Newsletter December 2012

ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI

Catholic Technical College

Christmas Newsletter 2012

MR CONNELL

LEADS THE

SPORTING SPECIAL

UPDATES � REVIEWS � SPORT SPECIAL

Find out what’s been going on at

the school in the last term

Made by

students

THE CULTURE TEAM

WHETS OUR READING

APPITITES

‘Nil sa�s op�mum’

2 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technical College Newsletter Winter 2012

CHRISTMAS JOY

On behalf of Mrs Mullins, the board of Governors, and all staff at

St. Francis, I wish you all a happy and holy Christmas and a happy

New Year.

Mr Godber

Acting Head Teacher



CHRISTMAS JOY

Our editor,

Bethany

Wright,

can’t believe

how quickly the term has

gone.

A very Merry Christmas from

all your friends at St. Francis

Welcome to the Christmas

edition of our snazzy new-

look newsletter! We have a

new team of budding young

journalists and photogra-

phers that wish you all a

very merry Christmas. St

Francis has been up to a lot

this term back from the

summer and this newsletter

is just a snippet into the

busy goings on of all our

students. The new year

sevens have got off to a

great start and the rest of

the students seem to be

looking forward to breaking

up! This special sports edi-

tion of the newsletter illus-

trates the huge impact that

the Olympics had just on

our school. From Gangnam

Pg. 4 - Mr Connell kicks

off our sports’ special.

Pg. 6 - Our pupils give

their take on the sum-

mer’s excitement.

Pg. 9 - Our culture vul-

tures share news and re-

views.

Pg. 13 - We catch up with

all the news and great

ideas from the last term.

There are loads of trips

and visits to share!

Pg. 18 - We get an insight

into an important school

policy with the Public

Sector Equality Duty.

Pg. 21 - Learn the facts

of school life and get the

most out of life at school.

Pg. 24 - ParentPal is here!

Get clued up and enjoy

the convenience.

What we’ve

got in store

this issue:

styles to shoe box piles…

the vibrant array of stories

and news brought to you by

students of this school is

packed with something for

everyone!

We would also like to wish

Mrs Mullins a speedy recov-

ery and we hope to see our

head teacher around school

soon!

Now sit down and enjoy

reader this Christmas edi-

tion newsletter…

Merry Christmas!

Your Faithfully

Bethany Wright (year 13)

Editor



Mr Connell revels in our

sporting success

After the amazing summer of

sport that we all experienced,

with the resounding success of

the Olympic and Paralympic

Games, it has been very im-

portant for us here at St Fran-

cis to build upon the feel good

factor and maintain the Olym-

pic Legacy. Well, our students

certainly have done that in

style.

Athletics: The Walsall Schools

Athletics Championships was

held at the Alexander Stadium

in September, with teams from

all of the secondary schools in

Walsall. Our students per-

formed admirably, finishing 3rd

placed school over all, with our

girls finishing 2nd. Special men-

tion must go to our gold medal

winning athletes, Hollie (year

8, Shot put), Phoebe (year 10,

200m and 300m), Oliver (year

8, 800m), Ewan (year 8, long

jump and high jump) and our

girls KS4 4 x 100 relay team

(Phoebe, Charlie, Lara and

Shrule). All of the students

who competed contributed to

our overall team success

Table tennis The training is

obviously paying off as we

dominate all competitions at a

district level. Once again, our

students managed to complete

a clean sweep of all age groups

for both boys and girls in the

Walsall Schools table tennis

championships, winning the

U13, U16 and U19 boys compe-

titions and both the U13 and

U16 girls competitions. All of

these teams will now go on the

Black Country Schools champi-

onships at the end of the

month and will also go on to

represent Walsall in Black

Country Olympics this year.

Team Sports: Our school

teams have been very busy ful-

TEACHER’S PRIDE

Our spor.ng superstars have done us proud!



TEACHER’S PRIDE

filling fixtures and we have

had some resounding success in

local based competitions. We

have 6 netball teams and the

girls continue to perform well.

We have also run 6 football

teams and they have been very

successful, in particular our

year 7 and 9 teams, who both

managed to win their league,

winning all of their fixtures in

the process. Our year 8 team

were also very successful, fin-

ishing as runners up. We hope

to have more footballing suc-

cess in the cup competitions

later in the year. Our year 7

and 8 girls are currently in-

volved in their 7 a side football

league and I will feedback on

their performances later in the

year.

