Christmas 2017

December 2017

November has been an extremely busy month here at CtK! Not only is November an opportunity
for us to remember family and friends who are now deceased but also a time for us to give thanks for
what we have! I must draw your attention to the very positive media coverage regarding the
Rolls-Royce Science Prize and of course CtK being featured on the BBC for Children in Need. I am
extremely proud of our achievements and I would like to thank Gill James and Emma Chambers for
their unrelenting commitment to the Science prize and of course the Senior Prefect Team (supported
by Joe Hopkins and Fraser Sanders) for organising Children in Need.
Happy Reading!
Mr Cuomo, Principal
SCIENCE TECHNICIAN WINS AWARD...
The Gratnells sponsored Science Technician of the Year award 2016/17 has gone to Gill James,
who works at Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy in Arnold, near Nottingham.
Gill has not only lifted the coveted trophy but has guided her school to the finals of another major
science accolade, the Rolls Royce Science prize.
Working as part of a close-knit team of science technicians and teachers, she has been an example of
the school’s commitment to excellence throughout the range of STEM subjects, developing student
interest along with her meticulous preparation and management of practical science lessons.
Her success in winning the Gratnells Science
Technician of the Year award is another major
milestone in her list of achievements, which has
delighted her colleagues but not surprised them.
Sarah Lissendon Crook, Deputy Head of Science at
Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy, says
is the consummate professional with a level of
personal commitment to both teachers and
students which makes her special.
she
Gill was presented with the award by Gratnells
International Marketing Director Richard Picking at a ceremony held at the National STEM Learning
Centre on York University Campus, receiving £2000 worth of vouchers for her school and a personal
cheque. Next year she will be invited to join the judging panel for the 2017/18 awards and will become
a member of the newly formed Science Technician Of The Year (STOTY) Alumni Association created by
award sponsors Gratnells.

Learning Resource Centre
Remembrance, Lest We Forget
November in the LRC saw the staff and
students join together to commemorate the
lives given by the brave men and women of the
world, so that we may lead a life of peace and
freedom.
Part of our display is dedicated to former
student Martin Gill who sadly lost his life whilst
serving with the Royal Marines in Afghanistan.
Look out for the new range of books arriving soon...
Terry Deary once again
thrills us with gruesome
tales of life during the First
World War that other history
books neglect to mention.

Senior Prefects SMASH target for Children in Need!!
It is quite a tradition in Christ the King that our Sixth Form
Prefect Team plan and run our Children in Need fundraising
day. In years gone by our Head Boy and Girl have done a
sterling job directing the team raising just over £1000. The
highest in recent years was in 2014 when just over £1500 was
raised. This year saw some changes and a group of seven Senior Prefects, who work together as a team,
planned the events. They set themselves the target of £1500 and had an extra incentive as they would be
appearing on BBC1 as part of the East Midlands evening coverage for Children in Need.
Their planning was military precision, with everyone knowing their role and Asha Stewart, the Fundraising
and Charity Prefect, leading the team. They delivered inspiring assemblies encouraging the whole student
body to get involved, and highlighting the necessary and wonderful work that Children in Need do. We
had our usual events of Non-Uniform Day, Cake Sale, Tuck Shop and the Annual Soak the Teacher proving
very popular as always. This year we saw a few new ideas – a hot dog stall at lunch that sold out very
quickly, a Staff Car Wash and even Mr Riding commented on the quality of
workmanship; and Pudsey’s Fair – a lunch time activity that included a
photo booth, face painting and lots of activities. After most of the
fundraising of the day had taken place counting revealed that we had
made £1340. It would have been easy to just give up at this point but No!
The team grabbed more buckets and went to every classroom and office in
the school asking if anyone had any spare change they could give to help
us reach the target before the end of the day. We were bowled over by the generosity of our pupils and
staff as another £220 was raised pushing the total to £1660! We’d done it! Then news came in from the
Finance department that more money had been handed in taking the final
days total to £1932.14!! The highest the school had ever raised. We
excitedly headed off to the Albert Hall in Nottingham with a big banner
showing how ‘benevolent’ (in the words of Sami) our community is!
Following late donations our final count reached £2011. What an incredible
achievement for our school. A big thank you to our wonderful staff and
students particularly our Senior Prefects: Asha, James, Joe, Katie, Sami,
Kayleigh & Karim. To all the sixth formers who helped them, staying until
late baking and icing; the staff who got soaked in Soak the Teacher, Mrs
Sloka who organised a Polish Cake sale and anyone I have forgotten!!
Joe Hopkins, Lay Chaplain

