SFXtra April 2007

Contents

Dear Parents

ICT Website ....................2 Community Learning Programme ....................3 Famous Author ....................4 Swan Lake ....................5 Exam Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7 Battle of the Bands ....................8 School Council ....................9 Fundraisng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Mace Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Competitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

It does not seem five minutes since Christmas and here we are nearly at Easter, the most important season in our Christian calendar. A time for us to reflect on the fact that Jesus was crucified because of our sins, but rose again; a time to remember that the power of good is far greater than that of evil; a time when we are born again.

The fact that Easter in Britain coincides with Spring, reinforces this message of new beginnings and new life even more. It also gives us the encouragement and determination to approach things with new and increased fervour.

For those pupils and students who are fast approaching their SATS, GCSE’s, AS and A Levels, it is a time when they need all of our support and encouragement; a time when they themselves need determination. We wish them well as they approach the final furlong – the next few weeks are crucial in terms of revision and preparation. The Ofsted team who visited before half term were impressed by the students “very positive attitudes to learning”. Let us all hope and pray that our students gain the success which they deserve in the forthcoming examinations.

Yours sincerely L D Rippon Headteacher

Dates for Diary: Friday March 30 school closes at 12.20pm Tuesday April 17 school reopens at 8.40am Year 11 study leave begins on Wednesday May 16 2007 Year 12 study leave begins on Friday May 18 2007 Year 13 study leave begins on Friday May 25 2007 Monday March 26 Meeting for Y11 parents and pupils about final preparations for GCSE 7pm, School Hall Tuesday March 27 GCSE Options evening for Y9 pupils moving into Y10

The Newspaper Editing Team Adam Wing 11 WA

Bradley Crompton 7 WA

Andrew Dunbar 10 CA

Philip Devine 7 LE

Michael Sweetman 7 BR

David Jones 10 RI

Mark Farrell 7 WA

John Hyland 10 KE

Elias Dubicki-Galleway 7 WA

Connor McCarthy 10 OW

Joseph Irwin 7 LE

Josh Donnelly 8R I

Matthew McNamara 7 LE

James Fazakerley 8 OW

Liam Markey 7 LE

Callum Hutton 8 MA

Jordan Roberts 7 WA

Senior Editor Adam Wing 11 WA Graphic Designer John Hyland 10 KE Graphics Assistant Joseph Irwin 7 LE

In partnership with YOUTH PARTNER

Parklands Excellence in Liverpool

Building Schools for the Future Several years ago the Government unveiled plans to regenerate and rebuild every School in the country and it was recently in the news that SFX will be in the next phase of Schools to be rebuilt part of the ‘wave five building’. Our School will come together with Abbots Lee and Lower Lee schools to effectively build one large campus in which the three schools will each keep their own identity but will share specialist facilities such as a sports hall or science labs. It is anticipated that building will commence in three to four years time and the schools must come up with plans in the time between now and then. During this period we shall be talking to Parents, Pupils and Staff for ideas for the new Campus.

The three schools already have a good rapport and share some facilities which means that the new campus will merely make the sites more easily accessible with gates to connect the schools within the campus grounds.

Digital Native Project Mr Evans has decided to set up an ICT Departmental website which will allow pupils to have greater learning opportunities outside or normal school hours, they can also leave messages to their teachers for any queries regarding their work. The website was designed by Mr Evans to enable students to have more interactivity with ICT staff and each other outside of normal lesson time. The website address is; www.ictlesson.info. The site contains podcasts for GCSE revision which can be downloaded and listened to on a CD, a computer or on an MP3 Player. The site also has lesson resources and presentations, Exam board information, revision resources and is growing weekly to include as many other useful items as possible.

Students can also email any problems with homework, coursework or understanding lesson content to a new ‘Remote OnLine Feedback’ facility, the email address is; rolf@sfx.liverpool.sch. If students email any problems ICT staff will try to get back to them as soon as possible, this means that during a weekend or even school holidays ICT students can get help of their teachers!

Adam Wing

Nightowl The Nightowl sessions have been running since October 2006 and are very well attended by Year 11 pupils. Over the past few months between 40 and 90 Year 11 pupils have attended sessions each week. When interviewed Miss Lindop said “I am extremely impressed by the dedication and work ethic of some of our Year 11 students and I am sure that the extra hours they have spent studying at Nightowl will pay dividends when GCSE results are published in August”.

When interviewed, a Year 11 pupil said “Nightowl is a fulfilling and enriching evening which lots of people in Y11 partake in. Many teachers give up their time voluntarily and we are really grateful for this. The teachers want us to use the potential

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The website also has its own wiki which is a mini encyclopaedia that will allow pupils to search for certain words or things they need help on. They can also add their own definition to words which means that eventually a full ICT encyclopaedia can be created for the students by the students.

The website has its own blog where students can leave messages for teachers or for other pupils to help them. Mr Evans is also looking for two administrators to help run and maintain the site; the administrators must have a basic grasp of html coding. Although the website is not completely up and running it is still available to go on and browse. Mr Evans is urging everyone to make the best possible use of the site and that they should use it as much as possible.

David Jones

we have to the full and give a lot of help and assistance to all of us. They want us to succeed. It’s more relaxed because as well as the taught classes there are also drop in sessions and workshops which are more informal”.

There are lots of sessions every week for Year 11 pupils to come to which are published each week on the plasma screen in the dining room. It is really important that Year 11 use this facility as part of their revision for GCSEs which start soon. Nightowl runs every Tuesday from 3.30pm to 8pm.

Jordan Roberts

Community Learning Programme The community classes started on 22nd February, with over 160 adult learners from our community enjoying classes in: •

ICT

•

Digital Photography

•

Literacy

•

Spanish

•

French

•

Craft

The adult learners all commented on how much they had enjoyed the classes and how fantastic our staff and student helpers were. Miss Lindop would like to express her appreciation to the Year 12 Duke of Edinburgh’s Silver Award students who have volunteered to assist with the classes as part of their service project. A big thank you must also be given to the younger helpers from Years 9 and 11 who have volunteered their time freely and have provided an invaluable service on the car park and assisting with the organisation of rooms and the environment. The feedback from the community learners was very positive and many of them commented on how enjoyable the classes were and how friendly and helpful the staff and student helpers were.

The next phase in our community learning programme is to undertake research into the viability of running a year-long accredited learning programme commencing September 2007. Watch this space for more details!

Andrew Dunbar

OFSTED & RE Inspections.

The college was recently inspected

by OFSTED. The inspection was a great success, and the inspectors recognised the hard work put in by all staff and pupils over the past six years since the last inspection.

It was noted that “the students are polite and courteous with visitors and supportive of each other” and that the students at St Francis Xavier’s make an outstanding positive contribution to the community through charity work, Duke of Edinburgh’s award and visits to the local community to name but a few of the many schemes and work undertaken by pupils.

The inspectors concluded that the college is “…an inclusive college that provides a good education for all its students” and that “The college has a good and well deserved reputation in the city and students are proud to attend it.

They went on to say that “throughout the college there is a focus on improving learning”.

The inspection of the Religious Education aspect of the college was also a great success.

The two inspections concluded that “St Francis Xavier’s college is a good catholic school with some outstanding features”.

Mr Rippon said “I would like to thank all Staff, Pupils and Parents for all the hard work they have put in over the past years, it has not been easy but we have worked through it together and with some extra hard work put in over the next three years we hope to get an ‘outstanding’ report with even more grade 1’s!”

Adam Wing

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Famous Author Visit On Tuesday 27th February the school received a visit from the famous author Alan Gibbons. Mr Gibbons came to talk to pupils from Years 7, 8 and 9. He came to talk to the pupils about how he became a writer and gave handy tips on how to become a successful author. Mr Gibbons has over 50 published books, the most famous being The Shadow of the Minotaur which was awarded the very first Blue Peter book of the year beating off fierce competition from J.K Rowling and other well known authors.

The Shadow of the Minotaur is also studied in school. Mr Gibbons has sold over 700,000 copies of his books in the UK alone, that means that 1 in 10 people own one of his books. His books have also been published in more than 10 different languages. Mr Gibbons is working on his current book Demon Assassin, where a demonic assassin is

sent to try and kill Winston Churchill and a young boy must try and save him, Mr Gibbons said that he is expecting this book to be the one he enjoyed writing the most. But Mr Gibbons was not always this successful. He was a teacher for eighteen years until he was encouraged to send his work off to a publisher and after twenty three rejections, his book Pig, was finally accepted to be published. Mr Gibbons has advised all the future writers to read a lot and carry a notebook to copy down literary devices used in books. He has also advised them to try and imitate various styles of writing other famous authors use and to use a lot of imagination. Everyone involved would like to thank Miss Grace for her efforts in organising this wonderful event.

David Jones, John Hyland and Connor McCarthy

Oliver ‘The Musical’ Later in the year, the newly formed SFX Performing Arts department is putting on a school production of the classic play Oliver. Most of the year 10 Performing Arts group will in the production, as well as younger pupils and Sixth Form.

Auditions have taken place for Oliver and rehearsals have now started. There is still opportunity to get involved. We are looking for pupils to join the chorus and the back stage team. If you have an interest in helping out please see Miss Manning or Miss Shinks.

Andrew Dunbar

Sport News Congratulations to Michael Deakin Y12 who has been selected for England U18 Schoolboys. Michael was recently chosen as Captain for the England vs Belgium National U17s which resulted in a 5-2 victory!

The Table Tennis sessions have commenced with lunchtime sessions available for Year groups 7-11, after school sessions will begin in the Summer term. If pupils are interested they must see Mr Brophy for details.

Canoes have been purchased and coaching sessions will begin shortly.

The Higher Education Play Miss Thiery organised the Higher Education play for the boys in Year 10. The play company called Impact Theatre performed a play for the year called ‘HE4all’ which took place during fourth lesson and after the play had finished, certain boys remained behind for fifth lesson to learn more about the play and participate in some activities. The play’s purpose was to show that it is important to go to University if you wanted to get a better job and earn more money. The play delivered this point but also made it funny so as to keep pupils entertained.

For more information visit their website www.he4all.com.

Connor McCarthy

Enterprise Event Open The Door Theatre in Education Group visited our school on Tuesday 20th February, to present “Fair Start – Me the Next Richard Branson”. This play forms part of the Enterprise Module currently being followed in Year 10 via our Learn to Learn programme. The play explores the highs and lows of starting your own business through the eyes of three pupils. A teenage desire to visit the fun fair sparks a great idea for a business opportunity. Each character using their individual skills and personalities strives to make it work.

Mr Conroy – Enterprise and WRL Co-ordinator stated that “this is an excellent way to deliver the importance of enterprise education to our pupils”. The pupils demonstrated their approval with a resounding ovation.

Watch out for more detailed sport news in the next edition!

David Jones Mr Brophy

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Open the Door On Wednesday 7th January a play was performed to Year 7 in the main hall. The play was called Open the Door and was performed to the year group to inform them about bullying and what to do if it is happening to or around them. The play also gave the Year 7 pupils small tips on adjusting to a new school.

The play had three main characters, Paul, Michael and Kieran, who were moving to secondary school. Kieran (who knew no one) tried to act “hard” to get Paul and Michael to like him.

However, he was unsuccessful and so he decided to take his frustration and anger out on Michael. When Paul found out about this he immediately informed his form teacher. His teacher spoke to Kieran, and he did not bully Michael again; in fact Paul and Michael became friends with Kieran.

This type of thing happens in every school, and it always will, the important thing is that it is stopped as soon as possible.

The only way for a teacher to stop these things as soon as possible is if someone (you!) is brave enough to speak up. Just like Paul was.

Swan Lake On the 31st January pupils from Year 10 and Sixth Form went to see a performance of Swan Lake at the Empire Theatre. The trip was organised by Miss Hayes who thought it would allow the pupils to get a better understanding of the acting world as the actors only used actions and music.

The trip also helped those who attended to realise that actions are just as useful as words in the performing world.

Miss Hayes is organising a play during the summer for an afternoon in Stratford on Avon. Anybody wanting to go on this trip should contact Miss Hayes. The pupils enjoyed the trip to Swan Lake thoroughly and can’t wait to see the next performance arranged.

David Jones

After the play, a survey was passed around and according to the results, 94% of the pupils stated that they understood what the play was about and knew who to go to if they had any problems with another pupil. 98% of the Year 7 audience said they enjoyed this production, as did members of staff.

Ms Staunton said that she is definitely going to organise for Open the Door to come in again sometime in the near future.

Ms Staunton has also asked me to remind our readers that we have our own bullying survey. If you have any problems, or know of anyone who has any problems with another pupil just inform your Coordinator of Learning by filling in the form.

Joseph Irwin

Spring Concert The annual spring concert shall take place in the second week back after the Easter holidays. Any pupils’ who wish to be involved see Miss Manning as soon as possible.

Miss Manning

Poetry Live On Wednesday 17th January, pupils from Year 10, Year 11 and some Sixth Form students attended the Poetry Day Live at the Philharmonic Hall. Several poets were there reading their poems from the anthology which Year 10 and 11 are currently studying for GCSE.

Of Mice and Men On the 25th January Miss McDonald arranged for the Aigburth Theatre Company to come into school and perform Of Mice and Men for Year 11 pupils.

Overall, it was an enjoyable day that will help us with our final exams.

