Inside this issueEddie’s Editorial pg 1Oxbridge pg 2Aquinas Day pg 3Performing Arts pg 11Young Enterprise pg 12Earth Science pg 13Fairtrade fortnight pg14India Trip Special pg 15Money Week pg 21Exchange Weeks pg 23Road Safety awareness pg 24Student Council pg 25Take Me Out pg 26V-CC Student Voice pg 27Leavers Ball pg 29Adult Centre pg 31Art & Design Show pg 33Paralympic Visit pg 35Double championship pg 37Sports Awards pg 39

Aquinas College ejournal July 2013

ejournal

Aquinasrepresents

Aquinas College represents theNorth West in the BCS

National Companionships, pg 37Aquinas now has

Twitter & FacebookSee more inside

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Thank you for downloading theIssue 14 of our e-journal. Thevariety encapsulated here showshow we are striving to live out ourmission of living life to the full!

Our dozen students holding offersfrom the universities of Cambridgeand Oxford open this issue. Weagain celebrated St ThomasAquinas’ feast day (albeit on 5February) by suspending theafternoon timetable and enjoyingan increased range of activitiesfrom inter tutor group challenge toan open mic session to a returnvisit by Frs Fabian Radcliffe &David Rocks both Dominicanpriests . The articles and photosthat follow show some of thefantastic diversity at life at Aquinasfrom trips to Mumbai, Romania and

Italy. There are reports fromYoung Enterprise, FairtradeFortnight, Money Week and thevisit of Manchester Fire and Rescuein collaboration with Road SafetyWeek. The Aquinas StudentCouncil activities are well coveredwith Take Me Out!, Student Voiceand the Leavers’ Ball at the MidlandHotel. Manchester. The AdultCentre have contributed a pieceabout what is on offer and theannual Art & Design Exhibition isreported,. We had a visit fromBrazilian Paralympic Gold medallist,Alan Oliveira and the Aquinassporting successes are highlightedin the back pages.

Finally, a sincere thanks to Josh forhis graphic design expertise andCarol for her persistent

encouragement of contributions.Without them this would not haveseen the light of day.Please let us have your feedback,news, stories, photos and for ournext issue. These can be emailed tome at eddie@aquinas.ac.ukWishing you all a safe, refreshingand relaxing summer break.

Eddie Moore

Eddie’s Editorial

Keep in touch

@AquinasUK Facebook.com/AquinasCollegeUK

Youtube.com/AquinasCollegeSK2

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Oxbridge Successes!A dozen students from Aquinas College, Stockport, have beensuccessful in receiving offers to study at the universities of Oxfordand Cambridge. Some of the successful applicants are picturedhere.

From left to right the students are:Joel Rogers, (Natural Sciences at Downing College, Cambridge); Daniel Smith, (History at Somerville College,Oxford); Alex Robinson, (Music at Girton College, Cambridge); Jimmy Lei, (Architecture at Sidney SussexCollege, Cambridge); Bethany Ashworth, (Law at St John’s College, Oxford); Laura Thompson, EnglishLiterature at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge); Katherine Roddy, (Modern Languages at Pembroke College, Oxford)and Elizabeth Le, (Medicine at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge).

Other students who weresuccessful (but were not able

to be in the picture) include: LewisBall (Mathematics at SelwynCollege, Cambridge); CatherineBryson (Mathematics at SelwynCollege, Cambridge); DanielHovington, (Law at Christ’sCollege, Cambridge) and BethanyShire (Chemistry at PembrokeCollege, Oxford).

Staff at Aquinas College play anactive role in preparing Oxbridgeapplicant. All students are givendetailed, personalised guidance on

appropriate A-level choices whenthey enrol to ensure that theirsubject choices match their longterm goals and aspirations.Students interested in applying toOxford or Cambridge universitiesare also asked to attend a series oftalks, workshops, Open Days,Conferences and also theuniversities in the summer of theirfirst year. They are guided throughthe process of choosing collegesand offered advice regarding theirletters of application. They startthe UCAS procedures in thesummer of their first year. The

college also runs, as part ofenrichment activities, the ‘Summa’programme which is a series oflectures, cultural visits and talks.They also have opportunities toundertake independent researchvia the Extended ProjectQualification, as well as haveinterview practice with subjectspecialists and opportunities todevelop their public speaking skills.Niall MacDonald leads onOxbridge applications and can becontacted via:nmcstaff@aquinas.ac.uk

