Super 8 athletics competition
Notable performances
Year 7 hurdles – 2nd Chico Masethla 15.70s;
100m – 1st Victor Oluwatuyi 13.60s, 2nd Kyreece Martei 14.60s;
200m - 2nd Jeffrey Zani 32.90s;
800m – 1st Nawal Elkirate 2m.50, 3rd Tom Buckland 2m.50;
high jump – 2nd Kyreece Martei 2.15m;
shot putt – 1st Denzel Atito 6.78m, 3rd Victor Oluwatuyi 6.58m
Year 8/9 100m – 1st Jordan Solomon 12.80s;
1500m – 2nd Isra Hashimi 5m.10, 4th Michael Arkell 5m.16;
high jump – 3rd Harry Peach and Jordan Solomon 1.40m;
long jump – 2nd Nirushan Parameswaran 4.76m;
200m – 1st Kiera Isaac
Year 10/11 100m – 2nd David Sonan 12.10s;
long jump – 3rd Chinedum Echeta 5.17m;
shot putt – 3rd Josh Olawole 10.09m.
The year 8/9 boy’s team have also been selected to represent the city at the level 3 regional competition. The year 7 boys just missed out finishing second overall.
Congratulations to all the athletes who took part in very challenging conditions:
Year 7 Chico Masethla, Victor Oluwatuyi, Kyreece Martei, Jeffrey Zani, Tom Buckland, Denzel Atito,
Karolis Truskauskas, Caelan Isaac, Nawal Elkirate, Katie Heppell, Kira Uppel, Lexi Spink, Elise
Eaton, Gwen Ebelle-Ekwalla, Gio Lim, Libby Clark, Steffany Ehibhatiomhan.
Place group achievement
points 1st D2 87;
2nd B14 76;
3rd C9 68;
4th F14 64;
5th C13 54;
6th C6 53;
7th B11 49;
8th F12 47;
9th= B9 46;
9th= D10 46;
10th= C14 43;
10th= D11 43
House totals (all tutor groups)
Carmel 554;
Benedict 549;
Francis 520;
Dominic 502.
Year 8/9 Jordan Solomon, Isra Hashimi, Michael Arkell, Harry Peach, Nirushan Parameswaran, Aaron Sadler, Brandon Felton, David Ajere, Blanche Mayo, Hollie Saunders, Olivia Newbold, Maria Gomes, Rochelle Jack, Faith Jarvis, Grace McDonagh, Kiera Isaac.
Year 10/11 David Sonan, Chinedum Echeta, Josh Olawole, Louis Raymond, Samir Thapa, Andres Drury, Stephanie Titus and Gabriela Gomes.
E-safety news
The School Council have been busy this week giving assemblies to the houses about
cyberbullying. The students involved are Katie Carter, Natasha Moar, Amy Walter, Graham
Mogridge, Jennifer Poudy, Hassan Khan, Rhianne Johnson and Beth Cole. The assembly
included a true or false quiz testing students’ knowledge about their use of the internet and
mobile phones. It has been well received by the students. The school council’s top five tips about staying safe on line are:
- Do not give out personal information about yourself. Only talk to people you know online.Only use Facebook if you are 13 or older.If someone sends you a nasty message show and tell an adult.
- Use the CEOP button if you think you are being cyberbullied.
Year 11 yearbook
It’s that time of the year, as Year 11's head into there final exams. Preparation for their prom is
underway. Mr Nicholls and Miss Dawson have been working on the year book to make it
spectacular and memorable.
If you have any baby photos, pictures of school trips, or even some funny memories that you think will be perfect, please bring them in!!
Maths visits
Last Friday, ten year 9 students attended a maths workshop at Somerville College. The event
was led by Dr Mason Porter, Tutor in Applied Mathematics, and focused on how networks are
part of our everyday life. The pupils used 'network science' to investigate problems such as how
we are linked to others through social media like Facebook. There was also a chance to hear
from current students at Somerville about studying maths at Oxford University. Last Friday, our top set year 7 maths class travelled to Oxford Brookes University, to participate
in a ‘Maths Enrichment’ day, with other students from secondary schools in Oxford. The day
comprised of three separate areas; magic maths, treasure hunt and puzzle/code breaking.
Students were challenged to discover how maths is present in various aspects of life and were
presented with a number of problem solving tasks. Once the tasks were completed, the
students then learned the ‘maths’ relating to the various tasks. Peer-teaching followed where
students worked with their peers, to test each other with their newly acquired skills and knowledge. Our students excelled on the day and were great ambassadors for our school in both their participation and behaviour.
Message from the class: Thank you to Ms De Alwis, Ms. Hynes and Mrs Price for organising the trips.
Cashless catering system
The development of Gregory's Restaurant continues and the new cashless catering system will be up
and running from Monday 14 May 2012. Please be aware that the restaurant will not accept cash from then
on. St Gregory the Great is now a flagship ParentMail school, and is one of the first schools in the country to
run ParentMail 2. Unfortunately, there has been a delay in the set-up of the payments facility in the new
system until September. ParentMail apologises for this delay. In the meantime, to top up your child's account, a link on the school website "School Meal Top-Up" will be available from 8 May 2012.
If you have any questions - please contact Mr Marshall in the main office.
SAM Learning competition
Students returning will have noted the work that has been done to transform Gregory’s Restaurant into a
much better facility. There are more changes to come.
New look restaurant and new menus
Students returning will have noted the work that has been done to transform Gregory’s Restaurant into a
much better facility. There are more changes to come.
As we speed up service in Gregory’s the lunch time becomes a longer time to occupy. We have a small sum of money to support good ideas for clubs, societies, etc that might just need a bit of funding to get going. For example, Mr Hussey asked Mr Wileman to make sure that there are a supply of bats and balls available by each of the table tennis tables which can be put back when finished with. Any ideas? Please send suggestions in to the school office.
Rock Challenge report
Once again another fantastic performance by the St Gregs Rock Challenge team. Our choreography this
year was developed around the title "Follow your dreams" and followed Clarice's journey through being
involved in Rock Challenge and the positive benefits resulting from this. Miss Dawson's choreography
was amazing and the set built by Mr Humphries and Mr Johnson and painted by Miss Turner would not
have looked out of place on a West End Stage. The costumes were designed and made by Mrs
Swanton, our very own Vivienne Westwood, along with Mrs Bailey and Mrs Hutt, who wore every
costume at some point. Victoria Moar did the video direction and the lighting was by Sophie Collier,
Ashley Thorbourne and David Auilar. All this combined with our astounding and talented dancers
resulted in another spectacular performance. We were placed 4th overall out of 11 schools, 4 of which
have been former champions, a brilliant result and we also brought back the award for drama skills, one
we haven't won before so a great improvement in that area. Thank you to all the above plus Mr Wileman and Mr Nicholls for their assistance in driving the van for the
scenery and acting as stage crew on the day alongside Mr Humphries and Mr Johnson. Plans are
already beginning for next year so think about how you could be involved. We don't just need dancers; perhaps you are interested in lighting, costumes, video direction or set design! This years dancers were as follows, you’re all stars – fantastic.
Year 7:
Hannah Woods, Laura Papp, Imogen Roxburgh
Year 8:
Jennifer Poudy, Tinashe Pelekamoyo, Roma Erdbeer, Alicia Mederick, Segen Michael, Ciara Hulbert,
Maria Gomes, Rochelle Jack, Blanche Mayo, Micah Arago
Year 9:
Ashleigh Patrick, Aimee Randall, Emily Doyle, Phoebe Quinn, Kayda Marshall, Grace McDonagh
Year 10:
Jade Saunders, Phoebe Swain, Grace O’Connell, Stephanie Titus, Latysha Harrison
Year 11:
Tara Adenle, Jessica Poudy, Clarice Julianda, Stephanie Rockett, Hannah Marsh
Year 12/13: Kenneth Ndawula, Austine Ehibhatiomhan
Editor's note: Once again a great effort bringing together so many of our very special community. A particular thank you to Mrs Wileman for driving the whole project through. Very little sleep has been had by the staff team so My Hussey hopes they take the chance to rest this weekend. He has his doubts!
A letter of thanks from His Grace
A lovely letter of gratitude from His Grace following his visit to our school. “I want to thank you and the whole school community for the very warm welcome I received when I came to visit you on 13
March. It was good to be able to see something of the life and activities of St Gregory the Great School community and I was very impressed.
