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Sharing the

Spring 2021

Our Lady’s R.C. High School Magazine

IN THIS ISSUE: Success in the English Department Artists Online Creative Confidence Year 7 Success

Plus much more!

Our Lady’s R.C. High School Alworth Road, Higher Blackley, Manchester M9 0RP T: 0161 507 9640 E: admin@olsc.manchester.sch.uk

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Dear parents, carers and friends, 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.

I’ve always enjoyed the first day of school and, as I sit down to write this, today is that day at Our Lady’s – Monday 8 March. Even though the weather was a little wet this morning, it wasn’t going to do anything to dampen my spirits. Watching the children approach after nearly three months away from school has been incredibly uplifting. I’m very grateful for the support we have received from all our parents in preparing their children for the return to school, and I sincerely hope this is the last time that we are in this position. I know remote learning has gone as well as it possibly can do, and I’m grateful for all of the parental feedback, but there’s nothing that can replace the interaction that takes place between teachers and children in the classroom. There’s lots of talk about ‘catch-up’ in the press, and whilst there is no doubt there are some elements of the curriculum that we will need to recap and build upon, we will ensure that the children of Our Lady’s continue to be imbued with that passion for learning – not just rushing through missed facts. During the current lockdown we’ve managed to do lots of work around the school. Most classrooms have been decorated and we’ve invested in new IT equipment for each department. We’ve also invested in some inspirational wall art around school, which celebrates our locality and our diversity, and I

look forward to welcoming all parents back to see this in the not too distant future.

last twelve months have served to highlight this in ways that I could not have imagined.

As well as the upgrades to our current build, we have also submitted the planning proposal for a new 2.5 million pound extension of the school. The proposal will provide us with an extra dining space, classrooms, chapel, learning resource centre and social spaces. This will further enhance what is already an excellent offer for the children of Our Lady’s. I will keep you updated with further developments in this area.

As we start to move out of lockdown and toward a sense of normality, I think it’s important we support those that need it and retain that incredibly strong sense of community that has served us well during these challenging times.

The experience of the last twelve months has raised our awareness of many things, at least I certainly feel that way. I always knew that I worked with an incredibly committed group of staff. I also recognised I was privileged to serve fantastic children and parents. But the

God Bless

L. Ormsby Headteacher

Editor’s Welcome Message As we move towards the Easter Break, it is a good time to reflect on everything this past year has brought us. Despite the hardships and struggles, our students have persevered and achieved tremendous success which is a cause for celebration. A number of our students have had the opportunity to explore post 16 options and career paths, and there have been a number of incredible opportunities that have been available this term. Enjoy!

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Contents Headteacher’s Welcome

Editor’s Welcome

Bottle Moments

Success in the English Department

Careers

Art Evening

Artists Online

Photography Evening

GCSE Photography

9-10

Prefect Applications

Scholars Program

Pen Pals from Spain

PE News

Religious Life of the School

Creative Confidence

16-17

Makaton Sing and Sign

Staff Wellbeing

Student Wellbeing

Year 7 Success Music lessons producing Big Stars!

21-22

Thank You to our Hamper Helpers!

Happy Easter

Editor: Kirsty McCarten

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Bottle Moments Your Bottle Moment is the one thing you’d most like to do again when everything is better and back to normal. It could be a friend you’d most like to see, a place you’d most like to go, a hobby you’d most like to get back to, or simply getting a hug from someone special. The idea for Bottle Moments is a simple one: we asked frontline key workers to contact us on social media and tell us about something that is getting them through this difficult time: a happy memory, an aspiration, or perhaps simply a special friend or relative they can’t wait to see again when this is all over. The winner for the Our Lady’s contributions for their bottle moment was Maia Ramos in year 7. A huge congratulations to Maia for her lovely submission!

ENGLISH SUCCESS

Success in the English Department Students have been very busy in English this term! Firstly, year 9 students have made some amazing posters based on their favourite book as part of their reading lessons in English. It has been excellent to see students accessing books online through the Borrowbox app and Miss Winters’ Virtual Library.

