Creative Mentors 

Creativity is contagious - pass it on, Albert Einstein

We are proud to share the success of our students participating in the City Lions Mentoring Programme, a six-month initiative designed to help young people build confidence, develop essential life skills, and explore their future career paths. Each student is matched with a mentor from the creative industries who guides them through regular sessions focused on communication, organisation, and personal growth. This year, our mentors come from leading organisations, including Imperial College London, Spondy Lux Press, Invesco, the National Gallery, and Omnes Education.

Students have been meeting their mentors every four weeks—either at school, online, or during special away days. This term’s away day included a visit to the Solid Light exhibition at Tate Modern.

Throughout the programme, our students have demonstrated great professionalism, respect, and enthusiasm. They’ve gained valuable insights into various careers while developing a clearer sense of their own interests and ambitions.

Cameron, whose mentor has had a novel published, said:
“The mentoring has helped me quite a lot. I like to write stories, so she helped me understand the roles of characters and how the publishing world works. She even arranged a meeting with a location manager from Warner Bros. Studios, where I was able to ask him questions. The mentoring programme has boosted my confidence.”

As part of their continued support, mentors will also act as professional referees and provide personalised CV statements to help our students prepare for future opportunities. We are excited to see how this experience continues to empower our students and shape their futures.                                

English

Y7 & 8 Speeches Competition

Year 7 and 8 have been learning how to be persuasive in their English lessons this term and we ended the term with a Persuasive Speeches competition. Students wrote and performed speeches advocating for a change they'd like to see in the school, with topics ranging from changes to the lunch menu, ideas for new clubs and trips, and even the suggestion of a swimming in the playground! The finalists from each class performed their speeches in front of students and a judging panel, made up of our Speech and Language Therapists and a School Governor.

The judges were impressed with students' creative ideas, skilled speaking and use of persuasive techniques such as rhetorical questions. Our winning speech came from Leon in Year 7 who persuasively argued for a salad bar at lunch. Emilian in Year 8 and Sebastian in Year 7 shared second place and Laura in Year 7 took third place.          

English - Shakespeare's The Tempest

Key Stage 4 students have been studying Shakespeare's The Tempest in their English lessons. In the play, Miranda lives on an island with her father, the powerful sorcerer Prospero. After a storm, a group of noblemen wash up on the island, including the Prince of Naples, Ferdinand. Here is some creative writing inspired by the moment Ferdinand and Miranda see each other and fall in love.

Extract from Ferdinand's diary
by Kaleb, 10 Richmond

Dear Diary, 

Today I saw my father perish in a shipwreck because of a brutal storm. 

I then found myself on a strange island sad and alone as my father is surely dead and there is nothing I can do about it.

I am also abandoned by my crew so I must start over again on this island. I was wandering around the island for quite a while then I looked and saw a maid of such beauty.

I asked her to be my wife but her father wants to cast me into a temple with manacles on my neck and feet. But I will be fine as long as I see my maid twice a day. 

I hope I can get out of here soon to be with my maid forever and no one can stop this.

Ferdinand

Extract from Miranda's diary
by Elijah 10 Tower

Dear Diary,

Today I had the strangest day I have ever had. My father conjured a tempest to destroy the ship. I was angry at him because there were innocent mariners there on the ship. My heart broke at the thought of them suffering and then dying in the sea. But my father assured me that there was no harm done. He told me the story of why he is doing this and why we ended up on the island in the first place. 

It shocked me to hear that he was actually the Duke of Milan but he got overthrown by his treacherous brother and my uncle, Antonio who worked with the King of Naples. We had been sentenced to death on a rotted boat but a elderly man named Gonzalo helped us by giving us books and food. My father learned of the magic words from those books and soon became a powerful sorcerer.  

I met Caliban before and I didn’t like him. He tried to violate my honour and my father managed to stop him in time. He was so furious that he began to inflict terrible punishments on Caliban. Caliban and Father used to be close, Father taught him our language and Caliban showed him the beauty of our world.

When I saw a handsome man walking towards me and my father, I felt a sensation which warmed me to the tips of my toes. Love. I had never seen another man before, apart from my father. I have a feeling that me and the man will be together for quite some time.

Success for Year 8 pupil, Genesis in national competition, Show Racism The Red Card

Genesis won the Additional Support for Learning, Artwork & Creative Writing Category of the competition with his artwork and piece of writing featured below. Huge congratulations on your achievement Genesis.

Genesis was invited to attend a special award ceremony at Nottingham Forest Football Club at the beginning of May. Below is an account he wrote of his exciting experience.

Last term I entered a competition for Show Racism the Red Card. I made a drawing showing people saying unkind things that I don't like. I used pastels and posca pens. I like using these pens because they feel like graffiti. This competition is important to me because I want racism to stop because it hurts my head and I don't want it to continue. 

A few weeks later my mum told me with a surprise that I had won an award for my drawing and was going to collect it at Nottingham Football Stadium. I was very shocked as I didn't think I was going to be going to a football stadium!

We set off to Nottingham on Friday by car. Our hotel was very big and it had a swimming pool so I was swimming in there and going under water and it was very fun. I'm not a professional swimmer but I know how to do some strokes under water. 

In the afternoon we went to the Nottingham City Ground Stadium for the award ceremony. I met some professional footballers who were very professional. Some children in the audience participated in an indoor football course. It was a very big hall with a small stage. There were DJ decks and I got to have my own solo session. I DJed and it was very cool. It's not the first time I have done DJing.

We were all sitting at tables and they announced the prizes. They announced my name and everyone clapped and I walked up on stage and Ben from CBeebies and a professional footballer gave me my award and I shook their hand. I also won a football and I played with it outside and it was really fun and I am looking forward to playing with that football in my garden. 

Afterwards we took lots of pictures and my mum said she was really proud of me. I really enjoyed the experience and the best part was getting to DJ. Hopefully in the future I will be able to do more things like this.

Gardening work experience

This term a group of Year 9 students have been doing weekly work experience workshops at the Granville Community Garden in South Kilburn.

Granville Community Kitchen (GCK) is a community food hub, offering food centred activities, education and training.  During the work experience students engage in a range of tasks, from sowing radish and rocket seeds, to weeding and watering the plants in the garden. They are working towards a picnic in the final session where they will eat some of the produce they’ve grown.     

Discovery 3 workshops

Year 8 and Year 10 students recently enjoyed a creative and engaging workshop run by 3 Discovery, where they explored Stop Motion Animation and Green Screen vlogging and filming.

The session aimed to make digital technology fun and accessible for all students, particularly those who may not usually have the opportunity to engage with it. It was wonderful to see the students working collaboratively, expressing their creativity, and building new skills. Many came away feeling inspired, confident, and excited about using technology in new ways. 

Free access to audio books

We would like to highlight to families these sites where children and young people can access audio books free of charge:

https://www.calibreaudio.org.uk/

https://help.libbyapp.com/en-us/6103.htm
Audio books are available for free but membership of a local library is required.