Newsletter No. 3 – December 2015 Dear Parents/Carers Another busy but productive term is nearing its end and there is much to celebrate in the life of the college. The term began with the annual visit to the Eastbourne Proms where the choir and dancers excelled themselves in the quality of music and dance presented to a large audience that night. It was good to see all year groups contributing to a magnificent sound which was well-received by all present. The County Music Advisor commented at the end of the evening that the contribution from St Richard’s Performing Arts team just keeps getting better every year. Well done to all the pupils involved (over 100) and to Mrs Byrne, Mr Roadknight and Mrs Knight for inspiring the pupils to give of their best. In the same week, our annual Certificate and Prize Evening was a resounding success with our Guest Speaker, Lance Corporal Derek Derenalagi, urging us all to be positive in the face of adversity having shared his story of losing his legs in service for his country. I was proud to see over sixty current pupils receive prizes based on achievements, service and commitment in the academic year 2014-2015. It was also particularly pleasing that so many of our former pupils attended to celebrate their results. Well done to our Head Girl, Charlotte Greenlees, and Head Boy, George Handrihan, for their inspiring speeches. The response to the Love in a Box appeal this year was wonderful. A record breaking 422 boxes were collected and £1366 was raised for the Mustard Seed Charity. The organisers were overwhelmed by the pupils’ generosity worrying for a while that they might not fit all the boxes in their van! Thank you for your support in filling the boxes and providing pupils with money for Poppy Day which raised over £400 this year. Other events and activities this term included: great success for the Equestrian Team as well as other sports teams, success in a national short story competition, a trip to Berlin, theatre visits, science lectures at the University, DofE activities, Sparkle Day for Year 7, Year 10 and the primary schools, Interact tea party, PTFA Quiz Night and the Parish Mass at Christ the King. Yet to come is our Advent Service which this year is on Wednesday, 16th December at 7.00pm and the ski trip which goes off on Thursday, 17th December. Mufti Day for Surviving Christmas is on 17th December and once again we ask all pupils/families to think of those who have little this Christmas. Ideas for donations are enclosed in this newsletter. At the end of term we say farewell to Mrs Clifford (our Learning Support Administrator and former Inclusion Manager) who is taking an appointment at County. A dedicated, caring member of staff, Mrs Clifford has impacted the lives of so many SEN pupils who are grateful for the support, care and confidence she instilled in them. We also say farewell to part-time TA, Mrs Manning, who is retiring after 14 years at St Richard’s. Again, Mrs Manning has demonstrated kindness and interest in the SEN pupils in her care and will be missed. Finally, Mr Clark, Assistant Principal is retiring from his key role as Senior leader but he will not be leaving us yet – he will continue as a part-time science teacher. Following a 36 year career, 18 at St Richard’s, it is time for Mr Clark, who has been a dedicated, talented and loyal leader inspiring so many pupils and staff, to take a rest. His outstanding contributions across the school will be greatly missed, so I am glad that he will remain with us for the foreseeable future, just in a different role. Other staffing news includes the safe arrival of Daisy Ava Adams. Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Adams. Mrs Gaines, who joined us in September, has been promoted to Assistant Principal from January and Mrs Mead will be taking on Acting Subject Leader of RE. Mr Gallivan and Mr Beaumont remain unwell, but we hope they are fit to return to work in January. Thank you for your prayers and good wishes for them. Finally, on behalf of the Governors, staff and pupils, I would like to wish you and your families a very happy, peaceful and restful Christmas and a prosperous, healthy and happy New Year. Term three begins for pupils on Wednesday, 6th January when all pupils should return looking smart, refreshed and ready to face the opportunities and challenges of the new term and year. Happy Christmas. Yours sincerely

Principal

Message from the Chair of Governors

As we reach the end of another year, may we all remember what we have achieved and how we can use that to be the best that we can be. Please remember at this time those less fortunate in your prayers, as well as those who have lost loved ones during the year.

The Prize Evening was once again a splendid occasion to celebrate the achievements of the pupils of the college in the last academic year. I was very proud of all of them. The speaker, Lance Corporal Derek Derenalagi, gave an inspirational message of how he overcame adversity through faith and prayer. In Miss Cronin’s report, we heard of the many activities that pupils had taken part in and the many successes achieved. Congratulations to all.

May I wish the whole school community a restful, peaceful and happy Christmas. With my prayers and good wishes.

Keith Osborne, Chair of Governors

Free school meals – are you entitled?

At St Richard's, we are committed to working with pupils and their families to ensure that they receive support both within and beyond the classroom. One way we can help is to ensure that families eligible for free school meals receive them. St Richard's receives funding from the government for pupils who are eligible for free school meals and this money is used to provide extra support, for example by supplying eligible pupils with free study guides.

Who is entitled? Free school meals can be provided to parents/carers if they are in receipt of any of the following benefits:  Income Support  Income-based Jobseekers Allowance  Income-related Employment and Support Allowance  Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999  Child Tax Credit (provided they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs)  Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit  During the initial roll out of the benefit, Universal Credit

Anyone entitled to Working Tax Credit is not entitled to free meals regardless of income

How to apply? You can apply directly to East Sussex County Council for free school meals via the following link: https://admissions.eastsussex.gov.uk/Enrol/Website/default.aspx

Alternatively, your child can pick up an application form from the Reception office for you to complete and return to County or to Mrs Hollands in Reception. The school can then use the Checking Service to confirm entitlement but you may need to show up-to-date proof that you meet the qualifying criteria.

If approved, the entitlement will be credited daily to the cashless catering system.

Once entitlement is established, free school meals are continuous unless the school is notified of a change in your circumstances. If this happens we will contact you for up-to-date proof of entitlement. It is your responsibility to let us know of any changes that may affect your entitlement to free school meals. If you do not tell us of a change and your child continues to receive free meals when not entitled, you may build up a debt which will have to be repaid.

Further benefits of claiming Free School Meals include:  Help with transport costs.  Pupil Premium funding.  Help with the costs of curriculum trips

Newsletter

Our newsletter is distributed in the penultimate week of each term. The youngest member of the family in the college has responsibility for passing the newsletter on to parents/carers. However, all pupils in a family need to have a signature from a parent/carer to indicate that the newsletter has been received. The acknowledgement is in the journal. It is important that this is signed within a week of publication, particularly when we have a planned half-day closure. If you are willing to receive the newsletter via email please inform Mrs Klein at [email protected] and she will add you to the email group. It would help the college greatly if more parents/carers choose to receive the newsletter via email or were willing to access it via the website. The money saved could buy further resources for the pupils.

YEAR SEVEN NEWS

Once again, I have to state that I believe the Year Sevens are FANTASTIC! A common theme I recorded in so many settling- in reports was that they should be proud of themselves. We are truly blessed to have such a talented and lovely year group. Highlights of term 2, which I would like to share include: raising over £300 for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association selling badges (well done 7S for being in charge of this); £403.36 was raised by 7R and donated to Save the Children charity with their sponsored silence; a really enjoyable ‘Fright night’ and a very soggy ‘Bike it’ challenge to Hastings and back! I would like to thank all parents/carers for their continued support of all our fundraising activities. On this note, I would like to promote a ‘Pizza and Movie’ event after school on Friday, 5th February. The movie will be age appropriate and chosen by the year group. Further details will be given in the New Year.

House Keeping: Once again, can I plead with all parents/carers to label their child’s belongings. It is very difficult to reunite lost property to pupils if no name is in the clothing. I will be reminding all pupils to empty their lockers at the end of term, but a gentle reminder from home would be welcomed. PE kits do need a wash over the holidays! Finally, a reminder to parents regarding hair styles for the start of January. For the boys, please make sure that their hair is not too long or too short. I am certain that the girls are aware that they should not have their hair dyed but please note this. I would like to start January in a really positive manner without making any phone calls home regarding uniform and hair.

PSHEe in Term 3: Year Seven will be exploring the following themes next term: careers, managing their money, British values and work towards ‘Safer Internet Day.’

Feedback from the Parent Consultation Evening Thank you to all parents/carers who completed the parental survey. This is always a very useful tool to reflect upon and bring to my attention any concerns you may have. I will detail below the results and try to answer some of the queries you have. Importantly, I note that a few parents/carers have concerns regarding their child specifically and I would urge them to make contact with myself as soon as possible. A quick and easy way is to email me at [email protected].

Parents/carers were asked how well their child had settled into St Richard’s. 75% of parents/carers indicated ‘very well’, 22% ‘well’ and three parents indicated ‘not so well’. Many parents/carers commented upon the transition programme and I thank you for your positive responses. I will be looking closely at your suggestions and seeing where I can implement them. A major change for Year Seven has been homework and the range of time taken per night fluctuates between households. The main rule that parents must be aware of is that homework is designed to take approximately 30 minutes per subject. If you feel your child has done their allocated time please feel free to sign the journal or exercise book indicating they have done their work. This will really help their teacher see what independent work they are capable of in 30 minutes. A great resource your child could use is one of our Prep Clubs. A member of staff supervises and supports pupils in this resource. Prep Club Plus runs 3:15-4:30pm and Prep Club is 3:15-5:00pm, both Monday-Thursday. Pupils do not need to book in and can leave when they finish their work. We are now using ‘Show My Homework,’ this is a good way to see what is being set for homework for your child.

Parents/carers were asked if they felt their child was safe. 95% replied ‘yes’ and 5% indicated ‘sometimes’. The comments next to this question indicated that their child felt unhappy rather than unsafe. I would strongly urge those parents to contact either their form tutor or myself so that we can offer support.

Some parents/carers commented upon their dissatisfaction or concerns regarding public transport and, in particular, overcrowding. I would strongly urge you to contact the service providers personally and use parent power to aid us in keeping our children safe. The contact details for the trains are: www.southeasternrailway.co.uk or 0345 322 7021 and [email protected] or 03456 00 22 99.

School meals were highlighted by a few parents/carers as a concern. I can assure all parents that although on some days the Year Sevens are not first to lunch there is always a selection of food on offer. Miss Cronin guides all pupils through the queue and it is rare for a pupil to not have had their lunch by 1.10pm. Pupils must remember that if they are not first to lunch they shouldn’t start queuing. If you do have any questions and would like to speak directly to a member of the Chartwells team you can contact them via their website on http://www.dineatschool.co.uk/ eastsussexlasecondary/index.aspx.

At Parents’ Evening you should have received a ‘clubs list’ detailing 55 clubs on offer to the Year 7 pupils from Monday-Friday. I would encourage all pupils to get involved in a club at St Richard’s. If you did not receive your copy of the list please direct your child to my office where spares are kept.

Mr Bligh, Pastoral Leader Year 7 ([email protected])

YEAR EIGHT NEWS

Year 8 pupils continue to work hard in classes, participate in after-school clubs and learn more about themselves both socially and spiritually. It has been a very busy term and it’s hard to believe that we are already deep into Advent.

Charity work: A small but significant number of Year 8 pupils recently enjoyed a movie afternoon in the hall, watching ‘Tomorrowland.’ A modest sum of money was raised through cinema tickets and sales of pizza. Thank you to everyone who came along and especially to those who helped set up the hall for the PTFA annual quiz fundraiser after. Several Year 8 pupils have conducted individual charity fundraising activities, from homemade cake sales to long distance cycling. In addition to the class fundraising, which will extend throughout the year, I am really encouraged and proud to see so many individual acts of charity. I am also very proud to say that Year 8 managed to contribute 105 ‘Love in a Box’ presents, for children in Eastern Europe. The highest individual form was 8O with Miss Chong, by a narrow margin. I must say, it was very competitive towards the deadline, in a healthy way! I must extend a thank you to the respective parents and carers who inevitably support these acts and also to the tutors in Year 8 who gave very generously in many ways.

