Berlin Trip (February Half Term)

It was a fantastic trip for my first visit to Berlin. Upon arrival, I was mesmerised by the history and culture of Berlin. I was particularly excited to go on the U-Bahn, and the experience did not disappoint me! We also visited many attractions such as the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag and the TV tower at Alexanderplatz, which provided stunning views and a deeper insight into the city. Berlin was bursting with landmarks that constantly reminded people of the war that happened, and that certainly made an impact. The trip was packed with attractions and that left me exhausted, but I did not regret coming on this trip and am looking forward to my next visit to Berlin.

– Christoph, Form 4.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the February half term holiday, I visited Berlin with a group of amazing teachers and students from different year groups. We had to depart from college to Luton airport at 1am in the morning, and even though we were advised to get some sleep before then, I was busy completing my first full draft of English NEA coursework. 6.2 is no joke! After a few hours of bus ride, we woke up in a muddle to see that we had arrived at Luton airport. We then went through the check-in procedure without much fuss. 

This trip was physically exhausting as it involved a lot of walking, with the first day being fully packed with places to visit literally straight after landing. However, this trip, full of visits to historical sites and museums, was also an intellectually enriching history lesson. I also took this trip as an opportunity to revitalise my memory of the German language, and I was surprised at how much I remembered as I could understand conversations in German and some texts on menus. Amongst the many places we visited, my highlights include walking up to the glass dome of the Reichstag where I got to enjoy the cityscape of Berlin and appreciate the political symbolism of the architecture. We also visited the Sachsenhausen concentration camp where we were given a guided tour by an enthusiastic guide who informed us about the heart-wrenching history and description of the treatment of prisoners in the camp. Another highlight was the Blue Man Group concert, which gave us a serotonin boost with loud drums and music after a long day of visits to places with quite depressing history. On the last day of the trip, we ascended the Fernsehturm (Berlin TV Tower) in Alexanderplatz which overlooked the city of Berlin where we tried to spot the different places we visited over the past few days. For lunch, I had currywurst made by an amiable Afghan guy. The chilli-sauce was the star of the dish, though I was confused by the ironic lack of curry.  

– Irisa, 6.2.

     

Our experiences as Marketing Monitors

Sabrina: 

Being a Marketing Monitor has allowed me to gain lots of skills and interesting experiences that I wouldn’t have if I didn’t decide to step out of my comfort zone and apply for this role. As for me, I’ve learnt how to communicate efficiently and plan my time wisely. Also, always have a backup plan as you never know what unexpected accidents will happen. These skills, I believe, will benefit us not only throughout Form 5 but also in our future. Most importantly, I had a great experience of teamwork. There are inevitably moments when I struggled with my work and it’s my teammates who helped me and released my stress. Last but not least, this role allows you to meet with a range of interesting people and the satisfaction of seeing your work produced, such as the blogs and yearbook, is irreplaceable.

Zelenie: 

As part of the Marketing Monitor team, I found it extraordinarily amazing to meet new people with different experiences in Lower School. We got to help expand the Lower School Blog onto different platforms and it allowed us as a community to be able to express a shared voice! Not only did it help with the bridging of different forms to interact, but it also helped us personally through writing and editing skills. It felt motivational to continue our good work and receive feedback. If you were to join the team next year, I think it would be excellent for improving time management skills, communication skills, writing and editing skills, and teamwork! I truly believe that the satisfaction that you gain at the end of the day after collecting and editing a blog to perfection, will fuel you for many days! I’m upset that our time as Marketing Monitors is over but I’m sure the new monitors will continue the hard work and be as brilliant as ever. Good luck!

Kenneth: 

I must first say a massive thank you to the school and my teammates for a great year, the marketing team is more than a job, but also family. We work together every week, we face problems together, and we solve them together too. To be able to work so closely with the school and help our marketing team promote our great college, through the blogs and our new Instagram, I feel so gratefully honoured to be able to serve the school in such a fun and enjoyable way. The thing I cherish and appreciate the most about the role as Marketing Monitor is the amount of freedom and room for creativity the school allows; we were four imaginative people and had lots of plans for our role, and when we presented them to Mrs Hawkins, Mrs Coward and Mr Coffey, we had so much support and assurance from them. That is the reason why there are two blogs per week, why we started filming and editing vlogs, and why we started our own Instagram page and update it regularly. I really thank the school and our team for that. I am also thankful that I was able to learn so many things and become ‘a better me’ with my teammates in the past year: the creativity we had with new projects, the time we all sacrificed for meetings, the perseverance we had when making the yearbook, management skills we learnt when organising roles. There is so much you can learn from this role; it is really worth it. I am sure the marketing team next year will be brilliant, good luck!

Hugo: 

Time flies in a blink of an eye and now I’ve reached the end of this journey. It has been great to work alongside my teammates – we have made such an amazing team. We have done our very best to promote school events through Lower School blogs and our official Instagram account, and all students and staff acknowledge our hard work. Throughout this stunning experience I believe we have learnt the significance of team spirit, and I hope that the next group can keep on with our fire and passion for this job.

Lower School Dinner 2019

The annual Lower School Dinner was held on 1^st June this year marking the end of a productive and busy year for Lower School students, especially for the Form 5 students who were in the middle of their GCSEs.

The event commenced with reception at the Science Block. Butter Beer, Ginger Weasley, Longbottom Iced Tea and Slytherin Snakebite, of course alcohol-free, were served to students as they were taking pictures with their friends outside. As one Form 4 said: ‘Butter beer was perfect’ as the friendly chatter was filling the foyer and the laughter could be heard from the outside.

The dinner was a desired break – the social event brought students, teachers and senior staff members together into a Harry Potter themed and heavily decorated dining hall. The themed food was ‘scrumptious and delicious’, according to Concordians. Sneezewort Salmon rillette, Lemon and Gillyweed Tiger Prawns for starters, Madam Rosmeria’s Seared Rump Steak for the main course and finally, for dessert, Mad Eye Moody’s Mango Mousse and Chocolate Cauldron Truffle Cake, topped with white chocolate wingless Snitches and Broomsticks. Yummy!

After lovely musical performances by students and inspirational speeches, Concordians went to the West End where they were met with modern trending music, an external DJ and photobooth. The disco even attracted a few upper school students who did not want to miss out on partying. As for me, it was a wonderful experience to relive the event as it reminded me about the great, exciting moments I had back in the Lower School. As a friend of mine summed up, in a typical Concord equation: ‘Lower School supper + disco + wonderful people = fantastic day’.

Danylo – 6.1

Lower School Monitors Welcome New Students

On the 6th and 7th of September, the new Lower School Monitors were tested as a team to lead an exciting range of activities for the induction of new students. Over the two consecutive evenings, the Monitors successfully managed the task of welcoming students into Concord, proven by the fact the Sports Hall filled with echoes of laughter.

We organised sets of games for new F3s and F4s, as well as the returning F4s, acting as an ice-breaker for the students. The activities are arranged to help the new students socialise and make new friends, so they have got lots of support from their peers in their academic course that lies ahead.

Here are some of the comments left by a selection of the Monitors, regarding the games they led:

“Despite the fact that I used my voice so much over the two nights that my throat hurt, I found that I had enjoyed leading the activities as much as the students enjoyed participating in them.” – Hannah

“I think the two evenings were well organised by the Monitor team. All students had fun and familiarised themselves with each other during the events. I was really glad to see those smiling faces starting to appear over the two nights. It was a good chance for me to make new friends too and gain confidence with them socially.” –  Carolyn

“I think the Monitor-led games were a great way to get to know new members of Lower School – It was also an opportunity for our Monitor team to work together. Before the actual event, we put a lot of effort in planning and organising, hoping the students would enjoy themselves and make new friends. When we were carrying out the induction activities, the outcome was much better than we initially expected! Although all of us were tired after hours of ‘shouting’, the happiness overshadowed this completely and I felt so accomplished after hosting these two events by ourselves.” – Anna

Below are some of the reflections of students who participated in the games:

“I enjoyed the ‘balloons one’ on the first day because everyone was involved.” – Melody (New F4)

“It was very fun and people were enthusiastic.” – Aidan (New F3)

“I found it very interesting.” – Osa (Returning F4)

“I liked the ‘pool noodles games’ most, because it required strategy and was fun.” – Myrtle (New F4)

“I particularly enjoyed the game where we had to all stand on a bench in a line with a certain ‘standard’ without falling. It really helped us getting to know each other.” – Sabrina (New F4)

“I liked the idea of playing dodgeball in the Sports Hall and also capture the flag, where we were split into different teams.” – Iris (New F4)

– The Monitor Team

The Form 3 Poetry Competition

The poem I recited was called Alone by Maya Angelou. When picking my poem the only thing I knew was that I wanted it to have an effect on people, so that they are left wondering and reflecting on what has just been said to them.

Once I came across Maya Angelou’s work, I knew that she was the poet I was going to choose. Her strong voice and tenacious words were just what I was looking for. The only problem I was faced with was which poem to choose… She had filled five award-winning poetry books with her beautiful and powerful words, but I was only allowed to choose one. I was reading and scrolling through her different poems and, although they were all very powerful, I didn’t feel that I really connected to them. I simply understood them and enjoyed reading them. However, I thought that unless I connected with the poem I wouldn’t be able to deliver a presentation to the best of my abilities. But, when I read through Alone I was thrilled – I found the poem that I wouldn’t mind memorising, analysing and presenting. I had found the poem that I felt I connected to.

Alone not only clearly portrayed Maya Angelou’s strong and independent voice, it empowered people, especially women, all while giving a very clear message. Of course, the message could be interpreted in different ways, however, I believe that no matter what way someone interprets this poem the overall effect will still be the same. I think that the poem is suggesting that isolating ourselves from love, connections and relationships causes us to be weak and vulnerable. As humans, we need affection and attention to carry on being healthy and happy. I think that that message will really speak to and stay with the audience. Some people believe that they are above compassion, love and connections, that they can’t let their guard down and share their life with someone. My hope and belief is that after hearing or reading this poem, they will realise that affection and connection are not signs of weakness; they’re a sign of humanity.

Aliya – F3