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Aquinas Day 2013On 5th February 2013 saw Aquinas College Celebrate the 2nd

annual Aquinas Day, a special day in which Aquinas students andstaff join the celebrate the feast of St Thomas Aquinas, the patronsaint of Aquinas.It took a team of around 20 peopleplus the support of 100’s more toplan Aquinas Day. Both the Collegeand the Student Council bouncedideas from students and staff. Thedate 5th of February was chosen.This was because all exams wereover and half term was fastapproaching. The actual feast day ofSt Thomas Aquinas is January 28th.but it was impracticable tocelebrate on that day.So how did we celebrate AquinasDay? From 11am all lessons wereceased and tutor groups gatheredto attended a Special Service in theSports Hall. With very special guestspeaker Hannah Booth. Hannahprovided a inspiring speech abouther time at Aquinas and her story

coping with cancer. After theservice, students were spoilt forchoice of activities to take part inand stalls to visit. And the highlightwas of course the Rodeo Bull.Other activities included SmoothieBike and Fair Trade, UniversityChallenge, Sports Competition,India Project, Dinosaur RunningChallenge, Book Stall, OpenMic/Live Music, Giant Jenga, StThomas Aquinas and Historical FunQuiz, Guess the Name of the Bear,Wii Just Dance, BananagramsTournament, #AquinasProudPhoto Studio, Zanzibar Tombola,Balloon Release for Hannah Booth,Chocolate Stand & CancerAwareness, Pathways Competitionand Games, Book Binding, Pop UpBooks with Artist Paul Johnson

Furthermore it was not justAquinas Students who wereinvolved. Various bodies andvisitors were warmly welcomedinto college to see our AquinasPride. Harrytown, St Anne’s and StJames’ local Catholic high schoolswere invited. Also we contactedthe other St Thomas Aquinasschools and colleges across theworld. Each inviting them to sharea video message with us to jointogether.All together Aquinas Day 2013 wasa massive success. And those whoattended and stuck aroundcertainly enjoyed themselves. Welook forward to next year when itcan only get bigger and better.

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Photos: Stuart Greenhalgh

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Aquinas Day: #AquinasProudAs well as all the fun and games on main street during Aquinas Day.The Student Council (along with help from the Media & ITtechnicians) popped up a #AquinasPround photo booth with thechance for people to show off their Aquinas Pride!

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Want a copy to add to your Aquinas memories, visit the ASC point to getyours e-mailed.

Show your Aquinas pride, tweet the hash tag#AQUINASPROUD

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Performing art students go ona ‘Wicked’ tripThe Performing Arts department went on a trip to London and sawMatilda and Wicked in the West End. We also took part in a WestEnd singing workshop with the musical director from Matildawhere the students sang 'When I grow up'.

Photo: Carly Horan

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Young Enterprise: Aquinashas the enterprise factor

Jordan Bojitchcov won theaward for Best StockportStudent at the Area Young

Enterprise Presentation Eveningagainst strong competition. ThePresentation Evening was hostedby Tameside College on 18thMarch and Jordan goes on torepresent Stockport at the GreaterManchester Finals.

Aquinas College was representedat the Young Enterprise Stockportand Tameside Presentation Evening

at Tameside College on 13thMarch by Eduardo Castaldo,Philip D'Souza, Saif Sajid andMatt Senior who made an excel-lent presentation.  In addition, Jor-dan Bojitchcov was awarded theprize for Best StockportStudent on the night against strongcompetition and goes on to repre-sent Stockport at the North WestFinals later this month.

Aquinas was also represented byfour other students, who made avery impressive presentation, butunfortunately were pipped to thepost.

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An ‘alien’ visitfor EarthSciences DeptGreat fieldtrip with Earth Science and Classical Civilisation toSorrento. The students were marvellous. Solfatara (steamingsulphurous volcanic vents) was like a trip to an alien planet!Pompeii and Herculaneum were amazing and Capri simplybeautiful. This and more news from the Earth Science Dept:

Congratulations: In GL3 6 outof our 30 L6 Geologystudents achieved full marks

in January: Robert Skelton, ConorFreeman, James Lewis, DanielLewis, Chris Gration, Ed Beech.Geog A2 Geog 4 January Exam fullmarks: Laura Phillips and Dan Hunt.Overall a very pleasing set ofJanuary exam results.

Catharine Oldfield L6Geographer is taking on chair ofFairtrade next year. We wish herevery success and know she will bemarvellous.

