Issue 34 15 June 2015
Dear Parents / Carers,
Last Thursday I attended the Model UN debate at Stockport Town Hall, led by the Local Authority and Manchester University. Our Year 9
students were impeccably behaved, as always, and more importantly they really entered into the spirit of the debate and expressed
themselves clearly and eloquently. Congratulations, in particular, to our two award winners, Holly Holmes (Outstanding Delegate) and
Alisha Bentley-Baird (Winning Delegation – Albania). All of the 9 students involved had been preparing to debate the topic of ‘Human
Trafficking’ since January. They were each a member of a particular country’s delegation, along with students from other Stockport
schools, and they had to research the topic, and come to a consensus as to how their country should feel about and react to the very real
issue of human trafficking. To be able to hear some of their clear, mature and passionate debating was a real privilege, and the whole
experience has been a very valuable learning experience for all of the young people. The delegates from St James’ were Luke Hogg,
Eamonn Dolan, Kayla Man, Charlotte Hughes, Holly Holmes, Alisha Bentley-Baird, Sean Laffey, Patrick McDermott and Adam Geddes.
Photographs can be seen on the Headteacher’s Blog on the school website.
Year 10 students were given application forms for the role of prefect this morning, and the deadline for submission is Thursday 18th
June at 12pm. Once applications have been received the process of appointing our new prefects, and selecting next year’s Head Boy &
Head Girl will begin. Prefects play a vital part in the running of a school, assisting and supporting both staff and pupils, and it is a fantastic
way of nurturing leadership skills and teamwork. I therefore encourage our young people to consider putting themselves forward, and I
look forward to reading their applications. Good luck!
Last week we welcomed Year 5 children from Cheadle Catholic Juniors and Our Lady’s for their St James’ Taster Day. All of the children
entered fully into the spirit of the days, and their behaviour and participation were excellent. We look forward to welcoming pupils from
St Simon’s, St Peter’s and St Ambrose this week. Thank you to all the staff who have organised and led these taster days, as I know the
children have really enjoyed their first experience of High School
This Friday is our whole-school sponsored walk, and sponsor forms should now have been returned. Also, another reminder that the last
PTA meeting of the year is tonight, Monday 15thJune at 7.00pm in the staffroom. Could I again encourage you to support the PTA Ladies
Night on Friday 3rd July. The work of the PTA contributes so much to the school and its students, and your support at this event would be
very much appreciated.
Thank you for your continued support. As always, if you ever wish to contact me about any issue, please do not hesitate to email me at
[email protected].
Tim Beesley, Headteacher
LOWER SCHOOL PRESENTATION EVENING
Thursday 25th June 7pm
Pupils have received a letter inviting them to Lower School Presentation Evening Thursday 25th June at 7pm.
Invited pupils are to arrive in school by 6:30pm at the latest in full school uniform where they will be directed to a room. Parent, please go
to the sports hall.
Please note that there is a limit of 2 guests per pupil – please see the letter with information given to your child.
Reply slips need to be handed in to Mrs Sue Kilburn our receptionist as soon as possible.
Dr Guscott – Assistant Head Teaching & Learning
ADVANCE NOTICE
PRAYER
Lord, you tell us that faith is like a mustard seed,
Help us to remember that from humble beginnings,
great things can happen if we trust in You.
Help us to know that even if we cannot see something
happening,
we do not always know what is happening around and within
us.
Amen
Whole school sponsored walk
Friday 19th June
Lower School Presentation Evening
Thursday 25th June 7pm
Year 11 Prom
Friday 26th June
Year 11 celebration breakfast
Sports day
Intake Evening
Wednesday 1st July
Intake Day
Thursday 2nd July
You are Cordially invited to the
Expressive Arts Evening
at St James’ Catholic High School
On Tuesday 7th July
6.00pm-7.30pm
 Private view of the Year 11 GCSE Art Exhibition 2014
 Year 10 Music GCSE & BTEC pupils perform a selection of
coursework pieces
FULLY BOOKED READING CHALLENGE…WHAT ARE WE READING THIS WEEK?
There’s a real classic book theme this week….
Mr Bulfin, Pupil Support Teacher, was last seen carrying The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Don Quixote by Miguel de
Cervantes Saavedra…he may be some time, as both books have over 800 pages!
Mrs Evans, Teaching Assistant, has also picked herself a huge classic, and is currently tackling War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, packed
with over 1000 pages!
Meanwhile, Mrs Rarity, Director of Faculty for Creative Technology and Personal Development, is thoroughly enjoying Vile Bodies
by Evelyn Waugh, and has Kim by Rudyard Kipling lined up next.
The staff are about to launch their own informal book group, and if any students are interested in being involved in a pupil book group,
do make yourselves known to Mrs Smith in the Learning Resource Centre- let’s make it happen!
Mrs Smith – LRC Coordinator
MFL FACULTY YEAR 9 FRENCH
All Year 9 pupils who study French have been working hard to prepare a writing Controlled Assessment which will hopefully count
towards their GCSE grade (15% of their overall mark). Once the pupils have completed their preparations, they learn their work and
write it out in exam conditions with the aid of a 40 word planning sheet. Each class is at a different stage, each teacher will inform the
class when their assessment will be. We wish the students good luck in this piece of work. If you have any queries, please do not
hesitate to contact me.
Mrs Pickles [email protected]
YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE
Pupils must hand in signed Work Experience confirmation slips to reception as soon as possible.
Miss Brooks - Teacher in charge of Careers
ST JAMES’ PTA
The PTA are selling raffle tickets for two fantastic prize draws, the tickets are £5 per strip and will be on sale from
Tuesday 9th June on Reception (please specify which draw you are entering).
The draws will be made on Friday 3rd July at the Ladies Night and announced in the Newsletter the following week.
The prizes are:
One pair of Umbro size 10 Geometra 2 Pro Black/Blue
football boots signed by Manchester City and England
goalkeeper Joe Hart.
4 tickets to the Key 103 Summer Live concert at the Manchester Arena on Sunday 19th July. It features Rita Ora,
Little Mix, Lawson, Mark Ronson and many others… these are four tickets together in the ‘sold out’ Block 102,
near the stage. Please note children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an over 18. (All 4 tickets will
go to the winner).
SAINSBURY’S ACTIVE KIDS VOUCHERS
As we near the end of this year’s collection campaign for these, we are delighted to tell
you that we have reached our target.
PE will get the High Pressure Ball Pump, which they wanted to help preserve their
essential collection of all types of sports balls.
Food Technology have been able to afford a portable Double Boiling Plate, which
means that cookery demonstrations will now be able to be carried out much more
visibly for all pupils, so that they can get on with cooking straight after they are shown
what to do. Food have also been able to afford some extra slotted spoons, kitchen
scissors, and with any spare vouchers, they will have wire cooling trays.
Thank you so much for your great response this year, you have been magnificent!
See you again later in the year or the Morrison’s supermarket voucher campaign!
Mrs Smith – LRC Coordinator
SPONSORED WALK - FRIDAY 19TH JUNE
Please help us to ensure that the walk is successful by ensuring that you are aware of the
following:
All permission slips and sponsor forms need to be in by Friday 19th June - please help us to
raise as much money as possible for our charities.
Pupils will come to school as normal and register on the day. Forms will then gradually leave to
go on the walk.
Non-uniform, but sensible clothing - it could be a hot day, so sun cream might be advisable. In the event of bad weather, coat will be
needed, but bringing layers would be advisable.
Sensible footwear for walking - it can be muddy in places.
All pupils will need to bring a packed lunch and a drink on the day - a small rucksack would be suitable for this. Arrangements will be
made for pupils who would normally receive a packed lunch.
Sensible behaviour at all times on the walk - follow the instructions of marshals and teachers, cross roads safely and follow the
country code.
No litter - there can be spot fines of £75.
Pupil medication - if your child normally brings medication to school, then please ensure that they have it with them on the day. There
will be First Aiders on the walk, as marshals and at the checkpoints.
It is hoped that all students will have finished the walk by the end of the normal school day. It is not a race to see who gets home first.
Pupils will return to school in the afternoon and must be registered at the final checkpoint in school. Any pupils failing to check in at
the finish will be given a sanction in the following week.
Those who finish before the normal end of school will be allowed to leave from 2pm onwards. Pupils will need written permission to
leave school from 2pm onwards.
If Parents/carers are happy for their child to leave from 2pm onwards, they will need to make suitable arrangements to ensure that
their child arrives home safely.
If you are picking your child up from school, please do not park on the school site. If we do not receive written permission, then they
will be in school until 3pm. Buses will be here as normal.
HAE WEEK - YEARS 7, 8 PUPILS NOT GOING TO FRANCE AND YEAR 9 PUPILS
Please keep the contributions and permission slips for HAE Week coming in.
YEAR 10 GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP
The Year 10 Geography Pupils enjoyed fantastic weather for the two day trip to Grasmere and Langdale. They completed the primary data
necessary for their controlled assessment and will now have deadlines to meet for completion. Mrs Livesey and Mr Wilby will be informing
their respective classes of these dates over the next few weeks.
The staff on the trip would like to thank the pupils for their excellent behaviour on the trip. They were superb.
Mr Wilby, Mrs Mullen, Mrs Livesey and Mr Dawson
CHAPLAIN’S CORNER
Saint of the Week
St Anthony of Padua
St Anthony is well known as the patron saint of lost things. He is also,
amongst other things, patron saint of the elderly, pregnant women,
travellers, animals and fishermen – all fairly ordinary things! but St
Anthony’s life was far from ordinary…
St Anthony wanted to share the Gospel with the people of Morocco, a
dangerous mission. However, whilst there he got very ill, and had to
return to Portugal. God had other plans; the boat he was on was blown off
course, and he ended up in Sicily. There was a large gathering of
Franciscans on the island (St Anthony was a Franciscan), so he took to
working in a hospital kitchen.
One day there was a big meeting, which St Anthony was at. The person
due to give the sermon wasn’t there, and there was no backup plan! The
only person who would speak was St Anthony. With God given courage he
stood up and started to speak. He didn’t use complicated language and his
love for God and his own goodness shone through. From then on there
was no more working in the hospital kitchen for St Anthony! He spent the
rest of his life travelling Italy and France, preaching to great crowds –
some of whom had travelled for miles to hear him.
St Anthony talked about living every day in God’s presence – what does that
mean to you?
Sacrament of Confirmation
Young people in the parishes of St Ann’s, St Chad’s and Christ Church will be receiving the
Sacrament of Confirmation at a Mass led by Bishop Mark Davies on Tuesday 16 th June, 7pm at
Our Lady and the Apostles’ Church, Shaw Heath. Please hold them all in your prayers as they
make their final preparations for this special time. Names of those confirmed will be in next
week’s newsletter.
Flame 2
In March, 3 students (Rebecca Miller,
Megan Waldron Green and Matthew
Allen) had the opportunity to attend
the national Flame 2 Conference in
Wembley. This was supported by
our local Catenian branch. On 4th
June, the 3 students went to a
Catenian meeting to give a
presentation on the conference and
to thank them. As well as giving the
presentation they had carefully
prepared
(despite
technical
difficulties on the night!) the
students answered questions from
Catenin members – something they
were not prepared for! Nonetheless,
they answered the questions
brilliantly, and their enthusiasm and
professionalism was commented on
by those present.
Well done Rebecca, Matt and Megan
MODEL UNITED NATIONS
Thursday 11th June saw the culmination of this year’s Stockport Schools Linking Network’s Model United Nations, working with the
University of Manchester. Starting in February, nine Year 9 students have attended 3 day events and done plenty of work at home to
prepare for the final debate, which was held on Thursday in Council Chambers at Stockport Town Hall. The students were split up and
grouped with students from schools across Stockport to form delegations of 4 or 5 students for some of the countries represented at the
United Nations. The topic of this year’s debate was Human Trafficking. The students had to research how their country was affected by
human trafficking and come prepared with a wealth of knowledge to the final debate. From writing position papers beforehand,
preparing opening speeches, to comments/questions on the day, caucusing… The students were incredibly professional on the day,
having put in the hours with their country teams beforehand.
Though all nine students were excellent ambassadors for St James’ and their countries, two of our students won awards on the day.
Alisha Bentley-Baird was part of the team awarded ‘Best Overall Delegation’ representing Albania. Holly Holmes won one of 5 ‘Best
Delegate’ awards – well done ladies!
The students involved were
Eamonn Dolan
Luke Hogg
Sean Laffey
Adam Geddes
Alisha Bentley-Baird
Charlotte Hughes
Holly Holmes
Kayla Man
Patrick McDermott
It was a pleasure to watch all of the students debating in Council Chambers, and really did reinforce the idea that if the world was ruled by
young people it really could be a happier, fairer place!
READING AT ST SIMON’S PRIMARY
On Friday 12th June, three Year 9 students went to St Simon’s Catholic Primary school to read to
and with Year 1 pupils. Niamh McManus, Jess Harris and Jess Davies were fantastic
ambassadors of the school and really enjoyed themselves! They read stories to small groups of
pupils, encouraging them to join in and read sections themselves. They made great use of the
finger puppets our librarian Mrs Smith provided – and we had one rousing rendition of Old
MacDonald had a Farm – complete with puppets and relevant animal noises!
What did they have to say…
We made sure the pupils were involved by letting them read pages to us. We also got the to express
their feelings towards the book and to guess what was to happen next.
We really enjoyed interacting with the students and also the experience we had. We loved doing it
and hope we to be able to go again!
E-SAFETY CORNER
Question: Someone at school has put pictures of me I don't like on a website - how can I get them taken down?
Answer: If you find a picture of you on a website which you didn’t want to be shared publicly, then there are steps you can take
to get the image removed. Most websites have a way for you to ask them to remove ‘content’ – like videos, pictures, comments
or profiles – that upsets you. This is called making a ‘report’. It’s important to know that making a report doesn’t mean the
content will definitely be removed. Websites will only take content down if it breaks the website’s ‘terms of use’. Just like in
school, most websites have a set of rules which they expect people using their site to obey. If you want to have something taken
down from a site you should check to see if it breaks one of their rules. Unfortunately, some websites are not as reliable as
others and may not have clear reporting tools. In that case if it’s an ‘indecent’ image you can call ChildLine on 0800 1111. They
work with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to get indecent images of young people deleted from the internet. You could
also speak to somebody that you trust (e.g. a parent/carer, teacher) as a crime may have been committed. This might feel
embarrassing or difficult at first but they will be aware that this happens and be able to help you.
Mrs Rarity– Director of Creative Technology & Personal Development
GIRL’S PE EXTRA-CURRICULAR TIMETABLE
Week commencing Monday 15th June
Tuesday (after-school)
Wednesday (after school)
Thursday (after school)
Years 9 rounders tournament
away at Kingsway. Please bring £1 for the
bus. Return to school for approx. 5.15pm.
BOYS’ PE EXTRA CURRICULAR
TIMETABLE
Week commencing Monday 15th June
Tuesday
Years 7 - 10 League 2 athletics away at
Woodbank Park. Please bring £1 for the bus.
Return to school for approx. 6.15pm.
Years 9 and 10 Cricket at Hazel
Grove –r eturn 5.45pm
Wednesday
Years 8, 9 and 10 Athletics at
Woodbank - return 6pm
Year 7- 10 rounders match away at
Bramhall High. Please bring £1 for
the bus. Return to school for approx.
5.30pm.
Boys’ PE
Girls’ PE
PE FACULTY
Rounders
Well done to all the students who took part in the friendly rounders tournament at Marple on Tuesday 9th June. We took teams from
year 7, 8 and 9, as well as a mixed GCSE team. They all played extremely well winning majority of their games. Particular well done to the
Year 10 GCSE PE mixed team (girls and boys) who won their match against Werneth 17 1/2 - 9 1/2 - Rounders.
Year 7 Quad Kids
St James' entered a boys and girls team into the Quad Kids Athletics Tournament that was held at Woodbank Park on Thursday 11th
June. All performed extremely well with a final result of the girls' being placed 4th overall and the boys' being placed 3rd overall. The
students who entered all deserve a special mention for their commitment to training and performing to a high standard on the day. Girls'
Team: Leah Bennett, Hannah Travers, Lucy Bowden, Libby Morris and Holly Brodigan. Boys team: Sam Fitzpatrick, Sam Brown, Niall Dolan,
Kyi Nicholson and Alex Bermingham
PE Faculty
This year National Volunteers week was the 1- 7th June. National Volunteers week is important to me because since early October I
have been a weekly volunteer at Beechwood Cancer Care Charity Shop, in Heald Green. I like the fact that I feel good about what I
am doing, whilst helping others.
I enjoy volunteering because I work with an amazing team of women who all have different lives and stories which inspire me. I
can work hard and laugh with each and every one of them. On Friday the 5th June I was invited, along with the other volunteers, to
go to the main Beechwood centre for an appreciation afternoon tea, organised by all the managers and the patients of Beechwood.
On arrival I was met by one of my co-workers, Carol. She took me to the main lounge where all the other volunteers from Stockport
were gathered. The managers from the centre were there
and I started to understand that the rumours I heard were
true - the Heald Green shop does have the loudest
volunteers.
The head of Beechwood Cancer care was at the event, and
he spoke to all the volunteers, congratulating us on our
hard work, saying that without us Beechwood would not be
able to run properly. He also gave us the fantastic news that
we are now one of the 162 charities who have won the
Queen’s Award for volunteering! He then asked me to stand
up and commended me for being the youngest Beechwood
volunteer.
Linda and Janet then took us through to the buffet meal,
which was incredibly tasty. The amount of strawberries
meant that the event lived up to its name - the ‘Strawberries
and Cream Tea Party’. I wanted to know more about what
actually happens at Beechwood so I asked the fundraising manager, Jo, to take me around. I hadn’t understood just how homely the
centre is for all the patients; how they make it comfortable for the children to ask questions and the adults to relax. I am glad that
the results of my work go somewhere so amazing. We are currently celebrating 25 years of Beechwood with the Silver Wings
Appeal and are planning to build a new wing for Counselling and Family Therapy at the centre.
Penny Lodder, 9S
100% ATTENDANCE UP TO 22ND MAY 2015
YEAR 7
Bates, EllaBlue
Beesley, Joanne
Bowden, Lucy
Breckell, Charles
Brogan, Holly
Campbell, Jacob
Casey, Thomas
Clare, Callum
Clarkson, William
Cowgill, Max
Croke, Darragh
Dolan, Niall
Gillespie, Sean
Griffiths, Laura
Hall, Emily
YEAR 8
Manuel, Breno
Habib, Louise
O'Reilly, Ellie
Sailus, Delson
Sibbering, John
Steer, Jessica
Taylor, Alice
Yandoc, Ryand
7S
7M
7J
7E
7J
7C
7A
7M
7S
7M
7M
7A
7A
7S
7S
Hogan, Joshua
Igali, Holly
Knights, Luke
Le, Abigail
Liever, Keeley
Locke, Jacob
Lynch, Hannah
Maguire, Sarah
Matley, Lauren
McCreesh, Finn
McIntosh, Grace
Millar, Oscar
Nana, Ryan
Norris, Rhiannon
Tantoy, Mark
Travers, Hannah
YEAR 9
8M
8E
8J
8C
8E
8M
8M
8A
Bloor, Harry
Briscall-Bowker, Anastasia
Brooks, Daniel
Buttle, James
Cameron, Oscar
Carroll, Philippa
Hemsley, Bryce
Holland, James
Johnson, Alex
Kelly, Mitchell
Mangan Davison, Jordan
McGhee, Maisie
Morris, Lauren
Mottershead, Harriet
Nugent, Lydia
Reji, Athira
Shatwell, Nathan
Spilman, Joshua
Warwick, Edward
9M
9C
9M
9M
9J
9S
9S
9M
9A
9S
9A
9S
9E
9S
9E
9M
9M
9A
9J
7E
7A
7A
7M
7S
7J
7S
7M
7S
7J
7S
7A
7A
7E
7E
7A
YEAR 10
Breckell, James
Costagliola, Lucia
Dalton, Alex
Fahy-Grant, Jessica
Hall-Murphy, Amy
Healey, Sam
Jewsbury, Jayne
Kay, Joseph
Levell, Olivia
Maguire, Georgia
Mediavillo, John
Millington, Alex
O'Gara, Charlotte
Pullar, Anna
Reed, Isaac
Sweeney, Mary
Tweedale, Emma-Louise
Wheeldon, Olivia
10E
10S
10S
10A
10J
10M
10E
10C
10S
10C
10S
10A
10C
10S
10C
10E
10A
10M
EXPRESSIVE ARTS – WINNERS OF THE PLANNER COMPETITION
Year 8 Planner
Sadie Egan
Year 7 Planner
Rachel Tsang
Year 8 Planner
Gabrielle James
Year 10 Planner
Gabrielle Santos
Year 11 Planner
Freya Garvin