SFXtra Summer 2011 - SFX – St Francis Xavier`s College

sfxtra
July 2011
In partnership with
YOUTH
PARTNER
Contents
Spanish Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Year 7 visit Alder Hey Children’s Hospital
..................................4
School Council at Town Hall . . . . . . . . . . 5
Overseas Trips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Leaver’s Dinner Dance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Anniversary of John De La Mennais. . . 11
End of an Era for SFX Debators . . . . . . 12
Trip to Bath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Students get ahead in Engineering . . . 16
Jonathon Norcroft Visit . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Silver Duke of Edinburgh's Award . . . . 21
Science & Technology Challenge Day. 22
UK Maths Chellenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
School Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Dear Parents
As I write this we are experiencing yet another heavy hail shower –
let us hope that by the time we break up for the holidays the
weather has returned to what we would expect of summer and that
everyone will be able to benefit from a relaxing break. It is important
for all to have the opportunity to recharge their batteries after what
has been a very busy year and some fine weather in which to do this will be much
appreciated!
I would like to express my thanks to everybody; staff, parents and governors who have
worked so hard over the year to support our youngsters. I do hope that the many hours
of work undertaken by those who have taken public examinations this year will be
rewarded with good news for them in August. We all know how hard the students have
worked and how crucial their results are to them in opening up other opportunities.
The newsletter is once again full of information about the many activities which have
taken place this term and as ever, I hope
you enjoy reading about them.
Best wishes for a peaceful and
relaxing summer.
Yours sincerely,
L D Rippon
Headteacher
Newsletter
Editing Team
Matthew Handley
Jordan Rimmer
Jonathan Rigby
Leila Rooney
Amy Wright
Phillip McFerran
Daniel Healey
Nicholas Helme
Jack Thomas
Daniel Abayomi
Max Butler
Daniel Campbell
Aaron D’Souza
Billy Payne
Harry Ruggles
Joe Crane
Tom Costello
Michael Goodwin
Reiley Hampson
Thomas Howard
Felix Rigby
Alex Winder
13MA
12CA
12CA
12OW
12LE
10BR
9WA
9KE
9MA
8BR
8BR
8LE
8KE
8CA
8WA
7MA
7CA
7CA
7MA
7MA
7CA
7MA
Important Dates
THIS TERM
• Open evening Tuesday July 5th
(school closes at 12.25pm)
• Induction Day for new Year 7 pupils starting in
September. (Current Year 7 pupils remain at home
on this day.)
• Founders celebrations – school will close at
12.25pm on Monday July 18th.
• End of term – Y12 will break up for summer
holidays after Future Focus Day on Thursday July
21st. Pupils in Year 7-10 will break up at 12.25pm on
Friday July 22nd.
NEXT TERM
School opens for pupils as follows:
• Monday September 5th: Y13 students to attend
at 1.30pm.
• Tuesday September 6th: Y8-12 students to attend
at 8.40am. (Y8-11 will then be dismissed at 12.25pm
and a limited sandwich only will be available).
Y13 students are to remain at home.
New Year 7 pupils to arrive at 9.45am and will be
dismissed at 2.30pm.
• Wednesday September 7th: School open at
8.40am as normal and all students begin
timetabled lessons.
RESULTS DAYS AUGUST 2011
Pupils and students will be able to collect results of
external examinations from the Main Hall as follows:
Thursday August 18th
Year 13 – 9am
Year 12 – 11am
Thursday August 25th
Year 11 – 9am
Year 10 – 10am
Good Schools Guide
GCSE Award
St Francis Xavier’s College has recently
won the 2011 Good Schools Guide GCSE
Award for the best points score at an
English School for Boys taking Performing
Arts (VQ) at Vocational GCSE Single Award.
This award has been made on the basis of the data
underlying our performance table results for the three
years 2008, 2009 and 2010 combined, and in particular
on the basis of the popularity of the subject relative to
similar schools, and of the success that pupils achieved
relative to the other examinations that they took. The
aim of The Good Schools Guide is to highlight excellent
teaching in individual subjects.
Nugent Society:
Trip to the Catholic
Cathedral
A group of us attended the Good Shepherd Mass at the
Catholic Cathedral, so that we could hand over a cheque
for the money we had raised in school. The cheque was
for over £300.00 and it will go towards helping needy
people in Liverpool. To raise this we watched a video in
the hall. Mr Rippon allowed us to do this and we were
joined by our teachers and Ms Staunton.
During the Mass there was also a performance of dance
by pupils from another school in the Archdiocese and
plenty of singing and dancing. As we left the Cathedral
there was a samba band at the top of the Cathedral
steps. They were fantastic.
Michael Goodwin 7CA
PTA UPDATE
The PTA would like to thank all of the ladies
who recently supported us at the Clarins
evening held in school. We managed to raise
£269.00 which will go towards providing
future items for the College.
Thank you also to Andrew Keeley (Parent
and School Governor) who ran the London
Marathon in April on behalf of the PTA. He
managed to meet his target of £500.00 and
our thanks go to all who supported him by
way of sponsorship as this has helped boost
our funds.
Some Committee members are due to leave
us at the end of this academic year and I
would like to personally thank them all for
their hard work and dedication to the PTA
over the years. This now means that we need
extra help on the PTA from September
onwards so please consider helping us if you
feel able. The PTA can be contacted at any
time via the school office. In the meantime,
thank you for your continued support.
Chairperson
SFX PTA
Staff Changes
Best wishes to Mr Draper and Mrs Jackson as they
retire at the end of this term and a big thank you for
all of their hard work supporting pupils.
Mrs Jackson is retiring after 27 years of service
whilst Mr Draper has taught at SFX for 20 years.
Miss Conlon, Miss Kelsall and Mr J Wheeler will also
be leaving at the end of this academic year and we
wish them well. Two new members of staff will be
joining the College in September; Miss Shearer
(History) and Mrs Walters (Maths).
Newsletter Club
At the Cathedral we were joining in a celebration of all
the money that has been raised this year for the
Nugent Society. It was great seeing other children from
other schools enjoying themselves. There was a lot of
singing and clapping during the Mass. We had our
dinner early with Ms Staunton and then Mr Wheeler
took us into Liverpool on the school mini bus. At the
end of the Mass he then came back to collect us. We
arrived back at school at 3pm. We all had a great time.
The Nugent Society have this celebration every year
and the R.E. department at SFX work closely with them
to fundraise for this cause.
Tom Costello 7CA
2
Are you a budding journalist or writer? The SFX
newsletter needs the help of all would-be
wordsmiths to assist in putting together our future
issues. September will see the launch of the SFX
newsletter lunchtime club for anyone with an
interest in using their creativity to report on day-today life at SFX.
Perhaps you see yourself as a sports journalist and
want to report on the College’s many sports teams.
Or maybe you’re a young photographer with an eye
for a good picture. Wherever your journalistic skills
lie, if you’d like to put them to the test and see your
words or pictures in print, don’t hesitate to get
involved. All you need to do is put your name down
on the list in the LRC. Boys from all years are
invited to join, enthusiasm and dedication are
essential!
Spanish Exchange
– Return Visit
During the last week of April, a group of Spanish
students came to stay with us for a week. On arriving in
Liverpool, accompanied by their teachers, Gonzalo and
Patricia, the Spaniards were greeted with a very
Spanish-themed evening spent watching Barcelona v
Real Madrid, about which they all seemed very
passionate.
After their first night’s sleep in our city, the Spanish
students spent the day in SFX. Considering they Study 11
subjects in the equivalent of their A level year, and we
only study 4, their time spent in SFX was quite a shock
to the system, but we only heard positive comments.
The Bank Holiday weekend passed with parties and talk
of the royal wedding which most of the Spaniards were
really interested in. On Bank Holiday Monday, the whole
group spent the day wandering around Chester seeing
the sites.
Throughout the whole week, Liverpool was blessed with
warm, sunny weather which meant we were able to
spend a lot of time out and about in Calderstones Park
and L1. The city centre proved to be very popular with
the Spanish group because it is very different from what
they are used to in the small town where they live at
home. They were overwhelmed with the amount of
Beatles paraphernalia they could buy for their friends
and family.
The final day came quicker than expected. We celebrated
the end to a lovely week with a group lunch on Allerton
Road. This was followed by tears and emotional
goodbyes at the airport. Thankfully, it was only ‘goodbye
for now’ as most of the group are returning to Guadix
during the summer holidays to see our Spanish amigos
once again.
The whole experience has helped my confidence in
speaking Spanish to grow. The group and I really enjoyed
the exchange and I would wholeheartedly recommend it
to anybody that is interested in improving their Spanish
or seeing a beautiful part of the world and making some
amazing friends in the process. We would like to say a
big thank you to Mr Lloyd and Miss Márquez for
organising the exchange for us.
Leila Rooney 12OW
3
Year 7 Visit Alder Hey Children’s Hospital
Earlier this year a small number of boys from Year 7 attended Alder Hey Children’s
Hospital. We had all played a role in raising money for their new Imagine Appeal and
were representing each of our Form groups.
The visit was to see what the money we had raised was going to be spent on.
We also had a say in what it would go towards. The main thing the hospital
was looking to buy was a selection of new toys which children could play with
whilst in the Accident and Emergency waiting area or whilst they were
experiencing a long stay in hospital. We all agreed on this and thought it was
an excellent way to spend the money. Toys can have a very short shelf life
due to germs and also wear and tear. We were keen that our money was used
to buy games and DVDs that ill teenagers could benefit from.
On the trip we were also shown around different areas of the hospital such
as the new rehabilitation centre (recently opened by the cricketer Andrew
‘Freddie’ Flintoff), the fundraising offices and the Accident and Emergency
waiting rooms. The Imagine Appeal team donated an enormous teddy bear
for us to raffle to enable us to reach our Year 7 target of £2,000.00 for the
appeal. Altogether it was a fascinating and eye-opening experience.
Felix Rigby 7CA
4
Students Represent the School Council
at the Town Hall
The City Council is currently consulting on a new Home
to School Transport Policy that will take effect in
September 2011 for the Academic Year 2011/12.
The City Council is not legally obliged to provide the
level of free home to school travel support that it
currently provides so it is reviewing its school transport
arrangements. The SFX school council met at the end of
April to discuss the proposed changes to the policy.
Under the proposed policy pupils will only be eligible for
a travel pass if they attend their ‘nearest suitable
qualifying school’ with places available.
To date the City Council have not finalised changes to
the policy.
We would like to thank Mrs Hardman for co-ordinating
the visit to the Town Hall which enabled us to present
the views and concerns of pupils at our school.
Amy Wright 12 LE & Jonathan Rigby 12 OW
Students from Years 7-12 discussed the proposed
changes, which led to quite a heated discussion as it is a
topic we all felt very strongly about. Mrs Hardman then
arranged for us to visit the Town Hall to discuss our
concerns with the representatives from the City Council.
A lot of questions were asked regarding the economic
viability of the proposal and the ethical implications of
the policy. We were also given an opportunity to present
some of the possible solutions (formulated by
representatives of the SFX School Council) that we
would like the City Council to consider in response to our
concerns. We understand that budgets need to be cut
but asked if it would be possible to phase in cuts in
stages instead of such a severe initial cut. Other
suggestions were half price or third off bus fares for
young people in full time education. (e.g. 50p instead of
90p and 90p fares for a sixth form student instead of a
student or adult fare.) We also asked if the City Council
might be able to compromise in terms of the provision of
a subsidised specific school bus service.
