage the growth of produce in our greenhouse;
Carrying out an energy audit around the school;
Implementing a reusable bottle scheme for all students;
Introducing a 'walk/cycle' to school week every module as well as a carpool scheme for staff to reduce greenhouse emissions in the local area;
Upkeeping the population of chickens and bees on site.

Students from all year groups will be leading these small projects. To launch this exciting opportunity, four of our students attended a prize giving event on Monday 14th November 2022, meeting the Deputy Mayor of London. As usual, our students were our greatest ambassadors.

Cultural Capital Day - Wednesday 3rd December 2022

The British Museum

Twenty students in years 8 and 9 took an exciting trip through history on The Halley’s visit to the British Museum. Travelling on the recently opened Elizabeth line, that connects Woolwich to Tottenham Court Road in twenty-five minutes, the students wound their way through a bustling Great Russell Street to the entrance of the museum. They were suitably impressed by the award-winning building and, once inside, travelled through Ancient Greece via Iran and Ancient Egypt. We considered what the objects on display reveal about the culture and history of places, as well as where and how history should be documented and shared. Students said they would be back to finish their explorations!

London Zoo

Our Year 8 and 9 Cultural Capital Day trip was to London Zoo so we were pleased that it was a bright and sunny Winter's day on Wednesday.

Our students were a pleasure to be accompanying all day, they even received a compliment from a member of the public during the outward journey regarding their excellent conduct.

Everyone enjoyed Gorilla World and the monkeys as the primates all seemed to show off and entertain us. The lions were sound asleep but we had a close up view of them which was amazing. We warmed up with the reptiles and chilled as we viewed the fish in the aquarium. One of the colourful African parrots had a noisy chat with us and the super cute penguins even splashed Fabio Lu during play! Amy Arnold and Sophie Brown have vowed to be lepidopterists as their career paths after a wonderful, soothing experience in the butterfly house.

All in all, a fabulous time was had by all!

Chelsea Football Stadium Tour

On cultural capital day, a mix of 35 year 8 and 9 students went to Chelsea football stadium where they got to tour the ground and experience what the Chelsea players experience every week. The tour involved a run down of the club’s history and future developments as well as a tour of the press room and dressing rooms where the Chelsea players get ready for a game. They then got to walk down the tunnel to the pitch (but not onto it unfortunately) and see what it feels like to walk out to a stadium that can hold 60,000 fans! It was a great day and the students were excellent ambassadors for the Halley Academy and asked some great questions throughout the day. The tour guide was very impressed with their questions and behaviour!

Science Museum

Wednesday the 7th of December was a cold day to be taking students out on a trip. However the excitement levels were high and students were keen to get going. Travelling by train, we arrived at the Science museum with eager eyes. Students were keen to explore the wonders of space, to delve deeper into the human body through the who am I exhibit, and interacted with some of the procedures needed to become a technician. The medicine and procedures on display made our students feel privileged they live in modern times. We left the museum gathering a flavour of what was on offer. Students did not want to leave and are keen to return to explore the unexplored.

Hampton Court

Hampton Court isn't just any historical Palace. Decisions made at this Palace have shaped the country as its stands today. Stepping back in time to the height of the Tudor Dynasty was a magical experience for some of our Year 8 and Year 9 students. They were in awe of the Main Hall, dazzled by King Henry VIII's crown and rightly puzzled by the maze. All students behaved impeccably, even indulging in group reading on the train back. Although the temperature was cold and frosty, the backdrop of the Palace and its gardens gave the students a truly immersive historical experience.

Imperial War Museum, Duxford

On Wednesday 7th December 2022, 12 students attended a trip, as part of their cultural capital week, to the Imperial War museum Duxford. Students were able to see a large collection of wartime and historical memorabilia from Spitfires to Concord, B52 bombers to Blackbird spy planes and military uniforms throughout the decades. The museum had it all. The students asked many questions to the IWM volunteers who shared many historical stories about the planes, tanks, guns and uniforms that were in front of us, bringing the experience to life. All students represented the academy perfectly and thoroughly enjoyed their day.

