Dear Parents/Carers, 

April has been a very busy month as you will see from our featured stories in Heart News and the updates on our Personal Development blog.  

As we all know, April has been unseasonably cold and wet, so I am particularly proud of our Duke of Edinburgh students in Year 12, who battled the elements to complete their Gold practice expedition. Whilst I was scraping frost off my car windows, they were waking up in tents, showing great resilience and determination to complete the expedition, I am glad to hear the scenery made it all worthwhile! A sincere thanks goes to all the staff who support our Duke of Edinburgh programme, giving up their time and their weekend to make things like this happen. Well done to all! 

As a former student of Music, I enjoyed reading about our Year 10 students visiting Newcastle University. They were able to gain an understanding of the different career pathways that are open to students in the music industry and were great ambassadors for Sacred Heart and our Aspirational Futures Programme, which provides all our students with advice, information and guidance on careers.  

With GCSE public examinations starting on Thursday 9th May, we are less than two weeks away from the start of exam season. Students in Year 11 and 13 are working hard and the atmosphere in lessons is calm and focused. Teachers are supporting classes with guided revision and lots of after school study is taking place. We wish our students all the very best, we know their hard work will pay off. Please keep them all in your prayers. 

With best wishes for an enjoyable Bank Holiday Weekend, 

Best Wishes, 

Mrs Howell  

Headteacher 

The Duke of Edinburgh Gold practice expedition could arguably be said to be more difficult than the assessed. Nine students in Year 12, along with Miss Evans, Mr Stapleton, Miss Mackay and Mr Bannister, gathered on Thursday 18th April at 7am to make their way to the Lake District for three days of walking, climbing and navigating. 

On Monday 22nd April, A-Level Film students enjoyed a trip to the cinema to see a screening of the new Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black.

On 19th April, fifteen musical Year 10 students attended the Futures in Music Conference at Newcastle University, to learn about career pathways in the music industry.

Submit a creative interpretation of what Personal Growth means to you!

Year 8 Religious Studies classes have been attending Chapel Lessons, with our Chaplain Mrs Vare.

Several of our Sixth Form students are attending Lourdes this summer and have been fundraising towards this pilgrimage of faith! We wish them every luck in their upcoming travels.

Groups or individuals are invited to sign up for this year's Lip Sync Battle!

I started dancing when I was 6 and now compete competitively at the highest level, open championship. I love dancing and competing at a feis (competition), I get to travel a lot and see different places. It is a great way to make friends, it keeps me fit and healthy and when I am dancing I get to forget about everything and enjoy the music and dance.

On Monday 22nd April, our Year 10 GCSE Dance students worked with former Sacred Heart student Holly Murphy.

Earth Day is a day to respect and celebrate our remarkable planet.

On Thursday 18th April we welcomed Nick the Chef from Cooking for Life into school to work with our Year 7 students. 

Keira Macdonald in Year 11 celebrated winning the Northumberland County Under 16's Cup with her team Northern RFC.

Click to see this half term's PE clubs...

Career focus is a fortnightly overview on a chosen career. Careers are selected that are in demand in the local area, aspirational or to provide further information on common destinations.

We are proud to share a fantastic result of Layla's first ever fight!

"Intensely though provoking" said one of the students, Scarlett, after having witnessed the enriching and shocking tragedy of Othello at the Wanamaker Theatre - a great way to begin the vigorous academic journey of Year 13.