󠀠

As the head girl, I, Deborah, alongside our head boy, Peter, we’re excited to share our vision to making St James' an even better place for all students. We are committed to making a supportive and inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and heard.

Our vision includes enhancing student engagement through more activities, promoting mental health awareness and ensuring that every voice is heard in school decisions. We also want to take a moment to congratulate our Year 11 and Year 13 students on their outstanding exam results. Your hard work and dedication have truly paid off, and we are so proud of your achievements.

Deborah Oyakunle

Head Girl

To welcome our new Year 7's we celebrated a Mass with Fr John. We hope you all have had great start to the year and we look forward to you learning and growing with us!

To mark the start of the new school year and their adventure into Sixth Form, Year 12 celebrated Mass at St Margaret Clitherow Church yesterday. Fr Brian encouraged them all to make the most of every opportunity that comes their way.

We are proud to announce for the second year, that we have been specially selected to be part of the Music Mark schools program. Music Mark is the UK Association for Music Education, championing and supporting access to music for all children and young people.

Music Mark works to support and enable the music education sector to deliver high-quality musical and social outcomes for all children and young people.

'We warmly welcome our new Year 7 students, who have made an impressive start at our school. During assembly, these students were recognised for embodying our school values, demonstrating outstanding service and excellence.' - Ms Alleyne

Well done to Serena Piotrowska in Year 8 who won a Jack Petchey Award for September. The Jack Petchey Foundation was set up by Sir Jack Petchey to inspire and motivate young people across London and Essex to do their best and reach their full potential.

Serena has been nominated due to her fundraising initiative last year. She wanted to raise money for GOSH, in doing so she put together a detailed plan of a bakesale which took place during our 90th celebration day. The bake sale raised £331.20.

Well done Serena!

During the summer break, we arranged a second-hand uniform sale, which raised an amazing £1345.00 this will be used as a fund to support families in need.

Thank you to all the families who donated uniforms and to Mrs Bunning and Ms Daly who organised the event. They both showed a great example of faith in action.

At St James’, we seek to recognise and award pupils who go above and beyond what is expected of them in being ready, respectful, safe, and in embodying our VERITAS values.

These values are:

∙ Excellence

∙ Resilience

∙ Integrity

∙ Trust

∙ Aspiration

∙ Service

Our vision is to see all of these values embodied by staff and students alike, and for all members of our community to reap the benefits of participating in an environment grounded in these essential principles. All recognition will be based around the VERITAS values of the school which all students are encouraged to flourish in. The new Recognition and Reward Policy will soon be published on the school website outlining the various ways we both recognise students and reward students.

Recognition takes places in various ways including Positive Recognition Postcards, phone calls home and Student of the Week. Students who excel in a variety of ways will also be eligible for a range of rewards from our Film Mornings to an opportunity to be entered into a draw for Amazon vouchers for good attendance.

We look forward to working with you to support your children to thrive and be recognised for this!

Where to begin ? One could begin on Tuesday 28th. August 1934 when St. James’ Central School , as it was then called, first opened its doors to three hundred and ten pupils and nine teachers, eight of whom were Dominican Sisters and one lay teacher, Moira Stuart, who taught Domestic Science a subject now known as Food Technology. The day was warm but alas also wet with fairly heavy rain. St James’ then consisted of a small number of classrooms and an assembly hall around a central grassed quadrangle . There were no internal corridors only a covered walkway between the rooms. Once one exited a classroom one was straight into the open air and the weather of the day, clement or inclement. One often wondered had the drawings of St. James’ been mixed up with those designed for a warmer climate. The School’s design certainly cultivated a hardiness in pupils and staff alike. Adjacent to St.James’ was St. Rose’s Convent, a large Victorian mansion built in 1880, where the Sisters resided and also housed St. Rose’s private school, but more of that later.

The origins of St. James’ can be traced back to 1896 and the South African Congregation of Sisters who originated in the city of Newcastle , Natal, now known as KwaZulu-Natal Province. But again later, more of those origins . But the immediate origins of St. James’ can be traced to the Annunciation School , Thirleby Road, Burnt Oak which opened in 1931. The Annunciation School sited next to the Catholic Church of the Annunciation, was an all-age school catering for children from five to fourteen years. The school was constantly having to respond to an ever-increasing demand for places and a major expansion was planned in 1933/34.However, these plans for expansion were aborted and rather than expand the Annunciation School on its rather crowded site it was decided to build a new school for children who were 11+ in the grounds of St. Rose’s Convent, in Orange Hill Road. Thus, the Annunciation School was both parent and midwife to the new School of St. James’ for the senior (11+)girls and boys.

Burnt Oak ,at the beginning of the twentieth century , until 1924 consisted of an undulating landscape , beautiful vistas with streams and trees . Much of it was farmland. Between 1924 and 1931 it was transformed into an urban landscape when the then London County Council built the Watling Estate to house families, from inner London, who lived in sub-standard accommodation. Many of those families were catholic . The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Francis Bourne, invited the Dominican Sisters to provide Catholic schools for the children of those families. Thus, the Annunciation and then St. James’ were built to provide that Catholic Education for the new inhabitants of the Watling Estate.

The history of St. James’ encapsulates also much of my life-story as I, at the age of eleven , became a pupil in 1953. St James’ ,which then was but nineteen years of age, became for the next five decades a huge part of my life.

To be continued in the next newsletter…

Kevin McSharry

Headteacher Emeritus

St. Rose's Convent 1930

The Quad in the 1950s

John Carmel Heenan, Archbishop of Westminster and Sr. Catherine - First Headteacher of St. James'

St James' Catholic School in Barnet is proud to share another fantastic set of A-level and BTEC results. Headteacher, Anthony Ellul, said “I'm thrilled to share the remarkable A-level and BTEC results achieved by our students. They are an incredible group of young people who have embraced our VERITAS values and hope that, as our motto suggests, they will continue to “live life to the full”. We are grateful to our staff, governors, parents, and community, for the care and support they have given to our students.

All of the departments at the school posted excellent results this year, but especially strong results came from the RE Department, with 100% achieving A grades, and the Art Department, boasting a remarkable 100% A*-C and 72% A*-B grades. Our vocational departments also performed exceptionally well, with an impressive 57% of students attaining Distinction*-Distinction grades and 98% of students achieving Distinction*-Merit grades.

Tom expressed his gratitude, saying, "I'm going to Manchester University to study English and Drama. Thanks for all the support I've been given over the years; I couldn't have done it without everyone here at St James'." Tom studied English, History, and Politics.

Amy was thrilled with her achievements, stating, "I'm really happy with my results and can't wait to start my course in Gaming and Animation at UAL. Thank you to the whole Sixth Form team." Amy studied English, History, and Art.

St James' was proud to announce another spectacular set of GCSE results. Headteacher, Anthony Ellul, said, “These results are a testament to the fantastic education provided at our school, where academic excellence is complemented by the development of character, integrity, and a deep sense of compassion and service to others. Our students are not only academically prepared for their next steps, but also well grounded and ready to make meaningful contributions to the world.”

Results were strong across the board, yet some individual subject areas shone. Biology, Chemistry, and Physics all achieved 100% 9-5 grades. Community languages also excelled, with Chinese, Russian, and Persian each securing 100% Grade 8/9.

Chelsea said of her results, “After opening the envelope, a wave of relief washed over me. I had put in a lot of effort throughout the school year, hoping to achieve the results I wanted, and now I can see that all my hard work has paid off.

As I prepare to start my sixth form journey at a new school, I'll be taking Psychology, Biology, English Language, and an EPQ to get ready for A-levels and university!I want to extend a big thank you to all the teachers who provided us with countless resources and support during those stressful times, and to my friends who stood by me through the GCSEs. Congratulations to everyone today for all your hard work!”

Stephanie added, “"I'm so happy with my results and excited to start my new subjects in September. Thank you to my teachers for all their support!"”

Year 12 and 13 Physics pupils at Peter Wells Memorial Lecture on Friday 20 September, organised by the Institute of Physics (IOP).

The lecture gave our pupils an insight to Professor Peter Wells CBE, a leading figure in medical ultrasound who pioneered the development of ultrasound for diagnosis and as a surgical tool.

It was great to see our new year 7's afterschool for netball training! Great skills and talent on display - bring on the year of matches and events!

At St James' we celebrated National Fitness Day, each year group completed laps around the playground, trying to see who could do the most laps. With an amazing 9093 laps completed between all cohorts!

National Fitness Day has seen millions get involved each year and bringing people together through physical activity has a hugely positive impact. This is the first year that we are involved with this campaign and it has encouraged our pupils to ensure they are taking small steps towards a lifestyle that can improve their overall health.

Results:

Year 8: Top 3 Girls/Boys:

Larissa Da Silva-Varela 🥇 Daria Pricopi🥈 Jaella Mufuta Nkala🥉

Nick Zogu🥇 Robert Asavetei🥈 Robert Ursachi🥉

Year 9: Top 3 Girls/Boys:

Cliona Foody 🥇 Lois Iftimiei🥈 Lidya Tesfaldet 🥉

Oliver Ofimes🥇 Sergui Robu🥈 Luca Lunca🥉

Year 10: Top 3 Girls/Boys:

Sophie Zietal🥇 Laruen Binelli🥈 Elisa Cojocaru 🥉

Michal Jankowiak🥇 Matas Venskutonis🥈 Nizar Stern🥉

Year 11: Top 3 Girls/Boys:

Natalia Catana🥇 Aniya Toppo🥈 Divine Azodeh 🥉

Alvin D’Costa🥇 Ernest Yen🥈 Lucas Salih🥉

Year 12: Top 3 Girls/Boys:

Jasmine Ricketts🥇 Biana/Stephanie Figueiredo 🥈 Carys Finnerty 🥉

Iustin Danila🥇 Jacek Mrowczynski🥈 Joseph Barrett🥉

Year Group Results:

Year 8 - 1996 Laps 🥇

Year 7 - 1873 Laps 🥈

Year 9 - 1578 Laps 🥉

Year 10 - 1447 Laps

Year 11 - 1441 Laps

Year 12 - 758 Laps

'Year 7 used Cuisenaire rods today in their maths lessons to explore the relationships between fractions.' - Ms King

'In light of our upcoming musical pupils spent time designing props and looking at theatre designs' - Miss Ingram

'Some of our wonderful year 10s are learning and enjoying poetry and creative writing. The level of work has been inspiring to see!' - Ms Ferguson

We are therefore delighted to invite you and your parents/carers to attend our Sixth Form Open Evening on 24 October 2024.

On the evening, there will be a presentation in St James’ Hall at 6.15pm. You will be able to visit the Sixth Form Centre and departments and speak to staff regarding specific subjects and courses as well as current Sixth Form students about their experience of life at St James’.

If you are interested in attending please register using the following link: