Vision

Dear parents, carers and friends,

Lent has been a busy time at Our Lady’s, Father Joel and Father Mathias came into school to offer reconciliation to staff and students, we extended our prayer time, prepared liturgies and celebrated Mass. Charity is always a big part of our school ethos and our Lenten charity is St Joseph’s Penny which we raise funds for by offering each form the chance to ‘grow a fiver’. The students think of entrepreneurial ways to turn £5 into a greater contribution, this has included creating an Easter chocolate hamper and selling raffle tickets to win, helping to plan a cinema experience, and plenty of bake sales. We also sold valentines themed gifts at form time to raise money for the British Heart Foundation and the disaster relief committee.

Our focus on a rewarding culture continues with each head of year leading a trip with the students in their year who have earned the most ethos coins. The students are really motivated to accrue ethos coins and the rewards offered provide an excellent incentive. This term there have been tickets to see the Lion King at the Palace theatre, an indoor climbing experience, bowling, gaming and a laser quest battle.

Our school production of Six was a wonderful event, the lead actors delivered exceptional performances as the famous wives of Henry VIII. Opening night was the north-west premiere of the school’s version of Six, which was a great privilege. Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the event.

On the sports field our children have excelled as always, the year 10 and 11 boys’ team were big winners in the Manchester indoor athletics championships and our girls’ year 8, 9 and 10 football teams have reached the quarter finals of the Manchester cup, and will hopefully progress even further in the competition.

We have always recognised the importance of a full and rich education. This year we have broadened our offer outside of the classroom. There have been outdoor activity events to Ghyll Head, colleges and universities, trips to learn special effects makeup and to observe urban regeneration in our city. We have a range of clubs available every week that include a school show choir, music lessons, ‘knit and natter’, homework and sports clubs. I

Editor’s Welcome Message

want to encourage all children to take of some of the vast range of opportunities available to them.

I hope you enjoy this term’s edition of the Vision magazine and I wish you all a peaceful and holy Easter.

God Bless

L. Ormsby Headteacher

Welcome to the Spring edition of the Vision magazine! It has been a fantastic term in school and undoubtedly the highlight for us was the truly spectacular, and northwest premiere, performance of ‘Six the Musical’ in February! We hope you enjoy reading all about life at Our Lady’s this term, and wish the whole community a very peaceful Easter.

Once again, I am delighted to introduce our latest version of the Vision magazine, which contains some of the activities, opportunities and achievements that our students have been involved with this term.

Un Après-Midi de Théâtre! Una Tarde de Teatro! An Afternoon of Theatre!

On Monday 27th February and Wednesday 1st March we had the wonderful Onatti Production theatre company visit Our Lady’s, ready to tantalise our year 8 and years 9 students with a French and Spanish play respectively.

Year 8 kicked off proceedings, enjoying a fabulous performance entitled “La Maison Haute” which followed the trials and tribulations of Zoe and Antoine stuck in a haunted house. Year 8 were fabulous and got really involved, showing that their level of French and ability to follow an

unknown text were, both, a lot better than they had previously realised! A big shout out to Dawid Pop, Emmanuel Obidi and Andrea Okeakpu Chukwudi who particularly made the performance come alive!

On the Wednesday, year 9 enjoyed “La Personalidad” which followed Fernando try to make friends at university. Year 9 showed off their counting in Spanish alongside their strong opinions on different xbox games and a great time was had by all! A special well done to Tegra Tshako who stood centre stage throughout the performance, helping the cast in their play.

Catholic Ethos Rewarded!

This term saw our students, once again, demonstrate their kind and caring Catholic ethos all around school on a daily basis and in turn, they were rewarded with lots of ethos coins given out by staff members. The students with the highest amount of coins each half term were given the opportunity to cash them in and experience some fantastic reward trips with their year leader!

production of the Lion King. All the students had a brilliant time and said it was amazing and the best thing they had ever seen!

Miss Smith took her students from year 8 on a rock-climbing reward trip. They all had a go at traversing along a small wall, bouldering without any harnesses on and finally getting slipped into harnesses to have a go at scaling the high walls! All students gave it their best and we saw some natural talent coming out in a few students.

Mr Edge went ten pin bowling with a superstar group of year 7 students, where they enjoyed lots of bowling and some time on the arcade games! Miss Brophy rewarded her year 9 students with a trip to Flip Out where everyone loved bouncing on the trampolines and jumping in the giant foam pits!

