A busy week in the garden!

This week, the children have been extra busy! We have started to transfer the plants into the raised beds, planted our final batch of potatoes and have added carrots. The allotment area is certainly starting to take shape and we can.t wait to taste the fruit and vegetables, when they are ready.

Year 5 Homework 17.05.24

Homework will look slightly differently from now on, with us offering optional homework across the half term aimed at accessing the wider curriculum, engaging in fun and active tasks and to share your learning with your parents. Compulsory homework will still be live which will consist of:

  • Spellings

  • SPAG

  • Reading

  • Times Tables

The optional homework will have no deadline with this being optional but this can be documented/evidenced in a separate homework book marked ‘Learning Journal’.

Compulsory Homework

Spellings

  1. mischievous

  2. muscle

  3. necessary

  4. neighbour

  5. nuisance

  6. occupy

  7. occur

  8. opportunity

  9. parliament

  10. persuade

  11. physical

  12. prejudice

SPAG

The weekly SPAG sheet consisting of 10 questions has been stuck into the children’s homework books ready to complete.

Times Tables

Congratulations if you have ‘Gone Green’ on TTRS. Many of you are so close to getting green so keep practicing. If you are already green, focus on getting your time down to under one second- you know what the score to beat is! Check the new TTRS scoreboard just outside the create room.

Reading

We have really upped our reading this half term, with some children in the millionaire club, some doubling their word count for the year and lots of others making really good progress.

This week...

A lovely week. We have spent most mornings learning alongside Reception and we have really enjoyed it! It was lovely to catch up with friends that we made last year and also brothers and sisters. A true learning community.

Emma’s blog

Hello everyone, 

The weather has been wet this week but it hasn't stopped us having a fun packed week of learning. 

On Monday, Mr Nays PE class was brilliant. He taught the children how to play cricket! One team of fielders and the other team ‘throwers’ of the ball. We had to run around the a set cones before the fielders retrieved the ball. It was a very competitive but in the end it was a draw.

The children have been busy decorating their t-shirts for Sports Day, we can't wait for you to see our designs, they all look fantastic.

The children have been practicing writing sounds using the sound rhymes to help them to form the letters. It's lovely seeing the children having a go, just like Tommy Turtle. 

We have some very exciting news about our wormery. They have been working hard turning their food into compost, but also, they have had babies! The children have been investigating with magnifying glasses, watching the tiny worms move in the soil. It’s all very exciting.

This week we have been rhyming words. We had a rhyme bag with lots of different rhyming objects, the children had to work out the rhyming objects. It was a bit tricky. We used things like cat and bat, fish and dish. We also played a rhyming game on the computer. The children have asked for it to go on the blog, so here it is. Have fun rhyming. Click here. 

I can't believe we only have one week left before we break up for May half term.

Have a wonderful weekend. 

Emma 

Michelle’s blog

Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s blog.

This week has been a little different as we have been able to spend some time with our friends in Reception. We did impress Mr. Nay and Mr. Murray in PE this week , as we played a team game practising our throwing and running skills.

Its been a very active week this week with lots of outside activities. We have really enjoyed going on the trim trail this week, and being very adventurous as we climb, but always keeping safe as we do it.

We have been lucky with the weather and have enjoyed outside picnics every day. We even had a picnic in the castle.

Thank you for sending in your t shirts for Sport Day. We are looking forward to showing you all our kills we have been learning and practising hard.

Have a lovely weekend everyone and we will see you next week.

Michelle

A big thank you to everyone who managed to pop in to see us on Tuesday after school. It is always lovely to see you and share your child’s achievements.

A gentle reminder to to send in a plain white t shirt to decorate in readiness for Sports Day (18th June at 2.00 pm).

Jim Jam Jog

On Monday, sponsor forms went out going out for our annual JIM JAM JOG - a firm fixture on the school’s calendar. Every Summer, 240 children, staff and parents come dressed in their pjs ready to run as many times around the school field as possible. The funds raised always go towards the development of the school; this year that is our outside area and break time equipment. This year, it will take place on Monday 17th June at 8am.

In addition, this year we wanted to help another cause. It is very important that our children are aware of their community and causes that are close to them and us. There have been a number of significant events that have really made us stop this year and reflect. We hope that this summer, we can raise money for them both.

On 15th September 2023, we lost a very dear former pupil of ours, Harrison Bretheron. In a couple of week’s time, the family and friends of Harrison will be running his 22nd mile. Harrison never made it to 22 years of age; this is their tribute to him. All money raised from the run will be donated between Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and The Firefighter’s Charity; both of which have supported many of our current and former families. So far, they have raised over £15,000 - it is remarkable. We want to do our bit as well. Please support this event as much as you can - get your pjs ready!

