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ContentsChristmas 2007Primary Science LinksUpdate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2The Mikado. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Chaplaincy News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5PTA Update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6SFX Band NIght. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7SFX Presents Oliver!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8W is for Riting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9School Council News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Mentoring: The SFXExperience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

The Newspaper Editing TeamAndrew Dunbar 11CADavid Jones 11RIJohn Hyland 11KEConnor McCarthy 11OWSean Wenham 11RIJames Edwards 11KEElliot Tunstall 11KEMatthew Fitzsimmons 9KELiam Jennions 9RIChris Barwise 9KE

Michael Manville 8OWLewis Mumford 8CAMarc Barlow 8MAAlex Hordern 8RIJames Leyshon 8BRTom Harris 8OWMark Farrell 8WAJoseph Irwin 8LELiam Markey 8LEJordan Roberts 8WA

Jack Michaels 8MAMichael Earl 8KEJames Doig 8RIElias Dubicki-Galleway 8WA

Senior Editor - Vacancy Graphic Designer –

John Hyland 11 KE Graphics Assistant –

Joseph Irwin 8 LE

Dates for Diary:Monday 3rd December 2007 - Feast of Saint Francis Xavier - School closes at 12:20pm.

Monday 17th December 2007 - Advent Service at 7pm in the main hall, all pupils and parentsare welcome. School closes at 2:30pm (to prepare for service).

Tuesday 18th December 2007 - Senior Proclamation - 7:30pm for last Year’s 11 and 13–school closes at 2:30pm.

Thursday 20th December 2007 - School closes at 12:20pm for Christmas holidays.

Dear ParentsAt this time of year when we think of otherpeople I would like to say a big thank you to allwho continue to support the College in somany ways. You can see from this newsletterthe huge range of activities which pupils havebeen involved in and I am very grateful to all those who havegiven support in order that the pupils have been able to benefitfrom the many experiences mentioned.

Particular thanks must of course go to those involved in theOliver! production just after half term which was an outstandingsuccess. It involved pupils, staff, parents and governors, all ofwhom worked together very closely to make it the success whichit was.

Thanks are also due to staff and parents for their support ofyoungsters taking external examinations, especially those in Year11 last year. Pupils in Year 11 last year gained the best everresults the College has had and this was due to sheer hard workand determination by all involved. This achievement wasrecognised by an award which the school was presented with inLondon in early November. I was very proud to accept it on behalfof the pupils, staff and parents.

When thinking of others, all of our thoughts are of course withLiam Costello’s family, especially his Mum and Dad and youngerbrother Tom. It was so sad to hear of his death over half term.Liam had only been with us as a member of Year 7 for a fewweeks but it had been a privilege for all of us to have known him.Let us all remember him in our prayers.

Let us also remember in our prayers at Christmas all of thosewho may be less fortunate than ourselves.

On behalf of the staff and governors of the College,I wish you a peaceful and holy Christmassurrounded by your families.

Yours sincerely, L D Rippon

Specialist Schools andAcademies Trust AwardSFX collected an award from SSAT in early November. The award ceremonywas held in London for an improvement at GCSE of over 15 percentage points(5A*-C) since joining the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT)Raising Achievement and Transforming Learning programme. The school hasmoved from 48% 5A*-C in 2005 to 64% in 2007. The Award was presented toMr Rippon by the Chief Executive of SSAT, Elizabeth Reid, at a CelebratoryDinner at the Café Royal, London.

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Community Classes Every Thursday NightThis term saw an excellentstart to the second phase ofthe community classes, withover 200 adult learnersfrom the local areaattending various classesincluding; ICT, French,Spanish, Psychology,Photography and Art atvarious levels.

The adult learners have allcommented on how muchthey enjoy the classes andhow fantastic our staff andstudent helpers are. MrRoberts would like toexpress his appreciation tothe Year 12 Duke ofEdinburgh’s Silver Awardstudents who have

volunteered to assist with the classes as part of their service award. A bigthank you must also be given to the younger helpers from Years 10 and 11who have volunteered their time freely and have provided an invaluableservice on the car park and assisting with the organisation of rooms,refreshments, fundraising and the environment.

Michael Earl 8KE

Primary ScienceLinks ProjectFor three years Mrs Grace and MrDaniels have visited our feederprimary schools in the summer termto carry out experiments with YearSix pupils. Staff take the equipmentfor experiments in their cars, a bitlike a mobile lab!

Some of the most popularexperiments are the forensic testsand the staff usually organise aMurder Mystery Activity for the pupilsto solve, which the pupils really enjoy.This year will be the 4th year thatSFX Science staff have delivered theprimary science links lessons. MrsGrace told me: ‘It is nice to teachsomething both Mr. Daniels and Ihave a special interest in.’

Last year they both visited their oldprimary schools, which was verystrange for them as everything wasmuch smaller then theyremembered, including the hall, theclassrooms and the chairs! MrsGrace said ‘We hope to continue thevisits and keep engaging youngstudents in science’.

James Leyshon 8BR

Year 10's who areHead Above theRestThursday 8thNovember sawthe Grand Finalof the newcreative projectcalled HeadAbove the Rest.Eight teams ofYear 10 students from various secondary schoolsacross the south of the city have been workinghard since July to design and create their ownshort catwalk presentation. Each team hadindividuals responsible for hair, make-up,costume, stage performance and modelling.Each school were allowed up to 5 students.

