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St Paul’s News |
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Friday 19th July 2024 |
Dear Parents and Carers,
Well, what a year, what a school and what a team!
It is my pleasure to send you this, the final newsletter of the year at the end of my first year as substantive Headteacher. It has flown by in a flourish of trips, visitors, festivals, sports tournaments, fund raising, discos, reading cafés, swimming, an inspection, visits to so many places to enhance our learning and numerous visitors that we’ve had to St Paul’s. People who visit our school comment on how welcoming and friendly everyone is and the sense of purpose and enthusiasm which can be seen and heard in every classroom. I have included a letter from Caroline Gilderdale, the Bishop’s Visitor, who spent an afternoon in school with us last week. I think the St Paul’s School community is brilliant and amazing, but it’s lovely to see I’m not the only one who shares this feeling!
As Headteacher, I continue to be extremely grateful to and proud of, the children of St Paul’s. They are a joy and an inspiration and make all our efforts worthwhile. The children make me smile every day! One of my favourite parts of the day is being on the gate to say hello to everyone and have that quick, friendly ‘check in’.
I would like to also thank all the staff who continue to go ‘above and beyond’ to make a difference to all the children in their care. They are diligent, caring, hard-working, creative, supportive and enthusiastic and work tirelessly to make St Paul’s the special, unique place that it is. We are also grateful to our Governors, who have worked continuously behind the scenes providing support, guidance and challenging us to be even better for the children!
Last, but certainly not least, thank you to all parents and carers. We couldn’t do all of this without your amazing support. Your continued involvement with your child’s learning and school life is invaluable. Thank you so much and the staff at St Paul’s look forward to working with you again next year.
For those families of Year 6 children, who will be ending their adventure at St Paul’s, thank you for trusting us with your children. It has been a truly memorable experience and we will really miss them next year, but wish them lots of luck in their new schools.
Have a peaceful, happy and healthy summer break and we look forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday 3rd September 2024.
Love and best wishes,
Jayne Bevan
11TH July 2024
Dear Jayne,
Thank you so much for the extremely warm welcome I received from you and your staff on Monday. I immediately felt comfortable and at home! The sense of care for everyone is evident as soon as you enter the building and I can fully see how the school is often described as a ‘village school in the heart of the city’. It has the feel of a large family, where everyone feels valued and cared for.
From your website, our conversation and your positive relationships with children, staff and parents, I can see this is a place that serves its community with love. You go above and beyond to provide for your children and their families. It is fully inclusive of everyone, from all backgrounds and faiths- each individual being ‘wonderfully made’ (Psalm 139:12-16). Your school mission- Make a Difference to Everyone', genuinely underpins everything you do here. Your last SIAMS inspection stated that the school has been recognised as a 'School of Sanctuary' and I can see why. The school feels like a 'safe haven', where all members of the school community -young and old, are treated with respect-all as children of God.
This week I was delighted to be invited into Collective Worship, which was planned and delivered beautifully by the school worship group-‘CREW’. The worship table included three candles to represent the Trinity. The theme of the worship was this half term’s Christian Value of ‘Friendship’ . CREW had planned an excellent interactive quiz for everyone, based on different scenarios of friendship. They had also written a friendship prayer. The worship concluded with an uplifting rendition of the song, ‘Together’ and then ended with the school prayer.
I was particularly impressed by the impeccable behaviour of pupils throughout the twenty minute worship. This really complimented the peaceful, friendly atmosphere, which is clearly an expectation in your school. I was also really pleased to chat with the members of CREW. They were extremely enthusiastic, polite and articulate, as they talked to me about the school Christian values. It really was a joy to be with them! Please express my thanks to them for all their hard work.
The school is contributing positively towards the Diocesan target of Carbon-net Zero and greater sustainability. You have solar panels fitted and the school Eco warriors are actively heading up projects to reduce the amount of paper used, to recycle soft plastic and to send food waste for composting. They are also promoting the switching off of lights to save energy and there is a litter picking activity planned to help improve the appearance of the local environment. Well done Eco warriors!
Jayne- it has been an absolute pleasure to visit your lovely school again. Many thanks to you and all the staff for your hard work and dedication. I wish you all a very well deserved and restful summer holiday.
Yours sincerely,
Caroline Gilderdale
( Bishop’s Visitor)
Governors Goodbye
As we approach the final weeks of the school year the governors would like to wish you all a safe and happy summer holidays. We have been working hard behind the scenes preparing for Ofsted and we eagerly await the findings of the audit. It has been a busy year and we have welcomed 2 new parent governors Gayan Perera and Nicola Reeder to the team. We still have a parent governor vacancy and if you are interested in this rewarding role please let reception know.
Thank you for all of your support and help over the last academic year. Governors and teachers appreciate everything you do to help your children arrive to school prepared and ready to learn and we hope you are able to reenergise over the summer months. We look forward to seeing all of you in September at the start of the new school year.
From the Chair of Governors
Margaret Ash
Goodbye and Hello
Sadly, we are saying goodbye to some teachers at the end of this week:
Mrs Gabi Pandya is leaving us to work at a school much closer to home. Without the long commute, she will be able to spend even more time with her lovely children; but we will miss her and her enthusiasm for all things Reading-related.
Miss Indie-Mae Pearson is leaving us at the end of her first year as an ECT to join a school in Cheltenham for her second ECT year. We wish her lots of luck for next year.
Miss Willow Mak, who has been involved with all things musical, is leaving us and we wish her lots of luck for her new ventures.
Ms Emma Elliott, who has worked hard as our Tutoring teacher this year, is leaving us (again!), but maybe it’s just ‘au revoir’ and not goodbye for ever? We wish her lots of luck for the future.
We would like to say a warm ‘hello’ to:
Miss Hannah Mayall, who will be joining us as Eastgate Earth teacher next year. She has been commuting from Gloucester to Oxford for many years, so she will welcome the shorter commute I’m sure.
Mrs Sharon White has joined us (again!) since May half term as a SEND TP and we have loved having her back.
Mr Daniel O’Brien has joined us as Administrator since May half term and has settled in really well and we look forward to working with him even more next year.
Ms Ela Filipkowska is also joining us in September. She has been working with us as a TP for a while now both in Nursery and in the Reception class, but with a supply agency. She liked it so much that once out of her contract, she wanted to stay with us!
Mrs Anne Tregoning has joined us (again!) since May half term as an Intervention teacher and has quickly made herself an invaluable member of the team.
Year 6 leavers service
On Thursday 18th July the whole school joined at St Paul’s and St Stephen’s Church to celebrate the time our Year 6s have spent at St Paul’s. The children shared some of their fondest memories of their time with us which included the slide, making sandwiches, Kidzania, PGL and many more. The children sang some of their favourite school songs as well as their leavers songs and gave thanks to the adults and children who have been with them on their journey. We wish all of our wonderful Year 6 children the best of luck as they move onto their secondary schools!
Year 6 trip to Oxford
On Tuesday 2nd July, Year 6s visited the University of Oxford as part of their Building Bridges Project focusing this year on ‘Into the Blue.’ The children started their visit at Wadham where the children learnt about forensic science and how fluorescence colours can be used to detect movement in cells. The children also learnt how lasers can detect different percentages of each gas within our breath. After lunch we headed to Worcester College where we visited a beautiful chapel and the grounds behind the college which included a lake with lots of wildlife. We concluded our trip with a visit to the Ashmolean museum where we saw Ancient Egyptian tombs, the Great Bookcase that we have been studying in our project at school and some Islamic ceramics. The children had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed their visit.
How reception has changed
What a year it has been for our Reception children, developing supportive friendships, independence in their learning, the determination to take on challenges and the confidence and enthusiasm to explore new experiences. We are incredibly proud of everything they've achieved and know that their new teachers are going to be very lucky to have them in September in Year 1.
Ribston – Shaping Futures
For the past year, a group of Year 4 and 5 girls have been going to Ribston as part of their Shaping Futures Program.
We last went on the 5th July and we did lots of fun activities like capture the flag. We also did some Physics, Biology, Computing and Art.
We particularly enjoyed Physics because we lit sweets on fire and they made a screaming noise!
We also liked Biology where we did an experiment. We looked at bugs under microscopes to compare if their heart beat faster in warm or cold water. The results were that it beat faster in cold water!
We had a really fun day and hope to go back soon.
- Amelia
Summer Fayre
What a day! Luckily the sun decided to stay out to play. We had a fantastic time at our Summer Fayre. An incredible amount of prize items were donated by everybody and we were able to make some amazing raffle baskets.
There was so much going on! Hook-a-Duck, Teddy Raffle, Face-Painting, Tattoos, Golden Carrots, Sweet Stall, Bottle Tombola and a massive dog called Winston, to name but a few!
Thank you everyone who came and contributed. Thanks to your generosity we have raised over £400 that we can put towards improving our school.
A massive thank you to our very own Mrs Baller too for organising the whole shebang! Same time next year!
Transition day / Move Up Morning
Breathe in for three and out for four … repeat.
Think calm thoughts…
Everything will be fine!
On a Wednesday morning, our children took the next step on their life journey. Swallowing down the nerves and feeling the flutter of excitement all the children and staff met in their new classrooms. It is amazing to think how far these young people have come on their St Paul’s journey.
In all the classrooms there were lots of different activities happening. Class charters were created establishing how we would like to treat each other in our new year groups. ‘Getting to know you’ posters were made to explain what is important to each of us. The team building games were great to learn the names of some of our new friends and enabled us to relax and laugh together.
At the end of the morning, we all returned to our old classes feeling just a little bit more grown up and excited for what is about to happen.
Roll on September we are ready for you – new learning, friends and fun are waiting for us.
A special Visit from Dogs Trust
This week, we have been visited by the wonderful Charlotte from Dogs Trust. She told us all about the language dogs use when they want to tell us something. She explained that we must always ask the owner’s permission before we stroke a dog, then we must get the dog’s permission too! This means wait until the dog comes to you. She told the children to stroke gently and not grab the dog. We learnt so much and the children listened carefully. Dogs are such wonderful animals and love to be our friend, but we must treat them kindly and with respect. They have feelings too!
Writing Showcase
Wow!! What an amazing writing showcase. On Wednesday morning, the children were able to stand proud, displaying their final piece of writing for the year, written in best. Across all phases, the children visited each classroom where they were able to see the writing journey from Reception all the way up to Year 6; the children got a reminder of where they started and what they aspire to achieve throughout their time as St Paul’s.
There were wonderful play scripts from Westgate and Southgate children and stories from other cultures written by children in Eastgate. Post it notes were used to share positive and constructive feedback. There was an encouraging feeling throughout school, with children feeling a sense of achievement.
The teachers and teaching partners are so proud of how hard the children have worked over the last year!
Class Dojo!
Northgate: Lila-Grace
Eastgate Water: Hunter
Eastgate Earth: Guransh
Southgate Water: Mason
Southgate Earth: David
Westgate Water: Melanie
Westgate Earth: Josh
Star of the Week
Week Commencing 5th July 2024
Northgate: Jamal
Eastgate Water: Niko
Eastgate Earth: Aubree-Rose
Southgate Water: Safiyyah
Southgate Earth: Emma
Westgate Water: Melanie
Westgate Earth: Rhys
Star of the Week
Week Commencing 12th July 2024
Northgate: Lake
Eastgate Water: Urban
Eastgate Earth: Delilah
Southgate Water: Shalom
Southgate Earth: Rustem
Westgate Water: Chehan
Westgate Earth: Sophie