Please thank all the young people I met during the visit and, in particular, all those who prepared so carefully for the uplifting
Mass".
We look forward to meeting His Grace again at the Good Shepherd Mass in May.
St Gregory the Great Feast Day 13 Mar 2012
Mr Hussey's fourth whole school feast day and in his opinion the best yet. We were blessed with the presence of
His Grace Archbishop Bernard Longley, the Dean and Priests of the Deanery, our special guests the
Headteachers of our Catholic Primary Schools plus Governors, former Governors and invited leaders of
other faith communities. Where did we put them all? Our Mass, beautifully prepared as ever by Mrs Enticknap and Fr Naz, was a very real testimony to the
faith of our community and the reverence and stillness to enable each of us as individuals to pray and
reflect. Special thanks to our Musicians - Anesu Wazara, Charlotte Coelho, Alana Sajan, Hannah Fox,
Cleo Dunnett, Amy Walter, Jessica James, Rochelle Roque, Diana Lima, Karla Bergado, Eve
Hodgkinson, Chloe Barrett, Ellie Griffiths, Kate O'Callaghan, Daniella Geteloma, Lexie Dufficy, Crystal
Rodrigues, Megan Norwood, Calum Pinches, Kate O'Donaghue, Clarice Julianda, Rhianne Johnson,
Latisha Vinten, Rhiannon Baker, Chipego Siamuwele, Harry Pudwell, Frances Arago, William Beck, Zak
Chand, Thomas Jameson, Nic Nanthacumar, Kieran Nevin, Alissa Page, Ruby Pepper, Jack Sculley,
Sachin Sidhu, Damon Stone, Lauren Butcher. Our readers - Harry Pudwell, Kehinde Badmus, Matthew
Roberts,Methuselah Singh, Angela Budzwa, Maria Gomez, Estela Dos Santos, Benjamin Borzucki, Paul
Bouvot, Kylian Godard. Our servers - Jeffery Zani, Kevin Mjwauzi, Matthew O’Donoghue, Daniela
Geteloma, Natasha Moar, Claire Cole, Beth Cole, Tate Prosper, Udoka Godwin-Malife and James
Roberts. The offertory Procession - Francis House - George Spencer, Mrs Davies, Dominic House –
Mr Phillimore, Ella Sordillo, Carmel House – Miss McGillycuddy, Fabiolla Ingabire, Benedict House – Mrs
Kallay, Aengus Allen,
Communion reflection soloists - Miss Brudlo and Miss Jones.
Meeters and Greeters - Megan Bruno, Jennifer Abrunho, Joyce Leyson, Ciaran Flanagan, Connie
Brady, Lizzie Foulkes, Lexie Spink, Jordan English, Victor Oluwatuyi, Melissa O’Sullivan, Ella Evans and
Jahan Ali.
Head Boy – Rony Schulte and Head Girl – Olivia Strange. After Mass it was lovely to see our students enjoy their chocolate treat and the prayer card especially
prepared for the occasion. (Shame you all couldn’t find the bins for the wrappers though!) Our guests and staff then had a celebratory lunch together prepared by our Catering Team of
Ms James, Ms Wells, Mrs Phillips, Mrs Keshmiri and Mrs Herman. Everyone enjoyed the singing of our Show Choir representatives, Karla Bergado, Chloe Barrett, Eve
Hodgkins, Clarice Julianda, Ellie Griffiths, Rhiannon Baker, Anna Lawes, James Roberts, Harry Pudwell,
Rochelle Jack and Maria Gomes
Final thanks to our Site Team Mrs Davies, Mr Andrews, Mr Loveridge and Mr Knevett who spend hours moving furniture to ensure everyone’s comfort and to Mr Day for ensuring the sound system worked so well. To conclude, another very special occasion and Mr Hussey wishes to thank everyone for their commitment and support.
Show Choir Concert - upcoming
Following our show choir’s very successful first tour to Germany last summer, we were contacted by the
tour manager for The Counterpoints, a concert/show choir from North Central High School, Indianapolis,
USA.
