DECEMBER2014

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD 2014

REMEMBRANCE 1914-2014

CONTENTSHeadteacher’s Message

Confucius Institute Visit

Sports News

Career Academy

Northern Lights

Schools Will Rock You

Aspens News

Remembrance 1914-2014

Christmas Service Times

In this issue...

FOUR FIVE

SIXEIGHT

NINETEN

ELEVENTWELVE

THREE

proud that I have played a small part in some of the successes at St.Chad’s including the transformation of the buildings (the sports hall was not very good even in 1983!), the success of our joint-church identity and the fact that the school is so popular in our community.

I am grateful to the many staff who over the years I have had the privilege of working with.

However, my greatest pride is in having taught and looked after thousands of young people from our community, starting with my Year 7 tutor group in September 1983, and it makes me even prouder to meet many of them as parents, continuing to entrust our unique school with the privilege of educating their own children. I am convinced that under the leadership of Mr Billings and with the continued commitment of the 160+ staff at St.Chad’s, and your support, the school will be regarded in the same way it has always been.

Thank you for your support over the years.

A MESSAGE FROMOUR HEADTEACHER...

When you walk through the upper reception at St.Chad’s you will see a small stained glass window set in the wall. The image on the glass is of St.Chad and the glass was produced to commemorate the official blessing of the school on July 13th 1983. That day was my first visit to St.Chad’s.

I was interviewed for the post of English teacher at St.Chad’s in unusual circumstances on Saturday the 25th of May 1983 but as this was during the school holidays, the interview took place at the house of the then Chair of Governors, John Beech (I see John at church in Runcorn, still going strong and very interested in our link with Kenya, a country he loves). Therefore I had not visited the school until the 13th of July when the then headteacher Brian Parsons (also like John, still going strong) invited me to the blessing which took place on a scorchingly hot evening where everyone, including Bishop Gray who led the service in his finest regalia, felt very uncomfortable dressed in suits! In fact it was so hot that the recently laid floor in the sports hall, where the service took place, was still soft and if you could look under the carpet of the assembly hall (which used to be the sports hall) you can still see thousands of little circles where the legs of the chairs put in the sports hall for the ceremony, sank into the soft surface!

As the saying goes, ‘little did I know’ that I would be still working at St.Chad’s 31 years later.

To say I am sad to be leaving after virtually a teaching lifetime here would be an understatement, particularly in the current circumstances. However, I am immensely

On November 10th, our Year 9 students went to the Confucius Institute of Manchester University and enjoyed taking part in a half day of Chinese learning.

During the day, the students took part in a range of activities including Chinese dance, Chinese zither playing and singing songs.

They learnt about a Mongolian dance, a Xinjiang dance and a Tibetan Dance and the very pretty and charming Dai dance.

The students followed the instructions of the teacher and by the end of the session some students could dance on their own.

Following on from dancing, the students enjoyed Chinese songs about body parts. Students were focused and enjoyed the competitive games.

Through these activities the students learnt the new words, consolidated previous knowledge and showed great enthusiasm towards their Chinese learning.

CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE VISIT!

Enormous congratulations to Deklan Hill in Year 11, who was selected for the Cheshire Schools` U-16 Football squad, following two rounds of high-quality trials during the summer term.

He has clearly really impressed the coaches during the trials and early matches, as he has been included in the squad for all three of the fixtures thus far.

Cheshire won their first friendly 6-0 in Shropshire, followed by a 2-2 draw with Lancashire in the Northern Counties League and a 3-2 win over Staffordshire in the first round of the National Inter-County Trophy and Deklan displayed his superb adaptability over these games, playing in several positions including central midfield.

Good luck to Deklan and the County Football team in all their forthcoming matches; the PE Dept and the school are very proud of your achievement!

SPORTS NEWSCONGRATULATIONS DEK!!

On Saturday night Kathryn Schofield swapped her trisuit for a dress to attend the Triathlon England Northwest Region Awards Night at Lancashire Manor Hotel. Kathryn was there to receive her certificate of Achievement for coming 12th in the North West, and completed the series by doing 8 or more events in the series. The certificate was presented to her by Katie Hewison, European Duathlon Champion. This was Kathryn’s first full year at doing the T3 age (13-14 years) 400 metre swim, 8k bike ride and 3k run, in which Kathryn did 10 events in the series plus an open water aquathlon at Crosby marina (300 metre swim and 4km run) - Kathryn came 2nd in that event. Kathryn has now been asked to train with the GB Triathlon Academy on 22nd November and 7th December at Salt Arye Lancaster.

