Dear Parents/Carers

Welcome back to the new half-term following the recent break. I trust you and your families had the chance for some rest and relaxation, after what has been a busy start to the academic year.

This year has started very well at St Mary’s with the new Year 7’s settling quickly and the other year groups getting back into the swing of things.

We have recently received confirmation that our exam results from the summer mean that we were the highest performing school locally again, but more importantly, that we exceeded national averages significantly in all key benchmarks ad attainment measures. We are clearly proud of such achievement and aim to continue building on this year on year at St Mary’s.

We were also in receipt of a further attendance award as our school attendance for 2025-26, saw us amongst the top 10% nationally, something which we couldn’t achieve without your considerable support.

Just prior to the break our Year 11’s returned from their week-long work experience placements at businesses and employers all over the county and beyond. We had some wonderful feedback and reports about our pupils, and I have no doubt that for the vast majority, it will have been a very useful insight to, and experience of, the working world.

We packed a huge amount into the opening weeks of term with trips, visits, fixtures and rehearsals all starting again. We are doing well on a number of fronts, and I look forward to this continuing in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Parents’ evenings begin later this week with Year 7 which will be a good opportunity for our newest parents/carers to discuss how their sons/daughters have settled and the progress they are making.

St Mary’s continues to generate lots of interest locally and our recent Open Evening and Open Mornings were very well attended. I would like to extend a huge ‘thank you’, to all of our pupils who assisted with these events as they are wonderful ambassadors and advocates for our school.

Our Year 11’s will be starting their mocks in the coming weeks, and if you are a parent/carer of a Year 11 pupil, please may I remind you of our extensive revision support offer which runs most nights of the week. It really is advised that pupils make the most of this and we also run a minibus into Hereford for those pupils who may have transport difficulties.

As I have said in previous correspondence, those pupils who have engaged with our additional revision and study skills classes have gone on to do very well in their GCSEs.

Thank you for your support with the new laws that came into play last term with regard to mobile phone use during the school day. We are also grateful for your support and cooperation with uniform as we seek to maintain high standards and expectations.

It was lovely to meet some of you at the Year 7 Welcome Mass in September and during the term we went on to celebrate our first Whole School Mass of the year together, which is always a special moment in the school calendar.

I look forward to working with you and your children this half term and thank you for your ongoing support.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Wetson