ST BEDE’S NEWSLETTER— December 2015
An Advent Prayer
God of hope, who brought love into this world, be the love that dwells between us. God of hope, who brought peace into this world, be the peace that dwells between us. God of hope, who brought joy into this world, be the joy that dwells between us. God of hope, the rock we stand upon, be the centre, the focus of our lives always, and particularly this Advent time.
Attendance Matters
Whilst there will always be legitimate reasons for unavoidable absence, we are very keen to ensure that all students have the best possible opportunities for learning by maintaining excellent attendance. The impact of missing school can be directly linked to attainment in examinations and as such the Department for Education strongly advises that schools only authorise absence in exceptional circumstances. To be clear, holidays should never be taken during term time and, where possible, appointments should be made for after 3:30pm.
Thank you for your continued support to enable your children to fulfil their academic potential.
*The Department for Education analysed performance at GCSE across all schools in England in 2014 and identified that children who missed 17 schools days (91% attendance) within an academic year attained on average one grade lower in their GCSEs than children with full attendance. Actual Attend- Whole Days Ab- Learning Hours % Attendance ance sent Lost Excellent 100 % 190 days 0 0 Good 98% 186 days 4 20 Becoming Unsatisfactory 95% 180.5 days 9.5 47.5 *Cause for Concern 90% 171 days 19 95 Serious Cause for Concern 85% 161.5 days 28.5 142.6 ENGLISH Rotary Youth Speaks A team from St Bede’s competed against a team from The Perse School for Boys in the Intermediate Rotary Youth Speaks Competition on 11 th November. After two very engaging presentations by the teams, St Bede’s were narrowly beaten by one point out of a possible total of 115. Charlotte Buttercase, Alice Goodliffe and Chloe Nelson delivered an excellent presentation entitled: ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover!’ The presentation was always engaging, delivered with passion and frequently humorous as it dealt with the negative stereotypes inflicted upon teenagers.
Things weren’t quite as close in the Senior Competition as Eunji Hong, Julia Robertshaw and Ruby Page delivered an impassioned presentation in defence of feminism. The competition took place at Sawston Village College on 24 th November. The judges were very complimentary and praised the assured and accomplished delivery, as well as comment- ing on the construction of the speech and its impact on the audience. The team will now compete in the District Final on Saturday 27 th February 2016 in Ipswich. Congratulations to the team!
A Christmas Carol
On November 15 th , Year 8 students visited the Arts Theatre to witness Clive Francis’ enthralling performance of Charles Dick- ens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. The audience were rapt from the opening line. Delivered with the perfect blend of melodrama and comedy, Francis held the audience in the palm of his hand as he brought the spirit of Christ mas alive. The Year 8 students were spellbound throughout as Dickens’ prose was lifted off the page and brought to life in front of their eyes. ‘Phenomenal’, ‘amazing’ and ‘I wish I could see it again’ were just some of their comments. Francis received a well-deserved standing ovation. Abigail DulgarnYr 8 HUMANITIES Year 9 Students Play Host to YEAR 11 HISTORIANS GET A TASTE OF British Antarctic Survey 19TH CENTURY MEDICINE
M As a part of their work in Geography about Earth’s southernmost continent, Year 9 heard a talk from two members of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The first part of the talk was given by a climate scientist, who offered students an insight into Antarctica’s vital role in our under- standing of the planet’s climate (past, present, and future). The second guest was a member of BAS’ human resources team, who gave a first- hand account of what it was like to live and work on an Antarctic research station. Students were also able to look at - and try on - some equip- ment used by scientists in Antarctica to cope with average winter temperatures below -20⁰C! Rainforest Roadshow Colin the snake, Wendy the tarantula, Katy the rat and a number of other equatorial animals joined Year 8 as part of their geogra- phy in es ga on into e osystems and the tropi al rainforest biome
“On 23 rd O tober a ompany alled Zoolab ame to our s hool They told us about the tropi al rainforest and they brought some animals to show us learnt many new interes ng things about these animals Tyler Campbell
“When Zoolab ame to isit found out that the largest tropi al rainfor- ests are in South Ameri a, Afri a and South East Asia The frog (an am- phibian and the snake (a rep le were ool and the frog ould s k to the wall like Spiderman Emma Lewis
“The frog we saw ould s k to walls and was immensely good at jump- ing Liani Olusanya
“ really enjoyed the Zoolab isit liked all the differen e animals and it was really ool to learn lots of things about them Esther Morris
“ found out a lot about the rainforest and the animals in it… learnt that snakes amouflage in the trees to at h prey and that tarantulas ha e hairs that irritate thought the isit was good be ause we got to learn about animals that are not from England Also, we got to see and feel some of the animals that they brought in to gi e us an experien e of them Hannah Stygall R.E. CAFOD at St Bede’s
