Latest News

ASDA Green Token Giving Programme

Thu 05 Dec 2019 Mrs Kinman

We did post a while ago that St Mary's had been nominated for the Green Token Giving Programme, at Asda in Swinton. As it is Asda's 30th year, they have now increased the prize to £1000. We stand a great chance of winning this!

When you visit Asda, please use your green token to support our school. We could win up to £1000 for our wonderful children.

Thank you!

Canopic Creations

Thu 05 Dec 2019 Mr Chadwick

Year 3 are really delving back into Ancient Egypt and becoming masters of their trades. From Death Masks to Cartouches and today they were making Canopic Jars.

Canopic Jars are very important in the life of Egyptian Pharaohs as after the mummification process the vitals organs (not the heart) were placed inside the jars so they could be replaced in the bodies when the Pharaoh passed through to the afterlife.

Each of the jars had the images of a God on the top and the children have worked brilliantly in recreating the jars. (I'm not sure what vital organs we will be placing inside though!)

Smartphone Safety

Wed 04 Dec 2019 Mr Chadwick

12 Smartphone Safety Tips of Christmas

The run up to Christmas has started which means children up and down the country will be writing out their Christmas lists and hoping to receive the latest mobile phone or smart device. Whether it’s their first experience of mobile technology or a seasonal upgrade, it pays to make sure children know how to use their device safely and responsibly.

That’s why we’ve attached this guide just in time for the holiday period so that children are aware of how to keep themselves safe and secure and ensure they use their phone in the healthiest way possible.

Mobile phones, and smartphones in particular, are always a popular present choice at Christmas. As children become more socially active, it’s inevitable that they’ll want to keep in touch with their friends, not miss out on the latest news and just stay ‘cool’ at school. But do children know how to use their phone safely? Do they know how to protect themselves? And what do they need to be aware of? Find out with this guide.

The guide provides children with eight safety tips intended to help them use their mobile phones safely and securely and provides them with the best ways to keep themselves and their personal information safe.

Year 6 Science: Making Composters

Wed 04 Dec 2019 Mr Loynd

Year 6 had a great time on Tuesday afternoon, working in small groups in Science to make composters. This is a great way to look at how micro-organisms work, whilst also recycling our vegetable scraps and doing our bit to help the environment.

We have now put our composters in the school greenhouse, and will be keeping an eye on our experiment to see how our compost is coming along.

Tree Station Delivers

Mon 02 Dec 2019 Mr Chadwick

As you have probably seen at St Mary's we are really trying to improve our Environmental and Ecological Status. We have achieved the Eco Schools Gold Award, are a Tree Charter School, Have initiatives helping us save energy and educate the children about Environmental issue and are lucky enough to have two allotment areas which the children can use to plant, grow and reap the produce.

We are also trying to improve our Forest School area and have partnered with Tree Station in Gorton who have recently delivered some logs and chippings for a nominal fee which they will do for all schools around Manchester.

The TreeStation is part of the growing movement towards living and working in an environmentally and socially conscious way. We believe that through the decisions we make we can take personal responsibility for shaping the world we live in and encourage others to make positive changes. We are genuinely driven by our values and don’t do ‘greenwash’.

In summary, all aspects of our work are managed with care for the environment, people and communities. We recognise that we operate within a complex framework and aim to address ethical dilemmas in a fair, transparent, discerning and far-sighted way.

Have a look at their website - https://www.treestation.co.uk/

Whole-School Mass: Advent and the Feast of St Mary

Mon 02 Dec 2019 Mr Loynd

Last Friday afternoon, the children and staff of St Mary's celebrated the beginning of Advent with a whole-school mass. At this mass, we also celebrated our Patron Saint, St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception.

Advent is a time of preparation in the Church's year, which we represent with the colour purple. In Advent, look out for purple Prayer Areas and Special Areas in classrooms around school!

It is also a time of waiting in joyful hope for the coming of Jesus, the promised one, at Christmas. Advent is a time to get ready by making space for God in our busy lives. Imagine that you were waiting to welcome a new baby into your home, and all the preparations you would have to make so that you were ready.

This Advent, try to take a moment each day to think about how you can prepare your lives to welcome the baby Jesus, the Messiah, at Christmas.

We celebrate Mary, the mother of Jesus, because she said "Yes" to God. On the way to becoming Jesus' mum, she had a long and difficult journey, but even in her most difficult moments she still had faith. Mary herself was born without sin so that she could bring the Son of God into the world. When Jesus was born, her job didn't stop - like any mum she would have been woken by her baby in the middle of the night, would have chased him around as a toddler and would have protected and nurtured him when he was primary school age.

This Advent, we also remember Mary our mother, and all of our mums and all the things they do for us. Let's try and make time to help our mums and dads out with our families' preparations for Christmas this year.

KS2 Maths Club

Thu 28 Nov 2019 L.Johnson

30 children from Key Stage 2 joined our maths club where we looked at different aspects of maths through the use of games such as traditional board games, on-line games, problem solving activities etc. The children were engaged throughout; sharing ideas and being a St Mary's mate to other children within the club. The children could see that maths is playful, exciting and full of wonder.

Staying Safe Online - 7 Do's and 7 Don't - A Vital Guide for Parents

Wed 27 Nov 2019 Mr Chadwick

One of the most important aspects of the St Mary's Computing and National Curriculum is Online Safety.

Technology and the internet are part of our daily lives. It’s almost impossible for our children to avoid coming into contact with the online world. From social media apps to messaging services to online gaming, it’s important that we, as trusted adults, help to protect them from harm. But it’s just as important that they too know how to respond to online dangers. That’s why we’ve created this useful guide for children outlining various online safety do’s and don’ts to help empower them to make the right decisions when interacting with the online world.

We all have a duty of care to keep our children safe online. As our children grow and become more tech savvy, their desire to use the latest apps and games also increases. But what should children be aware of? What do they need to remember? And what should they not do online? Find out with this guide.

Reception are sparkling and shining ...

Tue 26 Nov 2019 Mrs Taylor

We have been exploring and investigating light and dark and today we used the torches to investigate how to bend the light to shine somewhere else using mirrors. We also shone the torches through different shaped holes and made them bigger and smaller .Next we used the magnifying glasses to explore the sparkles in the glitter to see how beautiful they were the light shining on them ...

POP Project

Tue 26 Nov 2019 Mrs Taylor

We had a great time together with the POP Project ! Our visitors talked to us about how important it is to respect eachother and to be that very special friend to everyone. it helped us to understand how our core values are so important: Love, Respect, Faith, Inspire and Achieve !! We sang songs and had a dance too it was so much fun !

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