CALENDAR

The English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College, Catcote Road, Hartlepool, TS25 4HA Tel: 01429 273790 Fax: 01429 273998

e-mail: admin@ems.hartlepool.sch.uk www.ems.hartlepool.sch.uk

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Wednesday 25th March Stations of the Cross Monday 27th April

Thursday 26th March CP Maths Challenge (to 28th April (am)) AS Art Textiles Exam

Friday 27th March Sixth Form Reconciliation Tuesday 28th April Musical Soiree

EES Celebration Wednesday 29th April UCAS Conference

Ampleforth retreat AS MFL Speaking exams

Saturday 28th March (to 30th April) A2 Art Textiles Exam

(to 4th April) Ski Trip Thursday 30th April Junior Maths Challenge

Monday 30th March Y11 Drama Exam

(to 2nd April) Y9 Shine - York University Y8 Parents Evening

(to 10th April) Easter Holiday Friday 1st May Y11 Mass

w/c Monday 13th April Y10 Maths Exams A2 French Speaking Exam

RE Mock Exams Monday 4th May Bank Holiday

(to 15th april) BTEC Art Exam Tuesday 5th May A2 German Speaking

Wednesday 15th April Drama Show AS Graphics Exam

(to 16th April (am)) AS Ceramics Exam PE Trip Parents Evening

Thursday 16th April Primary Strings Workshop Wednesday 6th May A2 Graphics Exam

Friday 17th April Non Uniform Day (to 8th May) Y9 Retreat

A2 Music Performance Exam Thursday 7th May Y11 Drama Exam

(to 20th April) A2 Ceramics Exam Monday 11th May External Exams Begin

Monday 20th April EMA Meeting Thursday 21st May Y8 York University Shine

(to 21st April) AS Music Performance Exam Friday 22nd May Y13 Mass

(to 24th April) Y10 H&S Care Work Experience Monday 25th May

Wednesday 22nd April Palace Green History trip (to 29th May) Half Term

(to 23rd April) Gibbber Theatre Group Thursday 28th May GCSE German Revision

Thursday 23rd April Y7 York University Shine Friday 29th May History Revision

(to 24th) A2 Art and Design Exam w/c Monday 1st June Y10 Geography Field Trips

Friday 24th April Thursday 4th June Y7 Parents Evening

(to 25th) Y11 Geography Friday 5th June Languages for Lads

(to 26th) Dukeshouse Wood (to 13th June) PE Trip

Contact Details Please will parents / guardians notify the school office immediately if there are any changes to names, addresses, telephone numbers, mobile phone numbers or the named contact persons of students.

It is very important that contact information is kept up to date.

School Uniform / PE Kit All school uniform and PE kit is available from: Altered Images, Hartlepool Enterprise Centre,

Brougham Terrace. The store is open from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm

Monday to Friday and 10.00 am to 2.00 pm on Saturday.

Tel: 01429 265413. If you have any items of school uniform or PE kit that your child no longer needs (which are still in good condition) we would be grateful if you would send them to school. We will then keep a supply of uniform and PE kit in school

which can be loaned to students in an emergency. Thank you

School will finish for the Easter holiday on Friday 27th March at 3.10 pm and will reopen at 8.50 am

on Monday 13th April.

The English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College

Parents Bulletin No 5 March 2015

Easter Message I wonder how many of us have kept up our Lenten promises this year? I know Ive fallen down a couple of times. Whats kept me going though, is reminding myself that after Lent, its Easter! Easter is actually a time to feast, to celebrate and to enjoy life in its fullest! Whilst Lent lasts 40 days, Easter actually lasts 50 days! When I first realised this, I wondered why it is that after 40 days of change, we would go back to our old ways and continue to eat, drink and live lavish chocolate filled lives. Surely during Lent God specifically invites us to change and be transformed. I think, that the change we are called to then, must come from within, so that when we are sitting eating Eater eggs and Lindt (other brands are available) bunnies we havent back tracked at all, in fact we are celebrating a new life in ourselves. As I said, at Easter we celebrate the new life and resurrection of Jesus Christ, whilst also celebrating the new life that Christ has called us to. A life free from the lies we hear in the world around us, lies that make us think Theyre much better than me, Why cant my life me more like theirs and I wish I had more of . . .. During Lent (and always) God tries to remind us that we are the best version of ourselves, we have many gifts and assets, and he loves us, and will never leave us, simply because he is our father and we are his child. By trying to let go of the distractions we face, maybe we will be able to hear this message more clearly this Lent and Easter. Naomi

