The Valentines Voice Valentines High School, Cranbrook Road, Ilford, Essex IG2 6HX Spring 2017

GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS 2017

On the 21st March 2017, Miss Danvers took 13 students

from a range of year groups to the Hackney Empire to be

part of the Guinness World Record attempt for the

World’s Largest Mental Health lesson run by former

student Hussain Manawer.

The students very much enjoyed being part of making

mental health history and heard from young speakers and

celebrities about their experiences and how we can reduce

the stigma attached to mental health by educating people.

An astonishing 538 individuals took part and thankfully

we managed to break the World Record. A great

afternoon was had by all!

Miss E Danvers & Mr A Michael

Well Being Room

At Valentines, our Young Minds Peer Supporters in Years 10 and 12 have

been professionally trained and are available to help pupils cope with their

feelings, to give advice and to be someone that students can count on to listen

to them.

The Well Being Room is now open every lunch hour in S13 and pupils in all

year groups are welcome to visit and receive support. The environment is calm

and restful and can be a welcome break from the hectic pace of everyday life.

Mr Consiglio

Assistant Headteacher

Just as people’s bodies can become unwell, people’s minds can become

unwell too. Mental health problems are more common than you might

think - three children in every classroom have a mental health problem.

There are different kinds of physical illness and different ways to treat

them. There are also different types of mental illness and different types of

treatments for them.

But mental illness is something most people find hard to talk about.

FIRST GIVE FINAL NOVEMBER 2016

On Monday 17th October, Valentines was invited to the First

Give awards ceremony which took place at the top of the

prestigious London City Hall.

It proved to be a truly special event, where our students were

able to celebrate fantastic achievements. Not every

participating school is privileged enough to attend such an

event, but due to Valentines performing superbly throughout

the year and our excellent delivery of this programme, we

were able to be part of such an exclusive guest list.

Our three Year 10 girls represented Valentines superlatively

and despite no awards coming our way this year, Akvile

Gradauskaite articulated herself to perfection in the “Soapbox

Challenge”, a 30-second pitch on an issue close to her heart.

Mr N McPherson

PSHE Co-Ordinator

My group won the First Give competition last

year for our chosen charity, ELHAP, so we

then had an amazing opportunity to attend a

celebration of these First Give awards in

London’s City Hall. It was a fantastic event

which many different schools attended; many

awards were given out to truly inspirational

people. That night I heard uplifting stories

that got me thinking about how much I can

help by doing so little. It made me realise that

I can do more to help, so I set a goal to myself

to help as much as I can to improve our

society and even the world. That night I took

part in a competition called ‘The SoapBox

Challenge’ where I had to give a 30-second

speech about a cause or an issue that I cared

about. My group helped me choose feminism,

as it is an issue we feel passionate about. I

delivered the speech but somewhere in the

middle, I lost my words and stopped. However

my incredible teachers told me to carry on as

they said it was very passionate, so I thought

to myself if I didn’t finish, I’d regret it. I

pulled myself together and quickly completed

my speech. Even though I didn’t win, I’m still

so glad I took part.

Akvile Gradauskaite (S6)

FIRST GIVE FINAL NOVEMBER 2016

It was a great privilege to be given

the invitation to celebrate our victory

for the First Give Awards in the

London City Hall. Seeing other

winners, from across the borough,

was a great privilege. We got to

appreciate the hard work and effort

other groups had put in, which made

us feel even more inspired. There was

also a SoapBox challenge; a chance

for us to perform a 30 second speech

on a particular topic we were

passionate about. From our group,

Akvile stepped forward to speak

about her views on feminism. It was

exciting to see her up on stage being

filmed. It was truly an amazing night.

Fareen Ahmed (S1)

The First Give experience was amazing. It gave

me and my fellow group members the chance to

explore our own town, to help those in need and to

develop skills we will use all our lives. I think the

most enjoyable part of the First Give experience

had to be visiting the charity ELHAP, getting to

know the kids and really empathising with what

the charity did. Racheal, the charity manager, was

just an inspiration to all and she is the reason why

I went back to the charity another two times to

help with more fundraising. It is amazing what

you can do with £1,000 and giving it to those who

will use it to benefit the lives of others is just a

great feeling. Overall, I came out of First Give

more confident in my speaking, more aware of my

surroundings and developed a greater bond with

my fellow team mates. A team is only a team if

everyone contributes, but contribution can only

come with passion – a lesson I learnt.

Nafisa Ahmed (S2)

My sincerest gratitude to all our girls, Fareen

Ahmed, Nafisa Ahmed and Akvile Gradauskaite,

as well as Miss Williams-Jones for providing such

a memorable, enjoyable and rewarding evening for

all.

Mr N McPherson

PSHE Co-ordinator

First Give Just Keeps On Giving……...

From November, all year 9 students have spent their PSHE lessons working on the

now well-established First Give project, formerly known as Youth Philanthropy

Initiative (YPI). Not only do students campaign on behalf of a local charity close to

their hearts, but the most successful ones work tirelessly in groups, mainly out of

hours, to convince an impartial panel of judges that their chosen link with the wider

community is the most deserving of putting the winning £1,000 top prize to the most

effective use. Indeed our three external judges were very high-profile professionals,

consisting of Sue Gutierrez (a trustee of the Buffini Chao Foundation), Jonny

Siddall (Operations Manager at Redbridge Drama Centre) and Ralph Blackburn

(Chief Reporter at the Ilford Recorder). Our internal judges were Mubin Jaigirdar

(a VHS Governor), Mr Laws, our Headteacher and our recently appointed Head

Boy and Girl, Emmanuel Dosunmu and Aneeka Bhattarai.

It was fantastic seeing such a high standard of competition, reflected clearly by the judges comments

and members of our audience. The eventual runners-up were Birkbeck and Imperial Houses, winning

£250 each for Barnardos and Rainbow Trust charities respectively, whilst the winners were Queen

Mary House on behalf of HP-MOS charity. Among its numerous strands, this is a health, psychological,

social and well-being non-profit organisation, and it was fitting that not one, but two representatives

from this company were proudly presented with the £1,000 top prize.

Sincerest congratulations must go to all students from the five Houses who competed in this superb

event, raising the bar yet higher for the future. Well done to you all! You clearly represent the harmony

and excellence which Valentines High School strives to achieve.

Mr N McPherson

(PSHCE/WRL Co-ordinator)

First Give Just Keeps On Giving……... The First Give project was amazing. We were

in a team of 6 people: Prachi Chopra, Emaan

Shakeel, Silvia Miah, Sara Nazir, Ciya

Sahadevan and Rabeena Raveendrakumar.

It also taught us how to work in a team as

well as teaching us about many social issues

we may not think about on a daily basis but

the fact that they dwell in our community is

surprising. Our team won £1000 and were

extremely proud of our achievement as all of

the hard work and dedication has paid off.

We will continue to work with our charity

(HP-MOS) further as the years go on, as well

as volunteer our involvement with other

charities. All in all, First Give was an

incredible experience that has made a

difference to our lives and the people that will

be helped with this money.

By Prachi Chopra (Q4), Emaan Shakeel (Q7),

Silvia Miah (Q5), Sara Nazir (Q2), Ciya

Sahadevan (Q1) & Rabeena

Raveendrakumar (Q6)

The First Give project has allowed me to learn new

public speaking techniques and has improved my

leadership and group work skills. It has given all

members of my group the chance to see how a

charity works (in this case Barnardos) and this

opportunity has also allowed my group to consider

the ways through which we present ourselves for a

good initial impression to improve our presentation.

Overall, this has been a positive experience and has

allowed me to develop myself as a person so that I

can understand and work in multiple situations

with different criteria.

By Shifa Idris B1 (on behalf of the whole Birkbeck

team)

First Give has given us an opportunity to help

our charity, in a way where we were also able to

benefit from our presentation. Being given a

task to come up with a speech and PowerPoint,

allowed our group to work together as a team,

and each member contributed to the project.

This built up our leadership skills and we were

able to learn key criteria for giving a presenta-

tion. This project has allowed me to become

confident and I definitely hope to continue sup-

porting our charity (Rainbow Trust).

By Alizah Shah I5 (on behalf of the whole

Imperial team)

‘Early in the morning (6:30 am!) on the 6th March 2017, the bleary eyed geography

students of Valentines Sixth Form accompanied by their teachers Mr O’Sullivan and

Miss Danvers set off on the long journey to the south coast of Devon, where a

fantastic week awaited us. We arrived at the field centre in Slapton, where we stayed

the week, and instantly saw how scenic the area was – despite the light rain in the air.

We quickly settled in to our rooms before heading to the classroom to begin our

introduction and learning. Soon after, we took a short 15 minute walk to the beach

where we began our fieldwork. We had to battle against the wind, which sent a

couple of the students running after their papers. Using various pieces of equipment

and working in groups we successfully completed our investigation into coastal resili-

ence and succession of plants on the ley, which we then reviewed in the evening after

a well-earned hot meal. The trip wasn’t just limited to work; in the evenings we

socialized, bonding as a group and with other schools on site too, whilst also playing

table tennis, pool and watching the football.

On day two, Tuesday the 7th, the work consisted of a hike along the coast beginning

at Start Point and travelling back to the centre stopping off at several study locations

along the way. The weather started damp and ominous but thankfully it turned out

to be a pleasant day, even if it meant we got a bit muddy – putting our boots and

wellies to good use. We looked at the erosional processes, coastal defences and

practised surveying techniques at several locations, passing a ghost town which had

been lost to the sea many years earlier. We even found out that many of the plants

were edible, watching our leader consume some of the plants as we walked. Again we

returned to the classroom at the end of the day to review, further understand and

compile our work, before relaxing and socializing.

Our fieldwork studies for the third day, Wednesday the 8th, took place in the city of

Plymouth which has undergone regeneration. We looked at several places, including

a winner of the ugliest building of the year! Whilst in various places across Plymouth

we used different techniques to gather data; modern techniques on iPads and some

using good old fashioned pen and paper. The weather wasn’t as bright and sunny

as we might’ve hoped, but at least it didn’t pour down with rain whilst we evaluated

the success of the regeneration. Once back in the classroom we looked at why

regeneration was needed and interpreted the data we had collected, concluding by

reviewing the techniques we had added to our ever growing skillset.

The final day, Thursday the 9th was packed full of learning, activates and plain

simple fun. We began locally in the village of Slapton, using a combination of new

techniques and ones we had developed throughout the week, doing our own

investigations in our groups. Once we had completed this and returned to the centre,

we had a short break before heading straight back out to Totnes. It’s transition town

with its own currency and many other intriguing attractions – not to mention great

bakeries and local shops (which many of us enjoyed visiting!). We completed our

fieldwork to a high standard using the techniques we had been taught throughout the

week. For our hard work we were rewarded on the journey back to the centre by

stopping off at the beach where the sun was shining and the waves were crashing. We

all had a great time enjoying the coast of Devon before we headed back for our last

evening. At the centre we relaxed, refuelled with a hot meal and then returned to the

classroom for the last time to conclude our work for the week and to say our thank

yous and goodbyes to our leader, at the end of a great week.

Ultimately, the week was an amazing experience where we all learnt vast amounts

and used techniques we wouldn’t have been able to do the same way in the classroom.

It will benefit us throughout the course and the independent investigation we will

complete, and the trip itself will also stay with us forever. Our appreciation for the

subject grew and speaking on behalf of everyone we all had a great time in Devon on

the 2017 geography fieldtrip.’

Joe Juanette B2

Mr O’Sullivan & Miss Danvers

Geography Field Trip March 2017

KS3 Students putting their

new icing skills to good use,

just in time for Mother’s day!

Just imagine the response

you will get when you pre-

sent a professionally styled

cake at your next family celebration. You and your

astonishing edible creation will be the talk of the party.

You will soon be creating Princess Doll cakes, cute little

Baby Bear cakes, and seasonal holiday cakes.

We will start with the basics and week by week learn a

new and exciting cake skill. This course is the first step

into the exciting world of cake decorating and design.

After just three sessions, students were ready to decorate

their first cakes, just in time for Mother’s day. I spoke

to Mrs Hamid who, along with Mrs Begum is running

the Cake decorating club.

“It was a great success but very busy to say the least. A

lot more students attended and we had to turn away a

few. Students were able to finally put into practice their

piping skills from previous

sessions. Students enjoyed

piping Mother’s day cup-

cakes in different colours and

decorating them with sprin-

kles. It was a lot of fun and

they enjoyed eating their

cakes at the end. “

The students were all very excited and said “it’s the best

club” and “I’m really glad we came along”.

Sana Chaudhary wrote.

“I attend Cake decorating club every Thursday. I

really enjoy this club because we get to use icing which

is delicious! And I also get the best experience of deco-

rating. We also use basic de-

signs to decorate cakes and

cupcakes. This club is good

because it is a life skill I could

use when I’m older. It is so

much fun learning how to

ice. I recommend this club to

everyone. It is at lunch”.

Extra Curriculum Activities Spring Term 2017

Benefits of Extra-Curricular Activity

Participation in

extra-curricular

activities can boost

confidence and

improve self-

esteem. Encourag-

ing extra-curricular

participation is an important part of Valen-

tines High School ethos.

Out of Hours club is designed to encourage,

motivate and enthuse students to participate

in extra-curricular activities. To encourage

participation, this year I have initiated a new

policy for year 7 and 8. Students have all

been issued with Out of Hours attendance

booklets. This booklet is to monitor and en-

courage students to attend at

least one club per week. By

participating in extra-

curricular activities students

learn to develop skills in

leadership, teamwork, organ-

isation, analytical thinking

and problem solving.

We currently offer over fifty

clubs for students to attend both lunchtime

and after school. New clubs this term include

‘Cake Decorating’ and ‘Logic Club’. We

have also started a Gardening club, encourag-

ing students to take pride in their school.

These clubs are fun and offer students the

opportunity to spend time with others of simi-

lar interests. Students can meet new friends

from different social groups by joining a one

of the many activities on offer. For further

information of all clubs on offer kook at the

extra-activities page on Firefly.

Mrs L Shelley

Out Of Hours

Co-Ordinator

GAMES CLUB

Rubik Cube Challenge

Complete all six sides on the Rubik Cube and win 100 Vivo's.

Student who have completed the Rubik Cube Challenge so

far:

Navedeep Bhamrah Harley B2

Tumid Islam G7

Dawud Abd-Alghani G2

Mikael Rahman K5

Talha Ahmed I6

Why not have a go and add your name to the list above.

See Mrs D Lambeth in room 20. Good Luck

RED NOSE DAY 24th

MARCH 2017

On Friday 24th

March, Valentines

High School took

part in a

student v teachers

netball match for

Red Nose Day.

It was a very close

match but the

teachers of VHS

managed to bring it

back with a score of

8-7.

Miss Laver

Assistant Head of

Kings House

Goldsmiths' Charity

Week

6th -8th March was Goldsmiths' Charity

week. This year we once again decided to

help and raise money for the Side by Side

with Refugees charity.

It was a great week with all tutors and

students getting involved and doing as

much as they could to raise money. With

a variety of activities going on from

splash the teacher, to a home made cake

sale the week was a complete success.

