Friday, 21 March 2014

St. Boniface's College Head Teachers Blog



Week Beginning 24th March 2014                             Week B

Well what a fantastic week!

Received, as suspected, a phone call at 2.30 on Tuesday 18th from Ofsted informing us that they would be in St. Boniface’s College the following day. Nothing like a phone call from Ofsted to focus the mind I can tell you. The inspector spent two days with us and observed lots of lessons with the focus being on progress since the full Ofsted inspection last June. Staff and students were brilliant and I want to take this opportunity to thank them all. As with all things linked with Ofsted we now wait for the formal feedback. This was not a full inspection report where parental viewpoints will be sought, but a monitoring visit so we will not officially be out of our category just yet. I am afraid I am not allowed to comment at this stage on the likely findings as we have to wait about 10 days for them to publish on the Ofsted website. Please rest assured as soon as we are made aware of the findings you will have a copy. The inspector did say that with reports such as these there are only two headline statements that can be made, both are less than inspiring!

“ The College is making reasonable progress” or

“The College is not making reasonable progress”.

We believe our College has come an awful long way since the last inspection and firmly believe that this will be reflected in the formal report.

St. Boniface’s College is due to become part of the multi academy trust, the Catholic and Anglican Schools Trust, CAST on April 1st. As far as we are all aware this is still on course and we are all very excited to become part of a far wider Catholic community with closer links with both primary and secondary schools.

I was fortunate enough to attend the Station Mass at St Peter's on Wednesday evening, with Bishop Mark. Thanks to those students who were involved. It was lovely to see:

John-Jo  : Altar Server

Daniel : Readings

Harry and Jack : Musicians

 
Unfortunately we have needed to postpone our 150th celebration dinner until later in the Summer term but we still welcomed some “old boys” back to the College today, Friday, for a tour. Pupils dating back to 1937, 1945, 1948, 1951, 1958, 2001, 2005 and even a present member of staff to 1968 shared their stories with us – life certainly was different back then but each remembered their journeys through the history of St. Boniface’s with pride and fondness. The KS3 pupils were lucky enough to have a presentation from one of the visitors and a few others spoke of their days – I certainly learnt new things about St. Boniface’s and I am sure the pupils did.

 





Looking to the future - I was very pleased to see that St. Boniface College pupils in years 10 and 11, as well as those in post 16 studies, were able to go to attend a University information event at Westpoint in Exeter this week. Raising aspirations and fulfilling dreams is also a huge part of education. I know that all those who attended valued the day.

 

Also looking ahead, I am very pleased to be able to say that we have now placed an order with a local furniture supplier to provide us with items that will make a significant improvement to the post 16 study area for the week after Easter. Painters and decorators are in over the Easter break and once they have finished the new furniture, as selected by post 16 students, will be fitted. This forms phase 1 of our post 16 refurbishments. Phase 2 – the refurbishment of the post 16 common room, is programmed to occur over the Summer hols. These facilities along with our recent WiFi installation for our post 16 students will hopefully indicate to this group of students, as well as those thinking of joining us for their post 16 studies, how important we believe they are.

 

CAFOD Bake Sale

£74 was raised at the bake sale in Miss Sandford’s. Much thanks needs to go to Matthew  and his family for his generous contributions and fabulous tasting onion bhajis!

 Have a good week all,

Mr. Davies

 Year 8 WEST DEVON SCHOOLS RUGBY TOURNAMENT.

Held at OPM King George V playing fields in Elburton. (March 14th)

 
St. Boniface’s won 6 out of 7 games.  

Schools they beat were: Plymstock/Coombe Dean/Eggbuckland/Ridgeway/Lipson/All Saints. 

Great tries from: Chris H. (9), John B. (14), Ali R. (11), Zac G. (12) and Tom Mc. (4)

We are now through to the county finals at Exeter on March 28th.

Mr Weaver

 
Year 7

A very busy week for the community of St Boniface’s this week! I would like to personally congratulate the Year 7 students for their impeccable behaviour during the week. Nothing unusual for the year group, however the boys conducted themselves so perfectly. I was extremely proud.

The year 7 assembly this week was on the theme of St. Patrick and St Patrick’s Day. It was lovely to share some old fables with the students and work out if they were true or false! We ended with some lovely Irish blessings and 7E’s tutor group, thanks to the influence of Miss Heduvan, treated us to the sign of the cross in Irish! We very much look forward to 7V’s assembly next week.

