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School Blog

Protect the Kurds

10th July 2020Mr T Gava

At Lister we encourage our students to research and reflect on issues that concern and interest them. We welcome students who would like to share their perspectives on this blog to email bulletin@lister.newham.sch.uk with their proposed theme. Thank you to Lazia and Fatimin for writing this blog.

Protect the Kurds

Introduction by Fatimin

This blog is about Kurdistan, a beautiful region which at the moment is going through serious destruction and here is what you need to know and how you can help.

Image result for kurdistan
This is Kurdistan and it holds more than 25 million people.

The people are mostly Muslims.

Kurds make up about 10% of the population in Syria, 19% of the population of Turkey, 15-20% of the population of Iraq and are the second largest ethnicity in Iran.

Now that you know a little about this region, do you know what is going on there? You probably don’t because the UK news rarely covers this sort of thing.

Here is Lazia Nabaz in Year 9 who is from Kurdistan and is going to explain what is going on and her opinion.

Lazia’s reflections
You may not know who the Kurds are but let me tell you. They are a ethnic group with no country but are from northern Iraq, south east turkey, north east Syria and north west of Iran

On 25th June Turkish airstrikes bombed a village near a tourist resort in the city of Sulaymaniyah (Iraq), these people were Kurds. Many innocent lives have ended and many families are in pain from mourning and many others have lost their home and remain with no accommodation. Innocent civilians who were just enjoying their picnic and living their life and now are gone.Sadly this is not the first time that this has happened. On 30 December 2011, Turkish Air Force killed 35 Kurds including 18 innocent children.

Kurds have suffered for years, so tell me when will they get their peace and justice and freedom. Kurds face racism and discrimination and has always been a region that people don’t even consider an importance.

Human beings are being killed, and the sad part is that parents just want their children to grow up without knowing the meaning of war or even experiencing a horrible death due to lack of political representation.
We need our voices to be heard! We have to put an end to this! We need your support!

Fatimin’s reflections
Everything Lazia has said is true, we simply need to help each other as humans and their voices need to be heard. And as a school of diversity we have every culture and race and more so let us use that and start educating ourselves.

Here are some petitions you can sign, please do something, imagine if this was your family or someone you loved, you would want to help and speak up so do the same.

Here are some petitions which we wanted to share – before signing any petition make sure you have researched the case using more than one source in order to make a balanced judgement.

PETITION

EDUCATE YOURSELF

Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis

26th June 2020Mr T Gava

Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis

What if I told you there was a country that suffers from destruction of infrastructure and restrictions on food and fuel imports? Causing more than 17 million human beings to face famine and die unless they receive humanitarian help? Where 80% of the population is in serious need? What if I told you the same country is facing serious outbreaks of cholera, coronavirus and possibly more viruses that have a serious impact on the population? As well as poverty, unemployment, water shortages? What if this was all true?

Well it is.

And that country is Yemen.

The world right now is facing many issues and while our thoughts may be understandably pre-occupied with Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter, it is essential that we don’t neglect the plight of Yemen and that we bring justice to these victims who watch their country get destroyed due to a political representation.

As human beings we have to help and make a change for those who physically can’t and we have a chance to stop a country from becoming extinct.

Millions of vulnerable people are currently suffering through no fault of their own. These people face a daily struggle to survive, dealing with the devastating effects of malnutrition, disease and extreme poverty.

You have the blessing to live in a country that provides things you tend to forget like free education and NHS. You have the ability to access healthcare that is provided to you and you read this in the comfort of your home yet these simple necessities are not guaranteed in the other countries.

Please donate or sign petitions that I have linked below and remember you are helping to stop the people of Yemen from suffering.

There is also a link to a video that explains what is going on, educate yourself more and make a change. Just by pressing a few buttons, you can save a life!!!

Thank you for reading , Fatimin

Donation

Petition

Video on the crisis

Black Lives Matter: Student Reflections

11th June 2020Mr T Gava

Black Lives Matter: Student Reflections

The death of George Floyd and the global protests it has prompted has inspired many members of our school community to reflect on what they can do to challenge discrimination and take action against racism. Three of our students chose to attend a protest in London and here they write their reflections on the experience and what it meant to them. We encourage all students to discuss their feelings about the issues referred to here with their families and tutors; we will as a school community continue to work towards a society in which there is tolerance and equality.

