Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School
In order for your child to attend our trip to Woodmatters, written consent is required. This is because we will be taking the children out of school and on a coach, away from their local area.
Please find the attached consent form below.
Any outstanding payments for the trip can be made via ParentPay.
We are really excited! Please see the weekly blog for more information about what your child will need to bring.
Thank you for your support!
Miss Brookes
We are two weeks in and what a fabulous two weeks they have been! I honestly could not be prouder of each and every child in our class. They have worked incredibly hard all week and have made such a positive start to Year Three. It is so wonderful to see how independent and confident they are becoming as the days have gone by.
In RE this week, we have been learning all about Imago Dei, which means “Image of God.” The children have been exploring the belief that we are all made in the image of God and we have discussed what this means. As a class, we have thought carefully about how we can reflect God’s love through our own behaviour and ways we can show kindness, patience, compassion and forgiveness to the people around us. The children have shared some incredibly thoughtful ideas about how our words and actions can make a difference to others.
I would like to say a very special thank you to this weeks prayer leaders, Dee Dee, April and Antonio, who have all had the opportunity to lead us in worship this week. They did such a wonderful job and we all loved sharing this special time together to reflect, pray and think about how we can live out our faith through our everyday actions.
This week in History, we went on a VERY exciting journey, transporting ourselves all the way back to the Stone Age! The children were introduced to what life may have been like during the Stone Age and we began to explore how different everyday life was then, compared to our lives today. We thought about where people lived, what they ate and most importantly, how they survived. But this really wasn’t an ordinary History lesson…the children were given a mission! They had to imagine they were Stone Age Hunter-Gatherer’s and their challenge was to think carefully about what they needed in order to survive! The classroom was soon filled with Stone Age experts and we had so much fun immersing ourselves in this role!
Alongside this, we have continued to explore the wonderful world of Paddington Bear, whilst also looking carefully at the different sentence types that we are going to begin to use in our writing. The children have become so good at spotting subjects and verbs in a sentence and we have started to learn about conjunctions and how to use them to enhance our writing skills.
In addition to this, we have been working our little socks off in Maths this week! We have been revisiting how to bridge numbers over ten and looking at strategies for adding and subtracting small numbers. This has helped us to understand why our strategies work, rather than simply finding an answer.
How can we keep ourselves and others safe?
This week, the children have taken part in Session Two of KidSafe, led by Mrs Carter. The focus of the session was bullying and helping the children understand what bullying is, how it can make others feel and most importantly, what they can do if they experience or see it happening.
The children have had some thoughtful discussions and explored the importance of speaking to a trusted adult, looking after one another and making sure everyone feels safe, valued and respected.
Please find attached a letter below that outlines what we have discussed.
This week, our Virtue Star is Rebecca!
Rebecca has shown so much love and enthusiasm towards her learning this week. We are extremely proud of how hard she has worked and how much determination she has shown. Alongside this, Rebecca is always a compassionate and loving friend to others. She truly has such a kind and caring heart. Rebecca, thank you so much for being our superstar this week and for always wanting to grow and better yourself. We are very proud of you!
Unfortunately, I am still unable to post any photographs of what we have been up to as we are still waiting for a couple of forms to be returned. Please can we ask that these are completed as soon as possible! We’d love to show you what our learning looks like in Year Three!
FOREST SCHOOL is now up and running! Our sessions are on a Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. Letters have already been sent home with the children who will be taking part, so please ensure that your child comes to school with the correct clothing and footwear for Forest School.
SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS will be taking place on Wednesday 23rd September for all children in school. These will be individual photos. As Wednesday is our usual PE day, children are welcome to come to school in their full school uniform for their photographs and bring their PE kit in a named bag to change into afterwards. This is completely optional and up to you to decide what uniform you would like your child to be photographed in.
HOMEWORK will be sent out next week on Monday 21st September. Please have a little look at the Year 3 Homework Blog for some guidance and information about this next week.
WOODMATTERS SCHOOL TRIP is on Wednesday 30th September! This is now live on ParentPay and is £32.00 per child. Please note, the deadline for this is Friday 18th September (today). Please see below for more details about our upcoming trip!
As mentioned above, we have planned to go on a very exciting day out to Woodmatters in Windermere, where the children will be immersed in all things Stone Age!
We will be leaving school at 08:15am in the morning to ensure we arrive on time, so please make sure your children arrive at school for 08:00am on this day. We will meet you at the school gate. We will be out of school all day, but we will be back for home time (15:25pm).
Children must come to school in their PE kit, wearing long sleeves and trousers - no shorts please. Hats, scarfs and gloves are optional, but the children are more than welcome to bring these items with us. We are expecting the weather to be cold and possibly wet.
If your child is travel sick, please ensure they take any medication they need before school. If they require an addition tablet or medicine during the day, you will need to fill in a form giving me permission to give your child medication you have provided. You can give me the medication on the morning of the trip, it must be in a named bag. The forms to be completed for this will be available at the school office.
For this trip, your children will need:
A packed lunch and drink (please refrain from packing any sweets, chocolate and fizzy drinks - also, please do not pack anything that may contain nuts)
A pair of wellies, old trainers or walking boots (anything you don’t mind possibly getting dirty)
A spare jumper and a pair of spare socks
Named waterproof coat
A reusable carrier bag (to transport the things we make back home)
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to pop me an email:
e.brookes@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk
Thank you once again for all of your continued support. We hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Miss Brookes and Mrs Austin
There has been a bit of illness in class that has presented itself in Scarlet Fever in a child. This is a bacterial infection that is treated with anti-biotics and may have a rash and a sore throat. Whilst there is no NHS guidance for schools, the guidance states that anti-biotics will be prescribed and children can return when well and 24 hours after the first lots of medication.
This is a common illness in schools and often goes quickly once treated. We will be vigilant in school and ensure we communicate anything we spot in your child quickly. Please do keep an eye on your children at home and let us know if they become unwell.
I am so incredibly proud of all of the children for their first full week back in school! After only having two days in school last week, it has certainly been a busy and jam-packed week, but the children have settled beautifully and have taken everything in their stride. It has been wonderful to see them getting stuck into their new learning, embracing new routines and showing such enthusiasm and positivity throughout the week.
I would also like to say a really big heartfelt thank you to all of the parents and carers who were able to attend our welcome evening on Wednesday. I am incredibly grateful for the time you took to come along and I hope you found the evening informative and useful as we begin this exciting new chapter together. I would also like to apologise that I am not the most confident public speaker! However, I am very grateful to you all for your patience and kindness and I hope that I was able to give you all the information you needed and provide a helpful introduction to Year 3. If there are ever any questions you have, anything you feel I may have missed, or something you would like to share with me, please do not hesitate to get in touch. As I mentioned during the evening, you are very welcome to contact me via email at any time. If you would prefer a face-to-face conversation, simply pop an email over to me or catch me at the door at home time and we can arrange a convenient time to chat together.
e.brookes@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk
If you were unable to join us for the welcome evening, please find all of the shared information below:
In RE, we have been developing our understanding of the Creation Story and exploring how the story is presented in the Bible. The children have sequenced the events of creation across the seven days, carefully recalling what was created on each day and discussing the significance of God's creation. We have also enjoyed exploring the beautiful, poetic language used in the Old Testament to describe creation. The children have been inspired by this to write their own thoughtful poems, to celebrate the wonder and beauty of God's creation. It has been lovely to see the children sharing their ideas and reflections, and beginning to appreciate how Scripture can use poetry and imagery to help us understand our faith.
Alongside this, we have been very busy exploring the wonderful world of Paddington Bear! The children have been watching clips from the Paddington film alongside reading Chapter One of A Bear Called Paddington. We have been busy comparing the film and the book, spotting similarities and differences and thinking carefully about how the story has been presented in each. The children have also been practicing their summarising skills, identifying the key events and important information from the chapter. The children have worked incredibly hard, and we have had quite a few giggles along the way as we’ve watched some of Paddington Bear’s funniest moments!
In Science, we have been learning all about rocks, with a particular focus on igneous rocks. The children have been finding out how igneous rocks are formed when molten rock cools and solidifies. We have been exploring the difference between magma and lava and looking at examples of igneous rocks. The children have been fantastic scientists this week, asking thoughtful questions and developing their understanding of the fascinating world beneath our feet!
At the beginning of every year, we start with our Safeguarding lesssons for children. These help the children to know how to keep safe. This week (session 1) we have reflected on “yucky” feelings and what this means. This does not mean the feelings are negative, it means they are telling us something is wrong. Ask your child what the “yucky feelings” are and what they can do if they have them.
The key message from this is to tell your trusted adult. Here is a letter about the lessons and what we did today.
