91322 St Benet Winter Newsletter 2020

Winter Newsletter
2020

Who am I?
We began the year with Reignition, which was to reflect on and
explore the issue of identity and belonging after having spent a few
months in lockdown.
Students explored a variety of themes, such as, ‘who am I?’ where
they considered themselves as an individual, as a friend, as a part of
a society and as a role model. Our younger students created some
fantastic artwork which was both an expression and an exploration
of their own individual identity.
As part of the Drama session, students created a Public Service
Broadcast based on this statement: To build self-confidence, and to
not always be influenced by social media - you must stand strong
and have your own beliefs. The work produced blew us away with
the powerful messages communicated.
We looked at how we could strengthen the St Benet Biscop Way as
a community. This manifested itself in our very own St Benet Biscop
brick pathway, created by our year 10 students.
Ultimately, the sessions allowed us to appreciate the power of
community and the potential we all have when we unite together.

Keeping a community Christmas
As the dark nights have drawn in, students and staff at St Benet Biscop Catholic Academy are,
once again, turning their attention to their festive preparations.
In the spirit of a true ‘Community Christmas’ and employing our disposition of resilience, we
have been determined not to let a global pandemic steal our Christmas. Staff and students
continue to aim to improve the lives of others through several seasonal projects. We have
worked with Leading Link, who have organised a digital initiative called Remotely Christmas.
Remotely Christmas content streamed through YouTube to give schools, care homes and
families, some Christmas magic. The magic included interactive workshops, a panto, storytelling
and lots of singing, including Christmas Carols.
Our feeder schools have also had Christmas activity workbooks sent to them for students to use
throughout the day.
St Benet Biscop staff have also come together to deliver a special Christmas message to our
students which will be delivered at the end of term.

Remembrance Day
In the days leading up to Remembrance Day, all students
spent time with their tutor group, where they wrote
prayers for fallen soldiers on paper feathers and decorated
them with beautiful poppy designs. The Chaplaincy team
carefully pulled all of these feathers together, to create a
number of ‘peace doves’ that we put up in the chapel, to
commemorate soldiers, past and present. These doves
were also our way of praying for a more peaceful future.
On the 11th of November, the entire school watched a
virtual assembly about the importance of Remembrance
Day, and the selfless sacrifices that were made during WWI
and WW2.
The assembly also included a powerful recording of
Michael Elliot, a Year 8 student, playing the Last Post. This
then led into a two minute silence that fell across the
school at 11am, to honour and remember those who
fought for us.

Harvest Festival
Harvest celebration means lots of things throughout the world. For many, it is a
joyous time of year where the Harvest is celebrated. However, it is also a time where
we remember those who have perhaps suffered because their harvest has failed, or
they have suffered through disease, famine or war. But in our school community, we
also use this time to remember those close to home who struggle to feed their
family. Harvest Celebration means helping those in need with our food donations,
being thankful to God and to those in our food chain productions.
This year, we were once again bowled over by the generosity of our students and
their families, despite living through such an uncertain time. We received huge
amounts of food donations for the Matthew Project, which is an organisation that
provides emergency food relief to people living in our local communities. Our Year 9
chaplaincy team worked tirelessly through their breaktimes, to sort and pack all the
donations, because they knew how much happiness that this food would bring to
families.

Careers guidance
We are fortunate again this year to be part of
The North East Collaborative Outreach
Programme (NECOP) which is a collaboration of
all the universities and further education
colleges in the North East region working
together to deliver a targeted programme of
information and support relating to higher
education options in the North East. NECOP has
been working with St Benet Biscop Catholic
Academy and other schools in the North East to
offer a programme of activity called FutureMe.
This collaboration offers access to a range of
activities and events to support young people
in considering their future options and learning
about educational pathways available to them.
By taking part in FutureMe activities, young people:
• Have the opportunity to plan for their future and gain an understanding of the support
available to help them reach their goals.
• Have access to high quality information and support to help them consider whether higher
education is the right option for them.
• Have an increased awareness and understanding of higher education opportunities and
progression pathways in the region.
Year 12 students recently attended the virtual
workshop ‘Bridging the Gap’. The session gave
the students a realistic look at the demands of
6th form and an introduction to the core skills
needed to cope with those demands. Students
were equipped with a range of tools and
techniques designed to promote self-study,
independent learning and research, and to raise
aspirations.
We have a number of webinars booked in for
different year groups over the coming months.
Years 13 will soon be participating in the live
webinar ‘Beyond the Personal Statement’.
Our Careers Week in January will be different to
previous years but we still have lots of
opportunities to engage through Future Me
with: The Buzz - (Year 9), Apprenticeships
Explained and How to Ace your Revision (Year
11), Making Informed Decisions and Finance
Ready (Years 12 and 13).
In addition after Easter, we will be choosing
students from a number of different year groups
who will work with a University Undergraduate
Mentor.
Further information about Futureme can be found at https://futureme.ac.uk/ which includes
a section for parents/carers about higher education in the North East, student finance and
how to support students with their studies and the application process.

Online Safety Advice
Giving your child any tech during the festive period? We know that lots of families give children
devices at this time of year. Whether it’s a laptop, phone, tablet, games console or another device
that connects to the online world, there is a lot you can do to make sure it’s set up safely for your
child. We would recommend you follow the Net-aware checklist to do this safely:
https://www.net-aware.org.uk/news/new-devices/
Net-aware has also reviewed the most popular apps, games and social media sites your children
are using. You can read these reviews and guidance a
https://www.net-aware.org.uk/networks/
Please share this link with your child.