PSHEe: Learning activities continued in term 2 with work on ‘Positive Friendships and Anti-Bullying’. During November, the national ‘Anti-Bullying Week’ was firstly marked with an assembly from Mrs Hills where she encouraged the Year 8 pupils to ‘Make a Noise about Bullying’ #antibullyingweek www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk. Following on, I presented an assembly which focussed on Ben Smith. Ben is an ordinary man doing an extraordinary thing. He is (as of 3rd December) 94 marathons through his 401 marathons in 401 consecutive days challenge. Yes, you read that correctly. Ben is an inspiration to us all, but especially to pupils who have experienced bullying for simply being different. He is attempting to raise £250,000 for two charities, Kidscape and Stonewall. You can find out more, read his biography and even sponsor his challenge on www.the401challenge.co.uk. In term 3, some groups will be moving on to work involving ‘Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco Education’. Term 3 will also see the start of visits from the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, who will visit all forms by the end of term 4.

Be the Best You Can Be: Term 2 saw the first presentation of the ‘Be The Best You Can Be’ cup, for term 1, go to form 8O and Miss Chong. It will be interesting to see which form can wrestle the cup from 8O by the end of term 2, if it’s possible!

Assembly and Liturgy: As well as the ‘Anti-Bullying’ assembly during November, the Year 8 pupils paid their respects to the fallen, 101 years on from the start of WWI. Term 2 also saw the turn of form 8I, guided by Miss Crawley, to deliver an informative, engaging and entertaining assembly on RESPECT, one of the Olympic and Paralympic values emphasised through the Be the Best You Can Be cup and programme.

Mr Carradine, Pastoral Leader Year 8 ([email protected])

YEAR NINE NEWS

I am really pleased with the way Year 9 have knuckled down and got on with their work this term. Pupils are utilising ‘Show My Homework’ well and using it to ensure all homework tasks are understood and completed on time.

In PSHEe we have been looking at emotional health and well-being, including ways to deal with stress, anxiety and conflict in life. Next term, we will be looking at careers and planning for later life.

During anti-bullying week, we looked at ways in which the word ‘no’ can be used in a positive way. We spent our assembly looking at different techniques for deflecting, redirecting and channelling suggestions, questions and enquiries. Some pupils within 9H raised some intriguing and difficult questions during a debate on bullying and assertiveness that led me to believe the message of anti-bullying week was understood and being considered.

Miss Soan would like to thank Lucinda Hamilton-Burns, Wojciech Tutaj and Megan Bassett in 9L for their efforts and hard work in organising their charity event selling cakes and delivering candy canes. Our annual crazy tie day is set for mid-January and I would urge all of Year Nine to begin making the most zany and creative tie that they can. Many have begun already as they are a very competitive year group.

I would like to commend the seventeen pupils who have had postcards sent home this term for hard work, caring for others and raising money for charity. Ben Masters, Dominic Bastin and Joe Clark have been made Year 9 stars of the term this week. Well done to them!

I would like to wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Mr Doherty, Pastoral Leader Year 9 ([email protected]) YEAR TEN NEWS

I am pleased to report that Term 2 has been successful for the vast majority of Year 10 pupils. A pupil profile was sent home with the pupils at the end of last term, indicating your son/daughter’s progress in all subjects so far this academic year. If you have any concerns, however slight, about a particular subject please do not hesitate to get in contact with the teacher concerned. Any worries or issues over general progress or any pastoral matter please get in contact with me or your son/daughter’s form tutor. Please remember, we are here to help and want to work as closely with you as possible to ensure your child is happy and fulfils his/her potential.

PSHEe: Pupils will have now completed their unit of work on the topic of ‘consent’ with PC Ellis. Penny Beale is continuing to visit each form to highlight and discuss the sensitive theme of domestic abuse and in the coming weeks, the County School Nurse will begin delivering talks on STIs and contraception. We will also have a performance by the Challenge Team on saving sex for marriage in term 4. Over the next two terms, pupils will work on units related to careers, preparing for work experience and emotional resilience and well-being.

YEAR 10 MASS: Thank you to those pupils who contributed to our recent Year 10 Mass, particularly the Liturgy Reps. Our theme was ‘Waiting in Hope.’ A big thank you to Fr Barry for leading us in a reflective and prayerful Mass.

SOCIAL EVENT: At the end of last term, we held a pizza/KFC and movie evening in the hall. Over 100 pupils enjoyed a great year group social occasion to mark the end of their first term in Year 10. Pupils were impeccably behaved and there was a lovely atmosphere.

CHARITY NEWS: Congratulations and thank you to 10S for their sweet sale/guess the number of sweets in the jar which raised £47.73 for McMillan Cancer Research. Ethan Mcdonald, 10U is organising the annual charity football match between Eastbourne and Hastings pupils (date to be confirmed).

NEXT FUNDRAISING EVENT: We have organised a Year 10 Christmas Charity Open Mic Night which will take place on Thursday, 10th December in the hall from 3.30pm-5pm. We hope it will prove to be another great social event and a lovely way to end the Christmas term, as well as raising money for charity.

GLYNE GAP CHRISTMAS PARTY: On Monday, 14th December, a group of Year 10 pupils will uphold the long-standing tradition with Glyne Gap Special School, of putting on a Christmas Party for the infant school children.

Have a wonderful holiday and a reminder to all pupils to return smart, positive and ready to tackle the challenges of the New Year!

With warmest wishes to all Year 10 pupils and their families for a happy, peaceful and joyous Christmas.

Miss Easton, Pastoral Leader Year 10 ([email protected])

YEAR ELEVEN NEWS

We were delighted with the conduct of the Year 11 pupils during the exam period. In fact, our invigilators couldn’t praise them highly enough. The vast majority have appeared prepared, focussed and, best of all, calm. I am sure you will share our pride in them. Hopefully this translates into positive results for the young people (you will receive a report on this in the New Year) and for those it doesn’t a plan of action will be apparent.

Revision Sessions: These were well attended by pupils and we will send out a similar timetable of sessions well in advance of the summer exams. It was great to see so many parents at the pupil/parent maths revision sessions and my thanks go to Miss Machin, Ms Gallagher, Mrs Gaines and Mr Campbell for running these evenings. There are further evenings planned in English next term and pupils who would benefit from these will receive a letter in the New Year.

Support Sessions: Our stress busting workshops received positive reviews and I also know that the weekly yoga class is helping those with anxieties around exams. I have been asked about the possibility of running workshops after school for stress-busting techniques. This would involve a small charge (subsidised by school), if you think your son/daughter would benefit from these, please email me at the college and if we have enough for a group, I will look into organising them.

Celebration: It was lovely to see Year 11 have a chance to relax after the exams with a movie and meal event in school last Friday. We will look to build in further opportunities for this next term.

College Applications: I know many pupils have submitted applications already to colleges outside of Bexhill, Sussex Downs & Sussex Coast - applications for these colleges should now all be done over the Christmas holidays. Tutors will have finished writing references and pupils have received a lot of support and guidance in the PSHEe lessons.

PSHEe: This term we had a PSHEe lesson on driving safely (see photo right). This was a fantastic production and a deeply emotional and reflective piece of theatre on the importance of keeping yourself and others safe. Next term, we will look at managing anxiety and physical and emotional well-being. All forms will also receive a lesson from PC Ellis (our school Police liaison officer) about keeping themselves safe in relationships and around the importance of fully understanding CONSENT with regards to future relationships. As always, if any parent wishes to discuss the content of our relationships programme or wishes to withdraw their son/daughter from SRE (relationships education), please contact me at the school before the end of term.

Fundraising: Congratulations to 11H who organised a chocolate raffle to raise money for children in Syria. Thank you to all staff and pupils who supported this, a fantastic £87.21 was raised.

Contact: I will continue to make contact with parents/carers through regular emails. If for any reason you are not receiving emails from the school, please do contact Mrs Klein to be added to the list ([email protected])

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of Year 11 and their families a wonderful, peaceful and restful Christmas. With every best wish for the coming year.

Mrs Bligh, Assistant Principal & Pastoral Leader Year 11 ([email protected])

Parents/Carers of Year 11 Important Date for your diary – Thursday, 28th January 6.00pm in St Richard’s hall

HOW TO BEST SUPPORT MY CHILD IN THEIR GCSEs As you know this is an incredibly important time for your son/daughter. As we approach 2016 and the GCSE examinations we are aware of the importance of supporting our Year 11 pupils as much as possible with revision skills and exam technique.

As part of this, we have organised a special day to be held for the pupils on Thursday, 28th January to look at how they can get the very best out of their revision. Following on from excellent feedback from parents’ and pupils’ evaluation forms following the event last year, we have booked again this year, a highly recommended education consultant, Michele Miller, who organises workshops in this field, to lead this day.

Parents have an incredibly significant part to play in supporting their child in getting the best results possible; we are aware though that this can cause anxieties and stress at home as you negotiate the best way of doing this whilst maintaining positive relationships.

Mrs Miller will be running a parent information evening that same night at 6pm to help guide parents through the process of how best to support their child in the run up to exams. I cannot emphasise highly enough the importance of attending this. The evening session is for parents/carers only and there will be refreshments. If you are unable to attend yourself it is absolutely fine for a grandparent or other family member to attend on your behalf. The pupils will have experienced sessions throughout the day on how to get the most out of revision and how to improve exam technique. During this evening the different revision guides/resources for all of the subjects will be on display.

We will be making this evening as informative and helpful as possible. A letter with further details will go out in the New Year but for now please book the date in your diaries/calendars.

Mrs Bligh, Assistant-Principal

Support the vulnerable within our community this Christmas by offering them a gift.

Mufti Day: Thursday, 17th December £1 plus an item from the list below

A non-perishable item of food, a pair of socks, a pair of gloves, piece of clothing or a woollen scarf. Suggested food items:

Tinned soup Tinned Fruit Tinned Vegetables Tinned Tomatoes Tinned Potatoes Tea Tinned Fish Bag of Sugar Custard Jam Long-life Milk Chocolates Coffee Cake Sweets Mince Pies Cereal Small Gift Pasta Spaghetti Baked Beans Tinned Meat

Your gift will mean so much to those who have so little.

School Council

The School Council have been busy this year raising issues to help make our school an even better place. They are delighted that our Canteen Manager is coming in to see them next Tuesday to do a Q&A session. A number of them have volunteered to be pupil researchers where they will be trained with the necessary skills to research areas of college life which interest/concern the community. These areas have been selected by both pupils and staff.

The Council welcomed our Chair of Governors, Mr Osborne, at the last meeting and he was able to listen to their views and pass back their thoughts and opinions to the Governing Body.

Through the Council we have seen improvements occurring in ‘Show My Homework.’ All are very happy that we now have this facility.

The Council held a festive meeting on Tuesday, 8th December as they wrapped up boxes ready for Surviving Christmas.

Poppy Appeal 2015 £402.01 was collected by the school community this year. The Royal British Legion send their thanks. Without your help they would be unable to continue their vital welfare and benevolent work.

Mobile Phones

Pupils with permission to bring in a mobile phone must hand it in at Reception at the start of the day and collect it at the end of the day. The pupils concerned must not be using the phones travelling to or from school. Any phone confiscated will need to be collected by a parent/carer.

Early Closure on Friday, 18th December

There will be an early closure on Friday, 18th December when the pupils will be dismissed at 1.15pm. Please ensure that you have signed the acknowledgement for newsletter number 3 to give your son/daughter permission to leave early. Transport arrangements for pupils using public transport are as follows:

Hastings train departs 1.34 pm or 2.03 pm Eastbourne train departs 1.35 pm or 2.09 pm Hastings buses depart 1.15 pm from college Hailsham bus (98) departs 1.06 pm from Bexhill Station (please note that this bus will not be diverted to pick up from Dorset Road). All pupils who catch the 98 bus past Sidley should sign out with Mrs Jones at 12.50pm and make their way to the station bus stop. Pupils travelling on the 98 bus only as far as Sidley should catch the 1.46pm bus from the station.

