News

Loxford in the month of June

LOXFORD IN THE MONTH OF JUNE

Within the month of June, our students took part in the following activities:-

• Year 12 Global Ambassadors participated in a lively debate, via video conference, with students from Lycee Monnet School in Central France, our French partner school.  Pupils from both schools questioned to what extent the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No .1 had reduced poverty in their own countries.  The students also discussed the different types of poverty, as well as what different organisations and the government are doing to reduce poverty.  The partnership is growing well and 42 students from Lycee Monnet School will be visiting Loxford in November to continue developing its partnership programme of global activities.
• An Army Workshop was held on 8^th June and all year groups attended a session.  After a presentation, the students participated in engaging activities designed to build teamwork, communication, confidence and leadership skills.  Examples are, build a wooden tank, crack the code for an escape room, retrieve supplies from an area without entering it, building and firing a catapult
• Also on 8^th June, our Year 12s attended a Careers Workshop presented by Uptree, a London based company helping young people engage with the world of work.  Sessions were given on general employability, introduction to apprenticeships, careers in Law, STEM and Business & Finance
• Year 7, 8 and 9 held their Sports Days on separate days
• A great achievement for Hasan Shakeel 7X, as he has been selected for the London Youth Games in the long jump.  This is especially great as he is a non-club athlete
• Year 7 and Year 8 students were given the chance to complete a Mini First Aid Course in school and obtained a first aid badge for their attendance.  They learnt how to carry out CPR, deal with choking, head injuries, burns, breaks, bleedings, asthma attacks and allergic reactions
• Year 12 students were given the chance to attend a “Voluntary Opportunities at the British Red Cross” drop-in.  They covered topics from humanitarian to wellbeing and had the opportunity to ask questions about voluntary prospects and to apply for any of their events they were interested in taking up
• The school offered an opportunity to Year 9 Monitors and Anti-bullying ambassadors students to attend a “Coping with Challenges” workshop to help young people facing a variety of complex challenges in their lives.  They learnt how to cope with challenges, understand the relationship between connections with others and resilience and fell confident that they can apply what they have learnt in their own lives
• Congratulations to the following students who are all Climate Heroes and received a certificate of achievement from the WWF:

Deimante Krolyte, Pervin Ashim, Humaria Parouty, Borno Bhuiyan, Alayna Malik, Ebaad Gillani, Ibrahim Munshi, Faheem Ismail, Zaviar Butt, Yusuf Abdirisaq, Yamina Ghazaly, Usman Hussain, Ashanti Palmer, Aayaan Shaukat, Idris Khan, Denisa Calin and Abdullah Asif,

• Year 10 Prefect/Monitors completed a Vaping Prevention Online Course.  They were informed of the chemicals that are in vapes and the damage to health they can cause. They all received a certificate at the end of the session.
• Year 8 Parents’ Evening had a brilliant 96% attendance
• The Redbridge Youth Council is being relaunched on 3^rd July and they are asking new members to join the team and make a difference to the community.  All Youth Council meetings are held on Monday’s 5.00pm-7.00pm at the Town Hall during term time.  This opportunity was offered to our Monitors, Prefects and 6^th Form Prefects.  Registration can be made via Youth Service at Redbridge-Redbridge Youth Council-Get Involved!
• As part of our Well-Being agenda, students in Years 10,11,12 & 13 were directed to “Redbridge Quits Smoking” to provide advice and support for people who are addicted to the many forms of tobacco or vaping
• As part of their continuous professional development, the Year 10 Prefects completed an online course on “Racism”.  They explored the history of anti-black racism and reflected on how black and non-black people can build resilience to confront prejudice.  This was led by Mr Curcio

We visited the following places:-

• Our Year 12s went on a trip to attend the UCAS Discovery Exhibition at the University of East London.  The exhibition brings together experts to help the students with their future options.  They listened to talks, received advice and information on different career choices and met various employers
• On Tuesday 6^th June, 24 Year 7 and 8 students went to Ashton Playing Fields stadium to compete in their first borough athletics competition, where all of the schools in Redbridge were competing. The annual borough athletics events that the students participated in on the day were 100m, 200m, 300m, 800m, 4x100 relay, shot put, javelin, discus, long jump and triple jump.  The students were fantastic in all events, showing great resilience and character, putting in maximum effort to each run, throw or jump.  For some, this was the first time accessing the events and all put in a valiant effort.  The standout performance from the day was Hasan Shakeel, winning his Year 7 boys long jump competition and securing a 1st place on the podium.  Another excellent performance was Year 7 Rhicyah Baron in 200m who came second in her heat and fourth overall, narrowly missing a podium place.  The PE department would like to say a big well done to all students that competed at the event and a thank you to all members of staff who contributed to ensure the smooth running of the day
• Our Year 9 Historians visited the Imperial War Museum
• Our Performing Arts Department took some Year 7, 8 & 9 students to The Royal Albert Hall to see the English National Ballet perform “Cinderella-in-the-Round”
• 15 students acted as Sports Leaders and assisted Primary students at Cricklefields
• The MFL department organised a trip to Paris and the students went on a boat trip down the River Seine, visiting the Louvre, Notre Dame, Montmartre, Sacre Coeur Basilica, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe.  In addition, they went to Calais and stopped to visit the Saomme Battlefields
• Our Librarians organised for our students to attend the Redbridge Book Awards Ceremony at Redbridge Town Hall.  They met various authors of the books they have read and listened to a guest speaker, Dr Stuart Lawrence, brother of Stephen Lawrence.  This year marked the 20^th anniversary of the Ceremony and Loxford has been a participant since its inception

