Some of our students have been working hard on a Christmas Jumper Competition recently launched by Elsie's Story and the KD Club!
Elsie's Story is a charity established in memory of Elsie Dot Stancombe and aims to help families build precious memories together. Launched alongside the KD Club, the competition encourages young designers of all ages to design a Christmas jumper, with winning entries entering production as manufactured products.
Well done to all our designers for their fabulous entries!
On Monday we were delighted to welcome back Ellie from the Liverpool Scholars programme to speak with our Year 12 students about this fantastic opportunity and how it can support their future university aspirations.
The Liverpool Scholars programme offers students the opportunity to learn more about university life, develop their academic and personal skills, explore higher education options and gain valuable insight into what it takes to progress to university. It provides ongoing support and enrichment, helping students build confidence, make informed decisions about their future and prepare for the transition to higher education.
We would strongly encourage eligible Year 12 students to get involved. Opportunities such as this can make a real difference by helping students broaden their horizons, develop their skills and feel more confident about taking their next steps after sixth form.
A huge congratulations to those students who have already completed their Liverpool Scholars applications – well done for getting ahead!
A big thank you to Ellie for visiting us and inspiring our students. We look forward to continuing to work with her again this year as we support our Year 12 students and future UCAS applicants with their university journeys.
On Friday a group of students represented St. Julie’s at the Notre Dame international webinar celebrating the ‘Day of the Girl’.
Our students joined with fellow Notre Dame community students from the USA, Kenya and Nigeria, each taking an opportunity to speak about an issue that impacts girls in their community. Our students spoke about their experience and our work combating violence against women and girls.
The event was an incredible experience for our students to touch base with international counterparts and see first hand how we are simultaneously diverse and yet unified by some common issues.
Students were excited to hear from Sr Isabelle Izika, SND, who joined the event to share insights into her work at the United Nations, New York, and discussed opportunities for young people to become involved in advocacy and social action. Several Notre Dame Sisters from around the world also be attended to hear the students' presentations and celebrate their contributions.
Congratulations to Holly in Year 8 who ran in the English Road Runners' Association National Finals in Birmingham at the weekend!
Running for Liverpool Harriers in the road relay Holly and her team mates earned an impressive 16th place among a field of 62 teams of the finest road runners in the country.
Well done Holly on a fantastic achievement!
Last Friday, just after our newsletter went to press, students from Year 7 gathered in the Performing Arts department for our annual welcome party!
The party gives students an opportunity to spend time with each other in a different context and hopefully spark a few new conversations!
The fun evening saw music, dance, glow sticks, balloons and lots of chocolate, and a great time was had by all! Thank you to the Performing Arts department for throwing a great party, and to staff from across the school who stayed to support the event!
On Wednesday this week we hosted our first 'Meet the SENDCO' event of the year, where we welcomed some of our newer parents into school.
The event offered parents the chance to meet the Learning Support team, find out more about what we can offer and learn more about other services available to our students.
Importantly, the event also have parents a chance to talk to each other in a relaxed environment. Thank you to all of the parents who joined us for the event and it was wonderful to see such enthusastic engagement. We hope our guests found the event as helpful as we did.
As part of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, a group of Year 9 students organised a fundraising event this week to raise both awareness and funds for Alder Hey Children’s Charity. The initiative encouraged students and staff to wear yellow ribbons as a symbol of support for children and families affected by childhood cancer.
Thanks to the enthusiasm and generosity of our school community, an impressive £278.54 was raised for Alder Hey Children’s Charity. This fantastic achievement will help support the vital work carried out by the charity while also raising awareness of an important cause.
A huge well done to the Year 9 students for organising the event, and thank you to everyone who contributed and showed their support. Your kindness and generosity have made a real difference.
Congratulations to Scout in Year 10 for her recent victory in the Lancashire Schools Girls' Golf Championships at Ormskirk.
Proudly representing St. Julie's, Scout won the event with a fantastic gross score of 1 over par!
We're all hugely proud of her achievement and this victory means that Scout has now qualified for the National Championships in May, where we'll all be wishing her the very best of luck!
Since winning the national cup last May the Liverpool Schoolgirls have re-trialled all players for the U13s squad in the 26/27 season.
