A Busy Term Outside of the Classroom

Coronavirus restrictions may have turned things upside down for everyone, but that has not stopped the staff at Cardinal Newman from ensuring that our students still have the best opportunities available for them.

So whilst this term has looked quite different at College, there have still been a plethora of things going on for students to get involved in, from virtual guest speakers to online webinars with world-renowned composers, Autumn Term 2020 has been a busy one!

Art and Textiles Talk from the Harris

Our Y13 BTEC Art and Design and A-Level Textiles students were treated to a virtual talk from Dr Caroline Alexander from the Harris Museum and Art Gallery. Dr Alexander spoke about the Horrockses Collection at the Harris Museum.

The talk was particularly useful for their exploring a current printed textiles unit, which sees them designing fashion fabrics and printing fabrics for fashion, using industry-standard processes. The talk was hugely beneficial for the students to see both the fashion archive and explore the artworks and the history of the local firm behind the fashion prints.

Music Webinar with Award-Winning Composer

Students studying A-Level Music at Newman have had the rare opportunity to take part in a series of three webinars run by British composer Edmund Joliffe. Edmund composes classical, choral and commercial music, and has written extensively for television including BBC 1’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are? and ITV’s ‘Long Lost Family’.

One of the positives to come out of the various lockdowns we have lived through recently has been that musician’s and artists, in particular, have found themselves with more time available to dedicate to helping future generations who aspire to follow in their footsteps.

The webinars took place from September to November and focussed on Music Composition and coaching for A-Level coursework. It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to ask direct questions to Edmund, whom they would not normally have the opportunity to speak to. It has been a fantastic opportunity and one which has been thoroughly beneficial to all of the students who took part.

University Courses Guest Speaker

At Cardinal Newman, as well as offering an outstanding programme of A-Level and BTEC Level 3 qualifications, we also offer a range of University courses, including Foundation Degrees. This term, our Foundation Degree Health and Social Care students were lucky enough to have a virtual guest speaker in the form of Roisin Pelan, who is an author and cancer patient.

Roisin spoke to the students about ‘Care from the Client’s Perspective’ in order to give them an insight into her condition, care pathways and the support she receives in her treatment of secondary and stage four breast cancer. It was really insightful and offered them a different perspective on issues surrounding patient care.

Unrivalled Support Outside of the Classroom

One of the things that set Cardinal Newman apart from its competitors is the unrivalled support that students receive during their time here. Often in the form of Curriculum Plus (which is additional study support sessions), there is also more tailored and specific support available too. One such opportunity is for students who are considering studying Chemistry or a Chemistry related degree at University. We are running a 12-session programme for Year 13 students called ‘Further Chemistry’, with the aim of bridging the gap between A-Level and degree-level study.

Also, as part of our prestigious HE* Programme, for the last few years, we have been offering practice interviews with Oxford Interviews, a company who help to support students with aspirations of applying to Oxford, Cambridge or any of the Russell Group Universities. The company have continued their work with the College.

Christmas Card Competition

In the run-up to Christmas, we challenged our very talented students to design a Christmas card for the chance to win a voucher of their choice. The cards could be designed in whatever style and using whatever medium the student chose which lead to a real mixture of skills and talents being displayed. We were blown away not only by the quantity but the quality of the entries we received, in fact, they were so good we found it impossible to choose just one winner! So in the end, FOUR winners were chosen, each with a unique and different take on the challenge. The winning designs will be featured together (as seen above) in our Christmas card design for 2020! Congratulations to Morrigan Atherton-Forshaw, Stanley Mason, Roseanna Cant and Lucian Florea on their winning designs and to all who entered!