Apple Pruning

Nestled beside the old cricket pavilion lies a hidden gem of St Bart’s – our school orchard. Though time has taken its toll in recent years, we are on a mission to restore it to its former glory, and crucially, to preserve the knowledge we gain on how to care for it, so that it can be appreciated for many generations to come.

Last week marked the beginning of this journey as The Horticult, our KS4 co-curricular Horticulture group, welcomed local apple expert, Tony Hammond, for a masterclass in apple tree pruning.

During this hands-on session, we discovered that while there’s no single “correct” approach to pruning, several key principles guide the process:

  • The “One-Third Rule”: Conservation is key – never remove more than a third of the tree’s total growth in a single pruning session
  • Sunlight and Air Flow: Proper spacing between branches ensures adequate sunlight penetration and fruit ripening
  • Disease Prevention: Regular removal of shrivelled fruit and crossed branches significantly reduces disease risk
  • Variety Matters: Different apple varieties have distinct optimal harvesting times, making identification skills crucial
  • Quality Over Quantity: Strategic branch removal promotes healthier apples

We practiced identifying the new year’s growth, and branches that needed attention, particularly those growing in awkward directions that could affect the tree’s overall health and productivity. The session emphasised that pruning is about making informed choices rather than following strict rules. Next year, keep an eye out for our apple harvest – hopefully it will be a good one!

Tony also shared a charming story about a local Newbury apple variety called the Miller’s Seedling, the “local dance apple.” This unique tradition ties into the apple’s late-August picking season, which aligns with the August bank holiday. In the past, it was apparently customary to offer this specific apple to someone as a way of inviting them to dance.

We’re fascinated by this delightful piece of local history and would love to learn more! If you or someone you know has any stories about these “apple dances” or similar traditions, please don’t hesitate to email us at sustainability@stbarts.co.uk

Year 11 Interview Day

The Year 11 Interview Day offered students the chance to experience a ‘real-life’ interview with a representative from the world of work and to work on their employability skills and interview technique. Prior to the day, Year 11s used their PDP sessions to examine the skills required for work, research career choices and to produce CVs and letters of application. On the day itself, each student benefited from an individual mock interview and feedback on their performance from our interviewers.

The event is supported by the Education Business Partnership, and this year the organisations interviewing the students included AWE, Barclays, BWB Technologies, Gardner Leader,  Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Horsey Lightly, Infineum, Network Rail, Priors Court Foundation, Royal Air Force, TEK Systems, Tutoring Company, University of Winchester and Vodafone. It was fantastic that the volunteers also included former St Bart’s students, Hozan Edwards (B2B Technologies), Ellie Evans (AWE), Sabrina Luck (Vodafone), as well as Lois Ryan and Beth Parker (both from Gardner Leader) – now passing on advice to the next generation of St Bart’s students!

The feedback from students was fantastic. Here are just some of the comments:

  • “It has given me a greater understanding of what is expected at an interview, what to prepare and what to say.”
  • “I think this experience has helped to make me feel more confident about interviews and given me a better understanding of the interview process.”
  • “Extremely useful, I learnt a lot and I didn’t need to be so nervous.”
  • “It was a great first-time experience and I will be more confident knowing what to expect for next time”
  • It was incredibly insightful, enjoyable and helpful in learning about the interview process.”
  • “I really enjoyed it and found it useful as I now know how to act and what to talk about. I feel really confident and prepared for the future.”
  • “Very positive, I had a lovely interviewer who made me feel more confident!

St Bart’s in Top 25 Cricket Schools!

We are delighted to have been named among the Top 25 state schools nationally for cricket in The Cricketer magazine’s illustrious Schools Guide for 2025. This year is the first time in the decade-long history of the publication that our sector has had its own category – and there we are, rubbing shoulders with numerous grammars and sixth form colleges that are essentially specialist cricket academies!

According to The Cricketer, the entrants “were judged against an extensive set of criteria, which included a compelling commitment to cricket in the curriculum, facilities, fixture programmes and coaching”. A beaming but uncaptioned Leo (now Y11) is our pictured individual. Perhaps most gratifying of all was to see Reading School declare their “Finest moment on the field” to be winning the inaugural Toby Radford Trophy, the competition we invented last year for state-school 1st XIs. Copies of the guide can be bought here, although it also comes packaged with the Christmas edition of the magazine, which is a little cheaper and features a festive celebration – “Joe Ho Ho!” – of England’s leading Test run scorer. Available from all good newsagents, as they say.

