Bellerive News Welcome to our newsletter www.bellerivefcj.org Specialising in the Sciences, Applied Learning, Maths and Computing June 2014 For Parents, Carers, Parishes and Community NEW! Please follow our Twitter page for the latest news: @BelleriveFCJ Message from College Chaplain It has been a very busy school year and I’d like to share some of the activities that have taken place in school in recent weeks. FCJ Group The FCJ group is going from strength to strength. The girls have taken part in a variety of activities, such as fundraising, Taize prayers, learning about Fair- trade and making collages. We will be having a Corpus Christi picnic and participating in World Cup activities. Every term ends with a celebration of the work the pupils have done. FCJ group takes place in the chapel on Tuesday lunchtimes 12.40 - 1.10pm. Pupils should see me or Sr. MaryAnne FCJ if they are interested in joining. Fr. James Preston Fr. James from St. Charles Borromeo, Aigburth has been visiting school every week. He has visited Yr. 7 forms to talk about Vocations and Yr. 9 form groups to talk about the Mass. Pupils have enjoyed these talks and meeting Fr. James. We now have Form Mass every Thursday at 9am. Year 7 have had their Masses and it has been an excellent opportunity for the girls to worship in their form groups Mass of Installation Three of our pupils attended the Mass of Installation for Archbishop Malcolm on 1st May. The girls were very pleased they could attend and they really enjoyed the ceremony. Bellerive students live the FCJ values Exam Preparation Year 11 had their pre-exam Mass on Thursday 8th June. The year group gathered together to prepare for this important time. The theme of the Mass was ‘Perserverance’ and pupils were presented with a shamrock badge and messages of support from their teachers. On Friday 23rd May Year 13 had their final Mass at Bellerive as part of their Leaver’s celebration. Fr. Dominic Curran came in to say the Mass and he had lots of great advice for the young people leaving Bellerive. I am looking forward to leading the Year 9 form retreats from 16th – 25th June at Sandymount House of Prayer, Blundellsands. I will also be organising a retreat day for Year 7 to enable them to reflect on their first year at Bellerive and we have a retreat organised for the Sixth Form in July. CAFOD This year we have supported CAFOD Fast days in Advent and Lent by holding a Soup Kitchen in the Canteen at lunchtimes on the Fast days. Sixth Form pupils have been helping to serve soup and a roll. Since October 2013 Bellerive has raised an amazing £3257 for CAFOD.
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Bellerive News
Welcome to our newsletter
www.bellerivefcj.org Specialising in the Sciences, Applied Learning, Maths and Computing
June 2014
For Parents, Carers, Parishes and Community
NEW! Please follow our Twitter page for the latest news: @BelleriveFCJ
Message from College Chaplain
It has been a very busy school year and I’d like to share some of the activities that have taken place in school in recent weeks.
FCJ Group
The FCJ group is going from strength to strength. The girls have taken part in a variety of activities, such as fundraising, Taize prayers, learning about Fair-trade and making collages. We will be having a Corpus Christi picnic and participating in World Cup activities. Every term ends with a celebration of the work the pupils have done. FCJ group takes place in the chapel on Tuesday lunchtimes 12.40 - 1.10pm. Pupils should see me or Sr. MaryAnne FCJ if they are interested in joining.
Fr. James Preston
Fr. James from St. Charles Borromeo, Aigburth has been visiting school every week. He has visited Yr. 7 forms to talk about Vocations and Yr. 9 form groups to talk about the Mass. Pupils have enjoyed these talks and meeting Fr. James.
We now have Form Mass every Thursday at 9am. Year 7 have had their Masses and it has been an excellent opportunity for the girls to worship in their form groups
Mass of Installation
Three of our pupils attended the Mass of Installation for Archbishop Malcolm on 1st May. The girls were very pleased they could attend and they really enjoyed the ceremony.
Bellerive students live the FCJ values
Exam Preparation
Year 11 had their pre-exam Mass on Thursday 8th June. The year group gathered together to prepare for this important time. The theme of the Mass was ‘Perserverance’ and pupils were presented with a shamrock badge and messages of support from their teachers.
