Author: roctave

In March we launched our second annual Easter Egg Appeal which saw students and staff across the sites purchasing chocolate Easter eggs, big and small, and handing them in to our onsite donation points. The appeal gained lots of attention from students as they continued to demonstrate a great attitude towards almsgiving and outdid themselves with donations!

Come Community Day, more than 300 eggs were rounded up and hand delivered to the Demelza Hospice in Eltham. We were greeted by the amazing nursing staff who gladly helped to unload the special delivery and reminded us of the immeasurable impact that such gifts would have on the children they care for. We would like to thank all who contributed to this virtuous cause and also to think of the families affected by children suffering serious illness and would like to thank organizations like the Demelza Hospice for all the work that they do. 

We were jubilant to finally have the ability to hold our cross-site Sports Day for our learners last week, which saw many of the sixth forms gifted athletes turn out to the sporting event, keen to claim the title of CTK Champions! 

Events began at each site at 1:45pm with Badminton, Football and Table tennis taking place over at St Mary’s, Netball at Aquinas and Basketball hosted by Emmanuel. Once the coaches of students arrived at the relevant sport-hosted site, students were informed of the round-robin style set of rules and eagerly took to their sporting locations. 

This was a wonderful opportunity for students from the pre-existing CTK Football, Basketball and Netball teams to come together and show off their skillsets.

The cross-site event also gave students the ability to converse and mingle with their fellow CTK learners. 

So, which CTK campus was crowned the victors? After hours of sporting amusement, the scores were as such: 

This means, with a total of 65 points the CTK Sports Day 2022 Winners are ….

St Mary’s! 

We would like to say a huge congratulations to our fellow teammates at St Mary’s and a very well done to all for the skills, dedication and effort shown towards success! 

The last day of the Spring term saw countless activities taking place across the three sites and all in celebration of Easter Community Day! 

ECO: We were pleased to see students incorporating the sixth form’s Eco-friendly ideals into the Easter Community Day by involving themselves in various eco projects that day. One activity involved up-cycling used jam jars and other recyclable masonry to create tea-light lanterns. These were then hand painted, ready to be taken home and used as an eco-friendly alternative to an electric lamp. 

In another mini-Eco Project, students took to the outdoors to hang bird boxes around the sixth form in the hopes of encouraging more bird wildlife on site. The students showed much enthusiasm as they painted and decorated the boxes before picking the perfect locations to hang the new bird homes. 

Cultural: The Easter Community Day continued to be a success with plenty of cultural activities taking place across the sites. This included the likes

of henna hand painting and even live performances in the main hall with renditions of beautifully recited gospel songs. But it didn’t end there. The talent- showcasing continued in the LRC as tactical-minded students took on both peers and staff in a nail-biting chess tournament

Fundraising: The day saw multiple fundraising activities taking place and we couldn’t be more proud of our students for the initiative and generosity shown towards charity work. We were delighted to see students from the ALS department run a sweet stall that raised money for Demelza Hospice, a charity that we have worked with many times in the past supporting the work they do with the families of terminally ill children. 

Another group of students raised money by putting on sporting tournaments whereby entrants would pay a small fee to gain access to the Sports Hall and go head-to-head with an opponent in games such as table tennis and badminton.  

The list of activities was endless and both staff and students alike had great fun, raising over £500 for charity and fully immersing themselves in the spirit of the Easter Community Day! We would like to thank all staff and students for their commitment to making the day special and for all the hard work they have put in over the past term! 

We were delighted to attend and observe a student-led Business Employability Engagement 

Conference last month. The conference was organised and run by Level 3 Business students, who wished to create an event that sought to engage their fellow Business students. The goal was to familiarise them with both course progression options as well as employability routes available to them once their course is complete. 

The event itself was organised in an ’open-plan’ format, which allowed the learners to visit each of the six stations at their leisure. Each station had a member of staff who would offer impartial advice and careers information on their specialist subject. The event was well attended and the learners who were present also benefitted from a session developing their CV’s and interview skills. 

Sawmarr, the student lead on the project, had this to say after the event, “We’ve just finished our ‘Employability Engagement Conference’, which covers Unit 4 of my Business Level 3 course. I am incredibly happy with how the event went and I hope the other learners found it to be useful and informative. Thank you very much CTK for letting me organise this event and for providing me with help and assistance!” 

We would like to say a massive well done and congratulations to all the BTEC Level 3 learners who worked so hard on this conference, and we look forward to assisting in more projects like this in future. 

The ALS team has recently launched their “Life Skills” sessions for our ALS learners, with the intention of teaching them practical and worth-while skills to assist them in the future. The first session is cooking and sees learners preparing palm-oil-free toast and ethically sourced coffee for the staff members that ordered it. 

Learners found the class fantastic and enjoyed it immensely, many of which are now thinking about what session they would like to be run next. Mr Willson, organiser of the event and ALS Coordinator for CTK Emmanuel, had this to say, “I could not be happier with how the event went. The learners found it extremely useful, and they enjoyed it as well. Best of all they more prepared for the future, and we have raised money for a good cause. I am so excited for the next session and hope that the learners find this one just as rewarding.” 

Staff were also impressed by how great the class was for their own wellbeing. Ms Jarman, a staff member at CTK Emmanuel, had this to say, “It has been amazing. It is nice to have a place where staff members can chat and eat with other staff who they may not see on a usual basis, has been a truly enriching experience and it is for a great cause!”  

The money raised from the session has been donated to Demelza, a charity of the learner’s own choosing. Demelza is a charity that assists families with young members suffering from terminal and very serious illnesses.  

The incentive is a fantastic way to teach our learners vital skills whilst also encouraging independent growth. We eagerly await the announcement of the next class and look forward the ALS department will organise next. 

We welcomed the celebration of LGBT+ History Month here at Christ the King this February with a variety of activities and displays which sought to illuminate some of the amazing actions members of the LGBT+ community have performed throughout history. 

In the LRC (Learning Resource Centre) we have had wonderful displays installed detailing both prominent historical figures from the LGBT+ community as well as more recent individuals who have achieved something remarkable. Many people have found these displays incredibly interesting and thought provoking. An example of someone on the board was Nicola Adams, who was the first openly LGBT+ woman ever to win an Olympic gold medal in the boxing competition. 

The LGBT+ Society, a student-led group acting as a safe and secure environment to talk about issues relating to the LGBT+ community, has also been discussing LGBT+ history, as well as the positive changes to civil rights in recent history and the landmark events that led to where we are now, including the 1969 ‘Stonewall Riots’ and origins of the Pride in England to name a few. 

Our 10:10 reflection at the start of the month was also dedicated to LGBT+ history month, which emphasised the importance of respecting human identity, dignity and worth, and that whoever we are, our self-understanding can be affected by our past, present and future. 

CTK is an establishment that reveres acceptance and respect, and we are delighted to be able to be able to shine a light on the importance of the LGBT+ community and the positive impact they have made in making our world a better place. 

At Christ the King we are big proponents of social action in our communities and are regularly running events and activities for the benefit of charities in and around our local communities. Below are a few of the recent social action events that have been taking place across the CTK (Christ the King) sites. 

Recently learners and staff were encouraged to wear expressive clothing in aid of “Dress to Express Day”, a day that aims to raise both money and awareness for the charity Young Minds, a charity that seeks to ensure all young people and their families receive mental health support, if they need it. This day raised over £350 for the charity and cannot wait to see this money put to good use. 

In a similar vein, students also took part in “Onesie Day”, which saw learners attend their sixth form in all manner of humorous onesies. This event was run by the learners themselves and was in aid of Mindout, a charity focusing on improving the mental health of people in the LGBT+ community. 

Learners also ran a heart-shaped lollypop stand in the canteen, with the profits going towards the charity Tender, a charity whose mission is to help young people who are the victims of domestic abuse. This was another charity selected by the learners. The total sales managed to raise a fantastic amount of £70 for the charity. 

The grand total from these events was over £400, and we are so immensely proud of our learners for running events like these, whilst simultaneously committing to their studies. It demonstrates how deeply they care about social action and how much making a difference means to them. 

We eagerly await the opportunity to inform you of more acts of charity and social action occurring around the sixth forms in the future. 

Christ the King is proud to announce the launch of our Easter Appeal, a fundraiser seeking to raise both gifts and money towards two amazing charities, CAFOD and Demelza.  