This week, our Virtue Star is Sophia!
Sophia has shown so much love and compassion since returning to school. We are extremely proud of how beautifully she has settled into Year 3 and most importantly, how kind and caring she is to those around her. Sophia, thank you for being so wonderful and for always having such a loving and kind heart. We are very proud of you!
A huge well done to all of the children who put themselves forward to be a School Councillor or Eco Councillor! It was wonderful to see so many children showing confidence, enthusiasm and a willingness to take on an important responsibility within our school. Everybody did so well and we are incredibly proud of each and every child who had the courage to put themselves forward. After an individual class vote, I am very proud to announce…
Our Year Three School Counsellors are: Theo and Cora!
Our Year Three Eco Counsellors are: Kian and Mia!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
FOREST SCHOOL will be starting again next week. Letters have been sent home with the children who will be taking part, so please ensure that your child comes to school with the correct clothing and footwear for Forest School.
SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS will be taking place on Wednesday 23rd September for all children in school.
HOMEWORK will be sent out next week on Monday 14th September. Please have a little look at the Year 3 Homework Blog for some guidance and information about this next week.
WOODMATTERS SCHOOL TRIP is on Wednesday 30th September! This is now live on ParentPay and is £32.00 per child. Please note, the deadline for this is Friday 18th September.
Thank you once again for all of your continued support. We hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Miss Brookes and Mrs Austin
What a wonderful and wholesome start to the new school year! The children have come back so eager to learn new things, embrace all of the new challenges coming their way and continue to keep blossoming into the lovely young people they are! I feel incredibly lucky to be their teacher and cannot wait to see what this year brings.
We have begun our year by talking through our new routines and what is expected of us now we are in the juniors. As a team in Year 3, we have taken on some new and exciting responsibilities, which I know the children will take very seriously and be wonderful with! Some have chosen to be a part of the ‘cloakroom crew’ whereas others have chosen to embrace roles such as the ‘Equipment Experts’ or ‘House Point Chiefs’. Alongside this, we have also looked closely at some of the really meaningful messages, such as kindness, in one of my favourite books - The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse. The children have all discussed what characteristics they would like to work on in Year 3 and we shared this together as a class.
During our RE lesson today, we have revisited and remembered the Creation Story from Genesis. We thought carefully about the different stages of creation and discussed the Christian belief that God created the world and everything in it. The children worked together to recall the story and explored some of the key messages within it, including the importance of caring for our wonderful world. They shared thoughtful ideas about how we can show gratitude for creation and discussed ways we can look after the environment and the people and animals around us. It was lovely to see the children building on their previous learning, asking thoughtful questions and making connections between the Creation Story and their own lives. A wonderful opportunity to reflect on the world around us and our responsibility to care for it!
The children then made links between the Creation Story and the message of Pope Francis in Laudato Si’. Pope Francis reminds us that our world is a precious gift from God and that we all have a responsibility to care for our “common home”. He encourages us to think about how our everyday choices can help protect the Earth and look after the people, animals and natural world around us.
At Our Lady’s, caring for our common home is something we are working so hard on as a school family. We want our children to understand that caring for creation is not just something we talk about in RE, but something we can live out every day through our choices, our actions and the way we care for one another and the world around us.
As agreed, through our school council, our learning awards will no longer be handed out in our celebration assemblies on a Friday afternoon. We now have little versions of these certificates for learning, which can be given whenever we spot some amazing learning in class. Keep an eye out for these - many will be coming your way!
The Virtue Star remains and will be awarded next week during the Friday afternoon assembly. We are trying our very best to be Loving and Compassionate.
Please complete the following consent form for the year ahead. This gives your permission for various things, such as school trips, usage of technology and photographs to be put on the website. In addition, if your child has a medical condition such as asthma or an allergy that we need to know about, then please complete the medical form below. Thank you for those who have already completed.
Please also note, our first PE lesson back will be on Monday 7th September. On Tuesday 8th September, I will also be sending home the homework books for this school year! The children have been given the very creative and exciting task of decorating their homework books! We can’t wait to see the finished designs! If possible, please can I ask that you decorate around the printed label already stuck on the front cover - thank you! The homework books will be due back in on Monday 14th September.
Lastly, I’d just like to say the biggest thank you to you all for being so supportive and welcoming me so kindly into the Our Lady’s school family. If you ever need to contact me directly or wish to ask me a question, my school email address is:
e.brookes@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend with your little ones and I’ll look forward to seeing you all on Monday.
