December - Cardinal Pole Catholic School

C a rd in a l Po le C a t h ol ic S ch ool Pare n ts’ N e wsle tte r
December 2015
we b si te : www. card in alpo le.co.uk
He adt e a c h e r ’ s
Me s s a g e
Dear Parent/Carer,
As we come to the end of another busy term, I
am, as ever, touched by the talents, energy and
generosity of our school community. It has been
a delight to share in many of the events, from the
Christmas Music Concert, Drama Showcase and
Talent show. I am very much looking forward to
the Carol Service and will let you know the amount
raised for our charity events. You may be aware
that we have submitted the design for our Learning
Resource Centre extension to planning and wait with
anticipation for the outcome. If successful, we are
looking for completion this time next year.
We say goodbye to Ms Britton and wish her well in
her new job. Special congratulations to Vicky Ajayi
who has worked in the school canteen for 26 years!
Although we wish her a long and happy retirement,
she returns to us as an SMSA in the New Year.
At this time of the year, I am particularly conscious
of the darkness and the chill of Winter. As we have
seen recently, life is all too fragile in many parts
of the world. For those living in poverty or on the
streets. It is hard for many people to believe that
this is a time of promise and hope. Despite the
negative news of our world, Advent reminds us that
God comes to be with us. Every time the students
and staff of this school co-operate together over
something like an advent service, charity raising
event or a school concert, I know that this promise
continues to be real through them.
Thank you for your support this term and your
generosity. May you experience the promise and
love of Christmas.
Ms Heffernan - Headteacher
D eb at e C lub
On Thursday 5th November sixteen students attended the launch
of the “Debate Mate Programme” at the Emmanuel Centre in
Westminster. The students were able to explore some of the area
around Westminster itself, the seat of debate and government in the
UK and also learn more about the process of debating. Students were
able to watch a debate performed on stage and vote for the winning side.
The day included speeches from Emily Maitlis, the presenter of BBC
Newsnight and Heydon Prowse, actor and comedian from BBC Three’s
“The Revolution“ which will be televised. The students thoroughly
enjoyed themselves and are now ready for the beginning of the
Debating season; they were also a credit to the school with members
of the public commenting on their excellent behaviour while travelling
through London. The Debate Club is after school on Thursdays until
4:30pm with snacks provided. All students in Years 7-10 are welcome.
Geography Department
It’s been an exciting time for the Geography Department this term. In addition to our field trip to Epping
Forest, we’ve been planning a trip to Iceland and students up and down the school are participating in
activities to help the Sixth Form students fundraise the money!
This trip will allow students to learn about tectonic hazards, which form a major part of their AS and
A2 Geography exams. When in Iceland, the students will visit the Blue Lagoon, the Golden Circle and
South Shore, exploring rivers, glaciers, volcanoes and coasts. As well as supporting the students in
their exams, this will be a great opportunity for the students to experience the wonders of Geography
outside the UK.
So far, the students have been holding weekly cake sales, bag packing in Tesco and selling a large variety
of delicious cakes to the rest of the school.
They have also organised a talent show,
which will showcase the extraordinary talent
of many of our students. Maria and Natasha
from 9C can be seen practicing their dance
routine below.
Year 10 and 11 have also been learning about plate
tectonics and have been using playdough in their
lessons to demonstrate their understanding of
different plate boundaries. The pictures below show
Ms Nutman’s year 10 class making constructive and
destructive plate boundaries
The Sixth Form Geography students have been busy packing shopping bags in Tescos in the run up to
Christmas and with Patricia Vieira-Parreirao and George Metu-Onyeka designing a Christmas card, which will
be sold to staff and parents.
Catholic Life at Cardinal Pole
I am James Ryan, the new Lay School Chaplain at
Cardinal Pole who since November has been working
with the students and the staff to develop the
great Catholic Ethos that the school stands for.
The students have regular visits to the Chapel in
class groups where they reflect and learn Gospel
Values, whilst celebrating weekly Mass with local
Clergy and also outreach to the local community.
As we enter the New Year we go into the Year of
Mercy, declared by Pope Francis in this Jubilee
year, “Mercy is part of God’s Nature and it can never
be exhausted” (Pope Francis), I aim to promote
the year of Mercy in the school, by a number of
retreats and events throughout the year, at which
I look forward to meeting some of you.