This term we have launched a CAFOD Ambassadors’ Club which is engaging students in exploring issues of global us ce and faith while having a lot of fun. These popular sessions are based in the Chaplaincy fortnightly on Fridays and this half-term we have been exploring issues of food us ce. We have played food games exploring hunger and excess. We have done some guerrilla fundraising distribu ng pac ets of sweets and prayers to random strangers (someone in school we didn’t now) and collec ng dona ons to CAFOD’s Harvest Appeal. As the nited a ons announced a suite of new sustainable devel- opment goals we created any-style lanterns to cele- brate crea ng a bit of a Brighten-up Fes val feel in the Chaplaincy. n the me Creating lanterns in the Chaplaincy before Christmas we will explore issues of climate change including Pope Francis’ le er to us all about od’s crea on consump on and how our lifestyles may create a be er rela onship between people and the planet as the nited a ons meet in Paris to agree how the world can protect our environment for the poorest na ons. Stephen Matthews, Community Participation Coordinator - East Anglia R.E. NEWS AND EVENTS At the end of September Year 8 were visited by James Pearson, youth worker at New Life Church based in Cambridge. He spoke to students about the gifts of the Holy Spirit as practised by Charismatic Christians to help them in their un- derstanding of the unit of study "Life in the Spirit". Students were particularly interested in the charismata of "speaking in tongues", and James was a powerful witness to the workings of the Holy Spirit in the world today. We are very grate- ful that he was able to come in and speak to our students. In October Fr. Richard Flynn of the Dominican reli- gious order from their priory in Cambridge brought six novices to St. Bede's to support Year 9 in their under- standing of the unit of study "Faith in Action". Students had studied the lay vocation and the sacrament of Holy Orders, and now they were learning about the Reli- gious Life. Whilst all our students have met priests and vicars, not many had met friars, and now was their chance. The novice friars explained to students how they discerned the call to explore the life of a Religious and to try out the vows of poverty, chastity and obedi- ence. Many students found it hard to take in the lack of possessions, but they did appreciate the self-sacrifice they were seeking to practise as taught by Jesus. The Dominicans have become involved in the spiritual life of the school in other ways too. One of the novices, Br. Wilf, who has had school experience, has begun a lunchtime club every other Friday to give students the opportunity to discuss theological issues over craft activities. And Fr. Richard Flynn also celebrated an Advent Mass for Year 9 at St. Philip Howard Church, supported by the novices who sang Latin hymns during Holy Communion, and the Year 9 chaplaincy reps who led us in the readings and wrote the prayers. The Dominicans were supported by Alwyn and Pravinda in Year 8 who acted as altar servers. St. Philip Howard Church is their parish church and they were able to help Fr. Richard around the sacristy. Our thanks extend to Mgr. Harkness who allowed us to use his parish church and give our school Mass a sacred setting. In September Year 9 were given an assembly by Peter Wygnanski who is training in Rome to be a Catholic priest. He explained his ambitions when he was younger, and his life in the Cambridge band ‘Alpha Road’ before joining a seminary to train to be a priest, and described his daily schedule as a seminarian.
Year 7 Students Experience Passover Christian meditation with Max Noak
On Tuesday 10th November the whole of Year 7 took Towards the end of October, Max Noak from St. Clem- part in a Jewish Passover meal, organised by us, the ent s Ch rch came nto school to lead Chr s an med ta- Year 10 RE Young Ambassadors. The meal was educa- on sess ons for all of o r ear classes. s art of tional not only Year 7 but also for us! We had to pre- the r to c on The S r t al L fe , st dents had been pare the materials for the session, and this was quite a cons der ng d fferent wa s of be ng drawn nto l fe n challenge as we didn't know much about the Jewish the S r t; Max s sess on was des gned to ntrod ce Passover meal ourselves. We were guided by Lauren them to the med ta e wa . Allin, a member of the Jewish Board of Deputies, who helped us in our planning. We had to prepare task Max began b ex la n ng wh Chr s ans m ght med - cards for the Year 7s to follow, which included singing tate, and what drew h m to Chr s an med ta on. e in Hebrew, breaking the Matza (Jewish bread) and told the st dents that, a few ears ago, he was str g- finding the Afikomon (only the youngest student in gl ng to ra n the wa that he sed to; he had alwa s each group was allowed to do this) - this was the sed words when he ra ed, b t now he co ldn t find highlight of the meal as there were chocolates for priz- the words he needed, and h s ra ers felt em t . Max es! We ambassadors also had to prepare the food for sa d that what he needed was to be told that t was OK j st to be w th od, and that th s was what Chr s an med ta on was abo t j st being . e o nted o t that, n o r rela onsh s w th each other, we o en s end me not talk ng, and that these mes are m ortant; wh sho ldn t we s end me l ke that w th od
Max ta ght the st dents three d fferent wa s of d strac ng themsel es from d strac ons and le ng the talk ng n the r m nds s bs de. F rst of all, he ta ght them j st to foc s on the r breath, and to ret rn to t whene er tho ghts o ed ns de them. Then he ta ght them to mag ne breath ng thro gh the centres of the r alms, rather than s m l feel ng the breath mo e n and o t. For a few m n tes at the end, the st - the meal, cutting up the spring onions and making dents tr ed s lentl s eak ng the words Jes s Chr st n charoset. We had been preparing the Passover meal me w th the r breath, as another wa of e ng the r for a couple of months so a lot of thought went into tho ghts. making it enjoyable and realistic for the Year 7s, giv- ing them a taste (literally!) of a Jewish celebration to support them in their study of Judaism. The Year 7s were very engaged, and we ambassadors each led a group of 13 students through the meal. It was very good for us to prepare and organise the lesson inde- pendently and has definitely helped us build our confidence.
Ruby Page
Pilgrimage Dioramas Year 8 RE students were given a multi-week homework project last half-term. They were asked to find about a place of Christian pilgrimage, and to create a diorama depicting a scene either from the events that made that place a place of ere are a few of the words and hrases st dents sed pilgrimage or from to descr be the r ex er ence of Chr s an med ta on the events that hap- calm ng, relax ng, eacef l, comfor ng, mesmer s ng, pen in that place awesome, m nd aslee b t bod wasn t, d fferent, nter- today. es ng, fr stra ng, s r r s ng, makes o l el .
We had some amaz- ing results! Father Raphael (by Joe Blyth, Noah Johnson and Theo Clarke)
Earlier this year, a Russian Orthodox priest, Father Raphael, visited the school to talk about his Church and religion. During this visit, he taught us about the icons which he, his congrega- tion and the rest of the Orthodox religion uses to pray. He con- structed a small icon corner (a small collection of icons, candles and other items which the Orthodox religion uses to pray) to demonstrate the use of the icons that he had brought with him. As a group, we found this very interesting and useful to us as it helped us find out more about other branches of the Christian faith. Here is what some of the class thought about his visit:
It was very fun and good to hear him talk about and see the icons he showed us. – Eldho Saji 8ALS We were very lucky to have Father Raphael in. My knowledge of Christian beliefs have been extended. – George Pake 8PR Very informative and I learnt lots of new information that I did not know about – Sophia Lakin 8AL I learnt lots of new things that I had no idea about! – Abigail Koehorst 8PR We got to see things from his Church and how he used them. This was very interesting for me. – Andreas Greger 8AS VISIT TO TYBURN CONVENT
On the 30th September, thirty girls, two teachers, our school chaplain and a Catholic priest boarded a train at Cambridge Station to Kings Cross Station in London. We were heading for Tyburn Convent to meet some nuns! When we arrived we had tea and biscuits, and a chance to take some very religious selfies! Then we had a talk from an Aus- tralian nun: she told us about the Tyburn martyrs and also about the many relics that they have in the convent. This was followed by a Mass with a wonderful Sermon by Fr Henry! Topped off by a visit to the adoration chapel which is a chapel where the Holy Eucharist is presented every second of the day and at least one nun is always kneeling down in silence in front of it, praying. It made for a memorable day! This is what some of the other year 9 girls thought of the trip:
“I had a really great day! We learned about how they live and that they cannot leave the convent without special permis- sion. It was very interesting finding out about how they became nuns. I also really liked the public church upstairs.”
“People always stereotype nuns as people who sit inside praying 24/7. Yes they do pray, but they actually do a lot more than that. They read Bible passages too and do a lot of singing. Being a nun for some people is hard so when you first start you can leave at any point. It’s a difficult life to lead for some, which could mean God is calling for something else.”
“We learnt about Martyrs and saw some relics which included blood-stained shirts, bones and skin from Martyrs. They had to pay the executioner to get them to give them the relics. It was very interesting because I have never seen any- thing like it before.” Written by Isabelle Woodford 9JE TECHNOLOGY NEWS FROM THE FOOD ROOM It has been a busy first term in Food Technology with a fantastic array of dishes being made by all year groups. Year 7s began with cutting skills and have used these to produce salads and soups. Year 8s had the theme of staples and have made their own pasta, Bolognese ragu, lasagne, risotto and a tagine served with couscous. Year 9s have worked on the theme of soups and breads for a target market of homeless people and rough sleepers. They have had to do the calculations for volume production and research nutrition. Year 10s have had a term of food science with plenty of foodie experiments to back this up. Year 11s enjoyed a whole day of cooking for their controlled assessments following a variety of briefs.
As well as all this I am delighted announce that our Futurechef school heat winners went to Cambridge Regional College for the next round and swept the board, with Abbie Evans 1 st and Shiny Mariflo 2 nd !The panel of judges were very impressed with the standard and I was very proud. Abbie is being mentored by the executive chef from the Marriot Hotel outside Peterborough to help her with the next round, which will be the East of England heat in the Spring. He was so impressed with Shiny’s food too that he has asked her to stay in touch to develop her cooking skills. We hope to invite him to St Bede’s, so watch this space.
Other students have attended Cooking Club and made Asian meals, Korean and Japanese sushi (courtesy of our PGCE student, Ms Shaw), offal – Chinese liver, Salsa di fegatini and kidneys – rinones al jerez. We also had a joint session with Textiles making a stocking and sweets to put in it, such as peppermint creams, chocolate fudge and honeycomb (like Crunchy—and a truly explosive moment!). The last session involved truffles presented in an attractive origami box. We have also helped out with fund raising for Charities Day by making biscuits to be sold.
How does your garden grow? Our raised beds have supplied herbs and vegetables in spite of the late planting. We will plant earlier next spring. In between these have been planted comfrey so that we can make our own fertilizer, more herbs and strawberries which students are free to help themselves to at break. One of the raised beds in the quad is not looking so great at the moment. That is because it has been seeded with a wild flower meadow mix which I hope will be glorious next spring and summer and bring in pollinators. We have been offered the use of part of a local allotment (thanks, Mr Matthews) and are looking for volunteers from students, staff and parents who would be interested in helping out with this. I believe that it is important that people know the provenance of food and how to eat healthily and this will be a fantastic outdoor classroom.
Thank You We have also been lucky enough to have funding from the PTFA for 12 heritage fruit trees which will be planted in January. Most of them are Cambridgeshire bred varieties, though ironically for Cherry Hinton I couldn’t find a Cambridge bred cherry! Who knows, one day we may be able to get deck chairs and serve teas reclining under the trees like the Orchard Tea Gardens in Grantchester. EXPRESSIVE ARTS DRAMATIC NEWS An all star cast from Years 9, 10 and 11 have just performed in an abridged production of “Hamlet". Mistrust, murder, madness and revenge were just some of the themes that ravaged their way through the famous Shakespearean tragedy. The students modernised the setting, costume, props and music of the production to make it more accessible for their 21st century audience.
The cast received very positive feedback: "It was slick, fast-moving, passionate and engaging - a wonderful and memorable event which showed the students' skills."
A big thank you to Alex McDerment in Year 10 for training Lillie Wesley, Alice Bates and Connor Har- ris in the art of fencing, which provided a tremen- dously authentic foil fight at the end of the produc- tion.
The lower school play will be "Demon Headmaster" to be performed on February 8th and 9th 2016. See Mrs Vanderstay for any further information. Musical Moments
It’s been a whirlwind half term in the music department with lots of rehearsals, numerous performances and many memorable moments.
Soloist Recital Thursday 19 th November 29 performers came together for the first recital this year featuring solo- ists, duets and trios. Students from all year groups on various instru- ments performed beau fully in front of a full audience in the drama studio. There was a great mix of instruments from ukulele to saxophone and a mix of styles and genres too. Well done to all who performed.
