St Joseph's College Summer Term Newsletter 2017

Summer Term Newsletter 2017

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AWARD

Message from the Principal I do hope you enjoy reading through our Summer Term Newsletter, which provides an overview of just some of the highlights at St Joseph’s since Easter.

This term has been full of academic assessment, with end-of year examinations for Years 7-10 and 12, SATS, GCSE and A-level examinations. The College has also offered a host of opportunities to facilitate students’ wider achievements and personal and social development, including sports fixtures, trips and visits, discos, balls, tours and festivals as well as annual school and community events.

We wish our older boys, Mr O’Riordan, Mr Clements, Mr Grigg and Mr Woodley a safe and fabulous rugby tour to South Africa in July and we look forward to hearing about their sporting success and adventures.

As the academic year comes to a close, there are always farewells to a number of staff. We wish the following Teaching Staff a long and happy retirement and thank them for their loyal and committed service to St Joseph’s: Mrs Rothwell, Mrs Simmonds, Mrs Scott and Mrs Bond The following Teaching Staff are moving on to new posts and ventures. We thank them all for their many contributions to the College: Mr Ball, Mr Cook, Miss Davey, Mr Davies, Miss Fitzsimons, Mr Grigg, Mrs McNicholas, Miss Nutt and Mr Phaup We also wish Mrs Steed well as she starts her maternity leave.

The College will welcome the following new teaching staff in September: Mrs Branch Prep Learning Support Miss Brown History Mrs Brown Head of MFL Miss Burley Art (maternity cover) Mrs Button MFL and Assistant Head of Lower School Mrs Fairley

Business Studies and Economics Mrs Frost Head of ICT/Computing Mrs Herridge Science Miss Hobson Food Technology Dr Stimson Head of Sixth Form Ms Strong MFL Miss Sturman English Mr Whiteman PE Mr Wilson Vice Principal – Pastoral Mr Zimmer Maths A reminder that A-level results day is Thursday 17 August and GCSE results are issued on Thursday 24 August. Pre-season training dates for boys and girls in the Senior School have been shared with parents through the weekly email and are on the College’s calendar in the Parent Portal.

We look forward to seeing all Year 7 and Year 12 students on Friday 1 September and all other year groups on Monday 4 September for the start of a brand new academic year.

I wish you a restful summer break with your family and thank you for your ongoing support.

Mrs Danielle Clarke Principal 2

Creating a high performance culture:

our current work with Sycol The Sycol Programme The College is working alongside Sycol for a three-year period to further develop a practical approach to whole-school improvement. Our goal is to establish a culture of continuous improvement, distributed leadership and collaboration. We will refine, further improve and consistently apply systems for the benefit of students’ academic and personal development.

Our whole school staff, together with available governors and PTA members, worked together during April’s Professional Development Day to clarify our Core Framework; a vision, mission and set of core values which will be firmly established at the heart of everything we do.

OUR CORE FRAMEWORK VISION Being Our Best

Sycol Leads training day In June our 16-strong Leads team met with Sycol’s CEO, Dr Ioan Rees, for a second day of high quality, thorough and inspirational training. It focused on the mindset and relationships required to seek systemic improvements. The input detailed clearly how each Lead will further develop their leadership skills and collaboratively work with stakeholders on a schedule of strategic and collaborative improvements.

Participants were left in no doubt of the drive required, i.e., the discipline, determination and passion, to sustain momentum in a context of clear communication and relationship-building. In spite of the challenges Dr Rees posed to the Leads’ team members, all were further energised and their feedback included: ‘Thorough, strategic and excellently detailed’ ‘It is exciting being part of driving everything forward’ ‘The process is so systematic and clear that everyone can follow it’ ‘This will build and strengthen relationships across the school’

MISSION A Caring High Achieving Community Guided By Christian Values

Areas core to our mission

CORE VALUES Aspiration Respect Confidence

Creating a process of continuous cyclical improvement

Sycol Leads Staff are passionate about St Joseph’s College and really want it to get better and better. Following the inspirational April PD Day, members of staff volunteered to form the first team of Sycol Leads - a group of staff who receive further training to enable them to lead innovation teams. Nearly three-times the number of staff required volunteered. A team was created so it represented departments from across the College. In subsequent years a further group of Sycol Leads will be trained who will join the Sycol Leads team; year on year creating a larger and larger highly skilled and high performing team.

During the June training day six areas were selected as being core to our clarified mission and therefore ripe for evaluation. These were Teaching & Learning, Leadership & Management, Behaviour, Environment, Continuous Improvement and Culture & Ethos.

Firstly, for each area we will evaluate our current practices and systems. To do this expert teams have been created from among the Sycol Leads. These staff will consult with stakeholders about the systems which comprise each area and, within each, will prioritise two key targets for improvement.

Secondly, expert teams, which include additional driven volunteers, will undertake school-based, local and national/ international research into how each priority target can be further improved and how we can create better systems ourselves.

Thirdly, each prospective improvement will be quality assured and stress-tested prior to being implemented across the College.

Finally, in subsequent terms further targets from each area will be selected and teams of driven volunteers will undertake research and propose and implement improved systems.

