On Thursday this week we welcomed Merseyside Police into school with their inspiring International Women's Day Roadshow.
The roadshow brings together a diverse team of professionals with two primary aims: to raise awareness of violence against women and girls, and to showcase the breadth of roles that women can carry out within the police service.
The showcase ran across two sessions, with students from Year 10 and from Sixth Form.
Thank you to the team for taking the time to visit us and share their knowledge and expertise.
Sixth form Science students were treated to an assembly about nursing careers delivered by alumni Sue Potter.
Sue was able to discuss her career pathway with students and showcased the amazing facilities at LJMU for prospective nurses.
Following her assembly, Sue also met with Yr 12 Science students to deliver a bespoke session about her role as a nurse to enable students to link careers to curriculum learning.
It was lovely to welcome Sue back into school. Many thanks to Mrs Mannings for organising!
Year 7 and Year 9 Humanities students welcomed Graeme Mitchell from LJMU this morning, who was speaking about Environmental Science.
He spoke to them about careers in environmental health and the many opportunities available to them including travelling the world!
We loved listening to his stories about his experiences and those of his former students and colleagues. Thank you to Graeme for coming in to share his expertise.
The 5th March marked Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of Lent for Christians.
The distribution of ashes, made from the burnt palm leaves of last year's Palm Sunday, took place during three services across the day, each allowing students and staff time for silent reflection and collective prayer.
Our Chaplaincy Prefects were wonderful in leading us through our service, with one even distributing ashes to our Chaplain!
Year 10 and Year 12 Art students enjoyed a presentation delivered by Emma Naylor which showcased her career pathway, beginning with GCSE and A levels in Art, then a Masters degree and her recent work for the BBC.
Students were able to learn how a creative background shaped her career in the arts, demonstrating how skills from different fields can come together in unexpected ways.
Emma talked about her time at university studying Art, working for Arts Council, England, before moving on to discuss her current role in the BBC.
We'd like to thank Emma for coming in to speak to us about her diverse and interesting career to date.
On Wednesday we welcomed a representative from MSB Solicitors to speak to a group of Year 9 students about careers in the legal sector.
Students learned about different roles within the sector and different pathways to becoming a solicitor or barrister.
Andrew talked about how different roles in the legal field can shape the future, from solving problems to making a real impact in the community, and as part of his presentation included students in a trial process where they were given a case to solve, acting as defence, prosecution and judges!
This was a great chance for students to learn about the skills and qualities needed for a career in law and why it’s important to start thinking about their futures now.
On Monday, some of our Sixth Formers had the opportunity to take part in a conference on Education in Afghanistan.
They heard some harrowing and personal stories about how the Taliban have banned women attending school from the age of 11 and what the girls and their teachers are doing to try and overcome this.
We look forward to supporting these girls to raise awareness and help with their education.
On Tuesday this week Year 12 English and Politics students had the unique opportunity to hear from Tim Abraham, a former Sky Sports and Sky News journalist.
Tim delivered a lively, engaging, and informative presentation, sharing insights into his successful career and discussing his journey into journalism. He also explored the various routes students can take to enter the field and highlighted different types of journalism courses available.
With his wealth of knowledge, Tim provided invaluable guidance and inspiration, offering students a firsthand look at the world of professional journalism.
We'd like to thank Tim for his time today and look forward to welcoming him back to school again to share his expertise with our students.
The once distant sounding year of 2030 is now just five years away.
What will work look like in 2030? Read one expert's opinion here!
This year National Careers Week and Women In Construction Week co-incided, as we heard from Louise and Sophie from HA Civils.
Our visitors spoke about the manifold opportunities within the world of Civil Engineering, including design and construction, accountancy, quantity surveying and much more!
Students in Key Stage 5 also heard about apprenticeship opportunities as pathways into the sector, and we can look forward to the opportunity of a site visit!
Thank you to Sophie and Louise for visiting us this week!
Today we were delighted to be joined by Father Ed, who celebrated the Eucharist with students in Year 10.
As well as being a spiritual occasion, the service gave students the opportunity to study the Mass in action, which forms part of the GCSE RE curriculum.
Thank you very much to Father Ed for making the time to be with us in school today.
To begin our National Careers Week activities, we welcomed Anita from DWP into school.
A group of Year 7 students enjoyed a lesson delivered by Anita this morning. Working together they were able to apply their critical thinking and numeracy skills to a fictitious pizza company’s financial records to determine their tax payments.
Anita was really impressed with their questions, application and attitude to learning.
Following her presentation to Year 7, Anita then worked with a group of Year 9 students to consider different careers within DWP, and to learn the difference between skills and qualities.
