Full term dates for 2015-2016 are available on the College website: www.stmarysblackburn.ac.uk

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Tuesday 17 November 2015 - Y12/13 Parents’ Evening

Wednesday 25 November 2015 - Y12/Y13 Parents’ Evening

Wednesday 2 December 2015 - Admissions Interview Evening

Wednesday 16 December 2015 - College closes for all students

Monday 4 January 2016 - College re-opens for all students, INTERNAL EXAMINATIONS COMMENCE

BE CONNECTED Important dates for your diary

St Mary’s CollegeNEWS Issue 16

September / October 2015

Oxbridge InspirationSt Mary’s College welcomed back former student Dr James Riley and now Fellow of Girton College Cambridge.

James took a masterclass on Gothic literature and also gave a very informative talk to potential Oxford and Cambridge applicants.James (centre) was joined by former students James Harvey (left) and Lorenzo Leoni (right) who are starting at Oxford and Cambridge respectively this autumn.

Frankie’s Charity Bake OffOn Friday 25th September we hosted our very own Macmillan Coffee Morning Bake Off, in Frankies coffee shop.

Well done to all the staff who participated, either by baking or purchasing the goodies. The winning cake, which was decided upon by our blindfolded cake taster Mr Birchby, was Mr Jeans, teacher of Business.

We raised an amazing £135 in the process!

90th Anniversary - Walk In The ParkThe sun was out for our Walk in the Park on 30th September.

Students and staff took part in a Walk around the Park, in the glorious sunshine, to mark our 90th anniversary whilst raising funds for charity.

Thank you to everyone who participated. So far we have raised well over £500, with money still coming in. All proceeds will be going to Save the Children - Syria.

90th Anniversary - Bishop of Salford visitStudents and staff of St Mary’s College were delighted to welcome the Bishop of Salford, John Arnold, on Monday 12th October.

The Bishop took time out of his busy schedule to look round the new developments on the Shear Brow campus and to talk to students about life at St Mary’s. As part of his visit, the Bishop rededicated the original foundation stone, which marked the culmination of the College’s 90th anniversary celebrations.

The cornerstone was laid and previously blessed by the Right Reverend Thomas Henshaw, who was also Bishop of Salford, in June 1930.

A to A* Event On Wednesday 14th October we held an event for high achieving Year 11 pupils and parents that focused on exam preparation, revision techniques and stress management.The aim of the event was to enable students to increase their GCSE grades from A to A*.

Tim Milner, an educational and motivational speaker, lead an exciting and interactive session for the students and parents that would effectively prepare them for their examinations and to cope successfully with the additional stress and pressure that the exam period brings.Mr Milner thought it was a great evening and thanked the “dedicated, professional staff” for their very warm welcome.

AS Photography - Water fightThis term year 12 AS Photography students engaged in a water fight outside college.

The aim was for students to learn how to use the fast shutter speed functions of their camera and produce a set of photographs which showed the slow movement of the water hitting their fellow students. We were lucky that the weather was mild and of course we only used warm water!

Congratulations to our on site St Mary’s Nursery who yet again were awarded OUTSTANDING!The key findings of the latest review highlighted the well organised, “stimulating and meaningful activities” that encourage the children to make rapid progress, along with the fact that the “children’s safety and well-being are central to the outstanding care and education staff provide”.

The enthusiasm of the staff and the “positive engagement” with the children is also described as an outstanding feature. The expertly qualified staff “use their knowledge and understanding of how children learn, to provide challenging, high-quality teaching and learning experiences”.

Tracy Ellett, Manager of the Nursery says, “We are overjoyed with the result of the Ofsted inspection and I would like to thank the staff for their commitment and dedication to the families who use the Nursery. It is a great achievement to receive another OUTSTANDING report and it gives a sense of pride for St Mary’s Nursery to be acknowledged for delivering OUTSTANDING care and education for the children”.“We are very lucky to have such supportive parents and their contributions to nursery life make our tasks easier, especially when meeting children’s individual needs and encouraging them to embrace learning and independence. On the day of the inspection the children were fantastic! The Inspector commented on how well behaved they were and how they played happily together.”

90th Anniversary - CelebrationsSeveral hundred former students and staff converged on St Mary’s College to join in the college’s 90th birthday celebrations on Sturday 19th September.Every decade from the 1940’s to the present day was represented as old friends met up, in some cases, for the first time in forty years.Current college staff were on hand to conduct guided tours of the campus ; a vast array of memorabilia had been assembled with some very rare items on show for the first time in years.The centrepiece of the day was Mass celebrated by eight Marist priests led by Fr Martin McAnaney. Fr Martin and Brother Bruno Chanel had travelled from Paris to be at the celebrations and were joined by Kevin Jennings from the MEA in Dublin.Former Principals Mike Finley and Kevin McMahon were also present.However the day was by no means over as many of the guests stayed on to enjoy a three course dinner and musical entertainment provided by former students Nick Gunn and Jamie Turner.When the lights were finally switched off, we could say that it had been an extremely successful and enjoyable day.

Please take a look at our photographs from the day in our Flipbook via this link... http://issuu.com/stmc/docs/smc_our_90th_celebration_in_picture

There is an opportunity to purchase our Souvenir Booklet “St Mary’s College – Our 90th Year” at a cost of £5. More details are available from Sue Cash on 01254 580464 or via e-mail s.cash@stmarysblackburn.ac.uk

Chemistry ChallengeTwenty nine of our Year 12 students entered the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge in June this year, where they had to complete a 90 minute exam. This competition stretched and challenged our students who are enthusiastic about Chemistry. The questions took them significantly beyond the A level syllabus and encouraged them to think about science in the way they would at university.

It’s been a busy half term at the College - take a look at what’s been going on...

Information EveningsWe hosted two very busy Information Evenings during October, opening our doors to allow year 11 students the opportunity to visit us, get to know the College and what we have to offer. We hope all our prospective students got involved with some of the activities on offer and had those important questions answered. We now look forward to receiving all our applications now and meeting our prospective students on our Admissions evenings, our first on 2nd December.

St Mary’s staff have also been busy throughout the term, visiting schools delivering our roadshows and enjoying meeting and talking with students at schools careers and liaison events.

Inspirational Woman of the Year AwardFormer Assistant Principal, Pat Rogers was voted the Lorraine Show’s ‘Inspirational Woman of the Year’ at an awards ceremony in London, on 19th October. The Lorraine Inspirational Woman of the Year award celebrates real, amazing women. Women who have achieved incredible things, setting up groups or caring for people in communities - and overcoming difficulties against all odds.She was nominated by her friend and also former SMC colleague Sarah Flanagan for her “inspirational work with young people, helping them understand the implications and consequences of drunken or violent actions”, following the death of her son.

Adam was killed during a night out with friends, after intervening when a fight broke out in Blackburn town centre. Pat vowed that her beloved son’s death wouldn’t be in vain, and has worked tirelessly to set up the Every Action Has Consequences charity, which educates people (especially under 25s) on the effects of alcohol and the serious consequences of violent action.

You can read all about the charity and what they are doing, here on their website http://www.eahconsequences.com/As Pat states, “If it saves one person’s life, it would be worth it. But we know that the message is so powerful it’s changing the way young people think.”

Congratulations from all of us at St Mary’s College!

Pat said: ‘’This is for Adam.’’