december2008

bags for any corre-

spondence! We wish

to get a clear pic-

ture of how we are

doing in your eyes.

Finally, thank you for

your support.

We prepare to cele-

brate God fulfilling

his promise —

Maranatha! Come

Lord Jesus!

God bless.

Phil Smith

First, may I wish

everyone connected

with the school a

Happy Christmas and

New Year. On

Thursday we cele-

brate, at Mass, the

greatest gift given to

us – God made Man.

Much has happened

since the last news-

letter—read all about

it inside these pages.

Best wishes go to

Mrs Clinton as she

begins her maternity

leave. We pray

everything goes well

and look forward to

seeing her in the

New Year. Miss

Colette Dunphy been

appointed as a

teacher of RE. She

will take up her post

in January. Mr Clive

Bryant has been

appointed as a mem-

ber of the site staff.

His post is to at-

tempt fill the gap

left by the retire-

ment of Mrs Shirley

Bruce. Following the

Mass of Blessed

Will iam Howard

there was a celebra-

tion which saw staff

past and present pay

tribute to this great

servant of the

schoo l . Th is

included former

heads Rupert Lister

and Frank Lain.

In 2009 we fully

expect a visit from

Ofsted. Everyone in

the school has a role

to play in presenting

the school in a

positive light and I

believe we can show

many areas of

improvement. We

will be surveying

students, parents

and staff early in

the next term.

Please check student

Message from the head

Blessed William Howard Catholic School

December 2008

Volume 6

December 2008

Inside this issue:

I t ’ s n o e a s y

challenge for a

school to consider

mounting any Shake-

speare play and the

b l o od curd l i n g

tragedy of Macbeth

( th e s o - ca l l ed

‘Scottish ’ play)

presents perhaps

more challenges

than most. That

said, a 70 strong

student only cast

and support ing

production team

mounted a superb

performance on

t h r e e m u r k y

November evenings

that brought a

rapturous response

from a l l who

attended.

The interpreta-

tion in the round

was original and,

in the words of

one appreciative

audience member,

drew everyone

into the action and

suspense. Excellent

performances were

given of very

difficult character

parts (with differ-

ent pupils taking

lead roles on

successive evenings)

and the costumes,

lighting, sound and

general atmosphere

added enormously to

the professional

quality of the

production.

The whole repre-

sented a tremendous

achievement for all

involved – an experi-

ence that will stay

with them through-

out their lives, long

after classroom

memories fade.

Thanks are due to all

the students who

committed many

hours of rehearsal

time in the evenings,

w e e k e n d s a n d

holiday periods to

learn demanding

lines or complex

c h o r e o g r a p h e d

stage battles.

Thanks also to

parents who sup-

ported the prepara-

tions and to staff

who worked behind

the scenes. The cast

would admit to being

particularly in-

debted to the tire-

less dramatic inspi-

ration provided by

Miss Mann, the ex-

cellent (and grue-

some) work on make

up by Mrs Potts and

the creative and illu-

minating lighting

from Abbey Ovens.

Macbeth

Page 2 December 2008

Well done. (Mrs

Trueman)

9C have been selling

craft items and have

raised £150 for

Teenage Cancer

Trust.

Fund Raising

Best of Bond

“Quantum of Sol-

ace”, with dinner

suits, tuxedos and

bond girl ball gowns

being donned.

As the group arrived

at Symphony Hall,

against the back-

drop of live jazz in

the bar area, pupils

were singled out for

praise by some of

the CBSO staff. The

concert was at-

tended by over 1800

people with our stu-

dents enjoying some

of the best seats in

the house. The per-

formance left eve-

ryone both ‘shaken

and stirred’! with an excellent compèred

journey through the

f i l m s c o r e s

(including the first

public performance

of the title song

from “Quantum of

Solace”). The huge

orchestral forces

p r o v i d e d a

memorable evening

for all who attended.

It was a real pleas-

ure to take students

to this event; they

proved, once again,

to be excellent am-

bassadors and we

now look forward to

the next concert in

Febr uar y . The

opportunity was

funded in part by

the Prince of Wales

Foundation as a col-

laborative venture -

the ‘Arts and Kids

Start Programme’ -

between the school

and the CBSO (one

of our principal arts

partners).

