What is Pride Month to you? Why is it important? For St Katherine’s, it is a time for visibility; for education; for celebration. 

Alongside our continued commitment to raising awareness of LGBTQ+ issues and support for our student-led Team Pride, St Katherine’s has been working alongside the Trust’s EDI group to run a comprehensive programme for celebrating our community. 

The Covid-19 induced lockdowns we have all had to deal with over the last 18 months have left many feeling alone, afraid and unseen. For many of our students, the return to school has been a continuation of this. Yet, by openly discussing the experiences of LGBTQ+ people within tutor times this month, we hope that the stories will resonate with our students, and make them understand that they are seen. 

June is also a month where our staff are visible. We have many proud allies, parents of LGBTQ+ children and queer staff, who are able to express their support for the community. The amazing Mrs Skeates has produced even more ally flags for tutors to place on the doors of their classrooms to show the students that it is a safe space. These spaces are where the students can openly express their identity, be understood and ask for support. 

A school, educating their students… ground breaking! Yet according to the Stonewall School Report, 41% of students say that their school does not discuss how transphobia is wrong. We want to be different at St Katherine’s. Throughout June, we have circulated resources and activities to help educate our students throughout their school day. We have compiled a list of lesson plans for Biology, History and PSHE to go alongside the amazing literature list composed by Ms Wyld, our librarian. These resources aim to support teachers in their discussion of these topics within their lessons. Normalising these topics within the lessons will go a long way to teach the students acceptance and understanding. As well as this, we have compiled a useful help sheet for staff on ‘How to be a Transgender Ally,’ aiming to advise all staff on how they can best support a Transgender child, navigating their way through life. It is as important that staff are educated about our diverse student community at St Katherine’s.

Pride is about visibility. Pride is about education. Pride is about celebration. Here at St Katherine’s we strive to celebrate the achievements of LGBTQ+ people throughout history, as well as our own students. On Friday 25th June, we held a Rainbow Day, which saw students celebrate Pride by taking over one of Mr Francis-Black’s large speakers, booming out Dianna Ross across the courtyard and Ms Jefferson showing the students some dance moves! 

With a group of successful Team Pride students heading off to university this year, we look to continue to celebrate our students. St Katherine’s is a place where students can express their identity freely, to have access to education and to continue to understand the wider world.

Mr James, Learning Support Assistant

We’ve made it. We are at the end of the most bizarre and unpredictable year in our students’ educational lives. Surely, next year will be a little more … normal. 

Term 6, as it always is, has been a chance to reflect on and celebrate what has gone, and to look ahead to new beginnings. The final day of Term 5 was a joy; Year 13 Leavers’ Day was full of laughter, gratitude, stories, emotional farewells, silly awards, terrible/excellent singing (depending who you ask) and inflatables. It really was an honour to say goodbye to this incredible cohort. We only wish that we could have had the final swansong of a Sixth Form Prom. However, we took the difficult decision that, in the interests of the wellbeing of staff and students, it would not go ahead. The next landmark for our outgoing Year 13 is results day. We can’t wait to welcome them back to St Katherine’s, perhaps for the last time. 

With Year 13 gone, Year 12 have had an action-packed few weeks, completing mock exams whilst also frequently going above and beyond. Huge congratulations to Bethia Brown, Mortimer Hogg, Grace Newby and Edith Powell who took part in the English Speaking Board assessment, the highest qualification available for public speaking and listening. What an achievement, then, that all four achieved a Merit grade or above - a fantastic experience and qualification which will serve them well in the future. 

In the wake of the shocking scenes witnessed during Denmark’s opening game of Euro 2020, our aspiring medic Filipe Costa offered a CPR workshop for students who were eager to know what to do if they found themselves in a first response situation. Thank you Filipe - you were patient and knowledgeable, and offered real peace of mind. 

And with the sun glaring down on us, we took some time in the final week of term to gather together on the field and have a good old-fashioned game of rounders. It was so lovely to get together and enjoy each other’s company before breaking up. Yes, some students got a little too competitive (you know who you are) but the most important thing is that my team won both games. It’s good to show them who’s boss. 

So there it is. Somehow, we’ve made it. All of the Sixth Form team wish our students and their parents and carers a restful, happy summer - no one could deserve it more.

Mr Davies, Head of Sixth Form

Congratulations to Turing House on their emphatic victory in both the House Championship and the Sports Cup. Turing's consistency and tenacity proved unbeatable and they are very worthy champions. A huge well done to all members of Turing House, the students, the tremendous Turing tutor team and their very proud Head of House, Mrs Price. 

It was with disbelief and a real sense of sadness that we once again presented the St Katherine's School House Championship online. We had hoped to be able to gather together to celebrate our achievements this year but unfortunately once again we could only meet virtually to review our year and announce the winners for 2020-21. The House Championship has had to cope with lots of Covid interruptions this year but looking back, we were able to acknowledge that in many ways we have managed to continue to showcase talent, celebrate our unique and diverse community and compete and have fun in so many ways. Therefore myself and the Heads of House share a real sense of pride in how our community has shown resilience and determination through this really challenging year.

Whether we were in school or Learning@Home, our Fun Fix Friday competitions continued to be an important part of our championship. They provided a welcome relief when life felt really serious and gave students the opportunity to shine in the most unusual ways. How quickly can you get an After Eight from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands? Ever played rock, paper, scissors hoop? What about the water balloon challenge? Our Fun Fix Fridays have brought us together when we were having to stay apart, taught us how to win and lose well and given us some fantastic memories.

Highlights of this year's House Championship also include lots of opportunities for students to showcase their creativity through competitions such as our first ever 'trashion show', our beautiful winter card design and our Anti-Bullying Week poster design competitions. When our students are asked to paint, draw or create, Yousafzai House are the ones to beat and they proved this year that the arts are a real strength for them. 

Everyone at St Katherine's is a reader and the House Championship recognises this. Pankhurst House showed their love of literature and their commitment to reading every day by performing best in the accelerated reader and reading log competitions. 

However, it is our ethos competitions that ultimately decide the House Championship and we place huge significance on attending school every day, arriving on time and behaving in a way that models our core values of respect, resilience and responsibility. Stephenson House should be congratulated for the improvements they have made to their attendance this year and they were able to apply the pressure on Turing by being the house with the best attendance this year. Ultimately however, Turing's lead was unassailable and despite an incredible athletic performance in term 6 from Stephenson House, they were unable to catch Turing House who led the House Championship for much of the year. 

We look forward to the forthcoming academic year in the anticipation that the House Championship can return to a more normal way of life and hope to be able to celebrate together soon. I must take this opportunity to convey my heartfelt thanks to the Heads of House who have led their Houses and supported their students so well through difficult and unpredictable times. Their ability to be flexible and adapt and overcome has been remarkable. Their endless positivity and their pride and passion for their House has shone through and I know they are excited to work with their newly elected House Leaders next year. 

Mrs Crocker, Assistant Headteacher

It’s the end of a year of two halves for Pankhurst where we disappointingly finished bottom of the House Championship (again!). Terms 1, 2 and 5 were excellent but we were let down by our performance in 3, 4 and 6. The reality was that we weren’t good enough and we will seek to improve our performance across the board next year. 

That said there were lots of reasons for celebration. Emily Sell set a school record for praise points with 1379 and we had three out of the top five praise earners in the school with Hannah Green gaining 1252 and Ryan Rice 1085. This is a stunning achievement and has set a really high bar for next year.

I was also really proud to have won the Accelerated Reader competition this year after finishing bottom last year. We read more words, quizzed more books and won more points than all of the other houses and this is something to be inspired by as we try to improve our overall position in the House Championship next year. With regard to the house competition, whilst we finished bottom there were some successes to build upon including some signs of sporting improvement. We’re excited by the opportunity next year brings.

Within the house I was delighted to award the tutor group of the year to 9P as they have been consistently excellent this year and have shown real progress from year 7 when they were not consistently excellent… 7P and 8P1 take note! Daisy Medder in year 10 won student of the year and this was perhaps the most difficult decision I had to make as there were some very strong candidates. Daisy has consistently made a positive contribution to the house since year 7 and has shown a real strength of character throughout. It’s a well deserved award which I hope she enjoys.

I’m really looking forward to the opportunity next year brings to improve on this year. We will all register together as a house in the English block which brings with it the opportunity to pull together as a team. Next year… we’ll win the cup!

Mr Murdoch, Head of Pankhurst House

We have finally reached the end of the academic year, and despite the disruptions and restrictions that have been placed on our students, I can honestly say how proud I am of Stephenson House. Our motto “from adversity comes progress” is definitely true of how students have shown determination in everything they have done this year.

The House Championship was a great spectacle and to come second this year is a true testament to the students for participating in competitions and playing a big part in the life of the house. I am equally proud of the fact that we have the best behaviour ratio of all the houses and the highest attendance which is something that we focus on and strive to do our best in.

The summer term brought success for students in Stephenson House on the sports field with overall victory in the softball and rounders competitions. It is great to see teamwork and cooperation being shown as well as our value of respect whilst participating in these events. A big shout out to the year 7 boys, year 8 boys and girls and year 9 girls who won their respective competitions.

In the Super Six athletics events we did equally well with Stephenson finishing in second place overall just behind Turing. A big thank you to all the students for representing the house in these events. A particular well done to Charlie Topp, Oscar Topp, Ruby Gray, Arthur Cleaver, Abdulrahim Yusuf who shone in these athletic events.

It was lovely to be a part of the celebrations of birthdays for the other houses this term and to learn about their stories in making a positive difference to our society. Our value of equality linked to all of these inspirational leaders and we took time out to celebrate these amazing people!

We have also chosen our house leaders for next year and I would like to say a big well done to Jonathan Kambu and Dannielle Cameron who I know will represent our RED values of Respect, Equality and Determination. It was lovely to hear how they are inspired by Paul Stephenson to make a positive difference and how they want to be able to do this through being positive role models in Stephenson House. I am looking forward to working with them next year with the support of Safa Culusow who will play a big role in mentoring of our younger students.

The final assembly of the year allowed us to thank and celebrate the success and hard work of students in Stephenson House. A big well done to Felix Heurtas in 7S1 who amassed an amazing 973 praise points this academic year!

• Felix Huertas, 973
• Ari Westerberg, 935
• Evelyn Staley, 901
• Joshua Healy-Hart, 900
• Jack Palmer-Givan, 873
• Victoria Reid, 870
• Benjamin Palmer, 856
• Charlie Topp, 819
• Sam Andrews, 794
• Corey Walters, 793

Also a big well done to all students who have represented our RED values and have been awarded a Stephenson Star of the week:

Felix Huertas, Tyler Cavalho, Eva Hayes, Charlie Topp, Fin Skeates, Ahmed Hassan, Ben Mortlock, Lilly Cox, Casper Delve, Keely Semple, Angel Chinn, Jake Ralph, Jordan-Lee Hatherall, Lilly Stenning, Shayma Jibril, Ezekiel Pinkney, Noah Pearson, Archie Woolnough, Ali Butt, Ben Lumoso, Maisie Bobby, Daisy Lewis, Abdulrahim Yusuf, Zach Page, Harvey Niemczyck, George Skeates, Amelia Fletcher, Tehseen Ahmad, Khalid Bulaleh, Jack Palmer-Givan, Ruby Gray, Cruz Mead, Safa Culusow, Ollie Page, Annie Skeates, Jessy Brackstone, Daniel Grace, Milly Marlow, Maddie Price, Pearl Westerberg, Dylan Murray, Joel Kambu, Ava Hocking, Reuben Peacock, Charlie Thoburn, Sam Peacock, Scarlett Newby, Eve Griffin, Zachary Garbutt, Ashton Taylor, Aidan Api, Charlie Topp, Monty Faulkner, Danielle Cameron, Sasha Lynch, Zuzana Vinklerova, Afifa Jagwe, Victoria Karczewska, Ayman Zaghdane, Ahmed Hassan, Joseph Newby, Filip Maciol, Oliver Belcher, Ellie Baker, Polly Cole, Ali Mahmood, Tia-Mai Wass, Bella Lyons, Chloe Patten, Sophie Hicks, Hamza Hamami, Molly Dasfield, Reuben Hawkesby, Archie Lowe, Sam Wright, George Skeates, Evelyn Staley and Lucas Gainard.

I would like to say a big thank you to parents and carers for all the support you have shown to the school and your young people this academic year. Although it has been a rocky road at times I believe our students have shown huge determination to succeed. Have a lovely summer, hopefully enjoy some sunshine, and come back in September, raring to go for next year. Hopefully winning the house championship in the process!!!

Mr Thomas, Head of Stephenson House

I hope the final newsletter finds you all well and looking forward to the end of another turbulent and challenging year. I would like to thank all of you and the students for your help, support and resilience whilst facing the challenges presented by Covid. Not only have Turing House members survived, they have come through stronger! 

It is with gratitude that I would like to thank the wonderful Turing Tutor Team for their dedication and hard work. Your dedication, commitment and pastoral care to your tutees allows each young person to flourish and develop. Thank you!:

Miss McInerny, Mr Arden, Mrs Cavanagh, Mrs Robinson, Mr Cook, Mr Court, Mrs Collins, Miss Whalley and Mr Simmons. Turing House is lucky to have you. 

One of the highlights of this term and the year was our celebration of Turing’s Birthday. 8T decorated the school with positive phrases of Turing’s achievement and legacy, the school was educated about a great icon of the 20th century, and we honoured his involvement in the saving of lives by shortening the World War II.

As we look forward to next year, Mr Court and I had great pleasure in choosing the Turing House Leaders for next academic year: Tacie-Ann Fracis and Maida Mohamed. I know that with these two outstanding students leading the way, we will continue to evolve as a house and unite in all that we do. 

It is customary at the end of each term to recognise the Tremendous Turings of that Term and highest praise earners. For Term 6, I would like to congratulate the following students for their tenacity and determination:-

Year 7: Alex Caveille, Lola Bevan-Petrucco, Brooklyn Brown, Jay Jay Lincoln, Grace Jenkins, Erin Reeves, Ella Bartovsky, Jack Atkinson, Leo Wolsencroft and Nolan Vass.

Year 8: Daniel Falconer, Riley Bristol, Olivia Stanley, Grace Baker and Alice Clarke.

Year 9: Belle Fey, Tom Stancliffe, Emily Earle, Evie Jarrett, Jack Heptinstall, Henry Fairholm, Maddy Thomas, Nahla Mengoud and Kiran Glen-Sawlan.

Year 10: Luke Welsby, Maida Mohamed, Yusra Ahmed, Kanye Christie and Sumeya Maxamuud.

Highest praise earners in Term 6 . Well done to all of you for receiving the most praises during Term 6  :-

Cerys Voisey (7T1) 131, Ella Bartovsky (7T2) 238, Evie Roberts (8T) 126, Michael Sirrell (9T2) 132, Gabbie Marcovitch (9T1)101, Adam Britton (10T) 63.

I would also like to recognise the top 10 highest praise earners across Turing House for the whole school year. There are some impressive totals, in particular Ella Bartovsky in 7T2 who managed to break the 1,000 mark. An incredible achievement by you all:- 

Ella Bartovsky 1099, Michael Sirrell 988, Marcus Perry 921, Manon Herzog 920, Phoebe Oakman 903, Owen Moss 894, Luke James 870, Hope Roberts 862, Hannah Lange 855, Winnie Fey 841

As members of Turing House, we should always look to better ourselves in all that we do.  Therefore, I am delighted to highlight the students who have made the greatest improvement in their behaviour during Term 5-6, and my challenge to you all is to come back in September and raise the bar again. Huge congratulations to:-

Brooklyn Brown (7T1), Kanye Christie (10T), Lola Bamborough (7T2), Rwanda Dahir (10T), Amrit Gill (10T), Maida Mohamed (10T), Lola Bevan-Petrucco (7T1), Macy Curthoys (8T), Ryan Bundy (10T) and Layla Clarke (10T)

I now turn my attention to the “Unsung Heroes” of the Turing tutor groups for the year. Each tutor had the mammoth task of identifying one student who has demonstrated our house values of ‘determination’, ‘unity’ and ‘acceptable’ consistently. These students have shown strength of character and kindness, as well as resilience in what has been another challenging year. Therefore, I would like to congratulate the following  ‘Magnificent Turings’:-

7T1 Cerys Voisey, 7T2 Jackson Burbridge, 8T Evie Roberts, 9T1 Grace Lowther-Harris, 9T2 Henry Fairholm and 10T Luke Welsby.

Last, but by no means least we come to the House Championship……CONGRATULATIONS Turing House, you did it again! We have regained the cup and retained the sports cup for a third year running. Throughout the year individual Turing students have stepped up to faculty competitions, and joined together in team competitions to show unity and commitment. I want to thank every single student who has been involved in the house competition, because without you, we would not be House Champions. Our values and ethos are a ‘golden thread’ in all that we do. As your Head of House I couldn’t be more proud. 

Finally, I would like to wish you all a fantastic summer break, so that we can return refreshed and ready for the new challenges of 2021-2022.

Mrs Price, Head of Turing House

And just like that, the school year is over! 

I would like to start off by saying how proud I am of Yousafzai House and of all the individuals in it. They are an absolute delight and it is a real pleasure and joy to be their Head of House. Despite the challenges of this year, we have still managed to make the most of it and had a great year! 

The most recent highlight was celebrating Malala Yousafzai’s birthday. With a run up to the 12th July, we held a birthday card design and a birthday cake competition. Leah Wardingley won the card design and cards were made using her design for all of the tutor groups to sign and we have sent them off to Malala herself! Naomi Burr made an incredible birthday cake including the quote - One teacher, one child, one pen can change the world. Across the house, students came together to make a video to tell the story of Malala so far and to explain how she has inspired us and what it means to be in Yousafzai house. This was shown to the whole school so they could understand more of who Malala is and what we stand for as a house. We celebrated in tutor time by hosting a quiz, congratulations to winners 10P2 and 8S. Malala Yousafzai is truly an inspirational young person who has taught us to make the most of every opportunity that we are given and so it was great to be able to celebrate her for the day! 

Also in recent news, we have appointed our new house leaders. Will Stratton in 10Y2 and Amani Islam in 10Y1 are Yousafzai’s new house leaders. They are two exceptional students who have high expectations of themselves, will work hard to achieve them and will also strive to look out for others - all qualities that we look for in Yousafzai students. I have no doubt that they will lead the house brilliantly next year and I look forward to working with them - making Yousafzai the best house it can be. 

