Working in Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham, Croydon, Bromley, Wandsworth and other South London boroughs
Tell us if you were here too!
Are you a past pupil or staff member of Lyndhurst Primary School in Grove Lane, Camberwell?
Perhaps you attended when it was Denmark Hill School? If so, its children, staff and parents would love to hear from you as they will be celebrating 100 years of the school’s history from January 2005. Any memories you might like to share, or photos, will be very welcome. And in February next year they’ll be inviting former staff and pupils to visit and meet their children. You can contact the school on 020 7703 3046. (Southwark News 29/7/2004)
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Splashing out in Walworth
ENTREPRENEURIAL WALWORTH pupils have been devising schemes to make their school a mint.
Groups of pupils at Walworth School were each given £50 at the beginning of Enterprise week and were asked to come up with schemes to double their money, buying books and equipment for the school, with a fair ending the week.
And there was no doubt that the ‘soak the teacher’ stand was one of the fair’s more successful money-making ventures. Mr Gunessee and Mr Channer had nowhere to hide! (Southwark News 29/7/2004)
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Popular head leaving after fifteen years
The Head of a popular Bermondsey primary is leaving school after 15 years on the job.
Sister Norma Kirkby joined St Joseph’s Catholic Primary as head teacher in 1989.
Originally from Manchester, she found Bermondsey “quite a culture shock,” but soon settled in. “I love the openness and straightforwardness of Bermondsey people,” she said. “Also their good humour and friendliness.”
Last week 200 of her former pupils arrived back for a reunion. “What was really very consoling was seeing those who had gone to university – to study law or psychology or medicine. Everyone of them said what a great start they had here.” She said.
Under her stewardship the school received a solid Ofsted report and was frequently over-subscribed.
She believes the success of faith-based schools is down to their “community ethos.”
“Our children are involved in drawing up our mission statement: they own the school,” she said. “They bring their ideas to me. But we have that common bond of religion – it must be more challenging in other Southwark schools.” (Southwark News 29/7/2004)
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Bermondsey pupils leave school in style
The Top class of a Bermondsey primary pulled up in two stretched limousines on Thursday night for one last leaving party.
The eleven-year-olds were swept away by the two stretchers, with the exception of Harry, 11, who seemed quite blasé about the ride. “I’m used to it“, he said. “My granddad used to be a limo driver.”
The knees-up, at the Surdock Club on Cope Street, was organised by friends.
They have had a school leaving party, but we wanted to do something with all the parents too,” said Mrs Bedingham.
“It’s a good type of school,” said Toby, 11, who is heading for the City Academy. “You’ve got all your friends there to help you.” Toby then had to break off the interview, as a certain Miss Danielle had arrived.
The evening, which included a buffet and disco, ended with a raffle, top prize two Millwall tickets.
Mrs Bedingham and “bouncer” Margaret Ward had toured the shops and businesses of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe, picking up a sack of prizes, including a mini-hi-fi from Tescos, the Millwall tickets, and a £45 hairdo from Mangos stylists in Canary Wharf. “We would like to thank all the shops on the Blue and Surrey Quays Shopping Centre who donated prizes,” said Mrs Bedingham.
At the end of the evening, year six teacher Nicholas Darch, arrived to present leavers medals, stamped with the crest of Southwark Park School.
“I wanted it to be a night to remember for all the little-uns,” said Mrs Bedingham. “Some of them may not see each other again.” (Southwark News 29/7/2004)
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Primary’s Admissions found to be ‘flawed’
A Dulwich school has been severely criticized for its admissions policy after an investigation by the Local Government ombudsman found it was ‘fundamentally flawed’.
Jerry White, the local government ombudsman, issued his report into Dulwich Village Church of England Infant School yesterday and announced a finding of misadministration causing injustice.
The investigation took place after a girl’s parents complained about the school’s admissions policy. The parents, who cannot be named for legal reasons, complained that places should have been allocated according to ‘active church membership’ as required by the school’s admissions policy.
But the ombudsman found that the policy did not provide a clear definition of ‘active church membership’. According to the admissions policy, children were assessed into categories, with the top category being those whose parents or guardians were active members of nearby St Barnabas Church. This was to be backed up by the vicar of the church who would sign a form for the parent to confirm how regular their attendance and their child’s attendance at church was.
