Easter Bulletin

March 2017

HEADMASTER’S MESSAGE

Although this has been a short term, it certainly doesn’t feel that way. As you read through the Bulletin, you will get

a sense of how much has been packed in; it is really quite staggering when you step back and look at the number of

trips, events, productions, sports fixtures and House competitions. Of course, on top of all that are the lessons,

homework and exam preparation.

I really am hugely grateful and appreciative of all that our staff, from all parts of our school team, do to provide such

a rich educational experience for our students, but also for the care and compassion that I witness on a daily basis.

Of course, they do this because our students respond in such a positive way – in lessons, on days out and taking part

in the wider curriculum.

The highlight of the term for me though was the House Music Competition. Over 190 students participating and

nearly 500 parents, friends and staff supporting a celebration of music from all genres, ages and styles, with a huge

amount of talent on display. It was, quite simply, an exceptional evening and a wonderful example of what our

school is all about – nurturing and celebrating talent and achievement together as a community.

As we move towards Holy Week and our thoughts turn to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, perhaps we can all take a

moment to give thanks for all that we have and all that we are able to do together as a school community. There

are so many who are not in such a privileged position.

With my very best wishes for a happy, peaceful and Holy Easter.

Sean Maher Headmaster

KEY DATES

Friday 30th March – Thursday 6th April Ski Trip

Friday 31st March Spring Term ends (Pupils dismissed 12.35)

Friday 31st March – Tuesday 4th April Geography Trip – Iceland

Tuesday 18th April School Open for students

Thursday 20th April – 22nd April West Side Story Drama production

Friday 28th April Sixth Form Quiz

Friday 28th April – Sunday 30th April Stratford Trip

Saturday 29th April PTA Wine Tasting (TBC)

Monday 1st May Bank Holiday

Tuesday 2nd May Year 7/9 Exam Week

Wednesday 3rd May – Friday 5th May SFX Residential trip

Tuesday 9th May Year 9 Options Evening

Wednesday 10th May Sixth Form Awards Dinner

Friday 12th May Richard Challoner Sports Awards Evening

Monday 15th May Start of GCSE and GCE exams

Tuesday 16th May Year 13 Leavers’ Photograph

Tuesday 16th May SFX Social Evening

Monday 29th May – Friday 2nd June Half Term Week

Continued………

Easter Bulletin

March 2017

KEY DATES (continued)

Monday 5th June – 6th June Inset Days

Friday 9th June Rough Sleep

Saturday 10th June PTA Comedy Night

Thursday 15th June – Friday 23rd June Year 7 Camp

Monday 19th June Year 8/10 Exam Week

Friday 23rd June Arts Awards Dinner

Monday 26th June Year 8 Retreat Day

Tuesday 27th June Inset Day

Wednesday 28th June – Saturday 1st July Barcelona Trip

Saturday 1st July Alumni and Friends Dinner

Monday 3rd July Year 7 Transition BAFTA Evening

Wednesday 5th July Year 6 Induction Day

Thursday 6th July Summer Music Concert

Sunday 9th July Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Expedition

Sunday 9th July Summer Fun Day

Monday 10th July True Adventure trip to Peru

Tuesday 11th July Summer Art Exhibition

Thursday 13th July SFX Social Evening

Sunday 16th July Silver Duke of Edinburgh Expedition

Sunday 16th July School Sports Day at Kingsmeadow

Wednesday 19th July Summer Term ends (Pupils dismissed at 12.35)

The LRC

The LRC will be open to Years 10, 11, 12 & 13 for quiet study from 9.30am–2.30pm over the Easter break on

the following days:

Monday - 3rd April Wednesday - 5th April Thursday - 6th April Monday - 10th April Wednesday - 12th April Thursday - 13th April

However, please note that during the first week of the Easter break essential IT maintenance will be taking

place around school and there will be no access to IT facilities (PCs, printing, etc). Students are more than

welcome to use the LRC as a quiet place to study or for revision and normal service will be resumed during the

second week.

Students do not need to wear uniform, but should remember that there is no eating or drinking allowed in the

LRC at any time. All students using the LRC during the Easter break will need to sign in and out of the LRC.

