Goffs Academy Newsletter

Dear Parents/Carers and Students,

I can barely believe that we have reached the end of another half-term; the last few weeks have positively flown by.

As you know, this half-term we have been delighted to bring students back into school to resume face-to-face learning. Notwithstanding all the superb efforts during the period of online learning, it has been refreshing to be able to do this.

Extensive work took place to establish an in-school Covid testing programme, to enable that return to school. Between 4th March and 16th March, almost 4,000 tests were carried out in school. Alongside other arrangements, I hope this has helped students, parents and staff to feel confident about returningl. I was extremely pleased that In-school attendance in the first week of return was over 97%.

As we move into the Easter break and into the summer term, our focus will be on ensuring students are well prepared for in-school assessments, particularly our Year 11 and Year 13 students. Although those assessments are different from the usual external examinations, our focus remains the same; providing students with the best opportunity to show what they have learned. Many students will be taking part in a comprehensive revision programme over the Easter break, as part of their preparations for these assessments.

I hope you enjoy the Easter period, and are able to enjoy some time with family and friends. A reminder that the summer term resumes on Monday 12th April 2021.

Take care.

Mark Ellis

Principal

This half-term, the House Team held our annual Goffs Got Talent competition. Due to current restrictions, the competition had to run a little differently this year. Students were asked to send in video entries which were reviewed by our panel of judges, Mr Taken, Miss McBride, Mr Petrou and Miss Huseyin. The judges were blown away by quality of the entries, and commented on how superb it was to see such a wide array of different talents from the competitors. The talents ranged from juggling, through to piano solos, and were a delight to watch. With such a high standard of acts the judges’ job wasn’t easy, but eventually the panel decided on their top five. The winning entries were;

1st place - Gianntino Bavetta with his piano solo (below)

2nd place - Darcie Parker with her tap dance solo

3rd place - Emily Savva with her contemporary dance solo

4th place – Priyanka Gahir with her rendition of ‘Blinding Lights’ on the piano.

5th place – Erin Senol with her piano solo

Thank you to all students who took part. All competitors have been rewarded with an R3 for their participation and effort.

Miss Myers

Director of the House System

I participated in lots of the House competitions and Personal Development Challenges over lockdown.

This is the Art competition. You could make a leaflet or poster of what you want 2021 to be like. As you can see in the photos below, I made two leaflets of what I want 2021 to be. In summary, I am hoping for no Covid-19, to be able to go on holiday, and to wear no masks! I made this to help me look towards the future.

In another Art competition, we were challenged to take photos of a nature setting. I decided to do a sunset with some tree branches. I took these pictures as a way of showing what nature looks like through our eyes, and to capture an image of the world today, as it could change in the future. This also made me think about how taking photos can be a way to make sure we have memories, to share with others in the future.

Lucy Fortune 8T

Taking part in the school competitions and challenges has not just made me happy, but I know it has also made my Mum happy and proud of me too. All teachers went through so much trouble to come up with these competitions, so I knew it was my chance to ‘’express myself’ through the Art competition.

I also took part in the PE challenges, because I knew it was my chance to stay healthy /fit, and earn even more House points! I was rewarded an R5 for achieving 20,000 steps in a week. Through taking part in these competitions, my Director of Learning informed me that I was in the Top 10 for House points for our year group.

I even attempted some Personal Development Challenges, like learning to hoover and make my bed – I even made my Mum a hot drink without her asking!

Samuel Cross-Cole 8I

Throughout remote learning, I have completed many of the personal development challenges, many of which were with my Scout group. I loved doing the challenges, as they were fun, entertaining and helpful for my well-being. They also help with life skills.

Some of the tasks I completed:

- Sorting recycling for a week and helped parents with chores around the house

- Baked a cake for my family

- Made a morning routine/ blog for people who always start the day off tired

- I've been eating healthy

- I ironed some clothes

- I also used the vacuum and tidied the house

- Helping younger siblings with their work.

This is my morning routine list:

Morning Routine to kick the day off feeling great!

-Set an alarm the night before, so you know you won’t oversleep, or be late to anything. I use Alexa as an alarm and set the alarm tone to something uplifting.

-Then, once you are fully awake, run a shower so you will be clean for the day. This also gets you in the right frame of mind to having a great morning.

-After your shower get dressed in clothes you like, so you feel comfortable throughout the day.