Miss Brookes & Mrs Austin
The warmest welcome to Year 3! We hope you have all had a wonderful summer break and have enjoyed lots of special time together, making some really precious memories to treasure. We are now very excited to welcome the children back to school and begin a very magical year together. This is a particularly special class for me, as I had the pleasure of teaching many of your beautiful children during my final teaching placement before the summer. It feels so wonderful to be reunited with them again and I am so excited to hear all about their summer adventures and experiences!
The beginning of a new school year is always an exciting time, filled with new opportunities and challenges to embrace. Year 3 is such an important milestone for the children as they begin their journey through Key Stage 2 and we feel incredibly lucky to be alongside them as they continue to flourish, discover new things and grow into the wonderful young people they are becoming. There will be lots of opportunities for the children to challenge themselves, get involved in exciting new experiences and have the most fun together as a team! Together, we will make Year 3 a memorable time filled with learning, laughter, achievement, and growth. I cannot wait to see what we accomplish as a school family. Here's to a fantastic year ahead!
We have put together some useful information below to help you and your child get organised for the start of term.
Our virtues for our first half term will be Loving and Compassionate. These will be at the core of everything we do in school and we are always looking out for children who display these characteristics.
This year, children will be allowed to bring in a small pencil case from home, that will stay at school. The children do not need to bring their own equipment, we will provide anything that they will need to use. Please make sure they are small enough to fit inside the pocket covers on the back of their chairs - any that are too big will be sent home.
Please also make sure that the children come to school everyday with a small water bottle and a named waterproof coat. The children are more than welcome to bring in a snack from home to have at play time, but please make sure that these snacks are in a reusable tupper wear to support our eco footprint (no wrappers please!)
Art and DT lessons with Mrs Mather will be on a Tuesday afternoon, so please ensure that the children have an art top to keep in their trays to protect their uniform.
Homework will go out on a Tuesday afternoon and will be due in the following Monday. Please support us in this process to ensure children complete their homework and hand it in on time.
Our indoor PE day will be on a Monday and our outdoor PE lesson will be on a Wednesday. Children are encouraged to come into school on these days wearing suitable trainers and the school PE kit (either navy shorts or joggers depending on the temperature, the school navy PE top and a school hoody). Our first PE lesson will be Monday 7th September 2026.
This will be held on Wednesday 9th September 3:45pm & 4:45pm. This is another opportunity for you to see the classroom for yourself, discover more about the exciting opportunities and topics that they will be learning during their time in Year 3 and we can try to answer any questions you may have! It will be so lovely for me to properly introduce myself and get to know you all some more.
On Wednesday 30th September, I am delighted to share with you all that Year 3 will be going on a school trip to Woodmatter in Windermere. This is such a great opportunity to immerse ourselves in everything Stone Age. The children will learn what it was like to live during this time as well as making some Stone Age weapons and axes. The cost for the trip is £32 and will be live on Parent Pay next week. More information will come nearer the time.
Please make sure all coats and school uniform is labelled. We will do our very best to build the children’s independence in taking care of their personal belongings and it is a huge help when everything is labelled for the children.
Please remember that there is now a No Jewellery policy except for an anologue watch (no smart watches).
Please complete the following consent forms for the year ahead. This gives your permission for various things, such as school trips, usage of technology and photographs to be put on the website. If your child has a medical condition such as asthma, an allergy or anything else we may need to know about then please complete the following medical form:
We can’t wait to see you all on Thursday 3rd September and hear about your holidays!
We hope you enjoy your last few days of the summer holidays and we look forward to seeing you in Year 3!
Miss Brookes, Mrs Austin, Mrs Carter and Mrs Mather
I hope that you are all having a wonderful summer holiday. The weather has certainly helped; I cannot remember a summer quite like it.
I just wanted to update you all on two things ready for the children coming back in a couple of weeks.
You will be aware that Miss Drummond was unwell last year and has been absent from school since Easter. Whilst she has been recovering at home in this period, she has informed us that she is not well enough to return to school for the start of the academic year in September and will require some additional time off. We continue to send her our best wishes and our prayers - hoping that she will be back with us soon.
