St Bede's College

Head’s Half Marathon

mbarber — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 19:31:42 +0000

On March 7th, training for Heaton Park, I went out running and, feeling quite good, I decided just to keep going. By the time I had finished, I had covered 13 miles (gmaps pedometer). I had been mulling over how we might raise a significant sum for the Lourdes fund and decided that I would find a half marathon and to enter. The best date and venue seemed to be on 6th June in Buxton. Knowing the area quite well because of D of E expeditions and having run in the area before, I thought it would be a lovely setting.

Having entered, I looked at the course and profile. It was very hilly, not like running 13 miles on the trans pennine route. However, I started a training schedule which included some hill running in Alderley Edge and the Lake District. All seemed well until two weeks before the race, when I injured my achillies tendon. I rested for the two weeks, exchanging running for exercise bike and rowing machine.

On the day of the race I was pleasantly surprised to meet Mr and Mrs McKeogh who had come to support their two sons who had also entered. I started at the back, where I expected to stay. However, I made up some ground in the early stages. It was clear that the injury would hurt during the race. I power walked some of the most hilly parts (and overtook some of those running on these sections), probably about half a mile in total, but was pleased to get round and manage what is a very undulating course.

Eventually after a last mile which went on forever, I completed the course in 1 hour and 58 minutes. I have managed to successfully limp around school for the last two days, but feel back to normal now! I must pay tribute to the organisers, who had done their jobs superbly well; nobody got lost and it was good to be encouraged at various stages of the race and to be supplied with water.

Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me for the Lourdes fund. If anybody would like to still donate to the fund, please contact Mrs Duff, my PA at the College.

M L Barber

900 Club Winners

cearles — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:05:22 +0000

April
£50 Marie Mannion
£25 Joan Silcock
£20 Louise Dickinson

May
£50 M.Ogilvie
£25 Eamonn O’Malley
£20 David Campbell

June
£50 Jackinta Thompson
£25 Janet McHale
£20 Anne Clinton

Manchester Cup Victory

cearles — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:04:05 +0000

St Bede’s College U14 Football Team has regained the Manchester Schools
Football Trophy which they last won in 2005. The team beat St Matthew’s High School 2-1 in the final on Friday 22 May at Wright Robinson Playing Fields. “There are many similarities between this year’s team and the 2005 team,’ said Mr Dumbill, the team’s coach. ‘They had William Keane, the Manchester United under 18 Player of the Year, and his twin brother, Michael, who is also on United’s books, playing for them, and I am hoping that some of this year’s players might be able to follow in their footsteps. We already have two of the squad signed to Manchester United and Bury, I am sure that others in the team might now start to be picked up by other teams. This result was a real team effort and every member of the squad needs to be congratulated on individual achievements throughout the season.”
Kieran O’Hara, the team’s goalkeeper, who is signed to the Manchester United Football Academy said, “We were very surprised with the turnout at the final. There
were about two hundred people there to support us and it was great to see our team score the first two goals. We should have pushed on to score more. Instead, they scored a consolation goal in the last few minutes of the game, resulting in a
very tense finish.”
The Team: Kieran O’Hara, Adam Williams, Suh-awa Fusi, Rory O’Malley,
Jonathan Morrisey, Victor Sanchez, Sebastian Smith, Ged Brobbin, Max
Woodruff, Liam Garry, Sean Ryan
Subs: Joe Ferris, Luke Welsh, Andy Woodcock, William Cook, Joshua Fleury

Professor of Chemistry visit

cearles — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:21:44 +0000

Dr James Hutchinson from the Royal Society of Chemistry visited St Bede’s College to talk to Year Nine pupils about the latest developments in Chemistry.
A spellbound group of some one hundred and twenty students were treated to an illustrated talk by the young professor about the latest developments in the pharmaceutical sector of the Chemistry Industry. Fuels of the future were discussed as well as the way that Chemistry is now being used to solve major crimes.
Dr Hutchinson commented, “I enjoyed the opportunity to speak with such a bright group of budding young Scientists.” The students were similarly enthusiastic. ‘The presentation was excellent – informative and interesting,’ said one. ‘I never knew that Chemistry was related to so much Technology.”

MUFC Young Player Of The Year

mbarber — Wed, 19 May 2010 23:35:02 +0000

17 year old William Keane who left St Bede’s College last year to join Manchester United’s Football Academy has won this year’s ‘Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year for 2009/2010’ award at the club The special award is named in honour of Sir Matt Busby’s legendary assistant, Jimmy Murphy. William’s name will be engraved on the trophy alongside other United legends such as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes andWes Brown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpK_9mCa9Qs

Director of Academy Football and former Reds striker, Brian McClair, presented the award and Will told the packed audience, “It’s a great achievement, I’m obviously honoured, I’ve supported United all my life so I’m really pleased”.
Director of Football at St Bede’s College, Steve Fallon, said, “Will has had a fantastic year at United and everyone at the College is delighted to see him making such excellent progress. I have been tracking his progress and I have seen him score some stunning goals. As a lifelong United fan I cannot wait to see him in the first team.”
Proud parent Aidan Keane said, “We are absolutely thrilled that Will won the award. He was nominated alongside two other second year Academy players, so to win the award at such a young age was a major achievement.”
The Academy striker has already scored 13 Academy goals for United and just before the award ceremony he scored the opening goal in a 2-0 victory over Everton which clinched the Academy League Group C title. He has also played a number of times for United’s reserve team and even played in the Reserve League Play Off Final which United won against Aston Villa. As well as playing for United the striker has already won eleven caps with the England U17 Squad scoring 6 goals for the national side, the most memorable being the winning goal against Germany. He is currently on tour with England in the UEFA championships.
Twin brother Michael, still at St Bede’s finishing Sixth Form, is also an accomplished member of the Academy.

