We're proud to join the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, offering our students even more extra-curricular opportunities! There is a long list of skills they will be able to strengthen in themselves:

• Self-belief and self-confidence.
• A sense of identity.
• Initiative and a sense of responsibility.
• A real awareness of their strengths.
• New talents and abilities.
• The ability to plan and use time effectively.
• Learning from and giving to others in the community.
• Forming new friendships.

Honestly, we can't wait to get started and open up the many exciting adventures and challenges the DoE has to offer across all year groups.

Our Open Events continue with an Open Evening in our Sixth Form college: it will take place on Thursday, 23rd November between 4:00 and 6.30pm. For more information on how to register for a place, please go to www.sta.islington.sch.uk

Here is their report:

"As part of our Citizenship course, Ms Doorly and Ms Hunter took us to Westminster - we walked in the footsteps of inspirational leaders like Queen Elizabeth and Barack Obama and witnessed politics live in action - MPs rushed to Prime Minister's Questions and the intimidating doorkeepers glared around ensuring law and order was maintained. Our wonderful guide also showed us buildings damaged in World War 2 - the Houses of Parliament are a piece of living history!"⠀

The extra-curricular opportunities at our college are coming in thick and fast this autumn term! We now offer a Boxing Club to our Year 7-11 students, every Thursday after school. And the take-up has been impressive so far: 35 boys put on their boxing gloves and worked on refining their technique.

During the last session, the boys worked on delivering the perfect jab - which is all about using your weight and power efficiently. Our boxers learnt that the power is coming up all the way from the toes into the legs, shoulders, and then fist. Throwing a jab is a real whole-body exercise!

The brilliant team of St Aloysius' science teachers pulled out all the stops to entertain our visitors on Open Evening: their labs were turned into buzzing hubs of scientific activity, with lots of mind-boggling displays and live experiments on show.

There was an activity station on photosynthesis with different coloured lights. Ms Bude presented a live dissection session, exposing the components of an animal heart and lungs. Mr Wahid's display was all about Titration, the process of finding the concentration of a solution. Mrs Clarke (pictured) offered an insight into acids and alkali, and where they are found in everyday cleaning an cooking products.

It's fair to say that our visitors left the science labs a little bit wiser and safe in the knowledge that the subject is taught in an innovative and very hands-on way at St Aloysius.

Earlier this half-term, we warmly welcomed our colleagues from Islington's Catholic schools to the annual Deanery Mass. We were also delighted to see a familiar face back on our grounds: Aloysius alumnus George Stack, Archbishop of Cardiff, led the ceremony and delivered a thought-provoking sermon. In it, His Grace talked about the fast-moving nature of our lives, that often prevented enriching and soul-nurturing moments of meditation and stillness. He called upon the many teachers in the congregation to use their unique platform and remind pupils of the value of silent contemplation.

Could you do it? Here is an example question:

Wenlu, Xander, Yasser and Zoe make the following statements: Wenlu: “Xander is lying.”; Xander: “ Yasser is lying.”; Yasser: “Zoe is telling the truth.”; Zoe: “Wenlu is telling the truth.” What are the possible numbers of people telling the truth?

Answers on a postcard.

Our youngest and newest students enjoyed a very special lesson this half-term. During a so-called Icebreaker session, Mr Thomas came up with lots of activities which all centred around team building. The idea was to encourage the Year 7 students to look at themselves as one big team and help boys have confidence in speaking to others who they didn't go to primary school with. These Icebreaker sessions aim to help the boys practice listening skills and self-regulation. "It also just gives the boys an opportunity to have some fun as the start of Year 7 can be a bit overwhelming," as Head of Year Ms Bude explains.

It's going to be an action-packed run-up to the festive season in the PE Department. The following competitions will keep our boys busy in the second autumn half-term between end of October and mid-December:

* Year 7 Indoor Athletics

* KS4 Volleyball

* KS3 & KS4 Table tennis

* KS3 & KS4 Badminton

You can keep up-to-date with results, pitch-side news and more fixture announcements by following us on Instagram, X and Facebook. Our PE department also have their own separate account on X @AloysiusPE

The new school year started with exceptionally high temperatures. A mini-heatwave kept us sweating well into the beginning of autumn. That's why we launched an internal campaign, focusing on the importance of keeping hydrated. Did you know that regular water intake can have a direct impact on your learning? A well-watered brain is a more active and powerful brain as H2O helps its cells communicate with each other. Water also clears out toxins and waste that can impair brain function. There are water fountains all around our school so you're never too far away from your next hydration hit.

Everybody is a star in their own right at St Aloysius, and every now and then, there is a superstar emerging: it's fair to say that David (pictured) fits that particular accolade, having secured a whopping ten grade 9s! Talking of sweeping the board :) We're very proud of David and his cohort and can't wait to see what they'll do next.

Further reading: St Aloysius in Top-3 for GCSE progress in Islington (see above).

There are also chess boards coming out in the library during lunch breaks: it's especially heartening to see that our youngest cohort is getting into the spirit with lots of Year 7 boys sitting down to make their moves on the chequered board.

[Picture credit: Channing School]

Here is his report on an eye-opening trip to the City:
"What a brilliant day today was for St Aloysius' College as I took a group of Year 10 students to Fitch Ratings and their offices in Canary Wharf. Facilitated by MyBigCareer, students met the generous volunteer employees of Fitch Ratings networking and undertaking a Negotiation and Interview task and Workshop. The day really engaged our Year 10s, who asked some very insightful questions and demonstrated how career-savvy they already are as a group. A massive thank you to Ash Watts who was a superb coordinator for the day and Jayne Lyell for arranging the day. Also a massive thanks to Fitch Ratings and their magnificent employees for giving up their time to inspire the next generation."

Congratulations to Chrishna in Year 9 who absolutely smashed it with his first essay of the academic

year in Spanish!

Building on his strong knowledge acquired in years 7 and 8, Chrishna produced an impeccable essay on free time and healthy living, with an excellent quality of expression, achieving all 11 features expected at this stage.

His piece of writing has been used as a model for other students to follow. As a high-achiever, Chrishna was of course given a stretch-and-challenge task to prepare him for a GCSE grade 9!

Chrishna tackled complex sentences using 'If' with subjunctive imperfect and conditional tense!

When interviewed, he gave the following advice to his peers: ” Never stop learning, even when you are making mistakes.”

Well done Chrishna! Keep up the excellent work in Spanish!

As the Spanish proverb goes “ ¡Querer es poder!” ( = Where there’s a will, there’s a way!)

Mr Kara

Head of MFL