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Spring 2014 Centre of Living and Learning’ ‘Christ at the Spring 2014 Centre of Living and Learning’ Year 7: The Reason for the Season Christmas might be long over, but it looks like the weather is here to stay! This isn’t a problem for St. Gregory’s as our Year 7’s have brightened up the display boards with their Advent Promises. This reminds us that throughout the dreary winter season, Jesus is still with us, the light of the world that brings hope to all. In term 2, Year 7 studied the Christian meaning of Christmas and were asked to design a Christmas card which illustrated what they believed was the true meaning of Christmas. The winning design was Yvonne (CC2). Pictured opposite is Yvonne with her winning design. The RE department commend Yvonne and indeed all our Year 7s for their hard work and effort that went into making these fantastic designs! Year 8 Term 2 was a very exciting one for Year 8s filled with captivating stories of the Crusades and Horrible Histories. We moved onto our new topic, Roots: The History of the Church. This was a very exciting topic for Year 8s who were very interested to learn and role play Christian st Persecutions of the 1 Century. Year 8 also looked at the development of the Christian church up to its current formation. Pupils looked at the variety of Christian churches in Tunbridge Wells and took virtual tours around Church of England and Nonconformist Churches. Year 9 Year 9 developed on the good work completed in their first term. Their new topic, Conflict, gave the pupils the opportunity to look at how past conflicts have impacted our world today, and gained insight and understanding o f modern day conflicts. Pupils also looked at conflict resolution and a variety of religious stand points on conflict. A Year 9 pupil, Silvie, (ESU4) reflects on her favourite lesson from this topic. ‘My favourite lesson from the conflict module was titled, Jesus: Prince of Peace. In this lesson we looked at newspaper articles which clearly demonstrated the hate and war that fills our world today. We then got to rip up the newspaper, the room got very messy. Our world can very often become like the mess we had made, but it is Jesus who came along and showed us how to fix this mess. We each created a unique cross in our books made from the newspaper we had shredded. We learned that it is from listening to the stories and teachings of Jesus we can begin to resolve the conflicts we face in our lives and the world. Key Stage 4 GCSE does not mean that lessons stop being fun! Year 10 learnt that in studying the second topic of their GCSE course, Community and Tradition. This stimulating topic looked at Christian understanding of the Bible, the importance of a local Church and celibacy of the clergy. Year 10 also looked at the role and importance of the priests for communities. The picture opposite shows 3 of our wonderful Year 10 boys who really got into the spirit of the lesson! In term 2 Year 11 completed the third topic Marriage and Family. This module looked at contemporary moral issues such as Divorce, Family Life and Contraception. These issues were explained using a variety of Christian responses to these topics. This topic brought forth a plethora of opportunity for debate and discussion which will assist pupils in answering evaluation and opinion style questions found in their exam papers. Year 11 pupils have recently sat their mock exams. No GCSE course is easy; it requires a lot of effort, hard work and commitment. The RE department would like to congratulate our Year 11 pupils for the dedication they displayed whilst completing their mock exams. What’s happening now? With January and February over, time is ticking on as final exams loom ever closer. The department has now issued the revision timetable and Revision Guides for each Year 11 pupil. The Year 10 cohort has moved into their fourth module of study, ‘Living the Christian Life’, lessons continually strive to be stimulating for pupils. Guest speakers and trips away have all been arranged to aid our pupils in learning for this topic. We are also very lucky to have now appointed another RE specialist teacher, Mrs Matthews will teach on the X side of the year 10 timetable. This has enabled us have four mixed ability groups which means smaller classes. No more looking for chairs to borrow! In addition all staff teaching the year 10 course are working to the same’ time schedule’ this enables us to transfer students between classes when necessary. Key Stage 3 lessons are very busy. Year 7 have started to look at the Call to Change which considers how they can make a difference to the world and the positive role models we can learn from. Year 8 are reading up on some classical Biblical stories such as Moses and the story of Joseph. Finally Year 9, in preparation for Key Stage 4 are fine tuning their leadership skills as they look forward to taking on more student leadership roles in Year 10. Exam Dates GCSE A Level Unit 2 Monday 12th May AS 13th May - Both papers th Unit 9 Tuesday 20th May A2 - 11 June –Philosophy (PM) A2 - 19th June - New Testament (AM) Year 8 Wimbledon Synagogue Trip Year 8 students were offered the opportunity to visit the Wimbledon synagogue as part of the unit of study on Judaism. Mr. Walmsley, Miss Lyons and our chaplain Emily accompanied 28 students on this wonderful trip. The Synagogue is on the outskirts of Wimbledon. They are a member of the Movement for Reform Judaism, and have two Rabbis, Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild, and Rabbi Sybil Sheridan. Through the work of the school visits team this synagogue fulfils the role of an educational resource to the outside world. It does this by playing host to pupils and their teachers drawn from all over South London and the southern Home Counties providing them with a basic understanding of Jewish religious worship. Our visit lasted about two hours. We received a very warm welcome on our arrival at the synagogue and a brief address at the doorstep of this Jewish place of worship. Inside the building they gave us a step by step explanation of everything that goes on inside a typical liberal Jewish synagogue. Our trip involved a general introduction, undressing and dressing a Sefer Torah (the scroll), some artefacts were displayed and discussed, and we were shown the Shabbat Table. The team explained basic Hebrew, Holy Books, key festivals, how the Sefer Torah is written, and even explained a Passover meal in a demonstration Seder. We were given some Shabbat food and drink and joined in some Jewish prayers. It was a lovely visit in which students and staff were warmly welcomed and gained an experiential insight into the Jewish worldview and how and why they worship. They commented on how delightful St Gregory students were and invited us back next year. Lent Lent, one of the most significant festivals in the Christian calendar is now upon us. Lent is the period of six weeks leading up to Easter. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and ends with Holy Week. During Lent, Christians remember the time when Jesus went into the desert to fast and pray before beginning his work for God. During this time Jesus was tempted several times by Satan, but was able to resist. We were very pleased to have Fr. Ed and Fr. Peter to come in and celebrate Ash Wednesday with us. This was a great opportunity to take time out from our busy schedules to reflect on the meaning and importance of this time of year. Year 7 have used their Lenten p romises to design a wall display. Using specific colours to remember the different aspects of Lent, they have created a set of rosary beads to remind us how important it is to pray a little more this time of year. Once again, the RE department would like to congratulate Year 7 on their creativity. Year 8 Whitstable Trip In January, 30 Year 8 pupils took the bus down to St. Vincent’s Retreat Centre in Whitstable. The retreat was conducted by Julianna Byrne, a previous Chaplin of St. Gregory’s. The retreat was an opportunity for pupils to take time out of their busy school life and spend time in quiet reflection with God and each other. Pupils completed a range of fun and exciting activities including bowling, team building, group reflections, a walk along the beach and a final Mass. The retreat was a huge success, enjoyed by both pupils and teachers alike. St. Gregory’s would like to say a huge thank you to Julianna and her team for hosting this wonderful opportunity for us! Check out some of the photos from Whitstable along with what our Year 8s had to say about the trip! John Palourti Niamh O’Connor Getting to spend some time out with I have just moved to St. Gregory’s. my friends was great! It also gave I was so happy to go on this trip as me some time to stop and say thank it developed my friendships with you to God for the friends that I the girls. It also gave me time out have here in St. Gregory’s. to stop, think and pray. Reynolds Lane, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 9XL Tel: 01892 527444 Fax: 01892 546621 www.sgschool.org.uk .
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