A year ago today, The Battle Royale game Fortnite became a game changer. The free game has attracted professional and normal gamers from all around the world. Created by Epic Games, it has made people around the world connect and compete in world wide tournaments with lots of money to be won. The Fortnite World Cup Finals, with its $30 million prize pool, took place from July 26 to 28, 2019 in New York City at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Who won the Fortnite World Cup 2019?
Sunday was the last day of the event and it was all about the solo tournament. Players from all across the globe who qualified in smaller tournaments competed, and it was 16-year-old Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf who won the $3 million first-place prize and the title of the best Fortnite player in the world.
Due to the global pandemic, the competition didn’t take place this year but we can only hope it returns in 2021. However, Fortnite has continued to put on some great online events including musical performances and film screenings.
Many countries have already taken a variety of precautions. Ireland has closed its schools, people in Wuhan (China) and nearby towns have been made to stay in their homes - it has almost been 50 days! Italy is on lockdown and only food and pharmacies are allowed to stay open. Public gatherings, including prayers in Tehran and other major cities, have been canceled.
In British schools more cleaning is taking place throughout the day but how much longer can we stop the spread of the virus?
This year World Book Day took place on 5th March. It is a day dedicated to the enjoyment of books, celebrating authors and reading. In recent times, sadly lots of people have become more interested in devices than books. However, there are still many young people who have found a passion for reading and writing and this should be celebrated.
Miss Parkin, the school librarian, is passionate about young people finding enjoyment in reading. “I think World Book Day is good because it’s not just about reading by yourself, it's about sharing your interests with others.” Avid reader Harshali (7X) feels that books “allow people to use their imaginations without the need for any electronics. It doesn't cost anything to have an imagination!”
Originally created in 1995, World Book Day is something to focus on for the day but can easily be celebrated all year round. “World Book Day is a registered charity on a mission to give every child and young person a book of their own.” Schools are able to purchase books from the companies such as Scholastics and the World Book Day website to encourage more people into reading for pleasure.
Remember to collect your book token from your form tutor. Visit https://www.worldbookday.com/ for more information and for inspiration.
As someone who loves books, I want to say thanks to the amazing authors who give us a bit of their imagination so we can explore worlds we have never visited before.
BY RIMA 7V International Women’s Day is a universal day celebrating the
achievements and successes of women while accelerating gender balance. This
ties in well with the 2019 theme which is #BalanceforBetter as the official
website states “a balanced world is a better world’.
Schools also
continue to raise awareness for gender balance. Alperton Community School are
having special assemblies, as they do every year. As a school community they believe
that whilst some steps to move forward have been taken, International Women's Day
is still necessary since there are still many places where women are disadvantaged
due to their gender and they are limited because of this.
Jennifer, a student at Alperton Community School, said “I think it recognises
women’s strength and what they have achieved in the past, so I believe it's
good to have International Women's Day”.
MP Thangam Debbonaire told BBC news that “International Women's Day is a
sign we have not yet achieved gender equality and an opportunity to look at how
far we have come, celebrate our achievements and plan for future success".
Women have been treated differently in society and the three necessities
thought by stereotypes are to cook, clean and take care of the children.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, over the past 40 years, the UK
has seen an almost constant rise in the proportion of women in employment. The
employment rate of women aged 24-25 is up from 57% in 1975 to a record high of 78%
in 2017.The drastic rise can be considered to be due to women choosing to put
their career and education before having a child, whereas before women were
shamed for not having children and were almost pressured. This still happens
today, but as women come together to combat this it is easier to not adhere to
everything society expects of you because of your gender.
International Women’s
Day is annually acknowledged on 8th March and first occurred 1911.
At Alperton Community School we will continue to recognise the contributions
and successes of women on this day and every day. Look out for the
digital displays which will showcase women who have achieved well in particular
subject areas.
It was announced
today that our very own teacher, Ms. Zafirakou, has been named the winner of
the Global Teacher Prize 2018. This ceremony gave recognition to our teacher,
who inspires hope, ignites imagination and instils a love of learning within us
as students.
The school
opened its doors, on a Sunday, to staff and students to watch the awards streamed
live. They were over the moon when the name of one their favourite teachers was
announced. Staff were emotional and students were jumping in
excitement to celebrate the teacher who has always brought out the best in both
staff and students alike. This inspiring award has also helped to spread
awareness about why creativity in the curriculum is so important and how it can break
all boundaries and divisions.
Trever Noah,
South African comedian and presenter of the American The Daily Show, hosted the event. To announce this year’s winner, a
special video message was shown as 4,000 young people came together to create a
human hash tag symbol for the announcement, breaking the world record.
The moment that
found Ms. Zafirakou in shock!
Footage from the Varkey Foundation
His Highness
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Vice President and Prime Minister of the
United Arab Emirates (UAE), and ruler of the Emirate of Dubai) was
accompanied by Sunny Varkey to present Ms. Zafirakou with the award.
Ms. Zafirakou’s
speech:
Footage from the Varkey Foundation
Ms. Zafirakou,
and all teachers, deserve the red carpet treatment that this star studded spectacular
awards ceremony had. The trophy was hand delivered by Formula 1 driver Lewis
Hamilton who arrived by police convoy, and award winning Jennifer Hudson closed
the show with a musical performance. Before singing a song called Remember the Music she said “no matter
what you do always remember why you do it because we can only be great when
we’re passionate about what we do.” Something all of our teachers can resonate
with and passion is what they clearly have.
Also in
attendance were Olympic winner Sir Mo Farrah, ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair, retired footballer Jermaine Jenas, ex Vice-President Al Gore, comedian Rory Bremner and actresses Priyanka Chopra and Charlize Theron. Some of them even managed to have a selfie taken with Ms. Zafirakou!
As
if that was not enough, a
noteworthy video message was broadcast on behalf of UK Prime Minister Theresa
May. She expressed how being “a great teacher requires resilience, ingenuity,
and a generous heart”, and described the award as a “fitting tribute” to all
the work Ms. Zafirakou has done, and will continue doing.
All students and
staff are looking forward to Ms. Zafirakou’s return from Dubai so that we can
congratulate her personally for her dedication and hard work, but also to hear
about her amazing experiences so far and the continuous journey that this award
will bring.
We look forward
to seeing the arts and other creative subjects at our school continue to flourish.
Our very own Ms.
Andria Zafirakou, Art and Textiles teacher of Alperton Community School, has
been shortlisted to the top 10 for the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2018
out of an incredible 30,000 nominations.
All ten
finalists will be invited to Dubai for the awards ceremony at the Global
Education and Skills Forum on Sunday 18 March, where the winner will be
announced live on stage.
Ms. Zafirakou has
worked at our school since 2005, which is longer than some of the students in year
7 and 8 have been born! Her dedication and commitment has seen her work her way
up from a newly qualified teacher all the way to SLT (senior leadership team).
Ms. Zafirakou is a very enthusiastic, engaging and approachable teacher. This
makes her a great person to pass on her skills and talents in teaching to all
the other staff at the school by leading on professional development, teaching
and curriculum innovation. The passion she has for teaching is also evident in
so many of our teachers at Alperton.
Every Monday,
students are lucky to finish school a littler earlier at 2.30pm. This allows them
time to attend after school clubs such as boxing, film club, rowing, cricket
and also to go to the library so they have a quiet space to do their homework.
Whilst students get to engage in extra curricular activities, of which the
school has many, teachers have the time to learn and develop as professionals,
which is led by Ms. Zafirakou.
Ms. Zafirakou is
a member of the Art department, led by Mr. Alemdar who is also an accomplished
artist. With him and the other art teachers, they have redesigned the art
curriculum to help promote inspiration. The arts and creative subjects are so important
as they reach some of our students in a way that other subjects do not,
sometimes due to accessibility and language barriers. Every year the arts are
celebrated at the end of the summer term with an amazing Art and Design Exhibition
that showcases the many talents of the students at our school. The event is
very popular and professionally curated making students feel privileged to have
their work displayed for so many people to see.
The Varkey Foundation was
initially set up to help to improve the quality and standards of education for
underprivileged children across the globe. They work to ensure that every child
has the right to be taught by exceptional teachers and to strengthen the
profession of teaching. Set up by the foundation and now in its fourth year, The
Global Teacher Prize acknowledges the outstanding contribution of a phenomenal
teacher by awarding them with US $1 million (approximately £717,430). It serves
to celebrate and recognise the efforts and importance of educators - not only
for their school and their students but also for their surrounding communities.
We, at Alperton
Community School, are immensely proud of Ms. Zafirakou for all her efforts and
contributions to the school. The school will be open to staff and students to
watch the event streamed live.
We wish Ms. Zafirakou all
the best. She is already our top teacher!
