St Mary’s is a GOOD School

We are today able to share with you the wonderful news that Ofsted has rated our school as Good across all five areas of review (Quality of Education, Behaviour, Personal Development, Sixth Form and Leadership & Management).

The Lead Inspector who visited the school with three fellow inspectors made many very positive comments about the quality of what we are providing for your children at St Mary’s, and although we urge you to read the full report.

We would like to share some of his most significant comments with you here:

“The school has a well-designed, ambitious curriculum. This is evident in the good quality of pupils’ learning demonstrated in lessons and in their books.”

“Pupils live up to leaders’ expectations of their behaviour. Pupils follow the well-established routines in lessons and usually focus on learning.” 

“Pupils are proud of their school. Those in attendance at the previous inspection notice and speak positively about improvements happening at their school. ”

“Pupils speak confidently about reaching their career aspirations because the school prepares them well for adult life.” 

“Pupils are taught how to live healthy lifestyles.”

“The school supports pupils well to maintain positive mental health while dealing with whatever issues they face.”

“Governors carry out their duties well. They hold leaders to account effectively for the school’s work.”

“Safeguarding is effective.”

This is the moment that all our staff, the senior leaders and the governors of the school have been working so hard to achieve since our last inspection four years ago. It is a recognition of all that we have achieved, with your support and the hard work and commitment of our children since we were rated as Requires Improvement in 2019.

Please share this wonderful news with your friends and family, and be very proud of your children and their hard work and great attitude which helped us to achieve this rating.

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Hertfordshire businesses ignite careers interest among students – 19th October 2023

St Mary’s CE High School in Cheshunt was buzzing with the sound of potential on Thursday, when nearly 30 local businesses met hundreds of the school’s students at the annual Careers Fair.

Every student from Year 8 to Year 13 had the opportunity to meet representatives from a wide range of businesses and organisations from across Hertfordshire, from infrastructure and engineering firms to construction and property, and from the care sector to the armed forces and the fire brigade. Further and Higher education institutions were also present, along with organisations supporting young people with Apprenticeships and alternative pathways into the career of their choice.

Kerry Gaulton, Careers Lead at the school, who organised the event, said “Careers provision is a real strength of the school. Students met the representatives of businesses and other organisations with a wealth of questions, ready to make the most of this unique opportunity to speak to such a variety of sectors under one roof. Thank you to all the institutions who made the effort to come along. I know our students enjoyed the event and many came away armed with real knowledge and enthusiasm about the potential careers available to them.”

One business representative talked about why it was important for them to attend St Mary’s Careers Fair: “We need to change perspectives about our industry, to educate young people about the diversity of roles available to them and to attract the talents of a diverse range of young people to our sector.”

 

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Liberator Flight Memorial Service

It was a privilege to attend the Liberator Memorial Service on 4 November.

Students Bradley, Lewis, Peter and Senel laid a wreath on behalf of the young people of Broxbourne, in memory of the American crew of the B-24 Liberator USAAF plane that crashed outside the town on 12 August 1944. The article on the Herts Memories website says the plane was “on its way to perform a bombing mission when it is thought that a mid-air collision sent it tumbling from the sky with a full payload of explosives. Headed for the heart of Cheshunt, the crew bravely remained on board to steer the aircraft clear of the town.”

The event was attended by Robert Voss CBE CStJ, the Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire (HM The King’s representative in the county), Liz Green the High Sheriff of Hertfordshire, Paul Seeby the Mayor of Broxbourne, and many others from the Broxbourne area.

Thank you to Mrs Bundock for organising the students and supporting today, and Mrs Grindley (Deputy Head Teacher) and Mrs Willis (Chair of Governors) for attending.

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Year 8 Pop Art lessons.

Our Year 8 artists have been studying all about the 1950s and 1960s Pop Art movement this term.

They are focussing on drawing and colour shading skills to elevate and inspire their own responses to Andy Warhol’s can prints and more. Here is Hannah’s beautiful sketchbook of work.

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Financial Times Student Advocate Programme

Two of our year 12 students Imogen and Jada have successfully been selected to join the Financial Times Advocate Programme representing St Mary’s as one of 250 schools globally.

The programme itself provides the students with work experience where they will complete tasks set by the FT in order to raise awareness of the FT with their peers in order to build financial awareness to young people and to identify how the FT could develop towards being available to young people.

In addition, they will have monthly workshops to build their skillsets helping them prepare for life after school and successful. The opportunity to work with such a prestigious global organisation presents the students a great platform to build their confidence and leadership skills. We are looking forward to seeing the outcome of the experience.

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Year 7 Football team victory

On 1 November our Year 7 boys team played their first St Mary’s game as a team and played fantastically.

 

They won 1-0 against a Year 8 team from Latymer School and all contributed in a really positive way. They behaved impeccably and represented the school extremely well.

Thanks to Mr Bradbury for managing and training them and congratulations to George, Max, Jacob, Filip, Will, Lavae, Cavali, Louie, George, Eren, Thaddeus, Eliseo, Joel and Deniz.

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Geography Antartica Flag Competition

In October, Year 7’s took part in a competition in Geography to design a flag for Antarctica to celebrate Antarctic day on 1st December.

A winner and 3 runners up were selected from some excellent entries. The winning flag which was designed by Poppy will be taken to Antarctica by a Polar research scientist and we are looking forward to seeing the flag in location. Winner – Poppy Runners up – Sergio, Jayden, Elianna

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Wellbeing

On the 16th of October there was a change from the normal timetable for Year 9 and Year 10 students, as St Mary’s invited a touring theatre group into school to give a performance.

The Upfront Theatre Company introduced ‘In Harm’s Way’, a play and interactive lecture exploring wellbeing, mental health, risky behaviour and the varying forms that can take, and positive coping mechanisms. It is designed to follow the PSHCE curriculum and focused on current issues that affect young people today. We all have mental health in the same way we have physical health, but sometimes it is not an easy subject to talk about with young people. And with 1 in 4 people in the UK suffering from a mental health condition in their lifetime, it is something we must talk about. A YouGov/MQ and Forster survey in 2016 showed that 51% of young people would be embarrassed to talk about mental health. Young Minds, PAPYRUS, Childline & NSPCC have all said ‘more open and frank conversations should be encouraged with children.

The actors started with an introduction and clarified some of the fact, figures and myths surrounding mental health. Then the play followed the friendship of three Year 9 students over a 2 year period and explored mental health, coping mechanisms & emotional well-being. Through separate struggles with risky behaviour, they explored the dangers, consequences and help available for some of these problems. Following the play, there was a 30 minute post-show lecture, which picked through the main issues and identified any questions prompted by the story. Key scenes from the play were replayed and students were encouraged to impart advice to the character putting herself in harm’s way. The students had the opportunity to suggest actions to help each character, explore the role and the level of responsibility of the friend as well as the person struggling. There was a positive response from students by seeing mental health issues discussed in such a different manner. In Harm’s Way invited students not only to observe and invest in the characters’ stories, but to advise them. This pro-active approach will encourage them to apply this advice in their own lives.

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Maths Achievement Awards

The maths team have launched a half termly celebration to honour the hard work and dedication over the course of the year named “Mathematician of the moment”.

Every student has a chance to be nominated by their teachers, who will be looking for acts of high effort, going the extra mile in and out of the maths classroom.

Congratulations to this half terms nominations:

Uzziah, Koneil, Nicole Yvie, Anne-Marie, Saida, Efe, Maddison, Troiquon, Kaylan, Davita, Mia, Noah, Kairu, Imogen, Haydar, Tyler, Oligert, Shumaila, Rosie, Yigit, Taylan, Peter-John and Scarlett.

Below are some of the quotes for this half terms winners:

“She tries her best in every lesson and her effort is paying off. She is getting better in every lesson.”

“For being naturally curious and motivated to understand mathematical concepts by asking a lot of questions and exploring ideas.”

“Yvie has made a fantastic start to the year, She focusses on her work, and completes practice to the best of her ability.”

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Drama Trip

On Thursday 19th October, the Year 11 GCSE Drama students went to see ‘The Ocean at the End of the Lane’ at the Noel Coward Theatre, London.

The production was truly ‘magical’ with lots of trickery and surprise and was unlike anything they had seen before. In an audience of lots of school groups, our students personified the ethos and values of the school. As always, the students behaved impeccably; they were an amazing audience and a joy to take. There is so much to draw upon for the forthcoming exams and it was a pleasure to see them astounded and amazed by the production and performance techniques we saw on the stage. We really hope that some of the students will be considering Drama and Performing Arts as an option in the sixth form and look forward to many more opportunities to take the students to the theatre.

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