A Welcome from our Principal
Welcome to the Aspire Magazine, reviewing the Summer term 2024. Yet again, it has been a busy term with plenty of opportuni es for our young people to shine.
We have had several trips out of College, including to Salzburg, Paris, Berlin, Lancaster, London, the Peak District, Liverpool Hope University, Manchester Metropolitan University, Alton Towers, and the Trafford Centre. Some students completed their Gold & Silver Duke of Edinburgh Expedi ons. We have had a very successful ‘Fes val of Sports Day’, and the Sixth Form organised the third annual ‘Faith in Ac on Fair’, to raise money for our clinic in India and over £7,000 raised in total over the course of the year, so far!
We said farewell to our Year 11 & 13 students, with an Assembly & Mass, as well as a Leaving Prom & Dinner. Congratula ons to all the young people who were confirmed by Bishop Mark this term.
I hope you enjoy your read of our latest magazine. Thank you to all of our contributors and all those who help put it together.
God Bless,
Tim Beesley Principal
In This Issue...
Year 8 Retreat to Savio House
Form Prayer Sta ons
RE Lessons in Peace Garden
Card Making in the Chapel
Fair Trade Chocolate Sale
SVP News
Confirma on News
College Mass With St Alban’s Parishioners
Mini DASH
Austria Ski Trip 2024
Berlin - History Trip in May Half Term
Performing Arts Trips: Paris and London
Student Success
Eco School Merit Award
Summer Spine Spirit
Spor ng Success—Football in May
Duke of Edinburgh Award News
STEM Ac vi es
Mo va onal Speaker for Spanish
Science Session With Sygnature Discovery
Year 10 Geography Field trip
Farm News
Annie!
Drama Workshop
Year 7 History Trip to Beeston Castle
Mother Tongue, Other Tongue Winners
Year 11 Leavers
Year 11 Prom
ABA Training
RedHeart Theatre Produc on of Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde
Aspire Day
China Trip
Fes val of Sport
Year 5 Taster Day
Liverpool Hope Experience
Diversity in Art Project
Sixth Form News
Work Experience
Former Student has Internship at Kew
Gardens
Core RE
Year 13 English Language Playgroup
Year 13 Leavers Day
Year 13 Leavers Dinner
History, Business, Economics trip to London
Biology Field Trip
Save Our Streets
Year 12 Work Experience
Year 12 Geography Field Trip to Holderness
Life A er All Hallows—Lancaster
University Residen al
Prayer
Year 8 Retreat to Savio House
Year 8 students visited Savio House, Bollington for their retreat day and they had a fantas c me. The retreat was led by the Salesian team and was packed with fun ac vi es.
Students worked on the theme of “Bridges” as they took part in a wide range of team building games and ac vi es. The games included folding a sheet into the smallest possible size while all members of the team being able to stand on the, passing a hoopla hoop in an unbroken chain, working out how to cross the electric maze and replica ng a drawing without speaking. Students also had the opportunity to relax and enjoy me together, including me on the lovely Astro pitch as well as in the games room. The final liturgy led by Father Roman in the chapel brought together the theme for the day and sent the students out to act upon what they had learnt.
We are extremely grateful to the team from Savio for a great two days and yes, we are booked for 2025! Thank you to all the All Hallows staff who helped to make it a wonderful experience, but most of all thank you to the students for par cipa ng so fully. The students said they had enjoyed their day very much.
Form Prayer Sta ons
Here are just a few of our form prayer sta ons as we prepared for the month of May and give extra devo on to Our Blessed Lady, Mary and the Holy Rosary.
RE Lessons in Peace Garden
In June, Year 8 began their Prayer Garden reflec on sessions. Students were given an opportunity to pray in a different way by listening to the sounds of nature and being quiet and s ll while praying for their own inten ons or for world peace. Luckily, we missed the heaviest showers!
Card Making in the Chapel
As the weather changed towards the end of May the Year 8 Peace Garden Experiences were quickly replaced with a card making ac vity based on the birthday of the Church, Pentecost or the Our Father. Year 10 students con nued with their medita ons on the Our Father using Lec o Divina.
Fair Trade Chocolate Sale
The Chaplaincy Team raised awareness about Fairtrade by selling delicious Fairtrade chocolate in July. Sales were certainly brisk and in total they made £173.20.
SVP News
The Youth SVP group used money they had raised to give to St Benedict’s RC Church, Handforth. The SVP had recently made a request for children’s clothes. All Hallows were delighted to respond to the request.
