Newsletter 11.11.2024 – St Nicholas Catholic High School

A prayer to share

Prayer to begin the new half-term.
Reflect on the gifts and blessings that you would like to help you during these next weeks.

Heavenly Father,
In the name of Jesus,
As we enter November,

help us to cultivate a heart of gratitude.

May we see Your blessings in every moment

and show gratitude for Your endless goodness.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
We carry this message throughout this month.
Amen.

Remembrance Day

When you go home
Tell them of us and say
For your tomorrow
We gave our today

For two minutes, the whole school came together in silence and prayer to remember all the service men and women and their families who have lost their lives as a result of conflict.

The silence was made extra special by ex-army member Mr Stephen Humphries who read the powerful Kohima epitaph and trumpet player Edward Smalley Year 11 who played the ‘Reveille’ beautifully.

Message from our Chaplain Mairie

Shoebox Appeal

Thank you to everyone who has supported this appeal over the past few weeks. We have had a great response of shoeboxes – we presently have 60 filled shoeboxes and bags of goodies that need boxes. Additionally we have items and boxes items all wrapped up in Christmas paper, giving us an authentic ‘reason for the season’: that of considering the needs of others and working to make a difference to someone else’s life.

We are taught to love our neighbour and this generosity for children, that our children will never meet, is a wonderful example of what this really means – Everyone matters!

The boxes will be collected on Monday 11^th November, so if there are any other contributions please send them in over the weekend. Thanks again!

Church Action on Poverty

There is a quote attributed to our form patron, Helder Camara – ‘When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.’ Our Catholic Ethos asks us to do both give and ask ‘why’. We have a longstanding commitment to the local Foodbank, which we will launch at the end of this month.

Church Action on Poverty is a national ecumenical Christian social justice charity, committed to tackling poverty in the UK. They work in partnership with churches, and with people in poverty themselves, to tackle the root causes of poverty. They put gospel values of justice and compassion into practice by campaigning nationally and locally for policies that will loosen the grip of poverty on people’s lives.

There is a postcard campaign at the moment asking the government to commit to ending poverty. We are taking part this month and our postcards will be joining with others from across the country to be delivered to parliament in early December.

Belgium Trip

On Thursday, the 24^th October, 60 students from St Nicholas set off for a trip to Belgium. The trip was organised by the Music Department but they combined with the History and A Level English Literature departments so that students could not only take part in concerts but also visit the Battlefields sites. It was a fantastic experience for all students: The musicians got a standing ovation from an audience of over a 100 locals, at their first concert: History students got to see what life was like in the trenches and during the battles for the soldiers of the 1^st World War and the English students were able to visit where John McCrae wrote his famous ‘In Flanders Field’ poem and could consider the context in which this was written.

Perhaps the highlight for everyone was the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate where the musicians and singers had the great honour and privilege to perform two songs during the laying of the wreaths.

Safeguarding Newsletter

Here is this month’s Safeguarding Newsletter.

The newsletter includes important information about:

Anti-Bullying week – Choose Respect
Online Bullying
App focus: WhatsApp

We encourage you to review the newsletter carefully and discuss the key points with your children. Ensuring that we all work together to provide the safest possible environment, both in and outside of school.

If you have any questions or concerns about the content in the newsletter, or if you would like further guidance on any safeguarding issues, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Please also see the following advice from the NSPCC

Keeping your kids safe on their phone

Trust is important when getting a first phone – parents need to be able to trust their kids with a phone, and kids want to feel trusted by their parents. To feel confident about a child’s safety when using their first phone, it is all about building this trust together – as a family.

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/help-and-information/nspcc-phone-safety-toolkit

The NSPCC’s toolkit will lead you through all the important aspects of trust with their handy acronym:

T – Talking about safe phone use
R – Recognising rights to safety online
U – Using online safety and wellbeing tools
S – Support when facing challenges online
T – Talking about online safety going forward

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Careers

Parent Virtual Session – Digital

Thurs 14 November 2024, 18:00

Hosted by All About STEM/All About Futures, aimed at helping parents and carers to find out about the opportunities available within the digital sector.

Join us online on Thursday 14 November 2024 at 6pm when we’ll be looking at what we mean by ‘digital’ and ‘digital life skills’. We’ll also introduce the different pathways into digital careers including apprenticeships, technical and higher education routes also touching on the opportunities available for 19+ learners through the Skills Boot Camps.

Click here to register

Free virtual work experience events with National Highways.
These career challenges are designed to develop key employability skills such as problem solving, data literacy, storytelling, and presentation. Hosted on Microsoft Teams, these sessions take place outside of school hours, making them easily accessible.

Students will enjoy: • A 45-minute briefing with the National Highways team • The opportunity to complete a career challenge at their own pace • Certification upon completion

These events provide valuable insights into emerging careers and help students build skills that will enhance their future education and employment choices.

First Step – for students in years 7,8,9
Wednesday 27th November at 4.30pm
https://tinyurl.com/3v3etres

Next Step – for students in years 10,11,12,13
Wednesday 11th December at 5pm
https://tinyurl.com/5xmzz8xj

Library and Literacy

Reading for Remembrance

We have a wonderful selection of fiction and non-fiction for all ages to support November’s theme of Remembrance. In addition to the books available in the library, make sure to check out SORA https://soraapp.com/library/uksecondary for ebooks and audio books.

PTFA Newsletter

The PTFA will be running their Christmas raffle starting today at £1 per ticket on parent pay. We are still looking for a few extra prizes, please contact school if you can help – thank you very much.

Thank you,

Your PTFA

PTFA Lottery

Please consider joining our school lottery if you’ve not already done so to help raise funds for school.

If you haven’t signed up yet please visit our lottery here – https://www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/st-nicholas-catholic-high-school

Thank you. 😁

Flu Vaccination in school

The nasal flu vaccination programme for Years 7-11 is scheduled for Thursday 21st November 2024.
St Nicholas High School has a unique code that you will be prompted to input into the system. The school code is: CP111450

Please submit consent here https://www.cwpstartingwellimms.co.uk/Forms/Flu by 12 NOON on Tuesday 19th November to ensure that your child receives the vaccination.

After school PE

Week commencing 11^th November

Fixtures :

Monday: Mid Cheshire Cross Country @ Hartford High School (3:30pm first race)

Tuesday :Year 10 Football @ Hartford
Year 11 Cheshire Cup vs. Alsager (A) 2:30pm kick off
Wednesday – Ski Trip Meeting 5pm

Wednesday : Year 11 Football @ Winsford
Thursday :Year 8 Cheshire Cup vs. Winsford (a) 3:45pm kick off

Clubs:
Tuesday– All Years Table Tennis
Wednesday– All Years Netball
Thursday– All Years Football
Friday– All Years Run Club & Sixth Form Fitness/Gym

Music Co-Curricular

Week commencing 11th November

Lunchtime

Monday Choir – tenors & Keyboard Club 2M
Tuesday Year 7 Choir & Year 10 Band
Wednesday Woodwind ensemble 1M & Altos sectional 2M
Thursday String Ensemble & Year 7 Band & Y10 band
Friday Year 10 Band

After School
Monday
Tuesday Shrek the Musical
Wednesday Choir 3.15-5pm
Thursday Orchestra 3.15-4.15pm

Lunchtime Clubs

Monday
Art KS4 in A2
History Musical Mondays – watching Hamilton – H1
Chess Club and Rubik’s club in M5
Y7 & Y8 Code club in C2
Tuesday:
Computer Science Revision in C2
Wednesday
KS3 Art club in A1
Thursday
Art club KS4 in A1
Friday
Easy as Pi club (maths)
Year 9 -11 Science Club Week 1
Year 7 and 8 Science Club Week 2
School Production Rehearsal – Drama Studio

After School Clubs

Tuesday : School Production Rehearsals 3.15 – 4.45
Wednesday Dungeons and Dragons
Wednesday Art Club in A2 all years 3.15-4.15
Thursday KS4 / 5 Spanish Film Club

Attendance

Everyone Matters – so Attendance Matters

Upcoming dates

Wed 13th Nov – Ski Trip Meeting 5pm
Fri 15^th Nov – Year 11 exams finish
Mon 18^th Nov – Art Mocks
Tue 19^th Nov – Art mocks
Thurs 21st Nov – immunisations
Mon 25^th Nov – Advent Charity assemblies
Tue 26th Nov – Year 9 Parents’ evening 4:15 – 7:30pm
Fri 29^th Nov – INSET day
Thurs 5^th Dec – Year 9 options evening 5 – 6:30pm
Fri 13^th Dec – Year 11 Mock results day
Mon 16^th Dec – Year 9 Curriculum choice deadline
Wed 18^th Dec – Christmas carol concert 6:30pm
Fri 20^th Dec – SCHOOL CLOSES – 12:30pm
Mon 6^th Jan – Inset day
Tue 7^th Jan – SCHOOL REOPENS

Click here for further dates

Click here to download 2024-25 Holiday Dates

Click here to download 2025-26 Holiday Dates