newsletter march 2013

ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI

Catholic Technology College

Easter Newsletter 2013

FR. MICHAEL

LEADS THE YEAR

OF FAITH SPECIAL

UPDATES � REVIEWS � YEAR OF FAITH SPECIAL

Find out what’s been going on at

the school in the last term

Made by

students

WE’VE BEEN IN

COMPETITIONS

GALORE!

‘Nil sa�s op�mum’

2 St Francis Of Assisi Catholic Technology College Newsletter Easter 2013

EASTER JOY

Dear Parents,

We are updating and re-designing our website and the new version will be ready

in the summer term. The new layout will be simpler to access and will provide a

more attractive platform for the achievements of our young people. We hope you

will find it more attractive and user –friendly.

Thank you for your continued support for our school. We are very pleased that

so many of you have signed up and are using Parentpay. We hope that more will

sign up as this is a very convenient way of paying for revision books, examination

fees and school trips. Following requests, we are currently investigating a cash-

less system for our school catering service and would welcome your comments.

Look out for more information about this on our website.

We have had a baby boom among our staff. So far this year, Mr Brown (Design

Technology), Mr Harris (P.E.) and Mrs Derrer (Media Studies) have all had baby

boys. We offer our congratulations to all of them.

On our last day of term, our Y9, 10 and 11 students will be supporting our Arch-

bishop’s “Walk a Mile in someone else’s shoes” event to raise money for the Fa-

ther Hudson’s Society. As always, every year group has been working hard to put

their faith into action throughout Lent and no doubt will raise a very generous

sum for our good causes.

Please keep our school in your prayers.

Yours sincerely,

P. Mullins.



EASTER JOY

Our editor,

Bethany

Wright,

can’t believe

how quickly the term has

gone.

A very Happy Easter from all

your friends at St. Francis

Welcome to the end of an-

other term at St Francis!

Although it has been a small

one, it has been packed full

of exciting adventures and

activities that our students

have taken on wholeheart-

edly. The Year of Faith re-

mains one of the most im-

portant events on our mind

and our students have cer-

tainly had their contribu-

tion. We have the trip to

Lourdes and Catholic World

Youth Day, at which some of

our sixth formers are at-

tending. Easter is, of

4 - Fr. Michael begins our

Year of Faith special.

7 - ‘Free to Disagree’

takes on football.

9 - Our savvy Yr. 11s get

down to business.

12 - Don’t miss the love

quiz: Freunde oder noch

mehr?

14-15 - We bring the

latest from two of the

exciting competitions we

have been involved in.

16 - Mr. Connell is justi-

fiably smug about our

sporting success.

20 - We catch up with a

former pupil.

22 - We have author vis-

its and reviews galore in

our culture section.

What we’ve

got in store

this issue:

course, one of the most im-

portant events in the Catho-

lic calendar and so we wish

all of you a happy and holy

holiday!

Yours Faithfully

Bethany Wright (year 13)



Chaplain’s notes: the new (well named) Pope

Fr. Michael tells us about

our new Pope.

We have a new Holy Fa-

ther as successor on the

throne of St. Peter to

Pope Benedict XVI. Al-

ready, in less than a week,

there have appeared to be

huge changes taking place.

His Eminence, Jorge Mario

Cardinal Bergoglio, the

Archbishop of Buenos

Aires, was chosen from

114 other candidates. His

chosen papal name:

Francis.

Although he was born of

Italian parents, he is very

much a man from South

America. This is the first

time in the modern era

that a pope has been cho-

sen from outside Europe.

He is also a Jesuit, a mem-

ber of the Society of Je-

sus, (SJ) another first.

Perhaps most surprising of

all is his chosen name,

since it signals the style

and direction of his papa-

cy, that is to say, simplici-

ty of life and active con-

cern for the poor. As

Archbishop of Buenos Aires

he lived a simple and aus-

tere life in a small flat near

the cathedral, cooking his

own meals. He always used

public transport and when

visiting Rome flew economy

class. In his diocese (as

there are in many parts of

South America) he gave

time and support to some of

the poorest people, taking

their needs and concerns to

his heart. Since his elec-

tion he has refused to wear

some of the papal vest-

ments and chose mingle

among ordinary people at

St. Mary Major.

For us at St. Francis of As-

sisi CTC we have a man at

the head of the Church to

whom we can look for the

gospel values and inspiration

which will lead us in the

years ahead. Pope Francis’

papacy may be short given

his age (76), but short pa-

pacies have a habit of mak-

ing a big impact. Pope John

XXIII (5 years) called the

Second Vatican Council and

Pope John Paul I (a single

month) abolished the papal

coronation and went for a

simple inauguration.

Let us pray for our new

pope, that he may have the

courage to face the chal-

lenges of his calling and be

both wise and loving in

his ministry.

FR. MICHAEL’S GRAPEVINE



Your voice on the Year of Faith

Hannah

Wright gives

her take on the

Year of Faith.

As we go through the Year

of Faith we begin many

events to try and encourage

as many people as possible

to have a deeper emotion of

the Catholic faith. For ex-

ample a year 13 student

called Bethany Wright is go-

ing to Brazil on the 18th of

July to teach children Eng-

lish and get the opportunity

to be one of many people

who will see the new Pope.

YEAR OF FAITH

Mrs Mulcrow shares our

AS philosophy students’

message for Pope Francis.

On behalf of Year 12 AS

Philosophy students at

St Francis of Assisi

Catholic Technology Col-

lege Aldridge, West Mid-

lands, England, we wish

to express our happiness

and joy to His Holiness,

Pope Francis I.

We pray that you are

never without the Lord’s

presence, as you lead the

Church and it’s people

towards humility and love

for God.

May you be strengthened

by the knowledge that

your people are faithful

in the times of light and

darkness.

May we be instruments

of peace, beacons of

light in the Year of Faith

and strive to bring about

justice for all of God’s

children who are made in

His ‘image and likeness’.

Viva il Papa!

This is one event taking

place for one of the stu-

dents of St Francis of

Assisi who will be putting

her faith in to action. The

Catholic society hopes

that everyone can get in-

volved with putting their

faith into action and tak-

ing the best route to

their Christian religion

and making our life full of

FAITH!! As a school we

need to put our faith into

action... so if you have any

ideas then why not sug-

gest it to your teacher

and show you care about

being Catholic.



Today’s world is so differ-

ent from how it used to be,

And many people cannot

seem to see,

That everyone has a cross

to bear,

There are many people

that really care,

Those that fight for our

country day after day,

Those that never receive

recognition or pay,

Those that have a life with

no equality,

But actually in the world

there is a reality,

A reality where countries

struggle with disaster

and pain,

But who would take a

chance to start life again?

Surely everyone deserves a

fair life?

To grow, achieve, believe

and strive,

For there is nothing like

having a faith to love,

And all the angels and

saints protecting us from

above.

By Alice Duckworth

YEAR OF FAITH

On Wednesday 13th March

the Walsall Poet Laureate,

Ian Henery, gave a poetry

workshop to some RE stu-

dents in year 11, discussing

his poem ‘Backward Chris-

tian Soldiers’. As part of a

literacy exercise during our

RE lessons, we analysed Ian

Henery’s thought provoking

poem and came up with our

own questions for him to

elaborate on. This poem has

fitted in with much of the

work that we have been do-

ing on war and poverty, so

we were grateful to Mr Hen-

ery for coming in to explain

Siobhan Clinton, Harriet

Benwell and Lorna Bar-

rett tell us about meeting

the Walsall Poet Laureate.

Yr. 11 and the Poetry of Faith

his thoughts on these is-

sues. We found it interest-

ing to compare our take on

his poem and the real in-

tention behind each line. In

the year of faith we are

appreciative that he has

visited us twice to talk

about his works, beliefs

and life experiences which

he has incorporated into

what he has written.

A gift from our Lord

His blood he poured

For our sins to be cleared

And for Him not to

be feared

Respect is what we had

For good to remove bad

And Jesus to be respected

As our lives he affected

We should now know

Good deeds should we show

Foes, Family and friends

So that our world can be

cleansed

Jesus would have hoped

That his people would

have coped

With looking after

each other

Parents, Sister or Brother

We are all one family

Why can’t we just

live happily?

Be inspired by the words

of the Lord

And let the love

be restored.

By Lorna Barrett



World class telescope falls into Year 9 hands

Jessica

Murphy

shares her ex-

periences

The Faulkes Telescope pro-

ject has been set up in the

north of Hawaii and in the

South of Australia, which is

an education partner of Las

Cumbres observatory Global

T e l e s c o p e N e t w o r k

(LOCOGTN). This project

will allow students from year

9 who are interested in sci-

ence to have ‘Hands on sci-

ence’ in the real world not

just inside a classroom. The

Faulkes Telescope project

wants to give people free

access to a robotic tele-

scope and access to a sup-

port programme which will

encourage teachers and stu-

dents to engage in research-

based science education all

about what is out there in

the universe!

The Faulkes Telescope pro-

ject provides access for

1,500 hours: this time is

dedicated to education and

public outreach, which is

mainly in the UK, but it, can

be for smaller selected pro-

jects in Europe and the US.

Also, the Faulkes telescope

project will also be for ob-

serving the telescope which

is a 2 meter long class tele-

scope. This telescope isn’t

like any other telescope

where you look into the lens,

there’s a very special com-

puter which will show you

the area where you typed

the co-ordinates, so you will

learn how to use it this

means that you would be in

charge of very important

and expensive equipment

which costs thousands of

pounds.

The school has joined this

project, so we will be able

to book observation time on

the two telescopes. You will

be able to give the tele-

scope instructions to move

to a set of co-ordinates, to

use a certain filter and how

long to expose the image.

The images will be enhanced

and you will be able to keep

some of the images if you

want to or you could put

some of them on display to

show other people what you

have found.

This is an amazing experi-

ence for year 9 students

who have a real passion for

science and who would like

to take their learning to the

next level and to discover

something new and wonder-

ful. If you are real interest-

ed in this project then

please go to Mrs Tremayne

who will answer any ques-

tions and she will be in the

dyslexic centre.

ROVING RESEARCHER



Bethany

Wright shares

the low-down

on the Ethics

conference.

Football is bad because you

can have injuries from play-

ing, you can’t understand the

rules e.g. off side. You can

pull your hamstring or break

your leg. It causes a lot

more injuries than any other

sport. Men can get angry be-

cause they are too competi-

tive. You could injure your-

self and ruin your career.

This is just my opinion!

At half five in the morn-

ing, we all thought it would

be a good idea to get up

and make our way to Ox-

ford for an Ethics confer-

ence on a coach before

sunrise. As we rolled into

Oxford though, our moods

were lifted at the

prospect of seeing

Peter Vardy!

We were all very im-

pressed by the confer-

ence and certainly gained

a lot of information for

the exam! Ciaran O’Connor

even got to shake

Vardy's hand…

We would definably rec-

ommend this trip for fu-

ture years and stress the

early morning is worth it!

Dominic

Rounds is

not a fan.

Football - love it or hate it? Oxford, Vardy

and Ethics!

FREE TO DISAGREE

Joseph

Ciappi is all

for it!

I think football is alright

because it makes a lot of

people happy. You can have

a relaxed kickabout with

your mates - that’s the

best way to do it. Alt-

hough it looks like there

are a lot of rules, actually

that makes it easier to play

and more fun for everyone.

I have been playing basket-

ball for 10 years and it re-

ally fun. You have to be

energetic, so it keeps you

fit and healthy. Unlike

football, it’s not all about

the money. There is a lot

of vanity in football, which

is terrible, and it’s really

boring for the goalkeeper.

Ronan May

has better

things to do.



SCHOOL NEWS

On Saturday 9th March, my-

self Liam Broad, Melissa

Shergold, Bradley Mcdonald,

Rory Fitzgerald of Young En-

terprise group went to Wul-

frun Centre in Wolverhamp-

ton to sell a variety of prod-

ucts like handmade gift box-

es with chocolates, jewellery

and key rings that we made

during a number of our Foun-

dation lessons at school. Oth-

er members of this group,

Aaron Walton, Romelo Fray,

William Jones, Connor Allen

and Henry Coller will continue

to sell items at break time in

school, every Friday until

further notice.

Our business experience

Our yr. 11 Young Enter-

prise group show their busi-

ness skills.

_______________________

Nice doing

business with

savvy year 11s

first started in school by

selling cakes and drinks at

school which also helped

influence and build our

confidence and business

skills for selling in

the future.

We then worked in small

groups and came up with

ideas and designs of

products we would like to

make and sell, so we could

get the ball rolling and

get our actual business

started. First of all, we

wrote down our ideas and

drew our designs on a big

piece of sugar paper. We

used this information to

persuade Mrs Mullins to

give us a loan - which ob-

viously we would pay back

whenever we could. We

were successful in doing

this because we explained

to Mrs Mullins that we

would donate 20% to chari-

t y , B r e a s t C a n c e r

(Think Pink).

And then this Saturday,

Rory and I arranged to do a

morning selling our prod-

ucts at the Wulfrun Cen-

tre; we got there nice and

early and began to set up

our stall. We sold a few

boxes and some stock. We

were in a very popular part

of the Wulfrun Centre and

had a great opportunity to

sell to the general public.

Lots of people came to our

s t a l l t o l o o k a t

our products.

DON’T MISS OUT

Get along to the Bridge

Hall on Friday break

times to get your hands

on some great products.

Our pupils with the Mayor, showing

off their quality products.



SCHOOL NEWS

We would recommend the

U K S a f e r I n t e r n e t

C e n t r e w e b s i t e

(www.saferinternet.org) as a

great resource for parents

who would like advice on how

to help their children be

safer online. The Parents

and Carers section has ex-

cellent advice on how to set

up filtering for the Inter-

net and how to use Social

Networking sites (e.g. Face-

book and Twitter) wisely.

If you would like more in-

formation on Internet

Safety in school please

c o n t a c t M r s J o n e s

([email protected]).

Miss Spooner tells us

about Internet safety

day.

____________________

Safer Internet Day 2013

took place on Feb 5th and

marked the 10th anniver-

sary of this national promo-

tion. The theme this year

was Online Rights and Re-

sponsibilities. All year

groups at St Francis under-

took activities following this

theme.

Ryan Conway and Emma

Kelly, from 8N, were inter-

viewed about their involve-

ment in the events. Ryan

and Emma felt that they

learnt a lot throughout the

week, taking away some im-

portant messages. They

learnt that you should never

give away personal details or

images online, don’t add any-

one that you don’t know in

real life and always get con-

sent before posting images

and information about oth-

ers. The week was rounded

off with the form creating

an online charter.

Stay Smart:

Stay Safe!

E-safety was a great thing

to learn about because it

can help you work on how to

stay safe on the internet. It

taught me how to use priva-

cy settings on Facebook. I

also learned not to post any-

thing I don't want anyone

else to see because then it

can be hard to delete the

photo/video/comment. I

have learnt that social net-

working sites can have loads

of people posting racist

comments/ threats to other

people (Cyber bullying).

These social networking

sites e.g. Facebook can have

a negative effect on your

future job, depending on

what the employers see on

your account. Now that I

have learnt this, I will ei-

ther stay away from these

sites or I will be more care-

ful with them from now on.

Ryan Conway

tells us about

the day from his

point of view.

____________________

Student voice

on E-Safety



Our pupils impress at Mock Trial Compe@@on

Sophie Preis-

ler tells us

what it was

like at the

Mock Trial Competition.

The Mock Trial competition

has been running since

1994. It takes place once a

year and is organised by

the Citizenship Foundation.

It is designed to widen the

young people’s knowledge

of the law and legal system

and to build on teamwork

skills, analytical skills and

their public voices.