Tower of London

The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames. This Cultural Capital Day, forty-seven members of the year 7 cohort traveled across central London to visit this historic site.

During their visit, they were dazzled by the breathtaking, world-famous collection of 23,578 gemstones that make up the Crown Jewels. They marveled at the imposing White Tower, a magnificent example of Norman architecture, at the heart of the Tower of London, which they have studied during their Module 2 history lessons. Lastly, they were able to roam the Tower of London's formidable fortress. As they stood beside life-size metalwork soldiers and their weapons, students thoroughly enjoyed imagining what it was like to be part of the medieval garrison defending the Tower.

Students behaved impeccably, thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience, and were a delight to take.

A massive thank you to the members of staff who accompanied the students.

Wicked

60 students from Years 8 and 9 visited the Apollo Theatre in London for a 'Wicked' experience.

Many of the students had never been to a theatre before and they were not disappointed!

On arrival our whole group were upgraded to some of the best seats in the auditorium.

One student said it was 'brilliant' and called their father on the way home to ask when they could go again.

Many thanks to all the staff who supported the trip and congratulations to all the students who represented the Academy so well.

The Halley STEM Projects

Module 2 saw the continuation of a number of STEM projects at The Halley, with more in the planning stage for early 2023.

STEM club continues to run on Monday evenings in TC2. In module 2, students made balloon powered cars, hovercrafts and balloon rockets, as well as designing and testing parachutes.

The parachutes had to carry a payload (one raw egg), which had to survive the landing intact. Participants also designed canopies and protection for their eggy pilots, and the parachutes were tested by dropping them off the balcony at the back of S10. Sad to say, only one of the pilots survived the experience intact!

In module 3, we will see the relaunch of our robotics club. We are currently in the process of registering a robotics team, so that we can enter national robotics challenges. This years challenge is called Slapshot, and further details can be found here . If you would like to try programming a virtual robot, you can do so at this site.

Once we have a team registered, the first task will be to dismantle the existing practice bots and design and test new robots that will be able to complete the set challenges.

Thursday evenings have been devoted to the Halley Comet Greenpower racing car, and to microdrone club.

The Greenpower racer is nearing mechanical completion: the build has proved challenging, testing the students ability to problem solve and innovate to overcome problems. Many valuable lessons have been learned along the way, and the students involved are becoming increasingly confident and competent. Once the mechanics have been completed, the next stage will be to design and build the bodywork. We are hoping that by modules 5&6 we may be in a position to start entering races with our car - new members of the team are always welcome from across Years 7-11.

The members of the microdrone club are busy designing and 3D printing the body for their drones using Tinkercad and Fusion360. The finished drones will then be tested and refined, allowing the students to enhance their creativity, design and problem solving skills. Once completed the drones will be raced around an inside course.

Next module will also see the relaunch of the EcoSchools project. EcoSchools is an international student led organisation which encourages students to be proactive in looking after their own local environment and community, and the global environment too. Projects undertaken are student chosen and led, and there is even the chance to sit on the National EcoSchools committee, making decisions that affect the whole country. One of the first projects next year will be to plant the 100 assorted native fruit bearing trees into a wildlife friendly hedge in the field, continuing the Jubilee hedge planted earlier this year.

2022 has been a very good year for STEM at The Halley, and we are looking forward to an even better one in 2023!

Infinity Hub - Horticulture

2022 saw the KS3 and KS4 students from the Infinity Hub working particularly hard in their garden.

We have planted tomatoes, strawberries, cucamelons, radishes, carrots, spinach, shallots and many different herbs and flowers in the 4 raised beds. We have grown some fruit, vegetables and herbs from seed and others from seedlings and cuttings, which have been donated by Julia Milligan from the science department greenhouse.

We have tasted and eaten lots of the produce and donated some to the school kitchen. This term we’ve been cutting some of the herbs and donating them to the food technology department who are chopping and freezing them for the future. We have also made bird feeders to hang on the fence to encourage more birds to the garden.

We are still working on the garden furniture and should soon complete the busy board that will be fixed to the garden fence. Watch this space for further developments in 2023!