£3,000 for Brazilian Mission

cearles — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:06:56 +0000

St Bede’s College presented a cheque for £3,000 to Fr Pat Clarke to help him fund his mission for Street Children in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Fr Pat is a member of the Holy Ghost Fathers and runs a Centre for Culture and Arts in the retreat centre known as ‘City of the Angels’. The place provides a safe haven for the children of the many shanty towns and helps to keep them from entering a life of crime.
After being presented with the cheque Father Pat spoke to the assembled children. “Dom Bosco said that there is no such thing as a bad young person, only one that we adults have failed to love sufficiently. This becomes obvious time and time again when we encounter the generosity with which young people, given a chance and a worthwhile cause, prove that they want to transform the world they have inherited into something where there is justice for all and not only for the privileged few. The students of St Bede’s are to be congratulated on what they have done for the sake of our shanty town children. Long may they continue to shine a light into the darkness of a too often greedy and cynical world, by their example of solidarity and transforming hope. May God bless them, their teachers and their families now and always.”
Headmaster Michael Barber said, “The College has been supporting Fr Pat’s work for just over eleven years and we are keen to develop our links with Fr Pat and the important work he does in São Paulo.

Patrick reaches Base Camp

cearles — Wed, 12 May 2010 07:27:12 +0000

Patrick O’Neill has successfully reached Base Camp in his attempt to climb Everest, raising money for CAFOD.

Former Bedian to climb Everest

cearles — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:51:51 +0000

Former Bedian, Patrick O’Neil, aged 27 is about to set off on a trek in the Himalayas to raise money for the international aid agency, CAFOD. Together with two other adventurers, Patrick will be scaling several mountains, including Namche, Tengboche and Kala Pattar before setting his sights on Mount Everest and ascending to Base camp. He hopes to fly out on Sunday 27 April if the clouds clear, and looks forward to returning on 14 May.
When asked about his forthcoming adventure, Patrick replied, “We’ll be trekking to a maximum altitude of 18,500ft, when we climb Kala Pattar, which dwarfs anything I have previously climbed. To put it in perspective, Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK, is a mere 4,000ft. However, whilst I’m a little worried about the altitude, I’m really looking forward to seeing Mount Everest and the Himalayas.”
Patrick, who currently works in the residential childcare sector, decided to take on some of the world’s tallest mountains in order to raise funds and awareness for the development projects CAFOD supports around the world. CAFOD works with local communities in 64 countries to help them meet their needs. It does this through more than 500 partner organisations, which are staffed by local people, to help reduce poverty.
“Every few seconds someone in the developing world dies of starvation or preventable diseases. Raising money for CAFOD to help alleviate these problems is all the motivation I need. It is great to know that the money raised will help these people.”
“I would like to thank everyone who has sponsored me so far and remind others that there is still time to do so.”
Anyone wishing to sponsor Patrick can log onto the following website www.charitygiving.co.uk/paddyon7

Celebration Dinner

mbarber — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:21:45 +0000

Over 120 former pupils and staff celebrated with current staff to mark 25 years of co-education at St Bede’s College. Mr Byrne introduced girls to the College in 1984 with the first intake of Sixth Form girls and then in 1986 with the first intake of girls at 11+.

The evening began with a drinks reception and tours of the College, with current Sixth Form pupils acting as tour guides. There was a meal prepared by the College caterers, Sodexo, with table wine kindly sponsored by the Yang Sing Restaurant.

Mr Byrne, Frances Henshaw (nee Humphries) – the First Head Girl and Henry Bonsu gave entertaining speeches reminiscing about the wonderful times and many successes of the College and its Alumni.

Mr Barber wrapped the evening up and there was then an opportunity for us all to renew acquaintances and catch up on news.

This was a tremendous success and hopefully will be the first of many such occasions.

Run for Life

cearles — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:56:34 +0000

The College Run for Life took place on Sunday 21^st March 2010 with over 300 students, family, friends and staff of the College, including toddlers and canine friends. Thank you all for taking part either as a runner/walker or just as a supporter to cheer everyone along. The weather was very kind and we all had a wonderful morning. The Run for Life is one of the College’s fundraising events for the children in Africa and Ethiopia, and we are also hoping to make a donation to assist and help all the tragic and unfortunate children and families who have severely suffered from the recent earthquake in Haiti.

If you were unable to take part in the Run for Life or did not sponsor an individual participant, then maybe you would like to make a donation to the Run/Walk as a whole. Why not visit our Just Giving page and find out more about our charities, just click on the link below:

www.justgiving.com/stbedescollegerunforlife

With your valued and continued support we can make a difference.

Thank you
Katherine Taylor
Run for Life Organiser