

St Bernard's Newsletter
Autumn 2023
Headteacher's message
Welcome to the second edition of our St Bernard’s newsletter! It has been lovely to have ‘a digital flick through’ and remind myself of all of the great things that happen on a daily basis to ensure our students have a range of opportunities to encounter God in all that we do. This instalment shows just some of the things that have been happening here at St Bernard’s since we returned from the summer break. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read through and celebrate with us all of the things that our staff and students have achieved or are still in process. I take the opportunity to wish you a great half term and look forward to seeing the students back in school on Monday 30 October at 8.45am.
Warmest regards
Mrs Moise-Dixon
NEW STAFF UPDATE
We are thrilled to welcome the following teachers and members of staff to our school community:
- Mrs E Bailey – Assistant Headteacher – Teaching & Learning
- Mrs S Maple-Waller – Second in English
- Mr G Pritchard – Head of Year 7, Head of Social Sciences, RE Teacher
- Ms T Oakley-Agar – Lead Teacher of Computer Science
- Miss Z Dabrowska – Psychology Teacher
- Jennifer Halliday – Peripatetic Teacher
- Mr O St Clair – Science Teacher
- Miss S Madu – MFL Teacher
- Mrs D Palmer – Learning Mentor
- Mrs P Harman -Learning Mentor
- Mrs L Khan – SEND Administrator
- Mrs R Male – Learning Support Assistant
- Miss J Freeman – Learning Support Assistant
- Mr D Burke – Evening Caretaker
A LOOK BACK AT OUR RECENT EVENTS
Wise Up Team Building Event for Sixth Form
Year 12 and 13 students worked together to build resilience, problem solving, communication and planning skills.
Family Fast Day
Students and staff went without their normal Friday lunch opting for a simple soup and roll. All proceeds raised went to CAFOD.
Reading Scholars
We have created a Reading Scholars group in Year 7 who have been selected for their love of reading. Students have chosen 'The Reason I Jump' by Naoki Higashida, a youngster with neurodiversity. Students will be reading this and reporting back via book reviews, presentations, assemblies and videos. We look forward to hearing all about the book soon.
New Year 9 Reading Leaders
Synagogue visit
Year 10 students embarked on an enriching journey today, exploring Westcliff Hebrew Congregation synagogue. This first-hand experience provided invaluable insights into Jewish traditions and helped our students to enhance their understanding of Judaism.
World & European Day of Languages
World Day of Languages September 2023 - European Languages are celebrated every year on 26th September but this year we held our first ever World Day of Languages here at St. Bernard’s. The MFL Department, EAL Department and the library celebrated the 33 languages spoken in our school community. We held Languages Assemblies hosted by our Language Ambassadors, staff and students made videos of themselves speaking their home languages and explained how they use languages in their career and in prayer. The MFL department also organised pupil competitions. Thank you to everyone who took part. Mrs. William, 2nd in MFL.
Year 11 Language Ambassadors - Ms. Dubois, MFL HoD, has appointed four bilingual year 11 students to represent our department and to help organise departmental activities. Congratulations to Ailara Roman, Tamara Rodriguez Gomera and Fatima Burzotta.
Paris Trip July 2024 - The MFL department is excited to announce a trip to Paris during Culture Week 2024. 48 students and 5 staff will be taking in the sights of the Eiffel Tower and Disneyland Paris on a four-day trip. In the future, we hope to run a trip to Barcelona, Spain. Mrs. William, 2nd in MFL.
Year 11 Leadership Conference 2023
The Year 11 Leadership Conference provides the opportunity for enthusiastic Year 11 students to develop their leadership skills by planning and arranging a full day event with the aim of inspiring our Year 11 cohort as they work towards their GCSE exams and begin to think of their next steps beyond KS4. There is a lot of work that goes into the day, from planning timings, ordering food, securing keynote speakers and for some students, leading their own workshops, not to mention the fundraising that has to happen to ensure there is a suitable budget to cover all the costs for the day.
This year the theme is 'Empowerment' and we are delighted to have once again secured sponsorship from Aspirations, a local Southend charity whose aim is to support young people to achieve their dreams; a very empowering mission. We have also received donations from a local Soroptimist group and parents, for which we are extremely grateful, and students have fundraised further in school through bake sales and a non-uniform day.
