Maths Student of the Week

Lana 9T - Lana put lots of effort and resilience in the latest topic we studied. As a result she is now very confident in solving questions about arcs, sectors and 3D prisms.

Well Done!

Robotics Challenge 

I volunteered as a mentor for the Year 7s and 8s, for the Lego Robotics Challenge, which took place on 28 April 2023.

We came third, with only 1 point behind from 2nd place, and as a result, we were labelled as a ‘wildcard team’, which perhaps allows us to qualify through to the finals in June.

On the day, we travelled to the RAF Museum, where the competition was held, and lasted for the whole day. Many schools were there, though it was only a heat out of a wider national competition. Everyone had great fun and was in a competitive, but positive spirit, and worked together through various challenges, both with individual skills, and with great teamwork skills.

Most people started preparing and training for this competition all the way back in September, whilst I only joined a couple of months before the competition, focusing on the coding for the robot to operate and execute the challenges. This was a great opportunity for me to challenge myself and interact with some of the Year 7s and 8s, who share similar interests as me. We’re just waiting for the results from the competition, to see if we passed through to the finals, and currently we’re trying to see what we can improve, in case we do go to the finals. But overall, it was a great experience for everyone.

Shekinah 10T

Goodbye and Good Luck to Y11 

On Friday, we sadly said goodbye to our Year 11s who have started their GCSE exams. They took part in the traditional Leaver’s Lunch in the hall and their teachers came down to see them off as they ate pizza and danced into the afternoon. A huge well done to the head prefect team who led the entertainment and to all those involved in organising the hoodies and yearbook orders.

We are all so proud of them and we all wish them the best of luck in their exams and their future studies. Onwards and upwards!

Ms Brown and the Y11 tutor team.

Assembly Speaker, 24 March
Katherine Woolf Professor of Medical Education Research at University College London

In our Sixth Form assembly, we had the pleasure of welcoming former Camden pupil, Professor Elizabeth Woolf.

Elizabeth Woolf is a professor of Medical research at UCL and an honorary research fellow in Psychology. She provided us with an insightful overview of her educational journey, starting from the sixth form and recalled the enjoyable extracurriculars she partook in during her time here. Upon completion of her A-levels and an art foundation degree at the London Metropolitan University but unsure of her future, Professor Wolf described to us how she upheld a job in a pub which allowed her to reflect on her ambitions and career aspirations. During this time she encountered a professor of psychology and it was whilst in conversation with him that her interest in psychology began to stem. She subsequently applied to Goldsmiths successfully and whilst studying there she found out about a case study on Autistic savants, which a member of staff at the university was doing a study on, which really sparked her interest in the field. Woolf herself conducted a research project on other musicians with disabilities in her 3rd year and was offered a job to continue the project. After finishing her university degree, she took part in internships with several MPs conducting research for them whilst continuing to advance in her career, completing a PhD and then becoming a professor at UCL - giving lectures, writing several publications and continuing in her research. Additionally, she sits on the Health and Social care Committee working to advise and support the government. 

Professor Woolf’s talk was incredibly engaging and inspiring, and we were all absorbed in her journey. It was particularly motivating to hear that she is fulfilled in her present role and that she eventually discovered her interests despite, at our age, not having a clear plan of her career.

When closing her talk, she enlightened us on several key lessons she had learnt over the years. She reiterated the importance of networking and acquiring opportunities and being open to these opportunities, to try new things, even if the prospect of them makes us nervous, to always (politely!) ask for help, but most importantly that it is ok to be unsure of your career path and not to know the answers to everything now - everything will work out in the end.

Dania
Senior Prefect Sixth Form

Assembly Speaker, 15 May
Joel Defries - Former CSG Student, Ex-Blue Peter Presenter and Head of Marketing at Mangrove UK

We had an amazing start to the week by hearing from Joel Defries, who was a former CSG student, Blue Peter presenter and is now currently working as the Head of marketing at Mangrove UK. Much to our surprise, he revealed at the end that Ms Camillo is his mother-in-law and how he first met his wife at CSG when they were in a play together. Eight years later they met again at a barbecue and their fates were sealed.

 Joel gave us an insightful overview of what we might assume success is like but how the measure of real success is a complex one. He also gave some reassuring advice on how to tackle the challenges (including failure) that we may face in life through depicting his own life as a rollercoaster of events. 

Joel began by speaking about his time when he was a student at the Camden School for Girls 20 years ago, explaining how “Camden was the gift that kept giving '', and how he felt he was in an open and supportive environment where he could be himself. We were all flabbergasted when we learnt that you didn’t need ID to go to the pub in those days and that there was an actual sixth form smoker’s corner in the school!! Joel also admitted that he was banned from assembly for not taking it seriously enough and did not really apply himself to his studies, achieving 3 Cs at the end of year 13, which was definitely not the end of the world, as he explained later on. 

After completing his A Levels, Joel was attracted to the idea of living in New Zealand; at 19 years old, he moved to New Zealand with his family where he attained a job on a music channel, after constantly applying for work experience opportunities, underlining that perseverance pays off. As part of his role, Joel got to interview Pink, who cancelled the interview after just a few questions, because Joel pushed it too far by asking if she 'ever got blue' and making a joke about her career, he was banned from interviewing Pink ever again! However, he was very successful in his job, appearing on TV every day and writing all his own material. Following on from this, Joel found himself back in London, where he was able to secure his next job as a presenter on the children’s TV programme ‘Blue Peter’, where he undertook a range of assignments, including travelling around America. During his time on TV, he became aware of the fact he “liked communicating with people in an interesting setting” and unfortunately “became unhealthily addicted to it”.  He felt that it was his fate to be on TV and that his whole identity was bound up with it. After just over 2 years on Blue Peter, he sadly lost the job, when the BBC moved from London to Manchester. He elucidated that “failure is scary”, especially if you think you don’t have transferable skills or a degree, but eventually he came to realise it’s fine if something doesn’t work out, as there are always alternative options. 

Subsequently, Joel went on to work with homeless people in Haringey, where he learnt a range of valuable lessons, particularly the significance of actually listening to people and never giving up. He also emphasised how “you might think you know what you want to do, and you may veer off track, but this is ok”! Now, he works for a premium spirit distributor called Mangrove UK - as the head of marketing - after he was approached by his friend who asked for his help, and very much enjoys his work.

All in all, Joel was a very inspirational speaker, as he reminded all of us of the importance of never giving up and remaining resilient and determined during the most difficult of times. Thank you very much to Joel for taking time out of his busy schedule to speak to us; I know we all benefited from his wise and witty words, especially as exam season approaches. 

Samir 12LG03