Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• PUPILS SUPPORT CHARITIES THROUGH THE ‘YOU CAN HELP’ CAMPAIGN

  Thu 29 Dec 2016

  Pupils who have given their time to support the ‘You Can Help’ campaign, with Mr Malone, Vice Principal, and Mike FitzGerald from Homeless Care Ltd

  As Christmas comes around once more, the students of St Simon Stock Catholic School have been helping the less fortunate. For 15 years the school has supported the ‘You Can Help’ campaign, working tirelessly to collect in donations for those in need. However, this year the students of Maidstone’s Catholic secondary school tried to collect in their donations a little differently. Almost everyone can relate to the excitement of opening one window of an Advent calendar each morning in the run up to Christmas, so the students decided it was time to flip this system and give a little each day. Every student was encouraged to bring in either a can, a packet of pasta or toiletries to add to their form’s Reverse Advent Calendar Box. All of these boxes have then been collected and given to the charity to be distributed to those in need over the Christmas holidays.

  Students have really been enthusiastic and have once again pulled out all the stops to try and give others a brighter Christmas. Although Christmas is a time for giving presents to our loved ones, the students of St Simon Stock decided that the wider community who need our help are just as important.

  Our pupils are very proud of their achievements and we are sure that publicity about their achievements will encourage other people to be just as generous this Christmas, as together we can make a real difference.

  

• YEAR EIGHT STUDENTS VISIT BATTLEFIELDS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

  Tue 20 Dec 2016

  On 9^th December the History Department took 96 Year 8 students on a visit to Ypres Salient in Belgium as part of the ongoing project students are completing on First World War. All students participated in a range of activities including a visit to the German cemetery at Langemarck which was extremely humbling.

  A key part of the day was the visit to Tyne Cot Cemetery where each student had researched an individual soldier buried here. During the visit, each student laid a cross of remembrance inscribed by a prayer they had composed at the grave of ‘their’ soldier. Many of the students and staff were overwhelmed by the sheer scale of this cemetery and could now understand the sacrifice made by each of these young men.  Students also had the opportunity to experience the trenches themselves at Sanctuary Wood. The day ended with a short memorial service, led by Deacon Black of St Francis Parish, at Menin Gate in Ypres town. Two students were chosen to lay a cross of poppies at the Menin Gate on behalf of the school which included a message by our chaplain, Miss Bassett.

  Students then took the opportunity to purchase some Belgian chocolate! The behaviour of all the students was exemplary throughout the day and recognised by the customs officials at Dunkerque who remarked that “these are the best students we have ever had coming through this port.”

  A massive thank-you to all the staff who attended the trip and also huge praise to all the students who were outstanding ambassadors for the school.

  Miss M King (Subject Leader of History)

  

• PRESENTATION ABOUT HIGH SPEED RAIL LINK BY HEALTH AND SAFETY LEADER

  Fri 16 Dec 2016

  In the second week of December Mr Joe Murphy from HS2, who is in charge of health and safety for the construction of the southern end of the new high speed rail link, spoke to our Year 11 students about the challenges, difficulties and opportunities that arise from building the railway line.

  Year 11 students learned about the timetable for the construction of the railway line which it is hoped will reach Birmingham in 2026, Crewe in 2027, Leeds and Manchester in 2033. The extension to Scotland will take a further 10 years to complete. Mr Murphy, who is one of our parent governors, enthralled our students with details about the challenges that the construction phase to Birmingham will encounter including exhuming 80,000 bodies (which will then need to be re-buried), purchasing and demolishing houses and digging up existing roads. In all stages of the construction many engineering roles will exist which include designing the electronics that will operate the ticket machines, building the rolling stock, identifying the best route for the rail line, and digging holes to lay pipes and bricklayers to build walls.

  He highlighted that there will be 100,000 new jobs in roles including canteen officers, builders, drivers and mechanics as a result of HS2 by 2022 and that this country is short of engineers at all levels to complete this work.

  The students then completed a classroom challenge in which they had to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of four possible routes based on recommendations from engineering, economic and sustainability aspects.

  Mr Murphy’s talk was enjoyed by all students and staff, and he received a warm round of applause at the end. Many thanks to Mr Murphy for taking his valuable time to come and talk to our Year 11 students, and also to Year 11 who listened well, asked excellent questions and took part in the classroom exercise. Thank you also to Mrs Whitehead, who organised this Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) event, as part of the wider work she is doing to promote and development STEM learning in the school.

  

• ST SIMON STOCK PUPILS ENTER THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS-GIVING

  Thu 15 Dec 2016

  Congratulations to our pupils who performed ‘elf duties’ at the Heart of Kent Hospice. The hospice had organised a Christmas Fayre in which people from the local area were invited to help raise some well needed donations. The pupil volunteers from St Simon Stock helped with the Santa’s Grotto and welcoming people as they arrived at the Fayre.

  Well done to all our pupils who supported this important community event. You really entered the spirit of the occasion and, as always, your behaviour was exemplary.