Confirma on News
In July, students from All Hallows will be confirmed at St Alban’s RC Church Macclesfield and Christ Church, Heald Green. Today, we celebrated Mass with them in our Chapel and handed over a small gi with our best wishes as we prayed for them. May the Holy Spirit guide them throughout their lives.
College Mass With St Alban’s Parishioners
On Thursday 27th June, the Chaplaincy Student Team welcomed parishioners to the Chapel. Father Peter celebrated Mass for us. A er a cup of coffee and a croissant we returned to the Chapel to reflect upon the Our Father in this Year of Prayer. It was a most beau ful reflec on containing Lec o Divina, students saying the Our Father in various languages they were familiar with plus an amusing short drama. We thank the parishioners for a ending and hope we have other events soon for parishioners to a end as we all work together to encourage our young people to live the Gospel.
Mrs Livesey and Mrs Garvey were so proud of the students for leading such a lovely reflec on.
Mini DASH
Mrs Livesey and Mrs Garvey accompanied our Chaplaincy group to Chester on a Friday morning in early July, for a mee ng and ac vi es with other Chaplaincy groups from schools in the Diocese. Great fun was had by all. Students also a ended the Secondary Schools Mass with Bishop Mark.
Austria Ski Trip 2024
What an amazing trip we had! During the second week of the Easter holidays, 52 students from Years 8-10, plus 6 members of staff travelled to Obertauern Ski resort in Austria. The students had a fantas c me and were a pleasure to take. We had a wide variety of skiing abili es and all progressed so well. We even had some students rela vely new to skiing, who were comple ng difficult black runs by the end. The hotel and evening ac vi es were great too, and the whole experience was well worth the 24 hours on a coach to travel there and back! The weather was mixed, we were skiing in 25 degree heat one day, and then-1 the next day and we even had a day of fresh snow. Mr Lawson would like to thank all the students who went on the trip, their behaviour and a tude throughout the trip was excellent. Well done!
Berlin - History Trip in May Half Term
Day 1
Year 10 enjoyed their first full day in Berlin. Firstly, they visited the Stasi Prison which was followed by a tour of a remaining sec on of the Berlin Wall. We reflected at the statue and chapel of reconcilia on before visi ng the University where Hitler organised a burning of 'un-German' books. We then finished the day in the DDR museum exploring life in East Berlin during the Cold War. A very busy first day!
Day 2
Our staff and students had another busy day in Berlin a er star ng the day with a tour of Sachsenhausen concentra on camp before heading over to a guided tour the Olympic Stadium, originally built for the 1936 Olympic games.
Day 3
On the final day of the tour to Berlin, our history students passed through Checkpoint Charlie moving on to then reflect at Berlin Holocaust Memorial before sight seeing at the Brandenburg gate. They indulged in some shopping at the mall before a visit to the German parliamentary building, the Reichstag.
Performing Arts Trips
Paris
Over half term a group of students travelled to Paris with Mr Bailey, Miss Ellio , Mr Thompson and Miss Jones from the Performing Arts Faculty. While in the French capital the group visited the Montparnasse Tower, took a cruise on the Seine cruise, had a tour of the Eifel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. There was even some me for shopping! The final day was spent at the Disneyland Park. Here our students took part in a Disney musical theatre workshop, watched the Disney parade, lunched with Pluto and stayed for the spectacular fireworks display. A great me was had by all and Mr Bailey was impressed with the behaviour of the students and he said, 'all our party enjoyed the ac vi es and got a lot our of their visit to Paris.'
London
Over a weekend in July, a group of 16 students, along with Mr Thompson and Ms Bell-Smith travelled to London for the annual Performing Arts trip, an ac on packed weekend that included a walking tour around the Southbank, a trip to the Natural History museum but the highlights were the two shows; Hamilton and Back to the Future.
Mr Thompson said of the trip, 'Despite the crowds, we managed to successfully get all 16 students on each tube (and back off the ones that were too full) somehow! Our students behaviour was excep onal and all items that were le behind or misplaced were also somehow reunited with their owners. The two shows were fantas c and, students and staff are likely to be heard humming the tunes around school this week.'
Thank you to our staff for their me in organising and accompanying students on both visits.
Ice Hockey
Congratula ons to Theo M, Year 10 has scored his first goal for Great Britain in April! In fact, it was the winning goal to give the team third place and Bronze medals all round!
In July, Theo was trialling abroad for a team.
