Volume 17 issue 3 February 2018

Follow Us

@EdwardOldcorne

Newsletter

Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College

February 2018

Dear Parents and friends of our college, I always enjoy this time of year as there is just a hint of Spring and a noticeable stretch in the evenings. It's also at this time, as we reach the mid point of the academic year that we realise just how little time our Year 11 students have until their first GCSE examination. When we return after half term they will have 42 school days left!! I've been impressed with their diligence and as always it is matched by the efforts of their teachers. If your child is in Year 11 please ensure that they have a detailed revision plan drawn up and that they are working hard at home as well as at college. The link to my January learning seminar for Year 11 parents is https://goo.gl/dGnRpH You may find it useful in helping you discuss revision strategies with your child.

This half term also saw us stage a wonderful production of the Wizard of Oz. The production played out to full houses on three consecutive evenings. Events like this always make me reflect on how proud I am to belong to a community which can work together to produce something so inspiring. As we start our journey through Lent our students will also be busy fundraising over the next half term, I look forward to updating you with the grand total in our next newsletter.

As a college we have also been considering our use of plastics in the college. There has been a lot of publicity about this recently through programmes such as The Blue Planet II and also government Initiatives. As a result of discussions with our caterers Alliance in Partnership, after half term we will be serving all take away meals in recyclable containers. Our students are very keen to play a part in protecting our environment and this is one small way we can contribute to this on going challenge. Finally can I thank you again for your continued support and wish you a relaxing half term break.

Greg McClarey - Headteacher

Safeguarding Online activity is a growing problem with our students. Students are being drawn into various different issues from cyber bullying to inappropriate content to excessive screen time. The following apps/ websites will help parents protect their children from online issues and ensure their devices are monitored. Click each logo to follow the link.

Can I remind you to check our college website in the safeguard section for help and guidance on Safeguarding topics.

If you have any concerns please do not hesitate to contact: Designated Safeguard Lead & Looked After Child Lead - Miss Mason Deputy Safeguard Lead - Mr McClarey Governor for Safeguarding - Mrs J Soloman Governor for Looked After Child - Mr D Barcaly Miss Mason - DSL and LAC Lead

Key Dates Were you there! If not you should Parents that play such an 26th February - Students Return have been as it was amazing, it was important role in our children’s 26th February - Lenten Foyer Liturgies the school production of the achievements. st nd begin at 8:35am Wizard of Oz, (31 January to 2 As you can see from the rest of the 1st March - World Book Day February). It was so well staged if newsletter there are some great not exactly the same as the Oz I sporting achievements, fundraising 5th March - Year 11 Elevate Sessions 5th March - Year 10 Assessment Week remember! and examples of extra-curricular 8th March - Year 11 Parents Evening These productions show that the activities.

12th March - Year 11 Assessment Week Arts are a key part of our school Another true example of our 14th March - Year 8 Parents Evening life. The budding actors on stage, diverse and inclusive college.

19th March - Year 10 Elevate Sessions the musicians, the backstage stars, On behalf of the Governing body 23rd March - Reconciliation Services and the technical teams may I thank all the parents of the 25th March - Palm Sunday demonstrated a real family of staff college for their support in all 27th March - Performing Arts Evening and students making the three activities and events and helping 29th March - Easter Liturgies evenings something to remember. all our students achieve their 29th March - Students finish Well done to them all and a big Potential. thank you to all the Staff and Philip Carney - Chair of Governors New School App I am encouraging all parents and carers to download our new free communication app!

Our new app will allow you to receive priority messages, report student absences and access college information in one convenient source. Our aim is to significantly reduce the amount of paper we use annually. This means letters inviting you to Parents’ Evening will be done electronically. It will also give you the opportunity to reply immediately and let us know if you can attend. Welcome back letters , trip reply slips and consent forms will predominately be sent out this way.

Our app can be downloaded for either iOS or Android phones. Please search for :

My Ed or click this button We also have a new automated absence number, which can be used to leave a voice message if your child is away from college.

The new number is: 0844 239 3266 Thank you for supporting us in this new venture.

Mr Edmunds - Assistant Headteacher

Blessed Edward Oldcorne Feast Day On Friday 26th January our community celebrated the feast day of our college patron, Father Edward Oldcorne.

During a week of reflection in preparation for this occasion form tutors and their classes discussed the lives and contribution of all our college martyrs and saints on a daily basis using a specially prepared booklet.

ICT and Computer Science Fair The ICT department held its third ICT and Computer Science fair for Year 9, 10 and 11 students on 18th January. The event is aimed at giving students an insight into the different pathways available in digital post 16. These include apprenticeships, further education and potential career choices, with a particular focus on cyber security. Exhibitors at the event included: Worcester Sixth Form, Heart of Worcester, RGS, the University of Oxford,

On Thursday 25th Mr.Tota took a Year 7 R.E. class to visit the martyrs’ shrine at the top of Redhill where a student led liturgy in honour of Blessed Edward was held.

We are also very grateful to our college Chaplains Fr. Andrew Berry and Canon Brian McGinley who celebrated Mass with KS3 & KS4.

Mr McCormack - Deputy Headteacher

Qinetiq, AT&T, OGL, Worcester Apprenticeships, TDM/IT Cyber, the Army and RAF. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the event and the exhibitors commented how enthusiastic and confident our students were.

The college also welcomed the Mayor and Mayoress of Worcester, Steve MacKay and his wife Alison who took time to speak to students and exhibitors.

Mr Nicholls - Head of ICT

Presentation Evening On November 30th Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College held its annual Presentation Evening. This event celebrates achievements of students who received their GCSE results in August 2017.

The college achieved an outstanding set of GCSE results enabling students to move on with confidence and optimism to the next stage of their education. The college was delighted to welcome Fr. Jonathan Veasey, Director of the Diocesan Education Service as the guest speaker.

Fr. Jonathan gave a thoughtful speech on the importance and relevance of Catholic education. He then presented awards and certificates to students. These awards included top achievers in each subject, attendance awards and special awards to the boy and girl with the best individual GCSE results.

A very enjoyable evening concluded with coffee and cakes in the college hall.

Mr McClarey - Headteacher

Jessica’s Angels Year 8 Charity Reps have been working together to raise funds for the charity Jessica's Angels.

Between them they have organised a cake sale, a popcorn sale and a piñata game (thanks to Niall for his hard work making the piñata!)

The final total raised is still increasing - well done to the Charity Reps for all of your hard work and thanks to everyone who contributed to making and buying cakes, popcorn and buying raffle tickets.

Mrs Jones - Head of Year 8

Reverse Advent Calendar During December, 10 Jones and 10 Wall were part of a reverse advent calendar scheme in which students brought in food, gifts, toiletries, toys and books. They were then taken to Gloucester City Mission where these items were utilised for the homeless and other marginalised groups within the local area. It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to stop

and think about others that are less fortunate than some of us and to appreciate our Christmas holiday period. From the two forms 2 boxes and 4 big bags were handed to the mission on Tuesday 19th December, a great effort and true representation of generosity and spirit.

Well done Year 10!

Miss Ingram, Mrs Ford, Mrs Barrett and Mrs Booth - Form Tutors

Holocaust Week 2nd-9th February 2018 As part of the annual Holocaust Memorial Day on 27th January our Year 9 students were given a detailed understanding of different aspects of the Holocaust from different perspectives, involving 3 ch 194 r a different subjects as well as outside speakers.

M f ng o re eginni rkenau whe ir b We were extremely privileged to welcome Joanna Millan to our e h t At -Bi the Berlin. o Auschwitz taken from school who shared her testimony about surviving n i 2 4 t ere . In st 19 sent the Holocaust. other w e of Prague n Augu f Berlin and i m l r a e h t h o tsid nd . sen iles ou la orphaned even streets June, Bela a ela Ro B m e h n 0 t r 5 o s p m b en fro that year in tration cam B leaving Be t one time, re a was k n a n t a s o a a J t ag er w en fT al. Lat father died o Jews presen ving on a me a conc Bela’s illed on arriv esienstadt, her mother i 0 v 0 k s. Sur er o 50,0 d, he was d sent to Th 8 months ol ich saw up t ed condition 5th an s. On 1 as 1 , wh amp n t r w c a d i a a s l d t home s e n s B Ru ya ien when by the Theres lived in filth d as o e t t 1944, a d r e e y d she w lib ort he n p s T a e . a , r d w a o . s f ela ied ann she ed Jew d to Jo tended that er design one in four d camp and B land.

0,936 e 4 s g 1 a n f w a o h e p g of h s pre as one e cam bread, control of th flown to En name was c parent scover much Bela w e amount th tatoes and d r s r e e a t e H p v w di ko on. ela ado po th ged to oss too g orphans, B e from Lond rvivors. Her times atery soup, a r y in n C a d m e R w latterl pl w in su e o u f v d i d h n o o l n t v i c s t r a , h a e u h 5 i c K s h 4 d r e er wis eU May 19 9 othe ret. Sh he oth less Je es in th i t i s r On 3rd long with 29 d by a child to contact t identity sec e v te er . nd uni ta en Augus finally adop and forbidd er to keep h er the world ut schools a h o as st ov rough h Bela w rget her pa hter and told elations all t y r o fo g gr ’s st told to r natural dau s found livin family r e h d i e ha tol was th history and In addition we were pleased to welcome Imogen na has n a o J s , ’ family ast 25 years Dalziel, an experienced educator from the Holocaust Education ep For th Trust. The HET specialises in providing resources to support schools in their China. delivery of this emotive topic as well as publicising Holocaust Memorial Day. Imogen led a series of workshops looking at who were the perpetrators of the Holocaust and how easy it is to ignore the complexities of what happened to the Jews.

Lessons this week have also been geared towards different ways of approaching the Holocaust topic:  In History, students have been looking at the chronological background showing the development of anti-Semitism around the world and how the Nazi regime made this state policy.  In English lessons students have studied ‘Vultures’ by Chinua Achebe which reflects on his experiences in Nigeria and suggests comparisons with Holocaust victims in Nazi Germany. Students then reflected on this year’s theme ‘The Power of Words’, looking at the word ’Genocide’ and how survivors have dealt with their experiences.  In ICT lessons students have looked at the experiences of those who have survived the holocaust and recounted their feelings using multi-media resources  In Religious Education students have focussed on the theme ‘The Suitcase People’. They have tried to understand why, even today Jews often do not feel safe and have spent much of their history being moved from place to place. One such Rabbi has explained how he always has a suitcase packed just in case!!

Mr S Jessop - Head of Humanities

Blessed Edward’s Youth SVP turning concern into action to help the ‘Forget-me-not’ project begun

by Father Hudson’s Society.

On Friday 8th December, Jane Bamber who runs the ‘Forget-menot’ project and Marie Yates, our Youth SVP coordinator, came into our school for a special presentation.

Earlier in the year, Jane had met with the Youth SVP to tell them about the new project in Worcester for the elderly who lived in nursing homes and on their own. Jane told us about Alf Wood, an elderly gentleman who suffers from dementia, who in his younger days, was a football player for Manchester City. Alf’s wife, Joan has a scrapbook full of memories of his playing days and his goal scoring prowess has earned him a place in the club’s hall of fame. The Youth SVP were keen to listen to Alf’s story and the many other elderly men and women in Worcester who have their own wonderful memories to share.

The ‘Forget-me-not’ project will allow these elderly people to meet on a weekly basis and share their life stories with others. However, the project needed to be funded first.

This spurred the Youth SVP into

Christmas cards to Prisoners of Conscience.

Every year, students are chosen to write Christmas cards to Prisoners of Conscience. This year it was Ella, Lara, Daisy and Aggie.

Prisoners of conscience are people who have been put

action and back in September Libby, one of our Youth SVP members, suggested raising money by holding a Danceathon in the school. It was organised by the Youth SVP and because it was near to Halloween everyone turned up in fancy dress.

The Danceathon lasted for 2 hours and the Youth SVP managed to dance for two hours non-stop. A grand total of £450 was raised through this event.

However, the Youth SVP thought they could raise more and decided to take part in a bag pack at Tesco and raised another £150.

The grand total came to £600!

When the cheque was presented to Jane by our new Deputy Head, Mrs. Thomas, she told us that the money raised would be enough to fund the project for the whole year. Amazing!

The Youth SVP group is planning on going to meet the elderly people at one of the ‘Forget-me-not’ coffee mornings in the new year. This will give us a chance to chat and share memories. There are many elderly

in prison and wrongly accused for things like standing up for their rights.

In other countries in the world, people are suppressed and their civil liberties are taken away from them. Fortunately, we have courageous men and

people that have lost loved ones they care about and are suffering a great loss. This makes them scared to go out and make new friends because they don’t want to lose them. The coffee mornings are helping people to discover that they are not alone and that there are others that want to listen to them and help them.

As part of our Advent preparations, on Monday 18th December, the Youth SVP are visiting The Lawn’s Nursing Home to carol sing for the residents. This is something we have been doing for several years at a number of rest homes across the city of Worcester.

The Youth SVP has changed people’s lives and brightened their days just like the ‘Forget-me-not’ coffee mornings do. Join the Youth SVP and make a difference in the world, you won’t regret it.

As Gandhi once said ‘you have to be the change you want to see in the world’ Libby and Emily - Year 8

women who have stood against these dictatorial regimes. They have been treated unfairly and we wanted to wish them a Merry Christmas because they will be all alone and won’t have a great time like us. Students and teachers

signed the cards and wrote loving and comforting messages to the prisoners of conscience.

Ella, Aggie, Daisy and Lara- Year 8

Blessed Edward School Youth SVP visit The Lawns Nursing Home in Kempsey On the 18th of December, the Youth SVP group visited The Lawns Nursing Home, in order to entertain the residents with Christmas carols and popular Christmas songs.

Many of the residents sang along with us and as they did so, the smiles on their faces brightened up our day. It was such a wonderfully uplifting occasion for all of us.

After the concert we were able to mingle with the residents and listen to their life stories. We learnt that one of the residents had been a teacher at Cherry Orchard Primary School which many of the Youth SVP used to attend. For her retirement present

from the school she received a hockey stick dressed up as Santa Claus.

The Youth SVP don’t do things by halves because many of the students had brought along cakes to share with the residents and their carers.

Vicki even brought along a chocolate log which she had made from scratch, it was magnificent.

As we talked to the residents over tea and cakes they all said that Christmas is their favourite time of the year.

Some of the residents were not able to leave their rooms so we went upstairs to visit them. We talked to people who were ill and had to stay in bed and when we went into one of

the rooms they were talking about Saint Nicholas and how they celebrate Christmas in the nursing home.

By the time we left, we felt that we were old friends and the staff have invited us back again in February and also to sing at the grand opening of the large new extension which is currently being built.

This is what preparations for Christmas are really about, taking time to make people’s lives more cheerful and bright. The residents said, ‘Thank you for coming to visit us’. Evie, Molly and Laila - Year 7 Youth SVP members

Blessed Edward Oldcorne our college patron, in order to celebrate his feast day.

Before the pilgrimage we prepared a liturgy that we would use during the visit. It included, hymns, scripture readings and prayers written by the students in the class.

Blessed Edward Oldcorne Feast Day The day we travelled to the shrine, Pilgrimage to the shrine of Blessed the sun was shining and the weather Edward Oldcorne on Red Hill, was perfect for our celebration. As we th Worcester. On Thursday 25 January gathered round the shrine we thought our Year 7 class had the privilege of of the amazing sacrifice Blessed making a pilgrimage to the shrine of Edward Oldcorne made for his

Catholic faith. On this spot at Red Hill, he was hung, drawn and quartered and his body was burnt.

As the service drew to a close we walked round the shrine in a circle singing, ‘O when the Saints go marching in’. This was a fitting tribute to Blessed Edward Oldcorne because we know that by his witness to the Catholic faith he is with the saints in heaven looking down on us.

We prayed to Blessed Edward Oldcorne in order to look after everyone connected with our college community and for him to ask Jesus to give us strength and courage to live our lives by truth, honesty and respect for everyone.

Oliver - Year 7

It was a performance to never to be seen again! Queen riding a bicycle shouldn’t have been there, nor Ghostbusters or I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady or the Macarena or even Phil Collins “Coming in the Air Tonight”. Some how it managed to remain Dorothy, a Scarecrow, a Lion and a Tin Man all disappearing over the rainbow to find the Great Oz. Fantastically amazing performances from a plethora of students from Year 7 to 11 provided a memorable night to all of those who came to watch. Many congratulations to Ines (10J), Joseph (11J), Oliver (8S), Ronan (9W), Gilbert - the Wizard of Oz’s Mouse (8P), Sarah (11W), Amiee (11W) ,Alfie (10W), Ross (11W), Eleanor(10J), Jess (10C), Harriet (11W), Grace (9A), Tom (8P) and every single Munchkin and their parents who must have spent ages washing out orange from every item of clothing. A special thank you also to the 3 ballerinas Abigail (10C), Ella (10C) and Isobel (10A). A grateful thanks to all of the staff who supported this production they are too numerous to mention but nonetheless were an integral part of making this show a splendid success!

Ms Duncan - Producer/ Director

Youth Saint Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) Sponsored Swim On Sunday 4th February, Youth SVP members took part in a sponsored swim to raise money for Maggs Day Centre.

This event took place at the Citizens swimming pool in Lower Wick. Eighteen students from Year 7 and Year 8 took part in this event.

Everyone swam for a whole hour and not once did anyone give up.

Youth SVP members gave up their time to swim and raise money. Maggs Day Centre supplies hot food, clean dry clothes and a welcoming environment to all homeless people all over Worcester. We, the Youth SVP members are going to raise approximately ÂŁ500 to support this project.

Maggs was founded in 1984 after a homeless man named John Maggs died from hypothermia after years of sleeping rough on the streets. The local churches got together and decided that they need to open a shelter for the homeless. All of the Youth SVP members gave up their time to help out and raise some money for this charity.

