THE SAINT. Weekly newsletter of ST BIRINUS SCHOOL. T: (01235) E:

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1 THE SAINT Weekly newsletter of ST BIRINUS SCHOOL T: (01235) E: 29 June 2018 It has been a sunny, busy week. There have been three particular highlights for me. The Year 9 Debating Workshop on Monday was excellent. We always stress the importance of developing oracy in our students: this is part of breaking down the unfair stereotype of monosyllabic teenage boys and also infusing them with the soft skills which will serve them so well in life. The session on Monday was a wonderful demonstration of oracy in practice very well done to all involved and to Mr Elliott for his organisation of the day. On Wednesday a group of Year 12 Didcot Sixth Form students visited the Houses of Parliament. This was a brilliant experience for them, providing an unforgettable insight into our democratic system. They had a tour, lunch on the terrace and were fortunate enough to be able to view a debate in the chamber. A huge thankyou to Mrs Pyatt for her organisation of the visit but particularly to our local MP Ed Vaizey for the way in which he engaged with our students it was hugely appreciated. Finally, we were delighted to welcome Year 5 students from some of our partner Primary schools including Manor, Northbourne, Willowcroft, All Saints, South Moreton and Sutton Courtenay to the school on Wednesday for a Junior Maths Team Challenge event. We were hugely impressed by their mathematical prowess and well done to all involved. I would like to thank Mrs Geary-Andrews for her organisation of the day and our brilliant Student Ambassadors for their support of the younger students. A reminder that our annual Parent and Carers Survey remains open until Wednesday 4 July - Please do complete it if you can as we really value your feedback. We will provide a full overview of the survey and responses before the end of term. It is already very positive indeed and it is great to see how parents and carers are appreciative of their son s teachers, how they value the quality of extra-curricular provision and overall support for their sons. Improvements noted are particularly in behaviour for learning and communication between school and home much more to follow on this. Today is a non-uniform day as a reward for students coping so maturely with the hot week we have had they have done very well indeed. New water fountains were installed on Monday which was just at the right time! John Marston, Headteacher

2 Mr Stephen White, Chair of Governors at St Birinus School, is delighted to announce that Mrs Warwick has been elected as Vice President of ASCL (Association of School and College Leaders) from this September. ASCL is the professional association and trade union for senior leaders across the UK and plays an important role in representing members views and influencing government education policy. This role will involve a one day secondment to ASCL per week, enabling Mrs Warwick to continue her work as Executive Headteacher of the Ridgeway Education Trust for the remainder of the week. Mrs Warwick will become President of ASCL for , still on a secondment basis. With Mr Goodenough as Headteacher at Didcot Girls School from September, Mr Marston as Headteacher at St Birinus and Mr Willett as Director of the Didcot Sixth Form, we have such a strong team of senior leaders in place across the schools and the sixth form. In addition to Mrs Warwick s role with ASCL creating some excellent opportunities for our schools, we are very confident that this leadership model will ensure that the Trust schools continue to move from strength to strength. DIARY: 2-6 July 2018 WEEK A 9-13 July 2018 WEEK B MON 2 Rising Year 7 Day MON 9 TUE 3 Rising Year 7 Day TUE 10 Year 10 Geography trip to M Shed, Bristol WED 4 Rising Year 7 Parents Welcome Evening WED 11 THU 5 THU 12 Open Morning FRI 6 FRI 13

3 St Birinus School are currently recruiting for: Administrator and Receptionist - closing date 9 July 2018 Please click here for further details. Science Technician - closing date 9 July 2018 Please click here for further details. Junior Maths Challenge In late April, 30 year seven and eight students took part in the Junior Maths Challenge. They competed against over 4000 other schools nationally on a variety of complex mathematical challenges. The results were excellent, with Scott McGhee, Daniel Green, Joshua Baldock, Andrew Coull, Ace Allinson, Matthew Quartermain, Felix Richards, Asher Wong, and Nathan Green all achieving Bronze awards. Joseph Kershaw, Callum Henderson and Harry Turner (best in year seven) did well enough to receive the Silver award, with Ben Preston, Hussain Khan and Lewis Parren gaining the highest achievement the Gold award. As best in school Lewis qualified for the Junior Kangeroo Maths challenge; something that only the top competitors nationally are invited to take part in. Well done to all boys who took part! Miss Hort, Maths

4 ST BIRINUS SCHOOL ADVANCED SPORTS PROGRAMME It takes dedication and commitment to be an elite sports performer and each week the Saint will give an insight into one of our students. Joe Barough is a Year 7 pupil who is on the Advanced Sports Programme. He attends Reading Football Club Academy and here he explains his weekly training routine. Monday: I woke up at 7:30, for breakfast and I had some cereal and toast. After that I walked to school, it takes me about 15 minutes to walk to school, when I got to school we had an assembly and straight after that we had PE (badminton). When I had arrived home from school there was a letter for me from Reading FC offering me a 2-year contract, this is a step closer to becoming a footballer. After that I played Xbox for 1-2 hours. Tuesday: I woke up at 7:15 this morning and for breakfast I had cereal and fruit. Today when I got to school we had PE and it was softball. When I got home I had a sandwich before I went football training for Reading Academy FC. My training session is for 2 hours (18:00 until 20:00). We did drills in tight spaces to test our touches. I got home about 20:30, had a shower and something to eat. Wednesday: I woke up at 7:40 this morning and for breakfast I had cereal and fruit. At school today, I had no sport which is a bit boring, but I have football training tonight. At training tonight, I had my end of year review which turned out to be very good and I have agreed to sign a 2-year contract with Reading now. Thursday: I woke up at 7:40, for breakfast I had cereal and toast. When I got to school we had PE and softball again. When I got home I did some homework and played Xbox for an hour or so. Friday: I woke up and when I got to school today we didn t have any sports, but I had football training after school and we mixed in with the younger age groups and had a mini tournament, when I got home I had a shower, had some dinner and watched some TV then I went to bed. Saturday: Today I was supposed to have a tournament at Swansea but they pulled, so it was cancelled, so I had a chance to relax. Sunday: Off to a very important match today at the Madejski Stadium against QPR, it was the last game of the season and my mum, dad, brother and grandparents came to watch. We beat QPR 12-1 and I scored a hat trick.

