Headteacher's Blog

Ash Wednesday - the beginning of our Lenten Journey

2023-02-22T05:26:00.000-08:00

Today is the start of our Lenten journey. We marked this special day through a liturgy for EYFS and KS1 and an Ash Wednesday Mass for the KS2.

Every child in the school, from nursery to Year 6, received their ashes today, understanding that we turn to Jesus to put things right and that we are assured of his love.

It was wonderful to be able to fill St Joseph's with our juniors.

This was a beautifully moving Mass & Father Nigel, commented on the very tangible prayerfulness of our children. They take their liturgy seriously and are so keen to engage. I was so very proud of them and have been around to each class to tell them since we have arrived back.

Our children in Year 5 & 6 carried out their ministry of the Word so well and with such dignity

and the singing at the end was beautiful! 'Jesus you can use my hands' by Dan Callow (One Life Music) is fast becoming one of our favourite hymns.

Thank you to our friends in Year 4 for leading us in signing this too!

Incidentally, One Life Music lead a series of Lenten musical reflection for children which we have bought into this year. We are looking forward to using them in school.

Remember to look out for any updates on our Lenten Lines display at the main entrance each day.

Wishing you all a fruitful Lenten journey.

PREPARING FOR LENT 2023

2023-02-19T09:03:00.076-08:00

Apologies - it has been some time since I have used the 'Blogger' facility to communicate but I am keen to re-open this channel of communication.

I hope that everyone has experienced a refreshing half term break ... or maybe even a busy one if that is what you prefer. On a personal level,
I have been to visit my eldest son at Manchester and have enjoyed some catch up TV and some audio books whilst also spending some time in the garden, sorting out the greenhouse and pond ready for the season ahead. It has been good to spend time with family, even if we are in the middle of the tensions of GCSE revision for my middle son! Life is so busy for all of us.

And as we return, we will soon enter the liturgical season of Lent. The school has 'gone purple' in preparation! Ash Wednesday (22nd Feb) marks the start of Lent. Fr Nigel has kindly agreed to put on an extra Mass so that pupils in KS2 can attend and receive their ashes (parents are all welcome at 11 am) and pupils in EYFS and KS1 will join together in a school based liturgy to receive their ashes. Ash Wednesday is a time for us all to stop in the middle of our busy schedules and take stock of where we are and what we are aiming for in life; a time to reset; to readjust; to realign. Lent can be a time of reset ... reset of heart and reset of action.

This weekend's message from Cardinal Vincent really resonated with me. Our actions ... faith in action ... are just so important. You can read Cardinal Vincent's pastoral message here:

So how do we live this out in school?

Well ... our whole RE curriculum is based upon making links between scripture, Church teaching, worship and life. Whatever our children learn has to have an impact on their daily life AND IT DOES SO BEAUTIFULLY!

LENT is rooted in actions of prayer, fasting and almsgiving

During this Lent your children will:

Engage with Food Bank Friday, leaving items in the trolley outside St Joseph’s workshop that we can share with the St Vincent de Paul Society to support local families. You can find out more about he Society of St Vincent de Paul here: https://www.svp.org.uk/ LOCAL ACTION.
Be sent home with a CAFOD penny box. Maybe they could complete jobs at home for a small fee to support overseas sustainable aid projects. You can find out more about CAFOD projects thaw we are supporting here: https://cafod.org.uk INTERNATIONAL ACTION.
Buy Easter raffle tickets which will be on sale during the last few weeks of term. Pupils can buy tickets that might earn them an Easter treat donated by the staff team. Funds raised will support Father Kakuba’s Kanyike Project in Uganda. You can find out more about the Kanyikee project here: https://www.kanyikeproject.org.uk/ INTERNATIONAL ACTION.

Each day during Lent, the School Parliament team will be selecting an image to display on the ‘lenten lines’ in our purple shed at the main entrance to the school. You may want to stop at this point with your child, look at the new image and say a prayer together each day.

Watch this space!

During Lent there will be many opportunities for your children to experience a response to scripture through their ACTIONS.

Lent 2023 brings with it a great opportunity for lasting change and action focused on the Common Good. As a Catholic school, rooted in these principles, we are ideally placed to promote these principles which can only serve to make our community the very best place that it can possibly be, outward looking and supportive to all. Please join us in prayer for the fruit of our mission this Lent.

The following link to our school website may support you

in preparing your children during this very special season:

Support for families

Thank you for all that you do to support us in the formation of your children.

It is such a special opportunity and we take it very seriously,

2021-03-03T13:50:00.002-08:00

We are all looking forward to welcoming back the full school community on Monday 8th March 2020.

This film might help you to discuss some important matters before the great return:

Please do contact us if you need any additional support in relation to planning for the return to school

2021-02-05T13:52:00.001-08:00

There seem to be so many things to worry about at the moment and maybe you are anxious with all of the things that our children have to deal with currently. Life can be complex but it needn't overwhelm. Your children are great at sharing with each other the things that can help them to be feel grounded. They are also great at teaching us what we need to do to feel better!

Next week marks the start of our special wellbeing focus week where we will develop the brilliant theme of 'express yourself'. As well as exploring what makes each of us uniquely individual, throughout this week we will also prioritise a range of wellbeing techniques which will help us to be grounded and more mindful.

We hope that our children are keen to share their learning with you this week!

Mr White launches the week by sharing a journey through mindfulness with 'happy':

2021-01-29T17:15:00.001-08:00

Well my learning was challenged this evening. It has been quite a while since I published the last Friday Vlog and I had to jump feet first into the Learning Pit to rediscover how to do it! Hence the Friday Vlog that arrived early on Saturday!!!!

Well, here it is anyway ... Mr White's take on what learning means for those at home and those in school and how the learning struggle is so important.

Lockdown presents us with a real opportunity to focus on independence in learning; equally, however, it could do the opposite ... so let's ensure that we all support the independence and celebrate the struggle before jumping in to help too soon! In the long run, it will create much better learners who are resilient and able to adapt to new situations.

If you want to find out more about the learning pit, check out James Nottingham's website here:

https://www.challenginglearning.com/learning-pit/

Find out about Professor Guy Claxton's Building Learning Power

and 17 Characteristics of Effective Learning here:

https://www.buildinglearningpower.com/about/

REMOTE EDUCATION OFFER

2021-01-25T14:59:00.005-08:00

It has been a strange time with some pupils working at home and others working at school. All pupils at home and at school are currently working on the same materials. Materials are uploaded to Purple Mash and these are used in school as well as at home in order to ensure a parity of experience.

The following document aims to explain our current approach to remote learning:

Remote Education Offer Draft Jan 2021

The Teaching & Learning Committee of our Governing Body met to consider our Remote Offer after exploring the materials available to pupils and parents. The school review document for this is available here:

School Review Remote Offer Jan 21

Our Remote offer is a work in progress and is continually open to review.

Constructive feedback is always welcome via feedback@stvincent.herts.sch.uk

Please do let us know how you are feeling about our offer; we can't promise the world, but we will always listen and act upon your opinions where we can. Thank you for your partnership - it is so important to us!

We hope that you all enjoy the partnership in learning ...

T.E.A.M.

Together Everyone Achieves More

From Mission Statement to action: the charism of our school ...

2020-10-30T03:11:00.000-07:00

Our children are great at making daily use of the school mission statement. It trips off their tongues so easily and is accompanied by their beautiful signing. But what does it really mean for them and how does the charism of St Vincent de Paul influence their daily life in school? Check out our recently premiered charism film here:

As always, our young people can always teach us a thing or two. It is often so humbling to hear them talking of their faith so naturally, entwined with their very being and reflected in their interactions at school and beyond. They talk with such passion about what it means to be a person of faith and how this impacts upon their lives in the classroom, at home and in the wider community and are so keen to make a difference in the world.

It gives me great pleasure to watch this: our children are our future and the world is in their safe hands!

Thanks be to God!

VIRTUAL VISITS - Nursery & Reception applications

2020-10-30T02:57:00.001-07:00

Usually at this time of the year I am busy showing families around the school, as parents engage with that important decision about selecting a school place for their nursery or reception aged child. This is usually an opportunity to get a real feel for the school in action, to see the interactions between peers and between children and adults and simply to 'feel' the school. There are usually lots of questions on a range of topics to keep me on my toes!

It is sad that this is not possible this year due to Covid-19 restrictions. With this in mind, we have produced two virtual tours - one for nursery and one for reception to help you to get a feel for the school.

Nursey applications (for children born between 1st Sep 2017 and 31st Aug 2018) opened on 03/09/20 and close on 27/11/20. The nursery tour is available here:

Reception applications (for children born between 1st Sep 2016 and 31st Aug 2017) open on 2/11/20 and close on 15/01/21. The reception tour is available here:

If you have any questions about the application process, please contact Mrs Levey in the main school office on 01438 729555. If you have specific questions about the school please email me on head@stvincent.herts.sch.uk and I will endeavour to get back to you as soon as I can.

We are aware that some families have been concerned about the 'Certificate of Catholic Practice' (CCP) that forms part of our over-subscription criteria. All of the clergy locally are aware that this will be causing anxiety for some and families will not be disadvantaged due to lack of physical access to Church due to Covid-19 measures throughout the Catholic Church. The Catholic Education Service and the Diocese of Westminster have advised that the CCP should still be used this year if it forms part of the oversubscription criteria.

Please spread the word about admissions. The timescales are the same for both Catholic Primary schools in Stevenage who work closely together throughout the admissions process.

2020-10-03T14:31:00.004-07:00

It is sad that we are unable to welcome potential new families to view the school currently. However, the following video has been created to expalin to potential new nursery familes what we are all about: The admissions pages of our website are linked here: We look forward, as always, to welcoming new and familiar families to our community. Enjoy the film!

