Philomenian Issue 54

Philomenian

www.stphils.org.uk

16th December 2022

Autumn B Newsletter - Issue 54

sixthform.stphils.org.uk/

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Christmas Card Competition

Winning Christmas Card Design by Year 8 Student Margarida Almeida

Runner up design below by Year 8 Mithushana Sivaloganathan

Contents

Click a heading below to read more or use the arrows in the bottom right corner to turn the page

Message from the Headteacher - Ms Noone International School Award Catholic Life Family Support Good News Gymnastics T Level Health & Science British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) Cross Country & Cricket STEM - Microsoft Trip Food Department

Drama & Music Politics & Inequality Conference Psychology Basketball Club Speed Careers Crisis at Christmas Most Able Update Art Creative Careers Talk Past Student News Key Dates

Message from the Headteacher - Ms Noone

All year groups have received their Autumn term progress review (September - December). Progress Reports are available on Arbor and links to these have been emailed to parents and students, along with full subject reports for Year 13. Please check the progress reports if you haven’t already done so. We have started to check who has not viewed. Paper copies can be requested if needed, please contact your daughter’s Head of Year - Learning Lead. Monday 2nd January 2023 is a Bank Holiday, the first day of the new spring term for staff and students is Tuesday 3rd January 2023. We will be following the Alpha timetable. In the spring term we prepare to enter the season of Lent and future parents find out if they’ve secured a place in Year 7 for their daughter to start in September 2023. I wish to end by thanking you for all your support this term. May the infant Christ be in your hearts and homes over this festive period. With every good wish, blessing and joy for Christmas. Yours faithfully Ms M Noone Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers As we approach the end of our first term of the academic year, it gives me great pleasure to share with you some of the accomplished work published in this Christmas 2022 edition of the Philomenian. Please also note the relevant Parent Consultation dates for each year group below which begin next term: Year 11 Parent Consultation Evening - Wednesday 18th January 2023 Year 13 Parent Consultation Evening - Wednesday 1st February 2023 Year 9 Parent Consultation Evening - Wednesday 22nd February 2023 Year 7 Parent Consultation Evening - Wednesday 1st March 2023 Year 10 Parent Consultation Evening - Wednesday 8th March 2023 Year 12 Parent Consultation Evening - Wednesday 3rd May 2023 Year 8 Parent Consultation Evening - Wednesday 21st June 2023 Towards the end of the Spring term I start to formulate the School Development Plan (SDP) for the next academic year 2023/2024. It is really important that parents /carers have the opportunity to provide feedback on any aspects of the school they feel needs to improve. As a school, we are always reflecting on what we could do better. This is an invaluable part of the process, so I will be writing to you via the weekly Parental Update to offer you this opportunity.

As part of St Philomena's commitment to ensuring that international work is developed across the school curriculum, our school has once again been recognised in this area having received re-accreditation from the British Council securing the prestigious International School Award. The International School Award rewards schools that have shown a commitment to embedding international awareness and understanding within their school. In order to be successful, schools need to have organised seven international activities across different year groups and also need to have worked in partnership with three schools abroad. Out of the seven activities, one activity had to involve a foreign language, which was done via the Year 10 and Year 11 French PenPal projects. Other activities in the school included: the Connecting Classrooms project, the Imago Dei steering group work on inclusion and diversity, , the trip to the Commonwealth Service, the Cultural Day in July, the Monthly Cultural presentations in DailyTutor Time and the study of global artists in art lessons. The country involved with the Connecting Classrooms project was Pakistan. We partnered with another Daughters of the Cross charism school in Karachi, called St Joseph’s Convent School. Students have enjoyed these activities immensely and have really enjoyed learning about other cultures.

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Catholic Life

Born to Love As humans we seem to believe more in what we can feel and touch. For that reason, God comes for us to see Him and feel Him in the person of Christ Jesus, our Lord, to have faith in Him, but even with that we struggle at times. God extends a hand of help out of His immense love, but sometimes our circumstance makes us reject God’s love because of pride and confusion. God’s love however, does not reject us. He gives humankind a sign to come among us so we can have a relationship with Him; a relationship that will lead to salvation and eternal life. What shall be the sign? “The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Immanuel, that is, God with us.” Isaiah 7:14. God’s revelation in Christ Jesus, shows that He made us so that He could love us, and that in giving our love to Him in return we experience more and more of His love.

Love is therefore at the core of our Christian faith; love is at the heart of our being human; love is our drive and our destiny. We were created to love and be loved in return. We love because God first loved us. Our love should not be just for our friends and family, but should extend to the poor, the marginalised, the sick and those who suffer for one reason or another. As we prepare to celebrate God’s love and the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ, may we open the door to our hearts for Him to enter in and dwell with us throughout our earthly lives, looking forward to His second coming at the end of time with hope, love, joy and peace, the very virtues Jesus emulates and wants us to model.. May the Lord bless us this Christmas and always. Amen. Happy Christmas to you and your families.

Relics of St Bernadette Tour

On Wednesday 19th October, St Philomena’s Form Prayer representatives from across all year groups attended the Relics of St Bernadette tour. The relics have been touring the United Kingdom to remind us of St Bernadette’s vision of Our Lady and her miraculous healing powers. The tour served as a reminder of the importance of pilgrimage in our lives: journeying for spiritual reasons to find truth, purpose and direction. The day was a joyful experience where all the prayer representatives from each year group shared in the charism of Lourdes and lived out our core value of Faith. To find out more about St Bernadette please visit the diosesan website: https://rcaos.org.uk/mission/pilgrimage/lourdes-st-bernadette/

The Month of November; All Souls and Remembrance Day

The services for All Souls and Remembrance Day were a wonderful opportunity for students and staff to reflect upon those who have given service and their lives in support of their community and freedom. We celebrated All Souls with a Liturgy as unfortunately the school was on half term when this great feast day occurred. This was an opportunity to pray for all who have died and all in Purgatory, that the Lord will look mercifully on them and grant them admittance into his kingdom in the company of the Saints. Throughout the month of November, students were given the opportunity to sign the Book of Remembrance, the names were read out at every Tuesday morning Mass throughout the month of November.

Sutton Meeting of School Councils

CAFOD - Sixth Form Young Leaders

School Council members from St Philomena’s recently met with other likeminded students from Sutton schools and their council members at Carshalton Boys Sports College on the 8th December. At the meeting students had the opportunity to listen, dialogue and learn from each other. Concrete actions were put in place to support change within our school as well as looking at best practice across all the schools that attended. It was exciting to experience what other schools do and also for all present to communicate and build relationships as well as aiming to make schools more enjoyable, inclusive and encouraging for everyone. St Philomena's are hosting the next meeting on Thursday 26th January 2023 where hopefully we can implement collective change at a local level. Written by Katie Galnville Year 12 student

This academic year six of our Sixth Form students (Pictured) joined the CAFOD Young Leadership programme. The aim of the programme is to equip young people to take the lead for a better world. As part of the programme, the young leaders will attend three training days throughout the year with their school group, and lead on raising awareness, fundraising and campaigning of the work CAFOD is doing around the world. This can lead to some of the Young Leaders volunteering and joining CAFOD projects at home and abroad. We wish our new young leaders success in their active discipleship work.

CAFOD - Year 10

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

On Wednesday 8th December the Feast of the Immaculate Conception was celebrated in our Chapel by Father Stephen. This day celebrates the conception of the Virgin Mary remembering also her mother, Saint Anne. Students attended a voluntary Mass celebrated by Fr Stephen from Ss Peter and Paul, Miitcham. For this special feast day the Chapel Choir sang Marian hymns in honour. This was a special day for our community to come together to share in the blessed sacrament in the season of Advent.

Throughout Advent, Year 10 has been visited by CAFOD volunteers for a two-hour workshop on Catholic Social Teaching (CST). This workshop explored the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching and how CAFOD put these into action, embedding how these can be lived out in our lives today. We are called as Disciples of Christ to have an active faith. The workshop featured a series of discussions and interactive activities for students to understand how to put the Gospel into practice in their own lives. Students in Year 10 are now planning the delivery of sessions to Year 8 in Spring A term on the subject of Catholic Social Teaching. St Philomena’s would like to thank Mr Murray and Mr McLoughlin for their service to our school throughout this Advent period. We look forward to welcoming them back throughout Lent.

Swap shop

Foodbank Appeal

The second school Swap Shop took place in the Marie Therese Hall between the 6th & 7th December. This was an opportunity for students to swap an existing item of clothing or book for something new to them.

We would like to express our gratitude to St Mary’s Infant and Junior School, Carshalton for their Harvest donations to the Foodbank. Thank you also to Anne Morley, Rev Phil Hornsey and the Baptist Church, Carshalton Beeches, for their generous donations too. It is through these generous donations we are able to offer help to others in our community and the wider family of God. The Foodbank supports families that need help and appreciates your help. If for some reason you are unable to donate food items, we accept store vouchers too. We are reminded that when we share our resources, we are witnessing Christ. Therefore, we appeal to your generosity to give, as nothing is too small. If you need to use the food back, please do email foodback@stphils.org.uk. This service is completely confidential to Deacon Errol who oversees it.

The event was very popular with students from all year groups and staff participating by donating items and swapping. This forms part of our contribution to sustainability at St Philomena’s and is part of our ongoing work ‘caring for our common home.’ Thank you to all families for their generous contributions to the Swap Shop. The event was a huge success. Any remaining items were donated to the school food bank.

Staying Well Over the Winter Break

Top Tips & Activities and Ideas for Secondary School Students

Despite Christmas being a festive period, we know that the winter holiday break can be a challenging time for a number of young people. The colder weather, longer darker days, and unstructured time can leave many young people struggling more with poorer mental health. We have therefore put together a top tips guide on how to look after your emotional well-being over the holiday. Top Tips to Stay Well Talk to someone! It’s important that you notice how you are feeling and try to accept that the feelings you are having are likely to be normal. It’s good for you to talk about your feelings where you can, so think about who you can turn to. It could be someone in your family, a friend, or a helpline that can talk to you about how you might be feeling. We have included some helplines/websites on the final page if you find you’re struggling.

Monitor your social media usage: Social media can keep your anxiety high for many reasons. Try to limit how much you check on social media. It’s a good idea to de-clutter your social media accounts - remove or unfollow accounts that you notice make you feel worse. Talk to someone you trust about how you can do this.Keeping a routine: It will be tempting to stay up late and/or sleep in longer, but we know that this can have a negative impact on our mood. Having enough sleep can really help our mood, did you know most teenagers need 9-10 hours a night? Maintain a routine as much as you can by getting up in the morning and going to bed at the same time, think about who can support you to do this – can you make a plan with someone each morning, or ask someone at home to wake you?

Gaming (but not too much!): Lots of people enjoy gaming and it’s fine to include it in your day but it’s easy to find yourself playing too much, especially when you don’t have so much to do. This can lead to feeling disconnected from friends and family and your mood dropping. We would encourage you and your parent/carer to plan limits on this together. You can use the suggestions of activities on the link below to engage in if you are feeling bored.

Click for Activity Ideas, Websites and Telephone Support

SEND Quiet Day at Honeywood Museum: 20 and 21 December

Christmas Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF)

Family Christmas events

We have been asked to share with you a number of local holiday activities. Please click to see the details: Book some of the best Christmas activities for children in Sutton!At the Winter Wonderland Trail children can search around Whitehall Historic House and make Christmas decorations. Additionally, the Magical Christmas Trail at Honeywood Museum will get them crafting Santa Claus masks, special headbands and Christmas cards. Tickets: £2 per child for trails.

Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme The programme is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) to provide free holiday-enriching and physical activities with nutritious meals for children and young people (aged Reception to Year 11) receiving benefits-related free school meals. Sutton’s Christmas Holiday Activities programme for families receiving benefits-related free school meals is ready for booking, including provision for children with additional needs. Go to sutton.gov.uk/HAF. Also some activities that may be useful over the Christmas period! Some activities are aimed at younger children so will hopefully keep some younger siblings entertained!

Honeywood Museum in Carshalton will be open on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 December for special ‘quiet days’, for visitors with SEND and their families and carers to enjoy the museum at their own pace, free from the general public, engaging with our much-loved sensory sacks, adventure trail and the popular ‘Can You Dig It’ activity. Come for FREE in your seasonal best, book your place now.

New London Borough of Sutton (LBS) Library platform launched

Welcome to the new online LBS Library platform, the modern way to reserve your favourite books. Educators can advise students how to do extra research for an assignment/homework by searching the online platform for textbooks to pick up from a local library. Please click to view the website address: libraries.sutton.gov.uk/

Good News Recognition

Gymnastics

A message from a parent: “Two young ladies that really deserve recognition. I run for 'Wear it Pink' Raising Money for breast cancer but mainly spreading awareness of how important it is to get to know your body and pick up on early stage changes. Liliana Dubiel and Olivia Walkowska were helping out at this event and I am so proud of both of them. They raised their hands to help, as soon I asked for help and along with their mums were helping Raising Money”

Abigail competed in Palanga, Lithuania. It was the International Klaípeda Open and nine countries - Great Britain, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Latvia,Lithuania, Ukraine, Kazakhstan & Slovakia all took part. Abigail, part of a trio that came third is pictured in the middle below. Well done.

T Level Health & Science NHS Industry Work Placement St Helier & Epsom Hospital

Please read some quotes from our T Level students below: “Throughout my two-week placement I developed many new skills and knowledge, understanding of a work environment and what employers expect from their employees, especially in hospitals. I gained even more confidence when talking to many of the staff and have enjoyed an open reflection to my peers of what my days looked like, which was very helpful as I got to reflect what I did that day and what was new to me.” - Lucy “The Epilepsy Clinic was my favourite department out of all of them experienced over the two-week placement, because I learnt a lot from it and thought it was intriguing. I spent the day with the epilepsy nurse, who was quite busy as he is the only epilepsy nurse in St Helier and Epsom. I found Epilepsy very interesting and learnt a lot from the nurse as I asked questions throughout the day.” - Lara “Each day I was in a different department and they were all equally exciting and enjoyable, however, there was one which I enjoyed the most and that was the dermatology department where I met some of the most engaging nurses and doctors. The thing that I have enjoyed the most was getting to know the different types of skin conditions and having the opportunity to see them through a dermascope, it was really fascinating to see.” - Raffaella

British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) Digital Day

All winning entries were submitted to the National Competition and we wait to discover how we have performed against the thousands of other schools taking part in the day. Our visitors from AND Digital were so impressed by our Year 9 and felt genuinely inspired by their work ethic, intelligence and ability to think outside the box. They spent so long singing their praises that they missed their train back to London! Mauricio Rodrigues - Product Analyst: ''It was great fun. The students were really engaged and seemed genuinely inspired, which makes it all the more rewarding.'' Holly Sephton - Product Analyst: ''Loved it! I think some of those kids could do our jobs with their eyes closed. So talented."

On the 9th November, 50 Year 9 Students took part in the annual BIMA Digital Day. The British Interactive Media Association is a collection of 350 technology companies working towards inspiring and motivating the next generation into a career in technology and filling the UK’s current skills gap. Five employees of a large London based technology company called ‘AND Digital’ came into school to work with Year 9. Focussing on problem solving and research skills ‘AND Digital’ worked through a series of exercises with the students. The students ultimately had to solve a technology problem set for them by either Primark and or the Post Office. In groups the students had to create a detailed solution to the problem and then formally present their idea to AND Digital and the rest of Year 9. All the presentations were excellent and ‘AND Digital’ found it very difficult to choose a winner for each category.

The competition was particularly fierce between the groups solving Primark’s problem and in the end two groups could not be separated. Congratulations go to the following two teams: 1. The Cardinals whose team members include: Emilia Nowak, Lavinia Sala, Natasha Rodrigues, Mia Ramen, Sophia Ysabelle Tabuzo, Thy Do 2. Team PriGreen whose members were; Stephanie Anton Selvarasa, Fiona Elezi, Christabel Agyemang, Sophia Pant, Leona Kumarathas, Liesl Juarez. The winners in the Post Office category were 1. Team Rice consisting of Beatriz Ribeiro Salgueiro, Ciara Lamb, Eunice Koomson, Reese Ventura. Well done to you all

Cross Country

On Thursday 13th October, 23 St Philomena’s students from Year 7-12 took part in the Borough Cross-Country and it was an unusually sunny day for a cross-country event! It was marvellous to see all of them supporting each other and creating a fantastic team spirit and we had some excellent performances. In the Year 7 race, Grace Sone stormed home 1st way ahead of the rest of the runners. In the Year 8/9 race, Darcey-Mae Booth came 2nd, Mary Raki came 5th, Eleanor Thompson 7th and Faustina Raki 10th. In the Year 10/11 race, Jessica Booth came 2nd In the Sixth form Ella Bishop came 9th. All of these students will represent the Borough in the Surrey cross-country in January 2023. The above results meant the Year 8/9 team won and the Year 10/11 team came 3rd with the whole team finishing 3rd overall. Huge congratulations to all who took part!

Sent into bat first, Olivia Gieryk started the innings in perfect fashion, hitting the first ball for 6 runs! Chiemerie Okechukwu was the star of the show with the bat for St Philomena’s. Chiemerie reached the retirement score of 15 runs before coming in at the end (as the last batter left) boosting her score up to 18 not out before the team were all out. Old Palace put on an impressive bowling performance to limit St Philomenas to 51 runs all out off 6.3 overs. It was now St Philomena's turn to see what they could do with the ball in hand. The Old Palace innings got off to a reasonable start - Dara Ukhunu and Yocabel Dawit bowled really well. The game was then turned on its head when Captain Zeta Lobo came into the attack. Zeta dismissed two batters 'caught behind' (credits to the excellent wicket-keeping of Emmanuella Onwuka who took three very good catches in the match). The game came down to the last over - Old Palace needed one run and St Philomenas needed two wickets to win, respectively. Old Palace went on to win with the 3 balls remaining - a very close game indeed! Old Palace selected Chiemerie as player of the match - congratulations! A massive congratulations and well done to all of the students who played. For many of them, they only started playing cricket in the last few weeks, so it was excellent to see how quickly they got used to the rules of the game. We will continue with training on Monday and Thursday at lunch-time as we look to organside more fixtures in the future with the aim of winning!

Cricket

St Philomena's played their first ever cricket match on Thursday 24th November - an indoor fixture against Old Palace hosted at St Philomena's. The fixture was the first round of the U15 Surrey Indoor Cricket Competition. The team for this inaugural match was: Zeta Lobo (Captain) Year 10 Alphonsamary Kurikose Year 9 Chiemerie Okechukwu Year 9 Dara Ukhun Year 9 Emmanuella Onwuka Year 9 Yocabel Dawit Year 8 Chloe Caccam Year 8 Olivia Gieryk Year 7

STEM - Microsoft Trip

Students went to the Microsoft Experience Centre where they were welcomed with croissants, smoothies and other edible items. It is part of the Just Giving Microsoft Strategy to give back to the community. Students learnt about ‘Womanism’ and ‘feminism’and how they are different. They looked at women who inspired them and why they are such an inspiration and some of the struggles faced by women. The students had discussions with women who had created their own businesses, worked with Microsoft or developed a company during lockdown. The students designed an App to help women. Whilst working hard on the App they were given sweets and chocolates to stimulate their creativity. The groups presented their ideas to Microsoft. The organisers were so very impressed with the students' ideas that they invited us back to develop the App. Students left with a tote bag full of goodies from Microsoft.