“I think it was a good experience for us to get to perform to an audience because it helps to prepare for exams.” Amy Bownass, Year 10 GCSE Music student
Christmas Concert 7 th December D b D b b b b b b b b q ‘D K I ’ ?’ b j zz b
I really liked it because I got to perform on a new instrument which I hadn’t performed on in a school concert before. I also really enjoyed everyone coming on stage together to perform ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’. It was really nice to play as part of a big group. 10
I really enjoyed listening to the other groups, especially Ukulele Club. I can’t believe they started from scratch. It was amazing to see a student lead a club and perform on stage. I b D 10 Kings College Trip 8th December
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Carol Service OLEM 14th December
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The Big Draw
We held the Big Draw for the first time at St Bede’s in November. The Big Draw is the world's biggest drawing project and has one aim: to get every- one drawing! Students had the opportunity to work with artist and illustrator Jonny Boat- field, as well as contributing artwork to a large scale 3d map of a futuristic city.
Amy Thompson, Year 8: "On 1 November all of year 8 had a whole day of art. There were two different activities. One was making 3d buildings out of card to go on a big map. The second was to work with artist Jonnie Boatfield in the Hall. We drew weird and wacky illustrations in the windows of silhouetted build- ings. Each class had 45 minutes to contribute to the wall. For the big map we all worked on different themes based around the city. Students from Cambridge School of Art were very helpful at showing us different techniques. At the end of the day everyone in Year 8 had made a least one building to put on up on the map and we put them together to create a big city, it was full of all different sorts of buildings and even people. It looked fantastic and was a great experience!"
Year 10 Art Trip to Tate Modern and Tate Britain Ellie Doran 10SM The first place we visited was Tate Modern to see ‘The World Goes Pop’ exhibition which tells the global story of pop art. The rooms were bright and filled with paintings and sculptures that expressed the artists’ thoughts about issues of that time. I enjoyed seeing opinions about politics, war, conflicts and the role of women in society presented as artwork, as it provid- ed a visual representation of the mood at that time. It made you think about what the artist was trying to say as behind all the bright colours there were much deeper meanings. It also showed how much society has changed, especially with attitudes towards women. I also found it interesting that some of the works shown were items of clothing, videos, wallpaper and soundtracks so the exhibition was more than just about sight but also other senses. Tate Britain was full of artwork from lots of different British artists and lots of different periods of time. It was interesting to see how the styles and techniques have changed over time, but also how modern and older work share similar aspects. It was a good to be able to analyse work from different eras to see how artists have chosen to display their emotions and what they chose to represent. The building also added to the experience as the work was surrounded by a different form of art which added to the experience of being able to forget about everything else and just focus on what you were looking at. The amount of artwork was really inspiring and there was a huge choice of things to copy and learn from. Overall the trip was really worthwhile and helpful to the topic we are looking at in class at the moment (portraits) as well as being great fun. Many thanks to Mrs Emmans for organising it and all the teachers who came!
Year 10 students’ work exhibited in London!
This year 12 St Bede’s students are taking part in the National Art and Design Saturday Club at Cambridge School of Art. It is organised by the Sorrell Foundation and gives young people the unique opportunity to study art and design every Saturday morning at their local college or university.
Students are given expert tuition in drawing, printmaking, graphic design, animation and fashion design. They also visit some of London's best museums and galleries and last month went to Tate Britain and had an exhibition of their self portraits in London. Students will now start working towards their own Summer Show at Somerset House in London which is an incredible opportunity and hugely exciting for the students and their families alike.
Emily Sparrow, Year 10: “I have really enjoyed the Saturday Morning Art Club. We have learned lots of different techniques and been taught by professional artists. In November we all created self-portraits and then exhibited them at Kings College, London . We had the opportunity to meet Sir John and Lady Sorrell to talk about our work - they were very nice and complimentary! We also went to see the art work at Tate Britain and came back very inspired." PHYSICAL EDUCATION RUGBY Year 7 District Rugby Tournament Right from the beginning it was evident that there was an abundance of talent in Year 7. The boys demonstrated excel- lent commitment to training, enthusiasm and most importantly a very focused approach to developing as individuals and as a team. On the 5th November, 33 Year 7 students took part in the District Tournament at Melbourn along with 17 other schools Year 7 A Team In the group stages we played North Cambridge Academy first. We domi- nated possession and had several chances to score but just couldn’t get across the line in the first half. In the second half we managed to score early on through Sonny McKeag and came through winning 5-0. Up next were Parkside & Coleridge. The boys now found their rhythm. We scored the first try, the floodgates opened and we cruised to victory 35-0. Last up were Comberton. Both teams’ defenc- es were very good but our greater technical ability and pressure began to tell and we took the lead with a well worked try thanks to Alfie Lowe. We relaxed momentarily and conceded a soft try straight from the restart. The boys rallied and came back strong, putting the pressure on the Comberton defence, resulting in Alfie Lowe crossing the try line again. The final whistle went and St Bede’s had won 10-5. In the semi-final both teams demonstrated a very high level of rugby. The opposition had some big players and it looked as though St Bede's were in for a very physical match. Right from the whistle St Bede's controlled the ball and possession brilliantly. However, Chesterton tackled well and defended with every means they could. Wave after wave of St Bede's attacks fell short of the line with some unbelievable defending by Chesterton. However, Dan Maund did cross the line to score but unfortunately the referee disallowed it. St Bede's maintained possession of the ball through some excellent recycling and forward play. Deep into injury time Chesterton made a break and a rare foray into our half. After a fantastic tackle from Himesha, a penalty was awarded to Chesterton. They bundled the ball over the line to score against the run of play. The referee blew the final whistle and St Bede’s lost 5-0. The boys were bitterly disap- pointed but picked themselves up extremely well as they were to face Netherhall in the ¾ playoff. We continued to play some really good rugby and finished on a high. The game proved to be a try fest for us and we won comfortably 35-5, placing the boys 3rd overall in the tournament. A tremendous achievement! The A Team squad Alfie Lowe, Francis Munnelly, Michael Di Lorenzo, Ben Millar, Himesha Rajapaksha, Ralph Mangar, Daniel Everitt, Sonny McKeag, Joe Huntly, Eoin Collins, Ollie Maund, Alex Lee, Will Foulger, Ned Mitham, George Fraser, Tom Greany, Saleem Akanbi
Year 7B Team The St Bede’s team did fantastically well in the group stages, winning both their games quite comfortably. Special men- tion must go to Nick Woodford who controlled the games at fly half and scored several tries through strong running. The final scores were: St Bede’s 20 v Soham 5; Chesterton 5 v St Bede’s 25 After qualifying for the finals, St Bede’s had two tough games and played tremendously well to come back from 5-0 down to draw with Sawston. Sancton Wood was even tougher. The effort of playing two games in a row took its toll and the boys narrowly lost to Sancton Wood by a try scored in the last minute of play. St Bede’s 5 v Sawston 5; St Bede’s 5 v Sancton Wood 10. Well done to the boys who finished joint second in the B team tournament. The B Team Squad Noah Straughan Chris Dennis, Josh Eades, Harry Agrawal, Marco Crossland, Jack Knight, Leo Barassi, Caleb Agnes, Patrick Niland, Kamill Wais, Wesley Vasquez, Sam Vasilis, Jonathan Scoffin, Nick Woodford, Terry Hacker, Joseph Quash
This season St. Bede’s boys’ teams have once again demonstrated their ability to consistently play rugby at a high level, competing against the 17 schools in Cambridge and District. Congratulations to all the boys who have represented the school so well in all the rugby matches and District Tournaments. Highlights of the 2014/2015 seasonseason: Year 7 Boys Rugby A Team: 3 rd Place District A Tournament; Year 7 Boys Rugby B Team: 2nd Place District B Tournament Year 8 Boys Rugby A Team: 5th Place District A Tournament; Year 8 Boys Rugby B Team: 4th Place District B Tournament Year 9 Boys Rugby A Team: 1 st Place District Tournament Year 10 Boys Rugby A Team: 7 th Place District Tournament Year 11 Boys Rugby A Team: 5 th Place District Tournament HOCKEY After 14 lessons, 8 training sessions and 5 fixtures, both the Year 8 and Year 7 hockey teams were ready to face their final challenge of the hockey season: the District Hockey Tournament. Year 8 Hockey A Team The Year 8 A Team had won all their matches in the lead up to the tournament and were keen to improve their placing from last year. 12 teams entered the tournament and were split into 2 groups, with only the top two teams qualifying for the finals. The girls played 5 games and started the tournament well, winning the first 3 matches against Bottisham, Cambourne and St. Mary’s all by 2 goals to 0. The 4th match against Chesterton was very close and the girls could only secure a 0-0 draw. The final game against Comberton was crucial, they needed to either draw or win to qualify for the finals. The girls battled hard and had a few chances but Comberton proved too strong, and although we had beaten them earlier in the season, we lost the match 2-0. The girls missed qualifying for the final by 1 point and although disappoint- ed, they were able to take many positives from the tournament. Congratulations to the whole squad: 5th Place District A Hockey Tournament Alessia Pascale, Mia Brown, Cecilia Bennett, Alejandra Martinez-Brocal Diez, Vicky Page, Sophie Turner, Tess Rigby Layla Weston. Year 8 Hockey B Team The Year 8 B team competed against 6 other schools from across the District in a round-robin competition. The girls worked hard as a team and showed a high level of skill and tactical awareness. Amy Thompson led the attack as centre forward and was supported well by centre half, left half and right half who all took their opportu- nities to put the opposition’s defence under pressure. Lynette Morrison is also to be commended for her efforts in defence and for her leadership. Throughout the tournament the team only conceded 1 goal which is a wonderful achievement—well done to Mia Singh, goal keeper. The girls managed to win 5 games and draw 1; this fantastic result meant they topped the group by a convincing margin. St. Bede’s vs Sancton Wood 3-0; St. Bede’s vs Chesterton 1-1; St. Bede’s vs Linton 3-0; St. Bede’s vs Bottisham 3-0; St. Bede’s vs Sawston 1-0; St. Bede’s vs St Mary’s 3-0 Congratulations to the whole squad: District B Team Champions Amy Thompson, Mia Singh, Emily Buxton, Bronwen Murray, Lynette Morrison, Emily Bowen , Hannah Stygall, Beatrice Duffett, Georgie Lee