John Bell Lecture We recently hosted the Thirty-fifth Annual John Bell Lecture. The lecture this year was delivered by local businessman and former student Daniel Robinson. He delivered a fascinating and inspirational lecture about his career in the UK and USA air force and his more recent work with the company founded by his father, Gus Robinson.

Disneyland Paris During the February half term we enjoyed a very successful ICT trip to Disneyland Paris. 35 Y11 and Sixth Form students took part in the four day trip as part of their ICT/iMedia/Computer Science courses. We took part in several seminars and workshops run by Disneyland staff, including Animation and ICT and Roller-coasters. Staff were very proud to watch students pitch their ideas for new roller-coasters before heading into the theme park to try out some rides. We also enjoyed a sightseeing trip into Paris seeing all the famous sites and taking a nerve racking trip to the top of

the Eiffel Tower. Students were a credit to EMS throughout and we are hoping to run a return visit with a new group of students next year.

Durham University Biology On Wednesday the 4th March 12 students who study AS Biology were invited to attend a hands on practical day at Durham University. They had a tour of the laboratories and were able to gain valuable practical experience in bacterial culture and antibiotic resistance. They put into practice the knowledge from their lessons and produced some very interesting results. There were certainly some budding Microbiologists in the group.

Would parents please avoid dropping their children off in any of the staff car parks at any time during the school day. It is in the best interests of all students safety if the number of vehicles entering the site is kept to a minimum.

Medicines / Tablets Please remember that students must not carry any tablets / medicines in school. If students need to bring tablets to school they should hand them in to Mr Craddy for safekeeping. Thank you

FREE SCHOOL MEALS Children whose parents are in receipt of one of the following are entitled to receive free school meals (FSM):

Income Support (IS) Income Based Job Seekers Allowance (IBJSA) An income related employment and support allowance Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 Child Tax credit (provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit) and have an annual income which from 6th April 2013

does not exceed 16190 as assessed by HMRC If you are in any doubt whether your son / daughter is eligible for Free School Meals (and the associated Pupil Premium payment) contact Hartlepool Civic Centre on 266522. You will need to supply your National Insurance number before they carry out a simple test via their Eligibility Checking Service. Remember * School can provide packed lunches or a hot meal as part of the Free School Meals service * In the 2014 / 2015 financial year schools will receive 935 per secondary pupil who has ever been eligible for free school meals. This could help your child in a wide range of ways.

Online e-payments for school meals and other school purchases You may be aware the school is introducing online payment to help reduce administration and cash handling in school and also to allow pupils to reduce the amount of cash they carry to school. For school meals, each pupil has an account. If they are to purchase from the cafeteria you will be required to top up this account with money. There are now three ways to pay money into this account: ipayimpact web site www.ipayimpact.co.uk Cheques made payable to Hartlepool Borough Council. Please put pupil name and year group on reverse of cheque. Cash payments using the revaluation unit(s) located in the school In order to use the ipayimpact web site you will need to email the school requesting your login details.

Student Safety Please ensure that you remind your children that they must only cross Catcote Road via the pedestrian crossings. We have had a number of reports of students running across the road in front of cars. This is very dangerous and could lead to an accident.

The English Martyrs Association

The next EMA meeting will be held on Monday 20th April 2015.

All parents / friends of the school are most welcome to attend. All support is greatly appreciated.

