St Bonaventure’sWINTER 2014

Cesar, Greta, Lucas and all the staff and students at St Bonaventure's wish you all a Happy and Holy Christmas

INSIDE THIS ISSUE…

ISSUE : 4

Magazine

Armistice Day

Teen Samaritan Lifesavers

Portugal Pilgrimage

Lord Mayor’s Show

Careers News

German Exchange

Prize Night

Meet the School Council

Priest Visits Old Parish

PAGE 2 : ST BONAVENTURE’S MAGAZINE

WHOLE SCHOOL

ARMISTICE DAY

Head Girl, Claudette Mendoza, represented St Bon's and placed awreath at the cenotaph in Central Park in East Ham on Armistice Day.

Members of the School Council and6th Form Student Leadership Teamwere present along with theHeadboy of the main school,Ashley Singh. Year 11 student,Nattan Yeshitila played thetrumpet as he has done for the lastthree years to signal the start ofthe silence and again at the end.

Back in school a wreath was laid atthe Marian Shrine whilst the wholeschool observed the two minutesilence. Mr Bowers-Broadbentplayed the Last Post and poemswere read out.

JACK PETCHEY SCHEME

GUITAR-MAN ASHLEY PICKEDFOR OCTOBER AWARD

AshLey Singh was named as the Jack Petchey Award winner forOctober.

Head boy Ashley never fails to seize any opportunity he can to promote StBon 's in a good light.

He is a member of the student council and was responsible for setting upthe anti bullying campaign and training anti bullying ambassadors inschool.

He is an extremely talented singersongwriter who regularly performs atJack Petchey events across London andEssex, something which he genuinelyloves doing and which has given himimmense confidence. His friendly,approachable and caring personalitymakes him popular with his peers andteachers.

Without doubt, music is Ashley's first loveand most lunchtimes he can be found in

the music department practising his guitar, writing songs and coachingyounger students who have shown an interest in music.

Everyone speaks very highly of Ashley and says he is a model student. Infact during his five years at St Bon's he has never once got into any troubleand has never had detention.

Ashley plans to spend his £200 award money to buy reconditionedacoustic guitars for the St Bon's guitar ensemble students to utilise. This isa fantastic idea as currently students have to bring in their owninstruments which can be cumbersome. It will also mean that they arealways available in the music department if students ever forget to bringin their own.

MESSAGE FROM THE HEADTEACHERDear Parents and Friends,

“ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and thecalf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.”Isaiah 11:6

Advent is the start of the new year in the Catholic church for a reason – the coming of our LordJesus made the word of God flesh and we must all use this time to renew our faith.

God made himself visible in the person of Jesus to rid the world of sin and bring usto eternal life. Whilst on earth we must make a commitment to do our part. Thisyear has seen much tragedy and persecution in the world. This can end if we allmake an individual pledge to God to only bring love, joy and peace to the lives of all we meet.

God bless you all and by God’s grace we will all have a joyous Christmas.God Bless You All

Mr Paul Halliwell, Head Teacher

Monday 5 January Inset Day – school closed to pupils Mock Examinations - Some 6th Form students to attend

Tuesday 6 January School starts

Monday 12 January Year 11 Parents’ Evening 6-8pm

Tuesday 13 January Information Evening for Parents - Drug Awareness, E- Safety & Bullying and Gang Awareness 6-7.30pm St Francis' Hall.

Wednesday 21 - Friday 23 January Year 8 Residential Retreat – St Vincent’s Centre

Thursday 22 January 6th Form Open Evening 6-8pm

26 – 30 January Year 12 Geography Field Trip to Devon

Monday 2 February 6th Form Open Day Year 10 Parents’ Evening 6-8pm

Tuesday 3 - Friday 6 February Year 7 Retreat Days in St Antony’s Church

Wednesday 4 February 6th Form Open Day

Monday 9 - Friday 13 February Year 13 Geography Field Trip to Snowdonia

Tuesday 10 - Friday 13 February Year 7 Retreat Days in St Antony’s Church

Thursday 12 February Year 12 Parents’ Evening

Monday 16 - Friday 20 February Half Term Holidays

Monday 23 February School starts

Tuesday 24 & Wednesday 25 February Year 11 German Oral Exams

Wednesday 25 February Year 9 Reconciliation

Thursday 26 & Friday 27 February Year 10 German Oral Exams

Monday 2 & Wednesday 4 March BTEC Science Exam

Tuesday 3 March Year 9 Options Evening - 5.30pm to 8pm

Saturday 7 March CYM Flame 2 at Wembley Stadium

Wednesday 18 March Year 11 SRE Day

Monday 23 March Year 7 Parents’ Evening 6-8pm

Wednesday 25 March 6th Form Easter Liturgy

Thursday 26 March Spring Charity Concert - 6.30pm

Wednesday 1 April Easter Assembly at 11am in St Antony’s Church.Students will be dismissed from Church at 12.30pm.

Thursday 2 - Wednesday 15 April Easter Holidays

ST BONAVENTURE’S MAGAZINE : PAGE 3

MODEL STUDENTS

TEEN SAMARITAN LIFESAVERS

Three of our Year 11 students were hailed as heroes this term after their quick-thinkingactions on the way home from school were believed to have saved a man's life.

The drama unfolded as George Gilbey, Nathan Vondee and Phillip Hayman made their wayto Wanstead Flats to play a football match just after 3.30pm on Friday October 3.

As they made their way along Woodgrange Road in Forest Gate they noticed an elderlyman lying on the floor not moving next to some bins and near a bus stop. They alsonoticed that passers by were not helping him and ignoring him, going about theirbusiness seemingly unconcerned.

Realising the man was in distressand in need of help, the trio crossedthe road and went to his aid.

