Friday 23 February 2018

INTERMEDIATE MATHEMATICS CHALLENGE SUCCESS

Congratulations to the 16 pupils who recently achieved a gold award in the IMC. Edward scored the highest mark in year 9, while Billy was the top performer in year 10 with a highly impressive total of 94 points. No less than 11 students have qualified for the Kangaroo Round placing them in the top 0.4 per cent of their age group. Remarkably Siddiq, Luke, Oscar, Dylan and Joe, who was the best in the school, have all qualified for the Olympiad stage of the competition which places them in the top five hundred (0.07 per cent) mathematicians nationally in their year group. We must also spare a thought for, and congratulate, Zac who missed out on Olympiad qualification by just one mark. To put these achievements into perspective, in the past nine years only one student has sat the notoriously difficult Maclaurin Paper that these five students will soon take. We wish them well. AJL

Code kings!BY RAFAEL

This week, 24 year 9 and 10 students competed in The Perse Coding Team Challenge. We set up in teams of four and had to answer programming questions in Python, the language we will use in the IGCSE computer science project. We were allowed to bring in 20 pages of common code samples to help but it was still very challenging. The format of the competition was interesting because it was all done on the website HackerRank.com, which allows you to test your code to make sure it is correct before you submit it. It was an exciting afternoon.

Gordon Corera talkEmanuel are looking forward to welcoming Gordon Corera, BBC News Security Correspondent and author, to Emanuel on Monday 26 February at 6pm to give a talk on intelligence, espionage and the use that terrorists make of computing. We would be delighted if you could join us for the talk; it’s not too late to book your place. Please go to www.emanuelalumni.org.uk/alumni-events to register your attendance as soon as possible. Gordon has been BBC Security Correspondent since 2004. He covers cyber security, terrorism, spying and other related issues around the world. He was previously a foreign affairs reporter on the Today programme, BBC Radio 4’s flagship news programme. The journalist is the author of a number of books about espionage and security. He will be giving us an insight into his recently-released book, ‘Secret Pigeon Service’ which covers Operation Columba, a secret British operation to bring back intelligence from those living under Nazi occupation. Tea and coffee will be served in the Library from 5pm followed by Gordon Corera’s talk in the Fiennes Theatre at 6pm.

Mighty mathematicians

Year 11 Work Experience deadline reminderPlease complete and email the Pupil Placement Form (available on the parent portal) to Miss Malik (huma.malik@emanuel.org.uk) by Friday 9 March. Thank you.

2

Physics newsBefore half term our lower six physicists were immersed in the world of current physics research during a series of lectures at Friend’s House, London. Highlights included Prof Jim Al-Khalili, who spoke about the relatively new topic of quantum biology. We learned that robins and many other birds sense the Earth’s magnetic field through a ‘quantum compass’ in their eyes. Australian accelerator physicist, Dr Suzie Sheehy then demonstrated the way plasma has to be contained by forces in alternately vertical and then horizontal forces. Dr Andrew Pontzen followed by demonsting how galaxies behave as if they have five times as many stars as they actually do, so that 80 per cent of matter is thus invisible or dark. Then it was Dr Helen Czerski’s turn, who described the resonant effects that make her spill her tea every day taking it to her office (From Bubbles to Oceans: the big wide World of Fluid Dynamics). Finally, the science journalist and writer Dr Michael Brooks spoke about time. MPD

OE Science talkOld Emanuel Zara Schneider will be coming back to school next Tuesday (27 February) at 4pm to give a talk entitled ‘Mental Health: The Big Picture.’ in CS1. All welcome. Refreshments will be served.