WELL DONE KATHRYN!!

Congratulations to Ex-Pupil Karl Richardson

Karl Richardson is 19 years old and a graduate of the Career Academy programme that we run here at St Chad’s.

He chose the increasingly popular avenue of ‘earning as you learn’ and went on to do a Year in Industry with Sci-Tech Daresbury Laboratory after he graduated from school.

The Year in Industry scheme, offered by the EDT (Engineering Development Trust), provides paid career development work placements for students interested in all areas of engineering, science, IT, e-commerce, business, marketing, finance and logistics.

He believes the Career Academy programme gave him an advantage: “It gave me a platform of knowledge, which in turn helped me achieve a placement from which I benefitted massively.”

Karl joined the Career Academy because it “provided the relevant experience and guidance necessary to help me enter the world of work confidently.” He was partnered with another student and together they were mentored by two senior managers at O2 in Edinburgh and Preston Brook. They provided

him with key advice regarding the next steps in his career as well as helping him with interview techniques to make him stand out from the crowd.

He went on to complete a two-week internship at O2. “I believe the programme was vital in increasing my confidence and understanding of the business world, which ultimately broadened my outlook on my future.”

When Karl passed his exams, he faced the big question, “What next?” He wanted to get some real world experience, which led to him applying for the Year in Industry, initially with the intention to go on to university the following year. However, during his placement at the Sci-Tech Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington, he quickly realised that learning through working suited him best, with the added bonus of a monthly wage.

It was massively beneficial as it offered me the opportunity to work with one of the leading science and technology research councils in the country and work within a complex, highly skilled scientific computing department.

Karl intends to continue at the Daresbury Laboratory, gaining more experience in different working environments. He is a prime example of the many different opportunities and career paths available in the STEM sector and Career Academies UK are working closely with many initiatives including STEMNET, Headstart, Tomorrow’s Engineers and the Your Life campaign, to raise the profile of STEM careers.

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Following on from our recent visit to PWC in Manchester, our students were invited to attend a virtual event finding out about a variety of professional opportunities.

We have also been to Sci-Tech, Daresbury to begin our Induction programme for the very exciting forthcoming internships the students have been awarded in various departments there.

We are still searching for a possible internship within photography for one student. If anyone has any contacts, we would be extremely grateful.

Good luck to all over the coming months.

SCIENCE NEWS...It is quite evident that from the start of Y7 we have some keen scientists in our classrooms. Therefore, what better way to encourage these young Einsteins than to go and visit some of our feeder primary schools and share some good practice with our Primary colleagues.

It was decided to look at some of the key aspects in science that have moved from KS3 to KS2 such as Evolution and Inheritance and Light. This means fossil making and modelling being finches was a must.

The first school visited was Woodside and it has been a pleasure working with some extremely inquisitive pupils that have a natural curiosity about how the world developed around us.

St Clement’s have also shown their appreciation for some famous figure from the past such as Charles Darwin and Mary Anning.

It has been a great pleasure working with our prospective pupils and those in our Runcorn community and I look forward to meeting some more Y6 pupils before the end of the year.

CAREER ACADEMY

As always, there will be a variety of enrichment activities on offer from the science department in the run up to Christmas. In the past we have studied Christmas time from the perspective of the Nenet Tribe of Siberia in terms of how they use reindeer as a pack animal, a source of clothing and a source of food. Additionally, we have studied the nutritional values of different traditional Christmas meals from across the globe. We have even carried out a practical investigation where students had to design a jacket that was suitable to insulate Ralph the penguin chick who was born without feathers, leaving him cold and alone at Christmas time!

This year we will the taking the opportunity to study the Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis. Whilst this is not strictly linked to Christmas, the lights do serve to remind us to be thankful for the wonderful world in

which we live. During the enrichment activity our students will learn about how the Earth’s magnetic field interacts with debris from solar storms to produce the spectacular light shows in our sky. You might even have been lucky enough to have seen these for yourselves as the Northern Lights were visible above much of the United Kingdom earlier this year. Our students will have the chance to make a (very tasteful) bauble that models the Earth’s magnetic field and the associated Aurora Borealis. The production of this bauble involves melting down wax so that the magnetic field lines from a bar magnet (not unlike our Earth) can be forever preserved as an explanation of how auroras form. It is our hope that this bauble will be packed away and used year upon year at home and that it will serve as a reminder of the happy times at school.