On the 9th March, 14 stu-

dents from Years 8 and 9

went to Birmingham Magis-

trates Court to present a

court case against other

schools in their heat. The

court case wasn’t a real

case, but based upon crimi-

nal offences that are

heard in Magistrate Courts

around the country. Each

school had the same case

and students had to learn

the case off by heart,

along with their views, be-

fore the date of the com-

petition.

This year the case was

about a fight that had oc-

curred in a pub at Christ-

mas. The defendant was

accused of helping his

friends attack the victim.

SCHOOL NEWS

Each student had a dif-

ferent role to play.

Four witnesses had to

learn their statements

off by heart and answer

their opposition lawyers

correctly. They also had

to be prepared for any

questions the opposing

team had for them and

keep calm and not get

flustered.

Four lawyers had to ask

questions that would

bring out points to sup-

port their side of the

case and provide a good

argument with evidence

to back themselves up.

Each team had an Usher

who had to bring witnesses

to and from the witness

stand, get the Court to rise

when the Magistrates en-

tered the courtroom and

get the witnesses to repeat

the Creed in court.

Each side, prosecution and

defence, had to compete

against the opposing side

from another school.

Overall, our school didn’t

win, but each pupil tried

their best and performed

to a very high standard.

The St Francis team were

good competition to play

against and each pupil had a

lot of fun. Even though it

is nice to win, ultimately it’s

the taking part that mat-

ters. Well done to all par-

ticipants, you have made St

Francis and Mr Griggs

proud!

As one pupil who participat-

ed said, “I’ve learnt a lot

and now feel that I can

speak more confidently in

front of people and I now

know a lot more about the

law and its system.”



4) Du gehst zusammen ins

Kino. Während des Films

denkst du:

a) W a s i s t f ü r

Abendsessen?

b) Was würde ich tun,

wenn er plötzlich die

Hand ergriff?

c) Wir sollen das öfter

machen.

5) Er bittet dich, seine

Mutter zu treffen. Wie

antwortest du?

a) Ja! Ich möchte de-

ine Familie treffen!

b) Nein! Sie könnten

d e n f a l s c h e n

Eindruck haben.

c) Vielleicht, aber ich

w e r d e e t w a s

gestresst werden.

Punkte:

1) a=2, b=1, c=3

2) a=1, b=2, c=3

3) a=3, b=2, c=1

4) a=1, b=3, c=2

5) a=3, b=1, c=2

5-8 Punkte: Es ist nur

Freundschaft! Wer braucht

Liebe, wenn man eine

Freundschaft wie dieses hat?

9-12 Punkte: Vielleicht Liebe, vi-

elleicht Freundschaft. Man muss

auf die Antwort warten!

13-15 Punkte: Es ist doch Liebe!

Alle Signale zeigen, das das mehr

als Freundschaft ist!

Lauren and Marie help

you out with working it

out.

Freunde oder

noch mehr?

1) Du wirst ein Freund in

Restaurant treffen. Was

wirst du tragen?

a) Ein Jeans & ein T-

Shirt und nur ein

bißchen Schmuck.

b) Deine bequemste Hose,

ein alte Pulli und kein

Schmuck.

c) Dein Lieblingsrobe und

schöne Schuhe und viel

Schmuck.

2) Er anruft um 1 Uhr am

Morgen. Würdest du…

a) sofort wieder einschla-

fen

b) ‘Was ist los?’ fragen,

und wenn es wichtig

ist, wirst du mit ihm

reden.

c) die ganze Nacht reden

3) Er ist seit eine Woche im

Urlaub:

a) Ich schreibe und rufe

jeden Tag an.

b) Ich rufe vielleicht ein-

mal.

c) Ich warte einfach, bis

er zurück kommt.

THE LOVE QUIZ



Medlink was an amazing ex-

perience I would genuinely

recommend to anyone con-

sidering studying medicine

at university. Even if you’re

not 100% sure that medicine

is for you, it gives you a fla-

vour of what it’s all about.

Medlink is an event hosted

for possible medical stu-

dents which consists of a

series of lectures and prac-

tical activities, designed to

help you understand medi-

cine in all its different

forms and tips on how to ap-

ply successfully. It was an

intense programme, which

lasted a few days, and was

full of lectures which in-

spired the audience or

(failing that) were full of

information that was im-

mensely useful. Many of the

lectures were on different

Hannah

Benkerk had an

amazing time at

Medlink.

Our medics get an insider view with Medlink

SCHOOL NEWS

aspects of medicine such as

general practise, surgery,

paediatrics, geriatrics and

many more. But there were

also lectures on different

universities you may not have

considered such as universi-

ties abroad such as in Roma-

nia. This may not appeal to

everyone, but after the lec-

ture you realised just how

wide the options were for

studying medicine. There

were also lectures on suc-

cessful applications to medi-

cine that I found invaluable

as it demonstrated how to go

about preparing for the ap-

plication process and the

steps you needed to take,

making it seem like a more

achievable goal, not just a

vague shadow of a dream in-

side your head.

The practical activities were

also good as we got a free

stethoscope (!) which we

were then taught how to use

properly along with how to

conduct simple eye and ear

tests. We also got to meet

real patients and diagnose

them, giving a real feel for

how a doctor must feel in

that situation. Another

practical we took part in was

a simulation that replicated

an A&E situation and we had

to diagnose and treat our

‘patients.’ This showed me

how easily things can slip in-

to chaos and the sort of lev-

el-headedness you would

have to possess in order to

be able to cope in an A&E

situation as a professional

doctor.

The people who went on the

trip were from across the

country and were genuinely

lovely people and you would

be amazed as to how many

things you would have in

common. This was reassur-

ing. Also it made it easy to

talk to anyone and become

comfortable with complete

strangers, which I found an

amazing thing about the pro-

gramme. So I would recom-

mend it; it’s a valuable expe-

rience that I’m sure anyone

thinking of medicine would

enjoy.



SCHOOL NEWS

On 15th February I was lucky

enough to be part of the

STEM club, who went to JCB

for a fun packed day. Even

though we didn’t win any-

thing on this trip, it was

definitely a worthwhile ex-

perience and has allowed us

to think about what we need

to do for our next challenge.

Ever since Christmas the

STEM group (with the help

of Mr Barratt) have worked

to create a remote control

4x4 vehicle, following strict

specifications as set out by

the team organisers. We

were extremely pushed for

time as the competition date

was brought forward.

Each team that entered was

given a basic remote control

car. After that the teams

had to change the bodywork

and electronics to fit cer-

tain specifications. In the

time we had we made a

camper van style vehicle.

With cool disco lights, spe-

cial designs and a bit of gaf-

fer tape we were ready to

go. Before we went we knew

that some teams would have

been making their cars for

ages so we decided the best

way to win something would

be to make our vehicle stand

out from the crowd and we

certainly had the coolest ve-

hicle there.

Our car was made for looks,

not handling or speed. This

meant it could talk the talk,

but the question was: could

it walk the walk? Well, it

was actually quite sleek on

the track; the only tricky

bits were the slopes.

4x4 challenge for our turbo-powered team

Many teams competed in

this challenge and we

were lucky just to be

part of it. We not only

had to drive our car, but

we had to talk and pre-

sent it to the judges

(technical specialists

from Land Rover), dis-

cussing different engi-

neering issues and how

we had overcome any dif-

ficulties. Our group was

quite original in makeup,

as it included Year 7, 8

and 9 pupils. We are now

evaluating our day and

looking at lessons

learned.

This great day is some-

Matthew

Cooper

lets us know

about STEM

club’s latest challenge.



SCHOOL NEWS

Robin Mills and Rachel

Anderson are fighting fit in

the judo competition.

____________________

On December 17 2012,

12 students were en-

tered into a Judo com-

petition that covered

the Walsall diocese. We

were split into weight

categories and then

fought everyone in our

groups. We were award-

ed medals for 1st, 2nd

and 3rd. The people who

came first were: Rachel

Anderson, Daniella Hill

and Will Jones. Dom

McGill, Katie Carter and

George Tracy-Adams all

came second. Third

place was awarded to

Robin Mills, Joanna

McCourt, Callum Wigge-

ly, Troy Brown, Hannah

McGeogh and Mia Wor-

ley. The day lasted be-

tween nine and four and

it was a valuable experi-

ence. We started off

with a group warm up

thing I won’t forget in my

entire St Francis career. I

am looking forward to next

year in the hope that our

next entry can win some-

thing. So it’s back to the

drawing board for us again

and, using our skills, we

hope to be back next year.

I would like to thank Mr

Barratt for giving up his

Tuesday and Wednesday

lunch times to help us build

our car, as if he wasn’t

there we couldn’t have had

this inspiring experience.

and then a brief as to

what we were allowed to

do in our fights. Then

the fights began and

continued until the

awards ceremony. After-

wards we split into

groups and had group

fights. Once the medals

had been awarded, we

had some team photos

and then went home. The

day was enjoyable

for everyone that took

part and we would defi-

nitely recommend it to

other pupils.

Triumph for our Judo twelve

DID YOU KNOW?

London is the most ex-

pensive city to park in,

costing up to £578.87

per month!

Rachel Anderson’s

impressive throw



Mr Connell revels in our

sporting success. Again.

The last edition of the

school newsletter was

named as the “sports edi-

tion”. Well it looks like we

could call it the same again

this time round, with the

amount of sporting success

stories that we have to re-

port from recent months.

We have had the pleasure

of introducing a former

Olympic athlete to our

school and working with our

students (which you will

find out more about in this

newsletter) as well as hav-

ing the benefit of having a

Commonwealth Games Gold

medallist delivering lessons

and extra curricular ses-

sions to a number of our

lucky students.

Many of our pupils have

been working hard in both

lessons and extra curricu-

lar time, at improving their

skill levels and developing

their sporting prowess. Ta-

ble tennis continues to be

one of our most popular

and certainly most success-

ful sports. Following our

domination of all age

groups competitions for

both boys and girls in the

Walsall Schools champion-

ships earlier in the year,

we had the not so small

matter of 5 teams repre-

senting Walsall in the Black

Country Olympics at Wood

Green Academy in Febru-

ary. All of our teams had

done incredibly well to get

to that stage and were

then faced with meeting

the best on offer from

Sandwell, Dudley and Wol-

verhampton. Well the St

Francis contingent didn’t

disappoint, with the KS4

boys of Michael, Marcus,

Oliver and Cameron winning

a bronze medal (all of the

team were from yr. 9), the

KS5 boys of Shaun, Dillon,

Arian and Michael winning

silver and the KS4 girls go-

ing one better, with the

team of Lauren, Charlie,

Maddie and Alice being

crowned Gold medallists

and Black Country team

champions. This term also

saw the West Midlands

Schools individual champi-

onships taking place, with

Shaun in yr. 12 matching

his team success with an

individual Silver medal and

Lauren in yr. 10 going one

better again and being

crowned the individual Gold

MORE SPORTING SUCCESS

Sport success further inflates Head of PE’s ego

Our Judo medallists




medallist.

