

FAITH IN YOU
LOVE IN LEARNING
HOPE IN BETTER
this week in our school . . .
Volume 4 Issue 10 November 23rd, 2018
getting it right ready respectful safe
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ST AMBROSE BARLOW RC HIGH SCHOOL & SIXTH FORM
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Head’s start .
Mr. Davis, Headteacher, reflects on the Mr. Davis, Headteacher, reflects on the week. week.
This week we celebrated theyear achievements It is about this time of that I meet of with last year’s Year 11 and Year 13 at each Head of Department toPresentation review the Evening. Our venue onceThis again, Salford summer’s examwas, results. involves University’s Maxwell Hall and it was wonderful plenty of useful and thought-provoking to seediscussion, parents, carers family talking members but itand is usually about come numbers together to acknowledge the exam and letters. Behind this data are resultsstories: and destinations thehow twothey yearfelt, groups. how pupilsof did, what This event is a big part of our school year, an they liked and what they achieved. We important ritual thaton marks passing of pupils always focus how the things can be and students into the next stage of their careers improved as well as celebrating what went and studies.
well. As a Catholic school, exam results are just one way of expressing the unique, GodIt was,given therefore, even to seeItais talents andmore skills powerful of each pupil. formerimportant pupil taketoto the stage as the guest look beyond the data so Iofam honourdelighted and provide an inspiring speech the that much more of my jobfor involves assembled gathering. Daniel Bateson (who left being in classes, walking around the school St. Ambrose Barlow in 2015) talked with and talking to pupils, students and staff. passion and engagement about his studies after school put on byor If ever and you the are pathway feeling athe allwas despondent his Design Engineer Construct course.
school fatigued I reckon a quick tour of the would quickly raise your spirits. Let me Danielshow has since goneI on to undertake a you what mean. Today (Thursday, sponsored degree at Liverpool John Moores September 29th) for instance, I dropped into university working withThere, globalI was Yearwhilst 10 GCSE Music. construction company Laing O’Rourke. delighted to listen to performances He of embodies the rounded for Hold which we Beethoven’s Nintheducation Symphony, Back aim atthe St. River Ambrose Barlow and his confident and When the Saints Go Marching and easy-going communication withand the Chester In. I also got to sit with Daniel audience at Presentation Evening was as they demonstrated their prodigious DJing testament to this. talents. Next, during lunch, I supervised the canteen and made a point of watching the Of course, such nights are not just about one and interactions that take place daily. Pupils personstaff norholding are theydoors aboutopen one for idea of one another, achievement. They celebrate a multitude of offering thanks, little moments of personal skills and talents from the pupil who has appreciation and gratitude. Of course, secured several grades young things don’ttop always goto well in a person school, but it who, against the odds, completed their courses is lovely to witness a voluntary apology from with aaclutch of grades 2, 3 and 4.
Year 9 to one of the lunch time staff, or see one pupil help another who is unsure In cheering young people as they cross the wherethe to go for class. stage we are recognising the many small moments that Form, lead toI enjoyed the final asuccess: In Sixth lengthy the chat with movements of doubt, the failures, the Aidan who explained both the theory of meltdowns, the panics, mocks, the differentiation and the its potential commercial sacrifices. It is easy for those of us whostudying are application. In English they were older to forget that this year’s cohort sat up to the play Blood Brothers and talking with 30 exams, with barely any course work, to humour and excitement about superstitions; complete their7 GCSEs. They dissecting are a trailblazing in Year RE they were our new year, the first to sit the full suite of the new, mission statement and exploring the more challenging GCSEs,within and they deserve personal meanings it. School is our a respect for coping so well with that.
busy, bustling, humming place.
I get to Maths to find all of Year 9 embroiled in a task that is so challenging and exciting that I want to stay and have a go myself. The same is true for our Year 13s. At St. Outside it’s: “Sir, have you seen my tie? Ambrose Barlow they are our first A level Can you open my bottle? What did you cohort. The first group of Year 13s to head en think of last night’s game? What time is it, masse to university, the first to represent our Sir?” and, at least once a day, “Oh my vision of a local, Salford Sixth form attached to days!” It can be noisy at times and in a a secondary school. Let’s not forget the power community this size we can’t expect ofeveryone that achievement, the beacon of ambition to get on with each other all the that it represents.
time. But it is our community, and a lively, lovely, positive one at that.