Year 7 Hockey A Team The Year 7 A team have been going from strength to strength, developing their skills and learning to work together to produce a good team performance. The girls managed to beat teams from Comberton, Netherhall and Sawston in the inter-school fixtures, all by convincing margins. Eighteen schools entered the District Tournament and were divided into 4 groups. The girls were in a group with Cottenham, Melbourn, Sawston and NCA. It was wonderful to see the girls performing at their best, competing for the ball and taking opportunities to strike at goal. Roisin Scanlon played a pivot- al role in centre midfield and distributed the ball well to the outside halfs: Viola Beneze and Bronwen Murray, and Lottie Wager in attack. Together the girls created an impres- sive strike force and were able to take their opponents’ defence apart. The girls won all their matches: St Bede’s 3-0 Cottenham; St Bede’s 2-0 Melbourn; St Bede’s 4-0 NCA; St Bede’s 4-0 Sawston Winning the group meant the team qualified for the round robin play-off final and they faced 3 teams: Netherhall, Chesterton and Linton. Despite having already played 4 matches, the girls were able to maintain their concentration and energy levels in each of the games. The defence worked well with goal keeper Sabrina Crossland and did not concede any goals. The midfield and attack also showed a great deal of skill and tenacity and were able to take advantage of their scoring opportunities. They beat Netherhall 3-0, Chesterton 4-0 and Linton 2-0. Congratulations to the whole squad: District A Team Tournament Champions Year 7 Hockey B Team The Year 7 B Team were very excited to be representing the school for the first time in a District Competition. Each member of the team took it in turn to captain the team for a match, taking responsibility for motivating and leading the players. As a team they played very well together and managed to develop their game play and tactical understanding throughout the tournament. The defence were very strong and, combined with the skills of the goal keeper Abbie Philips, the team did not concede any goals. The halfs and attack also worked hard and showed confidence when taking the ball into the ‘D’ and shooting at goal. The results from the matches were as follows: St. Bede’s vs Bottisham V.C 2- 0, St. Bede’s vs Chesterton 3-0, St. Bede’s vs St. Mary’s 0-0, St. Bede’s vs Sawston 0-0 and St.Bede’s vs Linton 2-0. The girls were delighted with their performance and rightly so; they finished the tournament undefeated and in joint first place with Sawston V.C Congratulations to the team: U12 B Team District Hockey Champions (Joint). GAELIC FOOTBALL CHAMPS! As the coach of the Year 7 and 8 first ever St Bede’s Gaelic Football team, I was overjoyed with the effort all the lads put in. We first played 3 matches in our group against St Michael’s, St Mary’s and Joan of Arc and unfortu- nately only won the game against Joan of Arc. As we came last in our group, we went straight into the shield quarter finals. We played Cardinal Newman A team and won! We then played St Mary’s B team in the semi- final which we also won, so we were in the final for the shield. We were up against St Michael’s B team who we went on to beat by just 1 point scored by Rob Macqueen, our captain. It was a brilliant performance all round by the coaches and players and I am so proud of our school team for how much they put in to win the shield! The school team was: Dermot Cambell, Hugo Packman, Patrick Niland, Alfie Lowe, Joe Huntly, Eoin Collins, Ned Mitham, Sam Vasilis, Fergal Campbell, Oliver Maund, Michael Di Lorenzo, Francis Munnelly, Sonny McKeag and Rob Macqueen. And also a big thanks to Miss Patten who drove us down to the tournament. Hopefully we can do the same next year! Once again, well done boys! Jack Niland, Year 11
Cross Country The District Cross Country The St Bede’s Cross Country team made the short journey across to Netherhall for the annual District Cross Country meet. Over 50 St Bede’s runners gave their all. We achieved a fantastic overall team result finishing in 6 th place out of 17 schools. Special mention must go to Oliver Sewell who won, with considerable ease, the Inter Boys race and Vicky Page who also qualified for the county schools’ team by coming 13 th in the Junior Girls race. Saleem Akanbi, Year 7, also did really well by finishing 17 th . The Cambridgeshire Schools County Cross Country Championships will take place on Saturday 16th January 2016 at King’s Ely. We wish Oliver and Vicky well in this event.
District Cross Country Squad Year 7 Boys Saleem Akanbi, Raul Bisong, James Layland, Dermot Campbell, Fergal Campbell, Caleb Des-Ruisseaux, Will Foulger , Kamill Wais , Tom Greany, Seb Lee, Josh Eades, Joe Halls, Jonny Scoffin. Year 7 Girls Jessica Wood, Michiko McElgunn, Indiana Gould , Matilda Froggatt, Nina Oldham, Roisin Scanlon, Veronica Cornwell, Rebecca Bownass, Orla Collins, Lottie Wager, Kinga Geneja , Ginevra Green Year 8/9 Boys Tom Summerell, Andreas Greger, Tom Vincent, James Doggett, Antonio Fortuna, Caleb Plant, John Vernezos Year 8/9 Girls Vicky Page, Flossie Browse, Rebecca Illingworth, Chloe Nelson, Emma Lewis, Chiedza Nazombe, Layla Weston, Grace Newby Year 10/11 Boys Ben Dolman, Ollie Sewell, Elliot Austin, Tom Newby, Marcus Gaiser-Porter, Dan Cockhead ,Tom Hadden and Arthik Francis Year 10/11 Girls Maggie Lindsay, Alice Nottage, Ruby Page, Lauren Wilson, Shanti Duraikan, Annie Mather BASKETBALL Under 14 Basketball Since October half term the Year 9’s and 8’s have been playing Basketball with great gusto. The squad are undefeated in the local leagues, having three sound wins against Linton (94-17), Parkside (48-36)and Bassingbourn (56-12). They have amassed 198 points, conceding 65 points. Their only defeat came in the long trip in the County Cup where they lost 27-19 to Thomas Clarkson School in Wisbech. They will entertain Bushfield School in their second county cup game on onday 13th ecember. n their penul mate game before the Christmas break, they cruised to a 68-23 win against elbourn Village College. Under 14 Squad lfresus Bau sta, rchie Wager, ichie llingham, eli Williams, Tyler Campbell, ndy Okae Sarkodie, Luca Campbell, James Bradnam, onnacha Shevlin, Noah Partridge, Leon oore, than Cobo, Prince gbo, Winston Sco , ichael Va que , ndreas Greger, Pravinda Peiris Under 16 Basketball Training has been well a ended and the quality of play in training games and matches has been very e tremely good. The boys con nue to develop and have had some e cellent results. We are due to play Co enham VC a er Christmas in the County Cup semi-final and also in the istrict Tournament where the games will be tough. St Bede’s 29- 16 Linton VC St Bede’s 33 -39 Parkside & Coleridge Bassingbourn 11-44 St Bede’s St Bede’s 37-23 elbourn Squad onn rum (Capt), Tash Chawira, iko agnaye, ngus Gos ck, arcus Gaiser-Porter, Oliver aynard , Gio- vanni Protacio, Clancy Peiris, Chris Philip, James e La Cru , Wanya Whyne, eeve nthony, Lance Cayabyab.