We will be hosting a second charity towards the end of the year which our Year 5 children will tell us all about in a few week’s time.

Ideas for the weekend!

If you happen to be at a loose end this weekend here are some ideas to do as a family.

Coastal Spotter
Make time for Nature
Wild Flower Spotters GUIDE

Sound Starters Game

If it’s raining and you can’t get out and about here’s a fun (noisy) game to play indoors.

Click any of the yellow bubbles on the game to hear a random sound. Some are real sounds and others are funny sound effects. Some start off quietly and gradually get louder, some are long and some are short so there’s lots to talk about. Click here.

Phonics learning opportunities

To develop listening skills.

To describe sounds and talk about the differences between them.

To know a range of words that can be used to describe sounds.

Have fun!

Whatever the weather, enjoy just being together with loved ones.

God Bless

Barbara

Year 5 Weekly Blog 10.05.24- ' You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you’

What a lovely and temperature rising week it has been! This week marked a special week in our liturgical calendar with it being the ‘Ascension of Jesus’. We celebrated this as a whole school at church on Thursday- marking the day Jesus Christ ascended into heaven. The mass was filled with many moments of delight and pride, with members of the public commenting on the children’s excellent behaviour and hymn singing.

In our RE lessons this week, it has been a very personal and reflective focus- with the children understanding what their conscience is and using this to decide moral dilemmas. Ask your child if they can remember any of these dilemmas and discuss what would you would do in that scenario.

What have we been learning this week?

English- And just like that, we have finished the famous ‘Highwayman’ poem. The children loved creating their own version of part 1 and also reading stanza by stanza of part 2 and predicting what happens next. We finished the week by starting our new topic, focusing on non-fiction texts. We discussed what this phrase means and linked our prior learning to retrieve common examples of this.

Maths- There has definitely been a year 6 level of focus and work ethic in our maths this week with the children juggling two different units and linking the methods used from each of them. Our first topic has been focusing on percentages and calculating percentage of amounts. Our new topic has been converting units of measure, with us experimenting with measuring heights and how to convert from m, cm and mm.

History- This week focused on a new method of punishment which was introduced in the 1700’s. A quick discussion into the method of transportation and explaining why as a country we chose to do this. We dived into a famous transportation case, where an 8 year old child was trailed and sentenced for this punishment and the consequences of this.

PE- We are now putting our individual skills together and using these in a real game like situations. The application and development of skills have helped create some fantastic games of cricket- both filled with high quality and competitiveness.

Deeper thinking questions

Every week now, we would like children to explore their weekly learning at home by discussing interesting questions with family members. This may be at the table during dinner, before bedtime or when out for a walk. However you choose to discuss these questions is up to you but this may give you more of an insight into what we have been learning in class.

Have any of your family members been to Australia? What was it like?

Who is the smallest and tallest member of your household? Can you measure them in meters and then convert this to cm and mm.



Let’s Celebrate

  • Archie for being a cooperative learner- Working as a team can often be difficult, especially when it is required both in the classroom and out on the pitch. Your teamwork skills stand out in the classroom, in which any changes of learning partners do not change your focus towards your learning. This year I have seen improvements outside on the playground with your teamwork. This is huge as you know the importance of this quality when it comes to team sports.


  • Riley for being a resilient learner- Focus is a big goal for you going into the last part of the year, I can see you have been working to improve on this- Keep going! I have also seen your resilience in subjects that you may not class as your favourites. You kept going when playing cricket in PE, having a really good go with the catches and to also not let your head drop when batting. 



  • Virtue Butterflies- Our virtues for this half term are learned and wise. Our butterfly goes to Roseanna. You really are one of our role models when it comes to making wise decisions in the hall at lunch and out on the playground. You never put a foot out of line and our a pleasure to be in the company of.



    Lunchtime Certificates

    • Marvellous Manners- Benjamin

    • Role Model of the Week- Faye

Notices

  • Homework- Can all children make sure that they are practicing their spellings and making sure their homework books are back in on Thursdays.



  • Football Kits- If you have played for the school football team this year, could you have a look for any kits that you may still have in which they are to be brought back in. This will consists of blue top, blue socks and white socks. This will either be the Our Lady’s kit (with CN Active sponsorship) or the Premier League Primary Stars kit.



