After the success of last year's Ariel Trust project, students at St Julie's were asked for their support to star in a drama workshop to be used as support material for other schools.

A professional film company attended school just before the half term break to shoot a drama workshop focusing on 'skills for a healthy relationship', starring our students. 

The purpose of the film is to support other secondary school in how to deliver these sessions in their setting. 

Ariel Trust were extremely impressed with our students' energy and professionalism and are hoping to work with them again soon on future projects!

Congratulations to Sophia in Year 8 who was part of the City of Liverpool Water Polo Team that won the Swim England U15 Competition at the weekend!

The City of Liverpool regained a previously held crown when they won their four consecutive matches at the Alan Higgs Cetnre in Coventry. The final was a closely fought match against Otter from London, but robust defending of a lead established in the third quarter saw the Liverpool swimmers prevail.

Sophia started competitive swimming at 7 and switched to water polo a couple of years later, quickly settling into the energetic, fast paced game.

Well done to Sophia and her teammates on a phenomenal result for our city!

Students in Year 9 Textiles recently took part in an house competition to create a 3D dress, with fabulous results!

The students did a fantastic job combining the many design skills they have developed over the half term into wonderfully formed pieces.

Well done to all of the contestants for some remarkable work.

Wednesday evening saw the second of the back to back musical extravaganzas in our theatre as it turned into a competitive arena for battle of the bands!

The atmosphere was electric as the crowds roared, cheered, clapped and sang along with every single one of the amazing bands as they strutted their stuff to a packed house.

What was extra special was the fact that their supporters cheered every other band – not just their own. The bands came from our own school together with bands from Calderstones, Cardinal Heenan, Childwall, King David, Saint Margaret’s and West Derby. It was a fabulous night and the wealth of talent was truly amazing.

A special bonus was the presence of three professional musicians who are all ex-students at Saint Julie’s – Evie, Anna and Tilly. It was so lovely to see them all again – truly inspirational young women who are perfect role-models for the musicians who took part – and those who supported them.

Nobody envied them their task of judging the bands on the night. They said themselves that all the musicians  were so talented and gave some really professional performances. At the end of the day, of course, there could only be one winner. The winners of Battle of The Bands, 2025 were the students from Cardinal Heenan and the runners-up were from Saint Margaret’s.

A huge congratulations go to the winning bands and to everyone who performed on the night. The future of live music on Merseyside is looking bright!

From Monday 27 October until Sunday 2 November it's Green Libraries Week, and to celebrate, our Reading Ambassadors have been busy creating this beautiful display.

On offer are a selection of fiction and non-fiction titles from our library, linked to topics such as sustainability, the environment and climate change. 

The Ambassadors spent time curating books that had recycled pages, and borrowing and recycling materials for display. "Going green isn’t about the size of the action you take, but that any action can make a difference for the environment". (Libraries week, CILIP)

Congratulations to Grace in Year 8 who is currently at nearly 300% of her distance target on a sponsored swim for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Grace is a keen swimmer, competing regularly for Garston and representing Liverpool in national competitions. When she heard about the sponsored swim for the internationally acclaimed children's hospital she thought it was a great way to use her talents in a positive and charitable way.

Her target was to swim 8km during October, and she's already over a massive 22km and still going! She's not only smashed her distance target, but reached and exceeded her very ambitious £500 funding target.

Well done to Grace on a fantastic fundraising effort and we wish her every success as she continues with her swim!

Our U13 football team has bowed out of the English Schools' Cup in the second round following a hard fought loss to Wirral Grammar.

A brutal first half saw our players 4-0 down at the interval, but they rallied tremendously and fought hard to spearhead a comeback. Goals from Charlotte and Anya sadly didn't prove enough, and Wirral Grammar progressed with a convincing 5-2 score.

Despite exiting the cup competitions the team are looking forward to contesting more competitions after half term.

This year we are successfully running two Maths Circles which follow the Axiom Maths Programme. Axiom Maths circles is an enrichment programme which challenges pupils to grapple with Maths problems beyond the school curriculum. The programme is designed to encourage pupils to become adventurous, articulate and accepting Mathematicians.