6th Form Biology Trip to Epping Forest
During half term the year 12 and 13 biology students spent two days at Epping Forest Field Centre
to learn about field techniques in ecology and carrying out statistical tests using the data they had
collected. Most of the two days was spent pond dipping, identifying freshwater invertebrates and using
statistical tests to see if differences in the data were significant. They also spent half a day catching
Woodlice, marking them, releasing and recapturing them to calculate the Woodlice population in the
woods. Over the course of the two days we also found plenty of newts, including the rare Great Crested
Newt (Triturus Cristatus), which caused a lot of excitement!
Miss E.Agathangelou
Women in STEM Aspiration Day
Oxford University
Myself and two other Year 11 female scientists were selected to attend the “Women in STEM
Aspiration Day” at Wadham College, Oxford. It was a great opportunity to go to Oxford University to
do an engineering workshop. It really opened my eyes to the opportunities that are out there within
the engineering sector, especially for women. We were also told about Ada Lovelace who created the
first computer. The trip inspired me as a female as this shows that there is no limit to what we can do.
It was a great experience in general and I hope to get such a wonderful opportunity again.
By Mercy Afolabi, 11C
Year 7 Carol Singing at Tesco’s
On Friday 4th December a number of year 7 students participated in a glorious event, carol singing at
two Tesco stores in Hackney (Morning Lane and Well Street). They were all in fine voice and it brought
a lot of attention from passing shoppers who supported the event by joining in, clapping and donating
money. The year 7’s, with the help from some of our Sixth Form students, raised £143.90 a huge
achievement for their given charity - Lepra, which is supported by the whole of the year group for the
coming year. The students worked really hard in their preparation for the event and we also wish them
luck in their Carol Concert on Wednesday 16th December. A big thank you to those who worked behind
the scenes to make the event happen, including all the students, the Sixth Form, Head of Year 7 - Mr
Lawrence, Mr Gunning - Assistant Headteacher and Music Teacher - Ms Crosby and Mr Lake for his
links with Tesco through the breakfast club.
F RO G
Virtual Learning Environment
Have you seen our Frog site?
We have invested in a brand new Virtual Learning Environment called Frog; students are able to access vast learning resources. This will
support your child in their learning, as well as enabling you to see what is set for homework and any achievement and behaviour points.
Here is a brief overview:
Where to find it:
Go to www.cardinalpole.co.uk and click on the Frog
Frog login screen:
Your child enters their usual school username and password
Frog Learn:
Subject areas are continuously developing their curriculum area; here your child should be able to see what they will be studying over the
course of the year along with other useful resources.
Frog Play: A games based learning system
Quizzes
Games
Progress:
With over 150,000 questions available your child can practise their skills and learn independently and track their progress.
Frog drive
Our students are able to save their documents at school and access them anywhere, providing your child with the ability to
work on a document without interruption.
Cardinal Pole At Credit Union
Two years ago, Cardinal Pole first started to promote the idea of a Credit Union at the school - an idea
supported by the Diocese of Westminster and Hackney Mayor Pipe. It continues to flourish and grow.
Cardinal Pole students have been trained as junior Bankers by staff from the London Community Credit
Union in Bethnal Green. If your child is interested in opening an account, please encourage them to do so,
perhaps with a small Christmas gift? All new accounts have a £20.00 contribution, funded by the Mayor.
Get saving now!
Mr D Lake
FREE Bike Marking Event
Fundraising
Police Officers are offering FREE bike marking and registration
for your pedal cycle:
Date: Saturday 19th December 2015
Time: 10am-3pm
Location: Safer Neighbourhood Base - 70 Blackstock Road N4 2DR
Cost: FREE
This event is organised and run by the Police, who will be
marking pedal cycles with a special Ultra-Violet paste which
will display a unique registration number. This is then added
to the National Database (www.bikeregister.com) with your
contact details. This helps re-unite you and your bike if it is
lost or stolen. Each bike marking kits usually costs £19.99 - at
this event it is FREE.
If you cannot attend the event, you can still register your
bike for free using your Frame Number. You can usually find
your frame number on the underside of your frame where
the pedals are. Once you know the make and model along with
your frame number, you can create a FREE account on www.
bikeregister.com and add your cycle. If your bike is then lost
or stolen, you can log in to the website and update the status
of your bike immediately. If you sell your bike, you can also
update this status on the site.
STEM Club
Congratulations to the following students
who took part in the Hydrogel Global Challenge (a global experiment with hydrogels) in Stem Club.