May we take this opportunity to wish you a very happy and restful Christmas from the science department. The enrichment activities will run in the final week of term and are open to all students on a first come first served basis. Students should see Mrs Gibson or Mr Wolfenden if they wish to get involved.

Northern Lights

The parts have been cast and the wheels have been put into motion to prepare for our school show. It will feature singers, dancers and actors from Years 7 to 13

After 12 years as a smash hit, the show in the West End drew its final curtain. Therefore, St. Chad’s are excited to introduce the musical featuring songs from ‘Queen’.

The story is based in the future where Earth is now known as Planet Mall and the GaGa Kids are happy to wear the same type of clothes and are ruled by the ideals of the Killer Queen. Where hits are scheduled years in advanced and live music is a thing of legends, the planet is taken over by boy and girl bands. However, resistance is growing and the underground bohemians are steadily growing in confidence especially as the rumour grows that the ‘promised one’ has arrived. The show will be performed on the 18th and 19th March 2015 and tickets will be on sale nearer the time. Now the hard work begins for all those involved.

Thank you for your continued support and we can’t wait to see you on show night.

Great tasting food that your children will love

Blue cross sale

WWW.ASPENS-SERVICES.CO.UK

Quality, variety and choice – at an affordable price. We are the catering provider at St Chads and we provide great tasting food, produced in our kitchen, using quality, locally sourced ingredients. We are passionate about what we do and have a great range of new foods and recipes on offer. We have lots of students that already visit us every day - so make sure you pop in and give us a try. We have meal deals on offer every day to help save money. Whether our customers want a hot meal or something to just grab and go, we have a great range to choose from.

We are experts in school catering and have years of experience when it comes to school food. If you have any questions about our service, or any special dietary requirements - please get in touch. You can contact us via email on info@aspens-services.co.uk or call us on 01866 821511. You will also find a host of information on our website - aspens-services.co.uk

Get in touch

Don’t worry if you eat too much and indulge over the festive period. From January, we are having a Blue Cross Sale. There will be lots of reductions on a range healthy lines across all of our services.

There is new legislation that requires caterers to provide allergen information on food sold that is served ‘unpackaged’. At Aspens, we already cater for lots of children with allergies and we regularly check the information from our suppliers to see if there have been any ingredient changes. We will ensure that our teams undergo refresher training to incorporate this new legislation but it is still important that our customers talk to us so we can work together and continue to provide meals that are safe for them to eat.

Food Allergens

St.Chad’s is proud of the way it celebrates the build-up to and the services before and on Remembrance Sunday.

As this year marked the 100th anniversary of the declaration of war in 1914 we ensured that our activities in and out of school reflected the significance of 2014. You have read about the very successful trip Mr Rayson organised to the battle fields and war cemeteries in France.

The banner (pictured right) was produced by pupils during this year’s Summer school.

In addition, pupils contributed financially to the Poppy Appeal by buying poppies, and this year as it was the centenary, special wrist bands. Mrs Burke delivered a very memorable and moving assembly to all year groups

during Remembrance week and we held our annual silence on the 11th of November.

I was very proud to attend the Remembrance service at Runcorn with six St.Chad’s pupils and laid the school wreath in memory of those young men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in WW1 and subsequent conflicts.

We will remember them.

REMEMBRANCE 1914-2014

CHRISTMAS SERVICESOur Lady’s: 9th December 7.00pm LPA Advent Celebration of Sacramental Reconciliation

Saint Edward’s: 17th December 6.30 - 8.00pm Individual Sacramental Reconciliation and Spiritual Direction 21st December 3.00pm Advent Carols Christmas Eve 6.30pm Vigil Mass of Christmas Christmas Day 10.00am Mass of Nativity of the Lord 4th January 2015 3.00pm Christmas Carols

Holy Spirit: Christmas Eve 4.30pm Vigil Mass of Christmas

Bethesda: 21st December 10.00am Nativity & Christingle Service

Saint Mark’s: 21st December 10.30am Holy Communion Christmas Eve 6.00pm Christingle Service Christmas Eve 11.00pm Holy Communion Christmas Day 10.00am Parish Family Holy Communion

Saint Michael’s: Christmas Eve 11.15pm Midnight Communion

Saint Berteline’s: 21st December 9.30am Advent Carols Christmas Eve 4.00pm Christingle Christmas Eve 11.30pm Christmas Communion Christmas Day 9.30am Celebration & Communion

All Saints: 21st December 11.15am Holy Communion

Holy Trinity: 21st December 9.30am Holy Communion 21st December 4.00pm Christingle & Carols