A weekly newsletter for Parents, Carers, Students, Governors and Staff 25 October 2019

Dear Parents and Carers This week has shown the sense of community that all Bath Schools have. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Max McMullen, and our friends and colleagues at Beechen Cliff. We continue to support all of our young people here at St Gregory’s in their grief and sense of loss. The student community is a close one and we recognise the interaction between the students of our schools that take place daily. We will continue to support students at both St Gregory’s and Beechen Cliff. Mr Robinson will be working between both schools in his capacity as School Chaplain. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone at this difficult and sad time and I would ask everyone in the St Gregory’s community to remember Max, his family and friends.

Ms A Cusack, Headmistress

Dates for your Diary

When we return: Week A

Fri 25 Oct End of Term 1

Mon 4 Nov Term 2 Begins

Wed 6 Nov Y7 visit to Chepstow Castle

Tue 19 Nov Year 11 Study Skills Evening

Mon 2 Dec Y10 Bronze DofE Award Ceremony

Chaplaincy Thoughts

As you will all no doubt already know, the community of Beechen Cliff and the

wider community of Bath have been shocked and saddened by the tragic news of

the death of Max McMullen this week. We at St Gregory's have been praying for

all those affected and send our thoughts and prayers to all those who are

mourning the loss of Max. As the week has progressed it has become apparent

how close this city truly is, with so many of our young people at St Gregory's

connected to Max through friendships or siblings. The fast paced networking

that social media offers has opened up our students and your children to a world

of highly emotive messages, pictures and songs which are shared and liked at an

incredible rate. I believe this culture of social media connection has opened our

students up to so much more than they would ordinarily encounter already in the

days since. The positives of this are incredibly touching with young people

offering comfort and encouragement aplenty towards each other, with no

boundaries between all our schools. However, it also opens them up to an

avenue of grief that is hard to close off, and maybe for some replaces the

conversations they need to have with parents and other support. Maybe

something to be aware of, during half term especially.

We continue to offer as much support in school as is required to those who feel

affected by Max's death, both directly and indirectly. Earlier today I led a liturgy

at break time for all those who wished to attend to give us an opportunity to

gather and pray for Max and his family and friends, as well as all of us who are

struggling. The Chapel was completely full with students and staff who were able to reflect on readings from scripture and

reflections, before lighting a memorial candle and contributing to our book of condolence. Above is a lovely picture of the

candle light spelling out Max's name from the liturgy.

Continued on page 2...

Mon

4

11.05am

1.30pm

1.30pm

Shared Prayer

Christian Union (G9)

Arts and Crafts

Tue

5

8.30am

11.05am

1.30pm

Staff Morning Prayer

Rosary CAFOD Young Volunteers

Arts and Crafts

Wed

6

11.05am

1.30pm

Shared Prayer

Meditation

Thu

7

11.05am

1.30pm

Lectio Divina

Mass Preparation

Fri

8

L1 & L2

11.05am

1.30pm

Mass

Mass Clear up

Games

Chaplaincy Notices

For details of school Sports Clubs

please check the school website:

http://www.st-

gregorys.org.uk/2019/09/girls-and-

boys-sports-clubs-terms-1-2/

Dear Parents and Carers I would like to thank Mrs Cleveland, Mr McDermot and the Year 9 and Year 10 parents and carers for the wonderful Engagement Evening on Tuesday. It was fantastic to receive such fantastic feedback. Congratulations to Bakhita House for winning the Cross Country Competition this week. Our CAFOD Young Volunteer Leaders embarked on the first session of their course which was held at St Bede’s Catholic College in partnership with our Catholic Secondary Partner schools. This week our Year 7 Chaplaincy Team took part in the annual Diocesan Education Mass at Clifton Cathedral. It was a wonderful celebration of Catholic Education. We are holding a PTFA and Performing Arts Fundraiser, “Through the Decades”, on Friday 29 November at 7.00pm to celebrate 40 years of outstanding performing arts education at St Gregory’s. The evening will include fabulous entertainment and a silent auction. Book a table now to avoid disappointment. Save the Date: Our annual Carol Service with St John’s and St Mary’s Bath will be held at St John the Evangelist, Bath at 18:30 on Wednesday 18 December 2019.

Ms A Cusack, Headmistress

Continued from page 1…

If there is one question I get asked as a Chaplain at moments such as this, and have been asked several times this week, it is -

“Why”? As we grieve and struggle for answers the biggest question is Why? Why would God let someone with his whole life

ahead of him die? I have no easy or definite answers. I can honestly admit I do not know. But I do seek assurance in knowing

that whilst God did not choose for these circumstances, he is there for us to turn to in comfort if we wish to knock at the door

and express how we are feeling what the emotions. I find the following passage from the late Cardinal Hume helpful:

“Death is a formidable foe until we learn to make it a friend. Death is to be feared if we do not learn to welcome it. Death is

the ultimate absurdity if we do not see it as fulfilment. Death haunts us when viewed as a journey into nothingness rather than

a pilgrimage to a place where true happiness is to be found.

We, left to continue our pilgrimage through life, weep and mourn. Sadness reigns in our hearts. Our tears will not be bitter

ones now but a gentle weeping to rob our sadness of its agony and lead at last to peace, peace with God.

The human mind cannot understand death. We face it with fear and uncertainty, revulsion even; or we turn away from the

thought for it is too hard to bear. But faith gives answers when reason fails. The strong instinct to live points to

immortality. Faith admits us into death’s secrets. Death is not the end of the road, but a gateway to a better place. It is in this

place that our noblest aspirations will be realised. It is here that we will understand how our experience of goodness, love,

beauty and joy are realities which exist perfectly in God. It is in heaven that we shall rest in him and our hearts will be restless

until they rest in God.”

Mr Robinson, Lay Chaplain

CAFOD Young Volunteers Course

To begin a very busy day for Chaplaincy on Tuesday, we

joined around 70 other students from schools across the

diocese at St Bede's Catholic College in Bristol for the first

session of this year’s Young Volunteers Programme. In the

past the charity CAFOD have led all the input into this course,

which gives the 15 of our students participating, a

comprehension insight into the far reaching work of

CAFOD. Students have then fundraised and campaigned on their behalf in St Gregory's all year. However, this year’s

programme has been expanded to include learning about the work of two other charities, which our students will learn more

about later in the year.

Their first campaign which came out of their day together will be to lead on CAFOD's World Gifts campaign, which raises

money for specific items and projects around the world that make a tangible difference. Our Year 10 group have started to

brainstorm ideas for fundraising and how they can maximise involvement throughout the school. We look forward to seeing

the fruits of their labour and watching them develop into more confident individuals as a result of this enriching

programme.

Education Mass

It was a pleasure to be a part of the Diocesan Education Mass

on Tuesday evening along with representatives of all our

schools in Clifton Diocese. As you may know, this month has

been devoted to 'Mission' by Pope Francis encouraging us to

pray, fundraise and develop ways of exploring mission in our

lives. Our school was asked to prepare something for the

penitential rite, and our Chaplaincy team put together a

reflection that took St John Henry Newman's 'Mission for my

life' prayer as it's focus. You can read the text on our

Chaplaincy twitter page @StG_Chaplaincy. Well done to

Martha and Poppy in Year 7 who were brave enough to

stand up in front of a packed Cathedral and lead the congregation in prayer.

Extraordinary Month of Mission

All this month we have been using prayer and collective

worship to focus on the theme of Mission - in prayer to

begin the day, student led collective worship in tutor

time, assemblies and more. With the month of mission

being in October we have been able to introduce praying

the rosary to many of our new cohort who join us in the

Chapel, and encourage us all to reap the benefits of this

unique form of prayer for personal mission. As well as

attending the Diocesan Education Mass, we also

organised our own Camino Partnership Mass which

brought together students, staff, governors and

parishioners from the 12 schools in our partnership. We celebrated our shared mission in Catholic Education with each

school contributing to the Mass in some capacity.

Our final and most unique project for mission has been taking place in the school Chapel with students exploring mission in

2019 here in our own community and the wider world. We looked at a hunger cloth from 1999 that was designed in the

Americas, and decided it would be a worthwhile project to come up with one for 2019 - a mission cloth that displayed the

challenges and successes of our time. The students have designed the cloth and are painting it in stages. Hopefully it will be

finished soon and we can share it with everyone.

Mr Robinson, Lay Chaplain

THE LANGUAGES CORNER French:

Personne ne peut nier que + verb(subjunctive)… = nobody

can deny that ….

Nobody can deny that holidays are expensive/ studying

can be difficult/living in the countryside can be boring

Personne ne peut nier que les vacances soient chères

Personne ne peut nier que faire des études, puisse être

difficile

Personne ne peut nier qu’habiter à la campagne, puisse

être ennuyeux

German: Es lohnt sich. = It’s worth it.

Mandarin:

献给…的真挚祝福。 Xiàngěi … de zhēnzhì zhùfú。

Best wishes to…

Spanish: es la leche - its great

(lit. its the milk)

Please remember aerosol sprays are strictly forbidden in school.

Scouting Success!

Congratulations to Eloise in Year 7 who competed last

weekend at the Scout National Rifle Championships in Bisley,

Surrey. She won the award for the Most Improved Rifle Scout

of the Year. Well Done!

Mrs Kestell, Teacher of Science and Year 7 Tutor

Creative Linguists

Created by Olivia

Created by Nicola

Created by Rowan

Huge congratulations to Olivia, Nicola and Rowan for their

amazing take on numbers and snails in French. I was

amazed by their creativity and hard work. BRAVO !!!!

Madame Lemée

Performing Arts — Lunchtime Clubs and Rehearsals (13:30—14:10)

Lunchtime Clubs Lunchtime Rehearsal

Monday KS3 Dance School Production Rehearsals

Tuesday Y7 and Y8 Choir School Production Rehearsals

Wednesday Orchestra and National Theatre

Connections rehearsals

School Production Rehearsals

Thursday Senior Choir and Year 7 Dance

Club

School Production Rehearsals

(Dancers Only)

Friday Brass Group , Tech Club and

Boys Dance Club, Tap Club

School Production Rehearsals

Rugby News Year 10 v Ralph Allen St Gregory's kicked off their season against Ralph Allen this year. Despite not following our game plan the team showed real character with good tackling from Jacob Q (10R) and Larson M (10O) backed up by good attacking play from Jonric D (10G) and Captain Aodhan E (10O). We were leading at half time but ran out of steam a little in the second half which meant we narrowly lost in a very tight and entertaining game. Man of the Match was Kacper K (10O) who was superb throughout. Final Score: St Gregory's 14 - 28 Ralph Allen Year 10 v Writhlington If the first 10 minutes was anything to go by a heavy defeat like last year was very much on the cards for the Year 10 St Gregory's Team. Fortunately the boys woke up and defensively we were in much better shape. Good tackling from the likes of Mac N (10G) and Leo K (10E) kept the score line respectable and when we got some ball our selves we looked dangerous in attack. St Gregory's slowly started to claw their way back into the game and scores from Jack H (10R), Elliott B (10Y), Kacper K (10O) and Man of the Match, Nande M (10R), meant we were a converted try away from a brilliant win. Good pressure saw us claim a penalty 10 metres out but unfortunately we just were not able to cross the line before the game ended. Despite a loss the improvement from this team is dramatic and if they keep going in this direction they will inevitably be successful going forward. Well done to all involved. Final Score: Writhlington 31 - 25 St Gregory's

Notice to Parents/Carers

Whilst the school is grateful to parents/carers for their efforts

to keep students in school, can we please remind you that it is

important when recovering from a sickness bug to keep

students away from school for the required 48 hours.

Mrs Gailey, Medical Response Officer

HEAD LICE

We are aware there have been a few cases of head lice. It is important that you please:

Look at your child’s hair this evening. Treat if necessary straight away. It is VITAL that you treat the whole family to

prevent re-infection. Check your family’s hair on a daily basis.

It is advisable to have long hair tied back as this will help prevent the spread of head lice.

Mrs Gailey, Medical Response Officer

Harvest Appeal – ‘40 Acts for 40 Years’

This week Ms Spindler has been speaking to all our students about our annual Harvest collection which this year will once again be for our local Food Bank. One of the points that she made was about the range of services that Genesis provide for the local community to help with social needs, housing and care. They have many specialists who are able to make such a difference to the people here in Bath and we are able to enable them by stocking their warehouse with as much food as we can in time for the cold winter months. The co-ordinator of Bath’s Foodbank recently emailed me in anticipation of our collection: With the Harvest Festival season fast approaching we anticipate that our stock of food will shortly be replenished, but we would also be most grateful if you could encourage your members to donate small items on a regular basis, through the supermarket collection points. It's unprecedented, but at the moment we are short of baked beans and soup, but really any item of food would be appreciated. Toiletries and hygiene products are in good order. I realise that we are appealing once more to those who have been most generous, and who continue to be generous in their giving, but there seems no let-up in demand for help, with the possibility that things may get even more difficult in the uncertain days and months ahead. Every gift is appreciated, no matter how small. I thank you on behalf of Bath Foodbank, and those in need. With kind regards Greville Mills (Bath Foodbank Churches' Co-ordinator) The Harvest collection is always one of our biggest fundraisers each year and we hope this year will be no different, as it becomes a vital cog in our ‘40 Acts for 40 Years’ campaign. Donations are being collected from school on Monday 4 November. Bath Foodbank have asked us to prioritise these items if possible, they can be left with tutors or brought directly to the Chapel:

Tinned Tomatoes Chocolate Tinned Fruit Instant Mash Pasta Sauce (jars) Jam Tinned Meat Rice Pudding Juice - longlife

Sponge puddings Custard Soup Coffee Teabags Biscuits Baked Beans Tinned Vegetables

Nut Allergies

Please be aware that we have

students with serious nut

allergies. We would therefore ask

that you avoid nuts in packed

lunches and snacks, eg chocolate

and cereal bars.

Bath Spa Live is a useful link to find out what

events are happening at our local University:

https://www.bathspalive.com/Online/

default.asp

To find out what is on at the Holburne Museum over

half term, copy and paste the link below into your

browser:

https://www.holburne.org/planning-your-visit/whats-

on/?tribe_paged=2&tribe_event_display=list

Cross Country Results

Well done to the 400 students taking part in House Cross Country

this week. Each race was well competed with some outstanding

performances.

