On Thursday 30th June, St Katherine's School celebrated the first ever Pride March within a school setting. Over 260 students and staff listened to keynote speakers from the student body and a brilliantly informative and heart warming speech from one of our physics teachers, Ms Ardell. Students and staff, fuelled by the incredible speeches, then marched around the school site adorned in rainbow and waving an aptly diverse range of pride flags. The afternoon was finished off with Pride anthems being blasted out on the top field, filling the attendants with a strong sense of community and Pride.

Students were able to bring in their own pride flags, badges and other accessories to wear in the afternoon. Some of the students were given 'Ask Me a Question' stickers for those who wanted to learn more about the community, the event or general advice from those within the LGBTQ+ community. Many staff within the LGBTQ+ community have commented on how successful and heartwarming it was to be able to host an event like this at a school, as many of us grew up under Section 28 and the hangover period since its eradication in 2003. To be able to be yourself and celebrate your identity with friends and the wider school community is something that should be cherished. We hope this event continues alongside our wider work on inclusion within the school, and grows year on year.

Finally a massive thank you to Mrs Skeates, Ms Jefferson, Mr James, Ms Collett and the aforementioned Ms Ardell for all of the incredible work for the LGBTQ+ community this year.

Mr James, Learning Support Assistant and Equalities Team Member

As I write this, I’m recovering from presenting an incredibly competitive end of term quiz on one of the hottest days on record. Fair play, Year 12, for the energy levels, and huge congratulations to the winning team of Finch, Izaac, Max and Liv. Now, I think it’s time for a nap. 

But first, let me update you on another packed term in the Sixth Form. 

Term 6 saw our incredible Year 13 students complete their A Level and vocational qualifications. I cannot express how proud we were of the way they conducted themselves throughout this gruelling process, and we really hope each and every one feels proud of what they achieved. 

We sent this extraordinary group off to their summer holidays with a joyous Leavers’ Day and Night; a day of tears, gifts, awards and bouncy castles, and an evening of singing, dancing and Mexican cuisine. After everything this year group has been through, what a wonderful note on which to end the year. Now, we wait for August 18th and results day - sure to be another celebratory occasion. 

In the meantime, Year 12 have had their own hectic schedules, from completing a challenging round of end of year mocks, to an intensive and engaging day of Sex and Relationships Education, to throwing themselves wholeheartedly into a range of whole school events, whether marching and dancing their way around the school in the name of Pride, or providing capable assistance throughout Sports Day. The PE faculty declared that they couldn’t have done it without them!

And there was even more going on this term! We also welcomed next year’s cohort of incoming students for our Step Into Sixth Form Day, giving them insights into the realities of life as a Sixth Former including study skills, leadership and expectations, before culminating in our customary game of rounders. Despite the fact Year 12 have been practising weekly all term, Year 11 emerged victorious. For shame. 

So there it is, a breathless end to another breathless year in the Sixth Form. We continue to progress and get better every day, and that couldn’t happen without the dedication and commitment of each and every student, and the families who support them at home. Have a wonderful summer and take care.

Mr Davies, Head of Sixth Form

During the last week of term 5 St Katherine’s students joined with pupils from the Cathedral Schools Trust (CST) schools in a fantastic concert at the beautiful Bristol Cathedral. This was the first cross trust concert since 2019 due to the pandemic; the last concert was scheduled for March 2020 and had to be cancelled at the last minute as we went into lockdown so it was amazing to be back performing together in such a prestigious venue. 

St Katherine’s choir sang Memories by Maroon 5 and were accompanied by St Katherine’s orchestra. Memories is a modern pop song which is based upon a 17th century piece of music; Pachelbel’s Canon. A real fusion of old and new which fitted the concert theme of togetherness perfectly. We also weaved in a St Katherine’s School house song into the performance; All Together Now by The Farm which is a Stephenson House song I believe! 

The choir did a wonderful job with their enthusiastic and confident singing. It was a real pleasure to watch their faces light up as they sang to a packed cathedral and enjoyed the beautiful acoustic and unique atmosphere of the historic building. The orchestra provided a fantastic accompaniment and included a few of our new trailblazers students who have only been learning their instruments for a few months. 

