The SPH Good News October 2019

Happy Half Term It’s been a superb first half to the Autumn Term, with a number of new trips and innovations such as Get Cre8tive Week (which I hope you have been following on Twitter @StPhilipHowardCHS) – all of which you can read in our ‘Get Cre8tive’ newsletter after half term. An update on our work as a Teaching School and within the Bosco Catholic Education Trust…

As CEO of the Bosco Catholic Education Trust, I have the great joy of visiting other Catholic Schools in Sussex, particularly those who are part of the Bosco family. Annecy Catholic Primary School, joined us in February this year and is a wonderful place to visit. Together with SPH and St Mary’s in Worthing, we work closely together as Headteachers to learn from one another, collaborate on staff professional development, school improvement and share some costs to help replace some of the services previously lost to schools through Local Authority cuts. Budgets for schools are still incredibly tight and are the greatest restriction on the things that we can and can’t do, however we have found some ways by working together, to improve both the quality and value for money of services we buy into. For example, much of our IT across the three schools is done centrally, along with HR, payroll, SEN, Maths and English support. Ofsted visited St Mary’s last week, and whilst we aren’t able to share the outcome yet, we were delighted with their findings. As a Teaching School, we have done much to attract new teachers into the profession (this year there are 35 trainees between Bosco and Inspire Teaching School Alliances) and Mr Jones, as Director of the Teaching School, has worked extremely hard to ensure the work of the Teaching School benefits our children. We are at pains to ensure that my time out of school, supporting others, is not at the expense of the SPH community (in fact it is quite the opposite). The reality however is that I do spend at least a day a week at other schools (usually Wednesday). During these times, Mr Clarke, as Deputy Head and the rest of the very capable and experienced Leadership Team are in charge. The very best schools, have capable leaders at all levels and our continued outstanding results show this to be the case at SPH. Performance Tables for 2019, again show our outcomes to be in the top 10% nationally and amongst the top 4 schools across Sussex (East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove). We aren’t complacent (but are pretty proud) and know we still have much to do!

It was with great sadness earlier this half term that we learnt of Mark Grabowski’s death. Mark was a great friend to the school over a number of years. He had committed his life to education; first as a teacher of History and subsequently as a school governor. Mark was a governor at SPH from 2009 to 2017 and in the last few years as Chair of Governors. He provided me, as a new and inexperienced headteacher, with an enormous amount of support, challenge and encouragement and was very directly responsible for helping us achieve our ‘Outstanding’ status in 2016 and subsequently the setting up of Bosco Catholic Education Trust. Mark was definitely one of life’s ‘good guys’! He will be very fondly remembered and much missed here at SPH and our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Finally, thank you for all you do to support the work that we do; whether that’s picking up from events, sporting fixtures or one of the 35 after-school clubs or ensuring that we speak with ‘one voice’ and maintain the high standards we expect of all our wonderful children.

I wish you a very restful half term.

David Carter Headteacher

IMPORTANT 2020 BANK HOLIDAY INFORMATION

Forthcoming Dates for your Diary:

4-8 Nov – Berlin trip 29 Nov – School closed for staff and students

4-8 Nov – UCAS sending week 02 Dec – School closed for staff inset

4-14 Nov – Yr 7 Days of Reflection 04 Dec – Arundel Advent Service

07 Nov – 4.30pm Yr 11 PPCE 05 Dec – 4.30pm Yr 9 PPCE

18-28 Nov – Yr 13 mock exams 11 Dec – 2.30pm Carols by Candlelight

21 Nov – 4.30pm Yr 12 PPCE 12 Dec – Christmas Concert

25 Nov – 6 Dec – Yr 11 mock exams 20 Dec – End of term (school closes at 12.40pm)

75TH ANNIVERSARY OF VE DAY

On 7th June 2019, the UK Government announced that they will be moving early May Bank Holiday from Monday 4th May to Friday 8 May. This is to coincide with the 75th Anniversary

of the VE Day.

