Stuff@SJB - Spring Edition- 2023

STUFF

Spring Edition 2023

DearEveryone,

On behalf of everyone at SJB, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a very warm welcome to our jam-packed Easter Edition of the school magazine Stuff@SJB.

We have all enjoyed an extremely busy but fulfilling term. Some of the event highlights have included the Quiz night, hosted by our wonderful PTA; our very own Strictly Come Dancing, which saw some members of staff and Sixth Form students strutting their stuff on the dance floor; our talented Year 7 students taking part in a Music Concert and this week we have enjoyed the Spring Music Concert and, of course, our end of term Liturgy.

We have received the heart-breaking news that one of our much loved ex-students and former members of staff, Hannah-Jade Murphy, sadly passed away last week. Hannah was a talented student and a great member of staff and our thoughts and prayers are with her parents, siblings and all her friends and family. Please keep her and her loved ones in your thoughts and prayers. May she rest in eternal peace.

Since I last wrote, I am pleased to announce that we have some new little arrivals to the SJB family. Mr Thomas welcomed a beautiful baby boy called Felix; Ms Chambers had a little boy called Alfie and Mr Kaye welcomed a baby girl called Joni. I’m sure that there will be more SJB babies to announce in the next edition of the magazine!

The end of term brings great happiness, as a welldeserved break has finally arrived. However, it is always tinged with sadness as we will say goodbye to some departing staff. Leaving us this Easter is Mrs Wellbelove, our much-loved Art and Display Technician. Mrs Wellbelove is retiring after dedicating over 25 years of service at SJB. She has been an integral part of the Art Department and will be sorely missed. We wish her every happiness in her retirement. We are also saying goodbye to our wonderful Science Technician, Mrs Lee, who has been with us for over eight years. Mrs Lee has decided that the time has finally come for her to do something different and explore new advertures. We thank them for their hard work and wish them every success in their next journey.

When we return after Easter, we will be nearing the beginning of the summer exam season. This Easter will not be a relaxing one for our Year 11 and 13 students. They have been working incredibly hard, and we are full of confidence that this summer will bring about the great results we know they can achieve.

The students have been working incredibly hard fundraising for the Lenten charities, and we hope to bring you a total amount raised shortly. In the meantime, from us all at SJB, have a wonderful Easter break with your families, and we hope you enjoy this issue of ‘Stuff@SJB’.

God bless,

James Granville Hamshar Headteacher

YEAR GROUP ROUNDUP Year 7

The past term has flown by, with many students agreeing it has been their most successful but tiring term yet! In January we hosted a student pursuit day where local primary school teachers visited our students to understand the demands of Year 7 and transition. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with the staff commenting on how resilient, independent and mature the Year 7s were in lessons. Already we are half way to Year 8 and I am confident they will make exceptional school ambassadors next year!

After half term we came together as a community to share our first Ash Wednesday service before entering into the full spirit of the Lenten and the Easter term. Through the rain and torrent of awful weather the school gate has always been peppered with Year 7s selling cakes and sweets to raise funds for our five Lenten charities. We all look forward to celebrating their efforts later in the year at the Year 7 disco on Thursday 27th April 2023, 5pm - 7pm. Fingers crossed our students reach their fundraising target this year of £2023! Any outstanding pennies can be deposited on Scopay or donated at SJB Lenten

Fundraising fundraising on JustGiving.

Alongside ‘Antibullying week’ and ‘Neurodiversity awareness week’, we have worked hard this term to celebrate diversity and encourage students to actively stop racism and discrimination. We have tried as staff to deliver memorable assemblies to inspire kindness and tolerance. Please ask your child about Mr Mander’s assembly about racism and apartheid (inspired by an INSET Day visit from Chris Lubbe); our assembly about where slang words come from (can they tell you where the phrase ‘you grass’ or snitching comes from?) and our most recent assembly on why we should always keep our words sweet (A special thank you to Dylan, Paddy, Lena and Sophie for being willing volunteers).

