December 2015 - St. Michael`s Catholic Grammar School

St Michael’s Catholic
Grammar School
C H R I S T M A S
Inside this issue:

Headmaster’s
Message
2 0 1 5
A message from the Headmaster….
This Christmas as on every previous occasion,
we celebrate the fulfilling of the promise God
made to Israel, the promise that He would
give light to those living in darkness and guide
our feet into the way of peace. We celebrate
the coming of God among us as a child, wonder counsellor. Mighty God, the Prince of
Peace. It is even more urgent at this time that
all people, of all nations, of all religions, all
people of good will, all who recognise that
God is a God of peace, should, all of us, seek
to share our different understandings of this peace.
We Christians would say that we are chosen in Christ, chosen to live through love in
His presence. I invite you to pray that our feet may be guided in the way of peace.
Peace be upon you, Shalom, Al Hub aAs-Salaam.
School Success: On 22nd November St Michael's was listed for the third year in a
row as a top 20 school in the Sunday Times league table of the top 500 state schools.
This year we were placed 12th compared to 18th in 2014 and 8th in 2013. This comes
on top of the award of Gold School status for the second time in 3 years by Boris Johnson. Also for the fifth year in a row St Michael's was identified as the best performing
girls school in Barnet for sporting achievement. This is testament to the dedication
and hard work
of our students.
As we enter the
last few days of
2015 I hope
that we can all
look forward to
continued success in the New
Year!
Merry
Christmas!
PAGE
2
MFL Languages Taster Day
On Wednesday 4th November, the Modern Foreign Language Department organised an
insightful trip to Warwick University, as it has a well-respected reputation for its languages.
We were a small group of 14 students, accompanied by Mrs Kouznetsov and Mrs Pini. After
being warmly welcomed at the Warwick University campus, we were given a tour of the area
by two Warwick students. This introduction revealed to us the social atmosphere, as well as
the educational factors of Warwick, including its six floor library, café, shops and arts centre.
Afterwards, we went straight to our first university taster lesson of the day. We were very
privileged in getting the
chance to learn some
Japanese! The lesson
consisted of learning
useful Japanese phrases
and greeting such as
‘Konnichiwa’ (hello),
‘Sayoonara’ (goodbye),
‘arigatoo’ (thank you)
and much more. To
overcome the challenge
of learning the new
language, we had a great
teacher who helped us
to get the hang of pronunciation. We created
origami, tasted a typical
Japanese snack and even played with traditional Japanese toys.
Once we had finished tucking into the lunch kindly provided, we listened to several students
who are currently studying languages at Warwick University. Their language choices ranged
from Russian and Mandarin to Italian and Spanish. They shared great stories about their
choices and education there, which showed us just why it is worthwhile studying languages at
Warwick.
Later in the day, the fourteen of us separated into two groups – one for a French taster lesson
and another for an Italian taster lesson. Within these lessons, it was highlighted how a typical
lesson would be, according to your chosen course. Lastly, to end the day, we were given an
informative talk on why Warwick is a good choice for a degree involving languages. There was
also an interesting explanation of the different courses that the various languages can offer,
as well as an interactive quiz on language statistics around the world.
It is safe to say that the day was an extremely successful and interesting trip this term. The
taster day was beneficial to all of us, as it furthered our understanding about learning
languages. We gained a better and clearer insight of the kind of life learning languages can
lead to, seeing as linguistic communication is so important. If other students get the chance to
go next year, I certainly encourage them to consider applying as it is surely a day to remember.
Phoebe Ezuma – Year 10 Language Leader
PAGE
3
PAGE
3
Carol Service 2015
St Michael’s annual Carol Service was on the
11th December.
A wonderful
evening was enjoyed by all that
attended.
The retiring collection for North London Hospice, The Passage and Cardinal
Hume Centre raised £645
Miss Satchwell
Thank you…..
for
We would very much like to thank The Catenian Association
for kindly sponsoring two of our Y13 students: Sophia Signorini and Mart Musekura (£300) that are fundraising
their Luanda visit in the Summer.
We would also like to thank The Jack Petchey Foundation for their kind donation of £220
for five of our students, also fundraising for Luanda.
PAGE
4
Spanish Exchange 2015
On Friday 18th September, we finally
met our Spanish exchange partners and
welcomed them into
our homes and families. Over the next
week, we introduced
them to our city and
immersed them in
our culture.
