Year 10 students have been busily campaigning to raise awareness about key social issues in our local community, including LGBT rights, environmental issues, the portrayal of women in the media, and electoral reform.

Students chose a range of methods to campaign at break time in the Main Hall, including creating videos, handing out leaflets, interactive games and selling some fabulous cakes to support local charities! Students have also been contacting people in power in our local community, including inviting Frank Dobson, Camden MP, into school to be interviewed and organising a taught session by non-profit organisation Bite the Ballot.

Well done Year 10!

Miss Morgan and the Citizenship team.

On Friday the 23rd of May, myself, Daniella and Micellinie conducted an interview with Athena, a volunteer from Greenpeace as part of our Citizenship GCSE campaigning project and she was also available to offer an assembly to the year 7s before half term.

Athena is a member of Greenpeace and has worked with their international team for over nine years. My group were able to conclude that she held the best viewpoint on how climate change affects the UK as well as the globe. Greenpeace is an “Independent global campaigning organisation which defends the natural world and promotes peace by investigating, exposing and confronting environmental abuse, and championing environmentally responsible solutions” (www.greenpeace.org.uk).

Athena is a green-speaker, who is also an experienced and trained volunteer in the UK, she is available to give talks and presentations about Greenpeace and their work. We contacted Greenpeace in request of an interview and we were put in touch with Athena who was available in North London and is the closest Green-speaker to our school. We called for an interview with her to ask her about her work at the organisation and to find out more about how Greenpeace tackles climate change in the UK and their projects, future plans, greatest achievements, what they require British citizens to do, who they work with, and their significance in comparison to other charities and voluntary organisations.

Athena was able to inform us that Greenpeace is a financially independent voluntary organisation which takes direct action to quickly save the environment from climate change’s negative effects.

When asked about what makes their work significant she stated, “People may think – wrongly – that we're just a bunch of hippies who'll climb anything in sight for attention. This is not the case. We think everything through carefully and clearly, and we take sensible, legal steps towards our objectives. It's only in the most urgent cases, if all else has failed, that we consider direct action.” Athena also claimed that all donations to the organisation are used to support and fund direct actions which are costly.

When questioned about their projects, former and current, she described one successful one: The year – 2006, their mission was to stop deforestation in the Amazon. “Without the forest we die”, she explained, and it's important for us because ancient trees act like the lungs of the world, soaking up our harmful emissions. She said that in the Amazon they found that the company behind the illegal logging is Cargill, the world's biggest soya producer and they are clearing the forest to grow soya.

Athena also told us that Greenpeace tried to talk to Cargill. But they actually refused to listen, so they found out that Cargill’s biggest customer is McDonalds, who buy the soya crops, to feed the chickens, to feed their customers. But McDonalds refused to stop buying the soya and so they published the news on the media in a ‘drastic’ way in which McDonalds was exposed and it took less than a day for an embarrassed McDonalds to enter into dialogue with Greenpeace, and they soon announced their new policy. This, she claimed, was an example of how Greenpeace uses no violence and that businesses do not suffer. Athena claimed that it was success because not long after our campaign, the Brazilian government agreed to a two year standstill on clearing rainforest for soya crops. Those two years gave them valuable time to get something more permanent in place.

Overall, me and my group were quite impressed and found ourselves agreeing with how Greenpeace tackles situations. By encouraging UK and other businesses to produce environment-friendly products their customers are also helping the environment without even realising. This is because they are encouraging the companies to proudly sell products that will improve the environment. Greenpeace also use the media to express their views and spread their work to British citizens and talk to MPs, which can promote a change in social attitude towards the environment in the UK.

Khadija
Year 10

Our two day expedition was both exhilarating and exhausting, filled with new experiences and challenges. 12 groups arrived at Euston station excitedly waiting to be called onto the train. Once at Berkhamstead we were briefed and sent off one group at a time with 2 maps 2 compasses and a bag so big that you could hardly see the person carrying it. We walked through woods and fields, up hills in both the pouring rain and blinding sunlight, the scenery was AMAZING. We all arrived at the camp-site in reasonable time and set up our tents and started to cook. After playing a few games we went to bed to get some very needed sleep, although some of us did sleep better than others. 

The second day was quite similar, leaving from the camp-site a group at a time and meeting at the train station. We all managed to complete it without getting lost too much. In all the expedition was great, we all learnt so many new things and saw some amazing animals and scenery. It was an experience worth the struggle.

