Animate Youth Ministry

In the lead up to Children's Mental Health Week, St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School’s KS3 students enjoyed Mental Health and Wellbeing workshops, as part of their extra-curricular clubs with Rugby League Cares. The St Helens students from the school’s Year 7, 8 and 9 Football and Netball teams were invited to sessions with Damian Gibson, from Rugby League Cares, to speak about all things wellbeing and mental health awareness whilst also combining fun Rugby League activities. As a school, St Cuthbert’s believes that using sport as a vehicle to care for others, in their community, as well as looking after our own physical, mental and emotional wellbeing is what helps everyone recognise how important it is to look after themselves. Rugby League Cares is an independent charity that has always put mental health at the forefront of its vision, by not only supporting players at the end of their careers but by providing education and training that equips young people with the skills and qualifications they need for the next stage of their lives. Damian Gibson, Rugby League Cares Ambassador, said: "I am absolutely overwhelmed by the maturity, engagement and fantastic attitude that each of these young people showed during these vital sessions. “I have never worked with such a wonderful group.” Mrs Jackson, Curriculum Leader of Physical Education, said: “Having these sessions is so important and we are grateful to Rugby League Cares for their support and the work they do with our young people. “The last two years has been so tough for everybody and it shows the important role sports can play and how we must look out for our own and each other's mental health.”

Talented table tennis players from St Mary’s College and Preparatory School in Crosby are to represent Merseyside in the English schools’ national championship in the spring. Luke Govier and Isabella Hamer from the senior school – both aged 12 – became individual under 13 county champions at the recent Merseyside finals, with ten-year-old Isla Graham from the Preparatory School enjoying similar success in the under 11 event. Now all three will head to Wolverhampton in April to compete in the 2022 Butterfly Schools’ Individual Table Tennis National Finals at the Aldersley Leisure Village. More than 350 players representing 50 counties will take part in this event, making it the biggest one-day table tennis competition in the country. And following these championships the English Schools’ Table Tennis Committee will select representative teams to play in an international event against the other home nations in June. Table tennis is certainly going through a purple patch at St Mary’s. Apart from the achievements of this trio – including Isabella who is ranked number four in England – two other pupils have enjoyed similar success. Ten-year-old Isabella Travis – also from the Preparatory School –and 15-year-old Jack Savage from the senior school were runners-up in the Merseyside under 11 and under 16 events respectively. However, in a busy weekend for table tennis action, Jack still managed to win the Under 18 Junior Southport and District Open Singles Competition on the following day. All these players attended St Mary’s Preparatory School where they honed their skills under visiting table tennis coach Dave Graham. Dave said: “It has been a pleasure to work with these young people and to see them develop into such high-quality players. “I am extremely proud of them and look forward to witnessing their future achievements over the coming years.” St Mary’s College principal, Mike Kennedy, added: “Despite the problems caused by the pandemic over the last couple of years St Mary’s has enjoyed some exceptional sporting successes recently, in particular in football and netball. “It’s great to see our table tennis players reaching similar heights and all our students and staff will be wishing them well when they compete in the national schools event in April.”

St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Primary School have teamed up with leading defibrillator awareness charity, The Oliver King Foundation, and North-west based private medical provider, Pall Mall to heart screen its Year 6 pupils. The campaign is being piloted on Merseyside to increase awareness of undetected heart problems, and was launched in conjunction with Jamie Carragher’s 23 Foundation with St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Primary School being the first school to be offered the testing on the programme. As part of the programme, children were offered the opportunity to have an electrocardiogram (ECG) in order to detect any irregularities in their heartbeat. This was the first time an ECG testing day had taken place in a school in the NorthWest. The Oliver King Foundation was founded by Mark King, whose son died following a sudden cardiac arrest whilst swimming at King David High School. The foundation has been campaigning around defibrillator accessibility since 2011, saving the lives of 56 lives in the process and installing 5,500 new defibrillators across the country. Mark’s campaign has centred around securing government legislation to ensure that defibrillator access is available in all schools throughout the UK. Mark King of The Oliver King Foundation, said: “We’re incredibly proud to be partnering up with Pall Mall and the 23 Foundation to be able to offer heart screenings for young school children on Merseyside. Early detection of heart problems is the key to ensuring people are able to be treated and can live with the problems safely. The biggest challenge we face with heart problems is that we may only find out we have an issue when a serious incident occurs which can seriously limit an individual's chances of survival. We hope that with the help of Pall Mall we are able to roll this programme out so that all young people in Merseyside will be able to be screened to detect issues early.” Private consultant cardiologist Doctor Ayyaz Sultan said: “This pilot is a great opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of checking your heart health. Any child or adult who is actively involved in sports should be tested regularly for any potential heart conditions. “An ECG can also help investigate the cause of chest pains, palpitations, or symptoms such as difficulty in breathing. “During an ECG the heart’s electrical activity is measured through electrodes, which are attached to the skin with adhesive pads. These electrodes measure the electrical signals of the heart. These signals are recorded by a machine and are looked at by a doctor or nurse to see if they're unusual.”