The School Council –
Wok Next?
The School Council met on Wednesday for a very
different lunchtime meeting. Pupils had asked to meet
with the Catering Manager of the catering company
Taylor Shaw to review the food provision. Instead of
the usual plates of assorted sandwiches and cakes the
Chef produced a delicious stir fry. Pupils could choose
from a variety of fresh ingredients and all agreed it
was most enjoyable.
Taylor Shaw were keen to hear the opinions of the
pupils. Prices, fizzy and soft drinks, adequate choice if
last in to the dining hall, meal deals, pre orders and
cakes were all topics for discussion. The company
promised to attend the School Council meetings more
regularly as they are committed to moving the food
provision forward. Wok next?
5
A Spotlight on
Declan Jones
Declan joined SFX 5 years ago from Hale
Primary School and has just completed his
final GCSE year. There has always been a
keen motor sport interest around Declan,
with his father owning ‘Kelvin Jones
Motorsport’ which specialises in motor sport
repair and racing. It was from this
background that Declan began to race in the
Formula Kart Stars around the country. By
Year 10, Declan was given permission to
follow his motor racing career more closely
by the school, who allowed him the time
away that is necessary to pursue his racing
career, for travel, car testing and the
actual races. Declan
would race at weekends
and can be seen on ITV4
every fortnight in
support of the British
Touring Cars.
Declan is an aggressive
and very successful driver
of karts. This was clearly
shown as he ended the
season with a much
deserved victory against
his rivals.
Declan then made the
transition to the much
respected and most
prestigious British Ginetta
Junior Championships 20112012. These are the very
best drivers in the UK under
the age of 17 years. He has
successfully competed in all
races so far this season,
regularly finishing in the top
ten of each race and only a
puncture has prevented him
from accessing the podium at
Oulton Park.
Declan is a fantastic driver
who has taken every progression of his career in his
stride. He is a driver who excels in wet conditions that
most other drivers detest. In these conditions this year,
Declan is the fastest driver on the circuit. This was the
case for arguably his best performance of the season at
his home track of Oulton Park, when strongly supported
by his family and friends; he was closing in on a podium
finish only to be denied by an untimely puncture.
However, it is Declan’s personality which is his greatest
attribute. He is a very modest and unassuming young
man who smiles very easily. He is an extremely popular
member of his Year 11 group with a wide circle of friends.
He never speaks of his success and achievements and
it’s to his credit that he has maintained his interest in his
studies and school life. He had a near perfect punctuality
6
and attendance record
and became an inspiration
to his friends. His
maturity and determined
approach to motor sport
was often evident around
the school. He is a student
that SFX is very proud of
and I would like to wish him
every success in a future
that I’m positive will be
filled with many motor
sport victories.
Declan has not changed
from the first time he
walked in to my classroom
in Year 7. He is the same
happy, outgoing and polite
student. This coupled with
his obvious driving ability and
determination leaves me in no
doubt that he will enjoy a long and
successful career. Everyone at
SFX will follow Declan’s progress
closely in the coming months,
hoping only for the very best.
Good luck from all the staff and
students at SFX!
Mr Burke
Year 8 Chester Zoo Trip
Capital Work
On Tuesday 28th June 2011, seventy nine pupils and 11
teachers went to visit Chester Zoo. It was a brilliant day
and everybody enjoyed it. When we got there we split
into groups of nine to go around the Zoo with our
teacher.
It is a year ago now that the Building Schools for the Future
programme from which we were to benefit was withdrawn.
Since that time the City Council have been looking into a
capital programme to support us and other schools and
whilst there are no firm details about this yet, I am able to
report that we are to see some essential health and safety
work being carried out over the months to come which will
cost in the region of £400,000.00. This includes further
new windows in the Main Building (classrooms, Science
Laboratories and Hall), refurbishment of changing areas for
PE, improvements to the heating and electrical system in
the Main Building together with the possible provision of a
lift in order to improve accessibility. The governors continue
to work hard to improve the environment for youngsters and
I am grateful for their support in this area.
Some of the animals we saw included the elephants
(who were all out because it was a sunny day and it was
feeding time), the bats (these were scary and flew very
close), and the monkeys (these were funny and were all
playing around). We also saw meerkats, butterflies,
rhinos, jaguars, lions and tigers.
Some of us went on the monorail and some people went
on the boat trip. We all met up for lunch and sat outside
because it was so sunny. We all had a great day and
came home exhausted!
Harry Ruggles 8WA
Mr Rippon
National Teaching
Awards
Each year nominations are asked for the above awards and
staff may be nominated by students and parents. I am very
pleased to say that six staff from SFX were nominated for
their hard work over recent years and this was recognised
by certificates issued by the Teaching Award judging panel
which came into school this term. Those receiving
certificates were; Mr Golden, Brother Edmund and Mr
O’Malley (who have all retired recently), Mr Evans, Mr
Prescott and Mr Slattery.
Congratulations to them all. If you wish to find out more
about the Teaching Awards please visit their website
www.teachingawards.com .
Mr Rippon
Schools' Parliament
Year 8 Fundraising
R.N.L.I.
After a very interesting visit by Mike from the R.N.L.I,
Year 8 had a significant increase in their fundraising. It
is not easy to collect the large sums to equal those
raised in previous years and the efforts of both staff and
pupils are very much appreciated. Mike showed the boys
how their fundraising would help this volunteer service
and the boys were greatly impressed by the selfless
heroics of the Crewmen who have to cope with some
treacherous conditions in order to
save lives.
Another busy year is drawing to
an end and the MSP's have
attended some very interesting
events over the year. The one
that perhaps remains uppermost
in their minds is the Holocaust
Memorial Service and
Remembrance Day. The boys
were very moved by the stories of the survivors and
were keen to ask questions and listen to their vivid
memories of life in those difficult times.
My thanks go to the MSP's who regularly attended
meetings and proved excellent ambassadors for the
school.
The MSP’s are Thomas Clunan, Aaron D'Souza, Adam
Crosbie, Daniel Healey, Patrick Back, Matthew Powell
and Jonathan Rigby. We were also very pleased to
welcome Amy Wright to our group in the last session of
the Parliament. I wish them every success in the future.
Mrs Hardman
7
Greece Trip
On May 22nd 2011, pupils from Years Seven, Eight and Nine
visited Greece with the Classics Department. Greece is a
beautiful place full of amazing sights and lots of mountains
with spectacular views. The trip was extremely busy and we
visited five cities in eight days! The cities we visited included:
Athens, Kalambaka, Delphi, Olympia and Tolo. In my opinion, I
thought Delphi was the most pleasant place, but if you like the
sightseeing then I would recommend either Athens or
Kalambaka.
Olympia
The good thing about visiting this historic site was that there
was no hill to climb! Whilst we were at the site, we visited the
temple of Zeus. This is where people competing at the
Olympics would go to pray before competing to help them
mentally and physically. After the temple, we went to the
actual track, were we ran against each other. It felt really good
that we were racing on the track that people more than two
thousand years ago ran on! Then we went to another museum.
This museum wasn’t as good as the one in Delphi but it was
still a great experience. The next location was a seaside place
called Tolo.
Athens
Tolo
We arrived at our hotel in Athens at about 3pm. After we
sorted the rooms and all of our bits and pieces out, we went to
a museum. The museum looked very modern, with glass floors
and hence, glass ceilings! The museum was full of artefacts you
would expect to find in a Greek museum (statues and the like).
The next day we visited the magnificent Acropolis and we
climbed two mountains. The Acropolis is wonderful and it is a
must see site. Also, the view from the mountains is spectacular,
you can see right across Athens.
The hotel in Tolo was very
nice and it also had a pool,
which we were allowed to go
in, however it was absolutely
freezing cold and to add to
that, it started raining,
thundering and lightning, so
we had to get out quite
quickly. The next day in Tolo
we went to the site of the
palace where the famous king
Agamemnon (if he existed)
allegedly lived. The site also
included an underground
tunnel leading to an ancient
water cistern. If the enemy
captured your water supply
then you would have to
surrender. When we entered
the tunnel, there must have
been more than three
thousand flies on each rock!
After the tunnel, we went to a
mountain which we were
going to climb; well to be
honest it was more of a castle on a hill than a mountain. To get
to the castle we had to climb more than eight hundred steps,
which was tough in the heat. After this we went back to the
hotel and went for a swim. The next day we went to yet another
mountain! This one wasn’t as tough as the other one as we
went halfway up by coach. The view from the peak of the
mountain was amazing. You could see right across the city and
countryside. Unfortunately, we had to go to the airport after
this to catch our flight back into Manchester airport.
Kalambaka
After our visit to Athens we had a five hour journey to our next
destination! When we first arrived in the city we saw the
landmark we were going to visit. The landmark was mountains
with monasteries on top of them but the mountains looked like
they had been left there from erosion and weathering. This
landmark is also important because the James Bond film ‘For
Your Eyes Only’ was filmed there! That night we went and got
ice cream which was delicious and the shop had many flavours.
The following day we went to the monasteries. The view from
the monasteries was highly impressive. After Kalambaka we
then visited Delphi.
Delphi
It took two to three hours to get from Kalambaka to Delphi on
the coach which wasn’t too bad. When we first got to Delphi we
checked in at our hotel then we went shopping. The shopping
was great; to be honest it was the best shopping location in the
holiday. The next day, we went to a temple and to the ancient
Olympic training track. You could see where the track was built,
but you weren’t able to run on it because of dangerous rock
falls. Nevertheless, you could run on another miniature track
close by. There were also ruins from the temple. After the track
we went to a museum and saw the famous statue of the
charioteer. It was a bronze statue but it was in a good
condition. The next location of the trip was Olympia. The
ancient location of the Olympics.
Overall I really enjoyed this holiday and I would really like to do
this again.
Billy Payne 8CA
8
Visit to Normandy, France 2011
On the 6th June 2011, a group of
thirty eight SFX pupils visited France
with the History Department. We
visited many World War 2 sites
including Pegasus Bridge, war
cemeteries, the beaches that were
fought on during D-Day in WW2 and
museums showing us what happened
during D-Day. Groups from Years 7, 8
and 9 took part in the visit along
with Miss Crickett, Mr Harrison, Mrs
Jackson, Mr Green and Mr Burke.
We also visited Mont St Michel which
was a brilliant day out. All of the
pupils had fun, with people buying
giant candy floss and crêpes and
others shopping for gifts. We all
loved the hotel where we met very
friendly staff and had great food. At
night we all went down to the beach
hunting for crabs or maybe a game
of football or cricket.
One of the main parts of the trip was
the visits to all of the beaches from
the World War 2 landings, thankfully
the weather was nice and it was
great to learn about what happened.
The group at the famous Pegasus Bridge
Meeting a veteran, who fought on D Day, at Arromanches
This year the trip was organised by
Mr Green, he did a fantastic job as
did the other teachers which made it
especially enjoyable, and we would
definitely recommend it to others.
Daniel Healey 9WA and
Nicholas Helme 9KE.
Exploring the remains of Hitler's
"Atlantic Wall" defences at Pointe Du Hoc
9
Friday the Thirteenth
dePart 13
Earlier than usual in the calendar and on Friday the 13th of May but no less
enjoyable, was this year’s farewell to Year 13 students – in the shape of the Leaver’s
Dinner and Dance. As in previous years, it turned out to be a lavish, grand affair in
which food and entertainment abounded.
Mr Hayhurst, Mr Gardner and Physics students
Things got off to a heady start with ‘Bucks Fizz’ for
guests on arrival – the boys in stylish shiny suits and the
girls in finest posh frocks! Then came the sit-down bit
of the meal. Bro Peter said ‘Grace’ and we were
underway.
The Manic Street Teachers, the school’s resident band
were given centre-stage! They launched into a
blistering hour-long set which included such classics as
The Arctic Monkeys’ ‘When The Sun Goes Down’, The
Undertones’ ‘Teenage Kicks’ and the Bro James’
favourite, ‘Happy Song’. New MST pianist, Mr Stokes
shone out during Status Quo’s ‘Rocking All Over The
World’ and The Monkees’ ‘I’m A Believer’.
Disc-spinning in the background before, during and after
the MST’s set was chemistry teacher and part-time DJ,
Mr Daniels. Karaoke came next with Mr Daniels at the
helm; Mr Glover with a gritty rendition of the Waterboys’
‘The Whole Of The Moon’ and the R. Kelly classic, ‘She’s
Got That Vibe’; Mr Evans weighed in with GaGa’s Poker
Face and The Ting Tings’ ‘That’s Not My Name’. Other
staff and pupils were not shy in showing off their talents
The Manic Street Teachers in full flow
10
DJ Daniels organises the Karaoke
with one person producing an incredibly impressive and
faithful version of The Script’s ‘For The First Time’.
After the fun and frivolity (which went on until late in
evening) was over, all remaining staff wished Year 13
good luck in their forthcoming exams and then we all
went our merry ways!
Ms Boughey with members of the debating society
Y13 girls in ‘posh frocks’
Merseyside Higher
Education Conference
17th June 2011
150th Anniversary of
John De la Mennais
To recognise the 150th anniversary of John De la
Mennais we have spent some time during our R.E.
lessons learning about the founder of our school.
John De La Mennais was an inspirational figure,
famous across the globe. However even though he is
known well to those associated with his work, not
many people know of his hard life.
Born in St. Malo on September 8th 1780, John De la
Mennais was a citizen of Brittany born to a wealthy
ship owner; his father was honoured by Louis XVI for
his loyalty to his home province, helping it in a time of
famine. At the tender age of 7, John tragically lost his
mother, however he tried to look at it in a positive way
and his mother’s faith and intelligence lived on in him.
John was determined from an early age to become a
priest despite the hard time the country’s priests faced
due to the French revolution. A young priest in hiding,
Fr. Vielle, tutored him and helped him to greatly
advance in his spiritual, emotional and intellectual
journey to become a priest.
At the age of 23, in 1804, John was ordained a priest.
Although it was not imperative, he immediately
adopted educational duties. It became his mission to
provide education to poor children and eventually to
higher class children as well.
Thirteen years later, John founded the Brothers of
Christian Instruction in order to better organise the
teaching of poor children in Brittany. His and his
brothers’ motive was to make Christ better known and
This term Year 12 students visited the Merseyside
Higher Education Conference at Liverpool
University. The visit was organised by Ms Finlay
with the aim being to support Y12 students in
preparation for University and to help us make well
informed choices for the future about the different
courses available to us.
We made our own way to and from the University,
and were given a programme which highlighted all
the talks available to us as well as a map of the
campus; this programme was used as our ticket to
the event. The conference consisted of two main
parts; there was a “marketplace” where
representatives from over 100 Universities and
Colleges were situated.
The second part was a series of talks and lectures
which were delivered on a first come, first served
basis. The lectures were delivered by the
administration tutors for the different Universities
and included things about the courses, entry
requirements and also they are looking to be
included on your UCAS personal statement. We
were able to attend one, two or three of the seminar
talks and visit the marketplace. After we visited the
stalls and mini lectures, we were then free to make
our own way around the campus and look at what
Liverpool University had to offer.
The conference was incredibly beneficial and we
would like to thank Ms Finlay and the 6th Form
team for organising the day for us.
Jordan Rimmer 12CA
better loved. Two years later, in 1819, Fr. Deshayes
merged his own young congregation with the
Brothers’.
John faced many harsh accusations and was marked
with the cross like many other followers of God at the
time. He and his congregation of Brothers were soon in
demand across France and its colonies as well as in
England. In 1860, de la Mennais died tragically of a
stroke. His legacy however lived on for many years in
the congregation of Brothers.
In 1903, the Brothers were severely set back when the
French Government closed all its schools, even those
in its colonies. The congregation moved to England and
19 years later formed St. Mary’s College in
Southampton. St. Mary’s is now an eight hundred pupil
strong primary and grammar school.
In 1961, the Brothers arrived in our city, thirteen years
later taking control of the direction of our school. We
are proud to have such a rich history at SFX.
Aaron D’Souza 8KE, Daniel Campbell 8LE
and Max Butler 8BR
11
'I was brought out
of my shell by
debating and now
feel free to be the
unique individual I
was born to be'
Jonathan Mitchell
'Debating caused me
to develop an allergy
to apathy'
Daniel Keeley
'What am I going to do
without Oldham to boss
around/look after?'
Matthew Handley
The end of an era for
SFX’s Debaters
Oxford. Durham. Mace; Three of the biggest competitions in British debating, all
falling within a month of each other. March was to be the most intense, exciting and
potentially rewarding in the history of SFX’s Debate and Public Speaking Society.
Before ‘the Big Three’, our debating odyssey started on
the 11th of March with the ‘Debating Matters’
competition in Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall; an event
which lacked the prestige of the other tournaments, but
which Ms Boughey forced us into nonetheless, in the
promise of ‘Big Prizes’. Competing as a foursome, we
would speak as duos in two initial rounds before the
best schools would break to the final. Despite Jonathan
Mitchell and Matthew Oldham’s defeat (which involved a
heated exchange between Jonathan and an
unsuspecting audience member), mine and Daniel
Keeley’s victory saw myself and Matthew advance to the
final, in which we successfully argued against the
legalisation of ‘smart drugs’. As a result we advanced to
12
the national final (which will be held as this magazine
goes to press!) and also received prizes. Alas, they were
not as big as hoped.
Our victory sent us to the ‘dreaming spires’ of Oxford,
merry in spirit. Oxford had been a perennial thorn in
SFX’s side, having won every round only to fall at the
last hurdle and miss out on the final the year before. We
were determined to win. We got off to a dream start in
the first round, taking a first. Not only this, but Matthew
Oldham gave a speech which the chief judge described
as, ‘one of the best’ he’d ever seen at school level. A 2nd
and 1st place position followed in the next two debates,
leaving us needing 2nd place in the final round to give
ourselves a shot at breaking. Arguing that those who
leak state secrets deemed to be in the public interest
should be given immunity from prosecution in what was
the competition’s top room, it was a close debate of an
exceptionally high standard, leaving us uncertain as to
whether or not we’d done enough. “The team breaking
in 3rd, with 14 points is... SFX A”; the air was punched,
hugs were exchanged; we’d made it, and would argue in
2nd opposition (our favourite position), on the motion
“This house believes it can be justifiable for the West to
assassinate dictators”. We scuttled away to our
Canada. (I will have the opportunity to exact revenge at
this year’s World Championships in Dundee.) The mood
on the train was one of disappointment and anti-climax;
however, this was soon reversed as news filtered
through that this week we had once again taken the top
two places on the speaker tab, this time with myself in
1st place. (Daniel 13th and Jonathan 19th out of 216
speakers). Whilst there was obvious disappointment at
the final outcome, our performance throughout the
weekend had been very good indeed.
The final part to our epic journey was the National Final
of the Mace, a competition which myself and Matthew
had taken part in two years earlier only to be edged out
by St Paul’s school. Arguing in favour of the unpopular
position of supporting the rise in tuition fees, we
acquitted ourselves admirably, and won our individual
debate. However, a new team from St Paul’s found
themselves in a far more explosive international
relations motion, and were deemed the best in the
competition. Being good friends of SFX’s, we did not
begrudge them the victory, and wished them luck for
the British Grand Final of the competition, which they
went on to win.
‘In hindsight it is easy to inbue one’s own youth with a false
sense of glory; yet I truly believe never did we soar to
heights so great as those reached during our time at SFX’
Natalie Casey
15 minutes preparation, a bag of nerves and barelycontainable excitement; however, when the debate
started ,this was to give way to probably our strongest
performance ever. Matthew extended the case with
gusto and attacked the proposition’s points with clarity
and precision, whilst I concluded the debate in an
impassioned manner. We were confident we’d performed
to the best of our abilities, but had it been enough to
take home the trophy? The answer, after the judges split
6-3 in our favour, was yes. Not only this but throughout
the whole competition I had been named 2nd best
speaker and Matthew Oldham 1st (for which he received
a much deserved standing ovation). Daniel Keeley was
placed 28th and Jonathan Mitchell 37th, very creditable
performances given that there were 184 speakers. The
weekend had been a resounding triumph, our greatest
so far, and broke what had been a lengthy chain of
private school winners of the competition.
Durham followed the week after; a competition which
spanned 5 rounds and 2 days. We waltzed through the
early rounds, taking four consecutive 1sts, arguing on
topics as diverse as football hooliganism and gender
reassignment, assuring our break to the semi-finals with
a round to spare. A 2nd in Round 5 meant we advanced
in 1st place. SFX B (Daniel Keeley and Jonathan Mitchell)
finished in 9th place out of a total of 108 teams. Alas,
the previous week’s successes were not to be replicated,
as we were edged out in the semi-final as the judges
decided we had not done enough to secure 2nd place,
which went by the narrowest of margins to a team from
'I owe it all to Handley'
Matthew Oldham
Whilst the month didn’t end in a hat-trick of victories, it
was nevertheless an immensely successful one; we’d
won the competition we most yearned for, Oxford, and
secured our status, through the speaker tabs, as the top
two debaters in the country. What’s more, there is still
further chance for triumph; the Debating Matters Final
awaits, whilst in August I’ll represent England in the
World Schools’ Championships.
Our three academic years in debating has brought us
numerous honours; but more than that it has helped me
to forge great friendships and strengthen me as a
person. I speak for Matthew Oldham, Daniel Keeley,
Jonathan Mitchell, Natalie Casey and the whole society
when I thank debating for giving us these opportunities,
but also Mrs Boughey; our inspirational and dedicated
coach, without whom none of the successes, which have
flooded the pages of SFXtra over the last few years,
would have been possible. It’s been a blast.
Matthew Handley 13MA
13
Trip to Bath
The group arrived at school very early on in the day of
the trip to Bath. It took us nearly four hours to get to
Bath, but we did have things to keep us entertained and
took part in a quiz on the way there and back with a
different round every leg of the journey.
Is was a very bright, sunny day in Bath when we arrived,
and after a short walk we arrived at the Bath pools
where we waited until we could go inside. When we
finally entered we saw the wonderful entrance hall
(which had layers added to it in the Elizabethan and
Victorian times). As we went through the entrance hall
we entered a small room where we had an introduction
talk, and learned about some of the gravestones found
at Bath. It was then time to take a look round the ruins,
which were spectacular. The baths were huge and the
outcrops and extra features of the building were very
well preserved. Some of the braver amongst us also
drank the waters!
We were provided with small radios which we entered a
number into, this enabled us to listen to information
about different parts of Bath. The final part of the trip
was a walk around Bath which included a talk on glass
blowing. After blowing our own glass bubbles we walked
to a small park for a rest and then set off home.
On the coach we concluded the quiz competition and
watched a film called The Minority Report. It was a great
day and everyone really enjoyed it.
Jack Thomas 9MA
14
University College Oxford Send Congratulations
21/03/2011
Dear Mr Rippon
I am writing to extend my
warmest congratulations
to your school following
and Matthew Oldham's vic
Matthew Handley
tory at the Oxford Scho
ols Debating Competitio
Oxford Schools has alway
n
on
March 12th.
s been a prestigious and
highly competitive even
competition was excepti
t, but this year's
onal in both its size and
the quality of its particip
one of the very best finals
ants, culminating in
-days we have ever seen
. Well over 600 teams fro
country have taken part
m around the
in this year's competitio
n, including representat
most famous schools in
ive
s from both the
the country, and those wi
th an extensive debating
emphasise every year ho
history. While we
w diverse and wide-rang
ing the debating circuit
institutional experience
has become,
and a tradition of particip
ating in competitions rem
significant advantages.
ain, as in sport,
For schools which are rel
atively new to debating
Xavier's to achieve such
like St. Francis
success at one of the ve
ry best schools competi
truly outstanding achieve
tions in the world is a
ment.
I hope we will continue to
see more of St. Francis Xa
vier's at Oxford Schools
debating competitions in
and other
the future. Debating is no
w one of the largest extra
activities in the United Kin
-curricular
gdom, with nearly a doze
n schools competitions
thousand participating se
a year, and nearly a
condary schools. Aside
from the enormously va
helps students develop,
luable career skills it
it exists in an even more
developed form at Unive
debating at school only
rsity level, and
enhances the experienc
e for students when the
education. I am delighte
y
arr
ive in higher
d that St. Francis Xavier's
decision to provide such
your pupils has resulted
opportunities to
in such success for you.
Particular congratulatio
ns should, of course, go
to Matthew and Matthew
exceptionally talented ind
. They are
ividuals who, as I am sure
you are aware, not only
competition, but finished
won the
1st and 2nd best speake
r on the final tabulated
for the winning team to
res
ults. It is very rare
also occupy the top two
positions in the speaker
I am aware that Matthew
rankings in this way.
Handley has been selec
ted for the England World
year - another exception
Schools team this
al achievement. But I pe
rsonally judged your tea
year's finals day, in which
m
in Round 1 of this
, as I told him on the day,
Matthew Oldham gave the
speech I have ever seen
single best
by a school student in so
me five years of judging
While I am sure you are
these competitions.
extremely proud of these
students, talented deba
opportunities that head
ters only get the
masters and senior staff
open for them and that
help train them for. You
the
ir debate coaches
and your school deserve
the very highest praise
in supporting their supe
for your crucial roles
rb performances last we
ekend.
Please pass on my cong
ratulations to your scho
ol governors, and once mo
Matthew and their coac
re to Matthew and
h Clare Boughey. My very
best wishes to you and St
for the future.
. Francis Xavier's
Yours sincerely
Jonathan Leader Maynard
Chief Adjudicator, Oxfor
d Schools Debating Comp
etition 2011
D.Phil candidate in Politi
cs
University College, Oxfor
d
15
STEM - BP Oil
Trading Event
STEM - Students Get
Ahead in Engineering
At SFX on Monday 16th May 2011, fifty Year 9 pupils
took part in an event run by BP. Students worked in
teams, competing to trade oil and make a profit,
whilst demonstrating mathematical and enterprise
skills, and the personal qualities that can contribute
towards success in business. It was an engaging workrelated activity delivered by an energetic team of BP
presenters.
From 26th to 28th April,
one hundred young people
gathered at the University
of Liverpool, five of whom
were Year 9 pupils from
SFX, to attend a specially
designed Engineering
Experience residential
course. This free course
forms part of a major
initiative funded by the
Department for Education,
called Get Ahead with STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering and Maths). The Smallpeice Trust ran the
course to encourage students to consider engineering
as a possible career in the future.
The students each had a role to play within their
group such as; accountant, project manager, analyst
and buyer. They had to buy and sell imaginary barrels
of oil, reacting to news bulletins and therefore
predicting the effect it will have on the cost of oil.
They also had to work out their company finances
after each transaction. The company which made the
most money at the end of the session was declared
the winning team.
Pupils were very excited and engaged in the event
and many said they felt like they were on the
apprentice. Miss Warwick said “It was lovely to hear
pupils so enthusiastic about the event and to hear
pupils saying they wanted to do a job like this when
they were older. If it has inspired even just a few
pupils to pursue a career in a Maths related field then
it was success”.
16
Over the three days, pupils, had the opportunity to
learn about engineering through a series of
presentations and practical exercises. Working in
teams, they tackled ‘real-life’ challenges on projects
designed and facilitated by young engineers from
industry. These organisations included BAE Systems,
Jaguar Land Rover, the Royal Navy and Urenco.
Projects included designing and building a car, a
remotely operated vehicle, a warship and a
centrifuge. As well as working on the design, build
and test elements of the projects, they developed life
skills such as teamwork, communication, problem
solving, time management, finance and presentation.
Adam Dingle won a prize for the best centrifuge and
Sean Guy won a prize for the best submarine.
Miss Warwick who organised for SFX to attend this
residential commented “This course provides
students with a valuable insight into the world of
engineering whilst seeing for themselves what
University life is like”.
Year 10 Engineering Challenge
at Jaguar Landrover
On Friday 24th June,
a group of six Year 10
pupils were invited to
Jaguar Land Rover,
Halewood to take part
in an Engineering
Challenge Day against
other schools from
around Liverpool. The
first task required the
teams to build a 2person shelter using
only newspaper and
tape; the second was
to build a 15cm-high
stand from plastic
K’nex pieces strong
enough to hold a 2kg
weight. In the
afternoon, their task
was to make and
present a new floor
lamp design.
West Derby’s team
achieved first place in two of the tasks, closely
followed by SFX students who achieved second place,
narrowly missing the top spot by just one point. All
pupils thoroughly enjoyed the day which gave them
an insight into the processes of engineering, through
problem solving and production.
Phillip McFerran 10BR
Table Tennis Individuals
The 28th of June saw SFX table tennis players compete in the annual
City Individual Tournament held at Shorefields High School. The
competition was separated into KS3/4 categories with Y7 competing
with Y8 and Y9 competing with Y10.
With added experience the Key Stage 4 team fared slightly better. Yr9
pupil Chris Scregg finished 5th overall with Joseph Rice placed 9th and
Daniel Johnson placed 12th out of 23 competitors.
The Y7/8 prize was dominated by local school St Margaret’s. The hours of
practice the SFX boys had dedicated to the sport at lunch times and
after schools was evident with some terrific chops and forehand
smashes being played. Both teams thoroughly enjoyed the day gaining
vital competitive match experience.
Yr7 – Michael Goodwin
Yr7 – Dominic Bramwell
Yr8 – Jack Evans
Yr9 – Chris Scregg
Yr9 – Daniel Johnson
Yr9 - Joseph Rice
17
Debating Matters Press Release
8Y2 Turn Super
Sleuths
St. Francis Xavier’s (SFX), a comprehensive school and
sixth form college from Liverpool, have won the
National Final of the Institute of Ideas Debating
Matters Competition 2010/11, which took place over
three days at the Royal Society of Medicine in London,
from 1-3 July. The team won all three of their debates
over the weekend, and the team impressed judges with
their in-depth research and strong, committed lines of
argument. Speaking after judging the winners in the
final debate, renowned writer Anthony Horowitz said of
the team:
8Y2 turned into super sleuths as they were given a
set of clues and questions, devised by the Sixth Form
French group. A competition was held during a recent
French lesson to see which group could solve all the
clues, answer the questions correctly and return first
to the classroom. Mrs Hardman's group “Les Restes”
was first back up the stairs and into the classroom. All
of the pupils agreed that it had been great fun. Our
thanks go to the Sixth Form and to Miss Malaquin, who
supervised the questions and was the chief
photographer for the event.
“Judging was an intense and thoroughly fascinating
experience. I came to the event expecting to be outsmarted by the other judges, but to find that the
students were cleverer than us was a shock! The teams
were wonderful and I was blown away by their
arguments.”
Other top-name judges at the final included:
businessman and chair of the Royal Society of Arts
Luke Johnson; film and documentary director Beeban
Kidron; Gill Penlington from CNN; and Professor
Raymond Tallis amongst many others.
During the course of the weekend, the eight competing
teams grappled with a wide range of contemporary
debates, including the provision of IVF for older women
and whether prisoners should have the vote. In the
first semi-final debate on the Wikileaks controversy,
former National Final champions Durham Johnston
Comprehensive School put up a hard fight against the
St. Francis team, with judges declaring that they had
only narrowly lost-out to the eventual champions.
Tension then mounted for the final debate on the
French burqa ban. St. Francis, arguing in support of the
ban, were under enormous pressure from the audience
questions, but held their nerve and commitment to
their position throughout.
Teams and individuals received some fantastic prizes
from our sponsors, including £4000 worth of books
and educational resources from Hodder Education for
the winners, runners-up and semi-finalists, tickets to
the ENO autumn season, Encyclopaedia Britannica
atlases, boxed sets of the OUP’s acclaimed ‘A Very Short
Instroduction’ series and Foyles bookshop gift cards
amongst other things. The winning team were also
presented with limited edition ‘Champions Hoddies’ and a
glass trophy to take back to their school. Most
importantly, they won an all-expenses paid trip to London
to take part in this years’ Battle of Ideas festival, where
they will take on the champions of the all-India Debating
Matters Competition.
Results
Winners: St. Francis
Xavier’s College,
Liverpool.
Runners up: Dalraida
School, Ballymoney
Best Individual:
Matthew Handley, St
Francis Xavier’s
College
Honourable Mention:
Daniel Keeley, St
Francis Xavier’s
College
18
Year 10 Linked
Up Award
Everyday Lives
Showcase
Year 10 Spanish Pupils’ work on a Linked
Up project with St Julie's and Gateacre has seen the
school receive a Linked Up Award this academic year.
Our project was one of only twelve to receive funding
and sought to develop pupils' speaking skills and
confidence.
Late May saw a Showcase of Year 7 films on the big
screen at a City Centre cinema!
Pupils made a filming visit to Liverpool City Centre to
get material to create a Tourist Information publicity
film for Liverpool in Spanish. Final versions of the
boys' edited works will soon be available on the
school website.
Mr Lloyd
A group of Year 7 boys have been involved in the film
making project "Everyday Lives" since January in
collaboration with FACT cinema and gallery, based in
Wood Street in Liverpool City Centre. The boys worked
with a professional film maker, based at FACT, on a
number of projects and produced a number of films
about themselves and living in Liverpool.
The major audience was the pupils of the Centro
Menesiano, a Mennaisian Brothers school in a town
called Melipilla in rural Chile. The boys made a very
personal class film about things that are important to
them and went on to collaborate in large and small
groups, developing their skills in team working,
leadership and organisation. They produced news
reports, vox pops and animations - all filmed and edited
by the pupils.
For the final event, all of the participants - and many of
their parents, accompanied by Mr Lloyd, Miss Staunton
and Miss Murphy headed into FACT for the showcase.
We enjoyed a guided visit of the gallery spaces,
including eggs and 18 Ludwig Road, followed by a
private showing in the upstairs cinema gallery of just
some of the boys' work, unfortunately there wasn't
enough time for us to see it all.
The staff at FACT really enjoyed their experience of
working with our pupils and their positive, thoughtful
attitude. We would like to thank Anna, Alex and Caroline
and all the other staff at FACT who made us so welcome
and put in so much effort with us.
Mr Lloyd
19
Jonathan Northcroft Visit
He’s interviewed everyone from Rafael Benitez to Nemaja Vidic, broken stories of corrupt chairmen and
belligerent bosses, reported on the FA Cup final, the lower leagues of Scottish football and everything in
between; but arguably the greatest journalistic challenge ever faced by The Sunday Times’ chief football
writer Jonathan Northcroft was his recent grilling by Miss Hayes’ crack team of aspiring Year 9 hacks
(augmented by two seasoned sixth form debaters).
Jonathan’s first impressions of St Francis Xavier’s
College may not have been the best, as he arrived on
the yard to witness an ambulance cart a pupil away
after a nasty fall; but the voice in the back of his head
telling him to make a quick getaway was soon silenced
by a string of impressive questions from the group.
Harbouring foiled footballing ambitions and having a
love of the written word, Jonathan found his way into
journalism whilst at university. Starting as a writer for
student publications, he rose from local journalism to
his current position at the Sunday Times, an ascent
facilitated not only by genuine talent but also by being
in the right place at the right time. This was
demonstrated as he broke the story of how a
consortium of Irish businessmen wanted to relocate
Clydebank FC to Dublin, a piece which got him noticed
on a national level. Exuding a genuine passion both for
football and for journalism, he spoke enthusiastically
about his love for his job, and told us that in spite of the
long hours and often high-stress nature of the work,
there was ‘no other profession’ he’d rather belong to.
Jonathan recounted some of his favourite interviews,
describing his piece on Jamie Carragher as not only the
one he most enjoyed putting together, but also his
proudest achievement to date; not only ‘a genuinely
smart and funny bloke’ to chat to, Jonathan told us how
he was delighted to give people ‘an insight into Carra
they hadn’t seen before’, something he always aims to
achieve in his pieces. However, even when interviewees
failed to surprise, he explained how he still sought to
make the piece interesting; whilst Rafael Benitez lived
up to his somewhat reserved and bookish reputation, he
still found an opportunity to explore the man’s character
to deliver a fascinating read.
Jonathan was equally adept at fielding more general
questions about journalism and press freedom. Asked if
he thought print had a future, he replied that ‘as long as
people want something they can hold in their hand’
newspapers will be around. Yet he did concede that
news media would be increasingly being consumed in
digital form; however, this was something not to be
feared but embraced. ‘You have a situation now where
you’re coming out of press conference and the story is
already online through Twitter’, he explained. But whilst
this may make his life as a writer harder, it’s something
that he believes newspapers as a format are agile
enough to deal with.
On the subject of super-injunctions, Jonathan argued
that whilst players have a right to privacy, those who
exploit their private lives for financial gain can expect to
be held under increased scrutiny. A consummate
professional though, he refused to give up the names of
any of the suspects. Jonathan was less magnanimous
on the subject of corruption in football, describing FIFA
as ‘a mafia’ and ‘bringing disgrace to the game’. Perhaps
what was most inspiring about Jonathan is that he
approached this not in a defeatist manner, but aspiring
to see change, and, as a journalist, participate in
bringing this about.
Jonathan described his visit as ‘a pleasure’, and the
group’s questions as ‘some of the toughest he’d ever
faced’. Fascinated to ‘see things from the other side’ as
the interviewee, hopefully he left our school with a fresh
perspective and heartened by the journalistic
aspirations of our college’s pupils. What is sure is that
everyone who spoke to him was given a unique insight
into the world of sports writing and, seeing Jonathan’s
infectious love of his work, a figure to aspire to as they
take their ambitions to the next level.
Matthew Handley 13MA
Notre Grand Plaisir!
It is with ingenuity and imagination that Miss Malaquin's 7Y2 responded
to the activity planned for them recently. The boys, who have recently
been studying the rooms in the house and the different items in the
bedroom were to design their own bedroom and put their knowledge into
practice on the task.
The soon-to-be interior designers used wallpaper and laminated floor and
turned toothpaste boxes into cupboards for notre grand plaisir!
20
Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s
Award
On the 25/26th June 2011, several students (Andrew
Brown, Liam Jennions, Louise Jelliman, Ryan Peters,
Peter Beeley, David Lunch, Matthew Fowles, Joseph
Mosses) embarked upon their practice expedition for the
SFX DofE Silver Scheme. Their training had included:
• First aid course
• A day in school (of a weekend no less) learning about
navigation, camp craft, tent erection and how to cook
an egg in a kettle!
• A practice day walk around Rivington
After all of this they were ready to take on the challenge
of staying in a tent, cooking for themselves and having
to actually walk for several miles with a full kit on their
back.
The expedition was to Castleton, Hope Valley in the Peak
District. The intention was to walk to the top of Mam Tor
and look at the wonders of the English countryside with
a view that was breathtaking. The reality was that on
the Saturday we could see little more than 500 metres
in front of us as the rain was constant and left us all
feeling wet and downtrodden. Of course by ‘all of us’ I
mean ‘all of us’ excluding Mr Holden who was bone dry
and sat enjoying a nice bacon butty and a cup of coffee
in one of the many hostelries in the area.
The students completed the walk in harsh conditions
with a good pace and in good humour considering the
fact that they were drenched through. The next task was
to set up camp and cook a meal. They did this
successfully with meals including pasta, pot noodles,
soup, pot noodles, bacon, pot noodles, chicken and of
course the odd pot noodle. After their meal and a chat
amongst themselves bed was calling (I use the term bed
very loosely indeed).
The next day was practically a polar opposite to the
previous one, from 7:00am in the morning the sun
seemed to be poking through the clouds and stayed
there until we reached SFX in the late afternoon.
Sunday’s walk allowed the students to again walk up
Mam Tor however this time they were treated with the
view across the valleys and hills, and what a view it was.
As they reached the minibus early afternoon on Sunday
and took their backpacks off the question was posed
“was it worth it?” Well the reply from all eight of those
in attendance was “Yes!”
They will be attempting their assessment expedition in
July and will have to walk 30 miles over the course of
three days in the Yorkshire Dales. A report will follow.
Special thanks to Mr Rippon, Mr ‘soup and a roll’ Holden,
Miss Cullen and Mr Wignall.
Mr Evans
Year 8 Merseyside
Science and Technology Challenge Day
On the 16th of June, a group of Year 8 pupils from 8G1
and 8Y1 participated in a competition which Mr Daniels
and Mrs Grace had arranged. The competition was
held in Liverpool John Moores University and was
called the “Merseyside Science and Technology
Challenge Day.” This is a day where schools from all
over Merseyside get together and take part in various
challenges and competitions.
task was very tricky but was
also very interesting, especially
when we received a surprise
visit from the Lord Mayor.
At the end of the competition
two of our pupils who had won
prizes were presented with their
prizes by the Lord Mayor in an
award ceremony.
Everyone said that they had lots
of fun and they had a wonderful
time participating in the events.
Everyone agreed that they had
learnt a lot from the
competitions and that they
would definitely do it again.
Aaron D’Souza 8KE
During the day, the pupils took part in three out of the
four challenges available and competed against other
schools. The boys were split into groups from A-F and
were mixed in with participants from other schools.
The challenges were very interesting:
The first challenge was the “Robot Challenge” in which
we had to design and build a robot completely out of
Lego pieces which contained a computer inside. The
objective was to calibrate the robot to follow a line;
this task was carried out very successfully by a group
of SFX pupils which we won.
The second task was the “Bridge Challenge” in which a
model bridge had to be planned and produced in thirty
minutes. The bridge needed to be made of paper,
screws, masking tape and string. Whoever’s bridge held
the most weight was the winner. This challenge was
considered to be difficult although some successful
results were shown by our pupils.
The third task was the “Car Challenge” in which a
model car needed to be made. The car consisted of a
motor, gears, rubber bands and other materials. This
ABRSM Music
Examinations
Seventeen Pupils from across the age-range took
examinations in late June on a variety of
instruments including Piano, Singing, Clarinet,
Saxophone, Tuba, Cello and Flute from Grades I - VIII.
As we now have a large number of candidates taking
examinations the visiting examiner attends the
College for a day. This allows the boys to take their
examination in familiar surroundings having
rehearsed carefully with their accompanists.
Our thanks go to all our peripatetic tutors and to our
accompanist Mrs Gannon for their amazing
contribution to the Musical life of the College.
Hopefully we will continue to hold our 100% pass
rate and the students taking the higher grades will
gain UCAS points which will count towards their
University applications.
Miss Anderson
22
A Snapshot of SFX College Choir and Orchestra
The musicians have had a busy time since September.
The first choral engagement took place at St. Mary’s,
Woolton in September as part of the celebration of the
marriage of our former governor, Peter Bullen. The Choir
sang hymns during the Mass and Panis Angelicus and an
Irish Blessing as set pieces during the service. Mr Stokes
was the Organist for the Ceremony and the Bride
and Groom processed out to the joyous sound of
Widor’s Toccata.
This was closely followed by performances from the
Choir, Orchestra and Samba Band at the Junior and
Senior Proclamations as part of the College Prize giving
Evenings and the October Music Showcase.
Despite the many invitations we receive we are unable to
perform at every requested event. However, one of the
highlights for us has become the November performance
for the ‘Light up a Life’ ceremony organised by Zoe’s
Place. This year carols were sung in Clayton Square,
Liverpool followed by the lighting of the Christmas
Lights. We were very pleased to see so many parents
and SFX pupils supporting the event on a Saturday.
This was, again, quickly followed by a sung Mass at St
Francis Xavier’s Church in Everton and a joint venture
with the R.E. and Performing Arts Department as the
College led the Advent Service for schools from across
the Archdiocese in December.
The College Music for Advent and Christmas evening was
wonderfully supported, as ever, by the Manic Street
Teachers. The final venture after five performances in a
week was a Friday evening trip to St. Nicholas’ Church,
Liverpool by the diehards in the Choir and Orchestra who
ably led a carol service for The Lifeboat Association.
In March, the Choir performed at St. George’s Hall during
an Awards Ceremony for the Liverpool Community
Health Trust. All the boys appreciated the opportunity of
singing in such a wonderful acoustic in front of an
appreciative audience.
Events to watch out for:
• The College Proms on July 15th 2011. 7.30 pm.
• The Choir recording of The Song of the Quarry to be
included in the John Lennon display at The New
Liverpool Museum commissioned by Hurricane Films.
• Finally, the release of the new album by Sami Yusuf
which includes a backing track recorded by The
College Choir and volunteers from the VI Form
recorded and mixed down by our own guitar tutor
Danny Rogers.
Our thanks go to all the staff at SFX for supporting the
department activities in many ways and to our parents,
volunteers and concert audiences for their great
support.
Miss Anderson
Wind Turbine Project
On Thursday 9th December 2010 a charity
called ‘The Smallpiece Trust’ came into SFX to
deliver a project entitled Wind Turbines. The
pupils had a brief introduction to engineering.
They developed team building and creativity
skills and finally progressed to the design and
build activities. Physics and Maths elements
were drawn out of the project work, and
students were introduced to the sort of work entailed in STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and Maths) careers.
Pupils thoroughly enjoyed the hands-on aspect and were challenged to
design and construct a wind turbine to produce the greatest amount of
electricity. The subjects covered included electricity, generators, gears,
turbine blades, structures and their uses.