Careers Fair

The following day the school hall was buzzing with Year 7, 8 and 9 students exploring the many job roles represented at the annual Careers Fair. Amongst others, these included armed forces, air traffic controller, architect, audiologist, broadcaster, buyer, cyber security advisor, customer service manager, designer, doctor, electrician, estate agent, journalist, lawyer, marketer, musician, occupational therapist, paramedic, plumber, policy maker, radiographer, solicitor, stud manager and youth worker.

Students chatted to volunteers about their day to day responsibilities and tasks and then 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.

“It was really interesting to speak to the Architect. I really enjoy design and he gave me lots of advice about what to study and spoke about how he gained qualifications and got started with his own studio.” Holly and Florence (9E2)

“We enjoyed speaking to Joe from the Armed Forces. He explained how his work involved lots of travel, sport and adventure activities like canoeing – it sounded great.” Adam (8C1) and Charlie (8E1)

“I chatted to the lady from Careers in the Arts and learnt all about their workshops. I’m an Expressive Arts Rep and so I feel really passionate about getting involved with these subjects.” Martha (8E3)

The Careers Fair is a key event in our wider Careers Education Programme and a fantastic opportunity for students to ask employers in person any questions they may have, such as why they chose their career?, what it is like to do their job?, what is their favourite part of their role?, and how did you get into your job? St Bart’s is 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 jobs represented and also that, as with the Interview Day, so many former students were involved in supporting the Careers Fair. Our alumni included Alex Blake (sales consultant), Jeanette Cheeseman (planner) Tom Cole (cyber security advisor), Jonah Hood (apprentice), Melanie Mildenhall (customer service manager), Aidan O’Neill (paramedic), Archie Perks (lawyer) and Joe Seward (doctor).

Our Careers Programme is all about ensuring that students are informed and inspired about a wide range of opportunities, that they have meaningful encounters with employers and that they are prepared for future pathways – whether this is further education, an apprenticeship or employment. If you are reading this article and thinking that you might be interested in supporting these events in the coming years, please do email our Careers Lead, Mrs Seward, who will add you to next year’s contact list (dseward@stbarts.co.uk).

 

BartholoNews 27 November 2024

We thank the alumni and volunteers who made a packed week of careers events possible and get an update on recent CCF activities in this week’s BartholoNews.

Rugby Update

Year 7 Rugby

Congratulations to the Year 7 rugby players who represented the school at the County Rugby Festival at Reading Blue Coat School on Friday 15 November.

St Bart’s won their morning pool, beating Bohunt School 3-0, Reading Boys School C, 11-0, and drawing with Haileybury School, 4-4.

The boys qualified for the top group for the afternoon. They drew, 4-4, with Howard of Effingham School, beat Reading Blue Coat School A, 7-0, beat John Hampden Grammar School, 5-2, and only lost one match to Aylesbury Grammar School. Players of the tournament were Harry Marsh, Thom Holland and Cody Farris.

Year 8 Rugby

The Year 8 Rugby team played their final round of West Berkshire fixtures last night at Newbury Rugby club. St Bart’s played against two very strong sides in Park House School and Kennet School. Unfortunately, St Bart’s lost both fixtures, but made an improvement from their last round of matches as they scored a try in both games. Great effort and team spirit from all, as they continued to give 100% until the end of both matches, despite the score line not being in their favour. Tries were scored by Adam and Joe. Players of the match were awarded to Adam for his brilliant tackling and Joe for his excellent ball carrying. Also a special mention to the five students who made their debut representing St Bart’s for the first time in a school fixture!

Year 10 Rugby

The Year 10 Rugby team played Stonehenge School from Salisbury in the National Bowl Competition.

Stonehenge had some excellent athletes and a strong, direct running, offloading game. St Bart’s showed real commitment and had to tackle for large periods of the match but managed to hold Stonehenge to only two tries.

With ball in hand St Bart’s worked well as a team, and their training and play structure showed as the forwards and backs interlinked well, playing good phases of rugby and scoring a total of seven tries, several out wide.

The final score proved Megalithic to be stronger than Monolithic. St Bart’s, 41 v Stonehenge, 10. Tries were scored by Antonio Valdivia (4), James Dearing (2), and Freddie Fuller (1). Deacon Cullum kicked three conversions. Player of the match was Antonio Valdivia and special mentions go to Alex Sliwinski and Raul Alin Filimon for their excellent tackling.

