St Michael's School Holiday News: Charity Work, Rugby Success, and Christmas Celebrations, Slides of Physics

Download St Michael's School Holiday News: Charity Work, Rugby Success, and Christmas Celebrations and more Slides Physics in PDF only on Docsity! very proud of all their achievements and wish them every success in the future! Our present Year 11 are also working hard having just completed their mock exami- nations. We are encouraged and impressed by their dili- gence and maturity especially in the light of the pressures they face with a shift to pure- ly linear exams in most sub- jects and increased subject content. Their determination to succeed is to be com- mended and we only ask that they take some time to relax and recharge their batteries over the Christmas period! This term has not been with- out its challenges! It was with great disappointment and sadness that I shared with you the news of the fire which caused extensive dam- age to the boy’s toilets in the upper languages corridor. This incident was thoroughly investigated and I would like to praise both staff for their quick-thinking calm manner with which the blaze was tackled and the pupils for coming forwards with infor- mation. The health and safe- ty of our pupils and staff is Dear Parents and Carers After a very busy, extremely productive and eventful half term the Christmas holidays are almost upon us and our pupils and staff are now enjoying the season of Ad- vent and reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas. Preparations for the end of term Christmas service are very much underway and we all enjoyed a moving, traditional Carol Service at St Paul’s Church in Adling- ton last week. We are absolutely delighted to announce the appoint- ment of both a new Chair of Governors, Mr Chris Metcalfe, and Vice Chair, Father David Arnold, both of whom bring a wealth of experience and expertise to our Governing Body. Mr Metcalfe, a primary headteacher and a commit- ted Christian, has been a dedicated governor at St Michael’s since 2008 and Father David, a former St Michael’s pupil, is a familiar face around school having led many Eucharist ser- vices. I look forward to working closely with them both and thank them in advance for the support, challenge and commitment they will bring to the life of the school. A wonderful Eucharist ser- vice has been held this half term in Blackburn Cathedral to give thanks for the dedi- cation and diligence of our recently retired Chair of Governors, Mrs Freda Arm- strong. The Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Jul- ian Henderson, led a truly inspirational and moving service reflecting on Mrs Armstrong’s 40 years of commitment to the Govern- ing Body of St Michael’s before a congregation of family, friends, former headteachers and staff past and present. Our school choirs and instrumentalists enhanced the atmosphere and enabled us all to show our gratitude for the life- long service Mrs Armstrong has provided. She will be truly missed at St Michael’s but we look forward to see- ing her at school events in the future and wish her well in her retirement. It was our pleasure to wel- come Mr Ian Payne, Store Manager at Booths in Chor- ley, to present our former Year 11 with their awards and GCSE certificates on our Awards Evening. We have long standing links with the Chorley supermar- ket where their supportive staff kindly provide work experience for our pupils, including help with inter- view technique and applica- tion forms. Once again this evening celebrated not only the fantastic examination success of our young peo- ple but recognised all they did at school during their five years to enrich our learning community, and in doing so, fulfil our mission statement of ‘pursuing ex- cellence, serving God and celebrating the uniqueness of each individual.’ We are Message from the Headteacher D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 I S S U E 8 HIGHLIGHTS p2 Badminton b Brilliance p3 Governor elections p4 Shakespeare for Schools p5 Rugby news p6 Physics of flying p7 Celebration Eucharist service p8 Egg drop challenge p9 Christmas celebrations p10 Icelandic adventures p11 Fabulous football p12 Oxfam Unwrapped p13 Online safety p14 Theatre trip p15 Head choristers St Michael’s Church of England High School Therefore, choose Headteacher: Mrs J Jenks BSocSci Hons PGCE Deputy Headteachers: Mr J Chadwick BEd Hons, Mrs C Hooley BA Hons P A G E 2 S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S an absolute priority. The Fire Service have been into assemblies this term to discuss fire safety and we thank them for their assistance and response. As you will see in the latest issue of the School Newsletter (available on the website from Thursday 21 December,) our pupils continue to make the whole school community proud by being involved in many activities and events beyond the curriculum. Pupils’ involvement in raising money for various charities is to be highly commended, with their support for Children in Need, the Bishop’s Harvest Appeal and Oxfam Unwrapped being just some of the causes so willingly supported by pupils this half term. The Archbishop of York Christmas Party for senior citizens in the community has also been a most enjoyable highlight, with the pupils themselves hosting the event, organising quizzes, baking biscuits and providing musical accompaniment for a splendid celebration of this festive season. We look forward to welcoming Mrs Hannah Bain back to the English department next term following her maternity