Bellerive News Welcome to our newsletter www.bellerivefcj.org Specialising in the Sciences, Applied Learning, Maths and Computing September 2014 For Parents, Carers, Parishes and Community Results day meant plenty of smiles for students and relief for parents as our girls opened their envelopes to find out how well they had done. Their results were the reward for their hard work and commitment to their studies, and will enable them to take the next step in their education, with many staying on at Bellerive Sixth Form. That includes Jessica Muirhead, who was “very happy” to see she had got 2A* and 7As in her GCSEs and is looking forward to studying her A-levels here. “Bellerive is a community,” said Jessica. “My favourite memory was the last day when we all took pictures. You realise we had spent five years with everyone. “Everyone is working together – the teachers and the students. It is a really comfortable atmosphere.” Despite her academic success in getting 7As and 2Bs, Dana Sami, who already plans to study law at university, also focused on the friendly school community. “I have loved everything,” said Dana. “All the girls are friends, and the school has been really nice to grow up in.” Asheni Chakawathige-Fernando credited her friends with helping her through the times when the work felt NEW! Please follow our Twitter page for the latest news: @BelleriveFCJ Year 11 thrilled with their excellent GCSE results like it was getting tough. Clearly they did a great job, with Asheni gaining full marks in GCSE Italian as she achieved 4A*, 5As and a distinction. Her tip for those students starting to study their GCSEs this September was to “work hard”. She said: “It needs patience, as there will be lots of time where you feel like giving up. You need to have enough motivation. And good friends – they help too.” Parents who had come in, rather than wait anxiously for a phone call, were all proud of their daughters’ successes. “We are extremely proud of her but she couldn’t have worked harder,” said Richard and Alison Cassidy, whose daughter Charlotte gained 7A* and 3As. They added: “We can’t thank the school enough for the support and care for the last five years. The support, teaching and overall environment has helped make her into the person she is.” Elisabeth de Sa Braz was also full of praise for the ethos of the school and the benefits of teachers and parents having the same outlook. “I have liked the consistency in the rules. It supports the parents and the school has embedded it so strongly,” said Elisabeth. “The ethos is really strongly embedded in the school and that’s really important to me as a parent.” Jessica, one of our happy GCSE students
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Bellerive News
Welcome to our newsletter
www.bellerivefcj.org Specialising in the Sciences, Applied Learning, Maths and Computing
September 2014
For Parents, Carers, Parishes and Community
Results day meant plenty of smiles for students and relief for parents as our girls opened their envelopes to find out how well they had done.
Their results were the reward for their hard work and commitment to their studies, and will enable them to take the next step in their education, with many staying on at Bellerive Sixth Form.
That includes Jessica Muirhead, who was “very happy” to see she had got 2A* and 7As in her GCSEs and is looking forward to studying her A-levels here.
“Bellerive is a community,” said Jessica. “My favourite memory was the last day when we all took pictures. You realise we had spent five years with everyone.
“Everyone is working together – the teachers and the students. It is a really comfortable atmosphere.”
Despite her academic success in getting 7As and 2Bs, Dana Sami, who already plans to study law at university, also focused on the friendly school community.
“I have loved everything,” said Dana. “All the girls are friends, and the school has been really nice to grow up in.”
Asheni Chakawathige-Fernando credited her friends with helping her through the times when the work felt
NEW! Please follow our Twitter page for the latest news: @BelleriveFCJ
Year 11 thrilled with their excellent GCSE results
like it was getting tough. Clearly they did a great job, with Asheni gaining full marks in GCSE Italian as she achieved 4A*, 5As and a distinction.
Her tip for those students starting to study their GCSEs this September was to “work hard”.
She said: “It needs patience, as there will be lots of time where you feel like giving up. You need to have enough motivation. And good friends – they help too.”
Parents who had come in, rather than wait anxiously for a phone call, were all proud of their daughters’ successes.
“We are extremely proud of her but she couldn’t have worked harder,” said Richard and Alison Cassidy,
whose daughter Charlotte gained 7A* and 3As.
They added: “We can’t thank the school enough for the support and care for the last five years. The support, teaching and overall environment has helped make her into the person she is.”
Elisabeth de Sa Braz was also full of praise for the ethos of the school and the benefits of teachers and parents having the same outlook.
“I have liked the consistency in the rules. It supports the parents and the school has embedded it so strongly,” said Elisabeth.
“The ethos is really strongly embedded in the school and that’s really important to me as a parent.”
Jessica, one of our happy GCSE students
NEW! Please follow our Twitter page for the latest news: @BelleriveFCJ
We are proud of the achievements of all of our students, and here are three students among the many success stories from today who each have had different experiences at Bellerive.
Studying three science A-levels may not usually be for the faint-hearted but Joshua Goulding may be the exception – for his lasting memory of Bellerive is the time he passed out in class.
“I hadn’t eaten much”, said Joshua sheepishly, “and we were dissecting lungs. My teacher said I didn’t look well and asked if I was ok, and I just fainted.”
