The whole school community at St Anne’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, in Buxton, has rallied to raise over £2,700 to send children on an unforgettable trip.
After signing up for free tickets to visit Chester Zoo, St Anne’s received enough to be able to take the whole school, which is made up of over 220 pupils and staff.
But the cost of transporting everyone to the zoo in December was coming in at over £2,500 so the school launched a fundraising drive in a bid to pay for the travel.
Now the school has more than met its target, raising over £2,700 from a fundraising page, a 12-hour sponsored walk at school by staff and some pupils and a Summer Fair/Meet the Teacher event.
One of the biggest events was a car wash held all weekend by a family who have children at St Anne’s. They were supported by local firefighters and together they raised a total of £575.
Headteacher Julia Wiggins said: “The community has really stepped up to support our children and we would like to thank everyone who helped out and contributed, especially in the current economic climate. The Meet the Teacher event was fantastic, parents were saying it was the best one over and that they really enjoyed it.
“The sponsored walk at school involving three of our staff was great and we were trying to keep them going. The money has just been trickling in and we are thrilled that we have exceeded our target.”
The members of staff who took part in the fundraising walk at school were Assistant Headteacher Frankie Dodd, pastoral and pupil support lead Faye Minshull and Year 5 teacher Callum D’Souza, who is also the school’s PE lead.
Frankie said: “The walk started on the playground at 7.30am and finished at 7.30pm. I did 45,000 steps which was about 23 miles. Callum ran some of it and did about 60,000 steps. We were all shattered at the end of it. It’s been fantastic to see the whole community coming together, I wasn’t sure that we would be able to reach this point. I thought we might raise so much and have to ask parents to pay for the rest but everyone rallied around.”
New eco school for St Mary’s takes shape
A pioneering new eco building for a Derby primary school that was destroyed by fire is taking shape.
All of the five main single storey structures of St Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy’s building on the school’s Broadway site have been erected and the process of cladding them with cedar is well underway.
The installation of windows has begun along with the construction of the large central covered walkway which will connect the buildings. A multi-use games area is also being created.
Painters and decorators will begin work in the coming weeks and the building is scheduled to be completed in late autumn.
The biophilic design focuses on connecting those inside the building – set to be the UK’s first biophilic school – with nature, with the goal of promoting physical and mental health.
As part of the unique scheme, the site will be planted with 96 new semi mature trees in late autumn.
St Mary’s original building, in Broadway, was destroyed by fire in October 2020 and the school has been based at St James House in Mansfield Road, Derby, since April 2021. Work started on the new building in February 2023.
Amanda Greaves, Executive Headteacher at St Mary’s, said: “It is so exciting following the progress of our wonderful new school and we are very much looking forward to returning to our permanent home on the Broadway site. We appreciate how much moving into our new building means to our whole school community and we would like to thank everyone who has supported us on this journey.”
Kevin Gritton, Chief Executive of the St Ralph Sherwin Trust, said: “It is fantastic to see work progressing well on the new school for St Mary’s. We are all excited to see the finished school, which promises to be a wonderful space for staff and children.”
Tilbury Douglas, a leading UK building, infrastructure, engineering and fitout company, is the main contractor for the project, which is a pilot for the Department for Education.
Tilbury Douglas’s Project Manager, Neil Holland, said: “Tilbury Douglas have delivered many school projects, and there’s no doubt that this school is a real precedent for quality and sustainability. Employing modern methods of construction has really aided this programme to move at pace, and we look forward to handing this project over to the school in the autumn.
All photos (apart from the cedar clad building photo) are by Matthew Ling Photography.
Congratulations to St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy, in Derby, which celebrated its 70th anniversary on June 20th.
A full day of celebrations was held to mark the occasion and the festivities started with a visit from BBC Radio Derby. Staff, former pupils and current pupils were interviewed throughout the breakfast show with Andy Twigge.
Pupils enjoyed ice cream at lunchtime before Mass was celebrated with Bishop Patrick. Following Mass, ex-pupils and staff were invited into school for refreshments and to reminisce about their time at school whilst looking through old photos.
What a fantastic day, congratulations St John Fisher!
Blessed Robert Sutton Catholic Voluntary Academy has achieved a prestigious award in recognition of its efforts to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the world’s poorest communities.
The school has become the first secondary school in the East Midlands to achieve CAFOD’s LiveSimply Award.
At the centre of the school’s efforts to earn the award is a new Eco Prayer Garden, which was funded as part a project run by East Midlands Airport.
The airport asked schools to submit designs for gardens or green spaces that substantially boost biodiversity and lead to improved wellbeing.
Pupils created the garden design and considered the local wildlife and how they could incorporate the school values of Love, Respect, Hope, Kindness and Resilience, whilst looking after nature.
Students also identified the need for the school community to be recycling, composting, growing their own herbs and vegetables to be used in Food and Nutrition lessons and considering the packaging of food in the canteen, which was reviewed to ensure it was more sustainable and able to be recycled.
Locally, regular food bank collections were held, students made ceramic poppies for local care homes and delivered and installed them for Remembrance Day, sent Christmas cards and regularly raised money for local charities.
Globally the school has helped to raise £15,000 over the years to build 15 freshwater wells in Africa. Other annual events to support CAFOD, the official aid agency for the Catholic Church, are the sharing of simple lunches for family fast days and taking part in the Big Lent Walk.
This laest accolade follows the school being shortlisted in the Secondary School of the Year category at the upcoming TES awards and being judged ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted earlier this year.
Laura O’Leary, Headteacher at Blessed Robert Sutton, said: “We are extremely proud to have received the LiveSimply Award, as it validates the remarkable efforts of our pupils and staff in promoting sustainable living and supporting those in need.
“Our school community has shown great dedication and commitment to creating a better future for all. We are grateful to CAFOD for their recognition and to East Midlands Airport for their invaluable support. Together, we will continue to strive for excellence in our pursuit of a more just and sustainable world.”
Siobhan Farnell, CAFOD LiveSimply Award Assessor was delighted to confirm Blessed Robert Sutton Catholic Voluntary Academy is the first secondary school in the East Midlands and in the Nottingham Diocese to achieve the LiveSimply Award.
She said: “The pupils and staff have truly embraced living simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the world’s poorest communities. Their inspired actions have and will continue to make a real difference to the lives of others in their school, local community, and our global neighbours. We wish them continued success in all they do.”
A celebration of the 400th anniversary of the release of Shakespeare’s first folio of works is being planned across the Trust.
Anna West, from Saint Benedict Catholic Voluntary Academy, in Derby, is leading the programme as part of the Stronger Together project which she leads on – bringing schools together through performing arts.
Primary schools will perform a Shakespeare play in a day, which is linked to their KS2 literacy curriculum for Year 5 and 6.
The aims of the project are:
* Developing oracy
* Develop an understanding of drama techniques
* Develop an understanding of the life and times of Shakespeare and Elizabethan England.
* Develop an understanding of key themes and ideas in Shakespeare’s works.
* To support the study of key themes and characters for GCSE English set texts
* To act as a bridge between KS2 and KS3
An artist will be allocated to each school and during the day they will explore script and devised work around key themes and ideas in Shakespeare’s work.
At the end of the day each school will have a 15-minute performance that schools will share with either parents, schoolchildren in an assembly or both. Each school is celebrating in a slightly different way.
In advance of the day each school will be provided with a small scheme of work in the form of a PowerPoint that they can use to understand the life and times of Shakespeare’s work and explore the use of voice.
These resources also include a video of a Shakespeare actor who gives them an insight into the life and times of when Shakespeare was writing. At the end of each clip he sets them a small challenge to fact find some information by the next day.
Secondary schools are all having a half day visit from an actor who has worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company and is developing bespoke workshops for each school based on what they have specified they wanted. This has been in partnership with the English department and is mainly supporting targeted areas of the KS4 examined text work.
At Saint Benedict the whole of Year 9 will visit Derby Theatre over two days and experience a carousel of street dance, drama and music and rap which link to key scenes and themes in Romeo and Juliet.
This promises to be a wonderful event!
Ex-pupils and staff are being invited to help a Derby primary school celebrate its 70th anniversary.
St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy, in Alvaston Street, Alvaston, is holding an open evening on Tuesday, June 20th, when ex-pupils and staff can tour the school, look through old photos and reminisce about their time there.
On the same day the Bishop of Nottingham, Patrick McKinney, will celebrate Mass with current pupils and staff in the school grounds.
