On Tuesday we welcomed Tamara, Stevie and Billie from Humanutopia to deliver their inspirational one day programme 'Who Am I?' to Year 8 students.

The programme revolves around three separate sessions based on barriers, mindset and the future and encourages students to both reflect on the changes they want to make in their life and empowering them to confidently make those changes.

The workshop has always been well received at St Julie's and this year's cohort were no exception, taking an enormous amount away with them. Thanks to the Humanutopia team for another great workshop.

This week saw the launch of a new lunch time club as students considered some of the big questions in Philosophy Club.

In the first session students were introduced to what the club is all about and the kind of topics coming up for discussion and some of history's great thinkers whose thoughts will be subject to debate.

If you're interested in joining it's not too late - ask Mrs Cobourne for more details.

We are delighted to announce that 9 of our Year 12 students have been selected to take part in the Liverpool Aspire Programme - an exciting opportunity designed to support ambitious learners in achieving their university and career goals.

Through a series of workshops, mentoring sessions, and enrichment activities led by the University of Liverpool, students will gain valuable insights into higher education, develop essential academic and professional skills, and build confidence for their future pathways.

With AI transforming how we work, many students are questioning what the workplace will look like by the time they leave school.  In the past, automation replaced repetitive manual work. Today, AI is reshaping jobs across every industry, from finance to healthcare. InvestIn have launched a series of free online workshops to help students explore these changes. 

• How is AI affecting jobs today?
• How AI will impact jobs in the future
• The opportunities and challenges of AI 
• How AI affects subject choices, university decisions and career planning

• How to prepare for changing career paths 
• Why personal values matter more than ever
• How to develop key transferable skills 
• The importance of work experience 

Hundreds of financial support packages worth up to thousands of pounds can be claimed by students to cover tuition or living expenses at university or college amid rising costs of living.

We are delighted to announce that a whole-school Celebration Mass will take place at the Metropolitan Cathedral on Wednesday, 25th March 2026, at 1:00 pm. The Mass will be presided over by Archbishop John Sherrington and will bring together representatives from all Notre Dame schools across the UK, the Congregational Leadership Team, the Sisters of Notre Dame, Parish Priests, governors, staff and members of the Archdiocese.

This landmark anniversary provides a profound opportunity to honour the extraordinary contribution of the Sisters of Notre Dame, whose unwavering commitment to Catholic education has transformed countless lives and continues to inspire our mission today. It is a moment to reflect upon their enduring legacy and to reaffirm our shared dedication to sustaining their vision for generations to come.

In the weeks leading up to this significant occasion, students will engage in a series of enriching activities designed to celebrate the work and legacy of the Sisters of Notre Dame and to highlight the importance of nurturing the whole child as an exceptional citizen in today’s modern world.

These activities will include form-time assemblies exploring key themes and historical insights into the global mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame; year-group assemblies focusing on Notre Dame’s values, legacy, and its role in empowering women; commemorative items, including 175th-anniversary badges and bookmarks for all students and a Notre Dame celebration cake to mark this special milestone!

Looking ahead, during the summer term we will also host an Alumni Afternoon for former students. This event will feature refreshments, a formal service, and an opportunity to reconnect and network with fellow St. Julie’s alumni. Further details will be shared closer to the date.

Our Year 10 Mentors in Violence Prevention have begun their 2026 work with a training session from Mia Magee from the Merseyside Youth Association.

The session on Wednesday afternoon prepared the students for testing their skills in the field with the delivery of lessons to Year 7 students the following day during PSHE.

The Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) programme explores a series of scenarios involving a range of behaviours, such as name-calling, sexting, controlling behaviour and harassment. Using a 'bystander' approach individuals are not considered potential victims or perpetrators; instead, they are empowered and active bystanders with the ability to support and challenge their peers in a safe way.

This week, Key Stage 3 students attended an audition for this year’s Great Big Dance Off competition team. With 90 students in attendance, it was fantastic to see the passion and enthusiasm students have for dance. 

Well done to all students who auditioned. The team will be announced on Friday. 

On Wednesday this week teams of athletes from Years 7 and 8 took part in the LSSP athletics competition at Greenbank Sports Centre.

Year 7 had a great competition, finishing 4th out of 15 participating schools and have qualified for the Merseyside Finals!

Podium finishes included Abigail taking first place in the 4 lap race while Daniella took first place in the 6 lap race, Anya and Abigail took first place in the 8 lap Paarlauf, Peggy took first place in the 6 lap race, Daisy-Cheryl took second place in the 4 laps race and Sophie took third place in the 2 lap race. 

Our Athlete of the day was Daniella. Congratulations to her and all of our competitors for a great competition!