Dance Success for All Hallows Students in April
All Hallows Students took part in a freestyle disco dance compe on in Liverpool. Over 400 dancers competed, and the girls did brilliantly, claiming some 1st places. Well done to Lacey TW, Milly M, Amelia T, Sinead G, Alice K, Evie C, Beth G and Amberlie F.
Dance Success in July
Congratula ons to Adelaide S who performed very well at the Dance World Cup in Prague. She received a silver medal for the Children’s Small Ballet Group, a bronze medal for the Children’s Ballet Quartet and 5th place in the Children’s Lyrical Group.
Eco School Merit Award
As the summer term drew to a close Mrs Su on, who leads our eco work in school received the fantas c news that All Hallows had secured the Eco-Schools Green Flag with Merit. She said, “This has been a whole community effort, evidencing Catholic Social Teaching and the great perseverance of all staff to support the work of the Eco Counci l.” The feedback highlighted in par cular the work of the student Eco Council sta ng, “the Eco Council placed a lot of emphasis on informing as many members of your college community as possible about their Eco Schools work, including impressive posters, assemblies, newsle ers, a website, and a newly created Eco newsle er. This is strength of the applica on that has allowed the impacts to expand beyond your college boundaries; evidencing they have worked with a wide variety of individuals, organisa ons, and experts during this Eco-Schools journey. This can be difficult to organise but will have massively benefited and enriched the Eco Schools’ work.”
Congratula ons to all involved in achieving this award, especially Eco Focus:
T, Chris S and Will N. There will be more Eco news and features in the new academic year.
Summer Spine Sprint
On Saturday 15th June, I completed in the Spine Sprint to raise money for WaterAid. The Montane Summer Spine Sprint is a non-stop, 46 mile race along the Pennine Way from Edale to Hebden Bridge with a me limit of 18 hours. From appearances alone 18 hours sounds ample me to complete the distance, however, this challenging and technical sec on of the Pennine Way is a physically and psychologically demanding route that demands concentra on, good physical fitness, resolve and respect.
I completed it in 12hrs 55 minutes, finishing just before 1am on Sunday morning. It was very wet underfoot all the way and there were 4 seasons in one day, I got drenched a few mes. The weather went from being so cold you couldn't feel your feet to hot enough to get a bit sunburnt!
Water Aid is an interna onal not-for-profit, determined to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a genera on. Only by tackling these three essen als in ways that last can people change their lives for good.
Ms Day
James A, George O’D, Nevin B, James
Spor ng Success—Football in May
We have had lots of football success with 4 of our teams reaching the District finals which is a fantas c achievement! Well done to all the teams.
Year 7 Boys
Our boys were narrowly defeated by a strong Fallibroome team. Goal scorers - Caiden B and Louie W. Player of the match - Caiden B.
Year 10 Boys
Champions! Great win against Fallibroome.
Goal scorers - Jonathan W (3), Benji H, Mathis B and Josh T. Player of the match - Jonathan W.
Year 9 & 10 Girls
Year 8 & 9 Girls
Champions! A fantas c performance against Wilmslow HS.
Goal scorer - Frankie T (3).
Players of the match- Frankie T & Maisie B-N.
Unfortunately, our girls lost to a very strong team from Wilmslow HS but played some great football. Player of the match - Aniah W.
Duke of Edinburgh Award News
Bronze Expedi on – a tale of mud and lost boots!
Seventy students ventured into the wilds around Tarporley for their Bronze prac ce expedi on. Despite the deligh ul weather, thanks to the Bri sh climate the ground was extremely muddy with many routes having to be diverted due to flooded areas. Some seemingly shallow puddles were actually waist-deep as one unlucky par cipant found out! A er the first day’s trek, groups started to arrive at the campsite and a er dropping their backpacks began pu ng up tents and cooking their evening meals. All groups showed great levels of resilience over the weekend especially the group that became naviga onally challenged but refused to be picked up as they wanted to complete the route. And as the day drew to a close everybody took to their tents, and all was calm un l the silence was broken by people wishing each other goodnight in the way that the Waltons TV show always ended (ask your grandparents). Well done to everybody involved! Mr Barron
D of E Silver and Gold Expedi ons
The Gold expedi on took place in the Peak District this year with the All Hallows group once again merging seamlessly with students from Tytherington and Eaton Bank. Keen to meet the ‘20 condi ons’ the groups planned their routes and set off across the countryside to demonstrate competencies in naviga on and teamwork. Don’t let the sunny pictures fool you – the Bri sh weather arrived with the a tude of, ‘if it’s not raining it’s not training’ and proceeded to harass the groups across the en re expedi on. When a student from another school had to leave, the All Hallows group immediately stepped up by spli ng up so that all students could complete the expedi on. This selfless act epitomised perfectly what the DofE is all about - teamwork and the willingness to put others first. The aim of the Gold group was to explore the geological features of the Peak District, which led them underground into the caves of the Blue John caverns. A er 4 nights, the Gold group found out that that had successfully passed the Expedi on phase and they are now looking forward to comple ng their residen al ac vity before travelling to Buckingham Palace to receive their Gold cer ficates. Well done to all! .