News from our Art & Photography Department

On a wet Thursday morning the 6th form Photography students set off to explore the magical world of Tim Walker’s Photography. His latest exhibition, ‘Wonderful Things’ is designed around artefacts from the archives at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Tim has captured a fantastical world to transport viewers to. The exhibition connected well to the AS theme of Fantastic and Strange, enabling students to explore Walker’s work in detail, looking for ideas and techniques to explore in their own work on return to school.

Miss K Hudson, Head of Art & Photography

Year 10 Natural History and Science Museum trip On Wednesday 9th October, Year 10 GCSE art students took a trip to London to visit the Natural History Museum and

Science Museum. The trip was an opportunity to gather visual research for the current GCSE Structures project, and

students were able to work from observation into sketchbooks they had created themselves. From these drawings

students will then develop ideas in to a final piece as part of their coursework unit. We were also lucky to spot a Royal,

Kate Middleton, who was visiting the Natural History Museum that day! The students had a great day and left with

some wonderful work to develop further.

Mrs K Dominy, Art Teacher Yr 12 Art trip to Tate Modern

Ready to be immersed by Olafur Eliasson elemental material installations of light, water and air temperature, the Year 12 Art trip set off by train to the Tate Modern. Olafur Eliasson’s exhibition ‘Olafur Eliasson In Real Life’ makes you aware of your sense, people around you and the world beyond, as Olafur engages you with current society and the environment. This exhibition linked hugely to the Year 12 theme ‘Sense of

Place’, making them think more broadly and theoretically of how a space can create a sense of connection towards it and the way that this connection can be recreated through art. This installation, sculpture, photographic and process approach has inspired the pupils as they start their independent study on their return to school.

Miss G Ayling, Art Teacher

Chaplaincy News

A Warm Welcome to the Chaplaincy Team! What a busy and blessed half term the school has had! Our theme for this year “Life to the Full” has played out brilliantly since September as so many students and staff has been throwing themselves into the prayer life of the school with lots of events, Mass and times of prayer available. The Chaplaincy at SPH has also been welcoming in the new team this term. Here is some more information about us! Theresa McNamara

Theresa has been working with the school for a few years now both in the RE department and now in the Chaplaincy Team. A few fun facts about her include; she is a past pupil of SPH, she and her husband have two young children, and her grandfather was the founding head teacher of the school, Lionel Short. She has previously worked as a School Chaplain in Northampton Diocese but is pleased to be back and settled in Sussex. This year Theresa will be looking at ways in which to best develop the chaplaincy of the school and how we can create stronger links with our deanery.

Bethan Townsend Also a past pupil of SPH, Bethan has spent the last four years working in Youth Ministry and School Chaplaincy in Whitstable and Brighton. As a dedicated member of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, Bethan acts as an altar server most weeks and has recently taken on a leading role in the monthly Encounter group for young adults. Bethan will be focusing this term on the chaplaincy provision for the Sixth Form. She’ll be encouraging them in their prayer life with Lectio Divina and aiding the sixth form Alpha team as they begin their course in November.

Joe Farrell Joe completes the hat-trick of former Philip Howard students that are on the Chaplaincy Team. He left the sixth form himself in 2017 and has been heavily involved in Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Bosham since he was young. He has spent many years working with the youngsters of the parish to develop as Altar Servers and is excited to be using his faith in his place of work now too. Joe is looking forward to starting up a Bible Journaling Group after half term.

Mary George For the past year, Mary has been studying towards a Master’s degree in Psychology and is bringing to the team a particular enthusiasm for the pastoral care of the students in our school. She is currently living in Brighton and is an active member of her local parish. She rediscovered her faith last year whilst on a young adults’ retreat at Worth Abbey and underwent the rites of initiation at Pentecost. As someone who understands the pressures of exams and studying, she is going to be focusing on bringing some “mindfulness” to our students and helping them to find ways to avoid stress.

At least one member of the Chaplaincy Team will be in school every day of the week so if you have any queries or questions please do feel free to pop by or get in touch. Year 7 Welcome Mass In September we welcomed the new Year 7 students into our community by gathering together and celebrating a special welcome Mass. Many parents came which was wonderful to see and students from every form group were involved in the readings, serving and offertory procession. Before the Mass each form had spent some time with their form groups to write down prayer which they wanted to offer to God during this Mass and these were presented to the Altar before communion. A great way to start their journey with the SPH family! Year 11 “Life to the Full” Conference On Monday 23rd September, Year 11 participated in a Day Conference organised and run by the Chaplaincy Team. The day was run in the same way as any conference would be with keynote talks, workshops and a time of prayer and reflection at the end of the day, all based around our theme this year of “Life to the Full”. As well as the chaplaincy team, other members of staff got involved including, Mr Jones, Mrs Cartmel and Miss Hamilton, who each led workshops on different topics based around the theme. A particular highlight of the day was the keynote talk delivered by Brenden Thompson, the CEO of the organisation “Catholic Voices”. Many of the students also commented on how they had especially enjoyed spending some quiet time in the chapel experiencing some different types of prayer and participating in some Eucharistic Adoration.

60th Anniversary Celebrations This year is a particularly poignant one for the SPH community as we are celebrating the 60th Anniversary since the founding of the school. Sixty years of teaching and loving the pupils who pass through the school couldn’t go unnoticed and therefore, on 3rd October, we celebrated in style with Mass and a reception. What was particularly special about this occasion was that we were able to share it with so many of our fellow educators in the deanery from the primary schools. We were also joined by guests who have served the school as teachers and governors, as well as two previous head teachers of the school, Francis Casey and Vince Kelly. Huge thanks have to go to the student representatives, who supported our celebrations by providing the music, readings, serving the drinks and food, taking guests on tours of the school, and exhibiting their artwork in the for people to admire during the reception. Sixty years on and I think we’ll all agree that the school is still going from strength to strength.

St Philip Howard Feast Day

Although St. Philip Howard Feast Day falls on a Saturday this year, we couldn’t let a school year go by without celebrating! So, a day early, on Friday 18th October, we celebrated the feast day of our patron saint in the usual way of Mass, Fundraising and lots of Fun. The Mass Band and Choir have really put in the hours this half term with an event nearly every week, but the hours of rehearsals were definitely worth it as they performed amazingly well for the morning Mass. Canon Tom Treherne from the Chichester parish very kindly presided over both Masses that we had for each half of the school, but we made sure that he was offered plenty of cake in the staffroom to say thank you! During his homily, Fr Tom talked about the importance of showing a

witness of our faith in our daily lives and encouraged us to think of small ways we could bear witness to our belief in Christ, and great message that all of us should try and remember this half term holiday!

Theresa McNamara, Chaplain

Creepy Crawlies in Pulborough Brooks Shortly after the start of term in September, all Year 9s went on a trip to the RSPB Reserve at Pulborough Brooks. The students investigated the ditch and deciduous woodland environments to support their current work on ecosystems. The trips were all done by train to ensure that they had minimal effect on the environment. Mrs N Bleakley, Geography Teacher

Chaplaincy News

Sixth Form Charity Day Every year, as a sixth form, we all work together to produce an annual ‘charity day’ in aid of Chestnut Tree House, in which students are able to celebrate St Philip Howard’s feast day by attending mass, followed by fundraising activities, which are led by the sixth form. Chestnut Tree House is a local charity that helps children with terminal illnesses to live their lives as happily and as comfortably as possible, a cause that as a sixth form we decide is more than worthy of all the donations we can give to it. In the days leading up to the 18th, we were beginning to really worry about the success of the day, as the weather forecast looked awful. As it turned out, we had torrential rain on the day, but it truly seemed that not even the thunderstorm could put a dampener on the school’s spirit. In the main school hall, we had plenty of inflatables and games to play, as well as a tuck shop in the drama studio, which sold out incredibly quickly! In the Sixth Form Centre, form groups created stalls for people to enjoy, including face painting, guess the sweets in the jar, and a ‘Human Fruit Machine’. However, the highlight of the day were the events happening in the sports hall, including a relay race, a ‘Chubby Bunnies’ contest, and a cream pie eating contest. The most popular events were

those that involved teacher humiliation, such as when teachers had their makeup done by students standing behind them, and the teacher arm wrestling contest! The raffle was also a huge success; the prizes of and iPad and a flying lesson convincing some people to buy up to 30 tickets!

