Pupils spread the spirit of Christmas and brought seasonal smiles to pensioners’ faces when Saint Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe extended their Christmas cheer to the elderly of the parish by inviting them to join with the school’s pupils and staff in celebrating Christmas.

The event was hosted by the high school pupils who greeted the guests as they arrived then kept them entertained throughout the afternoon. The event provides a valuable link with the older generation in the community.

As well as well as a hearty festive feast, there was a visit from Santa who had a gift for every guest. Saint Paul’s pupils sang their favourite Christmas carols around the tree then the school and its guests enjoyed a raffle with wonderful food hampers as the special prizes.

The school received many warm words of thanks and appreciation from its guests, both on the day and in letters after the event.

One of the pensioners who attended said “The party was superb, we all really enjoyed it. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming and we were extremely well looked after.”

Another added: “We could see that weeks of preparation had obviously gone into this special event, and it seems that everyone’s hard work certainly paid off. We had a fantastic time and were very pleased to have been invited.”

“The event provided our pupils with an invaluable experience of volunteering, citizenship and socialising to which they responded magnificently,” said Mr Daron, Head Teacher at Saint Paul’s. “The elderly visitors were full of praise for the staff and pupils.”

Mr Daron added: “Each year we all enjoy the Christmas party; it is a special time for the pupils, teachers and members of the community who are able to share this wonderful celebration spanning the generations in Wythenshawe.”

Leeds Trinity has been awarded the title of university by the Privy Council and will now be known as Leeds Trinity University.

Professor Freda Bridge said: "I’m delighted that we have now been granted university status – it is a major milestone in our 46 year history that recognises our collective hard work and achievements. In all but name, Leeds Trinity has been functioning as a university since its award of taught degree awarding powers in 2009, and I’m delighted that the government’s decision will now allow us to use the title ‘university’. I’d like to thank all staff, students and governors who have worked hard to contribute to this momentous event in our history.”

Ed Anderson, Chair of the Board of Governors at Leeds Trinity, added: “The Board of Governors is thrilled that Leeds Trinity has been awarded university title. We are proud of the fantastic experience we provide to our students, which is reflected in student satisfaction surveys and the employment record of our former students. This announcement marks an exciting new chapter for Leeds Trinity, and the city of Leeds, and we are proud to be a part of the offer for people who wish to pursue their University education in Leeds.”

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DELIGHTED pupils are celebrating after controversial plans to scrap free buses to and from faith schools were shelved.

Hartlepool Borough Council was considering axing £133,000 of denominational transport funding in a move which would have affected almost 400 pupils at two town schools.

But senior councillors on the cabinet committee have scrapped the plans and told senior officers to find the budget cuts from elsewhere, to the delight of staff and students at English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College and St Teresa’s RC Primary School.

The council, which needs to save between £18m and £20m over the next five years, was considering the faith transport because it is not a statutory requirement.

But Michael Lee, headteacher at English Martyrs School, said: “I am delighted and relieved that the cabinet committee has seen sense and parents of both schools will be relieved the current service is being maintained.

“It has been a worrying time for everyone, especially the parents.”

Around 340 pupils at English Martyrs and 33 at the primary school would have been affected from September 2013 if the transport had been cut.

Ahead of the meeting, a consultation revealed 98.3 per cent of people, or 581, were against the plans.

Mr Lee, who spoke at the meeting, said that was an emphatic response and the people should be listened to.

He added: “If you go against, then there needs to be a pretty strong argument in order to do so, that argument is contained in the report but I don’t think it is a strong argument.

“I can’t think of any front line service that is more important than getting children to school and getting children to the school of their choice.”

If it had been axed it would also have meant 22 pupils facing an unsafe walking route to school.

Mr Lee added: “I don’t need to spell out the implications if anything where to happen to those students.”

He argued it also wasn’t fair to change the arrangements of parents whose children are halfway through their time at the school and the potential impact on admissions.

The original decision to scrap the transport had been taken earlier this year, but a last-minute budget amendment ensured the transport would remain in place for this academic year.

But now the council’s cabinet committee has changed its mind.

Mary Frain, headteacher at St Teresa’s RC Primary School, said: “I am very pleased and relieved that we have had the support of the councillors and the mayor on this issue.”

During the cabinet meeting, Miss Frain said the consultation had been heavily focused on the impact on secondary school children and said it wasn’t until three weeks ago that the impact on her school was made clear in cabinet papers.

Miss Frain told councillors her school and parents had been treated “unfairly”.

Figures showed 33 pupils at the school benefit from home-to-school transport, including 32 through denominational eligibility and one because of an unsafe walking route.

Published on Tuesday 20 November 2012 by Hartlepool Mail

Students and staff at The Barlow RC High School in Didsbury have followed in the footsteps of some of the world’s biggest popstars by making their own charity Christmas recording.

Music Teacher Mr Meakin and Year 11 music student Matthew Fitzgerald produced the eight track CD, featuring festive performances from staff and students across the year groups. A special Barlow staff rendition of Band Aid’s ‘Feed the World’ has proved very popular, with numerous requests for it to be played during Form Time, in the last week of term.

The CD features a range of tunes, from traditional Christmas carol ‘O Holy Night’ to modern classics including Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas is you’ and an acoustic take on Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’. School rock band ‘Wake up call’ live up to their name with their version of Blink 182’s ‘I won’t be home for Christmas’. 

Headteacher Mrs McCarron said, “Our truly talented students worked hard to produce the CD; they performed brilliantly. We've just had our Ofsted inspection which stated that the school is going from strength-to-strength and remarked upon our flexible and innovative curriculum and stimulating and exciting enrichment activities. As well as an excellent education, we give our students the opportunity to use all their talents, to help them prepare for the lives they have ahead of them.”

Students at The Barlow have always been good at coming up with new ideas to raise money for charity and this year, has been no exception. They have truly embraced the new addition of a recording studio to the school, following its recent refurbishment, and spent December lunchtimes recording the Christmas CD and producing copies to sell for charity. Budding artists got in on the action and created five different pieces of artwork, which were made into CD covers.

The school’s recent Christmas concert infront of a crowd of over two hundred people showcased many of the featured artists and gave the school the ideal opportunity to sell the CD; it went down a storm with the families who attended the celebration. Students have been snapping up copies of the CD in school, with all the money raised going to Manchester’s own Cornerstone Day Centre and orphaned and abandoned children in Bolivia. 

Tracks featured on the CD

1.Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Matthew Fitzgerald

2.All I want for Christmas – Amber Crain

3.Baby it’s cold outside – Victoria Butler & Thomas McCormack

4.I won’t be home – Wake up Call

5.Jingle Bell Rock – Olivia Muldoon & Sophie Fitzgerald

6.Last Christmas – Olivia Williams

7.O Holy Night – Mr McGuire

8.Feed the World – The Barlow Staff

For more information please contact:

Kathryn Carr, Marketing & Communications Manager

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Excellent results, a national award and now an Ofsted report that praises outstanding leadership, exemplary methods of safeguarding, an innovative curriculum and significantly above average attainment.

The continued success of The Barlow RC High School in Didsbury has been recognised in a recent Ofsted Report. Inspectors from the Office for Standards in Education who visited the school on 16th and 17th October 2012, praised pupils, staff and governors and stated that ‘under passionate, visionary leadership, the school is going from strength-to-strength.’

Inspectors were so impressed with standards across the board; they upped the school’s grading to ‘Good’. They added that The Barlow would achieve the ‘outstanding’ status in the near future, by following recommendations set out to them.

Headteacher Claire McCarron said, “We are delighted the Inspectors recognised that the school has improved rapidly in all aspects since our last inspection only 18 months ago. It is a great testament to the hard work of staff and students alike. We are securely on track and just one short step away from becoming an outstanding school; a goal that we are determined to achieve. We have already implemented additional changes to deliver the areas of further improvement identified in the report.”

Inspectors reported that The Barlow is innovative in developing the curriculum with attainment significantly above average. Pupils achieve well because teaching is consistently good. They stated that behaviour is also consistently good; outstanding in some lessons and that The Barlow has exemplary methods of safeguarding pupils. Bullying is not tolerated and staff at the school go the extra mile to ensure all children are safe and happy.   

Press Release - 15th August 2013

Students at Austin Friars St Monica’s School have recorded 61% overall of top A*, A and B grades at Advanced level in 2013 and an overall pass rate of over 99%.

Headmaster, Matt Harris, said: “This year’s students have achieved some excellent A level results improving on the very pleasing results last year.  We are delighted that over a third of all the grades obtained were A* or A and I would like to congratulate all our students on their hard work to achieve this success.”

Top-scoring students are Ed Ball (4A*), James Leitch (2A*2A), Beth Fenna & Fiona O’Hare (2A*1A), Amy Hill and Pui Yu Liu (1A* 2A) and Hamish Matthews (3A).  

