Latest News

Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• School is open

  Wed 30 Jan 2019

  To all parents: school is open as usual, please stay safe and take your time coming in to school. *

• Battery Recycling! Halfway there…

  Tue 29 Jan 2019

  What a collection of environmentalists we have in school. Concerned about the state of our world and the landfill problems, lots of the children have been collecting their spent batteries and bringing them in to school. Our battery Box is almost half full already.

   

  Please continue to bring them in and let’s see if we can fill this before the terms ends…

  

• The Daily Mile

  Mon 28 Jan 2019

  The Daily Mile is a simple but ground-breaking initiative, encouraging primary schools and nurseries to take children outside running for 15 minutes each day. The aim of The Daily Mile is to improve the physical, emotional, social health and wellbeing of children in the United Kingdom and around the world – regardless of age or personal circumstances, to create healthy habits for life. Its impact can be transformational – improving not only the children’s fitness, but also their concentration levels, mood, behaviour and general wellbeing.

  

• Gymnastics Key Steps

  Mon 28 Jan 2019

  St Mary’s sent two teams, years 3/4 and years 5/6, to compete in the Salford Key Steps Gymnastics festival. All the children performed their routines at a high standard, with the years 5/6 team achieving silver.

• Physical mathematics

  Mon 28 Jan 2019

  During our lesson on fractions, the year 4 played a ‘Maths of the Day’ game. In their Kagan teams, they had to run to collect fractions of an amount card and work out the answer before running to collect the next fraction card.

   

  Maths of the Day is a great resource for actively engaging children in mathematics. Children are enthusiastic about the sessions. The games allow children, and staff, to use exercise in their maths lessons – healthy body = healthy mind.

  

• Chethams Music Workshops

  Mon 28 Jan 2019

  Years 2, 3 and 5 have been very lucky to take part in Chetham’s Outreach workshops exploring a range of different topics through music. The workshops were cross curricular and included links with Geography, Literacy and British Values. They included acting games, pitch and rhythm activities, as well as both vocal and instrumental performances.  The most recent workshops focused on a variety of Fairy tales and their contrasting characters, as it links to our upcoming theme for World Book Day. Each class has created an interlinking performance piece which will be performed for the rest of the school on  World Book Day. We would like to say a HUGE thank you to Sarah and Lily (professional musicians from Chethams)  for all their amazing work with the children!

  

• 3… 2… 1… Lift Off

  Thu 24 Jan 2019

  In a dual exercise with St Ambrose Barlow, Year 5 were today designing and making rockets ready for a launch at St Ambrose. Putting all their design skills into practise and knowledge learned from the topic, the children had to consider the effects of air resistance, balanced and unbalanced forces, streamlining and overall aesthetics for their rockets.

   

  The most important issue the children will have to face with their rockets is Gravity. Will the rockets be that good that the Gravitational Pull of the Earth doesn’t take over as they leave the atmosphere?

   

  Launch date to be announced…

  

• Salford Schools Success and the Greater Manchester Primary Cross Country Squad is selected

  Tue 22 Jan 2019

  And so the season ends. What a finish to the final race with individual and team places up for grabs.

  The closest outcome was amongst the Year 5 & 6 boys with three school vying for second and third places. After some barnstorming runs and sprint finishes the squad held on to their second spot (joint) beating the third place team by a point. What a result and fantastic for all of the runners – those who were there every week and the boys who missed one or two due to illness – Well done to Gabriel, Kian, Daniel, Oscar, Alex, Luke, Savith, Rony & Jake.

  A special mention for Gabriel who held on to the Individual Bronze Position which was a great achievement against some tough competitors.

  The Year 5 & 6 girls would have had the opportunity to place in the top three but with such a small squad, we had a couple of injuries and illness in two of the races meaning they just couldn’t score enough overall points! Again well done to all the runners; Anya, Ashlee, Imogen & Ashley.

  Another special mention for Ashlee who secured the Individual Bronze Position despite being unwell for the last race. She must have built up such a lead over the Fourth place runner.

  The Year 3 & 4 boys and girls were in a similar scenario with some runners unfortunately having to miss the odd race this meaning the team didn’t score overall points but again, some fantastic performances from both years – Most notable Sophie in Year 4 who claimed Third Position overall – what a brilliant success and Louie who finished in the top 6 for the Year 3 boys. Well done though to those ever presents and squad members; Sophie, Louie, Tyler, Finlay, Joe, Thomas & Lucas. – And the girls – Sophie, Pippa, Orla & Hollie.

  A MASSIVE WELL DONE THOUGH TO FOUR OF OUR COMPETITORS WHO HAVE BEEN CHOSEN – OUT OF EVERY PRIMARY SCHOOL IN SALFORD TO REPRESENT OUR BOROUGH IN THE GREATER MANCHESTER PRIMARY CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS AT HEATON PARK ON SATURDAY, 2ND FEBRUARY (Girls Race 11am – Boys 11.30am)

  CONGRATULATIONS TO

  GABRIEL McCOMB                 KIAN WILLIAMS

  IMOGEN MOORE                    ASHLEE FREILINGER

  Please get there and support them if you can.

