Dear Parents, Guardians, & Friends, Thank you for your support throughout this productive term. The building work is progressing towards a completion for the New Year. We will then possess a warm and welcoming school hall. By February half-term we will be closing the consultation on the increase in numbers for entry in 2016. If you have not had an opportunity to have your say, then follow the guidance on the school website. This year we have welcomed two of the prospective candidates for the seat of Darwen & Rossendale; Jake Berry MP and Will Straw. They were both supportive of All Saints’ and our distinctive nature of being the only faith school in the Valley. Our students continue to shine as they represent the school in the community, from carol concerts to food banks, they strive to help those in need. The sports teams have dealt with wins and losses with equal aplomb. Not one of our graduates from last year has been assigned the label of being a NEET (not in education, employment or training). I hope all our children can share in the joyous celebrations of this special season. Our Liturgies and Advent Carol Concert provide opportunities to prepare for the coming of the Lord. Enclosed in this Newsletter are the times of the local Masses over Christmas. Finally, a message to our Year 11 parents who are contemplating where to send their sons and daughters next year. We are fortunate to be the only school in the district to be a feeder school to two nationally recognised Sixth form Colleges; St Mary’s, Blackburn and Holy Cross College, Bury. I strongly recommend either of these two Colleges. Enjoy Christmas as we “Luceat Lux Vestra”. Yours faithfully, Mr McNally Headteacher

Congratulations to everyone awarded a prize at this year’s Presentation Evening on 13th November. The evening was held in the presence of The Mayor and Mayoress of Rossendale, Councillor Thomas Aldred and Mrs Valerie Sanderson. Prizes and certificates were kindly given out by Reverend Father Peter Hopkinson. The following pupils received prizes:- Danny Taylor, Saul Spence-Hill, Matthew Braithwaite, Cherish Ellis, Danny Chapman, Emma Kinnear, Laura Masters, Jack Doherty, Tom Boys, Daniel Greenhalgh, Danny Flynn, Kristian Chadwick, Aurie De

Carteret, Kirsty McGarry, Ben Moore, Shannon Brown, Luca Jakovlevs, Callum Barnes, Dixon Charlton, Nathan Freeman, Alice Conway and Luke McDonald. Well done to everyone, you are a credit to All Saints’.

December 2014

Presentation Evening 2014

Every year on the 11th day of the 11th month, we stop what we are doing as a school and come together for an act of remembrance. This year was especially poignant being the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War One. In the lead up to the service, each form group was given an image of a victim of war from the local area to pray for and we then came together with our images and lanterns.

A group of pupil chaplains prepared a short drama based on letters from the front and Charlotte May Tomlinson in Year 7 sang “In Flanders Fields” beautifully.

At 11.00am we had the “Last Post” played by a member of Haslingden and Helmshore Band followed by a two minute silence. Staff and pupils then made their way to the front of the school and laid their poppies in remembrance of the great sacrifice made. It was so special to see the respect shown by our young people for victims of war.

Mrs C Atherton & Miss H Beckford CL Religious Studies & Lay Chaplain

Remembrance Service – “Lest We Forget”

Don’t forget to order and pay for

your lunch with the kitchen staff

before Thursday 11th December

Spelling Bee Mrs Jeffers ran a French Spelling Bee competition for Year 7. Pupils were given 50 words to learn – French to English, English to French

and French spellings. Class competitions were held and the winners are as follows:-

7 Assisi - Poppy Fox, Ansh Pindoria, Luca Mendola and Kyle Derbyshire 7 Taize – Isabel Robinson, Becky Morris, Lewis O’Connor and

Sean McGill-Watt These pupils will now compete against each other in the New Year, new

word lists will be issued shortly!

Visit our website: www.allsaintshigh.lancs.sch.uk

Due to the renovations on our school hall, this year our Advent Concert will be held at

St. Mary’s RC church in Haslingden on Wednesday 10th December at 7.00pm

The Senior Representatives Committee at Holy Cross Sixth Form College in Bury consists of a group of 8 students who have been successfully selected from over 45 applicants to represent the Holy Cross College student voice. They meet on a regular basis to discuss issues which are important to Holy Cross’ student body. The students on the committee are also responsible for liaising with tutor group representatives, representing the college at various important events and running social media in order to effectively communicate their ideas and work to the larger college community. In addition to the above the important role of the President also involves liaising with the Principal and Governing Body. They organise and chair the committee meetings and ensure that the specific roles within the committee are executed effectively. There were three students who chose to run for the position of President this year and as such they all created campaign videos which were accessible to all students and staff. Congratulations to All Saints’ former students Laura Masters and Matthew Braithwaite in their success in the election with over 970 students voting. Laura successfully gained the position of President with Matthew gaining the position of Vice. Well done to both of them.

Essay Competition Continuing with our success at Holy Cross College, our Year 11 pupils entered an essay competition at the college which was open to all its feeder schools . The task was to write an essay, entitled: “ Do we need religion to create a moral society”? The students were challenged to write the essay over the summer and a number of students did so. Tara Rowan (11MT) our Head Girl was runner up; Holy Cross said, “Tara produced an essay which was mature, well researched and engaged with a variety of religious approaches”. Well done to Tara, and all our other entrants. Mrs C Atherton CL Religious Studies

Well Done! Congratulations also to Oskar Koszewski (8T) for progressing onto Level 3 on the Lexia programme. Oskar has made fantastic progress in all areas of Literacy recently. Oskar was awarded a certificate by Mrs Groom as a result of his great effort and perseverance: he should be very proud of himself. Miss K Broderick Literacy Intervention

Student Success Stories

Our ever popular, annual Twelve Days of Christmas Draw is currently in full swing. Each day the names of pupils, who have been in school for the whole of the previous day, are entered into a draw and pupils have a chance of winning a sweet bouquet. A similar scheme is also running for the staff!

Mrs E Keen

Assistant Headteacher

The Science department had won a STEM day through the Smallpeice Trust, where volunteers from E-On energy came in to school to do an engineering day with 60 of our Year 8 and 9 pupils. They talked to our pupils about renewable energy and asked them to create their own renewable energy powerstation. Pupils created a wind turbine and water pump in order to win the main prize. The winning group included: Jack Sweeney (8R), Sahariah Miah (9A) and Callum Lewis (9T). Miss C Edwards Science

STEM Day

Twelve Days of Christmas

St. James the Less PPTA

Presents

A “Ceilidh” At All Saints’ Catholic High School

Saturday 24th January from 7.00pm till Late

Live music from

“Frolicking Pete and the Fumbling Fingers”

Licenced Bar Available. Enjoy a Haggis, neeps and tattie Supper

or Macaroni & Cheese Pie (Hot dogs available for children)

Cost £7.50 per Head per Adult, £2.50 per child (under 4 free)

Tickets available now from St. James the Less Primary School,

All Saints’ RC High School or call Stuart on 07825 154775

Casual Welfare Assistant

We require a casual Welfare Assistant

who initially will cover for staff

absence for 7½ hours per week. You

will be required to supervise pupils

during the school lunchtime and help

tidy up the school environment

afterwards. Hours will be 12.55pm to

2.25pm Mon to Fri, Term Time only.

No previous experience is necessary.

Please contact the school office for

further details and an application

form.

Don’t forget Non Uniform Day on Friday 19th December

School re-opens on Monday 5th January

Netball Our KS3 netball teams participated in the Rossendale Valley Netball Tournament hosted by a number of secondary schools in the valley.

Year 7 came fourth. Player of the tournament was Tiegan Woodrup (7R)

Year 8 came fourth. Player of the

tournament was Thalia-Jo Hartley (8R).

Year 9 came third. Player of the tournament was Antonia Fry (9A).

Christmas in our feeder parishes:

St. James the Less Christmas Eve 6.30pm – Vigil

12.00pm – Midnight Mass

Christmas Day 8.30am – Mass

10.30am – Mass

St. Veronica’s Christmas Eve 5.00pm – Vigil

Christmas Day

11.00am – Mass

The Immaculate Conception Christmas Eve 6.30pm – Vigil

Christmas Day 9.30am – Mass

Bacup St. Mary’s Christmas Eve 5.30pm - Vigil

St. Joseph’s & St. Peter’s Christmas Eve

6.30pm – Singing of Carols Followed at 7pm by First

Mass

Christmas Day 9.30am – Mass

Our Lady & St. Anselms Christmas Eve

11.30pm – Vigil

Christmas Day 10.00am - Mass

PE News

Premier League for Sport Premier League for sport have

again funded table tennis coaching

by a Level 3 coach. Pupils across

both KS3 and KS4 have benefitted

from the coaching during lessons

and extra-curricular clubs. In

particular the GCSE PE group who

have been working towards their

Junior Umpire Award.

Cricket Coaching

Year 7 and 8 pupils have had the opportunity to be coached by England Cricketer Kate Cross. Kate has been delivering top class sessions and giving the pupils a great insight to the life and training regime of a top class athlete.

Accrington Stanley Coaching At the start of term, Accrington Stanley Football Club delivered an 8 week training programme to the girls’ football teams. All pupils thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and improved their original skill base; working on passing, mini games and team building skills.

Girls’ Football The Year 7 five-a-side team came fourth in the Rossendale Valley five-a-side Football Tournament. Player of the Tournament was Tiegan Woodrup (7R). The Year 8 and 9 team came second in the Rossendale Valley Football Tournament. Player of the Tournament was Kerry Reeves (9T). The Year 10 and 11 team came fourth. Player of the Tournament was Alena Pilkington (10R).

