Hello once again,
The renovation of our sixth form facilities phase 1 is
now completed. We hope that this will reflect our seriousness to support our
post 16 students in their studies by providing them with modern and appropriate
facilities in which to reach their full potential. More work is planned for
over the Summer break.
Thanks to pupils, parents and staff for supporting our
Motiv-8 project with their mufti contributions – I am pleased to say that we
are getting very close to our target, so well done to all.
The GCSE season has started with the Art GCSE taking
place, I popped in and observed the boys generating some super work – a very
good start. Mrs. Wills was very happy so the standard has been set! A copy of
the examinations timetable for both A levels and GCSEs can be found on the
College website, home page – please do ensure that your son/daughter is
familiar not only with the day but also the time of the exam – rushing around
early of a morn after a phone call home is not ideal preparation!
Could I invite all KS4 parents to the KS4 Celebration
evening on Tuesday 6th at 6pm in St. Peter’s Church. I know an awful
lot of work has gone into arranging the evening from staff and students and I
for one am looking forward to it.
Huge thanks must also go to our new CAFOD Ambassadors, Marcello,
Lewis, Matthew, Jack, Brandon and James West and the staff who accompanied them
on their training. Reports back indicate they were not only excellent
ambassadors for CAFOD by the end of the day but that they were also a credit to
St. Boniface’s.
The Nick Maloney Memorial Rugby match is taking place at
Devonport Services ground on Friday 9th May, KO is 6.30pm I believe.
A lovely opportunity to meet old boys and past staff to celebrate the life of
our colleague Nick.
The Plymouth History Festival starts 1st
to 31st May 2014. There are numerous activities and events scheduled
to take place throughout the month of May. It is an exciting way to learn about
some of our local history! To find out more please visit www.plymhistoryfest.wordpress.com
Five of our more able history students were
joined by DHSB, Notre Dame and Eggbuckland for a day at Plymouth Museum. They
sorted through Medieval pottery that had been found on the Barbican and
categorised the different parts for the museum staff, to aid preservation. They
looked at other Medieval artefacts before exploring the museum and galleries.
They represented the college wonderfully and were impeccably well behaved!
Year 7 Basketball
The year 7 basketball team travelled to All Saints on
Thursday for a one-off tournament. The boys played really well winning 3
out of 4 games, narrowly losing to Coombe Dean 6-4 but winning comfortably
against All Saints 'A', All Saints 'B' and DHSB.
Well done to James H, Marcin K, Freddie D, Tom M, Luke R and
Taylor K - the staff from the other schools commented on how well we played,
the confidence on the ball, movement off the ball and the skill level
shown...myself and Mr Claricoates were extremely impressed! With a little
bit of practice on tactics the lads will hit the ground
running in next seasons league fixtures.
Mr James
Well Done lads - Mr Davies
All Year 11, 12 and 13 should now have a
timetable for their public exams which start on May 12th, which
gives the room number and seat number in every exam.
Please can you ensure that your sons and
daughters are aware of the following:-
·
They must bring in the necessary equipment for every exam in a
see-through pencil case or plastic bag. BLACK PENS
·
They should arrive at least five minutes early for each exam so
that they are seated and ready to start by 9am or 1.45 pm.
·
If there is any serious problem at all which will prevent them
from being in the exam, or will cause them to arrive late, you should phone
school as early as possible to discuss the situation.
·
No mobile phones, electronic devices eg watches or headphones
are allowed in exams at all – the exam boards will disqualify candidates
if they do not adhere to the JCQ rules.
·
French and German GCSE reading exams are not listed on the
timetables. Boys will remain in the same room where they are sitting the
listening exam and take the reading exam immediately afterwards.
·
Good luck to all our candidates.
And finally, please remember that the GCSE,
GCE and BTEC Certificates will not come back into school until about
November 2014 – they will be presented at the Awards Evening. If you
cannot attend this you must arrange to collect your certificate early in
2015. I still have certificates from 2012 and 13 which haven’t
been collected: the rules from the Awarding Bodies are that schools need only
keep them for 12 months from date of issue and they can then be shredded.
You will need these at some point later in your life, so keep them safe!
Mrs J Gimblett
Exams’ Officer
Have a lovely weekend all,
Mr. Davies
A very rainy week to end April! Let’s hope we
have some better weather in May, it’s pretty miserable for year 7 not to be
able to play on the yard during break and lunch! Our fantastic year group have already
earned themselves 386 merits, just in this two weeks of half term! What an
incredible achievement. Well done boys! I’ll be looking forward to this term’s
kindle draw with so many names being added!
This week’s assembly was a lovely assembly
from Mrs Polson and 7B. We were reminded about manners and how we should always
be polite, courteous and kind at all times. The reading was loud and clear so
everyone could hear! Thank you to 7B for putting in so much hard work to make
this such a lovely assembly. We are very much looking forward to 7E and Miss
Heduvan’s assembly on Tuesday.
We had a mufti day on Friday to raise further
money for our Project Motiv-8, which will see our gym refurbished for all
students to enjoy. It was lovely to see a range of “onesies” from the year 7’s!
A very interesting choice of clothing!
I am getting increasingly 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. 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 lovely Bank Holiday
weekend, hopefully in the sunshine!
Miss Beales
Year
8
Thanks to Dr Trimming for leading our assembly last week
on the theme of Easter. It was also good to hear an account of her visit to
Rome over the Easter break. It sounded like a great trip!
Well done to the rugby team who attended an event at
Marjons on Monday, the Varsity challenge. All went very well by all accounts
and the boys thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.
Yesterday, Thursday, Eryk O., Toby M., and Ben B. should
have been competing in a cycling event at Central Park but the weather was so
awful that it was postponed. Thanks to Mr Weaver for organising this for the
boys. I know that the boys were really looking forward to the afternoon.
Congratulations to Brandon S. who is a member of the
Pilgrim Boxing Club. After recently passing his medical he can now look forward
to competing in his first proper bout. Good luck to him! Well done, too, to
Jessie C. who continues to attend the Argyle football training club on a
Saturday morning and Jessie recommends it to anyone who wants to improve their
football skills and have fun at the same time.
Jay H. reports that his football team have just won the
league for the third consecutive year. That’s a great achievement!
Finally, good luck to the cricket team who play their
first games on Tuesday at Eggbuckland.
Mr. Tucker
Year 9
Well here we are May already, just entering the GCSE and A – Level
examination period for 2014, before we know it, it will be our year group
sitting their first GCSE's. Good luck to all the lads sitting their exams this
year.
Thanks to Mr Glanville and Ms Chapman who took a group of year 9's
to a CAFOD Young leaders conference this week, I understand from Mr Glanville
that the lads did the College proud and that they have all come back full of
enthusiasm and ideas of how they can raise the awareness and money to aid some
of the projects.
I hear that the lads representing the College this Friday in an
Ability Football tournament at Exeter City Football ground against schools and
colleges from across Plymouth and Devon mainstream and Special Schools have
been working and training hard together under the watchful eye of Mike Murphy
are geling well together as a team, I hope you enjoy the experience and achieve
the rewards you deserve. More news next week.
Finally, again, I wish you all a happy May Bank Holiday weekend.
Mrs. Mcloughlin
We were very impressed with the assembly on Monday
regarding Camps International’s planned trip to Cambodia. Students can
raise the money through sponsorships and join a group in Cambodia for a
month. The letter has been emailed to Year 10 parents by Mr Scott.
Thank you to Mr Claricoates for arranging the presentation.
The upcoming Year 10 paintballing reward events are fast
approaching – last call for payment/consent form please.
Fifteen boys will be taking part in Patient Journey Day
on June 18th following a stroke patient through diagnosis and
rehabilitation. The workshops include, Physiotherapy, Speech and Language
Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Dietetics, Paramedicine. Any students
interested should see Mr Scott to put their name forward.
Ray Rosevear’s Retirement – Plymouth
Citycoach
Mrs Potts and I made a visit to Plymouth Citycoach this
week to present Ray Rosevear with a retirement card and gift to thank him for
his decades of service to St Boniface’s. It is estimated that Mr Rosevear
had helped arrange the transport for over 10000 Bonnie Boys over the
years. We wish him well!
Year
11
The first external GCSE examination started on the 1st
May, with the majority of GCSE’s starting on the 12th May. Mrs Wills, Head of Art, was gushing with
pride in how the boys taking their formal Art GCSE examinations have conducted
themselves so far and mentioned that their attitude and conduct was
impeccable. Mr Greenway was equally complementary in how
the boys taking GCSE PE conducted themselves during their practical coursework
external assessment. Hopefully, this excellent
start bodes well for the rest of the examination period for all the boys.
Just a gentle reminder that Mr Tew, Director of sixth
form at the College, has sent out a
letter inviting all year 11 boys to
three informal sixth form taster days starting on the 30th
June. This will be an invaluable
opportunity for your son to gain an insight into what being in the sixth form
will be like and to see what courses will be on offer. There will be an opportunity to talk to our current
AS, A2 and BTEC students and for your son to sample every subject on offer at
the college.
The official leaving day for all year 11 students will be
the 9th May 2014. The
arrangements for your son’s final day in year 11, will be as follows: he will
go to his first two lessons have his
break as normal and then he will attend the leavers assembly for the whole of
period three. He will then be free to
leave at 12.25 to prepare for his GCSE examinations at home. Thereafter, all boys will be expected to
attend lessons in all their subjects up to the time they will be taking the
examination in that particular subject.
