Year 10 and 11 pupils had a fantastic time on the Barcelona Art Trip in October half term with Mrs Penny-Collings, Miss Harris and Mr McGeever.

Pupils visited the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Cathedral, the Picasso Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art. The weather was beautiful and we even managed to squeeze in a trip to the beach, several ice creams and a bit of shopping in between our drawing and photography activ-ities.

All of the pupils were incredibly well behaved and mature, and really engaged with all of the artwork and produced some fantastic sketchbook work in response to architecture and artwork they saw. We will definitely be back next year!

Mrs Penny-Collings

Barcelona Art Trip

Alumni News

Death of a Salesman Theatre Trip

On a Wednesday evening in November we went to watch Death of a Salesman at the Royal Exchange theatre, along with thirty-four fellow students and twelve members of staff.

We arrived in anticipation and as we entered the theatre nothing was revealed. A wooden circular stage ‘in the round’ with large semi-circular platforms around the out-side added intrigue. As we took our seats and admired the tangled mass of branches which hung from the ceiling in a cluster above the stage, the lights dimmed and it began.

The set was very simplistic consisting of a small wooden table and two chairs making up the Loman family's kitch-en. However this was very effective when conveying the idea that nothing can be hidden; there’s nowhere to hide. The actors, with strong American accents, paraded around the stage full of life, their characterisation strong. It was clear who played which character before they were introduced. The play was complex, leaving the audience with a lot to think about; after we discover that Willy Loman’s relationship was built on lies, it gave me with no sense of relief as his dreams were left unachieved and

their expectation was false which left me with an empty feeling when nothing was resolved.Alice Year 12

The Play’s Relevance Today

The world has changed since the 1950s, but it is to Arthur Miller’s credit that ‘Death of a Salesman’ is shown around the globe even today. So what makes the play so enduring? Miller has identified the prob-lems of masculinity still experienced today in the symbolically named character ‘Willy’: excessive pride, powerlessness in protection of loved ones and a belief that hard work has to bring success. These issues are exacerbated in a world where hard working men still rely on food banks. Miller, too, uncovers universal issues faced by all of us at some point or another; our loneliness, alienation, the difficulty of how to deal with our dreams being shattered and the realisation we are completely average, if that. This is why ‘Death of a Salesman’ is still so widely revered in the modern world.

Finlay Year 13

Our recent alumnus Ben Haynes completed a write up for the Manchester Literary Festival, for their blog Chap-ter and Verse on the poetry of Dame Carol Ann Duffy, Suzanne Batty and Clare Shaw.

Dame Carol Ann was there to reveal her final collection of poems as Poet Laureate, and the full article reviewing all the poets’ work can be read through the link below:

https://blog.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/2018/10/review-carol-ann-duffy-suzanne-batty-clare-shaw/

From left to right:

Dame Carol Ann Duffy, Clare Shaw and Suzanne Batty

Year 9s were given a summer project to up cycle everyday items and turn them into a useful project. All of the current Year 10s brought in their products and they generated a PowerPoint presentation explaining their processes and evaluating their unique selling point.

The first group presented in front of a panel of senior leadership and teachers which consisted of Mrs Co-naughton, Miss Shaw, and myself. The standard was really high this year and this was not an easy decision to make.

After much deliberation the winners were Charlotte , Hannah and Lily .

The following week the second half of the group pre-sented their findings to a panel which consisted of Mr Cornally, Mrs Kneen and Mr McGeever. Again the standard was very high and after a short discussion the winners were Blake, Peter and Louis.

I am very proud of my Design and Technology group and could not believe the high standard of products made which were all commercially viable. It was no

mean feat presenting in front of the class and senior leadership and they all should be proud of their work.

Miss McBride

Dragon’s Den 2018

Christmas Card

Talented Leo in Year 8 took up the challenge of designing a school Christmas Card this year. His charming effort, depicting the nativity is shown here.

If parents, staff or pupils would like to order cop-ies please visit:

www.myartproject.co.uk.

Go to to the ‘order’ tab and enter the code and PIN no. below.

P02355/C01/A001 Pin. 3HUZ

Any orders made will support our school.

Miss Shaw

Year 9 Food Provenance Trip

The Year 9 GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition pupils really enjoyed their recent trip to Broad Oak Farm in Partington to look at where our food comes from and then Altrincham Market Hall to sample some of the local pro-duce on offer.

