A level Geographers on the Jurassic Coast

The Year 13 geography A level students spent 3 days working on their fieldwork skills and exploring the Jurassic coast. These are places that they have been learning about within the geography curriculum throughout their time at St. Mary’s and so it was a joy for them to finally see them in real life. They visited the urban settlement of Boscombe where they investigated regeneration, the iconic coastal locations of Swanage Bay, Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove and explored the unique town of Poundbury. The students worked late into the evenings preparing them to produce independent investigations of the highest quality.

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Emotional and Mental Wellbeing in Schools Mark

We are proud to announce that St Mary’s CE High School has been awarded the Emotional and Mental Wellbeing in Schools Mark, achieving ‘Advanced Practice’ in their whole school approach to supporting students, staff and their families.

Designed as a self-review tool which guides schools through a process of reflecting on current practice and identifying both strengths, and areas for improvement, the Schools Mark replaces the Healthy Young Minds in Herts Kitemark Accreditation which St Mary’s previously held.

Aligned to the eight principles proposed by the Department for Education’s guidance for promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing in schools and colleges, the Schools Mark was co-designed with education professionals by the Emotional Mental Wellbeing in Education Team; part of Hertfordshire’s Children and Young People’s Mental Health System,

The eight areas are: Leadership and Management; Environment and ethos; Curriculum, teaching and learning; Pupil voice; Staff development, health and wellbeing; Identifying need, impact and monitoring; Working with parents, families, and carers; Targeted support and appropriate referrals.

Here are just some of the Assessor overall positive comments:

  • St Mary’s has a clear and thorough commitment to supporting the emotional wellbeing and mental health of pupils and staff.
  • St Mary’s ensures that emotional and mental wellbeing has a high profile within the school across pupils and staff.
  • Personal Development is embedded across the curriculum and delivered through teaching.
  • High participation in external wellbeing activities such as Feeling Good Week, Just Talk, 5 Ways to Wellbeing and The Anna Freud and Mind charities are demonstrated.
  • The school has made effective use of external speakers to amplify the messages they teach and continually look to grow the pool of agencies they work with.
  • St Mary’s promotes an active school council with opportunities for students to become Wellbeing and Anti-bullying Ambassadors as well as 6th form mentors.
  • Students are encouraged to express their views and opinions through adhering to Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines.
  • St Mary’s High has an exemplary referral process for internal interventions, with pupils identified and supported quickly.
  • The school provides many opportunities to recognise staff needs through drop-in sessions, ‘time to talk’ session and a menopause support group with the wellbeing area being accessed by both staff and students offering a space to talk and decompress.
  • It is clearly evident that the school supports all vulnerable groups.
  • The school website has a wealth of information for parents/carers and families about emotional wellbeing and mental health support, offering information evenings, workshops and training.
  • School explained how they are responding to examples of high level, complex needs of families, and going above and beyond to ensure that students feel supported and heard.

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British Science week 2024

We celebrated British Science week 2024 with a wide range of activities, such as STEM lectures, lunch time experiments, whole school Science quizzes and a model competition.

On Monday Mr Bradley used rocket fuel and dry ice and made some rockets explode… there were some loud bangs across Science…

Also on Monday, Mrs Ogunwemno showed our students how does a pluck work and dissected lamb kidneys.

Tuesday, Mr McDougall entered the fields of genetics and isolated DNA from peas.

On Wednesday, our Year 12 Biologists and Mr Araujo guided our younger students through a moss safari.

Thursday was also very exciting with Year 13 Biologists and Mr Araujo testing different types of food to find their nutrients and making flame tests.

The model competition was won by Dilan in Year 7 with a model of the International Space Station. To complete the podium were Travis and Sergio, also in Year 7 with different models of the Solar System.

It was a busy  but inspiring week!

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Year 12 Art Trip

Year 12 Art and Photography students had a fantastic day of Art & Culture on Monday 4th March. It was an invaluable opportunity to spend the day submerged in London culture and view the stunning art work at the National Gallery and Portrait Gallery as well take photographs around the local area of Covent Garden, Soho and Westminster. Our students were impeccably well behaved and had a fantastic day.

 

Ms Papadopoullos

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Year 9 Climate Summit

Club 9 – Geography students in Year 9 were invited to take part in a simulated Climate Summit. They were allocated roles and had to vote for changes to government policies and pitch for investment from the United Nations. They worked in teams to establish aims and priorities for their group and were very persuasive in their requests for funding.

Every one of the students who took part engaged fully with the activity and worked to solved climate change globally. We were encouraged to see budding climate policy makers in our midst.

 

 

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Festival of Learning (Maths & ICT)

We are thrilled to share with you the fantastic success of our recent Maths Morning at St Mary’s CE High School as part of our annual Festival of Learning program. This event marked an exciting opportunity for Year 5 students from Flamstead End and Fairfields Primary Schools to immerse themselves in the stimulating world of mathematics within our secondary school environment.

Students delved into four engaging sessions designed to inspire deeper thinking and foster problem-solving skills. The day was brimming with enthusiasm and curiosity as our young learners tackled various mathematical challenges, honing their analytical abilities and creativity along the way. From deciphering intricate puzzles to exploring applications of mathematical concepts, each session encouraged active participation and collaboration among students. It was wonderful to see the Year 5’s embracing the joy of learning whilst strengthening their mathematical proficiency.

We are looking forward to the next instalment of the Festival of Learning which will have an English and Modern Foreign Language focus and will be in the summer term.

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Sinking Islands with the A level geographers

The A level geographers took the opportunity to extend their knowledge of the global climate crisis by attending a lecture given by Dr Liam Saddington at the Royal Geographical Society. The students were given the experience of listening to a Cambridge University Lecturer talk about his research into the sinking South Pacific Islands. He gave them first hand research on the issues and broadened their thinking on topics such as global governance and international agreements.

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Year 7 Year Lead Celebration

Year 7 students were invited to spend time with their Year Lead to celebrate the positive impact they have had on the school community.

Students across all year groups are being recognised for their hard work and excellent attitude to learning by being invited to an afternoon celebration with their year lead and peers.

Students have enjoyed the Bi-weekly celebrations, which includes refreshments as well as socialising and playing games with other winners from their year group.

Well done to all of our winners so far, there are plenty more opportunities for students to be recognised so keep up the good work everyone!

Ms Andrews

 

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Intermediate maths challenge

On the Wednesday 31st January, 26 Year 10 and 4 Year 9 mathematicians took part in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge. This national challenge consists of 25 maths problems, which test students’ logical thinking, ability to problem solve, and extension of understanding to the mathematical ideas they cover in their maths lessons.

 

Our Bronze awards winners were Talliah (Yr 9), Maya, Jason, Rafael, Aaron, Efe, Jakub and Johan (Yr 10)

Our Silver awards winner was Jahara (Yr 10)

Well done to all those that participated! For anyone who would like to take part next year, the UKMT website has a comprehensive collection of past papers which can be used for practice. These challenges are meant to be fun, and are meant to push you out of your comfort zone, so they are an excellent resource for students who enjoy a challenge.

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STEM ambassador visiting the school

Ahead of next week’s British Science Week we had received a visit of STEM ambassador Dr Andrew Cornish, engineer at the National Rail network to deliver a lecture on “Railways and Science”. A very fruitful morning!

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