| Collection of Exam Results 2011 | The college will be open from 10am on Thursday 18th for collection of A-Level and AS-Level exam results.
Next week's GCSE results will be available from 10am Thursday 25th. | |
| Sports Awards Evening - this Thursday 7-9pm | Sports Awards Evening which is on this Thursday 7-9pm. Its about celebrating sporting talent and those nominated can pick up their tickets now from the PE office. Miss Broadbent | |
| Sports Week 14th to 20th July | | |
| Enterprise Days | Year 9 and Year 10 were recently treated to the College’s annual Enterprise Days. Visitors from Bright Futures ran activity-packed days for both year groups on the subject of enterprise and the working environment. The school hall was a sight to behold: full of participation, teamwork, rollercoasters constructed from cardboard and imaginative posters for new business ideas and designs. Congratulations to all the students who engaged so fully with the workshop and experienced a different type of learning. | |
| Bath Rugby Foundation Awards Evening | Four of the thirteen Year 9 students who participated in this year’s Bath Rugby Club Business Programme were recently honoured with an invitation to attend the Bath Rugby Foundation’s Awards Evening at the Guildhall, Bath. Stephanie Pepler, Michael Farebrother, Charlotte Emery and Nathan Burrows were all nominated for the Herman Miller Award and presented with commemorative medals. Special congratulations to Michael Farebrother on winning the Award. We look forward to developing the College’s links with Bath Rugby Club and Herman Miller in the next academic year. | |
| Danny Talbot Fastest in Britain | 'DANNY Talbot’s dream start to the season shows no sign of ending as he shot to the top of the UK rankings with a sparkling performance over 200m in Geneva at the weekend, writes KEVIN FAHEY. Every time the 20-year-old sprinter from Trowbridge steps onto the track at the moment he seems to run a personal best and his trip to Switzerland was no different as he clocked a superb time of 20.54secs. With a negative wind reading of -0.8 that mark was far superior to the windy 20.6 he ran at the Loughborough International the previous weekend, a day that also saw him scorch to a PB of 10.21secs in the 100m, the fourth fastest in the UK this year. That Swiss 200m time is not only the quickest by a British athlete this season but is also inside the qualifying standard of 20.55secs for the World Championships in South Korea later this summer and is also a qualifying mark for next year’s Olympic Games. ' Wiltshire Times | |
| MMR and Measles Outbreaks | Please find attached further details regarding MMR and measles outbreaks. | |
| Geography Field Trip 13th-15th May 2011: Lulworth Cove, Dorset | This weekend the yr 10 geography students went to Lulworth Cove to study tourism. We arrived on Friday and went on a coastal walk. When we eventually got to the top we had lunch while watching marines being dropped from a helicopter as part of an exercise. Later on we had a talk from one of the rangers, Sarah, who took us for a tour of all places that are managed by the rangers of Lulworth Cove. We all got to buy souvenirs, ice-cream and chips. When we got back to the hostel we had a quick brief in the classroom and then everyone went on an evening trip to the beach and had a big game of takedown rugby (mainly the guys of the group), unfortunately Mr. Alsop didn’t join in but cheered from the sidelines. We went back to the hostel and all got a good night’s sleep... well some people did. The next day went back to Lulworth to do some data collecting and research for our controlled assessment. This involved doing traffic and people counts, collecting questionnaires from tourists and locals, interviewing businesses, studying the erosion of the footpaths and making maps of all the local shops. We all enjoyed chatting to the people in Lulworth and some people even made some new friends! We went back to the classroom, a bit sunburnt and talked through the data we had collected. Everyone had a quick bite to eat then headed down to the beach again. Mrs Ewings after watching members of her form running along the beach playing a bit of “fetch” decided that we aren’t hopeless and might actually stand some chance on sports day! Everyone got on really well and Mr Alsop and Mrs Ewings have now been updated with all of the gossip from Year 10. Sunday was sadly our last day so after what seemed like hours in the classroom all our work was done and we went to the beach. Some people got lucky in the arcade and others just enjoyed being in the sun! There was lots of ice-cream consumed! Eventually everyone piled into the minibuses and had a bit of a sing-song on the way home. The whole weekend was amazing, everyone had loads of fun and I think that is probably the most work we have ever done! Thank you to Mr Alsop, Mrs Ewings, Miss Bevan, Mrs Portlock and Mrs Hanlon for such an exciting time in Lulworth and hope you’re not too fed up with us!
Ashleigh Brennan | |
| World Premiere by past students!! | Just thought you might be interested to hear that tonight sees Danielle Jalowiecka’s recorder ensemble( I Flautisti) perform their debut recital at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, where they will be giving the World Premiere of Dominic Irving's Sound Clouds... for four improvising recorder players. (the piece includes improvising to the bounces of rubber balls...) Best wishes, Mr O'Mahony | |
| Ten Tors 2011 | Congratulations to the 35 and 45 mile teams. The 35 Mile Team went past the Finishing line SECOND out of all the 35 miler teams. A truly astonishing result. Please congratulate them whenever possible. They were a credit to the College, their Parents and themselves. The Sixth Form team ( 45 miles) too, excelled and broke all previous records coming in at a record 11.52 am! It is wonderful that they have completed the Ten Tors challenge on an all time high in what appears to be the College’s last Ten Tors in the foreseeable future. I am so proud of them all. Michael Thorp | |
| Katy Jo Close has won a place at the National Youth Theatre | Congratulations to Katy Jo Close (Year 10)who has won a place at the National Youth Theatre summer school and has been nominated for 3 awards for her theatre performances with Frome Amateur Operatic Society: Best young female performer, best newcomer and best overall performer for her part in the Spellbound production in the role of Adelaide last Summer. | |
| Sports/Activities Morning - Saturday, 7 May 2011 | This will take place from 10 am to 12 noon and all new pupils joining Year 7 at St Augustine's in September 2011 have been invited to come along. Please arrive by 9.55 am so that activities can start promply.
Pupils should wear sports kit, including trainers or plimsolls and are encouraged to bring a small bottle of water as physical activities will be included. Please ensure you bring a completed medical form on the morning if you have not already sent one to us. A medical form is available to download from this website under 'Documents' if you need another copy. | |
| Open Evening 2011 | The College will be holding its annual Open Evening when pupils from Year 5 are invited to attend with their parents to view the College and its facilities prior to making an application for admission.
