

FAITH IN YOU
LOVE IN LEARNING
HOPE IN BETTER
this week in our school . . .
Volume 2 Issue 19 May 12th, 2017
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ST AMBROSE BARLOW RC HIGH SCHOOL & SIXTH FORM
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Head’s start .
Mr. Davis, Headteacher, reflects the Mr. Davis, Headteacher, reflects on theon week. week.
After their intensive work at Manchester Art It is about this time of year that I meet with Gallery and with theatre company Frantic each Head of Department to review the Assembly, the Year pupils who been summer’s exam10results. This have involves investigating British Values headed to St plenty of useful and thought-provoking Charles’ Primary School week to train staff. discussion, but it isthis usually talking about The after schooland session saw our pupils sharing numbers letters. Behind this data are their ideas andhow expertise withhow localthey teachers to stories: pupils did, felt, what they liked and what in they improve adult confidence thisachieved. importantWe area. always focus on how things can be Well done to all the pupils and thanks to St. improved as well as celebrating what went Charles for hosting. well. As a Catholic school, exam results are justaone of expressing the unique, If you’re Yearway 11 pupil (or their parent, carer,Godgiven talents and skills of each pupil. It is sibling, dog, goldfish) then there’s a good important to look beyond the data so I am chance that GCSE andofpreparation is delighted thatrevision much more my job involves dominating your life. Exam season is upon us being in classes, walking around the school with aand vengeance, as itstudents is certainand thatstaff. talking tojust pupils, hayfever will begin soon. We’ve been offering extra booster classes in the morning and If ever you are feeling at all despondent or fatigued reckon a quick tour the has school throughout theI day. A timetable for of these would quickly raise me been issued to pupils andyour morespirits. are to Let come show you what I mean. Today (Thursday, after the half-term holiday. We’ve also been September 29th)and for wish instance, dropped praying for the pupils themIall the luckinto Year 10 GCSE Music. There, I was in the world - they can do it! delighted to listen to performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Hold Back It’s a little known fact that Mr. Judge in the the River and When the Saints Go Marching English department is sit thewith Jose Mourinho of In. I also got to Daniel and Chester Manchester Girls’ Futsal. This week he ledDJing as they demonstrated their prodigious the team in more competitions and we await the talents. Next, during lunch, I supervised the outcome! canteen and made a point of watching the interactions that take place daily. Pupils and staff holding doors open The Duke of Edinburgh awardforisone wellanother, offering thanks, moments of personal established now at St.little Ambrose Barlow. This appreciation and gratitude. Of course, week year 10 pupils headed out into the hills things don’t always well in challenge. a school, but it around the Ribble for theirgo practice is lovely to witness a voluntary All reports from the teachers suggestapology that theyfrom a Year 9 to one of the lunch time staff, or did brilliantly. One of the highlights was their see one pupil help another who is unsure impromptu treatment wheremedical to go for class. of a fellow hiker who had fallen. The lady complimented our pupilsIn saying she had never come across Sixth that Form, I enjoyed a lengthy chat with such polite and helpful young people. Aidan who explained both the theory of differentiation and its potential commercial application. In English were We have been developing ourthey links withstudying the play Blood Brothers and talking with businesses throughout this year and one of the humour excitement aboutthe superstitions; ways we haveand done this is through in Year Chamber 7 RE they of were dissecting Pupils our new Manchester Commerce. mission statement and exploring the participated in the Young Assembly at personal meanings within it. School is a Manchester Cathedral this week. At this event busy, bustling, humming place. they heard from Steve Burne, managing director for AEW Architects, discussing what it’s like to work at one of the leading architecture
