SPLIT between two sites, running East Oxford’s SS Mary & John Primary School is something of a juggling act.

Years One and Two occupy the Victorian building in Hertford Street, which was gutted by fire and rebuilt in 1991, while the older pupils are based in Meadow Lane.

Most of the 400 pupils are drawn from a long, thin catchment area stretching north to Warneford Road, Headington.

The long-term dream is to relocate both parts of the school on the bigger Meadow Lane site, but Government funding cuts for school building projects means nobody knows when, or if, the big move will take place.

Pip Murray, headteacher for 12 years, said: “It is a challenge, in that teachers from different year groups don’t get to see each other on a regular basis. We work very hard to develop a sense of purpose and unity, and introduced school uniform a couple of years ago as a way of doing that.”

Year Six pupils can become ‘buddies’ and help as classroom assistants at Hertford Street, while a school council and an eco-council represents children’s views.

And with half of pupils from ethnic minorities, the school’s outlook is truly international.

SS Mary & John has link schools in Spain and Germany, and last year started to build a relationship with a school in China.

A quarter of pupils are Pakistani in origin, and a bond was formed with the Lords International School in Lahore in 2007.

Teachers regularly travel between the two countries, and pupils share work by sending it 4,000 miles to their sister school.

Mrs Murray said: “It was a real boost to the community when they realised we were interested in finding out about their roots back in Pakistan. Year Two classes do a project on Pakistan each year.”

School signs are also written in Urdu, and classroom assistants work closely with the large number of children who come to the school without any English.

Despite the inclusion of many faiths within the school, it keeps strong Christian links with SS Mary & John Church in Cowley Road.

Parents and governors, authors and artists also come in regularly to take after-school classes, including kayaking, craftwork, Latin, cooking and creative writing.

Mrs Murray said: “The parents see us as a caring school, where the children are encouraged to be independent in themselves.

“They like the rich curriculum and lots of after-school activities.

“At the moment we are aiming to get a good or outstanding grading from Ofsted, and we would love to manage that.

“The focus is on attainment, and because we have a very diverse school population, with children coming in without English, that is a challenge.”

She added: “Beyond that, we want to make sure this is a happy school, where children feel confident, safe and able to learn.”

STAR TEACHER AS well as teaching her Year Three class, Hannah Collison co-ordinates the school’s maths curriculum, oversees music and has helped set up the huge range of after-school clubs which run every evening.

After switching from a career in recruitment to teaching five years ago, Miss Collison has never looked back.

She said: “I wanted to do something more vocational, and teaching is very rewarding.

“It’s wonderful to see children make progress, even if it’s something small, and to see them enjoy learning.”

As maths coordinator, she tries to make it “hands-on” and fun for children of all ages, and updates staff about imaginative new teaching methods.

She said the school now had one of the biggest primary school orchestras in the county, with 57 members, and music is used in lessons from French to History.

And on top of that, Miss Collison is now overseeing the Government’s Go For It initiative in the school, asking pupils what after-school activities they want to take up and then trying to arrange it.

She can even be spotted dancing aboard SS Mary & John Primary School’s float each year in the Cowley Carnival.

Headteacher Pip Murray said: “I have a fantastic team, and all of them are wonderful.

“We drew the nominated teachers for Star Teacher out of a hat, and Miss Collison had been nominated by her colleagues because she does so much on top of her basic teaching.”

  • Each star teacher will go into a competition for the Oxford Mail/Leadbitter Star Teacher of the Year Award to be presented in June/July 2011