As we come to the end of another busy term, we can all begin to look forward to the Easter break and the Summer Term with great optimism. The Easter break is a great opportunity to reflect on the light that is to come after the sacrifices that we have all made. After another very successful term at St Mary’s, we are all very optimistic about the future. For more information regarding Easter Mass times in our local parish churches please visit the following websites:
https://holyapostlesandmartyrs.org
https://stjosephandstalban.com
https://www.holycrossourladysaintpaul.org
Vision, Mission and Core Values.
Thank you to all of the parents who contributed to the core values survey. During this last term, all stakeholders have had the opportunity to contribute to the formation of our new vision, mission and core values. I am now really excited to propose our new core framework:
Vision : Work together; Succeed together
I feel this reflects where we are as a College. We are a rapidly improving school but our success relies on all stakeholders working together
MIssion: We develop individual excellence, embrace opportunities and build communities with the Gospel values at the heart
This Mission has been developed from a number of ideas that staff and Governors were part of creating. This statement is also the mission statement that drives Holy Family Catholic MAT. A shared mission between SMCC and the MAT can only be a vehicle to drive improvements.
Core Values:
Respect
Courage
Pride
Determination
Compassion
These core values have very much been created by all members of our school community. Respect, Courage and Pride came through as Values that staff feel are important to define us a community, Students overcoming selected the term Determination and parents very much suggested Compassion as a core values.
In the upcoming term, I will be planning how we implement this new core framework to ensure that our new vision and core values are at the heart of all actions of the College.
Attendance
Getting our attendance back to pre pandemic level is now a key priority for us all. All the research shows that students with good attendance go on to make good progress in lessons. Student voice continually shows how much students enjoy lessons and have great relationships with their teachers so, we want to make sure your child accesses the SMCC experience 100% of the time. Thank you to all parents who have been in contact, in response to the letter sent out last week. We will continue to drive on attendance and you working with us is the key to attendance success. Covid-19 guidance has now been updated and students who have tested positive can return to school after 3 day, as long as they feel better and have no temperature. A more detailed overview of this guidance can be found here and National guidance here.
SMCC Breakfast Club
We are really pleased to announce that we are participating in the National Breakfast Programme to provide free breakfast for all pupils in school. All Children are able to have a free bagel and water each morning and should come into the canteen at 8.15 if they would like to access this service.
Year 11 and 13 Exam Preparation
We are really impressed with students who have attended Saturday revision sessions and online Wednesday Masterclasses in Maths, Science, English and RE. These have been really popular with pupils and we will be continuing them after the Easter break. We will send more information with details nearer the time. There is no Saturday School in the Easter holidays (details of Easter school have been sent out to year 11 and year 13 pupils).
I know the whole community will join together in wishing our year 11 and 13 students the best of luck in their exams.
Lenten “Walk Against Hunger”
Mrs Snelson has been organising our Lenten campaign which, this year, We continued our Lenten campaign this week to ‘Walk Against Hunger’. A total of 381 miles walked and Year 7 students completed 1816 laps of the GRA! Check out our progress below and for donations! #lent #charity @CAFODSchools @CAFOD
School day
I am sure you have seen the recent Government announcement regarding schools needing to be open to children for at least 6.5 hours each day. This new requirement will mean that we will need to extend our current school day by 15 minutes. We will consult all stakeholders further next term to look at a way we can do this from September 2022. We will be taking the opportunity of reviewing the school day to act on feedback about the position of form time in the school day and the length of lunch time. I look forward to sharing some concrete ideas with you and the students in the summer term.
Staffing Update
As is usually the case, we have a few staff leaving us at Easter. Ms Nadiem and Mrs Hoey are both leaving us for pastures new. Both staff have had many years service with us and I know you will join me in wishing them both well in their future endeavours.
We are pleased to announce that Mr LeNormand, an experienced French Teacher, will be joining us as our new Head of MFL. Mrs Parry, one of our Associate Deputy Headteachers, will be acting as Head of Year 11 for the remainder of the academic year.
Once again, thank you for your support during the last term.
I wish you and your family a Happy and Holy Easter.
| Forthcoming Events and Diary Dates | |
| MONDAY 11th – FRIDAY 22nd APRIL 2022 | Easter Break |
| Monday 25th April | Start of Half Term 5 |
| Wednesday 27 April | Macbeth/AIC theatre company at SMCC Y10 Y11 |
| Monday 2nd May | School Closed – Bank Holiday |
| Wednesday 11 May | Parents Information Eve 3-Catholic Life and RSE |
| Wednesday 18 May | Year 10 Raising Achievement Plan Event (Parents) Online. |
| Thursday 26 May | Parents’ evening Year 7 (3.30-6.45pm) |
| Friday 27 May | End of Half Term 5 |
