BBC News Day and mentor visit BBC News School Report is a project that helps students aged 11-16 make their own news. The event involves over a thousand schools from the UK and around the world.

As part of the project, students are asked to pre-pare articles about anything that interests them. The BBC News School Report website offers a map with a link to all the schools’ websites where articles are uploaded and seen by the public.

The project teaches stu-dents to prepare and write up or present news reports which will be published on the annual news day, which was 15th March. It was our biggest BBC News Day yet with over 36 Yr 8 students taking part. A big thank you goes to Alison Carter, Sen-ior Politics Producer of BBC Radio 5 Live. She came in on the 13th March to prepare the girls for the day. She provided tips on interviewing, such as permission and politeness, how to hold a microphone, where to do the interview and how to ask questions.

She also talked about how to write for the News/TV/Online, sticking to the 3Cs of news writing: be CLEAR, CONCISE and CORRECT. Another thank you goes to radio guru Andy Say-ers who came from North Kent College along with sev-eral students to help our bud-ding reporters record news for the radio and to go out and do interviews. All the reporters’ work can be seen on the school website.

extraContact

April 2012ISSUE 3

WelcomeThis issue of contact Extra is even bigger as there has been so much happening in school over the past few months that we need the additional pages to tell you all about it.

I hope you enjoy reading this edition of Extra and that it will encourage the girls to get involved in the extra- curricular experiences offered to them.

Mrs P. Slonecki

Watling Street, Bexleyheath, Kent DA6 7QJTel: 01322 556333 • Email: admin@stccg.co.uk • www.stccg.co.uk

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World Book Day68 members of Teaching & Support Staff together with Year 7 took part in celebrat-ing World Book Day. Year 7 chose stories from Roald Dahl, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and classic fairy tales. Staff took part with real gusto and their choice of characters ranged from Merlin the Wizard, Spiderman,

Wee Willy Winkee and Cleopatra. The day was a great success. We would like to thank students and their

families for the effort that was made with many of the fantastic costumes worn by Year 7.

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Duke of Edinburgh AwardOn Saturday 24th March 21 year 10 students completed their practice expedition for their bronze Duke of Edinburgh award. The girls met at 9am where they were kitted out with a 50 litre rucksack, tent, cooker and first aid kit. They were then ready to go. The girls shared the responsibility of map reading in their groups of four to follow the route they had planned out of 12km. They were a tribute to the school in their manner with the public along the route. A big well done to all who partici-pated.

Simi says.... Throughout the weeks we had been planning, preparing and mapping out a 5 hour practice walk to complete the Duke of Edinburgh Award. We had to follow the route that we had mapped out in our groups of four accompanied by a teacher. From the beginning to the end we had to work as a team to get to our various goals. Using the maps, we were questioned on items we should be seeing ahead to see if we were going the right way. At times we even had to use a compass to work out the bearings for the next part of the route. All members took turns in leading the team. By the end, even though our feet were killing us, our backs were aching and our shoulders were throbbing,our spirits were as high as ever with the great feeling of accomplishment. It was truly an amazing day that will be treasured forever.

Horniman Museum The year 11 Art students visited the Horniman Museum as part of their prep work for the final GCSE exam. They are required to study art, craft and design from different cultures and times - this is one of their assessment objectives. The Horniman offers a diverse experience and the students were able to collect written and visual information to enhance their sketch book work.

Sport Relief 2012St. Catherine’s did not want to miss out on showing their support for Sport Relief 2012, so every class in Years 7, 8 and 9 had the chance to complete their Mile in their PE lessons, during the week running up to the National Sport Relief event.Students were given a variety of options for how to complete their mile; anything from running to skipping.

Many of the girls opted to complete their 8 laps of the school field three-legged, although many soon realised that this option was pretty difficult and time consuming! I would like to say a big thank you to allthe girls and staff who really got into the spirit of Sport Relief.

Debate Mate Our debate team came 5th and 6th overall out of 48 teams in the recent challenge. Our two teams have now won 16 con-secutive debates each, which is absolutely astounding! We still remain undefeated.

Our students spoke with intel-ligence, courage and aplomb about militarily intervention in Syria, gaming laws and in-fluences on democracy. How many adults can hold their own on these topics? Our students battled against fierce opposition and crushed points of information in their wake, all with absolutely no help from teachers. Agnès won ‘Most improved female speaker’ for all her hard work this year and Miss Cook and Miss Mac-Dougal were extremely proud of them all.

In terms of ‘learning and progress’ across the course of the day the students learnt plenty of new vocabulary including; militarily, masquer-ade, sovereignty, prestige, incentivise and meritocracy. They covered areas of the curriculum including Ge-ography, History, Law and Citizenship.

As a result of the entire pro-gramme, the students tak-ing part in Debate Mate have become resilient and inde-pendent learners who have been consistently enthused, engaged and excited by learning.

In the words of Debate Mate we are: ‘Empowering the youth of today, creating the leaders of tomorrow.’

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Year 10 GCSE Geography Visit to GreenwichOn Wednesday 21st March, we went to Greenwich to investigate how it is a honeypot site and what attracts tourists to the Greenwich area. On our visit we surveyed members of the public, drew maps of the surrounding area, carried out traffic counts and plenty more. We did this for part of our Geography GCSE controlled assessment.

Gifted and Talented Study Day This intensive one-day programme of short lectures, offered in association with Chester University, was delivered by experts at Bloomsbury Baptist Church on Shaftesbury Avenue. It was part of the largest round of national conferences for Gifted and Talented students with an established track record for stretching and exciting students.

The conference inspired students to launchthemselves into new frameworks of thinking at a level matched to their abilities.

Face Britain

Face Britain is a national project that invites all young people in the UK to submit a self-portrait. Years 7, 8 and 9 will be part of this world record attempt to become the biggest online gallery of self-portraits in the world. You can view them at www.facebritain.org.uk and search for the school in the top right hand search bar. You will need a password to access our students’ work. The password is “catherine”. You can purchase a variety of merchandise online, such as cups, t-shirts and mouse mats.

Football SuccessSt Catherine’s U14 football team were crowned Bexley Champions 2012 following a convincing win of 6-0 against Welling School. The girls played the best football that they have all season displaying some amazing attacking play.

They thoroughly deserved to win the league and have been such a dedicated team who have worked hard all season. Jasmine was very strong in defence and it has been great to see her grow in confidence over the season, definitely our most improved player.

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Little Shop of Horrors THE PLOT.....Seymour Krelborn, works at the Skid Row flower shop of Mr. Mushnick. Experimenting in his spare time, Seymour buys a new plant species that he hopes will lead him to fame and fortune. Unfortunately, the mutated plant insists on blood and human flesh. Before long, the luckless Seymour has fed his plant a variety of people...who will be next!

The school show is always the highlight of the school year at St Catherine’s. We have all worked extremely hard over the past year to develop a show that parents, friends and cast can enjoy and be proud of. Last year’s school show The Wiz was a huge success and the support and feedback we received from it was amazing. We have improved our theatre facilities to reflect the quality of the shows being developed. Last year we had the sound system installed and this year the stage lighting and stage have been permanently installed. Our theatre space now rivals any local small theatre space! We are blessed at St Catherine’s as we have so many creative and confident young ladies. The biggest thank you must go to them and their continuing commitment to the Arts.

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Bank of England TripA Year 10 Maths class went on a trip to the Bank of England in the City. They first toured the museum and had to complete a task by looking closely at the information on display. They also had a presentation and learnt a lot about inflation, CPI, the security measures of bank notes and how money is produced and destroyed. They lifted a 12kg gold bar costing nearly half a million pounds! Students enjoyed it so much that they have all decided to become bankers!

Rare Genetic Diseases TripIn February, 14 Year 10 students went to the Royal Holloway for a rare genetic diseases day.

The girls were able to choose which activities to do in the morning with six of them purifying human DNA while others chatted to the exhibitors and students and went on a lab tour. Everyone enjoyed themselves whilst gaining valuable insight into the different genetic diseases and university life. They were also able to chat to under-graduates who were enthusi-astic and very helpful.

The afternoon presentations were very interesting and varied and we all particu-larly enjoyed “Zombie Sci-ence” and the thought pro-voking and inspirational talk by Helene Raynsford.

Helene is part of the Great Britain Rowing Squad and was the 2008 Paralympics Champion and suffers from the rare genetic disease Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

Royal Holloway University has teamed up with an award-winning advertising agency to deliver exciting creative writing and graphic communication workshops in schools and colleges.