The new normal

2020-08-28T08:21:00.002-07:00

It has been a busy and rather strange Summer in many ways. I do hope that you have all managed to take a refreshing and much needed break with families. Reaching the end of the holidays is coming around so quickly and before we know it, we will be building new school routines.

It will be great to have our full community back together again - something that we have longed for - but the 'new normal' will mean a different way of operating for some time. The video that you can view below will give you a flavour of what the new normal might be like. I hope that it provides you with at least some of the information that you require.

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me via head@stvincent.herts.sch.uk

I look forward to welcoming all of our children and families back from Thursday 3rd September 2020.

2020-03-27T04:33:00.001-07:00

A Friday Message from Mr White 27/03/2020

Well done everyone - we've all made it to Friday with a new way of working!

Take care of yourselves and your families.

2020-03-11T06:47:00.002-07:00

Advice from PHE for School Settings

The school is following all of the latest advice from Public Health England

PLEASE HELP US PREVENT FURTHER CUTS!

2020-02-09T13:12:00.002-08:00

I am writing to urge as many of you as possible to attend the PSA AGM on Wednesday 12^th February at 7.30 pm. According to our constitution, which must be adhered to in order for us to gain the benefits of a charity, many of the current committee have to step down from their current roles and these positions must be filled by other parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents etc in order for the PSA to continue.

We urge you to attend to help your child's school continue to provide a range of fun, social activities that enhance our community spirit and provide much needed funds. Please consider whether you could offer to help by taking one of the four roles: Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer and Secretary. If these roles are not filed, sadly the PSA would not be able to continue. This would be devastating for our community on both a community level and on a financial level.

You will have heard me talk on many occasions about the impact of reduced funding at a time of ever rising costs over a number of years. This is the bleak reality of school funding currently (despite the promises). As such, the school relies heavily on the PSA in order to fund its day to day business. In fact the school budgets each year to receive an income of about £10,000 and plans for its use each year. This £10,000 contributes towards some of the luxuries (e.g. a Christmas theatre group visiting each year and playtime equipment) but more often contributes towards the more ordinary, yet essential items such as classroom furniture, books, repairs to iPads and computers, general classroom equipment and the provision of updated fiction and non-fiction texts to match the curriculum.

In the past the PSA has funded the large outdoor playground equipment, pupil iPads and the replacement of EYFS equipment. Currently the PSA are funding the renewal of the EYFS & KS1 phonics-based reading stock. The Governors are currently researching the expansion of mobile technologies for pupil use throughout the school and this will require significant additional PSA investment.

As such, without the stalwart efforts of a PSA, the school would need to make cutbacks in the region of about £10,000 per year, each year. This would be devastating and would significantly impact upon the quality of education that we are able to offer.

At the same time the PSA also aims to build community in providing fun opportunities for children and their families. To lose such opportunities would have a significant impact upon well-being in our community and is not something that I care to anticipate.

Please help by considering whether you can give just some of your time to the committee either in a formal role (these can be shared) or as an ‘ordinary’ member by simply turning up to meetings. Details of the available roles and their associated responsibilities can be found below. Please come along on Wed 12^th Feb at 7.30 pm to find out more.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the current committee for their fantastic support of the school and also to everyone who supports the events, providing an essential income as well as building community. I urge everyone to consider what time they can give to continue this rewarding and essential work and I look forward to seeing a packed hall on Wednesday 12^th February 2020

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PSA

COMMITTEE

A committee is a team of volunteers who are elected at the association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) to manage the PSA on behalf of its members. There are two types of committee member; Officer and Ordinary (or Other) Member. Officers have specific roles such as the Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary. Ordinary members play a vital role working alongside and supporting the Officers. All Committee Members have equal voting rights, with the exception of the Chairperson, who has an additional casting vote, should this be needed.

Additional support - In addition to the elected committee, it is valuable to have a list of volunteers/helpers, who are willing to support the work of the committee. It would be acceptable for such volunteers to attend committee meetings, but they would not have a vote; only elected committee members (Ordinary and Officers) can vote. Being a nominated PSA volunteer can be a gentle introduction to the committee and such volunteers may well go on to being a fully elected committee member with full voting rights.

PSA OFFICERS: ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Chair

The Chair should work closely with the school senior leadership team (SLT), Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary to ensure that the PSA is run effectively. The main role of the Chair is to lead the monthly meetings and oversee the running of the annual fundraising events.

Key responsibilities:

· Provide leadership.

· Set the Agenda for Meetings and run the meetings.

· Welcome and involve new Members.

· Signs cheques for the PSA with one other Committee Member (i.e. Treasurer / Secretary)

· Meet with SLT members and the Treasurer to agree PSA financial commitments for the year

Vice Chair

The Vice Chair supports the Chair in providing leadership for the Committee, helps set the Agenda for the meetings and helps manage meetings in line with the Agenda. The Vice Chair deputises for the Chair when necessary and assists in the organisation and operation of the PSA. The Vice Chair will also work closely with the Secretary, promoting and communicating the work of the PSA through publicity.

Key responsibilities:

· Support the Chair in providing leadership.

· Chair any meetings that the Chair is unable to attend.

· Liaise with the Committee and Sub-Committees organising events.

· Welcome and involve other parents into the PSA.

· Work closely with the school office and Secretary to circulate information to parents via email, website or text alerts

· Liaising with the local press to get press coverage of PSA events.

· Publicising PSA events and fundraising initiatives

· Ensuring posters are displayed around the school in good time, liaising with class reps.

Secretary

The Secretary is a key Committee Member as they are responsible for ensuring effective communication links between Committee Members and between the PSA and the School.

The Secretary deals with all the correspondence that the PSA receives and helps the Chair ensure that Committee Meetings run smoothly. Building up a good relationship with the School, the Secretary will help make sure that correspondence, sent to the School, is passed onto the PSA promptly.

The Secretary can arrange to leave PSA notices with the School office for distribution with School mailings / text to parents. The Secretary will make arrangements for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and help the Chair prepare the Annual Report.

Key responsibilities:

· Deal with correspondence.

· Send email to committee to confirm date of next meeting and their attendance.

· Prepare Agendas along with the Chair.

· Take the minutes of meetings, type them up and distribute them to the committee.

· Ensure that enough committee members are present to make the meeting valid (i.e. at least four committee members should be present).

· Write the Annual Report with the Chair.

· Prepare and distribute newsletters and other communications to parents.

· Prepare flyers, posters, tickets, etc. for events

Treasurer

The role of the treasurer is to manage and control the funds the PSA raises. The Treasurer should record all income and expenditure, details of the amounts received and spent, and have the information available for every Committee Meeting plus:

· The balance of funds

· committed expenditure

· Income, expenditure and profit from each event held

The Treasurer role is the only role that cannot be shared by two individuals. The Treasurer should report on the current financial position at each Committee Meeting and this should be recorded in the Minutes. The report should include an update on funds received and spent since the last report. If the Treasurer is unable to attend a Committee Meeting, a written report should be sent to the Chair, at least one or two days before the Meeting. All financial decisions taken should be recorded in the Minutes of the Meeting.

Key responsibilities:

· Maintain the financial records by reconciling PSA bank accounts on a monthly basis to fully account for all incoming/outgoing payments and present income expenditure at meetings.

· Liaise with the bank, advising them of agreed changes to the bank mandate, i.e. those authorised to sign cheques.

· Count and bank all income from PSA events.

· Manage cash floats, ticket sales and incoming monies for all PSA events, this should be managed by two members of the PSA Committee at any time.

· Arrange appropriate licenses for events.

· Raise cheques/BACS payment on request of PSA Chair in relation to requests for funds for approved payments.

· Manage expenses to reimburse PSA members for any items purchased and keep record of receipts (expenses must be approved in advance by Chair/Vice Chair).

· Maintain on-going registration and annual submission of accounts to the Charity Commission and Gift Aid.

· Draw up the annual accounts.

· Safekeeping of Cheque and Paying in books and all PSA account files.

· Maintain an up to date list of authorised signatories to PSA bank accounts.

· Maintain financial delegation declaration (change names when needed).

· Pay Parent Kind membership fees (covers PSA insurance) and any other annual membership/subscription fees

Ordinary Committee Members

Ordinary Committee Members work alongside the Officers, contributing ideas, helping to organise events or running smaller projects. They also have an important role to play alongside the Officers of the PSA in ensuring good communication with the rest of the School, encouraging participation and enthusiasm for the events organised by the PSA.

Class Reps

Class Reps ensure good communication with the parents and teachers of their class. They organise social events for the parents and carers of their class. They may run small projects for the school, organise stalls and helpers for Summer and Christmas Fairs and help out where they can with PSA events. They also liaise with the Class teacher to organise fundraising activities for their Year group. E.g. Bake Sale.

Key responsibilities include:

· Maintain a class list: email distribution group and text message group where possible (this should be renewed each year in line with GDPR rather than carried forward).

· Provide feedback and ideas from class to the PSA Committee.

· Welcome new parents to the School.

· Liaise with class teacher for any specific help required from PSA.

· Arrange social events for their class.

· Organise the Year Group fundraising activity.

· Help out at and recruit volunteers for PSA events.

A message from Marilyn Hawes

2020-01-22T12:08:00.001-08:00

Marilyn Hawes, CEO of Freedom from Abuse and visitor to our school last week, has written a message that she wanted to share with everyone as follows ...

" I wanted to write a reference to say what an awesome day I had in your school last week training the pupils and staff and AMAZING parents. Parents, I can honestly say , as a former deputy head, the support you gave the school and your little ones to keep them safer WILL bring the best outcomes. It can not work any other way. The staff gave such continuing commitment before the day I came in, and since, and the effort and hard work to deliver a day like that requires so much organisation. AND we must NOT forget the Governors who also attended. The children were delightful and so polite and a credit to you all. Keep up the good work . God bless you and all you do - THANK YOU "

Read all about it!

