Mick Vella & Ben Galea, two of the Hull KR senior squad have visited school today and attended the closing ceremony for the transition week.

We caught up with them when they arrived and posed a few questions.

Year 7′s have been visiting the music department and taking part in some singing lessons.

Hannah Hicks has been in school talking with students about table tennis and being a professional athlete.

Over the summer you can get to know the school a bit better by coming here and doing some activities like the gym club Team Fit. Team Fit is a fun gym in The Academy you can use until you’re in Year 11.
It is on in the holidays every Saturday all day until 5pm and it’s on every weekday after school from 4pm to 5pm.

The induction session costs £3.50 (free if you buy a monthly card for £10) and is a fantastic opportunity to learn how to use the machines, get your personal training programme and get your free goody bag – containing water, a t-shirt, information and nutritious bar! Make sure you do your induction first or you won’t be able to join Team Fit, which costs £2 a session.

If you want to join Team Fit ask at The Academy’s reception for a form and then bring it back signed. Book an induction session to get started – you’ll be given a gym card which you then need to bring each time you come.

St Mary’s has its own netball team and has one match every week. They play with the help of their great coach Miss Murray.

Miss Murray told us “The girls have won every game they’ve played and the Captains have encouraged them to do so. They always turn up to practise and never give up. The team is best at teamwork and passing, and I am very proud of the girls and hope they do well next year.” Ellie Gibbins added “I get inspired in netball when I watch the Super League and International games, and being the Team Captain makes me feel proud!”

There are only 7 people in a team and 2-3 substitutes so if you would like to join, get there fast!
Netball is a very fun sport to do and if you would like to get involved, go and see Miss Murray or Miss Grey in the PE office in the Old Sports Hall.

Transition week always seem to fly by. After a fun filled, action packed and educational week it is always sad to see it come to a close.

Fear not! When you return in September there will be more activities, more fun and even more opportunities. Unfortunately you will be welcomed back with lessons, homework and responsibility. So it is highly advisable to enjoy the summer, and get prepared for your new life at secondary school!
Mr Leech (you should know who he is by now) says that he thoroughly enjoyed the week, and that he cannot wait to see his new students return in September, for new and existing challenges.

“I hope that the students got a lot out of this week and that they have made new friends” says Mr Leech. “Come back with a good attitude, and be well prepared. I would like to see the return of the good team spirit that we have witnessed this week.”

We spoke to Isobel Kay, Ghana, and she told us “Over the week I have made new friends” and she has learned her way around school.

Luke Waterson, China, said “Secondary is very different to primary. You get told off if you don’t behave.” Luke is also looking forward to next year, and is very eager to come back.

The objective of this week was to enjoy it, learn about the school and make new friends. Have you done that?

During your time at St Mary’s the rewards system will play a big part in your life. At St Mary’s you earn rewards and win prizes at the end of the term when we have a rewards assembly where you will get certificates, chocolates and lots more.

Harriet from 8YC has got up 50 college merits and has uploaded her stickers onto a website called www.mystickers.co.uk to try and win a prize. When you enter the stickers you have, you are automatically entered into a priz draw, so the more stickers the more chance of prizes!

In St Mary’s College this isn’t the only rewards system we have. If you have 100% attendance at the end of the school year you can visit Flamingo Land for free, but to be able to do that, your behaviour, effort and attainment will have to be up to standard.

Harriet said “I work hard in lessons so I can also gain merits which lead to rewards, however I have also found out that when I work hard in lessons it makes my learning more enjoyable and makes me understand the subject more, so it’s good stuff either way!”

In Year 10 if you gain 100% attendance, there will be free trip for to Alton Towers, but remember behaviour still matters – it’s not just attendance!

The best way forward in Year 7 is to try and get as many merits as you can. Always be spotting opportunity where merits are available.

Art and design is a creative learning curve in your life, and helps you be more imaginative. We have art and design clubs such as cards, bags and tags and also a fashion club. There is huge range of different clubs in school in for you to take part in.

In Year 8 you can take Art and Design as an option and you can ask any Art and Design teachers for advice in it.
In Year 7 you will be doing lessons in Art and Design too. You will be doing many things such as using many different materials as possible and researching artists like Vincent Van Gogh which will help inspire you to create some designs of your own.

Miss Bell said “Be creative, work hard, try your hardest and you will manage in Art and Design”.
You will also make new friends because in Art you will be working in groups, helping each other and making presentations. The teachers are very supportive and tell you ways in which you can improve your work. You can get involved in this by working hard and just having fun in Art and Design.

St Marys has a brilliant programme to give extra help to students with their reading writing spelling and handwriting skills.

The programme we use is ALP it stands for Accelerated Literacy Programme.
We spoke to Mrs Rudkin who works in ALP department she told us “All the work we do in ALP is to help the students enjoy school life at St Marys College.

In ALP they do lots of fun activities like reading cool books, writing in their diaries, writing stories and using the computers, they use computers for fun programs like word shark. Word shark helps the student’s to improve their literacy skills.

Mrs Rudkin has been working at St Marys College for 5 years so she has a lot of experience Mrs Rudkin works in the SEN department. Also Miss Meakin who helps everyone who goes to ALP while Miss Tindall is on maternity leave. Mrs Rudkin said “I love working at ALP and helping student who need my help”.
ALP has been running for 5 years, it has been a very successful programme and all the children that go really enjoy it and think it is a great success.

Altogether they are 85 students doing ALP from year 7, 8 and 9 on the programme this year and they are really enjoying them self’s.
By Molly Mizon and Shannon Stothard

Tia has always had a passion for netball as her Mum coached it at her Primary school, St Mary’s Queen of Martyrs. She also enjoyed watching it from a young age, and started playing it in Year 3. Ambitious and inspiring, Tia is part of the Humberside Netball Academy and plays for Wilberforce Netball Club. She hopes to play for England in the future.

We asked her what she enjoys most about netball and she told us “I enjoy playing with and against different people. It is good for making new friends which I love.”

When Tia is not playing netball, she also likes to dance and her passion at school is food technology.
She said that she is really looking forward to coming to SMC because it will encourage her sporting enthusiasm.