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ContentsSummer 2009

Compact GraduationEvening. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Duke of Edinburgh’sSilver Award. . . . . . . . . 4

Year 7 Art Project . . . . 6

D.A.P.S.S. Round Up. . 8

History Trip toNormandy . . . . . . . . . 10

Plöermel . . . . . . . . . . 12

Liverpool Triathlon . . 15

Big School’s Birdwatch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Leavers’ Party . . . . . . 21

Athletics Results. . . . 24

Dates for Diary:End of Term: School will close at 12.20 pm on Friday July 17th 2009

Year 12/13 AS and A Level Results Day: Thursday August 20th - resultsavailable at 10.00 am

Year 11 GCSE Results Day: Thursday August 27th - results available at10.00 am

Start of New Term and Academic Year: School will re-open after thesummer holidays at 8.40 am on Tuesday September 8th for pupils inYears 8-11 and students in Year 12. Students in Years 8-10 will bedismissed at lunch time on this day. Year 11 will report to the EnglishDepartment in the afternoon to hand in GCSE coursework and will thenbe dismissed. New Year 7 pupils should report to school at 9.45 am onTuesday 8th September and will be dismissed at 2.30 pm. Year 13students should report to school on Monday September 7th at 10.00 am(Year 13 remain at home on Tuesday September 8th). Normal timetablewill operate for all from 8.40 am on Wednesday September 10th.

Thank you to all parents for striving so hard to ensure that pupils havethe correct uniform. Could I please remind you that plain black shoesare required. It may be helpful to bear this in mind whilst choosing newschool shoes. Please do not buy canvas or training style shoes.

Next School production - Bugsy Malone: First week back after Octoberhalf term – Wednesday 4th - Friday 6th November.

Dear ParentsWelcome again to our end of term newsletterwhich contains lots of details about the manyand varied activities which have taken placeduring this term. I am very grateful to all ofthose staff and parents who have supported thevarious activities in order that the pupils andstudents at the College can actively experienceour mission statement “life in all its fullness”.

We have a number of staff leaving the College at the end of term,mainly due to retirement. Mr O’Malley will be retiring after 43 years –he joined the College in 1966 as a Physics teacher and has held anumber of roles including Head of Department, Head of Science andAssistant Headteacher. Mr Jeffries, Senior Laboratory Technician, alsoretires after 23 years service to the College. During this time theScience Department has moved location at least twice and Mr Jeffrieswas instrumental in the efficient organisation required. This summeralso sees the retirement of Mr Browne, Head of Classics. Mr Brownehas worked at the College for 17 years and was instrumental in thedevelopment of school visits to Greece and Italy from which so manypupils have benefited. Mr Shelvey is also retiring from the EnglishDepartment having been at SFX for 26 years. We wish them all well intheir retirement and thank them for their combined 109 years ofservice to the College.

Mr Dunne also leaves us at the end of term having taught at theCollege for 3 years. He is moving to an international school in AbuDhabi. We are grateful for his contribution to the College and wish himevery success in his new role. Thanks also go to Brother James who ismoving to St Mary’s, Southampton at the end of term. He will bekeeping close links with SFX and we look forward to his visits. MissHodgson will also be moving on in September having worked in theadministration area of the College since 1995 – we send her bestwishes in her new career in the medical profession.

The summer holidays is a time for all to recharge their batteries and Ihope that everyone associated with the College enjoys a well deservedrest. It is also of course the time when those who have worked so hardfor GCSE and A Level examinations will receive their results – we willbe thinking of them all at this important time and wish them everysuccess in their next steps.

Finally, thank you to all those who have supported the College this year– parents, staff, governors and students.

Yours sincerelyMr Rippon, Headteacher

Senior EditorsJoseph Irwin 9LEJames Leyshon 9BRMichael Manville 9OWThe Editing TeamDominic Sedley 9RIAndrew Brown 9OWShea KcChrystal 9 KELiam Daly 8RIJohn Moffatt 8OWSean Clugston 8CARobert Crowney 8BRRoss Welsh 8BRDominic Tague 8RIChristian Fitzsimmons 7RIJohnathan Latimer 7RIChristopher Starkey 7OWJames Hesketh 7OWJoe Nicholson 7OWDaniel Heron 7MAJack Thomas 7MAJosh Ezekiel 7KEMatthew Powell 7KEPatrick Back 7CAAlex Brown 7CAJack Kenton 7CAJack Taylor 7CAJake Evason 7CAReece Healy 7BR

The NewsletterEditing Team

2

Liverpool is part of theabove programme whichaims to replace andrefurbish schools to makethem suitable for the 21stCentury.

There are plans for a£19m development at SFX which will see a completelynew building to replace the existing Main Building,Science Laboratories, and Hall as well as the mobileclassrooms. A new sports hall will be provided. It isexpected that building work will

begin in 2013 with acompletion date of2015. Pupils,parents, staff andgovernors will be

involvedin the development of plansover the next year or so.

Year 11 completed their examinations and 64 studentsattended the Compact Graduation Evening on Tuesday23rd June. The evening recognised pupils who have hadexcellent and very good attendance and punctuality andalso completed a work related learning programme.Eighty four pupils were awarded either a platinum, gold orsilver certificate; these will go into their Records ofAchievement. Entertainment during the evening was inthe form of talented Year 11 pupils from local schools andthe presentations were made by two young ladies fromthe cast of Hollyoaks. Miss Cain wishes all Year 11 pupilsthe best of luck with their examination results and in theirfurther studies.

New minibusMany thanks to the PTA for providing a secondminibus for pupils and students at the College. Theminibus is the result of a lot of hard work – gratefulthanks to all those who are members of the PTA fortheir hard work and of course to the many who havesupported the fundraising events.

Building Schools for theFuture update

Compact GraduationEvening

The following will join the College in September:Mr A Brown Head of PEMr I Green – History TeacherMr A Murphy – PE TeacherMrs Helsby– Maths TeacherDr M Leach – Physics TeacherStaffing ChangesMr M Long has taken on the role of BehaviourSupport Unit Manager, Mrs Cavanagh that of Head ofICT and Mr P Evans is now Assistant Headteacher(Pupil Data). Thanks must be recorded to both MrLong and Mr Evans in their previous roles as Head ofPE and ICT respectively.The Pastoral team of Co-ordinators of Learning andtheir assistants will be strengthened by PastoralAssistants from September. Pastoral assistants willbe involved in supporting students through mentoringand will be able to contact parents if Co-ordinators ofLearning are not available. They will also act asCover Supervisors. The team of Pastoral Assistantswill be led by Mr Russell.Following Brother James’ move to Southampton, thechaplaincy will be led by Mrs Barker (Y10-13) andMiss Donlon (Y7-9). They will be supported withliturgical music by Miss Manning.

Welcome to newmembers of staff

The IT diploma is a new form of education which offersstudents the resources to aim higher. Next Year thediploma will be introduced to a hand picked group ofstudents wishing to participate in the course.

I am really looking forward to starting the course inSeptember 2009 and hope it will introduce me to a moreindependent form of education. In unit 1 we will learn;how organisations use IT to help them achieve theirobjectives, find out more about how computers work andwhat they do, and will identify opportunities fororganisations to improve their technology systems.

In subsequent units we will be educated oncommunication skills and how to get our messageacross. We will also be taught how to work in teams andhow the behaviour and attitude of members of the teamcan affect the group’s performance.

For the following units the class will learn how toinvestigate and give presentations, how to assemble andcreate a simple computer network, as well as the skillsneeded to create multimedia; web pages, animations andvideo. The group will also complete units leading toplanning and managing successful projects. I amparticularly looking forward to this.

Shea McChrystal 9KE

IT Diploma

3

D.A.P.S.S. Round-upCatenian Association’sIntercollegiate ChallengeTrophy for PublicSpeaking

Congratulations are due toLouis Dowling for hisperformance in theCatenian Association’sIntercollegiate ChallengeTrophy for Public Speaking. The event took place inApril at Hope College and was contested by ninepupils from across Merseyside, each of whomdelivered a speech of four minutes on a chosensubject. Though he did not win the competition,Louis gave a more than respectable showing. Hisspeech – entitled “Why does the church seem

increasingly irrelevant toadolescents today?” - reflectedon the way in which popularculture, notably rock and roll,distracted teenagers from morespiritual matters. Louis is aboxing fan and, to borrow fromthe parlance of that sport, hebobbed and weaved impressivelythroughout, as well as landingsome telling blows. It was a pithyand perceptive effort,interspersed with deft touches of

humours.Well done, Louis. We know that you’ll be the champone day.

Sadly, the time has come for DAPSS to bid a fondfarewell to Year 13 student Welwin Lobo, who isleaving SFX to enter higher education. A staunchmember of the society for the past three years,Welwin is a mature and amiable character, whoseeven-tempered nature masks a fierce competitivespirit. Affectionately known as The Lobotomiser forhis ability to incapacitate opponents with hisdevastating ‘Points of Information’, Welwin arguablysaved the best until last with his performance inMarch at the Durham University Schools DebatingCompetition. This contest saw him team up withDaniel Keeley and progress to the semi-final stagein a field of around one hundred schools. It was afine way to bow out.

Welwin is shortly to begin a degree in Maths atUniversityCollege London,where he fullyintends to jointhe debatingsociety. Our lossis very muchtheir gain. Goodluck Welwin anddon’t be astranger!

Basic Skills Quality MarkThe college has recently been awarded theBasic Skills Quality Mark.The Basic SkillsQuality Mark is about recognising minimumstandards in teaching literacy andnumeracy. The Quality mark was brought about to providea framework that would promote, support and celebratethe improvement of literacy and mathematics in schools.The Secondary Quality Mark provides a framework for selfevaluation and continuous improvement of the basic skillsof all pupils in a school. This includes both those whounderachive and those whose attainment is lower thanwould be expected of someone of their age.The award of the Basic Skills Quality Mark reflects thecollege’s commitment to ensure that, regardless of ability,all of our students are catered for and their successescelebrated.Ms Lucas

From Monday 15th June to Monday 22nd June, pupils fromyears 7, 8 and 9 took part in a challenge called Mathletics.This competition was run by the Specialist Schools andAcademies Trust. The pupils took part in two activities; thefirst was a 60 second mental arithmetic race againstschools from all over the world and second was groups onquestions based around a particular Mathematical topic.The students collected points over the course of the weekand 32 students collected Bronze certificates for scoringover 1000 points.The highest scoring pupils from each year are:Year 7Marc Cullen – 4574 pointsJames Mellor – 4490 pointsYear 8Louis Wheeler – 6105 pointsDaniel Dacre – 2012 pointsYear 9Michael O’Hanlon - 2531 pointsWell done to all students who participated in the challenge,especially those who competed at home!Miss Arends

Mathletics

4

On the weekend of 27th to 28th June 2009 twenty five Year 12 students travelled toCastleton in the Peak District to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Silver Award Scheme.This was their second outing as they had already been to Rivington on a day walk to practisetheir navigational skills and map reading. They will be venturing further afield in July asthey pack a bag for a three day 30 mile assessment weekend.

For some of them the Castleton weekend was the firsttime they had spent a night under canvas and for almostall of them the it was certainly the first time they hadmade their own meals on a camp cooker.

We set off from SFX at 8:30 Saturday morning with bothschool minibuses full, it must be said at this point that ifit was not for the PTA and their donations of theminibuses we would not be able to offer the Duke ofEdinburgh's here at SFX to so many students – if at all!We arrived at the start point for the day in good time andalready the place seemed surprisingly busy. Mr Holdenand I took one group on their anticlockwise route and MrRippon and Miss Cullen took the other half on theirclockwise route around Mam Tor. Mam Tor standsabove the valleys of Edale and Hope, the views from thesummit of Mam Tor are superb, with a fine view of Edaleand Kinder to the north and Hope valley to the east, anda splendid ridge leading from the summit down toHollins Cross and along to Lose Hill. It has thenickname ‘the shivering mountain’ as Mr Holdenattempted to explain to the students on our way aroundto the first stop point –I must state that their interest in Mr Holden’s Geographylesson was not great, I just don’t think he was putting thesame amount of passion in his landscape talks asMr Rippon undoubtedly was doing with the group walkingwith him – those poor boys and girls!

We all met at the top of Mam Tor and had some lunch, atthis point Mr Holden left the group and took a short cutdown the mountain, I must state he did not want to andput up a struggle, no really, no honestly, oh alright thenhe went to the nearest coffee shop and probably had thenow famous meal of ‘soup and a roll’ but after all whatwould a weekend away with D of E be if Mr Holden didn’tdo that?! The two groups then carried on their walk andmet back at Castleton car park to head for their home forthe evening – a field! On the descent the staff swappedgroups and I had the pleasure of witnessing one ofMr Rippon’s chats about a cement factory that sits on theboundary of the National Park. Although it wasextremely windy at times Mr Rippon persevered throughand I think a valuable lesson was learnt by all about thelimestone reserves and their location within the UK!

Duke of Edinburgh’s SilverAward Practice Expedition

5

The group of twenty five students then split into twogroups and were shipped off to two different camp sites.They set up camp and began to cook their evening meals.The staff all agreed that the meals cooked looked lovelyand seemed to be the best we have ever seen from a D ofE group, dishes included chicken curry and rice, pastaand sauce, sausage and burgers and a pot noodle thatwould make Gordon Ramsey proud. They then settleddown to get themselves changed and showered at theend of what was a long and hard day.

The students were awake by 7:00am (which was a shockto the system as some did not even realise there are twoseven o’clocks in one day), to cook breakfast, take downthe tents and get them all packed into the rucksacksready for a days walking. Like giant snails they allmoved off with their homes on their backs. They walkedthe day two route with great pace and little complaint.The weather stayed nice all weekend and it only rainedas we travelled home on the minibuses. We arrivedback at SFX early Sunday evening and Brother Peterprovided a welcome home committee, which is alwaysnice!

Thanks to the students for being true ambassadors’ ofthe college, to the PTA for the new minibuses and to MrRippon, Mr ‘soup and a roll’ Holden and Miss Cullen.

Mr Evans

6

Year Seven pupils havebeen completing a Maskproject this termproducing oil pasteldrawings and 3D masksmade with cardboard.They have studied Africanand South AmericanMasks and come up withtheir own Design.

“My mask is quite ascary mask; I started itby drawing African andSouth American Masksin my sketchbook. Ithen made a large oil pastel drawing ofit. When I had finished I brought in some cardboard andcut out the shape of the mask. Then I cut out detailedparts like the mouth and marks on the face and stuckthem on. I painted the whole mask brown and then finallypainted the dots onto the mask to make it colourful. The

best part for me was thepainting.” Rory Yeoman

“The part I enjoyed themost was comparingmasks with other pupils.When it was completed Ithought my mask lookedfunny.” Liam Catling

“My mask is acombination of Africanand South AmericanDesigns. I wanted mymask to look a bitcrazy.” Joshua Smith.

Mrs Harris

Year Seven Art Project

Congratulations to Year 11 students who graduatedfrom the Increased Flexibility Programme (IFP) onFriday 8th May. Fourteen students in total from SFXtook part in theprogramme,completing coursessuch as Catering,Sports and Recreationand Construction atvarious Colleges inLiverpool. The awardsceremony took placein the Bill Shankly suitein Liverpool Football Club with special guest ClareMolyneux OBE who gave a very frank and hilariousaccount of her childhood in Liverpool and talked aboutthe different career paths now open to young people.

In addition to graduating, awards were given out forMost Improved Learner of the Year and Learner ofYear from each of the College providers. NealPritchard, Philip Williams and Adam Nolan were allawarded Most Improved Learner of the year from theirCollege and Tom Ryan achieved the Learner of theYear award for Construction at Central SchoolsTraining, congratulations to all boys involved.

Callum AshcroftSam BrindleKevin ChristianConnor DuffyAlex EdwardsCraig FitzgibbonThomas GibbsJosh JonesAdam NolanSam PickettNeal PritchardTom RyanAndrew WadePhilip Williams

Mrs Hesketh

Increased FlexibilityProgramme AnnualAwards Ceremony

7

St Francis Xavier's College is constantly striving to make the best use of new technology. We would encourage allmembers of the college community to check the school website frequently to keep up to date with life at thecollege, the site shows how the students live up to the college mission statement ' ...LIFE in all its fullness'.

Make www.sfx.liverpool.sch.uk your homepage today!

You can also follow SFXCollege on Twitter, Flickr, AudioBoo and YouTube.

SFX Around the Web

7G4 have recently been studying a topic on ‘Energy’. It wasappropriate that Mr Hayhurst had discovered a way to investigate‘Kinetic energy’ using cardboard rockets. The rockets aredesigned by the pupils in which they have to make the body, finsand ‘nose cone’. The rockets are launched using a high-pressurecar tyre pump. The winners received prizes! This is an activity that

the new Year7’s will be doing onInduction Day. Mr Fox says:“7G4 learnt alotabout ‘KineticEnergy’ (movementenergy) as theycertainly enjoyactive Sciencelessons!”

Energy with 7G4

The winners’ rockets are launched

Designing Apollo 22

8

Given the associated intellectual demands, it would be wrong to describe D.A.P.S.S.(Debating And Public Speaking Society) as the proverbial cushy number. However, it mustbe said that membership of the society can bring certain undeniable perks. There are theovernight stays in four star London hotels, for example. There are unusual trophies such asthe replica 18th century drug jar that accompanied March’s win at the Royal PharmaceuticalSociety’s Great Pharmacy Debate. There are the team’s stylish white hoodies emblazonedwith the motivational slogan: “Young, Gifted and Catholic”. And, of course, there will alwaysbe the unstinting support and tutelage of Mrs Boughey, the College’s foremost debatingaficionado and supreme leader of DAPSS.

More than all of this though, there is a precious, thoughsomewhat less tangible, dividend to be reaped in termsof personal growth. As pre-eminent DAPSS memberMatthew Handley observed of his team’s experience atthe final of the English Speaking Union’s prestigiousMace competition: “We travelled down to London asboys, yet we returned as young men.” What could hemean by this exactly? Read on and you will understand.

The national final of the ESU’s SchoolsMace was held at Dartmouth House onFriday March 27th. Proceedings werescheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. and sothe DAPSS entourage left Liverpool atlunchtime, riding the express train fromLime Street in order to fulfil their datewith destiny. The team of MatthewHandley and Matthew Oldham (bothYear 11) spent the journey fine-tuningtheir arguments over an executive-stylelunch of coke and blueberry muffinsbefore going on to engage in theircustomary “Red Lorry; Yellow Lorry”vocal warm-ups.