Lucy, Year 10

Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Final Expedition by Mr Abbott and Ms Mitchell

With a storm rolling in, and the potential of lighting, it was with trepidation that the 62 year 10 girls set out from Berkamsted train station early on Saturday Morning. Protected from the elements by a glorious array of florescent pink and orange rain covers, each group followed their own course which they had planned themselves, covering some 15km whilst laden with all they would need to be self-sufficient for the whole weekend.
Fortunately, the rain quickly passed, giving way to glorious blue skies and sunshine by lunch time, allowing the girls to make a quick change whilst pausing for lunch in the grounds of the Ashridge Estate.
Come the evening, there were many rosy cheeks, although it was not only the pupils who had forgotten to wear sun cream. After efficiently pitching their tents and cooking dinner, the girls made the most of the outdoors and the glorious sunshine, before getting into their tents for some well-earned rest.
 The second day, most of the girls rose before the teachers, with 6 groups ready to leave before Mr Punter even made it out of his tent. Their enthusiasm never dwindled and all groups made it to the station in excellent time.
Many thanks go to Ms Diebelius, Ms Fulton, Mr Mohammadi, Mr Punter, and Ms Quinn. Without their donation of a weekend we simply wouldn’t have been able to cater for such a large cohort. Thanks must also go to Mr Bell, Ms Hunt and Ms Hardy, for their help in numerous Friday training sessions, readying the girls for the expedition.

Parliament Hill School Elite Dance Company performed in the Rock Challenge Finals 2014 in Portsmouth on Thursday 19th June. The day was excruciatingly long for them leaving school at 6am and not returning until 2am.

To say that the girls were fantastic is an understatement! Their professionalism throughout the entirety of the day was incredible. Unfortunately the girls did not place in the top 5 however they were against some amazing schools who have made it to the finals for the past 5-6 years.

Well Done PHS Elite…we are so proud of you

Ms Russell

Natasha Walter, author of Living Dolls: Return of the Sexism, told school-leavers to follow a career that inspires them and one which they feel passionate about. Natasha warned the Year 11s not to be swayed by others’ expectations, but to be confident in their own ambitions. 

Executive Headteacher Sue Higgins opened the leaving ceremony with a reflection on the students’ journey from being girls to becoming women during the five years they have been pupils. 

Four Year 11 students spoke to the 300 plus audience describing highlights of their school days, jokingly reprimanding previous Achievement Team Leaders who had left the school and thanking teaching staff wholeheartedly for doing an excellent job of motivating and encouraging their pupils. 

Kate Brown, achievement team leader of Year 11, said: “The girls were really buzzing from hearing Natasha speak.” Kate Brown then said that despite only being in the role for one year she had really got to know and like this year group, she spoke about her pride in their effort and commitment to studying, as well as their sense of common purpose and growing maturity. 

The emotional day was rounded off with an end-of-year prom. It was the last time pupils would attend before receiving their GCSE results on 21 August.

View photographs of the day

"Happy" from the Staff of Parliament HIll School from Parli Hill on Vimeo.

Parliament HIll: Elite performance as three secure places at Cambridge University

Staff and students at Parliament Hill School celebrate yet another successful year of A level results with not one but three students securing places at one of the world's top univiersities: Cambridge.

As well as exceptional individual student success stories, there have been strong performances in core subjects including English Literature, Religious Education and Biology. Other stand out courses include a large proportion of students achieving the desirable A*-B grade in Photography (70%) and Politics (64%). A number of individual successes resulted in students meeting their university offer requirements, confirming their placements in higher education. Three students with a combined total of six A*s, two As and one B grade have accepted their places at Cambridge University.

Straight A star student Liza Pacarada achieved English Literature (A), History (A*) and Politics (A*) and starts her History degree at Cambridge.

High achieving student Nafis Khan also takes up her place at Cambridge to study Human and Social Political Sciences after outstanding success in English literature (A*), Classics (A*) and History (A).

Jessica Hosie achieved an outstanding full marks in her English Literature exam to ensure she joins them at Cambridge where she will be studying Theology – Jessica achieved A* in English, A* in Re and B in Classics.

Sue Higgins, Headteacher, commented, “I am extremely pleased with the achievements of our girls. We have seen improvements in student achievement across a wide range of courses and departments and I am confident we will continue on our upward trajectory in years to come. We are thrilled to see so many of our students securing places at their first choice universities, many of these being exceptionally prestigious. I would like to thank our hard working team of teachers and the commitment they have shown to ensure every student achieves at Parliament Hill.”

