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