A reminder to all our students – Black Lives Matter London says…

If you do decide go to a protest, YOU MUST BE SUPERVISED if you are under 18.
If you do go to a protest you should self isolate for two weeks afterwards
If you do go to a protest, you are advised to wear a mask, keep your distance and ensure that you are carrying hand sanitiser.

Keren’s experience:
“Black lives matter, black lives matter, black lives matter”The roar of Generation Z in unity as many youths across the world stand up against systematic, economic and social injustice towards black people. “No justice, No peace! No justice, No peace!”

This protest made me more open-minded. I’ve never felt more connected to my roots as a young black woman. I have learned so much and I feel privileged to use my voice and speak up on something I’ve become very passionate about.

I didn’t understand why people would say “I don’t see colour” because it is almost like they were dismissing the struggles and pain black people have faced for over 400years and still continue to face till this day. covering it in and trying to make it seem as though we are equal when we are far from it. If not equality, what reason would we have to protest? Should we even be protesting for basic human rights like the right to breathe? Ridiculous right? That’s how ridiculous racism is to me.

When it comes to racism “just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there”

I’ve grown up feeling I’d have to work twice as hard to level people doing the bare minimum and I’ve finally understood why I don’t see people like me in higher positions or owning large companies. When being asked what I want to do when I grow up, I’ve always felt I’ve been limited because of the lack of representation I had.

My eyes have now been opened and I can dream of the impossible, I understand the fight. I understand why me being there was so important. Not just for me but for voices that are yet to be heard.

So when they ask me what will I remember about 2020? I will remember my participation in this significant event that I believe is the start of a new beginning, a better beginning.

Tanisa’s experience
The protest was eye-opening, and it was so beautiful to be part of a group of people who also want the same thing and use their voice to also make a change. It was so peaceful and the atmosphere was good and everyone was united as one to start change in the corrupted society we live in today.

It was not the way the media portrays it to be. How news conveys the idea of peace to violence and justice to be corrupted. It was just human beings pleading for justice to those the justice system did and continues to do wrong but overall to help support each other and make our voices heard. As a human being I am outraged to see the people who were meant to serve and protect instead use their power maliciously to hurt and murder people of colour and continue to not be prosecuted. The people who took an oath and gained a badge and gun, use their authority in absolutely disgusting ways. Police brutality is such a big issue and the world has finally shed light on stories that became closed due to the victims ethnicity.or forgotten cases that never earned justice. This revolution is not the end but just the beginning and as a generation of young people we shall not follow the ones above us but we will do what is right to hopefully one day achieve social equality.

Fatimin’s experience
As someone who couldn’t go to the protest, I used social media and communication with our school to start raising awareness and to get people to start talking about what is going on in the world right now.The news can be so biased and you don’t really know what is true anymore living in a society that favours one more than the other, you learn that to get facts you need to do research .Twitter is another platform that contains information first hand from people all across the world. Now reaching out to the school has helped us talk about things that people turn their heads away from because they don’t realise the effect until they experience it.As a young black muslim woman, there are many way I can be oppressed in society because I have a profile that society often labels as a ‘thug’ ‘terrorist ‘vulnerable’ which is absolutely unfair and that is why I am doing as much as I can to help change this one at a time.So use YOUR voice and MAKE A CHANGE!

Here are some petitions which Fatimin wanted to share – before signing any petition make sure you have researched the case using more than one source in order to make a balanced judgement.

Mental Health

6th March 2020Mr T Gava

What is mental health?

We all have mental health, just as we all have physical health. Being mentally healthy means that we feel good about ourselves, make and keep positive relationships with others and can feel and manage the full range of emotions.
These can range from happiness, excitement and curiosity through to less comfortable feelings such as anger, fear or sadness.
Good mental health allows us to cope with life’s ups and downs, to feel in control of our lives and to ask for help from others when we need support.

When do we cover mental health in our curriculum at Lister?
At Lister, we cover mental health through our curriculum with students in a range of ways:

PSHE lessons
Weekly Thought for the Week
Extended Tutor Time Sessions

Top Tips for Supporting Mental Health

Connect

It’s clear that social relationships are critical for promoting wellbeing and for acting as a buffer against mental ill health for people of all ages. With this in mind, try to do something different today and make a connection.

Talk to someone instead of sending an email or a social media message.
Speak to someone new.
Ask how someone’s weekend was and really listen when they tell you.
Put five minutes aside to find out how someone really is.
Share the journey home with someone else.

Be active

Regular physical activity is associated with lower rates of depression and anxiety across all age groups.Today, why not get physical? Here are a few ideas:

Take the stairs not the lift
Go for a walk at lunchtime
Walk into work – perhaps with a friend – so you can ‘connect’ as well
Get off the bus one stop earlier than usual and walk the final part of your journey to work
Organise a sporting activity
Have a kick-about in a local park
Do some ‘easy exercise’, like stretching, before you leave for work in the morning

Take notice

Reminding yourself to ‘take notice’ can strengthen and broaden awareness. Take some time to enjoy the moment and the environment around you. Here are a few ideas:

Get a plant for your home or workspace
Have a ‘clear the clutter’ day
Take notice of how your peers or colleagues are feeling or acting
Take a different route on your journey to or from work or school
Visit a new place for lunch

Learn

Continued learning through life enhances self-esteem and encourages social interaction and a more active life. Why not learn something new today? Here are a few more ideas:

Find out something about your peers or colleagues
Sign up for a class
Read the news or a book
Set up a book club
Do a crossword or Sudoku
Research something you’ve always wondered about
Learn a new word.

Give

Individuals who report a greater interest in helping others are more likely to rate themselves as happy. Research into actions for promoting happiness has shown that committing an act of kindness once a week over a six-week period is associated with an increase in wellbeing.

Talk openly about mental health

Just as you might encourage people you care about to eat fruit and veg to keep their bodies healthy (and model this behaviour yourself), talk openly about, for example, staying connected with others or being physically active in order to take care of our minds.

Further links:

www.mind.org.uk

by Tessa Hall

The Power of Poetry

26th February 2020Mr T Gava

The Poetry By Heart Competition has been a fantastic opportunity for me. I got the chance to learn about a poem, analyse it, get help from teachers in English lessons and then perform the poem in the Lister competition off by heart! It was memorable. And this reminded us of the great importance for poetry. Poetry is one of the universal methods of human expression and one of the most important of all written media for describing experiences. Indeed, poetry can teach you a lot!

There were performances from students from all year groups, musical performances and some great presenters. We got the chance to watch the different interpretations each student made of their poem. I believe this event was really important because it has helped students just like me, to boost our confidence and become more interested in poetry. We need more competitions like this because it would really help us in the future and to improve our communication skills.

The poem I choose for the competition was If by Rudyard Kipling because it’s a beautiful, inspirational and moving poem. It holds an important message for society. In this poem, the author Rudyard Kipling is talking to his son, he is trying to teach his son what he needs to do in order to be a “Man”, in other words, be someone who’s respected and seen as a role model in society. I truly believe that this poem is a guide to conquering life and everyone can learn something from it. For me personally, it’s a really special poem and that’s why I performed it.

My favourite poem though, is Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold. This is a poem that has been loved throughout decades because it is a dramatic monologue where the poet expresses his frustration and hopelessness of the modern chaotic world. He also expresses his view that this kind of situation where there is “neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor help for pain…”. It’s a truly moving poem.

What an exciting and unforgettable experience!

by Foujia Abdus Begum

Languages at Lister

22nd January 2020Mr T Gava

Languages at Lister

From Monday 13th to Friday 17th January, Lister Community School held its Language Week. Throughout this week, we had various competitions and activities run by staff and students. The aim was to shine a spotlight on languages and consider their importance.

Some exciting competitions such as the Quizlet World Languages Challenge, or Language Treasure hunt sparkled huge engagement, with many enthusiastic participants trying their very best when learning about new languages.

