St. Michael’s School Co-Ed Independent day and boarding school 3 - 18 years

SENIOR SCHOOL NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2017 24 JUNE 2017

UK Mathematics Challenge successPupils in Year 11 & 10 entered the UKMT Intermediate Challenge and Year 7 and 8 entered the UKMT Junior Challenge. The challenge contains demanding problem solving questions and is extremely enjoyable for talented mathematicians. Again, we had students who excelled and obtained marks high enough to qualify for the Olympiad and Kangaroo Awards. Outstanding achievements! Olympiad represented the 500 highest score in cohort and a further 5500 get invited to sit Kangaroo papers. Cici (Year 11), Minjae (Year 9) and Cara (Year 9) qualified for the Olympiad round and gained merit awards and Cici was offered a Summer School place by UKMT as her results were so

impressive. Only the top students in the UK receive this offer. Sneha (Year 11) qualified for the Kangaroo round and gained a merit award, which is only awarded to the top 20% of the cohort. These are extremely impressive performances and, as you can see, we had more successes throughout the Senior School from Year 7 - 11. Here are the results: -

Olympiad qualifier (merit) and Gold certificate: Cici Wang, Minjae Park and Cara Jones. Kangaroo qualifier and Gold certificate: Sneha Kumar, Sulitan Abudusaimaiti, Rhys Henwood, Mitri Sharaiha, Arya Rassi, Teilo Partington, Jimmy To, Reece Liu and Alvin Ng, Matthew Morgan and Seohee JeongKangaroo qualifier and Gold certificate (Junior): Becky Briggs and Kiyani Ghattaura Year 11 Gold: Cici Wang, Rhys Henwood, Sneha Kumar, Sulitan Abudusaimaiti, Jimmy To, Arya Rassi, Mitri Sharaiha, Teilo Partington, Ashwin Gunasekaran and Rhys Iddon Year 11 Silver: Lily Lester, Leo Zenato, Andrew Brisbane, Mazin Mukhaiber, Zora Husickova, Benjamin Woodnutt, William Wang, Jonathan Jones, Chinua Bob-Osamor, Verin Chaoman, Wendy Cao, Katie Morris, Amelia Joseph, Owen Coldrick, Aimee Richards and Tania Ghosh Year 11 Bronze: Sophia Raza, Jeen Akavuthivanich, Hanaa Ali and Jessica Chan Year 10 Gold: Reece Liu, Alvin Ng, Ivan Wong and Lucy Li Year 10 Silver: Priyanka Kaushal, Soham Gadgil,Avantika Arun, Nihchal Kalra, Jasmine Li, Maddy Morgan and Varsha Pathi Year 10 Bronze: Thomas Donnelly, Sunithi Karunarathna, Artur Shlyakov, Bryan Chan, Ffin Ryan-Morgan, Tarig Sharaiha, Tivonge Rushesha and Eleanor Davies Year 9 Gold: Minjae Park, Cara Jones and Matthew Morgan Year 9 Silver: Seohee Jeong, Zach Schofield and Jack Coldrick Year 9 Bronze: Sammy Yip, Alice Lester, Elizabeth Onions and Catherine Wang Junior Gold Year 8 & 7: William Shaw, Arnav Goel, Samuel Underwood, Becky Briggs and Kiyani GhattauraJunior Silver Year 8 & 7: Wanaida Hafiz and Vindya Prabhu Junior Bronze Year 8 & 7: Madelaine Harris, Amit Das, Benyapa Senchantichai, David Dan, Steffan Hodson, Nanditha Eadala, Edward Thomas Sneha Prathap and Ronan Boulton

Congratulations also go to all pupils who achieved certificates and also to the Mathematics department at St. Michael's School.

St. Michael’s School www.stmikes.co.uk 01554 820325 office@stmikes.co.uk

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES

St. Michael’s School says “Goodbye and Good Luck” to

Year 13… As Year 13 completed their formal teaching, they enjoyed an

afternoon paint-balling and then a relaxed meal with staff at TGI Fridays, Swansea. We wish them the best of luck as they prepare to

move on to University. We will miss this cohort, as many of them have been with us since Nursery. They have played a full role in music and

sport at St. Michael's School and the wider community, and have great futures ahead of them. Those students who joined us in the Sixth Form have forged great friendships that will last a lifetime.

Students have secured offers from a range of

universities such as Bristol, Cardiff,

Edinburgh, Brunel, UCL,

Exeter, Swansea and Cambridge,

with courses ranging from Medicine, Economics, PPE, Civil Engineering, Product Design, Geography, Politics with International Relations, Architecture, Law and Optometry.

