Newsletter February 2009

This issue

Welcome to the February 2009 edition of Saint Paul's Academy's newsletter!

In this issue:

• Welcome back to Saint Paul's
• Modular Science and Maths tests a great success
• Goodbye to SATs
• How well are we doing?
• Extra help for some Year 11 students
• Positive relationships
• Mobile phones - a continuing problem
• Advent Charity Appeal
• Moving on
• Behaviour outside school
• Make up and hair
• Serious health issues
• Cyber bullying
• Lent
• Development of the new campus
• Holiday dates
• Important dates

Dear Parents and Guardians

“I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that we have a termly Student Magazine and which allows students to have their articles published. Also that our school website has a facility for Parents/Carers to make comments. We hope you like the design of our February Newsletter. Please email your comments on our design to me at the Academy.”

Principal, Patrick Winston

Welcome back to Saint Paul's

We returned to school after Christmas to the coldest January for many years. However, this did not in anyway stop the term starting smoothly and students settling down to hard work straight away. Many came back refreshed and those students in Years 9, 10 and 11 who are preparing for public examinations are, on the whole, showing commitment and enthusiasm. Staff have assessed their needs and students know exactly what they need to do in order to achieve the best possible results in the summer.

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Modular Science and Maths tests a great success

A significant number of students in Years 9, 10 and 11 have started the new year with excellent news about their GCSE module science and maths tests.

These tests, which were taken in November, contribute to the final exam grades and are particularly useful for giving students confidence as well as indicating where they need to improve. The tests also help relieve the pressure of students taking all their GCSE examinations at the end of Year 11. This is the first year that students at Saint Paul’s have taken the modular maths exam and the results clearly indicate that the decision to move to this syllabus was the correct one.

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Goodbye to SATs

The abolition of Key Stage 3 SATs has, of course, given us much more flexibility within the curriculum and students throughout the school will feel the benefits. From the end of Year 8, students will now be able to work towards their GCSEs and not have to worry about SATs which, in the past, have complicated the curriculum because the syllabus requirements were radically different.

However, the fact that students no longer have to take SATs does not mean that schools are less accountable and at the moment the government is consulting schools on the idea of 'School Report Cards'.

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How well are we doing?

There will shortly be an assessment of the school as a whole. This is a very easy way for students, stakeholders (such as parents, carers and governors), as well as agencies such as Ofsted and Local Authorities, to see at a glance how well a school is doing.

School Report Card

A significant aspect of the 'School Report Card' will be the views of families and students themselves and, although it is not yet clear exactly how this will be reported, we are already looking at ways of getting an accurate picture of your opinions and those of our students.

School Survey

We are hoping to ask all parents, carers and students to fill in a detailed survey which will be evaluated by an external company. You will receive further details after half term and we look forward to receiving your feedback.

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Extra help for some Year 11 students

A number of students, particularly in Year 11, have been targeted for extra classes in some subjects. This is usually because the teacher feels that a student will not reach their potential without extra help. For this reason, these classes are not optional and all nominated students are expected to attend unless they have a very good reason not to do so. If this is the case, the teacher must be informed in writing.

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Positive relationships

We are often able to resolve serious incidents in school because we have a very positive relationship with the police and, in particular, the schools’ liaison team who work on an individual basis with both offenders and victims in our school community. As you will be aware, this approach is very much what the government wants; the best way for us to care for young people is by linking all the services which they may need, this gives them easy access to support and information.

Ideally this would mean social services, medical teams, schools, the police and other agencies working more closely than in the past.

To this end, I am very pleased to tell you that next half term, we hope to open a 'Drop in Centre' staffed by a school nurse who has a great deal of experience dealing with young people. This will take place once a week after school and will be somewhere students can discuss their concerns.

The main focus will be issues such as obesity, smoking and the nurse will be working closely with the Learning Mentors to ensure that students are always given appropriate advice and counselling. Where necessary, groups, such as smokers, will be targeted and specific programmes put in place to encourage healthy life choices.

Students will be informed of this new facility through assemblies after half term and I am sure they will find it very useful.

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Mobile phones - a continuing problem

Sadly, in school, we are not always able to concentrate exclusively on the education of your sons and daughters because serious incidents occur which require a great deal of time. We have recently become aware that at least one student in our school has been systematically stealing, and selling on, mobile phones and memory sticks.

The matter is now being dealt with by the police but it raises some very important issues in school.

Firstly, we have always said students must not have mobile phones in school but if it is essential they must be left in reception during the day; we simply cannot accept responsibility for such valuable items.

Secondly, we would ask you to be aware that if a phone is not bought from a reputable outlet and accompanied by all the necessary documentation, there is a very good chance it was stolen.

You might buy the phone in good faith only to discover that it is blocked and that no company will take responsibility for it; it is always good to find a bargain but please be suspicious of phones being sold for much less than their high street price.

Mobile phones are obviously very useful and indeed essential to some people, however, they can also be used to bully. Some students have reported receiving very unpleasant texts from numbers they do not recognise. It is virtually impossible for the school to find out who is sending messages; so we can only advise you to ask your sons and daughters to just give their phone numbers to people they know well and to exercise the same care when using their phones as they would when using the Internet.

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Advent Charity Appeal

Our Advent Charity Appeal is one of the most important events in the school year because not only does it bring us together as a community, but it also reflects the gospel values which underpin our community. This year, I am delighted to tell you that we raised over £4,700 for Sr. Ann’s School projects in Kenya and for Breast Cancer Awareness. This brings the total amount of money raised in the Autumn Term to nearly £6,000. This is a magnificent sum which reflects the generosity of students and their families. You will also be interested to know that since the opening of the Academy, three and a half years ago, we have raised, in total, over £25,000 for a range of different charities. We can all be very proud of this magnificent sum.

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Moving on

At the end of this half term we say goodbye to Mr Bradley, a member of the Sports Department. He has fully supported the development of our sports specialism over the last three years. Mr Bradley will commence his role as Director of Sport at a South London Academy after the break.

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Behaviour outside school

The majority of our students are a credit both to their families and to the school when they are travelling to and from school. However, a minority let us down and jeopardise our good reputation in the community because of their poor behaviour. Our neighbours, completely justifiably, take exception to students sitting on their walls or leaning on their cars and they also take exception to the foul and abusive language which is sometimes used. I would therefore ask you to remind your sons and daughters, as we have done in school, about their behaviour on the public highways.

I would also ask you to encourage your sons and daughters not to use buses for very short journeys. Because all students have free travel many of them take buses for very short journeys which they would have walked before. The best example of this is the journey from school to Plumstead Corner and Plumstead Corner to school; very often students wait for buses for longer than it would take them to walk and the constant getting on and off causes unnecessary congestion. Walking is one of the easiest and most effective forms of exercise and we should all be taking every opportunity to do it!

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Make up and hair

It is becoming more and more common for girls to come to school wearing a great deal of make up, particularly foundation and mascara. This is not allowed in school and students who persist in wearing it will be told to remove it. In the interest of equal opportunities, I would also like to remind you that boys are not allowed beards and that neither boys nor girls are allowed extreme hair styles. This includes hair which is of a radically different colour to the student’s natural shade as well patterns which are cut into the hair.

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Serious health issues

It has been brought to our attention that some students have discovered a way of making themselves pass out. It is believed that this was seen on YouTube by Year 10 students who have been attempting this exceptionally dangerous practice in lessons and in the playground. It goes without saying that the school will deal very firmly with students who attempt such nonsense not only because of the harm they do to themselves but also because of the distress they cause to other people.

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Cyber bullying

You will be aware from the media that one of the dangers of modern technology is that it can be used inappropriately and can cause significant problems as we have recently experienced in school. It was brought to our attention by a parent that a group of students were using Facebook to mount a hate campaign against an adult in our Academy. Because of the prompt action of the parent, we were able to deal with the situation quickly and the students involved were dealt with accordingly and their families informed. However, all students need to realise that from now on the consequences of such actions will be far more severe and will involve the police when necessary. Students also need to know that even if they think a site is secure it may not be or, as in this case, unacceptable messages may be reported to us.

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Lent

When we return from half term we very quickly enter the season of Lent; Ash Wednesday is the 25th February which is the first Wednesday we are back and, of course, ashes will be distributed in school for those who wish to take part. Lent is a time of turning to God in simplicity and sincerity as we prepare for the joy of the Resurrection. Traditionally, there are three Lenten practices; prayer, fasting and giving. Very often, this is interpreted as giving something up but perhaps it is sometimes more useful to see this season as a time of positive action.

Our aim during Lent should be to live out the two greatest commandments which are so familiar to us; You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and You shall love your neighbour as yourself. If, for the six weeks of Lent, we make a determined effort to live out these commandments, it is likely that we will accomplish far more and be far closer to God, than if we perceive Lent as a time to be negative.

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Development of the new campus

I am very pleased to be able to tell you that the construction of the new campus is going very well and according to schedule. The roof is now on and to use a technical term, the building is now 'weather tight'. The under floor heating system is in place and the toilet blocks are complete. These are not the traditional school toilet blocks but a series of smaller units which mean that students never have to go very far to a toilet and that there is far less chance of these facilities being abused. The fact that the shell of the building is now complete means that the interior consultants have been able to start their work not all of which is obvious; for example, at the moment they are ensuring that acoustics in the building are of the highest possible standard.

Rydon, the construction firm, is also working very hard to ensure that their work is as environmentally friendly as possible and they are hoping to increase their BREEAM rating from good to very good. The BREEAM rating gives the environmental status of the building and takes into consideration issues such as recycling, heat output and the way the building is cooled. Rydon is also part of a group called 'Considerate Contractors' which measures such issues as health and safety, staff safety, and links with the local community. I am pleased to tell you that that on this important issue Rydon is doing extremely well and have had excellent feedback to date.

The new site is attracting a great deal of attention from different sections of the school community. Staff and governors have been shown round and members of the student forum have also seen the new building. We were also very pleased to welcome students from Saint Thomas a Becket Primary School which, of course, is opposite the main entrance to the new building. As I said in the last Newsletter, you can keep up to date on the progress of the building by using the webcam on the Academy’s website.

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Holiday dates

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Important dates

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