Dear Parents and
friends,
Please find below my
latest Blog about our College community. I trust that you have all now had your
red termly diary booklets if not please ask your son to get your copy from his
tutor – failing this of course please contact his tutor directly. The first of
two planned Year 11 Parent/Teacher evenings being due after the mock exams on
Tuesday 10th December with the whole school mentoring day on Friday
22nd November. There is a return to Parent/Teacher evenings for all
years after the strong messages I received at the Ofsted feedback evenings,
these will be in addition to the mentoring days.
Bishop Christopher
popped into College today, Friday, and had a tour and a cup of coffee with me.
He spoke with several of the pupils and staff as we walked the College and it
was a real shot in the arm to see him again in St. Boniface’s. My great thanks
to him for making time – the staff and students are all very appreciative. In
the same note, Father John has been highly visible in the College and I have
been particularly grateful to him for his time for students, staff and myself.
It is a real blessing when our faith can unite us in such a manner.
I regret to
inform you that as things stand at the moment, I will need to close the College for all pupils on October
17th due to industrial action by two of the teaching unions, NUT
and NASUWT.
On the grounds of health and safety I will be unable to ensure that there will
be enough staff on site – legislation preventing me from filling in any gaps! I
have been trying to see if there were any way that we could arrange for externally
examined years groups to come in but, at this stage it is looking very
doubtful. Some schools in the City may have very few teachers who belong to
either of these unions and may be able to remain partly open – I am afraid that
each school will be different but I did want to let you know as soon as
possible so that you can make suitable arrangements. I am sorry but these
matters are beyond our control, the industrial action is due across the whole
of the South West of England.
On a far sunnier note
we had one of our 150th Birthday celebrations this week with an
aerial photograph of all the students and staff on the school field. The pupils
were excellent and I was very proud of them all. A more formal whole school
photograph is planned for Thursday 10th October.
Our Parent texting
service will be up and running from next week with letters being sent home, via
the post, to all parents asking for them to register for this free to parent’s facility.
Please take a little time to register as we believe the service will make a
significant difference to communications between parents and the College.
Year 7
Year 7 have had yet
another very busy week at St Boniface’s! We have had many successes
academically, with already, over 170 entries by teachers onto SIMS, for students
gaining academic merits for outstanding work! I am absolutely thrilled with
this and it is down to the hard work of our year group, so well done lads! It
was also lovely to present the prefects, nominated by their tutor group, with
the prefect ties and pin badges in assembly. The boys all look extremely smart.
To add to these academic successes, we have also had a fantastic turn out to
the Year 7 Rugby afterschool club, run by Mr Tucker. Over 40 students attended
and Mr Tucker was kindly offered assistance by some of the older students. It
was lovely to see all of our students working so well together regardless of
their differing years.
Home learning is now
a firm part of the student’s timetable, with a range of weekly and monthly
projects in place. Please could I ask all parents that you ensure that students
are completing all home learning and that you are signing the planners weekly.
Please remember if your son is struggling to adapt to this more structured
homework system, we have a number of homework clubs available for him to
attend, both in the Library or the Learning for Life Centre every day after
school.
This week’s assembly
was presented by Mrs Polson and 7B. The assembly was on the theme of “Litter”
and we were treated to a lovely poem written by the students about the
nuisances of litter! Well done boys for standing up and reading so clearly. It
is often quite a daunting experience to be asked to stand in front of peers, so
I was extremely proud of them. We are very much looking forward to the next
tutor’s assembly; 7E and Miss Heduvan.
Some of our Year 7
“HMS Heroes” students are fortunate to be attending a visit to a Royal Navy
Warship next week. This is as part of the HMS Heroes scheme we have at St
Boniface’s to support those students with one or more parent in the Armed
Forces. I will hopefully have more photographs and information to follow next
week!
Yr.
7 rugby. The boys played their first competitive games on Thursday at Sir John
Hunt. The games are shortened to 10 minutes each way and are used to develop
the boys’ skill levels and their knowledge of the game. I was really delighted
with the boys’ commitment and we came away unbeaten with a draw against both
Eggbuckland and Sir John Hunt. Well done to all!
·
October
10th – We are having a whole school photograph at 11.30am to
celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the school! Please ensure that
your son is looking especially smart that day!
·
October
18th – Mufti day for the students in school and a “Welcome Disco” at
St Boniface’s for Key Stage 3 students in the evening. To welcome the New Year
7’s, we hold a disco here at St Boniface’s where students from Notre Dame are
invited also. Tickets will be available from Mrs Mills (Maths) very soon! All
money raised is going to a fantastic cause – Project Motiv8. This a project
that is being organised by our fantastic PTFA to refurbish our Multi Gym in
school. We are trying to raise as much money as possible so please feel free to
support us and donate anything you can. Project Motiv8 is a project that will
benefit all of our students, whether it is in PE lessons during the
school day, or the use of the gym during free leisure time.
