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ContentsSkills for Life for Pupils. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2ICT Academy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Year 11 Army Visit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Field of Hope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Science Olympics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6London Trip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7PA Murder MysteryNight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8New Facilities andInitiatives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9School ParliamentNews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

The Newspaper Editing Team

Adam Wing 11 WABen Roddy 11 CAAndrew Dunbar 10 CAJohn Hyland 10 KEConnor McCarthy 10 0WDavid Jones 10 RI

Josh Evans 10 BRJames Smith 10 WAIain Currie 10 CAElliott Tunstall 10KEJames Fazakerley 8 OWCallum Hutton 8 MA

Josh Donnelly 8 RIElias Gallwey 7 WAMark Farrell 7 WAJoseph Irwin 7 LEJordan Roberts 7 WABradley Crompton 7 WA

Welcome to the new Editing Team and thank you to last year’s Year 10 Editors, who have passedthe project over to our new team as they embark on GCSE study and revision. A special thank youmust go to Adam Wing, who has offered to stay with the team in a management role. He willoversee the production and editing.

Dates for Diary:Monday 18th December - School will close at 2:30pm in order for final preparations for theAdvent Service to be completed. Everyone is invited to the Service which will take place in theMain Hall at 7:30pm. Students have prepared Music, Drama, and Readings. Mince Pies, Tea,Coffee, and Mulled Wine will be served at the conclusion of the service.

Tuesday 19th December - School will close at 2:30pm to allow final preparations to be put intoplace for Senior Proclamation which takes place at 7:30pm. All former Year 11 pupils and Year13 students are invited to this event with parents. The event celebrates achievements in publicexaminations.

Thursday 21st December - School closes at 12:20pm for the Christmas holidays.

Tuesday 9th January 2007 - School reopens at 8:40am. A/S Modular examinations begin.

Dear ParentsTime seems to pass so quickly. The lasttime I was writing my message for ourtermly newsletter pupils were sitting in theHall on a very hot day taking their GCSEand A Level examinations. No sooner havewe been able to congratulate them on theirfantastic achievements which were arecord for the College, than we now havethe next group sitting their trial examinations in the Hall. Indeedsome Year 10 pupils have already sat maths and science modules fortheir final GCSE examinations.

It is so easy these days to think of schools as examination factories.However when you read about all of the other things which have beengoing on in school and are mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter, Ican assure you that we are certainly not an examination factory. Ourmission statement which is based on St John’s gospel (10,10), “Jesuscame that we might have life,…..life in all its fullness” is a strongillustration of this. We firmly believe in providing opportunities for allour young people so that they may experience the richness of “….lifein all its fullness”.

Let us all hope and pray that the Christmas season this year will beone where we are all able to experience an enrichment of family life.Let us make it a time to remember and celebrate the fact that Jesuswas born in order that we may have life.

On behalf of all staff and governors I would like to wish all parents,students and families a Happy and Holy Christmas. I hope that thepeace and joy of this Christmas will continue throughout 2007.

With best wishesYours sincerelyMr L D Rippon

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Capital Build and Refurbishment UpdateThe first phase of ICT and Mathematics refurbishment hasbeen completed. Purchasing and implementation ofhardware, infrastructure, redecoration, minor build work andfurniture commenced June 12th 2006 and work continuedthroughout the summer term and into the summer holidays.The building work resulted in the relocation of the 6th formArt room and the creation of a Maths/ICT suite and a suite of5 ICT rooms with future proofing to enable the easy creationof another should one be required in the next academic year.

Sincere thanks to the ICT teaching staff who worked tirelesslythroughout the summer holidays to ensure that the roomswere ready for a September start. Also thanks to thetechnical staff and site staff who also worked extremely hardto ensure that the environment and equipment was fullyfunctioning.

The main Learning Resource Centre was also emptied, weekcommencing 19th June and new desks, flooring, and ICTequipment was installed. Thanks also to Mrs Grace and MrsCooney, who also worked extremely hard to ensure that thenew environment was re-organised and ready for aSeptember start.

Phase 2 of the build programme has started with theredecoration of MIT (Maths ICT room). The Maths departmentwill benefit from new curtains, redecoration, interactivewhiteboards and new furniture during the forthcomingmonths. The Art department, Technology department andMusic department have also benefited from new suites ofcomputer equipment in their rooms following ICTrefurbishment.

