St. Mary’s Church of England Primary School in the heart of Stoke Newington works hard to create a warm, nurturing learning environment in which all children can develop their natural talents and excel. The children make the staff and community very proud everyday by demonstrating their ambition, determination and ability to learn. By promoting a growth mind-set, the foundations are laid for pupils to have the best chance of achieving their goals. We strongly believe every child has the potential to make an important contribution to our school.
This year the school is highlighting and celebrating the achievements of some of the children who have worked extremely hard, ‘striving to be the best they can be’, which is the St Mary’s School motto! St. Mary’s children have excelled in a broad range of activities including those academic, artistic and sporting.
St. Mary’s School is also extremely proud of the academic achievements of many of its pupils. Harriet Chubb in Year 6 was offered places at three of London’s most academically selective schools: City of London Girls’ School, Latymer and Henrietta Barnet. Harriet joined St Mary’s School in the Nursery and has consistently proven to be an outstanding mathematician, gaining the highest possible scaled score in Maths in her recent SAT’s test. Additionally Grace Stickland and fellow Year 6 pupil Beatrice Lyons were offered places at a number of prestigious private schools (Francis Holland, Queens College and Forest) based on their performance at examination and interview. Caoimhe Adad-Marfo passed the grammar school exam in Kent and is to take up a place there. Blake Leah will be joining St Mary Magdalene’s academy in Islington and Shaun Acheampong-Lutin will be going to Westminster City.
Music is an important part of life at St. Mary’s School. The school provides lots of opportunities for children to develop and express their musical abilites both in school time and during the after-school clubs we run. The school choir and song-writing club are very popular. Many children in the school play musical instruments. Dora Bottrill in Year 6 has recently accepted one of the highly coveted music scholarships at Camden School for Girls. She will continue to study the piano and violin, which she plays to a very high standard (grade 5 and grade 7 respectively). Similarly, Imogen Garrett and Grace Stickland have secured choral scholarships to St. Marylebone School in Westminster. These talented vocalists, who often sing at St. Mary’s Church, have been given a great opportunity to pursue their passion for music.
The determination and talents of one young man at St Mary’s were witnessed first-hand a few weeks ago by the head teacher Jane O’Brien when she went to see him on stage. Ethan Marsh, in Year 5, took on the role of Fletcher in the tour of The Bodyguard musical earlier in the year and has been touring across the UK. Starring alongside Alexandra Burke, Ethan has demonstrated his considerable talents in singing, dancing and acting. Jane described his performance as, ‘overwhelming’ and having ‘great authenticity’ which brought a tear to her eye. After witnessing the musical and acting talents of Year 6 during the school production of Oliver Twist, parents and teachers were delighted by the high level of the pupils’ performance and the joy it clearly brought them to perform. Year 6 teachers Mr. Tittle and Mr. Bentley alongside Micha Blue were much complemented on the set, costumes and direction.
Blessing Ram Mbuambi, a pupils in Year 6, played a large role narrating some of the performance and worked with the class team to make it a success. No one would have known the challenges that Blessing, who has additional needs, has overcome during his time at St Mary’s and yet the inclusivity of this small school ensures everyone can succeed. A parent of a child with Special Educational Needs explains, ‘St Mary’s is a tremendous school, it is loving, inclusive and happy’.
With good health high on the agenda at St. Mary’s, their lunchtime running club has been an amazing success this year. The schools deputy Breda McKelvey and Admin Officer, Jay Kennedy utilise neighbouring Clissold Park by taking children running there every week. This culminated in some extraordinary performances from St Mary’s children, at this year’s Hackney mile, who not only recognised the health benefits but also enjoyed the social aspect of running as a team. Jude Ikomoni described the experience as ‘fun’ and that he ‘liked being part of such a big event in the borough’.
St. Mary’s School, which lies at the heart of the local community, is going from strength to strength thanks to the dedication of its teachers and determination of its pupils. The strong sense of pride and belonging amongst the children and the school’s small size helps nurtures confidence and provide the conditions needed for pupils to thrive.