News and Events from St John Fisher Catholic High School, Harrogate

December 2015

SJF NEWS

The dream of transforming from a nobody into an instant TV

star is the synthetic fantasy of our age and is encapsulated

in the narrative of the Broadway musical Hairspray. Set in

segregated 1960’s Maryland, it tells the story of quirky plus-

sized teenage optimist Tracy Turnblad who dreams of ap-

pearing on the segregated Corny Collins dance show. After

learning new jive moves from African-American students in

detention, Tracey wins a spot on the show and sets out to

make racial integration.

For fifteen scenes of this amazing production, the quality

was absolutely outstanding. The dance moves snapped, the

music fizzed and the sassy singing left you breathless.

Some of the toughest acting challenges in a school produc-

tion come when children have to pretend to be as old as

their parents - the voice acting is difficult, there’s less expe-

rience to draw on but here they were all believable. Rhieza

Lorenzo’s Motormouth Maybelle (a tough character in both

senses) was pitch perfect in both characterisation and

singing. Ben McGettigan’s Edna Turnblad (Tracey’s mother)

was comic genius without straying into pantomime dame,

Luke Broadhurst’s Wilbur Turnblad provided a great foil for

the double act and Emily Alderson’s Velma was a well-

judged mix of ice cold and hot temper. The smooth Corny

Collins played by Christian Dumouchel kept proceedings

rolling with plenty of Baltimore style.

There’s plenty of wit in the script which came through

thanks to great sound production and direction. Rare for a

school production, I could hear every spoken and sung

word. The bubblegum 60’s costumes looked a treat and the

lighting design and follow-spot were bang on.

The most “talented kids in town” prize went to the children.

They may have had a slightly easier job of playing charac-

ters in their near age range but Sally Hall, Ellie O’Brien, Ben

Tomlinson, Uyi Ogieva, Jayanna Shires and Kitty Watson

embodied their characters fully. The irony of children acting

as children whose parents won’t let them perform wasn’t

lost on the audience and there were some very strong en-

semble performances particularly in the energetic “Run and

Tell That” and the grounded and serious “I Know Where I’ve

Been.” Each chorus member had their own character which

gave the whole performance depth.

Over a hundred pupils were involved in this production and

credit to St John Fisher staff for involving so many in shap-

ing the production. There will be some great memories and

learning from all the hard work, personal growth combined

with professionalism which made a good mix for a school

production. Proof really that instant stardom is a pipe

dream; hard work, luck and talent are what get you places.

I’m sure we’ll be seeing some of these kids in professional

theatre but maybe not the Corny Collins Show.

Graham Spencer

SJF presents… Comedy of Errors!Year 10 and 11 students from St John Fisher participated once again

in the Shakespeare Schools Festival this year, performing their ver-

sion of Comedy of Errors at the Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds, on

Saturday 7th November, directed by the Head of Drama, Carolyn

Booth. This classic farce is one of Shakespeare’s most difficult plays,

with quick, complex dialogue, word play and slapstick comedy. The

students gave a wonderful performance, finishing the evening off in

style, and were highly commended by the SSF director. The festival

is non-competitive, and over 1000 schools take part every year.

Our past productions include Hamlet, Twelfth Night and Julius Cae-

sar. It is a fantastic opportunity for students to develop more ad-

vanced performance skills, perform on a professional stage, and

develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of Shakespeare’s

language. Our performance was described by the directors as being

“imaginative”, “witty”, “polished”, “really funny” and “ingenious” and

the students had “understanding on a really specific level.”

Dance Workshop with former student

Katy Pearson

Last Post

St John Fisher played a full part in the

November events associated with Re-

membrance. At 11am on the 11th day

of the 11th month, the whole school fell

silent in memory of those who lost their

lives in both World Wars. A team of St

John Fisher trumpeters were dispersed

around the school to play the Last Post.

A week later, the school fell silent again

to express its solidarity with the people

of France after the dreadful events in

Paris.

A past student of the Associated Sixth Form - Katy Pearson

who previously studied A-Level Dance, Theatre Studies and

Performing Arts returned to deliver a workshop in Hairspray.

