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Autumn Newsletter 2006
Examination Results
Another Successful Year
A word from Mr Hayward – Headteacher
When we consider our examination results, last year was an exceptional year. The Times News Paper issued a Freedom of Information order to the Welsh Assembly, releasing the exam results for Wales. The headline read, ‘St Brigid’s, a Catholic school for girls in Denbigh achieved the highest percentage of pupils gaining A* to C grades with 90%.’ To follow such headlines will always be difficult.
The results this year however, appear to be equally as successful, but the full information will not be made available until November. It is then that we will find out how other schools have done. This year, our results indicate that over 90% have achieved 5 or more A* to C grades and I am very pleased with the girls’ results. The hard work and dedication of teachers and students alike have again paid off.
At A level, 17% of our students gained 3 A grades or more, with one of our students gaining 3A and 1 B grade. A further 4 students gained a mixture of A and B grades. These are excellent results and we wish all the girls great success as they depart for their chosen universities. I am sure the girls would join me in sending a warm thank you to the teachers and staff for all the help and support they have given.
Return of English Books
There has been a significant number of books which have been borrowed by pupils and not returned to school. We would value the support of pupils and parents in returning these texts to school.
These books include:
‘The Lord of the Flies’ - William Golding
‘I am David’- Anne Holm
‘The Tulip Touch’ - Anne Fine
‘Hitler’s Daughter’ - Jackie French
‘Cider with Rosie’ - Laurie Lee
‘Treasure Island’ - Robert Louis Stephenson
‘Skellig’ - David Almond
‘Beowulf – Dragon Slayer’ Rosemary Sutcliff
With thanks to the English Dept.
URDD Trip to Cardiff
Children from St Brigid’s School Denbigh, visited Cardiff for a couple of days on the 19-20 of June. 47 Children from Years 9 and 10 visited the Urdd’s recreational centre in Cardiff. They took part in many activities including:
· Tour of the Millennium Stadium
· Tour of the Millennium Centre
· Tenpin Bowling
· Visited the Big Pit
· Free shopping time
· Visited the National Assembly
Thank you to everyone for their good behaviour across the two days, making it a trip to remember! Everyone (including the staff) enjoyed the whole experience.
Over 20 pupils from St Brigid’s School Years 8 & 9 will be going to Euro Disney Paris at half term with the Urdd
Urdd Membership
It is time once again for students who wish to join the Urdd to pay the membership fee of £5.50. This entitles students to participate in all Urdd activities – Eisteddfodau, Sporting Activities, and Trips etc. The membership money should be brought in to Miss Price by 20th October 2006. Those pupils who participated in the Cardiff trip at the end of the summer term have already got their membership for 2006/07.
Library Books
We are delighted to inform you that the St Brigid’s School Parents’ Association has purchased 88 new fiction books for the library at a cost of over £600.
Unfortunately, not all of the pupils returned the books. As a consequence, 40 of these texts are unaccounted for from the summer term and have still not been returned despite repeated requests during recent weeks.
Please return any copies found at home – they are all stamped with the school name – by Friday 22nd September.
Your support in this matter is greatly appreciated, as we do wish to continue investment in the school library and hope to encourage as much enjoyment of literature as possible.
School Meals
Regrettably, the school is having to strictly enforce the arrangements for payment of school meals, due to a few people who have taken advantage of St Brigid's School’s goodwill.
All pupils will be issued with lunch tickets on the first day of each week (please ensure they write their name on the back of each ticket in case they drop them)! For those who pay for the ½ term or full term a photo card has been issued.
If your child has a long term absence we will gladly refund any money paid for school dinners.
Extra Curricular Activities
Pupils taking extra curricular subjects must have a form signed by their parents agreeing to pay by the first day of term. N.B. This form and all bills state a complete term’s notice in writing is due before the termination of any extra curricular subject.
6th Form Induction Week
As part of their sixth form induction course this year, Year 12 pupils took part in an outdoor pursuit’s day at Dolgarrog in the Conwy valley. One group, led by Mrs Chamberlain and Miss Parry-Hughes walked cross country to the picturesque Llyn Crafnant. Despite the drizzly weather conditions, everyone was able to enjoy a hot chocolate and home made cake at the lakeside café before heading home.
The other more intrepid party went gorge walking nearby, getting chest deep in cold river water and scrambling over slippery boulders and through waterfalls. The girls were under the expert supervision of qualified mountaineer Mr Dave Say as well as Miss Carus and Mr Hayward. Mrs Bollard also took part and enjoyed it so much that she can’t wait to go again.
Meanwhile, back at school, representatives from the Young Enterprise Scheme gave a presentation to Year 12 students, which was very interesting and many girls are already brainstorming for original business ideas for their own company. They will be taking part in a Challenge Day at Howell’s School on 19th September as the next stage in this exciting process. Many thanks to Mrs Lila Young for organizing and running this scheme within the school.
Year 13 students continued their valuable training in Peer Support, having a workshop led by Childline. This will enable them to listen to problems younger pupils in the school may be facing and to help the pupils come up with solutions to their problems or worries. The students were taught how to listen effectively, but they will not be giving advice, but will instead help pupils make their own plan to solve their problems.