I get to Maths to find Manchester. all of Year 9 embroiled companies in Greater Alex Davies, in a task that is so challenging and exciting Research Analyst for Greater Manchester that I want to stay and have a go myself. Chamber of Commerce updated on Brexit Outside it’s: “Sir, have you seenthem my tie? and answered any questions they had. Can you open my bottle? What did youSally Cheshire, ICT/Business and Enterprise Teacher think of last night’s game? What time is it, atSir?” St Ambrose Barlow RCaHigh and, at least once day, School “Oh mysaid, “The Young Chamber days!” It can be noisymembership at times andhas in agiven community this size to weget can’t expectin on a our pupils something involved everyone to get on Level with each other all the Greater Manchester which is inspiring time. But it is our community, and a lively, them in the world of business. Attending the lovely, positive one at that. Young Chamber events has been great for them to see how business meeting run and how Perhaps the single highlight of my week, if I professionals deliver themselves. They have had to pick, would be the conversation I had found themFay informative and notthe only has their with Mrs. who is leading confidence developed their business acumen is development of our new library. I am a developing too. We are also working with the library enthusiast and have been ever since Chamber to set their Cadet for I was little. Theupfurthest reachProgramme of my Sixth Formisstudents. This is a programme memory back to moments spent in our that local entranced by itsform colour will linklibrary students in the sixth withand bright possibilities. On Twitter employers in the Greater Manchester area. We #RememberingMyLibrary reveals are hoping that with the increase in the hold that such an institution has: ‘A library cardin the Apprenticeships and a rise in employment was a free pass to wonderment, words and area preparing our students for life after Sixth the ability to roam the world’ observes one form is imperative.” user, whilst another quotes the wrought iron gates of Stalybridge library, ‘Read, Mark, On Tuesday we welcomed Tom Sherrington Learn and Inwardly Digest.’ Others talk of to the school. Tom is a well-known and acclaimed the escape that a library represented or of teacher and itformer Headteacher. Heworld. tweets as the refuge offered from an unkind @teacherhead. He was a delight to have him in school speaking pupils, looking at our work Mrs. Fay spent with last Saturday peacefully stacking shelves andand wediscussing are inching and latest the developments closer to opening. learning and teachingWhat with thrilled him. me was her comment that several boys, some of whom affect a dislike of we reading, wererepresentatives electrified by Finally, next week welcome presence of a library in their school: ‘You from the new Chartered College for Teaching mean I can borrow this and, like, read it, to the school to film our innovative oracy work. Miss?’ was the breathless utterance of one This featured in a publication celebrating pupil. Our library is at the heart of the our work. school: a space for being open to and sharing ideas and experiences. It is openGod planBless. and its shelves serve as a reminder that there should be no barrier to anyone using its volumes or seeking knowledge, Ben Davis solace, entertainment or information. I can’t Headteacher wait to see it come to life in the weeks ahead @BenDavis1972 thanks to Mrs. Fay and her band of Twitter: helpers.
Ben Davis, Headteacher Twitter: @BenDavis1972 2
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calendar what’s on  
Parent Council 7 pm
WED 17
TUE 16
THU 18
FRI 19 SAT 20
MON 15
COMING UP THIS WEEK
ATTENDANCE We aim for 100% attendance for all of our students and have set 96% as satisfactory attendance for this year. Attendance is monitored period-by-period and statistics are published each week. Excellent attendance guarantees excellent learning. Best Attendance by form (week ending May 12th):
Year 7 Year 8 year 9 year 10 year 11
95.9% 95.5% 94.7% 94.6% 94.4%
overall
95.0%
Attendance and its impact on learning 10 days absence means 95% attendance 19 days absence means 90% attendance 29 days absence means 85% attendance 38 days absence means 80% attendance 47 days absence means 75% attendance Please note: If your child is off school you need to contact student services the same day on 0161 921 1589/1551. If the school has not been contacted within five days, the absences will automatically be unauthorised. Ten unauthorised marks may lead to a fixed penalty notice being served.
Top: at the Siemens Rollercoaster Challenge; Below: 6th formers at the Teenage Cancer3 Trust fundraiser
 
Duke of Edinburgh pupils getting ready to ramble! 4
 
The team who came 2nd overall in the Salford Rounders tournament.
The Futsal team
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Year 10 presenting on British Values to staff at St. Charles’ Primary School
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TWEET OF THE WEEK Tom SherringtonÂ
@teacherhead
More
Lovely day meeting @BenDavis1972 @Bectully and colleagues at @SABSalford Great school!
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FAITH IN YOU
LOVE IN LEARNING
HOPE IN BETTER
ST AMBROSE BARLOW RC HIGH SCHOOL & SIXTH FORM www.stambrosebarlowswinton.org 37 Ash Drive Swinton Salford M27 9QP 0161 921 1570 @SABSalford Headteacher: Ben Davis 8