SUMMER 2016
DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD YEAR 11 PROM
CONTENTS In this issue... THREE FOUR SIX SEVEN EIGHT TEN ELEVEN TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN
DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD SPORTS NEWS DRAGON BOAT RACING HEALTHY EATING WEEK YEAR 11 PROM MUSIC CONCERT EDUCATIONAL VISITS EVOLUTION OF DANCE ART ICONS ASPIRE
2016 has been an excellent year for the Duke of Edinburgh’s award at St.Chad’s. This year has seen one of the largest numbers of pupils to have ever participated in the award scheme in St.Chad’s history. With 40 at Bronze, 23 at Silver and 9 at Gold. Also, in May, Mr Lewis and Mrs Burke were invited to Buckingham Palace for the 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration Awards ceremony. At this prestigious ceremony, attended by Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex and Princess Sophie the Countess of Wessex, many presentations were given. Amongst the day’s presentations
an ex-pupil of St.Chad’s, Matthew Marnell, was presented with his Gold Award certificate and Mr Lewis and Mrs Burke were presented with a Plaque to congratulate our school for being a directly licensed centre (DLC) for the DofE award, by the famous classical singer Natalie Coyle (whom is herself a Gold Award holder). It was an amazing event and one which few DofE leaders, co-ordinators, managers or participants are ever fortunate enough to experience. This year’s successes are owed to the commitment and dedication of Mr Lewis, who has managed the DofE programme at St.Chad’s for the last five years and has led it from strength to strength. Through Mr Lewis’ efforts more pupils than ever before have had the opportunity to take part in the award scheme at St.Chad’s and benefit from it’s truly life changing experiences.
SPORTS NEWS
SPORTS LEADERS
GIRLS FOOTBALL
The year seven and eight girls football team have trained year round and made some excellent progress, some pupils who were complete beginners at the start of the year have become confident while those with more experience have added new dimensions to their all around game.
On Tuesday 14th of June Miss Pemberton’s year 9 class hosted a sports event for the year 6 pupils at Halton Lodge. The event was organised by the young sports leaders and involved activities such as penalty shoot out, crossbar challenge, basketball shooting and dribbling and a fancy dress race. The year 9 students acted as fantastic ambassadors for the school and all that participated enjoyed themselves. The sports leadership course enables our students to develop in confidence, improves teamworking skills and allows pupils to be positive role models to younger students in the community. It was great to have the enthusiastic pupils from Halton Lodge at St Chad’s for the afternoon and we look forward to seeing many of you return as year 7s in September. 4
The football tournament which was organized by the F.A and took place at Anfield sports center was the final opportunity for competitive match play. Having been undefeated in their previous four game (3 wins and one draw), the girls were confident and excited by the occasion to prove their worth. Captained by Callie Clarke-Smith, the girls again went undefeated through the day with an early draw to Wade Deacon being the only result which didn’t end in a victory for St.Chads. Following the matches, the girls were then given the opportunity to take part in numerous small games and a freestyle demonstration with some of the top young coaches and players from Merseyside. With such a positive end to the school season, all involved are very enthusiastic and excited about what the future holds for girls football in St.Chads. Well done year 7 and 8!!!!
HALTON LEAGUE CUP FINALS As the Euro football tournament came to an end, it was time for St Chad’s talented football teams to show the qualities they have and the skills they had learnt from an exciting European competition. Held at the Select Security Stadium, it was time for the Halton League Cup matches. First of all our Year 11 team showing the values that make St Chad’s special – hard work, respect for opponents and determination to succeed comprehensively defeating a spirited Helsby side by five goals to one, with goals by Bailey (3), Josh and Joe. Joe also went on to win the Man of the Match ward. So well done Mr Maltby and the Year 11 team and a special thanks to ‘coaches’ Mr Morrell and Mr Smith. This team have now won the league 3 times. Not so fortunate, but having displayed both passing ability and determination our Year
7 team went down 5-0 in their final, a score that did not reflect the overall performance. So well done to them for reaching the final and battling so hard.
Dragon Boat Racing On Wednesday 22nd June, fifteen intrepid year eight pupils took to the waters of Liverpool Marina to represent St Chad’s in the annual Dragon Boat Race, organized by the Confucius Institute at Liverpool University. This is the fourth time St. Chad’s have taken part in this event. Dragon Boat Racing is a traditional Chinese sport and one in which thousands of people take part regularly. It has its origins in races between competing villages, over 2000 years ago, and in the same spirit, St Chad’s found themselves pitched themselves against three other schools from the Merseyside region, some of whom have competed in this race regularly, and have trained hard in the run up to the race. Our first race saw us off to a good start, despite our novice crew never having rowed together previously, and we were narrowly beaten by OBA, who had been training for this event for a while.