The Silver groups were also excellent, proving themselves to be completely self-sufficient and excellent navigators although they probably didn’t relish the prospect of trying to pitch their tents in the driving wind and rain. Each day the group tackled very steep hills as part of the route in some very challenging weather condi ons. When the clouds parted briefly they enjoyed some spectacular views which made the climb totally worth it. As we waited at the final checkpoint groups started to appear through the mist and, despite sore shoulders and perhaps some blisters everyone finished the expedi on with heads held high. Both groups have had par cularly challenging expedi ons but pushed though the wind and rain and should be extremely proud of what they have achieved. Thanks to all par cipants and especially to all parents who have been the unsung heroes throughout this. They have dropped off groups of children at various loca ons in Cheshire and North Wales; taken the odd phone call from an emo onal child at 1am and encouraged them to complete their volunteering, skills, and physical sec ons.
Thank you, Mr Barron & Miss Day.
STEM Drone Ac vity Session
In early May a group of Year 8 girls took part in a STEM sessions run by a local STEM ambassador. They used a program called TINKER to program the drones to fly, land, make a hexagon shape, a cube shape and even flip! All the groups successfully managed to get their drones up in the air and performing the tricks, with some groups even managing to fly the drones through a mini assault course of hoops. Thank you to the STEM ambassador for giving up their me and well done to the girls for some great science and coding work.
Girls IT Session
In early May, a group of Year 8 girls took part in a live stream event run by the Na onal Centre for Compu ng Educa on (NCCE) and STEM Ambassadors Team. The group found out what the day-to-day roles looked like for role models including Hannah, a so ware engineer, Amarachi, a service delivery analyst and Typhaine, a senior bioinforma cian. A er gaining fascina ng insights into the routes they took in their careers the girls had a chance to ask ques ons. Overall, the session was a great success and the Year 8 girls went away with a be er understanding of computer-related roles and why skills such as programming, understanding data and algorithms are essen al for careers in the future.
Science STEM Challenge
In the summer term, 9Y girls took part in a 'Tech She Can' session in school using resources from the Tech She Can charity. They looked at how technology can have so many benefits to society and how they could be part of bringing a lot of tech joy to many different parts of society if they choose this path. A er the presenta on, students designed ideas on how they could use tech to help people. Ideas we had included, robot den sts to help with the lack of NHS den sts, personal assistant robots or pets which can help people who are lonely or need assistance and a robot to sooth babies in the night so parents can sleep (I wish I had had one of these!). Other ideas included, a robot which runs of li er as a fuel to keep the streets clean and can separate waste for recycling and a delivery system for flying food into famine areas. Some great ideas and hopefully some of these students will be part of making some of these sugges ons become reality in the future.
Mo va onal Speaker for Spanish
Steve Eadon, founder of Mingalaba and former Arsenal Community Outreach Officer spoke to our Year 9 students. Steve shared his life story and told us about the wonderful opportuni es available to students who have learnt a language, drawing on a wealth of experience which has included working alongside some of the best football players in the world.
Science Session With Sygnature Discovery
In late May, some of our Year 10 students were visited by three scien sts from Sygnature Discovery. Students were given an insight in to the daily lives of a cell culture scien st, protein scien st and a medicinal chemist. The workshop allowed students to create a Lysozyme crystal. Lysozyme is an enzyme from chicken egg white, which is used to help break open bacterial cells. As well as this, they were able to construct two known drug molecules before using their exper se to design a brand-new drug to revolu onise modern-day medicine. It was great to see all students engaged and enthused!
Year 10 Geography Field Trip
Our Year 10 geographers, along with several members of staff travelled over the county border to the Goyt Valley in nearby Derbyshire to conduct some field work on the Goyt River. Once arrived, students walked from the Errwood Car Park up to Deep Clough where there was the opportunity to study both an upstream and downstream river site, looking in details at the surface velocity of the river.
Farm News
April
Students from our feeder primary school spent me in the animal room with our Year 10 Animal Care students showing them the range of creatures we have at All Hallows. Several students were even brave enough to stroke our corn snake who can be seen below being expertly handled by Ethan in Year 10.
May—Plant Sale
Early on in the year, Mrs Needham had taken delivery of a variety of plug plants, including, cosmos, dahlias, lobelia, petunias, pansies and geraniums to grow on to sell in order to raise money for Our College farm.
June—Alpacas Arrive
We are very excited to announce the arrival of Bruce, Allen and Peanut to All Hallows. They have se led in really well and there has been a great buzz around school especially when they arrived during break me! We are incredibly grateful for the dona ons received from the Co-op and Innovate as well as all parents who have contributed on Parent Pay this year.
Annie!
This year’s College produc on was the class rags to riches story of Annie. In June, talented cast and crew of over 80 students perform Annie, Mr Bailey's choice for this year's College produc on. The College hall was transformed into the bustling streets of 1930s new York with a spectacular set. Isabella H and Grace L too it in turn to play Annie, the orphan who is determined to find her parents a er they le her at the orphanage run by the evil Miss Hannigan. Although things don't work out quite the way Annie plans, she manages to thwart the plans of Miss Hannigan and find a new family. Annie has a dream and she is determined to realise it.
Parent Comments
Just to say tonight was absolutely fantas c, each and every one of your cast & crew did a great job. The performance was so professional and everyone was full of so much energy and enthusiasm.
I just wanted to pass on my congratula ons to everyone on the opening night of Annie. It was a great performance. I watched the show on Monday too with the primary schools. Thanks to you all for the effort and me you have commi ed to the students to allow them to have such a great experience of rehearsals and a
Many thanks to all our students and staff who gave up their me to make this such a fantas c produc on.
Drama Workshop
The Performing Arts Faculty welcomed actress and vocal coach Michelle Ashton this term. She explored accent and characterisa on with our Year 9 students who have opted to do Drama GCSE and our Act One Performance group. Our mission as a Faculty is to 'Inspire brave and relentless young crea ves' and the students involved epitomised this aim throughout the workshop.
Year 7 Trip to Beeston Castle
The History department took two groups of Year 7 students to Beeston castle in July. Fortunately, we managed to dodge the rain and had two nice days! Whilst there, students took part in workshops that included ac vi es such as handling and wearing the ou its of Medieval knights and peasants, inves ga ng food and diets in the medieval mes and looking at the different techniques used to a ack and defend a castle in the Medieval period. Students also got a guided tour around the castle looking at the key features and then enjoyed the amazing view across Cheshire and North Wales from the top of the Keep. Students also got to look inside the Iron Age roundhouse that gave us an idea of what life was like on the site before the Normans built a castle there.
Mother Tongue Other Tongue Winners
On the last Thursday of the summer term, winners of the Mother Tongue Other Tongue (MTOT) Poetry Compe on visited Manchester Metropolitan University for a celebra on event. Twelve students' work were selected from Year 8 submissions at All Hallows, and four of these were picked by staff at MMU as winners in their categories.
Well done in par cular to Ki y and Angelin for their 'Mother Tongue' poems and Hannah and Niamh for their 'Other Tongue' entries. Their poems are now part of an online digital anthology and they received postcard
Year 11 Leavers
A er their Chemistry Exam in June, our hardworking Year 11 students were able to sign shirts and spend some me together with their classmates and staff before going on study leave. They even enjoyed an ice cream despite the chilly weather!
Year 11 Prom
On the last Friday in June, our Year 11 students and their form tutors, along with other members of staff gathered together at Shrigley Hall to celebrate the end of exams and their first five years at All Hallows. There was an amazing variety of dresses and suits on display and many students arrived in luxury or unusual vehicles. A great night was had by all! On Monday, a er their Leavers' Assembly students headed off to Alton Towers to enjoy the first day of their extended summer holiday.
Mrs Lewis
ABA Training
In June, our new an bullying ambassadors from Year 7 received some ini al an -bullying training from our amazing current ABAs. These students helped deliver the session and worked with small groups of Year 7 students. It was a very successful session and we hope some of the Year 7 students that took part will go on to be formally trained to con nue the good work of the an -bullying ambassadors next year.
Mrs Lewis
RedHeart Theatre Performance of Doctor Jeykll and Mr
Hyde
At the end of the summer term Year 10 students watched an engaging and atmospheric one man produc on of Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde. This is the novel they are currently studying for their English Literature GCSE. Mr Hart, Joint Head of English said, 'the performance was both enjoyable and educa onal, suppor ng students with their understanding of both the characters and plot of the novel, especially as it was an adapta on faithful to the text.' The consensus from the students was that is was gripping and very helpful to see the story and characters come to life.