They saw he was in danger as heseemed delusional and wereconcerned that he had had a stroke.They administered first aid and putthe man into the recovery positionwhilst George dialled 999 andasked for an ambulance to attendstraightaway.

They stayed with the man andreassured him that help was on theway. Only when the ambulancearrived did they leave the man in thecapable hands of the professionals.

When they arrived at Wanstead Flats to play their match, they told Mr Topping, why theywere late. Mr Topping was amazed at their maturity and felt very proud of the teenagersand immediately contacted Mr Halliwell to tell him of their brave actions.

George, Nathan and Philip were given Headteacher's commendations and Servus Deusbadges in school by Mr Halliwell, who added: "The boys thought something was amissstraightaway and were shocked to see nobody helping the man. They had seen the adverton television that shows the warning signs of a stroke where the victim's face drops onone side and they believed this is what had happened. They said he was in a lot of distressand needed immediate help. He was fortunate that these three model citizens werepassing and were able to act fast and help and reassure him. I am extremely proud ofwhat they did that afternoon. They were quite upset afterwards and shaking at what theyhad witnessed but they kept a cool head and knew they had to help him and couldn't justwalk on by like others were doing. They really are the epitome of The Good Samaritan."

Afterwards, George's dad wasso impressed with what theydid that he gave each of thedistressed boys £5 each as athank you token for theirquick thinking.

When the Diocese heard oftheir actions, the boysreceived thank you letters.

Their public-spirited actionsreceived lots of publicity andtheir story made front pagenews in The NewhamRecorder.

CELEBRATING SUCCESS

PRIZE NIGHT

It was wonderful to welcome back theClass of 2014, last year's Year 11, inNovember for Presentation Evening.

All the boys turned up suited andbooted and looking very smart for thespecial occasion.

Our Chair of Governors, Tim Campbell,was our special guest who presentedprizes on the night.

Entertainment was provided by younger students and all in all it was a lovely conclusion toa very busy year for the hard working students.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

TEACHING INSTITUTE MARK AWARDED

At the start of the new term we were thrilled to receive The Prince’s Teaching InstituteMark for 2013/14.

Our English Department receivedthe Mark in recognition of theirwork on increasing creativityand innovation to promote pupilindependence and developingand sharing their own specialistsubject knowledge with otherschools both locally andnationally in 2013/2014.

The PTI’s Schools Programme is open to all state secondary schools in England. To becomemembers, school departments must demonstrate their commitment to increasingteachers’ subject knowledge, and to furthering their students’ understanding of andenthusiasm for the subject, regardless of their background or ability. To achieve the PTIMark, departments then have to demonstrate that they have increased the challengewithin their subject curriculum; developed their staff’s own specialist subject knowledge;developed subject-based links outside school; and enthused their pupils through subject-based activities beyond the curriculum. After three years of Schools Programmemembership, departments may choose to become Associate Departments by devising anadvanced multi-year programme in one of these areas. AsAssociate Departments they will share their growing expertise withothers in the Schools Programme to the benefit of all.

Mr Halliwell, said: "We are delighted to have been awarded the PTIMark for our English Department's innovative work and we will beproud to carry the Mark on our stationery, prospectus and websiteas evidence of our commitment to inspirational teaching."

PAGE 4 : ST BONAVENTURE’S MAGAZINE

CHAPLAINCY

Like every new school year this term has been full of excitement and energy. The Year7s started in September and brought their life, passion and enthusiasm with them.They had an opportunity to demonstrate this when one of the RE classes organised

and coordinated their Welcome Mass, from writing and reading the intercessions, tocreating a welcome and a communion reflection. They took ownership of all, showing theirYear group's character, diversity and vibrancy.

Our 6th Form Senior Leadership Team created a new prayer to be said at the beginning ofevery 6th Form lesson. Their aim was to create something that was open and inviting toall, regardless of our chosen religion to represent the diversity of our 6th form and ensureall felt comfortable to pray and invite God into their learning experience.

During October we paid special attention to Mary our Mother and the Chaplaincy was fullof boys joining with me in praying the Rosary and learning more about why we ask OurLady to intercede for us. The year 11 boys had a visit from Fr. Tony Fernandes SDB, whocame to do a talk for them on ‘God being an active presence in our lives’. He shared storiesand experiences from his own life; from growing up in Kenya, telling his girlfriend he wasleaving for Goa in India to become a Salesian priest to driving through Sudan to rescue afellow priest who was being released after capture by rebel fighters. A number of our boys

were also present for a performance by Adam & Kid, a Christian duo who again challengedthe boys to see where God is active in their lives, this time through music and song.

November is internationally a month of remembrance, but this year our Year 7s took partin a cross curricular Remembrance Liturgy, coordinated by Drama, Art and Chaplaincy. TheArt Department assisted the boys in creating a wonderful display of poppies that spreadsacross the wall of St Francis' Hall and a small group of Year 10 drama students wrote andperformed a stunning drama about life and death in the trenches of WWI that reducedmany staff to tears. Some of those Year 10s also joined together with some Year 9s toattend a Justice and Peace conference with the focus of Poverty, In our communities andGlobally. They intend to reform the Justice and Peace group with a focus on how ourcommunity can do more than just fundraise, but also raise awareness and understandingof these issues.

The Christmas Carol Service was very moving and filled everyone who witnessed it withlove, hope and joy and got everyone in the mood for Christ's birthday and the holy season.

Wishing you a Happy and Holy Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Jess Barnett School Chaplain.

CHAPLAIN'S COLUMN

MFL

ST BON'S VISITS NEWHAM'S TWINTOWN FOR SILVER CELEBRATION

IIn October, 32 students travelled to Kaiserslautern in South West Germany to take partin the 25th Anniversary celebrations of the exchange between St Bon's and theRittersberg Gymnasium (School).

