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• Meeting the Mayor

  Fri 13 Oct 2017

  Today, eight representatives of St Mary’s visited the Town Hall for a special session in the Council Chambers attended by our City Mayor, Paul Dennett and members of the Mayoral Team, Councillor Lisa Stone, John Walsh and others.

   

  The team have committed to hearing the voice of the young people in the City and listening and responding to needs, concerns and good ideas. It is a monthly session and Paul, the city mayor has committed to and with around 100 schools in Salford he will surely have a busy year. (On top of his normal duties of course.)

  The  children really enjoyed coming and sitting in the chamber and hopefully come away with a bit of a better understanding about the council and city mayor/Councillors. It was also much more fun being in the environment and apparently much more entertaining than sitting in formal council meetings!

   

  Prior to the visit Key Stage 2 had been asked to provide questions which those visiting could ask on their behalf. The questions were excellent, deep, challenging and topical. Almost every question was received with a furrowed brow and the exclamation; “Now that’s a tough questions!”

   

  Example questions posed by the team were:

   

  What is the hardest decision you have had to make?

  Are you going to build some more houses on the green spaces for the less fortunate?

  Did you always want to become the Mayor or did somebody inspire you?

  Would you say that you becoming Mayor has helped the people of Salford?

  The roads near St Mary’s are dangerous for children. Is it possible to get a zebra crossing near school?

  Every summer do you think we should have a British Values festival where people can learn more about what they actually are?

  How can you stop the budget going lower every year?

  The cladding on Grenfell tower was highly flammable. So why do 9 council owned tower blocks have it and what are you doing to protect the residents?

  Are you going to concrete over green spaces and stop kids having fun?

  Excatly how much money is 47% of the budget the council has lost?

  Are you proud of Salford?

   

  The children were respectful, articulate and engaging with the Mayoral Team and hopefully they have come away from the session with the greater understanding of the difficulties facing the Mayor and his team but also the brilliant work they are doing for the people of Salford.

• Salford Reds Schools Rugby Tournament

  Thu 12 Oct 2017

  Players from Year 5 & 6 took part in the first Salford red Tag Rugby Tournament today at the AJ Bell stadium.After winning the three pool matches and playing some excellent rugby the squad moved into the Medal Matches.The team played really well, supporting each other, making last ditch tags and trying to lose players. We performed really well taking third spot out of sixteen schools in Salford and the only loss was to the eventual winners. Absolutely brilliant performance from all twelve players. Next time!!!

• St Mary’s Harvest Bounty

  Thu 12 Oct 2017

  As St Mary’s celebrate Harvest Festivals, Mr Sabatino and some budding young gardeners managed to cultivate the allotment area and what a bounty we had! All the potatoes, corn and green beans. The strawberries aren’t quite ready and the grapes will need a touch longer. We will soon be preparing the beds for a winter crop and planning for next years spring harvest.

• A celebration of a Journey of Faith

  Fri 06 Oct 2017

  We had a lovely assembly where we celebrated our Faith Journey so far.  We explained how we felt on our Reconciliation, Confirmation and First Holy Communion Days.

   

  We finished off with a whole school party!

• Year 2 Make Mrs Twits Spaghetti

  Tue 03 Oct 2017

  Year 2 really enjoyed making Mrs Twit’s spaghetti, not quite like the one Roald Dahl describes in his well known book. We made a healthy version inspired by our recent visit by LPA theatre and used fresh and wholesome ingredients. Back in class we created instructions for a revolting recipe full of gruesome ingredients Mrs Twit would have loved to use on Mr Twit!

• LPA Theatre performance of Grandad’s eating rubbish

  Tue 03 Oct 2017

  Year 1 and 2 had a very special visit from LPA Theatre company who performed Grandad’s Eating Rubbish, a tale about a little boy who was worried his Grandad was poorly because he was eating too much rubbish. Ben and his grandad decided to visit places around the world for fresh fruit, vegetables and whole foods, including Jamaica for bananas and California for oranges. After the performance we had a special workshop and created our own healthy meal for grandad. We really enjoyed this performance and back in class performed our own version of the show.

• Be Safe! Be Seen!

  Tue 03 Oct 2017

  As the dark nights draw in it is a time to think about road safety in the dark. Today children in Years 2-6 had a special talk from the team at Urban Vision who reminded us  how to keep safe and be see when out and about in the dark. Here are some helpful tips:

   

  How can my child be seen more easily?

   

  1. On dull days your child can wear bright or fluorescent colours

   

  • Special high-visibility tabards and other clothing can be bought from many retailers
  • Fluorescent armbands can also be worn over coats and other clothing.
  • Bags are also available in bright colours or with high-visibility strip

   

  2. If walking near traffic at night reflective clothing is needed

   

  • Reflective clothing reflects light from car and bike headlamps
  • Reflective armbands and clothing can be bought for children

• English In Action!

  Sun 01 Oct 2017

  Year 5 have been studying the legend of Beowulf fighting Grendel. We have written dialogues between Beowulf and the beleaguered King Hrothgar as they scheme to fight Grendel. Within the National Curriculum, drama is a statutory part and allows the children to:

   

  • Role-play and other drama techniques can help pupils to identify with and explore characters. In these ways, they extend their understanding of what they read and have opportunities to try out the language they have listened to.
  • Drama and role-play can contribute to the quality of pupils’ writing by providing opportunities for pupils to develop and order their ideas through playing roles and improvising scenes in various settings.

   

  Certainly Year 5 loved acting out the scene where Beowulf surprises Grendel and removes an arm!

• Space Generation

  Sun 01 Oct 2017

  In Science, Year 5 have been exploring their understanding of Earth, Space, The Moon and Solar System. Year 5C have decided that as a cross curricular link they are going to present their findings via powerpoints they have designed.

   

  We initially underwent a planning phase as to what constitutes a good and bad powerpoint. We have thought about the intended audience and what details would really be important for them. After the planning stage the children are now creating their powerpoints. Again this will be a step-by-step approach as they have created the template and will be adding hyperlinks, sound, visuals in subsequent lessons. Already they look fantastic and individual to each child.

   

   

• Year 5C Assembly – Generosity

  Sun 01 Oct 2017

  Year 5C enjoyed our first Celebration Assembly of the new school Year. We have already been discussing generosity in our RE lessons whilst learning all about ourselves. Most people think of generosity as merely giving money but we know it is much more than

   

  that. We can give our time, talents and assistance to all who need it. Of course giving money and being generous is also important such as the Macmillan Coffee morning we enjoyed in school.

   

  Year 5C will continue to be generous in our school and outside by helping others, offering our time and helping to live life as God wants and protect our planet. It’s the only one we have!