Blackburn Rovers U13s’ Cup Pupils in Year 7 and 8 participated in the Blackburn Rovers Under 13s’ Cup at Blackburn Centre of Excellence and came fourth in their league. This was a great opportunity for the girls to play other teams from across the County. Player of the tournament was Zara Banks (8A).

Accrington Stanley Kinder Cup Pupils in Year 7 and 8 also participated in the Kinder Cup , run by Accrington Stanley Football Club at Accrington Academy. The girls came in fifth having to endure torrential rain and extreme cold. They were a credit to the school for continuing to play and this was also commented on by Accrington’s Community Coaches. The girls also took part in a Question and Answer session with Accrington Stanley first team players after the tournament had ended. Player of the tournament was Thalia-Jo Hartley (8R).

Lancashire Cup Under 14’s All Saints’ travelled to Shuttleworth College in Burnley to play the first round of the Lancashire Cup. All Saints’ managed to go ahead in the first minute but Shuttleworth battled back and scored five minutes later. The game ended 2-1 at half time and after a short break All Saints’ were quick off the mark to score in the opening minutes of the second half, bringing the game to 2-2. The game continued in a similar fashion after that, with each team scoring to go ahead, then followed by the opposition bringing the game back to a draw. All Saints’ looked to be the winners leading 5-4 with only 2 minutes to go but a last minute lapse in concentration by the defence led to Shuttleworth scoring to finish the game 5-5, to take the game to penalties. All Saints’ were the overall victors 4-3 on penalties and will play Our Lady’s, Preston in the next round. Player of the Match was Kerry Reeves (9T).

Visit our website: www.allsaintshigh.lancs.sch.uk

Girls’ PE News

English Schools’ Football Association Under 15s’ Cup All Saints’ travelled to Westholme School in Blackburn to play the third round of the ESFA Cup. The girls started in an extremely positive fashion going 2-0 up within the first 10 minutes. However, Westholme altered their formation and soon the goals were being scored in the back of the All Saints’ net. All Saints’ went in 3-2 down at half time, with heads down it meant a restructure of the team; in particular the man marking of the opposition’s forward. Shortly after, All Saints’ had settled back into the game came their third goal from Kerry Reeves. With heads now held high, All Saints’ managed to get their fourth and fifth goal in quick succession. However, Westholme continued in their attack and the game ended 5-5. For some of the players it felt like a déjà vu moment from the Lancashire cup game a few weeks earlier in the season as again, we faced a penalty shoot out. Zara Banks in goal stood firm against the opposition and saved two of their penalties and All Saints’ went through to round four of the Cup 9-7 winners. The girls will face Astley Sports College, Tameside in the next round in the final 64 in the Country. Player of the match was Kerry Reeves.

Under 14s’ Rossendale Schools Seven-a-side Tournament The girls came third overall in the Rossendale Valley Winter League competition playing the local secondary schools in the area. Player of the tournament was, once again, Kerry Reeves (9T).

U16s’ & U14s’ Rossendale Schools Badminton The U16s’ and U14s’ Badminton team came in third place in the Rossendale Schools’ Badminton Tournament held at All Saints’. The team consisted of:- Sammi Woodrup (10A), Bel Rawcliffe (10A), Imogen Pilkington (10MT) and Laura Twardowska (10A). The U14’s team were:- Mia Starkie (9R), Kerry Reeves (9T), Emily Farr (9R) and Nicole Pusey (9A).

MIDAS Training The following staff have completed the MIDAS safety training and are now eligible to drive the school minibus. Congratulations to Miss Laverty, Mrs Egan, Mr Hogg and Mr Mayes.

Duke of Edinburgh The PE Department have now set up the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme for the current Year 10 and have a number of pupils working towards their BRONZE Award of the scheme.

Year 7 & 8 Maths Enrichment weekend 26-28 June 2015 The Maths department is organising an enrichment weekend to Whitehough Outdoor Centre next year. Activities will include abseiling, caving, climbing and more. There are some places still available – please see Mrs. Egan if interested.

Girls’ PE News

The staff and pupils of All Saints’ Catholic High School wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a

peaceful and prosperous New Year.

All Saints’ held an ‘Arts Day’ for our selected pupils from our feeder primaries on 20th November. Pop art was the theme of the day and pupils had the chance to create some three dimensional work of a large cake slice inspired by the work of the artists Wayne Thiebaud and Claes Oldenburg.

Mrs K Kight CL Art

'At the beginning of November, 8 Assisi took part in an online science event called 'I'm a scientist, get me out of here'. It was an X-factor style competition where pupils were given the chance to meet and interact with scientists before judging them and voting for their favourite over a two week period. The winning scientist won £500 towards communicating their work with the general public. The Year 8 pupils really enjoyed a live chat that they had with the scientists and it was great to see them thinking of scientific questions to ask them. The pupils said that their favourite thing was getting to know about the scientists research and learning new things. Hopefully we can do this again in the future.

Dr K McNulty Science

Primary Art Enrichment Day

I’m a Scientist – Get Me Out of Here!