When a key member of the staff team is off, especially as we head into a new academic year, my absolute priority is getting someone in place to ensure that the children feel settled and welcomed as they start their new year group. Having a familiar teacher in place is absolutely essential. I am delighted that Miss Brookes will be joining us and taking charge of Year 3 in Miss Drummond’s absence. The children know Miss Brookes incredibly well as she taught them in the final term of Year 2 as she completed her teaching qualification. She can literally hit the ground running with them; she is so very excited and has done a wonderful job of getting the classroom ready. Miss Brookes is the perfect teacher for this role and we are very lucky to welcome her to our class team. All of the teachers will be writing a welcome blog in the coming weeks so I will let Miss Brookes take over then. I know you will all support her and welcome her formally to Our Ladys.
Secondly, you will be aware of the closure of St Annes Swimming Pool, which now appears to be closed for some time. Year 3 is our school swimming year and St Annes is the swimming pool that we use; infact, all of the schools in our cluster use it. As a team of Headteachers, we have been trying to problem-solve what we can do to ensure that our children keep swimming as the information from Fylde came to us quite late. We are currently in the process of working with Palatine Swimming Pool in Blackpool to see if they have a slot in which they can accommodate us; which we think they do. This is just taking some time to organise the logisitcs. As soon as we have a plan, we will let you know when the children will be swimming. The curriculum requirement is that all children should be able to swim 25m by the end of primary school; we want to do that as soon as possible, given where we live. If your child does not have swimming lessons, I wuld urge you to get them swimming as soon as possible then as soon as we have a school swimming plan, it will help the children further.
I am really looking forward to welcoming the children back in September. Enjoy the last few weeks of your Summer!
Mrs Gregan
As we come to the end of our Year 3 journey together, we have spent this week reflecting on just how much we have achieved since September. It has been lovely to look back at photos, memories and all of the incredible learning that has taken place throughout the year.
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This week has absolutely flown by! We have packed so many exciting learning opportunities into the week, and Year 3 have worked incredibly hard while having lots of fun.
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This week, we gathered together for our class liturgy, where we reflected on the theme of companionship through Matthew 11:25–30. We talked about what makes a good companion and discussed how we can follow Jesus’ example by showing kindness, encouragement and support to those around us.
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In our class liturgy this week, we listened to a reading from Matthew 16:13–19. In this Gospel, Jesus asks His disciples who they believe He is. Peter answers, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus praises Peter for his faith and tells him that he will be the rock on which He will build His Church. This reading reminds us that trusting in Jesus and having faith in Him gives us strength. It also teaches us that we are all part of God’s family and can help to build His Church by showing love, kindness and courage in the way we live each day.
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This week we learned about the Jewish Feast of Passover. We explored the meaning of the Seder Plate and discovered how each item represents an important part of the Passover story and helps Jewish families remember God’s love.
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This week our Word of the Week was Corpus Christi, which means The Body of Christ.
We learned about the importance of this feast and how it celebrates Jesus being present with us in the Eucharist. In our Gospel reading from John, Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life.”
We have had a lovely final week of the half term. It’s been cram packed with fun, smiles and the sunshine even made an appearance half way through the week just in time for our forest takeover session.
In RE we made beautiful bunting asking for Mary to keep our friends and loved ones in prayer, interceding just as she did with Jesuses disciples at Pentecost.
Read moreYou will find a packet of seeds in your child’s bag - please read this blog to find out more!
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In our RE lessons, we have been learning about the Holy Trinity - The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. We have identified signs and symbols of the Trinity in church and the words of mass, prayers and designed our own pendants and charms depicting the Holy Spirit. The children walked down to church with year 1 and were wonderful role models, we sat right at the front and sang beautifully. Well done year 3.
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This week we have focused on the words ‘Holy Spirit’.
In our RE lessons we have looked in detail and the concluding rite in Mass and the meaning of the actions and words spoken.
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This week our word of the week was Queen of Heaven. We prayed the Rosary together and learned how to sign the Hail Mary, helping us to reflect more deeply on our prayer.
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Our word of the week was Vocation. In our RE lessons, we explored the story of the Road to Emmaus how it has been represented in art. Next week, we are looking forward to creating our own artwork inspired by this special moment.
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As a school, this week we have lived Holy Week through our Easter worship assemblies, each one has been wonderful and the children have been immersed in the experience as a whole school community and then spent time in class reflecting. What a week it has been!
Well done Year 3, we were so proud of your reenactment of the Last Supper on Monday - it’s always tricky being a Monday assembly after the weekend break but you were all amazing.
Read more590 Tahoe Keys Blvd, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150