Cross country: The latest

Walsall Schools competition

was the Inter Schools Cross

Country Championships that

were held at Streetly Academy

on Tuesday 13th November. We

have had a dedicated bunch of

hardened students (and staff)

training every Wednesday

lunch time, whatever the

weather. This training was

worth it, with the students of

St Francis all putting in gutsy

performances on the day. In

the overall competition we

managed to finish 2nd, getting

narrowly beaten by our local

rivals, Aldridge School. We

may have just missed out on

retaining the trophy, but a

number of our students have

been selected to represent

Walsall in the West Midlands

Schools Cross Country Cham-

pionships in January.: Char-

lotte, Caitlin, Tad and Ethan

in year 7 (Caitlin was overall

year 7 girls winner), in year 8,

Shannon, Oliver and Connor

and in year 10, Niall. A big

well done goes to all of the

competitors and to Mr Bar-

ratt and Mr Dawson for their

dedication in ensuring that

the students had opportuni-

ties to train together, which

clearly helped contribute to

our success.

This half term we have a

number of other sporting

competitions taking place,

including basketball, badmin-

ton, county rugby competi-

tions and girl’s football. I

hope that our students con-

tinue to embrace the sporting

opportunities provided for

them and further develop

their talents. Students at St

Francis always represent

their school with pride and

distinction.

Ewan (year 8, long jump and

high jump)

DID YOU KNOW? by Saffron Hawkins

Alexander Stadium

The stadium was built in 1975 and was open for train-

ing in 1976. The Alexander Stadium had a £1million

refurbishment in 2000. Alexander Stadium held the

Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix on Sunday 26th August.

Athletes such as double gold medal winner Mo Farah

are set to complete with other GB athletes.



A good year for sport (even for grumps)

Georgia

Blunt

gets it all off

her chest.

When the world seemed to

be all abuzz with Olympic

fever - I’ll be honest- I

found it a little dull. That’s

not to say all the ridiculously

flexible or outrageously tal-

ented athletes weren’t in-

credible, because they were;

but for someone whose clos-

est encounter with any kind

of physical exertion is pant-

ing after for the bus,

watching men and women

who could probably lift a bus

left me feeling a little medi-

ocre. It felt like everywhere

I turned there was a gaggle

of teenage girls swooning

over a 16-page magazine

spread on Tom Daley, or a

30ft billboard plastered

with Jessica Ennis and those

abs. As I said- mediocre.

And I couldn’t understand

why, all of a sudden, middle

aged women were donning

tracksuits and pedometers

and powerwalking past my

window; the sense of nation-

al pride was lost on me. I

wasn’t inspired; I was an-

noyed. So when my mother

announced our weekend trip

to London during the Para-

lympics, you can imagine how

ecstatic I wasn’t.

We arrived in Trafalgar

Square to see the screen

following the swimming, in

front of which were proba-

bly two hundred people,

barricaded off from the

outside world. The entrance

was manned by security

guards, rooting through our

bags like airport security.

Inside, they charged £2.50

for a 99 ice-cream. £2.50.

But, extortionate dairy

prices aside, the sun was

shining and I was deter-

mined not to combust at the

thought of being subjected

to watching more extraordi-

nary people being selfishly

better than me.

So when we sat down

amongst the dozens of oth-

er tourists and locals, I did

my best not to roll my eyes.

Then something I never ex-

pected to happen did; as we

sat to watch Ellie Simmonds

in what I thought would be

another pointless race, I

actually started to under-

stand what everyone was

blabbering about. It wasn’t

the sport that was incredi-

ble (even though it was) and

it wasn’t the fact that the-

se people were phenomenal

athletes (which they are), it

was the fact that, as I sat

amongst this crowd of abso-

lute strangers cheering on

someone they had never

met, and found myself

cheering along with them.

Hundreds watched one

young girl take gold and all

of them felt part of some-

thing.

I tell a lie - there was one

man I saw looking glum, but

I think he’d just bought an

on ice-lolly.

SPORTING REVIEW



With all the sporting

events on at SFA,

there’s no excuse to

be lazy. Check out

your form board for

more details.

Our sporting

heritage Charles Burgess Fry

(1872-1956) was a very

good sportsman. He

played rugby, football,

athletics and cricket to

a professional level and

was very successful.

Walter Tull (1888-1918)

was a very good foot-

baller. He was the first

footballer of African

descent to play in the

English league. He

played for Tottenham

Hotspur and Northamp-

ton Football Clubs.

Virginia Wade (1945-)

was a very successful

tennis player. She is

the last British woman

to have won the Ladies

singles title at Wimble-

don in 1977.

ROVING RESEARCHER

When people play a sport,

they are mixing with other

people and they try their

best to win. They can also

have fans and supporters

and many sports have teams.

Teams have to work togeth-

er to win. There is a famous

quote about teamwork –

There is no I in team. It is important to remember that

sport is fun and it is good to

play your sport in a fair way

and never cheat or be a bad

loser. That is why players

shake hands at the start of

the game.

Poppy O’Car-

roll gets excit-

ed about sport

and tells us why.

Glad it’s over? No way!

This is why we love sport:

Another reason why sport

is important is that it is

good for the people of the

world. When you are run-

ning on a track, or playing

tennis, or playing football

or swimming at the swim-

ming baths, you are

stretching your muscles

and making your heart beat

faster. It is very important

to keep fit! ‘Look after

your body and your body

will look after you.’

The Paralympians had a

motto – Inspire a genera-

tion. They have inspired

lots of kids and grown-ups

with disabilities to try

sports. This is just one

reason why sport is im-

portant.



You can do it - a slogan for twenty-twelve!

Our sports

writing KS3

competition

winner

Shannon O’Donnell shares

some words of encourage-

ment post-Olympics.

WOW! What a year it has

been! The 2012 Olympic and

Paralympic Games are truly

something magical to cher-

ish in our hearts forever!

The Olympics and Paralym-

pics are the 2 most biggest

and popular sporting events

in the world and people from

all different countries come

and witness the inspirational

moments in Olympic history.

Doesn’t it feel amazing to be

part of such a brilliant com-

munity? I am sure we all feel

proud and honoured to be

part of an outstanding coun-

try called Great Britain!

Every athlete always dreams

of standing on that podium

and getting the ultimate

gold medal that everyone

dreams about! The Olympic

and Paralympic Games only

happen every 4 years and

anyone would be dying to

have such an amazing oppor-

tunity! No one was born be-

ing able to do a front flip or

break a world record; you

work for it and train hard.

If you set your mind to it

and reach for the stars

then nothing is impossible.

Dream big! Just think of

the athletes, they don’t just

apply for the Olympics or

Paralympics and just get in;

they train countless hours

every single day!

Overall, having The Games

in our capital city London

has been truly something

special to remember and has

inspired thousands all

around the world!

‘Inspire a generation’. It

brings us all together as a

family and as a loving com-

munity we are! For the Para-

lympics my quote- ‘They are

not ordinary, but extraor-

dinary’. Get out there and

do something - anyone can

achieve anything if they put

their mind to it! As one

world, one creation, we are

all amazing in our own ways -

it may not be sport, but just

to encourage others could

make a huge difference!

The London 2012 Olympic

and Paralympic Games is a

memory that no generation

ought to forget, especially

Great Britain!

COMPETITION WINNER



Wimpy Kid series: Cabin Fever

Saffron Hawkins and

Imogen Poole give Cabin

Fever five stars.

Greg Heffely is in BIG trou-

ble with school over dam-

aged property, but he is not

to blame. When a surprise

blizzard traps his family in-

doors over Christmas, Greg

knows he’ll soon have to face

the punishment, but what

could be worse than having

to spend the whole holiday

stuck inside with your fami-

ly?

Personally, we thought that

Cabin Fever was an awesome book just like the whole of

the Wimpy Kid series! It

was extremely funny & had

some very cool pictures to

add to the laughter.

“A brilliant book” says Mia Connelly, 7B

CULTURE NEWS

Mrs Littler

explains why

David Wal-

liams makes

her smile.

David Walliams is like no

other ‘celebrity turned

writer’ that you have ever

read. His books are won-

derfully touching and ter-

ribly funny and Boy in a Dress is no exception.

This book is a very sweet

exploration of how we

deal with our feelings,

even where they don’t

match everyone else’s. In

the book, a boy misses his

Mum and enjoys looking at

things that remind him of

her – pictures of pretty

dresses in fashion maga-

zines. His Dad and broth-

er do not like pretty

dresses at all, so he has

to keep his interests hid-

den until he gets to know

a new friend. This book is

well worth a read, wheth-

er you like dresses or not.

Walliams

strikes again

Captain Funny and the

Bomb

By Harry



A book review from the depths of hell:

Cirque Du Freak by (the freaky) Darren Shan

Matthew

Cooper

tells us about

Darren Shan’s

gruesome adventure .

Do not be put off by the

French title as the book is

definitely written in English.

