MAY 2018
CONTENTS In this issue... Page 3
Chinese New Year
Page 4 - 5
Duke of Edinburgh
Page 6
Music Concert
Page 7
Dance Show
Page 8 - 9
Educational Visits
Page 10 - 11
RE Department News
Page 12
Other News!
S CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS The annual Chinese New Year celebrations were very successful once again at St Chad’s. We started the festivities with Year 7 assembly which were conducted by our Chinese teacher Mrs Kirkham who introduced the history and traditions of the Chinese New Year festival. The assemblies helped raise students’ awareness of Chinese New Year. During China day, the workshops were conducted by Mrs Kirkham and our visiting Hanban teachers Miss Li and Mr Meng. In the workshops, students participated in Chinese calligraphy, traditional paper cutting and making Chinese New Year cards. Our students learned to write their names in Chinese and how to write “Good Luck” with Chinese characters. Some students did paper cutting of a dragon which helped them to experience these traditional Chinese art skills. Students
enjoyed making the Year of the Dog card for their family and friends. Another exciting activity was ‘taste of China’ where students enjoyed tasting some delicious Chinese food. The workshops were open to the entire school and everyone who participated really enjoyed themselves, getting involved with typical relish and enthusiasm. Our China Day was very successful. Students at St Chad’s not only increased their own cultural awareness of China itself but it has also helped them understand the global dimension of the real world. The excellent Chinese New Year celebration activities were very popular and positively received by all.
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BRONZE EXPEDITION
Due the heavy rain that has fallen over the past few months our campsite for the Bronze practice weekend was declared unfit only days before the expedition. The 37 candidates therefore completed a longer walk on the Saturday without the overnight camp. This gave them an extended opportunity to practice their navigation and map reading skills as well as getting to know each other and their teams.
The walk started at the top of Frodsham Hill and took the groups through woodland and fields to Helsby Hill for lunch. The return leg took in Queen Charlottes Wood and Snidley Moor Wood. All the teams worked well together, walking at a good pace despite the appalling state of the paths, with few navigation mistakes. The candidates will do their qualifying expedition in May and based on the evidence of the practice, should all complete it successfully. The large number of staff who agreed to come along was really appreciated by myself and the students. 4
SILVER EXPEDITION Twenty-one Year 11 students took part in the Silver Practice Expedition in North Wales on what turned out to be a glorious weekend of sunshine.
This is an excellent group who are very well motivated and independent, needing little input from the staff. They should all qualify successfully. Thank you to the staff who gave up their weekend to support the expedition.
Based at a campsite just outside Llangollen the students completed three day walks and two overnight camps in preparation for their qualifying expedition in June. Walking into the campsite from Chirk Castle on their first day made for a long, tough day carrying a full rucksack. The second day involved another long walk including a hard climb up Dinas Bran which was completed by all students in excellent time. Despite the predicted thunderstorms we had a dry night on the last night. A gentle walk back into Llangollen concluded the expedition. 5
MUSIC CONCERT
On Wednesday 7th of February St Chad’s Music Department held a Music Concert organised by four of our Year 12 RSL Extended Diploma students.
Students were also involved in helping out during the concert, including operating the lights and sound, tuning instruments and organising the stage in between each act.
The concert had over 20 acts, and over 100 pupils from years 7 to 12, performing to an audience of over 200 parents, friends and family.
This concert was a huge success, with the audience giving excellent feedback on the quality of the acts and how professional the concert looked.
The music at the concert ranged from pop to rock music, and there were various groups involved, including the school choir, orchestral ensemble and bands from every year group.
Students are currently preparing for the next concert, which will be in July 2018.
The students performed music by acts such as Rihanna, Adele, James Arthur, Stormzy and Bruno Mars.
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Tickets will be available from the Music Department!
On Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th March over 120 pupils took to the stage in our annual dance show. Both shows were packed out and we knew that the audience were in for a treat! This years theme was ‘School’s Out’ which focused on experiences in school and beyond. Songs ranged from musical numbers from ‘Matilda’ to a smash hit from the latest hit musical ‘The Greatest Showman’. Current hits from Beyonce, Britney and Girls Aloud were performed by our talented and dedicated performers. Pupils from years 7 to 11 were involved and they showed tremendous commitment through the endless hours of rehearsals leading up to the show. As always the dancers were joined by our amazing school choir, who just seem to get better and better every time they perform.
talented year 11 pupils who we are sad to say goodbye to after many of them performing in the school dance shows for the last five years. Every single pupil that performed on the stage are a credit to the school. Every year we say how proud we are of all our performers and this year was no exception. They make our job so rewarding and teaching them is never a chore. We are very lucky here at St Chad’s with the pupils that we work with and the commitment that they show to us year in year out at the dance shows, and this is why we value each and every single one of them.
