Newsletter Easter 2017

I S S U E

4

Dear Parents and Carers, HIGHLIGHTS p. 2 Charitable Giving p.3 World Book Day p.4 Mrs Denise France p.6 Making a Mole p.7 Springtime in Paris p.8 UK Robotics Competition p.9 Inspiring Author p.9 District Champions p.11 Design Challenge p.13 Attendance

A P R I L

2 0 1 7

Special Award Celebrating High As the Lent term draws to a Attainment close and we prepare for Academically, we remain Easter it is good to reflect one of the top-performing on events that have taken non-selective secondary place this term and look schools in Lancashire and forward to the Trinity term. have also received notificaThis really is a bumper istion this week that our sue of the half termly 2016 GCSE results place us Newsletter, with pupils in all in the top 10% of nonyears once again rising to selective secondary schools the challenges and embrac- in England for attainment.

If you are in any doubt about ing the opportunities availaany item of uniform please ble at St Michael’s.

Our achievements in sport, contact Mr Chadwick, Deputy dance, drama and music Headteacher.

Year 11 continue to go from We are now very close to strength to strength and all the main GCSE written exof this is underpinned by Student Leadership amination period. Year 11 the strong Christian founda- Thank you to Year 10 pupils are an amazing year group tion of the school. Our rep- who have been motivated to and deserve to do very utation as a school that apply and subsequently interwell. We are doing all we provides opportunities for viewed, to represent the can to work with you in growth in body, mind and school in the role of prefect supporting your children spirit is justly deserved. next year. We are currently in through this pressurised the midst of our rigorous setime.

Uniform lection process for the most As you know school unisenior student leadership Please let Mrs McCaffrey form, apart from ties, is roles in school, with interknow if you have any consupplied by Jada of Eaves views taking place after the cerns about your child in Lane, Chorley. Thank you Easter break. It is a great the remaining few weeks. to all parents and carers privilege to be able to read so You have already received who support school in our many wonderful letters of details of the comprehendrive for the highest stand- application expressing what sive programme of revision ards of uniform amongst all St Michael’s means to so and support that is availaour pupils. many of our young people. ble to your son or daughter.

The length of some girls’ Year 7 pupils have also apAdditionally, there are a skirts is becoming a conplied for the role of ‘Bridge limited number of revision cern again and I remind Buddy’ to help aid the transilessons being held during parents and carers that the tion process between primary the Easter holidays, details length must be within three and secondary school for the of which are outlined in the inches of the knee. We are Year 6 pupils who will be letter from Mrs Hooley. We also grateful for your supjoining us in September. also look forward to welport in relation to hair style coming parents and carers and colour. Details of these Charitable Giving of Year 11 to school on aspects of our uniform poli- Thank you to all pupils for Thursday 25 May at 14.00 cy are highlighted in the your support for our ‘Toilet for our special leavers newsletter and our full uni- Twinning’ Lent Appeal. We service. form list is available at the are hoping to be able to twin front of your child’s organ- the new toilets in school and iser. raise money to provide toilets

PAGE

2

in several African countries. Our non-uniform day this term has also helped to support Comic Relief.

Enrichment Opportunities I am sure that you will enjoy reading the articles in this newsletter which show the wonderful array of enrichment opportunities that our pupils are participating in.

Some of the highlights of this half term include World Book Day along with the success which our pupils have experienced in several competitions; including the regional finals of the ‘Youth Speaks’ competition, the Rotary BAE Systems sponsored Technology Tournament and reaching the UK finals of the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge this term. This is in addition to our continued success in sports and the Maths challenge for example.

Staff I am delighted to inform you that Mrs Hannah Bain has given birth to a boy, Billy Ross Bain and Mr Ben Egelnick has become a daddy to

baby Isadora Rose who was born this term. Our congratulations and best wishes to them all. Our Data Manager, Miss Lissie Hulme is getting married at the end of the Easter break and we wish her and Mark, her husband to be, every happiness.

Mr Nick Hilton has settled into his new role as Student Engagement Coordinator for behaviour and we are already seeing the benefits of his restorative work with pupils.