Aspire Day
In July, our students took part in the final Aspire day of the academic year. On this day our students a end session on issues that are important to their personal, social development and their role as ci zens. The session delivered included: personal and sleep hygiene, healthy ea ng and lifestyles, issues around smoking, gambling and bullying. Our Year 10 students a ended a talk in the hall as part of their ongoing careers educa on by a representa ve of the Cheshire and Warrington Pledge who talked about appren ceships, post-16 and 18, along with a representa ve of Macclesfield College who talked about the opportuni es that T levels can provide.
China Trip
On Wednesday 3rd July, a group of our Mandarin students, accompanied by Mrs Ward travelled to Beijing for an immersion visit. They were there un l the 14th July and have a busy 12 days working on their language skills at the Beijing Language and Culture University. The language themes include food, drinks and shopping and sports and hobbies. Also planned are a wide range of cultural ac vi es which include Chinese pain ng, paper cu ng and learning about the art of the tea ceremony pictures of which can be seen below. Over the course of the visit, students will learn some Tai Chi and mar al arts, as well as Chinese cooking. There will be a chance for the group to experience life in a Chinese secondary school and spend me in conversa on with students their own age. Students will also visit the Great Wall, the Palace Museum, Tiananmen Square, the Olympic park and the Opera. This will be the trip of a life me and the students will have some amazing memories from the exci ng ac vi es and visits they undertake.
Fes val of Sport
On the Friday of the penul mate week of the year, our Year 7 - 10 students took part in our annual College sports day while Year 12 supported the staff in running ac vi es and making sure the day ran smoothly. The students competed in their form against other forms in their year group and their half day session culminated in a form relay race - always very compe ve! The sports that students could choose from included: football, netball, Boccia, volleyball, cricket, table tennis rugby, archery and tennis. For the other half of the College day, students were with their form tutors comple ng a first aid and basic-life-support lesson, a Student Voice ques onnaire and a sports quiz. Thankfully, the rain held off and the weather was fine.
Year 5 Taster Day
In early July, students from the primary schools in our learning community visited All Hallows for a taste of College life. They were able to experience a wide range of subjects and get to know our College which included mee ng our farm family. These taster lessons included working out mysteries in History, making French bread pizza in Food Technology, learning some basic words in Language lessons, solving Maths problems, crea ng creatures in Art and making rockets, as well crea ng chemical reac ons in Science. Our Year 12 students supported the visitors and a great day was had by all.
Liverpool Hope Experience
At the beginning of July, over 120 Year 6 students from a wide variety of local primary schools travelled to Liverpool hope for the All Hallows annual transi on residen al. Here, the students spent two days with their new forms and tutors ge ng to know each other through sports and social ac vi es. The residen al also gave the students an experience of university life, something to inspire them as they start their secondary school journey.
Diversity in Art Project
Currently, in our Recep on is a fantas c art exhibi on of work from a collabora ve project between All Hallows and the primary schools in our Learning Community. The s mulus for this project was a pain ng, Beyond Lies More, created by Graham Finch and painted by Nicholas J Smith, Dave Moli and James Blinkhorn. A er finding out about the inspira on for the pain ng, students looked at diversity, themselves and different cultures in response.
Sixth Form News
Work Experience
In April, I did a two day work experience placement with Hackney Council in London was fantas c! I gained lots of valuable experience of poli cal life that gave me a taste of what life as a local councillor is like, as well as valuable experience to add to my personal statement. Some of the events I took part in were: a diploma c ceremony welcoming new Bri sh ci zens; a logis cs mee ng discussing the prac cali es and poli cal implica ons of fundraising events; an eye-opening visit to 2 (very different) homeless shelters to discuss various funding op ons offered by the council and the inadequacies of these; an interview with members of a think tank promo ng standards in parliamentary life; a canvassing session for a local by -elec on candidate; and the highlight, a mee ng regarding the Windrush scandal with Shadow Foreign Secretary, David Lammy MP!
Sam G
Former Student Has Internship at Kew Gardens
Nathan Reynolds, from the class of 2021, is currently an intern at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London. Nathan le All Hallows to study biology at Sheffield University and is currently on a placement year. Nathan is working with Kew's Commercial Innova on Unit isola ng new molecules from plants with an microbial proper es, with poten al for further medical applica ons.
Core RE
In May, Andy B from HMP Manchester spoke to the Year 12 students during Core RE this week. He gave anecdotes in an entertaining, and some mes astonishing way, which made the students both laugh and even grimace at mes. He took the students on a journey from court to custody. He talked predominately about "loss". This included their freedom but also missing the experiences of their family, friends, how the world moves on including technology and what the rest experiences or the world expects. He talked about how historically the riot in Manchester prison, during the 1990s, highlighted the brutal nature of prisons at that me. Now, they are focused more so on reforming convicts; trying to ensure they stay out of prison when released. There is training, work, skills development e.g. cooking and sewing; enabling inmates to func on independently, once freedom is restored. He helped the students to realise that there are both rights and privileges in prison. However, he made the point very strongly there was both no freedom or privacy. Whilst he acknowledged the inmates can have some privileges, their lives are not their own and although things have moved on, there is s ll an ugly-side to imprisonment.
We thank Andy for sharing his 33 years of experiences in an open, frank and entertaining way.
Year 13 English Language Playgroup
The Year 13 English language students were very excited to welcome some special visitors to college on Friday 26th April! Over 15 pre-school children and their parents came to take part in 'AHCC playgroup' - this is because part of the A level course focuses on child language acquisition, and it was an opportunity for the students to meet some children, chat and play with them, read them books and talk to their parents about their language development. The children were aged from 5 months to 4 years and were a very diverse group, including a set of twins and some bilingual children. They also got to visit the farm animals as part of their experience; Maisie and Chloe (Year 9 farm volunteers) were exceptionally professional and informative whilst leading the tour of the animals. We are already looking forward to playgroup 2025 and seeing how some of the babies have changed in a year!
Year 13 Leavers Day
Year 13 had their leavers a ernoon at the end of June. A combina on of pizza, games, photos, an assembly and a performance of Don't Look Back in Anger by the sixth form band marked the occasion. There were plenty of smiles and one or two tears as they prepared to go on their way.
Quote from Deniz 'It's been astonishing that I have been here for seven years, my favourite part of that me is the two years I have spent in sixth form studying the subjects I feel most passionate about '. They have been a brilliant year group to work with and we will miss them very much.
Year 13 Leavers Dinner
Year 13 dressed to impress last Friday night at their Leavers Dinner in Manchester. It was a fi ng end to their successful two years in Sixth Form. There was a choice of chicken or fish and then lemon tart or cheesecake for dessert for the meal. Students and staff danced the night away to end a memorable night.
History, Business and Economics Trip to London
In July, a group of our Year 12 students and staff spent a very hot day in London for a cultural cross curricular trip to the capital. A er a very early start, they took a flight on the London Eye, followed by an educa onal talk and tour of the Tower of London. The day was completed with a visit to the Bank of England museum before heading to Covent Garden and finally Euston for the train home. All students were a real credit to All Hallows and represented their subjects with great enthusiasm.
Biology Field Trip
In July, our Year 12 Biologists visited Riverside Park in Tytherington, to complete field work as part of their required prac cals. Students had the opportunity to carry out different sampling techniques and understand how Longhorn ca le are used by the Rangers, to manage the land and increase biodiversity in the area. Even though it was incredibly warm, we walked a huge 10km over the day, with students working hard to collect data and samples for further analysis back at school. They were most impressed by the number of four legged friends that came up to say hello to them. A er all their hard work, it was only fair that we stopped for a much-needed ice cream on the way back to school!
We were both very impressed with you all!
Mrs Swindells & Mr Clark
Save Our Streets
Our Year 12 students engaged in a workshop around the issue of sexual harassment awareness. This was provided by an organisa on called Save Our Streets. The session was really informa ve and the students learnt a lot. Students had really powerful conversa ons with one another and the excellent facilitators.
Tabitha said of the experience, 'Today the sixth form students a ended a workshop on sexual assault awareness. This workshop was extremely informa ve, involving interac ve ac vi es such as discussions and card sorts. I found this workshop extremely interes ng and now feel significantly more comfortable in my understanding of sexual assault and how to intervene and provide support for anyone in similar situa ons.'
Year 12 Work Experience
There have been a wide range of placements and it has been a real learning curve for them. Below, they share their thoughts :
I had a fantas c week working at a borough council! I learnt all about the day-to-day opera ons of a local authority, including its democra c services, councillor training, estate management, planning policies, public health ini a ves, and long-term regenera on plans. It was a fantas c insight into how central government interacts with local communi es, and I le with plenty of food-for-thought about poten al careers, as well as vital CV experience as an aspiring poli cs student.
