St Paul’s CATHOLIC SCHOOL
HEADTEACHER’S WELCOME TO ST PAUL’S CATHOLIC SCHOOL Welcome to St Paul’s Catholic School. Our school is a Catholic family community whose focus is on supporting the development of young people in terms of their confidence, their learning, their moral and social duty, and their responsibilities as citizens of the 21st Century world we live in. The young people we welcome into our family receive excellent care, support and guidance on their individual journeys; they are also aware of the high expectations we have of them. Whether a young person is seeking a place at a Russell group university, a high quality apprenticeship or vocational course, or a place at a prestigious Performing Arts college, we have
the experience and the track record to get them there. Our school is a special place. With Christ at heart of everything we do, the St Paul’s experience is far more than “going to school”; it is the development of an academic, spiritual, cultural, social and moral core that shapes the entire life of each one of our young people. It is education – in its truest sense. In welcoming you to St Paul’s, I would encourage you to make an appointment to come and see the school during a working day. Seeing our school in this way will give you the fullest picture of what our family is all about.
OUR SCHOOL At St Paul’s, we believe that education is a dynamic, complex, inspiring, joyful and incredibly important journey. We seek to develop ‘the mind’; ensuring that our young people build a broad body of knowledge, not through simply learning lists of facts, but by understanding the interconnected world we live in. This is facilitated by excellent teachers who are experts in their fields.
SCHOOL PRAYER This is what the Lord asks of you: To act justly; To love tenderly; To walk humbly with your God.
We seek to develop ‘the hands’ by nurturing the creative talents in all of our students; ensuring that our young people develop their skills and confidence as designers, sportsmen and sportswomen, performers and artists. This is facilitated by engaging and inspiring experiences both within and beyond the curriculum. We seek to develop ‘the heart’; ensuring that our young people develop an
awareness of the beauty and inspiration of the world around us and, critically, of how each individual can influence the world for the better. This is facilitated through the school’s excellent Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural provision. We seek to develop ‘the spirit’; ensuring that young people are supported on their faith journey, encouraging questioning, discussion and deeper understanding. This is facilitated through the liturgical life of the school, the RE curriculum and enrichment activities. In all these areas, our commitment to every young person here is to provide excellent teaching, outstanding advice, guidance and support and, above all, constant care for their health, happiness and well being.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE MIND The curriculum at St Paul’s has been developed to cater for the needs of all of our young people. Throughout Key Stages 3 and 4, there are pathways for all. Governors and school leaders are committed to a curriculum which meets the needs, abilities and aspirations of all and allows all to make good progress. All students follow a core curriculum of RE, English, Maths and Science throughout Years 7-11 and we strive to ensure that all complete Year 11 with good levels of progress achieved in these areas. Our approach is to ensure that our young people develop their knowledge alongside the transferable skills that are crucial in making them highly employable in the future. It is this approach that has enabled so many of our students to secure places at top universities, studying courses such as medicine, law, astrophysics and engineering.
Year 7 is a critical year of transition in which we both support students in making the step up from primary school, and engage and excite them with a taste of a much broader curriculum than they have known previously. During this year, they enjoy lessons in Modern Foreign Languages, Humanities, all forms of Performing Arts and Art & Design as well as, of course, the core curriculum. This programme continues throughout Year 8. GCSE courses are started, in most subjects, during Year 9. This enables the students to select three subjects to study – and to specialise in – over the next three years. For those students who make excellent progress, there may be the opportunity to study a fourth.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE HAND In this early part of the 21st Century, the need for certain characteristics and skills is a critical one socially, economically and morally. At St Paul’s, we strive to ensure that our graduates are confident, self-reflective, determined, responsible and, above all, resilient; keeping ‘Growth Mindset’ at the heart of our philosophy on teaching and learning enables us to do this. In addition, we believe in the entitlement of every young person to a certain level of skills. At the end of their time at St Paul’s, every young person will be able to – • Communicate in more than one language • Understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle, how to stay fit and make appropriate choices in their diet • Express themselves creatively • Understand different aspects of personal finance and how to budget successfully • Problem solve • Create & respond to a design brief • Use ICT competently, safely and appropriately The Performing Arts have long been areas of strength at St Paul’s and there are many
different ways in which our young people can participate including the annual school musical, the school’s contribution to the Menphys concert each year, the annual Performing Arts European trip or a range of different after school clubs. Similarly, the school has an excellent track record in terms of inter-school sports competitions. Recent years have seen local, county and regional successes in basketball, sports hall athletics, handball, trampolining, athletics, table tennis, netball and football. In addition, our state-of-the-art Art and Design facilities create professional opportunities for our young people to develop their creative expression, and to engage in the design process. We believe that these skills are not only of great importance in themselves, but that by mastering them, our young people achieve a high degree of confidence, independence and self-reliance.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE HEART We believe that the inspiration, beauty and joy of learning should be a driving force in every child’s experience of school. A crucial part of our role is to help our young people realise both their place in the wider world, and how they can influence it for the better. Through the Humanities, Modern Languages and Science courses we offer, we emphasise these points in many different ways. Extra-curricular activities focus on environmental awareness and responsibility, and our on-site allotment and garden provide excellent facilities for seeing this in action. Transition is a very successful process at St Paul’s, with student and parent satisfaction surveys close to 100% in each of the last five years. This is due, not just to the diligence of the staff here and at the feeder primary schools, but also due to the commitment, care and warmth of welcome offered by our older students – not least our Year 10 mentor team. This is one of a number of leadership opportunities offered to students at St Paul’s, also including the Parish
Ambassador scheme, Student Council, Sports Leaders, Prefects and Head Boy and Girl. Finally, we see the development of our young people’s social and moral understanding as being of great importance also. For students at St Paul’s, ‘charity’ means far more than offering a pound for a collection. It is a recognition of ‘caritas’, the love of our fellow person which involves empathy, understanding and humility. Our ‘Team Ghana’ project runs every two years and sees the entire school community reach out in prayer, love and support to our brothers and sisters in West Africa. Through education and fundraising, we have been able to support a number of key projects of sanitation, education and community needs since 2008, raising over £200,000. For those Sixth Form students who are able to represent the school in Ghana, the experience is genuinely life-changing.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPIRIT St Paul’s is a Catholic school for children of all faiths and none. It is a place of enquiry, discussion and discovery in which we support our young people on their faith journeys – from wherever they are starting. The ethos of our school is proudly Catholic, and during their time here, students will experience a rich liturgical life involving class masses, year group and whole-school assemblies, Advent and Lent services, feast day celebrations, the opportunity for confession and daily form prayer. Through these different activities, each person is equipped, entitled and encouraged to explore their relationship with themselves, with others and with God. In this way, we recognise the point made by Pope Francis when addressing school
students in Albania in 2013 – “The life of faith is a journey”. Students receive RE lessons as part of their core curriculum in all year groups at St Paul’s. In years 7 and 8 this is a broad introduction planned and delivered in line with the requirements of the Curriculum Directory of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales. The GCSE focuses on Catholic teaching, moral issues and Judaism as a world faith. In addition to the academic aspects of the RE curriculum, there are many activities built in to enable our young people to learn from religion as well as about religion.
PASTORAL CARE, ADVICE & GUIDANCE The highest priority we have at St Paul’s is ensuring that our young people are happy, safe and well. We believe that it is only from this position that they can move forward to achieve the very best they can whilst at school, and in their lives ahead. The pastoral care children receive at St Paul’s is excellent. Stemming from our school prayer, we have a system involving Form Tutors, Progress Leaders and Senior Leaders supported by our Student Support Team and the Chaplaincy, all focused on the welfare of our young people. At times, on the journey through adolescence, some young people need an extra layer of support. We are proud of our strong relationship with Faith in Families
who provide expert counseling and support when it is required. Here at St Paul’s, we have a superb track record when it comes to careers information, advice and guidance. Within this, we offer Key Stage 3 university visits, the highly innovative Year 10 ‘World of Work’ experience, Sixth Form taster days and Higher Education roadshows. It is this that results in every Year 11 student continuing in education, employment or training, and all the students who apply for university securing places – every year.
“I feel inspired by the overwhelming support I have received from all of my teachers.” YEAR 11 STUDENT
STUDENT QUOTES “Lessons are amazing, teachers are helpful, library lessons are really good and PE is fun and makes me more confident and happy.”
“I have been through a lot and the teachers have been there for me by checking everyday and putting a smile on my face.”
YEAR 7 STUDENT
YEAR 10 STUDENT
“I was the only person who came to St Paul’s from my primary school, but everyone made me feel really good – I love it here!”
“There are many after school clubs from tennis and cricket to Spanish and maths… and many opportunities to explore the real world with trips to France and Spain.”
YEAR 7 STUDENT
YEAR 10 STUDENT
“I love how diverse our school community is, and I like how the school offers so many different opportunities.” YEAR 8 STUDENT
“The teachers are supportive, caring and optimistic. The facilities here are great and are a benefit to our education. They really support our learning. School trips are a hands on experience to boost our understanding and learning.” YEAR 9 STUDENT
“I love the kindness of teachers, the technology we have, the friendly atmosphere and the science experiments we do – such as dissecting a heart!” YEAR 10 STUDENT
“We have had really good advice to help us make decisions about the future. This is important because it can be very stressful at times, but the teachers and staff here are very helpful and caring.” YEAR 11 STUDENT
“The teachers are fantastic – they make you resilient. The school atmosphere is amazing.” YEAR 8 STUDENT
St Paul’s CATHOLIC SCHOOL
St Paul’s CATHOLIC SCHOOL Spencefield Lane, Evington, Leicester LE5 6HN T 0116 241 4057 E office@st-pauls.leicester.sch.uk www.st-pauls.leicester.sch.uk
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