Enrichment Programme
At London Brookes College, we believe that it is important to educate the whole person. In addition to our rigorous approach to GCSE and A Level exam preparation, we have significantly developed and expanded our enrichment programme over the academic years. Through a wide-ranging programme of events, trips, talks, lectures and activities, we have been working on producing well-rounded people as well as students who attain high results.
Trips
Our school trips have taken students to the Imperial War Museum, The House of Lords, The Clink Museum as well as the Institute for Chartered Accountants.
Talks and Lectures
Our talks and lectures programme includes speakers on a wide variety of subjects. The aim of these talks is to allow students the opportunity to meet, discuss, and ask probing questions to graduates working in many professional fields. This has allowed LBCstudents to think through the real-world implications of the decisions they make while completing their UCAS applications. Talks and topics have included:
- Student Finance – Mr Ben Churchill, Goldsmiths College.
- Studying Business Management – Ms Freshta Seiffy, former LBC alumni.
- Working in the Arts – Mr Jotee Dhanjal, painter and artist
- Wings of Hope, a charity presentation for GCSE students
GCSE Cognitive Development and Study Skills
Our GCSE students have been participating in educational and fun Friday enrichment events in which they get to relax and develop aspects of themselves that do not always feature in the academic subjects. We have had enrichment events including: communication skills, lateral thinking abilities, general knowledge, vocabulary development, crosswords, quizzes, and guitar lessons. There have also been sessions on creative approaches to time management, making study timetables and brainstorming.
Sports
The weekly Five -A-Side LBC football games at London Middlesex University’s top notch 4G Astro pitches bring together students and staff from all subjects and years. As part of LBC extra-curricular activities the Thursday evening 5-a-side football has been underway for some years now. We have a regular slot booked in the Middlesex University 4 Gall terrain pitch. These facilities really allow our budding Lionel Messi’s to hone their skills.
The matches take place in an atmosphere of good fun, competitiveness and sportsmanship. All of our 5-a-side players know that our motto is “Your Success: Our Goal” and they apply this both in the classroom and on the football pitch. The sessions are led by our senior staff.
Participants benefit from a great sense of team spirit and our 5-a-side football events have proven a fantastic and fun way for new students to get to know one another and make friends,at the start of the Autumn term.
Our 5-a-side evenings launched the professional football career of future Barnet Town FC sensation Elijah Seymour (London Brookes College GCSE Graduate 2014/2015) the pride of the Cayman Islands.
London Brookes College Charity Events
LBC students mark Poppy Day
Remembrance day has become an increasingly important part of British culture. This year, the student council made sure that this important day was revered and respected among the students and staff of LBC. All students and teachers marked Remembrance Day by wearing a poppy and holding a minute’s silence.
Many colleges and sixth forms fail to remember those who have fallen and given everything for the British army, but not London Brookes College.
We thought it would be right to carry out a poppy fundraiser and our students and staff wholeheartedly supported this initiative. Our student council, delivered our poppy fund and donations in person to the Royal British Legion.
Pink Day Fundraiser
We felt we needed to raise funds for a well established charity which is recognised world-wide and aids research into a worthwhile and relevant cause, so we thought London Brookes students should have a hand in it! The response from our students was sensational and almost everyone participated by wearing pink (shirts, ties, scarves, socks and much more!!!) and donating at least two pounds to this worthy cause. It was both a colourful and light-hearted atmosphere which we all enjoyed.
Valentine’s Day Bake Sale for Save The Children
Love of sugar was definitely in the air! A delicious array of brownies, cupcakes, cakes, chocolates and other sweet delicacies were on offer. Students and staff gorged themselves and also spent a few quid in aid of the amazing work of Save The Children.
The charitable takings were substantial.
LBC students and staff raise £720 for The Human Relief Foundation
Our charity fund raising effort, held last October, was an abundant feast, raising a “massive” (in the words of the organisers) £720 for the Human Relief Foundation, a wonderful UK based charity
which provides food packs for needy children.
Our Charity Committee worked tirelessly to publicise this event, demonstrating that their hearts, as well as their minds, are truly in the right place. All of these charitable events ran
alongside achieving other goals of academic success and university offers.
London Brookes College Student BASE CHALLENGE
No stage too big for LBC Business students at BASE CHALLENGE!
