I S S U E 4 A P R I L 2 0 1 7 Dear Parents and Carers, Special Award Celebrating High HIGHLIGHTS As the Lent term draws to a Attainment close and we prepare for Academically, we remain p. 2 Charitable Easter it is good to reflect one of the top-performing Giving on events that have taken non-selective secondary place this term and look schools in Lancashire and p.3 World Book forward to the Trinity term. have also received notifica- Day This really is a bumper is- tion this week that our sue of the half termly 2016 GCSE results place us p.4 Mrs Denise Newsletter, with pupils in all in the top 10% of non- France years once again rising to selective secondary schools the challenges and embrac- in England for attainment. If you are in any doubt about p.6 Making a Mole ing the opportunities availa- any item of uniform please ble at St Michael’s. Our achievements in sport, contact Mr Chadwick, Deputy p.7 Springtime in dance, drama and music Headteacher. Paris Year 11 continue to go from We are now very close to strength to strength and all p.8 UK Robotics the main GCSE written ex- of this is underpinned by Student Leadership Competition amination period. Year 11 the strong Christian founda- Thank you to Year 10 pupils are an amazing year group tion of the school. Our rep- who have been motivated to p.9 Inspiring and deserve to do very utation as a school that apply and subsequently inter- Author well. We are doing all we provides opportunities for viewed, to represent the can to work with you in growth in body, mind and school in the role of prefect p.9 District supporting your children spirit is justly deserved. next year. We are currently in Champions through this pressurised the midst of our rigorous se- time. Uniform lection process for the most p.11 Design As you know school uni- senior student leadership Challenge Please let Mrs McCaffrey form, apart from ties, is roles in school, with inter- know if you have any con- supplied by Jada of Eaves views taking place after the p.13 Attendance cerns about your child in Lane, Chorley. Thank you Easter break. It is a great the remaining few weeks. to all parents and carers privilege to be able to read so You have already received who support school in our many wonderful letters of details of the comprehen- drive for the highest stand- application expressing what sive programme of revision ards of uniform amongst all St Michael’s means to so and support that is availa- our pupils. many of our young people. ble to your son or daughter. The length of some girls’ Year 7 pupils have also ap- Additionally, there are a skirts is becoming a con- plied for the role of ‘Bridge limited number of revision cern again and I remind Buddy’ to help aid the transi- lessons being held during parents and carers that the tion process between primary the Easter holidays, details length must be within three and secondary school for the of which are outlined in the inches of the knee. We are Year 6 pupils who will be letter from Mrs Hooley. We also grateful for your sup- joining us in September. also look forward to wel- port in relation to hair style coming parents and carers and colour. Details of these Charitable Giving of Year 11 to school on aspects of our uniform poli- Thank you to all pupils for Thursday 25 May at 14.00 cy are highlighted in the your support for our ‘Toilet for our special leavers newsletter and our full uni- Twinning’ Lent Appeal. We service. form list is available at the are hoping to be able to twin front of your child’s organ- the new toilets in school and iser. raise money to provide toilets P A G E 2 in several African countries. Our baby Isadora Rose who was you will join me in wishing him non-uniform day this term has also born this term. Our congratula- every success in his new role. helped to support Comic Relief. tions and best wishes to them all. Our Data Manager, Miss The Lent term comes to a close Enrichment Opportunities Lissie Hulme is getting married on Friday with our Easter ser- I am sure that you will enjoy read- at the end of the Easter break vices held for Year 11 in school, ing the articles in this newsletter and we wish her and Mark, her and for Years 7-10 at St Peter’s which show the wonderful array of husband to be, every happiness. and St Laurence’s churches. We enrichment opportunities that our also wish our pupils and col- pupils are participating in. Mr Nick Hilton has settled into leagues who are travelling his new role as Student Engage- abroad on our ski visit and Some of the highlights of this half ment Coordinator for behaviour France visits: ‘bon voyage’. term include World Book Day along and we are already seeing the with the success which our pupils benefits of his restorative work Finally, I would like to take this have experienced in several com- with pupils. opportunity to say ‘thank you’. I petitions; including the regional have been greatly encouraged finals of the ‘Youth Speaks’ compe- The ‘extended leadership team’ by the support I have received tition, the Rotary BAE Systems comprising of Mr Allcock, Mrs in my first two terms as sponsored Technology Tournament Clapp, Mr Kirkpatrick, Mrs Headteacher from pupils, par- and reaching the UK finals of the McCaffrey and Mrs Rackstraw ents, staff and governors. It is Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robot- have come to the end of their an absolute honour and privilege ics Challenge this term. This is in temporary additional roles at the to lead ‘Team St Michael’s’ and I addition to our continued success end of this term. They have look forward to all that we can in sports and the Maths challenge proved a great asset to the lead- continue to achieve together in for example. ership of the school and I thank the future. May I wish you all a them for their dedication and peaceful and happy Easter. Staff commitment to school improve- I am delighted to inform you that ment. Mr Jonathan Allcock has Yours sincerely, Mrs Hannah Bain has given birth to been appointed as Assistant a boy, Billy Ross Bain and Mr Ben Headteacher (Learning and Egelnick has become a daddy to Teaching) and I am sure that J Jenks Mrs Jayne Jenks OUR WONDERFUL pupils have - yet again - outdone themselves by raising thousands of pounds for some fantastic causes this term. Pupils came into school in non-uniform two weeks ago and contributed over £1200, with the money going towards two charities: Comic Relief and Toilet Twinning. Mrs Jenks also led a worship about the ‘Toilet Twinning’ Lent appeal earlier this term. Toilet Twinning is an initiative which invites people to 'twin' their own toilet with latrines in poor communities. This is a way of rais- ing funds to enable people in the poorest nations to have clean water and a proper toilet, and to learn about hygiene. Pupils were encouraged to raise mon- ey through various fundraising ideas and donations and our new school toilets will then be ‘twinned’ with some toilets (provided by the funds raised) in Africa. Good sanitation is vital in these countries to combat the spread of fatal diseases. Miss Forrest’s tutorial, 8 Wilberforce, raised money for the appeal by hosting an ’Egg-stravaganza’ throughout the last week of term, running an Easter egg tom- bola and a ’Guess how many Mini Eggs are in the jar?’ competition. In addition, Year 7 pupil Evie Smith raised a whopping £172 alone this term by selling cakes at her church and through Facebook and Year 9 pupils Alessia Degrassi, Ellis Critchley, Keira Dunstan, Victoria Ford, Rebecca Dunkiert, Ellie Hollings and Charlotte Wood sold cakes on Chorley market last weekend, raising over £200 with all funds going to the ‘Toilet Twinning’ appeal. We are in awe of our amazing pupils (and their parents), who continue to give so generously to these special causes and really are making a huge difference to other people’s lives in their own community S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S and the rest of the world. NEWS P A G E 3 THE ST MICHAEL’S English Department presented an activity-filled World Book Day 2017! On Thursday, 2nd March there was a host of exciting events which took place in celebration of our love of books and reading. In celebrating World Book Day 2017, the Armstrong Centre was the focal point for many of the fun activities. There was a book swap, plus special quizzes and games. Three £10 Scholastic Book Vouchers were also raffled off, which pupils entered by simply by borrowing a book from the library that week. As an added element of fun to mark the occasion, all Year 7 and 8 pupils were invited to come to school dressed as a character from their favourite novel. Staff were also be encouraged to join in the fun and contrib- uted to the festivities by disguising themselves as char- acters from their most treasured stories! All pupils were given a £1 voucher on the day, which can be used at all participating book shops and on Scholas- tic Book orders.