Page 1 of 4 Principal's Weekly Newsletter Liverpool College Principal's Newsletter

Principal's Weekly Newsletter Liverpool College
Page 1 of 4
Principal's Newsletter
10th October 2014
Dear Parents,
The landing craft are ready. The password has been passed through the ranks. The troops are enjoying a lie-in
before D Day. In a few hours Liverpool College will once again invade Liverpool city centre. After solemnly
remembering our founders and foundation, about 1000 pupils and associated parents and grandparents will
swarm down the Cathedral hill into shops and restaurants. Even now Chinese buffets are stocking up extra
spring rolls and sweet and sour chicken in their all you can eat serveries, anticipating the gluttony of the Year 9
school boy. Glorious weather only increases the holiday mood.
Founders' Day is 174 years old and 2015 will be our 175th anniversary. In the next few months we will be
setting out exactly how the College will celebrate this grand achievement of educational longevity and
innovation over the course of the year. But, restaurant owners need not worry. Storming down the hill in
ravenous acceleration will remain part of the celebrations.
The school is not entirely quiet. Thirty members of teaching and support staff are currently undertaking
safeguarding training with Ms McCaughey. Safeguarding and the safety and welfare of pupils more generally is
our prime focus, and yet much of the fantastic amount of work done by Dr Eccles and Dr Carr, our
safeguarding governors, Ms McCaughey, Mrs Nelson and Mrs Gannon, is quite rightly done away from any
spotlight or recognition. I marvel at their commitment to keep all our pupils safe.
An urgent parking and traffic message. Tomorrow morning and afternoon 673 pupils are scheduled to
take the banding examination. Unsurprisingly this leads to traffic issues around the site. If you are
dropping a child off for a sports fixture tomorrow morning, you should drop off on Penny Lane by the
Pavilion. You will not be allowed to access the site.
The week was a short one, but busy. Assessment Point 1 came to a close. Pupils are about to receive their
first indications of progress relative to the high expectations we have for every pupil.
What has been pleasing is the positive pupil response to the PPC initiatives. The Purpose, Passion and
Challenge reward system is, according to the student council, one of the best things about the school. Even
Sixth Formers are keen to achieve these recognitions, even if they are perhaps not entirely fixated on the little
stickers themselves.
Last night I attended the dinner after the annual golf match between the OL Golf Society and the College. Our
team of Jamie Horton, Macauley Pearson, Eden Harris and Greg Holloway lost narrowly to the Old Boys at
Childwall Golf Club. Several of the OLs present will also attend the traditional Founders' Day dinner in the
Athenaeum tonight.
The subject of food leads me to congratulations to Mike Coombs and his catering team. It is perhaps axiomatic
that Mike's team would pass any inspection, but I feel that their 5 star food safety ratings, achieved year after
year are worthy of our admiration.
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The Wilton Scholars were very active this week. The Year 9 engaged in a special workshop in critical thinking
all day. Membership of this group is highly prized among our pupils and serves as a spur to performance.
The Madrid Exchange organized by Mr McAlea, such a success last year, is once again recruiting families to
host a Spanish pupil or pupils. I can only speak from our own experience and tell you that hosting a young
Spanish person is a delight. These unfailingly polite and enthusiastic children have stayed in contact with our
family and are a joy to host. Please consider if you can help the exchange in this way.
We won all our midweek rugby matches against St Mary's and Ripley St Thomas. U15 hockey had a good
victory over St Edwards. The netball teams are off to a flyer in their city league. Our frustration with some
cancelled matches continues but we will wherever possible arrange replacements.
I have attached the first PTA newsletter of the year which has the contact details for members of the
association, including your class representative. It also has some important dates for your diary.
May I wish you and yours a peaceful and sunny weekend.