Although there is not yet a complete final

total, it is not short of the huge sum raised

last year. The money is going to a great

cause and I am sure it will be able to help

change lives.

Thank you to all those who helped make

this week a success!

Mohammed Hasan & Miss O'Toole

On Thursday 16th March, Bright Green Enter-

prise returned to Valentines High School to host

their “Green Dragons” enterprise challenge to

our year 10 students, as part of their work-

related learning experiences.

As always, students were teamed up in

combinations they would never previously have

experienced around school and for many, this

proved the most challenging part of the day.

This pleased me greatly, as we strive to give our

students a flavour of the world of work, where

the vast majority of time, people are not able to

choose the colleagues they will be required to

work alongside.

It was fantastic to witness students embracing

this realistic concept, tapping into each other’s

strengths throughout the day to create an

innovative ethical product that supports a

problem of global sustainability.

Twelve teams were selected to present their

“business pitch” in the final after lunch, with the

winning team, “Gee Up” (group 7) walking away

with the cash prize. Students were scored on

their employability skills as well as their

creative capacity. As well as hard work, a lot of

fun was had too.

Well done Year 10 on your futuristic ideas,

solutions, resilience and positive contributions

over the whole day.

Mr N McPherson

WRL Co-ordinator

The Green Dragons fire up our Year 10

Science and Technology Fair 2017

Tuesday 7th March saw the 2nd Science and Technology fair land at Valentines High School.

This year the focus was on improving the welfare of refugees and working with the charity ‘Side by Side

with Refugees’ and students were given the task to invent a product that could help either with shelter,

food and water, aid distribution, education, protection or communication.

This year we were joined by entrants from four of our feeder primary schools who had already held a

competition at their own school with their finalists joining us for the fair.

Students had been preparing their ideas for two months at home and at lunchtimes to produce fantastic

ideas and displays, all with a sound scientific explanation behind how their proposal will work. Visitors

from across KS3 came to visit and voted for their favourite ideas and four winning groups were decided

on in the following categories:

Best display and model

Most innovative idea

Biggest impact on refugees

Best scientific explanation

Best Primary school entry

Entrants included a packable tent and shelter, water purification bottles for children, multi rover aid

carrier, skateboard table, lifejackets, wind powered mobile phone charger to name but a few!

We were blown away by the hard work and creativity of all entrants and can’t wait to see you all again

next year!

Mrs Morris & Miss Khanom

Boccia Competition January 2017

Having taken part in the Boccia competition in 2016 and won bronze medals, the pupils in-

volved this year were keen to do well again in the 2017 competition.

On Wednesday 18th January a group of 9 students set off to Frenford Sports Club to take part

in the event.

Having previously performed well in the competition, this year we decided to have 3 practices

beforehand which definitely helped, giving the students extra practice and better knowledge of

the rules. The 9 students involved were Joshan Patel, Nishndan Sokkan, Ajrin Bhuyan, Angel

Johnson, Darshana Annah, Denis Hurmuz, Martin Pohlodko, Junaid Qaadri and Jairaj Bassi.

The students thoroughly enjoyed the event, playing lots of games and improving their skills

against the 10 teams taking part in the competition.

All 3 Valentines teams played really well and with effort and enthusiasm but the ‘A’ team,

consisting of Darshana, Martin and Joshan, did especially well. They came 2nd in the

competition overall and all received silver medals.

Well done everyone. Maybe next year it will be gold medals!!

Mrs May and Mr Gibbings

FENCING

CLUB

During March, a group of Year 7-9 girls were given the opportunity to benefit from some

free sessions in fencing at an after school club here at Valentines on Tuesdays .The sessions

were delivered by a professional fencing coach.

Frenford Sports Club provided the 6 free sessions in this interesting and unique sport.

The girls taking part enjoyed the opportunity to develop their skills and tactics and those

who attended regularly made good progress.

The girls thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Well done to everyone.

Mrs May

Fencing Co-Ordinator