Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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Y6 Robinwood Residential - Day 2
Tue 25 Feb 2020Day two at Robinwood has been an incredible experience for Year 6, as our adventures have taken us from tunnels beneath the ground to the skies above us! We have completed assault courses, solved mental puzzles, swung from trapeze and zip wired through the air.
All of our activities have been completed against a backdrop of rain, hail, sleet and snow - as one child commented, “Well we shouldn’t forget the different kinds of precipitation now that we’ve seen them all in one day!”
We’ve visited the Robinwood Tuck Shop and have had our team photos taken. Most importantly, everyone has learnt some new skills and we have also developed some abilities that we already had. Our confidence and resilience have improved, and the love and respect that we have for our Y6 St. Mary’s mates has grown even stronger.
Remember parents, that you can visit our school Twitter page for all the latest video clips of our three Year 6 teams completing their challenges.
Visit our school website again tomorrow for more on our final day at Robinwood.
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Y6 Robinwood Residential - Day 1
Mon 24 Feb 2020Year 6 have enjoyed a fabulous first day at Robinwood in Todmorden. After a gruelling hike up the infamous Robinwood hill, we were divided into three activity groups - Lava, River and Dune.
After making our own beds, we had a light lunch before embarking on an activity-packed afternoon and evening. Our resilience, teamwork and problem-solving skills were put to the test as we took part in a range of challenges including archery, zip wire, climbing, crate building and the dreaded piranha pool!
At the end of the day we enjoyed a well-earned tea of either pizza or fish fingers and chips.
Just a quick reminder that you can see video clips of all three groups’ adventures on our St. Mary’s Twitter page.
Check back here for more from Year 6 at Robinwood tomorrow.
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DfE Hungry Little Minds Campaign
Mon 24 Feb 2020Improving early communication, language and literacy development is a key priority for the government and a cornerstone of building a country that works for everyone. Some of the poorest children in the UK start school months behind their peers and the gap can grow through their school years. Children with poor vocabulary skills at age five may be up to twice as likely to be unemployed in their 30s. In July 2018, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the government’s ambition to halve in ten years the proportion of children who finish reception year without the communication, language and literacy skills they need to thrive. As part of this endeavour DfE has launched Hungry Little Minds – a new three-year campaign to encourage parents and carers to engage in activities that support their child’s early learning and help set them up for school and beyond.
On Friday 21st February an expert panel approved several early years apps to help families kick start learning at home. The 6 apps - published on the Hungry Little Minds website – are part of the government’s drive to help parents make informed decisions about the use of technology in creating positive learning environments at home.
The 6 apps include:
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Lingumi (For children aged 2-5): Sets of learning games, speech recognition games and video-based games to help with a child’s grammar and getting them speaking their first words early on.
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Kaligo (For children aged 3-5): The first digital handwriting exercise book using a stylus and tablet, built using AI and co-created with teachers, occupational therapists and neuroscientists.
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Phonics Hero (For school-aged children): Over 850 fun, varied and motivating games take a child step-by-step through the 44 sounds, the reading and spelling of words, and how to conquer sentences.
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Teach Your Monster to Read (For school-aged children): Covers the first two years of learning to read, from matching letters and sounds to enjoying little books, designed in collaboration with leading academics.
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Navigo Game (For school-aged children): Focuses on developing skills that underpin reading, including phonics, letters and sounds, designed by UCL Institute of Education and Fish in a Bottle.
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Fonetti (For school-aged children): The world’s first ‘Listening Bookshop’ interacting with children by giving visual cues in real-time as they read aloud and highlighting where the most support is needed.
For more information head to https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk/#information
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KS2 Music Day
Fri 14 Feb 2020Today our KS2 children had a music day. They started by listening and appraising music, then did a composer study of British composer Elton John. We created a timeline of composers, from classical composers such as Vivaldi to modern day composers including Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga, listened to their music and compared them to each other. After we looked at notation and composition; creating our own compositions with both instruments and on Purple Mash.
Finally we looked at the artist Kandinsky, who created his art work as he listened to classical music. We reviewed some of his work before taking part in a carousel of art; using different media to create Kandinsky inspired art work, all whilst listening to different genres of music.
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St Mary's World Book Day
Thu 13 Feb 2020
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Year 3 Archaeologists & Rare Fossil Hunters
Thu 13 Feb 2020The brave archaeologists in Year 3 had an experiment to undertake today. We have been transported to a rare scientific find and they had to use their knowledge of rocks and fossils to excavate a rare find (chocolate chips) carefully without breaking the fossils.
We used tweezers, paintbrushes, magnifying glasses, sharp sticks
and safety glasses to help with the excavation. Work was painfully slow as we realised the million year old rocks would break up very easily and we desperately wanted to keep them intact.
The champion archaeologist was in fact Joshua who excavated the most fossils whilst keeping his rock almost completely whole.
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School Closure Update
Wed 12 Feb 2020Parents, you should have all by now received the following email:
Dear parents,
My sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused. Every effort is being made to have school up and running as soon as possible.
Update of the situation is as follows:
The boiler has been condemned and requires a whole new system to be put in place. The school building consultant is trying to source temporary heating until a new school boiler is fitted. Today, I have managed to obtain some temporary heaters. However, I am restricted to the wattage use so the electricity supply is not overloaded.
Therefore, tomorrow and Friday, we can accommodate Key Stage 2 children only (Year 3 - Year 6). This attendance is optional, school must be informed of any child not attending via school email or phone for safeguarding reasons. If your child is attending school, please ensure they are wearing suitable warm clothes (school uniform is not necessary). School will remain closed for Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes.
Dinners will be provided as usual. There will be no Breakfast Club or after school clubs, including Premier Sports After School Club. Please access the school building via the school playground and use the old Year 6 classroom to keep this part of the school as warm as possible.
Every effort will be made to keep the school up and running for the first day back. Until further notice it will only be Key Stage 2 children attending.
We will keep you updated with regards to any information as we receive this from the LA and the Diocese.
Updates will be via the school website, emails and the school app.
Kind Regards,
Mrs Raynor
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KS1 Trip to Chester Zoo
Tue 11 Feb 2020Year 1 and Year 2 had a wonderful trip to Chester Zoo visiting the magnificent array of animals and learning lots of super animal facts. They also took part in the Curious Creatures discovery workshop; examining and grouping animal artefacts. Staff at the zoo commented on our pupil's exemplary behaviour and thought they were very knowledgable!
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Online Safety Day 2020
Tue 11 Feb 2020Research finds that being online is both liberating and limiting for children.
The internet is a brilliant tool for helping children and adults in their everyday lives. In school we discuss how the internet helps with research, learning how to make and create things, watching videos of the world in action, learning songs and so much more. We know it is so helpful in today's world but we also try and impress upon our children that it can be a dangerous place if we are not careful.
Today we looked into various pitfalls about being online and how we can stay safe - in many classes the biggest issues are around social media or 'open' online groups where we are unsure about who is playing games with us.
Lots of children in Year 3 mentioned that they are only allowed to play with children or family members that they know which is absolutely right. Some spoke about strangers approaching them asking to play and so they ran and told parents which is the perfect response. In Year 5 & 6 it is the scourge of Social Media and how difficult it can be to not be offended or be offensive in there. We spoke about age restrictions and why they were in place and how in Year 6 many children are still legally TOO young to be allowed on there. We post lots of helpful tips and links about how to stay safe online. If ever you are concerned please do use those links, call the numbers or speak to a member of staff.
- New research from the UK Safer Internet Centre reveals young people’s online experiences are an essential part of who they are offline, with 38% saying it’s easier to be themselves online than offline
- The internet is creating an informed and inspired generation that is taking action
- But some feel pressure to shape their online identity for others – 62% are careful about what they share because they’ve seen people be mean
- Certain groups are being targeted with identity-based hate
- UKSIC call on people to start conversations with young people about online identity.
Top Tips For St Mary's Children
1) Don’t post any personal information online – like your address, email address or mobile number.
2) Think carefully before posting pictures or videos of yourself. Once you’ve put a picture of yourself online most people can see it and may be able to download it, it’s not just yours anymore.
3) Keep your privacy settings as high as possible
4) Never give out your passwords
5) Don’t befriend people you don’t know
6) Don’t meet up with people you’ve met online. Speak to your parent or carer about people suggesting you do
7) Remember that not everyone online is who they say they are
8) Think carefully about what you say before you post something online
9) Respect other people’s views, even if you don’t agree with someone else’s views doesn’t mean you need to be rude
10) If you see something online that makes you feel uncomfortable, unsafe or worried: leave the website, turn off your computer if you want to and tell a trusted adult immediately.
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Yr5 Gymnasts.
Mon 10 Feb 2020Our Yr5 gymnasts took part in the Salford School Key Steps Gymnastics competition. The children completed three disciplines: the vault, floor management and body management. The team did ever so well and had a great afternoon displaying their talents. Thank you!
See videos in the Video Resource Centre.