This will take place on Wednesday 13 July 2011, commencing at 7 pm. The evening will conclude by 9 pm. Please come along - there is no need to register with us first. | |
| Extra-Curricular Activities - Terms 5 and 6 | Please find attached to this item the extra-curricular timetable for terms 5 and 6. Most of the activities are free of charge except for some of the sports activities. The Boys Basketball on Monday and the Girls on Wednesday is run by level 3 coach Matt Analts and will cost £3 a session. Also the Thursday Lunchtime Judo is run by Devizes BUDO club and will cost £2 per session. To simplify matters payment is now to be made directly to the coach rather than through the school. | |
| Creative Writing Day | On Friday 8th April, the English Department hosted our Year 6 Creative Writing Day for a group of pupils from our feeder primary schools. Year 12 and Year 7 students helped to run a very successful day during which some very inspiring and accomplished writing was created and presented to Mr Alsop and Mrs Kotze. Thanks and congratulations to the following students who led the day with such care and dedication : Tiffany Burnett, Victoria Farrell, Eleanor Clifton, Ysanne Cleife, Beth Fiducia-Brookes, Victoria Baker and Rebecca McCann. There are indeed some very promising teaching amongst these students. Well done to Archie Freeman, Edward Farrell, Sarah Whipp and Catherine Gurr for being such good team leaders and ambassadors for the college. | |
| Youth Parliament on the Radio | In recent months the Trowbridge Youth Parliament have been working on a Media Campaign to raise awareness of and ultimately help to fight anti-scoial behaviour. At the last meeting a BBc Wiltshire Reporter visited and interviewed the students about the campaign. Lucy Hayball,one of 3 Reps, has written a report about the meeting. The other Reps are Molly Braham and Filip Zielinski. At our last Youth Parliament meeting we discussed what we were going to do next in our media campaign. During our meeting we had a visit from Bryony who works at BBC Radio. She took a representative from each school and spoke to them about the Parliament and what we thought about our campaign. We were recorded and our answers to her questions will be aired on the radio on Thursday. During the meeting we saw our newly designed poster and we all voted that we liked it and we would go ahead with the design. A question which left us all thinking though was ‘ Where are we actually going to put our posters and are we going to be printing leaflets to hand out ? ’ The decision was that the Working Party would go away and find out quotes for all of the leaflets and posters. We then decided it may be an idea to put some in the Trowbridge buddy which would also be a good idea , . Another thing that we were going to host a launch event and Bryony said that we could have BBC Radio present at the event. Our idea was to have one day for a launch event and make our campaign noticed by being in the centre of Trowbridge and handing out leaflets and other information on our campaign. Our radio broadcast has now been sent to Newsround and BBC Points West and If we get any feedback then hopefully this will boost our campaign. By Lucy Hayball Y9 | |
| Students attended a poetry journey - 'Layers of Meaning' | Over Friday 18th and Saturday 19th of March, around 20 St.Augustine's students embarked on a poetry journey called 'Layers of Meaning'. On the Friday, we were off time table and analysed poems with deep meaning. That evening we listened to lyrics of songs and realized that there may be an obvious message on the surface, but below there is so much more to be recognized! We worked from 9am through to 9.30pm - which was a hard days work, yet, as a result of the long hours, we reaped so many rewards! On the Saturday, we went for an inspirational walk, but ended up spending half an hour in the school car park analysing a tree! We then returned from our walk with clip boards bursting with ideas and images wanting to be portrayed! That afternoon, we spend hours in deep thought, putting together our own poems! Later that afternoon, we presented to our parents (who were rather shocked at the amount of layers in each of our poems)! However, they all tried hard to take it all in! All in all, we had a very inspirational two days with an amazing poet. I know that we have all come out of the course with new methods of analysing poems, which will hopefully help us all in our GCSE's! Ellen Burholt - Year 11 A heart of disfiguration.
Bright little faces of daffodils gleam
From the tangled embrace of a suckered apple tree base
No one has cared for this tree in years
Demoralised, drained, a strangle of thorny fears The atmosphere of abandonment
Bright little faces now distraught
Pathetically patronising Forbidden fruit, cut off from reality, their
Shadows of failure,
Ashamed aggravated and abnormal
Distraught little faces twisted with fear
The storms start to rage, yet again
Their minuscule hands, try to shelter but
As they try to be protected, the burden is carried again No desires, no emotion A heart of disfiguration An un-cleansed soul.
By Anna Palarm. Thank you.
Please don’t fade,
under the savage waves.
I wish I could take away the pain,
But the stream washed away your brain. The stream babbles and bubbles
Lies that dehumanise
The crooked cool wind
Made you spin into a perfect wife. Thank you for staying strong,
Abused and controlled for so long.
How did you cope?
As the big bold banks broke,
And crushed your gentle frail head? Thank you for giving me the courage
When I think about your patient faith.
This journey is twisted with crushing hate,
And the pollution of how men demonstrate,
No love, no kindness …
But fake strength.
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| e-safety event for Y6 and Y7 parents | Parents of Y7 students and of Y6 pupils, St John’s Primary School enjoyed an informative and engaging evening with Mr Karl Hopwood of E-safety Ltd on Wednesday 23rd March. A focus in wide ranging presentation was the increasing numbers of young people likely to engage in or be victims of cyber-bullying, data which is reflected in the St. Augustine’s community. Parents were given practical tips and strategies to assist their children in recognising some of the risks associated with using the Internet. For example, he made the audience aware that the social network site, Facebook, restricts access to its own site to children over 13 as it recognises that younger children do not have the skills to manage competently the 170 security levels necessary to make the profile private and safe. Leaflets published by Childnet including the legality of downloading film and music were available to parents plus a comprehensive publication from Vodafone which contains a wealth of information for parents.
With the ever increasing pace at which ICT develops and changes the college is mindful of the need to educate and inform students, parents, staff and governors. To this end there will be similar presentations made at the college engagement evenings which run at the beginning of the academic year. | |
| Annual Big Bath Sleep Out | Congratulations to the sixth form students who took part in the annual Big Bath Sleep Out on Friday 11th March. The sponsorship money raised will help the projects at Julian House in many different ways-from providing emergency shelter at the Night Centre, providing opportunities to learn new skills, helping people move into new accommodation and preventing people from becoming homeless. Every penny really does count. Mrs Lever would like to thank all those who have given so generously and especially the students who slept out for the night. | |
| French dates for Year 10 GCSE, Mme Lafage's group | Year 10 (Mme Lafage’s group) Writing exam : 31st March 2011
Year 10 (Mme Lafage’s group) Speaking exam : 5th April 2011 | |
| Nicholas Walters - Shortlisted | | |
| St Augustine’s Young Musician Winner |  Congratulations to Alice O’Mahony (violin) who won the 20 th St
Augustine’s Young Musician of the Year Competition. Sophie Rozycka (voice) was runner up. Liam Megill was awarded the most promising performance cup
in memory of Becci Simmons. The other grand finalist was Jack Roberts on Eclectic
Guitar.
Other Finalists
Rhys Coleman (Drum Kit)
Timothy Durant (Clarinet)
Martha Drane (voice)
Luciano Williamson (Piano)
Sorcha Rudgley (Flute)
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| Morning entry into buildings | Students are reminded that all college buildings are out of bounds until first bell in the morning and so should not drop bags in form rooms. Thank you for your support with this. | |
| Break time queue | From Monday, 31 January students who wish to purchase food in the dining hall at morning break will follow the same procedure which operates at lunch time and use the music corridor. Only students who bring their own morning snack and who do not wish to purchase food will enter the dining hall from the reception doors. | |
| Progress Week | Please be aware that Progress Week commences Monday with Yr 7 and concludes on Friday with Yr 11. For full details please refer to the letter sent home last week. | |
| Prayer for the Week | Lord Jesus, 40 days after your birth you were taken to the Temple and presented by your parents to God our Father. Make us aware that we are the Temple of your Holy Spirit who lives in us.
May your light be reflected in us.
Simeon’s eyesight grew dim, but he recognised who you were. Open our eyes that we may always recognise you in our midst.
May your light be reflected in us.
Simeon prophesied that Mary would be pierced to the heart. As Mary stayed with Jesus in his suffering, we pray that we may help those who are part of our lives
May your light be reflected in us.
You said that you are the light of the world.
May your light be reflected in us. | |
| SPLASH - Free Half Term Activities for 11-16 | Go to Extended Services Section of the Website for more information. | |
| Schools Biathlon Regional Semi Final | Bath University Sunday 23rd January 2011.
