St Bede’s College, Manchester BAEDAVolume 29, Issue 2, 2013 Contents... News 1-3 Words fRoM THe HEadmaster Music Festival 4-5 Art & Design Technology 6-7 It never ceases to amaze me how much we pack into a The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award 8 year at St Bede’s. We are never idle and we are always striving to improve on the previous year. This edition Lourdes Pilgrimage 9 of Baeda captures many events and moments which Bonding Day 10 illustrate the rich and varied interests of our pupils, the New York & Madrid 11 unstinting efforts and commitments of our staff and the Leavers Ball 12-13 sheer fun and wide range of opportunities here at SBC. Ski Trip 14 Baeda is much more than simply a record of a particular year’s Drama 15 events. It is an essential part of our history. We have copies of Upper Sixth Awards 16-17 Baeda stretching back to the very beginning of the College. These link all Bedians together in a special and timeless chain of events, Alumni 18-19 sporting fixtures, trips, and drama productions to convey a sense Library News 20-21 of history and community that will last and grow for many years Mathematics 22 to come. Educational Visits 23 Upper Sixth Destinations 24 Charities 25 Co-curricular & Activities Week 26-27 Boys Sport 28-29 Girls Sport 30-31 Staff Departures 32-33 Siena House Day The staff and pupils of Siena House celebrated their Saint’s Day in fine style, on Friday 26th April. The day began with Mass in the Chapel with the House Captains taking charge of the readings and bidding prayers and the whole House joining in with the singing of hymns prepared at the Monday Assembly that week. Then it was straight to the coaches and off to Parrs Wood for ten pin bowling, slush puppies and other pleasing diversions. Upon our return the catering staff were poised to serve fish and chips to the hungry multitude, followed by a return to the Chapel where the singing was even more energetic than it had been in the morning. Thanks are due to all the House Tutors who contributed so enthusiastically to the day; not least at the Bowling where Messrs Hennigan, Nagib and Davies all gave clear indications of having played before! House News... The Academic Year 2012-2013 was a busy one for Siena, Bosco and Campion. In the opening weeks a hotly contested Dodgeball Competition took place, with enthusiastic competitors and a series of bemused umpires. This year’s Junior Competition should involve a more consistent set of rules but may, as a result, be a little less fun! Meanwhile Siena House Winners rehearsals were already under way for Shakespeare Live! which saw scores of young actors tread the boards for the first time, with Macbeth, The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream being the weapons of choice for the respective houses. Catering and Front of Campion Feast Day House were also devolved successfully to House responsibility. In a week of breathless activity, with Shakespeare Live at its The first of the house feast days took place during the Michaelmas hectic climax, Mrs Girolami, Mr Bargery and house tutors Term, that of Campion, with bowling, cake and a very energetic organised a celebration on the feast day of St Edmund Campion. Mass, singing led by the House Captains and Prefects. Both Bosco While members of the other houses pursued an alternative and Siena were to follow this excellent precedent. The Christmas academic timetable, Campion scholars met for a House Mass, Card and Fish competitions were soon to follow, with The Great said by Fr Flynn and went on to test their ten pin bowling skills St Bedes’s Bake Off not far behind. at the Parrs Wood Recreation Centre. The afternoon saw dining By the mid-way point in the academic year the girls’ sports as a house and time learning about their House Saint in his historical context. competitions were reaching a climax, with particpation for all being key to the tournament. It is, nevertheless, pleasing to note that Siena were the victors. The boys too, were engaged in a titanic struggle for the Football Trophy, with Bosco winning out in the final. A series of summer sports were added to the list with many more certificates obtained. In the final assembly of the term, we celebrated those students who had won Gold House Points Awards, while Campion. carried off the overall points shield, kindly donated by Monsignor Quinlan. “The Christmas Card and Fish competitions were soon to fol- low, with The Great St Bedes’s Bake Off not far behind.” Bosco Bowling Bonanza November 30th was the first day on which the St Bede’s students celebrated their Saint’s Day last Friday in and out of College. Though John Bosco’s feast is celebrated on 31 January, the pupils and staff of Bosco House celebrated Mass on Friday morning. The pupils were then taken to Parrswood to show off their bowling prowess, where Joe Stiles, Luca Sivori, Laura Dench and Clara Ashton shone, whilst Christian Thomason, Natasha Forshaw and Olivia Boylan certainly did not! We returned to College for a House Dinner, followed by a prize-giving assembly for the best and worst performers in the St Bedes’s Bake Off morning’s sporting endeavours. The day was rounded off with cookies and cake, and a literally all-singing all- dancing performance of our unofficial House Hymn, led by Mr Davies and the House Captains. 1 General College News... Can We Do It? YASS we can. The College has recently been awarded Arkwright Scholarship status from the prestigious Arkwright foundation. The Arkwright Scholarships Trust is a community of 700 schools whose pupils benefit from the financial and professional help which scholars receive from the trust. The main aim of the Trust is to nurture encourage students to pursue future leaders in engineering and engineering at University. The College related areas of design. This is achieved Arkwright coordinator Mr Lalley, himself by awarding prestigious Arkwright an Engineering Graduate said Engineering Scholarships through a ‘this is a wonderful opportunity for our rigorous selection process, to high ability students to access this scheme and Many of St Bede’s 15 /16 year olds students. The College this will set them apart from other has two applicants this year, Thomas engineering and design students both at talented science students Johnson and Ciaran Baxendale from the University and in the workplace’. experienced university level Upper fifth. Both boys are talented Design study this year by taking Technology students and are hoping to The scheme gives students a financial pursue a career in the field of design or award in both sixth form years and a part in the Open University’s engineering. professional mentor to guide and help Young Applicants in School them with work experience and interview Scheme (YASS). YASS The Engineering Scholarships support practice. They also give guidance students through their A levels and throughout their time at University. allows students to take undergraduate modules from degree level courses online. The courses are highly regarded by universities. One of our students was quizzed on her YASS course for an hour by an admissions tutor at Imperial College, London before receiving an offer for Engineering! Others found their studies highly helpful in applications for Medicine and Physiotherapy courses. This year DOUBLE BIG 16 students from St Bede’s studied courses including ‘’Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis’’, BANG TRIUMPH! ‘Molecules, Medicines and Drugs’, On Wednesday 26th June, two teams and ‘The Future Without Oil?’ left St Bede’s College at 7:15am for Joining them was Chemistry Teacher Liverpool to enter the Regional Big Mr. Gill. A Biochemist by training, he was intrigued by the ‘Elements Bang Science Fair. of Forensic Science’ module and especially enjoyed solving a series of crime scene puzzles! One team had their remote controlled tank and home ‘Young Engineer for Britain Regional Excellence Award’ built GPS system, programmed on the Raspberry Pi. together with a cheque for £100. YASS is one of the many extended The other project carried strands of hair, chemicals and The other team of Victoria Pike and Isabelle Lannigan study opportunities at St Bede’s. Sixth weights to demonstrate the results of research into had done some impressive research, including making Formers can extend their studies by hair-strengthening shampoo! their own shampoo and testing the strengthening taking YASS, the Extended Project The venue for the event was the impressive St George’s properties of various substances. The answer to strong Qualification, a gold CREST award Hall, and with over 60 projects selected from entries hair is apparently to wash it in rosemary! They won or the Duke of Edinburgh Gold - and from schools across the North West, competition was the ‘CREST prize for Creativity’ and are seen showing going to be fierce. off the trophy above. As regional prize-winners, both some do more than one! The remote control tank team soon attracted plenty of projects are invited to represent their regions at the attention from both young and older people alike. The National Finals in London later in the year. judges were impressed by the programming skills of the St Bede’s has a strong track record in Engineering, with team (Thomas Oulton, Thomas Starkie, Vincent Kan and students from this year’s U6 being offered places to Michael James) and their keen commercial acumen in study Engineering at universities including Oxford and identifying how the system could be adapted to track Imperial College, London and the College winning the 2 lost bicycles.