I S S U E 1 OCTOBER 2016 Dear Parents and Carers 89% of pupils with 91% - 95% attendance achieved 5+ A*- C HIGHLIGHTS What a fantastic start to the including English and Maths term we have had! p.3 Welcome Year 66% of pupils with 86%-90% 7! Our Year 7 pupils are set- attendance achieved 5+ A*- C tling in well and quickly be- including English and Maths p. 4 Meet the new coming part of ‘Team St School Council Michael’s’. They look ex- 14% of pupils with attendance tremely smart in their new below 85% achieved 5+ A* - C p. 6 Results Day uniforms, are trying many including English and Maths question and answer session Celebrations of the extra-curricular en- with some of our Year 11 richment activities on offer We are looking forward to pupils in their Religious Edu- p.7-8 Christian and making new friends. celebrating with Year 11 on cation lessons. We will end Values Enrichment Wednesday 30th November our term on Friday with a Day Pupils in other year groups when Mrs Julie Heaton, for- Eucharist service available for are responding to the chal- mer headteacher, will be pupils in addition to our usual p.11 Visit from the lenges of their studies: Year our principal guest at Worship services. Bishop 11 commencing their final Awards Evening, when year with us, both Years 9 GCSE certificates and prizes Mr Chadwick and Miss p.13 The Breck and 10 embarking on their will be distributed. Sephton have embraced their Foundation GCSE courses and Year 8, new roles as Deputy who will begin to start It is such an honour to lead Headteachers. Supporting the p.15 Watersports thinking about their future this wonderful school and I senior leadership team, we 2016 option choices in the next have been extremely also have a temporary few months. touched and greatly en- ‘extended leadership team’ p.16 Children of couraged by the support I comprising of Mr Allcock, Mrs Eden rehearsals Once again we were all ex- have received in my new Clapp, Mr Kirkpatrick, Mrs tremely proud of last year’s role as Headteacher. It was McCaffrey and Mrs Rackstraw p.17 World Smile Year 11 who gained out- a real privilege to welcome and hope to be able to ap- Day standing GCSE results. the Bishop of Blackburn, point a permanent assistant Overall, 89% of all pupils The Rt Reverend Julian headteacher later in the p.18 Lancashire achieved 5+ A* - C grades Henderson to school, along school year. Book of the Year including English and with representatives of the Maths, the best results in diocese, local authority, Mrs Amanda Ferguson and the school’s history. These governors, parent repre- Mrs Hannah Bain have re- results show just what can sentatives and pupils for turned from maternity leave be achieved when pupils, my commissioning service and we also welcome several staff, parents and carers at the start of term. This new colleagues to St work together. was followed by a visit from Michael’s: Miss Sophie White- another Bishop, this time ley and Miss Sarah Howard to I would also like to share The Rt Reverend James the Science department, Miss with you the following fig- Newcome, Bishop of Car- Jade Carter to History, Mr ures in relation to these lisle who visited school as Paul Topping, Mrs Lynn results, which highlight the part of the Diocese Cross- Catell, Mrs Kathryn Stansfield importance of good attend- roads Mission. Bishop and Mrs Alicia Moreno to ance in ensuring success: James led our Eucharist Modern Foreign Languages, service where he spoke Mrs Victora Finch to the PE 94% of pupils with attendance about ‘Happiness’ and the department and Mrs Christine above 96% achieved 5+ A*- C source of true happiness Maxwell to the Food and Nu- including English and Maths and was then involved in a trition department. P.T.O. P A G E 2 Mrs Jenks continues… Mrs Jill Sanderson (administrative St Michael’s Close, adjacent to I am sure that if our pupils con- staff) has left the school following the school, has now been des- tinue to approach the year in the 11 years of dedicated service and ignated as ‘residents only positive way in which they have Mrs Liz Sumner (our catering man- parking’. Please also remember started the term they will reap ager) will leave school at the end that parents should not access the benefits of success in so of term. We wish them well in their the school premises to drop off many areas of school life. They new roles. Our best wishes also go or pick up pupils at the start are a credit to you their parents to Miss Sephton and Mr Hooley and end of the school day. and carers and to our school. who are