This week we welcomed Aisling Griffin from the international peace movement Pax Christi into school to speak to our Year 11 students about the meaning of Peace.

Pax Christi is a Catholic movement working towards peace, reconciliation and nonviolence, and the workshop helped students gain valuable insights into the expansive subject that deepen their understand and responses to GCSE paper two.

We’d like to thank Aisling for taking the time to visit us and share her knowledge and experience.

Student President Grace and Vice President Rebecca, joined by Mrs Walker, represented St. Julie's on Sunday as they laid a poppy wreath at the City's ceremony of remembrance at Liverpool Cenotaph outside St. George's Hall.

We would like to thank them for performing this duty on behalf of the whole school community.

On Tuesday this week students in Year 7 proudly wore odd socks in a show of solidarity with the Antibullying Alliance's annual campaign.

Students joined with others across the country of all ages in support of the work that celebrates difference and diversity.

Thanks to all of the students who engaged with the initiative to show their support!

Students in Year 8 stretched their immersive language skills this week by watching a comedy play performed entirely in Spanish!

We welcomed Laura and Mario from Onatti Productions into school, who led students through a dynamic performance of ‘Primera Cita’, which follows the hilarious story of teenagers Carlos and Maria preparing for their first date.

The actors used carefully structured and paced delivery to maximise comprehension whilst still giving a natural delivery to the story that kept the students both engaged and entertained!

The students found the experience really helpful. Thanks to the Onatti team for a great show!

The St. Julie's school community have marked Armistice Day with a ceremony of Remembrance.

Staff and students gathered in the Peace Garden shortly before 11am for a ceremony which opened with reflections on the history of the poppy symbol and it's association with Remembrance, with readings and prayers from members of our 1804 Society.

Wreaths were then laid by representatives from each Year Group. As the Last Post sounded our flag was lowered to half mast by students representing the RAF Air Cadets, and a minute silence was started with the symbolic blowing of a whistle, echoing the signal heard in the trenches of the Great War to go 'over the top' and into enemy fire. 

The perfectly observed period of silence was ended with the tolling of the peace bell.

We would like to thank everyone who prepared for and took part in the ceremony.

We'd like to give a massive well done to the 41 students who took part in the netball league fixture on Wednesday.

We welcomed teams from two schools to St Julie's making a total of 15 teams playing at one time. There were some amazing successes across all five St teams representing St. Julie's!

This week three Year 12 students attended a Nursing Career day at the Royal Liverpool Hospital.

The event was designed to offer aspiring nurses the opportunity to hear from a range of guest speakers to gain an insight to this rewarding career. 

Amber, Lauren and Ruby were able to listen to different speakers who shared their experiences of nursing and what their day to day lives can look like on the ward.  Guest speakers all specialised in different areas of nursing, so it allowed students to consider different aspects of nursing they were potentially interested in. A real benefit of the day was being able to  listen to different nurses sharing the steps they'd taken to reach  their chosen position.

Students also listened to honest opinions about the different wards the nurses had worked on and the challenges and rewards they had faced. The event was informative, gave our attendees lots of helpful tips and will enable them to make informed decisions about their next steps.

We'd like to thank the organisers and Mrs Mannings for arranging this opportunity. To learn more about NHS careers, please click here.

On Thursday this week we welcomed students from Year 11 and their parents and carers to a study support evening focussing on revision techniques.

Delivered by the English, Maths and Science dpeartments, the session saw students and parents given information about the exams in these subjects and how best to revise. Students were issued with resource packs containing carefully selected revision material. The session was a great success with parents and students both saying how informative and helpful the session was. 

We're very grateful for the tremendous support shown by parents and carers who attended the event in strength. Any student who was unable to attend will receive a revision pack in school.

This week the team from Girls on the Go came in to school to deliver a Dragon's Den enterprise workshop to year 10 business students. 

Within the workshop students were asked to create and deliver a two minute pitch on an idea for their next event.

Students had to demonstrate consideration budgeting, venue and staffing requirements. The students demonstrated exceptional leadership and teamwork and Girls on the Go were incredibly impressed with their ideas.

The workshops have resulted in Girls on the Go offering some of our year 10 students the chance to help out at their next big fashion show that will take place in January 2025!

Art and Textiles students in Year 13 have benefited from the experience of St Julie's alumnus Sandra who is now in the third year of her Fine Art BA.

Students listened intently as she shared her experiences of university and the transition from A Level Art to degree level studies.

Sandra shared her portfolio including work she produced in an overseas oil painting course in Florence.  Topics discussed with the students included course content, wider university life,  collaboration with other artists and opportunities for internships and curation of exhibitions.

The session concluded with a Q and A and students left feeling inspired and felt more confident about the prospect of studying a creative course at University! Thank you to Sandra for sharing her time and talents with us this week.

