Year 8 Art Trip

On 18^th June, 14 Year 8 students enjoyed a tour around the new Leeds Art University building. The University offers further and higher education and has lots of studios. The group spoke to current students, saw the state-of-the-art facilities and listened to Miss Ahmed talking about her studies whilst at the University. We had a preview of the Undergraduate end of year show, which included contemporary art, animation, illustration, graphic design, film, fashion, textiles, creative advertising and photography from students across 15 courses. Our students were inspired by the different specialisms within art and design and look forward to using mixed media skills in their upcoming projects.

Students spoke highly of the work and Alissia said:

Year 8 Touch Rugby Finals

The Year 8 girls touch rugby team travelled to Leeds West Academy on Wednesday 28th February for the Leeds City finals, hosted by Leeds Rhinos foundation.

This was a final 4’s tournament where they played against the winners of the North, East and West tournaments that were held before half term. The tournament was a really good standard that saw lots of close games.

The team began by playing against Trinity, where the leading team kept changing throughout the game. The girls were unlucky to lose this game 5-6. MSM players showed great resilience throughout, along with a great team morale where players encouraged each other and looked to continually better their performance. In their second game they narrowly missed out on a win, drawing 2-2 against Leeds West Academy, who eventually became the overall winners. The final game against Allerton Grange saw MSM win, securing them 3rd place.

An incredible achievement for the girls. Well done to all of the team, especially Aurelia Uminska, who was nominated as Player of the Tournament.

Hamilton

On 24 January 26 students from Year 9 & 10 managed to achieve the enviable feat of being in the room where it happens. Students were transported to Manchester to watch the phenomenal performance of Hamilton.

From start to finish students were mesmerised by the talent on stage in front of them. The staging, costumes, singing and acting gave the students a real taste of what the very top of the performing arts industry is like.

The students were amazing and set a great example to other audience members. Students had so much fun on the day with one student even announcing when the show finished

“my life is now complete!”

The show provided tears and laughter for the audience but also hopefully the aspiration that one day they too could grace the stage and become a star.

Year 11 Alton Towers Trip

Everyone loves a good day out and June 29th gave us just that. 56 deserving Year 11 students set off (once they all arrived) on a fantastic trip to Alton Towers.

Students had worked hard throughout the year to qualify and had the opportunity to share some fantastic memories together as they enjoyed one of the last events of the year.

From roller coasters to river rapids the teachers joined in on the action. The warm weather and excitement must have worn the students out as the bus descended into a deep slumber on the way home. One thing is for sure though, the good times and good sleep were well deserved after the Year group had worked so hard throughout the year.

MSM Girls Netball Teams

The MSM netball teams have had another fantastic year with plenty of fixtures both at home and away.

All our netball teams have been provided with numerous accounts of appraisal, most notably when we attended the Leeds Netball Association Invitational Tournament at Leeds Grammar School in March. Their resilience and sportsmanship shone through and staff from various schools were very complimentary of this.

We have two memorable moments from this academic year; the first coming from the Year 9 girls, with their last-minute winner against The Grammar School at Leeds in the previously mentioned competition. The second coming from our Year 10 team, who beat Cockburn John Charles here at Mounts St Mary’s, 10 goals to 2.

Everyone has represented Mount St Mary’s in a polite and commendable manner and have played some exceptional netball throughout the year.

Helping Hands Lunchtime Club

We are now successfully into our 2nd year of this club which we started in September 2021. The club is open to Year 7’s twice a week to encourage social, emotional, and cognitive development and provide a safe space to build relationships. The club, supervised by Mrs Holdsworth, one of our SEND team, aims to encourage students to build new friendships, widen their social circles and develop their confidence, whilst engaging in a range of fun activities such as Board Games, Card Games and Arts & Crafts. All games help expand their skill set and are a fun, creative way of removing a lot of fears and insecurities, promoting learning and growth and making our students happier and capable of taking on any task or challenge in their school life.

Our Year 7 Leeds – Paris Pen Pal Exchange Update

Our students in 7C were very excited yesterday to receive Christmas cards from their pen pals in Paris.

Each of the students designed their own Christmas card and included a message inside for their pen pal.

They told us about how they celebrate Christmas in Paris and what Paris is like at Christmas – it sounds very magical. I would love to visit Paris as Christmas!

Our Parisian pen pals had lots of question to ask our MSM students – we now have the task of writing a letter to reply to their questions. It is very enriching for our students to learn about other cultures and practice their French language skills at the same time!

Year 9 Charity Football Tournament

Year 9 wanted to raise even more money for their new charity, Zest. There were 7 teams who played in total, and all the teams were absolutely superb in showing real imagination on the pitch, real integrity in the way they conducted themselves, and real focus for their intention to win the games!

There were 7 group matches, 2 semi finals – Brazil vs France and England vs Portugal – (with knockout penalties!) and 1 final – Brazil vs Portugal.

Huge congratulations to the winning team of Brazil who won the final 1-0!

Year 10 and 11 Careers Event

At MSM we pride ourselves on all of our Year 11 students moving into some form of education, employment or training once they leave us.

As part of the package of Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEAIG), which is provided for all of our students during their time at MSM, this event highlights the guidance and support on offer to them.

Each year we hold an event, similar to those you may find held at Elland Road or the First Direct Arena, which hosts over 70 local and National employers, Colleges, Universities, Apprentice providers, the Armed Services and many more.

This allows Year 10 & 11 students the opportunity to have quality conversations with post 16 providers, which helps to inform their future decisions about the pathway they may take after Year 11.

This event is organised by Mr Coluccio, is housed on the school site, an environment that students are familiar with and is supported by a large staff presence who help to facilitate these conversations. This year over 350 MSM students attended the event and it continues to grow each year.