Visit from charismatic author GP Taylor!

Pupils and staff alike were eagerly anticipating the arrival of G.P. Taylor, New York Times bestselling author, to St. Wilfrid’s on Wednesday 26th November. Year 8 pupils have been on the receiving end of exciting and engaging lessons in English and Art which are related to the author’s books and characters.G.P. Taylor, formerly an Anglican Minister from Scarborough, was disturbed by the amount of occult and witchcraft in children’s stories. After relaying this message to his clergy some years ago, they suggested that he should write one of his own.The author subsequently created a story encompassing Christian imagery, set on the Eighteenth Century Yorkshire coast in Britain called Shadowmancer. The novel narrates the story of an evil vicar, Obadiah Demurral, who attempts to achieve world domination, but is overpowered by three teenagers and a smuggler.Shadowmancer was first published in Britain in 2003 and was soon referred to as the Christian alternative to Harry Potter. The book surged to the top of the paperback best-seller list, outranking its secular rivals, the Harry Potter books, for 15 weeks in a row. Mr Taylor states: ‘I wrote Shadowmancer and Wormwood as a rebuttal to the writings of Philip Pullman as I was outraged by what he said about the church’.Graham Taylor now dedicates much of his time to inspiring reluctant children and teenagers to read; his latest books The Dopple Ganger Chronicles have been revolutionising reluctant readers’ attitudes in several countries across the globe. Children with learning difficulties have been enjoying these aesthetically appealing books and previously reluctant readers have reportedly been ‘devouring’ them. G.P. Taylor’s books are inspiring pupils at St. Wilfrid’s Catholic High School with pupils of all abilities now scrambling to get hold of one of his books from the library. It was an absolute delight to watch many pupils crying with laughter at the author’s performance which conveyed a very clear message: if you wish to succeed in life then reading and writing are of paramount importance. Around 200 pupils queued eagerly for over half an hour to purchase a signed copy of one of his texts, and meet the author personally. We hope that our pupils will allow God to burst through into their lives as well as having improved attitudes towards reading, writing and literacy.
Miss Kate Midgley Head of KS3 English

G.P. Taylor had a fantastic time at St. Wilfrid's and emailed after the evening of the event, stating:

"I have done some school visits in my time and never been to one where so much effort has been put in before hand. It was truly amazing.The children were really good and I mean REALLY good. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I am so thankful to you and your mates in the English Dept for all that you have done. I loved the children's work and it was a really inspirational time.You will never know how happy I was today - the best visit ever... I couldn't stop thinking about it all the way home - the look on the faces of the children was amazing.Please would you thank everyone concerned! You will go far in education if that is the standard of your work.I was truly blessed."
We look forward to welcoming G.P. Taylor back to inspire and motivate other pupils in the future.

Miss Kate MidgleyHead of KS3 English

WOW! That's a mouthful Episode One

Wow! That’s a Mouthful is a short film made by a group of 7, 6th form students from St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School. It was funded by the Food For Life Partnership. In the film 6th form student Tara, sets off to find out what has happened to her school meals? Why have they got rid of all the chips, burgers and fizzy drinks. She discovers that it is not just to make the school healthier. By tracing the beef in a bowl of spaghetti bolognaise from field to plate she discovers that they (the school) are support the local community and help save the environment. Episode Two to follow.

Food For Life

St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School is selected to become national leader on school meals and food education

St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School has been selected by the new Lottery-funded Food for Life Partnership to become one of 180 Flagship Schools and Communities across England that will be recognised as national leaders on food quality and food education.

Taking up the challenge laid down by Jamie Oliver’s school dinners campaign, the Food for Life Partnership has been funded by the National Lottery over five years from 2007 to help transform food culture in schools across the country.

Building on St Wilfrid’s achievements to date, the Food for Life Partnership will now help put more fresh, local & organic food on the menu and get our pupils – and interested parents and community groups – cooking and growing food and visiting local farms.

St Wilfrid’s will now receive hands-on support from Food for Life Partnership staff to achieve a Food for Life Partnership GOLD Mark, which will put us at the top of the league table on food culture in school. This will mean that:

· Our catering team will get help sourcing at least 75% fresh, 50% locally sourced and 30% organic ingredients for our school meals.

· For one week we will host the Food for Life Partnership Cooking Bus, which will welcome, staff, parents and community groups on board alongside pupils to teach useful cooking skills in practical hands-on sessions.

· A garden education officer will help the school community [further] develop an organic growing area in which pupils can grow food for school meals and cooking.

· We will build stronger links with community food businesses and one or more local farms.

· Pupils will be given some of the most enjoyable and memorable experiences of their school lives, cooking and growing food and linking with a local farm.

Press Release August 2008

Students celebrate another record breaking set of GCSE results

Year 11 pupils at St. Wilfrid’s Catholic High School and Sixth Form College are celebrating today after achieving a record-breaking set of GCSE results. There was an increase in the number passing the benchmark standard of five A* - C passes to a very impressive 92.5% and a substantial increase in the numbers achieving the figure including English and Maths to 61%.

John McNally, Head Teacher, described the results as “a massive achievement for the pupils and their teachers”. He said, “I am delighted for all the pupils. They have worked really hard and have been a pleasure to teach. The figures are particularly strong when you consider that all St. Wilfrid’s pupils take a good balance of courses including maths, English, a foreign languages and double science. The students are now set for further success in the Sixth Form and can look forward to higher education or meaningful careers.

“You hear many negative stories about young people these days but the truth is that the vast majority are extremely hard working and pleasant. It is only right their achievements should be recognised.

“I would like to publicly thank all the staff who have worked so hard in helping the students and continue to deliver improvements year on year. Our pass rates have increased by 31% over the last five years and by 21% for the figure including English and Maths. These figures are a testament to their professionalism and dedication to the students.

“I am also really pleased for the pupils’ families. They have supported us fantastically well over the last five years and should take pride in their achievements too.”

There were many success stories, including 32 particularly able students who achieved at least five GCSEs at the top A* and A grades. Five pupils even managed to obtain at least 10 grade A’s and A*’s.

Pupils from other high schools may be interested to know that St. Wilfrid’s is accepting record numbers of students into its Sixth Form this year. Anybody interested in joining the school should contact Mr. Andrew Daly in the first instance (details below).

Please telephone or e-mail John McNally, Headteacher, or Andrew Daly, Head of Sixth Form, at the school for further information. Telephone number: 01977 69100, fax 01977 723569, e-mail swhschool@aol.com.

St. Wilfrid’s Catholic High School and Sixth Form College
A’ Level Results 2008 – Press Release


Students celebrate after another big increase in pass rates

Staff and students at St. Wilfrid’s are celebrating today, after achieving their best set of A’ level results ever. Students achieved an average points score of 778, equivalent to a grade A and two grade B’s.

Eleven students gained at least three grade A’s, with Craig Bettney, Michael Cahill, Oliver Hill, Jon Machin and William Marchant each achieving a highly impressive four grade A’s each. Oliver also passed with a distinction in the very demanding Advanced Extension Award in History.

John McNally, Head Teacher, congratulated the students and their teachers, saying,

“We’re very proud of all our students this year. They have worked tremendously hard for these results and deserve to celebrate their success today. Many have exceeded their predicted grades and those students who worked hard to pass one or two A’ levels deserve as much praise as those who passed with flying colours.

“I particularly want to thank their teachers, who have worked tirelessly to support the students, giving up free time to offer extra revision classes and making themselves available whenever help is needed.

“I wish the students every success for the future, as they embark on new courses at university or take up new careers.”

Everybody who applied to university was successful in finding a place and the pass rate for all entries was 98%.

Readers may be interested to know that St. Wilfrid’s welcomes 6th form students from a wide range of local high school and has a very broad range of courses, including a large number of vocational options.

You can get further information about the Sixth Form from Andrew Daly, Assistant Headteacher in charge of the Sixth Form. Telephone 01977 691000, fax 01977 723569 or e-mail swhschool@aol.com.

