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Term 6 Newsletter - July 2019 |
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Message from Mr Humphreys, Headteacher |
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The year draws to a close with our new houses reflecting on their first year, celebrating and recognising the wonderful young people we work with every day. After a year of tremendous effort we are all looking forward to results days during the summer (A level results are published on 15 August, GCSE results on 22 August) and the new term in September.
In early July we welcomed Year 6 students from over 50 primary schools who will join us in September. The Year 6s experienced a full range of lessons and got to know their new surroundings which will help them hit the ground running. It was great to see their enthusiasm during the two day induction and the warm welcome they received from our students.
Our Houses gathered for their 2018/19 final celebration assemblies this week, capturing the highlights from the first year in houses at St Katherine’s. These were very well received by staff and students and reflected a great sense of belonging and appreciation within our school community.
We have been very pleased with the way students have adjusted to being free from mobile phones, it's an important step as we all challenge ourselves on using our mobile devices. We will share guidelines in the new academic year on the importance of routines, being active, minimising screen time and reading each day.
After several years of being rained off, our Sports Week was a great success with great representation from across the houses and a carnival-like atmosphere. Youzafzai’s elephant mascot was very entertaining alongside our usual commentary duo, Mr Thomas and Mr Hodgson. The house tunes rang loud, races were won by the tightest of margins and records were broken. In the end Yousafzai took the sporting glory. Well done to them and a huge thank you to the PE department for co-ordinating a great school event.
Other highlights from this term include:
- Our Year 10s did work experience with a variety of businesses and organisations.
- While Year 10s were on work experience, Years 7, 8 and 9 enjoyed Activities Week. A group of Year 7 pupils visited Paris (pictured at EuroDisney above) while a group of Year 9s went to Barcelona. Back on home turf students enjoyed numerous day trips including a range of activities on site including a masterclass with a comic artist from the Beano, Masterchef in the training kitchen and a visit by North Somerset Bird of Prey Centre who brought raccoons, weasels, chameleons, lizards and many more.
- St Katherine's Music Parent Supporters (SKAMPS) celebrated another great evening of live music performed by over thirty of the school's fine young musicians. There was a wide variety of music and singing, performed by soloists whose effort contributed to fundraising to support music at St Katherine's. Thank you to SKAMPS and Cathedral Schools Trust for our new piano this week.
So 2018/19 draws to a close and we enter the school holidays exhausted but very satisfied, and ready to relax. Wishing all students, families and staff a safe and restful summer break and we look forward to welcoming everyone back on Wednesday 4 September.
Justin Humphreys, Head of School
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Science news |
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Our students have been excelling in science...
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Royal Society of Biology's 'Biology Challenge': Year 9 and Year 10 students achieved a great set of results in the Royal Society of Biology’s ‘Biology Challenge’, with a record number achieving gold awards. The rigorous online competition covers a wide range of topics and is open to students aged 13 to 15. There were some excellent achievements by the students (some of them are pictured above):
Gold award winners (performing in the top 5% nationally): Finch Talbot Ponsonby, Seren Kay, Bruno Thomasset, Judit Molnar and Natasha Borland.
Silver award winners: Jessica Atkinson, Mortimer Hogg, Ben Cook, Phoebe Durrant, Liam Osborne, Jessica Sharpe, Leah Rudolf, Harry Hodson, Tobias Rice, Kyle Barrett and Nasma Ismail.
Bronze award winners: Fearne Savy, Tom Evans, William Parsons, Pannie Dilokwanitchakorn, Phoebe Palmer Givan, Veronica Noriega, Fergus Creton, Hetty Cleaver, Isabelle Howie, Natalie Stringer, Jessica Stanley, Ellie Ojo, Sam Vincent, Jackson Lloyd, Molly Jackson, Amelya Hobbs and Harley Langford Davis.
Go4Set: A group of Year 9 students took part in the four month long Go4Set an EDT (Engineering Development Turst) engineering competition. Their brief was to design an Eco Hotel factoring in cost of materials, energy generation techniques, making it cost effective and green.
The students split themselves into two teams (boys vs girls!) and worked with a mentor, an engineer from the MoD, to research, develop and debate their ideas . They presented their final reports, hotel models and a presentation boards that detailed the journey of the project at the final presentation at UWE and showed off their work to a panel of professional engineers. Both teams worked hard but it was the girls that took the winning spot; taking home the people's choice award!
Congratulations to both teams for all their hard work and special thanks to their mentors, James and Tom. Boys team: Izzac Osborn, Toby Rice, Joseph Williams, Max Stevens, William Parsons, Ben Cook. Girls team: Jessica Sharpe, Jessica Stanley, Isobel Taylor, Issy Howie, Ellie Ojo, Katie Clarke
Great Science Share: Year 7 science club students took part in the Great Science Share at UWE where they were challenged to come up with their own questions and design a way to investigate their query. Read about the day.
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Year 6 induction days
In early July we welcomed Year 6 students from over 50 primary schools who will be the new Year 7 cohort in September. They enjoyed taster lessons and took the opportunity to make new friends and familiarise themselves with the school layout and were joined by their families on the second evening for the traditional welcome BBQ.
Here's what some our new Year 7's said about their experience:
"Awesome, friendly, amazing", "Exciting, nervous, adventurous", "Brilliant, intriguing, joyful"
Many said how they are excited about starting at St Katherine's and we are looking forward to them joining our school community.
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Library Resource Centre news
Huge thanks go to year’s fantastic group of Carnegie shadowers! They read a shortlist of eight books and, with a real mix of genres again this year, it was a massive commitment for the students. The group evaluated each title and met regularly to discuss their thoughts about each book and post reviews on the Carnegie Award shadow website. On the day the winner was announced everyone met at lunchtime to talk about their favourites, eack cake and celebrate the winning book – ‘The Poet X’ by Elizabeth Acevedo. It was a popular winner being the overall favourite of all the students and the title they voted for.
Find out more about the books on this year’s shortlist and what our students thought of them.
Ms Wyld, School Librarian
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SKAMPs live event - an evening of excellent student performances |
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On Friday 28th June we were treated to a host of excellent performances from students across all year groups at the annual SKAMPS Live Event. There was everything from classical music to musical theatre to pop from soloists, duets and small groups. It was a very hot evening with a jam packed lecture theatre but all the students performed brilliantly and supported each other so well.
It was a fantastic evening with a varied musical programme and I was extremely proud of all the students on stage. In total nearly 50 students across all year groups performed on the night.
A huge thank you to SKAMPS for their continued hard work and support of the music department and to Mrs Collins for her assistance on the night.
Miss Adams, Head of Music
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Year 9 Film Festival |
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Year 9 to showcased their creative talents through the art of film making this term. The English and Creative Digital Arts Faculty ran a mini film studies course in which students learnt how to work with DSLR cameras, Rode mics, Adobe Premiere Pro and other online technologies - the result was the first ever Year 9 Film Festival.
The judging panel of chose Turing's entry 'The Letter' as the Best Film. Congratulations to Jamie-Leigh Bell, Lola Watson, Katie Clarke, Ava Baker, Ruby Aczel and Evie O'Neil for their winning entry.
Thanks to all of the students for taking up the challenge and being a fantastic crowd to work with. Watch the best of the bunch: Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Fit to Title and Most Entertaining.
Ms Weatherson, Head of Media
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Students commended by the Headteacher this term |
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Finalist at the Secondary Engineers Leaders Award competition: Drew Masters - Year 12
Go4Set Science competition winner: Katie Clarke, Isabelle Howie, Ellie Ojo, Jessica Stanley, Jessica Sharpe, Isobel Taylor - Year 9
Outstanding effort and commitment in art: Bethia Brown, Eugene Furniss, Judit Molnar, Grace Newby,Edith Powell, Annika Rugman, Amy Hecker - Year 10
Reading millionaires: Emily Earle, Joe Crawford, Leah Wardingley, Demi Cornick, Sophia Harper, Alfred Gisborne, Phoebe Oakman, Leon Essam - Year 7
Supporting Year 6 induction days: Evie Dexter-Year 9, Zain Ul Abbdeen Muhammed - Year 8 and
Belle Fey, Winnie Fey, Francine Alford, Tehreem Ahmed, Alice Brochet-Sharpe, Chloe Buston, Joseph Crawford, Ruby Gray, Sophie Hicks, Hollie Lang, Hannah Lange, Amelia Marlow, Solanah Morgan, Reuben O'Donnell, Phoebe Oakman, Noah Pearson, Hope Roberts, Michael Sirrell, Jess Whalen, Sophie De-Wet - Year 7
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Noticeboard |
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FREE summer activities
We appreciate it can be difficult to keep children occupied during the six-week summer holiday break. Bristol City Council have sent details of events in Laurence Weston and the surrounding areas almost every day of the school holidays, all free to attend and all with free food.
You can turn for up for most activities on the day unless otherwise stated. Find out more.
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Wellbeing summer holiday sessions for students
Wellspring Counselling in Nailsea can provide free emotional support and counselling for teenagers over the summer holidays.
They offer 1-1 support, workshops and drop-in sessions on Friday mornings in early August which include activities and the opportunity to have a 1-1 conversation with a qualified practitioner. Full details here
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Scholars uniform sale, 15 August
Scholars, our uniform suppliers, will be in school on A level results day, 15 August between 10.30am and 2pm. You can also order online or visit their shop at 4 Terrace Walk, Bath BA1 1LN Tel: 01225 462205
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Term 1 - dates for your diary |
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- 15 Aug: A level results day
- 22 Aug: GCSE results day
- 2&3 Sept: INSET DAYS
- 4 Sept: Students in school for Term 1
- 19 Sept: School Open Evening 6-9.00pm
- 24 Sept: School Open Morning 9-11.00am
- 26 Sept: Sports Awards 7-9.00pm
- 1 Oct: School Open Morning 9-11.00am
- 4 Oct: INSET DAY
- 8 Oct: School Open Morning 9-11.00am
- 9 Oct: Parent/carer association meeting 6.30-7.30pm
- 25 Oct: END OF TERM
- 4 Nov: INSET DAY
- 5 Nov: Students in school for Term 2
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