Easter Bulletin

March 2017

ST FRANCIS XAVIER CENTRE

Trip to RHS Wisley

As a supplement to the horticulture programme we run at the St Francis Xavier Centre, we recently visited RHS Wisley.

With arguably the best weather of the year yet on our side, we transported our green fingers down the A3 to the gardens.

For the first part of the day the pupils took part in a ‘Horticulture Workshop’, where they learnt further information about

sowing seeds, pricking out and preparing soil. After a short lunch break, we then had the afternoon to explore the

stunning grounds.

SEND Physical Education Project at St Mary’s University

Each year the PGCE PE students at St Mary’s University run a SEND Project, where they invite pupils from local schools to

experience some ‘Social PE’. It was a great opportunity for our St Francis Xavier pupils to interact with other pupils from

different schools. The project was spread over a four week period and each week the pupils worked with different PGCE

students, encountering many problem solving activities.

Easter Bulletin

March 2017

BTEC Work skills: Enterprise

As part of their BTEC Work skills course, students completed an Enterprise project whereby they needed to work as a team to plan some ideas, design a questionnaire, complete primary research, collate the results and pitch their final ideas in the style of Dragons’ Den for a start-up loan.

The results

Level 2: Declan Cole and Charlie Howes (Year 12) decided to set up the Challoner Chronicle Newsletter - a 20 page, A5 coloured print, full of articles, games, recipes and much more. Each newsletter cost 44p to produce, so at 50p each, they only made 6p per copy sold. Therefore, to generate a profit, they spoke to shop owners in the local community to pitch their newsletter idea for them to promote their businesses in it! The students did a fantastic job working on their first issue and are already working on what content to include in the next issue.

Level 1: The St Francis Xavier students: (Ewan Smith, Celia Cox and Rosie Town) decided to run a weekly tuck shop, raising money for their residential trip to Blackland’s Farm in May. Once they had their start up loan, they travelled to Costco to buy their stock. They priced each item and, in DT, even designed their own professional name badges. The students have sold their stock to students in the Learning Support department on Friday break times, as well as the Mezzanine area. Ewan’s Mum’s homemade baked treats went down very well with students and staff and they were making a profit by week 3!

Well done to all the Enterprise students!

Miss Morley

Easter Bulletin

March 2017

CHALLONER POLITICS NEWS

We’ve had a busy political term here at Challoner.

In early February, Year 12 visited the Houses of Parliament and had the opportunity for a full tour of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and Westminster Hall. As neither House was sitting on the day, we were fortunate enough to be able to actually go into both chambers, under strict instructions not sit on the benches, a privilege afforded to only MP’s and Peers apparently. We were also lucky enough to meet, by chance, the veteran Labour MP, Dennis Skinner, ‘affectionately’ nicknamed ‘the Beast of Bolsover’, still going strong at 85.

Afterwards, we had a tour of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, which is located right across Parliament Square. The court was established in 2009 by the then Labour government when the Law Lords were removed from the House of Lords and the Supreme Court became the highest court in the land.

In the wake of the Metropolitan Police balloting members on whether or not they should carry weapons, we also felt it appropriate to host a debate on the matter, here at school. With over 100 students in attendance and lots of well researched and convincing arguments put forward from both sides, the proposal was overwhelmingly rejected.

Our local MP, James Berry paid a visit this term and fielded questions from students on matters as diverse as grammar schools to the rights of EU citizens in the UK after Brexit. He was honest in his responses and promised to raise these concerns with the Prime Minister, Theresa May herself.

Next term should prove just as eventful, with the exams imminent. We will also be hosting the former Head of the Cabinet Office at No 10, Sir Gus O’Donnell, and former London Mayoral Election candidate, Siobhan Benita.

As Brexit rumbles on and Donald Trump continues his controversial tenure at the White House, our politically inspired students will have plenty to consider over the coming months.

Mr B. O’Neill Subject Leader of Government & Politics

Easter Bulletin

March 2017

DRAMA TOUR OF BUDAPEST This took place during the February half term and was the most successful yet! Mr Zoladkiewicz’s play ‘WILL: SHAKESPEARE AND JULIET’ played to a full house at the Kolibri Theatre, as did Mr Norton’s production of Arthur Miller’s ‘A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE’ at the International Buda Stage.