Badminton & Table Tennis ASPIRE NETBALL On the 1st December 7 students from Years 8 and 9 St Bede’s took part in the District boys’ and girls’ doubles represented the school in the Cambridge Aspire badminton tournament on Tuesday 10th November. There mixed league for Netball. The competition took was some tremendous play and a great spirit shown by all. place at Netherhall School and students played a St Bede’s did extremely well and won the Badminton Tour- round robin league format with the winners going nament overall. The Table Tennis players did really well through to the county and finished runners up. Well done to both squads! competition in March 2016. Badminton St Bede’s were compet- Squad: ing against Impington, Vinil Joseph, who had two teams, and Netherhall. St Bede’s Oliver got off to a fantastic Maynard, start with a 3-2 win Clancy Peiris, over Impington’s 1st Maggie team. Oliver Mansell Lindsay, Esther defended well as GK Tun, Rachel and Sarah Grace Jong- Owen, Annie Mather kind scored a last minute goal to win the Table Tennis: game. They then went James Lee, James De La Cruz, Ed Phoenix, James Wells on to face Netherhall who they beat 2-0. The final game was against Impington’s 2nd team. George Pake (WA), Sarah Grace Jongkind (GA), Vicky Page (C) and Emily Snell (GS) worked well together to make the final score 5-2 to St Bede’s. This meant we were District Champions and the students go on to represent St Bede’s in the county finals in March. We wish them the best of luck! Con- gratulations to: Izi Middleton (GD), Emily Snell (GS), Oliver Mansell (GK), Sophie Gilligan (WD), George Pake (WA), Vicky Page (C), Sarah Grace Jongkind (GA)
CHAPLAINCY & CHARITIES O Come, O Come, Emmanuel! Year 7 Reflection Day
We celebrated the beginning of Advent On 25th November Year 7 went to Ely Cathedral for with a Eucharist for Year 10 in the school their Reflection Day. We miraculously ended school hall and a Mass for Year 9 in St Philip How- at ten past nine…. only joking! That’s when we got ard Church. Chaplaincy Reps led prayers on the coach! and readings in both services. Our celebrant Once we arrived we were taken to the Lady Chapel by a lady called Sally. We were then split into our at Mass was Fr Richard Flynn OP, a Dominican from Black- forms with which we would be doing the many friars House in Cambridge. He was accompanied by a different workshops. Our form group, 7SW, first number of his young novices who sang for us throughout went to a workshop where we learnt about the the Mass. One of the novices, Brother Wilf, is now visiting different aspects and symbols of the church, such as school regularly to run the ‘Crafts and Questions’ lunchtime the dove symbolising peace and the dog reflecting club in the Chaplaincy – an opportunity to feed the mind loyalty and the colour blue representing joy and and soul with discussion about the big questions of life and happiness. theology, whilst feeding the body with decorated cupcakes! We then went to a workshop where we discovered This club alternates on a Friday with Stephen Matthew’s how the cathedral is run, from financial issues to CAFOD Ambassadors Club. Our two Christian Unions have simply cleaning. Next we were shown the different been busy this half term: youth leaders from local churches monuments in the cathedral. We looked at statues meet with students on a Wednesday lunchtime and Year 11 (many without heads!), at stained glass windows and drawings. students lead a meeting on Monday lunchtimes. Our Year 11 After lunch we learned all about the lifestyle of CU leaders have led assemblies for all year groups about the Christian monks: how they communicate (sign lan- CU in recent weeks. Year 7 students enjoyed their Reflection guage), what rules they have to follow and their Day in Ely Cathedral and Year 11 students were given plenty daily routines. to ponder in their Science and Religion Reflection Day. The last workshop was all about people from medie- Chaplaincy Reps have been leading collective worship for val times who went on pilgrimages in which they their forms most weeks and we’re looking forward to the brought gifts to an important Christian building commissioning of the Chaplaincy Reps at the Christmas such as a shrine or a cathedral to pray for many Carol Service, when they will all be involved in leading our things. worship. To finish up the day nicely, we had a short service in O Come to us, abide with us, the octagon in the centre of the cathedral. We had our Lord, Emmanuel! great day! Thank you to the members of Ely cathe- dral for making the day so memorable (despite the cold!).
Year 11 Reflection Day on Science and Religion Are science and religion compatible? Do we need religion now that science is so advanced? How can you reconcile the biblical creation stories with evolution? Where did we come from? These were just some of the questions Year 11 grappled with on their Reflection Day. We began in worship with a Eucharist on a theme of Time - does it exist, and how does God use it? Then, with speakers from the Faraday Institute, CAFOD, Cambridge University, the ‘God and the Big Bang Project’ and our own Mr Mat- thews, we travelled from the Big Bang to human evolution, from the origins of our atoms in stardust to the social conscience of communi- ties responding to climate change. Along the way we delved into Black Holes, looked at hominid skulls and even solved a murder mys- Our congratulations go to Lynette Morrison on tery through chemical analysis of the evidence to discover whether it the occasion of her confirmation in Ely Cathedral was Lord Voldemort, Saruman or Darth Vader who killed Jeeves the Butler after eating Mrs Doubtfire’s red cabbage soup… Throughout by the Bishop of Huntingdon on 21st November. our sessions we were guided towards asking the right sorts of ques- tions to the problems we addressed, and appreciated more about how Our love and best wishes go with her in her both science and religion seek for truth, but do so in different ways, continued journey with Christ. through mechanism or meaning, the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of life. Charities Update You will be delighted to hear that we collected 81 boxes of Christmas gifts for disadvantaged children and adults in Romania for the charity Children in Distress who were very gratefulfor our efforts. Many thanks for your support with that. By the time you read this we will have held our major whole-school fund-raising event in aid of the Red Cross Refugee Appeal. As I write, parents have already generously donated £630 and we are looking forward to raising much more on the day with our: raffles (see below for some of the prizes on offer), cake stall, biscuit icing, teddy-naming, bring and buy and craft, plan- ner decorating and own clothes. Many thanks to everyone who has made a donation. Looking ahead, we are going to support two charities based in India on Charities Day in the summer. We would like it to be a real taste of the country as well as a fund- raiser, so if you have any connections with India, artefacts, cooking skills or ideas about how we can really immerse the students in the culture, I would be very pleased to hear from you. A very Happy Christmas to you all from the Charities Group.
