e-journal nov 09

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T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F A Q U I N A S C O L L E G E , S TO C K P O R T - I S S U E 8 - N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 9

e-journalPink DayOn Tuesday 20 October Aquinas held a fundraising day for the Breakthrough Breast Cancer campaign. The main office hosted The Pink Panther and sold cakes, football scratch cards and other items. Thank you to everyone who supported this fundraising effort.


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Eddie’s Editorial

Baby Viola Carter-Phillips was born on the 20 August after being 16 days overdue! Most people think that she’s named after the character from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, due to the literary connection but, in fact, she is named after my partner Darren’s late grandmother.

DOB: A Level Results Day 2009! (20 August)Nationality: Half British/Half KiwiBirth Stats: 8 pounds 1 oz at birth and an impressive 7cm longer than the average babyLikes: Bob Marley and Nirvana played at volume before bed, baths and her vibrating Jungle ChairDislikes: Clothes and being in the park for too longAmbitions: To keep growing and make her parents happy!

Thank you for downloading the latest (though delayed a little by me,sorry!) issue of our e-journal.

The events featured in this issue reflect just a little of the fantasticdiversity at Aquinas - from Pink Day, Going Bananas for Fairtrade, Workshadowing, Pathways Aquinas representing the UK at Euroweek inSlovakia, the Green Gang and Sports

News, a little of the rich and variednature of Aquinas life is captured in the pages that follow.

We are currently are in the midst of an unprecedented number ofcolleagues on or about to take maternity leave. A few newborns Viola,Lucy and Isla make their bow in this issue. So please let us have yournews, stories and photos. These can be

emailed to Carol Moran [email protected]

And finally grateful thanks to Alan Bebbington and Carol Moran for theirexpertise and perseverance, without whom none of this would have beenpossible and this issue would not have seen the light of day.

Eddie Moore

Isla Chloe DixonDOB: 17 May 2009 at 2.23am in Leighton Hospital, Crewe to Andrew and and Claire DixonBirth Stats: 7lbs 13ozs at birth and was 34cm long

Info: Isla is doing really well and stated to sleep through and in her own room at 5 weeks old (she not does 7.30pm to 7.30 which is brilliant. Last weighed 10.9.09 and was 11lbs 9ozs.

Lucy Jessica ConlonDOB: 6 March 2009Birth Stats: 8lbs 10oz

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My name is Ashley Craig and I am in Yr 10 at Bramhall High School. I decided to carry out my work experience at Aquinas College because of the good reputation it has.

My first impression of the college as I was given a tour of the departments was overhearing laughter that was carried down the corridor which originated from the maths department. Was this the laughter of happiness for returning? Or was it the hilarity of madness as they are about to come face to face with the dreaded students?

I was then introduced to the staff who I would be working with for the

next three days. I first glimpse the lab technicians wearing lab coats and smiling faces. The atmosphere of the room was relaxed yet active, a side effect of the coffee that produced a homely aroma. The number of skills required for the job is phenomenal. Teamwork, following instructions, keeping within a time limit and staying to a routine. These are just a few of the many abilities that each and every member of staff has. The job that I was involved with also includes the need to clean equipment and accurately measuring amounts of chemicals and solutions. This made me realise that colleges and schools it isn’t all about teachers, its about support staff, preparation team, administration, teachers and catering staff who all fit together, like cogs in a clock, to make a working system as they are all equally important.

During break and lunch time different members of staff from different departments socialize with each other and enjoy their time there. I also witnessed care and tenderness when a student was taken ill and a particular member of staff made sure that the student was

comfortable and took her safely home.On the fourth day I was moved to work in finances and observe the “Jos”(both the staff are called Jo). I watched as they performed complicated procedures to make certain that all the money flowing in and out of the college was put to good use and the companies that were being paid weren’t receiving too much or not enough money. To do the job properly you must pay attention constantly, making sure that there are no mistakes made and any anomalies are followed up.

On my final day I was carrying out duties in the LRC which involved tagging the newspapers and books to make sure that they weren’t stolen. I was also given an opportunity to express my creativity which was harder than I thought it would be. Finally I arranged a display around the theme which was ‘Summer’.

I would like to thank Ambrose Smith and Eddie Moore for allowing me to take part in the working environment at Aquinas and I would also like to thank all the staff for accommodating me and for making my experiences a pleasant one.

