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DEAR PARENTS
A PRAYER FOR OUR SCHOOL, OUR FAMILIES, OUR FRIENDS – VIVIENNE ROA 8CJO
Dear God, thank you for everything that you have given to us especially our school, family and friends. Bless our families and help us to be good family members and to know that our families will always be there when we need them. Thank you for giving me such great friends. Help me to always be a good friend and to make the lives of people I meet happier. Amen.
PARISH MASS ON SUNDAY – COME AND JOIN US!
The next Parish Mass of the school year takes place on Sunday at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Rednal. We look forward to joining Fr Latham and his parishioners at the 11.00 am Mass for what is always a lovely occasion. We hope to see a good turnout from our former St Columba and St James’ pupils. And if the weather is nice why not take a stroll in the beautiful Lickey Hills afterwards! Everyone is welcome.
MRS ANDREA HORNER RIP
Andrea’s funeral took place on Wednesday and our thoughts and prayers are with Greg, our Deputy Head, colleague and friend. We pray for the repose of Andrea’s soul and think of Greg, Clare, Christopher and the whole family at this sad time. May she rest in peace.
FROG IS COMING SOON!
On Wednesday 21 May we look forward to welcoming lots of children from our partner primary schools to our third FROG event which, as we all now know, stands for Fully Rely On God. It’s been a huge success for the past two years and I know this one will be too. Watch this space.
THANK YOU FROM READ INTERNATIONAL
I was delighted to see a certificate last week from Read International, an educational charity committed to supporting those in the Third World. At short notice we were able to pass on 250 English, Maths, Science and Geography textbooks to be sent to children in Tanzania. We shall continue to support them in the future. Thank you and well done to Mrs Mary Hawkesford for making it happen.
NEXT WEEK IS CHRISTIAN AID WEEK
Next week we are called to do what we can to support all those in need around the world. We pray for the people of Burma who are suffering so much and for those suffering from hunger, poverty and injustice in our troubled world.
MR BRIAN OAKES RIP
We were very sorry to hear of Brian’s death last Tuesday. Brian was the uncle of Mary Sandilands (8CBU) and his funeral takes place next Monday afternoon. We pray for the repose of Brian’s soul and we think of Mary and the whole family at this sad time. May he rest in peace.
CONGRATULATIONS TO YEAR 9 THIS WEEK!
We do not know yet how well Year 9 have performed in their SATs this week but what we do know is they have been a credit to themselves, their families and their school. It’s a big operation to arrange a week of examinations for 200 pupils but they have been quite superb. Thanks to our invigilation team led by our Examination Secretary, Mrs Garrett and to all the staff involved, particularly the Head of Year, Miss Stevens. Well done Year 9!
YEAR 8 PARENTS’ EVENING NEXT THURSDAY
By now we should have had all the returns so we are expecting an absolutely bumper turnout for the Year 8 Parents’ Evening next Thursday. It begins at 6.00 pm and parents are aware that certain staff will have made individual appointments if necessary. It’s a very important evening because, as we know, this year group begin a very ambitious programme in Year 9 and it’s essential that parents are quite clear about progress so far.
YEAR 11 MASS AND EVENING OF CELEBRATION – THURSDAY 22 MAY
All Year 11 parents are warmly invited to join us for a special Mass and Evening of Celebration to mark the 5 years spent at St Thomas Aquinas by a very special group of students. The Mass begins at 7.00 pm and it’s sure to be a lovely evening. I ask all Year 11 parents to make it a priority.
LETTER TO YEAR 11 PARENTS NEXT WEEK
Next week I shall be writing to all Year 11 parents setting out the detailed arrangements regarding examination revision, formal departure procedures, the Evening of Celebration and the Prom. Please return the reply slip as soon as possible. Thank you.
WELL DONE TRACEY!
I am delighted to tell you that on Wednesday I attended a Review Meeting for our Family Support Worker, Tracey Hughes who also works with St Brigid’s, Our Lady and St Rose and Rednal Hill Junior Schools. Everyone present agreed that Tracey’s work has been outstanding and I know that the 20 families she has been working with from St Thomas Aquinas would agree. It’s a great example of partnership involving Fr Hudson’s Society, Extended Services and schools. Well done Tracey – keep up the good work!
MR TOAL AND FRIENDS OFF TO ROME SHORTLY!
