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DEAR PARENTS
A PRAYER AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR
Lord, we thank you for the many blessings of this school year. We have worked hard and now we look forward to our holiday. We ask you to bless those staff and students who leave our school today – may you always be with them as they begin the next chapter in their lives. Amen.
MRS VERA ASTLEY RIP
We were greatly saddened to hear of the sudden death of Vera, the mother of Mrs June Simms who is responsible for finance and premises in school. We pray for the repose of Vera’s soul and remember June and the whole family at this sad time. May she rest in peace.
ANOTHER WONDERFUL TRIP TO TAIZE
Yesterday we welcomed back Mrs O’Connell who along with her husband, Bernard led the sixth form group to Taize, the world famous retreat centre in France. This year fourteen Year 12 students took part and I can tell you they had the most wonderful time spiritually and socially. The sun was blisteringly hot every day and every night was marked by incredible thunder storms so, as you can imagine, there was great fun in the tents! Well done to every single one of them and a huge thank you, of course, to Mr and Mrs O’Connell for making it all possible.
THANK YOU TO THE STAFF WHO ARE LEAVING US TODAY
Today we say goodbye temporarily to Mrs Lavelle (History) who is going on maternity leave. We wish her well and look forward to hearing about the new arrival shortly. We also thank some excellent support staff who are leaving. Mrs Sharon Eelbeck has been with us five and a half years as a Teaching Assistant; Miss Sarah Fleming has been with us for the past year as a Faculty Assistant; and Mr Alastair Lemin has done an outstanding job as Pupil Data and Assessment Officer. We also say goodbye to three excellent teachers. Mr John Houston has been with the PE faculty for the past term but is well known to many parents from his previous long association with the school. Mrs Nicola Staveley has supported us over the past five years in Science, Maths and RE. And Miss Laura Sheils has done an excellent job in the English Faculty for the past three years before returning home to Northern Ireland.
AND THE FAMOUS FIVE WHO HAVE DONE OVER 100 YEARS!
We are saying goodbye today to five teachers who collectively have given over 100 years service to St Thomas Aquinas School. We thank them for all that they have done and wish them well in the next chapter of their lives. Mr Jim Docherty has been a history teacher for the past 17 years as well as being a former pupil of our school. He has also been an outstanding Head of Year and now looks forward to his next venture as "The History Man" visiting schools bringing the past to life for young people. Mrs Teresa Hussey has completed 18 years in our school as an English teacher, Head of Year and most recently head of the Citizenship Faculty. We wish her well as she takes up a new post as head of faculty in a school in Milton Keynes where she is relocating to join her headteacher husband, John. Mr Chris Laverty has completed 36 years serving Catholic education in our area, first at Archbishop Masterson School and since 1990 at St Thomas Aquinas. He has been a wonderful head of Maths and richly deserves his well earned retirement. Mrs Isabel O’Connell has completed 23 years service at St Thomas Aquinas and has been outstanding as an RE teacher, Head of Year and Assistant Headteacher responsible for the sixth form and the spiritual life of the school. We wish Isabel a long and happy retirement with Bernard. Mr Greg Horner has been an outstanding member of staff from the day he joined St Thomas Aquinas and in numerous roles as head of Biology, Gifted and Talented Coordinator, Head of Year and Assistant Headteacher. In 2002 Greg returned as Deputy Headteacher and over the past seven years has made an immense contribution to our school. It seemed inevitable that Greg would become headteacher of a major Catholic school but he has decided to retrain and become a doctor. What is certain is that he will be successful in medicine as he has been in education. We wish him, Clare and Christopher every success and happiness in the future.
FULLY STAFFED FOR SEPTEMBER
Just in case you were wondering after the departure of the wonderful colleagues above I am pleased to report that we are fully staffed for September and will be joined by teachers and support staff of the highest quality. I shall introduce them to you then.
ST THOMAS AQUINAS CATHOLIC SCHOOL
WEDNESDAY LETTER No 36 – 22 JULY 2009
www.stacs.org email: enquiry@stacs.bham.sch.uk
Sick child? Attendance query? Call direct 464 - 7258
ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE NEW YEAR
A reminder to parents that the new term will start for Year 7 pupils at 8.40 am on Friday 4 September. Everyone from Year 8 to Year 11 should report at 1.45 pm on that day. Year 12 induction begins at 9.00 am.
EXAMINATION RESULTS
The A level results can be collected from school from 10.00 am on Thursday 20 August, midday for AS results. GCSE results can be collected from 10.00 am on Thursday 27 August.
WELL DONE TO THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
I was delighted to receive a lovely letter from Mr Peter Frith from the Knights of St Columba commending seven of our Year 12 students for their excellent work in tidying the gardens around St Joseph’s Church. Well done to them all.
GOOD LUCK CORINA
I am pleased to report that one of our Teaching Assistant team, Miss Golby is getting married during the holiday. We wish her a wonderful day and every happiness in the future.
YEAR 12 PRAYER SERVICE, SPORTS DAY AND BBQ – REPORT FROM MRS LAVELLE
Year 12 celebrated their last day of term on the 12 of July with a prayer service and assembly in which they reflected on the past year. They said their goodbyes to Mr Horner and Mrs O’Connell, and to their head of year, Mr Docherty, who received an excellent speech from Tom Kirsz and Ciaran Clifford, and a standing ovation from the students for his service to the year group. Afterwards Year 12 forms competed against each other in the egg and spoon, wheelbarrow and three-legged races for their annual sports day. Whilst everyone took part, it was 12 MLA who won the day! Finally Mr Horner gave Gordon Ramsay a run for his money by cooking up burgers for all on the BBQ. A perfect end to a great year!
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2! – UPDATE FROM MR DOCHERTY
Further to last weeks section on History museum exhibits, additional certificates have been awarded to Greg Grandon 7SHE (Roman Gladiators helmet) and Lauren Eaborn, Alice Kirsz and Samantha Timerick (7SHE) for their Egyptian Mummy.
GREAT E-LEARNING DAY – REPORT FROM MR BAKER
Last Thursday Year 9 were involved in their E-Learning day. They were presented with a series of problems and challenges on the topic of global warming. They were challenged to produce an advertising campaign to make our school into a more environmentally friendly school. The work completed ranged from PowerPoint presentations to movies to songs and we even saw a bit of acting. It was a fantastic day for the Year 9’s to practice their independent learning skills which will help them with their GCSE studies next year.
WATER SPORTS ACTIVITY DAY – REPORT FROM THE MANION CENTRE
Learning to windsurf and kayak held no fears for pupils Craig Haines, Sattar Hussain, Dammar Martin, Pearse Mullen, Ben Mungovan, Zak Sparrow and Jacob Thomas when they took part in activities at Upton Warren Outdoor Activity Centre. The pupils were great ambassadors for the school. By showing concern and encouragement of one another at all times, the pupils had an exciting, safe and enjoyable day. Well done to everyone!
SPORTS DAY 2009 – REPORT FROM MRS YATES
Sports Day was a great success. This year we had the largest number of participants ever in every event. It is great to see so many young people taking part in the sporting events and with such good spirit. It is always a great occasion in the Aquinas Calendar and this year was no exception!
The winning Boys were: Year 7 – 7CKA, Year 8 - 8CJN, Year 9 – 9MYA.
The winning Girls were: Year 7 – 7THU, Year 8 – 8LSH, Year 9 – 9NRO
The overall winning forms were: Year 7 – 7CKA, Year 8 – 8CJN, Year 9 – 9MYA.
A huge thank you to all the staff and pupils who contributed to making this a fantastic day.
Editor’s Note: Well done everybody and a huge thank you to Mrs Yates and her team on another fantastic Sports Day.
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER
I wish all our families a really enjoyable and restful summer holiday. I shall think of you all over a pint of Guinness next week in Ireland. See you in September.
Yours sincerely
JIM FOLEY
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