Saint Bernard’s

Saint Bernard’s Catholic High SchoolSpecialist school for the arts & Applied Learning

SPORTSMARK

Academic Year 2012/2013Main or Mid-Term Last School Day First School Day Autumn Holiday Fri 21st Dec Mon 7th Jan 2012Half-Term Fri 15th Feb Mon 25th Feb Easter Holiday Fri 28th March Mon 15th April Public Holidays all fall within the school holidays.

Specialist school for the arts & Applied Learning 3Saint Bernard’s Catholic High School2

Staff and students who travelled to Lesotho met up at the end of January for a weekend retreat in Edale. They spent time reflecting on their journey to South Africa and the things they had achieved whist there. As the snow came down, they spent most of Saturday sledging and building snowmen before preparing for Mass. They were joined by Bishop John and some of the Hallam Youth Ministry Team who helped lead the Mass.

One of the benefits of our outstanding Ofsted judgement is that it qualified us to apply for National Teaching School Status. Teaching Schools give outstanding schools a leading role in the training and professional development of teachers, support staff and headteachers, as well as contributing to the raising of standards through school to school support.

I am delighted to tell you that our application to the National

College for School Leadership has been successful and from September 2013, St Bernard’s will be designated a National Teaching School.

In this role we will work in partnership with our Partner Primaries; All Saints School, Sheffield;

Rotherham School Effectiveness Service; and Sheffield Hallam University. Amongst other benefits, our role will support us in continuing to recruit, retain and develop staff of the highest quality to ensure our young people are given the best experience possible in school.

This national recognition represents another major step in the development of St Bernard’s and will be a major contribution to the development of the school as we strive to continually improve standards in all areas of our work. It is also recognition of the commitment, dedication and talent of staff within the school.

As we come to the end of term our thoughts are particularly with our Y11 students who will be facing their final examination in the coming term. I am sure the hard work and sacrifice they put in at this time will bear just reward when the results come out in August.

My best wishes to all connected to the school for a peaceful, reflective and prayerful Easter.

David Butler, Headteacher

Headteacher AwardsOn 7th January, we began our new term by celebrating the Epiphany with a whole school Mass in the Sports hall. Fr Des reminded students how the wise men had persevered on their journey to find Jesus, despite the many obstacles in their way.

How many ways can this be related to many of the personal journeys we make throughout our lives?

Epiphany Mass

Lesotho Retreat Weekend

The following students received awards in February,

2013:

• Haider Ali • David Barber • Dylan Bartholomew

• Perry Brown • Hannah Calleja • Jade Campsall

• Bethany Carroll • Christi Cheetham • Madelin Childs

• Charlie Churms • Luke Connole • Jack Cranswick

• Jack Davies • Leanne Davis • Thomas Dobson

• Thomas Dunn • Alethea Ellis • Jack Emery

• Louise Emery, Samuel Eyong • Sidonia Fedorcuic-Onisa

• Amelia Fragola-Hunt • Lucy Garvey • Nathan Gavin

• Yustina George • Danny Goodwin • Luke Green

• Ifeyinwa Idaboh • James Jackson • Thomas Jenkinson

• Cian Kimpton • Peter Lotfallah • Patrick McGuinness

• Georgia Molloy • Georgia Muffett

• Connor O’Hanrahan • Kiera Oliver • Gabriele Pileckaite

• Thomas Porter • Aiofe Power • Harrison Putt

• Leah Rafferty • Sachin Sabu • Bradley Smith

• Sophie Taylor • Georgia Taylor-Watson

• Daniel Wood and Charlotte Young.

Well done to all students for their hard work!

Ash Wednesday Services were held on 13th February to mark the start of Lent. Throughout Lent we will be reflecting on different ways we can improve our relationship with God. We will also be looking at ways we can help others as we raise money for the annual Hallam Diocese Good Shepherd Appeal.