Students worked in teams of five to achieve the three main elements of the
project:
• Construction of a circuit to convert the turbine rotation to electricity.
• Turbine blade design and construction to maximise output.
• Design and construction of a tower structure to carry the turbine.
The day was designed to be fun and interactive whilst promoting awareness
of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths with the intention of
encouraging students to consider additional study and/or a career in STEM.
The day was a complete success and was enjoyed by all who took part.
Miss Warwick.
23
UK Maths Challenge
On Friday 6th May one hundred and eighteen top set
Year 7 and 8 pupils took part in the Junior Maths
Challenge. The challenge allows the pupils to test their
logical thinking and their existing Mathematical
knowledge. Over 235,000 pupils from across the UK
sat the challenge with roughly 6% receiving Gold
certificates, 13% receiving a Silver certificate and 21%
receiving a Bronze certificate.
This year, eight students achieved a Silver certificate
and twenty one students achieved a Bronze certificate,
which is an increase on last year’s results.
Aaron D’Souza (Year 8) achieved a Silver certificate
with a score of 74, narrowly missing a Gold certificate
by 3 marks. He also achieved the certificate for ‘best in
school’.
Well done to all students who took part.
Miss Arends
Maths Fun Day
This week SFX hosted the first annual ‘SFX Mathletics
Day’. Organised and supervised by Miss Cullen, the
whole day was devoted to her favourite pastime, Maths!
Seven of our local feeder schools sent teams of their
best mathematicians to try their best to score points in
a variety of competitions, to win a trophy at the end of
the day. Each of the seven teams was made up of four
Year 5, four Year 6 and two of our own Year 7 pupils, all
of whom come, or came from one of the schools taking
part.
Matrix Cup
Team: Joseph Thompson, Alex Pattison, Connor Dowling,
Jordan Jenkins, Joe Sweeney, Rhys Lee, Wade Maxwell (c),
Declan Nyhus, Matthew Bainbridge, Fraser Hanlon, Daniel
Murphy, and Daniel Abayomi.
The SFX Year 7 and Year 8 boys took part in the Matrix
Challenge Shield on the 27th May 2011 which was held in
Finch Farm (Everton’s training ground.)
The first match we played was against Archbishop Beck,
which we won 1-0. After that we played the final against
rivals Cardinal Heenan. The matches against Cardinal
Heenan are always close and since they beat SFX's Year 8
team in the Merseyside Cup the boys were seeking
revenge!
The match kicked off and before long Cardinal Heenan had
scored. Our heads dropped, but then suddenly Joe
Thompson scored a goal to equalise and make the score
1-1. Soon Heenan scored again, before Wade Maxwell
brought it back to level terms at 2-2. Finally, in the last
two minutes of the game Declan Nyhus scored the final
goal of the match to win the Matrix Cup Final 3-2!
Daniel Abayomi 8BR
Pupils took part in trying to figure out how much land
would be needed to build a leisure complex, how much
money would be involved in caring for three dogs for a
year and how much it would cost to send their families
on holiday for a fortnight. The teams worked together
and individually, on paper, or using nothing but their
above average brain power! They wowed sixth formers
and teachers alike with their mathematical prowess
and used computers and the school’s interactive voting
pods to answer questions. They had problem races and
puzzle competitions, made frogs jump and built towers.
Overall, a good day was had by all concerned and every
school went away from SFX with something to be proud
of. However, there can only be one winner and there
was only one trophy up for grabs.
24
After Miss Arends and Mrs Helsby had done their day’s
work, got their thinking caps on and totted up all the
scores, the celebrity figure of Mrs Fay was drafted in to
present the trophy to the winners. It was her great
pleasure to announce the first SFX Mathletics
champions were the team from Our Lady Bishop Eton
Catholic Primary School. The race was close and
everyone had given their all to the activities, but
Bishop Eton were deserving winners and the other
teams very gracious in defeat. Many of the Year 5
pupils said they would be back next year to have
another go at winning the prized trophy and Bishop
Eton will have to defend their title cautiously!
Last of all came the frantic rush to get everyone back
to their schools by home time and for that herculean
effort, we have Mr Wheeler, Mr Reynolds and Mr
Vincent to thank. I’m sure every one of the people
involved slept well that night, after a jam-packed day of
mathematical fun and games!
Rugby
The spring term saw the end of the Rugby League
season. This was marked by two end of season festivals
at De La Salle School for Year 7 and Fazakerley High
School for Year 8.
Considering the current Year 7 pupils are still relatively
new players of the sport (some having only played since
coming to the school in September), their overall placing
and performance on the day of the festival was very
impressive and showed the improvement they have
made since September.
Finishing overall 2nd in our group was not enough to
qualify us for the final; however with an outstanding win
against Range High (16-12), a last gasp draw against De
La Salle (16-16) and a defeat to eventual tournament
winners Lysander, the boys can look back on the
tournament as a success. Star turns on the day for Sam
Darby, Sam McGrath, Robert Cook and Christian Ligget.
Year 7 Pool A
W
D
L
Tries
Pts Tries
For Against
A
Lysander
3
0
0
6
14
5
B
SFX
1
1
1
3
12
10
C
De La Salle
1
1
1
3
10
12
D
Range High
0
0
3
0
6
15
With an extra year’s rugby league experience behind
them there was expectation on the Year 8 players to
take the festival by storm and they did not disappoint.
Topping their group with an unbeaten record, they
brushed aside Huyton Sports (8-4), All saints (12-8),
Stanley High (20-12) and Knowsley Park (12-8). Playing
some very exciting free flowing rugby the boys really
excelled scoring some very good tries and displaying
good battling qualities in defence. There were star turns
in the group stages for Joe Thomas and Daniel Campbell.
Our impressive group meant we qualified for the final v
Birkdale. The winners would earn a place in the
Lancashire final v the Manchester representatives. The
final was a very tight affair with minimal mistakes and
defences on top. Unfortunately our lads were narrowly
beaten by a late Birkdale try to lose out 12-8.
Congratulations to the all boys involved who all
performed great on the day and lost out to a very
worthy opponent in Birkdale.
Mr P Kelly
Year 8 Pool A
W
D
L
Tries
Pts Tries
For Against
1
SFX
4
0
0
8
13
6
2
Stanley High
2
0
2
4
11
7
3
Knowsley Park
2
0
2
4
9
10
4
Huyton Arts &
Sports
1
1
2
3
7
10
5
All Saints
0
0
4
0
6
13
sun was out and all involved were ready to soak up the
sun and enjoy the tennis.
Calderstones Tennis
Tournament
June saw the annual Liverpool ICAP Tennis Tournament
take place in nearby Calderstones Park.
As a result of their outstanding behaviour throughout
the academic year a group of fifteen Year 7 pupils were
taken to watch day one of the tournament. Although the
day began with Wimbledon like showers, by midday the
The boys involved were very lucky as day one of the
tournament proved to be very exciting with some tennis
stars (past and present) on court to entertain. Firstly,
the boys watched former World No.5 Fernando Gonzalez
of Chile (who, in his career had beaten the likes of
Lleyton Hewitt, Rafael Nadal and Pete Sampras) win in
straight sets against a local player from Palmerston
Tennis Club. The second game of the day saw female
tennis legend Martina Hingis; (winner of all major grand
slams and Olympic Gold/Silver medals) take on Eugene
Bouchard of Canada. In a close game, superstar Hingis
just edged. All in all it was a very good day for the boys
involved.
Mr P Kelly
25
Sports Day
Athletics
The start of National School
Sport Week saw the arrival of
the annual School Sports Day.
With the weather set fair, (for
once) an exciting day was in
store for all who competed.
With a full array of events on show it was a busy day
with pupils participating in multiple events. Students
represented their forms in activities including:
handball, baseball, cricket and tennis. There were
some very tight finishes throughout the day and the
points totals reflected the tense competition.
The spring/summer term
has seen us turn focus to
athletics, competing in
Catholic, District, City and
Regional competitions.
Competing at events such
as these has given the
athletes in Years 7, 8, 9 and
10 a chance to participate
in a very competitive
environment against
athletes from other
Liverpool and Merseyside
schools.
The first event of the
athletics calendar was the District competition at
Wavertree Athletics Centre where pupils from Years 7,
8 and 9 competed in both track and field events. The
format was such that our boys were required to finish
in the top four of their particular event to qualify for
the City finals as representatives of the school, and
also for a chance to compete to be City Champion.
The highlight of the day was the final event, the staff
and pupil relay race. As this was worth double points
the pressure was on to deliver. Heat one saw the PE
teachers compete on the final leg for Ward (Mr Brown),
Kemble (Mr Murphy), Bryant (Mr Taylor) and Owen
(Mr Platt). In a fiercely contested race, Mr Brown was
just able to hold off Mr Platt to take the win for Ward.
The second race saw Mr Morgan, Mr Stokes, Miss
Donlan and Mr Clark all compete for the respective
forms. Again in a well fought race it was Mr Morgan
who managed to claim the win for Rigby.
Congratulations must, of course, go to each form tutor
for their heroic efforts in the relay. Although there
were close contests throughout the day an overall
form had to be the victor and lay claim to the SFX
Sports Day Trophy. At the end of the day we were
joined by Mr Rippon who was on hand to present the
trophy to Ward. Although there had to be an overall
champion, we know that all our pupils tried their best
and proved that each and every one of them is a
winner!
Mr A Brown
The District event proved to be very successful for
ourselves with fifteen of our athletes either winning or
finishing in the required positions to qualify for the
City finals.
The following qualifiers:
Year 7 - Max Mckinnel (100m & Relay), Anthony
Costello (100m & Relay), Sam McGrath (200m & Relay),
Chris Merrie (400m), Danny Morrisey (Hurdles &
Relay), Chris Merrie (1500m), Alex Blackburn (400m),
James Magowan (Long Jump), Robert Cook (Shot
Putt).
Year 8 - Daniel Abayomi (100m, 200m & Relay),
Matthew Bainbridge (100m 200m Long Jump & Relay),
Dylan Keating (Relay), Josh Carden (Relay), Ifeyani
Emeka Anayakwo (Discus & Shot Putt), George
Pennington Reader (Hurdles).
Year 9 - James Verburg and Danny Byrne
The following Monday saw these athletes compete in
the Liverpool City Finals also held at Wavertree
Athletics Centre. The standard of athlete had obviously
improved as the best of the city’s athletes were all
competing in the various events. Our boys were not to
be fazed and all competed excellently on the day,
providing SFX with 9 City Champions.
The following pupils hold the achievement of city
champion in their age group;
Year 7 – James Magowan (Long Jump), Max Mckinnel,
Danny Morrisey, Anthony Costello and Sam McGrath
(Relay).
26
Year 8 – Daniel Abayomi (100m &
200m), Matthew Bainbridge (Long
Jump), George Pennington Reader
(Hurdles), Daniel Abayomi, Matthew
Bainbridge, Dylan Keating and Josh
Carden (Relay).
Following on from the finals a number
of our boys who had excelled at the City
Championships and shown potential
were invited to attend and compete at
the prestigious Merseyside Athletics
Finals at Bebington Oval Athletics
Centre. These finals were being held as
a trial and possible gateway to the
English Schools Athletics Squad for the
season 2011/12. Although competing in
mixed age groups our athletes involved
performed admirably and should be
very proud of the way they competed
and conducted themselves on the day.
They were all a credit to the school.
Congratulations to the following who all
competed at the County Event on
Saturday 11th June.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Max McKinnell
Anthony Costello
James MaGowan
Daniel Abayomi
George Pennington Reader
Matthew Bainbridge
Owen Sharp
The following hold the achievement of
being 1st, 2nd or 3rd best in Merseyside:
• Year 7 – Max Mckinnell
(2nd place, 100m), Anthony Costello
(3rd place, 100m).
• Year 8 – Matthew Bainbridge
(3rd place, long jump), Daniel
Abayomi (3rd place, 200m).
• Year 10 – Owen Sharp
(1st place, 3000m).
Mr A Brown
PGL Trip
Back in April 2010 pupils from the Year 10 GCSE PE group
went on a PGL trip to Boreatton Park in Shropshire. The
week was designed for the boys to take part in an
orienteering assessment, as well as take part in other
adventurous activities.
The boys were split up into three groups with each group
participating in a different activity throughout the day.
Everyone took part in lots of activities. The Sensory Trial,
which comprised of boys being blindfolded and having to
work together to complete an obstacle course, was one of
the first activities the boys took part in. Other activities
included: rock climbing, abseiling, zip wire, archery,
orienteering and many more. Another activity that the
group did together was kayaking, with quite a few boys
capsizing their kayaks (as did some of the teachers!)
On the same evening we also took part in a raft building
exercise. The three groups of pupils did very well on this,
whereas the teachers’ team’s raft ended up being a bit of
a disaster!
The pupils were also invited to take part in a friendly
football match with the PGL staff, who were unbeaten at
the time. After a tough slog, the boys ended up
victorious, (much to the boys delight). The next day we
took part in a canoeing exercise which led to the
teacher’s boat being inadvertently capsized by one the
pupils’ boats. Later that evening the pupils took part in a
sport called aeroball, which was excellent and the pupils
really enjoyed it.
After a very demanding week the boys returned to school
very tired after having a very busy week. The week was a
resounding success, with the pupil’s behaviour being
outstanding throughout. I would like to thank Mr Brown,
Mr Murphy, Mr Kelly and Mr Macaulay for attending this
trip with myself, along with the PGL staff for making the
week as enjoyable as possible.
Mr Taylor
27
Lucozade Scare!
Two fizzy drinks a day 'can give you gout'
Fizzy drinks, like Lucozade, can
dramatically increase the risk of gout.
Scientists revealed two years ago that
carbonated drinks are behind a rise in the
painful joint condition. Gout, which affects
600,000 people in Britain, was once
known as "the disease of kings" because
only the very wealthy could afford
quantities of alcohol and rich food usually
associated with it.
A study of more than 46,000 men found
those who had two or more cans (or bottles) of fizzy drink a
day were 85% more likely to get gout compared to those
who had one can a month or less. The risk also significantly
increased among those who drank five to six cans (or bottles)
of fizzy drink a week, according to findings published online
by the British Medical Journal.
Gout generally involves very severe attacks of joint pain
followed by long periods of remission. The condition is
caused by the formation of urate (or uric acid) crystals within
joints and other tissues (the white colour of bird droppings is
uric acid). This is caused by the incomplete breakdown of uric
acid to urea in the liver.
WATER
Water is a vital component of our diets, essential
for the growth and maintenance of our bodies
and is involved in a number of biological
processes. However, most of us do not get nearly
enough. SFX has six water points around the
school. Three of these are to be found in the
dining area. Mr Rippon is hoping to increase the
number of water points around the school.
WHY DO WE NEED WATER?
Water comprises 70 per cent of an adult's total body weight
and without regular ‘top-ups’, our body's survival time is
limited to a matter of hours or days. Water is lost from the
body through urine and sweat and must be replaced through
our diet. Many people do not consume enough water and as a
result may become dehydrated, causing symptoms such as
headaches, tiredness and loss of concentration. Chronic
dehydration can contribute to a number of health problems,
such as constipation and kidney stones.
Lucozade seems to be one of the
most popular drinks that pupils
bring into school. It is promoted by
advertising on television, especially
during Premier League and
Champions League matches. SFX
does not sell or have vending
machines that dispense fizzy drinks like this. The school sells
water and a variety of soft drinks.
HOW MUCH DO WE NEED?
Lucozade contains almost 30% sugar in the form of glucose
and fructose syrup (24%). The rest comes from orange juice
concentrate (5%). It also contains high amounts of artificial
colouring (beta carotenes), preservatives (Sodium Benzoate
and Metabisulphite) and flavourings (including caffeine - a
stimulant!).
The British Dietetic Association advises that the average
adult should consume 2.5 litres of water per day. About 1.8
litres (the equivalent of six to seven glasses of water per
day) must be obtained directly from beverages. This should
be increased during periods of hot weather or during and
after periods of physical activity (when the body loses water
through sweating).
It is a fact that high energy drinks contain a lot of energy
because they contain huge amounts of sugar. A single bottle
(380ml) of Lucozade would provide over 10% of a child’s
daily energy requirement. Exceeding this energy requirement
on a regular basis would lead to obesity.
Preservatives and flavourings can affect people’s metabolism
in different ways. There is strong scientific evidence linking
these ‘additives’ with hyperactivity and a lack of
concentration, especially in school children.
Obesity is becoming a serious problem amongst young
people.
The body gets its water from three sources:
•
From drinks, either plain water or as part of other
beverages.
•
From solid foods, especially fruits and vegetables.
•
As a by-product of chemical reactions within the body.
(Respiration!)
Water is the major ingredient of all drinks: carbonated and
still drinks are 65 per cent water, diluted squashes are 86
per cent water (after dilution) and fruit juices are 90 per
cent water. Drinking plain water is still the most effective
way of replacing lost fluids.
This would mean that if a person relied on Lucozade to
provide themselves with all their daily water, they would need
to drink nearly 8 bottles (or 3 litres) of Lucozade to quench
their thirst! Imagine what all that carbonated water, sugar
and additives would be doing to your body!
SFX is proud of its status as a healthy school having held the
‘Healthy Schools Award’ since 2005. Lucozade (along with
other fizzy drinks like Cola) will be banned from the premises.
Sorry lads (and lasses) but the scientific evidence is too
strong. Yet another victory for ‘How Science Works’! Anyway,
what’s wrong with plain old tap water?
Mr Fox
28
Holland Y7 Football
Tour 2011
May saw us take two Year 7 football teams away on tour to
participate in the Amsterdam Cup. Staying on the Duinrell site
close to the picturesque town of Wassenaar, the trip proved to
be a very worthwhile and enjoyable experience for all involved.
The majority of the first day was spent travelling on the coach
through France, Belgium and into Holland. Despite the long
journey the boys were in high spirits working their way
through Mr Brown’s DVD collection and talking excitedly about
the tournament and events of the next few days. After arrival
at the fantastic Duinrell complex it was off to the water park
where the boys and staff enjoyed the various twists, turns and
descents on some of the water parks highest slides.
Day 2 saw us up early for breakfast; ready and eager for a full
day of football. The tournament was held at a local football
complex with most of our group games being held on the
competitions main 3G pitch with stand and spectator areas
surrounding. On the field the boys acquitted themselves
superbly despite playing in many cases against older
opposition (with the tournament being an U13’s competition).
With the perfect playing surface it didn’t take long before both
our teams SFX Athletic and Olympique SFX began to show
their fluent two touch passing game, scoring some fantastic
goals. There were several eye catching performances in both
teams and after a couple of wins for each in the group we were
very optimistic about our chances. However the age difference
did become a factor and both sides drew a couple of games in
the latter stages of the group. Playing against much bigger
and physically stronger opposition meant that we would be
competing in the plate competition in the 2nd group the
following day. The boys were slightly disheartened , but the
smiles soon appeared when a 2nd trip to the water park was
organised after tea and a couple of hours later after numerous
goes on all the slides the football had been forgotten.
The final day in Holland saw us once again head to the
Amsterdam Cup. Seeded in different groups the boys once
again performed magnificently on the field doing themselves
and the school proud with their effort and level of
performance. Drawing one game and winning the other four
meant that Olympique SFX would have a chance to compete in
the 3rd/4th place playoff. Played on the 3G pitch, the playoff
game was very tight and once again the boys were up against
older opposition, however this wasn’t to faze them. With the
game drifting towards extra time a late SFX strike gave us the
win meaning we finished 3rd overall in the competition, a very
good achievement.
Onto the afternoon and the whole group were all looking
forward to a visit to the theme park situated on the Duinrell
site except for Mr Murphy who went slightly pale after
seeing some of the high upside down rides. A couple of hours
on the white knuckle rides was more than enough for the
boys and they spent the remainder of the afternoon browsing
the Duinrell gift shops before a final night in the water park.
Monday saw the bus journey home and after an activity
packed couple of days, it was a very tired bus making its way
back to Liverpool. To conclude, it was agreed by all staff that
the trip had been very successful and a very worthwhile
experience for the Year 7 pupils involved, they were a credit
to themselves and the school not only in a football context
but in the way they behaved and conducted themselves on
the trip.
Mr A Brown
29
Badminton
Teams
This academic year brought a
crop of new and exciting talent
to the SFX badminton teams.
Using the fantastic venue of Woolton High Sports Hall has
enabled more pupils to participate each Friday after
school.
The Year 7 pupils have taken great advantage of this, each
time showing great enthusiasm and commitment to the
sport thus allowing them to settle in to life at the College.
I am sure Year 7 players will continue to improve their
game and have more opportunities to compete in
competitions during future months
Older players in Years 9 and 10, have also proven to be
both talented and committed, with the doubles team of
D’Souza and Wileman proving a lethal force (even giving
the staff a game or two with some close match ups). They
certainly enjoy “getting one over” on their older
statesmen!
The forthcoming singles tournament at the Greenbank
Academy will prove a stern test, as SFX players will
compete against seasoned players from St Margaret’s and
Bluecoat schools. The boys will relish pitting their tactical
wit against their opponents. We wish them well in this
annual competition.
Finally, I would like to extend thanks to Mr Wignall, Mr
Hayhurst and Mr Fox for attending on a regular basis and
providing help and guidance, and also to the students who
participate regularly. Our thanks must also go to the staff
at Woolton High School for the use of their superb facility.
D. McKevitt
North West Schools
Squash Championship
At the end of June two squash squads from SFX participated
in the North West Championships at the excellent venue of the
National Squash Centre, Sports City Manchester.
Training has taken place throughout the year each Wednesday
evening and Friday Lunchtime with local squash coach Andy
Breen which has ensured the boys in the squad were ready for
the challenges of the North West‘s Squash Elite.
Both teams started off superbly, winning all three games. The
format of the previous year was slightly different with the
emphasis on straight five minute games with points free for all
which was then tallied up after all 3 team members had played
to give an overall score. The boys demonstrated some
fantastic squash with powerful accurate serves and some
clever boast shots.
Onto the quarter finals and sadly this is where our squads
came slightly short. All six individual games were very tight
and were lost only by the odd point, with SFX losing overall
narrowly to King David and Nelson Tomlinson School of
Cumbria.