Adverse Weather Should adverse weather occur and there is a possibility that the college may be closed, please check the following for information:  The college website: www.strichardscc.com. This will give a clear statement about whether the college is closed or open. The information will be available by 6.45am. The delay is caused by the need to speak to public transport and they will not make a decision on travel until 6.30am.  The East Sussex County Council school closure website: http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/educationandlearning/schools/schoolclosures.htm. This information will be available before 7.00am. This link also provides parents with the opportunity to subscribe to receive automatic RSS news feeds and emails which tell them when the college is closed.  Please also listen to local radio: Radio Sussex, Heart or Arrow FM.  Finally, there may be somebody available at the college to take calls from 7.00am.

I would like to point out to you that we will always endeavour to open, however a health and safety risk assessment will be the deciding factor if we find ourselves needing to close/close early.

Friendship and Anti-bullying This term, our Smile Ambassadors have had training on peer support. Their role is to help ensure a culture is developed in which pupils feel comfortable and supported if they are anxious about friendship issues and bullying. The pupils selected were identified by their peers and form tutors as good role models for friendship. Meetings have taken place this term to support and drive forward ideas to the whole school. The key is to ensure ideas are pupil led, but with clear support from staff. During the week, pupils took part in assemblies and had opportunities to discuss ideas and concerns during PSHEE. There was also a range of activities across the curriculum to help pupils recognise and tackle bullying including: drama and role play, opportunities to write poetry and create 3d graffiti art. What small actions could we take to make our school an even happier and safe place for everyone? If you are interested in becoming part of a school working party to tackle bullying or have any questions or concerns regarding bullying, please contact th th [email protected] 16 –20 November 2015

SAFER SCHOOLS SURVEY During term two, all pupils have had the opportunity to take part in a Safer Schools Survey. This report provides a summary of pupils’ perceptions and experiences of bullying behaviour in schools across East Sussex, together with a range of other well-being indicators. The survey asks a broad range of questions about:  Pupils’ friendships in schools.  Pupils’ perceptions and experiences of bullying in the last 12 months.  The types of bullying behaviour encountered.  What pupils believe to be the motivation behind the bullying.

It is recognised that bullying behaviour remains a key concern for pupils and parents and in the last few years the Safer Schools Survey has provided valuable information to enable schools and the Local Authority to address these concerns, by targeting support and resources where they are most needed. Mrs Hills Congratulations Congratulations to: Emily Kimber (10O) who qualified for the main draw at this year's British Junior Closed Squash Championships. Emily has been working incredibly hard at her sport out of school hours and qualifying is a result of her continued commitment to squash. The Championships were held in Manchester recently. She has also been selected to play for the Sussex County U15 squash team for the 2015/16 season.

Poppy Derhun (9H) has been to chosen to represent Sussex schools for football once again. They played their first match on the 10th October with a 10-3 win over Kent. She continues to be part of the girls’ centre of excellence at Brighton and Hove Albion training 3 times a week at Lancing. This is her fifth season there.

Hollie Young (8S) who has had a great cricket season in 2015, with her taking 36 wickets and scoring 350 runs in hardball cricket during the season. At recent presentation evenings, Hollie was awarded “Bowler of the Year” for Sussex CCC U12s, where she took 14 wickets at an economy of 1.81 runs per over. For Bexhill CC, Hollie became the first female to be awarded the “Stanley Courtenay Shield,” which was awarded for her performance during the end of season county U12 (mixed) cricket festival, where she took 11 wickets in 4 matches, with a best of 6 wickets for 4 runs in a match against Newhaven CC. During the U12 festival week, Hollie finished 2nd in the bowling list and 15th out of 1,500 children who bowled during all the festival weeks (U11, U12, U13, U15 and U16). The photograph shows Hollie receiving her Sussex bowler of the year award from Freya Davies, a regular first team player for Sussex.

Lucia Caitar (7F) has a best friend who has cancer. She has cut off her own long hair to help her friend who is undergoing treatment and has lost her hair. This is a most selfless and beautiful act of kindness.

Thomas and Bradley Ayres (7R & 8O), who, as part of the Westerleigh Judo Club, were presented with the Queens Award for Voluntary Service - equivalent to a group MBE on the 30th October.

Max Lai (10L) who recently received his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award.

Louise Wilson (10O) who read a news bulletin last Friday on BBC Sussex as part of takeover day. She sounded very professional and was calm and clear.

Dominic Carey (8F) has been invited to join the Eastbourne College based MCC Hub for U13 Cricket Academy. He will begin training on Saturday mornings from January.

Talia Knight-Farman (7F) who competed in the 2015-16 South East Regional Schools Trampoline Championship at Gillingham on Sunday, 29th November. This was her first experience of a trampoline competition and she was against 79 competitors in the under 14s category! Overall, Talia came 3rd and will now be going through to the Southern Zone Championships in January.

Special Educational Needs

Pupils in Year 9 with a Statement of Special Educational Needs will have a Transfer Review to replace their usual Annual Review in the spring term. The Statement will then be transferred over into the new Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in accordance with the revised SEN Code of Practice in 2014. Parents will be advised of the process in January. Mrs Tadros, SENCO

Buildings Update

Following refurbishment of two science laboratories and the Food Technology room over the summer, problems with our plumbing system were identified. Consequently, major pipework removal was needed over the mid-term break. Additionally, leaks in the changing room block and Music Area block have led to a replacement roof this term.

As you can imagine such major repair works eat up a considerable amount of the maintenance budget. Consequently, if you do not already do so, can I urge you to contribute to the Governors’ Building Fund. As a ‘Voluntary Aided’ school the Governors are required to fund 10% of the cost of any major building development. We therefore ask all parents/carers to make a voluntary contribution of £30.00 per family per annum. This can be made annually, quarterly or monthly either by banker’s standing order or cheque. For those parents/carers who pay income tax, we would urge you to also complete a Gift Aid Declaration so that the school can benefit by a further 25% or £25 for every £100 donated. Cheques should be made payable to St Richard’s Catholic College.

Thank you for any help you can offer.

Miss Cronin

REMINDERS

If your son/daughter needs to leave school during the day (for medical appointments/college interviews etc), please write a note in his/her journal giving a short explanation. This can then be shown to the teacher whose class your son/daughter needs to leave, and to Mrs Jones, the Attendance Officer, when your son/daughter signs out.

If your son/daughter is going to arrive late to college for any reason, please report this on the Pupil Absence line in the normal way, or let Mrs Jones know in advance, so that we can account for your child's whereabouts.

You are also reminded that if a bus or train is delayed or cancelled then your child should catch the next available bus/train.

MFL CLUB

This term, pupils have researched Christmas recipes from France, Germany and Spain, as well as looked up interesting facts to create a fabulous advent calendar. In the spirit of Christmas, there is plenty to share with you in this newsletter. We have the featured factoids, a Christmas quiz, recipes and a new club starting for KS4.

All pupils are invited on Wednesday, 16th December to the bake-off to be held at lunch-time in the linkway. They will have the opportunity to taste delicious cakes as well as help raise money for Surviving Christmas.

Christmas Quiz 1. When do families in France traditionally open their Christmas presents? 2. What is the name of a typical dessert for a Christmas meal in France? 3. What is “Happy Christmas” in French? 4. What is the Spanish for “Christmas Eve”? 5. On which day do Spanish children normally open their Christmas presents? 6. What does the word “Navidad” mean? Why? 7. Where does Nikolaus leave presents for the children on 6th December in Germany? 8. What is Stille Nacht? 9. Who is Knecht Ruprecht? 10. What does the Greek word Θεοφάνεια signify?

Film Night FUN FACTS Wednesday, 16th 1. December 28th is called Santo Inocentes and is December similar to our April Fool’s Day when pranks are played. @ 3:30pm 2. French people start their Christmas celebration on in B13 Christmas Eve. It is called “le réveillon de Noël.” Snacks & drinks 3. Did you know that the Christmas tree tradition on sale originally came from Germany.

Christmas recipes: From France: Bûche de Noël http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1799645/bche-de-no From Spain: Roscón de Reyes http://www.spanish-food.org/desserts-roscon-de-reyes.html From Germany: Stollen http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/stollen_27553

Careers Information

SPEAKERS FOR SCHOOLS The school was successful in securing a talk from Speakers 4 Schools. This is a company that provides state schools with engaging talks from the UK’s leading, eminent figures across a range of industries and backgrounds, free of charge.

Our selected speaker was Stephen Welton; he has over 20 years of experience in the development capital and private equity industry. He joined Business Growth Fund (BGF) after 10 years with CCMP Capital, a global private equity firm. Stephen was a Founder Partner and member of the investment committee. He has extensive experience as an investor working with private companies, most recently as Chairman of Edwards, the global engineering group headquarters in the UK. Before this, he was Chairman and CEO of TV Travel Shop prior to its successful sale to a global media group. Stephen also has 10 years of UK private equity and growth capital experience as Managing Director of Barclays Private Equity and at Henderson Ventures, which he co-founded.

Stephen spoke with 30 pupils from Years 10 and 11 on his career in the development capital and private equity industry. Why he chose the career path he has and how the industry he is working in is constantly changing with the vast changes in technology. I would like to thank Stephen for giving up his time to come to speak with the pupils.

CREATIVE CAFÉ On Wednesday, 21st October, fifteen Year 10 pupils took part in a Creative Café event. The event was organised by Culture Shift. The following pupils were chosen to attend: Jasmine Angel, Fiona Campbell, Hannah Brazier-Adams, Harvey Godin, Wiktor Kwaterniak, Liana Espiritu, George Kee, Aidan Phillips, Meg Isaacs, Hannah Heggie, Lucy Jackson, Roshana Iruthayaraj, Megan Tattersall, Alexia Rodway and Pierce Barns.

The Creative Café was designed to support business engagement with local schools. It provided a fun and structured environment for young people to engage and interact with businesses in practical challenges and round table discussions. There were representatives from the following industries at this event: Hastings Pier, White Rock Theatre, Azur Marina, local guest houses and shops.

The event was set up as a Café, with young people and business representatives at every table. The day started with an ice breaker task ‘what’s my job?’ The pupils were provided with questions and prompted to think of their own to find out as much as they could on their business representative and their career.

The employers were asked to design a practical challenge for the pupils which would last 30 minutes, followed by feedback to the rest of the participants. It was lovely to see how well the pupils got involved with the challenges, from designing a wedding with a £1000 budget, the art of making tea correctly, a Christmas menu for a guest house and ways to promote the pier and raise money for the redevelopment.

APPRENTICESHIPS An Apprenticeship is a job with training which allows individuals to earn while they learn and gain nationally recognised qualifications. An Apprenticeship enables a young person to enter the job market and develop their skills. With over 250 different types of Apprenticeships covering over 1,400 job roles, Apprenticeships provide a route into training in the skills employers want in a variety of industries and sectors, from Nursing to Graphic Design, Horticulture to Electric Vehicle Engineering. There are over 100,000 employers offering Apprenticeships in the UK. The National Apprenticeship website: www.apprenticeships.org.uk houses the on-line vacancies system. At any time there are up to 15,000 Apprenticeship jobs being advertised on the website. Pupils can search for vacancies on this site or they can register and set up to receive alerts informing them of new vacancies that might interest them.

ONLINE CAREERS RESOURCES The college subscribes to the following online careers resources, both can be accessed via the school website or by the web address listed below.  Fast Tomato (www.fasttomato.com) - This website is simple and easy to use, using sophisticated psychometric assessments to highlight each person’s interest, attitudes and motivations. Fast Tomato is then able to suggest individualised and personally tailored careers and courses. Pupils are given genuine insights into accurate and highly relevant career information. For the registration code to create an account please contact Miss Crawley.  eClips (www.eclips-online.co.uk) - This is an easy-to-use information system that can be accessed wherever you can get online, with details on over 500 jobs and careers. The system also includes a wide range of leaflets on topics relating to career choice, education, training and employment as well as information on lifestyle topics such as health. To log onto this resource, please contact Miss Crawley for the password.

WORK EXPERIENCE Just a quick reminder, that all Year 10 pupils must pick 3 possible choices for work experience from the database or put in the information of their own placement by Friday, 29th January 2016. This can be accessed by entering the following website address (There is also a link on the school website): https://aspire.eastsussex-brighton.org.uk/wexpupilchoiceslogin.aspx?aspirenetview=student Once this has been done we can then start to contact employers and place the pupils at a suitable placement. This will work on a first come first served basis.

If you require any further information on any of the above please do not hesitate to contact Miss Crawley, who is based in B5.

Miss Crawley, Careers and Work Experience Co-ordinator ([email protected])

Year 9 Curriculum Choices

Year 9 have been reflecting on future choices in their PSHEe lessons. The curriculum booklet will be issued to Year 9 pupils during the last week of term. It will contain a description of each subject in the Key Stage Four curriculum. It will also contain a sample of the options pathways available for Year 9 pupils. On Thursday, 7th January the Curriculum Evening will reinforce and develop the information contained in the curriculum booklet. The evening is an opportunity for Year 9 pupils and their parents/carers to talk with Subject Leaders about the expectations of each course and to discuss the most suitable course combinations.

The Curriculum Evening is followed by the Year 9 Parent Consultation Evening on Thursday, 21st January. This is an excellent opportunity to discuss your son or daughter’s progress with subject teachers, to gauge their suitability for particular GCSE subjects. Year 9 pupils are expected to attend both of the evenings in school uniform. The options choice sheet is issued to the Year 9 pupils to be completed at home in consultation with parents/carers, and returned to the form tutor. Places are not allocated on a first come, first served basis so the pupils should not rush to return the options choice sheet the very day after it has been issued. The choices have significant implications for Further and Higher Education, as well as employment, and they should be considered carefully.

Every effort is made to allocate the maximum number of first preferences from the options choices and the number of second preference allocations is normally very low, but pupils should consider with care which subject they allocate as a second preference. The preference allocation and subsequent timetabling is a complex process and, as a consequence, pupils are not informed of their allocation until term 6.

Miss Machin, Timetabler

Interested in Teaching? If you are a past pupil or parent/carer with a good quality degree and are interested in teaching, why not consider Thrive Teaching School Alliance as your training provider? Alongside the University of Sussex based in Brighton, we offer a School Direct route into teaching which awards you a PGCE and Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) upon its completion.

Within the Thrive Teaching School Alliance (Search on UCAS) we have many training places available at St Richard’s and within our other partner schools for September 2016. For some subjects, funding is also available. Have a look on the college’s website under ‘Teaching schools’ or contact [email protected] for more information.

There is a ‘Train to Teach’ event on Wednesday, 27th January from 5-8pm at The St Leonards Academy, where you can find out about the options available to you.

Duke of Edinburgh On November 7th, the South Downs was invaded by 42 enthusiastic DofE pupils as we took the new Bronze group out for a spin to see if they could hack it…..and they could! It was a blustery day, to say the least, and although it ended with a comforting sunset there were points when you couldn’t see more than 100m and it was raining sideways. Whilst passing Firle Beacon, we encountered a large film crew making a TV Ad for a new Google App. If you look closely at it you might see us in the background battling our way along the ridge. The security team told us the ad is supposed to be based in Wales so don’t be fooled; now you know! Given the conditions, it was all the more impressive to see smiling faces at the end of what was quite a gruelling 13 miles. Well done everyone, the summer expeditions will seem a doddle in comparison.

We are pleased to announce that on 3rd February 2016, St Richard’s will be hosting the Hastings and Rother Area presentations. It’s a great opportunity for participants to receive their Awards and celebrate all they have achieved; we look forward to seeing many of our current Year 11 group collect their certificates on home turf. On a similar note, congratulations to Max Lai in Year 10 who pursued his Bronze Award outside of school and has recently received his certificate. It takes a lot of commitment to do this and is an excellent achievement: well done, Max.

DofE has recently changed its admission policy regarding the age of enrolment and as of this year we are able to enrol pupils in Year 9. As a result we propose to do another round of enrolments after Christmas so that the current Year 9 pupils can begin their Award. However, they will not start the expedition section until Year 10, but can start working towards the completion of the other 3 sections. Hopefully, this will result in some pupils being able to go on to complete the Silver Award before they leave St Richard’s. So, Year 9s, if you are interested keep your eyes peeled and your ears to the ground for more information early in the New Year.

Finally, thanks to all the staff who so faithfully serve and give their time to help run the expedition section for our pupils, namely: Mrs Nicholls, Mr Padgham, Dr Durkin, Miss Machin, Mrs Gaines and our trainee teachers who came out at the weekend to help recently notably: Mr Hall, Miss Beadle and Mr Emanuele.

Mr Harwood (DofE coordinator) Answers to MFL Quiz

1. Christmas Eve 6. “The nativity”

2. La bûche de noël 7. In their boots 3. Joyeux Noël 8. The original title 4. La Nochebuena for “Silent th 5. January 6 (Epiphany) Night”

9. Father Christmas’ servant who leaves twigs in the shoes of the children who have been naughty and are in his “black book” 10. It means “Epiphany”

MUSIC DEPARTMENT

Glyndebourne: A pupil experience – “On 22nd October, a group of pupils from all years went on a trip to Glyndebourne Opera House to see Mozart’s ‘Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail.’ The opera was fantastic and my favourite scene involved two of the main characters having an egg fight in the kitchen! My group was very lucky and managed to get seats in a box, so we had a brilliant view of the stage. It was a very enjoyable experience.” Joe Baszczak, Year 7

Advent Service: Rehearsals are well under way for the Advent Service, which is taking place on Wednesday, 16th December at 7.00pm in the college hall. As in previous years, there will be contributions from the choir, orchestra and staff choir as well as dance company, drama groups and readers. It should be a lovely evening.

Extra-curricular Music: A quick reminder of what’s on until the end of term. Monday: Advent Service musicians (1.00pm) Tuesday: Advent Service musicians (1.00pm) and Choir (3.30-4.15pm) Wednesday: Rock School (3.15-4.15pm) Thursday: Advent Service musicians (1.00pm) and Drum Club (1.00pm) Friday: String group (1.00pm)

Best wishes from Mrs Byrne and myself for a peaceful Christmas!

Mr Roadknight, Subject Leader – Music DRAMA DEPARTMENT

It’s a very exciting time in the drama department at the moment, with rehearsals under way for the Advent Service and a fantastic 56 pupils beginning their Arts Award journey this term. The GCSE groups have been completing their exam performances and it is safe to say we have a huge amount of talent here at St Richard’s. Next term, will see us taking part in the annual Holocaust event in Hastings; a local Shakespeare festival and lucky Year 10 pupils will be off to see The National Theatre’s ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ in London’s West End. There are ample opportunities to get involved, and we are always on the lookout for performers. Please ask your son/daughter to come along to drama club and get involved!

Anti-Bullying Week The Year 7 pupils have been ‘making a noise’ about bullying over the last two weeks by using the theme to create their first piece of assessed drama. They have explored the idea of the ‘bystander’ and included several ways to resolve difficult situations. Well done Year 7, I am hugely impressed with your ability to create thought-provoking drama.

Liturgy We have a range of pupils involved in the Advent Service which takes place on Wednesday, 16th December at 7.00pm. The pupils and the Performing Arts team have put something very special together this year; we hope to see all parents and carers there to celebrate Christmas with us. Be prepared to sing!

Arts Award As mentioned, a fantastic 56 pupils have signed up to complete the Arts Award this year. This Award offers pupils the chance to gain recognition for the arts activities they participate in and is a nationally recognised qualification. If you would like more information, please come to see me. You can sign up all year round, and complete it entirely at your own pace.

Our Technical Facilities I am happy to say, that with the help of a local technician, we are updating our lighting facilities in the hall, and have begun rejuvenating the school stage in the hope that more of our pupils can take part in the technical aspect of performance. Pupils interested in lighting, sound, set, costume and props should come to find me. I am on the lookout for stage crew and lighting operatives to help out with the school show this year.

Mrs Dunster

History Department News KEY STAGE 3 HISTORY CLUB The Key Stage 3 History Club is now in full swing, running weekly on a Tuesday in A9, 12.55-1.45. Miss Beadle has been leading the group in developing independent projects on specific areas of interest. There have been some fantastic ideas from the group and it is exciting to see the progress being made. It would be fantastic to see more attendance, particularly from Year 7.

GCSE HISTORY YEAR 9: Following the changes implemented by the Government to our GCSE subjects we are delighted to confirm that our exam board, Edexcel, has now been accredited and we are well underway with planning our new syllabus for 2016. The topics we will now be delivering at GCSE (for the current Year 9) will be:  Medicine in Britain, c1250-present and The British sector of the Western Front, 1914-1918: injuries, treatment and the trenches  Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c 1060-88  The American West, 1835-1895  Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39 I will be available at the Curriculum Evening to discuss the new specification, but if you or your son/daughter have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me.

YEAR 10: As the year draws to a close, so too does the Medicine Through Time unit for Year 10. Pupils have completed some fantastic work throughout this course and assessment results are encouraging. I would like to remind pupils to ensure that books are organised and up to date before we break up for Christmas. Remember, we will not revisit Medicine until we revise for the exams in the spring term of Year 11. When we return in January, Year 10 will begin preparation work for the Controlled Assessment which is focussed on the Vietnam War. Pupils are encouraged to begin preparing for this over the Christmas break by researching the war and watching recommended DVD’s relating to the topic. Please see your class teacher for suggestions.

YEAR 11: Congratulations and well done to all our Year 11 historians who worked so hard during the recent mock exam period. Both papers were completed with maturity and drive and it was clear that much revision and preparation had been carried out by the majority of pupils. As we progress in to the New Year we will be completing the Nazi Germany unit and will move into our final unit focussed on source analysis skills. Keep up your hard work and positive approach, Year 11, it will all be worthwhile!

Finally, thank you to Miss Neilan, Miss Soan and Mr Fegan for leading a fantastic trip to Berlin during the October holiday. I know that the pupils gained a huge amount from the trip and all had a wonderful time. See pupil reflections of the trip on the following pages and some photographs below. Happy Christmas and a very happy New Year to you all.

Mrs Campbell, Subject Leader of History

Berlin Trip pictures left to right: the Jewish Museum, remains of the Berlin Wall and inside the Olympic Bell Tower

The Berlin Trip: Pupil Reflections

Berlin, home to three and half million people, welcomed thirty of our History pupils. A city enriched in culture and history yet ever evolving with its thriving scene for the arts and industry, was the perfect destination to further our knowledge of Germany between 1918-1945. It was both eerie and moving to be standing in the same places that we have been reading about; the places where great acts of atrocity and also great acts of humanity were performed.

The beauty of the trip was that it enhanced our knowledge of the course and provided us with a real sense of what life was like under Nazi regime. Many sites of the city linked to the content we have been learning in class, for example visiting Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, the Reichstag Building and the remains of the Berlin Wall; all aiding our learning.

