Newsletter - Easter 2018

St Michael’s Church of England High School Headteacher: Mrs J Jenks BSocSci Hons PGCE Deputy Headteachers: Mr J Chadwick BEd Hons, Mrs C Hooley BA Hons

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Therefore, choose

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Message from the Headteacher Dear Parents and Carers HIGHLIGHTS p2 County champions p3 Badminton brilliance p4 Maths Challenge Results p5 At evening at the rugby P6 Student leadership p7 STEM news p8 Rugby news p9 Our talented Year 11 p10 Debate Team in the National Finals! p11 Scouting success

As the Lent term draws to a close and we prepare for Easter it is good to reflect on events that have taken place this term and look forward to the Trinity term.

The Newsletter is available on the school website and gives a flavour of the myriad of activities, opportunities and successes of our pupils. If you wish to receive a hard copy please do not hesitate to contact school. You can also keep in touch with events in school via our website and Twitter feed.

Year 11 We are now very close to the main GCSE written examination period. Year 11 are an amazing year group and deserve to do very well. We are doing all we can to work with you in supporting your children through this pressurised time. Please let Mrs Lucas know if you have any concerns about your child in the remaining few weeks.

You have already received details of the comprehensive programme of revision and support that is available to your son or daughter.

Additionally, there are a limited number of revision lessons being held during the Easter holidays. We look forward to welcoming parents and carers of Year 11 to school on Wednesday 13 June at 11.30 for our special leavers service.

Uniform As you know school uniform, apart from ties, is supplied by Jada of Eaves Lane, Chorley. Thank you to all parents and carers who support school in our drive for the highest standards of uniform amongst all our pupils. The length of some girls’ skirts is becoming a concern again and I remind parents and carers that the length must be within three inches of the knee. We are also grateful for your support in relation to hair style and colour.

Details of these aspects of our uniform policy are highlighted in the newsletter and our full uniform list is available at the front of your child’s organiser. If you are in any doubt about any item of uniform please contact the appropriate pupil manager.

sition process between primary and secondary school for the Year 6 pupils who will be joining us in September.

Charitable Giving Thank you to all pupils for your continued support for others. Our non-uniform day this term has helped to support Sports Relief.

Enrichment Opportunities I am sure that you will enjoy reading the articles in this newsletter which show the wonderful array of enrichStudent Leadership ment opportunities that our Thank you to Year 10 pupils pupils are participating in. who have been motivated Some of the highlights of this to apply and subsequently half term include World Book interviewed, to represent Day along with the success the school in the role of which our pupils have experiprefect next year. We are enced in several sports comcurrently in the midst of our petitions and the Maths Chalrigorous selection process lenge for example. for the most senior student leadership roles in school, Staff with interviews taking place Miss Tremlett is getting marafter the Easter break. It is ried at Easter and we wish a great privilege to be able her and Daniel, every happito read so many wonderful ness in their future together. letters of application exMrs Dempster and Mrs Rackpressing what St Michael’s straw will both commence means to so many of our their maternity leave after young people. Year 7 pupils Easter; their classes will be will shortly be invited to covered by Mrs Rothwell and apply for the role of ‘Bridge Mrs Aldridge. Mrs Burgess Buddy’ to help aid the tran-

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returns to school this week following her absence on maternity leave and we thank Miss Rebecca Lawson for all that she has done to support the work of the dance department in the absence of Mrs Burgess. Mr Graham Roe will return to school after the Easter break as Mrs Cathryn Roe. Mrs Hannah Bain who recently returned to St Michael’s from maternity leave is leaving at Easter; we thank her for her dedication and commitment to the pupils at St Michael’s and wish her and her family well. Thank you for your continued support and prayers as we respond to these changes in staffing.

Mrs Jenks continues...

Parental Support I enjoyed meeting many of you at the Year 11 Revision Evening, Year 8 Options Evening and Year 8 Consultation Evening this half term; thank you for your support. 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.

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 church. We wish our pupils and colleagues who are travelling abroad on our Barcelona visit ‘bon voyage’.

May I wish you all a happy and blessed Easter.

Mrs J Jenks Headteacher

Easter services PREPARATIONS are underway for our Easter services.

Pupils in Year 11 will be having the service in school with Years 7 to 10 attending services at St Peter’s Church in Chorley.

Performances by the choirs, pupils in Year 7 Drama, Year 10 dancers and Worship Band will help convey the Easter message.

COUNTY champions – this is the fantastic achievement being celebrated by our Year 7 Girls Indoor Athletics team!

County champions

The girls represented the district at the county competition at Blackpool’s Stanley Park this half term and were delighted when they beat the 2nd place team by a huge 42 points.

PE teacher, Mrs Brunsden, said: ‘All pupils showed an outstanding level of performance and sportsmanship in all athletic events. Personal bests were achieved and they did St Michael’s proud.

‘I am so proud of their commitment and dedication in training and in their performances at the competitions and I am looking forward to training them for the summer athletics.

‘Congratulations to all involved and thank you to the continuous support from staff and parents.’

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Enthusiasm erupts ENTHUSIASM for all things volcanic has erupted once again in the Geography Department.

The Year 8 students have produced another amazing array of volcano models, which included one which erupted with chocolate!

Geography teacher, Mr Fraser, said: ‘The pupils have been amazing and really shown off their artistic flair as well as their understanding of how volcanoes erupt!’

LADIES who love computing are encouraged to come along and try the Girls Computing Club on Monday lunchtimes.

Amazing volcanoes

Come to Computing Club

Miss Evans is keen to invite along girls from any year, but is especially encouraging those from Years 7 and 8 to come and try out the club which is every Monday in T5.

Badminton players continue to soar OUR BRILLIANT badminton players continue to go from strength to strength, this term winning a fabulous first place in a regional competition in Manchester.

On Tuesday 6th March the Under 14 Girls played at the Amaechi Basketball Centre in Manchester, against schools from Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cumbria.

They will now represent the North West at the National Badminton Finals in April.

Our talented team

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PE teacher, Mrs Rothwell, said: ‘What an outstanding achievement. All the girls have worked extremely hard to get this far. A huge well done to all.’

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THE RESULTS are in!

Maths Challenge stars

More than 60 of our keen mathematicians have been awarded with certificates for the Intermediate Maths Challenge.

Our Gold Award winners were: Year 9’s Lydia Berry, Year 10’s Daniel Walton, Harry Redfern, Daniel Gardner and Year 11’s Benjamin Agbenu, Finlay Campbell, Tom Melling, Joshua Saaiman and William Farrimond.

These pupils, along with Year 9’s Daniel Sykes and Charlie McEverley, will also qualify for a follow-on round. The pupils were among 300,000 who were entered for Maths Challenge nationally.

Well done to all involved!

PUPILS turned their science lessons into science fiction lessons on World Book Day this half term.

Science fiction stories

And science staff got into the mood of the day with their themed ‘Mr Men’ and ‘Little Miss’ costumes.

Pupils in year 7 and 8 got the opportunity to read and analyse two short science fiction stories. One of the stories was written by Isaac Asimov, an American writer and biochemist. He is best known for his stories which have been adapted by Hollywood such as I, Robot and Bicentennial Man. The story the students analysed was called 'The Fun They Had,' a short story telling the tale of two children in the future taught by robots who had never heard of a human teacher until they found a 'real book'.

Pupils had to think of how far we have come in terms of technology over the past 30 years and where they think we will be in 30 years' time using and applying the scientific knowledge they have gained so far in science.

Science staff entering into the spirit of World Book Day Parents are welcome to browse the school's Moodle at http://moodle.saint-michaels.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.

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

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Artwork of the Month ARTWORK of the Month is by Niamh McQuillan in Year 8.

This was a home learning task. The drawing was chosen as Artwork of the Month for its delicate use of pencil crayon and attention to detail.

Well done Niamh! Keep up the good work!

An evening at the rugby

THE “Beast From The East” almost halted 6 months of preparation from the PE Department as a harsh weather front hit Chorley, Wigan

and the surrounding North West.

But more than 60 pupils wrapped up in plenty of layers to brave the cold DW Stadium in Wigan on a bitterly freezing March Friday night. And they were not disappointed.

Ellie Dootson said: ‘I really enjoyed watching the match and learning new things. I enjoyed the tour and nutrition talk and think that the whole trip was an experience I will never forget.’

Seventeen pupils had the privilege of walking out onto the pitch with Widnes Vikings players in front of over 10,000 people in the DW Stadium.

Tom Jackman, as he ran off the pitch, said to Mr Kohler: ‘That was sick!’

Twenty five other pupils including Year 9 and 10 GCSE pupils attended a Diet & Nutrition talk from Warriors staff, as well as a bespoke guided tour around the Stadium. Our pupils saw the preparation in the changing rooms as well as visiting the Chairman’s suite, Media and Physio Rooms.

Joe Greenway added: ‘It was a great night with a lot of great things going on. I’d love to do something like it again.’

Organiser and PE teacher, Mr Kohler, said: ‘Our pupils represented our school fantastically well with exceptional behaviour throughout the night.

