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SFA Newsletter March 2013
Citation preview
ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI
Catholic Technology College
Easter Newsletter 2013
FR. MICHAEL
LEADS THE YEAR
OF FAITH SPECIAL
UPDATES � REVIEWS � YEAR OF FAITH SPECIAL
Find out what’s been going on at
the school in the last term
Made by
students
WE’VE BEEN IN
COMPETITIONS
GALORE!
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
2 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
EASTER JOY
Dear Parents,
We are updating and re-designing our website and the new version will be ready
in the summer term. The new layout will be simpler to access and will provide a
more attractive platform for the achievements of our young people. We hope you
will find it more attractive and user –friendly.
Thank you for your continued support for our school. We are very pleased that
so many of you have signed up and are using Parentpay. We hope that more will
sign up as this is a very convenient way of paying for revision books, examination
fees and school trips. Following requests, we are currently investigating a cash-
less system for our school catering service and would welcome your comments.
Look out for more information about this on our website.
We have had a baby boom among our staff. So far this year, Mr Brown (Design
Technology), Mr Harris (P.E.) and Mrs Derrer (Media Studies) have all had baby
boys. We offer our congratulations to all of them.
On our last day of term, our Y9, 10 and 11 students will be supporting our Arch-
bishop’s “Walk a Mile in someone else’s shoes” event to raise money for the Fa-
ther Hudson’s Society. As always, every year group has been working hard to put
their faith into action throughout Lent and no doubt will raise a very generous
sum for our good causes.
Please keep our school in your prayers.
Yours sincerely,
P. Mullins.
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
3 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
EASTER JOY
Our editor,
Bethany
Wright,
can’t believe
how quickly the term has
gone.
A very Happy Easter from all
your friends at St. Francis
Welcome to the end of an-
other term at St Francis!
Although it has been a small
one, it has been packed full
of exciting adventures and
activities that our students
have taken on wholeheart-
edly. The Year of Faith re-
mains one of the most im-
portant events on our mind
and our students have cer-
tainly had their contribu-
tion. We have the trip to
Lourdes and Catholic World
Youth Day, at which some of
our sixth formers are at-
tending. Easter is, of
4 - Fr. Michael begins our
Year of Faith special.
7 - ‘Free to Disagree’
takes on football.
9 - Our savvy Yr. 11s get
down to business.
12 - Don’t miss the love
quiz: Freunde oder noch
mehr?
14-15 - We bring the
latest from two of the
exciting competitions we
have been involved in.
16 - Mr. Connell is justi-
fiably smug about our
sporting success.
20 - We catch up with a
former pupil.
22 - We have author vis-
its and reviews galore in
our culture section.
What we’ve
got in store
this issue:
course, one of the most im-
portant events in the Catho-
lic calendar and so we wish
all of you a happy and holy
holiday!
Yours Faithfully
Bethany Wright (year 13)
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
4 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
Chaplain’s notes: the new (well named) Pope
Fr. Michael tells us about
our new Pope.
We have a new Holy Fa-
ther as successor on the
throne of St. Peter to
Pope Benedict XVI. Al-
ready, in less than a week,
there have appeared to be
huge changes taking place.
His Eminence, Jorge Mario
Cardinal Bergoglio, the
Archbishop of Buenos
Aires, was chosen from
114 other candidates. His
chosen papal name:
Francis.
Although he was born of
Italian parents, he is very
much a man from South
America. This is the first
time in the modern era
that a pope has been cho-
sen from outside Europe.
He is also a Jesuit, a mem-
ber of the Society of Je-
sus, (SJ) another first.
Perhaps most surprising of
all is his chosen name,
since it signals the style
and direction of his papa-
cy, that is to say, simplici-
ty of life and active con-
cern for the poor. As
Archbishop of Buenos Aires
he lived a simple and aus-
tere life in a small flat near
the cathedral, cooking his
own meals. He always used
public transport and when
visiting Rome flew economy
class. In his diocese (as
there are in many parts of
South America) he gave
time and support to some of
the poorest people, taking
their needs and concerns to
his heart. Since his elec-
tion he has refused to wear
some of the papal vest-
ments and chose mingle
among ordinary people at
St. Mary Major.
For us at St. Francis of As-
sisi CTC we have a man at
the head of the Church to
whom we can look for the
gospel values and inspiration
which will lead us in the
years ahead. Pope Francis’
papacy may be short given
his age (76), but short pa-
pacies have a habit of mak-
ing a big impact. Pope John
XXIII (5 years) called the
Second Vatican Council and
Pope John Paul I (a single
month) abolished the papal
coronation and went for a
simple inauguration.
Let us pray for our new
pope, that he may have the
courage to face the chal-
lenges of his calling and be
both wise and loving in
his ministry.
FR. MICHAEL’S GRAPEVINE
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
5 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
Your voice on the Year of Faith
Hannah
Wright gives
her take on the
Year of Faith.
As we go through the Year
of Faith we begin many
events to try and encourage
as many people as possible
to have a deeper emotion of
the Catholic faith. For ex-
ample a year 13 student
called Bethany Wright is go-
ing to Brazil on the 18th of
July to teach children Eng-
lish and get the opportunity
to be one of many people
who will see the new Pope.
YEAR OF FAITH
Mrs Mulcrow shares our
AS philosophy students’
message for Pope Francis.