For more information about the results, please contact the Director of the Sixth Form, Laura Martin-Clark via email at LMartinClark@parliamenthill.camden.sch.uk.

Jessica Hosie achieved A* A* B and will study Theology at Cambridge University

Dr Fowle, PHS History teacher, celebrates with Katerina De Maria who will study History at Winchester University.

Christina Salinas Brooun (left) will study Computer Animation Arts at Bournemouth University. Karen Leal (right) will study Architecture at Westminster University.

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Tolani Ajayi (centre) achieved AAA and will study Law at Birmingham University.Melody Jaiyesimi (left) achieved CCE and will study History at Nottingham Trent University, Brandi James (right) achieved BCD and will study Psychology at Hertfordshire University.

Micheal Acheampong (right) achieved BCD and will study Economics & History at Essex University. Marlon Boakyi a(left) achieved Distinction in ICT & Business Double BTEC and will study International Business Management at Liverpool University.

Students enjoying receiving their results

STUDENTS EXCEL AT PARLIAMENT HILL – RECORD YEAR FOR A*/A GRADES

21 AUGUST 2014: Parliament Hill was in a celebratory mood today following another year of impressive performance at GCSE. The school has maintained its solid headline figure with 68% of students achieving 5+ A*-C grades including English and Maths; 79% of students achieved these grades across all subjects, demonstrating strong achievement across the curriculum.

Significantly, over 30% of students achieved 5+ top A*/A grades, an increase of 10 percentage points in just one year and highlighting the impressive calibre of grades achieved at the school.

In addition to successes in triple science and maths, where 25% of students achieved the top A*/A grades and five students achieved top A grades in AS Level maths, a number of subjects excelled including: English Literature, art, drama, history and Spanish.

The school is incredibly proud of all of its students, with special mention for the 16 students who achieved 5 or more A* grades across a range of subjects.   All students now look forward to bright futures and prepare for the next stage of their education.

Successful student Asha Owen Adams, who secured 11 A* and A grades remarked, “I am absolutely thrilled with my results. The teachers at Parliament Hill have encouraged and pushed me every step of the way, whilst the school itself has provided lots of opportunities to enrich my experience.”

Executive Headteacher Sue Higgins commented: “I am exceptionally proud of our students today; they have demonstrated their knowledge across a range of subjects and, as a result of their hard work, can now look forward to successful futures. The increase in students achieving top A*/A grades is proof that staff at Parliament Hill are committed to ensuring every student reaches their full potential throughout their time with us.”

Artistic heights

Our students have reached new heights this half-term in more ways than one.... congratulations to our Art and Photography students whose hard work paid off and once again were selected to be in the final shortlist for the prestigious Camden Art Competition in October! 

This year Parli’s finalists were Rona Abazi (KS4 Art), Ishbel Tunnadine (KS4 Photography), Sabreen Mohammed (KS5 Photography) and Amy Hayde-Wason (KS5 Art - pictured below) whose entries were exhibited at the Wallace Collection in Central London for a day alongside top artwork from other Camden schools. Prizes were awarded for each Key Stage and presented by Councillor Heather Johnson (Mayor of Camden), who commended all the finalists warmly and praised them for being such a talented example of Camden’s creative future. 

Although our students did not pick up trophies this year, all finalists were awarded art goodies from Cass Art, and the Mayor added that she found the student work to be the most inspiring part of the gallery: quite a statement considering the Wallace Collection is home to Canaletto, Rubens and Rembrandt! 

All artwork has since been taken to Charles Russell Solicitors who sponsored the event, where it will be exhibited for a year. Tate Modern watch out! AS Parli Art students also literally reached the top when they climbed the 137 steps to the cupola of the Victoria & Albert Museum to see the digital installation ‘Prism’ as part of the 2012 London Design Festival. The glowing artwork made from Japanese paper and digital projections was specially commissioned to represent life in London, and linked in with their coursework theme ‘Communication’. Hannah Boorman-Shiffer said, “The gallery visit gave us more of an insight into the different meanings an artist’s work can have.” The students also took the opportunity to meet the designer Keiichi Matsuda who spoke engagingly about his work and fielded questions about its creation and his inspirations. 

Thank you Year 12 and 13 for being such brilliant ambassadors for LaSwap. In other Art news, look out for the exhibition of Year 8 artwork on Cultural Diversity Day coming up on 15th November! 

Ms Eng, Art Department

Year 10 Maximise their study skills

Once again, trainers from Maximise visited Parliament Hill to deliver inspiring study skills seminars to Year 10 students. Studentswere asked to think about how they learn,how they can motivate themselves and encouraged to develop a positive working environment. Tips for successful revision were also given, including the importance of starting as early as possible, using repetition and making it part of your everyday life with posters and post-it notes around the house.The trainers also told inspirational stories about both themselves and celebrities suchas Andy Murray and Whoopi Goldberg which made the students reflect on theirown lives and opportunities.

Throughout the seminars the students were engaged and motivated and were praised by the trainers for their exceptional involvement and emotional maturity. The students themselves were equally complimentary of the sessions,some students stating that they could seethe ‘belief in our ability and I could really see a genuine care and interest in our knowledge and future’ and that ‘I loved the presentation, the instructor was extremely engaging and interesting.’ Some of the tips that students took away were ‘if I fail in one test, get back on my feet and start again’,‘always think positive and remember what I am working for’ and ‘instead of making a challenge a difficulty, make a difficulty a challenge.’

In the evening there was an opportunity for parents to find out what their daughters had learnt, and I would like to thank all the parents who were able to come for the support they have shown their daughters.We hope that these sessions have provided Year 10 with the motivation to believe they can achieve and to know how to do that. So if you are a Year 10 parent and start to see post it notes going up around your house, you now know why!

Ms Gottelier, Year 10 Achievement Team Leader

Child Care students learn messy play techniques

Sixth form students on the level 2 CACHE Diploma in Child Care and Education are seen here taking part in a messy play lesson which prepares them to think about activities they have to plan when working with children during their work placements.

Both level 2 & 3 students attend school three days a week and participate in professional training on work placement for two days a week. At school they learn about the theory of play, child development, learning, behaviour, the principles and practice of child care practitioners. They then put this theory into their practice to apply what has been learnt in a variety of child care settings ranging from babies, toddlers to infants.

One student said ‘The course is very creative and allows you to bring out your inner child whilst perfecting your skills and knowledge, enabling you to work with children. We love it!’

Lily Lipetz
Health, Care & Early Years

SPLAT and Green-penning: Literacy Learning at PHS

At PHS, we want every student to continue to develop their literacy skills at every key stage. We know that outstanding learning means students need to be using language accurately, confidently and powerfully to communicate, be creative and accelerate their learning. That is why literacy- and language for learning- continues to be a whole-school priority at PHS.

This year, the focus is on developing extended writing skills further. To help students plan their extended writing more carefully, we are introducing a method which has been very successful in other Camden schools. This is the SPLAT method. This writing tool has a dual purpose: it can be used to identify the features of a piece of writing and it can be used to plan how to plan and build a piece of extended writing.

SPLAT stands for:

Structure, e.g. logical
Purpose, e.g. to inform or analyse
Language, e.g. formal, connectives of addition, rhetorical questions
Audience, e.g. examiner, teenagers
Text type (start here), e.g. description, analytical essay.

The other literacy approach we are introducing to students this term is green-penning. So far students have become used to using green pens to assess each other’s work in lessons. However, green-penning is a method which enables students to proof-read and edit their writing more effectively before they give their writing to their teachers to mark. It allows them to focus on the technical aspects of their writing and allows them to identify patterns of errors that they need to address. Green-penning also encourages students to improve the quality of their writing, by making better word choices. Teachers have a menu of strategies for students to adopt, and these will be shared with students in English and other subjects across the curriculum.

In your child’s organiser, there is a copy of SPLAT and the green-penning policy - please take a moment to read them. Over the coming weeks, your daughter will be experiencing SPLAT and green-penning more and more as teachers are given more professional development opportunities to develop their own practice. If you would like to know more about these methods, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Ms. Peduzzi
Deputy Headteacher

On Thursday 15 November 2012, as part of our Deep Learning Day activities, we invited into school two Performance Poets – Breis and Melted Demarara. Their brief was to perform their own poetry in front of the Year 7s and 8s, in two separate assemblies. After this they would each run a workshop with a group of Year 7s who would produce their own poems and perform them in a final assembly. The two assembly performances by the poets themselves were rapturously received by all our students. The poets actually mentioned how amazed they were with the behaviour and rapt attention of our girls. 

Breis was the more dramatic, comic, and inter-active of the poets, with his “Jamming on the bus” creating a whole hall-full of fans! While Melted Demerara gave a moving rendition of a very poignant poem about her love for a baby she has been fostering for the last two years.  Both poets performed very differently for their audience, one with a louder, more rapping, style of poetry and one with a much more gentle poetic style. 

After their own performances the poets took a group each of Year 7s to the library and worked with them to create their own poems. They had very little time to do this (about 50 minutes) but, as you can see from the two poems included here, they produced some stunning poetry in this short time! At the end of the day the girls performed their poetry, beautifully, in an assembly that also included the loudest, most rousing and spirited Brazilian drum, dance and capoeira performances you could ever imagine! The students had learned a variety of new arts-based skills during the day.

Below is a group poem on the theme of identity and heritage, written by students working with Melted Demerara - 

Janett   I am from Dancehall, Dumplings and Delight
Yosan   No one judges anyone whether left-handed or right
Athena   I’m mixed-race so don’t diss me, don’t hate
Svetlana  Russian and Ghanaian
Yosan   Christian Eritrean
Ruun    Unexpected deeds from me
Charlie   Scottish Maltese with Polish eyes
Esra    The things you can find under the sea
Margaux   Big fish in small pond, to small fish in big pond
Aya    There are some things inside that no-one else can see
Katie   I am who I am and proud to be me

Sophie's Speak Out Success

On Tuesday, Alice Long and Sophie Lowe of Year 10 attended the regional finals of Jack Petchey’s Speak Out Challenge, a competition which encourages students to develop their public speaking skills. The girls were part of a workshop in October which trained a group of 25 Year 10 students, and Alice and Sophie were selected as two of the most promising speakers. 

All of the Camden secondary schools were represented at the regional finals, and with their speeches entitled ‘Believe’ and ‘Awesome England’, the girls stood out with their originality and confidence on stage. When the judging happened it was extremely tense as the standard had been so high, but it was extremely pleasing to hear that Sophie’s entertaining and patriotic speech had been awarded second place! Well done to both Sophie and Alice, great job!

Ms Gottelier

Lessons from Auschwitz 

To step into the red-brick army barracks and stand before 7 tons of women’s hair, seeing hair clips still carefully positioned in brown curls, blonde plaits still in place and buns untouched, left behind in a room protected by glass, is the definition of being overwhelmed by the horrors of Auschwitz. To think, that once the hair would be caressed by husbands, tugged at by their children and stroked by their parents when they were little girls, but was instead, destined for the wartime German textile industry, is truly heart-breaking. 

On 15th November, I joined 200 other students from schools and colleges across the North of England to visit the AuschwitzBirkenau concentration camp with the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) as part of the Lessons from Auschwitz project. 

Team Leader for Drama Ms Solidum said, "I am extremely proud of all the students who took part in ‘Sister Act’ and want to thank them for all their hard work and commitment.  We had a great time on the show and I think it was one of the best examples of what we can achieve when we work as a team.  Thank you also to the amazing team of teachers who put the show together."

Team Leader for Music Ms Payne said, “It was a wonderful success. Music, dance and drama performances excelled to provide great entertainment for the audiences. It was good to see students from four year groups collaborating enthusiastically and working together to create such a wonderful production.”

See the photogallery for more images.

University offers

With the January 15th UCAS deadline fast approaching, we are really pleased that over 180 of our Year 13 students have made university applications, bucking the national trend of a decline in young people who wish to go on to Higher Education.  Year 13 tutors have worked hard to advise and support the students, under the expert guidance of John Beckett, our LaSwap Higher Education Adviser.  Many students are now holding offers from some of the UK’s top universities, including Parli girls Isabel Barnes, who has been offered a place at Kings College Cambridge to study Architecture, and Marina Anastasi who has an offer to read History at Homerton College Cambridge. 

On Tuesday 22 January, we held our Raising Aspiration Day for Year 9 students. We were delighted to welcome a group of professionals and scholars from a wide range of professions and higher education institutions. During periods 1 & 2, students had their careers' carousel with lawyers, business owners, marketing experts, a social worker, a performance artist and others. Later, periods 3 & 4 were mainly run by higher education institutions which included St George's, University of London, Cambridge University, Imperial College London, The Royal Veterinary College and the School of Oriental & African Studies. 

Students were grouped carefully based on recent screening and their areas of interests. In light of the forthcoming options afternoon (30 January), this was a brilliant opportunity for  the students to learn about different pathways and qualifications, thus, choosing the right options. Feedback from the students and volunteers has been very positive and I hope students had an enjoyable day. We will hear more from Year 9 in future issues of Parli News.

Dr Mohammadi
Assistant Headteacher