Since graduating from Arts Educational Schools this summer

Katy has played Iris in the ensemble of High Society before

going on the UK Tour of "Hairspray" as Nicest Kid BRENDA

and 1st cover Amber. On her visit she taught some se-

quences from Hairspray, motivating and inspiring us for our

very own performance. Thanks Katy – come back soon!

Adam Galbraith WorkshopIn December, we were very fortunate to have

dancer and choreographer Adam Galbraith in

school to teach our GCSE and A-Level Dance stu-

dents and to deliver a master class workshop to our

SJF Dance Company. Adam is an actor and dancer,

known for The Car Man (2001), Nutcracker! (2003)

and Billy Elliot (2000). He also appeared in Pride

and Prejudice and Finding Neverland. More re-

cently he has been dance captain for the Sound of

Music national tour, Lord of the Flies and is a long

associate of the New Adventures. He shared with

us his wealth of experience in choreography, dance

technique and performance. The students thor-

oughly enjoyed this inspirational (and tiring!) day.

Year 13 student Emily Alderson said, “I really en-

joyed myself, it was a great three hours of dance!

I'm not overly enthusiastic about ballet exercises

but Adam made them enjoyable for me! I learnt a lot

about dance and within those three hours there was

a huge variety of dance! I loved learning dances he

had been involved in professionally! Overall a fabu-

lous day, thank you Adam!”

CAFOD Soup and Roll day was a great suc-

cess this year. Our students supported the

event by bringing in £1 for their soup and roll

with all profits going to CAFOD. The sixth form

canteen was busy with students queuing up,

all very keen to be involved. Our Sixth Form

Congress did a fantastic job of serving the

younger students and collecting all of the pro-

ceeds. Thank you to everyone who donated to

this wonderful cause and to the Sixth Form

Congress and catering staff for helping to or-

ganise it.

Eight students from our Associated Sixth Form took part in

the team competition in York in November. They were split

into 2 teams of 4 and had to tackle challenging algebraic

and geometric problems across three rounds. They all

showed great team spirit but were also capable of working

on their own when required. Our teams were up against 17

other schools and so should be congratulated on reaching

6th and 10th positions.

The students were: Front row: Naomi Davies, Blessed Ma-

havo, Tom Bouchard, Lauren Greenan

Back row: James Permain, Matthew Onslow, Charlotte Van

Zelst, Rhiannon Lyon

Miss Hendrick (SA) and Mr Walker (SJF)

The presentation evening for the

Yorkshire Junior Cricket Foundation

(YJCF) and the Joe Lumb competi-

tions took place in October at Cleck-

heaton Cricket Club. The Joe Lumb

Cricket Competition cup was pre-

sented and was an opportunity for the

whole squad to be recognised in front

of an appreciative audience. Year 12

St John Fisher student George Gib-

son was awarded the individual bat-

ting prize for the Joe Lumb

competition for his outstanding contri-

butions in the group stages, breaking

his own personal best twice with

scores of 74 against Upper Airedale.

George Gibson’s Cricketing Success

We were delighted to welcome Saleem Seedat to speak to

Year 12 in one of their weekly R.E./General Studies sessions

earlier this term. Saleem, a College Chaplain and a Lecturer

in Islamic Studies in Blackburn, is a regular visitor to St John

Fisher and brings with him a wealth of knowledge and wis-

dom about Islam. He is at pains to dispel common misunder-

standings about the religion and, by drawing on the

knowledge the students already possess, is able to gently

add to or correct information represented by the group. In a

very interactive session, students came away much better in-

formed about the core Muslim beliefs, attitudes to women,

dress code, teachings regarding food along with how Islam

regards war/terrorism. It was a very informative session and

we look forward to welcoming Saleem again next year.

Close-up on Islam

CAFOD Soup & Roll Day

Senior Team Maths Challenge

In November, Year 7

student Sam Botherway

took part in the BMC

British Youth Open

climbing competition. In

a highly competitive

Group C (aged 11-

12yrs) he climbed well

to qualify for finals and

finished 5th overall. The

BMC Youth Open is one

of 3 national competi-

tions annually that are

used to select the Great

Britain Junior climbing

team.