SFX was the only boy’s school to participate inthe competition. Representing the school were;David Jones (director), Sean Maher (hair stylist),Ben White (costume designer), Joe South(model) and Carl Ryan (makeup artist). Thetheme of the catwalk project was James Bond007 and each team were given a golden letter

with a different JamesBond film to represent.The evening was aglittering affair, withParklands CLC hosting ared-carpet champagnereception for friends,family and schoolrepresentatives.

The judges had a toughjob deliberating; the

variety of all 8 performances was brilliant. Finally, the judges madetheir decision. 3rd Place went to Broadgreen with Thunderball, 2ndPlace went to St Julie's with Moonraker and the team crowned HeadAbove the Rest Champion's for 2007 were St Francis Xavier'sCollege for their performance based on Goldeneye. The prize was atrip to Birmingham to watch the Clothes Show on the 11thDecember 2007 in the NEC arena.

All participating students were congratulated by the judges for theirhard work. Congratulations to the SFX Team for their exceptionalperformance: David Jones – Director, Sean Maher – Hair, Carl Ryan– Make-up, Joe South – Model, Ben White – Costume, and SchoolProject Coordinator Mrs Maria Jenkins.

Many thanks to the Sunflower Centre, Michael John, Mode,Liverpool Community College and the management and staff atCLC's in the South for providing this wonderful opportunity for thepupils, for more details, check out the CLC website:

http://www.southliverpoolclcs.org.uk/headabovetherest.html

Liam Jennions 9RI and Parklands CLC

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Forces and EnergyProject!

Y10 AltonTowers tripIn July 2007 Mr Bright and Mr Roberts tooktheir two Year 10 forms on a pastoral trip toAlton Towers, where the pupils thoroughlyenjoyed themselves. Their behaviour wasexcellent, pleasing the accompanying staff.

We spoke to a few pupils who went on thetrip, their favourite rides being; Air, Nemesisand Oblivion. Future trips are expected, andpupils are eager to repeat this excitingexperience.

Liam Markey 8LE & Tom Harris 8OW

Pupils in Year 9 (9G4) learn about‘Forces’ and ‘Energy’ with MrFox’s ‘Bazooka Potato Gun’. Thepotato is propelled using a fuelmade from hair spray. The ‘gun’has been made from differentsizes of drainpipe with an ovenignition switch.

Mr Fox.

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Visit by Year 6 Pupils from Much Woolton Primary School

School Health Practitioner Visits

During this term, pupils from MuchWoolton Primary School visited usand received ICT lessons in the ICTACroom. They covered three maintopics; computer control, sensorsand computer programming. Thechildren were eager to learn, wellbehaved and great representatives ofMuch Woolton. Many thanks to ClareWilson at Much Woolton for helpingorganise the visit and providing allthe support during the lessons.

James Leyshon 8BR

Lil Jones our School Health Practitioner visits the College every two weeks on aThursday afternoon, if parents have any concerns they are most welcome torequest an appointment for their son or daughter.

Mrs Fay

The MikadoOn the 1st of July 2007 rehearsalsbegan for The Mikado, inBellerive FCJ Catholic College.The Mikado is a comic operetta isset in ancient Japan. It consists oftwo acts and was written byArthur Sullivan and WS Gilbert.

The production starred and wasperformed by a number ofstudents from our schoolincluding; Alex Turner, JamesSmith, Adam McMullen, TomHogan and Sean Hudson.

The play is about a Japaneseprince, son of the Mikado namedNanki-Poo (played by AlexTurner) whose true love, Yum-Yum, is betrothed to an ex-tailorwho has been promoted to LordHigh Executioner named Ko-Ko(played by Tom Hogan).

The opening night was the 15th ofJuly. Alex Turner and SeanHudson commented on thepreparation of the show saying.“It was great meeting new peoplefrom a different school and thedirector, Pam, who came in fromWashignton D.C., was great towork with.”

SFX and Bellerive will later thisyear be putting on another playcalled HMS Pinafore.

Joseph Irwin, 8LE

Y11 Duke ofEdinburgh’s AwardedThe Duke of Edinburgh’s bronze award expedition took place on the 15th September and involved thirteen pupils from Year 11. The Duke ofEdinburgh’s is a national award given to people who have regularly takenpart in a skill, sport and a service, before taking part in an expedition. Theskill can be nearly any activity or hobby of the student’s choice and canrange from musical instruments to model building. The sport sectionoffers the young people involved a wide choice of activities at any level ofability.

Finally the service section is all about helping the community to find outand help those in need by dedicating there time to give back to thecommunity. Mr Holden and Mr Evans took the boys on their expedition toPooley Bridge in the Lake District. All pupils had to walk 15 miles over thetwo days with a full rucksack whilst Mr Holden and Mr Evans heroicallydrove the minibus! Thepupils had to cook theirown food on the Saturdaynight and their breakfastin the morning. Everythingwent well and the weatherwas good for the most ofthe weekend. All pupilswho completed theexpedition will becollecting the award in theforthcoming weeks.

Sean Wenham 11RI

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Capital ofCulture 2008 - The Big SingA party of eighteen boys went tothe Anglican Cathedral onSeptember 27th 2007 to take partin the ‘Big Sing.’

