appointed as ‘Student En-

gagement Coordinator- Be-haviour’ and will commence

his role in February. We also

welcome Mrs Claire Kiernan who has joined the adminis-

trative team on a temporary basis. Finally, congratulations

to Mrs Haworth and Mr Pal-

frey who got married last week. We wish them every

happiness in their future to-gether.

I am sure that many of you

will have heard the sad news

of the death of Fr Tim Wilby earlier this week. Fr Tim was

vicar of St George’s Church, Area Dean and a regular visi-

tor to St Michael’s. We re-

member Fr Tim and his fami-ly in our prayers and send

our sincere sympathy to his wife Hilary and their family at

this time.

Finally, as the season of Ad-

vent draws to a close, we think about the message of

peace and hope that Christ-mas brings as we look for-

ward to our Christmas Ser-

vices at the end of term. Term ends on Thursday 22

December. Buses have been ordered for 13.00, following

the morning services.

As always, thank you for your continued support.

I wish you all a peaceful Christmas and a happy New

Year.

Mrs J Jenks

Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers

I am sure that our newslet-

ter will give you an insight into our very busy and pro-

ductive half term. I would like to share one or two

highlights with you.

We were honoured to wel-

come St Michael’s former Headteacher, Mrs Julie Hea-

ton as our principal guest at Awards Evening. The even-

ing recognised the contribu-

tion made by the whole of ‘Team St Michael’s’ to the

education of our former pupils in body, mind and

spirit. It was a celebration of the wonderful young

people they are, of all that

they contributed to the life of our school and of their

outstanding examination success.

On the sporting front we are delighted that two of

our netball teams (Year 11 and Year 9 girls) have been

chosen to represent Lanca-

shire in the North West round of the National

Schools Tournament. We are very proud of them and

wish them every success in January.

Our Year 11 pupils who have successfully completed

the Archbishop of York pro-gramme received their

awards at a special ceremo-

ny attended by pupils, staff, governors and parents/

carers. Former Christian Youth worker, Susie Maple-

doram, now Diocesan Youth Worker for Manchester pre-

sented the awards to pu-

pils.

Also this term, Year 10 pu-

pils who are involved in the

programme held a lunch for some of the residents of

local nursing homes and members of local churches.

The morning was a tremen-dous success and enjoyed

by both the visitors and the

Year 10 pupils who really appreciated being able to

make a difference to the lives of others.

Please may I take this op-portunity to remind you

about our procedures for ‘Unavoidable School Clo-

sure’? Should we need to close school during the

school day, please ensure

that you have made contin-gency plans for your child.

The school website will be the source of information

should we be forced to

close: http://www.saint-michaels.com. I can assure

you that school will only be closed after due considera-

tion of the health and safe-

ty of everyone who learns and works here.

I would like to draw atten-

tion to the information in the newsletter about the

use of mobile phones and

dropping off/collecting pu-pils from school. We are

most grateful for your sup-port and cooperation in

these matters.

Mr Ian Jenkinson retires from St Michael’s at the end

of this term after thirty years of dedicated service

to the school. He has our very best wishes for a hap-

py and healthy retirement.

Mr Nicholas Hilton has been

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 I S S U E 2

HIGHLIGHTS

p.3 Goodbye, Mr

Jenkinson

p.4 European Ad-

venture

p.6 Archbishop of York Awards

p.7 It’s beginning

to look a lot like

Christmas

p.9 Pensioners’ Party

p.10 Teacher turned Author

p.12 Clothes Show

Live

p.13 Wigan Warri-

ors

p.14 Joyeux Noël

P A G E 2

S A I N T

M I C H A E L ’ S

N E W S

EARLIER THIS TERM we had

a visit from Mr Thomas, the Chair of Trustees from the

charity, ‘Life NoW’.

Life NoW supports young adults in the North West aged 18-40 with life-limiting, life-threatening and end-

of-life conditions. Currently, in their catchment area when young adults (aged 18-40) get too old for chil-dren's hospices, their only option is to go into an adult hospice, which really caters for the elderly and

not young adults.

To address this, the charity are aiming to build a Life NoW Hospice

serving south Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire, the Isle of Man and North Wales; a hospice, designed specifically for young

adults, filled with life and hope.

Mr Thomas came to meet with our

Year 8 Charities Committee to talk about how our Year 8 pupils can

support Life NoW. We look forward to working with him and the

young adults the charity supports

over the next year.