We’re delighted to report that five of our Y8 students have earned involvement in this year’s side, with Anya, Eliza and Sophie making the full squad and Honey and Blossom returning on training contracts.
Most significantly, Sophie has been named as squad Captain and Anya has been named as Vice Captain. These vitally important roles require the players to show courage, determination, resilience and leadership both on and off the pitch.
We wish all of the players the very best of luck as they start their title defence with an away game against East Riding District.
This half term, all Year groups are beginning the new academic year with a joyful celebration of Mass.
Last week, Fr Peter celebrated the beginning of a new Key Stage with Y12 and this week Y10 and Y8 had their Masses led by Fr Ed and Fr Stephen respectively.
Year 10 focused on John’s Gospel 15:1-8 'I am the true vine', reflecting how they can stay close to God as they begin their GCSE courses this year, and Year 8 heard the narrative of Jesus' Baptism as told in Mark’s Gospel. Fr Stephen reminded Year 8 students about the gift of the Holy Spirit, which they will be able to receive again in the Sacrament of Confirmation later this year.
Our Student Ministry team continued to serve the St Julie’s community in leadership roles during Mass such as welcomers, readers and singing. Next week, Year 13 will gather for their celebration and Years 9 and 11 will follow in the remaining weeks of this half term.
On Wednesday this week we welcomed Hazel Snell DL, the High Sheriff of Merseyside, into school to find out more about our pro-active work related to Violence Against Women and Girls.
At the start of her tenure, the High Sheriff pledged to highlight work on tackling VAWG. She watched our dramatic performances and this has led to an exciting opportunity for our students to showcase their work to a wider audience.
In October a group of our students will be performing for a number of distinguished guests including High Court Judges, the Lord Lieutenant of Liverpool and the Chief Constable of Merseyside. This is a wonderful recognition of both the quality of their performances and the importance of the messages that they have worked so hard to communicate.
This Saturday marks European Languages Day and we’ve been leading up to it this week with assemblies and activities.
These included a live webinar with Cyrille Rollet, a Research Fellow at Lancaster University who helped Year 8 explore the benefits of linguistic richness and diversity.
We were delighted to welcome Harry Doyle from Aspire Liverpool to St Julie’s on Thursday morning to work with and support our current Oxbridge applicants as they prepare for the next stage of their applications.
The Liverpool Aspire project works with high-achieving students across the Liverpool City Region, providing guidance, mentoring and enrichment opportunities to help students understand and access competitive university pathways, including Oxford and Cambridge.
Harry’s sessions provide our students with valuable advice around the application process, personal statements, admissions tests and interviews; as well as helping them to develop the confidence and skills needed to make successful applications. We are particularly pleased to be building on the success of Holly, who recently headed off to Cambridge University to read English.
Her achievement is a fantastic example of what our students can accomplish, and we look forward to supporting our next cohort of aspiring Oxbridge students as they follow in her footsteps.
Congratulations to all 52 members of our LAMDA cohort who have ALL passed with distinction!
The awards from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts are internationally recognised qualifications in acting, speaking poetry and prose, public speaking, and musical theatre.
Our cohort drew on members from Years 8 all the way to 13 who performed for three examiners in pursuit of their award. The examiners all commented on the professionalism of the students and we recently received the results with the wonderful news that all performers had achieved a distinction grade.
Congratulations to all of them for this fantastic achievement in the pursuit of realising and developing their talents.
On Thursday we opened our doors to visitors as we held our second major open evening of the year!
Students currently in Years 5 and 6 joined their parents to explore our school and get a taste of what life at St. Julie’s is like!
With representation from all departments our guests had great fun on what we hope was a very informative evening.
We’d like to thank our wonderful Year 7 guides who were able to give honest answers about their experience of their transition to St. Julie’s.
Feedback so far has been excellent and we’re looking forward to seeing many of these young people in September as members of the St Julie’s school community! Thank you to all of our guests for taking the time to visit us.
