1. Stop The Clock Day – Designing Our Future
Year 7
As part of their new curriculum, all of Year 7 had a
“Stop the Clock” day on 16th
December. With the
help of visiting architecture students and designer
Clare Burnett they discussed the future of the school
and what features a new building might need. The
students were split into 14 groups, and each group had
to plan, design and build a model of their ideas.
Many great ideas were put forward, and the 14 teams
competed against each other to produce the best
design and model. Some designed entire schools, while
others concentrated on one part of the school which they
felt needed the most improvement.
Learning objectives: students proposed practical ways
forward, in manageable steps. They generated their own
ideas and explored possibilities, and communicated
what they had learned in relevant ways to a new
audience. The students collaborated with others in
groups to work towards a common goal – designing a
future school.
Newsletter
February 2009
Students working on a design for a new
block of toilets
One of the finished designs for a new school
Football pitch Swimming pool
Student Feedback
The girls really enjoyed the chance to have their
say on what a new school might look like and
what features they would like to see.
“I liked being able to adapt our funky ideas into
models”
“We worked together and voted on everything
fairly”
“I didn’t think it would be fun for architects, but it
was!”
“Now we know we have to keep our own
environment tidy”
Glass tubes lead between departments
The winning design for a new school!
Student Feedback
“We want to study law, dance, cheerleading,
football, acting, astronomy.”
“More recycling, maybe solar lighting”
“Our building now is not suited to our learning
needs”
With many thanks to Noushaba Jaffrey for student
support and Angus Gulliver for technical assistance and
photography throughout the day
Mr Moore and Ms McCann History and Science

2. Moving from good to outstanding!
Following our successful OFSTED report in November
2008, part of our action plan is to develop learning and
teaching and moving the standard of ‘good’ lessons to
‘outstanding’. In order to achieve this, we invited John
Bayley, an educational expert to come and speak to
members of staff who work in the learning and teaching
committee. We met with him on 5th
February 2009.
Our first session was fantastic and exciting! Staff gained
many ideas and left the meeting feeling very enthused.
One of the ideas we are developing across the college is
sharing positive messages with students to improve
relationships and the learning environment.
We have included an example of positive messages
below and a photograph of the committee working with
John Bayley.
http://www.jbayley.co.uk/
Thank you.
Mr McGill / Ms Shah
Assistant Principals Technology and Languages
Helping you learn.
What can I do to help my teacher?
Make me happy!
listen to each ofus individually and help m e!8.Sircan
work hard to ensure we have exciting lessons.7.Sircan
think aboutourwork outside ofthe classroom .6.W e can
work hard to com plete objectives and supporteach other.5.W e can
allhelp each otherby wanting to learn and achieve.4.W e can
be responsible form yselfand respectfulto others.3.Ican
listen to allinstructions,questions and answers.2.Ican
sitdown atthe startofthe lesson and ‘getready’to learn.1.Ican
Students’ Comments
“We want to learn Food Technology.”
“We need a new playground, and benches to eat
outside; more apparatus, running track, field, climbing
wall, swimming pool. More sports, tennis, football,
cricket.”
“Signs in corridors so you know where you are and
where to go.”
“More toilets, sensors on taps and dryers.”
“Bigger building with automatic doors.”
“Gardening club with a pond”
“Library – more books than computers.”
“Plant trees to reduce the carbon footprint.”
“We want a fun, clean, happy school. So we look
forward to going to school”
Welcome sign in multiple languages
Practical block &
Humanities building
Garden
house
Dining
room

3. Year 8 trip to Amazonia at the Young Vic
theatre
In January a group of ten Year 8 geography students
accompanied by Mr McKenzie of the Modern Foreign
Language department went to see the play ‘Amazonia’
at the Young Vic Theatre and to attend a theatre
workshop afterwards. The tickets were generously
donated by Canning House, a Latin American cultural
and social non profit organisation, as part of their
schools programme to promote and create awareness of
issues and developments in Spain, Portugal and South
America. Students in Year 8 study Brazil as part of their
Geography syllabus. They look at the importance of the
Amazon ecosystem, the issues surrounding its
destruction and the attempts to conserve it.