The following pupils represented the school at squash on
the day: Matthew Powell, Dominic Muscatelli, Dominic Tosh,
Jonathan Turner, Joshua Blakemore, Luke Mercer
Year 7 Interform Football competition
Year 7 has been busy raising money for the Alder Hey
children’s hospital charity this year. One of the highlights this
term was the Interform Football Competition where each form
put forward their best team to try and win the trophy but
more importantly be crowned the winners! Miss Donlon
organised the draws for the competition and each participant
had to donate £2.00 to their form’s charity. The first round
kicked off on the 22nd March with Lewis playing Kemble and
Mayne playing Rigby. Both games were tense and full of goals
with all 4 managers shouting from the sidelines. The full time
whistle blew and the scores at full time were 3-3 (Lewis and
Kemble) and 4-4 (Mayne and Rigby) respectively. The stars
from both games were: Steven Curran, Joe Thompson, Warren
Boyle, Craig Hogg, Sam Lomax, Joshua McCann, Jak
Shepherd, Oscar Heard, Reza Gharooni (who scored a
wonderful David Beckham like free kick), Chris Merrie, Daniel
Morrissey and Thomas Wooding. Both games went to exciting
penalties.
Kemble and Rigby’s campaign came to an end much to the
disappointment of Mr. Morgan and Mr. Murphy, who both
fancied their chances of winning! The next day saw Bryant
play Ward and Campion play Owen. Ward proved a tough team,
winning 7-3. However, it was Campion who showed to be a real
threat hammering Owen 12-0. The top players from those
games were; Tom Costello, Jordan Jenkins,
Connor Taylor, Felix Rigby, George Kelbrick, Daniel Maginess,
Rhys Lee, Joe Ireland, Warren Rimmer and Simon Whitehead!
30
The next week at assembly, the remaining competitors were
on the edge of their seats as Ms Staunton carried out the
draw for the semi-finals. Campion were drawn against Lewis
while Ward played Mayne. Mayne and Lewis were the winners
of the semis and the battle intensified! Both forms were
excited about the final!
The final was played on Thursday 31st March. A great crowd
turned out to support both teams. It wasn’t an easy game for
either form. Mr Clark and Miss Donlon were busy making
tactical changes. It was an exciting game with the final score
4-2 to Mayne. The top players on the day for Mayne were man
of the match: Daniel Morrissey, Chris Merrie, Reza Gharooni,
Thomas Ward and Reiley Hampson. For Lewis the real stars of
the day were: Steven Curran, Joe Thompson, Warren Boyle,
James Harrison, Alex Bancroft-Brooks and Callum Finnan.
Both teams showed excellent sportsmanship and Mayne were
worthy winners!
The competition as a whole was very enjoyable and all form
members got involved either from the sidelines or on the
pitch. The only disappointing thing was that it had to come to
an end and some forms just got to play one game. However,
the competition will hopefully be repeated in Year 8 which
gives other forms a chance to try and covet that trophy! Well
done to all those involved. The total raised for Alder Hey
children’s hospital was: £238.00.
Alex Winder, Thomas Howard, Reiley Hampson, Joe Crane
7MA
Cricket
March saw the start of our indoor and outdoor cricket season.
As we go to print SFX’s cricket teams are still very heavily
involved in the city’s Cup competitions at all age groups.
Our first piece of cricketing success this term was the winning of
the annual Y7/8 combined Liverpool Indoor Cricket Competition
held this year at St Margaret’s School. The competition was
group based with the prize being a place in the Lancashire
Schools Indoor Cricket Cup to be held at Old Trafford. With three
victories in the group stages against De La Salle, St Helens,
Liverpool College and Childwall respectively, we finished as
outright group winners. Star turns for all rounders Chris Merrie,
Tom Costello and George Pennington Reader on the day,
contributed to us being crowned Liverpool Indoor Cricket
Champions.
The win then led to the opportunity of playing at Old Trafford
Indoor at the Lancashire Finals. The boys acquitted themselves
well on the day with the standard of cricket on display from
various schools across the North West being very high. Our boys
were not out of their depth by any means and picked up a variety
of results on the day narrowly failing to progress to the knockout
rounds. Overall an excellent experience for the Y7/8 cricketers
involved.
All of Years 8, 9 and 10 have made a promising start in their
respective age group cups; the Year 8 team beat a strong
Cardinal Heenan Team and are due to face Bluecoat in the
Liverpool Cup Semi Final. Similarly the Year 9 team had an
equally impressive win against Calderstones by 13 runs to
progress to a semi final date against St Margaret’s. Star turns for
the Year 9 team came from all rounder Dominic Muscotelli and
spin bowler Chris Scregg. The Year 10 team have progressed to a
semi final date with St Margaret’s, with a convincing victory over
De La Salle.
The 22nd June saw our Year 10 team compete in a prestigious
twenty/20 competition at Liverpool College. The four team
tournament was played under strict twenty/20 rules and the
standard of cricket played on the day was very high. In the semi
final the Year 10 team came up against tough opposition from the
Isle of Man touring school St George’s. St George’s batted first
and knocked up an impressive total of 131 which SFX struggled to
make, meaning we had to settle for a place in the 3rd/4th place
playoff. Dominic Muscatelli was our star performer with the bat in
the game, scoring 34. Adam Brennan also impressed taking a few
wickets. The 3rd/4th place game paired us against St Mary’s
Crosby. We started this game like a house on fire scoring a total
of 114 with James Cooper hitting an impressive 80 not out.
Although it wasn’t to be our day and St Mary’s showed similar
form with the bat and knocked that total off with a couple of
overs to spare. To conclude, the day, although without victory
was still very good for SFX and the boys gained valuable
experience playing a different format of cricket.
Mr A Murphy
English Baseball
Success Stories
This term has seen the introduction of a new sport English Baseball, into core PE lessons. Over the last six
weeks two internationally recognised coaches who have
also represented England in the sport have visited
school and coached pupils from Years 7, 8 and 9 on
aspects and techniques of the game.
Our school is very proud
to have the under 13
British Thai Boxing
Champion, Jack Beirne in
Year 8. After his victory
on the 19th of June at the
National Championships
in The Adelphi Hotel
Liverpool he is now the
British Golden Belt Title
holder. Competing in the
weight category 26-38kg,
Jack fought his way to
the final with some
impressive victories
against tough boxers,
culminating in a final title
bout against Isaac Taylor
from Manchester.
Although Isaac had the
weight advantage being
5kg heavier this didn’t
affect the soon to be
British Champion and he
won the bout on points in
five and half minutes!
Founded in 1892, the sport is in many ways similar to
the American sport, the equipment used for the sport
differs in that the ball is smaller and the bat has a flat
edge also the pitcher pitches underarm throws to the
batsman. The boys who have taken part in the English
baseball lessons have really enjoyed learning and taking
part in a new sport. Following this we have now set up
an after school English Baseball club and are in the
process of arranging fixtures against Calderstones and
De La Salle, who have also been playing the sport. There
is also an opportunity for any boys who excel in the
sport to be nominated for trials for the England team
who play regular fixtures against Wales.
Mr A Brown
Jack trains at Thai boxing gym Sasisprupce in Kirby and as a
result of his title win will now go on to represent England in
the sport at the European Stand-up Fight Contest in Italy.
SFX wish him the best of luck in his forthcoming competition.
Mr P Kelly
31
Football Officiating Trip
– Everton Training Academy (Finch Farm)
Through our links with Everton Football Club, thirty
Year 10 GCSE pupils were given an excellent opportunity
to act as football officials for a primary school football
tournament. The boys arrived at Everton’s training
ground at around 9.30am, and were given the task of
setting up the football pitches for the tournament ahead.
After setting up the pitches, the boys were given a tour
of the complex. They were taken around the changing
rooms, the fitness suite, the vast high quality football
pitches and shown some young footballers who had
managed to become successful footballers through
attending Everton’s training academy. After lunch the
boys officiated all of the group games, the semi-finals
and the final of the tournament. The purpose of the day
was to use football officiating as part of their practical
scores that go towards their GCSE P.E. final grade. With
some excellent scores achieved, the last part of the day
was to put all of the equipment away. We would like to
thank Everton for allowing us to spend the day with
them. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the day.
Mr Taylor
Football
Once again the SFX football teams have excelled this season
and it is with great pleasure that I can announce that within
our teams we boast two League Champions.
Under the management of Mr Taylor and Mr Bright the Year 7
team enjoyed a very successful season, ending it as joint
League Champions and reaching the latter stages of both
Liverpool and Merseyside Cups. The Year 7 title was won
without defeat in the League all season, winning 8 of their 11
games and drawing 3, an excellent achievement! The team
also had two very good cup runs suffering semi final
heartache in the Liverpool Cup to West Derby (1-0) and Sacred
Heart (2-1) in the Merseyside Cup. Aside from this it has been
a great first year in SFX colours for the boys and we look
forward greatly to the challenges of next season.
Our other League Champions in the school are Mr Brown and
Mr Burke’s Year 10 team, competing in a very competitive age
group the lads have conducted themselves superbly on the
pitch playing some great attacking football and beating some
very tough opponents. Unbeaten in the league and taking the
title with a 7 point margin from runners up West Derby is a
great achievement and the boys should be very proud of
winning this league. Similar to the Year 7 team the Year 10
team also suffered double semi final heartbreak losing
narrowly 1-0 to Childwall in the Liverpool Cup and 2-1 to
Cardinal Heenan in the Merseyside Cup.
Other on field successes this season were Mr Kelly and Mr
Murphy’s 1st XI team in the Merseyside League and playoffs.
Finishing eighth in the League was a slight underachievement
but the players rectified this by beating 1st place Myerscough
College 2-1 in the playoff quarter final and 2nd place
Birkenhead 3-1 in the semi final. This set up a final against
Rainhill School from St Helens for the prize of being the best
1st XI in the county. The game was a very tight affair and was
goalless at half time, an early Rainhill goal in the 2nd half
sparked us into life and we equalised not long after via a
James Foley penalty and were very much on top with the
game drifting towards extra time. Extra time proved tense
again until a Sam Gleave goal from a set piece gave us the
edge, although we were not to hold on to our lead as Rainhill
equalised with a penalty with 2 minutes left to play. So to the
lottery of penalty kicks, having been the better team for the
latter part of the game plus extra time the tables were turned
and some excellent penalties saw Rainhill run out 4-2 winners.
Nevertheless, it was a great achievement for all involved and
they can be very pleased with their end of season form
considering where they finished in the final league table.
Mr Glover’s Year 8 team proved to be a very tough opponent
this season reaching the Liverpool Cup semi Final v Childwall
which is still waiting to be fulfilled and reaching the
Merseyside Cup final against Cardinal Heenan. The road to the
final proved to be tricky but Mr Glover’s team arose all
obstacles in front, knocking out Calderstones, Bebington and
Birkdale along the way, setting up an exciting prospect of a
final v Cardinal Heenan. As with all Cardinal Heenan v SFX
games, it proved to be a very tight contest throughout. The
opening exchanges were all in our favour with Wade Maxwell
and Daniel Abayomi both coming close, then against the run
of play a lucky break from a free kick lead Cardinal Heenan to
a close range goal. Cardinal Heenan started the 2nd half very
much on top but it was a total reverse of the 1st half with SFX
striking against the run of play through Daniel Abayomi, with
a very well taken goal from the edge of the box. Cardinal
Heenan were coming on strong and unfortunately for our boys
grabbed a spectacular winner late on in the game. A very
entertaining final, Mr Glover and his team can be very proud
of their achievement and will hopefully gain revenge on the
Cardinal Heenan team in the Liverpool Cup Final in September.
Mr P Kelly
Beaconsfield Road, Liverpool L25 6EG • Tel: 0151 288 1000 Fax: 0151 288 1001 • Email: admin@sfx.liverpool.sch.uk
www.sfx.liverpool.sch.uk