On Thursday a team of St Julie’s athletes visit the Wavertree Athletics Centre to test their skills against teams from St Edward’s, Calderstones, St John Bosco, Bellerive, Archbishop Blanch, ASFA and Liverpool College with impressive results. Well done to all of the following athletes for podium performances:
Y8:
- Daniella - 800m - 1st place- Abigail - Discus - 2nd place
- Holly - 1200m - 3rd place
- Neave - High Jump - 3rd place
- Abigail - 150m - 1st place
Y10:
- Sharnie - High Jump - 2nd place- Heidi - Discus - 1st place
- Heidi , Heidi, Olivia , Jessie - Relay 4x1 - 1st Place
Y11:
- Eva - 100m - 1st place- Eva - 300m - 1st place
- Laila - 800m - 2nd place
Our Year 9/10 football team are through to round 2 of the English Schools Cup with an emphatic 6-0 victory over a side from Calderstones.
We saw two goals from Sharnie Y10, two goals from Luella Y10, and two own goals. The match was fantastic to watch with our St Julie's girls demonstrating their skill, strength and determination throughout the whole match.
Player of the match goes to Sharnie in Y10. Well done to all the players involved as we move into round 2 of the cup.
Our line up for the game was: Peggy, Daisy, Cloda, Neveah, Charlotte, Emily, Darcy, Scarlett, Annabelle, Sharnie, Maisie, Luella & Freya.
During two assemblies this week two of our Lourdes pilgrims stood up in front of whole year group assemblies to talk about their experiences during the summer, and what they took from their pilgrimage, as well as what they gave to it.
Charlotte and Layla gave friendly and relatable accounts of what the experience is really like, and encouraged students to consider making the same journey themselves.
Their efforts have been well rewarded so far with strong expressions of interest!
On Monday our Sixth Form students gave thanks for the opportunities ahead for them and prayed for strength and success as they opened this important academic year with a celebration of Mass by Father Peter.
The Mass offered a time of calm reflection in the busy start to a new year.
On Thursday 10th September, Miss Higgins gathered at St Anne's and Blessed Dominic Church in St Helen's with fellow school chaplains from across the Archdiocese to meet and pray with the Papal Nuncio to Great Britain.
The Papal Nuncio, His Excellency Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía, is the Pope's personal representative to the Church in Great Britain and serves as the Holy See's ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was visiting the Archdiocese of Liverpool for a few days as part of a pastoral visit, meeting clergy, religious, Catholic educators, school children, and parish communities across the archdiocese.
During the evening prayer with chaplains, Miss Higgins also had the honour of leading the music alongside fellow chaplain Mr Baron from Our Lady Queen of Peace, Skelmersdale and fellow music ministry leader, Martin Fletcher.
This visit was a significant occasion for the Archdiocese, displaying and further strengthening our communion with Pope Leo XIV and the Church across the world.
Applications are now open for Future Leaders. Working with leading universities and employers, the programme builds key skills, including public speaking, critical thinking in the AI age, and study skills to excel in exams. It gives young people the confidence and leadership to progress into university, apprenticeships and employment, and to make a positive difference in their communities.
This is a free initiative; students apply directly using this link Future Leaders UK: Leadership Program for Year 12 & 13 Students and complete the online sessions outside school hours.
If you want to learn more about it, click here to watch a short video: Future Leaders UK National Programme
The UCAS deadline is getting close — and it can feel stressful for both parents and students. That’s why Paul Hughes (ex-6th form tutor with 21 years’ UCAS experience) is running a free session, through the ‘Parent Guide To…’ company to help families feel confident and prepared. The session aims to cover personal statements, choosing the right uni, and what really matters in applications.
It’s practical, clear advice designed to make the final stage feel less overwhelming for everyone.
Interested parents can register here, and the session will be available for replay on demand to registered attendees.
We are thrilled to celebrate the wonderful news that one of our Year 13 students, Holly, will be continuing her academic journey at the University of Cambridge, where she will study English at Lucy Cavendish College.
Holly achieved an exceptional set of A Level results, gaining A*, A*, A - a fantastic achievement which reflects her academic ability, determination and commitment to her studies.