On our return to school we will release the children’s next monitoring report which will also inform you of their progress in lessons. Should you have any concerns please contact your child’s subject teacher or tutor; we will be encouraging the students to have conversations with staff to promote their independence also. Next term will be very busy indeed for our year group with Year 7 Parents evening will be on Wednesday 14th June

from 3pm, updates to the school calendar can always be found. Speaking to the children they have enjoyed learning clay skills in art; investigating the difference between fiction and non-fiction in English as well as researching Scandinavia in Geography. It really was testament to the student’s hard work in Music though, that they were able to stand up in front of such large audiences and sing so loudly and so beautifully despite it being the last day of term. I would like to

extend my thanks to the music department but also to you as parents for your support of the children’s performance.

Wishing everyone a restful holiday when they arrive!

By Miss Bates

It’s been another busy half term for Year 8. They have continued to grow in their roles as ambassadors, touring visitors and doing an outstanding job of representing the school. Students have shown their entrepreneurial skills through raising hundreds of pounds for our Lenten charities. As a year group we have sold Creme Eggs afterschool every day, along with students getting creative and finding their own ways to make as much money as possible. A special mention must go to Sara McKenna who has raised over £3,000 with her Lent raffle, which included some fantastic prizes (including a handbag worth over £300, hundreds of pounds worth of vouchers and lots of other amazing goodies).

Year 8 have been busy getting involved in all the added extras SJB has to offer. We have had excellent representation in the PE House competitions, music

Year 8 Year 9

What a busy term for Year 9!! This term has seen the Year 9s working extremely hard towards their exams, as well as having to make some incredibly important decisions about their GCSE options. The students have been well informed of what each subject encompasses with taster sessions in their lessons, assemblies and options evening. The students also enjoyed Careers Morning with nine visitors coming in to speak to them about their career pathways. Many of these visitors are SJB Alumni, which is really good for the Year 9s to see the many different pathways they can take once leaving SJB.

I think this is a great opportunity to say how impressed and proud I am of the Year 9s for conducting

concerts, some fantastic dancers and cheerleaders at the SJB strictly event and awesome costumes for World Book Day. Again, a special mention must go to Emmy Bell whose inflatable pig outfit was the talk of the school!

To conclude the half term Year 8 finished with their first set of formal examinations at SJB. The whole year group represented themselves superbly on entering, sitting and exiting the exam hall, and I am so proud of them all. They fully deserve a restful break and a wonderful Easter. Year 8 - whatever you and your families may be doing I hope you have a fantastic Easter and recharge your batteries ready to come back to what will undoubtedly be a busy summer term!

By Mr Hacker

themselves so brilliantly this last term! They have exceeded all expectations at every opportunity, well done to them all!

They have been responsible and pro-active, seeking out opportunities to become informed ready to select their curriculum choices.

Lastly, thank you to all of the parents for your continuing support of your children in every way possible and I wish you and your families a happy and restful Easter.

By Mr Young

Year 10

It has been another outstanding half term for our Year 10s, with highlights ranging from our Lenten fundraising efforts, BTEC Business exams, World Book Day and sports fixtures to name a few.

Ash Wednesday gave us a chance to come together as a school community and begin our 40 days of fasting and reflection before Easter. I hope that this was a time where all of our Year 10s were able to stop and press reset, allowing them to continue working really hard this half term and earn the Easter break. This half term has seen the number of year 10 nominations grow to over 30,000, which has led to even more G.O.A.T.s being celebrated in assembly each fortnight to win a place at the Pastry Breakfast. The Year 10s have been working hard out of the classroom too, fundraising for our Lenten charities

by selling raffle tickets across the school for a brandnew PlayStation 5. The raffle has run hand-in-hand with an inter-form ‘Bop-Off’ organised by Miss MacMillan in which pupils from each form have had the opportunity to get a high score on our ‘bop-it’ game and earnt themselves a place in the final... to be played next week as I write.

Finally, I would like to say that Miss Paling and I are so proud of each and every one of the Year 10 students. The praise and positive feedback that they get as individuals and as a year group really is earned through their hard work, effort and their core values as good people - keep it up Year 10.

We wish you all a happy and healthy Easter break.