Over forty members

of Years 10 and 11

attended a Friday

night concert at

Symphony Hall in

Birmingham on 21st

November. The per-

formance was given

by the City of Bir-

mingham Symphony

Orchestra and fea-

tured music from

the 42 year film leg-

acy of James Bond

movies. What was so

impressive was that

everyone planned (in

secret) to attend in

dress which would

not have been out of

place at the London

p r e m i è r e o f

Page 3 Volume 6

Our PCSO, Louise

Jones, has asked

school to let parents

know that parking in

the road down to

the Shoe Shed is a

parking offence and

will result in ticket-

ing due to the road

having double yellow

lines. The Vets 4

Pets car park is

available for use

around the end of

the school day and

this company has

agreed to allow

parking for school

pick ups and drop

offs.

Parking Outside School


Christmas Dinner

Christmas dinner

will take place on

Wednesday 17 De-

cember.

Tickets will be on

sale from the

School Office and

the Dining Room

from Monday 8 until

Monday 15 Decem-

ber.

Ticket prices are :

Pupils £1.95

Free meal pupils

must also obtain a

ticket.

Please note that this

is a ticket only meal.

Lunch will begin at

1.00 p.m. and all

ticket holders will

be given priority.

Please come and

join us.

Year 7 Only The Geography

Department has

received copies of an

Ordnance Survey

map as part of the

“Free maps for Year

7 pupils” scheme.

Pupils are entitled to

take the map home

and pupils would

need to bring it back

into school for

geography mapwork

lessons. We think

this is unworkable

and we would prefer

to keep the maps in

school and they can

be used by all year

groups for many

years to come. The

maps will be cut,

laminated and used

in lesson for

assessment tests

etc. We now have an

excellent library of

maps using this

approach.

Please contact me if

you would prefer

your son/daughter to

receive their free

map.

Dr Murray

Curriculum Leader

Pupils in Year 7 have

been undertaking an

innovative skills-

based learn ing

programme this year

revolving around the

theme of childhood

through the ages,

from the turn of the

18th century (The

I n d u s t r i a l

Revolution) to the

present day. They

have been exploring,

through a partner-

ship with Stafford-

s h i r e R e co r d s

Office, documents

relating to previous

generat ions of

c h i l d r e n a n d

embarking upon a

range of practical

activities across

curriculum areas

in order to

appreciate the lot

of the child over

time. In the

course of their

studies, they

have been thinking

about children that

worked in factories

or down mines as

well as those who

were evacuated

during wartime. As

part of the course,

which runs weekly on

Wednesdays, pupils

are all taking part on

a n umber of

educational visits to

the Victoria and

Albert Museum of

Childhood in London,

the Black Country

Museum in Dudley

and Quarry Bank

Textile Mill in Styal,

Manchester. The

visits that have

taken place this

term have been

greatly enjoyed

by pupils who

have fully engaged

themselves in

what have been

called ‘journeys of

d iscovery ’ i n

order to understand

what life was like

for children in the

past. Mums and Dads

might notice as a

result of their

e x p e r i e n c e a

greater appreciation

for modern day

schooling, technol-

ogy and living

standards generally!

All have been

congratulated by

their hosts at each

venue for their

courtesy and behav-

iour and this is a

great credit to

them. As part of the

course pupils are

also pursuing a

special Arts Award

for which many of

t h e m h a v e

completed projects

this term.

Learners to Leaders Update

Page 5 Volume 6

Congratulations to

Natasha Nicholson.

On Wednesday 22

October she was

awarded a top prize

from Staffordshire

Performing Arts for

her commitment and

contribution to the

Centre during her

time as a student at

Blessed William

Howard Catholic

High School. Nata-

sha is now reading

Music at the Trinity

College of Music in

London.

On Saturday 8

November our AS

level Music students

took part in an A

level Historical

Studies Workshop

at St. Mary’s Church

in Stafford. An

interesting and

informative day

studying Baroque

Choral Music.

A Key Stage 3

workshop lead by

members of the City

o f B i rm i ngham

S y m p h o n y

Orchestra was a

very memorable

experience for our

pupils. 50 pupils

performed alongside

these world class

musicians, took part

in composition tasks,

performances and

had a backstage

tour of Symphony

Hall. Many pupils had

the opportunity to

play the magnificent

organ homed here.

Music News


Stafford and Stone School Sport Partnership

Cross country. On

18th November 5 of

our feeder primary

schools took part in

the annual Stafford

District Catholic Pri-

mary schools compe-

tition at Shugbor-

ough. Three Y10

BWH girls Teresa,

Sarah and Catherine

Hulme acted as

hares and encour-

aged pupils to per-

form to their best.

The winners were

St.Dominic’s girls

and St.Anne’s boys.

Sportshall Athletics

– on 10th November 4

of our feeder pri-

mary schools took

part in the Y5 & 6

Sportshall athletics

competition at BWH.

The athletes took

part in running races,

jumping events and

chest push all offi-

ciated by Y11 BWH

pupils – their sup-

port was invalu-

able. The competi-

tion was very close

with St.Anne’s fin-

ishing strongly to

d r a w w i t h

St.John’s as win-

ners. Both these

schools will com-

pete against other

winning schools in

Mr Richards and I, along

with some other teach-

ers from Staffordshire,

were lucky enough to

spend half term in South

Africa, visiting a

number of that country’s

schools. From the posh-

est boys’ board school,

to the most impover-

ished township school,

we were hugely im-

pressed by the polite-

ness and friendliness of

all the pupils. Their

pride in their country

was as clear as their be-

lief that education was

crucial for their future

happiness and success.

Most striking of all

though, and most

humbling, was the

fact that so many of

these young people

hugely valued their

e d u c a t i o n a n d

attended school

despite massive prob-

lems: living in homes

cobbled together

from old iron sheets

and waste wood, with no

running water and,

sometimes, no par-

ents. Many in South Af-

rica are orphans as a

result of AIDS.

We were both touched

by how little these chil-

dren had—in some

schools they didn’t even

have a pencil each to

write with, and each

scrap of paper was

treasured.

As a result we would like

to fundraise for one of

the schools we visited

and we will start doing

this in the New Year. If

anyone has any ideas or

suggestions or would be

willing to help in any way,

please contact us in

school. (Mrs Collier and

Mr Richards)

South Africa

Page 7 Volume 6

Teams have run in

Year 7, 8, 9 and 10

again this year. In

the matches which

they have been able

to play results have

been mixed. Some

teams have shown

great commitment

and regularly are

attending training

sessions.

The following match

reports give a

flavour of what has

been happening.

Year 7

On Thursday 16

October Blessed

William Howard’s

netball team, Lillie

W i l lm o th -A l l s o p

(Captain), Isabel

Clifford, Carthy

We l l s , S o p h i e

Hartland, Alice

Kelly, Lauren Jones,

C h l o e H a t t o n ,

Danielle Burns and

Katie Riley went to

Sir Graham Balfour

to compete in a

Netball Festival.

They played four

games and unsur-

prisingly won all

four. The scores

were:

SGB 0—3 BWH

Stafford Sports

College 0—3 BWH

King Edward VI 2—6

BWH

Walton Priory 3—6

BWH

All the girls played

br i l l i a n t l y a nd

definitely had fun!.

(By Lillie Willmoth-

Allsop)

Year 8

On 23 October,

while everyone else

was rushing home

after a busy half

term, the Year 8

Netball Team were

representing the

school at a Netball

F e s t i v a l a t

Penkridge Middle

School.

Deborah Ornelias,

E l l i e G a ff ne y ,

Sophie Price, Nadia

Rankin, Chloe Sant,

Danielle Roberts and

Mary Palmer all

participated. We

played three games,

all in the windy

w e a t h e r , a n d

although we did not

win, al the team

played well.

Year 9

On 22 September

2 0 0 8 B l e s s e d

William Howard Year

9 Netball Team went

to a Netball Festival

at Walton High

School. Many teams

were there, but we

won three games and

lost one game. In

the first game we

played King Edward’s

Netball Team, then

St. Dominic’s Stone,

then Stafford

Grammar School A

Squad. Lastly we

played Wolgarston.

Year 10

Today we played an

away match at St.