Dr Martin Hine Vice Principal 3

Focus on a Teacher Miss Cunningham Head of Learning Support Having begun a career in nursing, I decided that teaching was more for me and went on to gain qualified teacher status, with a specialism in Key Stage 1 in 1998. Whilst I enjoyed teaching this age group, I soon realised that I would also like to teach older students and moved to another school to teach pupils in Year 6.

Following on from this, I began to take a specific interest in the area of special educational needs and disability and embarked on a Masters Degree in Education, whilst also moving into secondary education to teach older students again. This enabled me to specialise in the field of literacy difficulties and I have now been a specialist teacher in Dyslexia for a number of years.

I very much enjoy working in my role as the Head of Learning Support as I get to work with really fantastic students; indeed, as a child centred practitioner, I see my role as a true privilege. In addition to teaching here in the UK, I have been fortunate enough to teach in China and The Gambia and have also returned to The Gambia on a number of occasions to establish links with an orphanage.

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In terms of my interests, I love sport and travel and often combine the two: I was fortunate enough to participate as a Gamesmaker in the 2012 Olympics and have taken part in several marathons, including the Inter-Continental Marathon in Istanbul and most recently, The Fan Dance – a gruelling race across the Brecon Beacons; very tough indeed!

I have now worked at St Joseph’s College for almost five years; recently saying goodbye to my fantastic Year 11 class; we all started in the Senior school at the same time! It has been delightful to see them grow into wonderful, rounded adults and I will miss them all very much. They are a true reminder of the sense of community and togetherness at the heart of the College and why the students here are such a pleasure to teach.

Focus on Staff Mr Hamilton Head Grounds Person Mr Hamilton was born in West London and grew up there. He went to school in Chiswick and enjoyed all sports. He started his first job at the age of 15 as a trainee groundsman in Gunnersbury Park, West London, where he successfully completed all his training.

After 11 years, Mr Hamilton moved on to work for the City of London in West Ham Park, East London, and after four years moved on again to Edmonton in North London. He remained eight years as Head Groundsman at Edmonton Sports and Social Club.

St Joseph’s is famed for the quality of its pitches and the beautiful grounds as a whole. Mr Hamilton not only has the wealth of working knowledge listed above, but also brings his own experience as a sportsman. In his younger days he was an avid sportsman, playing middle league cricket, where he was quite a successful bowler ‘but not so good with the bat’.

In football, he was fortunate enough to play semi-pro with Southall and Ealing Borough in the Isthmian Premier League, where – for the older readers – he played alongside Alan Devonshire (West Ham United) and Chris Hutchings (Chelsea).

His next move was to the London Fire Brigade Sports Club in Aveley, Essex, where again he remained for eight successful years – until the Fire Brigade sold off the grounds.

Mr Hamilton then worked for a golf club in Essex for a short time before moving on to Henley on Thames to work at a top polo club for four years. He then came to Suffolk to take up the post of Head Groundsman at Bury St Edmunds Cricket Club, where he remained three years before making the move to St Joseph’s College in 2011.

Next February Mr Hamilton and his wife, Linda, who was his childhood sweetheart, will celebrate 40 years of marriage. They have two grown up sons, Russell and Gavin.

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Arts Festival

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A Week of Glorious Artistic Expression This year’s Arts Festival on the theme of ‘Noli Timere’ (Do not be afraid) was a week full of joy and creativity. It brought together the whole school community – students, staff, parents, friends and Old Birkfeldians – and together we created an imaginative and inventive celebration of all things artistic.

During the week there were dance, drama, art, music, poetry and psychology workshops, each exploring the theme of the week whilst focusing on how to develop one’s own craft within the Arts. A wonderful Celebration of Language Evening brought together all year groups and their passion for the written word. A dynamic production of Aesop’s Tales by the Prep School and a classic production of The Tempest by the Lower School, both at took place at The Avenue Theatre.

Other highlights included Sounds in the Grounds, a concert performed on the balcony of Main House and the traditional Rock in the Quad.

The Festival drew to a close on the Sunday with the exciting finale, Unplugged, which drew singers, dancers and musicians from every year group performing, backed up by some ever loyal Old Birkfeldian support.

Students conquered fears throughout the week and took chances that allowed them to grow, with many students discovering they could do much more than they thought they could.

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Prizegiving Reach for the Skies

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Form Prizes

Guest of honour for the Senior Prize Giving was motivational speaker Mandy Hickson, who as a member of the Royal Air Force was the only female pilot on her front line Tornado squadron.

She flew multimillion pound jets, operating in extremely hostile environments, including Iraq’s ‘No Fly Zone’ during the Iraq War.

Form

Achievement

Effort

7ACA

Ethan Willetts

Harry Woodley

7ACL

Victor Tocca

Kathryn Rolph

7MDS

Callum Woolston

Alfie Martin

Mrs Hickson’s route to fast jets was tumultuous, requiring immense determination to convince the RAF authorities to accept her as a test case. She co-founded Women for Work, an organisation that helps women rebuild confidence following career breaks.

8BCL

Joel Sheldon

Alfie Eldridge

8CTA

Dylan Salway

Eloise Ward

8CST

Jemima Bestley

Madeleine Cooke

9ABL

Jessica Bryce

Hayden Rolph

Mrs Hickson spoke of the importance of maintaining a calm demeanor under pressure and of leading from the front in order to achieve the best results from one’s team.

