THE LINK A fortnightly Newsletter for the pupils, parents

and staff of St Michael’s Catholic College

Issue 127 January 2017

St Michael’s Catholic

College Llewellyn Street

London SE16 4UN Tel: 020 7237 6432

www.stmichaelscollege.org.uk contact@stmichael scollege.org.uk

Black History Month Competition Winners Announced! Congratulations to all the participants in the 2016 Black History Month competition. This was an excellent year with many creative and interesting ideas. Students were challenged to research a person, country, culture or idea connected to “Black History” and to explain the significance of the chosen area of research and what it can tell us about the time it is from. Congratulations in particular to: Year 9: Roland Zadi for a disturbing video play imagining the incarceration of Nelson Mandela in contemporary Bermondsey.

Year 8: Michelle Francis, Abril Gonzalez-Antelo, Elmina Kwao, Tomisin Adewodu, Princess Etemewei, Telmah Dumbuya, Kirsty Eforhare, Lydia Ble, Anita Dawit and Isabelle Douglas for an excellent overview of the Black Lives Matter campaign 2015-16. This included analysis of the recent tragic deaths of Eric Garner, Philando Castille and Sandra Bland at the hands of the US Police Department as well as Mae Carol Jemison, the first African-American woman in space. Year 7: Francis Nguyen for his research into Britain’s first black Headteacher, Betty Campbell. The winning entries are on display in the History Department. Good luck next year! History Department 2016

From Back of the Class to Front of the Bench On Thursday the 5th of January, the Year 12 Politics and History Students attended a day-trip to the Houses of Parliament. As the British Parliament is among the most iconic buildings in the world, it added all-the-more reason and excitement to see (as young people) where decisions about our futures are made and more importantly who are making them. Upon arrival, we saw that the trip certainly had an educational agenda as we were taken on a tour of both Houses of Parliament- the Commons and the Lords. Our expert tour guides did an excellent job of squeezing 500 years of parliamentary history into 30 short minutes. The sights within parliament were truly breath-taking and spurred the imagination of some of us as to what a career in politics may look like. Alongside our tour, we also received a workshop which focused on the history of women’s voting rights and the Suffragette movement. The workshop was not only informative but engaging by offering a range of interactive activities. These topics spurned conversations about Democracy and Rights which is very important as a politics student because these are we cover in the newly-introduced Government and Politics AS level. As a History student, the Suffragette movement and the area of women’s disenfranchisement is a topic we look at as a part of our British Political History course. Above all else it put into perspective how far we have come as a society - it is almost unimaginable that just over 100 years ago, women were not able to vote - and allows us to think about where we will be as a society in the next 50 or 100 years. This workshop could not have come at a more fitting time seeing as, for the first time, all of us will be able to vote at the next election and makes us, as citizens and human beings, appreciate the right to vote and those that have given their lives in the pursuit of suffrage: voting is important. Leading on from the importance of voting in the last general election has shown our own borough of Bermondsey and Old Southwark how important the vote of each person is as the newly-elected Labour MP Neil Coyle won an upset victory against the former MP Simon Hughes. We were fortunate enough to have an audience with Neil Coyle in which we could raise our concerns and get his opinions of the views of young people. Neil Coyle received a plethora of questions especially regarding his relationship with Jeremy Corbyn - as Coyle was part of the rebellion against Corbyn and famously threatened to sue the labour leader. Coyle was open in answering this question stating Jeremy Corbyn is ‘a nice guy but not a good leader’. Other issues were raised such as Brexit in which Coyle stated he felt 16-year-olds deserved the right to vote in the recent referendum drawing on comparisons to the Scottish referendum in which 16-year-olds could vote. Coyle also stood by his decisions to vote for Syrian intervention as well as clarified his views for a more proportionally representativ e parliament (reforming the current voting system we have now) despite his voting records stating Neil Coyle ‘Has never voted on a more

proportional system for electing MPs’. Finishing off, Coyle explained his passion to get more young people involved in politics and overall it was a nice experience to meet the person who represents us. In fact, it was such a success Neil Coyle has invited us back to watch parliament in action - we are all excited.

THE LINK PAGE 2

Important Notice from the Safeguarding Officer - there is a copy of our Safeguarding Policy on the College Website. A hard copy of this is available in the College Office.

Chaplain’s Corner - Recipe for a Happy New Year!! Take twelve whole months, clean them thoroughly of all bitterness, hate, and jealousy. Make them just as fresh and clean as possible. Now cut each month into twenty-eight, thirty, thirty-one different parts, but don't make up the whole batch at once. Prepare it one day at a time out of these ingredients. Mix well into each day one part of faith, one part of patience, one part of courage, and one part of work. Add to each day one part of hope, faithfulness, generosity, and kindness. Blend with one-part prayer, one-part meditation, and one good deed. Season the whole with a dash of good Christian spirit, a sprinkle of fun, a pinch of play, and a cupful of good humour. Pour all of this into a vessel of love. Cook thoroughly over radiant joy, garnish with a smile, and serve with quietness, unselfishness, and cheerfulness. And you will be very pleased with the results… Author: Unknown

Year 8 Bowling Trip On Monday, 19th December 2016, the Year 8 students of St Michael’s went to the Hollywood Bowling Centre in Surrey Quays as a reward for all of our hard work so far this term.

At 11:45am, we made our way to the playground, where we were put into our groups, ready to travel to the bowling centre by tube. Before we knew it, we were in the car park of the Hollywood Bowl, waiting enthusiastically to enter. Group by group, Year 8 filed into the bowling centre. We got into groups of 6-7 people, ready to bowl. Once everything was settled, the 1 hour timer had started and we were ready to bowl! Some groups spent the majority of their time picking peculiar nicknames for each other and adding ‘emoji’s’ to their names! Soon after, the bowling alleys were full of voices shouting, “Strike!”, or “Spare!”, or “You missed!” Nevertheless everybody was being a good sport and having a brilliant time. During the bowling session our food was served to us. Everybody enjoyed their meal and finished their game of bowling on a good note. After we had finished bowling, Year 8 rushed to the arcade, where they could play until we parted. We all went home with a beaming smile on our faces. What an amazing day! By Lauren Stewart and Georgie Millet-Duffin - Year 8

The Youth of Today are the Leaders of Tomorrow

As we come to an end of our first full term, the St Michael’s Student Leadership Team has been working diligently on projects to ensure our college continues to be a very safe, stimulating and successful environment for all students.

Firstly, the Student Leaders are continuing to support our new Year 7s in the transition from Primary School to Secondary school. This is being led by Year 13 student leaders alongside our Year 11 prefects who provide weekly sessions and activities during morning registration. This programme has been running successfully for a number of years and we have really seen the positive impact it has on the students. For this reason, we have decided to roll out a similar programme not only to Year 8 but, for the first time to Year 9 as well with student leaders in Year 12 providing weekly support and delivering presentations on current affairs to Year 8 forms and student leaders in Year 13 doing the same in Year 9 form time. The feedback we have had from this programme so far has been extremely positive and we continue to look for new ways for the upper and lower years to work together as we grow as a college. The Deputy Head Boy, Derek Obaseki, alongside Victoria Nwaesei, Joint Head Girl have been heading a new cohort of the St Michael’s Focus Group. These are students from each year group who have volunteered to represent the interests of students throughout the college. So far the Focus Group has successfully held meetings with the new catering company to voice our opinions and offer suggestions as to how food at lunchtimes could be improved. Going into the New Year, the Focus Group will be working together on various student voice projects. One of the key aims for the spring term is making ourselves better known and more accessible to the wider college community so

that the student voice is effective. This will be done through our exciting new project, which is currently being led by Bryan Amores, who is creating an algorithm that allows students to digitally make suggestions as to the happenings within the college. This innovative project is not only unprecedented in St Michael’s history but also celebrates the talents of our students in the Focus Group as well as the Student Leadership Team as a whole. Derek Obaseki - Year 12

End of Year Treats On Monday 19th December, the College organized a Christmas Party at the Guoman Tower Hotel for Year 12 and 13 to celebrate the end of Term. The evening consisted of a 3 course buffet which included various types of delicious foods and unlimited soft drinks. Not only that but with the endless laughs and

music, supplied by the DJ, it was truly a night to remember. Victoria Nwaesei - Year 13 For their end of term treat, Year 11 visited Winter Wonderland on 20th December, where they had great fun on the rides, ice skating and wandering around the German style food, drink and gift stalls. It was a good opportunity for them to connect with their friends and let their hair down before this term when they will have to study hard for the upcoming exams in the Summer.