Sam G
I spent my work experience week at East Cheshire Hospice; I enjoyed ge ng to see all of the different departments and find out how they all contribute to the business' success. My favourite department was the fundraising team, as I got the opportunity to learn more about how they generate their income through various different ways, like events, dona ons. I also enjoyed learning about the services they offer to people and ge ng the opportunity to partake.
Izzy L
Last week, I had the opportunity to work with Macclesfield Town Council as part of Year 12 work experience week. Throughout the week, I was responsible for crea ng social media posts, researching for future events, and most notably, dressing up in a giant inflatable panda costume! This was part of adver sing for Macclesfield’s “Museum on the Street", a community event where people can walk around the town and learn more about its history, from the Ian Cur s mural to, surprisingly, a panda. You may be wondering about the connec on between a panda and Macclesfield. Well, a panda was killed by HC Brocklehurst in China in 1935 and has since travelled around the world, being stuffed and displayed in London, Berlin, and Manchester, and is now kept in the Macclesfield Silk Museum. Brocklehurst himself was from Macclesfield, and his family was involved in silk produc on. I didn’t know this un l last week, and many people I interviewed as part of the adver sing didn’t either. Every day is a school day! This placement was really enjoyable and insigh ul, allowing me to learn more about local poli cs and its impact on the community, whilst mee ng the people involved to make the town be er - even mee ng some local councillors.
Will C
Ollie, Evangeline and Kathryn all had an enjoyable and valuable work experience at Peak Proteins last week. Our students had hands-on experience in the microbial lab, eukaryo c cell lab, protein purifica on lab, x-ray crystallography lab and mass spectrometry lab. Their work involved sterile technique with eukaryo c and bacteria cells, coun ng cells, transfec ng eukaryo c cells to make a pink fluorescent protein called mCherry (in their hands in photo), transforming bacteria, streaking agar plates, running SDS PAGE gels, growing lysozyme protein crystals and mass spectrometry. They also had talks about careers in Business Development and the role of a Medicinal Chemist at Sygnature Discovery with a workshop using molymods to build and iden fy a new drug. The photos are of their protein crystals a ached and agar plates with bacteria expressing fluorescent mCherry protein. Ollie described the week as very enjoyable and interes ng!
Year 12 Geography Field Trip to Holderness
In June, our Year 12 Geographers visited the Holderness Coast on a Monday and Tuesday, where they conducted inves ga ons on the geology and morphology of the coastline, and prepared for their coursework conduc ng surveys within Scarbrough and Bridlington. Flamborough Head was a par cular highlight with the students spo ng seals and naviga ng the path down to the bay! Students stayed overnight and Mr Farthing was very impressed to find them all playing card games throughout the evening, not a phone in sight!
Life A er All Hallows - Lancaster University Residen al
The end of term was a busy one for our Year 12 who are beginning their prepara ons for life a er College. At the beginning of the penul mate week they took part in a UCAS day, finding out about the applica on process and there was an online presenta on with Jake from Lancaster University in the evening about student loans. On Tuesday, they travelled up the M6 to spend two days at Lancaster University experiencing university life. a er returning on Thursday a ernoon, students spent Friday suppor ng our sports day.
'My first impression of Lancaster wasn't great due to the bad weather, but the university tour was enjoyable. Then we moved into our flats which was somewhat chao c because of room mix-ups, but the rooms themselves were nice. The following day, we had a very helpful session on personal statement wri ng. In the a ernoon, a Q&A session with student ambassadors gave us real insights into university life at Lancaster. Later, we par cipated in a treasure hunt in Lancaster city, although our team didn't win the coffee powder, noodles, and earplugs! It was a beau ful experience, and I cherished the quality me spent with my friends in the city. The next day, we had an excellent session on student finance and how to choose the right university course. The breakfast and dinner served was really nice too. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my first residen al trip.' Gloriya G
Prayer
MayyouwalkwithGod
Thissummer
Inwhateveryoudo
Whereveryougo
WalkingwithGodmeans...
Walkingwithhonesty
Andwithcourage,
Walkingwithlove
Andrespect
Andconcernforthefeelingsofothers
MayyoutalktoGod
Thissummer
Andeverydayand
Ineverysituation
TalkingwithGodmeans...
Prayingwordsofpraise
Forthebeautyofcreation
Sayingprayersofthanks
Forfriendsandgoodtimes,
AskingGod'shelp
Inallyourdecisions
Expressingsorrow
Whenyouhavefailed
MayyoutalkwithGod
Everyday
Amen.
All are welcome at All Hallows Catholic College. Come and visit our wonderful Church College.