#StudentSpotlight: Ashley Daniel Yr9 ‘on the road to poll position!’

29th March 2023Mrs S Field

Ashley competes in multiple karting championships (indoor and outdoor). Although his competitive karting journey has been fairly short (since February 2022) he has proven himself to be talented and has been recognised as a promising young driver with a bright future in British motorsports.

He won his first race at Rye House in August 22 and then went on to win the junior development program at Brentwood where he was invited to join the cadet league. He is about to conclude his second season as a cadet at Brentwood and will be progressing to their senior league.

Having previously taken part in the BIKC 2022 (British Indoor Karting Championship) where Ashley reached the regional finals, he has gone on to enter the BSKC 2023 (British schools Karting Championship), an entertaining and highly competitive event, which his team won!

In addition, he has entered the Champs competition at Daytona in Milton Keynes and last September, Ashely flew to Italy to watch the F1 Monza Grand Prix and compete in his very first international race.

Alongside his karting life, Ashley and his sister from Enfield County, have begun co-hosting their very own driving show online, with weekly episodes of them driving and reviewing various sports cars on an official racetrack (Top Gear for teenagers!). They recently had a celebrity guest, Ed Westwick (actor), on their show that was dedicated to Great Ormond’s Street Hospital.

Motorsports has become a real passion for Ashley, and his family have done everything they can to match his dedication. Last year he passed his under 17’s Motorsports license which gives him the ability to drive manual and automatic cars on a racetrack.

Ashley is one ‘driven’ individual and he seems on track for a speedy journey into a motorsports career…… could we have the next Lewis Hamilton in our school?!

This is a fantastic story of commitment, drive and passion and we wish Ashley all the very best in his future.

A few clips of Ashley in action:

Opening lap at Acton P4 > P1 : https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYAsgkkk/

Rye House highlights and win : https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYAthgeE/

P1 Brentwood Junior Development Podium and Trophy : https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYAtMRUN/

Watch Ashley’s first episode of ‘Less Haste, More Speed’: Audi R8 vs Aston Martin Vantage :

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYAtL93o/

Battle of the Bands 2023

28th March 2023Mrs S Field

Last Friday’s Battle of the Bands was another resounding success with the boys performing a variety of awesome songs, delivered with panache and style. From pop to jazz to funk and rock; everything and anything went as they battled it out for glory.

Unfortunately there can be only one winner and this year it was The Year Nine Band with their astounding cover of ‘In The Meantime’.
Well done to the boys and all of the individual category winners.

Introducing Nathaniel Peat – Special Guest at our Employability Day

28th March 2023Mrs S Field

Excited to announce yet another inspiring guest who will be helping to deliver our Employability Day on 30th March;

Nathaniel Peat is a Multi-Award-Winning Entrepreneur, International Speaker (inc TEDx), Business Coach, Engineer, Pilot, and man of many talents & achievements.

He is listed on the 2017 Black Power List; 2018 & 17 EMPower Financial Times List and 2016 saw an entry onto the Financial Times Upstanding 100 BME Executive List.

Nathaniel is co-founder of Gennex Solar which provides innovative renewable energy products in Africa and The Caribbean.

He also founded The Safety Box; a company whose training and development programmes assist with reducing youth violence & help young people develop important skills such as leadership, communication and conflict resolution.

In 2015 Peat was the only UK entrepreneur selected by Virgin Unite to attend a week long leadership gathering on Necker Island with Sir Richard Branson.

Nat is an Honorary Fellow of Brunel University, and his work has featured in publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur & Huffington Post.

Nathaniel was also a former Trustee and co-founder of EY (Ernst & Young) Foundation since 2014 and now acts as a Patron to the charity.

He is the chairman of Jamaicans Inspired, the largest Diaspora organisation in Europe, and in 2020 he was elected to the board of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council for the South UK becoming a consultative advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Jamaica on investment, trade, and sustainable development.

In 2021 he became the Chairman of Brunel University Business School and was invited by Lloyds Banking Group to sit on the Black Advisory Board.

Nathaniel’s life continues to inspire many people and he remains connected to the community that he serves, he is an international acclaimed speaker, youth advocate and ambassador for various social causes including fighting for racial equality.

Incredible, right?

Our Employability Day is set to be SO inspirational and interesting.

Holiday Activity and Food Programme in Enfield this Easter

24th March 2023Mrs S Field

Work Works Training Solutions are launching the Holiday Activity and Food Programme in Enfield this Easter at Venue: Enfield Grammar Lower School Parsonage Ln, Enfield EN1 3SS

They are super exited to give your children (families on benefit related Free School Meals) the opportunity to attend our HAF Programme through the Easter Holiday period.

The booking link is attached in the flyer – parents can either scan the QR code or click ‘BOOK NOW’.

The HAF Programme is always full of fun filled activities, offering sport and many enriching activities including Art, IT and Nutritional Education.

Happy Ramadan To our Muslim Community

22nd March 2023Mrs S Field

Ramadan is a very important time in the Islamic calendar, and Muslims all over the world will take part. This year Ramadan starts this evening (22nd March) and lasts until the evening of 21 April.

Our library has a display area (in the photo) featuring interesting information about Ramadan where the students can come to find out and understand more about this religious time in the Muslim calendar.

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast – they won’t eat or drink between dawn and sunset.  Fasting is important during Ramadan as it allows Muslims to devote themselves to their faith and come closer to Allah, or God. Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, which form the basis of how Muslims live their lives. The other pillars are faith, prayer, charity and making the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca.

Ramadan is also a time for spiritual reflection, prayer, doing good deeds and spending time with family and friends. Normally, people will make a special effort to connect with their communities and reach out to people who need help.

It is common to have a meal (known as the suhoor) just before dawn and another (known as the iftar) directly after sunset. At the end of the fast – when the sun has gone down – usually, families and friends will get together for iftar to break their fast. (although during covid restrictions celebrations will have to be via zoom / within bubbles)

Many Muslims also usually go to the mosque to pray, when lockdown restrictions aren’t in place. Some mosques have been holding virtual services online for people to watch together.

Ramadan falls during this month because this is when the holy book that’s followed by Muslims, called the Qur’an, was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, but the date changes each year. This is because Islam uses the lunar calendar (based on the cycles of the Moon), so it isn’t a fixed date in the Western/solar calendar.

There is a special festival to mark the end of Ramadan when they will feast and celebrate! This is called Eid al-Fitr – the Festival of the Breaking of the Fast. It begins when the first sight of the new moon is seen in the sky. Muslims will not only celebrate the end of fasting, but will also thank Allah for the help and strength that they were given throughout the previous month.

#StudentSpotlight: Kyan Blackwood Y9 – No.2 in Middlesex!

22nd March 2023Mrs S Field
Kyan’s athletics journey is ‘on track’ for huge success!
Last year, Kyan performed in the Borough athletics for EGS and his relay team came in first place. His passion for athletics keeps growing and he is part of the Dwain Chambers Performance Academy. Kyan has since competed in various competitions such as;
  • Indoor 60mtrs Competition – achieving a time of 7.63s qualifying for…:
  • U15s Indoor Athletics National Championships in Sheffield – coming 3rd in his heat and achieving a new 60m personal best time of 7.53s, which qualified him for the finals and gave him his first real taste of competing at this higher level
  • Be Fit TodayTrack Academy (BFTTA) Indoor Series – Kyan competed in 100m, coming 3rd and achieving a new personal best of 12.11s
  • U15’s 60m Herts, Middlesex & Kent regionals – Kyan came 1st in his heat with yet another personal best of 7.49s, which qualified him for the final. In the final he equalled his heat time, achieving 2nd place and winning a Silver medal, making him number 2 in Middlesex!

What a fantastic achievement Kyan! It shows what passion and training can result in.

Kyan is now in full training mode with the outdoor athletics summer season fast approaching.
We wish you all the very best and hope to see you coming back to school with a few more medals!
You can follow Kyan on Instagram and follow his athletics journey: @ktblackwood

Introducing Krystal Alliance organisation – Special Guests at our Employability Day

21st March 2023Mrs S Field

We are excited to announce that Krystal Alliance will be joining us for Employability:

At Krystal Alliance™ we are a team of; fabulous, magnificent, experienced and dedicated, friends committed to working with  organisations who really want to encourage, support and inspire greater equity in their workplace.

Each member of Krystal Alliance is a subject matter expert, whether designing strategies to encourage culture change, or delivering interactive workshops in support of inclusive leadership or dreaming about how to nurture a sense of greater belonging, we get alongside organisations to share what we know in order to learn more.

At Krystal Alliance™ we have an insatiable appetite for what is right. We believe that all organisations do better when they involve more of their people to evolve with more of those best solutions.

Employee voice is always key and every voice matters.

We have a range of Services and Products which may be of interest and there is a regular Blog feature – plus – our weekly KA Quote which you can subscribe to.
Our exciting journey at Krystal Alliance™ has only just begun and we would like you to be a part of it.

Rob Neil OBE, Director & Founder
Website: https://www.krystalalliance.co.uk/about/the-ka-team/

World Book Day 2023

20th March 2023Mrs S Field

‘Better late then never’ as they say!…and we couldn’t miss publishing a memorable image of some of our staff! Can you guess who was who?

Needless to say, it was a very busy week full of activities organised by our English and Literacy departments – special thanks to Ms Print and Mrs Rudolph:

  • Student Librarian Competitions: Book Awards & Book Quiz Wordsearch
  • Fictionary Competition
  • Dress-Up Competition
  • Form-Time Book Quiz
  • WBD Lessons
  • Murder Mystery in the Library
  • Creative Fiction Workshop
  • Advanced Literature Starters

Hope the students enjoyed it and prizes have now been awarded to all the competition winners.

Introducing Ritchie Neil – Special Guest at our Employability Day

20th March 2023Mrs S Field

Introducing another of our special guests for our Employability Day:

Ritchie A.C Neil is a Senior Account Executive at Salesforce (since July 2018).

His sector is the Financial Services Markets, specialising in Banking and Asset Management. After earning his Masters (M.Sc.) in Strategic Marketing & Consulting from The University of Birmingham, Ritchie went straight into the technology & business sector.

Ritchie’s experience also includes working for Microsoft’s largest global delivery partner for 6 years, supporting clients along their ‘cloud journey’ and successfully transitioning their business to the cloud.

Prior to that, he started his career at Logicalis which is a Global Infrastructure and Services provider.

Socially, Ritchie is an avid boxing fan, regular gym user and music enthusiast; but his main non-work passion is mentoring and coaching young people with two charitable organisations, which he is immensely proud of, namely Reach Society and Amos Bursary.