leave and wish Mrs Marie Rice well and thank her for diligence and commitment during the past few months. Thank you for your response to the letter regarding ‘Unavoidable School Closure’ and for sharing your contingency plans in pupil organisers, should school need to close during the school day. We are, of course, hoping that this event does not occur, but during this time of year it is advised that plans are in place should this happen. The school website will be the main source of information should we be forced to close: http://www.saint-michaels.com Schoolcomms and our Twitter page will also send out this in- formation. I assure you that school will only be closed after due consideration of the health and safety of everyone who learns and works here at St Michael’s. Similarly, we ask that you would ensure your child takes extra care when walking home from school, walking in at least pairs or small groups, especially on these dark evenings. Please also press upon them the importance of taking care on the roads. Once again we ask for your continued support in helping us to maintain our high standards in relation to dress and appearance. We particularly ask that you ensure that girls’ skirts are the regulation badged skirts of the correct length (no more than three inches above the knee) boys trousers are plain black, traditional, regulation trousers (not skinny fit), and that boys’ haircuts are not too short. Term ends on Friday 22 December at 13.00. Buses have been ordered for that time, following the morn- ing Christmas services. As always, thank you for your continued support and for sending your wonderful and special children to St Michael’s. I wish you all a very restful and peaceful Christmas and a happy New Year. Mrs J Jenks Headteacher FIRST place was taken by our Under 14s and Under 16s girls and Under 14s boys badmin- ton players this half term. The girls were playing in the Level 2 Chorley Badminton Competition here at St Michaels High School against five other schools in Chorley and will go on to represent Chorley after Christmas at the County Finals in Blackpool. On Monday 11th December the Under 14s boys badminton team went to Albany to play in the Level 2 Chorley Badminton Competition were they also came 1st against all the other teams in Chorley. On Wednesday 13th December the Under 16s boys badminton team went to Southlands to also play in the Level 2 Chorley Badminton Competition. They all played extremely well and came 2nd overall. A huge well done to all teams. Mrs Jenks continues... Badminton brilliance P A G E 5 S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S HARDWORKING 1106 tutorial elves are busy once again making beautiful Christmas deco- rations. They are cutting out decorations including reindeer, snowflakes and Christmas trees, which both staff and pupils are buying to make themselves. Robins, sleighs and personal- ised baby baubles are also available to purchase. The money raised will all go towards the Oxfam Un- wrapped Appeal that is be- ing sup- ported by all at St Michael’s. Beautiful baubles From this … to this. Make your own reindeer Some of the designs RUGBY at St Michael’s has made an outstanding start in 2017! Working very closely with Wigan Warriors, we have provided the opportunity for our athletes to flourish on the rugby field. All pu- pils have worked extremely hard in lesson time and it has been a particular delight to see so many pupils attending after school rugby training in every weather condition possible. We have been training in both codes of rugby and we continually focus on improving our skills and deci- sion making every week. We started 2017 testing ourselves against other Chorley schools in Chorley Festivals, with Year 7 and Year 8 improving weekly and Year 10 Rugby thoroughly enjoying releasing some energy against other Chorley schools. As we began to step foot outside of the Chorley borough, we have seen some positive and promising performances as we begin our fledging rugby paths. Highlights come from a great Year 7 performance against Standish High School who are currently playing the likes of Stoneyhurst and Sedbergh Schools. Our Year 7 team displayed great character in this cold wet fixture and despite losing, showed their true potential displaying some good rugby. The same Year 7 rugby team travelled to Westhoughton High School on a bitterly cold Tuesday evening and ran our 42-16 winners in a strong team performance with outstanding individual plays from Lewis Jordan, Jack Hilton and Isaac Waugh. Isaac said "It was really fun to play a team outside of Chorley". St Michael’s rugby's Year 8 team’s highlight came at Southlands High School where the team dominated from the outset and applied everything they had learned in training onto the rugby field. Stand out per- formances this term come from Jack Roberts, Frank Ingham and John Cull who consistently perform at a high level. We are also looking forward to March where some pupils have the opportunity to walk out with Super League players at the DW Stadium, Wigan, on our school trip. More than 50 pupils will watch the 2018 Super League Season Opener when Wigan Warriors take on Widnes Vikings. Thank you for your continued support with #StMichaelsRugby Rugby rules! P A G E 6 S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S TRIPLE Scientists have been flying high this half term learning about the physics of flight. Mrs Darby organised the visit for 20 pupils in Year 10 to the iFLY Indoor Skydiving centre at Trafford Park. This was