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Dear Parents / Guardians,
I am writing to you at the start
of this academic year, hoping that you had a good and restful
summer. We return to School with some pleasing exam results:
English and Maths Key Stage 3 SATs results have improved and are
now much closer to the challenging targets we had set ourselves
back in 2005. The headline 5+A*-C GCSE figure is also very good,
standing at 59%. However, we are less satisfied with the number
of students who achieved 5 good passes which also include
English and Maths. A major thrust this year will be to increase
the number of students whose GCSE passes also include English
and Maths.
We reopen with a number of
improved facilities. As you will be aware, the School now has a
state of the art weights and fitness building at the corner of
Shelmerdine Close and this was opened in July. Not only will it
benefit students during PE lessons, this incredible facility
will also be available for staff and, through partnership with
Poplar HARCA, it will be open out of school hours for the
community. I shall write to you again soon with full details of
how you can access this superb opportunity.
Inside the building itself,
over the summer we have built a new Science lab, bringing our
number to 10, have created a fifth ICT suite, provided a second
area for our construction courses and developed a dance area.
All of this has been done despite the fact that building work on
our brand new School is set to begin in the later stages of next
year. I am still committed to providing the best facilities we
can now for the students who need them now.
Students will begin school
today each being provided with a St. Paul's Way Community School
bag which contains a basic equipment case, with a pen, pencil,
ruler, sharpener and rubber. They will also receive a homework
diary/planner. Every student will be expected to bring all of
these to School each day. This excellent bag idea came from last
year's School council and has been funded by the Jack Petchey
foundation to whom we offer our thanks. Students must not leave
their bags in School overnight. As with uniform, students who
arrive without equipment, risk being sent home and will be
expected to return immediately ready for learning. I know that I
can rely on your support in helping students plan and organise
their studies. Please ensure when they leave for school in the
morning, they are in full uniform and have a school bag with
them.
As you may remember from my
letter to you last term, we are expecting OfSTED to return to
School this term to check our progress against the issues they
still felt were outstanding from the full inspection we had in
June 2006. Staff have worked incredibly hard to put in place new
systems which track even more carefully the progress students
are making. Very soon, you will see in the exercise books of
students in Years 7, 8 and 9, statements which describe what it
is the students have learnt at the end of a unit of work and
what it is they need to do to make progress in the next unit. It
would be of great benefit to your child if you can find the time
to discuss these statements and targets with them, and support
them in trying to achieve those targets.
As I hope you will agree, we
have made great strides in recent years to make the School a
safer place for students. The impact of the estate-based gangs
which continue to exist right across the borough is far less
felt inside School than it used to be. Also, that small number
of violent students who fail to listen to warnings have been
dealt with firmly: and, sadly, many have been excluded. My prime
duty is to ensure the safety and security of students and staff
and, for that reason, I wanted to remind parents in this
newsletter that students who put that safety at risk are very
likely to find themselves excluded. Please take the time to talk
with your children about what is acceptable behaviour and
continue to do all you can to make sure that they are not
tempted by gang behaviour.
Finally, I have pleasure in
enclosing homework timetables for students with this newsletter.
These let you know what homework students ought to expect on a
given day. Whilst it is not always possible - or even sensible -
to stick rigidly to the days indicated, you ought to expect that
homework in the subjects indicated will be set. If you have any
concerns about the amount or quality of homework that has been
set, please contact the relevant Head of Department in the first
instance.
I look forward, as ever, to
welcoming you into the School and hope that you will be able to
attend our Arts and Community day on Saturday 15th September. We
will be writing to you next week with more details.
With very best wishes,
Simon Harris
Headteacher
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 This
artwork was developed as part of extended schools around the
theme of My Space for an exhibition at the National Portrait
Gallery in Central London.
Year 8 and 9 students worked with
artist, Viyki Turnbull, from the National Portrait Gallery and
art teacher, Laura Brereton, to create artwork looking at the
relationship between themselves and St Paul's Way Community
School.
 The
students then worked with spray artists design4life during three
days of the summer holidays to create the spray mural on the
walls of the school building. Photographs, video and spray
paintings from this project will be on show at the National
Portrait Gallery in an exhibition this autumn.
To create this dynamic work, the
students looked at reflections of themselves and the city around
them, and found ways to reflect the built space in their
movements using photography and construction. They made drawings
of the negative space in stairwells and between doorways and
used these to create two metre high architectural models from
Dowling rods and fabric.
 The
students used these to project photographs of themselves onto
the surface and thought about layering and changing compositions
with their images. They transformed ordinary white cloths into
vehicles for their ideas about the school creating distorted
images that were fun, weird, surreal and dream-like.
The students' final design was
inspired by Frank Miller's graphic novel, Sin City (as was the
title of the work) and they learnt how to spray paint with
artists Jae and Barney to create this finished work.
The National Portrait Gallery has
over 330,000 works in its collection and is devoted to portraits
of men and women who have made a significant contribution to
British History and Culture. The exhibition, My Space,
containing the students' work will be on display within the
gallery from the 20th October 2007 to March 2008.
Ms Mason, Assistant Headteacher |
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The School were delighted to
officially open the new St. Paul’s Way Fitness Centre on the
last day of the Summer Term. It has been built using 'Big
Lottery' funding and is equipped with state of the art apparatus
that has been jointly funded by the school and the Jack Petchey
Foundation. All students will have an opportunity to use the
facility in their PE lessons during September. Our aim is to
attract as many children as possible to our fitness clubs which
will be held before and after school as well as during
lunchtimes. There will also be an opportunity for parents and
other family members to take part in community sessions at the
following times:
Tuesdays - 1.00-2.30pm and
2.30-4.00pm
(Women only)
Thursdays - 1.00-2.30pm and
2.30-4.00pm
(Men only)
Please leave your name, telephone
number, address and the name of the student you are related to
on a piece of paper and hand this into the General Office if you
are interested.
Ms. Gardiner, Head of PE |
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First of all, on behalf of the
School, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a
very happy and prosperous Ramadan. I am writing to remind you of
the importance of regular attendance and punctuality during the
month of Ramadan.
As you will be aware, school is an active and busy environment.
As such, Ramadan can be a challenge for young people given that
they have to wake up during the early morning to eat their
pre-dawn meal. This can affect sleeping patterns and make
children feel tired during the day. Fasting can also be a
particular challenge for young people given the energy and focus
that they must use during an average school day.
However, as you are aware, Muslims are encouraged not to use
Ramadan as an opportunity to avoid aspects of normal life but
rather to cope with normal life under a different set of
guidelines. For Muslim students, this means that they should not
miss days of school or arrive late. They must also try to work
harder in school during the month of Ramadan, and try to improve
themselves in all aspects of their lives, in dealing with others
and their own character, such as respect for others, kindness,
forgiveness and the avoidance of bad language and poor
behaviour.
The School recognises and celebrates the spirit and values of
Ramadan. We will continue to support Muslim students to focus on
the important aspects of Ramadan. Given the likely increase in
the number of students offering prayer during this month, we
have provided extra facilities for daily prayers.
Finally, I would like to wish you in advance, on behalf of the
school, Eid Mubarek!
Humayra Khanom, Home Liaison
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