Christmas Newsletter 2017

School of Talent As we prepare for the coming of Christmas and the end of another year, we look back at the tremendous achievements of 2017 and Hannah’s Great the challenges and events of 2018.

The recent performance of School of Rock is another example of Buxton Bake Off the talent we have at school. So many exceptional performers in such a small school but special mention should be made for Char- lie Hodgkinson and Ellie Shaw who were outstanding. I would also like to pay tribute to Mrs Gray and Claire O’Neill who not only made it all happen, but brought out the absolute best in all the talented students they worked with. Thank you!

As well as the many events due to take place next year, 2018 will see us become an Academy and from September, we will be a member of the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi-Academy Trust along with 24 other schools in the Diocese of Nottingham. There is a lot of work going on regarding this and I expect to be able to give you more news on this in the new year. As for St Ralph Sherwin the person: he was born just outside Ashbourne and was one of the English Martyrs tortured and executed by Elizabeth 1 in the 16th Century. His strength of faith is an example to us all. Thank you for all your support this year and wishing you a peace- ful Christmas and a positive and successful 2018. God Bless. Some Spring Term Events Thur 4th January 2018 School re-opens for pupils Week beginning 8th January Year 9 Exam Week Tuesday 9th Jan—Iceland Trip Parents’ Meeting 5.30 Tues 23rd Jan—Year 11 Full Report home Thurs 25th Jan—Targeted Y11 Parents’ Evening Week Beg 29th Jan—Year 10 Jewish Museum Trip Thurs 1st Feb—Senior Maths Challenge Tues 6th Feb—Year 8 Interim Report home Tues 6th Feb—Year 11 Spanish Study Day Hannah with Martha Collison from Bake Off Wed 7th Feb—Year 9 Core Subjects In October, a Year 10 Food Preparation & Nutrition Mon 12th Feb—Year 11 Mock 2 Week group visited the University of Derby (Dome) for a Wed 14th Feb—Year 9 Options Parents’ Evening talk and demonstration from Martha Collison - the Fri 16th Feb—School Closes for Half-term youngest ever contestant (and quarter finalist) on Monday 19th Feb to Friday 23rd Feb—Half-term the Great British Bake Off. Sun 25th Feb—Thur 1st March—Iceland Trip Students had been invited to take part in a cake Mon 5th March—Year 10 Exam Week competition on the theme of autumn. Week beg 5th March—Year 9 Mosque Trip Hannah Maddocks produced pumpkin cake which Wed 7th March—Year 11 Mock Results Morning was baked in a Bundt tin and decorated with home- Week beg 12th Mar—Targeted Yr 11 Parents’ Eve made chocolate leaves. Tue 13th March—Year 7 Full Report home It was enjoyed by a lot of people who commented Tue 13th Mar—Manchester Acting Co with Y9 on how moist and tasty the cake was, with a lovely Thur 15th Mar—Year 9 Interim Report home spicy flavour- perfect for autumn days. Sun 18th Mar—Duke of Edinburgh Practice Walk Hannah was thrilled by her win and her prize was a Wed 21st Mar—Manchester Acting Co with Y11 signed copy of Martha’s new cook book, ‘Crave’. Thur 22nd Mar—Year 10 Interim Report home Brilliant, Hannah! Fri 23rd Mar—School Closes for Easter For more dates and events including dates of parents’ evenings, please visit our website (Please note—dates subject to change) Buxton Poetry Competition Success Awakening my consciousness Many congratula- In my consciousness, tions to Lucy Bar- ton in 9F for win- Always in my mind, ning second prize I get this craving, in Buxton’s re- For the notes of time I find, nowned poetry I leave the sound of silence, c o m p e t i t i o n , In search of melodies, tunes and sponsored by the University of Der- beats, by. This competi- I need this link, tion takes place I need this touch, annually and is Poet—Lucy Of the cold ivory keys, organised by the The depth of the sounds, Buxton Fringe as one of the events for Buxton’s International Festival. This year’s theme was ‘Awakening,’ and Lucy won A sea of notes, second prize in the Youth category (12-17 years) with her apt- In the pain of the emotion, ly named poem ‘Awakening My Consciousness’. Against the current, Lucy was presented with her prize (£10 book token) on Friday To stay afloat. 24th November, by Lady Cavendish at an awards event held at the Pavilion Arts Centre. By Lucy Barton

