Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

Welcome to our first electronic version of the Academy Newsletter. This edition is available on the Academy website. You can get a paper copy on request from admin@st-mary.blackpool.sch.uk.

We are approaching the end of another packed term at St Mary’s. Our Newsletter contains details of the fantastic work that has taken place across the Academy this term. We are incredibly proud, as always, of the fantastic achievements of our students and extremely grateful for the continued support and hard work of parents and carers.

As we approach the end of Lent, students have been raising money for our partner schools in Ghana and for each Learning Houses chosen charity. Another successful World book day saw staff and students enjoying dressing as their favourite literary characters. A very sophisticated Sherlock Holmes character was chosen as my costume! In addition to this, Miss Jones and Miss Hetherington spent a week at half term in Ghana investigating the work our money has paid for over the last few years at our partner schools and meeting the students and staff to discuss our future plans. They came back full of ideas and enthusiasm for the future. It is always heart-warming to see the effort students put into raising money to help those in need around the international community.

In the lead up to Easter we are working hard to support students prepare for their GCSE and A Level examinations. A very successful revision evening on the 15th March saw the launch of our revision plan to our Year 11 and all Sixth Form. Each student now has a bespoke plan which will guide them through their revision each evening to support their preparations for examinations. Staff at the Academy have also been supporting students with the completion of their coursework, the deadline having now passed. The next few weeks and months are a crucial time for students to make sure that they prepare thoroughly in readiness for the examination period.

Students from all year groups have been reflecting on the meaning and message of Lent this week during Holy Week all Learning Houses have come together in their Passion Liturgies. A very meaningful montage of drama and music, led by students, has helped us all to deepen our understanding of the real lessons to be learned from the sacrifice Jesus made for us all.

We say goodbye to three members of staff this term. Mrs Cossutti has worked for us covering a maternity leave in ICT and moves on to work at Ripley Grammar School in Lancaster. We are very grateful for her excellent teaching and work in ICT with our students. We also say goodbye to Mr Morris after twelve years of loyal service to St Mary’s as one of our site supervisor team. Mr Morris was part of the team that helped to ensure a smooth transition through our building program and helped keep our complex site running smoothly; we will miss his smile, sense of fun and happy whistle as he worked. Finally, Mr Stewart, our Chaplaincy team leader, is leaving us to work as a Prison Chaplain and as part of a Christian missionary pro-ject in Lancaster. Mr Stewart has given many years of long service to St Mary’s, working supporting staff and students on their faith journey. He has been a true friend to our Academy and he will be greatly missed. I would like to record our gratitude for all of their hard work and commitment to St Mary’s. All that remains is for me to wish you a Happy, Holy and a peaceful Easter weekend, ,

Simon Eccles

Head teacher

EASTER 2016

Year 11 students recently enjoyed a trip to The Grand Theatre to watch John Steinbeck's ‘Of Mice and Men’. Students really loved seeing the novel they had studied on stage as well as the different interpretations to the much-loved film. A fantastic way to view the book in its last year on the GCSE specification....we will miss it!"

On Saturday 19th March, Miss Ellarby and Miss Bamber accompanied 13 students to Burnley Magistrates' Court for the Mock Trial competition. Each student played either a member of the prosecution or defence team (playing a range of roles such as: an usher, lawyer, legal adviser and witness). Each team battled it out in a real court - the case involved the charge of Common Assault against the defendant. It was a very close competition and Miss Ellarby and Miss Bamber were very impressed at the sheer amount of effort from every single student. Members of legal staff present on Saturday commented on how we have some budding lawyers in our team and we definitely agree. Well done Mock Trial '16 team!

What a fantastic World Book Week! Each day on the lead up to World Book Day (Thursday 3rd March) there were lots of exciting activities around school. Monday's lunch time activity, 'Fall in Love with Reading' saw over 60 pupils come down to the LRC to choose a free book based only on the blurb - this stopped them judging the books by their covers! Our pupils were thrilled with their new books and we hope that they have managed to discover a new author or genre that they wouldn't have

read otherwise. Other World Book Week events were equally as popular with many people taking part in the QR quiz and the 'Beat the Teacher Book Quiz' where many pupils won a large variety of fantastic prizes. On World Book Day itself all pupils and staff were encouraged to dress up as a book character which was very well supported. We were extremely impressed by the number of people that dressed up and the effort that had gone into all of the costumes. These costumes were shown off at lunch time on our catwalk . We were also lucky to have guest speaker Dave Smith for the day who talked to our Year 7 and 8s about his career in writing. During his very funny and highly engaging session, he talked pupils through techniques to make really great and humorous writing that we know will help our students in the future. The English Department would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported our events and helped out during this week. We are looking forward to WBD 2017!