Several students performed with courage and determination at the Semi Finals of the National Biathlon Competition at Bath University on Sunday, 23rd January. The students gave some stunning performances and clocked several significant personal best times. Rachel Palarm achieved the 3rd best swim of the day in the Year 9 girls age group, Thomas Letchford won the 6th best swim time in the Year 8 boys age group, Daniel Letchford finished with a super 7th best run time and a very respectable 9th position overall in the Year 10 boys age group. Emma Mortimer finished 8th overall in the Year 11 girls age group and Jordan Snedden achieved the 4th best swim time of the day in the 6th form age group. Calum Pheby, Andrew Stevenson, Alice Dixon and Emily Dixon competed well in their age groups and gave solid performances with some excellent times. The finals are at Crystal Palace in March and Colette McCambridge, who came 4th and Jack Griggs, who came 6th in Year 12 have done particularly well to qualify from our very tough region where they are up against some of the nation’s leading swimmers. Congratulations! | |
| Yr 10 Vaccinations | Yr 10 vaccination forms are to be returned by the18 January. Each form is to be signed even if the student plans not to have the DTP vaccination. Any queries about previous vaccinations can be made at GP surgeries or from the Department of Child Health on 01225 731500. | |
| Y8 Boys "Playing for Success" | 14 Year 8 boys are undergoing an intensive 6 week programme to help boost their literacy, maths and ICt skills in partnership with the Bath rugby Education Centre. The boys spent their first afternoon at the Recreation Ground on Monday 10th January. The programme is geared around life at a professional sports team and will challenge and inspire the boys to take a fresh look at how they approach their learning. In the first session the boys were given a tour of the ground armed with state of the art digital cameras and asked to take some creative pictures of the stadium. They gained an insight into all the areas that most of the public don't get to see like the changing rooms and hospitality boxes. a major aspect of the programme is the chance to meet current first team players and the boys were certainly impressed to see the current England captain on their first afternoon. They finished their first day with some competitive mathletics and left full of enthusiasm for the weeks to come. The Boys pictures are attached to this item and further information on Playing for success can be found by following this link: http://www.bathrugby.com/community/playing_for_success.php | |
| Extra-Curricular Activities Terms 3 and 4 | Please find attached the extra-curricular timetable for terms 3 and 4 and a covering letter with reply slips for those activities that require payment.
All activities commence in the week beginning 10th January.
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| Youth Parliament successfully lobbies Area Board to provide funds to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour in Trowbridge. | Well done to Molly Braham, Lucy Hayball ande Filip Zielinski on their work as part of the succesful team of hard working young people.
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| Paris Trip | Students who are currently participating in the French trip to Paris have arrived safely with no delays to their journey. | |
| Admission to Year 7 - September 2011 | If you have applied for your child to join St Augustine's in Year 7 next September and have not completed a Supplementary Information Form, please download a copy from our website or ring the Admissions Secretary on 01225 350001 as a matter of urgency. Failure to complete and return a Supplementary Form to the College before the end of this term (17 December) will mean that your child may not be placed in the highest possible category to which he/she is entitled and will therefore affect his/her position on the ranked list which is used in the allocation of places. | |
| Modern Langauages Yr10 Exam Update | Madame Lafage’s Year 10 (first year of the GCSE Course) will be doing their first exam on Monday next week. | |
| Poetry Winners | The standard of poetry for this year’s poetry competition was very high. From a shortlist of 15 poems on the theme of Home, Mr Powell picked three winners. Catherine Gurr (7F) won with her charming and topical poem ‘Home for Christmas’, Imogen Browne (7M) was runner up with her poem on the comfort offered by home; ‘Home Haven’. Sarah Whipp (7B) came third with her eerie poem on home from a very different perspective. A second strand of the competition this year was a performance aspect. Mr Portlock helped students put background music to their poems and record for the college radio station. Sarah Whipp won first prize with her atmospheric rendition of her poem for St Augustine’s Radio. Miss Cooper will record the winning poems which will be available by the end of the week. Hear all the poems recorded at: mms://www.st-augustines.wilts.sch.uk/SchoolRadio-Live. | |
| St Johns Catholic Christmas Bazaar - 20th November | St Augustine’s Catholic College Wingfield Road, Trowbridge Sat 20th November 2010 from 11am Santa’s Grotto - Gifts - Lunches –Games - Novelties Grand Draw with £500 First Prize  | |
| Anna Starosolsky - White horses and hill figures Art Competition Winner | We received some entries from your school for our White Horses and Hill Figures Art Competition in September. We judged them just before half term (as we had to wait for the Exhibition Officer staff to be in to do this). We are pleased to announce that Anna Starosolsky won the under 16s category and her picture is displayed in our recent history gallery alongside the exhibition. We will display the rest of the pictures from the beginning of December until the end of the exhibition in February. We had a lot of entries so are having to stagger the display.
We will send Anna a small prize shortly, thank you for all your entries. They were really original and some excellent artists. Ali Rushent.
www.wiltshireheritage.org.uk | |
| Daniel Letchford Takes Silver - first Briton home in Dubai | Daniel Letchford came 6th in the World Biathlon Championships in Dubai on 30 October in 35 degree heat. Daniel was the first of the British Team home in his age group who took the silver medal while the South Africans and Egyptian competitors took the individual medals. This was Daniel's first season as a biathlete and it is a fantastic achievement to have qualified for the world championships, and our congratulations go to him for doing so well and bringing home a silver medal. Biathlon is a competition where athletes compete non stop in a run-swim-run event. We are very proud of his success. Congratulations to Daniel. | |
| Timetable for next weeks mock GCSE exams | The timetable for next weeks mock exams are attached to this news item.
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| Deadline for Applications for Admission in September 2011 - 31 October 2010 | Please ensure that all applications for Year 7 entry in September 2011 are made direct to the Local Authority by their deadline of noon on 31 October 2010.
Each applicant will also need to complete a Supplementary Information Form and return it direct St Augustine's Catholic College. The form can be downloaded from the School Documents area of this website. Alternatively please contact the Admissions Secretary at the College on 01225 350001 who will send you a copy.
Thank you. | |
| Facebook Updates | | |
| GCSE English students - assessment | All GCSE English students will be taking their first controlled assessment in their three English lessons next week (week commencing 17th October) . An extra session will run for students requiring extra time on Thursday lunchtime in Mr Powell’s room (En 2). | |
| Wiltshire police have asked all schools.... | "Wiltshire police have asked all schools to promote the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme through the public display of this poster" - Please see attached. | |
| Thanks to all Year 7 parents | Thank you to all year 7 parents who completed and returned the reading survey. The survey has been commissioned by Booktrust, a leading reading charity dedicated to encouraging people to read. See this site for more information: http://www.booktrust.org.uk/About-us. The results from the nationwide survey of year 7 pupils and their parents and guardians will be collated and published in due course. | |
| Bishop Declan Lang of Clifton Diocese visited St Augustine’s Catholic College | On Friday 24th September, Bishop Declan Lang of Clifton Diocese visited St. Augustine’s Catholic College in Trowbridge to celebrate the life of the College and the dedication of staff, students and parents alike. The day started with the Bishop meeting a group of year 12 and 13 students in the sixth-form common room where the students had a rare opportunity to ask the Bishop a variety of questions for almost an hour in an informal question and answer session. After a subsequent meeting with the College governors, the Bishop then attended two assemblies for years 7-11 which focused on the College community’s experiences of the Papal visit and the positive and inspiring impact of this visit. During the assemblies testimonies were also heard from 3 students who were fortunate enough to have attended the Big Assembly at St. Mary’s College, Twickenham and from a number of students who had attended the prayer vigil at Hyde Park. A Video of one of the assemblies can be found here.
