On Wednesday 9th February, Bishop Brian of

Tonbridge came and blessed our new school chapel

watched by the gathered members of staff, students, Governors and other guests. The

ceremony realises our wish to have a designated ‗sacred space‘ at the heart of the

school.

School Chaplain, Reverend Juliet Donnelly, considers this ―an oasis of calm – a place to

reflect on God and share communion and prayer.‖

Headteacher, Kathy Griffiths said ―The Chapel is a

place for both staff and students to enjoy some quiet

time and to reflect on who we are as a school

community. Faith underpins everything we try to

achieve at Bishop Justus, and we are delighted that

Bishop Brian, a long standing friend of the school,

has blessed the dedication of our chapel. That is a

real honour.‖

Bishop Brian also blessed a Maltese Cross in

memory of past student Jamie Zammit, who sadly

died in December last year. Jamie‘s mother, Donna,

was ―Overwhelmed‖ saying, ―this beautiful new

chapel is also a place of remembrance for Jamie – it makes me feel Jamie‘s still at

Bishop Justus in this quiet place, where his brother Tommy is also a student.‖

Welcome to our third issue of the Bishop Justus newsletter and as

you can see, we are as busy as ever. Next week we have students

on a school visit to Madrid and a ski trip to Austria; I am sure both

will be educational and enjoyable. We look forward to having the

students back safely to share their experiences with us.

May I take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support

and I look forward to updating you on the progress of our academy

status after the half term break.

Wishing you and your family a restful week. I look forward to

welcoming students back on Monday 28th February at the normal

time of 8.40 am.

Kathy Griffiths

Chapel Dedication

O2 Young Voices

Classical Platform Success

Jazzed Up Safer Neighbourhood

Awards

Primary Jazz Workshop

Ripley Arts Centre Exhibition

Experience Easter Through Art

Tell Us Your Irish Story

We Need Your Vouchers

Kent Schools Swimming

Bromley Schools Gymnastics

Outdoor Gym Opens

Year 7 Visit Lille

Dates for your Diary

Bishop Justus Church of England School

Magpie Hall Lane

Bromley

Kent BR2 8HZ

020 8315 8130 Designed and produced by The Learning Resources Centre

Bishop Brian of Tonbridge blesses the new school chapel

Revd. Juliet Donnelly

The Maltese Cross in memory of Jamie

The Bishop Justus Jazz Band has also been

performing a morning assembly to the

children of Red Hill Primary School in

Chislehurst, as part of our ongoing support of

local primary schools through our Music

Specialism. The morning ended with an

electrifying performance of ‗Thriller‘ by

Michael Jackson complete with audience

participation!

The Bishop Justus Jazz Band was invited

to perform to an audience of over 300 at

the Safer Neighbourhood Awards at

Oakley House in Bromley. The event was

attended by the Mayor of Bromley and the

organisers were hugely impressed by the

standard of music played by the band.

Since September, Year 8 have been studying singing on a weekly basis and a number

of them had the privilege to sing at the O2 as part of the ‗Young Voices‘ event. This

year the concert supported the charity CLIC SARGENT – which helps children with

cancer.

The venue was filled with thousands of children of all ages, from different schools,

singing the same repertoire and supported by acts such as All Angels, Dionne

Broomfield, and Josh Osho.

Pupils attended a two and a half hour rehearsal in the afternoon and all then

presented their work in the concert that evening. The O2 was a complete sell-out which

helped make this a true spectacle and an experience the pupils will never forget. Bishop Justus students were part of a

choir of thousands at the O2

A second successful Classical Platform was held in our Lecture Theatre and proved to be a great

opportunity for students to perform classical repertoire in an informal setting. Some students

performed pieces for their grade exams and others chose lighter repertoire from film scores. The

students and staff in the audience said it was a very relaxing way to spend a lunchtime! We aim to

hold a Classical Platform every term from now on.

January saw the first ever Bishop Justus Portrait exhibition open at The Ripley Arts Centre in Bromley. The private view

was a great success and a fantastic celebration of achievement for the students whose work was displayed.

The exhibition contained portraits completed by students aged 11-18 of all skills and levels and aimed to display the

wide range and variety of work produced. The evening was attended by students, parents and the public and the

feedback from all involved was very positive and hopefully will lead to more!

Some of the comments from visitors included:“An excellent show – well done. Welcome to Ripley!” “Lovely to see the

children progressing and expressing themselves through

Art”

“What an impressive exhibition. The wide range of work on

display reflects the astonishing talent in the school and

the undoubted quality of the teaching. Many

congratulations.”

For more pictures, take a look at the gallery in the Media

Galleries section of our website.

The Jazz Band perform at Oakley

House

A selection of the pictures on display

The school are once again participating

in the Sainsbury‘s Active Kids and Tesco

for Schools & Clubs voucher schemes

this year.

Both schemes give us the opportunity to

purchase new equipment and resources.

So please make sure that you collect

your vouchers whenever you shop and

put them in the collection boxes in the

Learning Resources Centre.

The Mayor of London

in association with

Tourism Ireland and

Bord Bia has

launched a

competition to

celebrate St Patrick's

Day and raise young

Londoners' awareness of Ireland on the

theme of 'Tell us your Irish story'.

Children can win one of three cash prizes up

to £5,000 for their school or a family holiday

to Ireland! One in four Londoners has an

Irish grandparent, so there should be plenty

of tales to tell.

The deadline for entries is Friday 4 March

2011. Prizes will be presented on the main

stage at the FREE St Patrick‘s Day Festival at

Trafalgar Square on Sunday 13 March 2011.