Ash Wednesday

How often do we take our education for granted? Some pupils may think that days spent at school are long and tedious. However, we don’t often consider the truth about the amazing education that we receive. In some developing countries, children receive the bare minimum in terms of education; some children receive none at all. Some have to travel miles and miles for an education which they have to pay for.

An example of someone who does realise the value of education is a 15 year-old called Malala who lives in Pakistan. It was there that she was shot because she was fighting for cause of education for girls. After receiving treatment for her dreadful injuries in England, she was finally able to leave the Queen Elizabeth hospital (Birmingham) on the 8th February, 2013. Though the gunshots to her head made it doubtful that she would walk again, Malala has continued her fight for improvement in her health over several months.

The fifteen year old said: “I have the right of education. I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk. I have the right to go to market. I have the right to speak up.” Even though we have all of these privileges, sometimes we take them for granted, not thinking about how fortunate we are. Education and rights are our gifts, something that others are limited to.

Malala’s shooting sparked domestic and international outrage. Because of the shooting, it was announced that a fund, set up in Malala’s name, will be used to help provide education for all young people. Malala has inspired people - men, women and children - all over the world to realise the value of education. Malala added: “I want to serve the people and I want every girl, every child, to be educated, and for that reason we have organised the Malala Fund.”

Yustina George, Year 9

Thanks for EducationA stained glass window, situated in the main entrance of the school, was officially unveiled at St Bernard’s on 3rd December, 2012, in memory of Natalie Maw, one of our students who sadly died last year. Natalie’s family, friends and St Bernard’s staff were present as Monsignor Ryan conduct a beautiful service of dedication. The pattern on the window is based on a drawing which Natalie composed, and the glass was chosen by her family. Following the service, Natalie’s parents were presented with an identical stained glass window for them to take home.

Memorial Window

Parents are reminded to put names in all uniform items, please, as this makes it easier to reunite them to their owner should they be lost!

Lost property is kept in the library and students are encouraged to check this location for anything they have lost. The amount of lost property gathered is huge and space is limited. This being the case, there is a display of all items at the end of each half term after which, regrettably, items are discarded.

This is publicized within school, but it would be a great help if we could deal with found items before this stage! Many thanks.

Lost Property

5Saint Bernard’s Catholic High School Specialist school for the arts & Applied Learning 5

New York 2013

Let’s kick things off with a little background information. With a population of over 8.1 million, New York City is the most populous city in the United States. Alone, it makes up over 40 per cent of the population of New York State. It is known for its status as a centre for finance and culture and for its status as the largest gateway for immigration to the United States.

It is the start of our FIRST DAY and so far our Trip to New York has been action packed. Our first day involved an awful lot of travelling but we arrived an hour early in NYC and once we were settled into the hostel, we went out for our first look at Times Square. Bright, beautiful and overwhelming sums it up! Adverts and tourists galore.

DAY TWo started with breakfast at a local diner: pancakes, muffins and loads of other choices sorted us out for the walk to Times Square to pick up our tour bus. We enjoyed an hour long guided tour before arriving at Battery Park and going on a cruise of the harbour. We then visited the 9/11 memorial, a beautiful and moving experience. Our day ended with shopping - Macy’s, Disney, etc, and an evening meal at Bubba Gumps.

DAY THREE - a busy day today! A visit to the very beautiful and peaceful St Patrick’s Cathedral in the heart of the city, followed by a tour of NBC Studios and then a considerable amount of retail therapy. Bloomingdales has been seen and conquered, and several other well known shops too. We lunched at Trump Towers and then walked to Central Park. Ice skating was on the agenda and as you will see, the students thoroughly enjoyed it. A very fun (if not cold) experience. Off to the hostel now to defrost!

