Prize Night

We had a wonderful Prize Night last night. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming and staff and students all enjoyed sharing in this special occasion.

Here is Mr Burns’ speech for everyone to enjoy.

Days like this make me feel very proud to be a Headteacher. The achievements of the young people sitting in front of me is nothing short of outstanding and each of them, plus the other hundreds of children not recognised this evening, should be celebrated by all of us.

Like the world itself, education never stands still; there is constant change and whether we think the changes are positive or negative, it is vital that we hold on to our Gospel values and that they steer the work of this school. What good is it if our students leave with all grade 9s or straight As, but don’t know the importance of kindness, love, generosity, compassion, service and much more? It is important to educate, but also to develop young adults ready for the world ahead. And this is what makes St. Nicholas Catholic High School unique – its Catholic ethos and how important it is that we all let our ‘God-given talents shine’.

This year, we have focused on reviewing our pastoral system and I am pleased to say that a new and enhanced structure is slowly being phased in and will be in place from September 1st. We have created more staff capacity to ensure our young people have everything they need to thrive and be successful. We will shortly open our new centre to ensure some of our students have appropriate interventions and support in place throughout the year. The new Gym, a project led by our sixth form students and supported by our PTA, will add another dimension to school life for staff and students. We are, of course, celebrating a very positive Ofsted Inspection this year and look forward to building on this success further in the years ahead.

The compassion and dedication of our students has been clear to see through the charity work that students in all year groups have been involved in. The school has raised thousands of pounds this academic year for various charities, and I know they have even bigger plans for next year as we plan our Jubilee celebrations – St. Nicholas Catholic High School is 60 years old in September 2025! Watch this space to hear all about the events that will be taking place.

Thank You

Each and every day, members of staff at this school go above and beyond for your children so that they, and by extension, the wider community have as many opportunities as possible to realise the potential given to them by God and achieve the very best – this has been seen in the excellent examination results achieved over a number of years and in the number of students who go on to secure a place on an apprenticeship or university. It was great to welcome back previous students a few weeks ago for work experience – students who want to come back and teach here in the future!

The team here is constantly striving to further develop this high-quality learning environment, so that it inspires students, staff, and the community to be compassionate, successful, and resilient contributors to a better society. We have many excellent teachers serving here and the support team is, without doubt, the most flexible, caring and hardworking I have had the pleasure of working with. I hope that you all know that your work is valued and appreciated; I also hope that you have felt the benefits of our focus and significant commitment to your professional development and wellbeing.

I would like to thank every member of the school staff for their continued hard work, passion, and enthusiasm. Many of this staff team have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make tonight happen too, from setting up, producing the programme, to preparing and performing the fabulous music – the music here never fails to impress, and I won’t forget how blown away I was seeing so many of our students performing with Mrs McKenna at Tatton Park earlier this year. Simply amazing. Please join me in showing our appreciation for our great staff team.

I would like to thank the governors who give so willingly of their time and challenge us to improve the school even further – thank you for all that you do in supporting us to lead our great school onto the next stage of its development.

I thank you the parents and carers, who week in week out, support the school and your children with unwavering commitment. We were overwhelmed by the number of supportive and complimentary letters that came in for inspectors earlier this year. I truly believe that the relationship between home and school is essential if your children are to thrive and be successful during their time here.

My final message is addressed to you, our students.

Congratulations on your awards and prizes this evening, may they spur you on to continued and further success in the future. Keep being brilliant and keep being you and be proud of everything you have achieved this year. It is an absolute honour to be your Headteacher and I look forward to working with you again in the new academic year.

Finally, as this academic year comes to a close, I wish everyone an enjoyable summer break and look forward to September, with our students ready to seize all the opportunities that will come their way in the next academic year.