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World of fun at St Peter’s
Walworth’s St Peters’ pupils enjoyed some South American dancing with their teacher Joy Akapojotor before enjoying a Chinese feast during their world day. Whilst Joy was dressed in her traditional Nigerian threads, others wore kimonos, saris and super-hero outfits.
Lessons concentrated on exploring the history, geography and culture of other countries, with plenty of dance and artwork.
Despite the introduction of extra German classes, lederhosen were, surprisingly, nowhere to be seen. (Southwark News – 25/3/2004)
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Threatened primary in line for a ‘fresh start’
By Chris Mullany
A Bermondsey primary school that went close to closure could be ‘fresh started’ and rebuilt as a state-of-the-art learning centre from this September, if proposals from North Southwark & Bermondsey MP Simon Hughes are accepted.
But the plan, if it got the go ahead, could see pupils and teachers working out of temporary prefabs, in the style of the nearby City Academy, whilst the new building was erected.
In January, after months of campaigning from parents, pupils, and staff, Galleywall Primary was spared the axe by the council’s Executive, despite recommendations for closure from the authority’s private education partner, CEA.
The school had fallen into special measures when it was under the direct control of WS Atkins, then running the borough’s education services. Chair of Governors Julie Harper had argued that, with proper support, the school could be turned around, but that no real attempt to recruit permanent senior staff had been made.
At January’s meeting, three options were agreed – to close then immediately fresh start the school, or to hand back delegated powers to the governing body, both with extra revenue and without. The option with no extra revenue, which would effectively mean closure, was an unlikely starter, Council Leader Nick Stanton confirmed to the ‘News’ at the time. The final option would be to look for a patch of land in the surrounding area, and look to build a brand new primary, with Galleywall immediately transferring to that site.
Consultation has been ongoing since January, and the Executive will meet next Wednesday to consider the most likely option. Education Executive Member, Cllr Bob Skelly, told the ‘News’ this week that the option of closure was still ruled out, but would not be drawn on the council’s preferred option.
But the view of MP Simon Hughes, which is likely to have been agreed with his Lib Dem colleagues, is to look into fresh starting the primary at the end of the summer term. “The school building needs too much work to bring it up to an acceptable standard,” he said, proposing that the current site, as well as neighbouring land, be looked at for a rebuild. This could include the yard just to the north of the school, and even the nearby Manor Tavern, as well as the site on the corner of Lynton and Galleywall Roads, and the first lefthand site on Lynton Road – now a disused industrial complex, he said. “This site was recently given planning permission, but I understand that the owners are co-operative and willing to talk about possible swaps,” he added.
Mr Hughes said that such a plan could see work begin as early as this September, with the school operating out of high quality prefabs, whilst other parts of the site were developed. An option to transfer Cherry Garden special school onto the site should also be considered, he suggested.
“This proposal would allow it to remain an education site, and remain in the community,” he added. “If there was an issue with funding then, as with the City Academy, we could look at approaching a private sponsor.” He said the school could be called the Galleywall New School, or that the community could be consulted on a brand new name. (Southwark News – 25/3/2004)
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South Bank Centre Launch
London South Bank University unveiled their brand new Professional Development Centre (PDC) last week as part of the Government’s national ‘skills for life’ strategy.
The PDC has been set up to provide up to date facilities and programmes for teachers and trainers specialising in adult learning across the capital.
The new centre is housed in the ultra modern Keyworth Building and is bristling with 21st century teaching technology. Gone are the blackboards, replaced with plasma screens and students will have the opportunity to work with voice recognition software used to aid teaching adults with dyslexia or learning disabilities. (Southwark News – 18/3/2004)
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Bacon’s charity race night
Bacon’s College in Rotherhithe will be holding a night at the races on Friday March 26 to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
The event will be held in the college bar using footage from actual races. A tote will be in operation to place your bets with the opportunity to win cash prizes. The bar will be open from 4.30pm with the first race under starters orders at 7.00pm. Dave Cooke, head of sports at the college said: “We cannot guarantee that you will win but we promise you’ll have a good time!” (Southwark News – 18/3/2004)
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Walworth classroom assistants ‘not qualified to run classes on their own’
A Walworth classroom assistant has told the ‘News she and her colleagues are being asked to run classes on their own, despite not having the right qualifications.
The assistant, who asked not to be named, said that on a number of occasions, classroom helpers had taken classes, without the presence of teachers, at English Martyrs RC primary off Orb Street.
“Teachers have gone on training days, and we have been asked to take their place,” she claimed. “Some of us feel that we shouldn’t be put in that position as we don’t have the qualifications needed to run classes on our own.”
The Department for Education & Skills, (DfES), states that, in certain circumstances, assistants “might take whole classes.”
“The Government believes that well trained and experienced support staff can play a valuable role in undertaking cover for short-term teacher absence, for example when teachers are ill or undertaking professional development.”
Yet the DfES also makes it clear that only those assistants with relevant experience should take whole classes, and even then, only under supervision from teachers. “We expect only well trained higher-level teaching assistants will be leading classes, and then only under arrangements for the supervision and leadership by a qualified teacher,” the DfES states.
But a spokeswoman for the primary school insisted that no regulations had been breached, and that classroom assistants had the relevant experience necessary.
“Since January 2004, three classroom assistants at English Martyrs Primary who have the relevant skills, experience and training have provided lessons to pupils in Years 2, 5 and 6 when the classroom teacher is on a training course.
“This system is still on a trial basis and has so far been used on about ten occasions, normally just for one day. The classroom teacher plans and prepares the lessons together with the assistant, and assistants are supervised by a member of the school’s senior management team. Support is also provided by the class teacher in the parallel year group and there may be support staff in the classroom too.
“Using the classroom assistant in this way ensures continuity as pupils are supported by someone who knows them. In short, it helps to ensure that children experience a normal school day.” (Southwark News – 18/3/2004)
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Top businessman opens Aylwin suite
Some 40 pupils from Aylwin Girls’ School in Bermondsey were invited to a dawn breakfast with Mr Larry Hirst, the Chief Executive of IBM UK, when he opened a new Vocational Suite at the School.
The suite will provide a wide variety of courses in business, ICT, leisure and tourism, health and social care. Mr Hirst spent an hour answering questions from the girls, and, according to Year 11 student Shamiso Mushambi, “advised us to pursue our ambitions with honesty, determination and much hard work.”
“IBM makes a valuable contribution to the education of young people throughout the world,” said Aylwin headteacher Catharine Loxton. “We are pleased to have its Chief Executive open our new Vocational Suite.” (Southwark News – 18/3/2004)
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Out and about with St. George’s
“OUT AND ABOUT” is a current theme at St. George’s Church of England Primary School in Camberwell and it is an appropriate one, as many of the school’s pupils have been on a number of recent visits within the borough and elsewhere too.
For headteacher Teresa Nouri, the school’s location is one of its greatest assets, “Of course there are plenty of challenges where we are, but we are also fortunate that there are so many things that children can access in Southwark.”
Years 2 and 3 have just been working with the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, on their stage production of the popular children’s story Stuart Little. The children went to see a performance of the play and the actors then came to the school to run educational workshops based on the story. This partnership has led to a large array of pictures and posters made by the children which are currently on display in the school’s reception.
Science Week at the end of last term saw children from all ages take part in visits away from school. Reception class and Year 1 had a trip to the Science Museum to see the many exhibits on offer and had an introduction to how science influences their everyday lives.
Year 6 class visited the Tower of London to design and then make structures that would float in the Tower’s own historic moat. Once the children had created their floating structures, they donned their wellies and entered the moat itself to see if their designs would actually float!
Working with structures has continued within the school itself. The building company, Laing have been into St. George’s to work on their SPLAT Project. The project works with the children to improve the ground modernisation and renovation. It is also an educational project as it uses maths to look at how structures are built and there are health and safety workshops, making the children aware of the dangers on construction sites.
Parents too are encouraged to learn at St. George’s Primary. Recent parent literacy and numeracy workshops have proved successful and the school had just begun working with Kings College, London to provide an ICT workshop. Teresa Nouri has seen the benefits that have come from these courses, “They allow our parents to support their children by knowing what they are learning at school. In the case of ICT, it’s often the children who are teaching their parents what to do with computers!”
As part of the Camberwell Arts Festival, the school has been working with the Gallery in Southwark Park on the Cluster Three Project. The exhibition runs from 19th March to 28th March and features work by pupils from a number of Southwark Primary Schools including St. George’s.
Artistic Year 5 pupils from St. George’s are working on a photography project with the Southwark Arts Forum. Entitled “Favourite Place in Camberwell,” children are being encouraged to go out into the community and capture images of their favourite buildings or local views.
At the beginning of every year, Assistant Headteacher Ailsa Damoussi leads the Year 6 group on a week long trip to Château Beamont in Central France. Preparation begins at the end of Year 5 when pupils complete an introductory course in conversational French. As part of the trip, pupils have to go to the local market and speak to the stall holders to buy food for their meals. Having the trip at the beginning of their final year has proved a successful way of focussing the pupils on their year ahead and also looking forward to transferring to secondary school. This year, 19 children from Year 6 went to France and as Ailsa Damoussi explains it was a great success; “It’s wonderful to see the children bonding together as a group. We use team-building activities and the emphasis is on supporting each other. This also has a positive influence on the pupil’s secondary school transfer and raises levels of attainment in their lessons and also with their SATs.
We encourage the idea that we are all good at something and we all see different sides to each other. For many pupils it will be the first time they will have spent time away from their families and will have left the country. It is always a tremendous experience that stays with them for such a long time and children often talk about the trip when the come back and visit the school after they have left.”
Back at school, St. George’s Primary continues to work closely with the local parish church. The Vicar, Father Nicholas Elder holds regular assemblies and services and is also the Chair of Governors at the school. Fr. Nicholas will be leading the school at the forthcoming Easter Service as well as the annual St. George’s Day Service on 23rd April. (Southwark News – 18/3/2004)
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One for the Birds
Children from Bacon’s College, Redriff and St John’s RC Primary School in Rotherhithe converged on Stave Hill ecology park last Thursday to address the housing needs of local birds.
“We’ve got bird boxes for blue tits, great tits, sparrows, tree creepers, black birds and thrushes, all according to RSPB regulations,” said Alan Dobson, technology teacher at Bacon’s College, whose Year 7 pupils made the boxes.
The boxes have different sized entrance holes to accommodate different species: all have metal frames to protect them from the woodpecker – a lovely bird but something of a vandal when it comes to wood fittings.
Seventh year Bacon’s College student Glen Branley, a bird enthusiast, came up with the idea. “You get plenty of these birds in a normal garden,” he said.
“This was all his fault,” said Rebeka Clark who manages the site for the Trust for Urban Ecology. “He came looking for me months ago. It’s a fantastic idea. We are hoping now it will be a yearly thing.”
The Friends of Russia Dock Woodland are holding their AGM at Bacon’s College on March 31 at 6:30pm. All are welcome. (Southwark News – 18/3/2004)
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Coming soon!
Children saw building get underway on the site of their new school in Bermondsey at a ‘ground breaking’ ceremony.
Work began on the Paterson Park site off St James’s Road at the end of last month, years after it was proposed as the home for the new City of London Academy (Southwark). Plans to build on the site led to a long fought battle between parents eager to get a school for local children and some residents who were angry at the loss of green space. The first year of the academy is currently housed in temporary building off Peckham Rye. The existing pupils, plus the new second year intake of the academy, is due to come on-site in September 2005. (Southwark News – 18/3/2004)
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Learning to express oneself
Chatting in a loud pub, talking on the phone, signalling to someone across the room, understanding a lecture - we take communication for granted but we should remember that it is a skill that most of us learn without much problem. However, it is estimated that 1 in 200 people have Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) - The Foundation for People with Learning disabilities – http://www.learningdisabilities.org.uk/
‘Our World’ is an exciting project that enables children and young people with ASD to explore their views and understanding about the world through art. The children and young people work alongside mainstream pupils or siblings to develop both individual and group works of art. The project is run by Cambridge House and funded by the PLP and the Regional Arts Lottery Programme.