the blog DAY FoUR was an eventful day once again. We started off the day carb-loading in the ‘Morning Star Cafe’ before going on a subway journey to the Museum of Moving Image in Queens. It was interesting to see the changing landscape as we moved from the city to suburbia. The museum itself was full of images and technology from days gone by, and we spent a busy couple of hours there taking in the exhibits. We then journeyed back into the heart of NYC and lunched at the concourse in Grand Central Station, a truly iconic location. After a good feed and a well deserved foot break, we walked on to the Empire State Building and spent time staring down at the city’s sights. Even those who were slightly nervous about the height thoroughly enjoyed the views. To end a rather busy day, there was more shopping and then a meal at Ellen’s Stardust Diner, where the staff waiting at tables sing at regular intervals, serenading guests

as they munch on burgers and fries. Our time in New York is almost up. A trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then we are homeward bound. We will be sad to say goodbye - the trip has certainly flown - but some sleep and time off our feet will be very welcomed!

DAY FIvE has been a relatively relaxed one compared to previous days … well so far! This morning we packed early and made our way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the morning. Students were able to walk around in small groups and look at the works of art and other exhibits. After a two-hour stay, we then boarded a very crowded subway train back to the hostel. We now have our cases to hand and are awaiting our coach to JFK. Roll on the take off at 7.25pm, when we can rest and get some sleep. That is, IF we are lucky!

one of my favourite places we visited in New York was Times Square. I had seen photographs of it before we went but didn’t expect it to be so amazing. The many skyscrapers were already a massive change to our local landscape but adding hundreds of brightly-lit billboards made the whole experience slightly overwhelming, especially on the night we arrived because we were still tired from the journey. I found the lights to be a great contrast to the grayscale buildings, and thought they added a new brightness to the city.

Ashlinn Power

Times Square

by Mrs Power

Extracts from

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Saint Bernard’s Catholic High School6 Specialist school for the arts & Applied Learning 7

As part of the Year 11 course for RE we learn about Catholic marriage. To enhance this learning, each class holds a mock wedding ceremony, giving us a deeper understanding of what is involved which, in turn, helps with our examination preparation. of course, it is great fun getting dressed up and taking part in the reception (a party!) afterwards, so how were we to decide who was to be the Bride and Groom in our class?

The solution was easy. We simply looked at the pairings of who would be going to prom together, with Kieran Wheeler and Sidonia Onisa being obvious choices! It was unanimously decided!

Next, we set out planning all the intricate details a wedding requires: the ushers; the bridesmaids; the best man (or men in our case); musicians; and most importantly of course - the Priest. Once these positions were filled and the detail finely tuned, it was time to hold the ceremony.

The groom and his first best man arrived sporting their best RAF uniforms and the rest of the class took their seats, eagerly awaiting the bride and her bridesmaids (late as always!) Our congregation was even graced with the unexpected presence of several distinguished guests: Mr Tucker, Mr Hanley, Mrs Gillespie and Miss Vallance all turned up to witness the union of the happy couple. The Priest, played by Sean Oliver, gave an amazing Homily which really brought on the principles of marriage. He preached, “I think it’s important that everyone here today remembers that behind all the flowers, the suits, the food and drink, what this beautiful sacrament is all about.” He also outlined for us the principles of marriage and what they would mean for Kieran and Sidonia.

First of all, the couple had to answer three questions which would prove that they would be faithful to each other: “Have you come freely to give yourself to each other without reservation? Will you love and honour each other for life? Will you accept children lovingly from God?” Their answers proved that they were willing to be married, that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together and that they would bring children into their lives. Then came the all-important vows which the couple recited whilst gazing romantically into each other’s eyes. And finally, they became man and wife!

After the ceremony our congregation headed back to Room 0.3 which became, for the next hour, the venue for the wedding reception. During this time we listened to the speeches (one from the father of the bride, one from the best man and finally, one from the groom himself), and toasted the heath of the newly-weds (several times, in fact, with our ‘tipple’ of sparkling pink lemonade). What usually happens after the speeches? The cutting of the cake, of course, by the bride and groom. Though it became obvious that the happy couple needed more practice in cake-cutting, we got there in the end, and so it was that the delicious cake, hand made by our own Emily McHale, was devoured with glee after which we were entertained by Kai Dennis who put on an amazing show for all to enjoy.