BOOK AMNESTY Ahead of the launch of our new library system we are appealing to all students to please return any books that belong to the Library (No Questions Asked). The new Library system, Eclipse.net, will give our students access to the whole Library catalogue, even when school is closed and will be located on our school website. Through this new library system, students will be able to reserve books, see what is new to stock, write book reviews and see what the top 10 fiction is for Boys and Girls. The Library is also about to launch e Books. This too will be located on the school website, where at home you will be able to download your choice of e book onto an android device or read on the computers in the Library .This is only available to Year 8 at the moment. There are lots of new magazines for students to read, which we now get on a monthly basis, e.g. Rugby World, Four Four Two, Style , Wildlife ,Practical Photography. So far these have proved very popular.

English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College are hosting a Micro Beer and Wine Festival on Friday 29th May, 7-11.30pm. After last years success this will be the second time the school has hosted such an event. The event takes place to raise money to take a group of students to the Scottish Isles of Mull and Iona for a week of outdoor activities and spiritual reflection. Tickets are 7 and include a festival glass, programme and entertainment. Check out the school website for more details.

Year 12 UCAS Convention Each year as part of the ongoing support package we offer, we take Year 12 students to a UCAS Convention; this is an essential part of the decision making process they will be facing in Year 13. On the morning on Wednesday 29 April we will be attending the Tees Valley event will take place at Teesside University. Please note that this is a compulsory part of your son/daughters education and attendance will be monitored. There is no cost involved in this trip. The convention brings together a significant number of Higher Education providers from across the country, students will be able to speak to specialist admissions staff and pick up a variety of resources from prospectuses to information on individual courses. For further details please contact Bev Scaife at the college.

Year 12 University Admissions Tests Some universities use and admissions test as part of their application process. Most common are those for medial and law courses. Your son/daughter should know if they are required to sit an admissions test. For further information as college we are holding information sessions for students on the UKCAT, BMAT and LNAT test. Your son/daughter can attend either one of the sessions during period 5 lunch on Tuesday 14 April or Monday 20 April.

Year 12 University Open Days Bookings are now open for university open days in the summer term. Students should be visiting the universities that they are considering applying to in order to make an informed decision. We appreciate that logistically and financially this is not always possible but we would encourage students to attend at least one open day of their choosing.

Year 13 University Student Finance Please be aware that Student Finance England is now open for applications for students starting university in September 2015. Applications are made online at www.gov.uk/student-finance. Here you will find a wealth of information regarding what your son/daughter may be entitled to and full details of the application process. If students apply on the basis of parental income then the amount you are entitled to will be dependent on the income for the tax year 2013 to 2014. Students do not need to have confirmed their first choice university place to apply.

Year 13 UCAS Replying to University Offers Most students have until 6 May 2015 to decide which is their first (firm) and second (insurance) choice universities. The firm choice university should have higher entry requirements than the insurance choice. Students have been advised to speak to a member of the sixth form team before replying to their offers.

Going the extra mile for charity A member of our staff is running this

years London Marathon to raise money for CLIC Sargent which is the House

charity of Blessed John Ingram. In 2011, Steve Hopes young cousin Becky Bell was diagnosed with cancer. Aged only 7 the

cancer was too strong for her and she lost her fight in January 2012. That same year he decided to take up running and aimed to complete the Great North Run in her memory. CLIC Sargent is a charity dedicated to supporting children with cancer. They looked after Becky and her family right through her treatment, helping them to understand what was happening and what to

expect. After a couple more runs and raising a lot of money for CLIC he has decided to jump up to the next level and

take on a Marathon. His target is to raise over 2,000 for this race. CLIC Sargent is an outstanding service that needs funding to help other children like Becky so if you can, please donate to

this unbelievable cause. Thank You.

www.justgiving.com/steviehope or you can

text SHCS91 and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 to 70070

(e.g. SHCS91 5)

Congratulations to the students who competed in the recent District Youth Speaks Competition. Both teams did really well and were a great credit to English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College. The Intermediate team won their section and also won the District Competition.

On Thursday 5th March we held our annual House Public Speaking competition. We had a record number of entries and the standard was very high. Congratulations the KS3 and KS 4 winners Grace Allen and Jessica Dixon.

Congratulations to our students who performed brilliantly against other Catholic schools in the Catenian public speaking competition recently.