Our Yr10 Media BTEC students worked alongside a talented English undergraduate to develop their own creative advertising campaign, which will focus on young people and their Olympic ideals.

The best campaigns will be selected and developed by the advertising agency into a real life advertising campaign.

Olympic Workshop MEDIA The Olympic Ideal

The Shakespeare ProjectYear 9 English students had the opportunity to see Romeo & Juliet by Box Clever Theatre on 5th March in the school drama hall. Box Clever is an outstanding contemporary theatre company that has run many projects worldwide. This superb show provided a valuable insight into the works of Shakespeare and was beneficial for the students’ KS3 English assessment.

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STAGECOACH BEXLEYSing, Dance, Act Now! Stagecoach Bexley are enrolling now for the summer term. We are excited to announce our new venue at St. Catherine’s Catholic School. Our part-time classes for 4-18 year olds in drama, dance and singing run each Saturday morning dur-ing term time. Our new term starts on Saturday 28th April.Established in 1988, Stagecoach now has over 600 schools nationwide offering classes at weekends which are comple-mentary to, yet independent of, academic classes.

Students enjoy an hour of dance, an hour of drama and an hour of singing. We also offer 90 minute classes for 4-6 year olds. Every Saturday experienced industry professionals teach at Stagecoach and make learning fun, no matter the age of the student. They create a safe environment so that students can develop their skills and find out who they are and what they are capable of doing.

For more information about Stagecoach Bexley, or to enrol for next term, please phone Principal, Daniel Davies

on 020 8306 5410, email bexley@stagecoach.co.uk or visit our website at www.stagecoach.co.uk/bexley

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WOW Trip

On 9th March 11 Year 10 students went to London to the Women of the World Conference. The aim was to discuss ‘What makes a great WOW education for twenty-first century girls?’. It opened with inspiring words from the Head teacher of the Mulberry School, Vanessa Ogden. Some of her students followed by performing a play called ‘The Unravelling’. It was a tale of how women can take control of their own destiny and create a successful future.

We were then joined by guest female speakers including Dr Kylie Vincent from Oxford University who shared stories of how they have become successful and what has inspired them. Students’ favourite part of the day was being entertained by talented female poets including Kat François. Their powerful poetry mesmerized us and was full of words of wisdom. The day has given us the

confidence to be passionatein life, to follow our dreams. and to strive for success.

Football and the Old LadySometimes, only sometimes, I feel a little bloated,Kicked about, taken advantage ofBut sometimes I feel like people love meThat I can help them have fun and fill them with laughter Most of the time I am forgotten and I am no longer usefulI am also just chucked in the shed or left in the parkDuring cold and wet weatherPeople usually assume I don’t want to be played withJust because I am a little worn out and wrinkly. However my mother told me you only are as old as you feelI feel so full of energy though, well, I used to feel that wayUntil I was forgotten about and left in a house with nothing to do Even my grandchildren don’ t come round to visit me anymoreI would rather be dead in the bin anything than thisMy ultimate dream is..... to be pumped up again and full of energyTo put a smile on peoples’ faces again I want people to remember me. That’ s all.

by Olamide, Yr 9

Prospects in the City On Wednesday 21st March, the Year 10 Media BTEC class took a trip to London organised by ‘Prospects in the City’. During the morning they were lucky enough to go backstage at the National Theatre. They found out about how Media is used in a theatre and how important it is as a subject. Students then visited IPC Media. They were seated in a boardroom and given the opportunity to speak to the Art Director of House & Garden and the overall editor for a range of lifestyle magazines. The trip was very educational and helpful for the future, par-ticularly for those interested in a career in media.

Y’Poetry We were visited by acclaimed writers and poetry teachers from the Netherlands who ran inspirational poetry workshops for schools in London. Taking ‘The City’ as their theme, 300 students from the capital wrote about their own experi-ences of city life. Thirty teenagers then went on to perform their poems at the Y’Poetry Revue at the Unicorn Theatre in February. Six of our students were in the semi final.