Mr Birch & Miss Paling

Year 11

The final countdown... I can’t believe it is here but it is true. The final full school term for Year 11 is now over. To say they have worked hard is an understatement. The level of dedication and commitment so many students have shown throughout this half term has been nothing short of inspiring to witness. First and foremost, congratulations to our art students who will have just finished a really tough few days completing their art exams. The quality of work and the imagination of some of these concepts was something to behold.

This year I was privileged enough to go with a group of Year 11s all the way to Iceland where we were able to witness some of the most incredible scenery and natural phenomenons in the world. To be perfectly honest I am not an outdoors guy, but this trip has completely changed my perception of geographical studies! The

students were so engaged and knowledgeable in this field, as well as representing SJB exactly the way it should be. The owners of our accommodation were absolutely taken back by the exemplary behaviour that was displayed by the Year 11s!

That leaves me to say one final thing. Year 11, to this point you have already done so much to make every single one of your teachers incredibly proud of you, this is it now. The final push until those exams begin and you get to see what all that hard work can do. Everyone believes in you and everyone knows what great things you can produce. Have a restful yet productive Easter Break, and we will see you back here ready to head through that finish line with you.

Mr. Ali

Year 12

It has been an extremely busy term for the Year 12 students, who have been working really hard in preparation for their exams after Easter alongside making huge contributions to the wider life of the school. The term started with the appointment of our Head Boy, Daniel Alestrand, Head Girl, Jade Addo and Deputies, Vincent Hennessy-Gibbs and Francesca Okon who will ably head up the newly formed Sixth Form committee in taking a lead on student voice across the school; a huge congratulations to those four and all the elected committee members. So many of the Year 12 students continue to support the lower school students through mentoring in departments and coaching sports teams. On a Wednesday afternoon, we also have a dedicated group of students who go out to volunteer at Kingfield Primary School which has made a huge difference to the students they support. And finally, a special mention to the members of the Charity Committee who over the Lenten period have worked exceptionally hard to organise the selling of Krispy

Kreme doughnuts for our chosen charities. Other highlights of the term include World Book Day, which, as you can see in the photo below, was a huge success in the Sixth Form, as was Strictly Come Dancing 2023. I was blown away by the hard work and dedication shown by the Sixth Form couples (Ronny and Jac, Irene and Aaron, Aoife and Josh, Richard and Aron, Will and Scarlett, Daniel and Daisy) who trained alongside their studying to choreograph and perform a brilliant dance each. We are extremely proud of all of you, and another huge congratulation to Josh and Aoife who were crowed well deserved champions! Well done Year 12 for getting stuck in at every opportunity so far this year. I know how hard you have all worked to revise for your upcoming exams and to get yourselves the best work experience opportunities for the end of May. Wishing you and all your families a restful holiday over Easter.

By Miss Clark

Year 13

As we approach the final stretch and our students complete their final full term here at SJB, I feel an enormous sense of pride for the continued development into brilliant young adults I am seeing in our Year 13 students.

The hard work and dedication shown by all of our students started from the first day this term with our Year 13 students completing their mock exams, giving them a clearer picture and base on which to start their revision. It has been a privilege to see the students doing all they can day in and day out to ensure they are in the best possible position for their summer exams. I want to also give a special mention to Dylan Stanger who achieved gold (the first ever at SJB) and Luke Hollinshead who achieved silver in the Biology Olympiad competition, great work boys!

What makes our Year 13 students so special is the

sense of community that has been built throughout the year group and with Lenten fundraising in full flow, our Year 13s have been ensuring that they are not only getting themselves prepared for their exams but also raising funds for those less fortunate with dress down Fridays and donut selling in full flow.

As our students finish their final full term here at SJB I firstly just want to thank all of you for your constant support. The growth from nervous Year 12s in their oversized suits to brilliant young adults will be something that I am grateful to be able to be a part of. We are all very blessed to work with such wonderful students and we look forward to them keeping this up into the final stretch next half term.