9SLO

Isabelle Atkinson

Ethan Nightingale

9SDA

Charles Coleman

Poppy Vata

10LSM

Sophie Wykes

Lucy Woodley

10MOH

Noah Wood

Oliver Fraser

10CBR

Samuel Nightingale

Stacey Huang

11NCH

Louise Humphries

Jack Oakes

11JSO

Lia Taylor

Wilfred Yates

11DED

Amelia Bixby

Jacob Wright

11LHS

Ellie Cook

Samuel Deasy

Special Awards The Downing Cup for Special Effort (Girls, Year 7 to 11)

Maisie Feek

The Alexander Cup for Special Effort (Boys, Year 7 to 11)

Benjamin Eaden

The Hudson Cup for Science (Girls, Year 7 to 11)

Elana Fraser

The Jubilee Cup for Science (Boys, Year 7 to 11)

Alexander Rolph

The Mike Kearney Memorial Chemistry Prize

Joseph Colcomb

The Lawrence Treanor Prize for Physics

Alexander Wykes

The James Hehir Science Prize for Biology

David Codjoe

The Wyllie Prize for Engineering

Henry Bullock

The Bonnar Cup for Mathematics

Alexander Wykes

The Mike Caseley Prize for Business Enterprise

Isaac Codjoe

The Benet Technology Prize

Alfie Marston

The Newman Cup for Humanities

Alexander Wykes

The Owen Cup for Religious Education

Amelia Bixby

The Anne Dunford Cup for Creative Writing

Vibhash Gunasene

The Excellence in Drama, Senior Award

Aimee Butcher

The Outstanding Contribution to Drama

Josaia Wacokecoke

The Excellence in Drama, Junior Award

Daniel Barrett

The Dance Award

Phoebe Hutley

The Crabbe Cup for Debating

Kristy Zhang

The Tom Symes Prize for Public Speaking

Daisy Hubert & Chowa Chanda

The Young Artist of the Year (Year 7 to 11)

Xavier Baker-Woods

The Sketchbook Designer of the Year

Taylor Locke

The Conall Shanks Memorial Prize

Kristy Zhang

The Boarding Cup

Josaia Wacokecoke

The Birkfield Society Prize

Ewan Kingdon

The Charity Cup

James Buchanan

The Shaw Cup for Contribution to Music

Harry Taylor

The Helen Watson Memorial Prize for Music

Aimee Butcher

The Bales Cup for Most Improved Musician

Hugh Prior

The Sixth Form Prize for English

Daisy Swinbourne

The Josephine Lea Cup for Citizenship

Lauren Garnham

Achievement in Sport The Downing Cup for Rugby

Maxwell Taylor

The Clements Cup for Hockey

Olivia Locke

The Hobbs Cup for Netball

Maddison Ludlam

The Gentry Rugby Cup (Team Achievement)

U18 2nd XV

The Michael Davey Cricket Cup

Alfie Marston

Achievement in Sport – Junior Girls (Lower School, Year 7 to 9)

Poppy Vata

Achievement in Sport – Junior Boys (Lower School, Year 7 to 9)

Harry Williams

Achievement in Sport – Senior Girls (Year 10 to Upper Sixth)

Rosie Bennett

Achievement in Sport – Senior Boys (Year 10 to Upper Sixth)

Josaia Wacokecoke

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All Creatures Great and Small Bask in the Sunshine The Prep School pupils and a menagerie of companion animals mingled in glorious sunshine during the annual Pets Assembly.

The children were thrilled to bring in their pets to share with fellow pupils and staff and there was an impressive range of creatures, including ponies, rabbits, guinea pigs and even a cockatoo. Various reptiles put in an appearance plus a whole dog show worth of canines.

The morning’s speakers were Gill and Ian Hendry, accompanied by their education dog, Kimmi, from the Blue Cross. Mrs Hendry told the children about how the charity was started to protect London’s horses in late Victorian times and how it had helped the horses of the First World War. She spoke about the work carried out at the charity’s new £3m centre at Wherstead and how the rehoming centre works hard to find ‘forever homes’ for all the animals taken into its care.

News from the Prep School Outward Bound Adventures In June 29 Year 6 pupils and four members of staff departed St Joseph’s College for a week of adventure in mid Wales. Our destination was the Outward Bound Centre at Aberdovey and our aim was to develop resilience and a deeper understanding of the environment and the people around us. Aberdovey did its bit by providing some challenging terrain, sun, wind, rain, deep water, high heights and dark nights! We certainly developed a sense of the wilderness and bolstered our respect for the climate. The trip clearly highlighted how we depend on each other for our survival.

Once in a lifetime trip The Year 4 pupils experienced an awesome residential trip aboard ‘The Reminder’, a fully working Thames Barge. The start of the journey was a magical 2am night sail, where we were treated to a spectacular light show across the river.

The children thoroughly enjoyed a huge number of activities, including climbing the rigging, beach games, scrubbing the decks, crabbing and spotting seals. They even enjoyed preparing, cooking, serving and cleaning up after our meals. The trip was a great success with all participants wishing they could go again!

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Forging Friendships Worldwide St Joseph’s College been re-accredited with the International Schools’ Award by the British Council, which recognises the work we do with the international community.

The application for this was onerous - totalling to 32 pages - but all was worth it in the end! Thank you to Ms Cunningham and Ms Wright for their efforts in this. The accreditation will be in place for three years.

The College continues to establish links with international schools in order to afford our students the chance to partake in various exchange programmes, developing their global awareness and knowledge of other cultures and languages.

During this half term, we have had lots of visitors to both the Prep and Senior school from all around the globe! These include students from Australia, France, Russia, India, Italy, Spain and Africa. They have all enjoyed fantastic fun and experiences at St Joseph’s College, so thank you to all students and families who helped make their stays very special.

Topping Treat The children in Reception were very lucky: they went on a visit to Pizza Express (Regatta Quay, Ipswich), where they learnt about the importance of hygiene when cooking. They also heard about the history of pizza and how it is made. All of the children became mini pizzaiolos (pizza chefs) and made their own Italian classic, the Margherita pizza.

St Joseph’s Pupils Have Coding Cracked Teams of top junior programmers tested their skills at BT’s Suffolk research HQ, Adastral Park, in the RoboCup Junior competition, where a team from St Joseph’s College Prep School came away with the Primary Schools' trophy for Inspired Line Tracking and a clutch of commendations.

St Joseph’s sent two teams of programmers, who have been honing their skills with Crumble robots at the school’s weekly robotics club. It was the Year 5 team of Lewis Hall, Harry Willetts and Archie Hepton which won the Regional Challenge. There was also a strong showing from the Year 6 squad, comprising George Moss, Jasper Platt and James Cinnamond.

Skin Care As part of Enrichment, Year 5 and 6 children had a skin care talk, helping the children to be prepared as their bodies begin to change and develop. They learnt how to cleanse and moisturise. The pupils were also able to look at their skin pigmentation and were surprised to see that the sun could damage their young skin.

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Colour Run Great times for two great causes (Cancer Research & East Anglian Air Ambulance).

What a happy, vibrant, united community we are at St Joseph's College.

The Goldilocks Workshop

LAMDA success 2017

Children of Reception and Infant classes threw themselves with gusto into a drama workshop organised by Red Rose Chain. Participants and audience all had a blast. Special thanks to Fred and Ed.

In March the LAMDA students worked hard during their two days of examinations. The examiners were treated to performances from both Junior and Senior School students in their chosen fields of Acting, Verse and Prose and Public Speaking and they didn’t fail to impress.

We achieved a 100% success rate with pupils attaining Passes, Merits and Distinctions. Higher grade students achieved valuable UCAS points which reflected their attainment. Congratulations to all students ranging from Year 3 to Year 13 excelling in their communication and performance exams from Entry level to Grade 8 Gold medal. A special mention to the Public Speakers, whom the examiner particularly enjoyed, and huge congratulations to the Grade 8 acting students – Aimee Butcher, Charley Hewitt, Joshua Ditmore and Lauren Garnham, who all impressively were awarded the highest level of attainment – Distinction; outstanding.

Very well done to all on the excellent results earned through hard work and dedication. A true reflection of St Joseph’s School motto Being Our Best!

Mrs Cheryl Pethybridge LAMDA Tutor

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Prep School Sport

U11 Boys’ Sport The main focus for boys’ sport during the summer term has been on cricket and tennis. The U11A cricket team, whilst not have had a very good season, won the majority of their games. Louis Hembry and Eddie Patterson have both performed well with the bat. Tom Pratt, Jimmy Holdcroft and Rozario Lewis all had great performances with the ball in hand, whilst Isaaac Bolton-Smith and Connor Holdcroft developed well behind the stumps.

The boys’ U11 tennis team made the Suffolk County Cup final for the third time in four years. The team had beaten Ipswich Prep and Holbrook Academy in previous rounds to qualify for the finals. On the finals day itself, held at Woodbridge School, the team played two games, winning one and losing the other, resulting in a third place overall.

Many congratulations must go to Connor Holdcroft, Jimmy Holdcroft, Archie Will and Eddie Patterson.

The U9 cricket players have been very competitive in all their games.

Best with the bat were Joe Lansley, Sebastian Fox, Benjie Patterson and Ben Wilkinson. With the ball in hand, the best players were Stanley Purser and Stanley Bolton.

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U11 Girls’ Sport

U11 Athletics

The girls’ U10 tennis team made the Suffolk final for the first time. They beat Ipswich High School and Holbrook Primary in the first round to qualify for the finals at Woodbridge School. Just like the U11 boys, they played two games in the final and won one and lost one to finish in third place. A great achievement. Congratulations to Emma Logan, Catherine Gillard, Xanthe Baker-Woods and Sophie Schwer.

The U11 Athletics this year has continued to flourish with huge success in both sports hall athletics and summer track and field competitions.

The mixed Prep Athletics club has been full to the brim with sixty pupils from Years 3 to 6. From this a hugely competitive team was selected to take part in the Ipswich Quadkids Championships where St Joseph’s Prep achieved an amazing ‘Silver’ place, gaining entry into the Suffolk finals – an outstanding achievement. We await eagerly the children competing in Bury on the last day of term.

Once again the Year 4 handball team competed in the Suffolk Handball Finals. The team played six games and won all by a convincing score.

Congratulations to Joe Lansley, Stanley Purser, William Rawlins, Stanley Bolton, Tiffiny Mazuir-Leach and Bonny Bolton.

Girls’ cricket: The U11 and U9 girls have really embraced their second year of cricket. The U11 girls have won many of their matches, showing improvement in their assertive batting and proactive fielding as the season has progressed. Many of the girls have attended coaching sessions during the week with Head of Cricket, Mr Tyler, and also play for local clubs outside the school. So, another fabulous season and cricket has now become firmly embedded in our girls’ sports repertoire. The U9 Girls have all embraced the opportunities to be part of the Cricket Squad, playing in matches both home and away.

Their skills have progressed as able bowlers and fielders. Their highlight moments are scoring those four and six points when batting.

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New MP Sandy Martin among Sixth Form Centre Speakers Local Liberal Democrat and Labour candidates, Adrian HyyrylainenTrett and Sandy Martin (now MP), spoke in the Sixth Form Centre prior to the General Election. Ben Gummer, standing for re-election for the Conservative Party, spoke separately. All had lively interchanges with students, with independent education proving a particularly hot topic.

News from the Senior School

Senior Achievement Lunch Outdoor Service A lunch was held to celebrate the particular achievements of students from Years 7 to 11 during the Lent Term. College Principal, Mrs Clarke, attended, together with members of the Senior Leadership Team and Pastoral Managers. Well done to all those students invited.

Young Artists Discuss their Work with Visitors GCSE Fine Art and Photography students showcased their achievements, during their end of year show. In total, St Josephs’ College welcomed more than 100 visitors to the exhibition, who enjoyed discussing the incredible work with the talented students who created it. The event was highly successful due to a combination of staff dedication, student talent and amazing creativity.

When St Joseph's College Chapel reached its half century, the landmark was celebrated by the whole College with a brief al fresco service, led by the Principal, Mrs Clarke, and the Sacristan, Mr McGinn. Sadly, the Chapel has been feeling its age and is currently closed. A specialist team is now at work assessing the building.

Lessons from the Holocaust Students Daniel Shanks, Caeal Casey, Aimee Butcher and Charley Hewitt (all L6) visited Auschwitz. They have been taking part in the Holocaust Educational Trust's Lessons From the Holocaust course. Three weeks before the trip they met a Holocaust survivor to hear his story.

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Class of 2017 In a touching assembly marking the Class of 2017's departure on study leave, students were confronted with images of their younger selves, freshly promoted to the Senior school.

They heard from their tutors - who know them best at school - how much they'd enjoyed watching them develop over the years. It was a time of leave-taking and nostalgia. Good luck to them all in their journeys ahead.

Mrs Hall, Head of Upper School, wished the Class of 2017 'true happiness, fulfilment and love.' Keep St Joseph's close, she said

Fashion Funds a Day of Care for EACH Following the huge success of this year’s fashion show and contributions raised by our dedicated team of PTA members, the incredible sum of £5,500 (paying for a day of care and support for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices across Suffolk) was handed over.

To mark St Joseph’s fundraising success, Mrs Clarke, Dr Hine, Mrs Harvey, Mrs Lloyd (PTA Chair 2016-2017), Mrs Fox (PTA), Mr Morgan, Daisy Swinbourne (Student Charity Officer) and William Tillett (Student Events Liaison Officer) were given a tour of The Treehouse, EACH’s hospice in Ipswich.

Natasha Brame, EACH Suffolk Community Fundraiser, said: ‘A massive thank you to the students and staff of St Joseph’s College. We’re absolutely delighted with their efforts and hope to continue working with them in future. Support from the community like this is invaluable as we need to bring in more than £5 million from fundraising each year.’

Not Quite Bondi Our Australian exchange students and their partners used the half term break to pursue some outdoor adventures UK-style.

World Class Mathematicians at St Joseph’s Schools across the world volunteer to take part in The World Class Maths Tests. The most able students from countries as diverse as the USA, Australia, Dubai and Hong Kong aim to solve complex mathematical problems and puzzles. The test takes a gruelling two-and-a-half hours to complete – much longer than an individual A-level or GCSE exam.

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Model United Nations

A special mention to Patrick Rawlins (Y9), who gained a Distinction. In four out of the five strands of Mathematics, he scored in the top 5% of the talented students taking part worldwide.

A group of students from St Joseph's College attended a meeting of the model United Nations and spoke on topics including North Korea, nuclear proliferation, human trafficking and the One Child Policy.

Our other representatives - all Year 9 - passing this rigorous test were Hayden Rolph, Gabriel Hawley, Jessica Bryce and Rory Anderson. Well done for attaining this high standard.

We Wish Our Upper Sixth Leavers All the Best Final day for the Upper Sixth at St Joseph’s College before returning for their all-important public exams was characterised by solemnity, laughter and tears. The students dressed in Hawaiian theme and were blessed with an appropriately sunny day.

They gathered in the Sixth Form Centre to reminisce about their time at the school, their lasting friendships and to pay tribute to the teachers who had most influenced them. Later, back in uniform, came the traditional candle lighting service in which the students celebrated the St Joseph’s family, of which they will continue to be a part. Another tradition followed, with the release of balloons in the College colours.

There was limited time for feeling nostalgic, however, as the day closed with the May Ball and yet another change of clothing – this time into dinner jackets and ball gowns

Ski Trip to Les Deux Alpes We started our journey from college very early at 1am, then got on a coach for our journey to Gatwick airport. Our flight was about 1 hour and 50 minutes.

When we got to the hotel we got our keys to our rooms from our amazing hotelier Paul; Paul was a very kind and fun person and was a pleasure to talk to; he also did a lot for us around the hotel, such as cook lovely food and always had time for us!

Once we had settled in we met our rep called Daryl, who helped us get our skis.

Now on to the skiing! There were two groups (beginner and advanced). The snow conditions were good and the weather was lovely, however, the skiing was more challenging in the morning as it was rather icy and became slushier in the afternoon. Both of these conditions helped us to really improve our skiing skills and everyone without exception, had developed as confident skiers by the end of the week. We had six days of skiing and everyone improved massively.

Luke Mann and Oliver Garnham (both Y9) The evening entertainment was great and we did something every night; this included bowling and ice skating. We played the bowling in teams, then we were able to use the arcade afterwards; the air hockey and punch bag were very popular. The ice skating was a lot of fun and we were able to chase each other whilst sitting on push along chairs used to improve our skills on the ice. Everybody laughed a lot!

Marathon Effort for Teenage Cancer Trust We are incredibly proud of James Buchanan (U6), who spent much of the past year fund-raising for the Teenage Cancer Trust. His efforts culminated on St George’s Day with his successful completion of the London Marathon. Staff have been hugely impressed by his perseverance and determination in these endeavours. Well done James!

Each evening, we had a meeting with Mr Branch, Miss Cunningham and Mr Clements who reviewed the day and told us what we were going to be doing the next day. We also had ‘court’ meetings where people were awarded for something funny they had done in the day. The nominated person was expected to wear a funny item of clothing on the slopes until the following day when it was then handed to somebody else. It was funny waiting to see who had won the award!

After a day on the slopes, we were allowed some independence by going into town in groups to explore and buy things from the shops.

Overall it was an excellent trip enjoyed by all and whereby everyone made great progress on the slopes.

Joe Christie and Dominic Godfrey (both Y9)

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Senior School Sport Girls’ Cricket This term the girls have been heavily involved in cricket fixtures and training sessions. The season has been successful for all teams, with some sterling performances from the 1Xl, U15s and U13A teams against many of our opposition. The U13s started the season well by getting through to the Lady Taverners indoor finals and have shown a lot of promise in the outdoor game as well, with fixtures against RHS, Ipswich School and Debenham. Amelie Clarke and Eloise Ward have been the shining stars amongst their team, with Jess Logan and Imogen Cerely also coming through the ranks. Highlight of the season was Amelie’s impressive batting against Ipswich School. The U13s also made it through to the cricket county finals at Orwell Park, but it wasn't to be our day and we finished fourth in the county. The U15s have had a successful season, getting through to the semi-finals of the School Sports Cup and narrowly losing to Shenfield despite some great team performances. There were also convincing wins against Langley and Framingham, with some impressive individual performances from Mai Easton, Charlotte Mann and Jess Oakes. The U15s have finished

Athletics Year 7 The girls came fourth out of eight schools at the county competition, Rebecca Kent winning her shotput event.

Year 8 Sixth out of eight schools at the county competition; Jemima Bestley won the 200m and Amelie Goulbourn was second in the hurdles.

Year 9 Boys and girls both finished second overall in the B league athletics competition.

Year 10 The girls came fifth of eight schools at the county competition, with Kirsten Snook second in the hurdles.

The boys were second of eight. Matt Kent was second in long jump and 100m, and the relay team also took silver.

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their season by winning the plate at the Super 8s tournament, which we hosted late in the season. Highlights of the season were Mai Easton’s 54* against Brentwood School and Jess Oakes’ two maiden overs against Langley School. The 1Xl had a short but excellent season with two convincing wins against RHS and Ipswich School. Overall, girls’ cricket is on the up and there is a bright future ahead for us at the College.

U12s Girls’ Cricket Player of the Season: Amelie Clarke U12s Girls’ Cricket Most Improved Player: Jessica Logan U13s Girls’ cricket Player of the Season: Eloise Ward U13s Girls’ Cricket Most Improved Player: Rosie Smith U14s Girls’ Cricket Player of the Season: Charlotte Mann U14s Girls’ Cricket Most Improved Player: Gabby Stokes U15s Girls’ Cricket Player of the Season: Mai Easton U15s Girls’ Cricket Most Improved Player: Sophie Wykes

Boys’ Cricket This year St Joseph’s College has played host to a number of prestigious cricket teams and cricket tournaments, as well as putting on fixtures displaying phenomenal individual and team performances.

After a very successful pre-season, the school’s annual fixture against the MCC, arguably the college’s most prestigious event, took place once again at the College. For the first time in a number of years the 1XI were victorious, showing what a talented group of cricketers they are.

