Class Of 2025 Celebrate in Colourful Style!

Last week St Bart’s hosted a series of celebrations for our wonderful Year 13. As is tradition, the festivities included our Leavers’ Assembly on the Wednesday, and a Sixth Form Karaoke Special, BBQ and games on the Wormestall Field on the Thursday. The Year 13 week was then concluded with the noisy and colourful Class of 2025 Parade around the school hub, at which our leavers treated younger years and staff to a display of fantastic fancy dress and dance moves! As they near the conclusion of their school career with St Bart’s, we wish Year 13 all the very best for exam season and adventures beyond. We are with you all the way! We hope you all enjoy the Leavers’ Prom on Friday 20 June, and please do remember to sign up to our alumni, so that we can stay in touch and welcome you back as former students in future years.

BOOK RETURNS REQUEST – Y11 & Y13

Now that we are approaching exams and nearing the end of this academic year for Y11 and Y13, we would like to remind parents that your child’s textbooks, library books and laptops (if they have one) should be returned to the Library by Friday 20 June 2025, at the latest. Of course, at the moment students will still be using these resources to complete their studies, but please can you ensure that any resources belonging to school are returned once students have completed their exams. Please can students hand them to a member of the Library staff so we can check that their account is clear. Many thanks for your help. Students can come and speak to us in the Library if there are any questions or concerns.

RoBarts Robotics Team Debut

On 29 April, RoBarts robotics team made their debut at the FIRST Tech Challenge regional tournament in Oxford. After arriving at school at 7:00a.m. for final robot adjustments, the team travelled to Oxford and immediately began refining their design, prior to their judging interview session and inspection. Matches at the tournament involved alliances of two teams competing in both autonomous and student-controlled phases, requiring both precision programming and real-time strategy.

Despite being new to the competition, the team of 12 students demonstrated exceptional skill, teamwork, and resilience – earning the Control Award for their innovative programming, and finishing as runners-up for the Inspire Award, which recognises teams that exemplify the values of the FIRST Tech Challenge and serve as role models for others.

The students dedicated months to designing, building, and refining their robot – often staying after school and even organising Saturday sessions. When asked what the most important thing they learnt from taking part in the First Tech Challenge was, Ryan (12C3) responded “Managing time effectively for weekly robotics sessions and working under pressure trying to debug and test code in case something didn’t work, especially right before a match so learning to adapt in these stressful situations was important.” Ryan led much of the coding effort and after receiving the Control Award, he reflected, “I felt incredibly proud. It was great to see our hard work on the programming being recognised especially after continuously testing and refining the code making sure it was both efficient and maintainable.”

The team’s success extended beyond the technical. Tejas (9C2) led on sponsorship, securing support from Collaboration Betters the World (CBTW) and nowFundamentals. “The biggest challenge I faced was not getting responses from a lot of companies and overcoming it by keeping on trying,” he said. We are incredibly grateful to both companies for their generous support.
For many students, the experience was transformative. “I learnt the importance of tech in this society and what it can be used for, but also the importance of teamwork,” shared Asmi (8P2). Meanwhile, Lawri (9C2) helped the team get their 3D printer back online – an essential tool for producing parts for the robot. “My experience at the FIRST Tech Challenge was an interesting opportunity to build teamwork skills and allow us access to kits and parts that we couldn’t use at home.”

With plenty of creative ideas already emerging for next season – including improving the robot’s autonomous mode, led by Arpit (12E1), who has been teaching himself Java – the future looks bright for the RoBarts robotics team.

RoBarts may not have made the Championship finals this year, but their Control Award win and Inspire Award recognition are remarkable accomplishments for a first-time team. They’ve laid a strong foundation for the future – and we can’t wait to see what they do next.

Year 11 Pizza Party

Before they left a group of Year 11 students attended their Pizza Party and were supplied with an inordinate amount of pizza and juice. Their invitations were based on their contributions to Maths and English revision workshops and they thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of their labour!

Rhodium Reading Challenge Champions

Congratulations to Year 9 students, Reem and Roba, our latest students to complete the St Bart’s Reading Challenge.

In order to achieve the final Rhodium Award in the challenge, Reem and Roba had to read at least 57 books across the five levels. This is a great achievement and they now join our Reading Challenge Champions honour roll!

In recognition of this impressive dedication to reading, both girls were congratulated by Dr Fitter (Headteacher), Mr Matthias (English Teacher) and Mrs Hewetson (St Bart’s Librarian). Mrs Hewetson was delighted to have the opportunity to compile two more hampers of goodies, including books, stationary, treats and the rare Rhodium Badge to be worn with pride. We hope Reem and Roba enjoy their hampers and continue with their love of reading – we understand the Ultimate Carnegie Challenge is next on their list!

‘Challenges’ Exhibition

There is a small exhibition of work by local young people entitled ‘Challenges’ happening in the foyer at the New Era Theatre in Wash Common. Work by four of our past and present GCSE and A Level students has been selected. A private viewing took place on Friday 1 May and the exhibition can now be viewed on a couple of Saturday mornings in June from 7-21 June, 10:30 – noon.

Congratulations to current photography student Rosie, last year’s A Level Fine Art student Elliot (artwork pictured) and last year’s GCSE students, Lily and Kateryna.

Year 11 Graduation 2025

Last Friday our Year 11 Graduation took place in glorious sunshine! It was an opportunity to reflect on all our Year 11s have learnt and experienced during their time at St Bart’s, as well as a moment to celebrate achievements and friendships.

