Humanities Specialist College

We are thrilled and very proud that our school was designated as a Specialist Humanities College in September 2007, the first school in Newcastle upon Tyne to be awarded Specialist Humanities College status. Our Humanities College status helps us to raise standards across the curriculum and to provide diverse opportunities for high achievement.

 

Our lead subject is English and our two other specialist subjects are Religious Education and Drama. We are committed to raising standards of achievement across the whole curriculum and as a Humanities College, we use the strengths of these subject areas to drive forward teaching, learning and achievement throughout our school.

 

Our specialist status has brought considerable extra funding into our school.

 

This has enabled us to refurbish classrooms, establish the best, up-to-date ICT provision, improve resources and offer the highest quality of teaching and learning opportunities for our students.

 

Through its focus on humanity, oracy, literacy, creativity and critical thinking, our specialism has enhanced the quality of teaching and learning. We have raised standards by making lessons more active, using a range of teaching strategies to cater for different learning styles. The specialist departments have also pioneered new approaches to teaching and learning.

 

Specialising in the Humanities subjects also gives our school an important role to play in developing citizenship, good human relations and a sense of social responsibility amongst our students. We focus on humanitarian issues on all levels: personal, local, national and global. Our students are helped to become more reflective, they are encouraged to develop attributes such as tolerance, empathy and understanding. The Humanities specialism, with its focus on tolerance and diversity, fits perfectly within the Catholic ethos of our school.

 

 The Specialist College Status not only benefits the students at St Mary’s, but also all of our community partners, including our feeder primary schools. We work closely with these schools throughout the year to develop strong relationships and provide enhancement and enrichment across these schools. We also extend opportunities for lifelong learning, through links with our other community partners.

 

In conclusion, our Humanities Specialism has enhanced further the opportunities afforded to our students at St Mary’s, and has supported us in our determination to ensure that all of our students’ unique, and God-given, gifts and talents are nurtured and fulfilled.