Skills for Life for PupilsIn December 2005 St Francis Xavier’s College became aNational Test Centre for the delivery of Skills for Lifenational qualifications. The college offered Level 2Literacy and Numeracy qualifications to over 150 Year11 students last year with a success rate of over 85%.The current Year 11 cohort will undertake Literacy and

Numeracy Testing in January and February 2007. Ifstudents wish to try sample tests at home inpreparation for these exams, log in to;

http://www.edexcel.org.uk/sfc/onscreen/alan-test/

Community Classes at SFX - Skills for LifeFree courses from completebeginner up to Level 2 will beavailable at SFX in the Spring term.The courses could help you toimprove your maths, reading,writing, speaking and listeningskills, language and computerskills.

We will be offering courses at SFXto prepare you for the new NationalTests at Level 1 and Level 2 as wellas enrichment classes in a varietyof areas including; French, Spanish,Craft, and of course, Maths andComputer related courses!

Would you like to improve yourLiteracy skills?

� write a letter, report or CV� fill in an application form� read the newspaper better� understand formal letters

� prepare for a job interview� feel more confident about your

spelling

Would you like to improve yourLanguage skills?

� learn new words� improve your grammar� be able to speak to your

children's teachers

Would you like to improve yourMaths skills?

� check and manage your money� understand fractions and

percentages� help children with their

schoolwork

Do you need a short course torefresh your skills in Literacy orNumeracy?

Would you like to improve yourComputer Skills?

Are you interested in exploringChristianity?

Would you like to explore yourcreative side with our free Craftclasses?

Classes arefree! –EnrolmentEvening willtake place onWednesday31st Januaryfrom 6.30 pm –8.30pm at SFX –Further details willfollow.

Specialist Status News

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SAM LearningFor the third year running the school has subscribed Years 9and 11 to SAM learning, a top quality on-line learning servicethat can be used at home or in school. SAM stands for SelfAssessment Method and encourages students to work on lineboth in and out of school, the majority of assessed subjectsare available and online testing can help consolidate learningor introduce new topics.

For students, SAM Learning appears as a web based serviceaccessible from any Internet enabled device at anytime,students can tackle a choice of revision, using drag and dropand test practice which essentially means that students doand mark their own work. In exam practice, every singlemark is identified by the examiners who wrote the questionso we see time and time again that student’s benefit fromimproving their technique, their confidence and as a resulttheir results. It really isn’t rocket science, simply a great wayto improve achievement.

Learners need three details to login:

ICT AcademyDelivery of the new KS5 ICT Academy is well underway. EightOption 3 students are following a vocational work relatedBTEC Level 2 qualification in ICT in school for 3 days perweek and a work based NVQ Level 2 Qualification in ICT offsite. This qualification is delivered in conjunction with SpekeTraining and Education Centre on Speke Boulevard and localemployers.

The Academy curriculum provision has now been establishedand SFX is now an approved centre. Compact has organisedthe employer links for the NVQ programme and has alsoorganised the extended 1 day per week work placement forplacements. Work-placements will commence December2006 involving a range of employers including; BritishTelecom, John Lewis, Liverpool John Moores Universityamongst others.

Specialist Status NewsNightowl Out of HoursLearningThe NIGHTOWL sessions were launched on Tuesday14th November. The session runs from 3.30 –8.30pm each Tuesday evening. Approximately 70Year 11 students have attended the sessions eachweek which provide boys with an opportunity tocomplete coursework or revision, use the Internetfor research or complete online learning using theSAM Learning package.

This is a wonderful opportunity to catch up on workmissed, do a little extra work with your friends, orsimply start revision early with teachers available tohelp you should you need it. The sessions are NOTtaught lessons, they are relaxed drop–in sessionsaimed at helping you to achieve your potential in allsubjects.

Although most pupils stay for the duration of thesession you can leave at whatever time suits you,but don’t forget to tell your parents you are stayinglate at school. Grab bags containing sandwiches,a drink and a piece of fruit are available at asmall cost.

School ID L25SF

User ID Date of birth followed by two initials; firstname then last name. Example: 010885DJis the User ID for David Jones born 1st Aug1985.

Password Initially same as User ID, you shouldchange your password as soon as youlogin.

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Breaking News from the SFX Biology News-desk:‘Y11 Pupils Successfully Clone Geraniums!’Boys in 11K4 & 11IFP have successfully created ‘new’Geranium plants in a ‘cutting edge, ground-breaking’experiment it was announced today. The experiment,carried out in Biology Lab 1 under the close supervision ofMr Irwin (Head of Biology) was completed in Octoberbehind tight security.

