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NEWSLETTERChristmas SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER 2018 Sharples Park Bolton BL1 6PQ T: 01204 301 351 thornleigh.bolton.sch.uk ChristmasChristmas NEWSLETTER l thornleigh.bolton.sch.uk HEADTEACHER’S MESSAGE Dear Parents, Carers and Friends of Thornleigh Salesian College Welcome to the ‘bumper’ edition of our school newsletter. It gets bigger each term, which reflects the many activities, experiences and opportunities our children get as an integral part of their curriculum here at Thornleigh Salesian College. I think we have had the best start that we have ever had to any academic year and we are so proud of all of our children. Our revised rewards policy means that all students are rewarded for maintaining the very high standards of behaviour and learning here, but it also means that they can gain additional points for activities they are involved in both in and out of school. Many of our children are competing at a high standard at a particular sport or are performing in local theatres. Their talent amazes me and you will see plenty of evidence of this inside. The Tanzania project this Summer was absolutely fantastic and the group of sixth formers that I took were incredible. I want to thank all the staff who gave up 4 weeks of their Summer holiday to make this possible. This year’s Mission Week was the best yet on the theme of ‘Make God’s Love Visible’ and we certainly did that with the activities and workshops that we had throughout the week. I am very, very proud of this school and I refer you to the letter that I have enclosed with this newsletter. The next two terms are going to be very special for me and I will cherish every moment. Have a happy and holy Christmas and I will look forward to seeing you in the new year! God bless Alison Burrowes CONTENTS Headteacher’s Message 2 Wider Key Skills 21 Student Council 3 Food Technology 21 Mission Week 4 - 7 English 22 The Tanzania project 2018 8 - 9 History 23 Thornleigh Sport Success 10 - 15 Modern Foreign Languages 24 - 25 Thornleigh School Games Organiser 16 Music 26 - 27 Maths 17 Chaplaincy and RE 28 - 29 Geography 17 Sixth Form Art 18 - 19 30 - 31 Science 20 Bolton Youth Debate 31 Health & Social Care 21 Boost Your Points Week 31 2 Christmas NEWSLETTER l thornleigh.bolton.sch.uk THORNLEIGH SALESIAN COLLEGE STUDENT COUNCIL At the start of this new term we welcomed 31 new Year 7 form representatives into the School Council, bringing the total number up to 92 . In September we began the year by launching the “Make Your the Salesian family .This was followed by more assemblies , this Mark” Campaign for 2018. As usual, there were 10 topics to choose time on an anti-bullying theme. These assemblies can be quite from: sensitive as they are designed to challenge our students to think • Equal pay for equal work more carefully about their behaviour. This year we returned to the theme of respect, for ourselves and for others. • Votes at 16 As we moved into November we offered a number of new projects • End period poverty for students from different Year groups to get involved with. Next • Improve Youth Services March, we will be taking part in a Mock Trial competition in a • Let’s tackle homelessness Magistrates Court. We now have 15 Year 8/9 students meeting • Improve Public Transport once a week, preparing to take on various roles as Prosecutors • End knife crime or Defence Barristers, Jurors, Court reporters as well as the role • Improve Mental Health Services of Defendant. We also are working with other groups to help our school gain International School Status. Our first project will • A curriculum to prepare us for life be about different cultures and traditions in the celebration of • Welcome refugees Christmas. Each student had to choose just one issue to vote for. The School We also wanted to support “Jumpers for Jimmy”, a charity which Council delivered assemblies to all Year groups and then the following promotes, peace, hope and forgiveness. This charity was set up by week, the topics were discussed in more depth during the Tutorial Mr and Mrs Mizen , following the tragic death of their son Jimmy. period, at the end of which ,the vote was taken. Here, in Thornleigh Jimmy had only just turned 16 when he was killed in a totally Salesian College , the three issues which gained the most votes were: unprovoked knife attack, whilst he was waiting to be served in • Improve Mental Health, a café, near to where he lived. Mr and Mrs Mizen, came to visit • End knife crime Thornleigh Salesian College 2 years ago when they spoke, during • A curriculum to prepare us for life. Mission week to students from our Upper School. On December 3, students were invited to