Students in choir were:

Maisie Thorn, Phoebe Woolnough, Daizy Cox, Ava Fowler, Sophia Toto, Abbie Hoydan, Megan Lambert, Freya Bowers, Elsie Wakelam, Amelia O’Reilly, Raheema Taylor, Ellie McPherson, Isobella Lyons, Joe Crawford, Emily Earle and Phoebe Oakman.

Students in orchestra were:

Christopher Rogers, Evelyn Staley, Victor Achim, Oscar Caton, Ami Kaman, Charlotte Lee, Scarlett Rowswell, Isobel Marlow, Alex Bhambri-Lyte, Seb Hutchins-Davies and Vesper Peate.

Students from across CST then joined together for the finale which was a piece of music called Earth by acclaimed film composer Hans Zimmer. This was performed by the BCCS Symphony Orchestra and involved all nine schools across the trust singing the various vocal parts. This was a huge undertaking and an amazing experience to be singing alongside hundreds of other students in such a large scale work. 

It was an uplifting end to a wonderful evening of music.The St Katherine’s students represented our school extremely well and I received lots of lovely comments about their performances from staff and students from many of the schools. The pandemic kept us apart and particularly impacted music making in all our schools so it was amazing to see so many performers and a huge audience back together again. Very well done to all the students involved and we look forward to more great musical collaborations in the future. 

Miss Adams, Head of Music

Congratulations to Stephenson House who were crowned winners of both the Sports Cup and the House Championship for 2022!

240 invited students gathered in the lecture theatre on Friday 15th July to hear the live announcement of the 2022 House Championship winners and tutor groups and staff across the school tuned in to the live stream that was broadcast simultaneously.

St Katherine's School's House Championship is designed to capture the best of our community. There is no opt out in our House Championship, you can’t not take part, everyone has contributed to this year's result. Attendance, punctuality, positive:negative ratio and reading are at the heart of our House Championship competition and so by belonging to St Katherine’s School community, all students are competitors. They play their part and their contribution matters.

There has been a huge range of opportunities for students to shine as an individual and a member of the team and we have had fun this year in a bigger range of competitions than ever before. Chess, the After Eight challenge, keepy uppy, rounders, softball, rugby, football, cup flipping, art in our community, designing the school's Christmas card, ninja warrior, memorising Pi, treasure hunts and quizzes. Students' dedication to their house, their willingness to try new things and be a little bit silly along the way make our school an amazing place to work and learn. Next year will be even better and if you are yet to have your moment in the spotlight, it is coming. Watch this space!

This year’s House Championship competition was very close. Stephenson House have led for much of the year and you can be forgiven for thinking that victory for them this year was guaranteed. However, on the eve of the announcement of this year's champions and with just two competitions to go there were only 47 points between the house in first place and the house in second. Two competitions to go. One big and one small. The Heads of House love a bit of competition and like nothing more than competing against each other. During the spring, the Heads of House were given a sunflower each to nurture and grow. Mr Thomas delegated responsibility to his children. Mr Murdoch took his home to his garden, Mrs Price planted hers in the heart of our school gardens and Miss Andrews found hers a sunny spot at home to care for it. The results of the penultimate competition of the year were collected and we saw that in fourth place was the Pankhurst sunflower at 33cm. In third place, the Yousafzai sunflower with 61 cm. In second place, growing to 109cm was the Turing sunflower but congratulations must go to Mr Thomas’s children whose sunflower reached an amazing 122cm. However impressive another Stephenson victory might have been, this was not enough for the result to be assured and Yousafzai could still have stolen the win.

The final competition of the year was the positive:negative ratio ethos competition. This competition had been incredibly close all term and the final result required some significant number crunching. Two houses were tied on a positive negative ratio of 91% and therefore we were down to which house had the highest average number of positives per student. The final reckoning showed that in fourth place with a positive ratio of 86% was Pankhurst, in third place Turing with 89% and tied on 91% were Stephenson and Yousafzai. Stephenson House students were calculated to have a greater number of positives each on average and so they took the win.

Mr Humphreys read out the overall result and presented the trophy to Charlie and Sophia - Stephenson House Leaders.