1st Place= Bakhita

2nd Place= Stein

3rd Place= Romero and Francis

Miss McCarthy, Teacher of PE and Acting Head of Year 8

Year 7 Netball

The Year 7 Netball squad have had a great start to the

season with wins against Wellsway and Norton Hill. It has

been great to have so many students involved in matches

and training. Keep up the winning streak next term!

Miss McCarthy, Teacher of PE and Acting Head of Year 8

Year 7 Rugby v Norton Hill

After a positive result last week v Beechen Cliff,

the Year 7s went into the game yesterday against

Norton Hill in good spirits. The boys were superb

against a tough Norton Hill side with hardworking

performance to draw the game. Man of the

Match performance from Joseph B with

outstanding solo try halfway through the second

half.

The PE Department

Year 7 v Beechen Cliff

The Year 7s took on Beechen Cliff in their first game for the school. Everyone was really excited and so was I

to see them in action. The boys were absolutely amazing throughout the game and they ended up with a hard

fought draw. Throughout the game the boys rucked, tackled and ran hard with the ball, showing a

determination that any team would be proud of. For the next game we need to work hard on our handling

skills as a couple of knock ons cost us in vital areas. Players of the Match go to; Freddie F in attack for his hat-

trick and Hugo T in defence for some amazing tackling.

Year 11 v Norton Hill

Our Year 11 side continued their unbeaten run against a strong Norton Hill outfit. The game was extremely

physical, closely contested and went right to the wire with our boys running out 26-19 winners. We took our

time getting to grips with the speed of Norton Hill at the breakdown. Once we were able to be quicker

ourselves at the breakdown, we were able to dominate some ball and put it to good use. A recurring theme

with this team is courage and unbelievable defence which showed through in the last play of the game. With

time up, Norton had a penalty 5m out which they ran. The lads managed to hold them up over our try line,

turn it over and kick the ball dead for a very good win. Man of the Match goes to Louis O who was everywhere

and made some massive tackles.

Mr Ben Ackland, Teacher of Physical Education & Head of Year 12/13

Year 8 Rugby v St Marks

A slow start saw the Y8 team go behind early on Tuesday night. The team soon kicked into gear with the

forwards dominating up front and the backs using nice handling out wide. We scored 11 unanswered trys

following the score against us with numerous players crossing the whitewash. Elijah S (8Y) had a fantastic

debut and Man of the Match Peter C (8E) was fantastic throughout. The team will have tougher tests after

half term and must keep learning and improving.

Final score St Marks 5 - 55 St Gregory's

Year 10 Rugby v Norton Hill

Following two superb displays the Y10 team were not at their best against a strong Norton Hill team on

Thursday. Despite out rucking the opposition we did not use the platform well to attack the opposition. We

also uncharacteristically dropped off a few tackles and did not defend well as a team. Man of the Match was

Jonric D (10G) who worked tirelessly throughout. We go again after half term and must keep learning and

improving.

Final score Norton Hill 50 - 5 St Gregory's

Mr Ben Ackland, Teacher of Physical Education & Head of Year 12/13

This is set to be an amazing evening of fundraising and fun so please come along and support our school and our team of PTFA who are working incredibly hard to raise funds for projects around the school that will benefit all. Tickets are available by clicking on the link below: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/bath/st-gregorys-catholic-college

NEWS FROM THE ENGLISH FACULTY

Trip to see ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Bristol Old Vic:

Year 11 – Wednesday 11 December 2019 Year 10 – Wednesday 8 January 2020 See your English teacher for details.

Year 11 students

You have a tough six months ahead! But we are here to help! Hopefully the English Language Mock you have just done has given you a feel for the exam paper and helped you to assess your own strengths and weaknesses. One of the best ways to revise for GCSE English is by practising exam questions. They WILL help you to prepare for next May and they WILL boost your confidence. If you would like some more papers, just ask! Whatever your mock result, the main thing is to look at where you did well and where you need to improve – which question do you need to practise the most?

Please, please continue the hard work from Year 10… this means that you should try to re-read your Literature

texts (and the revision guides you may have bought). Underline important quotes, make some notes on characters or themes, or have a look online for ideas and revision resources.

Year 10 students

We hope you have enjoyed studying ‘An Inspector Calls’ this term. Remember, you need a copy of ‘A Christmas

Carol’ for next term. This is so that you can make your own notes in the book, highlight important quotes and read it lots at home.

You have made a great start to the year – keep up the good work!

Mr Davis and the English Faculty

Literacy Focus—The Simple 5

A simple sentence needs five things in order to work:

It makes sense on its own

Subject

Verb

Capital letter

Full stop