25 March 2022

“Be the Change You Want to See in the World”

Changing the world seems to be beyond our reach, even more so considering the complicated times we are living in. However, there is always room to inspire…

Headteacher's Message

Life in Sixth Form has been busy over the last few weeks. Upper Sixth have been evaluating mock examinations whilst our Lower Sixth are starting to think about university applications. The recent University Fair and Higher Education Evening have been very useful.

I hope this Sunday, Mother’s Day, is a special day for all our families.

Mrs S Pike

Headteacher

Theme of the week

Lent - Listen

Challenge

Lent is a time of prayer. Jesus is present to us and wants to speak to us. Spend some time being quiet and ask God to speak to you. You might not hear audible words, but God speaks in your heart, in an image in your mind, a feeling or a dream. Have a look at the Lenten Programme and select something to get involved with. Listen to God.

Prayer

Lord God, we thank you that you are God over everything; let your beautiful light shine into the darkness. As we journey with you through lent, transform our lives so that they are filled with your light. Prepare our hearts to receive the voice of your spirit. Amen.

Safeguarding Tips

The internet is a fantastic resource for young people that can enhance their academic, social and leisure experiences. However, the internet also poses some very real and serious threats that all adults must be aware of. Online grooming is something that has the potential to happen to any young person and parents should not be complacent of these risks. - Mr T Sanders

Credit National Online Safety

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Karate with Mr Gillis

Mr Gillis, father of two pupils in the Prep and College, takes Karate every Monday and Wednesday in the Sports Hall from 8am until 9am. Mr Gillis, a former karate champion, is a great positive sports role model, giving something back to the sport he is passionate about. We are very thankful to Mr Gillis for his time helping to develop St Bede’s students. Pictured with Mr Gillis are Patrick, Jack, Ellie and our sports scholar Rosie who have just been awarded their red belts. Karate is available to all students in the College and Prep. If you wish to join please see Mrs McCormick for more information.

Programme of events for Lent

You are invited on Wednesday 6 April for the Parent's Mass at 9am, followed by tea and coffee! - Mrs C Hibbert

Please see the programme here

Geology Lesson with Prep 1

As part of their science studies Prep 1 were visited by Geologist Mr Loader and were also joined on Zoom by Doctor of Geology Dr Matt Loader from the Natural History Museum in London. They were helping Prep 1 understand how geologists are very important in understanding the earth. They can look back through time and see how the planet has changed over time from the beginning of life to the dinosaurs to the world we know today. The children loved the interactive lesson and were fascinated when Mr Loader and Dr Loader explained how rewarding a career in geology can be. -Mr J Joyce-O'Keeffe

Saturday Fixtures

Seniors Won 2-1
Goal Scorers: Pat B X 1 and Tom J X 1
POM: Fidele

U15A’s Won 3-2
Goal Scorers: Fiyin X 2 and Harry X 1
POM: Cameron

U15B’s Won 3-1
Goal Scorers: Patrick K X 3

POM : Alex B

U14’s Lost 5-2
Goal Scorers: Noah X 1 and Wilson X 1
POM: Jack

U13B’s Lost 5-1
POM: Ayyan

U12’s Drew 4-4
Goal Scorers: Dan C X 3 and own goal
POM: Dan C

Prep Netball

St Bede's hosted a Netball High-Five Tournament on Tuesday 15 March with our squad consisting of Year 5 and Year 4 pupils. The girls were playing against Year 5 and 6 pupils, who were older and a lot taller! The girls were worried before their first match as they had never played in a tournament before but Miss Sharp just wanted them to enjoy the experience and work hard. The girls certainly did this -they won 3 out 4 matches! All the girls got to play in various positions, but the super shooter of the day was Carmen scoring all 7 goals. The girls had great team spirit and worked hard in all matches. Romily was awarded a special award for displaying great teamwork. Overall, the team finished in 3rd place, two points off the top spot. Miss Sharp is extremely pleased with all the girls. - Mr J Joyce-O'Keeffe

Prep Football

The Prep 4's competed in an AJIS football competition this week which was hosted by Cheadle Hulme School. The children played in six competitive matches against some extremely strong opposition; teams such as King's Macclesfield and the hosts Cheadle Hulme were drawn in the same group as our Prep 4's who did extremely well against such strong teams. The team improved as the day went on and managed to win their first game against Bury Grammar in the penultimate match. Christopher scored the goal that gave them the win, a win which was very much deserved. A special mention must also go to Joseph for some outstanding goalkeeping and Hugo for being our brilliant stand-in Prep 3 player!