Year 7 pupils Nadia Waite, Shannon McNamee and Jacob Whipp are the St Mary’s finalists in the Foreign Language Spelling Bee competition. They will going to compete in the North West Regional Final on Wednesday 23rd March at Manchester Metropolitan University. They must be able to spell 150 words using the French alphabet and will be asked to spell as many words as possible in one minute. They have shown great determination and put a great deal of hard work into their preparation for the competition. Well done to all three pupils!

Our Modern Foreign Languages department has yearly trips abroad, enabling students in Years 7-10 to experience the language and culture first hand. During our Wonderful Week students will visit Paris , where they will have a sight-seeing day including a boat-trip on the Seine and entrance to the Montparnasse Tower. They will also spend a day in Disneyland Paris

What are your favourite

things about St Mary’s Academy?

St. Mary’s is an extremely welcoming

Academy with a warm atmosphere

and is full of caring staff and pupils.

Why have you chosen to become a

teacher?

Everything I wanted from a career

pointed towards teaching. I wanted a

job that kept me on my toes, that

was challenging but extremely

rewarding. I love building

relationships with students and pass-

ing on the love for my subject and

seeing them succeed.

Describe yourself in one sentence?

I’d like to think I’m an approachable

person with a good sense of

humour, who is very enthusiastic and

highly driven.

Where is your favourite place to go

on holiday ?

Of course I’m going to say Spain!

Best country in the world!

Miss E Roberts

“I am one of the 44 students in the Communications Learning House and 153 Across school to achieve 100% attendance from September 2015 – March 2016. We all receive community points, certificates and chocolate – how generous! It felt great to be recognised for getting to the Academy and arriving to all lessons on time every day would lead to recognition & rewards. I believe it is vital to attend the Academy every day, because I must make every lesson count!.” St,Mary’s Yr 10

As you know, the student voice survey has started for this term

All students can access the form via a link on the Academy website, in the student section. It is in the bottom right corner and is called "Student Voice 2016"

Make sure you have your Teacher’s ID (initials), subject and department information, then you answer the 25 questions and press the submit button for each teacher. You can complete this in lessons where you have access to the internet or at home. See your individual teachers for further information.

The student voice collection is open from Monday 14th March - Friday 1st April 2016 .

On 18th March, four Year 10 students from St Mary's took part in a Maths Challenge day organised by the Further Mathematics Support Programme (FMSP). During the day, students were challenged to think about how we apply the mathematics learned in the classroom to help us to solve unfamiliar problems in a variety of contexts, and how this might link to other subject areas. The aim of the day was to get more young mathematicians to consider the opportunities which arise when Further Mathematics is studied at A-level and at University, and students from across Lancashire and Greater Manchester took part in a series of interesting and difficult mathematical problems and challenges. Well done to our representatives on the day: Oliver Bateson, Toby Chick, Lily Duffy, and Olivia Hambly who showed themselves to be fantastic mathematicians, earning an award for their consistently good answers to the problems tackled.

In late January, a group of Year 11 students visited Tower Wood in the Lake District for maths and Science revision day. The students worked hard on improving their exam skills prior to their mock exams and enjoyed a two-hour activity session with Tower Wood's excellent team of instructors. Despite the miserable weather a fantastic day was had by all staff and students

Thank you to all the year 9 & 10 who applied for the New KS4 Student Council ! We were amazed & Impressed by the quality & enthusiasm of all applicants from each learning house! Congratulations so far go to Yr 10 – Jack Kitchen, Aimee Morrow, Adona Mathew, Emilia Taraszkiewicz, Aleena Mathew, Max Lovell, Rachel Mc Murdo, Madison Ruocco. Yr 9 – Logan Kerlew, Kamil Figura, Eloise Fisher, Scarlett Hill, Dominic Walker, Daisy Court, Millie Mulvey, Charney Huntley, Sophie Saglam, Amelia Weaver

Next Meeting: 8.30am Thursday 7th April 2016. Yr 7 & 8 – watch out for the upcoming opportunities in the summer term ! Mrs Horne & Mr Mitchell

Toward the end of the Summer Term year 7 students will be issued with a brand new BBC Microbit - a pocket-sized codeable computer with motion detection, a built-in compass and Bluetooth technology. A collaboration between 29 partners, the micro:bit is the BBC's most ambitious education initiative in 30 years, with an ambition to inspire digital creativity and develop a new generation of tech pioneers. The UK currently faces a critical skills shortage in the technology sector and the BBC and partners aim to help change that. In the 1980s, the BBC Micro introduced many children to computing for the first time and the BBC micro:bit, part of the BBC’s 2015 Make it Digital initiative, will build on the legacy of that project for the digital age. It aims to inspire young people to get creative with digital and develop core skills in science, technology and engineering.

A reminder to all Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 pupils –

coursework catch up is available for both ICT and Com-

puting on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday every week.

Come along to top up your grade!

Please can all pupils remember to take due care of their Chromebooks and laptops. We have had a number of incidents of broken screens due to the devices being carried unprotected in a pupil's main Academy bag. Please remember the agreement that all pupils signed when they entered the scheme stated: I am responsible for the laptop including all of its components. I will not leave it unattended; I will protect it from possible damage and will not loan it to others; I will carry it around in its special laptop case, whether or not this is inside another school bag.

The Prefect Selection Process is now beginning for this year's Year 9 & 10 students. A Prefect is a student in KS4 who holds a position of leadership in the Academy and who is committed to making a difference within the life of St Mary’s. Lead Prefects lead a house team and contribute, in various ways, to the running of the life of the Academy. These positions are highly sought-after as they demonstrate to future employers, our Sixth Form and Universities that you can be trusted with responsibility and are able to deliver when working on a project. Students apply for the Lead position in Year 10 and serve a ‘Prefect Term’ of Easter of Year 10 until Easter of Year 11 Current Applications - Lead Prefect Roles (current Yr 10 Boy & Girl from each learning house) will be appointed initially, followed by the other Prefect roles (Yr 9). Interested students should read the Prefect Selection Process information pack (see website) and are encouraged to complete the application form, reading the instructions carefully. Students apply for the position in Year 10 and serve a ‘Prefect Term’ of Easter of Year 10 until Easter of Year 11 Full details & Application forms available on our Academy website. If students require any further information they should contact Mrs Horne via email on eho@st-mary.blackpool.sch.uk

On the 18th March two teams from St Mary’s competed in the annual Rotary BAE Systems Technology Tournament held in Lytham St Anne’s. The teams were given a challenge of engineering a bridge to hold a certain amount of weight; the KS3 team had to manufacture a fixed bridge whilst the KS4 team had to produce a bridge containing a fixed section but also a draw bridge element. The teams had to brainstorm, discuss and design different ideas and solutions and produce a portfolio of work, they then had to spend 3 hours manufacturing and testing their final bridge. Both groups produced some interesting and creative solutions which they then tested in a challenge against 41 other teams from Blackpool schools and colleges. Thank you to both teams for competing on the day.

St Mary's did fantastically well and finished second in the competition, missing out by a small margin. Jack, Dominic, Vanessa and Eloise worked very hard and came up with an innovative catapult design. Very proud of them all!

Last half term St.Mary's PE Department held their Annual Year 4 Sports Day for Blackpool Catholic Primary Schools. Pupils took part in indoor athletics and a dodgeball tournament. A fantastic day with over 200 pupils taking part. All games were played in the right spirit with some excellent sporting prowess on show. Looking forward to next year already.

On Saturday 30th January &

6th February Year 10 GCSE PE pupils

had the opportunity to visit Kendal

climbing wall and climb the highest

indoor wall in England! Pupils were

assessed throughout the day with their

scores submitted to AQA to form part of

their overall GCSE grade. Pupils were

required to tie knots, belay and

develop their climb-

ing technique. Everybody worked

extremely hard, gaining some excellent

scores.

On Wednesday 13th January, St. Mary's took part in the Blackpool Schools

Cross Country Championships held at Aspire Academy. As it is every year

the weather was very cold and wet, yet despite the terrible conditions the

pupils did the Academy proud. The boys managed to come first in both the

year 8/9 and year 10/11 competitions with the girls winning the

8/9 race.

