St John Fisher Catholic High School

Newsletter 19 8 July 2016

Dear Parent / Carer,

The last couple of weeks have been the busiest of the year for visits and trips. Amongst others, we had Year 8 students at Ford Castle, a trip to Sorrento, a trip to Iceland, a trip to Brussels, visits to Oxford and Cambridge, and the Lourdes Pilgrimage. This week we have the performance of Bugsy Malone. We also have the Year 8 trip to the Somme coming up as well as Salamanca and the Ardeche.

I would like to thank parents for their support; and the staff for giving up their time to take these trips and visits. I am sure that the students involved gain a great deal from the variety of experiences.

This week we also welcomed the new Year 7 students on their transition days. We are looking forward to starting work with the next cohort of students, and settling them into the school routines.

Great Show

You will be aware that the whole school visits the show on 12 July 2016. As all year groups attend the show there is limited provision back in school. If you have not yet done so, can you make arrangements for your child to purchase a ticket which is now £10, deadline for payment is Friday 8 July, 1pm. Please ask your child to take the payment to Mrs Ball in the Goldfish Bowl as it has now been taken off ParentPay.

Buses

Our Transport page is getting longer and longer. Remember, you have to contact the operator for a pass on services from September 2016. Can I encourage you to make arrangements before the end of term as the bus companies are now responsible for collecting payment and issuing passes to students. Please see our transport page for further information. A separate letter is attached to this newsletter.

Finally, I would like to encourage you to continue to read these e-bulletins and have a browse on our website to see what is occurring in and around school (especially over the last two weeks). We are lucky to have so much happening and always want your children to take up as many opportunities as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Mr R A Pritchard

Dear Parent/Guardian

Update on Proposed Bus Routes for St Aidan’s and St John Fisher Students – September 2016

St Aidan’s and St John Fisher are continuing to work closely with the bus companies to ensure that our students are able to access both schools from September 2016. Since our last communication with parents and guardians there have been a number of changes which are listed below:-

routes have changed their payment method. Previously parents/guardians paid for their children’s passes through Generation M. As of 2016 payment for passes will be made directly through the individual bus company The changes in were only agreed on 1st June 2016 and we are constantly making changes to our website as the bus companies make changes to their timetables to accommodate as many of our students as they can. The companies bringing students in from West Yorkshire are A & A, Connexions and Tetleys A & A, Abbotts, Atkinsons, Connexions, Stephensons and Tower who are covering our North Yorkshire Routes are also making changes to try and accommodate as many stops as they can. Again our website is constantly being update to accommodate these changes.

www.staidans.co.uk/transport sjfchs.org.uk/information/transport/

As the bus routes are no longer subsidised by the local authority the bus companies are taking on the risk of the proposed routes and they will not be able to run them if they are not sustainable.

The bus companies that St. Aidan’s and St John Fisher have been in talks with will guarantee that:

1.They drop off and pick up from the school sites. 2.Guarantee a place on the school bus so long as the student has signed up for a pass. 3.Been accommodating in trying to respond to the parents’ requests for extra stops. 4.Taken on new routes that would otherwise have been withdrawn. 5.Regular drivers so that they get to know the students. 6.Able to respond to early picks ups at the end of term or should school encounter a problem on site that prevents its operation.

Therefore please may we ask that if you intend to send your child or children to school by the designated bus companies that you sign up for a bus pass as soon as possible. We would point out that the contract will be between parents and the bus company providing the service and will not involve St Aidan’s or St John Fisher in any way.

Thank you for your patience and understanding in this difficult situation.

Yours faithfully

John Wood Rob Pritchard Headteacher Headteacher

INFORMATION

Y7 International Day – Friday 8 July Please follow link to view details about: Y7 International Day. Please can you make payment by ParentPay as soon as possible. If we do not receive payments, events like this will be not able to go ahead next year. Year 7 pupils do not have to wear school uniform tomorrow and they have now all been given a country. If would be nice to see them in clothes that link to their country. Finally, please can you ensure they wear trainers and bring bottles of water to keep them hydrated during the workshops.

