2nd April 2013    - Press Release

Four students from Austin Friars St Monica’s School will represent Cumbria in the National Final of the “Top of the Bench” competition which this year will be held at Loughborough University. 

The Austin Friars St Monica’s School team, who were crowned Cumbrian champions after winning the regional “Top of the Bench” Chemistry competition in December, will be travelling to Loughborough University, in early April where they will compete against teams from 30 other regions. 

“Top of the Bench” is a national competition which is run by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). It pits teams of the best 14-16 year olds in the country against each other in a competition which tests their practical skills and chemical knowledge beyond the Chemistry GCSE syllabus. 

Each team comprises of pupils from years 9-11. The Austin Friars St Monica’s team consisting of Kathryn Orr, John Colwell, Robbie Ewart and Jake Kirkpatrick are confident going into the final after beating other Schools from across Cumbria, including West Lakes Academy and St Bees.   

Mrs Rosie Fielder, is the Head of Chemistry at the School. She said “This was an ideal opportunity for the students to stretch themselves beyond the syllabus and meet other like-minded pupils in a friendly, but competitive environment.” 

The winners of the competition will be crowned National Champions and will receive a trophy and a cheque for the School to spend on new Chemistry equipment. 

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For more details please contact:

Andrew Hullock

Marketing Administrator

Tel: 01228 550 719 email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Notes to editor

Austin Friars St Monica’s School is the independent day school for girls and boys aged 3-18 years in the centre of Carlisle.  The School has a strong reputation in Cumbria and South West Scotland for providing an all-round, high quality education that meets the individual needs of each child.

Academic achievement and strong pastoral care are at the heart of what we do.  Focusing on a traditional form of education, every pupil at Austin Friars St Monica’s is also encouraged to take part fully in the all-round life of the School with an extensive range of extra curricular activities available.

If you want further information on what we provide, please go to our website at www.austinfriars.cumbria.sch.uk 

26th March 2013 - Press Release

A student from Austin Friars St Monica’s School has been offered a Scholarship in Design/Technical Theatre at George Washington University, Washington DC. 

Thanks to his outstanding acting talents Will Low (aged 17), has successfully been offered a scholarship at one of USA’s top universities, studying for a degree in Liberal Arts. George Washington University, situated 4 blocks away from the White House has over 20,000 students enrolled and is regarded as one of the country’s best Universities. 

He will study at George Washington University for 4 years, where he will graduate with a minor in Liberal Arts, and a major that he will choose after his freshman year. Will has family that live in the nearby state of Virginia, but has opted to live on the University Campus.

His freshman year begins in August and of his achievement Will said “When I found out I had been offered the scholarship I rang my Mum. I just couldn't believe it!”

Will’s audition consisted of 3 stages. To be considered for the Scholarship Will uploaded 2 video monologues to YouTube for the University to view. He also had to provide 3 references from professionals in the areas of arts, music as well as a private instructor. Finally, he also had to write an essay describing the current role of art in his life and how he would like to see it continue.

Mr Malcolm Judge, Head of Drama said “I have taught and directed Will for a number of years and he has always impressed me with his talent and enthusiasm. The Scholarship is thoroughly deserved”. 

For more details please contact:

Andrew Hullock

Marketing Administrator

Tel: 01228 550719 email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Notes to editor

Austin Friars St Monica’s School is the independent day school for girls and boys aged 3-18 years in the centre of Carlisle.  The School has a strong reputation in Cumbria and South West Scotland for providing an all-round, high quality education that meets the individual needs of each child.

March 2013 - Press Release

Saint Paul’s One of the 100 Most Improved Schools in the Country!

Saint Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe was delighted to be recognised nationally as one of the 100 most improved schools in the country. The school recently received official recognition of their achievement from the Rt Hon David Laws MP Minister of State for Schools.