5 RAF Youth Muster Day Benson Staff and students enjoyed celebrating the RAF s 100 th anniversary at RAF Benson on June 9 th, The day began with team building exercises, including clay pigeon shooting, a mini circuit course and demonstrations on how to use some of the survival kit needed for when there is an emergency and an aircraft has to ditch in the sea. Staff and students also had the opportunity to see inside two static helicopters, a Puma and a Chinook, and, as well, being able to get close to an active, Apache helicopter. During this time, there was an opportunity to speak to some of the pilots. All of this was in preparation for the main event, a flight in a Chinook helicopter or, as the pilots call it, the Chinny. So, after a long briefing, covering what to do with our weapons and how to survive a crash, we were eventually allowed to board the aircraft. We flew over south Oxfordshire with the tailgate open, which gave an impressive view of the countryside. All too soon it was, unfortunately, over. The afternoon activities included, air displays, the chance to see and use (safety on) different types of guns, for example, semi-automatics and rifles, etc. The afternoon s main event was the, We re a Knockout challenge. This was an assault course made from inflatables. After warming up to Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, and the Hokey Cokey, the battle commenced. St Birinus and one girl from Didcot Girls School were in a team on their own, which meant they had to complete each task twice. They were up against seven teams of Air Cadets and a Guide unit. With sheer brilliance, style and grace (not to mention some serious skills), the St Birinus team saw off all competition and won! It is safe to say; a great day was had by all.

6 U13 County Cup Semi Final SBS vs Marlborough School Marlborough SBS (with 3 overs remaining) - Isaac Hall - 31, Jacob Townsend 60 Not Out. Matthew Ford (14 not out) batting against Marlborough School Back row - Hussain Khan, Liam Cole, Matthew Ford, Callum Henderson, George Rushton, Lawson Harvey Front Row- Isaac Hall, Jacob Townsend, Harry Storey, Joseph Weller, Ben Wright

7 Softball Club All Star Challenge Week Seven Year 8/9 A really good week with Matthew Ellison returning to score an impressive 150 points, however a magnificent performance from Finlay Harrison who scored a mighty 180 to be player of the week. Year 7 Some great opening starts from two new players in their first week by Asher Wong and Tom Fry. Asher went on to be player of the week with a magnificent 160 points. This included a good all round display of judgement when batting and executing sound catching technique. As the tables show the competition is building up to an exciting grand finale!!

8 Softball Club All Star Challenge Leaderboard Combined - Week Seven Name Form 14-Jun Total Charlie Hadjirallis Samuel Scott Sam Burchall Freddie Johnson Charlie Shaw Owen Barette Xander Bateman Morgan Smith Bartlomiej Storms Robert Minell Jake Cole Finlay Harrison Joseph Sykes Sam Hoskins Max Voss Callum Dickson Joe Woods Will Davies Ollie Kitching Matthew Ellison Alex Darling Aakash Gupta Ciaran Foster Asher Wong Jake Prior Samuel Massie Tom Fry Daya Singh Matthew O'Brien Eddie Kent Oliver Wilson Kai Webster Alex Lee Leo Metson Johnson Rabuka

9 Softball Club All Star Challenge Leaderboard Year 7 Division Week Seven Name Form 14-Jun Total Charlie Hadjirallis Samuel Scott Sam Burchall Charlie Shaw Owen Barette Xander Bateman Bartlomiej Storms Robert Minell Joseph Sykes Sam Hoskins Max Voss Will Davies Alex Darling Asher Wong Jake Prior Tom Fry Daya Singh Eddie Kent Oliver Wilson Alex Lee Leo Metson

10 Softball Club All Star Challenge Leaderboard Year 8/9 Division Week Seven Name Form 14-Jun Total Freddie Johnson Morgan Smith Jake Cole Finlay Harrison Callum Dickson Joe Woods Ollie Kitching Matthew Ellison Aakash Gupta Ciaran Foster Samuel Massie Matthew O'Brien Kai Webster Johnson Rabuka

11 Softball Club All Star Challenge - Week Seven Home Run League Year 7 Home Run League Year 8/9 Name Form Total Xander Bateman Charlie Hadjirallis Sam Burchall Charlie Hadjiralis Samuel Scott Alex Lee Bartlomiej Storms Charlie Shaw Owen Barette Will Davies Charlie Shaw Name Form Total Matthew Ellison Callum Dickson Finlay Harrison Jake Cole Ollie Kitching Ciaran Foster Joe Woods Jake Cole Freddie Johnson Johnson Rabuka Kai Webster Golden Glove Year 7 Golden Glove Year 8/9 Name Form Total Owen Barette Sam Burchall Samuel Scott Charlie Shaw Robert Minell Charlie Hadjirallis Sam Hoskins Bartlomiej Storms Max Voss Alex Darling Will Davies Oliver Wilson Joseph Sykes Daya Singh Xander Bateman Tom Fry Eddie Kent Leo Metson Jake Prior Name Form Total Finlay Harrison Freddie Johnson Jake Cole Callum Dickson Kai Webster Ollie Kitching Matthew Ellison Matthew O'Brien Morgan Smith Johnson Rabuka Ciaran Foster Aakash Gupta 8.2 2

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