St Joseph's College Lent Newsletter 2020 by St Joseph's College, Ipswich

Lent Term Newsletter 2020

Message from the Principal As I write, we are currently at the end of our first week of lockdown and the start of the second week of our online Home Learning programme at St Joseph’s. The world feels a very different place today and new phrases abound, such as the ‘new normal’. At St Joseph’s, we are attempting to keep as much ‘normal’ for our students as is possible, in the extenuating circumstances we all found ourselves in. As such, we have continued with the publication of our termly newsletter, albeit as an e-version. We are at the end of a long and successful Lent Term, which has provided many moments of joy, pride and challenge across the College for our students. A flavour of some of these moments is captured in the following pages, which represent students’ experiences in our Prep School, Senior School and Boarding.

Easter is almost upon us and as such, we are given the opportunity to reflect on the meaning and themes of Lent, which we would normally share in Chapel with students. The themes of self-discipline, forgiveness, humility, new life and hope are as relevant today as they have ever been and are something to hold onto as we navigate the weeks ahead as a school, as a community and as a country. We very much look forward to re-connecting with your children after the Easter break - please know that our online Home Learning programme will resume on Tuesday 21 April. The Senior Leadership Team and I will remain available and in contact with parents over the Easter break. On behalf of the College, I wish all St Joseph’s families a very safe Easter.

Highlights of the term have included the reintroduction of whole school and Prep sharing assemblies in our beautiful Chapel, a fabulous and hugely entertaining musical production of Little Shop of Horrors and a Year 9 Argentinian school exchange. As we finish this term, we wish Mrs Steed and Mrs Morden well as they commence their maternity leave. We also wish Mr Bradford a long and happy retirement and thank him for his many contributions to the Mathematics Faculty and also the timetabling team.

Mrs Danielle Clarke Principal

Focus on a Teacher Mr Robert Crack Data, Assessment & Internal Examinations Co-ordinator and Teacher of Science

Most people in the St Joseph’s College community will know that I am a Physics teacher, and occasional teacher of ICT/ Computing. I have been teaching Physics at GCSE and A-level for 20 years, and six of those have been here. Before I came to St Joseph’s I was working at a school with a broadly comparable foundation - St John’s College, which is in Portsmouth. On arrival at St Joseph’s, the whole ethos of the place felt strikingly similar to what I was already accustomed to, although the view from my classroom is very different and certainly much better here. I have a real passion for computers and technology. Back in the nineties I worked for an internet company when only a minority of people were online. In fact, I take a strange pride in the fact that when I buy stuff on Amazon I’m listed as a customer since 2000. As many pupils will know, I am still an active gamer - well as much as I can be - and have been particularly into Overwatch for the last couple of years. Online gaming is a great change of

pace from everyday life; maybe a little like fishing, golf or walking the dog, and I convince myself that it also helps me to keep my brain sharp. Perhaps surprisingly, in the early nineties I was on the development team for a couple of games that were released - the best-known would be Utopia: Creation of a Nation, which was a popular title at that time. I have a Master’s Degree in Climate Modelling, which links my twin interests of science and computing, and I’m still very interested in our climate as the world continues to change and adapt. It is possibly best to avoid talking to me about such things unless you’ve got time to burn, and my interest remains as keen as ever. I often find myself speculating about all aspects of the future and, given that I really enjoy listening to sci fi audiobooks, my ideas can become rather fanciful at times. I’m always intrigued to know what’s around the corner; give me a time machine and I’m definitely going forward. 3

A Darkly Comic Morality Tale for the Age of Celebrity Bursting with green energy and black comedy, the early sixties inspired music and macabre storyline of The Little Shop of Horrors were in safe hands when St Joseph’s College performed the musical to five packed houses at DanceEast, Ipswich. Outstanding among the performers were Head Boy, Wilfred Kemsley, who provided the voice of the alien, man-eating plant, Audrey II, and fellow Sixth Formers, Rhiannon Dunbar and Vibhash Gunasene, as the sweet but ill-fated lovers, Audrey and Seymour. They were strongly supported by the sensational all-girl Spectors, a Greek chorus of lovely street urchins. The original production called for three singers but the breadth of talent on offer at St Joseph’s allowed the number to be swelled to nine. Their perfect harmonies and dance skills fully justified the innovation. All credit to Isabelle Atkinson, Jemima Bestley, 4

Amelie Goulborn, Nelle Goulding, Olivia Max, Elinor Otaki, Mariam Pope, Anna Simpson-Jacobs and Carys Smith. Where the girls drew admiration, three more Principals drew the laughter – Ethan Willetts as the devious flower shop owner, Mr Mushnik, Joseph Hartley-Mackenzie, who threw himself into the role of the sadistic dentist, Orin Scrivello, and Oliver Fraser, as one of his poor victims. The strength of the school's Creative and Performing Arts programme was born out in the ensemble – with pupils as young as Year 7 taking part. It was particularly remarkable in so professional a show that the sound, lighting, props, scenery and make-up were all in the hands of students. A number operated the enormous and menacing Audrey II, with Oscar Bolton putting in hot and tiring hours as the puppeteer animating the monstrous mouth of the plant from within.