Kaiserslautern is Newham's twin city and the link was established in 1989 to bring youngpeople from both areas closer together, break down stereotypes and promote theimportance of language learning. The exchange has flourished ever since and every yearmore and more students participate as the word gets round that staying with families andbecoming fully integrated into German life is the most effective and most enjoyable wayto learn the language.

This year, pupils took part in activities such as rope climbing, watching a football match, aworkshop at an art gallery and a trip to Heidelberg as well visiting the school andparticipating in discussion groups and lessons.

The highlight of the trip this year was a concert to celebrate the 25th Anniversary duringwhich students from both schools sang, read poetry and danced. The concert wasattended by a local MP, parents, teachers and pupils past and present. It was a truecelebration of friendship, cooperation, partnership and diversity.

Curriculum Leader for German at St Bon's, Angela Hillan who went with the group said: "This could not have gone aheadwithout the support of the UKGerman Connection. It was a fantasticexperience for our students and weare now looking forward to nextSeptember when the German pupilswill be staying with their partnershere in Newham. I have a difficulttask ahead of me ensuring I maketheir visit to Newham every bit asexciting as the recent trip to

Kaiserslautern. Many students said it was the trip of a lifetime and something that theywill remember all their lives. That's a hard act to follow."

FORTHCOMING RE TRIP

PORTUGAL PILGRIMAGEThe R.E. Department are delighted to announce that in July 2015, following massivedemand and positive testimonials from our trip to Rome in 2014, the R.E. Department atSt. Bon’s has planned our first school pilgrimage to Fatima and Lisbon.

This package will be a unique opportunity for students from all Year groups to join in ayouth pilgrimage to Fatima; participating in the key religious ceremonies, learning theincredible story of young shepherd visionaries including the messages they received in1917 from the Virgin Mary.

Whilst staying in a central hotel in Fatima, we will take the opportunity to visit:- The popular seaside resort of Nazare - The wondrous Caves of Moeda - The monastery of Alcobaça - The birthplace of St. Anthony, patron of our Parish Church - Climb the narrow stairs which lead to the feet of the huge statue of Christ the King- Visit the stunning Lisbon Oceanarium; the largest Aquarium in Europe.

This fully inclusive package (3 meals a day, transfers, entry tickets) will depart fromHeathrow Airport on Monday 6th July and return on Thursday 9th July 2015, flying withBritish Airways direct to Lisbon. A coach will take us from school to the airport and back.

4 days / 3 nights School Pilgrimage to Fatima & Lisbon - £475(6th – 9th July 2015)

To secure a place on this pilgrimage, please see Mr Pauro for an application form ASAP.

A deposit of £75 will guarantee your place with payments taken in instalments over the year.

Should you have any questions or request further information, please contact Mr P on 020 8472 3844 or send an email to: n.pauro@stbons.org

Don't delay, book today!

ART DEPARTMENT

POPPY WALL OF WONDER

Our Year 7 students were busy developing their very own art installation as a tributeto those who lost their lives in war this term. The artwork mirrored the hugelypopular work at The Tower of London "Bloodswept Lands and Seas of Red" by

ceramic artist Paul Cummins.

For weeks the young students carried out the inspiring art as a fitting way to mark thecentenary of the outbreak of World War One.

Each student created their own poppies using a variety of mixed media and then joinedthem all together to mount them across one of the art room walls to create a collaborativeand emotional display of red.

Not everyone could go to The Tower of London to see the awe-inspiring display of ceramicpoppies for themselves, so this artwork was a way of enabling our students to reflect on the sea of red, say a quiet prayer and think of all the soldiers, civilians and animalsthat died.

Curriculum Leader in Art,Ms Gilroy added: "Theinstallation moved to StFrancis' Hall for the 11th ofNovember after adorningthe art room wall and wasleft there as a reminderfor all visitors andstudents that we willnever forget the sacrificethat was made so longago so we can be free."

SOCIAL JUSTICE

TELCO TRINITY TRIP

Following on from a year of community action, the St Bon’s TELCO Group were cordiallyinvited to share their work and experiences with a range of guests at the annualconference for Catholic Social Teaching at Trinity School in Woodford.

Now in Year 10, Arghya,Alton, Kamil, John,Lukasz, Olu and Amalimpressed a range ofguests, from membersof the clergy andteachers, to communityleaders and their ownHeadteacher with theirimproving publicspeaking, confidenceand above all,commitment to public service.

In the Spring, twitter lit up with posts about their inspirational work to clean up GreenStreet and promote the City Safe campaign.

They are now busy plotting work for the year ahead and eager to get more pupilsinvolved.

Election Year 2015 could be very exciting indeed with these Bon’s Boys taking on issues ofsocial justice.

Head of RE, Mr Pauro, as ever, will be on hand to guide them every step of the way.

ST BONAVENTURE’S MAGAZINE : PAGE 5

JACK PETCHEY NEWS

LORD MAYOR'S SHOW

We were very proud to have been asked to take part in the Lord Mayor's Show aspart of the Jack Petchey Foundation parade this year.

Eighteen students fromall Year Groups tookpart in the procession inNovember. Taking partwas a great honour asspaces were limited andhundreds of thousandsof spectators watch theparade on BBC 2 TV aswell as lining theancient streets of the City.

The Jack Petchey Foundation were invited this year to recognise the work they do to raisethe aspirations of young people in London.

Our students are always willing to help out the Foundation and Jack Petcheyrepresentatives have said on numerous occasions that they love working with our school.

The parade started at London Wall and spiralled its way along towards the Bank ofEngland, past St Paul's Cathedral, along Fleet Street, passing Mansion House beforereturning to London Wall.

