Dear Parents and Carers, 

As the summer holidays approach, I am writing to provide an update on some key information for the year ahead and also, to provide a summary of what has been an incredible year at St Mary’s Catholic College.  

Experience week 

We are delighted to have been able to take all of the children on external trips and experiences this week. It has been a huge undertaking to plan these trips and ensure that the experiences are meaningful and support the character development of our students. 

Any children eligible for free school meals were able to access this provision at breaktime (where a brunch was available) and they were able to collect a grab bag at 12:20pm on the way out of the building.

Summer Term Overview

It is wonderful to see the College springing back to life after the COVID restrictions have been lifted, with many trips, competitions and experiences now being able to take place. Since returning to college after the Easter break, there have been a huge number of clubs and societies taking place, such as arts, drama, science and sports club, library clubs both after college and at lunch time. Whilst I can’t list all of the activities some of the key highlights are as follows: 

Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, Heartstone Odyssey meet the author trip, UCAS and Higher education trips, Dot Art competition, University of Liverpool Climate futures conference, Ama-sing floral pavilion Choir performance, Chester University Geography trip, Summer showcase, Year 5 Ethos day, Mount Primary Computer Science masterclass, SEND Coffee mornings, online parent information sessions, University of Liverpool STEM experience days, Year 13 and Year 11 leavers celebrations, Sixth form transition day, Year 7 transition day, GCSE and A level Saturday school, the Altru Drama performance, Anti bullying ambassador training, the introduction of free breakfast, the HFCMAT Rockpoint takeover day and  UK Junior Maths Challenge. There is lots of information and photos about these on our Facebook and Twitter accounts! 

All of these activities have taken place in addition to daily college life in order to enrich and enhance your child’s educational experience. I am sure you will agree that this extra curricular offer is expansive and adds greatly to the overall experience that our children receive from St Mary’s. These trips and clubs would not take place without the commitment and energy of our wonderful staff; for which I am extremely grateful.    

St Mary’s Catholic College 50th Anniversary Celebrations 

St Mary’s Catholic College first opened its doors in 1972 to accommodate students from St Bede’s Roman Catholic school and St Thomas A Becket Roman Catholic school. Next year marks our 50th Anniversary year, we are celebrating the year in style and I will write again to you in the new academic year informing you of the programme of events. 

There are two activities that we are launching today, these are the 50th Anniversary digital memory book and developing an  alumni network.  For the alumni network we are looking for former staff and students who would be happy to share their successes after leaving St Mary’s. We are also looking for alumni who would be willing to support with mentoring and guidance as part of our structured careers information and guidance programme. Secondly, the digital memory book will be a collection of memories of St Mary’s from the last 50 years.  This is an exciting opportunity to celebrate the legacy of St Mary’s Catholic College and inspire the next generation of learners at the College. The Survey can be found here. We are incredibly proud of our college and the many  achievements over the last 50 years. Alongside our Trust, Holy Family Catholic MAT, we are excited for what the next 50 years and beyond holds. 

New College day

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the College day consultation. I responded in person to all those parents and staff who shared their thoughts and I can confirm that we will adopt the new timings shared in the original consultation. The new college day can be found here. 

Free breakfast will continue to be served from 8am each morning, water will be available students are encouraged to drink as much water throughout the day as possible.  

You will notice that a new part of the college day is a form time reading session each morning. The Big Read is a teacher led reading programme that will expose all students to a variety of texts that they may not otherwise encounter, thus raising our students’ experience and exposure to high quality texts, vocabulary and concepts. The students were given a selection of titles to choose from and the selected books can be found here. We look forward to starting the Big Read at St Mary’s in September. 

Uniform and standards 

Our uniform continues to be a source of great pride and your ongoing support with uniform and standards is much appreciated.  From September we will be reintroducing a uniform monitoring system to support students who fail to meet these standards and expectations. A letter will be sent to parents raising any concerns on Friday 9th September, if the issue is unresolved, your child’s form tutor will contact home to discuss how we can support you in this matter. If the issue persists, parents will be contacted by the head of year and a meeting will be arranged to discuss the uniform policy and our escalation procedure. I also request your support with jackets and coats. It has become apparent that some students are wearing a jacket/coat in replacement of a blazer, this is not acceptable and we will contact parents using the above system should this persist. The uniform and expectations policy can be found on the College website, the link can be found here

 

It is essential that all pupils are well equipped for lessons. They need a St Mary’s College bag, a pencil case with black or blue ink ballpoint pens, pencils, a sharpener, a rubber, a ruler, a protractor and compass, some colouring pencils and a scientific (natural display) calculator. As mentioned above, pupils are advised to bring in water in a refillable bottle. Please note that sugary fizzy drinks, including any form of energy drink, are not permitted on the College grounds. 

 

As we approach the end of the year if you are able to donate any uniform that you no longer need it would be greatly appreciated. We are in particular need of smaller sizes of blazers, skirts and PE Kits. There is a box in Reception where items can be dropped off at any time, including over the summer break. Next year, I will open up a dialogue about the cost of uniform and look at some practical ways in which we can support parents with the cost of uniform going forward. 

 

Summer Results Days

 

Year 11 and Year 13 parents will be receiving a letter from college regarding the arrangements in place for the results days. As a reminder, results can be collected from 8am on the following dates:

  • A level results day: Thursday 18th August 2022 
  • GCSE results day: Thursday 25th August 2022    

 

Parent Feedback 

Parent feedback is a really important tool in our improvement journey. In November, we conducted a full parent and carer voice survey alongside the regular headteacher meetings, coffee mornings and online parent support sessions. In May, I shared the survey again and I am delighted to report that parents feel many of the issues raised in November are starting to improve. 

Parents feel behaviour has improved and that the standards expected of children are much higher than in November. Parents also feel that their children are well supported by staff at the College, both from an academic and pastoral perspective. 

 

Homework remains a key priority for parents and whilst it was recognised that efforts have been made to increase the amount of homework issued, many parents still feel there is a lack of effective homecollege communication regarding homework and assessments.  Next year we will focus on improving the quality of homework and how we communicate this home. We are investigating the use of Arbor to communicate homework. 

 

Communication also remains a key issue for parents, once again parents thought communication has improved through the use of the Arbor app and more regular communication but felt at times having information in one place would help. In September, we are going to introduce a regular newsletter to share key information more frequently.

 

Inspire Programme 

We are delighted to launch the Inspire Programme with all year groups in September. The Inspire Programme includes a wide range of topics all designed to enhance the whole student and encourage them to become engaged in topics that aren’t taught within the normal curriculum. 

The Inspire Programme is underpinned by the Catholic values and will develop the change makers of the future. It will support our students to develop the five creative habits in order to be; Imaginative, Inquisitive, Persistent, Collaborative and Disciplined and develop our core values of Respect, Courage, Determination, Compassion and Pride. The Inspire Programme consists of Inspire Time, Inspire Curriculum and Inspire opportunities, all of which will allow the students to explore their place in the world and focus on creating a brighter future for themselves and others.    

 

Pastoral team updates 

From September there will be some changes to the pastoral teams across the College. 

Year group Head of Year Progress & Aspiration Coach e-mail address
7 Mrs Willis Mrs Edwards [email protected]
8 Mrs Watson Ms Paton-Watson [email protected]
9 Miss Boisson Mrs Jones [email protected]
10 Mr Davies Ms Rubin [email protected]
11 Mrs Witan Mrs Cotgrave [email protected]
12/13 Miss Jones Mr Cotgrave [email protected]

 

Attendance Officer Mrs Garrigan [email protected]
SEND Team Mrs Moor / Mrs Todd [email protected]

 

Attendance 

Attendance at college is a national priority and too many students are not accessing college regularly enough across the country. Here at St Mary’s we are feeling the effect of the national change in attitude to college attendance. From September we expect all students to attend regularly and we will be working with all families to make sure that attendance returns to pre-pandemic levels.

Year 10 and 12 Raising Attainment Plan 

Now that the mock exams are complete, and we have held our mock exam result event, we have created a bespoke plan for the new Year 11 and 13 students to support them to get as much out of their final 31 college weeks before the start of exams. There will be an evening for year 11 parents on Wednesday 21st September during which we will share these plans and provide an overview of the support that will be on offer as we approach the next set of mock exams and then their actual GCSEs in the summer. 

Hot Chocolate Friday 

This year I have really enjoyed my weekly meetings with our Hot Chocolate Friday students and I have taken great pleasure in awarding their badges in collective worship this week. I use the weekly meeting as an opportunity to gather student voice and identify the key priorities for improvement. The students always talk about how positive they feel about their teachers and how safe they feel at the College. We have also considered the areas they would like to see improve and have implemented the following strategies for improvement: 

  1. Students regularly asked for a longer lunch time with more activities during the lunch break. From September 2022 we are increasing the length of lunchtime by 15 minutes to allow more clubs and societies to take place.  
  2. Students regularly asked to reduce the time spent in form and to make form time more productive. In September 2022 we are reducing the time spent in form each day alongside introducing the Inspire Programme. 
  3. Students regularly ask to improve the toilet environment. We are currently working with a design company to commission new toilets across the College. Whilst this is dependent on funding we are optimistic that new toilets will be built during the coming academic year.  I will keep you updated with any developments in this area. 

Summer Camps and Activities 

 

I understand that any holiday period can bring its own challenges for some families, particularly the long summer break. Mrs Skinner has created a list of useful contacts that may be of some use in the coming weeks, this list can be found here. We have a number of Summer colleges running as usual this year. The St Mary’s transition summer college is running from Monday 15th August to Friday 26th August. ‘Activity for All’ is running a Summer college from St Mary’s for all year groups (flyer attached) – if you would like to register for this please complete this form.  Wirral’s Holiday Activity Fund also provides enriching activities, nutritious meals, and a chance for young people to meet new friends in a safe & fun environment during the college holidays. Use the interactive map to find an activity near you.

Return to College in September. 

 

Students in year 7, 11 and 12 will return to College on Friday 2nd September 2022, the college day will start at  8:35am. Year 7 will use the rear entrance on St George’s Road. All other students will access college through the two gates on the main road at the front of College. One gate will access the GRA and the other gate will allow direct access to the canteen for free breakfast from 8.15am. The Sandy Lane gates will no longer open in the morning, but will open at the end of the day to allow students to access the bus stops on Sandy lane. All other students will return at 08:35 on Monday 5th September at 8:35am. 

 

 

Staffing changes 

As often happens at the end of a term, we have some staff who are leaving us for pastures new.  Mr Chew. Miss Harrison, Mrs Kennedy, Mr Blade, Mrs McKeown, Miss Briggs, Miss Partridge, Mr Ledsham and Miss Mcloughlin are leaving to take up new roles in other colleges. Mr George is leaving his current role as a P&A coach and will be starting his teacher training with us in the science department and Mrs R Moore will leave her role as a cover supervisor to become a teaching assistant at St Mary’s. We also wish Mr Ward, Miss Ward and Mrs Dever, good luck in their new adventures outside of education. Mrs L Jones, Mrs Sanders and Mrs Cook will also be leaving to enjoy a well earned retirement. We are incredibly grateful for all that they have done for us at the College and I’m sure you will join me in wishing them well for the future. 

When we come back in September, we will also be welcoming a number of new staff. Mr Brittain will be joining as Head of the English department. Mr Farthing will be joining the Maths department. Miss Mclean, Mrs Hampson and Mrs Rossbach will join the French department.  Miss Lacey, Mrs Murphy, Miss Donnelly, Mrs Carter, Mrs Li and Ms Banks will all be joining the SEND department. Mr Prendergast, Mr Patricolo & Mr Eames all join the Science department. Mr Turner will join the Social Science department.  Mr Cobb and Ms Letley will be joining the Humanities department. Miss McAleer and Miss Evans will join the Music and Performing Arts department, Mrs Chan will join the technology department. Miss Paton-Watson will be joining the Pastoral Team as P&A Coach. I look forward to welcoming our new staff on our return on Thursday 1st September.

 

Final note

As this term draws to a close, I want to thank you again for your support this year. We have truly proven that if we work together we will succeed together. Have a restful break and please do not hesitate to contact the college office should you have any queries over the summer holidays. 

Peace be with you all 

Yours sincerely, 

Mr K Maddocks 

Headteacher

 

 

Calendar Events 

To further support our communication strategy at the College I want to draw your attention to the events that are planned to take place during the next half term.

Date Event 
Friday 2 September 2022 Start of the Year for Years 7, 11 and 12. 
Tuesday 13 September  Open Evening 6.00-8.30pm 
Thursday 29 September  Parents’ Evening – Y11 (3.30-6.45pm)
Thursday 20 October 2022 Last Day of Half-Term 1 for Pupils 
Monday 31 October 2022 Return to college for Half Term 2 – all year groups 
Friday 9 December  College Closed for all pupils for 1 day Inset 
Tuesday 20 December 2022 Last Day of Half-Term 2

Further Dates can be found here. https://stmaryswallasey.com/holidays-key-dates/