We ended the year with our celebration of achievement assembly. At each assembly, two individuals are nominated by their tutor for having an outstanding term. This term, our Malala greats are:

• 7Y - Faisa Ismail and Samuel Jones
• 8Y1  - Ikran Issa and Logan O’Donnell
• 8Y2  - Joe Brooks and Charlie Lane
• 9Y - Leon Essam and Sienna Mccleary
• 10Y1 - Edie Church and Amani Islam 
• 10Y2 - Will Stratton and Megan De Wet

We celebrated as a house this term as we had the best behaviour ratio across the school. Ethos competitions are really important for Yousafzai house as our behaviour and attendance show people what we are and how much we value our education. Yousafzai have worked really hard this term on their behaviour so it was brilliant to win that house competition.

In terms of the whole house championship, we finished in third place. It has been a close race for second with Stephenson house - they pipped us at the post and won a deserved second. Huge congratulations to Turing house for winning overall - they have held that sport cup for most of the year and a big well done for securing it at the end. Well done to Pankhurst too for winning almost everything in the last couple of terms. The house system is brilliant at St Katherine’s - whilst there is a good amount of competitiveness, it has really added to the community of the school - and it is a pleasure to work with Mr Murdoch, Mr Thomas and Mrs Price and all of their students. We will come back in September, ready to take the trophy back - we will focus on having the best attendance, behaviour, reading and making sure that there is an entry for every competition. 

7Y have now finished their first year at St Katherine’s! A huge well done! It has not been the year we were hoping for you - but you have showed real resilience in overcoming the challenges and we hope your year 8 will be a little more normal! We think of year 10 who are about to embark on their final year of St Katherine’s and whilst they have a big year ahead of them, I have no doubt that they all will work extremely hard and we will be celebrating in style next year! 

And finally - Yousafzai House - like I said - it is such a joy to be your Head of House. Thank you for being excellent! Have a wonderful six weeks off - rest well - and come back ready and raring to go in September.

As always, thank you to all the parents and carers for supporting our young people and Yousafzai House this year. Have an incredible summer break and we’ll see you soon! 

Miss Andrews, Head of Yousafzai House

• We have been back in competitive action against other schools in term 6 and are really pleased that we've been able to give more students more opportunities to represent the school in what has otherwise been a bit of a barren year.
• We've seen more athletics records tumble in PE lessons despite students having not done any school outdoor athletics for more than 2 years!
• Students have been busy making the most of their last opportunities to attend our revised morning, lunchtime and after school clubs. Our clubs programme will change again next year and it has been great to see so many making the most of the opportunities available to them. We've seen more than half of the students in the school choosing to take part in activities in addition to their PE lessons which is definitely something we are keen to keep going next year!
• We were delighted that we were able to put on a Sports Week for students this year - unsurprisingly this is our favourite week of the school year so we were really looking forward to giving lots of students lots of opportunities to enjoy some extra PE and school sport.
• Sports Week 2021 involved 35 hours of activity across five days and hit 545 of the students who are currently in our school community - we had everything from house competitions to laser agility run festivals to taster sessions which included a huge mobile climbing wall, students spending time in bubbles (only these bubbles are tangible and much more fun that the bubbles we've been used to all year long) as well as some axe throwing.
• As always, there is far too much to tell you about in a few short bullet points so to read all about term 6, get yourself signed up to our termly PE newsletter. You can do that by filling in this form.

• 10 August: A Level results day
• 12 August: GCSE results day
• 02 & 03 September: INSET days
• 06 September: Staggered start to term (See arrangements)
• 06 September: Year 7 Virtual Parent/Carer Information Evening
• 22 September: Year 8-11 Virtual Parent/ Carer Information Evening
• 23 September: School Open Evening, 6-9pm
• 01 October: INSET DAY
• 14 October: Year 7 Parent/Carer Evening, 4-7pm 
• 14 October: Parent Association meeting, 6.30-7.30pm
• 22 October: END OF TERM
• 01 & 02 November: INSET days
• 03 November: Students in school for Term 2

There isn’t enough space here to showcase the huge variety of student experiences and achievements this term. Keep up to date by visiting the ‘News and Events’ section on the school website, check the school Facebook page or follow us on Twitter (@stkathsschool)