Overall, we had a very enjoyable two hours, but all good things, as they say, come to an end. Sadly, we had to change back into our school uniforms to complete the rest of the day … as normal!

Alex Robson, Year 11

on Saturday, 26th January, Miss McArdle, Miss Neal and Miss Williams fastened up their winter coats and battled the snow to pay a visit to the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield. Accompanied by a group of Year 11 students, the St. Bernard’s group went to see a production of Blood Brothers.

This is what Devan Jones, one of the students, had to say:

“You probably expect plays in theatres to be aimed at the older audience, being cliched as dull and boring, right? Surprisingly, Blood Brothers brings a fresh approach as a play, appealing to all audiences (including the younger

audience!) with its witty humour and catchy one-liners. Blood Brothers is really entertaining, even exhilarating with the enthusiastic cast working well as a team and really bringing the play to life.

I highly recommend watching this play; your expectations will be blown away!”

The Wedding of the Century!

Blood Brothers

Year 9 students in PSCHE have been considering their option choices within a unit of work on Careers. For homework, students were asked to develop a creative response to answer the questions: ‘What do you think you will be doing in 5 years time? Where do you think you will be living? What job or training do you think you will be doing?’ This is what Devan Jones, one of the students, had to say:

Georgia Taylor Watson presented a piece of artwork in response. Other outstanding work was produced by Yustina George in the form of a ‘GoAnimate’ animation, Ellie Grant who baked a cake and Emma Owens who designed a fantastic poster.

Well done for these outstanding contributions!

Outstanding Work produced in PSCHE

As part of the Advent Fundraising St Bernard’s hled a Christmas Clothing Day on 19th December. Staff and students paid £1 for the privelage of abandoning their usual school clothing / uniforms for the day to wear thir festive attire. The majority chose to wear Christmas jumpers save for one or two exceptions. Some went the extra mile and dressed as Father Christmas himself! Rudolph and an eld were also spotted during the day.

This was of course, a good fun way of raising much needed funds for our worthy causes and since it was such a success, we are hoping to make tjis an annual event.

Thank you to everyone who took part.

Christmas Jumper Day 2012

Rievaulx students, Elina Katinska and Sean oliver, are pictured presenting a cheque for £250 to Cath and Liz from Rotherham Hospice Sunbeams group on behalf of Rievaulx House.

Hospice cheque presentationLast half term, Student Leaders organised a ‘Last Rolo’ delivery for valentines Day. The lucky recipients received their hand wrapper Rolos, many with inscriptions of personal messages, during the last lesson on 14th February. All the money raised has gone towards the Good Shepherd Appeal

ROLO LOVE: A ROMANTIC WAY TO RAISE FUNDS?

We received a fantastic response to our Advent fundraising, raising over £1,200 for our chosen charities, Safe@Last, The Lighthouse, St Wilfrid’s, The Lesotho Pig Project, and Sunbeams Support Group at Rotherham Hospice.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our students, parents and staff we also managed to produce more than 40 hampers which were distributed to members of our community, to the Lighthouse and to St Wilfrid’s.

Advent Fundraising

8 5Saint Bernard’s Catholic High School Specialist school for the arts & Applied Learning 9

Art and Geography London Residential

As students eagerly looked forward to the end of the school term and the start of the Christmas holiday, a cast of some of the finest acting talent St. Bernard’s has ever seen in its long and distinguished history assembled to showcase a thought-provoking rendition of the classic pantomime, ‘Cinderella’.

From the moving, heart-wrenching performance of Mr Butler as the heroine herself (albeit with slightly less hairy legs) to the most charismatic and uplifting portrayal of Prince Charming ever seen (in school at any rate!) by Mr. Russell, the acting could only be described as dynamite!

Who could forget Mr. Hanley’s superbly dramatised caricature of an incompetent? Mr. Tucker’s spell-binding, fairylike demeanour before, during and after the event? Method acting at its very best! It would, of course, be remiss of me to omit to mention the ugliest sister ever to grace the stage … Mr. Wright! Some say he was born to wear a dress; others say he does – frequently.

The audience were simply delighted! Indeed, one onlooker described the experience as, “The best thing I have ever seen … this morning”. (There is some debate, however, as to whether she was actually watching!) Another said, “I wish I’d had the day off”, an obvious admission that the quality on show was too just much to bear; children can be very fragile. Christmas festivities simply do not get better than this!

From me, I offer a very big ‘thank you’ to all the staff involved for being such good sports. An equally big ‘thank you’ goes to Eddie and Victoria for their hard work on advertising, special effects and all the pyrotechnics.

Mr. Clark

Panto Review

The annual Y8 Cross-Curricular London Residential took place just before February half term, this year’s focus being Art and Geography.

Here are some extracts from the students’ diaries:

National Gallery“After a look and climb around Trafalgar Square, we made our way to the National Gallery where we looked at three amazing paintings by three famous Artists. It was a great experience, especially as I had not been there before. One Artist we studied was Claude Monet from Paris, an Impressionist artist who painted images of objects as if they were viewed at a glimpse. The painting we studied was of boats, painted with quick brushstrokes. It was an outstanding experience just seeing the painting which, in my opinion, was the best out of

the three because it included lots of colour and seemed very real; this made it easy to understand. Visiting the gallery was a great experience; I would definitely go again.

The trip was inspirational, and made me want to get out and paint, draw and create any art, but also made me want to go out and explore much more. London was great! Thanks to the teachers for organising everything and for their help on the trip!”

Niall Carroll, Ri 3.

Natural History MuseumOur trip to London included a visit to The Natural History Museum where our initial focus was on earthquakes and volcanoes.

n “I learnt that not only were the people in Pompeii preserved by ash but the poisonous gases killed them first.

n Avalanches are often triggered by earthquakes by loosening unstable rocks.

n Most earthquakes and volcano eruptions happen on the coast or tectonic plate boundaries and we don’t experience them in the UK.”

“My favourite exhibit was the dinosaurs: the skeletons were huge! I felt like a little kid again ooh-ing and ahh-ing at them. I particularly liked the dinosaur in the main entrance. It seems magical that at one time they really lived and walked the planet.” It goes without saying that I took lots of pictures!

Madelin Childs, Ri 7.

Wicked - the musicalAfter our meal at Pizza Hut we attended the evening performance of ‘Wicked’ - the musical.

“The trip to see Wicked was definitely my favourite part of our residential. The outburst of colours from the costumes, sets and stage lighting was just breathtaking! The singing was inspirational and the scenery extremely detailed. I loved the image of the map of OZ on the stage curtain viewed during the interval depicting Munchkin Land and the Emerald City. Out of all the costumes, Glinda’s dress - featured in the beginning and the last few scenes - with all the jewels that shone in the lighting was the best. It was a truly fab show!”

Charlotte Hunter, Ki 1.

And finally: “The trip was great! It’s good to learn different things about Art and Geography and also History. You also get to know your friends and class mates more during the trip because of all the fun you are having.

Daniel Millea, Ki 7 and Niall Carroll.

Ms Rawson Mr Leslie and I would like to thank all students who behaved impeccably during the two days away, and their parents and guardians for their support!

Ms Seccombe

PC Tim Jervis is our new School Liaison officer. He hit the ground running when, in February, he came into St. Bernard’s to

help deliver lessons in PSHCE to Y7, Y9 and Y11 students.He visited Mr Morris’ Y7 lessons to help deliver information about Personal Safety. Students in Mrs McManus’ Y9 lessons learned

about life in the police force, including the skills and qualities employers want and the different jobs that officers do within the numerous sections of the force. Y11 students have been following a unit of work on Drugs Education and PC Jervis engaged the students with information about drug related crime and the impact on society.

Students really loved the input! Student comments include: “I enjoyed finding out about drug related crime” … “ I found out about the police being out on patrol and about how they

learn and develop new skills and qualities to help with their job.” We look forward from future visits from PC Jervis.

St. Bernard’s has a new School Liaison Officer

Well done and huge thanks to students and families for collecting the Morrison’s ‘Let’s Grow’ vouchers. We have used the vouchers to purchase much needed equipment for our food technology department. We have also purchased herb planters and seeds to enable us to grow our own herbs this season.

Keep saving the vouchers when the scheme begins again!

10 11Saint Bernard’s Catholic High School Specialist school for the arts & Applied Learning

once again St. Bernard’s welcomed over 60 parishioners from our local Catholic Churches to join us for a traditional Christmas lunch. This day - the 19th December - also coincided with our first Christmas Jumper day, so everyone involved in the lunch was dressed in festive clothing. Students and staff worked extremely hard to ensure all our guests were served promptly and efficiently.

Following lunch, the parishioners watched the Advent Liturgy and enjoyed music from the choir and band. Each guest was given a small gift to take home with them for Christmas.

Many thanks to the students who helped make the afternoon so special. Also thank you to: Cory Lovell, Elliott Walker, Jamie Greensmith and Lucy Hamstead who provided musical entertainment for this event.

The following comments were made by participants of the ‘Learners First’ open day recently held at St. Bernard’s:

n “As promised - everything I expected. Can’t think of a criticism.

n Fantastic and inspirational.

n Literacy and maths workshops brilliant.

n Help with the skills tests was very useful and introduction to the layout of the course. Learning more about Schools Direct was also useful.

n Liked being able to speak to NQTs that have come through a similar route / similar background and motivation.

n Excellent resources for example the help with the literacy & numeracy tests.”

Learners First Schools Partnership

Advent Liturgy and Concertour Advent Liturgy and concert was held on 13th December at 7pm. We were delighted to welcome pupils from our partner primary schools who helped to build our crib scene and sang very beautifully. The liturgy was based on the letters in Advent, looking at the differences between the first Christmas and Christmas as we know it now.

Connor Cox opened the Liturgy with a highly entertaining monologue as Angel Gabriel, before we were introduced to the shepherds, wise men, Mary and the angels. The liturgy was, as always exceptionally well attended by parents and guests; we would like to thank all involved, and all who attended for the continued support shown.

Parishioners Party

‘Learners First’ is a not-for-profit organisation, established on the 16th August 2012. The primary focus of the Learners First Schools Partnership is to build excellence and address underperformance in equal measure through system led school improvement and leadership development. The impact of Learners First will be judged and measured against the successful delivery of the mission:

n all students making at least good progress

n no underperforming cohorts

n all teachers delivering at least good learning and

n all schools moving to at least the next level of successful performance

Learners First School Direct teacher training programme is an example of the importance placed on raising standards across the board, beginning with trainee teachers, then continuing to develop newly and recently qualified teachers and beyond, creating and inspiring the educational leaders of tomorrow.

Morrisons Let’s Grow vouchers

Building & Maintenance FundThank you to all those families that have contributed to the Building and Maintenance Fund so far. We ask that those yet to pay complete and return the relevant part of the attached form with payment as soon as possible.

Payment can be made by cash or cheque; please make cheques payable to St Bernard’s Maintenance & Building Fund. Alternatively, this can be paid by standing order or internet banking; please ask for details.

THANK YOU!

Shakespeare FestivalThe open Minds Theatre Company is currently working in co-operation with Rotherham schools and the Royal Shakespeare Company to produce a Shakespeare Festival. The Festival will take place between 24th June and 5th July at the New York Stadium, Rotherham.

St Bernard’s has joined with three other schools, each of whom will perform an act from a Shakespeare play of their choice. We have chosen “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Twenty of our students are involved and will perform the play for one night. A firm date has not yet been allocated, thought it will be publicised when we have more information about this. This will certainly be something to look forward to!

