Celebration of Senior School students at Prize Giving Ceremony

St Mary’s Senior School students from Year’s 7-13 gathered for our annual prize giving ceremonies on Friday 1 July – at two separate events (one for Year’s 7-9 and the other for Year’s 10-13).

At both events, students listened in awe to delightful musical performances from talented peers including Solveig S, who set the atmosphere for the Year 7-9 ceremony with ‘Mazurka in A Minor’ on the recorder, accompanied by Dr Rutter on the piano. At the Year 10-13 event, attendees were entertained by a musical performance of ‘Together in Spirit’ (Jon Raybould) by students Zoe W. and Lily F. on flutes and Sophia Z. on the piano.  They were also wowed by a beautiful string quartet performance of ‘Sway’ from Jasmine L. and Davina Y. on the violin, Maryam G. on the Viola and Ruth W. on the Cello.  Both events enjoyed a stunning harp solo of Etude de Concert: Au Matin - Marcel Tournier by Sophia K.

Head Girl, Anna H., welcomed students at both ceremonies with an opening speech before Ms Charlotte Avery gave a thought-provoking talk reflecting on the year. St Mary’s was also delighted to welcome guest speaker Cindy Forde, founder of Planetari – an education platform designed to empower children with the knowledge and skills to be the innovators, entrepreneurs and global citizens who protect the planet and ensure the wellbeing of all its inhabitants. Cindy spoke to both age groups about the importance about using your voice to make change, it was a rousing call to arms! Students from the school’s debating teams then rounded off the speech section of proceedings with an overview of some key 2022 highlights.

The time then arrived for the eagerly awaited prize giving ceremony.  Accolades handed out this year included the Empathy Award; the Perseverance and Resilience Prize; and the Mary Ward Building Friendship Prize - to name just a few. There were also a range of special awards such as the Governors’ Prizes for Excellence, the Morag Chapman Creative Writing Prize and the Mary Ward Prize for Lower Sixth Personal Development.

Well done to everyone at St Mary’s for another outstanding year.

You can see a gallery of images from both events here.