D o m i n i c ’ s i n

Brewood, and we won

8—3. I think this

may be one of the

best games we have

ever played; we all

worked together and

I think we are

finally starting to

gel properly as a

team. I wouldn’t

really say any player

was better than any

other today because

I really thought that

we all played well,

but if I did have to

Stafford and District Netball Festival


sent through to the

Stafford and Stone

S c h o o l S p o r t

P a r t n e r s h i p

c o m p e t i t i o n ’ s

manager and we

await results on how

well they have done.

R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s

from most of the Y8

tutor groups have

been taking in a

‘virtual’ District

i n d o o r r o w i n g

compet it ion at

lunchtime.

Results are being

6 Y10 girls are work-

ing towards their

BGA gym helper’s

award and have been

supporting lunchtime

gym club.

pick I would say

Hannah Gamston and

Amy Rook worked

very hard.

I think both our

attack and defence

were strong, but our

a t t a c k w a s

exceptionally good

as we were managing

to get the ball into

the semi circle as

well as Vicky

shooting and get the

shot in every time.

Julie Francis played

really well as goal

keeper—I think she

was the key to our

defence this game

as her backline

passes were always

well chosen.

Overall I believe the

t e a m p l a y e d

brilliantly this match

and I think the only

way we can go now is

up.

( K a te Har ve y -

Captain)

Year 10

The netball tourna-

ment was held on 17

September 2008 at

Walton High School.

There were about 10

d ifferent h igh

school sthere from

across the whole of

S t a f f o r d a n d

District. We played

a g a i n s t f o u r

different teams

that were good

c o m p e t i t i v e

friendlies. We drew

two and lost two.

Our team is made up

of seven Year 10

girls; Vicky Wills,

Hannah Gamston,

Kate Harvey, Hope

Carter, Georgina

Fitzpatrick, Morgan

Dennis and Amy

Rook. We train

every lunchtime and

are looking forward

to our after school

practices and playing

t o g e t h e r t h i s

season. We play

together as a team

well but need to

improve on varying

our passes and

s p a c i n g o u t ,

however, we have a

good defending side

a n d s t r o n g

attackers. We

would like to say

thank you to Mrs

Robinson for sup-

porting and coaching

the team.

(Hannah Gamston—

Vice Captain

Vicky Wills –Captain)

Year 8


During the first half

of this term, boys

from Year 7 to year

11 represented the

school in friendly

football fixtures.

The results were

largely positive, but

most importantly

the boys who

represented the

school were a credit

to the school.

The results were :

Games versus Staf-

ford Sports College

Y7 lost 2-3

Y11 won 4-0

Y9 won 5-2

G am e s v e r s u s

Christchurch

Y7 lost 3-2

Y8 won 3-2


Walton Priory

Y7 lost 1-0

Y8 lost 3-1


Weston Road

Y11 won 2-1


Oldfields

Y7 lost 2-0

Y8 lost 5-1

Games versus King

Edward VI

Y7 won 4-0

Y9 won 10-1

Y10 won 3-0

Y8 won 7-0

Y11 drew 2-2


Wolgarston

Y9 won 4-3

The following games

were cancelled:

Y10 v Alleynes

Y7 and Y8 v Windsor

Y10 v. Wolgarston

A big thank you to

Mr Broadbent, Mr

Millinchip and Mr

Kelly who supported

the PE department

with running teams.

Also, a special note

to the following boys

who refereed some

of the games:

Matthew Thickett,

Adam Phillips, Tom

Wr i g h t , L o u i s

B i r c h a l l , D a n

Vaughan.

Cup fixtures start in

February.

U14 v. Weston Road

lost 27-10

U-14 v. Walton won

22-20

U14 v. John Taylor

lost the cup match

U14 v. King Edwards

Lichfield lost the

cup match

U13 v. Weston Road

won 15-10

All teams played well

and I am looking

forward to more

games in February

and March.

Year 7 will start

practicing after

Christmas and will

play other schools.

U13 v. King Edwards

lost 24-5

U13 v. Rawlett

High School lost

U15 v. John Tay-

lor, Daily Mail Cup

Match, lost 10-5

U15 v. Thomas

Alleynes County

Cup, lost 24-10.