  Again a big thank you to Miss Crawshaw who was invaluable, all the parents for their continued support on those cold mornings and, of course, to all the runners for their attendance at training and the races.

  Well done and see you next year!

  

• Parenting in a Digital World

  Thu 17 Jan 2019

  The Internet can be wonderful for children. They can use it to research school reports, communicate with teachers and other kids, and play interactive games.

   

  However, we are seeing an increase in issues surrounding the online world. Children falling out over online games, social media (when they are too young to be on certain apps) and on occasion we are finding these issues are being brought into school. Here at St Mary’s, we strive to educate the children on the need for safe use online and highlighting that some behaviour online would never be acceptable in the school playground.

   

  Attached is a PDF to help parents with all aspects of the online world and how small changes can really help your child stay safe and happy online. Please click on the link below.

  Parenting in a Digital World

   

  But online access also comes with risks, like inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and online predators. Using apps and websites where kids interact, predators may pose as a child or teen looking to make a new friend. They might prod the child to exchange personal information, such as address and phone number, or encourage kids to call them, seeing their phone number via caller ID.

  Parents should be aware of what their kids see and hear on the Internet, who they meet, and what they share about themselves. Talk with your kids, use tools to protect them, and keep an eye on their activities.

   

  Online Protection Tools

  Online tools let you control your kids’ access to adult material and help protect them from Internet predators. Many Internet service providers (ISPs) provide parent-control options. You can also get software that helps block access to sites and restricts personal information from being sent online. Other programs can monitor and track online activity.

   

  Getting Involved in Kids’ Online Activities

  More important than blocking objectionable material is teaching your kids safe and responsible online behavior, and keeping an eye on their Internet use.

  Basic guidelines to share with your kids for safe online use:

  • Follow the family rules, and those set by the Internet service provider.
  • Never post or trade personal pictures.
  • Never reveal personal information, such as address, phone number, or school name or location.
  • Use only a screen name and don’t share passwords (other than with parents).
  • Never agree to get together in person with anyone met online without parent approval and/or supervision.
  • Never respond to a threatening email, message, post, or text.
  • Always tell a parent or other trusted adult about any communication or conversation that was scary or hurtful.

  Basic guidelines for parental supervision:

  • Spend time online together to teach your kids appropriate online behavior.
  • Keep the computer in a common area where you can watch and monitor its use, not in individual bedrooms. Monitor any time spent on smartphones or tablets.
  • Bookmark kids’ favourite sites for easy access.
  • Check your credit card and phone bills for unfamiliar account charges.
  • Find out what, if any, online protection is offered by your child’s school, after-school center, friends’ homes, or any place where kids could use a computer without your supervision.
  • Take your child seriously if he or she reports an uncomfortable online exchange.

  Watch for warning signs of a child being targeted by an online predator. These can include:

  • spending long hours online, especially at night
  • phone calls from people you don’t know
  • unsolicited gifts arriving in the mail
  • your child suddenly turning off the computer when you walk into the room
  • withdrawal from family life and reluctance to discuss online activities

  Talk to your kids! Keep an open line of communication and make sure that they feel comfortable turning to you when they have problems online.

   

  The Internet

  As kids get older, it gets a little trickier to monitor their time spent online. They may carry a smartphone with them at all times. They probably want — and need — some privacy. This is healthy and normal, as they’re becoming more independent from their parents. The Internet can provide a safe “virtual” environment for exploring some newfound freedom if precautions are taken.

  Talk about the sites and apps teens use and their online experiences. Discuss the dangers of interacting with strangers online and remind them that people online don’t always tell the truth. Explain that passwords are there to protect against things like identity theft. They should never share them with anyone, even a boyfriend, girlfriend, or best friend.

  

• Final Cross Country Race – Saturday

  Wed 16 Jan 2019

  This Saturday sees the Final race of the Salford Schools Championships. We have two groups vying for top three places and opportunities for some of our runners to claim individual prizes.

   

  The race is at Buile Hill Park and there will be a presentation afterwards – it can take up to an hour after the last race for the final positions to be confirmed so all parents and children are welcome to stay behind. Refreshments may not be available so please bring some and extra clothes to wrap up warm.

   

  The FINAL training session was LAST Monday (14th January)

  Miss Crawshaw and I would like to say a very big thank you to all the runners who have embraced the training and tried their absolute hardest in the races. We are proud of such a talented squad and you all have the determination and desire to keep improving and beating your previous places. Some of the Saturdays were in very cold weather and treacherous conditions but that was half the fun!

   

  A very big thank you to all the parents that have also given up Saturday mornings – seven in all – to support their children, the squad and of course our school. We couldn’t do it without you.

  Thank you all for a successful 2018-19 Cross Country Season and see you all back again next year.