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ST THOMAS THE APOSTLE NEWS

Dear STAC community, This final newsletter of the term celebrates the boundless energy, creative talent and teamwork that is demonstrated by our students and the fantastic opportunities available to them beyond the classroom. Principle among these is our recent school performance of ‘We Will Rock You’ enjoyed by over 600 audience members over its four performances and recently featured in the Southwark News. We wish to thank all the students and staff for the many hours of dedication that went into producing such a polished performance. The final week of term also saw our third PSHE Day of the year tackle important issues such as knife crime, bullying and substance abuse in our collective efforts to not only turn out academically gifted young men and women but also young adults equipped to make the right choices and stay safe within their community. The summer term sees the whole school focus with renewed energy on our academic pursuits with ranking exams and also final public examinations for Year 11 and 13 students. Many students will have a busy programme of Easter revision sessions here at the school to provide extra support and guidance. From all here at the school, may we wish you a happy and restful Easter holiday. Mr S Collett Deputy Head

5 April 2019 Spring Term, Issue 6

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Easter break 8.4.19-22.4.19

School re-opens 23.4.19

Remember to also check the website

regularly

Year 8 Options Evening 12.06.19

May Half Term 27.5.19-31.5.19

School re-opens 7.5.19

REMINDER: Students and parents are reminded of the importance of wearing the correct uniform. A number of students have arrived at school recently without appropriate school shoes or in school shirts we’re the top button cannot be closed. The two week holiday is an opportunity to buy any necessary items. Any students arriving to school after the Easter holiday without the proper uniform will be sent home. Your support is appreciated. A similar message to our Sixth Form students reminding them that they should be professionally dressed.

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Joel Chukwuma has made STAC history by being our first student to achieve a university place to study Medicine. This is a fantastic achievement as Medicine has a long standing reputation for being one the most competitive university courses. On average, there are 12 applicants for every place – each one is of an incredibly high calibre so to achieve a university offer is really fantastic. We wish Joel every success at the University of Exeter and we are very proud of him. It is a lovely end to a very successful UCAS process. Ms Rodin Acting Joint Head of Sixth Form

Thirteen Year 12 students attended The Cambridge University Psychology Festival on Saturday 16th March 2019. We listened to talks from leading researchers in the field and took part in some hands-on activities. This trip complemented the Biological and Cognitive approach to behaviour which we are currently studying in Psychology. Miss Afolayan Head of Social Sciences On Saturday the 16th of March, Year 12 psychology students went on a trip to Cambridge University where we took part in multiple different events and studies as well as attending a lecture. A number of us took part in a study that investigated neural plasticity. Neural plasticity is the tendency at which our brains are capable of adapting and changing to new circumstances. In this study we were asked to throw bean bags with our less dominant hand and cover the opposite eye. We then had to wear goggles which flipped our visual fields, so everything on the left became on the right and everything on the right became on the left. This made throwing the next set of beanbags difficult as our brains tried to adjust to the new circumstance. For many people there was a shift to the left with the beanbags whilst wearing the goggles. Lastly, there was a final set of bean bags to throw without goggles and this was to show how our brains adjust back to normal. This study was incredibly interesting and insightful especially as we had just completed plasticity in class as well as taking a test on it too! We also attended a lecture at the end of the day which was very interesting, it was about drug addiction and how people learn to become dependent on drugs. Kimberley Anteh (Year 12)

SIXTH FORM NEWS

STAC’s first ever University offer for Medicine!

The Cambridge University Psychology Festival

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Basketball: The team went on a successful 5K run to raise money for basketball equipment for the new season of which we are sure we are going to win. Dragon’s Den: Dragon’s Den which took place at Dulwich College was a rousing success for the STAC group who went against 4 other Dulwich College groups and were awarded ‘Best Pitch’ with their “Ultishare” shared charging case. The group consisted of Angel, Ogbe, LaKeisha, Zoe and Noah. Enrichment: As we all know, enrichment is coming to an end as we get closer to Year 13 when we will be sending off our UCAS statements. Therefore, our focus during Wednesday Period 5 & 6 will be centred around making a start to them to make our summer less stressful. We captured a few photos to show what enrichment was about and how it has helped us develop a range of skills that will be essential in the working world and in our everyday life. A Message from the STAC Life Editors: We just want to say a big thank you to everyone who reads STAC Life, especially to the basketball team who were our BIGGEST supporters. We love you guys, rest assured that St Thomas the Apostle will always be praying for you, and so will we. If you have any suggestions for topics, please do nto hesitate to speak to Zoe, 12 BA. The STAC Life Team