Yours sincerely,
Hans van Mourik Broekman
Principal
From the Head of Middle School (Years 7-8)
A frantic week in the Middle School with all the pressures both for staff and pupils of assessment week in
evidence. For some it is brand new and for others it is memory from days gone by but nevertheless the feeling
in and around Mossley Vale is one of anxiety and trepidation. Following the results will come the intervention
strategies and pupils who have not met their targets will be asked to attend intervention sessions in
Mathematics (Monday lunchtime) and English (Tuesday lunchtime) and lists and letters of the arrangements
will be made available to the chosen few. The poor weather has seen more and more pupils head inwards at
break and lunch to shelter from the elements but although we want to encourage pupils to use the House
spaces as we have plenty of supervision available, I urge caution as the building is new and the steps are not
meant for running!!
The Y7 and Y8 rugby appears to be daily with midweek games, games after Founders' Day and even at
weekends - the local supplies of Ariel will be tested! The girls are equally as busy and hockey and netball
leagues are in full swing as well as the normal school fixtures on a weekend.
I must draw your attention to an increase of social media incidents and must remind parents that mobile
phones are not to be used during the school day and any pupil wanting to confirm changes in arrangements
can do so but must ask the permission of a member of staff. The school take a very strong line on pupils taking
photographs in school regardless of the context as they invariably create problems of some kind at a later date.
Pupils who post derogatory comments or acknowledge a site which is derogatory to other pupils will face the
wrath of the school. It is unfortunately a sign of the times but it is a particularly cowardly and nasty way to poke
fun at defenceless persons.
On a more positive note, the PPC stars of the week are Cody Cunnigham and Mia Mitchell in Brook's,
Olivia Pratt in Butler's, Charlie Jones-Langan in Howson's and Matthew Byrne in Selwyn's.
Mr Andrew Fox
[email protected]
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From the Head of Upper School (Years 9-11)
Last weekend the glorious weather finally broke. On the beautiful Yorkshire moors I walked to view some of
Simon Armitage's poems carved amidst this bleak and eerie landscape. Six poems are featured as part of his
‘Stanza Stones' work and I was reminded of the Year 11 students working through their Anthology book as part
of their English Literature course. In the hope of inspiring them to explore further, here are some lines from the
poem entitled ‘Mist'.
Featureless silver screen,
mist is water in its ghost state,
all inwardness,
holding its milky breath.
Ilkley Moor is an appropriate environment for wearing a large outdoor coat. Walking between English and
Science lessons is not. This week I have asked Upper School form tutors to remind pupils of the school rules
relating to coats. These are quite clear. Coats can be worn before the first bell at 08.25, outside at break and
lunch times and after school. They are not to be worn to registration or taken to lessons. I would be very
grateful if you could help reinforce this message at home.
The moorland environment around Hebden Bridge hosted a stage of the Tour de France earlier this year and
from the amount of yellow bicycles still attached to the walls, it was evident that the locals were hugely proud of
seeing their home county on the international sporting stage. I would like to encourage our pupils to take a little
more pride in their own environment as the visible evidence of litter is one of few disappointments so far this
term. There are many bins provided around the school and I struggle to believe that pupils willingly drop their
rubbish. Could I please ask you to remind them that no food or drink may be taken out of the dining hall?
The points awarded for Purpose, Passion and Challenge continue to motivate pupils and we are only two
weeks away from our first half-termly awards. Congratulations to the top performing pupils in each year group
this week:
Year 9 Jack Coleman
Year 10 Abby Thomas-Myers
Year 11 Megan Thomas
Finally, some advanced notice of two events for Year 11 before half-term. Thursday 16th October is a
CCF Field Day and all cadets are expected to attend. Year 11 pupils who are not in the CCF will be in school
working towards their General Studies qualification. On Thursday 23rd October we will be holding the Year
11 Parents' Evening from 16.30 to 18.30. Please note that this will take place in the classrooms of the main
Upper School building and not in the Dining Hall.
