St Julian's School
English Literature
TEXTS
The majority of students in Year 11 were given the option of taking their English Literature Examination texts home with them to aid their revision. We ask that all students return their copies of their Literature Texts to the school on Thursday 24th May. This is the date of the last Literature exam, and students will be asked to leave their texts at the front of the examination hall before the start of the exam.
REVISION
With 4 exams to cover, we are very keen to have Yr 11 students sat in front of us, either the day before or the morning of their exam. This will help us go over specific skills and timing.
Exam and Revision Dates :
Literature Unit 1
Exam date: Tues 22nd May - am
Revision lesson: Mon 21st May - lesson 6
Literature Unit 2
Exam date: Thursday 24th May - pm
Revision lesson: Thursday 24th - lesson 1
Language Unit 1 & 2
Exam date: Tuesday 29th May - am
Revision lesson: Monday 28th - lesson 2
Blazers
PUPILS' NEW ONLINE MAG GETS THOUSANDS OF HITS IN JUST A FEW MONTHS
BUDDING journalists and politicians from St Julian's have pioneered an online magazine to air their views to the world - and have already had 2,500 hits.
Students have created the blog 'The Sound of St Julian's' where they are writing and stimulating discussions on topics as wide-ranging as the phone-hacking scandal, a trip to Auschwitz, and school uniform.
The articles are stimulating discussions in the classroom and online, and helping produce journalists and politicians of the future.
After only a few months, some 2,500 people have viewed the blogs - and pupils are keen for that number to expand.
Deputy Head of English Susan Williams said: "This is a brilliant scheme which the students came up with, and created themselves. They wanted a way to connect with issues of the day, try out writing styles and then provoke discussions within the classroom and also online.
"I monitor the postings and responses, however the pupils are in charge of uploading the articles and sending out the link to the online world on Twitter.
"The pupils are really passionate about life, and producing this blog regularly helps them find their views, discuss them with others, and also gives them a broad knowledge of life.
"They can also write about issues in the school how they affect them as pupils, in fact most things really. I think it is an excellent way to see them develop useful modern skills and, who knows, it may produce journalists and politicians of the future."
NEW STATISTICAL EXPERT TO HELP ENSURE EVERY CHILD THRIVES AT A NEWPORT SCHOOL
A NEWPORT school has hired an expert in technology and statistics to help all of their 1600 children achieve their potential.
St Julian's School's new Achievement Analyst James Newton is able to produce data on all of their pupils so their progress in subjects can be tracked and so staff can intervene where necessary.
He now provides the school's leadership team, heads of year and subjects with crucial data to show the expected progress of pupils through Years 7 to 13.
Staff then use the data to give praise, motivation and encouragement to pupils to ensure they fulfil their potential.
James, who previously worked for Newport City Council, said: "I'm providing statistics for all the heads of staff. I'm delighted to be able to work at my local school and to be able to put my skills to good use - helping children thrive educationally."
Headteacher Denise Richards, who helped her previous school become one of the best in Britain, said: "Sometimes children can slip through the net in schools.
If they aren't doing well in a particular subject where they were predicted to do so, then we can monitor their progress and intervene with extra help, encouragement and motivation.
"Children come to St Julian's from a wide variety of backgrounds, and with different personalities and skills. Tracking their progress ensures that every child can be given support to help them fulfil the potential they have when they arrive.
"We are delighted that James is on staff and able to provide crucial support to us keeping excellent standards in education in the school."
St Julian's School is well known as a school that cares for its pupils and last year celebrated 100 years.
Uniform Feedback from Parents
All feedback received from parents, both positive and negative, will be fed back to the Full Governing Body during their meeting on 30th April 2012. They will then consider the information presented to them and make the final decision regarding the St Julian's School uniform for September 2012 onwards. The students are currently being asked to vote on the logo and tie design to involve them in the process. Their preference of design will be used if the governors vote 'yes' to change the school uniform.
Uniform Consultation – Feedback
Parental Consultation
Parents of current and Year 6 students who have been offered a place at St Julian’s School were invited to complete an online survey, this totalled 1844 families. 154 responses (8%) were received of which 45 (2.4%) were broadly positive, 33 (1.8%) were broadly negative and 76 (4%) were open.
Student Vote
In total 1451 pupils voted in key stage 3, 4 and 5, including pupils in the Learning Development Centre. 54% voted for a change and 46% voted to stay the same, a majority of 115 students. The detailed statistics are on display in the reception area of the school.