The Virtual Library is now here to keep students entertained and reading over the coming term, in a time when access to the library is very limited, which was a big disappointment to a lot of students. The English department is hoping that the library can be a

shared source of entertainment and enjoyment to students rather than just an added piece of work. To access the Virtual Library, students need to access the PowerPoint provided through their form group’s google classroom and select the book of their choosing, which will then take them to either an online version or a recorded audio book. Books will be frequently updated, so keep checking back for more! Requests are also welcomed and should be sent to Miss Winters. Also, the English teachers have been nominating “Stars of the Week” over on their Instagram page, which can be found below.

Year 7 and 8 students have also been continuing their Anime Club that was set up last term, using google Classroom as a way to live stream some episodes from home. The uptake on the club has been incredibly popular and is a great way for students to share their love of anime books, films and TV shows. The club already has 25 members and is expected to grow much more! English department Instagram handle: olhs_english

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CAREERS

Bath Bombs with Manchester Youth Zone Donvivian, Veronica and a group of around 20 year 11 students joined the Manchester Youth Zone to join in with a fun STEM based session in February. South America make jewellery that will be sold in the UK, with all profits being returned to South America to support young people’s learning and welfare.

Once the students registered online, MYZ sent out goody bags containing the vital ingredients to make some sumptuous Bath Bombs. The group then joined the MYZ team online and worked their way through the making process, exploring all things STEM!

Ruby Watson has taken her new skills to the next level and has now started her own business, which can be found on Instagram @ rubiesdiamonds_ or on Facebook @ Rubies Diamonds.

The session finished with an introduction to “starting your own business”, which let students add some entrepreneurial skills to their personal skill set, something that is beneficial when considering college, university and future career prospects.

Year 10 and 11 students were also invited to participate in virtual Mock Interviews in March, and more places will be available during the Easter break. We would like to thank MYZ for their continuing support.

The students that particularly enjoyed the session have been given the opportunity to develop their own idea and will receive continual support to grow their idea further. One student is currently working on a social enterprise idea, where young people from

Many more exciting opportunities will be available in the coming months and if any student would like to get involved, please contact Mrs. Cooke.

Furthering Careers Bath Bombs aren’t the only things on the horizon for our talented student Ruby Watson, who recently also landed a spot on Groundwork’s Youth Advisory board! Here’s what she had to say about her new role: I recently was interview for a spot on Groundwork’s youth advisory board and got a place! Groundwork is a charity which mobilises practical community action on poverty and the environment across the UK. On the Youth advisory, we will take action on local and

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global environmental issues by providing young people with the opportunity and to learn about the environment and therefore use the knowledge to improve their environment! We are very proud of Ruby and all she has achieved this term!

ART EVENING

Art Evening In the last week of last term, students in year 7 joined in with a collaborative project to produce an 8ft by 4ft painting of Our Lady of Knock. Together, a selected team of budding artists managed to finish the painting which will be hung in the school’s foyer once each year group has completed their own painting, to represent each of the houses we have here in school. The year 8 art evening will be taking place soon, so any students wanting to get involve and expand their creativity should look out for the announcement!

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ART HOME LEARNING

Art Home Learning Despite being away from the school for the majority of this term, students working in the art department have continued to develop their drawing, shading and mark making skills in extraordinary ways. Students were encouraged to explore some of the many different ways that shading can be added to a drawing, and students in year 8 had the opportunity to work on their tonal symmetry skills, completing drawings of some bugs and developing their techniques to produce drawings with accurate texture and tone. Some exceptional work was submitted by Aaron Issacs in year 8, and Jennifer Otane in year 7, and we look forward to seeing what all students across the year groups will produce in the summer term.

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PHOTOGRAPHY EVENING

Photography Evening

Light Drawing Year 8 students had the chance to take part in some light drawing ran by Mrs Rathod this term, in which they produced some amazing photography work using a dark room, lights and a long camera exposure. The students worked together, moving a light source whilst taking a long exposure photograph to “draw” in the air, a technique that has been practiced since 1889! Students created drawings of stars, hearts, outlines

of themselves and “Our Lady’s”. Other year groups should look out for the next photography evening, as spaces filled up fast and a great time was had by all.