The class explored a range of skills valued by employers, and completed individual skills and qualities questionnaires which offered tailored careers sectors to consider based on their responses. Students were thoughtful, reflective and immersed themselves fully in the activity making this a great start to Careers Week!
We’d like to thank her for coming in to speak to our students today in order to help them link curriculum learning to the world of work.
Scientists across the year groups enjoyed workshops today as we welcomed Jess Neale and Lucy Sharp from Chester Zoo into school.
As well as being a fascinating place to visit, Chester Zoo is an international centre of zoological science, carrying out important conservation and education work as part of its mission.
The team have designed a workshop to teach about evolution on Earth which included the chance to design your own manual and test to see if it could survive the prevailing conditions.
They also brought along several specimens of bones to demonstrate adaptations across several animals.
Thanks to our visitors for sharing their time and knowledge with us today.
Technological change, geoeconomic fragmentation, economic uncertainty, demographic shifts and the green transition – individually and in combination are among the major drivers expected to shape and transform the global labour market by 2030.
The Future of Jobs Report 2025 brings together the perspective of over 1,000 leading global employers—collectively representing more than 14 million workers across 22 industry clusters and 55 economies from around the world—to examine how these macrotrends impact jobs and skills, and the workforce transformation strategies employers plan to embark on in response, across the 2025 to 2030 timeframe
To read the report, click here.
It was 'go for launch' at STEM club on Thursday as students explored the wonderful world of aerodynamics!
Under starters orders from Mrs McCourt, students launched paper rockets of their own design by both air thrust through a straw and hand launching.
The variation in performance was remarkable, and we'd like offer congratulations to our prize winners!
This week we welcomed Ben Kibble from Wrexham University in to talk to students about a regional institution that they may not be familiar with.
Ben spoke to Year 12 students in assembly this morning about what Wrexham University can offer to students across a breadth of courses. He then spoke to Biology students about STEM courses, giving general advice and insights and then some specific details about opportunties at Wrexham.
Thanks to Ben for making the time to come in and speak to us.
We're delighted to report that five of our young writers have been recognised for publication in the latest adrenaline fuelled Young Writer's competition!
The stimulus for the writers to respond to in this competition was 'fight or flight', and we're very pleased to congratulate Amelia, Hannah, Naila, Ellie-Mae and Sasha, representing Year Groups from 7 to 11. Very well done!
National Careers Week is 3rd – 8th March 2025. During this week a range of activities will take place and a variety of guest speakers and St Julie’s alumni will share their career experiences with students.
Lesson activities throughout the week will also have a careers focus in order that students are signposted to possible career pathways can link classroom learning to the world of work.
A BBC Bitesize guide on supporting your teen with their career can be found here.
An article from the National Careers Service about helping young people make career decisions can be found here.
Shortly before half term, a group of our Maths, Science and Creative Imedia students attended Hope University for intensive STEM sessions and lectures.
The students enjoyed lectures and workshops before turning their hands to some practical work that inluded programming and algebra.
Whilst on campus the students also had a great chance to experience a taste of university life!
We are delighted to share the fantastic news that three of our Year 12 students - Holly, Hannah, and Ruby - have successfully secured places on an exclusive Oxford University residential, arranged through the Liverpool Aspire programme. This remarkable achievement is a testament to their hard work, ambition, and passion for learning.
The Liverpool Aspire programme is a prestigious initiative designed to support high-achieving students from the Liverpool City Region in accessing opportunities at top universities. Established to promote social mobility and raise aspirations, the programme works closely with Oxford University to offer students first-hand experiences of higher education at one of the world’s leading institutions. Through mentorship, academic enrichment, and immersive residential experiences, Liverpool Aspire empowers students to pursue their academic dreams and break down barriers to elite university education.
Holly will be taking part in the Language and Literature residential, where she will explore linguistic analysis, literary theory, and creative writing workshops. Meanwhile, Hannah and Ruby will attend the Chemistry and Biochemistry residential, engaging in hands-on laboratory research, lectures from leading scientists, and discussions on cutting-edge advancements in their fields. This opportunity will allow all three students to gain invaluable insight into university-level study, experience life on campus, and develop the skills and confidence needed for future academic success.
At St Julie’s, we are immensely proud of our commitment to encouraging young women to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) careers. We continue to challenge stereotypes and champion the achievements of our students in these fields. Each year, STEM-related subjects remain the most popular university destinations for our Year 13 students, demonstrating our dedication to fostering a passion for science and innovation among our young women.
We are incredibly proud of Holly, Hannah, and Ruby for securing these prestigious places and representing St Julie’s at Oxford University. Their success serves as an inspiration to all our students, proving that with determination and ambition, anything is possible. We wish them the very best for their time at Oxford and look forward to hearing about their experiences!
During the half term break our school was a busy place, with the installation of new carpet, some painting and decorating and some magnificent wall art!
Our corridor art runs across several departments and offer a vibrant visual stimulus with content that relates to our programmes of study.
We're also thrilled to have installed galleries of artwork from our own students that has been printed and framed and offers a tremendous showcase of the talents of our students.
We very much hope that our students are enjoying the new additions to our walls!
Congratulations to the Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 Netball Teams who played great matches at Archbishop Blanch in the last week of half term.
The players had successful games all round with some amazing sportsmanship, respect, skills and talent showcased.
Since November a group of Year 9 students have been taking part in a Maths Circle Club supported by Axiom Maths. Each week the students come together to tackle a curriculum of challenging Maths problems. They grapple with problems while learning to think, speak and work like university mathematicians.
This half term the students have been focusing on a theme of parity and have used problems surrounding sums of pairs and space networks. The students have even looked at some famous problems linked to these areas such as 'The Bridges of Konigsberg'.
Each week the students have become more confident in their own abilities and have enjoyed being part of a Maths community that encourages excellence in the subject.
We’re delighted to report that after a rigorous process of external assessment, St. Julie’s has been successful in gaining accreditation of the nationally recognised award in Leading Parental Partnerships.
This award recognises that the school places parental engagement at the heart of successful education, and that a strong relationship between school and home affords the best outcomes for students.
The assessment considered evidence from dozens of criteria, assessing parental engagement across all aspects of school life, from our initial interviews in Year 6 through to our Leavers’ Mass in Year 13. The assessor met with staff, students, parents, governors, and representatives from external agencies.
The two year journey to accreditation gave us as a school community a chance to celebrate what we were doing well and also an opportunity to reflect on areas for development and make some improvements.
We thank all parents and carers for their help in maintaining strong links between home and school, and we hope that the accreditation of this award helps you to maintain confidence in your decision to choose St. Julie’s for your daughter.
Over the last 10 weeks, Ariel Trust have been working with a group of Year 8 students delivering a resource focusing on ‘skills for a healthy relationship’, looking at the issues arising from the sharing of online images.
Ariel Trust were so impressed with the students that they arranged for their performance to be filmed to be part of training sessions delivered to teachers in universities.
Last night parents attended and took part in an interactive workshop that had them up on their feet and playing drama games to start, before watching the students’ performance regarding healthy relationships. A workshop took the form of Forum Theatre which saw the parents pausing the action of the play and offering suggestions of what the character could do differently to result in a better outcome. There were even a few brave parents that stepped up to play characters such as a Mum responding to a daughter who had sent an indecent image.
This was a really good way of exploring the topic for both parents and students. A few of the students have even been asked to voice over the characters for an animation Ariel Trust are producing for Merseyside schools!
The theatre thumped to some great performances on Monday evening as performers, both seasoned and debutante, took to the stage in Open Mic Night!
The performers drew an appreciative audience and included students from right across the age range, from Year 7 to Year 12, though the opening slot saw some great songs from the staff band, including some silky guitar work from Mr Fleming!
It's always exciting to see performers make their stage debut, and many students did so on the night, setting nerves aside to play with gusto!
Thank you to all of the performers, everyone who came along and to our Performing Arts team for making the event happen.
On Tuesday this week we celebrated 'Women in STEM Day' and were delighted to welcome back former student, Dr Niamh Fowler.
Dr. Fowler left St. Julie's to study Veterinary Science at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and came back to school today to share her experiences with students in Year 10 and Year 7, delivering accessible and informative presentations that were appropriate to each age group.
Thank you very much to Niamh for making the time to come and see us on this special day!
2025 is a Jubilee year in the Catholic Church, also known as a “holy year". It is a special year in the life of the church currently celebrated every 25 years.
The theme of Jubilee 2025 is 'Pilgrims of Hope'. In assemblies this week, students have been learning about Sr Dorothy Stang SNDdN and how she embodied an example of a 'pilgrim of hope' to those she served and fought to defend in the Amazon rainforest.
In recognition of our work in gaining the CAFOD LiveSimply Award and as a symbol that we continue Sr Dorothy's mission, students received a Live Simply badge in form time so we can celebrate this Jubilee Year in hope for the future!
This week, the RE department welcomed David Coleman from Childwall Synagogue to speak to Y11 students about Judaism.
Students were able to answer and ask questions to build on their prior learning about Judaism for their upcoming GCSE examinations. Thanks to David for an interesting and interactive talk!
On Thursday afternoon, a group of Year 11 Literature students were invited, by the English Department, to attend a matinee performance of Shakespeare's controversial play, The Merchant of Venice.
This unorthodox reimagining of the antisemitic-themed original was helmed by Tracy-Ann Oberman (of EastEnders and Doctor Who fame) and takes place in 1930s Britain, which saw the country battling a wave of fascism, as well as a female version of the main protagonist - the notorious Shylock.