Work Experience


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Pathways - who are we!We are the newly named ‘Extended Education Department’ working with students with learning difficulties. Our programme is wide and varied, working towards qualifications in English, Maths and IT. We also prepare our students for independent life with a Life Skills Award covering units including cooking, managing money, travelling on public transport and mini-enterprise skills.

We have managed to pack in a lot in the last year and have seen our students develop skills and grow in ways we are all very proud of. I will try and cover a few…..

In Travel & Transport sessions we have used public transport to visit Manchester Art Gallery and museums, and more recently the Anne Frank exhibition at Manchester Cathedral. Buses have taken us as far as the Trafford Centre and by train into the Peak District. Through planning and Internet research our students become confident with timetables and budgeting.

Managing, and even making, money has been a successful part of our course with last year’s bird box business enjoying huge success. Along with the can recycling points and the car washing service the mini-enterprise programme was very well supported in the College. Watch out for more schemes this year!

Didier and the students enjoyed a productive season in the college ‘allotment’ and the students pulled in a really good harvest of their own home grown vegetables. Leeks, potatoes, cabbages and carrots were just some

of the produce sold in the college.

Learning to cook is another really useful skill taught on the course and the students worked hard towards

making their own full Christmas dinner. Throughout the year the students learn to budget, shop for and cook balanced and healthy meals.

Our students have also enjoyed tremendous success in sports, participating in Boccia and Tag Rugby tournaments in the area, as well as weekly P.E sessions trying out new ways to keep fit such as trampolining.We are soon to have a new website so please keep your eyes open for that and we are always looking for volunteers to come and work with us and the students……..!

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Among other trips we have had: A student, Katy Murr went off on the Anglo-French fellowship programme (photograph of an empty beach kindly offered by Katy and a brief written account:

‘ This February I was lucky enough to be whisked off to France for two weeks. From flights to ice cream at Andernos-Les-Bains, the entire trip was sponsored by a British Council student fellowship programme.

Going beyond foreign exchanges, my fortnight in France allowed me to immerse myself in the language, working on a project of my choice, without English speakers. (Associated photo: Anglo French France.)

Modern Languages

This opportunity lets A level students of any of the main modern foreign languages improve a range of skills, for example: writing project proposal, liaising in two languages, conducting research (often interviews) in the foreign language, writing a final report for the British Council, and, most importantly, learning to live in another culture.’

It was a tremendous experience for Katy, an opportunity to pursue an issue of real interest. It is something that which gave her loads of great insights into French life and how France is adapting to the opportunities offered by the European Union.

In March, over half the students in lower sixth French took part in the French exchange to Andernos-les-Bains near Bordeaux and were able to discover what life is like in living in a family across the Channel.

As well as having the chance to attend lessons in Andernos college, they explored the city of Bordeaux, climbed the Dune du Pyla and had work experience in local primary schools. Many of those who went are already

planning return visits. (Associated photos: andernos beach jump and DSCF0186.)

Also in the pipeline is the trip of some GCSE students to Fukuoka (Japan).

Aquinas students will take part in a two and a half week long exchange in June and July. Again this promises to be a unique and wonderful experience.


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Dear all,

Things have not been quite as we had expected. Just before our departure we learnt that we could not travel to the village where the school where we are going to teach in Nepal - the monsoon has been very odd this year (global warming?) - its started late and was still going strong at the start of September. This means the roads have been damaged and need to be repaired when the rain finally stops...so instead we visited a school for primary age girls in Kathmandu area run by the same charity. The children were delightful - but their English was more rudimentary than my Nepali - all they knew was “hello”. We had a go at some basic conversation lessons - introducing yourself, which was great fun - such attentive students (and so respectful!)

Because of this change of plans, the start of school in Ghorka (the place we were meant to be) appears to have been postponed by 2 weeks - I say “appears”, because things are never quite certain in Nepal. We were due to visit Tibet later, especially to visit the Lhasa Project for the Blind, as Cordelia works with blind students and we wanted to see what we could do to support this project and learn from them. We had a terrible job sorting out the paper work for visas, but we managed to get into Tibet straight away from Kathmandu by a flight

Hello From Tibetover the Himalayas - Everest poking through the clouds was a fantastic sight. So far it has been brilliant - the blind students here are much more confident in moving out and about than Cordelia’s students, so she’s learning from their teacher about different mobility teaching methods. It is very humbling to see how this charity manages to turn abandonned kids into full members of society again - unfortunately the attitude to disability in Tibet is rather poor - people believe that a disabled person must have been bad in a previous life and so treat them poorly (sometimes blind children are chained to their beds in the house so no one will see them and they can’t bring shame on thier family). Being rather useless at specialist teaching for blind kids - I’ve made myself useful in the 2nd year class with their English lessons. They range from aged 5 to 11 and are quite a handful - thankfully their rather imposing Tibetan teacher stays with me and tells them off in their own language if things get too rowdy. However, they are very keen to learn and work their socks off.

