St John Plessington Catholic College
Encyclopedia
St John Plessington Catholic College (SJP) is a school in Bebington
, Wirral
, England. In 2005 the school appointed a new Headteacher, Thomas Quinn and a new Deputy Headteacher, Ian Walker in January 2006. The school so far has a very positive and unique way of education. The school was renamed from Plessington to Saint John Plessington Catholic College and a number of new policies have been introduced, such as a new uniform and a different school day timetable. The school was awarded 'Technology College
' status in 1998.
The school has close relations with the nearby primary schools, one in very close proximity(across the road) to SJP, St. John's Junior School. They are often referred to as sister schools. The pupils of St. John's make frequent visits to SJP for mass and plays and often over 70% of the pupils at St. John's will transfer to SJP for Year 7, the first year of secondary school
. The primary school and SJP make good use of The Oval
a sports facility between the two school, often using its facilities to host events such as 'sports days' and just regular use for physical education
. The school is credited with the M&S savers award of 2007/08. The school was also given the lesser award of the 'Sportsmark Gold', awarded by Sport England
.
St John Plessington Catholic College (SJP) has got tes best school of the year award in year 2010
, one the 40th Catholic martyr
s of England and Wales. St. Plessington was born in 1637 in Lancashire
, and ordained a Priest in Segovia
on 25 March 1662. A year later St. Plessington returned to England where he ministered to covert Catholics in the areas of Holywell and Cheshire. St. Plessington was arrested during the Popish Plot
scare on the charge of being a Catholic Priest and then imprisoned for two months. He was then hung, drawn and quartered on 19 July 1679. In celebration of their patron saint
the school holds an annual St John Plessington day on 19 July where all students and teachers are take part in a vast array of spiritual and fun activities.
Rev Nicholas Kern is the foundation governor as well as the schools priest.
In 2010, the school won the prestigious TES "Secondary School of the Year" award.
held by the School Chaplin. On 'holy day
s' Masses are held for the whole school by a local priest
.
, the school has gained six ICT rooms and a main hall/atrium. The school has a six room dedicated SEN
centre off the dining hall staffed with 10+ teaching assistants for pupils with mental or learning disabilities. In the old building the school has three fully equipped Art rooms with paint and ceramic facilities. The SEN
centre has access to lifts and disabled toilets throughout the building. A drama studio is situated next to the Dinner Hall. The school is a member of the SAMLearning online revision service, every pupil has an account and it is used to help students revise and teachers also have the ability to set online homework activities.
on an almost daily basis and now only on Fridays improving the student's diet. For example the chocolate in cookies has been replaced with raisins. The school was awarded 'Healthy School Award' in February 2007. A larger variety of sandwiches has been introduced. The school's lunches are managed by Aramark
. In an effort to prevent bullying and stealing between pupils, cash-cards (referred to as 'dinner-cards' on-site) were introduced, with both Aramark and SJP branding, which were later replaced by a fingerprint system.
In 2003, the school took over twelve newly built classrooms which house the RE and English departments and in 2004 benefited from a £5m building program which gave the school twelve additional classrooms, housing the Maths and Modern Foreign Languages departments, two new DT workshops, a new library, a new main hall, a new atrium, reception and administrative area and a new sixth form common room. The dining room has also been enlarged and refurbished and a new area has been designated for Special Educational Needs.
Alpha Half Year:
Beta Half Year:
House System:
As well as the year group system, there is also a house system. Every student in the school is placed into one of six houses which are named after saints or prominent Catholic figures. These houses are:
The school also enables and encourages students to report incidents of bullying, theft, crime or any unwanted behaviour in confidence to their school 24 hours a day via the TextSomeone system the school has introduced, along with the CallParents and Truancy Call systems, introduced to free up staff time usually consumed with administrative tasks.
Bebington
Bebington is a small town and electoral ward within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. It lies south of Liverpool and west southwest of Manchester, along the River Mersey on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula...
, Wirral
Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 311,200, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebington, Heswall, Hoylake and West Kirby. The city of...