Mr. Witts

Being able to attend Flame 2023 was an exciting and new experience for all of us; it was a day that brought young Catholics together in worship through music, prayer and inspirational talks. The day started with a powerful liturgy and music that filled the arena with an energetic and purposeful atmosphere. Singing and dancing along to Guvna B and Faith Child was a particular highlight, in addition to the performance and testimony of The Voice contestant Adenike, whose own spiritual journey began at a FLAME event years ago. Later we heard from Robert Bilott about his life-changing experience relating to the theme of the event “Rise up” and soon after, Cardinal Tagle shared a personal message from Pope Francis to the young people of the UK. We were privileged to finish the day in adoration; and, as 8,000 young people fell silent, we were given the opportunity and space to reflect on the events of the day and recognize the spiritual elements of FLAME. In all aspects, whether it be music, speakers or worship, the key message was

participation not just observation. It was an invitation for our young Church to Rise Up and take action in the world today. Having this amazing opportunity has enabled us to discover faith in a fun engaging way and to understand that faith can be found all around us. We strongly recommend that you attend FLAME 2025 and experience it for yourselves!

By The Sixth Form Chaplaincy Team

LOURDES 2023

The annual Diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes is something we at SJB have been involved with for many years. It has changed the lives of pupils and staff as they hear Mary’s message of turning to Jesus with love and repentance and drawing closer to him.

For me, it was a place where I was able to completely be myself and be with others who had the same goal of decentring and helping pilgrims.

Lourdes enabled me to completely dedicate my time and thought towards God and spend time in quiet reflection, which I admit isn’t always possible in my

busy everyday schedule.

I went last year as a helper and the week itself is a great mixture of activity from spiritual to social and each has a special memory for me. Spiritually, there were endless opportunities for me to also aid my own personal journey, such as mass at the Grotto where the virgin Mary appeared to St Bernadette, Holy Hour during the week, a time for Lectio Divina, and many other opportunities for private and group prayer at the Grotto and in the sanctuary.

I was paired with a different person each day and we spent our time getting to know each other. We would

join the group attending Mass or the various events that had been planned but we also had plenty of time for shopping and getting a coffee at the Little Flower. In the evenings, we would spend time celebrating the day and having fun together. I met so many incredible pilgrims with whom I still keep in contact today and look forward to seeing again this summer.

Year 10s and 11s join the pilgrimage as Redshirts who offer acts of service to the pilgrimage as a whole, stewarding and welcoming but also spend a lot of time exploring their faith with others of their own age. It is a time where people make friends for life.

If you are able to join the group from school that will be going this summer, you will probably just think

you are going to help other people. In reality, you will come back filled with joy at having changed their lives.

On top of that, your faith will be strengthened and enriched and you will have had a really great time.

As a school we will help as much as possible in making it financially possible for you through the efforts that the whole school makes on our annual SJB day fundraising event.

If you are interested in going the details can all be found here: https://www.abdiocese.org.uk/lourdes/ home.

By Mr Bergin

Lenten Fundraising

Our SJB community has done great fundraising. This half term we launched our Lenten charity collections. This year, everyone at SJB has been fundraising for The Lighthouse in Woking which supports families and individuals within our community. Our other local charity, Change Please, was set up by one of our parents to support the homeless, training them within coffee shops and helping them get back into work. Nationally, we have been supporting Samaritans in honour of Mr Windsor who gave up hours of his own time volunteering for this amazing cause, and BEATSCAD, nominated by our Head Boy,

Dan, to save more lives, including his own mother, from heart disease. Internationally our students chose to fundraise for Water Aid as so many people still do not have access to clean water.

Everyone has made an incredible effort this year, we are so grateful for everyone’s contribution to Lenten fundraising. Year 7 have been running a tuckshop after school which has been very successful, and they are all looking forward to the Year 7 charity disco being held on Thursday 27th April. There is still time to get tickets for any Year 7s still wanting to attend! Year 8 have done a great job selling Easter eggs and

Year 9 running the drinks stands. Year 10 and 11 have been running a raffle for a brand-new play station, and we cannot wait to see who wins it in final assembly on Friday. Sixth Form have all been making a tremendous effort supplying and selling doughnuts and organising Dress Down Fridays. Individually, we have seen some brilliant efforts with students collecting sponsorship for challenges, some have created business enterprise ideas, selling homemade items, creating raffles, running ticketed events and some students got the whole family involved!