The day was a huge success, despite the weather, and everyone enjoyed themselves - and possibly ate a few too many sweets! Now that we have all the money in, we are able to proudly announce that we have managed to raise a grand total of £3406.06, which is over £500 more than last year! The sixth form charity team would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who gave either their time or their money to the cause, and helped in making it one of the most successful charity days to date! Your help is invaluable, and what you have done for Chestnut Tree House will no doubt benefit a huge amount of people, all of whom will be extremely grateful. Over the course of the rest of the year, the Charity Team plans to support other charities, such as Movember, and also the school itself, through The Giving Machine. Charity Day 2019 has helped us to get off to a great start, so we look forward to the successes to come!

Anna Sharp, Year 13

Training for Gold

A simple little rhyme about D of E Gold Never forget ‘Be bold, start cold’. The breath-taking Brecons is where we were training, And you’ll never guess what... It didn’t stop raining. But that didn’t dampen our spirits at all, In the landscape of marshes and dry stone wall. Sprinkled with sheep methodically grazing, Whilst up at the Red Kite we found ourselves gazing. The sound of a river’s never too far away, Gushing and gurgling wanting to play. On the moss covered staircase of boulders and rocks, Doing its best to sodden our socks. In a desperate attempt not to falter or slip, Feet frantically searching for purchase and grip. As we courageously launch ourselves arms open wide, And hope to land safely on the opposite side. We continue our march with purpose and grit, Rucksacks bulging with clobber and kit. With a unanimous consensus it’s time for a break, So we stop for a bite next to the lake. That appeared to be sleeping at the foot of the hill, Cool, calm and clear and unnervingly still. Time to move on, map and compass in hand, Do your four Ds - check the lay of the land.

Best take a bearing just to be sure, So we know where we’re heading (never been there before). It’s a killer climb, now super stony and steep, Much better suited to surefooted sheep. But we manage to make it and wow what a view, As we burst through the clouds of mountain dew. Where the sweet damp air caresses your face, The Brecons are truly a magical place. Where characters grow and ideas ignite, Souls do some searching and aspirations take flight. Back to the bunk house now we’ve conquered those hills, Back to practical D of E Skills. Mapping and planning, menus and aims, Route cards to write – no time for games. Cooking and cleaning – (it may be hard to believe) Each and every one of us rolled up our sleeves. We worked as a team to get the job done, Now everything’s sorted it’s time to head home. This is just the start of Gold D of E All you have to do is believe, believe, believe. Good Luck!

Mrs S Schaeffer, Head of Year 7

Amazing turn out for Oliver auditions!

More students than ever joined the Performing Arts department to show off their incredible talent for singing, dancing and acting. The process of casting was particularly difficult

this year, with so many wonderful performers to choose from. Rehearsals have started and already the cast are looking and sounding brilliant. It’s going to take a lot to top Hairspray, but already there is a real buzz about the performances at The Alex in June 2020. Watch out for more information coming soon and a sneaky peak at a number from Oliver at the SPH Christmas Show on 12th December.

Chichester Festival Theatre School Fest Project

This term Year 7 students have been lucky enough to participate in the Chichester Festival Theatre School Fest project. As part of the project they have participated in workshops run by the theatre. In the first session they learnt about all the roles and responsibilities of theatre professionals, exploring the many job opportunities on offer in the industry. In the second workshop they got to practically explore The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo, having great fun experimenting with puppetry and playing the role of different wild African animals. The experience culminated in a trip to the theatre to see how the text is

brought to life on the stage, and what a play it was; beautifully recreated through the imaginative use of actors,

technology and puppets, with not a dry eye in the house! We can’t wait to see what the second part of the project will bring...

Mrs M Williams, Head of Performing Arts

A Level English Language Conference 2019, London

On Wednesday 16th October 2019, a group of twelve St Philip Howard Sixth Formers, along with English Language teachers, Mrs Cartmel and Mrs Morgan, set off to the heart of London to attend a seminar at the English and Media Centre. On the agenda were talks from esteemed linguists, journalists and figures from specific Language-related careers. The intrepid Year 12 and 13 students and teachers travelled via train to King’s Cross St Pancras station before making their way to the conference, where the group was led into the lecture hall; a vast and remarkable place of study and academia.