Lhasa itself is beautiful - we visited the Potala Palace and various monasteries - with all the Tibetan pilgrims around (Lhasa is holy to them) these places have a deeply moving and spiritual atmosphere. The Tibetans we have met, despite huge language problems have been

most kind - we have frequently been touched by their warmth and generousity - one pilgrim at a shrine shared her bounty of apples with us! Nevertheless, there have also been moments where tears were brimming in our eyes.

Tomorrow we start our journey back to the border with Nepal, by minibus this time. I can’t believe I have been here - it has always been a dream and it feels unreal to stand on a square in front of the Potala, or view the most ancient temple, the Jokhang, (7th century) from our window in the guesthouse. The people light so much incense at that temple that on the first day I thought the city was on fire, such was the smoke.

With our itinerary / plans changed I am not sure if we will have time to pop back to civilisation once we are teaching properly in Ghorka. I will try if I get a weekend off to visit Kathmandu again and hopefully be able to email you once more about the experiences teaching in Nepal.

Despite the amazing things we’ve seen and done here, I am actually thinking of you all, and also of 7C1 as they are now - but I am sure they are in safe hands with Roger. I wish you all the best with the start of the new term - lots of love, (or Tashidelek as they say here, which is something like “good fortune / blessings to you”),

Babette

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You may have been wondering what was with all the inflatable bananas, free chocolate and fairly traded ethics lessons on Wednesday 4th and Friday 6th? Well, on 26th February, Fairtrade fortnight began and didn’t stop until 8th March and these unusual items were all to raise awareness for it and

the Oromo Coffee Community in Greater Manchester!

We had great time raising some awareness on Wednesday when we

gave away free chunks of Fairtrade chocolate donated by the Co-op (and my family members!) with brands like Divine, Co-op’s own and Organic Meltdown the day was a great success!

But enough about the sweet, brown stuff! Friday was certainly a day to remember, and will be remembered as 394,686 people took part in the Guinness world Record for most people eating Fairtrade Bananas in 24 hours! Aquinas had it’s small part to play by giving away over 250 free bananas from 12pm onwards!

But let’s not forget the main reason to be there on Friday, which was to raise some awareness of how Fairtrade actually works!

And, thanks to Cassie, Damian, Abiyot and Bayush, I think we achieved just that!

Taking the Ethics lessons for the day was a brilliant way to get across some Ethics in action, and provided a great opportunity to try some of the fabulous Oromia Coffee that the guys from Grumpy Mule and Bolling Coffee generously donated. It was also a fantastic opportunity to learn about life in Ethiopia and the processes involved in getting the coffee from the bush to the cup!

So I would like to thank everyone who took part and hope we can do the same next year!

Oh, and Aquinas even has it’s own small forest after the event! How, you may be asking? If you buy a bar of Organic Meltdown, go to www.organicmeltdown.com and log in with the Username: AquinasCollege and Password: allshallbewell, you’ll see our little forest! You can even enter the code inside the packet, and register for another tree!

Going Bananas for Fairtrade


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Help for Heroes - Sponsored Bike RideWhilst on a break at college we contemplated the mad idea of cycling the country in our summer holidays, this soon developed into a sponsored bike and eventually became a reality. We chose to ride for Help for Heroes as we both intend to join the Royal Marines and as such feel strongly about the cause. To start the ball rolling we contacted the charity to register our event and set a date as well as order our cycling jersey’s. However whilst on the phone

I learnt that H4H could send us merchandise to sell on their behalf - we swiftly ordered £1000 worth of stock to sell. We then contacted Stockport market and

managed, after some difficulty to secure a market stall for 13 weeks free of charge. We quickly sold all our stock and had to re-order (our sales total is currently at £3000). We then printed sponsorship forms and handed them around the college and our parent places of work, etc and had soon secured over 150+ signatures amounting to roughly £1500.

Then came the time to do the ride itself. We boarded a train to Wick and then cycled the 20 miles to John O’Groats where we camped for the night before departing on our journey (down through Inverness, Perth, Edinburgh, Durham, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Bristol, Taunton, over Dartmoor where we shall one day do our training as Royal Marines, Penzance, Lands End).

Despite being plagued by punchers and various other bike problems including a broken wheel and loose handlebars we eventually arrived at Lands End in 11 days after covering approximately 1000+ miles... exhausted and relieved, not to mention the sense of pride we felt completing our first form of long distance bike ride and our first charity event.

At Lands End we received a round to applause from the crowd gathered around the famous sign as well as having our pictures paid for by an unknown man. Along the way we saw peoples generosity in a whole new way, one woman even went to the shops and bought us half a days food (she was a sergeant in the RAF). We intend to continue raising money for H4H through various endurance style challenges in future.

Philip Wells (7D5)Chris Doherty (6A3)

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Student of the Year

BCS IT Student of the Year announced in London

25th September 2009

The World Leadership Forum has announced the winner of the BCS Student

of the Year at the SET Awards 2009

The winner of the British Computer Society Award for the Best Information Technology Student at

the Science, Engineering & Technology Awards 2009 has been announced at a ceremony in

London’s Intercontinental Hotel, attended by more than 500 students, academics and business

leaders.

Stockport’s Chris Green, who is studying at Sheffield University, has been awarded the IT Student

of the Year for his eMotion Shuffle project (www.emotionshuffle.com), which aims to develop and

produce a pioneering mp3 player which uses music in a revolutionary way to maintain or change

the listener’s mood and emotional state, through integrating the ability to classify and manipulate

music by emotional relevance using digital signal processing tools and machine learning

techniques.

The SET Awards are organised by the World Leadership Forum with the award for IT student of

the Year sponsored and judged by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT

'It is a dream come true to win this award and as a result, my aim of turning the eMotion Shuffle

into a marketable product for consumer and commercial use is a step closer,' said Chris, who is

studying MEng in Software Engineering at Sheffield. 'I found my passion for computers quite late

into my A-level qualifications when I realised my chosen subjects weren't suitable to continue to

study computers at university. However I decided to do a foundation year and have since

progressed through to doing my Masters and winning this award proves that this was a good

choice’.

Before starting at Sheffield I spent two great years studying at Aquinas College in Stockport where

my love of computing began. My advice to anyone who wants to embark on a career in computing

is to make sure you study A- level maths, or like me, you will end up having to do an extra year

and that means five years at university. Five years at university may sound like heaven to some,

but it’s a long time with very little money and an even bigger loan to repay at the end.’

Chris receiving his award at the

Intercontinental Hotel, London


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Euroweek 2009: SlovakiaVery early on a grey September morning 7 students and 2 members of staff set out for Slovakia. Their destination was Trnava- an historical town not far from Bratislava and the host town of the 2009 Euroweek event. Euroweek has been going for 18 years and the idea is simple. Every year 8 students and 2 teachers from every country in the EU get together to sample each other’s culture, have fun and make friends. Aquinas has been representing the UK at Euroweek for several years and will be hosting it in the new building in 2011.

Despite the credit crunch and threat of swine flu this year, there were still 18 countries of the 27 EU countries represented. The students engaged in various activities including trips and visits, crafts and a sports day.

All the students were hosted in host families so they got a chance to get to know the real Slovakia. The Slovakians were very friendly and our guides -students of the host school - were very helpful. Also everyone spoke excellent english, although some had trouble understanding the Manchester accent!

Although we lost the sports day (17th out of 18!) a good time was had by all - and several international friendships made. Next year Euroweek will be in Bulgaria, look out in the summer term for the chance to sign up.

To start Euroweek all delegations performed a parade through the town with their flags waving.

A big event at Euroweek is the international buffet - each delegation brings some typical food from their country. Imagine a meal made of German sausage, Austrian cheese, Swedish crackers and Belgian chocolates! We brought scones with jam, tea and shortcake as examples of British cuisine - which went down very well!

One of the trips was to a local pottery makers in Modra. Students had the chance to see traditional handmade

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pottery techniques - from throwing the pots using a wheel to the delicate hand painting of beautiful patterns.