We have partnered with Careers Connect to offer a Careers Fair on Thursday 12th February.

A range of employers, apprenticeship providers, Further Education and Higher Education providers will be in attendance on the day to provide information, advice and guidance to students across all year groups.

This will be an excellent opportunity for students to ask questions, learn about career and training pathways; local labour market information and skills required for their career of choice. 

Year 13 students are breathing a sigh of relief this week as it marks the end of the UCAS application process.

Our applicants are currently preparing for interviews and applicant events for subjects ranging from teaching to paramedic science.

We'd like to thank subject teachers and form tutors; Liverpool Aspire and HE+ for their support throughout the process.

We'd also like to congratulate all our students on their diverse and exciting offers which include independent providers for Performing Arts, Oxford, Queens Belfast and University of Liverpool to name but a few and wish them the best of luck with their mock exams.

This week, St Julie's have begun rehearsals for the annual Now Festival which will take place at the Liverpool Epstein Theatre on the 9th February.

With the theme of Environment, St Julie's have decided to focus on a home environment and explore what happens behind closed doors. 

Once Upon a Time is how we’ll open our play,
But it’s not a children’s story you’ll hear today.
There isn’t a princess locked in a tower, or a knight to save the day,
No superhero in a cape, no dragon to slay.

You see this story is about Iris, just turned 13.
And her sister Ella, a typical teen.
If this was a fairy tale, it’s the perfect princesses they’d be,
Girls with good grade and in top sets, is what people would see.

Smart uniform, neat hair, immaculately dressed.
Even for a fictional story, it’s hard not be impressed.
But what if I told you, that fiction isn’t what you’re about to see.
And this picture-perfect family is not meant to be.

You see behind ever smile, there’s a story to hear and feel
And this story we’re going to tell you, this story is real.
Despite what you first see, there is something much more,
And I guess it’s true what they say, you never know what’s happens, behind a closed door.

On Thursday we welcomed Laura Hughes from Know Knife Crime into school to deliver a presentation to all students in Years 8 and 9 in the Sports Hall. Laura related her personal story of loss and the massive ripple effect it caused through her family and beyond.

Students were very respectful of the powerful messages that were sent and all left the assembly with valuable new knowledge about the realities of knife crime. Thank you to Laura for taking the time to share her very personal story with us.

This week we were happy to host the Liverpool Schools’ Immunisations Team for a session delivering missed immunisations.

If your child has missed a school immunisation you can contact the schools immunisation service for Liverpool at mcn-tr.vacandimms.team@nhs.net and the team for Halton, Knowsley and St Helens at mcn-tr.schoolimmunisations@nhs.net.

In November, every form group in St Julie’s sent a Christmas card to schools and parishes in the Holy Land; Israel, Palestine and Jordan.

The cards were a symbol of love and solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters in an area of the world where there is much unrest and suffering. Living in solidarity with others is one of the strands of Catholic Social Teaching, which runs through everything we do in school.

We sent these cards in the hope that they would reach their destinations but anticipated that some may not.

However, during the Christmas break, we received a lovely email from Fr. Imad Twal from Marka Parish – Mary Mother of the Church in Jordan which reads:

In the name of My school and community, I would like to thank you for the wonderful and beautiful signatures. This is a symbol of love and solidarity. 

I’m now a parish priest in the city center one of the poorest area. Thank you. You are in my daily prayers. 

Merry Christmas and Happy new year 

Our Chaplain has done some research and the name Marka, meaning a place of rest is derived from the disciple Mark. The town was in a strategic location along the pilgrimage route from Damascus to Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah passing through Zarqa, Ruseifeh, Marka, Amman and Ma’in. The residents of Marka are mainly Christian, and are a mix of professional, skilled and unskilled workers, wuth the majority finding employment in the surrounding area. The economy of the town and the surrounding areas is average, with less industry and mostly small businesses, shops and offices.

Fr Imad also kindly sent us some pictures of line in his parish!

Our school works with SIBS, a charity supporting children and young people who have a brother or sister with a disability, serious illness, or mental health condition. SIBS offers practical help, advice, and reassurance to make young carers feel less alone.

Key resources include:

- "Young and Caring – Accessing Support" which helps young people get the practical and emotional support they need, and think about who else can help them. Everyone’s situation is different, so this workbook is just one of several tools available.

- "Young and Caring for Someone with a Mental Illness" is designed for those caring for someone with a mental health condition, but many tips are useful for any young carer.

There’s also extra guidance via Sense for young carers and siblings. To find out more, click here:  https://www.sense.org.uk/our-services/support-for-children/support-for-young-carers-and-siblings/

We’re proud to have received the Barnardo’s Liverpool Schools Young Carers Award and the Young Carers in Schools Award from the Carers Trust, recognising our commitment to supporting young carers.