Data submitted will be viewed by other students around the world.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Derecash Anokye 9D 7. Erica Lima Aragao 9C
Serena Berko 9C
8. Martha Lokola 9C
Sade Bishop 9C
9. Aaron Quidly 9C
Helena Boateng 9C
10. Roshana Roberts 9A
Precious Falomo 9C
11. Savnnah Pham 9C
Maria Inegbenose
Miss M Balogun – Science
Subject Focus - Social Sciences
Our outstanding Sixth Form students in the Social Sciences Department had much to celebrate in the Summer
Examinations, with A Level Sociology students achieving 100% A*-C grades. All three of our Sixth Form subjects,
Health and Social Care, Psychology and Sociology were rated as ‘Outstanding’ for the progress students made over
their courses, by the external agency ALPs.
We welcome Mrs James to the Department teaching Sociology and Psychology.
Year 12 Psychology – Students have been learning about how our memories work, including conducting a number of
experiments in and out of class to find out features of our short and long term memory. For example, what’s the
longest number you can repeat back after hearing it? Try 841523967. Most people’s limit is between 5 and 9.
Year 13 Psychology – Students have been trying to determine whether human aggression is learned from our parents,
influenced by social settings and roles or caused by genes and evolution. The different theories have been discussed
in the context of the nature/nurture debate, with the most likely answer being that it’s a combination of both.
Year 12 Sociology – Students have been learning about different aspects of family life in the UK, from debates over
whether gender relationships in the home have changed over time, to whether the traditional nuclear family is still
dominant in society.
Year 13 Sociology – Students have been considering a range of religious organisations, from Church and Denominations
to Sects and Cults and which type of religious groups such as the Church of England, Scientology, Jehovah’s Witnesses
and Amish can be categorised as. Students have also been considering the various sociological explanations for Crime
and Deviance in society.
Year 10 Sociology – Students have been getting to grips with the Sociological approach to the study of society, and
Sociology’s own vocabulary and the pros and cons of different research methods.
Year 11 Sociology – Students have been studying ‘Crime and Deviance’ looking at how Crime is measured and the
drawbacks to Official Statistics on crime, as well as debates about which social groups are more likely to commit
crime.
Year 12 Health & Social Care - Students have been studying about Anatomy & Physiology this term. They have made
posters about cells and their organelles, collaborated in groups to make and PowerPoint presentations on different
tissue types and they have also individually made and presented a poster on a body system.
Year 13 Health & Social Care – Students are currently studying about Nutrition. We have been discussing the
nutritional measures and dietary advice for people who are malnourished, undernourished and deficient in nutrients.
They are also researching about nutritional issues such as, GM foods, obesity treatments and food labelling. Students
will be going on to survey fellow students about their food habits. Last year we were delighted with the progression
success of these students, many into highly competitive Nursing Degree courses.
Mr N Pavitt
PSHE
This year, there has been a significant drive to improve PSHE
provision for all year groups. In the first half term, students
completed the topic ‘Your future’, in which they discussed the
effect of behaviour on their learning, explored the various career
pathways available to them based on their personal targets
and evaluated what it meant to be a critical consumer. In the
second topic, ‘healthy living’, tutor groups looked at what would
be defined as a healthy relationship with their peers. In year
groups 10 and above, students evaluated what an appropriate
relationship with other young adults as and were equipped with
ways to keep themselves safe from the harm of unhealthy
relationships. With the collaboration of our experienced
members of the Science Department alongside the support
from parents and carers who attended the parental workshop,
students were provided age-specific information on sexual safety.
Each year group will be receiving an assembly on the sexual
spectrum, which emphasises the Catholic ethos of equality and
respect for all people. This has been carefully prepared with
the support of the national organisation Stonewall, for which
we are now a ‘Stonewall champion’ of equality and human rights.
We thank those parents and carers who have supported the PSHE
curriculum so far and welcome any questions or requests for
further support from any parents and carers who would like it.
Sixth Form
Science/HistoryTrip
Being provided the opportunity to attend an event with the title ‘What Does Science Tell Us
About Racism?’ has been one of a kind. The event was held at the iconic Royal Institution and
presented as a panel discussion with contributions from the audience. The panel comprised
of scientists, historians and sociologists and it was intellectually stimulating to hear these
professionals discuss and debate the differences between the controversial issues of ‘race’
and ‘racism’. My favourite part of the debate was the discussion around why ‘racism’ still
exists in today’s world, even though it has been genetically proven that ‘race’ as a concept
does not.