MR ZOLADKIEWICZ TO MAKE FINAL BOW AT THE ROSE THEATRE: Mr Zoladkiewicz is retiring this summer and will be directing Shakespeare’s ‘THE TEMPEST’ as his final official production. This will be our annual production at the ROSE THEATRE, KINGSTON and will be on WEDNESDAY JUNE 28 at 19.00. The play is thought to be Shakespeare’s final production before he retired! Many thanks. Drama

Easter Bulletin

March 2017

MATHS

In the latest Maths Challenge, these students are into the next round. This is a very big achievement for all these

students.

KEY:

Pink Kangaroo Qualifiers David Walsh

Charlie Davies

Youssef Gerges

Howard Burgess

Jorge Beltrao

Grey Kangaroo Qualifiers Alex Paton

David Walsh 91 Gold Ewan Harris 61 Silver

Youssef Gerges 88 Gold Malachy Walker 61 Silver

Charlie Davies 87 Gold Flynn Kendall 61 Silver

Howard Burgess 82 Gold Danny Guglielmi 60 Bronze

Jorge Beltrao 82 Gold Daniel Sanches 59 Bronze

Luke Garner 79 Gold Roshan Roy 58 Bronze

Tommy Rodger 79 Gold Joshua Parfitt 57 Bronze

James Relf 79 Gold Samuel Whitehorn 57 Bronze

Kieran Desmond 78 Gold Lewis Burford 56 Bronze

Pavel Viegas 78 Gold Louis Costello 56 Bronze

Stefan Nullens 77 Silver Arun Saini 56 Bronze

Maciek Giza 77 Silver Harry Bagnall 56 Bronze

Robin Barrington 76 Silver Joseph Inight 56 Bronze

Matthew Worth 75 Silver Luca Robertson 56 Bronze

Bradley Allen 74 Silver Conor Higgins 55 Bronze

Maximus Rainbow 73 Silver Daniel Williams 55 Bronze

Adrian Soosaipillai 73 Silver Luka Lozo 55 Bronze

Kevin Raveendran 73 Silver James Walder 55 Bronze

Wilhem Aquino 72 Silver Nathan Campanale 54 Bronze

Joseph Adlam-Cook 72 Silver Oliver Chen 52 Bronze

Paton Alex 72 Silver Henry Bedson 51 Bronze

Arshan Anton 69 Silver Ronan Scott 51 Bronze

Romain Laroze 69 Silver George Smith 51 Bronze

Charles Masters 68 Silver Carson Liam 51 Bronze

Alvin Varanat 68 Silver Oscar Hodgson 51 Bronze

Henrique Sampaio 66 Silver Rory Cunningham 50 Bronze

Leon Joyce 66 Silver Joy Jesuthasan 50 Bronze

Daniel Mennis 66 Silver Anish Jacob 50 Bronze

Aaron Amarathasan 66 Silver Simon Raymond 50 Bronze

Josh Lee 66 Silver Om Fernando 50 Bronze

Liam Fox 66 Silver Alistair De Marco 49 Bronze

Alistair Stockley 64 Silver Leo Rogers 49 Bronze

Laurence Wise 64 Silver Alexander Hayes 49 Bronze

Owen Heptinstall 63 Silver Perrin Amalaraj 49 Bronze

Daniel Mooney 61 Silver Ryan Abraham 47 Bronze

Ben Paton 61 Silver Luca Giacopazzi 47 Bronze

Year 11

Year 10

Year 9

Easter Bulletin

March 2017

HOUSE SCORES

The annual House Music Competition took place recently, to a record attendance. The event was up to its

usual high standard – with some fantastic performances in each and every category.

A massive thank you and congratulations must go to Mr Bridges and Mr Cannon, the Heads of Houses and all

the other staff and students who took part. It really was a wonderful success!