wear a Christmas jumper, making a small Every student, in school on October 1st had the opportunity to donation to the charity. vote. Our votes were added to the other 1,111,400 votes from young people across the UK. This makes this campaign the largest Youth Consultation of its kind, with more than 1 in 5 of all young people, aged between 11-18 taking part! Jonathan Owen, (one of Bolton’s Youth MPs) from Year 11, went down to Westminster to take part in a debate in the House of Commons. Mr and Mrs Mizen with Mrs Burrowes The School radio has been offline for the last few weeks, due to technical problems. We will be up and running shortly and would welcome some extra help in the New Year. If you are interested Ella Tinniswood and Jonathan Owen, Bolton’s Youth MPs please pop into the library and speak to Mrs Pawlowski Finally, as we approach the Christmas season we will be helping At the start of October ,the School Council delivered assemblies out with The Christmas stalls at the back of the hall, at the evening in chapel to all Year groups about what it means to be part of productions of Godspell. Hope to see you there! Christmas NEWSLETTER l thornleigh.bolton.sch.uk 3 MAKE GOD’S LOVE VISIBLE ACT JUSTLY LOVE TENDERLY WALK HUMBLY Monday 15th October saw the launch of our annual Mission Week. An action packed week that gives us a chance to really remember what it means to belong to Thornleigh Salesian College, and to celebrate what that means to be part of the wider church. Over the last few years Mission Week has gone from strength to strength with activities and speakers coming from all over the country. This year we invited our students to focus on the theme of “Making God’s Love Visible”. 4 Christmas NEWSLETTER l thornleigh.bolton.sch.uk Monday was our launch day and we were joined by mime artist Steve Murray who helped us explore our theme though mime. With all year groups getting the opportunity to witness Steve’s most incredible story and share in some of his experiences, we were able to start our journey though Mission Week knowing that God’s love is there, we just have to look a little harder sometimes. Along with Steve was our school choir and many other students who helped us move into mission week with a sense of prayer and reflection. Tuesday and Wednesday was the start of our small group activities, with Cafod joining us again this year to work with our Year 7 students, the message for Year 8 was that of Peace as they had a work shop with Pax Christi and Year 9 experienced the heart wrenching stories of Christians persecuted for their faith and were ably lead in writing messages by Aid to the Church in Need. Year 10 had another workshop by Steve Murray looking at more of the issues we face today and how they might manifest in our everyday life. Steve’s message was a powerful one that sent many of us away with emotions welling inside us. 5 Christmas NEWSLETTER l thornleigh.bolton.sch.uk 5 MAKE GOD’S Years 10 to 13 also had the privilege of meeting Figen Murray, whose son, Martyn Hett, died in the Manchester Arena bombing. This was one of the most moving moments of our week. Mrs better world. She also invited us to reflect on our own actions Murray shared with us the events leading up to and the events and take responsibility for them. immediately after the arena bombing but she also shared with Mrs Murray had a profound effect on many of our students, us some of her innermost thoughts and feelings. especially those who were involved in some way with the arena Mrs Murray’s overriding message was that of forgiveness and bombing. The impact this had on our students was physically peace, she encouraged our students to work for peace and a evident as they gathered at the end to speak to Mrs Murray. Thursday was our Mission Together day. This was a completely collapsed timetable where students did one hundred minute sessions to work with outside organisations or some of our own school staff. The theme of the day was MIselfie with each workshop being MIself, MIworld and MIgod. Our students embarked on a carousel of activities that challenged us physically, mentally and emotionally. Some of the guest speakers we had were: Soccer skills Urban Outreach - www.urbanoutreach.co.uk L’Arche - www.larche.org.uk Cenacolo UK – www.cenacolouk.org Medaille – www.medaille-trust.org.uk With workshops being delivered by school staff from: PE – Team games and water challenges Music and RE – The BIG sing Maths – Cafod’s trade game Creative studies – Selfie Portraits Science – Plastic and our world RE – Images of God IT – Online safety MFL/Geography – Be the change you want to see in the world History – WW1 – 100 years English – Mindfulness The day was action packed and our students had the best day.