Friday, 20 June 2014

Blog for wb 23.6.14



Headteachers Blog for week beginning 23rd June 2014

 

One month left and so much to do!

 
Every year appears to be the same and I always look back and wonder where that time went. My mother tells me that as you get older the time goes more quickly – I am starting to notice but what does this mean for me? Maybe we will have one of those long hot summers as I remember from my childhood…

 We certainly have had some week.

 I was very proud to be able to welcome candidates for the Headteacher post to the College, as soon as I am aware of any news on the outcomes I shall of course let you know. We are all offering up prayers that Governors are able to make the right decision to help us all continue to move forward – it cannot be an easy decision for them.
 
Breaking News - Mr Frank Ashcroft has been appointed as the new Headteacher of St. Boniface's College.

Thursday saw us also welcome about 100 Year 4 and 5 boys into the College for a Retreat Day. The pupils were a real credit to their primary schools and families and certainly appeared to enjoy the day. Thanks also to the primary teachers for putting up with the disruptions to normal school life when such events occur.

 
We have been heavily involved in the CAFOD Run for Women scheme this year and welcomed Simon Giarchi, an old boy, back in on Thursday. Year 7 and 8 pupils were sponsored and ran a prearranged course to raise money for this very worthy cause – well done to all.
 

It was lovely on Tuesday evening to welcome Year 9 parents and pupils into the College for the Key Stage 3 to 4 Transition Evening. Thanks to the members of the PTFA for laying on refreshments. Please remember to support the PTFA Summer Draw.

 

PTFA Summer Draw

Tickets are now being sold for the 2014

 St Boniface’s Summer Draw.

The prize is a fantastic

3 nights Self Catering Holiday for up to 5 people,

Staying at”Manor Cottage”, Polperro, Cornwall.

(COURTESY OF LEGEND HOLIDAYS AND WORTH OVER £300)

 

  

Numbered squares between 1 and 200 are being sold on a first come first served basis.  The squares cost just £5 each. These can be bought directly from the PTFA at forthcoming school events or via this website.

 Simply complete the attached form & choose your numbers. Then return the form with money to school and we will book your squares.

Squares are selling fast and someone is going to have a holiday for as little as £5, so please hurry to be in with a chance to win this great prize and support your PTFA in our final leg of fund raising for Motiv 8

 

THE LUCKY NUMBER WILL BE DRAWN, AND THE WINNER CONTACTED, BEFORE THE END OF TERM. GOOD LUCK!!

 

Final Reminder

The 150th Celebration Dinner takes place at Plymouth Albion on June 27th, closing date for tickets is June 20th so please contact Mrs Hudson at the College if you are interested. 01752 779051.

 

Year 10 parents please remember the Year 10 Parent /Teachers evening on Tuesday 24th.

 
I also look forward to welcoming pupils and parents to the Key Stage 3 Celebration Evening on Wednesday in the College Hall from 6pm

 
Next week we are having an international visitor, Headteacher, in with us from Nepal – it really is amazing to see how fortunate we are in education compared to other parts of the world. We are also welcoming a group of students from St Peter’s Primary school in for a spell to see what “Big school is like”! I was fortunate enough this week to visit one of our primary partner schools within CAST in Bodmin, St Marys. Watching Year 1 boys and girls cue up outside their class ready to go on a nature trail – were we ever like that! I wanted to pick them all up congratulate them all, dare I use the word “cute”.

 
Have a great week all and thanks for reading.

 Mr Davies

 
Year 7

 A very busy week for year 7 this week!

 We had a lovely double assembly on Tuesday. This started with a great assembly from Mrs Printy’s tutor group, 7G telling us all about CAFOD’s great work in Brazil and how some of the poorest families in Brazil still have such a passion for football making balls out of plastic bag and string. We were able to celebrate the fantastic work our year group has done in raising money for such a great charity, with a special mention to George B in 7E who raised over £50 on his own. Well done George! We then had the Cafod Young Leaders from Year 9, speak to the year group about the work they have been doing and how they hope to raise further money with the help of the Year 7 students. Thanks to all those involve in making this such a lovely assembly.

 

We were very fortunate this week to be given a presentation by PC Kirkup on the way that we speak to each other and homophobia and racism. Thank you to PC Kirkup for giving us such an inspirational speech.

 

On Thursday the Year 7 students took part in Cafod’s run for women, I believe a great amount of money was raised, do well done lads. I will hopefully be able to report a figure next week.

 

Thursday was a very busy day in school indeed. Not only the Cafod run for women, we had 96 year 4 and 5 students from various primary schools, visit St Boniface’s for a Spiritual Retreat Day, based on the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. Although an extremely hectic day, all students had a great time and it was lovely to have some Year 10 ambassadors helping for the day. Many thanks particularly to Miss Heduvan and Mrs Printy and to all others involved.

 

We are have some exciting events coming up, the Key Stage 3 Awards Evening and Sports Day just to name a few! I really look forward to this time of the year, reflecting on the achievements of the past academic year.


I am sadly still a little concerned with the amount of Year 7 students who are starting to try and bend the rules on uniform. It is expected that all students have the correct uniform and look smart at all times. I know there are occasions where some of the older boys may be seen not sticking to this rule, but I know that their Head of Year is just as strict and on to them, as much as I am! My year group is something I am so proud of and hope, that with your parental support, we can nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand. One of the main issues I have, is appropriate footwear. Students should have leather school shoes and not black trainers. Thank you for your continued support.

 To continue the extremely high standards that Year 7 demonstrate, please can I also ask parents to make a note of the following;

·         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 wonderful weekend in the sunshine!

 
Miss Beales

  

Year 8

 The highlight of this week was the CAFOD run for woman to support social justice for women world-wide. Run in beautiful conditions yesterday, it was a tremendous response to Mr MacCormick’s appeal to support the effort. Well done to all.

 I led last week’s assembly on the theme of making your own mind up. The idea was that we try to improve our decision-making particularly when it had an impact on others and their well-being. During the assembly we saw some powerful batting, accurate Frisbee throwing, fantastic ball-juggling but nobody wanted to run down the science corridor shouting and screaming and knocking on all the doors! You’ll have to speak to your son to see how that was all tied together around the theme!

 A handful of Yr. 8 boys were out yesterday assisting at a primary schools’ cricket festival. They have recently completed a coaching award so this was an opportunity to put things into practice. I look forward to hearing how the day went. Thanks to Mr Greenway for giving the boys such a positive opportunity.

 Keep Mr Lord in your thoughts, 8G’s tutor, as he undergoes a knee operation. We look forward to welcoming him back very shortly.

 Mr. Tucker

 Year 9

 Another week, another blog, and three weeks gone already, I am refusing to blink or the term will be over – July 18th term ends.

It has been another busy week in the College with interviews being held for our new Head Teacher so by the time you read this we could have a new Head Teacher in position, but I hope like me you will appreciate the good work Mr Davies has done over the last 12months for the college.

It has been so nice to see the sun I think it makes everybody feel better, and it is nice to be able to hold outside events such as the year 7 & 8 run for women and raising money for Cafod.  Keeping our fingers crossed for the continuation of the dry spell, July 4th sees our annual sports day being held on the school premises with events for all from mountain biking to softball and of course the athletic event, and of course our 150th Anniversary Celebration Day on July 14th.

Thank you to all the parents who attended the hugely successful Transition Evening on Tuesday, and thank you for all the positive e-mails of thanks received, I hope the event went some way to answering any concerns students and parents may have had about their sons GCSE option choices. If you have any further questions please e-mail the relevant Head of Department direct.

Have a good week

Mrs Mcloughlin

 Year 10

 Mr Scott, as a staff Governor, has been heavily involved in the appointment process for the new Headteacher this week and apologises for not having an entry for Year 10 yet  - please check on Monday and I am sure the entry will appear.


Last week was very busy for me – I was working in my Governor role to contribute to the Head Teacher recruitment process. Apologise for the delay in this blog entry for Year 10.
 
I was very proud this week to see a range of students in all year groups take part in the Head Teacher interview process. Special thanks to Jake Stanton and Brad Andrews for their involvement in the student panel.

 Earlier in the week I received a lovely email from a Work Experience employer Tell Systems Ltd – who commented that the four Year 10 students placed there worked extremely well and produced some great work. Just one of many success stories. Well done Year 10!

 The assembly led by Mr James explained very clearly the expectations for the upcoming Sports Day on July 4. The following information might be of use:

 
TG – House – Form Tutor – House Colour – House Mascot – Head of House

10B – Barrett House – Mr Tucker (Maths) – Red – Barrett Bulldogs – Mr Tucker (PE)

10E – Errington House – Mr James – Purple – Errington Eagles – Mrs McLoughlin

10G – Grimshaw House – Mr Ousey – Yellow – Grimshaw Grizzlies – Mr Scott

10K – Keily House – Mr Neethling – Blue – Keily Kings – Miss Beales

10V – Vaughan House – Mr Chambers – Green – Vaughan Vipers – Mr Redfern
 
We’re encouraging all students to wear their house colours, paint their faces, wear coloured wigs etc to show house spirit!

 Mr Scott


 Post 16

 Lessons have now returned to normal with our Year 12 students starting their Year 13 A2 courses or/and further Vocational. The time used productively now will result in more time being available next Summer when large numbers of examinations will be sat. Teachers are “cracking on at pace” so please ensure that high attendance rates are maintained along with the right work ethic.

Mr Tew has taken a group of our post 16 students up to the Edmund Rice International Student Conference in Manchester. Our involvement with this wider community will help the students gain a greater appreciation of what can be accomplished by working together and what an important part they play in the ER Network. I hope the weather in Manchester has been as good as here!

 

 

School Prayer

God, our Father,
Creator of all good things
in the world and within our school community:
We thank you for the gift of this day,
for our families and friends
and for this safe place to learn and grow.


We ask You to bless all who teach and learn.
Through Your Holy Spirit,
guide us as we grow in faith and love
and give us the courage
to be more like Your Son.

We ask this, in Jesus' name.

Amen.

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