The school has been highlighted as one of the 100 most improved schools in the country in terms of the progress the pupils have made between their Key Stage 2 results (i.e. when the pupils left primary school) and their GCSE results. 

Rt Hon David Laws MP, Minister of State for Schools, said: “It gives me great pleasure to congratulate you on the excellent GCSE performance of your pupils in 2012.”

Press Release - March 2013

News Release

Children from St Francis Catholic Primary School have sent a gift to Pope Francis.

The children decided to write to welcome the new Pope, Francis I, after hearing he had chosen the name of their patron saint, St Francis of Assisi.

The children also decided to give Pope Francis a signed, limited edition painting as a welcoming gift from the children, staff, parents and governors of the school and the parishioners from the Parish of Our Lady Immaculate & St Francis here in Bradford. 

The painting, commissioned by the governors of the school, was created by Bingley artist Jane Fielder to celebrate the strong home, school and parish community.  

Eve Underwood and Abigail Dawson the Chair and Secretary of the School Council said “We wanted to welcome Pope Francis.  We hope that Pope Francis will enjoy looking over the St Francis community in Bradford and praying for us. At school and church we will keep praying for Pope Francis.” 

Bingley artist Jane Fielder said she was excited by the news and felt “lucky to be part of something so special.”

Contact for additional information – 

Daniel Copley

Headteacher 

Tel: 01274 638520

All Hallows Catholic College – Press Release

Year 9 students of All Hallows Catholic College were recently given the opportunity to take over the workplace and work with adults for the day. In the end 125 students were involved in the day and spent it in a wide variety of workplaces with family members and with staff in the college; including airports, cabinet makers, residential nursing homes, hairdressers, shops, restaurants and many more. 

Pupils from Saint Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe were delighted to attend a recent Us Girls event at Royal Oak and Baguley boxing gym with Olympic gold medallist and Us Girls president, Nicola Adams. At the event Nicola donated the £3,000 which she had won on Family Fortunes to the sports initiative.

Nicola wasn’t the only top class athlete to attend the event, England and Everton player Amy Kane was also there having a kick around with the girls.

The event, which included a number of sporting activities aimed at encouraging young women aged 14 to 25 to get active and have some fun.

Us Girls is a Sport England-funded initiative that aims to get 30,000 young women living in disadvantaged areas more active, by providing them with opportunities to play sport within their local communities.

Us Girls is being delivered by the Active Women Consortium, a body led by StreetGames.  Us Girls is receiving £2.3 million of National Lottery investment from Sport England as part of its ‘Active Women’ campaign to tackle the gender gap in sport.

 “I’m looking forward to my role in helping Us Girls encourage more young women to enjoy sport and ensure Britain’s Olympic legacy continues,” Nicola Adams commented. “It was great to meet some of the Us Girls participants, answer their questions and tell them that sport can change their lives for the better.”

“We are delighted to be involved in this monumental project which aims to deliver a far reaching legacy for women's sport well beyond the London 2012 Olympic Games,” explained Ms Laura Wild, Head of PE at Saint Paul’s. “We introduced the Us Girls project at school in January and it is becoming more and more successful especially with the self defence and boxing skills activities. It was great for our pupils to have had the opportunity to meet Nicola Adams; a fantastic female athlete who was able to encourage the girls so they could see that taking part is really valuable. She is a great character and really engaged the participants, motivating them to do more and do better.”

Ms Wild added: “At Saint Paul’s, we have listened to our pupils about what type of sports interest them and as a results of introduced activities such as Zumba, roller skating, boxercise and aerobics. We have found that this has inspired female students to take part in more sport and physical activity.”

“We are pleased to be involved with this pioneering new national scheme which has been designed to improve the well-being of young women,” commented Head Teacher, Mr Wiktor Daron. “A key part of the programme will be to develop the girls’ confidence and self esteem as well as their sporting skills. I’m sure that Nicola Adams will have a massive impact on the charity and help engage with many more young women. We really need to show that sport is a fun thing for girls to do.”

The Us Girls project launch can be seen on the Channel 4 news report:

http://www.channel4.com/news/olympic-boxing-champion-nicola-adams-on-girls-in-sport

Saint Paul’s have a successful Us Girls project which includes boxing, self-defence and Zumba. This takes place on Fridays at 5.30pm at the school. There is no cost involved for those who would like to participate. For further information please contact Saint Paul’s on 0161 437 5841.

The Time 2 Change Project has been celebrated in The Romero Centre with 10 local primary schools sending their winning teams to compete in a 'final showdown' during Fairtrade Fortnight. 

The challenge set was to design a mode of transport for a named foreign country that was fit for purpose in being able to transport Fairtrade products, taking into account terrain, climate etc. Teams had to purchase resources and materials using the appropriate foreign language and also redesign the country's flag to incorporate a fairtrade theme. 

There was a requirement that the newly designed flag should appear somewhere on the mode of transport. With each team working on a different country, pupils came up with a fantastic range of ideas for how Fairtrade products could be transported including sledge-like transport and balloon powered vehicles. Judges Pete Pealing of Peaks and Plains Housing Trust and Tom Agar of MS Events Ltd had a difficult job choosing a winner as the standard was so high across all the schools that took part. In the end, after careful examination of all the vehicles, presentations from each team and some tough questioning, 

The 'Overall Winner Award' for 2013 went to St. Gregory's, with Gawsworth coming in as 'Runners Up' and The 'Best Team Log Award' went to St. Alban's. 

As an added bonus, the competition, which started back in September 2012, raised over £2,000 for more than 15 different charities. Year 12 BTEC Business students who judged the first round of the competition out in primary schools acted as event organisers for the Final Celebration Day. They did a fantastic job throughout the planning stages and on the day itself, gaining excellent feedback from the competitors and visitors who watched the presentations. 

The whole project has demonstrated how well enterprise activities work when Sixth Form Business students combine their talents with the talents of young entrepreneurs still in primary school. 

PRESS RELEASE - March 2013

13th March 2013    - Press Release

A student from Austin Friars St Monica’s School has beaten 6000 people to a higher apprenticeship offer with Rolls Royce.

Will Ritchie (aged 18) has been offered a conditional place on the Rolls Royce higher apprenticeship scheme, starting in September. Rolls Royce, one of the world’s leading providers of high-performance power systems will take on 10 apprentices in September, out of 6000 people that applied. From the 6000, 40 people were invited to interview, of which 10 were successful.  

He will study at Nottingham University for 3 years where he will gain a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, as well as practical learning with world class engineers at the Rolls Royce site in Derby. 

Of his achievement Will said; “I am looking forward to starting. The degree covers various business areas such as civil engineering, defence services, naval marine and manufacturing. I am mostly looking forward to learning the trade whilst working on the famous Boeing 747 engines.”

The higher apprenticeship will see Will learn on the job whilst getting paid for his work, as well as studying for his demanding university course.   

Mr Stuart Parry, head of Sixth Form is delighted for Will; he said “Part of Will’s success can be attributed to his all-round education through extra-curricular activities. Will is the 1st XV Rugby Captain and his leadership potential has clearly been recognised.”

- ENDS -

For more details please contact:

Andrew Hullock

Marketing Administrator

Tel: 01228 550719 email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Notes to editor

Austin Friars St Monica’s School is the independent day school for girls and boys aged 3-18 years in the centre of Carlisle.  The School has a strong reputation in Cumbria and South West Scotland for providing an all-round, high quality education that meets the individual needs of each child.

Academic achievement and strong pastoral care are at the heart of what we do.  Focusing on a traditional form of education, every pupil at Austin Friars St Monica’s is also encouraged to take part fully in the all-round life of the School with an extensive range of extra curricular activities available.

If you want further information on what we provide, please go to our website at www.austinfriars.cumbria.sch.uk