Newsletter July 2009
This issue
Welcome to the July 2009 edition of Saint Paul's Academy's newsletter!
In this issue:
- Looking further afield
- Technological advances
- The School move is getting closer
- Zero tolerance on School uniform
- Sporting success
- Presentation Awards
- Saying goodbye
- Keep active, keep fit
- Many thanks to all
- Gaelic Football Champions of Great Britain
- Term & holiday dates 2009/2010
Dear Parents and Guardians
“We are coming to the end of yet another very successful year at Saint Paul’s Academy and it seems unbelievable that we have had Academy status for four years. In this time, we have seen a huge amount of change and achieved things that we would never have thought possible five years ago. Not only have we gone from strength to strength academically, we have also moved forward in many other areas, particularly those related to our specialisms; Sport and Enterprise. I can now tell you that, in our four years as an Academy, we have raised in excess of £31,000 for many different charities. This is a staggering sum which reflects the generosity of our community and its commitment to helping others, not only in the local area but also in our global community. We have recently focused on the issue of Breast Cancer; a disease which effects one in nine women in the Britain today. The aim of this week was to raise awareness of Breast Cancer and to raise funds. It was great to see a large number of people, both students and adults, wearing various shades of pink, from the very subtle to the most eye catching glow-in-the-dark!”
Patrick Winston, Principal
Looking further afield
You will all be very familiar with our links with Sister Anne in Kenya and with the Escola Secondaria Zedequias Manganhel in Mozambique; both these projects help our community by raising our awareness of other people's circumstances and these connections also allow us to be involved in a much wider, global society.
As technology increases, the world in one way becomes much smaller but there are still massive distances, metaphorically and literally, between countries. For this reason, we were particularly pleased that James Douglas, a Year 8 student, was chosen to attend an education seminar in Washington, D.C. called The World Leadership Forum.
The event was run by People to People, an organization founded by President Eisenhower in 1956 with the hope of improving leadership throughout the world by promoting understanding and communication. View the video clip of the People to People World Leadership Forum.
On his return, James said, I really enjoyed my time in the states, I met many wonderful people and did so many fantastic things. I learnt so much about American people and history, and they learnt lots about the British people, for example that we don't always eat fish and chips! I had a fantastic time and made strong friendships with people I would normally never have met. I would like to thank the school for giving me an opportunity like this, and strongly encourage them to put forward other students in the future so that they too can experience something this fantastic.
Technological advances
Earlier, I made reference to technology and I think we all understand its importance in our world. For this reason, I am delighted that there are many technological advances currently taking place at Saint Paul's. We have recently introduced Fronter; a virtual learning environment which in the future will allow students to access and hand in work electronically, as well as taking part in different forums, quizzes and discussions facilitated by their teachers. students will also be able to contact their teachers and peers outside scheduled lessons for assistance with work. Of course, this does not mean that teachers are no longer entitled to their free time; work submitted one evening may very well not be marked the next morning!
In addition, there are also some fantastic examples of students' work being shared through the Academy's Radiowaves site where students can show case their work through film, podcast and the more traditional written word.
As I write, students and staff are taking part in another new venture which involves students and staff working together on cross curricular activities.
I think we are all aware of the academic pressure put on young people by society and so the aim of the Cross Curricular Week is to redress the balance and put the emphasis onto emotional intelligence and personal learning skills. Of course, these aspects of learning are addressed within the everyday curriculum but over this week they have a very practical slant.
The activities on offer fall under four main headings which are: Identity and Cultural Diversity; Global Dimensions and Sustainable Development; Healthy Lifestyles and Technology and Media. students have chosen to take part in two different projects which range from building a tee pee to taking on a stock Market Challenge.
Other students have chosen to run a Café or make a short film which captures the essence of London but, whatever they are doing, both students and staff are coming together in a completely new way which should not only be enjoyable in the short term but also have positive benefits for everyone in the future.
The School move is getting closer
Next year, of course, we will be moving to the new building and every day the structure and the character of the site becomes more obvious. staff and students have been visiting regularly so that they can have their say as the final touches are put in place. This is a magnificent opportunity for us as a school and one which we must do everything in our power to make the most of.
It is too early to give you exact details of the move but there are certain principles that underpin our school ethos which we can take this chance to reiterate. Equality is crucial to our success and wearing a uniform which is smart and easily identifiable makes all our students equal. However, there are some students who chose not to wear our uniform properly; blazers are lost, school trousers and skirts ripped and students have a curious habit of forgetting what school shoes look like.
Zero tolerance on School uniform
From September we will be introducing a zero tolerance policy which will mean that any student arriving in school with incorrect uniform will be sent home to rectify the situation; they will then make up the time they have missed after school. Many students deliberately mislead their parents when it comes to replacing school uniform and I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that a full description of our uniform can be found at the front of the planner. I would also like to reiterate that canvas shoes and trainers of any kind are not allowed. Similarly, students must always have their planner with them and make it available for any member of staff who requests it. If a planner is lost it must be replaced at a cost of £5.
Sporting success
One of the biggest differences on the new site will obviously be the sports facilities. staff and students have been stunned by the size of the gym and they will be equally amazed by the playing fields when they are complete.
However, in the meantime, despite our lack of facilities, we continue to excel in many areas of sport not least one of our latest ventures, girls’ Gaelic Football. Our Under 14 girls' team has gone from strength to strength and recently won the Peter McGlynn Memorial Trophy at Greenford. Four teams took part and our girls won all three of their matches before going on to win very convincingly in the final.
The team trains every Thursday after school and because of their success, seven girls have been chosen to represent London in the Feile Peil na nOg competition. They flew to Ireland on July 1st with the rest of the London team and we wish them every success.
Meanwhile, the boys' Gaelic Football team are also making themselves known. Over half term, twenty boys went on a seven day tour to Ireland, taking part in four fixtures and winning three. This was a particularly impressive result given that they played some of the most formidable teams in Ireland. Since their return, our Under 14 team have gone on to win the Great Britain Championship, and as with the girls, because of the team's success, ten boys were selected to represent South London in the Feile Peil na nOg competition which took place in County Kildare in July. Again, we wish them every success.
The Girls' Netball Team continues to be very successful; the Year 7 & 8 Team recently won the Under 13 Greenwich Schools' Netball Tournament. They played every team and beat all of them apart from Eltham Hill, with whom they drew and who were the runners up. They were presented with the same shield that the current Year 10 won two years ago. Again, it is proudly positioned in the trophy cabinet!
Saint Paul's also enjoyed significant success when twenty six girls from Years 7 to 10 took part in the Beryl Davis Greenwich Girls' Athletics Tournament.
The Year 7 and 10 Relay Teams won their events easily while Ruona Janere won the Year 7 hurdles, Eniola Oladunjoye won the Year 9 hundred metres and Shanique Joseph absolutely destroyed her field in the hundred metres and won by roughly four seconds!
Melissa Owusu-Ansah won the two hundred metres by an equally impressive margin and both Shanique and Melissa represented Greenwich at the district trials.
As a result of this, Melissa qualified to run in the 300 metres for the English Schools Finals which take place in Sheffield later this month. It is with great pride that Saint Paul's is sponsoring Melissa in this event.
Presentation Awards
As the school year comes to an end, we celebrated the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul with Mass and our Presentation of Awards at Catford Broadway Theatre. Although it is not in the immediate area, the Broadway Theatre is an ideal venue for this event because it can seat everyone and this allows all members of our community to take part in our celebrations. Again, we were delighted to welcome Bishop Pat Lynch who is a great supporter of our school. Bishop Pat concelebrated Mass with Father John Masayi and Father Paul Connolly both of whom work locally and know our students well; we are very grateful to them all for giving their time so generously.
Saying goodbye
Sadly, at this time of the year we have to say goodbye to people who have helped create Saint Paul's and make it the successful school it is.
Mr Booth is retiring after an outstanding teaching career spanning forty years and many counties; we will greatly miss his wit and intellect.
Mr Hinchliffe, one of our assistant principals, is moving to Leeds to take up a Vice Principal's post at the Leeds West Academy. He has made a huge contribution to the development of Teaching and Learning at Saint Paul's and there is no doubt that he is destined for great things. We wish Mr Hinchliffe, his wife and twin daughters every happiness.
We are also very sorry to be saying goodbye to Ms Ravier our head of Modern Foreign Languages who is returning to France, Mr Butler who has been with the Maths department for three years and who is going to continue his teaching career in Sao Paulo.
Mrs Presencer our Head of Music who is also moving abroad and Ms Sweeney who is moving to a post in North London.
We thank them for all they have done for our school community and look forward to hearing their news in the future.
Keep active, keep fit
This year, we have a seven weeks summer holiday and I would urge you to find out what activities are available for young people in your area. Information is available in local newspapers and in libraries as well as online and many activities are either free or only involve a minimal cost.
Many thanks to all
As the summer holiday approaches I am very aware of how much the staff are looking forward to a break. I would once again like to publically thank them for their hard work and dedication; you will all be well aware that teaching is not an easy job and our current situation is putting a great deal more pressure on all staff. We are all looking forward to the move but change, even when it is very positive, is never easy.
As we come to the end of the year, I would like to thank the staff, both teaching and non-teaching, for their commitment to Saint Paul's Academy. Without their generosity of spirit and dedication, our school would not have flourished in the way it so obviously has. As a community, we look forward to a very exciting future on our new campus.
Gaelic Football Champions of Great Britain
We are coming to the end of a very successful Gaelic Football season and it is pleasing to reflect on a number of significant highlights:
- U14 Girls' Team winners of the Peter McGlynn Memorial Trophy
- A successful U14 Tour to Ireland with victories in Donegal, Down and Tyrone
- At U14 level: winners of the London Club Championship and the Great Britain Club Championship
- At U15 level: Winners of the London Schools' Championship
- 17 students (girls and boys) represented London in Feile Peil na nOg competition in Co. Kildare
Ten of our boys recently represented South London in the Feile Peil na nOg competition. The team prepared for the tournament by travelling to Castlerea, Co. Roscommon and won a challenge game against the local team. In Ireland, The Feile is an international tournament that had attracted 60 teams from Ireland, the UK and the USA.
For the first part of the tournament, the team was placed in a group of four in Nurney/Grangenolvin. They won all three games comfortably and then progressed to play James stephen's of Co.Kilkenney in the semi-final. However they were beaten by the eventual winners of Division 5.
Seven of our girls represented London in the same competition. The team won their first game but lost the two other group games. Our girls have made a superb start to playing Gaelic Football.
We would like to thank all of the families in both Castlerea and Nurney/Kildangan who hosted our students with such generosity; this is an experience the boys and girls will never forget!
Though we are approaching the end of term, there are still plenty of fixtures to fulfill in both the club and school competitions.
The complete set of results to date can be seen below:
| Opponents | Competition | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tara | U14 League | Won | 9 – 07 (34pts) 1 – 03 (6pts) |
| Tir Conaill Gaels | U14 League | Won | 6 – 07 (25pts) 3–05 (14pts) |
| Tir Conaill Gaels | U12 League | Won | 2 – 00 (6pts) 1 – 00 (3pts) |
| T McCurtain’s | U12 League | Lost | 2 – 00 (6pts) 2 – 01 (7pts) |
| T McCurtain’s | U14 Championship | Won | 5 – 11 (26pts) 0 – 00 |
| Saint Kiernan’s | U14 Championship | Won | 5 – 07 (22pts) 3 – 04 (13pts) |
| Tara | U14 Championship | Won | 6 – 19 (30pts) 1 – 02 (5pts) |
| Sean McDermott’s, Warwickshire | GB Championship | Won | 4 – 12 (24pts) 1 – 04 (7pts) |
| Saint Claret’s | U12 League | Drew | 1 – 04 (7pts) 1 – 04 (7pts) |
| Round Towers | U12 League | Lost | 1 – 03 (6pts) 2 – 01 (7pts) |
| T McCurtain’s | U16 League | Won | 4 – 05 (17pts) 2 – 03 (9pts) |
| Saint Mary’s, Lancs | GB Champs: Final | Won | 6 – 21 (39pts) 0 – 02 |
| Tara | U12 League | Won | 1 – 08 (11pts) 1 – 05 (8pts) |
| Round Towers | U16 League | Won | 6 – 06 (24pts) 2 – 05 (11pts) |
| Saint Kiernan’s | U12 League | Lost | 0 – 04 1 – 05 (8pts) |
| Saint Anthony’s | U12 League | Won | 6 – 06 (24pts) 1 – 02 (5pts) |
Ireland Tour May 2009
| Opponents | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Holy Trinity College, Co. Tyrone | Won | 9 – 05 (32pts) 4 – 16 (28pts) |
| Ardara, Co. Donegal | Won | 9 – 11 (38pts) 3 – 03 (12pts) |
| Ballyholland Harps, Co. Down | Won | 3 – 08 (17pts) 1 – 03 (6pts) |
| St Molaises's, Co. Fermanagh | Lost | 3 – 05 (14pts) 3 – 18 (27pts) |
London Schools’ Championship Under 15
| Opponents | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|
| St James | Won | 4 – 06 (18pts) 0 – 00 |
| St Mark's | Won | 0 – 06 (6pts) 0 – 00 |
| St James' Final | Won | 3 – 08 (17pts) 1 – 03 (6pts) |
Peter McGlynn Memorial Tournament Under 12
| Opponents | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Parnells | Lost | 0– 01 1 – 03 (6pts) |
| Tir Conaill Gaels | Lost | 0 – 00 0 – 01 |
| Tara | Won | 2 – 01 (7pts) 0 – 02 |
Peter McGlynn Memorial Tournament Under 14 Girls
| Opponents | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Tara | Lost | 2– 02 (8pts) 2 – 01 (7pts) |
| Tir Conaill Gaels | Won | 1 – 02 (5pts) 0 – 00 |
| Tara | Won | 3 – 04 (13pts) 2 – 01 (7pts) |
South London: GB Feile - Champions of Great Britain
| Opponents | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Yorkshire | Won | 4 – 11 (23pts) 0 – 01 |
| Warwickshire | Won | 1 – 08 (11pts) 0 – 03 |
| Yorkshire | Won | 5 – 06 (21pts) 0 – 00 |
| North London | Won | 1 – 05 (8pts) 0 – 04 AET |
South London Tour to Ireland
| Opponents | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Yorkshire | Won | 4 – 11 (23pts) 0 – 01 |
Feile Peil na nOg
| Opponents | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Nurney, Co.Kildare | Won | 7 – 10 (31pts) 0 – 00 |
| Grangenolvin, Co.Kildare | Won | 4 – 08 (20pts) 0 – 02 |
| Yorkshire | Won | 4 – 07 (19pts) 0 – 00 |
| James Stephen’s, Co.Kilkenny: S/ Final | Lost | 1 – 06 (9pts) 7 – 01 (22pts) |
Term & holiday dates 2009/2010
| Autumn Term | Tuesday 8th September 2009 (Year 7 only return)/Wednesday 9th September 2009 (Year 8 – 11 return) to Friday 18th December 2009 |
|---|---|
| Autumn Half Term | Monday 26th October 2009 to Friday 30th October 2009 |
| Christmas Holidays | Monday 21st December 2010 to Friday 1st January 2010 |
| Spring Term | Monday 4th January 2010 to Wednesday 31st March 2010 |
| Spring Half Term | Monday 15th February 2010 to Friday 19th February 2010 |
| Easter Holidays | Thursday 1st April 2010 to Friday 16th April 2010 |
| Summer Term | Monday 19th April 2010 to Friday 23rd July 2010 |
| May Day Holiday | Monday 3rd May 2010 |
| Summer Half Term | Monday 31st May 2010 to Friday 4th June 2010 |
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