Latest news

15 March 2010

Junio school parents raise £1,000 for charity

Parents of children who attend the junior school of St John’s College organised a coffee morning and raffle and ended up raising £1,000 for the Rowans Hospice.

The gifts, all donated from local businesses, included dinner tickets for 2, passes to local health clubs and bottles of wine and champagne. Children also brought along homemade cakes which were sold to the pupils of the school throughout the morning. The star prize from the raffle, a luxury Mother’s Day hamper donated by the school’s bursar, Mrs Hilary Angel, was won by Sophie Bayer.

The whole event raised just under £800, but a generous parent topped the proceeds up to make a nice round £1,000. A cheque for this amount will be presented to The Rowans Hospice, which provides specialist care and support to people with life-limiting illnesses, later in the school year.

Head of the Junior School, Tony Shrubsall, said: “It was a fantastic morning and I’d like to personally thank the parents of our pupils for making this fundraising event happen and for generating much needed funds for a charity that plays such an important role in our community.”

 

10 March 2010

Favourite characters from books leap off the page at St John’s College

Pupils at the junior school celebrate World Book Day by raising funds for a library in Kenya.

Pupils at St John’s College junior school in Southsea celebrated World Book Day by dressing up as their favourite literary characters. They also honoured the spirit of the day by raising vital funds to support a library project in Kenya.

Kekopev School in Kenya is situated in a deprived area and the school library doesn’t just lack books, it also lacks a proper roof or floor. St John’s College teacher Lizzie Grubb has visited the school in Kenya and been fundraising for them for some time.

Talking about the World Book Day fundraiser, she said: “We’re delighted that the children have shown such enthusiasm for the event – their love of books really shines through. It’s also heartening to see how keen they all are to help other children in the world who are far less fortunate than themselves. Even the smallest amount raised can make such a big difference, and since World Book Day is all about celebrating the power and value of literature in our lives, these children have really captured the spirit of the day.”

Pupils paid £1 each to be dressed as their favourite character, and raised £150. The money they raised has purchased new books for the library in Kenya. The previous collection had been damaged because the roof was not watertight and the library was in desperate need of stock following the roof repairs. St John’s College have pledged to continue to support the restoration project next term.

 

September 2009

The class of 2009 - the Centenary class!

What better culmination to the Centenary of St John's could there have been than the record results achieved by the Upper Sixth and Year Eleven candidates this year?

At GCSE the overall pass rate (A* - C) rose to 90% compared with the national rate of 67%.  Naturally, we are proud of our high achievers and deserved congratulations must be offered to the 14 pupils who gained 8 straight A/A* grades or more.  Matthew Giles, Rhannon Lobo and Emily-Jane Randall excelled in the achievement of 7 or more results all at A* level.
 
At Advanced Level it was particularly pleasing that the overwhelming majority of students secured places at their chosen universities.  The overall pass rate was 98%, of which almost 60% were at grades A or B and close to 80% at A to C.  Once again there were a number of outstanding achievements; notably Annabel Massey, Maggie Sun, Sarah Clifford, Kitty Ip, Ali Versi, Javier Pallares, Alex Leung and Vincent Lee, all of whom gained a minimum of three straight A grades.

In a year in which we are perhaps more mindful of our college roots, especially in the concern of St John Baptist de la Salle for the equality of opportunity and the ability of each and every child to maximise his or her potential, we at St John's have been equally heartened by many results which, in statistical tables may seem relatively modest, but which represent an enormous achievement for an individual pupil.  Thanks to an inclusive entrance policy, we are able to work with a wide range of ability and "add value" in an extraordinary way, a fact which is confirmed by independent authorities with which we work in order to monitor each pupil's individual progress.
 
To ALL students in the Centenary Class of 2009, very well done!