Love has been in the air in the final week of Term 3, and we really needed it! At the end of a really tough seven weeks, the whole Sixth Form was gathered together on Monday for Head Student Grace Newby’s Valentine’s quiz, while our Year 12 Enterprise team were raising money and spreading happiness with Valentine’s notes and chocolates. 

Year 13’s term has been marked by an intensive mock exam schedule, with some students having up to 11 mock exams over two weeks, and others completing external vocational assessments. It may have been tough, but this was absolutely vital preparation for this summer’s exam series, which is why we were so pleased with the efforts of the vast majority of our students. With the recent announcements of Advance Information for these exams (shared in a letter earlier this week), summer is feeling ever nearer, and the final sprint has already begun.

A real highlight of recent weeks was Mortimer Hogg’s assembly which launched LGBTQ+ History Month (pictured). In the spirit of the month, Mortimer sought to share and celebrate some untold stories from the community and to spread awareness, a theme which has continued through our tutor time sessions. 

This term we have had a range of external speakers visit us to discuss our students’ futures, from a presentation around careers in sustainability from Geneco, a fascinating glimpse into jobs of the future from the University of the West of England, and some exciting summer opportunities from NCS and the University of Bristol. Our focus on futures continues into Term 4, with Year 12 visiting UWE in Week 1, and later in the term, heading to the University and Apprenticeships Search Fair at Ashton Gate. Meanwhile, our Year 13 students continue to receive a wide array of exciting university offers, or set their sights on securing apprenticeships and job opportunities. 

We look forward to our Virtual Progress Evening for Years 12 and 13 on March 3, so please make sure you have appointments booked so that we can discuss your child’s progress, targets, and to celebrate all the brilliant things they’re doing. Enjoy the break, and we’ll see you then. 

Mr Davies, Head of Sixth Form

Congratulations to Stephenson House who continue to lead the House Championship and finish Term 3 in first place.

This term has been strong for inter-house sports and it has been delightful to see so many students stepping up and representing their house in a range of sports including netball, football, badminton, basketball and boccia. Pankhurst secured a much celebrated win in inter-house badminton and Mr Murdoch is delighted to have this win under Pankhurst's belt. Yousafzai were dominant in the basketball competition and Turing House won boccia with students representing their house in sport for the first time. It was great to see everyone trying something new and being competitive.

The sport continued with netball and rugby competitions; Stephenson won in Year 7 while Pankhurst tied for first place with Stephenson in Year 8. Turing won in Year 9 and Stephenson won again in Year 10.

Our House Championship values what we value most in our school community and therefore the majority of the house points are allocated in our termly ethos competitions. This term's ethos competition recognised the positive contributions our fantastic students make in school each day and the house with the highest positive:negative ratio this term is Turing House with Yousafzai in second place, Stephenson in third and Pankhurst in fourth place. This result narrows the gap between Stephenson House and the other three houses a little and at the halfway point in this year's House Championship, there is still all to play for. 

Mrs Crocker, Assistant Headteacher

It's been a disappointing term overall for Pankhurst House as we continue to languish in fourth place. Our showing in the Ethos competition which looks at praise point to negative point proportion was particularly disappointing as historically we have done much better. 

Nonetheless we have had some successes with the Year 7 boys and Year 8 girls finishing first in their respective winter sport competitions and the Year 11 girls winning the badminton competition. A special mention should also go to our Year 10 boys and girls who finished third in their winter sport competitions - a just reward for their excellent perseverance over the years. They finished last in years 7 - 9 but have never given up or become defeatist in their attitude and were rightly pleased with this result. 

We are also leading the Accelerated Reader competition for the year so far which is lovely to see. We really value reading in Pankhurst House and I have enjoyed seeing our Year 10 and 11 students reading with some of our Year 7 over the course of this term. This buddying system has proved really effective in engaging some of our more shy readers and long may it continue. We are looking forward to the half term break and the opportunity a new term brings to re-group and start again.

Mr Murdoch, Head of Pankhurst House

Another busy term for the students in Stephenson House and I can honestly say that they continue to impress me with their dedication and effort with their studies. 

Our student leadership team has been busy meeting weekly to discuss and plan an assembly they will deliver to the house next term on civil rights. It has been very thought provoking and given the leadership team the opportunity to reflect on some of the role models in civil rights. We look forward to the leadership team delivering this assembly next term. I am also relishing the opportunity for the house to produce their World Book Day themed door in our house area. We have a lot of talented, creative and artistic students and I look forward to seeing what they come up with!

I wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate some of the successes outside of the classroom and school environment. Freddie Franklin in 7S continues to impress in BMX riding. During the 2021 season, he achieved British number 8 and South West number 1. In July, he will be traveling to Nantes, France for the 2022 World Championships where Freddie can once again represent Team GB. Needless to say, we are very proud of his achievements!

Mattijis Korswagen has also had some great news by being offered a contract as goalkeeper for Bristol Rovers after a successful trial period. Mattijs is a dedicated sportsman and his efforts are rewarded with a great opportunity for a future career. We wish him well with this opportunity.

In school it is great to see students representing our RED values and a big well done to the students below for being Stephenson Stars:

• 7S: Phoebe Woolnough, Celvin Barbosa-Goa
• 8S1: Xavier Antolic-Furlong, Zachary Garbutt
• 8S2: Ashton Taylor, Ava Hocking, Faisa Ismail, Daniel Pearson, Reuben Hawkesby
• 9S: Chloe Philips, Reuben Peacock, Eva Hayes, Daniel Young, Riley O'Brien
• 10S1: Vanessa Gerebenes, Sam Belcher, Ethan Garbutt, Ruby Coombs, Victoria Karczewska
• 10S2: Fin Skeates, Angel Chinn, Mattijs Korswagen, Mason McIver, Jacob Lambert
• 11S: Adil Mohamood, Danielle Cameron, Scarlett Newby

The house competition continues to be a strength for students in Stephenson House. Despite this both Turing and Yousafzai have closed the gap so there is all to play for the rest of the year.  Reading continues to be a strong area for us in the house coming out top in accelerated reader and reading logs. The ethos competition which we have won the last two terms was our least successful, finishing in the third place level with Yousafzai who pipped us with more praises. Well done to Turing who deservedly won.

On the sporting field we had some mixed results finishing 3rd in badminton, 4th in boccia and 2nd in basketball. Despite these results it was lovely to see the sixth form and year 11 involved in the house competition and there was a real buzz around the PE faculty during these events.

It is a pleasure to be the head of house for Stephenson and it is great to see such involvement in house events and competitions. Hopefully as we move towards term 4 and beyond there will be more of an opportunity to get involved in other house activities.

I trust you have a good half term and hopefully enjoy some nicer weather!!

Mr Thomas, Head of Stephenson House

Term 3 has certainly been a busy time for the whole school community at St Katherine’s. I wanted to start by highlighting the amazing statistic, that 68 students recorded 100% attendance in this term in what has been very challenging circumstances. Determination is a core value and high levels of attendance from Turing students reflect this core value.

It is at this point that I would also like to recognise the Tremendous Weekly Turing students. These students have  demonstrated one or more of the core values of Turing (Unity, Acceptance and Determination). Their attitude and behaviour during the term are an example to all students at St Katherine’s. Well done to:

• 7T: Harrison Forder, Leo Buston, Bea Miles, Mabel Challice, Molly Powell
• 8T1: Cerys Voisey, Cody Gallagher, Lola Bevan-Petrucco, Edie Davidson, Liam Davies, Cerys Voisey
• 8T2: Joey Doherty, Buddy Estcourt, Bella Perales-Morris, Malak Mengoud, Lola Bevan-Petrucco, Erin Reeves
• 9T: Alice Clarke, George Wilkinson, Oscar Caton, Fern Clarke, Roary Gallagher, Eve Osborn
• 10T1: Evie Jarrett, Max Varney, Patrik Miles, Damian Zaru, Gabriella Marcovitch
• 10T2: Michael Sirrell, Arthur Storey, Nahla Mengoud, Teagan Davidson, Jake Packham, Sol Flight
• 11T: Amrit Gill, Tacie-Ann Francis, Maida Mohamed, Layla Clarke, Nic Conbeer, Trysten Nmai

Also worthy of note are the Magnificent Termly Turing. These students have consistently demonstrated one or more of the core values of Turing (Unity, Acceptance and Determination) and sustained this over the whole of Term 2. Their resilience is a beacon to all other students at St Katherine’s. Congratulations to:

• 7T: Owain Donovan - "For always putting the effort in during tutor time! You are always willing to take part in house sport, and make great contributions during tutor time."
• 8T1: Liam Davies - "For always showing kindness and making everyone feel listened to in our tutor group - you are such an awesome tutor rep! As well as this, you always take part in extracurricular activities and are currently the highest praise point earner in the tutor group! Well done!"
• 8T2: Manon Herzog - "Excellent work as sports captain. Exemplary effort and behaviour all year."
• 9T: Sofia Hawkesby - "For consistent high standards and willingness to support tutor activities. She has all the qualities of a fantastic student: kind to others and hardworking."
• 10T1: Damian Zaru - "For always being willing to contribute to discussions in tutor time in a mature, thoughtful and kind way."
• 10T2: Phoebe Oakman - "For having consistently high standards in school and making a fantastic start to your GCSE courses."
• 11T: Yusra Ahmed - "For finding her place as a leader in year 11 and inspiring others to meet her high standards."

I would also like to draw your attention to the top student in each Turing Tutor Group with the most “Praise Points”.

• 71: Harrison Forder - 159 praises
• 8T1: Marcus Perry- 157 praises
• 8T2: Ella Bartovsky - 196 praises
• 9T : Victor Achim - 125 praises
• 10T1: Tom Stancliffe - 113 praises
• 10T2: Jake Packham - 137 praises
• 11T: Tacie-Ann Francis - 53 praises

I have received continued support and inspiration from the tutor team and Tacie-Ann Francis and Maida Mohmamed as Turing House Leaders. Thank you all for your help.

On the sporting front in Term 3, Turing displayed their core value of ‘unity’ in all competitions by being the house who had the highest number of participants representing the house. The boccia team from Years 7 and 8 were great and picked up maximum points. The Year 11/12/13 basketball team coped well with all of the changes, in particular the team that filled those middle games and picked up some great results for Turing - Maida's scoring, Isobel Taylor, Issy Howie, Yusra etc. As for 9T boys, well what can I say? The boys excelled in the rugby competition with George Wilkinson, Riley, Cos Antonio and Lucas Matthews really leading the way. Turing had the best team work in the competition and easily deserved their title. The Year 8 boys put up a great fight too and all the more impressive because they knew they were going to be up against it from their experience last year - Marcus Perry leading brilliant, Dan Stewart fantastic effort and Buddy one of the best players on the pitch.

I am also delighted to say that the girls in 9T, also put in a good performance and came a deserving second place in the netball competition. Although not finishing in the top half of the competitions, Year 7, 8 and 10 girls continued to show grit and determination throughout, with exceptional performances from Faria Nwal and Megan Bowers in 7T, Manon Herzog (Sports Captain), Malake Mengoud and Eliza Hillitt in Y8 and Teagan Davidson, Chloe Buston and Samira Maxamuud (Year 10)

Although as a house we are not where we have previously been in the sports competition at this time in the academic year, as always, I am very proud with the full representation and incredible turn out. 

However, for the first time since the House Championship began in September 2018, Turing House led the way in the behaviour ratio Ethos competition, showing that as a house we are forever developing and improving. This alone makes us champions. As we say in Turing House, ‘The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.’ 

I hope that all students have an enjoyable half term and are ready to return refreshed and motivated for the challenges of Term 4.

Mrs Price, Head of Turing House

Term 3 normally feels like the hardest one of the year, being in the depths of winter. However, Yousafzai have ploughed on and maintained a strong third position in the house championship, only a whisker behind Mrs Price and Turing House - there are only a few points in it, the race is on for next term! 

Students have been taking more leadership opportunities and responsibility and one of my highlights has been meeting with our student leaders each week. They have been thinking through different ways to enable the house to mix together across the year groups to embed that sense of community, family and belonging. They have put together a quiz for the house to complete in mixed groups which was a great success.

We have worked hard at the house championship this year, particularly in terms of our behaviour for the ethos competition. We came second (even though we had the best behaviour for term 1 and 2!) but we’ll take it! We have done incredibly well in terms of house sport, winning the basketball and coming second in boccia and badminton. A big well done to all those who took part! We have also stepped up our reading game, coming joint first with the accelerated reader quiz. For those who have children in years 7 and 8, please encourage them to read their book and then quiz their book and to log what they have read - it all counts towards the house championship! 

The tutor groups have continued to fight it out to claim the elephant each week which is awarded to the best tutor group. It has done a good tour of a number of tutor groups; 7Y1, 8Y and 7Y2, it finished its journey with 7Y1! 

