Newsletter October 2008

October 2008

This issue

Welcome to the October 2008 edition of Saint Paul's Academy's newsletter!

In this issue:

Good news on the new building
Under 12's win the double
Praise indeed
Working together gets results
Year 10 students do extremely well
Delayed SAT Results
Record Number come to Open Day
ICT equipment takes a large step forward
New faces
Congratulations
Year 10 Work Experience
Enterprise Education
Music at Saint Paul's
Adam Perry 8A
LAMDA
A letter received from Kids Task Force
Important dates
Holiday dates
From our football correspondent
Playing record 2008/2009
Gaelic Football - London School Championship

Dear Parents and Guardians

“I am extremely proud of this year’s GCSE results, they are a wonderful reflection of the hard work done by students and staff alike.”

Patrick Winston, Principal

Good news on the new building

As many of you will be aware, significant progress has been made and if you are passing by I would urge you to stop and look.

The first floor is well underway and the basic structure of the new building is now obvious. If you go on to the school's web site, you will be able to access a web cam which will give you 'live' information about the progress of the project.

This is an extremely exciting time for our Academy and we hope to have groups of students visiting the site soon so that they can be involved as much as possible with their new learning environment.

Under 12's win the double

Our U12 Gaelic Football team has recently completed their first season at this new sport by winning both the London Schools' Championship and in partnership with Dulwich Harps the London Club Championship.

This team had their first Gaelic Football training session in mid- March. The squad have attended all of the training sessions that have been provided and their progress has been phenomenal! In their first league game they were defeated by Parnells by 17 points and they also were beaten by Saint Kiernan's.

However, on Finals Day it was a very different story. In the semifinal they overcame Parnells by 10 points and in the final they beat Saint Kiernan's by 8 points. The team then completed the Double by winning the London Schools' Championship. The U14 team is still involved in the League competition but has already claimed the London Schools' Championship.

In the next Newsletter, I will be giving full details of the launch of Girls' Gaelic Football.

Praise indeed

We are able to start a new academic year with extremely good news as summer 2008 saw our students, yet again, leaving Saint Paul's with magnificent GCSE examination results.

In fact, if prior attainment is taken into account, these are the school's best ever results; 75% of the cohort achieved five or more A* - C grades and 20% of all entries achieved A* and A grades.

Particularly significant this year is the fact that 61% of students achieved five or more A* - C grades including English and Maths; this figure is important because it is now the measure the government is using to make basic judgements about school effectiveness.

For Saint Paul's the maths and English figure is particularly pleasing
not only because it ranks us third in the borough but also because it is 10% higher than summer 2007.

As well as this, twelve subjects managed to significantly exceed the national average and ten departments reported their best ever results.

Working together gets results

These are clearly very impressive statistics and we have received messages of congratulations from many people including Lord Adonis, but once again I have to say that none of this would be possible without the hard work and dedication of the staff and the support of parents and carers.

One of the great strengths of Saint Paul's has always been its sense of community and people working together, and this is reflected clearly in these outstanding examination results.

Year 10 students do extremely well

I am also delighted with the GCSE results achieved by Year 10 students. As you know we are committed to idea that students take examinations when they are ready rather than simply as their chronological age dictates.

This year, students in Year 10 took up to three GCSEs, as well as module tests, and the results were very pleasing. Subjects taken included RS, Art, Astronomy, Spanish and PE and again there were an impressive number of As and A*s.

Delayed SAT results

As yet, I am unable to give you an accurate picture of our SAT results. You will be aware from the media that there were considerable problems with the marking of these papers and unfortunately we have yet to receive a significant number of science results.

We have asked for the English writing papers to be remarked as there were clear anomalies. Obviously, this is not only very disappointing for the students but also for the staff who invested so much effort in preparing students for these examinations. We can only hope the situation improves next year.

Record number come to Open Day

September is also when we hold our annual Open Day which gives children in Years 5 and 6 of Primary School the chance to visit our school and talk to both staff and students.

Three years ago, we changed from an Open Evening to an Open Morning on a Saturday for the simple reason that we could not accommodate all our visitors in an evening.

This year was certainly no exception and we welcomed record numbers of parents, carers and children. It was particularly good to see people of other faiths being very positive about the ethos of our school and realising how they can contribute to and be supported by the richness and diversity of our community.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the students who either helped staff or acted as guides on Open Morning; many of our visitors commented on how articulate and enthusiastic the young people were and how proud they are of their school.

ICT equipment takes a large step forward

I am pleased to be able to tell you that this term we have a great deal of new ICT equipment. This includes not only a large number of new laptops for students to use, but also new systems for assessment and reporting.

From now on, everything which is purchased will be transferred to the new building in order for it to be cost effective and I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that we expect all students to respect school property at all times.

Although we are moving to a brand new building, we have clear financial restraint and this, combined with the current economic climate, makes replacing damaged equipment very difficult. It is therefore the responsibility of every student to ensure that all equipment is looked after and used for the purposes for which it was intended. Any student who violates our trust will have their access to ICT severely reduced.

New faces

We have also been fortunate enough to welcome a number of new staff this term.

Mr Brown, Miss Hepburn, Miss Faragher, Dr Barrett and Miss Sweeney have all joined the teaching staff and we welcome Mr Fairburn, Miss Nelson and Miss Pooley as teaching assistants. Both Miss Nelson and Miss Pooley are former students and we are delighted that they have chosen to return to Saint Paul's.

We are also very pleased to welcome Ms O'Connor as our Lay Chaplain; Ms O'Connor has wide experience of working with young people in different contexts and I'm sure many students, parents and carers will get to know her in the coming months.

Congratulations

Finally, we would like to offer Miss Thorn many congratulations on her marriage; as many of you will be aware, Miss Thorn is also a former student who returned to teach at Saint Paul's seven years ago. We wish Miss Thorn and her husband a long and happy life together.

Year 10 Work Experience

Work Experience is greatly valued by students because it gives them a taste of the world of work and it makes them aware of how the expectations of the work place differ from those at work.

This year's programme is well under way and we are anticipating sending 164 students out on placements in March.

Traditionally, we have sent students on Work Experience at the end of the summer term, but we have changed the dates because we feel that students need time in school immediately after their placement to discuss and analyse what they have learnt.

Year 10 students have until the end of this term to find their own placement but inevitably there will be some student who are unable to do so. Therefore, we would be very grateful if any parents or carers could offer a placement in their company or organisation. If you are able to help, please contact Ms Stevenson, Work Experience Co-ordinator, at the school on extension 244.

Enterprise education

Since becoming an Academy in 2005 we have raised for charity £19,780.

This is a phenomenal achievement and this money has had a huge impact on the lives of very many people. In the next Newsletter, we will give you news of our Advent Charities and this year's fund raising.

Hopefully, we will be able to exceed the amounts raised in previous years by thinking of even more ingenious and enjoyable fund raising activities.

Music at Saint Paul's

Under the leadership of Mrs. Presencer, music at Saint Paul's has diversified greatly. The choir is now firmly established and has grown hugely in ability, confidence and numbers; there are regular after school rehearsals and, once every half term, there is a full day rehearsal at Saint Benet's Church Hall which gives an extended period of time in which more and more challenging music can be learnt.

The choir's first performance this academic year was at King's Place, a brand new arts centre in London. The choir took part in a world music performance and sung with the F-ire Collective Group performing a piece called Meta Meta. This was a fantastic experience for everyone.

The department also made a successful bid to the Jack Petchey Foundation to get funding for a Community Music Project. The Aim is to create a space where young people between the ages of 12 and 18 can meet to sing, learn and play music together. The focus at the moment is on vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard and drums but the hope is that other instruments will be incorporated at a later date.

Teaching will draw on the expertise already within the school as well as bringing in other extremely talented musicians. For more information please contact Mrs Presencer at the school on extension 255.

Adam Perry 8A

Adam represented Greenwich in the London Youth Games in June 2008 for swimming and won a silver medal for his race but now he has also heard that he was the second fastest competitor from the races in his age group so his coach is delighted with him and so are we!!!

LAMDA

Last summer, all Year 10 GCSE drama students took an extra qualification, the LAMDA examination. The exam was brand new to the school and carries UCAS points so it can contribute towards university entrance.

LAMDA, which stands for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, is available at different levels. There are three stages, Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced, and eight grades with grade 1 being the lowest and grade 8 the highest.

We all took grade 6 - the Bronze Medal, which if passed, is the equivalent of an 'A' Level. In the examination, you perform from memory two speeches you have selected from different fields - Contemporary and Classical.

I can remember looking at the variety of speeches in the LAMDA booklet, which ranged from war speeches to religious pleas and angst filled poems to story-telling. For my contemporary piece, I chose Burn which is about a boy recapping the events that led to his death and the involvement of a mysterious Birdman. Brand was my classical piece and it is about a fiery-priest hero who is taking a stroll down a mountain path. After a couple of months learning the speeches and then acting them, I was confident that whether I passed or failed I was going to be happy that I did my best.

Eventually, it was my turn to face the examiner - I was second out of almost seventy students and nerves were beginning to show. My examiner asked me to come in and I became more nervous knowing I would be examined on things like my ability to act, diction and of course whether I remembered my two speeches or not! At one point, I forgot a line and had to ask for it, but as soon as the examiner was about to read it I remembered it.

In the first drama lesson of Year 11, a cloud of doubt was in everyone's minds, as we knew we would get our results and we knew there were only two options: fail or pass. My name was called first and I was ecstatic as I was the first person in the whole year to be told they had passed.

I'm very pleased Miss Dixon and the Drama department encouraged us to do this as it was a good experience and a great help to our confidence in public speaking.

In the beginning, I thought LAMDA would be easy because it was just learning a monologue or two, but I was so wrong because it was actually really hard. I found the classical piece the hardest to start with because the character was the complete opposite of me, but I soon started to like my monologue and it started to feel comfortable so when I walked into the exam room, I was relaxed. I was so happy when I found out that I passed but then I thought, Wow, I must have been really good!

A letter received from Kids Task Force

Dear Mr Patrick Winston

I am writing to thank you for the amazing day we had in your school yesterday. To invite us in to use the Watch Over Me resources in front of Sky News at such short notice was so kind.

We were so impressed by the school and by the standard of your teachers and the way they interacted and were so respected and liked by the children. The relationship with the police is also something every school should have.

The pupils themselves were an absolute credit to you and it is obvious the school has outstanding leadership. I would like to ask if St Paul's Academy would consider becoming a flagship school for the Kids Taskforce and one of the schools leading the roll out of the Watch Over Me Resources across London.

The Mayor of London has funded the personal safety resources for all schools in London and training is beginning this month in every borough. We really feel that St Paul's Academy is such an outstanding school that we would like you to be leading the way and showing other schools how to use the resource. We would like to offer you special in house training at the school to be arranged your convenience.

We also have a dinner at Lancaster House on 24th November and I would like to invite you and the teacher who gave the lesson as well as two pupils to the dinner to represent St Paul's Academy.

I do hope you can attend the government dinner on the 24th and once again thank you for the wonderful day you made possible yesterday.

Best wishes,

Sharon Doughty

Important dates

Wednesday 12th November 2008	Year 11 Consultation Evening at 4pm
Thursday, 13th November 2008	Year 10 Mathematics Module Tests
Monday, 17th November 2008	Commencement of Anti-Bullying Week
Thursday, 20th November 2008	Year 10 Science Module Tests
Friday, 21st November 2008	Launch of the Advent Charity Appeal
Friday, 28th November 2008	INSET Day
Tuesday, 16th December 2008	Carol Service at St Michael's Church at 1pm

Holiday Dates

Autumn Term	Wednesday 3rd September 2008 Friday 19th December 2008
Autumn Half term	Monday 27th October 2008 Friday 31st October 2008
Christmas Holidays	Monday 22nd December 2008 Friday 2nd January 2009
Spring Term	Monday 5th January 2009 Wednesday 8th April 2009
Spring Half term	Monday 16th February 2009 Friday 20th February 2009
Easter Holidays	Thursday 9th April 2009 Friday 24th April 2009
Summer Term	Monday 27th April 2009 Friday 17th July 2009
May Day Holiday	Monday 4th May 2009
Summer Half term	Monday 25th May 2009 Friday 29th May 2009

From our football correspondent

Football teams throughout the School have taken part in a number of fixtures including the National Cup and the Kent Cup.

The complete set of results to date is:

Year 7

Opoponents	Competition	Score
Trinity	Friendly	Drew 1-1
Harvey GS	Friendly	Lost 0-2
Ravenswood	Friendly	Lost 2-5

Goalscorers: T. Oluagunju 2, A. Williams 1

Year 8

Opponents	Competition	Score
Trinity	Friendly	Won 5-3
Hurstmere	Friendly	Won 3-1
Harvey GS	Friendly	Won 16-0
Bishop Justus	Friendly	Won 8-2
Kemnal TC	Friendly	Won 7-2
Ravenswood	Friendly	Won 5-0

Goalscorers: T. Adeloye 12, B. Owusu-Ansah 1, W. Orimolusi 10, D. President 3, O. Isichei 2, B. Anidugbe , C. Baillie 1, T. Esan, C. Walcott-Blunt 1, Own Goals 2)

Year 9

Opponents	Competition	Score
Trinity	Friendly	Won 3-1
Harvey GS	Friendly	Won 2-0
Langdon Park	National Cup	Lost 1-4
Ravensbourne	Friendly	Won 6-2
Ravenswood	Friendly	Won 5-3

Goalscorers: G. Murphy 5, N. Eka 4, K. Okogwu 3, D. Conteh 2, A. Rufino 1, K. Brown 1, Own Goal 1

Year 10

Opponents	Competition	Score
Harvey GS	Friendly	Won 11-1
Forest Hill	National Cup	Lost 2-8
Ravensbourne	Friendly	Won 2-0
Ravenswood	Friendly	Won 3-2

Goalscorers: M. Brobbey 6, O. Odebunmi 3, S. Lingwood 2, A. Swain 1, J. Driscoll 1, A. Marshall-Peacock 1

Year 11

Opponents	Competition	Score
Holmesdale TC	Kent Cup	Won 4-1

Goalscorers: M. Fabiyi 2, J. Baptiste 1, Own Goal 1

Year 7 to 11

Opponents	Competition	Score
Hayes	Kent Cup (U16)	Lost 1-4
Bexley GS	Kent Cup (U14)	Lost 4-5

Goalscorers: A. Light 2, H. Goodes 1, L. Smith 1, L. Trieu 1

Playing record 2008/2009

	P	D	L	F	A
Year 7	3	1	2	3	8
Year 8	3	1	2	3	8
Year 9	3	1	2	3	8
Year 10	3	1	2	3	8
Year 11	3	1	2	3	8
Girls	3	1	2	3	8
Total	3	1	2	3	8

Gaelic Football- London School Championship

Under 12

Opponents	Competition	Score
Clere 'B', Burghclere	Won	4 – 08 (20pts) 0 – 02
St Mark's School, Hounslow	Won	4 – 06 (18pts) 0 – 03
Finchley Catholic School	Won	2 – 06 (12pts) 0 – 01
Cardinal Wiseman, Greenford	Won	5 – 08 (23pts) 0 – 01
Clere 'A'	Won	1 – 05 (8pts) 1 – 01 (4pts)
Salvatorian College: Final	Won	3 – 03 (12pts) 1 – 05 (8pts)

Under 14

Opponents	Competition	Score
Salvatorian College: Harrow	Won	3 – 05 (14pts) 0 – 01
London Nautical: Waterloo	Won	2 – 07 (23pts) 1 – 00 (3pts)
St Mark's Hounslow	Won	1 – 02 (5pts) 0 – 01
Cardinal Wiseman: Final	Won	3 – 08 (17pts) 0 – 01

Newsletter cover October 2008.

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