Holly will join Lucy Cavendish College, a Cambridge college with a distinctive history and a strong sense of community. Founded in 1965, the College has developed a distinctive identity within the University and provides an inspiring environment in which students can pursue their academic interests, challenge themselves and flourish. For Holly, this will be an exciting opportunity to pursue her passion for English at one of the world's leading universities. Studying English at Cambridge will allow her to explore a rich range of literature while developing her own academic interests and engaging with literary traditions spanning centuries.
Holly's success is a wonderful example of what can be achieved through ambition, self-motivation and a mature approach to learning. Her outstanding A Level results and the opportunity to continue her studies at Cambridge are a fantastic achievement, and we are incredibly proud of her.
Congratulations, Holly. We are immensely proud of you and wish you every success as you begin this exciting new chapter.
What a fantastic, bustling morning it has been here at St Julie's! We have had a highly productive time welcoming our wonderful Year 11 students, parents, and carers through the doors to celebrate an excellent set of GCSE results.
These fantastic outcomes directly reflect the immense hard work, dedication, and resilience of our students, alongside the invaluable, unwavering support of their families and St Julie's staff. It was lovely to see so many happy faces as students shared their success stories with each other and excitedly discussed their next steps.
We are absolutely delighted that so many of our Year 11 cohort have chosen to continue their educational journey with us into the Sixth Form. As they take this exciting next step, we look forward to supporting them with top-tier academic guidance and a wealth of personal development opportunities, including tailored career advice, university taster days, apprenticeship opportunities and work experience. Whatever their next step, we’re excited to be part of it and look forward to working with them over the next two years.
Thank you to everyone who joined us this morning. We cannot wait to see what Year 11 achieve in this exciting new chapter!
St Julie’s staff are incredibly proud and delighted to be celebrating our best outcomes since before the pandemic, reflected in our highest number of A* A and B grades to date.
These exceptional achievements reflect the dedication, resilience and determination of our students; and the support and dedication of our teaching staff who have enabled our young people to take their next steps with confidence - whether progressing to university, training or employment.
Year 13 have demonstrated remarkably hard work throughout their studies, and we are thrilled to see their efforts rewarded with these outstanding outcomes. As a year group they have shown unwavering dedication to their learning, balancing academic pressures with personal growth; consistently supporting one another and embodying the values that make St. Julie’s Sixth Form such a special community.
This year's results have opened the doors to a wide variety of exciting and prestigious destinations. Many students are heading to Russell Group universities, including Queens Belfast, Durham, the University of Liverpool, Newcastle, York, Manchester, and Leeds, to pursue a diverse range of subjects. From Law, Literature and Pharmacy, to Teaching, Biomedical Sciences and Forensics, our students are set to make a real impact in their chosen fields. Others are moving on to study and Music Performance and Production, Mental Health Nursing, Sports Law and Business; Operating Department Practice, Philosophy, Media, Dance, and Biology - all testament to the breadth of talent and ambition within this wonderful year group.
Some of our students are set to take up employment in the sport and exercise, civil service and education sectors; and our apprenticeship applicants are more than ready to embark on exciting careers with North West Ambulance service, and in accountancy and as teaching assistants.
As Year 13 take the next steps in their journeys, the Sixth Form Team would like to reflect on the incredible young adults they have become. This has been a truly exceptional cohort: compassionate, humble, charitable and hardworking. It has been an absolute privilege to teach and guide them. Their positive attitudes, sense of humour, compassion and mutual respect have left a lasting impression on our staff and school community.
To our Year 13 students: congratulations on your well-deserved success. We know you will go on to do amazing things, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for each and every one of you. As you prepare to take these next steps over the coming weeks, arranging accommodation and navigating new timetables, remember - once a St. Julie’s student, always a St. Julie’s student. You’ll always have a home here with us and we’d love to hear how you’re getting on in your chosen fields.
Well done, Class of 2026.
If you are supporting a young person over the next few weeks, this link will take you to a range of resources from Amazing Apprenticeships to support your child.
Arranged by GCSE and post-18 resources, there is a dedicated page, where there’s something for everyone no matter what stage they're at.
On the page you can explore the different options and pathways through our comparison guides; learn more about Apprenticeships, T Levels and HTQs if you're unsure of your next steps and get inspired through their short films, guides, rapid reads, quizzes and more.