As mentioned at the begin-

ning of this article we have

been fortunate enough to

have had a Commonwealth

Champion sharing his

knowledge and expertise

with our students. The man

in question was Wayne

McDonald, who is the cur-

rent Commonwealth Mas-

ters Gold medallist and has

had a distinguished career

in the sport of Judo, hav-

ing won the British Mas-

ters Championships on

three occasions, and having

represented Great Britain,

in the World Masters

Team Championships in

Moscow a few years ago.

Wayne is currently the

University of Wolverhamp-

ton’s Club coach and also

works in local schools in

the area. Wayne delivered

a unit of work in lessons to

both yr. 11 boys and girls

and set up a popular extra

curricular club. Many of

these students went on to

represent the school at a

festival of Judo held at

the University of Wolver-

hampton on 17th December,

sponsored by Aston Villa.

The following students all

managed to get themselves

on the medal rostrum with

some tenacious and skilled

performances; Mia, Troy,

George, Robin, Katie and

Joanna. Will, Rachel and

Daniella all managed to

come away with Gold med-

als on the day.

Since Christmas we have

had a big push in promot-

ing badminton, with our

yr. 9 boys in particular

really getting involved in

extra curricular sessions.

Streetly Academy hosted

the Walsall Schools Bad-

minton championships in

January and we managed

to reach the finals in both

the U14 and U16 competi-

tions for boys and girls,

having qualified from the

South Walsall competi-

tions. Our yr. 9 boys of

Oliver, Daniel, Michael

and Dylan performing ad-

mirably and were only nar-

rowly beaten in the final,

by Streetly Academy

themselves.

Most of us choose to wrap

up well in the winter

months of January and

February and keep our-

selves nice and warm in-

doors, while some decide

to do quite the opposite

and run incredibly long

distances out in the fro-

zen fields of countryside!

I had the pleasure of being

the Walsall Schools Cross

Country team manager, for

the West Midlands Champi-

onships on a cold and

frosty morning on Saturday

2nd February. This involved

selecting a number of stu-

dents from St Francis,

with Charlotte, Caitlin, Tad,

Oliver, Niall, Conal and Lucy

all braving the sub zero

temperatures to represent

the borough at this pres-

tigious event. All involved

performed very well in

what was a very high stand-

ard competition, but the

plaudits must got to Char-

lotte in yr. 7, who de-

stroyed the rest of the

field to be crowned West

Midlands Schools champion,

certainly one to look out

for in the future.

KS4 girls get Gold!



Basketball has also been

high on the agenda in re-

cent months, with St Fran-

cis of Assisi CTC well rep-

resented in the yr. 7, 8, 9

and 10 leagues. All age

groups trained well and the

results were evident on the

court, with both the yr. 8

and 9 team’s finish 3rd in

their respective leagues. A

big thank you must go out

to Ryan in yr. 12 who gave

up his lunchtimes to help

coach our teams, which was

invaluable experience for

our students and Ryan him-

self, as he continues to

work towards gaining more

basketball coaching qualifi-

cations.

Despite facing many diffi-

culties with snow-covered

fields our PE staff have

been working hard to devel-

op rugby this year. The yr.

7 boys finished joint 3rd in

the Walsall Schools cham-

pionships and will be hoping

to put on a good show in the

Staffordshire Schools

competition later in the

month. The yr. 8 boys fin-

ished 4th in the same

competition and are still

going strong in the Staf-

fordshire Schools Plate

competition. They will

play their semi-final in

the near future and I will

hopefully be able to re-

port on another sporting

success in the next addi-

tion. We also have the

girls yr. 7 and 8 tag rugby

competition coming up and

with the help of our out-

standing sports leaders

from yr. 10, Molly, Sere-

na, Grace and Molly, we

have high hopes for the

girls.

Finally, we are to the

school football and netball

seasons and following the

success in the leagues ear-

lier in the year, I am very

hopeful of some cup suc-

cess in the football. We

have 4 teams, with the yr.

7, 8, 9 and 11 teams all

safely through to the semi-

final of the main cup com-

petitions. I hope to report

about some cup winners in

the summer addition of the

newsletter, along with de-

tails of how we have been

doing in our main summer

sports of tennis, rounders,


Our KS5 table tennis silver medallists



DID YOU KNOW?

When St. Francis stu-

dents win yet another

event, there is room for

one less member of staff

at briefing as PE staff

grins take up more space.


Our stars learn from the best

Miss Nickless shares a

great opportunity for our

sporting finest

The Sky Sports Living for

Sport is a secondary

school initiative that uses

sports stars and sports

skills to boost confidence,

change behaviour, increase

attainment and improve

life skills. On Tuesday 5th

February Daniel Caines

(Athletics) and Tom Davis

(Judo) worked with our

gifted and talented pupils.

The pupils listened to the

athlete’s success stories

and took part in a number

of team building tasks. The

students thoroughly en-

joyed the day and left the

session feeling very moti-

vated. A number of follow

up sessions have been

planned for the groups.

What do we do in a time

of need when we

feel down

when all you can do

is frown

but where do we go

from here?

Do we carry on or do we

slow down and think about

the crosses we have

to bear?

Do we moan and cry or do

we just get by?

Like Jesus did, do we take

our punishment or do

we confess?

Do we try and retrieve

our happiness?

But where do we go

from here?

Do we think about others?

Do we help our brothers?

Do we do well to those

who hate us?

Or are we selfish and only

think of ourselves?

These are the things you

need to think about

when you find yourself

with a cross to bear

think of the consequences

and effects

so no one suspects

that you have a cross

to bear

by Emily Fisher



ALUMNUS SPOTLIGHT

When I left St Francis of

Assisi for BOA (A special-

ised Performing Arts Col-

lege in Birmingham) in the

summer of 2012 it was a

huge wrench. St Francis

was my second home where

I had made many, many

wonderful friends and had

the invaluable support of so

many members of staff.

I had made the decision

that due to the passion I

have for dance that it was

the right thing to do and

follow my dreams and study

Dance in a specialist college.

Arriving at BOA and feeling

very nervous I wondered if

I had made the correct de-

cision leaving everyone and

everything that had become

so very dear to me and alt-

hough I missed so many of

the people who had become

part of my life at St Fran-

cis I soon became captivat-

ed by the love and the pas-

sion I have for dance.

In the first two weeks of

college, BOA was visited by

Motionhouse......one of the

UK’s leading professional

dance companies. The stu-

dents took part in work-

shops and worked alongside

the dancers who were cer-

tainly inspirational. At the

end of the two weeks I was

invited by one of the pro-

fessional dancers to join

the Motionhouse Youth

Company and I know attend

a class every Friday and we

are performing at Notting-

ham’s Playhouse Theatre in

April which is very exciting.

Just before Christmas

2012, BOA was approached

by Matthew Bourne...the

Former pupil Sarah lets us

know what she’s been up to.

Sarah steals

the show

UK’s most successful and

popular choreographer. He

had requested that the col-

lege select a small number

of dance students to per-

form a “curtain raiser” be-

fore his adaptation of

“Sleeping Beauty” on Febru-

ary 6th at Birmingham’s Hip-

podrome Theatre. I feel

very honoured and privi-

leged to have been amongst

the students selected. Alt-

hough I feel nervous, I am

very excited at the pro-

spect of performing in front

of 2000 people.

The Principal of Broadway

Dance Centre, Frances Daw-

son has asked me to accom-



ALUMNUS SPOTLIGHT

pany her to Romania in the

summer of 2013 to assist

her in Dance Classes for the

children of the local area of

Campulung. I feel that this

is a fantastic opportunity

and I am looking forward to

enjoying the experience of

working with the youngsters

of Romania and giving my

time to help them to enjoy

the beauty of dance. On my

trip I will try my best to

broaden my understanding

of those less fortunate than

myself and I will endeavour

to make the week one to re-

member for the local chil-

dren.

The Romanian Project was

founded by Frances Dawson

who is the Principal of the

Broadway Dance Cen-

tre........... She has a passion

for dance, a sense of the

community and a will to help

those less fortunate. In

1995 Fran went to Romania

to try and help some of the

40,000 orphans – her aim

was to give them some hap-

piness......to help them dance

and play. To date she has

helped fund 6 dance studios,

a small theatre, several

playgrounds, nurseries and

other projects These have

been created in orphanages

full of destitute children –

but the facilities that

Frances has funded have

helped to give them a ‘light

at the end of the tunnel’.

I feel that this is a very ex-

citing time for me and I am

looking forward to what the

future holds. I know that

there is a lot of hard work

to do but I feel that the

work ethic that was devel-

oped at St Francis by so

many teachers has been a

fantastic life experience for

me and I thank you from the

bottom of my heart.

“Follow your dreams, face

your fears, and always smile.

Life is precious and you’ll

never regret doing what you

love.

Believe in yourself”

God He created you,

your hands, your eyes,

your hair.

He chose what colour

locks you’d have,

dark, red or fair.

He gave you your own

purpose,

there’s something you

must do.

He blessed you with a tal-

ent,

one unique to you.

Everybody’s different,

but in a positive way.

People can be con-

trasting,

as much as night and day.

If people try to hurt you,

or try to pull you down,

He’s there when you need

him,

He’s there to fix that

frown.

Everyone has doubts,

but what people don’t

see,

is that God is always pre-

sent,

watching over you and me.

So if you ever feel,

like you’re completely on

your own,

there’s someone there to

help you,

You’ll never be alone.

Clare Buckley



Dan Freedman’s Kick off: Summary by

Dominic Rounds

It is about a young boy

(13 years old), who lives

with his mum. His dad

left him and an enemy

stands in the way of his

dreams. Recently, he

moved house and had to

go to a new school. All

he wants is to be on the

school football team,

but his mum isn’t fond

of him playing football.

She wants him to get

better grades.

Football fana@cs kick back with Dan Freedman

Matthew

Cooper

gets an exclu-

sive interview

with writer Dan Freedman.

You might know Dan Freed-

man for his bestselling

book “The Kick Off”, the

first of his 6 books in his

gripping Jamie Johnston

series - Steven Gerrard

says: “You’ll read these and

want to get out there!” but

Dan Freedman spent 13

March with us at St. Fran-

cis, doing a special talk in

the morning, a book signing

session at lunch and finish-

ing the day on a hat trick

with a writing workshop for

a Year 8 Group and

Reading Club.

