History was brought vividly to life, when students from St Clement’s High School spent the day at RAF Marham.

The Year 8 and 9 group received a tour of the Aviation Heritage Centre and Air Traffic Control Tower, courtesy of curator Steve Roberts, MBE, who outlined the history of the Royal Air Force from World War One to modern times.

“The tour allowed the students to view over 12,000 artefacts and memorabilia that reflect the history of the Royal Air Force in Marham, East Anglia, and beyond,” said Jenny Ford, Librarian at our school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“The displays were arranged in chronological order to help the students understand the historical timeline from the Royal Flying Corps, the First World War, formation of the RAF, World War Two, Suez Canal Crisis, the Cold War, the Falklands conflict, and Gulf Wars, up to the present day.”

Organised by our Head of History, Anton Modica, it was the first time the visit had taken place.

“The students were particularly interested in viewing armaments used by RAF Marham aircraft, including the Sidewinder and Brimstone missiles,” continued Mrs Ford, who accompanied the group alongside Mr Modica.

“Another highlight was a WE177 Freefall nuclear bomb, a significant artefact from the Cold War era. Another item of interest on display was a Victor Bomber ejection seat and historic aircraft propellers.”

There was also an interactive element to the visit, with some students able to experience for themselves the drama of World War Two, thanks to a flight simulator which took them on a 1943 night raid over Berlin via Virtual Reality Headsets.

“The students could join the aircrew virtually and listen to communication over internal radios,” explained Mrs Ford. “This allowed the students a brief insight into the bravery and resilience of the personnel from Bomber Command.”

In addition to the Heritage Centre, the visitors toured the Air Traffic Control Centre at RAF Marham, where they met staff and saw a variety of aircraft monitoring equipment, as well as learning about airfield operations, and the role and functions of the Air Traffic Tower.

“We enjoyed the unique view of the airfield from the tower, and were very fortunate to observe a F35 fast jet taking off during the visit,” added Mrs Ford.

“Some of our students wish to pursue a role in aviation and the Armed Forces, and this visit was very beneficial to learn about the opportunities that are available to them.”

There was a definite military air around a recent super-learning day held at our high school.

Members of the RAF medics team brought their specialist knowledge to the classroom for a special day with students learning about their role and how to do basic first aid.

The day saw the RAF Marham medics in combat gear visit the school and take students through the processes they would utilise in emergency situations. Splints were administered and tourniquets applied – just for demonstration purposes.

The visit marked the first time military medics from the Airforce had attended our school, a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“The visiting professionals shared their expertise and provided hands-on, practical sessions that allowed students to develop vital first aid and medical skills,” said school Librarian Jenny Ford.

Students had the opportunity to handle medical equipment, ask questions and create realistic scenarios to test their skills and knowledge. They were given sessions on shock, the recovery position, fractures, breaks and dislocations with additional workshops by school first-aiders who covered resuscitation, burns, slings and bandages.

“The interactive nature of the sessions helped bring learning to life and allowed students to experience what it is like to respond in medical emergencies,” said Mrs Ford.

One of the medics who attended said the super-learning day had been a great change to spread the word about first aid.

“The students were engaged thoroughly throughout the day, and we were pleased to see that many had basic first aid knowledge already, which means basic life support and first aid is becoming well known from a young age,” he said.

It’s supposedly the most wonderful time of the year – but it can be a challenging one for children and young people who are caring for family members. At St Clement’s High School, we were working to redress the balance by holding a special Christmas Celebration for our young carers.

The day-long event on Thursday 18 December included a festive film, complete with popcorn, followed by a giant inflatable snow globe, and gifts for all of our young-carer students.

“The young carers made their way over to our village hall, and we watched Home Alone 2 with popcorn and hot chocolate and marshmallows,” explained Robyn Fisher, Pastoral Officer and Young Carer Lead at our school, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“From 2.20pm, we had a giant inflatable snow globe, and each young carer received a Christmas present. All 92 young carers were invited from Years 7 to 11.”

Generous donors ensured that there were plenty of Christmas goodies to go round, with enough for each of the 37 young carers in the Trust’s seven primary schools also to receive a gift.

“We had donations from St Clement’s staff, the local community, and local businesses,” continued Mrs Fisher, who organised the event. “This year I wanted to get enough donations so that each of the young carers had one, and so I could provide a present for each young carer in our Trust primary schools.

“So, in total, I wrapped 129 presents! We had donations of make-up, Christmas jumpers, toys, gadgets, books, ten coffee-and-cake vouchers from the Norfolk Pedler in Burnham Overy Staithe, board games, puzzles, scarves, hats, gloves – the list was endless.”

We hold three events each year for our young carers, including a summer party and the Christmas celebration.

“It is so important for these young carers to be recognised at this time of the year,” added Mrs Fisher. “Their Christmas may look very different to ours, and whilst we are sitting around with our families on Christmas morning opening presents, they may have to help their parent or relative out of bed, administer medication, or any other number of things before that were even to be a thought in their mind.

“These children may often go without, through no fault of their own or their families, and showing that little bit of kindness really means the world to them.”

London is calling for a group of legally-minded students who have made it to the national finals of a prestigious competition.

A tough day of competition at the Crown Court in Norwich resulted in a team our school triumph in the Eastern Regional Heats for the Young Citizens Bar Mock Trial competition.

We have seen international success at its first time of asking. Students won their way through to competing in Chicago in the Empire Mock Trial World Championship last year.

All the students involved put in hard work outside of school hours to ensure they are as prepared as possible for the competition.

This year is the second time a group of our students are taking part, and when school returns after the Christmas break they will begin fundraising for their trip to London and the national finals which are expected to be held in the spring.

There were three rounds in the Norwich heat, with the prosecution team completing two rounds and the defence team one. Each student was awarded a score out of ten for their performance by the judge. Criteria included clarity, argument quality, accuracy and timekeeping.

The St Clement’s team competed against seven others, most of which were sixth-form students - the contest is for young people aged 15 to 18.

Abby Morton, Head of Citizenship, said the competition was important for students as they benefit from gaining an in-depth knowledge of the criminal law system while seeing the same case from two different perspectives - the prosecution and defence.

Students take on the roles of prosecution and defence lawyers as well as judges and even court staff for the ‘trials’ in the competition created by the Young Citizens organisation. Students are given resources, including written cases, to help them prepare their legal arguments.

“For those who study GSCE Citizenship, this knowledge will help them with their exam preparation, but for all those who took part, they will find the skills they have used useful, for example critical thinking, formulating arguments and how to support ideas with evidence,” she added.

A former student and member of the international team at the school, Olivia Simms, made ‘invaluable contributions’ to the current team by mentoring members and guiding them on how to prepare.

The competition is also important to help develop self-belief and confidence in the participants, said Ms Morton.

“It is important for the confidence it has given these students to not only take part in a prestigious event, but also to realise that with enough hard work and determination, they were able to succeed in their goal to get to the nationals!” 

Music-making took centre stage when pupils from across the West Norfolk Academies Trust combined their talents to play and perform together at our school, which is itself a member of WNAT.

Students from St Clement’s High School were joined by younger children from feeder schools in the area for the WNAT Musical Instrument Tuition Initiative (MITI) Workshop, with participating primaries including Clenchwarton, Walpole Cross Keys, and West Lynn.

“We had just under 70 primary school students participating, along with Year 7 students from St Clement’s, offering a wonderful opportunity for musical development, ensemble experience, and cross-school camaraderie,” said Trust Peripatetic Music Lead Benjamin Howell, who organised the event with the support of WNAT Peripatetic Music Team Members Eddie Seales, Robbie Germeno, Helen Johnson, and Nic Bouskill, as well as WNAT Director of Music Robin Norman.

The workshop concluded with a performance for parents, carers, family members, and friends, where the young musicians had the chance to showcase their skills, and share what they had learned.

“These workshops play an important role in nurturing the musical progress of our primary school instrumentalists,” added Mr Howell.

“They provide the opportunity to rehearse and perform in ensemble settings, develop confidence, and come together as young musicians within the Trust.”

Other MITI Workshops taking place earlier in the month were hosted by fellow WNAT high schools Marshland and Smithdon.

Rocket scientist and pilot Maleha Khan inspired students at our school which she visited recently thanks to help from RAF Marham.

Maleha Khan’s world changed at the age of 15 when she first saw the world-renowned Red Arrows display team and decided the sky wasn’t going to be the limit. She has gone on an incredible journey to study rocket propulsion for her PhD while also learning to fly commercial planes.

English Lead at our school, Eliza Bennell said students asked a wide range of questions, including why hydrogen was a good fuel for a rocket and what was Maleha’s favourite plane to pilot.

“Her story was so inspirational to the students, especially a young female involved in the UK space industry, as a pilot - someone who has accomplished despite a lot of barriers.

“All the students and staff were captivated by her achievements and she is such a positive female role model in areas which are male-dominated."

Maleha joined the Air Cadets, despite coming from a family of doctors, and took her first flight within the organisation. She won four flying scholarships and learnt to fly five different types of plane to achieve her pilot’s licence in 2022.

She also studied her master’s degree in Spacecraft Engineering and went on to teach rocket science to women in Saudi Arabia and she also worked for the UK Space Agency. As if that wasn’t enough, Maleha also made it to the semi-finals of Miss England this year.

Her amazing story was revealed to almost 200 students at the school, a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, when she arrived thanks to connections at RAF Marham and Wing Cmdr Martin Williamson who facilitated the event.

“He introduced Maleha to the school and she very kindly agreed to deliver a seminar and engage with the students about her education, career and experiences in the space industry,” said Librarian Jenny Ford.

“RAF Marham is a key source of career opportunities for students in engineering, logistics and aircrew. Maleha is passionate about international collaboration and empowering the next generation of students, particularly women, to thrive in the Science, Technology, Education and Maths (STEM) and the space industry,” she added.