ST MARK’S NEWS
13th March 2015
Issue No. 12
This edition is so full of fantastic activities, reports and news of up coming events, that I have only a very small space to thank
all of those pupils, staff and parents who have contributed so much of their time and energy into making St Mark’s such a
great place to learn, work and play.
Elaine Heaphy — Headteacher
FRIENDS OF ST MARK’S QUIZ NIGHT
Why not come along this evening Friday 13 March 2015 at 7.45pm for an 8.00pm start and support the school at
the Friends of St Mark’s Quiz Night. Entry fee is £3.50 per person to be paid on the door, bring along your own
drinks and snacks. The teams should consist of up to eight people, but not to worry if you don’t have a full team as
teams can be arranged on the night.
EASTER EGG RAFFLE!
Families are asked to donate Easter Eggs for this raffle. Donations should be handed into Reception or Mrs Dundridge,
the Head’s PA. Tickets for the raffle will be available in school, during school hours and at
Parents’ Evenings. The raffle will be drawn on Monday 23rd March 2015.
100 CLUB WINNERS
December: James O’Sullivan
February: Mrs M Dennis
March: Mrs Alison Dossetter
MATHS CHALLENGE
On Thursday 5th February, high achieving pupils from Years 9 to 11 participated in the Intermediate Maths Challenge, organised by the
United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. Pupils were given one hour to attempt up to 25 problems, with no equipment other than pencil and
paper. Congratulations go to the following pupils who have performed well enough to achieve a certificate:
Year 9
Jack Piggott (Silver Award + Best in Year). Bronze Awards to Temisan Ukuti, Henry Kwok, Zuzanna Iwanczyk, Daisy Flack, Girish Sapkota,
Lleyton Humphrey, Yee-Jing Chan & Charmaine Kangwende
Year 10
Ashley Maddams (Silver Award + Best in Year). Bronze Awards to Liam Ridler, Bithiah McSpencer, Sam Gurnett, Taylor Wood, Aidan
Cullen, James Knudsen, Courtney Knight, Fern Kelly & Clive Tsungu
Year 11
Niall Ramphal (Gold Award + Best in School). Silver Awards to George Banks & Yee-Shek Chan. Bronze Awards to Joshua Parker, Rory
Panton, Jack Coventry, Isabel Holden, Rebecca Selwood, Riccardo George-Schweizer, David Gillman, Daniel Goddard & Jessica Edwards
The Mathematics Department are thrilled with these results! Niall Ramphal has also qualified for the next round in the competition which
takes place on 19th March. Well done, Niall and good luck! Mrs S.Miziolek—Maths Dept
YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE 2015
We are well underway with the work experience process for this year having had the assembly and the parents’
information evening. We are now approaching a crucial time for the pupils (of which more information will come out
on parentmail) but I just wanted to remind everyone of what should have been done and what needs to be done.
By Monday 16th March all pupils need to have logged on to the BEP website and filled in some basic details regardless
of whether they have found their own placement. If your son/daughter has not been on the website yet they need to
as a matter of urgency. On Monday 23rd March, Live Jobs will be available on the BEP Webview system. It is important
that your child goes on to this as soon as they can to give themselves the best chance of getting the placement they want. There will be a
short period of time between filling out this information and having their placement confirmed.
If you have any questions or queries please contact Mrs Moon or myself in The Careers Centre at anytime. D. Rowland/L Moon
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Friends of St Mark’s Quiz Night— 13 March 2015—7.45pm
Sixth Form Chemistry Lecture—Cambridge University—16 March 5pm—9.30pm
Afternoon Tea for new Year 7 pupils 2015 and their families—17th March 5-7pm
Performing Arts Showcase—25 March 7pm
END OF TERM—27 March 12.30pm FINISH
EASTER HOLIDAYS 27 March—13 April
Last Saturday a coachload of St Mark’s pupils from
Years 9-12 joined 8000 other young people from
across the UK for the Flame 2 Youth Congress
organised by the Catholic Youth Ministry and they
had an amazing day which was full of joy.
Throughout the
event music from
double Grammy award winning band, Matt Redman, was uplifting and had
everyone on their feet singing, dancing and clapping – even the teachers!
The key speakers provided much food for thought but it was Cardinal Luis
Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, who really touched everybody’s hearts as he
spoke of the mercy of God, the joy of the Gospel and our duty to look after the
“lost” members of our
society.
The day concluded with
Adoration led by Cardinal
Vincent Nichols,
Archbishop of
Westminster, who was joined by bishops from dioceses all
over the UK. 8000 people joined together in worship – and
you could have heard a pin drop during the blessing.
A message from Pope
Francis was read out at the event. His Holiness also imparted, to all
participants in FLAME 2 and their families and loved ones, a special
Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of abundant graces from Our Blessed Lord.
“The day inspired me. I feel it has brought me closer to God.” Marco
“I felt a sense of belonging with
all the other young people.”
Martha
“The silence during the worship;
the shining lights from the
phones; magical.” Lauren
“It was an inspirational day.” Sharon
“Life stories, told with humour, showed the impact of mercy and
love.” Sarah
YEAR 8 MASSES
Last week’s Year 8 Masses were a real joy and celebration of the year
group. Pupils chose the theme – Love and Friendship –the hymns,
wrote the prayers and provided singing and music. Class reps
greeted, welcomed and thanked our guests of clergy, parents and
family members.
