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Keeping parents and students informed
Term 3 Letter 6 Friday 13 February 2015
Grease is the word ...
in fact more than one word is needed to describe our production of
Grease (school version), it was fantastic, superb, brilliant, energetic
... we could go on and on! The three performances were complete
sell outs and by the rapturous applause from a delighted audience
was all the evidence needed to let the cast know how talented and
versatile they all were.
Everybody stood out, shining when their time arrived. The whole cast, from Year
7 upwards sparkled working together to make this production an eternal memory for
all – the cast, crew and the audience.
Grease is a great musical for a school
to stage with an engaging story set in an
American High School, following the loves
and lives of Sandy and Danny and their
friends, a group of boys called the T Birds
and a group of girls called the Pink Ladies.
Throw in some fantastic toe tapping hits,
a dance contest and you have all the
ingredients for an excellent show.
In terms of cast members there is no
shortage of talent to praise. Abby Coppard
was unforgettable as the hard hitting steely character, Rizzo. Sean O’Sullivan shone
as geeky Eugene. Montana Duncan Johnson’s personality really shone through as
Marty and her version of ‘Freddy My Love’ was spine-tingling, while Sophie Bradford
was totally memorable as Jan. Then we have Frenchy which could not have been
played better than by Chiara Wengraf-Jones. Olivia Francis-Cornibert played Patty,
the annoying cheerleader with great style.
The T Bird gang were magnificent with tremendous comedic timing and banter.
Sam Jennah was a believable Kenicke whilst Dylan Woosey as Doody was hilarious
with great backing from Nic Falzarano as Roger, Josh Abrahams as Sonny and Kyle
Nelson as Tony. They were pretty good dancers too!
Nazeema Ishmael made a small role as Miss Lynch go a long way and was very
funny. Max Gibbins was a believable Vince Fontaine with a slick DJ voice and
charm whilst Teen Angel, Henri Basha caused an uproar of screams with his superb
rendition of ‘Beauty School Dropout’.
What can we say about the lead characters, Sandy and Danny, played by Abigail
Lane and Rafe Askem? Abigail’s Sandy is more feisty than in the movie which made
the character more believable whilst Rafe conveyed all the arrogance required as
Danny. Both have excellent voices and reached into the heart of their characters
with tremendous effect.
From opening scene to curtain call, this production is high in energy, strong in
talent. The Performing Arts team, led by Mr Chadda, are to be congratulated on their
first whole school production. It was a wonderful experience for the students. Our
thanks also go to all the student crew from sound and lighting, stage design and
props, stage management, choreogrpahy, hair and make up, costumes and camera,
and to all those who supervised front of house and backstage.
Quotes from parents:
“Grease was a total triumph!”
“The best
production
Ashcroft has
ever seen!”
“The West
End comes to
Ashcroft!”
Ashcroft Technology Academy 100 West Hill London SW15 2UT Tel 020 8877 0357 Fax 020 8877 0617 email [email protected] website www.ashcroftacademy.org.uk
Wandsworth Young Chef of the Year
Abby Finch, who will represent the Academy
in this year’s Wandsworth Young Chef
competition, will be attending a training day at
Billingsgate Fish Market. This is a part of her
prize provided by Wandsworth Council and the
Mayor. On the day, Abby will have the chance
to have a tour of the fish market, learn about different types of
fish and how to fillet and cook a selection of fish. This will take
place on Thursday 26 February.
British Biology Challenge
Congratulations to six Year 12 Biology
students who were selected to take part in
the British Biology Challenge, a national
competition for 6th form Biology students
to expand and stimulate their knowledge.
Well done to Nouran Shatout, Simon Knopp,
Scherry Hashmi who all gained a pass. Max
Gibbins and Daniel Oluboyede were awarded an impressive
highly commended and Helena Costa took home a bronze
certificate. Helena will be invited to the prize giving ceremony
in summer. Well done to all six students!
KS3 Stem Club
“Stemmies” took part in the Hydrogen Challenge today,
whereby they learnt about fossil fuels and compared these to
hydrogen fuel as an alternative. “Stemmies” worked in groups
to build a car powered on Hydrogen fuel and tested it to see
how far it could go.
The winning team was: Sonnie Tatham 7T3, Charles
Wickham 7T6, Joshua Craig 7T2, whose hydrogen powered
car went a whopping 17m distance! Great result! This team
will now go on to represent Ashcroft in the final event on
13 March competing against other schools from across the
capital and the chance to win prizes for the Academy. Good
luck “Stemmies”! Mrs Khan and Mr Matthews are very proud
of you all!
The Hydrogen Challenge, supported by the Mayor of
London puts the technology of the future into the hands of
young people.
Lady Lovelace Maths Award
The following female students have been
awarded with a Lady Lovelace certificate for
their enthusiasm and effort in Maths. This
award is from their Maths teachers for their hard
work, achievement and ability to go beyond
expectations. Well done to Sope Johnson 7T6, Rahma Muse
8T7, Cree McLean 9T5, Adna Isse 10T7, Nazeema Ishmael
11T7
Year 10 Paris trip
There will be a Parents Information Evening
on Wednesday 25 February at 6pm for those
students participating in the Year 10 trip to Paris
On the evening you will have the opportunity
to find out what the itinerary includes, what
students will be required to bring and the
objectives of the trip. Please note if you have
not already provided a copy of your son/
daughter’s passport we will require you to bring
this along. In addition to this we request that
you also bring in a photocopy of their European
Health Insurance (EHIC) Card.
Boccia Championships
A huge congratulations to the following students
who represented Ashcroft in the Boccia
Championships for Wandsworth Schools this
week. Boccia is a precision ball sport for people
with physical difficulties and is played at local,
national and international levels
They played with dignity and skill and some
of the matches were won on the last ball of the
match – it was tense but they did us proud.
Team 1: Rio Merrett and Laiba Main who
came fourth in their group.
Team 2: Kareemah Newton, Chloe Newell
and Jennifer Morais who came third in their
group.
Year 8 Pathways Evening
This evening will take place on Wednesday 4
March at 6pm. A chance to find out about the
choice of courses on offer to your son/daughter
when they begin KS4 in September. All
subjects will be represented with staff on hand
to answer all your questions.