Congratulations to all our Sixth Formers!

Congratulations to all of our Sixth Formers on their A Level results this week! We are extremely proud of everything they have achieved. Their excellent results reflect their hard work, dedication and commitment during a challenging year. As we say goodbye to our Year 13 students, we wish them every success in the future. May they continue to fly high!

Picture: Zoe (Head Girl), Hector (Head Boy) and Renata Joseph

Anzah receives an award from Prince Harry

Anzah (Year 7) attended the Sky WellChild Award ceremony this week and we are very proud to share the news with the school community that she won an award and met Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, at the prestigious event.  The awards were broadcast on Sky News and YouTube—well done Anzah!  The awards celebrate the inspirational qualities of children who are facing huge challenges and Prince Harry is WellChild’s only patron.

Inspirational Child 7-11 Years Award  

Anzah Arwani 

11-year-old Anzah from Battersea has complex neurological disorders which affect every aspect of her daily life, from walking and eating to coping with anxiety attacks. Despite these challenges Anzah is fiercely independent. She attends mainstream school and takes part in lots of activities. She has won awards with her frame football team and, having overcome her phobia of water, certificates for her swimming.  Anzah has constantly defied doctors’ expectations.  Through hard work and determination she can now take a few independent steps and even overcame her anxiety disorder to address a room of 100 people.  

 

Saint Cecilia’s appoints two new Deputy Heads

Saint Cecilia’s is excited to announce the appointment of Lucy Bush and James Owen as Deputy Headteachers. Renata Joseph, Headteacher says, “The appointment of two new Deputy Headteachers marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Saint Cecilia’s School. We already have dedicated and highly qualified staff to be proud of, and I strongly believe Lucy and James will be a huge asset to our school community. They will help us develop and promote our excellent curriculum and teaching.”

Lucy Bush is currently Assistant Headteacher at Guildford County School in addition to being Head of Learning and Teaching. Lucy says, “I am excited about joining Saint Cecilia’s School as Deputy Headteacher working alongside James. In my previous role, I was responsible for developing all areas of the curriculum and teaching and strove to ensure excellence across learning for pupils and staff alike. I am looking forward to working with a new group of colleagues and pupils, and sharing my knowledge and skills to help provide an outstanding education to all our pupils.”

James Owen is currently Deputy Headteacher at Hampton High. James says, “I’m really looking forward to helping pupils and students get back into a normal school environment and helping them to be successful and grow in confidence. I am eager to be part of a community that greatly values education and nurtures each individual. I will bring my experience of working in co-educational schools to help promote and build on Saint Cecilia’s already excellent reputation.”

Launch of new House - Carter House

A sixth house is needed for the increased number of pupils coming in for September 2021. After much discussion and deliberation, the new sixth house continues the house tradition of the school and the school’s vision and Christian ethos: to have life and to do so abundantly.

The new school house will be named Carter, after the inspirational female jazz musician: Betty Carter.

A Brief Overview of Betty Carter (1930-1998)

Carter was an American jazz musician, known for her improvisational techniques and complex singing including scat singing. Vocalist Carmen McRae once remarked: "There's really only one jazz singer—only one: Betty Carter.”

Her passion for jazz, her resilience and independence, despite the pressures to conform to styles of the time, led her to create her own label called Bet-Car Records which became the sole recording source of Carter's music for 18 years.

Carter often recruited young accompanists for performances and recordings, insisting that she "learned a lot from these young players, because they're raw and they come up with things that I would never think about doing."

1993 was Carter's biggest year of innovation, creating a program called Jazz Ahead, which took 20 students who were given the opportunity to spend an entire week training and composing with Carter, a program that still exists to this day and is hosted in The Kennedy Center.

How will Carter House fit with the current house system?

Betty Carter also fits well with the house system as the third musician, equaling the number of mathematicians and musicians that make up the houses. Her surname also fits well with SAINT-C to represent ‘Cecilia’s’ in the school’s name.

Pupils in Carter House will wear ties with an orange stripe, a strong dynamic and energetic colour that fits with the current bright colours of the existing houses.

 How will pupils know if they’re in Carter House?

We will not be pulling pupils from an existing house to join the new house. So, for example, if your child is in Newton, they will remain in Newton. Instead, our new Year 7s in September 2021, will start the 6th house and Carter House will build from there, year in, year out, until pupils from Year 7 to 13 populate the house.

We look forward to welcoming new Carter House pupils with a new house leader in September!