18 July marks Mandela Day, and this year Liverpool City Council is joining forces with Mandela 8 to make it the biggest and most meaningful celebration the city has seen.
Nelson Mandela has a special place in Liverpool's story. His connection to this city runs deep, and every year we honour his legacy together.
Mandela Day is built around a simple but powerful idea: that each of us can change the world, and that an act of kindness can make a real difference. The theme this year is "It's in your hands."
This week pupils took some time to make a craft wood slice and decorate it with the south African flag and quotes from nelson Mandela. These will be placed in the Peace Garden.
Language Leaders in Year 9 have been sharing their love of Spanish with primary school students at Much Woolton.
Our students planned and delivered Spanish lessons and activites with students across Years 3, 4 and 5, offering valuable experience to all concerned.
Thank you to our talented students for their hard work, to Much Woolton for hosting and to the wonderful students there for their enthusiasm!
Congratulations to Heidi in Year 9 who recently competed in national competition after qualifying for the English Schools Athletics Competition in Birmingham!
Competing in the highly technical hammer throw, Heidi managed to crack the top ten in England and record a personal best of 37.96m, or four and a half buses!
Well done to Heidi on a great competition.
On Monday 13th July a team of students competed in the annual LSSP secondary school dance competition, hosted this year at St. Julie's!
We had 50 dancers representing our school in the competition and they performed beautifully! Each dancer left their heart on the stage and showed their talents off brilliantly. This was reflected in the awards at the end of the competition with St Julie's coming away with five awards.
Isabella in Year 7 placed first with her lyrical solo, while Keira and Charlotte placed third with their duet 'Ashes'.
Summer and Phoebe placed 2nd with their duet 'With You', and our KS3 teams Placed both first and second with a spectacular Jazz dance and a moving lyrical piece.
Our students represented St Julie's brilliantly and their hard work and dedication to dance was evident. Congratulations to all of the dancers on a fantastic competition!
On Tuesday students from Year 8 crossed the river for a wonderful day out at Chester Zoo!
Taking full advantage of having one of the world's finest zoo and conservation centres almost on our doorstep, our students had a fully immersive experience meeting species from across the globe.
Chester Zoo works to arrange the grounds into species appropriate natural ecosystems, and students took a relaxing boat trip around the 'Islands' biome, modelled on South East Asia.
Some of the students who were feeling brave took on the dark humidity of the bat house, and were rewarded for their courage with some great sights.
Well done to all of the students for their fantastic conduct on the trip.
On Monday this week students from Years 7 and 8 made the short journey to join Father Peter Murphy at St. Mary’s Church to celebrate an end of year Mass together.
The service commenced with a welcome to remind us of our identity in Christ and as part of the St Julie's community and throughout the service we heard music from our Music Ministry team, accompanied by Miss Higgins, Mr Quinn and guest musician Martin on piano.
Bidding prayers and readings were delivered with confidence and clarity and helped set a tone of reverence and prayerfulness that students maintained throughout the service despite it being an uncomfortably warm day.
We’d like to thank everybody who worked hard to make the service such a wonderful occasion, and a particular thanks to Father Peter and the team at St Mary’s for making us feel so welcome!
On Friday we enjoyed the sunshine and took our school along to Wavertree Athletics Centre for Sports Day!
We made some pragmatic adaptations in account of the hot weather, but students still enjoyed the full breadth of running, jumping, throwing, putting, hula-hooping and rope pulling that we see in our annual event.
Finishing ahead of the strongest heat of the day, our events culminated in a hard fought staff vs students relay race - which the staff won!
We then had the all important results announcement, and the final flag flying belonged to Maria! We congratulate our winners for their excellent performances and thank students and staff across the school for their great enthusiasm and sportsmanship.
On Wednesday, Year 12 enjoyed an inspiring visit to Wrexham University, where they experienced university life first-hand through a guided campus tour and a range of engaging subject taster sessions.
