Term 1 October 2018

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the first Beacon of the year, which gives a short flavour of what’s been happening in the College over the last few weeks. A big thank you to all the staff for doing all those extra things for the boys that makes school more than just a series of lessons.

We are really proud of the students who really excelled in their A-levels and GCSEs, a particular mention goes to the following A-level students: Jack Farr who achieved an A*, A and B; Mohid Rahman, 2 As and a B; David Jackson, 3As and Euan Dawson, 3Bs. At GCSE Barnaby Aldrich achieved 8 Grade 9s and 2 7s and Thomas Skidmore 4 9s, 3 8s and 3 6s. Well done to all of our students and we wish them all well in the future.

Towards the end of last term Mrs Kendall led our school in fundraising for CAFOD by encouraging students and staff to wear bright colours for the day - the boys on the cover are a great example!

In November we have Gen Verde visiting. Gen Verde is an internationally recognised Catholic performing arts group. They are doing a range of workshops with Year 9 & 10 students from Notre Dame and SBCC. This is being fully funded by Bishop Mark and culminates in a concert at Notre Dame on Friday 11 November.

Thanks once again for your continued support.

Mr N MaslenHeadteacher

Virtual Reality & RoboticsStudents in Year 9 have been working on a project based on the novel “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline in Computer Science this term. The story revolves around the protagonist Wade Watts who engages with a virtual reality world known as ‘The Oasis’.

In order to discuss the impact virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are having on their lives, the students used Google Cardboard VR headsets - kindly funded by the PTA - to enter a virtual world. Mr Maslen even had a go at a virtual rollercoaster!

The Computer Science lessons revolved around the use of ‘computational thinking’ or CT, which is used by most people on a daily basis. It is the process in which one approaches a problem; the first step is to establish what information you need (abstraction), before moving on to the second step - decomposition - where the

Year 8 students meanwhile have been exploring how robots can be programmed. The boys worked in small groups using the Sphero, Ollie, Robosapien and Cozmo robots to program each with their commands.

“Programming the robots is a great way to apply what we’re learning about in class to a real-life gadget! It was great fun; I might need to ask Santa for one this Christmas!”

problem is further broken-down into smaller problems allowing for a more appropriate response, before moving on to the final stage - algorithmic design - putting the solution into an order that allows for an efficient solution to be found.

As an added incentive to apply their new skills, the Year 9 students were invited to take part in a supercurricular activity - a treasure hunt - based not only on the ‘three keys’ of Ready Player One, but also using their CS and CT skills to solve the problem. The first key was discovered by Toby who managed to crack the first clue... the second key has not yet been found... who will be the first to the Jade key?

The pastoral care afforded our students is exceptional, and thanks to the amazing trio of staff in our dedicated ‘Student Success Centre’, more students are being supported in their development than ever before. Our two Heads of Key Stage - Mr Davies and Mr Scott are indebted to Mrs Coot, Mrs Rowse and Miss Davis for their unending support of all students, but particularly for those who are finding school more challenging due to issues in and out of school, with mental health difficulties and with medical issues. They are there for all students and their parents who might need more support with their day-to-day issues.

For more information, contact your son’s form tutor.

Mrs Coot

Mrs Rowse

Miss Davis

Safeguarding UpdateA copy of the College Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy can be found on the College website under Parent Informationhttp://www.stbonifaces.com/safeguarding

Dr Summers is the St Boniface’s College Designated Safeguarding Lead, DSLasummers@stbonifaces.com

Mr Davies is the College Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead, DDSLadavies@stbonifaces.com

Plymouth Local Authority Safeguarding Gateway tel: 01752 668000

Please do not hesitate to contact Dr Summers in the first instance if you have any concerns regarding the safeguarding of any child.

About Thrive PlymouthThrive Plymouth is a ten year programme which aims to improve health and wellbeing in Plymouth and narrow the gap in health status between people in the city. Its objective is to generate collective action for social change around the main lifestyle choices that determine health and wellbeing in Plymouth. The programme will encourage and enable partners (residents, organisations, institutions) to support positive lifestyle choices in different settings.https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/uploads/production/document/path/7/7557/Thrive_Plymouth_Leaflet.pdf About Prevent PlymouthThe Prevent duty places a responsibility on key agencies in the city to have due regard to preventing people being drawn into extremism and terrorism. The government defines extremism as: “vocal or active opposition to fundamental British Values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.” https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/antisocialbehaviourandcrime/preventingterrorism

Indecent images of children Campaign (HM Govt.)

Eleven percent of 18-24yr olds don’t think it is illegal to download, view or share indecent images of a child when they are under 18. Twenty-two percent of men aged 18-24 do not agree that the children in indecent images are harmed by the experience.

In response to a Ipsos MORI survey in February 2017, the Home Office has launched a campaign to inform young men that viewing abusive images of children is illegal. Awareness needs to improve in order to protect children and prevent the criminalisation of young men. Key messages of the campaign are:• Viewing sexual images of children under 18 is illegal• The age of consent (16) is different to the legal age to feature in a sexual image

(18)• There is a victim behind every underage sexualised image• What you should do if you come across indecent imagesCampaign resources include posters and videos.

Further information can be found in the supporters’ pack here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/indecent-images-of-children-campaign-supporter-pack

Website: https://stoponlinechildsexualabuse.campaign.gov.uk

Our committed PTA work throughout the year to raise funds to help pay for projects at the College that benefit individual or groups of students. Thanks to the enthusiasm and energy of the parents and teachers on the committee, and to the continued support of parents and friends, the support fund continues to grow. We’re thankful to Mr Maslen for agreeing to donate all commission from Tempest photographs straight to the PTA.

We are looking forward to meeting new parents at upcoming events - including Open Evening on September 18th, and supporting school events such as Boniface Most Haunted and Sleeping with the Sharks.

One of the easiest ways to support the PTA is by signing up to our school lottery. The lottery is drawn every week and the winner receives their winnings via bank transfer. You can sign up by visiting this website and searching for St Boniface’s Catholic College:

www.yourschoollottery.co.uk

You can also support the PTA by joining us at our termly meetings and helping to make decisions to benefit your son and his peers; donate financially - either with cash donations or using a standing order; donates goods/services for raffle prizes; use The Giving Machine website to donate money for free every time you shop online; volunteer your time at PTA events; donate your foreign coins; follow us on Facebook and promote the PTA and St Boniface’s to prospective parents.

St Boniface’s PTA. We’re in your corner.

www.facebook.com/StBonifacesPTA

Mrs Kendall led the way raising funds for CAFOD during Harvest this year. Well done to all involved!

It has been a successful start to this year’s sport for St Boniface’s. Years 7-9 have been competing at the central venue fixtures each week for the las 4 weeks. The year 7 team have been developing their squad and players really well, considering there are many new players to the game of rugby. They have put 100% effort in to every match, even when the opposition players were significantly bigger. The stand out players for the Year 7s have been: Captain and centre Spike Birch, scrum half Cameron Harvey and the versatile forward of Harrison.

For the Year 8s, we have continued on the good run of form from last year only losing one game so far (against DHSB). They are starting to play well together as a team and are one of the favourites to win the Cunningham Cup this year. Stand out players have been: prop forward Leighton Stark, Second Row Tom Coutts and Centre bulldozer Israel Akinrowa.

For the Year 9s, we have the 2016 Cunningham cup winning team who are still marching on and winning most games. They have been extremely committed and have, once again, represented the school with pride and maturity. The stand out players for this team are: Asher Matthews, the clever scrum half/fly half, Cameron Harvey, the dominant second rower, and Alberto Bromeo, the military tank.

I am now looking forward to the Annual Rugby Tour to Cornwall, where the Year 8s and 9s will have the chance to play a long game against two Cornish Schools.

- M. ROCA

We are well and truly into our new school year and the liturgical season of Ordinary Time, a time in the Church when you will see your priest at mass wearing green vestments to symbolise growth. Growth is a concept we often stop to reflect on at the beginning of each school year. It might be the growth of our children who are returning to school another year older, more mature and taller, or the growth of our child who has taken that first step into the world of secondary school and has embarked on their journey of independence; getting the bus on his own for the first time, arriving home with work from new and exciting subjects or with tales of new friendships. Whilst this growth is important, it is spiritual growth that the priest is symbolising through his green vestments. The growth we receive by reflecting on the Gospel message at mass, the spiritual growth we get from our silent prayers offered during the day and the spiritual growth that is offered to us daily in the life of St Boniface’s Catholic College.

We began the school year with assemblies that were delivered to each year group and reflected on the college ethos statement ‘Dream, Believe, Achieve’. Each tutor group reflected on their personal aspirations for this coming school year how they hope to improve both themselves and lives of others, by putting Christ’s message at the core of all their actions. Some wonderful examples of goals that students have set themselves this year are: ‘I will be a friend to someone if they are lonely’, ‘I will try to put others before myself ’ and ‘I will show kindness to the people around me, even if they aren’t showing it to me’.

In September, we celebrated a wonderful welcome liturgy for year 7, who sang their hearts out during collective worship with their year group and with Fr Jonathon Bielawski in St. Peter’s Church. The theme of our liturgy was ‘let your light shine’, encouraging our year 7 students to reflect on Jesus, the light of the world and to be beacons of light for everyone that they encounter.

In October the whole school came together to celebrate CAFOD family fast day, tutor groups went head to head in an exciting inter house competition, to see who could raise the most money for CAFOD and who could support CAFOD’s theme of ‘Brighten Up’, by wearing the most colourful outfits. We had great fun taking part in the activities that some groups organised like ‘splat the teacher’, two football tournaments, cake sales, and ‘guess the marshmallows’. We had some amazing outfits consisting of neon colours and even blue and pink hair! All in all it was a resounding success, with the college raising £410 for CAFOD, to support their work across the globe in caring for some of the most poor in our common home.

Looking forward to next term, we will start the term with a solemn approach as we remember ‘All Souls Day and remember our brothers and sisters in Christ who now site alongside the father in heaven. Each tutor group will be invited to the college chapel for a liturgy, in which we will remember beloved friends and family who have died. Each person remembered will be put in the college ‘Book of Holy Souls’ and we will pray for them as a community of faith each day during the month on November. During November, we will also be holding a remembrance service to commemorate those who have selflessly given their lives serving our country. We will hold the traditional one minute silence at 11am and offer our prayers in their remembrance during the service.

Dare I mention the ‘C’ word!? Is it me or is Christmas coming around earlier and earlier every year? The solemnity of November will continue into Advent, as we prepare for the coming of the Lord on Christmas day. Advent is the beginning of the Church year and is a season of penitence. It is an opportunity for us to seek reconciliation for our sins so that we can embrace Jesus with a pure and joyful heart. We will be holding lots of liturgical and chaplaincy events during this season and we hope to be able to invite you to some our services that will be held in St.Peter’s church.

With blessings,

The chaplaincy team

Catholicity

OCTOBER29th Monday All students return

DECEMBER21st Friday End of Term 222nd - 6th CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY

JANUARY7th Monday All students return

PARENTS’ EVENINGS 2018/19Year 7 4 December 2018Year 8 4 June 2019Year 9 22 January 2019Year 10 30 April 2019Year 11 13 November 2018 & 5 February 2019

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