SUMMER 2017
CONTENTS In this issue... THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE FOURTEEN FIFTEEN SIXTEEN SEVENTEEN EIGHTEEN
DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD DRAGON BOAT RACING SINGING SUCCESS BTEC MUSIC CONCERT FACE OF EUROPE & THE WORLD OTHER NEWS OTHER NEWS GIRLS INTO STEM YEAR 6 INDUCTION DAY EDUCATIONAL VISITS SPORTS NEWS DOWN SYNDROME LIVERPOOL GREAT GET TOGETHER NUMERACY NINJAS YEAR 11 PROM
The Year 10 students taking part in the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award embarked on their practice expedition on the weekend of May 20th/21st. Five groups set off from Frodsham on the Saturday morning with the aim of navigating to their overnight camp at Queen Charlotte’s Wood. All groups successfully completed the route on day one and arrived at the campsite in record time. They then set up tents and explored the area before cooking their tea.
The second day involved navigating towards and then through Delamere Forest. This was a more demanding day but again the groups proved their quality by making good progress and arriving successfully at the finish at Barnsbridge Gates. Parents had greater difficulty finding the finish to pick up the students due to the unreliability of the post codes for the area. The success of their practice expedition bodes well for their final qualifying expedition in July.
Dragon Boat Racing On the 15th June, a team of 15 pupils, from Year 8, spent the day at the Liverpool Watersports Centre, to take part in the annual Schools’ Dragon Boat Racing Regatta, organised by the Confucius Institute, at the University of Liverpool. St Chad’s have entered this competition for several years now, so expectations were high. Dragon Boat racing is a massive participation sport throughout the Asian continent, second only to football, although it is little known in this part of the world. The sight of Dragon Boats powering down the river certainly attracts the attention of passers-by! The team were understandably very nervous about taking part, and the usual questions about jellyfish, sharks, the temperature of the water and whether or not Chinese would be the language of the day were all discussed en route. The first outing onto the water was a
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massive learning experience, but the students soon learned the importance of working as a team under the direction of the drummer, perched at the front of the boat and were soon looking very competitive. The other teams taking part looked well drilled, and some had clearly practised before the event. Unlike other years, the students had to race heats consecutively and our tired rowers sometimes showed signs of exhaustion. However, after a quick team talk, a large hot chocolate from the café and a little reorganisation, our brave rowers ploughed through the remaining heats, before finally being beaten in the pursuit final. Our team finished second, overall, winning silver medals. The team had a fantastic day, and represented the school superbly.
SINGING SUCCESS! This has been another fantastic year for our singers at St Chad’s. Not only have they performed at various concerts, shows, services and masses but our choir was also invited to perform at Chester Cathedral. Alongside this we have also achieved incredible success with our singing examinations. A number of years ago Miss Smith set up St Chad’s as an exam centre for The London College of Music, which meant that pupils could take singing examinations within our premises. This has proved highly positive and again, this year, an external examiner from The London College of Music conducted a two day vocal examination session at St Chad’s. Miss Smith trained and entered our highest number of twenty six vocal candidates for the examinations which included talented pupils from year 7 through to year 11. The pupils took a range of exams from Grade 1 up to the highest, Grade 8
- which three of our year 11 pupils took. Pupils worked extremely hard for months to prepare for the various exams which involve performing a number of songs to a high technical standard, completing aural awareness tests, musicianship tests and theory tests. Some exams also included drama, dance, stage craft and holding discussions with the examiner. We were delighted to discover that our candidates not only passed the examinations but all were awarded the top two classifications of distinction and merit! Our Grade 8 candidates all received distinctions and overall 19 distinctions and 7 merits were awarded. This is an incredible achievement for everybody and well deserved.
BTEC MUSIC CONCERT
able to put together a show that contained a wide variety of music with many highlights. Produced over two days and nights the shows were enjoyed by all who were able to watch, but the preparations for the concert had taken a great deal of time and effort over recent weeks. It is credit to the students involved that they had the confidence to undertake a large production and the range of jobs involved. The performances were incredible and the musical talent that has always been a feature of the school was evident once again.
Following on from the highly successful first ever concert organised by the students of St Chad’s we had the pleasure this year to experience two further productions from our highly talented BTEC Music students. Those involved came from Year 10 and the entire production from the promotion, through to the rehearsals and the format of the concert itself was the work of the students. Aided by the music department they were
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Well done to all involved and we look forward to another highly successful production next year.