On Friday 2 March 250 pupils from 20 schools will be joining our junior academic scholars to hear a discussion between four very distinguished children’s authors - Sarah Crossan, Elizabeth Laird, Sarah Govett and Gemma Malley - in the Hampden Hall. These are four of the seven short-listed au-thors for this year’s Trinity School Book Award (TSBA), which is themed ‘New Worlds’ - all nominated works are featured on the poster. The presentation begins at 5pm and will last one hour, after which all four authors will be in the Library to sign books and programmes until approximately 7pm. There will also be pupil prizes awarded and a lucky author will be pre-sented with the TSBA 2018 trophy, after hundreds of children from across 20 schools who have read the short-listed books cast their vote for their favourite. We still have space for a few extra Emanuel pupils, on a first come first served basis, so please email tony.jones@emanuel.org.uk if you would like your child to attend. Sarah Crossan is currently one of the most popular teen writers in the UK, and is best known for Apple and Rain and One, which was awarded the Carnegie Medal, the most prestigious children’s book award in the world, in 2016. Elizabeth Laird is a world-renowned writer and multiple prize winning author of over 80 novels for children of all ages dat-ing back to the 1970s. She will be discussing her latest novel Welcome to Nowhere, which was one of the finest children’s novels published in 2017. Elizabeth is in the running for the next Carnegie Medal in June. Both Gemma Malley and Sarah Govett are best known for their dystopian fiction, Sarah’s third book in her Territory trilogy is published in a couple of weeks and Gemma has two successful trilogies beginning with The Declaration and The Killables. Please note there is no book sale, but the authors are happy to sign books from home or the complementary programme. This promises to be a unique event, so do get in touch if your child wishes to attend. TRJ

Trinity School Book Award

Careers ConventionThis year’s annual careers convention for year 11 students and their parents will take place in the Hampden Hall on Wednesday 28 February between 6.30 and 7.45pm. Sixth formers are welcome. We look forward to seeing everyone there. HJ

Emanuel Twitter feedYou can now follow Emanuel on Twitter. Please visit @Emanuel_School to follow us for regular updates, announcements, results and news.

3

47 year 9 students and five members of staff spent a productive three days in Normandy over half term. We got some sleep in our cabins during the overnight ferry crossing from Portsmouth to Caen, cut short by breakfast on Saturday at 4am UK time! We quickly arrived at our accommodation, which was right on Gold beach, where the British landed on the 6 June 1944 (se), where we enjoyed beach games overlooking the remains of one of the Mulberry harbours. Only 300 metres along the beach we found the remains of a blockhouse from which one of the German guns had knocked out six British DD (amphibious) tanks before itself being destroyed. We went straight

on to Arromanches and the 360-degree cinema for a film about D Day and the battle for Normandy. The opening scenes of the Spielberg film Saving Private Ryan were showing on the coach just before we reached the American cemetery at Omaha beach. Despite the cold, students were very impressed with the cemetery and museum, and with the remains of a German artillery battery on our way back to base, for more beach games and a good rest…. Sunday was our Caen day, exploring the Norman castle and the big street market in the morning, followed by the excellent Caen peace museum in the afternoon, covering events in Germany

from 1919 to 1945, the whole of World War II, and the Cold War from 1946 to 1989, and we even got snow on the beach! Monday was the Bayeux tapestry, exquisitely detailed and still in vibrant colours after 950 years, and the chance to enjoy a nice lunch – apparently McDonalds in France is much superior to the English version… The afternoon ferry got us back to Emanuel at midnight, having had a lot of fun, and with lots to think about as we focus on World War Two in year 9 history lessons over the next few months. AFK

Year 9 trip to Normandy

One of the most popular theme days is Chinese New Year, which was celebrated on Tuesday. Brenda, one of our food service assistants, decorated the dining rooms with a colourful array of red and gold Chinese decorations while Richard and the chefs conjured up a feast including tasty beef in black bean sauce, a tender chicken in oyster sauce and a delicious vegetarian dish of sweet and sour vegetables. This was accompanied by egg fried rice, stir fried vegetables, prawn crackers and, of course, fortune cookies. PHYLLIS STREET (CATERING MANAGER)

Before half-term we held the year 7 section of the lower school Literary Quiz, which was so close that the two places in the final were not decided until the final day. A victory on the ultimate day for 7HEB meant they leap-frogged 7LAS and sneaked the second place for Finals Week, which start Monday. 7LCC, featured in the above photo had already qualified for the finals with two dominating performances. 7LCC and 7HEB will join 8MSH and 8KSA in the finals, which promise to be an ultra-competitive competition. At the time of writing the two Hill Form classes are competing for the fifth and final berth for next week. It’s been a fabulous competition and everyone has really enjoyed it. TRJ