The Y’Poetry Revue in London provided a showcase for the young people’s poetry and included contributions by professional poets and international performance artists. The poems were judged by a jury consisting of spoken word artists Philip Wells (The Fire Poet), Shane Solanki (The Last Mango in Paris) and Sarah Sanders (Literature Depart-ment, Arts Council England), who chaired the jury. The Revue was compered by rapper and MC Joelle Taylor and accom-panied on keyboard by Dutch musician Polo de Haas and Dutch VJ artist, Rudi. The theme of the showcase was ‘rhythm’ which was accentuated by the lively Bateria and Samba dance from Brazilian Fantasy which opened and closed the show (coinciding with Carnival in Rio) and the all-girl, hip hop street dance crew ‘Myself Dance Company’.

Olamide in Yr 9 was selected and is 1 of 8 London finalists who will represent London and the UK at the finals in Am-sterdam from 19th April, during an all-expenses paid week-end. The finalists will travel to Amsterdam on Eurostar where they will attend a reception hosted by Carolien Ge-hrels (Deputy Mayor of Art and Culture in Amsterdam). They will also perform their winning poetry at the Theater van’t Woord alongside their peers from Antwerp and Berlin, and explore Amsterdam from a literary canal tour and discov-er the city archives at the Monument de Bazel. You can read Olamide’s poem below. Keep your fingers crossed for success!

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PROFILE Mrs Gladwin Chair of Governors

What is the most challenging part of being chair of governors?Keeping meetings in order. It’s a bit like being in a classroom. People like to have their say. I have to make sure we stick to the agenda, share good ideas, challenge decisions that are made and ask the right questions. We are there to debate and do what is best for the school.

Which part of the role do you most enjoy? I love meeting the students. I like seeing what you all enjoy about being at school and what could be improved because your voice is important. It is not just about us as adults, we are here for the students and to ensure they have the best start, the best equipment, and the best teachers.

Why did you become Chair of Governors?I have been a parent governor for a few years, during which time I have developed my abilities and knowledge of the school. I think

being Chair is an important role because you work alongside the senior leaders of the school and take challenging decisions along with the Head Teacher. I felt that I could make a difference and support the school in being an outstanding school.

What are your aspirations for the school?I want this school to be the most outstanding Catholic Girls School in the area.

What are the best things about our school? The girls, because without their ambition to do well, we wouldn’t get the brilliant results! We have outstanding teachers, beautiful surroundings and a very well managed school.

How does your work impact on us the students?I like to see the students’ point of view. Students often present to the Governing body to explain what impact they have had as a student community. In a formal meeting we don’t often get that information. It is important that you have your voice through the student council, and that we listen in order to make the school the best it can be.

Is there a message you would like to give the staff, students and parents in the school?We are very fortunate to have an outstanding school with excellent pupils and committed staff and we can only strive to keep those standards as high as possible. Students are given every opportunity to work to their full potential. As an ex pupil of the school, I feel I have been given every opportunity by my education and the staff and care given to me, to go on and achieve a good career, be a positive Catholic in the community and to make a contribution to society.

Sion MissionOn February 20th the Sion community led a whole school mission here at St. Catherines. It was a wonderful week

and a real blessing for our school community. There were assemblies every day where the team reflected on the unconditional love that God has for each one of us.

There were also opportunities to take part in workshops reflecting on our commitment as Christians. The team also invited students to experience “Prayer for you” where a member of the team prayed with one student. The Mission ended with a wonderful Mass where the whole school gath-ered in our sports hall and thanked God for the peace and inspiration that the week had brought. During the last eight years the Sion Community have led four missions weeks in our school. Their witness and example have encouraged our community to draw closer to God.

Here’s what some of our students thought about the week.

“I liked the team, they were friendly and were very approachable, the workshop really made me think about love, life and making the right choices.” Zainab 10T

“I liked the “Prayer for You”, it was reflective and I thought about my relationships with my family and friends. “

Ivania 10A

“I liked the workshop “True Love” because it gave us lots of information and I found myself reflecting on love and choices.” Olabisi 10C

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Talent ShowElizabeth & Faith in Yr10 held a talent contest for students. There was a real mix of talent- a range of dancers and dance troops, solo singers and saxophonists. All put on a fantastic show- sadly there had to be a winner. The judges decided it was a tie between Rebecca in Yr8 singing along to Adele and Emily in Yr7 who impressed everyone with her break dancing.

Well done to all and a big thank you to Elizabeth & Faith for organising this event. All money raised went to charity.

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Gym Judge! Jessica 11I has received a vol-unteering award from Bexley Council. She is a keen gym-nast and trains several hours a week. She is very dedicat-ed and attended a two day course and exam to enable her to judge competitions. She is now qualified to judge club and novice levels for girls in all gymnastic disciplines. Congratulations on gaining the qualification and your continued commitment to the sport.

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COMING UP....

Music Concert

BTEC Performing Arts Showcase

Kintbury Retreat

GCSE Exams start 14th-18th Yr7 Rochester Trip

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Every Child Matters Day

Year 8 Academic Review Day

Year 7-10 Form and Group Photos

Gospel Choir Concert

PA Race Night

Year 10 Paris Trip

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Olympic Workshop GEOGRAPHYThe Games UnpluggedBetween July and August 2012, the Olympic Village will be the most exclusive address on Earth. The workshop gave students the opportunity to become town planners and local residents for a day by encouraging them to create their own ideal community. Pupils were guid-ed through the design and strategy used to run the Olympic neighbourhoods after the Games, working with Architecture Centre Fundamental. Students explored what makes a good or bad community. This knowledge was then harnessed into hands-on planning and architectural visualisation.

World Spelling Day Amazing enthusiasm was shown by 412 students from Years 7-10 who participated in the World Spelling Challenge. Some of the most impres-sive results came from Year 7. A special commendation to all the girls in 7E who achieved amazing individual scores. Well done everyone!

FLAME - National Youth Congress

Flame is the biggest Catholic Youth event held in this coun-try. Flame is all about coming together and acts as a reminder of what being a Catholic means. It means we are not isolated, we are part of a family of believers, whose mission is to try and bring about the reality of the family of humanity, one people saved in Christ.

On Saturday 24th of March, a group of 44 students and staff attended the Flame congress in Wembley Arena. There were over 8000 young Catholics who were taught about respect, friendship and excellence.

There were many inspirational speakers. There was a 19 year old member of the Kenyan national Karate team named Abdi Dima. Abdi has won medals in Provincial, Junior and National Championships. He lives in Korogocho, where 1.5 square kilometers is home to 200,000 people. His story is incredible and it is a CAFOD project that has enabled him to find hope through sport.

We were also inspired by the stories of Barry and Margaret,

the parents of Jimmy Mizen. They gave a powerful testimony of forgiveness and peace. In 2008, their 16 year old son Jimmy was killed in Lee, South East London. They have sought to bring a message of hope, peace and reconciliation, rooted in faith.

We were fascinated by the story of Stef Reid. Stef was involved in a serious accident and had to have her leg am-putated but because of her faith, she went on to become a very successful athlete. The 28 year old Paralympian holds the World Long Jump Record (2010). Stef competes in 100m, 200m, Long Jump, and is a strong medal hope for the summer. She is on BP posters all over London promoting the 2012 Paralympics.

Another inspiring person was was Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP, because we could relate to him and his message was clear. His words “God didn’t create rubbish, he didn’t give us the spirit of fear but he made us all special”. This gives us faith and courage to never give up, because God never gave up. He has written many books, including “What is the point of being a Christian?” and “I call you Friends”.

He blends a long experience of working in many countries and cultures with profound reflection and prayer on the issues facing young adults in Britain; he is a speaker in huge international demand, and offers words that will provoke thought and prayer in those who hear them.

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Gospel Choir When I was invited last year to set up a gospel choir, to everyone’s amazement we were overwhelmed with over 250 girls wanting to take part! It was because of this that Mrs Slonecki agreed that we would have two training choirs called Katz Juniors & Katz Seniors and St Catherine’s Gospel Choir which is the elite choir that everyone wants to get into.

Since we started we have been very proactive in creating opportunities to perform in school and the local community. The choir is in-volved in leading worship in school liturgies and in March they were given 1st place in their class at the Bromley Festival of Music receiving Honours.

All choirs will be performing at the first ever St Catherine’s Gospel Choir Concert which will be held on 23rd May. We will also be holding a gospel concert in the local commu-nity featuring St Catherine’s Gospel choirs and St Colum-ba’s Gospel choir on 6th July at Christ Church in Bexley-heath. There will be guests, speakers and refreshments.

Come along, support the girls and hear the amazing things that the girls have been up to.

See you there!

Miss C-J Gospel Choir Director

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