St Thomas Aquinas Friday Letter 4 May 2018

Transcription

1 A Prayer for the month of May Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen. Saint of the week Edith Stein (St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) Edith Stein was a German Jewish philosopher who converted to Roman Catholicism and became a Discalced Carmelite nun. She is canonized as a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church. She was born into an observant Jewish family, but was an atheist by her teenage years. Moved by the tragedies of World War I, in 1915 she took lessons to become a nursing assistant and worked in an infectious diseases hospital. After completing her doctoral thesis from the University of Göttingen in 1916, she obtained an assistantship at the University of Freiburg. From reading the works of the reformer of the Carmelite Order, Teresa of Ávila, she was drawn to the Catholic faith. She was baptized on 1 January 1922 into the Roman Catholic Church. At that point, she wanted to become a Discalced Carmelite nun, but was dissuaded by her spiritual mentors. She then taught at a Catholic school of education in Speyer. As a result of the requirement of an "Aryan certificate" for civil servants promulgated by the Nazi government in April 1933 as part of its Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, she had to quit her teaching position. She was admitted to the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Cologne the following October. She received the religious habit of the Order as a novice in April 1934, taking the religious name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. In 1938, she and her sister Rosa, were sent to the Carmelite monastery in Echt, Netherlands, for their safety. Ultimately, she was not safe in the Netherlands. The Dutch Bishops' Conference had a public statement read in all the churches of the nation on 20 July 1942 condemning Nazi racism. In a retaliatory response on 26 July the Reichskommissar of the Netherlands, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, ordered the arrest of all Jewish converts who had previously been spared. Along with two hundred and forty-three baptized Jews living in the Netherlands, Stein was arrested by the SS on 2 August Stein and her sister Rosa were imprisoned at the concentration camps of Amersfoort and Westerbork before being deported to Auschwitz On 7 August 1942, early in the morning, 987 Jews were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. It was probably on 9 August that Edith Stein, her sister, and many more of her people were killed in a mass gas chamber. When Edith Stein was beatified in Cologne on 1 May 1987, the Church honoured "a daughter of Israel", as Pope John Paul II put it, who, as a Catholic during Nazi persecution, remained faithful to the crucified Lord Jesus Christ and, as a Jew, to her people in loving faithfulness. St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross feast day is 9 August.

2 Important Dates Mon 7 May St Thomas Aquinas Friday Letter School Closed Bank Holiday Tues 8 May 8:40am John Paul House Mass Friday 11 May 8.40am Year 11 Leavers Mass Monday 14 May 9am Start of GCSE Exams Friday 25 May 2pm Year 13 Leavers Mass Feast of the Ascension Thursday 10 May Due to our local priests having Masses in their own parishes and primary schools, we are unable to offer a whole school Mass for the feast of the Ascension. In the last few years this feast day has been moved to the Sunday but recently it changed back to being celebrated on the actual date of May 10th. As Thursday 10 May is a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church, each form will mark this with a special assembly with their form tutor or Head of Year. There will be Masses in local Catholic churches on Thursday 10th May: Our Lady & St Brigid, Northfield at 10am. St John Fisher, West Heath at 6pm. Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Rednal 7.30pm. Please check in your own local Catholic churches this weekend for alternative times of Masses in South Birmingham. Anna O Driscoll Lay Chaplain Messages from our School Community Focus on Attendance After a fantastic start in the Autumn Term, as a school, our overall attendance has dipped to 94.3% just under the national average. 96% attendance is deemed to be good, anything below this requires improvement. Students whose attendance falls below 90% will be asked to provide medical evidence for all absences. Maximum attendance is incredibly important for the social development and well-being of young people and we also know that there are direct links between attendance and outcomes for students. We take this matter very seriously and are constantly monitoring attendance and working with families to support where needed. Your continued support with this is much appreciated. Mrs Linehan Assistant Principal Ramadan As we enter into Ramadan, we are aware of the implications for some of our students who will be fasting during this time. As in previous years, parents who are concerned about the impact of fasting and lack of sleep may request that their child arrive at school at a later time of 9.55am (Start of Lesson 2) between Tuesday 15 May and Thursday 14 June. We ask that parents make this request in writing to the Attendance Office so that it may be authorised, by Friday 11 May. Mr Smith Vice Principal

3 Paris 2019 Paris Trip Friday 12 April to Tuesday 16 April 2019 This popular trip is primarily for students who are currently in Year 9 or 10 and studying French for GCSE. Students will have the opportunity to see many of the sights of Paris, including climbing the Eiffel Tower and taking a boat trip on the River Seine. We will also spend a day at Disneyland. The cost of the trip is 385 and letters are available from teachers in the Modern Languages Faculty. There may be places available for students who do not study French, so please contact me if you are interested in finding out more. Mrs Bell Head of Modern Languages Year 11 English GCSEs With less than two weeks left until the GCSE exams begin, the English Faculty are making that last push to ensure that every Year 11 student is ready to sit both their English Language and Literature papers. With two Language papers and two Literature papers which require the students to have an in depth knowledge of two plays, sixteen poems and A Christmas Carol, the students have been busy learning quotes and getting to grips with how they can efficiently deal with each, specific question. Lessons have been taken up a gear and our students have certainly risen to all the challenges that have been thrown at them. Not only this, but students have been attending before and after school sessions and the weekly Sixth Period on Tuesdays to supplement what has been going on in lessons. Walking talking mocks and drop in sessions have been the icing on the cake and again, our students have seized on this opportunity to maximise their exam potential. The English Faculty would like to take this opportunity to thank every student who has tirelessly come to every lesson and session ready to learn. Without the enthusiasm and willingness to learn, shown by the students, the English teachers jobs would have been much less rewarding. Of course, there is still time for further revision and to work on areas of the exam papers that students feel they are not so confident about. Revising a little and often is the key and practising how to approach the papers at home will all prove beneficial to the students. Lastly, a big thank you goes out to the English teachers themselves. With Mrs Tipper at the helm, the team have worked extremely hard to help the students and, in the main, have kept smiles on their faces and forged some great relationships with the students. Good luck, not that you need it, Year 11, and the faculty look forward to seeing all your smiling faces on results day in August. Mrs Ulmkalns English Faculty

4 Basketball - Birmingham Schools Finals Last Wednesday, STACS hosted the Birmingham Schools Basketball Finals which put our Y8 and Y10 teams against their toughest tests at the end of a very successful season. Year 8 STACS 10, Jewellery Quarter Academy 24 Unfortunately, the final was one step too far for the Y8 team, who had won all but one of their fixtures up to this point. All the players should be proud of their performances over the season and the improvements that they have shown over the year. Player of the Match: Ferdinand Asamoah 8-MA Year 10 STACS 35, Jewellery Quarter Academy 17 In the first match of a 3-way final, STACS convincingly beat JQA with some high-paced, ruthless basketball. Despite starting tight, once the game opened up, STACS were too much for their opponents with major contributions coming from Tyrese Chirova, Kur Nyang and Kwaku Donkor. Player of the Match: Kwaku Donkor 10-FI STACS 17, Colmers 22 A very close match unfortunately did not go our way, despite leading by 5 points at half time. In the second half, a combination of an excellent come back from Colmers and a bit of bad luck on offence meant the STACS lead vanished and eventually we were edged out in a tight finale. Being unbeaten up to this point, the boys will be disappointed to have lost this, but have displayed a fantastic attitude all season and are a credit to the school. Player of the Match: Richard Hipol 10-MAl Football - Y10 South Birmingham Semi Final STACS 2, Wheelers Lane 5 In tough, windy conditions at the Hayes, STACS started brightly and took an early lead from a close range finish after a sweeping team move, through Ollie Babalola. The pressure continued and paid off when Daniel Timms ran through and beat two players before slotting past the keeper to make it 2-0. However, a goal for Wheelers just before half time meant at 2-1, we couldn't afford to start the second half slowly. Unfortunately, an early equaliser for Wheelers in the second half swung momentum their way and STACS just could not come back from this as 3rd, 4th and 5th goals were added to take the game away from us. A disappointing way to end the season and a few lessons learnt, but overall another strong season from the boys who reached two semi-finals and whose commitment across the year has been excellent. Thank you to Mr Weston for his help with the team and hopefully we can go one step further next year! Player of the Match: Darrel Mayisa 10-JP Mr Eburah Head of PE

5 Well done to our Art & Tech Modern Languages Vocational Studies English Humanities Maths Performing Arts Physical Education RE Science Nurture Transition Chaplaincy Mr O'Sullivan's Prefect Faculty Stars Sofia Sodre 11-RO Billy Keeves 7-FI Kaliyah Patrick 11-JP Oliver Watts 11-JP Kian Holland 7-BO Alwin Kailamangalath 9-MO Luke Fletcher 10-TE Maddison Dunlevy 11-BO Ellie Poyner 10-BO Isaac Rose 10-NE Christopher Walsh 9-MO Tean Williams 7-RO Rehan Khan 7-NE Jessica Sandhu 8-BO Maddison Dunlevy 11-BO Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 13 Miss Madden Mr Martin Mr Smith Mr Perry Mrs Linehan Miss O'Reilly Mrs Bell Associate Stars Year Stars Brianna Ngambi 7-BO Lia Finan 8-TE Amelia McConnell 8-TE Jensen Gaye 9-NE Amar Mohay 10-NE Khya Campbell 11-TE Ella Finan 11-TE Michael McGrath 6th RO Senior Teachers Stars Tom Joanette 9-JP Leah Huggins 8-TE Neve Christie 7-JP Victoria Olumuyiwa 9-JP Miquel Osam 7-BO Roni Seivwright 11-RO Christian Pash 8-BO Phillip Smith 9-TE Iyioluwa Umah 8-JP Luke Winson 8-JP

6 Messages from Mr Martin Year 11 Our Year 11 have been sitting practical and oral exams over the last couple of weeks. Initial feedback has been very positive indeed and they have conducted themselves excellently. Next week we have the very special occasion of their Leavers Mass. I know staff and students are already really looking forward to that celebration the most fitting way to mark an important stage in their journey at Aquinas. Silver Duke of Edinburgh Very early this morning staff and students left school to go on their expedition to Shropshire. I wish them well and a full report will follow next week. And finally I really like the liturgical readings at this time of the year the time between Easter and Pentecost was a very special time in the Early Church and I am fascinated by the thoughts and actions of the first apostles as their faith was tested. It does seems like we have had to cancel Line Up quite a few times since Easter already due to showers. I have been reliably informed the weather is looking much better for this May Bank Holiday though like Doubting Thomas, I ll believe it when I see it! I hope everyone can enjoy a lovely weekend in the sun. May the Lord continue to bless our special school. St Thomas Aquinas and all our House Patrons, pray for us. Chris Martin, Head of School