Chinese New Year Lower School Literary Quiz

4

House Points Totals At 6 December

Junior Senior OverallClyde 148 Howe 154 302

Drake 163 Nelson 135 298

Lyons 180 Marlborough 135 315

Wellington 176 Rodney 145 321

Weekly House point totals

Actors and locations neededFollowing on from the success of the recent House Film Competi-tion, Emanuel’s budding filmmak-ers are currently collaborating on a short film that they will be shoot-ing during the Easter holidays. The students will be writing, producing, directing, shooting and editing the film, with the aim of entering film festivals and competitions both nationally and internationally. The group are currently looking for male and female actors (year 10 and upwards), and this is great op-portunity for anyone who would like to get experience of film acting and would like to see themselves on the big screen! Actors would need to be available on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 April. Addi-tionally, the group is looking for interesting locations (preferably in south/central London) in which to set their story and to shoot their film on these dates. If you would like to audition for an acting role or have access to a location that may be suitable, please contact Mr. Skinner on james.skinner@emanuel.org.uk

Cake winners

Public speaking competition

BY IMA Lower sixth students Jeremy, Lucy and Ima competed in the United Westminster Schools (UWS) Foundation’s Public Speaking Competition at Queen Anne’s in Reading. Nine other schools took part. Everyone gave four-minute speeches and they were all interesting, covering a range of topics. Jeremy’s speech was

titled ‘Because it’s true’ and he discussed the importance of reasoned scepticism in science rather than just believing in facts because we are told that they are true. In Lucy’s speech, ‘Prostitution: a vehicle for empowerment’ she talked about prostitution and how attitudes towards it should be changed. Ima’s speech, titled ‘Why we should not fear cryonics’, explored the ethics of cryonics. Everyone delivered engaging speeches and Jeremy and Lucy were awarded joint second prize. It was a enjoyable event and a great experience.

BY ERNEST & HARVEYMrs Maitland of the Northwood African Education Foundation spoke to year 11 and 13 economics students. She is the CEO of a charity founded by the parents and teachers of Broomwood Hall School. The charity is based in the Gondar region of Ethiopia, where it built a school called St George’s. It hopes to expand so it can accommodate 750 pupils, girls and boys age 5-18, by 2022. In economics with Mrs Walton we have been learning about NGOs and their impact – how they can provide short-term aid, but can also have long-term impacts by laying the foundations for development and growth through education and training. The Northwood project hopes to receive

local government funding in order to increase long term economic growth in Ethiopia. By establishing ties with local government and businesses, the charity hopes to find jobs for St George’s students when they leave school. This is to avoid ‘brain drain’, which is where highly educated people from less economically developed countries leave to go and work in the West. Mrs Maitland explained that the project believes that through the founding of the school, the children from the nearby town of Azezo, many of them orphaned, will develop a broad skill set and attain a higher education than they would otherwise get - the hope is they will get better opportunities in life. This is important as most children leave

school at 10, and are therefore stuck in a cycle of poverty. She spoke about how St George’s focuses on the children’s health and wellbeing by giving two school meals a day and providing food parcels during the school holidays. We have been discussing how technology is crucial to economic development in less developed areas of the world. We were able to ask Mrs Maitland about the importance of technology to the St George’s project, and if she thought it would be an effective next step for economic development in Ethiopiat. It was interesting and a great real-world application of our Economics GCSE course.

The economics of charity

This week’s Emanuel Cake winner is the U15/14 hockey squad for winning their match against IPS. The girls were also nominated for their great performance on tour in Barcelona. See p5 for the full report.

Hockey

5

SPORTU15/U14 TOUR TO BARCELONAEmanuel history was made when 19 students set off for the first ever school hockey tour to Barcelona during the February half term. The squad was made up of six year 9 and 13 year 10 girls. They prepared well for the tour with a busy fixtures programme in the first half of the spring term and weekly training sessions. The tour schedule was planned so the girls had as much time playing as training during the trip. We started with a 4am meet at Heathrow and were delighted to receive an Emanuel Banner from Mr Ayres as a good luck token for the tour. We arrived in Barcelona and headed to the beach to stretch our legs before the first fixture. After lunch and a siesta, we were ready to take on the local team, Castelldefels Hockey Club. We arrived early to watch the Castelldefels first team who had phenomenal skills and ball control. After a warm up we were ready for the game. The match started well with Anna playing as sweeper and communicating well with the team, transferring the ball with control and pace from the back. We created a break through with Eve managing to get on the end of an excellent ball sent through from midfielder, Lucia, to score our first goal of the tour. The defence continued to mark well with solid tackles, making it hard for the opposition to score. The half ended with Emanuel leading by a goal. In the second half we were growing in confidence with more opportunities up front. Rosie and Milly scored two more goals. Lauren was nominated captain and played an outstanding match upfront. She showed exceptional fitness running back to cover and creating opportunities. She scored one of our four goals, was voted player of the match and notably delivered an inspiring speech at the end of the match in Spanish. We won 4-1. Day two started with a fascinating half day tour of Barcelona, ending with a visit to Las Ramblas. After an eventful morning we headed to Club Egara for

our second match. We were aware that the game was going to be tough as the opposition have a great track record, and are one of the biggest clubs in Spain. However, we worked hard on our penalty corner preparation and were determined to put up a fight. Emanuel were pressed hard in defence, Libby, Bobbie and Zara had to give 110 percent to keep out the opposition. Emma showed awesome skills to get round the opposition and force a penalty corner. Eva stepped up to be the stopper and what a great job she did, showing nerves of steel she took a clean stop for Emma to take the shot on goal and it worked perfectly. It proved that practice really does count! The matched continued with pace and Emanuel kept up the fight. Lola was brilliant in midfield and worked hard in both attack and defence. Bella was outstanding in goal, saving numerous shots coming from all angles. Emma was voted player of the match. Milly Yates was strong upfront and scored our second goal. The matched ended with a 5-2 loss. On the following day we headed to the Olympic Hockey Stadium for a coaching session with Andrea Enrich from Teressa Hockey Club. Andrea is a former Spanish International player. His session was eye opening and he emphasised the need for great ball control. Grace worked hard in the session and took on board the need to fix in the opposition before making a decision. This was something that she reminded the team about before match three. The rain was torrential as we headed towards our third fixture against Illuro Hockey Club. Lucy started up front on the wing, working hard to beat the opposition in the D and create scoring opportunities. Lara dominated in midfield and was chosen player of the match. Scarlett played a solid game in defence and made it very difficult for the opposition to break through. Libby was also a key player in midfield linking, transferring the ball around the pitch. We dominated the game and the goals just kept coming. It was difficult to keep a record of who had scored as the coaching manual was dripping wet! The

match ended with a 10-1 victory. The final day started with preparations for our fourth match. This included training, stretching and relaxing with face masks! However, a late notification that the pitch was frozen meant that the match was cancelled. This did not dampen the girl’s spirits as we headed to a bowling alley to celebrate a wonderful tour. The girls were a credit to Emanuel on and off the pitch with exemplary behaviour and great team spirit. See p6 for tour photos. LJF

U12B v NOTTING HILL AND EALINGFINAL SCORE: 6-0 (WIN)BY JEMIMAThe game had a steady start with Elizabeth, Sophie and Jessica getting the ball as far as possible from the D. We got stronger with Evie and Ruby doing some great crosses to Frankie who scored three amazing goals. Notting Hill and Ealing had some shots on target but Martha made some brilliant saves to make a clean sheet. In the second half, Eva and Scarlett did some great tackling and running down the line. Evie managed to find the net with a further two more goals, with Ruby finishing the game off with a last minute goal. Player of the match was Elizabeth as she pressured the opposition consistently throughout the game. This game was great preparation for our fixture against Harrodian, which will be our toughest game yet but we look forward to the challenge.

6

CROSS COUNTRY: LONDON SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS: The final results have arrived from our race day at Wormwood Scrubs Park on Wednesday 7 February. In the team events our U15 boys team came fourth, narrowly equalling last year’s bronze medal, whilst our other A teams from the U15 Girls and U14 Boys came fifth, and our U14 Girls finished seventh. Individually there were some excellent performances from Georgie (fourth), Fleur (seventh), Ed (sixteenth ), Will (nineteenth) and Eve (nineteenth). Congratulations also to Madeline, Will, Harry and Fleur who have all been selected to represent Wandsworth at the next year 7 and 8 Inter-Borough Championships. PAK

Barcelona hockey tour

7

Rowing

U13 NATIONAL SCHOOLS’ CHAMPIONSHIPS Emanuel travelled with five Year 8 pairs to Eton. The format of the tournament involved each pair competing in a group stage of four or five pairs before advancing into the knockout stages in either the plate, or the trophy for the top two in each group. Ethan and Jacob started with all guns blazing winning their four group games, with a couple of the victories involving 8-0 drubbings. This advanced them to the trophy where they were up against the top Cranleigh pair. The boys started well with a great run of points, deciding the first set 12-4. Cranleigh fought back to bring the second set to 10-2, before a valiant effort from Jacob on the top step and with some cracking shots into the buttress from the back of the court brought the teams close to parity at 10-8 down. However, it was not to be and Cranleigh won the second set 12-8. Having wrestled momentum back in Emanuel’s favour, Ethan continued to force play our way with some great cut returns and lovely volleying to win the set 12-9. This brought them up against a tough St Olave’s pair who were just too strong for the boys and they eventually lost 2-0. The top pairing of Arthur and Ben started well and won some close battles to make it through to the trophy also. The boys moved around the court well, coordinating to win key points. Their first knockout game was a tough match