The trip consisted of many highlights so picking just the best parts is difficult. On the first day we visited the Reichstag building, where we had an audio tour of the dome and admired the truly incredible piece of architecture. The glass dome overlooks the whole of Berlin and from this amazing vantage point we could see the whole city. In one direction we could see the grey of the industrialisation that typifies Berlin but in another all you could see was a sprawling forest, the Tiergarten, once a hunting ground for the king, now lit up in its autumn colours and with mist rising from it.

On our second morning, we got up bright and early (a struggle for 30 Photograph by Anya Jackson teenagers) and travelled to just outside Berlin to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. The whole area was virtually empty, freezing cold, and covered in dew and mist. Walking around in small groups, with barely anyone talking, made the whole experience even eerier than we had expected. We found ourselves standing in the same place that thousands of starving, freezing and exhausted innocent people stood, simply because of their faith or political preference. It sent chills down our spines, and it wasn’t just because of the minus temperatures. Here we were in a place that we had read about, studied, seen pictures of, heard eyewitness accounts, and yet until we stood there it was always just a horror story that we couldn’t quite believe. The horror was unimaginable, and there really are no words to describe it, but at the same time it was so very rewarding and humbling to be standing in the same place where some of the people, like Pastor Niemoller, stood up and spoke out against the Nazi regime, and many in turn lost their lives.

Another highlight of the trip was our visit to the Resistance Museum. We had been up since six thirty, feeling a little tired and craving some much needed time in bed but at the final stop, the Resistance Museum, we were given a tour by the sweetest old lady, a true gem. Her pure passion for the topic was infectious, instantly rubbing off on us, despite our weariness. We were all inspired by what she said, and I would be lying if I said that the thought of bringing her to do all of our tours didn't cross my mind.

There was more to the trip than immersing ourselves in the history; we were also given an opportunity to get a real taste of what Berlin is like today. The city itself, so serene and quiet, brought us all together as a group. Whilst on the trip we made new friendships and developed existing ones.

Overall, this was one of the best trips that we have had the opportunity to experience; it was enriching and interesting, but it was also fun to be with a great group of people in a new city. We got to see so many moving, fascinating, and cool places, and we definitely do not think that we will be forgetting this trip in a hurry.

Oliver Crabb & Isobel Hamilton-Burns

The Berlin Trip Photography Competition Winner: Moira Mendoza This photo was taken at one of the exhibitions at the Jewish Museum in Berlin.

“Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war”- John Adams

We were led to a cornered away area at one end of the large museum. Before we even arrived, we could hear the ringing clangs of metal.

There were already people gathered at the edge of it. It being a pathway of circular metal- steel, they told us- objects that laid haphazardly on the ground, you couldn’t even see the floor- in fact, those steel objects were the floor. That’s what made it more eerie. The objects looked like deformed faces; shapes were cut into it to make it look like grey screaming faces, terrible, simple faces. Like the Scream by Edvard Munch, but these faces weren’t painted with colour.

I could see people stepping on them, each step making a wailing echo in the strange room. I was curious to see where it led. I pushed ahead of the group, carelessly wandering further into the darkness. It was a dead end. I stared at the wall, turned around and crouched low- camera in position. It clicked.

From the very end of the path I looked out into the light where I had just come from. People were whispering, treading on the steel faces, none of them were shouting, but the clanging of their footsteps on the screaming faces made it seem so very loud. The faces. The faces made it eerie, I didn’t want to talk at that moment- I didn’t think it would be respectful. I regretted stepping on the faces so carelessly- the faces wrenched out that crowding feeling of guilt.

On the way back, I walked on my tiptoes, I tried to make the least amount of noise as I could. Being the source of that sound gave a tight feeling in my chest and a choking sensation in my throat.

The faces. The faces. They were the souls of the suffering; the dead who died in vain; the ghosts of war made real in physical form. I didn’t want to add to their pain. I didn’t cry. But, I wanted to. I made my way back looking at the faces I stepped on; I didn’t want to repeat what I did at the beginning, stepping carelessly on the souls and only looking forward to find out what lay ahead. I think that says a lot about us as humans.

This photo shows what I wanted to convey: a blurry mirage of people in the light looking ahead, stepping on the pitiful souls on the ground, screaming. Can you see it? The ghosts of the past come to life. The faces are still screaming, but the people are still standing. And every step they take hurts. Moira Mendoza, Year 11

Geography News

Isle of Wight Residential It’s been a busy time in the Geography department. We have had a fantastic response to our Isle of Wight residential trip in July 2016. The trip is now full. If anyone failed to get a place but is still interested in going, please let Mrs Hoyle know at [email protected] as we are compiling a reserve list.

Geography Awareness Week During the last week of November, we held a Geography Awareness Week. This is a national campaign run by the Geographical Association to promote a greater appreciation amongst young people of how we encounter geography in our everyday lives. Activities varied from those with form tutors to quizzes run at lunchtime. It was great to see all year groups as well

as staff participating and having fun with geography.

Year 11 Revision Just a reminder that, although Year 11 have completed their mocks, we are expecting them to continue writing their revision notes using their exercise books. They can also access the following websites to enhance their revision:-  http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/  www.georesources.co.uk an excellent link site with many web-based resources indexed by subject  www.geographyrocks.co.uk/gcse-revision.html excellent site for the AQA exam

Mrs Hoyle, Subject Leader

Numeracy at Home

Walking through a playing card In this activity you are going to cut up a small sheet of paper (or an old playing card) and make a hole big enough to walk through. Sounds impossible? Read on. A great party trick for your Christmas party! What you need: scissors, pens, paper (try a sheet of A4 first) or small card.

1) Fold the paper/ card in half lengthways. Competition Time Win a Chocolate Orange!

2) Divide the paper into 16 sections as shown by the lines below.

The dimensions of the Miss Gallagher’s Chocolate Orange box are 6.5cm x 5cm x 8 cm What is the volume of the box?

The Chocolate Orange fits 3) Cut along all of the lines that are drawn. perfectly into the box. What is the volume of the Chocolate Orange?

How much space is left over in

the box?

Entries to Ms Gallagher in B6 by Friday, 18th December

4) Taking care to leave the end strips intact, cut through the fold that you originally made when you folded the paper lengthways. The Taller Christmas Tree?

Christmas trees are planted in a rectangular array of 10 rows and 12 columns. The farmer chooses the shortest tree in each of the columns and then marks the tallest of these 12 shortest trees with a letter A. Then the farmer chooses the tallest tree from each of the 5) Open out the paper and start walking! rows and marks the shortest of these 10 tallest trees with a letter B.

Which is the taller tree, A or B?

Ms Gallagher, Numeracy Coordinator

Library News

Southern Schools Book Award 2015 The Southern Schools Book Award continues with the voting day happening as I write. Participants this year are: Lucy Woolridge, 9I; Katie Nash, 9S; Alienor Gregg-Smith, 10S and Helena Hudson, 9I. We are invited to the very prestigious Awards Evening at Roedean School in January. I am pleased to announce that the The CILIP very popular author and illustrator, Chris Riddell, will be there, demonstrating his skills for our enjoyment.

Film Club News Film Club screened ’27 Dresses’ at the end of November, a cheerfully funny rom-com with some strong characters in the leading roles. So Carnegie far this group have enjoyed a western and a war movie; the rom-com made for a pleasant change of genre and pace. We have space for new members, so if it is something your child would enjoy, ask them to see me for more details.

Library Cards and Locker Keys Initiative seem to be a success! I have now issued Library Card key rings to all of Years 7, 8 and 9. Hopefully, Year 10 will receive theirs before Christmas. Pupils are reminded to attach their locker keys to these new key rings, enabling lost ones to quickly find their owner. All pupils need to have a Library barcode in order to borrow books, CD-Roms, DVDs and Laptops from the Library. Should a pupil in Year 11 not have a Library card, please ask them to see me – replacement cards are £1.00. The new Locker Key/Library Barcode Key Ring combinations are £4.00 to replace.

Grandparents’ Day went really well, with grandparents congregating in the library, attending a beautiful mass in the main hall and enjoying tours of the school. The Library was happy to host and provide a base for refreshments and networking between grandparents, who enjoyed seeing the school in action on this very special day.

Remembrance Day was marked in the library by a double display of Fiction and Non-Fiction books and DVDs, illustrating war and supported by two new book lists. Fiction writers such as Michael Morpurgo, Sam Angus and Theresa Breslin have drawn extensively on this topic for inspiration, helping pupils to understand and empathise with those caught in confusing and terrible circumstances. Non-fiction on this subject helps our young historians to unpick the complexities of wars and it is a useful support to those doing GCSE History.

Book Quote of the Month: A good friend sent me this (see left), and I felt it was so wonderful, I had to pass it on. Stephen King was right to say ‘Books are a uniquely portable magic!’

And Finally… The Librarians wish all readers and their families a very happy Christmas and New Year – and remember, there is no better gift than a BOOK – unless it’s a BOOK TOKEN !

Ms Tocknell, Librarian

Literacy News

National Poetry Day Congratulations to the winners of the National Poetry Day Competition. There were 80 entries in total and the standard was very high. The winners are as follows: Tom Ayres (7R) won first prize, Dilys Cornford (8I) came second and third prize was Millie White (7R).

Ms Westwood, Literacy Co-ordinator

English Trip to see Michael Morpurgo, 13th November 2015

On Friday, 13th November, I went with 32 other Year 7 and Year 8 pupils to see Michael Morpurgo speaking at Sussex Coast College. Michael Morpurgo was introduced by Quentin Blake, who is my favourite illustrator. As you can see from the pictures, we had a fantastic time.

It was such a great experience. Michael Morpurgo told us how he fell in love with stories when he was a boy. He said, “My mother read me ‘The Elephant’s Child’ by Rudyard Kipling. You can hear the music in the words. They are beautiful words. My mother read it beautifully because she loved it and in doing so she showed me that she loved me. Stories do that; they bring people together.” He talked about where he gets his inspiration and all about the kinds of frustrations he sometimes experiences when he starts to write a book. It was really interesting to learn about the process of writing a book. He told us, “Fill your head with the world around you. Keep your eyes open. Keep your ears open. Most important of all, keep your hearts open.”

After his talk he read a story to us: “Cockadoodle-doo, Mr Sultana!” which astonished me because we have this book at home and it was lovely to hear him reading it.

At the end of the evening, Michael Morpurgo allowed us all to have our photographs taken with him and he gave us each a sticker with his signature, to put into our books. Thank you very much, Mrs Midghall, for taking us on this special trip which I will always remember. Naomi Britt, 7O

This term the English department began its programme of More Able activities with a master class each for KS3 and KS4.

KS3 Master Class: In a deliberately controversial move, Miss Wood began the KS3 master class by suggesting that Shakespeare’s existence was doubtful! The pupils then, with a healthy dose of donuts and lollipops to fuel their more able brains, investigated the resources, videos and articles provided to decide who they felt was the most likely candidate to be the ‘real’ Shakespeare (Miss Wood’s top suspect is Christopher Marlowe but you can make up your own minds!)

“On the 11th of November, Miss Wood hosted a Shakespeare master class, exploring the identity of Shakespeare. We looked at different possibilities of who Shakespeare could have been and wrote our cases with evidence to back our predictions. Some of the suspects included: The Arab Sheik, The Earl of Oxford, Elizabeth I, Christopher Marlowe and Francis Bacon and many more. It was an interesting experience that was also educational and the question still remains: was Shakespeare real or was it just an alias?” Kirsten-Andrea Ilagan and Nina Lazar (9F)

KS4 Master Class: The KS4 master class focussed on bringing poetry alive in the form of performance poetry. Having listened to and watched modern performances from Sarah Kay, Alex Dang and Taylor Mali, pupils used online resources to investigate a wide range of performance poets and consider how poetry can be used to provide a voice and a message.

