1

SACRED HEART C A T H O L I C S C H O O L

Autumn Term—Issue 6 Friday 21 October 2016

Assemblies: Monday 31st October: Year 11

Tuesday 1st November: Year 10 Wednesday 2nd November: Year 8

Thursday 3rd November: Year 9 & 13 Friday 4th November: Year 7 & 12

Events: Monday 31st October: Year 12/13 Revision Week,

Year 7 exams Wednesday 2nd November: Year 13 Oxbridge

Exams, Year 11 Graphics Trip Friday 4th November: Year 7 Mass

IMPORTANT DATES FOR THE WEEK (Commencing Monday 31st October 2016)

Dear Parents, It has been a very busy half term and our students have settled well to the high expectations we have of them. Thank you to the year 11 team, and the wonderful support shown by year 11 parents at our ‘expectations evening’ on Thursday, where a very clear message about the hard work needed was given by all, especially in light of the new GCSEs in English and maths in 2017 and the new GCSE 9-1 grading system (See below).

A reminder that we have our Sixth Form open evening on Thursday 10th November for any year 11 pupils looking to make an application. During half term, could uniform please be checked to ensure that when pupils return, they are in full school uni-form. A particular issue, which may need to be looked at now that the weather is getting colder, is outdoor coats which are worn to and from school – these should be plain black or plain dark grey. Casual type jackets / hooded tops are not acceptable as outdoor coats, so please do not purchase one for school use. As we look forward to a short break from school over the next week, pupils should take this opportunity to review the work covered so far this academic year. During the next half term leading up to Christmas there are important school exams and assessments for Year 7’s, Year 10’s, Year 12’s and Year 13’s with parents’ evenings to follow. Sincere thanks to you, the parents, for supporting the school by ensuring that your child has been well behaved, respectful, and hardworking over the last seven weeks. We look forward to everyone’s safe return on Monday 31st October. Mr G Vincent Deputy Headteacher

Good Passes A* A B C D E F G

New Good passes 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2

Our school community coming together to celebrate diversity and unity under God.

A powerful perspective of unity in diversity! Poem by Benjamin Zephaniah, which was read out at our staff briefing this morning, and much appreciated by all the staff! The poem looks at British people as a recipe and goes back over our history to look at all the different influences which have gone into the mix we have today. (Silures by the way were a warlike tribe in Ancient Britain) Take some Picts, Celts and Silures And let them settle, Then overrun them with Roman conquerors. Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years Add lots of Norman French to some Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously. Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans, Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese, Vietnamese and Sudanese. Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians And Pakistanis, Combine with Guyanese And turn up the heat. Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysisans, Bosnians, Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese And Palestinians Then add to the melting pot. Leave the ingredients to simmer. As they mix and blend, allow their languages to flourish Binding them together with English Allow time to be cool. Add some unity, understanding, and respect for the future, Serve with justice And enjoy. Note: All the ingredients are equally important. Treating one ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.

3

House competition: Year 10 football What a day it was! Yet another football event this time it was year 10s turn to show exactly what they had! The tournament was set off with a 0-0, though it was no bore draw with both teams having long periods of possession. All though neither team seemed to want to score, Cabrini threat-ened the goal more than any other team; Nathan in goal for Becket, was kept very busy. After the first game scoring did not seem to be a problem for either Becket or Cabrini as 8 goals were put past Magdalene with Becket winning 3- 1 and Cabrini thrashing Magdalene 5 – 0 despite an injury to their pocket rocket Steven K. Thanks to all who participated in this event.

