Saint John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy part of Saint Robert Lawrence Catholic Academy Trust

The Friday Letter Edition No 168

Friday 25 November 2016

[Follow us on www.st-johnhoughton.derbyshire.sch.uk and on Twitter@SJHCVA] The first Sunday in Advent is Sunday 27 November. Prayer for Advent Father, all-powerful God, your eternal Word took flesh on our earth when the Virgin Mary placed her life at the service of your plan. Lift our minds in watchful hope to heart the voice which announces his glory and open our minds to receive the Spirit who prepares us for his coming. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dates for your Diary

Academic Year 2016 – 2017

Monday 28 November Parent’s Information Evening

Monday - Friday 5 - 16 December Year 11 Mock Exams

Tuesday 6 December Advent Service

Tuesday 20 December Early finish at 12.30pm. Break up for Christmas

Tuesday 3 January Inset Day 3

Wednesday 4 January Students Return

Advent Service All welcome to join us on Tuesday 6 December 2016 at 7.00pm for prayer and reflection with refreshment to follow. (See Poster at the end of the Letter). The Great British Bake off @ Saint John Houghton Bake off is nearly here We have prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. You can bake as big or as small as you want, decorate how you want, use whatever flavours you want and finish them to the highest possible standard. If you don't bake but you want to help raise money for the trek to Nepal, you can donate a cake to be sold at break time on the day of the bake off obviously we'd prefer you to bake as it’s something everyone can do and its fun something the whole family can get involved in. We look forward to seeing what you create. Mr Price and Miss Bywater.

Parent’s Information Evening Monday 28 November at 7pm

We are holding a parent’s information evening looking at the changes in relation to Progress and attainment. It starts at 7pm all welcome.

There will be a presentation on New GCSE grading.

Progress and Attainment 8 measures

Data snapshots and how to understand them.

Questions and answers.

Intervention to improve progress As part of a whole school intervention plan to improve progress, Mr Thomson will be running an afterschool work improvement session. All teachers will be asked to select students, who have produced work (or a test) that shows a lack of effort or quality, or is well below teacher progress targets to stay behind until 4.45pm every Tuesday. All parents will be contacted on the Friday prior to the session and informed of the work that will be completed. A student may be required to stay as a one off or over a number of weeks to improve their work. Parents will be required to pick up students at 4.45pm after the session. Year 11 mock GCSE Examinations Year 11 mock GCSE Examinations are due to take place w/c's 5 and 12 December 2016. Students have already been issued with a generic timetable but will receive a second copy during a briefing to be held on Wednesday 30 November 2016. Morning exams will start at approx. 9:00am, however afternoon exams have been timetabled to finish shortly before 3:15pm, so start times will vary. Due to the number of exams taking place in this two-week period, it will not be possible to accommodate any extra time for those students who are eligible for this arrangement. If you wish to discuss any of these arrangements please do not hesitate to contact Jackie Morris, Examinations Officer. Former SJH student star of Saturday night TV Andrew Quinn past student at Saint John Houghton stars on the Michael McIntyre BBC1 show. Andrew sang Bring Him Home from Les Miserable and was absolutely outstanding. Andrew is now working as a firefighter in Heanor, following in his father’s footsteps. Andrew was an excellent sportsman while at school, but has clearly developed other talents since he left. It was great to see him and his family on TV on Saturday night.

Fifa Tournament 2016 2016 has still not failed to deliver shocks; Leicester, Brexit, Donald Trump and now Bournemouth! After 20 matches played in total, stand up Oliver Hodson 7JG who toppled giants on his way to a stunning 3-2 victory against Cole Hamer 11LRe. After going 2-0 early on, Cole pulled back a 2-2 cheered on by the year 11 students on a wet Tuesday afternoon. Once Oliver had his third goal in the back of the net the away crowd fell silent as the year 7 fans (and adoptive year 10s) broke into a roar of "You're not singing anymore!" as the clock run down and a student who could have picked any Premier League team he wanted took the title 2016. Thanks to everyone who participated along with Bradley Lathall and Regan Till who helped sign players up, you have all helped raise £65 for Street Child Africa. Saint John Houghton is Red and Black for 2016! Chaplaincy Department 'We ourselves need to see, and then be able to enable others to see, that migrant and refugees are brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected and loved. Pope Francis. Rachel would like to thank the J&P Team for planning, leading and delivering the tutor Act of Worship on Monday. Saint John Houghton came together to learn about the Lampedusa Cross and wrote messages of hope for the refugees. Rachel has sent the messages to CAFOD Romero House. We had a Lampaduse Cross in school and our J&P Group are hoping to purchase one for our school community. (Lampadusa Cross, wooden cross on a map photo). Thank you Rachel would like to thank the staff and pupils who joined her at break time on Monday to share refreshments and rewards for all their hard work and time they give to school. Mass of Thanksgiving for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy Sunday 20 November 2016. This was a wonderful Mass in Nottingham Cathedral on Sunday evening, the Cathedral was full of young people and it was great to see past and present Saint Jon Houghton pupils responding to the invitation of Bishop Patrick. Remembrance Service Rachel would like to thank: Amelia Dawes, Constance Keetley, Alex Leatherland, Robert Smith and Chelsea Treanor for planning, delivering and leading our Remembrance Service during Tuesday lunch time. Robert read the poem 'A People Place' and Amelia read the names of our loved ones while Constance and Chelsea lit the candles and Alex finished our service with a prayer. The team and Rachel then served refreshments to the school community. If you would like a name adding to our Book of Remembrance than please contact Rachel, we have a Remembrance Table in our Upper Room and the Bereavement Team turn the pages and say a prayer each day. Open Advent Retreat at the Briars open to Year 10 and 11, 9-11 December 2016, for more information on this fun and spiritual weekend please contact The Briars. Date for your diary: Christmas Cannons Wednesday 14 December 2016 open to Year 9 and above festive fun and prayer at the Cathedral church Nottingham - Bishop Patrick will be the guest speaker, Rachel will be there. Rachel would like to thank: Kathryn Dudley, Erin Tomlinson, Paige Annable, Katie Nemeth, Stella Davey and Millie Moggeridge for creating the Christmas Cards to pop into the Advent Bags of Hope. The girls did a wonderful job, thank you.

Fairtrade More thanks to Paige Annable and Millie Moggeridge for promoting Fair Trade chocolate. Why not try Malteser Football at home?

Bereavement Retreat

Many thanks for your prayers for this special retreat. We had a beautiful morning, lots of joy and good memories made and shared. Advent The glowing light of the Advent wreath helps us count the weeks until Christmas. As each candle is lit, we feel the growing excitement of this happy season. This is a time of hope, joy and peace. We can use the Advent wreath to prepare for Jesus' birth. We will have an Advent Wreath in our Reception and one in our main hall. Please pray this prayer for Advent in your family. God our father, during this time of Advent, Fill our hearts with your love. You sent your son Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, Into the world to save us and to show us how much you love us. As we prepare for his birth, make us ready to rejoice when he comes, for he is Lord for ever and ever. Amen. Each Tutor Group has prayers for Advent and these prayers have been sent to our feeder Infant Junior Schools so we are preparing for Christmas as a community. If you would like these prayers at home, please contact Rachel. Mass of Thanksgiving for The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy Saint Barnabas' Cathedral – Friday 18 November 2016 Thomas Wyatt writes: “It was a privilege to accompany Mrs McCarthy and Rachel to this Mass. The people working at the church were very welcoming, there was a great atmosphere and I felt as if we are all very close in the Diocese, just like a Diocese should be. I was able to see past teachers and friends which was very good. I took a great message from the Mass that Bishop Patrick gave after the Gospel, the message was, 'to serve others is being on Team Sheep and not Team Goat and he asked which Team we would want to be in,'. If you would like to hear more follow the Diocesan Website and you may hear my interview”. Tamzin Evans writes: “I felt very special to be part of the opening procession and to carry our 'Act of Mercy' along with all the other schools in the Diocese. There were so many children and young people there and the atmosphere was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed the music in the Mass which was uplifting and full of energy and I wanted to clap along with it. I really will remember being part of this closing liturgy because so many priests were there and the church was full of colour with the different uniforms. Everybody was pleased to be there. Bishop Patrick is a very holy man and he related everything to nowadays and he was really happy to see all the children”. Rachel writes: “Rachel would like to thank Mrs McCarthy, Tamzin and Thomas for giving up their time and joining her at this special Mass. Bishop Patrick has thanked all who have given their time and talents in this Year of Mercy and introduce the 'Eyes of the Heart,' so we may love like the Father loved us. This was a day to celebrate Catholic Education and be part of a Church which is very much alive and full of joy. The Saint John Houghton Community would like to thank all involved in preparing and delivering this Mass”. Run Club Another good turnout for run club this week. This week we completed numerous laps of a 0.5k circuit that included a little hill. Big thanks to Mr Carr, Miss Pearce, Mrs Davies and Mrs Joslin for making run club possible this week. Well done to; Olivia Shaw, Louisa Staley, Ben Marshall, Finn Elliott- Hufton, Oliver Shawcross, Josh Watson, Louise Villeza Mason Priestly, Ethan McAuley, Simon Goodwin, Millie Lambert, Meghan Hinton, Lilly May Ward, Kiera Banks, Lucy Andrews, Fern Hunter, Mana Jones, Marie Estanda and Grace Thornhill.

