ST THOMAS THE APOSTLE NEWS · 2018-11-09 · my time here, most recently Adrian St. John and Andrew Oteng-Owusu. It is always a great tragedy to think of those in our community who

1

ST THOMAS THE APOSTLE NEWS

Dear Parents and Guardians, Last week we celebrated Mass for All Saints day in accordance with the Catholic tradition. It marks the beginning of November, the month in which we remember the dead. Having been at the school for more than 20 years, I am always saddened to reflect on those boys whom have sadly passed during my time here, most recently Adrian St. John and Andrew Oteng-Owusu. It is always a great tragedy to think of those in our community who lost their lives at such a tender age. Please keep them and of course their families in your prayers

Mr C Smart Deputy Headteacher

09 November 2018 Autumn Term, Issue 4 Remembrance Day This year marks 100 years since the end of World War One. This week in assemblies, the pupils have been encouraged to consider the importance of remembrance, and also to reflect upon the huge scale of destruction and devastation that war caused. In these assemblies, I explained that when

we stop for our two minute silence as the Last Post is played, it is a near impossible task to stop and consider the lives of millions of people whose lives have been lost to war. Instead, I encouraged our pupils to remember the bravery and selflessness of Jack ‘the lad’ Harvey (left). In September 1918, Jack Harvey saved the lives of many of his company when he

stormed a German trench and single-handedly forced the surrender of 37 German soldiers. His bravery was recognised after the war and he was awarded a VC. Jack was a Peckham man. An ordinary man who went on to commit extraordinary acts of bravery, courage and sacrifice. To mark the centenary of the war this year, a plaque has been laid in Burgess Park, close to where he lived, to serve as a permanent remembrance of one man’s remarkable feats. Our Poppy Appeal will continue into next week as yet again, we hope to raise a significant amount of money for the Royal British Legion.

Mr Vaughan, Head of Year 11

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

6th Form Open Evening

22 November

Year 7 Parents’ Evening (4-6.30pm)

13 November

INSET Day

23 November

Year 8 Parents’ Evening (4-6.00pm)

04 December

Carol Service (5.30—6.30om) 17 December

Last day of term 21 December

2

It was a very busy first half term for the

6th form with lots of students getting in-volved in projects outside their subject

areas to strengthen their CVs.

NCS came in to talk to Year 12 about the opportunities they have during half term. A number of Year 12 students have signed

up to an interview skills workshop.

The Old Vic Theatre group came in to run a workshop with Year 12s on confidence, listening, body language and using their voice in interviews. The students worked really well and we saw them developing

their skills throughout the afternoon.

Year 12 students have been practicing public speaking every Friday morning to their peers. They have

researched the topic areas and presented to their forms. The quality has been really good. Adora Oluku 12 LEM Natalie Bonsu 12 LEM Use of social media Breaking down gender stereotypes

SIXTH FORM NEWS

First Half Term

Public Speaking

3

Ms C Rodin, Head of Year 13

SIXTH FORM NEWS (continued)

University Offers Update

Name Degree University

Sonia Christopher Dentistry and Biomedical Science King’s College, London Queen Mary, University of London

Kevwe Udu Medicine and Biological Sciences University of Leicester

Joshua Eyakware English and Creative Writing Royal Holloway, University of London University of East Anglia

Brunel University Samuel Odutola Economics University of Sheffield

University of Nottingham Loughborough University

Amaka Dominic-Udeagbaja

Psychology Newcastle University University of Warwick

University of Birmingham Loughborough University

Hadia Aftab Biomedical Science University of Kent University of Central Lancashire

Joseph Birarra Maths and Physics University of Edinburgh King’s College, London

Henry Ha Maths and Computer Science University of Bath

Vanessa Uyigue

History and Politics University of Leicester University of Nottingham Loughborough University

Noma Obasuyi-Eneihikhare

Biomedical Sciences Coventry University

Charles Adaah Psychology University of East Anglia University of Birmingham Loughborough University University of Nottingham

Joel Chukwuma Biomedical Science University of Bristol

Melanie Aguiar PPE Lancaster University Loughborough University

Kelsey Powell Law and Criminology Coventry University Northampton University (Unconditional)

Peace Opara Biomedical Science University of Surrey

Abimbola Ajuwon Civil Engineering University of Surrey Loughborough University University of Manchester

Jason Ferreira Economics University of Leicester

Loughborough University

Alex Mukasa Biochemistry University of York

Alex Santos Aerospace Engineering University of Leicester University of Surrey Swansea University

William Cueva Cornejo Civil Engineering Swansea University Ro Olawale Psychology Brunel University

Precious Olisaokafor History with Politics Swansea University Tyrone Koduah International Business

Urban Studies University of Sheffield

4

.