Broad Oak farm is an 83 acre working farm. There we saw the arable crops that are grown in rotation using grass, wheat and barley and discussed how climate change was affecting production. It was lovely to see, if not a bit smelly, the herds of Pedigree Large White and British Saddleback pigs at different life stages. We saw mating pigs, pregnant pigs and pigs feeding their new piglets: it really brought our “lessons to life” and made us appreciate how food production is planned and how the animals, which go into our food chain, are looked after during their production. The farm also has a herd of black and brown Dexter cattle which we were lucky enough to see enjoying life out in the meadow.

Altrincham is fast becoming one of Greater Manchester’s most exciting foodie destinations. The Market Hall is home to some of the region’s finest independent food outlets,

housed behind Victorian-style shop fronts. It was a really enjoyable way to experience some of the local produce on offer and to try something new, although the stone baked pizzas were still most pupil’s favourite.

Mrs Boardman

Year 9 trip to the farm and Altrincham Markets

I really enjoyed the Year 9 trip to Altrincham Markets and the farm. I am studying GCSE Food and it is the first trip that I have been on without support. This is because I am profoundly deaf and I wanted to gain some confidence and independence. Mrs Boardman understands that I find things difficult at times and encourages me to work hard and do the best I can in my subject.

I have had an excellent start to my GCSE as Mrs Board-man explains things well and understands the problems I sometimes have in class. Listening to instructions and learning new words is much harder when you are deaf. I learnt lots of new information on the farm and market trip. I learnt how animals develop and where we get our food

from. The markets were fantastic and I could see the local food available and enjoyed my lunch.

At school I find it hard to hear in the busy dining room so this was a chance to hear my friends and be a proper part of things. I am glad to have had this opportunity to go out of school and get more involved. I learnt so much about the world, environment and the food we eat. A big thanks to Mrs Boardman and the other staff that helped and came along.

Ciara Year 9

Samba Workshop

On Wednesday 17th October 2018 pupils in Years 7 and 8 took part in a Brazilian Samba workshop. Samba is percussion music which comes from Brazil and is used in Pop music and also at football matches! Tony from The Manchester School of Samba came along with his team of helpers to teach us how to play in an ensemble. We started off by clapping rhythms as a group and practising following the leader. This then turned into a musical game as we had to clap the opposite to the leader! We then put these rhythms into reality and performed on genuine Brazilian instruments such as surdos, tambourims, agogo bells and chocalhos. Our rhythms and ability to listen to each other definitely got better as we moved around the room and swapped with each other!

We would like to thank Tony and his team for teaching us about Brazilian Samba. We loved learning about the carnival atmosphere and performing on Brazilian instruments. However, most of all we loved the noise that we made as a team, which could be heard around the school and into the centre of Altrincham!

Mrs Edwards

Dan asked to be in the Newsletter to talk about his passion - which is Karate. He started learning when he was about 5 years old at the Black Belt Academy in Wythenshawe, and has acquired, white, yellow, orange, green and blue belts so far; with purple and brown to go before he gets the black.

Encouraged by his cousins and uncles who also partici-pate, he attends every Friday from 8.00 - 9.30 in the adult class - because his skills are so advanced.

Dan and his club took part in the Wythenshawe Games with demonstrations and tournaments.

After taking a brief break, Dan estimates it will take him about 2 years to achieve his black belt, as he has many new moves to learn, but he is determined to get there!

Dan in Year 8 aims high for his black belt!

Dan proudly displays his hard-won blue belt.

Manchester Art Museum Trip

Year 10 pupils visited Manchester Museum this week to collect primary source imagery for their upcoming ‘Flora and Fauna’ project. They took part in a challenging drawing workshop with the artist in residence, Luke, where they explored alternative drawing techniques designed to improve their observational skills and encourage risk taking and experimentation.

The pupils left with lots of new work for their upcoming projects and enjoyed engaging with all of the animals and artefacts. Some students even got to look at some of the taxidermy up-close – they were able to stroke a real fox and handle the echidna, mink and moorhen specimens!

Mrs Penny-Collings

Whitworth Art Gallery Trip

At the beginning of November, a group of 30 Year 8 pupils attended a trip to the Whitworth art gallery to see an exhibition by Alice Kettle, textile artist. The pupils had all taken part in a collaborative project to stitch a forest of trees and this was an excellent opportunity for them to see their work in situ.

Alice Kettle, has spent time working with refugees in Greece as well as many refugees living in UK. She has built a body of contemporary textile work that focuses on various aspects of migration and reflects the campsites and temporary spaces that many refugees have lived in. The pieces all have at their core an emphasis on com-munity and shared work.