Additionally, students delivered language tasters and workshops where they would share their culture with other peers, introducing them to the basics of a new language and teaching them a part of their culture.

We were also fortunate to have visitors during the week. Students from Goldsmiths University treated students on the Mandarin Excellence Programme to a performance featuring traditional Chinese art forms. We were joined by students from Southern Road Primary for this very exciting event.

In addition, The Scholars Seminar for the week had a Languages focus and featured guest speaker Catriona Statham, a passionate linguist who speaks French, Spanish, Russian and Japanese who shared stories and reflections on how languages have enabled her to travel, meet people and succeed professionally.

This week was able to teach both students and teachers about how languages can unlock a whole new world and allow you to not only achieve more in life but also allow yourself to make new friends by sharing the same language.

Lister’s Languages Week was absolutely amazing and we can’t wait for it again next year!!

(Thanks to Chloe Letna)

Careers Update

4th December 2019Mr T Gava

It has been a very busy term for the Careers team at Lister buzzing with exciting activities and events from supporting the East London Business Alliance in breaking a Guinness World Record to celebrating International Men’s Day at Pinsent Mason’s with English racing driver Nicolas Hamilton.

Twenty lucky Year 9 students helped break the Guinness World Record for the largest employability skills lesson earlier this term alongside hundreds of other students from schools across East London. They also worked with business volunteers on their interview skills with 92% of the students saying they felt better equipped to handle an interview and to be more creative in problem solving!

This term also saw the launch of the Inspiring Futures Programme in collaboration with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for 60 Year 7 students. The FCA will be working with these students across the course of the year to support them in building the key skills required in the workplace. In December we will also be launching another long term mentoring programme with One Million Mentors, partnering up Year 10 students with business mentors to support them through monthly meetings to achieve their goals.

Our second cohort of Green Apprentice students wrapped up their green projects this term working alongside construction giant Lendlease to promote ways of tackling environmental issues. Two students from the cohort were also given the chance to complete an exclusive work placement at Lendlease during the October half term.

The last few weeks of this term are also set to be busy with our first Super Learning Day seeing x110 Year 7 students visit Kidzania, x120 Year 8 students attend an insight visit at a company in Canary Wharf or the City and Year 11 participating in the annual Post-16 Options day with over 30 companies and post-16 providers scheduled to attend. Accenture will also be visiting Lister to work with Year 9 female students to promote ‘Women in Tech’ and to wrap up the term, 15 lucky Year 7 students have been invited by Barclays to a LifeSkills bowling event at the O2!

Journey to the Royal Albert Hall

29th November 2019Mr T Gava

Since the beginning of the Opera in 2017, I’ve been a part of the choir and drama and absolutely loved it. At first, there were only 3 songs, then it developed into 5, and only last year the drama was added. There was a lot of hard work involved including rehearsals before, after and during school times as well as a couple of Saturdays. Every rehearsal was exhausting, but it helped us develop our skills for our performances. We’ve performed in venues such as Stratford Theatre Royal, Southbank Centre and finally, Royal Albert Hall.

Royal Albert Hall was by far my favourite venue thanks to everyone that joined in, from the year 8 students, to the students from St. Julians who came from Portugal! It looked and sounded incredible to have so many voices joined as one. None of this would have been possible though without the help of all of the teachers and staff who volunteered to help us, and for them, I am truly grateful!!

From this experience, I have learnt that there are different ways of expressing your opinion, with creativity rather than riots and fights. With this opera we have been able to tell everyone what life is really like for those of us who live in Newham and that things like gang crime do exist, but that we can rise above them. Most importantly though, I have learnt that to reach your dreams you have to work hard and only then you will conquer your dreams, no matter what.

Written by Chloe Letna, Year 9.

Library Blog

14th October 2019Mr T Gava

Lister Library has been busier than ever this term! From when we open at 7:30am to our closing time of 5:00pm we are full of students making use of the books, chromebooks and space to complete their homework. We’re delighted that the library staff is now a team of three, with Mr Panteli joining me and Ms Connell for three days a week. We have been working hard to make sure all our new students know how to use the library and are meeting the Lister expectations around reading. With all the wonderful new stock we’ve recently acquired, our students have literally thousands of books to choose from for their daily twenty minutes of reading homework. I always say to students that it’s the best homework they’ll ever get; what could be better than escaping to a story of your own choosing?