St Thomas the Apostle College Sport Extra-Curricular Timetable 2018-19

Mo

nd

ay

T

ue

sd

ay

W

ed

ne

sd

ay

T

hu

rsd

ay

F

rid

ay

B

efo

re S

ch

oo

l 7

.30-8

.20

am

Bas

ke

tball

Ac

ad

em

y

Mr

Ab

ele

da

Sp

ort

s H

all

F

itn

es

s C

lub

Ye

ars

9, 1

0, 1

1,

12

& 1

3

Mr

Yo

un

g

Gym

B

as

ke

tba

ll

Ye

ars

9, 1

0 &

11

Mr

Kli

be

r S

po

rts H

all

B

as

ke

tball

Ac

ad

em

y

Mr

Ab

ele

da

Gym

All

Ye

ars

T

ab

le T

en

nis

M

s P

ea

rce

Sp

ort

s H

all

Lu

nc

hti

me

12

.20

– 1

.10

pm

B

as

ke

tba

ll

Ye

ar

10

& 1

1

Mr

Ab

ele

da

&

Mr

Klib

er

Sp

ort

s H

all

Ba

sk

etb

all

Ye

ar

10

& 1

1

Mr

Ab

ele

da

&

Mr

Kli

be

r S

po

rts H

all

S

wim

min

g

All

Ye

ars

M

r T

itle

y

Po

ol

Ba

sk

etb

all

Ye

ar

8 &

9

Mr

Ab

ele

da

&

Mr

Re

yn

old

s

Sp

ort

s H

all

S

wim

min

g

All

Ye

ars

M

r T

itle

y

Po

ol

Ba

sk

etb

all

Ye

ars

8 &

9

Mr

Ab

ele

da

&

Mr

Kli

be

r S

po

rts

Ha

ll

Ba

sk

etb

all

Ye

ar

7

Mr

Ab

ele

da

&

Mr

Re

yn

old

s

Sp

ort

s H

all

S

wim

min

g

All

Ye

ars

M

r T

itle

y

Po

ol

A

fte

r S

ch

oo

l 3

.05

– 4

.30

pm

B

as

ke

tball

Ye

ars

7, 8

, 9

Mr

Ab

ele

da

Sp

ort

s H

all

F

oo

tba

ll

Ye

ars

8 &

9

Mr

Sh

od

un

ke

/ M

r R

eyn

old

s

S

wim

min

g

All

Ye

ars

M

r T

itle

y

Po

ol

B

as

ke

tball

Ac

ad

em

y

Mr

Ab

ele

da

Sp

ort

s H

all

R

ug

by

All

Ye

ars

C

oa

ch

As

tro

F

oo

tba

ll

Ye

ar

7 F

oo

tba

ll

Mr

Re

yn

old

s

3g

Bas

ke

tball

Ac

ad

em

y

3.0

0-5

.00

Mr

Ab

ele

da

Sp

ort

s H

all

B

as

ke

tball

Ye

ars

9, 1

0 &

11

3.0

0-4

.00

Mr

Ab

ele

da

Sp

ort

s H

all

F

oo

tba

ll

Ye

ars

10 &

11

Mr

Kli

be

r 3

g

F

oo

tba

ll

Six

th F

orm

M

r L

em

air

e &

Mr

O’C

on

no

r 4

.15-5

.30

M

FL

Fo

otb

all

Ye

ar

9

Mr

Le

ma

ire

& M

r F

letc

h-

er

3G

All s

tude

nts

are

wel

com

e to

att

end

club

s fo

r th

eir

resp

ecti

ve y

ear

grou

ps. T

hey

need

PE

kit

incl

udin

g tr

aine

rs, a

nd s

wim

wea

r in

clud

ing

a to

wel

for

swim

clu

bs. T

hank

you

, The

PE

Dep

artm

ent.

5

Dear Students, Ms Valentine, Mr Fletcher, Mr Reynolds and Mr Lemaire are back! Let’s all be back in the games! During their respective House Assemblies in early October, the Heads of Houses insisted on the importance of being part of a community within STAC and we put the emphasis on participation as THE key to success. The STAC students got the message and their participation in every single event has been amazing so far – perhaps the best we have ever seen over the past five years! In fact, more than half of the Year 7 cohort joined in their first STAC House Football Competition and created a real Champions League atmosphere on the astro turf. Last half-term, many competitions took place across all year groups, from the football tournaments to Mr Knight’s fantastic Debate Mate, with some great performances across the board. On Friday 8th November, our cohort of Y10 students will kick off a new round of competitions with their House Football Tournament and we are certain that there will be a great willingness to win and impress. Maybe they will even be noticed by Mr Kliber and be called up to the school team! Next week, Ms Grant has decided to give you a chance to show off your literacy skills and gain some precious points for your Houses by taking part in a Spelling Bee competition on Monday 12th. Additionally Mr Knight wants to challenge you this time on your Poetry Recital skills on Wednesday 14th.

