WES 500 Words Winners – The Results
Ms Nunnery, Asistant Headteacher writes:
From Years 7-9 (KS3) we received an amazing number of entries. Thank you to all who entered, it was great reading your creative work. It was really tough to choose the following winners.
As we did not receive any entries from Years 10 or 11, we decided on 6 winners at KS3 to give more acknowledgement to the entries received.
- Gold £50 Amazon voucher: Anes 8L The Crystal Chronicles
- Gold £50 Amazon voucher: Elias 8L The Demon Within
- Silver £30 Amazon voucher: Luca 7K Creatures of the Night
- Silver £30 Amazon voucher: William 8K Camping Night
- Bronze: £15 Amazon voucher: Aaron 7K (no title)
- Bronze £15 Amazon voucher: Max 9F Paintings of Life
Year 12 and 13 (KS5):
- Gold £50 Amazon voucher: Savindi 12 LSU
- Silver £30 Amazon voucher: Kaecii 12LNE
Year 8 Messages:
Ms Mercier Peart, Head of Year 8, writes:
We are pleased to see our annual skiing trip going ahead next week. It looks like there is a lot of snow this year and we wish the students a safe journey and plenty of fun!
Congratulations to Elias and Anes in 8L and William in 8K for producing great stories in the WES 500 Words compatition and winning £50 and £30 Amazon vouchers for their winning pieces.
Our boys are rewarded fortheir attendance, praise points, making progress and effort every week through mentions in assembly, Please keep on encouraging them too at home!
There is under a week to go before the Easter holidays, we're coming out of the Winter season and the Spring will help us all to look forward.
Please congratulate the boys for their effort and good work! Keep going!
Careers in Hospitality Trip
Mr Parry, Head of Year 11, writes:
On Thursday March 7th a group of Year 10 and 11 students who have taken part in the Arsenal in the Community programme recently were invited to the Emirates for morning of careers education and a tour of our nearest football stadium.
The students engaged well in the programme which culminated in a mock preparation for hosting a fashion show or book launch. This included thinking about an itinerary for food, guests, security and publicity.
The morning concluded with a comprehensive tour of the stadium, including Home and Away changing rooms, the Director’s Suite and going pitch-side.
It is our intention at William Ellis to forge ever-growing links with Arsenal in order to improve our careers education provision.
Year 8 DT Coding Workshop
Mr Gunter, Head of DT, writes:
A group of Year 8 students have been involved in a coding workshop to help introduce a new project to Design Technology. The workshop has been planned and delivered by Saul Danan who has written and prepared a two-week, four lesson workshop.
We plan to deliver this project to larger groups in the future. The boys have made a positive start and are enjoying what they have done so far.
Camden Dance Festival
Colin in 8L writes:
I was very excited when Mr Pratt gave me the invitation to take part in the Camden Youth Dance Festival because I did a dance project with him in Year 7. It was hard work and fun. We worked on a new dance piece with Aaron, who is one of the teachers at London Contemporary Dance School, for four days and then we performed at The Place. It was so good going out on stage under the lights in front of a big audience. It was a great way to get a taste of contemporary dance and a pleasure to represent the school in such an important event, I loved it and I can't wait to do it again.
Year 7 French Spelling Bee
Ms Rodgers, Head of MFL, writes:
On Tuesday 5th March, Otis, Donnie & Joachim from 7B attended the Regional Final of The French Spelling Bee at Rockby School in East London, where they competed against other Year 7 students from a range of other schools. They had to learn 200 words in French and were asked to translate and spell some of these words under timed conditions.
Despite not making it through to the final in the Summer Term, we are extremely proud of them for working so hard to learn the meaning and spelling of so many words. 3000 students started the competition and they were in the last 60; thank you to all their peers who helped them revise during their lunchtime practice as well as their parents/carers who supported and encouraged them at home.
Think & Do Eco Game
Mr Pomeyie, Head of Geography, writes:
Think & Do are a non-profit organisation based in Kentish Town, which aims to promote sustainable living in Camden.
The organisation designed an eco-game with the intention of engaging secondary school students with the idea of key questions: Where Does It Come From, Where Does It Go To? The themes in the game spark interesting conversations about resources and conservation of the natural world.
Representatives of Think & Do came in to play the game with a Year 9 Geography class. The students enjoyed playing the game and some said they would think more carefully in the future about how they used resources and the purchases they make.
Think & Do were kind enough to leave the Geography department with two board games so that we some fun future learning experiences around these topics.
