Newsletter Spring 2018
State-of-the-art building befitting our warm and welcoming school
Executive Headteacher Mrs Wheeler
OUR secondary school students joined primary school pupils in our new £20 million school building this term. The redevelopment of the school sees the two phases housed in a purpose-built, threestorey, state-of-the-art facility. The school is laid out in zones, meaning primary and secondary school students are taught in separate parts of the building. However, primary pupils are given the unique opportunity to access secondary school facilities when accompanied by teachers. Our new school contains classrooms fitted with interactive whiteboards, brand new art and drama rooms, a music studio and a theatrestyle hall. Our old building was demolished and replaced after receiving funding from the Education Funding Agency under the Priority School Building Programme. The move comes after it was announced the school had been rated Good in all areas following an Ofsted inspection. The report found behaviour at the school to be good, with pupils making good progress in a “warm and welcoming” environment. Executive Headteacher Kath Wheeler said
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there had never been a better time to join Buxton School. She added: “With the ink drying on our recent Ofsted report we have now taken a further stride forward by moving our secondary phase into the new £20m school building. “The wonderful facilities on offer to students at Buxton now make a tremendous difference to the quality of education we are able to offer our students. “We are also very fortunate to be in the unique situation as a primary school of being able to offer our pupils the kinds of facilities usually found only in secondary schools. “As Ofsted rightly pointed out, this is an inclusive, warm and welcoming school where students are made to feel valued and supported. “The new building is the perfect setting for our broad and balanced curriculum, focusing on the academic, educational and personal development of pupils. “As teachers we love what we do, we love our school. There has never been a better time to join us.” New primary and secondary school playgrounds as well as a new multi-use games areas are due to be completed later in the year.
BUXTON SCHOOL AWARDS EVENING
Students encouraged to make their mark Praise: Special guest Cllr Sally Littlejohn encouraged students
Sense of community vital in helping Lydia’s journey FORMER student Lydia Khechine received the Louis Rose Award for academic achievement in spite of adversity. Lydia (right) was unable to speak English when she started at Buxton in Year 7 after moving to London from Algeria. Despite this, she was able to achieve five A*s, five As and two Bs in her GCSEs last year and is now at college with the aim of studying history and politics at university. She said: “I found Buxton to be a very inclusive community. It was place where if you put in the effort, there are teachers who will help you. “There really is a sense of community and that was helpful throughout my time at the school. “It feels great, throughout my journey at Buxton I really put everything into it, for them to recognise that is quite cool.”
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200 honoured at special ceremony
OUR students were recognised for their achievements inside and outside the classroom at the school’s annual Award Presentation Evening. Pupils, teachers, parents and members of the community gathered at Walthamstow Assembly Hall in March to celebrate the work of youngsters at the school over the past year. Around 200 students from Year 5 through to Year 11 were honoured for academic achievements and for their positive approach to learning, while dozens also received their Duke of Edinburgh Award. Prizes were handed out by special guest Cllr Sally Littlejohn, who represents Cann Hall Ward in Leytonstone at Waltham Forest Council. Cllr Littlejohn saluted students on how well they had handled the school’s move this term and encouraged them to make their mark on the world. “Your school leaders are focused by the principle that each pupil deserves a highquality education and the opportunity to experience new concepts and ideas,” she said. “Buxton School gives you fantastic opportunities and ambitious teachers to guide you and to harness your instinctual selfconfidence. “They will help you to develop your skills and learning, expressing what you know, and to help you in one day joining the world out there and making your mark.” Three special awards were also given to children deemed to have made the most outstanding progress. Year 11 student Nitharshy Sivalingam took home the coveted Head Teacher’s Award for her academic achievements. Meanwhile, Lydia Khechine and Dilan Herath were joint-recipients of the Louis Rose Award, which recognises students who have attained at the school in the face of adversity. Buxton School’s Executive Headteacher, Kath Wheeler, said: “It is so important to reward pupils for their outstanding achievements and to recognise them publicly. “It builds their self-esteem and to have a lovely evening like this at a beautiful venue also allows their classmates and parents to join in with their celebrations. All those who have received awards need to carry on working well, their achievements are something both the school and their parents can be rightfully proud of.”
BUXTON SCHOOL AWARDS EVENING Performance: Musician Alfie Whelan entertained guests at the ceremony
Nitharshy’s working hard to achieve her dreams STUDENT Nitharshy Sivalingam took home the Head Teacher’s Award for outstanding academic achievement. Nitharshy says being voted deputy head girl gave her the confidence and belief to succeed. During her time at Buxton, she attended summer programmes at University College London and Imperial College London. She has now set her sights on studying medicine. She said: “After realising GCSE
had started, I have been putting in a lot more effort. I was working hard before but in Year 11 I have tried even harder. “Becoming deputy head girl was a big thing for me, my confidence grew so much and I joined a lot of clubs, but to win this award is even bigger. I am just speechless about it. “I represent the school more than I thought I ever would. I am really proud of being part of the school.”