Festive Decorations for St John’s Church

Back in September, St John’s Church developed an ambitious plan to decorate the outside of the church with handmade decorations.

Mrs Brown and Mrs Blakely introduced the idea of asking St Bart’s students to help with the project as it was a fantastic opportunity for students to get involved with helping the wider community as well as learning new textile based skills.  Over the past few weeks, students across all year groups have kindly given up their Tuesday lunch time to learn how to knit, crochet and make pom poms for the church in Textiles club.

Last week, we welcomed Reverend Gary Collins into the Textile department to thank the students and collect over 40 decorations ready to be displayed for all to enjoy. A big thank you to all the students involved…

Year 7Year 8Year 9Year 10Year 11
Orla Forbes-GeorgePriya AnkalaDunia Lourenco RibeiroKareena GovindjiBeatrice Cratchley
Aanya HanabeNiamh ChambersMia Mackfall-HarrisonImmie Aldrich-Smith
Matilda PedersenEdward CohenIsla McCaffreyHermoine Cratchley
Katie WarrenPolly CookGabriela Lungu
Rose BellDotty DolinskiSophie Lystor
Flo GoodmanHannah ElegizyAmy Oliver
Polly ParsonsRosie GibbonsNandini Agarwal
Niamh PodestaKrystal Greenhill
Lauren RansomEmily Henstridge
Jemina RustAlice Johnstone
Ella WilsonAngelina Karnasiewicz
Suraiya SheikhArwen Lay
Elliot StedmanPoppy Leadbetter
Greta Mason
Hannah May
Thalia McAlpin
Millie Pennock
Anh Pho
Isabel Preston
Mabel Roberson
Alice Rumens
Imogen Rumens
Tanishka Shiravadekar
Asmi Singla
Zuri Williams

Year 7 Bookbuzz

At St Bart’s Library, we are very keen to foster a love of reading among our students. Each Year 7 English group has had an introduction to our Library, in which they learn how they can borrow from the exciting collection of fiction and non-fiction books. In addition, through the Bookbuzz scheme (supported by the Book Trust), the Library is giving a FREE book to each of our Year 7 students, which we do every year.

With a list of 14 amazing titles to choose from, every student should be able to find something they like, whatever their interest or ability, and the book will be theirs to keep. So if you have a Year 7 student, watch out for a new book coming home!

Sporting Success for St Bart’s Students

Will Climbing To Success

Will (10C2) started bouldering climbing two years ago and has recently started to win some competitions in the south of England. He trains most evenings and is now part of two squads. Recently he came first in a competition in London, as well as recently winning in Bristol and Reading.

A huge well done to Will on these fantastic achievements.

Double World Champion James

Congratulations to James (12P1). In March 2024, James gained the title of British Champion and qualified to represent Team GB for his weight category at the recent Unified World Championships for Kick Boxing in Italy. James performed brilliantly for the GB team and his club, Newbury Muay Thai. He won three rounds to beat his rival from Italy, followed by five rounds with a Muldovan competitor in the WTKA competition to become double world champion! Well done James, this is a testament to your hard work.

 

Second Year at Rose Academy for Neve

Congratulations to Neve (12C3) who has been selected for a second year to the Rose Academy, part of the England Netball Player Pathway, which supports young athletes on their journey towards being potential senior England internationals. Neve tells us more about her selection…

“This is my second season with England. I got scouted and given a trial at the National Performance League tournament 2023. I then did the whole season and was selected for the Netball Europe 2024 in Gibraltar, where I got my first four official junior caps for England.

I was reselected for a trial at the start of this netball season from the same tournament, went to the trial and was offered a place in the Rose Academy for the second year. In the coming months I will continue to attend England Netball camps, which take place every two weeks or up to a month until selection comes for the Europe Netball 2025 squad. Netball Europe with be held in Belfast (March 2025).”

Well done Neve, what a fantastic achievement.

Children in Need Fundraising

Thank you to everyone who took part, whether you donated, baked, or ducked and dodged balls! As a result, we are delighted to announce that St Bart’s raised £1,950 for Children in Need and had a lot of fun doing so. Congratulations also to the Curnock team who were victorious as Staff Dodgeball Champions 2024.

The St Bart’s Children in Need donation page will remain open until the end of 2024, so there is still time to donate to this fantastic appeal.

DONATE HERE!

St Bartholomew’s School, Andover Road, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 6JP

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