Visit the updated Young Carers section of our school website for more information and to access resources.

We finished the term with our Advent Service which, this year, was a 'Karaoke Christmas Story'! Our Junior and Senior 1804 society retold the nativity story through narration, scripture and a mixture of pop songs that everyone was encouraged to join in with.

Donations to the Micah foodbank were offered during the service and our dancers performed beautifully to Phil Wickham's version of 'Away In a Manger'.

After a closing Christmas reflection, students enjoyed the annual staff Christmas sing-a-long video and everyone left the school building with the rousing St Julie's tradition - 'My Lighthouse'! 

Students were entertained at break time by a pop up Christmas concert from our Sixth Form performing arts students!

The three piece band and four vocalists belted out some Christmas classics to a very appreciative audience!

On Friday morning we celebrated the breakfast of champions as our merit cup winners all spent period 1 in the Dining Room enjoying a spectacular breakfast banquet prepared by our catering team.

The traditional feast is a worthy reward for the form group in each year that has collectively earned the most points through their excellent attendance and punctuality, exemplary behaviour and fantastic attitude to learning.

We hope that all of our winners enjoyed themselves!

On Thursday our Sixth Form centre turned into a wardrobe department as students put the finishing touches to their magnificent outfits in the annual Sixth Form fancy dress competition.

The event is always a highlight of the Christmas calendar and generates huge excitement when it comes to judging time in the final parade in the Dining Room!

Thank you to everyone who raised some smiles by taking part.

Whilst staff recently had their Christmas jumper day it was the turn of students to dazzle with their accessories on Thursday this week!

We had a wonderful glitterfest as students arrived bedecked in socks, hats, ribbons and some wonderful glasses! 

Throughout this last week students have been celebrating their achievements during the last half term in our Merit Cup assemblies.

Students are acknowledged and rewarded for both individual and collective achievement with points awarded in various categories including attendance, punctuality and behaviour leading to some nail biting finishes to see who wins a place at the Merit Cup Breakfast!

Thank you to all of our Progress Leaders and Form Tutors for making the assemblies such fun occasions!

After last week's successful production of Annie, our KS3 cast headed for a well deserved treat at the Liverpool Empire, where they enjoyed taking an audience seat for the Roald Dahl classic, Matilda.

The students enjoyed a fantastic evening and were impressed by the show's impressive choreography, set design and story telling. 

We're confident that they took careful mental notes that they can use in next year's production!

On Wednesday it was time for crackers and hats as students enjoyed a sumptuous Christmas dinner!

Our catering team, led by Mr Eccles, did a spectacular job in preparing and serving a full menu of roast turkey with hand rolled stuffing, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, carrots, cauliflower cheese, greens with cranberries, pigs in blankets and the enormously popular sprouts with bacon and maple syrup.

With some festive tunes and a wonderful Christmas spirit the meal was a fabulous occasion enjoyed by all!

On Tuesday 16th December, we welcomed local parishioners in to school to join us for a Christmas Afternoon Tea.

Our Youth SVP Group took the lead with the preparations, organising decorations, entertainment and bingo and our Junior 1804 offered a very warm welcome to all our visitors.

Parishioners from OLA, Gateacre and St Wilfrid’s enjoyed a variety of delicious finger sandwiches and cakes provided by our amazing catering team and tea and coffee was served by members of our 6th form 1804 Society.

We ended our time together with a short reflection, thinking about what our Christmas prayer or wish is this year. Visitors, students and staff all added their wish to a paper link that was added to a group paper chain, to remind us of how connected we are.

The paper chain now hangs at our altar in the chapel and our prayers will be offered at this Friday Morning’s Mass.

After finishing with a rousing Christmas sing-a-long, everyone left with a smile on their face and the students were a credit to themselves, their families and the school!

On Friday of last week we had a wonderful lunchtime as we invited students to visit our Christmas bazaar!

The event was a fun filled extravaganza and turned our team talk area into a hive of activity!

With the generous support of our student volunteers our visitors had a chance to visit a host of different stalls offering prizes, items for sale, tasty treats and a chance to pummel volunteer staff members with snowballs!

Thanks to everyone involved for making it such a memorable occasion!

On Wednesday we reached the climax of our production run with the emotional final performance of Annie!

The show has been met with huge acclaim by audiences, from our primary matinee last week through to our three sold out evening performances.

The talent, passion and enthusiasm shown by all members of the company, from our principal cast through to chorus, technical and costume, is a credit to the inspirational teaching and dedication of our Performing Arts team.

Thank you to everyone came to enjoy the show and support our students. Thanks to Mrs Mannings for the photos which you can enjoy in the gallery below.