On behalf of Year 12 AS
Philosophy students at
St Francis of Assisi
Catholic Technology Col-
lege Aldridge, West Mid-
lands, England, we wish
to express our happiness
and joy to His Holiness,
Pope Francis I.
We pray that you are
never without the Lord’s
presence, as you lead the
Church and it’s people
towards humility and love
for God.
May you be strengthened
by the knowledge that
your people are faithful
in the times of light and
darkness.
May we be instruments
of peace, beacons of
light in the Year of Faith
and strive to bring about
justice for all of God’s
children who are made in
His ‘image and likeness’.
Viva il Papa!
This is one event taking
place for one of the stu-
dents of St Francis of
Assisi who will be putting
her faith in to action. The
Catholic society hopes
that everyone can get in-
volved with putting their
faith into action and tak-
ing the best route to
their Christian religion
and making our life full of
FAITH!! As a school we
need to put our faith into
action... so if you have any
ideas then why not sug-
gest it to your teacher
and show you care about
being Catholic.
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
6 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
Today’s world is so differ-
ent from how it used to be,
And many people cannot
seem to see,
That everyone has a cross
to bear,
There are many people
that really care,
Those that fight for our
country day after day,
Those that never receive
recognition or pay,
Those that have a life with
no equality,
But actually in the world
there is a reality,
A reality where countries
struggle with disaster
and pain,
But who would take a
chance to start life again?
Surely everyone deserves a
fair life?
To grow, achieve, believe
and strive,
For there is nothing like
having a faith to love,
And all the angels and
saints protecting us from
above.
By Alice Duckworth
YEAR OF FAITH
On Wednesday 13th March
the Walsall Poet Laureate,
Ian Henery, gave a poetry
workshop to some RE stu-
dents in year 11, discussing
his poem ‘Backward Chris-
tian Soldiers’. As part of a
literacy exercise during our
RE lessons, we analysed Ian
Henery’s thought provoking
poem and came up with our
own questions for him to
elaborate on. This poem has
fitted in with much of the
work that we have been do-
ing on war and poverty, so
we were grateful to Mr Hen-
ery for coming in to explain
Siobhan Clinton, Harriet
Benwell and Lorna Bar-
rett tell us about meeting
the Walsall Poet Laureate.
Yr. 11 and the Poetry of Faith
his thoughts on these is-
sues. We found it interest-
ing to compare our take on
his poem and the real in-
tention behind each line. In
the year of faith we are
appreciative that he has
visited us twice to talk
about his works, beliefs
and life experiences which
he has incorporated into
what he has written.
A gift from our Lord
His blood he poured
For our sins to be cleared
And for Him not to
be feared
Respect is what we had
For good to remove bad
And Jesus to be respected
As our lives he affected
We should now know
Good deeds should we show
Foes, Family and friends
So that our world can be
cleansed
Jesus would have hoped
That his people would
have coped
With looking after
each other
Parents, Sister or Brother
We are all one family
Why can’t we just
live happily?
Be inspired by the words
of the Lord
And let the love
be restored.
By Lorna Barrett
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
7 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
World class telescope falls into Year 9 hands
Jessica
Murphy
shares her ex-
periences
The Faulkes Telescope pro-
ject has been set up in the
north of Hawaii and in the
South of Australia, which is
an education partner of Las
Cumbres observatory Global
T e l e s c o p e N e t w o r k
(LOCOGTN). This project
will allow students from year
9 who are interested in sci-
ence to have ‘Hands on sci-
ence’ in the real world not
just inside a classroom. The
Faulkes Telescope project
wants to give people free
access to a robotic tele-
scope and access to a sup-
port programme which will
encourage teachers and stu-
dents to engage in research-
based science education all
about what is out there in
the universe!
The Faulkes Telescope pro-
ject provides access for
1,500 hours: this time is
dedicated to education and
public outreach, which is
mainly in the UK, but it, can
be for smaller selected pro-
jects in Europe and the US.
Also, the Faulkes telescope
project will also be for ob-
serving the telescope which
is a 2 meter long class tele-
scope. This telescope isn’t
like any other telescope
where you look into the lens,
there’s a very special com-
puter which will show you
the area where you typed
the co-ordinates, so you will
learn how to use it this
means that you would be in
charge of very important
and expensive equipment
which costs thousands of
pounds.
The school has joined this
project, so we will be able
to book observation time on
the two telescopes. You will
be able to give the tele-
scope instructions to move
to a set of co-ordinates, to
use a certain filter and how
long to expose the image.
The images will be enhanced
and you will be able to keep
some of the images if you
want to or you could put
some of them on display to
show other people what you
have found.
This is an amazing experi-
ence for year 9 students
who have a real passion for
science and who would like
to take their learning to the
next level and to discover
something new and wonder-
ful. If you are real interest-
ed in this project then
please go to Mrs Tremayne
who will answer any ques-
tions and she will be in the
dyslexic centre.
ROVING RESEARCHER
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
8 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
Bethany
Wright shares
the low-down
on the Ethics
conference.
Football is bad because you
can have injuries from play-
ing, you can’t understand the
rules e.g. off side. You can
pull your hamstring or break
your leg. It causes a lot
more injuries than any other
sport. Men can get angry be-
cause they are too competi-
tive. You could injure your-
self and ruin your career.
This is just my opinion!
At half five in the morn-
ing, we all thought it would
be a good idea to get up
and make our way to Ox-
ford for an Ethics confer-
ence on a coach before
sunrise. As we rolled into
Oxford though, our moods
were lifted at the
prospect of seeing
Peter Vardy!
We were all very im-
pressed by the confer-
ence and certainly gained
a lot of information for
the exam! Ciaran O’Connor
even got to shake
Vardy's hand…
We would definably rec-
ommend this trip for fu-
ture years and stress the
early morning is worth it!
Dominic
Rounds is
not a fan.
Football - love it or hate it? Oxford, Vardy
and Ethics!
FREE TO DISAGREE
Joseph
Ciappi is all
for it!
I think football is alright
because it makes a lot of
people happy. You can have
a relaxed kickabout with
your mates - that’s the
best way to do it. Alt-
hough it looks like there
are a lot of rules, actually
that makes it easier to play
and more fun for everyone.
I have been playing basket-
ball for 10 years and it re-
ally fun. You have to be
energetic, so it keeps you
fit and healthy. Unlike
football, it’s not all about
the money. There is a lot
of vanity in football, which
is terrible, and it’s really
boring for the goalkeeper.
Ronan May
has better
things to do.
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
9 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
SCHOOL NEWS
On Saturday 9th March, my-
self Liam Broad, Melissa
Shergold, Bradley Mcdonald,
Rory Fitzgerald of Young En-
terprise group went to Wul-
frun Centre in Wolverhamp-
ton to sell a variety of prod-
ucts like handmade gift box-
es with chocolates, jewellery
and key rings that we made
during a number of our Foun-
dation lessons at school. Oth-
er members of this group,
Aaron Walton, Romelo Fray,
William Jones, Connor Allen
and Henry Coller will continue
to sell items at break time in
school, every Friday until
further notice.
Our business experience
Our yr. 11 Young Enter-
prise group show their busi-
ness skills.
_______________________
Nice doing
business with
savvy year 11s
first started in school by
selling cakes and drinks at
school which also helped
influence and build our
confidence and business
skills for selling in
the future.
We then worked in small
groups and came up with
ideas and designs of
products we would like to
make and sell, so we could
get the ball rolling and
get our actual business
started. First of all, we
wrote down our ideas and
drew our designs on a big
piece of sugar paper. We
used this information to
persuade Mrs Mullins to
give us a loan - which ob-
viously we would pay back
whenever we could. We
were successful in doing
this because we explained
to Mrs Mullins that we
would donate 20% to chari-
t y , B r e a s t C a n c e r
(Think Pink).
And then this Saturday,
Rory and I arranged to do a
morning selling our prod-
ucts at the Wulfrun Cen-
tre; we got there nice and
early and began to set up
our stall. We sold a few
boxes and some stock. We
were in a very popular part
of the Wulfrun Centre and
had a great opportunity to
sell to the general public.
Lots of people came to our
s t a l l t o l o o k a t
our products.
DON’T MISS OUT
Get along to the Bridge
Hall on Friday break
times to get your hands
on some great products.
Our pupils with the Mayor, showing
off their quality products.
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
10 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
SCHOOL NEWS
We would recommend the
U K S a f e r I n t e r n e t
C e n t r e w e b s i t e
(www.saferinternet.org) as a
great resource for parents
who would like advice on how
to help their children be
safer online. The Parents
and Carers section has ex-
cellent advice on how to set
up filtering for the Inter-
net and how to use Social
Networking sites (e.g. Face-
book and Twitter) wisely.
If you would like more in-
formation on Internet
Safety in school please
c o n t a c t M r s J o n e s
Miss Spooner tells us
about Internet safety
day.
____________________
Safer Internet Day 2013
took place on Feb 5th and
marked the 10th anniver-
sary of this national promo-
tion. The theme this year
was Online Rights and Re-
sponsibilities. All year
groups at St Francis under-
took activities following this
theme.
Ryan Conway and Emma
Kelly, from 8N, were inter-
viewed about their involve-
ment in the events. Ryan
and Emma felt that they
learnt a lot throughout the
week, taking away some im-
portant messages. They
learnt that you should never
give away personal details or
images online, don’t add any-
one that you don’t know in
real life and always get con-
sent before posting images
and information about oth-
ers. The week was rounded
off with the form creating
an online charter.
Stay Smart:
Stay Safe!
E-safety was a great thing
to learn about because it
can help you work on how to
stay safe on the internet. It
taught me how to use priva-
cy settings on Facebook. I
also learned not to post any-
thing I don't want anyone
else to see because then it
can be hard to delete the
photo/video/comment. I
have learnt that social net-
working sites can have loads
of people posting racist
comments/ threats to other
people (Cyber bullying).
These social networking
sites e.g. Facebook can have
a negative effect on your
future job, depending on
what the employers see on
your account. Now that I
have learnt this, I will ei-
ther stay away from these
sites or I will be more care-
ful with them from now on.
Ryan Conway
tells us about
the day from his
point of view.
____________________
Student voice
on E-Safety
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
11 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
Our pupils impress at Mock Trial Compe@@on
Sophie Preis-
ler tells us
what it was
like at the
Mock Trial Competition.
The Mock Trial competition
has been running since
1994. It takes place once a
year and is organised by
the Citizenship Foundation.
It is designed to widen the
young people’s knowledge
of the law and legal system
and to build on teamwork
skills, analytical skills and
their public voices.
On the 9th March, 14 stu-
dents from Years 8 and 9
went to Birmingham Magis-
trates Court to present a
court case against other
schools in their heat. The
court case wasn’t a real
case, but based upon crimi-
nal offences that are
heard in Magistrate Courts
around the country. Each
school had the same case
and students had to learn
the case off by heart,
along with their views, be-
fore the date of the com-
petition.
