NEWSLETTER

Dear Parents/Carers,

We are approaching the end of a very busy Easter term, in which much has been achieved despite the continued challenges of absence and Covid.

Students in years 11, 12 and 13 are working hard in preparation for the public examinations in the summer. I have been very impressed by the independence and determination of our year 11 and year 13 students. There has been much improvement in mock results and most are involved in either additional intervention or taking advantage of our silent study offer after school. We wish them every success in the summer examinations and are sure that their hard work will pay off.

It is wonderful to see so many extracurricular enrichment activities returning to the academy. These opportunities allow students so much extra learning and development; I am grateful to all our staff who run these activities, some of which are within this newsletter.

Admissions into year 7 for 2022-23 are significantly over subscribed and we will be having two days of appeals after half term. Year 12 applications have also considerably risen, with over 100 to St Thomas More and over 300 to the Trinity. This is great news as it has allowed us to expand our curriculum offer and the courses that we run.

We continue to try to improve the facilities within school. We have resubmitted bids to the government for funding for a new toilet block and upgraded toilets as ours are not as good as we would like. I will let you know the out come. However we have revamped the school house at the front of the school into a SEMH (Social, Emotional and Mental Health) centre which now provides superb facilities and meeting rooms for our students who are accessing counselling, mentoring and support.

Finally, we have prepared thoroughly for Easter throughout lent and we are grateful for your support with donations for the Alice charity and support of the Family Fast day.

I would like to wish you and your families a happy and holy Easter.

Mr M Rayner

Headteacher

Catholic Life

Stations of the Cross Evening

Fr David Newell, alongside students within our MAC, led stations of the cross around our school site. We walked the stations as a procession with candles. It was a wonderful evening to be together and to pray the stations.

Year 4 Lenten Retreat

Students in year 4 from across our MAC schools were welcomed to St Thomas More for a Lenten Retreat.

The morning involved students ‘walking in the footsteps of Jesus’, as they prayed the Stations of the Cross on a tour of our fantastic school.

Also, students were introduced to the Art Department, where they created story stones of the events of Holy Week.

The story stones were used during the closing liturgy, where students shared their creative pieces with their friends and staff.

Lent at STMCA

Lent is 40 days when we give, pray and fast as we prepare to celebrate Easter.

Almsgiving:

Throughout Lent, we have been fundraising for our international charity CAFOD and our local charity, Alice Charity. Students have made generous donations for the Alice Charity People's Pantry supporting disadvantaged people in our local community. Donations include: sanitary goods such as toothpaste and toothbrushes, shower gels, hygiene products, baby care products and dried, tinned and boxed long-life products.

In our continued drive to live simply and sustainably with creation this Lent as a school community we will focus on 'Giving up Littering for Lent'. We are asking students to use the new recycling bins provided in classrooms and dining areas to increase the amount of recycling as a school community demonstrating love for our school community and our common home.

Prayer:

We have continued to focus on our prayer life throughout Lent and began by praying for peace on Ash Wednesday. Throughout Lent we continue to have lightfever- a time of adoration – every Wednesday lunchtime and celebrate Mass every Friday lunchtime in the chapel. We also participated in exposition of the blessed sacrament which will took place across our MAC schools on Friday 4^th March at 10am.

Fast:

CAFOD Family Fast Day will took place on March 11th. We asked families to donate on ParentPay and to have a simple meal on this day giving what they can to help end malnutrition. We also asked parents to support CAFODs emergency appeal. Parents continue to be so generous and therefore the total is yet to be collated.

On the day of Family Fast Day student representatives from St Thomas More and our MAC primary schools completed a 5K sponsored walk.

Our talented year 7 students have continued this half term to plan and deliver acts of worship to their own year group. The year 7's have led on CAFOD live simply, CAFOD Lenten appeal and listening to God in Lent. The year 7 students articulated themselves in a beautiful manner and we were so proud to watch them lead these.

Religious Education at STMCA

Year 10 El Salvadorian Crosses

In year 10, students have been involved in creative lessons whereby they have designed their own El Salvadorian Crosses.

These crosses link to the art, statuary and sculpture topic of the Good and Evil unit.

Students have been studying the importance and significance of art and sculpture in the Catholic faith.

Finally, students have explored the life and work of Oscar Romero in El Salvador, and the mission he carried out in standing up for social injustice.

Some students used this creative lesson to dedicate their artwork to the people of Ukraine, praying for peace in the coming weeks and months.

MAC Adoration

This month, St Thomas More students, along with students from across our MAC schools, gathered together in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Services at St Thomas More took place through the RE department, and our Lay Chaplain Megan lead us in prayer throughout the morning.

Students were reverent and respectful, and we are grateful for the opportunity to worship and pray before the Holy Eucharist in unison with our friends and colleagues across the MAC.

Year 8 Islam Presentations

Year 8 have recently finished their unit on Islam. This has been positively received in the RE department, and our students have enjoyed learning about another world religion in detail.

Students in Year 8 have had the opportunity to work together in small groups and design a presentation of their learning on given topics.

The quality of the artwork and supporting materials has been outstanding, and we are very proud of the work that our students have produced in the last few weeks.

Year 7 Creation Presentations

Year 7 have recently finished their Creation unit. At the end of the unit, students had the opportunity to come together and create a group presentation of a given topic.

Students were able to work well in groups to create some fantastic display work to support with their presentations, demonstrating their understanding of the topic.

Year 7 and 9 Reconciliation

On the 18^th March, students in year 7 and 9 had the opportunity to be involved in reconciliation services lead by Father David.

Students were encouraged to consider things that they may want to ask for forgiveness for, and the RE department prepared students for this service during lesson time.

During the service, Father delivered a sermon about the importance of asking for forgiveness, especially during the time of Lent, and drew inspiration from the story of the Prodigal Son.

We are grateful for the time that Father David dedicates to our school, and appreciate the opportunity to have him come in a lead services such as these.

Help our school raise funds!

We have been selected for the Tesco Community Grant - Bags of Help!

Tesco Longton Extra

Tesco Meir Hay Express

Tesco Meir Superstore

Tesco Blythe Bridge Express

We are looking at transforming the school garden through an agriculture and eco-warrior club, we are looking into students being able to grow their own food and this will also improve mental health and wellbeing as well as supporting students after school!

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Ask at the checkout for a blue coin and pop it in the St Thomas More Catholic Academy box on your way out!

Careers at STMCA

Univision Staffordshire University Careers trip

50 year 9 Students attended a fully funded Univision day to Staffordshire University to explore what a University degree can offer. We coded spherical robots, took and analysed fingerprints and tasted the future of food production by eating insects! This fun and informative day was opened by a performance by 2Engage who acted out an entertaining introduction to going to university. They spoke about choices, finance, application procedures and asked students to challenge preconceptions and misunderstandings about attending university.

Stoke City Football Club and National Citizenship Service Careers events at the Britannia Stadium

Our year 11 students spent 2 days in the Delilah Suite at the SCFC ground, taking part in masterclasses leading them in planning career pathways and developing good CVs and applications. It also helped with managing budgets, building good routines, improving mental health and beating stress. The idea was to generate work experience, gaining confidence outside school and hopefully leading to potential work on Match days at the stadium.

We were also lucky enough to get free tickets to all go back on the Saturday for the match, and cheer Stoke City on to a 2-0 win in the Sunshine!

The Inspirational Learning Group and National Enterprise Company Competition are back in school

All students in years 8, 9 and 10 have been involved in a national competition to find the most enterprising group of students in the country. All students in year 8, 9 and 10 spent a day in the hall working through an Enterprise Challenge which saw them designing rides for Thorpe Park or designing their own 'Perfect University' campus and course.

Students work in groups of 6, developing their business skills and improving all employability skills such as: communication, teamwork, planning, designing and working to a brief. At the end of the day, they publicly spoke by presenting their ideas to the judging panel and their year group. The winners of each day will compete in the regional finals in Birmingham.

Universify

Two of our year 11 students, Nura and Nisba, have been involved in the 'Universify' outreach Programme for the past year. During March 2022, the girls visited Somerville College, Oxford University for a residential weekend to give them a taste of life at a highly selective University. They took part in University style lectures to prepare them for the summer GCSE examinations and studied subjects such as Criminology to expose them to a range of exciting degree level subjects. As well as study opportunities, the students took part in a range of exciting enrichment opportunities, all whilst making new friends and networking with University students and staff. The programme has provided them with an excellent opportunity to experience life at a highly selective University which has increased their ambition and aspiration to achieve this in the future. Well done Nura and Nisba!