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SportS round up

SPoRTING EvENTS RoUNDUP FRoM THE PAST HALF TERM

SupeRSTaR SOpHie RepReSeNTS SOuTH YORKSHiReSt Bernard’s student, Sophie Taylor, has qualified to represent South Yorkshire Schools in the Cross Country event. The Year 11 student won a number of the Rotherham schools races in the autumn to qualify for the South Yorkshire finals, which took place at Wentworth Castle near Barnsley on the 2nd February.

A 5th placed finish on the day secured Sophie a position in the South Yorkshire team for the National Schools Finals which take place in Derbyshire in mid March.

SportS round up

After a very exciting and fiercely competitive Sportshall Athletics Festival at St Bernard’s on the 6th February, St Mary’s Maltby have won through to represent our Catholic Learning Community in the Rawmarsh School Sport’s Partnership Finals later this term. Athletes competed in a number of activities from the disciplines of running and jumping to throwing ,with some excellent individual performances from all participating schools. It was a wonderful team effort that put St Mary’s Maltby in front with St Mary’s Herringthorpe runners up, and a well-earned 3rd place to St Gerard’s.

A big thank you goes to our Year 10 Young Sports Leaders who were simply superb on this evening!

ST MaRY’S MalTbY aRe SpORTHall aTHleTiCS WiNNeRS!ST bede’S HiT THe Hi SpOT iN Hi 5 NeTball

Following the very successful Hi 5 Netball Festival at St bernard’s, which saw record numbers participating on the 5th december last year, St bede’s emerged victorious and went on to represent our Catholic learning Community at the Rawmarsh School Sports partnership Finals. it was a wonderful afternoon held in the inspiring halls at the english institute of Sport in Sheffield with our team being very well supported and expertly led by Mr bratt and Miss Jenkinson. after leading the competition for most of the afternoon and showing excellent skills, they went on to be narrowly nudged into second place by Wath primary. Well done to all on finishing 2nd overall and representing our community so well!

Y11 daNCe leadeRSThe Y11 Dance Leaders group performed a group performance for a selection of students and staff last half term. The dance was choreographed by Sophie Taylor (Y11 student). The dance was to Rihanna’s ‘Disturbia’ with a ‘Zombie’ theme.

All performers worked exceptionally hard to learn the challenging choreography and performed to a high standard. Well done girls, you’re a real credit to the school! Mrs Finne

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NeTball aNd GYMNaSTiCS NeWSdue to the recent incumbent weather, the netball season has not yet started; however, our netball squads have been training hard in preparation for the season ahead. it is encouraging that we have a group of approximately twenty girls, ranging from Years 7 - 10, who are consistently attending netball practice and working hard to improve their skills and knowledge of the game. let’s hope their hard work pays off this season!The St. bernard’s Gymnastics squad entered a competition at Wickersley School at the end of last term. although the girls were not placed, a fun time was had by all. also last term, the Gymnastics squad performed at the awards evening and at the Christmas liturgy. The dedicated group is now working on a piece to be performed just before the easter holidays, something to look forward to!liz blackshaw

YOuNG SpORTS leadeRSWednesday, 23rd January, saw me and four Year 7 students heading to Ponds Forge International Sports Centre to take part in the Young Sports Leaders training event, supported by Youth Sport Trust and the charity, Achievement for All.

Working closely with a NGB Basketball coach, our students took part in a variety of fun and exciting activities which allowed them to develop, apply and reflect upon the skills needed to be an effective Sports Leaders. It provided a unique and exhilarating opportunity for our students, as they are soon to be involved in the delivery of extra-curricular Basketball sessions to the young people in our community. After lots of fun (and learning of course!), our day ended perfectly with a tour of Ponds Forge.

Well done to Bailey Roper; Jordan Burkinshaw; Brogan Batty and Darlene Galabe.

Kerri Bradshaw