Guru Nanak Sikh Academy Newsletter Issue 14

March 2012

OVisarda Virsa 2012 ‘Outstanding Performance at the Beck Theatre’ On Saturday 10th March Guru Nanak Sikh Academy held a remarkable cultural show hosted by Sukhraj Johal and Nonihal Singh at the Beck Theatre. The Academy’s Punjabi department allowed us to connect with our culture and prove to our elders that for the Guru Nanak Academy ‘Visarda Virsa’ is not the case. We still keep our Punjabi culture close to our hearts. Students and staff spent many hours rehearsing to ensure that this event was a success. For the last three months, students practised after school and at weekends to perfect their acts. Children from every year group participated and everyone who attended agreed that the Guest of honour H-Dhami event was a great success. awarded in recognition for his support to the Academy

Students from every year group participated, from Primary through to the Academy including sixth form. (continued on page 2.) By Sukhraj S Johal (Year 12)

Wishing everyone a Happy Vaisakhi and Happy Easter. Hope you have a restful holiday. Term Dates 2012 Important Dates

     

Summer term starts - Monday 16th April 2012

Sunday 22nd April 2012 - Vaisakhi Celebrations - 10.30am to 12.30pm

May Day Bank Holiday - Monday 7th May 2012

Thursday 26th April 2012 - Year 8 Parents Evening 5pm - 8pm

Half term - Monday 4th June to Friday 8th

Monday 9th July 2012 - Sports Day

June 2012

Friday 13 July to 15th July - Parkash 2012

Summer term ends - Friday 20th July 2012

Thursday 16th August 2012 - AS/A2 results

Autumn term starts - Tuesday 4th September 2012

Thursday 23th August 2012 - GCSE results

....investing in our future.....

Guru Nanak Sikh Academy Newsletter

....investing in our future.....

Visarda Virsa 2012 The choir singers set the scene and gave us a warm welcome. Various girls’ and boys’ Bhangra groups demonstrated the real joys of Punjabi folk dance, including the more traditional folk boli’s, ghidda dances and tappe. The ‘Pind da school’ and the ‘Bhand’s’, also gave a refreshing atmosphere of Punjab village life. A group of sixth formers performed an emotional and moving play called ‘Maa’ (Mother). Using the lyrical content of Gurdaas Mann’s ‘Maava Tandiya Chaavan’, they explored how a Mother is treated and how we should treat our Mothers. In addition, the Primary school presented their tabla and dance skills.

Outstanding performance by the Primary school students

Sharan and Gurpreet in the sixth form gave us an insight into the schools charity work in Delhi and an overview of their trip to the Delhi school. To end the night, we had a surprise guest who congratulated us on our efforts in embracing our rich Punjabi culture. Renowned singer H-Dhami also performed on the night and gave us a chance to join him on stage. This event allowed us to become more connected with Punjab as well as raising valuable funds for Babaji’s school in India by providing disadvantaged children with a free education in the hope of giving them opportunities to build a better future.

Yr 11, 12, 13 performing Tappe Yr 8 Fashion show

By Sukhraj S Johal (Year 12) Mr Soneji thanked the students for their outstanding performances.

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Issue 14 March 2012

Guru Nanak Sikh Academy Newsletter

....investing in our future.....

ivsrdw ivrsw 'gurU nwnk is`K AkYfmI vloN Alop huMdy jw rhy pMjwbI ivrsy nUM sMBwlx dw ie`k hMBlw' AkYfmI dy pMjwbI ivBwg ny ividAwrQIAW Aqy mwipAW dy sihXog dw sdkw skUl dy hor ivBwgW nwl iml ky 10 mwrc 2012 nUM bYk iQeytr, hyz ivKy ie`k Swndwr rMgw-rMg siBAwcwrk pRogrwm 'ivsrdw ivrsw' krvwieAw [ ies pRogrwm iv`c AkYfmI Aqy pRwiemrI dy ividAwrQIAW ny BMgVw,ig`Dw, nwtk, BMf, t`py, PYSn So, Fol Aqy hor v`K - v`K AweItmW pyS krky drSkW dw mMn moh ilAw [ mShUr gwiek AYc DwmI ny ies pRogrwm iv`c gwxy gw ky swry ividAwrQIAW nUM styj qy ncw ky pRogrwm nMU cwr cMn lw id`qy [ pRogrwm dI sPlqw dyKdy hoey Aqy drSkW dI mMg qy ipRMsIpl imstr rijMdr isMG sMDU huxW ny ies pRogrwm nUM hr swl ie`k slwnw pRogrwm vjoN krn dw AYlwn kIqw[ SoA dy dorwn swry drSk iesqrHW mihsUs kr rhy sn ik ijvyN auh pMjwb dI DrqI qy bYTy AnMd mwx rhy hox Aqy sB nUM Awpxy pMjwbI hox dw bhuq mwx mihsUs ho irhw sI [ ividAwrQIAW ny pMjwbI BwSw iv`c hr AweItm pyS krky ieh d`s id`qw ik auh ienHW p`CmI mulkW iv`c rihMidAW hoieAW vI pMjwbI ivrsy nUM sMMBwlx dw Xqn kr rhy hn[ AMq iv`c mYN Awpxy Aqy Awpxy pMjwbI ivBwg vloN ies pRogrwm nUM sPl krn leI aunHW swry ividAwrQIAW Aqy AiDAwpkW dw DMnvwd krdI hW ijnHW ny bhuq imhnq Aqy lgn nwl AweItmW iqAwr kIqIAW [ Awp sBnW ny pRogrwm iv`c Swml ho ky b`icAW dw jo hONslw vDwieAw hY aus leI mYN Awp swirAW dw DMnvwd krdI hW Aqy aumId krdI hW ik Agly swl vI qusIN pRogrwm iv`c Swml ho ky AnMd mwxogy[ gurivMdr kOr goibMdpurI pMjwbI ivBwg

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Issue 14 March 2012

Guru Nanak Sikh Academy Newsletter

....investing in our future.....

World book day March is a busy month for the Library. There is World Book Day, which we like to extend for the week, and the culmination of the Hillingdon Schools’ Book of the Year which started in October. In addition we send out C2C book leaflets from Scholastic offering new books at advantageous prices. Please note that Parents can order direct anytime from http://clubs.scholastic.co.uk and commission will be attributed to the School. WORLD BOOK DAY: During the week of World Book Day we ran competitions each break and lunch-time. There were word searches, lateral thinking puzzles, an alphabet quiz, a spot the difference and a letter Sudoku. Everyone got something for taking part, including two students who were so impressive that they each won a book as a prize.

How are you at lateral thinking? How can you throw a ball as hard as you can, and make it stop and return to you, without hitting anything and with nothing attached to it? Check with the Librarian for the Answer

The Hillingdon Secondary Schools’Book of the Year 2012 “The Hillingdon Book of the Year was an exciting experience. I got to see many different schools compete and I was proud to represent GNSA. I hope to be chosen next year.” By Sukhmanpreet Kaur Singh 8AM On March 8th a group of students represented the school at the Hillingdon Secondary Schools’ Book of the Year Award Ceremony at Ruislip High School. Each of the 17 schools had a display area and produced a short presentation on their chosen book. Guru Nanak Sikh Academy’s presentation was written by Ikta Bhatia 10DK whose writing style took the form of a very amusing chat show. Barnhill Community High School won medals for the best presentation. The children’s author Echo Freer gave an interesting speech, the winning book was ‘Pegasus and the Flame’ by Kate O’Hearn. By Mrs J Murphy, Library and Resource Centre Manager

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Issue 14 March 2012

Guru Nanak Sikh Academy Newsletter

....investing in our future.....

February'sAchievements National Heart InMonth Dramabake sale This February, 12KD organised and held a bake sale to raise money for the British Heart Foundation’s Mending Broken Hearts Appeal. As this February was National Heart Month, we thought it was the perfect time to raise awareness of heart disease and the amazing work the British Heart Foundation do. A project that stood out was the use of research on Zebra fish to regenerate human hearts, potentially helping millions of people who have suffered from Heart Disease and heart failure. 12KD contributed with donations of biscuits and cakes and we all helped to sell them at break time. It was a huge success. We appreciate that students regularly help with fundraising and charities by raising money and giving donations and we would like to thank everyone for supporting the event. We raised £211.20 which will fund pioneering research for the Mending Broken Hearts Appeal. We have also received a letter from the British Heart Foundation thanking us for the money we raised. We would like to say a special thank you to Mrs Davis and Ms Gill for supporting the event and helping us. By Anisha Sapra 12KD

Parachuting for charity Are you ready for a once in a lifetime experience? As a fund raising activity for the Parkash, we would like a group of adult volunteers or children over 16 to participate in this activity. Each volunteer will need to raise at least £255 through sponsorship. Sponsorship could be through an organisation you work for or through family and friends. If you are willing to take on this challenge, please see Mr J Sidhu for further information. By Mr J Sidhu

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Issue 14 March 2012

....investing in our future.....

Guru Nanak Sikh Academy Newsletter

Art Corner - Art Students visit the British Museum

Art Students visit the British Museum Year 9 and 10 GCSE Art students visited the British Museum on 24th February where they had the opportunity to sketch and analyse artefacts from around the world. They experienced the Hajj exhibition; journey to the heart of Islam. Here they were able to examine the extraordinary travels involved in the pilgrimage to Mecca and learn about Islamic Art. The group walked through the streets to the museum where they were able to view the magnificent architecture of the museum and its surrounding area. At present there are a number of exhibitions on display at the museum. Our students were able to record observations and collect primary research which is one of the objectives in the GCSE art specification. “The trip helped me to develop my topic further by sketching the Totem Poles on display.” Harbir Sidhu (9SH) “I found a topic that I was comfortable drawing.” Anoop Kaur Ghatore (9SH) Trips to the British Museum are run annually and have proven to be a favourite with our students.

GCSE Sculpture Workshop Year 11 Art students undertook a sculpture work shop to enhance skills for GCSE Art. Ellie Mills, a young Sculpture Artist and Model Maker demonstrated how to make casts and take moulds of the human form. One of our art students has been developing and refining this idea. He acted as a model for the workshop and used the outcome to support his project. Students were talked through the processes and materials used to produce the cast and moulds. The sculpture artist brought in images from her own portfolio which encouraged students to be more experimental.

Year 8 Fashion show Year 8 have been working on a project looking at 'Our Globe'. Students have been researching different continents, coming up with their own designs and prints in response to the cultures they have explored. They have created garments and modelled them for the fashion show hosted this month at the Beck theatre. By Miss Naeem

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Issue 14 March 2012

It’s been a busy time for the Geography students! In early March the Year 10 GCSE geography students set off on our annual residential field trip to Magdalen Farm in Somerset. There are so many students who have chosen to study GCSE Geography this year that we had to run 3 different trips! It was an early start as we left school at 6.15am and headed off on a 3 hour journey. Work began as soon as we arrived. We had an introductory lesson and were taught about different fieldwork techniques. We then set off to begin our fieldwork investigation along various stretches of the River Axe. We were collecting primary data for our Controlled Assessment. In Geography, Controlled Assessment is worth 25% of the final grade so it was a really important couple of days. After data collection, we headed back to Magdalen Farm to enter our data into the computer. This then provided us with our results which we will include in our Controlled Assessment write up. It was a tiring day and hard work – lessons finished at 8pm! The second day involved a trip to the sea side at West Bay, Dorset where we were able to assess various coastal management defences. The weather was cold but a portion of chips by the sea before we left for home was a welcome end to a busy couple of days! All 3 trips went extremely well and the Geography Department would like to say a big ‘Thank You’ to all 78 students who were great ambassadors for GNSA and represented our School in an exemplary way. We would also like to thank Mrs Bassi and Mr Lester for accompanying us on the trips. By Mrs Davis, Head of Geography

The Year 12 AS Level Geography students set off to Slapton in Devon for our 4 day residential field trip. We met at Paddington station and after a 3 hour train journey we arrived at Totnes, Devon. We were then met and taken to the Field Studies Council Centre in Slapton Ley. A busy few days followed including Coastal Studies in Slapton and Torquay and Rebranding in Plymouth and in the rural areas of South Hams. The 4 days were action packed with lessons starting at 9am and not finishing until 8.30pm. The fieldwork was new and exciting for us and will prove to be absolutely vital in preparing us for our Unit 2 exam in May. This exam is based entirely on fieldwork and research techniques. Unfortunately, we didn’t have good weather but despite the cold fog, it was an excellent few days. The Year 12 students have summarised their views on the trip below: ‘A valuable experience. The knowledge and skills I gained on this trip will be crucial in helping me prepare and revise in the lead up to the summer exam. Legenddd!’ Akash ‘Educational and very helpful.’ Ranveer ‘A truly wonderful trip.’ Gagan ‘A very informative trip which has aided my knowledge. Epic!’ Jasneet ‘The trip was excellent as it has increased my knowledge and understanding on coasts and rebranding.’ Karan ‘An educational trip that has expanded my coastal knowledge.’ Manrita ‘The trip was really good and will really help me in my exams.’ Parvinder ‘It was fun and very useful and has helped me prepare for the exam.’ Saj and Neha ‘It was very useful and the fieldwork linked into exam questions very well. The FSC teacher was knowledgeable and really helped us and on top of everything, we had fun! ;-) Gurpreet ‘This trip was a great success and very useful for our Unit 2 exam. It has broadened my understanding about coasts and has made me feel more confident. You get to learn with students from another school so it’s a completely different experience. Future geographers, this trip is a MUST!’ Harmeet ‘Great trip, very helpful for our exam. It helped us put geography into practice and it was lots of fun.’ Jasdeep. By Mrs Davis, Head of Geography

Winning Products Winners Students were set a competition in Design and Technology: Graphic Products and Product design to design a range of packaging and point of sales for a Kinder surprise egg advertisement. They had 4 weeks to complete the tasks and present a design folder as well as the final products. Students worked in pairs to complete the task during lessons, lunch time and after school. After a competitive 4 weeks, Mrs Soneji was invited to judge the winner. Simran Longani and Miran Johal were announced the winners as shown above. Outstanding work was produced in a short period of time, well done. There were 3 runners up as shown below. All students received certificates and prizes for their hard work. By Mrs G Kaur

Runner up

Runner up

Runner up

A Turban Tying competition was held at Guru Nanak Sikh Academy last term to encourage turban tying for year 8 and year 9 students. This was a very successful event as many year 8 students tied their turbans for the first time (on that day) when they took part in this competition. The winner was Arjan Rai from Year 8. By Mr J Sidhu

A group of fifteen Year 10 BTEC PE pupils were privileged to have a visit from Olympic hopeful Tom Davis. He visited the school as part of the Sky Sports Living for Sport project. This is aimed at engaging pupils in school with specific focus on a project. The pupils will be organising a cycling competition as part of their course and they were able to benefit from the experience that Tom could offer. Tom commented on how polite and enthusiastic the pupils were, particularly with their practical ability to perform Judo. All the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the morning. We are grateful to Sky Sports for arranging this project. We have now received our allocation of Olympic Tickets and pupils will be receiving these tickets as part of the golden ticket competition at the end of term draws. For a chance to win, all pupils who have attended extra curricular clubs will receive a golden ticket for the prize draw. Two golden tickets will be awarded to pupils who compete in house competitions and represent the school in fixtures.

In the Year 9 Basketball competition 9MH were the eventual winners having played excellently as a team throughout. Exceptional individual performance from Harkaran in all of the games. 9KO finished in 2nd place, 9DB in 3rd place and 9SH in 4th place.

Well done to 10CM for winning the house competition. All Articles PE Department

by

The Year 10 boys competed for the Olympic House Football competition early in the term. Again a good turnout from the boys made all the games competitive. 10CR were the winners with Gurpreet displaying some excellent skills. 10CM were 2nd, 10DK were in 3rd place and 10JP in 4th place.

Well done to the year 7 & 8 students who represented the school in the first all girls’ hockey team in the Borough tournament last week. Previous years have always been a mixed tournament, but this year, girls were in full force at Stockley Academy. The girls lost a couple of games by only a single goal, but came back to draw in the last game. Great hockey skills and lovely weather.

