Volume 17 issue 2 december 2017

Volume 17 Issue 2, December 2017

Wishing all our Students, Parents and Staff A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !

The winning

Christmas card design by

Alyssa Year 11

Dear Parents and friends of our college it is at this time of year when many of us are heard to say “Where has the time gone?” A term in school does flash by quickly so it is important that we pause occasionally to reflect on what we have achieved in a matter of a few months. Our students continue to inspire us with their passion for life and their care for others. Their energy is infectious and drives us every day to ensure they get the education they deserve. Our work here at Blessed Edward’s is based on recognising the importance of what Pope Francis calls a “culture of encounters”. Encounters which occur between students, teachers and students and teachers and parents. We strive to ensure that each encounter, no matter how small is rooted in mutual respect and kindness and a recognition that God lives in each of us. In the New Year we will continue this work as we introduce our Restorative Justice approach to dealing with issues in school. Restorative justice approaches are a perfect fit for a school with our culture and ethos. I will update you on a regular basis as we work to embed this approach into our everyday practice. As you read through our newsletter you will get a sense of what a vibrant, outward looking and caring community we are. The sheer breadth and variety of what happens in such a short period of time never ceases to amaze me. From sport to poetry via Prom Fayres and Year 7 danceathons our staff and students make so much happen. Can I ask you to consider helping us form a Parent Teacher Association. We are keen to involve you as parents in the life of our college and this is a wonderful way to get involved and support what we do. Please read the form included with this newsletter and respond if you can help in any way. Can I take this opportunity to wish you all a peaceful and holy Christmas. I hope you have an opportunity to pause and reflect on what your child has achieved during this term at Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College. I am sure you are as proud of their achievements as we are.

Greg McClarey - Headteacher At the end of November I was in college celebrating with the young people who took exams in the summer. They received their Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Attainment and Effort Awards, as well as their GCSE certificates. The Presentation Evening had a guest speaker, Fr. Jonathan Veasey (Director Diocesan Education Service), who talked about the fact that each and every one of us have our own character, with the ability to achieve great things. He is correct and the outstanding achievement of each child attending the evening was testament to this. Well done to them all and a big thank you to all the Staff and Parents that play such an important role in their achievement.

The next big event at the college is the College Carol service on the 19th December. This, for me, is where Christmas starts. The singing, readings and reflection fill the college with the true spirit of Christmas.

On behalf of the Governing body may I wish you all a Very Happy, Holy and Peaceful Christmas and a rewarding 2018.

Key Dates 4th January - Students Return 9th January - Year 11 GCSE Preparation and Support Seminar 11th January - Computing Fair 15th January - Year 11 Mocks begin 23rd January - Year 9 Parents Evening 26th January - Blessed Edward Oldcorne Feast Day Masses 31st January - 2nd February - College Production of The Wizard of Oz 7th February - Year 10 Parents Evening 14th February - Ash Wednesday Services 16th February - Year 11 Photographs 16th February - Students break up for Half Term Holiday.

The Season of Advent 2017 As part of our preparations to celebrate the joyful coming of our saviour Jesus Christ a wide variety of services and liturgies were held during the season of Advent.

These included joyful themed liturgies every Monday and Friday morning in the foyer and the chapel, services of reconciliation for all year groups and staff prayers every Thursday morning in the chapel.

We will also enjoy a wonderful Carol

Service that includes many seasonal hymns and poems.

Mr McCormack - Deputy Principal

LEPRA Thank you to members of 7C who raised £71.50 by holding a pudding and cake sale. The students made a variety of trifles, cheesecakes and mousses in their own time and gave up their breaks and lunchtimes to sell them. They will divide the money raised between the LEPRA appeal, buying items for the shoe box appeal and getting prizes for their next fundraising activity.

Mrs McClarey - 7C Form Tutor Teenagers dress up for Cancer Trust Students from our College hosted their first ever Charity Prom Fair on Friday 13th October.

Organised by Year 11 themselves, the event featured stalls and a catwalk to showcase what could be hired or bought for the final event of their year, the College Year 11 Ball. Twenty students modelled dresses loaned to the college by Cathedral Belles of Worcester, Caroline of Droitwich and Lacewings. Suits, and even a kilt, were loaned by Armstrongs of Worcester. Professional make-up and hair styling was provided by students from the Hair and Beauty courses at Heart of Worcester College, who gave their services free of charge for the charity event.

Refreshments were made by members of the year group and their families so that a range of cakes and savouries were on offer throughout the evening. The stalls included holistic treatments, jewellery, cars, henna, bags, and make up.

“The raffle prizes donated by local companies such as Anja Potze, Beautique, L’Octaine and others all raised a significant contribution towards the final figure’” stated Liberty, who organised the event with Bryony. In total the students raised in excess of £800. Money will be given to both the students’ chosen charity, Teenage Cancer Trust, and towards the Year 11 2018 Prom.

The Youth SVP Dance-a-Thon On Wednesday 18th October forty five students and staff participated in a Dance-a-thon in aid of Father Hudson’s Society. Jane Bamber from Father Hudson’s asked us to raise money for a new project for the elderly in Worcester called ‘Forget Me Not’. She told us that we could raise the money in any way possible. Two of the Vincentians in our group (Libby and Grace, Year 8) thought of a brilliant idea to have a Halloween themed Dance-a-thon, which caught the imagination of all the Youth SVP members. The costumes at the Danceathon were scary and fantastic; there were, Zombies, Clowns, Cats, Screams, Witches and Vampires even Mr Tota dressed up (he was a Pacman). We all enjoyed the music played

by Mr Nicholls and the refreshments served up by Mr James. Our aim was to do two hours non-stop dancing, which was very tiring but everyone danced for the whole time, including the teachers. The food and drinks were served by Mr James and Marie Yates (our SVP contact from Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish). We all had a great time singing and dancing on the stage.

We hope to raise about £800 for the ‘Forget-me-not’ project. This is only the start of our work with the elderly in Worcester. Jane Bamber is going to liaise with us to arrange visits, concerts and coffee mornings. This is a project that has touched all of our hearts because everyone in the Youth SVP knows an elderly person.

Emily and Finley (Year 8 Youth SVP members)

Poetry Competition It was great to see so many entries, sixty in all, for the Year 7 Poetry Competition. Students were asked to create an acrostic poem using the words Blessed Edward. This provided them with an opportunity to write about their thoughts, feelings and experiences of the school so far. Poetry can be a challenging medium in which to work, but all entrants did really well.

Kevin Brooke, the school’s Patron of Reading, judged the entries with help from our dedicated team of pupil librarians. He said: ‘It’s fantastic to see so many entries but it’s really difficult to select just six poems.’ Nevertheless he and the pupil librarians persevered with this enjoyable but difficult task. After much thought the final selection was made. Congratulations go to the following poets: Nicole, Christian, Isabella, Paris , Eadie and Archie .

It is important to say that the chosen poems were representative of all the poems entered. The words of all our young poets give the reader an insight into their first few weeks at Blessed Edward and provides a fresh perspective for us. Mr Taylor, Head of Year 7, said: ‘It was a delight to read the poems submitted. It not only showcased the creativity of the students but it was lovely to read so many positive comments of how they feel about their new school.’ Some of the comments from our poets are shared here: ‘Empty your mind because it is a fresh start.’ Archie.

‘Such a complicated one way system.’ Nicole.

‘Definitely my favourite lesson is everything.’ Isabella.

Headteacher Mr McClarey said: ‘I would like to thank all the Year 7 students who took on the challenge of writing an acrostic poem which reflects the key values of our school. I was very impressed with the creativity and originality of the poems.’

Certificates were presented in assembly by Kevin to the students whose poems were selected. Well done and thank you to every student who submitted a poem.

Mr Horn - Cover Supervisor

French Exchange On Thursday 5th October 14 students from Years 9,10 and 11 went via the Eurostar to Lille. When they arrived they were given a tour of St Adrien's school - which has very impressive facilities such as a climbing wall and full gymnastics equipment. The next day students spent the morning in lessons and then had a tour of the beautiful and historic city of Lille. In the afternoon they went shopping and in the evening they did 'Adventure Quest' which was lots of fun. On Saturday morning students supported their Exchange partners on a college run and then spent the rest of the weekend with families. The trip was a great success. A big thank you to all the English families who hosted the French students during their stay in September and many thanks to Mrs Jones and Mr Nicholls who took the students to France.

Mrs Low - MFL Teacher

Authors Visit On Friday 29th September our Patron of Reading, local author Kevin Brooke, visited school to speak to two Year 7 classes in the library.

He told us a little about himself and his reading and writing. We learnt, surprisingly, that Kevin did not read a whole book independently until the age of twenty-five. He picked the ideal location as he was on a sun-soaked beach at the time. He hasn’t looked back and he thoroughly recommends the reading experience. Clearly it is never too late to start. The second book he read was “Rubbish,” so he decided to write a book himself.

Kevin called his book ‘Jimmy Cricket’ because it is about a boy called Jimmy who wants to play – can you guess? – cricket. It isn’t just all about cricket, however, as we heard from some of the extracts that were read to us. It also looks at life and some of the problems and challenges that people can face. Jimmy is an orphan, who is just starting a new school. At his first cricket practice he meets a boy called Stumpy who has a problem that is revealed in spectacular fashion.

Kevin’s writing certainly seemed to knock some of our students for six with the enthusiasm and engagement they showed during his presentation. A selection of comments from the students illustrates their reactions. ‘Kevin Brooke is an inspiring author… I think I could start writing books too.’ ‘It taught us never to give up.’

To learn a little more about Kevin, his writing and his role as Patron of Reading visit his website at www.kevinbrooke.com.

Mr Horn - Cover Supervisor

Year 9 Trip to Amida Mandala On Monday 6th November, class 9B1 visited Amida Mandala, a Buddhist Temple in Malvern. They were greeted

by Dayamay, an Amida Shu Buddhist, who told us about the key elements of the Buddhist faith.

Firstly he gave an overview of the story of Siddhartha Gautama and how he became the first Buddha, or ‘enlightened one’. This led to many questions being asked by the class about Buddhist beliefs, lifestyle and Dayamay’s personal experience as a Buddhist. Like most Buddhists, Dayamay’s birth name was different to his current name, which was given to him by the leader of the temple and means ‘kindness’.

After that, the class participated in a few minutes of Buddhist meditation. They sang some traditional Buddhist chants and reflected peacefully before heading back to the minibus to return to school.

On the way out we had to collect our shoes – when we first entered we were told to take them off as a sign of respect and also to keep the room clean.

It was a very educational trip and helped the class to fully understand what it meant to be a Buddhist.

Ellie and Marley – Year 9

Buddhism Viryanya answered all of our questions that we had about Buddhism and now 9B1 have a better understanding of Buddhism.

One of the things we learnt today was that Buddhists have great respect for our world, including the animals.

This tied in very nicely with our learning in a previous topic called, ‘Creation and Stewardship’ where we researched animal rights.

We then had a short session of meditating. It was very calming and peaceful. We had to think kind thoughts about people we liked and people we did not like. Viryanya led us through it and explained what we had to do so therefore it wasn’t as hard as we would have thought. Whilst meditating she would ring a bell to help us concentrate. This was a special type of bell.

Vyryanya told us that Buddhists prefer to say that they are ‘inviting the bell to ring’ rather than actually making the bell sound.

Viryanya’s words for good mindfulness:  Faith  Wisdom  Concentration She told us that these words all link because you can't have good faith without wisdom.

Mr Tota - RE Teacher

Vocations Father Andrew recently came into 8B4’s classroom so we could ask him questions about his vocation as a priest. First of all, he told us that he was a monk of the Benedictine order at Belmont Abbey. Several years after serving as a monk in the Abbey, Father Paul, (The Abbott) asked Dom Andrew if he wanted to train for the priesthood which he accepted willingly because by this time he had fallen in love with God. Mr Tota - RE Teacher

LEPRA Fundraising Throughout September and October, Year 7 students raised money for LEPRA, a charity set up to combat the symptoms and stigma surrounding leprosy in some of the poorest countries around the world. As well as attending the year 7 Disco, students also raised money through sponsorship, cake sales and tuck shops. A number of Year 7 students ran a cake sale in the local community and raised £250. The enterprising trio then found a local businessman to fund-match their efforts, increasing the total raised to £500. As well as individual efforts, Year 7 forms also arranged events, with a pudding sale ran by 7 Clitherow, cake sale by 7 Sutton and tuck shop ran by 7 Wall. In total, Year 7 have raised £1847.24 for the charity, which is one of the highest amounts that have ever been raised. Well done Year 7!

Mr Taylor - Head Of Year 7

Dear parents and guardians,

We are keen to start a Parent Teacher Association at Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College.

And would like to gauge parental interest.

Traditionally PTA groups consist mostly of parents and guardians with a few teacher members. They organise events throughout the school year to raise extra funds for the school. The PTA committee control and decide how to spend these funds in the best interest of the students. Events can range from whole school community fetes to making and selling tea and coffee during a parents’ evening.

Whilst some PTA groups thrive and have a lot of enthusiastic volunteers, others struggle and it is a handful of parents who try their best to co-ordinate fund raising activities. Therefore I would only go ahead with plans to set up a PTA if I felt there was enough interest amongst parents. Hopefully there will be and together we will be able to build a group that not only generates much needed funds but also enjoys doing so.

There are many ways you could contribute. You may have financial skills, have contacts for donations or prizes, have IT skills to help make posters or you could make the best cup of tea in town. A little time to spare with a smile would be much appreciated.

If you are interested please either; Email gaynormcclarey@blessededward.co.uk Print and return the form below to the school.

Send a note in with your child.

If it appears that there is enough interest then more information will follow in the New Year.

Many thanks Mrs McClarey

Name of child __________________________

form group_________

Name of interested parent(s)/ guardian(s) _______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Email address_____________________________________________________ Telephone number_________________________________________________ Please let us know how you feel you could contribute to a PTA organisation. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Please add any suggestions you would have for a PTA, eg events you would like to happen or that you think could raise money. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

Cracking the Cipher – How hard can it be?

If you were trying to crack the famous German wartime Enigma cipher, and you tried a different combination every second, how long would it take you to have tried all of the 159 quintillion possible combinations?

Our Year 10 mathematicians gained a real insight into the complexity of the problems that faced the Bletchley Park code breakers. We saw, on a real Enigma machine, how each feature increased the number of different possible solutions. We learned why some ciphers are easier to break than others, and we saw the “Bombe” – one of 20 similar machines that were built to speed up the monotonous job of trying different combinations. We also saw the conditions that the thousands of Bletchley staff had to work in, and learned about how secretive the whole operation was, to the extent that many of the workers never revealed what they had done for their country.

Oh – the answer! It would take you more than 30 times the age of the universe! So you can see what an amazing achievement it was for Alan Turing and his colleagues to successfully break the Enigma code.

Mr Ellis - Maths Teacher Kids Lit Quiz Once again we entered two teams comprising Year’s 7 and 8 pupils to compete in the Midlands regional heat of the Kids Lit Quiz in Coventry on Friday 17th November. One of our teams won this last year so our hopes were high.

Winners of regional heats go to London in December to compete in the National Final. These winners then go onto to the International Final held in Auckland in summer 2018.

There were twenty three teams competing and the knowledge and enthusiasm of all the contenders was high. There was a real buzz and excitement through the afternoon focused on children’s books. It was really good to see so many young people who were clearly very keen about books and reading.

The questions posed to the teams made them really think. There were some real tough ones to get to grips with.

Subject matter ranged from: classics like Dickens’ ‘Christmas Carol’ to ‘The Polar Express’ by Chris Van Allsburg; Roald Dahl, Michael Morpurgo and Philip Pullman; Minnie the Minx from ‘The Beano’; ‘Lord of the Rings’, Alex Rider, and Percy Jackson; nursery rhyme characters and figures from myths and legends.

Our two teams acquitted themselves really well but unfortunately did not reach the heady heights of last year’s achievement. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience and did their best finishing in fifth and eighth places. I would like to thank the students who took part in the quiz. Year 8’s: Emmy, Kathryn, and Emma . Year 7’s: Edie, Roseanna, Evie, Eadie, and Jack .

The students said: ‘We really enjoyed the quiz and would recommend it to anyone who likes reading.’

We look forward to next year’s contest.

Mr Horn - Cover Supervisor

Our students with this year’s Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Appeal donations. We also raised an additional £427.50! Well done everyone!

Demolition Time in ICT Students in Year 7 have enjoyed learning about the internal components of a computer by taking them apart. We have been very impressed by their skills, well done Year 7!

Mr Nicholls - Head of the ICT Department

Maths Olympiad for Girls Three of our most able Year 11 mathematicians bravely stepped up to the plate for the Annual Mathematical Olympiad for Girls, which is a 2½ hour test for high-flying Year 11, 12 and 13 girls, aiming to stretch their mathematical thinking and encourage them to study Maths at a higher level.

Aimee, Sarah and Sarah all produced very worthy solutions to the very challenging questions, and Sarah scored above the mean score for the entire country – a fantastic achievement.

A massive well done to all three, not only for their scores, but also for being “up” for the challenge.

It’s fair to say that they found it hard – see what you think. Here is one of the questions: “Four different points, A, B, C and D lie on the curve with equation y = x2.

Prove that ABCD is never a parallelogram.”

Mr Ellis - Maths Teacher

Senior Maths Team Challenge Four of our top Year 11 mathematicians did battle with the cream of Worcestershire’s 6th forms in the Annual UKMT Senior Maths Team Challenge at Malvern College.

Our able quartet of Sarah, Sarah, Laurie and Joe competed brilliantly in the “group”, “cross number” and “mini -relay” rounds, thoroughly enjoying the experience, and finding that their mathematical knowledge was on a par with many of their more senior adversaries.

A big “well done” to all four, and what an introduction for them to the engaging world of higher and further mathematics!

Mr Ellis - Maths Teacher Lourdes and SVP Bag Packing On Friday the 24th November the pilgrims going to Lourdes and the Youth SVP went bag packing at Tesco’s. The pilgrims were raising money for to help the sick and handicapped in Lourdes and the Youth SVP were raising money for charity ‘Forget-me-nots’. We packed bags from 3:30pm till 8:00pm but in the middle of the packing Jo, the Tills Manager at Tesco’s, took us to the staff canteen for drinks and doughnut. Yummy!

Some people wanted to us to pack their bags for them but others didn’t want us to. The majority of the people who didn’t want their bags packed kindly donated money and some people even donated £5 and £10 notes. We raised a whopping £320.

On the 18th December the Youth SVP will be visiting the Lawn’s Rest Home where Emily’s granddad is staying in order to give a Christmas Carol Concert.

We enjoyed packing people’s bags and raising money for Lourdes because we know that the £320 we raised will go to help people in need. It was amazing because if you help someone who is lonely you can make them happy. When you do that it makes you feel happier in yourself, then you pass that on to other

Human Field Work On Friday 10th November, Year 10 GCSE Geographers headed to Birmingham to complete their human field work. The aim of the day was to investigate how sustainable the regeneration of the city centre has been.

The students learnt a range of new skills from pedestrian counts to asking members of public their views for their questionnaires. Since returning to school, they have been writing up their findings which will help them to answer questions on their fieldwork in their final exams in Year 11. The next GCSE fieldtrip will be to the Knapp and Papermill Nature Reserve in May 2018.

Mrs Sparey - 2nd i/c Humanities

Science Talk On Wednesday 29th November Claire Pottle from Sequani Ltd came in to school to present a talk to our Year 10 triple scientists. Claire is a toxicologists with the company and came into school to deliver a talk on animal research including legislation, animal welfare regulations and examples of current research.

The talk was well received by the students and prompted lots of questions on a sensitive topic. Claire gave a balanced account of how animals are used in research and the tight welfare regulations that surround their use.

She also discussed research that is currently taking place and the progress made in medicine up to date.

Mrs Ballett - Science teacher

Year 8 Tudor Experience Day For the second year in a row Worcester Cathedral has organised an activity day on the theme of the Tudors.

In October Year 8 students were able to experience what it was like to live in Tudor times by visiting the cathedral. The Tudor Experience day gave students the opportunity to take part in a series of workshops that developed and consolidated their knowledge and understanding of the Tudor period. Students were able to gain a better understanding of Henry VIII's wives by looking at personal documents not seen before. A falconry display and talk helped students to see what life was like for the rich and those close to the king. Overall, the students gained a fascinating insight into Tudor life that they would not have gained from the classroom.

Mr Jessop Head of Humanities Department

Charity Chocolate Bingo Members of 7C took over the studio at lunchtime on 28th November to hold a bingo game for charity.

Students in the form donated chocolates for prizes and there was a lot of excitement as the game was played.

The final prize of a large take- away pizza to be delivered for lunch the following day was very popular.

The form raised ÂŁ65. Great fun was had and due to many requests by other students, 7C will host another game next term. Thanks to all year 7 who helped to run this event and thanks also to our year 11 'form buddies', Ross , Harriet , Jaya and Tomasz , who helped them out.

Mrs McClarey - Form Tutor 7C

Sportshall Athletics Competition Thursday 12th October we hosted the Sportshall Athletics Competition in which 4 of our Catholic Primary Schools took part. The morning was super enthusiastic with lots of children showing some great sportsmanship skills and a fantastic effort was made all round.

24 leaders from Year 8 did a fantastic job showing great leadership, knowledge and patience when leading their activities.

Final positions were as follows: Girls competition - 1st St Joseph's Droitwich. Boys competition - 1st St Joseph's Worcester. These two teams both qualify fro the next round to be held at Christopher Whitehead School on 19th January. We wish them the best of luck and well done to our leaders for being so responsible and well mannered throughout the day.

Miss Ingram - PE Teacher

Swimming Gala On Tuesday 3rd October 16 students took part in the ESSA Swimming Relays Gala at Malvern College. A great experience for our swimmers with some great swimming performances. It was a timed event comprised of 2 heats per age group in both Freestyle and Medley 4x50m events.

The Junior Girls won the County event in both relays.

The Junior Boys squad came 2nd in the County and 6th in the District. Another great performance.

The Inter Girls squad came 8th (Freestyle) and 11th (Medley) in the County.

The Inter Boys came 5th (Freestyle) and 4th (Medley) in the County.

We look forward to more successful swimming performances in the City Gala in May 2018.

The Junior Girls team (Lauren, Ciara, Jas and Bethan) were then selected through their time to represent the West Midlands at the London Aquatic Olympic Pool on Saturday 18th November where they were one of 30 teams to swim. They bettered their entry position and finished an amazing 26th place in the freestyle relay. Up against a lot of swimming scholarship schools the girls just loved the experience and even got a glimpse of Tom Daley in action in the Diving Pool. West Midlands Champions and 26th out of 217 - fab effort girls! Roll on next year!

Miss Ingram - PE Teacher

Karate Black Belts Angelique (8) and her sister Veronique (9) both became black belts in karate on the 20th November. They trained for 8 hours over the weekend plus a 3 hour grading session in which they were awarded their belts. They have been doing karate for 7 years now and train four times a week, on top of coaching at a session for younger athletes too; very disciplined girls and a great achievement.

Miss Ingram - PE Teacher

Inclusive Sports Festival 10 Blessed Edward students joined forces with New College Worcester, to win the Inclusive Sports Festival, held at the University of Worcester Arena on 20th November. All the students deserve praise for their determination during the festival.

Ms Olver - Teaching Assistant

Year 2 Gymnastics On Thursday 23rd November 16 students volunteered to help lead a Year 2 Gymnastics festival at Worcester Gym Club.

They were fantastic with the younger ones encouraging them to conquer fears and really made a great impression giving the Year 2's a fantastic experience they may not have had before. The last Gymnastics festival for College Captain Emilie and fellow Year 11's Meghan and Izzy.

Well done Gymnastics Leaders.

Miss Ingram - PE Teacher

Cross Country On Wednesday 29th November, 26 students represented the college at the annual Worcester Schools' Cross Country District Championships and produced some excellent individual performances.

David finished 2nd with Santino in 10th in the Year 7 boys race. The Year 8 & 9 Junior races saw Andy storm to victory with James holding on brilliantly to secure 2nd place and Ronan finishing strongly in 10th. The girls saw Lauren finish 2nd with Lucy and Maya also finishing in 10th and 12th place. In the inter races three Year 11 students also ran extremely well; Laurie finished in 2nd place and Lauren and Megan finished in 5th & 6th place respectively.

In all, 11 students finished in the top 16 and therefore qualify for the combined counties Championships in January! Well done to all competitors.

Mr Williams - 2nd i/c PE Concept 2 Rowers After replacing the sensors and monitors on the rowing machines, 3 of the machine are now connected together so that they can race against one another and their progress can be viewed on the projector screen.

The 4th new monitor has been ordered and we will soon be able to race all 4 against each other.

200m sprint races have proved very popular with students both in lessons and during lunchtime, helping to encourage some healthy competition.

Mr Coward - Head of PE Department New Netball Dresses The netball teams have been delighted to wear the new netball dresses that we purchased with the funds raised from the Warriors match at which PE staff collected money for parking in September.

The girls looked very smart and felt proud to represent the college in the new kit.

Mr Coward - Head of PE Department

Year 1 Multi Skills Festival On Thursday 7th December 180 students from our Catholic Primary Schools attended the Year 1 Multi Skills Festival led by 36 of our wonderful Year 7 girls. It was the first time these girls had undertaken any kind of leadership like this and totally relished with the pressure. They were fantastic and a credit to the College. I had lots of lovely comments about their patience, kindness and general pro-active behaviour in leading the year 1s on their activities making sure they had an enjoyable, memorable experience.

Miss Ingram - PE Teacher Worcestershire Trampoline Competition.

On Weds 22nd November 14 students travelled to Redditch for the Worcestershire Trampoline Competition. The students from Year’s 7-11 took part in different category’s depending on their competencies and confidence on the Trampoline rather than age categories. A special well done to Francesca in Year 7 who took part in her first competition for Blessed Edward’s. A lovely afternoon displaying creativity and skilful routines.

Well done Trampoline Team!

Miss Ingram - PE Teacher