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School GCSE PHOTOGRAPHY Trips

GCSE Photography Students in years 9 and 10 have been working remotely on a Lockdown mini project in GCSE Photography, overcoming barriers to create fantastic personal projects. Students chose starting points for their project based on accessible themes whilst working from home, such as Shoes, In the Kitchen, Shadows and Sweets. Using Google classroom to present and share work, students excelled at researching and responding to their chosen theme, all whilst following a GCSE structure. Developing ideas through mood boards and mind mapping before investigating artist and photographers, recording their ideas through photography and editing their work on Pixlr.com. Their hard work is shown clearly in the work and their dedication to self-directed work is commendable. Well done to all!

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GCSE PHOTOGRAPHY

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SchoolAPPLICATIONS PREFECT Trips

Prefect Applications Year 10 students should be aware that prefect applications will begin soon, followed by the interview process to select what students will earn the title of prefect for their year 11 year. All students are encouraged to apply to Miss Winter, and there are a large number of benefits that come with being a prefect. Studies have shown that being a prefect has had a direct impact on student’s communication skills, public speaking skills, leadership skills, self-confidence, and patience. Being a prefect is also a good way to stand out among applicants when it comes to applying for College, University and Apprentice programmes, as it demonstrates that students are capable of undertaking leadership roles and managing extra tasks alongside their main objectives. Becoming a prefect is a great opportunity to master leadership, which is a quality that

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can help students become stronger and more responsible people. Being a prefect is also a responsibility that will present the selected year 11 students as role models, particularly to younger students.

Keep your eye out for application deadlines!

Some of the main tasks prefects will undertake is the supporting of pupils that are transitioning from primary school into high school, supporting the ETHOS during form times and representing the school at events such as parent’s evenings, school shows and open evenings.

School Trips SCHOLARS PROGRAMME

Scholars Programme This term a selection of year 9 students have been taking part in the Scholars Programme. The programme provides non-selective state schools the opportunity to work with a PhD researcher to experience university-style learning. It helps them to develop the skills, knowledge, and confidence to secure a place at a highly selective university. The students were selected because of their outstanding work in English so far in secondary school. They have been learning about Digital Capitalism and Modern Society. Starting at the Feudal System in Medieval

England, students have travelled right through to present day. The selected students have been working incredibly hard to get to the standard they need to submit a University style essay at the conclusion of the course.

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MFL PEN PALS

Pen Pals from Spain In January, the MFL department received a very lovely surprise in the post, some amazing Christmas cards sent all the way from Spain! The department have signed up to the ‘Cambridge Pen Pal’, which aims to connect students across the world whilst improving language skills in students and allowing them to share letters in a safe and fun environment. We have now received our ‘badge’ for taking part in the card swap, and are looking forward to be taking part in more card swaps soon!

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PE NEWS

PE News There has been some exceptional work produced from the students working from home this term. Firstly, a huge congratulations to the year 10 and year 11 students who sat their PE exam re-sit in November, and have achieved a favourable outcome this time around. The PE department would like to give a special mention to Ruby Watson who improved from a Level 1 merit to a Level 2 Pass, and also to Peter Oseh who has risen from a Level 1 Pass to a Level 2 Merit. The turnarounds are thoroughly deserved and well done to all who were involved. Even though students missed part of the Easter term, our year 11 students were attempting to complete their PE synoptic project that will contribute to their final grade. Here is an excerpt from an outstanding piece of work from Ciaran Lockwood, who is well on his way to achieving a Level 2 Distinction: ‘Power is the ability to apply maximum force in regard to a movement or contraction, in a quick amount of time, whilst using both the components of speed and agility. As an aspect of fitness that is prevalent in many sports, it is a measure of how much force can be applied by an individual and the speed at which it is done. Training that can be done by athletes and performers to improve their power includes lifting weights, squat jumps, and plyometric training’.

The PE Instagram page has taken off again during the cold months and is available to all @pe_olhs There is a currently an ongoing social media timetable that represents a different theme each day: Motivation Monday, Tricky Tuesday, Wellbeing Wednesday, Throwback Thursday and Fitness Friday. From here, students have the chance to take part in fun activities. One activity that ran at the start of February was a virtual team event. The teams needed to complete as many miles either walking or running as they could, and their total miles were added together with the winning team receiving Amazon vouchers to spend. Upon students return to school, a new Orienteering course has been mapped out across the school that involves cross country running that aims to use maps and markers to allow students the chance to find their own way around which will in turn improve their knowledge and understanding in problem solving. All students will be given the

opportunity to complete the course during their PE lessons. Lastly, Miss Thompson has been running the Culture Club through the PE Instagram page and putting on competitions for members to get involved with. The latest competition has been for students to pick their favourite dish and cook it, with encouragement to be as creative as possible and record every step along the way.

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RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE SCHOOL

Religious Life of the School In these strange times, we have very much missed our students in school. Mrs Buckley has been keeping in contact with our school chaplains through Google Classrooms, and they have produced some beautiful prayers reflecting on their time away from school. Each week, students have had the opportunity to reflect upon a variety of topics and themes as a part of their ongoing spiritual, moral, social and cultural experiences in school. As we went through the season of Lent, an Ash Wednesday service was placed on our school’s website for families to take part in from home. There are also reflections on the website for families to pray together throughout this season. As we approach Easter, we will prepare and plan a liturgy that can take place in a virtual way to allow all of our students to take part. This term we have been supporting St. Joseph’s Penny and Cafod to raise funds for their organisations. We hope that you have a good Lenten Season, reflecting on our Lord. Follow our chaplaincy twitter page – OurLadysChaplains@OLChaplains

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School CONFIDENCE CREATIVE Trips

Creative Confidence This term, Miss Short has once again been working with students to create poems that explore feelings and promote confidence in students. These sets of poems in particular have been focusing on Valentine’s Day, Personification, Alliteration, Limericks and Rhyme. The students have all worked exceptionally hard to produce their poems collaboratively, and we cannot wait to see what next term brings. Here’s a blog piece that was written about the workshops; Performance poetry is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience. During the 1980s, the term came into popular usage to describe poetry written or composed for performance rather than print distribution, mostly open to improvisation. Our Lady’s RC secondary school put their technical imagination to amazing use. They went on a lockdown journey in house and via Zoom. Kitty Short our resident facilitator led the Creative Confidence Workshops that enabled the students to have a frank and open discussion about their feelings during lockdown. The feelings of boredom, anxiety but also excitement and hope for the future when they will finally be free culminated into a poem putting their creativity imagination to tremendous use. Each week different thoughts and feelings will be explored via the power of poetry. Performance Poetry Workshops can be aimed at students who lack self-confidence and have low self-esteem. The workshops will focus on mental health issues, peer pressure,

bullying etc. Throughout the workshops the students will develop the skills to express their emotions through poetry, focusing on turning any anxieties they may have whether at school or at home into something positive and productive. The series of workshops will allow the students to develop their poetry skills academically looking at alliteration, similes, free verse, imagery, limericks whilst giving the children confidence to devise their own poetry building on their creative writing and extending their vocabulary.

Muhammed also added “I really enjoyed my poetry sessions … Before I never really enjoyed poetry. Now my view has changed, It has boosted my confidence and enabled me enjoy these learning processes. The facilitator made it very enjoyable and made everyone feel welcome and part of a team!

Our students have also given some fantastic feedback about the opportunities they’ve received this term. Hannah Fashina said “I learned a lot from the poetry sessions and it really helped boost my confidence. It also helped me expand my vocabulary and I learnt to be more patient and not be quick to judge on what people say. Kitty also taught me that if you have an idea you should say it even if you think it’s wrong because it might just be a really good idea. I have learnt how to converse in a group where listening skills are important when learning, helping and sharing knowledge within a team!”

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School CONFIDENCE CREATIVE Trips

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MAKATON

Makaton Sing and Sign Our Lady’s students have taken on adventurous new skills in a world of experimenting to converse with no sound, only expressing emotion through music and signing. Makaton is a language programme that uses signs together with speech and symbols to enable people to communicate. It supports the development of essential communication skills such as attention, listening, comprehension, memory and expressive speech and language. Both students and staff have excelled on this learning journey over the last 6 weeks. The students in particular have really enjoyed taking part and they will continue taking part in new exciting challenges set on google classroom by the Facilitator Miss Short. The students have learnt how to sign to music such as “I will be there” by Jess Glynn, “Drivers Licence” by Olivia Roderigo, “I Believe” by Honey, “Blinding Lights” by The weekend, and Joel Corry’s “Head and Heart” as well as many more! Students both currently attending school and working from home took part in this wonderful engaging programme. All staff and students attending school wanted to send out an end of term heartfelt message through signing to the song “Hall of Fame”. You can now view this on our schools Facebook page.

Our facilitator, Miss short, had this to say about the classes; “I am amazed and astonished on how the students have embraced Makaton with their own unique style and character. I can’t wait to get started on the next chapter. Our Lady’s students and staff are such a pleasure to work with “ Mrs Newey said … “It has been an absolute joy to watch these students flourish & excel in this field of learning development. Over the Past 6 weeks the students have not only worked well as a team, they have challenged themselves personally when without really noticing their own rainbow of confidence around them. Unity is strength, when there is teamwork and collaboration wonderful things can be achieved.

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School STAFF WELLBEING Trips

Staff Wellbeing This term whilst students have working from home, Mrs Gill has been working on improving staff wellbeing. Returning to school in January and being faced with a third lockdown affected the moral of many staff who felt isolated in their workspace and were lacking drive and enthusiasm. She decided to set up a small programme of daily activities to encourage colleagues to stay active and connected, which included;

morning - 15 minute walks every n. oo ern aft d an ay, where - Dance fitness at midd nces to da e Mrs Gill taught lin dif ferent popular songs s set up in the - A keept fit circuit wa could use ff sta ich wh ll ha rts spo school. before, during and after

“I have really enjoyed taking part in the daily walking activities in school which Mrs Gill organised during this 3rd lockdown period. It has been a good boost for our mental health combining exercise and a chat with fellow colleagues during these worrying times.”

“Enjoyed trying to keep up with your fast pace! 10 minutes in the bracing cold each day was refreshing and helped to clear the mind.”

“I wish these activities could continue as I’ve looked forward to them each day.”

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School Trips STUDENT WELLBEING

Student Wellbeing The students attending school after the Christmas break were faced with long days sat at their desks, working in silence to complete their online learning. Mrs Gill saw that the students were desperate to have some time away from their screens and take part in some exercise. Some of the activities included; Dodgeball, Benchball, Football, Tag Rubgy, Basketball, Dancing and Walking.

Here’s what some of the students had to say about the activities; “I liked the PE sessions, they let me take a break from the screen” “I absolutely love doing PE every day, it keeps everyone in shape and it’s also great fun.” “It was cool, especially getting to meet and talk to students I have never met before.” “It was fun, a break from sitting down all day and it has strengthened my throw.” “Doing PE everyday has made me feel better throughout the rest of the day after I have burnt my energy in PE”. “I have really enjoyed having more regular PE. It’s great and Mrs Gill makes it really fun and exciting.” “I enjoyed the PE lessons because to take a break is nice and it takes the pressure of a bit.” “I enjoy PE every day because it’s like a little break which we can spend playing sports and interact with each other, it’s an opportunity to play as a team and get closer with each other.”

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School YEAR 7 SUCCESS Trips

Year 7 Success Engagement Initiative

Head of Year Awards

Miss Watkins has been running an engagement initiative this term, with teachers nominating those pupils with consistent engagement and commitment to learning. Each week, two students will win a £10 amazon voucher, and the students who have won so far have worked incredibly hard. Some winners so far have been; Josh Scoynes, Joy Omeike, Artem Malaga, Maia Ramos, Danielle Adora, Soruzondo Obasi, Kabir Azizi and Fullness Ogieriakhi. A huge well done to all!

The Head of Year awards were also awarded once again this term, with students being awarded certificates for 100% attendance and improvements made across their lessons. The Head of Year award was given to Mark Oguntimehin for most improved in every aspect of school life. Well done year 7!

“It just makes social sense!” A group of year 7 boys have recently taken the first steps on a fantastic journey towards creating real influence in our school community. Each of the pupils below joined a training course that helped them strengthen their leadership skills and to learn more about a variety of issues that we face. Our team facilitator for these sessions said:

“I am proud to say that each student has received a merit and a shield badge upon representation” These future leaders will attend fortnightly meetings to discuss, plan and implement a range of strategies that will benefit the school and then share good practice with other schools amongst our local community. We are hoping they will help address a range of social issues with their valuable insight and quick wit! Well done to our social ambassadors: • Harley Clynes • Favour Okpara • Frankie O’Brien • Fabien Cunningham • Michael Lawrence • Prosper Obidi

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School YEAR 7 SUCCESS Trips “Year 7 Culture Ambassadors” Each of the girls below has been part of a wonderful new project that embraced the beauty in all of them and saw them bringing their own sense of style and expression to each session. They have developed many skills and have taught us some fundamentals from their sessions which you can find below:

The 8 Elements of Great Culture

Weekly Wednesday News Team

Keep it up girls!

Our fantastic 5 have been meeting weekly to discuss local affairs and share their opinions of current issues. They have shown themselves to be mature and reflective individuals and have certainly become the highlight of Mrs Newey’s week. Moving forward, the girls will continue with a range of responsibilities including:

• Yekta Shahsavari

1. Core Values

- Developing a range of strategies to promote interest in current affairs

2. Camaraderie Camaraderie is about having fun

- Hosting inter-form competitions through Kahoot

3. Celebrations. You can’t underestimate the importance of recognizing your team

- Sharing the knowledge of the news of the world during form time

4. Community

- Developing display boards

5. Communication

- Analysing articles

6. Caring

- Debating

• Evie-Mae Shaw • Mia Baker • Beautilde Fuentes • Davina Larsson

7. Commitment to Learning 8. Consistency

What does team work mean to you? - Team work makes the dream work! Exciting team focus could consist of… o Teach a class on the traditional dance style of your country... o Volunteer to teach your language at a local school... o Give a presentation at a local group or library about your immigration journey ... o Volunteer to translate for a local hospital or courthouse…

Well done girls: • Abigail Holland • Ayesha Khan • Hargun Barn • Scarlett Morley • Maria Tom

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School MUSIC RECORDINGS Trips

Music lessons producing big stars! Over lockdown our expert instrumental teachers and students have been hard at work learning piano, guitar, trumpet, trombone and drum kit. They’ve all really enjoyed the opportunity to learn an instrument and many have shown hidden talents! Students who have been learning the guitar have learned the song ‘Songbird’ by Oasis and took part in a professional studio recording at school with Mr Addington and Miss Durbin. Miss Durbin is very proud of everything that has been achieved this half term, and we can’t wait to see how far these budding musicians will go in future! To watch and listen to the whole video, please visit the school’s Facebook page.

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CHARITY HAMPERS

Thank you to our Hamper Helpers! As many of our students will already know, last term the school was engaged with a lot of charity work to support our local community over the Christmas period. With that same level of commitment to causes this term, we would like to take the opportunity to thank the companies that supported us in our endeavours.

Our Lady’s would like to thank Park Cakes, Tesco Blackley, Asda Harpurhey, Barrs Soft Drinks, B&Q and Kraft Heinz, and we hope we can continue our work into the coming months.

Peace, blessings, and a Happy Easter to you Find us on Facebook