Current overall standings: 1st: Cabrini (275 points) 2nd: Becket (260 points) 3rd: Bosco (165 points) 4th: Magdalene (160 points)

Employability News Last Thursday, myself and other members of the school's leadership team visited a well-known commercial law firm called Her-bert Smith Freehills, near Liverpool Street in East London. Visiting a law firm appealed to me as I have an interest in studying a Law degree. Upon our arrival, we received an interesting presentation about advocacy and public speaking by two female lawyers. The presentation consisted of useful public speaking tips and several videos of presidents, prime ministers and leaders speaking to an audience. We then had to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each speech. I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the trip as it notified me of do's and don'ts when presenting a speech to an audience. In the second half of the trip, we were given a workshop on how to prepare sufficiently for job interviews and how to construct a CV and a cover letter. I found this part of the trip the most useful as it made me reflect on how to avoid procrastination in my studies and in general. Additionally, we received a talk from a young trainee lawyer about his personal experiences of working in the law firm and studying a law degree at university. This gave me an insight into how law graduates train to become professional lawyers. Overall, our trip to Herbert Smith Freehills was fantastic and I hope that there will be many more visits to law firms in the future! Estelle Uba

Year 10 Textiles trip to The British Museum On Tuesday 11 October year 10 Textiles went to The British Museum to conduct research into the Art and crafts of South Ameri-ca. Sacred Heart pupils toured the galleries and gathered information to gain a better understanding of this vast culture .The British Museum houses one of the largest collections of artefacts from around the world. Pupils examined sculptures from lost civilisations and stone tablets from ancient temples .Some of the objects were thousands of years old. Pupils said they were really inspired by the trip and then produced an illustrated report to present their research. Courtney Osei-Dapaa described the textiles as booming with colour and pattern and said that she had learnt many new things about South American Art, which cannot be seen from books or the internet. Ms Basra’s textiles students will be developing their own original pieces back in school, following on from this research. Year 12/13 Art Trip to Maggie Hambling Exhibition Pupils explored the work of this modern British female painter specialising in Portraits. Tianna Edmondson described the exhibition ’The exhibition spoke to me personally . I was inspired by the stories a picture can create using just a simple image, such as a portrait. Back in school KS5 Art students are busy painting their own oil paintings which will be on show for open evening. Art and Film In Year 13, Prince and Jenny are taking part in an experimental young film makers project following on from the short film they

made last year. Pupils can watch Prince’s film on homelessness and Jenny’s film on motivation on youtube , type in creative

sparkworks.

Pro boxer Richard Riakporhe visits Sacred Heart boxing club

Coach Alex’s after school boxing club

welcomed former Sacred Heart pupil

and professional cruiserweight boxer

Richard Riakporhe last week. Richard

passed on some invaluable tips

and advice to our budding

pugilists, who all enjoyed the

opportunity to meet him.

‘Richy Rich’ has promised to

return throughout the year to

see how the boys and girls are

Progressing!

After school Boxing Club with coach Alex takes place every

week on Thursdays after school

4

HONESTY AWARDS….. Sara Milanese – 8C returned a purse containing money Jesus Gutierrez Fernandez returned a oyster card

Ayo Omiteru – 10DC returned a diary

Last week Jenny Tran wrote about her experience in the film industry. She now has the opportunity to do a charity film in Uganda sponsored by ITN. We wish her well in this project. Year 12 pupils should now be applying for the Social Mobility Programme which gave many excellent internship placements to Year 12 last year. Year 13 are reminded that the Southwark scholarship, that covers University tuition fees, will be opening soon. Over the past 4 years at least one Sacred Heart pupil, every year, has achieved this award. The Windsor Fellowship programme, that offers pupils the chance to visit the USA will open for applications later this month. For the past 4 years a Sacred Heart pupil has obtained a place on this fully funded trip Many of our students applied for work placements in STEM related projects which help support university applica-tions to degrees such as Medicine, Engineering, Computing, Maths and any of the Sciences. Two year 13 pupils have written articles about their experiences this Summer

In2ScienceUk Placement at Kings College London During this summer, I was able to spend two weeks, working in Professor Stephen McMahon’s laboratory in the Centre for Age Related Diseases at Kings College London. The opportunity came from the In2ScienceUK organisation, which provides students with the chance to work alongside STEM scientists. The laboratory focused on studying pain mechanisms and spinal cord injuries. The experience gave me a true insight to what researchers experience daily and the skills needed to follow in their career. I learned from the academics that being a researcher is not an easy career, a single re-search project takes years and dedication to complete, and your time has to be planned around the availability of equipment and factors involving your experiment, however the results and discoveries are worth the hard work. Throughout the two weeks, I worked alongside people at different stages of their career, from PhD students to Post-Doctoral Researchers and learned different laboratory practices, from producing sections from tissue embedded within OCT in a cryostat, to genotyping. One of the highlights of my time at the lab was learning about electrophysi-ology and how our neurons react to stimuli, I was able to learn about the ‘wind-up’ phenomena, where stimuli can generate activation following successive trains of stimulation. The experience gave me a real insight to what research is like in real life and the skills needed follow this career, I would recommend students who are interested in a career in STEM subjects to apply to the In2scienceUk scheme. Joana Cartaxo Serralha

Vibrating blade Microtome used for sectioning.

Sixth Form News

Notice… If you no longer require a locker, please see Madam Barton for a refund so that the locker can be allocated to another student.

5

Welcome to our French cuisine club! As part of the International week and in order to promote the different cultures in our school, the A level French students took part in a cooking session. Chef Stephanie Adanemhen in Year 13, Chef Keendra Mai in Year 13 and Chef Bacson Dias-Graca in Year 12 with the assistance of Chef George Said in Year 12 made lovely French pan-cakes, also referred to as ‘crêpes’. This was certainly a very enjoyable experience where they have been able to experience part of the French cuisine culture. For more information on how to make crêpes, please have a look at Mr Guittet’s recipe: Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

2 cups milk

Directions: Sift together flour, sugar and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs and milk together with an electric mixer. Beat in flour mixture until smooth; stir in melted butter. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approxi-mately 2 tablespoons for each crepe. Tip and rotate pan to spread batter as thinly as possible. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

I am a student in Year 13 studying Maths, Biology and Chemistry, hoping to study medicine.

During the summer, I took part in two summer schools; one was at the University of Surrey where I

learnt about Operating Department Practice. This entails all the work that goes on behind the

scenes during surgery. In particular during this course, we learnt

about how to read ECG traces, blood pressure and work in an envi-

ronment where situations may not go according to plan. We were al-

so able to work with a human dummy, worth around £27,000; with

this, we learnt how to give oxygen to a patient, carry out CPR and

check for pulses in the radial (wrist) and femoral (thigh) area. Another

summer school that I went to was at St George’s University of Lon-

don; here we learnt about the different sectors of healthcare and

gained an experience of what it was like to learn in a hospital environment. Packed with

seminars and lectures along with practical sessions, it was a

very informative and interactive summer school.

Another opportunity that I had, was work experience at King’s College Hospital for one

week. Here I shadowed consultants and junior doctors during wards rounds where I

gained a glimpse into the complexities of their everyday tasks. I was also fortunate

enough to be able to watch and take part in open heart surgery. The operation lasted

three and a half hours and was a triple valve replacement

with use of a heart-lung bypass machine, carried out by a

world leading cardiothoracic surgeon. I witnessed the first

hand operations that happened during theatre and saw a real human heart beating

which was amazing to watch. I was also able to watch procedures such as coronary

angiograms in catheter labs, bronchoscopy and thoracentesis (removal of excess fluid

between the lungs and chest wall).

Working for two weeks in a clinical neuroscience laboratory at UCL investigating Parkin-

son’s disease was an opportunity I will never forget thanks to the “In2Science” scheme.

Here I was able to work with leading neuroscience researchers; in particular, I worked

with a researcher who has had his PhD for 14 years! I used tissue culture hoods to grow

and maintain brain cell lines which I treated with ambroxol chaperones (proteins which

help to refold unfolded proteins). I investigated three types of brain cells: a wildtype

(normal brain cell) and two mutants called N370S and L444P (damaged brain cells). The

particular protein that we were measuring was called β-Glucocerebrosidase. Throughout this experience, I was able to

carry out techniques such as chemiluminescence, immunofluorescence and Western Blots.

John Vu

6

PROTECT OUR R.E.P!!!