Prep Hockey

After reaching the final of the preliminary competition, the Quicksticks hockey team played in the Manchester School's Excel Quicksticks' Finals against other schools from around Manchester. This is a 4-aside competition played on a smaller pitch and can have boys and girls on the team. The first game was against Plymouth Grove and after a shaky start conceding a goal in the first minute, the team settled and rallied and fought back to win the game 2-1. In the next game they lost 3-1 to a strong team from St. Francis’. The remaining two matches were close encounters with fantastic effort and teamwork on display. Both games ended in draws, 2-2 v St. Richards, and 1-1 v St. Anthony’s. The final results were all very close and St. Bede's came third overall. Whilst the team were a little disappointed that they did not win, Mrs Lavorini was pleased that some of the skills and tactics they had been practising were used in the matches.

Then on Thursday 17 March the Prep 6 Girls’ Hockey Team played against Manchester High School. It was a tough match as many of the opposition had qualified for the North of England U11s Finals. Whilst Nell was the busier of the two goalkeepers, the girls did have chances and took the lead. Nell made many great saves and the defence cleared the ball well. Manchester High attacked strongly and equalised near the end. It was a hard fought and well contested match.

The team also played on Saturday 19 March against a Year 7B team from The Grange. At the start there was great excitement from the girls as they were playing in their first Saturday fixture. The Grange had a couple of boys in their team but this did not worry the girls at all. Mrs Lavorini was very pleased with the girls improving level of individual skill and tactical and positional awareness. The team were delighted to win 1-0. - Mr J Joyce-O'Keeffe

Park Run Group

Last week, we relaunched the Park Run Group and enjoyed a sunny couple of laps around Alexandra Park. Well done to Emily, Will and Dominic for their efforts! The club will run weekly after school for staff and students to develop their running skills and fitness levels, to either run a 5km for the first time or improve their 5km time. This is for all abilities! Anyone who is interested in joining us should email mreid@sbcm.co.uk and you will be added to a Google Classroom with further details. -Mrs M. Reid

BTEC, A-Level and GCSE Drama Showcase

6pm Wednesday 30th March in the Drama Studio

Please join us for an hour-long presentation of examination pieces presented by our Upper Fifth and Sixth Form pupils who have been working very hard on perfecting their performances.

The varied programme includes not only two versions of extracts from Goldoni's classic comedy The Servant of Two Masters and an interpretation of selected scenes from Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, but also a fascinating series of monologues ranging from Greek tragedy to The Kite Runner. We are sure you will be bowled over by the range of drama texts our students can handle!

If you are interested in coming along, please let us know via email as spaces are limited:

nalderson@sbcm.co.uk jdickson@sbcm.co.uk

-Mrs N. J. Alderson

Bexwyke Lecture Day

Four Prep 5 children got the chance to visit MGS for their annual Bexwyke lecture day. The focus of the day was Zoos and Conservation. They attended two workshops: ‘If animals could talk’ and ‘Sustainable palm oil challenge’. The day ended with a lecture from Sean Dick, the Learning Operations Manager at Chester Zoo. The children had a fantastic time and really enjoyed the learning and activities they took part in. - Mr J Joyce-O'Keeffe

Book Award Shadowing

The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually by children’s librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people. It is generally regarded as the most prestigious award for writing for children and past winners include Arthur Ransome, C.S. Lewis, Terry Pratchett and Phillip Pullman.
Once again, St Bede’s is joining other groups across the country to “shadow” the judges. A group of staff and older pupils have just started to read the 8 shortlisted books and we will meet regularly to discuss and rate them according to the judging criteria.

Any pupils from Upper Fourth to Upper Sixth are welcome to join in. -Mrs Poolton

Siena House Present Upper Third Mastermind

With Countdown on hiatus, this Wednesday lunchtime saw the start of Siena House's Inter-House Mastermind tournament. Four valiant Upper Thirds braved the Mastermind chair, roared on by some wonderful support from their peers.

Eli represented Siena, with a specialist subject of the Harry Potter books, the Philosopher's Stone and Goblet of Fire. Mason represented Bosco, with a specialist subject of the career of Cristiano Ronaldo. Anna represented Magdalene, with her specialist subject of the Roald Dahl classic, Matilda. Finally, a special mention must go to Joel, who stood in at the last minute and did his best to answer questions on the subject of Manchester City footballers since 2010.

All of the pupils represented themselves and their Houses superbly; their specialist and general knowledge was outstanding and they were not overawed by the crowd, the chair, or Mr Davies' trumpet playing.

The final result saw Anna triumph for Magdalene with 24 points, just beating Mason who scored 23 points for Bosco. Eli came third with 15 points for Siena and Joel produced a great last minute performance, scoring 12 points for Campion.

We cannot wait to the next instalment and the next group of contestants to brave the Mastermind chair. - Mr Lee Rodriguez