Keeping Up to Date
This morning
I attended a meeting of Gloucestershire secondary headteachers where we
listened to a presentation by Sir David Carter, the Regional Schools
Commissioner for the south west. He
began his talk by saying that the “only innovation that works is great teaching”
and I couldn’t agree more.
We have been
working hard at St Peter’s to set high standards in teaching and learning and
to support all teachers in the classroom.
We walk around the school each lesson and have a very clear picture of
how hard – and how intelligently – teachers are working and how well students
are engaging with lessons.
Sir David also
spelled out that in an outstanding school, the norm is a good lesson with distinct
elements of excellence. It is not
practicable, he says, that every lesson can be the perfect lesson. I think that when I walk around the school I
see just that, good lesson after good lesson, and often I am able to see real
elements of excellence – a role play in English going well, some practical work
in maths to turn abstract ideas into concrete examples, a board game in
history, and so on.
There have
also been some excellent extra-curricular events lately. A top-class start to a revised debating
society, for example, a visiting poet to the English department, and a lecture
on recent Russian and Soviet history from an Oxford university don. Many thanks to all staff who work to provide
these and other extra-curricular opportunities.
There are
always exceptions, lessons that don’t go as well as hoped, students losing
concentration, but I am sure that St Peter’s is making progress towards providing
the outstanding education we all want.
Primary Visit
The English department
was delighted to have been invited to spend an afternoon working with year 5
pupils at St Peter’s Primary school.
Everyone seemed to have a really good time retelling an old Irish story
from ‘The Tain’ both in drama and writing.
The teachers came back really impressed with the standards set in these
year 5 classes and full of enthusiasm to do more such work.
Arrangements
are in hand for similar visits to other Catholic primary schools whose pupils
come here.
Flame 2
Mandy Baker,
our chaplain, and Margaret-Mary McNeill, our senior science technician, along
with other staff, led a coach full of students to a big Catholic youth
gathering at Wembley Stadium, ‘Flame 2’.
St Peter’s was conspicuous in the size of the group who went, and it is
lovely to see the chaplaincy having such a big effect on how young people see
themselves. They are the future not only
of the church but of our society.
The Living Your Faith Summer Camps, run by the Clifton Diocese, will be
held during August and are intended to encourage children and young people to
engage in their faith through fun, games and Spiritual input. They take place
in the beautiful surroundings of the Marist Convent in Nympsfield. Week one 3rd
-7th August (age7-11 years). Week two 10th-14th August (age12-15). For more
details contact Stephen Spurrell on 07860 849460 or livingyourfaith@hotmail.co.uk
or look on the website http://www.livingyourfaith.co.uk/
Music Events
We have two
important music events coming up. They’re
very different, but both look to be of the highest quality. Stainer's ‘Crucifixion’
is a twentieth-century choral work which
is most appropriate for Lent and will be performed on Friday, 20th March – next
week – at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Stroud. 19.00. It is a one-hour piece, in English, and
features solo performances from Laurence Padfield (bass) and Roberto West (tenor).
In quite a different key is ‘Bondlive’, a week later, on Friday, 27th
March at the school. 19.00. ‘Bondlive’
features theme songs from the Bond movies from Goldfinger to Skyfall,
all accompanied by St Peter's Jazz Band.
Evening food included and bar.
Tickets for both of these
events can be purchased from St Peter's reception.
Low Income Travel
Grants
Parents in receipt of working tax
credit at the maximum level (i.e.
not reduced to income) or whose children qualify for free school meals are
entitled to an additional level of transport assistance. Parents will be
required to submit an application for free school meals if their child is not already receiving them in order that
eligibility can be confirmed with the checking service provided by the
Government. Alternatively, parents can provide paper evidence of their
benefits, in which case all pages of the current tax credit notice will be
required. Assistance with transport on
grounds of low income will be subject to an annual review whereby transport may
be withdrawn if the financial situation has changed.
i) The County Council will provide
help to low income families with a child aged between 8-11 years attending a primary school where the pupil attends
their nearest primary school and their
home to school walking distance is over two miles.
Qualifying parents will need to
reapply for transport under this criterion when their child turns eight years
old and they are no longer entitled to transport when the statutory walking
distance increases from two to three miles.
ii) The County Council will
provide help to low income families with a child aged between 11-16 years
attending a secondary school where
the pupil either attends one of their three nearest secondary
schools and their home to school distance is between two and six miles or attends the nearest suitable school preferred on grounds
of religion or belief, where they live more than two
miles, but not more than fifteen
miles from that school.
School Day
I am proposing some changes to the school day. We are finding the ‘long lunchtimes’ rather
too long (and the ‘short lunchtimes’ a little too short!) and we are proposing
a one-hour lunchtime each day. This has
some knock-on effects to lesson timing.
I intend to put a detailed note about this on the website next week and
will invite comments from parents. It
would be nice if we could begin a new day after the Whit holiday so that it can
become embedded before the September re-start.
Sport
You will all know just how successful the school has become, under the
guidance of Keiran Montagu, in coaching tennis players. Our first team has been seeded in the
national finals, which is almost unheard-of for a maintained school and a huge
achievement for us. We enjoyed a recent
visit to the school by Bob Brett, the current Performance Director for the Lawn
Tennis Association (UK tennis). Once
again we were told what an impressive set-up we have here and how lucky our talented
players are to be able to develop their skills and experience with us.
Xavier Woodcock has been selected to represent Gloucestershire in the
national cross-country championships in Lancashire. We are delighted to be able to support Xavier
and are excited by his achievements.
The website – and the PE department website which has a link there –
carries all up-to-date news about fixtures and successes.
Parking
You will
probably have seen from the website that we have a couple of complaints from
neighbours about inconsiderate parking.
I am sure you understand that we need to be on the best of terms with
our neighbours and that it is good for us to seek the highest reputation in all
ways. I am grateful for the support I
received from parents collecting students from school when I spoke to them
about this matter.
Finally- revision is a priority
We are
approaching the time of the year when the word ‘revision’ will be used almost
daily. It’s really important for year 11
students and all sixth-formers to be managing their work and learning and
making it a priority. A little each day
is the key.
Year 12 are
working well, but lots of teachers tell me that they need to be working
with a little more energy and
enthusiasm. Don’t leave things too late!
Read each
day. Read over your notes. Read the books you are studying. Read books you’ve chosen which relate to your
studies. Read books, magazines and
newspapers for pleasure. Reading is a
really important key to success.
Friday March 13th 2015
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