Be more worried about the

comment and gruesome pic-

ture on the front cover. Is

it a living nightmare? Well

I’ve survived the experi-

ence, but only just…

In this thrilling book, a nor-

mal teenage boy and his

three friends, get a once in

a life time experience, to

sneak out of the house, to

see a weird and wacky freak

show. However, there is a

catch, only two people per

leaflet can go and they only

have one leaflet .Who will

make it count and be able to

disappear to the frightful

cirque du freak?

“A plot full of twists that

leaves the reader hungry

for more,” says J.K.Rowling

the millionaire writer of

Harry Potter. Believe me,

she’s not lying either. The

mind blowing creepiness

captures the reader and

makes the hair on the back

of your neck stand up. This

thrilling ride makes you

want to believe that you’re

Darren Shan and are doing

these wonderful, but scary

things he has to do. Well it

did that that to me. I won-

der what tingling sensation

this book will give you?

I have read this as part of

the October theme for

reading club. We meet eve-

ry Thursday and share our

thoughts, expand our minds

and even try our hand at

writing in a relaxed way,

with lots of biscuits and our

friends. If you are interest-

ed in joining then see Mrs

Roberts in the LRC.

“A plot full of twists” says J.K. Rowling

CULTURE NEWS



DID YOU KNOW?

A few hundred years

ago, we didn’t have

Christmas trees in Eng-

land! They were a cus-

tom from Germany. It

took a while to catch

on, but now we wouldn’t

be without them.

CULTURE NEWS

Bethany

Wright gets

chills after

the yr. 13 trip

to Sheffield's

Crucible theatre.

There were some lovely en-

tries for the Twelve Words

of Christmas creative writ-

ing competition. I received

79 different stories written

by 27 students from Years

7-10. Many thanks to all stu-

dents who entered - the

standard was very high.

Five prize-winners have

been chosen who win a £5

book voucher to spend at

the Scholastic Book Fair.

At Christmas I wished, big-

gest wish of all… to be with

you!

Isabella Hughes & Libby

Hood 7S (joint entry)

Peeking out the window,

watching snowflakes fall

down, her wish came true.

Courtney Gripton 7F

Shepherds came, kings

bowed, animals gathered to

see Mary’s son, Our Lord.

Megan Reynolds 8S

Hope, life, love, happiness.

All came to life on a Christ-

mas night.

Elizabeth Standen 10C

At Christmas the returning

soldier hugged his child,

weeping tears of joy.

Natalie Miley 10C

As we filed into the arena

like theatre in Sheffield

we all wondered what lay

ahead. Witches, Kings

and treachery was what

we got! For our A-level

English exam we get the

privilege to study this

text, and the opportunity

to go and see the perfor-

mance was taken ad-

vantage of by most of the

class.

Ice cream in the interval

allowed us to reflect on

the play and those who

did not rush to the toilet

said it was excellent! It

helped the whole class to

understand the play so

much more!

Will our Eng-

lish students

ne’er be clean? Mrs Roberts

takes a look at

our prizewin-

ning writers.

Can you conjure up Christmas

in twelve words? Of course!



DID YOU KNOW?

PSY is no one-hit-

wonder. He has re-

leased five albums and

has been making music

for over a decade!

CULTURE NEWS

Olivia Mail-

laird shines a

light on some

bright talent.

Gangnam Style” is a single

by the South Korean star

PSY (Park Jae-Sang). It was

released mid-July 2012 and

is now a massive hit around

the world. On 20 September

2012, “Gangnam Style” was

recognised by Guinness

World Records as the most

liked video in YouTube histo-

ry. The music video is a mas-

sive hit due the unusual for-

eign lyrics and the iconic

dance PSY does throughout

the video.

Celebrities from all over the

world have been trying to

learn the dance. Britney

Spears was in luck – she got

to learn it from him on the

Ellen DeGeneres show.

The big question it: can he

stay popular? After all, he

was around a long time be-

fore Gangnam Style went

viral. The world is watching

- let’s hope his next hit is as

catchy as this one.

Spotlight youth produc-

tions presents ‘Puss in

Cowboy boots’ at Brown-

hills school theatre this

January.

Set in the wild west, the

story of Puss in Boots

comes alive with dancing,

acting and toe-tapping

songs.

A number of St. Francis

pupils are performing in

the play and are having a

fantastic time. The play is

coming along really well

and tickets are sure to

fly.

To make sure that you

don’t miss out on this fan-

tast ic show, v is it

www.spotlight.co.uk/SYP/

productions.html, where

there is more information

and those all-important

tickets!

Lights, camera,

READ!

Eden Wells

recaps this

year’s biggest

and most-

watched-hit.

The dance may be cheesy,

but we can’t get enough of

PSY.

Is Gangnam Style here to stay?