Sam takes part in British Climbing

Competition

Year 7 Geography trip to the Stadium of Light

all of these old industries in the design of the new Stadium and we saw pictures, banners and ship features in the design

of the furniture and fabric within the Stadium of Light.

The tour led the students into the dressing rooms, corporate boxes, conference and banqueting function room as well as

onto the pitch and into the team dug outs. We were not allowed onto the pitch but we saw how the grounds staff had

placed huge artificial lights onto the pitch to help it to grow and stay green and fresh. We also surveyed some of the other

jobs that were being done in and around the Stadium and how that helped the local economy.

The students saw the impact that Sunderland Football Club has on the local community and how there is even a school

block within the stadium itself as well as being able to provide a venue for music concerts including Take That and Ri-

hanna. The highlight of the trip was certainly sitting in the dressing room and then running out of the tunnel onto the pitch

– if only we could have been cheered on by the 49,000 fans that attend on match day.

Year 12 Geography Fieldwork In October, 96 AS Level Geography students spent three days

collecting data for their 'Geographical Investigations' exam.

We looked at the evidence of weathering and erosion along

the Yorkshire coastline and evaluated the success of coastal

management schemes in Scarborough and Hornsea. In addi-

tion, we visited Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales and Leeds City

Centre to investigate and evaluate the rebranding schemes

taking place. This year we certainly had the luck of the

weather on our side as we managed to enjoy three mild days

of fieldwork with not a drop of rain in sight. This weather cer-

tainly helped us in the evening at Sneaton Castle in Whitby as

we didn't have to dry out our soggy results sheets and instead

we had plenty of results which we could present and analyse.

"The Geography fieldtrip was really good. We visited a number

of places which I will remember well and use as case studies

in the exam in the summer. Even though we did follow up work

in the evening it was enjoyable and useful. It was an excellent

chance to make new friends and has really helped me to settle

into the Associated Sixth Form," Rebecca Simpson, Year 12

Geography Student.

Year 8 discuss Climate Change and

the impact it has on Food SupplyThis year’s international theme for Geography Aware-

ness Week in November was focusing on Global

Food Issues. To raise awareness of the Climate

Change issue which made headline news in late No-

vember during the Climate Change Summit in Paris.

Year 8 students have been exploring some of the rea-

sons why hunger exists in the world. Classes got into

some deep discussions about whether the main

cause of hunger is because of the changing climate

which makes growing crops even more difficult, or if

the reason for hunger was more because of poor

leadership in famine stricken countries, and that large

areas of land are now used to produce biofuels to fuel

our vehicles rather than to feed people. As part of the

campaign to raise awareness of hunger, each student

presented the reasons for world hunger and sug-

gested some solutions to solve the problem in their

plate campaign. As well as being enjoyable our stu-

dents also gained a deeper awareness of the prob-

lems and uncertainties facing global food supplies.

Year 9 Leeds FieldtripYear 9 Geographers have been busy exploring their first GCSE Ge-

ography field trip this term. Students have braved the December

weather to study an 'Urban Transect' through the city of Leeds. The

trip involved all Year 9 Geography students exploring how the land

use changes in the approach from Harrogate all the way to the city

centre. Students had the opportunity to collect data and present

their views on the land use whilst building knowledge of the histori-

cal importance of key areas such as Chapeltown, Leeds Dock, The

Greenhouse Development and Trinity Leeds. Students were able

to gain an understanding of the importance of the regeneration to

the city and how various opportunities can be created to build a

sustainable future for Leeds. The trip allowed students to apply

their knowledge of Leeds as a major case study in their future stud-

ies for the GCSE course. Having worked extremely hard during the trip students even found time to explore the German

Christmas market in Millennium Square. An enjoyable trip was had by all.