to take part in a ‘Physics of Flight’ workshop that offered a unique opportunity to apply physics theory from the classroom to the live workings of a vertical wind tunnel. The transport was arranged, due to sponsorship from the Chorley and South Ribble Ogden Trust and each student experienced a combination of video, ver- bal and action based learning. The workshop lecture was based around Felix Baumgartner’s then record breaking jump from the stratosphere and the physics of his descent, followed by the engineer- ing and physics behind the working of wind tun- nels. Mrs Darby said: ‘The highlight of the trip were two introductory flights for each student in the wind tunnel, equivalent in time to three real sky- dives from 12,000 feet! ‘The combination of the ‘Physics of Flight’ work- shop and indoor skydiving allowed the pupils to experience first-hand the effects of force on their body and was a truly inspirational, active learning experience, as well as a great deal of fun! ‘At the end of the ‘Physics of Flight’ workshop, each student received a flight certificate and photo- graph to help them remember their evening, however, it will surely be something that all of us will not forget for a very long time.’ High flyers! Experiencing the physics of flight For updates and reminders or just to keep in touch... Why not follow us @SaintMichaelsCE P A G E 7 THIS beautiful piece of artwork was created by Paige Norris in 802. This piece of work was done in Art Club with Paige melting wax crayons with a hairdryer and carefully planning how she would create the ‘spray’ effect. Curriculum Leader for Technology, Mrs Cardwell, said: ‘Paige worked really hard on this! ‘It is a great example of creativity, enthusiasm and perseverance.’ Artwork of the month S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S FRIENDS, family, teachers and headteachers past and present gathered for a won- derful celebration to give thanks for the dedication and commitment of Mrs Freda Armstrong, Chair of Gover- nors, in Blackburn Cathedral. Choirs and musicians joined in the celebratory Eucha- rist service at the start of this half term which saw the cathedral filled with well-wishers for the lady who has served on our Governing Body for more than 40 years, 25 of them as Chair! Following the moving service everyone gathered in the Cathedral café for drinks, cakes and to spend time together. A wonderful celebration With some of her grand- children (above) and teaching staff (right) P A G E 1 0 S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S PENPAL links to Germany are now up and running! Pupils in Year 10 were excited to receive their letters from their new German penfriends at the start of December and intend to send a Christmas card in return. The letter exchange has been organised by MFL teacher Mrs Cattell with the help of her contacts in Germany and is already proving a great success! Curriculum Leader for MFL, Miss Nicholson, said: ‘What a great way to learn about a different culture whilst improving language skills and learning 'authentic'/ idiomatic phrases.’ Penpals in Deutschland A GEOGRAPHER’S paradise – this was the senti- ment expressed about the beautiful country of Iceland, following the school educational visit to this country. In the October half term 40 pupils accompa- nied by Mrs Jenks, Mr Clark, Mr Fraser and Mr Demet went on the Iceland visit. They spent five days exploring waterfalls, geysers and glaciers, visiting lava fields, the North American and Eurasian plate boundary and even met a Viking settler! Some enjoyed tasting the traditional foods of dried fish and black pudding made from lambs heart, but most preferred visiting the ice cream farm! ‘The highlight had to be swimming in the Blue Lagoon and getting a glimpse of the Northern Lights,’ said Mr Demet. Mr Fraser added: ‘The scenery was staggeringly beautiful. My highlight was visiting Thingvellir National Park and seeing the effects of continental drift first hand. ‘The Blue Lagoon was a magical experience! I wish we could have spent all day relaxing in the warm water!’ Mr Clark said: ‘This was an opportunity for our students to see the very best of physical geography in action. The scenery was stunning and I will never forget some of the amazing sights. ‘The students and staff came together in true ‘Team St Michael’s’ spir- it which made it an even more enjoya- ble experi- ence.’ Icelandic Adventure P A G E 1 1 A COLD Friday night after a busy week preparing for exams and travelling away to Blackburn, is not the ideal motivation for a team of 16 year old boys. This became more apparent when 20 minutes after the kick off, St Michael’s found themselves 3-0 down to a very confident and talented Darwen Vale side. Simple mis- takes had cost the boys and the pressure was turning into frustration when five minutes from the break, substitute Jack Crozier forced a free kick on the right hand side of Darwen’s area. Picking himself up, he attacked a quality ball in from Owen Morris to head home from the six yard box. Half time Darwen 3 v St Michaels 1 After a shake up and chat during the break, St Michael’s started the second half in a positive manner, making better decisions and using the ball more effectively. The defence, now more organised and com- posed, began to look more solid and despite a couple of chances by the home side, the back four and goal keeper remained unbeaten. At the other end St Michael’s were becoming much more of a threat with both Zain Faiz-Uddin and Ben Cecil on the flanks putting pressure