raphael News

Friday 11th July

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:58:46 GMT

DEAR PARENTS
Another school year over! I can hardly believe how fast the year has gone. May I thank you all for your support during my first year as Head; your kind words and good wishes have been much appreciated. I do hope that you feel the school is moving forward – I am looking ahead to a very promising 2008-2009 academic year

PRIZE GIVING
We held our annual Prize Giving ceremony last Thursday. It was a wonderful evening celebrating the achievements of the pupils over the past year. I was extremely proud of the way in which the pupils behaved and presented themselves, as was our guest speaker Mr Colin Thompson, who was most impressed with our students. Congratulations again to the winners, and to those of you who didn’t win prizes this time, let’s hope your name is in the programme next year.

KS2 & KS3 SATS RESULTS
As you may have seen in the media, there have been problems with ETS who are the external marking service for this years SATS and the results have been delayed until at least next week. As soon as we receive them, I will post them out to pupils in Year 6 and Year 9.

“PARIS”
Our new Parents’ Association held a very successful meeting last week. They will shortly be in touch with news of their latest initiatives, and I would again encourage many of you to become involved in the life of your child’s school.

VISITS
Miss L’Akremi and Mr Lowey headed up a very successful, if tiring trip to Paris last Friday and this Wednesday, many of our Seniors spent a rather wet day at Thorpe Park! These rounded off an excellent year of very varied visits, all offering great extra curricular opportunities for the pupils.

SCHOOL DINNERS
Please find enclosed new prices for school meals. Season tickets offer good value, and I would encourage you to take advantage of them.

AFTER SCHOOL CARE
We are changing the charging method for after school care. Please find enclosed letter for details.

WINTER UNIFORM
Please ensure all pieces of uniform are named. Seniors need plain black coats and Primary pupils must have the school coat, purchased from Havering Schoolwear.
I will only be permitting the pupils to wear school scarves and school woolly hats. Please see Mrs Carter should you wish to purchase these as no other scarves or hats will be allowed.
Gloves should be black.

STAFF
Mr Sintmaartensdyk
We will be saying goodbye to Mr Sintmaartensdyk today as he prepares to return to his native new Zealand later this year. I would like to thank him for all he has done during his time at Raphael; he has been a totally reliable and good humoured colleague. Staff and pupils will miss him, and all our good wishes go with him for the future.
Mr Kevin Walsh
Mr Kevin Walsh has only been with us for one term to teach history on supply, but in that short time has established himself as a firm and popular teacher. He will be moving on to his next supply assignment in September and we wish him all the best.
Miss Johnson
Miss Johnson is getting married in August, and will return as Mrs Pattison. We all wish her a wonderful day!
Mr Jack Luis
Mr Jack Luis will be joining us as Head of Science from September 2008. Mr Luis has many years teaching experience in Science, and I am sure he will be a great addition to the Staff.
Mrs Elizabeth Strickland
Mrs Liz Strickland will be joining us as part-time History teacher as from September 2008. Mrs Strickland has over 20 years teaching experience and has been teaching History at Coopers School for the past 8 years.
I am looking forward to welcoming our new members of staff to the Raphael family and hope they enjoy many happy teaching years here.

PE TEACHING
I am in the process of finding a qualified PE coach to take over Mr Sintmaartensdyk’s teaching in this area. I hope that this will help to raise the profile of PE. I would very much like to establish school teams and that will be a priority initiative for us next year.

AND FINALLY……….
It just remains for me to remind you that Senior pupils return to school on Monday 1st September at 8.40am and primary pupils return on Tuesday 2nd September at 8.40am.
The Office will be open during the first and last weeks of the holiday should you have any queries.
On behalf of the staff, may I wish you and your family a wonderful summer break and we look forward to welcoming you back to Raphael in September.

Senior Day Trip to Paris

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:43:02 GMT

Our senior pupils went to Paris for the day on Friday 4th July, led by Miss L'Akremi & Mr Lowey.

They started their day at an unearthly hour...5.30am! But they needed to leave plenty of time to catch the Eurostar from St Pancras Station.

