Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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Oh we do like to be beside the GCSE-side
Thu 25 Oct 2018The Geography department took a total of 88 year 11 students to Reculver to collect data for the physical Geography fieldwork element of their Geographical Applications exam. The days were a huge success with the sun shining bright on the excellent and tireless work that the students completed.
This ranged from measuring beach gradients and countless pebbles to collecting wind speeds and directions of oncoming waves. The students had a lovely day at the seaside. The next step is to go out into the local Oakwood Park area for the human Geography element and then to use this data in the classroom and apply to exam situations.
Mr O. Jenkins (Subject Leader of Geography)
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Student of the Fortnight
Tue 23 Oct 2018It is very important to reward our students and recognise their achievements. We are awarding one student in every year group (7-11) with a letter or commendation and a £5 Amazon voucher for being nominated as Student of the Fortnight.
Our second set of students to receive this reward were:
Year 7 – Amelie Devlin: For helping other students settle in to the new school environment (absent from picture)
Year 8 – Paddy Cooper Hayden: For significant progress from year 7 to 8
Year 9 – Gilmore Carino: For being a mature and independent learner and having a significant number of merits
Year 10 – Oliver Holman: For his helpfulness and thoughtfulness
Year 11 – Finlay Hunter: For his attitude to learning and contribution to the school production
Congratulations to everyone!
Mrs Denny – Assistant Vice Principal
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Prudential Ride 100
Mon 15 Oct 2018A big thank you to all who sponsored me to ride in the Prudential Ride 100 in July. I was overwhelmed with the support from everyone and raised an amazing £1350 which was divided between the two charities, Heart of Kent Hospice and The Lily Foundation.
On the big day, having trained during the heatwave, the unexpected wet and blustery weather conditions certainly added to the challenge but after 6 1/2 hours, I eventually crossed the finishing line, passing thousands of supporters lined up along the Mall. The fantastic support from the crowds, charity workers, volunteers and that of other cyclists along the route, was amazing and certainly contributed to making the whole experience an enjoyable and memorable one.
Mrs J Ellesmere
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GCSE & A-Level DT Enrichment Day
Fri 12 Oct 2018During the enrichment day on October the 4th, students studying Design & Technology at GCSE and A-Level had the opportunity to visit two incredible museum to enrich and inspire their knowledge of D&T. First up on our jam packed day was a stop at the Design Museum.
At the Design Museum we first toured their permanent museum called ‘Designer Maker User’ which explores the history of contemporary design. There were lots of interactive exhibits that we all enjoyed trying out! Also, at the Design Museum we saw the ‘Beazley Designs of the Year’ which celebrates some of the most innovative and thought provoking designs of the year. We saw examples of fantastic design such as a leather jacket where the leather has been grown from plant based materials but had all the properties of natural leather and a sterile operating field packed into a back pack!
We then travelled across to the Victoria & Albert Museum. Here the group split into 3; students then saw an exhibition that related to their chosen coursework projects. This was either; Fashioned from Nature, Video Games: Design/Pay/Disrupt or The Future Starts Here. A great day was had by all – it was a long and busy one but very enjoyable!
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Celebration Mass
Thu 11 Oct 2018Our end of year celebration Mass for the service of Michael and Mary Ryan to St Simon Stock Catholic School was a marvellous occasion
Mary and Michael Ryan were devoted to our school and Catholic education. Mary served our school for 37 years and Michael 35 years. All four of their hard-working children, Michael, John, David and Margaret, were students at St Simon Stock until the age of 18 and as a result of their hard work enjoyed huge and deserved academic success. David was a talented sportsman and Margaret was Head Girl. All went to Russell Group Universities including Oxford.
Michael was an Assistant Head Teacher and teacher of Mathematics before his retirement but it was Mary whom we were celebrating for her retirement. Former Head-teachers and colleagues came to celebrate the Mass which was led by Bishop Paul Mason prior to his promotion to become Bishop of the Armed Forces. A reception followed the Mass.
At the reception, the Ryan family donated a copy of the Vladimir, Mother of God icon as a thanks to the School. It is the holiest treasure of the Russian nation. It holds a place in the entrance to the School.
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Silence is Golden?
Tue 09 Oct 2018Silence is Golden? Or…the beginnings of the ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’! Year 13 Film Studies student have begun their approach to learning the production contexts of the Silent Cinema movement for the A level exams.
‘Silent’ film is often a mis-nomer; there is of course, the use of non-diegetic music to enhance the visuals on screen.
Our first lesson invited students to think beyond dialogue and to experiment with the methods available to directors at the time: camerawork, sound effects and performance. Plus, some bonus use of doorbell sound effects!
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Coding Club
Thu 04 Oct 2018Our aspiring coders have been attending “Coding Club” on a Friday evening, where they have been led by our truly inspiring Year 13 Computer Scientists.
The sixth form students have been sharing their wealth of knowledge with both Year 7 and Year 8 in the area of Python and Scratch.
To see a mixture of students working together to logically approach problems and decompose them into manageable tasks makes me very positive about the future of the Computer Science department.”- Brónagh McNamee
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Student of the Fortnight
Wed 03 Oct 2018It is very important to reward our students and recognise their achievements. We are awarding one student in every year group (7-11) with a letter or commendation and a £5 Amazon voucher for being nominated as Student of the Fortnight.
The first students who have received this award are:
Year 7: Luke Buckland – For helping others in the first few weeks to settle in to our school. This truly embodies the ethos, work with love.
Year 8: Dihya Choudary – For contributing to her community by producing lots of wonderful artwork for the school.
Year 9: Chloe Stokes – For her leadership skills in helping to launch a female rugby club
Year 10: Lucy Gibson – For her dedication to work
Year 11: Niamh Griffiths – For her contribution to the school production and for sharing her musical talent with us
Congratulations to all!
Mrs Denny-Assistant Vice Principal
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I ♥ My Hospice
Wed 03 Oct 2018This October we are proud to announce that St Simon Stock Catholic School will now be supporting the Heart of Kent Hospice as our official charity for the year. We have done a lot of work with them in the past but we are very excited to dedicate all of our efforts and hit our new target of £20,200 by 2020
“Our relationship with St Simon Stock has grown since 2002 and it is one that we wish to continue to foster and develop. To date, St Simon Stock has raised an incredible £18,912.24 for Heart of Kent Hospice which is truly amazing. In real terms this equates to covering the cost of care for 45 patients on our Inpatient Unit for a day or providing a bereavement counselling session for 473 children.” – Sarah Pugh, Chief Executive of HOKH
As part of “I ♥ My Hospice” we had the amazing opportunity to visit the hospice, meet the team and see the amazing work that these volunteers do every day. Although many don’t necessarily think of positive experiences when they hear the word hospice, this place is very different to the stigma, providing light, love and laughter to those who need it more than anything at a difficult time in their lives.
We are proud to support such an important cause and will continue fundraising until we hit our goal and beyond!