We currently run a Year 10 group on a Wednesday and a new Year 7 group on a Monday. This year, we have also been lucky enough to sign up to the Junior Ambassador Programme through Axiom which has allowed us to train some of our Sixth form students to be mentors within our Year 7 cohort circle. All of our Junior Ambassadors are Maths A Level students and 5 out of the 6 ambassadors all completed the full Maths Circles programme themselves in Years 7-11. 

The circles are designed to allow the pupils to excel in new areas of Mathematics in a nurturing environment, that also creates a sense of community. The idea is to do challenging, but satisfying Maths and enjoy the buzz of solving problems with friends!

This half term the Year 10 group have been looking at problems around Directed Networks and Geometry Transformations. The Year 7 group (who have only recently started) are focusing on how to become Adventurous, Articulate and Accepting through some Number based problems.

Each week we see the pupils progressing and becoming more confident in their own abilities!

Saint Julie's Open Mic Night never fails to delight! The event on Tuesday evening was a mammoth one with 36 performances from bands and vocalists across the age range.

The performers were all amazing and were greeted with great applause and whoops by a packed house who really appreciated the range of musical talent and effort which went into the event. The performers clearly enjoyed the experience.

Of course, an event like this wouldn't be complete without the guest appearance of the Staff Band who opened the night, because, as Mr Quinn said, "Nobody likes to go first." Mr Quinn led on vocals and guitar, with Mr Fleming and Mr Rhodes on bass and acoustic guitars and Mr Smith on percussion and they played to a great reception! Mrs Hambleton also accompanied on keyboard throughout the night and along with the whole music department, has been working with the students on their performances for many weeks.

Huge congratulations to Layel, Annabelle, Eleanor, Lilly, Isla, Isla and Isla, Dailia, Lyla, Aaliyah, Lucy, Abbie, Nancy, Darcey, Riya, Ella, Daisy, Rosie, Beth, Riley and Libby and to the Year 8, 9 and 11 bands. You were fantastic!

Huge thanks also go to the Performing Arts Department who did a stalwart job with the backing tracks, sound and lighting, and to Mrs Mannings who took on photography duties and produced the wonderful gallery below.

Congratulations to the three winners of our 'Operation Banger' safety poster design competition!

Operation Banger is a multiagency operation of education and advice appropriate to Halloween and Bonfire Night. The operation focuses on safety and anti-social bonfire, and seeks to make sure that young people have a safe and enjoyable time.

Our competition was to design a poster promoting key messages from the campaign in an appealing way.

Congratulations to Aurelia, Katy and Scarlett, pictured here with PC Mark at their certificate presentation!

Our talented A-Level Mathematics students recently took part in the UKMT Senior Maths Challenge, a prestigious national competition designed to test problem-solving and logical reasoning skills.

We are delighted to announce that five of our students achieved Bronze Awards, an impressive accomplishment in such a challenging competition. Their success reflects not only their mathematical ability but also their commitment, perseverance, and enthusiasm for the subject.

The Senior Maths Challenge encourages students to think creatively and apply mathematical concepts in unfamiliar contexts - skills that are essential for success in further study and future careers.

Congratulations to all participants, and to our Bronze Award winners: Wenxi (best in school), Lottie, Amy, Patsy and Orla!

On Thursday evening, we celebrated our Year 7 Welcome Mass in school with students and their families.

The Mass was a formal welcome to all our new students and their families into the St. Julie’s community and it was lovely to see so many parents and carers join us for the celebration.

Students led the reading and music and we'd like to thank Martin for joining us on piano and a special thanks to Father Ed for being our celebrant.

On Tuesday our Year 7 netballers contested home fixtures against visitors from St. Edward's, with emphatic wins!

Our players pressed the home advantage to the full with our A Team (pictured here in purple) winnings 12-1 and our B Team (in blue) finishing with a 14-1 victory.

Congratulations to our players or their fantastic results!