RugbyEmanuel School Rugby Awards EveningBefore half term the school hosted its annual rugby awards evening. The director of rugby welcomed more than 250 guests to celebrate the achievements of the boys across the autumn and spring terms. It was great to see the refectory full of people enjoying the fruits of our outstanding catering team and viewing images of the season’s highlights on display boards. The Hampden Hall was full, creating a great atmosphere for the occasion. The team captains must be congratulated for the speeches they gave; it was a testament to the school how well they handled themselves in front of a large audience. Highlights were speeches from Hill formers Tomoki and Edward, year 7’s very own Etienne and year 9’s Dafydd. Throughout the evening the audience frequently burst into laughter and applause based on the reflections of the coaching staff and students. The evening finished with the presentation of the Dick Woodall Cup - this year’s worthy winner was upper sixth player Sam who received the prestigious award for his services to Emanuel rugby during his time here. SDGRugby Award WinnersPlayer of the year: Sholto, Xavier, Sacha, Jake, Marcus, Charlie, Sam, Chris, Oscar, Oliver, Nathan, Connor, Freddie, Jorge, Tom, Ted, Archie, Hugo.Most improved player: Ed, James, Jamie, Finn, Buster, Matthew, Tom, Noah, Adam, Ollie, Ben, Henri, Luca, Julian, Daniel, Thomas, Achille, Felix.

J15 BOYS MATCH v READING BLUECOAT During half-term, a squad of year 10 boys travelled over to Reading Bluecoat. With both teams depleted through holiday and illness, we ended up with one eight apiece and did two timed pieces down the Thames Valley Park stretch. In the first piece, where the crews started off side-by-side, Emanuel quickly moved into a lead and pushed on to gain clear-water, which they held all the way down to the finish, winning by nine seconds on the line. In the second, Bluecoat shot off

while Emanuel were still struggling to turn and get ready. As a consequence, there was a big gap between the crews right from the start and Emanuel were playing catch up throughout. Nevertheless, a punchy rhythm set up by the stern pair and some good steering helped Emanuel to hunt down the Bluecoat crew over the 3K course to win by an even bigger margin of 15 seconds. A good day out and a pleasing result against a school who finished third out of 14 crews at the Quintin Head a couple of weeks ago. Squad: Tate, Fred, Jake, Billy, Elliott, Matt, James, Ben C, Ben T, Albi. Results: Race 1: 1st Emanuel - 00:10:24, 2nd Reading Bluecoat - 00:10:33. Race two: 1st Emanuel 00:10:13, 2nd Reading Bluecoat - 00:10:28. DMC

Fives

against Berkhamsted’s second pair. Both teams struggled to string points together and both sets remained close throughout. Despite Arthur hitting a few lovely shots into the buttress and Ben killing the points shortly after, the boys could not quite manage to seal the crucial rallies and ended up losing a very close game 12-10, 12-9. Next up were Ben and Jack. The boys started slowly, losing a couple of games they could have won and ended up entering the plate competition. Their fortunes shortly changed and they went on a run of four victories thanks to Ben greatly improving his cut returns and Jack consistently finishing rallies in the buttress. This brought them to the final of the plate for a game against RGS High Wycombe. The winning streak came to an end in a tense game which finished 15-12, following some great play from the RGS HW pair. Nathan and Otto made up our next pair. The boys managed a good win over the more experienced Berkhamsted players before a few close losses meant they entered the plate. The boys got stuck into their plate matches and Otto’s relentless pressure from the back of the court won several key points. The improvement shown by Nathan throughout the day was very impressive and his movement around the court and controlling of rallies showed much potential. The final pairing of Joel and Timur faced a tough group with some strong opponents. They subsequently entered the plate where their fortunes changed. With some smooth work by Joel on the top step and Timur keeping his opponents under pressure from the back, the boys were able to snatch a great win against Highgate, before unfortunately losing a close game to Rydal Penrhos. The boys played very well and can be proud of the improvement they showed throughout the day. I look forward to seeing them build on their performances. BY MR MCCAHON (FIVES COACH)