A Message from the Headteacher

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope that this Newsletter finds you well. Unbelievably, we are already half-way through this academic year, and the pressure is now on for Year 9 students - with their up and coming SATs - and Year 11 students who are just weeks away from their GCSE and GNVQ exams. All the signs are good that results will continue to rise, but we must not get complacent: least of all the students themselves! There is still much to do...

Last Monday, the School hosted a meeting with parents to discuss ways of curbing the estate-based gang culture which causes families and the School so many headaches. It was an excellent meeting, with some fine suggestions made for what we can all do. We all agreed to meet again soon and I shall notify you of the next meeting's date as soon as it is set. Please may I encourage as many of you as possible to try to attend: I feel sure that between us (and working with the Police and local Housing associations) we can solve this most difficult of problems.

I'd like to congratulate Carolyn Dew, who recently completed her training as a Teacher of the Deaf, and to wish Denis Swaine well as he leaves us, temporarily, to take up a secondment with a project management firm, specialising in school rebuilding. I should also like to wish Joe Odunlami, Senior Science Technician, all the best as he retires from the School at the end of next week.

As always, I look forward to welcoming you into the School very soon.

With very best wishes,

Simon Harris
Headteacher

DEAF SUPPORT CLUB LAUNCHED

Students and staff from the Deaf Support Base at SPWCS attended the launch of a new club for deaf and hearing impaired young people in Tower Hamlets. The Deaf Support Club, based at nearby Café Reconnect on St Paul's Way, was officially opened by local MP, Jim Fitzpatrick, who is a hearing aid user.

Headteacher, Simon Harris, and the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Cllr Doros Ullah, also joined the party on Friday January 27th. The DSC is staffed and funded by Poplar Harca with sponsorship from Orange, and will provide arts activities, games and trips for deaf students every Friday after school.

The project was initiated by governors, Andrew Mahoney and Suzanne Wolfe, along with Sarah Wild, Assistant Headteacher, and Amanda Bentham, Head of the DSB. "Students and staff in the Deaf Support Base are delighted that the club has been launched. It will offer young deaf people a place to socialise, learn new skills and access deaf role models and have fun. We are very proud of all our students, they deserve this opportunity," said Ms Bentham.

The School is delighted that two former students, Sufian (who is also deaf) and Quddus are youth workers helping to run the club with project leader Helen Redd. All young deaf people in Tower Hamlets are welcome to join the club, which runs every Friday in term time from 2.45pm to 5pm.

Ms. Bentham, Deaf Support Base

COP Course

Students from St. Pauls Way Community School took an active role in the Metropolitan Police COP Course. Over a period of 5 days that they attended the police training college and gave evidence in a mock court. They learned life saving first aid skills from the London Ambulance Service and learned about the darker side of life from Her Majesties Prison Service. It wasn't all work as they also took part in pot holing and mountain biking.

Any pupils interested in attending the March course should contact PC Steve Austin.

A Letter of Thanks

St. Paul’s Way students have sponsored the construction of an ‘Elephant Pump’ to bring water to deprived people living in a remote village in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. This is a letter the School received in thanks from one of the villagers, Janet Mawadzi:

Dear Friends,

I am writing this letter to express my gratitude and happiness about the Elephant Pump which was installed in our village.

The pump is easy to operate. We are now drinking safe water, we have no need to walk long distances and we now have a lot of time to study. We use the water for washing, drinking, laundry and watering vegetables which are part of our food. This pump is useful to every resident.

Your loving friend,
Janet Mawadzi

Home Liaison

Do you know
• how much homework your child should be doing each day?
• what day your child has P.E.?
• what kind of equipment your child should have in their school bags?

Would you like
• to find out how you can get involved in your child’s education?
• to know what help is available for parents in Tower Hamlets?

For the answer to these and any other questions you have, please contact Humayra, our Home Liaison Worker, on 020-7515 2828.

School Noticeboard

Special Mentions
Well done to Gamze and Khoer for their fantastic work in food technology. Also congratulations to Fahima, 10A, for her great work and effort in the DSB, and to Masum, 10A, for good decision making skills. Ms Mottley

Timothy Rondero, 7L2, Hema Ullah, 7S2, for excellent work in textiles and Zakir Khan 7W1 for amazing drawing and beautiful sketchbook work, and Rabeeul Islam, 8W, for trying really hard in Art this year and doing some excellent work!!!  Ms Rolfe

Student Forum News
On 19th January, fourteen members of the School's Student Forum visited Clara Grant Primary School for the morning. Their mission was to teach KS2 students how to set up and run their own school council. St Paul's Way students led workshops for the entire morning and did an excellent job, showing that one day they could be running the School for themselves. The students who took part were: Ayesha, Hameema, Muhsina, Afsana, Khaleda, Ruzina, Kabir (all 8P); Hamida, Khaleda (9W), Aaron (10A), Farzana (10L), Jamil (10P), Victoria (10Y) and Jubeda (10Y).

The Student Forum meets on Fridays at 2.45pm in the Library. All students are encouraged to come along and share their ideas.

Sports Report
Congratulations to the combined Year 7 & 8 Boys' Basketball Team who finished 3rd in the Tower Hamlets Basketball Cup recently. They played really well and beat some very good teams from Langdon Park, Bethnal Green Technology College and Stepney Green. They narrowly lost to two very strong teams from Raine’s Foundation and Bishop Challoner. The boys were a credit to the school and deserve to be congratulated. Well done. The team was: Kabir Miah, Murshed Alom, Abu Hasan, Zakirul Islam, Kamran Hussain, Jahangir Alom, Eugene Bekoe, Masum Uddin, Bablu Choudhury.