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Academy Wins Arts Mark Gold

info@cityacademy.co.uk (Martin Edwardes, Newsletter Editor) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:04:40 +0000

We are pleased to announce that the City of London Academy (Southwark) has won the prestigious Arts Mark Gold award from the Arts Council of England.

This award is made to a school who has demonstrated outstanding achievements in the fields of Art, Music, Drama and Dance. The school has to prove their ability through their work with local schools and community groups; through their links with higher education organizations and universities; and through their relationships with professional arts organizations.

The Academy has an active programme of outreach to our local primary schools, involving them in joint drama and art projects and providing them with performance facilities. We work closely with South Bank University and with other London Universities to give our students a taste of the arts in higher education and to show them the skill levels they should aspire to. We also work with many local and national arts bodies, such as the Globe Theatre, the Royal Opera House, the Unicorn Theatre, the Bow Arts Trust and the Guildhall Art Gallery.

The Academy has also shown its dedication to the Arts through its students. We offer free musical instrument lessons, regular performance opportunities, and we employ a dance coach, Ms Thompson, who teaches a varied and exciting programme of dance. Our annual student musical is becoming a local tradition and our choir recently performed at a Guild of Freemen ceremony in the City of London. We also took part in the Lord Mayor’s parade, and our float was highly praised by the TV commentators.

Congratulations for maintaining our full schedule of artistic events must go to everyone in the Arts Faculty; but especially to our Head of Faculty, Ms Lucy Oragano, for her efforts in making sure the Academy met the exacting standards needed to win this award.

CoLA Debates

info@cityacademy.co.uk (Ms Cook, English Teacher) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:04:13 +0000

Are you opinionated? Out-spoken? Interested in current affairs? Then come and join the discussion as CoLA Debates.

On Wednesday CoLA Debates tackles an issue that, in light of the re-imprisonment of Jon Venables, has received much press attention and even led to the England's Children’s Commissioner putting her job on the line. All staff and students are very welcome to listen and contribute to our debate on the following motion:

This house believes that children should receive the same criminal punishments as adults.

WHEN: Wednesday 24th March, 15.30pm; WHERE: 6th Form Resource Centre

Grease is Coming …

info@cityacademy.co.uk (Ms Crisp, PaFotA) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:04:45 +0000

Grab your bobby socks and Brylcream, Grease is coming to the Academy! Set in 1950s small town America the boys – the T-Birds – and the girls – the Pink Ladies – love their cars and football, cheerleading and sleep-overs. Sandy, the new girl at the high school, tries to fit in with the other kids. Rock’n’roll and teenage rebellion lead to trouble, love and a fast moving show. The COLA cast follow in some famous footsteps including John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

The cast have been rehearsing for weeks. This week, Charlotte (playing Sandy) and Samir (playing Danny) have give us a sneak preview in a performance in the Atrium, an event much appreciated by the audience!

Meet more of the cast and the backstage crew in forthcoming newsletters.

Take an Active Part – Join PaFotA

info@cityacademy.co.uk (Susan Crisp, PaFotA Chair) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:32:26 +0000

from Susan Crisp, PaFotA Chair;

The Parents and Friends of the Academy (PaFotA) brings together parents, teachers, and the local community. Our aim is to work with, assist, and encourage the school by providing support and feedback, as well as being actively involved in events that will help create a school of which we can all be proud.

We are looking for as many parents as possible to join us, because the more parents that are involved the better it will be for the school. If you would like to join PaFotA, please see the General Office for a form.

Liability for Confiscated Items

info@cityacademy.co.uk (Mr Hutton, Finance Director) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:26:19 +0000

from Mr Hutton, Finance Director;

Students have been bringing items into the Academy which are not part of our dress code, or which are specifically prohibited by school rules. When these items are found on a student they will be confiscated.

Please remember that confiscated items are held at the Academy at the owner’s risk, not that of the Academy. By breaking the rules and bringing the item into the Academy the student has forfeited any insurable protection rights in their property. We make every effort to restore confiscated property at the end of the confiscation period, but if items are mislaid and not immediately recoverable then the Academy has no liability to compensate.

The rule is simple: you bring prohibited items into the Academy at your own risk.

Ready, Steady, Cook!

info@cityacademy.co.uk (Martin Edwardes) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:17:22 +0000

After a year and two months of Young Chamber efforts, much time spent advertising, chasing around for ingredients at ASDA, and constant checking with Ms Hiskyas, CoLA’s Master Chef finally got to the Academy kitchen on 26th January. Three groups of two students each entered a cook-out competition to get their recipe onto the Rendezvous Restaurant menu. The dishes were judged by a panel of teachers and, of course, our resident chef, Freddie.

The contestants and recipes were:

Louise & Ryan: fillet of sea bass with broccoli, new potatoes and a tomato & chive dressing;
Elmin & Katie: Aubergine with minced beef flavoured with tomatoes, garlic and onions;
Fahima & Naymah: zesty tuna and pasta, flavoured with spices and herbs.

And the winners are …

Elmin & Katie cooked their way to victory, earning a place for their recipe on the school menu for next week. Chef Freddie said, “it’s great to see people put so much effort into cooking and presenting their dish. I hope to see a competition like this more often!”

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to the other contestants for taking part. Also, especial thanks to the judges, Chef Freddie, Ms Rosa, Ms Hiskyas and Mr Davis. Thanks also to all the people in Young Chamber who made CoLA Master Chef a reality and such a success!

Work Experience Not a Hard Sentence

info@cityacademy.co.uk (Martin Edwardes) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:14:59 +0000

Several of our Year 12 students are doing their work experience week with the City of London Police, and they are having a wonderful time! So far, they have:

Studied fingerprinting methods;
Worked with police horses and dogs, and learned about their specialist crime-fighting roles;
Gone on patrol in a Police patrol vehicle to discover how policing is delivered directly to the community;
Been to the Old Bailey to find out how prosecutions are carried out.

This has been a very successful work placement, and we look forward to working with the City Police on work placements in future years.

What to do about Absences

info@cityacademy.co.uk (Ms Goddard, EMA & Attendance Officer) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:51:22 +0000

From; Ms Goddard, EMA & Attendance Officer

If you have a GP, Dental or Medical appointment, please ensure that you send in an official appointment card or headed letter, saying when and where the appointment was. In an emergency you can ask the receptionist at the medical centre to provide this. We need to have a copy of this for our records. Try to book appointments for after school; but, if this is not possible, the student should return to school after the appointment. You do not need to lose a whole day of schooling for a morning or afternoon appointment.

When your child is absent, you will be contacted by Truant call. This may be annoying but it done for your child's safety, to ensure that students off sick one day cannot truant the following day. If you wish to query a Truant call, please contact the Attendance Officer using option 1 on the automated phone selection. You should also report any absence to the Attendance Officer as soon as possible, using option 1 on the automated phone selection.

Greenhouse Dance at CoLA

info@cityacademy.co.uk (Ms Thompson, Greenhouse Dance Studio) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:46:52 +0000

From; Ms Thompson, Greenhouse Dance Studio

Greenhouse Dance offers students FREE dance classes at CoLA, and trips to watch professional dance shows such as The Pied Piper by Hip Hop dance group Boy Blue!

Students learn Street Dance, Hip Hop, Popping, Locking, Jazz and Contemporary dance, and are currently working on a dance piece to be performed at a national competition in February.

If you want to be involved, Dance Club is on a Monday, Wednesday and Thursday after school in the dance studio. You don’t have to be a great dancer, just willing to try something new! See Ms Thompson for more details.

January Examinations

info@cityacademy.co.uk (Ms Beasley, Examinations Officer (MIS)) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:46:22 +0000

This is a reminder for years 10, 11, 12 and 13: the CoLA Spring term exam series starts on Monday 11th January and runs until Friday 29th January.

The Full Exam timetable can be found here