Three men performed the play without any props and it was well organised. The best actor in the play was the young man who played Curley’s wife and Crooks as well as a few other characters. The highlight of the play was when George shot Lenny because it was so unexpected due to their friendship. The play helped us to understand the book further because we got to observe the characters behaviour rather than just read about it.

Wesley Dunn and Andrew Dunbar

Adam Brown and Ian Carroll

The day was organised by Miss McDonald, with Mr Quinn, Mrs Boughey and Mrs Jenkins accompanying the students on the day.

The day was very useful for everyone who went, with insights into the poems from the poets themselves. AQA Examiner Peter Buckroyd also gave tips and links on how to do well in exams.

Poems were read by Carol Ann Duffy, Gillian Clarke, Imtaiz Dharker, Moniza Alvi, John Agard and Simon Armitage. John Agard was highly entertaining and Simon Artbitage was extremely amusing!

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Exam Preparation Learn to Learn In Year 10 students have one lesson per week learning how to learn, the subject focuses on how to learn

effectively in class and at home. Some of the topics covered include: •

Whole brain learning

•

Learning styles

•

Memory techniques

•

Mind maps

•

Enterprise

•

Revision skills

•

Financial capability.

ALAN Testing

When interviewed, Miss Evans explained how not all of the topics focus on academic learning. Mr Conroy recently organised an Enterprise topic which ran for 6 weeks and students became entrepreneurs, designing a whole range of products from a club night to a greetings card. This lesson provides opportunities for pupils to explore at the academic side of learning whilst focusing on life skills as well.

Adam Wing

Year 9 SATS

Year 11 pupils have recently completed their Mock Tests for the Adult Literacy and Numeracy qualifications.

This is a new initiative which was implemented as part of Specialist Status last year with a great success rate. Although they are not GCSE Qualifications, if a pupil passes both the Literacy and Numeracy tests they are worth a grade B GCSE at level 2 or a grade E GCSE at level 1 in addition to his Maths and English qualifications.

The tests start early for some students on Monday 16th of April 2007 which is the first day after the Easter Holidays. This is a school INSET day so the rest of the pupils are not in school. For the rest of Year 11 the tests start on Tuesday 17th April and run for 3 weeks, ending on Friday 4th May. Each Year 11 pupil has been given a test date and will sit the Numeracy Examination in the morning which will last for 75 minutes and the Literacy Examination in the afternoon which will last for 60 minutes. If pupils are entitled to extra time it will be added on to the exam timing.

All Year 9 pupils will sit Statutory Assessment Tests (SATS) in the week beginning 8th May 2007. They will be tested on their knowledge of the Maths, English and Science work they have covered over the past 3 years. The results of these tests will give an idea of each pupil’s current attainment grades and will be used as a basis for setting next years Year 10 classes. The Fischer Family Trust also uses the SATS results to set each pupils target grades for their

GCSE’s. It is vital that all pupils revise thoroughly for these important exams and all pupils are advised to get a good nights sleep the night before the exams start and eat a healthy nutritious breakfast on the morning of the exam. Pupils must also ensure that they have the correct stationery and equipment with them on the day of the exams and that they arrive at school on time.

John Hyland and David Jones.

Both of the tests are computer based and there are practice tests available on the Internet which pupils can try out at home or in school to help them to prepare for the test. The link is shown below. http://www.edexcel.org.uk/sfc/onscreen/alan-test/ Year 11 pupils must be in school at 8.40am on the day of the exam and must report to the Library and wait with Mrs Grace where they will be registered at 8.45am. The Afternoon Test will start at 1.20pm, it is vital that pupils are not late.

Year 11 Mentoring Scheme Every member of staff has been assigned a student to mentor in the run up to their GCSE exams in May and June. The pupils who have been assigned a mentor were identified as not reaching their full potential in the recent half term assessments and mock examinations. In addition to this, pupils

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who didn’t originally have a mentor but thought that they would benefit from one were also assigned a member of staff by Miss Evans. The staff meet with their mentees once a week. In the meetings the pupils talk about how they are doing in their subjects and plan revision, the pupils also talk to their

mentors about any problems they have.

Miss Evans, Miss Lindop and Miss Martin mentor the Gifted and Talented pupils in order to ensure that they achieve the A’s & A*s which they are predicted to achieve.

Adam Wing

Revision Tips and Techniques 1.

Arrange a quiet space for revision, without distractions.

2.

Make sure that the room is well lit, you have a pen, pencil, rubber, ruler, the books needed.

3.

Have lots of water available and healthy food, including fruit and vegetables.

4.

Establish a revision timetable/plan and stick to it.

5.