Limber up for the next move.



Opera.on Christmas Child

Shoe Box appeal is a success

Mrs Brook

tells us about

the success

of the Oper-

ation Christ-

mas Child Shoe Box appeal.

Thank you, to all the pupils

and staff who sent in or who

contributed towards this

year’s appeal. On Friday

23rd November our boxes

were collected and sent to

the processing centre in Al-

dridge. We sent 132 boxes

this year. On Friday 7th De-

cember these boxes along

with thousands of others

left the processing centre

by lorry destined for Roma-

nia, the country where the

first shoe boxes were sent

over 20 years ago.

SCHOOL NEWS

Miss John-

stone shares a

top ICT tip!

I found a USB stick – when

I went to look for an owner,

there was a wee folder

called ‘if this USB is

found’!!

What a great idea!! In there

Jack Barrand!! has his name and form and a telephone

number!! Thought it might

be worth passing this idea

on. It is so easy to lose a

device!

Good idea

our Jack!

Expert advice!



SCHOOL NEWS

The National Memorial Arbo-

retum is a place where all the

soldiers who are and have

been fighting in the war and

their families can be remem-

bered.

At the NMA we saw all of the

different gardens that be-

longed to the schemes or

charities which helped the

war veterans and their fami-

lies. We also saw the big war

memorial where all the names

of the soldiers who had died

at war were carved into the

walls. In this memorial there

were two statues and a

wreath in the middle of it,

and the walls inside of the

two curved walls, where on

the one curved wall and one

straight wall there were

aligned slits, so on the 11th

Our year 8s express their

thoughts and feelings on re-

membrance and their trip to

Alrewas war memorial.

_______________________

We remember.

hour of the 11th day of

the 11th month, the sun

shines through them and

onto the wreath.

Year 8s learnt that it is

important to remember

those people and their

families because they

gave up their lives so that

their country could main-

tain its ways and we could

be here as we are now.

Sarah Wakeman

Oak trees squared row by

row for the naval fighters.

An Anti-Air cannon for

their defence.

The peaceful poppy field

held a big yield, our intelli-

gence spies burnt alive.

Old John’s track is laid,

the man who couldn’t talk.

Now a wall for those who

died fighting, they cried

out as they fell fatally

wounded.

Christopher Conlan



DID YOU KNOW?

Global warming is said

to have caused a rise in

malaria rates, as more

of the mosquitos which

carry it are thriving in

warmer conditions.

Bethany

Wright gives

us the low-

down from the

Forensic Psy-

chology and Crime Confer-

ence. This term I took five stu-

dents who are considering a

Pathology based career to

the pathology department at

Walsall Manor Hospital.

Dr Graham Beards gave us a

conducted tour of four dis-

ciplines within his depart-

ment namely;

Biochemistry

Haematology

Blood Bank

Microbiology

The students saw real sci-

entists in the work place

testing a variety of human

samples for an array of con-

ditions and diseases. Our

discussion with Dr Beards

married up nicely with the

subjects the students are

currently studying at AS

level and A2. Namely mi-

croscopy, stem cell re-

search, Malaria, HIV, super-

bugs such as MRSA and

blood grouping.

The students asked Dr

Beards about the qualifica-

tions they would require in

order to become a Biomedi-

cal Scientist in his depart-

ment.

Our students were a real

credit to us.

Despite being a Sociology

student, not a psychology

one, I don't think I have

ever enjoyed a trip more.

From psychopaths to

crime-unravelling maths,

we sat on the edge of our

seats for hours learning

about what causes crime.

We had five talks from

different professionals

within the sector, includ-

ing a professional criminal!

Personally I was a little

taken aback by his de-

meanour, but it was fasci-

nating to understand the

mind-set of a serial of-

fender. Everyone enjoyed

it thoroughly and fond it

very helpful in their study!

Mrs Strawford tells us

about a really interesting

school trip.

Prac.cal Science - we take our

students to hospital (no panic)

We get to grips

with crime

SCHOOL NEWS



SCHOOL NEWS

16-19 year-old mathematics

students by focusing on prob-

lem-solving, teamwork and

communication skills.

The STMC is now in its 6th

year and attracts over 1000

teams from schools and col-

leges from around the UK.

This is the second time SFA

have entered a team and, alt-

hough we did not win, the

students all agreed that it

was a genuinely enjoyable ex-

perience which they would

heartily recommend to other

keen mathematicians. Their

competitive spirit bodes well

for future teams!

Mrs Hamar

tells us about

the sixth

form chal-

lenge.