Despite being born in Belfast George Best is always associated with Manchester. Similarly, Mr Toal should shortly be given the Freedom of Rome in honour of his services to Italian tourism. On Tuesday evening he and the staff involved in Rome 2008 met parents and the 48 pupils involved in this year’s trip that departs on 20 May. I am sure they will have a wonderful time. Actually Mr Toal has alerted me to the fact that the 2009 European Champions League Final will take place in Rome at the same time as our next school trip. Now there’s a thought!
FANTASTIC WORK BY THE PUPIL VOICE FORUM
I was absolutely delighted to hear from Mr Perry this week of the superb work that the Pupil Voice Forum (School Council) have been doing in producing murals that will go on permanent display in the Performing Arts and PE areas of the school. You will recall that we initially had a visiting artist who worked with the team for 3 days. Since then the pupils have worked in their own time under the expert guidance of Ms Geoghegan to produce 6 murals, 3 more than originally envisaged. They will go on display after half term. Well done to Max Chapman (9EBA), Martha Dix (9MGE), Sophie Field (8CBU), Josh Gannon (7RLL), Arash Hosseini (9MGE), Hayley Hunter (7THU), Connor Keaney (9EBA), Hannah Maxwell (9EBA), James Norton (8TCA) and Tom Stephenson (9MGE). And of course to Ms Geoghegan and Mr Perry too!
WELL DONE TO JESSICA AND AMY!
I was very pleased to hear that Jessica Payne (7PUL) recently danced at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London in a Mardi Gras performance as a member of the Amy Greaves School of Dance. What makes Jessica’s achievement even better is that Amy, who now runs her own dance school, is a former student of St Thomas Aquinas whom we remember fondly. Well done Jessica and Amy!
DUKE OF EDINBURGH EXPEDITION THIS WEEKEND
This weekend twenty one students were on their Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award Expedition in Shropshire with Mr Baker, Miss Lay and Mr McInerney. Full report next week.
SPORTS RESULTS
Year 8 and 9 Girls Netball
What another fantastic season for our netballers! After taking an early lead in the opening game of the season, Year 9 winning 28 – 6 against Bartley Green and Year 8 claiming their first victory winning 17 – 4 against Bishop Challoner Sports College. This success continued throughout the season with both teams playing some fantastic netball and winning all but one match. Year 8 and Year 9 teams finished 1st in their division.
Well done to the Year 8 team: Brogan Byrne, Scarlet Darby, Caroline Fahy, Shardai Gaye, Gina Harris, Shannon McDermott, Tshwarelo Nhlapo, Falon O’Driscoll and Lauren Wilson.
Well done the to the Year 9 team: Rose Bisset, Leanne Cox, Laura Cremin, Martha Dix, Jess Gannon, Rose Greaves, Caroline Harkin, Kelly Mimnagh, Adele Murphy, Colleen Murphy, Katie Murphy, Grace Pritty and Fiona Steventon.
A huge well done to the Year 7 team who also had a brilliant season winning the Kings Norton District Netball Tournament along with the Year 8 team training hard ahead of the Junior Netball Tournament in Torquay this weekend.
Year 7 Boys Rugby
Congratulations to the team who were invited to play in an exhibition match at the weekend to celebrate the end of season Presidents Day at the Old Yardlians RFC. The boys played with real style and won impressively. A big thank you to Mr Rees for coaching the team and to Mr Adams for his support.
Boys Cricket
Training has now started and all boys are invited to attend. Details from team coaches: Year 7 Mr Rees, Year 8 Mr Rankin, Year 9 Mr Jones and Year 10 Mr Adams.
TWO VITAL MATCHES COMING UP
On Wednesday week, 21 May it’s not just Manchester United and Chelsea in a major cup final. Our Year 11 team will be at St Andrews (Birmingham City’s home ground) where they could do with seeing some decent football. We are playing Light Hall School, Solihull in the regional cup final. We’ve organised a coach to cheer on the lads but all the extra support we can get will be greatly appreciated.
LAST WEEK’S QUIZ QUESTION
The goal by which Manchester United qualified for the Champions League Final in Moscow was scored by the great Paul Scholes as we were correctly informed by Tom McCann of 8TCA who wins £5. Well done Tom.
THIS WEEK’S QUIZ QUESTION
I daren’t tempt fate on Sunday by asking about the 2008 Premiership Champions. Instead, which team won the Championship in 2008?
Yours sincerely
JIM FOLEY
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