Boy’s Football Report

Rugby Fixtures

Page 10 Volume 6

Nationa l Youth

Sunday which marks

the end of the

Church’s Year and

the Feast of Christ

the King saw

s tudent s f r om

Blessed William

Howard leading the

Liturgy at St

Austin’s at the 6-00

pm Mass. The theme

for this year’s Youth

Sunday was’ Reclaim

the Future’

Students from the

J u n i o r C h o i r

accompanied by Mr

W e s t a n d

conducted by Mrs

Helliker led the

singing and also per-

formed ‘ Song of

Peace’ by Mary Don-

nelly as a Post Com-

munion Reflection.

Philomena Vaz and

Emma Kelly from

Senior Choir per-

formed a duet and

sang the Psalm:

‘Brother James Air’.

The singing was com-

plemented by the

Key Stage 3 Drama

Group under the di-

rection of Mr

Beardmore, who pre-

sented their modern

interpretation of

the Gospel.

Students made a

wonderfully vibrant

contribution to the

Liturgy and were

supported by a num-

ber of staff and

governors. Thanks to

one and all.

National Youth Sunday


Friday 24 October

saw the first joint

INSET of the Staf-

ford and Stone

Catholic Pyramid of

schools. All staff

from the

schools came

to BWH to

share a day

reflecting on

the nature of

the work we do

in serving our

young people,

their parents

and their parishes.

The feedback about

the whole day was

very positive. The

day was a real chal-

lenge in terms of or-

ganization as there

were around 180

staff involved. The

day was led by Ro-

man Doczyminskyi an

assistant head from

a school in Derby-

shire. The sessions

focused on our own

stories—

who we are

and what

motivates

us in our

work, the

call to be

educators in

a challeng-

ing world

and Catholic identity

and Mission. The

presentations were

thought provoking

and often moving.

Issues about the

changing world we

live in and our re-

sponse to it as edu-

cators in a Catholic

school were ad-

dressed in these

presentations. An

idea that I found

particularly striking

was the origin of the

word catholic—from

the Greek katha holos, meaning “gathering in the

whole”, or “all are

welcome”. A great

reminder of our role

as an agency of so-

cial cohesion.

Time was made dur-

ing the sessions for

staff from the

schools to share

their own thoughts

and experiences in

small groups.

All the staff joined

together in a lunch

in the dining room—

we only just fitted

in!

After lunch we

finished the

day with a

Mass. This was

celebrated by

our chaplain Fr

Bob Devaney.

This was an up-

lifting Mass—

even if I broke the

same guitar string

twice in one song!

Overall, a great

event that we intend

to repeat.

Catholic Inset Day

Page 12 Volume 6

3rd December: Y7 Learners to Leaders Visits to Black Country

Museum, and Quarry Bank Mill

9th December: Birmingham Royal Ballet – Nutcracker visit for

pupils in Year 8.

12th December: Junior Choir are singing carols at Maple Lodge

17th December: Christmas Concert – 7.15pm featuring the

School Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Band,

Junior Band, Senior Choir, Junior Choir and a

Guitar Ensemble. Pupils from Year 7—Year 13

have been working hard during their lunch

times preparing music to suit all tastes.

Tickets are available from Mrs Morris in the

school office : 01785 244236

18th December: Mass for Christmas

6th January: Theatre visit to RSC, Stratford to see ‘Romeo

and Juliet’

7th January: Y7 Learners to Leaders Visits to V&A Museum

of Childhood, Black Country Museum, and

Quarry Bank Mill

8th January: Presentation and Reunion Evening

17th January: Theatre Visit to Novello Theatre, London to

see ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

4th February: Y7 Learners to Leaders Visit to the ‘Lion King’

in the West End.

11th February: CBSO evening concert visit (Arts and Kids

Start Programme)

25th February: AS history conference on Elizabeth I in London

2nd March: Spring Concert, 7.15pm

15th March: Lenten choral liturgy at St Chad’s Cathedral in

Birmingham

17th March: CBSO evening concert visit (Audience for

Tomorrow Scheme)

1st & 2nd April: Dance Extravaganza performance nights :

Forthcoming Events


Lunchtime Supervisors

L u n c h t i m e

S u p e r v i s o r s

required between

the hours of 1.15—

2.15 p.m. If you

would like further

information please

do not hesitate to

contact Mrs S

M a r s h a l l ,

Headteacher’s PA.

december2008

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