Rewards Assembly – Mount St Mary's

Vocational Trip

Alison Gudgeon — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 09:14:07 +0000

Year 10 Vocational Trip

Anisa and I had the pleasure of spending time with the Year 10 Vocational Group on Wednesday 20th November in Leeds City Centre. Their challenge was to visit various businesses and speak to them about potential work experience placements. Most had a CV to hand to employers who were open to this possibility.

Despite the cold, and many “no’s”, they were not deterred from the task.

Jasper deserves a special mention as he was outstanding both during the morning and in his lessons.

The freezing cold day was rounded off with a hit of hot chocolate.

Mr Wylam

Transition Summer School 2024

Alison Gudgeon — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 11:24:19 +0000

Transition Summer
School 2024

During the last week of July, 42 of our new Year 7 students continued their transition into Mount St Mary’s.

They participated in a number of activities and experiences to boost their confidence and build friendships that will last longer than the five years they spend with us.

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Rewards Assembly – Year 8

Alison Gudgeon — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 11:00:19 +0000

Rewards Assembly – Year 8

The Year 8 Rewards Assembly on Wednesday 26^th April was a celebration of all of the hard work and achievements of our students during the Spring term and since they have returned for the Summer term. The Year office would like to recognise and congratulate students for their positive response following a period of reflection over Easter. In this, the last term before summer, it is important for us to keep up this momentum and maintain a positive attitude to school life and uphold the exceptional standards that students have set for themselves. Mr Hawkins, Miss Mulcahy, and
Miss Sharpe have been continually impressed with students in Year 8 throughout the year, and this assembly aimed to identify some of the individuals who have gone above and beyond. Form Tutors celebrated students who embody our values and ethos; with a big congratulations to Jay, Inaya, Tyler, Prananya, Goda, Morgan, Abigail, Silvana and Crystal for their nominations. It was lovely to hear the kind comments made and the praise that was awarded for a variety of contributions to the school.

Miss Sharpe, the Pastoral Support Officer for Year 8, awarded students for their outstanding attendance, and would like to give a special congratulations to Betty and Remelle for their resilience and for establishing such a fantastic reputation among their peers.

Finally, the Year Leader award went to Treasure and Rehoboth for their kindness towards others and maturity in all aspects of school life.

We would like to thank all of our students for their continued effort to display the best versions of themselves and we wish them the best of luck moving into the next stage of their journey.

Mr Adams would also like to give a special mention to everyone who attends the Maths Doctor extra-curricular club after school. This is already an example of the motivation and independence that we expect from our GCSE students. This productive use of your own time is something to be commended. Thank you!

Year 8 ‘TOP’ Togetherness, Opportunity and Positivity Competitions

Alison Gudgeon — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 14:27:34 +0000

Year 8 ‘TOP’
Togetherness, Opportunity and Positivity Competitions

In Year 8, the objective of aspiring to reach the ‘TOP’ underpins our year group ethos. Through Togetherness, Opportunity and Positivity, we aim to provide support and make progress in all aspects school life. In the first half term of the current academic year, Mr Hawkins, Miss Sharpe and Miss Mulcahy organised three competitions to give the students the chance to achieve further recognition for living our vision.

Mr Hawkins’ competition focused on encouraging students to produce amazing homework in an effort to accumulate Homework +10s from their subject teachers, and asked students to bring in examples of the homework that they were proud of to the Year Office, so that their efforts could be praised.

Miss Mulcahy was in search of positive mentions from class teachers about students who had gone above and beyond to make positive contributions to lessons. It was amazing to hear such genuine appreciation from staff for the hard work that students in Year 8 had been carrying out and the humbling comments about the character of individuals.

Miss Sharpe focused on 100% attendance and 100% punctuality, as well as making sure uniform and general organisation was in line with expectations. We consistently seek to champion those individuals who achieve lengthy streaks as this demonstrates not only clear dedication to their studies but also recognition of what they can gain from day to day school life.

The year team was absolutely inundated with incredible homeworks and shining positive mentions from all staff, alongside exemplary attendance. This of course made it hard to choose just a single winner for each category! In the end, we wanted to celebrate an accumulation of all three, and the winners were announced to the rest of the year group in assembly:

Jaeymee Gantala winner of Miss Sharpe’s 100% attendance and 100% punctuality

Oladele Osimokun winner of Miss Mulcahy’s positive mentions from class teachers

Ikjot Khokhar winner of Mr Hawkins challenge to produce amazing homework

All three were presented with a £10 voucher to use at a store of their choosing as a thank you for the continuous effort to maximise their capabilities and make positive contributions. Well done!

Year 11 Assembly

Alison Gudgeon — Tue, 19 Jul 2022 07:00:52 +0000

On 29th July students gathered for the first time since finishing their GCSEs in our school hall, to celebrate their last assembly at Mount St Mary’s. The Year 11 band played us into the hall with an upbeat track, setting a positive tone, which continued throughout the assembly. We also had performances from 6 of our Year 11 girls who sang and danced to a track from Six the musical, it was a fantastic routine, which the Year 11s really got behind, clapping and cheering the girls on. Again, this showed the spirit of our Year 11 community, and how all students have supported each other throughout their journey.

We gave out over 50 prizes for Form Tutor Star, Career Attendance, No C’s for 5 years and Prefect awards. We also presented Year book awards, which were voted for by the students. Some examples were; most likely to be a professional athlete, most likely to be a musician and most likely to be prime minister.

At the end of the assembly, students were given time to say goodbye and sign each other’s shirts and there were some tears from both the students and staff. It is important to remember this is not a final goodbye because the Year 11s will always have a place at Mount St Mary’s whenever it is needed.

Year 11 Rewards Assembly

Alison Gudgeon — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 07:00:25 +0000

Before half term we rewarded our Year 11 students for all of the hard work and dedication that they have put in to their Mock Exams. Every department recognised 3 students who had improved from their Year 10 mock and had fantastic attitudes to learning. We also took the time to recognise those students who hadn’t received the results they hoped for, but had turned things around and were working really hard to achieve their full potential through the Reflection weeks. The form tutors also rewarded 3 students from their form -one was the form star, one was the most consistent student and one was the student that had produced the best revision.

A huge well done to all of Year 11 for a fantastic effort during the whole half term, you should be really proud of yourselves.

Year 10 Rewards Assembly

Alison Gudgeon — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 10:39:54 +0000

Last week ended with the official Year 10 Rewards Assembly. The assembly was a fantastic occasion designed to celebrate the achievements of the exceptional students within the year group.

Students were recognised by their Subject Teachers for a variety of reasons ranging from excellent coursework and consistent hard work in lessons to constantly displaying positive attitudes to learning. The nominations arrived in droves and it was clear to see Year 10 are getting things right.

The star prize was taken by Aaron Ku Fotsing in 10SMS, who won the Twelve Days of Christmas Competition prize draw by achieving a perfect 12 days of school in terms of attendance and behaviour and gaining and a positive comment from his teachers. Aaron managed to win an indoor skydiving experience for two where he chose his friend Mario Tomsen to go with him. Both boys were well deserved winners.

Each Form Tutor nominated three special students in their form who displayed Retribuam, Readiness and Responsibility so far this year, with an incredibly well deserving list of winners collecting prizes. Furthermore the year team added to these nominations with Ismailia and Ketsia.

Winning an awesome prize of 1472 jelly beans was Kelly Cisse 10DOE who gained no C2’s and a Golden Ticket to make her correct guess of 1451 beans in the jar the closest and a winner. Finally driving his way into a successful Year 11 was Rafael Matzinhe 10SAK who won a race car driving experience for his fantastic work in lessons.

Other students were praised for their excellent ATL scores and celebrated for displays of Resilience, Respect and Responsibility. Overall the event ended the week in an incredibly positive way and served as a reminder for all of the hard work that Year 10 are putting into their studies. We are incredibly proud of them and cannot wait to see what they can achieve next.

Year 9 Rewards Assembly

Alison Gudgeon — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 08:01:06 +0000

On 12 January, we celebrated and recognised the achievements of our Year 9 students by rewarding those who showcased their outstanding behaviour during the first term of the academic year. Prizes included Amazon gift cards, free passes to Ninja Warrior Leeds, Echo Dots and a Grand Prize of a Fire HD tablet.

The assembly focussed on encouraging our students to see the benefits of what a success mindset can bring to their personal development and growth, as well as placing importance and value on taking responsibility for their own individual success. However big or small the win, celebrating every success will motivate each student to achieve great things.

Students were awarded certificates for their outstanding attitude to learning, outstanding punctuality, academic achievement and academic progress, and entered into prize draws to receive Amazon vouchers to treat themselves on the back of their success.

We also declared our team of students, who have worked relentlessly during the first half term to raise awareness of the Aid Afghanistan for Education Appeal, as Community Champions! This is awarded for the selfless devotion to make the lives of others who are less fortunate than themselves, better. They each individually embraced the true meaning of Retribuam and have inspired our community to play their part in serving others.

Finally, we ended on a high, recognising the outstanding achievements of students who are getting it right, every single day. In the 3 weeks leading up to Christmas, we challenged our students to achieve no C3s, no C4s, no lates and no days of absence. Over 70 students were entered in to the grand prize draw to win a Fire HD tablet, with a further 70 students qualifying as a wildcard entry to win an Echo Dot, due to a remarkable attitude to learning score.

It was an incredible atmosphere that captured the successes of our students and inspired a year group to be the best version of themselves.

Congratulations to all those students below who were awarded!

Viktorija Morozova, Michael Homem, Max Jancewski, Sean Twomey, Camila Cacheu, Ashely Hadebe, Kasseykylie Kuchurera, Denis Rychlinski, Rikaya Koroma, Michael Markiewicz and Sofija Lerha.

Year 7 Rewards Assembly

Alison Gudgeon — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 12:22:21 +0000

Year 7 Rewards Assembly

Celebrating success and promoting the aspirations of students within our community are fundamental aspects of school life at Mount St Mary’s. This week we hosted a Year 7 rewards assembly with the intention of recognising individuals for their achievements throughout their first term at secondary school. The process of nominating students for awards made us realise how lucky we are as a year team to work with such an amazing cohort of students, with such a variety of positive characteristics, talents and ambitions; we would have found it much easier to give everybody a reward!

To begin our rewards assembly, we celebrated those of our students who have achieved a perfect overall attendance and punctuality streak for the Autumn Term (Wednesday 8th September to Friday 17th December 2022). The qualifying students had zero days of absence, 100% attendance, zero lates and perfect punctuality. In total we celebrated 48 students who met the criteria and therefore qualified for an award which, during the unprecedented circumstances that we are currently facing, is an amazing accomplishment. Additionally, we celebrated our overall attendance as a Year group. During Term 1 the average attendance of our Year 7 cohort was 96.26% showing the responsibility, enthusiasm and maturity that our students have demonstrated since the beginning of their journey with us.

The celebration went on to focus on individuals who have engaged with the core values of our school by always showing willing and never giving up in spite of the circumstances. Although all Year 7 students have faced or will face challenges throughout their time at Mount St Mary’s, we were incredibly pleased and proud to reward specific students who have continuously demonstrated Resilience throughout the year so far. We believe that the students nominated portray impressive attributes that have enabled them to recover quickly, bounce back from adversity, and face situations with a positive “can-do” attitude. Their efforts within the school and wider community have not gone unnoticed, and we hope that by celebrating their mental toughness, that they will continue to motivate themselves to make further progress and achieve more success over the next five years.

Providing students with enrichment opportunities that will help with their personal development is a crucial part of the student experience at Mount St Mary’s. As a school, we endeavor to offer a variety of extra-curricular sessions that help our students to build relationships, improve their academic abilities and evolve their leadership skills. However, it is less about what we as a school can offer to our students, and more about how they themselves have given back by participating in and leading clubs, schemes and academic sessions themselves. During the rewards assembly, we celebrated a number of students who have excelled in these areas and have gone above and beyond to show Retribuam.

For instance, Miss Mulcahy’s newly formed Embroidery Club has allowed students to get creative whilst practicing key skills such as patience, hand-eye coordination, design, planning and social skills. The dedication and patience of this group of committed students has allowed them to create unique designs, alongside detailed embroidery, which Miss Mulcahy has been significantly impressed with. We hope that these students carry on with their embroidery practice over the next five years at Mount St Mary’s and beyond. Our Year 7 Helping Hands lunchtime club has also become very popular over the past month, which has encouraged certain students to grow in confidence and enhance their overall wellbeing; whilst practicing social skills and cognitive skills in a relaxed and fun environment. Many of our Year 7 students have used the lunchtime club to their advantage and have seized multiple opportunities to make new friends, learn to play new games, and develop positive relationships.

The year team were also keen to present individual awards to students nominated by members of staff for their dedication in specific areas. Year 7 form tutors nominated an individual from each of their forms who has consistently demonstrated Readiness each day, Retribuam during form time and Respect through their support of peers and attitudes to learning. Again, choosing one student proved to be an extremely difficult process for form tutors as they all could have chosen any of the individuals in their forms! We also rewarded students who have further demonstrated Retribuam through their efforts to enrich the lives of others. A key aspect of our year group vision is to progress as a unit. We have endeavored to create a culture of togetherness which will hopefully allow students to feel a part of something really special whilst at Mount St Mary’s.

Finally, a Year Leader award was presented to two separate students who always show maturity, ambition, kindness and modesty. The students who received this award have maintained a positive approach to school life and have made an excellent impression on their peers, subject teachers and the year team. They should be proud of their success and the people that they are.

We would like thank parents and carers for their unwavering support throughout the first term. Together, we will continue to provide students with opportunities and spread positivity through the celebration of their achievements.

Year 8 Rewards Assembly

Alison Gudgeon — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 11:29:20 +0000

Year 8 Rewards Assembly

Year 8 Rewards Assembly took place on Friday 7th January, and it was a fantastic opportunity to recognise students’ achievements and to start our new year positively at Mount St Mary’s. It was such an honour to be able to reward so many of our students in Year 8 – particularly those who are always getting it right. 153 students were nominated for a category or award, such as 100% attendance, no negative points, or improvements to their ATL score.

It was also rewarding to commend whole form groups on their conduct in using the 5 Rs consistently in their lessons and around school. 8GAL made headlines and took away two key prizes! Well done Year 8!