NOTES FROM Stonyhurst
From the Senior Deputy Head
Dear Stonyhurst Families
It has been an exceptionally busy few weeks in terms of families visiting Stonyhurst. We have had our whole campus Open Day and our Higher Line Open Evening, both of which were hugely successful It is wonderful to be able to showcase our school and what is always so good to see is the role that Rhetoricians play as pupil ambassadors on these days They really do model what the aspirations we have for all Stonyhurstians as they leave at the end of their time here. Their confidence, articulacy and enthusiasm for the College is always so impressive
Speaking of OS, we were absolutely delighted to welcome back eight OS yesterday for our annual Puddings and Performances musical theatre showcase. The teachers were all delighted to welcome them back and to hear how university is going for them all The OS had got up at crazy hours in the morning in order to accompany our pupils all day in creating the showcase. The audience were enthralled from beginning to end and the breadth and depth of talent was astonishing So many thanks to Mr Abbs, Mrs Bedford and Mr Hanley for masterminding the whole thing.
This week we have celebrated the Mid Autumn Festival which Kayden talked about on Monday in Assembly. Lanterns were made and a full moon graced the sky above Stonyhurst. We have also begun to celebrate Black History Month and Clare spoken were eloquently about this and the reasons it is so important to do this at assembly on Monday as well.
Friday saw Mental Health Awareness Day and the College was a riot of yellow. There were inspiring talks by Rhetoricians, a wellbeing pop-up centre and a tuck shop to celebrate and raise awareness of this hugely important day.
On Friday the Art pupils were lucky enough to have a visiting artist, Danny O' Connor, come and inspire them throughout the day. It has been such a busy week for the Art and Design Department as two rooms in the new Department have now opened. The Design and Technology workshop - St Joseph and the Textiles studio - St Tabitha. These were blessed by Fr Tim on Wednesday and are now in usage but they will be formally opened when the full Art Department is also ready in January. It is wonderful to see these excellent facilities coming into usage and how excited the pupils are about the new opportunities they represent.
Half term approaches and excitement is building for some well-earned rest and relaxation for our pupils. They have achieved so much this term and should be so proud of themselves!
Have a wonderful weekend.
With very best wishes
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Design & Technology and Textiles Department
On Thursday we celebrated the blessing and official opening of our new Design & Technology and Textiles departments - a major investment in creativity and innovation at Stonyhurst.
Featuring 3D printers, laser cutters, textiles studios and product design workshops, the new space supports the growing interest in fashion, design and engineering across the College.
Higher Line Open Evening
On Thursday evening we were delighted to welcome families to our Sixth Form Open Evening.
Guests explored our wide range of A Level, IB Diploma and CTEC pathways, met our inspiring teachers, and discovered some of our new subjects in Design & Technology, Product Design and Textile Design, which launched this September in the new Art & Design Centre.
Thank you to everyone who joined us - we hope you enjoyed discovering what makes the Stonyhurst Sixth Form such a unique and inspiring place to study.
Lancashire Cricket Squad
We are proud to announce that Seb has been selected for the U/16 Lancashire Cricket Squad. It is an amazing achievement and reward for all his hard work and dedication over the past few seasons. We are excited to continue supporting Seb in the next chapter of his cricketing journey.
Global Education
Last week, Mrs Lorraine Wright, Head of Global Education, attended the official opening of Stonyhurst Penang’s new Sixth Form Centre.
As part of the celebrations, our Heads of Line, Ludwig and Hattie, shared a special message with Penang’s very first cohort of Poets, reflecting on their own Higher Line journey at Stonyhurst UK.
This exciting new chapter marks a milestone for Stonyhurst Penang, extending the opportunities and traditions of a Stonyhurst education to Sixth Form pupils in Malaysia.
Early UCAS applicants have submitted their applications to Oxbridge, medicine, and veterinary and have sat the required admission tests. Some of our international pupils have applied to the Early admission round for Bocconi University in Milan. Pupils interested in other universities across Europe including EHL, Les Roches and St Gallen (Switzerland), IE, CUNEF, ICADE and CEU (Spain) are also working on their applications. Early decision/action US applications are well underway with three pupils applying stateside this year. They are continually supported by their teachers, tutors and careers staff throughout these application processes. Regular applicants are now working on their UCAS forms to have them ready for our internal deadline at the end of November. Rhetoricians interested in Degree Apprenticeships have been developing their CVs and sending off applications for a September 2026 start to companies such as GE Aviation and Airbus.
Careers News
At Careers assembly in September, Poets were introduced to the careers programme for the year. They completed interest and personality profiles on the Unifrog Careers platform with their tutors recently which identifies suitable career paths. Last week Poets had the opportunity to attend a session on ‘Applying to Oxbridge/other Elite Universities both in the UK and abroad’ delivered by Oxbridge co-ordinator Mrs Allanson. Poets interested in studying abroad attended inhouse talks delivered by guest representatives from IE University Madrid and SCAD Creative University Georgia Poets have attended two Medsoc meetings this term where they were introduced to the UK application process by OS Dilip Gosall who is studying medicine in Cambridge. Next term Poets will attend talks on ‘Applying to University in the US’, ‘Studying in EU universities through English’, and ‘Applying to Degree Apprenticeships’.
Syntax
Syntaxians will complete their Unifrog interest and personality profile after half term. This will help identify the A Level, CTECH, and IB subject choices that best suit them.