The U15s got through to the semi-finals of the regional cup, beating the Royal Hospital School at home. A stand out performance with the bat from Matthew Kent saw him reach 101 not out in just 20 overs.

They were unfortunately later narrowly knocked out by Ipswich School in the semi-final, however this was not the only meeting these two teams shared this year. In a second meet St Joseph’s came out on top, with an outstanding performance from Oliver Stace, who scored 104 not out in just 20 overs.

The U14s had a successful year, progressing through to the finals of the county cup as well as remaining unbeaten for the first six fixtures of the season. The 14s were, once again, invited back to the prestigious Cricket Festival with Ardingly College, Stowe school and Cheltenham College.

Both the U12s and U13s focused on giving players opportunities and experience in preparation for senior cricket in years to come. The College also hosted the ever evolving 6-a-side cricket tournament for U13s, inviting six big cricket schools within East Anglia. St Joseph’s finished third within this tournament, which was fantastic progress, given their difficult start to the season. Cameron Towers was fortunate enough to be selected for representative county cricket and is proving very successful at that level.

The College has seen some fantastic achievements within the 2017 cricket season, with so much progress being made, ensuring that the development of cricket within the College continues. Thank you to all students who represented the school; we wish you the best of luck in any further club or county fixtures this summer.

Tennis The U13As had a successful tennis season, finishing second in the county, narrowly losing to Culford in the finals. Josh Stokes, St Joseph’s College’s number 1 seed was undefeated in singles and doubles throughout the tournament. The U13Bs beat Orwell Park but lost to Kesgrave and St Felix missing out on a county finals spot. The U15 tennis team also narrowly missed out on county finals qualification, with this being decided in their last fixture against Farlingaye.

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A big thank you from the PTA As the College winds down for the summer holidays, we’ve been reflecting on the amazing activity and achievements we’ve made, together with your help, on the PTA this year.

Our charity golf event helped us to raise extra money – some to put back into the school and some to give to our chosen charity, EACH. Visiting the Treehouse in Ipswich last month to give a cheque for £500, raised through just a couple of our events, we were certainly in awe of the amazing work the charity does in supporting local children and their families and we’re also delighted that, as a College, we have been able to help.

The warmer weather has also allowed the Prep School’s new activity trail to be put into commission and it’s wonderful to see the children playing together and learning as they do.

We’ll keep you posted on these events and more during the summer holidays. Plus, don’t forget to pop into our second hand uniform shop. With lots of great quality stock flooding in, you’re sure to pick up some essentials for next term and we’ll be open on Friday 1st September too.

Thank you so much for your support this year, we really couldn’t manage such successful events and activities without you. Wishing everyone a superb summer – please keep your eyes peeled for more information about our Harvest Moon Barn Dance and how you can help with our preparations for the PTA Fete. See you in September!

If you’d like to be involved with the PTA – either on an ad hoc basis or as a member of our friendly committee, please do drop us a line at PTA@stjos.co.uk. We’d love to hear from you.

The start of the new academic year is going to be action packed, with our all new Harvest Moon Barn Dance and the PTA Fete, as well as our Christmas term family friendly hockey tournament all taking place in the first few weeks of term. We’re looking forward to welcoming everyone back and to meeting new students and their families at these whole College events.

Harvest Moon Barn Dance with Skedaddle Friday 8th September Adults £10 , under 16 years of age £5 per head.

Late Summer Fete 15th SeptEmber

Lots of fun and games for the children to enjoy. Grand Prize Draw of fantastic prizes.

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Old Birkfeldians Old Birkfeldians Enrich the Arts Festival This term the Old Birkfeldian family has come together on several occasions to share memories and support the current school community. We have had a convivial coffee morning, where past staff came back to reminisce and tour the school. This was then followed by the very successful first Old Birkfeldian Ball. This event was a fantastic success and culminated in the Old Birkfeldians singing Jerusalem, the St Joseph’s College hymn, with one voice on the dance floor as the evening drew to an end.

In the penultimate week of term, we had our annual Arts Festival, this year themed Noli Timere (Do not be afraid). This joyous week saw the return of many Old Birkfeldians and their loyalty was overwhelming.

It helped inspire the students and enhanced the community spirit throughout the event. We had performances from Connor Adams, Kato Lam, Crystal Wang, Tabby Debenham and Adam English. Each performance was individual and imaginative. The friendship from the Old Birkfeldian community is inspiring and as it continues to grow in size the camaraderie can only get stronger.

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Boarding News Boarding Fever Boarding has seen a fervour of activity over the past term. Not only have there been group revision sessions centred in the kitchens and hours of independent study, but also numerous revision sessions led by dedicated teachers; lots of work undertaken by students and staff to ensure students achieve their potential in the summer examinations. We have also welcomed into our community exchange students from France, India and Australia. We hope that all those students who are leaving the College take fond memories with them and we wish them well on their onward journey in life.