After an hour’s rehearsal, RadioMerseyside supervised therecording of ‘Warchild’, a songespecially written to raise moneyfor African relief projects.

This activity was part of the lead upto the Capital of Culture in 2008and the boys from SFX have beeninvited to be Ambassadors ofCulture in the January launch.

Congratulations!

By Alex Hordern 8RI

Chaplaincy News

Archbishop Kelly’s SecondVisit to SFXOn 15th May 2007 Archbishop Kellycame and gave a very interesting talk tothe 6th Form A-Level R.E. groups abouthis experiences visiting the Holy Landand Iran on missions given to him bythe Vatican. Whilst visiting us in May,the Archbishop expressed the desire tocome back for a longer visit at the startof the new school year. We looked in ourdiaries and booked 3rd October 2007. After further discussion with ArchbishopPatrick, a day of talks and other activities were planned for him, includingmeetings with different groups of staff, an R.E. lesson with a Yr. 11 GCSE group,a Yr. 11 Mass, a chat with members of the group I took to Africa and lunchtime

registration with my Year. 7form class (7 Bryant who,true to form, weren’t slow incoming forward with directquestions and comments forthe Archbishop). The Archbishop seemed toreally enjoy the day and wasvery impressed by the pupilsthat he talked with.

Bro James

Since April, I have been pretty busy in the blogosphere,posting articles onto my own blog and reading those by otherpeople. See http://brojames.blogspot.com for my own blog.

Recent blog articles (to be found in the Archive section on theright) have included:

• Diary entries about our Africatrip describing our experiences(with lots of photos); a diarywhich I started whilst we werein Africa and finished when wegot back.

• A short reflection on the ideathat all of us are invited to aparticular calling from God (orvocation).

• Articles by Mark Kermode andmyself about the recent DannyBoyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) sci-fi thriller“Sunshine” and more of my own film reviews.

• A review of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” with Sir IanMcKellen (aka “Gandalf”) in the title role, a production Isaw with Bro. Peter and Mr. Skillander in Stratford-Upon-Avon last June.

• An article about someone I very much looked up to as ayoung man and later as a young Brother, Bro. GregoryCasey.

• Information about my trip to Castelgondolfo near Rome inAugust for a week of meetings with other Brothers on thetopic of Vocations.

I have also managed to update my web site:(http://www.brojames.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk) with some newjokes on the jokes page and a new links page offavourite/useful web sites, as well as Chaplaincy news.Blog: http://brojames.blogspot.com Web site: http://www.brojames.pwp.blueyonder.co.ukBro James

The Archbishop with 5 of those who came with me to Africa.

The SFX group with friends in Togo

During Mass with our Yr. 11s.

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PTA UpdateWelcome Meal for Year 7 ParentsSaturday 23rd October saw a wonderful night, fullof good food, good company and liveentertainment with Year 7 Parents celebrating thebeginning of their sons’ secondary education at StFrancis Xavier’s College. It was an excellent nightenabling our new parents to socialise togetherand also meet the teachers.

The night consisted of; a 3 course meal, liveentertainment by the Manic Street Teachers, discoand raffles. Everyone had a lovely night. The topprize of a meal for two at the POD restaurant wentto Mrs Backhouse.

A big thank you to all our 6th Form Pupils forgiving up their Saturday night and providing anoutstanding level of service.

James Leyshon 8BR

The PTA would like to pass on their thanks to all the parentswho have kindly responded to their recent request fordonations and completion of Gift Aid forms. We have had apositive response and are still able to deal with any furtherdonations which may be sent in via the school office. Pleaseremember Gift Aid forms can be returned at any time and onlyneed to be completed once whilst your child is a pupil at theschool.

We would also like to thank all the parents and staff whosupported us at the Christmas Dinner Dance either byattending or in the way of donations for the raffle and tombola.A great night was had by all!

Our future functions include:• Murder Mystery Night on 2nd February 2008• Family Race Night on 7th March 2008.

Both functions are aimed at the whole family. Tickets will beavailable in advance only and via the school office.

All monies raised by the PTA go directly towards the supportof the College.

Best WishesChairperson, SFX PTA

Local CompaniesSupporting YourSon’s EducationMany thanks to three local companies; Pod, Laser Schoolwearand Crew Men’s Hair, who have given donations to school fundsand who have actively supported recent school fund raisingevents.

Pod Restaurant 137-139 Allerton Road, 0151 724 2255

Laserwear92/100 London Road, 0151 709 0701

Crew’s Men’s HairChildwall Abbey Road, 0151 722 5262

By Michael Earl 8KE

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6th Form Students Supporting SFXMr Roberts would like to express his appreciation to anumber of 6th Form students who have repeatedlysupported SFX activities and shown commitment anddedication to community and school based activities overthe past few months. Two of the main activities which thestudents have significantly contributed towards include;helping out at Community Classes every Thursday nightand also serving at the Year 7 Parents meal.

Many thanks to; C. Mitchell, H. Caldwell, D. Cotton, K.Crowney, R. Buckley, D. Noon, P. Daly, C. Wainwright, M.Hodnett, J. Kelly, A. Rowan, M. McNamee, T. Bennett, M.Bloor, K. Tsang, S. Townley, S. Gosney, G. Wilson, F. Hui,S. Peers, D. Fullan, A. Dooley.