We hope the Leadership Conference is an enjoyable and memorable day for all our Year 11 students.
PERFORMING ARTS NEWS
The Performing Arts Department has had a very busy and exciting start to the year, and it has been wonderful to see so many students from all year groups getting involved in a range of the extra-curricular activities on offer.
Drama
Our A Level Drama students, Caitlin, Edith, Elissa and Ana have restarted KS3 Drama club with a bang, each week the Drama Studio has been filled with students, energy and creativity! Students have fun playing games and devising theatre, they will be working towards a performance for this year’s Performing Arts Showcase in March. This club is currently full, but if you are in Years 7, 8 or 9 and wish to be placed on the waiting list, please email Mrs. Bell.
Our brand new Musical Theatre Club is now up and running! If you have not signed up and are interested in taking part please speak to Mrs. Lebeter.
Theatre Club is now running on a Monday lunchtime, it is a chance to get together with like-minded people and watch recordings of professional productions – come along to feed your passion for live theatre and get out of the cold!
Music
Our choirs are in full swing with plenty of students attending rehearsals for Choir, Chamber Choir and Gospel Choir. The Chamber Choir will be performing during the interlude of The Schools Choir Competition organised by the Assisi Trust in November, and the School Choir and Chamber Choir will be performing in The Southend Music Festival, also in November. – Watch this space for more forthcoming performances in the carol service, masses and Performing Arts Showcase.
Dance
Year 7 and 8 Dance club is off to a flying start, all members should now have signed up to take part. Please speak to Mrs. Alexander if you require more information about this. Our prestigious Dance Company continues to rehearse each Friday after school to produce exciting and challenging choreographies.
SIXTH FORM NEWS
We are just 7 weeks into the new school year, and it feels as though our new year 12 students have been with us much longer. In our current cohort more than 1/3 rd of our Year 11 students chose to stay on with an additional 20 students joining us from other local schools.
The Year 12 students have settled quickly, made friends and are beginning to enter into the wider life of the school by supporting RAG events and the Black History Month preparations. In the Sixth Form, we have adopted a system of Vertical Tutoring – this is where we have students from years 12 and 13 in the same tutor group. Other schools that have adopted this system have found that the vertical tutoring system provides a more efficient and effective vehicle for giving students in
both year groups a higher level of personalised support when they need it most from their tutor.
There is always a more experienced and mature student to offer advice and support. Vertical tutoring provides a friendlier, more cohesive social environment with tutor groups having much more of a ‘family’ feel, whilst at report and progress times of the year, tutors are able to have
individual and small group discussions with students about target setting and progress. Vertical tutor groups allow tutors to spend more time with students at key points in their educational journey, such as post-18 progression. Vertical tutoring gives students a chance to work with people of different ages and better prepares them for the adult world by providing opportunities for students to learn from and support each other. For example, Year 12 has supported the Head Student Team with the organisation of RAG events and Black History Month. Students gain an awareness of what goes on throughout the whole of Sixth Form, which helps them to anticipate and prepare for the next stage in their school journey. This means that our Year 12 students make a smooth transition to A-Level study because they see where they need to be when applying for university in Year 13.
Team Building with Wise-Up Events
On Monday 25th September, St Bernard’s played host to Wise-Up teambuilding events. The Wise-Up Team put Year 12 and 13 Students through their paces in a gruelling series of cerebral and physical
challenges designed to build resilience, communication, problem solving and planning skills. It was a fantastic day.
New Courses
This year, we are pleased to introduce A-Levels in Classics and Economics for the first time, along with our first Level 3 Extended Qualification in Applied Science. We are constantly looking to refine
the curriculum offering to ensure that students can choose to remain at St Bernard’s and study subjects which will equip them with the skills, knowledge and qualifications for the next stage of their journey.