Every delegation puts on a short performance that shows their local culture - this year they were performed in the main square of Trnava to the amusement of several locals! The British delegation did a short routine to a mix of songs from local bands Oasis, the Ting Tings, New Order, The Smiths and the Beatles.


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Euroweek 2009: Slovakia

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Euroweek 2009: Slovakia


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What Next?What will you do when you leave Aquinas ?

Some people will drift along and not create any wake behind them, whilst others will make bow waves before them and leave tsunamis behind them. Don’t be content to drift through life not tasting the exciting things that are out there. Do outrageous, ridiculous, fantastic, even dangerous activities, but don’t stagnate before you’ve lived life to the full.

I hope that you have taken full advantage of all the wonderful opportunities that Aquinas has to offer, such as joining the many extra-curricular activities the college has to offer or gone on the trips to foreign places. How can you miss out on the chance to go to Rumania or India? They are life-changing opportunities that shouldn’t be missed. You are only here for two years and it soon goes. When you move on to the next stage in your life think adventure!

My own four sons took full advantage of their stay at Aquinas and when they left and went to university they carried on participating in as many activities as they could squeeze in between their studies.

Three of the boys have now graduated from university and have gone on to do some extraordinary things, whilst one is still at university and he is doing extraordinary things too!

Andrew and Nick, the eldest of my sons, have both flown gliders and

powered aircraft, backpacked around South America; bungee jumping, parachuting, cycling down the most dangerous road in the world, living in tropical forests, swimming with piranha and skiing in Patagonia. On their return to the UK they cycled, in mid winter, from Lands End to John O’Groats before going their separate ways; Andrew to RAF Cranwell to train as an air force officer and Nick to The Britannia Naval College to train as a naval officer.

Stephen, the youngest of my sons, graduated from university last year, worked for nine months and then went off to America to do a solo walk of the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail. He lived in the wilderness with bears and moose and met wonderful people along the way who will be life-long friends.

Chris, Stephen’s twin, has recently won the award for IT student of the year, and although he has not had the opportunity to be as adventurous as his brothers, he still did a bungee jump with Stephen a few weeks ago and intends to motorcycle round South America as soon as he graduates.

These young men are no different from you, but they have grasped life with both hands - and just think of the memories they will have, and the tales they will tell, when they grow old!

Andrew and Nickin Patagonia

South America

Lands End to John O’Groats

Stephen in the mist at the end of the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail

South America

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The fantastic new sports pitches have been completed and handed over for the college to use.

Sports Pitches Completion

The facilities consist of a hard court with 2 tennis courts, a netball court and a separately enclosed outdoor basketball court together with a state of the art 3G (third generation) astroturf football pitch. The pitches are situated at the back of the sports hall and work is progressing on the hard and soft landscaping in this area. Once all of this work is complete the college will have a wonderful new facility to use from next year.

Although the sports pitches are complete and have been handed over for college use, the surrounding area

is still for all intents and purposes a building site. So any current use has to be carefully supervised.

The facilities will provide excellent facilities for all those who wish to get involved. The college recognises the many benefits and great value of organised sport and leisure to people of all ages. It already has many community links and offers sporting opportunities through its evening provision.

The college intends to extend this provision to include the use of

Samantha Abrahams Assistant LibrarianI am a new Assistant Librarian in the LRC. My quest to be a Librarian began a little over two years ago when I was pondering on what on earth I could with a degree in Modern Middle Eastern History. You could say I almost fell into the profession. Eventually I found the Graduate Trainee Library Assistant posts at

Manchester Metropolitan University and was successful. I followed this up with an MA Librarianship at Sheffield University, which I arrive here fresh from completing. It’s now time to put the theory into practice.

From the interview day onwards it was clear that despite my post only being 12 months maternity cover, that I would get the support I needed in

order to improve my skills. For such a small library it has so many roles within the college and so it is an excellent place to start my career. I’m looking forward to the next twelve months and working with an experienced and friendly group of colleagues, and getting to know and work with such a vibrant group of students.

New Staff

My name is David Johnson and I joined the Maths department in September 2009. I have been a maths teacher for the past 9 years, having worked in IT before that. During those 9 years I have taught at secondary schools in Knutsford, Altrincham and Salford. I have taught

across all years and ability ranges including years 12 and 13. I am married and have three children, aged 10 and twins of 6. I live in Altrincham and most of my spare time now seems to be taken up with taking my kids to various different

activities, such as football, swimming and gymnastics. However I like most sports, in particular football, golf, tennis etc.

the astroturf and is currently also considering the wider use of the facility. It is envisaged that we may seek some partners or link clubs from a variety of sports. However at this point nothing is definite, nothing has been ruled in or out.

