We are EMPOWERED we are St Mary’s

Aiming high is a natural instinct for Ella, who is one of our superstar swimmers in Year 11. Some of her proudest moments are qualifying for the National 200m Freestyle Final and gaining a silver medal at the East Regional Swimming Championships as part of her relay team, who then went on to qualify for the British Finals. Since the age of 7 Ella has been swimming competitively for Chelmsford Swimming Club and has represented St Mary’s at the national ISA Swimming Competition. Her commitment is clear and she currently trains nine times a week, (twice a day on two occasions), with some sessions starting at 5.30am.

Ella loves all sports in school and is also a talented flutist as part of St Mary’s Senior School orchestra. She is an active member of St Mary’s Round Square Committee for which she has represented the school at international online conferences and organised charity events.

Alongside the strong education she has received during her time at St Mary’s, Ella believes that the Senior School has been instrumental in helping her to develop strong social, communication and debating skills. She was even involved in the interview process for a senior member of staff. Over her five years at St Mary’s Ella has grown in confidence and has high aspirations for the next stage in her education. After studying A levels, Ella dreams of achieving a swimming scholarship at a top university in America. Ella aspires to becoming an international swimmer or coach. The other avenue she is exploring is a career in law. At St Mary’s we provide a strong academic and all-round education to empower the girls to thrive at school and beyond.

Ella explained that ultimately, she would love to have a “really successful, but happy life”.

Lydia in Year 4 is a brilliantly talented dancer. Along with her dance school Complete Dance Studios in Witham, Lydia has qualified to represent Team England for the Dance World Cup in Prague. She is extremely proud of her achievements with her dance group and takes part in modern, tap, lyrical, ballet and acro dance techniques in weekly classes. Lydia and her team have also recently had success at a competition at the world famous ‘home of dance’, Blackpool, where they qualified for the national finals of That’s Showbiz, the largest group dance competition in the UK.

Lydia also has a passion for music and is learning with great enthusiasm to play the drums. One of her favourite moments at St Mary’s was being involved in the school’s showcase production of ‘World’s Worst Children’. Lydia is an integral part of the Lower School’s swimming team and has represented the school in netball, hockey and cricket.

Lydia’s confidence has really blossomed during her time at St Mary’s. Her dream is to travel the world as a professional dancer or to be a mounted police officer.

Year 10 pupil Eleanor dreams of becoming a Clinical Psychologist and wants to help people to “grow into the person they want to be” and to encourage them to have a voice. She is particularly interested in helping people who have invisible disabilities.

The understanding of historical human behaviour that she gains from her Latin GCSE course has spurred her on to want to pursue studying Psychology at college and beyond. Eleanor also loves her Science and Creative Writing studies at St Mary’s Senior School. She enjoys the sense of achievement that these subjects bring. Whether its deciphering language, problem solving or investigating hypotheses, she finds these topics very immersive.

Eleanor enjoys playing and listening to music and plays the piano and guitar. She is an avid reader and one of her favourite books is ‘Song of Achilles’ by Madeline Miller, which is a retelling of the Trojan War set during the Greek Heroic Age.

It is important to Eleanor that she gives something back during her time at St Mary’s because she feels that the positive and supportive environment has most definitely helped her to become the person she is today. Alongside her studies, the strong friendships she has made and the social skills she has developed have really helped her grow in confidence.

Lower School Head Girl Lucy is passionate about science. She recently investigated whether hydroelectric energy could be used in her home as part of a STEM project, demonstrating her ability to finding innovative solutions to complex challenges. Lucy thoroughly relishes the opportunity to engage with science-based activities both at school and at home. In British Science Week she particularly enjoyed expanding her knowledge of the solar system when a mobile planetarium visited the Lower School.

Lucy aspires to study science based A Levels and would love to go to university in London and pursue her dream job of becoming a doctor.
Lucy has a genuine desire to “help others to enjoy life” and as one of the Lower School Head Girls, Prefect, Wellbeing Ambassador and member of the School Council she proactively drives positive change within the school.

Lucy is an active member of the school community. She is a keen musician and sports person and is a valued member of the Lower School’s orchestra, netball, hockey and cross-country teams. She also regularly takes part in hockey, swimming, skiing and horse riding outside of school.

Learning a new language in lockdown felt like a great new challenge for Katie in Year 11. Sparked by some friends showing an interest in Anime animation, she embarked on teaching herself Japanese. Katie started first by using language apps such as Duolingo and then swiftly moved on to study materials such as practice exam papers. Katie also started up Japanese Club at the Senior School which she led and inspired other girls to learn the language. Katie has a passion for languages and took her German GCSE exam a year early, achieving an impressive grade 9. She is now on course to take her GCSE in Japanese in the summer.

Languages are just one of Katie’s many interests, she also loves science, in particular the investigative element of her studies, where she enjoys uncovering how things work.

Katie is also Head of Eco for St Mary’s Senior School. She feels strongly about climate change and wants to highlight to the St Mary’s community and beyond about the effects our habits as humans have on our environment. She is particularly concerned about the rising temperatures of the world’s oceans and is always keen to get involved in initiatives to help this cause.

During her time at St Mary’s, Katie’s most memorable experience was a History visit to Kraków and Auschwitz. She said that this trip not only expanded her knowledge of the realities of the Holocaust, but also helped broaden her horizons and gain more independence.

Katie’s future plans include further academic studies such as science, maths and language-based A levels with a view to going on to university to study pharmacology. She would like to work in research, as a health advisor or at a pharmaceutical company. Katie would also love to travel more so that she can use her fantastic language skills.