Previous News
May
16th 2005, Inspection Report Published
Easter
2005, College in National Basketball Final
December 2004, College is sponsored by the Football
Association
May
16th 2005, Inspection Report Published
Staff,
students and Governors from Cardinal Newman
College were delighted with the Ofsted
report that was published today (Monday). It
confirmed that the College offers education
of a high quality across the whole of the curriculum.
The College received 6 grade 2's (good) and
one grade 1 (outstanding) after the visit by
a team of 12 inspectors who looked at the College
earlier this term.
The Principal Steve Pegg commented "I
am delighted by the team's findings which
emphasised that this is a College that could
be immensely
proud of the progress it has made and the
high standards it sets. The inspectors observed
over 80 lessons whilst they were here and
their
report uses words like 'inspirational' to
describe our teaching. Almost half our lessons
were
rated very good or excellent, which is a
figure well above national averages. The
inspectors
also complemented the achievements of our
students on numerous occasions - indeed one
of them
described our students as divine! What is
just as important to us as a distinctive
College
is that our support was also praised and
our commitment to the ethos of the College
was
described as 'exemplary' - a word inspectors
rarely use."
Cardinal Newman College is the only Sixth Form
College in the area and serves a wide catchment
area from Lytham to Longridge; and from Garstang
to Chorley in the south. It welcomes students
of all faiths and is significantly oversubscribed
each year. "I think parents, students and
future pupils of the College will be thrilled
by this
report - this is a happy, safe and supportive
environment in which to study; and the Inspection
is justified because of the efforts of the
whole College community. We cannot accommodate
everyone who wishes to come here, but those
that do not only achieve and succeed, they
also enjoy their studies."
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Easter 2005, College
in National Basketball Final
Academies League National Finals
CNC vs Hackney Community College @ Loughborough
University
Staying over at a local hotel
and practising on the court the night before,
CNC had the
best preparation possible for the big game.
Kieran Hart once again caused worry as he had
been severally ill with food poisoning and
as a result had not only lost a stone in weight
but also missed all the practices leading up-to
the game. However, in the usual Hart style
he made his comeback in the practice the night
before, showing that whilst suffering from
a slight deterioration in fitness his weight
loss would not stop him banging in the post
with the boys from Hackney.
Having eaten well
that morning the team met for a final talk
about the game only to find
the trophy and a free And1 T-shirt for all
courtesy of Coach Partington and Szostak. The
shirts were well appreciated and enhanced the
already strong sense of unity the team had,
giving us all the same attire to warm up in.
With another inspirational yet very “same
old same old” talk from Coach Partignton
the team departed for Loughborough. Everyone
was focused on the task in hand and it did
seem that today was the culmination of a year’s
hard work, blood, sweat and tears.
A coin toss
decided that the ball we practised with, Spalding,
would be the match ball and
it did seem everything was going our way. Hackney
still had little idea who Newman were and none
of where Preston was. This was reflected in
the first quarter. Newman started strong with
Steve Williams getting things going early from
the off. Hackney seemed taken a back by the
force of the CNC team and this was reflected
by the score at the close of the quarter with
Newman up by 13.
Hackney seemed to realise we were all about
business and the second quarter saw them put
on a press and the start of the dogfight we
expected going in began. Despite not having
much height, the Hackney team was physically
big and used this to their advantage picking
up rebounds and put backs despite valiant efforts
to box them out. Newman did a good job of looking
after the ball with point guard Michael Medlicott
bringing the ball up the floor and breaking
some ankles on the way.
Even with Hackneys
full court pressure CNC ran their press breaker
well and efficiently and committed fewer turnovers
than Hackney who were called for travelling
a number of times. At the end of the half Newman
left to talk it over. Coach Partington was
quick to remind the team that for some this
was their last 20 minutes of playing together
and closed by saying “What are you going
to do with it?” Newman was pumped and
confident going into the third. Williams and
Eaves led the offensive way Williams finishing
with 24 points. Off the bench players Tom Sutton
and Aaron Ashworth also chipped in with Sutton
getting to the line and nailing his all day
15 footer from the elbow. Newmans 2-3 zone
defence was effective at stopping the Hackney
penetration and therefore minimising their
damage, however the outside shot was given
up a few times and most of those were put away.
Going
into the 4th the game was too close to call,
which had really been the case from the
2nd quarter. With many players on the verge
of fouling out on both sides both were careful
to play as hard as they could without giving
away fouls. Newman clawed back a 5 point deficit
after a time out. With less than 10 seconds
on the clock and with Newman down by 2 Steve
Williams ripped down an offensive board and
found Robert Bond sprinting down the lane with
a defender in close pursuit. Like a lighting
bolt Bondy tore down the court. The whole arena
dominated by Newman fans held their breath
as Bond went up for the lay-up to tie the game.
Big time Bond made the lay-up and the Newman
bench and crowd erupted. As he went up for
the lay-up the trailing Hackney defender collided
mid air with Bond and as the 16 odd stone of
muscle hit Bondy the foul was called giving
Bond the chance for one more and a possible
win. Tension rose. Bond stepped to the line.
The clock with less than 3 seconds left stood
still. The shot went up and the arena was united
by an overwhelming sense of tension. Despite
the shot being of perfect trajectory it hit
the back of the rim and rebounded out to a
Hackney defender who ran it back down court
and threw up a terrible effort to beat the
clock. Newman now had a lifeline thanks to
Bondy and the teams ruthless effort to bring
it back level. Every shot, every pass, every
rebound and all the work came down to these
five minutes of overtime.
Overtime differed
little from regulation in that for the first
three minutes the score
remained close however the lead didn’t
change to Newmans favour. With key players
Medlicott, fifnishing with 12 of his own, and
Bond sitting after fouling out the flow went
Hackneys way and a few late turnovers from
CNC and missed shots resulted in Hackney securing
a five-point victory.
The only real word to
describe the feeling amongst the team and coaching
staff alike was “gutted”.
In most films the underdog comes out on-top
however this time it didn’t seem it went
our way. Whilst all being devastated at the
loss, everyone knew they had done all they
could to ensure victory and for what ever reason
it just didn’t happen. Conciliation can
be taken in the fact that 4 years ago CNC struggled
to win the North West title. Now, 4 years on,
Newman gave a renowned basketball powerhouse
an amazingly trying match. The Hackney team
recruit from all over East London as well as
locally and are used to blowing teams out of
the water by 20-40 points, even Moulten College,
the previous champions and team we knocked
out in the semis suffered a 20 point defeat
to the Hackney squad. The fact that we dragged
them kicking and screaming into overtime is
a testament to the ethos Newman basketball
is based on – hard work and never ever
giving up.
The year has been amazing
for all involved in the programme. Every player
was
a credit
to Newman in every game. The team constantly
showed class and humility whilst playing hard
and always wanting more. The academy is an
asset to the college and is a real representation
of the attitudes and characters of the people
who make it. Throughout the year Coach Partington
has used the analogy of a challenge being like
an alley in the Bronx and who are you going
to take with you if you want to come out alive.
The Hackney game was a shining example of CNC
going down the alley together and as one.
Now
it comes to the end of the season and soon
looking ahead to next year. The organiser of
the event suggested at the presentation of
the medals that the same two teams meeting
for a rematch in a few years with the same
players, perhaps we won’t have to wait
that long.
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December 2004, College
is sponsored by the Football Association
Sports staff at Cardinal Newman College atre
celebrating a first not only in the North west,
but in Britain with news that the FA Charter
Standard has been received. This is a quite
outstanding achievement for any College, and
is even more impressive given the modest size
of this Sixth Form College. The main points
about the FA Charter Standard are:
The Charter Standard recognises
and rewards excellent practice in Colleges
in the delivery
and development of football.
• This is the
first time the FA has introduced this award
for Colleges following an English
Colleges Football Association 5 year plan,
independent research and a year spent finalising
the criteria.
• Only 13 Colleges nationally (out of the 450
sixth forms and FE colleges) were invited to
take part in the pilot programme and Cardinal
Newman was the only nominated College in the
North West.
• Of these 13, not all were successful with
their bids.
• The application process involved participation
in seminars at Soho Square, London, a quality
assurance visit and submission of a 70 page
written bid.
• The benefits for the college include use
of the FA Charter Standard logo, free equipment,
tickets for games etc.
•
The FA will only endorse Centres of Excellence
with the Charter Standard.
As the first college
in the area to form a Centre of Excellence
5 years ago this award
recognises outstanding achievements, including
a National Championship last year (and twice
in the last 5 years), over this period of
time. The award will be formally recognised
at a
ceremony in Birmingham on February 9th, when
College Sports Staff will be guests of Honour
at the England/Holland match being played
at the Aston Villa ground that evening.
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