No fear ‘during’, but plenty of relief ‘after’ for LBC’s intrepid future business leaders and innovators.
A team of AS Economics students participated in a Business and Accounting Challenges In Moorgate, organised by the prestigious Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The team was faced with an extremely difficult business challenge which involved analysing and evaluating lengthy case study, which is used in the third year of the chartered accountancy course! The LBC team tackled the tasks exceptionally well and delivered an outstanding presentation in front of a panel of judges made up of accountancy professionals. Well done to Sruthi, Kazim, Arya and Sharif for participating and doing a fantastic job at representing the college! You were all magnificent! – Mrs Welkhu
Sharif Abdul Hakeem, AS BusinessStudies, gives us his account of the day
During the month of December, our group of four, along with our Business teacher, Mrs Kirit, travelled over to Moorgate to participate in an annual Economics and Accounting competition known as the ‘Base Challenge.’
Our team, as well as twelve other groups from schools and colleges around London, was assigned an incredibly complex and difficult case study. Its premise was fairly simple; ‘Should the Company take this Offer?’ What made it difficult was the overwhelming number of factors and variables.
Perhaps the company shouldn’t take the deal so it doesn’t compromise its ethics? Maybe they should accept the proposal to allow for overseas expansion? But wouldn’t this potentially dilute the quality of the service?! Unfortunately, Mrs Kirit’s expansive knowledge was unavailable to us due to competition rules. We were instead provided with a mentor who was (almost) as well versed as our tutor.
Once our team, with assistance from our mentor, had finished analysing the case study within the short time allotted, we needed to convert our conclusion into a coherent presentation for the panel of judges. The one thing that the whole group could agree on is that the presentation was incredibly nerve-wracking. Not only were there at least one hundred people watching, but the judges were also barraging the teams with questions!
Despite knowing what we were facing, we steeled our nerves and went up and gave our presentation almost flawlessly, as witnessed by Mrs Kirit who was only just allowed to re-enter. In spite of our best efforts, however, our team was unable to come out on top of the rest and qualify for the next level of the competition. While there were no real ranks announced, our group and our mentor agreed that we had most likely earned ourselves a very respectable third place. Not an unsatisfactory outcome.
Despite not winning, the whole Base Challenge experience was certainly one worth attending. The combination of time constraints, teamwork and atmosphere gave a realistic insight into what some accountants and business consultants might face on a regular basis.
We would like to give especially large thanks to Mrs Kirit for giving us the opportunity to attend such a fantastic event.
Young Writers Poetry Trials competition
London Brookes College is proud to congratulate Esther Davis and Jamal Nokoe on their recent success in the Young Writers Poetry Trials competition. Esther and Jamal, two talented young writers, submitted their poems for the nationwide Young Writers Competition.
Esther’s poem, The Man In The House, is a poignant, powerful and technically impressive piece of writing. Through a clever technique of repetition of real interrogatives and rhetorical questions, Esther manages to make her reader ask deep and chilling questions about contemporary social ills and domestic abuse.
When the reader is confronted with the opening line. “Isn’t your house meant to be your safe zone?”, Esther’s subtle associative reference to “war Zones” immediately makes us realise this will be a poem that does not shy away from tough subjects. Esther uses strong imagery and metaphors as her poem exposes the destructive results of family life gone wrong. Like many great poets, Esther manages a remarkable twist or volta with her final stanza.
Rather than limit itself with merely evoking extreme sympathy in the reader, Esther’s final stanza invigorates and surprises as the voice of the poem tells us that “She refuses to be a victim”. Esther’s incredibly personal tone is magnetic and the reader is left transformed by this accomplished exposé.
Jamal’s Road To Perdition demonstrates a deeply felt concern for the economic, political and social diseases of the modern world. From the woes of globalisation such as “economic uncertainty, ongoing global recession” to the emotional ravages of the overwhelming stress and pressures of modern life, leaving people “suffering
under a cloud of continued depression”, Road To Perdition exhibits a political consciousness and a desire for change. It is clear that this young poet has a gift for sound. Written in tight rhyming couplets such as “Individuals, free spirits, classed as enigmatic / Free speech, with democracy, generally sporadic”, and full of assonance and clever alliteration, one wonders if Jamal may also have a background in hip-hop or rap lyrics. Road To Perdition is crying out to be read aloud! Jamal’s poetic voice is ultimately one of compassion and hope as the poem ends on a tone of uncertainty that is perhaps surmountable if we all join the voice of the poem in its final sentiment and ‘Pray’.
The Young Writers competition committee selected The Man In The House and Road To Perdition for publication in their forthcoming edition of The Poetry Trials – South East Poets. A copy of this book, containing the poems, will be sent to the British Library and further libraries across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. So, the next time you are visiting the British Library, be sure to seek out this charming little tome and read Esther and Jamal’s work in the hallowed reading rooms on Euston Road!
Our budding poet laureates are also through to the latter stages of the national competition and may well be in with a chance to win a £1000 prize. Should you like to purchase a copy of The Poetry Trials – South East Poets, head over to www.youngwriters.co.uk and order a copy.
London Brookes College Debating Society
As part of the enrichment programme at London Brookes College, our students have been developing their public speaking skills in a series of moderated class debates. The purpose of these debates has been to allow students to tackle thorny and challenging debate topics in a constructive and supportive environment. Students have benefited from the teamwork process and they have been learning that to convince the floor of your point of view, it is necessary to use a combination of sustained argument and compelling examples, as well as careful use of tone, persuasion and drama. They have certainly been learning to think on their feet!
Debating is the formal argument of a subject matter ideally used to rightfully express and argue for a particular belief. The purpose and inspiration behind the debating sessions was to inspire and enhance critical thinking, linguistic, communicative and negotiating abilities, whilst expressing individual beliefs with “passive passion” to the wider world in the microcosm of the college classroom- which may also be exported to the macrocosm outside of the classroom, since the skills honed and perspectives heard might be applicable in many areas the students will go on to encounter.
GCSEand A-level students united in London Brookes College’s Room nine, from three to four o’clock, on several occasions throughout the misty Winter term for the civil discussion of great social issues.
The debates took place in the form of a variation of “Mace Debating”, where two opposing teams spoke for a total of thirty-two minutes collectively, after each individual speaker spoke for four minutes. Although some audience members were rather outspoken (as one would expect!), the presence of two teachers, as well as a student chairperson, ensured that order was maintained, and created a professional structure to the session.
Furthermore, in the London Brookes College spirit of fairness and democracy, the students were diplomatically given the choice of which side to argue for, since individual rights and freedoms must be respected, and the performance would be better if they believed in what they were arguing for (or, indeed, against!); Subsequently, as was their right, the audience was permitted to actively participate and speak regarding the matter and they directed questions to the individual group members, raising further lines of enquiry.
Students were given a range of debate topics for which to choose from before collectively choosing. Firstly, the debating topic was regarding whether the economically wealthy, as in the case of footballers, should be, indeed, paid more than other individuals such as public servants. Whilst the argument for was primarily due to the ideology that the money is rightful “theirs”, the opposition, comprising of GCSE students Layla Bhatti, Madina Nourzai and Merva Nourzai, counter-argued that this causes the unfair and unjust unequal distribution of wealth. In turn, t was said to contribute to, for instance, an increased crime rate due to those who do not have access to extreme wealth.
Meanwhile, the second debate consisted of the particular question of whether or not parents should be permitted to use corporal punishment on their children. The favoring side included GCSE student Mohamed Amini and although this perspective adamantly proposed its advantage in the terms of discipline with a well-argued line of discourse, the opponents of this view argued that it wrongly causes severe psychological and physical harm, where, due to individual differences, this has grievous implications for future adult relationships. Indeed, from a social psychological perspective, the child may learn the behaviour through observation and repeat it by imitation, continuing the cycle. The speaker thus concluded that this would render the world “a very sad place….. and it already is”. This poignant and eloquent phrase was very well received by the audience.
Ultimately, it was argued that conversing, rather than physically punishing, children is the most effective method of constructively reprimanding and socialising them . This approach won the debate, and the opposing team magnanimously accepted that this position had won the day.
Overall, the students found the experience fulfilling and satisfying, as an enjoyable method of expressing their voices, whilst embracing the opportunity for learning and cognitive stimulation. the reward of these memorable experiences derived from the fact that opportunities were created to channel inner thoughts and feelings to listening ears and open minds.
