Pupils celebrate new addition to the school
Year 6 pupils at St Benedict's Catholic Primary school in Atherstone are celebrating the completion of their new classroom in a new block exclusively for the school's oldest pupils.
Following on from being re-confirmed by OFSTED as a "Good" school and achieving excellent SATs results, the school has looked to increase the number of pupils it can accept each year. But there simply wasn't enough space to do this and provide much needed before and after school care as well.
In November 2013 Warwickshire County Council endorsed the school's plans for the future and allocated £165,000 to fund the new facility. Only one other school in Warwickshire was awarded funding at the time.
School head teacher Mrs Susan Shannon said; "This new classroom in its own block gives our Year 6 pupils a little independence and a taster of life at secondary school. We have decorated to look more 'grown up' and the children have new state of the art white board, air conditioning and wifi."
She continued: "I am delighted that Warwickshire County Council has considered our school to be a priority for spending at a time when funding is tight and take this as a great vote of confidence in our ability to provide a fantastic education for children from Atherstone and the surrounding villages."
To mark the official opening of the Year 6 block the building was blessed by Fr Michael Miners at a ceremony attended by pupils, parents and a number of invited guests from, local schools, the Local Authority, City Sites who built the room and the Diocese.
For further information please contact:
Mrs Susan Shannon, Head Teacher – 01827 712320
Living wage: Bristol school St Bede's Catholic College leads the way with fair pay commitment
By The Bristol Post | Posted: February 05, 2014
IT'S been a hot topic in political debates around the country for years, but to date there appears to have been more talk than action on the 'living wage' in Bristol. But one city school is leading the way by introducing it – the first in Bristol to do so.
Since the start of the year, St Bede's Catholic College in Lawrence Weston has been paying all its employees a minimum of £7.65 per hour, a rate deemed to be high enough to cover the costs of living in Bristol.
As a result, 20 workers at the secondary school and sixth form have seen a pay increase.
It was governors at the school who decided to bring in the salary rise, despite the likely consequence of the move being a reduction in the college's budget.
The school's principal, Catherine Hughes, said: "There was generally a welcome to this change when employees were told. Although governors recognise this will have a consequent impact on the budget, that is not justification for paying people less than a fair amount.
"We feel that it was important to become a living wage employer as it is an expression of our solidarity with those individuals and organisations striving to achieve fair pay for all."
The living wage is an hourly wage rate calculated to take into consideration the costs of housing, transport, food and basic essentials for the worker and their family.
In November 2012, the Catholic Bishops' Conference passed a resolution that fully endorses the principle of the living wage and encourages Catholic organisations and charities in England and Wales to work towards its implementation.
Their resolution recognised that fair wages were essential to the "common good" of society.
The term living wage came to prominence in Bristol when it became one of the election pledges of Labour mayoral hopeful Marvin Rees, who lost out to George Ferguson in the race to become the city's first elected mayor in 2012.
He promised to introduce a living wage in Bristol if he was elected to the figurehead post. He pledged to bring in a rate of not less than £7.20 an hour for all council employees and hoped it would be extended across all firms and organisations throughout the city.
Mr Rees said he would have started the living wage from day one of taking office, which would have made Bristol the first council in the country to implement such a policy.
He said evidence had shown that a living wage made business more ethical and also brought down absenteeism, built a more stable and less transient workforce and improved the quality of work that people carried out.
Eventually, all the candidates bar one pledged their to support for the living wage for Bristol.
The living wage was originally a figure determined by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University as a sum people can reasonably live on.
Saint Paul’s Pupils Join Youth Parliament
Staff and pupils from Saint Paul's Catholic High School in Wythenshawe were delighted to receive the news that their Head Boy, George McIlroy, and Head Girl, Mary Jayne Chadwick, have been elected for the Manchester Youth Parliament.
The Manchester Youth Parliament, part of the UK Youth Parliament, which is run by young people, provides opportunities for 11-18 year-olds to use their voice in creative ways to bring about social change.
Now that they have been elected, George and Mary Jayne will be expected to find out the concerns and needs of other young people in their constituency, and represent these views to decision makers on a local, regional and national level.
The Youth Council have been given their own office inside Manchester Town Hall to reflect how serious the Council is about working with young people and listening to their voice.
Ms Michelle Davies, School Parliament Link teacher, explained: "This is a fantastic opportunity for George and Mary Jayne; during their term of office they will have the opportunity to get involved in a variety of events projects and campaigns. They will be able to get to know their local MP and provide feedback for meetings at the House of Commons."
"Whilst working Members of the Youth Parliament, the pupils will be able to develop their communication, debating, negotiating and public speaking skills. They will also have the chance to gain greater knowledge of politics and current affairs and enhance their ability to look at an issue from someone else's perspective, "commented Mrs Fiona Minshall, Head Teacher at Saint Paul's.
For more information please contact:
Jane McAuliffe-Hall
Publicity and Marketing Manager
St Paul's Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy and Engineering College
Tel: 0161 493 2859
E mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Students Running to Nationals
Press Release- February 2014
Two pupils from Austin Friars St Monica's School are ranked in the top four in the North of England after excelling at the Northern Inter Counties Cross Country.
Camilla McKnespiey (aged 13) and Esme Davies (aged 12) helped Cumbria to win the Northern Inter Counties Cross Country event recently in Durham. In the year 8/9 girls race, Camilla finished 1st and Esme finished 4th out of a field of 70 girls from Durham, Cleveland, North Yorkshire and Cumbria. Both girls will now represent Cumbria at the English Schools Cross Country Championships in March where they will be racing for their England vests.
Also this year, Camilla and Esme both performed exceptionally well at the English Schools Fell Running Championship at Queen Katherine School, Kendal. In the year 8/9 girl's race of 140 competitors, Camilla and Esme ran brilliantly, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The School would like to wish Camilla and Esme all the success at the English Schools Cross Country Championships in March.
For further information please contact:
Andrew Hullock
Marketing Administrator
Tel: 01228 550 719 email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.