The month of May brings with it the month of Mary. For us, the month of May brings with it a familiar and welcome rhythm. As spring reaches its fulness, the Church turns in a special way to Mary, honouring her as the one through whom new life entered the world. In homes, schools and parishes this devotion often finds its clearest expressions in the Rosary.
There is something deeply appropriate about praying the Rosary in May, the beauty and renewal of the season reflect the life and hope that Mary’s ‘yes’ made possible. But more than that, the Rosary itself draws us into the heart of the Gospel. It is not simply a repetition of prayers, but a meditation on the life of Christ – his birth, ministry, suffering, death and resurrection – seen through his mother’s eyes.
In liturgy this week, our Year 1 children made tissue paper flowers to adorn the statue of Our Lady in our worship area. A beautiful sign of Mary and the new life she brings.
Food Bank Collection for May - tea bags. Please add a box of tea bags to your shopping during May for Fylde Foodbank.
New Playtime Areas
The sunshine keeps coming and so does the areas outside. This week Mrs Naylor has been really busy creating an art area in the hut for the children to use at breaktimes - it has been such a welcome addition. From stencils to colouring pages to stickers, the children have a whole host of things to keep them occupied that is different from running around. Thank you so much Mrs Naylor for your kindness with creating a space for our children. If anyone has any colouring books at home that they no longer use, please donate to school.
Last week I mentioned that we will be going down the OPAL route for the next academic year. 20% of the school day is spent in play, therefore we have to get it right and to see it as a prime curriculum area. Before we start, there are a number of things that we have to have in place; including a working group made up of teachers, play staff, governors and parents. There is a commitment of attending planning meetings and audits (all on Wednesdays), which I will explain at a later date. I have collated some of the initial ideas onto one document for you to have a read of. Have a think if you would like to be involved as our Play Parent? I will be sending out an expression of interest in the coming weeks. We have to do some serious fundraising for it and for setting it up, as well as collect as many resources for free along the way! The Jim Jam Jog in Summer 2 will be the start of this, and then another big fundraiser in Autumn 1 as well.
Looking ahead to next year…
This half term is flying by, which also means that we are hurtling towards next year already. Being part of an academy means that our financial year has changed from an April start to September - this is great for me as I can deal with each year in turn. I spent a day away from school this week getting my head around the budget and seeing what wiggle room I had to create exciting opportunities for our children and staff, which is incredibly difficult in the current climate. A money tree would certainly be a useful addition to the Forest School. I know that children have been starting to wonder who their teacher will be next year, and I am sure parents will too. We are in a really strong position in school, having had both inspections take place successfully and having completed an enormous amount of work on our curriculum. As a headteacher, I am really keen to ensure that the staff in school have as much growth and development as the children; you will notice that we have had lots of student teachers in with us this year to support their development too. To be a really inspirational teacher, you often have to see things from different angles and professional development is at the heart of this. I am currently putting the staff jigsaw together and as soon as it is cemented, you will all be the first to know (after the staff of course).
As I am putting the jigsaw together, there will be two members of the teaching team who will not be with us next year; who have decided to step away from teaching for a little while to concentrate on their family and other career areas that they want to pursue. Mrs Marshall and Mr Corwell will be leaving us in July. We know that Mr Cornwell has had a busy year with the arrival of his little girl, and with his partner heading back to teaching in September, the commute to Our Ladys would be just too big for him at this moment in time, putting unecessary strain on his family; and more importantly, he wants to spend time with his little girl. Mrs Marshall came back to us part-time after the arrival of her second child and has also developed a successful business along side teaching which has become incredibly well-received. She will be leaving us in July to concentrate on that business a little more. But, she will still be part of the Our Lady family as her little boy will be joining us in Reception from September. We will miss both of these teachers so very much and wish them all of the luck in the world with their new ventures. There is still lots of time to celebrate them in the coming months. I am currently advertising for a teacher position and will be interviewing before half term to complete our teaching team for September.
Online Safety
We have been part of the Smartphone Free Childhood for this year, and this momentum is just really getting started. With the DFE announcement of no phones in school, this is something that we will be adopting from September.
This week I received an email from the Regional Coordinator:
“Our primary schools across the cluster continue to lead the way on the Lancashire leaderboard, accounting for 22% (517) of all Parent Pacts across the county (2,345 pacts across 376 schools).
A particular highlight is the parent community at Heyhouses, who have generated 124 pledges, an extraordinary increase from just 19 in the space of a week placing them at the top of the Lancashire leaderboard.
Smartphone Free Childhood highlights the importance of the 25% tipping point: research shows that when around a quarter of a community adopts a behaviour, it can trigger a wider cultural shift, with the majority beginning to follow. Encouragingly, four of our local schools have now reached this 25% threshold, an important milestone in driving meaningful change.”
We need another 13 additional sign ups to hit the 25% target! Please sign up if you haven’t. As mentioned in previous newsletters, St Bedes will be hosting another event. This will take place on Monday 8th June. Please see the newsletter for more information.
Leading Learners and Star Virtues
David Attenborough turns 100!
Next Friday is David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday! He is so well-respected; we had to do something to celebrate this milestone. With this year being the year of St Francis, and our focus is heavily on sustainability and play - there is no better advocate than David Attenborough. To celebrate his birthday, and to help us look forward to our own mission, next Friday the children are all invited to wear the colours of the earth. We are also holding a whole-school competition to design and make a bird feeder or draw your favourite animal. If you wish to enter, please complete your project and bring it into school by next Friday. There will be one winner per class who will win a book about Sir David, presented in assembly next week.
Our Lady’s Got Talent - Thursday 21st May @ 6pm!
Thank you to everyone who entered the Our Lady’s Got Talent on Thursday 21st May at 6pm - we have over 40 entries for the night, with the form closing earlier this week. Today I met with all of the children who want to be part of it and next week I will put the instructions together for the event which will be on the choir page. There is an enormous variety of talent that will be on display. We literally cannot wait!!
On the night, there will be a raffle and for that we need raffle prizes. If you are able to donate anything for the raffle, it would be appreciated - big or small - the more the better.
Snack Booking Form
Here is the winter warmer snack booking form for next week. Please book before 8am on Monday.
The Summer Lunch Menu is now live. You can see a copy here below and also on the lunch page of the website.
Office News
Sports Days: EYFS 9.15am on Wednesday 10th June. Year 1 & 2 1.30pm on Wednesday 10th June. Year 3 & 4 9.15am on Wednesday 17th June. Year 5 & 6 1.30pm on Wednesday 17th June.
We have Our Lady merchandise! The Our Lady Tote bag is available for £5 to support the school PTFA. Order yours via Parent Pay and we will get one sent home with your child.
It has been lovely to see the new PE tops in action this week - they look incredibly smart!
There has been lots of lost uniform lately, many items that have not been named. Please can you ensure all of your children’s items are labelled and check that your child does not have anyone elses.
PARKING - we have had complaints regarding the parking around school. Cars are parking on the corners and on yellow lines. Please can this be addressed as soon as possible please.
Well done to our Year 3 children this week who represented the school at the first ever Year 3 football match. When the tournament was cancelled before half term, we knew how disappointed they were so Heyhouses kindly arranged a match. The children played brilliantly and with such spirit.
Attendance Matters
School attendance for this week.
Have a lovely bank holiday weekend. We look forward to seeing you in school on Tuesday next week.
God bless
Mrs Gregan