They are a trailblazing year, the Perhaps the single highlight of my week, if I had toto pick, be thesuite conversation first sitwould the full of theI had new, with Mrs. Fay who is leading the development of our new library.and I amthey a more challenging GCSEs, library enthusiast and have been ever since deserve for ofcoping so I was little.our Therespect furthest reach my memory is back to moments spent in our well with that. local library entranced by its colour and
bright possibilities. On Twitter #RememberingMyLibrary reveals the hold Later we hosted a production of The that this suchweek an institution has: ‘A library card Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night was a free pass to wonderment, words Time. and Pupils benefited from performances of the the ability to roam thetwo world’ observes one play, staged in round and were dazzled by the user, whilst another quotes the wrought iron quality of the performance and the power of gates of Stalybridge library, ‘Read, Mark, its message. weekDigest.’ some ofOthers those pupils Learn andNext Inwardly talk of will take to the stage to perform their own the escape that a library represented or of monologues duologues, no doubt the refuge itand offered from aninspired unkind world. by what they have seen this week.
Mrs. Fay spent last Saturday peacefully On Thursday a group of pupils stacking theevening, shelves and we are inchingwho have been working with Enjoy Arts exploring closer to opening. What thrilled me was herthe story of women’s suffrage performed comment that several boys, some oftheir whom original in the Workingwere Classelectrified Movement affect awork dislike of reading, by Library in Salford. It isinfantastic that our pupils presence of a library their school: ‘You rose so Isensitively theand, challenge of this mean can borrowtothis like, read it, performance and were able to give voice to the Miss?’ was the breathless utterance of one women of the past who engaged in worldpupil. Our library is at the heart of the altering school:protest. a space for being open to and sharing ideas and experiences. It is openIt plan is precisely this kindserve of work gives life to and its shelves as that a reminder the curriculum, that articulates our vision that there should be no barrier to anyoneof pupils putting their skills to usingas itschangemakers, volumes or seeking knowledge, use in the service of others.
solace, entertainment or information. I can’t wait to see it come to life in the weeks God bless, ahead thanks to Mrs. Fay and her band of helpers. Ben Davis Headteacher Ben Davis, Headteacher Twitter: @BenDavis1972 Twitter: @BenDavis1972 2
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calendar what’s on
HOUSE POINTS
Advance Notice Parent Council Christmas Fair December 1st
Year 9 Immunisations
Headteacher’s Surgery, 5pm
WED 28
TUE 27
THU 29
This Week
This Year
St Benedict of Nursia
404
3675
St. Bernadette of Lourdes
404
3448
St. Francis of Assisi
409
3531
St. Michael the Archangel
417
3679
Blessed Oscar Romero
508
3822
St. Teresa of Calcutta
443
3649
FRI 30
Green Plan-it Celebration
SAT 01
Christmas Fair 11 - 1pm
MON 26
COMING UP THIS WEEK week beginning 26.11.18 week B
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. Attendance by year (w/b November 12th)
Year 7 Year 8 year 9 year 10 year 11 School
96.8% 96.2% 94.8% 95.8% 93.5% 95.4%
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 Challenge; Top: at the Siemens Rollercoaster unauthorised marks may lead to a fixed penalty Below: 6th formers at the Teenage Cancer3 notice being served.
Trust fundraiser


ST AMBROSE BARLOW
fair 2018
hosted by year 7 and the parent council Year 7 Enterprise Stalls Christmas Gifts Santa Dash
1st DECEMBER 2018
games & Refreshments
11:00 - 13:00
free entry
everyone welcome
St Ambrose Barlow RC High School & Sixth Form College 37Siemens Ash DriveRollercoaster Wardley Challenge; M27 9QP Top: at the Below: 6th formers at the Teenage Cancer4 Trust fundraiser
around the school
this week
Pupils performing at the Working Class Movement Library, Salford in Forward, Sister Women exploring the women’s suffrage movement in relation to contemporary women’s activism.
Top: at the Siemens Rollercoaster Challenge; Below: 6th formers at the Teenage Cancer5 Trust fundraiser
Year 7 on their Art trip to the Christmas Markets.
Guest speaker Daniel Bateson with Ben Davis, HT and Chair of Governors, Karen Whitehead at the Presentation Evening.
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TWEET OF THE WEek More
Mr Mcdonagh @daniel_mcdonagh Nov 19 Very proud watching @bateson99 speak so passionately about his journey and the part @SABSalford and @DECinSchools played in his development. Dan was invited back as Guest of Honour at our annual Presentation Evening. He’s come a long way since after school club in Yr 8
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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