Eco-warriors attend Youth Forum

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We continue to challenge pupils and student to be courageous in their advocacy for social action focussed on the environment. Last week, pupils had the opportunity to join our Chaplain Alex Shoderu and the Bishop of Kingston, The Rt Revd. Dr Richard Cheetham (pictured) at a Climate Justice Youth Forum event, hosted by the Church of England. Bishop Richard was keen to hear their views on how the Church can make a difference in the face of a global climate crisis. I would like to thank Year 9 Eco-warriors, Ewan, Ruby and Chukwudi for being great
ambassadors for the school. 

National Youth Theatre Success

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After completing afterschool rehearsals, Sadie and Christopher in Year 12 have successfully gained places at the National Youth Theatre. This is a fantastic achievement due to the high competition young people face to be offered a place. As NYT members, Sadie and Christopher will be involved in Summer workshops and then have full access to all that NYT has to offer including working alongside top individuals within the theatre industry. This opportunity is available to these students until they are 25 years old too. Congratulations to them both!

“I found auditioning for the National Youth Theatre rewarding and very exciting. Due to COVID the auditions were virtual this year meaning that I had to self-tape my monologue and complete my recall via Zoom. In my recall I thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with my monologue and seeing the different ways it could be performed. Through this I got valuable experience with self-taping and auditioning in general. I would definitely recommend auditioning because it’s a great chance to learn and gain skills through their audition process (which usually includes a workshop) and being an NYT member provides you with so many opportunities.”  Sadie (pictured), Year 12

 

More Jack Petchey Winners announced

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Over YouTube, on Monday 10th May, we celebrated the 2020 winners of the Jack Petchey Foundation Achievement Awards. The Jack Petchey Achievement Award Scheme recognises outstanding young people aged 11-25 across London and Essex.

Our winners this time were: Emilie from Year 8, for overcoming challenges and submitting every piece of science work during lockdown; Joseph from Year 9, for his positive attitude, contributions in class times and consistent hard work even during isolation; George in Year 9, for outstanding care for another student; Amanda in Year 10, for going above and beyond what was asked of her, submitting every piece of science work during lockdown and responding to all feedback with detailed corrections; Jesse Year 11 for completing all work during lockdown, overcoming struggles with limited access to technology and Lola Year 13, for taking the initiative to plan and lead Year assemblies during Black History Month.

Congratulations to all our very worthy winners!

 

Consultation on Relationships, Sex and Education (RSE) Policy

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Every school in the UK must now include a Relationships, Sex and Education (RSE) Policy. The RSE policy at Saint Cecilia’s explains what we mean by RSE, and how we implement RSE teaching and learning in our school. We are inviting all our parents and carers to read through the policy and complete this short survey, which will close on 11th May. Letters were sent to all parents and carers with the link to the survey.

School Building Works update

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School Building Works
Building works to enable the school expansion are progressing well and are on target to be finished in the summer holidays.  The new teaching block will contain ten new classrooms (one Science lab, three ICT suites and a standard classroom on the first floor; with five classrooms to house History, Government & Politics on the ground floor).  We take possession of the first floor at May half term when History will temporarily move to the first floor while works to the ground floor and the landscaping are completed.  The History portacabins will then be lifted out at half term so that works can be started to create an internal courtyard in the area they occupy. 

The History, Government & Politics department will move to their permanent home on the ground floor over the Summer break; with ICT moving into the first floor.  In addition, there are some internal refurbishments to create a new classroom for PE theory, two toilets blocks and a staff work room.  All the works will be complete in time for September 2021 when our expanded Year 7 cohort join us for the first time.  Pupils will numbers will grow by 30 per year as the new Year 7 works its way up through the school.  To ensure we have sufficient dining space, an extension to the Refectory is planned by Summer 2022.

Environmental Improvements
Our new teaching block will house photovoltaic cells on its roof to generate electricity and each classroom includes a heat recovery ventilation unit to avoid wasting heat in winter.  The ventilation units extract hot air from the new classrooms and use it to preheat the fresh air as it is brought in to ensure an optimum classroom environment for learning.   We have also been successful in application to the Government’s ‘Decarbonisation Fund’, which is providing a grant to install an air source heat pump (which extracts heat from the air and transfers it into our heating and hot water system to reduce gas bills); and also to upgrade corridor and classrooms lights to new energy efficient LED systems.  These projects will reduce our use of gas and electricity, saving money and improving our impact on the environment.

House, pupil and student awards

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We ended the Spring term celebrating House achievements and individual academic and sporting successes. Huge congratulations to Archimedes (led by Miss Mouland) who came first in the overall House Competition with 2914 House Points, and were awarded the House Trophy for the Spring Term.

Teachers recognised individual pupils they felt had made a worthy contribution to school life for a Jack Petchy Award. Congratulations to Elizabeth and Natasha in Year 11 and Bethan in Year 8. All pupils have received a £250 grant to spend on improving learning at school, in an area of their choice.

During our Easter Worship Service, Sports Colours were awarded to pupils and students in the upper year groups in recognition of their commitment to school sport. The following pupils were awarded Half Sports Colours: Elizabeth, Eloise, Sophia, Kudler, Oliver, Maximus, Archie, Gabriel, Joel, Ronald, Jamaal, Freddie, Alex, Joel G, Kanye and Enguun. Full Sports Colours are only presented to students in Year 13 and this year were awarded to Becky, Zoe, Scout and Hector on their achievement and commitment to school life and sport over a number of years.

Congratulations to all award winners.

Return to school on 8th March

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Plans for return to school following Government announcement

Yesterday the Government announced plans for the release from lockdown, including plans for the return of pupils and students to school from 8th March.  Following that announcement, full advice for schools was published in the evening, and it is likely further clarification will emerge in the coming days.

We will look carefully through the guidance and inform you of the plan for welcoming pupils back to the building, once we have digested the advice fully and worked through any ambiguities.

You will be aware that schools will offer all pupils and students asymptomatic testing on their return. Testing is voluntary and schools must obtain consent from a parent or legal guardian.  Please can you log onto ParentPay to give consent.

Please bear with us, as we again look through all areas of school life, and agree a plan that ensures the safety of all in our community. We will share a full plan for re-opening next week.

We looking forward to welcoming pupils and students back into the school building.