Use active revision techniques (mindmaps, diagrams, revision postcards dealing with topics, lists of key words) – it’s faster, more effective and much more fun.

6.

Break revision down into small manageable chunks.

7.

Establish a good time to learn for example if you are no good until you’ve had your Dinner leave it till later but if you work better straight from school revise at 4pm.

8.

Learn/revise something every day – even if there are built in ‘lighter’ days e.g. Saturday.

9.

Make it multi sensory, use at least two senses: hear it, say it, see it, do it.

10. You can: 1) read the information you wish to learn, 2) write/draw some brief notes/diagrams/charts on what you have learned, 3) summarise the information by talking it through/drawing/writing down key ideas, 4) listen to someone else’s summary or look at someone else’s diagram.

Revision Websites The Internet has a huge range of free resources which can make a real difference to your grades - get online and try them out!

Research has clearly shown that eLearning can make a significant difference to your overall grade at GCSE. Miss Evans has provided a list of sites which you may find useful to use as part of your revision.

1. GCSE Bitesize Revision http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/: Brush up on your skills with Revision Bites and use Test Bites to check what you know. Loads of interactive exercises!

2. Project GCSE: http://www.projectgcse.co.uk/They offer many resources for students revising for their GCSEs including: GCSE revision notes and practice questions, a GCSE bookshop, GCSE help and advice and the 'take a break' section.

3. GCSE Guide - http://www.gcseguide.co.uk/ The Chance To Revise, Test yourself and learn GCSE Topics FREE, With English Coursework, Maths Papers With Answers, Maths Revision Notes, A Bookshop and more...

4. Doc Brown's Chemistry Clinic: http://www.wpbschoolhouse.btinternet.co.uk/ Lots of useful GCSE, AS and A2 level revision support for Chemistry as well as links to other Chemistry revision sites.

5. Revision Mind Maps: http://www.bgfl.org/services/mindmaps/maps/mindmaps.html These map out key areas for revision in a large number of subjects.

6. S-Cool: http://www.s-cool.co.uk/default.asp S-cool is a new site dedicated to school students.

7. Biology Revision Website http://www.purchon.com/biology/revision.htm GCSE Biology revision. Very useful site.

11. Highlighter pens are good for making notes, charts, key words.

8. SAM learning - http://www.samlearning.com/ Exam revision for GCSE's. The school has a subscription.

12. Use revision cards (plain postcards work well): write down a topic and five key words about that topic. Turn over the card. See if you can remember all the words on the card. Design a set of cards for each topic.

Adam Wing

13. Routine is important e.g. go to your learning place, turn off the TV/radio/music, sit at your desk, get everything around you that you need.

14. Structure is important, e.g. look at the last thing you did on this topic, read your work, work for 10 minutes, take a 5 minute break, work for 10 minutes, take a 15 minute break, revise for 5 minutes.

Six Simple Techniques 1.

Condense. Fitting notes onto one side of paper makes them easier to stomach, so rewrite and cut down as you go.

SAM Learning For the third year running the school has subscribed Years 9 and 11 to SAM learning. This is a top quality on-line learning service that can be used at home or in school, it is a brilliant way to help you to revise for GCSEs or SATS. GCSE pupils should try to complete at least one hour per night on SAM Learning.

Pupils can tackle a choice of revision, using drag and drop and test practice which essentially means that students do and mark their own work. In exam practice, every single mark is identified by the examiners who wrote the question so we see time and time again that pupils benefit from improving their technique, their confidence and as a result their results.

Learners need three details to login:

2.

Highlight. Target key areas using colours and symbols.

Visuals help you remember the facts.

School ID

L25SF

3.

Record. Try putting important points, quotes and formulae on tape. If you hear them and read them, they're more likely to sink in.

User ID

Date of birth followed by two initials; first name then last name. Example: 010885DJ is the User ID for David Jones born 1st Aug 1985.

4.

Talk. Read your notes out loud, it's one way of getting them to register.

Password

Initially same as User ID, you should change your password as soon as you login.

5.

Test. See what you can remember without notes, but avoid testing yourself on subjects you know already.

6.

Time. Do past exam papers against the clock, it's an excellent way of getting up to speed.

If pupils need a new password or are unable to access SAM they should speak to Miss Evans or Miss Lindop who will reset their account.

Adam Wing

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Battle of the Bands 2007 This year a new competition has started in conjunction with Parklands CLC. Run by the same people as Teen Idol, Battle of the Bands involves bands that can perform their own material or cover versions and take part in a competition with other schools in south Liverpool. In school we ran our own competition and two bands were selected to perform in the semi-finals at Parklands CLC. ‘The Crowbar’ consisted of Michael Campbell, Josh Blakeway, Curtis Reekie and Patrick Coyle who entered the originals category. ‘Off Target’ consisting of Matthew Blake, Matthew Oldham, Matthew Weeks, David Sutton, Jack Brown and Alex were the schools representatives in the covers category.

