International Week '09

On Monday 9th March, St. Wilfrid’s opened its doors to around 250 international students and teachers to celebrate the 9th Annual International Week. It was a pleasure welcoming old friends from Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine who return year on year. This year we were also fortunate enough to host new schools from France, Poland and Turkey who, having heard of our international reputation, were eager to establish partnerships.

Our first event was the Primary International Extravaganza of Talents when around 450 Year 5 pupils from 13 primary schools came to perform songs and dances in a number of languages. The pupils dazzled us with their ability to sing in such languages as Spanish, Welsh, French, Polish and various African languages. Traditional dances and amazing costumes also featured, demonstrating the amount of time and effort devoted to the event by teachers and pupils alike.

Tuesday morning saw the official launch of our international theme, One World-Many Colours. The Bruynseels Hall was awash with colourful flags and performances from our resident choir and Performing Arts group as well as a lively set from a Bollywood dancer. After lunch all students took part in an International Citizenship Afternoon when our Key Stage 3 groups were given the opportunity to view an exhibition of photography and poetry submitted by students from sixty countries. Key Stage 4 students took part in a number of cultural sessions provided by visiting international students from Leeds Metropolitan University and representing their home countries of Bangladesh, China, India, Italy, Libya, Poland, Spain and Taiwan. Inspirational business leader Randolph Victor and Asylum & Refugee Expert Olivier Nkunzimana enthused our Sixth Form students with presentations during an international conference.

On Tuesday evening we hosted our second annual International Family Evening, which offered people the chance to sample delights such as Irish dancing, Spanish tapas making, Bavarian dancing, Polish for beginners and Japanese art (both taught by students from St. Wilfrid’s). More than 500 people took part and many were keen to pursue their new-found interest!

On Wednesday around 300 people, including hosts and International Committee members, descended upon the City of York to soak up the atmosphere on the cobbled streets and visit a number of museums. Perhaps the scariest part of the week was the visit to York Dungeon, where many a scream could be heard! On our return from York it was time to sample the culinary delights of pie & peas, served by our dedicated catering team and assisted by Mr Kevin Walsh. As people munched away they nervously awaited the beginning of the International Festival of Talents. Around 750 people packed the Cannon O’Grady Sports Hall to enjoy an evening of performances from Diablo throwing, French accordion playing, Eastern European dancing and rock bands to name a few. As usual, our resident comperes Cath Smith and Karl Reiff hosted in their faultless glitzy and glamorous way and entertained the crowd with their array of one-liners. The Choreography and Costume awards went to Ukraine and Slovakia respectively, whilst the overall trophy was won by Sweden for their rendition of Pink’s 'So What'.
On Thursday our international guests enjoyed a morning of sport with members of the PE department. Following this, they returned, looking exhausted, to work with their hosts and ambassadors, in multinational groups, on a project to design their own country. Thursday evening was the perfect opportunity for our international guests to spend a final evening with their hosts and ambassadors and reminisce about a packed week of events.

The week would not have happened had it not been for the generosity of families from St. Wilfrid’s who were kind enough to host many of our international guests. Furthermore, our International Committee, led by Lee Dawson and Eve Bontoft (Year 11), were the organisational backbone before and during the week. Their tireless efforts, team work and professional attitude really showed our international guests what St. Wilfrid’s is all about.

Many thanks to everyone who helped make the week the success that it was. Long-lasting friendships were built and many tears were shed on the final day. People are already looking forward to next year’s event when we will celebrate 10 years of the international dimension at St. Wilfrid’s!

Ian Storey
Head of the International Dimension

Rhubarb, Rhubarb...

This is the first review of our in house catering service here at St Wilfrids by the School Nutrition action Group, SNAG.

Queues in the dining area were minimal and service was quick and efficient. The menus were displayed clearly and excited the taste buds as the menu had become more adventurous. The menu featured such dishes as stuffed peppers with couscous and rhubarb and rhubarb sausages. I opted for the rhubarb sausages, served with roast potatoes, garden peas and gravy. Lee had the stuffed peppers served with potatoes and garden peas. At first the thought of rhubarb and pork was daunting, but as soon as it touched the palette it was clearly apparent that the butcher knew what he was doing. I would even go as far as to say he was a culinary genius when it comes to locally produced meat. They were cooked to perfection as well! The garden peas changed my whole perception of school canteen vegetables and the gravy and the roast potatoes were fine.

It was good to see rhubarb on the menu this week as it is rhubarb week in Wakefield and as I am sure you already know, we are part of the rhubarb triangle and to see this locally produced food clearly on the menu was fantastic. I was also impressed by the responses from the catering staff when pupils asked about all the rhubarb on the menu. I liked the adventurous stuffed pepper on the menu, it was nicely presented but the rhubarb was slightly bitter alongside the pepper, however it was a great idea with thought and passion which is fantastic to see.

For desert we had the crumble I’m sure you can guess which fruit….. yes rhubarb! It was great and the accompanying custard was hot, full of flavour, smooth and fresh. The dining environment is yet to be improved, however the addition of the LCD screen and music added more of an atmosphere to the room. Overall it was a good experience. I must say that over the last year or two the catering has improved dramatically. Well done to all the catering staff. Keep up the good work!

Josh Angell

First Aid Course Success

On 2nd March, all year 13 Health and Social Care students took part in a first aid training course. This was an intensive 6 hour course designed to cover CPR, fractures, burns, hypoxia, head injuries, choking, bleeding and poisoning. Students also learnt how to deal with the unconscious casualty and mange incidents with regard to their own safety as well as the casualty’s.
The course was run by two Saint John’s Ambulance trainers who felt that the school was one of the friendliest and most helpful they had ever visited. They commented that this being a Catholic school was clearly shown in the behaviour of both staff and students.




All students were successful and will now have a three year first aid certificate to take with them when they move to employment or further education at the end of this year. Congratulations to all who took part.

T. Morris (Health and Social Care teacher)

Down on the Farm

Recently students from St Wilfrids visited two organic farms, Swillington Organic farm on the 25th of February & Clever Cow Organic farm on the 4th of March. The trip was taken by post-16 BTEC Science students as part of one of their Task investigating the physical and chemical properties of different soil types.

Swillington Farm

Swilington farm is an organic farm which raises cows, goats, ducks, pigs, chickens and sheep. Students collected eggs from the farms chicken sheds, a few lucky people got to play with the farms goats and everyone was able to buy delicious organic ice cream and chocolate from the farms shop, whilst one unlucky teacher narrowly escaped an over-excited goose! The class spent the morning touring the farm site used for a range of activities including farming animals, growing Christmas trees, fishing, and nature works. In the afternoon students carried out an investigation into different soil types across the farms site, using scientific techniques to determine different types of soil.

Clever Cow

Clever Cow farm is a diary farm located near Thornhill. The farm is run by the Rawson family and currently 3 generations of the family live on the farm. The farm is currently run by the family’s son, Tom, who uses a range of cutting-edge farming techniques to ensure that the far m has most efficient use of land for feeding their cows. The farm not only makes it own milk but it also bottles and sells its own brand of organic milk and cream, which are used by St Wilfrids in the school canteen. The farm uses a cross bred of black & white and Jersey cows (seen on the left) At the farm students got to see the farms herd of cows, as well as a tour of the whole of the farms site which involved team working skills because SOMEONE let one of the cows escape and the group had to conjure up and implement a recapturing plan! Pupils also got to see the milking shed and the bottling plant at the farm. As a special treat pupils were able to see newly born calf’s and had the chance to play with them. For lunch the family put on an assortment of cakes and scones with tea, all using the Clever Cow farms produce. They were delicious. In the afternoon pupils carried out soil tests across the farm site and found a range of different soil types.

Special thanks to Mr Lee who drove the mini-bus to Swillington and Mr Larrington who drove the mini-bus to Clever Cow Organic. For more information about farm trips contact Miss Sanderson in the Science department.

Article by Miss Sanderson