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St Bedes Catholic College

Long Cross, Bristol BS11 0SU

Tel: (0117) 3772200 Fax: (0117) 3772201

NEWSLETTER 188

28th November 2014

2010

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

st

Year 11 Mock Examinations begin

nd

Year 7 Tutor/E Safety Evening 6.30pm

th

Year 9 Option Booklet goes home

th

Week of Year 10 End of term Examinations

th

Year 8 Parents Evening 4.30pm 7.30pm

1 December
2 December
5 December
8 December
9 December
th

Year 11 Mocks end

th

Christmas Lunch

th

Advent Service 6.30pm

th

END OF TERM 2 Pupils finish at 2.00pm

12 December
16 December
17 December
19 December

CERTIFICATE EVENING THE GREAT ACHIEVERS

Yesterday evening, nearly all of last years Year 11
pupils and their parents returned to the college to
receive their GCSE Certificates. Ms Hughes told the
pupils they had excelled. Presentations which were
made by Heads of Houses and Father Michael
McAndrew, Chair of Governors were woven into a
service of prayers, readings and hymns. There were
Governors awards for Star Performers which were
received by Michael Savery and Louise Mason who
each had achieved 11A* grades. Other extremely
high achievers to receive Governors awards for Best
in College were Juliette Corr and Ben Whitfield. Best
in House Awards were presented again this year. Bell
Burnell awards went to Tommy Long and Shannon
Bohin.
Descartes awards were presented to Alexander
Selway and Carys Greenaway.
Pasteur awards were presented to Jonathan Peirce,
Alice Gompels and Luned Stevens.
The Outstanding Progress awards were given to
Rebecca Gormley, Marianne Vasquez and Joseph
Coutts- Wood, Ashley Parkins, Michael Riviera, Emily
Cannon, Mitchell Quayle, Martina Tabat, Michael
Jones and Jerin Joseph. It was clear from the
response of pupils that all recipients of awards were
extremely well received and that they were worthy of
such recognition. The Principals Awards were
presented to Janice Pinto and Joanna Long.
Those attending tackled a great spread of food
including a celebration cake and enjoyed catching-up
with friends and acquaintances, some of whom they
had not seen for some time. The Certificate Evening
is always a highlight of the Colleges year, giving us a
chance to acknowledge hard work and celebrate
success with pupils and families.

TRACEY ALEXANDER AUTHOR VISIT

The Library and English/Drama Faculty were fortunate
to have another author visit this week. Local writer
Tracy Alexander spoke to groups from Year 9 and 10
about her Bristol based new novel. She recounted her
own experiences of writing in a very engaging
manner. Hacked is about a 16 year old teenage boy
(Dan) who unwittingly exposes London to a drone
attack; caused by his desire to impress his mysterious
online friend Angel. Niamh Davies Year10, has already
read a proof copy of the
book and says "It was
great to read a book that
deals with the problems
of this current
generation". A present
for Christmas?
Creative Writers get tips from Bristol author
This Tuesday at Creative Writing Club the author T.M.
Alexander came and spoke with us. She has many
marvellous books such as 'Hacked' and 'Labradoodle
on the Loose'.
We got the chance to ask her questions and also get
her autograph!
She told us the two most important rules of being a
successful writer are:
1. Always finish your story- don't forget about it a
week or so later, just get to the end!
2. Be inquisitive!
You can take
funny things that
happen in your
everyday life or
something your
mate told you
the day before.
Just write it
down or remember it. Isoken Omoruyi Year 7

PUPILS BECOME FOOTBALL AMBASSADORS

On Tuesday six year 9 and 10 pupils had the privilege
of attending an Inspiring Girls in Football course at
Wembley Stadium. We are one of only 9 schools
across the UK who have been successful in becoming
a hub for the initiative. The girls had the opportunity
to listen to Marieanne Spacey who is considered one
of the greatest English footballers of all time and
Rachel Brown-Finnis the current England goal keeper.
The pupils took part in a variety of different activities
to encourage girls to take part in football, be a good
role model and motivator. It was an excellent day
which was topped off by a tour of the stadium.
Year 9 pupils Caitlin Garrett, Ruby Mossford, Ebonie Atwell,
Sophie Byrom and Year 10 girls Marika Niekowal and Eva
Clothier at Wembley Stadium.

SPEAK UP!
Mr McNamara and the English/Drama Faculty are
extremely pleased to announce that one of our
Year 11 teams Owen Harding-Best, Chali Chaligha
and Howard Fish has reached the Bristol final of the
English Speaking Union (ESU) debating competition.
They successfully spoke about the world's depleting
natural resources and received questions from an
opposing team and members of the public. We might
see them on 'Question Time' in the near future. The
final will be held at QEH in January. We wish them
luck.

AFTER DINNER SPEAKING COMPETITION

Mr Heraty accompanied Ben Whitfield Year 12 to the
latest round of the After Dinner speaking competition
for Sixth Formers - 'The Gabblers'. Ben spoke
persuasively about exotic pets - "a millipede is for life,
not just for Christmas" was one of his amusing lines.
This event continues into the New Year. The final will
be attended by the Lord Mayor and is a 'black tie'
event. Next stop - the House of Commons?
FIRST AID EQUIPMENT
We are very pleased to announce that we have been
successful in obtaining a grant from British Heart
Organisation. The Call, Push, Pull initiative has
allowed us to obtain 30 pieces of Resuscitation
equipment which will be used in our First Aid lessons
as part of the college PSHCE programme.