‘The bitterly cold conditions were challenging and staff and pupils braved the cold and in return saw a thrilling comeback from Wigan Warriors, having been 0-16 down after 35 minutes.

‘An exciting second half performance from the Warriors, who showed tremendous courage and a ‘never give up’ attitude, led to the Warriors finishing 32–16 winners.

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‘Thank you to all pupils, parents and staff with the support of this trip and to Joel Smith, Amanda Wilkinson and the Warriors Foundation Team for all their efforts.’

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Student leadership in action Our Spring School Council meeting took place at the beginning of March where representatives from each form tutor group delivered their tutor’s thoughts, ideas and issues in order to improve our already great school.

Mrs Jenks and Mr Chadwick listened intently to our young leaders and discussed ideas, gaining a valuable insight into our pupils’ opinions.

Our Head Boy, Head Girl and Deputies chaired the meeting, working through an agenda chosen and formalised by their team.

Every single representative gained significant experience in participating and articulating to a large group in a boardroom setting.

This termly meeting is an integral part of school life where our students have their voices heard and issues discussed with our school leaders.

An important aspect of our school is our commitment to charities and this topic was discussed at length, as to how we can continue to serve God by maintaining our Stewardship.

St Michael’s has a commitment to supporting, local, national and international charities that support various issues. Our commitment to our Plastic Bottle Campaign is something that we are particularly devoted to continue and we are to set out our goals and plan of action, to ensure we build something positive from our efforts.

With Prefect Interviews also taking place this term, it has been a busy period for both staff and pupils.

Pupils have conducted themselves impeccably throughout the interview week and gained some priceless experience in interviewing and dealing with pressure; the process will no doubt prepare our pupils for life beyond St Michael’s.

In a short time, our current Year 10s will move into their position as senior pupils of St Michael’s School, and with this progression comes added responsibility to act as role models and examples to our younger pupils as well as the wider local public.

We are looking forward to our pupils fulfilling their new roles and responsibilities and are sure they will complete their work with typical St Michael’s ‘pursuit of excellence.’

Please check out our School Twitter page to keep up to date with our #StudentLeadership and the fantastic work that our young leaders do.

FOOTBALL crazy pupils are looking forward to five days of football Spanish-style this Easter.

Around 40 of our Year 9 and 10 boys are set to fly to Barcelona for training and matches against Spanish teams, as well as taking in the sights and culture of this fantastic city!

We wish them luck and a safe and exciting trip!

Noucamp Stadium, Barcelona

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

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A NEW generation of Big Inventors have been born at St Michael’s.

Pupils in Years 7 and 8 have been taking part in a week long programme of science activities, celebrating British Science Week.

Big Inventors

This is a ten day celebration of all things STEM taking place 9th – 19th March.

This year’s theme has been “Invention and Discovery” and pupils have been encouraged to get involved in the celebration.

Science Club has been held every day with pupils experiencing flame testing, making plastic from milk, static electricity, potions and Mr Tierney’s flaming hands!

Year 7 and 8 have risen to the challenge to become the Next Big Inventors and designed prototypes to assist hearing and visual impairments.

Staff have also got involved by competing to build the tallest spaghetti and marshmallow towers.

FIRST place in a robotics challenge competition has been taken by our young engineers of tomorrow.

Engineers of tomorrow

Pupils in STEM Club represented St Michael’s at the tomorrow’s engineers EEP Lego challenge two weeks ago.

This followed months of research into drones and prosthetic limbs, along with a robotics challenge set on an RAF base.

The pupils came first in the robotics challenge and also showed how well they performed under pressure after a faulty robot brick meant that the programming had to be completed ad-hoc.

Fantastic effort from all involved!

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RUGBY at St Michael’s continues to go from strength to strength.

PE teacher, Mr Kohler, writes:

Rugby news

Weather conditions again dominated this half term but we have had the opportunity to compete in the Wigan Schools system.

Wigan has a fantastic set up with a high calibre of schools that compete weekly. The town is a hot bed for Rugby League talent with many schools producing First Team Super League players year upon year.

Although this is a challenging step, we have started with some excellent progress. The term’s highlight happened when we travelled to Rookery Lane with our Year 8 Team, to face St Edmund Arrowsmith whose alumnus sees Wigan Warriors’ own Oliver Gildart and Joe Burgess.

A nervous start saw St Edmund Arrowmsith score a point a minute as we found ourselves 10-0. As the clocked tick on, our confidence grew and so did our points tally. After mesmerising runs from Jack Roberts, Frank Ingham and John Cull, we sat down at half time at 18-28.

