Art Students Barbican Conservatory Workshop

Level 2 GCSE Art students visited the Barbican Conservatory, in the heart of the City of London on Friday 21st January, to take part in a workshop with the current Artist in Residence, Sam Winston. Sam Winston’s artistic practice often combines visual culture and literature and he has exhibited his work in museums and galleries around the world. Tate Britain, the British Library and MoMA NYC hold his artist’s books and his projects have taken place at institutes such as The V&A Museum, The Courtauld Institute of Art and The Whitechapel Gallery. For this project, ‘following the breath’, Winston investigated the relationship between the urban environment and our breath.

Students were first introduced to the maze that is The Barbican, with its homes, galleries and music and theatre venues. Sam Winston worked with the students, explaining his artistic process and guiding students in some mark-making exercises. Students then explored the conservatory itself, with its lush vegetation and moving water, before viewing the work that Winston had made during the residency and a video illuminating the concept behind the work. 

Students learned about the process of making ink from the particles that surround us, with sources as diverse as aquatic plants, engine fumes, plant soil, tree bark, cigarette butts and wasp nests. For the exhibition, Winston created artwork using inks he made from particulate matter collected within a 3 km radius of the Barbican.
The mark-making created by our students will be displayed with other student work at the Barbican as a response to the Artists’ prompts, and alongside Sam Winston’s own work. 

More information can be found on the Barbican Website:
https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2022/event/following-the-breath

And on Sam Winston’s website:
https://www.samwinston.com/

UCL Academy Students Invited to Screening of Racism in Football Drama

The children’s TV series ‘Jamie Johnson’ is well known for not shying away from important topics and since it was first broadcast in 2016, has tackled compelling storylines centred on bullying, sexism, cheating, blackmail, relationships, diabetes, homelessness, multiple sclerosis, racism, crime and homophobia.

We need look no further than the game of football to know that racism is an ongoing societal problem; Members of the Mens’ England Football team were recently subjected to overt racist abuse during one of their games in the European Cup competition. And sadly, this abuse transcends all areas of the football world, proving that racism is both present and alarmingly pervasive.

The writers behind ‘Jamie Johnson’ have used these poignant events to promote awareness, specifically amongst the children that watch the series. A recent storyline centres on one of the main characters, Freddie 500, and the fact he is racially abused by opposition fans during a cup tie. Facing the same dilemma as the England team during their European Cup game, the fictional football club and it’s players have to decide whether to continue playing or to abandon the game. Scenes from one of the two episodes show the players in the dressing room, discussing what each believes is the appropriate response. What becomes quickly apparent are the differing thoughts and reactions amongst the players, which ultimately make a unified response difficult and team camaraderie vulnerable. 

By using the awareness and momentum gathered by media coverage on the England Team, the writers have cemented this storyline as a poignant and timely reminder; not just of overt racism and its many guises, but the many complexities that can and do arise for those involved, both individually and collectively.

20 of our students were lucky enough to attend a special preview screening, alongside Mr Robin Street (Co-Principal), Ms Cosima Davies (Assistant Principal) and Ms Katrina Potter (Head of PE). After the screening, UCL students asked a series of considered and thought provoking questions to a panel, comprising; Lianne Sanderson (former England international and broadcaster and recent visitor to the Academy), Troy Townsend (head of player engagement at Kick It Out), Keaton Edmund (the young actor who plays Freddie 500), Iffy Onuora (head of diversity and inclusion at the Premier League) and Edleen John (international relations, corporate affairs and equality, diversity and inclusion director at the FA).

Yet more exposure for ‘Jamie Johnson’ came in the form of a news feature on BBC Newsround, which included the incredibly thoughtful and interesting contributions our students made to questions and discussions at the event. Suffice to say, we’ve immense pride in the way every one of them showed the utmost respect and consideration throughout the day.

These episodes of  ‘Jamie Johnson’ teach us that popular culture can indeed have a positive role in illuminating and helping to combat racism. And that whenever possible, we should embrace every opportunity to subvert the negative events that remain a part of everyday life for many children and adults alike.

Over the past 18 months, Academy staff, spearheaded by Ms Cosima Davies, have been leading work across Camden Primary and Secondary schools in developing anti-racism policies, building curriculum content and training teachers and support staff. The experience for our staff and students on this visit builds on this vital work and we are grateful to the team from ‘Jamie Johnson’ and of course the BBC for giving our students the opportunity and the platform to share their thoughts and to be part of such an important panel discussion.

Female Football Icon visits the Academy

Just before the half term break, some of our female football team and other football enthusiasts were lucky enough to take part in a coaching and Q&A session with former Arsenal, Chelsea and England forward, Lianne Sanderson. Lianne’s illustrious football career makes her one of the most successful female footballers in the professional era of the sport and as such, this was an exciting addition to our sports programme. Curated by our Sports Development Officer at the Academy, David Kingston, the programme offers many different opportunities to students, one of them being to meet, be coached and hear personal accounts of athletes, with the aim of inspiring and motivating them to achieve their goals. Suffice to say, this session scored on all fronts!

The day began with a coaching session; students were put through their paces with passing drills and possession work after which they played a match, with Lianne guiding them from the sidelines. Throughout the morning, the girls displayed their passion and adeptness for the game, as individuals and as part of a team; all the more impressive considering they were being watched by a football icon!

The Q&A marked the latter part of the session with Lianne. Students’ had clearly prepared for this and delivered a stream of thought provoking questions on a variety of themes. Discussions were had about the many facets of a career in sports, notably, the importance of working in a team, exactly what is needed to perform at the highest level and the myriad of career paths available to those with an interest in sports, one of those being coaching. 

Equally important, Lianne spoke about the career paths available after retirement from the game and the widely acknowledged differences between the male and female football worlds. Overall, the girls were given a much better understanding of the dedication, consistency and sacrifice they will need to make should they pursue a career in sport.

Let’s not forget, some sports stars’ stories aren’t all about playing for their county or country, they’re equally about overcoming adversity in the pursuit of a dream. Lianne spoke about her own personal journey, recalling how injuries and being told she ‘would never make it in football’ spurred her on, and ultimately made her success all the more rewarding.  

Giving our students tangible links to personalities they can relate to, who have achieved great things irrespective of their backgrounds or experiences is equally as important as recognising the appearances, caps for country and medals that some realise in their careers.

As time with Lianne eventually ran out, it was clear the day had been a resounding success. It’s these experiences that can leave ​​indelible marks on young lives, and having seen the reaction of many of our students, this was definitely one of those moments.

Team Update:

Our newly established girls’ football team is currently playing friendlies in preparation for entering a league competition in the very near future. Going on the current teams’ talent, dedication and level of interest, they’ve a bright future ahead of them. Watch this space!

To view the upcoming fixtures list, go to: https://uclacademy.co.uk/sport-at-the-academy/fixtures/, and to keep up to date with their progress and other sports at the Academy, follow the @UCL_PE twitter account.

Record number of students take part

in DofE Award

The surge of interest in the Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE) over the last few years has been remarkable, resulting its uptake being the largest of any school in our Local Authority and even more exciting in light of the goal set by the DofE Award for the next 5 years:

‘to give more than one million young people the chance to participate in the programme, while ensuring that the scheme is open to all young people and that participants reflect the most diverse generation of young people ever’.

To date, over two hundred UCL Academy students have participated in the scheme since it was first offered in 2013. Last years’ cohort included 14 students working towards their Bronze award and 30 students towards their Silver, and going on the applications received for this years’ intake, those numbers will significantly rise. 

The most recent expeditions by some of our Year 9 and Year 11 students took place at the Lambourne End Centre in Essex in late September (18th-19th) and early October (1st-3rd) respectively. It would be fair to say, the weather didn’t make the weekend any easier for the 30 students on their Silver Expedition. Hiking and navigating for 7 hours a day, pitching their tents and cooking, all under a sky of torrential rain. But these students are made of hardy stuff, gritty determination and resilience prevailed and resulted in 27 Silver awards being achieved, alongside an equally impressive haul of 13 Bronze awards for Year 9 students. In spite of the adversities, it was truly wonderful to see everyone back in the field again…not to mention the notable air of excitement throughout the entire camp. Congratulations to all those who gained new award status!