News from the Prep School

Everyone for Tennis? As part of the phased roll out of the new St Joseph’s College Tennis Academy, Prep School pupils from Years 1 to 6 took part in a fun-packed afternoon Tennis Roadshow, getting to grips with the equipment and learning some new skills. The Academy will be managed by former Olympic tennis coach, Nino Severino. As the College’s Director of Tennis, Mr Severino will be supported by Mr Lunt (Head Coach), and Mr Cowley. Mr Severino has worked extensively with some of the best athletes, teams and coaches in the world, and his experience and drive will be invaluable to our students. His coaching philosophy chimes well with the values of St Joseph’s College and the academy programme will be structured in a way to support both aspiring athletes and recreational players.

Cockroaches in the Prep School There was a short-term infestation of ‘roaches in the Prep School, but do not be alarmed - the children certainly weren't. These were Mr Weaver's Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches brought in specially for Animal Club. The children devised race courses to pit the not so little critters against and cheered on their favourites as they raced down the home straight. Some of the cockroaches preferred to hide and had to be persuaded back onto the course. After the races most of the girls and boys volunteered to take the creatures into their hands. It was an enjoyable club meeting and everyone was relieved to hear Mr Weaver had counted all the cockroaches out and counted them all safely home.

Mountains and Rainforests Our Year 3 and 4 pupils have been inspired by the topic of Rainforests and responded with projects, poetry and artwork reflecting the flora, fauna and issues which particularly caught their imagination. The boys and girls of Year 5 and 6 have been equally inspired by their current topic – Mountains. Here are just a few examples of their varied creations. Nice work everyone!

Beetling Away in Reception One morning this term the children in Reception class were joined by their parents for our regular Stay, Play and Learn session, which this time focused on Maths. Everyone enjoyed playing old fashioned favourites, Beetle Drive and Bingo. The children practised counting whilst making a delicious and nutritious fruit salad to eat at snack time. This was a fun and informative morning for all taking part.

Oh to Sing in the World’s Largest School Choir Many of our Prep School children took part in Young Voices, where they had the opportunity to sing in the largest school choir concert in the world and perform alongside Tony Hadley. The concert was held at the O2 Arena in London. The Young Voices initiative helps children develop self-belief, motivation and teamwork – all of which are invaluable! Add to this the numerous health benefits of singing in rehearsals, including breathing exercises to focus the mind. No wonder Young Voices is oversubscribed year after year! It is also a lot of fun.

World Book Day Marked by Authors Highlighting Green Issues In a Prep School full of keen readers, visits by authors are always extremely popular. This year's World Book Day was marked by two such visitors. The first was parent, Ms Marie Martinalli, who works for Medequip, which is producing a series of books for children about recycling. Our second guest was Mrs Debbie Bartlett, who read aloud ‘Just One Child: Starting a Plastic-Free and Litter-Free Journey’. She was inspired to write the story after finding litter on Felixstowe Beach on her morning walks with her border collie. While the children listened, they used litter pickers to grab recyclable and non-recyclable items from a model beach and deposit them in the appropriate bins.

Eco Club Tackles Oil Spillage Members of the Prep School’s Eco Club explored the devastating impact pollution can have on the animals that live in the sea. They created their own polluted ocean habitat, making the water murky with an oil spillage. Plastic rubbish was then thrown into the sea and became tangled around the sea creatures. The children played the role of conservationists, rescuing the animals, untangling them from the plastic litter and cleaning the oil from their bodies. Finally, they attempted to clean the water by absorbing the oil that had been spilled.

Prep School Sport

Stupendous Results in the Swimming Pool Finlay Cherrington (Y6) achieved some outstanding results at the Suffolk County Swimming Championship, winning nine medals: six gold and three silver. His golds make him the Boys’ Under 11 Suffolk Champion in 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke. Fin was silver medal winner in 100m butterfly, 200m freestyle and 100m individual medley. Fantastic effort!

It has been a challenging time for sport teachers and grounds staff in the Prep School this term. We have seen unprecedented levels of rain combined with gale force winds in a term ravaged by storms. With well over 100 fixtures calendared, our Monday, Wednesday and Friday programmes have been decimated by the elements. However, when the opportunity has presented itself St Joseph’s College Prep School children have shone. The core values of aspiration, respect and confidence have been lived to the full in some scintillating performances. We have experienced the full range of emotions on the netball, rugby, football and hockey fields and squash courts as well as in the sports hall where the dodgeball teams at Under 9 and Under 11 level were outstanding. Our children have played home and away matches in all of our major sports as well as regional cross-country, swim meets, dodgeball and Saxon cup squash.

Our break and lunchtimes continue to see the playground flooded with balls, crazy catchers, hoops and games. Children define the rules of their games and exude creativity, diplomacy and integrity in the impromptu netball, football and touch rugby matches that take place each day. St Joseph’s Prep really keeps the spirit of ‘playing out’ alive for our children. Participation continues to be exceptionally high. All children in Years 3-6 regularly play in inter school fixtures with performances and progress celebrated in sharing assemblies each Friday. Sports successes outside school are also celebrated. It has been fantastic to see Year 2 boys and girls also playing for their school in some of our Monday fixtures. Well done to all who have taken part. We have been looking forward to the Under 7s All Star cricket and dodgeball festivals next term, but now await news during the temporary closure. The atmosphere and support at each event has facilitated positive learning experiences for all of our children and we thank all teachers, parents and friends for their support.