"I thoroughly enjoyed learning about all the different, modern poetry that is not just about being analysed, but being spoken with such emotive expressions! We watched and discussed the spoken poetry and I know I came out of it feeling inspired and interested in more! The poets all managed to fixate you about the subject they chose to speak about in their poem, and the topics addressed issues that were definitely thought about, which I would never have guessed for poetry. It used to be something definitely out of my reach, but I feel like the master-class taught me how poems are all meant to be heard and not read!" Chesly Sunny (10L)

Science News

SEA LIFE CENTRE TRIP A minibus full of Year 9 and 10 pupils attended the first Marine Conservation and Careers Evening at the SEA LIFE Centre in Marine Parade, Brighton, the world’s oldest working aquarium attraction. In the exhibition halls, pupils visited the newly revamped tanks of marine life, as well as walking through the underwater tunnel allowing a much more ‘up close and personal’ view of sharks and rays. A series of short talks from conservationists about their work and career path raised many questions from the audience about how to become more involved in animal conservation. The most popular talks included a discussion about habitat protection from the Galapagos Conservation Trust, the Shark Trust and SEA LIFE’s own conservator’s descriptions of the Seahorse Breeding programme.

INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS LECTURE, UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX Dr Jen Gupta, astrophysicist and science communicator, shared her infectious enthusiasm for all things astronomical with a lively talk about Blazars: Nature’s Death rays. It appears that there is a monster lurking in the centre of some galaxies. Fuelled by matter falling onto a supermassive black hole and powerful enough to outshine a galaxy, these 'blazars' have been described as nature's death ray guns. Year 9 astronomers enjoyed the talk immensely, ‘A real treat and actually something we are studying too!’

CREST AWARDS RSC Global Experiments MAD scientists from Years 10 and 11 have been joining in with the RSC’s Global Experiment for 2015, which is focused on investigating the use of hydrogels across the world. The experiment involves investigating the absorbancy of hydrogels in common materials found in products such as disposable nappies, personal hygiene fabrics, wound dressings and disposable contact lenses, in addition to extensive use in horticulture. Pupils have determined that branded nappies offer the greatest absorbancy whereas cheaper brands are less efficient and slower to absorb a given volume. Currently, St Richard’s is one of hundreds of schools around the world repeating the experiment. A series of further experiments to test other hypotheses are planned, ultimately seeking to answer the question, ‘Does the use of hydrogels impact on the availability of water in a geographical region?’ The conclusion from this experiment will allow pupils to propose a method to use the hydrogels to retain water in arid regions.

SCIENCE CLUBS Year 7 Young Investigators Club continues to meet with Mr Holloway and Mr Lahache on Tuesday lunch-times in Lab 7.

Year 8 Fab Fizzix takes place on a Tuesday lunch-time in Lab 4, with Year 10 pupils Natalia Srodek, Chesly Sunny and Jitsy Juda Thadevus supervising hands- on and occasionally messy experiments with a physics focus.

Upper School StAR Club (St Richard’s Amateur Radio) StAR Club pupils have been busy preparing for their practical examination, demonstrating that they are competent to tune into radio frequency broadcasts and able to communicate using both Morse code and in appropriate radio lingo employing the phonetic alphabet. Cries of ‘CQ, CQ, CQ (seek you….) Golf Three Yankee November November’ could be heard from the QRZ Radio Hut in Herstmonceux as the whole team qualified individually for their practical assessment over a competition weekend. Pupils made contact with fellow Amateur Radio enthusiasts from Bulgaria to Belgium and Sweden to Sri Lanka! They contacted a total of 15 countries.

Chris Varghese filed the following report: ‘I enjoyed this day and talking to a person called Jim from Sacramento. It was really moving talking to someone on a radio even though it took me ages to find the right frequency to talk to him on. I am also happy that I passed my practical exam and I look forward to my written exam which I hope to take in February.’

RSC SPARKLE DAY Year 7 and 10 pupils from St Richard’s and over 200 Year 5 and 6 pupils from six primary schools welcomed ‘The Magic of Oxygen’ chemistry show last week and were thrilled by bangs, flashes and the occasional explosion in the hall. The show was delivered by National Science Museum favourites Dr Rob Janes and Dr Mike Batham of the Open University as they guided pupils through the occasionally surprising properties of oxygen. Amongst other stealth learning, pupils learnt that liquid oxygen, at -183oC, is pale blue and is magnetic!

Year 10 pupils were particularly impressed creating the following tweets after the show: ‘Wow! I saw chemistry from a whole new perspective! Bright lights and big bangs, I learnt without even noticing! Each experiment was more intriguing than the last. Impressed and amused by the performance put on, can almost pass as magic.’ Maisie Southon, 10H.

Lucy Jackson of 10I tweeted, ‘OMG just saw the greatest show on this planet. Just learned the author of these fascinating discoveries. Slight bit worried the sea’s turning acidic due to CO2.’

Rebecca Standen of 10U added, ‘@sparklemagicofoxygen – WOW! That was oxy- mazing! I never knew that oxygen was magnetic!’ The girls won RSC prizes for their efforts. Mr Elms of Catsfield Primary wrote to thank us for the invitation, sharing that his pupils, ‘had a wonderful time and loved the exploding balloons and the coloured flames.’ Mrs Forester of St Mary’s School also contacted us to pass on her thanks. She wrote, ‘Thank you so much for inviting us to the show this morning. The pupils loved it and have come back to school buzzing about it.’

IMECHE, IET & NASA LECTURE SERIES, UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON Astronomers and past pupils travelled to the University of Brighton for a talk from an ISS Engineer. ‘My favourite part of this trip was asking Dr Margasahayam a question on the International Space Station (ISS). He presented an emotional lecture on the ISS and also about the dangers and excitement of space travel. At the end he showed us a 17 minute video on the last flight of the Shuttle Atlantis before it finally retired.’ reported by Chris Varghese.

COMPETITION CONGRATULATIONS Congratulations to Year 9 pupils Angel Joy, Amina Bastante Pain and Lucy Woolridge who have won through to the National Finals of a science communication competition run by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) at Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, Oxford. The St Richard’s pupils join 12 other pupils from across the country as the 15 finalists selected from hundreds of entries. The Year 9 School Science Prize involved pupils submitting a 500 word essay entitled, “Why I love science.” All participating pupils will receive a certificate, whilst the 15 finalists will receive a guided tour of RAL’s state of the art facilities and the overall winner will receive a mini-iPad. We wish them luck.

FORTHCOMING SCIENCE TRIPS Sixty pupils from all year groups will visit Herstmonceux Science Centre for an evening Telescope Tour and Supper Evening and Year 9 GCSE Astronomers will spend an enrichment day at University of Sussex.

RECYCLED WREATHS Join 9U and 7S in raising funds for Syrian refugees as they make wreaths featuring recycled fabrics in stunning colours for the festive season. Three sizes of wreath are available ranging from £5 for the smallest size (6”) to £15 for the largest size (10”). Wreaths can be purchased at the annual Advent Service or will be made to order in chosen colours, if ordered and paid for on the evening (for delivery by end of term). All money raised will be donated to the Tearfund to support refugees from the Syrian conflict.

Dr Durkin Parents, Teachers & Friends Association PTFA NEWS...... PTFA NEWS...... Chair: Natalie Gaymer & Fiona Connor Vice-Chair: Nicky Cave & Karen Marsh Treasurer: Carina Hilton Secretary: Amanda Isaacs & Carole Clifton

Hello all,

The PTFA quiz on 20th November was really well attended, and, as well as it being a brilliant evening, over £500 was raised for pupil funds. Thank you to everyone who supported this and particular thanks to our now resident Quiz Masters, Barry Pope and Ross Patterson. We plan to put on a quiz again next year.

The Advent Service is on Wednesday, 16th December. The PTFA will be providing teas and coffee and of course, mince pies. The Christmas raffle will be held during the evening, with prizes including hampers which are made up of donations from PTFA members. There are many more really fantastic prizes to be won so please buy your raffle tickets!

The last PTFA meeting was on Monday, 7th December at 7pm in the staff room. We are pleased to say that the numbers attending meetings are still high, which is brilliant. Meetings are strictly kept to an hour, as time is precious for us all. We always welcome new members into the PTFA as the more people we have on board prepared to help and give us new fundraising ideas, makes our support of the school so much better. It is such a great way to give something back on behalf of our children. There is no pressure to help or get involved at every event, so if you are interested in joining the team, please come along. It would be lovely to meet even more new members.

Next term, we plan to organise a Disco for Year 7 and 8 pupils which includes a photo booth. Entry will be £3 which will include one go in the photo booth. Snacks, drinks, glow sticks and additional photo booth opportunities will also be for sale on the night. Hold the date: Friday, 11th March 2016 from 7.00-9.00pm.

Can we thank all members who have supported and helped at the following events this term: Year 11 Revision Evening, Year 7 Parents’ Evening and Quiz Night.

Have a very Happy Christmas.

From the PTFA team

Purple Hats I would like to thank all those who knitted purple hats for the London’s Children’s Hospital in their bid to raise awareness of shaken baby syndrome. I realise that I gave little notice of this request having only found the link close to the deadline, but was pleased to have posted 20 beautiful hats. This is an annual event and to date over 23,000 hats have been knitted or crocheted for this great cause.

Mrs Nicholls

Chaplaincy News

Term 2 has been filled with all sorts of spiritual life activity at St Richard’s and I would like to express my thanks to pupils, staff and clergy for their invaluable contributions.

St Richard’s Advent Service – Wednesday, 16th December at 7pm Our annual Advent Service will take place in the hall on Wednesday, 16th December at 7pm and will be repeated for all the year groups on the last day of term. The service is a wonderful way to prepare for the coming of Jesus at Christmas through readings, drama, music and dance.

Friday Morning Mass in Advent for staff and pupils Mass takes place every Friday at 8.10am in room A3. All staff and pupils are warmly invited to attend and the beautiful readings of Advent make getting up early very worthwhile at this time of year! If you would like someone prayed for at this Mass, please come to see me or drop me an email.

Liturgy Reps The next Liturgy Reps meeting will take place next term on Wednesday, 13th January 2016 at 12.45pm in Lab 7. We will be evaluating the Advent Service and fund-raising ideas and feeding back from our review of the liturgy notice boards in the school. Thank you to all the Liturgy Reps for their feedback on spiritual life activity and their ideas for the future.

Year 7 Induction Mass – Thursday, 15th October 2015 at 7pm Congratulations to all the Year 7 pupils for making their Induction Mass such a special occasion; your reading, singing, dancing and acting brought the liturgy to life. Thank you to the Performing Arts team for all their efforts to ensure a beautiful Mass was had. Well done to Tola Bartosiewicz for her design for the front cover (see right) based on the theme of the Mass ‘Love can Build a Bridge.’ A big ‘thank you’, also, to all the parents, carers and friends who attended to support the Year 7s in celebrating the beginning of their college life at St Richard’s.

Year Group and Form Masses and Services Both Year 11 and Year 10 have had their Year Masses this term and a great effort was made by the liturgy reps to plan and put together the Masses. The Year 11 team came up with the theme of ‘togetherness’ - reminding them that they are on a journey together with Christ and each other. The Year 10 team chose waiting and hope as their theme, and it was a fitting reflective service to prepare us for the start of Advent. Form Masses and services that have taken place this term have been thoughtfully prepared and have provided pupils with the opportunity to be involved more closely with the liturgy. In Advent, several of these acts of worship will take the form of Christingle services with every pupil preparing their own Christingle to be lit during the liturgy.

