Bellerive summer 2013

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www.bellerivefcj.org Specialising in the Sciences, Applied Learning, Maths and Computing

July 2013

For Parents, Carers, Parishes and Community

Bellerive FCJ, which has been educating girls in the city since 1844 – when St George’s Hall was still being built – highlighted the academic and extra-curricular achievements of its pupils in an evening which showcased the talents of the girls at the Sefton Park academy.

Sister Brigid Halligan, Bellerive FCJ's headteacher, said: “The beautiful venue we are gathered in tonight matches the greatness of our pupils. We are proud of them and we are here to celebrate and give thanks for their personal and academic excellence.”

The Telegraph’s Liz Hunt presented all of the awards and gave an account of her seven years at Bellerive and how she worked her way up through the ranks to become an associate editor at a national newspaper after first studying to be a pharmacist at university.

Ms Hunt said: “I would urge you all to think big and long term. We all have to work longer these days so it should be doing something that we love. If you have a dream now, I say stick with it; I was obsessed with newspapers and magazines from the age of 10 onwards. Don’t be put off by a lack of confidence, whatever you want to do, you can do it if you study hard and make a plan.”

The senior school choir and orchestra performed beautifully for the audience of students, their families, staff and governors, which was fittingly held in the Hall’s grand Concert Room.

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Singing the praises of Bellerive students

Year 7 Norton Visit

Year 7 pupils recently had an enjoyable working visit to one of the United Kingdom’s oldest monastic sites, when 40 pupils visited Norton Priory.

The Priory was established in 1115 by William Fitz Nigel, 2nd Baron of Halton and moved to its current location, just outside Runcorn, 19 years later. The pupils discovered how the Augustinian Canons had lived at the Priory, which was raised to Abbey status in the 14th century, such was its local and national importance. They marvelled at the giant St Christopher statue and some were given the chance to dress in Medieval costumes.

Accompanied by Mr McGrath, Mr McCann and Miss Owen, the Bellerive girls toured the old undercroft, the remains of the Abbey and the famous herb garden, planted as part of the BBC’s ‘Hidden Gardens’ programme.

The Priory was closed by Henry VIII in 1536 and sold to the Brooke family, who lived there until 1928, when the site was abandoned. The Bellerive study revealed how archaeologists rediscovered the site in the 1970s, restoring it to an award winning museum.

“It was a fantastic day,” commented Mr McGrath. “The pupils learnt a lot and had great fun, too.”

The Museum is open to visitors and, along with the ‘Walled Garden’ is well worth a visit. Norton Priory Museum & Gardens, Tudor Road, Manor Park, Runcorn, Cheshire WA7 1SX Phone: 01928 569895


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The evening was brought to a close with a series of special awards which are part of Bellerive’s long and proud tradition:

Sporting Victor Ludorum – Charlotte Evans

Sports Personality – Elizabeth Farrington

Excellence in Sport – Hollie Muse

The Esme Wilson Memorial Award went jointly to Lucy Deveney for Science and Sophie Lynch for her efforts in Technology/Art.

The Good Citizenship Award went to Emily Timmins for her exceptional community contribution.

The FCJ Award for Committed and Sustained Contribution to all aspects of College life went jointly to Mollie Griffiths and Lauren Taylor.

The Ruth Voce Award for Debating and English Literature went to Mollie Griffiths.

Earlier, 122 awards were handed out for academic success and personal development across all year groups and subject areas in 2012/13.

26 accolades were awarded to each year group from Year 7-9, two in each of the 13 subject areas for progress or achievement.

20 awards were handed out to Year 10 students and 22 to Year 11 girls, with five awards for excellence in the sciences, one of Bellerive’s specialisms.

This year Bellerive FCJ Catholic College successfully applied for funding from the Margaret Bryce Smith Foundation. Eight girls were selected by the school for recognition for their determination to succeed despite challenging circumstances:

Mitra Gharaylou, Romina Amaratunga, Ellie Walsh, Rebecca Griffiths, Aminah Aziz, Shannon Platt, Racheal Askew-Klein and Sophie Lynch.

French News

At this busy time of year, it was nice to reflect on the progress made by so many pupils in French, with the annual award winners being presented with prizes. Beyond these award winners, classes are busy doing a variety of things, not least taking exams and carrying out a couple of projects. One such project was the year 10 presentations on aspects of the topic currently being studied. Many pupils prepared very well, presenting their ideas eloquently. In addition to the many excellent pieces of work, special mention should be made of the detailed and informative presentations produced by Ayesha Russell and Georgina Saldanha. They were so good that Mr Forbes will be “borrowing” some of their ideas in future!

Spanish News

At the end of May St. Austin's Primary school invited, as they do every year, our girls to visit their school during their annual Hispanic week. Our Year 10 pupils prepared and created their own lessons with the help of our full-time Spanish assistant and then taught the Reception and Year 1 classes at St. Austin's. Everyone had a great time and we were so proud of how wonderfully our girls taught.

Geography/Chaplaincy

Year 8 pupils have been learning about where our food comes from and some of the issues in the food industry, including the impacts of farming on the environment and the unfair treatment of farmers in developing countries. They completed the unit by putting together a ‘plate’ of ideas for Christian Aid’s ‘IF’ Campaign, encouraging the Leaders of the G8 countries to make changes to the way in which the food supply chain operates to ensure that everyone in the world has enough to eat.

A day in the life of Bellerive





Disneyland Paris

A fabulous time was had by all on the Year 9 Pastoral Reward Trip to Disneyland Paris. In June, 52 Year 9 pupils were invited to attend a trip to Disneyland Paris to recognise their pastoral achievement and contribution towards the FCJ Ethos throughout the school year.