The Under 11 netball team enjoyed their experience at the IAPS tournament and appeared to be the form team in the school heading through March. Hot on their heels were the Under 11 football teams. We have reduced the fixture programme in the first half term for Years 3 and 4 to allow the children greater time with their teachers and coaches. This has enabled us to play in more tournament and triangular or quadrangular fixtures in the second term. The rugby and hockey teams have clearly benefitted from this adaptation. The children have been excited to unleash their skills each Monday and Friday and we are very proud of their development. The footballers have been busy. We have played matches on Wednesdays, Fridays and on a Saturday for the Finborough tournament. The Under 10 and 11 teams have made incredible progress and have grown at an amazing rate under the guidance of Darren Eadie, our Head of Football. The Under 10s, who have played up in the Under 11 A team, have added another dimension to a very strong cohort and some of the play this season has been breathtaking. It was a delight to see the Under 18 squad stop their session to watch and support the Under 11s. We were all impressed by the quality of the play and the skill of the individuals. The girls have made their mark, too. They played their first competitive tournaments and were brilliant. As one of the fastest expanding games in the country there really never has been a better time for girls to get into the beautiful game or a better place to nurture that talent. Our sports clubs continue to be well attended, before school, at lunch and each evening. The breadth on offer has grown again to include KS1 multi-skills, table tennis, ballet, dance, netball, cricket, rugby, cross-country, tennis, squash, football, squash, trampoline, dodgeball and karate.

Staff in the Spotlight Lucy Bolton Head of Marketing and Events

Well, I wasn't expecting my colleague from across the office to say ‘You're going to feature in the next newsletter - so get writing, Mrs B!’ But here goes – Growing up in the centre of Ipswich with my two brothers and sister, I spent most of my summers in Christchurch Park or splashing about on the River Orwell. Being the youngest of four meant I was scooped up and encouraged to get on with it, which may have made me grow up quickly. I was spoilt rotten by my parents, especially my Dad. We spent family holidays sailing around Majorca or camping in France. Christmas was always a magical time. At school my favourite subjects were art, textiles and physical education. I played netball for Suffolk Having qualified as a beauty therapist at Suffolk College, I went on to work at Shrubland Hall Health Clinic near Claydon, before setting up and running my own salon. Still ambitious to progress further, I trained as a lecturer at Colchester Institute for two years and was awarded my Certificate in Education and Assessors Award. At this time, I had my first child, Oscar. By the time number three, Joe, arrived I stepped back from lecturing and learnt how to make jewellery from Silverclay, which I used to make personalised solid silver items, specialising in capturing children's

fingerprints. Before I knew it, this hobby had grown into a business, for which I created my own brand, website and marketing materials. I regularly exhibited and attended trade shows. Choosing the right school for my eldest son wasn't as straightforward as I thought as we weren't given a place in our local primary school. We decided to look at independent schools and fell in love with St Joseph’s. Being part of St Jo’s for the past 14 years has been hugely important to our family life. Once all three of my children – Bonnie arrived in 2008 - were in full time education here, I was ready for a change, so I sold my jewellery business and accepted an invitation to help organise the National Schools Rugby Festival. In fact, I jumped at it and threw myself into securing sponsorship and creating new commercial relationships. Following on from the successful growth of the Festival, I was asked to work on other College events: open mornings, summer balls, alumni events and prize giving, plus taking ownership of the Rugby Festival. This year we will see our 34th - my fifth of running it with the help of Mr O'Riordan and his team. My role at the College has grown and evolved. As Head of Marketing, I and my colleagues have implemented a marketing strategy, introduced video content and are

in the process of updating brand guidelines, concentrating on specific campaigns and driving up social media awareness. I am about to complete an AMCIS Diploma in Schools’ Marketing, and with a great team around me am looking forward to driving St Joseph’s College forward. Being supported by a big family makes everything work for me personally. With Oscar about to take his GCSEs, Bonnie in Year 7 and Joe in Year 5, Mike and I are fully committed to the school. Outside it, trips to Southwold with fellow St Jo’s parents, the Lloyds, rugby in some form or another, family gatherings and singing or fighting in the car on the morning commute are the order of the day. I've never been one to take the easy option; I love a challenge, keeping busy, working, keeping fit and seeing my friends. Juggling all these things can be challenging as I battle with myself to be the best mum, wife and career woman. Us mums seem to put pressure on ourselves, but we can only do the best we can and don't ask me how but it somehow works. My kids are so happy at St Jo’s and all striving in their own way, growing in confidence as they take up the opportunities on offer. It may seem corny, but St Jo’s is a great school and one benefit of working here is that I get to see that with my own eyes every day.