All pupils involved were fantastic! From our new year 7 pupils, who were enthusiastic and professional with many of them performing on a stage for the first time, to our incredibly 7
CHESTER UNIVERSITY On Monday 26th February 2018, 36 More Able students in Year 10 attended a trip to Chester University as part of the stretch and challenge programme.
YEAR 11 VISIT RIVERSIDE On 2nd March, 25 Year 11 Students were invited to take part in a Vocational Taster Day at Riverside College. The students were given the opportunity to experience the excellent facilities available at Riverside College to support vocational courses such as Hospitality and Catering , Mechanics , Building and Construction , Engineering , Hair and Beauty , Nails and Media Make Up. Students spent sessions in fully equipped trade workshops , industrial kitchens and hair and beauty salons. Following on from this day , staff from Riverside College visited school to interview students and all were offered conditional places on vocational courses at the college. Many of the students who attended the day commented that it had helped them to identify a clear post 16 pathway and had given them increased motivation to succeed on their GCSE courses and ensure they were able to take up the places they had been offered for September 2018.
The students had a tour of the campus and were given the opportunity to ask questions about courses and lifestyle to current university students. The pupils also completed a quiz where they learnt about options and courses available to them post A-level. The group ended the day with an English lecture on Magic and Language. All students enjoyed the day and left inspired and enthusiastic about education post school.
SKIING IN AUSTRIA It was an early start for those on the 2018 ski trip, meeting at school for 5:30am in order to embark on their Alpine adventure. The group landed in Salzburg before travelling high into the mountainous resort of Schladming. With a mix of skiing experience among the students, day one saw hit the high snow, while the beginners found their ski legs in the ski school at the foot of the resort. By the end of day two all students had graduated to the upper slopes where the real skiing could begin. With an extensive network of ski routes the students had a lot of exploring to do as they made their way around the open wide courses, tree lined forest runs and ski funparks. We had all weathers, from clear skies to blizzards, waking up on the Wednesday to fresh covering of snow which made for excellent ski conditions for the rest
of the week. The staff would like to thank all the students that attended this year. It is hard to remember a group that developed their ski skills so quickly. They never gave up in the face of a challenge and shared a real appreciation for the incredible surroundings and invigorating experience. With such a great group of students, it was no surprise that the visit overall was a huge success.
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RE DEPARTMENT NEWS
CANON CHANCELLOR AWARD 2018 Every year the RE department enters the Canon Chancellor Award run by Chester Diocese.
JEWISH SPEAKER On Thursday 25th January Year 11 had the privilege of hearing Denis Salamon from the Liverpool Jewish Resource Centre speak about life as a Jewish person in Britain today. The students listened as Denis told them about how he lived out the Jewish commandments including keeping the Sabbath, having a Bar Mitzvah as a boy and the many Jewish festivals throughout the year. The students listened carefully and enjoyed being able to hear someone talk from their own experiences of life as a Jewish person in Britain. This experience provided them with lots of information which they will be able to use in their GCSE examination later in the year.
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This year we are delighted to announce that of all the entries from across the Chester Diocese, the winner for the Key Stage 3 award was Isabelle Millett from Year 8, Jessica Radin, also in Year 8, had her work highly commended. We are looking forward to arranging for the students to go and receive their prize from Chester Cathedral where their work will also go on display.
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY St Chad’s had the honour of remembering Holocaust Memorial Day 2018 with a visit from Tomi Komoly, a survivor who speaks of his experiences on behalf of the Holocaust Educational Trust. Students from Year 12 and Year 13 took part in a series of activities during the day to explore the Holocaust the highlight of which was hearing Tomi speak about his experiences as a child living in the Budapest Ghetto. Students and staff alike were moved by Tomi’s experiences and afterwards many commented how listening to Tomi made them realise how lucky they are to live in a country where they have freedom and don’t have to make the sacrifices that Tomi and his family had to make. It was a wonderful experience and we would like to offer our thanks to Tomi and the Holocaust Educational Trust for ensuring that we had this experience.
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We have just completed another fantastic charity collection for Halton Haven. We presented Faye, their fundraiser with a cheque for £1,992.87 last week.
SHAKESPEARE LIVE! April 26th was Shakespeare Live! day when more than 250,000 students from across the UK watched a live streaming of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s performance of Macbeth starring Christopher Ecclestone and Niamh Cusack. Forty of our year 11 English Literature students watched the performance as part of their revision programme for their GCSE exam in May. There were discussion points with the director and some of the actors, and opportunities to send in questions about the performance via Twitter. A really useful and enjoyable experience. Romeo & Juliet follows in the autumn!
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This was a great effort by all students and staff involved and we are once again delighted to support a local charity. Charity work is a massive strength here at St Chad’s which enables us to put our Christian mission and ethos into action both in and beyond our local community. A big thank you to all those involved.