We are also extremely proud to announce that our former Head Boy, Sonal Jayasena has just been awarded the Gold award, making him our second student to achieve at the highest level. Sonal is one of many former students who continue their DofE award path through and with the help of the Academy.

The DofE is just one part of our Enrichment Programme at the Academy, bursting with unique opportunities that seek to cultivate a love of learning, stretch minds and raise aspirations. Alongside the ongoing support of our sponsor UCL and the collaboration between our two institutions, the DofE scheme affords yet another level of prestige to our programme. As a highly respected and longstanding scheme, it offers students an even greater opportunity to augment personal development through an exciting range of challenges that might not otherwise be available to them. The benefits of taking part in this scheme are endless, but life skills that transcend those learned in the classroom might be a good way to describe what the scheme instils and equips young people with. It comes as no surprise that the scheme is highly respected by Universities and employers, who all commend and recognise the transferable skills the scheme offers.

More students than ever before participated in the scheme during the last 18 months, so we are both fortunate and extremely thankful that the Pupil Premium Scheme, Sixth Form Bursaries and philanthropic funding from Elizabeth Critchley made the DofE attainable to all our students. Furthermore, this funding ensures that our participation in the scheme helps to uphold the desire of the DofE organisation, ‘to make the scheme open to all young people’. 

We very much look forward to welcoming new and returning students to the scheme this year.

Congratulations to all our A Level students, after another unique year.

Students’ resilience and determination over the last year is once again reflected in the excellent results across all subjects. The Academy is intensely proud of this year’s magnificent graduates and celebrates what has unarguably been a testing 2 years for students, teachers and parents alike.

Year on year, many of our students gain places at Russell Group universities, but this year, we are particularly proud to have a record number of our students continuing their studies at our sponsor university, UCL.

Huge congratulations to all those who have achieved their goals, our students will always be part of the UCL Academy family and we very much look forward to seeing where your hard work and commitment takes you in the future.

Robin Street and Simon McBride Co-Principals of the Academy said “Days like today must always be about celebrating and recognising the commitment, positivity and successes of individual students. We are, as always, absolutely delighted that so many of our students have confirmed places on their chosen university courses. Ensuring that every student receives the recognition they each deserve remains our absolute priority. Seeing our students celebrate each other’s successes as much as their own was particularly special. Hearing from students that they would be back soon to visit and would keep in touch with staff here, is testament to the wonderful relationships they have built and the community values of the Academy. We bid them a fond farewell as they move on, we know that these students will go on to achieve huge success, academically, socially and professionally”.

Some of the stand-out individual performances:

Vladut Iacob, the Academy’s very own Head Boy achieved a superb set of results; A*s in Mathematics and Physics and an A in Art. He is now looking forward to taking up his place at UCL to study Architecture. Vladut said being Head Boy taught him the skills he needed to balance his academic and personal life, as well as allowing him to represent and help other students along the way. Most importantly, he said “the last 2 years were the most meaningful of my life so far”.

Riana Rahman (Head Girl) – After achieving an A* in Art, Riana has secured a place at Central St Martins to study for a Foundation degree in Art & Design, after which she will specialise in her chosen field. Riana joined the Academy in Year 7 and spoke about the real and tangible sense of community at the Academy. In her words, “it propelled me to be a better person and student”.

Patrick Wol-Carty has been a student at the Academy since Year 7. He achieved a wonderful set of results; 1 A* in Geography and 2 As in History and Politics. Patrick said “stand out elements of studying at the Academy have been the amazing pastoral support and the familial like environment”.  Patrick has secured a place at Oxford University to study Law.

Tasnima Rahim – With 2 A*s in History and Biology and an A in Chemistry, Tasnima has secured her place to study Archaeology at UCL. She spoke emphatically about the quality of education at the Academy, specifically the mentoring system and the teaching staff in the  Biology department.

Ryan McEvoy – With 3 A*s in Maths, Further Mathematics and Music Technology, Ryan is one of our many students continuing their studies at UCL, in his case, Mathematics.  Ryan thanked all departments he studied under, saying “the dynamic between teachers and students was amazing” and allowed him to achieve the best possible results.