Lourdes Prilgrimage 2008

Twenty-one pupils from St Wilfrid’s joined nearly 400 other year 10 and 12 students, from across the Diocese of Leeds, for this year’s Lourdes Pilgrimage. The shrine at Lourdes was celebrating 150 years since the Our Blessed Mother first appeared to St Bernadette. Lourdes was bursting with pilgrims from across the world. In amongst the crowd the youth section stood out as a vision in yellow!
Students were responsible for the care of sick and elderly pilgrims. They put aside their own concerns to serve the needs of others, pushing them from place to place in order that they may fully engage with all Lourdes has to offer. All pilgrims, young and old participated in the Torchlight and Blessed Sacrament processions, visited the baths and got involved with numerous Masses and liturgies.
A highlight of the pilgrimage was the Stations of the Cross. Students from St Wilfrid’s made up part of a choir who lead the pilgrimage through a musical adaptation of the last moments of Jesus’ life. The powerful witness of the young people left many of the congregation moved to tears.
The pilgrims, looked after by our students, found the help of our students invaluable, praising the care and friendship they received.

Music Trip to France

Once again pupils from St Wilfrid’s music department performed on the international stage in Europe. This year’s school music trip to France featured pupils from the school orchestra, choir, jazz band and music technology students. The pupils performed in three concerts in different locations in Normandy. The final concert in St Aubin was a great success with a large audience made up of local people. The local press were also present to celebrate the St Wilfrid’s concert and took pictures to be displayed in St Aubin’s local newspaper.

English Department Murder Mystery 'WhoDunnit?'

The English Department’s spirits were almost as high as those of the 48 Gifted and Talented pupils, who arrived from 15 different primary schools in Wakefield on Wednesday 2nd July. English staff worked hard to create and host a full day of events for the Gifted and Talented ‘Smart Day’, including an exciting murder mystery organised by Miss Henderson and creative writing workshops by Miss Midgley and Miss Shaikh.

After an introduction to the day, any ‘ice’ was swiftly broken when the competitions began. The year 5 and 6 pupils soon exhibited their gifts and talents as they answered a succession of difficult riddles, such as: ‘I am weightless, but you can see me. Put me in a bucket and I’ll make it lighter, what am I?’ (Answer at the end!)

In addition to enhancing their ability to ‘think outside the box’, pupils developed their deductive and reasoning skills in the fabulous murder mystery event. Full costume donned by English staff, (including Miss Martland, Mrs Fennell, Miss Davies and Mrs Lindley), was complemented by the spooky music, elaborate props and ‘after theatre party’ setting in the murder mystery room. Star appearances were made by Mr O’Donnell and Mr Maltman. Pupils were presented with drama, an array of clues and medical evidence. They then had limited time to interview selected suspects and figure out ‘who dunnit’ in the Mimi La Rue murder case, before submitting their final answers.

Advanced poetic techniques, usually taught at GCSE level, and imaginative skills, were also heightened in the cross-curricular creative writing workshops – thank you to Ms Richards and Mrs Flanagan for their help in delivering these. Primary students left St. Wilfrid’s excited and eager to apply the skills and knowledge they had learnt to their future studies. A huge thank you to all staff involved, especially Miss Henderson for organising the murder mystery event. We hope to host this event for Gifted and Talented pupils again next year.

Miss Kate Midgley
Answer to riddle: a hole.

Year 8 Charity

On the 24th of June Year eight hosted a fun fundraising morning in order to raise money for our year group charity ‘SHELTER’: An organisation which caters for homeless families who need support and offers housing advice for those people in housing need.

Students contributed by purchasing various goods and bringing home made products to sell on the morning,
Everyone worked together and in the spirit of the day, had fun and raised over £300 towards the charity; over the remainder of the term there is a prize raffle for a Nintendo wii

Activities included bring and buy, various raffles, ice cream & chocolate fountain stalls, coconut shy, sponge the teacher , face painting , gladiator challenge & sporting activities

Mr Wass (Head of year eight) commented:
“I am very proud in the way the students and the staff all contributed in making the morning a successful fundraising adventure”
He also said:
“The Year Eight student voice had worked extremely hard before the event in preparing for the day and they are now developing their own role within school
The school wishes to thank Morrisons Pontefract & Trebor Bassett Pontefract for their support and we are looking forward to future events.

ANZA Tour

Well what a journey!!! One Spring afternoon in the St Wilfrid’s staffroom back in 2005, I was
sat having a coffee and a chat with Iain McCabe and he asked the question;
“Do you fancy a round the world trip?” Three and a half years later and the
dream has become reality. The fundraising process has been quite remarkable, we have raised £180,000
and I would like to sincerely thank anybody who has been involved in any aspect of the tour fundraising process. Special thanks must go to my colleagues at St Wilfrid’s and the tour committee, the students for all their efforts and most importantly the parents, who have been amazing. We are so fortunate to have obtained such a fantastic level of sponsorship from Mr Michael Lagan of Lagan Construction and Dew Piling. Due to Michael’s generosity of pledging £25,000 towards the tour kit costs we are travelling as probably the smartest school group ever. Many thanks Michael we really appreciate your support.
With such a bold venture over such a long period of time there has undoubtedly been some highs and lows but the whole experience has been amazing. I cannot begin to explain how proud I am of what we have achieved but I know every hour spent in preparation for the tour will be worth it. I know the students will be fantastic ambassador’s of St Wilfrid’s and will uphold the values and beliefs of our community with respect, dignity and pride. We will depart on Friday 25th July an return on Monday 18th August.

I must mention two special people who without their support over the past three years I really would have struggled to keep going and achieve our target.
Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to my partner Denise Rennison who has had to put up with a ‘stressed Eric’ for a considerable amount of time and I know I would have thrown the towel in on several occasions but for her support. Thank you Den. Secondly, a big thank you to Mrs Claire Appleby, the Office Manager here at St Wilfrid’s ‘my personal ANZA secretary’ who has spent many hours supporting me with
all my administrative tasks. Thank you Claire.
Finally, I would just like to say that I hope all the students have a truly fantastic touring experience, enjoy their sporting encounters, make new friends and form happy memories that will last a lifetime. I am confident we are going to have ‘the time of our lives’.
Thank you,
Simon Hall
“I hope you have the time of your lives.”

Expressive Arts Evening

The evening was a great success. Held on Wednesday June 25th, parents, families and friends were able to enjoy a wide variety of performance and display. The selection of work presented on the evening was really impressive and the Expressive Arts students are to be congratulated on their talent and skill. This really was a ‘showcase’ for those students and staff who are involved in the arts at St Wilfrid’s, and audience members commented on the quality of entertainment. The performances were organised by music, drama, dance, art and media teams. The evening was topped off with a brilliant art exhibition which the audience were invited to view as they gathered for refreshments in the art block.

One Planet Food

On May 21st 2008, 27 year 7 students took part in the One Planet Food workshop, run in association with the schools Food For Life Partnership. During the day, the pupils were split into groups and researched various food related issues including investigating where our food comes from, how we could get locally sourced produce at school and how food can be seasonal and organic. They spent the morning gathering information and preparing presentations and in the afternoon presented their findings in assembly to the whole of year 7. The presentations varied from using powerpoints to role plays and were very successful. The pupils worked hard developing their knowledge and skills and worked brilliantly under pressure to finish the presentations on time. Well done to all who took part.

Year 13 Leavers Mass

Fr Paul Grogan, Vocations Director for the Diocese of Leeds, celebrated the Yr13 Leavers Mass this year. In his homily, he spoke of every one searching for the right path to follow in their lives, guided by the principles they had learned at St Wilfrid’s (he hoped that some might consider a religious vocation as their future path !). Fr Paul is also chaplain at Trinity & All Saints College in Leeds.
The picture shows the readers in the mass. Names of the students are (l-r in order) : Michael Cahill, Stacey Hickling, Nick Brown, Amie Senkiw, and Oliver Hill.

National leader on school meals

St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School has been selected by the new Lottery-funded Food for Life Partnership (FFLP) to become one of 180 Flagship Schools and Communities across England that will be recognised as national leaders on food quality and food education. St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School is one of the first 6 schools to be chosen in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Taking up the challenge laid down by Jamie Oliver’s school dinners campaign, the Food for Life Partnership has been funded by the National Lottery over five years from 2007 to help transform food culture in schools across the country.

Building on St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School’s achievements to date, the Food for Life Partnership will now help them put more fresh, local & organic food on the menu and get pupils – and interested parents and community groups – cooking and growing food and visiting local farms.

St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School will now receive hands-on support from Food for Life Partnership staff to achieve a Food for Life Partnership GOLD Mark, which will put us at the top of the league table on food culture in school. This will mean that:
1. Our catering team will get help sourcing at least 75% fresh, 50% locally sourced, and 30% organic ingredients for our school meals.
2. For one week we will host the Food for Life Partnership Cooking Bus, which will welcome, staff, parents and community groups on board alongside pupils to teach useful cooking skills in practical hands-on sessions.
3. A garden education officer will help the school community further develop an organic growing area in which pupils can grow food for school meals and cooking.
4. We will build stronger links with community food businesses and one or more local farms.
5. Pupils will be given some of the most enjoyable and memorable experiences of their school lives, cooking and growing food and linking with a local farm.

Headteacher Mr J McNally said: “I am delighted St. Wilfrid’s has been selected to work with the Food for Life Partnership on this project. The partnership recognised our achievements in providing healthy food for our pupils and raising awareness of healthy, sustainable lifestyles but this support will help us take this to a new level. I very much hope and expect our partnership will provide new opportunities for the whole of our local community to learn more about all aspects of food, including its production. I know our pupils will really enjoy the extra experiences we will now be able to offer. ”

Quote from Catering Manager…..

“This gives the catering team a great opportunity to change the food culture of St Wilfrid’s.

The staff will have the opportunity to work with the Food for Life Partnership organisations, and build on their knowledge and skills around food and nutrition.

We already embrace giving our students some locally sourced food and we look forward to developing this provision with the help of the Food for Life Partnership”.

Amanda Donnelly, FFLP Yorkshire and Humber regional co-ordinator, says: “St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School has been selected as a Flagship School because they are committed to giving food the priority it deserves as part of their commitment to the life-long welfare and skills of their pupils, and are willing to share their learning with other schools. Other schools wanting to get involved should visit www.foodforlife.org.uk

It is more important than ever before that young people learn in school about the impact of food on their health and that of the planet. On current trends, by 2020 over one quarter of children will be obese and children will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. A fifth of our climate change impact comes from the food we eat.”

Notes
1. The Food for Life Partnership is a five-year Lottery-funded initiative, led by the Soil Association, to transform food culture in schools and communities across England, bringing together the practical expertise of the Focus on Food Campaign, Garden Organic and the Health Education Trust.

The Soil Association is the UK's leading environmental charity promoting sustainable, organic farming and championing human health.

The Focus on Food Campaign is the leading food education support programme for the teaching of cooking in the UK’s primary and secondary schools.

Garden Organic is the UK’s leading organic growing charity dedicated to researching and promoting organic gardening, farming and food.

The Health Education Trust is the national charity dedicated to initiating and supporting work with children and young adults to encourage the growth of healthy lifestyles.

The Food for Life Partnership works to transform school and community food culture across England, by harnessing the ideas and initiative of young people and community leaders. Our mission is to reach out through schools to give communities access to seasonal, local and organic food, and to the skills they need to cook and grow fresh food for themselves. We want a new generation to explore how their food choices impact on their health and that of the planet, and to rediscover the pleasure of taking time to enjoy real food.

2. Other schools wishing to become Flagship Schools should go online and join the Food for Life Partnership at http://www.foodforlife.org.uk/
6 schools in Yorkshire and Humber have been selected this time round – 14 more will be selected from 2008 onwards.

Easter Service

The Lenten message at the end of this term was a powerful and moving reflection on 'Kingship'. Jesus came into the world as 'King' manifested by the gifts of the Magi; the wise men on their visit to the newborn Jesus. Years later, the gifts were to be recognised as the gifts of kingship, of prophecy and of the death that Jesus was to succumb to. Jesus was a different type of King. The Jews were expecting a political king, coming to kick out the Romans from their land But Jesus was nothing like this. His 'Kingdom was not of this world'. When they realised this, days later, the same crowds were shouting, ‘Crucify!’. The refection were read by Stephen Poston -Robinson and Lee Dawson.

The service continued to reflect on the great sacrifice that Jesus made for each of us. He offered himself to show his love for us, so that we could be a people of joy, knowing that we have the promise of eternal life. The journey to the cross began – with palms, coats laid on the ground, and ‘Hosannas’ filling the air. 9 Clitherow and Miss Midgley worked hard to prepare a short dramatic piece of welcoming Jesus, Alex Copley of Year 10, into the city of Jerusalem and their improvisation of the some of the miracles Jesus performed. This was followed by everyone singing 'We want to see Jesus lifted high' conducted by Rehan Sooltan in Year 11, with the Orchestra and the Junior Choir.

Mr O'Donnell, our Deacon, in his homily, talked about truth and the challenge to seek the truth despite those who refuse to accept it - that Jesus was asked how much he loved us and stretched out his arms on the cross and said "this much"! The service ended with a moving and thought-provoking song 'In my arms' by Steffi and Eve Bontoft accompanied by Matthew Archer on the piano, and the challenge to everyone: This Easter, make time for your families; make time for yourself but more importantly, make time for God by visiting Church and giving some thought to how important Jesus' death and resurrection means for all Christians.

Special thanks to the Liturgy Team, the Music Department, Mr Haddleton with Adam and Billy on sound and lighting respectively, the PE Department for the use of the Sport's Hall and the Facilities Supervisors for their support.


James Aitchison

Angell’s Delight

For the second year running Saint Wilfrids has won the title ‘Wakefield Junior Amateur Chef of the Year’, Josh Angell beat four finalists to become the top-placed chef. During a tense final, in which the mayor and the Yorkshire Post food critic judged, Josh producing a winning main dish of ‘Toad in the Air’ (a twist on the traditional Yorkshire dish of Toad in the Hole using Pheasant stuffed with prunes) and a dessert of Rice Pudding with Apricots in a Butterscotch sauce. The final at Brassiere 99 was a close fought battle with Saint Wilfrids very own Billy Roche coming a close runner-up to Josh.
The winning prize was an I-pod Nano and the opportunity to star in the ‘Wakefield Food and Drink Festival’, which Josh was very eager to take up. On Saturday 8th March, Josh produced his award winning dishes in the food marquee for the festival. Josh said of the experience ‘I have never done anything like this before but its been fantastic, working in a professional kitchen has been hard and I really felt the pressure but I want to take up a career as a chef so its been a great experience’ It has also been great for Brassiere 99, who were so impressed with Josh’s talents that they asked him to work a busy Saturday night cover, Josh is now hoping this will lead to a permanent Saturday job.
If you visit Brassiere 99 in the next month you can sample Josh’s dish, which is now on the menu.

Leigh Wright

International Week 2008 “Future is Now!”

Press release from International Week 2008.

On Monday 3rd March 2008, St. Wilfrid’s Catholic High School in Featherstone will play host to just under 200 international students and teachers fro the 8th Annual International Week.

Fifteen schools will be represented from the following countries: Bulgaria, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Pakistan, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine. Some of these schools, such as Bulgaria, Ghana, Pakistan and Slovakia are joining us for the first time, whereas our partner school from Balingen in Germany is visiting us for the 19th consecutive year. More than 120 our international guests will be hosted by families.

The theme for this year’s International Week is “Future is Now! The principal aim of the week is to explore the complex and ever-changing world in which we live. As global citizens we all face a responsibility to help shape the changing face of our planet for the better. During the week participants will consider how events in the past have shaped the world we currently live in. We will also explore the gifts and talents our young people bring to the world and consider their hopes and fears for the future.

Students from St. Wilfrid’s and our partner schools will work on a range of projects to reflect the focus of the week. Some of these projects will be art-based, such as creating collages, posters for peace, indoor garden, global villages of the future, whilst others will be media based, including creating TV adverts for a greener future, web pages, radio broadcasts and podcasting. In addition to this there will be an educational excursion to Beamish Open Air Museum in County Durham where students will learn about life in the early 1900s and experience a Victorian lesson in the Old Board School.

On Tuesday 4th March the school will also host an International Family Evening. Guests will have the opportunity to take part in a number of workshops, including Spanish cookery, Japanese calligraphy & origami, Bollywood dancing, yoga sessions and Korean drumming.

Perhaps the liveliest event of the week will be the International Song Contest on the evening of Wednesday 5th March. Sixteen acts will take to the stage to battle it out for the winning trophy. This Eurovision-style event proves more and more popular each year.

The International Week will come to a close when all international guests will return either to their respective countries or spend some time exploring other cities in the UK.

Ian Storey
Head of the International Dimension

Newsday

Fifteen Year 7 students took part in the exciting challenge of ‘Newsday’ on 11th March. This is a national schools competition run in association with the Guardian newspaper, encouraging students to take on the role of journalists for the day. The event involved reporting on the breaking news stories that day, as well as making sure that the finished newspaper made it to the publication deadline! The group of budding journalists had spent several weeks prior to the actual event preparing features on topics as varied as the environment and fashion. They conducted interviews and took photographs in order to create leading articles for ‘The Voice’ – their chosen name for their newspaper.
On the actual competition day, the participating students worked brilliantly under pressure to produce the newspaper, showing real organisational skills and writing talent.
Well done to all involved!