____________________

A team of four St Francis

students took part in the re-

gional final of the Senior

Team Mathematics Challenge

at the University of Wolver-

hampton on 16th November.

Dan, Adam, Maciej and Josh

joined 14 other teams of the

best mathematics students

from local schools and colleg-

es to tackle a series of de-

manding mathematical chal-

lenges: these were three

rounds of group problem-

solving, a team cross-number

puzzle and a mathematical

relay race, lasting over three

hours in total. The aim of the

competition, organised jointly

by the Further Mathematics

Support Programme and the

UK Mathematics Trust and

sponsored by Rolls-Royce plc.,

is to provide a stimulating

and enjoyable challenge for

Magnificent Maths Challenge

Mr Brown said ‘A good

start to the year. I am

proud to have taken my

year group through to

their final year of KS4’.

Mr Brown was very pleased

with the start of year 11,

with vast majority realising

how important this year is

and how it will shape their

futures’.

There are some exciting

things happening in year 11,

such as the prom at the

end of the year to cele-

brate all their success and

the hard work that has

been done!

...and finally Mr Brown said

‘I love being the head of

my year group. I am proud

of every single one of

them!’

Hannah Wright and

Jessica Murphy keep us up to date with year eleven.

____________________

A good year

for Mr Brown



Watch out! Years 7 + 8 get two scary visitors

Hannah Grennan gives us

the history behind these

surprising pictures!

Yr. 8 pupils studying World

War 1 watched Mr Hicks,

who has come in before, ex-

plain the topic in a memora-

ble and interesting perfor-

mance touching on his own

personal experiences of con-

flict. His engaging presenta-

tion has been shown to vari-

ous other years and each

get the audience involved,

this time he dressed a

'willing' student up in a

world war one soldiers gear.

Also he doesn't just do

world war one presentations,

he also came in to talk to

the year 7 students about

life as a Roman soldier and

helped to reinforce there

knowledge of the topic in

preparation for their upcom-

SCHOOL NEWS

Harry Kirke

on the fantas-

tic history

display.

The launch of the History

Authors was warm and

generous. My hard work

and many others’ had paid

What a display!

ing ISA. I spoke to a

year 9 pupil on there

thoughts on the

presentation 'I really

liked the world war one

presentation from Mr

Hicks as I thought it

was very interesting

and helped me to learn

more about the topic

than you do in the

classroom as it was

more engaging. I also

learnt new facts about

the topic than I didn't

know before'.

off with rewards of deli-

cate brownies and re-

freshments!



WHERE WE STAND

At St Francis of Assisi

school we feel that our

strong Christian Ethos, Gos-

pel Values and charity work

lead us to be committed to

creating and sustaining an

environment of mutual toler-

ance, respect, dignity and

good relations. We insist

that our policies, procedures

and activities should pro-

mote positive attitudes to-

wards good relations and di-

alogue between groups and

communities different from

each other in terms of eth-

nicity, culture, religious af-

filiation, and national origin.

We encourage everyone to

take an active role in the

life our school.

The Public Sector Equality

Duty combines the following

three pieces of legislation

(Sex Discrimination Act,

Disability Discrimination Act

and Race Relations Act) has

three aims under the gen-

eral duty applicable to

schools;

1. Eliminate unlawful dis-

crimination, harassment and

victimisation and other con-

duct prohibited by the Act,

by removing or minimising

disadvantages suffered by

people due to their protect-

ed characteristics.

2. Advance Equality of op-

portunity between people

who share a protected char-

acteristic and those who do

not, by taking steps to meet

the needs of people from

protected groups where

these are different from

the needs of other people.

This important school

document explains one way

that we put the golden rule

into practice.

Public Sector Equality Duty at St Francis

3. Foster good relations be-

tween people who share a

protected characteristic

and those who do not, by

encouraging people from

protected groups to partici-

pate in public life or in oth-

er activities where their

participation is dispropor-

tionately low.

In fulfilling the legal obliga-

tions identified above, we at

St Francis of Assisi CTC are

guided by six principles:

Principle 1: All learners are

of equal value.

Principle 2: We recognise

and respect diversity.

Principle 3: We foster posi-

tive attitudes and relation-

ships, and a shared sense of

cohesion and belonging.

“Treat others as you wish to be treated.”

MJ 7 (Golden Rule)



SCHOOL NEWS

Hannah Wright and

Jessica Murphy keep us up to date with year nine.

____________________

Jessica and I inter-

viewed Mrs Blackmore

about the progress of

year 9 so far.

Mrs Blackmore said ‘I

love my year group as

they are very bubbly

and sporty’.

