Well done to Lawrence Ssonko in Year 10 who was chosen last week to represent our school in the Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge.

Four students were short-listed and they all gave passionate speeches but the judges decided Lawrence had the edge. He will now prepare to represent St Bonaventure’s in the Newham Final in a fortnight at Chobham academy.

Thanks to Ms Corriette for all her help with the competition and preparing the boys to speak so confidently and eloquently.

Our Year 10 basketballers travelled to Leicester yesterday, May 4, to play Liverpool’s Blue Coat School and came away victorious and looking forward to playing in the final against St Gabriel’s College from Camberwell.

The score was 90 – 59 and the lad’s played fantastically well.

Our cup runneth over with success this year as we have teams from Year 8, 9 and 11 as well as Year 10 in the finals in Belle Vue in Manchester this weekend. Our Year 7 already hold the National Champions title in the Junior NBA.

We wish all Years the very best of luck.  

The itinerary  tips off this Friday at 4pm when Year 10’s face St Gabriel’s. Year 11 face Reddish Vale High School from Stockport at 6pm. 

On Saturday Year 9 play St Matthew’s School from Manchester at 12pm. Sunday at 12pm Year 8 play St Martin’s School from Brentwood.

Headteacher Mr Halliwell added: “I don’t think there can be another school in the country that can have as many teams in the finals as we have. We are truly blessed.”

Oh my goodness, what a weekend!

The Year 10 victors met with Team GB Captain Drew Sullivan  after the game at Leicester yesterday, May 4, 2016

What a memorable week for our young basketballers.

Today our Year 11 under 16 Basketball Team beat Barking Abbey 90-87 in Double Overtime and now advance to the National Finals at Belle Vue in Manchester next Friday, May 6.

They are set to play Stockport’s Reddish Vale High School.

We are truly blessed.

A group of Year 12 Media students had a magical visit to the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour last week and caught a behind the scenes glimpse into the world of film making.

After the introduction to the tour our students were ushered into a high security area, where an educational workshop: ‘Script to Screen’ would take place. Ms Williams and Mr Robinson went along too and Ms Williams went on to explain: “We were informed we were part of the privileged few who were allowed to be this close to authentic items from the ‘Harry Potter’ film series, there were colourful mood boards, rails of costumes, shelves full of props, genuine whiteboard models and even a lifelike prosthetic of Fenrir Greyback’s hairy chest!

“Students learnt the processes involved in taking a script from the written word to screen. We were fortunate to see a genuine script from the ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ film. Louis Guinto, Russell Idos and Mr Robinson performed the scene when the children visited Hagrid’s hut. We then looked at how the script is transformed into storyboard – the crucial role they play in the filmmaking process. We were shown the intricate plans of Hagrid’s Hut that are sketched and shown to the director, before they are developed into whiteboard models and finally a finished set! The sheer size of the character Hagrid was brought to life when Hagrid’s giant pants were placed against Francis Boakye – they completely swamped him. 

“After the lesson we returned to the tour: We explored Gryffindor common room, the boys’ dormitory, Hagrid’s hut, Potion’s classroom and Professor Umbridge’s office at the Ministry of Magic. As well as Dumbledore’s office and discover never-before-seen treasures. Ambled down the famous cobbles of Diagon Alley. Hopped on board the majestic Hogwart’s Express. The highlight of the trip was a giant model replica of Hogwart’s School with lighting that changed depending on the time of day.

“We saw iconic props from the films, including the Griffin, Harry’s Nimbus 2000 and Hagrid’s motorcycle. We learnt how creatures were brought to life with green screen effects, animatronics and life-sized models. We couldn’t help resist having a go ourselves on green screen effects: driving a flying car and getting to wear the legendary cape as we flew through the busy London streets. We were disappointed to say goodbye but had tremendous trip!

“Besides the fun and excitement of exploring the studio, it was an invaluable opportunity to see the possible career pathways. This inspired the students, to see that there are a host of jobs available in one of Britain’s rapidly growing industries – that is thriving despite the financial uncertainty – this gave the students hope for the future, whether they wanted to become costume designers, scaffolders, make-up artist or caterers; they realised that a career within the film industry was possible and rewarding.“

Sounds wonderful.

St Bonaventure’s Year 8 team are now through to the National Final of England Basketball having beat Reddish Vale High School from Stockport in Manchester 102-51 this lunchtime, April 27.

That now means they have teams from Year 8 and Year 9 confirmed for the Final 4 in England.

It has just bern announced that the Year 8 team will play St Martin’s School from Brentwood at The National Basketball Centre in Belle Vue, Manchester, on May 8.

We wish them all the luck in the World but with Mr Onireti, Mr Senior, Mr Ancora and Mr Robinson behind them they are in the best hands possible.

Our 6th Form Social Science students took part in a workshop at the University of East London last Friday, April 22.

East Ham MP Stephen Timms was there to debate major political issues with our pupils. Topics under discussion were democracy, sovereignty and the freedom of movement from a range of political perspectives.

Mr Timms said he was very impressed with the university for engaging teenagers with the political debates and all its issues surrounding Brexit and the referendum.

The workshop was organised as part of UEL’s aim to generate interest in current affairs.

Ms Bunting went along and organised some students to be interviewed  afterwards by local television reporters from London Live who wanted to know their opinions on the subject.

Our Year 10 TELCO students swapped their pens for paintbrushes on Friday, April 22, when they went along to ‘Branching Out’ respite home in Dongola Road in Plaistow to help paint  a mural.

The home is funded by Newham and provides short breaks for children and young people with learning disabilities, complex health needs and those on the autistic spectrum as well as physical disabilities. There the young people can have fun, gain independence and learn and develop whilst their families take much needed breaks from 24 hour caring. Stays can vary from just a few hours to several days.

Mr Pauro arranged the revamping of the outdoor bare recreation area wall and the boys set to work painting. They spent all day there and put their heart and souls into creating a fun, bright wall of wonder for the youngsters and their families to enjoy.

The group returns this Friday, April 29, to finish the mural. It is already looking much better and very colourful. Staff at the respite home are delighted with the way it is going too.

One student from Year 10, Jamie, commented: “It was great fun and we all worked together to produce a colourful feature that we think everyone will enjoy. We’re all really looking to seeing the finished article this week and we’re glad we could help out.”

There was no stopping our Deputy Head Boy Ladry this weekend as he completed the gruelling London Mini Marathon.

Ladry is also Kolbe House Captain and completed the course and got his medal early Sunday morning, April 24, even before most of us were even out of bed.

16 year old Ladry is busy studying for his GCSEs but finds running a great distraction and a fantastic way to keep fit.

Well done Ladry!

Ladry is seen here on the left of the photograph with his medal

Our Art Department is very highly regarded and last year our results were rated the best in the country in the 2015 ALPS scores.

We enjoy a fantastic reputation for the quality of our teaching  and our students really progress and develop their artistic skills under the guidance of caring, inspirational staff.

For this year’s GCSE examinations, our Year 11 students have been studying  Oswaldo Guayasamin. Here is a piece written by one of our students, Alton Mathew – Moghan:

“For our Art exam, the ‘Past, Present and Future’ theme inspired us to investigate the art that has come about in response to War and Conflict. Our class chose one of the most influential figures of the 20th Century in South America; a powerful humanitarian and an inspiring artist – Oswaldo Guayasamin. 

“His stylistic and almost cubist approach to document the wars of modern era exudes the importance of relationships as a source for comfort. The slender fingers wrapped around faces and bodies and the highly dramatic faces of mothers and children, convey the horrors of war. His focus on the injustice of society is reinforced by the large black backgrounds which draw you into a vastness, depicting dark and sombre world which is rife with cruelty.

“Guayasamin is a truly great artist who opened the door to mankind’s darkest and most heart-rending moments, and asserted our need for solidarity and love.”

On that theme, here is something Dogan has been working on:

This next piece is by Domas:

This is by Hendrix: