St. Mary’s College pays tribute to achievements of pupils at Cathedral Prize-Giving Ceremony

6 Jan 2025

St. Mary’s College paid tribute to the achievements of its pupils over the last 12 months at its annual prize-giving event recently.

Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral was again the spectacular setting for the ceremony which saw the school welcoming recently-retired staff member Cath Howard as the VIP guest speaker.

Cath joined St. Mary’s as School Librarian 22 years ago, subsequently serving as a Head of Year and taking charge of careers education and support.

According to Principal Mike Kennedy in his introduction, Cath ‘epitomised the core values of St. Mary’s’, and in addition to her ‘official’ titles she was ‘an aunt, agony aunt and surrogate mother to so many pupils who regarded her as their first port of call when in need of advice’.

One of the key themes of Cath’s humorous and well-received speech – drawing on her own experience as a mature student – was the importance of faith in your ability and a willingness to be pushed out of your comfort zone.

She also paid tribute to the college’s current pupils: “For those of you receiving an award tonight congratulations – your dedication is an inspiration to everyone and we are all so proud of your efforts – well done!

“If you aren’t receiving an award this evening you have no idea how much you have still contributed to the life of the school.”

Elsewhere during the event Mike Kennedy presented his review of the highlights of the past year, telling guests that St. Mary’s had again maintained its tradition of both academic excellence and encouraging achievement in sport, music and other similar activities.

Mr Kennedy reported that the school had enjoyed another successful summer in public examinations, with its attainment 8 score (a measure of GCSE grades across the full range of subjects) again placing it top of the Sefton league table and also the Archdiocesan league table of 36 Catholic schools across the wider Merseyside area.

There was also success to report by many St. Mary’s teams on the sports field, including the rugby under 15 squad (Lancashire Cup winners), the rugby first 15 (Lancashire Plate winners), the under 18 netball team (Sefton Tournament winners) and the under 12 football team (Sefton Schools Cup winners).

Musical highlights of the year included the school’s annual Liverpool Philharmonic Concert and the Proms in the Park music and fireworks extravaganza, both among the most ambitious events staged by any school in the region.

Meanwhile, St. Mary’s continues to offer students the choice of more than 60 clubs, societies and related activities each week, from dungeons and dragons to baking and snack and chat to Japanese appreciation.

The year also saw successful school trips to the USA and Paris, and continued success for students in the challenging Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme and the college’s thriving Combined Cadet Force.

In his address the Principal also highlighted pupils’ efforts in support of a wide range of charity fundraising projects during the year.

And there was also praise for the contribution of staff, governors and parents to life at the college, and the many successes highlighted during the ceremony.

Summing up, Mr Kennedy praised St. Mary’s ‘diverse and inclusive community’ with its emphasis on pupils experiencing love, care, compassion and justice together.

Addressing all students he said: “It is your values, your character, your initiative and your community cohesiveness that are the real achievements we are celebrating this evening.”