The ‘extended leadership team’ comprising of Mr Allcock, Mrs Clapp, Mr Kirkpatrick, Mrs McCaffrey and Mrs Rackstraw have come to the end of their temporary additional roles at the end of this term. They have proved a great asset to the leadership of the school and I thank them for their dedication and commitment to school improvement. Mr Jonathan Allcock has been appointed as Assistant Headteacher (Learning and Teaching) and I am sure that

you will join me in wishing him every success in his new role.

The Lent term comes to a close on Friday with our Easter services held for Year 11 in school, and for Years 7-10 at St Peter’s and St Laurence’s churches. We also wish our pupils and colleagues who are travelling abroad on our ski visit and France visits: ‘bon voyage’.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’. I have been greatly encouraged by the support I have received in my first two terms as Headteacher from pupils, parents, staff and governors. It is an absolute honour and privilege to lead ‘Team St Michael’s’ and I look forward to all that we can continue to achieve together in the future. May I wish you all a peaceful and happy Easter.

Yours sincerely,

J Jenks Mrs Jayne Jenks

OUR WONDERFUL pupils have - yet again - outdone themselves by raising thousands of pounds for some fantastic causes this term.

Pupils came into school in non-uniform two weeks ago and contributed over £1200, with the money going towards two charities: Comic Relief and Toilet Twinning.

Mrs Jenks also led a worship about the ‘Toilet Twinning’ Lent appeal earlier this term. Toilet Twinning is an initiative which invites people to 'twin' their own toilet with latrines in poor communities. This is a way of raising funds to enable people in the poorest nations to have clean water and a proper toilet, and to learn about hygiene. Pupils were encouraged to raise money through various fundraising ideas and donations and our new school toilets will then be ‘twinned’ with some toilets (provided by the funds raised) in Africa.

Good sanitation is vital in these countries to combat the spread of fatal diseases.

Miss Forrest’s tutorial, 8 Wilberforce, raised money for the appeal by hosting an ’Egg-stravaganza’ throughout the last week of term, running an Easter egg tombola and a ’Guess how many Mini Eggs are in the jar?’ competition.

In addition, Year 7 pupil Evie Smith raised a whopping £172 alone this term by selling cakes at her church and through Facebook and Year 9 pupils Alessia Degrassi, Ellis Critchley, Keira Dunstan, Victoria Ford, Rebecca Dunkiert, Ellie Hollings and Charlotte Wood sold cakes on Chorley market last weekend, raising over £200 with all funds going to the ‘Toilet Twinning’ appeal.

S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S

We are in awe of our amazing pupils (and their parents), who continue to give so generously to these special causes and really are making a huge difference to other people’s lives in their own community and the rest of the world.

PAGE

3

THE ST MICHAEL’S English Department presented an activity-filled World Book Day 2017!

On Thursday, 2nd March there was a host of exciting events which took place in celebration of our love of books and reading.

In celebrating World Book Day 2017, the Armstrong Centre was the focal point for many of the fun activities. There was a book swap, plus special quizzes and games. Three £10 Scholastic Book Vouchers were also raffled off, which pupils entered by simply by borrowing a book from the library that week.

As an added element of fun to mark the occasion, all Year 7 and 8 pupils were invited to come to school dressed as a character from their favourite novel. Staff were also be encouraged to join in the fun and contributed to the festivities by disguising themselves as characters from their most treasured stories!

All pupils were given a £1 voucher on the day, which can be used at all participating book shops and on Scholastic Book orders.

S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S

PAGE

4

OUR FORMER colleague Mrs Denise France has sadly passed away this half term after a year-long battle with illness.

The former lab technician, chief production costumemaker, lunchtime supervisor and teaching assistant, was a prominent figure at St Michael’s for 28 years, taking her retirement in the summer of 2014.

She passed away in St Catherine’s Hospice at the end of February, after bravely fighting lung cancer.

Many present and former colleagues attended the funeral service, including headteachers Mr Bob Hardwick and Mr Christopher Bagguley, as well as current headteacher Mrs Jenks.

And pupils and staff remaining at school also paid their respects, with pupils coming to the school gates dressed in costumes she had created as the cortège went by.

