HaLE stands for Humanities and Languages Enrichment and includes the following subject areas: Geography, History, Religious Studies, Modern Foreign Languages, Latin, Classics, English, Economics and Business Studies.
We offer many enrichment activities within HaLE, encompassing activities that are beyond formal teaching including:- clubs, talks, visits, competitions, and more.
Catenian Public Speaking Competition
We embrace a number of local and national events and competitions. In January 2023, three of our Year 12 pupils won the local final at the Berkshire Catenian Public Speaking competition, with one of our pupils progressing to the national final at Manchester University.
Geographical Association Worldwise Quiz
We participate in an annual Geographical Association Worldwise Quiz competition whereby mixed teams of pupils from Year 8, 9 and 10 cover various topics of general geographical knowledge as well as map skills, flags, country outlines and more.
Young Enterprise
We offer a thriving, award winning Young Enterprise Programme to pupils in Year 12 in which 20 pupils are immersed in the running and management of their created pupil company. Last year, we entered two teams and one of our teams won the ‘Best Business Plan’ at the Reading Area Finals.
Model United Nations
A new and thriving element of the HaLE enrichment is Model United Nations led by our Head of History, Mr Newsam. Over the first weekend of November 2023, eleven students participated in the Oxford Global Conference at Oxford University. The event brought together over 900 students from 24 countries. The aim was to represent the viewpoints of a particular country – in our case, Nigeria, Germany, Cameroon and Cape Verde – whilst discussing key
international issues such as antibiotic resistance, the rights of women and the advance of AI. Our pupils excelled, making carefully researched speeches in front of large audiences, whilst gaining a fuller understanding of diplomacy, the United Nations and a range of different cultures and political perspectives.
European Youth Parliament
Pupils from St Joseph’s also get involved with the European Youth Parliament. Last year, Year 11 and 12 students represented the College and the Thames Valley at the National Final of the European Youth Parliament, after winning the regional round in March. At the four day event, hosted by Liverpool University, the team received special praise from the judges for their
detailed preparation and contributions to the committee stages, where resolutions were written to be debated over two days of intense diplomacy.
Schools’ Challenge
We take part in the National Schools’ Challenge competition. This is the national general knowledge competition for schools in the United Kingdom. It uses the same quiz bowl rules as University Challenge, and it is a challenging competition for students to hone their general knowledge and pit themselves against other teams in the heats.