Outstanding performances in particular from:

Year 7: Charlie Strachan -2nd, Natalia Luczak -1st

Year 8/9: Jamie Jackson - 1st, Joe Lonsdale - 2nd, Elise Naylor - 1st,

Jess Hill - 2nd

Year 10/11 : Andy Drake - 2nd

This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day theme was ‘Don’t Stand By’. We have participated in Holocaust Memorial Day for the last ten years with Year 9 students; however, this year, for the first time, the whole academy commemorated and reflected on prejudice and discrimination in the 1930’s and 40’s and in the world today.

Period 1 was a lesson on the challenges of standing up to hatred in the modern day. They watched short animations about anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia and racism. Students discussed each animation focusing on key questions. In the second half of the lesson, all students, after exploring the lives of people who did stand up and challenge injustice, like Martin Luther King, Corrie Ten Boom and David Kato, signed the ANNE FRANK pledge. In this pledge they committed themselves to fighting injustice wherever it occurs.

Students experienced a carousel of activities during period 2. These included an Anne Frank exhibition, an art gallery of paintings and sculptures inspired by the Holocaust, a short film about non –Jewish victims of the Nazis, a display of stories from British Holocaust heroes, like Nicholas Winton, and a concentration camp simulation.

The day closed with a Liturgy of Commemoration where each form brought up their Anne Frank pledges and candles of commemoration that they had created. They listened to the Kaddish, an ancient Jewish prayer of remembrance, and exchanged a Shalom greeting

The day was powerful and poignant in equal measure. The students learned about the Holocaust, but, more importantly, they learned from it. It was an important day in the moral formation out of students.

The Anne Frank Ambassadors were chosen last year for their excellent work in History, and they participated in the Anne Frank Schools Programme, showing fellow pupils around the exhibition and imparting the knowledge they had received from their training.

Six of the students continued their training at a two day

conference last summer. They planned activities for the theme of this year’s Holocaust Day, ‘Don’t Stand By’. During Holocaust Memorial Day they assisted in the Anne Frank room, explaining why the protectors of Anne Frank and her family were real examples of ‘Don’t Stand By’.

On Friday 29 January all the ambassadors were interviewed by Dr. Natalia Paskiewicz as part of a Big Lottery Focus Group investigating the impact of the Anne Frank Schools’ Trust Programme. St. Mary’s was chosen as the North West representative for this research project since the project was viewed as highly successful at our Academy last year. Natalia complemented the students on their knowledge and under-standing of the Anne Frank story and she was impressed with their in-sightful feedback on the programme itself. Well done Ambassadors!

The Holocaust was extremely

bad.

This makes us sad and mad.

When all this was over—

people were glad.

In the Ghettos,

When the Germans came with

Semi—Auto K’s,

Shouting at all the people ,

Taking them to trains.

It seems like they have no brains!

Everyone was seeking civil rights,

but

It wasn’t a pretty sight.

Joe Duffy, Daniel Egan and Kazek Kowalski 9L

On Friday 18th March the year 13 Geography group went to Manchester for their annual revision conference. They attended workshops delivered by examiners where they received hints and tips on how to prepare for their summer Geography exams and how to develop their answers to achieve the highest marks in the exam. It was a very informative day and thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. They will now start to follow the Geography revision plan in preparation for their exams. Good luck to you all from the Geography staff.

Can you conquer our 1066 Wordsearch?

This term the year 9 Geography groups have been conducting enquiry work outside the classroom. Students wrote their own individual hypotheses to test which related to a unit of work they had studied about water on the land. Students were asked to write up their investigations on a revision board. This is a style the Geography department hope to use in more detail when we conduct fieldwork out of the Academy for the new GCSE Geography course starting in September. It was a change for the groups to collect their own data and present and analyse it however they chose. Well done to the year 9 students who were involved, a number of the students completed the task to a very high standard and the Geography department is looking forward to carrying out en-quiry work in different environments when these students begin their GCSE Geography course in September.

Congratulations to Tia Brown, year 11 for winning Blackpool’s Art’s Society Award. Tia’s piece of work based upon generations and age (illustrated) has been selected from hundreds of artistic and photographic entries to the Seasiders competition from schools across Blackpool and Fylde; Tia has been selected as overall winner!

St Mary’s, as we know is brimming with creative talent and has won the coveted prize for the third time! The Art Department are extremely proud of the achievements of our students. The news came as a surprise to Tia who is currently one of St Mary’s finest artistic talents, and certainly one to watch in the future.

