ST. PANCRAS CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
2014-15
NUMBER 30
(THE SCHOOL OF ST MARY MAGDALEN PARISH)
Stratford Road Ipswich IP1 6EF Tel. 01473 742074 e-mail: ad.st.pancras.p@talk21.com
WEBSITE: www.stpancrasschool.co.uk
Chairman of Governors: Mike Mayston (contact through the School Office)
Vice Chairman of Governors & Parish Priest: Father Russell Frost, St Mary Magdalen Church, 468 Norwich Road Ipswich IP1 6JS Tel.
01473 741975
Chairman of Friends: Wymeaka Judkins
After School Club telephone number (3.30 – 6 p.m.): 07505 246369
OFSTED Number: 124785
To work in partnership with parents, carers, the parish and the local community to secure the fullest educational, emotional,
physical and social wellbeing of all our learners, reflecting gospel values, our freedom and responsibilities as Christians and
the love God has for each one of us
Dear Parents, Carers and Grandparents
Well, we have reached the end of another busy and memorable school year.
As always, there are people to thank, people to wish well as they leave us and great events to celebrate.
Sadly, Mrs. Lisa Sturgeon leaves us this week. Mrs. Sturgeon has been with us for four years, teaching
children throughout the school – but mainly those in Rainbows, Year 1 and Year 2. We have seen her grow
into a very effective teacher who has the children’s respect and achieves good progress. Mrs. Sturgeon has
been partly responsible for our outstanding Phonics and Year 2 results this year. We wish Mrs. Sturgeon
all the very best at her new school nearer to home in Stowmarket. We will miss her.
In Friday Assembly last week we made a presentation to teaching assistant, Mrs. Lisa Klotz. Mrs. Klotz has
only been with us for a year or so but she has made her mark. She is a very capable and effective paraprofessional, enabling many of our younger pupils to make good or outstanding progress. Mrs. Klotz
contributed much to our Pupil Premium Award earlier this year. We wish every success and fulfilment at
her new school.
We also say goodbye – and thank you – to Mrs. Sarah Saul in the School Office and Miss Hayley McDonnell,
who has supported Miss Skinner’s team in Rainbows.
I’m going to boast now!
Here is a summary of the school’s key results for 2014-15:
At Early Years Foundation Stage:
Miss Skinner, Miss Aldous and the team have achieved 73% at a Good Level of Development, our
best showing yet and 13% above the 2014 national figure.
At Year 1:
Mrs. Thackeray and Mrs. Dowsing have achieved a 90% pass rate in the Phonics Screening Check.
Again, this is the best we have done and compares with 74% nationally (2014)
At Year 2:
Mrs. White, Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Tella have achieved the school’s best ever Key Stage 1 SATs scores, agreed
by the Local Authority during statutory moderation.
Reading at Level 2B+ (expected): 91% (81% nationally)
Writing at Level 2B+ (expected): 88% (70% nationally)
Maths at Level 2B+ (expected): 91% (80% nationally)
Reading at Level 3+ (exceeding): 25% (31% nationally)
Writing at Level 3+ (exceeding): 31% (16% nationally)
Maths at Level 3+ (exceeding): 28% (24% nationally)
At Year 6:
Mr. Evans, Mrs. Catania and Mrs. Silke-Cooper, supported by lots of staff, have achieved our best ever Key
Stage 2 SATs scores, with particularly good results achieved by higher attainers:
Reading at Level 4+ (expected): 97% (89% nationally)
Writing at Level 4+ (expected): (85% nationally)
Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling at Level 4+ (expected): 91% (76% nationally)
Maths at Level 4+ (expected): 97% (86% nationally)
Reading at Level 5+ (expected): 65% (50% nationally)
Writing at Level 5+ (expected): (33% nationally)
Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling at Level 5+ (expected): 56% (52% nationally)
Maths at Level 5+ (expected): 71% (42% nationally)
Reading, Writing and Maths Combined at Level 4+: 91% (79% nationally)
Reading, Writing and Maths Combined at Level 5+: 29% (24% nationally)
2 levels’ progress in reading (expected): 100% (91% nationally)
2 levels’ progress in writing (expected): 100% (93% nationally)
2 levels’ progress in maths (expected): 100% (90% nationally)
An outstanding year’s work. Well done to all staff - everybody!
I hope that you have received your children’s annual pupil progress reports. It was a joy to read them –
and comment upon them – this year.