Mrs Crocker, Assistant Headteacher

Another year over and another fourth place in the House Championship! It's never easy finishing fourth but somebody has to do it and this year it was us. I'd like to congratulate Stephenson House on their first ever House Championship victory. It was well deserved and they have set the standard for the other houses to meet and beat next year. I'd also like to thank Yousafzai House and Turing House as well. The competition has been fierce all year and this can only be good for us as we seek to set the highest standards for our young people. 

Whilst we finished fourth there are nonetheless many things to celebrate for Pankhurst House. Seb Hutchins-Davies, 7P1, gained the highest number of praise points in the school this year with an astonishing 1196 praise points at the time of writing, well done Seb! And not far behind Seb were the following students - Ryan Rice: 926, Solomon Shilton: 919, Jessica Britton: 914, Emily Sell: 913, Alexa Barnard: 878, Faith Edwards: 866, Flo Desyllas: 844, Ivan Fripp: 833, Ben Anderson: 831 - who were applauded in our final assembly for being the top ten praise earners for Pankhurst House this year. 

We won the Accelerated Reader Programme again this year, which is an excellent achievement. As we all know 'reading makes us richer' and I have enjoyed the passion that the majority of Pankhurst House show for reading. One of my personal highlights of the year was seeing our Year 10 and 11 students reading regularly with some of our less confident readers in year 7 and 8 during morning tutor times. 

A further highlight of this year was the House Awards Evening and I had the pleasure of awarding house colours to: Maida Warsame, Noah Sakalas, Emily Sell, Matthew Wilberforce, Taryn Perkins, Christopher Rogers, Ryan Rice, Millie Stratton, Raheema Taylor and Seb Hutchins-Davies. House colours are awarded to students who embody the house values of Passion, Perseverance and Pride and who have made a significant contribution to the house over the course of their time with us. These students are excellent role models to the others in the house and we are lucky to have them.

With regard to sport we are seeing some promising signs in all year groups with a really good effort from everyone who has competed for the house. Our older students led the way for a Year 11 and 6th Form badminton victory and our Year 7 boys and Year 8 girls finished second and first in their respective competitions - well done all of you! Also a special mention goes to Bailey, Noah, Demi and Leoni’s victory in the Year 10 rowing and the epic Year 9 boys relay on Sports Day - this is what we can do when we pull together.

I'm looking forward to next year and the opportunities it will bring... but first let's enjoy a well earned break to recharge the batteries!

Mr Murdoch, Head of Pankhurst House

Wow what a year it has been for Stephenson House where we have led for the whole of the year in the house championship. The final house championship assembly saw us crowned 2022 winners as well as winning the double in the house sport competition. I am so incredibly proud of the students in our house who have shown to be the best version of themselves all year. We haven't won the house championship since its inception so this is an exciting time to be a member of Stephenson House.

We started the term with our much anticipated house awards evening which gave us the opportunity to celebrate the best of our students in Stephenson House. It was a lovely evening and an opportunity to reflect on the hard work and dedication of students' studies with parents/carers, teachers and young people. Students were awarded a book of the year and a certificate for approach to learning and attainment in subjects. Please see below for the students in Stephenson House who were selected by the faculties for this;

Alice Brochot-Sharpe, Charlie Topp, Francine Allford, Jake Iles, Joe Crawford, Millie Marlow, Noah Pearson, Samuel Wright, Victoria Karczewska, Angel Chinn, George Garland, Hamza Hamami, Harvey Niemczyk, Jess Carey, Maddie Price, Mya Morgan, Ruby Fowler, Sienna Di Nardo, Sophia Harper, Ahmed Hassan, Danielle Cameron, Effie Lomax, Hannah Packer, Jonathan Kambu, Pearl Westerberg, Safa Culuslow, Eloise Brochot-Sharpe, Kieran Lyne, Leah Matthews, Maisie Thorn, Phoebe Woolnough, Ari Westerberg, Benjamin Palmer, Felix Huertas, Joshua Healy-Hart, Shannon Barker, Victoria Reid, Xavier Antolic-Furlong, Alex Bhambri-Lyte, Evelyn Staley, Isabel Healy-Hart, Otis Burnett, Eva Hayes, Jack Palmer-Givan, Oliver Belcher and Oliver Hecker.

The final part of the evening was an opportunity to recognise students who have contributed to the house and gone above and beyond for Stephenson House. All of these students have represented the RED Values of Stephenson House and should be commended for their efforts this year:

Sophia Harper, Charlie Topp, Hamza Hamami, Victoria Karceszka, Felix Huertas, Izzy Healy-Hart, Safa Culusow, Jonathan Kambu, Benjamin Palmer and Jack Palmer-Givan.

The final award was the student of the year which was awarded to Danielle Cameron in 11S. She was given this prestigious award because;

• She lights up a room when she walks in.
• Is a dedicated and hard working student.
• Has worked hard to develop EDI within the school.
• Is a role model for all students in our house and with the wider school.
• Is a brilliant student leader who has contributed so much over the past five years.
• Has an exemplary behaviour record.
• Has a heart of gold and the courage of a lion.

This term we won the ethos competition going toe to toe with Yousazai which ultimately led to our victory at the end. A big well done to the students for having the best behaviour ratio in term 6. Stephenson also had the most headteacher's commendations for the term which also gave them full points.

Other competitions this term have been the sunflower competition where the heads of house were challenged to grow the biggest sunflower. Thanks to my own children who watered it everyday we were able to pip Mrs Price and Turing to the title and I now have a lovely sunflower in my back garden!

Victoria Karcesczka, 10S1, should be rightly proud of her efforts in challenging for the highest praises in the house. Victoria amassed an amazing 1134 praise points finishing second overall in  the whole school. Felix Heurtas, 8S1, finished fourth with an equally impressive 1012 and Ari Westerberg, 8S1, seventh with 965.

Sports day was a fantastic day and it was great to be able to share this special occasion as a house and school community. Going into the second part of sports day Stephenson house was two points behind Turing. It remained a close competition going down to the relay races at the end. Turing came out on top to win sports day and we must congratulate them for being deserved champions on the day. I would like to give a big shout out to the year 9 girls who despite having low numbers tried really hard and contributed to the overall success of sports day showing one of our values of determination throughout.

Stephenson have really shown to be a sporty house and have once again led all the way in the house sport competition. This is partly down to strength of leadership in the house with sports leaders actively getting out teams for all competitions. The superstars competition was particularly strong for the boys getting one win and three second places. The year 7 girls team of Maisie Thorn and Phoebe Woolnough also took home the title. It was also incredibly pleasing to see both the boys and girls winning overall in the house softball and rounders. All these results have contributed to Stephenson House storming away with the sports championship. Well done to all the students in the house that have been a part of this success!

Finally I would like to thank parents/carers for their ongoing support this year and I hope you all have a lovely well deserved summer break. We look forward to defending our title next year and I look forward to seeing you all in September.

Mr Thomas, Head of Stephenson House - 2022 House Champions!

I hope you have all been enjoying (and at times avoiding) the amazing sunshine and blistering heat of the past few days. Turing students have coped with these extreme conditions calmly and sensibly.

What a final term we have had at St Katherine’s and especially Turing House. The examination season has seen the Y11 students make that final push in revision and application of their knowledge in exam conditions. The first formal exams sine the COVID pandemic. Their effort has been tremendous and an example to the lower year groups in Turing.

The flip side to the strain and stress of the exam period is the Y11 Celebration Day and Prom. It was lovely to share the enjoyment and sense of accomplishment of the Y11 Turing House Students. With everyone looking so elegant, dapper and grown up. It was a wonderful occasion. Their friendship, behaviour and conduct at both events was a credit to all Turing House members that attended. Additionally, I hope that all Y11 students achieve the success that they deserve as results day approaches at the end of the summer.

It is now up to the current Year 10 to take up the mantle and continue into Year 11 in the same positive way that our leavers have displayed. The first steps have already been taken in this process with the mock exams. This was an ideal opportunity to gain experience, improve on exam techniques and identify gaps in knowledge. Turing House are very proud of the way they conducted themselves and stepped up to the challenge. 

This term also saw the return of Turing Celebration Evening. Students across all year groups were recognised for their outstanding approach to learning and attainment. It was such a privilege to be able to celebrate with students and their families and recognise the outstanding contributions that the students made to Turing House and the wider whole school community. After the past two years, celebrations like this were put on hold, but the evening went off with a bang, recognising our magnificent young people. The award winners epitomise Turing’s house values (unity, determination and acceptance). In displaying these values in everything that they do at school they give themselves every chance to embody the house motto, in being able to CREATE THE IMPOSSIBLE.