A HUGE THANK YOU ALL THE WAY FROM KENYA! Over the last two years St. Bede’s students have managed to raise almost £6000 for the charity I started: Nakuru Children’s Project. Upon arriving at one of the schools there, I was immediately able to see the impact of our fundraising. The classroom that was constructed in the first year was finally completed and students had moved out of the old small, dusty mud classroom and into the new one. The school performance has dramatically improved and the teachers, students and their parents were all incredibly grateful for the beautiful classroom St. Bede’s students had helped to construct. This year the money went towards feeding 25 children at a primary school. It was amazing to see some of the neediest children in this area tucking into hot chapatti and meat stew provided by the children at St. Bede’s. The feeding program has been a huge success in keeping children off the streets and away from the dangerous jobs young boys and girls are often forced into out of hunger. Instead, 25 children were added to the feeding program keeping them in school and safe. This has also meant that their grades have improved and they can look forward to a much better quality of life. There was also enough money to sponsor a girl called Caroline who was introduced to the charity as an orphan, earning money through picking her body weight in tea leaves 7 days a week. In Kenya, primary schools are free, however she had no way of affording secondary school education de- spite finishing with the highest grades and dreams of becoming a doctor. I was fortunate enough to visit Caroline while she was packing for her new school. She was incredibly excited to be starting secondary school. She told me she was happy because the children at St. Bede’s had saved her life. On top of all this we received a huge amount of donations during the opening of the special educational needs unit. Thank you to all the staff who donated toys and the students who gave their old yellow PE t-shirts to be loved during playtimes and PE lessons. As we are expanding this small school next year any further yellow t-shirts would be gratefully received.
NAKURU
CHILDREN’S
PROJECT
For more details on the project and how you can help, please contact Miss Siddall at school
Duke of Edinburgh News
It’s go go go in the DofE camp! Both Silver and Bronze partici- pants are planning their routes for their practice expeditions in the Peak District and South Downs respectively.
Silvers have been asked to have their practice expedition prepara- tions finished by the end of this term—and will be bringing them home if they are not – parents be warned! We will need to start planning the assessed expedition after Christmas. Meetings con- tinue in B4 on Friday lunchtime PROMPTLY at 1pm.
Bronze participants have almost finished planning their practice route. Meetings will run as follows next half term:
Jan 11 th – Group A (Menu planning) Jan 18 th — Group B (Menu planning) Jan 25 th – Group A (real expedition start planning) Feb 1 st - Group B (real expedition start planning)
After these dates Bronze participants will be completing their route cards independently, with the option of checking routes and route cards with differ- ent members of staff.
ALL participants are reminded to keep their eDofE logbooks up to date and that for Bronze, all sections will need to be completed to join the expedition.
Thank you to all Bronze participants and parents who attended the meeting on the 23 rd . If you did not attend I can still send the Powerpoint with important dates.
Miss Bradley Maggie and Jimmy are SKI AUSTRIA 2017! There is a space availa- Duke of Edinburgh megamega----volunteers!volunteers! ble on the St Bede’s Huge congratulations ski trip to Matrie-Kals go to Maggie and in Austria in 2017. If Jimmy Lindsay for be- you are interested ing awarded ‘Young please contact the Volunteers of the Year’ finance office at
for their wonderful [email protected] voluntary work with Parktennis in PLEASE ENSURE ALL ITEMS BROUGHT TO Cambridge. They have SCHOOL ARE NAMED CLEARLY SO WE CAN both gone over and above the Duke of Edinburgh RETURN LOST PROPERTY TO THE RIGHTFUL requirements for voluntary work and sincerely deserve OWNERS. their award. Well done! MANY THANKS
Quiz Night was a big success raising £305.Thank you for all your support. Special thanks to Kate Robinson who organised this event and her son William for all their hard work.
UPCOMING EVENTS Jan 9th - GARDENING DAY! We will be planting 10 trees and need help from anyone willing; this is a great father/ son activity. Bacon rolls and hot drinks will be provided. Also we will be try- ing to enhance our reflection garden. Help is needed to create a space for students to sit quietly. Please do come along and join our gardening day! Email [email protected] or just come along on Sat 9th Jan at 10am and bring a spade.
Feb 2016—We are considering holding a PAMPER EVENING at CRC Beauty Treatments Centre in February 2016. Cost will be £20 per person, which will include a two course meal and a mini-pedicure or mini-manicure. Email [email protected] for more information or to book your place.
Jan 26th - AGM - New PTFA members urgently needed! We are a small group of parents and staff who raise funds for school equipment to support students across the curriculum. We will be meeting at 7pm in the Re- sources Centre, with cake and a cuppa! For many, this is a great way to get to know other parents and get involved with events in the school, so please do come along.
Feb 5th- Y7/8 DISCO - students tickets will be available via WisePay in January. Tickets must be purchased in advance and cannot be bought on the evening. This event is for St Bede's students only.
March 11th - CEILI DANCE - a great family night. Even if you've never danced before, come and join in as the caller teaches the steps! Also, watch our amazing Cafferkey Irish Dancers perform a display for us. Chicken Curry and Rice / Veg Curry and Rice all £1.50 per person. Bar available, also great raffle prizes, home baked goodies and much more.
July 9th -Table top sale. All pitches will be £5.00. Please email [email protected] for more details.
Please do come and join in our fun events, and put these dates in your diary! Thank you for your continued support!