Senior School
Welcome to the Senior School.
Many parents and teachers consider the years of Secondary education to be the most stressful for pupils, and the most critical for their future development. GCSE performance is more than a reflection of a pupil's innate ability and GCSE examinations, including their coursework components, require a steady and supportive framework of classwork, homework and ongoing motivation throughout the 5 years of Secondary schooling. These disciplines and routines need to be established at the age of 11 or 12 in order to allow the student to maximise his or her potential at 16.
At St John's College, a nightly programme of homework is set, and this forms an essential part of each subject's study. Pupils are introduced at an early stage to the concept of refining their work to prepare themselves for the demands of GCSE. Most important for pupil development, however, is the sense of a secure and supportive school environment, where effort and achievement are recognised and applauded.
By the age of fourteen, each pupil will have arrived at an individually chosen programme of study, leading to a balanced set of GCSE qualifications, in as many subjects as will encourage the best quality of achievement of each individual, aiming at grades A*, A, B & C. Particular support is provided for pupils for whom the target of five GCSEs or more represents a particularly stressful goal.
Careers Activities
Careers activities days are provided throughout the year for the Senior School in collaboration with Careers Wales. An
options evening is held at St John’s each year which enables students to research the subjects in which they have a keen
interest.
During careers activity days, pupils demonstrate creativity and the ability to work as a team to design outfits
from raw materials such as newspaper and card, which are then presented by the team and judged.
These activities are held with the view to developing communicating, creative, problem solving and team working skills for the future.
Middle School Eisteddfod - March 2010
What an excellent time we all had at the Middle School Eisteddfod this year! Bute were overall winners and Morgan Foley won the most prestigious competition of all –being crowned bard. Ashleigh Patrick from R12R, Daniela Mizzen from R13C and Phoebe Utting from R14N won the most points scored for their house from each year.
All pupils in R12, 13 and 14 congregated in the hall and watched a wealth of competitions. Amongst them were the R12 Choir Competition (winners – Bute), R13 Reciting Competition (winner - Hannah Son) and the R14 Group Reciting Competition (winners – Mostyn).
R12 were taught a folk dance and danced at the very end as a tribute to the bard for doing so well. Huge congratulations to all those who competed; some pupils put a tremendous effort into numerous competitions.
R13 National Museum Art Trip - 19th March
R13 pupils focused on the eight artists selected for the Artes Mundi Prize. Some of the themes discussed were "war", "immigration", "globalisation" and "evacuation". The pupils produced some powerful imagery and developed creative ideas as a result of the trip and lesson activities. Staff were very impressed with the pupils' behaviour and mature attitudes during the visit.
World Maths Day 2010
On 3rd March pupils in R12 to R14 were able to log on to the World Maths Day website and take part in a worldwide mental arithmetic competition. They played minute-long games against pupils in other parts of the world, gaining a point for every correct answer. Three wrong answers and they were out of that game. Certificates were given to each of the 1,133,246 students from 235 countries who had united to set a new world record by correctly answering 479,732,613 questions. Ali Jaffar (R13) was awarded a gold certificate for answering 6432 questions correctly on the day.
Intermediate Mathematical Challenge 2010 Results
Pupils from R14 were very successful competing against pupils from years 9 to 11 throughout the United Kingdom in this competition organised by Leeds University.
Gold Certificate: George Thomas, Morgan Foley, Richard Griffith.
Silver Certificate: David Birley, Karthik Kumar.
Bronze Certificate: Anna O’Leary, Tom Boocock, Daniel Jeremy, Ralph Pompeus, Joseph Evans, Anna Jones, Matthew Edwards.
George Thomas, Morgan Foley, Richard Griffith qualified for the next round on Thursday 18th March.
Royal Institution Mathematics Master Classes
Ralph Pompeus, Richard Griffith, Max Price and Waseem Jawad from R14 have, for the last couple of months, spent their Saturday mornings attending Maths Master Classes at the University of Glamorgan. Pupils with a talent for Maths are introduced to intellectually demanding topics they do not normally meet in the classroom. “The Mathematics of Juggling” and “Twisted Topology” were particularly enjoyed by the pupils, as was meeting new friends.
Senior School Production - 4th & 5th March
After months of rehearsal, the talented thespians of the Middle School were at last ready for curtain-up on the 4th and 5th March. Theatre of the highest order graced the stage which transformed our school hall into a playhouse worthy of any dramatic presentation - but in particular, the adventures and comic antics of Bertie Wooster and his ingenious valet, Jeeves. Thanks to the up-and-coming Middle School cast members and some Senior pupils, the show was a resounding success with audiences giving their fulsome praise for all who made their evening so memorable. They were entertained with some superb performances, scintillating dancing and witty musical interludes while the swift and slick scene changes owed much to our fully committed backstage crew.
Nick Sturrock rose to the challenge of playing Bertie with some deft comic touches and his foil, Jeeves, played by Joe Evans, was a feast of subtlety and irony. They were most ably assisted by the ever talented Kate Gildersleve whose Honoria Glossop was convincingly formidable and Ieuan Lewis whose Chaplinesque comic talents were a highlight for many in the audience. These were beautifully supported by some fine acting from all the cast.
