End of Term Mass

By Mr L LYNCH15th July 2015

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Thank you to everyone who helped make our end of term, and end of year Mass so special – If you were there, that means you!

Some numbers:

1 priest.

1 alumni sound engineer.

1.5 hours of pack down

2 exhausted caretakers (see above and below!).

4 hours of set up.

5 readers.

6 sacristans.

7 pupil ministers of Holy Communion.

10 choristers.

14 actors.

15 musicians (pupils and staff).

16 ministers of Holy Communion commissioned (pupils and staff).

22 stage block movers and gazebo builders (pupils and staff).

Around 60 pupils contributed to prepare and contribute to the Mass for a congregation of 1024 members including pupils and staff (approx.). A real team effort.

A special thank you to those listed above and everyone who continued to pray for the sunshine and kept the faith despite the presence of dark clouds all morning.

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Arts For Change

14th July 2015Richard Kelly

Arts for Change: a three day Art / Drama / Music AG&T collaboration between Year 8 students and staff from St Joan of Arc, St Clement Danes, Queens’ and Watford Palace Theatre.

Following an initial workshop from The Time to Change campaign, students from the three schools were led by Arts Professionals in exploring the theme of challenging stigma attached to mental health and produced some inspirational and highly creative work. Here is a selection of photos from the workshops.

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Year 10 History Trip – Somme 2015

By Mr J COOPER14th July 2015

Sixty seven Year 10 History students visited the battlefields of the Somme at the end of June. During our trip we visited cemeteries to the British, Commonwealth and German war dead, trench systems, and a museum. At these locations we witnessed the scale of loss in WW1 on both sides and how deadly WW1 actually was. We also had the opportunity to pay our respects to the war dead for the sacrifices they made at Tyne Cot and also the Menin Gate where we witnessed the Last Post Ceremony. The excellent weather, combined with the mature and engaged attitude of the students contributed towards a great trip.

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Einstein’s Army

10th July 2015Richard Kelly

St Joan’s  very first science journal – Einstein’s Army –  written by pupils for pupils has been released and is available HERE and can be accessed from the right hand menu of this website..

Please enjoy reading.

Food Bank Trip

By Miss T GAUGHAN8th June 2015

“It is good to help others as the ‘Golden Rule’ is the foundation of our religion which teaches the importance of helping others. The Trussell Trust is a nationwide food bank which is helping people who have met troubled times giving them emergency food for three days. In the parable of the sheep and goats it says ‘I was hungry and you gave me something to eat’. We at St Joan of Arc have actively supported Jesus’s teaching by supporting this charity and we are helping our local community and wish to continue doing so. We would like to say a huge thank you to both year 7 and 8 for their tremendous generosity as they have truly helped so many people in the community. No doubt year 9 will be as great.”

Year 10 A.R.C Peace and Justice Group.

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Music Gamelan 2015

By Richard Kelly18th May 2015

On the 26th March 2015 the Music Department took students from Year 8, 12 and 13 to the Southbank Centre to participate in a Gamelan workshop. Gamelan is type of music from Indonesia which all Year 8s have studied this year and the upper sixth students are also studying a piece of Gamelan music for their A level. During the workshop we first learnt some background information about the history of Gamelan music and how to correctly play the instruments. We then had the chance to play the instruments and learnt a traditional Gamelan song that we performed together. The day was exciting, interesting and inspiring and really brought what we had previously learnt in school to life.

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St Joan’s Goes to the Polls!

13th May 2015Mr L LYNCH

On the day of the General Election pupils in years 7 to 11 had the opportunity to experience voting in an election. The sixth form common room became the polling station and the sixth formers performed the duties of electoral officials and returning officers. This was the culmination of two weeks of discussions and analysis in tutor time and Citizenship & PSHEE lessons. Pupils were challenged to consider a range of issues that election campaigning raises such as the role of the media, the use of statistics, the question of style over substance and the importance of considering what is best for the common good. Opportunities will be made for pupils to reflect on the results of the actual General Election and how they can continue they own understanding of our democratic system.

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Rome Trip 2015

15th April 2015Richard Kelly

Eighteen pupils from Year 9 and 10 joined Mr Doyle, Miss Dell’Orto and Miss Edge for the Italian department’s annual trip to Rome. During our trip we walked lots and visited many of Rome’s most famous tourist attractions including St Peter’s Basilica, the Colosseum, the Vatican museums, la Bocca della Verita’, the Roman Forum, Piazza Spagna and il Vittoriano. We enjoyed the opportunity to try out our Italian for real and also managed to eat lots of pizza, pasta and ice cream. Even the constant rain on the first day didn’t dampen our spirits too much!

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