-You should then go and eat breakfast so that you don’t feel extremely hungry later on.

-Cleaning your teeth is a vital thing to do so your breath doesn’t smell, and your teeth are nice and clean.

-Once you have completed these steps, walking your dog is a good choice of things to do, (if you have one) It gets you some fresh air, away from devices and to clear your mind.

-Take any medications if needed and then you are set for the rest of the day!

Here are some photographs of me doing these things below:

William Battams 7L

I found the personal development challenges held this year quite a fun way to earn lots of House points. I did basically all of the creative challenges as I enjoy doing art and drawing different characters and landscapes; as well as the added bonus of getting rewards for my efforts. I enjoyed these challenges as it allowed me to practice and develop my art skills and improve over the quarantine, but also helped me feel like I was doing something productive and worthwhile – as it was technically schoolwork. I hope they keep hosting these personal development challenges, and include even more creative ones in the future, as I found them quite a fun way to be productive and keep myself motivated during the lockdown. I have attached some of the entries I did!

Isabella Volpe 9Y

During the week beginning 15th March, all Year 10 students were asked to write their CV, and to prepare for an online interview with an external employer. We asked one of our students how she had found the experience:

"Writing the CV wasn’t as hard as I had predicted, it was actually slightly easier! When I was writing my CV, I had to be careful with the way I formatted the document, and to carefully consider my words. I know that one simple spelling mistake could cost me a job in the 'real world'. Writing about myself was rather difficult; I had never really thought about my personality traits and how to describe these, so that was a challenge.

Once I had finished writing the CV, I felt much better, as there were many positives that I hadn’t originally thought of.

However, I was anxious before the interview itself. We needed to email the CV to the interviewer, and knew they would ask questions about it.

Mine went pretty well, though soon it turned into a University-focused interview based on my passions and preferences. I was asked about my A-Level choices after stating that I would like to continue into the Sixth Form. Later, the interviewer asked me challenging and interesting questions such as, “Why do you think Biology would be good for Archaeology?”

We uncovered me wanting to be an Archaeologist when I was older. I was asked why I loved Archaeology and History so much, to which I explained all about the little aspects of Archaeology that I enjoyed the most. The interviewer seemed content with my answers, and it was rather fun to be quizzed about little things and assessed on my passions.

This was something I’ve never really experienced before, but it definitely has given me more of an insight as to how interviews can go, and it got easier to focus and answer questions fully as time went on.

My interviewer also gave me useful advice at the end of our session, which will be very beneficial to me in the future when applying for a job/University. This was an experience that I didn’t know I needed."

Paula Brazauskas 10L

As part of the ongoing opportunities sent out to the ACE students, Mr Ashdown sent round an opportunity to enter a competition from the Royal Town Planning Institute to our current Year 8 and 9 students. Students were required to look at the planning issues in their local area, and suggest strategies to overcome any issues or to regenerate the area. It was extremely pleasing for Year 8 Callia Jordan to make it through to the finals, and to be awarded a second place finish in the 11-15 age category for her excellent entry focusing on Goffs Oak.

Callia considered the current facilities and features of Goffs Oak and then suggested what could improve the area, as well as suggesting the impact of this regeneration. Callia researched her ideas thoroughly too ensuring that her concepts had rigour and a positive outcome.

Here are a few pictures from her presentation that earned her a £50 Amazon voucher:

As an activity to develop students analytical, research and writing skills, I challenged the Year 8 students to complete an extended writing piece on one of the following questions:

• Could we live with dinosaurs if they existed now?

• Are we the only life form in the universe?

• How can technology influence our future?

• Should lying be a crime? Evaluate your reasons.

The essays were not intended to be onerous or interfere with current school work and based on some of the research in the responses, these essays could have gone on for a few pages such was the level of application from the students.

Each student was then handed a marking criteria and asked to provide feedback, what went well and even better if, on someone else’s writing piece, to demonstrate their analytical skills as well as provide an overall grade from Distinction* to a Pass. I also graded the work, providing a final mark.

Here are the two of the entries:

Should lying be a crime? Guluzar Guven

Lying… a common form of deception that is unavoidable by mankind. It is frequently believed that lying is always wrong, however, have you ever thought of the positive aspects of dishonesty? Lying can be classed as a crime yet a vast majority of people disagree with the fact that lying may not always be a deceiving act; possibilities include that a liar’s intention may lead to a positive outcome rather than a negative. Overall, lying can be a constructive and pessimistic act, however, it utterly depends on the liar’s intention.