getting married at half term. We wish them every happi- Please would you help to rein- Yours sincerely ness. force safety messages with your son/daughter as there J Jenks Thank you for your support with have been several instances our uniform, especially in ensuring recently of pupils stepping out that girls’ skirts are of the right into oncoming traffic because length (no more than 3” from the Mrs Jayne Jenks they have been using their Headteacher knee) and that boys’ trousers are phones or listening to music. I of a traditional style and not am extremely grateful for your ‘skinny fit’; we do feel that our pu- support in these matters which pils look really smart and present a help to ensure the safety of all positive image of St Michael’s in our young people. the local community. I hope the contents of our Please may I ask for your coopera- Newsletter will give you a fla- tion in relation to the one way sys- vour of life here and an insight tem we encourage parents to use into the range of life enriching outside school (i.e. travelling up extra-curricular activities and Millfield Road to reach school and events that have been taking then using Astley Road to depart place during this action-packed from school). Also, if I may remind half term. We are so proud of you that pupils should be dropped the way in which our pupils off away from school to enable embrace the myriad of opportu- them to walk a little way and also nities available to them. ease congestion. OVER 970,000 young people across Britain have recently decided what members of the UK Youth Parliament should debate and vote on in their ‘Make your Mark’ campaign for 2017 and this term Saint Michael’s pupils played their part. Recently, our local representative from Young People’s Services, Clare Smith, came into school and with the fantastic help of some of our pupils who are members of the local Youth Council (Luke Abbott, Luisa Higham and Amelynn Saaiman) they delivered an assembly to each year group explaining the ‘Make your Mark’ Campaign. Each pupil was then given the opportunity to vote for the issue they felt was most important so that the National Youth Council can make it the focus of their campaigning this year. This campaign supports our work in Citizenship at Saint Michael’s, and Mrs Brotherton commented that campaigns like this ‘help young people to feel valued as part of a dem- ocratic society’ and helps them ‘to understand better how democratic processes can affect them’. S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S NEWS P A G E 3 TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY new, eager (and slightly nervous) faces entered the school hall on the first day back after the sum- mer holidays. Welcomed by Year 7 Pupil Manager Mr Gow, the pupils started the day with a worship led by Mrs Jenks, before being whisked away to their new tutorial rooms with their tutors, for a crash-course introduction to life at Saint Michael’s. Year 10 Peer Mentors were also on hand to share their inside knowledge of the school and act as guides to show our new pupils the ropes (and their way around the school!) Seven weeks on and most of our fabulous Year 7 pupils seem to have settled in wonderfully and are already a vital part of ’Team Saint Michael’s’. Mr Gow said that he has ‘felt inspired’ by his new cohort and is ‘incredibly proud’ of the fantastic start they have made. Next term, parents and carers will have the opportunity to meet and speak with Year 7 tutors about how their child has settled in to life at Saint Michael’s at the Tutors’ Evening on 9th November. A CAREER IN FARRIERY is calling Year 11 pupil Dylan after he recently completed the first year of a two year course in Land-Based Studies and Horse Care at Myerscough College. Dylan spends every Wednesday at Myerscough where he completes a mix of theory, portfolio and practical work which all contribute to his NPTC Level 1 Diploma. And he hopes this will all lead to a very specialised and well- respected career in Farriery—otherwise known as equine hoof care. Myerscough is only one of four colleges in the country which offer this prestigious course so Dylan hopes that his diploma will stand him in good stead for earning a place there when he finishes Year 11. Dylan with his certificates YEAR 7 pupils have spent this half term studying the story of Saint Michael in their RE lessons. They have been reflecting on the battle between good and evil and were asked to create something creative at home to demonstrate or symbolise the meaning of the story.