THETAILORMADE COME TO ST CHAD’S
It was a real thrill for our music students to have professional musicians ‘The Tailormade’ in school to help them in some song writing workshops. Crowned the ‘Best Buskers in London’ by Mayor Boris Johnson, the lads have since supported CeeLo Green, Lemar, Busted, Little Mix and Olly Murs. The three Aaron, Jack and Matt worked throughout the day with different groups to develop their techniques of song writing and were all very impressed with the talent that we have in the school. Later in the year they will be supporting Little Mix and Olly Murs again as well as Tom Jones and Jess Glynne.
Year 9 pupil Ruby was crowned ‘Teen Face of Europe and the World 2017-2018’ at the recent week long World Finals in Disneyland Paris. She competed against contestants from other countries around the world including Brazil and the USA. Ruby has worked very hard during the past year in the pageant community and has raised money and awareness for the Headway Charity, which supports victims of head injuries and their families.
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FUN INTO FOOD TRIATHLON STAR Back in 2013 we featured a Year 8 student, Kathryn Schofield and described her as a future star in the triathlon. Back then a young Kathryn was winning the Chester Aquathlon and the Ruthin Triathlon beating competitors who were older than her. This year Kathryn has had the difficult job of balancing her GCSE studies with her love of competing in this gruelling event but she has taken part in the Leeds triathlon after she was selected by the British Triathlon Federation. Following this she took part in an event in Lancaster in which she did her best swim, bike and run time and more recently finished 4th in the Blackpool triathlon. Attending Loughborough University assessment weekends has clearly paid off and we look forward to hearing more about Kathryn when she returns to St Chad’s Sixth Form in September.
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There are many advantages to having Consultation Days in school. In addition to allowing parents to meet with their child’s subject staff, it also provides an opportunity for other year groups to learn about topics that may not be fully covered in the normal packed curriculum. For our final consultation day of this year we were able to put on valuable sessions along with our catering company Chartwells allowing Year 7 students to experience new foods and to learn about healthy eating habits and the long term effects of a poor diet. On the day chefs Fay Weng and Stuart O’Brien worked with our youngsters cooking a wide range of foods from fish cakes to Chinese noodles and making fruit smoothies using the smoothie bike. Students had to cycle a bike that powered a blender to make the smoothies. Good food and some useful exercise, the day was a huge success and lots of fun.
DOT ART COMPETITION Visual Arts at St Chad’s is taught to students in Key Stage 3, 4 & 5. Art is delivered to KS3 as a general skills based course with elements of contextual research. In Key Stage 4, students study Art and Design within two specialisms painting/drawing/ printmaking and textiles. KS5 is delivered through a full 2 year ‘A’ Level course.
St Edward’s Icons In 2016 Father Peter asked the Art department to produce a piece of art work to celebrate the 60th anniversary of St Edward’s Church. After a great deal of thought and deliberation it was felt that a fitting tribute would be art that had been specially produced by students and a series of icons were suggested. This would, as it turned out, be an epic task with students using over 40,000 pieces of paper carefully selected based on colour and tone which had to be glued precisely to create the chosen images. These images were to represent the six decades of the church with five featuring St Edward and the sixth image being of St Maximillan Kolbe. The preparation done, it was now time for the real work to begin. At the start of this year the icons were designed and produced by a group of Year 7 students working tirelessly during their own time to ensure that the work was completed ready to be given to the church where it is now proudly on display. This was a great experience for the students involved who now know that they have left a lasting legacy for parishioners to enjoy for years to come. Well done to the students who took part in this project, Emma, Jasmine, Anna, Isabelle, Emily, Chloe-Anne and Adam.
All art work across all key stages is displayed throughout the department and feature strongly within the school. Art also supports many school based cross-curricular and community initiatives, primary art workshops, and offer workshop access to students in after school clubs. In addition to their studies each year students can enter the Dot Art Competition. Here are some of this year’s winning entries. The foliage designs have been produced by Annie Snell, Bethanie Adzobu and Jamie Stott. The overall winner was Annie Snell.