New Year 12 student, Freya tells us about her experience with Sixth Form
When I was choosing a Sixth Form, I found St Bernard’s so welcoming. All the staff took time to ask about my interests and responded to the many questions that I had. At first, I wasn’t sure about what subjects I wanted to study, but St Bernard’s offered a range of subjects that I was interested in. I applied and came for an interview and then to the Induction Day in the summer. The Induction Day was really good because we had taster sessions for the A-Level subjects I was thinking of taking. The teaching in these sessions was really good – really clear, interesting and informative and the teachers were great.
Taster sessions are not offered at all Sixth Forms, but the ones at St Bernard’s helped me to refine my list of A Levels which was incredibly helpful. The teachers and the other students were really nice and there was a lovely atmosphere and we were made to feel very welcome.
I came from a local comprehensive. I really enjoyed it from year 7-11, but I wasn’t convinced it had what I needed at Sixth Form as it was quite relaxed. I knew that A Levels are harder and knew that I needed structure around the independent study. I really like the study sessions here because they are supervised and I can get a lot done.
Since I joined the school, everyone has been really nice and I’ve made a bunch of new friends who are lovely. The teachers have been great and I love the balance between supervised study and free time. I can work really hard and then have some social time with my new friends. The biggest challenge has been the adjustment to the longer lessons (compared to 5 per day at my old school) and the longer break. My advice to other students who are thinking of applying here would be to go ahead – I think you’ll love it at St Bernard’s!
Au Revoir to Sixth Form from Year 13!
We bade a fond farewell to our outgoing Year 13s after an eventful two years with us (in some cases seven). Though we are small in number, St Bernard’s packs a mighty punch in terms of their academic reach, with our 2023 leavers going to study as far north as Newcastle and Aberdeen and as far south as Canterbury and London. Amongst the students that we are proud to call alumni, four students are studying medicine (not bad out of a class of 14 Chemists), with Politics at SOAS, Biomedical Science at Newcastle, Medical Science at Anglia Ruskin, Archeology at Aberdeen (a
course with higher entry requirements than the equivalent at Durham), Nursing, Midwifery and Secondary Mathematics teaching at University of Kent, Graphics and Fashion Marketing at Ravensbourne, Digital Media at Birmingham, Physiotherapy at Cardiff and Keele, Business Marketing at Westminster, Law at Keele and Psychology in Bristol and Ulster. In addition, two students were successful in securing places on highly competitive courses at The London Studio Centre and London School of Speech and Drama, whilst others have gone directly into apprenticeship and the world of work.
We bucked the national trend with over 90% of our students securing their first choice of university, and this is because we know our students and support them every step of the way.
This year, our students are even more ambitious with over 1/5 th of the year group sitting entrance tests for highly competitive courses at Oxford and Cambridge and for courses such as Law and
Medicine. To support the growing number of potential Early Applicants, we are introducing St Bernard’s Scholars, a bespoke programme of support and opportunities for students from Year 10 onwards.
If you don’t know about this programme yet – check your email!
PE NEWS & UPDATES
Honouree sporting shout outs for outstanding achievements in their sport
Sienna Keenan - Year 11 Outstanding performer in Karate, Black belt National level U16
Davika Green - Year 8 Outstanding performer in Gymnastics, age group qualifier at National level.
Taitiana Mbili - Year 9 Outstanding achiever in swimming, Taitiana is working hard at achieving National times for her events in swimming.
Cross Country Events
Junior Girls and Intermediate Girls Cross Country at King John 18th Oct
Thorpe Hall Cross Country 2nd Nov
Blenheim Park Cross Country 8th Nov
Netball Fixture timetable November / December 2023
2nd Nov U16 Southchurch / Away
13th Nov Year 7 & 8 Westcliff High School for girls / Away
29th Nov Year 9 & U16 Belfair's / Home
5th Dec Year 7 & 8 Belfair's / Home
6th Dec Year 9 & U16 Thorpe hall / Home
Science department
Orbyts A group of Year 11 Astronomers were lucky enough to take part in the UCL Astrophysics group outreach project ‘Orbyts’. This gave them a chance to work with Planetary Science PhD student Connor Ballard on some original and cutting-edge science research.
The students met fortnightly and were introduced to infra-red spectroscopy, the results of which they interpreted to then be able to recognise the biological signatures that would be indicators of life on any samples brought back to Earth from Mars as part of the Perseverance mission. The group were given a section of microbial mat (a multi-layered mat of micro-organisms, usually bacteria and archaea) from the Natural History museum’s collection and originally collected in Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s mission to the Arctic in the early 20th Century. These microbial mats are like the potential life that may be found on the surface of Mars.
The journey of these Mars samples to Earth may affect their chemical composition so these effects need to be understood. The students designed protective casings to look at how to minimise the effect of entering the Earth’s atmosphere and these, alongside a control, were sent to the edge of space by Thalena Alessia’s Mars balloon and the chemical analysis of these samples evaluated.
The group presented their work in both discussion and poster format to other Orbyts teams and UCL staff. Their work was very well received, and their scientific thinking and communication skills were recognised so the group have been shortlisted for one of three prizes and asked to film a short promotional video of their work to be used by Thalena Alessia on their social media account. In addition, their work will be written up and published as a journal article by Connor Ballard with the students being credited. Congratulations to Suzi Cabrelli, Anita Enoma, Mia Greenstein, Catherine Cochrane, Monique Ndelule, Eva Watts, Jasmine Cassar, Poppie JohnsonAdams, Samantha Okaboi, Olasubomi Olatubosun, Trishy Tran and Jenny Wang.
Chaplaincy News
It has been a very busy and exciting start to the 2023-24 School year. In the first week and a half, we celebrated the Start-of-The-Year Masses for all Forms, which were held in Period 3 in St Helen’s Church, with students from all Forms reading and, where possible, altar serving for their Masses. The Masses in St Helen’s Church were celebrated by Fr Paul Fox and Fr Jean-Claude Selvini, and our thanks to them for the inspiring sermons they delivered to our students as they began a new year at St Bernard’s. There soon followed our Form Masses with Year 11 in the Chapel on the 19th of September.
October got off to a very busy start with our Harvest Festival celebrations. These included the Year 7 Harvest Mass, which was held in the Bernadine Hall for our new Year 7 Students and their Parents/Carers and guests. Families were introduced to the Year 7 Form Tutors. Years 7 and 8 illustrated Harvest banners, which were displayed in the Hall. At the end of the Mass, Fr Paul chose the winning Year 7 and Year 8 Form banner, and the Forms were presented with their prize on Friday during the Form period. This was an extra special occasion for Year 7 as the new Readers were commissioned during this Mass. These were: India Hart, Naomi Kolawole, Grace Matthews, Rosa McCormick, Alice Tait, and Iris Wallace.
During the week of the Harvest Festival our students by Form group, collected non-perishable food for three local charities, St Vincent DePaul (SVP); HARP – Southend Homeless Charity; Southend Foodbank. Representatives from these Charities attended the celebration Mass and made a short presentation on how the donations made by St Bernard’s students would be used to aid the homeless. In addition, throughout the week, students and parents made donations to CAFOD through Parent Pay to aid their work for the hungry in areas of the world where this is most needed. The Harvest Festival culminated in Family Fast Day on the 6th of October, where only Soup and a Roll were available from the Canteen at minimal cost, with all proceeds donated to CAFOD, and the soup that was left over was taken to the St Vincent Centre for their Kindness Kitchen.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament – On Friday 6th October there was Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the Chapel, which ran through the day with 10/15 students from Form groups attending for a 15-minute period of reflection and quiet prayer. By the end of the day, all Form groups had attended this reflection.
October has also seen the start of Morning Prayer which is held in the Chapel at 8:30 am for approximately 15-minutes. This is led by students and the Chaplain and is a quiet and reflective start to the school day. In addition, since October is the Month of the Holy Rosary, a rosary is said each day in the Chapel at 1:30 pm.
Winning banners from Harvest Festival
Testimonials about the religious life of the school
The school provides students with lots of chances to be involved in the religious life of the school since year 7. As the Head Student Team, we feel this has played an important part in our secondary school experience and has provided us with many different opportunities.