One of the school’s longest serving members of staff, Elaine Sanger, is looking forward to the anniversary celebrations.
A cover teacher at the school, Mrs Sanger teaches classes from Reception to Year 6 when she is required. Next year, she will have been at the school for 30 years, plus two years before that as a volunteer.
She joined St John Fisher as a Teaching Assistant with a focus on children with special needs. Prior to that she worked in a school nursery and children’s home in Derby.
Mrs Sanger said: “Children have been my life. When I joined the school as a TA we only had two TAs across the whole school. The Headteacher at the time was Sister Laetitia, a nun. As well as being a TA I also looked after the display boards as Sister Laetitia wanted everything to look nice.”
Later, Mrs Sanger (pictured below) became a Higher Level Teaching Assistant and studied for a BA Honours in Education whilst working at St John Fisher, which is part of the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust.
She said: “I spent seven years studying but it all paid off. I enjoy what I do. I love teaching different classes and seeing the children progress from Reception to Year 6. Now I see parents who I used to teach picking their children up from school. It’s nice to see the generations come through. Lots of children here will say to me ‘you’ve taught my mum or dad’ and then they ask how old I am! I’ve worked for 11 Headteachers and they have all brought nice things to the school.
“I’ve seen lots of changes but I’ve also seen things come full circle. The national curriculum was created, before that it was nuns running the school and it was left to them, as long as they did English and Maths. There are some things that have come round again and I’ve thought I remember doing that 20 years ago.
“I have three boys and they’ve all come to this school. I used to tell them not to ask me anything in lessons as I needed to tend to the other children, they were very good about it.”
Mrs Sanger said she cannot envisage her life without St John Fisher, which she describes as “one big family.”
She said: “This school is very important to the community and the children, we are like one big family. We are one of the smaller schools in Derby and we all work together, it’s great and I can’t imagine life without St John Fisher. I’ve still got the drive in me and I want to carry on learning. I am looking forward to the anniversary and it will be nice to see some old faces.”
Saul Ratcliffe, Headteacher at St John Fisher, said: “I feel extremely privileged to be Headteacher of St John Fisher at this historic time. Having been a part of Catholic education since my childhood, I understand the importance of this event, not just for those in our present school community, but for those who have been a member of the St John Fisher community at any point in the last 70 years.
“Having been involved here since September 2020, I have seen a number of changes, mainly from the pandemic, however, one thing that stands out is the support of the staff and parents.
“It will be a great opportunity for the children to be part of this historic event, something I hope they remember for a number of years to come, maybe even a part of the 100th celebrations in 2053!”
Sue Paxton is a former student who began attending St John Fisher in 1965.
She went on to become a Teaching Assistant at St John Fisher and her own children attended the school.
Sue said she has some great memories of school, including a visit to the Tutankhamun tomb in the early 1970s at a museum in London, with the nuns who taught her.
She said: “We did lots of fun stuff, it was really, really good, I remember from my first day to my leaving day, it was really good fun, I loved it.
“They took us to Wembley. To watch the ladies’ England hockey final. The nuns took us, we’d all been knitting a long scarf, and we looped it between us all so we could all hold onto it in the crowds, so nobody got lost. I remember Sister Gertrude hanging on at the back.
“My girls’ memories are just as positive; they had a great time at the school.
“One of my favourite memories was school dinners. You had like a monitor job and if you got the monitor job at the table, you knew you were going to have the biggest dinner out of everyone at the table.”
We were delighted to welcome pupils and staff from our schools to our Pupil Parliament meeting, where they unpicked our Mission statement: “Growing in faith, serving with love, transforming our world; together in Christ.”
There were some great examples of how our Mission is being lived out in schools and how it could be lived out in the future.
In groups, pupils and staff then discussed what they would like to see happening in schools on our Feast Day in December. A very productive day and great to see pupils and staff across the Trust working together. Thank you to everyone who came along!
Blessed Robert Sutton Catholic Voluntary Academy could be named the best in the UK after being shortlisted for a national award.
The Burton school has made it to the finals of the Tes Schools Awards 2023, in the Secondary School of the Year category.
Now in its 15th year, the Tes Schools Awards recognise the best teachers and schools from UK state and independents, including early years settings, primary and secondary.
Laura O’Leary, Headteacher at Blessed Robert Sutton, said: ‘We are over the moon to be shortlisted for the Tes Secondary School of the Year Award. It is recognition of the immense hard work and dedication shown by our superb staff. We have been on a mission to provide an excellent education for all of our wonderful students, which we have achieved with the support of our phenomenal, dedicated staff, governors and the parents and carers of our students.’
The school recently became one of only three in the country to move from ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Outstanding’ under the new Ofsted framework.
Inspectors said that pupils are extremely proud to be part of this “highly ambitious school’ and that leaders have the highest expectations for pupils, who receive a “high quality” education.
The ‘Sutton Way’ was highlighted in the report, which focuses on academic excellence, spiritual development and social excellence and permeates throughout the school.
The panel of Tes awards judges include school leaders, experts and education researchers. This year, there are 20 award categories including two special awards, honouring the classroom Resource of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Kevin Gritton, Chief Executive of the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust, congratulated everyone at Blessed Robert Sutton.
He said: “This is another fantastic achievement for Miss O’Leary and her team and they would be worthy winners of this national award. Everyone at Blessed Robert Sutton should feel incredibly proud and we wish them the best of luck.”
Jon Severs, Tes editor and chief judge of the Tes Schools Awards, said: “With these awards we honour the education community, whom we have served for over 112 years. This year has seen some incredibly high quality entries. So every teacher and school who has been named in this shortlist should be very proud – it’s a fantastic achievement.
“We are looking forward to showcasing, as we do every year, just how vital our education professionals are to every facet of this country. Teachers, leaders and support staff all play such an important role in schools: this is our chance to say thank you for all that they do.”
The winners of the Tes Schools Awards will be announced on Friday, June 23 at a gala awards night at the Grosvenor Park Hotel in London.
Saint John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy has been graded Good with Outstanding areas in its latest Catholic Schools inspection.
The overall quality of Catholic education provided by the school was graded Good, along with Religious Education.
Catholic life and mission and collective worship were both graded Outstanding by inspectors from the Catholic Schools Inspectorate, who visited the school in Ilkeston in April 2023.
In their report, inspectors said: “The integrity and passion of all leaders, including governors, are tangible at St John Houghton. This is a popular school which holds Christ at its heart. The exceptional Catholic ethos permeates all areas of school life.
“The religious education department is at the forefront of the current progress and developments in teaching and learning at the school.”
They also said that the chaplaincy provision was a “shining beacon within the school.”
The approach to collective worship reflects the passion and engagement of the lay chaplain and school leaders and ensures that prayer remains a key focus of daily life for all students, staff and parents, the report said.
Engagement with the community is a strength which is to be “commended and celebrated”, inspectors said, highlighting the ‘Faith in Action’ awards, parish work, the development of an eco-garden and regular coffee mornings.
Inspectors said: “The St John Houghton school community is rightly proud of the Catholic nature of the school and this sense permeates every aspect of school life. All students feel valued and play an integral part within the school family.
“Students display deep respect both for their peers and staff in lessons and around the school. The language used by students consistently reflects a recognition of the dignity of others. There is a real sense of inclusivity encompassing all faiths, religions, and those without faith. The school routinely supports many initiatives locally, nationally, and internationally.”
Leaders and governors were praised and inspectors said they were deeply committed to ensuring that the school’s distinctive Catholic character is upheld and developed.
“They exercise their duty as guardians of the Catholic life and mission of the school extremely well, ensuring that Christ is always at the heart of everything undertaken. St John Houghton is deeply rooted in the local community, supporting strong links with parents, the parish and beyond,” inspectors said.
Steve Brogan, Headteacher at Saint John Houghton, said: “We are absolutely delighted to share this report, which recognises the commitment and dedication of all members of our school community. Since the previous inspection, we have worked tirelessly to improve our school and we are so pleased this has been recognised. The Catholic Life of our school is always at the heart of our work and our Mission Statement, ‘Inspiring ambition and excellence, guided by Christ,’ is truly lived out.”
Kevin Gritton, Trust Chief Executive, said: “Well done to all of the staff, governors and pupils at Saint John Houghton on this excellent report, which makes fantastic reading. The outcome is a testament to all of the hard work that goes on at the school and everyone should be extremely proud.”
