Mr S Woodward

10SIW

Mr D Deacon

10DAD

Miss A Smith

10ALS

Miss D Evans

10DOE

Miss S Kay

10SAK

Mr S Stockton

10SMS

Mr E Walker

10ELW

Miss F Harris-Hunt

10JUS/FIH

Miss U Slaughter

10URS

At Mount St Mary’s our school ethos is “Quid Retribuam” this represents our goal to give back wherever possible. Becoming a Young Leader is the perfect way to give back to others and support your school community, whilst developing key skills for future employment and education.

On Monday 24th May our Year 9 students were introduced to the Mount St Mary’s Young Leader application process. This is a long standing process at MSM and one in which students gain valuable application, interview and leadership skills. When applying for jobs and college places students should aim to have the strongest CV they can in order to strengthen their applications and open as many doors as possible as they move on after life at Mount St Mary’s . If successful in their application a Young Leader can aspire to become part of the Prefect Team moving into Year 11 and two successful candidates could one day become Head Boy and Head Girl.

The day started with a fantastic opportunity for our students to hear from Sian Gabbidon, the winner of the BBC’s Apprentice in 2018, and now business partner to entrepreneur Lord Alan Sugar. This was a chance for students to hear first-hand how someone from the area had used their time, education, dedication and skill to not only win a £250,000,000 investment from one of the country’s most successful businessmen, but also how she came to create a successful company which started from nothing. The students relished the opportunity to hear from Sian and asked some brilliant questions focussing on her biggest challenges, any regrets and her future taking the business forward. There was even one student who asked for a photo with Sian, which sparked a queue as long as the length of the hall before she finished.

The rest of the day was then spent in our forms looking at what it means to be a Young Leader, the qualities you need and how to talk about these in an application. Across the year group students were enthusiastic, engaged and excited to join in with group discussions and activities before putting down onto the page why they should be considered for the role.

Throughout we also had the invaluable thoughts and opinions of our current Head Boys and Head Girls from Year 11. These are four students who have worked exceptionally hard to achieve such a respected place at the school, and this all began with their Young Leader Applications back in 2019. We cannot thank them enough for taking time out of their studies to work with our year group and offer their knowledge and experience of the process and what it means to be part of the student leadership team.

A Young Leader role is a role of great responsibility at Mount St Mary’s, helping students develop key transferable skills that will benefit them greatly in further education or employment, skills such as leadership, communication, public speaking, teamwork, responsibility, event planning and many more.

Students are currently working towards the application deadline of Friday 18th June 2021. This is when application forms, along with any evidence of the 5 R’s (Responsible, Ready, Resilient, Retribuam and Reflect) will be handed in to the Year 9 Office. The applications will then be read and reviewed by our leadership team before offering the students 1:1 interviews where they will have to present the best versions of themselves and discuss why they are the right candidate to be a Young Leader.