Here is Daniel's own account of how he achieved his title success: 

There was a reason for my absence the first week of term and no I wasn’t playing truant. I was competing in the national sailing championships in South Shields. We stayed in tents at a campsite five minutes from the sea where we would be sailing.

On the Friday I sailed four times, twice for the under fifteens and twice for the under eighteens. The under eighteen race was first and we tried our best but came third in our category. The next race was the under fifteens and the wind had picked up a lot. I had a fantastic start and had a great race. At the last buoy we capsized and turtled but it was ok because we were a fair way ahead. As I got the boat back up the others had caught up and were now gaining on us. By some miracle we finished first and were at the top of the leader board. The next two races were even better than the last. I finished second in the under eighteens and first again in the under fifteens.

The next day was the last day of the races, I had to come first in the under eighteens to win the title and the leader at the time had to come third. I did come first but the leader came second and therefore I finished second in the under eighteens. I came first again in the under fifteens and therefore had won the title of under fifteen national sailing champion.

Daniel Wade (Year 10)

Principal Mike Kennedy took 'achievement of personal excellence' as the theme of his speech, stressing that this can come in many forms.  He pointed out that good examination results and success on the sports field are praiseworthy, but so are making or strengthening friendships, and helping other people to feel more valued.  Addressing the audience he said: "Congratulations to all our prize winners - you have achieved well and with credit.  "But congratulations to everyone at St. Mary's - your values and character are the real achievements being celebrated today."  

Mr Kennedy said that highlights of the year for the school had included excellent results in the summer examinations.  The pass rate at A-Level was 97 per cent, with a rise - to 62 per cent - in the number of successes at the top A*, A and B grades. The GCSE five A*-C grade pass rate was 98 per cent, with around 40 per cent of candidates achieving seven A grades or better.

Two sets of school inspectors had visited St. Mary's during the year and both delivered very positive verdicts. The Independent Schools Inspectorate and the Catholic Archdiocese Inspectors agreed that the quality of education at the school is outstanding.

Another highlight had been the school's success in the Liverpool University Physics Olympiad, which saw St. Mary's win first prize ahead of 28 other top schools from across the North of England.  St. Mary's held its first-ever outdoor Proms in the Park concert in 2011, and there had been significant team successes in rugby, football, netball, hockey and cross country.  Two students had also made their mark in sport at national level - Gavin Griffiths as a member of the England under 19 cricket squad and Daniel Wade as the country's under 15 sailing champion.  Elsewhere, several new clubs and societies had been created to bring the total number of extra-curricular activities on offer at St. Mary's to 44.  

The VIP guest at this year's prize day ceremony was former pupil Tim Quinn who has spent 30 years as a comic book scriptwriter, illustrator and editor.  In this country Tim worked on leading titles like The Beano and The Dandy before heading stateside to work for Marvel Comics on its famous Spider-Man, X-Men and Incredible Hulk publications.  At the end of a well-received, humorous speech Tim had this advice for students: "There is something unique about St. Mary's. Take everything it offers you while you are there. You will find the like in no other school."  Tim Quinn returned to his old school this year to help students create two new school magazines. The first edition of 'Enigma' was launched by students at the senior school last September, whilst this month has seen the launch of 'Rainbow', created by pupils at The Mount, St. Mary's College Preparatory School.

Tuesday 8.00am - 1.00 pm

Thursday 12 noon - 4.30pm

If you are unable to access the shop during these times please call Mrs Inman (0151) 932 6339 or the school office (0151) 924 3926 to arrange a mutually convenient time to visit the shop.

St. Mary's College Principal, Mike Kennedy, commented: "The carol concert is always a very popular event and a really enjoyable way to herald the start of a special time of year.  "I would like to pay tribute to all the staff and students whose hard work and talent helped to create such a first-class musical evening."

Principal, Mike Kennedy, commented: "This Feast Day is a very important date in our school calendar and, of course, for the Roman Catholic Church as a whole.  “It is an ideal opportunity for staff and pupils to worship together, highlighting the strong Christian values which are fundamental to life at the school.”

Principal Mike Kennedy and Father Brendan Rice are pictured at the Patron’s Day Mass with St. Mary’s Head Boy Dalitso Mwandumba and Head Girl Ellen Thomas.

Year 8 were still completing all the worksheets in their packs but this allowed time for a lively discussion on cryonics. After doing some research we were able to explain the theory behind cryonics and some of the issues that this branch of science faced.

Year 9 science club was dominated by bubbles this week. A team of pupils have decided to research ways of making bubble mixture and bubble wands. They cam armed with three different homemade wands and some homemade mixture. Having tried two different mixtures at home they decided to bring the best into school and test it in the lab. We had some brilliant bubbles blown but no record breakers yet. One bubble blower was made from a paper plate which quickly became waterlogged so the next task for the teachers was to come up with a more durable replacement. After some discussion the pupils came up with the idea of a frisbee! The next task was to replicate the mixture and use the frisbee whilst ensuring they were writing up their experiments.

Bubble blowers need alot of concentration!

Year 8 are on the verge of finishing their C.S.I. files with just a few tweaks left to be made. As they were completing questions we discussed topics in the area of ballistics.

One project in Year 9 that requires some careful planning is the Biome in a Bottle project. One pupil has chosen three different biomes to investigate and is consulting various sources to find out the soil pH, soil type, plant types and any other factors which could impact on the investigation. I have donated a small aloe vera plant that has just appeared on my large plant and another pupil in year 9 has donated an echeveria seedling!

Attempting to answer questions on fingerprinting lead to an interesting and lively debate about the different types of bullets this session. Year 8 need to ensure that their work is up to date in order to qualify for the Bronze CREST award so it’s all about the writing side of things for the next couple of weeks. However this provides an opportunity for the students to ask a wide range of questions, not all of which I know the answer to! This is no problem though as I am happy to research topics and learn something new myself.

This was another week of getting crafty with Year 9 as we made beeswax candles for the Autumn Fayre. The idea of candle making intrigued them and they were fascinated by pouring the wax and watching it set.