After the restart, Daniel Croniken came off injured after his shoulder collided with Eddie’s Second Row in what was a epic, bone crunching tackle from the St Michael’s No.10.

Play stopped, both players left the field but Croniken returned two minutes later with tremendous courage. The squad ended the game convincingly, finishing with a score line of 18-48.

A brilliant team performance and a firm step forward in the Wigan School structure.

Unfortunately, St Michael’s are losing Wigan Warriors Community Foundation Coach Joel Smith as he moves on with his career and we’d like to take this opportunity to formally thank Joel for everything he’s down at St Michael’s and for Chorley. He will be missed.

Joel commented on his departure: ‘Once again it really pleases me to see the excellent work being done

by Mr Kohler and the PE staff at St Michael’s, by all accounts they had an excellent time at the DW Stadium for the game versus Widnes and backed that up with a fantastic win for the Year 8s against St Edmund Arrowsmith.

‘I have no doubt that Rugby League will continue to thrive and although I am leaving Warriors in the near future, I will still keep a close eye on results and be wishing you all well. Thanks for all your efforts during my time as a coach and most importantly, keep enjoying your rugby!’

Joel has assured us that in his absence, we are going to be in excellent hands. On our school trip to the DW Stadium, we confirmed that Wigan Warriors Community Foundation Coach Kyle Shelford would be taking over delivery into St Michael’s from April onwards.

Kyle is a promising young talent whose motivation and passion for Rugby League is infectious. His ability and knowledge is something that I am looking forward to.

To have Kyle on board is excellent for us. He’s a top guy and a great rugby player – I can’t wait for him to share his knowledge with our teams.

On joining up with St Michael’s Kyle said: ‘I’m really looking forward to working with St Michael’s to improve the provision and quality of Rugby League for the future.’

As the weather improves we hope to keep training throughout the coming months but with summer sports beginning, our schedule can become very congested.

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Keep your eyes peeled on our School Twitter page or search #StMichaelsRugby to keep up to date with training & fixtures.

Thank you for your continued support with rugby at St Michael’s.

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With the GCSE exams looming it is vitally important our Year 11 pupils take time for themselves … to relax, unwind and keep up their hobbies and pastimes that provide that important ‘down time’ during this busy period.

Focus on our talented Year 11 Charlotte Charman

Charlotte has been morris dancing for about 8 years and dances with Coppull Morris Dancers.

She takes part in numerous competitions all round the North West nearly every weekend and recently her troop won second place in a competition at Pontins at Southport.

She often competes against up to 30 other teams!

Charlotte says she loves morris dancing because she loves spending time

Here are just some pu- with her ‘dance family.’ pils who are reaching ‘I’ve got friends there that I’ve known since I was little and that’s why I for the stars! love it,’ she says.

Finlay Campbell

SPORTS star Finlay Campbell is now the 4th best triple jumper in the country!

He trains with Wigan Harriers and came 4th against competitors from all round the country in the National Indoor Athletics Championships in Sheffield two weeks ago.

He qualified for the national competition by achieving the standard jump and went on to compete against 12 other triple jumpers. He also takes part in high jump and long jump competitions.

And of the promising future, Finlay says: ‘I’m just going to carry on with athletics and see what happens.’

We hope we see him in the Olympics in the future!

Hannah Boult

Hannah has recently been awarded with the Red Ribbon for choral singing, the highest accolade possible at her Church.

Hannah has been singing in the Brindle St James Church Choir for many years and has been Head Chorister for two years.

She was recently awarded with her Red Ribbon—performing a solo piece, demonstrating her knowledge of diction and showing how she leads younger choristers.

Hannah not only practises and sings with the adult choir, singing in church every Sunday, but she also directs the Junior Choir, being their spokesperson and ensuring their wellbeing during services.

She says: ‘I enjoy singing with the choir because it helps me to relax.

‘In the future I want to be a youth worker and working with the children in the Junior Choir will help me with this.’

Continue to the next page for more or our talented pupils!

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Debate Team in the National Finals!

OUR EXTREMELY talented Year 11 Debate Team have now made it through to the National Finals!

The team, comprising Emily Crook, Georgia Cooper and Finty Royle are involved in the “Youth Speaks” annual speaking competition and have so far won through heats in Lancashire, Windermere and now in Frodsham!

The most recent heat was the North West final, where they took the top position, with Emily Crook winning Best Speaker!

The pupils spoke on mental health and how people should not stigmatise those suffering from mental health problems.

The talented team!

Organiser, Mr Heywood, said: ‘They were magnificent and triumphed over Bolton School, Sixth formers and a speaker from the Ukraine who had won an international prize for public speaking!

‘They were just outstanding. Parents were there to support and the pupils represented our school with the usual grace, dignity and commitment.’

The competition involves pupils aged from 14-17 and most of the other teams were older than our talented ladies!

The National Final will take place on Saturday 12 May in Exeter. Good luck girls!

THANK you for your continued support with all matters of uniform and appearance. The uniform policy is in the personal organiser as well as on the school website. As we break up for the Easter holidays please may we remind you of the following uniform regulations: - Girls Skirts – Regulation badged skirt supplied by JADA. Length must be no more than 3 inches from the knee. Please allow plenty of room for growth spurts.

- Trousers – Black plain traditional style, NOT skinny fit. Girls—regulation badged trousers supplied by JADA. - Shoes – Black traditional style. No trainer style or canvas allowed. See images on the website if unsure.

- Hair – naturally occurring shade, no shaven heads or lines cut into hair.

- Jewellery – None allowed apart from wristwatch.

- Make-up is not permitted in Years 7-10, fake tan, nail varnish, false nails, false eyelashes or cosmetic eyebrows are not permitted for all year groups.

- Jumpers – strongly recommended for winter months, should be maroon for Y7 & 8 and black for Y10 & 11.

- Ties – clip on ties only. Maroon for Y7 & 8 and black for Y9, 10 & 11.

- Tights / socks- Girls with skirts black opaque tights (minimum 40 denier) or white ankle socks or knee length socks. No trainer socks.

- With trousers - plain black socks with no motifs for both males and females.

Uniform matters

Failure to follow the uniform and appearance policy will result in working in isolation from the rest of the class. School will be the final arbiter regarding suitability of dress and appearance.

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Cerys Shorrock

Year 11 pupil Cerys is a keen member of Lancashire Army Cadets, meeting with the Blackburn Royal Signals at least twice a week.

She has recently been involved in the remembrance service commemorating the Accrington Pals and she also takes part in activities including shooting, camps and leadership courses.

Cerys teaches younger cadets and has been recommended to be a Drill Instructor, something she feels very proud of!

‘Cadets really helps you if you want to go into a teambuilding career, like the police force and Army,’ she explains.

‘The motto for the Cadets is ‘Aspire to Achieve’ and I really like going because, although it’s a massive commitment, you can work up the ranks and you get to meet new people and go on the annual camps.’

SEVERAL of our talented pupils have been awarded with the highest award for Scouting—the Chief Scout Gold Award.

Year 11’s Emily Crook, Sally Dempsey, Mia Hainsworth and George Lewis and also Year 10 pupil George Baldwin have all achieved the award by taking part in several camps, collecting a range of challenging badges and demonstrating their leadership qualities in the Scouting world.

Scouting stars!

They all attend the 1st Chorley Methodist Scout Group and their Scout Leader, Andy Lewis, praised their outstanding achievements, writing to inform school of their amazing hard work and dedication.

The pupils have all moved on to the Explorers now and both Georges are training as Young Leaders, perhaps aspiring to become Scout Leaders themOUR HEAD Girl, Emily Crook, has been successful in selves when they are 18. securing a place on a mission to Uganda next year, helping to build a farm and provide a water source Anyone who thinks they might be interested in for a Ugandan village. becoming involved in the Scouts are invited to come to Chorley Methodist Church on WednesEmily will join other lucky Scouts from West Lancadays from 7.30-9pm, or Explorers at All Saints Scout Hut in Hodder Avenue on Tuesdays from shire to take part in the expedition, where she will travel to Bulera in the summer of 2019.

7.30-9pm.

Sally said: ‘Being involved with the Scouts and Explorers has helped me grow in confidence and also helped me develop lots of new skills.’

DEPUTY Head Boy, George Lewis, has been selected as one of only 36 Scouts from across the county to attend the World Scout Jamboree in the USA in 2019.

This was after a rigorous selection process where only one in six were successful.

The team of 30, 24 Scouts and 6 leaders, will help to raise funds to build a farm from scratch. The farm will use the produce to fund the village school which requires support to keep paying the school’s teaching staff and providing the pupils with a hot meal every day.

The team will also help raise money and install a bore hole, to provide a vital water supply for the villagers.

Emily said: ‘I am very excited and looking forward to the build-up and the trip!’

Along with 4,000 Scouts from the UK he will be part of the largest ever travelling contingent to a World Saint Michael’s News

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Saint Michael's CE High School, Astley Road, Chorley, Lancashire