mms://www.st-augustines.wilts.sch.uk/SchoolRadio-Videos/996-BishopDeclanVisit.wmv The Bishop then addressed the children before meeting with staff at lunch-time. Finally, before leaving the College to return to Bristol, the Bishop took the chance to visit and participate in a Religious Education lesson and a History lesson much to the delight of the children. | |
| Freetime Activities List | Please find attached the list of activity providers. All the providers on the list have met Wiltshire regulations in terms of Safeguarding and CRB checks. | |
| Resources from recent Parent Consultation Evenings | The slides from the recent parents consultation evenings are now available in the document store. | |
| HPV Vaccination - Yr 8 Girls | The forms for the HPV vaccination programme this year have been given to all Year 8 girls. These must be signed and returned to school no later than Mon 13.09.10 even if a student will not be receiving the vaccination. Somerset students may have received a form from their health care trust; it is perfectly acceptable to use these forms.
The dates for vaccination in St Augustine’s are: 07.10.10; 17.11.10; 10.05.11. For further information go to: www.immunisation.nhs.uk or http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hpv-vaccination/pages/introduction.aspx | |
| All pupils return to St Augustine's on Friday 3rd September | Please note:
All pupils return to St Augustine's on Friday 3rd September (The 1st and 2nd are Teacher Development Days) | |
| GCSE Examination Results | 
We are delighted to report that this year’s GCSE results are outstanding, concluding another highly successful year for the College who received notification on the last day of term that the college has been rated outstanding by OfSTED for the fourth time.
The students have surpassed their externally set challenging targets achieving 84% 5A*-C (77% including English and Maths) with over 30% of these grades at A*/A and 98% of all students achieving 5A*-G grades.
St Augustine’s extends its congratulations to all its Year 11 students whose positive contribution over the five years has enriched the school community leaving a lasting legacy and setting high standards for future cohorts to aspire to. We are particularly proud of these results as they reflect young people achieving their personal bests with many surpassing targets set.
The results are a product of a community working tirelessly together, a community of students, parents, teachers and associate staff whose support and relentless pursuit of excellence have produced such richly deserved results.
Mr Andy Bazen
Deputy Head | |
| Advanced Level Examination Results | 
I am delighted to report that the Advanced level examination results remain excellent with 12% of grades at the new A* standard, 66% of grades at A*-B grades and 88% at A*-C grades. This year 18 students, our highest number to date, achieved straight grade A*/A in all their subjects. The students and staff should be justly proud of these wonderful set of results and I can only express my gratitude for the endless hard work and dedication that the students and staff have put into the courses over the past two years and the support that the students have received from home during this time. I wish every student success for their immediate future as they continue their education at an institute of Higher education, commence employment or begin their gap year.
Mr Alsop, Head Teacher.
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| Olympics Day | On Friday 16th July St. Augustine's celebrated the second annual Olympics Day involving all year 7 students and supporting staff across the school. The aim of the day was to capture the spirit, endeavour and challenges of being independent, resilient, resourceful, reciprocal and reflective learners in accordance with the three Olympic values: Friendship, excellence and respect.
All year 7 form groups assumed the identity of potential host cities for the games. Bids were submitted from Brisbane (Australia), Guadalajara (Mexico), Hiroshima (Japan), Istanbul (Turkey) and Rabat (Morocco). The bids involved a variety of tasks and challenges throughout the day including speech writing, banner displays, dance, cookery and research. These challenges culminated in a final presentation where a selected judging panel also featuring guests from last year's winning city of Doha deliberated and reached the final verdict on the 2010 winning Olympic City!
Congratulations must go to eventual form winners 7F, representing Hiroshima, although each form group embodied a true sense of Olympic unity, delivering imaginative, thoughtful and inspiring presentations. A very enjoyable day was had by all and thanks must go to Mrs. Kotze, Mr. Thatcher, Mrs. Large, Mr. Proud, Mrs. Spooner, Mrs. Pitcher, Mrs. Hawke, Mrs. Dixon, Year 8, Year 10 and Year 12 students and all the maintenance / support staff for their hard work and support in making it an exciting and rewarding day! | |
| Library News | We had our annual Borrowers’ Bash today (Tuesday 20 July). To be invited, a student had to have borrowed 20 books during this academic year. Over 80 students were eligible to be invited which is an outstanding achievement. We had a wonderful time, eating, drinking and listening to music - the only day of the year this is allowed in the Library! Top staff borrowers this year were Mr Nowlan, Miss Bailey and Mrs Gale. Well done to all the students. Top student borrowers this year won a book voucher. | |
| New Facebook app - 'ClickCEOP' | As you may have seen in the press this morning, Facebook and the CEOP Centre have joined forces to make young people safer online by launching the new ‘ClickCEOP’ application. Launching today, all young users of Facebook – and their parents – are invited to add the new ClickCEOP ‘app’ to their profile. Through this app, they will be able to access advice, help and support from the CEOP Centre. Crucially, young people will be able to report instances of suspected grooming or inappropriate sexual behaviour directly from their profile to specially trained investigators. The ‘app’ is the outcome of collaboration between CEOP and Facebook who have combined Facebook’s expertise in connecting and communicating online with CEOP’s expertise in helping young people stay safe. Once added to their profiles, young users will receive regular messages from CEOP and its partner organisations who operate ‘behind the button’ to make children safer. CEOP’s new Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ClickCEOP) will also contain polls, news alerts and status updates. The page will look at topics that teenagers care about, such as celebrities, music and exams and will link these subjects to questions about online safety. Users can either add or bookmark the ‘app’ so it appears on their profile, as not only a constant source of help and reassurance for them but also as a strong visual signal to their friends, family and others that they are in control online. The move is also being supported by an advertising campaign on Facebook that will encourage take up. This will include an automatic advert appearing on every profile of users aged between 13-18 years inviting them to add the app. Jim Gamble, Chief Executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre said: “Today represents a huge step forward. By adding this app, Facebook users will have direct access to all the services that sit behind our ClickCEOP button and this should provide reassurance for the many parents whose teenage children use Facebook. “We know from speaking to offenders that a visible deterrent could protect young people online. We urge all Facebook users not only to add the app, but also to bookmark it so that others can see that they’re in control online. Our dialogue with Facebook about adopting the ClickCEOP button is well documented – this is a good day for child protection.” Joanna Shields, Facebook’s Vice President for EMEA said: “Nothing is more important than the safety of our users, which is why we have invested so much in making Facebook one of the safest places on the internet. There is no single silver bullet to making the internet safer but by joining forces with CEOP, we have developed a comprehensive solution which marries our expertise in technology with CEOP’s expertise in online safety. Together we have developed a new way of helping young people stays safe online and backed this with an awareness campaign to publicise it to young users. It is only through the constant and concerted effort of the industry, police, parents and young people themselves that we can all keep safe online – whether on Facebook or elsewhere.” ClickCEOP in Facebook… If you would like to support CEOP and Facebook’s initiative, please feel free to use any of the following updates for your Facebook or Twitter accounts or website. 1. Facebook status update (Your organisation /fan group) ...is / are supporting the ClickCEOP app on Facebook – if you are interested in keeping young people safe online, add the app 2. Twitter update If you work with young people, help them stay safe in #Facebook and get them to add the new #ClickCEOP app from www.facebook.com/ClickCEOP 3. Web site content Every young person on Facebook needs the ClickCEOP app – this is why If you work with teenagers, then you’ll know most of them will be using Facebook. You might even be using it yourself... if so, you will want to know about a new, free application in Facebook that is designed to keep young people safe while they are having fun networking online. ClickCEOP is a new ‘app’ launched today (Monday 12 July) which links the young user directly from their Facebook profile to help, advice and reporting facilities of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre – the police agency set up to tackle child abuse. By adding the app, young people and parents can get support from CEOP on a range of issues – viruses, hacking, dealing with bullying online and they can report someone who is acting inappropriately towards them online. If you have a Facebook profile, app and bookmark the app. If children in your care are on Facebook, get them to search ‘ClickCEOP’ in Facebook and give them to chance to be one click away from help – if they should ever need it. www.facebook.com/clickceop Kind Regards, CEOP | |
| Annual Sports Award Evening - TUESDAY, 13 JULY 2010 | The PE department are hosting our annual Sports Award Evening on the 13th of July. We are celebrating our sportsmen and women by looking at their achievements over the past year, enjoying an evening of dance, judo, music and much much more. If you would like to attend this evening please contact Sharon Sharp for tickets.