The choirs are performing at prestigious venues in London such as St James’ Church Piccadilly, Old
Spitalfields, and the Southbank Centre. The Counterpoints are an auditioned mixed choir of 58 members and are recognized as both a premier
concert choir and show choir. The Concert Choir have a very mixed repertoire of a capella songs ranging from sacred to secular
music across the ages and from different parts of the world. The Show Choir also has a mix of much more modern music from Bon Jovi to Katy Perry and Justin
Bieber. The choir will spend the afternoon with members of St Gregory’s Show Choir. There will be social events
including a meet-and-greet, an English cream tea and a basketball match. These will be followed by
rehearsals for a free evening concert of music performed by all the choirs from 7.30pm to 8.30pm.
Tickets for the evening concert are limited, and therefore, if you would like to attend, please contact Mr
Hunter or Ms Washbourn on 01865 749933 ext. 240 as soon as possible. Links to the Show Choir:
School feast day plans
Preparations are well underway for next Tuesday and our feast day celebration with His Grace
Archbishop Bernard Longley. We will have a number of other important visitors that day so it’s important
that we show off all the good things about St Gregory’s – the stars of which are, of course, our students. It has become the tradition on our school feast day that each student receives a prayer card and a small
bar of chocolate!! (even during Lent). This year we held a competition for students to design this year’s
card. The best one was designed by Storm Sawyer Kinch in Year 10. Her design has been printed and will
be distributed to all students after the mass on Tuesday. The two runners-up were Molly Bakker and Lisa
Perry both from D2 tutor group. Thank you to all who submitted their designs.
There will be sponsored events for Years 7–10 followed by a whole school mass and then an early finish. It is sure to be a wonderful occasion.
Sports results
Netball results roundup
Fantastic result from Year 8 girls netball team as they played against Cheney School. Great effort was made
from both schools. The game was drawn at half time and with the team working together well they ended
up winning 6–5. Well done to Blanche Mayo, Rochelle Jack, Anne Octavio, Roma Erdbeer, Jennifer
Poudy, Tara Mulcahy-Murray and Maria Gomes who was nominated player of the match by the opposing
school. Another well done to all participants and teachers who helped coach them. On Monday the Year 7 netball team, Siobhan Cahill, Libby Clark, Richelle Espino, Adela Hernandez,
Lucy Hield, Chloe Labutte and Amy Walters played against Lord Williams. It was a great team effort
which helped them get to the final score of 6-0. Well done to Libby Clark who was named player of the
match, Lucy Hield for scoring 4 of the 6 goals and finally Adela Hernandez who stopped the opposition
from scoring. On Tuesday the Year 7 netball team played against Cheney School. The final score was 3-3, with Cheney snatching the game in the last few minutes. Well done to Chloe Labutte who scored all three goals. It was a great game and everyone enjoyed themselves. Rugby results roundup
Year 8 and 9 girls rugby team: the girls headed off to Gosford Rugby Club on a very windy Monday. There were 8 schools
competing to win the tournament. Our girls first played against Cherwell. They unfortunately lost that
game. However, the next two games the girls came back and won 6-2 and 5-1. Tries were scored by
Blanche Mayo, Kiera Isaac, Alicia Mederick, Alexia Barry and Dara Austin. They were then competing for
third place with Cheney. At the last minute, Cheney scored the winning try. Well done to all of our girls
who finished 4th! Blanche Mayo, Keira Isaac, Alicia Mederick, Alexia Barry, Dara Austin, Micah Arago,
Tara Mulcahy-Murray, Olivia Newbold, Hollie Saunders, Caitlin McDonagh and Emily Prachar. Year 7 and 8 girls rugby team:
the girls went to Gosford Rugby Club on Thursday afternoon to compete in the County Tag Rugby Festival. They
were up against 9 other schools and made a fantastic start, beating Cheney in the first match. The
second game against Bartholomew’s was a tight contest, resulting in a draw after they scored in the last
phase of the game. We then went on to win two more games against Warriner and Wallingford, finishing
3rd out of the 10 teams that entered. We now have our fingers crossed whilst we wait to find out if we
have made it through to the national finals at the end of the month.
Well done to all of the girls that played, they were fantastic: Blanch Mayo, Alissia Mederick (c), Dara Austin, Adela Hernandez, Richelle Espino, Siobhan Cahill, Libby Clarke, Chloe Labutte. Also a big thank you to Lucy Hield who, despite her recently broken finger, came along to give her support for the team!
