Posted on: 8/12/2023Book of the Month - December For December’s Book of the Month we are going back to 1813, and what I call ‘the OG rom com’, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1775-1817). Mr and Mrs Bennet belong to a social group known as ‘the genteel poor’, they have social standing but not a great deal of wealth, and no son to inherit what they do have, instead they have 5 daughters. It is imperative that they marry off their daughters to ensure their financial security and set about immersing their offspring in social gatherings to introduce them to eligible bachelors. 2 of these men are Mr Darcy and Mr Wickham. In this social satire featuring a big cast of characters, Austen weaves her way through upper class English society, featuring among it an unattractive suitor who will keep the Bennet estate within the family (Mr Collins), a melodramatic mother (Mrs Bennet), 2 cynical and intelligent sisters (Jane, and our heroine Elizabeth), a flighty teenager (Lydia Bennet), and a group of mean girls (Mr Darcy’s sisters). These characters could just as easily exist in a modern romantic comedy. This book may be more than 200 years old but it still offers a giggle, and a look into a time when writers were evasive about the provenance of an individual’s wealth (most likely slavery, see Said’s Orientalism), and women were essentially commodities.
Posted on: 10/11/2023Book of the Month - November THEMES/SUBJECTS: Murder; Royalty; Romance; Jealousy; Family CW: physical assault, only for Year 9 and above November’s book of the month is Royal Blood by Aimee Carter. This book really took off before the summer holidays and is still incredibly popular. “Kicked out of her American boarding school, Evan is sent to live with her estranged father, the King of England. Her existence as his illegitimate daughter is top secret - until someone leaks it to the press. Suddenly she's the focus of a thousand lurid headlines, plus the hatred of her stepmother the Queen and half-sister Princess Maisie. Then the royal scandal intensifies... After Evan is seen disappearing with a journalist's son at a party, he is found dead and she becomes the primary suspect in a murder investigation. Did "the Killer Princess" really do it? It seems that only the Queen's gorgeous nephew Kit will help Evan clear her name. But can she really trust anyone at the palace? The story is gripping, with lots of twists and turns along the way. Reserve a copy now in the library.
Posted on: 14/09/2023Open Events 2023We are delighted to invite you to our upcoming open events. We host both a range of Open Mornings and our annual Open Evening on Thursday 5th October. We look forward very much to welcoming families to EGA and getting to show them more about what our school has to offer its students and community. Open Mornings: Open Mornings run from 9.15am-10:30am and will include a talk from students, the headteacher as well as a tour of lessons around the school. There is no need to book to attend an open morning, please just arrive at our main reception for 9.15am. Tuesday 26th September 9.15am-10:30am Thursday 28th September 9.15am-10:30am Tuesday 10th October 9.15am-10:30am Thursday 12th October 9.15am-10:30am Open Evening - Thursday 5th October 2023 5:00-7:30pm Our open evening is a chance to visit the school and explore the fantastic facilities we have to offer. You will hear from our headteacher, tour all the areas of the school and meet the amazing members that make up our school community. The open evening is also a great time to be able to discuss curriculum and opportunities with our teachers. Many EGA students also volunteer to support at Open Evening so you will have plenty of chances to ask them any questions you might have. You do not need to book a slot for our open evening. However, to help us ensure a smooth experience, we suggest arriving towards the start of one of the following slots: 5:00-5:45pm / 5:45-6:30pm / 6:30-7:15pm We recommend attending both Open Evening and an Open Morning to get the full experience of what is on offer at EGA as both events offer a different experience.
Posted on: 8/09/2023Book of the Month - September GENRE: Science Fiction, Adventure, Short fiction Back in May this year, Green Rising by Lauren James was EGA Library’s book of the month.For our return to school, this month’s chosen title is also by Lauren James and is called The Starlight Watchmaker. The book is published by Barrington Stoke, a really important and respected publisher based in Edinburgh. Barrington Stoke publishes short books, usually no more than 130 pages, aimed at reluctant or dyslexic readers. They are physically designed to be easy to read, with large, widely spaced out type and coloured pages The stories are just as exciting as longer novels and written by established, popular authors including Malorie Blackman, Melvin Burgess, Eve Ainsworth and Marcus Sedgwick. Hugo is an old android, abandoned by his owner on a strange planet. He sets up a business fixing watches. When a student from a local private school brings him a watch to fix, Hugo discovers that quantum energy is being stolen from watches, and with the help of fellow robots, humans and aliens, he begins the search for the suspected terrorist (they believe that only a terrorist would need that much quantum energy to make a bomb) trying to destroy the planet where they live, work and study.Alongside Hugo, student Dorian and his friends attempt to find the thief Through their investigation they meet and interrogate a diverse array of characters expertly and fantastically imagined by Lauren James. If you are a reader who prefers a shorter novel, or a less confident reader, try this book or any other in the Barrington Stoke range, kept in the library in the ‘Easy Reading’ section.
Posted on: 9/06/2023Book of the Month - June GENRES: Pride Month, fairy tale, romance To celebrate the simultaneous release of the live-action Little Mermaid film, and Pride month, June’s chosen book is Nen and the Lonely Fisherman by Ian Eagleton, illustrated by James Mayhew. Nen and the Lonely Fisherman is a picturebook telling the love story of merman Nen, and fisherman Ernest, brought together by a yearning for companionship. Nen’s father Pelagios is frustrated with Nen’s interest in the world above sea level and tries to talk him out of mixing with humans. However, Nen and Ernest form a strong bond from their conversations by Ernest’s boat at nighttime. A quick read suitable for Foundation readers and lovers of illustration
Posted on: 3/05/2023Big Sing Year 7 have begun preparations for a whole year group performance later this term. With guests from the Voices Foundation and other local artists,the students have participated in singing and rapping workshops over the past two weeks and now have the task of perfecting their performances ahead of the Music Islington Big Sing Festival at the Union Chapel. The workshops have been a huge success with students leading different sections of the choir and even writing their own original raps about topics they feel passionate about.
Posted on: 24/04/2023MiSST's 10th AnniversaryMonday 24th April marked MiSST's 10th Anniversary. 13 of our students took part in an amazing concert in the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on the West End to celebrate along with schools across the country that also work with the Music in Secondary School Trust. The students performed in one huge orchestra on stage, they had the amazing opportunity to meet and sing with Andrew Lloyd Webber, the Kenneh Mason family and Jason Donavon and listen to some standout performances from the winners of the young musicians of the year and many more future stars in music. The students have worked really hard and it was an amazing opportunity to experience a range of music in a professional setting.
Posted on: 4/01/2022Year 7 Book ClubOver the past term Year 7 Book Club have been reading and reviewing six science books for the Royal Society Young People's Book Prize. Each week we discuss the books and students take home a book to read. We judged the books based on four criteria, Ease of reading, Interest, Look and feel and Inspiration. There has been some great feedback about the books included on the list, for example Zabella said that Under the Stars by Lisa Harvey-Smith was her favourite and it taught her a lot about astrophysics in an engaging way. All the students agreed that 100 Things to Know about Saving the Planet was the best book overall, which included facts about using old jeans to keep your house warm and other ideas to protect earth. Next term we are going to be reading The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon and we cannot wait to get started!
Posted on: 29/11/2021Dance WorkshopBy Jasmine and Lydia in Year 8 The dance workshop was a mix of Indian, martial arts and contemporary It was a great experience overall because a variety of the people in the dance club only have one style that they do so it was great to step out of our comfort zone and explore different and unique styles. The moves were quite challenging but we all persevered and encouraged each other. The dance workshop brought out the best in all of us and also inspired us. We would like to thank Ms Wells and Sadlers Wells for giving us the opportunity to explore what dance means to other people.