People with ASDs often have difficulties when trying to express themselves and communicate with others. Through the ‘Our World’ project, children and young people have the opportunity to work through their ideas and feelings and express them through art rather than words. By working in integrated groups the children are able to develop a better understanding of each other, improve social skills and increase in confidence. In June, an exhibition will be held at House Gallery in Camberwell to display the artwork which has been created. The exhibition serves to boost the participants’ pride for their achievements whilst also raising awareness of ASD and what can be accomplished by children and young people with this condition in an appropriate, supportive environment.
Recently, the children have been visiting the riverside area, taking photos and doing drawings of public art and other interesting sites. These have then been used to create abstract paintings exploring colours and themes.
“Beautiful works with titles such as ‘Dizzy Patterns’ and ‘Pepperoni Sea’ have been created as a result”, comments Ella Ritchie, the professional artist leading the programme. “Following the study of professional 3D artworks they created their own sculptures depicting aspects of their lives and aspirations. One young man’s high expectations in life resulted in a sculpture of a red Porsche.”
‘Our World’ is an expansion of the after school arts and education project for children and young people with learning difficulties (especially ASDs) which has been operating from Snowsfields Primary School. The new programme will be delivered at Spa Secondary School as well as Snowsfields. These schools act as regional resource for taking children with ASDs from throughout Southwark. By running the programme in both schools it enhances the relationship between them and helps pupils moving from primary to the secondary special educational needs school.
For more information on children with learning difficulties including ASDs, contact: Contact a Family – Southwark Tel: 020 7277 4436, or National Autistic Society Tel: 0845 0704004 http://www.nas.org.uk/ (Southwark News – 18/3/2004)
Definition of ASDs:
Those people whose primary difficulty in understanding the literal meaning of words are considered to have “traditional” speech and language disabilities. Those people who have difficulty in the non-verbal parts of communication (including their desire and ability to use language in a social context) may be considered to have an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The condition often causes feeling of isolation from mainstream society. For many, art can be used as a channel for communication, helping them to express themselves and connect with others.
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Experimental dyslexia scheme sees Chris come top of the class
An experimental therapy for dyslexia piloted in Southwark last summer has returned outstandingly good results, writes Eleanor Niblock…
Between April and September 2003, Southwark LEA teamed up with Bright Star dyslexia programme to run the project across five schools in Southwark, to see if Bright Star’s new technology would help school children suffering from dyslexia in the borough.
Pauline Atkins from Bermondsey was one of the parents approached about the scheme.
Her nine-year-old son Chris was suffering from dyslexia and was struggling to keep up with his classmates at Friars Primary. “When I was first approached about the scheme I was all for it, but my husband who suffers from dyslexia himself, was more apprehensive. He has been through a lot as a child with dyslexia and he was worried about what we may subject Chris to, but I convinced him to give it a try. The sessions were twice weekly – one with the computer and a one to one session with a specialist teacher.”
Three weeks into the trial Pauline started to notice changes in her son. “Children with dyslexia are often very frustrated and this often comes out as anger. Within three weeks he had noticeably started to calm down – he was also asking me for help a lot more, which he didn’t do before. By the end of the scheme he was a changed boy – he was sociable and much more happy. Before the trial Chris was the kind of boy that, if you organised a birthday party for him and people sang happy birthday to him, he would either run a mile or cry. At his tenth birthday he was encouraging people to sing it to him - he loved it. He took his SATS during the scheme and we were amazed by the results – he was top boy in his class.”
The results collated by Bright Star show the amazing transformation. “Chris’ reading comprehension age has improved by three years and four months, and his spelling age has improved by ten months,” said Bright Star spokeswoman Sophie Brown. “He now enjoys reading and often volunteers to read out in class, his confidence has multiplied. He has joined the sea cadets and school choir and enjoys taking part in plays and concerts.”
So how did this almost magical metamorphosis come about?
The technology is based on new scientific developments. During a 20-minute session, the child wears a heart rate monitor and computer software converts heartbeats into a display of moving flashing icons.
Watching the display stimulates the brain to work more efficiently. Since the visual stimuli are driven by each individual child’s heartbeat, the programme is tailored to each individual. It uses visual stimuli, which are tailored to an individual to aid communication between three areas of the brain. It stimulates eye tracking, making it easier to scan and recognise words. It also stimulates visual neural pathways – the electro-chemical pathways help the brain to process visual information faster and more accurately.
In addition to this it stimulates the cerebellum, which is the part of the brain responsible for learning and controlling the timing of physical actions, including reading and writing skills.
As well as these sessions, the pupils take part in weekly teaching sessions which help to maximize learning potential, while the brain is primed for study.
Bright Star’s Monica Middleton said: “We have been running the Bright Star programme for over a year now and continue to see significant results for dyslexic men, women and children. With approximately one in ten people suffering dyslexia in the UK, we believe there is so much more that can be done to help people with learning difficulties.
We are therefore grateful for the support of London Boroughs of Southwark and their progressive approach in providing help for dyslexic children and adults.”
Gloria Gray, manager for special educational needs and transport at Southwark Education said: “Dyslexia can be a major factor in restricting children and adults from reaching their full potential. We are keen to explore new and innovative ways to improve special needs provision and ensure a better future for dyslexics in the borough of Southwark. We believe that for some people, the Bright Star dyslexia programme complements traditional interventions for dyslexics and will help them towards the better future they deserve.”
Mrs Atkins is now looking forward to her son starting secondary school at London Nautical – a notoriously difficult school to get into. “If I hadn’t tried the trial then life would be so much harder. I’d encourage anyone and everyone to give this a go as it has certainly changed our lives for the better.”
Anyone wanting more information should contact: Bright Star Dyslexia Centre, Friars House, 157-168 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8EZ, or e-mail www.brightstarlearning.com, or telephone 0870 3000 777. (Southwark News 18/3/2004)
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Primary head to get the snip
By Eleanor Niblock
A Dulwich headteacher is hoping to appear on national television in a bid to raise money for her school, to make up for what she considers a serious governmental shortfall in primary school provisions.
Dedicated head teacher, Carol Field, has decided to shave off her hair and has asked the Channel Four program ‘The Salon’ if they will do the honours live on television.
The stunt is all to raise funds for her primary school, Langbourne, on the Kingswood Estate, Dulwich. Ms Field says that the government has been focusing too much on academic subjects such as maths and literacy and as a consequence other subjects have suffered.
Ms Field believes that when children excel in subjects such as art and sport, that their confidence then filters through into academic subjects, helping them to achieve better results.
Ms Field is hoping to raise money for a variety of equipment that she considers vital for the success of her pupils. One item on her wish list is more computers for the school’s IT department.
At present 190 children are forced to share the school’s fifteen computers. In addition to this, after discussion with the school council, it was felt that money should be raised for playground equipment.
Ms Field is hoping to raise in excess of £1000 and said that if they could reach this target it would be fantastic: “The children keep asking if I’m really going to do it, the teachers are really supportive. I thought, ‘well my hair is already quite short so maybe it won’t be so bad’”.
Lucia Taylor, senior administration officer at the school, said: “I feel this is a totally selfless action and it is definitely above and beyond the call of duty.”
Ms Field took over Langbourne primary over three years ago – shortly after it had just failed its Ofsted report.
There were rumours that Langbourne would have to close but despite the odds staked against them, they are now doing better than ever. Since starting her job, Ms Field has instigated many changed in the school and the changes are definitely reflected in improvements in the school’s SAT result. The icing on the cake came in June 2003 when the school was finally taken out of special measures. The sponsored shave is due to go ahead on Friday May 28 and if ‘The Salon’ is not available to perform the shave, Langbourne’s premises manager, Chris Gibbons, is eager to take up the clippers. (Southwark News – 11/3/2004)
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School marked out in plans for Canada Water regeneration area
By Kevin Quinn
As part of the borough vision for the next ten years, Canada Water will be in line for a combined new secondary and primary school to cope with anticipated population growth. But it is believed that the council would have to buy back land it has already sold to developers.
At a special Executive meeting at the Town Hall last month, Quebec Way was marked down for educational use under the Unitary Development Plan, which sets out the guideline for land use in the borough over the next decade. This area of land, which is set for a massive regeneration project, was sold to developers Ampurius over two years ago and so would have to be bought back from them. Councillor Bob Skelly, Southwark’s Executive Member for Education, told the ‘News’ this week that at the moment there were no definite plans for a new school, but said the education department was ‘attracted to the idea for a combined primary and secondary school on the site.’ However, a source close to the Canada Water regeneration project warned that, because the land had already been sold, money that could have been spent on the area might have to be used to buy back the land. And the source complained that the five acres of the Quebec Way site would be too small to take in such a large school, fearing it could encroach the adjoining Russia Dock Woodland.
However, a spokeswoman for Southwark Council’s regeneration department said: ”The site is more than big enough to be used for an educational building and encroaching upon Russian Dock Woodland is out of the question as it is protected Metropolitan Open Land.” And she added: “If the site were to be developed in the future, the council could use Compulsory Purchase Order powers, but we would only do this as a last resort.”
Cllr Skelly was at pains to point out that the area would be large enough, drawing a comparison for a proposed new secondary school in the Elephant and Castle Regeneration project which encompasses just 2.9 acres of land. He said: “Nothing can be decided yet. We have marked the site because that has to be done rather like an insurance policy. At the moment we do not know the density that will come with the regeneration around Canada Water as this is an issue that is still being contested. The school won’t be required until the people move into the regeneration scheme. It could be three years down the line before serious consideration is given to it.” (Southwark News – 4/3/2004)
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Elephant school is given the go ahead
The council Executive have agreed to build a new secondary school on the site of the present Leisure Centre.
The ‘News’ revealed in January that the council would build a school, applying for Academy status, on the site.
Since then, the governors of nearby Geoffery Chaucer Technology College have confirmed they will remain at their present campus and the council has accepted that an additional school is required to provide for the area’s expanding population. “We want to see a flagship new school right at the heart of Elephant and Castle,” said Southwark Council leader, Nick Stanton.
“It will put flesh on the bones of what we have been saying about the Elephant and Castle regeneration being for the benefit of local residents.” (Southwark News – 4/3/2004)
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On the Up
Pupils, parents and staff at Ivydale Primary are celebrating after inspectors removed the school from the category of serious weaknesses and described it as “sound and improving.”
Ofsted inspectors described the school as “well led and managed” and said “staff have worked very hard to improve provision”.
The school in Ivydale Road, Nunhead, was designated as having serious weaknesses in 2001. Despite the fact that children enter the school generally with attainment below the national average and there is high mobility (turnover of pupils leaving and joining the school), the report says that Ivydale has been “transformed into an ordered place of learning with high standards of discipline and effective pupil management. Leadership is decisive and teaching has improved through rigorous monitoring and support.”
The hard work of the pupils was praised by the inspectors who said: “Pupils’ attitudes to their work are very good, their behaviour in lessons and around the school is good and relationships are very strong.”
Headteacher Karen McBride said: “We are delighted that the Ofsted inspectors have recognised the strengths that the school community has seen here all along. This has been a real team effort. Pupils, staff and the community have worked extremely hard and been totally committed to raising standards.”
Cllr Bob Skelly, Southwark Council’s Executive Member for Education, said: “The Chief Inspector of Schools recently recognised a number of the excellent primary schools in Southwark in his annual report.
The improvements at Ivydale are another example of how the hard work of the staff and pupils as well as the community around them is making a big difference to the quality of education in the borough.”
The report recommends the expansion of the school improvement plan to cover all the school’s priorities, improved teaching in the reception classes, more use of IT and to continue to increase pupil attendance. (Southwark News – 4/3/2004)
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Aylwin girls mean business!
Aylwin Girls School in Bermondsey is one of the few schools in the country to be awarded the DfES Excellence in Mentoring Award for its Mentors from Business Scheme.
There are currently 37 senior executives from the world of business including Deutsche Bank, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, The Financial Times and Ernst and Young providing one-to-one mentoring with girls in their final year at the school.
As Headteacher Catharine Loxton explains, “The aim is to increase the GCSE success of each girl.” The scheme has already begun to have a positive effect at the school, as last year, 85% of girls with mentors received higher than predicted results. “There is cause for quiet satisfaction and pride in the scheme.” Said Mrs Loxton.
Equally successful is the University Mentoring Scheme that provides weekly one-to-one sessions with Southbank University undergraduates, helping girls with exam preparation and also help with choosing places at college and university. 70 Year 10 and 11 pupils will be spending time on residential taster courses at a number of universities including Cambridge University and the University of Kent at Canterbury.
Roger Hiskey, has a 30-year background in business and is now the Aim Higher Co-ordinator at the school. He has a specific responsibility to raise attainment and increase the number of Aylwin girls going on to higher education through such schemes as mentoring and other links with the business world.
For Roger Hiskey the success of the scheme is down to how the school as a whole has embraced these initiatives and made them a central part of its overall work. “The reason why the mentoring scheme has been so successful is because of the importance the Headteacher Catherine Loxton, and all the staff has placed upon it. It is fully enshrined into the school’s development programme that seeks to raise attainment, improve results and open doors to our pupils.”
The school is in the final stages of planning a special conference for all the Year 11 girls at the Institute of Chartered Accountancy in Moorgate. Entitled “ACE Day” or Aylwin Conference Event, the event on the 1st April will focus on raising attainment, increasing exam results and introducing the girls to the world of work.
Deputy Headteacher Dawn Rumley is part of the team organising the event, “It is the first time we will have held such an event on this scale. 180 girls will attend as delegates, listening to keynote speeches and taking part in workshops and group discussions. With the input of work on the day, as well as follow-up work, we aim to open the girls’ horizon to the world of careers, work and business.”
During a recent visit to the school Education Minister Stephen Twigg and the Headteacher, joined a business studies class and listened to a presentation by four girls on how to run a profitable “E-business”.
The girls gave a PowerPoint presentation covering sales, marketing, distribution and finance. The presentation was taken from their work in a national “E-Business Challenge” competition in which the girls, Danielle, Loredana, Fabienne and Nichole were runners up in a field of over 700 entries from across the county. “It is usually we who are being taught” said Danielle. “On this occasion we delivered the lecture.”
The school also has a thriving and popular programme of vocational courses on offer to the pupils. Vocational GCSE’s (or VGCSE’s) are offered in Health and Social Care, Leisure & Tourism and Business Studies. Among the many other courses available is the BRASS Project that encourages pupils to investigate how business is made aware of its social and environmental responsibilities by designing and presenting a code of conduct. There is also an established relationship with the National Bakery School at Southbank University, where Year 10 girls attend bakery classes every week. (Southwark News – 4/3/2004)
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Celebrating Celestina at Highshore
There was a cause for celebration at Peckham Highshore School this week when Year 9 student Celestina Taylor, received her award for winning the Mencap charity Christmas Card 2004 competition.
Her painting, which is based on the 16th century artist Pieter Bruegel’s painting Hunters in the Snow, was judged to be the best in the country out of over 1000 entries. For winning the Children’s Award, Celestina received a certificate from Mencap, a cheque for £75 and the school also received a cheque for the same amount.
Celestina said “I am very excited and happy because I have never won anything like this before. I hoped they would choose my picture because I worked very hard on it. I’m pleased that the judges liked my work and my family will be proud of me.”
Celestina’s painting will now be one of two official designs for Mencap’s Christmas cards for 2004, which will be on sale from July. Gill Leech, Mencap’s Trading Manager said, “We were amazed by the response to the competition, there were so many entries that it was difficult to choose the overall winner and so many of them were of such a high standard. The money raised by the sale of the cards will help us to continue our work with people with special needs.”
Kathy Black, Learning Support Assistant in the art department spoke about Celestina’s achievement. “As a school we are all really pleased and proud of Celestina’s achievement. Celestina spent a number of extra sessions making sure that she completed the painting in time to meet the competition deadline. We offer all our pupils the opportunity to take GCSE Art and I’m sure that Celestina would be a great candidate for the subject.”
The art department has been an area of pride in the secondary school for children with special needs, with students regularly gaining excellent GCSE grades and securing places on further education art courses.
As well as her achievements in arts, Celestina has had a number of achievements in sport. She has represented the school in cross-borough swimming competitions, winning 2 gold medals, and a silver and a bronze. She has also competed in the shot put.
Also present at the presentation were Celestina’s proud parents Mr and Mrs Taylor. Mr and Mrs Taylor said, “We are so happy, it is hard to express our feelings because we are overwhelmed. Celestina has surprised us all with her talents and we hope that she continues to improve upon this and becomes even more successful.” (Southwark News – 4/3/2004)
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Boy branch to Waverley gets community support
By Eleanor Niblock
The idea to use the lower part of Waverley School in East Dulwich as the site for a new secondary school for boys was given support at Dulwich Community Council last week.
A vote was carried, by four votes to three, in favour of the scheme, with Conservatives outvoting Labour councillors who were opposed.
Dulwich Community Council Chair, Cllr Kim Humphreys, a Conservative, commented: “It’s clear that there is an enormous commitment, both from residents and the governing body at Waverley, to see that plans for a federated school on the Waverley lower school site work.
“Local politicians should be trying to harness this goodwill and enthusiasm and not to be trying to undo it.”
But Michelle Pearce, a Labour Village ward councillor, who was one of those who voted against the idea said: “I don’t think the current plans will lead to a successful school that parents will want to send their kids to. We need a mixed comprehensive school on the site like the Charter School.
In my view people have been persuaded to settle for less than they actually want. I don’t think this idea has been fully explored enough before it was ruled out.”
The idea came about after a group of local parents EDEN, (East Dulwich Education Network), made the case for a new school to serve the area.
Originally, parents asked that a new mixed secondary school was built for East Dulwich, but in Southwark’s mixed schools boys outnumber girls more than two to one.
The council says that the imbalance is not desirable and is not what parents expect of a mixed school. Currently there are four girls’ secondary schools in the area but only one boys’ school, which contributes to the imbalance. The council says the provision of a new boys’ school would help to address this issue.
After a feasibility study and an initial round of consultation last year, the council is now proposing that the plans should be realised.
A key part of the proposal is that the school would be federated under new governmental legislation for secondary schools.
This would mean that the two schools could come together under a single governing body and a single head teacher, whilst retaining their separate identities.
As the lower site would be very small for an inner London boys’ secondary school, the council states that federation would help to overcome many of the problems faced by small schools.
Under federation the two schools would be able to share facilities, such as the new sports hall being developed at the upper site and there could be some shared teaching groups at key stage 4 in specialist subjects.
There would also be the opportunity to share the staff across the two schools.
In addition to this, the plans could provide new opportunities for Waverley pupils, such as a potential joint sixth form.
Kate Radcliffe of EDEN said: “Eden is pleased that the Community Councils in Dulwich, Nunhead and Peckham Rye are supporting the proposal for a new school. After campaigning for four years on this issue, we know that parents in our area wholeheartedly support the idea of a community secondary school for local boys and girls. Our main concern is for the council to deliver the school at the earliest possible date.”
The governors of Waverley School have already expressed their support in principle for the idea. (Southwark News – 4/3/2004)
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A blessed enterprise
A Southwark school’s new business centre was given a bishop’s blessing on Thursday.
Bishop Howard Tripp of Newport arrived at St Michael’s Roman Catholic School, Bermondsey, to bless the school’s new IBM Business and Enterprise Centre.
After a mass and a procession to the building, the bishop gave a speech on the importance of business and how it has changed in the last decade.
Then the bishop entered the building, blessing every room with holy water. “It was quite moving,” said one witness.
Martin Tissot, head teacher at St Michael’s, said: “The opening of the centre not only benefits students of economics and business but also provides a valuable service for members of the community.” (Southwark News – 4/3/2004)
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Centre for professionals at Elephant
South Bank University unveiled their brand new Professional Development Centre (PDC) last week as part of the Government’s national ‘skills for life’ strategy.
The PDC has been set up to provide up to date facilities and programmes for teachers and trainers specialising in adult learning across the capital.
The new centre is housed in the ultra modern Keyworth Building and is bristling with 21st century teaching technology. Gone are the blackboards, replaced with plasma screens, students will have the opportunity to work with such innovations as voice recognition software that can be used to aid teaching adults with dyslexia or learning disabilities.
Funding for the PDC came from the London Central Learning & Skills Council (LSC), an organisation launched in 2001 to promote learning for people over sixteen. The Director Steve Crow officially launched the centre last Thursday, he voiced his support calling the new facilities ‘a significant resource’. He went on to say ‘we seek to keep building capacity and create teacher training opportunities for Skills for Life teachers and trainers in central London’. (Southwark News – 4/3/2004)
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