With best wishes for an enjoyable weekend
Mr Nicholas Griffith
[email protected]
From the Head of Sixth Form (Years 12-13)
I recently attended a meeting which asked the question as to whether or not our sixth formers are aware of
their career objectives. We all know that they are sitting A levels; but to serve what means? Is it about going to
university in the pursuit of greater learning? Achieving an apprenticeship to apply vocational knowledge?
Entering the Military to serve the nation? Enter the world of work in the pursuit of entrepreneurialism and
independence? We as a school and a sixth form are endeavouring to expose our students to different
experiences and opportunities. On Thursday afternoon, Peter Cranie from the Green Party spoke to the sixth
form and exposed us to the threats and opportunities we face. He described how he lost in the European
Elections to the BNP by 0.03% and has remained resilient and will stand again in the general election in the
Wavertree constituency. What I was delighted with was the sophistication of the questioning from the sixth
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formers and the genuine interest they have shown whoever has come to speak, whether it has been politicians,
charities, lawyers or high finance. Over the next two sessions we have representatives from all Liverpool's
universities coming to speak to us. We look forward to their career advice and what guidance they can provide
our young men and women. As a school we provide opportunities for our students to be inspired. Our work
experience programme will begin after the AS examinations in the summer but work will start now to make it a
fruitful programme. We call upon parents, friends and OLs to offer placements and to be at the ready to
help with their guidance and wisdom. Please contact Mr Leeder, Assistant Head of Sixth Form
[email protected] or myself [email protected] if you can offer a placement.
As promised I have a report back from Lucy and Grace after their experience with the European Youth
Parliament. "Last week we travelled to The Netherlands to participate in "Coming of Justice: From Nuremberg
to The Hague", a course which involved a series of workshops over the duration of 4 days. This programme
focused on topics such as the Nuremberg Trials, The Holocaust, and the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. For
the first sessions we were based at the Anne Frank House in Central Amsterdam. Here, we were joined by
students from an International School in Rotterdam. The students were a diverse mix of different cultures and
backgrounds which greatly enriched our experience. For the following days we visited the UN International
crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where we were able to watch the closing statement of the four year
Radovan Karadzic trial, this was a unique and once in a lifetime experience. During the week we also had the
chance to meet with war survivors from Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia, as well as intellectuals such as
international lawyers from the UN courts. Overall this was an interesting and eye opening experience which we
feel honoured to have been a part of".
Others in the Sixth Form attended a talk by Sir Ranulph Fiennes. He told them that "You can teach skills but
you can't change character." "How a person is motivated for themselves" he told the audience, "is how they are
motivated for their team." Joel Ridley who attended the lecture stated that "despite the stories that he told and
the near death experiences that he shared, what resonated most for me was the fact that this man had failed
his A levels twice! He assured me that even if I don't know what to do now at my tender age of eighteen, I will
soon find my calling as he did." We also have two places to attend the Holocaust Memorial event in Auschwitz
(for Year 13students) Please contact Mr Hutchinson, the Head of Humanities.
As the half term approaches we have much to look forward to. I shall get the AP1 results over the weekend
and if results are disappointing I will be in contact with the individuals. Attendance has been generally good;
however some students are struggling to meet the 95% required attendance levels. I will be in contact to
discuss this. Our 1st XV play a University of Liverpool side on Saturday whilst our Year 13 classicists start to
think about the trip to Greece over the half term. We thank Dr McNamara for her time and efforts in organising
this trip in what is a very hectic term for our teachers. All ten of our Oxbridge applications are now sent and we
hope to hear if they have made the interview selection within the next four weeks.
Our congratulations go to the following pupils who gained the most PPC points this week: Sasha Dowman,
Merlin Betzler and Ahmed Ibrahim.
Mr Stephen Brady
[email protected]
Liverpool College, Queen's Drive Mossley Hill Liverpool L18 8BG Tel: 0151 724 4000; 0151 724 1611 (Admissions)
Fax: 0151 729 0105 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.liverpoolcollege.org.uk
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