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.

An enthusiastic group of students who all share a passion for the environment has been busy in our new-look school garden.

Members of the Eco Club decided to transform the area when they got together during the last academic year. But the task proved a lot more involved than initially thought, and staff came in over the summer break to help move things along.

“The garden has already greatly improved since the summer, and we have already started planting our spring bulbs ready for a display in February. We have had contact with a local company about donating some garden beds that were on display at a Gardeners World show,” said Science Teacher Miss Fox, who runs the club with Lab Technician Miss D'Andrea.

“We are pleased to have a number of regular students who share our passion and have great enthusiasm for creating change. We hope that the club will grow as more students see the positive impact spending time in nature has, not only on our environment, but also on our own wellbeing,” added Miss Fox.

Last year saw the group concentrate on creating a bug house and starting to clear the garden. Thanks to the staff who came in over the summer to help, the garden is now ready for the students to use.

It has apple trees and a herb bed including a huge rosemary bush which is already being used by the school canteen.

And the club would also welcome donations of any pots, compost or bulbs and seeds which can be dropped off at reception during school hours.

“The plan is to enable students to learn how to grow their own food and to create a  more biodiverse school site,” added Miss Fox.

The group has already planted winter lettuce, mustard and salad leaves, while their broad beans will be ready for planting out in the spring.

Members of the Eco Club have already come up with a range of ideas to share with Head Teacher Mr Willingham before implementing them.

“We are currently undergoing surveys to assess the level of biodiversity on the school site and by using the garden to encourage wildlife, we hope that when we re-survey this time next year we will see great improvements,” said Miss Fox.