EARLIER THIS MONTH the Chorley

and District U14 boys and girls and U16 boys and girls badminton com-

petitions took place.

There was some outstanding play from all of the St Michael’s teams, beating all

the other schools in the competition and all the teams involved came out as winners.

Our wonderful teams will be now be going forward to represent Chorley at Na-

tionals in January. Curriculum Leader for PE, Mrs Dempster congratulated the teams, saying: ‘Well done to all those involved and our new coach Daneka Lewis, who has taken over

the running of the teams from the recently retired Sue Lago. A brilliant start to her reign!’

Once again thank

you to all our

parents and carers

for your continued

support in ensuring

your child’s

attendance and

punctuality is the

best it can be.

Top Tutorials: 707, 803, 902, 1003

& 1105

P A G E 3

S A I N T

M I C H A E L ’ S

N E W S

WE WERE HONOURED to welcome

back last year’s Year 11 to school on the 30th November to celebrate

their amazing achievements at the annual Awards Evening.

Former pupils, parents, carers, staff, governors and our honoured guests gathered to celebrate the pupils’ successes in what were Saint Michael’s best ever GCSE results.

Mrs Julie Heaton, who retired as Headteacher in the summer, also returned to school to present the

awards to what she called a ‘very special year group’ and she said she felt ‘nervous’ though very ‘privileged’ when she received the invitation.

Current Headteacher Mrs Jenks spoke to the former pupils about how ‘proud’ she was of each and every one of them

and thanked the parents, carers, governors and staff for all their hard work and commitment to the education of

these fantastic young people, in ‘mind, body and spirit’.

As well as the GCSE certificates, special prizes were also

distributed for achievement and progress, including specif-ic subject, sport and performing arts awards.

And, of course, the highlight of the evening...Mr Gow’s

fantastic prom video—a final chance for the staff to say

goodbye to these very special young people.

AFTER 30 YEARS of dedicated

service Mr Ian Jenkinson will bid farewell to Saint Michael’s

at the end of this term to begin his retirement.

Mr Jenkinson came to Saint Michael’s in 1986 after studying at Liverpool University and starting his career in the Post Office. He actually began his teaching career at Southlands but moved over to Saint Michael’s

on a voluntary deployment.

Whilst being employed at Saint Michael’s in the Geography department initially, Mr Jenkinson has actually taken on many different roles in school during his time here—RE teacher, leader of the ASDAN course and

teacher of basic skills. Most recently, after retiring from teaching a few

years ago, Mr Jenkinson has been running the PGU in school and he says this role has been his most ‘rewarding’, feeling that he has ‘saved the best

til last’.

Highlights of his time at Saint Michael’s includes numerous holidays to

Penzance and a particularly memorable trip to Malham with Mr Watson where they and a group of 60 pupils were snowed in at the Youth Hostel

in Stainforth for three days. They finally had to dig out the minibuses and complete a four hour walk to Settle (only a mile or so away) to get home.

Mr Jenkinson said he will miss all the people at Saint Michael’s when he

leaves—both staff and pupils—but he is looking forward to a busy and en-

joyable retirement, during which time he plans to travel, spend more time with his family and do more work for the Blackburn Diocese.

Good luck Mr Jenkinson, we will miss you!

P A G E 4

S A I N T

M I C H A E L ’ S

N E W S

THE MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND HISTORY departments led a

group of 46 pupils to Germany and Poland in the half-term break on a 10-day excursion that took them through Hamelin, Berlin, Krakow,

Auschwitz and Dresden.

The pupils were able to use familiar and less familiar language skills on the trip as Miss Nicholson and Mrs Schiel coaxed pupils to use their

German and pupils also had a go at some key Polish phrases. New

foods and a different culture made pupils think about the importance of learning a modern foreign language and experiencing different tra-

ditions and cultures.

They paid a short visit to Hamelin, the home of the pied piper and there was the obligatory photograph of pupils following the statue of

the piper. Fortunately, no children were lost though!

There was plenty of History to keep Mr Kirkpatrick and Mr Cree busy

too. The Cold War and the Nazi Era were key focal points which sup-ported the pupils engaging with GCSE History. Berlin is an exciting

modern city with plenty of echoes of the Cold War.