On Friday 23rd May Year 13 had their final Mass at Bellerive as part of their Leaver’s celebration. Fr. Dominic Curran came in to say the Mass and he had lots of great advice for the young people leaving Bellerive.
I am looking forward to leading the Year 9 form retreats from 16th – 25th June at Sandymount House of Prayer, Blundellsands. I will also be organising a retreat day for Year 7 to enable them to reflect on their first year at Bellerive and we have a retreat organised for the SixthForm in July.
CAFOD
This year we have supported CAFOD Fast days in Advent and Lent by holding a Soup Kitchen in the Canteen at lunchtimes on the Fast days. Sixth Form pupils have been helping to serve soup and a roll. Since October 2013 Bellerive has raised an amazing £3257 for CAFOD.
NEW! Please follow our Twitter page for the latest news: @BelleriveFCJ
Y12 Physicists visit Manchester University
A group of Year 12 physicists attended the physics and astronomy building at Manchester University for a day of physics lectures and the opportunity to explore the campus. Lectures were attended on a wide range of physics topics, from game theory to dark matter and using physics models to aid cancer sufferers. The day inspired the girls for their future careers and higher education choices.
"The physics day helped me decide the type of physics course that I would like to study and also allowed me to listen to lectures about new areas of physics that I can now research myself e.g. game theory. Free merchandise was also a bonus." Niamh Fearon.
“It gave us a chance to see different types of physics, like theoretical physics, and not just what we study in school. The doughnuts and OJ were good.” Lauren Taylor.
“The lectures let us see parts of physics we didn’t know you could study at University and it consolidated some of the knowledge we have. The campus was big and the facilities were modern.” Emily Barrett.
In conjunction with Liverpool Compact, all of our Year 10 students recently had the opportunity to take part in a 30 minute interview with a real employer.
Representatives from a whole range of organisations and sectors took part including Price Waterhouse Coopers, the Department of Work and Pensions, the RSPCA, Barclays, US Airways, DHL, Liverpool Hope, Edge Hill and John Moores universities.
In preparation for the event our girls filled in a CV detailing their grades, hobbies and hopes for the future. Interviewers then some spent time going through this and asking individual students questions in order to recreate a real life interview situation.
At the end of the interview they were then given feedback on the presentation of their CV, their punctuality, appearance, body language, promotion of skills/ qualities and verbal communication skills to help them in the future.
Ms Power co-ordinated the event, she said: “Although many of our students told us they were very nervous to start with they soon relaxed and ultimately found the interview to be a positive and worthwhile experience. This will no doubt prove useful in their upcoming work experience placements and give them some new found confidence as they enter the world of work.”
We’d like to thank everyone who contributed to making this valuable experience a success.
Year 10 employability interviews a great success
The Ethics of Organ Donation
As part of their NOCN General RE studies, the Year 12 cohort studied the topic of Medical Ethics. In this unit they covered the controversial subjects of Saviour Siblings and Organ Donation.
The Year 12 General RE teaching team were lucky enough to be able to secure the help of Katie Whittle, a specialist organ donation nurse and her team, to aid the delivery of part of the unit.
Katie and her team came into Bellerive before half term to deliver a presentation about the facts, figures and ethics of organ donation in this country. The information they provided was incredibly interesting and thought-provoking, especially that of team member Jo, who spoke openly about how her husband had sadly passed away but after death, went on to save the lives of 4 other people through donating his organs.
The students were given the opportunity to pose questions to the team and it generated some fabulous discussion, both during, and after, the presentation.
Both staff and students alike got a great deal from the presentation and we hope to continue to maintain these links for future activities so watch this space!
