We are proud to have our students represent the school. We had several from a range of years speak to you directly at our open evening in Term 1.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, my name is Peter and I’m a year 13 student. I am deputy head boy and head of the mentoring prefects responsible for pastoral care for students. I study biology, psychology and sociology at A-level with the hope of going to UCL to study Law.
I would like to take this time to talk to you about the extracurricular activities the school provides to students that come here. 
I didn’t attend this school between years 7 to 11, joining in year 12. The school I was previously at can be described a very plain. Plain in that there wasn’t much to do, no clubs, few sporting activities and very rarely any charitable events. This resulted in my secondary school life being very dull.
Dull however cannot be used to describe what it is like to attend St Simon Stock. There are many extracurricular activities one can take part in and the sports facilities do not lack in the slightest.
The school also puts on many charitable events including the Big Sleep Out for the homeless charity Porchlight and an event I organised to support the Grenfell tower Foundation. Together as I community we have raised thousands of pounds for worthy causes. This illustrates the strong ethos of philanthropy us as a school have.
I believe this school note only excels in the academic department but also allows students to grow and become well rounded people, to be the best they possibly can be. I have developed skills here that I believe I would not have elsewhere.
This school is a true meritocracy, you get what you put in and as long as you do that, you will succeed in all aspects of your secondary education.
Please enjoy the rest of your evening. – Peter Jessop

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Welcome parents and students. My name is Harriet Sutton and I am proud to tell you that I am Head Girl here at St Simon Stock. Seven years ago I was in your position, sitting where you are with my parents feeling very nervous about going into the next step of my education. I was the only pupil from Ryarsh Primary School to choose to be a part of the St Simon stock community and it was one of both excitement and trepidation. It was in the first few days that I realised how welcoming the school was and how much effort they put into making sure my transition from primary to secondary education was as smooth as possible. Our school moto is “labour cum amore” this means work with love. Our school is a firm believer in this and it reflects into our learning and after-school activities. One of my jobs as head girl includes planning several events during the school year for many charities in this school that we passionately work hard to raise money for. I personally believe this is where the Christian ethos really shines as it shows how the teachers and students come together in times of fundraising. One of the many successes of this school is that they encourage us to move forward and does this by helping us achieve our goals. To conclude, I would like to say how much this school has moulded me into the strong hardworking person I have become and I am excited to say that I will be moving on to study Fine Art at University at the end of this academic year. Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening. – Harriet Sutton

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My name is Martin Timofejevs. Originally coming from Russia, I arrived at St Simon Catholic School during my third year in the country, with poor English and a different culture, I did not fit in straight away, but the school has helped me to become who I am right now
All of this would not have happened if not for the wonderful community that is focused on the “love your neighbour” teaching with everyone holding doors for each other and saying thank you and please, which makes for a good environment to learn in. There is also a huge focus on student-to-student support in form of peer mentors, who help out students both academically and mentally through arranged sessions. Finally there is a very noticeable encouragement in team working and discussions in lessons by the teachers, that makes and straightens friendship groups and promotes communication and most importantly makes the lessons fun
I hope every new member of the school will enjoy their time here as much as I have. – Martin Timofejevs

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Good evening all, my name is Finlay. I am currently in year 11, building the foundations for the rest of my life. These foundations need to be strong for my circumstances, considering that I want a military career path through the RAF as an engineering officer. To help me build these foundations I’m also in the air cadets (I know it sounds like I’m going off on a tangent but this all links). Being in this organisation means that I have missed several school days for cadet events. Each time, my teachers have supported me when I come back, ensuring that I catch up with the rest of my class.
Furthermore, I am stretched to try. Being in the first sets that’s understandable but even than they stretch me further. I’m taking the further maths papers in addition to my regular maths GCSE. In English I’m expected to write at a grade 7-9 level. In fact, in every lesson every student is expected by their teachers to reach at least a level higher than what they are predicted. This mindset, not only allows us to believe in ourselves, but pushes us to do better than what we think we can do.
However, being pushy about grades is nothing without support. Our teachers are their every step of the way helping us along, picking us up if we fall, and letting us run when we can. The amount of times I’ve heard the staff say “You coming to us asking for help is like music to our ears” is unbelievable. Furthermore, the school offers revision sessions during and after school; some teachers stop getting paid after 3:10. And if your child prefers something a little more down to earth then we offer educational and support peer mentors – students that go out of their way to help the younger years along.All in all, this school’s methods produce some of the best results around. And it’s all down to the academic push and the extra help where it’s needed. Thank you. – Finlay Hunter

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Good evening and welcome to St Simon Stock . My name is Paige Alford and I am currently in year 13 studying: history, psychology and photography. I am deputy head girl and am a keen sports person. As a bit of background about me, I currently play football for crystal palace ladies training 3 times a week. 7 years ago and yes that is a long time, I was in your position and I didn’t know what my future could hold, but being here at st Simon stock, they have helped me to recognize my potential. In terms of sports, enrichment and academics, Stocky is an excellent school to be at and as a whole school we strive to always get the best out of you, our students. An example of this comes from the Last academic year when the head of PE helped and encouraged the u13’s boys and girls football team to win the Maidstone schools cup.
From my experience at stocky there is a great deal of support and encouragement all the way through your child’s school life and as parents this enjoyment at school is a pleasure to watch. For myself this is evident as I am now choosing with the schools guidance to take a scholarship in America for soccer and to attend university to study psychology. The stocky community have helped me become who I am today and have done every bit they can to inject me with confidence in sport as well as academics and have shown me how to be the best like they do with every student. This opportunity has given me the platform to outline to you how great stocky is, but I want to take this opportunity to also say thank you to the staff and students who have supported me through my journey in stocky. – Paige Alford

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Good evening, I am Niamh Griffiths and I Am currently in Year 11, getting ready to sit my GCSEs in May. Being at St Simon Stock or Stocky as the students call it, for over four years, I have experienced the wide range of subjects this school offers giving each student a good choice and idea for the future. In years seven and eight I got to experience all the subjects from Music to Geography, from art to biology, made to think about life outside school in Fortnightly PDW sessions and even got a taste of food technology. In these two years the design technology subjects worked on a carousel allowing me to realise, through handy work, that Product design was something I would like to take further and consider as a possible career path if my passion for musical theatre didn’t quite work. And my disastrous attempts at making a sandwich bag allowed both me and the textiles staff to reach the conclusion that I would certainly not be taking textiles as a GCSE. In year 8 me, like many other students across the country were faced with the decision of what to take for GCSE. Both me and my parents were happy to find that this school offered a lot of GCSE subjects to choose from. This allowed me to make different paths and back up plans, as well as enabling me to do what I really wanted. We were to pick from four boxes of subjects and I chose History, Product Design, Art and Music V-cert which all allowed me to get creative, confidently answer questions and show what I really had passions for. St Simon Stock was with me every step of the way since I walked into through the gates as a Year 7, with a larger than life back pack carrying half of wilko’s stationary supply, up until now where I am currently on the last push before I leave to go and pursue my true passion of theatre. And I’m sure the lessons learnt here will help me even long after I leave. Thank you. – Niamh Griffiths