Dates for your diary - St. James` Catholic High School

St James’
Catholic
High School
“The Jesse Tree is about Jesus’
family tree. The name is taken
from Isaiah 11:1, in which Jesus is
referred to as a shoot coming up
from the stump of Jesse, the
father of David. The ornaments
on the Jesse tree tell us of Jesus’
ancestors, and of the events leading to Jesus’
birth”. Roselyn
“We built a Jesse Tree with different items symbolising the
day we were allocated. We were all give a
day from the 7th to the 25th of December.
Our goal was to decorate the triangle in the
most arty way we could. Some of us did
drawings, some of us knitted items. Along
with the decorations, we had to write key
words on the triangle in French. For
example I got Adam and Eve, and I created
an ornament with a snake on it”. Alice
“Our tree is decorated with various
symbols that remind us of God’s
promise and faithfulness from Creation to the Birth of Jesus. The tree
is made out of wooden triangles
stuck together. Mrs. Knibb gave us
dates and bible passages to work
around and create a symbol with
keywords which we wrote in
French”. Kacey & Martyna
‘I have come that they may have
life and have it to the full’
John 10:10
Official
Newsletter
Issue 3
December
2013
Pictured Below: Mr Plum and
Mr Regnier with 7J students
It was our School Chaplain/Head of
Student Learning, Miss Whelan,
who came up with the idea for this
project—Luiz
The Jesse
Tree structure
was made by
Year 10 and
Year 11
students in
the Design &
Technology
Department
Roisin
“For this project Mrs Knibb gave a different date and
bible reference for each of us. With this we were
given a template of a triangle and had to decorate it
with either a hand-drawn picture or something handmade. We did this for homework and after we came
to our next lesson we had the chance to decorate
them a bit more as Mrs Knibb brought in some felt,
glitter, hole punches, pipe cleaners, pencils etc. We
stuck our art work on a wooden triangle with a special
spray glue” Martyna
For my part of the Jesse Tree I had to do
the 23rd of December. My passage was
about Jesus being Emmanuel. I tried to
be creative and made a knitted item
which has a chalice on the front and it
was hung by a piece of string to look like
an ornament - Monica
www.st-james.barnet.sch.uk
www.st-james.barnet.sch.uk
Headteacher’s
Notes:
So this incredibly busy term
draws to a close. So many
activities have taken place
alongside our core business
of teaching and learning. I
extend sincere thanks to our
staff for enabling our
students to have such a
variety of opportunities
available to them. A
multitude of visits and trips,
sporting fixtures and
enrichment activities have
been on offer as well as a
Christmas Miscellany, Senior
Citizens’ party and our
Prizegiving Evening, to name
but a few. This newsletter
gives a glimpse of some of
the events which have taken
place and I hope students do
value and learn from these
opportunities and are thus
enabled to “live their lives to
the full”.
Advent is a time for us to
reflect on the year that is
ending, as well as pause and
prepare for all that Christmas
brings. All students will
attend an advent service
here in school on
Wednesday 18 December. I
am very grateful to the staff
and students who have
worked so hard to lead these
services which help us all to
reflect on the true meaning of
Christmas.
I wish each and every one of
you a very happy and holy
Christmas and every
blessing for the New Year
that is 2014.
Staff at St James’ had fun fundraising
on Christmas Jumper Day
Young Rotary Chef
Competition held at St
James’. The winners were
Cimona D’Souza and
Aisling Hartshorn
“We are absolutely
thrilled to be
reaccredited as a Youth
Sport Trust Gold Partner
School which recognises
our commitment to
delivering the best
possible experiences for
young people through
PE and school sport"
Mrs Arnull
During Anti Bully Week, Hillsong Church came into school
perils of bullying through drama, stories, hip-hop and
I was very surprised to see two people who I had
never heard of win I’m a celebrity get me out of
here. Kian Egan, a former Westlife member was
crowned ‘King of the Jungle’ whilst fashion
designer David Emanuel was voted as runner
up. It wasn’t the Olympic champion, the Miss
Universe or Joey Essex but two people who
supported their camp mates, didn’t gossip and
quietly got on with the chores. Throughout the
two weeks they displayed love, hope and joy –
three advent virtues we can all aspire to follow.
As Christmas approaches, perhaps we could
display some of their actions to those around us.
Some Year 11 students visit the New York
Stock Exchange in the City of London for a
'masterclass' focussing on financial and
private sector careers. The students worked
closely with business professionals,
discussing skills and experience needed for
careers in this demanding sector. They
ended the day undertaking a series of
job interviews
Sixth form students,
staff and parents all
gave generously on
our blood donation
day.
to launch the String Movement. Students learnt about the
REFLECTION
Year 10 Triple Scientists attend The
Royal Institute in central London at
their annual conference where they
discussed 21st Century problems
e.g. the ethics of bio science, data who owns your genome?
Pope Tweet: "Advent is a
journey towards a horizon of
hope"
Breaking News: Pope Francis
has been named Times
Magazine Man of the Year
dance. All came away moved by the experience.
Media students immerse themselves in a film
festival recently held in the Southbank.
Year 7 Raising
Achievement group,
projects include ‘Peace
Garden’ and ‘London
as my classroom’
Where did the 2013 fundraising
go ?
Cancer Research £500
British Heart Foundation £500
Brick by Brick £200
Neuroblastoma Alliance £423.43
GOSH £362.97
The Butterfly AVM Charity £575
Ichtyhosis Support Group £275
Diabetes UK £275
Macmillan Cancer £231
The Anthony Nolan Trust £200
CAFOD £95
National Blind Children’s Society £30
Alzheimers Research UK £200
Breast Cancer Care £72.90
Make a Wish Foundation £60.15
Our Senior Citizens
enjoyed a wonderful
Christmas dinner and
entertainment
courtesy of staff and
students.
TOTAL £4306.22
Our
Christmas
Miscellany
was a huge
success.
Over 100
students took
part and the
event was
extremely
well attended.
Why not follow Pope Francis
on Twitter or Facebook :
Pope Francis
Popefrancis
@pontifex
Year 8 Girls Rugby at Allianz
Park. The girls played three
games and won all of them—they
received a free Saracens bag for
taking part.
Dates for your diary :
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
6th
13th
Term Starts
Year 11 Mock Exams Week
4th
6th
Year 9 Options Evening
Ski Trip Parents’ Evening
15th
Year 9 Parents’ Evening
7th
Year 11 Mock Exams Week
17th
Year 11 KS5 Taster Day
10th
Winter Sports Week
20
Year 7 Parents’ Evening
Year 12/13 Exam Week
11
29th
10am Late Start for Students
12th
Year 11 into Year 12 Mentoring
30th
Year 8 Parents’ Evening
13th
Inset
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Niamh Arnull
www.st-james.barnet.sch.uk
www.st-james.barnet.sch.uk
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