Year 10 had a brilliant afternoon out at laser quest with Mr Mottershead and Miss Castle

with some very impressive scores!A huge well done to all our students this term with so many earning a fantastic number of ethos coins! Keep it up next term!

Miss Jacques and Mr Evans took a group of year 11 students to the Palace Theatre in Manchester city centre to see a spectacular

“Fun, exciting, adventurous!”

“A great opportunity to bond with my peers.”

“We appreciate the time out of school as a reward.”

Holocaust Memorial Day

bystanders, rescuers, witnesses and of courseordinary people were victims.

Year 11 history students sat in complete silence as Janine shared her testimony of how she lost almost all of her family as a result of the German invasion.

Janine introduced herself as ‘an ordinary person with something extraordinary to share.’ She shared her story to help us to ‘remember the six million Jewish people who were murdered and to honour those that helped me to survive.’ Against all odds she survived.

Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) takes place on 27 January each year and is a time to remember the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust, under Nazi persecution and in the genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Our Lady’s had the honour of hosting a keynote presentation with Janine Webber. Janine is a survivor of the Holocaust and she shared her harrowing account of living as a Jewish girl in occupied Poland. The theme of this year’s HMD is ‘ordinary people’ because it is ordinary people who were perpetrators,

Critical Thinking with Loreto College

Year 10 students took part in a critical thinking taster session led by tutors and student ambassadors from Loreto College earlier this term. The students were presented with different thoughtprovoking statements and scenarios to discuss within their groups and they then shared their views with everyone. Topics ranged from how trustworthy different news sources can be, from the BBC to twitter (being a celebrity does not necessarily make you an expert!), to whether we can even be certain of our knowledge. Students learnt that studying Theology, Philosophy and

Ethics develops critical thinking skills and shows us how to question the world around us. It also enables us to discuss important issues, helps us to become persuasive in arguments and promotes tolerance of other ideas. A student from Loreto spoke to the students about his experience of the course and how it will help in his future career of medicine. Pupils enjoyed the lively sense of discourse and debate, and several pupils spoke to Loreto’s speakers and shared an interest in pursuing further study in Theology and Philosophy in the future.

Legacies Event –College Experience

Former Our Lady’s students always remain part of our wider community and we carefully cultivate links with our alumni so that they can pass on their advice and experience to our current cohort. Mrs Lancaster coordinates ‘Legacy Events’ and they are very popular with the students. In January two former students came back to Our Lady’s and talk about their experience of further education. We asked the students to describe how beneficial they found the event.

‘During our recent legacy event, two amazing past students came to help year 11 and year 10, to choose what our future would look like after high school. The questions that were asked from the students were very helpful for me, as I was able to start creating a plan for what I would do after my GCSEs to the transition of me starting my first year in college. One question that was asked was “are you able to change your A-level options when you do start college” - the legacies did help answer this question, which came with great

comfort, as I would be able to make a final decision for myself. I think these events are very helpful as choosing what to do in the future is quite hard, so as much guidance as possible would be helpful and comforting. I’m very grateful to get this opportunity given to us.’

she is currently studying journalism at Leeds University and loving it!

Here is the information for the next legacy events we are hosting. We will continue to develop our alumni network so students can network and support each other after they leave school. Please get in contact if you would like to be involved.

Tuesday 17th January College Interviews/college experience

1.10-2.50

Weds 1st March University

1.10- 2.50

Tue 28th March

Alternative routes- T-level/Football Academy

12.10- 1.50

Weds 3rd May

It was a real treat to see Vanely (class of 2020) and Vanessa (class of 2021) again and to take them on a tour around school. They both especially enjoyed seeing their former teachers as well as all of the improvements we have made to our site. Vanely was particularly excited to see Mr Quiligotti again and cited a trip he organised to the BBC studios at media city when she was in year 8 as the reason she chose her intended career path -

Prepare for exams

1.10-2.50

Queens Rule the Stage!

Six is a stylish new musical that puts the wives of Henry VIII firmly centre stage. The show is a modern telling of the lives of these six famous queens whose lives are usually overshadowed by their rather more famous spouse. The premise of the show is an audition to be the lead singer of a new girl band aptly called the Ex-Wives. Each of the former Queens takes to the stage and shares her life story via the medium of a catchy pop song.

and puts the plight of this vibrant French queen into the foreground. Tania gives a confident performance but she also manages to convey Anne Boleyn’s vulnerability equally well, which takes real talent.

as the only queen to enjoy a slightly happy ending.

Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced beheaded, survived! Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced beheaded,live!

The show starts with a dazzling opener ‘Exwives’ introducing each queen and letting the audience know exactly what’s in store. The lead actors all have excellent voices and along with the ensemble, who provide backing vocals and choreography, and our wonderful live band, they give the audience a pop concert experience with a historical twist. Ketsia Makondele then takes her moment in the spotlight singing Catherine of Aragon’s powerful anthem ‘No Way’ describing her loyalty to Henry and his treacherous treatment of her, even trying to force her to move to a convent and become a nun! Ketsia has a great stillness and stage presence and gave a stunning vocal performance.

Tania Kasigwa plays Anne Boleyn, a maligned and misunderstood figure, her song ‘Don’t Lose your Head’ sets the record straight

After Anne Boleyn’s sassy turn the show then moves to the sad tale of Jane Seymour, rumoured to be a genuine love match with Henry, she sadly died and her ballad ‘Heart of Stone’ was so beautifully performed by Rhianna Lock that it made this reviewers nose fizz with feelings. Rhianna’s voice is exquisite and she controls the notes so well that she has the audience in the palm of her hand with her heartfelt performance.

Elizabeth Osifo’s Katherine Howard sings ‘All You Wanna Do’ to explain how she came to be executed for treason, it’s an upbeat song for a queen who went through such a lot and Elizabeth plays her with great humour and style, capturing an essence of resistance and strength that shines through.

Finally it’s the turn of Deborah Oladapo’s to sing a ballad for Catherine Parr, she sings ‘I Don’t Need Your Love’ sounding very much like Jorja Smith and sharing the frustrations of a life of great personal achievement overshadowed by her husband. Deborah’s vocals are incredible and she conveys the powerful emotions with great control, it’s a real triumph.

Once all of the queens have performed solo they realise that their stories sound stronger together and they all perform the title track ‘Six’ which gets everyone clapping along as all six queens imagine what a life without Henry VIII would’ve been like.

No time to feel sad for too long though as Marianna Binga steps up to perform the showstopping ‘Haus of Holbein’ with bags of charisma and a ton of stage presence. The story of ‘Anna’ of Cleaves offers so much fun and the chance for the audience to have a cheeky shimmy. Marianna really gets the brief and brings the crowd along on her joyful turn

QUEENS RULE THE STAGE!

Although we say this every year, the expressive arts department really excelled themselves, Mr Grenier, Head of Drama gave us the north west premiere of this excellent production which we were so proud to host. We even were lucky enough to get a video message from Maiya Quansha-Breed who played Catherine Parr professionally in the original west end show, she sent our queens her good wishes which was such a special surprise. Thank you to all of the Our Lady’s community who came along to support.

A huge thank you to Aaron at MSL Hire, the staging company based in Oldham who we hired the stage and lighting from for Six the Musical. The company were so impressed with our school they decided to donate 16 of their theatre lights to us to keep for future productions! What a fantastic and kind gesture and we are hugely grateful.

Ketsia Makondele as Catherine of Aragon

Married to the king for 24 years, Catherine of Aragon is remembered as the unwavering queen who fought hard to keep her marriage intact. She died battling for her rights as queen and those of her daughter, Mary.

Tania Kasigwa as Anne Boleyn

Known as the woman who Henry abandoned the Roman Catholic Church for and ultimately got her head chopped off, This smart, aggressive woman stirred passionate emotions in all who knew herno less so, Henry VIII, who first begged for her love and then condemned her to death.

Rhianna Lock as Jane Seymour

Jane’s sweet and charming demeaner captured Henry’s heart. Married just days after her predecessor’s death, she was to become Henry’s favourite wife. Jane, unlike any of Henry’s other wives, gave Henry the one thing he wanted most - a son, an act that would lead to her death.

Though Henry decided to break their marriage after just six months, Anne of Cleves arguably had the best life out of all six queens. The King granted her a hefty allowance along with manors and palaces, and she ended up outliving his other wives, Henry himself, and his son.

After 18 months of marriage to the king and getting convicted for adultery, Katherine Howard met the same fate as her cousin Anne Boleyn: she lost her head. Wedding the 49-year-old Henry when she was just a teenager.

Though in love with Thomas Seymour, Catherine felt obligated to say yes when the king proposed. She was an attentive stepmother, a caring nurse, a faithful companion. But underneath her calm exterior deep passions flowed - for learning, religious reform and the man she had left to marry the king.

Marianna Binga as Anna of Cleves

Elizabeth Osifo as Katherine Howard

Deborah Oladapo as Catherine Parr

Welcome to our new SEND/SEMH department!

The SEND department was carefully designed by our school SENDCo and SEMH leads. It is a really impressive bright and airy space on the ground floor of our new building. This provision offers excellent ICT facilities, lots of space to teach and learn with calm and quiet areas for our students who need a little extra support. Students who access this space receive pastoral and key worker support along with group or 1:1 interventions and counselling.

There are lots of support services that students can access in the SEND space including, Rainbows bereavement guidance, ‘think bricks’ Lego therapy and plenty of bespoke resources and solutions to meet the needs of the children of Our Lady’s. The staff based there are a team who are diligently committed to supporting our young people and are always down for a game of UNO or Connect 4!

Celebrating LGBTQ+ Month

In the UK, LGBTQ+ History Month is celebrated in February. It is important to mark LGBTQ+ History Month because LGBTQ+ people have not always been accepted or included in the way that they are today. Understanding how things used to be and knowing about the fight for equality that happened in the past, can help to shed a light on inequalities that still exist, and encourage us all to think about our own responsibility in creating a fair and equal society.

What does each letter stand for in the acronym LGBTQ+?

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning

The + holds a space for the expanding and new understanding of the different parts of the very diverse human identities. Students were involved in a ‘guess the flag’ form time quiz with doughnuts as rewards for correct answers.

Throughout history, photographs have been used to share messages and ideas. The development of cameras and more recently through smartphones has made imagery a significant aspect of modern activism. The ancient saying ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ has never been truer. Students looked at some historical images and reimagined them as modern-day social media posts to promote LGBTQ+ inclusivity messages, using modern hashtags and comments. This brought the history of the queer rights movement to life in the present day.

GCSE photography students Aiyah Oyewo, Annabella Barker and Diana Ikekok captured the day with some brilliant photographs we are happy to publish with this article.

Shout-Out for the Student Voice

The student council at Our Lady’s are a group of vibrant young people who don’t just want to ponder social issues, they want to actively be part of the solution - something we will only ever encourage. Assistant Headteacher, Mr Cope is the coordinator in school for the students to meet with and access support with their activism. So many children applied to join the student council that we decided to form several focus groups instead of just one council. They represent the voice of the students across school and are a vital to our continuing success.

voice is heard. They liaise with Mrs Morrison to organise student led recognition of Black History month, International Women’s Day, LGBTQ+ month and have an annual calendar of events and causes.

The diversity action team, are responsible for celebrating and elevating ALL of the community and making sure everyone’s

The welfare action team are concerned with making sure that our students can access support and guidance when they need it. They liaise with Miss Morson and implement support strategies to cope with exam pressures and any other wellbeing issues. They also work with our school PSHCE lead Mrs Riaz to oversee the themes of upcoming lessons and offer student feedback.

The eco sustainability action team are busy supporting our journey to carbon zero as well as other campaigns that prioritise environmental activism. This has included them taking on the role of lead school at the Manchester Green Bee conference, what a brilliant achievement! Mr Cope is their mentor and just as enthusiastic as the students about saving energy and promoting greater environmental awareness across school. The rewards action team make sure that the students are involved in engagement incentives. They were active in the creation of our e-coins rewards system and the trips and rewards associated with them. They are currently working out what our Easter rewards

will look like alongside Miss Castle and Mrs Lancaster. Details of the most recent rewards trip can be found in this edition too.

Our communications action team, concentrate their efforts on the marketing and promotion of Our Lady’s, they want to advise the wider community of all the wonderful activities taking place at our school. They liaise with Miss Morgan on content for our social media platforms and utilise Google forms to gauge the student stakeholder voice. Across all of the different action teams the student council are involved with the recruitment of new staff to the school and meet with all potential candidates on their interview day. The council also meet regularly with the school leadership team and appraise them of the latest updates from their focus groups as well as being diligent full time students. These young people really are all the reassurance we need that the future is in very safe hands.

A Library is a Room Filled with Adventure & Wonder

This term, some of our fantastic year 7 students attended a reward trip to Manchester Central Library. The students were selected by their teachers for having an excellent attitude towards reading throughout the year, they are regular visitors to our school library.

After arriving in Manchester, the group were given a guided tour of the iconic library building, they were taken around the stunning reading room and also had the opportunity to learn how the librarians organise the thousands of books in their collection. The highlight of the day, however, was when the students were invited to choose a book for themselves and have some time to read in the children’s reading spaces. Members of the public commented on how well behaved the children were and what excellent ambassadors for our school.

The 2nd of March was of course World Book Day and there was much to celebrate in

the Our Lady’s library. All the students were invited to write a short story in their favorite style, the only stipulation was that the main character must be themselves! There were so many fantastic entries and Mrs Edwards the school librarian is still enjoying reading them all.

The students were given a chance to listen to the audible version of Michelle Obama’s ‘The Light we Carry’ which is a book of wisdom read by the author themselves. We also were lucky enough to secure a live video stream with renowned author and former children’s laureate Sir Michael Morpurgo which was a real treat. A group of five year 10 students

visited St Clare’s Primary School and read Tom Percival’s ‘Invisible’ to year 5 and year 6 children, which they thoroughly enjoyed. And finally, for fun, teachers and students formed quiz teams and took part in a huge battle to be crowned world book day champions.

As a school we really encourage all of our children to access reading for pleasure and our well stocked library has an eclectic mix of titles available to borrow, we always take requests for new titles and firmly believe in that “Books are a uniquely portable magic.”

— Stephen King

Staff Profile: Miss Coady

Miss Coady joined Our Lady’s at the start of 2023 as a Lead Teacher of English, let’s find out a bit more about them!

What is your role at Our Lady’s? Teacher of English.

Where did you work before you started here?

I previously worked as a lead teacher for teaching and learning at a high school in Stockport.

What were your first impressions of Our Lady’s?

I was impressed by the welcoming, respectful, and supportive school environment.

What is your favourite thing about being a teacher?

My favourite thing about being a teacher is helping students to reach their goals.

What does a typical day for Miss Coady look like?

Before I arrive at school, I like to complete 5k run or catch up with news from around the world. I arrive at school at 7.15am to get ready for the day ahead. During the day, I am teaching in my classroom with students across KS3 and KS4. After school, I review the day’s learning to help inform and prepare lessons and resources for the following day. In the evening, I like to spend time with my family and unwind with a good book or documentary series.

Where in the world would you most like to visit?

I have always wanted to visit Canada and I am hoping to book a tour this summer. In particular, I would love to visit the national parks in Alberta.

What are your hobbies outside of school? Hiking and travelling.

Favourite film or TV show? Good Will Hunting

Favourite song? Your Song by Elton John

Favourite food?

Chicken madras

What is your greatest achievement to date?

Leading a month-long housing community project in Kenya.

Who would you most like to meet and why?

I would love to meet Lana Del Ray! I am a big fan of her lyrics and I would love to learn more about her writing process.

Best bit of advice for students at Our Lady’s?

Be kind. Stay humble. Work hard. Never stop learning. Be thankful always.

New Year, New Chaplaincy Work!

There has been a continuous uptake in membership from students across all year groups, wanting to join our GIFT Chaplaincy Team. The overwhelming support is amazing as our chaplaincy team spread the word of God among the students of Our Lady’s.

15 different prayers for each department across school. As a Catholic school, prayer is at the centre of our community and is a valuable experience for all who partake. We commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day by joining as a group to create a prayer which was shared on the form PowerPoint for students and form tutors to join together and pray. We raised awareness around human trafficking as the day of prayer for human trafficking falls in February. Again, as a community we came together to write a prayer dedicated to those victims and spread awareness to our community of what is happening to others all around the world. We try to embody our faith in everything we do, making our school an active worshipping community and encouraging others to do so.

“The SVP helps me put the school’s mission statement into action, ‘To Know, Love and Serve God’” (Maria Ngiukuludo, Year 9)

Farewell to Sister Philomena Jordan Many longstanding members of the Our Lady’s community will remember Sister Philomena Jordan who worked here as a teacher of RE and food technology, even after her retirement, Sister continued to serve on our board of governors and run the school tuck shop! Sister passed away peacefully in January aged ninety-five. A Requiem Mass to celebrate her life was held at St Patrick’s RC Church in February and was widely attended by members of the parish community.

The team started the year, busy with Gospel work and writing prayers to feature during form time. They have also been consistent in delivering readings and supporting Mass which is led by Father Nicholas Kumi. During this spring term GIFT Chaplains have also had the privilege of witnessing Eucharistic Adoration in the school Chapel. This enables all the students of Our Lady’s to experience a personable moment with God during their busy academic days. Devotion to the Eucharist has enabled the Chaplains to have private communication, thanksgiving and praise with God.

St Vincent de Paul – A social justice society

In early January the SVP students celebrated the ‘Week of Christian Prayer for Unity’ by creating prayer bookmarks to be distributed to students in the library, as well as creating

“I joined the SVP because it helps spread the message of love from God, and as the younger generation of the Church I feel this is important to encourage” (Kylie ColemanKodua, Year 10)

Spectacular Special Effects!

Miss Magill started the Special Effects Makeup Club back in June 2021 as a trainee teacher. What started as a small club for six regular students has flourished into an oversubscribed creative environment which gives students the opportunity to try something new and get an insight into different careers within the expressive arts industry. We spoke to Miss Magill to find out a bit more about this fantastic club!

“Each week I am so impressed by the creativity of the students and want to continue to nourish their skills. They have produced some fantastic examples of SFX makeup from popular TV and Film such as “Wednesday” and “Avatar”. This term, we took a trip to The Manchester College for a Theatrical Media Makeup session, where students gained new knowledge surrounding courses and progression routes, and interactive skills within the industry. Using new and pre-existing skills, students created a variety of different special effect makeup looks for stage and screen. The session was filled with hands-on activities for the students to complete and they really gained an insight into the life of a professional SFX Artist.

The college were very complementary of the students’ professionalism, manners and behaviour during the session, and even spotted some Special Effects super-stars in the making!”

If you are interested in joining SFX club, please see Miss Magill in school.

Springtime Sporting Success!

This term has once again seen so many sporting achievements in school. Our year 9 girls came 3rd in the Manchester Athletics Championships with some great performances in different events. We had 1st place in the 60 metres hurdles with Zara Tonye, 1st place in the 60m sprint with Radiyat Adeosun and 2nd place in the high jump with Melissa Ndiogulu. We were also 3rd in the relay with Zara, Radiyat, Valerie and Maya.

In the boys competitions, our amazing year 10 and 11 team came out winners in the Manchester Indoor Athletics Championships! There were some excellent performances with a list of our results below:

Back in January, the British Cycling Pathway organisation came in to school to carry out an early talent identification session with the girls. The day was centred around aspiring the girls to experience the amazing facilities on offer in Manchester, making them aware of the different sessions available after school, promoting girls being active outside of school as well as identifying potential talented athletes in the sport to further advance the girls talents.

The day was a great success with all girls demonstrating fantastic efforts in the testing and the instructors were blown away by the enthusiasm on display and were amazed at the commitment and willingness to experience a new sport. As a result from the day, fourteen Our Lady’s students were selected and identified out of all

Manchester secondary schools to attend the next phase of the Talent ID programme, giving them the opportunity to attend a further enhanced testing day in Manchester at the national cycling centre! All girls have been contacted and are looking forward to the challenge ahead, representing the school and striving to be the next Olympic sprint cyclist, we wish them lots of luck!

Further to this success we are pleased to confirm that our girls year 8, 9 and 10 football teams have reached the quarter finals of the Manchester Cup hopefully progressing even further in the competition.

Finally, a huge well done to Terry Bondo who has officially joined Blackpool Football Club! We wish you every luck in the future at Bloomfield Road, Terry!

Debate Mate

Debate Mate runs after-school debating clubs in schools across the UK, and is something that the students at Our Lady’s have loved being a part of. Over the last few months, pupils have been learning the art of debating and how to debate in a formal setting, after school every week. The club is run by specially trained, university students, and the techniques are delivered through a series of fun and interactive exercises and games. Debating is shown to improve pupils critical and creative thinking, confidence, teamwork, leadership, aspirations, resilience and self-management.

Mrs Robson and Mrs Farooq, accompanied fourteen of our Debate Mate pupils to Oasis Academy Oldham to compete in the first round of the Urban Debate League. The pupils did an amazing job at debating with pupils from other schools across Greater

Manchester on important issues such as climate change, the rise of technology and prison reforms. The pupils did us proud and they won both rounds!

The second round took place at Abraham Moss in March. Students were split into two groups. Group A was in opposition and Group B was in proposition to the motion: ‘This house would ban under 18’s from playing sports professionally’. Pupils engaged well and were all actively involved, as they collectively came together as a team and had to articulate their ideas, consequently, enhancing their oracy and problem-solving skills. Ground rules were in place and all students adhered to these, this made for a debate rooted in mutual respect and it was evident that students were enjoying the debates and discussion with one another.

Our fantastic debate mate students managed to bring victory and success to Our Lady’s! Year 10 student, Maryiam Bhatti, mentioned: “Our teamwork and companionship paid off extremely well, as it led both teams to successful victory in the first round.”

Mrs Robson and Mrs Farooq were amazed at how well they did, and we are hoping to make it to the final, which in previous years has been held at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster!