St Mary's Catholic High School

Monday 13 November 2023 Year 11s at Hindleap Warren On Friday, 10th November, our Year 11 pupils embarked on the now annual residential weekend trip to the outdoor pursuits centre, Hindleap Warren, where they participate in a variety of team building activities, led by the centre staff, and specialist subject lessons delivered by our teachers who accompanied them.

Friday 3 November 2023 November - Month of Remembrance 2023 In the month of November, as a Catholic community, we remember all those who have died.

Friday 20 October 2023 Macmillan Cancer Support Fundraising 2023 Thank you to everyone who supported our pupils' cake sale for Macmillan Cancer Support on Friday, 20th October. Our school have traditional supported Macmillan Cancer Support in the first half-term as one our whole-school charity campaigns.

Thursday 24 August 2023 GCSE and BTEC Results 2023 Warmest congratulations to our Year 11 students who collected their GCSE and BTEC Statements of Results earlier today.

Friday 23 June 2023 New Head Girl & Boy and Deputies Elected Warmest congratulations to our new Senior Student Leadership Team who were elected on Thursday and announced, to great acclaim, at a whole-school assembly on Friday, 23rd June.

Wednesday 14 June 2023 Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme News Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme is thriving at St Mary’s Catholic High School. It is fantastic that in our school’s second year of running the scheme we have seen a doubling of students taking part in the programme.

Monday 12 June 2023 Year 10 footballers at the 'Cut It Out' Tournament On Monday, 12th June, our Year 10 football team represented St Mary’s at the annual ‘Cut It Out’ football tournament, held at Selhurst Park.

Friday 9 June 2023 St Mary's sends £1,310 to CAFOD We are delighted to report that our school has sent an amazing £1,310 to CAFOD, including money raised by students for The Big Lent Walk 2023.

Tuesday 6 June 2023 St Mary's Rewarded for Attendance St Mary’s is delighted to have been awarded the Fischer Family Trust (FFT) Attendance Award for Spring Term 2023, placing us in the top 10% of similar secondary schools in England.

Wednesday 22 March 2023 The Big Lent Walk 2023 On Wednesday 22nd March, our entire school community took part in CAFOD’s The Big Lent Walk 2023 in support of those across the world who suffer from global poverty and the victims of the recent earthquake in Syria and Turkey.

Saturday 18 March 2023 Runners-up in the Mock Trial Competition On Saturday, 18th March, students from Year 8 to Year 10 in our school’s Debating Club entered The Young Citizen’s Magistrates Mock Trial Competition, which is a prestigious national competition.

Wednesday 8 March 2023 GCSE Geographers on Brighton Beach On Wednesday, 8th March, Year 11 GCSE geography students visited Brighton in order to carry out fieldwork investigations as required for the examination.

Friday 3 March 2023 Belgium School Exchange 2023 For the very first time in our school’s history we undertook a school exchange with a Catholic secondary school in western Belgium — Spes Nostra Kuurne, situated on the outskirts of the Belgian city of Kortrijk, just a short distance from the border with France.

Thursday 2 March 2023 World Book Day 2023 Thursday, 2nd March, saw students and staff at our school dressed as characters from their favourite books, poems or plays, joining students across the world to celebrate World Book Day 2023. The theme of this year’s World Book Day was Changing lives though a love of books and reading.

Wednesday 22 February 2023 Ash Wednesday Students and staff received ashes on their foreheads to mark the start of Lent, and as an external symbol of repentance. We are grateful to Fr Michael for distributing ashes to those who wished to receive them, and well over 200 students, along with members of staff, did so.

Wednesday 21 December 2022 St Mary's supports Croydon Care4Calais' Christmas Appeal St Mary's has a proud tradition going back many years of supporting the most vulnerable and needy in our local community, especially during the season of Advent. This year, students and staff donated items in support of Croydon Care4Calais Community Group’s Christmas Appeal in order to offer emergency aid to refugees and asylum seekers in our local area. They help to provide dignity and comfort in an otherwise overwhelming situation. They aim this Christmas to give as many children a ‘box of joy’, and adults a ‘bag of hope’.

Thursday 15 December 2022 Students enjoy a rewards trip to the Pantomime A trip to the pantomime was the reward for 100 students at St Mary's at the end of the Autumn Term. On Thursday, 15th December, twenty students with the highest number of achievement points from each year group were treated to a visit to the Fairfield Halls to enjoy ‘The Further Adventures of Peter Pan – the Return of Captain Hook’.

Thursday 8 December 2022 Advent Carol Service On Thursday, 8th December, we held our annual Advent service of readings and carols in our school hall, full of parents, pupils and staff. After having to postpone the carol service last year due to the concerns of the Covid Omicron virus, it was wonderful to resume our normal Advent celebrations this year.

Wednesday 7 December 2022 St Mary's hosts the annual Croydon Deanery Schools' Mass St Mary’s Catholic High School was delighted to host this year’s annual Croydon Deanery Schools’ Mass. Staff from all the Catholic schools in our deanery were invited to celebrate Mass in our local parish church of St Mary’s, West Croydon, followed by a reception in the parish hall.

Friday 2 December 2022 Year 11 Awards Evening On Thursday, 1st December, we welcomed back last year's Year 11 students, along with their parents, to our annual prize-giving celebration evening.

Wednesday 23 November 2022 St Mary's lights up for Red Wednesday We lit up the front of our school on Wednesday, 23rd November in support of Aid to the Church in Need's Red Wednesday campaign. Red Wednesday is a global campaign highlighting the need to break the silence on the persecution of Christians and all faiths, globally.

Monday 14 November 2022 Year 11's residential weekend at Hindleap Warren Year 11 is a really important year for students as they prepare for their public examinations as well as looking forward to their post-16 choices, and we at St Mary’s Catholic High School are committed to putting as much support in place for them as possible. Once again, we took Year 11 on a residential weekend trip to an outdoor pursuits centre, Hindleap Warren, where they participate in a variety of team building games led by the centre staff, and specialist subject lessons delivered by our teachers who will accompany them. The purpose of the weekend is partly to help students gain a deeper understanding of the significance of revision and also to build relationships and a team ethos in the year group as they go into the most important year of their education so far.

Sunday 30 October 2022 Wicked Rewards Trip On Wednesday 19th October, fifty students embarked on a journey to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to watch Wicked, the musical. The fifty lucky students were chosen because they have a high level of achievement points - in fact, they are the top twenty from each year group. After half term, if will be the top twenty students from Year 9 and 10, along with the remaining Year 11s who get to go.

Thursday 20 October 2022 Students visit St Bernadette's relics On Thursday, 20th October, students selected from Bernadette House travelled to St George's Cathedral to visit the sacred relics of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes. The relics have been on a national tour of England and Wales and were at St George's Cathedral for just two days this week. This was a unique experience for our students, and one which will live long in their memories.

Wednesday 5 October 2022 Student Leadership Training Event Our Head Boy, Head Girl, Deputy Head Boy and Deputy Head Girl attended a leadership training event at Christ the King Sixth Form on Wednesday, 5th October. The student leaders participated in events such as: what it means to be a leader; how to be an effective leader in our school; how to communicate effectively; project planning; and tasks to help develop teamwork.

Friday 30 September 2022 St Mary's students attend The Beginning of New School Year Mass Our students attended the Start of New School Year Mass, on the Feast of St Jerome, at St George's Cathedral this morning, along with other schools in the Archdiocese of Southwark. The annual Mass is a wonderful opportunity for our School and College communities in the Archdiocese of Southwark to come together, as the body of Christ.

Tuesday 27 September 2022 Fr Michael celebrates our Year 7 Welcome Mass On Tuesday, 27th September, we welcomed Fr Michael to our school as the celebrant at our Year 7 Welcome Mass for new students and their parents.

Tuesday 20 September 2022 Fr Patrick commissions our new Student Leaders On Tuesday, 20th September, in front of a whole school assembly, our new Student Leadership Team and House Captains were commissioned with a blessing from Fr Patrick, our parish priest. our Chair of Governors Bernard Tomkins also came to meet them all. They will be living out our core values of Welcome Hard Work and Service.

Friday 16 September 2022 BBC100 - 'Share Your Story' visits St Mary's On Friday, 16th September we had guests from the BBC in to talk to all year groups as part of their 100-year celebration 'Share Your Story'.

Thursday 25 August 2022 St Mary's students achieve outstanding GCSE results On Thursday, 25th August, Year 11 students collected their GCSE and vocational examination results. While the news media reported a national drop in GCSE grades this year, particularly in the higher grades, it is wonderful to report that our students received the best set of recorded results in the school’s 170-year history.