Time: 7-9pm
Where: St. Augustine's Main Hall
Date: 13th of July 2010 | |
| Yr 10 Kintbury retreat 28th June -1st July 2010 | This year 10 retreat in Kintbury was really enriching. Students explored a variety of themes including Awareness, Reconciliation and good news. Plenty of time was given to small groups were students investigated further these themes. They had time to play and socialise with each other and an opportunity to celebrate the Eucharist. The students were really ambassadors of the college. The feedback from Kintbury is that of praise to students for their participation, care of one another and timekeeping. Well done year 10 for making this retreat a memorable experience.
Mr Mayemba | |
| Year 9 Trowbridge Library visit | Twelve Year 9 students were invited to take part in a Trowbridge Town Library "Approval Collection" book buy exercise for teenagers. The students visited the Library where they studied an approval collection. Using the cover, blurb and first page as a guide the students advised the Community Librarian Peter Waterman on which books would most likely be chosen by them and the reasons for their choice. The books recommended by our students will be purchased by WCC and will be available shortly at: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/libraries. | |
| Area Athletics | I am delighted to be able to report a very successful Area Athletics Championships at Bath University coming 3rd overall. Since it was our turn to organise and run the event a massive congratulations and thanks to the sixth form, PE staff, Mr Portlock and Mr Witherow( for their invaluable help in scoring and “twittering”) and most notably to Roger Gordon for masterminding a slick and professional event. Thanks and congratulations also to the students in the team and those who didn’t quite make it, they were, as always, fantastic and true ambassadors for the college. There were a great many brilliant individual performances and a real team ethos in the way the students supported and encouraged one another. The relay teams were particularly outstanding winning 4 out of 8 races. The following won their events
Year 7 |
Year 8 |
Year 9 |
Year 10/11 |
Girls 4 x 100m relay team Jess Jennings Freya Caldwell Bella Bryan Emily Gray |
James Vecchio – 1500m Alice Dixon – 1500m |
Devante Charles – 100m Boys 4x100m Relay team Devante Charles Joe Clare Ed Bull Dan Letchford Emily Dixon – Long Jump and 100m Caitlin Barber – Javelin Y9 Girls 4x 100m Relay Emily Dixon Hannah Louth Victoria Duhig Kiri Hudson |
Girls - 4 x 100m Emma Mortimer Grace Hinton Martha Whting Tilly Cornwell Emma Mortimer - 300m Beth Whipp – Triple Jump Pippi Clark - Javelin | Overall Results - As you can see from the results – Y9 are the top Athletics year winning both boys and girls events in their year Y7 Boys 6th Girls 2nd Y8 Boys 4th Girls 3rd Y9 Boys 1st Girls 1st Y10/11 Boys 5th Girls 2nd Overall - Boys 4th Girls 2nd Overall team result – 3rd | |
| Daniel Joel - Doodle for Google - International Voting now open | | |
| Well Done Jessie Foster | Jessie Foster Year 7 did very well at the ASA South West Regional Swimming Championships at Millfield these last two weekends gaining personal best times in all her events. She received two Silver medals, three Bronze medals and came third overall in the 12 Year old girls British Age Group Categories. She has trained very hard to achieve these fantastic results and we are very proud of her success. We look forward to hearing more news of Jessie at the National Championships for which she has qualified in July. Well done to Jessie! | |
| Chris Baker performs well for Wiltshire U15 Cricket Team | Congratulations to Chris Baker of Y10 who took 3 wickets for 33 runs in his first game for Wiltshire this season against Oxfordshire last Sunday. | |
| Emily Dixon - Wiltshire Pentathlon Champion | Congratulations to Emily Dixon in Yr 9 who won the U15 County Pentathlon title at Marlborough College on May 28th. She also received the Girls Outstanding Performance Trophy for amassing a staggering 2933 points from the five disciplines of Hurdles, Shot, High Jump, Long Jump and 800m. A brilliant achievement and one which reflects Emily's hard work and dedication. | |
| Doodle 4 Google - your vote needed | | |
| Haiti Appeal | It seems such a long time ago, but the College made a donation of funds, raised by the students, parents and staff, to the Haiti Emergency appeal. The amount raised was £2,366.62 and we have received a letter of thanks from the director of CAFOD, who was amazed by the response: he also described how this money was used specifically in the disaster zone.
Blankets, basic first aid kits, water bladders, purification tablets and drawing materials for children’s’ activities. Other details of the work carried out in partnership with other aid agencies include; the provision of tents, food, water bottles, temporary shelter kits for families (4700), family tents (1,340), kitchen kits (5,700), school tents (38) and medical tents. Within the last few weeks this group have managed to re-open the Catholic Vincent de Salle hospital as well as 20 local health centres in Port-au-Prince. “On behalf of CAFOD, our partners and all those in Haiti, thank you so much for your generous support at this critical time.” Regards
Mrs Helen Hicks | |
| Sports Awards Competition | The annual Sports Awards evening is taking place on the 13th of July 2010. This year we would like the awards to be more like the Sports Personality of year awards and involve the school population in voting for the winners. The criteria for deciding on the recipients of the awards is based upon the three core values of the Olympic Movement, Excellence, Friendship and Respect. For more information on the application of those values follow the link http://www.lloydstsblondon2012.co.uk/TheOlympicValues.aspx .
We would like to invite all tutees (year 7-11) to design an invitation for the evening. A prize will be awarded to the winner of the competition and the design will be printed and used.
Your design should encompass and endorse the three core values of the Olympic Movement.
All entries should come to Mrs. Kotze no later than the 20th of June. | |
| The feast of St. Augustine | Today we celebrated the feast of St. Augustine by distributing lollies to all the students and staff. 