Enrichment at STMCA

It’s been another packed term for our enrichment programme and we are delighted that so many trips have been able to go ahead this term! The enrichment programme is updated termly so please do keep an eye on the activities we offer: https://www.stmca.org.uk/student-success/enrichment/

Arts on Angels

Every Friday we are delighted to showcase some of our talented performers across the school – from singers to pianists and drummers we are in continued awe of our gifted students. Photographed is year 7 student Evie-Mae who recently sang Nightwish for an appreciative audience. If your child would like to perform for Arts on Angels please contact Mrs Leese: tleese@stmca.org.uk

Le Cinema

Year 7 students were delighted to participate in Le Cinema experience this term in which all students watched a French fill accompanied by a croissant, c’etait extra!

Hubb Foundation

We continue to work with the Hubb Foundation to provide trips and enrichment opportunities for Key Stage 3 students during the school holidays. This term students enjoyed a trip tubing at Stoke Ski Centre. We are looking forward to visiting Stanley Head and droning workshops over the Easter holidays!

Scan the QR code to learn more about one of our enrichment opportunities:

English Department

First Give: empowering young people through igniting a spark of social conscience

All students in Year 7 are involved in the First Give programme which is designed to inspire young people to take action and make a positive change in society. Students have independently researched social issues in our local community which are important to them. They have then worked closely with local charities exploring how as a school, we can support their work. Students are currently in the process of planning and delivering social action activities (fundraising, awareness raising and volunteering) in support of their chosen charity. As part of this process, students’ public speaking skills are being developed and their confidence is flourishing. One group will be chosen to represent each class at the school’s First Give Final, which will take place in the summer term. A panel of judges will rate each class based on their social action projections and presentations. The winning class will receive a First Give grant of £1000 for their charity. This is a fantastic opportunity, which has not only supported students’ abilities to work collaboratively with one another, it has helped to forge positive links with the local community. Katelyn, a Year 7 student has praised the school’s involvement with the project, “First Give has inspired me through highlighting that we all have a part to play in our community. At St Thomas More, we are encouraged to become role models to help those less fortunate”.

Celebrating ‘World book day’ in the Beehive.

This year in the Beehive we celebrated ‘World book day’ by reading around the world.

Pupils were introduced to genres and stories from various countries.

We also held a cake and bookmark sale to raise money for charity. The total currently stands at £47.00.

Also, during the week students were asked to design postcards to celebrate and promote their love of reading. We had some amazing thoughtful designs with the winners and lots of runners up being displayed within the Beehive.

Our winners of the competition will be rewarded by receiving a golden token which they can use to choose a book of their choice from the vending machine.

From Year 7 we have Sofia, Joanne, Alexa and Wiktoria.

From Year 8 we have Mustafa, Angel, Oliwia and Gabrielle

Step Up to English

Forty-eight year 9 students are currently working towards a nationally recognised English award, AQA Step Up to English. This qualification supports students to develop and enhance their core English skills, focusing on inference, reading for meaning, deduction and writing. This means students have a strong foundation for progression onto their GCSE English Language and Literature qualifications in year 10 and 11.

So far, students have completed assessments on the Detectives and Leisure components and will be completing their Sport assessment in the weeks before Easter. All those involved have worked hard towards achieving their qualification and we keenly await their results in the summer.

Bedrock Vocabulary Celebration Event

On Wednesday 30th March during period 4 the Beehive hosted a celebration Tea party.

This was to celebrate the amazing achievements gained by some of our year 7 and 8 students during this term in their Bedrock Vocabulary.

This could have been either through lessons completed or progress made.

English Speaking Board Qualification

In the autumn term, the English department launched the English Speaking Board qualification to our Year 7 and 8 students. The qualification provides our KS3 learners with the opportunity to complete a highly-regarded qualification in public speaking. This qualification will require students to deliver a speech to their peers and an external assessor which demonstrates their speaking and listening skills.

The English department recognise how vitally important competence in verbal communication is to success, both academically and beyond the school gates. We endeavour to allow opportunities within our curriculum for students to rehearse and develop their skills in oracy and we feel this qualification recognises the fantastic work of our students in this area.

The exam will take place in the summer term and students have been taking every opportunity to practice their verbal skills, whether contributing to class discussions or delivering presentations. As we approach the summer term, students will be working hard in class and at home to prepare and rehearse for this excellent opportunity.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you in advance for your support in encouraging students to rise to the challenge and expect excellence for themselves.

MANACTO

All students in Year 11 have been involved in the Manchester Actors Company performances of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘An Inspector Calls’. MANACTO are a touring company that bring alive the texts that have been studied within the English Literature specification. Each presentation is aimed at students studying for their GCSE. The dramatic overview of the texts through the performances has made a strong, lasting impact with students, by bringing the plot and characters to life. After the performance, the students had the opportunity to “hotseat” the characters to expand their awareness of the motives of key characters and their understanding of the storyline within the text. Students have found this to be an invaluable experience.

English Excellence Project: KS3 Competition

During this half term, our students have been presented with a fantastic opportunity to take part in a competition across KS3. The competition has involved all KS3 classes in English, giving students the chance to showcase their wonderful skills. The competition asked students to write an analytical piece based on their favourite hero or villain from a text that they have studied during the academic year, so far. The overall winner will be announced next half term and an amazing prize of a £100 Amazon voucher is up for grabs, along with a visit to the school from Matt Windle! We are extremely excited about this opportunity and we wish our KS3 students all the best.

Science Department

British Science Week

As part of British Science, students had the opportunity to extract DNA from strawberries. Strawberries have eight copies of each type of chromosome and so are ideal for this experiment. The long, thick fibres of DNA contain the information for the functioning of the chemistry of life.

As part of British Science week, students from year 7 and 8 took part in a Forensic Challenge. Students had to first crack a code to identify the names of the six suspects. They then carried out a series of test tube reactions on powder found at the scene of the crime and powders found on the clothing of the suspects to narrow down the list of suspects. Students solved a series of clues to determine which ink sample belonged to which suspect and carried out chromatography on ink from the scene of the crime and the samples from the suspects. The results of the chromatography were combined from the results of the test tube reactions to identify the prime suspect. Well done to all who took part and solved the crime. The winning team was made up of Zuzanna, Karolina, Jacob and Maysoon(Year 8).

To kick-off British Science Week the Science Department organised a Movie Night showing the film “Hidden Figures”. The film is a story about a team of female African-American mathematicians who played a vital role in NASA during the US space programme.

Students enjoyed popcorn and snacks during the viewing on a Friday night after school.

Solar Power Challenge

As part of British Science week, some students took part in a Solar Power Challenge. The challenge was to build a solar powered machine and see how fast it would go. Students built helicopters and racing cars and investigated how much light they needed to move.

As part of our celebrations during British Science Week, a group of year 7 students attended the Chemistry at Work Event at the Black Country Living Museum. The group were able to appreciate the place of Chemistry in everyday life and were introduced to a range of industries from the Midlands. Students took part in interactive workshops that saw them extract their own DNA, explore smells in the pharmacy, make their own reed diffuser and learn about where water comes from and how it is treated on its journey to turning on our taps. Students also took part in an interactive show “A Volatile History of Chemistry” where they were introduced to Scientists from the past. To end the day students were able to tour the Black Country Living Museum, seeing where scenes from Peaky Blinders have been filmed; exploring the Colliery, the Newcomen Steam Engine; and meeting characters from the past including the nail maker, chain maker and owner of the hardware shop.

Olympiad

The Year 13 Chemists took part in the Olympiad this year and there were 8668 entries across the country.

All students receive a certificate of participation and we were also incredibly successful in achieving 3 bronze awards and 2 silver awards.

Megan, Thanush and Parsa achieved bronze awards putting them in the top 64% in the country. Faiza and Ismeil achieved silver awards putting them in the top 32% in the country!

IET Faraday Challenge

On Wednesday 2^nd March, six year 8 students ventured to the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Hanley to compete in the IET Faraday Challenge. The students were tasked with designing an item that would improve the experience of a child in hospital which had to include at least one electrical circuit. Our budding engineers decided to develop a cart which could carry medicine or equipment for doctors who couldn't leave a patient's side. They made a vehicle with a pulley wheel, motor and homemade switch and then presented it to the judges, including an industry expert, and fellow teams, a fantastic feat! Their resulting cart was functional, very useful, under budget and their presentation highly professional, but in the end they narrowly missed out on winning the overall prize. Nevertheless, the students have each come away with an Industrial Cadets Award, an appreciation of the application and possibilities within engineering and a huge sense of accomplishment.

Top of the Bench

Our Science Team has won the regional Top of the Bench Competition and have participated in the National Final (results not yet in!). The competition is an annual event run by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The team was made up of Sanie-Marthy (Y11), Raman (Y10), Humaid (Y9) and Louis-Marie (Y9). Well done boys – this is a fantastic achievement!

Univision STEM at Staffordshire University

In March, fifty year 9 students attended a visit to Staffordshire University Univision Event. It was a fantastic opportunity to join workshops, lectures, activities and experience life at University. This trip was of particular interest to our students who are aspiring Scientists, Engineers, Medics and Vets.

Honours Workshops

Miss. Shufflebotham delivered an Honours workshop on Analytical Chemistry in the development of Pharmaceuticals this half term. Students carried out some analytical practical work to identify the metal cations in different solutions using flame tests. This is one of many analytical techniques used in industry and students discussed other techniques such as NMR spectroscopy.

Mr. Bolam delivered a workshop on Shark Anatomy as part of the Honours Programme. Students began by looking at the importance of sharks in the marine ecosystem. They then went on to dissect lesser spotted catsharks to investigate their internal anatomy. This was a great activity and was very well received!

Maths Department

Within the Maths department this Spring Term we have had many amazing opportunities for students as well as brilliant results from competitions and enrichment clubs.

Numeracy

Year 7-9 students complete Numeracy Ninjas during form time to test both their numerical skill, and time management. Each year group currently has a diverse set of questions, over the 3 years, with a wide variety of numeracy skills tested and, over time, their scores should improve, allowing them to achieve higher coloured belts in their Ninja programme.

Hegarty Heroes

Here are the Hegarty Heroes for each year so far this half term. Well done for continuing to exceed out of school within home learning – your efforts will pay off!

Pi Day!

As a department we finally got to celebrate Pi Day at school. Many resources were created by Mr Moore to start Pi Day right! Mr Moore was also giving out actual Pies to whomever could recite the greatest number of digits...Mrs Redmond made a considerable effort at 20 digits!

Chess Competition and Maths Club

Chess is continuing to run every lunch time in room 243, with its popularity expanding massively. This has been facilitated by the charity ‘CSC Chess in Schools and Communities’ who have very kindly provided all 20 kits that we have now. This is providing a great opportunity for students from all years and backgrounds to come together to learn a challenging but rewarding skill.

In addition to this, our competitive team which is open to anyone interested, is continuing to represent the school in online tournaments every month competing against other schools across the country.

Those interested in even more chess be aware that Staffordshire Juniors are recruiting on Lichess.org. Search for the 'Staffordshire Juniors' TEAM and apply to join the group quoting your school. Inter county blitz matches on the first Monday of the month.

Years 7 and 8 Math’s Club also runs weekly with Mrs Plant and Miss Ford on Tuesday’s afterschool to enjoy maths for another whole hour! There is more on this in the enrichment section.

Careers in Mathematics Lessons

Both Miss Ford and Mrs Kerr have been working hard to create 20 bespoke lessons which focus on careers in mathematics. They have now been submitted and are ready to be used within St. Thomas More and other schools in the city as part of a city-wide Employability Skills Builder. A preview is below...

What is upcoming in the Maths Department?

Chess Events:

Jonathan Blackburn visit – 6^th April 2022. Honours Masterclass with Current Welsh Chess Champion!

AMSP 1^st April Periods 1 and 2

Industry visitors came into school to talk about STEM careers on Friday 1st April. The Advanced Mathematics Support Programme is a government-funded initiative. It aims to increase participation in Core Maths, AS/A Level Mathematics and Further Mathematics, and improve the teaching of these level 3 maths qualifications. This workshop focused on years 7 and 8.

ART
Year 9 students completed their card sculptures that were inspired by Architecture and the work of Ian Murphy, Antoni Gaudi and Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Year 8 have now moved onto studying portraiture. We have some incredible artists. Here are some of their studies

BCB Ceramics- CLAY CLUB

We continue to have the exciting opportunity to work with the British Ceramics Biennial group with artists Emma and Johanna bringing exciting ceramics techniques and processes to school every Wednesday after school from 3.20-4.30pm.

Sports at STMCA

The year 7 STM futsal team has participated in the city schools futsal competition. Having qualified out of the group stages in the top two teams of the group, the team then reached the semi-finals with some strong performances.

Champions! Absolutely brilliant performance from the STM U13 Netball squad, winning the City U13 Netball festival. Training and hard work definitely pays off! Always Aspire to be More! Well done to the girls and Miss Matthews for coaching the squad.

The STM U16 basketball squad began their league campaign with their first competitive game recently in over 2 years due to restrictions on competitive school sport. Some strong performances and game experience has proven invaluable. Well done boys.

The STM U14 football team did themselves and the Academy proud with a fantastic victory in the quarterfinals of the county cup. It was great to see staff and students support the boys in progressing to the semi-final. A great performance. Well done.

Well done to our year 8 STM student Mya for achieving a gold medal in the team event and a bronze medal in the individual event at the West Midlands Regional Trampolining Competition. This is a brilliant achievement and all at STM are proud of you.