Y7 Experience University Life
In March/April 2 groups of Year 7 pupils visited Liverpool University to take part in a day of activities. In the morning session the pupils took part in a workshop about Higher Education. They were given the opportunity to explore types of Higher Education, and the different careers that these might lead to. After a campus tour they were also given an insight into life at University by current University of Liverpool students. The pupils were then tasked with designing their own University Society, ideas ranged from a ‘FashionSoc’ to ‘1DSoc’!!
In the afternoon the pupils were taken to the laboratories in the new Central Teaching Hub in the School of Physical Sciences, where they took part in a practical chemistry workshop designed by current chemistry undergraduates. The pupils had a great time exploring the new laboratories and trying out some of the impressive equipment!
The pupils all thoroughly enjoyed their day and were very grateful to the University staff for their time!
Bellerive Students Sums Add Up
Bellerive students have been placed 10th nationally in the British Isles Maths Games challenge, run by online Maths resource Manga High.
We are delighted with the result and well done to all our students and staff who have worked so hard on this
Mathematics ChallengeOfficial British Isles Leaderboard
10th placeawarded to
Bellerive FCJ Catholic College
May 2014
The leaderboard rankings are based on student medal points earned on Mangahigh
NEW! Please follow our Twitter page for the latest news: @BelleriveFCJ
Bellerive students experience two theatre greats in one week!
Bellerive students were offered the chance to see two classic plays in one week just before the Easter break.
Year 11 and 12 students saw Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge, a GCSE text, on Monday 31st at the historic Liverpool Playhouse. Two nights later, students ranging from Years 9 to 12 watched the New Liverpool Everyman’s inaugural play, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Some girls were lucky enough to see both.
The plays gained excellent reviews from the press – and the girls. “Just as I’d imagined it” and “hilarious” were just some comments from students. Many said how much they appreciated getting the chance to see plays they were studying – rather than just reading them.
The English Department hopes to organise another trip soon, to enable students to experience the best plays – and theatres, that Liverpool has to offer.
Did you go to Bellerive or St.Mary’s RC High School? If you’re a former student who would like to support current students, the college would love to hear from you!
Right now, there are students in the assembly hall where you once sat facing similar challenges and opportunities that you did. Being connected to you could really help them.
We are one of more than 450 state schools and colleges across Britain which have registered with the charity Future First to set up networks of former students or alumni.
Future First’s vision is that every state school or college should be supported by a thriving, engaged alumni community that helps it to do more for its students.
More than 60,000 former students across Britain have already signed up to stay connected with their old school. They’re inspiring young people in a number of ways; as career and education role models, mentors or e-mentors, work experience providers, governors, donors or fundraisers.
It doesn’t matter when you left school, whether you’re in further education or employment, whether you still live
nearby or have moved further away, there are still ways you can help!
“More than 39 per cent of state school students don’t know anyone in a job they’d like to do,” said Alex Shapland-Howes, Managing Director of Future First. “If they see that someone who went to the same school, grew up in the same community, has achieved a fulfilling and satisfying job, it helps them see it’s possible for them too. It’s really important for all students to be motivated to succeed in the working world and hearing first hand from relatable people in interesting jobs can make a huge difference.”
Sister Brigid, Bellerive’s headteacher said ‘We are delighted to be working with Future First and hope that as many of our former students as possible sign up. We are committed to giving our students the best opportunities to achieve their potential and the experiences and knowledge of our many former students will be crucial in this”.
Former students can sign up to Future First’s alumni scheme by emailing [email protected] or clicking on the “Former Students” link on the website www.futurefirst.org.uk. Teachers wishing to sign up another school to Future First should click the “Schools and Colleges staff” link.
On Wednesday 26th March 2014 many young people gathered at Knotty Ash Community Centre to be congratulated for the time and effort they have put in to help our community. The Lord Mayor and his assistant were giving the awards as it is the Lord Mayor’s Award after all!
To make the special night even better we had two wonderful funny hosts named Netto and Lidl. (Lidl pronounced L’addelle) These are names of supermarkets. They were a hilarious addition to the memorable night and we were all in stitches when they took ‘selfies’ with the Lord Mayor and uploaded it on Twitter in the hope of getting many retweets.