This year the case was
about a fight that had oc-
curred in a pub at Christ-
mas. The defendant was
accused of helping his
friends attack the victim.
SCHOOL NEWS
Each student had a dif-
ferent role to play.
Four witnesses had to
learn their statements
off by heart and answer
their opposition lawyers
correctly. They also had
to be prepared for any
questions the opposing
team had for them and
keep calm and not get
flustered.
Four lawyers had to ask
questions that would
bring out points to sup-
port their side of the
case and provide a good
argument with evidence
to back themselves up.
Each team had an Usher
who had to bring witnesses
to and from the witness
stand, get the Court to rise
when the Magistrates en-
tered the courtroom and
get the witnesses to repeat
the Creed in court.
Each side, prosecution and
defence, had to compete
against the opposing side
from another school.
Overall, our school didn’t
win, but each pupil tried
their best and performed
to a very high standard.
The St Francis team were
good competition to play
against and each pupil had a
lot of fun. Even though it
is nice to win, ultimately it’s
the taking part that mat-
ters. Well done to all par-
ticipants, you have made St
Francis and Mr Griggs
proud!
As one pupil who participat-
ed said, “I’ve learnt a lot
and now feel that I can
speak more confidently in
front of people and I now
know a lot more about the
law and its system.”
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
12 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
4) Du gehst zusammen ins
Kino. Während des Films
denkst du:
a) W a s i s t f ü r
Abendsessen?
b) Was würde ich tun,
wenn er plötzlich die
Hand ergriff?
c) Wir sollen das öfter
machen.
5) Er bittet dich, seine
Mutter zu treffen. Wie
antwortest du?
a) Ja! Ich möchte de-
ine Familie treffen!
b) Nein! Sie könnten
d e n f a l s c h e n
Eindruck haben.
c) Vielleicht, aber ich
w e r d e e t w a s
gestresst werden.
Punkte:
1) a=2, b=1, c=3
2) a=1, b=2, c=3
3) a=3, b=2, c=1
4) a=1, b=3, c=2
5) a=3, b=1, c=2
5-8 Punkte: Es ist nur
Freundschaft! Wer braucht
Liebe, wenn man eine
Freundschaft wie dieses hat?
9-12 Punkte: Vielleicht Liebe, vi-
elleicht Freundschaft. Man muss
auf die Antwort warten!
13-15 Punkte: Es ist doch Liebe!
Alle Signale zeigen, das das mehr
als Freundschaft ist!
Lauren and Marie help
you out with working it
out.
Freunde oder
noch mehr?
1) Du wirst ein Freund in
Restaurant treffen. Was
wirst du tragen?
a) Ein Jeans & ein T-
Shirt und nur ein
bißchen Schmuck.
b) Deine bequemste Hose,
ein alte Pulli und kein
Schmuck.
c) Dein Lieblingsrobe und
schöne Schuhe und viel
Schmuck.
2) Er anruft um 1 Uhr am
Morgen. Würdest du…
a) sofort wieder einschla-
fen
b) ‘Was ist los?’ fragen,
und wenn es wichtig
ist, wirst du mit ihm
reden.
c) die ganze Nacht reden
3) Er ist seit eine Woche im
Urlaub:
a) Ich schreibe und rufe
jeden Tag an.
b) Ich rufe vielleicht ein-
mal.
c) Ich warte einfach, bis
er zurück kommt.
THE LOVE QUIZ
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
13 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
Medlink was an amazing ex-
perience I would genuinely
recommend to anyone con-
sidering studying medicine
at university. Even if you’re
not 100% sure that medicine
is for you, it gives you a fla-
vour of what it’s all about.
Medlink is an event hosted
for possible medical stu-
dents which consists of a
series of lectures and prac-
tical activities, designed to
help you understand medi-
cine in all its different
forms and tips on how to ap-
ply successfully. It was an
intense programme, which
lasted a few days, and was
full of lectures which in-
spired the audience or
(failing that) were full of
information that was im-
mensely useful. Many of the
lectures were on different
Hannah
Benkerk had an
amazing time at
Medlink.
Our medics get an insider view with Medlink
SCHOOL NEWS
aspects of medicine such as
general practise, surgery,
paediatrics, geriatrics and
many more. But there were
also lectures on different
universities you may not have
considered such as universi-
ties abroad such as in Roma-
nia. This may not appeal to
everyone, but after the lec-
ture you realised just how
wide the options were for
studying medicine. There
were also lectures on suc-
cessful applications to medi-
cine that I found invaluable
as it demonstrated how to go
about preparing for the ap-
plication process and the
steps you needed to take,
making it seem like a more
achievable goal, not just a
vague shadow of a dream in-
side your head.
The practical activities were
also good as we got a free
stethoscope (!) which we
were then taught how to use
properly along with how to
conduct simple eye and ear
tests. We also got to meet
real patients and diagnose
them, giving a real feel for
how a doctor must feel in
that situation. Another
practical we took part in was
a simulation that replicated
an A&E situation and we had
to diagnose and treat our
‘patients.’ This showed me
how easily things can slip in-
to chaos and the sort of lev-
el-headedness you would
have to possess in order to
be able to cope in an A&E
situation as a professional
doctor.