Tia’s portrait, created using fine liner pens and inks is one of a number of pieces entered this year. Amongst other students to receive an award for their creative efforts are Jonathan Kershaw and Supriya Biju (Year 11) Macy Smith (Year 9) Congratulations again to the winners and well done to the other finalists, Megan Holman, May Errington and Gabriela Koziol (Year 9 ).

Thank you to Miss Clark for presenting all artwork exhibited in the competition. Prize winners are invited to attend an awards presentation evening on Thursday 10th March at the Opera House (Winter Gardens, Blackpool) at 7pm.

Students in year 10 became entrepreneurs and took part in Enterprise Day on Wednesday 3rd March 2016. The Year 10 students have been working hard since September to research business ideas and complete market research to find out what products would sell in the Academy. Ten teams competed against each other to generate the most revenue and profit. The students showed a range of skills, including leadership, negotiation and teamwork. Staff and students were impressed with the students’ sales techniques which ranged from Theo Paphitis to Del boy.

From January 13th-15th, the Academy went back in time to 1950’s America along with the T birds and the Pink ladies for the Performing Arts production of Grease the Musical. The production was a first for St. Mary’s in terms of the number of students involved, over 50. Under the Musical direction of Mr Marsh, we were even treated to a live band! Nicky Flaskett ( Year 9) in his first role for St Mary’s

performed the central role of Kenickie. He said of the experience, “I really enjoyed performing . The rest of the cast were great and made me feel really welcome. At first I was a bit nervous especially about the dancing but Miss Baldwin helped me with my moves and in the end I really enjoyed everything about the show. I can’t wait for next year!” Angelica Sharp, another Year 9 student shared the role of Patty Simcox. She said, “I’m used to Performing as I was in Hairspray last year but this year my role was much bigger. Miss Lloyd, our director, tried to make this the best production that St Mary’s had ever seen and in my opinion succeeded.”

Mr Heyes and Miss Pollet created fantastic sound and lighting effects along with organising the costumes for the entirety of the cast; no small order! This year Mr Mitchell organised the front of house and we were treated to candy floss, whack a rat and popcorn as well as refreshments provided by Miss Machowiecka.

On the evening of Friday 29th January, Team Nepal 2016 hosted a Nepal Quiz and Raffle Evening at Blackpool Cricket Club. The students who hosted the evening will be taking a trip of a lifetime this summer to Kathmandu, where they will be teaching English at a small school called Shubhakamana Academy, near Kathmandu whilst exploring the incredible heritage sites of Nepal. It was a very enjoyable night in which many people won some fantastic raffle prizes and were treat-ed to a wonderful hot pot supper. Thank you to the students, family and friends for supporting the evening. The £844.51 raised at the event will support our trip and provide invaluable educational services to students in Nepal.

On Tuesday 8th March Blackpool Music service hosted its annual

Young Musician of the Year competition for all Blackpool primary

and secondary schools. Lewis Wood and Jacob McPhillimy-Lovelock

represented St Mary's and both performed fantastically well!

Jacob came third in the KS4 category, and Lewis won the KS3 cate-

gory, which is an incredibly good achievement for both pupils!

Congratulations to both!

Over February half term Miss Jones and Miss Hetherington were lucky enough to visit the schools we support in Ghana. All three schools they visited were set up by the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, the same society that founded St Mary’s. The schools they visited, like ours, are rooted in the educational tradition of the Society, sharing its mission to help others believe that God lives and acts in them and in our world, and to rejoice in God’s presence. Their journey began on Saturday 13th February when they arrived in Accra, the capital city. They stayed one night in Accra before flying to Tamale and travelling to Bolgatanga in the north of the country. When they arrived in Bolgatanga they were greeted by Sister Eunice, who visited our school a couple of years ago. Miss Jones and Miss Hetherington stayed with Sister Eunice at the convent in Bolgatanga and had the privilege of visiting St Clement’s and St John’s Junior High Schools.

The students and staff at both these schools were extremely welcoming and they were delighted with the gifts and resources given to them. Although both schools had limited resources they made the best of what they had. At St Clement’s one class were taught in a temporary structure, during Lent our fundraising efforts will help build a classroom for this class, this will make a huge difference to them.

At St John’s and St Clement’s school starts at 6.00am for students, between 6.00am and 8.00am students sweep and clean the school. Once these duties are complete students have an assembly and then begin lessons, students are taught very similar subjects to those taught at St Mary’s. On Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s they have their assembly at the Grotto, where they begin the day by praying the rosary, this is led by students. The students were an absolute credit to their schools; they were incredibly hard working and keen to succeed and move on to Senior High School.

On Thursday, Miss Jones and Miss Hetherington said farewell to their friends at St John’s and St Clement’s Junior Schools and travelled to Cape Coast which is on the South Coast of Ghana where they visited the third school. The Holy Child School is a relatively new nursery and primary school. They joined

them for their morning assembly where they prayed together and they sang the National Anthem of Ghana led by the prefects. The first lesson of the day was whole-school PE and the students were bursting with energy despite the heat! The staff and students at the school were over the moon with the gifts that were brought for them, especially the football! Ghana is a fabulous country and the people are the friendliest that Miss Jones and Miss Hetherington have ever met. They can’t wait to get fund raising and hope that some of the students and teachers will be able to visit us and let us know how they are getting on.

St Clements Junior High School

St Johns Junior High School

Miss Jones with Sister Eunice and students

from St John’s Junior High School

Miss Hetherington with the Head

Teacher and students from St Clement’s

Junior High School

The Rewards trip for students in years 7 ,8, 9 & 10 will take place, on Thursday 21st April 2016. Eligible students in Year 7 will be invited to visit the zoo, whilst eligible students in years 8, 9 & 10 will have a choice of either a visit to the zoo, St. Anne’s Cinema to see, Batman v Superman (12A) or The Huntsman: Winter’s War (PG) or alternatively enjoy ice-skating at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. We are excited to offer these trips which we hope will provide something that everyone will enjoy.

The criteria for the trips is: No exclusion this term No Seclusion for this term No Step 3 having been issued for this term. Finally students will be ranked according to their B4L Net points and offered places according to this until all the places have been offered, therefore the community points and points awarded for hard work, really do matter. So for those who didn’t make it last time keep working hard and you might be eligible for the Easter Rewards trip.

St Mary’s Catholic Academy has recently added a defibrillator to their First Aid equipment, this is kept in a central place, so it is accessible should an emergen-cy arise. The machine talks through the process step-by-step and will only pro-vide a shock if there is no output.

As you’ll be aware St Mary’s Catholic Academy has moved to a cash-free Academy with the introduction of ParentPay. If you haven’t already activated your account you should do so now so you make any future payments through this system. Don’t forget you can even pay your child’s lunch money through ParentPay the night before or on a weekly basis, that way they can never forget their lunch money. If you need any assistance setting up your account, just call the Academy and ask to speak to the Bursar, who will talk you through the process.

Three of our Year 10 students were invited to attend the High Sheriff of Lancashire's Young

Citizen Awards for 2016 at the Lancashire Police HQ, Hutton on Thursday 17th March. Patrick, Nicole and Marcus used their entrepreneurial skills to raise money for our Christmas Box appeal by planning and running a Christmas Shop in December 2015. Their outstanding efforts changed Christmas for two young boys, by ensuring they had presents to wake up to on Christ-mas morning. They received a 'commended' award from the High Sheriff and were praised for going the extra mile to help those less fortunate in the local community. The students were joined by their

parents for the awards evening.

The year 12 Business Studies students competed in the Lancashire heat of the

BASE competition. The competition assessed the students on their team working communication skills, and their ability to present guidance for a business to take on a new proposal. The students did a fantastic job and the judges commented on how well they presented. The competition enabled the students to work with real accountants who were members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales (ICAEW) and to ask questions to gain an insight into the life of an account-

ant and what it takes to become one. This was the first time the school attended the compe-tition and the students proved that we were strong competition.

Our sixth form photography students experienced the day in Europe’s former City of Culture. They embarked upon visits to the City’s prime locations to include, the Albert Dock, Tate Gallery the Anglican and Metropolitan Cathedral (pictured). Students had the unique opportunity to conduct a series of photographic shoots on location, in line with personalised themes . Photography students created work based on themes such as, “Contrasts”, “Architectural Elements,” “Textures within the Urban Environment” and “Pattern and Line.” Students gained essential technical experience in a range of lighting and weather conditions which can be applied to future practical work. Well done to our students who worked responsibly and collaboratively throughout the day despite the challenging weather conditions. Thanks to Mr Hardy who organised and ensured a safe trip.