Kate Henderson

Year 10 Vocational Event

As part of this year’s PSHCE programme, Year 10 took part in a Vocational Event led by Compact Education & Business Services (CEBS). The aims of the morning as introduced by CEBS Managing Director, Andrew Czolacz, were to gain an understanding of and engage in Enterprise activities, apply these skills to solve problems and relate them to school and employment.

Twenty-four groups of 12 students were assisted in their tasks by their form tutors and activities were facilitated by representatives from local businesses, employers and industries. These volunteers included such diverse individuals as a freelance graphic designer to a social worker, an office administrator to a Royal Marine! The tasks students undertook included word puzzles, a desert survival game and construction of a newspaper lighthouse (with flashing bulb!).

The skills students used in the tasks included:
Problem solving
Creativity
Leadership
Team work
Decision making and
Communication.

Well done to everyone who took part, especially those who received prizes for best team work and best lighthouse!

Damian Ward

Good luck Josh & Billy!!

Yet again two St Wilfrid’s students have made it into the final of ‘Wakefield Junior Amateur Chef of the Year’ again which will be held this Saturday, 1st March, at Brasserie 99. They will be up against two other students from Wakefield Girls High and Airedale High School. Josh Angell and Billy Roche are up for the challenge of regaining the title of ‘Wakefield Junior Amateur Chef of the Year’ for St Wilfrid’s. The boys are keeping their recipes a hidden secret to surprise all on the day. Earlier today Josh said “It’s a fantastic opportunity to show my skills and ideas. I’ve always enjoyed Food Technology and I would love to win to get the chance to work in a professional kitchen.” Billy would love to realise his ambition to work in the food industry and said “Food is a career I would love to follow and winning the competition will give me the chance to see how a professional kitchen work and hopefully give me lots of new skills and ideas that I can use back in school for my GCSE coursework.” The judges of the competition include Wakefield Mayor and a Food Critic. The winner will get the chance to display their talents in one of the tents at the Wakefield Festival of Food and Drink.

Leigh Wright

Junior Amateur Chef of the Year

On the day that Schools Secretary Ed Balls announced cookery lessons are to be compulsory in England's secondary schools for children aged 11 to 14, St Wilfrids pupils attended an exciting cookery demo by Chefs from Brasserie 99. As part of Wakefield Festival of Food and Drink 2008 pupils will again be entering Junior Amateur Chef of the Year. Can we be as successful as last year and win? Our budding Jamie Olivers and Nigella Lawsons attended the demonstration by chefs Simon and Paul who demonstrated good kitchen practice and made a fantastic pasty in just a few minutes. Suma Wholefoods were there to educate pupils about the healthy, sweet and delicous taste of dried fruits such as apricots and mango, as well as the nutrious use of lentils and beans. The prizes are a fantastic iPod, plus a weeks work experience atBrasserie 99 alongside a top chef as well as a trip to Alton Towers and a meal for 4. Good Luck to everyone who enters!

Disco Inferno Tickets NOW ON SALE

Since September students from St Wilfrid's Catholic High School have been rehearsing

extensively for the annual musical production. This year they will be taking the audience back to the 1970s with an exciting collaboration of singing, dancing and acting based around the fictional nighclub the "Disco Inferno". The show is full of songs that the audience can singalong to, with favourites such as "Celebration", "YMCA" and "Play that Funky Music". "Disco Inferno" will be shown in Brunseels Hall at St Wilfrids friom Tuesday 5th February to Friday 8th February at 7pm. Doors open at 6.45pm. Tickets are £6 (adults) and £4 (concessions). If you are interested in booking tickets you can contact the Performing Arts Department on 01977 691000 (ext 212). Michelle Birkett

Advent Carol Service

The end of term concert this Christmas was a wonderful joyous, Christian celebration held in the new sports hall. Gerry O'Donnell spoke about the meaning of Christmas and one student conducted the orchestra! The dancing and singing were uplifting, with a particularly good rendition of 'White Christmas' by Beth Rowett.