Once they have taken the examination they have no obligation to attend
that particular class unless they want to go to it as a base to study for other
examinations. All year 11 teachers will
be available in their class, as usual, for advice and help right up to the time
the final examination has been taken.
Students will also be expected to attend tutorial if they are not in an
examination, whilst on campus.
Mr Claricoates, Head of Vocational studies, invited Camps
International, to give a talk in last week’s assembly on the opportunities they
can offer our boys. They are providing a
wonderful opportunity for your son to go abroad and help other people and at
the same time enhance his own life experience and give his curriculum vitae an
enormous boost. Further details will be
provided by Mr Claricoates, dclaricoates@stbonifaces.com if your son is interested in taking up this
opportunity.
We have had a few year 11 boys representing the college
in a SEN football tournament recently organised by Exeter Football Club, which
was held at St James Park, Exeter’s ground.
I’m sure the boys relished the wonderful experience of playing football
at a professional football ground.
The deadline for bringing in the money for the year 11
leavers Woodlands trip is the 9th May 2014. We currently have approximately 15 boys that
have brought their money in so far but we need another fifteen at least, to
make the visit viable, otherwise the trip will be cancelled. If your son is interested in going on the
trip could he please bring in his £20.00 to the reception office as soon as
possible before the end of next week.
All boys and their parents in year 11 are invited to the
awards /celebration evening on the 6th May, being held at St Peter’s
Church. There will be refreshments in
the catering block available from 5.00 pm before the awards evening starts at
6.00 pm which is expect to finish at approximately 7.20 pm. As well as giving out awards and certificates
the evening will be an opportunity for a few year 11 boys on behalf of all the
boys, to reflect on their time at St Boniface’s College.
As I write this, the year 11 mentors are busily writing
their end of year mentor reports which will be ready for your son to take home
by the end of next week. Finally, thanks
to Adam for his contribution to our penultimate year 11 assembly and best of
luck to Joe who will be running the Ivy Bridge 10K race, competing for Plymouth
Harries, on the 10th May, 2014.
A copy of this blog entry will also be e-mailed to all year 11 parents,
to ensure that as many parents as possible are aware of the above content.
Mr Redfern
Post
16
A very transitional week in the sixth form.
The SSS room has been refurnished to allow concentrated study in an environment
that is suited to sixth form students. The Senior Prefects team have done a
great job in making sure that this project has succeeded and hopefully the new
facilities will yield good results.
Thanks you to all those who attended Parents Evening last Tuesday. You can
still contact your teachers by email for advice and guidance and attendance at
lessons is compulsory, even if you are tempted to work at home. The advice and
guidance from the teachers about exam technique etc. is crucial. Anyone who missed
the Parents evening or wants feedback from the teachers on their sons or
daughters performance you can email the staff or contact myself on stew@stbonifaces.com
It has been a very interesting few days in that we have been interviewing for
the new Head Boy and Senior Leaders. 12 Students put themselves forward for a
formal interview from a panel of 8. Questions were challenging but every
student acquitted themselves well. It was a privilege to see the passion and
pride that our students have of the College. Personally it was an amazing
transformation from a year 7 student to an articulate sixth former speaking in
an adult manner. Sometimes it is easy to focus on the negative but many positives
came out of the day. I would like to thank the existing Headboy and Deputies
and team for all of their help and drive over the past year. I am sure they all
have promising careers ahead of them and are great ambassadors for the College
and themselves.
Good luck in your exams and exam preparation. Some students are having
difficulties, and as a community we are thinking of them and praying for them.
Mr Tew
After School Clubs – April to July
|
|
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
(until the start of exams)
|
Fitness Suite + Basketball
|
Fitness Suite + Basketball
|
Fitness Suite + Basketball
GCSE Revision/catch up (A18)
|
Fitness Suite + Basketball
|
Fitness Suite + Basketball
|
|
AFTER SCHOOL
|
Softball, All Years
A Level Revision
(Mr Weaver)
|
|
Mountain Biking
(Sign Up)
AS Revision
(Mr MacCormick)
|
Cricket, Year 7
Yr 11 GCSE, Catch Up
|
Yr 11 BTEC, Catch Up
A2 Revision
(Mr MacCormick)
|
Prayer before an exam
Lord, thank you that you are with me right now
Your love surpasses all fear
I give you the anxiety I feel
I surrender all my worries to you
Clear my mind
Calm my heart
Still my Spirit
Relax my being
That I may always glorify you
In everything I write, speak and do
Amen
(a modern prayer for exam nerves)