CAFOD (Catholic Aid for Overseas Development) is a Catholic organisation that aims to assist anyone in the world who requires aid. Demelza is a charity that assists families with young members suffering from terminal and very serious illnesses. 

The appeal is set to run throughout lent and encompasses a variety of social action initiated by our learners, including a chocolate Easter egg appeal, a GoFundMe donation page and a milkshake stand amongst many more. We are honoured to be organising such an event and are excited to be able to update you once we have news on the status of the appeal. 

If you would like to donate items or funds to the appeal, you can do so in a variety of ways: 

• If you would like to donate monetary funds, please follow the link which will take you to our GoFundMe page, where we are raising money for the two charities. 
• If you would like to donate chocolate eggs to the appeal, please bring them to either the chaplaincy, or the reception where they will be collected by the team. 

We would like to take this moment to thank our fantastic chaplaincy team for organising the appeal and continuing to facilitate and run events throughout its course. 

Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) is marked each year on 27th January – the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. On this day, schools, communities and faith groups across the UK join together in national and local events to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and of even more recent genocides. 

Deacon Javier, our Lay Chaplin, lead a Holocaust Memorial service at each site which staff and students attended.  The service was extremely moving and highlighted the Nazi Persecution and the genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, in the hope that there may be One Day in the future with no genocide. 

We were privileged enough to host a talk with two holocaust survivors, Paul Sved and Ivan Shaw, who both have fascinating stories about their experiences as young children living in cities under Nazi control. Both speakers, now in their 80’s, gave up their time to speak to CTK lower sixth students as part of the Sixth Forms 10:10 programme. Their stories were extremely moving and highlighted the sadness in their childhood and their victimisation of Nazi persecution. The pair went on to give a recap of their oppression, the time spent away from their families as young children, the day they finally managed to escape Nazi occupation and how they remarkably went on to lead normal happy lives. 

Our students were fascinated by their stories and amazed by the bravery of the survivors. One student said “The testimonies gave me a very harsh yet interesting insight into life during the Holocaust. We’ve heard from historians but not often the survivors and it allowed me to understand the atrocities that were taken upon the people of that time and helped me understand the misfortune they went through. Even with all his discomfort he prevailed and taught a valuable lesson on how two very different views can affect the whole of human history.” – Kanye Cross-Gordon, CTK St Mary’s student. 

We would like to say a big thank you to the Holocaust Educational Trust for arranging this session with us and to the incredible guest speakers for sharing their memorable stories with us at this time.

We were delighted to host Unloc’s insightful Alternative Pathways Session which focused on understanding career options as well as apprenticeships and traineeships. Unloc are an educational organisation that aim to develop the potential of young people.  

The educational event spanned over two hours, beginning with an introduction of the facilitators and the objective for the event, which was to inform learners about the alternative avenues for them to progress after studying at CTK. Students were then encouraged to participate in a Q&A segment led by Colin Yaoshioka-Smith (Training Academy) which looked specifically at Apprenticeships and Traineeships. 

The session then moved on to a talk by Mo Hussain (Best Practice People) who explained the apprentice hiring process in certain sectors. This was then followed by Alan Hunte’s (Thoth London) segment on the future of employment. Finally, lead facilitator Stacey Bawden then finished the presentation by talking to the students about other, equally important factors in career exploration such as personal SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) analysis and goal setting. 

The learners found the Alternative Pathways Session highly informative and educational, and we are incredibly happy that we can continue to provide such fantastic sessions to our learners in order to further prepare them for the future. 

We would like to say a special thanks to Unloc and Stacey Bawden for facilitating the session and to our Careers department, for seeking out and working with these educational organisations to further enrich our students with quality careers information and advice.

The work of our CTK Eco Group continues to go from strength to strength. The Eco committee meet regularly to take forward the Sixth Form’s Green agenda. In a recent meeting they discussed changes they could make to reduce our impact on the environment. Recently, the group have been looking at the impact of meat farming and the damage that such heavily laboured factories can do to the environment. 

The outcome of these meetings has inspired students to consider eating alternative foods that have little-to-no impact on the environment, as it helps reduce the impact too much meat consumption has on both the human body and the environment. 