For four weeks over this half-term, 11 Year 6 children from St. Anne’s RC Prima- ry school have been learning how to cre- Year 6 ‘Let’s Cook’ ate savoury and sweet dishes here in our Food room. Experience Assisted by Mrs Howard and Mrs Healy from St Anne’s, with Mrs Birch, they have really enjoyed producing delights such as mini pizzas, fruity flapjack and a carrot and coriander soup with cheese scones. They will end the mini cookery course with Christ- mas muffins. We think this has been a really positive ex- perience- happy children achieving success and gaining in confidence.Other children will have an opportunity to enjoy this activity Year 6s from St Anne’s enjoy their cooking later in the year. At Home with French Films On Wednesday 6th December, the Year 11 French group went to 'HOME' in Man- chester for a GCSE Study Morning. They watched a film called 'Les Vacances du Petit Nicolas' based on an adaptation of a series of books for children written by René Goscinny in 1959. The film was followed by French language exercises around the character of Nicolas, his friends and the themes of family, friend- ship and holidays. All enjoyed the film and interactive language work and it was a welcome change after the mock examinations".

Year 11 French Students at ‘Home’ in Manchester Decorate a Peer Mentor

Some of the Year 10 Peer Mentors—decorated by Year 7s

'On Friday 1st December, the Year 10 Peer Mentors held a Decorate a Peer Mentor event, which pretty much did what it said on the tin: Year 7s were invited to decorate some Peer Mentors with lights, tinsel and baubles, with a competition to make the most festive Peer Mentor. The Peer Men- tors involved have since regained their dignity and are carrying on their duty of taking care of the KS3 students, who now know who the Y10 Peer Mentors are.

"In all, the event was a great way of Year 7s getting to know the Year 10 Peer Mentors," says bud- ding Christmas tree Max Cubitt, and hopefully they took away the message that despite the size and the black jumper, Year 10s are not so scary after all. Junior Lit Quiz Challengers 2017

On Tuesday 14th November, eight students from Y7 and Y8 attended the East Midlands final of the international Kids Lit Quiz. There were ten rounds of questions on a wide range of children’s litera- ture. Each round of questions had a theme, which included: Aesop’s Fables, Anatomy, France and Mythical Creatures. The winning team, Highfields School, from Matlock, won with an overall score of 79 points. Our Year 8 team achieved 72 points so we weren’t far behind the winners! The Year 8 team also won the Mythical Creatures round, so they were presented with a book each. All the stu- dents enjoyed the event, which was at- tended by schools from Nottingham, Der- by, Manchester and Liverpool.

Year 8 team Well done to all the students who took part: Freddie Evans 8B, Wil- liam Shaw 8B, Bea Davis 8B, Isa- bella Turiano 8F,Phoebe Mitchell 7F, Erin Babington 7F, Ben Harri- son 7F and Elias Miller 7B.

Year 7 team School of Rock A Time For Giving

The Chaplaincy Team have been busy this term. Apart from the record amount of goods raised for Night Stop, they supported the putting together of over 80 Christ- mas parcels to be sent off to the Operation Christmas Child/ Samaritan’s Purse Christmas Shoe box Appeal.

Well done team! More Sports Rugby Rugby – We have been supported this year by England Rugby and Buxton Rugby Club. The school has received some funding which has supported both coaching in school and some new equipment including boots, which proved very useful on our muddy pitches. Pupils in Years 7-10 have been able to access either coaching in lessons or sessions provided down at Buxton Rugby Club. More recently, those players wishing to play more competitive games have attended a Rugby Festival, with pupils from both Chapel and Buxton Community. It has been great to see the develop- ment of some of our pupils and hopefully some will make the transition to Buxton Rugby Club.

