Headteacher’s November Blog

Dear Parents & Carers,

November has passed by in a flash and we are now underway with our Advent activities and preparation for end of term Liturgies, it is always a busy and exciting time in school. In the next newsletter I will have much to share about the themes we are focussing on this year and how we have been putting faith in to action.

In the last communication I shared with you how we marked remembrance on All Souls Day in school, but another very important aspect of school life is marking Remembrance Day on the 11^th November.

I am very grateful to the History department who again led on this. Mr Scriven led a very moving assembly for each year group, including sixth form, on the origins of Remembrance Day and its relevance to our lives today. It was lovely to be joined by one of our Y13s who performed a song related to Remembrance.

The focus this year particularly explored the contribution of forces from right across the commonwealth in the First World war, which resonated strongly with many of our students.    

Resources were also shared with years 7-11 for use in form time which covered many different aspects of Remembrance from the origins of World War 1 to the impact and consequences for all involved. It was lovely to, once again, be involved in our community approach for Remembrance Day especially as we have been able to run three trips to the battlefields of WW1 this year for our Y13s and Y11s so the consequences of WW1 were in recent memory.

Remembrance Day this year fell on our 6^th Form Open Morning on 11/11/23. Movingly, everything stopped in school at 11am, with visitors, staff and students alike joining in, as we marked a 2 minutes silence to remember those who are no longer with us. Mrs Shields played The Last Post on the drive at the statue of St Julie and Mr Scriven read the Ode of Remembrance.

The following Monday in school, as is traditional, we gathered the whole school on the yard for a 2 minutes silence. I am delighted to say that students observed this as always, with respect and reverence.

As the month progresses it is also an opportunity to remember all those in conflict still and our form prayers often reflect this. Sadly, again this year we see so many suffering in new and continuing conflict. At times when we can do little else, we can turn to the power of prayer.  I include the following prayer which you may want to say at times when the news is so bleak.

Ever living God,

We remember those whom you have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of your presence;

May that same peace calm our fears, bring justice to all peoples and establish harmony among the nations,

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Mrs Revill’s Year 11 class and Miss Jackson’s and Mrs Harrison’s Year 10 classes have been on their GCSE fieldwork trips this half term.

The aim was to collect data on the quality of life across the city. Our students were completing questionnaires and environmental quality surveys, amongst other techniques. We were all impressed with their focus on these trips and how well they represented the school. They have learnt several new fieldwork techniques which will be useful in many different careers and also for their GCSE exams.

The Geography Department

Our school took part in this competition, which is a qualifier for the national final. This year it was held at King Ecgbert’s school in Dore. Having won the regional heat and qualified for the finals in 2017, 2018 (cancelled due to snow) and 2020 (cancelled due to Covid), our plans of another trip to the national finals were thwarted by bad weather delaying a taxi by 75 minutes.

Our chemistry superstars of Fiona Lee, Daiyan Khan, Raphael Akanuwe and Caleb Loh have had a go at some of the sections they missed at lunch and showed how well they work as a team. Huge thank you for the team being so patient while waiting for the taxi, Mrs Shields for taking over waiting for the taxi when Dr Searle had to run to make nursery collection time and Mr Randall for supervision at King Ecgbert’s.

Good luck to Mercia School who will be representing our region at the finals in 2024!

Dr Searle- Head of Chemistry

Mrs Cramphorn from the English Department organizes a monthly writing competition which is open to students from Y7 to Y10. There is always a monthly theme and any interested students can go to room 101 on a Wednesday at lunch (1pm) for a chat with other student writers or for some staff input.

This is a fabulous opportunity for students to develop their writing skills but as an added bonus they also collect points for their House by simply entering the competition. The top entries from all year groups win additional prizes

Magnus Bushell (Y8) and Hamda Akram (Y7) won the October Writing Competition. They were asked to write a spooky short story inspired by Halloween. An extract of both students’ stories are included below:

Magnus’s story:

He shouldn’t have come here and he should go, but he walked into the stone arch which slumped on the dark, beaming entrance to the crypt.

He walked in, the first person in 500 years. He walked to the grave in the centre, running his hand along the cold stone. Something moved and slid to the top of the coffin. He peeked inside; a cold coil of chain wrenched at his stomach.

“Leave! Leave!” screeched a voice in his head. He looked again something was down there.

He only remembered falling after that and hitting the ground very hard. He stood up and side stepped to the left. When he met nothing, he continued to side step. He must have moved over 50 metres by the time he stopped. He turned around, and a sight so cold met his eyes. Hundreds of dead hands reached up like pale, flesh caltrops.

He ran back to underneath the grave, waiting for the ghostly moonlight to tell him to stop. He ran into something: the walls of the grave. He looked up into darkness.

Trapped.

Hamda’s story:

“you finally returned,” Aurora murmured, her voice laced with a mixture of gratitude and anger. “I’ve waited for this day.”

Evita’s heat sank, realisation dawning upon her.

“Aurora, I am so sorry. I never meant to leave you trapped for so long.”

“You have trapped me to protect others, but you forgot about me, Evita. I have been alone for five long years.”

The ghost’s presence flickered, a mixture of anger and what Evita thought to be acceptance. She reached to unlock the cage, her hands trembling. As soon as the latch clicked open, the ghostly figure of Aurora emerged, her radiant violet eyes filled with rage.

With a final sigh, Evita disappeared into the night, her heart at peace.

Aurora watched. She never took her eyes off her.

Evita never returned to the campsite.

She never ate her birthday cake.

Evita was never seen again.

But Aurora was…