Mr Irwin has reported an 80% success rate - incrediblyhigh for this time of year and puts this achievement downto “excellent scientific technique by the boys…….. andplenty of TLC post-excision….” This included the use of“individual propagators,” artificial lighting, regularwatering and a special rooting hormone preparation.

Proud GCSE scientist, Michael Hutton (second right) whotook part in the experiment, had this to say: “I can’t wait

to take Lil’ Mikey to the match when he’s older. He’ll be a‘blue’- defo.”

Fellow scientist, Sean Harrington (fourth left) had otherideas about his new arrival when interviewed earlier:“Haribo II is a ‘chip off the old block’ – I know it’s early yetbut I feel sure he’ll have red flowers when he grows up.And if he does, I’m gonna be so proud.”

Finally, we caught-up with Mr Irwin at his Huyton estatewhere he had this to say: “The high success rate was justthe icing on the cake and we hope the geranium cloneswill grow up to be full, contributing members of plantsociety at SFX – the boys done good!”.

School News

Year 11 Army Visit

The Army visited school in November to speak to Year 11boys. The visit went really well and the Royal ParachuteRegiment (Red Devils) spoke with the boys for the first hour.After that they had the opportunity to try on some camouflagegear and look at the weapons.

The Army also brought an inflatable assault course which allthe boys loved, they split Y11 into teams and the losers had todo press ups, all of the boys co-operated with this. They alsohad a tug-of-war and the losing teams had to do a circuit ofthe school.

I did have my worries about this event but it was great. Infact, some of the boys wanted to sign up at the end to do aparachute training course.

Miss Cain

Links with LiverpoolHope UniversityThis term SFX has forged deeper links with LiverpoolHope University. The University are developing their rolein Liverpool, and are keen to make links with SFX topromote Higher Education and to help our studentsfulfil their potential.

Professor Pillay, Vice-Chancellor and Rector ofLiverpool Hope University, came to talk to the SixthForm in September to discuss the benefits of HigherEducation. He spoke of his upbringing in South Africa,Nelson Mandela and the importance of Education indeveloping a new future for his country.

Liverpool Hope University prides itself on being the onlyecumenical University in Europe and the pastoral care itprovides for students. Professor Pillay is keen to see afamily of schools in the region build a learningcommunity that will benefit all members. We are keento a part of such a community.

Since the first meeting, eleven members of staff fromSFX went for an evening meeting with Professor Pillayand senior staff from the University and made linkswhich will directly benefit our students. A furthermeeting took place on Friday 17th November at SFXwhere staff discussed research possibilities andprojects which will be jointly run with the LiverpoolHope. Exciting possibilities are unfolding which will seethe students and staff from both institutions workingclosely to enhance learning experiences for all.

Interview with Mr Flowers by Connor McCarthy andDavid Jones

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School NewsField of HopeEarlier this term a group of Year 8 and9 boys worked with Mrs Fay to plant500 daffodil bulbs in the area aroundOur Lady's statue. Our aim was toimprove the environment, but moreimportantly to create a visual reminderof family and friends who have sufferedfrom cancer. Sadly this illness hastouched many of our lives. We wantedto create our own mini "Field of Hope".

Marie Curie Hospice have offered tospeak with each year group about theirwork with sufferers in ourneighbourhood. We will be asking for aone off donation which will go directlyto the Hospice. Year 9 boys haveadopted this charity for theirfundraising and will organise furtherfundraising events.

Interest in this project has grown andover the course of the next year MrMottram, along with a team of Year 10students will create a moresophisticated "Garden of Hope".

We are not aware that any other schoolhas embarked on such a venture. Welook forward to your support!

Culinary CompetitionYear 7 and 8 boys had theopportunity to quiz two ofScolarest’s expert chefs at a HealthyEating workshop which was held onWednesday 27th September 2006.Four teams of boys along with MissStaunton, Mr Platt and Mrs Smithwere pitched against each other.Their mission was to createdelicious, healthy meals using theingredients provided, in only fifteenminutes! The heat was well andtruly on.

Stephen Lennon, Andrew Smith,Alexander Henshaw and DanielO'Shea from Year 7 together with

Mark Beckett, Christopher Dixon,Phillip Sweeney and BrendanPatino, Year 8 tempted the tastebuds with their creations. On themenu was: Salmon and Ginger,Chicken Salsa Wrap, SFX Curry anda mouth watering fish dish. Theaudience vote was energetic to saythe least!

6th FormUniversity LinksDuring the first half term 6th Formstudents had a visit from ViceChancellor Pillay from HopeUniversity speaking to the Year 12and 13’s about Hope University andabout University life in general.