Stonyhurst Chaplaincy
Prayer Theme
Our prayer theme for this week is: Mary, Mother of us All.
This theme is woven through all the prayers and liturgies our pupils have in the week. You can watch our pupil-made Examen on this theme here.
Chaplaincy Cam
Our Arrupe Programme is our longest running Service project at the College It is based on the example of a former leader of the Jesuits, Fr Pedro Arrupe SJ, who coined the phrase, men and women for others. Our Poetry pupils work on on-site projects, partnering with Catholic charities to advocate on behalf of and raise awareness of the plight of marginalised people. This term we have projects focusing on child poverty in our local area, the refugee crisis, creating clothing for premature babies, fundraising Christmas cards and a podcast to give a voice to those who don't normally get heard. Off-site, pupils are assisting in a care home for residents with Dementia and Alzheimer's, helping in our local primary schools, chatting to retired residents in the village Coffee Stop and wheelchair dancing with pupils who have a high level of additional need.
We caught up with Sophia, Clemmie and Ronnie as they came out of the Chapel, to ask why they attend the Daily Rosary in October, you can view there response here
Upcoming Events
The Daily Rosary is available for your child to attend every First Rec in the College Chapel. No previous experience of the Rosary is necessary and everyone who comes is given a set of rosary beads. Please do encourage your child to attend, if you think they would find it valuable.
Vespers
This half term will close with sung Vespers at 3pm on Friday 17 in St Peter's Church. You are most warmly invited to join us for this. This will be livestreamed for those unable to attend, and can be accessed via this link. th
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Stonyhurst Sport
Match Report Hockey
Our U16s put in a dominant display this afternoon in the opening round of the Cup, away at Bradford After a slow start, the girls began to find their rhythm. Luisa opened the scoring with a superb reverse stick strike, and despite our relentless attacks, the score remained 1-0 going into half-time.
Bradford hit back early in the second half with a breakaway equalizer, but once we settled back into out flow, there was no stopping us. The work rate across the pitch was fantastic, the attacking play relentless and the girls followed.
Special mention to joint players of the match Izzy, who was rock solid in defence, ensuring we staying in control throughout and Luisa for her skills and dominance in our attacking play
A brilliant team performance and a deserved victory, the girls now progress confidently into Round 2!
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Match Report Golf
Our Golfers also continued their fabulous start to the season by defeating a talented and competitive Sedbergh team 3-1 in a Matchplay format. Mr Stokes reported a tremendous afternoon of Golf with our students playing some brilliant shots on a tricky Sedbergh course in less than helpful conditions. Well done to all who played and in particular to Captain Niklas, who once again led the team superbly.
Match Report Basketball
On Wednesday our 1st team Basketball squad travelled up to Sedbergh to take on our Cumbrian rivals Mr Barham reported on a close loss for our 1st team players going down 31 points to 21. According to Mr Barham our boys showed vast levels of improvement from the team and fantastic energy and QJP spirit shown by all. Next match is on Wednesday in the first league match of the season v Ashton sixth form college.
Match Report Badminton
The Badminton 1st team also travelled to Sedbergh on Wednesday for another competitive fixture in Cumbria. Where the Basketball squad came up just short our badminton players managed to push on for victory securing a 11-5 win in their second game of the season. New captain Kayden remains undefeated. Next match on Wednesday v Ashton sixth form college.
Match Report Cross Country
On Sunday we had yet another team travel up to Sedbergh for the National Fell Running Championships, this time it was 9 of our amazing fell runners to represent Stonyhurst All nine of our runners did the school proud and showed true Quant Je Puis spirit running up to 7 9 kilometres and scaling elevation climbs of up to 700 metres Stand out performances go to Harry in Figures who finished 8 in a race of 80 other runners and Grammarian George who finished in the top 20 in a field of 140 runners. Well done all! th
Sport Notices
We are proud to announce that all students attending the Lancashire Development Centre at Stonyhurst will be able to receive a 40% discount per 6 week course. The Development Centre is externally run by Lancashire in our sports hall and has a maximum of 24 students per course. These sessions are aimed at boys and girls of all abilities from 12 years and up. For further information or interest of how to sign up, please see the flyer below or contact the sports department.
Upcoming Fixtures
Date | Wednesday 10 December th Time | 7pm
Venue | Stonyhurst College
Click here to book your tickets
Monday 15 December - Wednesday 17 Dcember th th
Week Ahead Calendar
The below does not include the sporting fixtures for this week. Please see the Upcoming Fixtures pages for this information
Closing date for all Scholarship applications This applies to all 11+, 13+ and 16+ Scholarships More details about the Scholarship Programme can be found on the website here.
Pupil Only Events:
Key Dates this term
Half Term - Saturday 18 October to Monday 3 November th rd
Slow Down Saturday - Saturday 15 November th
Red Wednesday - Wednesday 19 November th
Campion Day - Monday 1 December st
Fireworks Evening - Wednesday 5 November th
Stonyhurst Family Events:
Choral Vespers - Friday 17 October th
Lower Grammar Parents’ Weekend - Friday 21 November to Saturday 22 November st nd
Figures Parents’ Weekend - Friday 5 December to Saturday 6 December th th
Farm St Carol Concert - Monday 8 December th
Carol Service - Wednesday 10 December th
Winter Ball (Parents Only) - Wednesday 10 December th