We are all very grateful to Father Bernard, Deacon Duncan
and Deacon Michael for giving us their time, and it was
lovely to have the children’s relatives in school to celebrate
with us.
GEOGRAPHY TRIP TO BARCELONA
Day 1 – Nou Camp + Settling in
Day one of the Geography trip started early, 5am to be precise. 33 sleepy
pupils waved goodbye to their parents and boarded a plane to Barcelona in
Spain. We arrived at lunchtime and were swiftly whisked off to our first visit,
a tour of Nou Camp stadium, Barcelona’s home ground. The sheer scale of
the place couldn’t help but impress even the non-football loving pupils. A
short journey later and the hotel and dinner beckoned, along with a full
buffet of multicultural foods on offer. Full, our pupils settled down in their
rooms for a long evening of sweets, caffeine drinks and a vague
understanding of Spanish TV shows.
“I really enjoyed walking around the football pitch and looking at all the
trophies in the Barcelona Museum.” - Kira Beasley 10F
Day 2 – Garrotxa National Park and the Lava Flows
Day two began early again, an unceremonious sharp knock on the door from
the teachers at 7:30. Today we were off to see a dormant volcano, complete
with lava flows in the afternoon. The pupils came up close and personal to a
volcano that last erupted over 11,000 years ago, learning about the different
phases of eruption and being shown what each phase produced. Tracking
the lava flows down the valley, the pupils came up close to cooled lava, similar in shape to the Giant’s Causeway found in Northern Ireland (a perfect
example of columnar jointing!). The evening was spent at the beach playing
football and relaxing before a music quiz in the evening (congratulations to
Chloe, Kira and Emily on their victory).
“I really enjoyed seeing inside the volcano and being able to learn about
how the volcanoes in the area were created.” - Joshua Hudson 10H
Day 3 – River Study + Beach
Day three began in the upper course of the Tordera river, with the pupils
learning to use field equipment to gather results. Braving the freezing
mountain water, the data hungry geographers collected information from all
aspects of the river; its channel width, flow rate, bed load size and depth
(that last one was a challenge, often resulting in wet knees!).
Throughout the day several more stops took place, collecting the same
information from different points along the river until we finally arrived at
the river’s mouth (the point it empties into the sea). Tired and somewhat
soggy, we returned bristling with data and a deeper understanding of how
rivers change along their paths. An evening of relaxing at the beach ensured
a calm and early night, ready for the walking tomorrow would bring.
“I found using the equipment very interesting as I could see how the river
changed from the top to the beach.” – Jessica Okubire 10B
Day 4 – Barcelona Centre and Shopping
Day four saw us venture into Barcelona itself. The city was bustling and
teeming with colour and interesting architecture. The pupils started their
tour with a stroll up Las Ramblas (Barcelona’s famous main street). Ice
creams in hand, the eager shoppers in the group could hardly be contained
as row upon row of designer shops came into view. Lunch and the afternoon
were spent investigating the port shopping mall. Tired feet and empty wallets
later, the pupils, shopping bags swinging happily, began their short journey
home, their Spanish adventure coming to a close.
“I liked walking up Las Ramblas because I saw lots of living statues and interesting architecture on the buildings.” – Maddie Daniels 10M
The fruits of the ecology club's hard work in the autumn
are starting to show with the first crocus bulbs in full
flower and the narcissi poised to blossom too. Pupils
have been hard at work tidying out the greenhouse
ready for the new season, and have also planted some
sweet pepper and tomato seeds so that they get a head
start this year.
BAYFORDBURY OBSERVATORY
Sixth form pupils visited Bayfordbury Observatory (part
of the University of Hertfordshire) for an evening
discovering the link between light and astronomy.
We were treated to a lecture explaining how the
different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation are
used in astronomy, viewed Jupiter through a large
optical telescope, viewed the night sky at the
planetarium and experimented with an infrared camera.
CAUGHT ON CAMERA!
Lots of pupils have picked up books and have started reading ferociously in
celebration of the Readathon this year.
Some pupils have even returned to pick up another sponsorship card obviously fundraising is important but using the Readathon as an excuse to
read and fall in love with lots of new characters and embark on many exciting
adventures is even better!
The Readathon continues until March 20th where a kindle will be raffled for
each year group 7-11. Raffle tickets are awarded per book read & book review
or blurb submitted to Mrs Thompson, our lovely librarian.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Congratulations to Ewan Bulloch, 7 More, who recently won silver in the County Championships for the
50m Breaststroke. This has now ranked him first in the East Region and 18th in the UK! We would like to
wish Ewan luck in the Regional Championships in Norwich this coming May.
SPORTS RESULTS
NETBALL
FOOTBALL
4 March 2015
St Mark’s v Burnt Mill
Year 7— Lost 2-12 POM Rianna Collins
Year 8—Won 13-8 POM Hannah Bishop
St Mark’s v Mark Hall
Year 7— Won 2-0 POM Leslie Oheneba
Year 9—Won 6-3 POM Josh Salmon
Year 11—Lost 2-1 POM Luke Florido
5 March 2015
St Mark’s v Mark Hall
Year 7— Won 12-5 POM Alisha Francombe
Year 8— Won 41-1 POM Rebecca Swallow
Tournaments
Year 7 - 3rd place, Year 8 - 1st through to West Essex play-offs
Year 9— 3rd
Seniors - 3rd