RUN CLUB DOES PARK RUN This is an invite to all Run Club runners and indeed to all students in school and an invite to all parents to come and run Long Eaton Park Run on Saturday 17 December. Our aim is to get as big a Saint John Houghton presence there as possible. If you are unaware of Park Run, please check the information below. Park Run is an amazing set up, all over parks in Britain at 9am on Saturday mornings, thousands of runners of all ages and abilities do a timed 5K run and it is totally free. To get a time each individual must register in advance with Park Run and turn up on the Saturday with their barcode. Please read the information below and let’s get as many of the Saint John Houghton community out to Long Eaton Park Run on Saturday 17 December. What is Long Eaton parkrun? It is a 5km run - it's you against the clock. When is it? Every Saturday at 9:00am. Where is it? The event takes place at West Park Leisure Centre, Wilsthorpe Road, Long Eaton, NG10 4AA. What does it cost to join in? Nothing - it's free! but please register before your first run. Only ever register with parkrun once. Don't forget to bring a printed copy of your barcode (request a reminder). If you forget it, you won't get a time. Register at http://www.parkrun.org.uk/register How fast do I have to be? We all run for our own enjoyment. Please come along and join in whatever your pace!

The Mathematics Team would like to say a massive well done to Liam Amos 8BP, Barney Fisher 8DQ, Ash Motyka 8CP, Jince Saju 8DC, Alfi Stringfellow 8CP, Rebecca Wroe 8DQ, Lewis Bilby 8CP, Charleigh Derbyshire 8CP, Kirsty Gregory 8DQ, Molly Parr 8DQ and Edward Attenborough 8CP who have all managed to earn their black belts over the last week in Numeracy Ninjas – what a fantastic achievement!

Mrs Chandler would like to say congratulations to James Bird, Liam Knighton and Nicola Lewis (Year11) for improving their coursework, Nicola achieved her target grade. Also, a big well done to Kenzie Henshaw (Year10) who achieved her target grade in the recent Chemistry assessment.

Saint John Science department brings science and engineering to life. This week seen two different activities aimed at improving students understanding of Science, coordinated by the Science Department and the Derbyshire Business Partnership. The week started off with 'Design to Learn' coming into school and taking over 3 labs of the Science Department. The came in to work with 3 year 7 tutor groups to show them different aspects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and how the future is very bright for those following this career pathway. The Year 7 groups involved were 7MT, 7JG and 7JW and each group were given a 1-hour session of each activity. Session 1 – Robot wars. The group were split into 4 teams, each team were given a robotics kit which they had to build and design a fully functioning robot. After the robot had been built each team took part in a robot football game with each team using the skills of their team members to adapt the robot and drive the robot to victory. The students thoroughly enjoyed themselves and got a real understanding of basic robotics and team work.

Session 2 – Design and deliver. In this session the students were split into groups of 3/4 and had to design an invention that they think could be made in the near future and be marketed successfully. There were some amazing ideas developed in this session such as the floating GPS hover board and the special cast that could indicate by changing colour if an infection was present in the bone/wound been repaired. The design team were very impressed with our student’s contribution and we are hoping that some these will be shown on display around the school in the near future. Session 3 - Engineers and scientists of the future. In this session the students were given an overview of what an Engineer/Scientist does and what the future hold in terms of employment in this sector. The session also included the different jobs and careers that a STEM qualification can lead to and how much you can actually earn. A surprising fact given was that the average person with a STEM qualification earns 21% more in salary then someone without. The students asked lots of questions around future prospects which were very pleasing to see. Ilkeston Big Bang Fair The second activity happened on Wednesday afternoon when the Science Department took a group of Year 9 and 10 students to the regional Big Ban Festival. The festival was held for the first time at the Derby College Campus in Ilkeston. The students had an insight into various careers within Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and had an opportunity to try some of the apprenticeships and college courses available in this sector. The students experienced the latest 3D printing technology, had a go at the network rail challenge and moved on to work out various problems within canal design and restoration. The students also had the opportunity to build and then play in robot wars and see some of the job prospects available in these areas.

