GOLDEN JUBILEE REUNION FOR PAST STAFF

On Saturday 20th October we were delighted to host a reunion for past staff as we celebrated our Golden Jubilee. We were pleased to see so many staff from the 70’s and 80’s all of whom were impressed with the many dramatic changes and improvements to the College that have been made over the years. Mr Wilkinson who was once Head of Sixth Form at St Bede’s was pleased that the Sixth Form had returned and said that “The spirit and character of St Bede’s still lives on!” Past colleagues had travelled from the Isle of Wight, Derby and Warwick for this special occasion to mark the Jubilee. CATENIAN SPEAKING CONTEST St Bede’s again this year participated in the annual Catenian Speaking competition between Catholic schools in the diocese. Other participating schools included Prior Park, St Bernadette and St Gregory’s in Bath. “Christianity, like an itch that is destined to go unsatisfied.” This was the attention grabbing opening of this year’s winner at the Catenian Public Speaking contest on 14th October from Jake Roy, Assistant Head Boy. Delivered with warmth, charm and humour, an intelligent argument was presented. Assistant Head Girl Ellie Brain was similarly convincing in her poised delivery of “Windmills: blight or saviour?” As she said of her windmill joke, “it will literally blow you away.” Jake and Ellie certainly did themselves and St Bede’s proud as they took home 1st and 3rd prizes this year. YEAR 8 ENJOY 'PLAY YOUR PART' WORKSHOPS All Year 8 pupils enjoyed a day off timetable last week when they attended informative workshops on Rail Safety, Ashfield Youth Offenders Unit, Red Cross First Aid Training, Alcohol Awareness, Personal Safety and Exploring Diversity. The workshops build on the College's Personal, Social, Citizenship & Health Education (PSCHE). The day which we held is organised by the Youth Project Officer at Avon & Somerset Police Constabulary.

BATTLEFIELDS TRIP 2012 At 5.00am on Thursday 11th October, 41 excited year 9 pupils and 4 staff set off on their tour of the First World War Battlefield sites. Our first stop was the fascinating Memorial Museum of Passchendaele, where we investigated the three battles of Ypres and explored the replica bunker systems. In the evening we were privileged to attend the moving Menin Gate ceremony that takes place every day at 8.00pm. Day two started early, as we set off to explore the Somme area. We visited the site where the Accrington Pals went into battle on 1st July 1916 and many died within the first hour. At Thiepval, we held our own ceremony and laid a wreath in memory of those who sacrificed their lives in the First World War. At Vimy Ridge we toured the underground tunnels where soldiers waited to make their assault on the ridge in April 1917. During our last morning we visited the tranquil Tyne Cot cemetery, in contrast to the sober darkness of the German cemetery at Langemark. Our First World War experience was tied together by our final visit to the In Flanders Field Museum. Erin Davies and Joey Gompels were interviewed on Belgium Radio to talk about the importance of visits such as these and Cameron Collins saw the resting place of his Great Uncle. Other highlights included a visit to the Belgium Chocolate shop. Mrs Lewis, Mr Lincoln, Mrs Gibson and Mr Barrett would like to thank all the pupils on the trip for their excellent behaviour. Pupils who are currently in year 8 will get letters after the holidays about the Battlefields Trip 2013. SIXTH FORM OPEN EVENING You are invited to attend our Sixth Form Open Evening on Thursday 22nd November at 6.30pm. There will be opportunity to learn more about the subjects we have on offer and collect a prospectus if you do not already have one. Staff will be available during the evening to answer any questions. We look forward to seeing you. WEAR IT PINK Today the whole College took part in a ‘wear it pink’ day to raise money for breast cancer research. There were many fantastic outfits that accessorised school uniform in pink from head to toe! The day has been a great success and enjoyed by both staff and pupils. We hope to raise a huge amount of money for this worthy cause. Well done and thank you for all your support!