Kings Cross Field Study Investigation
Mr Pomeyie, Head of Geography, writes:
Year 11 completed their urban fieldwork in February. The field study focuses on the regeneration that has happened in the Kings Cross area and looks at the impact it has had on those who live and work in the area.
In previous years, we have wanted to include air quality readings as part of the data students are gathering, however, the devices are too costly to make them viable to use. This year, students were able to include air quality readings of 2.5pm and 10pm since they had made their own air quality monitoring devices with the Clean Air Project earlier in the year.
The students were responsible and resourceful during the field study visit.
Year 13 Economics Trip
Ms Mallick, Business & Economics Teacher, writes:
After a last-minute cancellation of the economics conference that Year 13 students were meant to attend, a WES parent and LSE lecturer managed to step in and save the day.
After a morning visit to the Bank of England Museum to develop real world application examples to support their exam preparation, students were treated to a lecture at LSE, looking at risk and how that influences decision making. The whole day was a wonderful example of what makes the William Ellis Community so special and we wouldn't have been able to do it without the support of the WES community.
Year 13 student Sabbier said of the day:
“Thank you for the privileged experience of having a private lecture at LSE. The lecturer showed great enthusiasm and taught us about risk and the factors determining what is classed as ‘risky’. I also greatly appreciate the time taken to take us on a tour of LSE where she told us a bit about the university’s history and the life of the students.
The trip to the Bank of England museum was rich in historical application for our economics course. There were many interesting exhibits, one of which being the history of money and the notion of it being a promise of value”.
Year 13 English Trip to the Sam Wanamaker Theatre
Ms Damms, Head of English writes:
John Webster's Jacobean revenge tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, is on stage at the Sam Wanamaker Theatre - a beautiful, candle-lit replica indoor 17th century playhouse next to the Globe.
On Saturday March 9th, we took our lovely Year 13 English literature group (pictured below, minus Juliet who we missed) to a matinee production.
Arthur described it as a 'wonderful trip' and commented on the effect of the inclusive casting choices and how the actor playing the part of a malcontent named Bosola was made 'likeable against all the odds', bringing about an interesting stage dynamic between him and the Duchess.
We liked the creative captioning, the musical capers that opened the tragedy and the playing with light and darkness.
Students have been studying the play alongside Books IX and X of John Milton's 'Paradise Lost' so we were really lucky to have access to a live performance this year and made the most of the experience, though our £5 standing tickets made it tricky to see everything we would have liked to.
Our students were engaged, thoughtful and generous in their appreciation of the performance, and Ms Guzy-Sprague and I wish them all the very best in their upcoming exams.
Year 13 Enterprise Day
Mr Parry, Careers Lead, writes:
on Monday 18th Monday, Inspire!, in collaboration with WES, organised a panel of speakers from Clifford Chance, Camden Apprenticeships, Mace, University of Staffordshire and the Shaftesbury Theatre to present to Year 13 students.
They gave an overview of opportunities available at their organisations and in their industries. They explored apprenticeships vs. university and there was plenty of time for questions. Presenters talked about post university pathways as well as making the most of time at university (with summer internships, societies/clubs, travel abroad, industry placements etc).
By all accounts, students found the session useful and insightful.
Year 12 UCAS Trip
Dr Smith, Head of Year 12, writes:
Year 12 went to the UCAS Discovery Day at the ExCel centre on Monday 18th of March to further their research into higher education and what next after LaSWAP!
Year 7 Debating club Trip to Parliament
Ms Kritz, Humanities teacher, writes:
A group of Y7 Debating Club students attended the Houses of Parliament for a tour around the building this week.
Donnie in 7B says:
I loved the trip to Parliament because I got to learn about the history of Westminster and look at some interesting places such as the House of Lords. We even got to see the Speaker of the Commons, Lindsay Hoyle! I also enjoyed learning about the interesting facts about the main hall. Did you know that it was originally built in 1097 but the roof was made in 1699! I really enjoyed it and can't wait to hopefully go again.
Art and Food Technology Round-up
Ms Sinnott, Art and Food Technology teacher, writes:
Surrealism at its best! Well done Year 9’s.
The salmon has arrived from ‘Fish Heroes'. Fish cakes next stop for Year 10’s!
The Year 10's had a great opportunity last week to make use of the raised beds and then plant some vegetable seeds. This was an engaging lesson as the team from 'Know your onions', visited and talked about growing and harvesting their crops. There's an opportunity to take them to market in a few weeks' time.
The boys have ideas about making money and are also impatient as in the lesson the next day they looked at the beds and were expecting some growth!