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ACADEMY NEWS 28th March 2014
performances to cover in depth, but special
mention must be made of Joshua Barredo as
Doody, Chanel Vital as Marty, Freeda Bernard as
Jan, Darnell Christie as Sonny and Nikita Crossman
as Cha Cha.
Well done also to Johnley Videna, Emmy Toulson
and Ryan Tasker, who added a healthy dose of
comic value to proceedings, and to Newar Mekhael
whose rapid-fire commentary was sharp and
impressive.
Dame Sally said: “I have been here for six years and
this is, I think, the best production I’ve seen.”
A comment on the school Twitter account read:
“The final night of Grease is underway and what a
performance it is! Some very talented students at
BDA.”
Well done all and a huge thanks to BDA’s amazing
performing arts department, who never fail to raise
the bar.
Grease is most
definitely the word!
For this year’s much-anticipated BDA musical, the
performing arts team and a group of talented
actors from across the academy took on one of the
most celebrated stage musicals in history and
delivered in fine style.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week,
the Dennis Potter Theatre – packed to the rafters
with parents, pupils, teachers and governors –
played host to the Pink ladies and the T-Birds, who
took the BDA community by storm with a truly
exceptional production of Grease.
The cast and crew leapt together through time and
space to 1959 and the all-American Rydell High,
where youth culture was changing, rock and roll
was on the rise and a sense of rebellion hung heavy
in the air.
Dylan Arango and Nardos Mogas brought Danny
and Sandy to life with a pitch-perfect balance of
sweetness and swagger. Their excellent vocals were
complimented by Dylan’s formidable stage
presence and Nardos’ mature understanding of
character.
Youngsters Tamara Kovacevic and Harry Kelly were
both superb in their roles as Frenchy and Roger. The
pair were responsible for countless laughs and are
sure to be part of many a successful BDA
performance in the future.
Llodawna Ellington was predictably brilliant as the
complicated Rizo, blowing the audience away with
her wonderful voice and gritty take on the troubled
teenager, while Yassin Seddik was cool as a
cucumber playing the endearing rogue Kinicke.
There really were too many exceptional
Next week is
Charity Week at
BDA!
Charity Week is always a highlight in the BDA
calendar. Our community is committed to helping
those less fortunate than ourselves, and we relish any
opportunity to raise money and have a little fun in
the process.
Last year saw staff and students take part in
countless activities, including: Sponge a Teacher, a
sponsored silence, a charity chicken race, I’m a
Teacher Get Me Out of Here and Mr Wilson’s famous
chicken BBQ.
This year we have an even more exciting line-up:
•On Monday we have Are Your Teachers Smarter
than 11 Year Olds? which will take place in the
Dennis potter Theatre at lunchtime.
•Also on Monday, from 5-6.30pm, we’ll be hosting a
year 7 disco, with prizes awarded for best dressed,
best moves and the student who dances most like
their dad.
ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FINAL WEEK
Please note the following arrangements for the final
week of this term:
-On Thursday 10th April years 7, 8, 9,10, 12 and 13 will
be dismissed at lunchtime for the Easter Holidays.
Year 11 students who have applied to BDA Sixth
Form will remain in school and will be expected to
be in professional dress (as worn by the current sixth
form).
-Year 11 students will be in as normal (in regular
uniform) on Friday 11th, with a reward assembly to
be held during period 6.
-Year 10 business pupils and catering pupils are in on
the Friday.
-Year 12 and 13 are in by invitation only. -Revision programmes will be published soon.
REMEMBER: All students are expected back in school
on Monday 28th April.
•On Tuesday lunchtime teachers will be taking part
in Teachers Got Talent in the Dennis Potter Theatre.
•Tuesday afternoon will see the return of Sponge a
Teacher in the Burlington playground at about 4pm.
•On Friday students will have the opportunity to
dress in their PJs, onesies or as a famous movie star
for the day, but of course this is not compulsory.
•Every lunchtime next week there will be cakes on
sale, with all proceeds going to charity.
More events are still to be announced so keep your
ears to the ground and be sure to arrive next week
prepared to do your bit for charity!
BBC SCHOOL REPORT
Well done to the 7B students who took part in this
year’s BBC School Report, all of whom produced
thoroughly researched and well-written articles
about a range of important topics. Hamdi wrote an
excellent piece about behaviour in schools and how
teachers are expected to deal with unruly pupils;
Felix, Robel and Kareem turned out a fantastic
report on the closure of the UK’s libraries; while
Ibrahim and Ashkan addressed a very original issue
in their article about Islamic law in Britain.
These excellent pieces – along with Mariam and
Areima’s analysis of the changes to the GCSE
exams, Assamaa and Sara’s piece about the
missing Malaysian plane, and Dua and Maisie’s
exposé of the foods we falsely believe to be healthy
– are all available to view online here:
http://burlingtondanes.org/life-school/bbc-school-
report. Well done all for producing such professional
work!
Debate topic for next
week : “This House would
ban child performers”
DofE Silver training expedition
Seven BDA students spent yesterday afternoon at
Evelyn Grace Academy, vying for the coveted
crown of ARK Spelling Bee champions.
The first stage of the competition was the quickfire
round, which required a single speller from each
year group to correctly spell as many words as
possible in a short space of time. Kareem stepped
up for the year 7s, Nasteho for the year 8s and Zak
for the year 9s, in what proved a profitable round for
the team: Zak came a very well-earned third while
Nasteho spelt every single word correctly, claiming
first place in the process.
The knockout round was a little less successful, but
there is no doubt that Alice, Saleem and Aishni were
particularly unfortunate with the difficulty of the
words they were given.
Despite just missing out on third place, the day was
a great success. We very much enjoyed mixing with
other ARK schools and are looking forward to the
next opportunity to win back the title. The group
were great BDA ambassadors and a special
mention must be made of Adnan, who very
honourably volunteered to be a reserve and
provided top support throughout the day.
Mr Lawrence: Last weekend the Year 12 Duke of
Edinburgh Silver Award students completed their
training expedition in the Chilterns. We were very
lucky to have some lovely sunny days although the
students found the two nights sleeping in a tent to
be cold and uncomfortable. Students did very well
to carry their equipment for the three day
expedition and despite blisters and getting lost all
four groups made it to the finish having learned lots
of lessons ready for the final assessed expedition to
the New Forest in June.
I have been very impressed so far with student’s
energy, self-discipline, commitment and capacity
for teamwork as they complete their Silver award
and I am sure they will continue to push on to ensure
they not only pass their expedition but also do well in
their volunteering, skill and physical sections of the
award.
The Oxbridge Project: ‘Blood
and Matzo: Myth and the
Middle East
Dr O’Hear: On Tuesday March 25th we were
honoured to receive Dr Peter Claus, History Fellow at
Pembroke College, Oxford University, to address the
Oxbridge Project. Dr Claus gave a talk entitled
'Blood and Matzo: Myth and the Middle East' in
which he took us on a fascinating journey of some
of the myths surrounding the Jewish people that
originated in the Middle Ages and still endure in the
Middle East to this day.
The 'Judeophobia' of the Middle Ages ranged from
outlandish myths about Jewish people using the
blood of Christian children in rituals (the blood libel)
to allegations that Jewish people were responsible
for outbreaks of the plague (they were often less
affected by plague due to their purification rituals
which helped to keep away germs). By
the16th century most of the Jews had been
expelled from Western Europe. However, these anti-
Jewish myths from the Middle Ages were
reincarnated in the 19th and 20th centuries in
Europe and America in the form of documents such
as the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion', a fabricated
document which purports to unveil a world
conspiracy of Jews which would lead to world
domination if left unchecked. Astoundingly, despite
having been resoundingly discredited as a worthless
forgery, new editions of 'The Protocols of the Elders of
Zion' are being published in the Middle East to this
day and help to fuel a casual media iconography
of anti-Semitism in this region. In a recent poll, 100%
of Jordanian Muslims admitted to holding
unfavourable views of Jewish people (alongside 99%
of Lebanese Muslims and 98% of Egyptian Muslims).
Dr Claus thus convincingly demonstrated the
damaging legacy that historical myths can continue
to perpetuate even in our supposedly more
'switched on' age. He was also at pains to point out
that he could have delivered a similar talk on the
damaging and enduring effect of 'Orientalist' myths.
None of us are immune to the effects of myths
about other cultures. Dr Claus singled out Felix
Butcher (7B), Sadek Al-Saabari (7B) and Ezra Gill
(10B) on account of their excellent questions and
responses.
We are very grateful to Dr Claus for driving all the
way from Oxford to give us this super talk, a taster of
what reading History at Oxford University must be
like.
“We are very grateful to Dr
Claus for driving all the way
from Oxford to give us this super talk”
A VISIT FROM THE U.S. EMBASSY
Mr Whitlock: Over the past five weeks a core group
of Year 11 students have participated in the "Being
Muslim Being British" course which is funded by Ealing
Council & led by Anjum Khan on behalf of
Cambridge Universities Psychology Department.
Students were exposed to prevalent issues facing
young Muslims and their identity in Britain today
whilst developing their integrated complexity
through short videos, role play and debate. The
culmination of this course ended on Tuesday with a
visit from the United States Embassy. Present was the
First Secretary to the Ambassador, Eric Geelan, and
Jamie Martin Some 6th formers joined the group as
students posed challenging questions on issues
surrounding Snowden, Guantanamo Bay, Iraq War,
Osama Bin Laden, International Relations with the
Kurds and much more.
The US Embassy said they would report back to
Washington D.C with ideas and concerns that were
brought by students. They also commented saying
BDA students have been the most sophisticated and
articulate when being questioned out of any school
they have visited. After this the BMBB students gave
short presentations reflecting on the course and were awarded with certificates.
Latest news from the library Ms Hartnett: Good afternoon everyone, hope you’ve
all had an amazing week! A huge congratulations to
all of our winners from BDA Book Week, the list is as
follows:
Y7
Aaliyah Case-Gibbs - 10 word story competition
Hannah Buckley Smith - Book Cover runner up
Jahiem Lorenzo - Book Cover runner up
Lia-Mai Rodney Edwards - Book Cover runner up
Connor Pates – Creative Writing runner up
Y8
Wahbi El Jack Ali – Guess the book competition
Mohammed Hassan – creative writing runner up
Ahmed Omar – creative writing runner up
Saleem Shah – creative writing runner up
Tyrese Edwards – creative writing runner up
Y9
Laureen Agyemang – Winner – Book Cover
competition
Ghalid Kulmie – Book cover runner up
Zak Ellis Khan – Book cover runner up
Reisli Hysa – Book cover runner up
Y10
Raage Egal – Creative writing runner up
Y11
Joe Nobbs – Winner – Creative writing competition
Don’t forget we’ll be running lots of competitions
throughout the year so you’ll still be in with a chance
Numbers
by Rachel Ward
Mr Crowley: The literacy squad picked this book
during our recent trip to Foyles book shop. I am glad
they did as it has proven to be a really good choice. It
is a great story.
The book is narrated by fifteen year old Jem, who lives
with a foster family and is having trouble at school.
She also has a special power, one that she has not
told anyone about. When Jem looks into someone’s
eyes she can see the date on which they will die. This
is a really clever concept that I am surprised has never
been done before.
The story is also really well executed. Jem becomes
friends with a boy named Spider, who she knows will
soon die, and they go to London for a trip. What
follows is a tense thriller centred on a terrorist plot. I do
not want to say anymore as you will have to find out
for yourself! I would recommend this book to anyone
of winning a Kindle, along with other prizes!
The best writers always say that they get their
inspiration from reading lots, so if you have ambitions
to become a brilliant author make sure you’re
reading lots and lots!
We’ve got loads of new books in the library and you
can always come and ask any of the librarians for
recommendations, but don’t forget that we also
have lots of amazing student librarians who also
know lots of great books that you might enjoy, so try
asking them as well! And if there’s anything that
you’ve heard about that you’ve heard about that
you want to read and we don’t have you can
always request it.
The Friday quiz this week is all about myths, so if
that’s something you think you know a lot about
make sure you come and have a go – there’s a
prize for the winner!
who likes books with lots of action or books about
the weird and paranormal. A fantastic selection from the Literacy Squad – this book is amazing!
Transforming lives
that have been
crippled by debt
I am a volunteer, supporting the vital services
provided by the St Paul's Money Advice Centre. This
is the Hammersmith branch of Crosslight, a charity
which helps anyone weighed down by the burden
of debt. This work brings me, as part of the
Crosslight Team, into contact with people of all
ages and backgrounds, who for many reasons
have become indebted. Our purpose is to
transform lives that have often been devastated by
the consequences of their financial predicament.
The dedicated team provides debt counselling and
budgeting strategies to our ‘clients’ free of charge.
http://www.crosslightadvice.org/
So, who is at risk? Our experience confirms that
almost anyone can be sucked into the debt
quicksand. This has been aggravated by the
current economic situation, and agencies that take
advantage of people’s vulnerability. This injects a
sense of urgency into the need to maintain the
Crosslight Mission. We rely on donations to keep
going. So, leading up to Saturday the 26th of April,
our team is holding a fundraising drive to help
sustain the service beyond 2014. Please visit this web
site to find out more.
https://mydonate.bt.com/events/move4change/11
2735
Your support would be highly appreciated.
You may be aware of someone who needs help to
reorganise their financial affairs. In which case, this
article may well serve an immediate practical
purpose. I have made myself available to lead BDA
groups to explore (and to avoid) the traps that lead
to debt misery.
Ken Bromfield MBE.
BDA Governor.
MR PRESTON’S NEWS QUIZ
Answers to last week’s questions: Which town has been named the best place to live in Britain? Skipton in Yorkshire Which European city has introduced alternative driving days because of dangerous levels of air
pollution? Paris Which European city is about to become the first city in the world with its own internet domain
name? Berlin Which film is facing a ban in several Middle Eastern countries? Noah How many medals did
Team GB win in the Sochi Winter Paralympics? six
PE DEPARTMENT FIXTURES WEEK BEGINNING 31.03.14
Date Sport Year
Group Opposition Venue Staff Start
31.03.14 Football 7 St. Thomas Moore BDA KIN/CRA 4.00pm
1.04.14 Football 10 Fulham College BDA KIN/CRA 4.30pm
1.Which country has blocked the Twitter website?
2.Why was Tesco forced to scrap its adverts for cheaper milk?
3.Who has announced a series of concert dates, 35 years after her last
tour?
4.For how many matches have Arsenal been managed by Arsene
Wenger?
5.Why were the England T20 cricket team ‘placed in danger’ whilst
playing their match against New Zealand?