This term, students from KS4 and KS5 in the Food Studies Department took part in three enriching educational trips, each spread across different days. These visits strengthened curriculum learning while giving pupils hands‑on experience in real food‑industry environments. Trip 1: Young Innovators Food Conference 2025 Students attended the Young Innovators Food Conference 2025 at Barking & Dagenham College’s Technical Skills Academy, where they participated in culturally diverse, sustainability‑focused cooking workshops delivered in partnership with ‘Be Inclusive Hospitality’. Guest chefs—including Ferdinand “Budgie” Montoya, Natalie Sheridan, and Sara Assad Mannings—inspired students with recipes and stories rooted in Filipino, plant‑based, and Palestinian food traditions. Working in professional kitchens, pupils explored new ingredients, gained confidence in practical cooking, and learned about career pathways in hospitality and food innovation. Trip 2: Billingsgate “Seafood by Design” Practical Workshop Students also took part in the Seafood by Design programme at Billingsgate Market, led by seafood expert CJ Jackson . This highly practical experience allowed pupils to handle, prepare, and cook a wide range of British seafood. Activities included pin‑boning fish, preparing mussels and prawns, shaping fish sliders, and tasting dishes such as Goan curry, chilli mackerel, and seafood pilaf. The workshop deepened students’ understanding of sustainability, responsible sourcing, and the nutritional value of seafood while developing their hygiene, knife, and teamwork skills. The day concluded with a reflective Q&A on everything they had learned Trip 3: “Fishmonger for a Day” — Vocational Seafood Skills Workshops The third educational experience brought KS4 students back to Billingsgate Seafood Training School for the innovative “Fishmonger for a Day” sessions. Hosted above the historic Billingsgate Market , these workshops are designed specifically for Barking and Dagenham secondary schools to introduce young people to employment pathways in the food and hospitality industries. Delivered by specialist chefs from the Seafood School, the workshops offered students the chance to: Learn practical fish‑handling and preparation techniques, including filleting and cooking Identify fish species and assess freshness Strengthen kitchen hygiene, presentation, and teamwork—essential skills for professional food environments Understand current industry shortages in fishmongers and “blockwork” skills, making these sessions especially relevant for career exploration Students showing strong aptitude were offered work experience placements with local fishmongers and apprenticeship pathways through the school’s partnership with Direct Seafoods. A Valuable Experience for All Learners Across all three trips, students represented the school with maturity, enthusiasm, and curiosity. Each visit enhanced their understanding of the food industry—spanning sustainability, culinary arts, cultural food traditions, and specialist fishmonger skills. The Food Studies Department is proud of the students’ engagement and looks forward to planning even more exciting learning opportunities in the months ahead.

Our teams have been working incredibly hard to design and refine their prototypes in preparation for the final in March. As part of the challenge, they had the opportunity to participate in a real-world design workshop in London, where they developed physical prototypes of their ideas aimed at tackling key environmental issues affecting the city. Team Aquinity presented their product, Wave Revolution , an innovative solution focused on addressing environmental challenges through sustainable design. Team Green Lung showcased their product, Air Nova , which aims to improve air quality in urban areas and promote healthier living environments across London. Amritpal On Wednesday 14 January, we made our prototype. In team 24 we made two prototype versions one for contexts and one for detail so that we can explain what is inside our product. We have worked as a team by communicating with each other to make sure that we are on the same page. I found it challenging when we had to present our prototype with our unfinished presentation and I found that communication is very strong and more ideas can be developed but some ideas wouldn’t fit the concept Aravind On our trip, Wednesday 14th January, me and my team 23 made our prototype. When we first came in, our mentors gave us a small test to figure out which one was the starting product of a card reader. After that we got handed our logos. Then, we headed downstairs to work on our prototype. Our project manger assigned us pairs of what to work on. I was mostly working on cutting the wood. After it all finished, our team decided implement our logo into our prototype. The most challenging part about this session was that we had to present our prototype but we had excellent communication. Kacie On Wednesday 14th January, me and my team travelled to the London sneaker shop to work with the amazing designers to create our prototype. Both teams got a budget and worked together to decide what materials would be best for the prototype. Then we worked under a time limit to create the prototype and both teams split the work amongst themselves to work most efficiently. It was an overly fun and creative session where we got the opportunity to handle tools that we wouldn’t usually use. We also practised our presentation and communicated as a team on how our project would be best presented. Wish our teams luck ! Mrs McBride , Mr McBride and Ms Hibbit

We were delighted to welcome former pupil Josiah Poulter back to Lymington to speak to students during the Year 9 Assembly . Josiah shared his journey since leaving school and spoke enthusiastically about his degree at Manchester University , where he is studying BA (Hons) Football Business and Finance , a course that combines his passion for sport with mathematics and business. Josiah’s talk gave students a valuable insight into the wide range of opportunities available through higher education, particularly how academic subjects can link directly to careers in the sports industry. With many Year 9 students expressing a strong interest in sport, Head of Year Miss Walker felt this was the perfect opportunity to showcase how those interests can be developed into future study and career pathways. We would like to thank Josiah for taking the time to inspire our students and for being such a positive role model.

Over the past year and a half myself and the school have been working closely with Forward Arts Foundation to establish student-led poetry groups in schools across Barking and Dagenham. During December, eight of our 'Poetry Pioneers' were invited by The Forward Arts Foundation to take part in an incredibly exciting opportunity: To create resources, videos, guidelines and even a logo for a Young Poet Leader's Toolkit. They attended two days of workshops with two other schools in the Barking and Dagenham area, and took active parts in planning, structuring and even creating films with a professional filming team for the toolkit! All of these resources will then be published for this year's National Poetry Day (1st October 2026) on their website and social media, accessible to thousands of school and colleges across the country, and millions of students and teachers. This is the first time that The Forward Arts Foundation will publish resources that are completely student-created, and our students are a part of this. The Poetry Pioneers have worked incredibly hard, have shown such dedication and commitment to poetry within our school and have represented our school professionally and proudly in this monumental moment. Mrs Fox

The art department again had the chance to attend the ARTiculation London finals heat where we were privy to an extraordinary presentation on photographer Uldus Bakhtiozina by our y12 art and photography student Maria Vesca. The lead judges Alex Bispham and Dr Alan Crookham shared how much they loved the "immediacy of Maria’s presentation, which felt direct, personal and engaging." They praised her for responding so thoughtfully to their questions and congratulated her on "approaching culture in such a fresh, original and “out of the box” way." Amazing work Maria we are very proud of you.

What a fantastic start to Wednesday! Mrs Rose and the Beauty Department organised a wonderful charity breakfast, with all donations going to the Williams Syndrome Foundation.  Williams Syndrome is a rare genetic condition, and the foundation works tirelessly to support affected families, promote wellbeing, and fund vital research into the condition. A fantastic spread was laid out, complete with unlimited tea, coffee, and juice, giving staff a welcome opportunity to catch up and connect before the school day began. Santa even arrived to join the festivities! Thank you to everyone who contributed to making the event such a success and helping us raise £521.38

What a fantastic start to Wednesday! Mrs Rose and the Beauty Department organised a wonderful charity breakfast, with all donations going to the Williams Syndrome Foundation. Williams Syndrome is a rare genetic condition, and the foundation works tirelessly to support affected families, promote wellbeing, and fund vital research into the condition.  A fantastic spread was laid out, complete with unlimited tea, coffee, and juice, giving staff a welcome opportunity to catch up and connect before the school day began. Santa even arrived to join the festivities! Thank you to everyone who contributed to making the event such a success.

As part of the Into Film Autumn Film Festival we arranged our biggest ever Film Club trip taking 45 Film Clubbers from all three sites and 15 KS5 Media Studies students to see the ultimate in 1980s film revival - Karate Kid: Legends at the Vue cinema in Romford. The original was released in 1984 and for many it is an absolute classic! Karate Kid: Legend is the sixth film in the franchise and although Mr Miyagi is gone, he is certainly not forgotten in this latest instalment. Joshua Jackson, a familiar face to us kids of the 90s, plays a down-on-his-luck ex-boxer dad and Jackie Chan brings his trademark light, energetic but undeniably authentic performance as Mr Han - Mr Miyagi's old friend. Miyagi karate is what brings these characters together and is the reason we see the return of 'Danielson' Ralph Macchio. Students had lots of fun experiencing everything that comes with going to the cinema, including a healthy dose of popcorn all before 10am! They were also lucky enough to receive a free cinema ticket form the Vue cinema to use over the Christmas holidays! I cant wait to hear what everyone went to see! Special thanks to Mrs Fox, Mr Roberts and Mr Evans for your help on the day and making Film Club accessible for so many. We look forward to the next one in the spring term! Mrs Crowther-Green and the Film and Media Department

Year 2 had a fantastic trip to Barking Gurdwara this week (wb 8th December). The children travelled sensibly on the bus and represented the school beautifully throughout the day. When they arrived, they were warmly welcomed and shown around the building, learning about its special features and significance. They also took part in an engaging session about Sikhism, where they discovered key beliefs and traditions. The children asked lots of thoughtful questions and showed great curiosity. Staff at the Gurdwara commented on how polite and respectful they were, a real credit to the school!