We finished the term with our celebration of achievement assembly. We always celebrate two individuals from each tutor group who have had an exceptional term: 

• 7Y1 - Luke Jones and Ollie Adams
• 7Y2  - Alex Marton and Charlotte Atkins
• 8Y  - Mya James and Mckenzie Dimambro
• 9Y1 - James Slade and Clodagh McEvoy
• 9Y2 - Lyla Moore and Oli Jackson
• 10Y - Tannaz Saljughi and Alfred Gisborne
• 11Y1 - Poppy Baldwin-Brooks and Louis Gaskell
• 11Y2 - Ridwan Omar and Hannah Packer

Year 11 continue to work hard and have begun some serious revision for GCSE exams. As this term closes, we look ahead to one more term of teaching before exams begin. Year 11 - use this half term to rest well as it is about to get real! They are an exceptional year group; in their resilience and determination.

I love being the Head of Yousafzai House - it is a brilliant house full of brilliant individuals! We really work hard to treasure every opportunity that we have and becoming the best version of ourselves.Thank you to parents and carers in your support of this vision too.

Rest well all and I look forward to welcoming you back for Term 4 - full of more opportunities for wins for the house cup! 

Miss Andrews, Head of Yousafzai House

• We kick started this term with the rearranged house winter sport competitions - the mist and fog descended upon some of the matches but there was a real clarity in the performances. It was great to see students out on the rugby pitches and netball courts representing their houses in the first major competition of the year.
• Indoor cricket has started with a bang in our sports hall with St Katherine's hosting the qualifying rounds in both girls and boys competitions. All four of our indoor teams have made it through qualifying and are due to contest the North play-offs later this term or early next term. Indoor cricket is such a great game and it's been great to see students getting stuck into these competitions.
• Our leaders have supported two primary events this term with Year 10 welcoming younger visitors to a rowing and target festival as well as a more traditional multi-skills festival. There are a huge range of Year 10 students who have led already this year and it has been a real privilege to see their energy, enthusiasm, engagement and interaction with our guests. We look forward to hosting more primary events later this year.
• Our girls and boys teams have been busy in netball, hockey, football and basketball action with friendly matches taking place across the school. There have been some nights where St Katherine's has been awash with sporting action. I know I'm biased but it's so good to see our pitches and courts bursting to the seams with sportsmen and women!
• Midway through the term saw the start of the winter mini series with senior badminton, senior basketball and junior boccia all taking place. The highlight for me was watching more than 50 Year 11 and sixth form students fight it out in a frenetic badminton competition. The atmosphere in the sports hall was brilliant and it was great to see cross-year group cooperation ... something we missed out on far too much last year!
• Some lucky Year 7 students were treated to a short mat bowls taster in the last week of term. With the help of NSSPEA, we are really excited to be holding 6 indoor mats plus equipment and it was great to see all of this being used by some of our youngest students. The feedback we had from students was excellent and we are really excited about future club and competition opportunities as well as rolling it out to the wider school.
• There have also been some fantastic individual successes this term - perhaps most notably, Heidi Martineau running for Avon Schools in the South West Cross Country Championships. There aren't many who can say that they are one of the top runners in the South West of England but Heidi can. There are lots of other students' successes across our community too!
• I know for certain that there is loads of news that I've missed out and there's only one way to catch up on everything PE and school sport ... get yourself signed up to our termly newsletter with the next edition due in February half term!

Mr Cook, Head of PE

• 28 February: INSET DAY - School closed to students
• 01 March: Students in school for Term 4
• 01 March: Y12 trip to UWE
• 03 March: World Book Day
• 03 March: Year 12 & Year 13 Virtual Progress Evening
• 08 March: Year 8 HPV Vaccination
• 10 March: Year 10 & 11 music trip to Winterbourne Academy
• 11 March: Year 11 Futures Day
• 17 March: Dance festival trip to Weston Playhouse
• 24 March: Y12 trip to UK University Search at Ashton Gate
• 26 March: Adventure Training Club climbing trip to Sandford
• 28th March-1 April: Year 7 Bikeability
• 8 April: END OF TERM 4
• 25 April: Students in school for Term 5

There isn’t enough space here to showcase the huge variety of student experiences and achievements this term. Keep up to date by visiting the ‘News and Events’ section on the school website, check the school Facebook page or follow us on Twitter (@stkathsschool)