Corresponding to other topics, lying can be controversial as different people encounter different views. A predominant part of humanity that is unhesitantly certain is that lying is dishonourable and therefore should not be accepted as it is believed that lying results in an untruthful society. A highly common factor of distrust occurs in relationships within couples. It is proven that people in a relationship, who are not married, lie in one out of every three conversations that they have. On the other hand, however, married couples lie in one out of every ten conversations that they have. This shows how deceitfulness can be a crime as these statistics prove that lying wears away trust which can create a damaging and toxic relationship. Having a harmful relationship can negatively affect someone’s physical and mental health. Mental health is vital as it affects how people think, feel and act, therefore, lying can be a high component of the tough situation. On the contrary, lying may not always be bad…

White lies tend to be harmless acts of dishonesty, where the liar is not intended to mistreat the person that they are lying to. White lies are told by most people everyday and everywhere. A study found that 60% of people lied at least once during a ten-minute conversation. Furthermore, it was understood that an average of two to three lies were told during the talk. These statistics once again, demonstrate how lying is inevitable by us as humans and how it has become a tendency. The majority of these lies are estimated to be white lies which are less detrimental. An example of a simple white lie that is easily told is, telling someone they look nice, when in reality, they may not. This example has positive aspects to it. This could include that the person being lied to may feel better about themselves, particularly if their self-esteem is low. Additionally, there is a high probability that white lies are told to prevent people and their feelings from being hurt. The thought of white lies having a beneficial impact on people is further emphasised through the common deception of stating that you really like a present that someone has generously gifted you, when truly, you may not have admired it as much. The white lie told is favourable for the person being lied to as they would have put a high amount of thought and effort in buying the present, therefore to say the white lie would be respectful as it will not hurt the person’s feelings. Besides, admitting that you did not appreciate the gift would be additionally discourteous. Apart from the positivity of white lies, the negativity includes giving false information to others, which they may believe, which can then lead to more false information being spread. Another negative point of white lies includes that the liar may find it easier to lie in the future, in which they may state more serious and corrupt lies where their intentions may change to mislead people. Furthermore, these examples portray the ease that people can lie in which is understandable for the statistics of lying to be incredibly high. This leads to a point where lying critically impacts society.

As an exceedingly extensive number of people lie in their everyday lives, society wears away. Trust between humans will decrease and people will not believe anyone as they will fear that they will lose valuable things; involving objects or personal information. This is evident in today’s society. Even though a tremendously high number of people may not lie, an immense amount of people deceive for their own benefit. It has been proven by the National Crime Agency that in the years 2016-17, a total of 3.4 million incidents of fraud had occurred in England and Wales, where it is believed that only fewer than 20% of incidents are reported, therefore, it is thought for the figures to be considerably higher. These statistics show the untrust that we, as humans feel as we cannot have confidence in each other as we may never be sure of others intentions. The reported 3.4 million cases of fraud shows how the victims of the incident were helpless of their actions in believing others. This gives us an impression of the distrust that the victims would have felt towards others, in the foreseeable future. This point conveys the criminal aspect of lying, as fraud is similar to theft. In incidents of theft, there is a high likelihood for the criminal to be arrested. Controversially, situations of white lies will not be classified as a criminal act as the liar’s intention may immensely vary from bad to good, therefore arresting someone for saying a white lie would be an exaggerated situation. Apart from that, almost everyone would have told a white lie in their life, meaning that nearly everyone would be arrested, which is highly unrealistic. This point shows how not all lies should be a crime; lies that leave the person being lied to feel a sense of betrayal and pain should be a crime. Prosocial lies are also lies that are not wrong...