  • Thursday 16th May- We will be going on a school trip to Lancaster to visit the Castle and the Police Museum to further learn about our crime and punishment unit in History.

    Children are to wear normal school uniform for safety reasons and to all bring a pack lunch on the day. Children are to arrive at school for 8:30am for a 8:45 departure. The coach journey will around 1 hour so any children who require travel sickness bands then please do bring them.

    The payment for the trip is live on parent pay.


  • Friday 17th May- This will mark our annual ‘Green Day’ as a part of our eco commitments as a school. Children can bring in £1 to wear green own clothes. The money raised will go towards the children’s eco ideas that were created and voted during our council sessions.

  • Swimming Gala 14th June- Due to our longer half term and availability at the YMCA pools, we won’t be able to host a trails morning to take race times in order to pick our swimmers for the gala. Therefore, the children who have registered an interest in taking part are to record their own times for freestyle (front crawl), backstroke and breaststroke. It will just be one length of a regular sized swimming pool (25m). Please can a parent or guardian record these times and then let me know their time either via email or written down and brought into school. Ideally, can these times be completed before half term but anytime over half term is great- allowing us to collect everyone’s times and choose who will be competing.

Trip to Lancaster- Dinner options

Year 1 Homework 10.5.24

Reading

There were lots of children who unfortunately couldn’t quiz this week as they hadn’t read at home. We do try and listen to your child read in school at least once a week, but there are times when we can’t so it’s really important that you read at home, especially as we have the Phonics screening coming up in a few weeks (10th June). The children need as much practise as possible.

Please continue to read regularly at home and sign the challenge boxes, just a reminder it is one box per day.

There is a phonics activity in your child’s homework book, look for special friends, fred talk read the word.

Ask your child which sounds they have been learning this week, you can watch the videos to practise at home. These next few weeks are important, please focus on reading and phonics, to help prepare your child for their phonics screening. Look at the help your child at home section for games and websites. I will start to make up phonics packs ready for half term, working together at home makes a huge difference, thank you :).

Help your child at home
Set 1
Set 2
Set 3
Set 2 pinny time
Set 3 Pinny time
Speeding up word reading Purple
Speeding up Word reading pink
Speeding up Word reading Orange
Speeding up Word reading yellow
Speeding up word reading blue
Speeding up word reading Grey
Word Time

Handwriting

Please keep up with handwriting practise at home, this week we have been practising ‘i’ and ‘l’ and ‘t’ we appreciate all you are doing at home, thank you.

Letter Join

Once you log in, you can click on free play to explore at home or Year 1.

To find the letters ‘i’ ‘l’ and ‘t’, click on easy letters, then click on the ‘i’ ‘l’ and ‘t’ at the bottom of the screen. You can click on the play button to see how you write the letter, then click on try and the bottom of the screen under the play button so you can practice each letter.

Don’t forget to practise with pencils in your purple books.

Optional Challenges!

It has been nice to see a few optional challenges that have been completed at home, we have shared these tasks in class. Ronnie made a brilliant maraca.

Summer 1 Optional Homework

Have a lovely weekend

Miss Drummond

Year 3 Weekly Blog 10th May - I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving to the world and going to the Father' (John 16:28)

Our class worship on Wednesday, was led by Alice, Heath and Liam. They read ‘Go into All the World’ Matthew 28 and we sang The Table and All Glory Lord and Honor. Next week, our class worship will be led Hugo, Lettie and Mia-Grace.
Our word of the week has been “love” as a class we brainstormed and collected words that we associated with love, we can’t see love but we can feel and show love.

Read more

Year 5 Homework 10.05.24

Homework will look slightly differently from now on, with us offering optional homework across the half term aimed at accessing the wider curriculum, engaging in fun and active tasks and to share your learning with your parents. Compulsory homework will still be live which will consist of:

  • Spellings

  • SPAG

  • Reading

  • Times Tables

The optional homework will have no deadline with this being optional but this can be documented/evidenced in a separate homework book marked ‘Learning Journal’.

Compulsory Homework

Spellings

  1. harass

  2. hinderance

  3. identity

  4. immediate

  5. immediately

  6. individual

  7. interfere

  8. interrupt

  9. language

  10. leisure

  11. lightning

  12. marvellous

SPAG

The weekly SPAG sheet consisting of 10 questions has been stuck into the children’s homework books ready to complete.

Times Tables

Congratulations if you have ‘Gone Green’ on TTRS. Many of you are so close to getting green so keep practicing. If you are already green, focus on getting your time down to under one second- you know what the score to beat is! Check the new TTRS scoreboard just outside the create room.