On Thursday our team of Year 8 footballers took up an invitation to compete at the LSSP netball tournament hosted at Archbishop Beck.

15 teams from across the city competed and we're very proud of our players who finished with a fourth place in the tournament. Well done to all of them, and thanks for LSSP for a great tournament.

On Thursday this week we were proud to host the latest meeting for the Violence Against Women and Girls Forum.

The forum draws representation from across many sectors on Merseyside, and speakers on the day included Jo Richmond from Liverpool City Council, Mala Saikia from Savera UK, a charity working to end honour based violence, and Danny Galvin from Merseyside Police.

The meeting concluded with attendees watching a performance of the hard hitting ‘Wrong Place, Wrong Time’ by our own drama group in the theatre.

Congratulations to Yasmin in 11 Rigby who is hitting our screens soon in the third series of Jamie Johnson FC, a production for CBBC.

Yasmin is playing Penny, a keen footballer who is determined to fulfil her goals! Filming for the series took place last summer at Leeds Beckett University and the new series has launched this week. 

You'll need to stay tuned to see Yasmin, whose character makes her appearance slightly later in the series. She answered a call for audition through her theatrical agent and went through several rounds of auditions before winning the part.

Yasmin's next theatrical appearance is a little closer to home - she'll be treading the boards at St Julie's in the Christmas production of Annie!

On Tuesday, performers from St Julie’s had the privilege of taking their award-winning production, ‘Wrong Place, Wrong Time’, to St Anselm’s College. 

The powerful performance, which tackles the hard-hitting issue of gang crime in Liverpool, was met with an incredibly positive response from both students and staff.

The cast delivered a moving and thought-provoking piece that sparked important conversations among the audience. It was great to see the performance resonate so deeply beyond our own school community. 

Adding to the special occasion was a reunion with a familiar face, Mr Willis, whose support and encouragement meant a great deal to the students.

Congratulations to our team of Y9 and 10 footballers who took victory the LSSP tournament at Simpson's Playing Fields last week.

The tournament drew teams from schools across the city, and our players contested four fixtures on the day against teams from Merchant Taylors, Calderstones and St Hilda's before facing Calderstones again in the final.

Congratulations to Ella for scoring the critical tournament winning goal!

Our Year 10 and 11 footballers have bowed out of the English Schools' Cup with a spirited performance culminating in a narrow defeat.

Last week our team faced a side from Blessed Thomas Holford High School in Altrincham in the second round match. A goal from Faye and a brace from Imogen wasn't quite enough to get the team through, with a 4-3 score at the final whistle handing victory to our opponents.

Well done to the team on a fantastic effort, and good luck to Blessed Thomas Holford as they progress in the competition.

On Friday we sent a group of Year 7, 8 and 9 students to become a Cheerleading Squad for the day!

Our students joined learners from 10 other schools across the city at the developmental workshop organised by the Liverpool School Sports Partnership and hosted at Holly Lodge.

The students had lots of fun as they worked through the rigorous disciplines needed to execute the exciting moves safely. Thanks to the LSSP and our hosts for a great day!

On Tuesday this week, Year 9 had a wonderful celebration of Mass with Fr Stephen Pritchard in the Chapel. 

A number of students were involved in reading, singing and altar serving and it was lovely to celebrate the beginning of this academic year as a whole year group!

Last week we sent two teams of Year 7 and 8 footballers to the LSSP tournament at the Jeffrey Humble Fields, who earned great results!

The tournament saw a field of twenty teams in total, and we took fourth place with one of our teams and second place with the other.

Congratulations to all of the players for a fantastic tournament.

Year 10 Hospitality and Catering students benefited from the commercial experience of our Catering Manager, Mr Eccles, in a lesson this week!

Drawing on his experience at venues like Hall and Woodhouse, Baltic Social and Moose Coffee, Mr Eccles gave an explanation of the five mother sauces before leading the students through perfecting the basic roux before assembling and preparing a chicken, bacon and leek pie for baking.

Thank you to all the students for engaging so positively with their guest tutor, and to Mr Eccles for giving his time and talents.