We provide plenty of reading opportunities within the school day too, including DEAR. Introduced last year, DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) has been going from strength to strength at Lister. These fortnightly lessons give staff and students the chance to read a little around their subject. Here in the library we love supporting DEAR with resource provision, finding books, magazines, news articles and websites on all sorts of subjects. It’s fantastic to then go and see these resources used in DEAR lessons in creative and exciting ways.

This month is of course Black History Month and we are marking this in the library with a large display of relevant books both fiction and non-fiction. We also have a reading list full of suggestions accessible on our catalogue which you can find here: https://uk.accessit.online:443/lst00?serviceId=ExternalEvent&rlSn=2&rlKey=1604555025

Furthermore, we were lucky enough to be invited to Plaistow Library for a talk by acclaimed YA author Patrice Lawrence. We took forty year 9 students for this treat of an event. Patrice is an advocate for increased BAME representation in literature and she spoke passionately about the importance of all young people being able to see themselves in the books they read. It was a really inspiring talk for all of us there.

Ms Welton

Deputy Librarian

Eco-friendly Lister

4th October 2019Mr T Gava

Lister students last term were tasked with making a difference to their local community by carrying out a social action project to raise awareness of environmental issues. Working with Groundwork UK and mentors from Avison Young, the students volunteered their time to focus on the issues of food wastage and how the environment around them can impact on mental health. Four students from the cohort were awarded a paid work experience

placement with Avison Young, a global real estate firm and their efforts were also picked up by Barclays, who came in and spoke to the students before creating a short film to show at their Green Frontiers 2019 Conference. Chaired by Barclays CEO Jes Staley and Michael Bloomberg, the conference highlighted the difference the business world can make to their environment on a large scale and it all begins with the small changes individuals can make at home.
Naima Cheniya, Year 11, Hawking ‘I decided to join the programme because I wanted to see how young people can help the environment. Living in Newham for my whole life showed me the terrible decisions people make on a daily basis and how that has affected the environment including issues such as fly tipping, recycling etc. It affects not just our environment but also the rest of the world as well.
Working together with other students, I could see the different views coming together to look at ways we could make a difference to our environment. We decided on the issue of food wastage and wanted to raise awareness of how the local community can reduce this. We learnt how to use leftover food such as fruits or vegetables to reduce wastage and spent time educating the local community on ways they too can use leftover food.
I think Lister can also do a lot to make our environment greener again. By raising awareness of these issues, students and staff can be encouraged to go out and make a difference by carrying out even the smallest of acts such as litter picking or planting more greenery…it’s as simple as that!’

This term, Lister students are continuing to take the climate emergency seriously. This has already been the focus of one of our ‘Thought for the Week’ sessions, and Lister was beautifully represented by six of our students at the Mayor’s Youth Assembly on this issue last month. At the same time as recognising the importance of raising awareness and a global approach to this most crucial topic, Lister students are also keen to change their own behaviour. Therefore the following will be our school focuses for this term:

MAKING SURE WE RECYCLE 100% OF OUR PLASTICS AND PAPER;
MAKING THE CANTEEN PLASTICS-FREE BY PHASING OUT BOTTLED WATER AND PUTTING IN MORE WATER FOUNTAINS;
WORKING WITH THE CANTEEN TO GET OUR STUDENTS TO APPRECIATE VEGETARIAN OPTIONS AND THUS REDUCE THEIR CARBON FOOTPRINT (WE MAY LATER TRY TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF RED MEAT BEING SERVED)
EDUCATING OUR STUDENTS, STAFF AND FAMILIES ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND HOW WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE;
WORK WITH NEWHAM COUNCIL TO TRY TO IMPROVE THE TRAFFIC SITUATION AROUND SCHOOL, THUS IMPROVING AIR QUALITY.

We will keep you posted with their efforts!