AMDG
A quick reminder that Monday the 5th of May is a normal school day at the Mount.
Remembering Pope Francis, 1936-2025
As you will have seen in the news, on Easter Weekend His Holiness Pope Francis passed away. As the faithful leader of the global Catholic Church, this is a time of deep mourning for Christians around the world. Yet it is equally a time of great rejoicing in the knowledge that death is by no means the end for Pope Francis. It seems eerily fitting that we should hear the news of his death on Easter Monday, the day after we celebrate Jesus’ once-and-for-all victory over death. The day that we as Christians, and of course Pope Francis himself, believe gives us a certain hope for our future, the hope of eternal life in God’s presence when our earthly bodies give way. His final Tweet on X less than 24 hours before his death reads:
“Christ is risen! These words capture the entire meaning of our existence, for we were not made for death but for life”.
So Pope Francis did not fear death. Indeed, he stated himself many times, “the one who practices mercy does not fear death.” And he certainly did practice mercy. He was renowned for his care of the poor, the sick and the oppressed, seeking to follow Jesus’ example in defending the rights of the voiceless and speaking out against injustice. He used most of his Easter address on Sunday to appeal individually to nations that are at war, to put mercy before pride and work for peace. He had the highest of status but did not use it for his own gain but rather used his platform to serve others. What an example he is to us of the Biblical command to ‘act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God’. So let us pray for Pope Francis, for his family and for his global church.
We pray the prayer of eternal rest.
Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Lord, we thank you for the life and example of Pope Francis who served you faithfully and without wavering until the very end. We thank you that he knew with all certainty that his earthly life was to be devoted to you, and his death would only further serve to glorify your Name, as you are bringing him now into your eternal joy in Heaven. We celebrate with the saints and angels today as Pope Francis meets his Lord and saviour. We pray for his family and indeed the Catholic church worldwide as they mourn the loss of a great teacher, brother we continue his legacy by practising mercy every day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I will leave us with one final quote from Pope Francis’ Easter address on Sunday: “(God) fills us with the certainty that we too are called to share in the life that knows no end, when the clash of arms and the rumble of death will be heard no more. Let us entrust ourselves to him, for he alone can make all things new.”
Mrs S O'Neill - Lay Chaplain
Ms Höggren-Johnson conquers the London Marathon
Well done to Ms Höggren-Johnson who successfully completed the London Marathon this weekend in a very respectable time of 3:45:19, despite the higher than average temperatures. She is now looking forward to her next marathon taking place in Stockholm during the May half term.
Yorkshire Rugby Academy
Over the Easter holidays, we had representation across various professional academy events. The Yorkshire Rugby Academy players, across both the U17 and U16 age groups played in the famous Warwick Festival, with 8 Mount students involved across the two age groups. Also, we had 4 Mount students who are involved with the Leicester Tigers U16 Academy, and they have performed and enjoyed their residential opportunity over the Easter holidays. We are excited to see how these young aspirational players continue their development throughout the summer.
Dinnington Rugby U14
Dinnington U14’s hosted Yarnbury in the Yorkshire Cup final under unusually hot conditions for this time of year. The game was played in excellent spirit, with Sam Barthorpe, Harry Pilgrim-Ford, Jude Greaves, Reuben Thorpe-Negbi, Sam Ledwood, Cayden Nandu-Warren and Taite Elston playing.
Yarnbury narrowly edged the contest, securing a 34-27 victory. Despite the result, the Mount boys put in a massive shift, showcasing grit and determination throughout the game. They fought relentlessly and never gave up, right until the final whistle.
The performance of all the Mount boys highlighted their incredible teamwork and unwavering commitment. Dinnington U14’s have much to be proud of, both in this game and their journey to the final and are now #4 in Yorkshire.
Well done lads!
Engineering Career Workshop
In enrichment this week, Y7 and Y8 took part in an interactive workshop looking at roles and personalities within the engineering field as part of our ongoing careers provision. Students worked in groups to disseminate information about, amongst others, Charles Babbage and Nikola Tesla, which they presented to their peers. The workshop leads the way into future careers activities aimed at informing students of the many career paths linked to STEM subjects.
Junior Maths Challenge
We've taken part in a Junior Maths Challenge this week in Years 7 and 8. This is a national competition that feeds into the Maths Olympics for successful pupils. The pupils will get their results in a few weeks time.
Hopkins Boarder of the Week
Congratulations to Isabel, who has won Boarder of the Week! Isabel is a true woman for others, supporting the new girls and helping Year 11 get ready for their Spanish speaking exams. Isabel, you are always so generous with your time and it is a pleasure to have you with us.
Football Success for Isaac
Congratulations to Isaac Williams, who has been selected for the ISFA U14 England squad. Isaac was selected during the ISFA U13 National Festival where he represented both the Yorks & NE team and played matches against 7 other regions. The England squad will get together in August for a 3 day tournament, again down at Haileybury School in Hertfordshire. Well done Isaac!