The play tells the story of a period of momentous
change in the lives of the villagers of ‘Todos Os Santos’,
a community in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. As
new destructive forces confront the villagers, the solution
is to be found amongst more traditional ways being and
adherence to the knowledge of indigenous peoples and
their belief in the spirit world.
The students found out that the play was also inspired
by the real life Brazilian people’s hero Chico Mendes. He
was a rubber tapper and Brazil’s first real ecologist who
brought our attention to the forest’s destruction due to
greedy and exploitative practises. He was murdered by
a powerful landowner for being too outspoken.
The girls enjoyed the play and patiently waited for an
hour afterwards to begin the workshop. A group of Year
7 girls’ from a school in a South East London was also
involved in the workshop. Our girls showed a lot of
patience and good will, participating enthusiastically in
all the activities.
Amazonia and Chico Mendes
Mr MacKenzie Modern Languages
Babylon Exhibition: Myth and Reality
Year 11 students participated in a curriculum
enhancement afternoon which involved a trip to the
British museum on Tuesday, February 10th
.
The students visited the special exhibition: Babylon:
Myth and Reality which gave them a basic
understanding of the great civilisation of Babylon where
modern Iraq stands now.
They learnt about Cuneiform writing, Babylon’s Hanging
Gardens (one of the Seven Wonders of the World) and
the Tower of Babylon. They also viewed a copy of the
earliest map of the world devised by the Babylonians
and watched a video about how the city of Babylon
(situated south of Baghdad) has been destroyed over
the last few decades by wars and negligence and what
the international community is doing to protect it.
The students even had time to visit the Egyptian wing
where they viewed real mummies and human bones but
it didn’t spoil their appetite for snacks!
Ms Hemamda
Ms Hemamda and Mrs Jawad Modern Languages
John Kelly Cookbook
I would like to extend a massive thank you to all of you
who have contributed recipes for the cookbook. All of
them sound delicious and I look forward to trying them
out. We are still in need of more recipes however, so
please keep them coming in.
To celebrate the John Kelly half-centenary we intend to
design and publish a John Kelly Girls’ Cookbook, with
recipe contributions from staff, students, parents and
carers. The intention is to have the cookbook split into
sections by country, so as to celebrate the many
cultures represented at the school, and to be published
by July in a similar, professional way to our yearbooks
are. Please donate any tried and tested recipes you
would like to be included in the cookbook; they do not
have to be typed or written out neatly as we will do that.
Many thanks.
Mr Jayapal Maths

4. Year 9 Combined Cadet Force
In January John Kelly Girls' first ever combined cadet
force began their training programme. After an extensive
selection process seven year 9 students were chosen
after proving they were prepared to commit to the
programme for a minimum of two years.
During their time in the cadets the girls will learn various
skills such as, survival skills, weaponry skills, map
reading, communication and leadership.
The cadet training takes place every Tuesday after
school at Highgate school, where the girls are working
closely with pupils from Highgate.
Well done girls and keep up the good work!
Breathing Places update
Our work on our patch of land at the side of the college
is really getting underway now that spring is just around
the corner. We are very keen on getting as many of our
community involved as we possibly can and are looking
for volunteers to help us develop plots of land, get our
allotments started, plant, and prune or simply give us
advice on anything to do with good gardening.
If you are interested in hearing more please contact me
via email at kma_eng@jkgtc.brent.sch.uk
Ms Aylott Assistant Principal
Mosaic ‘World of Work’ visit to Lovells LLP
A group of girls from year 10 and the sixth form were
given the opportunity to go to Lovells law firm. The visit
was organized by Ms Mngaza and made possible by the
Mosaic network group of mentors. At the law firm we
were talked to by trainees and qualified lawyers. We
discussed our career aspirations with them and gained a
better understanding of the different paths laid out by
law as a career option. After the group presentation we
were given a tour around the building and we were able
to talk to the lawyers and trainees one on one, and ask
them questions about their lives and how and why they
chose law as a career.
It was a fantastic opportunity for all the girls to broaden
their views about a choice of career. We also learned a
variety of different aspects of law that we did not know
existed. Overall it was a very worthwhile experience.
Thank you Ms Hamdi, Ms Waseem and Ms Akbar for
taking us to Lovells.
Salwa Abdulrahman Sixth form
On Wednesday 11th
February a group of 25 Year 10
students went to Lovell’s Law Company in Farringdon to
get more experience about being a lawyer. One of the
trainees gave us an introduction about studying to be a
lawyer. One of the International Finance lawyers told us
about the different business trips they get to go on. At
first I wasn’t sure about what I was going to do in the
future but after this experience I have thought long and
hard about being a lawyer. The visit was extremely
interesting, especially when they gave us a tour of the
building and provided us with lunch. I was surprised
about how much lawyers can earn even when they start.
Very posh I must say!
Krishna Pindoria 10G
SAMLEARNING
It is that time of year again when revision is high on the
agenda and here at John Kelly Girls’ we are trying
everything we can to make that process easier and more
achievable.
For the fourth year running we have invested a
substantial amount of money into SAMLEARNING, this
is an online revision tool and has proved very popular in
the past.
All students at JKGTC have access to this resource, we
are able to monitor their use and have found that many
students in Year 11 are currently not using this very
valuable tool. We would like to ask for your support and
encourage your daughter to use the online revision for
the various subjects
NW2JK
Ddmmyyaa
ddmmyyaa
Date of birth, month of birth,
year of birth, first letter of
name, first letter of
surname.
Password is the same.

5. The YES project
As Year Director of Learning for year 10, I was asked to
select a group of thirty students to take part in a series of
Active Tutorial lessons. During one 50 minute lesson
each week students are introduced to a variety of
activities, bus safety, emotional intelligence and Healthy
eating are some examples of the topics covered. We
have asked a number of agencies to come into college
to explore aspects of our community that are not
normally taught in schools.
One of the most exciting Active Tutorials is the YES
Project. Different units of the Police Force have come
into college to encourage discussion around the serious
issues that face our young people today.
Here are some comments from the students involved:
Michaela
“I have been to three sessions so far and I am
looking forward to the next one. I have thoroughly
enjoyed learning about the police dogs, how they
are trained and the relationship between the
handlers and their dogs. I learnt a lot from the ‘Fire
Arms’ session, especially the long sentences given
for just being in possession of a gun and about the
need to licence guns. We saw real and replica guns
and I can understand why the Police cannot tell the
difference, we were asked if we could and seriously
a replica gun cigarette lighter looked identical to the
real thing.”
Alicia
“It’s been interesting so far because I have learned
to see things from the police point of view and I
never have before. They are not being ‘dread’ on
you if they stop you, they usually have a good
reason and I never thought about this before. I was
interested in the sniffer dogs, they are very well
trained but they frightened some of our group.
These dogs can sniff out guns and drugs and we
were taught how this is done. We were introduced
to the police dogs and given a demonstration of an
attack, we were then asked to stroke the dogs. I
want to continue this course and recommend that all
students get this opportunity; I see the police in a
different light.”
Intifaac;
“I enjoy it, it’s about being safe, its educational. It’s
taught me not to get involved in weapons as this
gets you arrested. Its amazing how the dogs can be
trained to attack a human by biting the arm and not
attacking any other part of the body; they keep a
person pinned down until the police come. The
video clip on knives showed you that by having a
knife you could end up using it and the serious
consequences of this. Real crime and excellent
video footage made sense to me!”
Dorontina
“It was ‘sick’ in other words it was really good. I
loved the police dogs, they looked vicious but were
well controlled; the police officers love their dogs
and do not want anything to happen to them. I have
certainly learnt not to carry a knife or be with
anyone who doe,s it’s just not cool. I have also
learnt to move away from situations as I could be
equally to blame or equally as guilty even if I was
standing by. When we saw the violent crime video
what surprised me was that even the friends of
stab/shooting victims do nothing to help stop the
bleeding, next I think all students should learn first
aid.”
Ms Nicholls (Lead Year Director of Learning)

6. Help John Kelly Girls’ Technology College
earn prizes
Generation Green is a schools and community
programme from British Gas, which encourages and
supports green behaviour through a combination of
green lesson plans and activities.
Each school which registers for Generation Green it is
given a leaf goal and once the appropriate number of
leaves have been achieved they can then be exchanged
for green rewards.
Both schools and parents/carers can also receive free
advice on saving energy through easy to take actions for
which they will earn “Green Leaves” for their chosen
school.
John Kelly Girls’ target is over 98,000 Leaves and so far
we have earned 6,503. It would be great if the College
could earn enough to get a reward, which can range
from educational kits to the top reward of solar panels.
Please help us earn Leaves and help us reach our goal.
It takes about 10 minutes to complete the British Gas
Energy Savers Report which can be found under the
heading “Families and Friends” on the Generation Green
website on www.generationgreen.co.uk. Possibly your
daughter might to improve her computer skills and
complete the report for you.
You will not only be helping the College but you could
also save some money on your heating bills.
Please ensure that you donate your Leaves to the Girls’
College.
Mrs M Shepherd
Environment Officer
Lost Property
Since the last edition of Student News the number of
items being held in lost property has increased
considerably. Even though the weather has been
freezing cold none of the coats or jackets we are holding
have been claimed.
If your daughter has lost any items please ensure that
she asks if it is being held or telephone the college on
020 8452 4842 between the hours of 10am to 3pm.
Each Form Tutor has told their Tutor Group to make
sure they check as the items currently being held will be
given to a local charity by the end of March.
Mrs M Shepherd
Environment Officer
Recycling presentations in Active Tutorial
lessons
Over the last few weeks Years 7, 8 and 9 have attended
presentations on recycling given by Mrs Crace from
Brent Council.
Mrs Crace explained both the environmental and
financial implications of not recycling and how it affects
each and every one of us. Many of the students were
surprised to learn that every 90 minutes the Borough of
Brent produces enough rubbish to fill a swimming pool
and that the energy taken to produce each aluminium
can from raw material is enough to run a TV for 3 hours.
In college it is very important that we all play a part in
recycling, ensuring we only recycle the correct items.
Cans, plastic bottles and tetra packs in the playground
and canteen and white paper in the classrooms. There
are many types of plastics, some of which are not
recyclable and therefore we do not want plastic cups
and yoghurt pots put in the bins.
If you have any used batteries from a game or camera
please hand to your Form Tutor as we are now
collecting these in the staff room.
Mrs M Shepherd Environment Officer
Students watching the presentation in the Hall

7. Year 9 Make a Mint CORRECTION
This article was printed in the last edition of the
newsletter, but with the wrong photograph! With
apologies to the students involved.
Ten students from Ms. Amao’s Year 9 Science class
took part in an event designed to inspire young people.
“Make a Mint” by NESTA took place on 20th
November
2008 and required students to come up with a product
and business plan, which was pitched to a team of
judges just like in Dragon’s Den. The John Kelly girls
ended up as the overall winners of the event, they
received trophies and the Science Department will get
£300 to buy new equipment. You can see a video of the
event at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SxYGj5oHjcM
The girls representing JKGTC were Fariha Blaaza, Ayan
Farah, Mariam Mahmoud, Colby Gnagbo, Alaa Shamsi,
Ethel Fuenzalida, Asha Abdullah, Safa Haji, Yasmin
Warsame and Kinga Pilarska.
“I loved the trip, it was hard work and challenging and
makes you think. You will know what hard work it is in
business” – Fariha Blaaza
“I think the NESTA experience was one to never forget, I
totally enjoyed every moment. I was proud of myself for
taking part with my classmates, and our business was
very successful” – Ayan Farah
“We all learned a lot about mints, and how the products
are made. I enjoyed making our own product, and
wining!” – Kinga Pilarska
.
Library / LRC
DIARY DATES
Wednesday 4th
March
Year 9 Parents Evening 5.30 – 8.00pm
16th
– 20th
March
Healthy Schools week
Thursday 26th
March
Year 7 Tea Party 4.00 – 5.00pm
Tuesday 31st
March 09
Options Evening
5.30 – 7.30pm
Friday 3rd
April
Break up for holidays
Monday 20th
April
1st
day of term
Library Catalogue (list of books)can now be found by
following these links on any school computer.
Departments, Library-LRC, click on the link.
Braintcroft children from year 6 are now coming to a
reading club after achool and using tha Accelerated reader
programme.
Don’t forget the library is open late until 6.30pm on a
Tuesday if you need to revise or finish course work.
We are also open from 7.45am until 8.15am daily.