Reconciliation During the season of Advent, the RE Department will undertake a session on reconciliation with all pupils as preparation for the sacrament being offered during the course of the following week. St Richard’s is fortunate in having priests available during the week of the 7th December to hear confessions or simply to offer the opportunity to talk. Pupils who are not sure or have not been in a while, do come and see me or any of the RE team and we will talk you through it.

Remembrance Day 2015 Following on from Remembrance Sunday, pupils and staff held a two minute silence throughout the college at 11am on Wednesday, 11th November, praying for and reflecting on those who have lost their lives through war.

Pilgrimage to Rome, February 2016 The itinerary for the pilgrimage to Rome is looking very exciting and most of the administrative preparation is now complete. If your child still has final payments to make, please could we receive these as soon as possible, but definitely by the end of this term, Friday, 18th December. A meeting for parents/carers is planned for the New Year and we will notify you of the date nearer to the time. Hoodies are being ordered for the trip and the final cost will be advised to you in due course.

Parish Mass at Christ the King, Eastbourne – Sunday, 22nd November 2015 St Richard’s pupils joined parishioners at Christ the King, Langney for the celebration of Mass on Sunday, 22nd November, the Feast of Christ the King and also National Youth Sunday. They welcomed the congregation at the door of the church, led the music, proclaimed the readings and took up the gifts at the offertory. The church was full on what was a joyful and lively occasion, and parishioners expressed their thanks and appreciation after Mass. Many thanks to Father Barry Anderson and Deacon Eugene for leading us through the liturgy with care and calm!

Ms Henry and the RE Department ran a homily competition in preparation for the Mass and it was won by Andrew Phillips in Year 11. Andrew proclaimed his homily in the Mass and it was well received by the parishioners. His homily is available on the school website should you wish to read it. Congratulations, Andrew!

Whitstable Retreats Year 9 and 10 pupils had a wonderful weekend’s retreat at St Vincent’s Centre in Whitstable in October, reflecting on the theme of ‘mission.’ Their engagement in the discussion groups and the liturgies, and the care they showed for one another was exemplary. The youth team at St Vincent’s was so impressed and said we lifted their spirits after a long and busy term. Well done! The next Whitstable retreat is due to take place in the summer term and will be open to pupils from Years 8 and 9.

Interact Club The members of the Interact Club have been busy this term. On Friday, 27th November, nine club members attended the Rotary Tea Party for members of the community of mature years, to help with welcoming the guests, serving tea, and clearing up afterwards. They met the Mayor of Bexhill and his wife and the Rotary Club President, who thanked them for their help at the event. One lady in attendance called me over and said, ‘These wonderful young people challenge the bad perception older people might have about teenagers and are a credit to your school and their parents.’ Well done to all who helped.

The second Interact Club activity was animating every form group in the school to collect and pack shoe boxes of presents for children in Eastern European countries who, otherwise, would not receive gifts at Christmas. This is the annual ‘Love in a Box’ appeal for the Mustard Seed Charity. Every year the Interact members try to ensure we collect as much as possible for this wonderful charity and we were overwhelmed with the generosity of each year group. In total we collected a record breaking 422 boxes. Well done to all involved in collecting. Thank you to Mr Holloway and the members of the Interact Club for helping to coordinate.

With very best wishes for this advent season and have a wonderful prayerful Christmas.

Miss Jo Doyle – Lay Chaplain ([email protected])

RE DEPARTMENT NEWS This has been a very busy term in RE with lots of activities.

KS3: The Year 7s have been learning about the “Reason for the Season.” They have been studying the liturgical year, advent, rosary and the annunciation and visitation. The Year 8s have been learning about Judaism. They have covered the Sabbath, Moses, Torah, Synagogue and Passover. They have experienced a Passover meal in class where they were able to try the foods and experience what a Passover meal would be like. In January there will be a visit to the synagogue in Eastbourne for some pupils. They will be able to look around the synagogue and have a close look at the Torah.

KS4: The Year 9s have completed their first unit of Mark’s Gospel, “Identity of Jesus” they are moving on to learn about “Discipleship.” The Year 10s have been working very hard with their GCSE course. This term they have been learning about “Environmental and Medical Ethics.” They have covered issues including pollution, global warming, infertility treatment and transplant surgery. There will be an opportunity for a select group of Year 10 pupils to visit Chichester Cathedral on Friday, 29th January. They will attend a workshop event exploring the legacy of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights and to listen to the testimony of Holocaust survivor, Stephen Franks. The Year 11 pupils have just completed their mock and will continue the GCSE course with “Marriage and Family” and “Religion and Community Cohesion.”

Philosophy Club: We encourage all enquiring minds to come to Philosophy Club which is held every Friday lunch-time in A5 with Ms Henry. This is a great opportunity to discuss, present, and debate the big issues surrounding theology and philosophy. It is also a good opportunity for extra-curricular involvement which will strengthen pupils’ efforts in achieving the school’s CREST awards.

Mrs Mead

Certificate and Prize Evening

The St Richard’s Catholic College community of current pupils, the leavers of 2015, families, staff and Governors gathered together to celebrate the triumphs and successes of another excellent academic year. The annual Prize Evening, held at the De La Warr Pavilion, was once again an opportunity for the college to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of its staff, parents and pupils and to thank the leavers and current pupils for their outstanding commitment to college life. Academic, artistic, sporting and pastoral successes were all honoured equally, with over 100 individuals and groups being awarded prizes throughout the evening.

All present were truly inspired by this year’s guest speaker, Lance Corporal Derek Derenalagi. Derek is a GB Paralympic Discus Thrower and has also represented the country at the World and European Championships and the Invictus Games. Originally from Fiji, Derek lives with his family in the UK and he shared his inspirational story.

As he spoke to a captivated audience, Derek told the incredible story of his experience as a soldier in Afghanistan, which resulted in the loss of both his legs in an explosion. Having been declared ‘dead on arrival’ at the battlefield hospital, he was thankfully saved by an expert medical team and flown back to England for emergency surgery and care. As a committed Christian, Derek spoke with dignity and courage about how his faith has carried him through such a terrible ordeal and how he passionately believes that he can use his life story to inspire others to greatness. He spoke of the moment when he lay, wounded, looked to the sky and told himself, “I’m not giving up yet; I still have things to do here on earth.” From that moment forward, he has dedicated himself to the encouragement of others through visits, talks and his own incredible athletic achievements. His final words to the leavers were, “I never gave in and I never gave up”. The resounding applause as he finished was testament to the impact Derek’s story had on everyone in the audience.

Head Girl, Charlotte Greenlees, offered the vote of thanks to Derek for his motivational and powerful speech and articulately reiterated the effect of the speaker’s story upon the listeners. She highlighted how Derek was absolutely determined to “overcome adversity and achieve his goals” and that this should be an aspiration for leavers and current pupils alike. Charlotte also commented that “we all need to be bold enough to strive forward” as we make our way towards our future ambitions. Head boy, George Handrihan, gave the final vote of thanks at the end of the evening, reminding us that “success is possible and can be achieved when you set your goals high.”

Miss Cronin gave a report on the achievements and events of the past academic year, thanking all the staff who inspire and challenge the pupils to get involved.

Segway and Hoverboards: the Law We have received information regarding the use of segways and hoverboards from our Schools Liaison Officer. Personal transporters, such as the Segway Personal Transporter are powered by electricity and transport a passenger standing on a platform propelled on two or more wheels. They are capable of speeds up to 12 mph. Under current legislation, the Department for Transport considers Segway Personal Transporters as motor vehicles, subject to road traffic laws. Hoverboards are in essence a Segway without the central column and handle. These self-balancing scooters, particularly hoverboards are very popular with children and young people, many of whom will be asking parents or carers for them at Christmas. As they are considered motor vehicles, those riding them will be subject to Road Traffic Law. For further information please visit: http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/road_traffic_offences/#segway

PE Department News

DANCE Induction Mass: On Thursday, 15th October the Year 7s took part in their Induction Mass, dancing two pieces. For many pupils this was the first time they had performed in front of an audience. I would like to congratulate all who took part either performing or helping back stage.

Eastbourne Proms: The Music and Dance departments headed to the Winter Gardens on Monday, 10th November for the Annual Eastbourne Proms performance. We danced to ‘The Prayer’ and ‘Stop’ accompanied by the Choir and Orchestra. The collaborative work between music and dance resulted in a spectacular performance. Well done to all those involved (see photo below left).

Prize Evening: Congratulations to Freya Collard 9F who was the recipient of the Dance Cup this year. The Dance Company were extremely proud to receive the Matthew Wilmshurst Award for team spirit, Maisie Edwards and Hope Benson, both 9F, represented the Dance Company at the evening.

Parish Mass: On Sunday, 22nd November five dancers attended the Parish Mass at Christ the King in Eastbourne. Maddy Thwaites 9I, Isabelle Angel 9I, Hope Benson 9F, Amy Robinson 9F and Amelia Davey 10H danced to the Psalm ‘Sing a New Song.’

South Youth Ballet: We would like to wish Maddy Thwaites in 9I good luck for her performance in the Southern Youth Ballet production of Nutcracker, which will be at the Congress Theatre Eastbourne on Sunday, 20th December. Tickets are available from the Eastbourne Theatres box office. Maddy successfully auditioned back in the summer and has been attending weekly rehearsals.

We are currently rehearsing for the Advent Service which will be held on Wednesday, 16th December at 7pm. Next term is proving to be equally busy with performances that we will be taking part in; Time to Dance, Great Big Dance Off, a trip to ‘Move it’ and the West End production of ‘Wicked.’ Look out for all the details in the New Year.

I would like to take the opportunity to say thank you and well done to all the Dance Company for their hard work this term and for some amazing performances. Wishing you a peaceful and restful Christmas and New Year.

Mrs Knight, Dance Teacher

GIRLS' FOOTBALL

Results U16 (Year 10 & 11) v St Paul’s (H) County Cup Round 1. Won 7-0. A great effort and team performance. Well done to the girls involved: Elisha Ballard, Amelia Bysouth, Charlotte Greenlees, Megan McHale, Vicky Murphy, Vita North, Tabitha Portch-O’Neill, Kiera Spring, Tara Willis, Serena Coyle, Fleur Durrant, Gabriele Mercado and Chloe Wheeler.

U14 (Year 8 & 9) v Seaford Head (A) County Cup Round 2. Won 12-1. A brilliant effort and excellent all-round team performance. The team were: Isobel Corbin, Poppy Derhun, Chantelle Fullam, Ma Shaina Mallorca, Mikaela Rodriguez, Reinah Ruiz, Olivia White, Stephanie Bone, Pamela Busuego, Kiera Davey, Abbie Pinnington & Amber Pisani-Cleland.

U13 (Year 7 & 8) v Bede’s (H) English Schools FA Cup Round 2. Won 4-2 on penalties after extra- time (1-1). A thrilling game and fighting team performance. The team were: Pamela Busuego, Kiera Davey, Janel Maneclang, Abbie Pinnington, Aliyah Almelor, Maddie Baszczak, Lucy Boreham, Olimpia Croucher, Esme Reyaz-Comer, Izehi Ebhohimen, Isabella McMillan, Jasmine Moulding & Charlotte Power.

U15 (Year 9 & 10) v Warden Park (H) English Schools FA Cup Round 2. Lost 2-3 in a very even excellent match, St Richard’s were extremely unlucky to narrowly lose. The team were: Serena Coyle, Fleur Durrant, Gabriele Mercado, Lillie McSweeney, Isobel Corbin, Georgina Coulter, Poppy Derhun, Chantelle Fullam, Ma Shaina Mallorca, Mikaela Rodriguez, Reinah Ruiz & Olivia White.

U13 (Year 7 & 8) v Warden Park (A) English Schools FA Cup Round 3. Lost 1-4. An excellent game, played in horrendous weather conditions. The score flatters the opposition as the game was 1-2 until the last 5 minutes! The team were: Stephanie Bone, Pamela Busuego, Jade Coleman, Lexie Coleman, Kiera Davey, Abbie Pinnington, Amber Pisani-Cleland, Aliyah Almelor, Maddie Baszczak, Lucy Boreham, Esme Reyaz-Comer, Izehi Ebhohimen, Jasmine Moulding & Charlotte Power (see left).

NETBALL Results Year 7 v Claverham - won 6-3. The team were: Erika Body, Esme Reyaz-Comer, Ciara Chicken, Hannah Sandeman, Lucy Boreham, Charlotte Power, Alice Funnell and Isabella East (see left).

Year 8 v Claverham - lost 5-14. The team were: Jade Coleman, Lexie Coleman, Pamela Busuego, Phoebe King, Sasha Fahy, Kiara Sendhilkumaran, Hallie Spillane and Trinity Funnell.

Year 10 v Claverham - won 11-3. The team were: Elizabeth Godson, Hannah Heggie, Serena Coyle, Amy Tattersall, Megan Tattersall, Alexia Rodway, Ciara Farrell and Lorna Davis. Year 11 vs Claverham - lost 3-9.

Year 9 v Hastings Academy - won 9-2. The team were: Abbie Fairhurst, Georgina Coulter, Poppy Derhun, Olivia White, Elvita Blinova, Lottie Farnham, Alicia Abad, Mikaela Rodriguez, Isobel Corbin, Katie Nash and Chantelle Fullam.

Year 7 v Helenswood - won 18-2. The team were: Maddie Baszczak, Erika Body, Esme Reyaz-Comer, Ciara Chicken, Genevieve Grant, Hannah Sandeman, Lucy Boreham, Charlotte Power, Alice Funnell, Isabella East and Hannah Walker.

BOYS’ FOOTBALL Year 7: League v William Parker. Lost 1-5 League v Claverham. Won 5-1 Friendly v Bexhill Academy . Won 5-1 Overall, they finished runners up in the Hastings Area A League and have qualified for SE Sussex Schools semi–final. Year 8: Sussex Cup v Cardinal Newman. Drew 1-1, then won after extra time and penalties.

Sussex Cup v Downsland. Lost 3-4 League v Claverham. Won 4-1 League v St Leonards. Won 3-1 Overall, winners of the Hastings Area A League and have qualified for the SE Sussex Schools semi–final. Year 9: League v Rye. Won 7-0 League v Hastings Academy. Won 12-1 Overall, they finished runners up in the Hastings Area League and have qualified for SE Sussex Schools semi–final. Year 10: League v William Parker. Lost 1-2 League v Claverham. Lost 2-3 League v Bexhill Academy. Won 4-1 Year 11: League v Claverham. Lost 1-5

CROSS COUNTRY Well done to the 25 runners from the college who ran in the Hastings Area School Cross Country Championships held at Battle Abbey. They raced on a course around the 1066 battlefield and produced some outstanding performances. Year 7 Girls: Erika Body (1st), Lucy Boreham (3rd), Genevieve Grant (12th) and Maddie Baszczak (14th). Overall the team finished 2nd. Year 8 Girls: Lexie Coleman (5th), Jade Coleman (9th), Stephanie Bone (14th) and Trinity Funnell (20th). Overall the team finished 3rd. Year 9 Girls: Olivia White (2nd), Poppy Derhun (10th), Ma Shaina Mallorca (12th) and Isobel Corbin (17th). Overall the team finished 2nd. Year 10 Girls: Elizabeth Godson (5th), Ciara Farrell (8th), Emma Van Zutphen (9th) and Aleksandra Mianowana (12th). Overall the team finished 2nd. Year 7 Boys: Quincey Gilbert (8th), Nasim Bellagnaoui (9th), Daniel Hampton (14th) and Kacper Soczawa (15th). Overall the team finished 2nd. Year 8 Boys: Baxter Orchard (2nd), Harry Murphy (5th), Francis Simpson (6th), Oskar Lockyer (7th) and Patrick Willis (12th). Overall the team finished 1st. Year 9 Boys: Elliot Cook (6th) and Dominic Tadros (16th). Year 10 Boys: Noah Canby (1st).

LEADERSHIP Well done and thanks to the twenty pupils who acted as team managers, marshals and finish officials at the Bexhill Primary Schools Cross Country held at St Richard’s.

INDIVIDUAL REPRESENTATIVE HONOURS This term has seen a large number of pupils being selected to represent area and county teams. Well done to all. Football: Poppy Derhun, Charlotte Greenlees, Quincey Gilbert, Reuben Kudjo, Hugo Corbin, Oskar Lockyer and Baxter Orchard Rugby: Max Lai Squash: National Age group finalist - Emily Kimber Swimming: Jade and Lexie Coleman

P.E. DEPARTMENT - CLUBS/PRACTICES (January - February 2016)

Boys Girls Dance 3.15-4.15: Dance Company BADMINTON BADMINTON MONDAY 4.15-5.00: Grade 5 Modern (exam) BASKETBALL MATCH NIGHT TUESDAY YEAR 7-8 BASKETBALL 3.15-4.15: Dance Company AWAY FOOTBALL ALL YEARS 3.15-4.15: Dance Company WEDNESDAY RUGBY ALL YEARS 4.15-5.00: Grade 3 Modern (exam) YEAR 9-11 BASKETBALL BASKETBALL MATCH 3.15-4.00: Ballet THURSDAY YEAR 8-9 BASKETBALL NIGHT AWAY 4.00-4.45: Grade 3 Modern (new class) YEAR 10-11 BASKETBALL 3.15-4.15: Grade 3 Modern (exam) FRIDAY FOOTBALL ALL YEARS

St Richard’s Equestrian Team

The St Richard's Equestrian Team are proving to be unbeatable! The team have had an incredible start to the season. On Sunday, 18th October, three members went to the Grassroots Show Jumping qualifiers in Battle. Alexandra Williams, Rachel Olivier, and Emma Folwell all competed in the 70cm class, having fast clear rounds. Emma came 2nd, Rachel 3rd and Alex 4th. They were competing against lots of other schools from all over the County. This meant all three have qualified to go to the Championships in West Sussex on 28th October.

On Wednesday, 21st October, St Richard’s entered two teams for the Show Jumping County Challenge Qualifier at Golden Cross in East Sussex. Duncan Morgan, Emma Folwell, Megan Bassett and Amber Townshend all rode in the 70cm class. The team was first on and had to warm up in a snow blizzard! They were amazing and rode to first place with fast clear rounds, beating lots of other school teams. This meant that St Richard's have qualified to go to the National Championships in Buckinghamshire in April, a truly amazing achievement. It got even better when the team for the 80cm Class, Duncan Morgan, Emma Folwell, Megan Bassett and Rachel Olivier beat off very stiff competition to again come first. Again, all qualifying for the National Championships.

Emma (pictured right) went off to the Grassroots Championships on 28th October, she was the last to ride in a very busy class, against other schools from all over the South of England. Emma rode an incredibly fast clear round to become NSEA National Champion 2015. A huge acheivement which puts St Richard's on the NSEA schools map!

If you would like any information about the School Equestrian team, please email the Team Manager, Charlotte Williams (a parent!) on [email protected] or speak to any of the team members: Saffron Townshend and Rachel Olivier, Year 11; Angus Morgan and Alexandra Williams, Year 10; Megan Bassett and Duncan Morgan, Year 9 and Amber Townshend and Emma Folwell, Year 7.

School Christmas Card

This is the school Christmas card designed by Year 11 pupil, Shona Waldron, which will be sent to all supporters of the school including our feeder primaries and Diocesan secondary schools.

I am sure you will agree Shona has produced a wonderful design. Many thanks to her.

Request from Reception/Finance Could we please ask that parents/carers avoid sending pupils to school with large denominations of money that need to be changed for lunch/bus fares. We only keep a small amount of change at Reception which is for pupils to borrow in an emergency, for example if they have left their dinner money at home or have misplaced their bus ticket. These pupils must take priority, and we are therefore not able to provide change for £10 or £20 notes.

Where possible, please use the Parentpay facility to pay for lunch which then eliminates the need for pupils to bring money into school. To access Parentpay please visit www.parentpay.com, click Login and activate your account using the codes issued in your activation letter. If you have not received an account activation letter, or have misplaced it, please contact: [email protected].

Thank you for your co-operation.

St Richard's Catholic College Calendar Academic Year 2015/2016 (as at December 2015) Please keep this sheet in a safe place and replace when updates are provided.

Term 2 Advent Service Wednesday, 16th December (7.00pm) Non-Uniform Day for Surviving Christmas Thursday, 17th December Christmas Dinner Day Thursday, 17th December Last Day of Term Two Friday, 18th December (early closure) Christmas Holidays Saturday, 19th December to Monday, 4th January (plus Inset Day on Tuesday, 5th January) Terms 3 and 4 First Day of Term Three for staff Tuesday, 5th January - INSET Day First Day of Term Three for pupils Wednesday, 6th January Year 9 Curriculum Evening Thursday, 7th January (7.00pm) Parental Focus Group meeting (pm) Thursday, 14th January (6.15pm) Parental Focus Group meeting (am) Wednesday, 20th January (9.15am) Year 9 Parent Consultation Evening Thursday, 21st January (5.00-8.00pm) Year 11 Revision Strategies Evening for Parents Thursday, 28th January (6.00pm) Year 11 Parent Consultation Evening Thursday, 11th February (5.00-8.00pm) Last Day of Term Three for pupils Thursday, 11th February Last Day of Term Three for staff Friday, 12th February - INSET Day End of Term Holidays Saturday, 13th February to Sunday, 21st February

First Day of Term Four for pupils & staff Monday, 22nd February Parental Focus Group meeting (am) Wednesday, 2nd March (9.15am) Year 10 Parent Consultation Evening Thursday, 3rd March (5.00-8.00pm) Parental Focus Group meeting (pm) Thursday, 10th March (6.15pm) PTFA Year 7 & 8 Disco Friday, 11th March (7.00-9.00pm) Last Day of Term Four Thursday, 24th March Easter Holidays Friday, 25th March to Sunday, 10th April

Term 5 and 6 First Day of Term Five Monday, 11th April Year 8 Parent Consultation Evening Thursday, 21st April (5.00-8.00pm) Parental Focus Group meeting (am) Wednesday, 27th April (9.15am) Parental Focus Group meeting (pm) Thursday, 28th April (6.15pm) INSET Day (school closed to pupils) Friday, 29th April GCSE exams start Tuesday, 3rd May Last Day of Term Five Friday, 27th May End of Term Holidays Saturday, 28th May to Sunday, 5th June

First Day of Term Six Monday, 6th June Parental Focus Group meeting (am) Wednesday, 15th June (9.15am) Year 7 Parent Consultation Evening Thursday, 16th June (5.00-8.00pm) INSET Day (school closed for pupils) Monday, 27th June Year 10 Work Experience Week Week commencing Monday, 27th June Parental Focus Group meeting (pm) Thursday, 30th June (6.15pm) PTFA Summer Fayre Saturday, 2nd July Block Day Thursday, 7th July Sports Day Wednesday, 13th July Last Day of Term Six Friday, 22nd July

Returning to School after a Stomach Upset

Following a stomach upset, pupils do not need to stay at home for 48 hours, as is the rule in some primary schools. As long as they are well and no longer vomiting they can return to school.

Mrs O’Brien, School Nurse

Newsletter Acknowledgement

Don't forget to sign the Newsletter acknowledgement located in your son/daughter's journal.