Football on an Upward Curve It has been quite the year for development and progression of football in our St Joseph’s College football programme. We have seen huge strides made in terms of success beyond expectations considering we are in the early stages of a completely new performance sport being introduced, writes Head of Football, Mr Eadie. Starting with the Prep School, we felt it was very important to build from the bottom when developing a performance sport that we could extend through the entire College. We wanted to introduce boys and girls to good ‘footballing habits’, exposing them to new ideas and a different approach. This started right from the warm up, using new football activation techniques, including strength and conditioning. We have also stripped back our coaching to the real basics of football, getting the players to understand the fundamentals before trying things they are not yet capable of will develop them as players, and as a team, at a much more successful rate. I have seen the benefits of this already; I stood back to watch a game recently and saw the change in the team and players. There was noticeable difference in our team compared to our opponents in the level of coaching and understanding 12

that we had. It was particularly pleasing to hear the ‘football language’ our players were using to help each other technically as individuals and a team, which they have picked up from our coaching sessions. These ‘stripped back’ fundamentals have been implemented throughout our football programme, from Prep through to our Seniors. We have seen major strides in the success of both our boys’ and girls’ Senior teams this year, exceeding our expectations far beyond what we hoped. All of our boys’ teams reached further in all cups entered this year in both National and County competitions, and we hope to continue this upward curve in the future. We are certainly over achieving taking into consideration the size of our school and current number of available players who are pulled across a variety of sports.

Our Senior boys reached the last 16 of the ESFA National Cup, which is the largest schools cup competition in the country, involving both independent and state schools - over 700 of them - and both our seniors and U16s are currently into the quarter finals of the Suffolk Schools County Cup. Again, a great achievement against very large state football schools. A very pleasing aspect for our boys this year was seeing international recognition. Three boys represented the English ISFA national team playing against other nations and involved in training camps, all of them gaining trials at professional football clubs. We also had another boy representing his nation in the CONCACAF U17s national football tournament. It is fabulous recognition not only for the boys but also for the College football programme. The girls’ football programme has certainly hit the ground running. All of our female footballers follow exactly the same programme as the boys. Our elite female footballers train with our boys to develop their speed of thought and football physicality. This has been vital in their development and I can see the benefits when they step back into their own female environment. The senior girls have had a brilliant year. They

are still currently in both the quarter finals of the ESFA national competition and also the semi-finals of the ISFA national competition. Quite a remarkable achievement considering the number of girls we have in the school and the fact our girls’ programme has only been going since the start of this school year. Let’s hope some silverware could be coming this way in the not too distant future. There should also be a special mention for the six of our senior girls who gained full England recognition, and two of our younger girls who are due to represent the English ISFA national team. We will continue to drive our football forward on the upward curve at the College, developing our coaching programmes to offer the best around, and adding to our coaching staff with another full-time member of the football coaching team alongside myself and my current part time coach. We will also continue to actively recruit the best players we can, and develop those we have to be the best they and we as a team can be. The future of football at St Joseph’s College looks very bright.

News from the Senior School

Argentina – The Truth is We Never Left You ¡Hola a todos! A group of six most amazing Year 9 students had the good fortune to travel out to Buenos Aires in Argentina for a 5-week culture and language exchange. Our partner school, St George’s College North, is a like-minded school with a warm and welcoming charm and a passion for instilling a love of learning. Natalie Mashonganyika, Scarlett Chaytor, Hazel Hwang, Ben Wheatley-Perry, and Jimmy and Just last year Jasper Platt (Y9) started learning the technical Connor Holdcroft all settled in very quickly. They reported that the first weekend ins and outs of the recording studio here at the College and there was a social gathering around the pool with a ‘parilla’ – a very traditional having individual Music Technology lessons. He has now Argentinian barbeque hot grill on which many large cuts of meat are cooked. passed his Rock School grade 3 Music Technology exam with Whilst out at St George’s our students were kept busy improving their Spanish Distinction. For Jasper, a very fine cellist and bass guitarist, language and gaining an appreciation of the Argentinian culture. They also attended the move into the music engineer’s role is one more string to mainstream lessons – covering unfamiliar ground such as trigonometry and the his bow. He so impressed the sound engineers at the 2019 impact of mass farming. Rugby Festival he was invited to work on the mixing console for the Ipswich Regent's Christmas pantomime. St Joseph’s Sadly, due to the changing global situation in relation to Covid-19, the group had to also called on his talents working with Mr James Smith on curtail their stay in Argentina and returned to school two weeks early. There were sound for the College musical, ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. many tears as our young people said farewell to their host families and friends. We

Impressing in Front of and Behind the Mixing Console

are hopeful that once things are more settled the returning group will be able to travel across to be welcomed at St Joseph’s. Despite the shortened trip, the clear message from everyone was that they had created the most amazing memories and made friends for life.

Fieldwork Puts A-level Geography in Context Just as the previous newsletter was going to print, Sixth Form geographers were undertaking fieldwork in the Lake District. The weather was windy and cold, but remained dry for orientation. On the second day the students moved on to Easedale. Their tasks included climbing Lion Rock, a crag and tail, to put glaciated landscapes and place making factors into context. The lying snow may have added to the difficulties but also to the fun factor.

Slime Time – Students Stretch Their Scientific Knowledge Year 10 scientists ran an extremely popular workshop for Year 6, exploring the composition and properties of slime. The younger students worked in teams to create the stretchiest formula and put their creations to the test against a tape measure. The winning team's fantastic mix was stretched to an amazing 18 metres before coming apart. The senior students hope to take the workshop out to local primary schools to share their knowledge and demonstrate science can be fun.