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Students develop new skills while having fun YEAR 6 students spent three days in January enjoying fun and educational activities at a residential camp in Essex. Students took part in activities including canoeing, archery, high ropes and a night walk during the stay at Fair Play House in Malden. The purpose of the trip was to help students develop skills and characteristics such as resilience, teamwork, leadership and communication. During the stay students were responsible for clearing away dinner, doing the washing up, mopping floors, getting ready for the day and making their beds. Regalo said: “My favourite part of the trip was canoeing. We all worked as a team. You realise that you can work on your own but working together works better.” Klaudia said: “The skill that I learnt on the trip was resilience. When I first tried the archery, I wasn’t very good but I kept practising and got better.” Zak said: “At school there are set rules but here it was slightly different. You got a bit more freedom and could do things for yourself.” Year 6 teacher Ms Clarke said: “It was really pleasing to see students taking responsibility
Hands up if you’re having fun: These Year 6 students had a great time on a threeday residential trip to Fair Play House the academic year. They also really for themselves during this trip. enjoyed the many enrichment activities on “The skills that they developed during offer and spent time getting to know each this week will serve them well throughout other and the teachers in a different their education and will be particularly environment.” beneficial when taking their SATs at the end of
Siblings give building the green light BEING housed in one building gives our secondary school students the chance to take responsibility of picking up their younger siblings from primary. The older siblings have to wait in the lunch hall area for 25 minutes until primary school finishes. We asked them how this new arrangement was working for them. Here is what they had to say...
Jayson Kezza picks up Traycceena. He said: “I know I am really helping my mum and dad, which makes me feel really good. “Being at the same school makes things so much easier.”
Year 10 Eiman Jadon picks up her younger brother Hisham, who is in Year 6. She said: “Pick up is in the lunch hall after school so it makes things really easy. “I enjoying pick up my brother from school because we can chat about our day on the way home.”
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Emmanuel Owusun picks up brothers Nathan and Jadon. He said: “Being able to pick up my brothers really takes the pressure off my family. “It means they don’t have to rush home from work to pick them up. I like taking responsibility for them.”
BUXTON SCHOOL STUDENT ELECTIONS
Imaan and Fahim to target improvements OUR newly elected Head Boy and Head Girl have vowed to give a voice to the students at Buxton School following their election victory. Imaan Bhaji and Fahim Miah stood on a platform of more representation for students at the school during a hard-fought campaign. Fahim has said he will keep his promise of introducing house charters, promoting Buxton Voice and introducing reps for form class. He said: “I am so happy to have been chosen as Head Boy, it is a huge honour for me. I will dedicate myself straight away to making good on the promise I made prior to the election. “I worked in preparation for this moment and so my plans are prepared and ready to go. I will now work with the leadership team at the school to put them into action. “I would also like to thank and congratulate my fellow students on a brilliant campaign and look forward to working with them in the junior council.” Imaan says she will work with the school to put issues such as peer pressure and exam pressure at the top of the agenda. She said: “I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to serve the interest of my fellow students at Buxton School. “This is such a wonderful school that offers so many excellent opportunities for students. The previous junior council have done a fantastic job and now it is my job to continue their good work. “I have an excellent junior leadership team working with me and, alongside Fahim, I will work every day to further improve the lives of
Challenges ahead: New Head Girl and Head Boy Imaan Bhaji and Fahim Miah students and give them an even louder voice.” Community and Extended Schools Leader Ms Moloney, who helped to set up the student council in 2014, said: “The effect that our annual election has around the school for
pupils and staff is truly tangible. We have created an environment within our school that not only teaches but demonstrates the power of democracy and how it can bring communities together for the greater good.”
Erin ready to listen
Manvydas’ reps plan
DEPUTY Head Girl Erin Thomas campaigned on introducing more community and social events to the school. As Deputy Head Girl, she promised to canvass opinion from her fellow students on how to improve the school. Erin (right) said: “I want to listen to our fellow students and see what they have to say. “We are representing them so their voice should be heard.”
DEPUTY Head Boy Manvydas Andriekus has promised to support Fahim and Imaan improve the school. He also hopes to persuade them to introduce some of his campaign pledges, including introducing house reps. Manvydas (right) said: “As a student council, we are focused on making the school a better place. Our views on how to do that are very much aligned so I hope that they will be convinced to let me introduce some of my own ideas.”
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Working hard: Ava and Nevaeh in class with Ms Shala
Ballet duo preparing for audition chance BUXTON primary school pupils will audition for the ballet school where Strictly Come Dancing star Darcey Bussell made her name. Year 4 pupils Ava and Nevaeh will dance for the Royal Ballet School after being recommended by our Russian-method ballet teacher Era Shala. If successful at auditions later this year, the budding prima ballerinas will get the opportunity to perform at the world-famous Royal Opera House. Ms Shala, who travelled the world as part of the Albanian National Academy, takes classes at the school every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. She has previous success in training rising stars after helping Leytonstone youngster Wesley Branch get a place at the prestigious school. She said: “In these two students I see huge potential. The Royal Ballet is not about your training, they train you. It is about raw talent and these two have it. I have been a ballerina for many years and you can see in their movement and the way they move that they have the right profile for ballet.
“They are, of course, very young. This is just their first step. If they do not get in this time it will be a wonderful learning experience for them.” Ava said: “I am nervous about the trial but also very excited. “I can’t wait for it to happen now because
it is so exciting.” Nevaeh added: “I am really happy to have the chance to audition for the Royal Ballet. “I love working with Era because she makes everything fun.” For more information on our ballet classes, please call 0208 534 3425.
YEAR 11 students learned about their post-16 options at a Drop-in Wednesday futures fair held at Sir George Monoux College in January.
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BUXTON SCHOOL COMMENT Excited pupils are keen to record top results OUR Year 6 students are hoping to replicate their predecessors’ success by scoring top marks in their SATs exams. Last year’s cohort achieved above
national average in all three subjects of reading, writing and maths. Head of the primary phase, Ms BowersBroadbent, said: “Buxton pupils are
resilient and are excited about their learning. Pupils, parents and teachers working together will again see results that we can be proud of in May.”
Facilities now match first-class education
Perfect timing for new building move Headteacher Kath Wheeler reflects on an eventful term at Buxton School... In the primary school, we are incredibly lucky to have a professional ballet dancer teaching our pupils. Two of them now have the chance to train with the world’s most prestigious ballet school. We wish them luck in their auditions. As a school, we celebrate British Values which were demonstrated this term in our Head Boy and Head Girl election. Congratulations to all who took part and in particular to our new Head Boy Fahim Miah and Head Girl Imaan Bhaji. The Junior Leadership team are now looking forward to working with you. It just remains for me to wish you a very Happy Easter Break.
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This term we saw our secondary students move into our new building. The timing of this could not have been better following our Good Ofsted report in December. This multi-million pound new building means our warm, welcoming and inclusive school now has classrooms fitting the first-class education which we offer students. This move means that our primary school pupils will benefit from advanced facilities usually only on offer in secondary schools. Our students work incredibly hard and it is important to celebrate their success and achievements. That is why it was so wonderful to have such a grand venue for this year’s celebration evening. It was a fantastic evening with our students getting their due credit for reaching their goals.
Students playing a big part in park and community centre’s facelift THE school has joined forces with the council and stakeholders to revamp a local park and community centre. The Cann Hall hub, located next to the school in Cann Hall park, will offer residents a mixture of community-driven classes. There are also plans for a community café as well opportunities for sporting and educational activities. The driving force behind the project is community action group and registered charity Cann Hall Can, of which the school is a member. The group are already working with the council’s parks department to give the much-loved but neglected corner of Leytonstone a makeover. Work began last October when Buxton School primary and secondary students took
part in a community vegetable planting day as part of their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Community and Extended Schools Leader Ms Moloney said: “Cann Hall Can is a vision created by local stakeholders to raise the profile and cultural capital of Cann Hall. “We hope to inspire community cohesion in the area, engender self-improvement and create a longer-stay destination zone, alongside the borrowed landscape of Wanstead Flats. “Creating a Cann Hall Hub in the local park will provide a central physical point of contact for an accessible and inclusive cultural, sports and educational activities for all local residents. “Cann Hall Park will be a place where the whole community can enjoy events for everybody, all year round. This is a very exciting time for our community.”
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Learning about the planets
YEAR 1 students made rockets from plastic bottles, card and tissue as part of their project on Time Travel.
They used the rockets to learn about the planets in our solar systems as part of the outer space theme.
Head of Year One Ms Parry said: “You could say that they are out of this world.”
Woodlands, wildlife and mini beasts YEAR 2 students learnt about habitats and micro-habitats during a trip to the Suntrap education centre. They found mini beasts and observed and held a variety of animals as part of their ‘The Earth Our Home’ project. Head of Year 2 Ms Hughes said: “The children had a great time and have used the experience to support their non-chronological reports on British Woodlands.”
Museum trip simply electric YEAR 3 students put their classroom learning into action on a day trip to the Science Museum. They reinforced their learning on electricity, magnetism and The Human this term by
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trying investigations in The Statoil Gallery. Year 3 teacher Ms Ashe said: “Everyone enjoyed themselves and, as usual, we were very proud of the children’s behaviour representing Buxton School.”