Reading

We have really upped our reading this half term, with some children in the millionaire club, some doubling their word count for the year and lots of others making really good progress.

This week...

Summer has begun…at last! We have enjoyed the sunshine as it has allowed us to use lots of water in our play and learning! It has been such fun to splash, squirt and spray everywhere!

A gentle reminder that we need your Sports Day t-shirts in as soon as possible…Health and Happiness weeks are getting close.

Worship

May-The Month of Mary

May is a very special month, as we remember Mary, the Mother of Jesus and Mother of us all. 

The whole month of May we will be learning about Mary and the Rosary. We will be thinking about Mary, saying special prayers to tell her how much we love her, and to ask her to help us stay close to her son Jesus and to try to live as Jesus shows us. 

We will also be learning the Lords Prayer and the Glory be. We have already learnt the Hail Mary and next week everyone will be making their own Rosary!

Perhaps you can pray the Rosary at home together as a family. 

Emma’s Blog

Hello everyone,  

I hope you all had a lovely Bank Holiday and have been enjoying the sunshine. 

We have been in the garden every day this week and have been busy growing our brains, watching our seeds grow in the sun. The children have shown so much interest looking after everything they have planted and they especially love to water them.

Here is a fun growing activity to do at home; growing cress heads. The best thing to do once it has grown is to give your cress head a haircut and taste what you have grown. Click here.

The children have been busy in the water, using large pipettes for filling up large bottles and containers. This will help with developing the children's fine motor skills and strengthening their hand muscles. The children have also been pouring large containers of water over our wheel to make it spin. Carrying heavy objects carefully, can help the children develop balance, coordination, and strength. The children have loved the challenge. 

We have continued using our muscles in PE as we have been using the apparatus for jumping, balancing, hopping and moving our bodies in different ways across the beams. The children came up with some fantastic ways to move their bodies and some were a bit tricky too. The children have been practicing their jumping from a high platform and landing on their feet without wobbling over. Their confidence is growing, which is lovely to see.

Something different happened at one of our story times this week. Some children stood up in front of their friends to help tell the story of the Gruffalo. Using the puppet characters, the children enjoyed getting involved and told the story beautifully. Everyone was so proud. 

Here is a lovely story about a seed by Eric Carle. I hope you enjoy as much as me. Click here

Have a wonderful sunny weekend, and see you all on Monday.

Emma 

Michelle’s Blog

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's blog.

The weather has been glorious this week so we have found lots to do in the garden. Our sunflowers we planted from the seeds of last year's flowers have all start d to germinate. We are planning on sending them home before half term so you can grow them at home. It would be great if you could send us some pictures so we can see how big they are growing.

Preparations for sports day are well underway, Mr Murray gave us lots of practice of the fundamental movement skills in PE this week. The fundamental movement skills are running, hopping, jumping, throwing and catching. We hope you can come to Sports Day to see how well we have all improved in these skills.

We continue to work hard on our counting and number recognition. Here is a good game to practice number recognition, helicopter rescue. Click here 

We were able to go on an adventure this week and explore school while everyone was at mass in the church. We were challenged with finding a cross, a set of rosary beads and a monkey in every classroom. We had lots of fun exploring and also visited the office and the kitchen.

Have a lovely weekend and we will see you next week 

Michelle 

Exploring school

All the children on Thursady went to mass which left us in school alone!! We had great fun exploring all the other classrooms and shared areas in school. Can you spot where we went?

Parent ‘Drop in’ session

We will be holding our half termly drop in session on Tuesday 14th May from 3.45pm to 4.45 pm. Try and pop in to see us and look what your child has been learning about at nursery.

Eco Day

Friday 17th May is Eco Day in school! Children attending nursery on that day are invited to bring £1 and wear green! If it is not your day…choose and other day to join in.

Our Eco Warriors in school will use donations to to enhance our eco environments in and around school. Please give us your support!

Reminders!

‘Walk, Scoot, Cycle or Skate’ to school month

Help us win £50!!! Each week the class that has the least cars arriving at school will win £50 to spend on new equipment of the childrens choosing

Remember to ‘Walk, Scoot, Cycle or Skate’ to school month during May. We want to encourage all members of our school community to get involved. If you drive to school, could you park a little bit further away so that you could walk in and quieten the roads? There is the Parish Centre car park that can be used or even just further down the road. Do you have bikes or scooters in your shed that need their cobwebs brushing off?