Loxford took part in many sporting fixtures:-

• Year 7 & 8 won their cricket match against Valentines by 20 runs
• On a hot Friday morning, the Year 9 Loxford cricket team played in a tournament against other schools within the Essex County at Billericay Cricket Club. Their first game was against Robert Clack; Loxford won the coin toss and elected to bat first. Loxford managed a total of 73 in their 8 overs and an honorary mention goes to Hasnain who managed to score 30 runs in one over!  It was then the turn of Loxford to bowl. We managed to restrict the opposition to only 5 runs in their first 2 overs. However, Robert Clack batted very well towards the end of the innings and they finished on 77 and won by 4 runs.  Loxford then played in their second game against Roding Valley. Loxford won the coin toss again and elected to bat. We managed to get a good total of 77 off our 8 overs. Loxford's turn to bowl and we started very well with some early wickets. With the last 2 overs to go, Roding Valley needed 20 runs to win, but with some good bowling from Prajen towards the end, we managed to get over the line and win!  Overall, the game was played in great spirit and it was nice for the students to play against other schools within the county. Loxford finished 3rd overall, which is a great achievement, and we look forward to future competitions!
• The Boys Redbridge Swimming Gala was held at Bancroft’s School and Loxford managed to get into six finals with Murtaza Khan 9R won 4 medals including gold in front crawl, Alexandra Pohrib 8X won silver in front crawl and Syon Maisuria 9D won bronze in the backstroke.  Congratulations!
• Selected Year 9 & 10 students participated in the District Athletics competition where all the schools in Redbridge were competing.  Congratulations to:
  • Tanvir Ali won the bronze in the shot put
  • Jibreel Abdrisaq won the silver in the 200m
  • Aryanna Adesan won the silver in the triple jump and the gold in the 100m in 12.6 seconds without spikes!

Primary

In Year 1, we have been exploring seasonal changes within science, and this has linked to our topic 'Beside the Seaside' in geography. Year 1 had a fantastic launch pad where they were able to complete a carousel of activities which included clues linked to the seaside. The children loved using all their senses to feel sand and cold water, smell seaweed, look at shadows, and explore shells and pebbles. In science, we have continued to focus on senses by thinking about how we can tell that the season has changed, and what we can do to ensure we stay safe in the sun. Later in the term, the children will be keeping a class plant diary to monitor the progress of our spring onions, and using our knowledge of seasons to create a seasons wheel demonstrating the order of the months of the year and key characteristics of each season. 

Year 3 travelled to South Kensington to visit the Natural History Museum. They took part in a workshop called ‘Dino Dig’ that was linked to their science unit about rocks and fossils. The children took on the role of palaeontologists and used tools to excavate a dinosaur fossil. Once they had carefully revealed the fossil, they used their scientific skills to observe and measure it, using the information to identify the dinosaur. Studying the teeth carefully, they could identify if the dinosaur was a carnivore or herbivore. Whilst exploring the museum itself, the children saw a mammoth skull that had been discovered in Ilford, a fossil of a pelsiosaur discovered by Mary Anning and a life sized model of a blue whale. The children behaved exceptionally well and made their teachers very proud by participating in the workshop with great enthusiasm. Thank you to the parent helpers, without whom the trip would not have been possible.

In preparation for their Year 6 History topic, Crime and Punishment, and in order to increase their cultural capital, Year 5 students were given the opportunity to explore the Tower of London and the stories surrounding this significant landmark. We began the day by having a look at the Royal Crown jewels, which are currently kept inside the Tower of London. Children were able to see how royal jewellery had changed and were altered over the centuries. They also had the opportunity to see the late queen’s crown and compare it to the crowns of the past. Pupil’s then explored the White tower – the oldest structure in the Tower of London and one of the most famous castle keeps in the world. We discussed the structural features of the Tower, its role as a defensive building and how its features as a Motte-and-Bailey castle helped keep its occupants safe. Finally, Year 5 were given a guided tour of the prison cells of the Tower of London by a costumed performer. They learnt about the conditions in which prisoners were kept, misconceptions about prison life in the Tower of London, how criminals survived and how prisoners like John Gerard, a Catholic priest who was imprisoned there, escaped using nothing more than paper, charcoal, string and oranges!  Overall, the children had a great time, learning more about an important London landmark and its actual and cultural significance to us all.

On the 19th and 25th of May some year 6 children visited ‘Ragged House Museum’ where they took part in two workshops. The first workshop allowed the children to put themselves in a Victorian child’s shoes and experience a typical day in a Victorian school. Learning how to produce cursive letters, about the value of old money, the importance of posture and clarity of speech were some of the things that the children learnt within the first workshop. The second workshop got the children to think about the building itself, from both the inside and the outside, and how it had adapted over time to meet peoples needs. This half term the children in Year 6 have watched a production called ‘Playing with Fire’ by actors at Redbridge Drama centre which explored issues around children’s use of social media and mobile phones, focusing on the detrimental effects and emotional consequences. The production was then followed by a fifteen-minute discussion where the children were able to ask questions about what they had seen.  Year 6 have the opportunity this half term to go over to the secondary school and make their own dog tags with the help of the design and technology teachers at Loxford secondary school. The children were able to see what a workshop looked like and were able to handle new tools as well as getting a feel for how a lesson in a secondary school is run. Once they had become familiar with the tools, the children used them to shape, cut and drill a piece of aluminium to create their own dog tags with their initials on them. When the children returned to school, they created a poster explaining the steps they took to make their dog tag.