Watch out for the complementary studies programme next term to see how you could get involved.

Danny PearsonAssistant PrincipalMay 2009


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Leavers BallThe Leaver’s Ball is a throw back to the good old days when Aquinas had Christmas and Spring Balls at Stockport Town Hall.

The student council picked up from where Dave Fowell had left off trying to re-establish a leaver’s ball as part of the Aquinas experience. The ball has been held at the Manchester Airport Hilton for the last 2 years and has been a sell out for the last 3 years with staff and students having a three course meal and then hitting the dance floor to throw some shapes.

So far Duncan Whelan and Nick Wood’s running man dance has been a major highlight, as has the fantastic photography of Stuart Greenhalgh.

Every year Stuart provides students with the opportunity to have their photo taken on arrival and throughout the evening, and then provides copies of the shots through his website. The

Leaver’s Ball is a fantastic end to 2 years of hard labour at Aquinas and we hope that it continues to be something the Upper Sixth students look forward to and support.

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I stepped off the plane and the wall of humidity hits me like a brick. Slightly wilted I grab my bags and head for the nearest transfer stand. My carry on has the two things that I need, a score and my notebook. After all, I’ve just flown for 15 hours to work: I’m here to sing and to write…Becoming a professional opera singer took 10 years and three degrees alongside a heaping of determination, ambition and a healthy self-esteem. Travel writing literally found me. I ran into an old school mate who had started a magazine and asked if I would write a feature on London. It was a big hit, and I was hooked.

Opera and writing are ideal conspirators as I am obliged to travel, and frequently have time to sightsee. As a singer I see how the other half live whilst moving in the upper echelons of the glitterati. This strange juxtaposition gives a unique insight into the realities of a country.

We can not exclude the poor (even if many glossy guides would prefer to pretend that they do not exist) just as we need to understand how the movers and shakers formulate the countries in which they live.

If you want to write about a place you have to be able to make it come alive for the reader in a cold, rainy house in Manchester. They need

Janet Fischer’s Travel Article

to feel the sun and smell the spices. You must excite them and dare them to try it out for themselves.

After all, you’re writing an extended ad for the places you’ve been. People are after experiences, and escapism. It will make a good subject if it touches you or is striking in some way. The night I spent in Berlin during a snowstorm is etched in my mind and formed the opening of my article on the city.

I have just stepped into the garden of exile at the Jewish museum and it is snowing. It is such a surreal experience being here at night with everyone tucked away at home. Somehow it makes it all the more poignant in the cold and the quiet. No one talks here, it is only whispers.

Later I find myself walking along the old wall. It has been twenty years since the end of the old bloc but somehow it seems all too recent in the eerie calm created by the heavy snow. Tomorrow it will all seem so fresh, but tonight

carries a weight and is filled with reflection. I head home on foot, headless of the cold to start on my libretto...

It is a different perspective that you can offer. Lonely planet and the Rough guides have the bulk of the industry sown up, but there will always be a market for human experience and new perspective.

I have seen some amazing places, met ordinary and extraordinary people, and encountered things I would rather not speak of. Most valuable of all, I have found an understanding for the world and our differences.

It does not mean that I agree with every thing I see, nor that I fight everything that is different to our way of life, but that I have come to a peace with humanity and our depravities and achievements.

It is with this outlook that I will continue to travel, make change where I can, and highlight the unique splendour of our world.

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Rome TripThe Chaplaincy office organised a trip to Rome on the 28 April for one week. The 23 students and 4 members of staff in the group stayed at Villa Palazzola a 13th century Cistercian monastery which is set in a stunning lakeside location just outside Rome.

Night view from Villa Palazzola

Pope Benedict XVI - following mass at St Peter’s cathedral

Aquinas students in St Peter’s Square


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Young Christian StudentsYoung adults meet together regularly with a Chaplain to review their lives. Using the famous method of See, Judge, Act, they really get to grips with the real situations they are facing, reflect on them in light of gospel values and commit themselves to take action. Through this process of reflection and action the YCS helps form young people to grow in confidence and responsibility using their skills and talents to the full. They become ‘leaders’ in their own lives, making a positive contribution to society. YCS meets every Monday at 4pm in the Chapel.

“Through my actions I’m living out my faith. It’s great to come together in an informal way with people my own age, students and workers, to make a difference...”

“I wanted to do somethng active with my faith, I work really long hours, having YCS meetings means that, together, our group can begin to link work and faith, it becomes relevant...”

“YCS has changed the way I look at tings. I now practice SEE, JUDGE, ACT, REVIEW in every area of my life, including my job. It’s a way of being.”

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Alpha CourseEight week course exploring christianity and the meaning of life.

Bible Study Group


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All of the sporting success was celebrated at the 6th Annual Sports Presentation evening in May 2009. All of the teams and individuals who have represented college attended the evening at Heaton Moor Rugby Club, there were numerous awards presented by the guests of honour Matthew Walker and Beth Tweddle. Matthew is an ex-Aquinas college student and paralympic gold medallist and Beth Tweddle is a three time Olympian - their attendance was greatly appreciated.

A big thank you also to Dave Fowell who was compare for the evening. A breakdown of the awards are below:

Girls HockeyPlayers Player – Kelly CookeCoaches Player – Lucy Rowbottom

Boys HockeyPlayers Player – Iain RidewayCoaches Player – James PerryMost improved – Alex Burgess

NetballPlayers Player – Ciara Breslin Coaches Player – Emily Webb

Boys Football 1st teamPlayers Player – Mark ConnorCoaches Player – Shaun Connor

Boys Football 2nd teamPlayers Player – Steve KirklandCoaches Player – Pat Reynolds

Rugby teamPlayers Player – Rhodri Williams Coaches Player – Conor Killeen

Team of the year – Rugby TeamA special award ‘Contribution to the college’ was given to Luke Flanagan and Tom Bailey

Sportswomen of the year Hannah Whelan (Represented GB at last years Olympics!)

Sportsman of the yearAdam John and Russell Smith (International swimmers)

Extended education attended the sports awards to receive medals for representing the college at the boccia tournaments. Well done everyone who took part.

After holding the trails for our sports teams this year we are confident once again that this year will be successful, so far this is how the teams have got on…… the story so far……

Aquinas v PriestleyFootball 1st (won) Aquinas 2 - 1 Priestley Football 2nd (won) Aquinas 3 - 0 Priestley

Netball (won) Aquinas 92 – 16 Priestley

Aquinas v RiversideFootball 1st (won) Aquinas 2 - 1 Riverside

PE News

Football 2nd (lost)Aquinas 1 - 2 Riverside

Netball (won) Aquinas 77 - 3 Riverside

Hockey TeamAwaiting their first match Vs Sir John Deane.

Complementary studies/other sportsIf you want to get involved in any sports please ask the PE staff. The sessions below are currently available:

Football – Monday after collegeNetball – Monday after collegeRugby – Monday after collegeHockey – Tuesday after collegeTrampolining – Monday Period 3Futsal – Wednesday Period 4Badminton – TBCTable-tennis - TBCBasketball – Thursday after collegeMulti-gym – any time (must see PE staff for an induction before you use it).

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Sport Presentation Evening 2009


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The new, floodlit, state of the art, astro turf, all weather playing field was officially opened on July 14th 2009. Aquinas welcomed along Neil Briggs to cut the ribbon and declare the facility open.Neil who currrently plays his rugby for Sale Sharks and is and England u21 International was hugely impressed with the pitch and was looking forward to an opportunity to train on it with his Sale team mates during the Winter months.

Alongside the pitch, the college also opened two all weather tennis courts and an outdoor basketball court which will be in operation for the whole year round. The first college-club-link partner to begin their cold weather training sessions on the college’s new Multi Use Games Pitch - is Stockport Lacrosse Club.

Following the inaugal session was both a reporter and photographer from the Observer Newspaper - who hope to publish a series of articles in their Sunday supplement highlighting everything from the college’s facilities, the training methods used by Stockport and the arrival of the World Lacrosse Games to the Manchester area in 2010.

The club will train regularly throughout the winter and welcome along any college students wishing to brush up on their own lacrosse skills to these sessions.

Patrick Hart

New Sports Facility Opened

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Climbing Club

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Thank you

Bouldering at Manchester Climbing Centre Competition continues

“Have I tied on correctly?”

e-journal nov 09

Documents

Transcript of e-journal nov 09