The group enjoyed a spectacular view of the East Berlin TV tower from a fine vantage point at the top of the Park Hotel, 40 floors above Alex-

anderplatz, built as an attempt to project the “success” of the com-

munist DDR. They also learned a little bit about the post-war history of the city, visiting Checkpoint Charlie and surviving sections of the wall at

Bernauer Strasser.

Pupils were then well-prepared for their experience of Auschwitz by vis-iting the very moving Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Topography

of Terror Museum.

There were light-hearted moments too, including plenty of opportunities

to pick up souvenirs for loved ones back at home. The KDW is the big-gest department store in Europe and pupils made the most of the shop-

ping opportunities.

The group then undertook a very long journey to Krakow. It was a

beautiful city and everyone was charmed by the night-time experience of the floodlit town square and market hall. It was a city many of the

group wanted to stay longer in and would definitely visit again.

There was a darker side to the city though as the pupils heard the testi-mony of a Holocaust survivor on their visit

to the ghetto area and then the visit to

Auschwitz. This was always going to be a chilling experience and pupils and staff were overwhelmed by the scale of this camp and the things they saw

there.

The party were exhausted on their return, but had an unmissable experience. New friendships were forged and pupils had moments for deeper reflection as

well as fun and relaxation.

The staff who accompanied the pupils would like to thank them for their ex-

cellent conduct on the visit and their active appreciation of the language and historical aspects of the trip.

P A G E 5

Parents are welcome to browse the school's Moodle at http://moodle.saint-

michaels.lanc.sch.uk

Click on Parent Zone > Log in as Guest User > Agree Site Policy > and there you are! Parents do not need a username for the public areas of Moodle.

The areas accessible to parents include weekly prayers, worship, weekly listings of clubs, re-vision advice, technical support and occasional questionnaires to give feedback on events.

Pupils can visit Moodle Club in H7 on any day of the week at lunchtime throughout the year

for advice, support in accessing home learning, and the resolution of password concerns.

S A I N T

M I C H A E L ’ S

N E W S

TWENTY TRIPLE SCIENCE

students from Year 10 visit-ed Bishop Rawstorne for

the annual Chorley and South Ribble Ogden Partnership Christmas lecture.

The lecture was led by Dr Matt Pritchard who spoke about ‘Something about Nothing’, attempting to fill in the empty

gaps and explain almost everything there is to know about nothing—from Annihilation through to Zero. Pupils enjoyed a

comedy show uniquely fusing magic, multimedia and mathe-matics that explored the history, maths, science and philoso-

phy behind nothing.

THIS DECEMBER three for-

mer pupils came back to

speak to current members of

Year 11 and Year 10.

The panel of Madeleine Davies-Brown, now at St Hilda’s College in Oxford, Katie Winstanley, studying at

Keble College in Oxford, and Cameron Staveley, currently at Jesus College in Cambridge, were inter-

viewed by Mr Neville and Mr Heywood about their experiences of GCSEs, college life, A-Levels and get-

ting into university.

This was then followed by an opportunity for current pupils to ask

questions to the alumni. The overriding and unmissable message from

all three former pupils was to encourage our current cohort to aim

high and believe in their own ability because you are good enough

academically not only to go to university but even to ones such as

Oxford or Cambridge.

Dropping off and picking up

Please may we respectfully request that parents/carers avoid parking at the

front of school wherever possible during the busy times before and after school. It is a serious health and safety risk with so many pupils entering

and exiting school. This, combined with over twelve buses, can cause sub-

stantial disruption to the local residents.

Some of the residents of Elmwood have expressed concern about the increasing number of cars using this small cul-de-sac to drop off and pick up pupils and asked if the car park in

the village might be used wherever possible. We strive to establish and maintain positive

relationships with our neighbours and would therefore really appreciate the support of our parents/carers in this matter.

P A G E 6

EARLIER THIS TERM, 39 pupils in Year 11 were presented with their Archbishop of York Award in a very special ceremony attended by parents and teachers.

We were particularly delighted to welcome Susie Mapledoram to present the awards. Susie was our first

youth worker in school and is now Diocesan Youth Officer for the Diocese of Manchester.

Whilst working towards these awards, pupils thought about what it means to put faith into action, finding

out about inspiring Christians who have made a difference in the world.

They also took action to improve their community, by leading events in local primary schools and collect-

ing gloves, hats and socks for homeless people in Manchester, for example.

Speaking about the impact of the award during the

ceremony, pupils said, 'Doing this award has made us more selfless and more willing to give. We have

become more aware of the community around

us. We hope that we will be willing to get involved in more community action in the future.'

