Last week saw the last round of league fixtures for our U18’s.
Our A team drew their first game, 0-0, against St Gabriel’s School, beat The Downs School, 1-0, and won, 1-0, against Kennet School B Team.
Our B team won, 1-0, against Kennet School B team, drew, 1-1, against Mary Hare School, and beat The Downs School, 1-0, and beat Park House School, 7-0.
Well done to all players involved.
On Friday 1 December, 90 students from Year 7 to Year 13 went to Wembley Stadium to watch England Women play the Netherlands, and it ended up being an exciting game. England didn’t start off well, conceding 2 good goals early on, meaning we were 2-0 down at half time. We were confident that England could get back into it, and we predicted a 3-2 win for the Lionesses during the half-time break.
Not long after the start of the second half, Georgia Stanway brought us back into it, with Lauren Hemp soon equalising a minute later. The score was now 2-2, and 5 minutes of extra time had just been announced. We were still confident England could win. In the 91st minute, Ella Toone, who had recently been subbed on, scored the winner for England, and the crowd went wild. All of the St Bart’s students were jumping up and down with happiness, and we now waited for the final whistle. When it was eventually blown, the Lionesses had made an incredible comeback, and we celebrated on the coach journey back, through all of the London traffic, with Miss Bilcliff’s expert DJing. A big thanks to Miss Bilcliff for organising this trip, it was a great success!
Erin Cahoon and Ruby Wiltshire (13C5)
Last Thursday over 800 Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 students had the opportunity to explore over forty different job roles as part of our highly successful annual Key Stage 3 Careers Fair. Those organisations represented included, among others: Army, AWE, Bluecore Plumbing & Heating, Cyber Crowd, Fusion Group, Green Alliance, iB Architects, Newbury College, Newbury Corn Exchange, Priors Court School, Siemens, The Royal Berkshire Hospital, Thames Valley Police, Xtrac and Vodafone.
Mrs Seward, Head of Business & Economics and Careers Lead at St Bart’s, explained, “The Careers Fair is a key event in our wider Careers Education Programme. It is a fantastic opportunity for students to explore the huge range of career choices open to them. It allows them to ask employers in person any questions they may have about roles, the world of work or routes into careers. I am so grateful to all our visitors for giving their time so generously and for their wonderful encouragement of our students. It was great to have such a range of organisations represented and also that so many former students were involved in supporting the morning”.
The school liaised with the wider school community, including alumni, staff, parents, governors and local organisations to arrange for representatives from different career fields to support the initiative. The volunteers generously gave their time to chat to students, who explored the different stands and completed a specially designed booklet to record their conversations. Following the discussions, students then spent time in tutor sessions reviewing all they had learned and their experiences.
William (7P2) said, “I’m really interested in engineering and I was fascinated to see how something big like an aeroplane is made up of so many small parts. It was great to find out more.”
Faith Pitchford, HR Employee Experience Administrator at Siemens and one of the many St Bart’s alumni involved, commented “This was such an enjoyable experience and I was delighted to be involved. It is great to be back at my former school, chatting to students about their own aspirations and hopefully passing on some helpful advice and inspiration. I really look forward to coming back and supporting future career and enrichment opportunities – particularly around pathways into STEM careers.”
Former students return to St Bart’s to support our KS3 Careers Fair and Year 7s celebrate a fantastic first term in this week’s BartholoNews
Our annual KS4 Awards Evening was held on Thursday 23 November at which we celebrated last year’s Year 11 students’ remarkable achievements. Led by our Assistant Headteacher, Mr Bandy, the ceremony was opened by our Headteacher, Dr Fitter, and our Vice-Chair of Governors, Mr Campbell Smith. Subject prizes for both achievements and progress were given as well as 21 major awards for contributions to many aspects of school life beyond the academic. The Mayor of Newbury was in attendance and was delighted to take part in the celebrations.
An impressive 60 students received a special mention for achieving 8 or more 7-9 grades at GCSE whilst another 31 were awarded prizes for best progress. The evening was concluded by a speech from one of our ex-students, Ciara Seward, now a very accomplished cardiothoracic nurse who inspired our students to pursue their dreams despite any obstacles. It was wonderful to see the school hall filled with prize-winners and nominees, alongside their parents, staff and governors.
It was a very fitting occasion at which to celebrate a truly outstanding group of students.
Former student, Amit Manna, graduated this summer from The Royal Northern College of Music – Music Conservatoire. Our Music department are “delighted and truly humbled” that he has dedicated his brand new music release to them.
‘Because It Happened’ is a piece for a chamber ensemble of two violins, two cellos and a piano, which was inspired by the Dr Seuss quote “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” The piece explores the emotions associated with letting go of something special to you, with grief and sadness as the central feelings at the start. However, as the piece progresses, the music becomes more hopeful and sonorous, with hints of happiness coming through to indicate the joy of having this wonderful thing happen to you.
We are pleased to be able to share this with you now, so do find it on Spotify or You Tube.
In recent weeks our students have been particularly busy and put lots of time and thought into fundraising for their House charity. Here are a few reports of some of their achievements…
Several Curnock students decided to run stalls at the recent Bart’s Christmas Fair, in order to raise funds for Newbury Cancer Care. The students sold cakes, handmade cards and marshmallow snowmen and raised a total of £161.65! A massive well done to Scarlett (9C3), Keli (7C3), Eva (7C1), Nell (7C2), Jack (8C1) and Ellie (8C1). You truly are Curnock Champions!
The first Great Curnock Bake Off took place last week and was a tremendous success with hundreds of cakes being baked by Curnock students from Years 7 right up to Sixth Form. Our strictly impartial judge, Mrs Jenner, was drafted in to decide the winners and they were:
Signature Bake: Keli Garavillas (7C3)
Technical Challenge: Chloe Johnson (9C2)
Show Stopper: Jenna Ledwith (9C2)
Commended bakes (as they were Curnock themed!): Hannah Bates (12C3) and Zoe Chapman (9C2)
CURNOCK STAR BAKER IS…ISABELLA SIDDON 7C3!!
After the judging was complete, House Captains and Ambassadors came together to manage the hordes of students seeking to buy the cakes and raised a fantastic £201 which will now go to Curnock’s House charity: Newbury Cancer Care.
Evers students have been raising money for West Berks MENCAP.
Six girls from 8E2 tutor group: Abi, Summer, Elsie, Barrie, Robi and Ivy (not pictured) raised nearly £60 with their lunchtime cake sale. This is an amazing sum raised and their efforts are appreciated! Well done girls.
Oliver, Max and Michal, all from 9E2, had the wonderful idea to hold a stall at a local car boot sale. Everything they sold was in aid of raising money for West Berks MENCAP. The boys managed to raise nearly £80 on the day! A fantastic idea and we are very proud of the boys’ ingenuity and as always, very grateful for their fundraising!
Patterson student, Harvey (10P2), has been super busy making his dog and cat treat baubles again this year to raise money for Patterson House Charity – Guide Dogs. Harvey gave up his weekend to set up his stall at the Cold Ash WI Christmas Fair on the Saturday and a stall at the St Bart’s Christmas Gift & Craft Fair on the Sunday.
In total, he raised a massive £260.17! He’s really pleased, as this is about £80 more than last Christmas. Patterson are so very proud of Harvey’s continual fund raising efforts. Well done Harvey and thank you.