Costs
Modelled on the average student having 2 or 3 polo shirts and a jumper/school sweatshirt:
· Polo shirts (lightweight) @ £9.50 each, 1 school sweatshirt @ £14.50 or a black cardigan = £33.50 (2 polo shirts) / £43.00 (3 polo shirts)
· Polo shirts (heavyweight) @ £10.50 each, 1 school sweatshirt @ £14.50 or a black cardigan = £35.50 (2 polo shirts) / £46.00 (3 polo shirts)
· 1 blazer @ £27.00, 1 tie @ £5.00, 2 white shirts (pack of two from a Supermarket) @£6.50 = £38.50 – no jumper or possibly outdoor coat required due to warmth from blazer
· Skirts and trousers available as now from a range of suppliers.
· Black leather look shoes at similar cost to trainers – from £9.99 (Supermarket)
Dry Cleaning/Washing
The blazers are machine washable at 40 degrees and will dry overnight. They do not need to be dry cleaned.
Current quality of polo shirts
Many parents have commented on the poor quality of the current uniform. I have raised this concern with Macey’s Sports who have agreed that the lightweight polo shirts do not wear and wash as well as expected.
Suppliers
We are keen to work with a range of suppliers if that is what parents request. This could include internet ordering with delivery into school with no postage costs incurred. We would ensure that there was price matching across the suppliers offered.
Some parents mentioned the use of local embroiderers to provide a badge to be sewn onto other garments. As a school we would have concerns over the consistency of the blazers and the quality of the embroidery. We would rather look to ensure that there is healthy competition through at least 2 suppliers, keeping costs down.
Ties
Concerns have been voiced regarding students abilities to tie ties. The ties for students in Key Stage 3 and 4 will be clip on and ready tied. Students in the sixth form will wear normal ties in preparation for entering the workplace.
Summer Wear
During the summer months students will be expected to wear their blazers to school and around the site, but will be invited to remove them in lessons if it is warm. In extreme periods of hot weather the school may announce periods of time when it will not be necessary to wear blazers.
Phased introduction
If the proposal goes ahead then as per Welsh Government guidelines there will be a phased introduction of the uniform to give families time to use current uniform until the full implementation date of September 2013. Students coming into Year 7 would be asked to wear the new uniform as the majority of those would be purchasing a new uniform to start their education here at St Julian's School. Students who return to Year 12 at St Julian’s School are expected to purchase a different uniform to that worn in Key Stage 3 and 4. As such, we would expect them to purchase the new uniform of shirt, tie and blazer rather than a polo shirt. Governors are keen that when students move into Key Stage 4 (Year 10) they recognise the increased formality of their education. All other students would be encouraged to wear the new uniform as and when their old uniform needs replacing. All students would be required to wear the new uniform from September 2013.
3D Demo
On Thursday the 15th of March, staff and pupils from St. Julian’s participated in a 3D demonstration to highlight the effectiveness of using 3D in the classroom to encourage students and improve their understanding of a subject.
The demonstration came just in time for the installation of the 3D system in our new completely redesigned Learning Resource Center.
Staff and students watched intently as demonstrations of the human respiratory system, wood working techniques, mathematical graphs, Tudor life and even vivid sensory exercises were displayed with the highlight being Mrs Wynne screaming as a scary face jumped out of the screen during a sensory exercise!
A very big thank you to Pravin from Amazing Interactives (www.amazing-int.com ) for taking the time to demonstrate this fantastic and invaluable teaching tool!
Humanities' Projects!
Pupils in Year 7 are continuing to wow their Humanities teachers with the quality of the home-learning they are producing.
Project based home-learning tasks have been introduced this year, to allow pupils to develop vital skills that will help them along their individual 'routes to success'.
They are also designed to enable pupils to follow up individual areas of interest, and titles have ranged from 'Glastonbury', 'Eid' and 'Diwali' (Festivals Project), to 'Welsh rugby/football',
'Welsh Celebrities' and 'Welsh Music' (Festivals Project).
Pupils in all classes have really 'gone the extra mile'. Da iawn blwyddyn saith, and keep it up - the next project is coming soon!
Some useful dates to help your planning for the 2011-12 Academic Year:
This Term, Next Term...
First day of Easter Holidays is Friday 6 April