He had his inspiration from

football and throughout his

whole childhood he wanted

to be a famous footballer,

but at the age of 17 his

mum told him that it was

very unlikely. Thus he de-

cided that he had to do

something that involved

football. He became a foot-

ball journalist and talked to

some great players (his

first of many interviews

were with John Terry and

David Seaman).

He grew up in London and

watched his first Spurs

match aged three. He en-

joys reading, walking and

spending time near the sea.

He had some great support

for his fictional writing

from his editors, even

though his first book got

rejected at least 10 times.

However, he kept writing

and changing things. He was

on the point of giving up

when his book was accepted

for publication. Dan said he

felt “ecstatic” when he

heard the news.

Dan Freedman has really

inspired me to be a writer

and I’m sure he has made

many other people feel the

same. His books come alive

as he bases his characters

on his own real dreams,

loves and horrors. He says:

“I love football so much

that I breathe it like air.”

If anyone would like to find

out more about him go to

www.Danfreedman.co.uk

CULTURE NEWS



CULTURE NEWS

Mrs Roberts

meets writer

David

Massey

On Wednesday 6th March,

a group of Year 9 students

were lucky enough to travel

to Pool Hayes School for a

talk by the author David

Massey.

David’s debut novel Torn

was published last summer,

and is the story of Eleanor,

a young army medic, and

her experiences in Afghan-

istan. It is a mixture of

action, romance and a

touch of the supernatural.

David gave us a fascinating

insight into his inspiration,

how he writes and edits his

work. Torn is being pub-

lished around the world and

he is also hoping to sell the

film rights - you heard it

here first!

Torn writer

shares all

Ethan Moore and Conor

Lovage start practicing for

media careers.

Our pupils show their talent

with the BBC school report

Over the recent weeks we

have composed a new

broadcast video concerning

the recent resignation of

Pope Benedict XVI and the

election of a new Pope.

Whilst making this report,

the exciting news emerged

that a new candidate Jorge

Mario Bergoglio had be-

come the new leader of the

Catholic faith; Pope Fran-

cis. This came as quite a

surprise as the candidate

was an unexpected

candidate for election.

Pope Francis has been por-

trayed recently by the me-

dia as a humble and down

to earth man. He is Jesuit,

this means that he rejects

worldly possessions and

materialistic things to be

closer to God. Through

our investigative research,

we found out how the

election of a new Pope, es-

pecially one with the name

Francis would affect our

community here in school.

We learnt to use school

cameras, the importance

of finding out the facts of

a story and developed our

interviewing skills to make

this report.

The report can be found

on the BBC School Report

page on the St Francis of

Assisi School website.

The link is:

w w w . s t f r a n c i s . c c /

roundabout/opencms/

news/newsarchive/2011-

03/bbcschoolreport.html



TEACHER’S PRIDE

Congratulations to our AS

level 2012 cohort. Their

work was submitted into

Specialist Crafts catalogue

competition. All three en-

tries made it to the Best of

2012 and are currently fea-

Mrs Day is very proud of all

her star pupils.

AS Art Student show their compe@@on best

tured on their website gal-

lery. The work is also pub-

lished quarterly in the

catalogue.

SFA pupils use their language talents abroad

Marie-Clare

Taggart had

a great time

on the ex-

change. ____________________

I found the two week ex-

change in Hessen really

fun. I had my work expe-

rience in a nursery and I

really enjoyed it, especial-

ly talking and playing with

the children in German.

Reading to them was espe-

cially useful because it

helped my speaking and

reading at the same time.

I found the little things

like going to the cinema,

watching TV or ordering

food very useful for im-

proving my confidence in

the language and I think

it’s definitely helped me as

I now feel more confident

in all areas of the language.

Most of all, it was very in-

teresting to be immersed

in German culture and see

how everyday life was dif-

ferent.



CULTURE NEWS

The animals went in two

by two

Bringing pride to their

family name,

Guns, grenades and

bombs galore,

The coward’s way out

full of shame.

The animals went in two

by two

For the supposedly

justified war,

Newly made orphans lost

and alone

Fell under corruption’s

trap door.

The animals cried out

“set us free

These crosses are too

much to bear,

Surely there are

peaceful means

To rid this world

of despair?”

Clare Buckley

Cathy is an author of the

books that I enjoy reading.

Cathy lives in north London

with her husband and

three cats.

Cathy spends most of her

time locked in a shed at

the bottom of her garden

pretending to write books

but is actually in there lis-

Natasha

Chadbone-

Pickman tells

us about a fa-

vourite author.

____________________

Cathy Hopkins

reviewed

tening to music, hippie

dancing and talking to her

friends on e-mail.

I enjoy reading her books

because she writes it from

a teenager’s point of view

about their daily life as a

teenager. I understand

what she is trying to say

because it is easy to read

and understand.

Mrs Littler is sorry to

lose one

of our

‘Millennium

authors’

____________________

Chinua Achebe dies, aged 82

One of the first books I

picked out of our Millenni-

um collection in the LRC

was Achebe’s It all falls apart. It is one of the

most expressive books I

have ever read and a vivid

portrayal of the reaction

to the arrival of white men

in the v i l lage of

Igbo. His description of

relationships in a changing

world is well worth

reading.

THE FACTS OF SCHOOL LIFE


newsletter march 2013

Documents

happy easter

francis welcome

year group

year of faith remains

bethany wright year

day of term

easter joy dear parents

nil sas opmum