Careers in Hospitality

Miss Cottam and Mrs Love took twenty Year 10 GCSE Food students to the Royal Leonardo Hotel at Tower Bridge to take part in a Careers in Hospitality day. They listened to keynote speakers, had a tour of the hotel, a delicious lunch, as well as participating in a variety of workshops to showcase different roles. The students had challenges within each workshop and prizes were awarded at the end of the day to those students with the highest scores - St Philomena’s students won four out of the five challenges; Mocktail making winner - Beatriz De Almeida Ferreira Salad making winner - Ellen Toye Fruit and vegetables quiz winner - Faizah Anan Bed making winner - Chrisyl Sarfo The students really enjoyed the trip, a few comments below: ‘I liked the talk at the beginning as they told us about how they got into the field. I am also now considering an apprenticeship’ Ellen Toye Year 10 ‘The aspect I found most valuable was the fact that we took part in a wide range of activities and we weren't limited to one sector of hospitality. The activity I most enjoyed was mocktail making.’ Mia Newton Year 10

Springboard Futurechef Competition

School Food Champion

All our Year 10 GCSE Food students took part in the class heats of the competition. Our school heat consisted of five class winner’s b who all cooked two portions of a meal in an hour and did brilliantly.

The students have been developing their ideas for change within the school and have started with a salad project. They’re carrying out research and have come up with some salad ideas for the Dining Hall.

Marlea Joseph and Ellen Toye were our school winners and went onto the local heat at Hammersmith and Fulham College with Mrs Chinhenzva. They competed against students from other schools and both Marlea Joseph and Ellen Toye, came in top place so now progressed to the regional heats. We are very proud of their accomplishments so far and both get a Chef Mentor to help them prepare for the next round.

Drama Performance to St Mary’s Infant and Junior Schools, Carshalton

Year 7- A Global Christmas Concert

Tuesday 29th November, Year 7 students worked extremely hard in preparation for their very own Year 7 Christmas Concert to mark the start of the Advent season. They composed Christmas poems, wrote International prayers and Christmas reflections in the creative writing club. The Marie Therese Hall was packed with family and friends who all enjoyed the Concert and participated in the congregational singing.

On Wednesday 30th November, Thursday 1st & Friday 2nd December the Drama Studio welcomed students from St Mary’s Infant and Junior Schools to watch the Year 10 Drama GCSE students perform. These pieces were created by the students themselves and are an invaluable experience as preparation for their GCSE Devised Component 2. Despite initial nerves, the students gave outstanding performances and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. The audience seemed to enjoy it too with lots of excellent feedback and participation. Congratulations to all the performers.

Gala Concert Thursday 17th November

The 2022 Gala Concert was a huge success resulting in the event being sold out. There were wonderful performances from various musical ensembles and a wide variety of musical repertoire. Performances were given by the Junior Choir, Chapel Choir, Gospel Choir, Musical Theatre group, Pop Choir , School Band, Junior and Senior Drummers, String Ensemble, Year 7 Ukulele class and Year 7 Violin class as well as performances from our very talented soloists. We congratulate all performers and the audience especially enjoyed the performances by the Staff Choir. The evening showcased the true musical talent of our students and a great evening was had by all.

Music Results Congratulations to student Amelia Raopse who passed her ABRSM Grade 8 Piano Examination with Merit.

Gala Concert Thursday 17th November

Politics & Inequality Conference

On Tuesday 8th of November, Year 12 Politics students attended a Conference at Ursuline High School, Wimbledon where we met students from many different schools such as City of London Academy, Wimbledon College, Rutlish and more. The theme was on ‘Politics and Inequality’. There were discussions ranging from inequality we see domestically to worldwide inequality. As well as guest speakers talking on three different perspectives - global inequality and immigration, locally (the situation the UK is in currently) and historically (the legacy of historical injustice). There were four main speakers - Rabia Nasimi, talking on her experience as a child refugee from Afghanistan and how it impacted her work now campaigning for human rights and better outcomes for refugees. Eleanor Shearer, shared her studies in the area of reparations for historical injustice. Dr Kristan Niemietz, IEA's Head of Political Economy addressing his ideas on the housing crisis. With the final speaker being Siobhain McDonagh MP from the Labour Party. We extremely enjoyed listening to the speakers as they widened our views on different types of inequality and we progressed our learning about how the government can affect local and global issues. As well as networking with other students sharing different views and controversial opinions. Written by Year 12 student Germaine Paragas