The reps launched a competition across the three CTK sites, which looked at identifying meat free dishes that each site wanted to take forward. Entrants had to plan a recipe for their tastiest meat-free dish which would be cooked in the canteen. We await to hear the outcome, but recipes included: vegetarian Pizza, meat free chilly, cauliflower curry along with Quorn based alternatives to traditional meat-based recipes. 

The sixth form also received a visit from the Education and Engagement Officer for the Big City Butterfly Project. This is an exciting new project that aims to inspire Londoners to discover butterflies and moths, and connect them with nature and their local green spaces. As well as offering habitat management advice, they have also offered to run a butterfly ID workshop for staff and students. This is an opportunity to gain skills and knowledge to help increase butterfly monitoring across the project area. 

As part of our Wellbeing initiative to promote a good work/life balance and healthy attitudes towards downtime, CTK staff have visited a Theatre production of Chicago at the Bromley Churchill Theatre.

The trip was organised by Tim Olademeji and Amanda Haylock, who together sought the tickets and extended the invitation to staff across the three CTK sites.

As you might know, the Chicago play is an American musical black comedy-drama crime film that started its run on Broadway in the year 1975. It explores the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Chicago during the Jazz Age. Chicago centres on two murderesses who find themselves in jail together awaiting trial in 1920s Chicago.

Here’s what some of the staff members had to say about their weeknight wellbeing outing:

Amanda Haylock – Head of Performing Arts said, “What a wonderful experience to get back into the theatre and see a show that I love with my colleagues. It was great to get new staff involved and introduce them to the community spirit that CTK staff are so well known for.”

Tim Olademeji – Wellbeing Coordinator said, “It was fantastic! I take great pleasure in these outings because I know how beneficial spending time with friends and taking time out can be for your wellbeing.”

The third and final of the November CTK open days ended with CTK Emmanuel. The event went ahead on Saturday 20^th November where we were joined by a staggering amount of prospective students. 

The student ambassadors worked tirelessly and professionally to chauffeur individual groups of prospective students around the building as they answered questions and showed our guests to the relevant subject areas. 

Staff also played a key role on the day, interacting with interested students and taking them through the subject course. Some subject ambassadors remained in their classrooms to support their teachers and give the prospective students a real feel of what it would be like to study a BTEC or pathway at Emmanuel by giving them an introduction to the classroom facilities as well as showcasing their fantastic work. 

Each hour-long tour ended with a talk with the site principal Mr Simon Spearman as well as Executive Principal Shireen Razey. During these talks, both students and parents were given an in-depth presentation on the full range of subjects and opportunities that Emmanuel has to offer. 

We were overwhelmed by the wealth of complementary and positive feedback relayed by our visitors. We would like to say thank you to all the students and staff who contributed to the success of the event and again, thank you to the delightful prospective students and parents who attended. 

This year we are proud to have two candidates campaigning for Lewisham Young Mayor.  We caught up with Sheniz who is currently studying Art and Design and has high hopes for the changes she would like to see take place in the borough which she has lived in her whole life. We wanted to find out what inspired her to join the campaign, here’s what she had to say: 

“I’ve always wanted to inspire younger people. I want to show people that its ok to be you and you can do anything that you set out to do”. 

Interviewer: How does studying at CTK tie in with your campaign? 

Sheniz: “I feel like it’s good because I can get advice from my peers and teachers and even get my peers to promote me. 

Interviewer: “If you were to be successful, what do you hope to achieve by the end of your term as Young Mayor? 

Sheniz: “I’d like to create more opportunities for young people, especially minorities. Creating more events and workshops.  

We were delighted to have Kerry Frampton Artistic Director of Splendid Productions lead a workshop with the BTEC Performing Arts students last week.

As part of their course the students need to explore the theories and practice of a variety of practitioners and Kerry introduced the students into the ways of working of Jerry Grotowski and Kneehigh Theatre.

We caught up with some of the students that participated, here’s what they had to say about the workshop:

Morgan said: ‘It was really interesting to work with Kerry and see how she creates imaginative ideas.’

Mamoud said: ‘I have learnt a lot about the practitioners, and I will now be able to use this in my own work when we are devising next half term.’