The service was held at Lyon’s Lane Independent Methodist Church, where Denise and her family worshipped and where she was a well-liked figure for her fun-loving nature, starring in Church pantomimes, running quiz nights and taking a very active role in the Church Christmas Fayre.

Mrs France began life at St Michael’s when she applied for a maternity cover job of Laboratory Technician in 1986, which was then offered to her as a permanent position just a few months later. She then moved to work in the Learning Support department where her patience, caring and sometimes stubborn nature, helped countless pupils to achieve GCSE grades they never thought possible.

When she retired, she spoke of this part of her job: ‘I have loved this work.

Being amongst the pupils and interacting with them has been the best part of my job.’

But it was Denise’s talent for sewing that has been an invaluable help to school over the years and she has produced literally hundreds of costumes, whether for the school productions, shows or cheerleading performances.

Even whilst seriously ill, she was still sewing, making gifts for her neighbours and residents at Richmond House where she lived and raising money for charities.

She leaves behind her daughter Sharon, son Ian and grandson Ethan and she will be sorely missed by many friends and colleagues at St Michael’s.

NINE of our Year 9 pupils enjoyed a morning at Runshaw College in early March where they were given tips on how to apply and succeed in gaining a place at Oxford or Cambridge Universities.

The pupils were given three thought provoking lessons on History, Law and Philosophy.

In the history lesson the pupils were asked to look at the variety of evidence surrounding the assassination of John F Kennedy and asked to think about how we discover truth in the modern age.

In Law pupils had a stimulating lesson on the difference between natural and positivist interpretations of the law and studied a famous case and in Philosophy the pupils were asked to ponder the question, ‘What is a person?’

S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S

PAGE

5

ON SATURDAY 25th March, our team for the ‘Youth Speaks’ National speaking competition took part in the regional final of the competition at Darwen Vale High School.

AGT Coordinator, Mr Heywood said the girls ‘performed superbly as a team’ and Finty Royle won the individual prize for best ‘Vote of Thanks’ speaker on the day.

The team did very well against pupils from Year 13 from schools all over the north. They did not progress to the national final this time but put in a superb performance. And they already have next year in their sights!

Pupil Manager for Year 10, Mrs Lucas, watched the debate and said: ‘I was so proud of Georgia, Finty and Emily - they performed an amazing debate and could certainly teach me, as a teacher, a thing or two about the art of public speaking! I am certain these three young ladies are destined for great things in the future. Well done!’

The Online Safety Top Tips for this term are: 1. Consider changing the parental controls – setting up a filter on the home internet connection can help you to filter any inappropriate content getting through to their devices. The majority of internet providers make this easy to do and we have provided links to a range of videos, which demonstrate and explain how to do this on Moodle.

2. Ensure their privacy settings are set high – on social networking sites and within applications (on their phones and tablets), there are often more privacy options than you think. It is worth checking that they are all set to private or friends only.

Tip: When using game consoles you can change the settings to ‘Family Access.’ The

parental access given within this area will allow you to amend a variety of security features. When looking on Facebook, don’t just change the privacy settings for their profile, go through and check the privacy of their photo albums.

3. Talk to your child - advise them about who to talk to if something goes wrong, preferably an adult. Try to keep an open dialogue. They often keep problems unreported for fear of losing access to the devices they treasure.

For updates and reminders or just to keep in touch...

Why not follow us

@SaintMichaelsCE S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S

PAGE

6

THREE TEAMS from Year 9 and 10 were recently entered into the annual Rotary BAE Systems sponsored Technology Tournament.

The competition was held this year in Leyland on Friday 20th March. Around a dozen schools entered from the local area and all three of our teams were fantastic ambassadors for St Michael's.

They were set a design challenge on the day and after being given a minimal set of materials and time, had to fulfil the challenge by designing, making and testing a product using problem solving and team work skills throughout the day.

This year's challenge was to create a 'mole' which is a small electronic buggy that is used to clear debris from underground pipes. Each team had to test their mole to see how quickly it could move along a pipe as well as how successful it was at clearing the debris.