Each day during May we are going to tally this in each class and create a whole school picture. We really are counting on you to keep our roads around school safe.

Sports Day

Foundation Sports Day is being held on Tuesday 18th June at 2.00pm. All children are invited to attend this event but must be in nursery no later than 1.45 pm wearing shorts and trainers. As in previous years each child will be designing their own t-shirt. We therefore ask if everyone can bring in a. s. a. p. as named, plain white t-shirt. We have to start early to ensure that we get them all finished in time!!

Finally, word has it that it will be a sunny weekend, please make the most of it! Enjoy your time together and make some magical memories.

As always stay safe and God bless.

Barbara

Year 6 Weekly Blog- “You are only as successful as you let yourself be"

‘Christ has no body now on earth but yours’ Saint Teresa of Avila

Yesterday we went to church to celebrate the Ascension of Christ as a whole school. Father Peter told us the quote of St Teresa of Avila, reminding us the commandment that Jesus shared with us- To Love One Another and that although Jesus is not present in body, that he works through us. It is a beautiful reminder that we simply need to love.

May is the month of Mary, a very special month where we will study and use Rosary beads to pray and remember the ministry, life and death of Jesus but also Mary, the mother of Jesus. Throughout May we will be learning about and praying the mysteries.

After working with the children this week, we feel nothing but pride. The way the children have come in to school every day and giving their absolute best, no matter how they are feeling on the inside, is truly amazing! Each one of them are overcoming barriers and challenges, no matter how big or how small and this process is making them see, that hard work, over a long period of time, really does pay off. This week we celebrated all the children, not on their marks of their final practice papers, but on the progress they have made and for some, this has been huge! We have worked SUPER hard this week on the areas we needed to, as well as an exciting visit to ‘The Grand’ watching ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’- we just finished the last chapter in time! It was such a treat to see all the characters and the story come to life on stage!

Going Forward …

Monday will be the start of the children’s SAT’s journey and they are extremely ready for this! There will, of course, be some nerves and anticipation this weekend on the run up, but the most important thing to do over the next few days is to relax, exercise, have plenty of sleep and eat healthily. We need those brains ready and raring to go! It would be a good idea if the children, did a little revision (small doses) to keep their learning ticking over, we have sent a short reading task to omplete over the weekend ready for Monday, a sentence function revision map to prepare them for their grammar on Tuesday, and some ideas of IXL for their maths. It may just give them a bit of practice and confidence before the week begins. On Friday, the children set up the hall ready for Monday, so they all know exactly what they are walking in to and where to sit - I think there was even some excitement by the time we left the hall!

Next week’s timetable is as follows so that you know which each day holds. Please ensure that your child is in school on time after a really good night sleep and a substantial breakfast…

Monday am: Grammar, punctuation and Spelling test.

               pm: Reading revision focus

Tuesday am: Reading test

                Pm: Maths revision focus

Wednesday am: Arithmetic and Reasoning 1 test

                      pm: Maths revision focus

Thursday am: Maths Reasoning 2 test

                  pm: read through of script

The following week: Monday will be auditions and Tuesday will be the interview for jobs around school (dress to impress)

Leading Learners

Well done to Charlie and Alexander this week.

Wow Charlie, you have come back after your illness with such a determined attitude to your work. You are showing us exactly what you can do when you put your mind to it. You have put such a lot of effort into your revision work this week and the results are clear to see. What a capable young man you are!

Alex, you have been so considerate and flexible towards your classmates this week. You have helped around the school when you are needed and have made a difference wherever you are. Whether in the classroom, or on the playground, you have looked after our younger pupils with kindness and patience. Thank you for being a terrific role model.

Learned and Wise butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are learned in their actions, finding God in all things. Those who are wise, who use their learning for the common good. These children are the role models of the school, who drive their own learning and who have the wisdom to know when and how to apply one’s learning. This week we thank Nicola for working for the common good of our classroom this week.

Lunch Time Awards …

Marvelous Manners awards … Stanley

Role Model of the week … Anncia

This week we will take a break form helping in the mornings and start again the following week- thank you!

Notices

Thursday 16th May - End of year play read through

The Eco Council Green Day will be held on Friday 17th May- children to come in green and bring a pound. This is to raise funds to assist us in looking after our school grounds.

Monday 20th May- Auditions

Tuesday 21st May - Formal interviews with Mrs Gregan for positions around school. The children can come into school in formal interview wear. Dress to impress!


Have a wonderful and restful long weekend and thank you for your continued support.

Year 6 team