Y8 Trip to the Somme – 8 -12 July Please note that the coach company for the Somme trip is now Wilfreda Beehive, telephone number 01302 330330. The out of hour’s telephone number is the same. For all Year 8 students going on the History trip to the Somme, please arrive at 11.30 pm on Friday, students should have their passport and EHIC. Remember to pack a towel, walking boots, and an anorak/coat as well as summer clothes, medicine and sun cream. Many thanks Mr Sharpe

Y10 Salamanca Trip Miss Waring and Mr Pearce will be taking 24 Year 10 students to Salamanca in Spain from Sunday 10th - Friday 15th July.

Y8 History Workshops – Monday and Tuesday 18th and 19th July 2016 Please follow the link to view details about: Y8 History Workshops. Please can you make payment by ParentPay as soon as possible. If we do not receive payments, events like this will be not able to go ahead next year.

Bus Routes - 2016 to 2017 Could parents who have not registered their child on the school buses for September 2016, please do so soon and not leave it too late. This is so that bus companies know what the uptake is. Both North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire routes are on our website under Transport with additional information - parents are to pay the bus companies directly for the new academic year. Please continue to check the website for any updates to routes, etc. Mr Kenworthy Facilities Manager

English School’s National Track and Field Cup Final The Junior Boys represented the School at the National Finals on Saturday – the only school from the North East of region to qualify. This is the first time the school has managed to achieve this with a Junior Boys team although we have previously had a Junior Girls team and an Intermediate Boys team achieve this feat. Having won the Area round and then the County round of this competition Fishers were up against some of the strongest Athletics schools in the country. Despite 2 of our top athletes not being available the team still managed to achieve an excellent 11th place finish. The team did particularly well on the track with 8 personal bests:

Ollie Kay 13.6 (100m), Callum Tatterton 28.3(200m), Ciaran James 2.31 and Freddie Brown 3.00 (both 800m), Joe Gosling 5.10 and James Keelan-Edwards 5.15 (both 1500m), Moses Beeson 13.5 and Jacob Millar 13.6 (both Hurdles) In the Field Events Moses Beeson achieved a personal best in the High Jump – 1.44 and George Fuller 32.09 in the Javelin.

Despite the talent on show the St John Fisher boys gave a good account of themselves and can be proud of their fantastic achievement. The team were:

Paddy Tolan, Ollie Kay, Jacob Anderson Codman, Callum Tatterton, Matt Taylor, Will Taylor, Freddie Brown, Ciaran James, Joe Gosling, James-Keelan Edwards, Moses Beeson, Jacob Millar, George Fuller, Nicolas Garcia Martin Well done boys! Mr Knowles

Billy Elliot Ex Billy Elliot star Leyton Williams (of Bad Education, Matthew Bourne's Lord of the Flies, Hairspray UK tour) is visiting our school to work with our pupils on Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th July. On Monday he will be delivering an all day workshop for Billy Elliot cast members and on the Tuesday he will deliver a contemporary and commercial dance day for GCSE and A-Level dance students only. We are extremely lucky to welcome Leyton to our school. Pictures to follow! Mrs Noonan Head of Dance

GCSE Exam Results Please be advised that your child will be able to collect their GCSE results from the Main Hall on Thursday 25th August between 10am and 12pm. If your child is unable to collect their results, they need to send me a confirmation email to [email protected] as to which email address they would like their results sending to. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me. Mrs R Haley GCSE Examinations Officer

Harrogate International Festivals 50th Anniversary Ball I wonder if I might be able to interest you in the Harrogate International Festivals 50th Anniversary Ball. Please advertisement below re: details about the Ball. As you may be aware, this is the festivals 50th year and a huge amount of work is being put into raising £1 million this year to secure the future of the festival and continue to bring international artists to Harrogate. This is of course alongside all of the work the festivals do with young people, schools and those who would otherwise be unable to access the arts and literature.

As Premier Partners of the festival it would be great to see some representation from St John Fisher and it promises to be an amazing night. If you've not been to a reception in the Royal Hall before, it really is amazing and will be even better now that the Gypsy Queens have been announced as the main act.

If you are interested, please could you contact me via the email address below and I'll get a table (s) together. Mr Ratcliffe Head of Music E-Mail: [email protected]

Free Harrogate International Festival Tickets Please follow the link to obtain vouchers for free: Harrogate International Festival Tickets

Music Department Concert We would love it if you could join us for a 'Summer Soirée' presented by the music department on Wednesday 20th July at 7.00pm. Featuring all Senior Ensembles and Year 13 soloists who are leaving us this year. A relaxed evening of music making before we break up for the summer on the back playground at St John Fisher. Mr Beetles is in charge of the BBQ, Mrs Gaertner the wine and Mr Ratcliffe your MC for the evening. All are welcome to attend. Tickets £6 available from the Music Office to include food and a glass of wine. We would be grateful if your tickets could be

ordered in advance from Mrs Gaertner in person or by emailing [email protected] so we can order the right amount of food. Mr Ratcliffe Head of Music

Pupil Illness Can we please remind all parents not to arrange to collect their children on the grounds of ill health unless asked to do so by a member of staff.

Pupils are not permitted to carry any medication and expressly forbidden from sharing medication amongst themselves. Any required medication, apart from personal inhalers and epi-pens, should be handed in to the medical room and the appropriate consent forms for administration completed by parents. The school can then administer the medication and keep appropriate records. Mrs Fawthrop Pupil Welfare Officer

Year 10 Business Dynamics Days Please follow link to view information about: Y10 Business Dynamics Days Letter

Skiing Both the Year 9/10 ski trip at Easter 2017 (current Year 8/9 students) and the Sixth Form ski trip at Feb half term 2017 (current year 11/12) have a couple of places still available. If your child is interested in going, please ask them to collect a letter from Mrs Ball (in the Goldfish Bowl). Costs - Year 9/10 - £870 - Sixth form - £960 Ms Burton

Library News All student library books need to be returned by Monday 11th July so please check there is nothing lurking under the sofa or your child’s bed at home! Books that are lost or damaged will need to be replaced. Please contact the Library on 01423 818028 if necessary.

If you have any good quality fiction books that your child has grown out of then please think about donating them to the School Library for others to enjoy. We can take anything suitable for children aged 11+. Thank you! Library@lunchtime groups include Table Talk book group on a Monday and Crafty Critters mixed craft group on a Tuesday. Magazines, drawing and creative colouring available every lunchtime.

Dates for your diary Please see below a list of the term dates for 2016-2017. Please note there has been a change in the training days – there will now be one on Friday 10 March. Please view school website for more dates on the: St John Fisher School Calendar

St John Fisher PTA News The St John Fisher Samba! Soccer! Summer Ball was a great success, we do not yet know how much we have made as we have still to pay final bills, hopefully by the next parents’ newsletter we will know the final amount. It will also be posted on the St John Fisher website along with photos taken at the Ball. I would like to say a big thank you to all who were involved in the organisation of the Ball, SJF staff, the Band, the Dancers, the staff at the Pavilions, parents who attended the Ball and/or donated raffle prizes – please see the list below of the winners of the raffle. Well done everybody. Josi Mackinnon

News from the Science Desk – July 2016 – Summer Term

Please be aware that links to revision resources and how to log on to Kerboodle will be activated on this document to save the repeating of the instructions and information.

Year 7 Year seven have now completed their end of year tests. The results of this in conjunction with their end of unit tests will allow us to set year eight classes as balanced mixed sets of all ranges. I hope that year seven have enjoyed their year in Science, and continue to do so as they encounter the classification and variation topic, which will give them opportunities to further their studies outside.

Year 8 The end of year test took place on the 7th/8th July depending on groupings. This will allow us to determine their progress over the whole of KS3. Initial streaming in Year 9 will be guided by progress across the year and performance in the end of year test, as well as performance in the end of unit tests that they have sat. Setting will be reviewed across, and at the end of Year 9. Most of those pupils, who undertake Separate Sciences, are likely to come from the two top sets in each half of the year.