Special mention must go to one of our Year 10 teams: Tom Gillespie, Jacob Hodgson, John Rawlinson and Adam Thwaites who worked incredibly hard throughout and successfully completed the challenge set on the day.

Our other Year 10 group: Sophie Russell, Sophie Taylor, Henry Wilson and George Nuttall came second overall in the intermediate category, after putting in a superb effort.

However, the Year 9 team consisting of Jabidur Rahman, Rowan Mackley, Tom Green and Tom Hampson did one better by coming first in their foundation category! They will receive a trophy and a Raspberry Pi programmable computer.

Many congratulations go to all our fantastic teams.

we build up to the most significant time in the Christian calendar—Easter.

PUPILS AND STAFF were given the opportunity to reflect during the Lenten period as

Three lunchtime Eucharists were held during Lent in our beautiful chapel, with ministers from the local community coming in to lead Worship.

We were reminded of the significance of this period and the reasons why people give things up during this time. The services also focused on the hope and promise that Easter brings.

Parents are welcome to browse the school's Moodle at http://moodle.saintmichaels.lanc.sch.uk Click on Parent Zone > Log in as Guest User > Agree Site Policy > and there you are! Parents do not need a username for the public areas of Moodle.

The areas accessible to parents include weekly prayers, worship, weekly listings of clubs, revision advice, technical support and occasional questionnaires to give feedback on events.

S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S

Pupils can visit Moodle Club in H7 on any day of the week at lunchtime throughout the year for advice, support in accessing home learning, and the resolution of password concerns.

PAGE

7

THE LANCASHIRE Cricket Board are due to deliver a cricket Young Leaders Course at Saint Michael's to 16 of our enthusiastic young Key Stage 3 cricketers next term.

THIS TERM’S chosen piece is a fantastic final creation for the Year 9 'Faces Project' by Charlotte Woods.

Taking place over a series of evenings, completing this award will provide pupils with the skills, knowledge and experience to lead cricket sessions to younger children.

Charlotte chose to work in a realistic style using pencil crayons and Art teacher Mrs McDermott said, ‘the level of detail and skill in this piece is phenomenal; Charlotte is working at a level far above her years’.

Students have studied various artists who have produced work with the face, from realistic to abstract, mixed media to paint and pencil.

The aim is for some of the pupils involved to volunteer their time to help lead cricket sessions to the Key Stage 3 pupils and could allow them to explore opportunities to hold lead sessions at their local cricket clubs.

PE teacher Mr Henson said, ‘It's a fantastic opportunity for those involved and will be great for anyone wishing to continue with cricket beyond life at Saint Michael's, though a range of roles’.

NEARLY 100 enthusiastic linguists will be sampling the flavours of France when they head off to Paris in April.

48 pupils from Years 8-10 will set sail on the Sunday of the first week of Easter, taking in the chocolate shops of Bruges before heading to the French capital.

They will also have the chance to sail down the Seine, visit the Sacre Coeur and the Montmartre region of the city as well as viewing Notre Dame Cathedral and admiring the Eiffel Tower.

This whistle-stop holiday culminates in a day at Disneyland, where they might meet Mickey or Minnie!

Similarly, another 48 pupils will head to Paris over the May Bank Holiday weekend, this time stopping at the impressive Keukenhof tulip gardens outside Amsterdam before heading to Paris.

Organiser, Mrs Hooley, said: ‘The holidays to Paris always prove immensely popular and are a really worthwhile experience, giving our pupils the opportunity to practise their language skills in real situations.

‘They are also incredibly fun!’

S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S

PAGE

8

A DEDICATED TEAM from St Michael's were selected to compete in the UK finals of the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge this term.

As winners in the third of three heats held at Preston iSTEM College, they went head to head with teams from across the country at The Big Bang Fair on Friday 17th March.

The winning team of ten students built, programmed and controlled LEGO robots for a series of ‘space missions’. They also had to research, design, plan and present their own solution to a contemporary scientific problem - developed by LEGO Education with NASA. The Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge introduces student teams to real-world engineering, technology, robotics and computing challenges. The challenge aims to help students put their school learning into context and discover exciting new careers.

Team members said: ‘…we’ve loved working with and programming the robots. It’s also given us the chance to think about what life is actually like on Mars’.

Miss Callander, who runs STEM club said: ‘It’s been an exciting challenge and it is great to see the team’s hard work pay off. They’ve done really well’.

The successful students in the Mars X team were Theo Waugh, Alice Bentham, Douglas Spencer, Daniel Sykes, James Walmsley, Elloise Baines, Lauren Prince, Jessica Holding, Joseph Chadwick and Sam Perkins.

Research from EngineeringUK, which runs the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge, shows that communicating engineering careers to young people is vital for the future of the British economy. Chief Executive of EngineeringUK Paul Jackson said: ‘In order to meet the country’s demand for engineers we need to double the number of graduates and apprentices entering the engineering industry.

‘Programmes such as the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge aim to help young people from all backgrounds understand the variety, excitement and opportunity presented by a career in engineering.’

EARLIER THIS TERM Year 8 geography pupils spent time investigating the make-up of volcanoes.

To consolidate their learning in this topic, pupils were encouraged to create their own volcanoes, complete with eruptions!

Head of Geography, Mr Clark commented on the ‘superb effort’ made by many of our creative Year 8 pupils.

S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S

PAGE

9

ST MICHAEL’S English department was thrilled to welcome author Daniel Blythe to school on 23rd February, who spent the morning with our Year 7 pupils.

YEAR 8 pupil Megan has been shortlisted for one of the county’s most prestigious community awards after dedicating her spare time to supporting her neighbourhood.

Daniel is the author of several youth fiction titles such as the Shadow Runners/Shadow Breakers series and award winning Emerald Greene. He has also written for the New Doctor Who Adventures series, as well as the non-fiction title Famous Robots and Cyborgs.

The prestigious High Sheriff of Lancashire Young Citizen of the Year Award is an annual award given to a young person who gives something back to their community.

Daniel’s presentation was thoroughly enjoyed by the pupils, which was capped off with an exciting quiz and book signing.

In the run up to World Book Day, Daniel’s visit helped set the stage for promoting reading and a life-long love of literature.

Event organiser Mr Koole said, ‘Daniel was very happy to have shared his time with our pupils. He was very impressed by our pupils’ enthusiasm and positive participation in the event’.

Megan was shortlisted by her Guiding unit leader Katie-Louise (2nd Adlington St. Paul’s Guides) who submitted a nomination in recognition of the St Michael’s High School pupil’s inspirational role within the group and for her dedication and enthusiasm in helping to raise nearly £1,000 with her friend for the Adlington Library fund.

Very well done Megan!

THERE WAS SUCCESS this term for our Year 7 Girls netball teams with both the A and B teams putting in an outstanding performance at the District tournament on 14th March at Albany High School.

PE teacher Mrs Brunsden said, ‘both teams showed a great level of skill and teamwork throughout all games’. And both the A and B teams came first in their separate tournaments and are now District Champions!

And the winning streak continued with our Year 9 Girls who had their own District netball tournament on Tuesday 21st March at Bishop Rawstorne.

St Michael’s was the only school to enter an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ team into the tournament so our teams were actually up against each other.

S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S

Mrs Brunsden said, ‘The Year 9 teams were exceptional with the ‘A’ team coming first and the ‘B’ team ending up runners up! Congratulations to all players who have shown outstanding commitment throughout the year!’

PAGE

10

PREPARATIONS for the end of term service are already well underway and our Christian Youth Worker, Dan Bishop, along with the RE department and our wonderful Performing Arts Department are working hard to prepare a meaningful and reflective Worship to celebrate Easter.

As in previous years, the Easter service is a very special event for all pupils and staff as we celebrate this special season in the local churches of Chorley.

This year (weather permitting), pupils in years 7-10 will be walking to either St Laurence’s or St Peter’s churches to take part in the services.

The service will demonstrate the talent and hard work of many pupils as they use drama, dance and music to bring the Easter story to life. Chapel Choir, the Armstrong Choir and our fabulous Worship Band will also bring a musical note to the Worship.

Most importantly, pupils and staff will be given time to reflect on the final stages of Jesus’ life and his resurrection, symbolising new life and hope.

ONCE AGAIN we had a fantastic response from our pupils for the Intermediate Maths Challenge, a nationwide competition run by Leeds University.

85 pupils from Years 9-11 volunteered to take part, of whom 60 received a certificate for finishing in the top 40% of the 300,000+ entrants nationally.

Special mentions go to our gold certificate winners who finished in the top 6% nationally. They are: Alex Moss, Skye McGreavy, Jacob Miller-Crook, Yee Mang Ho, James Oates, Jake Lovell, Zachary McGough and Ben Agbenu.

Try this Maths Challenge teaser…

(answers on the back page)

The combined age of Alice and Bob is 39. The combined age of Bob and Clare is 40. The combined age of Clare and Dan is 38. The combined age of Dan and Eve is 44. The total of all five ages is 105.

Which of the five is the youngest?

A) Alice

B) Bob C) Clare D) Dan E) Eve

YES, spring has sprung, the clocks have changed and our intrepid 'trowel'-blazers are swinging back into action!

Last year the ‘Ground Pounders’ gardening club cleared a raised bed and managed to grow potatoes, strawberries, raspberries, kale, spinach, leeks and the frankly delicious lemon sorrel.

Now it's seconds out for 'ground' two!

The group meet every Wednesday after school until 4:15pm and any pupil from years 7-10 is welcome as long as they bring a change of clothes, as they are likely to get their hands (and possibly their clothes) dirty!

S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S

PAGE

11

A CHARITY evening, in aid of The Christie, is being held at Duxbury Park Golf Club on Saturday, 23rd September.

One of our parents, Mr Chris Feeney who is organising the event, unfortunately lost his wife Phillipa to cancer in 2015 and she spent a great deal of time at The Christie. Since then, Chris and his children Roseanna and Marcus have spent their time fundraising for the hospital. As The Christie is not run by the NHS it only receives 40% of its funding from the government, and Chris said he ‘wanted to do something positive in Phillipa’s memory’ to help other families who are going through this horrendous experience. So far, the family have raised over £17,000, with more funds coming in all the time.

The evening, sponsored by Santander, will consist of ten horse-races to bet on, a prosecco drinks reception, a light supper and a fantastic auction, with items such as a convertible Mercedes for the weekend; spa days; family photo shoots; a bungee jump, a flight in a light aircraft from Blackpool airport around the Lake District and a signed Manchester United football, to name just a few.

The cost of a ticket is £20, with at least 60% of the ticket price going to The Christie. Organiser, Chris said last year’s event was ‘a super fun evening’ and everyone had a fabulous night, ‘why not come and join us and help this wonderful charity’.

If you would like to support this event please contact Chris Feeney on 01257 483265 or 07837587253. Tickets are limited.

CUERDEN VALLEY park is currently building a new visitors centre and part of that building will be a café.

Pupils in Year 7 Graphics have been set the challenge to develop the café name and produce a sample menu for that café.

Graphics teacher, Mr Gladders, contacted the team at Cuerden Valley and told them about the project and they expressed an interest in the outcome and apparently they were so impressed with the designs that they posted the photograph on their Facebook page, as shown here.

Mr Gladders said: ‘I have been really impressed with the creativity of Year 7 and the way they have picked up and used Photoshop so well’.

THE SCHOOL HALL was packed to the rafters for our annual Year 11 Revision Evening earlier this term.

Year 11 pupils, along with their parents and carers came to hear about how they could prepare to succeed in their forthcoming GCSE exams, starting in just a few weeks.

Staff shared a range of revision strategies, including highlighting, mindmapping and flashcard activities, as well as a host of online games and revision apps which could help our Year 11s.

Headteacher Mrs Jenks also emphasised the importance of attitude and focus at this time, highlighting the growth mindset and the fact that ‘hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard’.

S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S

A range of after school revision classes and holiday revision sessions are now underway for our Year 11s, who are working very hard in order to achieve their goals in the summer.