Enterprise Day Wednesday 25th February On Wednesday 25th February a selection of Year 9 students took part in an Enterprise Day in school. The day was hosted by The National Enterprise Challenge who also hosted last years event. Students were put into groups of 6 and were given an enterprising task whereby they had to come up with an idea for a new theme park ride at Alton Towers; they worked on this for the duration of the day. The students elected a Project Manager for their team and made decisions based on how their product was marketed, produced and designed. The teams then competed against each other in a Dragons Den style competition, where they pitched their idea to the rest of their peers. The winning team comprised of Maheed Hussain, Sommer Goldsborough, Sarah McCarthy, Kaytlin Hennels-Barber, Amy Wright and Saffron McGarry. These students will now be entered into the National Challenge which is taking place at Alton Towers in July. We look forward to competing with the other teams from across the country.

Photography Success We have recently had success in two Photography competitions. Some of our Year 12 students took part in a competition called Northallerton 10 run by world renowned photographer Joe Cornish and his gallery in Northallerton. The students visited the town for a day to take their photographs in November. They worked on the images during lessons and submitted one to the competition. Two of the girls, Kim Foreman and Jenny Wilson won a prize and Joe Cornish himself will now run a printing workshop in his gallery where he will use their photographs. This is a fantastic opportunity for our students. Several of our students also sold pictures while they were on display in the gallery. More recently, some of our Year 10, 11, 12 and 13 students entered the Hartlepool Rotary Club young photographer competition. We have had success in this competition in previous years and this year is no exception. Adam Gofton, Year 12 won the 50 prize for the second year running and Zarron Barnes, Year 11 won the 25 runner up. All of the students who took part in the competition received certificates. Well done to all of our Photography students!

Key Stage 3 Catholic Partnership Photography Competition. Each year the Catholic Partnership asks all of the partnership schools to enter a Photography competition. It has 12 categories and all pupils from Years 7-9 can enter. We have always prided ourselves on our ability to produce amazing images and this year is no exception. The competition will be judged in March and we will discover if the pupils have won at the exhibition that will take place at the National Glass Centre on the 21st April. We wish all of our entries this year the best of luck.

Key Stage 3 PLTS 3D Homework These are some of the amazing examples of 3D homework that we received from our very talented Key Stage 3 pupils. It is very clear that they have worked extremely hard on these and they should be very proud of their achievements. Our wonderful pupils never fail to astound us with their creativity and enthusiasm for the arts.

Its not every day you return to your classroom and find a life size model shark waiting for you. This, however, was a very pleasant surprise and a one which is testament to the hard work and application of Year 8 student James Gibson. The homework task was based upon sea life and allowed the students the opportunity to explore different forms of sea life whilst broadening their knowledge and understanding of art materials and how they can be manipulated to produce very creative outcomes, in this case a shark. These homeworks act as mini-projects which students can work on over a half term. James has not only learned a lot about sea life but has experimented and explored a wide variety of materials and processes in his work. He can now feed these skills back into his class work and hopefully improve his art skill further. As a department we have been really impressed with a whole host of sea life creatures that have been produced and would encourage all students to strive for the best and most creative results they can think of. So if you are an Art student with an on-going homework, could you be the next person featured for producing something uniquely amazing? To stick with the sea life theme, the world is your oyster, so be creative, persevere with your ideas and we very much look forward to seeing whats in store for future homeworks.

World Book Day We had a really successful day at the Catholic Partnership Festival of Reading on Thursday 5th March. The Year 7 students had a fantastic day out and were superb ambassadors for our school. All students really got into the spirit of the day wearing fantastic and authentic costumes. We are pleased to announce that EMS won the yearly presentation competition. The students read Katherine Rundells Rooftoppers and then prepared a wonderful dramatic telling of the story. The prize hamper of books and resources will be very well thumbed by our book worms. Congratulations to all involved.

Year 9 Technology On Thursday the 5th February the Technology Department ran an activities day for all students in Year 9. All students had the opportunity to attend workshop sessions in ready steady cook, creative head piece challenge and egg drop challenge. The sessions were designed to give students a taste of what Technology can offer at GCSE level in Year 10.