Football Success for Amy
Recently, Amy Cooke in Y9 (a Doncaster Belles player) attended a trial for the chance to be selected to represent Midland Independent Schools - England for the Gothia Cup in Sweden 2026. The trial lasted 5 hours and over 300 players were registered for the trial from various age groups. Amy has been successful at this first trial and has been invited back to the final trial in August where she is hoping to be selected for the squad.
Academy is Back
Save the dates for all your favourite Academy events. Booking information is coming soon!
Key Dates This Half Term
GCSE DT
Our Y11 students have come to the end of their NEA. The standard of work which they have produced this year is of a very high quality. Alastair Slocombe has designed and manufactured a storage product to be used in boarding. The idea behind the design was to make a multi-functional piece of furniture which could be used in boarding for personal items. Alastair was inspired by the Bauhaus movement and in particular, by the artwork of Piet Mondrian.
UCAS News
Congratulations to Jessica Zhaboli, who has received offers to study Law with French at Warwick University, Law with Modern Languages at Royal Holloway University, Law with Criminology at the University of Greenwich, Law with French Law at The University of Westminster and Law with European Study at The University of Exeter.
The Wellbeing Hub
The Tennis Season has Started
Tennis is back up and running at Mount for 2025 with practice taking place on Monday and Thursday's during activities. We'll also be running some sessions during games as well as fixtures for all age groups for boys and girls, please check SOCS for the up-to-date list (more are being added over the coming weeks).
This week, we entered the National Cup at U14 for boys and girls for the first time this year, as well as the U13 and U15 South Yorkshire leagues, where we faced GSAL in the first round for both boys and girls on Wednesday.
Our girls showed some great signs of improvement and worked hard against some very strong opposition, but unfortunately, came off second best this time round. A special mention to Elisabeth and Margot for coming over to play in their first Tennis fixture for the Mount and managing to pick up a few games in their doubles game. Alysianna, Ava and Georgia all made their opponents work hard for their victories and represented the Mount fantastically well.
The boys had a great start with Seth and Zayan winning their doubles in a hard-fought contest (6-4) and Freddie picking up a very impressive victory in his singles. Zayan had a very close game, and Seth picked up a win in his singles, which meant a win for Josh and Freddie in their doubles and meant we won the fixture! GSAL were too strong for us in the doubles which left the result as 3-3 after all matches were played. A championship tie-break was played to decide the winner where unfortunately the Mount boys just missed out.
We now look forward to plenty of training over the next couple of weeks before our South Yorkshire league fixtures start. If you'd like to be involved in the Tennis programme this year and haven't been so before then please speak with Mr Berry and attend our activities on Monday's and Thursday's.
Listen to Tess Wilson Playing Fantasie by Faure
French in Upper Elements
Our Y7 French students have been practising descriptions with a game of Guess Who this week. A fun way to practise speaking and memorising new vocabulary.
Vespers
Families are invited to attend Vespers on Friday, 16th May, at 4 pm in the Memorial Chapel. Our lower school students will lead this 30-minute service.
Vespers (or Evening Prayer) is part of the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office. In the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church fulfils Jesus' command to "pray always" (Luke 18:1; see also 1 Thessalonians 5:17).
If you wish to join us, please notify Reception in advance. We would be delighted to see you!
Senior Hockey and Netball Dinner
On Thursday, we had an evening celebrating the achievements of our Senior Hockey and Netball girls. It was a wonderful evening full of recognition and a shirt presentation from Mr Murphy for the Hockey girls.
Headmasters Message
I was able to devote time over Easter to absorbing and reading your responses to our recent survey. This was an Easter treat! It was delightful to read that so many parents value the warmth and family feel of the Mount. As I have said before these things do not happen by accident, but by deliberate choices over time. The most important being the commitment of everyone, parents, pupils and staff to the values of the Mount.
It was especially pleasing to read the many positive comments made about the commitment and dedication of the teaching staff and I was delighted to be able to share these with my colleagues. Thank you for taking the time to write so thoughtfully. I could go on listing positives, but wish to outline the two key areas which I have taken away for consideration as part of our school improvement plan.
One is around communication around school decisions. I have already this year sought to use this column to ‘invite you in’ to the conversation around school improvement. However, there is clearly further to go. I will be discussing with Governors and the leadership team how we will go about ensuring we improve in this area.
The second area is around school maintenance and facilities. I recognise that whilst some good progress has been made over the last 5 years, with the new fitness suite, new IT hardware and new sound and light equipment in the Theatre being examples of our investment, there is clearly still work to done around the campus.
I do not have answers now, but I do recognise these as questions you have legitimately posed. Thank you all for taking the time to respond.
Mr Murphy
LDS
Credits:
Created with images by bobex73 - "Tennis ball with racket on the tennis court. Sport, recreation concept" • gitusik - "Candle."