St Augustine of Canterbury (6th Century)Feast Day - 27 May
Augustine led a small party of some 30 monks from Rome in 596 to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons in England. At first, stories of the ferocious Anglo-Saxons made him return to Rome, but he eventually returned and landed in Kent, ruled by King Ethelbert, a pagan married to a Christian. Ethelbert received them kindly, providing a residence for them in Canterbury and eventually being baptised on Pentecost Sunday 597. Augustine constructed a Church and monastery on the site of the present Canterbury Cathedral. Pope Gregory the Great tasked Augustine with purifying rather than destroying pagan temples and customs; to let pagan rites and festivals be taken over into Christian feasts and retain local customs as far as possible. Augustine died seven years after he arrived in England but his achievements eventually came to realisation with the conversion of England. He can truly be called the "Apostle of England" | |
| Junior Engineers for Britain - WINNERS | The St. John’s primary school team won the Wessex Heat of the Junior Engineers for Britain – K’NEX Challenge 2010 here on Saturday. Because we are now the biggest event in Wessex the St. John’s team now go forward to the National Final in June. This is the ninth year we have held this event for primary schools but we couldn’t do it without the help of colleagues beforehand and on the day - spending Saturday in the dining hall when the beach was a much more attractive option. I am very grateful to everyone – opening up the College – supervising children – making refreshments – judging etc etc The K’Nex challenge is held to encourage science, engineering and technology and in selecting a winning team I am particularly grateful to Frank Geraghty our local Science & Engineering Organiser(SEAS) for Wessex Setpoint. The St. John’s team produced an outstanding result but the judging was a very complex task and the results close so I am pleased to have had Frank’s help. Roger Henderson - Head of Technology | |
| Mr Wall to leave St Augustine's | Dear Parents,
I am writing to inform you that, following a successful interview, I will be leaving at the end of August 2010 to take up an appointment as Headmaster of a large Catholic Comprehensive School in another part of the country.
Mr Joe Alsop (Associate Head) will be the Acting Headmaster until my successor is appointed.
Yours sincerely
Mr Wall
| |
| Year 12 Return Date | Please note that the students return date after AS examinations is Monday, 21 June; not 14 June as previously advised. | |
| William Slark selected for Dorset and Wilts U12's | Congratulations to William Slark on his selection to the Dorset and Wilts U12 Rugby Squad. William made it through a tough final selection process involving 130 boys into a final squad of 30. | |
| Student Council Elections | Newly appointed Deputy Head Boy, Philip Duhig and Deputy Head Girl, Eleanor Panes are to lead elections for the Student Council to take office in September. Students in Years 7 – 10 will have the opportunity to vote for two representatives – one male, one female - for their given Year Group. Voting will take place on 13th May. Mirroring the General Election, candidates will write manifestos and take their campaigns to their voting public. The manifestos will be available on Merlin for public scrutiny. Students joining Year 7 and Year 12 in September will hold their own elections early in the new academic year. Participation in this election supports the delivery of the Citizenship programmes within the College. It gives all students within Year Groups 7 – 10 the opportunity to participate in a democratic process and thereby gain an increased awareness and understanding of this process. | |
| Encyclopaedia Britannica Online now avail | The college has subscribed to an online version of Encyclopaedia Britannica. This means that reliable, trustworthy information is now available at the click of a button from home or school.
Access is available with a Merlin login and the link can be found in the Library homepage or by using the term 'encyclopaedia' in the online catalogue Searchstar. Features of the online version include information graded for A level, secondary and primary students, biographies, maps, integrated dictionary, an online workspace in which to save information, links to related websites, online journals and citation information for bibliographies. | |
| Student Attendance | If any student is unable to return due to the cancellation of flights because of the volcanic eruption, please let the College know. All students should endeavour to complete work which can be accessed via the VLE, Learn Premium and BBC Bitesize. | |
| Lenten Fund Raising Challenge for CAFOD | The students involved in the Lenten Fund raising challenge for CAFOD thank all students, their families and staff for the generous donations received so far. They ask that any further unwanted items of clothing, belts, shoes (in pairs), bedding, curtains and soft toys be brought into College by 9am on Monday 29th March ready to be collected by bag4sport. This social enterprise organisation will pay the students 40p per kilo for the donated items which will be forwarded in full to CAFOD. | |
| Congratulations Jessie Foster - Year 7 student | Jessie had a successful weekend to finish off the Wiltshire County Champs - she swam 12 new PBs and won gold medals in all 14 events she enterered. Overall, she set 12 new Age Group Best Times for Wiltshire and was awarded the top 11 year old girl in the BAGCATS competition. | |
| Young Leaders Conference CAFOD OXFORD | The following students went to Blackfriars one of the oldest of the 45 colleges in Oxford, prayed in the chapel Tolkien served regularly in, and then attended the conference with workshops in St John’s College opposite.
Working with CAFOD(The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development) they were to develop their leadership skills in initiating ,leading and sustaining projects.
They were excellent in taking initiative with timing and organisation and worked independently to select a project and create a strategy to achieve it.
I hope each of you will support them in their project by showing an interest and offering constructive help.
Lucy Bannister and Ben Hudson presented their idea to the conference and we were given an El Salvadorian cross in memory of Archbishop Romero whose anniversary occurs this year. A quiet gentle, great academic, who found the moral courage when his friend was murdered, to stand up to the political authorities he had formerly supported, and to plead the case for the poor. An inspiring day enhanced by the motivated students below, Katie Chisnall
Emily Fitzgerald
Lucy Bannister
Hannah Perrett
Katie Oughtibridge
Faye Vanstone
Megan Harris
Ellie Jones
Leah Newton
Benjamen Hudson
Eska Gatland
Juliet Fulcher My thanks to Mr M Thorp who generously gave of his time to drive us there, and support the students.
Mrs K Hudson | |
| Manga Artist Visit to St Augustine's Catholic College | Sonia Leong, an internationally renowned manga artist visited St Augustine’s Catholic College on Friday 19th March. Sonia has more than seventy publications to her credit and was recently invited to Athens at the Children's Literature Festival as a guest of the British Council. Sonia spoke to students about manga as a genre and about her work. She enthralled students with a talk on manga and followed that with three workshops on various aspects of her art: on the translation of words into images and the power of images; on how to draw manga, layout a storyboard and how to use typeface to add impact to the story and lastly, on her award winning translation of Romeo and Juliet into the genre.
Manga is a Japanese word that means "comics" or "cartoons". There are examples of manga drawings in Japan dating from 800 years ago. The style has become very popular in the west in the last ten years and sales of manga books have increased enormously. Librarian Mrs. Hawke said that, “Students of all abilities enjoy reading manga novels and the novels are often a way to encourage disenchanted readers to start reading again. Our students enjoyed the day very much and we hope it will inspire them to read more, to produce their own stories and artwork.” | |
| Big Bath Sleep Out for Julian House | I am feeling immensely proud this morning [Saturday] of 9 of our Year 12 students who completed the Big Bath Sleep Out last night despite the very adverse weather conditions. Without doubt this is a hugely challenging event-last year temperatures plummeted to below -4 and last night the rain reduced the grass to mud-reminiscent of Glastonbury! Despite this the students were in very high spirits when I went to see them just before 'quiet time' and even sang a song for me!! I cannot praise them highly enough. They got through the night huddled together on plastic sheeting and experienced for themselves the discomfort of sleeping out. Unlike the homeless people they are supporting they appreciate that they have homes and a loving family to return to. If you feel able to sponsor any of them individually or would like to sponsor the group I will leave an envelope in my p/h. These students brought a great deal of credit to the college. The Julian House staff who were on duty including Cecil and Cathy were so impressed that they had turned out on a night which was so inclement, to support such a worthy cause. The students who took part are:
Gerry Clifton
Georgie Richardson
Liam Cleary
William Barker
Cornelius Clarke
Lucy Coyer
Henry Bristow
Lily England
Laura Butcher Please praise them if you teach them.
Mrs Y Lever | |
| National Schools Biathlon Results | Please congratulate the five students who competed for the college at the British National Schools Biathlon Championships at Crystal Palace today. They swam and ran with determination and came out with excellent results:
Carl Greenan, Oliver Clark and Jordan Snedden in the Sixth form Boys Team took 2nd Place. Carl won the Best Swim of the day with a PB and tool 13th place overall, which was an amazing feat given that he had been under the weather this week. Oliver Clark came a very respectable 15th. Colette Mc Cambridge came 13th overall in the Year 11 Girls competiton and Emily Dixon came 15th overall in the Year 9 girls competition. Given that this is the best of British, we should be very proud of these youngsters.
Many thanks also to their parents who were a tremendous support.
It was a really super day at Crystal Palace where the original 1948 Olympic torch was lit and being passed around. Quite something! | |
| The Head is pleased to announce.... | The Head is pleased to announce that
• Mr. Bazen has been appointed to the Deputy Head post at Bishop Challoner School, Basingstoke, from September 2010.
• Ms. Porter is having a baby and will be on maternity leave from September 2010.
• Mrs. Braham will be the acting Head of 6th form from September 2010 with Mrs. Lever as Assistant Head of 6th form. | |
| Pope Benedict to visit UK in September | Pope Benedict XVI has confirmed he is visiting the United Kingdom from September 16th to 19th. Click here for a video from Archbishop Nichols on the Pope's UK visit. | |
| Dan Freedman's visit | Dan Freedman's visit was very interesting and informative. He sent a complimentary email to Mrs. Hawke after his visit to say: "It's a lovely school. I found the students to be full of respect and very keen to learn."
He came to St Augustine's to talk about his life and the Jamie Johnson series of books. The books follow Jamie through the dramas of his life, the excitement of his football matches and growing success as a player.
Dan spoke to Year 7, signed books after the talk and then had a snack with the winners of the Premier League Reading Challenge and four Year 8 students who are involved in another reading challenge at present.
Dan worked for the FA and travelled to two World Cups with the England football team. Dan wanted to be a footballer when he was young but when it became apparent that his talent was not good enough to allow him to turn professional he set himself the goal of becoming a sports journalist. Dan spoke about how he reached his goal, got a job with the FA, travelled to two World Cups with the England Football team. He showed some footage of interviews he has done with England's top footballers. This was a fascinating behind the scenes look at the players.
Then he spoke about writing the Jamie Johnson books. It took three years for the first book to be published but his fourth will be published in July and he was selected to write a special short book to celebrate World Book Day. He left us with the idea that if you have a goal, are determined and work hard you can achieve your dreams.
| |
| Lenten Fund Raising for CAFOD | A group of students in Years 10 and 11 is fund raising for CAFOD as a Lenten challenge.
The students have invited Bag4sport (www.bag4sport) to work with them and the St Augustine's community in collecting unwanted items such as clothing, bedding, curtains and soft toys (no bric-a-brac, please!). Bag4sport will pay 40p per kilo collected which will be donated to CAFOD. Items will be collected via tutor groups until Friday 26th March.
The students have been looking at the recycling opportunities in the College and actively recycle card, plastic and tins. They have recognised that they – and their families - are less pro-active in recycling unwanted clothing or soft furnishings. They have identified that this would be an appropriate undertaking during this Lenten period. We hope that you will donate your unwanted items to help this most worthy cause. | |
| Update: 11th March - Year 9 Theatre Group visit - | On Thursday 11th March during periods 1 and 2, the Artyfacts Theatre company will be performing a dramatised version of Of Mice and Men, the novel that all students will be studying after the Functional Skills tests in May. After the performance, the actors will discuss the roles of the characters in the play and answer questions. Please see Mr Powell for further details. | |
| Edward Bull makes it to the Nationals | Congratulations to Year 9 student Edward Bull who has been selected to run for Wiltshire in the National Schools Cross Country Championships in Manchester on 20th March. | |
| World Book Day 4th March | 4th March is World Book Day activities are taking place in the Library all week to celebrate the joy and advantages of reading. Author visits: two authors will visit school during the next two weeks. Dan Freedman, author of the Jamie Johnson series of books, will visit school on Mon 8th March to speak to year 7 pupils. Sonia Leong, internationally renowned Manga artist will visit on Fri 19th March and will speak to year 9s and do workshops with yr 8, yr9 and yr 13 groups throughout the day. Vouchers: Students will also get their £1 vouchers to be used on any book purchased by 28th March. Book Quiz: For year 7s, a table quiz on Thurs with questions about books/books into films and book characters. This is always great fun and hugely enjoyed by all. Only 15 teams can take part, so book early. Guess who’s coming to dinner: a quiz based in the Library, guess the characters from the table settings. | |
| Summer GCSE Timetable | All Year 11 students should have been be issued with their personal GCSE timetables before the half term break.
It is important these are checked by students, parents and carers for accuracy.
Steven Corbett - Exams Officer | |
| Headteacher chosen for key school support role |
The Headteacher and staff of St.
Augustine’s Catholic College have been selected for a top role supporting
schools.
Brendan Wall has become one of
only 75 headteachers in the country to be appointed by the National College for
Schools and Children’s Services to the prestigious role of National Leader of
Education [NLE]. It also means the School is now designated a National Support
School [NSS].
To mark the occasion, Mr. Wall
has been invited to an event at the National College’s centre in Nottingham
next month for a formal induction and training for the role he will play in
raising standards.
Brendan Wall said ‘ I am honoured
and delighted for the staff of the College to be recognised for the consistent
high standards in the past 10 years for the young people in Wiltshire. Part of
our mission is to share with others and I am confident that we will learn a
great deal as a result of working in partnership with other colleagues.’
Toby Salt, Deputy Chief Executive
of the National College, said: ‘I am proud that outstanding leaders like
Brendan Wall are being honoured in this way. This scheme is about great
headteachers and their teams helping others and making a difference.’
| |
| E-Safety Event - 28th January - John of Gaunt | | |
| Internet Safety Event - 28th January - John of Gaunt School | The Trowbridge Area School Collaborative (TASC) have been working togteher for some time now to provide learning opportunities for students aged 3-19 in the Trowbridge area. Recently,students have participated in the creation of a Youth Parliament for the local area, visiting the local council chambers to talke part in a live debate and visiting the Houses of Parliament to meet MPs and to learn about the democratic process.
A second part of the the collaboration between schools has seen the building of the Extended services to schools hub - this building is situated on the edge of the John of Gaunt school site and is a service that will offer a range of drop-in opportunities for parents and students from ALL the Trowbridge Schools. More detials of the services will be publicised soon but we wish to draw your attention to an e-safety event being hosted at John of Gaunt School on the 28th January. It will focus on how to keep your children safe on the internet and will address other areas related to e-safety - a concern, we are sure that you share. If you would like to attend the information evening, please contact the school to register your interest, emailing admin@st-augustines.wilts.sch.uk
St Augustine's will at a later date host its own e-safety evening but if you wish to learn more now, this would be a good opportunity to make use of this new initiative of schools working together in partnership for the benfit of all young people in the local area Mr A Bazen
Acting Deputy Head | |
| Jazz Evening Tickets Reminder | If you would like tickets please collect a letter from Mrs Medland
by Tuesday 26th January. You can apply for tickets from 2pm on Wednesday 27th
January by handing in the completed slip from the letter and money to Mrs Sharp
on reception.