The 2022 Gala Concert was a huge success resulting in the event being sold out. There were wonderful performances from various musical ensembles and a wide variety of musical repertoire. Performances were given by the Junior Choir, Chapel Choir, Gospel Choir, Musical Theatre group, Pop Choir , School Band, Junior and Senior Drummers, String Ensemble, Year 7 Ukulele class and Year 7 Violin class as well as performances from our very talented soloists. We congratulate all performers and the audience especially enjoyed the performances by the Staff Choir. The evening showcased the true musical talent of our students and a great evening was had by all.

PsychologyBethlem Museum Trip

Overall, we really enjoyed the trip to the Bethlem Museum of the Mind. It was really interesting to read some of the artist’s stories about their struggles with mental health and their time in Bethlem hospital, and seeing how these experiences were reflected in their artwork. One of the statues that used to be outside the Bethlem Hospital was there to designate the building as a mental hospital. This statue was called ‘Melancholy’, which was one of the things that they treated in the hospital. There was another statue called ‘Mania’, which was another form of treatment at the hospital.. Melancholy is shown to be lying on a padded floor, clothed and unharmed. However, the other statue, Mania, was naked and chained. This really shocked me, as it had not really occurred to me how horribly mentally ill patients were treated. Some of the works of art displayed in the museum were done by an same artist, who once was a patient at Bethlem Hospital. They first caught my attention, because they were done on £5 notes, which I thought was really interesting, as I had never seen art completed on money in a way that it could no longer be used. However, when I read the description of the art next to it, I found that the patient had struggled with self esteem issues in the past, and the drawings were self portraits. There was a display in the hospital of various bottles and containers used to contain the medicines to treat patients in the hospital. This was my favourite work of art in the museum. Written by Year 12 student Freya McDonald

Speed Careers

Lunchtime - Basketball Club

The Year 12 Speed Careers event forms part of a very comprehensive programme of Careers Advice, and Guidance (CAG) for our Sixth-Form students. Students rated the event very highly and we were fortunate to secure guest speakers across a range of iundustries, representing a wide range of professions. Guest Speakers Lexus UK Brand Specialist Independent Media Consultant Construction and Property Consultant Senior Consultant Engineer Train Driver Senior Development Manager Senior Scientist Paramedic London Ambulance Service Structural Engineer PlayStation Direct Operations Manager Europe People Lead Police Officer Founder and Director Solicitor Apprentice CEO and Co-Founder Newspaper Reporter

“We like our Basketball Club. It's a fun way to exercise and learn new skills. We learn to work together as a community and not only is it fun to play against your friends, but we also meet new friends from different year groups. We are planning to go again to the Women's Finals at the O2 which will be really cool!”

Most Able Update

Crisis at Christmas

We have begun our Year 8 Challenge Programme with the Most Able students taking part in a range of activities which challenge them to develop their knowledge and broaden their understanding whilst improving their skills. We are working on the theme of 'Civilisations' and considering the different ways that different subjects can understand this concept. There was an excellent session - led by Ms Guitton - on the ways that languages have developed and how they intertwine and speak to each other, followed up by an extremely engaging and challenging session on the History of Art, delivered by Mr Devenish. Further sessions are planned on the importance of Literature in developing and shaping the culture of a civilisation and the history of the Roman Civilisation. Meanwhile, Year 10 Most Able students have been working very hard on their first HPQ projects. They have been researching, developing and writing projects ranging from: ● Whether fast fashion is causing an increase in landfill ● An investigation into the effects of painting materials on the environment ● An exploration of the global environmental significance of the film industry The Most Able cohort in Year 10 are producing some amazing work!

As part of the Business BTEC Unit 4 - Managing an Event that involves students planning and organising an event of choice. All funds raised are given to a charity of choice too. The charity the students chose was ‘Crisis at Christmas’. Crisis is the UK national charity for people experiencing homelessness. The charity offers year-round education, employment, housing and well-being services from centres all around England. The money the students donated to the charity is going to be put towards gifts and hot meals for people in need. Students created a Christmas movie night that took place on Tuesday 6th of December 2022. The film of of choice for the evening was the Christmas film ‘Nativity’ All the students enjoyed themselves and were able to purchase popcorn, cupcakes, hot chocolates & crisps. They managed to raise a total of £141.61 all nine of the Business BTEC students decided to donate their initial investment also to charity.