James Leyshon 8BR

Tesco VouchersWe interviewed Mr Evans about thecollection of vouchers from Tesco in order topurchase computer accessories for theschool and for the use of the pupils.

The school encouraged pupils to collect as many Tesco vouchers as theycould. In Tesco for every £5.00 spent on items, one Tesco voucher was givenout as a reward. Collecting Tesco vouchers meant access to free computersand computer accessories. The type of things available ranged from floppydisks and memory sticks to complete computers and hard drives.

Admittedly, at first the collection was happening at a slow pace buteventually pupils started to bring in a lot of vouchers and in the end it wentextremely well.

The target was for everybody in school to collect as many vouchers as theycould. We hoped that everybody would bring in at least 5 vouchers so thatwe would have a good collection by the deadline date. Astonishingly thepupils and staff managed to collect 14,000 vouchers, most of which werecollected by the pupils, although the staff who shop at Tesco collected asmany vouchers as they could and made a generous contribution to the finalamount of vouchers.

With the vouchers the school were able to purchase 3 robust video cameraswhich can be used by students for filming homework or coursework. Thecameras are called Steady Cams. Mr Evans would like to especially thankThomas Gibbs of Year 10 & Niamh Roberts (Mr Roberts’ Daughter) for

counting the final amount of vouchers.

Andrew Dunbar 11CA & Elliott Tunstall 11KE

SFX BandNightSFX band night was a charity event thattook place on the 6th July 2007. It tookplace in the school dining room andincluded music from the Manic StreetTeachers, Off Target and MichaelCampbell. They all sang different songsincluding some from the ArcticMonkeys, Elvis Costello and the RollingStones. At the end all the bands cameon together to sing Hey Jude by theBeatles.

The entrance fee was fifty pence andthe school also sold food and drinks toraise money on the night. Everythingwent fine apart from when theelectricity went off in the middle of asong by the Manic Street Teachers. MrFox, a guitarist and stand in singer forBrother James on the night stillbelieves it to have been sabotage by arival band. However rumour has it thatMr. Fox was just jealous of the fact thatOff Target got the biggest cheer whenthey came on! Over £300 pounds wasraised on the night and a big thank youto everyone who turned up, took partand to the staff who helped organise it.

Sean Wenham 11RI

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Saint Francis Xavier’s College Presents.. Oliver!‘Oliver, Oliver never before could the audiencehave watched so much, more, more, more!’

As a fan of the movie Oliver Iwas left at the end of theproduction havingthoroughly enjoyed it, and Iwas not disappointed with itin comparison with the film.I saw the production on bothThursday and Friday eveningand so, saw all the castmembers each playing theirsingle or even double roles.Having seeing the full extentof the play I can say that not one singlemember of the cast disappointed me,they did however shock me with theirprofessionalism, confidence and talent.

I am sure that to go outin front of your friends,family and peers can notbe an easy thing to do,yet this cast of pupils,teachers, helpers andanyone else who gave

positive input towards this play pulled off an astonishinglyentertaining feat.

When watching the film I often fast forward it to the songswhich I enjoy listening to but when watching the performancefound myself cocooned in the enjoyment of the wholeexperience. In the film I have often skipped Nancy’s solo

because it bored me yet watching the play;Stephanie Scrutton and Hannah Delaney sang thesong so well (both of the times I saw the play) thatI was truly captivated. Both girls brought the songto life and finished well by running quickly off thestage at the end of the song to emphasise thecharacters agony whilst singing the song.Although, admittedly I liked some more than

others, all of the performances in theplay were fantastic.

I also really enjoyed Mr Bumble andWidow Crowney’s comical version of ‘Ishall scream’. Playing the parts ofWidow Crowney and the Artful Dodger,Tom Hogan shone throughout theperformance as a really talented actor.As well as the great singing and actinggoing on through out the play, theoverall choreography was outstanding,

especially when there were lots of people on stage at the sametime; it all came together wonderfully.

Please Sir…can I have some more!

Dominic Clarke 11 KE

Miss Shinks interviewregarding “Oliver”Very recently the school staged a production ofthe well known musical “Oliver”.

Feedback from the people who came to see theproduction has been very positive and the staffinvolved in the production have been verypleased with the outcome.

When interviewed Miss Shinks said, “It is a verypopular musical which stretches the abilities ofthe actors involved. It needs a large cast; somany pupils were able to participate. Pupils werevery professional and learned their lines andsongs extremely quickly and their commitmentto the show was impressive throughout.”

Overall it was an extremely successfulperformance.

Jordan Roberts 8WA, Marc Barlow 8MA Alex Hordern 8RI

Letter to the Echo 27th November 2007The following extract was taken from a letter published in theLiverpool Echo on the 27th November 2007. All too often we hearnegative comments about the teenagers in our City, however afterwitnessing the commitment, effort and teamwork displayed by thegirls and boys who took part in, and supported our Oliverproduction I am sure you will agree with this Echo reader, theseyoung people truly were great ambassadors for their schools.

“Last week we went to see the musical ‘Oliver’ at SFX Boys Collegeand it was absolutely wonderful.We were there as my granddaughter,Stephanie was in the cast, but the whole show was fantastic. Theywere all a credit to their parents, their teachers, the school andthemselves”.

Mrs C Ellis, West Derby

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W is for RitingOn the 5th of November, 8 SFX pupils, and 8 ArchbishopBlanch pupils, spent a week in Totleigh Barton, an old cottagein the middle of the Devon countryside (completely devoid ofpeople, yet full of sheep), with two famous writers, namely,Willy Russell (Educating Rita), and Nick Stimson (NHS, TheMusical!), to take part in a writing a workshop.

The house was amazing, and over1000 years old. You can see the wooden beams criss-crossingthe ceiling all through the house; there was a traditional woodburning stove in the dining room. Everyone had a brillianttime, despite the zero-mobile phone reception, no TV, and nointernet.

This week was amazing and beneficial to all of us. Not onlydid all our writing skills improve dramatically, but we alsomade lots of new friends. We would like to thank Nick and

Willy especially, for their

brilliant advice,constructive criticism, constant encouragement, andhilarious jokes! We worked all styles of writing: monologues,dialogues, plays, poems, songs, the list was endless, and onthe last night we picked the creme-de-la-creme of our work,and read it out to an audience of fifteen other pupils, and sixadults!

We didn’t just learn how to write though; we also got a crashcourse in cooking! Each night, a different team of four cookedan evening meal, except for the last night, when Willy Russell[Did Nick pay as well?] bought everyone fish, chips and slimygreen stuff, known as mushy peas!

The atmosphere was relaxed, and after breakfast, we wouldmeet in the barn at around ten o’clock each day and after asmall warm up (thanks Karen!), we were given a task tocomplete. Then, we could do whatever we wanted, and finishthe task in our own time, ready for the afternoon session. Infact, four of us wandered round, and found a barn full of hay,where we completed that days task, and returned to manytimes.

Twice we went on walks through the beautiful, rural,Devonshire countryside. The first, to a village calledSheepwash, which was four miles away, after which wepromptly got lost, and walked a mile in the wrong direction.The second,

to see a large group of wild deer, during which someone fellin a pool of mud up to their waist, and it was stinking fast!She suffered dirty jeans, and wellies jam-packed with mud.

We would also like to thank Huib and Jo, for their infalliblehospitality, and also Miss Hayes and Mrs Robson, for making it all possible!

We all gained something from the trip, and we are allsuffering from PDD (Post-Devon-Depression). We all hope togo again, and woe betide anyone who tries to stop us!

Written by Matthew Oldham & Daniel Ansboro

‘A great thanks to Mr Rippon, it was amazing.

Also a big thanks to Miss Hayes’

‘I would like to thank Mr Rippon for a great trip!’

‘We would love to go again *hint, hint*

Also a big thanks to Miss Hayes

‘It was amazing, we all learn’t lots, and to behonest, we would love to go again,Mr Rippon could make that possible…’

‘I would love to go again. A special thanks to

Mr Rippon for letting the trip go ahead.’’

‘It was a great way to improve your writing andto make new friends, Thanks a lot!’

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The Adventures ofMiss Bousquet onher Round the World Trip

Primary Links –Building Bridges

ICT Academy Celebration

Last year amember of staff,Miss Bousquet leftus to travel theworld. On hertravels she went toKenya and climbedKilimanjaro whichwas 5900 metres high. This was her biggestachievement ever. It would be anyone’s dream. She then went on afantastic Tanzanian safari and saw many animalsincluding; lions, elephants, giraffes and evenzebras.

Moving on to Nepal she went trekking in theHimalayas and trekked up to 5000 metres high.Then she went on a camel safari and even slept inthe desert with no tents just sleeping bags! Thesky was so amazing she said she kept waking upjust to see the amazing view.

Lewis Mumford 8CA

Mr Langhorne recently participated in a project linking thelocal primary schools with SFX. The schools involved withthe ‘Building Bridges’ project were; Christ the King, StAndrews and Holy Family. The project involved MrLanghorne and 2 SFX. students travelling to each school,setting its pupils a challenge of constructing a bridgeacross a span of 600mm, using only cardboard, art strawsand PVA glue. The activities were a great success, andhelped to build on the strong links between SFX and itsfeeder schools.

John Hyland 11KE & David Jones 11RI

The ICT Academy is usually marketed at 6th form openevenings and is, “a really good course for students who aren’tsure whether they want to come into sixth form.” (MissLindop). It is used by students who didn’t get the qualificationsor results they wanted for GCSE as a path into sixth form.They follow a vocational work related BTEC Level 2qualification in ICT which is delivered in school for three daysa week as well as a work related NVQ Level 2 qualification inICT outside school which is taught collaboratively with SpekeTraining and Education Centre and local employers. Onestudent was able to secure employment as a result of himcompleting his extended work placement.

Throughout the course the students completed a range ofqualifications such as; BTEC Level 2 Diploma in ICT, NVQLevel 2 ICT, Health and Safety Certificates, First AidCertificates and Maths and English re-sit examinations.

All of last year’s students passed NVQ Level 2 and, in additionto this, the BTEC Qualification. The results were outstanding,including;

• Two DISTINCTION * BTEC passes worth four Grade A* GCSE Passes.

• Four DISTINCTION BTEC passes worth four Grade A GCSE Passes.

• One BTEC PASS worth four GCSE Grade Passes.