The weather was warm and sunny and the group enjoyed visits to the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and also a boat trip along the Seine.

Friday 27th June

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:55:08 GMT

DEAR PARENTS
Welcome to the penultimate Friday letter of the school year.

SENIOR CHARITY
The senior department held their annual charity day last Friday and a great time was had by all. They organised several events such as an inflatable gladiators contest, a sponsored football match, a recycled fashion show and “soak the teacher”! Their final donation to Little Havens Children’s Hospice is a magnificent £1200, bringing the total school charitable donations for this year to nearly £4000.
I am so proud of all our pupils who showed great initiative and unselfishness in raising such a fantastic amount of money!

PARIS
Our new Parents’ Association (PARIS) is now up and running and you should be receiving regular updates from them. They will be holding their inaugural meeting on Wednesday July 2nd at 6pm and all parents are welcome. Please ask Mrs Carter should you require contact details. Thanks to Ms Hameed for providing some delicious goodies for the staff and seniors to purchase this week in aid of the Parents’ Association fund.

VISITS
21 Junior pupils set off for a few days visit to Stratford Upon Avon this week and I am sure they will have a great time. The remaining Primary pupils had great fun at Colchester Zoo. Our S10 Business Studies students enjoyed an informative day at the bank of England, whilst S9 visited the National Gallery.
There are still spaces available for our senior school trip to Thorpe Park on Wednesday 9th July. Please contact Mrs Carter for details.
A final reminder for those pupils travelling with Miss L’Akremi to Paris on Friday 4th July. Could you please ensure you have handed in your passport and European Health Card by Monday 30th June. Pupils should meet at Romford Station at 5.30am and Miss L’Akremi will unfortunately not be able to wait for any latecomers.

PRIZE GIVING
Congratulations to all our Prize Winners who have now been informed of their achievements. Please ensure that, should you require tickets, you have returned the form to the office. Tickets will be sent home early next week with your child. The event is held at the United Reformed Church, Western Road, Romford and begins at 7pm, with pupils to be seated by 6.45pm.

SPORTS DAY
Primary and Senior Sports events will be held on Thursday 10th July on the playing field in Globe Road. The Primary event will begin at 9.30am, with the Senior event beginning at 1.45pm. All parents are very welcome.

AFTER SCHOOL
Please note there will be no homework club, or after school club with Pat on Thursday 3rd and Friday 11th July for any pupils.
Please ensure you that you have made suitable arrangements for your child to be collected at the end of school on both days.
Kindly note also, that Pat has now been instructed by the directors to charge for after school care per 30 minute period. Pat is obliged to charge for the full 30 minutes, whether you use 5 or 25 minutes of that 30 minute period! I think you will find that our After School Care charging policy is quite generous compared to other schools, as many charge a much higher rate and will insist on payment for a full hour if you go over into the next charging period.

AND FINALLY……….
We are looking forward to a very busy and productive final fortnight of the school year! I look forward to seeing many of you before the end of term.

Senior Charity Day

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:08:48 GMT

Our senior pupils held their annual charity day on Friday 20th June. This year, the charity chosen was Little Havens Children's Hospice and several events were held throughout the day to help with the fundraising.

The morning kicked off with a 'recycled fashion show' with pupils modelling fashions made entirely from recycled materials. The recycled 'Prince & Princess' definitely had the 'wow' factor!

Following a sponsored dance, performed by Mr Rupan, backed by Mr Sintmaartensdyk, the day continued with a sponsored football match in the park. Some of the girls found other things to amuse themselves with!

The afternoon was filled with fun activities such as gladiator jousting, a darts competition, making the teachers wet in the stocks (a very popular event!), chocolate fountain, coke fountain and so the list goes on.

A massive £500 was raised on the day and that will be added to our running total, which will see the fund increase to over £1200. An exact amount will be announced next week.

A huge thank you to all the seniors, staff and parents who helped to make the day such a huge success. Well done to our pupils for their initiative, enthusiasm and generosity - you are a wonderful credit to our school and we are very proud of you all!