This term saw all Year 7 students visit the Stadium of

Light as part of their work in Geography exploring the

Geography of Sport. The visit to the Stadium was to see

the site of the Stadium and to look at why it was selected

as the new home of Sunderland Football Club. Whilst at

the Stadium, the students had a fully guided tour which

explained what the area was like before the Stadium

moved there. We learnt that the area was once a huge

colliery and that coal was important to the economy as

well as all the factories that used to manufacture rope,

glass and even ships along the banks of the River. Part

of the tour allowed the students to look for evidence of

Year 9 develop their geographical skills & practice their fieldwork skills in

the school grounds

World Toilet Day

Our Year 12 Travel and Tourism students were given an in-

sight into the world of a successful travel and tourism busi-

ness. Michael Langford offered invaluable advice for setting

up and delivering a successful business. Drawing on his vast

experience of running a thriving travel and tourism company,

Michael Langford left students feeling empowered and pas-

sionate about setting up their own business. The students

were enthralled to hear the innovative ways Michael Lang-

ford gains competitive advantage and attract new customers

as he competes in a busy market. We would like to thank

Michael Langford for his entertaining approach to guest

speaking and to the Year 12’s, he will always be known as

‘The man with the car’.

Year 9 Geographers have made great start to their GCSE

Geography course by developing and honing their geo-

graphical skills. They have been practicing map reading in

and out of the classroom and have been perfecting their

field sketching and annotating as part of their ‘Introduction

to GCSE Geography’ topic.

Each class has also completed a microclimate fieldwork in-

vestigation where they were set the hypothetical challenge

of producing a report to find the best place in the school

grounds to install a solar and wind powered vending ma-

chine. The groups developed skills in independent investiga-

tion and enquiry and selected the suitability of a number of

potential sites around the school grounds. The groups that

selected the middle or the bottom of the school field,

In addition to Michael Langford, the Year 13 students welcomed Dean Sygrove, the Guest Service Manager at the Double

Tree by Hilton in Leeds. Dean brought to life customer service within a hospitality setting, drawing on his vast knowledge

to give the students a fun insight into what it takes to provide excellent customer service in a variety of situations. The stu-

dents were enthralled by his stories of dealing with both foreign visitors and celebrities. The fact Dean provided cookies

for all made his time in school even more enjoyable.

Travel and Tourism Guest Speakers

because these areas have minimum wind barriers and maximum sunshine, soon realised that they needed to consider

other factors such as accessibility and damage from footballs and had to rethink their best site. Once back in the class-

rooms the students presented and analysed their findings and produced a report which showed their findings. It was a fun

and enjoyable task which allowed the students to develop their geographical and fieldwork skills.

Thursday 19th November was ‘World Toilet Day’ which is

a day created by the United Nations and promoted by

'WaterAid to raise awareness of the importance of sanita-

tion, hygiene and toilets around the world.

A shocking 2.6 billion people - one in three of the world’s

population - still do not have access to a safe, private toi-

let. Many have no choice but to face the indignity of going

to the loo in the open, where they are exposed to disease

and vulnerable to harassment and even attack. It's a seri-

ous issue that can be hard to talk about – so to overcome

embarrassment about toilets and to promote awareness

of the issues, all of Year 7 got involved in a campaign to

raise awareness of the issues. The classes worked with

enthusiasm on their campaigns and produced posters to

display in classrooms to raise awareness.

In addition, 150 Year 9 Geographers attended a presentation by Clive Worley. In this presentation, the students learned

some of the facts affecting water and sanitation around the world and completed a fun quiz to test their understanding. As

well as providing fun and enjoyment, the students also learnt the real message behind the task which was raising aware-

ness of poor hygiene standards around the world.

In November, members of the Astronomy Club from Year 9 and 10 attended a

fascinating lecture about how star systems form dense interstellar clouds of gas

and dust. Students and staff discovered that these clouds are so big that they

can cause self-generated gravitational fields and collapse, over about hundred

thousand years. This process converts two solar masses of gas and dust into

stars in our Galaxy every year. Many of the new stars are initially surrounded by disks, in which Earth-like and Jupiter-like

planets form in about 10 million years.

The birth of a star with a planetary system is a complex process, in-

volving the non-linear inter-play of gravity, hydrodynamics or mag-

neto-hydrodynamics, radiation, and the chemistry of gas and dust.

Powerful supercomputers are used to perform three-dimensional

simulations to advance our understanding of this complex process

and of the most important parameters governing it. However cur-

rent computing power is insufficient to model the formation of plan-

ets in these discs due to the further parameters that have to be

considered. The Sun is unusual in that it is a single star and not

one of binary pair, or more complex stellar formations. We also

found out that our part of the Milky Way, is rather a dull suburb of the galaxy, and that we would need to go to the ‘centre

of town’ where there is more happening in astronomical terms.

Professor Walch is a leading computational astrophysical fluid dynamicist with a particular interest in the multifaceted

process giving rise to stellar birth and planetary systems. Professor Walch was appointed as a Professor of Theoretical

Astrophysics at the University of Cologne, Germany, in 2013. Prior to this she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the

Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, Germany, and at Cardiff University. She has a PhD in Physics from the

Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich (2008).

It was pleasing to take this group to such an interesting lecture, and that further advances in this field, as well as others, is

now in the hands of the next generation of St John Fisher students.

The 2015 Bolton Lecture in Astronomy

Duke of EdinburghAnother successful expedi-

tion weekend took place in

October for the Bronze

Award Duke of Edinburgh

candidates in October. All

students completed the ex-

pedition with only minor me-

anderings. We await their

presentations with interest.

Year 9 STEM TripIn November, twelve Year 9 Engineering and Technology students

ventured over to the Yorkshire Railway Museum to compete against

schools from the local area in a variety of STEM activities. Students

had the opportunity to meet a number of specialists from a variety of

engineering sectors including; Structural, Mechanical and Materials. A

particular highlight for the students was to meet a Rolls Royce Engi-

neer who is part of the Bloodhound Project team attempting to break

the land speed record.

Students had to develop a number of creative solutions to challenges

throughout the day, some of which included developing a balloon

powered vehicle and a structure to withstand high winds. The trip pro-

vided students with a great insight into the world of Engineering and

the possibilities for a future career in the sector.

“It was a fantastic day, it opened our eyes to how much engineering

affects our lives and I really enjoyed the challenge.”

George Sanderson & Farrer Moore 9B

St John Fisher recently hosted the Year 5/6 Sportshall Athletics Finals.

All athletes performed exceptionally well for their schools and should be

very proud of their performances.

The final confirmed results are as follows:

1st - Pannal = 278 points

2nd - St Marys = 252 points

3rd - St Johns = 240 points

4th - Richard Taylor = 198 points

5th - Birstwith = 150 points

6th - Glasshouses = 124 points

7th - Bishop Monkton = 116 points

Congratulations to Pannal School who now progress through to repre-

sent the area at the Level 3 North Yorkshire School Games Finals in

March at Catterick Leisure Centre. A big thank you goes to the SJF

Young Leaders who worked tirelessly throughout the whole competition.

Primary School SportsHall

Athletics

Girls Football – Autumn 2015The St John Fisher girls football teams have enjoyed a

highly successful term, building on the back of last year’s

achievements. Each team from Year 7 to 11 have competed

in Area, County and National competitions and have once

again showcased the talent that St John Fisher has to offer.

The Year 7/8 team are unbeaten this academic year, in all

competitions. They have played a staggering 26 matches

including tournaments, resulting in 26 victories. They are

now through to the Semi-Final of the North Yorkshire Cup

and are one of the last 32 schools remaining in the country,

in the English Schools National Cup. With over 25 girls

competing for a place in the team, there has been strong

competition to make the squad. All 25 students have repre-

The Year 10 boys football team have enjoyed a very success-

ful term.They started the season by winning the area 5-a-side

competition yet again. They are currently still competing in

three tournaments having progressed to the semi-final of the

area cup, last sixteen of the county cup and last 64 of the na-

tional cup with victories over teams from York, Leeds, Brad-

ford, Skipton and Harrogate including beating Harrogate

Grammar school 3-0 and 3-2 in recent weeks.