The people who went on the
trip were from across the
country and were genuinely
lovely people and you would
be amazed as to how many
things you would have in
common. This was reassur-
ing. Also it made it easy to
talk to anyone and become
comfortable with complete
strangers, which I found an
amazing thing about the pro-
gramme. So I would recom-
mend it; it’s a valuable expe-
rience that I’m sure anyone
thinking of medicine would
enjoy.
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
14 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
SCHOOL NEWS
On 15th February I was lucky
enough to be part of the
STEM club, who went to JCB
for a fun packed day. Even
though we didn’t win any-
thing on this trip, it was
definitely a worthwhile ex-
perience and has allowed us
to think about what we need
to do for our next challenge.
Ever since Christmas the
STEM group (with the help
of Mr Barratt) have worked
to create a remote control
4x4 vehicle, following strict
specifications as set out by
the team organisers. We
were extremely pushed for
time as the competition date
was brought forward.
Each team that entered was
given a basic remote control
car. After that the teams
had to change the bodywork
and electronics to fit cer-
tain specifications. In the
time we had we made a
camper van style vehicle.
With cool disco lights, spe-
cial designs and a bit of gaf-
fer tape we were ready to
go. Before we went we knew
that some teams would have
been making their cars for
ages so we decided the best
way to win something would
be to make our vehicle stand
out from the crowd and we
certainly had the coolest ve-
hicle there.
Our car was made for looks,
not handling or speed. This
meant it could talk the talk,
but the question was: could
it walk the walk? Well, it
was actually quite sleek on
the track; the only tricky
bits were the slopes.
4x4 challenge for our turbo-powered team
Many teams competed in
this challenge and we
were lucky just to be
part of it. We not only
had to drive our car, but
we had to talk and pre-
sent it to the judges
(technical specialists
from Land Rover), dis-
cussing different engi-
neering issues and how
we had overcome any dif-
ficulties. Our group was
quite original in makeup,
as it included Year 7, 8
and 9 pupils. We are now
evaluating our day and
looking at lessons
learned.
This great day is some-
Matthew
Cooper
lets us know
about STEM
club’s latest challenge.
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
15 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
SCHOOL NEWS
Robin Mills and Rachel
Anderson are fighting fit in
the judo competition.
____________________
On December 17 2012,
12 students were en-
tered into a Judo com-
petition that covered
the Walsall diocese. We
were split into weight
categories and then
fought everyone in our
groups. We were award-
ed medals for 1st, 2nd
and 3rd. The people who
came first were: Rachel
Anderson, Daniella Hill
and Will Jones. Dom
McGill, Katie Carter and
George Tracy-Adams all
came second. Third
place was awarded to
Robin Mills, Joanna
McCourt, Callum Wigge-
ly, Troy Brown, Hannah
McGeogh and Mia Wor-
ley. The day lasted be-
tween nine and four and
it was a valuable experi-
ence. We started off
with a group warm up
thing I won’t forget in my
entire St Francis career. I
am looking forward to next
year in the hope that our
next entry can win some-
thing. So it’s back to the
drawing board for us again
and, using our skills, we
hope to be back next year.
I would like to thank Mr
Barratt for giving up his
Tuesday and Wednesday
lunch times to help us build
our car, as if he wasn’t
there we couldn’t have had
this inspiring experience.
and then a brief as to
what we were allowed to
do in our fights. Then
the fights began and
continued until the
awards ceremony. After-
wards we split into
groups and had group
fights. Once the medals
had been awarded, we
had some team photos
and then went home. The
day was enjoyable
for everyone that took
part and we would defi-
nitely recommend it to
other pupils.
Triumph for our Judo twelve
DID YOU KNOW?
London is the most ex-
pensive city to park in,
costing up to £578.87
per month!
Rachel Anderson’s
impressive throw
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
16 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
Mr Connell revels in our
sporting success. Again.
The last edition of the
school newsletter was
named as the “sports edi-
tion”. Well it looks like we
could call it the same again
this time round, with the
amount of sporting success
stories that we have to re-
port from recent months.
We have had the pleasure
of introducing a former
Olympic athlete to our
school and working with our
students (which you will
find out more about in this
newsletter) as well as hav-
ing the benefit of having a
Commonwealth Games Gold
medallist delivering lessons
and extra curricular ses-
sions to a number of our
lucky students.
Many of our pupils have
been working hard in both
lessons and extra curricu-
lar time, at improving their
skill levels and developing
their sporting prowess. Ta-
ble tennis continues to be
one of our most popular
and certainly most success-
ful sports. Following our
domination of all age
groups competitions for
both boys and girls in the
Walsall Schools champion-
ships earlier in the year,
we had the not so small
matter of 5 teams repre-
senting Walsall in the Black
Country Olympics at Wood
Green Academy in Febru-
ary. All of our teams had
done incredibly well to get
to that stage and were
then faced with meeting
the best on offer from
Sandwell, Dudley and Wol-
verhampton. Well the St
Francis contingent didn’t
disappoint, with the KS4
boys of Michael, Marcus,
Oliver and Cameron winning
a bronze medal (all of the
team were from yr. 9), the
KS5 boys of Shaun, Dillon,
Arian and Michael winning
silver and the KS4 girls go-
ing one better, with the
team of Lauren, Charlie,
Maddie and Alice being
crowned Gold medallists
and Black Country team
champions. This term also
saw the West Midlands
Schools individual champi-
onships taking place, with
Shaun in yr. 12 matching
his team success with an
individual Silver medal and
Lauren in yr. 10 going one
better again and being
crowned the individual Gold
MORE SPORTING SUCCESS
Sport success further inflates Head of PE’s ego
Our Judo medallists
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
17 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
MORE SPORTING SUCCESS
medallist.
As mentioned at the begin-
ning of this article we have
been fortunate enough to
have had a Commonwealth
Champion sharing his
knowledge and expertise
with our students. The man
in question was Wayne
McDonald, who is the cur-
rent Commonwealth Mas-
ters Gold medallist and has
had a distinguished career
in the sport of Judo, hav-
ing won the British Mas-
ters Championships on
three occasions, and having
represented Great Britain,
in the World Masters
Team Championships in
Moscow a few years ago.
Wayne is currently the
University of Wolverhamp-
ton’s Club coach and also
works in local schools in
the area. Wayne delivered
a unit of work in lessons to
both yr. 11 boys and girls
and set up a popular extra
curricular club. Many of
these students went on to
represent the school at a
festival of Judo held at
the University of Wolver-
hampton on 17th December,
sponsored by Aston Villa.
The following students all
managed to get themselves
on the medal rostrum with
some tenacious and skilled
performances; Mia, Troy,
George, Robin, Katie and
Joanna. Will, Rachel and
Daniella all managed to
come away with Gold med-
als on the day.
Since Christmas we have
had a big push in promot-
ing badminton, with our
yr. 9 boys in particular
really getting involved in
extra curricular sessions.
Streetly Academy hosted
the Walsall Schools Bad-
minton championships in
January and we managed
to reach the finals in both
the U14 and U16 competi-
tions for boys and girls,
having qualified from the
South Walsall competi-
tions. Our yr. 9 boys of
Oliver, Daniel, Michael
and Dylan performing ad-
mirably and were only nar-
rowly beaten in the final,
by Streetly Academy
themselves.
Most of us choose to wrap
up well in the winter
months of January and
February and keep our-
selves nice and warm in-
doors, while some decide
to do quite the opposite
and run incredibly long
distances out in the fro-
zen fields of countryside!
I had the pleasure of being
the Walsall Schools Cross
Country team manager, for
the West Midlands Champi-
onships on a cold and
frosty morning on Saturday
2nd February. This involved
selecting a number of stu-
dents from St Francis,
with Charlotte, Caitlin, Tad,
Oliver, Niall, Conal and Lucy
all braving the sub zero
temperatures to represent
the borough at this pres-
tigious event. All involved
performed very well in
what was a very high stand-
ard competition, but the
plaudits must got to Char-
lotte in yr. 7, who de-
stroyed the rest of the
field to be crowned West
Midlands Schools champion,
certainly one to look out
for in the future.
KS4 girls get Gold!
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
18 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
Basketball has also been
high on the agenda in re-
cent months, with St Fran-
cis of Assisi CTC well rep-
resented in the yr. 7, 8, 9
and 10 leagues. All age
groups trained well and the
results were evident on the
court, with both the yr. 8
and 9 team’s finish 3rd in
their respective leagues. A
big thank you must go out
to Ryan in yr. 12 who gave
up his lunchtimes to help
coach our teams, which was
invaluable experience for
our students and Ryan him-
self, as he continues to
work towards gaining more
basketball coaching qualifi-
cations.
Despite facing many diffi-
culties with snow-covered
fields our PE staff have
been working hard to devel-
op rugby this year. The yr.
7 boys finished joint 3rd in
the Walsall Schools cham-
pionships and will be hoping
to put on a good show in the
Staffordshire Schools
competition later in the
month. The yr. 8 boys fin-
ished 4th in the same
competition and are still
going strong in the Staf-
fordshire Schools Plate
competition. They will
play their semi-final in
the near future and I will
hopefully be able to re-
port on another sporting
success in the next addi-
tion. We also have the
girls yr. 7 and 8 tag rugby
competition coming up and
with the help of our out-
standing sports leaders
from yr. 10, Molly, Sere-
na, Grace and Molly, we
have high hopes for the
girls.
Finally, we are to the
school football and netball
seasons and following the
success in the leagues ear-
lier in the year, I am very
hopeful of some cup suc-
cess in the football. We
have 4 teams, with the yr.
7, 8, 9 and 11 teams all
safely through to the semi-
final of the main cup com-
petitions. I hope to report
about some cup winners in
the summer addition of the
newsletter, along with de-
tails of how we have been
doing in our main summer
sports of tennis, rounders,
MORE SPORTING SUCCESS
Our KS5 table tennis silver medallists
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
19 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
DID YOU KNOW?
When St. Francis stu-
dents win yet another
event, there is room for
one less member of staff
at briefing as PE staff
grins take up more space.
MORE SPORTING SUCCESS
Our stars learn from the best
Miss Nickless shares a
great opportunity for our
sporting finest
The Sky Sports Living for
Sport is a secondary
school initiative that uses
sports stars and sports
skills to boost confidence,
change behaviour, increase
attainment and improve
life skills. On Tuesday 5th
February Daniel Caines
(Athletics) and Tom Davis
(Judo) worked with our
gifted and talented pupils.
The pupils listened to the
athlete’s success stories
and took part in a number
of team building tasks. The
students thoroughly en-
joyed the day and left the
session feeling very moti-
vated. A number of follow
up sessions have been
planned for the groups.
What do we do in a time
of need when we
feel down
when all you can do
is frown
but where do we go
from here?