Year 13 students have been working extremely hard this year on a number of different events for their coursework. The students recently took part in a unit which asked them to run a business

event; in this case they chose to run a set of fairground themed stalls at the Academy production; which included a food and drink stall, homemade popcorn, a photo wall and cut out photo boards. The Year 13 students raised a healthy profit from the event and the chose to donate the takings to help the Performing Arts department and future shows. They also channelled their inner Lord Alan Sugar’s and showed what it takes to hire the right person for the job, on an interview panel. The students had to plan an interview schedule and then conduct a full interview for a specific job. The interviews took place in the conference room with the students dressed in business wear. The students were professional and gained an excellent insight into the interview process.

Our Gaplain Michelle Udoh was also

offered an amazing opportunity to go to

Peru which she says was an amazing experience – the sun, the

food, the stunning landscapes. But most importantly, she met many

incredible people eager to share the work that CAFOD’s partners do

in Peru. She was only there for 3 weeks and visited 5 partner organi-

sations but she got so much out of it. One thing that really amazed

her was the organisation and sense of community that she got from

the people. From the women of Llomas de

Carabayllo who worked together for 4 years to improve education

for their children, to the community of Cruz de Mayo who protested

and stood up to the multinational company who was exploiting their

water source. It was fantastic to see, first-hand, how the UK CAFOD

supporters money was used to better the lives of people in Peru

Our Gaplain, Katy Lowrey was given the amazing opportunity to travel to Zimbabwe for 3 weeks. She had a fantastic time visiting CAFOD's partners who are working with schools and communities. Most of the partners she visited were part of the ‘Putting Children First Programme’. These partners mainly work with orphans and vulnerable children, trying to introduce them into education as some of these children have never been schooled. It was great seeing how CAFOD worked with their partners, giving them the support and guidance they needed to help these children and communities. The partners also go into schools and do advocacy campaigns to make children aware of their rights and to also teach parents. She really enjoyed her trip to Zimbabwe, seeing so much and so many different things that are done with the money we give, she was truly inspired.

During Lent, each Learning House was presented a Passion Liturgy where Joshua Lea-Sain and Elane Flete performed. As well as this each Learning House delivered their own mass. Creativity and Enterprise had the theme of Stewardship. Dove shaped balloons were released after the mass as a symbol their Learning House Saint—St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals

Year 11’s had a dynamic week at Castlerigg, one of the highlights being playing in the snow on Waller Crag! That was the Wednesday afternoon walk, when the clouds finally parted and the sun lit up the mountains in spectacular fashion. But there were many other high spots as well – various craft activities, groupwork, and an asylum simulation game that gave much food for thought. Students valued plenty of reflection time, an opportunity for Reconciliation, and a wonderful celebration of the Eucharist, including drama, copious artwork and favourite songs. As usual, students did themselves proud in their approach to activities and their general behaviour. It was an exhausting week for the accompanying staff – Mr. Stewart, Mrs. Lavis and Miss Lee – but also one full of laughter and inspiration. Thanks to all who went. We look forward to the year 10 trip in May when hopefully the snow will be replaced by yellowing grass!

Wednesday 30th March 2016 — Students return after the Easter week-end at 08:35am.

Thursday 7th April 2016— Year 11 Fancy Dress

Friday 8th April 2016— Close for one week’s holiday at 15:10pm

Monday 18th April 2016-— Students return after the break at 08:35am

Wednesday 21st April 2016— Rewards Day Years 7-10

Monday 2nd May 2016 — Bank Holiday Monday, Academy Closed

Friday 13th May 2016—Year 12 Study Leave begins

Thursday 26 May 2016—Academy Extra Showcase at 17:00pm

Friday 27th May 2016—Close for Half Term at 15:10pm

Monday 6th June 2016— Return after Half term break at 08:35am

Wednesday 22nd June 2016— Sixth Form Summer Fair at 15:00pm

Thursday 23rd –Thursday 30th June 2016— Year 10 Mocks

Monday 4th –Friday 8th July 2016— Wonderful Week Years 7-9

Monday 4th –Friday 8th July 2016— Work Experience Year 10

Wednesday 13th July 2016— Rewards Day Years 7-10, Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Wednesday 20th July 2016— Close for the Summer Break at 13:10pm

Please note that we return after the Summer break on

Wednesday 7th September 2016 at 08:35am