R.I.S.E
Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence
M I C H A E L M A S T E R M 2 0 2
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St Gregory's Reception class enjoy the snow after Mass
It has been an incredibly busy first term, with a few key changes, but it is exciting to see the excellent opportunities you are developing for each and every one of our young people
We welcomed a further 5 schools into our multiacademy family in September 2022 and I am delighted to share some feedback from them
Headteacher of St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Studley - Mr Finnegan, "Each week that passes we feel more and more part of the Magnificat team. Working groups at all levels ensure we can all help one another both in our classroom practice and within our school administration and this has been a huge benefit."
Headteacher of St Augustine's, Catholic Primary School - Mrs Williams, "As a relatively small school, being part of a wider family of schools has been a really positive change and we can't wait to develop these relationships and opportunities further"
Three of our schools welcomed Section 48 Inspectors last academic year as the inspection cycle resumed after COVID. All three schools secured ‘Good’ outcomes with two of the schools improving from previous inspection gradings At least one school was commended for ‘Outstanding’ leadership This is a reflection and external validation of the work completed at a MAC level to strengthen the core vision and values of our schools as Catholic schools within the Archdiocese of Birmingham
Our rebranding exercise has continued, and we have seen the introduction of new signage across many of our schools, this will continue into the new term alongside some exciting website developments
It has been a pleasure to witness our core values in action in the work of our Directors, Local Governing Body members, central staff, teachers and support staff this term I would like to wish of you a peaceful, restful and joy filled Christmas and a blessed and happy New Year.
Mr Leverage
As ever it's been a pleasure to witness the brilliant work that continues to happen every day in our schools, giving all of our pupils the best opportunities possible.
The team is growing next term and we warmly welcome Mrs Nichola Damms as Assistant Director of School Improvement (Primary) and on a part-time basis Miss Katherine Marston as Assistant Director of School Improvement for Secondary
On behalf of the whole team, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Mr Quinn
A prayer for Advent
Mary of the Magnificat, dear woman of God pray for us, that we can be spiritual people of quality, of promise, of welcoming presence. Help us to be full of hospitality, welcoming the Christ in all and allowing the Christ within us to be met and visited.
Amen
THE DAY WAR CAME THE DAY WAR CAME
The beginning of this term started a little differently for for all of our Primary Phase children.
The pupils all completed 3 weeks of work linked to the text The Day the War Came by Nicola Davies. The text is a heartbreaking, ultimately hopeful journey of a little girl who is forced to become a refugee. Our pupils used this text as part of their Catholic Social Teachings, focussing on Solidarity.
The work that the children created and the creativity that was displayed was simply fantastic.
O U R L A D Y O F T H E M A G N I F I C A T 3
EXAM RESULTS EXAM RESULTS EXAM RESULTS
Students across our Secondary Schools achieved excellent A Level and GCSE results, in another challenging year for examination candidates.
At key stage 4 all three of our secondary schools achieved progress results either broadly in line with or above the National average with two of our secondary schools achieving progress 8 scores of +0.58 & +0.48 respectively. This places both schools within the top 5 within the Archdiocese of Birmingham and within the top 5% of schools Nationally.
Mr Leverage, CEO, commented "As an Academy we are delighted with the achievements of our students. They have achieved outstanding results through hard work, determination and dedicated support from their teachers."
Over 40% of students secured places at the UK's top 30 Russell Group Universities. Other students went on to funded Apprenticeship Programmes and further education at Colleges.
O U R L A D Y O F T H E M A G N I F I C A T 4
GOVERNANCE GOVERNANCE
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Our newly appointed Governance Professional, Becky Perkes, explains what Governance is and why it's so important
Effective governance has ‘the right people round the people just like you, from all walks of life with experie expertise from a variety of sectors and backgrounds
Governance provides external scrutiny, and strong governance can help to drive forward school improvement In a multi-academy company (MAC) the Board of Directors is the legally accountable governing body for the organisation and all its schools. In addition to the Board of Directors, each school has a local governing body (LGB) The LGB is the ‘ eyes and ears ’ of the Board of Directors at individual school level.
Governing Bodies have three core functions:
Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff Overseeing financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent
In a multi-academy these core functions sit with the Board of Directors who delegate some aspects to the LGBs as set out in our scheme of delegation The Board of Directors is responsible for the strategic oversight and provision of excellent Catholic education within the MAC Each LGB provides local oversight and challenge and support to its own school, and champions the school’s links with the local parish and wider community.
We are always keen to hear from people who may be interested in joining one of our local governing bodies. If you are interested in finding out more about the role of local governors please email governor@magnificat.org.uk to arrange a time to speak with us about what the role entails. We’d be delighted to hear from you!
O U R L A D Y O F T H E M A G N I F I C A T 5
TIMES TABLES
On Tuesday 29th November we had our first Magnificat Times Tables Rock Stars day.
In total 12 of our schools with 1073 pupils took part from Years 3 to 6. They competed against each other throughout the day and our social media feeds were kept busy with all the photo's!
Congratulations to St Mary's Catholic Primary in Studley who topped the table with a whopping 110556 answers correct and Our Lady's Catholic Primary School who had the best average on the day!
Thank you to Mrs Millward, Maths Lead at St Thomas More for organising the event.
O U R L A D Y O F T H E M A G N I F I C A T 6
O U R L A D Y O F T H E M A G N I F I C A T 7
MAKING A DIFFERENCE MAKING A DIFFERENCE MAKING A DIFFERENCE
C A T H O L I C L I F E I N A C T I O N
BIG BIRMINGHAM SLEEP
OUT
Staff and Sixth Form Students from St Augustine's Catholic High School and St Benedict's Catholic High School took part in St Basil's Big Birmingham Sleep out.
They all excelled in focusing their efforts to highlight the numbers of young homeless people in need of support The amount raised currently stands at just over £2,100 – a huge amount! Thank you to all for supporting this fantastic charity You can still donate by clicking here
GIVING BACK
St Gregory's Year Six children organised a collection following their final Christmas performance and they raised just over £160. They have chosen the cause which they'd like to support: the Paediatric Wards at Worcester Hospital
The children are going to B and M, where they will be choosing the presents to buy for the poorly children They will then bring them back to school and wrap them, before delivering them to the hospital
SPREAD CHRISTMAS CHEER
A group of Year 10 students make some local residents at St David's residential care home very happy, when they turned up tp read and play games. Quite simply, they all had a fantastic afternoon - lots of laughter and enjoyment.
COMMUNITY
St Augustine's Catholic Primary School have been busy putting smiles on the face of their local community
Christmas decorations have been hidden across Kenilworth all with very special messages
SPECIAL CHRISTMAS MESSAGES
BIG BIRMINGHAM SLEEP OUT
HAPPY RESIDENTS O U R L A D Y O F T H E M A G N I F I C A T 8
ST GREGORY'S
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
Across schools, pupils, teachers, parents and members of the community came together for services of remembrance to honour those who volunteered, sacrificed, served, fought and died for the freedom we enjoy today.
"We thank you, and we salute you, we will never forget. We will remember you"
Our schools created beautiful displays of remembrance whilst learning about the significance of the poppy.
O U R L A D Y O F T H E M A G N I F I C A T 9
"Ihavecomethattheymayhavelifeandhaveittothefull" John10:10 St Benedict's and Our Lady's Christmas wreath making @MagnificatMAC OurLadyoftheMagnificat Follow Us