One of these was a Leadership Conference at De LaSalle School in Basildon, where representatives of all the different Catholic schools from the local area gathered together for an interesting day helping us to develop our knowledge of, not only faith (after we filled out a questionnaire with Bishop Alan), but also useful skills to help us with leadership. Walsingham House presented us with a session, which encouraged us to think of innovative ways to make our school more eco-friendly, whilst considering the religious aspects of the environment and how our world was a gift from God. After this conference, we feel that the religious elements of the school have deepened as we have been able to link it with the eco side.
Overall, the religious elements of our school have been very important to us over the years as being at the school has deepened our faith and brought us closer to God through our studies as well as living by the school motto ‘Love one another as I have loved you’.
Contribution by Shiloh Vivo & Megan Humpage
Head Student Team
Youth SVP members in St. Bernards use their voices and abilities to engage in their communities and take part in social action. Through voluntary work, Youth SVP members in schools not only make a positive difference, but learn new skills, build lasting friendships and develop their faith. The group meets regularly to discuss a variety of fundraising needs and social concerns and discuss with our Lay Chaplain, any additional voluntary work, or helpful deeds we have completed or been involved with since the previous meeting. Social Justice work, which tackles the root causes of poverty and addresses inequalities in Society, is a major part of SVP work. We often collect food and toiletries to donate to the local St Vincent’s Centre in Southend and we are making plans to visit the elderly in care homes in the area.
We are also planning to create a bi-monthly donation box per year group for example, November could be years 7 and 8, then December years 9 and 10, January Year 11 and Sixth Form, and so on until we have to repeat or combine year groups. Youth SVP is an important part of religious life at St Bernard’s and it is not only doing things for charity, we also enjoy helping others.
Contribution by Keira Cammidge 9C
Youth SVP at St Bernard's
I joined St Bernard’s in Year 7 and for the past three years, I have been part of the Reading Ministry. I enjoy being a part of this Ministry because I get to be more involved in the Masses at school. I particularly enjoy being involved in the school mass community and helping share the Word of God with my fellow pupils and teachers. I feel like our Reading Ministry is a little family of our own and we all support each other. Last year my sister Aisling came to St Bernard’s in Year 7 and she immediately got involved with the Religious Life of the School and like me, was commissioned into the Altar Serving Ministry. I will let her speak for herself and her experiences in this Ministry.
I enjoy being an altar server as I get to help and serve my school and parish community. I especially like talking to all the different Priests that come in; they all do something that keeps us on our toes. All Altar Servers work together as a team and try to keep it all organized. I also have developed new friends not just in my year but in other years as well.
Contributed by Keavy and Aisling Dodd
Reading & Altar Serving Ministries
MENTAL HEALTH
St Bernard’s is very involved in Mental Health provision in School with many initiatives taking shape this academic year. All students have access to both a Counsellor four days a week, and for lesser concerns Learning Support Mentors. Learning Support Mentors and Heads of Year refer students to the Mental Health Lead for more in-depth attention. This takes several forms:
- One-on-one counselling for a small number of students, who are suffering short-term mental health distress, which can be resolved by a limited number of meetings. These occur only when approved by Parents and are conducted by the School’s Mental Health Lead, who is also a trained Counsellor.
- Group Meetings for approximately 5-6 students from all year groups at one time and who meet every week. To ensure we are meeting the needs of all students, these groups tend to be organised by year groups, so that the needs of all students are met. These groups are for:
- Students who are new (and sometimes not so new) to St Bernard’s who have come to this school from different cultural backgrounds and often have difficulties balancing the difference between expectations at School and at home.
- Grief & Loss (Bereavement) – students who have experienced loss in their lives: bereavement owing to the loss of a family member, or close friend; as a result of separation anxiety; significant concerns about home life, are some of the reasons students may be in need to mental health assistance.
- Resilience – students who find life issues a challenge and have difficulty coping.
- Worry/Concerns Box – students have access to a Worry/Concerns box located in the Library and the Dining Hall for them to post any worries or concerns they may have. These can be anonymous, or if the student wishes, a name can be included for follow-up.
Journalism Team
The Journalism team is a group of students from years 7-13, who enjoy writing about what’s happening in our local community and around the world. There are different roles involved in the job, for example writing articles, editing or photography. If you’re interested, then topics that you could write for include sports, politics, world news, literature, education, business, eco, and weekly roundup.
