Over the past two weeks, we have rejoiced in the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Our Year 4 children, together with members of our parish family, made their First Holy Communion. Both days were beautiful, and so heart-felt as families came together to celebrate the children. As we break for the May half term, we have focused our attention on Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit. We know that this gives us courage and support when we need it; enabling us to be the best versions of ourselves. In our final half term, we will have the last family mass of the year on Sunday 6th July. Here our Year 4 Holy Communicants will be invited back to mass in their communion dress and then back to the Parish Centre afterwards for tea and cake. As it is our final family mass, I would love to see as many of you as possible; as readers, as singers and for the offertory.
To lead is to serve
Following on from Year 6’s successes last week, they headed off on their three day residential to Winmarleigh. As you can see from the photographs below, they had the best time and made memories for life. This class were a dream to take away, and in true Year 6 style, they looked after each other throughout - and even the staff. A huge thank you to Mrs Harrison, Mrs Webster, Mr Cornwell and Mr Murray who gave up their time to take the children away. Year 5 were given their residential letters for next year this week - such an exciting time. Then yesterday, I had my favourite day of the year; my chance to interview our Year 6 children for their jobs around school in the final half term. In the midst of them trying to prove that they were the right person for the job, and also deciding which Disney Princess they would be if they could, they also told me how they had grown throughout their time at Our Ladys and their magic moments. I am so proud of them and can’t wait to see them come to life in their new roles after half term.
Leading Learners from across the school and STAR Virtues
I love being visited in my office with fabulous work and Mrs Lyons was raving about the work that was taking place in her class - especially the writing. The children have been continuing their unit of work on The Firework Maker’s Daughter. Their writing was exciting, grammatically correct and full of great vocabulary! Well done Year 4.
Forest School Blog
So, this short half term comes to an end, but we've managed to cram so much into it!
We've taken advantage of the beautiful weather and along with our nurture groups we've had some takeover days, so this have meant our years 1 and 3 joined us last week and year 2 have been with us this week.
One of the favourite activities was solar printing. Using Cynotype paper and clear acrylic screens the children gathered leaves, petals and flowers placed arranged them on the paper, placed the screens overt and let them sit in the full sun for 20 minutes. We then washed them and hung them to dry. The designs were very creative and a useful way to use natural resources.
We've heard the pitter patter of tiny feet too! Our bird box which was only put up a couple of months ago is now home to a family of Coal Tits. All the groups have been really respectful and quiet around the area so not to scare mum and dad away. Today we had a group of year 5 out in the wood and they found a couple of bees really struggling. Thy carefully moved the bees into the shade and we used some sugar syrup to revive them, after a few minutes the bees even gave us a high 5!! (Check out the pictures) The children showed a lot of compassion and care towards the bees and the natural area.
Our wildflowers meadow is starting to take shape, we've raked the area, placed down some stepping stones and scatter some seeds, were all looking forward seeing what we get out of the seed mixes we have sown!
APPEAL - Does any one have a water butt that they are getting rid of or that isn't needed? We'd like to put one over near the shed and the meadow.
Thank you in advance!
Fun Nature fact of the week - Hummingbirds have heart rates that can reach up to 1200 beats per minute during flight, helping them sustain their rapid wing movement.
Sporting Success
There has been two significant events this week; the Year 3 & 4 Striking and Fielding Festival and the Year 5 & 6 swimming gala. The sun shone and the children had a great time working with other children from other schools in a range of challenges - all to do with cricket! They were wonderful and enjoyed their representation of school for the first time. Then today we had the annual swimming gala held at Palatine. We finished in our highest ever place, 3rd; which is astonishing. We managed to final in 19 races - well done to all of the children taking part. Next year, our current Year 4 children will be joining the squad when they move into Year 5; so get practising now so you are ready for the gala. After half term, our Sports Days will take centre stage - and I am praying for some rain to sort our field out! We also have a Year 3 & 4 tennis event and upper junior cricket event too. Details will be coming out over half term. I will text when they are live.
Office News
Last week, I mentioned that we had some laptops available for you to buy. Two of these now have been some and we currently have just 1 Acer Laptops with the following specification ready for immediate sale and use, priced at £75 each.
The Acer laptop, which offers impressive specifications, It's a solid all-rounder-ideal for everyday tasks and even a bit of light gaming. All laptops are in good used condition and come with Windows 11 Home pre-installed, ready for immediate use.
We also have some smaller laptops available at £50 each, again refurbed and ready to use straight away. If you are interested in buying one, please contact Mrs Gregan at head@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk
Whole School Attendance
Uniform Check
As we seem to be in the throws of Spring and Summer (fingers firmly crossed that it lasts) I have had a number of conversations with parents around school uniform and hair styles etc. I have attached the uniform guidance again below. School summer dresses or shorts can be worn at any point in the school year. The most important thing is that the shoes that the children wear for school are closed toe shoes - not sandals. This is due to them running around at break time and moving around a school that has lots and lots of pupils and adults. We have seen an increase in jewellery being worn. The only thing that can be worn is a pair of plain studs and a wrist watch. Please avoid anything around the neck or earings that do not meet school guidance. Lots of you have already asked about hair styles before heading to the barbers for a summer trim and the guidance is really clear. Long hair must be tied up and remain up throughout the course of the day and no lines or pattens to be cut into the children’s hair please. That has never changed but I think as it becomes more of a thing and fashionable with footballers, we are tempted to allow the children to have them. If you could save that for the summer holidays or longer holidays where it can grow out, that would be appreciated. Thank you again for your support and for always asking the question when you aren’t quite sure.
Please have a wonderful half term holiday and make special memories with your families. I am praying for some rain to recover our school field as best as we can for sports days! We look forward to welcoming you back to school on Monday 9th June.
God bless
Mrs Gregan