Young Geographer of the Yearcompetition is now open to all L6Geography students.

February L6 visit to ManchesterUniversity Geography Dept. Verysuccessful. Students had a touraround the University, a plate

tectonics lecture and a workshopon globalisation. Out students hada taste of university life and theopportunity to chat with geographyand other undergraduates.

U6 Geographers attended aHazards Day in Manchester withseries of guest lecturers includingProfessor Iain Stewart.

Summa: Two very successfullectures. One by Dr Peter Burgess- Royal Holloway on platetectonics and oil exploration, thesecond by Peter Loader ChiefExaminer of Geology WJEC aboutthe Geography and Geology ofNew Zealand. Students had afantastic opportunity to addbreadth to their subject knowledgeand both lectures were wellattended.

Link with Rochdale: Kingsway ParkSchool in Rochdale have juststarted up a Geology GCSE course.They attended both of our Summalectures and one Geology practicalclass. This has been extremelysuccessful for all the studentsinvolved.

New display: We have created adisplay on the corridor near ourclassrooms - 'What does a Scientistlook like?'. You do not have to beexceptionally clever or look likeEinstein in order to study EarthSciences ( a recent report hadstated that this misconception waspreventing students from studyingsubjects like Geology). So we havepictures of famous and everyday(but not famous) scientists frommany backgrounds along withpictures of our own students onfieldwork in the display…

What does a sciencist look like?Answer = you.

We have a visit to ManchesterUniversity with the Geologists on24th April where students will havea lecture from the world famousdinosaur expert: Phil Manning J Wewill also get to have a go withsome University equipment toexperiment with rocks. We can’twait!

Professor Iain Stewart (whopresents many BBC Earth Science

programmes and works atPlymouth University) has contactedus through Twitter (@geoggeol)and offered to come and visitAquinas College. We are mostexcited as a department and will letyou know details asap :)

Angela

You can follow Earth Sciences &other Aquinas Departments onTwitter. Search for: @geogeol

Professor Iain Stewart (BBC)has contacted Earth Sciencesvia Twitter to discussa special visit

Fairtrade fortnight iscelebrated at Aquinas!In September of 2012 the college was awarded theprestigious Fair Trade award. As such the Collegehas been celebrating the annual Fair Trade fortnight.See what we did below.

THE LEARNING CENTREHeld a competition in which students were challengedto indemnify various crops in the ‘guess the cropcompetition’. With 50p entry the money raised wenttowards Tradecraft, and organisation which supportsFair trade missions globally. The winner won somedelicious fair trade Green and Blacks Chocolate!

THE FAIRTRADE GROUPThe dedicated group within the college were keen to highlight the important message about

supporting Fairtrade and it’s mission. They also raised funds by hosting a Fairtrade sale!

Follow Aquinas Fairtrade@AQfairtrade

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India Project:Visit 2013February 7th, the day the students finished for half term saw theeighth and largest Aquinas India trip depart. 71 students and 9staff spent 10 days in Mumbai working with the under-privilegedchildren supported by Prem Dan.

Sister Zelia and the teachersand staff who run the GardenSchool in Colaba gave us the

warmest of welcomes. PriyaBradshaw, who started the IndiaProject in 2003, Danny Pearson,

Sue Snelson (Student Reception),Shirleigh Crabtree (Art supportassistant), Carl Jeffries (Mediatechnician), Nick Neary (SocialSciences), Anna Snape andDiane Spencer (Ethics and

Religious Studies) Eddie Moorehad a fantastic experience not onlyof India but of working together asa team.

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'Prem Dan' in Hindi means "A giftof love" and was started in the1970's by Sister Felicity Morris.Prem Dan was started to meet theeducational and nutritional needsof underprivileged children whodwell on the pavements and inslums. These are children comefrom poor families such as those ofdomestic servants. The Prem Danschools are currently run by SisterZelia Fernandez who has day today control of Prem Dan, though#Sister Felicity still maintains awatchful eye! She says,“Out of the dark, I felt an incredibleurge to do something for the

underprivileged children. Every childdeserves to go to school, deserves afuture where she can choose what shewants to do. Everybody, no matterwhere you come from, deserves alife.”

Prem Dan runs three schools forchildren aged 5 to 6 years. Theyare taught English in preparationfor admission to English mediumschools the following year. PremDan also runs a boarding hostel inKharghar, Navi Mumbai for girlsbetween the ages of 4 and 18. Thesisters also have a hostel inKhandala for weekends away for

children from the slums. Thehostel was renovated withsubstantial help from Aquinas.

Each year it never ceases to amazeand surprise us how much thesupport of Aquinas College isvalued and appreciated. Thecollege, since 2005, has made abeen major support for Prem Dan.Currently we directly sponsor 5children and co-ordinate tosponsorship for 130 more. As aresult of this visit we have had afurther 56 offers of sponsorship bystudents and staff on the trip!

This trip was the smoothest so farand to say it was thoroughlyenjoyed by all of us is a massiveunderstatement! The smiles andhappiness on the faces and in theeyes of the children at Kharghar,the Garden School and the ReayRoad school were infectious. Itwas truly uplifting. Even the shortwalk through the slum alleyways atReay Road was thought provokingand a privilege, not depressing.This walk was something the

students on this trip were the firstto experience. As supporters ofPrem Dan we were fortunate toget a police permit to visit the ReayRoad slum, not something touristsget to see. A coach of whiteEuropeans is only experiencedwhen Aquinas visits each February!

Many students graduated inhaggling with the traders and stallholders on Colaba Causeway andwere given 200 rupees each to buy

scarves which are currently on salein college to raise more funds forthe India project. We visited StXavier’s College, renowneduniversity and junior college andwhile the staff were talking aboutways of strengthening links, thestudents joined in an impromptugame of volleyball - in atemperature of 35° C.

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Special mention must be made ofthe Godwin Hotel where we havestayed in recent years. The roofterrace was where we had ourmeals, practised yoga at sunrise,enjoyed a cold Kingfisher. It cameto resemble Costa Colaba too. MrSingh the hotel manager andMukesh the restaurant managermade sure we enjoyed our stayand it was notable that ourstudents attractedcompliments from hotelstaff at both hotels. Thelast two nights werespent at a luxury hotel20 minutes from theairport with a welcomepool and theopportunity to relax!

It was an incredibleexperience of India inthe sights, sounds, touch,tastes and smells. It wasthe smoothest of all ourtrips with the little ill healthand only one trip to thedoctor for a student who hadsprained her ankle prior to thetrip. For three students this wastheir second visit, a number likelyto be exceeded next year!

- Priya Bradshaw

Photos: Aquinas Media Tech

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Watch this years India project video.

visit our you tube channel atwww.youtube.com/user/AquinasCollegeSK2

Aquinas doesMoney week instyle!During the week 4th - 8th March Aquinas College held their thirdMoney Skills week in partnership with Barclays Bank PLC and theNational Skills Academy for Financial Services. The purpose of theweek was to improve students financial capability by raisingawareness of financial issues.

The Ethics programme tookthe lead on discussingmoney issues and the

Student Council organised activitiesduring the lunch time each day. Anumber of subjects areas acrossthe college also supported theinitiative by delivering moneyrelated topics in their classes andeach day an interesting fact aboutmoney was in the bulletin.

Students taking part in theShopping Basket Challenge. Couldthey guess the cost of a basket ofshopping? Guesses ranged from£21.10 to £156.20. The actual costwas £46.68.

Staff and students seeing which JaffaCake tastes the best - a brandedone or a supermarket value range.The branded one won 60% of thevotes - the supermarket own brandwon 40% of the votes.

'Fashion on a Budget' the theme forthe fashion show. Students took upthe challenge of buying an outfit forless than £20.

Stockport MP, Ann Coffey,visited Aquinas College on Friday8th March to award prizes for thebest money saving tips. StudentHollie Swale came up with the

best on-line deal, and ChantaeReid-Agboda was successful withher tip for saving money on travel.

Ann Coffey said“It’s so important that young peoplebecome financially aware at an earlyage, so they can manage their moneyand make their budgets go further. Iam delighted to be able to award theprizes for the best money-saving tip.”

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The fashion show live on Main Street

Staff have a go at the Jaffa Cake challenge

Winners Chantae & Hollie collecting their prize form Ann Coffey MP

You can follow Aquinas Business on Twitter:@aquinasbusiness

Photos: Aquinas Media Tech

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Aquinas on exchange,Romania & Italy

A large contingent of 29students and 3 staff fromCollegiul Nacional Moise

Nicoara, Arad, Romania came toCollege at the end of February andonce again the staff, ex-staff andstudents of Aquinas pulled togetherto provide a warm welcome.

This successful international linkhas been going on now for 17years which is quite an astonishingstatistic. The first students to take

part are now 34 years old!!!According to the feedback fromthe Romanian group, the highlightsof the week were a tour of theManchester United Stadium, aguided tour of Manchester CityCentre and a visit to the RoyalExchange Theatre to see To Kill AMockingbird. A day in London wasalso popular. Once again, firmfriendships were cemented and lotsof plans made for holidays on theBlack Sea Coast after exams are

finished in the summer. If you'recurrently in the Lower 6th, youreally should consider gettinginvolved next year. It's never toosoon to sign up and there's a £25reduction on the £300 price of thetrip for bookings made before theend of the Summer term. See JakiSingleton in the Psychology officeor Maxine Allcock in Pathways formore details.

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Fire Service praises Aquinason road safety awareness!

On Friday the 10th ofMay 2013 ManchesterFire and Rescue

Services visited the College todemonstrate and teach theimportance and Road Safety.

Students enjoyed a live displayof Fire equipment and work ina re-acted car crash. The Fireservice used a range of heavyequipment to free a crushedpassenger in the car. Luckly inthis case it was all acting fromAquinas Students. And we

hope that is as close asStudents will get to anemergency like this. OliverHarrison from GMFRS wroteinto the College with praisefor the Staff and students.

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An update from the

Aquinas StudentCouncilThe Student Council has been working hard in 2013 alreadyachieving many successes, and tackling issues which directly effectstudents lives within the college.

2013 achievements

● Take Me Out: Raised £400+ for charity & goodcauses

● Money Week: a week long event raisingawareness of Student Finances & NUS Extra

● Aquinas Day: the biggest and best not possiblewithout the Student Council

● Aquinas Does Comic Relief: Our own RedNose Day, raising money toward this years comicrelief appeal

● V-CC Student Voice conference: invited 5others College’s to share ideas and tips in runninga Student Council

● Leavers Ball: Expected to be the biggest everwith 450+ attending

● ASC Point: A new base for Student Councilservices & information

● Printer Charges: In response to Studentfeedback the Student Council achieved betterterms including term top-ups of £5

Aquinas Student Council has been very busythis year. With the new Presidents takingoffice and getting right into what we do

best; improving students’ experiences.

Meanwhile the former President has been workinghard since December in organising the LeaversBall.

As always we tend to slow down as the Collegeyear comes to and end. Remember we are allmade up of students so most of our focus is onexams and other things.

But we always come back after study leave withmore drive and enthusiasm!

So as you read some of these articles you’ll seemore that the Student Council actually does stuff.

And as always we are driven by what Studentswant. So if you have an idea for a event or youthink something in College needs changing justcome to our ASC Point on the ground floor oronline at @AQstudents.

But since this will be my last e-journal, good luckeveryone and thanks for all your help this year.

Joshua OstDirector of Communications

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Take Me Out! Another sell outsuccess from the Council!

The new Student Councilsettled in smoothly thisFebruary when they hosted

Aquinas Student Council classicTake Me Out!

This classic event managed to onceagain gather over 250+ studentsinto the lecture theatre to see 5hopeful singles trying to find a luckydate!

The talent on offer was classicAquinas with a mixture ofMusicians, athletes and thecomedian.

Take Me Out raised over £500, ofwhich has been split 3 ways. One inSupport of Hannah Booth. Anotherfor the Leavers Ball 2013 fund andfinally the third will be re-investedback into the Student Council

Photos: Aquinas Media Tech

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ASC shines atV-CCAquinas Student Council welcomed other council representativesfrom Priestley College, Ashton Sixth Form, Holy Cross College, andSalford City College to the Student Voice Conference at Aquinas.

Many items werediscussed, but the mainpoints on the agenda

were;● Liaising with Staff● Marketing● Student Leadership● Events● Elections

After a tour of the building, and aspot of lunch, representatives from

each student council attendedworking groups on each of thesetopics, in order to discuss thedifferent ways different councilsdeal with these issues. I attendedthe marketing group, and discussedsocial advertising, print mediadesign, and the future of theStudent Voice Conference. I can'tspeak for the other colleges inattendance, but I can say that not

only have we taught them how weoperate as an effective council, wehave learned from them thedifferent ways of operating, and thebenefits and drawbacks that thesebring.

To read the rest of the articlevisitaqstudentcouncil.blogspot.co.uk

V-CC Student Voice: Members from Student Councils across the V-CC join representatives from Notting Trent SU and AquinasIn the first of the V-CC Student voice conferences

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V-CC Student Voice: Members from Student Councils across the V-CC join representatives from Notting Trent SU and Aquinas

Scott Thomas (ASC) discuss theimportance of goals & aims

Jake Mairs (NTSU) talksabout the change from College to

University Unions

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Biggest Leavers’Ball ever!The Upper Sixth finished their final day at Aquinas with aSpectacular Leavers’ Ball. The Annual event organised by theAquinas Student Council was the largest yet with just under 500staff and students attending.

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Did you know about ourexpanding Adult Centre?

Whether it’s in theArt Room, SportsHall, Classroom or

IT Suite, we’re bound to havea leisure, fitness, general

interest or perhaps anexamination course to temptyou into college on a Mondayor Tuesday evening fromSeptember. To find out more,

see our list of proposedcourses or e-mailSheila@aquinas.ac.uk

Did you know:the Adult Centre usesthe same building &

facilities in the College

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Courses at the Adult Centre:LEISURE COURSES:BadmintonPainting & DrawingCookery - Indian (Jan only)PhotographyCreative CraftsPhotoshopCreative WritingPilatesEveryday computer skills (Sept only)RussianFrenchSculptureGermanSewing - Hand & Machine stitching

Health & WellbeingSinging for allThe Story of Britain (since 10,000 BC)Song Writing IntermediateHistory of Poland & EuropeSpanishItalian beginnersWeb page design (April-July)Japanese Culture Through FilmYogaLadies Keep FitWoodwork projectLadies Multigym/Circuit TrainingWork SkillsMen's Over 50 Health & FitnessZumba Gold

ACADEMIC COURSES:Access to Higher Education DiplomaEnglish GCSE Tues - adultsEntry level ICT Jan - JulyMaths GCSE (Foundation level) Mon - adultsITQ for IT Users Webpage Sept - AprilMaths GCSE (Higher level) - Mon adultsECDL Level 2 Extra

Psychology GCSE (full course)C & G Level 3 Award in ITQ for IT UsersScience GCSEILEX level 2 Secretarial Certificate

BookkeepingILEX level 3 - Secretarial CertificateComputerised AccountsEarth Sciences (Geology) GCSEFunctional skills - Maths & Literacy

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AquinasExhibition asuccess!The annual Art and Design Exhibition was its usual great success;possibly the busiest one to date. The Upper 6 Exhibition Teamshowcased the work and talents of all the 2013 Art and DesignStudents.

Among theinspiredworks on

display at theexhibition werepaintings, pillows,dresses, furniture,photography, branddesigns and even askateboard. Manyof the studentswho had work onshow have beenaccepted to studyvarious aspects ofart and design atuniversity inSeptember and arelooking forward tocareers in fine art,graphic design andinterior design.

Tutor GrainneWilliams wasparticularly

impressed with theamount of effortput in by studentsinvolved inorganising theexhibition.

She said:

"With only a day toset up, there was ahive of franticactivity in the Artand DesignDepartment, asusual working rightto the 11th hour!The group ofUpper 6th studentswho hadvolunteered andtook ownership inorganising andsetting up theexhibition were acredit to the

college and stayedcalm and focusedthroughout the day;we couldn’t havedone it withoutthem. All thoseinvolved deserve amassive thank you,and those whovisited on the nightwere impressedwith all the work."

Overall an inspiringevent, celebratingthe creativity of theArt and DesignDepartment andour very talentedstudents!

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Paralympic GoldMedallist VisitsAquinas College

The Brazilian 200metre runnertook a variety of

athletics sessions withover 150 pupils, agedfrom five to 18 years,from 27 schools, specialschools and collegesthroughout theborough.

Students also got thechance to ask questionsand hear about thesports star's incrediblerise to the top in 'AnAudience with Alan'which took place in thecollege lecture theatre.

Oliveira, 20, lost bothlegs to an infection atjust 21 days old. But byeight he was runningwith wooden legs, andbecame a competitor at

13. Two years later herepresented Brazil in theBeijing ParalympicGames, where he wongold in the T44 200mfinal before clinchinggold in London lastsummer.

Coun Shan Alexandersaid: “We are absolutelydelighted that AlanOliveira visitedStockport to engagepupils with disabilitysport. It was a once-in-a- lifetime opportunityfor young people tomeet a world-ratedParalympic hero who isan inspiration toeveryone.”