This sell-out, West End production, which has been universally-praised by critics, drew a standing ovation from the crowd, and we are proud to admit that St Julie's was the only school to attend the entire run! The students that were selected to attend this trip have been working tirelessly during their Language and Literature lessons - with many students hoping to take the subject at A Level - and we were more than pleased to reward their ceaseless commitment to the subject.
Over the past 10 years, St Julie’s have had the pleasure of being part of Liverpool NOW Festival, an annual event that bring together hundreds of primary and secondary students to share their messages about mental health.
This year the event took place in St George’s Hall and saw young people from across the city revisiting themes from the past 10 years such as ACEs, Belonging and My Rights.
St Julie’s focused on violence prevention and performed, ‘Wrong Place, Wrong Time’, a hard hitting and powerful drama that tackled violence in our city and challenged the culture of keeping quiet and not being ‘a grass’.
The original drama showcased how ‘Real Men Don’t Carry Guns’, and promoted young people to use the most powerful weapon they have, their voice!
The performance had the audience on their feet and the students were pleased to hear wonderful feedback from the Liverpool Violence Prevent team.
At the end of the evening, St Julie’s were delighted to receive an award for ‘Best Mental Health Message’ and finished the night with being awarded the ‘Overall Now Festival Winners 2025’.
We are incredibly proud of the students' hard work and their passion to deliver such an important message.
Congratulations to all the young people who performed at this year's Now Festival.
The 4th February saw 'School Attendance Gap Day' - the symbolic point of the year where students classed as 'severely absent' would finish their academic year.
The UK Government defines severe absence as missing 50% of possible school sessions. To help illustrate what that looks like, School Attendance Gap Day envisions a symbolic world where all students attend every session and then those with 50% attendance would finish their school year.
Across England there are 158,000 pupils in England who are severely absent. As well as lost learning, these students are missing other important elements like building relationships, self-confidence, creative and practical skills, and a supportive environment.
Our attendance team work hard to ensure that students can access their learning opportunities and we appreciate the support of parents, carers and family.
Following their recent Animate workshop on the Sacrament of Confirmation, students in forms 8A, 8D and 8M celebrated Mass this week with Fr Peter Ross.
The readings were taken from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians and John 20, focusing on the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit which are strengthened during Confirmation. Students led readings and singing and it was a truly spirit filled celebration!
Y8 P band will celebrate Mass after half term.
If you are Y8 or above and wish to register for the Sacrament of Confirmation 2025, please do so before 17 March at www.liverpoolcalled.co.uk.
Throughout this week a group of over 40 Year 7 cyclists have been completing their Level 3 Bikeability training with instructors from Bike Rite.
The Level 3 course offers advanced skills such as adaptable positioning and negotiating complex road junctions, equipping riders with the knowledge and skills to safely navigate cycling on roads.
The course includes a practical riding and assessment and provides vital life skills to our students moving into a more sustainable world.
A group of Year 10 students are honing their debating skills in the Law Factor Programme, delivered with Liverpool John Moores University.
Working alongside students from schools across the city, the programme provides students with valuable insights into what a Law Degree looks like, and is affording them the opportunity to engage in a range of debates to enhance their speaking and listening skills.
On Friday, students had a great opportunity to participate in a creative writing workshop with the LFC foundation to write a poem about themes of belonging.
Several students from different year groups had the chance to listen to a poet, author and the talented Jamie Webster who all provided a great insight into their industry and included a Q and A session.
St Julie's students were impeccably behaved and engaged well. Iris even won a Liverpool shirt in the raffle!
Well done to the team.
Congratulations to Emmie in Year 7 who has had another fantastic competition in her swimming career.
Emmie has been swimming in the 3 week long Cheshire County Gala at Macclesfield Leisure Centre.
Over the two competition weekends that she has swum in so far Emmy has medalled in 50m butterfly, earning gold, then she took gold again in the 100m butterfly and then finished with a bronze in the 200m butterfly. Each of the wins saw a two second winning margin which is hugely impressive.
We wish Emmie further success in the final weekend of the competition where she shows her teamwork skills competing in relay races with team mates from Warriors of Warrington!
On Wednesday this week our entire Year 11 joined students from across the North West at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester for the 2025 GCSE Poetry Live event.
The event offered students an incredible opportunity to engage with contemporary poets whose work forms part of the curriculum, including such eminent poets as Simon Armitage, John Agard, Carol Ann Duffy, Imtiaz Dharker, Dalit Nagra and Owen Sheers.
The day also saw sessions with experienced Chief Examiners who led the students through the skills vital for success in the study and examination of poetry.
Well done to all of the students who engaged so well with the day.