Hello once again,
Could I thank parents for their understanding with any
disruption caused by the recent strike action. We tried to continue in as
normal a fashion as possible.
We are pleased to welcome onto our staff Miss Rowlands as
a Geography teacher. Miss Rowlands has been helping us out already with Miss
Blackshaws classes whilst Miss Blackshaw is on maternity leave.
I have received a letter from Devon and Cornwall Police
commenting how well St. Boniface’s pupils assisted in refereeing and organising
the various primary schools present at the Plymouth Schools Tag Rugby Festival,
I have also recently seen a letter commending our Sports Leaders at another Festival
of Sport held in Plymouth – it is fantastic that we are being noticed once
again in our wider community and is a real sign that we are regaining our
standing within the City. A huge thanks to all involved particularly the
students who are obviously superb ambassadors for what we are trying to do back
here at base.
I have spent considerable time this week with the support
of CAST, formulating a bid for a new Sports Hall for the College. It is a long
shot so I am not allowing myself to become too excited just yet but as Brian
Clough the football manager says – “ you will not score a goal if you don’t
take a shot” – I will be taking many shots but I hope this one scores!
Curriculum Enrichment Day is Monday 14th July
with Sports Day on Tuesday 15th July – looking forward to two great days!
A
reminder to parents please that the final school day for this term is Friday 18th
July where the school will be closing at 12.30.
My penultimate week as Head of Year 7 at St
Boniface’s. I am writing this with a heavy heart as I prepare for my final week
as Head of Year 7.
I had a lovely surprise on Tuesday in
Assembly, the year 7 and 9 students had arranged with Mr Ousey to play McFly’s
song “Stargirl”, with a full band, drums, electric guitar and singers! I was so
touched! It was a lovely idea and such a nice treat!
We were also able to celebrate the successes
of the past year with so many awards and prizes! Well done to all students who
received an award! This very exciting assembly also saw the final Kindle handed
out to Liam in 7V, a very deserved winner! Well done Liam. It was down to
Liam’s thorough hard work and merit earning that he was in the 100 merit club
draw so well done!
Due to the very poor weather last week, we
had to postpone Sports Day, however we are all very excited to be taking part
in the day rescheduled for Tuesday 15th July.
Celebration Day is the talk of the college!
We have students taking part in various activities on Monday as part of our
Celebration Day! I am off to Thorpe Park with 200 students and surprisingly,
I’m very much looking forward to it! Wish me luck! I look forward to
hearing about how all of the year 7’s got on next week.
I know it seems as though it is not as
important due to summer now being only one week away, however I really do not
want Year 7’s standards to start to slide. 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,
Miss Beales
Thanks to Mr MacCormick for leading our assembly last
week. He introduced the boys to the challenge of Ironman competitions in which
competitors swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles and then complete a full marathon
of 26.2 miles. The theme was on how we prepare for daily challenges in life and
then how we deal with them when they are in front of us. While Mr MacCormick
hopes to complete his first competition next year it was brought to our
attention that Mr Romaine, 8E’s tutor, has completed a good number of these
already. Expert advice is at hand if you need it!
After Toby M.’s success recently in gaining a place in
the Devon water-polo team, we look forward to hearing how Lewis C. has got on
this week at Buckingham Palace with his cadet group. I’m sure he’ll have a
great story to tell!
We are all looking forward very much to Celebration Day
on Monday and Sports Day on Tuesday. Let’s hope that the sun shines!
Congratulations to Dan C. who leads the Achievement
points score with 264, closely followed by Robbie M. on 255 and Callum C. on
228. Well done to them on such an outstanding effort.
Well done to the entire Year group, too, on accumulating
2,338 points for excellent effort and 1,099 for outstanding classwork! A really
good reflection on the commendable attitude and approach to school life that
the Year group display.
Mr. Tucker
Well after a rather sad start to the week when we said
goodbye to one of our students following a tragic accident, the week suddenly
picked up speed as we started to prepare for an action packed final run in.
Monday – Celebration Day marking the schools 150th
anniversary – sees lots of activities taking place, everything from sporting
activities, trips to the cinema, visits
to the zoo and a trip to Thorpe Park involving 0ver a 130 students.
Tuesday – Sports Day, the weather forecast looks good I’m
told – fingers crossed.
Friday– 12-30 Finish
Rather a lot to look forward to.