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Girls into STEM
A feature of our extra-curricular activities this year has been our involvement in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) events. These events have had a real impact on how students view these subjects and one good example of this was a recent event at Cronton College designed to engage girls in subjects that have traditionally been male dominated. At the event our girls joined girls from four other local schools to look at the important roles women now occupy in STEM industries, At the event Alstom, the rail technology organisation, provided the girls with a range of activities looking specifically at design and technology on the rail network. In addition students were able to work 10
with drones and as a bonus got to see some of the animals from the college. The day finished with a barbeque and some live music. Not only did the girls get to consider future careers in STEM industries, but they also got to enjoy some leisure time and an opportunity to meet students from other schools.
YEAR 6 INDUCTION DAY On Monday 3rd July Year 6 students from our feeder primary schools visited St Chad’s for their induction day.
Starting a new school can be very daunting, but this day allowed students to see what lies ahead of them.
There was mix of nerves and excitement as pupils gathered in the school yard ready for their first taste of secondary school life. Pupils got to meet the Year 7 pastoral team and got to know everyone who will be in their tutor group in September.
We look forward to welcoming them all again in September, and hope, like many students before them, they make lots of special memories at St Chad’s.
The day was filled with activities including Geography team building, guided tour, ice breaker games and a chance to take a sneak peek at the St Chad’s dance show. All pupils had a great day and were excited to start Year 7 in September.
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BBC TOURS
Media City Year 12 and 13 Media Studies students recently spent time in front of and behind the cameras during a tour of the BBC and ITV studios at Media City in Manchester.
SKI TRIP During the Easter holidays the PE Department took a group of Year 10, 11 and sixth form students to Torgon in Switzerland for a skiing trip. Most of the students were complete beginners to the sport of skiing and enjoyed learning on the slopes in Châtel and Avoriaz in France. By the end of the trip everybody was skiing down the blue and red slopes in Les Crosets in Switzerland and enjoyed viewing the breathtaking mountain scenerary. Whilst in the resort of Torgon the students participated in evening activities such as the Roller Disco, walking over the Torgon Bridge which was suspended over forests and natural springs, a torch lit night time walk through the forest and swimming in the Les Bains de Saillon in Switzerland surrounded in stunning mountainous views. All of the pupils had a fantastic time and were a credit to the St Chad’s school community.
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The complex which features HD TV studios, digital post-production areas and advanced film facilities provided students with the perfect insight into the world of TV and film production. During their tour the group took part in delivering the Breakfast News and Weather and were able to visit the studios where the Jeremy Kyle Show and The Voice are filmed. They were also able to watch a radio programme being recorded and meet the staff involved. As media students it is important that they gain experience of the industry and this tour was the perfect occasion for the students to see how TV programmes are made and witness the process of editing ready for the final release.
Poland
During the May half term, staff and students went to Krakow in Poland to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp as part of their GCSE History studies. Before visiting the camp the group went to the Podgorze ghetto district, where thousands of Jews were forced to live in horrendous conditions having been evicted from their homes and also Wawel Castle, the seat of the Polish royal family for hundreds of years. This visit to the camp itself proved very emotional for both staff and students, from the eerie moment they walked under the famous ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ gates to seeing exhibits of shoes, toys and belongings of victims that act today as their memorial. The magnitude of what happened where they were standing hit many of our students when they were guided into a concrete gas chamber where so many had lost their lives. It
is hard to convey the scale of what they saw at Birkenau death camp, with barracks and electrified barbed wire that went on for miles. The students, as we have grown to expect were a credit to the school in how they conducted themselves at all times, as each and every one demonstrated a mature, respectful and reflective attitude throughout. The final part of the trip took the group to one of the many flea markets dotted around the city, where pupils were able to try local food and also take a look at some historical memorabilia. Later they visited the Galycia museum where students were invited into a talk with a member of Yad Vashem, a local Pole from Krakow who helped Jews during the period of the holocaust. Arriving back at Manchester the group were exhausted but thrilled after an amazing and life affirming trip.
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SPORTS NEWS LIVING AWARD In June as part of the Sky Sports Living Award, international British Skateboarder Neil Danns visited St Chad’s and ran workshops for a group of our sports leaders on being an effective leader. He also gave our students the opportunity to participate in a skate boarding lesson which proved to be very popular with the youngsters. In all the students thoroughly enjoyed the day and the experiences it provided and were left feeling that they had developed some lifelong skills.