The talks and lectures offered at the conference varied from the self-explanatory to the ambiguous, ranging from University of Sussex Linguistics professor Lynne Murphy’s investigation into debates surrounding American English (and the myth that British English is evolving into the aforementioned American standard) to the study of youth language in the UK by Rob Drummond, a linguist and lecturer from Manchester Metropolitan University. Our students remarked on the diversity of talks displayed at the conference, and the acknowledgement of language issues usually avoided in a traditional classroom setting.

All in all, the majority of feedback from the SPH English Language students noted from the outing contains two positive conclusions; the conference enabled pupils to learn about controversial issues surrounding language at the time of their studies, and students were able to gain knowledge over the various factors that affect the way, and the words we speak. The A Level English Language conference in London was a valuable and unique experience that aided the SPH Sixth Form English Language students in understanding their course and most importantly, the elements of the English language.

Heather Joyner, Year 12

SPH student performs in Macbeth at Chichester Festival Theatre Once again the English and Drama departments came together to organise a theatre trip. This time it was the turn of 80 year 11s to experience a live performance of Macbeth in Chichester. Mrs Williams procured the tickets and gleefully announced that not only was it press night, but our very own Matt O’ Shea was taking the role of young Macduff. This made it an extra special night and everyone was impressed with Matt ‘treading the boards’! Thank you to all that supported this trip. It is really important that students have the opportunity to experience Shakespeare as a play in performance; not only does it lift the action out of the page and vividly into the imagination, but also it celebrates our great cultural heritage. Hope to see Matt performing again soon; next stop, The Globe? Mrs A Brogan, Head of English

Bosco Teaching School Alliance

Our range of work as a teaching school continues to grow from strength-to-strength. This year we are training almost 40 trainee teachers, in both primary and secondary schools in our locality. In addition, we have embarked on a new venture to provide training and support to 34 newly qualified teachers in their induction year, from 5 of our local secondary schools. At SPH we feel a sense of moral purpose in providing support to local schools and to share the good practice that resides both within SPH and within our partner schools. A further exciting new project this year has also begun! Bosco TSA is now the Regional Training Centre for the Future Teaching Scholars programme. This is a government

backed scheme which is encouraging the best maths and physics undergraduates into the teaching profession. Over the course of their university degrees, the scholars will immerse themselves into the life of a teacher at SPH. At the end of their degree course the scholars will be given jobs as graduate teachers and will continue to be supported in their PGCE course and the following 2 years’ of induction into the profession. One of our core aims as a teaching school is to ensure the continuity of the very best teachers entering the profession and to provide ongoing support throughout their careers. We are confident that all of our recent ventures outlined above will ensure that the best possible provision is in place for all of our children and children in the local area.

Graham Jones, Bosco TSA Coordinator

Dropping off or picking up from school

If your children are lucky enough to have you or friend/relative pick them up or drop them off from school please could you take note of the following as it is really important.

We pride ourselves as a school community in building good relations, being sensitive to the needs of others and hopefully giving the right messages about what it means to be part of this faith school. This does not just apply to the students but to us as staff, parents and adults too.

In recent weeks, residents in Elm Grove South (front entrance of the school) have become increasingly upset and understandably angry about what amounts to some very unacceptable behaviour from a small minority of parents and others dropping children off at school.

Stopping on the yellow zig-zag lines outside the school gates causes a serious hazard for pedestrians and those forced to drive around the parked car on a blind bend. There have been a number of near misses. Parking, waiting and turning in a private car park (with the associated cost of repairing the worn tarmac borne by residents) is not acceptable. In trying to deal with this themselves, some local residents have then been spoken to in a very rude manner by people who should know better, but people who also represent our school community.

Please could I urge those this is relevant to, to be considerate and sensitive to both the needs of the residents and to the reputation of the school. We have suggested in the past that the car park behind the Co-Op is a good place to pick up and drop off. There is plenty of space and you are far less likely to get stuck in a queue, as happens so often in Elm Grove South.

Thank you so much for your support; I am sure that together we can improve our neighbourly relations!