St John Henry Newman Catholic School

We’re incredibly proud of our students as they receive their 2026 A-Level results today!

Headteacher Mr Declan McArdle said:
“Today is about celebrating the incredible achievements of our students. It is for this reason that we like to recognise their success, congratulate them and wish them all the very best for the future.”

We are delighted with this year’s A level results. All our Year 13 students will be heading off to university, college or employment with excellent grades."

Recently we welcomed staff from Ashlea Veterinary Practice, who delivered an engaging careers assembly to our Year 8 and Year 10 pupils.

The presentation was both informative and inspiring, giving pupils a fascinating insight into life as a veterinary surgeon and veterinary nurse.

The staff explained the wide variety of animals they care for, the different responsibilities within their roles and the many career opportunities available within a veterinary practice. They also highlighted the range of professionals who work together as part of the veterinary team, emphasising the importance of teamwork in providing the best possible care for animals.

Pupils also learned about the qualifications and training required to become a veterinary surgeon or veterinary nurse, helping them to understand the different pathways into these rewarding careers.

We would like to thank them taking the time to share their knowledge and experiences with our pupils.

We are delighted to announce the students who have been democratically elected to represent the voice of our Sixth Form for the 2026–2027 academic year.

Voting was incredibly close, with every candidate receiving at least four votes, a testament to the quality and commitment of everyone who stood for election.

A huge thank you to every student who put themselves forward. Standing for election takes courage, confidence and commitment, and we are incredibly proud of everyone who is willing to serve our Sixth Form community.

We look forward to working with our new Student Parliament as they lead initiatives, organise events, champion student voice and help make our Sixth Form and wider school community an even better place for everyone.

Congratulations to all of our elected representatives—we can't wait to see what you achieve next year!

Mrs Hoskins, Head of Sixth Form.

World Cup Reading Challenge Winners

A huge congratulations to our World Cup Reading Challenge winners!

Ateyaf (Year 10) won a delicious chocolate prize.

Christopher (Year 8) won the football.

A huge well done to everyone who took part in this year's challenge. We are so proud of all of our readers.

Here's to another fantastic year of reading!

Mrs Jones, LRC Manager

What a fantastic way to celebrate the end of another successful year in the library!

Our amazing Pupil Librarians enjoyed an action-packed celebration day with team challenges, quizzes and a scavenger hunt to recognise all of their hard work, commitment and achievements throughout the year.

To finish the day, members of our Spellbinding Book Club joined the celebrations for delicious waffles and ice cream, the perfect way to end a brilliant year of reading together!

Pupil Librarian of the Year

A huge congratulations to Lottie B (Year 9), who was awarded Pupil Librarian of the Year in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the library and our school community.

Lottie has been an exceptional role model, leading by example, supporting younger pupils and giving her time so generously throughout the year.

This award is thoroughly deserved, well done, Lottie!

Mrs Jones, LRC Manager

Last week pupils from Year 8, 9 and 10 had a magnificent time on the Castlerigg Retreat Residential in Keswick.

The pupils were praised by Castlerigg and Newman staff for their outstanding behaviour, participation and positive attitude throughout the week. It was fantastic to see how well the pupils treated each other and engaged in the retreat so enthusiastically.

We are proud of this group for representing the school so proudly and hope to see them all again at Castlerigg in 2027! A big thanks also to our Newman staff who made the week possible by giving up their time.

Mr Sinclair - Trip Leader

Lost Property Reminder

Before we break up for the Summer holidays, please can pupils check our Lost Property at Student Services.

If your child has misplaced any items this term or last, including:
- Locker keys
- School uniform
- School equipment
- Confiscated items such as jewellery, AirPods and smart watches

These items will be available for collection tomorrow at break time.
Please note that any items not collected by the end of the day will be donated to charity or responsibly disposed of, as they have been unclaimed for a number of weeks.

Well done to all the Year 9 and 10 pupils that took part in Sports Day 2026. Throughout the day pupils represented their forms in football, netball, tug of war and athletics to gain points with some pupils going above and beyond to ensure that their form picked up points in the different athletic events either on the track or in the field.

Year 9's
9ELL won the football and netball, 9JME won the tug of war but the big scoring always comes in the athletics, the overall winners were...
Champions - 9ELL (310pts)
Runners-up - 9LJS (258pts)
3rd place - 9JME (244pts)
4th place - 9HHE (186pts)

Year 10's
In the athletics 10LCC were top performing form with a massive 162pts in the athletics closely followed by 10KLW with 150pts. However, cleaning up by winning the tug of war, football and netball the overall winners were...
Champions - 10KAB (2276pts)
Runners-up - 10LCC (262pts)
3rd place - 10AJR (248pts)
4th place - 10KLW (200pts)
5th place - 10ECJ (196pts)

Sports day shields were presented to the winning forms on Wednesday morning to the delight of the pupils and their form tutors.

A huge thankyou must go to the team of Year 11 and Year 12 sports leaders that assisted on the day to help with different events to support the PE department with the day.

Mr Irving - Head of PE

A small group of pupils from Years 7-10 had a brilliant day at Walby Farm Park yesterday.

They enjoyed time both inside and out where we met some of the animals, enjoyed a tractor ride around the farm, a barrel ride, had fun on the trampolines, and had a battle in the wooden castle. Inside the red slide was really popular and some of them showed incredible bravery taking on the highest drop!

Well done to everyone for your excellent behaviour!

Mrs Oates, Miss Holland, Mrs Holt & Mrs Hanlon
Teaching Assistants

On Friday pupils across school completed different enrichment activities with a morning off timetable as part of SALAD day.

Year 8's completed a morning of first aid covering topics on how to spot signs and symptoms of an asthma attack or a severe allergic reaction; recognising a severe bleed and shock. For each the pupils were given scenarios, and they had to role play treating a casualty.

We were fortunate to have a first aid trainer from St John Ambulance who delivered a session with all pupils going through how to treat an unresponsive casualty. This included how to use an AED (defibrillator). It was great to see the pupils gain in confidence and demonstrate knowledge of how to treat different first aid issues in a practical way.

Mr Irving, Head of PE