A mixture of year 8 and 9 pupils represented CoLA in the annual Academy cup held at Knights Academy. Twenty Academies from London competed, with a lot of the best young footballing talent in the city on display. CoLA were drawn against Bridge Academy, Globe Academy, St. Matthews, and host, holders, and favourites, Knights Academy.

A slow start meant that we went down 1-0 in the first game to an excellent Globe side. A comprehensive 4-0 win against St. Matthews with goals from Jake Palladino (2), Bradley Rice, and Ryan Simms, got the ball rolling for CoLA. A 2-1 win in the next match against Bridge Academy, with Billy Woon getting both goals, meant that a place in the semi-final was within our reach.

The group decider was against Knights Academy, the winners of the trophy for the previous two years. Only a win would be enough, and confidence was high after the back-to-back wins.

A spirited and very impressive display saw CoLA gain a highly commendable 0-0 draw against a side which contained 5 players in professional clubs academies. Unfortunately that was not enough to reach the semi-final, but the performance and conduct of all the players throughout the day was impeccable and they should be very proud of themselves.

In the first match of the season the boys faced Kingsdale. CoLA dominated territory and possession through excellent work at the lineout by Dami and Jahmel, but couldn't turn their advantage into points due to a combination of infringements and some handling errors.

Our year 8s spent a lot of time near the opposition line after powerful bursts through the middle by our rampaging forwards, and Muctarr came closest to breaking the deadlock with a scintillating break down the wing; but he was rightly adjudged to have stepped into touch.

Eventually Kingsdale forced their way upfield and some very tired defending allowed them in for the only try of the game, and they won 5-0.

The team rallied well in their second match, against Sacred Heart, displaying some considerable panache in a 15-0 victory against some inexperienced opposition. Dami scored two impressive tries, charging in from close range; and Muctarr, the team's leading scorer last season, conjured up a try all on his own, dispossessing one of the Sacred Heart players in the middle of the pitch before outsprinting the defence.

Well done, lads, this was a very good start to the season.

Congratulations to our Year 11 and Year 13 students on their excellent exam results this year. Our results are due to the hard work and commitment shown by the students and the Academy’s commitment to success for all. 

54% of our students achieved 5 or more good GCSE passes and all groups either met or exceeded their targets.  Every student left the Academy with a GCSE qualification this year.

Special congratulations go to 12 students who each achieved at least 5 A* or A grades this summer.  Jack Bruce, Francesca Ghisoni, Kadean Hawes, Kevin Jimenez, Chris Keenlyside, Marie-Therese Maligisa, Abdul-Hameed Mudasiru, Arlind Neziri, Charles Olisanekwu, James Sesay, Marcus Seymour-Pierce and Emily Young – well done to you all!

Our equally impressive A level results gave a 97% pass rate this year and all students have gone on to study at the university of their choice.

Write a winning essay and you could take home a laptop computer or a mini laptop computer. All you have to do is write an essay of up to 750 words on the following topic:

Has the recent financial crisis changed the way you think about your future, and if so, how? Things to consider include the costs and benefits of university, career options, and attitudes to debt and how to invest savings.

Find out more at http://www.bailliegifford.com/essay/, or ask the library staff.

CLOSING DATE 31 October 2009.

The Parents and Friends of the Academy (PaFotA) first meeting of the year will be Thursday 8th October, 6:30-7:30pm, in the Atrium. Everyone is welcome, and we especially welcome parents of new year 7 students.

Come along and meet other parents, find out more about the Academy, and work together to support the school. Key topics for this meeting are academic standards, homework and communication between parents and school.

Please remember that we expect you to check your child’s planner regularly. Teachers and other staff write notes about homework and other school matters in it, so you should review it to make sure you are up-to-date with your child’s schooling. If lost, replacement planners can be obtained from the General Office at a cost of £5 each.

When preparing your child’s lunch and break food, please remember that children should bring only water, milk drinks and non-fizzy fruit juices to school. Sweets and non-approved drinks will be confiscated.

There have been some cases recently of students setting up small businesses selling sweets, crisps and drinks to each other. This is definitely forbidden, and will be treated as a disciplinary issue.

The results of the European Day of Languages challenge are in! The MFL Department would like to thank all who took part.

The winners of the challenge are: 1st: Jackson 7C (32); 2nd: Jack Webster 7C (31); 3rd: Francis Olaku 8G (28).

The form winners are: 7A, Brayan; 7B, Chenelle; 7C, Debora; 7D, Faisa; 7F, Ferdinand; 7G, Naymah; 8A, Candice; 8G, Francis; 8H, Josh.

·         Parents can pay for trips and food by Visa card payment.

·         We give 10% extra on all cheque and card payments over £20 for food. So a cheque for £30 will put £33 onto the card.

·         If students have a MINUS balance on their cards of £5 or more, they will be unable to get any more credit until the debt is paid.

·         We will issue credit slips for lunch for only three consecutive days. After that, the student must purchase a new dinner card.

·         The cost of a new dinner card is now reduced to £5.