I asked Mrs Blackmore

‘What has been going on

this year so far? ’She

said that it’s been a

pleasure. This year

group has been a sporty

year group, which defi-

antly made Mrs Black-

more very happy. In

year 9 there is a stu-

dent which has put her

sporty ability to the

test as Francesca Ken-

nedy performed at the

Wolverhampton theatre

performing dance.

There are lots of things

Principle 4: We observe

good equalities practice in

staff recruitment, reten-

tion and development

Principle 5: We aim to re-

duce and remove inequali-

ties and barriers that may

already exist

Principle 6: We aim to con-

sult and involve the school

community.

Equality objectives

1) Raising standards for all

pupils in line with our Cath-

olic ethos and Mission

Statement.

2) To identify and respond

to negative attendance

trends.

3) To ensure equity for all

students from FSM (Ever

6) and the 16-19 Bursary

Fund to ensure learning op-

portunities are accessible

to all.

going on this year for

year nine as the STEM

group are going to the

RAF Cosford on the 5th

of November. However

she does have a couple

more surprises, but they

are not to be said yet.

She also said to me ‘Yes

I love my job, especially

being part of a great

year group!’.

Finally congratulations to

Aaron Keal (9S) and Oliv-

ia Lewis (9F), as they are

both students of the

month!

Year 9 are doing just fine!



SCHOOL NEWS

Zoolab was a great experi-

ence for all the year 8 stu-

dents. Our favourite animal

was the snake because we

got to hold it and we love

snakes. We also got to see

a frog, a big spider, a huge

snail and much more. We

think that the experience

with Zoolab was fantastic

and we strongly suggest

other schools do it. The

way it was set up was

great—it was a real learn-

ing curve for us all, because

we learnt new things and

had a new experience, We

really hope others will try

this.

Stanley Houghton and

Archie Smith meet the

crawlies.

Animal magic

with Zoolab

There were an amazing

amount of hand-made cakes

all made with love by mem-

bers of staff which were

wonderful to see, so thank

you!

Also sixth form arranged

cake and milk shakes on the

Friday after which was a

great success, so both added

together raised a total of

£423.83.

That is a fabulous amount

and will pay for 17 hours

for a Macmillan nurse to

support a family affected

by cancer!

Ms Hill lets us know the

effect of our staff coffee

morning.

St. Francis staff have their cake for Macmillan



THE FACTS OF SCHOOL LIFE

With Christmas just around the

corner know that many of our pu-

pils will receive games consoles,

smartphones, tablets and laptops

for Christmas which will make

connection to the Internet easier

than ever. As these new devices

arrive we would like to remind

everyone of the need to be safe

when they are online. The

ThinkUKnow website has lots of

information for pupils and parents

on how to stay safe and is well

worth looking at.

At St Francis we think that the

SMART system is something we

should all follow!

SAFE - Keep safe by being careful

not to give out personal infor-

mation – such as your full name,

email address, phone number,

home address, photos or school

name – to people you are chatting

with online.

MEETING - Meeting someone you

have only been in touch with online

can be dangerous. Only do so with

your parents’ or carers’ permission

and even then only when they can

be present.

ACCEPTING - emails, IM messag-

es, or opening files, pictures or

texts from people you don’t know

or trust can lead to problems –

they may contain viruses or nasty

messages!

INFORMATION you find on the

internet may not be true, or

someone online may be lying about

who they are.

TELL - your parent, carer or a

trusted adult if someone or some-

thing makes you feel uncomforta-

ble or worried online.

Mrs Jones and Mrs Oli-

ver give some great advice

on how to stay safe online.

Keep calm and stay safe online

DID YOU KNOW?

The world wide web

was born in 1991, but

the internet is now

used by 2 billion people

around the world.

Mrs Guyler,

Business & Administration

Manager

In future any items forgot-

ten by students (PE kit,

etc.) will be held in School

Reception for the student

to collect. The Form Tutor

and Head of Achievement

and Learning will be emailed

to advise the student that

an item is waiting for them

in reception. Students will

have the opportunity to col-

lect the items during lesson

changeover times. Please be

aware that we cannot guar-

antee that the items will

reach the student in time

but we will do our best.

Any emergencies e.g. medi-

cation, dinner money etc.

the student will be invited

to collect the item(s) from

reception during lesson

times in which case they will

have a note in their diary

giving permission from the

teacher. We also ask for

your support with any

changes to after school ar-

rangements you wish to ad-

vise your child of. Emergen-

cies only please. Thank you.