Lower Sixth students have been inspired by outgoing prefects and aspired to prefectship. Following a tough and thorough application process – involving a letter of application, hustings in front of peers

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and staff and facing an interview panel – we are very proud to announce the following boarders have been appointed into the prestigious role of a prefect: Jade Liu, Matt Shan, Joel Fernandes Sou, Reagan Hao, Jessica Wang, Carrie Hou, Hannah Hao, Joanna Cai, Sam Wong and Samson Ma’asi. We look forward to them representing us all as a College in the true spirit of St Joseph’s, showing faith, tenacity and hard work.

Between 19 and 25 June 2017, schools across the UK celebrated National Boarding Week. We here at St Joseph’s College embraced #iloveboarding, opened our boarding house doors and welcomed students from across the Senior School to join us in a day of funfilled activities to celebrate boarding within our community.

On the Saturday we held a ‘Big Boarding Sleepover’, where 81 students joined us for an afternoon of fun sporting activities, an Australian themed barbecue, sports galore, a range of water based challenges and a sleep out under canvas. The evening ended with a volleyball tournament under floodlights followed by a midnight feast before bedding down for the night (but not necessarily sleeping!). We all had a huge amount of fun and after brunch we waved off lots of tired faces with pleas of a repeat occurrence. I am excited to say that this will now become a feature of the annual calendar and something we can all look forward to next June.

Flexi-boarding places are filling up for September; however, there are still opportunities for those students who feel they would benefit. Flexi-boarding provision enables day students to stay overnight.

This is of great benefit for families, particularly when parents have evening commitments, or students themselves who have sport training or an event at the school. Flexi-boarding can also be beneficial for examination pupils, enabling them to spend valuable time revising, with the added support of supervised structured study in the evening. Boarding develops life skills, teaching boarders to be tolerant and considerate members of our community. They learn responsibility for themselves, their study, their belongings and their relationships with others. Should you be interested in any Boarding provision, please do get in touch.Â

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What is Roblox?

Roblox is a gaming platform where multiple players interact and play together online. The site has a collection of games aimed at 8-18 year olds; however, players of all ages can use the site. Roblox is currently available on PC, phone, tablet and Xbox One. Every game on Roblox is created by users, and there is a wide variety to choose from. These can vary from delivering pizzas, to roaming a kingdom as a medieval knight, even to starring in a fashion show. This variety is one of the reasons that Roblox is so popular with young people.

Key things for parents to be aware of

Top tips for parents

1. Communication: how users can communicate with others

Whatever gaming sites your children use, the advice remains the same. It is important to have a conversation with your child about the sites they use and carry on having open discussions. This will encourage them to come to you with any concerns they may have.

Whilst the games are aimed at 8-18 year olds, there are no age restrictions. This means both adults and young people can play and communicate with each other on the platform.

All games are multiplayer and include a written chat feature, which is visible to players within each individual game. Users can also make and receive friend requests during gameplay and this means that they can chat to each other outside of the game.

2. Content: what content is available that might not be suitable for children The Roblox Studio is a section where players use their imagination and skills to create their own games and share these with others. The ability to create and play games can be very appealing to young people who like to create the content they see online.

However, because content is user-generated it can mean that some games might not be appropriate for young children. For example, whilst the graphics are not very life like, some of the games feature weapons and blood.

3. Costs: How children might accidentally run up costs By creating games, users can earn Robux, the in-game currency. You can also buy Robux in the game. Players can spend money on items, such as membership to the Builders Club.

If game creators attract players and in-game adverts, they can earn a lot of Robux, which they can convert into real money. To do this, players must be over the age of 13, have paid for Roblox’s premium subscription, and have access to a Paypal account.

This means that younger players would need to talk to an adult to be able to exchange their Robux for real money.

Involve your child in discussions and decisions about online safety and their internet usage. This will help them understand the importance of staying safe whilst having a great time online. It will also help to educate them about how they can keep themselves safe online and know what to do if something goes wrong.

1. Stay engaged and have regular conversations Show an interest in the games your children are playing. This could be through having a conversation about what they like to play or could be through watching them play the game.

You could even have a go at playing the games yourself! If children know you have an interest in the game, they may feel more comfortable talking to you about it or coming to you for help if they need it.

3. Set rules around spending money in games Have a conversation with your child to make sure they realise that is possible to spend real money on the game.

Make promises that work for your family; perhaps your child will have to ask you for permission before they make an in-game purchase.

4. Make use of the safety features available Block and report: Make sure your child knows how to find and use the report and block functions. Use the Roblox how to make a report page to learn how to do this.

Safety settings: Set up the parental controls that are right for your family. You can also disable chat, set up the Parent PIN and use the Account Restrictions within Roblox.

Settings for under 13s: There are additional safety features for under-13s , so it’s worth checking your child’s account is registered with the correct age. Players under the age of 13 have a <13 symbol next to their username on the game at all times, but this is not displayed to other players.

2. Help them understand the importance of personal information

5. Encourage them to tell you about concerns

Check that your child understands:

Remind your child that they should come to you if they ever see something inappropriate, mean comments or if anything worries them within the game. If you know how to report this type of content within Roblox, you will be in the best position to help them if they need it.

- the importance of keeping their personal information safe - that they should speak to an adult straight away if the chat goes from being about the game to meeting up offline, personal information or sending images.

For more detailed instructions and guidance on how to use the safety features of Roblox visit the Roblox website.