The overall music results were as follows:

FINAL TOTALS

Position House

1st B

2nd A

3rd F 4th D

5th C

6th M

With those results, the overall House Scores are as follows:

House Points Position

Augustine 832 1

Becket 756 2

Dunstan 730 3

Fisher 634 4

More 602 5

Columba 577 6

Easter Bulletin

March 2017

ART & DESIGN

Another exciting and busy term for the Art & Design department ended with the very successful KS3

exhibition. The exhibition displayed the fantastic work completed by students from years 7, 8 and 9 from

both Richard Challoner and Holy Cross. It was a great example of the schools working together to promote

the Arts. The department was also involved in helping prepare the set for the recent Shakespeare inspired

school production, which was a brilliant success. On top of this, we have completed trips to Tate Modern

and the National Gallery and the year 11 pupils have also worked extremely hard to complete their 10

hour externally set assignment. The work produced by them and much more will be on display in our end

of year exhibition. Onwards to the summer term, when KS5 Artists and Photographers will complete their

exams and we will prepare for our Summer Exhibition.

PRAYER WEEK

We had a very successful prayer week. In their RE lessons, all students made prayer cards reflecting on

the theme of “conversion” – and then took part in a prayer service in the Chapel. Their prayer cards were

used to construct an archway of prayers which you walk through to get into the Chapel. The students and

staff have fed back in how they found it a lovely break from the routine of school and felt the experience

helped them reflect and learn about their own character and relationship with God.

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP

Teams of students and staff have begun working and planning towards a partnership with Sacred Heart

School in Banket, Zimbabwe. The partnership, which is being arranged through the Jesuit Missions, will

focus on helping the students in both communities learn about the respective cultures and histories;

helping students understand their place and responsibilities in the global community and enabling

teachers to share good practice and pedagogy.

LENTEN SERVICE

The Junior Choir joined with choirs from three other local schools to lead a Lenten Prayer Service at St Matthias Church. The service was well attended, with standing room only, and provided a lovely spiritual introduction to Lent. The Service also raised £250 for WARMI HUASI, a charity run by Fr Ed O’Connell in Lima, Peru.

Easter Bulletin

March 2017

SPORTS RESULTS – SPRING 2017

Football (55 games)

Year Group Played Won Drew Lost For Against

7 13 8 2 3 50 10

8 13 6 2 5 62 41

9 10 6 0 4 35 12

10 9 4 0 5 30 23

11 3 2 0 1 7 4

Sixth Form 7 2 1 4 25 17

Years 7 & 11 reached the County Cup Quarter Finals, with Year 10 losing in the round of 16. Year 9 and the Sixth Form unfortunately lost at the semi-final stage. The Sixth Form finished top of their County League and are still competing in the London Catholic Cup as defending champions. All our football teams are still participating in the District Cup, with Years 7 and 8 having already reached their respective final.

In the District League, Richard Challoner has played 13 games against Kingston Schools, with 12 wins and one draw.

Basketball:

Year 7 finished top of the County League and we will be hosting the finals on Tuesday 25th April; we face

Greenshaw in the semi-final and, if successful, Tiffin or St Andrew’s in the final.

Year 8 finished 3rd in the Surrey (West) League

Year 9 finished runners up in the Surrey League

Year 10 finished 4th in the Surrey (West) League

Sixth Form finished 4th in the Surrey (West) League

Rugby:

Year 7 won the District Sevens Championships

Year 7 won the Kent Catholic Schools’ Invitational Sevens Championships

Year 7 won the Winston Churchill Invitational Sevens Championships

Year 7 were runners up at the 10 a side Browne Trophy at Tiffin School

Year 8 finished in 4th and 5th places in the District Sevens Championships

Year 9 District Sevens was postponed due to the weather and will now take place on Monday 24th April. They were Plate Semi Finalists at the Winston Churchill Invitational Sevens.

Year 10 were runners up at the District Sevens Championships

Sixth Form finished 4h in the Surrey/South West London Emerging Schools’ League

Easter Bulletin

March 2017

Athletics:

Year 7 won the District Sports Hall Athletics Championships and represented Kingston in the South London Championships.

Sporting House Events

Year Group Event Winner

8 Basketball Dunstan

7 - 10 Swimming Gala Dunstan

10 Basketball Dunstan & Fisher

BADMINTON

The Badminton Club went on a trip to watch the All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham.

Possibly inspired by the trip, they also took part in our first interschool Badminton Competition. This was a

doubles tournament in conjunction with Glyn School, and Joe Gomez & Alex Georgiou; Joyal Jaimon Thomas

& Tom Kocherry took 1st and 2nd place in the tournament respectively.

Easter Bulletin

March 2017

FOOD AND NUTRITION

The House Masterchef Competition was a fantastic success. Students had to submit a creative and original

recipe at the beginning of the term; the Food Department and Head of House then decided upon one student

per House, per Key Stage. Each House then competed against each other in a cook off competition which took

place on Wednesday 18th January. Well done to More House for winning overall! Dishes included a Cheese

Soufflé with a Red Pepper Chutney, Homemade Mushroom Ravioli and a Lemon Meringue Pie. The judges had

a lot of fun tasting all the dishes!

The GCSE Hospitality and Catering students created a Canapé Reception for the Drama performance ‘Will’.

They prepared and cooked a variety of gastronomic treats, including Scotch Quail Eggs, Curried Paneer Arancini

and Banoffee Choux Buns with Honeycomb Crumb.

The Smoothie Bar has been a great success on Thursday mornings and it will continue next term. Thank you to

Matvey Pierrot and Xavier Britz for all your help with the running of the Smoothie Bar!

The Food department has been busy making staff lunches to support a student entering a Tough Mudder

Competition. All money raised has gone towards a charity for children with cancer.

For the new GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition, the students have undertaken a range of successful science

experiments, including – how and why egg white foam when mixed with a range of ingredients.

The Food department staff have participated in their first Thermomix training within the department. This

advanced piece of technology is used in many Michelin star restaurants across the world. This advanced

machine has enabled A’ level students and GCSE students to complete cooking tasks in a quarter of the time,

resulting in some exceptionally highly skilled dishes.

We have had some innovative Key Stage 3 practical assessments, including Quiche Lorraine, Oreo Layered

Cheesecake and Calzone.

In May, the BTEC Home Cooking Skills students will undertake their practical assessments. This showcases the

skills they have learnt throughout the course and we wish all students the best of luck with their assessment.

ROUGH SLEEP

After the phenomenal success of previous events, Year 8 will once again be taking part in a “Rough Sleep” event to raise money for those people that are less fortunate than ourselves and for whom sleeping rough is a harsh reality.

For those of you that are new to the school, the students will spend time preparing and sleeping ‘rough’ on the playground in Form Groups, creating small communities and competing in a House competition to win the prize of best shelter. Students will be using their PSE lessons to design their shelters and learn more about the harsh reality of homelessness and the people it affects.

This year’s event will take place on Friday 9th June and will run from approximately 7.00pm on the Friday until about 7.00am on the Saturday morning. All proceeds from the event will be going to the ‘Joel Community Trust’, who provide support and shelter to homeless people in and around the Kingston area.

Easter Bulletin

March 2017

The Music and Performing Arts Departments are thrilled to be bringing West Side Story to Richard Challoner

this April.

A 20th Century take on Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story tells of the struggles of life and love in the 1950’s.

With two rival gangs, the Sharks and Jets, and two lovers caught between them, we see how Tony and Maria's

story unfolds and how the tension between the gangs has devastating consequences on them.

This is by far the most ambitious project the Music and Performing Arts departments have undertaken and

it is definitely one not to be missed!

West Side Story will run from Thursday 20th April – Saturday 22nd April, with evening performances starting

at 7:30pm (doors at 7:00pm) and the Saturday matinee at 2:30pm (doors at 2:00pm).

We hope you can come and support what is sure to be a fantastic production!

HAIRCUTS

A reminder that students planning to have a more ‘extreme’ haircut during the Easter break must make sure

that their hair will be acceptable and conform to school rules by the time they return to school on Tuesday

18th April.

YEAR 9 - INFORMATION

The Government has recently made it a legal requirement that all Local Authorities must write to all parents

and carers in Year 9 to inform them of schools which admit pupils at the beginning of Year 10. Please access

the following link for further information:

http://www.richardchalloner.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Atypical-age-letter-to-Year-9-pupils-Kingston.pdf