Newsletter May 2006

This issue

Welcome to the May 2006 edition of Saint Paul's Academy's newsletter!

In this issue:

• Religious celebrations
• School uniform
• Fairwell to Year 11
• Year 10 - Our senior students
• Introduction of prefects
• Expansion of Student Forum
• New timetable starting in July
• Student Services Team
• Links with local police 
• Move to new site delayed
• Important dates
• From our football correspondent
• Gaelic football

Dear Parents and Guardians

“Year 11 leavers' banquet was as usual a great success, with students and staff enjoying each others company at Chariton Athletic football club. Many thanks to all involved.”

Patrick Winston, Principal

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Religious celebrations

Last week, we celebrated the feast of the Ascension at Saint Michael's Church, and after half term we will be celebrating Corpus Christi on the 15th June and our patronal feast day of Saint Peter and Saint Paul on 29th June. Both these masses take place at one o'clock and we would, as always, be delighted to welcome parents, governors and other friends of our school to celebrate with us.

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School uniform

These feast days always herald the arrival of summer and whilst we welcome the longer, brighter days I would remind students that our usual, high expectations about behaviour and uniform remain; when the weather gets warmer, students may leave their jumpers at home but they are expected to have their blazers on them at all times.

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Fairwell to Year 11

As we approach the great feast of Easter we can look back on our first two terms as an Academy. It seems very hard to believe that this time last year we had only just received the funding agreement and at times it seemed impossible that we would have everything in place in order to open in September. A year later, we can reflect on what we have achieved and be extremely proud of what we have accomplished, especially when it is taken into account that many Academies have eighteen months preparation before they open while we had only eighteen weeks.

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Year 10 - Our senior students

Year 10 are now the senior students in the school and we expect them to take this position very seriously; they all know exactly what is expected of them as far as their academic performance is concerned and it has also been made very clear what is expected in terms of behaviour. Aggressive and threatening behaviour is never acceptable either in or out of school but unfortunately we have had to deal with several incidents concerning Year 10 students recently. These students have been left in absolutely no doubt about the consequences of further incidents.

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Introduction of prefects

Year 10, as a group, have a great deal of potential and, over the coming year, we look forward to them being very successful in their studies and setting an example to students in lower years. This year for the first time, we are introducing a prefect system, which will include a head boy and a head girl, so that students in Year 10 are able to use their seniority to support staff in the smooth running and the development of our school. We hope also that these Year 10 students will be able to represent the school in formal situations and that they will be able to speak on behalf of our students.

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Expansion of Student Forum

However, the introduction of a prefect system is only part of our plan to listen more carefully to what our students have to say about Saint Paul's and to give them more chance to determine the future of the school. We have had a Student Forum for some time now and we are going to expand this so that we ensure that everyone has a chance to be heard. From September, every form will have two representatives who will meet with students from other forms in the same year to form a Year Council. In turn, two representatives from each year group will report to the Whole School Forum which will be chaired by myself and other senior members of staff.

When this new system is established we will be expecting students to take a much more proactive role as far as activities such as fund raising are concerned; they have always been fantastic at raising money but have often been reliant on staff to come up with ideas and organise events. This also fits in with one of the Academy's specialisms, Enterprise. One of the main focuses of our Enterprise initiative will be to sponsor students in Kenya through their secondary education as we have done for the past three years. However, this year with a streamlined student forum and lots of advice on how to organise events and maximise potential, I think we can look forward to giving even greater support to people in less privileged situations than ourselves.

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New timetable starting in July

As you will be aware, we are constantly looking for ways to maximise our students' potential and increase their motivation. To these ends therefore, we are starting next September's timetable at the beginning of July. This may at first sound bizarre but it makes sense because usually by this time in the academic year, after the public examinations, the impetus begins to flag and time is wasted. Similarly, in September it always takes a few days for staff and students to get used to their new timetables and confusion can easily arise. Therefore, by starting the new timetable in July a great deal of time can be used far more productively than it has been in the past.

It particularly means that students moving from Year 9 to Year 10 will have a chance to start their GCSE courses early and in some cases Year 8 students moving into Year 9 will also be starting new courses. We are also extremely fortunate in that many of the new staff who will be joining us next year will be available in July.

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Student Services Team

We also aim to improve our support for students by increasing our Student Services Team. Traditionally, teachers have looked after the pastoral well being of students as well as teaching and although the two are fundamentally linked and we would never wish to separate them, there are times when teachers do not have the time or the expertise to deal with problems. It is our intention therefore to increase our learning mentor team; at present Kim Nicholas and Richard Mayne do a magnificent job, along with the Chaplaincy Team, supporting students who are experiencing difficulties both in and out of school. However, as the numbers of students in each year increases we would hope to have a learning mentor attached to each year group. The learning mentor would help to ensure a smooth primary/secondary transfer and very often be the first point of contact for parents.

The Student Services' Team also work closely with the school counsellor, Ruth Zieminski, who is in school on Mondays. Counselling offers students the opportunity to talk about anxieties, concerns, fears or worries they may have in a confidential setting. Students can request an appointment through Student Services or, very often, they are referred by staff.

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Links with local police

Again, in order to provide a safe and positive environment for our students, we are going to strengthen our link with the local police even further. We have an excellent relationship with the Schools' Liaison Service and particularly with PC Ralph Tween who is the officer with responsibility for our school. PC Tween supports us in many ways particularly when difficulties arise outside school; as you will be aware there are many gangs in the area and we have worked closely with the police to ensure the safety of our students in the local area. However, in order to strengthen this relationship even more, we are going to try an experiment whereby PC Tween will be in school at a set time every week so that students, and indeed parents if they wish to, can drop in and talk to him. You will be given further details as soon as they are confirmed.

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Move to new site delayed

Although so many positive things have come out of the formation of Saint Paul's Academy, we were very disappointed to hear that the move to the new site is going to be delayed. We are confident that we can continue to improve and be successful on the Wickham Lane site, but the constraints of the building are obvious. However, we are not prepared to compromise on the quality of the new building in any way and it is for this reason that we have agreed that it is better for us to remain as we are for a further year, rather than compromise the long term project. It goes without saying that I will keep you informed of any changes to this situation.

I hope you all have an enjoyable and restful half term.

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Important dates

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From our football correspondent

During this season, football teams throughout the school have taken part in a number of major competitions, including the National Cup, Kent Cup and the Bromley Schools' Tournaments. A number of challenge matches have also taken place.

The complete set of results to date is:

Year 7

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Year 8

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Year 9

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Year 10

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Year 11

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Girls tournaments Year 7 to 11

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Playing record 2005/2006

Congratulations to our Year 8 and 9 Girls' Football Team on reaching the last eight of the National Tournament before being eliminated by Costessey HS of Norwich.

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Gaelic football

The Gaelic Football season has already started and a number of fixtures have already been completed. We are very grateful for the tremendous support that we have received from Dulwich Harps GFC. A very busy programme of fixtures has been scheduled after the half term break.

The complete set of results to date is:

Fixtures for the remainder of the summer term

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