Thankfully it didn’t have any lasting effect for Joshua, who has gained a place at King’s College London to read Biomedical Sciences after getting As in Biology and Chemistry and a C in Physics.
Bellerive celebrates A Level success
Joshua, who joined Bellerive Sixth Form from The Hammond School in Chester, said he felt very welcome from the beginning, adding “there wasn’t a period of adjustment, everyone was very friendly and I’ve met lots of very nice people here”.
For one student getting her results today, her medical condition had a greater impact than sitting out part of one lesson. Annita Davies had been in and out of hospital during 2012-13 because of her diabetes and missed about 45 hours of lessons in one subject alone.
When she was feeling better she came back and re-sat Year 13, and today was rewarded for her persistence with 2 Bs and a C in her A-levels, along with 2 AS levels including an A in History.
Annita, who has combined her studies with a weekly placement at St Francis de Sales Catholic Junior School, is now going to Liverpool Hope University to study Primary Teaching with Modern Foreign Languages.
“At first I was a bit apprehensive about coming back but I have made lots of
new friends,” said Annita. “I know that if I had gone to university last year I wouldn’t have been ready. I’m glad I have been given the opportunity to do better.
“The support from my teachers, not only with the subjects but also in applying to university and on things like student finance, has been really valuable. It’s a really good support environment here.”
Also looking forward to university is Lauren O’Hagan, who is heading to Liverpool University to read Psychology.
Lauren, who only started getting interested in the subject when she was in Year 11 at Bellerive and considering which A-levels to take, worked very hard to achieve an A grade in her Psychology A-level.
She also achieved Bs in Chemistry and Maths to secure her university place today and, along with many of her classmates is looking forward to starting university.
We wish all of our Year 13 students the very best of luck as they leave us – do keep in touch and let us know how you get on!
We left Bellerive on Saturday 28th June at 6am, arriving at our hotel in Ypres in the early evening. We spent Sunday visiting sites in Northern France. The girls were particularly taken with the Thiepval memorial, listing the names of over 50,000 soldiers missing as a result of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. We got a great insight into the harsh realities of trench warfare when we visited the excavated trenches at Vimy
Ridge where thousands of Canadian soldiers perished.
On Monday 30th June, we visited several museums near Ypres and in the afternoon, laid a wreath at Tyne Cot cemetery, where over 11,000 soldiers are buried with over 60% of the identities of the soldiers in the graves unknown. We conducted a brief service and offered up our prayers for all the dead of all wars. As ever, our students were excellent ambassadors for Bellerive and the FCJ values.
Our students were celebrating after collecting their A-level results this summer. All the hard work has paid off for Bellerive's Year 13 students as they received the results they had studied so hard for.
Mrs Allerston, Head of Sixth Form, said: "It has been great to see so many students get the grades that were predicted and get into their first choice universities.
"After two years, and for many of our students, seven years, studying at Bellerive, we are all very excited and proud of them as they leave us to start the next phase of their lives.
"They should all feel ready, academically and as adults, to face their futures feeling confident and excited."
Bellerive pays its respects
NEW! Please follow our Twitter page for the latest news: @BelleriveFCJ
Bellerive celebrates A Level success
University visit for Year 8 opens world of opportunity
On Thursday, June 12th 29 year 8 pupils visited Liverpool University as part of Universities Week, in which universities across the UK invite everyone to be inspired, get involved and discover the work that they are doing to improve the way we live our lives. The pupils firstly took part in a hands-on workshop called ‘Science is Cool’, which was run by current Physics undergraduates, and demonstrated experiments within the field of cryogenics (the study of very cold materials!). After a short break the pupils were given a tour of the iconic Victoria Building, which was the very first Liverpool University building, and the inspiration for the term ‘red brick’ university. Finally the pupils were given a guided tour of the University’s latest Science exhibition ‘A World A Particle’, which explores the fascinating world of particle physics. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed their morning and were complimented by university staff on their impeccable behaviour.
Sixth Form News
In July three members of staff were fortunate enough to be invited on an FCJ pilgrimage that traced the lifelong journey of the order's foundress Marie Madeleine. Mr Taylor (Deputy Headteacher), Mrs Henry (Chaplain) and Mr Higgins (Music) flew to France and joined 33 other pilgrims from Ireland, Canada, Australia, England and Romania to travel from quiet country villages to the bright lights of Paris (at that time in the grip of both World Cup Fever and marking World War One's 100th Anniversary).
Mr Taylor writes..."I have many wonderful memories of the week that will stay with me for life. Most importantly, and mirroring the companionship of the FCJ charism, were the friendships forged with our fellow pilgrims. Being taken to a beautiful French country house and welcomed for a morning of fine wine and food by Marie Madeleine's direct descendants, who told us that as we are part of the FCJ family we are part of their family. Visiting the room where the foundress spent the last hours of
Bellerive staff connect with the global FCJ communityher life, leading a service next to the resting place of Marie Madeleine in Paris when we reminded ourselves of home by using "Let It Be" by The Beatles as our music and watching a World Cup match with a Canadian pilgrim Francisco, originally from El Salvador, who casually spoke of his time working alongside Archbishop Oscar Romero.
Having grown to understand the FCJ story so well through our pilgrimage it makes me realise how important it is that as teachers in Bellerive we continue to give our pupils the best possible education, in the footsteps of Marie Madeleine".
Year 12 return to Bellerive in record numbersWe were thrilled to welcome back over 100 Y12 students at the start of term to our fast-growing sixth form. Students are working towards a wide range of qualifications and will benefit from our outstanding pastoral care and support. Mrs Allerston, Deputy Headteacher and Head of Sixth Form said: 'We see our sixth form students as the core of the school and they offer a real example to the younger students. We are delighted to see so many return to us. They know we will go the extra mile for them and we look forward to welcoming them and future students into our new Sixth Form Centre which we plan to open in Autumn 2015 with the help of the Mayor of Liverpool'
Plans submitted for new buildingWe have submitted formal plans for a state of the art building overlooking Sefton Park. The building will help house our growing sixth form
We hope to gain planning permission for a 4 storey building overlooking Sefton Park which will provide a long-term home for the sixth form and other curriculum areas. The plans provide for a modern building with the latest learning technology but will be sympathetic to the rich architectural landscape of Sefton Park.
Our thanks go to the Mayor of Liverpool's capital investment team, Morgan Sindall (main contractors) and Mouchel (architects) for their support thus far.
In English we have started to study Shakespeare and his beautifully written plays and The Globe Theatre. To increase our knowledge of Shakespeare, an English trip was planned for 40 pupils in Year 8 to go to London for three whole days with Miss Brennan, Mr Wareing and Ms Whitehead. We left at 6.30 on Friday 20th June; it was a very long ride on the coach to London but we got there eventually. The moment we arrived we immediately went to McDonald’s in Marble Arch for lunch and then headed off to visit Buckingham Palace and the surrounding area. The teachers tried to convince us the The Queen was going to come out to wave to us! It was stunning; we saw many beautiful statues including the Victoria Memorial. After that, we went to the hotel for check-in and then boarded the coach and departed for central London to have a lovely evening meal at Pizza Express. Whilst waiting for the food to arrive we played a little game of cards to keep us busy. When we had finished our delicious meal we went off to the theatre in Drury Lane to watch ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.’ The musical was amazing; as I was watching I felt I was on the stage with the performers. Throughout the whole show I kept telling myself how mind blowing it was! When the play was over we got back on the coach and went back to the hotel. Day one was complete.In the morning we received a wake-up call at 6:45am and at 7:30am we had to be down for our breakfast.
It was another beautifully hot and sunny day. We boarded the coach and went to central London for a tour of Shakespeare’s Globe. It was magnificent; we were shown what the view was like for the rich and what the view was like for the poor known as 'groundlings'. Our tour guide was very interesting and told us everything we needed to know about the Globe Theatre. We had an opportunity to buy some souvenirs in the shop.As soon as the tour was finished we walked along the South Bank to the London Eye. The South Bank was gorgeous; everywhere I looked I felt magical. It was so lively with people singing, making the most of all of their talents! We had a lunch break then set off to the River Thames cruise. We went from Westminster to Tower Bridge and back, giving us an opportunity to take photographs of London’s famous sights. It was a brilliant experience to see most of London’s famous landmarks.We walked up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, past Downing Street and
nearly got caught in a protest march! Most of us wanted to visit the famous ‘M&M Store’, then we headed to Tiger Tiger to have our evening meal. The dinner was exquisite. Later on, after the lovely meal, we went to visit Leicester Square and Covent Garden. We got into groups of four or more and did a little shopping. Day two in London had ended and we left to go back to the hotel.For the last day we received a wake-up call, had breakfast and went to The Charles Dickens Museum. When I stepped inside I just felt I had stepped into the world of the 1800s. It was such a wonderful place. And last but not least we took a trip to The British Museum. I really enjoyed it. It was absolutely incredible. Everyone got this historical feeling when they entered the museum. The amount of facts I learnt was unbe-lievable. I know more about Egyptians than I ever did! We all had an amazing time, I re-ally think it really benefitted us, this trip increased our knowl-edge about Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and the history of the world.
A trip to London...By Yasaman Zaregarizi 8R
The school was delighted to be a finalist in the Echo Schools Awards for 2014. We were shortlisted in the Community
Bellerive shortlisted for major award Geography students get hands on with field workIn July, we ran a very successful field work visit to the Formby sand dunes. Year 10 collected primary data for their fieldwork enquiry, examining the impacts of tourism on the dunes and the National Trust’s management of these issues. They collected a lot of information, which will be used to complete their controlled assessment. Fortunately the weather was kind to us this year!
category for our fundraising efforts. The school raised over £3000 for some of the poorest people in the Philippines, hit particularly hard by typhoon Haiyan. One of our own teaching sisters, Sister Mary Anne Francalanza, worked with those earning a living from the rubbish dump of Quezon City prior to the typhoon and has shared her experiences with the school community. All year groups raised money in a variety of different ways. Although we did not win, the 4 students were proud to represent the school at the awards ceremony, Tuesday 15th July.