PAGE

12

Uniform Thank you very much for your continued support with the uniform and appearance of our young people. We are really very proud of all our children and we continue to receive positive feedback from visitors to school as well as members of the local community.

In order to maintain such high standards please can I remind everyone that St Michael’s pupils choose to…

OUR YEAR 8 girls travelled to Stanley Park this term for the county indoor athletics competition on Thursday 23rd March.

 Wear their uniform with pride.  Not wear jewellery, including earrings.  Ensure their hair is not shaven and is of a naturally occurring shade.

 Not wear make-up (Year 11 can wear discretely) nail varnish or false nails.

 Wear the regulation badged (Y7-10) supplied by the school preferred supplier JADA, this is the only skirt which is acceptable and should be no more than 3 inches from the knee.

 Wear trousers which should be black, plain traditional style and not skinny fit.

In order to support all children, anyone failing to adhere to the uniform regulations will be choosing to be placed in the PGU.

The girls put on a superb performance and they achieved an impressive 10 PB's between them which was incredible and testament to their hard work and rigorous training.

The athletes were up against 15 other schools on the day and were eventually awarded the gold medals!

Congratulations to our County Champions!

AS THE NEW SEASON of Formula One started in sunny Melbourne, St Michael’s Kart Club made the short trip to a sunny Hooton Park at Ellesmere Port with all 17 drivers attending the race meeting.

Two trophies were won in the TKm class, with Sam Palmer winning one of his heats to claim second place overall and Leo Crabtree coming in eigth place. Josh Fish, Rowan Mackley, Nathan Howard, James Harbot and Eleanor Mackley also competed in this class.

The club also had a large number of drivers competing in the Honda GX160 class, which saw Samuel Perkins producing some very good results in his four heats, resulting in him getting the second place trophy.

Harrison Shires and Matthew Mather completed their novice training in this class and will therefore be gridded at their next race meeting .The other drivers competing were Aaron Pollard, Alex Fisher, Daniel and James Murray.

Our three remaining drivers in the club competed in the Rotax class, with James Scanlon winning a trophy finishing in fourth place, followed by Merrick Crook and Cameron Livesey S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S

The team’s next meeting is at Whilton Mill in Northamptonshire on the 8th April.

PAGE

WELCOME to our new Student Engagement Coordinator (Behaviour) Mr Nick Hilton.

13

Mr Hilton will be working closely with some of our students, running the Personal Guidance Unit (PGU) amongst other roles.

Mr Hilton started in February and has settled very well into his new role.

We are sure he will be a great addition to team St Michael’s.

OUR TOP TUTORIALS for the year so far are: 707, 803, 9HG, 1003 & 1105.

Did you know…?  Attendance of 90% or less means that you are absent from lessons for the equivalent of one half-day every week and four whole weeks of lessons over the school year. This is now the level for ‘Persistent Absence’  80% attendance is the same as having a day off every week.  If your attendance is 80% from Year 7 to Year 11, you will have missed over one full year of education.  As few as 17 missed days over the school year reduces your chances of success. Your GCSE results could drop by one grade across all subjects.

Our current attendance level of 97.2% remains well above both county and national level. Once again thank you to all our parents and carers for your continued support in ensuring your child’s attendance and punctuality is the best it can be.

SIXTY YEAR 7 and 8 pupils will be joining Mr Clark, Mr Demet, Mr Fraser, Mrs Rackstraw, Miss Evans and Miss Carter to Blencathra near Keswick next term.

The trip will be an action packed weekend including activities such as low ropes courses, team challenges, orienteering, gorge scrambling, river and flooding studies.

Students will be able to demonstrate their teamwork , communication and coordination skills whilst learning about geography in the heart of the countryside and at the same time, soaking up beautiful scenery of the Lake District.

Maths Challenge solution…

One way to do this is to subtract the D + E total (44) from the overall total (105). This means that A + B + C = 61. Since B + C = 40 this means that A = 21. Working along the equations in turn this means B = 18, C = 22, D = 16 and E = 28. So Dan is the youngest.

S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S

Saint Michael’s News Saint Michael's CE High School, Astley Road, Chorley, Lancashire PR7 1RS