2019-11-25T16:57:00.001-08:00

READING MATTERS!

Developing a real thirst for reading and a love of books is a key priority throughout the school which I know mirrors the priorities of many of our families too. Recently we been reflecting on the development of the reading journey, particularly in relation to the environment for reading. Organised and comfortable spaces to read are so important as is the selection of the right inspiring texts to tempt the reading habit. Over the course of this term, we hope that the children will become more accomplished with recommending texts, authors and genres for each other. Our book areas reflect this. Maybe you'd like to journey with us through these environments. The two films below reflect the journey in each key stage that staff took together when thinking about the environment this term. Enjoy the journey!

In the EYFS and KS1 it looks like this ...

In KS2 it looks like this ...

To check out the 'Recommended Reading Lists' for each class, visit the school website at www.stvincent.herts.sch.uk and navigate your way to your child's class page.

It's a really useful document!

Enjoy!!!

Happy Feast Day!

2019-09-28T04:06:00.001-07:00

It has been another busy week. It seems impossible to think that we are now reaching the final days of September ... this term is quickly flying by!

On Friday we celebrated the Feast Day of our school patron, St Vincent de Paul.

If you would like to find out about who St Vincent de Paul was and what he did, take a look at the short video linked below:

There is much for us to learn from St Vincent de Paul's commitment to those most in need. Today is a good day for us to ask ourselves some key questions. Play the animation below to consider the questions that may help us to be even better at being 'the hands and face of Jesus':

It was great to join together as a school community with Father Nigel in order to celebrate Mass on our Feast Day.

Father Nigel talked to us about the example of St Vincent de Paul and his kindness to those most in need. We can all work to be kinder in our families, in our school and in the other communities that we belong to, following the example of the great Saints.

It is always a pleasure to see St Joseph's full of our school greenery! It is always a tight squeeze but these are great moments of community. 'Where two or three are gathered in my name, I will be there' - that is Jesus' promise to us. It is amazing for all of our prayers to be joined together in celebrating the Mass as one community. The children sang with great joy as always and were, as is customary, beautifully reverent before during and after Mass. I was so very proud of you all!

Thank you especially to Y5 Agnesi who led us through out the Mass in their various ministries. I know that this was an extra special Mass for you all as it was dedicated to the intentions of a family from your class. Thank you for sharing your beautiful gifts of ministry with us.

After the final prayer, wasn't it wonderful to say the Hail Mary together in St Vincent's native French language?

You all did brilliantly and Fr Nigel was very impressed! I have to admit that when the teachers and teaching assistants said the Hail Mary in French at our Friday morning briefing we needed Mrs Sherry's phonetic say it as you see sheet!

I know that our Mini Vinnies enjoyed joining in with our special recessional hymn - you can practise it here:

It was lovely to see everyone leave Mass so happily and so full of spirit, ready to live the Godd News. I particularly enjoyed your signing and singing of 'Father God' as you waited to leave:

And now it just leaves us all to reflect on that really important question:

WHAT MUST BE DONE?

"We are called to be the hands and face of Jesus as we learn, love and grow together"

The promise of the rainbow at the end of our Feast Day as we left school!

Have a great weekend with your families.

Whatever you are doing, remember Father Nigel's message of bringing kindness to life!

Small Actions can make big differences!

2019-09-22T13:07:00.002-07:00

We might not have been on Strike for Climate Change Action on Friday but we certainly did focus on some key environmental themes with the intention of making a big difference and a little bit of 'noise'!

I was so proud to see our young children demonstrating their passion for protecting their future and using their voices to powerfully declare a change that is required across the nation and across the generations. No doubt they came home with some very clear messages for other family members!

For the staff, our day began our our regular staff briefing with a prayer about the ark:

I kept coming back to the powerful words of this prayer throughout the day - it was wonderful to see and hear our children committed to building that 'ark' through their words and actions. Our young people are definitely the heralds of a new rainbow covenant and we all need to take their lead!

We were delighted to have received a letter from Bishop Paul McAleenan encouraging us in our efforts for the day. A copy was left on the prayer table in each class and was opened and shared at the start of the day in every class:

Each class spent some time with the prayer focus in the KS2 hall. Here some classes focused on the story of creation, thinking about themes of stewardship whilst others focused on the Noah narrative, thinking about protection of creatures and saving the planet.

The children were all encouraged to reflect upon 'Laudato Si', Pope Francis' encyclical on care for the environment. We used Cafod's fantastic animation of this in the form of a an animated letter from Pope Francis. You can watch the whole clip here:

Laudato Si animation (CAFOD) via YouTube

Even our youngest children were engaged watching it:

A huge banner stretched the length of the hall, containing the words from Pope Francis' Laudato Si letter. Each class spent some time reflecting on what this meant for them. Whilst our older children wrote their own environmental pledges here, some of our youngest pupils drew items of God's creation that they were thankful for and wanted to protect. As an observer, these were moments of beautiful and intense connection for our children, It was an absolute pleasure to witness!

Before leaving the hall, each child threaded a leaf that they had found in the grounds onto a collection of twigs. Each leaf represented an action that an individual pledged to make in order to improve our stewardship of the environment. One action may seem small, but together our small actions over time can make a huge difference.

The usual curriculum in each class was suspended for the day as each class followed an environmental theme of their choosing, with the aim of inspiring a commitment to small everyday changes that could impact on climate change. Some classes reduced their energy consumption, refraining from making use of the lights and avoiding unnecessary use of the interactive whiteboard. Others using paper, made a commitment to designing their posters on recycled paper only.

Years 2 and 5, accompanied by many parents, started their day with a walk around our beautiful neighbouring Fairlands Lakes. Here they were able to give thanks for the beauty of our local environment and think about what each of them could do to be good stewards of this wonderful space. I suppose that you could call it a peaceful and reflective Climate Change march!

Some classes, inspired by Andrew Goldsworthy, produced natural art using items collected from the environment with some stunning results:

The day was filled with all sorts of activities, from researching and sharing our feelings about climate change ...

... to other activities that aimed to support and encourage the wildlife, ensuring that we are the best stewards of creation that we could possibly be ...

In other classes there was a definite theme of upcycling and recycling:

Watch out for a fantastic mosaic of bottle tops with a key environmental message from Year 1 - they are keeping it under cover until it is ready to be revealed to all!

After school it was great to join with many families to share the message of what we had learnt in one busy day. We hope you enjoyed sharing the important message with us?

It was great to see some of our families visiting our exciting Red Shed Project. Sue was able to explain to visitors how volunteers at the Red Shed spend time working with members of the community who are living with dementia whilst also supporting some key environmental and stewardship aims.

The photos on this blog are just a small amount of the work completed over the course of our special action day. What a busy day - much of what we have started will be continued over the coming weeks as we revisit these important themes.

It was great to hear that a number of families had made a real effort on Friday to reduce plastic packaging in packed lunches. That's brilliant news!!!

Our work on Friday was just the start ... a marking point in the ground to show that we mean business! I know that the School Parliament will be keen to discuss how we can move this project forward. I have also put it on the agenda for Monday's Senior Leadership Team, Wednesday's Staff Meeting, Friday's staff briefing and the next Full Governing Body Meeting. Last week the PSA discussed how they would support our project by thinking about the impact of disposable plastics when buying stock to sell at PSA events. Together we can make a real difference so that the future is brighter. Thank you for all that you have done to support this important initiative.

Leavers 2019

2019-07-23T05:50:00.002-07:00

Farewell, good luck and God bless you, Year 6!

On Friday morning we gathered as a whole school community children, staff and parents to say farewell to our friends in Year 6 as they prepared for the next stage of their exciting journey.

As the hall filled (it was a tight squeeze!), we looked at pictures of our friends throughout their time at our school. I've had to split the film into two clips to share it on this platform ...

Mr Crump and Mrs Glover reminded us of the absolute potential of each and every one of our pupils through reading 'What if ...' by Jackie French Koller ... including ...

What if Einstein never

used his brain

or the Wright brothers

never tried to fly a plane?

What if Beethoven

never tried to play?

What if Motehr Teresa

turned away?

The message to take away from this is that we all have something unique and beautiful inside; our task is to use this, to try, to have a go. If we don't, we ignore the huge potential to make a difference. Do your bit, be brave ... make a difference!

Remember all that you were reminded about your unique footprint and its impact upon the world... how it has grown with you and has left its mark wherever you have journeyed. Your footprint on this school has been amazing, Year 6, and we are so excited about the footprint that you will leave as you journey onwards in life.

We loved year 6 singing their leavers' song to us. You can sing along to it here:

We couldn't resist reminding you all, Year 6, how very special you all are. I won't make you read it all again ... but here are a few highlights:

In the entire world there is nobody, nobody like you. Since the beginning of time there has never been another person like you. Nobody has your smile, your eyes, your hands, you hair. Nobody owns your handwriting, your voice. You are special ...

You are the only one in the whole of creation who has been gifted with your particular abilities. You are rare and in all rarity there is enormous value and because of your great value there is no need to imitate anyone other than Jesus. You are special ...

You are special. Remember, God made you for a special purpose. He has a job for you to do than no one else can do as well as you can. Out of the billions of applicants, only one is qualified. Only one has the unique and right combination of what it takes, and that one is you!

For your parents:

Remember to lay your knots / worries at this time in front of Our Lady Undoer of Knots - if we entrust our knots to her with our prayers she will begin to unpick them for us.

Our Lady, Undoer of Knots

Pray for us

Year 6 were pleased to be presented with a really special year book packed full of photo memories and a USB stick, courtesy of our generous PSA. Next, the staff were humbled to receive a staff room hamper and the year 6 book corners will be even more exciting with the fantastic basket of books for each Year 6 class. Thank you so much for your thoughtful generosity!

And then onto the special awards. Congratulations to the following Year 6 pupils who were presented with awards:

Girls football award:

Monica

Boys football award:

James

Netball award:

Luwhat

Tim Brant Sports Shield:

William & Cerys

Helen Kelly Cup

for courage, consideration & compassion

Gabrielle

Elizabeth Ransom Cup

'strive to become the best you can'

Anais

Other pupils leaving our school at the end of this year gathered with our Year 6 pupils ready for the final traditional blessing. They were also joined by staff leavers: Mrs Pearce, Mrs Silvester, Mrs Baldwin & Mrs McCarthy. We also prayed for Mrs Estall who has already left our community. As each member of the community reached out with a blessing hand towards those leaving, we prayed:

May the Lord bless you and keep you;

May the Lord make His face shine upon you

and be gracious to you;

May the Lord turn His face towards you

and give you peace.

Amen

Year 6 carried out their final act of service to the community as we left assembly. They formed an arch of friendship for the entire community to pass through.

Farewell, good luck and God bless to all of our leavers.

Come and visit us again soon, so that we know how you are getting on.

St Vincent de Paul School will always be your home!

StVdeP staff FLAMINGLING with colleagues at Cambridge Festival of Education

2019-06-16T11:28:00.003-07:00

This is the third year of the Cambridge Festival of Education, but just the second year that I have attended. The aim of this amazing festival is to help teachers to feel valued, appreciated and inspired. It is is a festival full of joy and flamboyance: a festival atmosphere (rather than a stuffy conference) and a purposeful sense of 'radical optimism' underpins all that happens. The festival recognises the challenges that face our schools but aims to rise above this in recognising that the staff in our schools are absolutely dedicated in bring joy to their schools, despite the pressures.

The symbol of the FLAMINGO as an optimistic emblem for us is fantastic; the flamingo is an elegant and unique creature: exquisite, proud and set apart in its beauty, standing out from the crowd. What better symbol for our educators who have joined together to #flamingle with like minded radical optimists?!

In the spirit of 'festival', flamboyance is encouraged and it was great to see colleagues and presenters giving up their Saturday to join together, some even in full flamingo costumes (not me this year!) others in flamingo print shirts, jumpers and dresses. The audience was a sea of pink! And so Mrs Sherry, Mrs White & myself found ourselves among like minded teachers, seeking to celebrate what we do and 'flip the narrative' in order to 'talk up teaching'. We had a fantastic day!

We began hearing from Professor Susan Robertson the newly appointed chair of the Cambridge University Faculty of Education. Professor Robertson was encouraging a move away from a focus on Artificial Intelligence (A.I. as the data led foci) and a move towards a new A.I. in relation to our pupils 'Authentic Intelligence', underpinned by a sense of social justice, which focuses on the unique individual. This is key to our mission at St Vincent de Paul School - yes the academic rigor is important but it doesn't tell the story of the individual, uniquely and beautifully made to be themselves. A refreshing spin indeed!

We were then left enthralled by a presentation from Paul Dix; author of 'When the Adults Change Everything Changes'. This fantastic text is at the centre of our behaviour policy and steps approach and focuses on moving away from a focus on behaving because of the rules, to individuals really understanding how they interact and why. Our three behaviour strands of 'be ready, be respectful, and be safe' come from Paul Dix's writing.IT was great to hear the man himself speak such common sense. He had us in stitches telling his amazing story of moving from controlling behaviours to understanding the motivation for behaviours.

Next up was the amazing Jaz Ampawfarr, who made us reflect on the strories that we all hold and interact with. Jazz's story is an absolute tear-jerker, but one that makes you realise that there are key individuals in your life who make a real difference. She encouraged us all to recognise the everyday heroes in our lives. Jaz has to be one one of the most powerful educator speakers that I have ever come across. Search for her Ted Talk on google to hear her. You might recognise her from The Apprentice or even Blind Date if you are of my era! I am hoping that Jaz will be able to come into school to talk to our staff at some point soon as she has a number of connections to Stevenage.

The day continued with various workshops. I left my first empowered to be a 'flamingo of hope rather than a lemming of despair' and focused on distilling the core messages of humanity, compassion and true deep learning for all and we collaborated to come up with practical solutions to ensure that our school climate is positive rather than draining for staff and pupils. Other workshops included 'Can you teach happiness?', 'Values, Experience & Wisdom: finding the right blend', 'Teaching Life' and a resounding focus on wellbeing and mental health for pupils and for staff.

Following an outdoor picnic lunch in the grounds of the beautiful Homerton College (where I was based for my degree way back in 1991) we gathered togetehr again for more keynotes from afantastic line up of speakers.

Action Jacksom, the UK Ambassador for Happiness, started the aftrernoon by encouraging us all to recognise the success that we each display. He had as all up dancing and singing and allowed us to reflect on ourselves. It was all a bit embarrassing but all in the name of good fun. You can see us all joining in with him here:

We're HAPPY with Action Jackson

As you can see, he doesn't take himself too seriously, but his message is crystal clear!

Amongst other great speakers in the afternoon, we also heard from Professor Guy Claxton. I first heard Professor Guy Claxton speak some 8 years ago and since then his research has underpinned my own philosophy for learning ever since and in particular the need to develop effective characteristics of learning behaviours. Guy aimed to debunk many of the myths about learning that are often promoted on-line and posed some great questions that got us all thinking about the true purpose of learning and how we needed to create opportunities that were fit for a 21st century context.

It was a fantastic day of reflection, discussion, laughter and networking and well worth a Saturday out - thank you to Mrs Sherry and Mrs White for accompanying me. Maybe next year some other staff might join us?

If you want to find out more about some of the themes explored, see the fantastic cartoon summary below which was drawn live by an incredibly talented teacher artist whilst we listened to the speakers.

And so, having refilled the reservoirs of hope, we're ready for all that is ahead! Its great to re-calibrate, rejuvenate and refresh your optimism for what has got to be one of the best jobs in the world! It is a privilege to serve your children in our fantastic community.

We all need to remember to #flamingle together!!

MAY PROCESSION: A BEAUTIFUL & JOYOUS OCCASION

2019-05-23T14:46:00.001-07:00

It has been wonderful today to gather together as a school community, just as our ancestors in bygone years have done, to give thanks to Our Lady, mother of Jesus and mother of all, for her intercessions on our behalf.

Before school, children compared their flowers brought especially to honour Mary.

Year 6 led us in our prayers from the Junior Playground and despite some initial technical issues, there was tangible sense of devotion, prayer and praise as our 400 plus pupils gathered with staff and many parents.

Following a beautifully signed and sung Hail Mary, Year 6 led the whole community on a journey through the school grounds to Mary's garden of Prayers on the top field.

Decades of the Holy Rosary were prayed as we journeyed to Mary's Garden. The whole community gathered on the top field.

The children joined in some traditional Marian hymns whilst the statue of Our Lady was crowned.

"Oh Mary, we crown you with blossoms today, Queen of the angels and Queen of the May"

The traditional hymns were followed by another beautifully signed Hail Mary:

With prayers and hymns sung, the children, staff and parents then each placed a flower in front of the statue of Mary, leaving a beautiful fragrant carpet of intentions.

Loving Mary, Greatest of Women,

Mother of Eternal Glory, Mother of the Golden Light,

Honour of the Sky, Temple of Divinity,

Fountain of the Gardens, Serene as the Moon and Bright as the Sun,

Temple of the Living God, Light of Nazareth,

Beauty of the World, Queen of Life,

Ladder to Heaven, Mother of God.

Pray for us.

Thank you for sharing with our special liturgy this morning. It was simply beautiful to gather together in prayer to be with our Mother, Mary. I always remind the children that Mary's promise is that if we leave our intentions with her in prayer, she will make sure that they are delivered to Jesus. The power of prayer is an amazing thing and today many special intentions were left with Mary.

Thank you to the children for making today's procession such a beautiful and prayerful occasion - as always, your devotion, trust and prayerful ways are inspiring to the adults who joined with you.

As adults, we have much to learn from your faithful witness.

Thank you for sharing it with us.

God bless you, your families and those most dear to you today and always,

Mr White.

Well done, Year 6!

2019-05-16T05:03:00.004-07:00

Well done, Year 6!

You have worked with real diligence, perseverance and determination throughout this week and we have all been very proud of you.

You were well prepared and approached the assessments with great maturity as well as with good humour. Thank you to your teachers and teaching assistants for preparing you so well and to those who made sure that you enjoyed a lovely sociable breakfast this week. Thanks also to your parents for keeping you motivated from day to day.

Now that the tests are out of the way, you will be able to get on with enjoying your last half term at St Vincent de Paul School before you head off to new adventures!

2019-05-08T11:50:00.005-07:00

Welcome to my all new Headteacher's blog on our newly launched website!

I hope to update news about the school here on a regular basis. I hope that you enjoy reading about all that is going on in school.

Please do spend some time finding your way around our new website which has been designed to be responsive on a multitude of mobile devices. Let us know what isn't working for you and also things that you would like to see on the website. Some pages are more developed than others but everything will be refined over time particularly once we have received feedback. The class pages will eventually have their own class blog and links to lots of useful resources and information for you and for the children.

We hope that you enjoyed your long weekend. It has been a busy few days in school since our return.

In assembly this week we practised singing and signing the Hail Mary. See the film below so that you can learn it with your children too:

On Thursday, before school, we will meet to share the Second Joyful Mystery and a decade of the Rosary. Please do join us at 8.40am in the Junior Hall - maybe bring a friend too?

On Bank Holiday Monday evening, we launched our Amazon Wish-lists following requests from parents to be able to support the purchase of resources. I was amazed that by Tuesday we had already received so many generous book donations!

Check out parentmail for details of how to find the list.

Thank you so much!!

Enjoy the new website and remember to let us know what you think!