A positive viewpoint of lying is prosocial lies: lies that are intended to positively impact others. Prosocial lies are commonly told by adults. Research found that adults lie in roughly 20% of their everyday social life. These statistics show the positivity that lies can have on people as the liars do not have a malevolent aim. Additionally, the figures emphasise the lies to being harmless statements that can also be told to ourselves. A simple lie that we can easily tell ourselves is “everything will be fine.” Despite the fact that we may be aware that everything may not be exceptional, stating the lie will improve our self-esteem and can make us feel better about ourselves. Moreover, another example of prosocial lies told is informing someone that they look great. This lie does not harm anyone; in fact, it boosts the person’s self-confidence. These examples show how lying should not always be a crime as the liar may not always be acting selfishly for their own gain. Also, they support the reason for the statistics being remarkably high as we can gain an understanding of the simplicity lying is. Similar to white lies, prosocial lies should not be a crime as I believe that lies are bad when the liar’s intention is to deceive or mislead others, however, prosocial lies benefit others, meaning that it does not have the right to be a crime.

To conclude, I believe that a lie should be a crime when the liar’s intention is to misguide the people that they are lying to. The reason why I believe this is because of the cruel mindset that the liar may have which may lead to an action that can harm others. On the other hand, it is believed that “telling a lie would mean that ten other lies would not be told.” This shows how telling one lie is better than telling ten lies, however, telling the first lie is also wrong. These examples show the contrasting points about whether lying should be a crime or not. Overall, I strongly think that the majority of lying is wrong, as honesty is a key feature in life for humanity not to be lost.

Could we live with dinosaurs if they existed now? George Styles

The dinosaurs, the apex predators of the prehistoric era, their reign was thwarted via a meteor. Many have theorised what would happen if humans co-existed with dinosaurs, Jurassic Park showed a world of disaster and uncontrollable beasts. Personally, I believe that we could not live with dinosaurs if they existed now.

Firstly, at the point in time when the dinosaurs existed, the oxygen levels in the air were much higher and this allowed for them to grow to much larger sizes than the animals that we live with today. Due to their large size they had much larger appetites, I presume that we would be prey due to our size. However, on the other hand if the oxygen levels were to stay as they are currently, the dinosaurs may become a smaller size. An example of this can be shown by an experiment where two cockroaches were held in different environments, one with the current oxygen level and one with a prehistoric level of oxygen (higher oxygen level). The cockroach with more oxygen over doubled in size. According to this experiment’s results, we could expect the size of dinosaurs to drop greatly, this would reduce their danger factor. Although, we cannot be sure how this would affect life, so a final answer cannot be pulled from this fact alone.

If life was not affected by that environmental factor and dinosaurs stayed at the same size, I believe that we could not co-exist. There are two categories of dinosaurs that help back-up this point, sauropods and carnivores. Sauropods were massive in weight and size, for example Argentinosaurus was expected to weigh up to 75 tons. This massive weight could easily crush, trees, cars and people. Sauropods were also herbivores and need to consume vast amounts of vegetation daily. Carnivores would easily make us their prey. Long range weapons such as guns would provide good defence, however, not many people have access to these, this would lead most to be defenceless in an attack. I believe that the lack of plant-life and being hunted would drive humans and dinosaurs to extinction due to lack of oxygen to the remaining plants being eaten, eventually leading to all life dying.

Overall, I believe that we could not co-exist with dinosaurs as most likely we would be hunted by them for food, the world's vegetation would vanish eventually depleting the world's oxygen source, ultimately leadingto a global-scale extinction. It is unlikely that anything would survive if put into that scenario.

Mr Ashdown

Associate Assistant Principal

Head of Physical Education

What a term it has been! This term has presented many challenges to the students. Since the return to face-to-face learning in school, we have made an extra effort to support them in their mental health and wellbeing.

Part of this has been identifying the many challenges which students have faced, and ensuring they are able to talk to someone about any concerns. Support includes our Safe Space lunchtime club, as well as Morning Mindfulness sessions.

Safe Space:

Safe Space enables the students to have a space during lunchtime where they can be supported, and have someone to talk to. We aim to help students to develop their confidence students to develop their confidence, social skills, and to manage their feelings and emotions.

Morning Mindfulness:

Morning Mindfulness is where students with any anxiety about coming into school, can have a dedicated space during ATM, to help them to prepare for the school day. This half-term, we have been focusing on building up a toolkit of methods to be used to support students' mental health. This has included things such as; breathing tactics, visualisation, drawing, use of music, positive affirmations, and changing perspectives.

LGBT History Month 2021

During February, we celebrated LGBT History Month. This year, we looked back at past decades, and examined the approaches they took to the rights of LGBTQ+ people. We looked at what school was like for students who were LGBTQ+, and how these issues still have an impact today.

We also focused on the role of two key figures within the LGBTQ+ movement; Alan Turing and James Baldwin.

Our focus for the next term will be our preparation for Pride, as well as Mental Health week. We will also be supporting students in preparing for their final assessments.

Mr Lewis

Student Wellbeing Lead

Last half-term, we asked students, parents and carers to get snapping photographs on the theme of ‘Hope & Change’.

We had 99 entries - the standard was amazing!

Goffs staff were asked to look through the entries and pick their favourites; Mr Ellis and his SLT team then picked the winners. They found it so difficult to pick the top 3, that they finally rested on a top 5.

So, our winners are...drum roll...

First place R5: Rocco Bristow-Gaucci (7I) ‘A Cold and Frosty Morning’.

Second place R4: Matilda Noia (7Y).

Third place: Gina Gibson ‘A New Awakening’ (Mum of Hannah Gibson, 9Q).

Special commendation – both will receive R4s: Amy Brooks (8T); James Doody (9Q).

James Doody offered a meaning behind his photograph:

The way my entry links to hope and change, is the fact that even in this cold weather, a muddy puddle being splashed repeatedly on a road, can turn into a beautiful ice sculpture. The blue sky also signifies the changing into spring and the eventual melting of the ice, with it bringing new life. There is also an arrow on the road pointing forwards, fairly coincidentally, yet still fitting with the whole theme of moving forward.

Thank you everyone for your entries, and R3’s have been rewarded for your efforts.

Miss Brown

Head of Art & Photography

During this half-term, I took part in the Fashioning Our History project, which was funded as a result of Brent being named the London Borough of Culture 2020. Throughout the week, there were various workshops helping us to develop skills and techniques which we could then go on to incorporate into a final piece. We can also donate our work so that it can be featured in the Brent Museum and Archives for future generations.

One of the workshops was on applique – a technique where different fabrics are layered onto a foundation fabric. The workshop was led by two women who began their own small, sustainable fashion brand, called Esperantz and Klautilde, during the first lockdown.

The aim of the workshop was to use fabric from a free materials package that was provided, and create a design on an already existing garment.

Another of the workshops was with fashion illustrator and image maker, Elyse Blackshaw. It was based on using text within fashion illustrations. We had to pick a topic that we felt strongly about, then begin to develop a piece of text that we could incorporate into our work. There was also a strong focus on just being creative and letting go of the idea that each piece of work you produce has to be perfect in every way.

In some of the final workshops we began working towards producing our final pieces, and Warren Reilly, the Creative Director of the programme, encouraged us to link them to Brent in some way. My research was mainly centred around the idea of diversity in Brent – I looked into various ethnicities that had been included in a manifesto published by Brent council, and then began exploring various patterns and prints.

For my final piece, I wanted to merge elements from all the ethnicities that I had researched. Each strip making up this skirt is decorated with either fabrics, pens or paints in order to produce patterns that are reflective of various cultures.

Taylor Middleton 12Y

Congratulations to the following students for their hard work this term in Fashion & Textiles;

Y9:

Fern Sapsford, Annabel Christou, Talya Ahmet, Natalia Brodowska, Izzy Penrose, Lily Knowles

Y10:

Soraya Carletto & Noah Dell

Y11:

Livvi Robinson & Selvi Ormandji

Y12:

Alanna Simmons, Meg Roper, Taylor Middleton & Jade Burnett.

They have each earned themselves a postcard home and a sewing kit!

Good luck to all our year 11 Fashion & Textiles students revising for their end of year assessments - the department is incredibly proud of you!

We hope the revision bags we have made for you help you over the Easter break!

The English department has welcomed back all students this half-term, and have been pleased to see such hard work and a positive attitude.

We have been impressed with the way that students have adapted back to school life, and we will all be celebrating the many successes and achievements of our Goffs students during the last few weeks.

KS3

For World Book Day, KS3 took part in various activities in English lessons. We created special lessons for Year 7 and 8, where they would write their own mini sagas.

Here are the runners-up and winner of the Literacy House Challenge, which was to create a book spine poem.

3rd place - Olivia Gibson-Musk 7I

2nd place - Samuel Lawrence 7E

And our winner is....

Isabella Volpe 9Y

Here is Isabella’s winning entry.

KS3 Reading

We endeavour to promote a school-wide reading culture, in the hopes of enriching students’ learning and creativity. Reading is a vital skill in any walk of life and enables students to be able to make the most out of their experience at school and beyond.