The next Youth SVP event is to visit The Lawn’s Nursing Home in Kempsey in order to entertain the elderly residents. We are all looking forward to this.

Lucy and Lauren Year 8 Book Cover Winners Year 8 students designed book covers for imaginary books, some had amazing detail on them. Our Patron of Reading, Kevin Brooke judged them all, and finally decided on three winning designs. These were the creative work of: Lauren (8S), The Book of Betrayal Jacob (8S), The Book of Pie Becki (8S), The Book of Angels These students received a certificate and a book each as prizes.

Mrs Bromyard - Librarian

Sp or

ts

Year 6 Netball festival A very successful, fun and skillful Year 6 Netball festival on Thursday 25th January. All 5 Catholic Primary Schools took part, with 2 schools entering B teams too. Some very happy, cohesive and well drilled teams but it came down to the final game in which Holy

Redeemer and St Joseph's (Droitwich) were both lying top of the scoreboard! They drew their match against each other, which took us to goals scored where Holy Redeemer just clinched it winning by 3.

Fantastic leaders from Years 11 and 9; they were very pro-active all morning, acting as team managers, coaches and umpires for their chosen team. Huge well done to them! Sam, Meghan, Mollie, Freya, Izzy, Rosie and Alice.

Miss Ingram - PE Teacher

District Netball The Year 7s played in their District Netball tournament at RGS tonight (2nd February).

They played brilliantly, losing only to RGS and Kings - finishing 3rd in our District, and the 1st state school!

Well done ladies!

Mrs Barrett - PE Teacher

Indoor Athletics On Friday 19th January 28 students represented the college in the annual Worcester City & Droitwich Indoor Athletics competition held at St. Johns sport centre. The students were in 4 teams of Year 7 Boys/Girls & Year 8 Boys/Girls. The Year 8 Boys finished 3rd, the Year 7 girls finished 2nd but the Year 7 boys and Year 8 girls won their respective events and have now qualified for the winter school games at Bromsgrove school on the 12th February. All students performed extremely well and were a credit to the college.

Mr Williams – 2i/c PE

Cross Country Year 7 On Monday 5th February, 14 students represented the college in the Year 7 Cross Country School games qualifying event at RGS, The Grange. The top 6 performers from each race qualified for the Cross Country finals to be held at Wolverley School in March, Laila (7C) finished in 6th which gave her qualification and the boys had 3 runners finish in the top 6 with David (7C) picking up the silver medal in 2nd place with Jesse (7J) in 4th and Santino (7P) in 6th.

Well done to the 4 of you!

Mr Williams – 2i/c PE

Girls Rugby "Only Girls Allowed Rugby Program". A selection of girls from Year 10 have been involved with a program at Worcester Warriors designed by their community development team to enable girls to develop their teamwork, leadership and communication skills in a professional rugby setting. The program is for 6 consecutive weeks. Each week there has been a 1 hour

classroom lesson followed by a 1 hour physical workshop in which they have developed their confidence and communication. They have taken part in Rugby, Dance and Yoga so far with Zumba, Gymnastics and Ballet fit left to take part in. It's a true inspiration to see these girls integrating with each other and members of the Worcester community in a sensible and mature manner.

Miss Ingram - PE Teacher

2018 Year 9 County Basketball Finals On Monday 29th January, our Year 9 basketball team went to Bromsgrove School to compete in the County Basketball Finals.

In our first game, we comfortably beat Chase High School 32-10, which allowed all players to get some court time.

Our second game against Bromsgrove was a much closer affair and despite some aggressive defence, we beat Bromsgrove School 19-10.

This put us in the semi-final against Stourport High School and we beat them 18-14 in another close game.

In the final, we faced St. Augustine’s and quickly ran out to a 20-3 lead, allowing us to rest some of our starters and involve the bench players. After a time-out, St. Augustine’s became extremely physical and played some overly-aggressive defence which resulted in 2 of their players being ejected from the game. We were able to overcome these questionable tactics to win 33-20 and retain our title as Worcestershire County Champions. This is a tremendous achievement, especially since only 2 of our players are in Year 9 and we have 7 Year 8 players and 2 Year 7s.

All of our team played brilliantly, particularly Oliver (in 8S) who was

the tournament’s MVP (most valuable player).

Next we will play the Herefordshire Champions in the Hereford and Worcestershire final with a chance to progress through to the Midlands Final.

Photo: Back row L to R: Leon (7J) , Oliver (8S), Front row L to R: Gilbert (8P), Harry (8W), Oliver (8S), Tan (7P), Josh (8S), Cieran (9L), Vani (8L), Joe (9S) Mr Coward - Area Leader PE