A team of Year 10 students have been doing terrific work this week using skills developed on the Mentors in Violence Prevention programme.

The MVP programme explores a series of ‘scenarios’ involving a range of behaviours, such as labelling, hate crime, manipulation and online abuse. Using a ‘bystander’ approach, individuals are not considered potential victims or perpetrators; instead, they are empowered to be active bystanders with the ability to support and challenge their peers in a safe way.

MVP is based on five core components:

• Exploring violence through a gendered lens;
• Developing leadership;
• Adopting a bystander approach;
• Recognising the scope of violent behaviour; and
• Challenge victim-blaming.

As Mentors, our student volunteers attend a training programme delivered in association with the Merseyside Youth Association, work with each other to practice their delivery sessions and then lead lessons to younger pupils in school.

This week during PSHE the teams delivered important sessions to students in Year 7. Standing in front of a class can be a demanding experience and our mentors can be proud of their delivery.

This week our Year 11 Hospitality and Catering students have been donning their whites and putting their skills to the acid test - the practical exam!

The strictly controlled assessment sees students developing two courses completely from scratch ingredients, including producing their own breads and pasta. 

The standard, under strict time pressure, has been fantastic and the quality of mouth watering dishes has been hugely impressive.

Well done to all our talented chefs, and we wish them all well with their theory exams.

SMF directly supports young people through their Aspiring Professionals Programme. It allows students to get first hand experience with top professionals and equips them with the skills needed to achieve their aspirations.

SMF programmes provide: mentoring, tailored skills sessions and career workshops, university application support and guidance, internships with top employers and social impact career advice. The APP City programme supports high-achieving students in Year 12 and we wish this year's applications the best of luck with their applications. To learn more about SMF, click here.

Designed to help students explore careers in Banking and Finance, Consulting, Engineering, Law, Medicine or Veterinary Medicine, the Sutton Trust pathways programme allows Year 12 students to attend a variety of Q&A and information sessions with top employers.

The programme is designed to support students with their next steps and includes work placements, support with university applications, professional networking and employability skills sessions.

Each year St Julie's Sixth Form students secure places on various pathways - including the US Summer Programme  - and agree that participation has enabled them to develop transferable skills that will benefit them both in school and beyond. We'd like to wish this year's applicants the best of luck as they embark on their various pathways, and look forward to hearing their success stories this time next year! For information, click here: Sutton Trust

The Performing Arts Department took a night off from rehearsals for the Christmas Production to showcase talent in a wonderful 'Open Mic' night!

These concerts give a great opportunity for any student who wants to perform musically to do so in front of an audience, and this week's show saw fantastic performances delivering songs that the audience loved!

We're delighted to say that the performers included some students making their debut on the St Julie's stage.

Thank you to all of the performers and our enthusastic audience!

St. Julie's has been happy to play our part in supporting the well publicised challenges faced by Zoe's Place Hospice, and this week we had a cake sale!

The sale was led by 11 Rigby who worked enthusiastically and efficiently to serve a logn queue of customers, generating £176.48 for this important charity.

Thanks to everyone, buying or selling, or who helped to support the sale!

Thank you to the whole school community who raised £369.96 for Breast Cancer Now with donations on our 'Wear it Pink' day.

Breast Cancer Now is Britain's largest breast cancer charity, aiming for a 100% survival rate by 2050. On Friday last week we invited staff and students to wear a pink accessory and make a donation in support of the charity.

Thank you to everybody who took part and helped raise the fantastic figure!

On Thursday evening this week we invited students in Year 7 to bring their family members into school for the celebration of our annual Year 7 Welcome Mass.

The Mass was a beautiful occasion, celebrated by Fr Ed, Fr Colin and Fr Stephen who are all part of the team who celebrate Mass in our school every Friday morning.

Live music this year came from visiting musicians Martin and Mr Anderson, and featuring a wonderful solo performance from Emmie in 7T.

Students in Year 7 were a key part of their Mass, with volunteers giving readings, making bidding prayers and forming the Offertory procession. 

Thank you to all of the family members who joined us, our visiting priests and musicians and to all of the staff and students who worked hard to make this such a lovely event. 

Congratulations to our U15 football team who have won their second round of the English Schools Cup with a rout at an away fixture!

The side contested the fixture away at Weatherhead and won the fixture with a 0-6 clean sheet to progress into round 3.

Well done to the goal scorers: Mia in Y10, Imogen in Y9 (2), Amelia in Y10 (2) and Savannah in Y10!

Following their recent league win, the U13 footballers have recorded another victory to progress to the next round in the English Schools' Cup!

The victory was emphatic, seeing our team prevail with a final score of 11-2. Congratulations to them and good luck in the next round!

It is with great sadness that Zoe’s Place trustees have announced that their Liverpool hospice will close at the end of 2024. We have a chance to stop this, and Myla in 7N is spearheading a contribution from St Julie's by campaigning for us to take part in the 'wear it yellow' day!

On Monday 21st October we're inviting students to help save this charity by making a donation to our Year 7 wear it yellow day, when students in Year 7 can accessorise their uniform with a yellow accessory - socks, ribbons, bobbles, badges or bows will all be allowed on the day.

We hope that you can get involved in the fun and show your support for Zoe’s Place – we can’t wait to see your yellow accessories! Donations will be collected on the way out of assembly, Monday 21st October.

On Monday this week we saw a sea of red ribbons paying tribute to Ms Duffy, a much loved and valued member of our school community.

The red ribbons were in remembrance of her, but also to celebrate and give thanks for her values of determination, resilience, female empowerment and caring for others.

For those who didn't bring ribbons to school a dedicated team of volunteers offered them for sale with all proceeds going to Marie Curie.

Thank you very miuch to everybody who took part.

Throughout Hate Crime Awareness Week we've been joined by PC Mark Patterson who has been leading assemblies to help students recognise hate crime.

Anyone affected by hate crime in Merseyside can visit the Victim Care Merseyside website for help, advice and to get the contact details for organisations which can offer support.

St Julie's is one of six schools selected to take part in SCHOOL NATURE MAP, an exciting new project dot art are working on with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, helping bring to life the new Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) being developed for the region. You can read more about the background to this project here.

Some of our Year 9 students got to work with the artist Joe Venning for the day to create work that  highlights the areas of existing natural importance, areas that could be made important in the future, and the keys species found there which need to be protected. Students began by creating acrylic painting of different species and then pen doodle maps of the area. Students relished the opportunity to work with an artist and commented that it was the best day ever! We are so proud of the work they created and are excited to see the final piece that will combine the artwork from all six schools.

The artworks be displayed in a public exhibition in Mann Island Atrium in Spring 2025 and digital versions of the map and its individual elements will be included in strategy itself.

This week fashion forward students in Year 9 showcased their sculptural designs in paper!

These wondrous creations were inspired by the legendary designer, Issey Miyake. As you can see, they definitely gave the catwalk aficionados a run for their money!

We are delighted to share the news that St Julie's have been selected by Ariel Trust to partner with them for a 12 week drama project funded by the National Lottery.

The project explores Forum Theatre and focuses on themes relating to violence prevention and online harm.

The objectives are to build refusal and resistance and allows children to develop and practise positive communications and listening skills.

This is an excellent opportunity for our students to work with an external drama club which will culminate in a workshop performance for parents to attend and participate in.

Thank you to Ariel Trust for selecting St Julie's to work with. 

Congratulations to our U13 football team who recorded an emphatic victory against a team from North Liverpool Academy in the Liverpool Football League.

St. Julie's kept a clean sheet to win the fixture with a goal from Jessie, another from Luella and a brace for Sharnie, all in Year 8.

Well done to the team for a great win.

This week our Year 13 students began to send off their university applications.

Our prospective vets, medics, dentists and Oxbridge applicants have been working hard over the previous year to broaden their subject knowledge, read widely around their subjects and secure relevant work experience  in order to enhance their applications.

They have attended undergraduate lectures, joined virtual university societies and undergone some challenging admissions tests as part of the process too!

We wish them, and all our university applicants, the very best of luck with the UCAS process.

St. Julie's will be strongly represented in regional football competitions with more than a dozen players selected to play for the City in their age appropriate team.

Being selected for the City is a majot achievement, and the decision is based on previous achievement, current form, and a stringent set of trials.

Congratulations to our players who are in Year 8, Jessie, Freya, Scarlett, Maisie, Luella and Sharnie; in Year 9 Faith, Imogen, Libby and Amelia and in Year 10 Faye, Katie, Yasmin. We're looking forward to proudly watching them play!

Congratulations to Olivia in 10 Rigby who has earned the honour of selection at Merseyside Netball Academy, where she will represent the county at national competitions.

A former player of the season in the junior netball league, Olivia has been playing for Marshalls since she was in Year 4 and often competes at club competitions at St Julie's netball courts on weekends.

We're waiting to hear when Olivia's first county game will be, and we wish her lots of luck!

Congratulations again to Emmie in 7 Nugent who has brought another haul of medals back from a swimming gala, including ten golds, alongside a silver and a bronze!

Emmie had a fantastic swim at the competition in Wirral held last weekend that brought victories in ten events including races against her main competitor and one win by a clear ten seconds!

We wish her lots of luck in her next competition!

This week we welcomed Wayne Curry from the Bikeability team in to school to speak to our Year 7 students about staying safe when cycling.

Bikeability offer cycle training for all levels of ages and abilities including adults and families. You can find out more at the Bikeability website.

Did you know.. as well as offering advice and over the counter treatments for lots of childhood illnesses, pharmacies can now offer clinical appointments and prescription medications (if needed) for these four common conditions in children?

- Ear ache (children aged 1-17)
- Sore throat (age 5 and over)
- Infected insect bites (age 1 and over)
- Impetigo (age 1 and over)

This Pharmacy First service is available at most community pharmacies in Cheshire and Merseyside.

When your child is feeling unwell and off school with one these conditions, you want the right help as quickly as possible. Pharmacies can often provide a same day consultation with a trained clinical professional, giving you access to advice and medication all in one place, without the need for a GP appointment first. This means they could be on the road to recovery and back at school much sooner.

For more information visit: www.nhs.uk/thinkpharmacyfirst

After an extensive remodelling programme our new Sixth Form centre has formally opened this week with a blessing from Fr Tim Buckley attended by an audience of special guests including two former Headteachers of St Julie’s!

The centre has been transformed with the installation of interactive screens, study pods and a smart new bistro among the facilities that students are benefitting from, and it was a real pleasure to be able to invite Mr Alderman, Sister Mary SND and Sister Pat SND to join staff, students and governors for our ceremony.

Our ceremony was led by our school Chaplain, with readings and bidding prayers from members of our 1804 Society. Father Tim then prepared the blessing and spoke about how timely it was to celebrate our opening on the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi, the name taken by our Pope. 

Attention then turned to Mr Alderman and Sr Mary who performed the cutting of the ceremonial ribbon before an exploration of the new area and refreshments served in the stylish new bistro!

We have photographs below, and if you would like to see a little more of the area you can watch a video here, produced by our design partners Cunliffes and construction partners EFT.

Congratulations to our Year 11 Prefects who celebrated their inauguration at a ceremony this evening in the school Chapel.

The students undertook a rigorous process of application forms, interviews and staff endorsements to be successfully appointed to the role. Orla was elected by staff and peers as our Senior Prefect this year and we offer our sincere congratulations to her, and to all of our Prefects.

The role presents a fantastic opportunity for the students to demonstrate their student leadership and bring the charism of St. Julie to our student community through their deeds. We look forward to working with them throughout the year.

Sixth formers Lucy, Cara and Julia spoke in KS4 assemblies this week about their experiences on the Archdiocesan Youth Pilgrimage to Lourdes in the Summer. The assembly theme was 'Putting faith into action', so was a perfect opportunity for the girls to explain how they had been able to do this by supporting those pilgrims who were sick or immobile throughout their week in Lourdes.

Lucy spoke about how as a non-Catholic she had found the services moving and uplifting and Cara commented how she had been able to reconnect with her faith and it had been a great way to make new friends and develop bonds with the pilgrims. All three are planning on going again next year through extensive fundraising to cover costs.

The applications for Lourdes 2025 open on 7^th October. The pilgrimage will be 23 July - 1 August 2025 and it is open to anyone Y10 and above.  Apply at liverpoollourdesyouth.co.uk 

A promotional video is available here. 

On Wednesday netballers from Year 10 scored a great victory in fast paced game against a team from St. Edward's in a tournament at Archibisop Blanch.

The team worked hard to show teamwork, commitment and dedication to take a 2-0 win in an energetic game.

We'd like to give a special shout out to Olivia and Grace for getting players of the match.

This October is Domestic Abuse awareness month. We are asking for any donations that anyone can spare that we can donate to the Women’s refuges.

The refuges we currently support are in Knowsley and South Liverpool. We are asking for women and Children’s toiletries, and any toy donations especially for older children and teenage boys.

Thank you for your support.

On Tuesday this week student in Year 11 had an assembly led by Holly from Kooth, who came in to speak about the services Kooth offer, particularly in the context of forthcoming exams and the associated stress that students can experience.

The service offers support for all students who are struggling to cope, and is available through an app that students can install on their phone and have access to at any time.

You can find out more at the Kooth website.

Good luck to Niamh in Year 7 who this weekend represents Liverpool at the British Trampolining Championship in Telford!

Niamh, who trains at Liverpool Gymnastics in Speke, started trampoling at gym tots at the age of 2, so has already had a long career! She capitalised on her early start by trying some trampolining lessons on a family holiday. The coaches there spotted a natural aptitude and encouraged Niamh to join a club.

Membership in the club has led to participation in lots of competitive events in which Niamh has honed her skills. 

After successful qualifying events held in Telford this year, Niamh is now proudly representing Liverpool at the British Championships this weekend! The competition is again being held in Telford, and we wish Niamh every success!