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We then continued to improve in each race, reducing our times by an average of twenty seconds each time. The day went in a blur and we soon found ourselves in the race for 3rd or 4th place. We eventually took third prize. Everyone had an enjoyable day, the staff from the Confucius Institute and the Dragon Boat Teams were highly complimentary about the pupils’ attitude, teamwork and manners and surprisingly the weather conditions were ideal for being on the water. Some of our pupils were even interviewed by Radio Merseyside’s Billy Hui, who was handing out the prizes, and the interviews were broadcast on the following Sunday. St Chad’s will be taking part again next year, so keep an eye out for the posters and ask yourself whether or not you’re up to the Dragon Boat challenge.
HEALTHY EATING WEEK At the beginning of June our entire Year 7 cohort attended a Healthy Eating Presentation as part of their Healthy Eating Week. This is an important date in our calendar as there is growing concerns around the diets of our young people and providing guidance on how to eat healthily is an investment in our student’s futures. The session was presented by Clair Hedderman (Nutritionist from Chartwell Caterers) who provide the meals for our students in school. The session was based on ‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day’ and advice on a balanced diet, 5 a day and the importance of fibre in your diet. The presentations took place in the Food Technology room throughout the day and students enjoyed tasting new foods and were actively engaged in the discussions held which looked at their eating habits and the foods they should include in their daily intake of food. Eating healthily is important to us as a school and is seen as an integral part of our ‘prepare for learning process’ as healthy bodies promote healthy minds. The day was a great success and left staff and students considering how best to improve their diets.
YEAR 5 SUPERHEROES DAY! On Wednesday 13th July 2016, eight of our feeder primary schools joined us for a day, experiencing the fantastic facilities and teaching that St Chad’s has to offer. Over 185 year 5 children attended the day and took part in many activities including Science, English, Maths, Food Technology, Philosophy, singing and Chinese to name but a few! We chose the theme ‘Superheroes’ in order to demonstrate the many gifts and talents we all have and share as a Christian community. It proved to be a popular choice with the young students who were able to use their imaginations to help provide additional inspiration for the day. Lots of fantastic activities enabled the children to use those gifts and talents in a range of subjects, which many had never tried before. The children told us that they really enjoyed the day and being part of St Chad’s. They have asked if they can come and visit again very soon!! In the evening we held an event for parents and carers which enabled us to share with them details about the fabulous day we had all been part of. We are looking forward to holding many more events like this in the future.
YEAR 11 PROM A huge crowd gathered at St Chad’s on the night of Friday 24th June to see the Year 11 students off for their Prom at The Crypt in Liverpool. Students had been looking forward to this night for a long time especially after the hard work they had put into their recent GCSE exams. Some students only finished their last exam that morning. All the students looked amazing as they arrived at The Crypt to walk along the red carpet and pose for photographs. Once inside the students enjoyed a fantastic night of dancing, chatting with friends and
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staff, eating, drinking and using their mobile phones. The Hollywood Prom Company staff commented on the fantastic attitude of our students and the great atmosphere that they created in The Crypt. The evening ended at just before midnight when we made our way back to Runcorn and numerous post-prom parties that had been organised to keep the celebrations going into the early hours of the morning. It was a great way to end a very demanding and challenging year and we now look forward to welcomig many of these students back to the Sixth Form in September.
MUSIC CONCERT
This year marks the first year that St Chad’s have put on a concert organised by students as part of their BTEC coursework, as this is the first year of our BTEC Music course. Two year 10 BTEC music classes came together to organise the promotion, rehearsals and structure of the concert.
Over the past few weeks we have put a lot of time and effort into planning the concert, from designing the tickets and posters, to overseeing band rehearsals and setting up the stage for the show. We also organised for some refreshments to be sold during the interval. On Tuesday 5th of July we attended an allday rehearsal for our concert at 7pm. The show involved over 80 students from years 7 to 10 and included a variety of different performances, from the school choir to rock bands. We were delighted to sell over 200 tickets for the concert and everyone that attended said they thoroughly enjoyed the show!
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Well done to all pupils involved!
GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP
The Year 9 Geographers finished off their first year of GCSE studies with a series of trips to the Wirral to investigate the range of coastal defences that are in place to protect the area from the sea.
On Friday 1st July 49 year 7 students and 3 staff made the long journey to Watford to The Warner Brothers Studios for the Harry Potter tour. The tour was an amazing experience and the students and staff thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The day was packed full of interactive experiences such as Flying a broom, Wand Choreography and riding in the Hogwarts Express, as well as walking down the real Diagon Alley that was used in the films and lots of other interactive experiences.
