Posted on: 4/12/2019Michelle Obama, One Year OnThis week last year was a time of great excitement at EGA. There were whispers. There were rumours. Something was clearly about to happen. Students applied to take part in a conference on Belonging. “You had to write about something that you wanted to change, “ recalls student Aizea, “I wrote that I wanted a world that was more forgiving.” Then on the day of the conference, as groups of excited students gathered in school, it was revealed that there was another big event taking place. Michelle Obama was paying her second visit to the school. She had chosen it as the setting for the book launch of her bestselling memoir, Becoming. “I remember the atmosphere in the school,” says Aizea, “”Michelle Obama seemed to want everyone to be comfortable and not feel out of place. She wanted everyone to feel that they deserved to be there and that they could achieve.” “And I got to hug her,“ she added. Another student, Aviva, recalls the day as “inspirational.” She says, “Mrs Obama talked about her childhood, What she said about bullying really stuck with me.” Executive headteacher and several alumni led a panel discussion in which Ms Obama shared her views about work, ambition, marriage, supporting other women and kindness. “We as women don’t have the luxury of tearing each other down. There’s no room for mean girls.” After the book launch, the school moved onto the Belonging conference and took part in workshops on a range of topics including political action, social media, education and individualism versus collectivism. Mr Scott, who organised the Belonging conference says, “The aim was to consider all the ways in which we - students and staff - can make EGA an even more diverse and welcoming community.” For the full photo album, click here.
Posted on: 25/11/2019Misst Together WorkshopOn Monday this week we hosted our third MiSST Together orchestral event with students from Central Foundation Boys School. Our beginner instrumentalists worked incredibly hard throughout the day in both sectional and full ensemble rehearsals to produce two outstanding performances. It was wonderful to see some of our students who are now in the second year of the program mentoring and supporting our beginner players during this workshop day. The day culminated in a full performance for parents/carers and staff from both schools. One parent commented “I attended the MiSST Together concert today, and was blown away by it. It was such a wonderful and inspiring event, and so brilliantly organised and introduced. The repertoire was perfect, and the students’ announcements were so confident, and I couldn’t believe how much progress this enormous number of students had made in such a short time.” Well done!!!
Posted on: 15/11/2019French and Spanish Spelling BeeOn the 6 November, our Year 7s spent their afternoon competing in the French & Spanish Spelling Bee. In a lecture theatre full of their supporting peers, six girls took part in the French competition and 6 girls took part in the Spanish one. After the first two rounds, three girls were left to compete in each language. After a close third round, Yasmine Chehili won the competition in French, Saoirse Exelby came second & Lucy Swann finished in 3rd place. In Spanish Sydah Hoque won the competition, Celestra Cjergji came second and Khadija Mouauia.
Posted on: 13/11/2019World Famous Violist at EGANicola Beneddi, a world famous violinist came to talk to students at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School. Not only is she a talented musician (leader of the National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain at the age of 8) she is also passionately committed to the cause of making music accessible and available to all. One student, Vivien Short reflected on the talk: "I had an amazing and mesmerising evening on Tuesday,” she said, “Hearing the famous Nicola Benedetti talk was incredible. I enjoyed listening to her define music and its lasting importance to the world. Hearing Nicola talk about her attempts and success at providing better music education for children in deprived areas, was deeply inspiring and has made me appreciate all the musical opportunities I’ve been given over the years."
Posted on: 12/11/2019Dance Workshop with Mel SimpsonOn Tuesday 12th November, GCSE dance students took part in a whole day workshop with visiting dance practitioner Mel Simpson. The girls worked so hard all day to create an exam performance piece. This is no small task as they were dancing for 8 hours being pushed hard to achieve some complex ideas and choreography. Well done to all and special thanks to the wonderful Mel Simpson.
Posted on: 11/11/2019Anti Bullying Presentations at EGAAs part of our commitment to being a non-violent school, Year 7 students participated in an anti-bullying presentation in their half of the year group last week. This was delivered by Heather Vaccianna, Islington's Anti-Bullying Coordinator & Domestic Violence Prevention Officer. It is National Anti-Bullying Week this week and Heather spoke about the theme this year which is, 'Change Starts With Us.' Year 7s developed their awareness and understanding of the wider occurrence and effects of bullying, for children and adults alike. It was particularly poignant when she asked girls what education and careers they wanted to pursue in the future. After a multitude of professions were mentioned, she referred to Malala Yousafzai's experience as a young girl in Pakistan who demanded that girls be allowed to receive an education, something forbidden in areas under Taliban control. For her activism, she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012, but survived and went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the youngest ever winner of this award. Heather also referred to the climate activist and leader, Greta Thunberg, and how she has experienced online bullying because of her autism. Like Malala, Greta has stood up to the bullies to continue her hugely urgent work. It is significant that these two young world leaders are women.
Posted on: 8/11/2019Food From HomeYear 8 students cooked up their favourite recipes from home in celebration of Black History Month. Look out for some of these recipes in the canteen. Annachiara Senatore - Aubergine Parmigiana Ameera Aldaraji - Moroccan Chicken Fariyah Burham - Spanish Chicken Serenity Isungapala and Alice Kamara - Jollof rice and fried plantain. Ruya Erten and Silan Karadag - Sigara Borek
Posted on: 6/11/2019The Politics of SlaveryOn Wednesday 6 November, the GCSE politics classes listened enthralled to an eye opening debate about slavery. It was given by historical researcher and library curator Jean Campbell. Year 11 student, Nuha Alam wrote: “I thought that the workshop was very educational as racism is a topic that I feel is not discussed across the school very much. I found it shocking that in Jean’s presentation she showed photographs of items that were used to shackle human beings displayed on tables where people watching were just drinking their tea and eating biscuits. One thing I learned was that it was not William Wilberforce that abolished slavery - it was the fact that the government paid slave owners compensation that stopped the UK involvement in the slave trade. Also that the loan debt to do this was not repaid until 2015.”
Posted on: 4/12/2019
Posted on: 4/12/2019
Posted on: 4/12/2019