With the end of our first half term back to school I’m very happy to be able to report that Year 9 have had a fantastic start to the year! I have been very impressed with the hard work, focus and effort so far this year and I hope to see it continue. Well done especially to the following pupils for continuing to uphold our R.E.P this week:

Respect: Well done to Mitchell 9C, who has been nominated by Madam Williams for being ‘a shining beacon of loveli-

ness and pleasantness around the school’! Mitchell this is an amazing and yet accurate description of you and I thank you for being such a positive example to others.

Effort: Well done to Robert Kamara 9M for an excellent English assessment. I’m glad to hear that you are consistently

working hard! Well done also to Aidan 9C who has been nominated by Mr Jerez for being so focused on lessons. He did an exam few days ago and he is above his target. Good job! A nomination goes to Lucas 9P who has really impressed Madam Hibbett with the amazing amount of effort he has shown in all lessons this year; well done! I’m also very proud to hear that Emelia 9P, has worked incredibly hard this half- term in Maths. Madam Athieno informs me that Emelia always goes out of her way to seek extra help and is well prepared for all lessons and exams. This is exactly the studious approach that will lead to success; keep it up! Lastly, a special mention goes to Anika 9T who has been nominated by Madam Myerscough in History for producing fantastic work in her controlled assessment on Emily Wilding Davison, she had clearly put in a lot of effort and as a result produced a fantastic piece of writing that evaluated the reliability of the sources as well as the content. I’m pleased to hear that you are progressing in the right direction!

Pride: A special mention to Patrick 9T who has been nominated by Mr Blake for taking great pride in his role as form

captain and skills as an athlete. Sir tells me that you have demonstrated excellent leadership within your group during Bas-ketball shootouts. Patrick made sure every student was included regardless of ability and put aside his chances of winning to make sure everyone took part and improved. As a result of Patrick’s encouragement and support, the whole group made progress. Sir and I are very impressed and I really hope to see you continuing to step into roles of leadership and be a posi-tive role model.

Keep protecting our R.E.P Year 9 and remember that your teachers are always on the look out for

A Half Term Prayer We thank you Lord, for this half - term. For the challenges, the successes, and the mistakes from which we have learnt. God of the ordinary be with us as we spend our time with family and friends. Give us strength and courage to do what is right: to be witnesses of our faith. Help us to be a show our faith this holiday, to appreciate what others do for us, to give time and effort to help others. To be peacemakers in our family. Keep us safe in our activities; give us good rest and good fun. Bring us back refreshed and ready for a new term. We thank you for our classmates, teachers, parents and a community that cares for us. May we always be conscious of you in our lives. Amen

7

The word science comes from the Latin “scientia” meaning knowledge. Science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge. This system uses observation and experimentation to describe and explain natural phenomena. We aim to develop a thirst for science in all our students! In Years 7,8 and 9, we introduce our students to different topics throughout the Biology, Chemistry and Physics disciplines and we prepare our students to start their GCSE’s in January of Year 9. The new specifications for GCSE require students to have expert knowledge and skills of the theory behind science as well as the practical applications that get us there. We aim to inspire as many students as possible to continue studying science to A levels and beyond. At Sacred Heart, we were very happy with our 2016 Science exam results:

98% of our Double Scientists achieved A*-C in Core and 95% achieved A*-C in Additional 100% of our Triple Scientists achieved A*-C in Biology and Physics and 96% achieved A*-C in Chemistry 89% of our Year 10 students also achieved A*-C in their Core exams

A number of our A Level Science students went on to study sciences at University including:

Heinrich Capili - A* A* A* A* reading Natural Sciences at Cambridge University

Mervin Karunakaran – A* A A reading Physiotherapy at Coventry University

Paul Izevbuwa – A A B reading Medical Science at Exeter University

Science qualifications open up a large variety of career paths. Please have a look at the following links to get inspired: http://jobs.sciencecareers.org/ http://sciencecouncil.org/careers-from-science/ Have a good half term, Ms Whyte

Science News!!