I’m not the only one who should be congratulated as Molly Yearwood
in 8T also won an award. We both received a Level 1 certificate as our age group only allows us to achieve that level. I don’t know about Molly but I’m already training for Level 2! We also had our picture taken and we were congratulated by the Lord Mayor’s assistant and a round of applause from the audience.
To break the awards up (there were many!) we enjoyed 3 performances by some school children and they were astounding! I would love to say I was part of the performance if I was them!
Overall it was a wonderful night and I am going to celebrate soon. Well done Molly! It was excellent and an honour to be selected.
Memories of a Spanish AssistantBy Fátima Gálvez Aguilar
Months have passed and it is time to pack away all that I have learnt, the memories I have made and my new umbrella collection (thanks to the English weather). Time has passed so quickly and I can’t believe how well it has gone.
The day I received an email from the school telling me that Bellerive would be my destination, I knew that my assistantship would be amazing. I settled in so well and the only problem I had was getting lost in Sefton Park for 2 hours.
Walking to the school every morning was so encouraging, motivating and rewarding. My language and culture have always been at the heart of all my lessons and sharing these things with the girls has meant so much to me.
I will never forget the pupils, even though I struggled to understand them for 2 months due to their wonderful Scouse accent. I affectionately call the pupils mis pequeñas (my little learners), mis señoritas, and the older pupils in Year 12 mis mayores.
I will never forget Miss Doolan, Mrs Lavelle and Miss Kane who are my colleagues, my teachers and my friends. I am thankful to them for their help and support.
However, I don’t feel sad about leaving in May because this is not a 'bye bye' letter, as I will be returning to Bellerive in September with new experiences, new students, new adventures, learning and más español next year and I simply can’t wait.
Gracias de corazón,Fátima
A group of Year 7 students have been taking part in Latin lessons for the last few weeks as part of an initiative by the University of Liverpool.
PhD students from the Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology department have been teaching 10 of our students Latin and about life in ancient Rome. Some of the topics covered to date include family life, dining, culture and punishments.
Ten schools across Merseyside now take part in the scheme which looks to encourage greater interest in studying the classics at university. This work is funded by a grant from the charity ‘Classics for All’ which has many high-profile supporters including academic Mary Beard OBE, Boris Johnson the Mayor of London and Private Eye editor Ian Hislop.
Lesley Ryan teaches the class at Bellerive on a Thursday afternoon. She said: “Bellerive students are really well behaved and engaged. It’s a pleasure to teach here.”
What do our students think about the classes?
“I’m having fun and learning lots”
“I’d definitely like to study this more in the future”
“I like learning how Latin influences lots of different languages.”
The class has been invited to spend a morning with experts at the university in June, look out for more details soon!
Latin factsBetween 60% and 70% of all English words and up to 80% of all words in languages such as Spanish, French, and Italian come from Latin!
Here are some common English words that are actually Latin: Actor, basis, credit, doctor, editor, forum, genius, horizon, index, junior, lens, museum, navigator, opera, professor, quota, recipe, stadium, trivia, ulterior and vortex.
Students get to grips with the classics
Bellerive presses on with exciting building plans
Our plans for a state of the art Sixth Form Centre are moving along at speed. The formal planning process will begin very soon and, if passed, work will start very early in the Autumn term. The plans are very exciting and will give our students access to excellent facilities and resources for learning. As you will see from the picture, some initial work has already started on the Sefton Park site in preparation for the next phase.
We will keep you posted as we move forward with the project.
Year 10 teach Spanish at St. Austin’s
Every year, our pupils are invited to teach Spanish as part of St. Austin’s annual ‘Hispanic week’. This year a group of Year 10 pupils, Fátima, our Spanish assistant and Miss Doolan taught Year 5 all about La Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Spain. They had a wonderful time and the pupils really enjoyed learning about Spanish traditions and making their own ‘Nazarenos’. Our pupils were thanked and complimented on how professionally they performed as teachers. Well done, Year 10!
