A Message from the Headteacher

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope that you are well. I am writing this newsletter at the very end of my fourth year at St. Paul's Way Trust School. It has been a thoroughly exciting four years (it has certainly gone very quickly) - and I feel privileged to be working with such a wonderful and committed staff group, so many delightful students, an informed and dedicated governing body and you, the parents.

With the end of the Spring term upon us, the School moves into exam mode, with Key Stage 3 SATs and GCSEs and GNVQs all beginning shortly after we return in April. I know that we all wish students in Years 9 and 11 the very best of luck, and look forward to celebrating their many successes.

You will recall that I wrote to you a couple of weeks ago regarding the tightening up of our uniform policy. May I take this opportunity to remind you that from the start of the Summer term, Monday 16th April, any student wearing incorrect uniform will be sent home, you will be phoned and we will expect the student to return in full uniform as quickly as possible.

Please be reminded that students are not allowed any of the following items:

• Hooded tops;
• Baseball caps;
• Trainers;
• Tracksuit bottoms (except as part of PE kit)
• Earrings (students with pierced ears are only allowed to wear studs).

Finally, may I remind you that mobile phones must not come into school and, if found, will be confiscated and only returned to the student in the presence of a parent - not an older sibling.

I am sure that I can rely on your support in this matter and look forward to reporting higher standards of uniform to you very soon.

As always, I look forward to welcoming you into School in the very near future.

With very best wishes,

Simon Harris, Headteacher

Stratford Music Festival

During the half term break, KS4 students took part in The Stratford and East London Music Festival. Students were entered in the Songs From the Shows and Pop Ballad sections. The standard was very high and our students did well.

Madalena Samuel (11S) and Rumi Khanom (11W) were awarded a joint second place in the Pop Ballad section for 15-17 years.

Other students who took part were:

Raju Ali (9U)

Tanasha Alcendor (10A)

Valentine Odera (10T)

Tai Dinh (10W)

Pushpa Choudhury (11L)

Hawa Essa (11S)

Ola Liadi (11T)

Nazmen Khanom (11U)

Uma Akthar (11U),

Farhana Begum (11W)

Suad Ali (11Y)

Warda Ahmed (11Y).

Budding Builders

Thirty-two capable and enthusiastic Year 9 students were involved in a highly successful Construction Challenge event on 22nd and 23rd March 2007. This event was held at the Local Labour in Construction Training Centre in Poplar.

Working in teams of eight, students formed companies with the purposes of building houses. They learned about safety regulations on building sites and discussed with others, St. Paul's Way staff and the course facilitators exactly what was expected of them in the two-day Challenge.

On the second day, the students were split up into trade groups: bricklayers, electricians, carpenters and plumbers.

The students were instructed in their respective trades and were able to put their new skills to practice in the afternoon, when they constructed their house. They had seventy minutes to complete the work on the house, which involved building the front wall, fixing doors and windows, wiring up a light rose and consumer unit and installing a hand basin. Once complete, the students had to attempt to sell their house to an agent.

All the students involved enjoyed the event At the end, three gold certificates were awarded. Well done everyone!

Thanks to the staff involved for their support and commitment.

Mr Rahman, Technology Department

A Trip to the Lakes

The emphasis of this Year 8 residential trip to Castle Head in the Lake District was on pastoral learning, in the form of teamwork, co-operation and leadership skills. Students were divided into five groups for the week, with an assigned tutor from the residential centre and a teacher from St. Paul’s Way. This allowed close observation and feedback to the students during the week. In addition to me, the St. Paul’s Way staff involved were Mr Williams, Mr Wilks, Ms Dhillon, Ms Compton, Mr Markson and Mr Uddin. My thanks to them all for their hard work and commitment which helped greatly with discipline and the safety and security of the residential.

Practical activities included mountain walks, climbing, canoeing, tracking, a sea level traverse, orienteering and domestic tasks. Students gained much from the trip, commenting in their feedback upon the importance of team work and how much they had enjoyed particular activities such as the canoeing. I wish to thank the Headteacher and Ms Wild for allowing the trip to proceed, and for their encouragement and assistance. I also wish to thank most of the students, who were a pleasure to be with. 

Mr Jacobs, Head of Geography
and Year 8 Intervention Facilitator

Trained to Travel

Students who attended a two-day Independent Travel Training course at the Town Hall were praised by the organisers for their enthusiasm, hard work and good manners. The group of deaf students from Years 7 to 11 were praised by Holly Barker, the trainer who ran the course. "The students were excellent in their behaviour and achievement," she said. "They worked really well as a group and they managed to get through four days' worth of work in just two days! They are a credit to the School."

The group attended workshops on March 20th and 21st focusing on a range of topics including road safety, reading transport maps, using timetables and personal safety. They were accompanied by DSB staff Kudaja Begum, Melissa Carroll and Quita Smythe, a teacher of the deaf on placement at SPWCS. The workshops will be followed next term by individually tailored training programmes to teach the students how to travel safely and confidently to school or college using public transport.

The students enjoyed their visit to Mulberry Place and had a chance to explore the Town Hall building. "We worked hard and learnt a lot. It was fun," said Nayeem Taher of 8T. The students who took part were: Ahtik Ahmed, Hafsa Begum and Samiur Rahman of 7T, Shahida Begum, Zakirul Islam and Nayeem Taher of 8T, Priya Begum of 9A, Shamia Begum and Shaha Jalal of 10P, Abdul Quddus Wahid of 11A and Anher Uddin of 11P. Well done!    

Ms Bentham, Head of Deaf Support Base

Raven Queen Writing Competition

In February, Noorjahan Chowdhury of 11L won first prize in the prestigious 'Raven Queen' writing competition run by the publishers, Usborne Books. The competition was launched to mark the publication of a fictional autobiography of the tragic Lady Jane Grey, who was beheaded at the Tower of London, aged seventeen, in 1554. Diary entries, written in the voice of Lady Jane, were invited from writers up to the age of 16, and Noorjahan's imaginative depiction of a few hours in the life of Lady Jane deeply impressed the judges.

Noorjahan won a trip to the Tower of London on 21st February to meet the author of 'Raven Queen', Pauline Francis. Noorjahan was accompanied by friends from her tutor group, and other competition entrants in the School from 9W and 11U, and by Ms Alomenu, Ms Shipley and Ms Khatun. After the prize visit, Usborne's marketing manager wrote to the School to say that the author had loved meeting the St. Paul's Way students (and she has even told Noorjahan that she wants to 'borrow' a sentence from her competition entry to use in her next book!).

Congratulations again, Noorjahan, and thank you to Ms Howard for helping arrange the prize-winners trip! Noorjahan's winning entry should be appearing in a forthcoming school magazine.

Ms Damms, English Department

Special Mentions

Well done to 7L (Ms Hill's Art group) for working so hard on the architecture project and making some excellent designs and models with Heather Whitley from 'Open Up'.

Ms Hill, Art Department

We would like to say how wonderful the Year 10s and Year 11s involved in the Romeo and Juliet production were. Their West End performance at the Shaw Theatre was a triumph. Congratulations to all the actors, crew and their teachers.

Ms Damms, Ms Kilgour and Mr Morton

Well done to Mamanur (8U) Shojib (8W) and Tahin (8P) who were all selected to play for the Tower Hamlets Cricket team. They played very well and have reached the finals at Lords. Good luck, boys!

Mr Blakeley, i/c Boys’ PE

The 7ALPS Art group visited Chelsea College of Art and met the architect who designed the new sections of the building. The architect then visited them in School and helped them make 3-dimensional models of gallery spaces. Their work will be entered in a London wide competition. Well done and good luck for the competition.

Ms Addison, Art Department

Many Year 11 GCSE Geography pupils did well in their coursework this year. Congratulations to: Mhd Kadhar (11A), Ahmed Ahad, Farzana Akther, Hazera Begum, Sabina Sabor, Choudhury and Noorjahan Chowdhury (11L), Jamil Choudhury, Jahangir Hussain, Emdad Ahmed, Johirul Islam and Saima Rashid (11P), Yasmin Begum, Madalena Samuel, Jasmin Akther, Moushumi Sultana and Mahmudul Amin (11S), Shakir Shahid, Kahdra Mohamed and Yasmin Begum (11T), Maksadul Hassan (11U), Abdul Aden and Murad Choudhury (11W), Marjina Begum, Victoria Ajayi-Adesanya,, Mohibur Zabed and Eray Eltan (11Y). Most of the other 75 GCSE Geography pupils have done well as well.

Frank Jacobs, Head of Geography

Getting Their Skates On!

SPW students conquered their fears and took to the ice at Canary Wharf. There was plenty of laughter as most had never skated before. They were disappointed when the session ended and are definitely up for trying it again.

Boys' Cricket

The Year 7-8 boys’ cricket team played in the Tower Hamlets Indoor Cricket Cup in February. They won convincingly against Bow Boys and Langdon Park, but were just beaten in the semi-finals by Bethnal Green Technology College. Well done to Tuhin, Mamanur, Shojib, Maruf, Abdul, Mustafizur, Ruhel, Rahmat, Raju and Shopon for their excellent efforts.

Mr Blakeley, i/c Boys’ PE

Magistrates' Mock Trials

For the eighth consecutive year, a team of students from St Paul's Way participated in this year’s Magistrates Court Mock Trial Competition at Thames Court. Our team performed superbly in court, but were beaten by an excellent team from Robert Clack School, Dagenham. The competition teaches students oral skills and gives them an insight into how the law courts operate. So… Year 8, volunteer for next year's competition. Well done St Paul's Way!

Mr Nance, SEN Department