…and “à bientôt” to Year 11. Year 11 enjoyed their last day before study leave in fancy dress and once more, following St. Mikes tradition, there were some inventive and creative outfits. Teachers spent a lot of the time trying to work out who was who! After a morning of head-turning and fun in school, they went to their chosen restaurant, Frankie & Benny’s in Swansea, and then onto Tenpin for some bowling, more

strange looks, fun and relaxation. All the teachers are extremely proud of all the students in Year 11 and we received many comments from the public on their exemplary behaviour in the restaurant and bowling arcade. it has been a privilege and pleasure to teach you and we look forward to seeing you in September for the Sixth Form.

UCAS EveningMany thanks to all those who attended the UCAS Evening and enjoyed the information provided by Mr Stockton, Head of Sixth Form and Mr Steve Minney from Swansea University. It was a worthwhile and informative evening covering a number of topics, sowing the seeds of preparation as students position themselves for university choices. The event was very well supported and parents were able to get first hand information with regards to the UCAS support offered to students at St Mikes along with the opportunity to learn more about student finance options available in Wales.

Cole Phillips in Year 7 won the javelin to become South West champion and

then 7th in the National Championships. Well done

Cole!

Shay Graham won the Year 7 shot put to become South

West Champion and then came 2nd in the National

Championships. Well done Shay, a great result!

Caleb Hughes in Year 8 won the 1500m to become South

West champion and then 6th in the National

Championships. Well done Caleb!

Frankie Giannini in Year 8 won the 100m and long jump to become South

West champion and then came 7th in both in the

National Championships. Well done Frankie!

Steffan Hodson in Year 7 won the U-14 Boys

category Snowsport Wales Competition 'West Wales Schools Race’. The event was held at Ski Pembrey at Pembrey Country Park in June 2017. Well done!

Steffan, a great result!

The Independent Schools South West Championships were held earlier this term and we had a very successful day. The following students won their event and qualified for the National Championships in Birmingham.

Kian Graham in Year 10 won the javelin.

Zak Giannini in Year 10 won the shot put.

Lily Yuen in Year 10 won the high jump.

Unfortunately, there was a clash with external examinations and the National finals so Kian, Zak and Lily could not compete. Well done for winning your events to become South West Champions, and we will look out for your sporting achievements in athletics next year.

Harry Davies in Year 9 won the discus in the South West Championship and then went on to win at the National Championships, throwing 43.09m breaking the ISA record. A fantastic achievement!

Our St. Michael’s School Sports Day was held at the Scarlets Athletic stadium. It was fiercely contested by pupils on the track but supported by everyone in the stands. Thank you to the PE staff for organising a well-run event, and also to the pupils who also gave up their lunchtimes to finish the field events. Thanks also go to the many staff that officiated on the day. The number of pupils entering events was ultimately the deciding factor as to which form won the team competition.

Sports News

The Junior Victrix Ludorum was awarded to SNEHA PRATHAP in Year 7 and the Junior

Victor Ludorum awarded to KIYANI GHATTURA in Year 8. The Senior Victrix Ludorum was

awarded to ALICE LESTER in Year 9 and the Senior

Victor Ludorum was awarded to HARRY

DAVIES in Year 9.

Go to our Facebook page to see more results, and

congratulations go to the Js for winning the overall team competition.

St. Michael's School hosted a Music evening on Wednesday 3rd May, supported by many parents from the Senior and Prep School. Students from the Senior Orchestra, Chamber Strings, Guitar group, Woodwind and Brass ensembles performed an eclectic mix of pieces from the Classical and Romantic periods, Music for Stage and Screen and a Mozart Divertimento. Our soloists included French horn (Charlotte in Year 10), voice and guitar (William Year 8 and Varsha Year 10), piano (Henry Year 9 and Alvin Year 10), and voice (Maddy Year 10). There were also performances by Year 3 & 4,Year 5 & 6 and Senior Choir. As we have come to expect, the standard of performance was excellent and it was an

thoroughly entertaining evening. The students were a credit to the school. Thanks go to the students, parents and Music Department, whose enthusiasm and commitment to developing music throughout the school is evident.

Mathematics Team Success

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More St. Michael’s success stories

Congratulations to Ben Woodnutt (Year 11) on winning the pole vault in the Dyfed Athletics Championships with a new personal best height of 3.45m.

Congratulations also go to Sinmi Adepoju in Year 12 who came 2nd in the Senior Boys High Jump and Senior Boys Triple Jump and to Harry

Davies (Year 9) on winning the hammer throw with a new record of 42.88m, breaking the 27 year-old record that has stood since 1990. Well done both of you - fantastic achievements!

“Learning is for Life”

Four St. Michael’s School students recently qualified to take part in the Junior Mathematics Team Challenge. The Team was made up from two Year 9 students, Minjae Park and Cara Jones and two Year 8 students, Arnav Goel and William Shaw. The team worked extremely well and were a credit to the school. They combined team-working activities together with problem-solving strategies and were awarded 7th place out of 32 teams. Well done all, a great achievement.