We'd like to share some artwork from Libby in Year 10, who dedicates a lot of time to her talent!

Libby does a lot of work in ink and is never far from her sketchbook. She told us that she's been drawing ever since she could hold a pen and finds it a great way to both focus and relax.

She seeks inspiration from images online and in the media, and we look forward to seeing her work for her Art GCSE!

We're delighted to report that on the 30th September our school completed the rigorous reaccreditation procedure for the Wellbeing Award for Schools.

During the full day assessment, our assessor scrutinised an extensive portfolio of evidence as well as meeting with members of the Leadership Team and holding extensive discussion with staff, parents, governors and students.

Our assessor noted that: "all stakeholders were overwhelmingly positive about wellbeing in the school" and went on to report that "the students are clearly proud of their school and talked about the high level of pastoral care that they receive. They are able to access individual support from members of the pastoral team but know that they can approach other staff with any issues they may be experiencing. They feel that there are good relationships between the staff and students."

The re-accreditation is about far more than standing still, and in our report we have further development points to take forward. 

Mrs McCourt recognised this in her report comments: "This recognition is a testament to the unwavering commitment of our staff, students, governors, and wider community to fostering a culture where wellbeing is not only valued but deeply embedded in every aspect of school life."

Congratulations to Emmie in 8N who recently swam for Cheshire county in national competition.

She was chosen to represent Cheshire in the annual National Counties Championship which this year was held in Ponds Forge Sports Centre in Sheffield.

Emmie swam the 50m butterfly leg of the 200m relay and an individual 100m butterfly race, taking an eighth place out of the 16 swimmers respresenting the nation's most talented swimmers.

The outstanding team performance saw the Cheshire team elevated to the first division for next year's competition.

On Thursday an all female team from Kier construction visited school to spend the entire day in careers related workshops with students in Year 10.

Kier were the construction partner for our current building, and some of the team attending today had direct involvement in our building project.

The structure of the workshops saw an introduction to the Kier Group and the manifold roles within the organisation. Students the moved into a career carousel, exploring different roles with the team. This was followed by a fact matching and myth busting session, which led neatly into a round up of different routes into construction for women.

Thanks to Leanne, Rosa, Holly, Natalie, Ellen and Claire for their time today in delivering an eye opening workshop.

Congratulations to our Under 14 footballers who earned an emphatic 0-9 win in the English Schools Cup.

The team enjoyed the benefit of a very nearby away fixture as they made short work out of a spirited side from Gateacre.

Well done to all of the players for outstanding team work!

Congratulations to our Year 7/8 cross country team who competed in the latest round of the Midweek Cross Country League – and did a fantastic job! Every runner showed determination, team spirit, and great effort throughout the race.

A special mention goes to Holly, Daniella, and Katy, who placed 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively out of an impressive field of 78 runners. Their outstanding performances helped secure 1st place overall for the Y7/8 team in this round of the competition.

Well done to all our runners – we’re proud of every one of you!

Students in our new Wildlife Club have been having fun this week building bird feeders to attract feathered friends to our Peace Garden.

Under the guidance of Miss Flood the students have explored two different techniques, including apple core feeders, with perches stuck into apples that are coated in a mixture of lard and seed, and bottle feeders that reuse plastic bottles that are adapted into reusable feeders.

Well done to Ivy, Sophia, Gracie, Lily and Holly in Year 7 and Hannah in Year 9 for their great work!

If you're interested in joining them then Wildlife Club meet after school on Tuesdays. Speak to Miss Flood for more information!

Students in Year 7 brought glow sticks and party energy on Friday evening when they enjoyed the annual Performing Arts welcome party!

The event gives students the chance to spend time with each other in a different context, with all of the emphasis on fun! Partygoers had the chance to dance in a sea of balloons in the theatre, glow up in the darkened dance studio and burn off some energy with fun games in the gym.

The tuck shop, serviced by our team of Sixth Form volunteers, did a roaring trade and any funds raised from the party will be used to support our Christmas production of 'Annie the Musical'.

Thanks to everyone involved in making the fun event happen!

Year 8 students were officially welcomed back to the new academic year with a celebration of Mass on Friday morning in the chapel. 

The scripture readings were ones of hope and reassurance for the year ahead and Fr Stephen encouraged students to be open to allowing God  to work wonders in their lives this year.

Many thanks to our wonderful readers, altar servers and music ministry for their participation and service during the Mass. It was a wonderful occasion and finished with a rousing rendition of ‘Qu’il est Bon!’ 

Year 9 will celebrate their welcome Mass in a couple of weeks’ time. 

Congratulations to Jessie in Year 9 who has received the call up for the U14 side to represent Merseyside!

Jessie will compete in County level competitions, which comes on top of the great news about her renewal with Manchester City for a third season.

We wish her the best of luck in all competitions this season.

Congratulations to our cross-country runners who entered competition this week against runners from other schools across the city.

Our runners did a fantastic job representing our school. Well done to all of them!

Our U14 team were under 14 in name only as they earned a colossal 0-14 win in the English Schools' Cup!

The team emphatically outclassed their opponents from Hilbre High School in the towering victory that sees the team progress to the next round of the English Schools' Cup.

Well done to all the players on a great win!

Our Year 13 students visited Edge Hill University this week to attend their annual Higher Education (HE) Exhibition, an exciting and informative day designed to help students explore a wide range of post-18 options.

Students had the opportunity to speak directly with representatives from universities, apprenticeship providers, and employers from across the UK and take a guided campus tour, gaining insight into university life and what to look for when visiting other institutions. These opportunities play a vital role in helping students make informed, confident decisions about their future pathways as students can compare university and apprenticeship options side by side; gain clarity on courses, campuses, and career outcomes and think more broadly and ambitiously about their next steps

We are incredibly proud of the strong destinations our students achieve year after year. In fact, over 90% of last year’s Year 13 cohort progressed to university, with many securing places at competitive institutions across the UK. This track record reflects the power of careful preparation, high aspirations, and access to the right guidance , including events like the Edge Hill HE Fayre. Many thanks to Mrs Lyons for arranging the visit.

What’s Next: Personal Statement Workshops

To build on the momentum from this visit, we’ll be holding a series of personal statement workshops delivered by Edge Hill University outreach over the coming weeks for our UCAS applicants. These sessions will offer:

• Step-by-step support in drafting and refining personal statements
• Opportunities for feedback
• Guidance on tailoring statements to specific courses and universities

We encourage all students applying to university to make full use of this support to submit strong, competitive applications.

Merseyside Police are launching a new operation to tackle the emerging upward trend in the use of electric bikes across Merseyside.

The targeted campaign aims to tackle serious organised crime, robbery and ASB linked tothe illegal use of two-wheeled vehicles, including electric motorcycles, scootersand non-compliant e-bikes.

As part of the campaign, Merseyside Police have issued a letter to parents with useful information about how to spot which bikes are legal and how they can be used.

At the back of the letter you'll also find a helpful page with crime prevention tips to protect your bike.

This week we were pleased to welcome the family of Marty Weir who are distributing medical devices to schools and nurseries in his honour.

Marty was an athletic young man who loved life, but died in 2022 at the age of just 26 after cardiac arrest caused by choking on food. In his memory, and with the generous support of the Megan Hurley Foundation, Marty's family are distributing LifeVac devices to public buildings around Merseyside.

The LifeVac is a simple but innovative device designed to create safe and controllable suction to pull blockages from airways. We're proud and grateful to have received the donation which will stand ready for use at any time as a continuing legacy to Marty.

We've had more good news from the Merseyside County Schools FA with a call up for Darcey in Year 8 to the U13 County Squad!

Darcey usually plays as a centre mid or right back for local side Player Pro Ajax and is proud and honoured to be representing Merseyside in the County level competitions. 

Good luck Darcey!

Congratulations to our U13 footballers who have had a great game securing a 3-1 victory against a team from Great Sankey. 

The team will now progress to the next round of the English Schools' Cup and we wish them great success!