S A I N T

M I C H A E L ’ S

N E W S

With Christmas on the horizon, I am sure the young people of

Saint Michael’s are going to be receiving a range of digital gifts,

so take a quick look at the top tips for this half term…

1. Consider putting the computers and game consoles in a commu-nal area of the house, not their bedrooms.

2. Update or produce a home agreement together making sure all pieces of technology are covered.

3. Check the age rating of games they are playing. Games are get-

ting more graphic and the use of bad language is common in games 12+. PEGI (Pan European Game Information) has written

descriptors for the age ratings and explains that 16 can contain violence, sexual activity, more ex-treme bad language and criminal activity. Games rated 18+ is applied when “the level of violence

reaches a stage where it becomes a depiction of gross violence”.

4. Check the history of the computer and if it is being deleted ask our young people if they are hiding anything.

“Safer Internet Day” is celebrated in over a hundred countries

and it offers the opportunity to highlight positive uses of tech-nology and to explore the role we all play in helping to create a

better and safer online community. It calls upon parents, carers

and teachers to join together in helping to create a safer inter-net for our young people. This year it will be held on 7th Febru-

ary.

During this week I will be going into all assemblies to discuss a

number of online safety topics, highlighting a

range of dangers and offering advice to all year groups.

Happy Christmas!

Mrs Rackstraw

P A G E 7

Christmas is well and truly on its way at Saint Michael’s. The tree is up;

the Christmas dinners have been served and Secret Santa gifts have been given out. It may be nearing the end of term but life at Saint Michael’s

certainly isn’t slowing down as it is full steam ahead with preparations for end of term celebrations and services.

Members of the ‘Discovery Club’ from Years 7, 8

and 9 helped decorate the Christmas tree at Saint Michael’s during the first week in December.

The tree is in the entrance foyer,

ready to welcome

visitors to the school, along with

festive music ech-oing down the

hallways.

Preparations are currently underway for the end

of term service.

Readings, carols and a tutorial rendition of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ are being busily re-

hearsed as we take an opportunity to reflect on

this very special time of year.

Pupils and staff are looking forward to this very poignant service to celebrate the end of an ex-

tremely busy term and have time and peace to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

To celebrate the end of mock exams and a very hectic term for our Year 11 pupils, they were invited to

wear Christmas jumpers in the last week of term and were given a lesson off timetable for a special Christmas lunch with their tutors, to the backdrop of some festive tunes.

Year 11 Pupil Manager, Mrs McCaffrey said ‘Year 11 have worked exceptionally hard for these mock ex-

ams and this day was intended to give them a bit of a break, a chance to unwind, spend some quality

time with their friends and celebrate the festive season’.

Staff, pupils and members of the local community

came together on 14th December to celebrate the annual Saint Michael’s Carol Service, which this

year was held at St John the Evangelist in Whittle-le-Woods.

The thought-provoking service was made up of traditional carols and bible readings, as well as

some beautiful pieces sung by Hughes tutorial and the Armstrong choir, fully supported by the brass

band, all giving the congregation moments of peaceful contemplation on the true meaning of

Christmas.

The sermon was led by the Vicar of St John’s, Revd

Philip Venables, who remind-ed us that Christmas is a

time to put God at the centre

of our thoughts, making God clearer in our minds.

After the very special service,

members of the congregation

came together in fellowship for light refreshments and a

pre-Christmas celebration.

S A I N T

M I C H A E L ’ S

N E W S

P A G E 8

The quad was filled with festive cheer in the penultimate week of term as each year group gathered to

sing Christmas carols during tutorial time.

Led by Mr White and Mrs Cunningham, with members of the brass band and Hughes choir, each year group belted out the classics, with a little bit of persuasion from their tutors.

Dan completed the carol service with a prayer and pupils were sent off to lessons full of Christmas spirit!

S A I N T

M I C H A E L ’ S

N E W S

Pupils have been thinking about the meaning of

Advent in worship and in RE this term and we have all enjoyed the wonderful Advent Wreath

which Mrs Armstrong, our Chairman of Governors, makes for us each year.

Pupils in Year 7 have also made Christingles in RE

lessons and thought about what the Christingle says

about the message of Christmas and Advent.

Some pupils even used their Christingles during an

act of worship led by Miss Tremlett when she challenged us all to 'Be a

Christingle' - sharing the light of Christ, being

aware of his love and recognising the gifts he has given.

Booth Tutorial in Year 10 decided to make Christ-

mas decorations this year to raise money for Oxfam Unwrapped.

They were split into teams and given the task

of marketing the decorations to pupils in other

tutorials and making as much money as possible for charity. They used 2D Design software and the

laser cutter to cut them into shape.

Tutor Mrs Gornall said that last year they made £100 so they are

‘hoping to beat that this year’.

Pupils across the school have been spending the

last few weeks raising money for our annual Oxfam Unwrapped appeal.

Pupils have been bringing donations in to school

and some tutorials have come up with some in-

ventive ways of rais-ing money (see the

Booth elves above).

Now, tutorials are busy deciding

whether to buy a

goat or a toilet!

P A G E 9

FESTIVE fun was shared with members of the community when St Michael’s threw open its doors for a Christmas coffee morning this

half term.

More than 40 pupils from Year 10 hosted the event and invited the

guests to the Training Suite, including some from local care homes and from churches in the region.

They were treated to biscuits made earlier in the day by the pupils,

cakes, scones and sandwiches and also enjoyed a game of bingo, a

Christmas quiz and a picture quiz, all prepared by the pupils.

Musicians provided a Christmas themed accompaniment and also led a carol sing-along which was enjoyed by all – pupils, staff and

guests alike!

The youngsters are all taking part in the prestigious Archbishop of

York Award and are exploring the link between faith and communi-ty action.

This was the

first event of its

kind but was hailed a com-

plete success with many

guests already

looking forward to receiving their invitations for next year!

S A I N T

M I C H A E L ’ S

N E W S

IN PREPARATION for the special Christmas party, Year 10 Food and

Nutrition students were tasked with baking abbey biscuits for the event.

Our visitors enjoyed the biscuits with a lovely cup of tea at the end of

the party.

P A G E 1 0 AFTER TEN YEARS of hard work,

research and writing, History teacher

Mr Adam Cree has finally finished

and published his book, ’From the Humblest to the Greatest’.

‘From the Humblest to the Greatest’ tells the story of one woman’s inspiration-

al and very personal mission to chronicle the ultimate sacrifice made by the

men from her town during the Great War. It was a journey that would take Susannah Knight all the way from the streets of a small working class market

town in Lancashire across the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean to the shores of North America.

Though it was always her firm intention to create a lasting legacy to the fallen in her home town of Chorley, her quest grew into something much more than

that. This became an epic, single-handed mission for world peace on which she would meet prime ministers, presidents and popes – knights, kings and

captains of industry and compel them all to sign the pages of her Memorial Album and thus add their weight to her personal campaign.

Mr Cree’s book follows each stage of Susannah Knight’s journey, from her early life as a school teacher to the time she spent giving French lessons to local men bound for foreign shores and unaware of what

lay ahead. Only after the Great War ended however, would her own quest truly begin. It was then that she started to compile the first volume of a Memorial Album which would, over the course of many

years, travel with her across Europe and North America, where she would

entreat figures of influence across the political, religious and social spectra and finally return home with a meaningful and lasting legacy for her

town’s fallen.

Not content with having a break and putting his feet up, Mr Cree has re-

cently also been working on a pop-up museum project to bring the casual-ties of each locality to the communities of the present and to get people to

think about how the Great War would be remembered in the years after the war and beyond.

Everyone at Saint Michael’s is incredibly proud of Mr Cree’s fantastic achievement.

If you would like to purchase a copy of the book, it is available on Amazon

in both paperback and kindle.

S A I N T

M I C H A E L ’ S

N E W S

IN OCTOBER all Year 8 pupils

were issued with a BBC Microbit, designed to encourage more

young people to try coding.

Coding has become very popular with pupils in recent years and it is a key skill in ICT as it is what makes

it possible for us to create computer software, apps and websites. Learning coding also helps young peo-ple understand the technology that is shaping our world.

Pupils really enjoyed programming their names to scroll across

the Microbit, creating images and some were even able to pro-

gram Tamagotchi style games!

At home pupils can further their skills by visiting the Microbit website (www.microbit.org); no other equipment is needed oth-

er than their Microbits.

Happy coding!

P A G E 1 1

THE BRIGHT LIGHTS of the West End greeted 50

pupils on the Drama department’s annual trip to London during the October half-term holiday.