St. Michael’s Senior Summer Concert

Celebrating Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards Rhianon Samuel, one of our Year 13 students visited Buckingham Palace to collect her Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. She travelled up to London on Wednesday the 24th of May and was placed in a

group of roughly 15 other people from Wales. She was fortunate to meet Prince Philip who chatted to everyone about their expeditions and what they had completed for the volunteering element. Her certificate was presented by the Silver Medalist Olympic Rower Jessica Eddie. Rhianon said "It was definitely an experience to remember."

Ffion, Ellie and Rhys will be visiting St. James’ Palace later on this year to receive their Gold Awards. Well done to all four students on their achievement and thanks go to Mr. Rees for organising the Duke of Edinburgh Award training in school.

Harry Davies Captain’s Dyfed Junior Boys Athletics Team to Victory

Harry captained the Junior boys in the winning Dyfed team at the Welsh Schools Championship in July. Harry was a fitting role model, as he won 2 gold medals in the Junior boys discus and hammer with very good throws. Well done Harry and the Dyfed team on their achievement.

More Achievements outside the classroom

The Geographical Association Worldwise quiz took place at Swansea University in June and was again won by St. Michael's School. The winning team were presented with their shields and cup in assembly last week. Well done Avantika, Dylan and Priyanka, and excellent achievement!

Well done to Rhys Iddon and Sneha Kumar in Year 11, Ujjawal Kumar, Kate Hillier and Rhiannon Thomas in Year 12 who completed the St. John young lifesaver course. An excellent achievement whilst completing GCSE and AS examinations.

Musician Arnav Goel in Year 8 played piano Grade 3 at ABRSM high achiever's concert in Swansea All Saints Church. Well done Arnav, a great achievement and experience for you!

Mitri Sharaiha (Year 11) has become the St. John’s Ambulance National Cadet of the Year 2017. This marks the start of an exciting year for Mitri, who will visit Buckingham Palace for presentations and attend the Remembrance Parade in London to pay his respects.

Mitri has received many awards over the six years in which he has been going to St. John’s Ambulance in the Llanelli Division. Currently a corporal, he will eventually become Lead Cadet which is the highest rank of divisional cadet.

The first of his major achievements was being chosen to be part of 12 cadets to go to Hong Kong to compete in an International competition against many other countries.

Of the experience, Mitri said “It was such an amazing thing to be part of and given me lifelong friends from the four corners of the globe”.

Later that year, he became the Country Cadet of the Year after being nominated by his division where he had to present a speech, successfully pass an interview and take part in a first aid scenario. He won this and was then through to the National final to become National Cadet of the Year. This took place over two days where he competed against 10 other County Cadets of the Year.

At the awards evening, Llanelli Division did extremely well by achieving the Deputy Young Adult of the Year, National Cadet of the Year and the Lord Aberdare Shield. The Lord Aberdare Shield is given to the division with the most duty hours, with 698 hours in the year. Mitri contributed by giving many hours volunteering in Parc Y Scarlets, Pembrey Country Park and many more venues.

This year he will certainly be an exciting one for Mitri as his duties include visiting many places as National Cadet of the Year, but he is also going for the Sovereign Award, the hardest achievement awarded in St. John, where he has to demonstrate his personal skills, teamwork skills and assess his contribution to his community. He is also planning on beginning the Amalfi Award where he must set personal goals to complete. In addition, Mitri has received his Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award and has started his Silver Award.

Mitri added he would recommend joining St John’s Ambulance as “It has opened many doors to my future and has given me invaluable life skills and confidence. I have made new friends, not only from Wales but from around the world. It would not be an understatement to say it has been a life-changing experience for me and could be for anyone.”

Well done Mitri, you are an inspiration to pupils at St. Michael’s School and the wider community.

Throughout the year the boarders have had the opportunity to play tennis and receive some professional training from our specialist coach and House Master, Mr J Jenkins. Based at Swansea Tennis Club the students have attended training every Saturday morning, and on the club open day they had the privilege of being coached by the Welsh National Performance Manager Elinore Lightbody. The students had a great day and Michael Chow was delighted to be presented with a Swansea City football shirt.

Over the year they have all made excellent progress; Karran Bhaggat represented the Senior team with great success and the boys are starting to play more competitive tennis. Next year we hope that some of the girls will get involved and take an interest in learning new sports. Long term, the school hopes to build links with Swansea Tennis & Squash Club thus giving students more opportunities to play at a competitive standard.

St. Michael’s School www.stmikes.co.uk 01554 820325 office@stmikes.co.uk