To
ensure the extremely high standards that Year 7 continue to demonstrate, please
can I ask parents to make a note of the following;
·
Students
should adhere to the hair and uniform requirements at all times. Please ensure
that the correct outer wear garments are being used as the weather starts to
turn towards winter. Students should only be wearing black or navy blue coats,
thank you.
·
Mobile
phones should not be on during the school day. They should be switched off and
in bags so that learning is not disturbed.
·
Home
learning should be completed for all subjects in a timely manner. Please can
parents insist on checking planners and guiding the students with their
organisation.
·
Please
can parents ensure their son has a reading book in his bag every day to support
our reading scheme. This is to further help and
improve literacy standards whereby all students will undertake 30 minutes of
silent reading each day.
I have sent students
home this week with email slips for parents to fill in. This is by far the most
convenient and quick way for me to keep in touch with parents. Please can I ask
that if your son has given you a slip that you complete and return as soon as
possible. I will be sending out regular emails with updates.
Finally, I know I
repeat this every week, but I really am very proud of my extremely skilled
transition tutor team here at St Boniface’s. The tutors are specialised in
dealing with a range of Year 7 pastoral issues. Please do not hesitate in
contacting either your son’s tutor via email, or me directly, should you have
concerns or questions. Our email addresses are available on the school website www.stbonifaces.com or in the parent diary handed to your
sons this week.
I wish you all a
lovely, relaxing weekend with your families.
Miss Beales,
Head of Year 7
The
rugby team got off to a flying start on Tuesday with two wins over Tavistock
and All Saints! Mr Weaver was very impressed, well done!
The
Year group all received a letter during the week detailing who their new mentor
will be from now until the end of Year 11. If you have not seen this letter
please ask your son to pass it over!
The
Harvest mass is on Thursday at 12:35 for our Year group so we are very much
looking forward to that. Thanks to Mrs Chapman for organising this.
The
lunchtime room continues to be used well. It is great to see the boys
interacting so well together and the standard of chess and draughts is
increasing all the time!
We
thank Mr Romaine for his assembly last week when he outlined the importance of
endurance and persistence. Very important for all of us, whatever age!
Mr.
Tucker
Last
Sunday the church celebrated harvest with children from the local primary
presenting gifts of food at the altar, this week 9E presented an assembly on a
similar topic as seen through the eyes of Cafod. As part of our own charity
contribution this term- as a year group - we would like to harvest food
donations to help the homeless in our own city. If each student would kindly
donate at least one non-perishable item of food we could make a big difference,
so can I ask you to search your food cupboards or purchase any item which your
son can contribute towards our own harvest presentation.
As
a school we are always looking for ways to improve our communication and build
relationships with you as parents, when your son started in year 7 we asked for
your email address to enable us to try and set up a system where we could
notify you of any events or activities, unfortunately, there were very few
responses, so I would once again like to ask you for your e-mail address, if you
would kindly send me an e-mail at lmcloughlin@stbonifaces.com
with your son’s name I can try and set up a year group address book.
If
you have any queries of anything you wish to pass on please do not hesitate to
e-mail me using the above address.
Mrs L. Mcloughlin
Head of Year 9
Congratulations
to 10K form tutor Mr Neethling and his wife who became parents again to baby
Zachary! The boys made a lovely card to send home to Chez Neethling to
wish their new son well – perhaps a future member of the SBCC Class of 2032?
The
singing assembly was great fun too! One Direction’s “Best Song Ever” followed
by the Green Day classic “Time of Your Life”. We’re looking forward to
singing some Christmas carols as we enter Advent on December 1st.
Next
Monday, 10G will lead us in assembly about CAFOD’s Fast Day on Friday October 4th.
On the day, students can give up their break and donate the money to the
charity to help feed those in need. Click
here to email the Prime Minister David Cameron now, calling for power to be
shared between rich and poor so that everyone has enough to eat. Follow
@CAFOD on Twitter too!
Mentoring
letters have gone out to all students – there are some minor changes, so please
make sure you read it carefully.
There
is a photography competition for students in Year 10-13… click
here to enter. The theme is “where you belong”. The prize fund
is £2800.
Our
150th Anniversary celebrations continued with a special aerial
photograph of the entire school on Wednesday – which saw 920 people standing in
the shape of the number 150. This was a fantastic event organised by Mr
Smart – and his STEM Mathletes! The rain held off just enough to take the
fantastic photo!
Mr.
Scott
Year 11
Thank
you to Matthew and Josh for attending the Sports Ambassadors Conference at the
Plymouth Life Centre, as St Boniface’s representatives. The Ambassadors
programme is an excellent initiative that provides young people with the
opportunity to volunteer to take on extra responsibility on behalf of others in
the school.
