St Mary's Junior School news 22 January 2021
Happy New Year from everyone at St Mary's School, Cambridge!
Welcome to our latest round-up of news and developments. Despite the national lockdown in the UK, our Admission's team remain open during usual office hours, and are still processing applications, assessing girls remotely and offering places so do get in touch should you have any questions, queries, or would like to organise a Zoom to speak to us about our Junior School, then Debbie, our Junior School Admissions Officer, would be more than happy to help!
This lockdown we are building on the excellent feedback we received in response to our remote learning provision, which has been in place since March, as well as our hybrid (face-to-face and online) learning that we have provided from when we were allowed to restart physical teaching and learning. We feel confident, therefore, for all new and existing pupils, that they will still benefit from our exceptional, unique education despite the current challenges.
Why not watch this taster from lockdown learning #1 when our Reception children received some exciting visitors, to see an example of our remote learning provision!
We hope you enjoy the latest newsletter and it provides useful insight into what we have been getting up to this month in our Junior School.
Best wishes to you all in these difficult times.
Mrs Jeanette Ariano
Head of Admissions and Marketing
PS - Why not take a look at our film libraries and Youku channel to learn more about St Mary's?
Start as they mean to go on at St Mary's Preschool!
As you are aware we are opening a new Preschool for girls aged 3-4, to widen the reach of our St Mary's family. The website has now gone live!
Find out more about our Preschool, and do pass this exciting news on to any friends and family who may have a girl who would like to come and join us.
If you would like to find out more about our new Preschool Class, or to apply for a place, please contact Debbie Hodson in our Admissions Team at: admissions@stmaryscambridge.co.uk or on +44 (0)1223 224 177.
Mrs Joanne Christian to become new Head of Juniors in Sept 2021
At St Mary's we recently announced that we are sadly saying goodbye to our current Head of Juniors, Mr Matthew O'Reilly, at the end of the year. We are delighted to announce that Mrs Joanne Christian has been appointed as our new Head of St Mary’s Junior School, Cambridge, starting in post in September 2021.
Read more about our exciting new appointment and watch the film she recorded for our girls.
Full steam ahead for Junior School STEM Learning Lab
St Mary's Junior School has successfully secured planning approval for its ambitious plans for a new, dedicated STEM Learning Lab.
The proposed plans will take St Mary's STEM provision to the next level, enabling our specialist STEM teachers to further nurture students on their journey to becoming tomorrow's innovators. The STEM lab will be developed on the Junior School site and puts forward an original and exciting design, which includes:
- A large teaching display
- Clever storage for STEM equipment
- Flexible folding desks, which can be hidden to open up floor space for collaborative, practical tasks
This development will build on a strong track record for STEM in Junior School - a STEM Ambassador School - where students have celebrated success as international iCool Robotics finalists and national RoboCupJunior Champions.
Find out more.
Reception grow beanstalks!
Reception are setting themselves up for a busy and exciting home learning experience. We have made calendars to practice our months of the year and are together are crossing off a day every afternoon during story time. We have also planted our own beanstalks after reading Jack and the Beanstalk and will be keeping diaries as we watch them grow!
Although it is difficult being far away from our friends, we are enjoying saying hello online every day and sharing our learning with each other.
Year 2 create Aboriginal dot paintings
In Year 2 we have looked at the painting 'The Tree of Life' by Gustav Klimt.
Klimt was very influenced by the artwork of the Ancient Egyptians, who we have just started studying. The girls produced their own pictures that were inspired by Klimt's. They used patterns, shapes, colours and images to draw their 'Tree of Life'.
Junior School on-demand open event
News from our Junior School
Useful resources
Take a virtual tour of our Junior School
Our Junior School is a hidden gem in the heart of Cambridge - quite literally!
Located on Chaucer Road, with a back door that leads right onto the beautiful, tranquil surrounds of Coe Fen - complete with our own herd of cows! It really is the most perfect, safe, unique and inspirational space to educate tomorrow's innovators and leaders! We feel truly blessed.
Due to the lockdown we have built a wealth of digital resources to, hopefully, prove a useful alternative to a face-to-face visit.
From a film tour with current Head Mr O'Reilly, to a 360 degree tour where you are in control of your visit, take a look at our virtual tours.
Let us know if you have any questions and we look forward to welcoming you to our, very special, Junior School just as soon as we can.
Read our Junior School prospectus
We have a prospectus that you can read online. Let us know if you need any more resources that you would find useful - especially in these unprecedent times.
You can read our prospectus online.
Questions you should ask before choosing the right independent school for your daughter
We meet many families who are thinking hard about whether an independent school education is right for their daughters. In this blog, Head of Marketing and Admissions, Jeanette Ariano, talks about what questions to ask to help you decide, and also looks at the St Mary's provision.
From 'Does the school's values match yours' as a family?' to 'Does the school's values match yours' as a family?' this blog answers many questions and may provide a useful resource to pass on to your families who are looking for a school for their child.
Take a read of our blog today to ensure you are asking all the right questions!
Contact us
Year 6 reflect on what WW2 evacuees experienced
In Year 6 this week, we have started our study of World War 2. In English, we have been reading the wonderful book ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’, the story of an evacuee boy William Beech who is taken in by Tom Oakley. The girls have enjoyed reading chapters in their ERIC sessions as well as looking at the idea of pathetic fallacy and investigating the setting of the story – the fictional village of Little Weirwold.
In History lessons, girls have learnt about what it was like to be evacuated from London at the outbreak on World War 2 and listened to the broadcast from Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret to evacuated children in 1940. They were also very surprised to hear that many children from London had never been to the countryside at all and even did not know what sheep and cows looked like!
They have thought about what evacuees would have taken with them on their journey, and written letters to appeal for a kind and caring family to take them in.
Apply to St Mary's Junior School
We have a few spaces available for a September 2021 start in some years, with waiting lists in others, so please contact us for further information.
We are accepting applications for boarders in Years 5 and 6, and we have started to accept applications for Reception starting in September 2022 and 2023. We are also taking applications for the new Preschool, which will open in September 2021.
To learn more about how to join St Mary's, please visit our website or contact us to arrange a tour.
UK admissions - Junior School
Debbie Hodson +44 (0)1223 224 177
Junior School Year R-6 | Day & Boarding
If you can't come to us, we come to you!
We hosted a very popular online event to enable families to 'visit' our School in place of our usual open event. We know some of you were busy, however we are delighted to let you know this is now available on-demand!
Explore teacher talks and films from Head, Mr O'Reilly, alongside key teaching staff from across the school. Why not spend some time listening to what they had to say, or let us know if you would prefer to set up a personalised Zoom to find out more remotely as we can no longer see you in person.
Register for on-demand access now.