St Mary's Sixth Form 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. As you may be aware we are emailing you as the UK is in a national lockdown and our school has yet again closed its physical doors to all but keyworker children (keyworkers include those working for our National Health Service and Education, for example).
We are continuining to support all of our Sixth Form students with our excellent remote learning provision, as well as, of course, mantaining contact regularly to ensure they remain positive, and mentally well, in such challenging times.
In addition, our Admission's team remain open during usual office hours, and are still processing applications and offering places so do get in touch should you have a girl who you think would be a good fit for our school.
This lockdown we are building on the excellent feedback we had in response to our remote learning provision that has been in place since March, and through our hybrid (face-to-face and online) learning that we have provided when we were allowed to restart physical teaching and learning. We feel confident, therefore, for all new and existing boarders, they will still benefit from an excellent British education despite the current challenges.
Find out what we have been getting up to in this month's newsletter, and 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 to learn more about St Mary's?
If you can't come to us, we come to you!
In these challenging times we appreciate it is hard to make a decision on your next step to Sixth Form without visiting in-person. We are, however, more than happy to set up a personalised Zoom for you should this be of interest. You can meet our Director of Sports, relevant subject leads, Head of Sixth Form and, of course, Admissions staff all from the comfort of your own home! Just get in touch and we will be more than happy to set it up.
In addition, 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 Headmistress, Miss Avery, 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.
News from our Sixth Form
Top marks for teaching and learning from parents
At the end of 2020, we asked our current parents to complete a teaching and learning survey. The summary of results are below:
- 97% said their daughter had enjoyed being back in school
- 96% agreed that their daughter felt safe in school
- 99% felt that their daughter had adapted well to the return to learning in school
- 89% agreed their daughter felt confident in her subject-specific expectations
- 85% felt that their daughter is confident that she is progressing well in all subjects
- 94% agreed that their daughter is receiving the academic support she needs in school
Read the full article here.
Learning Lunches go digital to explore careers in the pharmaceutical industry
Despite Lockdown III, St Mary's Sixth Form girls are still taking every opportunity to connect with extra-curricular learning opportunities.
This week, we were delighted to share a lunchtime Zoom with Jules Kovacevic, a St Mary's alumna currently living and working in Serbia.
Jules works as a Medical Writer for Ergomed, a global company focused on clinical development, trial management and pharmacovigilance for over 200 different clients, including the world's top 10 pharmaceutical companies. With the race to develop Covid-19 vaccines so topical at present, Jules provided girls with a very interesting 'behind-the-scenes' insight into the complexities involved in bringing safe medicines to market.
Find out more.
Celebrating musical success
Our Sixth Form musicians continue to flourish and thrive despite the current restrictions. This photo was taken during the recording session of the song ‘True Colors’ for our virtual Christmas showcase. This was the perfect opportunity to present Lottie B.-T. with the Gilvan Trophy for Singing which she won at the Cambridge Music Festival earlier this year. Congratulations Lottie!
Find out more about music at St Mary's.
Dr Flint publishes article in Hindsight magazine
With nearly 50% of our teaching staff Oxbridge-educated, we are extremely lucky to have some very talented teaching staff - all experts in their chosen field. Many of our teaching staff publish articles, and some have even authored their own books!
Congratulations this month go to to Dr Andrew Flint, Teacher of History & Politics and High Performance Learning Lead, who has recently published another article in the January 2021 edition of Hindsight magazine - the magazine for GCSE students.
Find out more.
Miss Powell becomes new Director of Sport
We are delighted to announce that Miss Louise Powell is the new Director of Sport at St Mary's School, Cambridge. Louise has been promoted to her new position to help St Mary's drive forward the next stage of our inspiring and ambitious strategy for sport.
Find out more.
Useful resources
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!
Sixth Form Online Tour
Our Sixth Form is right in the centre of Cambridge - a renowned seat of learning and a cosmopolitan mix of inspirations and influences.
Located on Brookside - a next door neighbour to the University of Cambridge botanic gardens and a stone's throw from the Fitzwilliam Museum. 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.
You can also see a snapshot of life in our Sixth Form.
Read our Sixth Form 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.
Contact us
Apply to St Mary's Sixth Form
UK admissions - Sixth Form
We have a few spaces available for a September 2021 start in Year 12 so please contact us for further information.
To learn more about how to join St Mary's, please visit our website or contact us to arrange a tour when restrictions allow.
Tracey Headland +44 (0)1223 224 167
Contact me today.
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