‘… In Rome Was History in the Stones of the Street and the Atoms of the Sunshine’ Art and Photography students from Years 10 and 12 enjoyed a fabulous trip to the Eternal City during February half term. There was art and architecture to admire, inspire and photograph at every turn, including the Coliseum and the Forum, St Peter’s and the Vatican museums, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, the Catacombs and the… Hard Rock Cave. It’s arrivederci Roma for now sadly but many hope to return soon. The students were accompanied by Mrs Yearsley, Mr Cinnamond and Mr Orris.

Sum Challenges, Some Challengers The College is very proud of the Upper School students who were successful in gaining an award in the recent UK Maths Challenge. The highly respected challenge is organised by the UK Maths Trust, based at the University of Leeds. Every year the brightest Mathematicians from across the UK take part, solving a range of very difficult Maths problems. We would like to highlight the exceptional result by Frank Zhao (Y11). Not only did Frank gain an impressive Gold award, he surged passed the boundary by an incredible 20 marks, which would place him in the top 1% of students studying in the UK. Frank now qualifies for the imaginatively titled ‘Pink Kangaroo’ competition; an incredibly demanding challenge - good luck Frank! Frank is currently studying his Maths GCSE and Further Maths GCSE (Level 2 certificate), alongside his other GCSEs. In September, he intends to study A-levels in Maths, Further Maths and Economics.

Year 9 Explores the Magic Behind the Movies A particularly popular Art trip was made by all Year 9 students to the Warner Bros Studios in Watford, home to The Making of Harry Potter Tour. The students were divided into two for workshops, with one group learning about ‘Script to Screen’ and the other group studying ‘The Art of Foley’. In the former, students followed the journey of a film production from the script to the big screen. They studied the processes used, focusing on artwork, plans, white card models, storyboards and the finished sets used in the Harry Potter film series. The Foley group discovered the importance of sound in film and experienced one of the most intriguing jobs in the film industry – the Foley artist. This is a person who re-creates sounds for film, video, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. Foley artists replace sounds that cannot properly be recorded on set, adding in anything from the swishing of clothing and the breaking of glass, to footsteps and squeaking doors. Students were then able to tour the studios, where they had the opportunity to look at sets, props and costumes, experience special effects, try some butter beer and ride on a broom stick.

Frank said, ‘I am really looking forward to joining the Sixth Form at St Joseph’s College. I know the teachers well here and am happy, I will always be able to get all the help I need. Feeling comfortable and supported is really important to me, if I am to achieve my best.’ Over 150 Lower School students took part in the annual Inter House Arithmetic Challenge, making it one of the largest participation competitions in the College’s House calendar. Students faced challenging mental and written arithmetic tasks, which were geared to the ability and potential of their specific class, so everyone could play a valuable role. Well done to all who took part. Goldrood won for Year 7, La Salle for Year 8 and Orwell for Year 9. Sixteen of our most talented mathematicians took part in the Lower School Inter House Maths Competition. They attempted to solve over 80 challenging problems and puzzles against the clock. La Salle won, with Birkfield as runner up.

Outstanding Academic Results to Celebrate Every one of our 21 Year 8 and Year 9 students taking part in the Higher Project Qualification achieved A*-C and 16 of the 21 were awarded A*-A; a truly outstanding result. This AQA qualification is marked at GCSE-level and provides bright students with a flying start to their public examination journeys. HPQ gives students the opportunity to carry out independent research on a topic area of their own choice and allows them to discover the joys of independent learning, take responsibility for their own study and develop transferable life and study skills.

Picasso, Psychopaths and Puddings

Some of the topics the students chose to explore included: ‘How differently has the First World War been formally commemorated in Britain and Germany?’, ‘Has the Age of the Motor Car had a positive or negative impact in Britain?’, ‘How effective is sports psychology in competitive sport?’, ‘To what extent does protective gear help or hinder rugby players?’ and ‘Who was to blame for Bloody Sunday?’.

Students and staff found a broad range of subjects to discuss when Upper Sixth students presented their Extended Project Qualification findings at a lunchtime exhibition. The supervised independent EPQ projects lead to an AS qualification. Projects allow students to develop their understanding in an area of their choice and should demonstrate the development of skills and knowledge underpinned by critical thought, reasoning and evidence. EPQ offers students the opportunity to study topics related to their forthcoming university application.

Mrs Clarke added her own congratulations and said: ‘This is an outstanding achievement for these 13 and 14-year-old students, who undertook the HPQ during the Enrichment Hour. We are determined to stretch our most academically able youngsters and these 16 girls and boys have risen to the challenge particularly brilliantly. Their success will undoubtedly bolster their academic aspirations.’

Visitors to the exhibition in the Sixth Form centre were able to find out more about astrophysics, economics and behavioural economics, haute couture, cricket, garage conversions, mental health, Picasso, psychopaths and puddings. Truly something for everyone.

Fascinating Trip for DisCERNing Young Scientists A group of 21 students, accompanied by Mr Crack, Mrs Turner and Mr Kemsley, travelled to Geneva in February to visit CERN, home of the world’s largest and most powerful hadron collider. The group attended a lecture on the collider, which is used to test the predictions of various theories in particle physics, high-energy physics and nuclear physics, and enjoyed a very informative tour of the site. The hands-on ‘Universe of Particles’ and ‘Microcosm’ exhibitions were also popular. Having ‘done’ Physics, the party moved on to Geneva’s Museum of Natural History, with its extensive preserved animal collection – including Janus, the two-headed turtle – and floors dedicated to geosciences, astronomy and the evolution of man.

