29 April 2022

Be Committed

Kelly playing at Bechstein Manchester, event was an intimate VIP event showcasing exceptional talent in the UK to musicians across the city.

On Monday evening, Kelly performed a solo piano recital in Manchester city centre. The event was hosted by C. Bechstein, the newly opened piano retailer in Manchester and was attended by members of the public, families, teachers and friends of St. Bede’s College. The College aims to build stronger links with the C. Bechstein brand and hopefully explore more opportunities for our pupils to perform in the future. Kelly is an outstanding artist and performed with aplomb. She provided a 50-minute recital, from memory, of beautiful and challenging music from the piano repertoire. These included sonatas by Beethoven and ended with Schubert’s ‘Papillions’ Opus 2, which brought the recital to an ebullient and dramatic close, and left the audience in raptures. Well done, Kelly! - Mr A Davies.

See the event here!

Headteacher's Message

Welcome back to the Summer Term. We hope that everyone will use their talents and it will be a fantastic term.

Congratulations to Kelly and her family for the wonderful piano recital on Monday at the C Bechstein Centre, Manchester.

We enjoyed welcoming many families to the College this week for our successful Open Morning.

Today we celebrate the Feast Day of St Catherine of Siena: "Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire" which is an inspiration to us all.

Have an enjoyable extended bank holiday weekend!

Mrs S Pike

Headteacher

Theme of the week

St Catherine of Siena

"It is the Lord." (John 21: 7)

Challenge

Jesus appeared to hundreds of people after he died to show that he had risen from the dead and is alive. St Catherine said that love transforms us into what one loves. Ask yourself what do you love? Is it God?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, as we reflect on the life of St Catherine of Siena, help us to remain close to you. Bless all our work; that it may bear fruit that will last. Amen.

Check Out the Updated Mass Rota

Please see the updated schedule here

Parents' Guide to Examination Stress

Examination stress is a rite of passage that all young people go through at one time or another. However, just because examination stress affects all young people, does not mean that parents can’t help reduce it. While stress can be a good thing as it motivates young people to revise and do well, when this tips too far it is counterproductive and can severely impact overall achievement. Some easy wins for parents with regards to examination stress are given below. - Mr Sanders.

Primary Mathematics Challenge

The Prep 6 pupils have once again excelled in this year's Primary Mathematics Challenge, a national maths competition organised by the Mathematical Association for Year 5 and 6 pupils.

After the preliminary round in November 2021, six of the Prep 6 pupils were invited to participate in the Bonus Round in February. The children worked very hard in their weekly Gifted and Talented lessons and showed great resilience in answering some incredibly complex and challenging questions.
All the pupils enjoyed sitting the paper and were quietly confident with their answers.

For the first time, all the Prep finalists achieved an award.
Congratulations go to Sadie on her bronze award and to Abigail, Francesca, Oscar, Sophie and Tom who all received the highest accolade: a gold award - a fantastic feat by our outstanding mathematicians. Very well done to all six pupils on their achievement! - Mr. J Joyce O’Keeffe.

A Great Project During British Science Week 2022

As part of British Science Week 2022, for which the theme was growth, Upper Fourth Biology students have been studying the life-cycle of caterpillars to butterflies. The project spanned over a month where we witnessed tiny caterpillars grow exponentially, spin their own cocoons and emerge as mesmerizing Painted Lady Butterflies. This week Mrs Ward’s group admired the beauty of metamorphosis in the classroom before carefully releasing the butterflies onto a sunny Headteacher's lawn. Students had this to say about their experience; “We discovered how delicate they are and how much care you must handle them with” - Louis.
“When we first let the butterflies out they were very flustered. We tried our best to calm them down and reassure them that they were in safe and gentle hands. We did this by cupping our hands so that it was dark and being quiet and confident when handling them.” - Luca.
“My highlight was that I got over my fear of insects, now I really like butterflies” - Tanisha.

- Mrs J Ward.

An Effective Way to Prepare for Exams

On Wednesday 27 April, the Lower Sixth attended a presentation provided by Freya from Elevate Education, entitled 'Ace Your Exams'. In this session, the students were informed about the most common mistakes in examination preparation, the most effective ways in which to prepare for examinations and excellent practice in the examination room. The theme of the session was very clear: effective revision for the A Level examinations in May 2023 starts now! We hope that the students found the session useful as they prepare for their Lower Sixth summer examinations and that they will refer back to it throughout their Upper Sixth year. - Mr D Rose.

Annual Strictly Bede's Competition

On the last day of term, to celebrate our Peace Day, Magdalene House hosted the annual Strictly Bede’s competition. This year's packed event saw Mrs Prince, Miss Moore, Mr Dickson, Mr Fideli and Mrs Davie performing dances they had been taught by pupils. All dancers performed amazingly well with incredible acrobatics in some acts, particularly Mr Fideli's. A special mention goes to Mrs Davie, who showcased an excellent Charleston on her last day and received a standing ovation and flowers for her dedication to the College. This year's overall winner was Miss Moore, dancing with Lower Fifth pupil Robyn. This year's competition featured comments from guest judges, including previous trophy holders Mrs Corbett and Mrs Boylan. The event usually raises money for the House Charity, Cancer Research UK but in the spirit of the College celebration of Peace Day, the £195 raised has been donated to the wider school collection for those affected by the conflict in Ukraine. Huge thanks to all staff and pupils, not only those who performed but who helped with the event in any way. - Mr T Wilson.

Young Women's Leadership Programme

Martha, Izzy and Tilly

We were offered a place on the Young Women's Leadership Programme that was being run by Manchester City Football Club, having successfully completed the application process. Within the first two days of the course, we got to speak to a panel of empowering women that work in all different areas of the City Football Group, from finance to journalism; they presented their life stories and how they got to where they are today. We also got the chance to learn more about setting goals and working effectively towards them. A presentation from one of City’s sport psychologists also gave us an insight into our personalities and how to work well in a team setting. Already, this programme has been inspiring and has opened up more career paths for us to think about. - Mr D Rose.

Manchester School Athletics

The U15 girls and boys participated in the Manchester schools athletics meeting today at the Etihad. We had some excellent individual performances: Emily 3rd high jump, Daisy 3rd 1500m, Harry 1st 100m, Cameron 2nd in 400m, James 2nd 1500m and Fiyin, Harry, Ty and Cameron 1st in relay. The boys were crowned Manchester champions and all medalists have been selected to represent Manchester in the Greater Manchester competition. - Mrs N McCormick.

Feast Day of Saint Catherine of Siena

Today, Friday, the College celebrated the feast day of Saint Catherine of Siena. A mass was celebrated, with pupils reflecting on the extraordinary life of Saint Catherine, as well as finishing the week with a sweet treat.

Saint Catherine continues to inspire all of our pupils, whether they are in Siena House or not. She was brave and bold enough to pursue her ambition of a career in the Church, despite the wishes of her parents and the expectations of the time. For this reason and due to her devotion to the memory and the example of Jesus Christ, Saint Catherine of Siena is the Patron Saint of Europe and a Doctor of the Church.

At St Bede's, she inspires the motto and ethos of Siena House through one of her most famous prayers: Be who God meant you to be and you can set the world on fire. We want all of our pupils to be the very best version of themselves and to set the world on fire. That is what makes us Bedians.

Mr Lee Rodriguez - Head of Siena House