Following on from Flo’s amazing success at Crufts dog competitions, we have discovered that another student, Chloe (10C3), also took part. This was the fourth year that Chloe has competed at the dog show, achieving the best results yet.
Chloe and dog Woody came 13th overall in the Agility Dog of the Year. This also includes a 2nd in the semi-final. What an outstanding achievement for Chloe. Well done!
Congratulations to Neve (12C3) who was part of the England Netball team to win the Netball Europe U17 tournament in Belfast! The team were unbeaten against UAE, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, earning Neve her 8th cap for England in a team of mostly new players. What a fantastic result!
You can read more about the tournament on the England Netball website.
Following the news that seven of our Year 13 students have received offers to study at either Cambridge or Oxford University, we are also celebrating three offers made to students on highly competitive medicine courses. This follows months of hard work and study to complete competitive entry tests and interviews. Angel Nwokporo and Gen Brown have both received offers to study medicine from the University of Nottingham, whilst Samuel White has been received two offers – one from the University of Birmingham and one from Sheffield University. Huge congratulations to all three students.
Angel, Gen and Sam are not the only students who have been successful in taking the next step in pursuing a career in our healthcare services. Vaibavi Lakshmi Narayanan, Dawud Mehdi, Lily Pho, Fatou Diallo and Issy Tallis are all celebrating offers for Pharmacy at their university of choice. Lucy Hicklin has received offers from the University of Plymouth and University of Southampton to study Midwifery. Ryan Cheng is looking to study Physiotherapy at Brunel University. Daniel Newman has been made three offers for placements to study Radiography, whilst Tara Fitzgerald has four offers for Optometry, and Jemima Cutts has five offers for Speech and Language Therapy. Finally, Imogen Conington plans to study Paramedic Science at the University of Lincoln.
We all experience the healthcare industry at some point in our life. It is an industry that faces many different challenges, but it can also be one of the most rewarding career choices students can make, offering the opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives, and to be at the forefront of innovation and technology.
Mr Owen, Co-Head of Sixth Form, said: “We are delighted that it has been another great year for Sixth Form applications to some of the UK’s most sought-after universities and courses. It is very uplifting that so many of our very able students are choosing healthcare courses. Not only will they gain medical knowledge, they will further build their range of important transferable soft skills in communication, critical thinking, empathy and problem solving. This pathway offers excellent graduate employability rates because there will always be a huge demand for these skills and experience. I wish them all the best of success with their exams and beyond. Their hard work is already paying off and we have no doubt they will go on to great things.”
We asked two of our students why they have chosen a healthcare route. Isaac (13E1) said, “I want to make the world a better place through my work. I believe that it is meaningful to make a difference for people to get through their unique challenges, which motivated me to pursue my career.”
Well done to our Year 10 Core Skills students Hala, Adham, Lucas, Esmee and Ciara who, with Mrs Van Dyk’s guidance, organised and ran a very successful charity event for Cancer Research at the end of last term, raising £49.70 from delicious bakes and Ciara’s beautiful handmade jewellery.
Ciara said, “my great-nan had cancer, so it felt good to help others having similar experiences.” Esmee added, “we also learnt new skills organising all the elements of the sale.”
Congratulations to them all.
Congratulations Martim (8E2) on winning the School Lunch Recipe Competition!
Over 150 students came to the Bart’s Bites kiosk at the end of February to taste both selected recipes, Chicken Briyani by Andrew (7P3) and Martim’s Chicken a Bras. They voted for their favourite dish. Both dishes were delicious and everyone enjoyed them; it was a very close match.
Their achievement will be celebrated in assembly and Chicken a Bras features on the school lunch menu this week allowing all students to experience the joy of this dish!
Well done to all those students who submitted recipes to the competition, they demonstrated much creativity, we hope they will all will keep going with their culinary interests.
Thank you the school Catering team for supporting the competition, especially Angela and Michaela for judging and preparing both dishes for tasting.
Congratulations to Flo (7P2) who recently took on one of the biggest dog competitions in the world, Crufts, and held her own against adults and young handlers more than twice her age.
Competing at the Birmingham NEC, Flo was the only child in her category when she stepped up to take on Rally Obedience: Level 2 on Thursday, representing the South and South West region. With her trusty partner, Ted, a seven-year-old Cairn Terrier, by her side, she navigated a tricky course filled with signs instructing them to sit, wait, stand, and walk round. It was a tough competition, but Flo and Ted worked brilliantly together, securing an impressive 5th place out of 8 competitors—all adults! Their team went on to come an even more impressive 4th place. The commentator congratulated Flo on her very calm and composed handling and said that she and Ted are “a team to watch out for in the future”.
“I was a bit nervous at first, but once we started, I just focused on Ted and made sure we worked as a team,” Flo said. “Crufts was one of the most exciting things I have done in my life so far.”
On Saturday, Flo was back in the ring for the Young Kennel Club competition having qualified last year as one of the top twelve young dog handlers in the UK. Despite the tough competition, Flo and Ted gave it their all, impressing the very large and loud crowd with their teamwork, skill, and Ted’s wagging enthusiasm. They only lost 9 points out of a possible 210 – their personal best so far in the sport.
St Bart’s is really proud of Flo and her success. “We couldn’t be prouder of Flo,” Miss Marshall and Mrs Ortiz said “Flo has shown dedication, confidence, and skill. We look forward to seeing what she achieves next.”