on the Darwen back four. The second goal came from a St Michael’s corner, the ball coming back out to Sam Twist on the corner of the area to drill a shot at goal that was cleverly directed into the net by centre half, Mitchell Johnson, scoring his first goal for the team. Now the game swung in favour of the visiting team who poured more and more pressure on the Dar- wen goal and were rewarded 20 minutes from time with the equaliser. Excellent composure from Morris allowed the midfielder to pick out Twist who calmly passed the ball past the keeper into the net, 3-3! Game on! A late flag for offside ended St Michael’s celebrations when Cecil went through to beat the advancing Darwen Keeper. But the next goal was something special. After a terrible challenge on the excellent Joe Crispin at right back, quick thinking by goal keeper Max Marquis found left back Elliot Rimmer in space on the opposite flank. Taking advantage of the space he played a ball into Zain who played a double one-two with Sam Twist who then played an exquisite ball across to Crozier who had timed his run to perfection to slot the ball into the next past a despairing Darwen keeper to bag his second of the game, 3-4 St Michael’s! After his protestations to the referee, the Darwen number 15 who had had an excellent game was asked to leave the field and Darwen made a substitution. However, despite this, Darwen threw everything at St Michael’s and even after some excellent tackles and blocks from the beleaguered defence, Darwen drew level with less than five minutes left of normal time. The last minutes proved vital and St Michael’s, demonstrating exceptional character and resilience, took the game back to Darwen and in what was practically the dying seconds of the game Elliot Rimmer, top- ping a commanding 2nd half performance, was on hand from a St Michael’s corner, to crisply fire home from 12 yards into the bottom corner, 4-5!! Seconds later, whistle blown, a valiant St Michael’s team shook hands with a stunned Darwen side who must have thought in that 20th minute of the first half that they would run away with this game. St Michael’s proved that with a little grit, self-belief and team spirit that they are a match for anyone. Very, very proud of these boys. No matter what happens in the next round, thank you for letting me be a part of that performance! Well done! St Michael’s vs Darwen Vale S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S Mr Kennedy writes about the most exciting match of the year ... MR IAN Payne, store manager of Booths in Chor- ley, presented the awards and GCSE certificates to our former Year 11 pupils on their Awards Even- ing. St Michael’s is very grateful to Booths for allowing pupils to take part in work experience there and we were delighted to welcome him to school to address our pupils. A special mention was also given to Mrs Armstrong in recognition of her dedication to the Governing Body. Awards Evening P A G E 1 2 PUPILS in all tutorials have been raising money for Oxfam Unwrapped, again sup- porting this important charity at Christmas time. Each tutorial raises money and chooses some gifts that they want to buy for the less fortunate. Goats, camels, clean water, school equipment, planting an allotment are just some of the gifts sent to Oxfam, with pupils doing their bit to ‘change lives around the world’ for those people who live in poverty. Oxfam Unwrapped categorises their gifts into 5 areas; Growing vegeta- bles, filling classrooms, drilling wells, empowering women and fighting poverty. We hope to raise as much money as possible this year and will update you in the next newsletter with how much we have managed to raise and what gifts our fantastic students have decid- ed to purchase. Oxfam Unwrapped S A I N T M I C H A E L ’ S N E W S THIRD in the whole of Lancashire was the accolade awarded to our Year 11 netballers this half term when they at- tended the county netball tournament. The girls competed against 19 schools and reached the semi-finals, only narrowly losing 7-4 to Hasling- den. PE teacher, Mrs Brunsden, said: ‘It is an outstanding achievement for the netball team to have come 3rd in Lancashire. ‘Excellent effort and commitment from them all and also thank you to the Year 10s who participated in the tournament and for showing a high level of skill and maturity in the games.’ Netballing success LANCA- SHIRE lads and lasses took centre stage at Preston Guild Hall in November for a fantastic fun filled evening performing at this year’s Lancashire Dance Festival. Former St Michael’s teacher Mrs Sarah Gough took a team of guys and gals, many of them from St Michael’s, to the Festival, which fea- tured performances from primary, secondary and special schools in the county, all creating dances related to ‘Britain!’ Mrs Gough’s dance team, consisting of two of her dance groups, per- formed a fantastic routine which included references to Monopoly and James Bond. They provided a fitting finale to the festival which also included rou- tines based on the British summertime, the London guards, the Great British Bake-Off and many which related to the British weather! Dancing for Lancashire THIS half term Mrs Jenks, along with our Head Boy Lewis Kos and Head Girl Emily Crook represented school at the Festi- val of Remembrance service in church and then at the ceno- taph in Chorley. We were once again delighted that school was involved in this important act of remembrance paying homage to all who have sacrificed their lives fighting for their country.