CAREERS GUIDANCE NEWS…
During November, all of our Year 10 students had a fifteen minute “mock interview”, with
experienced interviewers, drawn from a range of employers.
The experience was both challenging and rewarding, with a number of students excelling when
thinking on their feet about how to answer a question they’d not anticipated being asked, or
responding in greater depth to more open-ended questions.
The employers were extremely impressed by the politeness and presentation of students as well
as the quality of their replies.
With almost 150 students interviewed across three days, this experience was a considerable
commitment, but one which has proven to be very worthwhile.
Calling all Year 10 students and parents … a date for your diary!
Work Experience Information Evening – Tuesday 16 th January, 6 pm
Please join us in school on the evening of Tuesday 16 th January 2018 at 6.00pm for an
information-giving event hosted by Miss Southgate, our Work Related-Learning Co-ordinator.
The evening will offer parents and students important information about sourcing and
arranging work-experience placements.
This compulsory week of an employer-based work placement begins on Monday 25 th June
2018. This hour-long evening event is planned to help students make the most of the website
which is used to help find placements, whilst giving other tips that will help students get the
most from their week.
In the meantime, students and parents should start to think about the placement. Why not
make enquires about suitable employers, perhaps including those at which a family member
works? Last year, around 60% of placements were sourced directly by students and their parents
before being checked and approved by the school.
NB: If you have already arranged a placement, you need to inform Miss Southgate by collecting
and completing a Work Experience Notification Form from Student Services, with your
employers details.
Do please join us at the meeting in January – we look forward to meeting you.
Miss Southgate – Work-Related Learning Co-ordinator and English Teacher
Mr Pringle – Work-Related Learning Manager

Chaplaincy News
Hello everyone and welcome to another month of Chaplaincy News. Here is what has been
happening in November:
All Saints’ Mass & Wall of Remembrance
Our month began with the celebration of our All
Saints’ Day Mass at Good Shepherd Church. It is
wonderful that we can go down to Church to celebrate
this great day as a whole school community. The Mass
was planned by our Chaplaincy Team and we have lots of
new members so for many of them this was the first thing
that they have done as a Chaplaincy Team. The reflections
they wrote for the readings as well as the bidding prayers
showed an incredible depth of faith. At the start of Mass
everyone wrote the name or names of people they know who
have died on to a piece of paper shaped like a brick. These
were collected in the offertory and then taken back to Christ
the King and became our Wall of Remembrance. This has
stayed in the dining hall throughout November and we have
continued to pray for all these people.
Holywell House Mass
Holywell House was next to take part in their house mass. After lots of hard work in form time the
house gathered in the hall; with Fr Joe Wheat once again joining us to celebrate Mass. Particular
highlights of the preparation were from H.Bridget form who through lots of research found out that
Holywell is the oldest site of continuous pilgrimage in Britain and one of the oldest in Europe. While
H.Joan tutor group created a Holywell for a display. The Mass was a time for the house to celebrate
their namesake; the site of pilgrimage at Holywell in Wales. In particular we celebrated the life of St
Winefride, who in the 7 th century
became a martyr, being killed by a
chieftain who had tried to seduce
her. When Caradoc cut off her
head, it is said a well sprung from
the ground, and it is this site that is
now the oldest continual site of
pilgrimage in the UK. In his homily Fr Joe spoke about the small actions that we can all do in order to
make a difference; that our service doesn’t have to be something as big as St Winefride’s, but if we all
contribute by doing something small we will make a big difference. Thanks to everyone who made
this Mass such a reflective experience.

Day of the Eucharist
On Friday 24 th November we took part in the
Day of the Eucharist. This was a day devoted
to Eucharistic Adoration all across our Diocese
(the majority of the East Midlands). The day
began with a live broadcast from the Bishop’s
House where we joined him in his morning
prayer before the Eucharist. He spoke about
how he prays and what helps him know that the
Eucharist is Jesus’ actual body. Each form also
watched a video explaining what Eucharistic
Adoration is. This was made by Tom Baptist,
one of the Chaplains, but was presented in school by our very own Fraser Sanders! We then
had special services focused on Jesus’ healing power throughout the day, these were planned
by the Chaplaincy Team and lead by Fraser and I. It
was amazing to see students coming before Jesus
and praying so earnestly and placing their trust in
him. This service was part of a document called
Encounter Him which was created by our school to
help other schools know how to plan and lead
interactive times of Eucharistic Adoration. We have
heard great feedback from staff and students both
here as well as across the diocese and we hope to
run a similar day again.
EMHC
Congratulations to Aine Gallagher and Francesca
Bertolaso who were commissioned as Extraordinary
Ministers of Holy Communion by Bishop Patrick at St
Barnabas Cathedral. Congratulations also to Brodie
Bardwell, who finished Sixth Form in the summer, as he
was also commissioned at the same Mass for his work
at the Briars.

Christ the King Sunday
Our patronal feast day in school never falls on a school day,
that is because Christ the King is celebrated on the last
Sunday of ordinary time; the Sunday before Advent. We try
and celebrate this in our partner parishes. At Good Shepherd
and Holy Cross we had students leading the readings including
sharing reflections, reading bidding prayers they had written
for the Mass, doing the offertory and collection, as well as Altar
Serving. It was the first time in recent memory that we have
been able to celebrate this with Holy Cross Parish so are very
grateful to Fr Paul Chipchase and the parishioners for
welcoming Mr Riding and the students so warmly. Back at
Good Shepherd Fr Philip asked Fraser to give a reflection in the
place of the homily, many people said how interesting and
challenging these words were.
Fraser focused on our vision as a Chaplaincy and
how we try to lead people to Jesus. We also had
Mr Burke, Fraser and Cami (one of our Sixth
Formers) distributing Holy Communion. While
over at Sacred Heart Mr Cuomo spoke to the
parish about the school and how we try to live
out our mission every day.
We hope that you have a blessed Advent and look forward to updating you with everything that
has happened in December.
God bless,
Joe Hopkins, Lay Chaplain
Fraser Sanders, Emmaus Project Volunteer

HISTORY
The History department at Christ the King is once again participating in the First World
War Centenary Battlefield Tour Programme in 2018. We have the opportunity for 2 student
ambassadors to represent the school on this visit to Belgium and France as part of a larger
cohort of young people from other schools around the United Kingdom from March 16 th – 19 th
2018.
The three days feature visits to memorials, cemeteries and battlefields in both France and
Belgium and attendance at the ceremony of the Last Post. All costs for transport, food and
accommodation are covered as part of the programme.
We can only offer places to two History students and as such we would like to reward on merit
students who feel they have a passion for History and would particularly benefit from this
experience. Students who attend the tour will be involved in presenting to younger students
about their experiences.
We would like interested students to write an essay of no more than 400 words entitled “Is
remembrance more or less important 100 years on?” This should be handed into Student
Services by the end of Tuesday 19th December. We will select two winning essays and we will
inform the students chosen before the end of term if they have been selected to attend.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at
plightfoot@christtheking.notts.sch.uk
Mr Lightfoot, Humanities
The Menin Gate, Ypres. Venue for the Last Post ceremony.