For full information please visit

www.london.gov.uk/stpatricksday/schools

‗A large crowd of people followed

Him: among them were some

women who were weeping and

wailing for Him. Jesus turned to

them and said ―Women of

Jerusalem, don‘t cry for me but for

yourselves and your children‖‘

Luke 23 vs. 27-28

We often read scriptures and use

our imagination to consider the

context of the narrative. For me,

creating artwork linked to a

religious narrative was a way to

bring the content alive and felt like

producing a storybook with

pictures. Art can simplify complex

ideas and present things for

people with clarity.

My own painting was designed to

represent the moment Jesus

spoke to the women of Jerusalem

on his journey to the cross. The

vibrant colours I chose for the

clothing of the women of

Jerusalem were selected to

contrast with the negative

emotions of their weeping and

wailing. The colours were there to

create a stained glass image

familiar to worshippers throughout

history.

The aesthetic principle allows

people to engage with the beauty

of a piece of artwork and I believe

can evoke a religious experience.

Beauty can be perceived at

different levels, on the surface of a

canvas or in the meanings behind

the image. Either of these can

enable people to engage with

deeper spiritual concepts and

truths. It can be considered that

the eyes are the window of the

soul and artists‘ impressions of

narrative can help people to

open the window along their

spiritual journeys.

The production of artwork itself

can be an opportunity to share

ideas and challenge stereotypes.

As the context of the artwork was

to contribute to and be a focus

for worship during Holy Week, I

felt I had to do something

traditional and portray Jesus in a

certain way to meet people‘s

expectations. Yet others found it

a time to explore the stereotypes

and consider Jesus‘ cultural

heritage as a Jew and Nazarene.

Holy Week could be argued to be

the most important week of the

Church Year in the lead up to

Easter. If providing a visual

stimulus to support a person‘s

contemplation of the Stations of

the Cross can stimulate a

person‘s spirit then this can only

be a good thing.

Three students recently took part in the Kent

Schools Swimming competition at The Black

Lion Leisure Centre, Gillingham.

Natasha Hainsworth swam the 100m

Butterfly in a great time but missed out on

the finals. Charlotte Gregory swam the 100m

Breaststroke and set a new personal best of

1.37.19, but this was still not enough to

make the final.

Jessica Frankland was the star of the day,

swimming the 200m Individual Medley. In

the heats, she set a new personal best of

2.42.59 and was the fastest qualifier. In the

final she again swam an excellent race, but

was just beaten into second place with

another personal best time of 2.41.64.

Mia with her art work ‘Jesus meets the

Women of Jerusalem’

Other work created by students included ‘Jesus is Stripped of his Garments’ (left) and an

interpretation of ‘The Crown of Thorns’ (right)

FEBRUARY

Monday 28th — Term 4 Starts

MARCH

Friday 11th — Friends Family Music Quiz

Monday 14th — Friends AGM

Monday 21st — Year 10 Internal Assessment Fortnight

Thursday 24th — Year 8 Parent Consultation

Thursday 31st — Easter Cabaret Concert

APRIL

Friday 8th — Last Day of Term

Saturday 9th — Sorrento Trip Departs

Friday 15th — Iceland Trip Departs

The Bromley Schools Gymnastics Festival is one of

the longest running festivals in the Bromley Borough.

It is a dazzling showcase of skill and creativity by

primary and secondary school pupils who have all

worked extremely hard in class and extra curricular

clubs run by dedicated teachers.

This year, 25 schools

took part split

between a morning

and afternoon event

with parents, family

members and the

gymnasts making up

the audience. Bishop

Justus provided the

finale performance in

both the morning and

afternoon and were

fantastic. The crowd

reacted very positively

and oohed and

aahhed at the

somersaults and

backflips.

The team consists of

17 students from

years 7-11. Three are trained club gymnasts, but

everyone else has gained their skills from training at

school.

They have trained

twice a week since the

beginning of the

school year and will

continue to train after

this event.

An early start beckoned for Year 7 as they boarded the coach

to catch the Eurotunnel to France, then onwards to Lille.

The students enjoyed a trip on

the huge ferris wheel, some time

in the Christmas Market

shopping for presents and dinner

in a French Fast Food

restaurant. The day was a great

success and everyone returned

home safely full of stories to tell

their parents.

Some of the students wrote down their thoughts about the day:

―I really enjoyed the trip. I loved going on the ferris wheel,

although it was a bit scary. The market was good too, I bought

a lot of things.” Jacob Sheath

“One of the best parts about visiting France was the ferris

wheel. It was amazing, I never thought it would be so

tall. Another thing I really enjoyed was eating the crepes and

the Christmas market - they

were delicious!” Marco Arcuri

“I enjoyed the ferris wheel. It

was high and if you moved the

pod you were in wobbled. I also

enjoyed the Christmas

market. It was full of nice food

such as crepes. It also gave me

a chance to try out my French.”

Fraser Spooncer

“I enjoyed shopping with my friends. The ferris wheel was

scary at first, but the second time round it was really fun.”

Dylan Reeves-Fellows

“What I liked best about the trip to France was the ferris wheel

because it went so high. I also liked shopping in the market

because there was a lot of things to see and buy.” Felicity

Woolhouse

Students practised their French in the

shops and market

We are delighted to be the first school in Bromley to open

an Outdoor Gym. It includes a Treadmill, Ecliptical

Runner, Monkey Bars, Air Walker, Triceps Dip Station, Sit-

up Station and many more. Each piece of equipment has

clear guidelines for proper

use and information on

which part of the body it is

benefitting.

Head of PE Miss Hill said, ―I

am confident this will be a

real asset to all that use

the school.‖

Students ready for the ferris wheel

Students on the Outdoor Gym

Students performed a variety of skills

Students performed a variety of skills

Students performed a variety of skills