Attainment Subject Awards: Thomas Earle - Maths, Harvey Bambury - Geography, Marcus Perry - Science, Ella Bartovsky - French, Edie Davidson - Art, Bess Stevens - Philosophy and Beliefs, Evie Roberts - Drama, Caitlin Donovan - French, Phoebe Oakman - Maths, Reuben O'Donnell - Photography, May Anderson - History, Hope Roberts - French, Yushra Ahmed - English, Matthews Parsons - Computing and Trysten Nmai - PE.

Approach to Learning Subject Awards: Kelisa Palmer - Maths, Emily James - Spanish, Faria Azim -  Philosophy and Beliefs, Noah Roberts - Food, Luke James - English, Liam Davies - Maths, Cerys Voisey - Product Design, Maxine Nash - Textiles, Bowen O'Callaghan - Food, Manon Herzog - History, Roary Gallagher - Maths, Riley Bristol - Geography, Victor Achim - Drama, Madeleine Thomas - English, Solanah Morgan - Science, Chloe Buston - Business, Hannah Lange - Engineering, Teagan Davidson - Psychology, Will Young -  Food Preparation and Nutrition, Herbie Challice - Further Maths, Paige Welsby - History, Winnie Fey - Art, Balint Fekete - Physics, Nicole Combeer - Maths, Maida Mohamed - Science, Armit Gill - Psychology and Adam Britton - French.

As well as recognising students’ attainment and approach to learning, the distinguished House Colours awards were handed to students whose endeavours were recognised for exceptional commitment and contribution to Turing. These students lead others, exemplify our vales of Determination, Acceptance and Unity in all that they do. I rely on their support daily and they make Turing House the incredible success that it is.

Turing House Colours: Yusra Ahmed, Balint Fekete, Tacie-Ann Francis, Teagan Davidson, Hope Roberts, Oscar Caton, Roary Gallagher, Manon Herzog, Grace Jenkins, Marcus Perry and Cerys Voisey.

Last award of the evening was the prestigious Student of the Year award. This award encapsulates everything that I want from students in Turing House. Maida Mohamed, 11T, was the receiver of the award for:

• being an inspiration to all
• showing dedication to her studies and finding the time to support others
• the journey she has been on which reflects the incredible, charismatic young person that she is today
• being an exceptional role model and Turing House Leader
• her exceptional work with the EDI group is profound, playing a pivotal role in helping young people resolve conflict and support in restorative conversations
• having a really infectious smile!

Following the massive success of the Celebration Evening, the focus this term moved to Sports Day and the overall Inter-House Competition. It has been fantastic to witness the incredible effort made by Turing House students in all areas of school life. Commitment to study, maintaining good attendance levels, teamwork and commitment in all aspects of Hhuse activity. There is a real sense of belonging and support for each other.

Once again, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the amazing Tutor Team who work tirelessly to support all of the members of Turing House. We had a particularly successful Year 6 Induction Programme where we welcomed the new members of Turing House into Year 7. I hope they all enjoyed their experience and look forward to formally welcoming them all into Turing and sharing with them our values and culture in September.

It is also important (and customary) to share with you the other significant successes of Turing students. Once again students have represented the core values of Turing in every respect and I am really proud of their achievements. 

Top 10 Turing Students with the highest praise points:

• 7T: Eleana Antonio
• 8T1: Marcus Perry
• 8T2: Luke James
• 9T: Roary Gallagher
• 10T1: Billy Stringer
• 10T2: Winnie Fey

Magnificent Termly Turings:

• 7T: Faria Azim
• 8T1: Darius Ionescu
• 8T2: Manon Herzog
• 9T: Riccardo Benoni
• 10T1: Josh Harvey
• 10T2: Ruby Magnum

I would now like to turn my attention to Sports Week and the highlight of Sports Day. During Sports Week, Turing excelled at “Super Stars”, just take a look at these results!

• Y8 Boys: Second Place
• Y8 Girls: First Place
• Y9 Boys: First Place
• Y10 Boys: Second Place  
• Y10 Girls: Second Place

The Summer Sports also saw Turing Y7 Girls as rounders champions and the Turing Y10 Girls in second place. These are fantastic achievements for these Turing tutor teams. 

