Wings of Hope 2023/4 Award Winners!

Last Friday, Paul Bishop and I had the pleasure of attending the Wings of Hope awards ceremony and witnessed sisters Martha E and Grace E receiving the award for overall winners 2023/4. This is a truly amazing achievement! Their hard work and dedication made them truly deserving winners. They entered the Gold award, which required them to raise £1,000, but they raised over £2,000! Part of their prize is an all expenses paid trip to India to teach at one of the schools WOHAA supports. Congratulations to the girls who went by the name - Sister Strength. Click on the picture top left to read about the finalists on the website.

LAMDA 2024 Results

We are delighted with another set of fantastic results by our LAMDA students this year! They all achieved Merits or Distinctions.
Dominic C: Grade 4 - Merit
Angel G: Grade 3 – Distinction
Eliza RC: Grade 4 - Distinction
Loïc Z: Grade 3 - Distinction
Lily G: Grade 2 (Verse and Prose) - Merit
Toby S: Grade 6 – Distinction
Leon T: Grade 2 - Merit and Grade 2 (Verse and Prose) Merit
Muiread C: Grade 5 - Merit
Freddie M: Grade 3 - Distinction
Daniel W: Grade 5 Acting Exam - Distinction (with 87%). This qualification is the same level as gaining a GCSE.

Biggest Annual Careers Fair

Last Friday, 4th October, we welcomed employers, colleges and universities to our annual Careers Fair for pupils and students in Years 10- 13. We were delighted that over 75 volunteers representing many jobs, industries and sectors attended and took time to talk to our pupils and students. We would like to thank the parents, family and friends of staff and previous Saint Cecilia's students who were able to offer their time to support our young people.

Parliament Visit

On Monday 7th October, Jonas and Grace were invited to a work experience day in Parliament with the local MP Fleur Anderson. They had a tour, Q&A and valuable speech writing session with Fleur. The highlight of the day was sitting in the viewing chamber to see the Prime Minister’s speech, followed by debate and questions from the House. The day was an incredible opportunity for them both as A Level Government and Politics students and for applying for a politics course at university.  

Cross Country Success

Last week, the top 50 cross country runners from Saint Cecilia's competed at the Wandsworth school's cross-country championships held on Tooting Common. Our school had more athletes competing than any other school. We were blown away with the athletes’ tenacity and grit as they raced. Five of our runners gained medals; Bea E (Year 9) - 1st overall, Bertie D (Year 10) - 1st overall, as well as John D (Year 10), Elizabeth H (Year 11) and Lamek M (Year 11). We look forward to the ESAA Cross Country Schools’ Cup 2024 on 17th October. Well done to all our competitors! 

Astronomy Club

Last week, in Astronomy Club, we ran our annual meteorites practical session. Our solar system is filled with rocks flying around. Most don’t hit earth at all, and if they do, they burn up in the atmosphere, i.e. shooting stars. If they do make it to the Earth’s surface, they are called meteorites. If they’re going fast enough and are big enough, they can kill almost all life on earth, like they did with the dinosaurs. After learning the theory, we modelled these impacts by throwing balls into flour. Very messy, but lots of fun!

Year 11 Trip to The Imperial War Museum

Year 11 pupils visited the Imperial War Museum, where they took part in a workshop on the Holocaust. This experience gave them an opportunity to explore this important and challenging topic in greater depth. During the workshop, pupils not only learned about the historical events of the Holocaust, but also had the chance to hear and reflect on the personal stories of individuals who experienced it. This helped them gain a deeper understanding of the Holocaust’s impact on real people’s lives, making the topic more meaningful and allowing them to connect with history on a personal level.  

Church Green Awards 2024

We are delighted that our eco and green initiatives were recognised by The Church Times in the Green Church Awards 2024. We were chosen as one of the three finalists out of 132 entries across the country in the green building category. on 26th September, Renata Joseph, Headteacher, attended the event at St John’s Waterloo, along with our Business Manager, Dave Cobb, Roz Cordner, the Director of Education for Southwark Diocese and Paul Forrest, Buildings and Capital Programmes Manager for the Southwark Diocese Board of Education. We came second and were given a ‘highly commended’ award. This is acknowledgement of our continued efforts to minimise the impact our school has on the planet and to set a good example to others. We came away from the event feeling elated and inspired to do even more to reduce our carbon footprint as a school community.