Battle of Hastings Recreated in the Shadow of Birkfield House Church and State in PostModern Society, Discuss Tanaquil Lu (Y10) led our Senior Public Speaking Debate Team this year to victory in and retention of the Senior Trophy in the Rotary Public Speaking Debate Competition. Tanaquil also won the Senior Rotary Young Writers Award, based on the theme ‘Connections.’ Her speech tackled ‘The connections between the Church and State in Post-Modern Society’ and her achievement was all the more notable as the competition was open to students aged up to 17 years. She is pictured with local Rotary president, Mr Alfred Reeves.

With standards flying, battle cries ringing out and advancing in formation, Year 7 re-enacted the Battle of Hastings. The tactic of a shield wall came to life with carefully crafted and painted shields and weapons. Students practised shield wall formations including the Boar’s Head, which was used to break through an opponent’s wall. The shield wall tactic was something akin to a rugby scrum and Mr Cinnamond brought home the point by inviting ‘enemy troops’ to bring their weight to bear as he attempted to hold them off with a tackle bag. ‘Victory was all about reliance on the man behind, cohesion and keeping the shields locked together and holding your nerve,’ he explained.

In the earlier competition, the Public Speaking Debate Team comprised Tanaquil Lu (Captain), Olivia Cave (Proposition) and Wilfred Kemsley (Opposition).

Students’ Work Chosen for Royal College of Art Exhibition Congratulations to Leo Smith, Tom Pratt, Matilda Jones and Rosa Kou who have had their work selected to be displayed at the ‘Young Art’ national school exhibition at the Royal College of Art in London in April. Their work is a personal response to the theme of ‘Memories’. An outstanding accolade for any artist, so well done to you all!

Senior School Sport Helena Takes Gold Helena Chan (Y11) competed in the JSKA national karate competition at Woking in the 15-17 years category. Despite being the youngest in the class and fighting with a broken hand, she won gold! Congratulations, Helena, on such an amazing result.

Netball

Rugby

The first team made a very strong start in the regional AOC league, sitting in first place for the majority of the season. A few major injuries saw the team struggle towards the end of the season but they are still maintaining their position in third place with two games to play. We are fortunate to have some very talented players in the first team, including Head Girl Safia Ludlam, who plays National League netball for Thoroughbreds, and Amelia Vincent, who plays U19 Essex hub for London Pulse.

Despite the focus for rugby turning to the shorter 7-a-side format of the game, for various reasons including adverse weather conditions, only two of the many tournaments that were planned for our students have gone ahead.

We have had a number of successes with our two newest teams; the U12A and B squads achieving top four in all four of their tournaments. Our U12A team consists of Robyn Dix and Phoebe Kerr from Satellite for Suffolk Netball, and two Year 6 girls: Catie Lloyd and Sofie SimpsonJacobs are both in the Suffolk Netball Development Pathway. We also have three Year 9s in our U14A team; Lola Crawford, Caitlyn Wright and Olivia James are all in the Suffolk County Futures Pathway.

Cross Country Grace Bestley and Imogen Bowyer both qualified for the East Region cross country team after successful runs at both Ipswich High and Woodbridge Schools, in hard conditions. Grace qualified twelfth in the U15 age group, two years ahead of her age.

Hockey Aimee Porter, Caitlyn Wright, Gigi Gebhard, Hannah McNicholas, Natalie Mashonganyika and Zoe Tanner have all represented the county in hockey this year, playing in a series of festivals against other county squads. Hockey Clinic has been very successful again this term across KS3, with students working hard on individual skills to help build their performance.

In spite of this, many of our current Sixth Form students have been playing academy rugby at both U18 and U17 level. Our current 1st XV captain, Jarno Longaretti, along with teammates Joshua Cilia, Finley McCartney, Louis Martin, Gabe Jones, Leroy O'Neil and Kai St-Jean have all represented Northampton Saints this term. Following a number of fixtures for Scarlets academy, Harry Williams recently represented Wales at U18 level and is now preparing for the U18 Six Nations that was scheduled to take place in April. Despite there being less rugby for our students than we might have hoped, there has been continued reason for celebration as a host of Old Birkfeldians have been representing club and country. Lewis Ludlam and Alex Moon were both selected into Eddie Jones’s squad in preparation for this year's Six Nations campaign, whilst both Ethan Waddleton and Tom Emery have represented England Sevens team in the World Series. As if that weren't enough, Emmanuel Iyogun, who signed a contract with Northampton Saints on completion of his studies last year, has also been pulling on the England shirt, representing England's U20 team in their bid to win the U20 Six Nations Championship. As always, we would like to thank parents and pupils for their understanding surrounding the issues that have impacted sport this term and reassure them that we will continue to try and provide the very best opportunities in all of our performance sports, whilst also supporting athletes participating in an array of other activities.

Equestrianism

Gymnastics

Freya Milner-Moore has had an outstanding showjumping season:

Nyah Gaskin-Barber has been selected for the Suffolk county squad and has been nominated for the most artistic junior gymnast.