Two of our largest fundraising events included SJB Strictly Come Dancing kindly organised by Miss Dare and Mrs Fairclough and the Lenten Raffle. Sara McKenna put a huge amount of effort in organising the best raffle we have ever had for Lenten fundraising. She secured incredible prizes including a top prize of a £500 love 2 shop gift voucher, which Ciara in year 7 was very excited to win! Sara has raised the most money individually raising over £3,400; she is an incredible young lady who we are blessed to have on the charity committee. Thank you to Sara and her family for raising such a huge amount of money for others. Thank you to everyone involved in Strictly, it was an incredible evening.

It is not too late to donate. If you would like to make a difference to our selected charities, please donate via our SJB Lenten fundraising JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/team/sjb-lentenfundraising-2023

Thank you for all your support.

By Mrs Petri

ICELAND

YEAR 11 GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP

This half term the Geography Department were lucky enough to take 43 wonderful Year 11 Geographers to Iceland. We started our adventure around the Golden Circle by visiting the Bridge Between the Continents which is the location of the Eurasian and North American plate diverging away from each other. The bitter cold, driving rain and gale force winds were enough for one day and so we headed to our accommodation for our evening meal. Our second day was action packed and the first stop was Thingvellir National Park where we all managed just about to not get blown away (there were a few close calls!). Gulfoss waterfall and the Geysirs were next, with time in a local swimming pool where the students got chance to experience a traditional Icelandic pool – water slides, hot tubs and sauna included! On Day 3 we explored the southern coastline, seeing Vik and the black sand beaches; coloured this way due to erosion of the black volcanic lava. As well as two spectacular waterfalls: Skógafoss

and Seljalandfoss. Our final day was another jampacked adventure, starting nice and early with the Keriđ crater in the snow, visiting Reykavik and the site of lava fields of the 2021 eruption. Snowball fights completed, we finally had the chance for some well earnt R&R in the Blue Lagoon which, for most, was the highlight of the trip until that evening when we were lucky enough to see some of the Northern Lights. The time spent together was truly wonderful and I would like to personally thank all of the Year 11s who made it such an enjoyable experience. Another big thank you needs to go to Mr. Ali, Mrs. Wyatt, Mrs. Sawyer and Mr. Young, who gave up their precious half terms to spend with the children. It was a trip of ‘bucket list’ moments and I know we all left our time in Iceland feeling very grateful for our experiences.

By Miss Pailing

The Women in Black Year 11 Drama Trip

On the 2nd of February, the GCSE drama students went to watch the Woman in Black (which was first performed in 1987) at Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden. The Woman in Black is the story of Arthur Kipps – a solicitor. Who is invited to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow - who is the only resident of Eel Marsh House. This house is a house full of secrets and Arthur Kipps now has to manage the estate all alone. At the funeral, he sees a woman dressed in all black. When he asks around, multiple people are reluctant to discuss The Woman in Black. It then flashes back to Arthur Kipps an old man telling a young actor about his terrifying sightings of The Woman in Black. The play continues between the two men acting

out the solicitor’s experiences on Eel Marsh and the plot reveals who The Woman in Black is and the consequences that she causes. We went to go watch this as part of our live theatre review section in our GCSE written exam where we write about the Woman in Black and our experience of it. This was definitely a highlight of the GCSE drama course. Fortunately, I was one of the 6 that were lucky enough to have front-row seats. I had no idea what to expect, so when entering the small, intimate theatre it gave an eerie ambience but once the play started, it was extremely tense, terrifying, and eerie and a play that leaves you on the edge of your sea.

