St Boniface's Catholic College Headteachers Blog for wb 27.1.14

Week A begins 27th January 2014

 

Wow, where did that week go!

We are looking forward to Bishop elect Marks ordination this Tuesday and thank Bishop Christopher so much for all his years of support and encouragement for us at St Boniface’s. We all hope that he will now be able to have a long and peaceful retirement and we would love to see him here in College whenever he has the opportunity, assuming he has a bit more time available now of course!

 

56 School days left until the GCSE examinations begin, just over 11 school weeks. The lads are now hard at it and we are trying very hard to involve parents in the process of supporting their son’s with their work this year. To this end, below is a timetable of revision classes and intervention schedules for Year 11 parents to be aware of please. Year 11 parents will be getting contact via their mentor should their sons not be turning up to extra classes that the teacher feels would benefit them. School, home and pupil all working together will make a significant impact come the exam season.

 

Year 11 Intervention timetable both week A and B

	Lunch time	After school 3.30 pm – 4.30 pm
Monday	Maths (all teachers to provide an intervention group) Geography DT	French English ( Mr Trimmer ) English (Mrs Davison) 11O English (Mr Evans) drop in for all
Tuesday	Geography DT
Wednesday	Maths Geography PE DT	Science Drama French Art ICT English ( Mrs Davison) 11O English (Mr Evans) drop in for all
Thursday	Science Geography DT RE (11O only drop in)	Geography History French German English (Mrs Davison) 11O English (Mr Evans) drop in for all
Friday	Maths (drop in only) Mr Allerton Geography DT	RE English (Mrs Davison) 11O English (Mr Evans) drop in for all
Interventions happening during timetabled lessons	English –  ‘Master classes’ students withdrawn during timetabled lessons for targeted interventions every Thursday 8.50 am – 4.30 pm with Ms Lowman. English -Plymouth University P2 only Wednesday groups of six students.   Maths – Miss J Gimblett  students extracted from lessons to attend intervention lessons every Monday.

 

Thank you for your support with this programme.

St Boniface’s College is now a recognised provider for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme and I would just like to give special thanks to Mr Claricoates our Vocational Co-Ordinator for all his hard work in this area. I am very excited about having St Boniface’s College students involved in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Scheme.

 

 

 

 

The new Rewards and Behaviour policy appears to be going very well in its’ first week, with 5 rewards for every sanction across the school – we want to catch the pupils doing well! This all forms part of a new culture spreading into the College where all pupils feel rightly proud of their efforts. We want a culture where it is a good thing for boys to do well and all aspire to do so.

On Tuesday of next week we have our Year 10 Parent/Teacher evening, pupils should have their appointment cards and be filling them in – this is an opportunity for year 10 parents to talk with any subject teacher they wish and for the teacher to talk with parents should they so wish. Please do remember all parents can speak with any teacher at any time, not just at these types of evening. All staff have individual e-mail addresses.

Could I take this opportunity to thanks those Year 9 parents who braved the foul weather last Tuesday.  It was lovely to speak with you.

Many congratulations to the 3 students who represented the school so well at last weekend’s Devon Schools’ Cross-Country Championships. Sam Y. in Y 7 was the stand-out success finishing a remarkable 10^th. This is made even more impressive when you hear that for half the race he was only wearing one shoe! Don’t worry, he did find his other shoe after he had finished the race!

Ben G. in Year 11 finished 14^th which is incredible when you consider that the vast majority of the 60 runners taking part would have been club athletes. Ben tells me that he loves his running and does a lot of it in his leisure time. James A., our famous Great Britain triathlete, finished well up the field, too, but I know that Ben is still reminding him days later of who beat who!!

Very well done to the three of them.

 

 

Year 7

January is going so fast, as we now look forward to our fourth week of the New Year!