NSEA Topthorn - 1st Individual NSEA Forest Edge - 5th 75cm (qualifying Keysoe final) 3rd 85cm (qualifying Addington final) NSEA Brook Farm - 2nd & 5th 75cm (qualifying Addington & Keysoe finals) Awarded British Showjumping points leave winner Bronze league. Selected for British Showjumping team, riding for Suffolk, and individually placing 2nd and 7th. Winner Winter Showjumping points league at Wix Equestrian Centre.

James Porter - Cycle Speedway James Porter has continued to represent both the England and Great Britain Cycle Speedway teams. Earlier this term James finished second in the Junior British Indoor Cycle Speedway Finals. He is now working hard as a member of the Great Britain team that is preparing for the Junior World Finals in Australia in November.

Squash

Charlie Harvey-Lloyd competed in Spain for England in an ‘all round’ competition against over 18s. He finished 12th, but had he not fallen during one of his routines he would have finished fourth. The English Championships and the British Championships are beckoning.

Swimming Ben Howlett has had a busy term in the pool, having won the overall trophy in the 13-year-old boys’ category at the County Championships. Having again taken home an impressive haul of medals, including three golds, Ben now turns his focus to the Regional Swimming Championships, having qualified in seven events. Xanthe Baker Woods secured county times for 2021 and a regional fast time in the 50m breaststroke. Hannah McNicholas and Caitlyn McNicholas are both participating in the Welsh nationals. Hannah secured a regional fast time in butterfly and Caitlyn a county medal. Gigi Gebhard came 10th in the county 50m breaststroke, 7th in the 200m breast stroke and 9th in the 50m breaststroke. She has represented St Joseph’s in triathlon. Lily Vinyard competed in the county finals in butterfly, freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. Fergus Cherrington competed in the regional 100m butterfly.

Zoe Tanner is currently ranked within the top 100 in Europe and top 30 in the UK. Gigi Gebhard is currently ranked fifth in the county.

Community News

Empowering Female Students to Look Through and Beyond the Glass Ceiling Preparation for life beyond school is integral to an education at St Joseph’s College, where staff are passionate about helping students find their way into happy and fulfilling careers. Concerned about the particular challenges likely to face female students, the College inaugurated an Empowering and Inspiring Women in the Workplace event, open to young women studying at the College and other local schools. The day was led by Kelly Snook, 1990s’ popstar and present-day business leader in the world of media. She was supported by four other speakers: Lyndsie Goodwin, CFO for East of England Co-op; Nicola Booth, Buildings Services Engineer with design and property consultants, Concertus; Claire Cherrington, HR Director at London law firm, Bates Wells; and Vicky Hicks, Senior Manager within IT Services at BT.

Students took part in a carousel of five workshops led by the speakers, in which they were coached on a range of skills, including presenting, CV writing and maintaining personal integrity in one’s working life. The event was a great success and St Joseph's intends to repeat it and hold similar workshops in the future. These will be added to a busy calendar, which already features the popular annual Careers Fair. At that event, too, St Joseph’s College is indebted to representatives of local and national firms for helping to open up the world of employment opportunities to its students. Mrs Clarke, who also spoke at the Empowering Women event, said, ‘We believe the wide variety of enriching experiences the school offers helps students navigate the major milestones in their educational journey. All our staff are invested in successful outcomes for every student. Once a member of the St Joseph’s College family, always a member. We follow the career paths of our alumni with great pride and are delighted when they return to the school to share their experiences with current students.'

Old Birkfeldians Christos Glavanis OB was warmly welcomed back to St Joseph’s College by the Principal, Mrs Clarke, and our new Alumni Officer, Mrs Rachael Woodmansee. Mr Glavanis, retired Managing Partner Eastern Europe for global accountancy firm, Ernst & Young, continues to live an international lifestyle, but with a home in London and a daughter, Ariadne, studying Law at King’s College Cambridge, he was well placed to make a nostalgic trip back to Birkfield House, which once housed his dormitory. Mr Glavanis’ diplomat father had attended a De La Salle school in Egypt and so a link was opened. The family moved to Libya and then Algeria, where they became friendly with the Carlsons, St Joseph’s College parents. As well as Christos, the family sent older brother, Pantelis, to the school. He rose to Head Boy and was particularly memorable for his mastery of languages – he spoke seven. Christos was a prefect at the school and played rugby for the 1st XV, the county and East Anglia. Christos is pictured 2nd from the right on the middle row.

So Near and Yet So Far We are delighted to have received an update from OB Henry Huo, who studied at St Joseph’s College from 2010 to 2012. Henry graduated from Imperial College with an Engineering degree, before joining Imperial College Business School and studying Management for a year. He then joined BDO in London as an auditor. ‘It's interesting that, whilst I lived and worked in London, I was actually registered with BDO's Ipswich office down the Havens in Ransomes Europark. However, as you may or may not know, as an auditor there was very little time when I could work from the office. Most of the time I was with the client on site,’ he said ruefully, explaining why he hadn’t come back to visit us. Following his father’s death early last year, Henry decided to move back to China to be closer to his family. He is currently working for one of accounting’s Big Four, Deloitte, in Shanghai, in the Financial Advisory department.

Boarding News

Everyone in the boarding houses (both staff and students) seems to have had some extra energy with the warmer weather and longer days arriving. Despite all that is going on in the world, there has been spring in the air and we have enjoyed seeing the buds developing on our little daily walk to school. As well as the usual array of weekend sport, socialising and, of course, studying, students have also been invited to attend weekly boarding activities. These have included sessions within house, such as baking, and film and games nights, and also out of the house over the weekend, too. There has been some real fun, despite the wet weather that seemed to hang around for weeks. On one particularly miserable day weather-wise, a large group of our students from Years 7-9 went to the Suffolk Ski Centre and spent an energetic afternoon tobogganing. The outdoor fun was a welcome relief to Year 9 students, who had finished some particularly tough science tests the week before. A new activity for the boarding calendar was organised by Miss Ward: an escape room challenge. The escape room at Suffolk Food Hall proved to be a great mix of problem solving and team work, with students successfully identifying clues to make their escape.

Our last big activity of the term was the much-awaited gokarting, with students of all ages testing their driving skills to the limit on the fast, indoor track.

Sporting Success for Basketballers Our College basketball team is based in boarding and our players have worked hard over the year to develop their team skills, supported by weekly visits from their professional coach. The sports hall has frequently been opened for additional practice. The dedication paid off at the IM Basketball Festival, held at Suffolk One, where our team finished second after a series of hard-fought games. The students paid tribute to coach, Jake Eylon, himself a talented basketballer with serious aspirations to join a professional league in the United States.

Food technology

Chinese New Year

With so many different backgrounds, our boarders introduce a wealth of international flavours to the kitchen. Their expertise sets them in good stead as they prepare for even more independence as university beckons. For those students who stayed at half term, we chose to cook in house for a couple of meals. A real highlight was steak night, with Tiger Liu (U6) proudly crowned best chef.

Whilst New Year celebrations were being disrupted in China, the UK was still able to celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Rat. Celebrations were in full swing over the weekend as we dined out on delicious Chinese Food. Students then really represented boarding well with the presentation of a colourful assembly delivered to the whole College in Chapel, complete with singing and dragon dancing. Boarders also introduced their classmates to a host of Chinese activities at a cultural event.

Some of our Year 11 students really got to test their culinary skills this term as they completed their GCSE Food Technology practical. Mr Battye and Mrs Pope are still talking about the high quality of the food on offer when they were invited to sample the results.

At another assembly, this time on the theme of Hope, Judith Chidi Lloyd (Y11) read Maya Angelou’s poem, ‘Still I Rise’.

Academic and Exam Successes The term has seen considerable academic and exam success. Many Year 13 students demonstrated real improvement in their achievement in their mock examinations in January and we have had many successful university offers. IELTs test results have also seen some impressive results, with multiple students achieving scores of 7 or more, an amazing achievement. To end the term on a real high, amongst all the other difficult news in the wider world, we heard that Celine Qiu (Y12) had secured a high Merit grade in her Grade 8 piano exam. Huge congratulations to her! Dr Stimson Head of Sixth Form

Hidden Apps Apps on their phone or tablet that look like one thing but are secretly hiding another purpose are growing in popularity with children. More youngsters are becoming familiar with ‘secret’ photo hiding apps, where a relatively ordinary looking app is actually a hidden gateway to private photos and videos. These apps allow users to hide passcode protected images, videos and notes. One of the most common types of hidden app used is a ‘fake calculator’, but many others are also available. The most common use for the apps is to hide ‘sexting’ images which young people may be sending or receiving. This problem is growing rapidly amongst students in this country, and from an increasingly early age. Not only is sexting dangerous, but it is illegal when it involves a minor even if both the sender and receiver are underage. By storing and sending these images, young people should be aware that they are committing a crime. If you are aware that your children are using the app, you should read the small-print in the usage policy/terms and conditions to ensure the developers do not have access to any of the images stored on the device. If the photos are linked to a cloud storage, then the images stored are also in danger of being released if the application is compromised/hacked. Young people tend to act more impulsively if they believe that their behaviour will remain secret, so often they will produce content for these apps thinking that it will be safe. These apps can generally be used by anyone over the age of four and so will not be blocked automatically by parental controls. Whilst online platforms, such as Apple, have removed these apps on numerous occasions from their app store, due to their popularity and potential profitability for creators, they continue to be produced and to find their way into stores for download. Some of the most secure apps allow the user to set-up a decoy feature as an added layer of security. A fake password will open a decoy folder containing content of the user’s choice or just stock photos. The real password provides access to the secret folder within the app. Ensure your children are aware of the dangers of sexting. Encourage them to take control of their online persona and what they are posting to others. iPhones have the option to lock notes within the default Notes app. Users can paste images into a note file and lock it using Touch/Face ID and a password. In addition, iOS allows users to move images to a Hidden folder in the photos app. When an image is moved to the hidden folder, it is removed from the ‘All Photos’ folder. To find this folder, open the ‘Photos’ app, scroll down and click ‘Hidden’. Users may also create folders to try and hide the app on their home screen or on a second or third page. If you see a folder on your child’s device, ensure you check each page for hidden apps. If your child’s iOS device is linked to your Apple ID account, you are able to set a password for downloading apps which only you know. If you do not have access to your child’s Apple ID, you can delete the app without a passcode. This will delete any images stored on the app and will not be recoverable, even if the app is redownloaded.