YEAR 8 FOOTBALL
YEAR 7 NETBALL
This year our Year 7 Netball team won the Halton tournament, beating all schools in Runcorn and Widnes. The girls have been dedicated and committed all year and a pleasure for staff to work with. Emma said “I was really proud of everyone on the team and I am looking forward to next year” and Kitty said “We play for fun so it was great to win the league. We are also good friends and enjoy helping each other”. Well done ladies, roll on next season.
The Year 8 boys` football team has enjoyed another successful season, building on their success as Year 7 Halton Cup and League Runners-up. Winning four of their six league fixtures, they finished second in the final standings and therefore qualified to play Wade Deacon in the play-off final. Despite another solid team performance on the 3G pitch at Wade Deacon, they narrowly lost, meaning that they were once again League and Cup runners-up. Keep the faith boys; it`ll be third time lucky in Year 9!
Raising money for Down Syndrome Liverpool This year we have raised money for a number of worthy causes and it was with great pleasure that we were able to present one of our chosen charities with a cheque for ÂŁ1,154. The money raised for Down Syndrome Liverpool represented just some of the money raised by students across the school for charities selected at the beginning of the school year.
caring for and welcoming those less fortunate than themselves and the response to raising funds for the chosen charities has proved that they have clearly understood the message that was being delivered in these sessions. As always we are very proud of them all.
Students and staff at St Chad’s have always been able to show their generosity and this year the charities have benefitted greatly from the fundraising activities that have taken place. The photograph of the presentation features Emily and Shannon who raised money for the charity with a triathlon of activities. This year through our PSHE programme students have learnt about the importance of
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Inter-School
Book Quiz ‘Great Get Together’ In her first speech to Parliament MP Jo Cox said ‘We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us’. In memory of her tragic death St Chad’s took part in the ‘Great Get Together’ in June this year. The aim of the day was to bring together communities, neighbours, pupils and friends to share and celebrate all that we hold in common. In a very busy morning Year 7 and 8 students from St Chad’s were joined by students from our feeder primary school St Edwards to take part in a range of activities designed to inspire young people to be good citizens in their communities. The work produced on the day will be added to the ‘Footsteps of Friendship’ display which is to become a feature of the school in the near future.
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Congratulations to the Book Quiz Team, Iona-Mae, Isabella, Abbie and Michael; who gained 16th place out of 20 Schools in the Inter-School Book Quiz. The Team, all from Year 7 read 6 books and took part in a postal quiz for each one. Each round had 10 questions on the set book and 10 general book based questions. Their knowledge of each of the set books was impressive as was their commitment to the team. The 6 books are now available to borrow from the Learning Resource Centre.
Injecting an element of fun into learning is always a good idea and this year the maths department at St Chad’s have looked at a number of initiatives to improve behaviour for learning which involve fun engagement activities. These have included a Numeracy Ninja competition and the use of games such as Jenga to help develop maths skills. Both ideas have universal approval but the Numeracy has proved to be
been met with from students, Ninja competition especially popular.
Throughout the year tutor groups have been in competition with students in their year groups to see who the top mathematical
tutor group is each week. At the end of each half term the best tutor group from each Year are put into the Grand Master competition for an overall champion. The grandmasters so far this year have been 8AMW, 9CHW, 10JJ, 10SB and 10SD. The idea behind the competition is to improve numeracy skills within the school, as the better basic skills are the more confidence a person has in mathematics. Developing a positive behaviour for learning is key to improving learning across all subjects, so well done maths department for introducing these innovative methods. 17
YEAR 11 PROM Once again our end of school Prom for Year 11 students proved to be a huge success and a great celebration for those students who had worked so hard to prepare for their GCSE examinations. Held at the Crypt, Liverpool University the night was an opportunity for students and staff to enjoy time together at the end of an extremely tiring year. Preparations had begun months before with dresses and suits being purchased and appointments for make-up and hair being made. The evening too had begun at five o’clock as students arrived at school for photographs and the coaches to take them
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to the Liverpool venue. As often happens the weather was not at its best, but this did not dampen the spirits of the students who were all determined to have a good time. It was great to see everyone dressed and grown up and so happy. The students were to St Chad’s and their
so well looking a credit parents.
We wish them all the best for their future lives and careers and we will also look forward to welcoming many of them back into the sixth form.
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