After an exciting
weekend with our
exchange partners,
we embarked upon a
trip to Molino de Madaura, an adventure course. Activities included: rock climbing, orienteering, zip wiring, archery and hiking. We were very physically drained after this day, and were
surprised that our Spanish families have dinner at around 10 o’clock every night. This was an
aspect of Spanish culture that greatly differed from our own.
On the Tuesday we set out to Granada, home of the Alhambra. After being given an insightful
tour, we marvelled at
the wonders presented
to us.
Wednesday was the day
to further explore the
city of Malaga and the
Picasso museum. During
our tour of the museum,
we were able to broaden our insight and perspective on the world of
Picasso’s art. Further on
in this day, we were allocated a vast amount of
time to endure on a purple girl’s favourite hobby: shopping! We explored Larios Street, one
of the main shopping
Areas in Malaga.
Before long it was time to say our farewells to our Spanish families and the wonderful Spanish
friends we had made. Ultimately, the Spanish exchange is an experience like no other where
you make lifelong friends and broaden your perspective on the Spanish culture and Spanish
language. We would highly recommend it to the current Year 10s and those who wish to take
Spanish at GCSE in the future as it did help us with our vocabulary and pronunciation; we are
now able to speak more confidently and effectively. We would like to thank the wonderful
Zinchiri’s who devoted so much of their time to make this such a memorable opportunity for
us.
By Sanah Ranawat, Odun Bamgbose and Eden Solomon Year 11
PAGE
5
PAGE
5
Year 13 Art Students Meet Grayson Perry
On Tuesday 6th October, the AS and A2 students from St Michael’s visited Fortismere
School, Muswell Hill, where the successful artist, Grayson Perry joined the cohort and
presented his story, exploring his views towards art, his own artwork, and to give us
Art students the chance to ask him questions and provide aid in our artistic work.
Grayson Perry is known for being an eccentric, outgoing and multi-talented artist who
works with the concept of identity. He is also known for his alter-ego, Claire, and from
time to time in public events, Grayson’s transvestite ego makes an appearance.
Grayson posed questions to us during his speech, like what is an artist? How do you
know that you’ve become an artist? He then told us how he came to where he is today, and how he makes his numerous ceramics and tapestries. One particular piece
which drew my attention was ‘The Walthamstow Tapestry’. This piece of art is among
Grayson’s largest in scale, and explores the idea of consumerism in our daily lives,
and how brands have taken over our every move. The centre piece is a woman,
‘clutching her beloved Chanel purse’ fully emphasising how empty life has become as
consumerism has encapsulated our choices and taste in life.
Grayson also taught us invaluable lessons about identity. He illustrated the idea that
we, alone, are no one. It is the people around us and our environment which are our
identity, and this idea is portrayed in many of his works, like in his pot ‘Alzheimer’s’.
Grayson then took questions from students, and bid us goodbye. Some of the St
Michael’s pupils were lucky enough to catch a picture with Grayson while he drove
away on his Harley Davidson. Overall, the talk was a success in opening our eyes into
the real world of art, and in being able to see, literally, the real Grayson Perry.
Claudia Aoraha Y12
PAGE
6
Visit to Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church (Year 11 Enrichment)
Our first trip involved visiting Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church to listen to lectures by: Professor Raymond Tallis, Julie Arliss and Dr. Mark Lewney. Overall, the conference was a great
success. It gave us a chance to go beyond the constraints of the curriculum and allow us to
think outside the box. The lectures broadened our knowledge on a wide range of topic. In addition to this it offered us tools for thinking critically, an invaluable skill. Furthermore, the lectures were presented in an engaging way and each session was unique.
Julie Arliss was a former principal examiner in Cambridge. Her talks
provided the audience with thought-provoking material. She started the conference with a talk on technology – a talk significantly
relevant to the audience. We learnt surprising and somewhat scary
facts concerning rapidly advancing technology, including the fact
that phones have tracking devices and motion sensors. Julie gave
us insight into how phones work and essentially made us aware of
the dangers of our mobile phones.
Professor Raymond Tallis is a widely respected academic and cultural
critic. As a lecturer he is clever, witty, imaginative and hugely engaging. His talks ranged from the astonishing activities that go on inside
our heads to the attitudes towards human sexuality, art, culture, family life and society. Also, he gave a talk on the death of individuality.
This lecture gave us an overview of recent research on automatic social learning.
Towards the end of the conference, there was a big debate
on science and the mind. The debate was between Professor
Raymond Tallis and Dr. Mark Lewney. The debate raised the
big question of how the inner world of the mind relates to
the material universe. Both Professor Raymond and Dr. Mark
presented their case clearly and engaged the audience. Furthermore, questions were taken from the floor giving insight
into the minds of other children and their way of thought.
Dr Lewney is a physicist and musician. The central theme of
his talk was the relationship between the mind and music,
which he demonstrated using his rock guitar. At the end, we
were treated to Bohemian Rhapsody, with the lyrics changed
to relate to science.
Eden Solomon Y11
PAGE
7
PAGE
7
Social Justice Event at the Department of Justice Building
In November a group of Year 11’s attended an evening event in central London at the government Department of Justice building where we were ushers at an event on the effect of prison on
the offender’s family and the importance of vocational
education as a tool to help rebuild the lives of offenders
after they leave prison. This evening involved many inspiring speeches by Michael Gove and Michael Palin although you can probably guess which one was more popular among the teachers and students of St Michaels! Yet
particularly memorably the event was presented by Jon
Snow, the Channel 4 news presenter. We assisted the
guests and led them to their seats before we had the opportunity to sit up in the gallery and enjoy these fascinating talks. Afterwards we stayed for some canapes and ‘selfies’ with Jon Snow before heading
home. I think it was an interesting event for all the girls that attended.
Eve Cully Y11
We would like to wish
everyone a very happy
Christmas and a peaceful
New Year!
PAGE
8
PE News
Ho! Ho! Ho! Welcome sports lovers to our festive sports update. This is going to be bumper
edition as there has been so much happening. So, let’s bring you ‘up to speed’ with the changes in the PE department and an overview of our successes.
Sports Day 2015 was won by
Simmonds’ House; the first
time in four years! The day
was a great success and
which was filled with fun,
competition and many
school records were broken.
There were impressive individual performances. The y
Year 12 boys 100 metres
being the highlight of the
day. A big thank you to all
competitors and staff; you
made the day a success.
St Michael’s continues to be
a force to be reckoned with in Barnet and the girls have performed incredibly well in the major
events in which they have participated so far this year; going on to represent Barnet at the
London Youth Games in several sports (badminton, table tennis and indoor athletics). The results are as follows:
Netball Tournament (Year 10)
Cross Country (KS3)
Table tennis (U15)
Table tennis (U13)
Football
Indoor Athletics (year 7)
Indoor Athletics (Year 8)
Badminton (KS3)
Badminton (KS4, seniors)
Badminton (KS5)
4th place. Player of the match Ciara Devlin
1st place
1st place
2nd place
3rd place
1st place
2nd place
1st place
1st, 4th place
1st, 2nd, 4th place
Table-tennis
In October both the U16 (Jasmine Chan, Jasmine Hong, Isabella Hudson) and U13 competed in
the Barnet table-tennis competition. They played extremely well. The U16 were gold medallist beating all of
their opponents and the U13 were silver medallist. Both
teams qualified for the National School Team Championships which will take place in January, 2016.
PAGE
9
PAGE
9
Badminton
The juniors and seniors (Years 10, 11 & 13), battled to achieve the Gold medal to take them
through to next stage of the School Games. The girls showed some super skills and co-ordination
to outwit their opponents.
The cross country teams
are to be congratulated
on their performance in
the Barnet schools annual championship with
Year 7 (Team A) winning
the team event. St
Michael’s (B) 3rd, St
Michael’s (C) 5th place.
There were other outstanding performances
by: Isobel Philips, Katherine Kahill, Katy Munford, Megan McAteer
(Year 11), Isabella D’Amico, Carissa Pereira, Ezinna Okpara, Caoimhe McLoughlin and Laura Sharrack (Year 7)
Upcoming
events and
dates for your
diary:
 Netball tournaments in
March 2016
 Cross country championships in January
2016
 Badminton
qualifiers and
indoor athletics
qualifiers in February 2016
Dance competitions January and March 2016.
Well done and thank you to all of the students who have represented St Michael’s in any of the
competitions. It has been a very successful autumn term and no doubt we will do just as well in
the summer term!
Sportingly yours,
Ms Dixon, Miss Di-Leo and Mrs Casalaspro