We are currently looking into a Micro Biology project which will commence next year, for those pupils who are particularly interested in this aspect of Science

Year 9 All pupils had their end of year Biology test on Monday 27th June, Chemistry on Wednesday 29th June or Thursday 30th depending on which side of the year they are on. The Physics test was on Monday the 4th July. Pupils who miss any of these will sit these before the end of the term to help ensure that they are suitably set in to Year ten.

There are now further resources available for this new 9-1 graded GCSE on Kerboodle, though I have left access to the ‘old’ specification material until such time as there is a complete suite of resources available for the new GCSE.

Year 10 Most Year 10 pupils have completed one ISA this half-term in lessons which will constitute 25% of their final grade in Core Science, or Biology, Chemistry or Physics. We will endeavour to ensure that pupils who have missed any lessons will be given the chance to complete the appropriate ISA in between trips etc., at lunch times. As Year 10 will be on their work experience by the time the next e-bulletin is issued, may I wish the year group every success on their work experience, and an enjoyable summer break thereafter.

Year 11 I wish every pupil good luck in their examinations and hope that they will gain the grades that their hard work and dedication deserves.

Those that took up the opportunity of the Separate Science text books may now return these and collect their deposits, as long as the books returned are in a suitable condition, which I am sure will find its way to the parents. [email protected]

Mr Tanner-Smith Head of Science

For further information about revision resources, please access the school website: Science Department

We are delighted to be able to release more information about our very special celebratory 50th Anniversary Ball.

 Your arrival will be accompanied by the fabulous sounds of Yorkshire's New Orleans inspired brass band and Glastonbury favourites the New York Brass Band.  Enjoy a glamorous welcome reception in the Royal Hall with sparkling champagne.  Elton John's favourite band returns to Harrogate Festival with The Gypsy Queens providing their irresistible sound.  Enjoy a host of performances including street theatre, money can’t buy auctions and one or two special surprises throughout the evening.  The gala dinner will be accompanied with 2 bottles of wine to start the evening (details of how to pre-order additional wine will be sent nearer the event).

Our headliners the Gypsy Queens are a firm Festival favourite and we are delighted to be welcoming them back to Harrogate in September for this very special occasion.

As the pinnacle event of our fundraising calendar the money raised through the 50th Anniversary Ball will go towards the Future 50 Appeal.

Our Future 50 Appeal to raise £1 million is a crucial part of Harrogate International Festivals' vision to create a secure future for the charity and with your support, our charity can continue to thrive and touch more lives with our work.

Tickets for our exclusive Anniversary ball are available for £100 per person.

Whether you attend as an individual, or as a table of ten it promises to be an evening to remember.

Please find below the link to your invitation to apply for tickets and the booking form for the 50th Anniversary Ball. Tickets are selling fast so book now to avoid missing out on this very special event.

For more information please contact Lizzie Brewster at Harrogate International Festivals' Office on 01423 562303 or email [email protected]

ST JOHN FISHER SCHOOL TERM AND HOLIDAY DATES ACADEMIC YEAR 2016/17 (Monday 5 September Staff Training Day) Open Tuesday 6 September 2016 which is for Years 7, 11 and Sixth Form ONLY Years 8, 9 and 10 will not be required to attend school until Wednesday 7 September

Friday 14 October 2016 Staff Training Day Half Term Close: Friday 21 October 2016 Open: Monday 31 October 2016 Monday 28 November 2016 Staff Training Day Christmas Close: Friday 16 December 2016 Open: Wednesday 4 January 2017 Tuesday 3 January 2017 Staff Training Day Half Term Close: Friday 17 February 2017 Open: Monday 27 February 2017 Easter Close: Friday 7 April 2017 Open: Monday 24 April 2017 Friday 10 March 2017 Staff Training Day May Day Monday 1 May 2017

Half Term Close: Friday 26 May 2017 Open: Monday 5 June 2017 Summer Close: Friday 21 July 2017

HOLIDAYS SHOULD BE TAKEN OUTSIDE THE PUPIL TERM DATES ABOVE

STAFF TRAINING DAYS – Pupils are not required to attend school on these days: Monday 5 September 2016 Friday 14 October 2016 Monday 28 November 2016 Tuesday 3 January 2017 Friday 10 March 2017

Further information can be found on the school website www.sjfchs.org.uk

Raffle Prizes for St John Fisher's 'Samba! Soccer! Summer! Ball'

Donated by Description Name of Ticket Winner number

The Bradley Family 1 x TV stand , Coffee table & Lamp table in Classic Grey Julie 0691

The Bradley Family 1 x TV stand Kashmir Grey/white F Lydon 3493

The Bradley Family 1 x TV stand Mushroom/ white Margaret Crook The dimensions of the TV stand are 5982

49.5 cm High x 146.5 cm Wide x 40cm Deep.