The headline act of Sports Week is obviously, the school Sports Day. You will not be able to understand the overwhelming sense of pride that I have, knowing that Turing House won Sports Day, finishing overall in first position. It is really important to emphasise that ALL of those who participated, did so in true sporting fashion, upholding all of the values that I hold very close to my heart. It was very rewarding to see. Irrespective of finishing positions in events, every Turing competitor gave their best and was brilliantly supported by other house members. Turing House competed in every single event on the sports programme, each individual winning points for the Turing team. Outstanding performances during the day were Josh Harvey, who beat the favourite to win the Year 10 200m and Riley Bristol taking the Year 9 200m to a photo-finish, where he was placed second. It was, however, the final races of the day (4x100m relays) that were going to decide who would finish as Sports Day Champions. Turing and Stephenson Houses were so close, these finals would decide who would claim the Sports Day cup. 

Results of Relays:

• Yr7 Girls: 1st place
• Yr7 Boys: 3rd place
• Yr8 Girls: 2nd place
• Yr8 Boys: 3rd place
• Yr9 Girls: 1st place
• Yr9 Boys: 3rd place
• Yr10 Girls: 1st place
• Yr10 Boys: 2nd place

As can be seen from the relay results above, the enormous effort made by everyone, resulted in Turing winning the Sports Day Cup, the first time in three years. As we say in Turing House, ‘The strength of the team is each individual member…….’

In addition to the outstanding sporting success, I would like to turn my attention towards the Term 6 House Competition highlights for Turing.

• Maths Sparx Challenge: 7T were the year group winners, this result was due to the hard work and dedication of individuals.
• Accelerated Reader: Joint first with Pankhurst, well done Turing members, it emphasises the importance of reading to broaden our knowledge and extend our vocabulary.
• Individual Achievement: Hope Roberts, who is one of the Turing House Leaders, has completed her Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. This is an incredible achievement as the school’s first Silver D of E in 10 years, well done Hope!

I would like to conclude my newsletter with a challenge for all Turing House members. Turing House finished in third place in the overall Inter-House Competition. This includes all house competitions from attendance/ behaviour/ punctuality/ Accelerator Reader/ Science/ FunFixFriday/ House Sport. It is a true reflection on all of the house members’ sustained effort and commitment towards each other, Turing House and St Katherine’s School. Turing House have been past champions twice, we have proved that we can maintain this in our sporting prowess, but next year this must once again spill over into all areas such as the school ethos competitions (attendance, punctuality and behaviour ratio). This year Turing missed out on 100 points, yet we, as a group and as individuals are in control of negative points. We must learn from this disappointing news. Stephenson House will be chased hard by us next time as we turn the tables and get back to over-all winning ways.

I hope you all have a well-earned and relaxing summer break and myself and the Turing Tutor Team can’t wait to see you all again in September.

Mrs Price, Head of Turing House

And there we have it, another year done! It has been so brilliant this year to have minimal disruption and see our young people in person. As a house we have been on quite a journey this year. At the end of term 1, we were in 4th place for the house competition but worked incredibly hard over the year to improve our standings and we finished second in the house championship. A huge congratulations to Mr Thomas and Stephenson House for their well deserved win - we are coming for you next year though! 

One of our biggest highlights this term was celebrating Malala Yousafzai’s birthday. It was such a privilege to be able to share our house ethos and message across the school to encourage all students to make the most of their education and treasure it like a diamond. We went into all house assemblies and shared the story of Malala and were struck again at how much her education meant to her and how much she fought for it - really challenging us as we are so fortunate to be able to receive such a good one so freely and safely. In light of this we all completed thank you cards to someone who had made a difference to our education. We held a cake sale to raise money for the Malala fund - a fund set up by Malala to help all children access a quality, free and safe education. We raised £38 towards this in one breaktime. Many students ran around the school at lunchtime to complete the Fun Fix Friday diamond treasure hunt - this was won by Stephenson and Yousafzai. On Malala’s actual birthday, our student leaders read passages from Malala’s autobiography and all teachers were given a packet of diamonds to give out to students who had shown that they had really valued their lesson - they were able to cash them in at the end of the day for a prize. It was a brilliant week - reflecting on the message that has shaped us so clearly as a house. 