100% Attendance certifi-

cates will be issued to

students with perfect

attendance at the end of

this academic year. The-

se would be an excellent

addition to anyone's

portfolio!

Praise cards and Ecards

will also be sent out to

those who have met and

exceeded their attend-

ance targets.

Medical appointments are

classified as an absence.

Parents should book medical

appointments outside of

school time. However, when

this is not possible, booking

the appointment around

morning and afternoon reg-

istration times, i.e. 9 - 9.20

am and 1.40 - 1.50 pm would

prevent the appointment

having a negative impact up-

on your child's attendance

figures.

The Education Welfare

Officer is informed where

attendance falls below 85%

and/or where persistent

lateness is an issue. It

should be noted that as well

as a range of supportive

measures, that have been

put in place, prosecution is

an action the Local Authori-

ty will take for none school

attendance.

Parents are reminded to call

the school in the morning at

the earliest possible oppor-

tunity to explain the reason

for the absence.

01922 740 306

Mr Brown

makes sure

we all know

what is ex-

pected on attendance.

AJendance:

Be your best.

Are you every tempted to

come into school late, or

have the day at home if

you’re feeling a little

poorly? Even an attend-

ance of 95% is the equiva-

lent of two weeks away

from school. That’s a whop-

ping 50 lessons missed!

All students must achieve

an attendance target of

95%. The vast majority of

students will be expected to

exceed this target.

Those not hitting the 95%

target are putting their ed-

ucation at greater risk.

Each 5% drop in attendance

corresponds to 50 lessons

missed. This means that

someone with an attendance

rate of 85% will not only

draw the attention of the

Education Welfare Officer,

but will have missed an un-

believable 150 lessons from

school.

If you thought being a little

late wasn’t too bad, think

again. Being 10 minutes late

everyday is the equivalent

of over a week off school!




We have a new

layout in the din-

ing hall… With new

yummy and exotic

food!

What we have

to offer…

• The hot food

station in

the dining

hall

• The salad

and sandwich

station in

the dining

hall

• The sandwich

bar in the

bistro

• The small

food counter

in the dining

hall.

Food glorious food! The

stereotypical canteen

school food, with it mushy

pea’s and left over cab-

bage… no way! Not like our

School Bistro and dinning

hall anyway! I now have

lunch there everyday and

enjoy the different menu’s

from live cooked curry to

Italian lasagne!.

Tony the manager of As-

pens helped to create this

plat of adventurous dishes

from all over the world. He

believes the new look and

Its not just the news let-

ter that has a new look!

The school gets a new taste

of Aspen food - yum yum!

food will help people to be

healthy and more adven-

turous in what they eat!

Fish Fridays also has a big

impact on the dinner queue

students!. Fish and chips

for me!

Want your Christmas meal

early?

Then come to the dining

hall on either Wednesday

19th or Thursday 20th and

enjoy Roast Turkey with

all the trimmings for just

£2.80. Got room for pud-

ding? Then it is only 80p

for Christmas pudding!

ROVING RESEARCHER


by emailing

[email protected]

ParentPay offers you the

freedom to make payments

whenever and wherever you

like, 24 hours a day, 7 days

a week - safe in the

knowledge that the technol-

ogy used is of the highest

internet security available.

You will have a secure online

account, activated using a

unique username and pass-

word; you will be prompted

Mrs Mullins explains the key facts about ParentPay.

____________________

Online payment with ParentPay has ar-

Towards the end of Octo-

ber 2012, we introduced a

more convenient way to pay

for school trips, revision

guides, stationery and other

items online, using a secure

service called ParentPay.

ParentPay is now live for

our school and we are work-

ing towards no longer ac-

cepting cash and cheque

payments, making the school

a cash-free environment.

To date, we have 38% of

our parents signed up and

using this service. If you

have not already done so,

please activate your account

using the activation letter

posted to your home ad-

dress. If you need another

copy, this can be requested

to change these, and to

keep them safe and se-

cure. If you have more

than one child at our

school or children at an-

other ParentPay school,

you can create one single

account login for all your

children regardless of

which school they attend.

Making a payment is

straightforward and

ParentPay holds a payment

history for you to view at

a later date; no card de-

tails are stored in any part

of the system. Once you’ve

activated your account you

can make online payments

straight away.

We hope you will support

us in achieving our goal to

become a cashless school,

increasing efficiency and

removing the need for stu-

dents to carry monies into

school. Your support in

using ParentPay will help

the school enormously,

thank you.

For further information on

ParentPay please visit

www.parentpay.com.


Documents

Newsletter December 2012