Revision Sessions

Easter Holiday Revision Monday 30th March AS / A2Music Composition 9.00 am 3.00 pm Y11 Drama 10.00 am 3.00 pm GCSE Geography 10.00 am 2.00 pm Sixth Form Art 9.00 am 2.00 pm ICT 10.00 am2.30 pm Science ISA Catch Up 9.00 am 1.00 pm (invited students only)

Tuesday 31st March BTEC Art 9.00 am 2.00 pm GCSE PE 9.30 am 2.30 pm GCSE MFL 10.00 am 12.00 noon A Level Psychology 10.00 am 4.00 pm ICT 10.00 am2.30 pm

Thursday 2nd April Science 9.30 am3.00 pm (class 11uB1 only)

Tuesday 7th April Sixth Form Performing Arts 10.00 am 3.00 pm

Wednesday 8th April Business Studies 9.30 am 2.30 pm

Thursday 9th April ICT / iMedia 9.30 am 2.00 pm

Friday 10th April ICT / iMedia 9.30 am 2.00 pm

Half Term Revision Wednesday 27th May GCSE Maths 9.00 am 12.00 noon

Thursday 28th May GCSE German 10.00 am 12.00 noon

Friday 29th May History 9.30 am 2.00 pm

Weekend Revision Friday 24th April to

Saturday 25th April Year 11 Geography Revision Weekend

Saturday 9th May GCSE RE 9.30 am 2.00 pm GCSE French 9.30 am 11.30 am

Sunday 10th May GCSE Biology / Chemistry 10.00 am 2.00 pm

Saturday 16th May A Level Maths 9.00 am 12.00 noon (Core 2 and Decision 2)

Sunday 17th May GCSE Physics 10.00 am 2.00 pm English 12.00 noon 2.00 pm

(GCSE English Literature, Unit 1 - Of Mice and Men and An Inspector Calls Y10, Pathway 2 students and Y11, Pathway 1 students)

Saturday 6th June A Level Maths 9.00 am 12.00 noon (Core 3) A level History

Saturday 13th June A Level Maths 9.00 am 12.00 noon (Core 4) Note: Students will be issued with a Revision timetable detailing in school revision sessions. There are also various after school revision sessions running within Departments.

Year 12 Fieldwork Visit, 2015 On Friday 13th March, 33 Year 12 students and 5 Geography Team Members embarked on a field study visit to Danby in the North Yorkshire Moors. We left school late in the after-noon after completing an hours tuition about the theory concerning the research that we were about to undertake. That evening we stayed in Whitby Youth Hostel in the grounds of the majestic Abby on the cliff top, which added an element of excitement to the visit especially as it was Friday the 13th! The students were very enthusiastic and completed another study session after dinner in preparation for the following day. On Saturday students developed the use and application of a variety of geographical skills. The aim was to broaden and deepen existing knowledge of skills, which should be employed with a greater degree of independence. We collected data to prove if certain river characteristics do indeed change from source to mouth. The students will need to employ such knowledge when completing the Unit 2 exam in the summer. The Geography team would like to say a huge thank you to the students for such a fabulous trip and for working so hard even on the very chilly hill tops! Well done and good luck for the summer!

Beth Shalom The History Department were pleased to take 45 Year 9 students on the Beth Shalom trip they annually run to the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Newark, Nottingham in March. The students were exceptional, and were able to hear a lady called Ruth Schweining tell her story of the kindertransport she was put on which saved her life in 1939. They were also able to spend time in the memorial Gardens and the museum learning about and remembering the 6 million and more people who were murdered due to the racism and discrimination that became policy in Nazi Germany.