St Bede’s Catholic College Long Cross, Bristol BS11 OSU

Tel: (0117) 3772200 Fax: (0117) 3772201

E-mail: stbedes@bristol.gov.uk Visit our Website: www.stbedescatholiccollege.org

Tel: (0117) 3772200 Fax: (0117) 3772201 E-mail: st_bedes_s@bristol-city.gov.uk

Tel: (0117) 3772200 Fax: (0117) 3772201 E-mail: st_bedes_s@bristol-city.gov.uk

NEWSLETTER 149 25th October 2012 2010

SHAKESPEARE PERFORMANCE

This year, 25 students from year 10 have had the pleasure of taking part in the Shakespeare Schools Festival. We put on a production of Macbeth and performed it at two venues: The Tobacco Factory and The Redgrave Theatre which we all

thoroughly enjoyed. We began rehearsing many months prior to the performance. We had taken time to look into the meaning behind the words which we were speaking, in order to make sure that we delivered them with appropriate actions and emotions. When the day of the performance came we were all very excited and determined to do the play justice. We were pleased with our performance and had a brilliant time. Overall the entire experience was both successful and most importantly fun. MOVEMBER Staff (Male) at St Bede's are busy grooming and shaping their facial hair again for the month of 'Movember'. This ever increasingly famous charity aims to raise funds and awareness for prostate and testicular cancers. Participants start the month clean-shaven and are then sponsored to grow 'crazy' moustaches. Mr Slocombe is 'judging' our own winners at the end of the month. Find out more at www.uk.movember.com YEAR 11 ATTEND CAREERS FAIR All Year 11 pupils had the opportunity to attend a Careers Fair last week when a number of local providers came into College to help pupils with their career choices next year. Alongside our own Sixth Form provision we had providers from St Brendan’s, Bristol University, BT Apprenticeships, Stroud & South Gloucestershire College, City of Bristol College, Access to Music, On Site, S&B Training, Bridgwater College, Life Time Apprenticeships, Weston College, YMCA & Hit Training provided information on all of their courses next year and pupils were then allowed to sign up to further workshops for a more detailed talk on their potential career paths. COMMUNITY SPORT This term St Bede’s Community Sport has seen its work force grow with the arrival of two new members of staff. Jordan James and Lydia Romeu are our new apprentices and will be fully involved in all that we do. The Community Sports team has successfully delivered the first round of fixtures for the St Bede’s Primary Football League. This will run for the whole year and fixtures will be played at the end of each term. St Bonaventure’s currently sit top of the table after two games. We have also delivered the recent primary X-Country event held at Ashton Park School, all that took part in the event put in a great effort considering the weather! E-SAFETY TIP Wireless internet is available everywhere now, so even if you have disconnected your internet, the signal from a neighbour’s internet can sometimes still be picked up in your home. Even if computer use is restricted a modern mobile phone or handheld device can connect wirelessly to the internet.

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES NEWS

The MFL Department held a number of activities to celebrate the European day of Languages this term. We had salsa dancing lead by Miss Brown, a cafe and watched a foreign film. There was a poster competition for year

7. They were asked to include as many greetings in other languages as possible in a creative way. Congratulations to our winners 1st place Amara Fordham-Vizcaino, 2nd place Ella Clifton and 3rd place Maria Campbell. A number of fun activities have been scheduled after half term. These include a Year 7 Languages Club which will run each Wednesday from 1:25-1:55p.m in A4, French Drama Club every Thursday in the Drama Theatre starting at 1:15pm and GCSE French revision class Thursday from 3:30 - 5:00pm with Ms Sanders in A4. YEAR 7 MERITS Year 7 has made a fantastic start at college with many earning merits. 7PCMC have won a total of 359 merits followed closely by 7BTT with 356. The pupils with the most merits obtained for Term 1 are Dominic Ziegent 7PCMC and Kundai Vurayayi 7DASK. Congratulations. PARIS TRIP 2013 All Medical Consent Forms and Passport details should have been with Miss Ryan by Thursday of this week. If you have not returned this yet, please ensure the forms are returned no later than Monday 5th November. The second deposit of £100 is also due on Monday 5th November. CAFOD HARVEST FAST DAY APPEAL Well done to all our pupils and staff who have raised £209.89 for the Cafod Harvest Fast Day appeal. SKI TRIP TO ITALY 2014 Letters will be going home shortly regarding the ski trip to Italy in 2014. If you have any queries regarding the trip please contact Mr Johnson. First deposit will be due by Friday 23rd November 2012. MATTER FOR YOUR ATTENTION We have had a breakout of Head Lice in school. Please could Parents check and treat over the Half term period. Head lice can usually be effectively treated using medicated lotions or by wet combing, using a specially designed head lice comb.

WISE WORDS Make the most of today. Translate your good intentions into

actual deeds. Grenville Kleiser (1868-1953) Writer

BRAINTEASER How many minutes is it until six o'clock if fifty minutes ago it was

four times as many minutes past three o'clock?

LAST WEEKS BRAINTEASER ANSWER 18 seconds