On Wednesday, student representatives from Y7, 8 and 9 went to the Metropolitan Cathedral for the annual Schools’ Advent Service.

Primary and secondary schools from across the Archdiocese gathered to watch an entertaining retelling of the Nativity story through song, dance and a few bad jokes! The highlight this year was the inclusion of a real donkey!

Students participated in the singing of carols and the event ended with a toy collection for Nugent - a lovely way to mark this advent season!

Year 12 welcomed Elizabeth and Mark from Cunliffe's on Thursday where they learned about the range of careers in the construction industry.

Students were able to discover pathways and routes into the industry; different roles within the company and the ever growing number of females working within engineering.

We'd like to thank Mark and Elizabeth for their time.

Year 8 students attended the Computer Science CyberMEGA Event on Tuesday 9th December where they had the opportunity to take part in lots of engaging activities.

Some of the activities included building and programming robots, programming robots to play football, decode Santa's code to stop The Grinch from getting access and many more! 

The students were able to compete against other schools and win some amazing Prizes. The Grinch even made a surprise appearance! Isabella won the top Cyber Student from St Julie's for her confidence and participation!

Well done to all students, they had a fantastic day and even enjoyed a slice of pizza! 

This week we sent a team of badminton players to the first badminton tournament of the year hosted at Belvedere Academy.

As well as earning a creditable fourth place overall, our players were recognised for their great sportsmanship with a tournament 'fair play' award! 

Well done to all of the players for a great tournament.

On Tuesday our Year 7 and 8 Football Team contested a triangular fixture with back to back matches against teams from Bellerive and Gateacre High School.

Although tough on the players from all teams, everyone showed their stamina and endurance in the matches.

Congratulations to our players who recorded a win against Bellerive and a draw against Gateacre!

This week, our students took part in an exciting workshop designed to open their eyes to the incredible variety of careers within the NHS. Many discovered roles they had never heard of before—from cutting-edge technology positions to vital behind-the-scenes jobs that keep our healthcare system running.

Each student will now produce a creative advertisement for their chosen NHS career. The format is completely up to them—whether it’s a catchy song, an engaging game, or even a dramatic movie trailer, imagination is the only limit!

Once completed, these projects will be entered into a national competition, giving our students the chance to showcase their creativity and win fantastic prizes.

On Thursday students from Year 12 were introduced to LJMU Outreach team member, Mariama. Mariama spoke to students about the benefits of higher education, different types of courses to look out for and gave an oversight of life as a student at LJMU.

Students were able to learn more about  both the City and Mount Pleasant Campus and the different courses offered at each. In addition, they were provided with an overview of student finance, accommodation and scholarship opportunities. We'd like to thank Mariama for her time and insight; and look forward to welcoming her back into school in the new year.

Our Year 7/8 Footballers have cleared the first hurdle of their Merseyside Cup campaign with a win!

Our players faced a team from Ridgeway High School in the first round and took a win securing a place in the next round of the competition. Well done to all of the players!

We are now in the season of Advent, so on Monday, all Year 7 students gathered in the Chapel for a celebration of Mass.

The Mass was an opportunity to begin this season of preparation well; by reflecting and giving thanks for all the good things in our lives, to remember those who find this time of year difficult and think about how we can open our hearts to Jesus and others this Christmas.

A huge thank you to Year 7 for their participation and to all the students involved in reading and music ministry. Thank you,  Father Ed for leading us in a wonderful celebration that has started Advent in the best way possible!

On Wednesday this week we welcomed in Steve from Creative Score and DJ, Producer and Songwriter A ME B to lead DJing workshops for staff and students from schools across the city.

At the workshops the guests were introduced to the Pioneer FLX4 digital turntables and walked through an introduction to some of the industry standard software packages used by creators across the globe.

On Tuesday we were delighted to welcome Laura and Mariano from the Onatti production company who performed ‘Un Ensayo Desastroso’ in Spanish to all of Year 8.

The fast paced and hilarious play follows auditions for Romeo y Julieta in a small town theatre in Spain.

The unfolding chaos sees meltdowns and tantrums, forgotten props, and students drafted in to replace missing cast members!

Thank you to the performers for a wonderfully engaging show that the audience thoroughly enjoyed!

On Monday night our Y9/10 travelled to Cheshire to face Hartford High School in the third round of the U15s English school's cup.

Hartford pressed the home advantage to take the lead, but our players stayed focussed and dug deep to net an equaliser.

With things all square at the final whistle the teams faced off for a tense penalty shootout. A brilliant save from our keeper, Peggy, saw St Julie's prevail and we progress to the next round. Congratulations to all!