ST JAMES’ CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
MAY NEWSLETTER 2023
MESSAGE FROM THE HEADTEACHER
In my Easter Newsletter, I asked you all to keep our Year 11 and 13 pupils in your thoughts and prayers, as they were about to embark upon their exams. These are now in full swing, so please do keep these pupils very much at the forefront of your thinking.
Beyond our exam cohorts the school year continues at pace and having browsed through the pages of this month’s edition of the newsletter, there are so many wonderful examples of the achievements of both our pupils and staff. A highlight for me are the articles in which both Kiisu and Mrs Harmer feature, both of whom have had books published recently. Inspirational!
Enjoy.
Mr Ellul
Headteacher
'I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL' JOHN 10:10
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'I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL' JOHN 10:10
UPCOMING EVENTS
'I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL' JOHN 10:10
Jack Petchey Winner - April
Kiisu Rojugbotan has won the Jack Petchey Award for April. The Jack Petchey Foundation was set up by Sir Jack Petchey to inspire and motivate young people across London and Essex to do their best and reach their full potential.
She has been nominated for 'her quiet brilliance and work ethic in the classroom as well as her incredible achievement of being the published author of 'Algie Virgo and the Lilac Queen'.
Well done Kiisu!
Hertfordshire Secondary Schools Girls Competition
Well done to our St James' Girls Gaelic team who won for the first hosting of the Hertfordshire GAA secondary school event last weekend. Our girls played three games in total, they went up against Beaumont in the final.
Congratulations!
'I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL' JOHN 10:10
Mrs Harmer's Book Launch
We are very proud of Ms Harmer, who has recently had her book published ‘How Far We Have Come’.
In 2016, Ms Harmer was selected as one of six writers to take part in the Megaphone Writers scheme to support diverse voices in children's Literature. In 2017, she was selected as a finalist in the Penguins WriteNow scheme.
'My novel is about a teenage slave girl called Obah who lives on a plantation in Barbados in the 1800s. She meets a mysterious boy from our present-day who has time travelled to where she is and he is so horrified by her situation that he convinces her to come with him to our present-day England! Obah is amazed by what she finds when she gets here but she can't stop thinking about those she left behind, the ones still suffering. The novel examines whether you can ever truly be happy when you know that suffering and injustice continue to exist. - Ms Harmer
An article written by The Times Newspaper goes into more detail about Ms Harmer's book!
It's available to order now from Amazon, Waterstones and all good bookshops!
Advice from Mr Twum-Barimah and Mrs Patel
"Life is like a maths equation in order to gain the most in life, you need to know how to convert the negatives into positives."
Teachers from our Maths department, Mr Twum-Barimah and Mrs Patel, share some advice for our students.
'I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL' JOHN 10:10
Girls Network
Girls Network is a a charity seeking to empower girls and young women to achieve their career goals in highly competitive fields.
This is our third year of running this at St James' and we have secured a positive impact on over 60 young pupils so far.
Below is this years impact report containing key data and experiences from our pupils who have completed the programme.
Key Data
Personal Development
In their own words
Programme Highlights
'I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL' JOHN 10:10
Year 12 UCL Trip
Our Year 12 pupils had the opportunity to take part in a subject workshop at UCL, which focused on developing their subject skills, as well as giving them a taste of University-style study.
The work shop supported their A-Level English literature course. Whereby they are tasked with developing their understanding of crime and tragedy genres through close textual analysis, understanding of context and applying a range of critical theories to the texts studied.
"The trip to UCL was educational, exciting and an effective opportunity in showcasing the life of an English university student. With a range of people showing us around campus, from librarians to third year students, we were treated to a wonderful day at their university. It's definitely persuaded me to apply in the autumn!" - Thomas O'Connor
Year 12 Brilliant Club Graduation
Congratulations to our Year 13 Brilliant Club members who attended a graduation event to celebrate their hard work on the scholar's programme.
The Scholars Programme has enabled our year 12's to work closely with a PhD Tutor, who is either studying to gain a PhD or already has one. They also studied a series of small group university-style tutorials on a ‘super-curricular’ course, which explores topics they may not usually study in the school curriculum. Many of these researchers currently act as lecturers to students at the university level, so it has been a unique opportunity for them to experience university-style teaching. Pupils have worked towards final assignments that have challenged them to work above their current key stage.
They arrived at King's College London where they had a tour of the university with current students, an Information, Advice and Guidance session, and an opportunity to celebrate their achievements in a graduation ceremony.
Well done to all pupils involved!
Year 13 Last Day
Our Year 13's had their last day on Friday, where they wrote lovely messages to each other on their school shirts.
We wish you the best of luck with your exams in Year 13, we know you're going to do a great job!
'I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL' JOHN 10:10
Numeracy Day
Our pupils enjoyed taking part in numeracy activities scattered around the school as well as problem-solving activities in the classroom.
Year 12 Enrichment
Year 12 enrichment is held every Wednesday with a number of sessions taking place. During the Art session, pupils were making clay tiles with ceramics, once painted they had glazed the pieces and are ready to take home.
Year 10 MFL Lessons
Our Year 10 MFL students have been enjoying doing some team competition activities as part of their mock exams revision sessions.
'I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL' JOHN 10:10
Saint Of The Month
Aspiration
-Create a vision board of your goal and aspiration. Plan out what you need to do to achieve your goal.
-Identify one quality or characteristic you would like to develop. Set out ways you can develop this quality this week.
-What are the things that stop us from achieving our goals? What do you need to remove in order to achieve your goal?
Resilience
-Where do we need to be resilient? School work, friendships, pursuing our goals? Jesus teaches us in this passage not to be troubled but instead to trust in God.
-Can you identify a strategy this week that you could implement to enable you to work towards your goal?
-Where do we need to be resilient to ensure that we make choices that lead us on the right path?
Excellence
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle
“You are in me and I in you.” Jesus
Which fruit of the Spirit would you like to model and embody this week? Write it in your planner at the top of the week to remind yourself.
How are you going to repeatedly practice this week the habit?
'I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL' JOHN 10:10
Book Recommendations
Max reviews 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' by J.K Rowling
"If you love fantasy adventures, you should read this! When Dumbledore arrives at Privet Drive one summer night to collect Harry Potter, his wand is blackened and shrivelling. Hogwarts is not safe, what shall Harry do?"
Karla reviews 'Holes' by Louis Sachar.
'Stanley Yelnats is sentenced to dig holes at Camp Green Lake after being falsely accused of theft. There's a family curse and a search for buried treasure. If you want to know how Stanley is able to lift the curse on his family, read this book!'
Max reviews 'Alex Rider: Nightshade' by Anthony Horowitz
"Alex Rider is a teenage super spy on a deadly mission. If you like action books, then this book is perfect for you. An agent was killed in Brazil and Alex Rider is sent to infiltrate Nightshade. I'm reading on to find out what he does next."
Book Sale
We have an amazing selection of books at our half price book sale. Make sure you pop into the library to take a look at some of the titles we have.
We have the book sale here till the 11th June 2023.
'I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL' JOHN 10:10
'I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL' JOHN 10:10
'I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL' JOHN 10:10
Contact Us
Email: admin@st-james.barnet.sch.uk
Website: www.st-james.barnet.sch.uk
Location: Great Strand, Colindale NW9 5PE
Phone: 020 8358 2800