Each year 180 students are admitted into Year 7 at St Mary Magdalene Academy. Modern facilities and a highly motivated and well qualified staff offer those students the best possible start to their secondary education.

Apply for a place in 2010

The building has been designed to accommodate Years 7 and 8 within one floor, with students only leaving for PE, music, art, break and lunch periods. Students are taught English, humanities, religious studies and citizenship by one teacher in one (homebase) classroom for 10 hours each week. Specialist teachers cover mathematics, science, art and design technology, Spanish, PE and performing arts.

This approach reflects the best of primary school practice and allows teachers to get to know each student well and build an ongoing relationship. It also means that tasks and learning support appropriate to every individual’s needs can be matched more accurately. We believe that these approaches enhance learning as well as easing the transition from primary to secondary education.

Every student at the Academy should have the opportunity to achieve their full potential and attain the highest possible GCSE grades. The focus of Year 7 is on the core skills of literacy, numeracy, science and application of ICT (information, communications and technology). This is to ensure that all of our students are equipped with the skills which are the building blocks of learning and essential to examination success.

Additional support is available for those that need it and those who are more able have the opportunity to accelerate their learning. It will be possible for students to sit examinations when they are ready to do so and so we anticipate that many students will achieve GCSE success in Year 10 and can go on to further study in Year 11.

Students are assigned an Academy guardian with whom they meet regularly to monitor their academic and personal progress throughout their time at the Academy. A designated pastoral manager is responsible for the welfare of each year group. Houses encourage a small school feel and create opportunities for students to experience teamwork, leadership, competition and responsibility for others.

On Monday to Wednesday there is an extended school day, where students develop their wider educational skills and learning by taking part in activities beyond the core curriculum, such as sports, Chinese language and culture, performing arts, art, community involvement and cooking. These activities offer an unrivalled opportunity for the development of the whole child.

Throughout their time at St Mary Magdalene Academy, ambitious targets for learning will be set for your child. Performance and progress will be recorded, monitored and reviewed regularly. Parents and carers receive four reports a year as well as two opportunities to meet with teaching staff. Our aspiration is that St Mary Magdalene Academy will be a positive experience where students achieve academic success and are also equipped with the skills necessary to be an active citizen within a global society at a local, national and international level.