In the second half of the term LindaSchwartz study skills group visited6th formers and worked with theYear 12 and 13 students on how totackle examination questions to getthe most out of the marks. Inaddition to this, 6th formers havealso been working with MarkShotter from Aim Higher and haveattended Year 12 sessions onmaking University choices and thenpreparing Year 13 for writing theirpersonal statements.

Year 7 Inter-form CompetitionsMr Platt has been planning an inter-form football tournament this term,and of course, more matches for theYear 7 football team. There willhopefully be a few chances to playcricket as well.

During this term there has been aninter-form competition where thewinner is determined by credits, andthen subtracting detentions and lates.

The winning form will receive a prizewhich is the opportunity to go home anhour earlier than anyone else. For awhile it has been a close contest withMayne and Lewis fighting it out at thetop as they have won the weeklycompetition three times each. But whowill the eventual winner be?

By Joseph Irwin 7KE

Form Credits Detentions LatesBryant 119 8 0Campion 195 16 0Kemble 107 21 0Lewis 175 12 0Mayne 78 12 0Owen 106 33 0Rigby 42 11 0Ward 106 0 0

Y7 Inter-form Competition Table 27/11/06

Year 7 FundraisingFirst of all, Year 7 have been involvedwith the Operation Christmas Childcharity, where they had to fillshoeboxes with treats and wrapthem in festive paper. The boxes willbe delivered to the needy children inpoor countries so that they too canexperience the joy of opening apresent on Christmas morning. Wehave actually collected over seventy

shoeboxes for Samaritans purse.Ms Staunton was extremely pleasedwith the result.

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Science OlympicsOn Saturday 11th November Miss Thiery took four boys; ChrisRigby, James Mannion, Josh Evans and Tim Gregory to acompetition called the Science Olympics. Altogether, twelveschools took part in the competition. The boys workedtogether as a team but Miss Thiery had her own groupconsisting of all the teachers who came with their schools,they had to carry out four experiments or activities in total.

The first activity was Marble Madness; the group had to builda device out of paper and use it to make a marble move aboveground for as long as possible. The team who kept themarble above ground long enough won the first activity. TheSFX team kept the marble up for an amazing fourteenseconds and obviously, with a great result like that they wonthe first activity. Miss Theiry and her team of teachers wereable to keep it above ground for a good eleven seconds.

The second activity was Sweet Trader. In this activity thegroup were given sweets which were worth a certain amountof points, they had to make different combinations of sweets(points) and trade them to get the biggest amount of points

they possibly could. Thankfully, they won this challenge too.

The third activity was Code Breaker. They had to giveinstructions to a blindfolded person using bells and partyblowers, unfortunately the SFX team did not win thischallenge, but were still in the lead at this point.

The fourth and final activity was Windmill. For this task theyhad to make a windmill out of paper and wood and hopefullymake it function as much as possible like a real windmill.Again, they did not win the activity but still did very well.

Miss Thiery said that she enjoyed all the activities and so didthe boys. The competition started at 10am and ended at2:30pm. After a long day of Science experiments Miss Thieryand the boys were pleased to find out that they came jointfirst and would go on to compete in the final. The winner andthe schools that came second or third will continue to thefinal to compete with schools from across Merseyside. Goodluck to the boys, let’s hope they win it.

Joseph Irwin 7 LE

Out and About

Success at ExhibitionTwo sixth form students, Richard Bell andLois Morris, were awarded ‘HighlyCommended’ certificates further tosubmission of their work to the RoyalSociety of British Artists NationalChildren’s Exhibition. Richards work wasalso chosen to be exhibited at the MallGalleries, London. The Art department isproud of their achievements as 2,381schools were invited to submit work. MrsHarris, Richard and Lois attended theprivate view and official opening of theexhibition at the Mall Galleries on the 18thMay.

By Adam Wing

The Clipper Around the World Yacht RaceOn the 27th of June the Artdepartment was involved inmaking a presentation to mark thelast leg of the Clipper journeyalong with St. Julie’s and primaryschools in the G10 network. Thetheme of the presentation was theCaribbean and Year 8 pupils madea visual backdrop for the eventswhich took place. The day wasthoroughly enjoyed by a delegation

of students from Year 8 who attended the event along with two sixth formers. MrRippon, Mrs Douglass, and Mrs Harris also enjoyed the day.

Adam Wing 11 WA

Swan LakeTheatre Trip31st Jan 2007A trip to the theatre has beenorganised for anyone wantingto see Swan Lake on 31stJanuary 2007. Tickets cost£6.00 ! (These tickets areusually £30.00 each). Pleasesee Miss Hayes if you wanttickets.

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Out and AboutF1 in SchoolsThe ‘F1 in Schools’ project is an initiative which hasbeen set up by Jaguar to try to encourage more youngdesign engineers to study at university. There iscurrently a great need for young aspiring engineersand designers in the UK. The initiative spans acrossKS3, KS4 and KS5 and the aim of the project is for ateam of designers and engineers to design, and thencreate, a balsa wood F1 style car, powered by gas,which is then raced against other cars from otherschools.

The SFX group consisted of a selection of Year 12 and13 students. The team successfully managed todesign and make their car, and also managed to gettheir team sponsored. All involved really enjoyed theproject, however they were unfortunately beaten bythe National Champions in the finals. The projecthelped to develop their skills, not only as designersand engineers, but also as members of a team.

(Taken From Interview with Mr. Bowers – John Hyland)

Liverpool PhysicsOlympicsTeam Lodge put on an excellent performance reaching 4thplace in two out of six activities in this year’s PhysicsOlympics. Matthew Owens, Jason Carr, Daniel Guinness andMichael Gossage, all in year 13, caught the judge’s eye withtheir sharp thinking and creative problem solving skills whichenabled them to complete the devious tasks assigned by theProfessors at the University of Liverpool in the annual event.

The competition this year was stiffer than ever as team Lodgewere up against 29 of the top schools from around thecountry. Captain, Matthew Owens said “it was the matter ofjust a few points which denied us the glory, but it was a greatday, a lot of fun and it has made my mind up that Physics isthe way forward.”

For anyone interested in taking part in next years PhysicsOlympics, Mr Hayhurst will be organising trials early nextterm.

MrHarrison’s History NewsOn October 19th Mr Harrison, accompaniedby Daniel Jessop and Liam Sweeney, visitedSt Gregory’s primary school during theirAfrican creative arts week. St Gregory’s is afeeder school to SFX and the Historydepartment have been actively involved in aKey Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 transitioninitiative with Y6 pupils.

There have also been lively and challengingHistory specific Year 9 Gifted and Talentedgroup meetings after school, these willcontinue throughout the school year.

In the future, Mr Harrison and his SixteenthCentury Year 12 class plan to attend a speciallecture day on King Henry VII. It promises tobe a very educational day and is on the 6thDecember at Manchester University.

Interview with Mr Harrison by ConnorMcCarthy

London Trip

Mr Bowers organises an annualtrip every year to London with aselection of A Level students, toget them enthused about designand art. This year the tripincluded a visit to a Design andArt museum, which alsohappened to be having an F1exhibition; this was a greatadvantage for the students whowere taking part in the “F1 inSchools” project. The trip alsoincluded a visit to the “Victoriaand Albert” museum, which gavethe students a perspective of howdesign has developed over time.

(Taken from interview with MrBowers – John Hyland)

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PA Murder Mystery NightThe Parents association held a MurderMystery Night event on 7th October 2006,Mr Roberts kindly spoke to us about theevent.

What was the PA event?

The event was a fabulous Murder MysteryNight, which was held in SFX.

How did the night go?

It was excellent, about 90 people turned upand we raised around £500 through admissionfees and by selling refreshments. The moneywill go towards supporting SFX pupils.

What was the aim of the night?

The aim was to find out who killed the ‘Lord’ ofthe Manor. Everyone was dolled up in Victorianclothes. We even had actors who came in andacted the scenario out to perfection. It reallywas a fun night.

Would you do it again next year?

Most definitely! It was fun and successful I’lllook forward to it.

Interview with Mr. Roberts by Andrew Dunbar& Iain Currie

Parents’ Association

PA BingoThe Parents Association held a Bingo Afternoon on 12thNovember 2006.

What can you tell us about the Bingo Afternoon?

It was a good day, over 100 Bingo fanatics turned up, whichsurpassed the figures we had initially expected.

Was it about serious bingo or just about fun?

Since I was calling the numbers, I guess it had to be fun!

How much money was raised and where is the money going?

We raised about £400.00 which will again go to supportingthe pupils.

Is it happening again next year?

Hopefully, yes! I had a great time calling the numbers.

Interview with Mr. Roberts by Andrew Dunbar and Iain Currie

New Minibus for PupilsAfter two years of fundraising by the Parents’ Associationinvolving; Race Nights, Christmas Dances, a Murder Mysteryevent and numerous other events, the school received deliveryof a brand new minibus. The donation totalled £20,000.00 withMr.Rippon accepting the minibus from Mrs Fullan andMr.Sewell, Chairperson and Committee member.

The minibus made it’s maiden trip down to St.Mary’s College inSouthampton, drivenby Brother James. Thetrip was verysuccessful and the buscompleted the tripwithout any problems.

Mr.Rippon would like toexpress his gratitudeto the PA and everyoneinvolved in raising thefunds for the minibus.

Parents’ Association ActivitiesPast Events

Murder Mystery Night 7th October

This was a fantastic evening of fun,where around 100 family and friendstried to decide who killed the Lord ofthe Manor. The event raised over£700.00 for the PA.

PA Bingo 12th November

This was an afternoon of calling thenumbers and winning prizes, theevent raise over £400.00 for the PA.

SFX Christmas Dance 25th November

Excellent meal and disco for all theparents of SFX pupils. Around 100people came to a lovely meal and hada dance, for an early Christmascelebration. The event raised about£1000.00 for the PA and will helpsupport school pupils over theforthcoming year. Thanks to all thosefamilies and friends who attended.

Next Events

Race Night – Friday 2nd February

This is one event you must attend…night at the races, lots of fun bettingon the horses as they race across thehall, ridden by children and adults.Book early as tickets sell quickly forthis event. Contact the school officefor tickets now!!!

St.Patrick’s Night – Sat 17th March

Come along and celebrate St.Patrick’snight, with lots of fun and musicfor all.

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Mr Brophy’s Sporting NewsFootball

The First 11 team unfortunately lost the 3rd round of theNational Cup but have won all of their league games thisseason. The Second 11 team are well in touch with theleaders. Under 14 and under 12 teams are also making goodprogress this season.

Squash

Under 18 and Under 15 players have begun their season,however it is a big hill to climb in this new venture!

Sports Awards

Sports Awards are being presented by Liverpool SchoolsSports Federation in St George’s Hall on 6th December. Thefollowing boys have been nominated for outstanding sportingsuccess in the last season:

� Nick Blackburn and Sean Connolly for U14 Cricket

� Ian Carroll, Mark Dickey, Stephen Irwin, Craig McCauleyand Peter Williams for Liverpool U15 Cricket

� Oliver Bradshaw for Dragon Boat Racing, interestingly,Oliver is also a member of the GB Junior Squad who won2 Gold and 3 silver medals making them overall EuropeanChampions in Prague 2006. Oliver won 3 silver medals!

� Matthew Owens for Athletics, he is North of EnglandIndoor High Jump Champion and is the National recordholder for the U20 2.05 metre High Jump

� James Flaherty for representing Liverpool at Swimming

� Paul Rawlings for football, he is a member of LiverpoolU15 Team who won the English Schools trophy.

� Paul Pearson, Christopher Scott and Michael Deakin forFootball. They are members of the Merseyside CountyTeam who were National Champions. Both of the latterfinals were played at Anfield.

Sport

“Awards for All” funding has enabled us to create newTennis Courts, Basketball facilities and Hockey Courts onthe lower yard, the facilities are already being extensivelyused by our pupils and pupils from Palmerston and LowerLea schools.

Future news

An Outdoor Activities course is beginning soon forY10.This extra curricular activity will be advertised withinschool during the Spring term. In addition to this, a WaterPolo club started in school on 8th December for Y10 andY11 pupils, other water sports such as Canoeing will beginvery shortly. For those Y10 pupils interested in developingsporting leadership skills, planning for the Sports LeadersAward programme is well underway.

Dance News

The Y10 and Y11 Break-dancing group continues to thrive;they meet in the Dining Room each Thursday after school

and are well supported by Mrs Jenkins. Mr Brophy hasorganised a Break-dancing coach for the group to assisttheir development. The pupils are not the only people inschool interested in “strutting their stuff” on the dancefloor! Staff Salsa classes started in October. The classestake place after school in the common room; this is yetanother initiative funded through the SFX Sports fund.

South Liverpool Sports Partnership News

The South Liverpool Sports Partnership have achieved allof their Public Service Agreement Targets. As part of thisinitiative , Mr Brophy works with local schools including;Our Lady of the Assumption, Our Lady Bishop Eaton,Palmerston, Abbots Lea and Lower Lea schools toincrease activity in school sports within the curriculumand in extra curricular activities which include; Dance,Gymnastics, Multi-sports clubs, Cricket, Basketball andFootball.

New Facilities and Initiatives

Year Seven FootballThe Year 7 football teams have made an excellent start to theseason and at the time of writing remain unbeaten. Therehave been regular A team games as well as B1 and B2fixtures and all of the boys have represented the schoolimpeccably with both their standards of football and theirbehaviour.

The A team are currently in three cup competitions and havealready progressed to the fourth round of the ESFA NationalCup.

Twenty-six of the boys recently enjoyed a trip toWolverhampton to see Wolves versus Southend. A good day

was had by all and the boys would like to thank Mr Hayhurstand Mr Long for accompanying us and making the trippossible.

We hope all the boys continue to enjoy their football andrepresent the college in such an excellent manner.

Mr Platt and Mr Bright

P.S. You can check out the progress of all of our footballteams by visiting; www.esfa.co.uk/competitions

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De La Mennais BrothersYouth GatheringSouthampton, Oct. 26th-29th 2006After the success of 5 trips from Liverpool to youth gatheringsin France run by the French Brothers with pupils from SFXand other young people from St. Austin’s Parish, this year theFrench decided to cross the channel and set up camp at ourschool in Southampton, St. Mary’s College. So on Oct. 26th agroup of 7 students from Yrs. 10 + 13, together with a recentformer pupil, a youth worker from St. Austin’s, Mr Borg andmyself drove down to join 35 young French people from allover Brittany at St. Mary’s. Amongst the Yr. 10 pupils weresome budding musicians who were willing to help me providesome modern Christian music to help enliven the event. Theyhad never performed in public before so we had plenty ofrehearsals before we left. I recorded our performances andhave put them onto CD for them to keep as a souvenir. Theydid brilliantly and even managed to attract many adoringFrench female fans. Friendships were forged andcommunication has been kept up (over the internet) since wegot back.

Many of those who participated in the weekend (English andFrench) are hoping to meet up again in France in May at thelargest annual Christian rock festival in France, where topBritish band Deliri-ous are due to be headlining.Congratulations to all who came on the weekend for theirexcellent attitude, behaviour and good humour. They were acredit to the College.

Yr. 10 pupils; Josh Blakeway, Ben Macalindin, Patrick Coyle,Michael Boardman, Thomas Sewell and Curtis Reekie. Yr. 13student Robert Haymes.

Sponsored Cycle 2006- for a School in Mango, Togo (W. Africa)

I completed my cycle as planned on Aug. 29th (1,481miles to Santiago de Compostela in N.W. Spain, 15 + halfdays). This was a wonderful experience, made all themore special by the encounters with the many fellowpilgrims (cyclists and hikers) and native Spanish andFrench people.

A selection of photos from the ride can be found at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/bro_james/sets/72157594265533715/

(click on an individual photo then "All sizes" to see it inlarge resolution).

Many thanks to all those who sponsored me. The totalmoney raised came to £3,730. This will be transferred toa charity account held by our Brothers in France andfrom there the Head Teacher of our school in Mango(Brother Romain Somoko) will be able to use the moneyto buy equipment for his rapidly growing school.

Next summer, I will be taking 12 pupils from Yrs. 11-13to Mango as part of an educational project run by myorder and we will be able to see first hand how themoney has been used.

Bro. James (Chaplain)

History of the De LaMennais OrderIn 1819, Father Jean-Marie De La Mennais, a Frenchpriest, founded a teaching order of Brothers to open andrun schools in post-Revolution Brittany. They becameknow as the De La Mennais Brothers (or Brothers ofChristian Instruction). Since then the order has spread to25 countries including England.

Since the late 1970s SFX has been run by Brothers fromthis order. At present the order is represented in theCollege by Bro. Peter, Bro. Edmond and Bro. James. Aswell as being involved in teaching and school life theBrothers undertake various other activities outside ofschool that help young people to find their identity anddevelop spiritually. As we the Brothers in England areless numerous than our French counterparts, we try toallow some of our pupils to participate in events thatthey organise for young people in France.

Chaplaincy

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United Nations DayWhen asked to take boys along to the Mock United NationsDay at the Liverpool Town Hall I did so with a littleapprehension. We have never been involved in this before andthe usual candidates are Yr 12/13.Sean White, Sean Peppercorn, Richard Murphy and SamHorner were invited to join a few Year 12 students andbecome the ‘Press Packets’ for the day. Armed with pens,notepads, video cameras and questions they steadily workedthrough the day.By 3:30 they had listened to and questioned the variouscountries represented on their views on the “U.N. MillenniumGoals”, joined working parties on “Global Warming” and“Child Labour” and attended an emergency U.N. meeting.Their work was edited and formatted into a “MUNGA” news-sheet.All boys thought the day was most enjoyable and felt they hadgained a lot of new experiences and skills. Teachers andstudents alike were equally impressed by the boys’enthusiasm and hard work and thought they were a creditboth to the school and their Yr 10 Group. Well done!Interview with Mrs Smith by Connor McCarthy

Student Voice

Schools Parliament NewsThe training days have now been completed and the ministershave been elected. Congratulations to Thomas Sewell, JoeWall, Sean Walsh, and Ryan Woods who were all successful inbeing elected into Parliament. Cameron Patterson deserves aspecial mention as he was picked to go on the appointmentpanel for the new Assistant Executive Director for ‘BuildingSchools for the Future’.All ministers met their counterparts in the Council over aworking breakfast atthe Town Hall and theproposals put forwardby Ryan Woods wereso warmly receivedthat they were to beput before LiverpoolCity Council as amotion for debate andvoting. We eagerlyawait the outcome!James Fazakerley School Council

The School Council has met for the first time this academicyear and the new members were warmly welcomed. Twoissues were highlighted. As usual, the lunch menu andfacilities were a topic for debate and we are hoping to invitethe manager to attend one of our forthcoming meetings, inorder to answer the questions posed by pupils.

Second on the agenda was, once again bike sheds. It wasdecided to carry out a survey to see why there was a need forthis facility and how well it would be used. The results will bepublished at our next meeting and we are interested to seethe outcomes.

James Fazakerley 8 OW

D-MYSTDirect Movement by the YouthSmokefree Team (D-MYST) is a groupset up in Merseyside, not againstsmokers, but against the tobaccoindustry for using the Media to targetyoung people. As a group wepetitioned for a complete smoking banin our sports stadiums, gathering over10,000 signatures for a total ban.Following this Everton F.C. made their family standssmokefree and hopefully will implement a total ban after theNew Year. Liverpool F.C. will hopefully follow in the future.

After our campaign on smoking in the Media we contactedSONY who fully supported us. SONY had also ensured a totalomission of smoking on screen in the new James Bond filmCasino Royale and kindly donated tickets so that we couldattend the World Premier of Casino Royale in LeicesterSquare, London.

Michael Molloy

Debating and PublicSpeaking NewsA team from SFX competed in the Merseyside round ofthe Mace Debating Competition this term.

The team, Year 13 students Bryn Gough and Austin Coyle,were up against Liverpool College and opposed themotion, “This house would abolish trial by jury”.

The competition took place at St Mary’s College, Crosbyon Monday 4th December 2006. Other competing schoolsincluded St Edward’s College and Archbishop Blanch HighSchool.

Next term we hope to have a sixth former competing inthe Catenian Association Public Speaking Competition forCatholic Schools. Look out for more details in the nextnewsletter.

Year 7 Council NewsDuring the first few weeks of the year, the Year Counciland School Council have met. Recently they haveproposed that we and the rest of the school should useone staircase for going up and one for going down, in theMain and Warner buildings.The Councils have also discussed reviewing thedetention system. The Year Council are hoping toimplement these rules sometime this year.Joseph Irwin 7 LE

Christmas QuizEnter our festive quiz to win an Apple iPod Nano 2GB

1. Which Christmas carol was written by Mendelssohn?

2. Apollo 8 was the first manned orbiter of the Moon. On Christmas Eve James Lovell read a passage from Genesis,which was broadcast throughout the world - in what year?

3. Arthur Wynne introduced a new fun item in the New York World Newspaper at Christmas in 1913 - the first one in theworld - what was it?

4. Christmas coincides with which Jewish Festival?

5. For how many Christmases has there been a tree in Trafalgar Square?

6. If you're in Spain for New Year's Eve, you eat one lucky grape at each chime of the midnight bells. But, what is NewYear's Eve called in Spanish?

7. According to the Bible, the little drummer boy met Jesus:

a. When Jesus was in the mangerb. At a housec. When Jesus was about two years oldd. None of the above

8. December 25th has been celebrated as Christmassince the Bible was written.

a. Trueb. False

9. Clement C. Moore's famous poem, "The NightBefore Christmas" was originally titled...

a. "A Visit from St. Nick"b. "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer"c. "A Night to Remember"d. "St. Nick and His Reindeer"

10. What significance is holly in celebrating Christmas?

a. The pointed leaves represent the Star of Bethlehemb. It was mistaken for mistletoec. The red berries are a Christmas colourd. The early church banned mistletoe, so holly was substituted

Entertainment

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Return your answer page to: School Office, c/o Miss K. LindopDeadline Friday 26th January 2007