Friday 5th February 7pm-11pm in the Main Hall
Tickets £5
| |
| School Closure - letter to parents from Mr Wall | Dear Parents The College is closed today (Wednesday 13, January 2010 due to the adverse weather conditions. The intention was to remain open, however the buses which service the College informed us that they were unable to travel this morning and my own short journey to school by car was dangerous at 6.30 am. A later start to the day was considered but we decided that in the interests of staff and students it was safer to close. My apologies for this continued disruptive start to the term and the late notice today. Text messages and the website notice were sent as soon as possible to inform parents and staff. We remain open for examinations today. Yours sincerely Brendan J Wall
Headmaster | |
| College is closed, Wednesday 13th January 2010, due to the adverse weather conditions | Dear Parents,
The College is closed today [Wednesday 13th January 2010] due to the adverse weather conditions. The intention was to remain open. However the buses which service the College informed us that they were unable to travel this morning and my own short journey to school by car was dangerous at 6.30am. A later start to the day was considered but we decided that in the interests of staff and students it was safer to close. My apologies for this continued disruptive start to the term and the late notice today. Text messages and the website notice were sent as soon as possible to inform parents and staff. We remain open for examinations today. Yours sincerely, Brendan J. Wall
Headmaster | |
| College open - Monday, 11 January 2010 | The College will be open as normal, for all students, on Monday, 11 January 2010 | |
| UPDATE: Exams on Monday, Contingency Plan | NEWS UPDATE : CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR EXAMS IN CASE OF ADVERSE WEATHER 6th Form AS and A Level notes for candidates and parents • Even if the School is closed for normal lessons, exams will still proceed for those students that are able to travel in safely. Students should not attempt to come in for exams if it would be dangerous for them to do so. Morning examinations start at 09.00 and afternoon examinations start at 13.00. I would suggest that, if possible, those who may find difficulty getting into the College for their examination should arrange to stay with someone in Trowbridge on the previous evening to enable them to walk to the College. • Please give the Exams Officer, Mr. Corbett, advance warning if you will not travel in for an exam by sending an email to this address:scc@st-augustines.wilts.sch.uk. Alternatively, please phone the main switchboard (01225-350001). You will need to do this for each exam that you are unable to attend since the attendance record is completed daily. • If a student misses an exam owing to any adverse weather conditions, he/she will be able to re-enter for that exam in the Summer 2010 examination series and this will be counted as a re sit and the normal fees apply. • The rules regarding arrival times still apply despite any travel delays due to the weather : if a
student arrives after 10:00 am for a morning exam or after 14:00 pm for an afternoon exam his/her paper is unlikely to be accepted by the exam board. In the meantime we can hope for improvements in the weather although current Met. Office forecasts suggest more snow in parts of our area on Sunday.
Brendan J. Wall
Headmaster
| |
| Breakdown/Late Coaches/Bad Weather | Some difficulties on certain routes occurred at the end of last term. In order to help you, the following procedures have been put in place. If the bus is late, your child should wait at the bus stop for no more than 30 minutes after the stated departure time. For those travelling on a Wiltshire Council contracted bus, contact 01225 713365. Students travelling on St Augustine Enterprises Ltd coaches should contact the College on 01225 350001 with the following information: • Students name
• Which stop they are at and which route – e.g. Market Place, D3
• A contact number of one of the students at the stop – so information can be passed back to the students
• Or contact number of the person making the call In most circumstances, for example if a coach has broken down, a replacement coach will be sent out to recover the route delaying the pick up times considerably and your patience during these situations will therefore be appreciated. Arrangements should be discussed between you and your child regarding your personal procedures in these events, as to how long they should wait before returning home or to a safe place. The college must then be informed of your decision on the day if they do not attend the College. We strongly advise students to wear sensible clothing particularly protective shoes and outer coats therefore being prepared for the current weather conditions. Yours sincerely Brendan J Wall
St Augustines Enterprises Ltd | |
| Examination students on Monday 11th January 2010 | Some 6th form students have modular examinations on Monday 11th January 2010. Regardless of the weather conditions, the College will be open for you to take your examination. It is your responsibility to attend the examination and should you be unable to attend, your opportunity to take the examination will be forfeit and another opportunity occur in the summer term. The Examination Boards have informed us that they will not re-arrange the date of the examinations. My advice to those who live some distance from the College would be to reside on Sunday evening with someone who lives in the close Trowbridge area if possible. Thank you to parents for their support at this difficult time of adverse weather conditions. It is always our intention to remain open but the criteria of balancing the need for education against health and safety issues for travel by staff and students, staff availability, the weather forecast impacting on homeward journeys, and supporting the local economy in a school with a 25 mile radius of students is always going to be a difficult decision.
Brendan J. Wall Headmaster | |
| The College will be open on Friday 8th January 2010 | Dear Parents, I hope that you were able to be contacted by website/text service/Heart radio/phone on Wednesday 6th January 2010 and were able to make arrangements due to our early decision to close the College on Thursday 7th January 2010 which was spent clearing the site and making it suitable for students. Friday 8th January 2010 The College will be open on Friday 8th January 2010 commencing at 8.50am. School transport will operate as normal. Students are asked to place their bags in their form room/common room and proceed to the Sports Hall for a whole school assembly at 8.50am. Following that assembly, students will return to their form room for registration. Lessons will commence for lesson 1. It is expected that students will return home by their normal mode of transport at the end of a usual school day [i.e. 3.30pm]. Weather forecasts suggest more snow on Sunday/Monday. We intend to be open on Monday 11th January 2010 but should there be a need for closure, the website/Heart radio/text service will operate.
Examination students on Monday 11th January 2010 Some 6th form students have modular examinations on Monday 11th January 2010. Regardless of the weather conditions, the College will be open for you to take your examination. It is your responsibility to attend the examination and should you be unable to attend, your opportunity to take the examination will be forfeit and another opportunity occur in the summer term. The Examination Boards have informed us that they will not re-arrange the date of the examinations. My advice to those who live some distance from the College would be to reside on Sunday evening with someone who lives in the close Trowbridge area if possible. Thank you to parents for their support at this difficult time of adverse weather conditions. It is always our intention to remain open but the criteria of balancing the need for education against health and safety issues for travel by staff and students, staff availability, the weather forecast impacting on homeward journeys, and supporting the local economy in a school with a 25 mile radius of students is always going to be a difficult decision.
Brendan J. Wall Headmaster | |
| School Closure - Thursday 7th | Due to the prevailing weather and forecast of freezing conditions overnight, the College has considered the Health and Safety aspects of the site; the staff and student journeys to school and has taken the decision to close the College tomorrow (Thursday, 7 January 2010). This means that the Yr 13 Parents Evening has been postponed.
It is intended that the College will be open on Friday but please check the website for any updates – for those who have provided a mobile number a text will also be sent out. We apologise for any disruption this may cause but feel the safety of staff and student is paramount.
Please note that students can make use of the College’s VLE, Learn Premium and complete any outstanding work. | |