Our first Primary School reading mentors ‘lend a hand’!

Five of our Year 9 pupils have become volunteer reading mentors for Year 5 and Year 3 pupils at All Saints’ Primary School, Featherstone. Pupils, who previously found reading to be a chore and uninteresting, were trained to become reading mentors to Primary School children, who find reading difficult. Pupils were encouraged to see the many benefits to reading and trained to offer support and help to children younger than them, who do not find reading easy.


The training offered by Miss Midgley, to our Year 9 pupils, introduced them to many reading mentor techniques, such as the ‘five finger’ test and reading simultaneously with their mentee, until they deem it appropriate to stop reading and allow their mentee to continue alone, without assistance.

The reading mentor scheme has proved highly successful and both our pupils and All Saints’ pupils have seen many benefits. Our pupils can now see how reading helps you to develop your own vocabulary and how books introduce you to new and exciting worlds. All Saints’ Primary School pupils are excited every week, at the prospect of seeing their mentor, who comes to see them from ‘big school’. They see their reading time with our Year 9 pupils as a privilege and have taken the opportunity to develop their own reading skills on a regular basis.

Overall, the new initiative has proved a real success and praise needs to be given to our five Year 9 pupils who have worked hard to make a difference.

Miss Jimmeson (Assistant Head, Director of English)

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.