While in Year 7, 8 and 9, you should try to read a wide variety of types of books. Don’t just stick to one author, or one genre. Experiment with something new. As well as reading books, don’t forget that newspapers and good magazines are also excellent reading material and will get you used to a range of reading experiences that will set you up well for GCSE and beyond, as well as broadening your knowledge and understanding of the world in which you live.

The following websites are recommended and feature news and views about all types of books written for young people. Why not check the websites out and see what other people are recommending? They will also give information about brand new books.

http://www.readingmatters.co.uk/

http://www.booktrustchildrensbooks.org.uk/Teenage-Books

http://www.cool-reads.co.uk/

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/

http://www.ukchildrensbooks.co.uk/

https://www.lovereading4schools.co.uk/lists/15065/Inspirational-Book-List-KS3

https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/60-great-books-for-reluctant-readers-at-ks3

KS4

Year 10 and 11 have continued to demonstrate resilience, responsibility and a mature attitude to learning during lockdown.

The department are impressed with how well they have adapted to the challenges faced this year, and have really revealed an inner strength that will enable them to thrive at school and beyond.

Here is some recommended reading to help students revise the key texts for Literature, as well as some links to revision websites.

Macbeth
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/macbeth/full.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zgq3dmn

A Christmas Carol
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zwhkxsg

Blood Brothers
https://www.finchleycatholic.org.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=2281&type=pdf

Power & Conflict Poetry
http://thebicesterschool.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Poetry-Support-Booklet.pdf

Mr Bruff revision videos, where you will find videos for all texts named above.

https://www.youtube.com/user/mrbruff

KS5

Year 13 took part in a virtual workshop on Henrik Ibsen and Christina Rossetti.

14th March is the annual World Maths Day as well as Pi Day! To celebrate this, some students were involved in various Maths Day activities over the course of the month – this year’s activities were centred around everyone’s favourite - chocolate!

Some classes looked at Fairtrade chocolate, and studied graphs, and looked at the percentages of where various profits go from the sales of chocolate bars.

Some classes looked at the packaging of chocolate and the environmental impact of the different types of packaging, deciding which is the most environmentally friendly.

Others solved some Pi Day dingbats and had fun guessing what each picture represented. Why not try some yourself – see how many of the dingbats below you can work out. The first two have been done for you as an example.

The PE department sent out a weekly 'beat the teacher' challenge, circuit sessions, workout suggestions from YouTube, and also provided some theory challenges. The efforts from students were staggering.

Some amazing examples from the students saw Ata Tanak and brother Ellis Tanak take each other on in running races on the treadmill. Jack Kiamil and Efe Er were smashing 5km running times. Toby Woodman attempted all manner of activities, from basketball to roller skating, and Laci Hawkins completed the Couch to 5K app!

It was great to hear from students and parents about the motivation and commitment to remain active. Many students were involved in team Zoom sessions in football, netball and karate, to name but a few.

It was also great to see some of the theoretical challenges taken on, with such creativity. The two excellent videos below show great sporting events brought to life utilising household items.

The two students in question are Callia Jordan, creating the squash performance, and Georgiana Acceleanu using her creativity to place an ice skater on some butter!

Thank you for all of the hard work to stay active during the latest lockdown.

Mr Ashdown

Associate Assistant Principal

Head of Physical Education

Like science, but not sure that you are cut out to be a doctor? Like animals, but you don’t think you will get the grades to be a vet? Following on from the last edition of the newsletter, we are now going from Q to U.

Quality Control: Have you got the ability to analyse quality or performance, to be thorough and pay attention to detail, showing the ability to work well with others? Do you have excellent verbal communication skills? Are you flexible and open to change? If so, a career in Quality Control could be just what you need. You may well need a degree depending on the area that you want to go into, but the good news is that virtually every area will need quality control staff. Areas for qualification would include production management, business studies, human resources management, and business administration.

Radiographer: There are a number of potential routes into this area that you could explore. These include going via a university course, an apprenticeship or working towards this role by starting as a radiography assistant. It’s a challenging job, but one that could see you work in lots of areas of the NHS, or a private hospital or hospice. You could take either a diagnostic or a therapeutic path depending on whether you want to identify problems or help cure them.

Spray painter: A spray painter applies decorative finishes and coatings to a variety of surfaces. In sign making their work involves spraying lettering and designs onto signs for business premises, exhibition displays (indoor and outdoor), construction site health and safety signs, and highway signage. They will normally work in a workshop, but could occasionally be on site. They will be responsible for maintaining their equipment and ensuring that all health and safety procedures are followed. No set qualifications are needed to become a spray painter but GCSEs in art, design and technology and science would be beneficial. You can then take apprenticeships or NVQ diplomas to progress further.

Telecommunications Technician: If lockdown taught us anything, it is how much we rely on our telecomms these days. This can only carry on moving forwards. So if you want to move into telecommunications, GCSE grade C or above, including maths, English and science would be an advantage. You may be able to enter this route through an apprenticeship with an electronics, telecommunications or IT company. Alternatively, you could take a full-time course in electrical or electronic engineering at level 2 or 3, depending on your GCSE grades. From here you may be able to get a trainee position with an installation company.

Ultrasound Technologist: Ultrasound is an easy, non-invasive way of examining patients, not just a way of scanning unborn babies. Doctors can use it to investigate unexplained abdominal pain, appendicitis and tumours amongst other conditions. You can get into this career either through an appropriate degree or through an apprenticeship – although degrees need to be followed up with a recognised postgraduate certificate recognised by the Consortium for the Accreditation of Sonographic Education (CASE).

So that’s the end of our fourth instalment of the Career Files. If there is a science career that you would like to hear more about then email me at eni@goffs.herts.sch.uk or follow @more2science on Twitter.

Mrs Nicholson

Teacher of Science

Are you wanting to make your application stand out, especially in these uncertain times? If so, and you are in Years 10, 11 or 12, please contact Mrs Nicholson or your regular science teacher so that we can add you to the Medic Support group on Teams, where opportunities including work experience (virtual) and other resources will be shared.

Last year my science teacher, Mrs Nicholson, showed me there was an opportunity with imperial college of London to be on their STEM potential programme which takes place over two or four years of your school studies. During your time on the programme, you will attend around five days of events each academic year at the South Kensington Campus, including subject focused sessions, university preparation workshops. The programme also includes a week-long summer trip, taster events and lectures. The moment I heard of it I was hooked - I applied as soon as I could and on January 27th I got an email to say my application was accepted!

There are 60 of us on the programme and we’ve already had our first session. Unfortunately it had to be online, on Teams, but it was still amazing! A few days before, they posted some electrical components to my house and in our physics session we put together a tiny version of a theremin. A theremin is an electronic instrument that is controlled without any physical touch.

We worked as a team in break-out groups, and it was refreshing to work with new people. They work closely with us and offer so many benefits including tutoring for Maths and Science, and answering any queries or questions we have about university. I am full of joy that I am able to work with my dream university and it is because of the teachers at Goffs, like Mrs Nicholson, that I was able to find the most fulfilling opportunity. I will continue to work hard so I am able to open doors for myself in the world of science.

Ela Cifci 10I

KS3

During lockdown, some of my amazing Science students were given a challenge task to research a famous Scientist/Researcher to celebrate Women in Science. It was International Science day for women on 11th February, where women in Science are recognised.

I had students putting together amazing Powerpoints (examples are shown below), and two students even baked cakes to represent the women they chose. I even had one student, Mia D’Amato in Year 8C compose a song about the person she chose, which impressed Mr Ellis.

These students received either a R4 or a R5 for their exceptional effort.

Emily Whyman 8E

Sanjna Dudhaiya 8C

Mia D’Amato 8C

Priyanka Gahir 8E

Jaydee Perry - Hutson & Nina Kleynhans 9H

Ridhi Makwana 8C

Serena Vaccaro 8C

Hannah Danso 8C

Mia North 8C

Lydie Simmons 9H

Isabella Volpe 9H

Chanel Rennie 9H

Alisha Madaka 8E

Luke Howard 8C

A mixed 11-18 comprehensive Academy with approximately 1450 students on roll, including a thriving and successful Sixth Form. Our Academy is extremely popular in the local area, with an average of over 800 applications annually for the 240 places available, and significant waiting lists for places across the year groups.

Email: admin@goffs.herts.sch.uk
Website: goffs.herts.sch.uk
Location: Goffs Academy, Goff's Lane, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross, UK
Phone: 01992424200