GCSE Music Pupils Hit Top A*s

Music pupils at a the Mount have reached the high notes after record success in GCSE results.

All five pupils who took music GCSE at the Mount St Mary’s College achieved A*.

Among the musicians was James Kulmer who added to the A* in Maths and A grade in Statistics that he already had with another 4 A*s and 5 As.

Overall results at the college have improved once again with A* and A’s up to 27.3%, while A’s and B’s are up again to 54%.

One of the Mount’s top performing students was sixteen-year-old Amer Qaiyum, who is familiar with GCSEs after achieving an A in Statistics when he was just in year 9 and last year achieved an A* in Maths in year 10. His success continued this year achieving 8 A*s and 1 A. He said: “I’m now going into sixth form at the College to study Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.”

Other top achievers included Alex Treece, who got his first GCSE when he was just 12.  Alex now has 8 A*s , 2 As and a B, and will be weekly boarding at the Mount to benefit even more from the extensive range of extra curricular activities as well as concentrating on his studies in the Sixth Form.

Overseas boarder Gabrielle Watts gained 6 A*s and an A to add to her Latin, Maths and RS GCSEs that she sat last year.

Joining Amer’s and Alex’s success are Caroline Oliver, who achieved 2 A*s, 6 As and 1 B. Caroline said: “I’m thrilled with my results and I am going to continue my education at Mount St Mary’s studying French, Biology, Chemistry and Physics at A Level.”

Laurence McKell, Headmaster at Mount St Mary’s, said: “Congratulations to all our pupils on their fantastic achievements in their GCSEs. We at the college are immensely proud of all of them for the hard work and dedication they have shown in the run up towards their most challenging time in education so far."

“Credit must also go to our excellent staff who have shown all our pupils dedicated support throughout their studies. I would like to congratulate in particular the music staff and Director of Music, Lucy Kitchener, for this year’s record achievements in music. Although we are a non-selective school, these results demonstrate how we continue to achieve high standards and help pupils to fulfill their potential."

“At Mount St Mary’s, our ethos is focused on developing well rounded young men and women, and these results reflect our commitment to ensuring they leave school ready to face whatever challenges and opportunities lie ahead.”

Record-breaking A-level results for Mount St Mary’s

There is much celebration at Mount St Mary’s College after the school achieved record-breaking A-level results for the third year running.

A and B grades are up again to 51%, with 30% securing A* and A grades.

Leading the way were Head Boy and Head Girl James Proudfoot and Victoria Coe with 1 A* and 2 As and 3As respectively.  James, 18, has already secured his place at Durham to read law and Victoria, 18, is about to embark on a gap year and confirm her intention to perhaps read medicine.

Eighteen-year-old Naseem Sharif, Deputy Head Boy at Mount St Mary’s, said: “I got two As in Maths and Biology and two A* grades in Physics and Chemistry and now I’ll be off to study medicine at the University of Manchester.”

Deputy Head Boy, Richard Duggan, 18, achieved an A* grade in Religious Studies, an A in English and B in History. He said: “I’m really pleased and I want to say thank you to the school because it has been a great pleasure to come here and they have really helped me to achieve my grades. I am going to go off to Newcastle to do law and hopefully go on to be a barrister.”

With three As in Biology, Chemistry and Maths, Deputy Head Girl Frances Oliver, 18, said: “I am hoping to take a gap year and then study veterinary medicine in 2011. I have loved being at Mount St Mary’s, the teachers are brilliant and I have had the best seven years of my life so far.”

Laurence McKell, Headmaster at Mount St Mary’s, said: “Congratulations to all our pupils on a truly outstanding set of A-level results. We are incredibly proud of all our pupils for the hard work they have put in and the excellent attitude they have shown to study and learning."

“Credit must also go to our talented staff team for the support they have shown preparing and guiding students over the last two years. Although we are a non-selective school, these results demonstrate how we continue to achieve high standards and help pupils to fulfil their potential."

“At Mount St Mary’s, our ethos is focused on developing well rounded young men and women, and these results reflect our commitment to ensuring they leave school ready to face whatever challenges and opportunities lie ahead.”

Men and Women for Others

Sixth-form pupils at Mount St Mary’s College had the opportunity to show that they really are “men and women for others” when they hosted the college’s first Children’s Holiday Week, a new charitable venture.  The project, which has been two years in the planning, allows local children with disabilities and special learning needs to come and enjoy a holiday at the Mount. 

Over the four days of the event, we welcomed children from Home-Based, a Chesterfield charity which helps children with life-limiting illnesses for an afternoon of sensory activities.  We also welcomed children from Fairplay, also based in Chesterfield, who visited for two evenings.  Children from Stubbin Wood Special School in Shirebrook came to stay in some of the boarding accommodation and make use of the Mount’s splendid facilities.

Mrs McKell, the teacher in charge of the event, said: “This was a really worthwhile experience for all our sixth-formers.  They impressed the visiting staff with their enthusiasm, their willingness to get involved, and the work they had put into preparing a range of exciting activities and experiences for the children who participated.”

During their visit, the children had the opportunity to go swimming in the school pool, decorate biscuits in the refectory, have a treasure hunt and enjoy an Olympic Games event on the school’s Olympic standard athletics track.  They also enjoyed participating in a celebration Mass in the school chapel.

The Children’s Holiday Week is a new venture for Mount St Mary’s, created to help give Sixth Formers the opportunity to be of service to others in keeping with the Jesuit motto, “men and women for others”.  The holiday week will become an annual event, taking place in the last week of the summer term.

Degree Level Success in Biology!

Rhetoric biologists Naseem Sharif, Morwenna Egan and Frances Oliver completed a 10 point level 1 degree level short course through a self-led study during the year through the Open University YASS programme.

The pupils passed the short course level 1 Open University courses. Naseem completed the course ‘Molecules, medicines and drugs: a chemical story’, while Morwenna and Frances completed the course ‘Darwin and evolution’. This study beyond A-level helped stretch and challenge our brightest biologists, as well as developing self-disciplined learning ready for university.

The students completed the courses on their own following the course study guide, completing and passing a final written assessment successfully.

Taster Day for Year 5 Pupils.

Mount St Mary's held a taster day for Year 5 pupils from Barlborough Hall School to give them the opportunity to find out about the Mount, secondary school life and what we have on offer for pupils at the school.

All the pupils enjoyed the day immensely and found out lots of useful things about moving up to a secondary school and what it would be like here. We hope to see many of them entering the Mount in 2011!

By George she's done it!

Sophie George, a year 10 student (Grammar), has recently won a number of medals and awards from her Roller Hockey club during the last week of half term.

Sophie won a medal for winning the League as well as three awards for playing in the Sheffield Raptors team, being best player and for best efforts at Roller Hockey.

Sophie trains twice a week with the Raptors, and she has being training for over a year at Virtual Ice, Rotherham.

Congratulations Sophie for winning all these medals and for all your efforts!

Peak District Camping Trip

Rudiments (Year 9) pupils experienced an overnight camping and survival trip in the Peak District recently. They enjoyed orienteering and hiking in the Edale Valley as well as cooking their own dinner using rations from a special food parcel and surviving on a fixed amount of water.

The Camp is a great way to develop pupils' survival techniques and is a fantastic initiation into Duke of Edinburgh Award and CCF training. Although it is very different to what the pupils are used to at school, they did very well and enjoyed the whole trip.

Visit to Chester Zoo

Upper Elements (Year 7) spent the day exploring Chester Zoo for Mount St Mary's Science Week.

The visit included a lecture on adaptation featuring a hissing cockroach called Colin and a corn snake.

As you can see from the picture, the visit was a memorable one!

Up, up and away!

Rudiments (Year 9) pupils visited the National Space Museum at the National Space Centre in Leicester in early June, as part of Mount St Mary's science week.

They took part in a 'How Science Works' workshop on rocket design which they all enjoyed very much and learnt a lot from too.

Mount St Mary's prides itself on educating pupils both in the classroom and out of it, through organising trips to relevant organisations and projects to encourage learning in a more visual way.

Ella's poetry pleases judges

Congratulations to boarder Ella Watts in Syntax, who is following in the footsteps of a former resident of the Mount. Almost 150 years after Gerald Manley Hopkins taught at Mount St Mary's, Ella (the winner of the Manley Hopkins poetry prize at this year's Grand Academy) has won a national poetry competition.

Ella entered the Simon Powell Poetry Competition after attending a Poetry Live! day in Sheffield with the rest of her year group.  Her prize is to attend a special poetry day at the Barbican in London along with the other top entrants, receiving inspiration from today's top poets and receiving a set of signed anthologies. 

Poetry Live! is an annual event, at various venues throughout England, that has made poetry accessible to hundreds of thousands of pupils over the last ten years.

Rhetoric Science Croquet Competition

The annual rhetoric v staff croquet competition was held on 27th May. The event sees the science staff taking on rhetoric scientists to be crowned croquet champions of 2010.

The event is fancy dress and costumes ranged from Jack Sparrow to the Blues Brothers and Alice to the Mad Hatter (the latter being the two finalists) against Mr Naughton and Mr Ives (who held onto their title).

A buffet supper was laid on for the event and great fun was had by all!

Scholarship Treat!

The successful recipients of this year's scholarships for entry to Upper Elements (Year 7) enjoyed a special treat as a reward for their hard work. 

Mr and Mrs McKell hosted a Headmaster's tea in the Jesuit Library for the children and their proud families, to celebrate their success and encourage them to do their best once they join Mount St Mary's in September. 

Congratulations to Nithin, Jasmine, Elliot, Jack, Annie and Georgina, all from our preparatory school Barlborough Hall, and to James from Marsh Lane Primary School, on their success.  The scholarships, for academic and musical ability, will give the children a substantial discount on their school fees until they leave after A Levels. 

Congratulations to them all!

Cadet 150th Anniversary Reception in London

Lieutenant Colonel Glyn Powell and Lieutenant Alison Hoskin represented Mount St Mary's at the 150th Anniversary of the Cadet Movement at the Guildhall, City of London on Wednesday 2nd June.

The reception was held in the prescence of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, KG KT and the Lord Mayor of London.

It was held to thank the Adult Officers who support the Cadet Movement across the country. It was a special occasion with Flutes and Corps of Drums Beating the Retreat.

Lieutenant Colonel Glyn Powell and Lieutenant Alison Hoskin both said, "We were honoured to represent Mount St Mary's at this 150th Anniversary reception of the Cadet Movement and meet other Adult Officers from throughout the country. It was a truly memorable day."

Academy Day at Mount St Mary's

This special day began with Mass in the Memorial Chapel at 10.00am led by Fr Peter Willcocks a former chaplain and teacher at the school.

Between 11.00am and 12.00noon, parents and guests were treated to displays and demonstrations around the school from the Combined Cadet Forces, fencing students, music pupils and a drama production “Clara’s on the Curtains”, by Arthur Lovegrove.

Prize Giving began at 12.00noon with the Headmaster’s report followed by Prize Giving for pupils of all years. Many children were rewarded for their hard work with prizes. Special mention must go to Rhetorician Naseem Sharif who won The Baines Memorial Prize for Special Excellence in Mathematics (in memory of Fr Ralph Baines SJ, OM 1897), The Finn Science Essay Prize (given by A.J. Finn Esq., OM '48), The Morrissey Debating Prize (in memory of Lt Cdr B. Morrissey, D.J.L., R.N., OM '18), Chemistry Senior Prize, Physics Senior Prize, Rhetoric Science Prize (in memory of J. Meskell Harvey Esq., M.B.E., F.C.A., OM '18) and the Prize for Overall Excellence in Science, and Ian Taylor who won the Headmaster’s Prize for 2010 for his outstanding contribution and support of the school.

Charlotte Bergin (OM ’04) was the guest speaker and regaled the audience with her memories of the Mount, and her experiences, including working for Bill Clinton, since leaving.

Finally, the Head Boy, James Proudfoot and Head Girl, Victoria Coe, both gave the vote of thanks and excellent speeches on their time at the Mount to round off the ceremony.

You can now view all the images from the day here.

Sports Day at the Mount

The annual sports day was held at the Mount on Wednesday 26th May. Pupils within the Junior, Inter and Senior Schools competed across a range of athletics activities throughout the afternoon.

There were some excellent performances within the competition.

At the end of the afternoon, the results were added up. The Junior House Trophy was won by Campion and the Inter and Senior House Trophies were won by Southwell which meant that the overall winner was Southwell.

The Victor and Victrix Ludorum prizes will be presented at Prize Giving during Academy on Saturday 29th May.

Election Day at the Mount!

The theatre at the Mount was home to some last minute dramatic electioneering and impassioned speeches by the representatives of the Conservative, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat and UKIP parties.

Each candidate had three minutes to put over their party's main beliefs. The Conservative representative Richard Duggan promoted the Party's policies on raising standards in schools and backing the NHS. This was followed by George Freeman for the UKIP party who reminded everyone that the daily contribution to the EU by Britain of £45 million could be used tosort out the economic crisis we are in.  

Amer Qaiyum stood up for the Liberal Democrats, promoting real change and fair taxes to put money back into our pockets. Alex Treece promoted the Labour Party agenda by promoting a future fair for all with a promise to rebuild the economy and reform and protect our public services.

Finally Ella Watts spoke for the Green Party, promoting a back to basics agenda, focusing on the importance of the environment around us, clean energy policies and looking to safeguard the planet for future generations.

To round off these speeches, each candidate had the opportunity to reply to any points made by opposition candidates in their speeches and encourage the electorate to vote for them in a one minute summation.

The voters were at last able to vote for their chosen candidate and the winner of the election was UKIP with 111 votes, followed by the Conservatives with 65 and the Green Party with 30. Congratulations to George Freeman of UKIP for his win!

Riding High!

Erin Williams (Upper Elements - Year 7) recently attended the ‘Concours de Dressage International’ competition held at the prestigious Cadrenoir, Saumur, in the Loire Valley of France. This is France's premier dressage show and riders came from all over Europe. Erin was one of the four pony riders sent from Great Britain (GB) riding her pony Danny Boy. 

In order to compete at an FEI competition such as this, the pony and rider must first pass a formal 'trot up' - a vet inspection - prior to commencement of the competition.  Erin and Danny Boy passed this test with flying colours.

Erin rode in three competitive classes, the most important class being the Team Test where she placed a superb 9th position out of 40 of the best competitors from around Europe.   Erin was the second highest of the four Great Britain riders with the majority of the higher placed riders being in their 16th and final year of pony competition so Erin was in very good company and did extremely well.  Team GB came 3rd overall so they had a place on the podium! 

Overall, it was a very successful show and we hope that Erin and Danny Boy have done enough to secure their place on the Team GB of four riders at the European Championships in July.  This is the highest level possible for pony dressage riders to achieve and if Erin is successful this year, she will be the youngest ever to ride on the Great Britain pony team.

Fencing Championships

Nina Zimmerman travelled to the National Sports Institute in Sheffield on Monday May 3rd to compete in the Girls under 16 foil in the British Youth Fencing Championships.

Nina had a successful opening round. Drawn as one of seven girls in Poule 3 she fought six bouts, and won three. She gained a ranking of 4 as she passed into the Direct Knockout Round. Here Nina was drawn against an English international fencer and, although knocked out, she put up a very courageous and spirited display. Mr Jenkins said that throughout the event Nina displayed exemplary coolness and professionalism.

This week we also received confirmation that Nina’s ranking is 19 out of 38 for the under 16 fencers. Well done Nina on this fantastic achievement and our thanks to Adam Blight for his continual exceptional coaching.

Policies v Polyester: You decide! 

Naseem Sharif and James Proudfoot took to the floor to propose the motion “this house believes that the smoke and mirrors of TV debating is good for modern politics”. They gave a spirited oration of their points of views, citing TV as a breeding ground for political ideology demonstrating the importance of this medium and that as TV is a popular pastime of the general public, so politics should adapt. We were reminded that a certain BNP leader’s stint on Question Time got more viewers than an episode of Lost and that the leadership debates have given the general public the opportunity to tune in and engage both with politics and this Election through their medium of choice. 

Richard Duggan and George Freeman gave an equally robust performance opposing the motion, arguing that the politicians should get out onto the streets and meet the people face to face rather than hiding behind their polyester suits on National television! They did not want political commentators wondering about how much foundation each man was wearing or how blue, red or orange a leader’s tie was! They drummed the point home that they did not want to see potential leaders of the country arguing like pupils in secondary school squabbling match! They wanted real politics: substance over image.

After some excellent questions, some very considered opinions from the floor and the dramatic closing speeches from both sides (as the picture above of Naseem shows), the votes were cast. On this occasion, the opposition to the motion were declared the victors of this mighty political showdown.

French Educational Trip to Château Beaumont

March saw the inaugural Year 8 French trip to Château Beaumont, an Education, Language and Activity Centre in Chailland, Southern Normandy, France.  Thirty students alongside Mme Owers, Miss Synnot and Mr Fry participated in the experience. 

The Château was set in 10 acres of private grounds and had been converted to accommodate school groups.  Facilities included Classroom, Fencing Salle, Disco Hall and Common room and activities included Archery, Initiative exercises, Aeroball, a Talent Show, a French Fancy Dress and Quiz Evening (when students had the opportunity of trying Frogs Legs and Snails!).  When not busy trying their hand at various activities students visited Laval market, a Hypermarket, the Pirate town of St Malo with its splendid beach, Mont St Michel and the mediaeval castle at Fougères.

Students are invited to bring along their parents/siblings on Wednesday 9th June at 7.30 to the theatre for a Feedback Evening, when we will share photographs and talk about our experiences over a glass of French wine or jus d’orange.

Next year’s Figures’ Trip is scheduled to take place from March 28th-April 1st 2011.  The closing date for applications is 25th May 2010.  Places are limited and application forms are available from Mme Owers in the Modern Languages department.

Sword and Shield

Following head boy James Proudfoot's success at Stonyhurst last term, where he won gold in the senior students fencing, James has now been presented with the winner’s shield for the Lancashire Schools Boys’ Under 20 Foil.

The shield that James is holding (left) includes the names of previous winners who have gone on to become noted fencers over the past twenty years.

Congratulations to James for an excellent display of fencing. Thanks, once again, must go to our coach Mr Adam Blight whose dedicated work has made this possible.