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Celebration

• A range of talented acts including rappers, singers, dancers and musicians performed at a Trinity Showcase of Talent to raise money for St Ann’s Hospice.
• Our annual Presentation Evening was held in a packed Whitworth Hall at the University of Manchester. Tony Lloyd MP and Peter Hilton, Chair of Governors, presided over the awards.
• At our Sports Presentation Evening, many of our Year 11 Netball Squad were awarded full colours, having played in the Trinity team for a full five years.
• The Lord Mayor of Manchester, Cllr David Sandiford visited us, some years after his two daughters were educated here! Cllr Sandiford, a former governor of Trinity, expressed his thanks to staff and students for making him feel so welcome.
• Our Anniversary Concert took place at the Royal Northern College of Music, with contributions from the choir, orchestra, balalaika ensemble, and jazz, concert, steel and rock bands.

Science and Technology

• Science staff have devised four e-learning courses to help students with revision ahead of their exams.
  The courses are delivered over the internet which means students can access them from within school, at local libraries or from home, even at weekends.
• The Year 11 Able Boys Group spent the day at the University of Manchester to
  gain an insight into what university life is like. They spent part of the day in the Rutherford Building, where Ernest Rutherford first split the atom.
• Mr Andrew Trehearne, from UK Biobank, came to speak to Year 9 students studying Genetics as part of their GCSE Science course, asserting that the current generation will decide how discoveries in genetics should be used.
• Year 8 students experimented with numerous pieces of equipment brought into school by Ms Becky Read from the Royal Institution of Great Britain. Her interactive talk, entitled ‘Music to Your Ears’ was greatly enjoyed by all present.

Arts and Music

• Past student David Ononokopono, who took the title role in the school’s Macbeth last year, has been awarded a Laurence Olivier scholarship at RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. David competed against thousands of others for the award, showing what a fantastic achievement this is.
• Prolific author Alan Gibbons, who has penned more than 50 children’s books, came into school to talk to a group of students. The Year 7s were completely enthralled by this truly inspirational visit.
• Matthew Koon returned to school following his great success as Billy in the West End Musical, Billy Elliot. No-one envies the amount of homework he has to catch up!
• For National Poetry Day, a poem was pinned to the door of every room in the school for staff  and students to read. Everybody was included in the event to reinforce the point that poetry is a fun and accessible aspect of English, and a particular highlight was Mr Denzil Dennis, who rapped his poem to students throughout the day!
• The Senior Choir sang at the Installation Service for Stephen Lowe, the Bishop of Hulme, at Manchester Cathedral. The Bishop wrote personally to thank all of the students involved; his letter is reproduced on the back of this Kaleidoscope.
  
• Students from Trinity and three other schools worked in our City Learning Centre with the BBC to put on live news reports which were transmitted throughout the day on Newsround, BBC Manchester and BBC News 24. Their interview with North West Tonight presenter Gordon Burns was also featured in the Manchester Evening News.

Overseas Connections

• Trinity’s senior choir, jazz band and flute choir embarked on a five–day trip to Lake Garda in Northern Italy. As well as performing two concerts to capacity audiences, the forty students visited Verona, rode a cable car to the top of the highest mountain in the region, and took in plenty of Italian food and ice cream!
• Eino Heelu, Principal of St Mary’s School in Odibo, Namibia, wrote to tell us their newly–built science laboratory is to be called the ‘Trinity High School Laboratory’. Last November all of the new and renovated buildings were inaugurated anddedicated with the Prime Minister of Namibia officiating.
• Shortly after receiving Mr Heelu’s letter, more than 2,000 books from our LRB (Learning Resource Base) were transported by air in 132 boxes to St Mary’s High School.
• Wallaby House Captain Nicole May visited Shallom House orphanage in Goa, India, and returned to school to deliver an excellent and very moving talk on the importance of the Christian love she found there.
• Seventeen Canadian students and five staff stayed in Manchester as part of the first exchange with the Marine Harvest Football Club. Trinity pupils will stay in Canada later in the year.
• Seventy or so students attended an after–school ‘taster’ session in Mandarin. Mr Nicholls has arranged weekly lessons with a view to adopting Mandarin as a timetabled subject.

Sport and Fitness

• Nathan Roach and Eurenna Semper, won gold medals in the Manchester School’s Athletics Championships. Eurenna won the 100m in an amazing 11.4 seconds, and Nathan sprinted to victory in the 200m in an incredibly fast 23.2 seconds.
• Health and Fitness Week was packed with fun activities, including fitness circuits and skipping competitions to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
• The Head of the Outdoor Education Centre at GhyllHead in Windermere, Mr Rogers, wrote to congratulate Trinity on winning the Millennium Challenge Competition. Our team came first out of 11and Mr Rogers commented, “I look forward to seeing another team from your school to defend the trophy when we run the next competition.”
• Once again, Daniel Welbeck was selected for the England U–17 Squad to play in Portugal during the half–term holiday, playing in matches against France, Germany and Portugal. Later in the year, he represented Manchester United in their FA Youth Cup Second Leg match at Old Trafford. The team stormed to a spectacular 4-2 victory with the injury time winner scored by... Danny Welbeck!
• The swimming gala at the Aquatics Centre saw students of all abilities competing and having a brilliant time in the water.
• Gary Kay was chosen to represent Ireland in the Dutch Open Taekwondo Championships.

