General News

As part of 'National Apprenticeship Week' we were invited to take part in an activities based morning down at Babcock with current apprentices.  The 3 Year 11 lads who were lucky enough to attend took part in a competition, the first of what they hope to be an annual event.  St Boniface were runners-up in a close call for the winning cup.   Connor, Liam and Callum were interviewed by Plymouth MP Alison Seabeck who is a champion for apprenticeships across the city.  She came along with the group to visit North Yard where Babcock are in the middle of a nine year contract, manufacturing RNLI life boats to the highest specification.  The group had a presentation by the project manager and a tour of the facility containing no less than the aptly named 'Diamond Jubilee' life boat that will sail the Thames as part of the Queen's celebrations later this year.  This was a great opportunity for our students to find out more about what it is like to be an Engineering apprentice and work in an Engineering environment.  The closing date for applications for Babcock apprenticeships is in 2 weeks.  Goodluck to all those applying!

SARAH LEE

Congratulations to Mr McKenna - who has been recognised for Achievement in Work Based Learning.

The event was organised by all of the Training Providers Network in the Plymouth area, it is also a yearly event.  Mr McKenna's family accompanied him to the event after being picked up by limousine and taken to the Sherwell Centre, on North Hill.  When they arrived and greeted with drinks before being taken to the Auditorium, where they were greeted by the Dean of Plymouth University and other business leaders.

Each person nominated, who were chosen by their Trainer Provider, then had to go through a selection process.  A panel of judges then had to decide who was to win on merit, effort and determination.

Mr McKenna was chosen by Achievement Training as the winner in his category, in acknowledging his Achievement in Work-Based Learning.

His second award was for the overall winner in the Non-Apprenticeship Learner category, this also included a cheque for £100 as well.   Mr McKenna has now been put forward to the regional awards in London.

PAUL SCOTT

11V student James Modica-Cliff is celebrating after being awarded a £10 voucher from Plymouth City Council.  His vote for the Plymouth Youth Parliament, which saw Year 9's Jacob Bishop becoming a Deputy Youth Member of Parliament, was chosen from the thousands entered.

Well done James!  Enjoy your prize!

STEVE TEW

Students are studing methods used by sociologists to investigate society.  Part of the exam paper focuses on method in context, a tricky idea to get your head round.  It was decided by Mrs Faragher (since Miss forgot her sombrero!) that they could make a robot, or hats and sociologist name badges, the idea being that once you put the robot head on you are empathising, being the sociologist, when presented with the idea of say investigating truancy in school you could look at it from the researchers point of view.  The robots also had key terms and concepts to help jog the robots memory.   The students were very enthusiastic and creative, instead of just doing a robot head they decided to do the whole thing!

CLARE FARAGHER

Students in Year 10 have been putting together a play called 'Next Stop High School'.   A boy called Sam is played by three actors,  moving from primary school to secondary school.  The story focuses on his hopes and fears ahead of the next stage of his life.  The Drama is abstract, based around physical theatre with some scenes of naturalistic acting.

The piece has been devised by the Year 10 GCSE Drama group of 18 pupils, all taking various roles.

PATRICK TRIMMER

Sixth Former Chris Sowden is very excited to have received a conditional offer from Oxford University to study Biochemistry in September.  The offer is an open offer that is being underwritten by Brasenose College and is conditional upon me achieving AAA in my current A2 subjects, of Biology, Chemistry and Geography.  Chris attended the interview in December for three days and found it extremely testing the way the interviews made him apply his knowledge to completely new situations was most challenging.  He had two interviews at 2 different colleges, the second college being the one that made him the offer of a place.

"I have to say I thought the first interview was a lot tougher than the second interview; which was a more relaxed environment and I feel this enabled me to perform better.  Upon receiving the letter on December 19 I was nervous but also excited about the prospect of receiving an offer.  I could scarcely believe I had been offered a place when I opened the letter.  I am extremely excited about the prospect of studying at one of the world’s leading academic institutions and hope I can secure my place by achieving my grades in the summer.”

Head of Sixth - Steve Tew - said he is "very proud of Chris' achievement.  He is a hard-working, committed student, who set his goal on getting a place at Oxford - and worked hard to achieve it.  Well done Chris!"