Federation with St John Fisher Catholic Primary School
For nearly two years now St John Fisher has linked with St Gregory the Great Catholic School to form a “soft federation” to
ensure continuing rise in standards and security of Catholic leadership. Hence Mr Hussey's role as Executive Headteacher working
alongside Mrs Jude Bennett as Head of school. We now need to progress to a more formal “hard federation” and the governors of both schools have agreed that a consultation
document be produced and available to all concerned.
Should you wish to have a hard copy let us know. The consultation lasts for six weeks from 1st March 2012. Please do have a look and let us have your views. It’s always helpful to have positive feedback as well as any issues raised that might concern you. Essentially as parents and pupils you should notice no change at all as most people concur that the current arrangement has worked really well.
Enterprise group
The Enterprise Group consists of nine students in years 9-11: Rebecca Trevelyan, Humzah Khushi, Ali Khushi, Hassan Khushi,
Andrea Jacinto, Mikee Frayna, Kumail Naqvi and Shazia Hashimi. They have decided to start their own smoothie business in school. On Friday 24th February they entered a competition to raise money to start their own business. The students went to the Saïd
Business School to pitch their idea to local entrepreneurs. They were up against strong competition such as Magdalen College
School and Cherwell School, however, this did not faze their enthusiasm, their pitch was faultless. The students were fantastic,
successfully fielding some very challenging questions. The students fought off the competition and have made it through to the
next round on Monday 19th March. The students will be organising fundraising events and carrying out sampling of their
smoothes over the next couple of weeks. Special thanks to Miss Harper for all her work with the team.
Million Minutes
On Tuesday the year 10s had an assembly about Jimmy Mizen who was attacked and killed three years ago. His
parents came to talk to us about it and to show us how they have been dealing with losing him. It was a very moving
and powerful assembly about tragedy, forgiveness and hope. A charity has been set up to help young people as a
result of what they are doing and it is called 'Million Minutes'. You can find out more if you go to:
www.milliionminutes.org The result is that we decided at the end of the assembly to get involved in fundraising for Million Minutes so the
Year 10s will be asking people to sponsor them and they will carry out a sponsored silence lesson 3 in the Chapel
on Friday. The money that is collected will go towards helping disadvantaged young people so they can have
support and training, and find safe spaces in their area as well as many more projects.
Film and Media Awards
To celebrate the achievement of students in all areas of media and to encourage involvement in creative media
production from students regardless of whether they are taking a media course or not. This glittering, Oscar-style
event will take place in the main school hall on Thursday, 1st March. The judging and presenting of the awards will
be carried out by professionals from BBC, the OFVM (Oxford Film and Video Makers), SAE (Film and Audio
School), OPS (Oxford Photographic Society) and the graphic design industry. Categories include film: fiction, film:
non-fiction, advertising, photography, print production, animation and e-media.
Doors will be open at 6.00pm allowing guests to look around at some of the work on display, including the BTEC
Photographic Exhibition. The awards ceremony will take place from 7-8pm. Drinks and snacks will be on
sale, provided by the PSA. Why not take a look at our budding film makers and photographers - you will be awestruck by the talent.
Safety Action Bulletin
Jequirity Bean Bracelet an alert has been received by both the School Health and Safety and Children and Young Persons Asset
Teams regarding bracelets that my have been recently purchased. The information below has been
issued in conjunction with the Medical Advisory Service of the Health and Safety Executive. General Information an alert has been received regarding the sale of bracelets. These may have been on sale at various
retail outlets across the UK, including the Eden Project in Cornwall. Information has been issued from
those retailers urging customers to return the red and black bracelets made from jequirity bean. The
jequirity bean bracelet is made from the deadly seed of the plant Abrus Precatorious. It contains the
toxin Abrin which if swallowed, has the potential to kill in doses of just 3 micrograms. Abrin is chemically
similar to ricin, a chemical warfare agent. What should a manager do?
People who have brought, or are in possession of the bracelets, are being urged to bag them, wash their
hands and avoid touching their eyes.
If you are in possession of one of these bracelets, double bag the bracelets, seal the bag and hand it in
to your local Police Station where they will arrange disposal. For further details please contact the following Oxfordshire County Council teams:
Occupational Health: occupational.health@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Staff Care Services: staffsupport@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Health, Safety & Wellbeing Team: healthandsafetyhelp@oxfordshire.gov.uk.
Parents' Forum - upcoming
A reminder that this will take place on Monday 27th February 7.30pm – 9.00pm. The topic for the evening
will be “Assessment for Learning” – how do we monitor the quality of teaching and learning in school?
There will be a short presentation by members of the senior team followed by the opportunity for
discussion. As Mr Hussey has said, the pace of change is so frantic we need to keep working together on
communication.
PSA 1950's dinner dance
Ticket have gone on sale for the 1950's big band dinner dance - you can use the order form below to apply for tickets.
The event happens on 10 February 2012, 7-11pm in the school hall and there will be entertainment provided by the Oxfordshire Youth Big Band, vocals by our very own Mr Bunch plus the Stewart Attwood Trio. There will be a licensed cocktail bar. Tickets include a sumptuous three course meal.
Tree of Life project
Our school has been selected to take part in a major cultural celebration called ‘Tree of Light’
which is connected to the Olympic Games. This will be one of the most spectacular and
memorable arts projects ever to come to the Thames Valley. We will be joining other local vocal
groups to form a choir of 450 around a gigantic industrial “tree” of light, for a major new largescale
outdoor performance, taking place at dusk in South Parks, Oxford on Sunday 1st July
2012. The Grand Finale will be taking place at Stonor Park, Henley on Saturday 21st July 2012. We are
looking for 20 students from KS4 or KS5 to participate. Please see Mrs Henderson or Ms
Washbourn if you would like to participate..
Mission countdown
Only one more week until we welcome members of the SION community to our school. Overview of the various events and activities (pdf format, 177Kb) It promises to be a great week at school. Please keep
everyone in your prayers. Mr Hussey got a lovely welcome at Sacred Heart and Blessed Dominic Barberi churches last
Sunday when he had a moment to invite the parish members to the main event on Thursday 9th February in the
Sports Hall. It’s Our Lady’s this Sunday and Corpus Christi and St Anthony of Padua the following weekend. Busy
times but great to get out to our local parishes.
Step Up Conference
On Wednesday some of our Y10 students attended the Step up Conference at Oxford Brookes University.
This conference was aimed at overcoming barriers into learning, and ensuring that our young people make the most
of the opportunities available to them such as university. There were inspirational talks from two key speakers who have both had to overcome cultural barriers in order to
achieve what they aspired to, as well as several interactive workshops to get involved in. The key message of the
day was to use what makes each of us different as our unique selling point and to use our skills and interests as a
tool to further our personal and academic futures. Our Y10 students were impeccably behaved throughout the day, integrating well with other schools to take part in
the workshops, Without doubt our students were excellent ambassadors for St Gregory's. Special thanks to Miss
Mitchell and Mr Umney-Gray for accompanying them.
Shoeboxes
Advance notice that the school will be supporting the "Operation Christmas Child" project in the
run up to Christmas 2012. Operation Christmas Child is the world's largest children's Christmas project, run by the
Christian charity Samaritan's Purse. They have been sending gift-filled shoeboxes around the
world since 1990, bringing joy into the lives of over 80 million underprivileged children.
We would therefore be very grateful if you could help by saving any shoeboxes that you acquire
so that pupils can fill them with gifts for the charity. If you would like to send the shoeboxes in to school rather than storing them at home until
Christmas, Mrs Rose would be pleased to receive them.
Carmel House mass
In the words of Fr Vincent; Carmelite Priest “A beautiful and prayerful mass”, all members of
Carmel House were a credit, both to the House and to the school. Special thanks to Fr Vincent
and Fr Naz for celebrating the Mass, Deputy Head of House Ms Barrett, Mrs Enticknap and Mrs
Wright, Tutors and Tutees for all their creative and exceptional artwork, which enhanced the
Mass both decoratively and as Offertory Items.Readers; Dara Austin, Max Oliver and Fabiola
Ngabire . Prayers of the Faithful were read in six different languages including Irish by Matthew
O’Donoghue, Estela Dos Santos, Paul Bouvot, Maria Gomes, John Paul Turk & Ben Borzucki.
