EASTER 2014

CONTENTSHeadteacher’s Message

Sports News

Forest School

Holocaust Memorial Service

Visit to China

Recent Events

Catering News

In this issue...

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Page 8-9

Page 10-11

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Page 16

Maths Department

Easter Service Times

Dates for your Diary

leading up to Easter Sunday.

Year 11 and 6th Formers should be using a significant part of the Easter break to revise for their final examinations which start only four weeks after we return on the 22nd – and two of those weeks have Bank Holidays in them! As I say each year, an investment in time for this short period will give lasting benefits for a lifetime!

I hope the sun continues to shine during the holidays and that we all have a holy and enjoyable time.

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A MESSAGE FROMOUR HEADTEACHER...

I am writing this with warm sunshine streaming into school and the beautiful blossom that enhances the front of the building at this time of year just bursting into bloom – yes, Spring appears to be here! The blossom always reminds me of our very strong links with China and when myself, Mr Rawlinson and Mrs Kirkham and ten students were there last week the cherry blossom that is everywhere in China was already in full bloom. The visit was exceptionally successful as can be seen by the article and pictures in this edition. The visit confirmed yet again the advantage learning Chinese gives our students and if more confirmation were need, I received an invite on my return to be involved with our students in a live broadcast from Liverpool Museum with BBC Radio which will be broadcast on the World Service aimed at emphasising the links Liverpool and our region have with China and the massive advantage this gives to our local economy and for St.Chad’s students. It is no surprise that they invited St.Chad’s as I can say modestly that we set the standard in this country as we were nominated as one of only two Confucius Classroom schools as being the Confucius Classroom of the Year.

As a faith school we are now very much involved with preparing students for the main Christian celebration of Easter as we move through Lent. This year we are on our Easter break during Holy Week so I hope you will find time with your children to attend the Easter services in our parishes

Congratulations to the Year 10 pupils who took part in the Kin-Ball tournament on 7th February.

Kin-Ball has recently been introduced to the curriculum as a new and exciting sport which involves pupils working collaboratively in small groups to prevent a 34” ball from touching the floor. The Year 10 pupils who participated in the tournament do not currently study GCSE PE and many of them have not previously represented the school in a sporting context. After competing against six schools from Merseyside at Liverpool John Moores University, the pupils of St. Chad’s secured second place and narrowly missed out on the top spot by one point.

The PE department has found that this fun and inclusive sport engages pupils of all ages and therefore will be introducing it within inter-house competitions this term.

KIN-BALL TOURNAMENTSPORTS NEWS

YEAR 7 NETBALL SUCCESSCongratulations to the Year 7 Netball team who secured first place at the Halton netball tournament on Thursday 13th March.

Pupils dominated play against St. Peter and Paul’s winning 13-0 and also won against The Heath who were champions in last year’s tournament. Well done to all those who played as the skills that pupils demonstrated reflects the dedication and hard work that they have given to training this year.

Particularly well done to Olivia Turner and Maisie Maloney for being selected as players’ player.

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Year 11 Language Leaders completed their qualification this term. They have been helping younger students learn a new language, preparing their own teaching resources and delivering activities in the classroom. This was the final element of their award, which is part of the Sports Leaders scheme. Since joining the scheme in Year 10, they have assisted with the Year 7 carol competition, welcomed visitors to our school at open evenings and training events, and helped us deliver language activities to Year 6 primary school pupils as part of our Induction Day.

The Language Leaders Award is available to all enthusiastic language learners in St Chad’s – we currently have over 30 Language Leaders in Year 10.

Two of our pupils, Ryan McGill (Year 10) and Sean Rowe (Year 8) represented Halton recently at the Multi-Sports Merseyside school Panathalon Competition.

Both boys took part in events such as Boccia, Table Cricket and Wheelchair Relay. Halton managed to finish first overall, winning the competition for the first time in a number of years.

Congratulations to both Ryan and Sean on their success.

PANATHALON COMPETITION

Our pupils in Forest School have been very busy!

Four of our Year 12 students recently achieved their National Navigation Award Scheme (NNAS) awards, after weeks of training and practise. This is a prestigious, nationally recognised award and the boys did very well to earn this qualification.

A lot has happened in our school woodland. Pupils have been tidying up after the winter period, pruning branches and preparing new

pathways etc. Most notably we have gained a new area to work in due to the new fences. This has allowed pupils to create a lovely new raised vegetable patch and to begin growing their own food. This is a very exciting project which has really engaged the pupils.

Our pond area is developing very nicely! Pupils have worked hard to create a rock border, a wooden fence, and planting of pond flora has begun.

The Year 12s have just started to learn the skill of Pike Fishing at Phoenix Park, courtesy of our developing relationship with Warrington Angling Association. This has the potential to develop an interest within the pupils which will encourage lifelong learning, environmental awareness and promote an increase in self-esteem and self confidence.

Year 11s are working very hard at the moment to prepare their ASDAN folders and portfolios for assessment. Pupils are busy, but happy, just how we like it.6

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HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL SERVICE

Chester’s MP Stephen Mosley joined children from across Chester and North Wales for a Service of Remembrance at Chester Cathedral to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

The service, organised by the cathedral’s education department, was attended by pupils and teachers from Bishops’ Blue Coat CE High School, Darland High School in Rossett, Sir Thomas Boteler CE High School in Warrington and St. Chad’s Catholic and CE High School in Runcorn.

The service was held on Thursday, January 23, four days before Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27.

This year is the 69th anniversary of the liberation of the largest of the Nazi death camps, where an estimated one million people lost their lives.

The service focused on the theme of ‘Journeys’ and winning poems from a poetry competition on the same topic were read aloud.The winning poets were Henry Park, Year 9,

and Lewis Czerniak, Year 9, from Darland, Emma Fellows, Year 9, and Lucy Ryan, Year 11, from Sir Thomas Boteler, Jordan Lee, Year 9, and Jake Houghton, Year 9, from Bishops’ and Daniel Crombie, Year 9, and John Roberts, Year 13, from St Chad’s.

Members of the congregation were encouraged to reflect on the Holocaust by writing down what they would take with them if they were forced to leave their homes at a moment’s notice on luggage labels and candles were lit to form a procession of light at the end of the service.

Chester Cathedral education officer, Helen Barber, said: “It was very important for us to mark Holocaust Memorial Day with a special service at the cathedral. We were delighted to welcome pupils and staff into the building and very much enjoyed hearing their thoughtful reflections and their moving poems.”

The experience of a lifetime! It was universally agreed by all the students who took part in the recent visit to China that this was the only way to describe the fantastic opportunity St.Chad’s link with Tongling gives our students.

We left Manchester Airport on the 6th of March for a two hour flight to Frankfurt and then a twelve hour flight to Shanghai! We flew through the night and arrived for the start of the day in Shanghai. We checked into the luxurious Sheraton Hotel before going to visit the beautiful Yuyuan Garden and to have our first Chinese meal complete with chopsticks! In the evening we had a boat ride down the Huangpu River to see the stunning effect of the Shanghai skyscrapers which are lit up at night. We then travelled to the top of the second-highest building in the world to see the panoramic view of this incredible city. We were all ready for our luxury beds after such a brilliant day!

The 8th of March was spent visiting the ancient Chinese water village of Zhouzhang, the Venice of China, to explore the ancient history of this fascinating country (pictured).

The next day was spent enjoying the highlight of the visit for many of us; meeting our friends in Tongling Number 3 High School. St.Chad’s

students were treated like royalty by Tongling students who queued to have their photos taken with us! All of our students gave a short talk in Chinese in the school’s Lecture Theatre which was greatly appreciated.

Tongling was followed by a visit and two-day stay in the beautiful Yellow Mountains where the weather was clear and warm despite there being thick snow underfoot! All of this added to the stunning views! (pictured) The second day gave us the opportunity to visit the ancient village of Hongcunzhen where the famous film ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ was filmed.Our final day was spent in Beijing visiting three world-famous sites; Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and The Great Wall of China! All three visits were under crystal-blue skies and in warm sunshine despite all the warnings we had been given about smog! What a way to end our stay in this fascinating country! We even managed to return home in a Jumbo jet which was a first for most of us!

Well done to our students for representing St.Chad’s and our country so positively and thanks to Mrs Kirkham and Mr Rawlinson for looking after them so well.

Tongling visit 2014

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Many congratulations to our Year 13 students who have successfully graduated through Career Academy UK after a stringent two year programme.

Our Business and I.T graduates completed paid internships at Halton Housing Trust and Lloyds TSB whilst our first cohort of Science graduates became employees at Sci-Tech, Daresbury for four weeks, each working on individual research programmes in various departments such as Cryogenics and Electrical Engineering.

All of our Year 13 CA UK students will attend a Graduation Ceremony on 14th May at Manchester Town Hall.

Well done!

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World Book Day saw the launch of mini iPads as an alternative way of reading books.

Students in years 7-9 had the opportunity to access e-books and book related apps on the mini iPads as an alternative to ‘real’ books. All iPads had the World Book Day App with its selection of featured and community stories and activities. The favourites of the day were a book of visual illusions ‘which came alive’ on the iPads as did the material available on the interactive War Horse App, used by a class of Y9 students, who are currently studying the Michael Morpurgo book in English lessons.

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This is the second show of St Chad’s Drama Club and we have definitely set ourselves a big challenge following on from the success of the Murder Mystery play. Introducing songs into the rehearsals and welcoming new members has allowed new talents to be showcased. Choosing to produce ‘Our Day Out’ has allowed the pupils to explore trials and tribulations of being part of a ‘troublesome class’ but manage sensitive issues with a pinch of humility and humour.

We are very proud (as always) of the commitment shown by all members; on and off the stage.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you at the next one.OUR D

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WHAT’S NEW IN CATERINGTony Mansell Aspens Executive Chef cooked a selection of Chinese Dishes in front of the students at lunch time to Celebrate Chinese New Year. He showcased fresh ingredients which were used in the dishes, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Chicken Chow Mein , Stir Fry Vegetables in Hoi Sin Sauce and Egg Fried Rice.

Dawn Crowley , Maj Banner and Janet Dowdle All recently completed NVQ Level 2 in Kitchen Services.

COMING UP Year 7 Healthy Eating Day - Thursday 3rd April

This includes ‘Ready Steady Cook’, Juice Bar, Smoothie Bike, and Funky Fruit. All these events will be delivered by the Aspens catering team to promote the importance of healthy eating in young people.

‘LIVE COOKING EVENT’ - 29TH JANUARY 2014

CONGRATULATIONS TO ASPENS STAFF ON NVQ

QUALIFICATIONS!

In Key Stage 3 we have had the opportunity to host The Wonder of Maths Workshops run by Dr Roy Paget. This is a series of four workshops, of which we have so far had just one, which are aimed to improve fluency with numeracy by training the brain to think differently, to concentrate better and to improve confidence. 91 pupils are benefitting from this from years 7,8and 9. They all enjoyed the first day immensely and worked extremely hard for the whole hour and a half. We are looking forward to day 2 on 27th March.

The G&T groups in Years 9-11 took part in the UKMT Intermediate Challenge in February. For the first time in many years 2 of our students, Will Ellison and Mason Inman, earned Gold Awards. Mason has been invited to attend the European Kangaroo Competition which only the top achievers were selected for. This takes place on Thursday 20th March and we wish him luck in that!

Other students also earned awards, 8 Silvers and 19 Bronze, making this our most successful year yet. Well done to everyone concerned!

NEWSMATHS

Since the last Bridge went to print our pupils have been involved in several activities either in school or on educational visits. Just before Christmas six pupils from Year 11 spent the day at Liverpool University, accompanied by Mr O’Leary, working on challenging tasks in team competitions. They each had to work with students from other schools which gave them the added bonus of meeting and working with new people. They all worked really well and acquitted themselves admirably. On March 12th a team of four boys from 10A1, accompanied by Mrs C Smith, went to the Bluecoats School in Liverpool, again for a team challenge competition. This was our first venture into this contest and the boys have been working hard preparing on Wednesday evenings each week. They did well in the opening round but found the second one tougher. It was an excellent experience to work amongst only the highest achievers in the region and the boys represented the school very well.

VISITS

NUMERACY WORKSHOPS

UKMT COMPETITION WINNERS

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IT’SNOTTOOLATE!

WWW.STCHADSSIXTHFORM.CO.UKAPPLY ONLINE FOR 2014 :

TO JOIN OUR AWARD-WINNING

COMMUNITY!

A wide range of courses, catering for all ability levels.Funded Student Union membership.New courses for September 2014 include: CACHE Diploma in Childcare and Education Photography A-Level ‘Little League Sports’ Football coaching coursesExcellent pastoral care system.Subsidised travel, iPad purchase scheme and free gym membership for all SC6F students.Opportunity to take part in the Career Academies UK programme.Opportunities to learn Mandarin Chinese or Polish to A-Level standard.100% pass rate in all A2 subjects!

EASTER SERVICE TIMESSaint Martin’s: Maundy Thursday 7.00pm Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper Easter Sunday 9.00am MassOur Lady’s: Good Friday 3.00pm Celebration of the Lord’s Passion Easter Sunday 11.00am Mass

Saint Augustine’s: Holy Saturday 7.00pm The Easter Vigil

Holy Spirit: Maundy Thursday 8.00pm Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper Easter Sunday 9.00am Mass

Saint Edward’s: Good Friday 3.00pm Celebrating the Lord’s Passion Good Friday 8.30pm Easter Vigil Easter Sunday 10.30am Mass

Holy Trinity: Easter Sunday 9.30am Holy Communion

Runcorn All Saints: Easter Sunday 11.15am Holy Communion

Saint Mary’s: Good Friday 11.00am United Service

Saint Michael’s: Maundy Thursday 7.30pm Holy Communion and Vigil Good Friday 3.00pm Stations of the Cross Holy Saturday 8.00pm Service of Light Easter Sunday 8am & 10am Holy Communion

Saint Luke’s Frodsham: Maundy Thursday 7.00pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper Good Friday 3.00pm Celebration of the Lord’s Passion Holy Saturday 7.00pm Vigil of the Resurrection Easter Sunday 9am & 11am Mass

I AM THE RESURRECTION

AND THE LIFE“ “

Dates for your diary...• 28th - 30th March: DofE Silver

Practice Expedition• 28th-30th March: Year 10 trip to

Colomendy• 3rd April: PHSE Day• 4th April: Break up for

Easter • 29th April: Year 7 Parents’

Evening• 2nd - 4th May: DofE Silver

Expedition• 16th May: Voluntary Retreat

for Year 8