To congratulate and reward the students for all the effort theyput into the course, as well as their 100% pass rate, the ICTDepartment took them out for a meal at the Eastern DinerChinese Restaurant which is situated on the corner of GreenLane and Allerton Road. The celebration took place onThursday 12th July from 8:00pm to 10:00pm. Miss Lindopcommented on the evening saying. “We had a really good timeand it was really nice for the students to see the teachersoutside school.”

For anymore information on the ICT Academy see Miss Lindop.

Joseph Irwin 8LE

RE Year 12 Visit toHope UniversityRecently Mrs Walsh and a Year12 group visited Hope University,the aim of the trip was to enablethe pupils to enjoy some tastersessions at Hope and to allowthem to experience a domesticUniversity day.

Mrs Walsh believes the pupilsreally enjoyed the experience and even took part in agroup discussion. During the day the Year 12 studentsparticipated in a seminar on the suffering of evil,followed by a debate.

The students were great ambassadors of the collegeand their excellent behaviour was even commented onby Mr David Torreville of Hope University.

The trip resulted in one student applying for a theologycourse, and Mrs Walsh is expecting to take part withfuture visits with year 12 and 13 students.

Liam Markey 8LE & Tom Harris 8OW

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Enterprise Team

Science RevisionUpdate Year 10 GCSE Science(KS4 Biology, Chemistryand Physics) – Mr Fox isselling Lett’s RevisionGuides and Workbooks for£2 and £1 respectivelywhich cover topics for CoreScience.

Year 9 KS3 Science –Mr Fox is selling Lett’sRevision Guides andWorkbooks for £2 and £1respectively which cover alltopics for the Science SATsin May 2008.

Booster Lessons inScience

Booster Lessons in Sciencefor Years 8 and 9 take placeevery two weeks. There willbe one more week ofScience Booster lessonsthis term (week beginningDecember 12th) before they resume next term.

Mr Fox

The year 11 Enterprise team (Daniel Manning, SeanBurke, Sean Peppercorn, Shaun O’Donnell, Sean Dawsonand Dominic Clarke) have taken part in two eventsrecently. On the 16th September 2007. they took part in anEnterprise Challenge Event at the Radisson Hotel. Theywere competing with a number of schools, mostly girl’sschools, from across the city. The boys did very wellcoming up with a business plan and ideas for the event;yet again their presentation was faultless. However theyfelt slightly disadvantaged on the final task which was todesign a table display for a wedding breakfast. However,they thoroughly enjoyed the day which included a speechfrom Claire Molyneux, Cosmopolitan Business Woman ofthe year 2007.

On the 12th November the boys took part in “Make YourMark Challenge 2007”. This is a national on-line eventwhich forms part of Enterprise Week. Their brief was tocome up with a “Globalocal” idea. The boys came up withthe concept of an on-line facility which would allowLiverpool primary schools to support development

projects in Africa. During the day the boys produced adetailed finance and marketing plan for their concept.Their ideas have been uploaded and hopefully will allowprogression to the next stage. The boys must becongratulated for all their hard work, determination,innovation and team working skills.

Mr Conroy

Science Olympics: The FinalIn early July, Ms Thiery took four students fromyear eleven – Josh Evans, Tim Gregory, JamesManion and Chris Rigby, to Liverpool University forthe final round of the Science Olympics. Almostexactly a year ago these four boys came joint firstplace when competing against twelve differentteams from schools from across Merseyside.

There were four activities. In the first experimentthey had to build a hovercraft out of a blown upballoon and an old CD, each team had to racetheir hovercraft with each other. For the secondactivity they had to pump up a bottle, with aparachute attached, with water until it exploded.The team whose parachute hit the ground lastwould win. In the third challenge they had to solvevarious puzzles and riddles and for the fourthactivity the boys had to write a song about science.

Unfortunately the team representing our schooldid not win, however Ms Thiery informed me thatit was an enjoyable experience for all concernedas the team just tried to have fun during course ofthe competition.

Joseph Irwin 8LE

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Y12 Duke ofEdinburgh’s AwardExpedition A group of Year 12 students (now Year 13) tookpart in the Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s AwardScheme. One part of the award is to completean expedition, which involves two trips away, apractice expedition to the Peak District and thefinal to the Yorkshire Dales.

Students gain a great deal by completing theaward and learn many life skills from theexperience. They gain skills such as campcraft, map and compass skills and even how tocook (using the term very very loosely).

The students have to complete a 30 mile walkover 3 days for their final assessed weekend andthis can prove to be very physically and mentallydemanding.

The students left school early on a Fridaymorning for their assessment and travelled inthe school minibus to the destination in theDales. The students then had to walk 10 milescarrying all of their equipment and upon theirreturn they had to put up the tents and cooktheir dinner. The Students woke early onSaturday morning and endured another 12 milewalk, before returning to cook their eveningmeal once again and put up the tent beforefacing another 12 mile walk on Sunday!

The trip was a huge success and as per usualthe students were all true ambassadors for thecollege. Everyone came home safely, the onlyone problem was that the weather wasextremely bad and the students did face someconditions that brought the most out of theirleadership and team working skills – It certainlywas, in the words of Mr Rippon, “characterbuilding”.

Thanks must go to the staff who accompaniedthe group on both weekends: Mr Rippon, MrPlatt, Mr Holden, Miss Cullen and Mr Evans.Thanks also to Mr Johnston, the externalAssessor.

Marc Barlow 8MA and Jordan Roberts 8WA.

School Council News Welcome to all newmembers on both the Yearand School councils. Therewill be a packed agenda forthe next meeting andrepresentatives willfeedback to Year Groups inforthcoming PSHCELesson. Make sure yourviews are heard by talkingto your Year or Formrepresentative.

Michael Earl 8KE

Year 7 Adjodha FightsBack at New RecordA talented SFX swimmer Joshua Adjodha made the headlinesrecently when he attended the City of Liverpool SC TadpoleLeague Gala Three. On the 12th October 2007 he broke therecord for the 200m Butterfly, finishing first in 2.58.52 beatingthe previous record of 3.00.19 set back in 2004. In the mostkeenly contested race of the afternoon, Joshua Adjodha(Liverpool Penguin SC) and Joseph Whiteside (Southport SC)went head to head in the boys 11 years 200m butterfly

Although he was he was trailing behind the front man by 50m hemanaged to draw level and matching his rival stroke for strokefor the next stamina sapping 125m. Eventually Joshua's rigoroustraining paid off and his strength took him into the lead, pulling itback in the last 50m.

As well as winning the 200m Butterfly, Joshua also came 6th inthe overall standings of the Tadpole League Gala. Joshua wasdelighted to win and when speaking to him it is obvious he has areally good attitude. When Joshua was 3 years old he swam oncea week, now he trains every day for 2 hours at his localSwimming Club.

A recent report in the Liverpool Echo suggested thet Joshua mayhave drawn inspiration from Olympic bronze medallist StephenParry, who also represented Liverpool Penguin SC.

By Michael Manville 8OW

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Y6 Induction DayOn the 4th of July 2007 Mrs Fay and other SFXstaff organised an Induction Day for the Year 7’sto be. This was a chance for the Year 6’s tocome to the school and have a glimpse of life atSFX, and meet new students and teachers.

Most of the boys came from small schools withprobably only one class and one teacher, it wasdifficult for them to get used to hundreds ofpupils and teachers. They were encouraged byolder pupils to get stuck into the activities.Throughout the day the boys had a chance totake part in 3 of the following 10 lessons:History, French, Spanish, Maths, IT, English, DT,Art, Science and Geography. Their behaviourduring each was outstanding; their mannersimpeccable and according to Mrs Fay, theirsinging voices were excellent!

This year’s Induction Day was a big success,and hopefully next year’s Year 7’s will haveanother brilliant time.

Liam Markey 8LE & Tom Harris 8OW.

Trip to Warwick Castle

The Legend and History ofDragon BoatingOne of our Sixth form students, Oliver Bradshaw is amember of the British Dragon Boat Racing Youth Teamsquad. This year, the team represented theUK in the World Championships against 9other countries in the Regatta Centre inAustralia finishing 4th overall. The teamhave also won Under 18 EuropeanChampionships in Prague 2006.Unfortunately it is Oliver’s last year in theYouth Team and we wish him luck in hisefforts to make the Under 21 England squadin the future.

Dragon Boat racing has ancient Chineseorigins and its history has been traced backmore than 2000 years. The first participantswere superstitious Chinese villagers whocelebrated the 5th day of the 5th lunarmonth of the Chinese calendar. Racing washeld to avert misfortune and encourage therains needed for prosperity - and the objectof their worship was the dragon. The dragon of Asia hastraditionally been a symbol of water. It is said to rule therivers and seas and dominate the clouds and rains.

Over the years a second story was integrated to give thefestival a dual meaning - the touching saga of Qu Yuan.

Legend has it that poet Qu Yuan wasbanished from the kingdom of Chu after theKing fell under the influence of corruptministers. Qu Yuan spent many yearswandering the countryside and composinggreat poetry until, on learning of hiskingdom's defeat, he leapt into the Mi LoRiver holding a great rock in a display of hisheartfelt sorrow. The people loved Qu Yuanvery much and raced out in their fishingboats to the middle of the river in a vainattempt to save him. They beat on drumsand splashed their oars in the water, tryingto keep the fish away from his body.

Today Dragon Boat racing involves teams ofup to twenty paddlers in a 40 foot boat witha drummer and helm, paddling franticallyto beat the other teams down the course.

The drums, shouting and colourful boats make it animpressive and exciting sport both to watch and tocompete in.

Chris Barwise 9 KE

Last term Mr. Harrison took students from SFX to WarwickCastle he said “it was a massive medieval castle with big groundsto explore”. The pupils there were able to see a demonstrationof a long bow and Luke Swanson was chosen to dress as a longbow man! They also got to see knights fighting each plus thebirds of prey. Every one had an excellent day.

Mark Farrell 8WA

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Trip to FranceMr. Harrison has organised a trip to the battle fields in France. Mr Harrison said “the aim of the visit to the battle fields is for the pupils atSFX to get a better understanding of the sacrifices made by people whoare now elderly, on behalf of their country and how a lot of young menhave sacrificed their own lives or future health in fighting for peace”.

Mark Farrell 8WA

Caernarfon Castle Trip Last year Mr Harrison took a group ofY7 and Y8 SFX students to Caernarfoncastle. He went as part of a projectwith St Gregory’s primary school andSt Paschal Baylon Primary School.Everyone had an excellent day andliked it a lot. Everyone learnedtogether which was the highlight ofthe day and made the day andenjoyable for all the students andeven the teachers believe it or not!

Michael Manville 8OW

Future Focus DayFuture Focus is an annual event on the Sixth Form calendar. This year it tookplace on Wednesday 18th July and Thursday 19th July.

Day one involved students attending a series of talks and workshops on acarousel basis throughout the day. These talks were delivered by a variety ofspeakers. Some like Aim Higher, Motivated and Loving It, and LiverpoolUniversity are regular visitors. Others like Lloyds TSB and Liverpool HopeUniversity were newcomers to this event.

Students were advised on Interview Techniques (Aim Higher), and saw how notto do it (thanks to a clip from Phoenix Nights) before practising a variety oftechniques with their peers. They were guided through the minefield of finance(Lloyds TSB), with a particular view towards budgeting as a student, but also onchoosing the correct bank account, managing their account and all of thepractical realities associated with finance. Liverpool University and LiverpoolHope University talked to students about the application process and Universitylife in general. Liverpool Hope University sent two of their recent graduates toprovide the students with a realistic picture of life as a student, with lots ofadvice on what to do, as well as what not to do! One of the graduates was anOld Xaverian- Del Ronan.

Day two focused specifically on the application process and getting studentsregistered with UCAS so that they could work on their applications over thesummer. JMU kindly offered their services to help students through theprocess. Aim Higher returned to offer advice on writing Personal Statements,and also to say good bye to our graduate mentor, Mark Shotter, who left us togo travelling for a year!

The two days were hugely successful and the students both enjoyed itimmensely and gained a lot from it. It would not have been possible withoutthe help of our speakers who gave so willingly of their time, and for this we aregrateful.

Miss Durnin and Ms Finlay

History Visit tothe MaritimeMuseumThe History Department organisedfor the Year 13 Modern HistoryGroups to attend a lecture deliveredin the Maritime Museum on 14thNovember about the American CivilRights movement. The day wasorganised by JMU in conjunction withthe British Association for AmericanStudies. It was a very interesting daythat provided students with revisionmaterial and also with more in-depthinformation about topics alreadycovered. The talks covered topicssuch as; overall civil rightsmovement, the role of individualsincluding Martin Luther King andMalcolm X as well as the role playedby the press and the president in bothadvancing and hindering the civilrights movement.

Miss Durnin

Year 7 Trip to Wolverhampton SFX Year 7 ‘A’ and ‘B’ football teams took part in a trip to the Midlands on 3rdNovember 2007, SFX played 2 games against Sutton Sports College.

The first match played was SFX ‘B’ team against Sutton Sports College ‘A’team. The match started as a fairly steady game until Sutton Sports Collegegot a goal just before the half ended. At half time the SFX boys went into thedressing room losing1-0. The second half was also very tight, with both sidesworking very hard to pull a goal out of the bag. With 10 minutes to go SFX wasstill behind by one goal, but still not giving up or putting their heads down.Andrew Lamb burst out with a wonderful kick over the keeper and into thenet. The score remained 1-1. until the last 2 minutes of injury time whenThomas Mooney struck one past the keeper to win the game for SFX.

The next match played was SFX ‘A’ team playing Sutton Sports College Yr 8 ‘A’team. SFX broke the deadlock into the match scoring 2 against the SuttonSports Colleges’ keeper within 20 minuets of the game. The scorer was JackKemp with 2 wonderfully struck goals (now on 13 goals for the season). Forthe rest of the half Sutton Sports College’s defence was outstanding, notletting SFX forwards get anything past them. The second half started fairlyequally, with SFX and Sutton Sports College both getting good chances, untilSutton Sports College pulled another goal back to make the game harder forSFX. During the last 5 minutes SFX were penned in their half until AlexGraham broke away from the team to slot one goal past the keeper to securethe game for SFX

After the game, SFX went on to watchWolves v Bristol City. The boys werecheering along Wolves butunfortunately the game ended 1-1,however, it did not ruin the boysbrilliant day. Mr Bright alsocommented that the behaviour andthe football of the SFX team wereoutstanding and he is lookingforward for their next day out.

James Doig 8RI

Mentoring: The SFX ExperienceIn November Ms Finlay and a group of Year 12students; John Hyland, Lewis Jones and Welwyn Lobowere invited to give a lecture to Second YearUndergraduates at Liverpool Hope University. Thepurpose of the lecture was to describe ourexperiences of mentoring at SFX.

Peer mentoring was first introduced at SFX in 2001.Sixth formers are invited to apply to become a mentorin the summer term; they are then selected and giventraining. In September they are given a Year 7 form towork with to help the new Year 7 pupils settle intoschool life at SFX.

Sixth form mentors do a great job. We are proud oftheir level of commitment to the new intake. Indeed

this Years’ 12 students are the first students in theSixth form to have experienced being mentored andwho expressed a wish to give something back andbecome mentors themselves.

During the lecture the Year 12 students told of theirown experiences with a great deal of insight. Theyspoke of the scheme with passion and are nowbecoming great ambassadors for the scheme andschool as a whole. Liverpool Hope University was veryimpressed with the lecture and level of maturitydisplayed by Year 12 students.

Ms Finlay