The editor’s role involves checking over people’s work and adding images to the articles. If you’re interested in photography, then this is for you. The photography team take pictures of events that happen around the school. All the articles you write will be published on the VLE.
Being part of the journalism team is great because it helps improve your English, whilst writing about topics that you like. For example, I’m the eco correspondent, my job is to write about any eco news, inside or outside the school. I enjoy it because reporting environmental issues can raise awareness and encourage people to take action to help save our planet.
Written by Natalia Day 9F
Literacy
As part of the school's commitment to building a love of reading, we have created a literacy calendar for our students to follow. First on the calendar is Non-Fiction November. The Reading Scholars group, a specially selected group of readers, meets each week to read the critically acclaimed book 'The Reason I Jump' by Naoki Higashida. This is a beautiful book exploring the experiences of neurodiversity in young people. Our readers are going to be preparing videos and presentations on the book to promote Non-Fiction in November.
We have also launched a range of support groups for our readers. This half term we have launched 'Reading Leaders', who are a group of Year 9 students who have been trained to support the reading of our Year 7 students. They are enjoying the new reading zones in the school, which have been equipped with some beautiful new books and seating to encourage readers to take time out and read. Our Year 9 students have really risen to the challenge of supporting the wider school community and were presented with their certificates by the Headteacher last week.
Our new reading package, Lexia Power Up! is now part of the weekly routine for many of our readers. This online program supports students in developing skills in comprehension, grammar and vocabulary. Students have been busy in the library working through the programme and seeing their skills build each week. We will be rolling this programme out to Year 8 next half term.
CAREERS NEWS
Morrisby
Choosing a career is one of the toughest challenges that young people face and with a job market that's changing faster than ever, making the right decisions can seem overwhelming and impossible. As part of our careers provision, we have provided all students access to Morrisby to ensure they receive the help and support they need to make decisions with confidence and reach their full potential. Morrisby is a careers platform which helps and supports students to build and plan their decisions as they move through education. More information can be found here:
Careers Advice & Guidance for Parents - Morrisby
Morrisby Profile - Information for parents - YouTube
Careers in Form Time
Alongside Morrisby, we have also introduced Careers in Form Time. Each week, Ms H Li, our Careers Coordinator, plans a series of foci for each year group. Students are taken through guided tasks and activities, appropriate to their year group, to support their career exploration.
Careers Guidance Interviews
As part of our careers provision, students are offered careers guidance interviews at key transition stages; Year 9 for GCSE Options, Year 11 for Post 16 Options and Year 12/13 for Post 18 Options. Across all year groups, students are also offered the opportunity for career guidance interviews, if needed. We recognise the world of opportunities available to our young people and know they need help and support to make important decisions. So, we hope that offering this in-house service will provide your child with an enjoyable and positive experience at St Bernard’s.
Year 11 students have been attending careers guidance interviews since September and will come to an end before the half term. It is our aim to see all Year 11 students before the end of half term to make sure they are equipped with the information required to access all Post 16 Options available to them. After the half term, we will be making a start with Year 9 careers guidance interviews to help and support students with their GCSE Options. In the Summer of 2023, Year 12 had their career guidance interviews. Since September, Ms H Li, our Careers Coordinator, has been working closely with Year 13 to help and support their UCAS applications and personal statements.
PSHE
Across all year groups, students are supported through additional Morrisby lessons and have participated in several career education in the form of workshops and sessions. In addition to this, we have also made partnerships with providers and employers across Essex to give students meaningful encounters with providers of technical education or apprenticeships.
Year 7 have been learning about Goals and Aspirations, Year 8 have been learning about where their favourite subjects can take them and Year 9 have been learning about the World of Work and being introduced to options available to them. Years 10 and 11 have been learning about work experience and work readiness as well as the options available to them. As well as working on their UCAS applications and personal statements, Year 12 and 13 have also been learning about apprenticeships and the options available to them.
SCHOOL PRAYER
St Bernard Pray for Us
Amen
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Contact Us
Email: office@stbernards.southend.sch.uk
Website: stbernardswestcliff.org.uk
Location: Milton Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 7JS UK
Phone: 01702 343583