The school has come a long way, a fact highlighted this week by the stepping down, as Chairman of
the Governing Body, of Mr. Mike Mayston. 24 years ago when I became headteacher and Mike
Mayston joined the governing body, St. Pancras was earmarked for closure. It was neglected and
beset by a falling roll. Mike worked alongside me to build the school up – improving performance
and reputation and gradually gaining additional classes until St. Pancras was a 7-class viable
proposition. Since then, despite numerous setbacks which would have been more than enough to
unnerve most governors, Mike has supported me in developing the school’s site, resources – and,
most importantly, its staffing.
Twenty-four years of voluntary service needs to be fully and properly acknowledged. We will
celebrate Mike’s commitment to St. Pancras after mass on Wednesday. In the meantime, if you would
like to contribute to a well-deserved ‘retirement’ gift for the man who designed our distinctive school
logo, then please see Mrs. Cork in the office.
Year 2 visited St. John’s Cathedral in Norwich last week, accompanied by Father Russell. The children had
a great day, learning a lot about the first church of our diocese and the second largest Catholic cathedral
in England. Here is a selection of children’s responses:
“When we got there we met a lady called Jo. She said that there were six signs and symbols we must
remember; food, drink, animals, the cross, water and light. Then we had a tour of the cathedral.” Louie) “I
was amazed when I saw the size of the cathedral” (Taylor) “Then we went into the cathedral to look at the
head of St. John the Baptist. It was made by an amazing artist and it was made out of lime wood. His hair
was made out of nails.” (Danielle) “Jo told us about the ceiling. There were pictures from the Old Testament
called bosses.” (Nicole) “After lunch we had a lovely mass. I did the psalm and Father Russell taught us things
about God. It was great and we sang some hymns.” (Alissia)
I have received a delightful letter from Lizzy Hobbs, the animator who recently spent a day with our Class
5 children. Lizzy writes: “Thank you very much for the invitation to run a workshop in your school with Year
5 this term. I had such a lovely day with the class. I found them so creative and responsive to the challenge –
and the work that they made was of such high quality. It was a real pleasure to be with them for the day.”
Remarkably, Class 4 alone have raised £215.50 for the Nepal Earthquake Appeal. I will give you the whole
school total as soon as I have it.
Looking ahead to next year, we will have a parent governor vacancy. If there are any parents who would
like to be considered for the governor vacancy – or who would like further information about what it
entails – then they are invited to contact me as soon as school resumes in September.
Anyone passing the school over the summer break will notice a lot of activity. There is extensive capital
work taking place, including the construction of a new classroom and the provision of new intervention
rooms, in addition to the total re-cladding of the school’s southern elevation.
I should not forget to mention how successful Mrs. Fox’s ‘Let’s Grow Club’ has been this year. The children
– from classes 2 to 5 inclusive have thoroughly enjoyed growing all kinds of things, from carrots and
sweet peas to lettuce and flowers. Mrs. Nelli, our cook, proudly presented me with my lunch the other
day, with the words: “The potatoes were grown here at school by the Let’s Grow children.” Without
prejudice, they were excellent!
Romeo & Juliet was a fitting –and emotional – tribute to the talents of our Year 6 pupils, all of whom are
leaving us this week to embark on exciting high school careers. Not only do they go armed with the best
academic results this school has ever had but they also go knowing that they are loved – and will be
greatly missed. We wish all of them the happiest and most successful secondary careers – and urge them
all to remember that they always belong at St. Pancras School: Brodie Appleford, Morgan Beal,
Antonino Catalanotto, Patricia Conde, Natalyn Dorn, Bryony Dougherty, Jadyn Eruero, Jack Everitt,
Nathan Fella, Mindy Gallagher-Blake, Luis Hamilton, Blake Hoang, Tommy Horton, Demi Johnson,
Jack Kerrison, Renz Lacorte, Emilio Leathers, Tialah Melville, Emily Milton, George Minns, Tamsin
O’Sullivan, Kurtis Orris, Naomi Potter, Pirasijan Prabaharan, Jack Ransom, Taylor Sadler, Tara
Sermons, Rhian Lee Shepherd, George Smith, Josie Southgate, Callum Stewart, Elsa TrevorPallares, Ethan Tucker and Tula Wright.
There is sometimes some confusion about school uniform on return to school in September. This is
understandable, especially if the weather is still very warm. However, to avoid confusion – and mixing
and matching – we are back to full school uniform from Monday September 7th – white shirts and ties.
It only remains for me to wish you all – every child and every family (not forgetting staff and governors) a
very happy and restful summer break. Thank you all for your continued support.
(Oh, and congratulations to the Appleford family on the birth of Lex Parker!)
Yours sincerely
Stephen Barker
CHILDREN RETURN TO SCHOOL ON MONDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER 2015