, England. In 2005 the school appointed a new Headteacher, Thomas Quinn and a new Deputy Headteacher, Ian Walker in January 2006. The school so far has a very positive and unique way of education. The school was renamed from Plessington to Saint John Plessington Catholic College and a number of new policies have been introduced, such as a new uniform and a different school day timetable. The school was awarded 'Technology College
Technology College
Technology College is a term used in the United Kingdom for a secondary specialist school that focuses on design and technology, mathematics and science. These were the first type of specialist schools, beginning in 1994. In 2008 there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also...
' status in 1998.
The school has close relations with the nearby primary schools, one in very close proximity(across the road) to SJP, St. John's Junior School. They are often referred to as sister schools. The pupils of St. John's make frequent visits to SJP for mass and plays and often over 70% of the pupils at St. John's will transfer to SJP for Year 7, the first year of secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
. The primary school and SJP make good use of The Oval
The Oval (Wirral)
The Oval is a Municipal athletics stadium in Bebington, Merseyside.The venue has played host to Tranmere Rovers F.C...
a sports facility between the two school, often using its facilities to host events such as 'sports days' and just regular use for physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
. The school is credited with the M&S savers award of 2007/08. The school was also given the lesser award of the 'Sportsmark Gold', awarded by Sport England
Sport England
Sport England is the brand name for the English Sports Council and is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
.
St John Plessington Catholic College (SJP) has got tes best school of the year award in year 2010
Patron Saint
The house is named after St. John PlessingtonJohn Plessington
St John Plessington , also known as John Plesington, William Scarisbrick and William Pleasington, is one of the Roman Catholic Forty Martyrs of England and Wales....
, one the 40th Catholic martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s of England and Wales. St. Plessington was born in 1637 in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, and ordained a Priest in Segovia
Segovia
Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...
on 25 March 1662. A year later St. Plessington returned to England where he ministered to covert Catholics in the areas of Holywell and Cheshire. St. Plessington was arrested during the Popish Plot
Popish Plot
The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy concocted by Titus Oates that gripped England, Wales and Scotland in Anti-Catholic hysteria between 1678 and 1681. Oates alleged that there existed an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II, accusations that led to the execution of at...
scare on the charge of being a Catholic Priest and then imprisoned for two months. He was then hung, drawn and quartered on 19 July 1679. In celebration of their patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
the school holds an annual St John Plessington day on 19 July where all students and teachers are take part in a vast array of spiritual and fun activities.
Rev Nicholas Kern is the foundation governor as well as the schools priest.
History
The current school site was originally St John's High School. After a merger with Rock Ferry Covent in the early 1980s it became Plessington High School and occupied two sites (the second being the former Rock Ferry Covent site in Woodland Road)In 2010, the school won the prestigious TES "Secondary School of the Year" award.
Catholic Ethos
The School has a very strong Roman Catholic ethos which can be seen throughout the corridors and classrooms with posters. There is a twice weekly optional Mass in the School ChapelChapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
held by the School Chaplin. On 'holy day
Holy Day of Obligation
In the Catholic Church, Holy Days of Obligation or Holidays of Obligation, less commonly called Feasts of Precept, are the days on which, as of the Code of Canon Law states,-Eastern Catholic Churches:...
s' Masses are held for the whole school by a local priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
.
Facilities
With the recent development of the school campus in the form of new buildings, opened by Cherie BlairCherie Blair
Cherie Blair , known professionally as Cherie Booth QC, is a British barrister working in the legal system of England and Wales. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair; the couple have three sons and one daughter...
, the school has gained six ICT rooms and a main hall/atrium. The school has a six room dedicated SEN
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
centre off the dining hall staffed with 10+ teaching assistants for pupils with mental or learning disabilities. In the old building the school has three fully equipped Art rooms with paint and ceramic facilities. The SEN
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
centre has access to lifts and disabled toilets throughout the building. A drama studio is situated next to the Dinner Hall. The school is a member of the SAMLearning online revision service, every pupil has an account and it is used to help students revise and teachers also have the ability to set online homework activities.
Timetable
The school keeps a traditional timetable of 5 lessons per day, but has recently introduced a new 'wind-down' type period following lunchtime, a time where students could often be very energetic and not fully focused for work, the period named 'Academic Review' consists of thirty minutes reading time. This replaces traditional form time at the start of the day. The time is spent with a form and form tutor and it includes such activities as checking that planners are correctly filled out and doing attendance reports. Every two weeks one alternating lesson is missed and every form in the school does PHSE with their form tutor.School dining
Since the introduction of the new headteacher, Thomas Quinn, the school's dinner menu increased vastly in variety, the typical menu for the preceding year would have been chipsFrench fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
on an almost daily basis and now only on Fridays improving the student's diet. For example the chocolate in cookies has been replaced with raisins. The school was awarded 'Healthy School Award' in February 2007. A larger variety of sandwiches has been introduced. The school's lunches are managed by Aramark
Aramark
Aramark Corporation, known commonly as Aramark, is an American foodservice, facilities, and clothing provider supplying businesses, educational institutions, sports facilities, federal and state prisons, and health care institutions. It is headquartered at the Aramark Tower in Center City,...
. In an effort to prevent bullying and stealing between pupils, cash-cards (referred to as 'dinner-cards' on-site) were introduced, with both Aramark and SJP branding, which were later replaced by a fingerprint system.
New buildings
Since the mid 1990's the school has undergone many changes, the building of the music suite was completed by 1992, the sports hall was completed by 1993, and officially opened by HRH The Duke of York, Prince Andrew, in 1993. In 1994 the sixth-form building was completed (now used as the science building).In 2003, the school took over twelve newly built classrooms which house the RE and English departments and in 2004 benefited from a £5m building program which gave the school twelve additional classrooms, housing the Maths and Modern Foreign Languages departments, two new DT workshops, a new library, a new main hall, a new atrium, reception and administrative area and a new sixth form common room. The dining room has also been enlarged and refurbished and a new area has been designated for Special Educational Needs.
Pastoral care
There are numerous pastoral systems in place in SJP which care for a student's college life. The two most notable pastoral system are the form and year group systems. Each year group comprises eight forms which are each named after one of the forty catholic martyrs of England and Wales and then divided up into two half year groups named Alpha and Beta. These eight forms are:Alpha Half Year:
- JB - abbreviating St. John BoscoJohn BoscoJohn Bosco , was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer of the 19th century, who put into practice the convictions of his religion, dedicating his life to the betterment and education of street children, juvenile delinquents, and other disadvantaged youth and employing teaching methods...
. - VP - abbreviating St. Vincent De PaulVincent de PaulVincent de Paul was a priest of the Catholic Church who became dedicated to serving the poor. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He was canonized in 1737....
. - MT - abbreviating Mother TeresaMother TeresaMother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
. - TL - abbreviating St. Therese of Lisieux
Beta Half Year:
- BH - abbreviating St. Basil Hume.
- SB - abbreviating St. Bernadette of Lourdes.
- OR - abbreviating St. Oscar RomeroÓscar RomeroÓscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980....
- MK - abbreviating Maximillian Kolbe.
House System:
As well as the year group system, there is also a house system. Every student in the school is placed into one of six houses which are named after saints or prominent Catholic figures. These houses are:
- Romero - Named after Oscar RomeroÓscar RomeroÓscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980....
. - Kolbe - Named after Maximillian Kolbe
- Teresa - Named after Mother TeresaMother TeresaMother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
. - Bosco - Named after St John BoscoJohn BoscoJohn Bosco , was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer of the 19th century, who put into practice the convictions of his religion, dedicating his life to the betterment and education of street children, juvenile delinquents, and other disadvantaged youth and employing teaching methods...
- Hume - Named after Basil Hume.
- Bernadette - Named after St Bernadette of Lourdes.
The school also enables and encourages students to report incidents of bullying, theft, crime or any unwanted behaviour in confidence to their school 24 hours a day via the TextSomeone system the school has introduced, along with the CallParents and Truancy Call systems, introduced to free up staff time usually consumed with administrative tasks.