All items are assembled.

Vocalink, Harrogate Kindle Fire HD Steve Dean 4420

The Clarke Family Case of Champagne Lynn Family 2795

Ventrolla £100 Marks & Spencer Vouchers Tom Pritchard 5198

JE Audsley Butchers, £100 Waitrose Vouchers Catherine 4985 Harrogate Wailes

Trevor Iles Ltd A VAX VCC-10C Tub Vacuum Cleaner Birchall Family 3923

Teaching Personnel Betty’s Gift Hamper Wicken 3422

Birchall Foodservice Bottle of Red and Bottle of White Wine J Ketteringham 0558

The Academy, Health 2 Guest passes for the Academy Health Club & Spa Katherine Dean 4429 Club & Spa, Harrogate

Yorkshire Agricultural A Family Ticket for the Great Yorkshire Show Ellen Pearson 2224 Society

Peter Davis, Chair of 6 Bottles of Red Wine Emma Gill 5964 Governors

Peter Davis, Chair of 6 Bottles of White Wine Nic Streatfield 3471 Governors

Thorp Arch & Boston 4 tickets for any one day play of a County Championship Stockdale 5377 Spa CC or Royal London 1 day cup fixture at Headingley Cricket Ground

Eden Camp A Family Ticket for Eden Camp Michael Tinker 5991

Ripley Castle A Family Ticket for Ripley Castle, Gardens and Deer Park Y Heys 5734

Tees Barrage Introduction to kayaking for four people, 2 hours, age 8+ Stockdale 5378 International Whitewater Centre (Kevin Leeming- Sheppard)

Jill Archer Photography £50 Photography Voucher Barnes 5953

Source Coffee 1 Month Supply of Source Climate Change Coffee 8 Bags Barnes 5956

Prologue Cycling, Tea/Coffee and Cake for Two people Simon Hilyer 3459 Harrogate

Nuffield Health A Month Membership for Two people Rian Rowley 2556

Christina Pearce Ghost Girl Perfume and Cream F Lydon 3497

Kent Carpets Bottle of Champagne Armstrong 4376

Fodder, Harrogate Afternoon Tea Hamper Mrs Van Parys 4975

Baroque Hairdressers, Hairdressing Treat Helen Somers 0951 Harrogate

Wilkinson Family Francois Dubois Champagne and Bottle of Red Barefoot Sarah Butcher 2093 Shiraz

Boston Spa Parents Hamper 1 Matthews 5370

Boston Spa Parents Hamper 2 Gill 5968

Boston Spa Parents Hamper 3 Y Heys 5733

Boston Spa Parents Hamper 4 James McGurk 3445

Boston Spa Parents Hamper 5 Robert 4384 Maxwell

Boston Spa Parents 2 Bottles of Wine Matt H 2333

John Kelly Wine Case of Wine Whitaker 0576 Merchant, Boston Spa

Coronation Fisheries, 2 x Fish & Chips Sarah Plant 0586 Harrogate

M and L Ketteringham Bottle of Whisky John Donnelly 5466

Moth Gray of Boston Scented Candle Anne Hughes 3489 Spa & Crimple Hall, Harrogate

Friends of the Clarke Versace Red Jeans Eau de Toilette Margaret 5985 Family Crook

Friends of the Clarke Body Shop Chocolate Body Gift Set Rachael Haley 4443 Family

Friends of the Clarke Guess Dare Perfume Greg 1061 Family Ketteringham

Friends of the Clarke L'Occitane Hand Cream G Maguire 4367 Family