SEEKING ALUMNI
We are would love to find out what our former
6th form students go on to achieve following
their studies. We would appreciate it if our
former 6th formers could spare a few minutes to
tell us a little about their experiences of Christ the
King 6th Form and provide some information
about the career they went on to. With permission
we would like to post this on our website to help
inspire our current students and give them greater
aspirations as they see the varied and interesting
paths that former Christ the King Sixth Formers go
on to achieve.
The questions are below and if possible could you
also attach a photograph of yourself at work?
When the page is online we will contact you so
that you can read the insert on our web page. We
may also occasionally post information about
events that alumni could be involved with.
EL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS (DAY OF THE DEAD)
It was not Halloween! It is a religious Catholic
Celebration, and we celebrated it Mexican/Aztec
style. There was a religious, cultural, linguistic, and
historical talk, plus piñatas+ caramelos (sweets), and
traditional Aztec food tasting (specially made to
celebrate the day) such as pan de muerto, tamales,
chocolate mole, and fruits.
It was organized by Ms Hurst, supported by Miss
Clain, with a brief introduction from Mr Hopkins, and
hosted by the following year 8 pupils in alphabetical
order: Arianna Abbati, Georgia Harrison, Toby
Newman, Juliana Octeza, Elliott Parks, Alessandro
Turatti and Harrison Walker. Enjoy our pictures of the
event!
Ms Hurst/Miss Clain,
To help us grow our alumni network, when you
have finished your contribution and sent it to us
please feel free to pass the information on to any
former Christ the King students that you keep in
touch with and encourage them to get in touch
with us.
Please forward completed responses to
alumni@christtheking.notts.sch.uk
Thank you in advance for your support.
Name:
Class of: (Year)
I studied… (Subjects)
My next step after 6th form… (Gap year/
University/course details etc.)
How did the 6th form help me get where I am
today…
My favourite memories of CTK 6th Form are…
My current role is...

Chaplain’s Christmas Message
First and foremost I would like to wish you all, and your loved ones, a very Merry Christmas.
I’m not ready for Advent yet! It may be because Advent is only just over 3 weeks that it has
seemed to go quicker than normal. Alternatively, it could be that I have not listened to the call of
Advent – Stay awake the Lord is near! This last week, during my Parish Priests Homily, it hit home
and I’ve started to make a path straight for the Lord. My Priest spoke about how Jesus is coming
to us and I realised that I had always approached Advent in the wrong way. It needs to be about
Him coming to us and all we have to do is be ready to let Him in.
The very thought of Jesus coming to us is very different to what we are used to when we
encounter the famous and the powerful. We go to a concert, a football match, to the Houses of
Parliament or Downing Street; even pilgrimages are focused on us setting out. Yet, at Christmas, it
is about Jesus, our God, coming to us.
The theme of our Carol Service this year has been encounter. At first it doesn’t seem very
Christmassy - it’s not peace or joy, it isn’t hope or new life but it is the core of what Christmas is.
Christmas is the encounter between God and man and that comes through a small fragile baby. In
the weakness of humanity is the strength and power of God, the creator is dependent on his
creatures.
Jesus’ life was all about encounter, he sought out people whom no one else cared about. He gave
people time and loved their company as much as they loved his. Jesus absorbed so much of
others in himself and we see that the first to meet him are the shepherds who had been rejected
by society. He would then become The Good Shepherd, rejected by society. The beautiful thing
about encountering Jesus, is that it is not a ‘once only’ experience and it is not just for those who
lived in Palestine during his time. We can encounter Jesus right now, He can encounter us. We can
reach out in prayer, we can give to Him whatever needs his forgiveness or healing. We can ask for
his help or guidance, we can come to know His will through reading the Bible. Most incredible of
all is that we can be in his presence through the Holy Sacraments. There is a saying that ‘you can’t
have Christmas without Christ’ which is of course true, but it is also true that you can’t have
Christmas without Mass.
I invite you to come and encounter Jesus and let him encounter you this Christmas, you’ll be
amazed at what can happen when you do.
Have a very happy and Holy Christmas
Joe Hopkins
Lay Chaplain

Chaplain’s Christmas Message
Below are the Mass times for our local parishes.
I invite you to come and encounter Jesus and let him encounter you this Christmas, you’ll be
amazed at what can happen when you do.
Have a happy and Holy Christmas
Joe Hopkins
Lay Chaplain
Parish Christmas Eve Christmas Day
Good Shepherd, Woodthorpe 5.30pm Midnight, 10.00am,11:30am
Sacred Heart, Carlton 6.00pm, 9.00pm 10.30am
St Christopher’s, Sneinton n/a 8.45 am
Holy Cross, Hucknall 8.00pm (Carols from 9.30am
Infant of Prague, Bestwood 4.30pm 10.15am
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, 6.30pm 10.15am

BBC RADIO NOTTINGHAM CHRISTMAS CAROL SERVICE
The BBC Radio Nottingham Christmas Carol Service, recorded on 14 th December
2017, will be broadcast on BBC Radio Nottingham at 4pm on Christmas Eve. It will
be repeated on Christmas Day at 2pm. The Service was recorded at St Barnabas
Cathedral and features Theo Dixon, who sings in the St Barnabas Cathedral Youth
Choir.
CHRIST THE KING CHRISTMAS CAROL SERVICE
On Thursday 14 th December 2017 our very talented students took to the brand new stage here at
Christ the King for the annual Christmas Carol Service. The School Hall was full and the evening
was filled with the festive delights of mulled wine and mince pies in addition to the activities on
the stage.
For just short of 3 hours the audience were entertained with Christmas carols, a variety of rock
and pop songs, a Polish Christmas song, Bible readings and a drama production to name but a
few. The show ended with the old favourite, ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’ and it was lovely
to see the cast and audience joining together to sing this lovely tune.

Drop Everything And Read (D.E.A.R.)
Just after the Easter break, students in Year 7 and 8
started to 'Drop Everything and Read' once a day during
the school day; the students often refer to this as
'D.E.A.R time'. Students have been keeping track of what
they've read using their purple D.E.A.R reading diaries which
you may have seen. With recent changes to the curriculum
and assessment, students' literacy is becoming more and
more important which is why we regard regular and
measurable reading practice as essential.
Christ the King's very first Reading
Millionaires: George Hammond and
Ibukunoluwa Adebayo with Mr Wilson.
When students finish reading a book, they complete a quiz
in the school's LRC which measures how well they have
understood the book they have read. The quizzes also keep
a running total of how many words each student has read and Mr Wilson, the school's Literacy
Co-ordinator, is very proud to announce Christ the King's very first Reading Millionaires: George
Hammond and Ibukunoluwa Adebayo, although several others are very close to becoming Reading
Millionaires at this time.
There is currently a real buzz around the LRC with many other students aspiring to finish books and
achieve high scores on the quizzes.
As well as reading in school, students are being encouraged to give their literacy a boost by reading
at home too. So, if students do ask you to sign their D.E.A.R diary, please feel free to do so. Who
knows, you might even get a story into the bargain!
Geography
Our Year 12 students spent a day in Beeston in
November as part of the Changing Places unit of their
A Level. The focus was on the character of the area and
how changing population, infrastructure and business has
influenced the nature of the area. The students spent time
in the library honing their research skills with the local
archive and followed this up with a range of fieldwork on
the two contrasting high streets. All our students were
confident with the public and able to draw conclusions
from an area which they were unfamiliar with despite its
similarities with Arnold. The Geography department will
next be in the field in May with year 10 – more information to follow soon.
Christ the King CVA
Darlton Drive,
Arnold,
Nottingham,
Nottinghamshire NG5 7JZ
Principal: Mr C Cuomo
Tel: 0115 955 6262
Email: office@christtheking.notts.sch.uk
www.christtheking.notts.sch.uk