STAC Life (Written by Yemi, Faith, Zoe, Tobias – Year 12)

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With Easter fast approaching, it was only right for students to be rewarded with an Easter Egg to praise them for their outstanding academic achievement, efforts and contribution. 25 students from all year groups, 7-13, were nominated by their Head of Year and subject teachers for their tremendous efforts and continuously being a role model to their peers. The short-list was difficult to choose as the nominations from members of staff flooded in quickly, however, the chosen boys were ones who not only had the highest net points, but also ones who showed manners, positivity and their passion for school! I’m sure there will be a direct correlation between those who were rewarded with an Easter Egg and the boys who make the most academic progress.

With this term being one of the toughest so far due to the exam period approaching, it was fantastic to see students being rewarded with over 10,000 achievement points to date, this is evidence of the resilience and determination of our boys here at STAC. Exciting rewards trips to look forward to: Year 7 & 8: 28th June - Chessington

Year 9: 28th June - Thorpe Park

Year 10: 8th June to - Paintballing

Rewards

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The brilliant cast of We Will Rock You wowed audiences for a run of four performances in March. Each performance topped the one before, culminating in a final show to a packed audience of nearly 200! Set in the future, the show follows a group of Bohemians as they try to bring the joy of music back to a dystopian world; whilst Killer Queen, Commander Khashoggi and their subjects try to stop them. The cast really brought the characters to life, with some impressive renditions of Queen songs too! A special mention should also go to the band who worked hard to recreate a unique and authentic sound. I know that the performers and were incredibly grateful for the support of the staff, parents and the wider school community and I would like to personally thank Mr Morgan, Mr Anderson, Mr Vera-Fernandez and Mr Pisterman for their incredible hard work to ensure this year’s show was a big success. Mr Parratt, Head of Expressive Arts

We Will Rock You!

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Not too long ago our year 12 class started to use the resource ‘This is Language’ to help aid our language learning and improve our reading, listening writing and speaking skills. We have enjoyed using this resource and this is vastly helping our class improve their Italian. Recently we have decided to participate in a Nutty Tilez competition where the aim of the game was to reach 50 levels 1st place. This game was played by players on a national level. Magnificently, one of our players, Steven Burbano Carchi, took 4th place in this competition, which made us all very proud of him. Well done to you Steven! Max Luna Jumbo Year 12 Italian Student

On Friday 15th of March, a number of year 8 students attended an economics masterclass. This session, hosted by year 12 students, taught the boys about Foreign Exchange Markets and Trading. After frantically buying and selling currencies (in between haribo breaks) it was Jeremy of 8.1 that emerged victorious! Well done to all the boys that got involved in the first masterclass event of the year. Keep your eyes peeled for the next events after half term!

Mr U Ba Head of Economics

This is language

Economics Masterclass

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Before moving on to a twelve module cube with square cut outs in the faces. This attractive cube can also double as a pen holder if a harder surface is placed on the bottom. This model proved particularly tricky and only Jamal was able to finish it.

The boys have been using both plain and patterned paper and they have enjoyed experimenting with the combinations. Our final module in this series will be the very impressive 30 module spike ball which

the boys have started creating and we will start assembling in the week after we return from Easter break. We have also had a guest session run by Jamal in year 7 who showed us how to make an interesting expanding ninja throwing star. Well done to those that tried a session or two and big congratulations to the following for attending almost all of the sessions: Elliot (7.2), Jamal (7.2), Boaz (7.3), Muhamed (7.3), Milosz (7.1), Osazuwa (7.2).

Mr Proust, Teacher of Mathematics

The Modular Origami Club

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Luca Strickland (8.1) was in the London Region Fencing Championships 2019 and came 2nd in the under 14’s category. He will be competing for London in the British Youth Championship in Sheffield in May. A big well done to him. Mr A. Young Assistant Head

Just one day after his brilliant semi-final performance, Adedapo Olugbodi travelled down with his athletics team to Essex to compete in the London Youth games for athletics. He competed with such drive, he even helped out his hurt team mate Joshua Ogundeyin, who had a stomach ache. Adedapo and Issah Abdulkarim formed a brilliant relay partnership in amiddle distance race, seeing the boys come first. Joshua Ogundeyin stepped in for injured Taylan Oracki’s long distance run and helped to win some points in the middle distance race. Even though he didn’t win, it was the points that counted in the end. Taylan had injured himself after a good performance with Joshua in an earlier race, 4x2 relay. Sahaid Mansaray performed really well in both his obstacle course relay, and even better in his triple jump, jumping just under 7m from a standing position. Morgan Francis helped the team with his strength skill and technical ability in all of his field events which included vertical jump, shot put and speed bounce events as well as competing in both the obstacle course relay and final 4x2 relay; where our boys had come from behind to take 1st place with the assistance of Issah, Alpha Kamara and Samuel Asaaju. All the team participated in 2 or more events winning points for the team which was ‘team Southwark’, due to becoming champions of the borough and Regional champions. Your year 8 athletics boys are not only that but are now the London Youth game champions. Please congratulate them on their hard work.

STAC’S Sporting Successes

Year 8 Athletics

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Year 8 Football On the 27th March the year 8 football team went to play their semi final match against COLA. The boys started off shaky and nervous not being able to get the ball out of their own half for over 6 minutes. We were then awarded a free kick. That’s when it all changed. Halim Bakre who had been motoring up and down the pitch to defend and attack deserved to take the first. He struck the ball so well going towards the top right corner with the goal keeper having to pull out his best save of the game to stop it entering the net and going out for a corner. Jonathan Sesay crossed in a well weighted ball which Adedapo Olugbodi sprung up inches above everybody else to direct his header into the back of the net. This was enough to start the 7-0 onslaught against COLA. The next goal came in as a counter attack as a ball was crossed in from the left side of the pitch. It took a piece of brilliant control from Hazeem Bakre to guide the ball into the net. Substitute Khary Mclean came on wanting to do nothing more than impress with constant questions on where to stand and move. His eagerness saw him run onto the pitch following the exact instruction given, and receive the ball in the first 40 seconds on the pitch. He was at the left side of the box allowing him to get goal number 3 curling the ball into the top right corner and giving the keeper no chance. Goal number 4 came from another corner kick with Hazeem Bakre being able to wiggle through the defenders to get the ball out of the scrap happening around the penalty area. Winning the scrap he guided the ball into the back of the net. Jonathan Sesay who had found himself getting frustrated due to not receiving much play on the right side scored the best goal from outside of the box. He received the ball and in the most calming manner struck it over the keeper and into the top of the net. Super substitute Abastian Kargbo then came on and was such a team player passing the ball in front of the goal to give his team mates chances and was awarded one of his own with some good 1-2 movement and a goal making it 6-0. The final goal came from Adedapo Olugbodi who wanted to compete for next best goal struck the ball from outside of the box on a half volley where it landed again over the keeper and just under the cross bar. Without the brilliant team ethic and hard work from Alpha Kamara, Milo Gray, Ben Mehmet Nathaniel Onwionoko, this would not have been possible. They held the back line with such professionalism and class it made Captain Ewan Gauci’s job easy in goal with him leading the team from the back. Rhys Denton and Joel Dada made quality appearances, possibly even strengthening the back line when they came on. Daniel Joseph made a statement setting up a lot of the goals and showed a lot of determination to get on the ball in front of bigger opposing players. Patrick Foday, our holding centre mid fielder, had done such a perfect job. He was compared to the likes of Chelsea’s Kante. Please congratulate the year 8 football team for receiving their rightfully deserved place in the finals.

Mr Shodunke PE Teacher/ Head of Student Services

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This season, St. Thomas the Apostle Sixth Form College formed a Basketball Academy in partnership with National League club, Southwark Legends based in Peckham. The partnership hoped to provide young aspiring student athletes access to great facilities, precise training and an opportunity to participate in the highly competitive Academy Basketball League (ABL) run by Basketball England. With the school’s ‘outstanding’ environment, it would provide a situation that would help propel these young men in their school life too. The newly established programme set up various sessions during the pre-season to prepare the team to compete against the more established teams in the country. However, due to the abrupt start as an academy, the team took a while to find it’s feet. The season got off to a difficult start due to injuries and many absences during the first half of the season, suffering some tough losses away in the league. Nevertheless, team chemistry grew and STAC basketball took some vital victories at home against prominent teams such as Bristol Met, Colchester Academy and coming second in the National Schools Premier Pool. The main highlight included reaching the Semi-finals of the National Schools cup, with a narrow defeat 66-65 to the renowned Charnwood Academy. The first years are always tough and setbacks were expected as a newly formed programme, but the squad has shown promise especially towards the end of the season. Moses Gordon and Rawle Allicock were acknowledged for their overall performance during the season, both being nominated for the ABL player of the season. While, Michael Asaolu was in the Top 10 categories for most steals in a game and most assists in a game. As the season has come to a close, the team know a lot of work needs to be done to close that gap with other academies but also understand they are more equipped to succeed through their experiences this year. The boys have enjoyed every moment representing the STAC community and felt a great sense of pride, wearing the STAC jerseys and playing in front of their supporting peers and teachers. “Let’s go STAC… Let’s go!” Mr J Kliber Head of PESport Extra-Curricular Timetable 2018-2019

STAC Basketball Academy

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Nutty Tilez House Competition Gunstone 470 (inc 70 participation points) Jones 390 (inc 90 participation points) Griffith 230 (inc 30 participation points) Rigby 130 (inc 30 participation points) Year 7 House Basketball A good turn out from the Year 7’s with some talent on display throughout the matches. From the start it looked like one team would dominant the group stages and make it to the final, which they did, but by the skin of their teeth after fading in the last few group games. However, this team went onto win the competition. A strong push by Jones wasn’t enough in the end to stop Rigby winning the final after a nail biting free throw-off in the semi-final between them and Griffith. The points are as follows… 1st Place – Rigby: 400 points + 90 participation = 490 points 2nd Place – Jones: 300 points + 100 participation = 400 points 3rd Place – Griffith: 200 points + 90 participation = 290 points 4th Place – Gunstone: 100 points + 60 participation = 160 points Year 8 House Basketball Some great individual performances and most probably the best team performance was saved for the final by Jones who played simple but effective basketball and crushing the league leaders at the time 8-0 to win the house basketball event. The points are as follows… 1st Place – Jones: 400 points + 50 participation = 450 points 2nd Place – Gunstone: 300 points + 70 participation = 370 points 3rd Place – Rigby: 200 points + 80 participation = 280 points 4th Place – Griffith: 100 points + 60 participation = 160 points Year 10 house basketball The points are as follows… 1st Place – Rigby: 400 points + 40 participation = 440 points 2nd Place – Gunstone: 300 points + 60 participation = 360 points 3rd Place – Griffith: 200 points + 30 participation = 230 points 4th Place – Jones: 100 points + 50 participation = 150 points The House Team