ART TRIP TO LONDON

Last Wednesday, the Year 10, 12 and Year 13 Art students
braved the early start to visit the National Gallery and the
National Portrait gallery in the centre of London. Their brief
was to look at the work of others and complete several
sketches of original works by the most famous of artists,
including Van Gogh, Cezanne and the more recent
contemporary artists Julian Opie and Grayson Perry.
Mixing with tourists and other school groups, the St. Bedes
Art students demonstrated their skills for all to see and
produced some
quite lovely
work. They
were all
rewarded with
an artist badge
for their blazer,
which they are
now wearing
with pride!
Mrs Cannon
MRS WHITE RETIREMENT CELEBRATION
A Mass of Thanksgiving will be held at the College on
Thursday, 11th December at 5.00pm, celebrated by
Bishop Declan to mark the retirement of Mrs White,
Vice Principal who has served St. Bedes Catholic
College for over 40 years. We would like to offer our
parents an opportunity to join us. If you would like
an invitation then please email [email protected]
or call Reception on 0117 3772200 and ask for Mrs
Johnson. Invitations will be sent to the first 150
parents who request one. Following the Mass,
refreshments will be available.
BRISTOL RUGBY
We were privileged again last week to assist Bristol
Rugbys first team squad as they trained on our 3G
artificial pitch. The recent poor weather has affected
the pitches at the Clubs Clifton RFC training base.

CREATIVE WRITING
One of our talented Year 8 creative writers, Janina Parry,
recently entered a poetry competition and had her poem
published in the Young Writers Pet-Poetry anthology.
We will publish the poem in our next newsletter.
If you would like to develop your creative writing skills,
come to the Creative Writing Club, every Tuesday, 1.30pm
in A14. Hopefully see you there! Miss Barnes

PARIS TRIP 2015

A polite reminder that the final payment is now due
for our current Year 8 pupils going on the Paris trip in
March 2015.

DRAMA CLUB
Drama Club for Years 7, 8 and 9 will take place on
Thursdays from 3.30pm 4.30pm in the Drama
Studio.
PAST PUPIL - YOUNG SPORTS COACH OF THE YEAR
Congratulations to ex pupil Cormac OCallaghan who
recently won Young Sports Coach of the Year at a
prestigious event hosted at the West of England
Celebration of Sport Evening 2014. The event was
sponsored by WESPORT, the West of England Sports
Trust and was hosted by Olympic Swimming medal
winner, Steve Parry.
Cormac, who left us in 2013, has been coaching young
players at the Bristol Flyer Basketball Club in Filton
and has recently been made the official coach for the
Flyers U12 team.

KS5 ENGLISH UPDATE

As part of the AS/A Level English Literature course it is
important for students to try to see live performances of
plays and to develop their wider reading. Below are some
of the shows that are coming up in and around Bristol
which you might want to see.
The Crucible On Screen, at Vue Cinema Cribbs
Causeway.
Oh What a Lovely War by Joan Littlewood. Dates
between February and May - see ATG tickets.
Performances in Torquay, Richmond, Manchester,
Aylesbury, Brighton.
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, The Old Vic, Bristol
27th Apr - 9th May
Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
Directed by Polina Kalinina
Thu 19 Feb - Sat 04 April 2015
A co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
PEARSON TEACHING AWARDS
Each year a number of pupils nominate one of their
teachers for the Pearson Teaching Awards. The
nomination period for 2015 is now open. If any pupil
would like to nominate a teacher the process is simple:
1. www.pearsonteachingawards.com/enter
2. Download the Entry Form
3. Complete one Entry Form and email to
[email protected]

YEAR 7 STUDY SKILLS MORNING - Monday 17th November

Pupils were involved in the Study Skills morning last week.
After an assembly by Mr King which gave the pupils an idea
of how complicated their brains are and what to expect for
the morning, Year 7 spent periods 2, 3 and 4 finding out
how their brains learn best and skills for learning more
effectively.
The Learning Rucksack contained things that helped them
to learn, from a pillow to a piece of string! Pupils then
found out about different learning styles and how to tailor
their own learning to suit them best. As they were learning
how to count from 1 to 10 in Japanese, using a story,
different pupils were seen scratching their knees and
playing a rock guitar! Mind maps can be useful ways of
organising thoughts and information so pupils were taught
how to organise them effectively. It is essential that
everyone knows the criteria against which they will be
assessed and through a hat making activity, Year 7 realised
the value of knowing assessment criteria in advance of
doing the task. DARTs (Directed Activities Related to Texts)
are an easy way of obtaining information from a piece of
text. This information can then be tabulated to make
writing your own piece much easier. Pupils learnt how to
use DARTs before reviewing the morning.
We hope that the skills they learnt will equip our Year 7s
for studying at St. Bedes and beyond. If your child took
part in the Study Skills morning, please encourage them to
use the skills they have learnt when completing a piece of
work at home.

YEAR 11 PROM REMINDER

A reminder to all Year 11 pupils attending Prom that 25.00
is due by 5th December 2014.

TERM DATES 2015-2016

Governors have agreed the term dates for the next
academic year:
Term 1 1st September 2015 23rd October 2015
Term 2 2nd November 2015 18th December 2015
Term 3 4th January 2016 5th February 2016
Term 4 15th February 2016 23rd March 2016
Term 5 11th April 2016 27th May 2016
Term 6 6th June 2016 21st July 2016
Five days are used for staff training.
Inset day Tuesday 1st September 2015.
4 further inset days TBA.
SPaG MATTERS
He knows a lot
He knows alot X
The alot does not exist.
A lot means a large extent or to a large extent.
To allot means to apportion something.