Do we carry on or do we
slow down and think about
the crosses we have
to bear?
Do we moan and cry or do
we just get by?
Like Jesus did, do we take
our punishment or do
we confess?
Do we try and retrieve
our happiness?
But where do we go
from here?
Do we think about others?
Do we help our brothers?
Do we do well to those
who hate us?
Or are we selfish and only
think of ourselves?
These are the things you
need to think about
when you find yourself
with a cross to bear
think of the consequences
and effects
so no one suspects
that you have a cross
to bear
by Emily Fisher
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
20 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
ALUMNUS SPOTLIGHT
When I left St Francis of
Assisi for BOA (A special-
ised Performing Arts Col-
lege in Birmingham) in the
summer of 2012 it was a
huge wrench. St Francis
was my second home where
I had made many, many
wonderful friends and had
the invaluable support of so
many members of staff.
I had made the decision
that due to the passion I
have for dance that it was
the right thing to do and
follow my dreams and study
Dance in a specialist college.
Arriving at BOA and feeling
very nervous I wondered if
I had made the correct de-
cision leaving everyone and
everything that had become
so very dear to me and alt-
hough I missed so many of
the people who had become
part of my life at St Fran-
cis I soon became captivat-
ed by the love and the pas-
sion I have for dance.
In the first two weeks of
college, BOA was visited by
Motionhouse......one of the
UK’s leading professional
dance companies. The stu-
dents took part in work-
shops and worked alongside
the dancers who were cer-
tainly inspirational. At the
end of the two weeks I was
invited by one of the pro-
fessional dancers to join
the Motionhouse Youth
Company and I know attend
a class every Friday and we
are performing at Notting-
ham’s Playhouse Theatre in
April which is very exciting.
Just before Christmas
2012, BOA was approached
by Matthew Bourne...the
Former pupil Sarah lets us
know what she’s been up to.
Sarah steals
the show
UK’s most successful and
popular choreographer. He
had requested that the col-
lege select a small number
of dance students to per-
form a “curtain raiser” be-
fore his adaptation of
“Sleeping Beauty” on Febru-
ary 6th at Birmingham’s Hip-
podrome Theatre. I feel
very honoured and privi-
leged to have been amongst
the students selected. Alt-
hough I feel nervous, I am
very excited at the pro-
spect of performing in front
of 2000 people.
The Principal of Broadway
Dance Centre, Frances Daw-
son has asked me to accom-
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
21 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
ALUMNUS SPOTLIGHT
pany her to Romania in the
summer of 2013 to assist
her in Dance Classes for the
children of the local area of
Campulung. I feel that this
is a fantastic opportunity
and I am looking forward to
enjoying the experience of
working with the youngsters
of Romania and giving my
time to help them to enjoy
the beauty of dance. On my
trip I will try my best to
broaden my understanding
of those less fortunate than
myself and I will endeavour
to make the week one to re-
member for the local chil-
dren.
The Romanian Project was
founded by Frances Dawson
who is the Principal of the
Broadway Dance Cen-
tre........... She has a passion
for dance, a sense of the
community and a will to help
those less fortunate. In
1995 Fran went to Romania
to try and help some of the
40,000 orphans – her aim
was to give them some hap-
piness......to help them dance
and play. To date she has
helped fund 6 dance studios,
a small theatre, several
playgrounds, nurseries and
other projects These have
been created in orphanages
full of destitute children –
but the facilities that
Frances has funded have
helped to give them a ‘light
at the end of the tunnel’.
I feel that this is a very ex-
citing time for me and I am
looking forward to what the
future holds. I know that
there is a lot of hard work
to do but I feel that the
work ethic that was devel-
oped at St Francis by so
many teachers has been a
fantastic life experience for
me and I thank you from the
bottom of my heart.
“Follow your dreams, face
your fears, and always smile.
Life is precious and you’ll
never regret doing what you
love.
Believe in yourself”
God He created you,
your hands, your eyes,
your hair.
He chose what colour
locks you’d have,
dark, red or fair.
He gave you your own
purpose,
there’s something you
must do.
He blessed you with a tal-
ent,
one unique to you.
Everybody’s different,
but in a positive way.
People can be con-
trasting,
as much as night and day.
If people try to hurt you,
or try to pull you down,
He’s there when you need
him,
He’s there to fix that
frown.
Everyone has doubts,
but what people don’t
see,
is that God is always pre-
sent,
watching over you and me.
So if you ever feel,
like you’re completely on
your own,
there’s someone there to
help you,
You’ll never be alone.
Clare Buckley
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
22 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
Dan Freedman’s Kick off: Summary by
Dominic Rounds
It is about a young boy
(13 years old), who lives
with his mum. His dad
left him and an enemy
stands in the way of his
dreams. Recently, he
moved house and had to
go to a new school. All
he wants is to be on the
school football team,
but his mum isn’t fond
of him playing football.
She wants him to get
better grades.
Football fana@cs kick back with Dan Freedman
Matthew
Cooper
gets an exclu-
sive interview
with writer Dan Freedman.
You might know Dan Freed-
man for his bestselling
book “The Kick Off”, the
first of his 6 books in his
gripping Jamie Johnston
series - Steven Gerrard
says: “You’ll read these and
want to get out there!” but
Dan Freedman spent 13
March with us at St. Fran-
cis, doing a special talk in
the morning, a book signing
session at lunch and finish-
ing the day on a hat trick
with a writing workshop for
a Year 8 Group and
Reading Club.
He had his inspiration from
football and throughout his
whole childhood he wanted
to be a famous footballer,
but at the age of 17 his
mum told him that it was
very unlikely. Thus he de-
cided that he had to do
something that involved
football. He became a foot-
ball journalist and talked to
some great players (his
first of many interviews
were with John Terry and
David Seaman).
He grew up in London and
watched his first Spurs
match aged three. He en-
joys reading, walking and
spending time near the sea.
He had some great support
for his fictional writing
from his editors, even
though his first book got
rejected at least 10 times.
However, he kept writing
and changing things. He was
on the point of giving up
when his book was accepted
for publication. Dan said he
felt “ecstatic” when he
heard the news.
Dan Freedman has really
inspired me to be a writer
and I’m sure he has made
many other people feel the
same. His books come alive
as he bases his characters
on his own real dreams,
loves and horrors. He says:
“I love football so much
that I breathe it like air.”
If anyone would like to find
out more about him go to
www.Danfreedman.co.uk
CULTURE NEWS
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
23 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
CULTURE NEWS
Mrs Roberts
meets writer
David
Massey
On Wednesday 6th March,
a group of Year 9 students
were lucky enough to travel
to Pool Hayes School for a
talk by the author David
Massey.
David’s debut novel Torn
was published last summer,
and is the story of Eleanor,
a young army medic, and
her experiences in Afghan-
istan. It is a mixture of
action, romance and a
touch of the supernatural.
David gave us a fascinating
insight into his inspiration,
how he writes and edits his
work. Torn is being pub-
lished around the world and
he is also hoping to sell the
film rights - you heard it
here first!
Torn writer
shares all
Ethan Moore and Conor
Lovage start practicing for
media careers.
Our pupils show their talent
with the BBC school report
Over the recent weeks we
have composed a new
broadcast video concerning
the recent resignation of
Pope Benedict XVI and the
election of a new Pope.
Whilst making this report,
the exciting news emerged
that a new candidate Jorge
Mario Bergoglio had be-
come the new leader of the
Catholic faith; Pope Fran-
cis. This came as quite a
surprise as the candidate
was an unexpected
candidate for election.
Pope Francis has been por-
trayed recently by the me-
dia as a humble and down
to earth man. He is Jesuit,
this means that he rejects
worldly possessions and
materialistic things to be
closer to God. Through
our investigative research,
we found out how the
election of a new Pope, es-
pecially one with the name
Francis would affect our
community here in school.
We learnt to use school
cameras, the importance
of finding out the facts of
a story and developed our
interviewing skills to make
this report.
The report can be found
on the BBC School Report
page on the St Francis of
Assisi School website.
The link is:
w w w . s t f r a n c i s . c c /
roundabout/opencms/
news/newsarchive/2011-
03/bbcschoolreport.html
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
24 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
TEACHER’S PRIDE
Congratulations to our AS
level 2012 cohort. Their
work was submitted into
Specialist Crafts catalogue
competition. All three en-
tries made it to the Best of
2012 and are currently fea-
Mrs Day is very proud of all
her star pupils.
AS Art Student show their compe@@on best
tured on their website gal-
lery. The work is also pub-
lished quarterly in the
catalogue.
SFA pupils use their language talents abroad
Marie-Clare
Taggart had
a great time
on the ex-
change. ____________________
I found the two week ex-
change in Hessen really
fun. I had my work expe-
rience in a nursery and I
really enjoyed it, especial-
ly talking and playing with
the children in German.
Reading to them was espe-
cially useful because it
helped my speaking and
reading at the same time.
I found the little things
like going to the cinema,
watching TV or ordering
food very useful for im-
proving my confidence in
the language and I think
it’s definitely helped me as
I now feel more confident
in all areas of the language.
Most of all, it was very in-
teresting to be immersed
in German culture and see
how everyday life was dif-
ferent.
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’
25 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013
CULTURE NEWS
The animals went in two
by two
Bringing pride to their
family name,
Guns, grenades and
bombs galore,
The coward’s way out
full of shame.
The animals went in two
by two
For the supposedly
justified war,
Newly made orphans lost
and alone
Fell under corruption’s
trap door.
The animals cried out
“set us free
These crosses are too
much to bear,
Surely there are
peaceful means
To rid this world
of despair?”
Clare Buckley
Cathy is an author of the
books that I enjoy reading.
Cathy lives in north London
with her husband and
three cats.
Cathy spends most of her
time locked in a shed at
the bottom of her garden
pretending to write books
but is actually in there lis-
Natasha
Chadbone-
Pickman tells
us about a fa-
vourite author.
____________________
Cathy Hopkins
reviewed
tening to music, hippie
dancing and talking to her
friends on e-mail.
I enjoy reading her books
because she writes it from
a teenager’s point of view
about their daily life as a
teenager. I understand
what she is trying to say
because it is easy to read
and understand.
Mrs Littler is sorry to
lose one
of our
‘Millennium
authors’
____________________
Chinua Achebe dies, aged 82
One of the first books I
picked out of our Millenni-
um collection in the LRC
was Achebe’s It all falls apart. It is one of the
most expressive books I
have ever read and a vivid
portrayal of the reaction
to the arrival of white men
in the v i l lage of
Igbo. His description of
relationships in a changing
world is well worth
reading.
THE FACTS OF SCHOOL LIFE
‘Nil sa�s op�mum’