Year 7 are the city netball champions! Well done to the year 7 netball team for winning the U12 city netball competition. There were some brilliant performances and the win was well deserved. Great work from Miss Matthews and Miss Sproston in coaching the team. Well done girls!

An amazing effort from the STM U14 boys five a side teams recently. Out of 16 teams in the city competition, which were in two leagues of 8, we were the only school in the city to have two teams qualify for the semi-finals! One team making the final and finishing runners up.

The STM U15 boys football team were in quarter final action recently. The conditions were tough for both teams, although the outcome wasn’t what we had hoped for, everyone at STM are proud of your efforts. You are a top 4 Staffordshire schools football team!

The STM U15 indoor cricket team were involved in the city schools competition last week. Well done to all those who participated.

Well done to the STM boys U14 Basketball team. So far they have won both of their league games.

Silent Study

This term we have been able to offer year 11 students the chance to attend an after school silent study session. This will run all the way through to the end of their GCSEs and is a fantastic way of going the extra mile. Revision resources will be provided to all students who attend. In addition to this, we are also able to offer year 11 students a chance to come in over Easter and study. All details regarding dates and times will be announced by email.

The Extra Mile

Alongside Silent study, we have also introduced “The Extra Mile” reward card. It is an extra incentive for students to complete independent revision / study at home, as well as engage more within lessons. Each time they go above and beyond they will receive a signature from the teacher. Once they collect enough signatures they will gain a reward. It is a fantastic way of students viewing revision as positive and rewarding in the short term which should lead to higher academic success at GCSE.

Teams

Students in all year groups should now be using Teams as a way to revise for exams. All teachers have been adding additional revision resources and setting work to complete which will support further learning. If there are any issues with accessing your Teams account please see Mr Barnett who will help to get this sorted.

Study Club

Over the academic year we have been able to offer two opportunities for students in Year 7 to 11 to get ahead and complete some of their homework at our Study Club. We are continuing this opportunity into the next term and beyond. These opportunities to complete some of their homework take place on Tuesday and Thursday after school from 3:10pm to 4:00pm in Room 345. If you have any questions regarding study club then please see Mr Howitt.

Year 10 ASDAN

The year 10 ASDAN group as part of their course have been out in Sam's garden regularly since September, they have to work as a group and improve the environment in the school. They have chosen Sam's Garden as it's an area of the school they have been involved in since year 7. They have been clearing the paths of moss, litter picking and now they are clearing a flower bed ready to plant, they have started to grow plants indoors ready to plant out when the weather allows.

Social Sciences

In the Social Sciences students have been demonstrating their knowledge and developing their practical skills through creative activities.

With Mrs Stace, Year 11 Child Development have enjoyed designing a creative lesson for foundation aged children. They discussed appropriate techniques and materials and designed different animal themed templates for 'animal mask making'. The animal masks were cut out and decorated with a variety of colourful materials including, glitter, foam shapes, sequins, feathers, pipe cleaners and card.

Year 13 Health and Social Care completed a cake design challenge. Their goal was to design and decorate a cake that celebrated the NHS. They also delivered a presentation justifying their design choices. It was a close contest however, the winning cake was modelled into the shape of work scrubs and it not only looked but also tasted fantastic.

Year 12 Health and Social Care planned and delivered activities with young children who were accompanying older brothers and sisters to our Year 9 Options Evening. They put on an array of activities which range from card game Uno, decorating gingerbread biscuits to getting a little messy with paint and Play-Doh. This gave the students the opportunity to practice their communication skills that they have been learning about this year.

CREST Club

The CREST Club students have been busy making lip gloss, shoe polish, perfume and bathbombs. It’s really interesting making the recipes, finding a good test method and then making improvements.

CREST Club is an after-school club and upon successful completion, the students will be awarded a certificate from the British Science Association.

Word for You Club

This lunchtime club includes teaching from UCB radio and inspiring bible verses.

This term, we’ve had fun with science demonstrations including a paddle boat using elastic energy, a model lung and investigating the effect of temperature on a reaction.

We planted seeds in February and we’re looking forward to when they flower. God’s creation is awesome!

September 2022 - Year 7 Intake

We are delighted to inform you that we are once again oversubscribed for September 2022!

We can't wait to welcome all the new year 7 students to St Thomas More Catholic Academy.

Our transition days will be:

Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th July 2022

Until then, why not have a look around our school website to find out more about our community and what to expect.

Year 6 Transition St Thomas More Catholic Academy Longton September (stmca.org.uk)

If you have any questions, please contact our school office on 01782 882900 or email office@stmca.org.uk