Whilst in London, the pupils ate enough pizza to feed most of Naples

before going on a magic carpet ride to Baghdad care of a very magical

genie in Disney's ‘Aladdin’.

After what the pupils assured us was a good night’s sleep, the group spent the second morning in Covent Garden to explore the shops and

watch some of the amazing street performers.

Following this, the group went on to visit the Warner Brothers studios at

Leavesden to ride broomsticks, and the Hogwarts express at the ‘Harry Potter Studio Tour’.

The pupils arrived home later that night, happy and full of fudge flies

and chocolate frogs.

Three Saint Michael’s book borrowers have won a £10

Scholastic Book voucher. The lucky library users had their names entered into the half-termly draw simply

by taking a book out from the Armstrong Centre.

The lotto was introduced at the start of this half-term in an effort to encourage reluctant readers to visit

the Armstrong Centre and take out a book. Since implementing the programme, library usage has sig-nificantly increased as more and more St. Michael’s pupils have taken advantage of their school’s excel-

lent reading and research facilities.

St. Michael’s school librarian, Mrs. Hull, remarked, ‘The uptake has been incredible! Pupils who wouldn’t normally read for pleasure now pay us a visit to find out what we

have on offer in the Armstrong Centre. We’ve seen many more pu-

pils from across the year groups become frequent book borrowers and avid readers’.

The Library Lotto will begin another round in the New Year. St

Michael’s pupils are once again encouraged to pay a visit to the Arm-

strong Centre and sample from the thousands of excellent young

adult fiction titles that are on offer. S A I N T

M I C H A E L ’ S

N E W S

KEEN travellers and language enthu-

siasts have once again snapped up places on the extra-curricular foreign

visits on offer next year.

48 pupils are all set to take part in a trip to Bruges and Paris during the first week of the Easter holi-

days in 2017. They will enjoy the chocolate shops of the famous Belgian city, before spending a day exploring the Paris sights, then a fun day at Disney-

land.

And another 48 pupils are taking part in the second France holiday over the May Bank Holiday weekend; this trip taking in the beautiful Keukenhof tulip

gardens near Amsterdam, Holland, rather than Bruges.

The holiday to Germany over May half term, is also proving popular. Pupils will

enjoy a visit to Cologne’s beautiful cathedral, to the Cologne Zoo and to the fa-mous Phantasialand theme park.

They will also visit the Dreiländerpunkt; the three countries meeting point where you can stand in three countries, Germany, Belgium and Holland, all at once!

All pupils will have the opportunities to practise their language skills as well as

sampling the local cuisine on all these holidays.

P A G E 1 2

ON SATURDAY the 3rd December, 52 Year 10 GCSE Textiles and Art students visited ‘The Clothes Show

Live’ at the NEC in Birmingham.

The students said they had an amazing time gain-ing inspiration for their own Textiles and Art

work. There was fashion everywhere, including

vintage, designer and high street brands. Many university and fashion colleges were also exhibiting

at the show and this gave students an insight into careers and future opportunities in the fashion and

textiles industries.

A highlight of the day was watching the spectacu-

lar fashion show in main hall. On the catwalk the

latest fashion trends were on display in a stunning show with dance and live music.

Everyone had a great day and gained lots of ideas

for their GCSE Textiles and Art work. Mrs Burrow said it was ‘a most exciting and inspiring day’.

The art work of the

month is by Star Doughty in Year 7.

The two photographs

are pages taken from

Star’s sketchbook. They show a title

page and planning for the topic ‘Inside My Head’.

We have chosen this work for our art work

of the month because of the creativity

shown and the depth of planning. She has recorded her ideas really carefully and we

are very impressed with the presentation of her work.

Well done Star!

Year 7 and 8 have been enjoying being

creative at the new Art club (taking place

at lunchtimes and after school).

With the help of Year 11 Art Mentors, pupils have had the opportunity to

create different forms of art work. For example, Christmas decorations, pop up cards, clay sculp-

tures or simply drawing and painting for their own

pleasure.

The club will continue next term

with our new Year 10 mentors –

watch this space

for further infor-mation!

For updates and re-minders or just to keep in touch... Why not follow us

@SaintMichaelsCE

S A I N T

M I C H A E L ’ S

N E W S

P A G E 1 3

OUR NETBALLING SUPERSTARS travelled to St Cecilia's High School in Longridge on

Saturday 5th November to take part in the

Lancashire qualifying round of the English Schools' Netball Championship.