‘The forest’ is comprised of thousands of trees from community groups, schools and individuals throughout the country that want to show solidarity with refugee communities.

Each of our pupils stitched a tree during the summer term last year, and had in mind their own cultural roots, current paths and future dreams, like the trees that we produced, no two paths were the same. Many of us have roots in other parts of the world and interesting stories

that played a part in building the communities we now live in.

The exhibition runs till 24th February 2019.

During the visit, pupils took part in an Art Textiles work-shop, led by one of the Whitworth’s artists. They experi-mented with mark making, wax resist painting on fabric and hand stitching in response to the exhibition.

In the afternoon pupils had an opportunity to see the permanent collection in the rest of the gallery as well an interactive show by Installation artist William Kentridge , renowned for his animation film and sculpture . The pupils really enjoyed the day, it was an excellent oppor-tunity for them to immerse themselves in art, and feel the benefits of being part of something collaborative but most of all experience the happiness and inner peace that looking at art can give you.

Miss Eastwood

For more information about the Whitworth gallery exhibitionclick here

Every year during Advent we put our faith into action by supporting those in need. Following the successes of previous years, we will again be collecting items to benefit those who are in need in the local community.

Monday 26th November saw the launch of our College Advent Charity Appeal “Spread Light from one Family to Another” for Cornerstone Homeless Charity. Cornerstone is based in Manchester city centre and is a day centre providing services to vulnerable and disadvantaged adults. It provides hot meals, clothes, one to one support, education and safe haven night shelters.

More information about the work they do can be found at

http://cornerstonecds.org.uk/

During the Advent appeal pupils are asked to donate an item per week that Cornerstone have said will help them and the people they work with. Each week we are asking students to bring in the following:

26th - 30th November: Toiletries for men.

3rd - 7th December: Toiletries for women.

10th-14th December: General toiletries such as toothpaste/toothbrushes/Toilet paper.

These items will be collected each week in form time and taken to Cornerstone at the end of the appeal.

Thank you to you and your family for your generosity in supporting this year’s Advent appeal.

Mrs Kirby

Advent Appeal

Blessed Thomas Holford embarked on their first away fixture of the year to local rivals St Ambrose College. The 4.30pm kick off under floodlights on a chilly November’s evening did not phase the BTH XI who soaked up early pressure well with vital tackles from Patrick and Alex after St Ambrose started sharply. Goalkeeper Finlay did well to get behind an early Ambrose free kick, but after a ten minute spell of finding their feet, BTH really grew into the game. The Urban Road men were dangerous down right with Brennan and Malakai linking up well. Two early half chances for Malakai and one effort cleared off line saw the ascendancy shift to BTH boys. Callum was relentless up and down the left and putting some key challenges in whilst Sam spread the ball nicely during a period of sus-tained BTH possession. Scores remained 0-0 at half time.

BTH continued where they left off in the second half with Fletcher again finding Brennan who was inches away from poking the ball in. Anthony, who St Ambrose were not dealing with at all well, clattered the left upright which was a final warning to the Halebarns outfit. Captain Lorcan commanded the game and almost carried from defence to the Ambrose box. The deadlock was broken however after Malakai chipped the Ambrose keeper from 30yds. BTH

1-0 Ambrose with left 20 minutes to play! From then on BTH looked most likely to add a second with St Ambrose’s frustration growing. Joe made a couple of chances which on another day, the BTH men would have put away but it was the defensive effort in the last 10 minutes that really sealed the victory. Filippo moved up to the wing and carried the ball well but some magical saves from Finlay in goal meant that BTH kept a clean sheet and finished the game 1-0, deserved victors.

Their next match against Stretford Grammar will be played in December before the Christmas break, with BTH look-ing to move into the top two places in the Trafford League.

Mr Davison

Year 12 Football Match Report

Pupils at Blessed Thomas Holford have been given the opportunity to design a new logo for Swans @Play, St Hughes primary schools after school club. Many of our pupils attended St Hughes so they are very excited about the competi-tion.The winning design will be painted on a large scale wall display at the school and then made in to the clubs logo.

The prize winning design will follow soon.

Miss Shaw

New swan logo for St Hughes’ after school club

Holy God,

It can be hard to be kind to other people,especially when we don’t know them.

Help us to recognise you in the people around usand the people we are going to help this Advent.

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord: Amen

Blessed Thomas Holford… Pray for us.. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

A Prayer for Advent