I am very pleased to report that our fantastic Year 7 football team won their matches on Tuesday evening. They had a fixture against Sir John Hunt and won 2:0 and against Lipson and had an incredible score of 6:0! Well done to the whole team for their great effort and particularly to Taylor, Sam, Kieran and JJ for scoring the goals! Well Done boys!

To continue the extremely high standards that Year 7 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

Another busy week has come and gone! Top of the list for congratulations this week are the boys who featured in the rugby team in the recent Plymouth and West Devon competition. They only lost one game all day and that was to the eventual winners, DHS. Having claimed the runner-up spot they now travel to Exeter next Friday for the Devon finals day. Very well done!

Congratulations to the twenty-five boys from our Year group who represented the school so well at Monday’s Festival of Sport held at Marjons. They were excellent ambassadors!

Good luck to Toby M. who is competing for Sport Relief in a mini-triathlon at the Life Centre on Saturday. Toby has to swim 1 mile, run 3 miles and cycle 7 miles. Well done to him for supporting such a good cause.

Well done to Lewis C. who is travelling to Buckingham Palace next month with the Marine Cadets. He tells me that he is really looking forward to the trip which includes a stay at a very nice hotel! I’m sure that he’s going to have a great story to tell on his return!

Finally, a reminder again that we have a parent-teacher evening on Tuesday 1st April, 1540-1830, during which time you can meet with your son’s subject teachers. A letter is on its way and the boys will have a booking sheet to fill in. Please check that they have made appointments with teachers who you wish to speak to.

Mr. Tucker

Year 9

Well that was another full on week, with the visit of Ofsted for a monitoring visit coming at short notice, teachers could be seen beavering away burning the midnight oil ensuring everything was in order for our visit and that we were ready to show everybody the truth and demonstrate how good we really are, and to that end can I thank the year 9 boys for their contribution, I know I have a great bunch of lads in my year group and it was really nice for them to demonstrate it to everybody else. Well Done and thanks again lads, keep it up and your merits will come flying in.

Thank you to Miss Sandford and 9B for their cake sale raising money for CAFOD- always a good cause -and thank you to Matthew for the poster he designed promoting the event, I hear rumours of a possible football tournament watch this space.

Mrs. Mcloughlin

 Year 10

Mr Neethling arranged for the Devon & Somerset Fire Brigade to deliver an informative and shocking assembly about the dangers of playing with fire. Though upsetting in parts, the presentation was well-received by staff and students alike, and allowed us to reflect upon the importance of fire safety.

A big ‘well done’ the those Year 10 students who are behaving well in lessons.  We’re tackling low-level disruption quickly, and removing those students who are holding back the learning of others. This important intervention reduces the detrimental impact on student progress and allows us to support those who are disruptive to curb their behaviours.

I was proud of the Year 10 students (and Year 11 & 12!) who joined us at the UCAS University Fair at Westpoint Exeter  on Wednesday.  The boys were exemplarily behaved and ambassadors for the College.  They gathered a great deal of information for their possible future career paths.  All in all a fantastic day.

Mr Scott

 Year 11

The UCAS fair at Exeter University went ahead successfully this Thursday, without any problems.  Mr Tew, the Director of Sixth Form, commented to me that the year 11 boy’s behaviour for the whole day was impeccable and they were a credit to their school.   Dr Summers will be sending out an invitation letter to you next week inviting you to attend the Awards and Celebration evening, on the 6th May 2014 at St Peter’s Church. 

Please remind your son to place his order for his leavers hoody by the end of next week as we will be finalising the year group order by Friday.

It has finally been decided that all year 11 boys will have the opportunity to go to Alton Towers as an end of year 11 reward and celebration of their time at St Boniface’s , on the same day as the school’s curriculum enrichment day is being held which will be in July.   Further details will follow shortly.

Mock exams are once again around the corner. Parents if you could please encourage your sons to do some revision, this will be their final opportunity to impress prior to the real things!

 

Monday 31st March
0850 – 1105      
English 
2 hours 15 minutes
 
1135  - 1250
Maths Paper 1 (non-Calculator paper)
1 hour 45 minutes
Tuesday 1st April
0850 – 1035
Maths paper 2 (Calculator paper)
1 hour 45 minutes
 
1135 - 1305
Religious Studies paper
1 hour 30 minutes

 

Mr Redfern

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.
 
 

 

Post 16

An interesting week in the sixth form area.

Can I mention the stress and anxiety that some students are feeling over their examinations in the Summer. It is normal to feel some stress but if it is beginning to impact on your daily life then we need to act as a community and look at some form of solution. A number of students are feeling this way, as are a number of parents. The expectations and pressure is huge on students who feel their whole life or future revolves around the results. We will be here to support you as a person whatever your results and help you sort out your future. We want the best for you as a person and if you have tried your hardest and followed the advice given then you will do well and we will celebrate with you. If you are still feeling anxious then come and talk to the sixth form team, or email me. If parents are anxious then we can talk the issues through as it is an important partnership where we all want the same outcome. The website Mindfull.org offers free advice etc.


 Thursday was a very useful day, 94 Year 10,11,12s went to the UCAS convention in Exeter at Westpoint. 153 Universities were present to talk about their courses. The students were impeccable and looked very grown up and adult like. They asked intelligent questions and took it very seriously. A real credit to the College. I hope they now have an idea of what they need for their ideal future, this may change but it is a start and an aspiration to aim to. Many visited the Oxford and Cambridge stand. Thanks to all the staff who helped out , though Mrs Hudson brought the most information back.

Friday was our Year 12 versus Year 13 football match for Sport Relief; the winners again were the Lower Sixth. I would sack the Upper Sixth Manager as he has a 100% losing record. Thanks to Joe for his awareness of tactics that led to the win for the Lower Sixth.

Mr Tew

 

Week B
 
Monday
Library lunch time – quiz for years 7, 8, 9
Christian Union – lunchtime – C Rogers – Chapel
Geography clinic – lunch – K Beales
Fitness club – lunch
Year 7 & 8 basketball (after school)
School play - Lord of the Flies – after school - P Trimmer
Learning for life centre – lunch time – card club – D Grieve
Library after school – extended learning – 15:20 – 16:20
Film club – lunchtime – C Redfern
Maths drop in sessions – lunch – N Allerton
REwind – lunchtime – E Heduvan
French revision – after school – J McFarland
Art homework catch-up – lunchtime – J Wills
Year 7 music club – D Ousey
Tuesday
Learning for life centre – lunch time – card club – D Grieve
Film club – lunchtime – C Redfern
KS3 badminton – lunch
Drama club – lunch – P Trimmer
Instrumental opportunity – D Ousey, C Crossman
Geography clinic – lunch – K Beales
REwind – lunchtime – E Heduvan
Art homework catch-up – lunchtime – J Wills
Wednesday
Library lunch time – careers club for all years
Learning for life centre – lunch time – card club – D Grieve
REwind – lunchtime – E Heduvan
Geography clinic – lunch – K Beales
Maths drop in sessions – lunch – N Allerton
Library after school – extended learning – 15:20 – 16:20
Film club – lunchtime – C Redfern
Fitness club – lunch
Years 9 and 10 basketball (after school)
School play - Lord of the Flies – after school - P Trimmer
Guitar club – D Ousey
German revision/intervention – after school – W Neethling
Art homework catch-up – lunchtime – J Wills
Philosophy club – after school – C Sandford
Games club – lunchtime – K Gosling’s room – Mrs Williamson-Firth
Thursday
Library after school – extended learning – 15:20 – 16:20
REwind – lunchtime – E Heduvan
Fitness club – lunch
KS3 table tennis – after school
Wind band – D Ousey
Geography clinic – lunch – K Beales
Learning for life centre – lunch time – card club – D Grieve
Art club after school – K Gosling
Careers club – lunchtime – room 109 – R Hudson – CV writing, interview techniques
Film club – lunchtime – C Redfern
Art homework catch-up – lunchtime – J Wills
Friday
Library after school – extended learning – 15:20 – 16:20
Film club – lunchtime – C Redfern
KS4 badminton – lunch
GCSE music – D Ousey
Android club – lunch – years 9-11 – W Neethling
Geography clinic – lunch – K Beales
Maths drop in sessions – lunch – N Allerton
REwind – lunchtime – E Heduvan
Art homework catch-up – lunchtime – J Wills
RE revision after school – 15:20 – 16:20 – E Heduvan

 

God of mystery, God of love, on this feast of the Annunciation, We give thanks for the faith of Mary, who was open to all that you asked of her. Help us to open our hearts to you and that we may grow in faith and love.
Through Jesus your Son.

Amen

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