We are very much still continuing the good news that I mentioned last week in the blog with nearly 400 entries onto SIMS since January 6^th! What an achievement! Well done to all those who have been putting in so much hard work and effort. Please use your SIMS Learning Gateway log in to see how your son is performing in school, it is a live system that has positive and negative events updated instantly.

This week’s assembly was presented by Miss Heduvan on the theme of Martin Luther King, to mark the Martin Luther King Day. Students were treated a lovely assembly, explaining his work as a non-violent campaigner for Civil Rights in America and his ongoing work to eradicate discrimination. This gave the students opportunity to reflect on their own thoughts and actions and we were left with a very poignant quote that I think we all could use to reflect on our own lives as Christians;

“When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice.”

A few congratulations for year 7 students this week. Felix P in 7G has achieved 40 merits since September in Maths! Well done Felix, a fabulous achievement. Sam Y in 7G came 10th in the Devon Cross Country Championship. As he lost his shoe at the beginning of the race, he managed to achieve this wearing only one shoe! What a fantastic achievement and sheer determination! A great example for his fellow students. Well done Sam!

A few important dates for your diaries;

·         Friday 31^st January – Year 7 Art trip to the Aquarium. Paperwork and payment should be in by now.

·         Tuesday 11^th February 2014 - Year 7 Parents Evening starting at 3.40pm. A great opportunity for you to meet with your son’s subject teachers to discuss their progression by subject. I will be sending out a letter and an appointment cards this week.

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 (particularly with the adverse weather conditions currently). 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 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 hope you all have a lovely weekend

Miss Beales

Year 8

Well done to all the boys again for a week packed with endeavour, commitment and laughter.

I led last week’s assembly based on the idea that we must be very careful about the words that come out of our mouth. I’m hoping that the message of only saying positive things about, and to, people will be carried forward through each day in school. At the end of the assembly I presented 13 certificates to a number of students. I can’t remember presenting so many in one go before. Many congratulations to Solomon N., James L., Matt M., Jake R., Alex S., Tom M., Morgan P., Sam V., Euan A., Aidan P., Matt V., Sam C. and Clarke B. Keep up the good work!

Mr Edwards presented the inter –house football tournament trophy to the triumphant 8K team during the assembly. Well done Josh R., and his team-mates! Thanks, too, to Mr Edwards for organising the competition during several lunchtimes.

Unfortunately, the rugby tournament, planned for tomorrow has been postponed due to the awful weather that is due to hit us. All is not lost though as it is due to be played next Friday instead.

It was good to see that football training has been resumed this week. The evenings must be getting lighter! Good luck to the squad in the forthcoming fixtures.

Finally, a number of our HMS Heroes students are out of school at the pantomime tomorrow afternoon. We wish them a very pleasant time and we look forward to hearing all about it on Monday!

Mr Tucker

 

 

Year 9

After a frenetic few days last week, this week seems to have settled down to a more leisurely pace.

Thank you to all the parents who came in again on Tuesday for parents evening, I trust you found it informative as far as current academic progress and that as a result your sons have been able to make their GCSE option choices.

I have had several queries regarding clashes of subject, while I cannot promise anything I have referred your queries to Mr Budge who has the unenviable task of trying to please everybody and complete the whole school timetable for the next academic year. It is inevitable that a few students will be disappointed – all we can do is apologise I am afraid. Remember choices should have been in by Friday.

The new Behavioural Policy is up and running and the competition for merits and prizes well and truly on, wherever, you go you seem to hear echoes of that’s a B1 or that’s an R1 etc. Ask your son to explain or see the policy on our website.

Tuesday see’s the Ordination of the new Bishop of Plymouth, which will be broadcast live on the internet http://www.plymouth-diocese.org.uk/  it is a privilege to have Akash, and William from year 9 and George from year 10 to be serving at the mass. Good luck to them.

Mrs Mcloughlin

 

Year 10

Thank you to the Year 10 parents who have returned their son’s immunisation forms.  Students will have their Diphtheria, Polio and Tetanus injection, and their Meningitis C booster on March 4^th 2014.  Those who have not returned their forms will need to make arrangements with their GP to have their injections out of school time.

Year 10 Parents’ Evening takes place on Tuesday – your son should have made appointments with his teachers.  This is an important opportunity for parents to learn about the progress their son is making in his GCSE and BTEC courses.  As this is a formal school event, students are expected to attend in full uniform.

Thank you to Mr Ousey and 10G for leading us in assembly Monday about emotional bullying. Next week’s assembly is about cyberbullying – 10K and Mr Neethling will be leading. 

Mr Claricoates gave a presentation to Year 10 on Thursday about the Duke of Edinburgh scheme here at the College.  The aim is to have Year 10 take bronze, then in Year 11 silver, and in sixth form the gold awards.  The Award carries UCAS points for university entry and looks great on a CV.  More information will follow for parents.

The Year group will be visiting VUE cinema again on Tuesday February 11^th (film to be decided!)… the cost of the trip will be £3 per pupil.  A letter will be given to students next week.

Mr Scott

 

Year 11

The year 11 boys have spent last week attending controlled assessments in various subjects including history, French, Science and English.  The controlled assessments i.e. completing set pre- prepared pieces of work in class under controlled examination conditions supervised by their classroom teacher will continue for the next three weeks.  This is a wonderful opportunity for your son, if he is doing a controlled assessment to boost his GCSE grade before he even sits his external examinations, so it is particularly disappointing when a few boys have decided not to take this opportunity as seriously as probably they should be.   Furthermore, all subject departments are providing numerous opportunities for your son to re-take the controlled assessment to improve his grade.  For example history will be providing a range of times for your son to take a controlled assessment towards his examination mark over the next three weeks and Modern Foreign Languages have provided numerous   opportunities for boys to take and re-take their assessments.    Whether your son his struggling to reach his target grade in a particular subject or not it is essential that he attends the various interventions available to him.  I’d be grateful if you could encourage your son to attend as many interventions as possible.

Mr Redfern

 

Post 16

The Mock Examinations have now ended and the emphasis is learning from the results. You and your son should be able to make contact with any teacher you wish, initially via e-mail please. Feedback will be given to the students about specific ways in which to improve. The emphasis of intervention must now take place. Study areas should be used now, either studying in Departments or in the Study room. Your son/daughter will bring home today a timetable for you to sign, also indicating the study time that he/she is putting into his work. This will include evenings and weekends. It is very hard to state how much work is necessary as all students work and learn at a different pace. I would suggest that as a minimum they should be looking at 3-5 hours extra per subject.  

Friday period 1 and 2 will also be a study period for all students. Various teachers will be available for them to sign up to. This is a compulsory session.

All subject areas are offering intervention times where the student can meet the teacher. Some of these are group sessions and some individual. Your son needs to contact the teachers to get help if needed.

The Outside courses are going from strength to strength. Today our sports coaches are heavily involved in the Disability Day at the Life Centre. This is an excellent opportunity to show case their skills under the supervision of Miss Sanford. It is a great insight into the importance of Sport and the communication that is needed. The students gain immensely from the day and come home exhausted. Often this has led to the students choosing careers in this area, as it takes a special person to work with children of all abilities.

UCAS fair is on the 20 March. Forms and monies to Mrs Cox please.

I hope to have all the mock results next week to send home. Many have been given to the students, they may be embarrassed at how well they did or ashamed at the lack of work. Either way let’s learn and move on.

 

Mr Tew

 

 

Extra-Curricular Clubs 2013-2014

JANUARY- APRIL

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
BEFORE SCHOOL	Breakfast Club Fitness Basketball All Years	Breakfast Club Fitness Basketball All Years	Breakfast Club Fitness Basketball All Years	Breakfast Club Fitness Basketball All Years	Breakfast Club Fitness Basketball All Years
LUNCH TIME	Fitness Suite + Basketball   Year 9 Basketball	Fitness Suite + Basketball	Fitness Suite + Basketball   GCSE Revision (A18)	Fitness Suite + Basketball	Fitness Suite + Basketball
AFTER SCHOOL	Year 9+10 Football PG All Years, Boxing AW	All Years, Badminton Marjon Students	Year 7+8 Football RJ AS Revision 3.40-5pm (A18) DM	All Years, Table Tennis External coach Year 10, 11, 12, 13 and staff. Hash (Cross-Country/Orienteering) DC	A2 Revision 3.40-5pm (A18) DM

 

 

Click here to download our new Behaviour Ladders.

 

 

Prayer "Teach Us To Love"

Lord, we thank Thee for all the love
that has been given to us, for the love
of family and friends, and above all
for Your love poured out upon us every
moment of our lives in steadfast glory.

Forgive our unworthiness. Forgive the
many times we have disappointed those
who love us, have failed them, wearied
them, saddened them.
Failing them we have failed You,
and hurting them we have wounded our Saviour who for love's sake died for us.
Lord, have mercy on us, and forgive.

You do not fail those who love you.
You do not change nor vary.
Teach us Your own constancy in love.
Your humility, selflessness and generosity.

Look in pity on our small and tarnished loving, protect, foster and strengthen it, that it may be less unworthy to be offered to
You and to Your children.
O Light of the world, teach us how to love.
Amen.

 

Monday 27 January 2014   13:35 – 14:20 - Geography Clinic - (Miss Beales) 13:35 – 14:20 – Film Club with Mr Redfern (Room 136) 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 – (LfLC)                                                       15:00 – Maths Drop in Session Room A37 15:00 - Year 11 Higher GCSE Homework , Catch up and Revision - (A29)

Tuesday 28 January 2014   13:35 – 14:20 – Film Club with Mr Redfern (Room 136) 13:35 – 14:20 – Card Club – (LfLC) 13:35 – 14:20 - Drama Club – (Mr Trimmer) 13:35 – 14:20 - Geography Clinic – (Miss Beales) 15:40 – 18:30 – Year 10 Parent Teachers Evening

Wednesday 29 January 2014   09:50 – 10:50 – Plymouth University Mentoring (Library) 13:35 – 14:20 – Film Club with Mr Redfern (Room 136) 13:35 – 14:20 – Card Club – (LfLC) 13:35 – 14:10 – Maths Mentoring for KS3 – (Room A31) 13:35 – 14:20 – Panda Knitting Club – (Miss Gosling’s Room) 13:35 – 14:20 - Board Games (Mrs Williamson-Firth – Miss Gosling’s Room) 13:35 – 14:20 – Geography Clinic – (Miss Beales) 13:35 – 14:20 – Careers Club 15:20 – KS4 English drop-in with Mr Evans (Room 171) 15:20 – 16:20 – Philosophy Club with Miss Sandford – (Room 150) – Week B only 15:30 – 15:45 - Time for Prayer for Staff and Students – (Chapel) – Week A only 15:30 – Leading from the Middle

Thursday 30 January 2014   13:35 – 14:20 – Film Club with Mr Redfern (Room 136) 13:35 – 14:20 – Card Club – (Back room in LfLC) 13:35 – 14:20- Geography Clinic – (Miss Beales) 13:35 – 14:20 – ICT Careers Club – (Room 108) 13:35 – 14:20 – Creative Writing Club – (Room E112 Mrs McLoughlin’s room) 15:20 – 16:30 - Miss Gosling’s Art Club - (Week A only) 15:30 – 15:45 – Time for Prayer for Staff and Students – (Chapel) – Week B only

Friday 31 January 2014 Year 7 Art Aquarium Visit 13:35 – 14:20 – Film Club with Mr Redfern (Room 136) 13:35 – 14:20 – Years 9 – 11 Android Club - (Mr Neethling) 13:35 – 14:20 - Geography Clinic – (Miss Beales)