By Pearl Alighieri 11KA/THN

Apple Distinguished School

As an Apple Distinguished School (20212024) we have been recognised as an international beacon for excellence in innovative technology use. As a consequence, we are one of the schools Apple recommends to interested parties to visit. This week, SJB hosted 25 visitors from Hong Kong, who were a mixture of educators and Apple delegates. Our visitors were taken on a tour of the school by staff and students, visiting many of the excellent lessons that occur at SJB everyday. At break time the visitors had 1:1 chats with the student Apple Ambassadors and members of staff who are driving innovation forward in their departments. The visitors remarked on how dedicated and engaged SJB students were in their lessons, as well as the eloquence and enthusiasm of the student Apple Ambassadors. What a proud day to be part of the SJB family.

By Miss Atherton

CurricularExtra

Our variety of extracurricular clubs have continued this term with regular commitment every week from our dedicated and enthusiastic students. Here are a few reviews from our students about why they love attending their chosen club…

Dungeons and Dragons

Do you want to have fun with your friends and go on an amazing fantasy adventure? If so, then DnD club is for you.

Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop roleplaying game where you can play many different creatures such as gnomes, devils, half-dragons, elves, bird people and more, and go on amazing adventures around fantastical lands, fighting vampires, dragons, zombies and any monsters you can imagine! It is so much fun and it is a great way to meet new people.

It will be great to have some new people come along and join our DnD community! Every Tuesday 3.30-

4.30pm

in Room 110, ask Mr Weston for more info.

By Luca Mallia 8MD

Debate Club

In Debate Club, we have been preparing for a Public Speaking Competition to compete against other secondary schools in the Xavier Catholic Education Trust. We have been practising different roles such are the speaker, the chairman and the questioner. I enjoy debate club as it helps develop vital skills which can be used for multiple subjects. I have learned skills such as critical thinking, the ability to form balanced and informed arguments, oral and written communication skills and developing effective tools for research, organisation and presentation. These skills are extremely useful to a future employer or university. I also enjoy listening to like-minded peers in the club and hearing different perspectives from them. Ask Mr Petrie for more info.

By Liliana Foy 12KAH/EF

House UpdateSpringTerm

Overthis last Easter term SJB has hosted a variety of different House competitions. Students have taken part in many different events, from sports competitions, humanities competitions, all the way to English competitions! The students are taking part in many traditions which will be continued for the years to come.

Inter-House Sports Competition

In February, each year group has taken part in an Inter-House Sports Competition during their PE lessons. It was the first ever inner-house competition in the history of the school and the students and teachers enjoyed it a lot! The overall winning colour was Green (Bosco & Pankhurst) with a whooping 2520 points!

Physical Geography Photo Competition

There was also a Physical Geography Photo Competition organised by Mr Jewell. Students that love photography or exploring the world had the chance to take up to three photos of a physical landscape, process or environment. This could have been photos from previous holidays or photos that were taken during the February half term. Mr Jewell chose the three winners who were: 1st place: Oliver Axtell 7SFY - 500 points, 2nd place: James Cunningham 12CW - 250 points and 3rd place: Nicolas Sick 7SFY - 100 points. Photos below in order.

By Mrs Wyatt

WORLD

BOOK DAY

On Thursday 2nd March SJB celebrated World Book Day, and what a celebration it was! Staff and students went all out dressing up as their favourite book characters and it was great to see so much enthusiasm and enjoyment. Not only did we dress up, but in each lesson that day staff were talking about their favourite books and hopefully inspiring some new reads at home. Thank you to everyone who took part – it was so much fun!

By Mrs Mclaughlin

World Dook Day was amazing. My friends and I had such a great time! I got so many compliments and I feel like this really brought the School together. My favourite consumes were: Noah’s ark, all of the Oompa Loomp and the suffragettes. The only thing I want people to know is that it was a great day and I cannot wait for next year!

By Emmy Bell 8RCC

YEAR 9 HISTORY TRIP YpRes

On Saturday 11th March, after an early start to catch a ferry, we drove to the Bayenwald German Trenches in Belgium. These trenches were built early on in the First World War so they were made out of wood instead of sand bags.

Once we had finished looking around, we visited the Sanctuary Wood Museum and replica British trenches in Ypres. We ran through a long tunnel while trying to avoid mud seeping through our shoes (most of us failed). While it was really fun to walk through

the trenches, we appreciated that it must have been drastically different for the soldiers.

At the end of the day, we arrived at the ‘Peace Village’ to settle into our accommodation. There were many activities that we could do to pass the time before dinner and before we attended the Last Post ceremony in Ypres, which happens everyday at 20:00 at the Menin Gate. It was a really touching ceremony for everyone involved.

The next day on Sunday 12th March, we visited

the Notre Dame de Lorette war cemetery where we saw over 20,000 French graves, though, over 40,000 soldiers are buried there.

Later that day, we visited Vimy Ridge in France which is a Canadian memorial site. Half of us stayed there but some visited the Beaumont Hamel Newfoundland Memorial first. At that memorial they tried to preserve the land so it was incredibly uneven from the war. We also visited the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing and Visitor Centre. Whilst we were there, we left a poem written by Rudyard Kipling for his son, and some students searched for loved ones who had been remembered there.

The Lochnagar Crater, which we visited afterwards, was created from a large mine placed beneath the German front lines on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. We all walked around the crater while looking at the plaques in memory of soldiers.

In the evening, we went bowling. It was extremely fun to have a break from the serious events that we had witnessed over the last couple of days.

On Monday 13th March, we arrived at Essex Farm Advanced Dressing Station. We looked around the

graves and we heard the poem ‘In Flanders Field’ by Canadian surgeon, John McCrae.

Afterwards, we visited the Langemarck German Cemetery. This cemetery is where 44,294 German soldiers are buried. It was an incredibly small cemetery as Germany was only allowed 4 cemeteries in the whole of Belgium.

Later that day, we arrived at the Tyne Cot British and Commonwealth Cemetery. This is a huge cemetery where nearly 12,000 First World War soldiers are buried. There we left a wreath with the school colours by the altar to show our respect for all of the fallen soldiers.

Before we returned home, we stopped in Ypres for some free time. I bought a lot of Belgium chocolate from Leonidas and a Belgium chocolate shop. It was so delicious and I was so pleased we had time to stop in the town of Ypres.

My favourite part of the Battlefields trip was visiting the memorials because we had time to reflect on the lives of all of the fallen soldiers.

by Martha Campbell 9AA

Careers@ UPDATE SJB

On Thursday 2nd February, SJB welcomed the BBC Education Tour team to school who delivered a morning series of energetic, highly engaging and interactive careers discussion to Years 7-10 about future roles in storytelling, creative arts and communication. During the four individual 45 minutes shows, featuring a BBC News journalist and local Woking employers, students listened attentively to the range of different careers pathways available to them within storytelling, including apprenticeships and work experience, whilst learning how to maximise their employability skills at school to their potential. A key highlight was certainly the question and answer session, led by a well-known Radio 1 and KISS FM DJ. Many students left feeling ‘inspired’ and questions started to be asked in form time about apprenticeships and post-16 options, which was encouraging to see. Meanwhile, the SJB school celebration of National Careers Week in March (6th-10th March) culminated with Year 9 students taking part in the annual ‘What’s My Line?’ Careers morning on Friday 10th March. As part of a week of programme activities to help Year 9 with making their Option choices, SJB welcomed nearly thirty local employers and SJB Alumni to school, from mid-wives to computer games animators. Year 9 students worked in teams to ask single questions to identify the profession and role of each guest, with prizes for the winners. Throughout some highly imaginative and original job roles were suggested! Many Year 9 students left with a spring in their step when thinking about future roles and professions.

Elsewhere across the schools, students have made visits to local colleges to learn about technical and vocational courses whilst Year 12 students took part in Creative Arts Careers Day at Gordon’s School. As a careers-driven school, we remain committed to maximising opportunities for all students to experience encounters with local employers and colleges to equip our learners with the latest market information. With Mrs. Drury, SJB’s highly qualified in-school Careers Advisor, also available for bespoke Careers Guidance Interviews, SJB students have a wealth of information and resources at their fingertips to help them stay highly informed when considering their next steps.

By Mr Czepukojc