Manmade Dancers’ Brilliant Success

Following on from a series of very successful workshops with ZoieLogic Dance company, Mrs Hoult took a group of boys to perform their final piece as part of the ManMade boys dance platform on Tuesday 4 March at the Corn Exchange in Newbury. The evening was a fantastic success and the boys performed brilliantly alongside other Primary and Secondary schools in the area.

All of the boys worked extremely hard over the last few months and it was a pleasure to watch them perform. A massive well done to ; Caleb Rees, Joe Langdon, Tom Merchant, Akshansh Gupta, Cedric Roberson, Nick Calin, Codie Evans and Jimmy Ashton.

BartholoNews 12 March 2025

We hear about our students’ dance success and look forward to German Week in this week’s BartholoNews

Rhodium Reading Challenge Champions

Two more St Bart’s students will be added to the honour roll of those to complete the St Bart’s Rhodium Reading Challenge.

Year 8 students Alice and Jacob have each read at least 57 books across the five challenges in order to complete the final award in the school’s Reading Challenge. In recognition of their achievement and this impressive dedication to reading, both were congratulated by Dr Fitter, Headteacher, Mr Matthias, English Teacher, and Mrs Hewetson, St Bart’s Librarian, who said “ We are so proud of their achievement and their fantastic reading efforts, which will reap benefits as they carry on through their school careers. We know they are keen readers who will continue to challenge themselves with new books”.  Both were awarded with a hamper of goodies to enjoy, including their rare Rhodium Badge to be worn with pride.

Congratulations to Alice and Jacob!

Brilliant Club Graduates

During the Autumn Term, students from Years 8 and 9 took part in the scholarship programme that was run by The Brilliant Club. Students learned about different topics in a series of university style tutorials led by a PhD tutor in their specialist field.

Here’s what Tejas Heejebu (9C2) said, “At the start of the year we were introduced to our PhD tutor who told us more specifically about the course we would be studying, which was ‘Protecting genetic information and confidentiality: The challenges ahead’. We had 5 tutorials, which were each about different topics that could have been the main points of the essay we were going to write at the end of the programme. Tutorial one was about ‘Medical privacy’, the second was about ‘Freedom of the press’, the third about ‘Informed consent’ and the fourth about ‘Genetic information and confidentiality’. Our fifth one was preparation for the essay we were going to write over the Christmas holidays. We picked one of the topics and used it for an ethical dilemma argument. I did mine on ‘Freedom of the press’. After the Christmas holidays we got our results back in university grades and went on a trip to Christchurch College in Oxford University. Overall, it was an amazing experience.”

The photos are from the graduation day in the week before half term where students went to celebrate their hard work and dedication throughout the programme. They all did incredibly well and every student achieved either a 2:1 or a 1st, which is outstanding. A huge well done to everyone!

Mr Hill

‘The 39 Steps’ Theatre Trip

Photography by Alastair Muir

On the 25 February, we went to Salisbury to watch the chaotic comedy ‘The 39 Steps’ which follows the dramatic escape attempt of Richard Hannay after he is accused of murder as he desperately attempts to discover what the 39 steps are.

The play consisted of four actors multi-rolling as all the people he meets along the way. I really enjoyed the use of sets. They used them very effectively to catch the audience off guard with comedic effects such as using puppets to represent the characters. All the actors played their roles incredibly well and there was a lot of interaction with the audience, which really allowed us to feel immersed within this story and journey of the characters. It was really nice having the chance to attend an event like this with school and laugh with classmates and enjoy a great night out at the theatre.

Mikey Cloete (13D3)

PE Round Up Wk 23

Year 8 Football

Well done to the 28 Year 8 students who represented St Bart’s against Kennet on Tuesday afternoon. The first half of the match was the West Berkshire league fixture where St Bart’s won 4-0. The second half was a friendly, which allowed 10 students that have never represented the school before to play in a competitive match. Special shout out to Jack, Oscar, Euan, Arthur, Jake and Dan who all played for Kennet due to them not having enough players. Also, thank you for Adam who stepped in to play as our goalkeeper in the first half. Well done to all involved.