Lent Hunger Lunches

Student Opportunities This term has been jam packed with events, trips and preparation for

more exciting and inspiring trips and pilgrimages for our students. Some upcoming events that your children may be interested in are:

Year 9 Retreat At the Youth Village, students will have a fantastic experience spending two nights at the wonderful Youth Village working alongside YMT. This cost of this is 50 and forms need to be returned to Naomi as soon as possible! YMT Summer Festival (God Camp) This is another amazing opportunity, open to Years 9-13; two nights of camping at the Youth Village with hundreds of students from across our Diocesan Schools. The cost is 50 and forms for this need to be returned by Thursday 19th March, late applicants will be considered and/or added to a waiting list. Sixth Form Festival Similar to God Camp but only for one day, Sixth Form students from the diocese are invited to come together after exams are over to relax and enjoy being spiritually fed. Forms for these need to be returned by Friday 27th March.

Students are the shining lights at Flame2 On 7th March the Youth Ministry Team (YMT) took more than 600 young people and adult leaders, including Bishop Samus, from the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle on a train (The Flame Train) to the Flame 2 National Youth Congress in SSE Arena, Wembley. Our diocese is the single biggest group booking out of 8,000 who attended the congress, and EMS was one of the largest school groups on the train! Keynote speaker at the congress was is His Eminence, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, Philippines. Also speaking on main stage were Frs Dan Fitzpatrick and Marc Lyden-Smith, aka The PodFrs, Chris and Mary from the CAFOD/YMT Gap Year Programme and Fr Dermott Donnelly, Director of Youth Services in our diocese and chair of CYMFed. As well as listening to the inspiring words of the speakers, some of our students also took it upon themselves to raise money for CAFODs Lent Campaign, raising a total of 126 in a matter of minutes! The students absolutely loved the day, despite departing from school at 4.00AM! They were a credit to the school.

It was simply amazing! Well, we thought it would be good but was actually class! Matt Redman is so so good!

Ive actually downloaded Matt Redmans album, hes fantastic! I love his music and the lyrics are just fantastic!

Our thanks must also go to Hartlepool Youth Ministry, who made huge financial contributions to-wards the cost of the pilgrimage.

Netball A fabulous result for both the year 7 and under 14 Netball teams as they were both crowned champions at the Catholic Partnership Netball tournament that was held at Blue Flames in Newcastle. The 'rising star' award also went to under 14 player Libby Skidmore. The award was presented to her by former England netball player and cur-rent Superleague coach of Team Northumbria, Lisa Stanley-Craig. Well done to all!

National Trampoline Finals Lewis Rodgers competed at National Trampoline Finals in Birmingham on 14th March 2015. It was a fantastic achievement reaching the last stage of the competition and Lewis performed superbly gaining 5th position in the country in the U14 Intermediate Boys category. Congratulations Lewis.

The English Martyrs School hosted the Catholic Partnership Cross Country, using the excellent facilities of Summerhill for the course. Schools arrived with teams of students excited and keen to compete in the Cross Country. EMS had 2 students in 1st place-Ellie Waddup and Sam Travers with many more outstanding individual performances including Nic Bennions and Nathan Cross. Year 8 boys were crowned joint winners with Carmel and Year 9 boys were the out right winners of their age category. The team results were:

Year 7 girls - 2nd Year 7 boys - 4th Year 8 girls - 2nd Year 9 girls - 2nd

The Marriage of Figaro- March 5th 2015. On March 5th a range of students studying both GCSE and A-Level music visited the opera at The Theatre Royal in Newcastle. The Marriage of Figaro was a highly amusing opera with an extremely twisted plot line. Susanna and Figaro are waiting to be married to each other however there seems to be a long line of obstacles in their way, including a rather wicked Count! Eventually, after many mishaps, they get married along with Figaros long lost parents and it is a very happy ending. The trip was extremely interesting, especially for those of us who are studying music, as we were able to see a live orchestra perform as well as extremely talented vocalists with extravagant costumes and set. During the performance, my friends and I were picking out the musical features and terms we had studied in class which was very interesting. Overall the opera trip had everyone laughing and we were all thoroughly entertained, thanks to an amazing performance from Opera North!

Anti-social Behaviour Awareness Day In March our Year 8 students took part in an Anti-social Behaviour Awareness Day (ASBAD), organised by Hartlepool's Community Safety Team at the Borough Hall. The event is designed to help young people deal with the many challenges, choices and decisions they face by teaching them the importance of thinking before acting and in taking responsibility for the outcome.