Our theme in school next week is Vocation. These are the Thoughts and Prayers which will be shared with students to help explore and reflect on the calling each one of us has.
This week in school, our theme is Perspective. These are the Thoughts and Prayers which have been shared with students this week.
Our Spirituality Calendar shows the weekly themes in school as well as key feast days and festivals that are celebrated across different faiths. It also includes the overview for which Form Group is attending Morning Prayer in the Chapel, which Form Group is leading the assembly for that week and which Form Group is leading the weekly Friday morning Mass. Information also features on the Spirituality Calendar of celebrations in school as well as retreat dates and other events that students can take part in relating to the catholic life of the school.
Congratulations to Dennis Brown in Year 10 who travelled to Birmingham over the Easter holidays with his judo club for a national competition. He competed against teams from all over the UK and he won a gold medal! He had three contests, winning two and drawing the third. An absolutely fantastic achievement for Dennis.
Some great news to share! This week, two teams from St Mary’s competed online against 24 other teams from the region in the local heat of the National Literacy Trust’s Reading Champions Quiz.
The ‘A’ team – Alice Haighton (Year 9), Jennifer Whittaker (Year 9), Grace Young (Year 8) and Sarah Humphrey (Year 8) – finished in first place with 55 out of 75 points, two points clear of Dame Allan’s in second place. This means that St Mary’s has qualified to represent the whole of the North-east in the national final, which will be held in London on 6th June, 2023. A fantastic achievement!
The other team from St Mary’s (Billy Martin, Tom McCann, Qasim Akhtar and Aaron Robin) also did very well, but finished just outside the leading teams.
Congratulations to all students!
Some further amazing news to share! The BBCET has been running a Year 12 Essay writing competition and had a high number of entries from the 5 secondary schools in the Trust. The entries were judged by a panel this week. Judges were really impressed with the range of ideas presented and how the essays were structured, all within the 500 word limit.
I am delighted to say that a St Mary’s student, Sonny Hastie in Year 12, was judged as the winner! He wrote his essay on the theme of the importance of freedom of speech and thought in higher education. Sonny, and the other students who were runners-up, will receive a prize and be featured in the BBCET summer newsletter.
Fantastic news! This week, sixteen St Mary’s students attended an awards ceremony at the Lit and Phil Society in Newcastle, along with students from many other schools. Sophie Motion in Year 7 won the junior fiction award and the overall competition! An incredible achievement. Also, Matilda Lane in Year 9 won the older fiction prize! Another, great achievement.
The Headteacher’s Awards went to the following students this week, for a range of superb achievements. We are very proud of all of their contributions and achievements.
- Francisco Areal-Lomba (7A)
- Charlee Webb (7N)
- Sarah Humphrey (8A)
- Sheila-Joy Onuoha (8A)
- Lacey Elliott (9N)
- Max Popovych (9S)
- Marica Corvino (10A)
- Annie Middleton (10N)
- Isla Macdonald (11I)
- Seth Psallidas (11I)
- Bethany Roberts (12A)
- Ifan Davies (12R)
- Iris Kasar (13S)
- Alvin Antony (13S)
Our theme in school over Lent has been “Be Full of Compassion.” In our liturgies, we reflected on how we can show compassion to others and share God’s love with one another. We heard two powerful testimonies from students sharing what God means to them, any challenges they may face and how they overcome these as well as hearing a message from Pope Francis. Please find here some key elements of our liturgy this year.
In our Advent Liturgies, we reflected on the star rising and the sign that it showed to all who saw it. We reflected on how we can show God’s promises to one another.