  Year 7 Netball

The sun was shining for the Year 7 fixtures this time! The A team just had one match this week, and with a strong squad of 10, the girls were brilliant at sharing court time and played so well together no matter what combination was on court. Katie P was awarded Player of the Match for her strong defence, stopping Trinity School getting anywhere near the goal circle and Tilly C was awarded attacking Player of the Match for her great positioning and shooting skills. Final score was 8-2 to St Bart’s.

The B team played Trinity B and secured another great win, they came out strong scoring 5 goals to Trinity’s 1 in the first half. Defence worked hard in the second half keeping a clean sheet, final score 6-1. Player of the Match was Emily for scoring 5 goals. Special mention to Izzy and Ella B for their great defensive work.

Next up was Theale. Bart’s found it difficult to play them as they were undisciplined, and the game couldn’t flow. Ella B, Ella W and Rose really stood out trying to get the ball to goal. Summer was awarded Player of the Match for her versatility in the game shining at GA and GD, final score was 2-1 to Theale.

Year 11 Netball

The Year 11s just had one team this week because of school trips, they played Kennet School A team in the sunshine. Kennet came out strong and turned over Bart’s first centre pass. It took a little while for Bart’s to settle with a different line up, but they soon found their form. The last 5 minutes of the game went goal for goal in a very tense game, the final whistle went just as the ball made it into the Bart’s shooting circle, leaving the score 10-9 to Kennet. Thank you to Hazel and Katie from Year 10 for helping out, Grace was awarded Player of the Match for her great shooting and bringing the ball down the court. A fun competitive game between friends and club teammates, well done everyone.

The Combined Cadet Force

The broad function is to provide an organisation within a school so that boys and girls may develop powers of leadership, self-discipline, responsibility, self-reliance, endurance, resourcefulness and perseverance through a wide variety of experiences and activities.

All cadets begin with basic training within the three services consisting of drill and inspection, map & compass and service knowledge. Thereafter some specialisation occurs relevant to individual service chosen:

  • Royal Navy: activities concerned mainly with water – swimming test, sailing, wind-surfing, navigation, knots, etc.
  • Army: land based activities including field craft, skill at arms, battle craft and the use of camouflage. 
  • Royal Air Force: concerned with flying and gliding courses, principles of flight, air navigation, engines, aircraft recognition, meteorology, etc.

All cadets have the opportunity to take part in adventure training at weekends and during holidays.  Activities include camping, fell-walking, climbing, abseiling, sailing, canoeing and orienteering.  The CCF supports long distance events such as the Ten Tors across Dartmoor.

In addition, cadets can attend annual camps and a variety of courses run by the services.  These involve spending up to a week at a military establishment and are attended in both large and small groups.

The CCF is supported by the Ministry of Defence and as such is a uniformed organisation.  The uniform is provided free except for boots.  It gives boys and girls a great opportunity to take part in activities that would not otherwise be available. There is no emphasis whatsoever placed on recruitment into the services.

 

KS4 Extra Sports Options

FITNESS or SWIM – Northcroft Leisure Centre

Have you always wished the school had a fitness suite or swimming pool? Now is your opportunity to opt for one of these options based at Northcroft Leisure Centre. Select one of the following pathways to improve your fitness levels whilst learning valuable life skills to improve confidence in engaging with these fun recreational activities.

Fitness  

If you opt for Fitness, each week you will be in a group that rotates around three different activities for approximately 20 minutes:

  • Activity one is a spin class which is facilitated by an externally qualified spin instructor. Spin is a fun aerobic workout on stationary bikes indoors to dance music.
  • Activity two will be using the fitness suite. You will be given a full gym induction in order to learn how to use the equipment safely and carry out your own personal fitness programme. With a range of cardiovascular equipment, resistance machines and functional movement/bodyweight area, this option allows you to improve a range of fitness components from strength to endurance. 
  • Activity three will be you using the Northcroft sports hall to take part in recreational sports such as badminton, football and basketball.

Requirements:

  • Motivated to improve personal fitness.
  • Respectful and considerate of members of the public

Swim 

An opportunity to improve your swimming strokes, learn about personal survival skills and enjoy being in the water. You will be taught how to optimise your swimming efficiency, whilst learning how to be safe in the water with others and potentially save lives. This is an excellent chance to improve a life skill that will help to increase your confidence in the water as well as improving fitness levels along the way. In the summer there may also be an opportunity to use the outside lido.

