N e w s l e t te r I s s u e 2 5 F r i d a y 1 5 A p r i l 2 0 1 6

L Roberts— Principal

Dear Parents/Carers

I hope you had a lovely Easter break. The pupils have certainly

returned to school well rested and many that I spoke to were happy

to be back into the busy life of school.

We have had a few staffing changes that are significant. We have

appointed Mr Martyn West as our new SENCo . Not only is he going

to be a great SENCo but he has a background of middle school and

Redditch middle schools. He’s also an ex-professional footballer so

the staff Vs staff games might get a little “tasty”. Miss Jones has left

us to further her career as an Assistant Headteacher in a

Birmingham primary school. Like me I’m sure you will be wishing her

all the best in her new endeavours.

Mrs Dhanjal, who has been with the school in a number of roles, but

more latterly as Head of Catholic Life, has taken a break from

teaching and is hoping to spend some more time with her family.

She has made a huge contribution to the catholic life of the school

and the richness of many of the pupils experiences in school; we too

wish her all the very best.

Obviously, as Principal, I am responsible for leading catholic life of

the school. I will be very ably assisted by Mr Payton, of course, but

Miss Downes, our school chaplain, will now be full time and Miss

Howard-Biggs will be leading the curriculum side of Religious

Education for the summer term.

I am really looking forward to the Confirmation Masses for our Year

8s as they continue their journey of faith. The dates are

Wednesday and Thursday evenings at Our lady Mount Carmel

Church and St Peters respectively. I hope to see many of you there.

Finally, another hugely successfully week in terms of sporting

achievement with Year 7 boys winning the Midlands basketball (that

was all over Twitter) and the Girls winning the District Year 5 7-a-

side Football. I have been thinking about why we are so successful

in so many areas of the sporting arena? I have got a few thoughts

about why. In my view, this is because we have high expectations,

aiming to maintain the high levels of achievement of the past. But

predominantly, it’s the balanced choices we offer the pupils and the

breadth and depth of the opportunities our staff give them.

Alongside this, very strong teaching from the PE department and a

willingness to allow the pupils time to apply what they have learnt

in lessons into game situations. I think it’s worth adding that we are

developing brave and courageous learning that are willing to work

as a team to push themselves and grow, not only as sportsmen and

women but as the whole person.

Have a lovely weekend.

Next week, forty nine members of Year 8 will be

receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation on Tuesday 20

April, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Wednesday 21

April at St Peter’s. We are starting to feel a little nervous

and excited! We would like to ask all members of the St

Bede’s community to remember us in your prayers over

the coming days as we make our final preparations.

(Matthew, Year 8)

CONFIRMATION—20 & 21 April

We will be celebrating these two very important

days next week and would like to inform parents

that on the Confirmation days the dress code for the

candidates is as follows:

Smart casual

Boys—trousers, shirts and ties (optional)

Girls—trousers with smart blouses or if wearing

dresses or skirts the length should be appropriate

for this occasion, that is, knee length.

O God, send forth your Holy Spirit into my heart that I may perceive, into my mind that I may remember, and into my soul that I may meditate. Inspire me to speak with piety, holiness, tenderness and mercy. Teach, guide and direct my thoughts and senses from beginning to end. May your grace ever help and correct me, and may I be strengthened now with wisdom from on high, for the sake of your infinite mercy. Amen.

Visit our website: www.st-bedes.worcs.sch.uk Twitter:

@stbedesmiddle | facebook.com/stbedesmiddle

19 April B’ham Symphony Hall (selected pupils)

25 April (whole week) French Trip and Skern Lodge Trip

2 May May Day Holiday—school closed

30 May Half Term—school closes

6 June School opens

14 June New Parents’ Evening (7.00pm)

1 July Year 5—Alexandra Theatre B’ham

IONA JARROW LINDISFARNE WHITBY

553 552 531 539

YEAR 5 YEAR 6 YEAR 7 YEAR 8

558 662 441 514

WEEKLY ATTENDANCE

11 April —15 April 2016

Whole School—96.9%

Year 5 96.0% Year 7 97.7%

Year 6 98.6% Year 8 95.4%

Caitlin Bach for playing an active part in class discussions and for being a polite member of 5CA.

Beatrice Mundy for an excellent, positive attitude in lessons and being a friendly member of 5HA.

Leo Hobbis for making good contributions in class and for having a positive attitude to learning.

Maddison Whyte for her excellent safety presentation.

Isha Ali for excellent work and contributions in English.

MULTILINGUAL SPELLATHON 2016 RESULTS

Very well done to all the children who spelt their heart out in our Multilingual Spellathon!

We have 4 Champion spellers, Siôn Duggan in Year 5, Rosie Mills in Year 6, Bella Kennedy and Dominic

Mackie both in Year 8 who spelt 20 out of 20 words correctly, and many more children with impressive

results.

All participants have done an amazing job of raising money for our Lenten charities, with a total pledged

just under £500.

Thank you to all those of you who have generously sponsored our pupils.

We look forward to next year’s event! (Miss S Clavelou)

Year 7 continued their unbeaten run in the West Midlands Basketball competition with a thumping 56 – 22 victory over a very tall Aston Manor Academy team in the Quarter Finals. St Bede’s started superbly and the starting 5 quickly raced in to an 18 – 2 lead at the end of the first quarter. The next 5 extended

this lead further and St Bede’s held a comfortable 36 – 8 lead at half time. Despite not having the height advantage the quick passing and moving enabled St Bede’s to keep scoring and they completed a 56 – 22 victory to move in to the semi-finals where they will play Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School. What was noticeable was that all the boys contributed to assist and all the boys score baskets. Cian Hodson was top scorer with 10 points, Harry Bradley, Regan Salisbury and James Wynne scored 8 points each. Hadeeq Mailk, Matthew Barratt, Shea Synott, George Skelton, Jake Staunton, Gabriel Kubon and Charlie Williams all scored the other baskets in what Mr Russell described as possibly the best ever performance by a Year 7 Basketball team at St Bede’s. (Mr M Russell)

Year 7 played in the Midland Basketball Finals in Birmingham on Wednesday. They had qualified for this by winning their group and subsequent quarter and semi-finals. Firstly we played Bartley Green School in the West Finals and despite being 8 – 7 down at half time recovered to play some really good Basketball in the last quarter to win comfortably by 19 – 8. Matthew Barratt, Harry Bradley, George Skelton and James Wynne amongst the scorers. The boys then had a coaching session from an NBA coach and Vladimir Radmanovic (ex LA Lakers NBA star). There was then a shooting competition run by the NBA with 2 boys shooting in pairs scoring points for the number of baskets they got in from different distances. Regan Salisbury and James Wynne went first for St Bede's and qualified for the finals in first place, scoring 21 points including a superb 5 pointer from James Wynne. Shea Synott and Jake Staunton went second and qualified as the second finalists. In the final, Jake Staunton and Shea Synott managed to score one more point then Regan and James ensuring they won the trophy as the top shooters.

In the final St Bede's played previously unbeaten Bishop Vesey School who looked impressive in their East final. The boys turned on the style and were 6 – 0 up at the end of the first quarter with James Wynne again starting the scoring. Harry Bradley then scored two excellent quick baskets in the second quarter and Charlie Williams added a free throw to put St Bede's 11 – 0 up at half time. Gabriel Kubon, James Wynne and Matthew Barratt all scored baskets in the second half to increase the lead but really the outstanding feature was St Bede's defence which kept out Bishop Vesey’s strong players and this was a true team effort. St Bede's won 20 – 11 to make history by winning the Midland Championships for the first time in St Bede's history. In addition to this Matthew Barratt was named MVP for his performances in the two games. It was a superb day which was really well run by the NBA and England Basketball and the boys each won a basketball, signed photo of Vladimir Radmanovic and other gifts. Many thanks to the parents who came to support us on the day again, and especially to the squad for this outstanding achievement. The Squad: Jake Staunton, Cian Hodson, Shea Synott, George Skelton, Gabriel Kubon, Charlie Williams, Regan Salisbury, Matthew Barratt, James Wynne, Hadeeq Malik and Harry Bradley. To see photos and videos of the day please follow @BedesPE for all the latest news from the PE Department. (Mr M Russell)

The Year 6 Netball Team played in the annual Catholic Schools tournament at Christopher Whitehead School in Worcester. They were fantastic from the start, winning their opening game 3-0 against St. Joseph's from Droitwich. Their second match was very close and resulted in a 4-3 win for the opposition St. Wulstan's. St. Bede's went on to win their next 2 group games against Winterfold School (5-3) and St. Ambrose (5-0) meaning that they qualified top of their group for the semi-finals. In the semi-final they played against St. George's beating them convincingly and earing their place in the Final! St. Bede's played their hearts out in the final against Our Lady Queen Of Peace, and kept their heads up despite all the decisions being made against them. Unfortunately, St. Bede's came away in second place but they showed fantastic knowledge of the rules and tactics - better than some of the adults! and should be really pleased with the way they represented the school. Congratulations to the whole team; Kinga Greda, Niamh Roberts, Lillia Williams, Aine Brown, Gracie Wegrzyn, Grace Baker, Paulina Jurkowska, Hannah Franke and Sophie Butler. (Mrs R Wintle)

Congratulations to the St Bede’s Year 5 girls Football team who won the Redditch District 7 a-side Football Tournament. The girls played

fantastically well, winning all four games. Their first match was a tight game against Ridgeway, but a superb goal from Mya Cattell won the game 1-0. Next up was a match against Birchensale, the girls thoroughly deserved their victory 5-0. In our third match we played against Ipsley and the team took a convincing 4-0 lead into half time. However, Ipsley replied with three quick goals not even our superstar goalkeeper, Jazlyn Hegarty, could stop! It was a nervy last minute or so for both myself and parents/carers watching, but the girls hung on to win 4-3. St Bede’s last match was against Walkwood, the girls were 1-0 down at half time but in the second half they were attacking down the hill. With just two minutes to go in the game they equalised with a goal that just crept over the line. In the last minute of the game they found a winning goal. The team were presented with medals to show their achievement and they will also be given their school colour for Football. Well done to Lucy Hatfield, Mya Cattell, Jazlyn Hegarty, Sophie Platt, Brooke Mandefield, Summer Brookes, Hollie Fuszard and Jessica Sanders. (Mr S Evans)

St Bedes Middle Sch@StBedesMiddle

23/03/2016—New post added at St Bede’s Arts Showcase—Beth Sherburn performs at St

Bedes!

Fb.me/24v3RTfl5

Parents please note that if girls wear scrunches or hair bands to school these must be

in NAVY BLUE with no bows. We are seeking your co-operation on this issue. Thank

you.

It seemed a long time ago when the whole

school participated in the CAFOD sponsored

walk on 23 March. Here are some pictures

that we would like to share with parents.

When the day arrived we were raring to start and

walk this 4.3mile. Firstly, we went over the bridge

and headed for Arrow Valley Lake. Once there, we

walked swiftly anti-clockwise around the lake

leaving room for the public. We kept chipping away

at the journey and lo and behold we spotted Mr

Payton taking photos!! We walked another lap of

the lake before heading back to our destination.

We crossed the road with the aid of Mr Russell and

Mrs Vale and by now our legs were aching but we

powered on. It was a fantastic sight when we

spotted the school.

We were still buzzing at break time with the thrill of

completing this 2016 walk. (Harrison Mayne)