This is an important trip as students have been studying coasts and rivers this year in class. The trip involved walking 6 miles from Leasowe Lighthouse to New Brighton along the North Wirral Coastal Path stopping off at various locations to complete activities. They gained an understanding of the economic and social importance of the area and why it needs to be protected from the ravages of the sea for future generations. The weather for the day was mixed, but the students didnot allow this to spoil their experience and the work they had to do. Students will use the information gathered to produce evidence of fieldwork for their GCSE course and also to help them in the Unit 3 exam at the end of year 11.
It was a late return back to school after a McDonalds stop off on the way home, but it was well worth it to see the students excitement.
Pupils said: “I felt really excited going to Harry Potter World. It was a once in a lifetime experience” Aimee (Year 7) “Harry Potter was an amazing experience and I was excited to be going behind the scenes” Elise (Year 7)
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The Evolution of Dance On Thursday 7th July, 120 St Chad’s students took to the stage to perform in our sixth form dance show ‘The Evolution of Dance’. Over the past 6 months they have worked extremely hard learning and putting together the routines choreographed for them by sixth form students and they were keen to show how good they could be. In addition to the dances students were responsible for designing the tickets for the show, choosing the lighting for the routines and selecting the right songs that matched the chosen themes. It took them some time to think of unique themes, something that has not been done before, that all generations could enjoy and sing along too. With that in mind, the girls decided to take their audience back in time to when dance first became popular.
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It all started with Gatsby flapper dresses and the Charleston of the 1920s, to neon sweatbands and disco fever of the 1980s, through to the modern day street look of baggy clothes and cropped tops. Everyone involved worked so hard and we are extremely proud of our sixth form students who organised such a successful night with so many talented year groups. They had so much fun teaching the dancers the routines and had such a laugh every week which made it an experience they will never forget. Allowing young students to gain a valuable experience from taking control of a dance show and ultimatley the learning of other other students has been a key feature of our expressive arts work this year so well done to everyone involved it could not have gone any better.
ART ICONS @ OUR LADY’S During the summer term Mr Waller has been working with the year 4 and 5 pupils at Our Lady’s school in Palace fields on a series of Art workshops, based upon the theme of Byzantine ICONS. The project involved taking photos of the pupils with a draped cloth to disguise the uniform and printing the image on canvas printing paper. This was then mounted on card ready for collage application. After a few power-points, visual aids, demonstrations and instructions, pupils set about working on their individual portraits. Pupils used magazines and catalogues to rip and tear coloured/ textured paper to apply relevant tones/ shades to their faces, following a coloured scheme from the Byzantine era. This involved
manipulating some very small pieces of paper giving the appearance of their own icon image. The pupils as you can see coped tremendously well to give a brilliant effect of a modern day icon of year 4 and 5 pupils of Our Lady’s 2016. This work was so successful and students found it so fulfilling we have allowed students in Key Stage 3 to take the methods used to the next level and produce their own icons. Both staff and children worked really hard and have recently put their work on display within the school.
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Our Year 11 ASPIRE pathway students have completed the annual conservation project at Phoenix Park. This involves cleaning and maintaining the fishing pond and the surrounding areas. The project was established two years ago in conjunction with Warrington Angling Club who are always supportive of our young people and allow them to take part in some fishing as a reward for their hard work. The initiative has again been extremely successful this year and as always has allowed our students to gain a variety of new skills. As well as this it helps our ASPIRE students to gain an appreciation of the environment and feel a sense of connection to the local community. The students worked enthusiastically and made a huge impact, removing many items from the water including bikes, trollies and fence panels. They also cleared litter and gardened the areas surrounding the pond to make them more enjoyable for the public and cleaner for the diverse array of wildlife which is present in the area. The students this year, even rebuilt one of the run down fishing pegs around the pond. The ASPIRE staff team are extremely proud of the students and the way in which they embraced this challenge.
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ASPIRE FOOD GROUP This year the Year 12 Aspire group have completed a food course covering a wide range of cooking methods, meal preparation and baking. The students have excelled at each task and made delicious food which they have been able to share with their families. The course has given them the confidence and the skills to use in the future which will enable them to be independent and make healthy choices when it comes to preparing meals.
Chad’s). Each volunteer has to raise £500 to be able to fund their place on the trip. The coffee morning raised £50 for James and provided an excellent citizenship opportunity for our wonderful Aspire students.
On Tuesday 12 July the group baked a range of cakes for a staff coffee morning held in the Food Tech Room. Delighted staff donated £1 to sponsor James Wilde (Mrs Wilde’s son) who has volunteered to accompany the sick on a trip to Lourdes with the Widnes/ Liverpool Diocese. He will be on a coach with Stuart Holland (former Chaplain at St 15
St Chad’s Catholic & Church of England High School Grangeway, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 5YH Email: admin@st-chads.halton.sch.uk Tel: 01928 564106 Fax: 01928 572902 www.st-chads.co.uk