Year 7 boys at Buxton Rugby Club

Robert and Harvey— following their County Rugby Trials Harvey Mitchell and Robert Wells were recently nominated to attend County Trials. The Nottingham- shire/Lincolnshire/Derbyshire (NLD) RFU has in place a programme of ‘player identification’ using appointed NLD coaches as well as the ‘Elite Player Development Group’ (EPDG). They participated in the trials at Newark RFC. Unfortunately neither was selected for the squad but their names have been retained by the selectors and, should they be required, they will be called up for the squad. They have also been invited back next year. Running

English Schools Fell Running Championships – Yorkshire A number of pupils from STM took part again this year. Many thanks to Mr Parker who kindly offered to coordinate our runners. Congratulations to Lucas Parker who finished a fantastic 3rd to win a Bronze Medal. Others runners from STM were; Luke Mamczur 37th, Euan Freeman 44th , Matthew Schofield 57th , Ryan Rawlinson 68th .

In addition, Luke Mamczur represented Buxton Athletic Club’s Junior Fell Team at a prestigious dinner to celebrate them being crowned Derbyshire Junior Team of the Year. They received their accolade at the Derby Telegraph Sports Award 2017 at The Roundhouse, Derby College, from for- mer professional footballers Michael Johnson and Roger Davis.

High Peak Cross Country Trials at New Mills Year 7 boys and Year 7 girls. Ryan Rawlinson 2, Aiden Hodbey 15, Maddy Hayles 16, Toby Mcknight 20, Sam Lilley 21, Scarlett Tidmarsh 26, Rose Sandham 27, Harry Cox 28, Olivia Small 28, Alex Hanshaw 31, Liam Greene 32, Callum Burns 34 Year 8/9 girls. Jamie Lee Taylor 6, Livia Heywood 10, Amy Witts 11 Year 8/9 boys. Will Stanway 6, Euan Freeman 8, Joey Luke with Rachel Dowle (running Hollamby 10, Matthew Schofield 11, Sam Prince 19 coach at Buxton AC) Year 10/11 boys. Dan Hyland 7, Luke Mamczur 9 Well done to Ryan who had a fantastic result finishing 2nd in the Year 7 boys’ race. Those who finished in the top 12 places are automatically selected to run at the County Championships in Chesterfield after Christmas. We wish all the best and well done to all those runners who had a go at the trials.

Sport Leadership

Leadership – Year 10 Btec pupils attended a Leadership Training Day at Buxton Com- munity and the feedback was positive from this. Those pupils are now starting to develop their skills in lessons and they will have the opportunity to apply to be a School Ambassa- dor for Sport just before Christ- mas. Congratulations to Carmen Butterworth-Martin and Emily-Kate Hobson who were both selected last week to represent St Thomas More as our Young Ambassadors for Sport. Emily-Kate and Carmen —Young Ambassadors for Sport Even More Sports Football

Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 St Philip Howard Lost 1-3 Won 3-0 Glossopdale Lost 2-4 Won 5-3 Chapel Buxton Won 5- Lost 0-11 Lost 2-3 1 Hope Valley New Mills TOTAL Points 3 0 6

The High Peak league is now well under way. The results so far are shown. Congratulations to our Year 9 Boys who ran out overall Winners at their Under 14 Futsal Competition held at New Mills Leisure Centre. They played exceptionally well and won the competition overall by winning all 4 of their games. A fantastic achievement. We wish them all the best at the County Finals in Derby this week. They were; Rueben Herschell, Rocco Belli, Mckenzie Bennett, Matthew Frewer, Joey Hollamby, Caleb Wales, Jonathan Matthews. See Photo.

Basketball

Basketball – In the County Cup the Year 11 Boys team faced Frederick Gent, from Alfre- ton. Our quality showed in this game from the off and we quickly raced to a 15-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, partly down to some very strong defending. After the first quarter we took our foot off the gas and allowed the opponents to play, but eventually we finished with a lead of 47-24 to go through to the next round. See Photo.

This team have taken up the challenge of playing in the Na- tional Schools Competition. They have 4 pool games to play. The first game was against Rawlins Academy in Loughbor- ough. It quickly became appar- ent just how tough these games are going to be. The opponents started very strongly and quickly built a convincing half-time lead of 16-52. Our players put on a much better second half perfor- mance against a very well or- ganised opposition, with the eventual score finishing 46 – 87.