Art

Year 12 and 13 students created temporary artworks for one of several designated locations around the school site in November. Students were challenged to make artwork using alternative materials, use higher order and creative thinking and work outside their comfort zone. Students had to consider, investigate and respond to contemporary media experience, art and culture. This activity has been successfully used as part of the Post 16 teaching curriculum. For Year 13, the installation should directly relate to their ongoing chosen Personal Study theme. One example was Lauren Nelson and Lauren Segond's creation of a clay heart on a wooden box inspired by the artist Marc Quinn. The artwork which exposes people's feelings and emotions involved the audience picking a message from the heart contained in the box. The box and heart were displayed in the Sixth Form Centre at the school. Lauren Nelson wrote that "Overall I believe our installation was successful in conveying that beauty isn't skin deep, or even if something may come across intimidating or unfamiliar, really it is something that may better you," ‘Installation Week’ also saw a large scale audio/visual piece takeover the school hall. The work was created by Sofia Alvez in Year 13 who looked at themes of childhood and memory. The audience saw a series of home videos from the students' childhood and were asked to recall their own early memories.

Tate Modern

Earlier this term forty seven Year 11 students visited Tate Modern as part of their GCSE Art course. The students were completing research for their Year 11 Coursework preparation. At the Gallery the students toured independently looking for artists and ideas that they could use for their chosen theme. The students had been completing a sketchbook of preparation drawings, research and photographs for one of the following themes: Telling Stories, Changes, Mechanical Objects, In the News or Materials. Artists that were popular on the visit were Dod Proctor, Yayoi Kusama, Lee Bull, Andre Fougeron, Gulson Karamustafa, who is a Turkish artist who explored social and political issues in Modern Turkey, and Nicole Eisenman. Julia Kuras explained “I have been significantly inspired by Gulsun Karamustafa due to her unique ability to portray such provocative political messages and meaningful stories through such subtle and beautiful images reflecting happiness and resilience rather than depression and sadness that confinement was meant to inflict on the women and girls. I would like to tell my own stories through simple everyday images; given that, Gulson gives meaning to even simple, monotone daily tasks." Alice Englefield wrote that "When thinking about Materials Jimmie Durham's work Ibex stood out, from the chair legs to the goat skull. His work screams creativity and I want to incorporate Durham's sculpture into my own work."

Key Stage 3 Art Club

The Key Stage 3 Art Club created beautiful ceramic poppies which were displayed outside the St Philomena’s Chapel for this year’s Remembrance Service. Each year we add more poppies to the installation. The School was inspired by the commemorative art installation at the Tower of London, ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’, which saw the moat filled with thousands of ceramic poppies.

Past Student News Past student Grace Cobb has survived her first term at Cambridge University. Grace has dabbled in rowing, skiing for the first time and journalism. She has had her first article published in the arts section of Varsity, the university newspaper. Please click the link to view: https://www.varsity.co.uk/arts/24720

Creative Careers Talk

20 students from Year 10 - Year 13 attended a lunch time Career talk. The guest speaker was from UCA (University of Creative Arts). The students found out and were inspired by the huge variety of Creative Careers available. The UK's creative industries contribute £115.9billion to the economy in 2019, according to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. This is a 43.6% increase since 2010 and means the sector makes up just under 6% of the economy as a whole. The students also heard about the variety of courses available such as: Architecture, Games Design, Photography, Fine Art, Fashion Textiles, Fashion Management & Marketing, Graphic Communications, Acting & Performance, Business Innovation & Management Anyone interested in Creative Careers, can do further research using the websites: Discover Creative Careers https://discovercreative.careers/#/ or Screenskills https://www.screenskills.com/ Poster designed by the Year 12 Career Ambassadors

Key Dates