St Michael`s Catholic Grammar School

St Michael’s Catholic
Grammar School
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
D E C
MESSAGE FROM
2 0 1 2
THE HEADMASTER
A message from the Headmaster...
ART IN HEAVEN
Dear Parents,
SPANISH
As the end of term approaches I hope that you feel that the first term of the School academic
year has worked well for your daughter / son. As the new Headmaster I hope that I have
managed to preserve the sense of calmness with which everyone undertakes their daily work
and that your daughter / son still enjoys coming to school. But what changes do I hope you are
beginning to see?
EXCHANGE
MUSIC NEWS
In this Year of Faith the quality of our worship in school has been a particular
focus. This term our emphasis in school has been on improving pupil engagement in our acts of worship and in putting our school ethos into practice.
Pupils now sing more enthusiastically in assemblies, their class masses are
better prepared and there is a higher level of compliance with school uniform and behavioural expectations. Students have been encouraged to
channel their energy into positive outcomes by limiting the time spent on
wasteful or negative interactions with each other and with their teachers.
Academically we have started a range of initiatives which we hope to develop over the next few
terms. Teachers are developing more strategies to promote more opportunities for independent
learning. The same inspirational speaker who addressed staff on October 8 th (Will Ord) also addressed parents at an evening meeting on the same day. The need for parents to actively support this strategy is being promoted through parental access to the ‘Helping your child to succeed’ section on the front page of the School’s web site (http://www.stmichaels.barnet.sch.uk/). The new report format in Years 7 to 11 will be further refined next
term to include feedback from parents about target grades and attendance data. Our aim is to
improve the quality of feedback which you receive in order to monitor your son or daughter’s
academic progress, as well as to provide clearer guidance on how to achieve even better
grades.
I am confident that, with your help, 2013 will see the School move from strength to strength
both academically and as a Christian community. In the meantime I trust that you will have a
relaxing and very happy Christmas.
With best wishes,
Julian Ward, Headmaster
December 2012
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Art in Heaven Competition 2012 – WINNERS!
At the end of last year, Year 8 were involved in creating entries for the Art in Heaven Competition. This
is a competition run by the National Association of Teachers of RE, and receives around 40,000 entries
each year. There are five themes and pupils could choose one theme to enter, either as an individual or
in a group. Of all the entries we received from Year 8, we were able to submit 10, so congratulations to:
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Clementine Humphrey 9S
Alessia Violino 9S
Emma Sweetapple 9M
Selina Selvaratnam 9M
Zofia Tanaka, Phoebe Linane, Danielle Dominic and Zoe McCarthy 9M
Ellie McCarthy, Miriam John Yemane, Camilla Mahonaei, Susanna Deacon 9T
Judith Ogunkoya 9T
Kirthika Mohanathass 9T
Catherine Sweetapple 9T
Emily Deacon and Molly McCourt 9S
Particular congratulations to Emily Deacon and Molly McCourt who won the category ‘The Poisoned
Pool’ based on a poem by Rob Lacey. You can look up their full entry at http://www.natre.org.uk/
spiritedarts/art12/the_poisoned_pool/tpp1.php but here is a preview!
A message from the Food Technology Department:
“After Christmas, please pass on any empty
biscuit or sweet tins to the Food Technology
Department.”
Thank you
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Spanish Exchange, Malaga 2012
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Towards the end of Year 10, we received the names and
email addresses of our Spanish exchanges that we would soon be
spending two weeks of September with. All of us were eager to
find out a little bit about them. After them spending one week in
London with us, we all packed our bags and headed off to Malaga
on September 22nd, thrilled with excitement!
When we arrived at the airport, after a bumpy flight, we all were
introduced to our Spanish exchange partner’s families. Thankfully, we felt more at ease than our Spanish
partners did when coming to London as we had already spent one week together getting to know them.
After a good night’s sleep, we woke up ready to spend the weekend with our Spanish exchange partners
and our families. On the Sunday a large number of the group enjoyed a lovely, sunny day on the beach of
Malaga, where we all had lots of fun and spent quality time
together enjoying the good weather! On Monday it was an
early start to the day as all of our Spanish exchange partners
and ourselves went to Archidona, a beautiful nature area not
far from Malaga. Once we had arrived we were all seated to
have” un bocadillo” and some juice and then were put into
groups that we would then be spending the whole day with.
Throughout the day we did certain activities like: archery,
team building activities and a sort of 'treasure hunt'. All of us
got ourselves very much involved and this helped to improve
our spoken Spanish skills and to gain more confidence in our
speaking.
On the Tuesday we said goodbye to our partners as they started their first day of school. We were then
brought into a classroom where our tour guide had set up a lovely PowerPoint of the history of Malaga. We
then went into the centre of Malaga for a guided tour of a lovely city. We visited: La Plaza de Marina,
Larios (the main shopping road, an equivalent of a smaller Oxford Street), the Cathedral of Malaga, Malaga
Roman theatre and then we went up into the mountains to visit El Castillo de Gibralfaro. Here there were
wonderful views of the town of Malaga and the beach, which was a perfect opportunity to take some
group photos! Wednesday, the day it decided to rain after 5 months of no rain, we went to Cordoba to
visit the Mezquita. The Mezquita is now a Catholic place of worship, the Cathedral of Cordoba, but in the
past it was also a place of worship for Muslims and for Jews. After visiting all of the Mezquita, we then had
time to look around the shops and have lunch before getting back on the coach to meet our Spanish
friends after school.
On Thursday we headed off to Granada, another beautiful town in Andalucia where we had a guided tour.
The guide was a very informative man called Antonio who told us everything about the Alhambra. It is a
palace and fortress complex that was constructed in the 10th century, which is a fantastic example
of Arabic architecture and was even a nominee for a 7th wonder of the world. Whilst walking around the
Alhambra there are a lot of water ways as before their water supply used to come from the ice that had
melted in the Sierra Nevada and would travel all the way down the mountain to the Alhambra. Unfortunately our holiday came to an end on
the Friday when we all packed our bags and said a
tearful goodbye in the airport. After an amazing
week spent in Malaga it was sad to be leaving,
however we left just at the right moment before
flooding hit the town!
We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Zinchiri for
looking after us and for organising this exciting
exchange.
Madeleine Rocco 11W & Tolu Akinmboni 11J
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Music News
It has been a busy and productive term for the Music Department, with practices
of ensembles and preparations for concerts taking place diligently each week,
and also the involvement of students in playing for the opening masses of the
year. On the very first day of school around 15 year 7 girls’ took to the stage to
perform in the Year 7 Mass, accompanying the singing of the rest of the year
group extremely well. This was closely followed by the Retirement Mass for Miss
Morrissey, which included excellent performances by all involved and provided a
fitting send off for the outgoing head.
Recent Events
Autumn Showcase Concert
This year's Autumn Showcase concert included a variety of music from our GCSE groups. The year
10s had worked hard on some excellent ensemble pieces, many using their own arrangements,
and the year 11 performed coursework pieces to the appreciative audience of parents and siblings. It was an excellent evening and I would like to thank all of the parents and staff who supported the evening.
Carol Service
This year over 200 students were involved in leading the music at our carol service. Chamber Choir, Junior Choir and Glee Club took it in turns to perform songs focusing on different parts of the Christmas story. Welcome new additions to the extra-curricular offer at St
Michaels got their first performance opportunity at the service; the String Group run by
Cello teacher Jenny Osborne performed admirably, whilst the Guitar Group run by Guitar
teacher Alex Lewis provided us with some confident classical and popular Christmas numbers. All ensembles performed incredibly well and helped to put everyone present in a
joyful mood ready for Christmas. A big thank you to all pupils and parents who supported the
carol service this year.
Extra Curricular Activities
Whilst many girls and boys are currently involved in the extra-curricular opportunities at St. Michael’s, I would like to take this opportunity to invite any girls or boys not currently part of an
ensemble to feel free to come along to rehearsals next term as it is never too late to join in! The
extra-curricular timetable for each week is below, and if you have any questions about which
group is right for you, do not hesitate to speak to me.
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Instrumental Storage
A really important message for the end of term is about instruments in school. Pupils and
parents are reminded that all instruments must have a label with the pupil’s name
and form clearly on it on the outside of their case. Many students’ cases look the
same and therefore it is imperative this is done to save cases of mistaken identity
when taking instruments home. Any instruments left in the instrumental store without names on will be taken to the music office for safe keeping and labeling from
next term.
For security and safety reasons, (as well as to make sure regular practice is done!)
instruments MUST be taken home on days when they are not needed in school.
Storage in the music department is limited and for daytime use only, not overnight
(except for larger instruments which may be more difficult to transport on a regular basis).
There is simply not enough room to accommodate everyone's instruments every day. Your
support in this matter would be really appreciated.
Instrumental and Voice Lessons
A quick reminder that all students wishing to have vocal or instrumental lessons in school must fill in a form, available from the music office
door or from the Music page on Fronter.
A polite reminder that if you wish your daughter to discontinue lessons
in school for any reason you must let the school know in writing with at
least half a term’s notice, i.e. at the beginning of January to discontinue
from after February half term. Your support in this matter is appreciated.
Music Tour News
As you may know, last summer saw the inaugural Music Tour to Lake Garda in Italy, which
82 students took part in. It was an amazing occasion and one we are keen to repeat. However, one of the reasons the tour was so successful was due to the number of people able to
attend and work together on producing excellent concerts. After due consideration and consultation with students, we have decided to postpone this summer’s European Music Tour.
We feel that running the tour every other year will make the finances and organization of
the tour more possible for all involved and therefore ensure that every tour is as exciting an
opportunity as possible. Apologies for any disappointment but please be reassured that
plans for a Summer 2014 tour are already underway.
And finally...
A massive thank you and congratulations to all involved in the last week of term's events.
Chamber orchestra played a very important part in Speech night on Thursday 20th December, this year performing some Delibes and Berlioz for the celebration. Finally, all of the music ensembles and vocal groups helped to lead a fantastic end of term Mass on the last day
of term. Well done to all involved, especially as the last couple of weeks are so busy.
Looking forward to 2013 we already have a number of exciting projects in the
pipeline so keep your eyes out for what they are and how to get involved!
I hope all our musicians have a happy and restful Christmas.
Mrs I Handley, Director of Music