Requirements:

  • A basic level of swimming ability (the aim is to work on this so you do not already need to be at a high level)
  • Motivated and driven to learn more about swimming technique and personal survival
  • Respectful and considerate of members of the public 

 

LIVING FOR SPORT

Are you enthusiastic and passionate about sport? If so, then this option could be for you! You will have two hours of recreational sport based at school plus other exciting opportunities to venture out and try different sports including golf and martial arts. The aims of this option are to increase activity levels, whilst building confidence and teamwork skills through the power of sport. 

Requirements:

  • Keen sports person who loves PE and just wants to do more!
  • Open to participating in a range of sports

 

ST BART’S SPORTS LEADERS AWARD 

The course aims to give students an appreciation of what is required to lead a good sports session.  To complete the course, commitment must be maintained over Year 10 and Year 11. At the end of Year 11 all students will be issued with an award which is based on their commitment and volunteering over the two years.

Requirements:

  • Students need to be passionate about sport
  • Students need to have a good record of behaviour as they will be representing the school during Primary school visits
  • Students need to have shown a keen and enthusiastic approach to sport at KS3

Course Structure:

  1.  Plan, lead and evaluate a sport/activity session.
  2. Developing leadership skills.
  3. Safeguarding
  4. Adapting activity session to be inclusive
  5. Lead activities that promote a healthy lifestyle.
  6. Organise and deliver a sports event or competition.
  7. Using Leadership skills.

Students assist in PE lessons, at extra-curricular practices, with House events and attend a Primary school to put their leadership skills into practice.

Please note class size is limited and students should think carefully about their second choice.

 

Community Action

The Community Action programme provides students with an opportunity to do important and meaningful work in the community. It will involve:

  • regular support work within local primary schools, supporting classroom teachers and supporting students with reading and other core skills.
  • supporting the community through active participation in local volunteer groups. We are looking to develop projects with Mencap/Swings and Smiles/West Berkshire Libraries and the Volunteer Centre, West Berkshire.
  • developing ways of sharing ‘community action’ across the school, raising awareness and raising participation across all years.
  • supporting and mentoring some students in Y7-9 with reading and other core skills.

Dance Leader Award

The Award in Dance Leadership is an award for students under 16, which allows them to lead dance activities in the community. Dance Leaders help give students the chance to develop their passion for dance whilst also gaining life changing skills and experiences; such as creating and delivering dances to local Primary Schools. St Bart’s holds a fantastic relationships with local Schools and uses this as an opportunity for students to learn essential skills. Students learn to become independent through planning/organising individual and group events, teaching/coaching, presenting, working effectively as a team, developing resilience, communication and confidence.

As a Dance Leader, students will become advocates for leadership and assist to develop and encourage their peers and younger students. They will achieve this by gaining the skills necessary to coach, lead dance clubs and other extra-curricular activities to help others become more physically and actively engaged.

Dance Leadership is the perfect way to diversify your enrichment, participate in creative challenges and contribute to the community.

Requirements:

  • You need to be passionate about dancing
  • You must have dance experience
  • You need to have shown a keen and enthusiastic approach to dance at KS3 and a good behaviour record.
  • You must show commitment and dedication to extra-curricular opportunities as you will be required to support school clubs, House dance competition and lead dance sessions at local Primary schools.

Course Structure:

  1. Plan, lead and review a dance activity: choreographing dances, learning how to deliver material, how to plan an event.
  2. Developing leadership skills: creating/managing rehearsals, roles and responsibilities for productions, delivering extra-curricular sessions.
  3. Lead activities that promote a healthy lifestyle: lead groups for an event, promoting/encouraging others.
  4. The relationship of music to dance: selecting appropriate music for all opportunities, developing an understanding of impact of music for dance works.
  5. Use a stimulus to create a dance piece: being a dancer for others choreographies, choreographing your own work on others, creating your own intentions to communicate to different audiences.
  6. Opportunities in dance: extra-curricular events, workshops, dance clubs, House Dance, dance shows, Arts Council.

Please note class size is limited and students should think carefully about their second choice.

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs Hoult, Head of Dance (ahoult@stbarts.co.uk)

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

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