St James' Catholic High School
November 2023 Newsletter
MESSAGE FROM THE HEADTEACHER
Welcome to the November Newsletter. I hope this latest edition allows you to see just some of the wonderful things that have taken place in school over recent weeks.
As we enter the season of Advent, for many of us the preparation and anticipation of the arrival of Christmas is a joyous time, an opportunity to be with our friends and family. It is an opportunity to reflect on the year past and plan afresh for the new.
The optimism with which many of us enter this period is not however shared by all in our community and more widely. We know only too well that the death of a loved one, or the financial hardships faced by families, make for some, this period a really difficult time of the year.
Please know as a community we are praying for you and are here to support you, so do reach out if you think we can help you and your family in any way.
God Bless
Mr Ellul
Headteacher
Mikilel Berihu - Jack Petchey October Winner
Well done to Mikilel in Year 9 who won the Jack Petchey Award for October. 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.
Mikilel was nominated by his Head of Year, Mr Haffner 'I would like to nominate Mikilel for persevering through the face of adversity. Constantly putting school first even when it takes hours to reach here and has a no-complaint attitude'.
Logo Design Competition
Well done to Kaarunya Thota and Ann Cheeran for being the Winners of the Zest Musical Competition. They needed to design a logo for our Upcoming School Musical called Zest. The logo will be used on posters to go around the school. They also won a pack of paints and a drawing pad on behalf of the Art department.
Black History Month Poster Competition
We are excited to announce the winner of our Black History Month poster competition, which took place throughout October. This competition aimed to celebrate the achievements of inspirational women. We received an array of extraordinary submissions from our students, making the decision a challenging one. However, after much consideration, I am pleased to announce that the winner of the competition is Alexis Perejel from Year 10. Alexis put forth an exceptional effort in creating a truly inspiring and impactful poster.
Her creativity, dedication, and talent have earned her this well-deserved recognition. As the winner, Alexis will receive a special prize, which was presented to her in assembly. We believe this recognition will not only celebrate her achievement, but also inspire other students to unleash their creativity and explore the remarkable stories of inspirational women.
Anti- Bullying Week
Too often, we are silent when we see bullying take place, silent about the hurt bullying causes, and silent when we hear bullying dismissed as ‘just banter’.
Together, we can make a difference and take a stand against bullying. From the playground to Parliament, and from our phones to our homes, let’s make a noise about bullying. It doesn't have to be this way. Of course, we won’t be friends with everyone, and we don’t always agree, but we can choose respect and unity.
This year’s theme is: Make a Noise about Bullying. Pupils across all year groups had pursued the same programme of study, reflection, prayer and exploration so that we have a united purpose.
Support is available from Mr Faucher or the Head of Year.
Maths Week 2023
During November, we celebrated National Maths Week, this year's theme is '3 Is A Magic Number'. Our Pupils participated in a range of activities and competitions throughout their Maths Lessons during the week.
Pupils in our lunchtime Maths Club drew these amazing posters showing facts and properties of the number 3 as part of the A3 Challenge.
Here our Year 9 pupils took part the Maths Week date challenge. They were tasked with cutting out the 8 shapes, fitting them onto the grid without overlapping or going off the edges of the grid, so that today's date is showing, and every other month and number are covered.
Well done to all those students who completed it!
Click the link to download the challenge for another day!
Stand Up Workshops
In November, Karl and Mohammed from Stand Up led anti-bullying workshops for year7 students. Stand Up! is an anti-discrimination interfaith project. It brings Jewish & Muslim educators into the classroom to facilitate informal conversations with young people.
By creating a safe space and through interactive workshops, students are empowered to learn about and act against racism and discrimination with a specific focus on antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate.
Year 7 were provided with the tools on how to report hate crime, whilst developing their sense of social responsibility to their local communities and British society as a whole.
Year 8 + 9 Sports Leaders getting involved in Cancer Research UK 100 push-ups a day in the month of November Campaign. This will also be running every lunchtime at the sports hall for students & teachers to join in and get involved!
Our Year 7 and 8 girls placed 4th in the Barnet indoor athletics competition with 7 schools around the borough competing.
Well done to our Year 11 Boys who one 4-1 against Whitefield's High School
Year 9 Sports Leaders 'Bar No One' event at Hendon Leisure Center.
Remembrance Day
"Remembrance Day is a time to think about those who fought for our country; to recognise how their actions have changed the course of history and to think about the impact of war in our world today and what we can do to support those affected by it." ~ Sophia, Sergiu and Patricia
Feast of All Saints
On the 1 November, as a school, we celebrated the Feast of All Saints.
Students and staff had the opportunity to remember those who have passed away in our school book of remembrance brought up at each Mass.
Faith In Action
In our actions: Trust your life to Jesus. Follow His example - do what He did. Reach out to the poor, marginalised and vulnerable. Who is this in your world?
In our words: Honour Jesus with your words. He is King of the Universe don’t take His name in vain! Tell others about Him.
In our prayers: Ask God to transform your heart. Ask God to show you how to follow Jesus. If you find it hard to trust in the promise that Jesus will return, bringing peace and justice- ask God to help you believe it. Pray for peace and justice on earth now. “Your Kingdom come.”
In our actions: Respond generously to this Advent campaign by beginning to collect items to donate or by writing messages of encouragement.
In our words: Encourage others to get involved by talking about it and drumming up enthusiasm. Tell your family about this campaign so that your whole family can support it.
In our prayers: Pray for those who are in hardship right now, especially those who don’t have enough food. Ask the Lord to bless this Advent Giving Calendar appeal.
Hair and Beauty Club
Jessica in Year 11 led a hair and beauty club this half term for KS4 club.
She runs a hair business outside school and wanted to share her experience and passion through teaching others.
Art Enrichment
A group of our Year 12 enrichment pupils volunteered to help during our Sixth Form open evening. They spent the evening creating handmade Christmas Cards for our prospective parents and future Sixth Form pupils.
There is a strong correlation between good attendance/punctuality and examination success. Nationally, pupils with 96%+ attendance are most likely to achieve grades 5-9 at GCSE. Our school attendance target this academic year is 97%.
Pupils must attend school daily unless there is a valid reason not to attend.
Parents are requested not to arrange family holidays, or medical or dental appointments during term time.
If there is a valid reason that pupils cannot attend school, your parents must inform the school by 8:30 am on the first and each subsequent day of absence.
Parents must provide evidence of medical or dental appointments and be asked to provide medical evidence for more than 3 days of absence.
Did you know you can check daily attendance and punctuality on the Arbor app?
Punctuality is an important part of self-discipline and is essential for time management.
Pupils must be in school by 8:30am.
At 8:30 the school gates will be closed and pupils must enter school through reception. They will be marked late and receive a detention for the same day. Parents will be sent a text message informing them that their child has been late to school.
Repeated late marks may result in your parents being fined. You and your parents may also need to attend a Punctuality Board meeting.
Great Strand, Colindale NW9 5PE
Phone: 020 8358 2800
Email: admin@st-james.barnet.sch.uk