As you may have read in earlier BartholoNews, there is plenty of nature to discover around our school site – from intelligent foxes to elegant owls! Our students are always keen to learn about the species, other than humans, who are using the school site or who call it home. Some of our clubs have also been using the iNaturalist app to map biodiversity around the school and share these findings with the National Education Nature Park,
In order to better support this interest in our natural world, St Bart’s has been busy raising funds and preparing the ground for a new walkway to be laid in our Nature Reserve. This fantastic space has, in recent years, been closed for lessons and clubs due to the state of the pathways but we are delighted to say that we now have enough support to start work on completing the new pathway over the Easter holidays. This would not have been possible without the support of some fantastic local companies and organisations including Englefield Charitable Trust, Greenham Trust, Newbury Friends of the Earth, Newbury Town Council, Sewa Day, Veolia Sustainability Fund and West Berkshire Council.
As well as the financial support we have received, there has also been a brilliant effort from our Site team (with particular thanks to Cliff Guthrie!) and St Bart’s students from the Kintsugi Club, Guardians of the Living Realm Club and Friends of the Bee Club who have all been hard at work helping to remove the old rotten pathway in order for work to start. Nothing will be wasted, with the old wood being used for building bat and bird boxes.
We can’t wait to open the space fully once more and we have lots of additional plans to improve and develop the area. There is still lots of work to do but this is a major milestone! If you would like to support this initiative and donate to the project, you can still do so on the Good Exchange. We’d be so grateful for your support.
The Nature Reserve Club is open to students in all years and, particularly as the weather improves!, is a fantastic way to get outside and make a difference. Volunteering at the club can even count towards Duke of Edinburgh Awards. The group meet Mrs Johnstone by the Nature Reserve after school on a Tuesday – come and join us or speak to Mrs Johnstone if you have any questions.
On Wednesday 12 March, during British Science Week, students engaged in the House Science Competition 2025. Over 80 students took part from Year 7-13 to complete six experimental and puzzling challenges (plus additional tasks thrown at them by the Sixth Form) – fastest house wins!
Although Davis House finished all of their challenges first, there were additional time credits and penalties to be awarded for winning each extra challenge and completing tasks with no guidance.
Curnock won the paper aeroplane challenge, Evers came first in the paper drop and Davis clinched the estimate task.
With everything accounted for, the final times were as follows…
Davis – 13 minutes and 27 seconds
Curnock – 26 minutes and 53 seconds
Patterson – 26 minutes and 59 seconds
Evers – 29 minutes and 58 seconds
It was great to see all members of all houses from Years 7-11 working together and all students put in an incredible effort. Everyone gains participation points for their house. A shout out to the sixth form volunteers for getting involved with no preparation at all…’winging it’ is a fabulous life skill 🙂
Big thanks to Mrs Johnstone, Mr Swift, Mrs Pearson and Mrs Wall for supporting their houses.
Congrats again to Davis – House Science Champions 2025
Congratulations to our Young Enterprise team, Clean-Cut, who won best overall company and sustainability award at the YE trade fair in The Westgate Shopping Centre, Oxford on Saturday 15 March.
The team of four attended with the aim of selling their product and expanding their business. Clean Cut produce drinking glasses, using a bottle cutter to score the glass, followed by hot and then cold water to separate the glass. Twelve other companies from schools in the Thames Valley attended the event, with awards for best trade stand, customer service, sustainability and product and innovation, as well as the overall winner. An early start was required to get their trade stand set up and ready to sell to the public at 9.30am. A lot of work was put in prior to the event – designing and preparing the stand, ensuring there were sufficient products to sell and organising a rota for the day. The event was an excellent opportunity for students to discuss their products with the general public and find out whether their product was going to appeal to the market.
As part of the area Young Enterprise competition, the students received a visit to their stands from the judges. They were asked questions about their production and marketing strategy and were observed in their selling technique. Clean-Cut were declared winners of the Sustainability Award and Best Company on the day. The awards were very well deserved as the students had put a lot of effort into developing their sustainability strategy and ensuring this was evident in their marketing and on their trade stand. They have spent a lot of time over the last couple of months producing their product. They also made a number of sales on the day!
Harry Lardner, Managing Director, said: “I am really pleased that the hard work of our team has been recognised by the judging panel who provided some important feedback that we will take on board ready for when we attend the Area Final in May.”
Well done to the students who took part – Charlie Gale, Harry Lardner, Tori McDonald and Mariana Carvalho. If you want to purchase any items from Clean-Cut visit the Clean-Cut linktree and complete an order form. The price list is available to view on the Clean-Cut Instagram page.
In Years 7, 8 and 9, Languages students were given the challenge of finding out about some cultural elements of their respective languages and where they are spoken. We feel it is so important that the students are aware that our main MFL languages are not just spoken in France, Germany and Spain and that we help students develop an understanding and empathy for the wide variety of cultures represented in each of the countries chosen. After completing their research, students had to create a poster to highlight key information. The results proved to be some beautiful presentations of the variety of towns and countries where the languages are spoken.
Our wonderful Foreign Language Assistants, Killian, Nele and Aitana, chose their favourites and decided on overall winners. We are delighted to acknowledge the work of the overall winners and want to say a big thank you to all students who took part. Here are some of the winners and posters. Well done all!
Winners:
Y7 French Bhavik with France
Y7 German Suraiya with Switzerland
Y8 French Livi with Lyon
Y8 German Rafferty with Germany
Y8 Spanish Alesha with Argentina
Y9 Spanish Sam with Zaragoza
