Newsletter 28.04.2025 – St Nicholas Catholic High School

A prayer to share

Prayer: In Memory of Pope Francis

Loving God,

We thank You for the life and service of Pope Francis,

who guided us with humility and compassion.

May his dedication to justice, mercy and love

inspire us to live out these values in our daily lives.

Comfort those who mourn his passing,

and strengthen the Church as it continues its mission in the world.

Grant Pope Francis eternal rest in Your presence,

and may his legacy continue to light the path for generations to come.

Amen

Message from our Chaplain Mairie

Reflection: Remembering Pope Francis

On Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, we sadly bid farewell to Pope Francis, who passed away at the age of 88 in his residence at Casa Santa Marta in Vatican City.

Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, served as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and was the first pope from Latin America. His papacy was marked by a commitment to humility, inclusivity, and social justice. He often emphasized the importance of caring for the marginalised and addressing global issues such as climate change.

Throughout his tenure, Pope Francis encouraged young people to be active participants in their communities and to live out their faith through acts of kindness and service. His approachable manner and emphasis on compassion for all, resonated with individuals of all ages and backgrounds.

As we reflect on his legacy, we are reminded of the profound impact one individual can have in promoting peace, understanding, and love in the world. We hope to continue his legacy through our Gospel Values and response to the needs of the community around us.

Year 11 Mass 5.30pm Tuesday 6^th May

Our Year 11 students are fast approaching this important time in their school life and our Mass of Celebration is an opportunity to bring the year group together with their families to celebrate and to bless them as they begin their exams.

We always look forward to this time of year and we are grateful to Fr Paul for coming along to celebrate, and that our choir and orchestra will also be with us.

Invitations have already been sent out and we would appreciate a response as soon as possible so that we can make the appropriate seating arrangements. Click here to fill in the form

Reward shop

The St Nicholas Dollars Reward Shop has proven to be a big success. The shop is open every Friday lunch time for students to exchange their St Nicholas Dollars for rewards. Students achieve a dollar a day for every day they attend a full day of school and follow our 4 R’s with the chance to earn additional dollars for achieving 4’s on lesson monitor and attending extra-curricular activities. The menu of choices available to students allows them the opportunity to select their own rewards with the addition of also being able to donate their dollars to charity – so far we have donated £50 to chAPS and £50 to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

Music Success

Congratulations to the following students for passing their recent Music performance exams

Charlie Fitzsimmons Grade 5 Violin

Nathaniel Turner Grade 4 Guitar

Grace Baker Grade 1 Violin

We are proud of all your achievements and know how much effort goes into achieving these results. Well done all!

Sporting Success – Cricket

Congratulations to Hayden Durney and Connor Brown both in year 8 who have been selected to represent Cheshire Cricket Board at the Cheshire Youth Cricket’s U13 District Festival.

They will take part in two 4 days festivals, the first one in May and the second one in July.

Sporting Success – U18 Football Winners

Our U18 Football Team have only gone and done it!!

Before the Easter holidays they played in the Cheshire Cup Final for the prestigious Geoff Reynolds Trophy. The final was played against Abbey Gate College at Kings School Chester.

After a highly competitive opening 30 mins, Abbey Gate scored first after a bit of a scuffed clearance in the box following a corner. No more than 30 seconds later Charlie Bird was put through almost directly from the restart and embraced the 1v1 opportunity with the keeper, slotting the ball calmly past to make it 1-1 going into half time.

Around 10 minutes into the second half St Nicholas were awarded a free kick around 10 yards outside the penalty area. Captain Devon Renshaw took responsibility and struck a hard low shot straight into the bottom corner 2-1.

5 minutes later from a St Nicholas corner the ball was only half cleared and Will Trubshaw met the ball sweetly on the half volley from around the penalty spot to make it 3-1. Some resolute defending and goalkeeping followed but St Nicholas were in control of all of the important moments to follow and 3-1 is how it finished.

Big thanks to all of the students who made the trip to Chester to support their friends, and obviously an OUTSTANDING performance from the whole squad and they were all a huge credit to the school.

Sporting Success – Cross Country

Before the holidays Alice Ward ran in the Cheshire v’s Merseyside cross country at Ellesmere Port. The run was 1.63 miles and she completed the course in 11mins 50secs.

Well done Alice.

Sporting Success – Trampoline

Deacon Kay from 8B took part in the North West Gymnastics Association Trampoline Regional Qualifier 3 on Saturday 26th April at Robin Park, Wigan. He finished 2nd place in his category (Men’s 13-17 years).

Well done!

The school day

The school gates open at 8.20 at which point students can access school site and sit in the canteen.

Please note that students waiting outside the school gates prior to 8.20 are unsupervised.

Music Success

Big congratulations to Harry Price in Year 11 and his band The Voke who were crowned winners of this year’s Battle of the Bands competition with their own original song.

They beat 15 other local bands to grab the top spot on the last Friday before the Easter holidays.

To top it all, Harry received a letter of congratulations from local MP Andrew Cooper.

The Voke have already been booked to play several local festivals this summer.

Hay fever

As we have now entered hay fever season we kindly ask that students remember to take their medication in the morning before school.

School does not supply tablets.

Careers – Apprenticeship Opportunity

RMG – Residential Management Group is looking for 3 apprentices who want to kickstart their careers in the Property Management industry starting in September. The apprentices will be based in our Northwich office on Gadbrook Business Park, studying towards a level 3 apprenticeship in Housing & Property and rotating around key departments within our business. The rotation scheme is designed to give a comprehensive overview of our business and allows the apprentices to discover the career path that is right for them.

While Level 3 is equivalent to A Levels, it is definitely the most appropriate apprenticeship as the level 4 is aimed at people with existing industry experience and already managing a team. However, RMG offer loads of career development opportunities beyond this programme, including a master’s degree in Property and Investment and a range of professional qualifications (often with full funding) such as AAT, CIMA, ACCA, ILM and other industry specific quals like TPI.

The link to apply is: Places for People Career Site

PTFA News

Dear Parents and Carers,

We hope you and your families had a wonderful Easter break.

Our next PTFA meeting is on Monday, 12th May at 5.15pm – everyone is welcome. Please consider coming along to hear about our wonderful fundraising and the school resources we buy.

Thank you very much.

Kind regards,

Your PTFA

Library and Literacy

New Books on Sora

There have been a number of title added to Sora over the Easter holiday including the long awaited Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. Make sure to check out all the new books on soraapp.com. Remember, students’ username and passwords are the same as those used to log on to the school laptops.

Cheshire Schools’ Book Award

The votes are in! St Nicholas’s Book Club has voted for their Cheshire Schools’ Book Award winners. Our votes have now been sent to the Educational Library Service along with all the other participating schools in Cheshire to decide the overall winners which will be announced at the awards event in The Storyhouse on the 21st of May.

After school PE

Week commencing 28.04.2025

Fixtures :

Tuesday :
Cheshire Cricket with ARC students (10:15-11:15am)

Clubs:

Tuesday– Athletics (all years) & Tennis (Years 8-11)

Wednesday– Cricket (all years) & Tennis (Years 8-11)

Thursday– Rounders (all years) & Tennis (Years 8-11)

Friday– Tennis (Year 7)

Music Co-Curricular

Rehearsals

week commencing 28.5.25

Lunchtime

Monday Keyboard Club 2M

Tuesday Year 10 Band 1M

Wednesday Woodwind Group 1M

Thursday Strings group 1M Year 7 practice room

After School

Monday Staff Meeting

Tuesday Year 13 composition workshop

Wednesday CHOIR 3.15-5pm Year 10 GCSE Composition Workshops

Thursday Orchestra & Year 10 GCSE Composition Workshops

Friday Year 10 GCSE Composition Workshops

Choir members please complete this form about summer performances.

After School Clubs

Wednesday Dungeons and Dragons
Wednesday Art Club in A2 all years 3.15-4.15

Lunchtime Clubs

Monday
Art KS4 in A2
History Musical Mondays – 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
Year 7 Book to Film Club in E1
Art club KS4 in A1
Friday
Easy as Pi club (maths)
Science Club Week 1 Y9-11, Week 2 Year 7&8

Community notices

Emotional Resilience course

Attendance

Everyone Matters – So Attendance Matters

Upcoming dates

Thurs 1^st May – Junior maths challenge years 7 & 8
Fri 2^nd May – Year 10 reports to parents
Mon 5^th May – BANK HOLIDAY
Tues 6^th May – Year 7 Exams start, Year 11 Mass 6pm
Mon 12^th May – GCSE & A Level exams start, PTFA meeting 5:15 – 6:15pm
Fri 16^th May – Year 13 celebrations & Mass
Thurs 22nd May – Last day for year 11
Fri 23^rd May – Year 9 reports to parents, SCHOOL CLOSES
Mon 2^nd June – SCHOOL REOPENS, year 8 exams commence

Click here for further dates

Click here to download 2024-25 Holiday Dates

Click here to download 2025-26 Holiday Dates