The students also had the opportunity to take part in various ‘A’ level and vocational courses. On the vocational side they could have an introduction to Hair and Beauty, Bricklaying, Plastering and Engineering. On the A level side, A level Chemistry, Biology, Sports Science and Animal Care. This was a great afternoon which the students really enjoyed and gave them an amazing insight into the many careers within the STEM field.

Miss Hinchcliffe would like to congratulate the following students for their work in RE this week: Caitlin Hawley 7JG - Continued effort and contribution to class discussions. Claudia Taudrus 7JW - Continued effort and contribution to class discussions. Chloe Thorpe 8X1 - For joining a new class and fitting in so well. Liam Evans 8Y2 - For outstanding effort and always being willing to work hard.

Callum Butler 9X1 - For improving effort and behaviour. Chloe Large 9Y3 - For outstanding effort and always being willing to work hard. Ellie Chadburn-Tennyson - For doing well on the last assessment. Dylan Simpson 10Y2 - For outstanding effort and always being willing to work hard. Harrison Lowe 11X3 - For sustained effort and working well in lesson. Also well done to Caolan Dobney 8CP for his positive attitude after the Act of Worship I did on Tuesday. Mr P Long would like to congratulate: 7MT William Rostance for contributions to class on different types of truth 7KB Tahiir Chicktay for contributions to class on gods and goddesses 9x2 Conor Dack for efforts in class 9y1 Oliver Wheeldon for ideas on Islam 10x3 Regan Till for discussion on religious music 10y1 Joseph Boyle for his research and revision efforts in assessment 11x1 Thomas Kavanagh for bringing other subject knowledge into lessons on science and religion 11y2 Harrison Bullock for asking questions in and out of class

Careers and Post 16 News: Thanks for taking the time to have a look through our Friday letter. To keep parents and students up to date, we are going to be placing careers and post 16 information in the Friday letter such as open days/opportunities that we receive in School that may be of interest to you. Careers Fair: Mr Price has arranged a Careers Fair for Thursday 8 December to take place in our School hall between 4.30 – 6.30pm. We have invited over 25 different post 16 providers including sixth forms and colleges as well as our careers advisor Rosie Barker to be on hand to give any advice. We hope as many of these providers can attend to help any Year 10 and 11 students make their next step. We will of course have our very own stand promoting Saint John Houghton Catholic Sixth Form. It would be great to see as many of you as we can. Open days:

School Lottery update Many thanks to everyone who has signed up for the school lottery so far. It only costs £1 per week and the more people that are signed up, the greater the weekly prize money. There are currently under 100 people signed up which means every week someone from our school community wins £36.60. Everyone entered is also in with the chance of winning a weekly £25k jackpot. At the moment the lottery is generating £50 a week towards PTA funds which is great. Please spread the word. Perhaps you could sign someone up as a Christmas present?! You've got to be in it to win it." If you sign up before Friday 16 December, you could win a Kindle Fire Tablet too. https://www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/saint-john-houghton-academy This week’s winner was: Abi Brear - £36.60

Thank you Eleanor Fisher Well done to Eleanor Fisher for getting off the bus so that Mackenzi Wood wasn’t left to walk home on her own. Mrs Wood said that Eleanor was very kind and caring ensuring that Mackenzi was okay.

Thank you for taking the time to read the Friday Letter. We were delighted to have Bishop Patrick be our main guest for our Celebration of Achievement last night. It was wonderful to see the Class of 2016 looking so well and happy. We are so proud of them and wish them every happiness in the future. As Advent approaches we will be focusing our attention on preparation, prayer and reflection during this special season in the new Church Year. Wishing you all a happy weekend. Mrs Joan McCarthy Headteacher