The weather was exceptionally cold but the netball played by our won-

derful Year 9 and Year 11 teams was enough to warm them all up.

The Year 11 team remained unbeaten throughout the competition win-

ning all their matches in the round robin, beating some exceptional teams and players on route to victory.

Year 9 also remained unbeaten throughout the event, with a couple of

draws and the rest wins in their group despite picking up some injuries.

These final results mean that our U14 team and U16 team will be representing Lancashire in the North

West. We are unbelievably proud of both teams for making St Michael's history as we have never achieved this before, and Mrs Dempster said the teachers are

‘particularly grateful for the unwavering support of all the parents pre-sent for both teams on the day’, adding, ‘We look forward now to pit-

ting our netballing wits against the best the North West has to offer’.

Further to this fantastic success, only a week later the Year 11s

wowed us again by winning the Chorley and District tournament too—another trophy to add to the cabinet!

THE PE DEPARTMENT were

very privileged on Monday,

5th December, to have a visit

from Wigan Warriors RFL.

Joel Smith, development coach for Wigan, was joined by 17 year old Ben Kilner from the U19 reserve

team. Our guests lead boys’ classes in rugby league drills and games, that left all pupils involved in great

spirits as well as giving them a really enjoyable session.

Joel introduced the ‘Wigan

Way’ of approaching each

session with positivity, integ-

rity and respect, making for

a really memorable experi-

ence.

This was actually the second time Wigan Warriors have been in to

school as St Michael’s have now become part of Wigan’s ‘Embed

the Pathway’ scheme to get more of our young people involved in

not just Rugby League but sport in general.

The coaches will return again in the new year to run an after

school practice session, with the aim of getting some of our pupils

to compete in a small competition in the spring.

PE teacher, Mr Kennedy said: ‘I would like to thank both Joel and

Ben for a great day that was not only enjoyed by the pupils but

also by the staff too’.

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P A G E 1 4 AFTER A SHORT BREAK, the German Kinoklub (film club) has started up

again as a weekly group available to all

pupils.

Taking place every Wednesday lunchtime in L1, the group is regularly attended by a loyal group of Year 9 pupils but is open to everyone.

So far this year they have watched: ‘Das Wunder Von Bern’ (a football film that documents Germany's World Cup win during the depression that

followed the second world war) and they are presently watching ‘der Tun-nel’ (another true story about a group of East Germans who dig a tunnel un-

der the Berlin wall to escape the communist regime).

Kinoklub brings language learning to life and enables students to experience

German culture, practise their listening skills and widens their vocabulary.

A MERRY BAND of Year 9, 10 and 11

pupils set off on a very Christmassy excursion last weekend as the annu-

al French Christmas markets trip took place.

After a long journey, the group’s first stop was Ypres in Belgium where they spent the morning browsing the traditional festive markets before visiting a local

family run chocolate shop. In addition to the shopping, there was also some time to soak in the history and culture of the town as they visited the Menin Gate and

Tyne Cot War Memorial.

Following on from this, en route to Paris, the group stopped at Arras to visit one

of the largest Christmas markets in northern France, before finally reaching Paris and a guided tour of the sights by night.

On Sunday they spent the day visiting the Eiffel Tower—although it was too

foggy to go up to the top! Then onto Sacre Coeur and Montmartre, the Arc de Triomphe and Notre

Dame. After an exhausting day of sightseeing and a chance to re-charge the batteries over dinner, the evening ended with a trip along

the Seine on the Bateaux Mouches.

The group completed the trip with a short trip to the Hypermarket fol-lowed by an exciting though tiring day at Disneyland.

Group organiser, Mrs Lucas said the trip was ‘a great success’ and the group returned ‘tired but full of festive cheer’.

Please may we take this opportunity to remind parents/carers about our

policy regarding the use of mobile devices in school. Whilst we know it is

reassuring to know this form of contact exists, such devices can be a huge

distraction and a potential safeguarding concern when used inappropriately.

With this in mind, we do ask that they remain switched off and out of sight

whilst on the school premises. This includes times when pupils are attending after school

activities and clubs. Pupils deemed to be using their device for whatever reason will have it

confiscated, it will be locked in the safe overnight and only returned on receipt of a signed

letter from a parent/carer. Your support with this matter is very much appreciated.

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Saint Michael’s News

Saint Michael's CE High School,

Astley Road,

Chorley,

Lancashire

PR7 1RS