Well
done to Zach and Josh for producing an excellent presentation in Religious
Education. According to their teacher Ms
Sandford it was outstanding and professionally executed.
As head
of year, I was very pleased to see a large number of the year 11 cohort
volunteer to become peer mentors for boys in year 9. The boys will be providing an excellent
service by passing on their experience and wisdom in a way the year 9 boys will relate to.
Mr.
Redfern
Post 16
Year
13 Geographers went to Slapton Ley on Thursday 26th to study
succession across the shingle ridge. The tutor from the Field Study Centre
couldn’t believe what great results the students collected ‘I’ve never seen
them all work so well’ and wanted them to stay for longer because they were far
nicer group than the others she had! Great ambassadors for the school!
The
sixth form is about opportunities and community. Two events have been prominent
this week amongst many.
·
a
group of sixth form sports coaches went into a Local Primary school to coach
and teach the students how to coach.
They were exemplary and a credit to the College, credit to Miss Sandford for
her organisation and to the coaches for the way they went about communicating
with the students. An ideal opportunity where both parties can benefit.
·
Our
range of vocational courses goes from strength to strength. This is the
opportunity to gain a relevant vocational qualification alongside A levels. The
Teaching Assistant course has proved invaluable for any student who wants to go
into this profession or into teaching. The universities look very favourable on
this because it sets you apart and gives you quality experience. Congratulations
to Dale who secured his place at Lancaster based on this qualification.
Our
community also has times where illness strikes families or loved ones. It is
also traditionally the time that Meningitis strikes young people, as they
return to school and come into contact with each other. Your son/daughter will
have information about early warning signs.
Year
13 should be doing their UCAS applications online now if they wish to apply to
University.
Mr.
Tew
Monday 30 September 2013
Fitness
Club (lunchtime)
STEM
(after school) - (Mr Smart)
Geography
Clinic (lunchtime) - (Miss Beales)
13:35 –
14:20 – Christian Union – (Chapel)
13:35 –
14:20 – Quiz in the Library – Years 7, 8 and 9
13:35 –
14:20 – Card Club – (Back room in LfLC)
15:00 –
Maths Drop in Session Room A37 – (Mr Allerton)
15:00 -
Year 11 Higher GCSE Homework , Catch up and Revision - (A29)
|
Tuesday 1 October 2013
13:35 – 14:20 – Card Club – (Back room in LfLC)
13:40 – Year 7 Inter-house Football Barrett v
Errington (Lower Yard)
Drama Club (lunchtime) – (Mr Trimmer)
Workshop
Sessions Catch up (lunchtime) – (Mr Griffin)
Geography
Clinic (lunchtime) – (Miss Beales)
|
Wednesday 2 October 2013
11:35 –
Year 7 Group 1 Social Group - (Chapel)
12:35 –
Year 7 Group 2 Social Group - (Chapel)
13:35 –
14:20 – Card Club – (Back room in LfLC)
13:35 –
14:20 – Panda Knitting Club – Miss Gosling’s room
15:20 –
17:00 Year 7 Rugby Club
School
Play – Lord of the Flies (after school) – (Mr Trimmer)
Workshop
sessions catch up (lunchtime) – (Mr Griffin)
Geography Clinic (lunchtime) –
(Miss Beales)
|
Thursday 3 October 2013
Year 9
Rugby (after school)
Geography
clinic (lunchtime) - (Miss Beales)
12:35 –
Harvest Mass for Year 8 – (St Peter’s Church)
13:35 –
14:20 – Card Club – (Back room in LfLC)
13:40 –
Year 7 Inter-house Football Grimshaw v Kiely (Lower Yard)
15:20 –
16:30 Miss Gosling’s Art Club
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Friday 4 October 2013
Android
Club (lunchtimes for Years 9 -11)- (Mr Neethling)
Geography
Clinic (lunchtime) – (Miss Beales)
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MONDAY
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TUESDAY
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WEDNEDAY
|
THURSDAY
|
FRIDAY
|
|
BEFORE SCHOOL
0730 -
0815
|
Breakfast
Club
Fitness,
Basketball and Badminton (all years)
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||||
LUNCH TIME
1345 -
1415
|
Fitness
Suite and Basketball (all years)
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Fitness
Suite and Basketball (all years)
|
Fitness
Suite and Basketball (all years)
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Fitness
Suite and Basketball (all years)
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Fitness
Suite and Basketball (all years)
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AFTER SCHOOL
1530 -
1630
|
Rugby
(Years 8 and 9)
Basketball
Year 7
|
Rugby
Year 7
Circuit
Training (all years)
|
Table
Tennis (Years 7 and 8)
Rugby
(Years 10 and 11)
|
God our Father
Whatever our age, may we
always have a thirst for knowledge and understanding,
and be ready to learn from
all of life's experiences.
Inspire us always with a
sense of wonder and a great reverence for life.
Amen
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