Year 10 Focus on Futures and growth in Sustainability 

Year 10 students had an action-packed morning exploring two areas which may affect their career development: sustainability awareness and networking skills. Building on the recent sustainability conference for Sixth Form students and an area that is predicted to be the biggest growth area in employment, we were delighted to welcome Natascha Radclyffe-Thomas (Professor of Marketing and Sustainable Business at the British School of Fashion), Tamasin Rhymes (Community Hub & Volunteer Manager, Greener and Cleaner) and Emily Laycock (Partner Development Manager at InvestIN Education) as our three guest speakers to explore skills development in these key areas.

Emily led an engaging interactive session on networking skills, focusing on how to network effectively, how to maximise existing contacts and how to create your own elevator pitch! It was great to see students developing their confidence at introducing themselves and asking focused questions. 

Students also participated in two interactive sessions designed to provoke thought and inspire action with Tamasin Rhymes and Natascha Radclyffe-Thomas. 

Tamasin explored junk modelling transition towns to explore the most useful elements for a sustainable future, with students creating their own models out of old boxes. "Tamasin told us about the eco projects she undertakes and in groups we made sustainable buildings out of cardboard to make a town. This was really enjoyable as it meant we needed to work collaboratively and creatively. I also liked the fact that the boxes were brought in by students so they were being reused.", Emma, Year 10.

Natascha Radclyffe-Thomas, Professor of Marketing and Sustainable Business at the British School of Fashion, explored the social, financial and ethical dangers of fast fashion, and highlighted organisations and individuals who are challenging the pervasive ‘race to the bottom’ ethos of the industry, tackling pollution and waste, and looking to rebalance representation and gender discrimination. 

"First, we undertook a fashion feminism workshop where Natascha told us about issues in the fashion industry and focused on exploitation of female workers. We got to devise either a slogan or a campaign relating to issue. It was interesting learning about all these issues in the fashion industry since they don’t get a lot of attention. Coming up with our responses was fun!", Emma, Year 10.

Finally, students carefully considered their skill sets and what they felt they had learned throughout the morning, updating their Unifrog accounts accordingly with guidance from Ms Day. 

Year 10 language students go native 

After their morning of learning about sustainability, Year 10 headed off for an afternoon of language-themed events, offering a vast range of activities to students partaking in different language courses.  

Mandarin students ventured into Soho’s Chinatown, Soho to indulge in Hotpot, a delicious Chinese delicacy that many of the students had not yet tried, but greatly enjoyed. The trip was organised by Ms Chung and gave students the opportunity to enrich themselves and further develop in the Chinese culture and language they were studying.  

“We were able to practise and try out our Chinese skills on the trip, eat delicious Hotpot and take part in a fun treasure hunt activity to explore Chinatown. On the train ride back to school from Chinatown, we were happily loaded up with bags filled with different Chinese treats purchased from the Chinatown Bakery and other grocery stores. It was universally agreed though that the Hotpot lunch was our favourite part of the trip, as it was something new, which we had never tried before. Every student greatly enjoyed the trip.", Fia, Year 10.

Meanwhile, our French linguists participated in a French cooking workshop, where they had the opportunity to cook the famous French delicacy of iced frangipane tarte with the help of kitchen school, the Greenwich Kitchen Pantry. Students were given instructions in French and English and produced some great results – the cookery corridor was perfumed with the delicious desserts! 

The German department similarly hosted a Young Goethe Student Ambassador from the Goethe Institut in London, to promote the benefits of learning German to young people and encourage younger students to study at A-level and beyond; while Spanish students were introduced to the work of the famous Spanish architect Gaudi, with a presentation on his most famous creations in Barcelona and the traditional art of mosaic making. Students learnt to create a Gaudi-esque mosaic masterpiece on a mirror with pre-cut mosaics and cement.  

Year 12 soak up London’s great culture  

Year 12 were reminded never to take this great city we live in for granted with a fantastic cultural trip to the heart of the capital, exploring art from around the world, eating at a culinary hotspot and enjoying a West End show. 

“Starting off the summer term with exposure to the vibrant inner workings of London has certainly set this term to a great start. Firstly, we went to the National Gallery where we admired artworks from Monet to Van Gogh – this allowed us to take a break from our busy day-to-day lives and from revising, which definitely improved our well-being.  

“Then we were able to explore Covent Garden and its restaurants for lunch. Learning how to travel through London and being given this independence was a very useful experience and will prepare us for the future in university. We ended our day with a trip to the Wyndham theatre to see the play Oklahoma which was an incredibly riveting musical and a fresh, modern remake of a conventional ideology.”

Written by Alisha, Year 12, Head Student Team