St John's Middle School has an abundance of talented pupils and none more so than those who embraced the opportunity to shine in the footlights of a very polished theatrical treat. Well done to all!
Ski trip
The school ski trip to Switzerland hosted many R14 pupils who demonstrated great skills and talents on the slopes. The pupils took part in many fun activities such as tobogganing, ice skating and curling. The pupils had every opportunity to flaunt their musical talents in the music room that hosted a grand piano, guitar and a violin, which contributed nicely to the Cabaret Night!
Sports Relief charity event
Thanks to all middle school pupils who purchased socks and wrist bands for Sports Relief. Congratulations also to those who took part in the tug-of-war sponsored event.
R12 Science trip to the New Theatre - 25th February
The R12 pupils had the pleasure of seeing ‘Horrible Science’ in the New Theatre. Everyone was bubbling in their seats, excited to see the actors. Then as the curtains opened, we all screamed with pleasure. The show was brilliant as the audience got involved and learned that Science is fun. It was great learning about all the different sorts of bacteria and gruesome body parts. I know four people who actually find Science easier now. After watching Horrible Science, I learned to really like science. Everyone had an amazing time and through the interval we all enjoyed sharing sweets and eating lots of ice cream! It was definitely the most brilliant, educational play we have ever seen!
Written by Jordan Ambler R12R
Fifth Form Mathematics Pop Quiz: University of Glamorgan - 9th December
Congratulations to the two teams who represented the school at the Fifth Form Mathematics Pop Quiz at the University of Glamorgan at Pontypridd. Josephine Jackson’s team came 2nd (Baruch Tong, Charlotte Camilleri, Macario Chung and Mitchell Dharmasena) and Ying Teng’s team (Richard Edwards, Saeed Kayhanian, Howard Cheung, and Michael Newman) a close 3rd. Both teams had the same number of points – just 1 fewer than the winners (Whitchurch High) – and had to be separated by a tie-breaker. Each team came home carrying a cup, full of excitement about the questions and their achievements. A perfect end to the day.
R14 pupils' Art & DT trip to Bristol Zoo - 21st September
Pupils studying Art and DT are currently undertaking a cross-curricular project. The artists will be designing and making a clay vessel inspired by an animal. DT pupils will be either designing and making the packaging for these vessels or designing and making a point of sale. All pupils start the project by recording observations in the Educational Conservation Centre at the zoo. This gives the pupils the opportunity to see animal skins and a variety of stuffed animals, but we are also able to handle and draw a variety of insects and reptiles. Pupils then draw a selection of other animals around the zoo. This gives the pupils invaluable first hand experience. We look forward to the results of the final pieces and praise pupils for their excellent behaviour.
A selection of recent artwork by St John's College pupils:
George Thomas (R13) is invited to Junior Mathematical Olympiad 2009
George Thomas performed so well in the Junior Challenge that he was invited to take part in the Junior Mathematical Olympiad 2009. In the two hour long paper, he performed exceptionally well and was awarded a Distinction and a JMO medal.
R14 History Trip to the Battlefields of the First World War 4-5 June
Our fifth trip to the battlefields was a huge success and all thirty-two pupils were a credit to the school.
On the first day of our whistle-stop tour we visited the Belgian town of Ypres and its museum, the preserved trenches at Sanctuary Wood and Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world. In the evening we attended the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate and laid a wreath on behalf of St John's College. Our second day was spent visiting the Somme region; the battlefield at Newfoundland Park, the underground museum at Albert and then holding our own moving ceremony at Mametz Wood, the scene of tragic heroism by the 38th Welsh Division. As always, one of the highlights was our visit to our favourite chocolate shop in Ypres!
The experience had a profound impact on us all and is reflected in every one of the pupils' trip diaries. Here are a few comments, so representative of all our feelings:
"The two days of the trip have changed the way I think about war." Oliver Willy
"Even though the things we saw were sad I am glad I saw them." Tiffany Bale
"This trip was a sombre, humbling experience but also great fun with friends. The contrast between fun and seriousness was a good touch, but also made us realise how lucky we are. I will never forget this trip." Hugh Price
"I don't think I really appreciated what people have done for us in the past but I will never be as naive again." Rebecca Stevens.
Mrs R. Hart (Assistant Head / Head of History)
GCSE Results 2009
100% of our age 16 students today achieved at least 7 A* - C grades!
* Many achieved 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 A*s.
Prospectus
f/Prospectus_2010.pdf
Middle School Handbook
f/MS_Handbook_09-10.pdf
Newsletters
• April 2010
f/MS_Newsletter_April_2010.pdf
• December 2009
f/MS_Newsletter_Dec_09.pdf
• June 2009
f/MS_News_June_09.pdf
• Summer 2008 /f/MS_Newsletter_Summer_08.pdf
• December 2007
/f/MS_Newsletter_Dec_2007.pdf
• July 2007
/f/MS_Newsletter_July_2007.pdf
• December 2006
/f/MS_Newsletter_Dec_2006.pdf
• July 2006
/f/MS_Newsletter_July_2006.pdf
• April 2006
/f/MS_Newsletter_April_2006.pdf