First, a confession. I am at that stage of my career as a teacher where I turn up to trips with my passport and suitcase. I am the ‘experienced’ member of Maricourt Catholic High School staff. I’ve done my fair share of organising in earlier days with London, Brussels, Barcelona and Paris in the brochure. My organising was pre the creation of paperwork and then COVID-19 restrictions. I looked on with great admiration as Mr Daly and Miss Holden made calls, responded to emails and kept the government travel website traffic numbers ticking along. So, the ‘will it, won’t it be cancelled’ trip of a lifetime was all go. I say all go, provided we all completed ESTAs, downloaded the passenger locator form, the US attestation form, the NHS app, the NYC COVID app, completed a fit to fly test then packed the masks. Getting 63 negative fit to fly tests videoed with the return emails received in an hour was like taking part in a strange Netflix reality TV documentary where a group of spies watch on CCTV as you struggle to fuflil the exact requirements of the process in the hope of getting the all important email containing the all-important QR code. Against all odds we all made it to the end and with all relevant documentation gathered we left school to pack cases and, for once, looked forward to the alarm going off and arriving at school to negotiate the roadworks and rush hour traffic that was the journey to Manchester Airport. The new Terminal Two had an eerie quietness to it. I got the feeling that we were among the first group to be venturing abroad on a school trip. This was backed up by the staff at the check in desk who, besides commenting on the madness of taking 58 students across the Atlantic, also told us that we were the biggest and first school group they’d had since COVID-19 – a real gang of Christopher Columbuses! The seven hour plane journey ‘flew by’ (sorry) with excited chatter, a bit of sleep but on the whole the beginning of a short, sharp adventure that will make memories that will last forever. There is something magical about any school trip where you have the privilege of spending time with students, sometimes watching on as before your eyes they are learning about themselves, experiencing time with each other, and developing necessary life skills as they venture into life without the reassurance of parents. Yes, passports were temporarily misplaced, they had to make their own decisions and solve issues for themselves, but you know what? They all did it. Some were even known to have to deal with other adults they have never met before and make complex decisions for themselves – chicken pasta or vegetarian dish with rice, madam? We had a fabulous four days, the sights and sounds of New York are well documented and we did them all. The weather was bizarre, from a balmy nine degrees one day to freezing and snow the next. Herding 58 young people around a busy city is no mean feat, but we managed to get everyone to all the right places at the right times with no real issues – well we counted them all out and we counted them all in again. The laugh out loud moments are too many to mention, they were happening on an hourly basis. Some of my stand out memories (with no names to protect the parties involved) include going to the Statue of Liberty in an outfit that matched hers, no-one in America having heard of the football team some students support, the ability of staff to catch 40 winks in the middle of a musical, wondering if this actually is the street our hotel is on (again!), getting into groups – again, buying enough M&Ms to feed the entire school, celebrating an 18th birthday in New York, me being the mad one for not spending a fortune on Wi-Fi for the plane so I could Snapchat, being serenaded in Ellen’s Diner, ‘Friesgate’, trying to sort out the seating in the theatre, shoes of different sizes, blisters, the list is endless, and I am still catching myself giggling as things pop into my head. Teenagers continue to get a bad press, unfairly so in lots of cases. Being able to speak to people on the subway, in shops and restaurants who ask the obvious question when you see five adults try to herd 58 of them around one of the world’s busiest cities. Then being able to accept their compliments about the students’ behaviour, manners and personalities will always stay with me. If you are reading this as the parent of one of the students, we took with us then you should be very proud of them, we are and we thank each one of them for their company, conversation and laughs during the trip. Unfortunately, it’s back to reality but rest assured the New York cohort of 2022 will live long in the memory.

The application process to study at Oxford and Cambridge is a rigorous one. As well as stringent entry requirements, the process itself is tough, requiring lots of dedication and preparation.

At Carmel we offer the High Achievers+ Programme which encourages and supports students who are applying to Oxbridge and other competitive institutions, as well as for highly competitive degrees such as Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science. Delivered by our specialist High Achievers+ Coordinators, the Programme offers students activities, events and support throughout the year.

Students who have received offers to study at Oxford include former Cowley International student, Faith Wild who will read English at Lady Margaret Hall; Elisha Ainsworth from Rainhill High who will read Human Sciences at Keble College; Joseph Lester, formally of St Francis Xavier’s College who will read Engineering at Hertford College and Rachel Christensen from Deyes High School who will read Law at University College.

Faith Wild said: “I really enjoyed my interviews, talking to expert academics about the subject I’m passionate about. They asked such interesting questions and we had some really interesting discussions. They were really approachable and overall it was a great experience. In the future I’d like to teach English abroad.”

Cambridge offers were received by former Sts Peter & Paul Catholic College student, Ryan Smith who will read Engineering at Trinity College; Jacob Walsh from De La Salle who will read Medicine at Magdalene College; former Cowley International student, Lauren Welsby-Riley who will read Human, Social & Political Science at Homerton College and Claudio Mecklenburgh from Wade Deacon High School who will read Natural Sciences at Pembroke College.

Rachel Christensen said: “Carmel provided excellent support throughout the application process. The High Achievers+ Coordinator for Law, Dan Saunders, was always happy to read through my personal statement and gave me really helpful comments to make it stronger. I was also able to do multiple mock interviews to allow me to gain the experience of answering the style of questions I would be asked. My future career ambition is to hopefully become a criminal defence barrister.”

Head of the High Achievers+ Programme, Dan Saunders said: “The HA+ team are all really proud of the success of our 8 students who will be progressing onto Oxbridge. This is the result of months of hard work and practice with the guidance of our fantastic HA+ coordinators and subject staff. Congratulations!”