Visits

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:30:03 GMT

Our Year 1 & 2 children have had a very busy couple of weeks with their educational visits.

They visited the Wallace Collection where they saw the famous painting of the Laughing Cavalier and some of the pupils dressed up as characters from the pictures they saw! They then went to the Kensington memorial Garden to let off steam and were blessed with a lovely sunny day.

They also enjoyed a visit to Zizzi's restaurant in Hornchurch where they had a pizza-making demonstration, followed by a chance to then make (and eat!) their own pizzas. The staff at the restaurant were very welcoming, and the children certainly had fun.

Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that this visit came about after a visit by our Year 11 pupils. Year 11 voted to go to Zizzi's for their traditional school leavers meal and their behaviour and manner so impressed the management at the restaurant, that we were invited to bring some of our younger pupils along. So well done Year 11!

Friday 13th June

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:28:41 GMT

DEAR PARENTS
Where has the year gone? Just four weeks until the summer break, with many events to look forward to.

EXAMINATIONS
Our final exam of the year takes place on Tuesday, just leaving the Art moderation visit on 25th June. The pupils have been sensible and have conducted themselves extremely well during the long exam period.

VISITS
The Junior children had a wonderful day at the Globe Theatre in London. As well as visiting this fascinating theatre, they enjoyed a rehearsal workshop, led by a professional actor, on scenes from “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”. The visit supported their English topic work in William Shakespeare, and coupled with the forthcoming trip to Stratford-upon-Avon they will soon be true experts on the Bard!
The Infant children visited the Wallace Collection and the Kensington Memorial Garden. There are some delightful pictures on the website showing some of Year One and Two dressed as The Laughing Cavalier! They thoroughly enjoyed their visit to the garden, and were blessed with a lovely sunny day.
Our younger pupils also enjoyed a visit to Zizzi’s restaurant in Hornchurch where they had a culinary demonstration and then had a chance to make their own pizzas. They then enjoyed the fruits of their labours for lunch! The staff at the restaurant were very welcoming, and the children certainly had a fun, yet educational morning.
There are further educational trips over the next few weeks to the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery, Stratford -upon-Avon, Colchester Zoo, Bank of England, Paris and Thorpe Park.
Visits provide such great opportunities for our pupils, both educational and recreational and thanks again to the staff who make these trips such a valuable part of the curriculum.

PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION
You should have all received a newsletter from our new Parents’ Association outlining their ideas and aims for fund raising and social activities. They will soon be holding their inaugural meeting, to which all parents are warmly invited to attend. Should you need any further information about the Parents’ Association, please call the office and Mrs. Carter will put you in touch with the P.A. An active P.A. does so much to enhance community spirit in a school – the more parents involved, the better!

PREMISES
There have been a number of improvements made to the premises over this year, with further projects in the pipeline.
The staff room was refurbished at the beginning of the year, new curtains were fitted in the hall and the music room was re-fitted and decorated.
The Infant lobby was re-decorated and is now an Infant work space, and blinds have been fitted in P1/2.
A new changing space for Senior boys has been created, and the Prefects' room is ready for the Prefects to decorate!
Corridors have been painted, new signage has been erected and the courtyard has been transformed.
Over the holidays, further classrooms will be decorated, new flooring is being laid to corridors and Primary classrooms, the Junior Boys toilets are being refurbished and the Laboratory is to be re-fitted.
An enormous amount of improvements in one year, reflecting both the success of our school and the commitment of the Directors to ensure a continuous programme of improvements.

HEALTH SERVICE
The school nurses are visiting J5/6 girls on Monday 16th June for their “growing up” talk. They are also offering occasional drop-in services which parents can take advantage of by asking for any advice on health issues concerning their children. I will keep you informed as to when the next drop-in service will be held.

STAFF
Mr Bath left us at the end of last half term and in his place we welcome Mr. Kevin Walsh who is teaching History for the remainder of this half term.
As some of you know, Mr Sintmaartensdyk has decided to return to his native New Zealand later this year, and will sadly therefore be leaving us either in July or October.
We are currently seeking suitable replacement teachers and I will of course keep you updated as soon as new members of staff are in place.

NEW PUPILS’ DAY
We held our New Pupils’ Day on Wednesday and welcomed 38 new pupils to our school. We have a full S7 class of 20 in September, and 14 new pupils in Reception. The new children all settled in quickly and have already made new friends with their classmates. Special thanks to Mrs. Gilbert for providing and hosting refreshments for the parents.

OFFICE DIVIDERS
If anyone knows of a business which may be refurbishing offices and is disposing of large office space dividers, please let Mrs. Carter know as we would like to acquire some!

CHARITY DAY
The Senior pupils are holding their Charity Day on Friday 20th June. They have already raised £720, and would love to double that figure next week. Please support their initiatives and ensure that your child has some spending money next Friday! It will be a non-uniform day at a cost of £1. All proceeds go to Little Havens Childrens’ Hospice.
One of our parents, Ms. Hameed, has very kindly offered to sponsor the hire of an inflatable gladiator game for the afternoon at a cost of £80, many thanks.

PRIZE GIVING – THURSDAY 3RD JULY AT 7.00PM
Prize winners will be notified next week, and it is compulsory for them to attend. A letter outlining arrangements and the issue of tickets will be sent home shortly.

SPORTS DAY – THURSDAY 10TH JULY
To be held on the field, Primary pupils in the morning and Senior pupils in the afternoon. Full details will be sent home shortly.

AND FINALLY ……….
A very busy newsletter reflecting the life of a very busy school!
Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

The Good, The Bad & The Chilli

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:36:23 GMT

Photos from the Junior Play performed May 2008.

'A long time ago when the west was wild and the point of a gun was the only law for many frontier towns, the people of Dodge City were proud of their peace & prosperity. With the help of Sheriff Omar their Chilli Sauce became famous throughout the World. The future was bright until one day their success reached the ears of the fearsome, ferocious, frightening, fast shooting, flamenco dancing, figure skating bandit El Meenio........'

Friday 23rd May

Fri, 23 May 2008 15:37:41 GMT

DEAR PARENTS
It has been a busy half term with KS1, KS2 and KS3 public exams now complete. GCSE’s are well underway, and I am sure S11 will welcome the half term break in order to secure their last pieces of revision. Next half term is, as always at this time of year, extremely busy but enjoyable as we look forward to whole school events such as Prize Giving and Sports Day.

VISITS
The Juniors had a wonderful time at the Tower of London – the weather was great and they had a very busy day exploring the Tower and admiring the crown jewels. The GCSE Drama students enjoyed a fantastic performance of “The Birthday Party” starring Sheila Hancock – seeing live theatre is an essential part of their studies.
There are some visits to look forward to next half term – The Globe Theatre, The Wallace Collection, Zizzis, National Portrait Gallery, Colchester Zoo, Business Studies, Paris and the Juniors’ residential trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. Thank you to all the staff who organise such a wide and varied programme of visits to supplement the pupils’ learning.

CAREERS
Adrian Cutter, careers advisor, has taken advice sessions with S8 and S9 and will be seeing S10 next half term. Should you have any queries regarding careers or further education for your child, please let me know and I can put you in touch with Adrian, who will be happy to help.

PSE
Glen Podd, from Romford Evangelical Church, arranged for a group of German students to run PSE sessions on peer pressure for S7, S8 and S9. The pupils really enjoyed these sessions and it is valuable to be able to forge a positive link to our local church and community.

JUNIOR PRODUCTION
The Junior children had their production of “The Good, The Bad and The Chilli” this week. I must say I was very impressed with their accurate American accents and it is always so wonderful to see all our younger pupils take part in drama with such confidence, enjoyment and conviction. Thank you to Mr. Walsh who wrote and directed the play, and to all the staff who helped make it such a success.

ISA ATHLETICS
Kersten Rothnie, Mani Gabbidon, Maisie Robinson, Andy Hunt and Jamil Sarki all took part in the ISA athletics in Bedford this week. Mani came 3rd and Jamil 4th in the boys’ 100 metres, and Maisie came 5th in the girls’ 100 metres. Thank you to Mr. Sintmaartensdyk for his supervision, and a special thank you to Mrs. Gilbert and Mrs. Ahmet who kindly provided the transport for the day.

PE KIT
I have been monitoring uniform and PE kit closely this term. There are still several pupils wearing incorrect items of kit for PE. Please ensure that over half term, your child has the requisite items for games. Please note: all pieces of uniform must be named. A uniform list is available from the office, or can be found on our website.

CHARITY DAY
Mr. Sintmaartensdyk is organising the Senior Charity Day to be held on Friday 20th June. The pupils have already got some great ideas underway and we would appreciate it if you could support their initiatives. A group of S10 girls have organised the hire of a “Gladiator Tournament” inflatable game, at a cost of £80 hire. If there are any parents or families would be willing to help towards the cost of this hire, we would be really grateful! All proceeds from the day are going to Little Havens Childrens’ Hospice, so the less we have to pay in running costs for the day, the more we can donate to this very worthy cause. If you are willing to donate towards the hire, or towards the day in general, please contact the School Office. Many thanks.

INTERHOUSE MATCHES
The following interhouse matches took place this and the results are as follows:

Boys Cricket - Years 3-6       Mauney won 24-23
                         Years7-8       Mauney won 105-91
                         Years 9-10    Wykeham won 47-23
Girls Tennis -    Years 3-6      Mauney won 6-4
                         Years 7-8      Mauney won 5-2
                         Years 9-10    Wykeham won 4-2

MR. MALICKA
I have to inform you that Mr. Malicka has recently decided to step down from the Board of Directors. I would like to express my thanks for all his help and support in making my transition to Headteacher as painless as possible!

DIARY
Monday 2nd June
School exams begin. Revision over the holiday, please.
Tuesday 3rd June
Junior visit to The Globe Theatre
Wednesday 4th June
Infant visit to the Wallace Collection
Friday 6th June
Uniform outfitters to measure and order black blazers for S10
School Nurses available from 3.00-3.30 as a drop-in service should you have any health queries regarding your child
Infant visit to Zizzi’s
Weds 11th June
New Pupils Day

REMINDERS
Prize Giving on Thursday 3rd July at 7.00pm at the United Reformed Church in Romford
Sports Day on Thursday 10th July – Primary am and Seniors pm
End of Term – 11th July

AND FINALLY ……….
On behalf of all the staff, may I wish you and your families a very happy half-term break. School re-starts on Monday 2nd June at 8.40am.

Foulis Ward

Tue, 13 May 2008 13:11:06 GMT

We have received a lovely letter from Stephen Barton, the Senior Nurse from Foulis Ward at the Royal Brompton Hospital.

Stephen wrote to thank our Primary Department for the generous donation of £2714.00, which has enabled them to buy laptop computers for the patients' use during their lenghty stays on the ward. Many patients are young people trying to keep up with their day-to-day schooling and so laptops are invaluable to them.

Stephen also took the opportunity to comment on our pupils behaviour during their visit. "They were a credit to your school, all were on their best behaviour, but they also showed a genuine interest in all aspects of the care patients on the ward were receiving"

Well done to all pupils who represented our school!

The Tower of London

Thu, 08 May 2008 09:12:06 GMT

Our Junior 5 & 6 class visited the Tower of London on a gloriously sunny day, accompanied by Mr Walsh and Mrs Shayle.

The Tower was built over the ruins of the Roman wall and used by Henry VIII to execute wives and traitors.

The children were given a tour by 'Sir Thomas Seymour'. They had a great time in his company and fortunately no-one lost their head!

The crown jewels were spectacular and the hands on display in the White Tower was great fun. Sadly there were no ghosts around in the Bloody Tower, but ice-creams & lollies on the way home made up for that!