Ed has a scholarship to read Theoretical Physics at Imperial College, James has an Organ Scholarship and is reading Mathematics at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge University, Beth is looking to study Accounting and Finance at Leeds, Fiona is off to Glasgow to read Dentistry, Amy is to read Philosophy at St Andrews, Veterinary Medicine beckons for Pui Yu at Edinburgh while Hamish is taking a gap year before reading Medicine in 2014.  

For further information please contact:

Julie Sutherland

Marketing Manager

Austin Friars St Monica’s School

Etterby Scaur

Carlisle

CA3 9PB

Tel 01228 550760

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The CES has received queries from schools wanting advice on whether they can allow pupils to take part in fundraising activities for Children in Need. These activities are often popular but concerns have been expressed that some of the money raised may be spent on either providing or promoting abortion services.

The CES has raised these concerns recently with Children in Need. Please see below the response from Children in Need on these matters:

"You can find information and guidance on the type of projects BBC Children in Need funds in the Guidance section of our website. BBC Children in Need does not fund projects for pregnancy testing; or advice, information or counselling on pregnancy choices."

The Catholic Education Service has today responded to the Department for Education (DfE) consultation the 'Proposed New Independent School Standards'. The consultation document can be found here. 

A number of schools have contacted us with queries relating to the consultation. Please be assured that we do not consider the proposed requirements to present any problems for Catholic schools.

Catholic schools are already required to comply with the requirements of the Equality Act and, as public bodies, specifically with the Public Sector Equality Duties. These are set within the context of the freedoms that apply to schools with a religious character. (Please see CES guidance on the Equality Act and the Public Sector Equality Duty)  

The CES has already engaged in discussions with the DfE about 'British values'. In the regulations this consultation refers to, these values are set out as; "democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs". None of these ought to be problematic in our schools.

The CES is aware that the DfE is intending to make the same requirements of all schools and will be updating guidance to help schools to understand what this should look like. The CES is of course engaging with the DfE in relation to the production of that guidance.

When I first arrived at Oxford University I was thrilled to discover that there was a Catholic church – the Oxford Oratory – less than two hundred metres away from my college. Even the small city of Oxford can seem dauntingly large to a new student, and so the Oratory quickly became the church which I regularly attended. I enjoyed many wonderful masses at the Oratory; however, I couldn't help feeling that there was a distinct lack of a student community there, which, as a local parish church isn't really that surprising.

As I began to explore Oxford further, I occasionally went to other college masses, and my interest in the University's Catholic Chaplaincy grew. I gradually started to attend weekly talks there, but some part of me always felt that I had left it too late to become involved with the community itself. When I started my Master's degree last year, I was thrown into an experience of Oxford which I had not anticipated – most of my friends had left the city and I no longer lived in college, meaning that my nearby haven of the Oratory suddenly seemed a lot more distant. As with many unexpected or difficult situations, this was a blessing in disguise as it opened my mind to the large number of other churches in Oxford which had previously been second in line to the local Oratory.

As a result of being one of a small group from my college who stayed on in Oxford, the start of my Master's year was rather lonely, and I felt compelled towards the Chaplaincy. My reluctance to become involved during my undergraduate degree for fears of it being "too late" were immediately assuaged as I felt a sense of openness and acceptance, and I felt that I had finally found the sort of student community for which I had been searching over the last three years. Here was a group of like-minded students who were experiencing similar daily life in Oxford, but who also understood my commitment to the Catholic faith and the important role it plays in one's life as a student. I quickly became involved in helping with the weekly CAFOD soup lunches and met many wonderful people. As I started going to the chaplaincy more often, I realized how much I appreciated my experiences of the Oratory, and I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to alternate between churches and communities during my last year in Oxford.

One of the greatest privileges about experiencing this city as a Catholic student was the huge choice of churches and masses which were right on my doorstep. During the past four years, and especially over the last nine months, I have had such a wonderful experience of the Catholic communities in this city; and, be it the Oratory, the Chaplaincy, or college masses, I have always felt supported and able to speak to people in times of need, or just as a friend.

Stephanie has just completed a Masters in Musicology at the University of Oxford

Part-funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), Remembering Srebrenica is a UK charity that seeks to raise public awareness of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, during which more than 8,000 mainly Muslim Bosnians were killed. Their project aim is to teach current and future generations about the consequences of hatred and intolerance in all communities. As part of their mission, they promote Srebrenica Memorial Day on 11th July with the aim to raise public awareness with the aim of promoting good community relations and rejecting hatred and its causes.