House Event Update

Griffith Gunstone Jones Rigby

6750 6600 6550 8190

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YEAR 7 Alexis Gonzalez: first in their class on This Is Language. Jordi Alejandro Espinoza Salinas: shown amazing work in and out of class. Workings are clear and colourful and effort is 100% every lesson. Adres Villagomez-Villagomez: shown amazing work in and out of class. Workings are clear and colourful and effort is 100% every lesson. Kieran Mertinez Jaramillo: shown amazing work in and out of class. Workings are clear and colourful and effort is 100% every lesson. Pau Tuam: for his excellent attitude to learning in French lessons. Joshua Quartey: the first student to finish all six books for the Southwark Book Awards; read six books in just 3 months. Andrew Soria Loureiro: constant hard work and amazing manners shown in History. Michael Boateng: consistent brilliant ideas and knowledge shared in History. YEAR 8 Kieran Cheyne: first in their class on This Is Language. Ethan Lartey: first in their class on This Is Language. Khary Dowdye-Mclean: working really hard with his Hegarty maths. Trevon Gordon-Bakker: for his amazing improvement in French lessons. YEAR 9 Rhema Ayobore: first in their class on This Is Language. Soloman Katabula: working really hard with his Hegarty maths. Michel Soto: for his excellent attitude to learning in Spanish lessons. YEAR 10 Sabawoon Safi: have moved to a new set and started with 100% effort every lesson, mastering high grade topics. Leoard Deferi: have moved to a new set and started with 100% effort every lesson, mastering high grade topics. Rooney Ortega: for his excellent attitude to learning in Spanish lessons. Tamasgen Teshome: wrote a fantastic 16 mark question and show consistent brilliant effort in history. YEAR 11 Kieran Hibbert: consistently high standard in Business Studies. Damien Mason Jr: proving that his extra work is paying off in Business Studies. Oswald Addo: has put amazing effort into his maths revision, coming to the HUB to get extra work and just giving 100% at all times. Nelly Agbonkhese: has put amazing effort into his maths revision, coming to the HUB to get ex-tra work and just giving 100% at all times. Quadri Akib: has put amazing effort into his maths revision, coming to the HUB to get extra work and just giving 100% at all times. Kieran Hibbert: has put amazing effort into his maths revision, coming to the HUB to get extra work and just giving 100% at all times. Nicolás Marques: for his hard work in Extra English lessons.

Roll of Honour

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YEAR 12 Steven Burbano: first in their class on This Is Language. Zoe Ukuejubola: Excellent standard in A Level Business. Faith Ilori: dedication to excellence in A Level Business. Ezekiel Ertl: high level of independent study and revision completion (BTEC Business). Juan Paulo Crispino: for going the extra mile in his Spanish course. Noah Mbolokele Maya: improvements in Psychology. Kyeva Graham: going the extra mile to improve in A-Level English, and consistently good grades in timed essays in Sociology. Renee Bennett: working really hard in A-Level English., and consistently good grades in timed essays in Sociology. Lakeisha Owusu Koduah: excellent charitable contribution to the sixth form. Shantel Smith: Hard-working, polite and has a consistently positive attitude in History. Lakesiha Owusu Koduah: remarkably positive and conscientious in History. James Onaifo: a remarkably focused and hard-working student in History. Diana Oduntan: good natured, positive and hardworking. Always gets onto the extension in History. Jada Odero: shows a real engagement in our history course. Seyi Matthew: strives in lessons to get the most out of each task through asking very good que tions in History Serhii Kudla: consistent hard work in History. Faith Ilori: one of the most efficient and hard-working students I have encountered. (Ms Apps) Chanay Golding: has shown remarkable good humour and resilience all year in History. Enite Efole: consistently strives to write very impressive History essays. Theodore Edema: has shown fantastic engagement and knowledge in his Tudors Year 12 course. David Ayeni: has shown brilliant engagement, effort and wider reading in his History course. Kimberley Anteh: has made a brilliant start and shown great maturity in her Year 12 Tudors course. Samira Begum: consistently good grades in timed essays in Sociology.

YEAR 13 Charles Adaah: commitment to the subject in A-Level English. Joshua Eyakware: has written a very sophisticated and original piece of History coursework.

Roll of Honour

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Hollydale Rd, Nunhead, London, SE15 2EB | www.stac.uk.com | 020 7639 0106

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in our school is the responsibility of the whole school community. All adults working in this School (including visiting staff, volunteers and students on placement) are required to report instances of actual or suspected child abuse or neglect to the Designated Safeguarding Lead who is a member of the

school’s leadership team.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead is: Mr C. Smart, Deputy Headteacher

c.smart@stac.southwark.sch.uk tel: 0207 639 0106 ext 2149

The Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead is: Mr A. Young, Assistant Headteacher

A.Young@stac.southwark.sch.uk tel: 0207 639 0106 ext 2135