On the night of the semi-finals both bands put in excellent performances and ‘Off target’ made it through to the final. The final will take place at The Picket in Liverpool on Wednesday 18th April and tickets are available from Miss Manning. Come along and support your school!

Miss Manning

Resident Artist Declan Hudson from Year 8 is using his artistic talents to improve the décor in Lab P3.

Declan has been interested in drawing for a long time and has real talent. He has been showing off his talent in Lab 3.

As soon as Mr. Holden saw Declan’s work he kindly donated two of his classrooms boards.

After Year 9 pupils requested a picture of Bob Marley Declan was only too pleased to use their idea. Declan has also drawn a South Park character and a young girl. If you want to keep up to date with Declan’s work he can be seen any lunch time in Lab 3.

Can you see the resemblance?

As you can see Declan is a great artist and has gone from drawing cartoon characters to high speed trains. His favourite thing to draw is a plane in mid-flight soaring over the Mediterranean. It is hard to believe Declan does not want to be an artist when he grows up.

Future Projects Declan is planning to draw a rabbit hopping merrily through a meadow and a rugby player scoring a try in front of thousands of fans.

Matthew McNamara

Cricket Coaching

Swimming Team

Next term Mr Reynolds is organising a cricket team for Years 7, 8,9,10 and there will also be a senior team. Trials are not necessary, anyone is welcome to join. The team will play on the top field against other schools during the school week.

On 8th February this year SFX hosted a swimming gala between SFX and Calderstones. It was a huge success as both teams had a great time. When the smoke had cleared though, SFX were the clear winners with 132 points to 96. I spoke to Mr Long, head of the swimming team to see what he thought on the teams’ performance. He said, “The opposition was not as strong as last year but they put up a good fight.”

In conjunction with this two six formers (Mark Doyle and James Merry) are in the process of cricket coaching qualifications. Their assessment is on Friday the 30th March 2007.

I asked what he thought was the teams’ strongest stroke, he replied; “butterfly, as Y7, Y8 and Y9 all won their races.”

Elias Dubicki- Gallwey and Mark Farrell

Very soon there will be an inter-form swimming gala where all 8 forms will go head to head to see who the true champion is, but for now well done to SFX swimming team.

Liam Markey

PTA Race Night ~ £1000 raised Last term the school PTA held another race night, which is proving to be increasingly popular family event here at SFX. The night involved governors, staff, parents and pupils competing against each other in various races. It was an excellent night with over seventy people in attendance. Everyone had a great evening and over £1000 was raised to support the activities of the school. A big thanks you to all who supported the event and we hope to see you nest time!

Callum Hutton and James Fazakerley

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Music Lunchtime Clubs Monday – Junior Vocal Group Wednesday – Music Theory Club Thursday - Woodwind Ensemble

School Council

Golf Team News SFX now has four golf teams consisting of pupils with varying handicaps. The teams have taken part in different competitive matches, three of which have been with other schools in the North West in a knock out competition. Each game has been fought well but unfortunately all the matches were narrowly lost 2-1.

Last October we held the first SFX competition and over twenty six pupils played at Allerton Golf Course. We were assessing their handicaps and potential for matches in 2007.

The next competition will be in March 2007 at Allerton and there will be a prize of £30 for the winner. Please contact Mr.Roberts for further details.

Philip Devine

Year 8 Football The year started with some poor results but since then, the team has improved. Recent results show the teams improvement.

Unfortunately the team were knocked out of the Merseyside Cup on penalties by Archbishop Beck after a 1-1 draw in normal time.

Two goals came in extra time, one from either side. SFX were beaten on penalties 5-3.

The team are currently still in the Liverpool Cup after beating Formby High on penalties and then beating Calderstones 5-1.

The next match that SFX played was against Ruffwood, where they won 4-0.

Let’s hope the team can keep up their current form and stay as possible in the Liverpool Cup.

As you may already know there is a school council, which helps amplify the pupils of SFX views. Twice every term the council meet to express the views of their fellow classmates. They are responsible for the salad bar, no chips day and the ban of twizzlers!

To be a councillor you must be a good listener, you must care about other pupils and take other peoples opinions into consideration. You must be an overall nice person.

Recently Ofsted visited SFX and attended a school council meeting; they were very impressed and thought that the children’s attitude was excellent.

The council consists of year representatives who comment on their fellow pupils suggestions and how they can be made a reality. The council consists of a chairperson, a minute taker and other representatives who report back on their classes concerns and ideas.

The council have made some big changes to the school and hopefully many more will be on the way.

Liam Markey

James Fazakerley, Josh Donnelly and Callum Hutton.

Trip to Greece In May 2007 Mr Slattery is taking a selection of students from SFX to Greece.

They will be getting a coach to London and taking a four hour flight to Greece. They will be staying in five luxury hotels, the last being the best.

Their day to day schedule will be; eating breakfast, then going to a site or historical venue, getting lunch. After that they will be shopping or going to the beach and of course, you can’t have hot weather without ice cream!

They will be visiting the acropolis in Athens, the Meteora (where a scene from the James bond film, For Your Eyes Only, was filmed) the Delphi mountains. At Olympia, (the first Olympic events were held there) the boys are going to race. They will also go to a theatre in Greece which is famous for its high quality acoustics Mark Farrell, Joseph Irwin and Elias Dubicki-Gallwey

Computers for Schools We are currently collecting the Tesco Computers for Schools vouchers.

The vouchers are given to customers for every £10 spent in a Tesco store.

The more vouchers we can manage to collect, the more equipment we can exchange these for to support our growing amount of ICT resources. All vouchers should be given to Mr Evans.

Teen Idol 2007 For the past two years SFX has had pupils’ take part in the Teen Idol competition and this year we held our school auditions on Thursday 14th March after school in the hall. In previous years we have had pupils progress through to the final and perform in front of hundreds of people at the Philharmonic Hall. This year we would like you to be brave, set up in front of the judges and come and have a go!

Miss Manning

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Year 12 Visit to Tate Gallery, Liverpool Year 12 Art Students visited the Tate Gallery, Liverpool accompanied by Mr. Kelly and Ms. Douglass. The group attended a workshop in the International Modern Art exhibition and worked independently in the Henry Moore and Patrick Caulfield current exhibitions. The visit provided a stimulus and starting point for Unit 2 of the AS Art course.

Ms Douglass

Year 11 News Year 11 should now be making their final plans for their GCSE revision and working hard in school to ensure they reach - or hopefully exceed their target grades. They should be taking full advantage of the Night Owl sessions on offer to them and access SAM learning to aid their revision programme. There will be an information evening on the 26th March for advice on final preparations for the GCSE's.

Year 11 are currently raising money for Alder Hey, we do not want to disrupt their learning by doing this but any donations or ideas to raise money for this worthy cause are welcome. The boys have been collecting each morning in registration.

Miss Cain

Lab in a Lorry On Wednesday 7th February the Lab in a Lorry came to SFX. It was, as it says on the tin, a lab in a lorry that visited schools in the United Kingdom to promote science as an interesting subject and to teach schoolchildren about the subject. There were three different compartments inside the lorry and students were split into three groups to investigate various topics. Unfortunately we only had enough time to visit two of the workshops. The first workshop was about light and the different colours of light and the second was about sound and the vibration of sound and the third was about oil and the best way to extract it from the ground.

The workshops made the subject more interesting by using practical experiments and examples which helped to convey information clearly. It was a really interesting hour of science which was very different to usual lessons.

Alex Simons

Year 7 Fundraising Year 7 had a fantastic start to the year, fundraising for Operation Christmas Child. Year 7 pupils were asked to bring in a shoe box full to the brim, containing goodies from toothbrushes to chocolate bars. The shoe boxes were distributed to children in underdeveloped and war-torn countries at Christmas.

Many pupils took part and the event was a great success.

What to look out for Soon Year 7 will be raising money for the Nugent Society. The Nugent Society is a charity that raises money for people who have a disadvantage in life.

Always remember there is always someone worse off than you.

Wow!!!

The most successful Year 7 fundraising event last year was when Year 7 raised an amazing ÂŁ1,500.00 for the Nugent Society.

Matthew McNamara

10

Year 8 Fundraising During this year our school has been raising money for various charities. Mrs Smith (Y8 Assistant Co-ordinator of Learning) very kindly updated us on the charity work undertaken by Year 8. Her year group charity is the RNLI and they have a tremendous past record for fundraising for this cause. To raise money for the charity this year, pupils in Year 8 will be visiting classrooms to sell a bag consisting of; a beach ball, an RNLI badge, and an RNLI logo. Year 8 will also be doing a sponsored swim and a penalty shoot out.

Altogether Year 8 have raised in excess of £1,400.00 to date.

Year 8 are very proactive fundraisers, in addition to the wonderful work they do for the RNLI, they also raise money for a child they have sponsored who lives in the third world.

His name is Sonny.

They have received an award for being the best young supporters group in Liverpool.

Mace Debating Competition Congratulations are due to Year 13 pupils Austin Coyle and Bryn Gough who, on Monday 15th January, won the north-west regional final of the prestigious Mace Debating Competition, beating five other schools in the process.

The event took place at Birkenhead School where Austin and Bryn were pitted against Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (Blackburn) in a debate which centred on recent equality legislation. The boys both delivered very persuasive speeches, expressing themselves with clarity, charisma and well-judged humour. In the exchanges with their opponents they seized the initiative further, delivering a series of astute challenges and lightning ripostes that served only to emphasize their masterly grasp of the topic under discussion.

The judges’ deliberations were quite lengthy, but the result was never in doubt as far as Mrs Boughey – SFX’s public speaking supremo – was concerned. “The boys were a revelation,” she remarked. “They are articulate, quick-thinking and have tremendous presence. I was so very proud of them.”

Bradley Crompton Austin and Bryn now progress on to the Northern Final of the competition, which takes place on 6th March. The standards are sure to be high, but the boys’ impressive form so far would suggest that they will be a handful for even the most accomplished debating team.

Mr Cugley

10 Lewis Raise Funds for Guide Dogs for the Blind Pupils in 10 Lewis have participated in raising funds for the Guide Dogs for the Blind. Various activities took place including inter-form Football matches, cake sales. (Homemade or healthy options of course!), raffles and quizzes as well as voluntary contributions from the boys. Sean Burke organised a sponsored canoe jaunt and raised an individual record of £200.00. Well done 10 Lewis!

Year 10 Fundraising

Ms Douglass

On the 18th of December during the Year 10 assembly, Stan Owens, a local blind man came to SFX representing the Guide Dogs for the Blind to accept a donation of £1,835.00 from the boys of Year 10. He spoke of how delighted he was to be able to accept this donation on behalf of the Guide Dogs for the Blind and informed the Year 10 boys of how their hefty donation would help train guide dogs to help young blind people get around. His speech included a short talk about his life and how guide dogs helped him to go around and feel normal and an active member of the community. Mr Pedder himself said he was delighted with the donation and said that it reflected the Year group as a whole and wishes to thank everyone who gave their support.

Connor McCarthy

11

And the Winner Is….

Last term, the newsletter held a competition to win a brand new iPod Mini by answering a series of general knowledge questions. We can now reveal that the winner was Louis Dowling (10CA).

Well done to him and commiserations to everyone else who entered.

Andrew Dunbar

Easter Quiz We all know about the eggs, bunnies, bank holidays and church services - but how much do we really know about the Christian tradition of Easter? Here are 10 questions to test your knowledge. Submit your answers to Miss Lindop. All correct answers will be placed into a draw to win an iPod Nano.

Question 1

Question 6

What are the origins of the word ‘Easter’?

In which city is Jesus said to have been buried?

A: Aramaic B: Anglo-Saxon C: Hebrew

A: Bethlehem B: Jerusalem C: Nazareth

Question 2

Question 7

What event does Maundy Thursday commemorate?

Why did eggs become significant at Easter?

A: The Last Supper B: The birth of Jesus C: Jesus’ return to Jerusalem

A: They represent fertility and new beginnings at spring time B: In spring 1215, King John decreed a "national egg day " whereby royal eggs and hens were given to the poor C: They are a symbol of the immaculate conception

Question 3

Question 8

Who was Jesus betrayed by?

What do Christians celebrate on Easter Sunday?

A: King Herod B: Judas Iscariot C: Mary Magdalen

A: The day Jesus Christ died on the cross B: The ascension to heaven of Christ C: The resurrection of Jesus Christ

Question 4

Question 9

What does Good Friday mark?

Why do we have the Easter bunny?

A: The resurrection of Jesus B: The Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared before Mary to announce she would conceive a son to be called Jesus C: The crucifixion of Jesus

A: Rabbits were revered by early Christians as holy animals B: Rabbits were a pagan fertility symbol C: Rabbits lived in the Garden of Gethsemane

Question 5

Question 10

Jesus was crucified on a hill known as Golgotha. But what does the name mean?

How many days does Lent last for?

A: "The place of the skull" B: “The high mountain” C: “The place of the olive trees”

A: 40 B: 30 C: 14

Entry Details Name Form Return your answer page to:

School Office c/o Miss K. Lindop Deadline Friday 20th April 2007