Achievement

• We were subject to a Ofsted inspection with only three days notice, but that did not prevent hundreds of parental questionnaires being returned to school – many more than are returned at similar-size schools – and exemplary behaviour from our students. Our reward was a top-class inspection report, with every category considered 1 (Outstanding) or 2 (Good).
• Following a two-day inspection, the school was re-designated for another three years as an Investors in People (IIP) organisation. We received a glowing report from the inspection team.
• Trinity has been re-awarded Sportsmark status – no mean feat, as the scheme was radically overhauled three years ago and made much more difficult to achieve. We are one of only two secondary schools in Manchester to achieve the award this year, the other being a specialist Sports College.
• The Anglican Inspection Team conducted a one-day visit to the school and assessed that Trinity was Outstanding in all four of their categories, with their overall inspection result also being graded Outstanding.
• Trinity has been chosen as one of just seven schools in the entire country to be asked to write case studies about our sports curriculum which will be shared with other secondary schools as examples of best practice – a tremendous acknowledgement of the work taking place in the PE Department.
• Music teacher Mr Kennedy is officially ‘Top Brass’ having beaten off stiff competition to become the British National Open Champion for Solo Cornet Playing.
• Helen Schilizzi and Joshua Gallagher took first and second places respectively in the Rotary Club’s Junior Masterchef Competition. They will go on to compete in the regional finals.
• Four of our Year 11 students completed NVQ Level 2 in Performing Engineering Operations, a qualification most engineering students do not achieve until they are 18. Trinity is proud to be a part of the Young Apprenticeship Programme and thanks Skills Solutions, MANCAT, Siemens and Greggs for their commitment to our students.
• Students travelled to BBC Television Centre in London to receive a special commendation for their work on the School Report project. After an awards ceremony hosted by Deputy Director-General Mark Byford, our students met Sophie Rayworth, George Alagiah and a host of other famous BBC presenters.
• School representatives were invited to the annual ‘Most Improved Schools’ dinner at the Guildhall in London. Tony Lloyd MP wrote to express his congratulations to staff, students and parents.

School Grounds and Environs

• The Young Gardeners’ Club, led by Miss Price and Miss Baranski, awards merits to its members as thanks for caring for the school’s numerous plants which brighten up all of the buildings. The Club also grows vegetables and flowers in their brand new greenhouse, recently acquired from B&Q.
• The ‘Forest Lodge’ area at the front of the school was re-seeded to form a sixlane athletics track, as well as a lovely picnic area for breaks and lunchtimes. The re-seeding was particularly welcomed by a dozen or so pigeons who have barely left the area since it was finished!

Community, Citizenship and Fundraising

• Annie Wilson, who came to the aid of people injured in a road traffic accident, has been chosen for the British Red Cross Humanities Award. Annie receives her commendation and certificate at the Café Royal, London, in November.
• For BBC Children in Need this year, students swapped £1 for permission to wear a hat for the day. The award for Best Hat went to Levi Thompson, who spent almost three hours on her fantastic design! Mr Clegg, our Catering Manager, also sold recipe books to raise funds, again for just £1 each.
• Ms Parker’s English class completed a media exercise using a poster from the charity Sightsavers. Student Alex Wright suggested a class collection be made to help the charity, and £30 along with a letter from every class member was sent to Sightsavers explaining how motivational their advertising poster had been. Sightsavers’ reply is on the back of this Kaleidoscope.
• 28 girls undertook their Sports Leaders Level 1 assessment with 50 visiting primary school children as part of our second Primary Festival of Sport.
• The school’s Eid celebration took place in the Drama Hall this year and was attended by a great many staff, students and parents. The atmosphere was superb; a great tribute to our multi-ethnic culture.
• Trinity was the scene for the filming of a forthcoming news story to be shown on Tonight with Trevor Macdonald, and a glowing letter of thanks was received from the production team. They commented specifically on the maturity and professionalism of our students.
• Representatives of the Year 7 choir sang at Trinity’s Remembrance Service, which focused this year on the Manchester Regiment and the Lancashire Fusiliers. At 11.00am, a solo trumpeter played the Last Post, and a poignant minute’s silence was observed.
• So far, money from the school’s Autumn Fairs has been spent on magazine subscriptions for the History Department; a digital camera for the Food Technology Department; choir folders for the Music Department; a graphics tablet for the Art Department; and a Gamecube with games for the Computer Club.
• The Trinity Association of Parents held a celebration of ‘Christmas Around the World’, with bring and share food, quiz competitions, seasonal music, prizes galore and fun for everyone.
• The school’s Advent Carol Service took place at St Ann’s Church with carols, readings and reflection. Everyone was welcome and many passers-by took the chance to take part in our Christmas celebrations.
• Five visually impaired students and two members of staff visited the Houses of Parliament to lobby MPs about the Right to Read. They met with the Rt Hon John Leech to talk about the difficulties of having textbooks enlarged or reproduced in Braille.
• Year 7 student Peter Bonnebaigt decided to raise money for people in the third world, and organised a sponsored swim with his friends. They raised over £400 which bought two alpaca, a goat, a mango sapling, a rainwater tank and three toilets for poverty-stricken children abroad.
• A staggering £1,314 was raised for Comic Relief from activities including a sponsored silence, a cake sale and a nonuniform day.
• Kieran McCaffery rode 52 miles from Salford Quays to Liverpool as part of his Duke of Edinburgh’s Silver Award and to raise money for Bowel Cancer UK.
• Every set of light switches in the school has been furnished with a small notice urging the saving of energy, after student Sally Hatton calculated how much electricity the school uses.