By Aylin Olkun, Year 13
Year 10 Physical Education
A past pupil, Shayon Harrison has been called up to the
full England football team for the upcoming friendlies.
There is a link to a newspaper article http://www.dailymail.
co.uk/sport/ffootball/article-3320397/Shayon-HarrisonHarry-Winks-make-numbers-depleted-England-pacesahead-France-friendly.html
Shayon was part of the schools year 10 team that
won the London cup in 2012 (photo attached). Shayon
is in the bottom row, first right of the trophy.
Saturday
Weighlifting Class
The year 10 GCSE Physical Education class
have spent this half term attending extra
practice on Saturday’s to improve their
practical scores. The key to success in PE is
to have lots of quality practice to embed the
skills required to be successful.
Year 7 & 8 Interforms
Year 8
Girls Weightlifting
Clean & Jerk
Congratulations to the following girls who
competed in a clean and jerk weightlifting
competition on Friday 23rd October 2015.
1st place
Chyna Grey 8 CAM and Whitney Bola Oyeledun 8
SWL who both lifted 30kg.
3rd place
Alexandrisa Correia Ca 8 ARW who lifted 22kg.
Year 7 Interform Netball
On Friday 13th November, Year 7 girls participated in a netball interform competition.
Congratulations to 7ARW who came first followed by 7WRD who came second. Some of the girls
from this interform competition were selected to be part of the Year 7 netball team who will be
playing matches against other Hackney Schools as part of the Hackney Netball League for 2015-2016.
Year 7-9 Netball Results in the Hackney League
On Monday 23rd November, Years 7, 8 and 9 travelled to Stoke Newington School to play netball. Results were as
follows:
Year 7 – Won 2-0 MVP – Makia Evans-Young
Year 8 – Won 5-0 (played extremely well with strong defence and attack throughout) MVP – Chyna Grey
Year 9 – Lost 10-0 (although against a tough team, put up a strong game) – Rachel Attakora-Bonsu
All teams played extremely well and hopefully with regular training sessions on a Thursday after school, will continue to
have success and do well in the Hackney Netball League 2015-2016.
Their next games are against Mossbourne, Bridge, Our Lady and Hackney New School in the first few weeks back after
the Christmas break. Good luck for the rest of the league to all teams!
Miss. Pontifex (PE Teacher)
Hackney Sports Hall Athletics
It is wonderful to see all four Sports Hall athletics teams from year 7 & 8 have a clean sweep in
all the Hackney League meetings to become champions and qualify for the East London final to be
held sometime next year. We need all the students to train now so that we are ready for the next
round where the standard of competition is very high. Training is every Wednesday 3.30pm-4.30pm.
Mr Purcell
Year 7 Boys
School
CP
Urswick
Skinners
Stoke
Newington
Petchey
CP B
Hackney Sportshall athletics 2015-2016 League Results
Event 1
Score
112
92
0
92
Event 2
Score
140
125
51
127
Event 3
Score
117
0
0
108
Event 4
Score
140
0
0
130
Total after
4 events
509
217
51
457
League
position
1st
4th
6th
2nd
93
0
114
0
0
98
136
98
343
196
3rd
5th
Event 1
Score
115
94
0
97
Event 2
Score
183
0
45
157
Event 3
Score
144
0
0
128
Event 4
Score
159
0
0
130
Total after
4 events
601
94
45
512
League
position
1st
6th
7th
2nd
0
71
0
165
112
0
138
0
85
0
127
50
303
310
135
4th
3rd
5th
Event 1
Score
87
0
0
0
Event 2
Score
123
91
91
60
Event 3
Score
128
0
0
0
Event 4
Score
87
0
0
0
Total after
4 events
425
91
91
60
League
position
1st
=2nd
=2nd
4th
Event 1
Score
83
82
0
0
0
Event 2
Score
131
141
97
103
118
Event 3
Score
86
0
0
0
86
Event 4
Score
110
107
0
0
105
Total after
4 events
410
330
97
103
309
League
position
1st
2nd
5th
4th
3rd
Year 7 Girls
School
CP
Urswick
Skinners
Stoke
Newington
Our Ladies
Petchey
CP B
Year 8 Boys
School
CP
Urswick
Petchey
Skinners
Year 8 Girls
School
CP
Urswick
Petchey
Skinners
Our Ladies