Accompanied by Mr. Wareing, Ms, Brennan, Miss Doolan and Miss Benson, the girls spent 3 fun-filled nights at the Disneyland resort and met global superstars such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse!

The girls also visited the elegant city of Paris and enjoyed landmarks and monuments including Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the River Seine, the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees.

All in all it was a magical trip described by the pupils as a, “trip they will never forget”.

Science News

National Science and Engineering Week 2013 was celebrated at Bellerive FCJ with a range of exciting activities which were linked to the national theme of 'Invention and Discovery'.

Pupils in Physics lessons explored the developments that have taken place in transport and built vehicles from CDs and were powered by mouse traps!

In Chemistry, different types of rocket fuel were investigated and our girls built their own rockets from film canisters, indigestion tablets and vinegar, fired them outside and learnt about the chemical reaction involved. They also researched how the development of rocket technology has led to discoveries in the Solar System.

In Biology, Year 9 pupils isolated their own DNA from cheek cells and placed it in vials which they made into DNA necklaces. This activity linked to the 60th Anniversary of the discovery of DNA by Watson, Crick, Wilkins and Franklin and our girls considered the great advances that have occurred since the discovery of its structure such as DNA fingerprinting and genetic modification and the implications of these to our day to day life.

We were pleased to welcome to school 'Tropicalinc' who gave interactive presentations of tropical animals to our Year 7 girls and pupils from St. Christopher's primary school. Our enthusiastic presenter spoke about the adaptations of many tropical animals which aid their survival. Our girls were delighted to be able to hold creatures such as boa-constrictors, scorpions, lizards but the highlight for most was definitely the skunk – it was a good job it liked Bellerive FCJ pupils so much, as fortunately, it did not spray them!

Other departments in school also joined Science, with ICT researching the developments in communication technology such as mobile phones,

computers and satellite navigation. English considered the genre of Science fiction and considered the discoveries made by the Apollo Moon missions and mathematics students were challenged to use their maths skills to break codes. The NSEW 2013 'Staff vs 6th form Quiz' was held again with the team of Mr. Chorlton, Mrs. Allerston, Sr. MaryAnne fcj, Miss Benson and Miss Ellis being victorious although it was very tightly contested!

Our website is being continually updated. Please visit us at www.bellerivefcj.org to see what our pupils have achieved and for advice and guidance on learning.


Year 7 Netball Team -City Finals 2013

Congratulations to the Year 7 Netball team who came second in the City Finals behind Belvedere in a very tight final. The final score was 3-1 to Belvedere.

There were 6 teams in our pool and the games were 5 minutes each way. The girls played 3 games to begin with and then had a ten minute rest. After that, the girls played 5 matches one after the other with no break.

The girls played Belvedere in their pool group and drew 3-3 after Bellerive leading with 5 seconds to go on the clock. Bellerive then played St. John Bosco in the Semi-Final and won 3-1.

Congratulations to the whole team;Abbie DarbyLucy MillerEllie GiblinJennifer SalcedoVeronika OlhodowskiMarie France N’lemvoKathryn ManleyChloe LeamyMiss Mc Laughlin

Bellerive’s talented dance twins!

Abi and Beth Gibbs from Year 10 have been causing quite a stir with their dance, drama and vocal talents. The twins started dancing when they were 3 years old and have crammed a huge amount into their careers to date. They have performed in ‘Cinderella’ at the Liverpool Empire (with Cilla Black) and various pantomimes since every year since they were 6.

In addition to their many drama exams and vocal training, Abi has performed in the English Youth ballet performances of ‘Copellia’ and has worked for 2 years with the Northern Ballet. The girls have also travelled to London to perform at the Royal Albert Hall and across the Atlantic in Los Angeles at the opening of the Chinese film festival. Closer to home they have won various dance festivals (Crosby, Lancaster, Widnes) and have won 'St Helens has got talent’ and ‘Liverpool Unites’. The girls have kept developing their skills at various summer schools in London. They have even managed to find time to perform for HRH Prince Charles so they now have the royal seal of approval.

All of us at Bellerive are very proud of the girls and wish them continued success in their performing careers.

Who wore this Blazer?

The tiny brown blazer, pictured alongside the 2013 model, was part of the school uniform until 1983. This little number was kindly donated to the school by a past pupil Michele Leonard who now lives in Canada. Michele recently visited us after more than 40 years! Go to our website www.bellerivefcj.org to read the story of her memories of Bellerive and her very happy trip retracing her steps.

FCJ

Members of the FCJ group visited Katherine House, which is a retreat centre in Salford. They had a fabulous time and not only because of the sunshine! Part of the trip included a visit to some retired FCJ Sisters and so party of our day involved preparing some resources for that. There was time to play games, including a giant snakes and ladders game and the day ended with prayer time in the beautiful chapel at Katherine House.

As is always true of our pupils, the represented our school with excellent behaviour, good manners and a real sense of fun. Sr. MaryAnne and Miss Benson were both incredibly proud of the FCJ group!

Nugent Care

Pupils from Bellerive raised an amazing £2000 for Nugent Care’s Good Shepherd Appeal during Lent. The whole school took part in this fundraising event and a whole host of activities took place from bake sales to running a beauty salon! It was wonderful to see the pupils helping this local charity with such enthusiasm. A group of pupils were chosen to attend the Good Shepherd Mass at the Cathedral, where they offered the school’s donation to Bishop Tom. Bellerive was nominated for a Nugent Care Dignity in Care Award because of the support our staff and pupils give to the charity. It was a real privilege for us to be nominated.

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Bellerive summer 2013