Councillor John Pantall,Executive Member for

Health and Wellbeing,added: “Alan Oliveira isproof that having adisability has notstopped the young manfrom achieving greatnesson the sporting worldstage. I hope that hishard work and talentwill rub off on people heengages with during histime in GreaterManchester.”

Paralympic champion Alan Oliveira warmed up for the BT GreatCity Games in Manchester by training with school children fromacross Stockport at Aquinas College.

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Sport news

You can followAquinas Sport on

Twitter:@AquinasPE_Sport

Image: BBC Sport

Image: Aquinas Media Tech

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Aquinas doublewins in nationalchampionshipFurther Education students

from all over the UK havebeen competing in Bath this

weekend as the University stagedthe 35th British Colleges SportsChampionships. Its not exactly theOlympics, but with 14 differentsports all in one venue it felt like aspecial event for the young athleteswho are representing their regions

(Scotland, Wales, North East,North West, East Midlands, WestMidlands, South East, South West,East, Yorkshire & Humberside andLondon).

The event involves young athletesaged 16 to 19 and The BCSNational Championships is thelargest event of its kind in the UK.

The winners of each regionalcompetition qualified for theChampionships. Aquinas Collegehas a fantastic track record at theregional events and this year boththe football (7 a-side) and netballteam qualified and attended theevent.

Back row (left to right) Dom Simpson, James Perry, Josh Broadbent,Kyle Cunningham, Tim Parker, Andy Mottershead, Dave ConlonFront row (left to right) Ryan Usher, Andy Mckernon, Tom Huane, Luke Walker

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Aquinas students Tim Parker andKate Meagh were also selected tobe captains of the entire NorthWest team. The two teamscompeted all weekend andshowed just why they werecompeting against the best teams inBritain. The students were fantastic

and a credit to the college both onand off the pitch/court.

The football team did exceptionallywell to be crowned silvermedallists as they finished second.The Netball team also didremarkably well to finish 5th who

before this event had beenunbeaten all season (the Netballerswere missing 4 players from theoriginal team that won the NWtournament – 2 of which were oninternational duty!)

Back row (left to right) Niamh Elstone, Sara Dahou, Claire Armstrong, Kate Meagh, Abbie RevillFront row (left to right) Hannah Slaouti, Rosie Ratcliff, Nicole Dalton

The Team captainsFootball team with their medals

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A celebration ofsporting success

This year the SportsPresentation Evening washeld at the Alma Lodge and

ex-Stockport County FC managerJim Gannon was the guest ofhonour to present the awards.

It's been an outstanding year forsport at Aquinas, with the teamsonce again achieving fantasticsuccess.

Sports Presentation Evening is alsoa chance to recognise the

exceptional contributions ofindividuals with awards for "Playerof the Year" and outstandingachievement.

Staff and students celebrated the outstanding sportingachievements accomplished by students this year at SportsPresentation Evening.

Students celebrate a year of success

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Football Team -League winners, North-West 5-a-side winnersand National 5-a-sideRunners Up

Netball Team - Leaguewinners, North-West

winners and NationalKnock-out Cup Runners

Up

Basketball team-League Winners

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A full list of winners:Football 2nd team

Players' and Coaches' Player of the Year - TomDunning

Football 1st team

Players' Player of the Year - Andy McKernon

Coaches' Player of the Year - Tim Parker

Basketball team

Players' Player of the Year - Stephen Jackson & JoelFrohwein

Coaches' Player of the Year - Brad Hodgson

Netball team

Players' Player of the Year -Rosie Ratcliff & HannahSlaouti

Coaches' Player of the Year- Claire Armstrong

Outstanding Achievement in Sport

Andy McKernon

Recognition for Outstanding achievement -International Honours

Jennifer Aiton

Jude Browne

Jess Shaw

Babby Marshall

Nat Whiles

Student Ambassadors

Jay Green

Jennifer Aiton

Dom Simpson

Team of the Year

Netball Team

Sports Person of the Year

Jess Shaw

Pathways awards

Outstanding contribution to all PE lessons andevents (UVI)

Female - Cynthia Tang

Male - NicoJackson

Outstandingcontribution toall PE lessonsand events (LVI)

Emma King

© 2013 AQUINAS COLLEGE

To be in the next issue of the e-jounrale-mail your news to carol@aquinas.ac.ukRemember to send images and text as separate files