As is tradition, students and teachers signed shirts and this year we were pretty impressed with some of the elaborate shirt designs! Afterwards the year gathered in school hall to hear from Dr Fitter and to reminisce as the last five years were captured in a fantastic photo slideshow. Our Year 11 Tutors, who have been a part of our students’ journeys since they arrived at school as new Year 7s, handed out  ‘Tutee of the Tutor Group’ Awards and students were set one last school test with a ‘guess the baby’ quiz (hint: they were all staff)! Mr Bandy, Assistant Headteacher KS4, then concluded the graduation with some special KS4 Awards before everyone headed back out into the sun to enjoy ice cream and their gift bags.

We really hope our Year 11s enjoyed the occasion. We wish them all the best in their upcoming exams and we thank them for all they have contributed to school life and the St Bart’s community. We look forward to welcoming many of them back to Sixth Form in September and, for those who move on to new adventures, we wish them the all the very best of success in their new endeavours.

BOOK RETURNS REQUEST – Y11 & Y13

Now that we are approaching exams and nearing the end of this academic year for Y11 and Y13, we would like to remind parents that your child’s textbooks, library books and laptops (if they have one) should be returned to the Library by Friday 20 June 2025, at the latest. Of course, at the moment students will still be using these resources to complete their studies, but please can you ensure that any resources belonging to school are returned once students have completed their exams. Please can students hand them to a member of the Library staff so we can check that their account is clear. Many thanks for your help. Students can come and speak to us in the Library if there are any questions or concerns.

Ellie Completes London Marathon

Many congratulations to Year 13 student, Ellie (13C3) who took part in the London Marathon last weekend! Ellie has written an article to share this emotional experience with us.

“When I entered the ballot for the London Marathon last year, I never thought I would get in, as I know so many people who have been trying for over 10 years without success. The day I found out I was so emotional and shocked. Unfortunately, my training didn’t go to plan after getting injured and I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, but a month before I felt strong enough to go ahead.

Getting to the start line I felt so nervous but the atmosphere was amazing, it’s something that cannot be explained unless you get the opportunity to do it. Tower Bridge was the best part, as there are so many people cheering you on, shouting your name, holding up signs, playing music and giving out sweets. I could never do it without the support from family and friends and I am so lucky to have been able to experience this at 18. My mum and I both took part. Even though we were at different starting areas and had different start times, somehow our finish times were 3 seconds apart, which is crazy. We have since found out that we are part of a Guinness world record title for the most finishers for a marathon! 

We ran the marathon for The Lullaby Trust, which is a charity that saves babies lives and supports bereaved families.”

 

Well done Ellie! If you would like to support Ellie’s fundraising please click here.

 

Chloe and Layla – Silver Medal Stars

In October, we reported how Chloe (9C1) and Layla (9D3), cheerleaders at local club, Crimson Heat Tigers, had both been selected to represent their club, and England, at the World Championships in Florida, the two biggest cheer competitions in the world. The girls have returned victorious as Silver medal winners!

They put on a fabulous show, just missing out on Gold to favourites, USA. They have worked incredibly hard and are a credit to the nation! Chloe now has the World Championships for her local team, Majesty, and then they both compete at Summit for their team, Nemesis. Hopefully more fabulous news to follow!

Spring Sewing Bees

It’s been another busy term in the Textile Dept. for our KS3 Students. Year 7s have been making more scary and fun felt monsters. Year8s have been designing and making Cultural Tote bags. Year 9s have each been making an exotic banner. Every term we run a competition in each class in which students who go above and beyond can be awarded the class Sewing Bee and are given a small textile based prize. This terms winners are:

Winner: Jessica (7D2)

Runners up – Summer (7C1), Abdul (7D1), Tilly (7D3), Angie (7C2)

Winner: Matilda (7C2)

Runners Up: Sophia (7D3), Hugo (7D3), Floris (7D1)

 

Winners:  Bridget-Marie (7E1), Albie (7P2)

Runners Up: Vavara (7P3), Seth (7P1)

 

Winner: Josephine (7E2)

Runners Up: Kimi (7E2), Polly (7P2), Isobel (7E2), Cedric (7P3)

 

Winner – Cason (8C1)

Runners up – Pranav (8C1) Keli (8C3), Josie (8C3)

 

Winner – Olivia (8C2)

Runners Up – Sophie (8C2), Beth (8C2)

 

Winner – Zuri (8P2)

Runners Up – Mabel (8P2), Jasper (8E3)

Winner: Harrison (8E3)

Runners Up: Frederick (8E1), Emily (8P1), Eva (8E1)

 

Winner: Iris (9C2)

Runners up:  Emmeline (9D2), Penelope Neilson (9D2)

Winner: Maya (9E2)

Runners up: Theo (9P3), Elsie (9E2), Elizabeth (9P2)

 

  

Head Student Team

We are delighted to formally announce our new Head Student Team. After a rigorous selection process, Charlie Gale and Katya Burgess were appointed Head Boy and Head Girl, with Jacob Khan, Swathi Sivabalan and Ellie Shears being appointed as Deputies.

The interview panel made up of Dr Fitter, Mr Owen and Mr Wilder were incredibly impressed by the effort and commitment of all of those who applied to become a Head Student. Applicants were required to complete a team task, which focused on improving the school’s approach to sustainability. This required students to work in teams to plan and formulate a solution, which they then presented back to their fellow peers. Applicants were then required to present their ideas for change to the entire Y12 cohort, along with staff members and the interview panel. After deliberation, 11 applicants were then brought forward to interview, which was led by our current Head Boy (Sam White) and Head Girl (Charlotte Lethaby), further supported by Dr Fitter, Mr Owen and Mr Wilder. Our final Head Students performed exceptionally well across all parts of the interview process, demonstrating excellent communication and leadership skills.

Co-Head of Sixth Form, Mr Owen, said: “We are incredibly grateful and proud of all students who applied to become part of the student leadership team. It was immensely rewarding to observe their confidence throughout the process and their eagerness to lead the school community”.

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

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