The topics were undeniably emotive, particularly the second, since these are cases of real life experiences for some, or all, of the students in many different ways. Yet the debaters presented a beautiful balance of objectivity and impartiality with active, sentimental involvement. According to Aristotle, debating is “reason free from passion”. However, the debaters of LBC managed to exercise both lucid reasoning and considerable passion in putting forward their arguments. We all came to realise that it is only with passion that new ideas are promoted, and positive changes made. It will be interesting and fun to see the debaters of LBC continue to grow in confidence, verbal wit and skill as they practice the rhetorical arts in future debates and enhance their abilities to empathise with the wider world.
London Brookes College Science Club
The newly established, SciSoc (science society) was created to connect london brookes college students that desired to pursue a career in a scientific discipline, by providing an environment in which they could gather to discuss relevant issues and developments in a range of scientific fields. Consisting of discussions on a variety of topics every friday lunchtime, the 30 minute sessions, (led by students) provide useful information gathered from further reading; consequently enhancing independent studies by going beyond the boundaries of the a level syllabus. Broadening student perspective of a range of science fields, it is an impactful experience, as it provides useful content to enhance students personal statements for university application, as well as developing independent skills such as public speaking, presentation, organization and giving them the opportunity to construct arguments for ethical debates.
This club brings together a number of students at AS and A2 level with different career aspirations, (from medicine to communication technology, genetic engineering to neuroscience, geology to astrophysics etc), the links between the disciplines are reiterated, building up students ability to cross-reference and think outside the box, whilst changing preconceptions of what a career/subject consisted of Science is and what it is not limited to.
The fact that it was established and is run solely by the students, ensures that the content is presented in a manner that is simple to digest, while remaining rich in information; presented in a fun, engaging and often humorous manner. The most recent discussions was a debate on medical ethics, regarding the boundaries of human genetic engineering, a truly thought provoking topic resulting in an abundance of different, interesting opinions. A student commented “An enjoyable social community, SciSoc has further motivated me to continue on my pursuit of a scientific career and get involved in activities that are outside my curriculum”.
London Brookes College Chess Club
Do you know your bishops from your pawns? Your queens from your rooks? Your Sicilian Defense from your Wing Gambit? The boys and girls of London Brookes College’s weekly chess club sure do! From beginners to grandmasters with more than a bit of chess ‘flash’, LBC’s chess club again lead to some fascinating moments of strategic combat thanks to the careful and planned movements of the carved finger troops of our faithful members. Our Friday chess and draughts sessions allowed our chequerboard heroes a very cerebral reprieve from the efforts and strains of GCSE and A Level studies. The game of the year was unquestionably the nail biting best-of-three final between Zekaria and Sakaria. Nice to see that the lads don’t take themselves too seriously and gave us two big smiles for these shots that will go down in the annals of LBC chess club tense matches. LBC chess club motto? “When mates check mates!!!!!!!!!”
Enrichment talk on Journalism
As part of LBC’s flourishing enrichment programme, we had a special pleasure this year of welcoming Mr Matt Blake in our Guest lecture series. Mr Blake works as a freelance journalist for Vice Magazine, The Independent on Sunday, and The Guardian, among others. Mr Blake shared his incredible perspective on a career in journalism, writing, and the media, with a packed house of attentive students across all year groups. Regaling them with tales editorial meetings, writing in a conflict zone, meeting deadlines, and getting the story through at the same moment as a national internet outage, students were able to discuss and interrogate a whole range of topics with our special Guest.
London Brookes College Annual Awards and Christmas Celebrations
London Brookes College holds Annual Awards and Christmas party in December. This is a celebration of our end of term with the fabulous mixture of academic achievement, Talent show case, affection and fun so characteristic of our daily life at the College.
A performance of ‘The story of Scrooge’ was followed by our annual prize giving in which awards were given, not only for academic achievement, but also to those who have contributed to the life of the school through their enthusiasm and inspirational attitude. The afternoon saw student Piano performances, speeches by students, Carol singing and a soulful guitar rendition by our GM Mr Cillian Logue.
Our talented artists set up a gallery with their mesmerising Art pieces. It was certainly a delight and very thought provoking – just as Art should be!