Everyone said they really enjoyed the experience and by the end of the day, there weresore feet and aching arms after all the waving but every boy involved said they felthonoured to have taken part in such an historic event.

Once again, the boys made us proud and they got to keep the cobalt blue hoodies theywore on the day too.

SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

HEADTEACHER AWARDS FORSCIENTISTS

Two Year 7 boys were called in to see the Headteacher three weeks into the new termbut not because they were in trouble. Far from it in fact. Latrell and Roshan who are in7 Kolbe were asked to see Mr Halliwell as Head of Science, Ms Racon, had told him that

the two students had completed excellent summer science projects.

The boys were each presented with a Headteacher's Commendation and were very happyand proud to receive their very first accolade from St Bon's.

Latrell was a pupil at St Edwards and Roshan went to St Michael's School.

PAGE 6 : ST BONAVENTURE’S MAGAZINE

6TH FORM

DOUBLE TRIUMPH

The Chairman of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited's Global Board of Directors, SteveAlmond, came in to speak to our 6th Form students last month. He spoke to studentsstudying Economics, Business and Maths and a selected group of Year 11

mathematicians.

Steve is a very successful man with responsibility for overseeing the highest governingbody of DTTL. The global headquarters of Deloitte's is in Rockerfeller Plaza in Manhattanand the company employs over 200,000 workers. They have an annual revenue in excessof $34 billion US Dollars.

Steve was very honest and spoke about his life and his background . He told the audienceabout his schooling and his time at The University of London where he studied History.After he graduated he began working at Deloitte. . He was an inspiration to our studentsand gave them tips for success in business. He was very warm and approachable and saidhe really enjoyed talking to our pupils.

This provided a fantastic opportunity for our students to hear from a world financialleader.

Feedback was really good from students too who said they found his advice really usefuland gave them a lot to think about before they made their career choices.

6TH FORM

WRITE ON ADRIAN

One of our 6th Form students was the only studentin Newham and indeed the only student from aComprehensive School in the whole of East

London to be awarded highly commended in an essaycompetition organised by the Royal Economic Society.

There were over 1,600 entries from all over the globefor the Young Economist of the Year competition and StBon's student, Adrian Polius, who's 17, made it onto thehighly commended list.

Only 44 students made it onto the list - no others fromNewham or an East London Comprehensive School.

Lots of Grammar, Independent and Boarding Schools such as Eton and Dulwich made itonto the Final 18 list. Commended students from schools in Dubai and Singapore made italong with St Bonaventure's.

Jim Ward, who is Adrian's Business and Economics teacher said: "I received an email fromAdrian and he was over the moon to have his essay recognised. He had some disastersalong the way. His laptop broke for a week which left him wondering if he would everfinish his essay. Luckily he submitted it in time and now his entry has won a covetedhighly commended tag which should boost his confidence no end."

Adrian added: " When I saw my name on the top of the list and I saw the otherestablishments named I felt very proud. Schools across the World, mostly IndependentSchools sent in entries and some of the winners come from very privileged areas. To bethe only student in Newham to have their essay recognised made me feel very honoured.The only other school in East London to have their essay recognised by one of theirstudents was the Independent Chigwell School. I couldn't wait to tell Mr Ward my goodnews. I felt fantastic ."

Adrian, who lives js seen pictured with his summer AS results which were veryencouraging.

He is hoping to go on to study Economics at university next year.

6TH FORM

Caelan Richard in Year 13 proved this year that you really dohave to go that extra mile if you want to get on in life.

Caelan, who's from Upton Park, has acted as an outstandingunofficial ambassador for Newham and our school over the last 3years, starting with his participation on the German exchangeprogramme.

He began learning German when he came to St Bon's from StEdwards Primary in 2008 and fell in love with the language. Hebecame involved in the exchange with Kaiserslautern in SouthernGermany when he was in Year 11 and thoroughly enjoyed theexperience. He went back in November last year and once againlearned a great deal.

When he was in Year 12 he decided to visit Berlin during the Easterholidays as he had always dreamt of returning to Germany one day.He travelled alone, staying in a hostel, which, for a 17 year old is a brave thing to do. Oncethere, he visited the sights and met up with some pupils from our partner school in Berlin.He even trained with a Berlin running club for a half marathon he completed in thesummer here in London.

Over the recent October half term he went to Germany to completea week's work experience in the Town Hall in Kaiserslautern. Thiswas entirely his own initiative and once again he organised all thishimself to fit in with school holidays. He wanted to do this to helpimprove his understanding, grammar and accent.

Caelan went on to explain: "I have always felt that languages areimportant. The more you know of another language and culture, themore you can communicate with a wider range of people."

Miss Hillan added: "Caelan takes every opportunity to speak Germanin school and helps out in Key Stage 3 German and Spanish lessons.He is an excellent role model to younger students and his love ofthe language is clear for all to see."

Caelan is studying German, History and Biology A Level and wants tostudy German and Spanish at University. He is undecided at thisstage where he wants to continue his education but with his

determination, nothing will stop him from pursuing his dream.

LANGUAGE-LOVER CAELAN'S GERMAN JAUNTS

ST BONAVENTURE’S MAGAZINE : PAGE 7

6TH FORM

JACOB'S LADDER TO SUCCESS

Sixteen-year-old Jacob Costello who is studying for ALevels at St Bon's found out in September that he hadbeen awarded a sought-after Arkwright Engineering

Scholarship that identified him as one of the country’s futureleaders in engineering and technical design.

The renowned Arkwright Engineering Scholarship providesstudents with a £600 financial award to enhance their Alevel studies and a range of activities to enhance theirunderstanding and experience of engineering.

The school will also receive £400 for each Scholarshipawarded to one of its students. The Scholarships are respected by leading universities andcompanies and are supported by top engineering employers and organisations such asRolls-Royce, BAE Systems, National Grid, Balfour Beatty, Microsoft Research, Thales, TheRoyal Air Force, The Royal Navy and the Institution of Engineering and Technology. TheScholarships are also funded by charitable donors including, principal donors The ReeceFoundation, The Lloyd’s Register Foundation, the Gannochy Trust, the Dulverton Trust, theEmmott Foundation and S.F.I.A Educational Trust.

Jacob had to successfully complete a rigorous selection process consisting of a detailedapplication form, a two-hour aptitude exam and an interview hosted at a top engineeringuniversity.

Dr Martin Thomas, Chief Executive of the Arkwright Scholarships Trust said: “I am delightedto see students from St Bonaventure's secure this prestigious accolade. Clearly, there isconsiderable technical talent in the Newham area. With the competition for rewarding jobsbecoming ever-more fierce, the receipt of an Arkwright Engineering Scholarship can helpdynamic young people at the start of their journey to be the country’s future leaders inengineering and technical design.

Mr Odle was Jacob's Design Technology teacher and supported him throughout hisapplication and interview process. He added: " I feel really proud of Jacob. He deserves tohave been selected as he worked really hard for this and I'm sure this will give him extraconfidence as he embarks on his A Level studies.

6TH FORM

TAMANNA SAYS THANKS A LATTE

The first St Bonaventure's Jack Petchey Award winner of the year was named asTamanna Moushumi in Year 13. Tamanna, who is 17, joined our 6th Form last year fromSarah Bonnell School to study A Level History, Politics and English.

She is a current Deputy Head Girl and never refuses to take part in anything, evenvolunteering at out of school events and activities.

She seems to really be enjoying her role asambassador for the school. Staff speakvery highly of her and say she is veryapproachable and an excellent role modelfor all students adding that she is an assetto the school.

Tamanna purchased a Starbucks coffeemaking machine and capsules with heraward money for use in the 6th form studyroom.

6TH FORM

CAREERS NEWSSEO LONDON SCHOLARS MENTORING PROJECT 2014/15

SEO is an organisation which links students from high achieving state schools to mentorsfrom major City firms. Those who are successful getting onto the programme are linkedto professional mentors working in careers such as accountancy, banking, investment, IT,law, marketing, PR or advertising with a prestigious City firm.

Students also benefit from insight days with employers, visits to leading Universities andare able to apply for work experience placements with corporate city employers such asHerbert Smith Freehills, Linklaters, BDO and Barclays.

Four of our Year 12 and one Year 13 students have been successful in getting a place on thiscompetitive project.

REALISING OPPORTUNITIES RUSSELL GROUP WIDENING PARTICIPATION PROJECT

Five of our Year 12 students were successful in getting onto Realising Opportunities. This isa programme of activities, taster lectures and mentoring provided by 14 Russell GroupUniversities.

Each of our students will be linked to an undergraduate mentor for a subject they aspire tofor University. They will complete an academic assignment supported by a Universityacademic tutor and also attend the RO National Student Conference.

If our students successfully complete Realising Opportunities they will get extraconsideration for

offers of places at the participating Russell Group universities and if they get an offer it islikely to be 2 A level grades lower that the standard offer.

WAITROSE GREENWICH MOCK JOB INTERVIEWS AND WORK EXPERIENCE

After setting up a link with Waitrose in Greenwich, we were able to run our first mockinterview skills morning at Waitrose this month. Four of our Year 12 BTEC Businessstudents took part.

They were able to practice a one to one mock interview with managers. Our students werealso able to take part in a group interview to discuss customer case studies, matchingcustomers to Waitrose food products before presenting their marketing ideas.

We had excellent feedback from Waitrose on all of our student’s mock interviews, teamwork, communication and presentation skills. They were so impressed two of our studentswere invited back for work experience next February and April.

THAMES TIDEWAY TUNNELS ENGINEERING PROJECT WORK EXPERIENCE

Through our links with The Thames Tideway Tunnels Project we were able to set up oneweek work experience placements for two of our Year 13 pupils to learn about tunneldesign, project logistics and shadow civil engineers on site. The placements took place inSeptember and November and have greatly enhanced their applications for Engineeringdegrees.

Chris JarvisSchool Careers Adviser

PAGE 8 : ST BONAVENTURE’S MAGAZINE

SPORTS NEWS

BASKETBALL WIN

Our Year 9 Basketball team look thrilled to be the Newham Champions after beatingKingsford School 20-16 in the Newham Tournament at Rokeby School on November25. The team will now represent Newham in the Nationals and Mr Robinson and Mr

Oneretti are confident they'll do well.

YEAR 7

FIRST STUDENT THROUGH THE GATE

Two hundred and four new Year 7 students passedthrough the gates of our school on the first day ofterm looking extremely smart and all very excited to

be starting. It was even more exciting than previous years as a newHouse, Kolbe, has been created to cater for the increasingdemand for more spaces in Catholic education inNewham. This means that more boys than ever before canjoin St Bon's.

First through the doors, bright and early at 8.00am(school starts at 8.45am) was former Elmhurst pupil,Samuel Gathiaka who lives locally. He was excited abouttaking his place in Kolbe and impressed teachers with his eagerness and time-keeping.

Samuel added: " I only live locally so it's easy for me to get to school but I couldn't wait toget here and hope to make lots of new friends."

ALUMNI

HOLLYWOOD CALLS FOR FORMER ST BON'S BOY

Old boy and now Hollywood actor, Charles Babalola, popped into school for a surprisevisit in November to say hello and tell his old teachers how he is doing. Charles has apart in the forthcoming film 'Tarzan' which is set for release next year and stars

award winner Samuel L Jackson. He has also just finished filming 'Mission Impossible 5'with Tom Cruise but he was just happy to mingle with his old teachers at school.

Charles, 23, was the winner of the2014 Alan Bates Bursary and is a starin the making but more importantlyhe is a thoroughly nice man who hashis feet firmly on the ground. Hegraduated from LAMDA this year andhas lots of exciting projects in thepipeline he told staff.

Mr Halliwell, who knows Charles from his volunteer work with the St John Bosco camp,added: "Charles is welcome to come and see us in school anytime. He always spends timechatting with our students and is an inspiration for those who want to pursue a career inacting."

EXTRA CURRICULAR

CHESS MATES

Chess master Mariano Bautista casts a watchfuleye over students who look deep inconcentration during a chess match.

Mariano has been coming in every Thursday afterschool this term to help the Chess Club perfecttheir technique.

In total there are 15 regulars from Years 7 to 12 andtheir skills have greatly improved since Marianoshared his expertise.

ART NEWS

ARTIST DAWID WINS COMPETITION

Dawid Dawidowski who isnow in 11 Bell finished off thesummer term with a flourish

as he was presented with amassive trophy in school. Rob andDoug from the Knights of StColumba came in with the largesilver cup to present to Dawid ashe had won first prize in an artcompetition this Easter.

His depiction of Christ on the crosswas deemed to be the best and captured the Crucifixion beautifully.

Dawid was presented with a cheque for £75 and added: "When I heard about thecompetition I thought I would try my hand at it. I have always wanted one of my artpieces to be exhibited and this was the perfect opportunity. This has given me aconfidence boost and I hope to pursue a career that involves art."

Part of his prize involves a visit to Brentwood Diocese next Easter.

FOOTIE NEWS

YEAR 7 WIN

The mighty year 7's beat GreyCourt School from Richmond2-1 recently which

progressed them through toround 4 of the National Cup. Aninspired performance came fromRudolph Roberts who made his Ateam debut. Goals came fromfrom Ernaldo, and Kwesi .

Congratulation Boys. Mr Caddy isvery proud of you.

ST BONAVENTURE’S MAGAZINE : PAGE 9

MFL

The day - Wednesday 24th of September, the time - 4:30 am. The journey toStanstead – simple, no worries no emotion. Then we arrived at Frankfurt Hahn. Thenerves started to kick in, the coach was quiet. The closer we got to Gymnasium am

Rittersberg, the more nervous we became. We arrived at the school – we were early andthe playground was empty. Our partners weren’t there so the nervous tension builtfurther.

When they first came out - I am not going to lie, it was awkward. One by one we foundour partners and one by one we left the playground, luggage in hand. But then a funnything happened. The more we talked with our partners, the less awkward it got. Beforelong we arrived at the houses that were to be our homes for a whole week.

It was shocking how wonderful and relaxing theirhouses were. We all spent our first afternoondifferently – my partner and I went in to the cityand got bubble tea. Then we went to a footballmatch. It was magnificent - FC Kaiserslautern vs FCUnion Berlin. It didn’t take long for FCK to feel likeour team, and we felt all the same highs and lowsas the rest of the home supporters crowd. Thematch was at times thrilling, exciting, painful andfunny – from the only goal in the first half tomissed opportunities and fumbled open goals in the last 10 minutes. Thankfully FCK wonand we joined the stream of happy supporters and made our way back to our new homes.

On the second day what little awkwardness remained disappeared in the face ofchallenges posed by the high ropes at the Kletterpark. It was funny - especially watchingfriends get stuck on the zip line and on the tyres. It was also great to see how quicklyGerman and English partners were helping each other overcome the obstacles. That’swhen everyone really started to bond with each other.

Friday was a busy day, as we celebrated was the 25th anniversary of the exchange in avariety of ways. Firstly we attended an official reception at the Town Hall, where we allreceived a token of friendship from the city of Kaiserslautern before heading up to the roofto view the city from above. From there we headed to the Pfalzgalerie, where we tappedinto our creative sides, collaborating with our partners to combine art and poetryreflecting our schools’ successful partnership. Finally that evening we staged a concert,where exchange students, their families, their teachers and even a local politiciancelebrated our exchange with music, spoken word, speeches and gifts from Rittersbergand St Bon’s.

Then came the weekend, where there were no fixed plans with our schools, it was just usand our partners. Kaiserslautern may be smaller than London but we weren’t bored. OnSaturday we all went our separate ways - some went bowling, or to laser tag, some spenttheir Euros in the local shops. We discovered the joy of German food, especially thegenerous portion sizes – their small is our big! Only two of us were able to finish ourwhole Milano’s pizza, only the two Johns!

On Sunday we enjoyed the great outdoors – walking in the local woods, some visitedcastles and observation tours, and a group of us went to a wonderful lake. We rowed, wedived into the lake, the weather was gorgeous and everything was just perfect. In onlyfour days we had changed from being awkward to being one big family. Suddenly we

realised that we had only 2 days left, and we realisedthat we didn’t want it to end.

On Monday, we went to Heidelberg, home toGermany’s oldest university and the world’s biggestwine barrel! Heidelberg was fantastic, despite thetiring walk up a steep hill to see the castle. Before weknew it, it was time to head back to the farewelldinner.

The meal flew by in a flurry of group photos andselfies, and the first tears were shed as we left the restaurant.

On the last day we got to see what school life is like in Germany as we visited the first twolessons of the day. Although we were trying to stay strong, the closer we got to the timewe had to leave the more emotions got let out. We all agreed that that last half an hourwith our partners was the saddest 30 minutes of our lives. We got to the car park – it wastears everywhere, hugs everywhere. We tried to get our teachers to let us stay longer, butit was no use. The coach left, our partners and their families waved us off, we all fell silentand wished we could have stayed another month.

Who would have thought in just six days you would get so attached to people you hadonly just met. Our partners and their families made us feel so at home, and we are alreadylooking forward to their return visit next year.

John Manzon,11 Forest

GERMAN EXCHANGE TO REMEMBERHere is one student's account of the recent trip to Kaiserslautern in Southern Germany.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP

Our new school council met recently for their inaugural meeting in the school library.Ms McNulty and Ms Charles started off the meeting by distributing badges tostudents followed by an ice breaking task as a way of getting to know each other.

The School Council will meet every month to discuss ways to improve school life for thebenefit of all in St Bon's.

All students seemed really enthusiastic and said they were looking forward to developingtheir strategies. They were full of ideas and take their responsibilities extremely seriously.

When you see your Form representative around school don't forget to discuss your ideaswith him so they can be put forward at the next meeting.

MEET THE SCHOOL COUNCIL

PAGE 10 : ST BONAVENTURE’S MAGAZINE

CREATIVE STUDY

YEAR 7 SKILLS DAY

7Colman are smiling after coming first in the Skills Day workshop. They workedcollaboratively, developing their numeracy and literacy skills, ensuring that theproject they worked on was vibrant, engaging and exciting.

Well done Deacon, Emmanuel, Ilgo, Darren and Szymon.

7 Gregory were second and 7 Kolbe were third.

RE NEWS/ALUMNI

PRIEST POPS IN

Old Bonaventurian Fr. James Mackay, was invited back into school to visit Mr Pauro'sYear 9 class to give testimony to and debate what being a priest in the 21st centuryis all about.

The boys were reallyimpressed andFather James waspleased to answerall of their questionsincluding somecontroversial ones.

Nice to welcome youback to school againFather!

DRAMA NEWS

ON CLOUD NINE AFTER ACTING DEBUT

Year 9 student, Airan Abrahams, swapped Forest Gate for Piccadilly Circus back inSeptember when he was a special guest at the premiere of the film he had astarring role in alongside Hollywood actor, Michael Madsen.

13 year old Airan rubbed shoulders with film buffs and established actors at the twentysecond Raindance Festival showing of 'The Ninth Cloud' at the Vue Cinema in the WestEnd.

The gritty drama starred Madsen playing the central character called Bob. Airan had thepivotal role of Jean, a Congolese orphan boy with a life changing disability and the filmwas all about his struggle.

Filming took several years to complete and it was mainly filmed in North London.

Airan went on to explain: " I have always loved acting and went to audition for the part ofJean almost four years ago. I was in St Antony's School then in Forest Gate. We filmed foralmost a year and I really enjoyed working with all the actors. The Director Jane Spencerwas really supportive and helped me a lot. It has given me the confidence to pursue myacting and I want to take drama at GCSE."

He added: " When Michael sawme at the première he camerushing over to me and pinchedmy cheeks and seemed reallyhappy to see me again whichwas lovely."

Madsen's career has spanned 25years and he has starred in over170 films including 'ReservoirDogs', 'Kill Bill', and 'Sin City.'

After the showing of 'The NinthCloud' Airan, his family and thecast all went out for acelebratory meal to Gauchos inthe West End.

Airan finished off by saying: "They were all really nice to meand I loved every minute of it."

ALUMNI NEWS

FOOTIE PLAYER RETURNS

Norman Pitoula droppedby to say hello and see hisold teachers and peers in

November. Norman left Year 1lin the summer and now playsfor Southend United FootballClub and is doing really well.

ENGLISH/HISTORY

HORRIBLE HISTORY COMES TO LIFE

This is one chap you wouldn't have wanted to bump into in a dark alley almost 400years ago in London.

Innkeeper Harry Bailey was in school to speak toa group of Year 9 boys about what it was like tolive during the Black Death in medieval London.

He gave a fascinating and frank insight into theBlack Death and our students learned about thecauses, effects and aftermath of this terribledisease along with its social and economicimpact.

The lesson will help the students with theirunderstanding of both History and English.

The lesson was delivered by a representativefrom the Museum of London.

ST BONAVENTURE’S MAGAZINE : PAGE 11

SCHOOL NEWS

HEAD BOY CAUSESSTUBBLE IN SCHOOL

Year 11's Ashley Singh, who is our Head boy,has been named as the worthy winner of theSt Bonaventure's Moscar award.

The golden trophy was awarded to 16 year oldAshley as he fully embraced Movember, growing asubstantial beard, moustache and sideburns tohelp raise awareness for mens' cancers.

Ashley went on to explain: " I though it was reallyimportant to support this campaign, especially as ours is a boys' school. Lots of youngerstudents came up to me to ask why I had facial hair which gave me the opportunity toexplain what Movember was all about."

He added: "I've liked having stubble but it has been a bit itchy so it wont be a permanentfeature. I will be shaving it off."

Ashley was presented with a school mug as a prize for being a good sport as well as the trophy.

SCIENCE

RESEARCH SCIENTISTS

Our Year 10 triple Science classwill took part in a videoconference with research

scientists and looked into tropicalmedicine and its social effects. Onlyfive schools in the entire country wereselected to take part and Mrs Raconand Mr Adenekan were veryhonoured to have our school chosen.

The video conferencing reported thefindings and was very interesting.

JUSTICE AND PEACE

DISCUSSION DAY AT NEW HALL

Our new Justice & Peace group attended a training session in New Hall School inChelmsford last month. The day was spent discussing child poverty, overseas andin the UK.

Workshops were with CAFOD, John Battle (ex MP for Leeds and Chair of Church Action onPoverty) and Davina Bolt (CJSR Brentwood).

YEAR 7

WELCOME ABOARD

Gideon bibles were given out atthe Year 7 welcome mass toevery member of our new Year

7 students in September which was alovely was to start the new term andmake the new boys feel part of ourschool.

The mass happens every year at StAntony's Church as was attended byparents and carers too. Three monthson, many of the students can still befound carrying the bibles in their toppockets.

MFL

X FACTOR

This fierce looking foursome were the judges of the St Bon's X Factor talentcompetition where the Year 8 students had to entertain the audience and win overthe judges singing in German or Spanish.

They might have looked tough but they were lovely really and after sitting through sixthoroughly enjoyable acts, the B band winner was announced as Miss Hillan's group. Theysang a German football song and were clear, concise and enthusiastic according to MsQurrey who was one of the judges.

Miss Mascherin's Spanish class treated the audience to salsa dancing whilst some pupilsplayed the drums and maracas and sang a song in Spanish.

Another of the acts was Ms Prichard's German students who sang enthusiastically andincluded group singing as well as solos.

Winners of the A band linguists was Mr Wade's group who sang a German pop song andhad perfect diction and pronunciation according to Jess our Chaplain who was on thepanel

Miss Mascherin's students performed a catchy tune called 'Bonito' and there was a lot ofaudience participation too.

Ms Templeman's group sang a song in perfect German called 'Superhelden' all aboutSuperheroes whilst images of comic book characters, athletes and well knownpersonalities were projected to the audience.

This is the third year the competition has run and this year Ms Hoy took over responsibilityfor the event. It was a great success and all the judges said how difficult it was to choose awinner. The students had lots of fun whilst perfecting their accents and learning outsidethe classroom.

Did St Bon's language students have the X Factor?....most definitely si and ja!

PAGE 12 : ST BONAVENTURE’S MAGAZINE

St Bonaventure’sBoleyn Road, Forest Gate, London E7 9QD • Telephone: 020 8472 3844 • www.stbons.org

JACK PETCHEY NEWS

GEEK CLUB PIONEER WINS AWARD

Fourteen year old Jamie Halliwell who is in 9 Colman was November's Jack PetcheyAward winner. Jamie is a member of the school council and was responsible forsetting up an after school club with a difference last year.

Geek Club was devised after some studentsapproached him saying they wanted an after schoolclub that reflected their interests and yet wasbeneficial to their studies. The club brings togetherboys of different ages and abilities to improve theircommunication and debating skills and gives themopportunities to develop research skills andpresentation on subjects that involve the wholecurriculum.

Geek Club was all Jamie's idea and every week heresearches topics for discussion and takes the clubsinglehandedly. Geek Club is the only club where astudent leads the lesson and not the teacher.

Geek Club is a very friendly, vocal club and the debates can sometimes get quite heatedespecially when it involves video game and sci-fi discussions. There are about ten regularswho love to swap trivia each week.

Recently one topic of discussion was sound resonance and if could be used as a weapon ofmass destruction and to another lesson where the Geeks discussed the validity ofweaponry used by comic book heroes.

Jamie spent his award money on a trip for Geek Club members to The Harry Potter WarnerBros Studio Tour where Hogwarts was decorated in snow and looked very festive. On theway back, the boys had another debate on which house was best, Slytherin, Gryffindor,Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

PRIEST VISITS OLD PARISH

RE teacher, Mr Connolly welcomed his parish priest and Chair of the Council of Priestsfor Brentwood Diocese, Father Kevin Hale, to St Bon's last month.

The visit brought back meany memories for Father Kevin as he went to St Antony's Schooland lived locally as a child.

Father Francois Xavier who was visiting from Brittany in France came in too to see Year 7RE lessons and to speak about the priesthood.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

ADAM N KID

Two special guests came into schoolin October to deliver an RE lessonwith a twist. Adam n Kid, the world

renowned singers and performers,entertained students with their uniqueblend of Gospel lyrics set tocontemporary music. Their style wasfresh, innovative and really engagedtheir young audience.

They treated St Bon's boys to a medley ofpopular hits including "Happy" byPharrell Williams. The students were ontheir feet dancing and clapping and there was even a dance off between Mr Fouabi, MissHamid and Mr Halliwell.

Afterwards, there was a quiz centered on the New Testament with Adam n Kid's CD "I'mFree"given as a prize for correct answers.

The duo told their story that led them to where they are today and everyone agreed it wasa great lesson.

The pair told all the students to gather round for a massive selfie at the end of theafternoon and told staff they were impressed with our students’ enthusiasm.

MFL

SPITFIRE VERSUS MESSERSCHMITT ANDNOT A DOGFIGHT IN SIGHT

The Blah Blah Blah theatre company from Leeds performed their bilingual play "Spitfirevs Messerschmitt" to all Year 9 students who study German this term.

The play was focused on young British and Germanpeople’s perception of the past and the wars in the20th Century. Against the background of World WarTwo the play showed the healing of old wounds, theinteractions between generations and theimportance of the past for the future.

The characters kicked off a search for the past thatwas relevant for young people today and allaudience members were able to participate withsome lively interaction. The interactive sectionsenabled pupils to practice their German as well as

developing a range of skills including historical analysis and artistic creativity.

The Blah Blah Blah theatre company were very impressed with the participation of ourstudents and one of the actors commented: "The students were great and were reallyimaginative in their responses."

Miss Hillan added: "The drama really was a unique, innovative way to bring German to lifeand the students seemed to really take in what the actors were trying to portray. Theactors seemed to really connect with the audience and the dialogue between them wasincredible."