However the ombudsman found that the offer of places to some parents and not others could not be shown to be correct with reference to the policy, and that the complaining parents who were regular attendants of St Barnabas Church were wrongly denied a place for their child.
He also found that an independent panel convened to hear the girl’s parents’ appeal against the refusal of a place was not sufficiently independent, although there was no evidence that this had affected the outcome.
The Ombudsman’s finding recommends that the school now reviews its waiting list of applicants in the light of the Ombudsman’s criticisms, offers the complainants the next available place at the school for their daughter, and reviews its admission and appeals arrangements. (Southwark News 15/7/2004)
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Please miss, can I have a detention
By Jonathan Glancey
Is this the Great Court at the British Museum? Can it be the entrance to some grand new European art gallery? No. This is the assembly hall of Kingsdale school in Dulwich, south-east London. Built in the 1950s under the aegis of Leslie Martin (architect of the Royal Festival Hall), Kingsdale was superficially good-looking in its day, but suffered most of the usual problems of that era – narrow corridors, inadequate staffrooms, classroom that were too hot in summer, too cold in winter. No wonder it became a struggling comprehensive, classed as a “special measures” school by Ofsted.
Now, though, Kingsdale is in the first phase of a restructuring and renovation programme – and its new courtyard, designed de Rijke Marsh Morgan (dRMM) architects, is the first completed phase. The courtyard is covered in what Alex de Rijke describes as the “world’s largest variable-skin ETFE roof” – much the same as the bubble-like textile membrane roof seen at the Eden Project, Cornwall, and the National Space Centre, Leicester, two intriguing and popular buildings designed under the direction of Nicholas Grimshaw.
Chemistry teachers will know that ETFE stands for ethyl tetra fluoro ethylene, a non-stick, self-cleaning fabric that is a better insulator than glass but weighs just a tenth as much.
The material is made up of a regular patchwork of pillows that can be pumped up with hot air on cool days to increase insulation and deflated on hot days to allow the space below to cool more easily. The pillowed membrane is held in place by steel supports. Its life-span is said to be 25 years, after which it can be replaced in a process that promises to be much easier than conventional re-roofing.
At the heart of the courtyard, like an egg in a basket, is a pod-like geodesic auditorium, adorned with artworks by Atelier Van Lieshout, commissioned by the Royal Society for Arts. In other hands than dRMM’s, this combination of the latest-generation hi-tech roof and a pod-like meeting room in a landscaped courtyard might have been too artistic for its own good. But this is a handsome and pleasant place to be, lifting the spirit of the school almost effortlessly.
Architecture alone cannot revive the fortunes of a run-down school. Much of Kingsdale’s phoenix-like revival is down to its spirited teaching team, led by the energetic Steve Morrision, who took over as head teacher at the end of the 1990s. He has worked seamlessly with School Works, a can-do, not-for-profit education organisation founded by Hilary Cottam, now working with the Design Council. As far as Cottam is concerned, the latest rash of imprudent, cheapjack PFI schools “would fail a basic test in architecture”. She has resuscitated the fundamentally simple idea, understood in the 1950s but forgotten by the 1990s, that good new architecture could make schools efficient and enjoyable – but only if pupils and teachers had a say in the design. “It struck us,” Cottam says, ”that there was little point in redesigning a school unless you altered its culture.”
Cottam teamed up with Kingsdale School, New Labour brains-trust Demos and the Architecture Foundation, a body urging the best in democratic new urban design.
Together with the London borough of Southwark and Riba, they organised an architectural competition won by dRMM, a young practice very much on the rise.
The first task for Morrison and his deputy, Cathy Bryan, was to ask pupils to make an audit of the school – what worked and what didn’t. Their comments were fascinating reading.
Pupils said they would rather go home than use the school lavatories because they were so disgusting and frightening; but, if they did go home, they probably wouldn’t go back to school that day. Girls felt they had no place in the playgrounds because boys took then over to play football. Computer and audio-visual equipment was locked away most of the time for fear of theft. CCTV cameras in corridors emphasised the lack of trust between pupils and teachers. As for public spaces inside the school, pupils wrote things like: “This corridor needs to be trashed.”
With the help of School Works and dRMM, pupils, teachers and governors agreed to a revamp plan for the school based around a new internal public square. They wanted corridors to be abolished, decent lavatories and places to meet that would discourage bullying and allow girls and boys to be on equal terms.
The result is quite remarkable. Corridors have gone. Classrooms are now reached directly from the school’s covered courtyard. Lockers, designed by the architects but with pupils’ input, are no longer concealed in spaces where bullies can dominate. Lavatories are well lit, well ventilated, well designed. Colours are bright.
There is still room for improvement, Morrison admits. The school has struggled to find the money it needs to push the project further. Plans for a sports hall with an all-weather pitch and floodlighting have, for the moment, been dropped. Still, Kingsdale has come a long way from its nadir in the late 1990s.
The government, or at least the Department for Education and Skills, has recognised the quality of the project, describing it as “setting new standards for education architecture”. Kingsdale has encouraged the department itself to push forward with its encouraging initiative, Schools for the Future, through which it has asked a number of the country’s more thoughtful practices to come up with inventive new designs for public sector schools.
Kingsdale, meanwhile, is off the “special measures” list. Once interest in lessons was low and absenteeism high; now the number of pupils achieving five or more GCSE/GNVQs at A-C grade has risen from 15% in 1999 to over 41%. Of course, this started happening before School Works and dRMM got involved. Kingsdale’s success is the result of pupils, parents, teachers and governors taking their audit of the school and rethinking how they might work together. The architectural programme is an extension of this process.
Morrison says that pupils are becoming aware of what makes good architecture and why it is important. And, he says, “they are now able to discuss the building work on a much higher plane than before. For example, in a discussion about the new classrooms the children didn’t talk just about the colour of the walls, but of how the temperature and humidity are controlled at different times of the day and about noise reduction techniques.
As for the impact of design on academic achievement, Morrison says: “So far the impact on targets such as raising pupils’ self-esteem has been greater and more obvious than many predicted.” (The Guardian 19/7/2004)
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Pupils’ ink cartridge foot sculpture makes big impression
A giant 2.4m long printer cartridge sculpture made by schoolchildren was unveiled next to the GLA Headquarters at the Grand Finale to London Sustainability Weeks 2004 on Saturday 19th June. It featured in the BBC Click Online programme screened for the first time in the UK on the 26th June.
The sculpture, in the shape of a foot, symbolises the ecological footprint left behind when printer cartridges are not recycled . Annually, seven hundred million cartridges are dumped in landfill sites worldwide, taking thousands of years to biodegrade.
Besides the tourists stopping to have their photo taken next to the foot, many Londoners also came to see the spectacle on show at Potters Field in the shadow of London’s Tower Bridge. Viewers of the sculpture alluded to its similarity to works by Scottish sculptor Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. "It should be in the Tate" said John, 32, from Essex, "you'd get thirty grand for that, easy".
"It is truly beautiful, and really makes you think about how much impact ink cartridges have on the environment when they're dumped in landfill sites instead of recycled", added an American tourist from Illinois.
“It was a great event and a terrific venue,” commented Maria from the Collect4 recycling scheme who helped pupils from Spa Special School, Rotherhithe and Southwark Park Primary schools to make the huge foot out of remanufactured printer cartridges. “People could see the sculpture from Tower Bridge and came down to have a closer look, we will definitely be back next year”.
As sponsors of the work, Inkfactory.com, are running a competition until the 19th July to guess the number of ink cartridges on the sculpture. The prize is a HP Photosmart 7960 printer. Entry to the competition is online at: http://www.inkfactory.com/ Full terms and conditions available on the web site. (InkFactory 1.7.04)
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Top of the class
Two TIP-top teaching assistants from Rotherhithe school were publicly honoured last week: while one was introduced to the Prime Minister, her colleague won a commendation in a national teaching award scheme.
Jeanette Kent, 30 has been a teaching assistant at Spa School for three years.
The school caters for autistic pupils and this year it was chosen by the government’s education department for a promotional DVD on teacher training that would go out to other schools.
Head teacher Jude Regan said: “Jeanette was so brilliant at describing her practice that it came to the attention of the press office at Downing Street.”
The head and her screen savvy teacher were invited to a reception. What the head did not tell Mrs Kent was that she had been picked for an audience and photo shoot with the PM.
“I didn’t know why I was being singled out,” said Mrs Kent, “and I was a bit worried when I was whisked straight past the drinks trolley.”
“The finest moment for me was when he entered the room,” she said. “He had those big clomping shoes on and he skidded on the carpet. Then everyone gathered round so I went straight in there next to him. He asked me where I was from, he said it must be really interesting. It was nice to get the school’s name in there. Then we went into another room and Cherie was there with a bouffant Dallas hairdo.”
On Blair, she said: “His ears were very shiny which made them look like as though they were made of wax. Very blue eyes. And very impressive, his lower face moves quite a lot.”
The photo is now in the hands of the Downing Street press office. “I was pleased because normally I look like a complete minger at work, but I was obviously the most attractive person there.”
Last Monday another teaching assistant at Spa School, Anke Buckland, 53, was attending the London Teaching Awards, where she was up for Teaching Assistant of the year. She finished second, winning a commendation in the prestigious award ceremony and £250 for her school.
“We all had to go up on stage for the award,” she said, “and I could tell other people had speeches in their pockets, so I knew I hadn’t won. But it was a fantastic day and I got to meet lots of other teachers. I also got on the six o’clock news.”
Two other Southwark teachers were recognised at the ceremony. Russell Jones, a drama teacher at Geoffrey Chaucer School in Borough, won an award for innovation.
Since he arrived at the school four years ago, the actor and teacher of 26 years has been a huge attraction for his department. Six times as many pupils now take the subject and their results are well above the national average.
Laura Vallins, an English teacher at The Charter School in Dulwich was also called to the stage to be given the Teacher Training Agency Award for outstanding New Teacher. Ms Vallins arrived in the UK from Canada three years ago and took British teaching qualifications. At The Charter School her pupils have helped exhibitions and questioned authors and illustrators.
Head Teacher Pat Bowmaker called her “one of the most gifted teachers I have had the privilege to work with in 35 years.” (Southwark News 8/7/2004)
Working in Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham, Croydon, Bromley, Wandsworth and other South London boroughs
On our wavelength
SOUTHWARK SCHOOL children have been running their own radio station from the South Bank as part of Morrissey’s Meltdown Festival.
Students from Archbishop Michael Ramsey Technology College grilled the schools Minister David Miliband MP about his plans for the nation’s education. Whilst pupils from Michael Faraday Junior School in Walworth presented an hour of their own programming including a live performance in the Royal Festival Hall’s ballroom, admittedly rather more Usher than The Smiths and ‘Hang the DJ.’
“It’s their radio station,” said radio technician Cormac O’ Connor, “and much of it has been really professional stuff. They have put a massive amount of work into it and not just in the studio but also in preparation back at their schools, from writing sketches, creating jingles to conducting interviews.” (Southwark News 1/7/2004)
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Classy vote
By Euan Denholm
A WALWORTH school has delivered the perfect rebuff to all those bemoaning voter apathy with an enthusiastic turnout to their school elections.
The children of St Peter’s Primary on Liverpool Grove were queuing up to put a cross next to their choice for class representative on the ballot paper. The school’s council has taken charge of a number of issues, from addressing bullying to ensuring that the kids get the best equipment. They also provide an articulate children’s voice to the governors.
“It’s their school and we wanted them to have a council which would give them ownership,” said Anne-Marie Bahlol, the deputy head teacher.
The candidates all drew up their own manifestos, producing election posters, whilst voters had voting booths and secret ballots ensuring they understand the electoral process.
“I think this is a really great idea and it should be used by all the schools in the area,” said ward councillor Lorraine Lauder, who attended, keen to pick up pointers for her colleagues in the Town Hall.
John Olatunji is a name to note. The ten-year-old particularly impressed Cllr Lauder with his thoughtful set of policies.
“We have an energy saving team but they don’t do their job properly and now it’s summer outside we don’t need to keep on the lights. We should spend the money on school equipment instead,” John said.
Languages was another issue John was intent on addressing. “At the moment we pay £2 for Spanish classes after school but it should be for free and I’d like to learn Italian and Chinese as well.”
Harry Edwards, 10, felt that the committee had really helped deal with bad behaviour. “If someone breaks a ruler then we take them to a school council meeting and they have to pay five pence,” he said. “And if someone keeps bullying then we call in their parents. It works very well.”
This year he was promising to improve the school food. “There needs to be more vegetables and salad but less mash because it is horrible with little bits in it.”
What do the candidates know about their older representatives? “I was very interested in the elections recently and know about the Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy,” John said.
“What about Tony Blair?” asked Labour Cllr Lauder.
“I think he did a lot wrong in Iraq,” was the boy’s sharp retort. No yes men in Walworth then. (Southwark News 1/7/2004)
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