Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School		Newsletter Extracts	June 2002
Highfield Road WIDNES                       Progress on Building The new Sports Hall is progressing satisfactorily and, if all continues well, will be completed on time in August. The old sports hall will be knocked down and the area made into a hard surface play area. There will also be additional parking space.   New Music Room The governors are also actively looking at the possibility of building a new music room for choirs and orchestra. The architects are submitting plans to the governing body for their consideration		From the Headteacher Year 11 Leave Us Each year the experience of saying farewell is one of mixed emotions, both for students and for their teachers. We have come to the point when we have done all that we can to prepare them for external exams. Planning these final few weeks so that revision is done is now the responsibility of each student. It is a very valuable time and I hope that it will be used effectively. I once more would like to place on record my thanks to so many of you who have been supportive of the school, particularly if this is your last child through the school. We have tried to make the experience a genuine partnership. I hope that we have succeeded. A special word of appreciation to Head of Year 11, Mrs Hewlett, and her team of Form Teachers, many of whom have been with the same group of pupils for five years.   Two National Awards for the School I am delighted to be able to report to you that last week we heard that we had received two national awards. The Sportsmark Award The first, the Sportsmark Award, is presented to those schools nationally who have demonstrated a real commitment in providing a quality PE experience to its students, both within the taught curriculum and in extra curricular activities. I regularly report to you on individuals and teams who have been successful in their own sport. They are too numerous to list again but the range and number of activities offered by the PE department is quite extraordinary. I am grateful to them for the time that they give.   Schools' Curriculum Award The second national recognition came when we received the prestigious Schools' Curriculum Award. This is in recognition of the work of the school and of the local, national and international links that the school has made and how it uses these as a resource for learning. In the submission, subject related additional activities in Geography, History, Music, Art, Technology, Modern Languages, Business Studies, Drama, Science, ICT, RE, Maths and English were represented. All use local, national and international opportunities to enhance the learning of their students. Also included in the submission were the many charities that the students support -Cafod, the L'Arche Community, Nugent House, Zoe's Place, the Seel Street soup kitchen, the Lourdes Pilgrimage, and the Donaldson School in Soweto. The Senior Citizens' Christmas Parties also featured as well as the work of the Justice and Peace group campaigning for the relief of the crushing debt that is experienced by many developing countries. Two independent assessors spent a day in school scrutinising the evidence that we submitted. I found it very moving to hear from students as they described to them the impact that being part these many activities had made. They had been changed by it and they had also changed the lives of those with whom they had been involved. In addition to the School Achievement Award, we can now carry two new logos on our letterheads. However, much more important than this is the work that lies behind these outward signs. The school has been invited to send to London two pupil representatives and two members -of staff to be presented with the Schools' Curriculum Award at the Tate Modern in June.