Another massive highlight was the Yousafzai celebration evening - this was just wonderful - celebrating all our students who have achieved either academically or with their effort they put into lessons. Will Stratton, 11Y2, won Yousafzai’s student of the year as someone who stands out for his commitment and passion for his own studies but also for  the house. He has been a fantastic leader throughout his time at St Katherine’s - as a sports leader and enabling the younger sports leader sto thrive and also as house leader. He is a brilliant example of what a Yousafzai student is. Well done Will! 

Another highlight was sports day. Despite coming third, it was brilliant to be able to all join together as a house and cheer on our individuals who participated. Our merchandise was epic - with 9Y1 producing a huge sign, Malala t-shirts for the staff and myself in an elephant costume! We were so proud of all our competitors, particularly those who felt a bit nervous about running in front of the whole school. It was a fantastic occasion - and a huge thanks to Mr Cook and the PE team for organising such a great event! 

Our house has been hard at work this last term with the house competition. We came joint first for the ethos competition of best behaviour ratio which was fantastic. There has been a competition linked with Oven Gleam in the village and I am proud to say that the winner came from Yousafzai House - Amelie Whalley, 7Y1, a massive well done! Toby Foerster and Samuel Gurr, both in 7Y2, were runners up. We need to focus next year on our reading logs and accelerated reader quizzes as this is what it came down to between first and second. We can’t wait to come back in September and start trying to win the house cup! 

As always, we finished the term with our celebration of achievement assembly. Our termly superstars for this term are: 

• 7Y1 - Amelie Whalley and Rhia Black
• 7Y2  - Pearl Harris and Henry Slade
• 8Y  - Mya James and Hannah Broadbent
• 9Y1 - Morgan Marsh and Ashton Dimambro
• 9Y2 - Mae Kingston and Joseph Brooks
• 10Y - Sonny Lucy and Sienna Mcleary

This term we said farewell to our year 11 students. 11Y1 and 11Y2 - we will miss you very much! They have been a brilliant year group and they have worked so hard over the past couple of years. We wish them all the best and hope that August will bring them what they deserve - a fantastic set of grades! A huge thank you to Mrs Jenkins and Miss Joseph for their wonderful care and support of our year 11 students throughout the last 3 years. As we said goodbye to year 11, we welcomed 32 new year 6 students to Yousafzai house - it was great to get to know them over their two transition days and look forward to them officially joining us in September. 

Leah and Sienna are our new house leaders and they have started excellently - really stepping up and taking on more leadership responsibilities for the house. Thank you to you both for your hard work so far! 

They have written the following:

"First of all we would like to thank the whole of Yousafzai for their hard work and determination. It has been a great term for Yousafzai, and we are all really proud of what we have achieved. The Yousafzai awards evening was a huge highlight for us, watching all the students who have been recognised by teachers for effort in lessons. Sports day was also a huge success even though overall we came third. It was a pleasure to watch everyone being supportive and cheering for one another, and that everyone made flags to support the house.

On the penultimate week of term, we celebrated Malala’s birthday. To do this, we set up a challenge for stand out students to win diamonds from their teachers each lesson of the day, and they could give them to us at the end of the day in exchange for prizes like sweets and chocolate. We had students queuing for the prizes! Finally, we would like to acknowledge that all of our successes come from our amazing head of house, Miss Andrews, who we would love to thank for all her hard work throughout every year. Thank you Miss Andrews. Yousafzai couldn’t do this without you!"

A huge thank you to Yousafzai tutor team for their dedication and hard work for our students, a big thank you to all parents and carers for your continued support of our young people and the biggest thank you to the Yousafzai students for being a joy to be head of house for. 

We hope you all have a restful and hopefully sunny summer and we’ll see you in September.

Miss Andrews, Head of Yousafzai House

• At the time of writing we have just finished our last set of fixtures and there are now more than 350 students who have represented the school over the course of the year. Special mention to Year 7 where half of the students have represented the school! There have been lots of fantastic student and team achievements this year but, as we approach the summer holiday, the overwhelming feeling we are left with is how lucky we have been to be able to get back to providing a full year of PE and school sport for our students.
• We have just this week presented Stephenson House with the House Sport Cup for 2021/2022 after a really consistent set of performances saw them finish with a 34-point winning margin. Stephenson took victory in all four mass competitions with such consistent performances and particular success in rugby, netball, hockey and football. Special mentions to Charlie Topp, Shannon Barker, Cosmo Brown and Maisie Thorn who have represented the house the most throughout the year! Yousafzai placed second after enjoying a cross country victory with Heidi Martineau and Luca James Neale setting the standard, a Year 11 and 6F basketball victory, a customary rowing regatta gold medal as well as a joint victory in Superstars with Poppy Warner posting the highest score! Turing finished in third place this year and how could we forget Billy Stringer’s blazing Ninja Warrior run for gold as well as the team's efforts in boccia? It was great to see Turing back to their best with a victory on Sports Day with some special performances from the Year 9 boys and girls. Pankhurst finished in fourth place but there have been green shoots of recovery evident in their efforts this year with their older students leading the way for a Year 11 and 6F badminton victory, Year 7 boys and Year 8 girls finishing second and first in their respective competitions. Who could forget Bailey, Noah, Demi and Leoni’s victory in the Year 10 rowing and the epic Year 9 boys relay on Sports Day? This year an incredible 98% of students have represented their house in at least one sporting competition - the best participation figures we've ever seen. Thank you to all of our House Sport captains and participants for a brilliant year!
• We started the term with the regional finals of the English Schools Cup athletics competition where three St Katherine's teams qualified from the Avon events to compete at the finals in Exeter. Our students busied themselves with yet more record breaking and personal best performances and really competed hard against tough competition. This was a real springboard into the North Somerset Championships which were kindly hosted by Clevedon School where St Katherine's achieved one of their best ever school team performances. It has been great to see, feel and hear the buzz around athletics at school this year and there have been some simply stunning athletic performances. We are already looking forward to the start of the next indoor season!
• Year 8 have quite literally 'led' the way this term with their support of primary and secondary events! We've hosted Quadkids qualifiers, led at Quadkids County Finals and hosted and led at a fantastic Commonwealth Games Legacy Festival at the end of June. Leadership is big business at St Katherine's and yet again, we have been so fortunate to be able to call on the support of so many capable young leaders. Our thanks to everyone who has led for the school this year - well over 100 students!
• Students have been busy with summer striking and fielding activities too with cricket and rounders fixtures against local opposition. Special mention to the Year 7 and Year 8 girls' rounders teams who both won their respective North Somerset Tournaments! It's costing us an absolute fortune in cakes, donuts and cookies by way of treats but how can you not reward such fantastic achievements?!
• The highlight of this term for us was returning to a full week-long celebration of everything PE and school sport. Sports Week 2022 was a huge success involving a staggering 594 students in hours worth of activity opportunities across 5 crazy days!
• Look out for our term 6 newsletter plus a Sports Week Special Edition - the only way to find out about everything that has been going on in PE this term. If you haven't already, you can sign-up to receive your copy of the PE newsletter by completing the form at this link. Our students can sign off at the end of July 2022 with a real sense of accomplishment - they've made the most of opportunities that just haven't been available to them for the last few years and it has been a real pleasure to see so many students getting involved. Huge thanks to all of our students, parents, carers and supporters for a fantastic year. See you all in September!

Mr Cook, Head of PE

• 18 August: A Level results day
• 25 August: GCSE results day
• 01 & 02 September: INSET days
• 05 September: TERM BEGINS for Years 7, 11, 12 and 13
• 06 September: TERM BEGINS for Years 8, 9 and 10
• 07 September: Year 7 Virtual Parent/ Carer Information Evening, 6-7pm
• 13 September: Year 12 & 13 Parent/ Carer Information Evening, 6-7pm
• 15 September: Sports awards evening
• 21 September: Year 8-11 Virtual Parent/ Carer Information Evening, 6-7pm
• 22 September: Year 10 HPV vaccinations
• 29 September: School Open Evening - Early finish, buses leave 12.30
• 29 September: School Open Evening, 4-8pm
• 30 September: INSET day
• 05 October: Year 7 Parent/ Carer meet the tutor, 6-7pm
• 21 October: END OF TERM
• 31 October: INSET day
• 01 November: INSET day
• 02 November: Students in school for Term 2

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)