8

Fixtures Autumn Term—Football

Next Round

Year 7 Boys Archbishop Tenison TBC

Year 8 Boys UCL Academy 4-3 Win Maria Fidelis or Harris Battersea

Year 9 Boys Bridge Academy

Year 10 Boys Chelsea Academy 12-2 Win STAC or Evelyn Grace

U19 Boys Cardinal Vaughan Lost 4-1 N/A

Inner London Schools Cup

London Schools Cup

Next Round

Year 7 Boys St Thomas Apostle Lost 5-4 AET N/A

Year 8 Boys St Bonaventure’s Won 3-2 Mossbourne or LAMMAS

Year 10 Boys Kingsford Tuesday 15th November

South London Cup

Year 8 Boys St Michaels 14th November

Year 9 Boys University Engineering 6-2 Loss

Southwark Schools Football – Boys Year 7, 8 & 9

Year 7 League Date Result

Harris Dulwich Monday 17th October Lost 3-1

Year 9 league Date Result

Harris Dulwich Tuesday 27th September Won 10-1

UAE Wednesday 5th October Lost 6-2

Basketball

Fixture Date

Year 7 Boys v STAC Thursday 3rd November

U14 Boys v STAC Thursday 10th November

U14 Boys v Harris Peckham Thursday 17th November

This year we are lucky enough to have been selected to take part in London’s biggest Basketball competition – The Junior NBA. The draft event, which will pair up Sacred Heart Basketball alongside an NBA team, is prestigious and only 3 students can attend. The students that have been selected have regularly been at training from 7am, had out-standing behaviour and wonderful manners around school and this has earned them the right to represent the team on the evening in question. The event takes place on Tuesday 1st November at Raines Foundation School from 4pm-6pm. The Lucky Boys are: Aaron Chisholm Donell Iyama Christopher Furlan Congratulations Boys! Mr Blake Year 7: Sacred Heart 1 V Harris Dulwich Boys 3 Kaden Rodney (Captain) John Serele (GK), Johnathan Serele, Adelino Sampino, Gideon Atiase, David Marcus, Akai Coleman, Feden Hidru, Boluwatife Maja, David Onwuka, Denzel Amoaten

Year 7 Junior NBA

9

COUNTDOWN TO EXAMS

For the dates of all forthcoming exams, please go to the Sacred Heart website –

www.sacredheart.southwark.sch.uk. Click on ‘News & dates’, then on ‘Forthcoming exams’.

This page of the website is updated throughout the year as exam timetables and dates are fi-

nalised, so please check it on a regular basis.

Parents are reminded that students should not be taken out of school for any reason during exam periods. Medical

or dental appointments must not be made during this time, as exams cannot be rescheduled or taken at another

time to suit the student. A student who misses an exam will score zero marks, exactly as they would for a public

exam such as a GCSE or an A level. In such a circumstance, subject teachers will base their assessment on class-

work and homework and write reports accordingly.

Message to all parents

How many school weeks away ?

Year-group Exams

0 ! Year 7

Initial exams take place from 31st October to 3rd November inclusive

1 Years 12 & 13

First ‘Assessment Week’ is the week beginning 7th Novem-ber. Formal exams and assessments will take place during normal lessons.

2 Years 10 & 11

Year 11 mock GCSE exam in English Language on 15th No-vember & Year 10 mock GCSE exam in English (Poetry) on 18th November

6 Year 11

Mock GCSE written exams in all subjects begin on 12th De-cember. Y11 will be on ‘study leave’ (ie only coming in to school when they have exams) from 9th December.

7 Year 10

Mock GCSE exams in Maths, Science and Religious Studies will take place in the final week of this term, and a mock GCSE English Language exam will take place on 4th January, after the holidays

Please make sure that your son/daughter is properly equipped for the forthcoming exams.

As a minimum, they should have a large TRANSPARENT PENCIL-CASE in which they should have several black

pens, pencils, a rubber, ruler and pencil-sharpener, mathematical equipment (protractor, set-square, compasses

and a working calculator).