The evening would comprise threedebates, each one of which featured twoschools. After all the debates had takenplace, a panel of judges was set to determine which ofthe six finalists were most deserving of the title ofEnglish champions. SFX’s opponents in the final debateof the evening were representing St. Paul’s School,London. The motion – which SFX were proposing – ranthus:

‘This House believes that indigenous persons convictedof a crime should be sentenced by their community andnot the court’.

It was a highly complex issue, the intricacies of whichmade it easily the most demanding of the three debates.

St. Paul’s were strong favourites to win the competition,but in the run-up to the final there had been excitedwhispers among the ESU fraternity about the darkhorses that would be galloping down from Merseyside.This looked like the debate that would settle matters.

In taking on St Paul’s, the two Matthews really werepitting themselves against a true centre of excellence.

St Paul's is a boys' independent school,considered to be one of the top academicinstitutions in the country. The St Paul’steam, therefore, represented the crèmede la crème of English schooling. Wasthere any chance that Handley andOldham, SFX’s own elite, could turn theirworld sour? Could they whip St Paul’s intosubmission and make them look likeclots? All around that warm debatingchamber, stomachs churned as the twoteams prepared to do battle.

SFX’s Matthew Oldham was the first totake the floor. Like Zac Efron with amultidisciplinary PhD, he rigorouslyoutlined the merits of the motion,establishing a solid mechanism for itsoperation and answering the challenges ofthe St Paul’s team quite unflappably. If he

did struggle in one area then it was that of hair control.His fringe fell into his eyes throughout his speech and itwas only with a periodic sideways flick of his head thathe was able to remedy the situation. Hairstylemalfunction aside, this was a smooth and (somewhatironically) clear-sighted performance from the youngOldham. It was also an encouraging start for SFX.

Great expectations now inevitably attend any speech tobe given by Matthew Handley. In less than two years thisremarkable young man has gone from debate novice toone of the most feared and respected speakers in thecountry. Wherever he goes people marvel at his virtuoso

D.A.P.S.S. Round-upEngland National Final of the ESU

9

performances, all delivered in a breathless style that hasled him to be dubbed, “The fastest gob in the North-West”. If you’ve got Handley in your corner then you’vegot more than just a chance.

And so it was that Matthew Handley went on to give oneof the most penetrating and brilliant speeches of hiscareer, buttressing the SFX case with verve and panache,slapping away any protest from St Paul’s, and also

getting the biggest laugh of the night with one of hisjokes. It was genuinely masterful.

During the interval that followed the boys and theirsupporters were on tenterhooks, as there was everychance that they had done enough to win. Unfortunately,the judges awarded the contest to St Paul’s with SFX asrunners-up. Off-the-record comments confirmed that themargin of victory was a narrow one.

Though they were clearly disappointed with the result,the two Matthews showed great dignity, congratulating

the winning team as well as graciously acceptingplaudits from staff and officials. As they circulated theroom, undiminished by defeat, it seemed clear that thisexperience would act as powerful fuel for futuresuccesses. True, they had not won, but they had certainlygained in maturity and character and, as Teddy Rooseveltobserved:

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious

triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to takerank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much norsuffer much, because they live in the grey twilight thatknows not victory nor defeat.”

It is worth noting that in May 2009 St Paul’s went on towin the ESU International Schools Mace, defeating teamsfrom Wales, Scotland and Ireland in the process. BenWoolgar was also awarded the Kenneth Harris prize forthe best speaker in the final.

Schools Mace

And so it was that Matthew Handley went on to give one of themost penetrating and brilliant speeches of his career, buttressingthe SFX case with verve and panache…

10

On the 1st of June, forty two pupils from years seven, eight and nine set off for Portsmouthat about 1.15am from the school car park. The journey was quite lengthy; and we arrived atPortsmouth at 8.30am. We then boarded the ferry and arrived in Caen at 2.30pm local time,arriving at the hotel at around 4.30pm.

We visited Normandy to learn about the dramatic eventsof 6th June 1944, D Day and the beginning of theliberation of Europe during World War 2. On the secondday, we visited the Pegasus Bridge and museum wherewe saw the actual bridge that was captured on D Day byBritish Paratroopers. We visited Juno beach (one of thefive main landing sights of the Allied invasion of the coastof Normandy) of the coast of Normandy), and the BritishBayeux cemetery.

On the Third Day, we visited the Arromanches InvasionMuseum where we saw the landing stages and what wasleft of Mulberry Harbour. We also visited Omaha Beach,Point du Hoc and the American Military Cemetery. Wewere also privileged to see a 360˚ film where you couldwalk around and look at multiple screens. Originalfootage from D Day was shown, giving a real insight intowhat it must have been like for the men who fought.

History Trip to Normandy

11

On the fourth Day, we spent the whole day at MontSt Michel. The group divided up and spent several hourssightseeing and shopping for souvenirs and presents.

I would like to say how much I enjoyed the trip and I’msure the rest of the pupils would agree. I would like tothank all of the staff who gave up their time to travel withus on this trip.

Dominic Sedley 9RI

I would like to add that the boys were outstanding onthe History trip. We were really proud of the way theyconducted themselves and responded to what theylearned about D-Day and World War 2. Members ofthe public stopped us on several occasions to remarkhow impressed they were by our pupils. Well donelads and thank you!

Miss Crickett

WonderfulAmbassadors of SFX

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Over the last few years, several groups of students have visited the Brothers’ Mother Housein Brittany. This June, the first visit by a group of SFX teachers took place.

The purpose of the visit was an in-depth course in theform of a pilgrimage in the steps of the two founders ofthe Brothers’ order, John de La Mennais and GabrielDeshayes.

The visit began with a Mennaisian Family Day at theBrothers’ centre in Plöermel. Anyone with a connectionto the order - parents, students, teachers, brothers ortheir families - was welcome to attend. The teachersfrom Liverpool were made very welcome and had tochoose from a number of workshops that included BibleStudy, the History of The Order, Liturgical Mime and anumber of stimulating, creative activities.

A relaxing picnic and barbecue followed in the pleasant,spacious grounds, before the highlight of the day, amoving Mass in the large chapel that houses the tomb ofJohn de La Mennais.

The day whetted the appetite ofthe group to find out more aboutwhat the Mennaisian Family stoodfor, and why so many have beendrawn to this new movement.Increasing numbers of peoplefrom all walks of life have begunto focus on the thoughts andteaching of John de La Mennais.

In order to deepen theirunderstanding, the group visitedSt Malo the following day. Thepicturesque, walled city, wasthe birth place of John in 1780,as well as being the city towhich he returned as a youngpriest, fired with enthusiasm tohelp rebuild the CatholicChurch after the FrenchRevolution, and to do whateverhe could to improve the pitifulconditions of young people,especially through education.

Mennaisian Staff Pilgrimage: Plöermel

The Calvaire at Pon

tchateau

The group with the community at St. Malo

The Mother House

St. Malo

13

After St Malo, the group called into St Brieuc which waswhere the Brothers began in 1819 whilst John wasworking at the Cathedral there.

The following day, Tuesday, enabled the group todiscover more about the other co-founder of the order,Gabriel Deshayes. The sites included the house wherehe was born (now a museum) at Beigion and the chapelof Père Eternal in Auray where, as parish priest, he hadjoined forces with John de La Mennais to create thecongregation of The Brothers of Christian Instruction.

The four days spent in Brittany were demanding butrewarding. They gave teachers the opportunity to studythe lives of two inspiring men, wholly committed to Godboth of whom chose to serve him through young people.That so much was covered in such a short time wasmainly due to the skill of Brother Vincent Guillerm whoguided the group from place to place and was a fund of

information andinsight. He was also acharming companionand a real inspirationto everyone throughhis love andadmiration of thesetwo great men andwhat drove them tomake such adramatic impact ontheir society.

The group were also struck by the warm welcome theyreceived from the different Brothers’ communities theyvisited along the way. Whether it was one of the smallercommunities in St Malo or St Brieuc, or The ProvincialHouse in Vannes, they were warmly received andnourished with the simple yet wholesome fare that is thehallmark of the Breton way of life. This was especiallytrue at the Mother House where Brother Francois Milinproved to be a most genial host.

A pilgrimage is necessarily a demanding journey orsearch, with penitential elements, but it is ultimately ajourney inwards that brings untold rewards. Everyoneseemed to feel that the visit to Brittany was a time ofpersonal growth, principally through times of sharing,reflection and prayer. These blessings far outweighedthe hardship of being deprived of everyday leisureactivities such as television and shopping, or evenswimming in the inviting coastal locations that we passeden route.

13 – 17 June 2009

Stained glass window of Gabriel Deshayes helping the poor

The chapel at

the Mother

House

The pilgrims wend their way to Auray

The house where Gabriel D

eshayes wasborn at Beign

on

14

During May five pupils from Year 8 went to Colomendywith Liverpool Hope University’s Maths PGCE studentsfor a Maths master class.

Jack Peters, Jakeb Taylor-Byrne, Jack Kemp, ThomasKemp and Thomas Lowry took part in many activitiesinvolving team work, problem solving and thinking skills.All of the pupils enjoyed the trip and made lots of newfriends with pupils from other schools. SFX pupils came2nd in the maths quiz!

Their favourite activity was one that required excellentteam working skills. The group had to find a solution toprevent water leaking out of a pipe that had holes in it,and fill up the pipe with water so that the ball floated tothe top. It was an excellent trip that allowed pupils to seehow Maths can be brought to life through imaginativeoutdoor activities!

Miss Warwick

Colomendy Trip

Congratulations to thefollowing year 11 studentswho achieved theirCertificate of personaleffectiveness (CoPE) Level1 qualification this week.CoPE is equivalent to oneGCSE and the studentshave worked hard all yearputting together aportfolio of evidence from topicssuch as Sport and Fitness, Vocational preparation andExpressive arts. Throughout the folder they had toprovide evidence of wider key skills Problem solving,working with others, improving own learning,research, discussion and oral presentation.

Kevin ChristianAlex EdwardsJoshua JonesAdam NolanTom RyanAndrew WadeSam PickettPhilip WilliamsNeal PritchardCraig Fitzgibbon

Congratulations to11 IFP

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PTA UpdateIt’s always nice to end the year on a high note and thisyear the PTA have reached the top of the scale! Wehave been fortunate in our quest to purchase a secondminibus for the College and have recently takendelivery of a 17 seater vehicle with an electronic tail liftwhich means we now have access for disabledpassengers.

We are delighted to be able to assist the school as weknow how much the vehicles are used but could nothave bought the minibus without the generous supportof all who have helped us. This now means that wehave been able to purchase 2 vehicles for the Collegewhich we know will make a great deal of difference.

Our last function was assisting at the Band Eveningwhich was well attended and managed to raise fundsfor both the PTA and Bro. James’ Haiti Appeal Fund.

We have planned another full year of events, hopefullythere will be something to appeal to all. We really doappreciate support in all respects especially in thiscurrent economic climate but rest assured any moneywe do raise goes directly back into the school for thebenefit of all pupils.

In the meantime thank you all for your continuedsupport.

Best WishesChairpersonSFX PTA

In June, Brother James took part in the LiverpoolTriathlon. Out of the 316 participants in the "Sprint"distance (750m swim, 20km cycle, 5 km run) he came87th overall and 16th on the cycle leg. See photoevidence.

The money Brotherraised is going toZöe's Place babyhospice. Zoë's Placerelies on donations tokeep going and theydo truly marvellouswork. Each year, ourYear 11 pupilsundertake variousfund-raising activitiesfor the Hospice andsome get a chance tovisit it and see howthe money is put togood use.

Liverpool Triathlon

The Choir were invited to sing alongside David Gest atThe Adelphi Hotel Charity Gala Dinner organised by TheNorth West Variety Club of Great Britain and LiverpoolUnites. The boys were very excited to share a platformwith Mark Lester - the original 'Oliver' actor and MattWillis, the singer in a performance of Consider Yourself.They followed this with an A Capella African song.

The boys were also treated to a trip to McDonalds beforethe show courtesy of Mr Gest.

Liverpool Unites

From 13th - 22nd of May 2009 a group of 33 students and 4 teachers had an adventure inGreece, the land of olives and all of those old rocks. It all started on Wednesday 13th,everyone hyped up waiting for 5th period to end, when we could all prepare to set off later

that night.

At around 11:30pm onwards, people started arriving atthe school car park, waiting for the coach and theteachers to come. We all piled onto the coach, beingcounted on (the first of many times this would happen).Everyone waved goodbye to their mums and the coachdriver took us to Heathrow airport. We made one stop onthe way. Up to that point everyone was awakeand excited, just thinking about the plane, theweather etc accompanied by some strangetastes of music, oh and of course Dennis, thewooden spoon. After the stop, we all seemedto fall asleep for the rest of the journey, wellmost of us catching up on sleep we werecurrently missing. Four hours later, wearrived at Heathrow. Everyone got

back out of the coach and we all grabbed our cases andset off to check in. We all got our boarding passes and,after a short wait, we boarded the plane.

There was some TV for us to watch, including TheSimpsons. Others just slept, chatted or had their ownentertainment and behaviour was good all round. Welanded in Athens airport around 2pm local time. After weall found our cases, we set off to our hotel, taking a

scenic ride through Athens.

The hotel was good. But that didn'treally matter, as we'd be out of it formost of the time! The first day there,we walked to the Acropolis with theParthenon on the top and on the waywe went onto a tall rock which gave agreat view of Athens. Then we werestraight up to the Parthenon. The walkwas worth it. The Parthenon wasfantastic, in great condition considering

Greece Visit

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how old it actually was. We all went off in small groupsto walk around the Parthenon and each side wasoverwhelming, especially when looking straight up at it.Some had lunch and took in the view over the side, whilstothers went around several times. Just past theParthenon was a smaller temple and the columns werewomen (stone ones). We went down through a smallpark and up a hill which gave areally good view of the Parthenonand Athens. We later walked upMount Lycabettos, a good wearingwalk but every step worth it for theview.

The next day, we visited the ancientmarket place and a cemetery withtortoises. Then we were off toKalambaka up north on a 6 hourcoach journey with a stop mid-way.In Kalambaka, the hotel was muchbetter. The next day we went toMeteora, to visit some monasteriesperched on top of tall rock formations.This was where the climax of theJames Bond 'For Your Eyes Only' wasfilmed. Then we were off to Delphi to visit the site of thePythian games and treasuries and temples, but therunning track was closed off. So we had to make our waydown and into a museum which was very good and hadgood artifacts.

The next day was Olympia and we went to see theoriginal Olympic village with the temple of Zeus. Then we

all psyched ourselves up to prepare for the big racein the stadium and to see who was an Olympicchampion amongst us all. Afterwards we walked toa museum with the scale replica of Olympia. Acoach ride then took us to Tolon and to our lasthotel, where we had a good swim.

The following morning, we visitedMycenae, where King Agamemnonlived and we took on “Mini Munch”,as Mr Slattery calls it (the steps ofthe Palamede fortress in Naphlion),which really tired us out. We then hadanother swim and our last sleep inGreece. The final day was MonsterMunch (Akrocorinth), from where wecould see the narrow strip of landconnecting mainland Greece to thePeloponnese, where boats used to bedragged across land to avoid the longtrip by sea. On our way back to Athens,we stopped to look at a deep canal,cutting through the same strip of landmentioned above, which was fantastic.

After we got to the airport and checked in,we had to leave and get on the plane. When

we got to Heathrow, we jumped onto a coach bound forhome (well, more like sluggishly dragged ourselves). Theremainder of the journey was rather quiet. The grandfinale of the quiz took place on this journey, where Zeus’

Thunder (Joe Irwin, Alex Hordern) tookon The Killer Bass (Izaaki Wose, MarcBarlow). The quiz was heated, andZeus’ Thunder took the title, ClassicsTrip Quiz Champions ’09. They eachgot a pizza delivered to them later onin the week. After that, the rest wasjust, home and sleep. But I candefinitely say that the trip was thebest one I had been on. I think it’ssafe to say that everyone enjoyed itimmensely.

Andrew Brown 9 OW

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Big Schools BirdwatchFour Year 7 pupils took part in the BigSchools Birtdwatch last term with Mr Fox.They were Adam Conroy, Jack Thomas, SamMatthews and Alex Dunn. The pupilsrecorded 4 Bluetits; 4 Starlings; 4 longtailedtits; 9 Wood pigeons and 22 Black-headedgulls. The sightings are recorded as thehighest number of a species seen at any onetime.

Big Garden Birdwatch 2009 full resultsOver the Big Garden Birdwatch 2009 weekend 73 different species were seen, butwhat were they? You can find out by going to the Big Garden Birdwatch 2009 fullresults to find out at the RSPB website.

Mr Fox

The nations ‘Top 10’ birds as a result of this National event are shown below.

1. House sparrowThere were an average of 3.70 sparrows per garden. Although they stay at thetop of the table, house sparrow numbers have fallen by 63% since 1979.

2. StarlingAn average of 3.21 starlings were seen per garden and they have suffered adecline of 79% since 1979. Starlings are noisy characters usually seenforaging in small flocks.

3. BlackbirdAn average of 2.84 seen per garden, the blackbird is a non-mover from 2008.

4. Blue titBlue tits are another non-mover from 2008, with an average of 2.45 seen pergarden. An agile bird, blue tits are most often seen flitting onto bird feeders.In winter, family flocks are joined by great tits, long-tailed tits and otherwoodland species, as they search for food.

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at SFX

5. ChaffinchWith an average of 2.01 per garden, the chaffinch held its 5th position. Since

1979, numbers have fallen by 33%.

6. Woodpigeon

An average of 1.85 seen per garden, the woodpigeon continues its success inthe UK. It's increased by 825% since 1979. The largest of the pigeon family. Inflight they have distinctive white wing patches and the tail has a dark band atthe end.

7. Collared dove

With an average of 1.44 seen per garden, the collared dove continues toincrease in numbers with a rise of 414% since 1979. Collared doves originallycame from southern Asia and spread from there to the extreme south-east ofEurope. They were first recorded in Britain in 1953 and have since become acommon garden bird throughout Great Britain and Ireland.

8. Great tit

Great tits are another species continuing to enjoy an increase in numbers witha 56% increase since 1979, and an average of 1.40 seen per garden this year.Great tits feed on seeds and scraps either left on the ground, or on bird tablesand in nut feeders.

9. Robin

An average of 1.36 per garden robins have dropped one place from last year.Robins are the only garden birds to sing throughout the winter, with bothmales and females holding winter territories.

10. Long-tailed tit

And sneaking in at number 10 is the long-tailed tit with an average of 1.34seen per garden.

19

The Design andTechnologydepartment arealways trying tointroduce extra -curricular activitiesthat will inspirestudents toconsider careerpathways in thedesign industry.

LandRover have been running acompetition called TrackNav for a few years now and TheYear 12 Product Design group decided to enter thecompetition. The competition

involved designing andbuilding a radio-controlled all-terrainvehicle to benavigated around apurpose built circuitthat was built byLandRoverengineers.

In addition to the'small' job of building a car to

specific guidelines (size, weight, power source,electronic accessories to name a few) the team had topresent to a board, deliver costing reports and present adesign portfolio - easy!!!

As the competition was a nationally run programme forany school - there were regional qualification heats todeal with. Team XY consisting of Michael McGrath (teamcaptain), Curtis Reekie, Daniel Jessop and John Clarkewent to Land Rover in Halewood on 18th June with MrBowers and Mr Oyadiran to take part in the competition.

After a series of rounds, Team XY were leading the heatuntil the final round after lunch - the course race withthe car. Unfortunately Team XY missed out on winningthe heat, being beaten by a team that took part last year.

During the day Land Rover give all competitors theopportunity to go out in a real Land Rover around a realobstacle course which was amazing to say the least -extremelyimpressive.

All involved had anexcellent time andSFX look forwardto competing nextyear. With a littlemore experience- maybe we’ll goon to thenationals.

Mr Bowers

TrackNav Competition

Year 10 Enterprise Day took place on Thursday 2ndApril. This involved all pupils in Year 10. The day was aresounding success with some very positive feedbackfrom pupils, staff and our guests from BusinessDynamics. Pupils were involved in a variety of activitiesdesigned to develop their awareness of the world ofbusiness and enterprise and also develop skills suchas team working and communication.

Pupils applied themselves to a variety of team buildingexercises which included: Designing and marketing aproduct, planning and building a model housingdevelopment, building a model rollercoaster andlooking at the social implications of business activity.Prizes were awarded to pupils throughout the day witha final presentation in the hall. Special mention mustgo to Mr Pedder for all his hard work in helping toorganise the event and to all in Year 10 for their efforts

and excellent behaviour.

Mr Conroy.

Year 10Enterprise Day

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The 16th May 2009 saw the annual sixthform leavers’ party at SFX. It was anexcellent night everyone looked very smartand was difficult to recognise some of thestudents as they really had transformedthemselves

The event started at 7.00pm with a buck’sfizz reception, the school dining room wasexpertly transformed into a stunning andfitting venue for the event. The staff andstudents sat down together to enjoy ameal:

For entertainment we had the delightsof a table magician, he was reallyentertaining and kept each tableamused with his acts of mystery andintrigue!! At one point he even managedto get Mr Evans to sign a £10 note andthen proceeded to cut open a kiwi fruitonly to find the signed note inside. MrEvans wasn’t that happy with a soggy £10note though!!

This year, as in most years, we wereentertained by the Manic Street Teachers(although not the full ensemble due toother commitments – we were, howeverleft with the more than capable duo of Mr

Flowers and Brother James). Their music went downreally well and the legendary singing of the happy songis a must on the play list!!

We danced on until the early hours of the morning. Itwas a chance to see teachers who the students hadn’tseen for a number of years as well as the chance to saya fitting goodbye to those teachers who have been anintegral part of student’s Sixth Form experience

The night was very successful and provided everyonewith lasting memories of that night and their time atSFX. We wish them well for their future.

Leavers’ Party

The Menu

Starters:

A fan of honeydew melon and pea

rls of

watermelon ona bed of raspbe

rry coulis

Or creamy vegetable and lentil

soup

Main Course:

Braised steak au poivre

Roast fillet of chicken

Spinach, mushroom and walnut cre

pe

Sweet:

Chocolate Torte

Orange Caramel Cheesecake

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Catch a Star!Thomas Hogan took part in the 'Catch a Star' event atParklands CLC on Wednesday, 24th June organised byMiss Manning.

Pupils should watch out for future auditions.

Preparations are well underway for the launch of thenew IT Diploma course which will start in September.

This is going to be taught at the Sunflower Centre inWoolton village where a brand new ‘state of the art’classroom has been designed. Work is due to start onthe 7th July when the existing fittings will be ripped outand the new equipment and furniture will be installedover the summer holidays.

The course content is up-to-date and relevant,reflecting the blend of business, technical,interpersonal and project skills needed by someonewho is thinking about a career in the IT sector. The ITDiploma is equivalent to 7 GCSEs (Grade A*-C) whichreflects the demanding content and high expectationsof this qualification.

Through completing the Principal Learning, learnerswill:

• Investigate technology systems used in business

• Explore the impact of technology on organisations,individuals and society

• Produce small-scale technology systems, includingdatabases and networks

• Create effective multimedia products

• Learn how to manage and deliver successful ITprojects

• Develop their team-working, communication andproblem-solving skills.

The Diploma students will have the benefit of visitingnumerous businesses and organisations and will nodoubt be set some real life challenges by theemployers involved! It is also hoped that there will besome exciting educational trips where they will seetechnology being used in amazing ways for example inDisneyland, Paris.

Watch this space!

Mrs Holmes

IT Diploma News

In beating English Schools National ChampionsArchbishop Beck 3-1 in the Merseyside Final, the SFXYear 7 team produced one of the finest displays in thehistory of the school.

The manager of the side, Mr Harrison commented, “It wasan excellent performance and a reward for theirdedication throughout the season. We had hundreds ofhours of training and matches and it paid off. The teamshowed ability, skill, tactical awareness and self-belief.They outplayed a really strong side and I am very proud ofthem. I admire the players a great deal and hope theycontinue to progress as footballers. I would also like topay tribute to a loyal group of parents and supporters whoattended in numbers all season and who were respectfulof decisions, recognising that there were many boysinvolved not just one.”

Back row standing: left to right.

Jordan Flynn ; James Tierney ; Mark Gill (goalie) ;Christian Haws ; Connor Martin ; Ben Jago (Capt) ;Matthew James ; Kieran Gilsenan ; Sean McEvoy ; JoeCoffey.

Front row: left to right.