Guru Nanak Sikh Academy hosted the 1st boys’ hockey tournament on 4 consecutive days in March. The tournament was attended by over 200 boys ranging from Year 7 - Year 11. On Monday 19th March the Year 7 tournament took place with Guru Nanak entering two strong teams. The A team finished in 4th place after losing the play-off to Bishop Ramsey. There were some outstanding performances especially from Gurinder in goal and Harvir in the midfield. Tuesday 20th March saw the Year 8 team compete and unfortunately they were beaten in the final by Haydon. A brilliant team effort saw them win all of their group games. There was an outstanding performance from Simer, who worked tirelessly all over the pitch. On Wednesday 21st March, the Year 9 boys competed in the largest of all the competitions. Seven schools competed in an afternoon of excellent hockey. Two teams from Guru Nanak played well in all their group games and the A team made it through to the final against Bishop Ramsey. Both teams fought throughout normal time and extra time but neither were able to find the net. Eventually the game was settled by a penalty shootout and we lost agonisingly with the last stroke of the shootout. Special mention to Devin who kept the team in numerous games with excellent saves in goal. Hartej scored a number of vital goals throughout the tournament including a superb goal in the penalty shootout. Thursday 22nd March was the final day of the tournaments and we entered a Year 10 and a Year 11 team in the competition. Both teams fared strongly in the group stages and the Year 11 team made it through the final but unfortunately lost to a strong team from Haydon School. The Year 10 team managed to defeat Vyners in the 3rd/4th play-off. Special mention to Nitharsan in goal and Mansukh who both played extremely well.

By PE department

PROUDLY ANNOUNCES

13th, 14th, 15th JULY 2012

AKHAND PATH SEWA For more information or if you wish to contribute towards the Akhand Path Sewa please call: 0208 573 6085 or 0208 561 6318

PARKASH 2012 Corporate Sponsors Needed Why Sponsor the Parkash? As a corporate sponsor, you will have the opportunity to position your company at the heart of the Asian community while also gaining exposure through a vast amount of marketing and publicity which is undertaken before, during and after the Parkash. Sponsorship will therefore offer the following number of opportunities for your company:   

The main event is free to the public and will therefore attract thousands of visitors throughout the three day event (50,00 last year). A media campaign of press, radio and TV advertisements – public relations and point of sale will promote the event from May to the lead up to the event. Promotional advertising such as brochures, leaflets, posters and event programmes will list your companies name as a key sponsor.

How can you support us? 

Sponsoring our Parkash event



Making a financial contribution



Taking up a stall



Sewa

For further enquiries contact: Mrs Davinder Purewal Guru Nanak Sikh Academy 0208 573 6085 Corporate Sponsorship Packs can be collected from Reception

Guru Nanak Sikh Academy Newsletter

....investing in our future.....

Parkash 2012 Please contact Mrs Manjeet Bhogal if you wish to take up Langar Sewa for the Vaisakhi Celebrations or if donating, kindly hand in cash contributions to the School Office. Thank you. Guru Nanak Premier Tuition Centre Providing Tuition for all students in our Community gurU nwnk pRImIAr itaUSn sYNtr vloN swry ividAwrQIAW Aqy swfI kimaUintI leI itaUSn dw pRbMD Experienced teachers now offering Tuition in ENGLISH, MATHS, SCIENCE and all other subjects for ALL YEARS including Primary Prepare for all GCSE, A Level exams and coursework For further details call us on: 020 8573 6085 option 0 079 7372 8853 077 4804 1570 www.gurunanaksikhacademy.co.uk

“Achieving excellence”

gurU nwnk is`K AkYfmI ivKy bwlgW dy leI ividAk kors

ADULT EDUCATION COURSES at Guru Nanak Sikh Academy For better job opportunities or to boost your career, our Centre offers a wide range of courses such as Childcare, Business Admin., Customer Service, ICT, ESOL and more... Some courses free of charge and others at very competitive prices Get the skills and qualifications you need with our highly qualified and experienced tutors

nOkrI pRwpq krn Aqy quhwfy pySy nUM izAwdw cMgw bxwaux leI swfy sYNtr iv`c keI qrHW dy kors krvwey jWdy hn[ kuJ kors muPq hn Aqy bwkIAW dI vI PIs koeI bhuqI nhIN hY[ For further details call us on: 020 8573 6085 option 0 079 7372 8853 077 4804 1570 www.gurunanaksikhacademy.co.uk

Please support Friends of the Academy charity event. Inform your friends and family, assist in purchasing group tickets. Thank you.

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Issue 14 March 2012