Many more events are round the corner, such as the Maths Challenge that Mr Ramsay can’t wait to organise as the Ex-RIGBY Manager. If you are creative, Ms Evans-Minto is advising you to get your pencils ready as the Christmas Card competition will start in two weeks’ time too. It is time for you to join and enjoy some fun extra–curricular activities after school. If you want to be part of the next

Christmas reward event, your participation will definitely be taken into consideration by your respective Heads of Houses. Meanwhile, Mr Tynan and the Heads of Houses wish you the best of luck. May the battles start and may the best win. The House Team. The points are as follows: 1st Place Rigby: 400 points + 90 participation points = 490 points 2nd Place Griffith: 300 points + 100 participation points = 400 points 3rd Place Gunstone: 200 points + 110 participation points = 310 points 4th Place Jones: 100 points + 130 participation points = 230 points

House Event Update

November

20th November MFL Spelling Bee

December

4th December Christmas Card Competition

11th December (Cross Curricular) Christma Quiz

18th December House Awards

Winter Holidays

6

In October, as part of PSHE Day at STAC, we had the great pleasure of attending a STEM Careers Day at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. 150 Year 9 & 10 students took public transport, accompanied by 12 teachers to the stadium. The stadium was empty and was quite exciting for many of the boys to see on a non-match day. We were taken to the Woolwich Club, a reference to Arsenal’s original home in South London. The executive surroundings, taken over by the STEM ambassadors, allowed us to gain first hand access to professionals from many of the country’s top Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths businesses. Amongst the companies were Deloitte, ITV, Cambridge University, GSK, Vodafone, British Army, Navy and Airforce as well as many more. We were given a talk whereby a number of boys won Amazon vouchers. We now understand what is involved in a career in STEM businesses after being taken round in small groups for 10-minute talks by representatives from each business. As well as talks we got to experiment, problem solve and even use technology to shoot a live weather forecast.

The STEM trip has opened my eyes to what is involved and what I need to do to enter these careers. I loved the talks and experiments, but the problem solving and hands on work was my favourite. I would like to thank the teachers for organising the trip and taking us.

Jake Orford-Coe Year 10

During half term, students from STAC took part in an Operating Theatre Live experience. During the day they took part in different workshops in order to prepare them for a degree in Medicine at University. They dissected different parts of a pig, managing to remove the brain, eyes, heart and amputate a leg! One workshop prepared them for the External Exams and Interviews techniques which is crucial to receiving a place at medical school. The students were scrubbed up for the whole day, as a surgeon would be, and taught by Doctors. This is an experience that will hopefully inspire our students to pursue a career in medicine. Ms K Bridges, Teacher of Science

Operating Theatre Live

STEM Employability Careers Trip to the Emirates Stadium

7

27 boys were accompanied by Mr Knight and Miss Shek to this year's Debate Mate Launch event at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster. As well as enjoying London's landmarks, the boys were treated to a brief talk and entertaining show debate, chaired by the host of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Nick Robinson. After the handing out of free gifts and the impressive inspirational video, the audience was truly excited. They were then treated to a high-calibre debate as they watched a combination of school children, political activists and world champion debaters argue over the

lowering of the voting age to sixteen; STAC's boys couldn't wait to get stuck in themselves;!t The after school debate club begins on Thursday 15th November. All Year 7-10 students are welcome - please see Mr Knight or Miss Shek for more details. Mr Knight, and Miss Shek

On Wednesday 31st October, my GCSE Drama class and I went to the 'Southwark Playhouse' in Elephant and Castle to watch a play called 'The Trench', which we were to write about in our exams. The play itself was incredible. It was an interesting blend of realism and fantasy. It portrayed the horrific and unfair nature of war, but through different fantastical creatures and monsters of myths and legends alike. I thought it worked surprisingly well, and is one of the best plays I have seen so far. Needless to say, it was an extremely enjoyable evening, and gave me plenty to write about in my upcoming mock exams. Gabriel Falade, 11.2/Year 7 Prefect

Debate Mate Launch 2018-19

GCSE Drama

8

During the half term I had the opportunity to attend a Nike Creative Academy & Football Beyond Borders utility session. I went for the graphic design sessions, where we had the chance to create a poster to illus-trate the meaning of the Nike New Air Force 1s which is ‘Joining forces, Breaking boundaries and Unity. I worked with a boy from west London and we created and presented to everyone else the design and ideas behind our poster. From this opportunity I improved my design skills, I gained the opportunity to work with different people and the opportunity to apply for an internship with Nike. I was grateful for the oppor-tunity that was offered to me by school and to Mad-am Evans for her support.

Fernado Reyes Ramirez Year 11

Last weekend at the University of East London Sportsdock, Ezekiel Oyede and Joel Chigbo attended Basketball England’s new Aspire Programme. The programme is designed to give quality coaching and develop players’ skills to help them potentially represent England and Great Britain in future tournaments. Both boys did so well at the training camp that they received formal invitation letters for the next session to be held in December and have progressed in the next process of being selected for the London region team, where they will participate in the regional tournament organised by Basketball England held in the summer. Mr R Abeleda, Basketball Coach

One more week left for Year 7 and 8 Art. See your teachers for any stretch and challenge tasks that will boost your level. All books and final pieces will be collected in your last lesson. I look forward to seeing the final pieces. Christmas card competitions are coming soon, see Mrs Adegun for details.

Mrs K Adegun, Head of Art

Nike Creative Academy and Football Beyond Borders half term project

Basketball Academy

Art News

9

The amount of time boys spend on their smart phones or gaming through X-box or PlayStation continues to grow each year and this allows them to communicate with their peers and strangers twenty four hours a day seven days a week. There are lots of positive effects of this in terms of positive peer group interactions and support which is what happens with most students however the opposite can also be concern. As a school we are having to deal with many more incidents of students interacting negatively with each other outside of school in large groups through WhatsApp, Snapchat and Online gaming were they can speak to each other via headsets. What we find is that students will make comments or speak to each other online in a way that they would never do face to face and this then has a knock on effect that can lead to arguments and repercussions in school. We realise that most students interact positively with each other but we do ask that as parents / carers that you supervise their online activity. Things that can really help is to 1) Regularly check his phone and content of messages. 2) Have a conversation about what is appropriate behaviour online. 3) Check photos and videos on the phone (should not be anything he does not want

you to see). 4) Phones are handed in to you while homework is being completed and when it’s

time for bed (“I need it for an alarm” should not be an excuse. Buy a cheap alarm clock)

5) Do you know who they are messaging? 6) Have agreed time limits on screen time both with phones and gaming. 7) Computers / laptops should be used in a shared area. Not in bedrooms. 8) If you have any concerns then please contact your son’s Head of Year. 9) Use these great websites below to develop your understanding of different apps

and access the their resources, for free. https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers/resources-parents-and-carers https://www.net-aware.org.uk/networks/ Mr A Young Head of Lower School

Behaviour Online and on Social Media

10

YEAR 7 Joshua Haynes, Kodwo Bonzie & Milosz Hulak for excellent contributions during the first Classics Book Club meeting Italian: David Merenini for getting full marks in his Italian Rank exam Italian: Ismael Adedokun for his excellent start to Italian and impressive ranking results French : David Ubazue for his excellent attitude and consistent hard work in class YEAR 8 Neftali Morales for trying very hard in English Italian: Omafuvwe Udu for his consistently excellent attitude and contribution to Italian Italian: Abraham Dosso for his brilliant attitude, consistently excellent homework and great fluency French: Adedape (Dapo) Olugbodi for his excellent understanding of French and outstanding contribution in class YEAR 9 Cameron Purcell, Ezekiel Oyede, Xavier Osinibi: great results in recent English exam French: Francis Kingsley Eyoum Mila for his excellent start of the year, contribution in class and quality of homework French: Jesse Iyi for his impressive speaking skills in French Italian: Sheldon Akuffo for his outstanding revision mat and remarkable effort in doing his homework YEAR 10 Javarn Barrett-Smith for excellent progress in English Casey Okyere, Mueez Oyeneyin, Christ-Stephane Boizi, Divin Kaba: great results in recent English exam French: Taj Brand-Vieiera for his excellent writing skills and dedication to the subject Italian: Jason Brock for his consistently excellent attitude and focus in lessons French: Andrew Hassan for his impeccably presented book and wonderful extended writing pieces YEAR 11 Italian: Daniel Olupona for his hard work in lessons and out of lesson, for writing amazing extended pieces of work using a variety of tenses Italian: Oswald Addo for his huge improvement in contribution and attainment since starting Year 11 Italian: Ishmeal Conteh for his considerable progress in Italian and outstanding participation in class SIXTH FORM Nana Peasah for excellent effort in BTEC Sport Xiaoying Han for working hard in all subject areas with excellent manners Lekeshia Owusu Koduah for being an excellent role model Corrie Myrie Johnson for excellent effort in BTEC Sport Esther Olakotan for being an excellent role model

Roll of Honour

11

Hollydale Rd, Nunhead, London, SE15 2EB | www.stac.uk.com | 020 7639 0106

ST THOMAS THE APOSTLE NEWS · 2018-11-09 · my time here, most recently Adrian St. John and Andrew Oteng-Owusu. It is always a great tragedy to think of those in our community who

Documents