PAUL SCOTT

The class breakdown at present is as follows:

11A - course completed 100% A*-A

11D - Unit 1, 3 complete - starting Unit 6 (Starbucks Spreadsheet)

11L - Unit 1, 3 complete - starting Unit 6 (Starbucks Spreadsheet)

11O - course completed 100% A*-C

11P - Unit 1, 3 complete - starting Unit 6 (Starbucks Spreadsheet)

11T - Unit 1 complete - starting Unit 22 (Creating Sounds)

The department are confident that 100% of their students entered for the course will reach or exceed their predicted targets.  Teacher of ICT Mrs Boaden said "the boys worked so hard to produce their coursework, and learn a great deal along the way - in programs such as Fireworks and Excel.  Well done lads!"

PAUL SCOTT

On Wednesday February 8th, our Sixth Form students took part in a business-themed day aimed at driving enterprise - it is similar to the 'Apprentice' show on TV, except one group will be 'Hired'.

50 students undertook two challenges set by Bailey Partnership and Foot Anstey.  Students worked in groups of 5.

The day ended with four students having been identified as the winners who will now go forward to the City-Wide Final on 28th and 29th June 2012 

Schedule of the Day

08.20 - TEBP and business guests arrive to set up in classrooms
08.50 - Introduction by Jackie Savage
09.00 - Challenge No 1 - Group 1 Foot Anstey / Group 2 Bailey Partnership
10.50 - Break
11.15 - Challenge No 2 – Group 2 Foot Anstey / Group 1 Bailey Partnership
13.15 - Close of challenge No 2
13.35 -  Lunch
14.25 - Announcement of winners
14.30 - National Apprenticeship Week Presentation by Plymouth City Council

Thanks to Foot Anstey's Victoria McIntosh, Nicola Weller, Kate Elliot and Bethan Phillips; Bailey Partnership's Stephen Jones, Elena Dyer; and Tamar EBP's Jackie Savage and Nicky Puckey.

CARL REDFERN

Have a post-Christmas clear out with a pitch or just come along and browse!

The Parents, Teachers and Friends Association (PTFA) will be hosting a 'car boot sale' at the College on Saturday February 25th from 9am - 2pm.

Funds raised from the event will go towards school projects for our students - so a worthy cause.

JOIN THE EVENT ON FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/events/343709585651598/

If you would like to take part - email stbonifacesPTFA@gmail.com for more information!

Download flyer PDF (156KB)

Learning about volcanoes is a lot more fun if you can eat your home learning task afterwards!  Miss Beales' creative project saw boys in 9D baking a volcano cake at home with their parents' supervision.

James Eccles cake had toffee lava and a chocolate covering, whilst Ben Dobson's had red liquorice laces flowing out of it!

Two of the cakes were interactive... one using liquid nitrogen from the science department to give it a smoky effect, the other with a built-in firework - an explosive effort by Sam Ord-Houghton!

Head of Geography Miss Blackshaw was so impressed with the work that she brought her Year 13 A-Level class in to see the results.

Miss Beales said she was "delighted" with the work her students had put into this project - and looks forward to more exciting home learning projects in the coming months!

Ben Gibbons said "I wish all our homeworks were this fun.  It was interesting and made me remember a lot of information about how volcanoes are formed... although real ones have less egg and flour!"

The cakes were sold off in slices to raise money for CAFOD.

If you would like to have a go and bake a volcano - see Miss Beales for more details, or email kbeales@stbonifaces.com

Learn more about volcanoes here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcano

PAUL SCOTT

Miss Brown has been developing Science, Technology, Enginerring & Maths (STEM) projects with a group of students in KS3.

STEM club is an activities based club to give an insight into the world of STEM.  The activities aim to incorporate the four subjects with in an innovative way.

Since the start of STEM club we have made hydrogen rockets, bath bombs, scientific slime... and in the coming weeks we are going to create tea bag rockets with Mr Smart and we have applied for a grant to do a joint project with the University of Plymouth working with Lego Mindstorms robots!  Fingers crossed we get it!

By taking part in STEM club we have had loads of fun doing activities we would otherwise never take part in and made new friends at the same time.

There are a core group of students that regularly attend the club but we would like to see some new faces and mix it up a bit!

STEM club is open to years 7, 8 and 9, come along for a taster, you might like it and stay.

For more information about STEM Club - see Miss Brown or email jbrown@stbonifaces.com 

BEN GIBBONS & CONNOR BARCLAY

The new extension to the Technology, Engineering and Design building has begun - and Head of TED Mrs Lee is very excited about the new ditch outside her window!

With an official opening date expected in September, the new build will have a catering focus and allow students in all year groups to learn about healthy eating (and probably some cake too!), nutrition and planning diets.  Boys will learn how to cook a range of meals, which will include cooking for visitors to the College!  The school could be creating the next generation of Ramseys and Fearnley-Whittingstalls!

The single-storey extension will be open plan with worktops and cooking appliances.  Storage rooms will also be provided.

"This is such a wonderful opportunity for the College, and the boys are very excited - some more than me!  My department are already planning some wonderful lessons, and the GCSE and A-Level Photography students are working on some artwork for the corridors" said Mrs Lee.

Sodexo catering manager Tony Wade, who was a chef in the Royal Navy before leading his fantastic team at Bonnies, commented "I'm so excited for the school to have a catering block.  The boys have always shown a keen interest in catering, and we've had students across the year groups working in our kitchen over the years.  I hope this will inspire them to consider careers in catering."

PAUL SCOTT

Year 7 Math students have been working on a theme park project and had a pretend £500000 to design their own version of "Luna Park".  They needed to work out the daily running costs, the costs of facilities, rides, layout, staffing etc.  The boys also had to decide on an entry price for their park and work out their profit after one month of opening the park.  The have worked on their projects for one week and have also had to do a presentation of their findings to the class. The class have been marking each others presentations too!

VICTORIA TAYLOR

We're so pleased that Year 9 student Jacob Bishop was elected Deputy Member of Youth Parliament in last week's poll.  According to our favourite local paper The Herald, "record numbers" of children voted in schools across the City.

Officials say more than 3200 young people cast their votes when Emily Carter and Claudia Marshall were announced as the Members of Youth Parliament (MYP).

Deputy, Jake Bishop, is a 13-year-old student from St Boniface's, and he is joined by 13-year-old Zac Doncaster, a student at Marine Academy Plymouth .

Head of Year 9 - Mr Redfern commented "Jacob is a wonderful ambassador for the College and for the youth of Plymouth.  He has some excellent ideas, and hopefully has a promising career in the world of politics!"

Jacob's campaign promises includes - more activities for children in Plymouth, lower bus fares before 9am and more opportunities in the job market.

Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Councillor Sam Leaves, said: "This year's UKYP elections were more successful than ever, with over 3,000 young people casting a vote for their chosen representative.

"It gives me great hope that our young people have faith in our democratic system and are willing to get involved from an early age."

PAUL SCOTT

Two of our sixth form students have been successful in securing a summer placement as counsellors at Camp Echo in New York.  Sam James (19) and Hanna Cunningham (18) have been selected to work there for two months this summer as Camp Counsellors.

Camp Echo is located in Burlingham (two hours out of New York City) and its diverse staff comprises counsellors from over 20 countries – including the United Kingdom.

Sam will be a cabin counsellor, and will live with and guide a cabin of 10-12 campers in a certain age group.  The cabin will become a family unit where lifelong friendships form.  “It is such a privilege to be selected as a counsellor – I’m concentrating on my A-Levels over the coming months, and looking forward to moving to the USA for two months in the summer.” said Sam.  During activity periods, Sam will travel with his campers to different activities and assist the activity counsellors with group dynamics and skills demonstration.  It is hoped that by providing encouragement to the children in his care, Sam will lead them to accomplish things they never thought they could.

Whilst Hanna, who is currently a Lifeguard at Plymouth Pavilions, will be an activity counsellor – which means she will have the same role as Sam, but during activity periods, she will teach skills specific to lifeguarding.  In a typical day, Hanna will provide constant positive feedback and guide to the children in her cabin to strive for excellence in everything they do.

Hanna says she is “really excited to spend my summer making a difference to children’s’ lives.  I want to apply my lifesaving skills and train others in the same way.  It will be such an amazing experience for us both!“

The pair will be provided with top-notch perks including a very competitive salary, comfortable accommodations, an extensive training program, and delicious all-you-can-eat meals.  There are also many activities open for staff; a staff lounge complete with vending machines, kitchenette, phones, personal lockers, free high-speed Internet access, satellite TV, and couches for lounging.

Whilst there, both Sam and Hanna want to develop their professional skills – teamwork, tenacity, loyalty, strong organisational skills, experience talking to groups, and the ability to lead.    Sam commented “I’m hoping to become a teacher, so this would be a great opportunity to develop my skills working with children.”

Head of Sixth Form – Mr Tew – said “We are extremely proud of Sam and Hanna – being selected from all the applicants is an achievement in itself, but to represent the College and the UK is wonderful for them.”

Anyone interested in applying to Camp America should visit www.campamerica.co.uk

PAUL SCOTT

Staff and students had a fund-raising day to raise money for South African children.  The College celebrated a “Gum Boot Day” by wearing Wellington boots and learning the Gum Boot dance.

Over the past two years, the College’s Geography Department have been working closely with schools in South Africa’s townships and following a visit by teacher Miss Beales last February, they have successfully linked as part of the AfriTwin partnership, with two Schools in The Strand, Cape Town.

During the year the partnership has flourished and an “Africa Club” has been established within the school.  A number of students enjoy being part of the group, learning about new cultures, lifestyles and have thoroughly relished the community cohesion between schools.

The College’s partnership with the African Schools presents a fantastic opportunity to work collaboratively on a joint curriculum project.  We will be fundraising on two occasions before the end of our Lent term to put our Faith into Action.  This Lent we have a unique opportunity, the UK Government will match fund donations from individuals for the Lent 2012 Give It Up! appeal, which means that pound the school donates, the Government will too.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of CAFOD. St Boniface’s Catholic College has worked extremely hard over the years to raise awareness of this valuable charity and support fully, the work CAFOD do in over 40 countries worldwide.  CAFOD works to reduce poverty.  It is inspired by Scripture, Catholic Social Teaching and the experiences and hopes of people living in poverty.

Throughout the day staff and students took part in traditional South African sports on the yards, African dancing, teaching of the Afrikaans Language and a special South African menu in the Canteen!  Students raised over £600 on the day.

Thank you to Miss Beales, Miss Heduvan and Mr Neethling for coordinating the day's events!

Learn more about CAFOD here: www.cafod.org.uk

PAUL SCOTT

Mr Tew is offering a new club to learn more about Nepal and learn some Nepalese.  There will be visits from Nepalese schools, and a chance for us to send a group back to Nepal!  If you're interested, please see Mr Tew today or email stew@stbonifaces.com

PAUL SCOTT

St. Boniface's Catholic College Disco is on Friday 27th January from 7pm till 9pm.

Tickets are available from Miss Mills for £3.00

Email smills@stbonifaces.com for further information.

 Advertisement poster (PDF ~72KB)

SUE MILLS

A group of Year 11 students who have recently turned 16 were given the opportunity to take part in a driving experience at the College this morning.  The group of ten boys took turns learning the basics from Barry and Paul - the instructors.

Each student had a go at driving their friends around a course, before having a go at a two-lap and reverse park time trial, and a drive without passengers...

...except for Ashley and Mac who got to drive their Head of Year Mr Scott around the course!

Liam did a great job of recording the times!  Here are the Time Trial results:

CLARKE - 2:15.0
FARROW - 2:19.8
ORMAN - 2:20.3
PRICE - 2:23.4
ROBINSON - 2:25.9
MARTIN - 2:51.0
BANCE - 2:58.7
STEVENS - 3:15.8
SUTTON - 3:16.2
GREENSLADE - 3:29.8

Thanks to Barry Davies and his colleague Paul who facilitated this opportunity for the boys.

Fancy learning in a week?  Call Barry on 07971 779082 or 01752 791077

More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonifaceplymouth/sets/72157624257331866

PAUL SCOTT

Dear Parents,

I would like to share some updates before the end of the Advent term.

Site Developments

We have had some excellent news in that extension work to the Technology Block will begin soon. This has exciting implications for the College as we will be able to offer catering as part of the curriculum diet for pupils next year in Key Stage 3. Teachers and pupils have been eagerly awaiting the long-anticipated development of the Technology Block and the arrival of catering opportunities on the curriculum. It is particularly exciting to hear the plans forming to offer catering as an enrichment activity on the extra-curricular programme for next year.

Building work will begin early in the Spring term. This will involve relocation of pedestrian access to the College. Parents will be unable to use the Church car park for dropping off pupils. Vehicular access will be revised but signage should help clarify how we will manage in the interim. At every stage the College will endeavour to provide advanced warning of disruption but, overall, the project will impact on the period January to August 2012.

The College will ensure that the usual standards of safety will be maintained. Contractors will hold CRBs as required. The College will secure the site to ensure building work and educational commitments are conducted safely and with minimal disruption.

Staff Leaving

I am sorry to say Miss Burke (RE department) and Mrs Wright (Cleaner) are leaving us at Christmas. We thank these staff for the contribution and wish them well in the future.

End of Term

The College will close next Friday 16th December. We would like to continue the tradition of allowing staff and students a special treat of beginning their celebrations early on the last day. Staff will register students at the beginning of period 5 (12.35) and dismiss them at 12.45. The new term will begin 4th January 2012 at the normal time. Pupils are to go to lesson 1 as normal. For pupils in Years 9 and 10 there will be a Mass in St Peter’s at 12.35 with an ‘Epiphany theme’. You are welcome to come to this Mass if you are able.

College Finances & The Herald

You may read an account in the press relating to the financial position of the College. The College is facing some financial challenges and we are looking at different ways to work through these with the support of Plymouth City Council.

The circumstances which led to these pressures are being investigated by the appropriate authorities. Whilst these investigations are on-going, I cannot comment on the particulars but I would like to keep you as briefed as possible, if only to offer you some reassurance at a time when rumours may be circulating.

We recently held staff meetings to talk about the College’s financial situation. We discussed possible measures to help relieve budget pressures, one of which was voluntary redundancies.

Whilst it’s fair to say that morale has been affected by recent events at the College, we have been buoyed in the last few weeks by a very good Ofsted inspection result, which we’ve all worked extremely hard to achieve.

Please rest assured we are doing everything we can to resolve any financial issues and I will keep you informed as best I can of our progress in the New Year.

Christmas Concert & Pantomime

Don’t forget this year’s Christmas Concert and Pantomime to “kick-off your Christmas” (quote Mr Trimmer). Last year’s show set a challenging benchmark but I’ve been assured that this one will be as good or better. (Watch out for the 80s music!) Tickets for 7pm Wednesday 14th December and Thursday 15th December are still available from the main office at reception.

2011 and 2012!

It has been a very productive and rewarding year especially as hard work and continuing improvements have been acknowledged by Ofsted. As always, I would like to wish you and your families a happy Christmas and New Year 2012. Inevitably the next few days will be very busy so I hope you will have some time to consider the thoughts contained in the message below:

Lord Jesus, we are looking forward to your coming again into our lives.
You are King of kings and Lord of creation.
Please make us into the people you want us to be,
so that when you come,
you will find us ready for you. Amen.

 Download Head Teacher's Christmas Letter 2011

PETER ECCLES

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 14, 2011
THURSDAY DECEMBER 15, 2011

This year's pantomime - Peter Pan - takes place next week, and tickets are still available!

The amazing cast have been rehearsing for many weeks and are looking forward to putting on the show.

If you're interested in attending the Concert & Pantomime - please download this letter and return the slip with your donation to the main reception ASAP.

Concert Letter (124kb)

Our friends at Plymouth's "British Heart Foundation" shop have asked if we can help stock up their shop in the run up to Christmas.

Each tutor group has three bags - but we just need each class to fill one!

If you have: clothing, shoes, toys, bric-a-brac, CDs, DVDs, videos... well, just about anything really (except food!)

Some families have requested a bag or two to bring home - if you would like this, please contact pr@stbonifaces.com

We would like to send them all off by December 9th - so please be generous and bring in items ASAP.

PAUL SCOTT

Please click on the link below to read the letter that has gone to all pupils today (28 March) regarding our Carol Service, Pantomime & Concert and Industrial Action this Wednesday - 30 November 2011.

Click here to read the Head's Letter - 28 November 2011 

PETER ECCLES

The College is proud to announce that its students raised over £1400 on Children in Need Day.  £1000 of the money has been sent to Children in Need, the remaining money has been given to St Luke's Hospice in David Hudson's name.

You might have seen us on BBC1 through the evening - a group of Year 9, 10 and 11 students went to Eden Project to join the Pudsey Party!  Great fun for all involved!

More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonifaceplymouth/sets/72157625323842572

PAUL SCOTT

At 11:11:11 today students in Year 11 had a photograph taken to mark the unique date/time combination.  Although it was a little bit wet (torrential rain...!), the boys happily arranged themselves for the snap.

The alignment happens once every 100 years.

The next time it will take place is November 11th 2111!

Year 11 at 11:11:11 on 11/11/11