Their only defeat of the season has come when competing for

a place in the last 16 of the National Open Cup where they

lost a close game 3-2 to a side from Newcastle featuring sev-

eral Newcastle United and Sunderland players, including an

England international.

The B and C football teams also triumphed in friendly games

against St Aidans winning 3-0 and 16-0 respectively.

Year 10 Football English School’s National Cross Country

FinalsThe English School’s National Cross Country Finals

took place last weekend in Bedford. Congratulations to

the Under 13 Cross Country team for having qualified

for the National Finals and in itself was a tremendous

achievement, then went on to finish an excellent 12th in

the country.

The team was well led by Ethan Hussey who finished a

brilliant 9th in windy and muddy conditions in a time of

9.42 (less than 30 seconds behind the winner). Will

Hugill up against mainly Year 8 boys finished a fantastic

28th in 10.04, Paddy Tolan was next home in 90th place

10.41, followed closely by Callum Hodgson from Year 7

in 99th place 10.45 and then a great run from Sam

Avery to finish 111th in a time of 10.57.

A fantastic achievement. St John Fisher are delighted

with their effort, attitude and commitment – excellent

role models for the school. Well done to all these boys.

sented St John Fisher in at least one of the competitions.

Together they make up a small but frighteningly determined

team who exude passion, unity and talent. What they lack in

height, they sure make up for in feistiness.

The Year 8/9 team are also unbeaten this academic year, in

all competitions. They have played a resounding 22

matches including tournaments, resulting in 26 victories.

Like the Under 13 team, they are now through to the Semi-

final of the North Yorkshire Cup and are one of the last 32

schools remaining in the country, in the English Schools Na-

tional Cup.

.

The Under 14’s will now face the competition holders; South

Hunsley High School in the last 32 of the National Cup.

Children in Need 2015

With over £4,500 raised, this year’s Children in Need ap-

peal has been an enormous success. Special attention

should go to the School Congress for organising the day

and co-ordinating events throughout the week. Particular

highlights included the ‘SJF Bake-off’ which saw Aidan

Miller claim the title of champion after wowing Dr Harrison

and Dr Rose with his Battenburg cake.

Unfortunately, students did less well when taking on the

staff at ‘University Challenge’ and were comprehensibly

beaten in all three rounds. It has been suggested by the

Headteacher that the contestants be given extra home-

work in order to improve their preparation for next year’s

competition.

As always, the main event of the day was the Sixth Form

pantomime. This year, ‘Shrek’ was performed for the first

time and proved incredibly popular. Oswald Spencer had

been working on his Scottish accent for weeks in order to

stay faithful to the original production and there was not a

dry eye in the house when Princess Fiona, played by

Emily Alderson, agreed to marry the Green Ogre. Well

done to all of the forms who raised money on the day and

a big thank you to the local businesses who contributed

prizes and items for the auction. It would not have been

possible without your help.

The ATTIC is here…

Within our school, pastoral care and academic achievement go hand in

hand. We see the value in all our students’ achievements and encourage

positive and resilient attitudes in all at St John Fishers. The pastoral team

aim to give all of our students equal opportunities within a positive, calm

and caring environment so that each one of them is able to fulfil their po-

tential.

The school has a robust behaviour management strategy which is under-

pinned by a clear related policy. The pastoral team aim to understand stu-

dents’ behaviour patterns and triggers and use these to develop child

focussed and personalised interventions for each individual student. We

work closely with students either on a one to one basis or in small groups

to make more realistic, meaningful and sustainable changes.

The pastoral team are based in a quiet, calm and confidential area of the main school which pupils can access during the

school day. The mentoring team provide one to one confidential mentoring support to pupils who may be experiencing dif-

ficulties or worries which impact on their learning and achievement within school. The pastoral team also work with small

groups of pupils on issues such as the transition to high school, enhanced learning skills, stress control, anger manage-

ment, internet safety and revision skills. We have recently expanded our pastoral support team which will allow us to fur-

ther re-define, develop and improve the range of services and support to students over the coming months and years.