Explore Languages
Workshop

On Thursday 14th November we saw the start of this year’s cohort take part in the Explore Languages workshop.

A group of 35 Year 8 students were involved in the workshop, delivered by Grace, a Student Ambassador from the University of Leeds. She spoke about Languages and University life and students took part in games and challenges.

There was a question and answer session where students could ask whatever questions they wanted about university. This year’s cohort are ready torise to the challenge of beating the opposition when we take part in the taster day and competition in February 2025.

On Monday night we won all the prizes when we went head-to-head against GORSE! No pressure Year 8 – ¡Vamos!

THE HALLOWEEN ESCAPE ROOM

On Wednesday, October 23rd, something terrible happened in the library. As if awakened by the approaching date of Halloween, the library’s infamous ghost appeared to

Ms Fennelly and Ms Bennasser. Brutally squashed many years ago under a heavy bookcase, the ghost demanded the best readers of Mount St Mary’s as vengeance for her literary demise. Under the ruse of a celebration, she trapped MSM’s top 34 readers in the library, threatening to absorb their reading skills if they did not find the four-digit code that would release them in under forty minutes. The task to be able to do so, however, proved itself to be quite arduous.

A great deal of clues were hidden everywhere in the library on that menacing day: keys delivering half messages resting on the bookshelves of the Horror and Fantasy sections; hieroglyphic codes to decipher; a code breaking sheet stuck between pages of a romance book; a mysterious letter written in invisible ink and requiring cranberry potion to be readable by human eyes; hints in the forms of book covers concealed in cups of jelly-like substance you would, trust me, rather not know the real origin of; a sentence written in various foreign languages right where Mount St Mary’s is on a map of England and underneath some library chairs, a sentence leading to numbers of major importance.

Under the perilous ghostly threat and the ominous ticking of the clock, the gathered remarkable readers had to use their brains, shared teamwork and cross-curricular knowledge to escape in time. All the remarkable readers demonstrated exceptional logical skills and notable enthusiasm.

Once the code was cracked the library doors reopened, to the great relief of all. Following this was the consumption of delicious treats, cheering and, in one group, exuberant celebratory dancing!

One of the three teams was particularly fast and efficient, getting out of the library with 11 minutes and 58 seconds to spare. The key to their success? Epic teamwork, patience and listening to one another. Well done to every remarkable reader who escaped the clutches of the library ghost … for now!

If you want to come to our next celebration, collect fifteen remarkable reader stamps by reading books and quizzing. You have until 12th December to earn your invitation!

Mental Health Awareness Day

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Day on Thursday 10 October, we started our staff briefing with a ‘Cuppa and a catch up’ to encourage our staff to take a minute for themselves. Thank you to the wonderful Y9 Wellbeing Ambassadors for greeting our staff with a warm welcome and a smile, which made all the difference to the start of our day.

We are promoting a positive approach to mental health and well-being by sharing ‘5 ways to well-being’, which encourages students to connect with each other, be active, take notice, keep learning and give back. All our students already have the opportunity to do this through our extra-curricular opportunities. Our recent initiative to inspire students to ‘find your club’ promotes the ‘5 a day’ approach to keeping students healthy and happy.

Library Clubs

Since the beginning of the school year Chess Club has been popular among our students, so popular in fact, that Ms Fennelly and Ms Bennasser have now started to take things slightly more seriously … by making a display wall with the players’ names on it. The goal being to get your name to the top of the list.

Do you like playing chess? Do you enjoy competition as well as challenging yourself? Join us on Wednesdays at lunchtime and test yourself. You can also simply learn how to play: everyone is welcome and the Simpsons chess set is a fun way to get acquainted with the game. Who knows? You might become an expert by the end of the year!

Chess, however, may not be everyone’s cup of tea. That’s fine. Perhaps your brain has a different, fantastic way to shine: you might be a dreamer, have a creative mind.

At Mount St Mary’s, we know how essential reading is. We know it and we promote it. We are readers and some of us are also budding writers and creative poets—perhaps the authors of tomorrow. This is what Ms Fennelly and Ms Bennasser believe in and encourage and is why Writers’ Club was born and takes place in the library, each Thursday after school, from 3.10pm to 4pm. If your head is full of stories and characters, or if you simply enjoy writing and inventing plots, why don’t you join us, savour some biscuits, practise your writing skills and share your work and ideas with us?

We can’t wait to see you!

Yorkshire Sculpture Park trip
Years 8, 9, & 10

We recently had the pleasure of celebrating the shortlisted winners of our school organiser front cover competition from Years 8, 9, and 10. As a reward for their hard work and creativity, these talented students were invited to a special trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where we enjoyed a day of art and inspiration.

It was a fantastic day, not only to acknowledge their artistic achievements, but also to inspire them further. We are incredibly proud of their efforts and thrilled to see Ikjot and Maya’s fantastic designs featured on this year’s school organiser, bringing their creativity to life in our school community.

Helping Hands

Helping Hands is celebrating its 3rd successful year after starting in September 2021. The club is open to Year 7’s twice a week and Year 8’s once a week, encouraging social, emotional, and cognitive development and providing a safe space to build new relationships.

The club, which is supervised by Mrs Holdsworth, from SEND, aims to encourage students to build new friendships, widen their social circles and develop their confidence, all whilst engaging in a range of fun activities such as Board Games, Card Games and Arts & Crafts. We have also had Christmas quizzes and Easter Egg competitions with lots of prizes and celebrations. All games help expand their skill set, proving that learning is not just about what happens in the classroom.

The club has had amazing attendance, doubling the previous year, creating a real sense of community within the Year groups. Because of this successful year we have celebrated the students’ enthusiasm and dedication to Helping Hands with trips and lots of prizes.

Helping Hands promotes learning and growth and makes our students happier and capable of taking on any task or challenge in their school life.

Mrs M Holdsworth

Science Club

Calling all Year 7, 8, and 9 students! Last year’s Science Club was a huge success, and this year it’s going to be even better. Explore fascinating experiments, boost your communication and innovation skills and build confidence in a fun, hands-on environment.

Every Thursday from 3:10 to 4:00 pm in S7, we’ll dive into the wonders of science with exciting activities and projects. Whether you’re a science enthusiast or just curious, everyone is welcome. Don’t miss out on this chance to discover, create, and explore. See you there! The video showcases some of the work completed by our Scientists last year.

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.

Take a look at our latest edition of the MSM Messenger!