Students explored the university's excellent facilities before taking part in interactive sessions in Nursing, Business and Marketing, Law, Criminology and Primary Education. The visit showcased Wrexham University's innovative approach to teaching, with students experiencing the practical, immersive learning opportunities available across a range of courses. Highlights included investigating realistic crime scenes, exploring interview and interrogation suites used by Law and Criminology students, and wearing specialist simulation goggles to experience the effects of alcohol and drugs on perception, coordination and decision-making. These hands-on activities gave students a genuine insight into how theory is applied in professional settings.
The visit provided an excellent opportunity for students to ask questions, explore different subject areas and gain a better understanding of university life. Experiencing the facilities and speaking with university staff helped Year 12 to make more informed decisions about their future education, training and career pathways.
We would like to thank Wrexham University for delivering such an engaging and memorable experience that has inspired our students to think positively about their next steps; and Mrs Lyons for arranging.
This term marks the completion of the Axiom Maths Circle programme for our Year 10 students. Over the past four years, these students have met weekly to tackle challenging mathematical problems, develop their reasoning skills, and explore maths beyond the classroom.
Congratulations to all of our Year 10 students for their commitment, perseverance and enthusiasm throughout the programme. Their willingness to embrace challenge, think creatively and persevere with complex problems has been a real strength. We are incredibly proud of everything they have achieved and the dedication they have shown over the past four years.
Congratulations to our team of Year 10 students who took part in the Amey Engineering Challenge Day 2026, and won!
Engineers Sonia, Neil, Mark, Olly and Ella who led the challenge, were thrilled with the enthusiasm which the students showed. Thirteen Year 10 students took part in the challenge together with students from Coop School, Bebbington, to mark Women in Engineering Day and really "got stuck in" from the word go on the day.
They worked in teams led by current engineers to design a way of making The Strand more accessible for all users - drivers, cyclists and all pedestrians, working in small teams with an engineer using drawing tools to design, measure, cost and support their ideas.
The afternoon involved team and individual activities in Hazard Awareness and Road Traffic Bingo.
The students were fabulous ambassadors for the school. Well done to Laura, Mollie, Ellie, Phoebe, Olivia, Heidi, Ciara, Sophie, Isabelle, Darcy, Isabella, Olivia and Charlotte and huge thanks to Amey Engineering for hosting the day's events.
Congratulations to our competition winning band who have claimed their prize of a session in a professional studio!
Sofia, Evie, Heidi and Grace recently celebrated a win at the 'Battle of the Bands' at Cardinal Heenan, with a prize of a pro recording session.
The band recently visited Scratch Studios in West Derby where a professional producer helped them to record a cover version of 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' from the the catalogue of The Clash!
Last week students in Year 9 had a deep dive into poetry at the Poetry Exposition hosted at the Liverpool Exhibition Centre.
Students had the opportunity oto enage with a range of different activities such as football, music, dancing and some areas of inclusivity.
It wouldn't a poetry exposition without some poetry composition, and students embraced the World Cup theme of the day to craft a poem about Portugal and another about a pair of 110 trainers!
Well done to the students, whose engagement and conduct were a great credit to our school.
This week Year 9 students Lilia and Jessica represented St Julie's at the annual Archdiocesan Public Speaking Competition, hosted this year by Archbishop Beck.
Our speakers were extremely impressive in their delivery, presenting strong, confident and thoughtful arguments, and accompanying these with all of the non-verbal skills that make up an excellent speech.
Whilst pipped to the winning post, both students were commended with certificates and prizes, awarded by representatives from national exam boards and Deacon Mannings.
On Wednesday we were thrilled we welcome our new Year 7 students for September on the city wide transition day!
The excited but nervous students arrived and were welcomed by Mr Mottram and members of our Leadership Team and then led into the Dining Room to get to know each other!
The day then started with an assembly led by Mrs McCourt and our students found out which form group they are going to be in for the next five years.
They then started to get acquainted with each other in an extended form period before breaktime, with snacks!
From then it was a day of lessons, as students explored subjects like History, Geography, PE, ICT, Spanish, RE, Geography, Art, Maths and English. Students also worked for a lesson in half year groups exploring Notre Dame values with our Chaplain.
Thank you to all of our new students for engaging so well with the day. This will help us all to get a smooth start to the year in September when we're all looking forward to meeting again.
St. Julie's Catholic High School