Finally, can I wish Gabriel good luck for this weekend
and next as he competes in the 4th round of the National MTB Series at Sherwood
Forest and the 'Mersey 24 hour Time
Trial' near Chester
Thank you to Dr Summers and Mr Ramage for leading us in assembly Monday,
and to Mrs Hudson for leading assembly on Tuesday. The reports read out
from the Y10 work experience week were fantastic and showed us how grown-up the
group have become over the last four years. The tutors and I were very proud of
their achievements.
The Year 10 mocks were a success, and boys behaved well throughout the
week. It gave each student the opportunity to experience what their real exams
will be like in 2015 - 10 months from now. A big thank you to Ms Martin,
Mrs Gimblett and all the wonderful invigilators we have at the College who
reported the boys’ behaviour was good throughout the week.
Mr Tew and his sixth form team arranged a wonderful experience week for
the year group - starting on Monday with talks from Plymouth University Student
Ambassadors about the options they have at the end of Year 13 in 2017.
The students then took part in a range of A-Level lessons and tried their
hand at sixth form learning. A big thank you to Mr Tew, Miss McFarland,
Mr Ousey and Mrs Cox for arranging the opportunity.
The PE Department’s Miss Sanford showed me a letter received from ASDA this
week who recently sponsored the ASDA Active Day at St Peter’s Catholic Primary
School. The letter thanks Miss Sanford and the students - including Year 10s
Cody Nankivell, Mark Canning and Jake Stanton - for all the help they gave the
team and for being “a fantastic group of students, who interacted with the
primary school children brilliantly and showed amazing patience.”
A few important reminders - we’ve seen an increase in the number of
students wearing trainers to school, and whilst we have absolutely no issue
with the trainers being worn on the yard at break and lunchtime to take part in
sporting activities, it is important students return to their correct school
uniform before class.
Also we have Sports Day on Tuesday - please make sure your son wears his PE kit to school - or house colours if he wants to! 10B - red, 10E - purple, 10G - yellow,
10K - blue, 10V - green.
With celebration day on Monday, sports day on Tuesday and a half day
next Friday, the last week of term will seem very short indeed. I hope
Year 10 make the most of the last week and have a very restful holiday.
Mr Scott
Sixth
form News
Last week a lot happened..
A group of Sixth Formers represented the College at an
Edmund a Rice conference in Manchester. The students took part in lectures and
met representatives from the United Nations . They will take this project forward
into the new year. Three highlights were the car that the hire company provided,
the overnight stay with families and presentation by Tom.
We then had induction week for year 11s, a taster week
where all subjects could be sampled. Great enthusiasm from the teachers led to
exciting lessons, a drop in session for parents to talk about the sixth form.
Talks on Accountancy, Teaching Assistant qualifications, Business Management
and sports coaching took place. Places for September are still available.
Induction week is not just for Academic students,
vocational visits have been taking place for year 11 and year 10, the
highlights being pasties being made at Cornwall College, along with plastering,
plumbing, visits to mechanics, skills group and Reach are going ahead.
Our sports coaches are going from strength to strength,
many helping out at Mount Edgecombe with many primary school students, special
thanks to Miss Sanford.
We have been training our new Gym instructors this week,
an intensive week long course leading to recognised qualifications for students
wanting to enter the profession. An excellent course but incredibly hard work.
On Friday we had our sixth form football contest at
Goals, teams of many standards took part, the weather failed to ruin the
atmosphere, though seeing Merv smashed against the side wall was definitely a
highlight, the one time he was not late! Everyone enjoyed the event and the
rematches are being planned.
On Friday a group of students represented the College at a
conference with our MP, Alison Seabeck, on sexism and the media. A good
conference, including a working breakfast focussing on the use of new
technology and what is deemed acceptable in society today. Some very interesting
views and information were shared by all.
Our vocational students have now finished and the results
should be available next week.
This week has been year 10 induction into sixth form. The
students and staff have tried many new subjects and have started planning their
future careers. Vocational visits to City College, Skills Group and Norpro have
been included along with careers interviews etc. Thanks to Mrs Hudson for her
hard work.
Mr Tew
A Prayer for Children
Loving God,
your Son told his disciples
to become like little children.
Lead us to work for the welfare
and protection of all young people.
May we respect their dignity
that they may flourish in life,
following the example of the same
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
your Son told his disciples
to become like little children.
Lead us to work for the welfare
and protection of all young people.
May we respect their dignity
that they may flourish in life,
following the example of the same
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
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