New 6th Formers
Up To Their Neck In It !
Timetable
The timetable has proven to be particularly difficult to organize this year. At present we are running on a temporary timetable with some ‘patches’ and there will need to be changes to achieve a final workable version. St Brigid’s prides itself in attempting to provide the exact mix of subjects desired by every pupil at both Key Stage 4 and the Sixth Form. Although this is not always possible we have achieved very close matches during recent years. For the one or two students for whom we have not been able to achieve their exact requirements we have still been able to offer a valuable combination of options.
During recent years we have increased the number of subjects that students have been able to follow in the sixth form. This year we have offered Geography for the first time in many years. We are also sharing resources with Denbigh High School in the area of PE and ICT. Trying to match our timetable with that of Denbigh High has proved particularly difficult this year.
The major change to our provision this year, however, has been the splitting of English, Mathematics and Religious Studies into three groups instead of two in Year 10. Previously these subjects were already split into three groups in Year 11. It is important to understand that although the pupils are arranged according to ability in Mathematics, in English and Religious Studies pupils are taught as mixed ability groups. All pupils in these two subjects are able to aim for the full range of grades, according to their ability in the particular subject. This has been the way the groups have been arranged for many years and our results in English and Religious Studies confirm that pupils are not disadvantaged by being grouped in this way.
KS3 - Yr7, 8 & 9
Key Stage 3 is a very important three years in each pupil’s development. It links the basic skills of primary education to the more advanced studies required for GCSE and A Level courses. At this stage, the individual subjects are given separate attention and pupils have to organize their thinking to be able to study them separately. The basic principles underlying successful later studies are taught at this stage, so it is the key to subsequent success.
At St Brigid’s, we pride ourselves on our pupils’ progress in Key Stage Three. Many girls achieve levels at the end of the Stage which is higher than was predicted for them at the start. In the core subjects’ SATS results (2005-2006), the school achieved 91.4% of pupils at levels 5-7 in Mathematics, and 98.1% in both English and Science. Maintaining this excellent record requires dedication and hard work from both staff and pupils. - WELL DONE, LAST YEAR’S YEAR 9!
School Uniform
At St Brigid's it is good to see how smart our girls look in their full school uniform. Unfortunately, a growing number of girls do not adhere to our Admission Policy which states that School Uniform must be worn at all times. This Policy also states that blazers must be worn on the way to school and on the way home. The uniform includes a green waterproof fleece for rainy days. This coat is not to be worn instead of a blazer but as well as it. Alternative overcoats are not permitted. Please find a full list of the School Uniform in the pupil Homework Diary. We will be grateful for your support in this matter. Please make sure that your children set off to school every morning in full school uniform, which includes a blazer. If for any reason this is not possible on a specific day please write a letter to the Form Tutor explaining why the pupil is not wearing the correct uniform.
SCHOOL P.T.A.
Next Meeting Tuesday 26th Sept @ 7:30
Greetings and a big hello to you all from all members of the PTA committee.
A special welcome is extended to all new parents whose children have just started in the school.
Just to backtrack and update you all, our Fun Day in July turned out a great success and we raised almost £3000 for our funds.
Our thanks go to all the people who helped with all aspects of fun day from set-up on the day itself to the tidy up afterwards. Your input and help is valued and appreciated.
As we now venture into the new term, I would just like to highlight some important dates on our school calendar.
Our first meeting will be on Tuesday 26th September 2006 in the School Canteen at 7.30pm
AGM in mid October date to be arranged.
Meeting to finalize Tombola evening in early November.
For further details or any queries please contact:
Kelvin 01745 814224
Steve 07739 508741
Sue 01745 730004
Julie 01745 710529
Primary Department News.
There are three educational visits booked for the Primary department: Yr 3 to Legacy Celtic Centre, Yr 5 to Erddig Hall and Yr 6 to Aberdounah Quarry.
In Key Stage 2 the pupils achieved the following levels in the key subjects:
English 86% with level 4 or above
Mathematics 86% with level 4 or above
Science . 97% with level 4 or above
The Sports Day events went well and the tea stall raised £75. A sincere thank you to Mrs Sue Hogg for all her voluntary help organising the stall, also to all parents who helped on the day.
It’s good news for our school garden too - it won a Bronze Medal in the prestigious Tatton Park competition. Thank you to Steve Emery & Mark Harmsworth and those who allowed us to be part of the project as a school and to all volunteers.
Water
Following a School Council initiative filtered water is now available in both Junior and Senior schools. For hygiene reasons the machines are only suitable for screw top tumbler type bottles, which will be available from the school tuck shop at £1.
School Grounds
We look to you all to help maintain St Brigid’s beautiful school grounds by using the litter bins provided at all times, and collecting any rubbish you may see whilst you are enjoying the area.
WANTED – SEWING MACHINES
The Design Technology Department in St Brigid’s would be very grateful if anyone who has an unwanted sewing machine, sitting in a corner gathering dust, would be kind enough to donate it to the department. With thanks in anticipation O.Rowlands