The Offertory items representing the various tutor groups in Carmel House were brought forward
by Isaiah Samuels, Robert McKinnon, Luca Barresi, Kiera Kearney, Billy Jo Bourton, Loz
Lockyer, Jamie Austin, Tegan Duffy and Katie O’Donoghue. To our amazing altar servers Tate
Prosper & Udoka Godwin-Malife, to Ms Brudlo, who sang beautiful renditions of Ave Maria & Pie
Jesu, and last but not least to Mrs Henderson, her choir and musicians Jerome Garricks and
Charles Kagunda. Special mention of praise for House Head Miss McGillycuddy. The bar has
been raised for next year.
Year 10 Access to Music Awards Evening
What a fantastic evening on Thursday. A huge round of applause to all students who achieved their music
qualification in Year 9. We were fortunate enough to have Phillip Selway, the drummer from Radiohead to present
the students with their certificates. Special thanks to Mrs Henderson, Mr Harrison, Mr Hunter, Ms Dawson, Mr Day and Mr Teeling, Mr Ahmed and the
PSA for organising this event, and not forgetting Callum Ruddock, Connor Hathaway, Tia Crump-Ouma,
Kudakwashe Tutisani, Jessica Day, Katie O’Neill, Caitlin Johnson and Chipego Siamuele for the evening’s
entertainment, which by common consent was outstanding..
Soli House Retreat
Year 9 and 10 trip to Soli House Retreat Centre in Stratford upon Avon will take place from Wednesday 29th February until Friday 2nd March. Letters are now available from the Chaplaincy Office. The students had a wonderful time at Soli House last year
and many of them want to go back again and take more of their friends! So do send your child to the Chaplaincy
Office to get a letter. Places are limited so roll up, roll up!
Kids' Lit Quiz - Oxon/Bucks/Berks regional heat
On Friday 25th November we hosted the Oxon/Bucks/Berks regional heat of the international Kids’ Lit Quiz. The quiz is challenging, demanding a broad knowledge of all kinds of literature including, mythology, poetry, Shakespeare as well as current and classic fiction. One of our teams did exceptionally well and came third out of the 37 schools that took part.
The members of our highest placed team were Catherine Godfrey, Claire Cole and Alex Hart. Our other team were Robbie Mackinnon, Gabriel Michael and Libby Clark. Grateful thanks are due to the following students and staff who did so much behind the scenes to help make the event successful: Mrs Nigriello, Mrs O’Day, Miss Aistrop, Richard Churchill, Emmalees and Nicole Furze, Cleo Dunnett, Francis Cuddy, Mohammed Coyle and Joseph Panes, and not forgetting Mrs Bassett for her unstinting work.
ICT update
There has been quite a bit of discussion in the media recently regarding the place of ICT in the school curriculum. ICT at schools has definitely been dominated by Microsoft Office applications over the last twenty years or so. In an effort to move away from this dependency, during the summer months the ICT teachers at St Gregory's re-wrote the whole of our ICT syllabus in order to introduce a wider range of concepts, skills and applications.Our re-written KS3 scheme of work now includes an introduction to computer control in year 8. Year 9 are using Scratch (a product developed by MIT) to learn basic programming skills before moving on to using Audacity to create and edit sound files. There are units where students learn to use parts of the Adobe Creative Suite - creating Flash videos and websites using DreamWeaver, graphics using Fireworks - none of which are MS Office applications but are software used by professionals in many areas. In order to broaden the opportunities even more for our students and to introduce real programming skills, we have been running a GCSE Computing course as a KS4 option at St Gregory's for the last 15 months. Our current year 11 are part of the first OCR Pilot GCSE in Computing. These students are learning simple assembly level programming and are writing their projects using Visual Basic.NET.
A level Computing has been offered by Oxford City Learning for many years, indeed one of our (female) students achieved an A* at A level this year and is currently working her gap year with a local software house, before going to Southampton university to study Computer Science next year.
An important update from Mrs Williams showing our desire to provide the best opportunities for our students. There will be further ICT development in the new year.
© 2012 St Gregory the Great, Oxford 