Isman Nageye – Also a student at the academy since Year 7, Isman is thrilled to have secured a place to study Medicine at Southampton. Isman was awarded 2 A*s in Chemistry and Mathematics and an A in Biology. He found the working environment at the Academy to be pivotal to his success, specifically the helpfulness of staff and the superstudios in which he spent many hours.

Carine Rassam has also been a student at the Academy since Year 7. Having achieved 2 A*s in Biology and Chemistry and a D1 in Mandarin, she is one of the Academys’ highest achievers. Carine spoke about the importance of the teaching at the Academy, saying it “ensured she expanded her knowledge beyond the curriculum”, allowing her to fall in love with her subjects and study on a higher level.

Heidi Malaj – One of our Critchley Scholars excelled in her 3 chosen subjects, achieving A*s in English and Geography and an A in History. Heidi is another one of our high achieving students whose journey began at the Academy in Year 7. She is also one of the many students going on to study at UCL (Law). Heidi attributes her success to hard work on her part, but strongly believes the diversity of the curriculum at the Academy is what allowed her to extend her learning and attain her ultimate goals.

Our long awaited Sports Day!

After the washout that was Wimbledon, we were all keeping our fingers crossed for better weather come Sports Day, and we weren’t disappointed! The sun was shining on Parliament Hill and all involved were eager to reignite the house competition they missed out on last year due to Covid.

Standout performances were seen in many events. But, as well as the great achievements, it is worth noting that the main success of this year’s Sports Day was everyone experiencing a sense of normality and being able to share memories once again.

Head of PE, Ms Potter said: “It was fantastic to see so many students laughing, smiling and cheering each other’s success. The atmosphere was brilliant and supportive and the quality of performances across all events was very high. The highlight of the day and the image that summed up the collectiveness of the students was when one of our SEND students in Foundation fell over during the 100m. Immediately the Head Boy and Head Girl rushed over to pick her up and run with her as she finished the race, with the rest of the school cheering her on. An amazing example of the fantastic students at The Academy”.

After the points were carefully counted, the victors of the day were announced…Orion! Huge congratulations to all those involved.

After last winning in 2012/2013 – who knows, perhaps this signals the passing of the baton?

Sixth Form Transition Week – w/b Monday 28th June 

The transition from Senior School to Sixth Form is a significant one; marking the shift into student life as a young adult and crucially, to the beginning of a more considered path of education.

Preparing for Sixth Form is an exciting time in your life as a student; we believe Induction to Sixth Form begins as soon as you apply, but begins in earnest when you confirm on results day in August. From an early stage, we endeavour to make sure you have all the resources and information you need to make well informed choices and to achieve your goals, much of which we impart during Transition Week. 

Transition Week is part of a much larger programme, nonetheless, is significantly important in ensuring each of you build a firm foundation for your studies. Composed of a series of events and activities held over 5 days, it plays a vital role in introducing you to academic life in the Sixth Form. While a significant number of you will continue from the UCL Academy main school into Sixth Form, a number of you will join from other schools. Walk through tours and introductions will kickstart the Transition Week and for those joining us in particular, will introduce you to the exceptional facilities you will inhabit for the next 2 years. 

As the week progresses, the 4 key areas of the programme will be delivered; Tutoring and student mindset, Careers/Futures and next steps, Subject knowledge and engagement in preparing for A level and lastly, Academic study skills and research and mentoring. By way of discussions surrounding shared visions, responsibilities and ambitions, we aim to create a sense of belonging in all our future students. Over the course of the week, your intellectual curiosity will develop and widen as discussions become more unique to each of your paths.

It would be remiss not to mention the unusual situation all of you have faced over the last year, specifically how exam preparations have been vastly different to previous years. We are mindful these are new pastures and many of you won’t have any experience of studying for examinations across multiple subjects. Rest assured, the Sixth Form Team and the entire UCL Academy Community is here to ensure you have the skill and mindset to succeed in your studies, irrespective of the current and future situation.

All that remains is to wish you a happy and restful summer break and to say we look forward to welcoming you all to the Academy very soon.