Nathan Benjamin ; Patrick Graham ; Alex Speed ; ThomasFeeley ; Louis Robles ; Gavin Heard.

Year 7 Footballers:Merseyside SchoolsChampions

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The 7Y3 French class have been working on anAssessment for Learning (AfL) - led project to helpbuild up their level of spoken French. The boysprepared and recorded their own mini-podcasts inFrench. Their final performance was video recorded tobe used as a teacher-training tool by the LocalAuthority.

The boys said:

"It was funny speaking through the microphone andthen hearing yourself speaking French"

"I was really proud of my work"

"It made me fell really confident that I could be good atFrench"

Mr Lloyd

Year SevenFrench Project

This academic year has been very busyin the Schools’ parliament. After theirinitial training at Lace in October theMSP’s embarked on a series ofinteresting and engaging workshops.Knife crime was the first and saw avery heated debate between studentsand the Police. This crime is taken very seriously onMerseyside and the Police are at pains to make sure thatno child feels threatened to the point that they need toarm themselves for protection.

Further workshops followed addressing such topics asHealthy Eating, The Children and Young Peoples’ plan,Bully Busters and The Holocaust.

As a group we found the debate in the Council chamberson the motion ‘The Upper House of the Liverpool Schools’Parliament proposes that Liverpool City Council shouldnot cut the allocated budget for 6th Form bus passes’,most exciting. It provoked much argument and discussionbut was eventually carried with a good majority. For oneMSP, however, his visit to London to meet with real MP’sand discuss the Small Print Bill will stay in his memoryfor a long time. Tea, sandwiches and cake in one of theanti rooms of the Houses of Parliament also helped tofeed the mind.

My thanks go to the following boys, Liam Markey, PatrickGaul, Joseph Mosses and Jonathan Rigby who equippedthemselves well in each situation and proved excellentambassadors for the College.

Mrs Smith

A Year with the Schools’Parliament

Football 2008 - 2009Roll of Honour

Year 10 finishedoff a goodseason with afantasticsuccess in theLiverpool Cupfinal, winningthe MartindaleTrophy. A 3-0victory overCardinal Heenan meant that theboys were able to finish the season with a medal,their first one for SFX. Anthony Gallagher opened thescoring in the first half with an excellent volley fromthe clearance of a corner, an almost identical goal tothe one he scored in the Merseyside Cup semi finalagainst the same opposition. The second half againwas tight but Cardinal Heenan were unable to getpast the solid defence of O’Driscoll, Robertson,Gallagher and Durnan, with John Murphy doing a finejob in goal too when called upon. Kieron Kennyadded a second, with credit to George Ferguson forthe assist and then Jack Shaw completed the winwith a fine solo goal.

Played Won Drawn Lost Goals + Goals -19 15 1 3 53 19

Mr Glover would like to pass on a massive thank youto all the pupils who have been involved in thefootball team over the past few years and would alsolike to thank all of the parents for their support too.

2nd X1 – League WinnersYear 10 – Liverpool ChampionsYear 9 – Liverpool Champions and Merseyside FinalistsYear 8 – Liverpool ChampionsYear 7– Merseyside Champions and Liverpool Finalists

Year 10 Football

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Beaconsfield Road, Liverpool L25 6EG • Tel: 0151 288 1000 Fax: 0151 288 1001 • Email: admin@sfx.liverpool.sch.ukwww.sfx.liverpool.sch.uk

During the final half term theschool signed up to be part ofthe exciting National SchoolSports Week. This involved anumber of different inter formsports competitions for ouryear 7 and 8 pupils. It was ahuge success with around 75of our students competing insome form of activity on anygiven night. The sportsincluded: dodgeball, squash, baseball and tennis. Theevents were signed off with a school sports day atLitherland Sports Centre in the final week. As it was aninter form event, the competition was fierce but no matterwhere each form group finished, all those involved had anenjoyable few weeks.

Next year we are aiming to increase the opportunities forour students to stay behind after school and take part insome form of physical activity or sport. It is a governmentinitiative that by the time the Olympics happen in 2012 allstudents should be offered at least 5 hours of PE andsports each week. With the success of Sports Week I’msure we can meet this target.

Mr Brown

National SchoolSports Week Merseyside Catholic Schools Meeting Wednesday

10th June at Wavertree (Division 1)1st – SFX (712 points)2nd – Maricourt (706 points)3rd – Sacred Heart (641 points)

Liverpool City Athletics ChampionsYear7Joseph Rice (400m)

Year 8Thomas Searle (200m)

Year 9Tom Williams (100m and Long Jump)Alex Almond (High Jump and Triple Jump)James Cairns (200m and Hurdles)D Jones, T Williams, J Comer, P Stanton (Relay)

Year 10Michael Hartley (High Jump)Robert McLean (800m))

Athletics Results

South District Results (Year 7, 8, 9 and 10Combined)1st – St Margarets (537 points)2nd – SFX (468 points)3rd – Calderstones (371 points)4th – Gateacre (346 points)5th – Shorefields (275 points)Boys who qualified for the city individualchampionships (by coming 1st or 2nd in the SouthDistrict)

Year7Gavin Herd (100m)Louis Robles (200m)Joseph Rice (400m)Alex Speed (800m)Patrick Graham (800m)Ben Jago (Hurdles)Joseph College (High Jump)James Verberg (Javelin)G Herd, J Kenton, L Robles, S Trainer (Relay)

Year 8Thomas Searle (200m)Oliver Sharpe (1500m)Sam Kinley (Discus)

Year 9Tom Williams (100m and Long Jump)Declan Jones (Shot)Alex Almond (High Jump and Triple Jump)James Cairns (200m and Hurdles)Luke Towers (1500m)Nathan Quirk (1500m)S Kinsella, T Williams, J Comer, P Stanton (Relay)

Year 10James Shaw (100m)Michael Hartley (High Jump)Robert McLean (800m)

Four SFX pupils have reached the English SchoolsFinals:Oliver Back (Year 12 – 100m)Craig Jones (Year 11 – Long Jump)Michael Hartley (Year 11 – High Jump)Thomas Williams (Year 9 – 100m)Richard Harrison (Year 9 – Hurdles)

Merseyside Catholic Schools Meeting (Division 1) atWavertree1st – SFX2nd – Cardinal Heenan3rd – Sacred Heart4th - Maricourt

Athletics Results

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